#he has a truckload of money underneath all that

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

What car does ghost drive

a range rover

[warsmith-38]

How I would do RWBY pt. 7

War Arc.

Season Seven.

The Cabal is standing room only and Salem is enraged at recent turn of events.

Complains loudly to Myrmidon.

Myrmidon assures Salem that the current plan is not only progressing smoothly but Ozpin still has no idea what it is.

Salem calms down and her mind turns to Cinder. Particularly the fact that Ozpin has captured Cinder.

Salem wonders if she ever told Cinder about the current plan.

She realizes that, yes, yes she did.

Salem is once again angry.

RWBY and JN(P)R are enjoying relative peace as next moves are planned.

Neo is the most cooperative with authorities out of team CEMN.

Due to being, more or less, just hired help she isn’t all that helpful.

Emerald and Mercury are in a similar situation due to being Cinder’s direct underlings and not Salem’s.

All they know is what Cinder told them, which was only just enough to keep them compliant.

Cinder is the one that would have information but is quite tightlipped about things that aren’t insults.

Ozpin wants answers but Ironwood draws the line at out and out torturing a teenager.

Cinder is just waiting in her cell with one arm cuffed to a chair.

WBY and JN(P)R all have a go at trying to make her talk. (Ruby isn’t allowed near her)

Blake tries empathizing with her situation, formerly being one of the bad guys herself.

Cinder says that Blake was an easily swayed idiot who didn’t know what she was actually doing.

Ren and Nora try good cop bad cop.

Cinder calls both of them morons.                                                                  

Weiss tries bribing her with money and medical help for her missing bits.

Cinder tells her to eat shit.

Jaune tries a ‘you’re a deranged psychopath, prove me wrong’ approach.

Cinder taunts him by talking about killing Pyrrha.

Not only does Jaune have to be pulled out of there, Ren and Nora have to be talked down from cutting the cameras and shank-rushing her.

Ironwood offers her a plea bargain. Spill on Salem and don’t get hanged for heinous war crimes.

Cinder rebukes all of it to varying degrees of profanity.

Penny’s turn.

Penny doesn’t ask her any questions or try anything.

All she says is that she forgives Cinder, that someone should even if no one else ever would.

Cinder is a little unnerved but remains uncooperative.

Everyone calls it quits for the day.

Ruby sneaks into Cinder’s cell when no one is looking.

Cinder almost has a heart attack out of fear of what Ruby will do to her.

Gives her an emotional speech on how Cinder and Salem ruined her life and the worst part is that it was her new best friend that did it.

Ruby is found and escorted out of the cell.

Cinder, having slightly awakened her long ignored heart, says that she did consider Ruby a sort of friend.

Ruby tells her to go to hell.

Yang notices that Cinder’s veneer is peeling.

Decides to take her shot.

Yang surmises that Salem was involved, to a degree, in raising Cinder.

Cinder confirms but also is insulting.

Yang talks about how she knows a little something about parental figures who don’t give a crap.

Cinder gets angry, says that she knows that Salem cares about her.

Yang says that if Salem cared then why did Cinder have to go to Atlas to try and get her attention again?

Cinder starts flinging insults about unloving mother figures.

Yang flings back better ones.

Cinder brags that they’re all dead anyway.

Says that Salem’s big plan is to set off a special bomb-like grimm that will turn another chunk of the planet into grimm land just like the territory around her sanctum.

Ensuring a lack of stability that will force the rest of the world to adapt and evolve.

She doesn’t know where Salem is planning to set it off though.

Everything across the previous seasons was trying to maximize chances of it going off without a hitch.

Weakening potential target areas, providing distractions, eliminating threats, things like that.

That or it was just another attempt to kill Ozpin. Sometimes both. Mostly both.

That’s when she realizes that she just told Salem’s master plan directly to her greatest opposition.

Says that her talking won’t matter and will enjoy watching Salem kill all of them.

Yang tells her to stop being such a chuunibyou.

Ozpin’s Council (Him, Ironwood, Glynda, Qrow, Winter, RWBY, JN(P)R, Ciel, mad scientist) start trying to deduce where Salem will set off the grimm nuke.

Atlas is too militarized, even with the troubles there. Vacuo is too close and wouldn’t provide much strategically. Menagerie and Mistral are both too out of the way to be of use.

The target is Vale. A centralized zone that still has yet to completely recover from the events of the school arc and will further fragment the free peoples of the world.

Not to mention that it’s Ozpin’s personal favorite kingdom. Just another insult on a very long list.

Everyone packs up and heads to Vale for a very somber return home.

Emerald, Neo, and Mercury offer to properly switch sides on the grounds that they had no idea about the whole ‘fuck over the world’ thing.

They only signed on to cause a little trouble and get paid.

They want to help stop Salem now, especially if they’re probably considered expendable collateral.

Offer is appreciated but the handcuffs stay on.

Upon arrival in Vale, Ruby and Yang are immediately accosted by Tai.

Tai is upset with Ruby for running off and not doing so much as ever calling him and he’s upset with Yang just for not calling ever.

He’s proud of his girls for doing so much to help the world, but still.

Raven is there too and offers Ruby a hug from her new stepmother.

Tai and Raven reveal their wedding rings, showing that they have in fact tied the knot (Tai’d the knot).

Yang BSODs for a moment.

Raven has a moment with Yang and Ruby, saying that she took the scolding to heart and realized that, yes, she was a piece of shit.

Came back to Tai to try and start making up for things.

It took a little work but Tai is no longer a depressed, overprotective, neglectful, sad sack of crap, so maybe it’s not the worst thing that she’s back.

She’s also given all the intel she acquired while part of the Cabal.

R+Y are skeptical but intend to burn that bridge when they cross it later.

Cinder sneaks out of her cell.

Tries to bust EMN out too.

They rebuke her, saying that they would rather not help permanently fuck over a continent and by extension the world for no real reason beyond ‘because you said so’.

They would rather live in the world, not destroy it.

Cinder leaves them to rot, finds her gear, and steals a new robo-arm for her trouble, doing everything she can to stay under the radar while she thinks of what to do next.

RWBY + JN(P)R have trips down memory lane as they walk through the ruins or the rebuilt versions of their old haunts.

Remembering the good times and the bad.

The trials and tribulations as well as the warm memories that they keep dreaming about returning to.

Then they get to work.

They scour the recovering city of Vale first for any sign of anything grimm or Salem related.

Team CRDL, who stayed in Vale as volunteer workers and security, say that aside from a few more grimm raids, nothing special has happened in months.

CRDL assist as much as a team of jobber jabronis can.

Surprisingly, they don’t act like cunts.

Ozpin realizes that the only places that haven’t been searched were the places he’s kept secret.

Reveals his illuminati style cave with monitoring equipment that has tabs all over the world.

It has cameras and stuff in places that Ozpin has absolutely no right or need to know about.

Low and behold, grimm have tunneled into it.

Myrmidon is in there, checking up on things.

She introduces herself to the main characters and then cheeses it, leaving a distraction force of grimm.

After they’re dealt with, they turn their attention to the big fucking elephant in the room.

Massive, bulbous, monster of a centipede grimm is right in the center of the chamber. The grimm nuke.

They’ve found it, sure, but now what do they do?

The Council has a brainstorming session to try and come up with a solution.

Can’t just kill it, it’ll go off.

Raven’s portals only go to people she’s bonded with in some way and it would still fuck up wherever it was teleported to.

It’s a living thing so disarming it like a conventional bomb is not exactly possible.

EMN are questioned on what they might know about it but aren’t able to help much.

This is when they realize that Cinder is gone.

Search effort begins to stop her from fucking everything up.

Yang and Jaune eventually find Cinder.

Keep up the browbeating even as they fight her.

Cinder says that even if she wanted to help, Salem would kill her if she did.

Yang calls Salem a bitch.

She says that Salem’s about to kill her anyway when the thing goes boom.

Cinder relents and says that she’s not sure but Ruby’s white fire is probably the key.

Salem had Summer killed out of fear of her semblance potentially interfering with this exact plan.

Cinder about to am-scray while Yang and Jaune are distracted by putting plan together.

Jaune stops her.

Punches her in the face, hitting the side that can see.

Says that that was for Pyrrha.

Cinder runs off rubbing her jaw.

Begin white fire surgery.

They cut small, precise, holes in the grimm and Ruby burns the resulting goo deluge.

Plan is working shockingly well. Grimm is losing explosive fuel by the truckload.

Takes some time, but eventually all that is left is the monster itself and the explosive trigger.

Trigger goes off in a pathetically emaciated whiff.

Everyone celebrates.

Then they realize that they still have a massive centipede grimm monster that is in the top ten largest ever recorded grimm underneath Vale.

Said massive centipede grimm turns on default mode. Default mode being rushing towards the nearest living thing and killing it.

Said grimm bursts into downtown Vale with more grimm coming behind it.

Right when they had just finished cleaning it up.

Season final boss time.

RWBY, JN(P)R, CRDL, EMN, and the living elements of STRQ fight the grimm.

Professors of Beacon are also helping as well as The Council in general.

Cinder, in her attempt to get out of there, gets caught in the fighting too.

Fuck it. CFVY and SSSN show up from Mistral on Ozpin’s request for backup.

All. The. Warriors.

EVERYONE gets a hit or two in on the grimm.

Big final hit with everyone involved.

Grimm is dead.

Salem is back in her sanctum watching this on a crystal ball or whatever.

Her own rage and frustration at what happened spawns a whole new horde of grimm.

Screams loud enough to break all the glass in her sanctum.

Ruby and Cinder have stare-down after grimm is dead.

Both silently decide that there are bigger fish to fry and go their separate ways.

Big celebration party. World saw RWBY kick absolute ass.

Cinder is out of options so she is now on her way back to Salem.

Myrmidon is sharpening her spear/sword/rifle.

She can’t wait.

Season seven done.

[xtruss]

‘Ida Is Not The End’: Indigenous Residents Face The Future on Louisiana’s Coast – Photo Essay

Communities in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles grapple with question of whether to rebuild or retreat

— By Oliver Laughland with photos by Bryan Tarnowski in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana

— Damage from Hurricane Ida at Pointe-aux-Chenes. Photograph: Bryan Tarnowski/The Guardian

— Sunday 12 September 2021

Out on the frontiers of the Louisiana coastline, amid winding bayous, battered island roads and sinking land, a swath of fresh devastation for this region’s overlooked Indigenous tribal communities.

Amid the rapid depletion of their land, rising sea levels and coastal erosion, Hurricane Ida pummeled the small communities of Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles, home to a number of south-east Louisiana’s coastal tribal groups.

The area endured some of the hurricane’s worst destruction, with many who returned to inspect the damage describing the category 4 storm as the worst they had ever endured during lifetimes punctuated by extreme weather.

Ida also revived questions that many people here have been grappling with for years: whether to stay or go, retreat inland or remain to rebuild in an area already facing the brunt of the climate crisis.

Kip de’Laune looks for salvageable items at his home in Pointe-aux-Chenes.

On Isle de Jean Charles, reached on a roadway surrounded by water that was constructed in 1953, the silence was broken only by the sound of cicadas and mosquitoes. Many homes had been toppled from their stilts, with over half the island’s housing completely destroyed. With no power or running water, it appeared only two people, of the island’s roughly 40 remaining residents, were currently living there permanently.

Elizabeth and Edison Dardar Sr, both 72 and elders in the island’s Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, returned just a few days after evacuating. They were living under their severely damaged home beneath a tented blue tarp. Propane and food were running low, but this was not the first time their home had been destroyed by storms. They hoped to rebuild.

Edison and Elizabeth Dardar are living under a blue tented tarp beneath their home in Isle de Jean Charles. There is no power or running water on the island.

Edison, a retired fisherman, sat straight shouldered and recounted his fondest memories of the island, on which his father and grandfather also lived.

“It’s good land,” he said. “People would garden – green beans, lima beans, tomatoes and peas, but then the salt water started rising up.”

Despite the destruction here, there was no question the couple, married 53 years, would stay.

“People have been saying we shouldn’t be here for 50 years,” said Elizabeth. “But if we moved, other people would take our land.”

A few homes down the island’s only roadway, Chris Brunet, a councilman in the tribal government, had evacuated to the closest city, Houma, also still without power. He returns when possible and attempts to clean up his home, which remains partially intact. But with no power, the wheelchair elevator is not operational so he works underneath the stilting.

Top: Chris Brunet at his partially destroyed home in Isle de Jean Charles. Bottom: As the sun began to set, Brunet returned to the city of Houma where he is currently living without power as an evacuee.

In 2016 Isle de Jean Charles became the first community in America to receive federal funding for a sweeping inland retreat due to the effects of the climate crisis. The island’s land mass has decreased by 98%, according to the tribal council, amid flooding, erosion and expansion of oil and gas infrastructure.

Brunet has taken up the option of a new home further inland, but will continue to live here for as long as possible, irrespective of Ida’s damage.

“I want to rebuild,” he said. “I want to hold on to it for as a long as I can. Me selling it or losing it surely ain’t going to change what’s going on out there. It won’t stop how the environment is changing.”

Brunet had returned on Wednesday to place a new sign at the foot of his property. It read “ISLE DE JEAN CHARLES IS NOT DEAD. CLIMATE CHANGE SUCKS.”

Ronald Chiasson helps his friend Chris Brunet nail a sign up that Brunet made to hang in the front of his home. Brunet has vowed to continue living on the island after Ida’s devastation.

As he filled it in, black marker against a bright yellow board, he reflected on the devastation – the homes, the trees, he had known his entire life now crushed on top of each other.

“Climate change has forced us to make decisions that we never wanted to make,” he said. “For me Ida is not the end, it’s just a change.”

On the other side of the island road in lower Pointe-aux-Chenes, there was equal devastation. Elders here assessed that just five of the 40 homes on the west bank of the bayou remained habitable. Many had not recovered from a battering last year during Hurricane Zeta.

More than half the homes on Isle de Jean Charles were destroyed by Ida. Local leaders worry many residents will not return.

At Earline Naquin’s trailer home, remnants of the blue roofing tarps still in place after last year’s storm lay scattered over the muddy ground. The family had applied for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) last time and been rejected. Another initial application after Ida had also been rejected too, despite the complete decimation. They planned to appeal, but Earline, a tribal elder and sister of the Pointe-aux-Chien tribal chief, had already made up her mind. She would leave the community she had lived in her whole life and find somewhere further inland to live permanently.

“We’re getting up in age,” she said. “And we just don’t have the money to clean up and buy things to rebuild any more.”

Her sister and three brothers who live further up the bayou also lost everything.

Top: Earline Naquin, center, and her daughters Liza Naquin, left, and April Badillo, right, with April’s three children at Earline’s destroyed home in Pointe-aux-Chenes. Pieces of blue tarp hung over their roof after last year’s Hurricane Zeta were cut to shreds by Ida. Bottom: April Badillo’s children at Earline Naquin’s home.

Across the bayou, elders Donald and Theresa Dardar were receiving truckloads of donated aid, which flowed into the tribal offices throughout the late morning. Theresa thought back to her youth, when she went out fishing on the lakes with her husband, working as his deckhand. She returned to the same shrimping areas for the first time in decades recently and found them unrecognizable.

“It’s painful to watch,” she said. “All my markings were gone. The bays and the lakes were defined. But they were no more.”

Destruction in Pointe-aux-Chenes. Most of the homes on the west side of the bayou have been destroyed.

Tribal leaders here worried about faltering assistance from the US federal government. There had been little in person contact from Fema as of Wednesday, necessary to unlock grant money to rebuild. And the coastal tribes here, while recognized by the state, are not recognized by the US federal government, making federal aid to the community harder to release.

The lack of recognition felt particularly acute in a moment of crisis.

Left: A flag still flew on a home which received significant damage from Hurricane Ida. Right: Teresa and Donald Dardar at the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribal Center.

For Donald, the disaster was becoming overwhelming. He stepped away when asked what his plans were for the future.

“Our roots are planted here,” said Theresa. “You know, after a storm, sometimes he gets discouraged and says he wants to leave. He said it this time too. But I know it’s just the hurt. In his heart, he wouldn’t be able to leave here.”

[alexsmitposts]

It’s been One Hell of a Year in the US and its “Not Over with Yet!”

What is really going on in the US? Lots of people are having a difficult time, and see more of the same, if not worse, for the future. Most Americans are just thinking about one more stimulus check, just before Christmas, with so many unemployed, locked down with COVID restrictions, etc. And they should not get their hopes up too much, as they may be waiting for a long time.

All the while the US government is working to get Covid-19 vaccinations to the American public, but now they want strings attached, as people have not only lost faith in the government but the public health system. One proposal, from former congressman John Delaney of Maryland, aims to link the provision of stimulus checks to getting vaccinated, which is virtual blackmail.

Herd Immunity or Herd Mentality?

Since there’s such massive censorship, especially in the mainstream media and on social networking sites, people who would never otherwise give much credence to far-fetched allegations are now starting to believe there’s a conspiracy, or a “cluster-fuck” of conspiracies, starting out with Russiagate, Crossfire Hurricane Investigation, which proved to be the proverbial witch-hunt.

In light of everything that transpired during its run up, the recent US elections have really opened a Pandora’s Box. Take for instance absentee ballots. Several people claim they’ve seen boxes full of postal ballots not collected or counted after hours. According to Jackie Pick, a volunteer attorney in the State of Georgia who presented the evidence to the state Senate, said four suitcases ‘come out from underneath a table at the site while there was no election supervisor present’. But…. if they’re mail-in ballots, they would be for Biden anyway, right?

The mainstream media continue to totally dismiss claims of voting irregularities and fraud, without being willing to address the fact that the thing is remotely possible, claiming that Trump is merely “crying foul over the results”. But this only adds fuel to an already roaring fire. For example, CCTV evidence recently presented to a Georgia Senate Judiciary Subcommittee shows poll workers waiting for observers and media to leave before accessing ballot-stuffed suitcases from under a table, but no one has bothered to explain this, considering it not worthy of a democratic country’s attention.

Bearers of Bad News

Why is it necessarily to look elsewhere, to “off-the-wall” media outlets for alternative views on the election? Some of their insight into election cyber security, diverting votes by electronic means, Dominion Voter Machines, and old-fashion vote rigging is starting to make sense, and a democracy should be concerned about such claims, not treating them as part of sour rhetoric.

Some are now claiming that large transfers of money were made by Chinese investors prior to the elections, which brings a smile to my face in the light of Biden and his son Hunter, and a plethora of allegations of corruption involving them, including influence peddling and other backhanded moves, reported by the New York Post and other non-mainstream publications and outlets. Such stories, and even more scandalous ones, are quickly discounted or not reported in the respectful American mainstream media. They call that fact-checking.

However, a range of pundits and born again types, also not to be believed, are saying that 5 or 6 counties (cities) in the US were able to control the entire election process, and had known in advance what would be the outcome. In these same 6 cities the voting count was held up due to water problems, and allegedly people were robbed of their votes. There were also water main breaks in those same cities: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix…, and a few other cities also decided the election: Dallas Milwaukee and Seattle.

It is more than sheer coincidence that all these allegations are buttressed with the erosion of fundamental rights that Americans hold so close, free speech, majority rule, an array of constitutional rights and mainstream values. There is little doubt that the mainstream media, especially news networks such as CNN, have been manipulated in recent years, driving domestic and foreign policy, to a degree Joseph Goebbels would have been envious of.

At last some inside information concerning the agenda of the news networks is beginning to surface, and this is not good timing for those who have been manipulating the news. There is no longer a fine line between the truth and the lie, and CNN and others in the same stream of media flows have taken one maxim to heart: “If you tell a lie often enough people will come to accept it as truth.”

Some of the born again types, and their media outlets, seem to know what is going on, including the backdating of absentee ballots. They believe that Trump will somehow remain in office.

In the Meantime!

It is becoming clear that until Trump is out of the White House, he will be a problem. It does not matter whether he won or not. People continue to send him money that he can use for his own personal use. I liken these people to “useful idiots” or “real patriots.”

Yet many Republicans say nothing – which is sad, as without this force, which saw them of them riding on Trump’s coattails, many would not be in office now. It is so depressing to see that people can be so ignorant, or arrogant, or both. If Trump refuses to leave office – which I don’t believe – there will be huge protests. But he will leave office – he may not like it – but he will leave and continue to “suck” money from his supporters.

CNN Defect and Manufacturing Dissent

Recent breaking news is that James O’Keefe of Project Veritas caught CNN red handed conniving to influence the election over a period of two months during conference calls. This network made a concerted effort to report in favour of Joe Biden in the run-up to the election, and in its wake, thus adding more layers of conspiracies to an already complicated mess.

In the video he has released, O’Keefe enters into a CNN conference call, unmuting himself, telling the CEO, Jeffrey Zucker,

“We’ve been listening to your CNN calls for basically two months and recording everything. Just wanted to ask you some questions, if you have a minute … do you still feel you are the most trusted name in news? Based on what I’ve been hearing on these phone calls, I don’t know about that. I mean, we’ve got a lot of recordings that indicate you’re not really that independent of a journalist.”

The plot thickens as to how media and politics are joined up, and the playing field is less than level. The Washington Post, another media outlet which has also been accused in recent years of one sided coverage, reported that “while Project Veritas had previously disseminated covert recordings of CNN’s daily meetings, in this video O’Keefe himself could be seen dialing in to a private CNN call — apparently without the knowledge or consent of participants”.

It is clear that these recordings, legal or otherwise, show that CNN took sides in the US election, and even in the coverage of Trump’s bout with COVID, and made a concerted effort not to show him and his party in the best of light. What escapes critical attention, however, is what degree of conspiracy may have taken place with those outside of the media, such as the DNC. Based on the 2016 election, CNN is still referred to by some by the nickname, Clinton’s News Network, and that is not a good position for the network itself to be in.

I Smell a Rat!

I remember the news about the “stopped counting” on the night of the election. When this was first reported a few days after the election, election officials added an excuse that people were tired and needed to sleep. Nowhere else in history, especially on Election Day or before a deadline, and “where does a company send night-shift workers home because they’re afraid their workers are too tired?”

I smell a rat. This clip of vote counting clearly shows the counting votes continuing after hours, when everybody else, such as the election monitors, has left. Due to one sided media coverage, only now is this getting the attention it deserves, with recent Senate Hearings, e.g., Congressional Oversight in the Face of Executive Branch and Media Suppression.

Taken together, the media coverage, election results and all else happening now reminds me of an old film about the nexus of media to politics and American values. This is A Face in the Crowd (1957), directed by the rather controversial Elia Kazan, who has long been vilified for naming names during McCarthyism.

Some recent liberal critics have begun to maintain that the film predicts the Trump era, as it exposes an unhealthy alliance between populism, media and politics, while others claim just the opposite. However it definitely shows how lies and manipulation are part of any election process, and what has apparently transpired shows much more than just how low lying, deceitful politicians, journalists and governmental election oversight watchdogs will go to achieve their ends.

We’re Nowhere Near the Thick of it!

There are several videos of postal contract workers saying they saw suspicious dealings with truckloads and boxes full of ballots. As for the movie, readers should watch this carefully, stop at places and take notes, as it tells it all. Think of your own political history, your country – many countries have had, or still do have, similar vote rigging, media manipulation, playing the same political games. Compare for yourself with what is being alleged in the US, and see how your own people are manipulated into accepting all this as normal by government and media.

Think back to Dr. Goebbels, and how Hitler grabbed and consolidated power, and how it all fell apart in the end. The US is supposed to protect the world from that sort of thing. Whenever it is criticised by doing the opposite, it deflects this by saying that can’t be true because such things don’t happen in the US itself. Once the global community had to accept that argument but will it now?

Nobody is going to be the winner in the US presidential election, and the vote count is a moot issue; only democracy will have been lost. This will only empower those who want a different system – dictators, radicals and extremists of all kinds. These are same people who then dress their deeds up as “democratic”, Soviet-style, to give them legitimacy. They day they don’t will be the day US-hegemony ends, and it make be as soon as the day you read this article.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed - Spider-Man: Far From Home

Welcome, True Believers one and all, to Spider-Man: Far From Home! And I do mean True Believers—newcomers need not enter, because this Phase Three epilogue was made only for the most diehard of Marvel Cinematic Universe fanatics, packed full of more callbacks, Easter eggs, and crowd-pleasing cameos than you can shake a web at! Don’t worry, though: it isn’t all mindless fan service; director Jon Watts also does an excellent job of building on the themes he introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming, as well as continuing his hero’s character arc following the events of the previous two Avengers flicks.

[SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Endgame, and several other MCU films below the break. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker finds himself at a crossroads in his crime-fighting career. Traumatized by the battle against Thanos and his forces, devastated by the loss of his mentor, and adrift on a planet that has fast-forwarded five years in his absence, the wall-crawler is beginning to seriously doubt that he’s qualified to protect the universe. Yes, “with great power comes great responsibility,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re always ready to carry such a burden when the time comes; no matter how much Nick Fury insists that Spidey should step up and fill Iron Man’s rocket boots, Peter is still a frightened, insecure teenager underneath the spandex, and part of him just wants to hang out with his friends, confess his feelings to the girl he loves, and enjoy some of the normal childhood that “The Blip” nearly stole from him.

The antagonists, too, echo Homecoming’s blue collar baddies. In what should come as a surprise to nobody familiar with the source material, they are not, in fact, inter-dimensional monsters, but rather ordinary people attempting to capitalize on the extraordinary circumstances into which they've stumbled. The enigmatic Mysterio is, in reality, a disgruntled Stark Industries employee seeking retribution for (what he perceives to be) the grave injustices he’s endured. With Earth’s Mightiest Heroes splintered beyond recognition, the world that once “mistook” his genius for insanity now craves a new savior, and with the aid of his high-tech holograms and attack drones, Quentin Beck is determined to fill that void—even if he has to fabricate his own threats and put countless innocent lives at risk in order to do it.

These relatively low narrative stakes make Far From Home feel like a breath of fresh air. From its very inception, Marvel Studios has been producing films that are meant to support the architecture of a greater franchise, each installment laying the groundwork for the next leg of the journey: Iron Man teased The Avengers, which in turn foreshadowed Infinity War. Endgame, however, lacked the company’s trademark post-credits stinger; for the first time in recent memory, the series had no loose plot threads to tie up, no predetermined course to follow. Thus, in terms of its story, ol’ web-head’s latest adventure is essentially a blank slate. Watts takes full advantage of this creative freedom, adopting a laid-back, leisurely pace that allows him to flesh out his ensemble cast and explore more mundane conflicts—relationship drama, farcical misunderstandings, et cetera. Of course, he also delivers plenty of spectacle; the main villain is, after all, the "Master of Illusions," leading to trippy, disorienting set pieces that are every bit as imaginative and visually ambitious as anything in Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, or Doctor Strange.

To wrap this review up before I start rambling too much: Is Far From Home the best Spider-Man movie to date? Well… it’s difficult to say right now. Into the Spider-Verse is damn near perfect, and Sam Raimi’s original trilogy remains undeniably iconic. Regardless of its precise ranking, it absolutely deserves every truckload of money it’s earned so far. Honestly, I was initially skeptical that the MCU would survive in the wake of Thanos’ defeat, but those doubts have been definitively laid to rest; make mine Marvel, now and forever!

[quotespicture]

https://quoteswithpicture.com/best-quotes-from-the-dark-knight-trilogy-why-so-serious/

Best Quotes from The Dark Knight Trilogy – ‘Why so serious?’

  Here is our list of the best quotes from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, which are ranked as some of the greatest superhero movies made.

  1. Batman Begins (2005)

Nolan’s birth of Batman, in an origin story where we follow Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) traveling to the Far East, to train in the martial arts by Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows. When Ghul reveals the League’s true purpose, the complete destruction of Gotham City, Wayne returns to Gotham intent on cleaning up the city without resorting to murder. With the help of his loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a tech expert at Wayne Enterprises, Batman is born.

‘Your anger gives you great power. But if you let it, it will destroy you.’ – Ra’s al Ghul (Batman Begins) Click To Tweet

  [Bruce looks defeated as Wayne Manor is burning down] Bruce Wayne: I wanted to save Gotham. I failed. Alfred Pennyworth: Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up. Bruce Wayne: You still haven’t given up on me? Alfred Pennyworth: Never.

  Bruce Wayne: People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting.

  Rachel Dawes: Wait! You could die. At least tell me your name. [Bruce pauses for a moment] Bruce Wayne: It’s not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me. Rachel Dawes: Bruce?

  Rachel Dawes: [to Bruce] Deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it’s not who you are underneath, it’s what you do that defines you.

  Rachel Dawes: You’re not talking about justice. You’re talking about revenge. Bruce Wayne: Sometimes they’re the same. Rachel Dawes: No, they’re never the same, Bruce. Justice is about harmony. Revenge is about you making yourself feel better. It’s why we have an impartial system.

  Carmine Falcone: [to Bruce] This is a world you’ll never understand. And you always fear what you don’t understand.

  Ra’s al Ghul: What are you seeking? Bruce Wayne: I seek the means to fight injustice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. Ra’s al Ghul: To manipulate the fears in others you must first master your own. Are you ready to begin? Bruce Wayne: I can barely stand. Ra’s al Ghul: Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate or fair! And make no mistake, here you face death.

  Alfred Pennyworth: Strange injuries a non-existent social life, these things beg the question as to what exactly does Bruce Wayne do with his time and his money. Bruce Wayne: And what does someone like me do? Alfred Pennyworth: Drive sports cars, date movie stars, buy things that are not for sale, who knows, Master Wayne, you start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident.

  [trying to lift a burning roof beam off of Bruce] Alfred Pennyworth: What is the point of all those push-ups if you can’t even lift a bloody log!

  Earle: Bruce? You’re supposed to be dead. Bruce Wayne: Sorry to disappoint.

  [as Batman is about leave] Jim Gordon: I never said thank you. Batman: And you’ll never have to.

  1. The Dark Knight (2008)

Nolan’s sequel, which is now widely considered to be one of the best sequels ever made. The story follows Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) in his continuing war on crime. With the help of allies Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman has been able to keep a tight lid on crime in Gotham City. But when a menace knows as the Joker (Heath Ledger) emerges, he starts to wreak havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham. Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice and begins to tread a fine line between heroism and vigilantism.

‘If you’re good at something, never do it for free.’ – The Joker (The Dark Knight) Click To Tweet

  The Joker: I believe whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you stranger.

  Alfred Pennyworth: A long time ago, I was in Burma, my friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of the tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away. Bruce Wayne: So why steal them? Alfred Pennyworth: Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  The Joker: want to know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not one bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it! He turns to me, and he says, “Why so serious, son?” Comes at me with the knife, “Why so serious?” He sticks the blade in my mouth, “Let’s put a smile on that face!” And, why so serious?

  Bruce Wayne: Let her go! [Joker dangles Rachel out of a window] The Joker: Very poor choice of words… [then let’s Rachel drop]

  Bruce Wayne: Then why do you want to kill me? The Joker: [laughs] I don’t, I don’t want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, no! No. You, you complete me.

  Bruce Wayne: You’re garbage who kills for money. The Joker: Don’t talk like one of them. You’re not! Even if you’d like to be. To them, you’re just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these, uh, these civilized people, they’ll eat each other. See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.

  The Joker: [to Det. Stephens] Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can’t savor all the little emotions. In, you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are.

  The Joker: [to Harvey Dent] You know, you know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when things go “according to plan”. Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan.” But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!

  [Joker hands Dent a gun and points it at himself] The Joker: Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair!

  Bruce Wayne: What were you hoping to prove? That, deep down, everyone’s as ugly as you? You’re alone! The Joker: Can’t rely on anyone these days, you got to do to everything yourself. Don’t we!

  The Joker: [to Bruce] I took Gotham’s white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn’t hard. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push.

  Bruce Wayne: [voice over] Sometimes the truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes, people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.

  [referring to Batman] James Gordon Jr.: He didn’t do anything wrong. Lt. James Gordon: Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.

  3. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Final installment in Nolan’s trilogy, where we see Bruce Wayne living as a recluse in Wayne Manor, seen only by the trusted Alfred. Gotham appears at peace, with organized crime dropping, however, the arrival of a cunning cat burglar, Selina (Anne Hathaway), and a merciless terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy), forces Batman out of exile and into a battle he may not be able to win.

‘There are always people you care about. You just don’t realize how much until they’re gone.’ – Bruce Wayne (The Dark Knight Rises) Click To Tweet

  Blake: [to Bruce] To be angry. In your bones. I mean, they understand. Foster parents, everybody, understands, for a while. But then they want the angry little kid to do something he knows he can’t do. To move on. So after a while they stop understanding and they send the angry kid to a boys home. I figured it out too late. You got to learn to hide the anger, and practice smiling in the mirror. It’s like putting on a mask. So you showed up this one day in a cool car, pretty girl on your arm. We were so excited. Bruce Wayne, billionaire orphan! We used to make up stories about you, man. Legends. And you know, to the other kids that’s all it was, just stories. But, right when I saw you I knew who you really were.

  Bruce Wayne: You’re afraid that if I go back out there, I’ll fail. Alfred: No. I’m afraid that you want to.

  Alfred: [to Bruce] I am using the truth, Master Wayne. Maybe it’s time we all stopped trying to outsmart the truth and just let it have its day. I’m sorry!

  Bane: Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

  Bruce Wayne: Hope you didn’t like me for my money. Miranda: Suffering builds character.

  Bruce Wayne: Why didn’t you just kill me? Bane: You don’t fear death, you welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe. Bruce Wayne: You’re a torturer. Bane: Yes. But not of your body. Of your soul.

  Blind Prisoner: Fear is why you fail. Bruce Wayne: No, I’m not afraid. I’m angry.

  Bruce Wayne: If you’re working alone, wear a mask. Blake: I’m not afraid to be seen standing up to these guys. Bruce Wayne: The mask is not for you. It’s to protect the people you care about.

  Bruce Wayne: A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders, to let him know the world hadn’t ended.