#i certainly give charles more credit than you

[petit-papillion]

"Leclerc is too nice to be a world champion. A Hamilton or a Verstappen, Leclerc does not have that in him. Suppose Ferrari has the best car next year, then Hamilton will gobble him up. Leclerc doesn't strike me as tough when I look at the little mistakes he makes and how he treats his engineers."

Robert Doornbos during Chinese GP weekend broadcast | April 2024

Source: Ziggo Sport

Original Dutch:

"Leclerc is te lief om wereldkampioen te zijn. Een Hamilton of een Verstappen, dat zit er bij Leclerc niet in. Stel Ferrari krijgt de beste auto volgend jaar, dan vreet Hamilton hem op. Leclerc komt op mij niet hard over als ik kijk naar de foutjes die hij maakt en hoe hij met zijn engineers is."

[daincrediblegg]

I need all the lore about Lamb and Standish too. When did they become so dependent on each other? Did they ever get drunk together back in the day? Did they ever sleep together? We know he cares about her a lot and feels guilty AND protective over her since Partner, but does he actually love her and is he in denial about this? I have so many questions

OK OK OK SO. I just finished the first book (woohoo) and. I am honestly so thrilled to say that what little lore we got from the first book at least aligned a lot with some of the stuff that I had come to my own conclusions about from having watched the show... way too many times now. And I have to say- real credit to Saskia and Gary and Will Smith for putting it together in the show the way they did because man. I feel like they give us so many subtextual clues and they really capitalize on each and every one of them that it makes doing my job as a film scholar just super fun.

Anways- on the Standish and Lamb situation? I have lots of thoughts. Most of which I wrote down last night in a complete stupor because this is what keeps me up at night thinking about this character dynamic. So buckle up. We're gonna ramble our way through my own thoughts and ideas about all this.

Like to start, to me it seems that they really never had much contact at all back in the day, and that makes sense: considering Jackson's mostly in Berlin playing Moscow rules in the field while Standish is at home holding the fort for Charles, there's not a lot of overlap with each other physically but they did know each other as much as they needed to know at the time: Standish was Partner's drunk PA, and Lamb was the Joe of All Joes (can I make it any more obvious?). What little contact they may have ever had was certainly mostly through Charles, and the show gives us some insight to that giving us that little flashback that Catherine has where she seemingly meets Lamb for the first time after "Berlin's blown" (which could mean either the wall came down as Lamb says to Catherine in his half-confession, or that he's referring to the incident that he describes to Katinsky in season 2, and of these two options, my money is on the latter). That looks like a woman being very confused meeting someone she's never really seen before in her life to me (or perhaps has seen while drunk at one time, but doesn't much remember).

I mean most of the rest I feel like I can glean from the incidents themselves. Both of them getting relegated to Slough House after Charles' death seems natural- Catherine with her near miss of a treason charge and Lamb with the fact that he literally assassinated First Fucking Desk of MI5. And it's easy to see how the co-dependency came from there. Catherine as an alcoholic going through AA specifically, seems to revolve around structure to keep herself in check- the way she talks about Charles Partner in Season 2 helps with this. The fact that he payed for her treatment and in return- probably partially because of this need for structure- she latched onto her job as a way to compensate so that she doesn't end up in the same dark place again. So, then being Lamb's secretary, it's still the same kind of structure that she needs, even though this time it doesn't feel as rosy as it might have done with Partner.

- And this is a point that I think about a lot. She does view her whole relationship with Partner with rose colored glasses, even though if you listen to what she's actually saying in those flashbacks from season 1, she's done his laundry, is planning his outfits, put out his flowers- she was doing nothing more than some kind of glorified paid house wife kind of shit for him (and in FACT! I was fooled my first go around season 1 like I genuinely thought that she was deadass his WIFE or something. I think that misconception on my part says a LOT). And Lamb in parallel to that is a great come down from that mountaintop-that she sees herself and Partner as this idylic Q and Money Penny type of thing that she's romanticized in her head for the last 20 years- an illusion that Lamb on every level shatters and is - at least to his credit- honest about. As much as he inconveniences her and as much as he's his raw unfiltered self around her (which- he certainly is more of that around Standish than anyone else he knows. River gets a lot of brutal honesty from Jackson, but none to do with emotional sincerity- like the way Lamb tells Standish the half-truth of Partner's death, and why he *chose* slough house), as much as he's a bully he's still doesn't give her any illusion of what their relationship is or isn't, and no one would see that as a mark of respect on account of him being an "utter bastard", but is all of that really worse than Charles pretending to be her best friend and all the while planning to have her take the fall for him behind her back? (Personally? It's a different kind of bad but Charles is definitely the worst). And it's extra funny situationally because then all of the things she says about how Partner treated her is much more close to the mark to what Lamb did for her, and things that weren't superficial either. "I know that unlike you, he respected me" ("christ, Standish was right", always updates her on what he knows when appropriate and always has her sit in on debriefs when it's safe), "he showed me friendship"(he always pours out a drink for her that he ends up drinking himself, always when things are going to come down on her deals with it *himself* rather than relegate it to the fuck-ups, always has her up to date on things -unless it means blowing cover), "and he believed in me" (he gave HER the gun and let her delegate the hijacking of the MI5 car from Duffy and Webb, let HER do the cool agent stuff, also lets her do some of the investigative work- especially in season 2 when he doesn't interrupt her at ALL when she keeps up with the camera trail on- but also knows her limits, especially in the house of hell where he stuffs her in a closet knowing she can't be of more use because *he* knew he could kill Hobbs, but "now I won't shoot you dead, Mr. Webb,"), "and he kept me on, when anyone else would have thrown me to the wolves."(which is exactly what he did when Partner died, and all the information came out that Partner was going to peg it on her. It wouldn't surprise me if he took the hit for that too in some way. If him getting her treason charge dropped might also be part of why he ended up in Slough House - which if the op was sanctioned initially by David Cartwright might hold some weight. Maybe that was David cleaning up and covering arse like Taverner would do. Maybe Catherine *was* supposed to take the fall, but Jackson refused to let that happen? But that's just a theory. A Slough House Theory).

But the bigger question in this is of course: why? Why on god's green earth does Jackson Lamb give a shit, and why is he so dependent on Standish?

The solution to this feels multi-pronged. First: I think that he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about innocent people getting caught in the cross-fire of the things that MI-5 get up to, and Catherine fits that bill better than anybody he knows. In season 2 when he talks about the women agents whose deaths he was directly responsible for, he describes it as something he "wishes [he] could unsee"- which for Lamb is saying a lot, considering that to most things (heads on tables, faces blown off with shotguns) he doesn't bat an eye, and even says he's seen worse. What happened to those women and the fact that what he said made that happen I think affected him more deeply than he lets on in that scene, because even though Charles Partner didn't know who they were at all outside of a codename, Jackson did, and probably knew them very well. And Charles as their shadowy overlord who was just moving them like pieces on a chessboard never had to pay the emotional price for that, nor did David Cartwright. But Lamb did. Because as much as he denies it to keep people looking the other way, Lamb does have a heart, and it's hard to earn but it's not impossible.

And he always does take the emotional fall for things! He says in season 4 that he "had a heart until he worked for [David Cartwright]" whom he also said "gave [him] a job once". The way those lines conflict in tone but also reveal a lot about how he views his own fall from grace says so much. David Cartwright got him into this business, but under his direction he hardened for it (something that I think connects him to River more than that boy will ever understand. Also is what makes Lamb a better mentor than Peepaw Cartwright, but that's another story) not to mention that for all intents and purposes, Lamb and Partner were actually good friends, and that this betrayal and the fact that he had to do it himself (even though maybe his feelings were mixed on the matter- that maybe he even loved Partner too in a similar way that Standish did at one point in time, but the lives lost from his betrayal weighed on Lamb more- and as we all know, from Catherine's own mouth, he'll do anything to get even for his Joes).

Which brings me to my second point: Jackson Lamb wants to be the hero just as much as his protege River Cartwright does, but the reality of their whole line of work is that there are very few instances in which anyone gets to be, but Catherine is one of the rare exceptions where he did, and all told, it doesn't feel good. Because there's a couple things at play here right? On the one hand yeah- he did save her from being thrown to the wolves after Partner died and framed her for his crimes! Yes he kept her from facing a treason charge, yes he covers her arse time and time again. But she still is the person who had to find the body. And as we know with Lamb, he knows how bad it is to have found the body better than anyone (I mean- I point to how he reacts to Min's death, and then to Bad Sam's in season 4- so enraged he storms out but also so depressed he steals his last bottle of booze). He didn't get to spare her from that, but he is trying to spare her from the rest of it too(an impulse he couldn't help but let go in the last episode of season 3- while still not incriminating himself, mind you), and that's hard! Because he's not supposed to have a heart ("What goodness? What heart?", "Oh have a heart, Jackson!") but he DOES! And he's taken it upon himself to break it time and time again just so he can keep himself at the top of his game- even though, and here's the secret: it's his heart that makes him the best at what he does! Because he does get involved! "I think your attention has been split between finding [Hassan Ahmed] and burning me!"- he does on some level actually give a shit about lives lost! Something Lady Di and Tearney and Duffy and even Cartwright Sr. don't consider when THEY play the game. And he cares about the kind of people that have everything to lose from the actions of the people at the top! And he'll martyr himself about it over and over again because he's got the skill better than anyone to do it and he knows it! And to make sure Standish stays right where she is- out of harms way- he'll fucking go to the ends of... idk England. Probably. To make sure she stays out of harms way where she belongs. And as a thread running co-current to that: I think he understands how much having found Partner's body haunts her every waking moment more than she knows- from his own experience, though he's definitely got a higher body count. They all weigh on him just the same ("By the time I was your age, I'd lost a baker's dozen. It was bad enough when the wall was up, but once they reduced it to bricks and rubble, everything went to shit. Whole networks of Joes, rounded up, blown. I haven't forgotten any of them. And I won't forget Sid.")

And then, on the other side of the dice, I think there's also a bit of a self-torture mixed with sadism that's a part of why he keeps her around too. I mean in a lot of ways it seems that it is absolute torture to him to keep Catherine around, considering she's always harping on about cHaRlEs PaRtNeR (who as we have established- it grates on Jackson that in Catherine's mind Partner is a knight in shining armor when really *he* did all of that way more than Partner ever did for her- though I don't even think Lamb would give himself the credit for that he can't stand that she sees him that way when he was disenchanted and knew all these horrible truths about what he did to his own people for money), and part of that co-dependency is (and I hate to say it) is that he needs to torture SOMEONE other than himself externally for his own friendship with Partner and literally Catherine is the only person with a shred of shared history that he can really do that to. And at the same time, she gets to do it to him. He gets to let her torture him also just a little bit ("What did your last servant die of?" "What did your last boss die of?"). He thrives off of that push and pull of torturing others while actually torturing himself. It's his own fucked up emotional bdsm basically.

Now of course to the biggest question of all: Is it love? Who's to say? Can Lamb ever cut the bullshit and admit to himself that his feelings about the whole Partner situation haunt him like his own shadow? Forever attached to his being? Can Standish ever see beyond her rose-colored glasses about Partner and give Jackson some forgiveness before he farts himself into an early grave for it? I don't know but they're on the fucking clock and I tend to swing back and forth like a pendulum on the notion (like I wouldn't say I ship them, but I wouldn't say that I don't either. Secret third thing: they're just really narratively fucking interesting and that gets me off just as well as anything else so? Yeah I guess).

[starlight-archer]

You said you were taking asks and I just want the boys watching movies. I feel like Charles and Crystal would think it’s the easiest way to introduce more modern stuff to Edwin. Showing someone your favorite movie can be really personal. You want them to love it too! And you have to hold yourself back on telling them all the cool Easter eggs and behind the scenes!

Here we go!! I got there eventually! Hope you like it!

Read on AO3

Fic under read more!

Crystal and Charles practically manhandled Edwin down onto the small couch that was tucked against the wall in the office. As much as one could be manhandled without being touched at all. Maybe it was more accurate to say that he had been bullied there, or peer-pressured into it.

They had been pestering him with every spare moment to join them for a movie night, declaring that it was the best way for him to get up to date on modern society. Plus, it would be beneficial for him to be able to understand all of the pop culture references that they were making, and any made by potential clients. It would help provide additional context, they had said, as though they had both been rehearsing it together for weeks.

"Oh alright, fine." Edwin said with a huff, finally giving in and allowing himself to be herded over to the couch. He sat in the middle between Charles and Crystal, who eagerly crowded in at his sides.

They decided to go through some from Charles' childhood that, as it turned out, Crystal had watched as a kid as well. They started with Princess Bride, then worked through Neverending Story, Legend, Labyrinth (not one of the three could deny the allure of David Bowie as Jareth), Back to The Future, and so on and so forth.

They continued with their movie nights, marathoning movie series and stand-alones night by night. The Lord of The Rings trilogy (extended director's cut, obviously), The Hobbit, Blade Runner, Star Wars, and then more of Crystal's personal selections; things like The Hunger Games, Gremlins, High School Musical, Mean Girls, Twilight, and many many more.

Edwin, to his credit, sat through every one of them, quietly taking in everything on screen, making sure to pay attention as Charles and Crystal joked about things that were happening and offered him little bits of trivia about the cast and film production.

The one about Viggo Mortensen breaking his foot on the helmet he kicked had certainly caused him to wince sympathetically.

This was something that was important to both of them, and Edwin listened as they told him how and why with so much enthusiasm (or disdain depending on the movie) that he couldn't help but get drawn into it with them. 

"So, how have you been enjoying the movie nights? Not looking so bad now, yeah?" Charles asked, leaning back in the chair as they finished up their final film of the night.

"Well..." Edwin was reluctant to admit that they had been right.

"Oh come on! Don't bullshit, I saw you tear up during The Last Unicorn!" Crystal called him out and he fought the urge to immediately deny it.

"Alright, I concede that maybe it wasn't too bad watching all these movies with the two of you." Edwin said, hands folded on his lap.

"And just think, if not for us, your bestest friends of all time, you never would have had the opportunity." Crystal grinned.

"Please." Edwin scoffed. "Bestest is not a real word." he paused for a moment. "But... I suppose that I am... Grateful that the three of us have been able to do this together..." he paused again to get his bearings. This was harder to say than he had anticipated. "After Niko... I did not think that I would want to continue my pop culture education, as you've put it, but I am very glad that I did."

"Edwin..." Crystal didn't know what to say. They all felt Niko's absence like a gaping wound, still so fresh even after so much time.

"Mate... I think... I think she would have been happy to see you keeping on with it." Charles said, getting a little choked up as he put a comforting hand on Edwin's arm.

"I do believe that you are right about that... She would have been sad if I had not finished watching all of the things that she was so eager to show me." Edwin sighed heavily. "In a way, it is like we are sharing a piece of her each time we watch something together that she would have recommended."

"We should do the Ghibili movies next!" Crystal exclaimed, feeling the weight of their missing friend too much and needing to alleviate it. "Niko loved those movies. We can watch them all." she said in a softer tone.

"Well, you know the important question then, don't you?" Charles smiled warmly. "Do we go in number order or do we just watch our favourite ones first?" 

"Do not be ridiculous, Charles." Edwin said, giving his best friend a pointed look. "We should always save the best for last." 

Crystal grinned at that. "Yeah! You get it, Edwin! Okay, we'll sort them based on which ones you think look the best and we'll save Niko's top five for the end!" 

"That sounds brills!" Charles agreed. He was so happy that Edwin was taking to this idea, so happy that he could find joy in doing this with Crystal and himself. 

"It does indeed." Edwin smiled softly, ever so fond. He hoped that Charles and Crystal could feel his gratitude. 

As they made their way through the movies over the coming weeks - much as they had been doing day by day thus far - Edwin found himself very much appreciating the two wonderful people by his side. Both fiercely protective and loyal, both fundamentally good, both caring for him enough to do this with him, to make sure that he didn't miss out on something incredibly special due to his own reluctance to engage too much with the modern world. 

He loved them both more than he could ever hope to express with words. 

-----

"Oh come on, please! Pretty please! Pretty please with a cherry on top!" she begged to no avail.

"There is such a thing as due process. Good grief! Stop pestering me for five minutes and perhaps I would actually be bale to get somewhere with your paperwork." said the Night Nurse, who had (much to her distaste) been dubbed Charlotte by those confounding Dead Boy Detectives and their psychic friend.

"Just let me help! I can make it go faster!" she dusted off her pink jeans and leaned over the desk that Charlotte was sitting at.

"Absolutely not. Sit down and behave." Charlotte dismissed, causing her charge to slump dramatically into her seat and then peering back into the glass surface that showed the interior of the Dead Boy Detectives Agency. She practically had her nose pressed up against its surface.

"You have to!" Niko objected again, after having seen what they were doing down there. "They're going to watch Whisper Of The Heart without me!"

[wi55iams]

i love the carlos theory, but is there evidence??

we must see - for scientific purposes, of course 👀

Apologies at how long it has taken me to prove my theory, but I come bearing proof of Carlos' twinkishness! Firstly, we must consider the definition of twink. This is what wikipedia describes a twink as:

So how does this apply to Carlos? First, let's focus on having a slim physique. Carlos definitely fits this descriptor. I know a lot of you will think I am crazy. 'But Carlos is buff!' You will say. However, this is a misconception. Consider the following;

See how skinny his upper body is compared to his race suit? In the bottom image you can see its like a centimetre or two thick fabric which pads him out a bit. I think the video of him walking to the podium after Miami 2022 really exemplifies this:

I think because we usually see Carlos in a race suit, we perceive him as bulkier. Not convinced by this alone? Lets actually compare him to an F1 driver usually called a twink, Charles.

See how they're actually about the same size and body shape? If anything, Carlos has a slimmer waist than Charles, and both are about the same in terms of muscle. Lets compare him with an F1 driver not considered a twink by the masses, Pierre in terms of muscle:

Carlos is pretty bulky arm wise, but just look at how crazy huge and defined Pierre's muscles are. If you look at more pictures of Pierre he's much bigger than Carlos or Charles in size. Look at this guy!

So if Carlos is closer to Charles, a known twink, than Pierre, i think its safe to say he is much more twinkish than we give him credit for. But i'm not even done. Carlos has in fact been DECEIVING you by being an athlete and having muscles, under all that he is built like a twig. You can see this when he was younger. Look at this. If you're willing to do some digging back to his karting days, you can see before he started lifting he was weirdly long and built fairly skinny.

So that completes the 'slim' part. Next is youthful appearance/age. Carlos is nearly 30, but as Wikipedia states you don't have to be an older teen or in your early twenties to be a twink. It's about the presentation, and Carlos certainly fits that youthful vibe with his always messy hair, toothy smile, and big eyes. He also likes to rough house and push people around as a sign of affection, which just screams young guy to me lol.

Next is body hair. I admit my theory hits a slight snag here, as we all know Carlos is hairy af. However, we also all know he's dedicated to waxing every last piece of chest hair off. It's harder to find a picture of a hairy Carlos compared to the many pictures of him with no body hair at all. So I think we can say he's pushing himself towards a twink vibe with this. (below picture isn't the best to illustrate how much he shaves his chest i just think its funny)

Finally, flamboyancy. Defined as 'tending to attract attention because of their exuberance, confidence, and stylishness.' This is Carlos to a T. He's always confident, perhaps not super 'stylish' but he does have a good dress sense and seems to know what clothes suit him, and he's been proven to be quite excitable and exuberant when hanging out with friends. I think his hypercompetitiveness shows this as well. Is this picture not the epitome of careless confidence and flamboyance?

So. There is my evidence. Agree or disagree as you will. I will say he is probably more a twunk than all out twink, but he for sure has some twink in him. Here's a few last pictures to really try and convince you, but for now, ciao.

[mysadcorner]

HIIIII! Can I PLEASE request Father figure Logan howlett/Wolverine having a daughter who has super speed??

Logan Howlett x SuperSpeed!Daughter!Reader Headcanons

-Credit to the gifs owner - Please be specific about characters wanted in requests

Masterlist Navigation

Logan has dealt with people who have abilities concerning speed before, but having a child or young teen be faster than everyone else and almost impossible to catch is much more complicated to deal with. He'll just have to try and keep a closer eye on you.

He doesn't actually have a lot of experience looking after children if you are a small child, and it may take him a while to get used to you being around so much. He'll try his best, so don't hold it against him if he makes mistakes or seems snappy sometimes when he's stressed.

If he wasn't around or didn't get to see you much as a child then he would try his best to have as much quality time with you as he can to make up for lost time. He hopes that he can compensate for not being around, and he's willing to put extra effort in to make sure you see his attempts, even if he isn't the best at expressing how he feels.

If he isn't able to look after you constantly or suspect either you or himself of being in danger he will definitely leave you with Charles Xavier for a short while. He's one of the few people Logan can trust not to betray him and he's certainly more than capable of looking after children with varying abilities, especially due to experience.

Logan wants you to be able to look after yourself while also being confident in your abilities, and because of this, he will try to teach you things or give you advice about things that he's experienced over the years. He may also go out of his way to get others involved who have similar abilities when he isn't able to help you with something so that you can connect with someone who is quite similar to yourself.

Logan will also try his best to give you independence, so when there isn't any danger he'll give you things to do or suggest ways that you can help out others which would make use of your speed and abilities. He wants you to learn to have responsibility and look after yourself when he isn't around, so over time the tasks and jobs he sends you to do will increase in importance once you've grown up; but for now, he'll just have you do little things that come in handy.

Logan has quite a temper, but he'll always try to hold it back when you're involved. He does make sure to be stern with you still when you've misbehaved or put yourself in danger, though. However, he may not always be able to catch up with you straight away if you're significantly faster than him and are acting out against him rather than behaving and taking the punishment for stepping out of line.

Logan would develop a special bond with you after spending so much time together and getting to know each other so well, especially during relaxed and mundane moments which allow you to get to know him better. In the long run, he has a soft spot for you, and you'll never be able to get rid of him.

[charles-leclerc-official]

What's your opinion on charles in wet. I've noticed that it's his weakest spot by now, but I'm quite new, and maybe it is not up to him, but some outside factors. Overall, I just want to know what you, as the princess of tumblr dot com races analysis, think about him on wet tracks because it most likely gonna rain in Canada.

Charles is actually a lot better in the wet than people usually give him credit for. Is he the best on the grid in the wet? No. There are several others who are much better(Lewis, Max, Fernando) However he does tend to get underestimated in the rain.

One of his best wet weather performances is Turkey 2021. The track is one of the lowest in terms of grip, so very slick already. Then it rained and he was overtaking, also set the fastest lap(at the time) in the rain, and finished P4. Like he wasn't just running in the rain he was putting out some very competitive racecraft in wet conditions. And he stayed ahead of Lewis even after the track was starting to dry(so inter conditions)

The reason he lost the podium place to Checo during that race was because Ferrari strategy decided to see how long he could go on old inters. So the loss of the place wasn't due to the weather.

Again in Monaco 2022(that race had other issues) he was leading the race, on the most technical track, with the most unforgiving margin for error, and was extremely competitive there(the reason he lost places that race was due to Ferrari double stack issue in the pits, you are seeing a pattern here . . .)

Regardless of the result, his racing under wet conditions there was extremely good. His pace and speed were on track to win there. And Monaco is one of the most difficult tracks in the rain.

There are others. But Overall I'd rank him in the top 5-7 drivers in the rain. He isn't as strong in the rain, and he certainly doesn't get stronger. But he is solid and has shown on multiple occasions that he is competitive in wet conditions both in speed and racecraft.

There are other things that work against drivers in the rain. This doesn't just apply to Charles. If a driver has a car that is really unstable in the rain there is only so much they can do.

A lot of lists and analysis just look at final results to determine if someone is "good" under X conditions, but you really have to look at the driving on track to get the real story. A driver coming in P5 who had insane skills in the wet, but then lost the places in the pits is an example where the end results wouldn't reflect the quality of driving.

Most drivers have mixed results in the rain. By results I mean finishing results and overall mistakes(big losses of traction etc) that's normal and doesn't mean any particular driver is bad in the rain. And I think another thing that comes up is his results have been mixed in the wet for other factors that were less to do with the rain and more to do with the car. Just about every driver on the grid has had a big spin or DNF due to rain. So I don't consider that a glaring sign of an issue unless it's happening very frequently.

In conclusion, Charles is solid and can be very competitive in the rain, but there are others on the grid who are better.

In Canada I expect a strong performance from him. The SF-24 is likely better suited for the wet compared to previous Ferraris. We will have to wait and see!

[ntshastark]

NUlts lb

i am, once again, catching up on the last few weeks (but now it's just the anniversary oneshot, uxm and usm)

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Ultimate Universe: One Year In

lmao tony is literally the protagonist of this universe, so iconic of him

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i thought this was some rare southern hemisphere rep (HELL YEAH FOR SUMMER CHRISTMAS) but using fahrenheit??

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that one woman who got arrested for repeating the words on luigi mangione's (allegedly) bullets

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ah nvm just global warming. anyway, happy first day of summer! it means rainy season is finally here and the temperature should start to go down!! that's right bitch, i pulled a double jeopardy (i don't actually know if that's the right way to use this expression)!! yeah it's the southern hemisphere, but it's also the fucking tropics babeyyy

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oh wow. they finally did it. they made the worst possible nick fury. the ultimate son of a bitch, if you will.

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ROBERTO????????????? WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BOY

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LOL

LMAO EVEN

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i was gonna say that's giving people way too much credit, but popular opinion on the ceo thing apparently proves me wrong so

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is that a falcon suit?? so no sam? :(

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HE KILLED MANTIS AND DUMDUM????????????????

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ah damn, a huge shift on the status quo would be so interesting. well.

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he should be at the club :(

also, thinking of 616 beto and illyana meeting these versions...

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ok what the fuck are these things supposed to be

and why was everyone drawn with their eyes closed so much on this issue?? was it on purpose? does it mean something or is it just a stylistic choice?

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...charles?

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ah so the wolverine/winter soldier is logan. i was kinda expecting a plot twist where it'd be bucky (given logan's is out there calling himself the first mutant)

well, apparently the wolverine comic is gonna be a lot more classic x-men than uxm itself. i can't believe they're putting the x-men behind a paywall, and the pay is having to read one of logan's solo books. and i don't even get scott >:(

well, at least my faves didn't get saddled with the evil russian trope, so i guess it could be worse

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Ultimate X-Men #10

i didn't even check if i should've read this one before the 'one year in thing' uhhh oops

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me n the gc

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i'm sorry, this looks so stupid

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i genuinely don't know if i just don't vibe with peach momoko's style or if she's really getting sloppy because of deadlines (which, if it's the case, is totally understandable), but like

this is so ugly, i'm sorry. these are thumbnails.

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sigh.

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oh. uh.

oops?

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is this hank???

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yeah, i guess this makes a bit more sense coming before the 'one year in' thing, since the oneshot makes christmas references and so does the next comic (usm), but this one doesn't. i have absolutely no idea how big christmas is in japan, but i think it makes for a smoother read? (this is me thinking about my 6160 reading order btw)

==

Ultimate Spider-Man #12

they're married at this point

==

OOOOOOOOOOOOO EDDIE BROCK REF AND MJ FAMILY DRAMA

==

oh my god are the watsons going to be the focus of this issue, would hickman be that nice to me???? i mean, three whole women????

==

ma'am you're looking at him with his husband!!!! can't believe mj's mom is a homewrecker

==

oh my god

==

*banging on the table* WATSON FAMILY DRAMA WATSON FAMILY DRAMA WATSON FAMILY DRAMA

==

not posting a lot of screenshots of things i'm enjoying bc it'd just be the whole fucking issue atp

==

jjj being richard's cool uncle is certainly Something

==

guys i think i love the watson sisters

==

oh my god gayle is such an absolute bitch, i love her

==

wait, am i actually supposed to believe they're not fucking????? what's this whole thing been about then???????

(like, i didn't think they'd make it canon or anything, but i genuinely thought hickman was writing it with the intention that it'd be implied bc like. why the fuck else would you do half of what happened in this run)

==

damn. one of the best spider-man issues i've read in my entire life and i don't think peter's actually said a single word in it.

==

oh wait there's more

==

OH HOLY SHIT

HOHOHOLY SHIT, EVEN

==

OH WAIT THERE'S EVEN MORE

==

OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT, JONATHAN HICKMAN THE MAN THAT YOU ARE

[mymistakewriting]

Magnetos trauma needs to be explored more, and idk i dont like how the writers have it be that Charles is his most trusted friend, and yet dont have Charles acknowledge that cause of Magnetos trauma as a holocaust survivor, is why his ideals seem so extreme. The writers need to get their heads out of their asses and just have Magnetos trauma explored and maybe idk have him work through it in therapy? But that could also be said for many Marvel characters tbh.

Honestly, I would love nothing more than for someone to take on the challenge of exploring the trauma that man's endured in his life in a way that humanizes him. I feel like so many references to his trauma are still fraught with the "but he's a bad guy so why would you ever feel sympathy for him" mindset and that's absolutely not the right way to approach a character with Nuances like Magneto's got.

And frankly, I don't even want to TOUCH my opinions on Charles Xavier as a character, never mind as someone who claims to be a friend to Magneto.

I'll give writers credit where it's due, though - Magneto and Charles are certainly two sides of the same coin, which was always the intention, I believe.

[nyarlathesleeper]

So. Alien 3. I just can't stay away from ya. I wanted to come back to this post, as after watching a video about both versions of Alien 3, I wanted to watch both again so I could reassess certain elements of this post more accurately. The differences in the Theatrical and Assembly cuts (TC and AC respectively) are substantive enough for me to tweak some of my assertions, as I was not familiar enough with either of them to properly make a post hating on this movie. Remember kids, if you're gonna hate, hate accurately.

I was a bit unfair to Alien 3. Not too unfair, but enough to bother me. It does do a little more with the themes of SA and motherhood than I gave it credit for. The AC adds a few minor moments that I think are worth noting. Firstly, before Newt's autopsy, Clemens, played by Charles Dance, asks Ripley if Newt was her daughter. After a brief moment of hesitation, she responds, "No."

This line just kills me. This woman was devastated by not getting to watch her biological daughter grow up in the second movie, and her second chance at that was torn away from her. Maybe saying no was a way of protecting herself. Refusing to admit just how much that little girl really meant to her. Maybe she's admonishing herself for having failed to protect her. Regardless of its reason, the effect is the same. Ripley has been crushed once again. Poor woman needs a hug.

The second scene from the AC I'm going to point out is late in the movie, where Ripley discovers that the xenomorph on Fury 161 won't kill her, as she's carrying the embryo of an alien queen. With no one else to turn to, she asks Charles Dutton's character, Dillon, to kill her. During this scene, she says something not present in the TC, "I was violated, now I get to be mother of the year." This is one of the most potent lines in the entire franchise. It's one of, if not the most explicit statements about the nature of the xenomorphs, how they use people, and how this affects people. It's a violation, plain and simple. Made all the worse by it happening when she was unconscious and unable to defend herself.

Both of these scenes are pivotal to Alien 3. They're some of the most overt representations of the series' themes that the movie has. To think they weren't included in the TC baffles me. There is one more major relevant difference between the two versions that I think is worth mentioning, and it's one of the most interesting changes between the two.

In both versions of Alien 3, Ripley jumps into a burning furnace in order to kill the queen growing inside her. In the Theatrical Cut, the queen bursts out of Ripley's chest mid-fall. But Ripley grasps onto it, preventing it from escaping, ensuring it goes with her into the fire. The Assembly Cut simply has Ripley fall into the fire, in one of the most dated effects I've ever seen in my life.

Now I'm not sure what the consensus is, but I think most people like the version from the TC. It gets the chest-bursting, it shows Ripley being a badass one last time, it looks better than the AC version, it's got a lot going for it. But I find myself preferring the version in the AC. Let's jump back to Aliens real quick. Ripley is, in the beginning of the movie, haunted by nightmares where a chest-burster pops out of her. It's a very big fear of hers. A fear that, meta-textually, represents being forcefully impregnated and giving birth to a creature she doesn't want. So when this fear is realized, and she is implanted with a xenomorph embryo, what is the more appropriate conclusion to that arc? Having that forced pregnancy carried out? Or allowing Ripley to choose for herself how to go out? I certainly prefer the latter. That's not to say there's nothing to taking the monster that's violating you and making sure it burns alongside you, but the AC's ending feels more dignified. It respects Ripley more. Something this movie sorely needed.

I didn't touch on this as much as I would've liked before, but Alien 3 is probably more like a traditional slasher movie than any other movie in the franchise. Which is most notable in how exploitative the movie feels sometimes. I mentioned before how the SA scene was highly inappropriate for the franchise, but this comes through in other ways. The autopsy scene isn't as gruesome as it probably could've been, but you still see the pained expression of Ripley the whole time, the blood pouring down the drain, the wet slicing of sinew and crunchy grinding of bone. The scene wants you cringing, and I really can't respect it for that. I feel like the end of the TC falls into this camp as well, showing off the chest-burster for the spectacle over what the scene really needed. And probably most confusingly, there's the weird romantic subplot between Ripley and Clemens. Now don't get me wrong, I like Clemens, but that shit came out of nowhere. Y'all have known each other for a day and you're already fucking. Why? Ripley barely flirted with Hicks, he just died, and now you're smashing Charles Dance into the mattress? It really feels like a decision made to be sensational more than anything else.

Now I don't inherently have a problem with these sorts of things in movies, but it just feels out of place for Alien. It's not a franchise about cheap horror cliches and outraging the audience, it's a slower contemplative series. You're meant to be drawn into an atmosphere, and Alien 3 just works against that. It does engage in some of the franchise's themes, but it doesn't do so to any degree that really benefits the broader movie or franchise. I still can't bring myself to say much I like about Alien 3, because for everything I do like, 3 more things just come by to bite a chunk out of my skull. Sigh. Alien 3.

Alien 3

Trigger Warnings throughout for topics surrounding SA, violence, and the death of a fictional child.

And spoilers for many Alien movies, obviously.

So anyone who knows me well knows that I adore the Alien franchise. They're some of the most inventive, exciting, and compelling sci-fi horror franchises of all time, and the first two are basically perfect films. It's unfortunate then, that I have to hate Alien 3 so severely. I have a lot of thoughts about the movie, and I felt like laying them out here. I'm going to be assessing some core themes of the franchise, as well as Alien 3 itself, to see what I think does and does not work. Unfortunately, not a lot I like, so my list of positives is going to be short.

So first off, Alien. What is? Alien is a dystopian sci-fi setting centered around the Weyland-Yutani corporation, its quest to harness the unstoppable killing machines that are the titular aliens, and Ellen Ripley, an unfortunate space trucker who just wants to go home and take a nap. The setting, at its core, oozes anti-capitalism like the aliens ooze... everywhere. The Company, as WY is usually called, cares nothing for its employees, colonists, or any human life so long as it can have the Xenomorph for its weapons division. The story therefore, has two monsters our characters need to overcome. The Xenomorphs, and the company. Both monsters equivalent in their inhuman disregard for life in order to satiate their most base instincts. Survival in the face of forces larger than any one person.

The Xenomorphs are a creation from the mind of H.R. Giger, whose psychosexual monsters are debatably perfected through these films. It's no secret to people who enjoy film analysis that the Xenomorphs are meant to embody the horror of sexual violence and motherhood. The forceful implantation by face-huggers, the adults kidnapping people for use as future incubators, and the birth of chest-bursters being only slightly more bloody and violent than a human birth. Sexual violence, then, is also a consistent theme in these films.

Motherhood isn't just a negative theme, though. Starting with Aliens, Ripley herself is fleshed out as a mother and mother figure. It's revealed that her daughter Amanda had died by the time she returned to Earth, and she's given the opportunity to become a mother figure for Newt, the only survivor of the space colony on LV-427 invaded by the Xenomorphs. Ripley, the only parent among the rough and tumble space marines she's with, is the only one capable of calming Newt down, getting Newt to trust her, to have hope of a life outside of the hell she's been trapped in for weeks. Ripley is somewhat distant at the start, but by the end of the movie is fully embracing her role as a protector of this young girl, alongside her new Space Marine flame, the three could start something resembling a normal life once it's all over.

And then we get to Alien 3. Sigh. An egg is shown to have made its way onto the Sulaco, the marine vessel Ripley, Newt, space marine Hicks, and synthetic Shepherd all escaped on. It's shown making its way into one of the cryo-pods the four are sleeping in, though which is not revealed. This causes a fire and all three pods being ejected, which make their way to a nearby prison planet. Ripley is (kinda) the only survivor.

So they killed off Hicks. Big deal. Good character, but not essential. Newt is a much harder sell. There's a scene early in the movie where Ripley, suspecting that Xenomorphs may have had something to do with the escape pods ejecting, demands for an autopsy to be performed on Newt. And something about this scene feels gross to me. You rip away one of our girl's primary motivations for carrying on, and now you have Charles Dance saw her child's ribs open on a cold, morgue table? There's something voyeuristic about the scene, about her suffering in that moment, that just really rubs me the wrong way.

Now don't misunderstand, I'm not mad that they killed Newt. I'd be fine with it if they did something with the idea. Used it to explore more of Ripley's character, but no. There's a scene where she and Hicks get cremated, and that's that. It never shows up again. Newt was, prior to that point, a key element in exploring one of the series' core themes. To erase her from the story prevents you from developing the theme in that direction, so you need to replace it. To call it a missed opportunity would be an understatement, in my opinion.

If you were worried that they'd botch the themes of sexual violence, don't worry, they did that too! Sexual violence in the Alien movies has, prior to this movie, purely been associated with the xenomorphs. Their assault and invasion of one's body is imo the most horrific element of the setting, death being preferred to being used as an incubator for basically everyone involved. It's graphic, painful, the idea alone is the cause of countless nightmares for Ripley. Abduction by the xenomorphs is therefore tantamount to the threat of SA.

Now, if you'll recall, the movie is set on a prison planet. An all men prison planet, at that. There aren't too many inmates, as technically the facility isn't in use anymore, but the last few residents have stayed in order to seek a relatively peaceful life away from the rest of the universe. This does not save them from being depicted as mostly violent thugs, giving Ripley lecherous gazes from the sidelines. At one point, as she's attempting to unravel the mystery surrounding the crash, she's accosted by multiple inmates, who threaten to rape her. She fights back, naturally, but has to be saved by the religious leader of the inmates. It should be no surprise that I hate all of this.

SA in horror is nothing new. It's a well established part of the genre, especially its shlocky, exploitationy side. But that's never been what Alien was. Alien depicts characters in their underwear, sure, but it's all casual. Some would read a sexual element into it, but I'm not one of them. I think it's about vulnerability. A calm before and after the storm, as it were. But to directly and explicitly sexually assault your main character? That's a bit beyond the pale. It's a threat meant to be relegated to the inhuman terror that is the xenomorphs. This could be part of the movie's themes surrounding the darker side of human nature, a theme I'm happy to explore, but this doesn't really contribute to that. Probably ought to briefly tackle that while I'm on it.

Being on a prison planet, most of the characters are explicitly criminals. Several are explicitly stated to be there for violent crimes against women specifically. You could make a statement about the way women are treated in men's prisons (any excuse to inject my transgender ideology into one of my favorite franchises), or just a way to address the ways women are preyed on by humans, but that's not really what Alien 3 is doing. The movie instead opts for a sort of redemptive angle. Charles Dance plays the prison's doctor, himself an inmate, and he's shown to be a smart, sensitive, kind man, despite his past crimes. The prison's priest, played by Charles Dutton, was a rapist who converted to space pentecostalism while in prison. He's shown to dislike Ripley, as he believes her to be an object of temptation that will lead his flock astray. He does eventually come around in the end, respecting Ripley as an equal, even dying for her. The movie is very interested in making you wonder whether these men who have committed terrible crimes are worthy of forgiveness. And though it isn't explicitly focused on the ones who assaulted Ripley, it feels like they're wanting you to ask that about them too. It is an interesting idea. Maybe a movie with some degree of competence could've done it well.

As I've said, I don't think it's done well. Not enough attention is given to the prisoners or the topic of redemption to actually sit with these ideas. Helping Ripley kill the xenomorph hunting them down in the prison can't fully be considered a selfless action, and too much time is spent on Ripley and her inner turmoil for it to get any development. Not even the super secret twist is that good at developing the theme of sexual violence, which I will be spoiling soon so if you're interested in finding out for yourself for some reason you have now been given ample opportunity to look away from, is that Ripley was the one implanted with a xenomorph in the beginning of the movie. There was a bit of a misdirect, with a dog/cow (depending on which version you're watching) being implanted at the very beginning, though clues to the reveal were still present. This is one of Ripley's worst nightmares come true. A violent, horrifying violation of her autonomy, somehow made all the more terrible given she wasn't even aware of it. And the movie does nothing with it. She asks to be killed, and resolves to kill herself after the xenomorph in the prison has been definitively killed. And that's it. She gets the occasional pain in her chest, and that's it. I feel like I've said this a lot, but so much more time should've been dedicated to building on that idea.

And that's kinda the biggest issue with Alien 3. It's a movie with lots of ideas that could be interesting to explore, but does little to nothing with them. Focusing on any one of them would've made the movie infinitely more worthwhile. I mean hell, look at Covenant! One of the weaker movies from a horror standpoint, but an incredibly interesting character exploration of our favorite robot eugenicist David. One solid theme would've saved this movie from being the worst in the franchise. But the exploitative sa scene, on top of the flagrant disregard for developing Ripley's character, on top of being a bad horror movie? I just can't forgive it for any of that.

There are certainly things to like about the movie. I think the idea of a dead, decaying prison colony is an interesting idea for a setting. And it's certainly visually striking. But ultimately, not too much is done with it? There aren't any weapons, and everything is malfunctioning, so that adds a decent amount of tension, but it feels less like a prison, and more like a factory. The vibe is good, just underutilized. I think the use of stop motion for the xenomorph is a good idea on paper, but it looked too janky and out of place for it to really work as a tangible threat most of the time. I do like some of the characters, I like Ripley's brief scene with the even more wrecked Bishop, and both Charles Dance and Charles Dutton are highlights of the movie. But other than that? It's just not a movie I want to come back to. A movie of disappointments and betrayals. Sigh. Alien 3.

[doggirlbuffysummers]

On Charles Gunn and Community

A large part of why I want to write this meta is that I don’t really see many people talking about Gunn. This is not all my thoughts on Gunn, I am going to write more over time. I have stated before that I personally feel that Gunn is in fact a much more complicated character than many here give him credit for.

I posit that the reason for this lack of credit was a larger trend of people in the fandom accepting the narratives presented by white characters regarding the people of color in the show (this is probably more discussed about at this point regarding Spike and Nikki and Robin Wood). While this essay is not entirely about the racism present in the corpus of Angel the Series, it exists in dialogue with more in depth takes on the racism present in Ats.

Gunn is in many respects unique in the buffyverse. There are no other people of color who achieve the status of main cast member, and certainly not for four consecutive seasons. The lack of discussion regarding him is a huge indignity to his character.

Much more care is taken to fleshing out Gunn in season two than in other seasons. In season two Gunn has a life outside of Angel Investigations. He has roots in the city, a community that he has spent his life dedicated to protecting. In season three, after the events of “That Old Gang of Mine” (3x03), this critical aspect of his character is gone.

It would be inaccurate to say that this happens suddenly, but the way it is handled is different in season three. During most of season two, Gunn exists in two worlds, never fully belonging to either. Both the early stages of the Pylea arc and especially “That Old Gang of Mine” throw into sharp focus that the story the writers want to tell with him is that he cannot live in this state of dual existence. “That Old Gang of Mine” depicts the members of Gunn’s old community as violent and unenlightened, with Gunn being pulled in two highly racialized directions: “black” wanton violence, and “white” enlightened application of reason regarding the use of violence. The way the episode portrays people of color is just downright awful, and Ats’s larger portrayal of race actively upholds existing, current stereotypes surrounding people of color.

I would say that Gunn is someone who cares highly about community. Episodes like 1x20 “War Zone,” 2x03 “First Impressions,” and 2x14 “The Thin Dead Line” contrast Gunn heavily with the other three members of AI. Gunn doesn’t fight for some greater ideal like others, but because it helps protect the people around him, as highlighted by @titsgirlbuffy and @punksouthie here:

Gunn’s decisions in “That Old Gang of Mine” are heavily informed by the idea posed by writers that AI and his old community are ideologically opposed. He is forced to choose between the two. The reason he comes to the decision that he does is largely decided by the dynamics at play in the situation. It is only once he is put in a situation where those who he has bonded with are at risk – the showdown in Caritas – that Gunn fully reflects and decides to turn against those in his old community. Gunn recontextualizes the scenario as being about an “out of town” person stirring up trouble within his community only once Angel and Lorne are put at risk. While he says in this gifset that it is about the mission, he does not necessarily argue against demons as an “other” to humans but more argues in defense of Angel *specifically*:

Anne reflecting the existentialist themes of the show back at Gunn in “Never Fade Away” recontextualizes everything. It parallels Doyle’s conversation with Angel in “City of” around the need to not be cut off. In these short two lines of dialogue, so much is said.

This post contains a similar parallel:

In the larger context of the show, we can see that Gunn starts off a paragon of Doyle’s explicitly stated message of what the show is about. He is incredibly entrenched in his local community. He knows the people he interacts with in “First Impressions” and “The Thin Dead Line.” He fights not for an ideal but for others. Over time, as he interacts with AI, he gets increasingly cut off from those that he is helping, moving further and further away from the actual mission of AI.

In his first appearance Gunn recognizes this, actually:

The conversation with Anne is not just about AI having lost its way but also about Gunn losing Everything. The people he has spent years trying to fit in with look at him and see the reason Fred is dead. He has no one and has so thoroughly internalized the values of his white co-workers that when he goes back to help Anne, he is separated from his old community by a vast ideological language barrier.

Brief aside that I might go into in more depth in a later post but I would like you to think about Fred’s death with regard to Gunn’s words here. A missed opportunity with Gunn’s character is exploring how he is impacted by hypervigilance and his tendency for blaming himself for events out of his control:

One interesting direction a rewrite (from a writer’s room with black writers in it) could go is having Gunn become the leader post 2x11 “Redefinition,” leading to closer interaction with the people of LA. AI becomes a much more high-profile member of the community and there is more focus on how Wolfram and Hart enables material harm in high poverty areas. I will talk about this more in the future because I think it is an interesting road to go down.

This post barely scratches the surface of my thoughts on Gunn. I haven’t even explained the take on valuing community fully. I think to fully present my take on that I need to write up at least another full post on it. There is also so much more to write about other things, like more alternate roles Gunn could have filled in AI as I talk about here:

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Black Sails: 13 Facts About The Starz Hit Worth More Than Stolen Treasure

BY ERICH B. ANDERSON/DEC. 31, 2022 1:15 PM EST

With contemporary series like "Vikings" and "Game of Thrones," "Black Sails" may often be overlooked when compared to other epic dramas of the 2010s, which makes it one of the most underrated shows of the decade. Not only is the scale of the pirate adventure immense with many scenes taking place upon impressive naval vessels, but the political intrigue and intimate interactions of the characters make it an entertaining watch for several different audiences.

The show as a whole does a brilliant job of mixing fiction with historical figures like the notorious pirate captains Blackbeard (Ray Stevenson) and Charles Vane (Zach McGowan) whose lives were so legendary that they verge on fantasy. But at its core, the story centers on the complicated friendship between its two main characters, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his deviously clever quartermaster, Long John Silver, in the years before their sagas are continued in the later tale of "Treasure Island." For a series devoted to such larger-than-life individuals, the making of it also had its fair share of epic details and moments as well, which you can enjoy reading below.

The series is an unofficial prequel to Treasure Island

Although "Black Sails" is its own story for the most part, from the very beginning it was always meant to show the events building up to the classic work of fiction "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. More than anything, the creators of the series wanted to tie up loose ends to the famous tale and give their explanation to who the characters were up to in the years before, as showrunner Jonathan Steinberg explained to Entertainment Weekly: "At the end of the book, it's recounted by other people that Captain Flint died in Savannah alone, which begs a lot of questions."

Flint's origin is certainly not the only one covered with both Long John Silver's and Billy Bones' backstories explained thoroughly as well. For Billy especially, his situation in the finale of the series gives all new meaning to what happens to him later in the novel. Steinberg added: "It is clear we are suggesting he is on 'Treasure Island,' which I think has a number of implications if you go back and read the book."

After four seasons, it is clear the showrunner was pleased with how the series handled the continuity, saying: "It felt like we had finished the argument a little bit, in terms of connecting it not just to 'Treasure Island,' but to our contemporary understanding of what piracy was, about what Caribbean piracy was."

2. The opening credits features the hurdy-gurdy

Several aspects of "Black Sails" make it stand out as a particularly fascinating TV series, with one of the top being its unique theme music in the opening credits. Not only is the memorable tune composed by the talented Bear McCreary who is well known for his work on "The Walking Dead" and "Battlestar Galactica," but it also features quite an unusual instrument known as a hurdy-gurdy, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Also known as a wheel fiddle, the hurdy-gurdy is a folk instrument that has existed for around 1,000 years and is played to this day all over Western Europe, from Italy to England. In a 2010 TED Talk, musician Caroline Phillips explained that the complex and bulky device originally required two people to operate it until the design was improved a few centuries later, so it could be used by a single performer. Although a fundamental part of the instrument is the strings, akin to a violin, the sound produced can also be compared to bagpipes.

3. The show was filmed in South Africa

While "Black Sails" takes place predominantly in the Caribbean, that was not the place chosen to film the epic pirate drama. Instead, the Starz network went with the fairly new Cape Town Studios for the production, and needless to say that the South African-based company was ecstatic over the decision. Ahead of filming Season 1, Film Afrika producer Vlokkie Gordon said: "We are delighted to have been awarded ['Black Sails'] and it is further proof of South Africa's international reputation for outstanding production skill and expertise" (via The Location Guide). Gordon continued: "A production of this scope provides not only employment for South Africans, but also skills transfer which is in line with Film Afrika's policy of supporting growth and development of the South African film and television industry."

The swashbuckling series was then added to the growing list of productions shot out of Cape Town, including "Safe House," "Chronicle," and "Mad Max: Fury Road," as per the Cape Town Film Studios website. Plus, another Starz series benefited greatly from the elaborate ship sets built there, with "Outlander" using the Jamaican landscapes in its third season, according to Entertainment Weekly.

4. 300 people worked on the pirate ship

The impressive sailing vessels featured in "Black Sails" are almost as important to the story as the characters themselves. Therefore, a ton of work was put into the construction of the sets in order to make the maritime setting feel real for the cast, and more importantly, the audience. In a behind-the-scenes clip shared by Starz, senior rigger Joel Yates explained: "The carpenters building the boat it took them, I think, four or five months. They want it to look as authentic as possible because what we've built is a very accurate replica of a sailing ship."

The end product, called The Walrus in the show, was massive as well, as Yates revealed that the full ship is approximately 140 feet long. And to pull off such an incredible feat, it took a gigantic crew with various skill sets, as construction coordinator Clive Pollack shared: "There are 300 people working on the boat. There are carpenters, sculptors, painters, riggers, sailmakers."

5. There were no bathrooms for cast and crew on the ship

For as grand as the prominent pirate ship is in "Black Sails," it does have its faults as it also serves as the set of a modern TV production. In a 2016 interview with Den of Geek, actor Zach McGowan revealed the biggest problem for the cast and crew on set: "The hardest thing about the ships, most people don't realize, is just when you're on the ship at the top of the deck somewhere, it's very far to the nearest bathroom. There's no bathroom on the ships."

Even with that minor complaint, McGowan went on to stress that being on the deck of the ship at sea was such a great experience that the actor wished he had more of those scenes. It's also his opinion that most of the cast felt the same way, except possibly the ones who spent the most time on board, such as Toby Stephens.

6. The actors went through pirate boot camp

Like most epic dramas featured on premium channels, "Black Sails" is filled with massive battle sequences, in this case often between rival pirate clans, or against the relentless forces of the British and Spanish empires. While the nature of naval warfare means that a good amount of these conflicts are long distance, yet devastating, as cannonballs attempt to rip enemy vessels apart, much of the brutal combat is at close quarters.

All of the fight scenes in the series are quite impressive, so it makes sense that many cast members received special training. In a Q&A with a few of the main actors, shared by Starz in 2015, Luke Arnold revealed: "We all went through a three-week pirate boot camp. Well, the pirates of the crew did at the beginning of shooting." And it was a good thing that they did because when asked if they could survive the rough conditions of the time period, the general consensus was an adamant no. Toby Stephens then elaborated with a laugh: "The real trouble, I'd be ok on Nasau, it was as soon as I'd get on a boat and I had to sail anywhere."

7. Clara Paget came up with Anne Bonny's distinctive look

From Charles Vane, Edward Teach, and Jack Rackham to Captain Flint, Long John Silver, and Billy Bones, "Black Sails" has all sorts of characters based on either historic people or from the famous fictional tale, "Treasure Island." Therefore, both the writers of the show and the actors who portrayed these popular figures had to work with what was already known about them. But at the same time, there was a lot of creative freedom as well.

A somewhat minor, though fascinating aspect of another one of these real characters in the series, Anne Bonny, was thought up by actress Clara Paget. In a 2016 interview with Den of Geek, when asked what she contributed to the role, the actress replied: "I suppose the hat. That came completely organically. I tried on this hat and then I was pulling it down in an almost jokey way, like an old-school Western. Then it became who she is, hiding behind this hat. It really works for the character because, as I said, it shows this vulnerable side at the same time as being a badass through one side or the other. Like schizophrenic, bipolar."

8. Zack McGowan broke a stuntman's jaw by accident

A major reason that the fight scenes in "Black Sails" are so good is because of the enthusiasm of the cast and crew when filming, yet there was one time that may have gone a little too far. When a stuntman on set named Daryl was to be hit with the butt of a rifle by Zach McGowan, the dedicated performer showed no fear and encouraged the actor to strike him square in the face. The veteran stuntman figured it was no big deal since the thing was only made of rubber. Since Daryl seemed more than fine with the idea, McGowan went along with the idea.

In a 2017 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Toby Stephens recalled the disastrous, though somewhat funny result: "Zach, who's brilliant at this kind of thing, whacked him straight in the jaw, as the guy asked, and totally broke his jaw. It looks fantastic, it actually made the cut, and it looked absolutely brilliant. At the end of it, I just remember Daryl going, 'No, it's fine. It's okay, don't worry about it.'" Fortunately, the stuntman was not seriously harmed, so they were able to joke about it a bit.

9. Zack McGowan climbed the balconies of a building to get rum

"Black Sails" is filled with many incredible exploits of pirate warriors as they battle on the high seas, but a behind-the-scenes achievement by one of the actors was almost as impressive as what was shown on screen. During a break in filming, the cast was having a good time together but needed some rum, so Zach McGowan went to rather extreme lengths to remedy the situation.   

In order to gain access to the prized liquor in a room several floors up, the actor literally scaled the side of the building all on his own. When talking with Rotten Tomatoes, cast member Hannah New described the amazing sight, saying: "He did this like Spider-Man kind of thing where he climbed up these balconies … it's incredible, he does like, God knows how many chin-ups every day. So, he can just chin up these balconies."

After McGowan successfully got the rum and then made the way back down with it in his front pocket, the cast waiting down below were too awestruck to do anything but tensely watch. Fellow actress Jessica Parker Kennedy added: "And none of us videotaped it. I think we were all in such shock, it was so scary, I thought he was going to fall and break his neck and we would have to explain it to our producers the next day."

10. It took all season to film Luke Arnold's underwater scene

In the fourth season of "Black Sails," Long John Silver nearly perishes in the sea as he struggles to escape his sinking ship. Actor Luke Arnold must have been pleased that his character ultimately survived the harrowing experience, but filming the scenes was definitely not easy for the actor. Even though he was confident in the comprehensive training he received beforehand, Arnold still had to overcome a major fear of performing in those conditions.

When asked specifically about those tense underwater moments, he told Collider in a 2017 interview: "That was the beginning of hell that kept getting crazier as it went along. That took all season to shoot. We were in the water tank, from the beginning of the season, stuck underwater, all day." To his dismay, Arnold was right when he assumed it would take longer to finish than the filmmakers first thought, yet it was all worth it, as he added: "Right until the last couple of weeks, I was doing bits of the underwater stuff to make that whole sequence as spectacular as it is."

11. Luke Arnold received a special gift from a producer

Luke Arnold was one of several major cast members of "Black Sails" who was in the show from the very beginning all the way through to the climactic finale. The actor very much enjoyed his time filming the series, so when he found a cherished memento from the early days, it was a big deal. In the same interview with Collider, he revealed: "We were shooting a scene in Season 4 that was back in Eleanor's office, and I found the piece of paper that I was writing the directions to find the Urca de Lima on, which was the very first scene we shot in Episode 103. Nina Jack, who was one of our producers on Season 4, got it framed and gave it to me as a gift, so I've gone away with that. That was amazing!"

On the other hand, there were parts of the series that Arnold did not remember so fondly, mostly from the difficulties that arose in pretending to have lost a leg. In this endeavor, he was able to use a crutch on screen, but the prop caused him so much discomfort that he grew to despise it.

12. Luke Arnold had a legless stunt double

Once Long John Silver tragically loses his leg in "Black Sails," Luke Arnold had some difficulty filming scenes as the character, so he was grateful to have help from a stuntman named Ben de Jager who is also missing the limb. The actor told Collider: "It was great to have somebody who's gone through the experience of losing a leg. He did step in for a lot of stuff, mainly because it was so much easier to have him there. If you're shooting from behind or you're focusing on the foot, it's easier to have someone in who's missing the leg than to do it with me and spend a fortune on visual effects to change things."

Though Arnold certainly got along with de Jager, there also seemed to have been a little jealousy in sharing screen time for the role. The actor admitted that a downside for him was his absence in some major Long John Silver moments of the show.

13. The writers gradually decided to bring back Flint's lover, Thomas

For as dark as "Black Sails" can be throughout the series, it ended on a fairly happy note as the main character, Captain Flint, is finally reunited with the love of his life, Thomas Hamilton (Rupert Penry-Jones). Both men are sentenced to imprisonment on a plantation, yet all that matters to the pair is that they are together again. Viewers may have been somewhat surprised that Thomas had returned to the show given the fact that he was thought to be dead, but over time the writers decided that was not going to be his fate.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, Jonathan Steinberg explained: "We had a sense in Season 2 when he died off-screen, that any character who dies off-screen, you're taking the word of the messenger as to whether or not it actually happened. We knew we weren't finished with him. And then at some point in Season 3, we realized it would be reasonably late in the series when he came back, so in Season 4 it felt right."

Source: Looper

[snifflesthemouse]

Charles is playing a mighty long con, isn’t he?

After the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, King Charles used his first-ever message as king to set the precedent of his reign. I am almost certain that his mother told him to do this much, so as to clear the air. I imagine one evening, mayhaps over some tea or biscuits, long before his mother was gone, that a conversation happened where his mother told her son the importance of boundaries, setting them, and most importantly sticking to them. I say this for what I say next.

It would seem that Harry and Meghan expected those precious HRHs to appear as automatically as those possessing them were delivered. It would also seem that every time they use the word “security” they mean “money”. Most of all, it seems they want back in and they aren’t getting what they want… exactly. It would seem some conditions were made. Why else is there this mad scramble to move mansions, edit Netflix and Spotify productions, push back money-making novels (THIS AUTHOR REFUSES to call Harry’s impending memoir as such; it is most certainly all an act of fiction), as well as parting ways with Sunshine Sachs?

When QEII died, with her went an entire legacy. Now, Charles is the King. And he had a vision of what he wanted his reign to look like that included Harry and his family. I’ve read most of the good bits of every fair and decent biography written about them – from Tom Bower, to Lady C to Tina Brown. I can tell you without a doubt that Charles had highest of hopes for Harry. Which has me concerned. I hate to play devil’s advocate here, but the proof is in the press. All their behaviors say they were given an ultimatum.

Why is it that, since leaving the UK, Harry and Meghan have rid themselves of Sunshine Sachs? I’ve seen blind items referring to the fact that Sunshine Sachs was bragging to other clients about charging the couple ten times the going rate. I’ve seen posts saying that Sunshine Sachs was always meant to be temporary, that the plan was always to “let them go” once settled. Still yet, there is a third explanation suggesting they ran out of money and haven’t paid their bills in quite some time. On top of dismissing Sunshine Sachs, however, there are even rumors of them selling their house in Montecito.

This author posted to you, my beloved reader, their mortgage specifics. The first ten years of their mortgage, they would be at a low interest rate of 2% or so. Right now, in America, the mortgage rates are rising. They are around 7% right now. This means that even if Meghan and/or Harry had amazing credit scores, they would still expect to pay astronomically more on a new mortgage than what they do now.

Let me give you an example. Say I bought a house for $14M. My interest rate is 2.49%. My monthly payment will be a little over $55,000 without the escrow, insurance(s), or property taxes. But buying a new house now means interest rates are much higher. With interest, a tenth of a percent can equate to millions over the long run. Half a hundred-thousand a month on a mortgage is expensive to people like you and me. Say now I want to move.

If I sold the old house… I would have to sell it for enough to pay off the old mortgage to break even. I’d have to sell it over the remaining amount to get a profit, and I would have to sell ice water in hades to make enough bank to pay off the old and buy outright bigger or better. But remember the interest rates are higher now. So, it costs more to buy the same amount of sqaure footage now than it did two years ago. A $14M mansion at 6.18% is going to cost the new buyer $85,000+. That means an even more expensive mansion will cost even more. That’s not counting everything else that goes with buying a house like realtors’ commissions, 4title/deed work, etc. Everything they are doing is costing them money. Why?

The only thing that suggests they need money is parting ways with Sunshine Sachs. Everything else is going to cost them money. Which means they are doing this for a long-run purpose in mind. You only spend money like this to make it up tenfold later on down the road. Messing with publishers, Spotify, and Netflix like this threatens their only potential revenue streams. Those BS job titles handed to Harry by those Silicon suckers probably came in the form of stock they cannot get money out of readily right now. If he’s getting paid legit money, it’s not more than $90,000 a month.

Now do you see why I fear this all? This all says to me a deal was potentially struck during the mourning period. It says Charles told them if they want their children to be titled and all that, you have to give me something, too. It says they are in the middle of negotiations. There is no way that it’s down to being broke. They would just start doing ten times the bombing via interviews and podcasts.

If they tone down the blame game rhetoric, especially if they start trying to extend “olive branches”, then we will know why. Then again, I kind of hope that I am wrong. I hope the shifting is her preparing for divorce from him. I hope that she saw he had nothing more to give, and without that drip of prestige and money… Harry is no longer worth his trouble. He just becomes an addicted abuser.

Addicts tend to travel in pairs because some dope is better than none. You increase your chances of getting high if two people are working together. Same thing with psychopath-sociopath narcissists. They are heavily co-dependent. Until the loathing overpowers the dependency. It always does, too. These relationships eat themselves from the inside out.

Charles is wise to keep them close. He should use their antics against them every time a serious faux pau pops up. I’d use the press to redirect every bad comment back at them if I were him. I could teach a masterclass on manipulation, though. So I assume most people don’t think like that.

My point is this. Harry and Meghan are making moves that wouldn’t make them money. It would cost them money. That means these moves are more valuable to them later on than those current deals are now. What could that possibly be, other than titles ore a way back home?

Hope I am wrong, but chances are I am not. I expect Charles to bring Harry and his family back to Frogmore before the year is up. But, in a private capacity as rent-paying private citizens. Then, a long, slow campaign to repair Harry’s image will begin. It will certainly not end well if it does. It will end in a big payday and NDAs. But it will be a mess.

[kalinara]

I think ultimately, part of the problem is that the leadership of a nation is different from the leadership of a team.

When I think of Jean as Xavier's ideological successor, I'm still thinking primarily of the X-Men rather than the entire mutant race. At most, I'm imagining the team more as they were in the 90s, when they all seemed to be at their height, with a shit ton of members, most of whom working out of or connected to the mansion, but also not the be-all and end-all of mutantkind.

It WOULD have been interesting though to see how Jean would have handled the Decimation era. Because that's when we DID, very briefly, see the mutant race united under Scott's leadership. At least until Logan fucked it all up. Not to disparage Emma, because I think, as Scott's partner, she provided him with a lot of necessary strength and support at that time. But while she was able to bolster him, she lacked Jean's idealism. I do think Jean might have been able to remind Scott that survival is important, yes, but it's also important to remember WHY they're surviving.

(As I said before, I don't actually think Logan was WRONG in the Schism. Hypocritical, yes. Wrong, no. My problem is that Scott OFFERED a solution and Logan decided that he'd rather punish Scott for failing to be Steve Rogers than do what's best for mutantkind.)

I suppose, you could make the argument that, right after AvX, LOGAN was the leader of mutantkind. But that really only seemed to last until Scott was out of prison.

It's kind of interesting though that, at least until Krakoa, Xavier's never really been that effective at uniting mutant kind. Prior to Giant Sized X-Men, Xavier had made many attempts at recruiting characters like Fred, Pietro and Wanda, but the O5 never increased their numbers until Alex and Lorna. Who both joined when Xavier was "dead". He was obnoxious enough that, at their very first meeting, Moira goes off to become a human supremacist.

We certainly never see him win over any of the Acolytes. (...insert joke about Scott's sub game being so strong it redeemed Frenzy outright here). And we saw how the Arakkans dismiss him, whereas on individual levels at least, we've seen mutants win their respect without going full Crucible (Roberto and Kurt, for example.)

Xavier only manages his position on Krakoa because of the many advantages Krakoa gives the mutants. But it's funny how little of them come from Xavier himself.

Krakoa, the creature, is what provides the safe, defensible place to live and the ability to connect many locations.

The Five (supplemented by Wanda later) are the ones who provide resurrection. And really, only Elixir was recruited during Xavier's tenure. Tempus and Goldballs were post AvX recruits. Proteus was Moira's son, kept isolated and separate. And Hope...well, we know how that goes. I suppose we can credit Xavier with the Cerebro copies and getting the DNA from Sinister.

... which still creeps me out because at no point does anyone ever address that Sinister did NOT obtain of these samples with consent!

The unified mutant nation concept really comes more from Magneto and Genosha. (Utopia was more of a military base, IMO. It never seemed like Scott had intended it to be a long term, forever solution.)

It's funny though how the trauma of Xavier's murder and then the miracle of Krakoa has made most of the X-Men forget that the dude was exiled twice from the mansion, and no one was really even all that bothered. (Hell, arguably, Scott and Jean had pulled off their own coup to start the X-Men. Fortunately for Charles, that's all they wanted to do. But if they HAD chosen a full takeover at that point, would anyone have stopped them? It seemed like Kurt, Kitty and Emma at least were completely on board.)

Bringing it back to Jean, it is pretty interesting to think about her role on the Council. The thing about Jean though is that I think she has a very similar weakness to Charles: she's an idealist rather than a politician. But they went in different directions. Charles kept his idealism, but essentially constructed a card house fantasy. Hence the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot approach. But Camelot was doomed, at least in part because Arthur compromised his values one too many times.

Jean went the opposite route. She kept to her values to the point where she chose to leave the Council rather than compromise for the greater vision. It meant she could reform the X-Men with Scott, but it weakened the more heroic and ethical side of the Council. Even without Mikhail's influence, Piotr was never going to match Jean's effectiveness on the Council and they all suffered.

Ororo though is interesting, because she WOULD have been excellent on the Council, if that was all that she was doing. But it was clear once Arakko was up and moving that her heart wasn't in it. For all her faults, Emma was absolutely right when she called her out. Ororo let a lot of shit slide, because she simply wasn't there to notice or deal with it. And by the time she tried, giving her proxy to Piotr...well, that made things worse. The ironic part being that IF she'd been present, she (or Kitty, who was also pretty over-stretched) would have been most likely to notice something wrong with him.

To be fair to Ororo though, by the time Arakko was in full swing, Jean had already left the Council, and she might have had concern over who would have come in to take her place. POSSIBLY if Jean had stayed, or Scott had accepted the Council invite, Ororo would have felt more comfortable leaving things in their hands to focus entirely on Mars. But sadly, it didn't happen that way.

I think my biggest problem with Xavier's vision of Krakoa (Watsonian critique, not Doylistic), is that he seems to think that just because permanent death isn't a thing anymore, then everything's safe and fine.

I'm not saying Xavier shouldn't have invited ex-villains onto the island, but it's obvious very quickly that there are no safeguards or protections for any of these villains' former victims. Or any future victims.

So we get some awful scenes like Jamie Braddock taunting Meggan or Mr. Sinister telling Scott that he's prettier when he smiles (that one in the middle of the fucking COUNCIL meeting) and there's apparently nothing that can be done about that?

The Shadow King gets to hang around children, leading to the death of Gabby Kinney (and in her case there was some question about whether or not they'd resurrect her because she was a clone.) Sinister, we're told in Hellions, still has an ORPHANAGE. There weren't kids there, at least, but still. The fuck?

And then there's Madelyne Pryor. And yes, I agree that, back in the 80s, she was screwed by the narrative. But she's done a lot of things since then. Maybe. I admit, I can't really keep track of whether or not the one who tortured Scott and company in the 00s was actually THIS Madelyne or another dimension's. But THIS version is introduced torturing people.

Alex pushes for her resurrection. And any counter argument is immediately neutralized by pointing out that Sinister is on the Council. And...well, yeah. But it's POSSIBLE that some of Madelyne's victims might not have been on board with her running free, but that's not a thing we get to hear. (We are told that Jean supported her resurrection much later. Which I do believe, but I also think the narrative doesn't really allow any other possibility.)

Xavier's very self-congratulatory about the no prisons on Krakoa thing. Of course, there's the Pit. You go in there if you're recalcitrant and break the rules. Even if you're a child. And then you get tortured by Sabretooth because no one bothers to check in on the prisoners, apparently.

To break immersion, in a Doylistic sense, I really enjoy that Krakoa has its darker sides. This isn't a paradise for every character, and it's no surprise, when you think about it that the Summer House is on the Moon instead of Krakoa proper.

But in a Watsonian sense... Any fan of the Wolverines can verify that you don't need permanent physical harm to have a massive amount of trauma and pain.

It makes sense. Charles has that King Arthur fantasy, and part of that involves seating some of his strongest enemies at the Round Table. And it makes sense that the man whose first X-Man was an abused child that he rescued and made into his field commander doesn't necessarily have an awareness or appreciation of long term trauma.

But somehow Cassandra Nova gets to be resurrected in a safely isolated place, away from any and all possible victims. Funny how that wasn't an option for anyone else.

[heir-less]

Okay I so appreciate that you have nuanced opinions on both William and Kate and Meghan and Harry. But I have to say I think Kate is fully aware about her uncle and what he says. I don't think his interviews or columns were necessarily sanctioned by Carole or Kate but I do not think he was told not to either. I think his opinion appeals to a population of monarchist and old Brits that the Middletons and Kate want to have behind them. I do not think the Gary and Samantha situations are similar because I believe if Gary was really told "no" he would stop. It seems like it's the Middletons MO to be a DM columnist at some point in their royal adjacency. It can be argued about how much autonomy Kate has over things that are said, and I think you've mentioned before that Kate may be more innocent than many think. I would argue that she is very aware of the profile that has been created for her and could have done much more to help her clearly vulnerable sister in law. They did not need to be best friends but it certainly seems that she allowed the powers that be build her up while being very cognizant of the real outcomes of what that could look like for Meghan.

Oh, I think Kate is aware and knows what her uncle says, don't get it twisted. I don't think she wants Gary to stop and he just won't. I just believe that Uncle Gary overstates his closeness to her for his own financial gain. I'm not sure if he's estranged from her, but the nature he writes about her is as if he was her second father which I highly, highly doubt. The fawning obsession he has for her is just . . . not a normal attitude to have towards your niece and I think he's exaggerating a lot of it. That article he wrote would be creepy if a husband or SO wrote it, let alone an uncle:

How Kate manages to spin all those plates simultaneously, with the eyes of the world on her, is almost superhuman.

I think it helps that she has never sought the limelight. She doesn't seek attention, that's not Kate; in fact, she's almost the reverse.

Wikipedia ought to have a picture of her under its entry for the words 'kind' and 'thoughtful'.

That's who she is; it is in her DNA and her bones.

I think the Middletons don't care to silence Gary because he's not saying anything that threatens them, quite the opposite. I have to admit, I do think it's stupid to believe that they're sending him out to push their narratives when they have their own comms team and media connections that are far more effective. That doesn't mean that they don't agree with him or believe he's saying good things, I just feel that he's doing it for himself mainly. He keeps talking about how it's the Middleton family lifestyle that changed William for the better and highlighted the contrasts between him and Harry: the Middletons might think they gain from this type of portrayal, but it's just bizarre and sycophantic. No real professional PR campaign is behind Gary's antics.

I think for Gary it's a total ego trip/masturbation session where he gets to fawn over Kate and credit his/Carole's "Middleton Unbring" as the future of the royal family despite all his firsthand stories of Kate being +20 years old. It gives Thomas Markle vibes where they played an active role in the upbringing and now think they're owed credit for making this person "everything she is."

It feels it's the Middleton family template that William will be using to raise his own family. We should celebrate the Middletons and the impact they have.

William certainly has: he's always ensured that, unlike other Royal in-laws, the Middletons are a non-negotiable inclusion

One thing I can't stress enough (something interesting) is how this narrative puts the Middletons in direct conflict with Charles and Camilla. It wasn't long ago that Charles felt the Middletons had too much influence over William's family life, and felt that they were prioritizing Carole over him. This again makes it crazy that the Middletons are so short-sighted and egotistical that they can't tell that Gary is more trouble than what he's worth.

[ducklooney]

You know, Scrooge and Goldie are really the only canonical couple, they just deserve each other, the same inclinations, love for money and gold which in most cases outweighs their own love, also other sins, especially Scrooge in early comics. And personally, I just can’t consider Scrooge and Bridgitta a love couple just out of respect for Bridgitta ... And I feel sorry for her, because her heart is only occupied by Scrooge. She doesn’t need such a lover, Scrooge just suitable for Goldie in every sense.

Hi, sorry I didn't answer you earlier. You have the right to love what you want, I don't blame you and you are right, everyone has the right to their opinion. But I have to say this, even if you may not agree with me. Well like this, as much as I love the love couple between Scrooge and Goldie, it’s not exactly what you think. Scrooge is not like Donald, so he only has to be sentenced to one person. Donald Duck certainly has a lot of girls he’s in love with and that’s seen especially in some cartoons and most comics, which isn’t bad, but in the end he’ll always end up with Daisy. That’s how most writers work and that’s such a canon. Scrooge McDuck is not such a case, he will, no matter how many women and sympathies he has, he will love money the most in the end. Money is his greatest love. I know it sounds sick, but such a character was created to be bastard and to be a ruthless capitalist, which is a parody of the society of that time (Scrooge McDuck was modeled on Ebenezer Scrooge from the Christmas carol by Charles Dickens). Of course, Scrooge is not the only character who loves money more than anything. There are already such stingy characters as Mr Magoo, Richer Rich, Mr Burns, MOM, Mr Plotz, Montana Max, Mr Krabs, Eddy and other characters. Some are protagonists and some are antagonists. Scrooge was an antagonist at the beginning, but later, according to Barks, he became the protagonist and a great adventurer, although he will only go to collect valuables, and not to think about helping the poor and giving to the museum. Although many authors of later comics mitigated that, Scrooge would still be a positive person.

Scrooge in the Carl Barks comic “Back to the Klondike” went back to the Klondike not so much for Goldie as for the lost gold that Goldie took from him. Eventually Scrooge got mad at her again for cheating on him. Barks preferred Brigitta more, although it was not his work, but a fictional character by Romano Scarpa, and Barks considered her a true character for his universe. Brigitta MacBridge was on purpose for him, not so much as he was for her as she was for him. Brigitta had enough money, she didn't need Scrooge to further replenish her wealth. Their romance was certainly comical. Of course, Brigitta has other companions such as Jubal Pomp, also a businessman and a good partner for Brigitta. Jubal Pomp (or Filo Sgaga in Italian) is credited with making Brigitta not as aggressive as in many older comics, although I love the romance between Scrooge and Brigitta.

Yes, there are comics in which Scrooge admits that he loves Brigitta. In the comic “A Tale of Two Biddies!” has a confession that Goldie doesn’t mind being Brigitta from Scrooge because she knows she was Scrooge’s love for the past, while Brigitta is Scrooge’s love for the present.

As for the romance between Scrooge and Goldie, their romance really only worked in the OG Ducktales and Don Rosa comics only to later work on other comics that did that romance at the time Scrooge was in the Klondike. I love that romance in the Klondike and that is the best thing that both characters could afford, but one thing should not be forgotten. For some reason they could no longer be together and Goldie became a thing of the past for Scrooge McDuck. I wish their romance had really happened when they were in the Klondike, but the past would have been different. Neither Hortense nor Matilda would leave with Scrooge and settle in Duckburg, nor would Donald or Della. History would be different. Maybe Scrooge took Goldie with him and took her to Scotland, though who knows. Although I wish they had gotten married back then, I'm sure Goldie would have broken up with Scrooge if she had known about his cruel plans for the African colonies. Although I know that many Scroldie fans will not like what I am going to say now, I apologize for that, even though I am a Scroldie fan myself, and that is certainly Goldie Scrooge's past, which cannot be corrected. And that was later shown in most comics. Although Scrooge and Goldie met again, but as old people, especially in Don Rosa comics, even though they renewed their old romance, they still can't correct what the two of them have done in the past and what is there. Maybe Goldie's granddaughter Dickie, as in some Italian comics, corrects such a mistake, so Scrooge admits her as a future heiress. But everyone makes a canon for themselves and everyone has the right to their opinion.

But I will say the same thing, Goldie is not the first love for Scrooge. Scrooge was in an Arild Midthun comic (The Substitute Santa of Strathbungo -The Orphan's Christmas) when he was ten and already had a crush named Brenda who was an orphan. Unfortunately when he left, he never saw her again, but he saved her like other orphans from the notorious abuser.

However, the essence certainly remains. Scrooge is not like Donald and he will probably choose to love his money rather than Goldie, Brigitta or some third woman. Such is his character. Of course, he should love his family, but I don't like it when it is especially mitigated in both versions of Ducktales, so he becomes the voice of reason in his family. Such is his character. Of course, he should love his family, but I don't like it when it is especially mitigated in both versions of Ducktales, so he becomes the voice of reason in his family. Goldie, as greedy as she is, is not like Scrooge. Although this is an unpopular comment and I beg the reader of this not to attack me afterwards, I am not a Goldie fan in the Ducktales reboot (although the love couple between Scrooge and Goldie was ok) nor do I like the scheme team as some we call the Goldie and Louie team cannot be good examples of the mentor-student relationship. I don't like it. I prefer Goldie as a good grandmother as in comics or a good dedicated woman as in OG Ducktales. And unlike Scrooge, that old Goldie has never been rude to her family, as far as I know. She treated her granddaughter Dickie well, as in Italian and some Brazilian comics. Of course, everyone should love their version and their team as they like, I'm not defending that, I'm just asking you to respect my opinion, that's all.

Yes, I'm a fan of Scrooge women's couples who always make sense (Scrooge with Goldie, Scrooge with Brigitta, Scrooge with Magica, Scrooge with Fenton's mother and other couples) and who can be canon with themselves, and that I love Scroldie, but again, I respect other opinions like most canon Duck comics and Duck cartoons, but one thing is for sure. Scrooge McDuck will love only money the most and that will be his only treasure and we can agree that Scrooge will not be like Donald who has real love called Daisy. Yes, there will be confessions in some comics that Scrooge, in addition to his flaws, also loves his family.

Sorry for the comments, but I had to show you an essay on that. I'm sorry if I offended you with these comments, I didn't mean to, but I hope you understand me. If you have any questions or concerns about what I said, feel free to ask me. These are certainly my views and opinions.

[wyn-n-tonic]

Baby, Let The Games Begin -- Part I

Hiiii. Okay, I've decided to jump back into the fanfiction game because sometimes I just can't focus on my own characters and need a respite from them. I am a little bit sickly in love with Dave York and, no, I have not spoken to my therapist about it. Second person isn't typically my writing style and this was definitely an experiment. There will be a few parts to this, I'm not sure how many. 

Word Count: 1,000 Warnings: Talking about death, killing, masturbation (not explicitly), choking (not explicit... yet). If you see anymore that I don't know about, just message me and I'll amend the warning.

Summary: Cat and mouse between two psycopaths.

His diligence is ghostlike. He moves through walls and people and the world blending in. He’s flat and close cropped. Broad but not overwhelming. Confident in his movements but he doesn’t take any room that’s not easily gifted to him.

But he’s gotten… sloppy. He’s been in South America for over a month now and the Spanish that usually gets better with time and immersion is slipping. He’s fucking up in all the small ways that will blow this mission to shit if he doesn’t get it together.

It’s another rainy night somewhere in Ecuador and he’s losing his fucking mind half drunk off sleep deprivation, half off a fifth of whatever brown liquor is stewing in his system tonight.

Yeah… sloppy.

But he’s never had a target like you.

Your pictures are peppered over his walls, papered down from hotel to hotel. He’s chased you through three goddamn countries and he is no closer.

He’s beginning to think you’re in his head. Just a figment of his imagination. If he’s a ghost, you’re a phantom and he is losing his fucking mind. —

You laugh in the darkness as his frustrated grunts come through the thin walls. You take another sip of the same shit he bought only hours ago—expensive—trying to figure out if tonight’s activities are vigorous pushups or if he’s spilling himself again. Thunder rolls and so does he, silence settling over the rooms once more. You wonder which picture it was tonight but you know he’s already got you plastered behind his eyelids.

It’s pissing down in Zamora again tonight and he is losing his fucking mind. But you’re not exactly making it easy for him.

Except… you are.

He’s trying too hard, that’s the problem.

He’s on the right track but, god, he’s stupid. He’s looking for the girl in the pictures, the stone faced widow mourning yet another husband. A man bought your ass. Another one bought your tits. Hell, one offered to buy you new legs when you complained about your height. That’s the woman he was looking for, a multimillionaire who went to yoga every day and fucked her instructor every night. He wasn’t chasing you, he was chasing his imagination. That’s the problem with men, they’re easily manipulated.

And this one? He’s no different. You’ve got him wrapped around your little finger, he just doesn’t know it yet. —

There’s something he’s missing, he knows it. He’s pacing around the room but he knows he needs to carry himself out the door. He thought the presents you were leaving were the answer at first. Propped up in the rental car, he watched his hotel room all day but nobody ever showed. No woman in sight, certainly not the one in the photos.

Either you’re close or he’s losing his grip on reality.

But… No. He’s trying too hard. That’s the fucking problem.

Maybe he just stops giving a shit and it’ll all fall into place. —

He sent his men home two weeks ago.

“Five guys for one woman is excessive, go home and get started on other jobs, I can handle this.” He didn’t give them a choice, he was so confident. That’s when you decided to start fucking with him.

It was little things at first. Moving the pictures around, the furniture. Then it escalated. You cut the drapes in half, that was fun. But one day you were worried about all the alcohol so you snuck in with a different purpose.

You filled his small fridge with empanadas from a local vendor with a note to take care of himself. That wasn’t the first night you heard him cum but it was the first time he came with your name on his lips.

He found your tube of Ruby Woo waiting the next day. It didn’t exactly match the new hair you’d picked up in Medellín but he didn’t know that.

His groans came audible again that night while you packed, a small smile playing across your lips.

Those groans soundtracked your dreams from Cali to Quito as you hoped the two swipes of your credit card were enough for him to come running. —

As you leaf through his belongings once again, you think of the man whose scent you caught in Venezuela. He’s younger than who you usually go for, that’s a given. But in playing this game? In hearing what you already do to him? Well…

He’s a killer. You knew one was coming for you the moment you caught Helen’s eyes at the funeral. Poor, beloved Charles. It’s not that you killed him so much as you made it easier. You’re not a killer, you’re a helper. This man, though?

Those flat black eyes have a body count much higher than yours.

You wonder, as you crawl into his bed, if he’d give you a choice in how you want to go. Quite honestly, you’ve been thinking about those hands around your neck since Caracas. —

He’s pacing again as his voice carries over, the soft sound of fabric being thrown into a suitcase.

“Helen, hi, it’s Dave.” He sounds… tentative.

He lets out a frustrated sigh and the pacing stops, “No, no. I didn’t find her s—“

Silence and then, “It’s been over a month, I can’t keep chasing somebody I’m not sure is even here anymore. I’ll keep alerts up, continue to track her movements but I won’t… I won’t be taking an active effort against this one anymore. She’s too smart.”

He closes the phone with such force that the sound echos, certain he’s broken it. He walks to the middle of the room and his voice comes back but this time it’s for you.

“I know you’re listening. Hell, you might even be able to see me. You win, I’m going home. Enjoy that island.”