#i wanted to make his comic version brown but not use the movie design if that makes sense

[pinayelf-archive]

Some Miggys! It's sort of a redesign of comic Miggy

[batmanfruitloops]

Happy 1st Anniversary to the Batmanfruitloops!!! 🎉

Whoo! This is such an achievement, but also it's such a crazy thought that it's been a WHOLE YEAR??? It means a lot that so many other people like our au as much as we do, and even more that we've been able to make friends; we want to thank all of you new and old for joining us here to have fun and enjoy the journey of our au!

With that said, I'd like to share some old art that's "behind the scenes" stuff from out time since we started our au.

also if you've been here since these were the profile picture and banner, you're a real one;

Fun fact, I (Sarsee) don't like fruit loops, but it was the first thing I thought of to name the blog, plus it was memorable. The au name being "Batman: A New Gotham" came later! Double plus, the abbreviation is BANG and I find that coincidence just delightful.

One of favorite changes that happened out of nowhere was John's eyes changing from more round to almond. He used to look a lot more like the Telltale Joker, but I feel like his current eyes fit better with his personality in our au. This also isn't going to show up because it's file names, but I had originally wanted to call the Joker "Jbird" like Batman calls him in the Lego Batman movie. (for context, it's the scene where Joker is tied to a bunch of balloons - you know the one - and side note, I want to redraw a screenshot from that with our Joker eventually) I don't have any pictures with a "Jbird" design because I never got the idea to work, I just thought it could have been interesting considering Joker works with Batman in our au and that would put him on theme with the Batfam being flying mammals/avians.

Most of the other original designs aren't too drastic either - or at least it doesn't feel like it to me. Scarecrow and Riddler have changed a lot though. And I think the changes that came about with Fluffy joining on board were much needed (Scarecrow's costume was always done by Fluffy, but I designed him out of costume originally -I was originally making the au myself, but that didn't last long when we started yapping about ideas to one another and never stopped) She also couldn't understand how I stylized his hair, so it became puffy and unruly instead of curly and gelled back. Ed can still gel his hair if he wanted to, just for special occasions.

Some old sillies as well from Fluffy;

we find the contrast between Batman vs. Scarecrow and Joker vs. Riddler very funny because it's so drastically different. The Joker and Riddler never really try to hurt each other, they just like to play into the dramatics and vibe while still on their separate sides. Batman and Scarecrow want to tear one another's throats out and watch them suffer for it because they have no idea what's going on in their heads.

with the villain!joker timeline, there's an alternate version of the Goon squad (Dork Squad + Joker) where it's Harvey instead of the Joker. Or as well, there can be all five of them. Harvey is the only person who can scruff Jo like the gremlin he very much is and he'll just let it happen.

I don't know if this will show up in the comic anymore, but at one point the Joker was going to refer to Scarecrow and the Riddler as Samhain and a leprechaun because they're both partially Irish - couldn't really be that specific with voice claims, and they'd be offended

and lastly, Ed gets cranky when he's tired

Batman and Riddler are the only two to get digital references at the time and man, do I much prefer how streamlined the final ones look. I mean, what was the dingy brown I had behind Batman? For a split second, Ed's coat was almost purple, but thankfully, Fluffy convinced me otherwise and suggested his shoes be purple. This is also before his vest, and now there's an in story reason for why he doesn't have it in the beginning. Also look at how skinny and tall Ed looked!! (he was still short, he's not allowed to be tall in our au)

That's all I have for now, we'd love to hear any thoughts/memories/etc. in the comments!

Love, Sarsee and Fluffy, your batmanfruitloops creatures

[cherry-bomb-ships]

Wanted to get some creative flow going while staying low-effort, so here's a screenshot redraw/edit/whatever you wanna call it, because I was curious how Mojo would look in the show with all my headcanons and little flourishes that I add when I draw him -w- So here's my redraw and the original screenshot, plus a version wif his OG palette since the lighting in the scene I decided to redo is all reddish

[Any reblogs and comments are seen and appreciated!! 🥺🥺 Also click for higher quality. Under the cut I put some of my thought process on my changes ehe ❤]

So the first thing I have to mention is one of my favorite changes: that little chip out of his ear! I mean, it's not a lot to explain if you just think about it for a second. This poor chimp has taken a LOT of beatings over the years, there's no way that he wouldn't have some physical scars from all that, so I figured the best shorthand way to show that would be giving him that notch. I like to imagine that he's self-conscious about it too 🥺

Second most notable change, I always like giving him a little tooth poking out because I watched a lot of anime as a teen Because with those sharp teeth of his, the idea of one poking out makes sense and also just looks cool to me -w-💖💖💖 I like to think it's a side effect of the PPG movie when he got all huge, cuz his canines also got extended so much that they were poking out from his mouth

So the thicker outline around the bottom of his eyes is something that the original show actually did, in the Powerpuff Girls Rule 10th anniversary special! That stuck with me ever since and rly made me question why he didn't always have it 😭💖😭💖

Even if I prefer his rounder design pre-movie, I can't deny that I adore the sharper, M-shaped nose that they gave him later on and I wanted to keep that. The sharp lines just make sense to me and line up with the shape theory of "sharp=mean and evil". Plus it looks like an M! For Mojo! :3

So this change is a more subtle one and is also a very new idea I had, but I gave his pupils a purple tone instead of being pure black! In all honesty it was inspired by one of the cover arts of the newest PPG comics coming out currently where the artist gave him purple eyes. In my mind they used to be a light brown and got tinted purple from his mutation, along with the whites going pink.

Alright final thing (I think), I know I touched on the notch out of his ear, but when it comes to his ear shape in general, I like to find a happy middle ground between his fully rounded ears they drew on him pre-movie, and the sharp almost elf-like ears they gave him post-movie. Like I said earlier, the sharpness reads as more villainous!

Oh wait! Okay last thing for real: I love giving him a bit more fur around his face, purely for the fact that I think it looks good and cute uwu 💖💖💖💖💖💖

If you read this far please either reblog or comment with your thoughts, I'd be so honored 🥺💖

[weebiemcweebington]

I love how Otto looks before and after his accident and what it symbolizes.

Switching his white (innocent/pure) lab coat for the brown trench coat. This might have been unintentional because every scientist wears a lab coat and the cartoon creators apparently had to make callbacks to movies, so if they it was up to them they might have not used the coat like in the Spider-Man 2. (Apologize if I'm wrong.)

Changing his glasses which exaggerated his eyes aka his cuteness/innocence to goggles which makes him look like he's squinting aka is angry all the time. The reason why people don't like other people wearing glasses and instinctively jump to conclusions like ''He/She is fake.'' is because we can't read their emotions as we normally could. But thanks to the magic of animation he's still expressive when need be.

Also, I love his bow tie! It serves basically the same purpose as a ribbon on a child or a puppy. They could have made him wear a regular tie but that wouldn't stand out as much. And it wouldn't be as cute.

While writing this I noticed his regular clothing has similar colors as his most popular comic version. And after his accident, he wears a green jumpsuit underneath his coat.

What do you think? Did I miss some detail you would like to talk about?

First of all; props to you bro because you obviously spent some TIME pontificating on this subject.

And I Agree! I did sort of notice what they did with his clothing colors, paying homage and all that. But you hit the nail on the head with the rest of it I’d say. His pre-accident design in this cartoon is very.. impeccant? (Had to legitimately pull out the thesaurus for that one) he’s innocent; doesn’t want any trouble. I love that the animators went that route, because it’s probably the only time (to my recollection) that they’ve gone that route with him pre-accident.

Good thought my friend. Thanks for sharing

[racefortheironthrone]

Also what's the deal with Miles? I have vision issues, so graphics and that other stuff has little impact on me (bright side - I can't see Henry Cavill's non-moustache), so Into_ was just a nice little movie, and Across_ ... raises some questions. Like, he has electric powers, and can turn invisible? Why doesn't he turn invisible ANY time it would tactical and not creepy? EVERY other version of Spider-man is on the Council of Ricks but Miles? "Extra powers"+"sole right-thinker" = writer's pet.

Post #2 is where I started to notice some bad vibes. Fair warning, I might start to get a bit annoyed and ramp up from there.

Miles Morales does indeed have invisibility and bio-electricity powers. While sometimes his invisibility is used as an obvious metaphor for feelings of alienation and loneliness - he feels invisible, so he literally becomes invisible - he absolutely uses it tactically in both movies. In ITSV, he uses it to get the jump on Liv Octavius in the super-collider:

And in ATSV, he uses it to sneak past Spider-Byte and access the "Go Home Machine" in order to get the machine to send him back to his home universe and prevent the death of his father. Miles' invisibility allows him to outwit Spyder-Byte, LYLA, and Miguel.

Moving on to your next question, which is a wild pivot in topic, Miles wasn't told about the Spider Society specifically because Miguel views him as a dangerous anomaly and wants to keep him in the dark about what the Spider Society is doing.

Indeed, far from being a designation of any superior status, the movie explicitly frames Miles' exclusion as something that makes him feel anxious and insecure, that he's not good enough to be invited to the club.

Finally, regarding the "writer's pet" note: I feel the same way about this that I do about calling Storm a Mary Sue. Miles Morales is the goddamn protagonist (although given Gwen's prominence especially at the beginning and the end of the film, I'd call him a co-protagonist) and expecting the film not to act like it is just bad cinema appreciation.

Moreover, your specific complaints are baseless:

The movie is absolutely full of Spider-people with "extra powers" - Miguel has talons and fangs and cyber-webs, Jessica Drew has a motor-cycle (and in the comics, pheremone powers and venom blasts like Miles') and can fire webs from her fingertips, Spider-Byte is a decker, there's tons of mecha-Spiderfolk, and on and on. Hell, half the point of the Spider Society is to give the writers and animators the freedom to think up as many Spiderfolk with as many "extra powers" as they can.

The movie explicitly shows that Miles isn't the "sole right thinker." Not only is there the whole arc about Gwen finding her "band" of other spider-dissidents - Peter B. Parker, Peni Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, Pavitr Prabhakar, and Spider-Byte - but there is also HOBIE GODDAMN BROWN, anarchist community organizer. As I said in my original review, he knows that Miguel and the Spider Society are wrong from the beginning and works subtly in the background to radicalize Miles and others against the Spider Society, help Miles escape custody, and steal/reverse-engineer Miguel's tech to allow Gwen to assemble her "band."

[doctorofmagic]

I know this wasn't the point of the Wanda post but I feel like this should be said: Introducing things from the movies into the comics is not always a bad thing like how Blade wasn't half vampire until after the film trilogy and everything that happened with comic 616 Nick Fury. But I could be wrong and those are actually terrible examples.

I agree with you! I don't think adaptations and new concepts are bad, but it really depends on every circumstance.

Cloud!Galactus will forever haunt the second FF movie. Let alone that *points at Victor von Doom as a whole*

On the other hand, some concepts are super welcome, like what they did with the Eternals, making most of their personalities waaaay more interesting (I suppose my only exception is Sersi. Comics!Sersi is/was so full of sass and I missed that. But Ikaris? Makkari? Druig? *chef's kiss*)

Nick Fury, imo, is a very unique concept because he only exists thanks to the Ultimates artist who used Samuel L. Jackson for his design. The actor saw that and wanted to be part of the MCU, which turned him into a very popular character, leading Ult!Fury to the 616, while 616!Fury is currently *whatever happened to him in Slott's FF run idrc* (correct me if I'm wrong on this, I read that info a long time ago)

Oh, and I can't say much about Blade because I'm just starting to read his chronology. But I think it's cool that he's a daywalker, as far as I know.

In short, it's okay if the movies introduce something cool to the character.

But back to Wanda... (and I know you didn't mention her, this is just me ranting, so please feel free to ignore that part, I'm just seizing this opportunity)

Nothing about her MCU characterization added good things to her comic book version. She was whitewashed, worked for Hydra, had a terrible storyline about grief and mental health (tipically stereotyped and twice as problematic since she's a woman) and finally had the "woman goes crazy with power" trope. She was never able to control her powers (as seen in Civil War) and let her emotions warp reality to fit her fantasies while being manipulated by both people and her own emotions (again, women are often called overly emotional, and I'm not excusing Bendis here because he did the same in comics). She became a villain during HoM and the times she was possessed by Chthon, but she was never meant to be *THAT* scary and evil. There's altruism in her essence (this is why the narrative of killing a teenager is just so off to me).

Wanda is a brown romani woman who was often persecuted due to her ethnicity, religion and skin color, as well as her mutant genes. And yes, the many reboots that tried to erase her identity. Even in modern day, she still has to deal with ill-intended writers who ignored the implications of her character as a hero of color and the double effort she has to perform in order to be accepted as an Avenger, (former) mutant and overall hero. Not only that, the fans have to BEG to artists to make sure she isn't whitewashed, while 0ls3n stans will mock and diminish those who ask for representation.

This is why it's so problematic for Wanda to be like that. Her entire characterization is made to please a toxic fanbase and use her as a symbol to promote their racism (as seen on my previous post).

In short, they don't like Wanda. They just idolize 0ls3n because she's white and plays a derranged woman filled with power. And that's kinda enough for them.

Don't get me wrong, I do love my fair share of female villains (I'm literally in 300 different fandoms). But Wanda was not meant to be that, especially knowing that there are so few female heroes of color on screen (it gets even worse when we only count phase 1, 2 and 3).

In any case, my point is, fans cannot accept the influence of MCU!Wanda to be translated to comics because it's erasure of her identity and plain racism. The new team is working very hard to portray a woman of color as she was supposed to be ever since her roma heritage was established in comics, and it's infuriating that people will turn a blind eye to all that.

Like, this kind of shit keeps happening over and over.

Even when Wanda is a brown woman like she's supposed to be, they still find a way to erase her through 0ls3n's whiteness. This is not different from those derranged people who pick white actors and photoshop them over Black Panther's characters (I've seen one just yesterday).

Sure many minorities were poorly portrayed back then, often depicting problematic characterizations, but here's an excellent case of how comic books allow room for growth (I was talking about HP and JK but it also fits this post)

Agatha was just the last bit of bad influence from that accursed TV show. She was deaged, which is absurdly ageist. There are so many few elderly and middle-aged women in the Marvel universe. There's less now because women can't be old (ask me about the anons that stated Charlize was too old to play Clea and watch me burn in rage).

Anyways, I wanted to make this about Wanda again because it's not just a case of bad adaptation. It's a political statement -- and a bad one. And I don't want ANY OF THAT in a media that is so political and means so much to minorities. I feel like it's important for us to talk about this ALWAYS. So yeah. I don't know how to end this post. Representation matters. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[romancomicsblog]

Who should be the main villain of Superman: Legacy?

The Man of Steel has faced countless enemies since his earliest appearance in the late 1930s. However, in live action he tends to face only a handful of his enemies, usually being Lex Luthor or General Zod.

With James Gunn's new DCU comes a new Superman in David Corenswet, and an opportunity to see Superman face one of the more unique enemies he possesses. I'd like to pitch a couple of ideas for enemies we can see him face in his newest film.

I will be pitching 5 villains I can potentially see as the main antagonist for this movie. I will only be pitching villains we have yet to see in live action film, so no Zod, Doomsday, or Luthor.

I also want to build on the fact that he is a younger hero. This should not be a gigantic threat like Darkseid, he's just starting out, so he needs someone who is a challenge for him to start but isn't overly powerful.

There are also other heroes in this movie, namely Green Lantern, Metamorpho, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific, all heavy hitters. So our villain needs to be the right level of formidable to other heroes, a challenge for a young Superman, but ultimately a win for Clark.

5. The Toyman

Winslow Schott is an inventor and toymaker who uses his inventions to commit crimes and often tangle with the Man of Steel. His inventions always lean on the silly side, robot teddy bears, giant robot Nutcrackers, you get the gist.

While he is often a nuisance and less of a threat in the comics, I think done right he can be a very creepy villain.

I can see him as a disgruntled LexCorp employee whose designs are being stolen, or perhaps a crazed hero fan who is mad he was not asked to be on the prototype Guy Gardner led by the Justice League.

If we wanted to go older and sillier, I can see a comedian like Jack Black having a lot of fun with a role like this.

While the character is fun, he may be too much of a layup for the Man of Steel. Perhaps as intro to the movie, we can see Superman taking him on, but not as the main villain of the movie.

4. Lobo

The main man himself is due for his time in the spotlight.

Lobo is an intergalactic bounty hunter who is often butting heads with the Man of Steel. Lobo is an arrogant, intense, and powerful warrior whose only law is the agreement he made for his bounty.

Originally meant to be a parody of grim and gritty superhero stories in the 90s, the character was enthusiastically loved by fans, and has been a big DC character ever since.

Having Lobo be this force that comes to Earth to kill the final Kryptonian from an unknown greater evil could make for an interesting movie. He is a villain who could put up a good fight against our Justice League, and give Superman a run for his money.

Because he is a bounty hunter, he is not necessarily evil, and if he can be reasoned with, we could see him back in future movies, maybe even as an uneasy ally to Superman.

Most people want Mamoa, and I understand why, but I think this would be a fun place to put an actor like Rob McElhenney. Have him play a dirtbag badass from across the galaxy can be fun.

While I like this story, I think we can save Lobo for a better place than an origin movie.

3. Metallo

Metallo is a Kryptonite powered cyborg named John Corben, who was experimented on by Professor Vale to become a weapon against what he believes to be an oncoming Alien Invasion in Superman.

Metallo is strong, tragic, and powered by Supermans greatest weakness. He is not only a match for our Justice League, but fatal to Superman.

I can see a version where Lex Luthor "saves" this John from a near fatal accident and turns him into Metallo to test and hopefully kill Superman. (My Luthor is Sterling K Brown by the way).

While Luthor would be the main villain in the shadows, Metallo would be the main threat of the movie.

This puts Superman directly in the path of someone he can't fight or save with his powers. He'll have to stop him with his heart and kindness. I like that idea.

I'd like a younger actor who can be menacing but can display great pain. A Dacre Montgomery type would be ideal for me.

I think Metallo is an excellent starter villain that can determine what kind of hero Clark is going to be.

2. Parasite

Rudy Jones was a janitor at STAR Labs. After being exposed to a waste container, Jones was granted the ability to steal energy from people, leaving them dead or ill. From super powered individuals however, Parasite can absorb and all abilities, leaving heroes incapacitated.

The idea of a meta who can steal abilities away from a team like the Justice League would make for an excellent challenge for Superman. While I don't love his origin, I think you can fix that by making him a test subject at STAR Labs or a metahuman who has to take his entire life to survive. Someone Superman would have to talk to to me seems like a good end to the movie.

I kind of want angry troubled energy, so I'm imagining Aaron Paul here. I could see him crying talking to Superman at the end of the movie, hurt.

1. Bizzaro

Bizzaro is sometimes a duplication of the Man of Steel, often created by Lex Luthor, who is sometimes a villain, sometimes an antihero. While he is a physical match for Superman, he isn't exactly his cerebral match. Often times he is similar to a child, with the opposite abilities of Superman. (Fire breath, and Ice Vision)

What is fun about Bizzaro is he often tries to emulate Superman instead of destroy him, causing more trouble trying to be good then evil. The first bit of the movie Clark can fight him, try to turn him good, fail, and have to try a new method.

I am a fan of villains who are troubled or are trying to do good but can't seem to get it right due to pain or trauma. With a character like Bizzaro, we can have someone who is a match to Clark, but isn't trying to hurt anyone. Just trying to exist, and he needs guidance.

Bizzaro can than be a fun side character for Superman to bounce off. A weird cousin who shows up from time to time to help Clark in big fights, maybe even die at the hands of one his major enemies like Zod, Darkseid or Luthor. There are a lot of fun avenues to take Bizzaro than just meathead villain.

I also don't want Corenswet to play Bizzaro. What's fun about him is he isn't exactly Superman, he's off. We can have an actor who looks similar to a Superman type, like Reid Scott.

If you really wanna have some fun. Give it Cavill or Routh. Give them a chance to dawn the tights in a different way.

I hope they do Metallo, Parasite or Bizzaro, and have Clark have to level with them at a human level. That is the most Superman thing to me, and would be an excellent start to Superman's story.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to support me, you can follow me on my socials here!

[365days365movies]

Horror October III: Dracula (1931) - Review

By the way, this isn’t the first film adaptation of Dracula.

The first is actually a 1921 Hungarian silent film called Dracula’s Death (Drakula halála), which is considered somewhat lost today. The second adaptation, and the far more famous one, is F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu, seen above. This is a loose but accurate adaptation, starring no characters from the original film. However, it’s still well-regarded...and I also haven’t seen this one. I AM WORKING ON IT

Anyway, Dracula has been adapted countless times in film and stage adaptations, and the character is truly timeless. Of course, Bela Lugosi’s version of the vampire count reigns supreme to this day, but the character’s been played by Christopher Plummer and Gary Oldman, he’s fought both Batman and the Avengers, and he’s the second most adapted character in film to this day.

And with that...what’d I think of Universal’s version? Well...

Review

Cast and Acting: 9/10

Once again, first things first: Bela Lugosi absolutely rules in this movie. His turn as the charismatic Count is great, and his turn on the role is extremely iconic for a reason. But unlike in Frankenstein, I don’t really think there are any slouches here! Dwight Frye as Renfield is genuinely my other favorite character in this movie, and Edward Van Sloan’s Van Helsing is a powerful foe to the good Count. And Helen Chandler! WhoO! Sure, she’s a little over-dramatic at times, but she REALLY uses the seductive angle of the vampire to full effect as she’s beginning to turn. She’s very effective! If anyone was a weak point, it’s David Manners and Herbert Bunston, both of whom are...OK. They’re the straight men of the piece, and they’re fine in their roles. Seriously, compared to Frankenstein, these are some strong-ass performances all around.

Plot and Writing: 9/10

Unlike Frankenstein, I don’t have a dog in this fight, adaptation-wise. And so, I’m measuring the writing and plot on their own merits. And honestly...kudos to Garrett Fort for this adaptation, because I think he did rather well! The movie seemed streamlined in plot, and it made sense all throughout. There are two major issues I had with it, though. One, the ending, of course. We’ll get to that with pacing, but this was a REALLY abrupt and unsatisfying ending for me. And two, honestly, the comic relief characters. Yeah, I didn’t mention them much, but the guard and nurse really took me out of the whole deal. Really didn’t need to be thrown in there, in my opinion. Other than that, though, it’s entirely solid.

Direction and Cinematography: 9/10

Tod Browning did really well with this movie...but I don’t know if I can say he did better than Whaley, honestly. Cinematographer Karl Freund I think matched up, but Browning didn’t make as much of an impact on me as Whaley did with Frankenstein. I dunno, it just didn’t affect me as much. Still great, but not as memorable for me. Close-up shots and lighting were still great, though. Speaking of...

Production and Art Design: 10/10

Production and art design DEFINITELY match up to Frankenstein, if not surpassing it. To really pull off Dracula, dude and his surroundings have to be grand and bold. And they certainly pulled that off, from his original home in Romania, to the surroundings and trappings of England. This movie looks gothic and dark, and that’s the perfect look for this story.

Music and Editing: 8/10

Well...this movie HAS no music. Yeah, outside of Swan Lake in the opening titles and the opera scene, there’s no music in this film. So, OK, what about the editing by Milton Carruth and Maurice Pivar? It’s great, but noticeable in some instances where it shouldn’t be. Still good, but not perfect.

90% definitely works for me. Love this movie.

This is yet another annual tradition established for me! Loving these Universal monster movies, and I want to keep watching them...possibly past October. Yeah, uh...we’ll see. Might actually continue this past October, because I can (and I want to). If anyone has objections, let me know. Anyway, what’s next? Feeling some more movie monsters, honestly. We’ve got vampires and Frankenstein’s Monster, so logically...

Next: The Wolf Man (1941); dir. Tod Browning

[seokiloquy]

Patient Growth - Yaku Morinosuke

Soulmate AU: Red String (the string on your finger points in the direction of your soulmate for about 4 inches of length before disappearing, only to make a full string connection when in each others range of sight)

Requested

Tags/Warnings: GN! Reader, time-skip spoilers, short and sweet.

Word Count: 3k+

“(Y/N), why are you doing math? We had it last semester.”

Pulling the protractor away from your pinky, you looked up to Micky’s face, watching as her eyebrow pushed upwards to her sleek hairline. You clicked your tongue, mouth open for a moment as you slid your notebook in her direction.

“Pythagorean theorem. Seriously, what are you doing?”

You raised both hands off your desk in surrender as you tilted your head away from the girl’s questioning stare. “Okay okay, hear me out.”

“That doesn’t exactly give me good faith.”

“So, the red string soulmate pair has mostly died off as of the late century or so right?”

Micky sighed, swinging her leg over the backrest of the chair in front of you, sitting backwards and she crossed her arms over your desk and leaned forward. “And?”

“And, because a lot of people have no need to know about tricks for the red string we were never taught. A lot of people have tattoos nowadays so I get it, don’t teach about every soulmate history, that’s fine.”

“Get on with it.”

“Okay, okay.” You spun your notebook around for Micky to see it straight on. “After some research, I discovered that people used to use the Pythagorean theorem to find the exact location of their soulmate using the angles of the string attached to their hand.”

“Okay cool, so why are you doing this instead of our English essay?”

Clenching your teeth, you looked away from Micky’s brown eyes to the tiled floor of your classroom. “Well, to be fair I have finished the essay.”

“We were assigned it yesterday.”

“I said it was finished, not good. But besides that. I’ve done five separate calculations, but the angles I’m getting don’t change at all, I’m getting a straight line. No triangle, no location.”

Furrowing her brow, Micky leaned back against the desk behind her, large fluffy hair tickling the back of another classmate’s neck, making them giggle. “Oops, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Mickey leaned back toward you, fingertips pulling at her ends. She sighed, “Have you considered that they might be so far away that 100 metres doesn’t give you enough clear information.”

Reaching for the thread that tied to your pinky, you spun it between your fingers, leaning back as you watched the string fade into invisibility mid-air. “I considered it, but that must mean they’re really far, and I didn’t want to admit that to myself.

“Well, hey. You’ll meet your soulmate eventually, everyone does. So for now, how about you focus on yourself and maybe clean up your essay.”

“Ya, ya you’re right.”

Micky sits for a moment, staring into empty space as your pen slowly lowers back down to the unfinished calculations on the paper. Sighing, she lifted her hand and placed it over yours, stopping the scribbling. “(Y/N), stop. You’re not ready to meet your soulmate if you’re searching for them.”

With a furrowed brow, you clicked the pen close and set in on the table. When you looked up to meet Micky’s eyes the yellow lights in the ceiling dimmed around your vision. “What do you mean by that.”

“Seriously (Y/N). if you spend all your time searching for your soulmate, what are you going to do when you finally meet them? Tell them about the length you went to, to hunt them down? Search for someone else?”

“Of course not—”

Your head shot forward slightly at the smack she landed on the back of it. “Then what?” you didn’t even seem  to move. “What do you want to do in the future?”

Picking the pen back up you flipped it between your fingers, spinning it recklessly before it slipped between your digits as they slowly clammed up under the weight of her stare.

“Do you have any clue?” She looked at your notebook before grabbing it from beneath your arms and flipping over a few pages. Slamming it back onto the desk, the sight that met you was one of a completely cluttered page, filled to the brim with words and doodles. “What about this? Art. Writing. You love comics and stories. Why not—”

“It would never last. Starving artists, you know?”

“Get out of that damn mindset. That’s all a hoax, sure it happens, but art and story’s make culture colourful and interesting.”

You sighed, flipping the notebook closed as the beginning of the lunch bell rang. “You say that as if I’d have a giant impact on society.”

“Who says you wouldn’t?”

Russia’s snow was no joke. It made the shorter male shiver to the bone till he managed to get into the building’s lobby. Though, it did persist until he got a hand on the apartment’s doorknob.

Yaku peaked over his model friend’s shoulder, slowly shrugging off his long thick coat before walking back to the coat hangers at the entrance. “You read?” he asked, moving the red string on his finger as it wrapped around one of the hooks. 

Lev’s home, shared with his older sister, was a lived-in picture of modern architecture. The flat white walls and smooth stone countertops matched the square windows and minimalist paintings. The rent hardly put a dent in their wallets. Rich people. 

Despite the money available, no books shelves in the home were used for actual books, just plants and picture frames. This made the sight of Lev holding a bound stack of paper all the more outlandish. He kicked off his shoes, slinging on the available slippers.

“Huh oh, not often. But Alisa heard that this book blew up and was getting translated into a bunch of different languages, Russian and Japanese included. So we got both and we’re sort of jumping in between the versions for practice, you know? Oh, Alisa’s buying groceries, she’ll be back in time to watch the game though. How was practice?”

Yaku paced over to his friend's sleek kitchen and grabbed a glass, filling it with water. “Pretty good. I'm still getting used to the language, but I’ve gotten a better hang of it. What’s the book about?” The shorter man, two glasses in hand, walked over to his friend and offered one.

Lev gave Yaku a large smile and graciously took it, sipping for a moment before setting it on the coffee table. “It’s a mid-century fantasy, filled with magic, monsters, flying trains. No soulmates though, so you don’t know if the main character’s relationship is platonic or romantic. Not that it’s the main focus of the plot. And the Protagonist is this 18-year-old with no magic but somehow has to stop a magic war from happening between two rival empires. It’s really cool.”

Yaku sat in the opposite corner of the couch, chugging his glass back as he watched an animated movie play quietly on the screen in front of them. “Where’s the author from?” he asked, twirling the pinky tied red string around one of his fingers aimlessly.

“Europe? North-America? Don’t recall. But I did hear that they got scouted to work on an upcoming manga with a small group of authors. Apparently, they are great illustrators. Oh did they design the cover of their book? Ugh, let me check.” Lev reached for his phone on the counter as the door opened behind them. 

Alisa, long silver hair tied up into a neat bun, dropped the grocery bags and shook the snow off her head while kicking her coat off. “Lev,” she huffed. “I texted you to help me with the bags. Ah, Mori, you’re here. Good to see you.”

Yaku gave the older model a smile as Lev dropped his phone and rushed to pick up the brim filled bags of food. “Sorry, sorry. I was telling Mori about the books we bought.”

“Don’t worry I managed. Mori, I heard you made it onto the national team, does that mean we’re gonna have to fly into Japan to support you next year?”

Yaku laughed and waved his hand dismissively, “I won’t force you two. But I think the rest of Nekoma would like to see you again.”

Lev let out a loud snort from the kitchen, “We’re going! No doubt about it!” The tall man took a moment to poke his head out, “Oh, Yak— Alisa! You didn’t tell me!”

The childlike anger in his tone made Alisa laugh, turning around to look at her brother head-on. “Tell you what?”

“Your soulmate! Your tattoo is gold now!”

Yaku, from his position, could quickly confirm. The mandala-like flower on the back of Alisa’s neck had gone from a black to a golden shimmer.

Alisa scrambled, quickly pulling her phone close to her chest. With a swipe of her thumb, she brought the phone behind her and pushed and stray hairs up towards her silver bun. The camera clicked.

Yaku raised a thin blond brow. “Do you,” he paused, trying not to chuckle at his friend’s frantic scuffling. “Do you not know who it is?”

“Well, I can’t recall. Nothing was out of the ordinary today.” She tapped her booted toe against the mat before gasping suddenly. Removing the nail she was biting from her mouth, she grunted and pulled her coat back on. 

She began to ramble. “That damn cashier! I finally met him and she’s my soulmate? Stupid, stupid!” She stepped through the front door, turning around to give them a smile. “You boys enjoy the game, okay?”

The door closed with a dull thud and click. Lev, hands hanging like dead fish at sides, stood speechless. For a minute he stared at the closed door, not noticing Yaku’s eyes on him, before asking a sudden question.

“Do you want to meet your soulmate?”

“Hmm? Why do you ask?”

Lev stepped back into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of vegetables, silently beckoning Yaku to follow. Heeding, Yaku followed.

“Well, I don’t mean to sound negative or anything. I really want to meet my soulmate.” He trailed off.

Yaku sighed and grabbed his own item to help put it away in the fancy silver fridge. “Everyone has growing to do, and everyone grows at different paces.” He paused, stifling a sneer at Lev looking down at him with a bewildered gaze. He threw a pack of ships into his stomach. “If you never meet them, it was never meant to happen right? But soulmates are funny like that and always find their way to each other. You just got to be patient.”

Lev tossed the back onto a shelf, making the ships crunch daily when they landed. “Do you think you’ll meet your soulmate? Soon?”

“I’ve done a lot of growing, and I like how things are going. So ya, maybe.” Yaku looked back into the living room and to the book that sat in near perfect condition. “If it’s any constellation Lev, I think you’ve done a lot of growing too.”

He looked at the taller friend, immediately regretting his words slightly. Lev wore a cat-like grin. 

“(L/N), we’re buying tickets to the Olympic games, do you want one?” Udai asked with an excited grin.

“Uh, hold on.” You pulled the glasses from off the top of your head and onto the bridge of your nose. Standing from your brightly lit desk, you walked over to stand behind one of your teammate’s shoulders to squint at their screen. “Volleyball? Oh, right you played didn’t you?”

The long-haired man laughed, making his chair creak as he leaned back. “So did Akaashi. We know some of the players on the team too.”

You sat up straight, brows shooting as close to your hairline as possible. “You know professional volleyball players?”

Udai let out an airy laugh. “Well Akaashi knows them better than I do, but ya.”

Akaashi, the silent editor that sat across the table, looked up at your bewildered face. “You’re a fan of volleyball?”

“Well, it’s not like I know the name of every player, coach, and team, but I enjoy watching sport in general. Udai, put me on the list.”

Walking back to your desk, you silently listened to your co-authors rattle on about the 3rd act of the story as you made clean lines and whether or not the main character should save the secondary one or not. Sighing, you looked at the black pen you held, before setting it down and gently tugging on your little red string. Akaashi rolled his chair over.

“I’m surprised you haven’t met your soulmate yet.”

“Are you? I’m only two years older than you Akaashi.”

“I suppose you’re right, most people just tend to meet their soulmates at the end of high school or into post-secondary. Typically if they’re in close proximity.”

“Well, I did try to figure out where my soulmate was. My friend convinced me to stop and focus on myself,” you sighed, staring at the papers in front of you. “I’m thankful for that, honestly. If I’m not ready to meet my soulmate, at least I have myself right? I’m happy.”

Akaashi’s head tilted, hair shifting under the fluorescent light as he stared at the small gold tattoo on his wrist with a smile. “Ya, you’re right.”

The stadium, inside and out, was loud. Stacks of hundreds of people slowly making their way around the building and milling about, their conversations made it difficult to communicate.

“So you don’t know how your soul mark works exactly?” Udai yelled into your ear.

“Not entirely. Everyone is different, you know? And not many people have the red string nowadays!”

“Ah, right! Makes sense.”

“Everyone, this way!” one of your co-authors called, as akaashi and another author came back, beers in hand.

Following your group, you made your way to the balcony seats to finally sit down instead of standing among tight groups of strangers. You cast a panoramic look over the circular-shaped stadium at the filled seats that hit the vibrant vinyl colours of the chairs.

“Eh! Akaashi! Is that you?”

Two rows ahead, standing tall, and eagerly running your way was a lanky silver-headed man with a big grin. Next to you, Akaashi stood up, and to be polite you stepped out of his way standing in the stairway to look up slightly at the stranger. 

“Ah Lev, been a while.”

Unable to get back to your seat, you stood between the two men patiently.

“You’re here to see everyone right? Oh, who’s this?” Lev asked, turning his head in your direction.

“(L/N), (Y/N). I’m one of Akaashi’s co-workers.”

The man’s thin silver brows pinched together, tilting his head as he inspected your face before suddenly shooting up onto his toes. “You wrote the Rusted Wing series! I love those books!”

“Ah, ya I did.”

“That’s amazing, I-”

A man’s voice called over the speakers, echoing through the stadium. Lev, in an excited rush, insisted on speaking to you later, before running back to his seat where another silver-haired person sat.

Sitting back down, you breathed slowly as the loud conversations around you died and the players made their way onto the court with an uproar of cheers. You smiled, chanting along until Akaashi nudged your arm.

Yaku, completely in his head about the quickly approaching game, kept his eyes on the red jersey in front of him as he walked forward. The music played loudly in his ears and mixed with the messy sound of cheers his head felt like it was floating in a cloud of complete focus on oblivion.

He stood in line, chest rising as he waited for the anthem to begin, but before they did an elbow hit his shoulder. 

Opening his eyes, he immediately caught sight of the once invisible red string making a complete line, arching its way up into the crowd where he saw your face above the strangers in the crowd.

Yaku was in a daze. Completely blown out of the water, all the thoughts in his mind seemed to escape him.

The game seemed to have started without his knowledge, and finished just as quickly. Muscle memory had done its job well. Yaku only noticed what had happened when his head was forced up to see the winning scores on a large screen.

“Fantastic work Yaku, and you didn’t even break a sweat! You were a monster out there! Absolute beast.” The head coach’s expression was one of amazement.

Yaku blinked dumbly. “If I’m being honest, I hardly remember a thing I did out there.”

“Well, you did fantastically. Conscious or not.”

When Yaku looked back to your seat, location freshly printed in his mind, you were gone. 

He followed the team back into the change rooms. Which happened to be when the rest began to point out the quickly moving direction of his thread. One compared its movements to a broken compass. 

Once able to get out of the musty changeroom, Yaku sprinted. The stadium halls were still packed with people. None paid attention to the short man sprinting though. The string had gone still and Yaku eagerly followed it like a trail of breadcrumbs. He knew his fate would be better than the two german siblings because at the end of the trail would be his soulmate and not some cannibalistic witch. He hoped.

The string suddenly shot forward, growing in length. He came to a halt, panting from his sprint; more than he did during the game.

Only a couple metres ahead, head meeting a higher point against Lev’s arm than his own, was his soulmate chatting happily in a circle while maintaining eye contact with his tall friend. The sight made his ears rumble and cheeks burn with embarrassment.

The content smile on your lips when you finally turned his way made all his patience worth it.

I’m getting better at using ‘They’ as a gender-neutral pronoun in writing without making it feel clunky, which I’m happy about.

I hope everyone has been having a nice holiday. - Bacon

Posted: 17/01/2021

[armageddon-generation]

Batwoman Could’ve Been the PERFECT Batfamily Show

After Gotham ended so recently, Batwoman should've positioned itself as the Ying to that show's Yang by focusing on Batman's allies instead of his enemies.

The 'Bruce disappears hook is a brilliant way to do this

Kate is our audience entry point into this world

ORACLE + GORDON

Barbra Gordon has already been paralysed via The Killing Joke, and hasn't yet become Oracle - she's still recovering

Comissioner Gordon took an early retirement after his daughter was paralysed, which is why Kate's Dad's private security force the Crows runs the streets

Batwoman and the series' events inspire him to return and reclaim Gotham for the Law by the end of season 1

TIM DRAKE + WE ARE ROBIN

Robin disappeared with Batman, so we can introduce the We Are Robin gang. At the beginning of the season they're just criminals, but after Kate defeats their ringleader she shows them a better outlet for their rage, and inspires them. Duke Thomas (future Signal) is among them

Once the we Are Robins are established Tim Drake returns to Gotham. Kate is surprised - few people outside of Gotham know there have been multiple Robins. This way we can explain the different versions to people not in the know

Just like after Bruce was sent back in time in the comics, Tim has gone travelling the world as Red Robin, searching for him. Tim heard about the Robins causing civil unrest and is concerned about them marring Robin's good name.

Tim and Kate clash over the Robins' chaotic, violent modus oprendi - Tim enforces a philosophy of Robin as the light to Batman's dark - promoting positivity, not violence. A loose adaptation of the Robin War storyline follows where Duke Thomas emerges as the Robins' leader and rallies them to be more controlled and less violent

Tim leaves after this mini-arc, satisfied Gotham is in good hands. He also teaches Kate more about the detective side of Batman - he isn't just a blunt instrument. Tim will be our primary link to the 'Bruce's location' mystery throughout the series

NIGHTWING

Dick arrives in Gotham on a case from Bludhaven. Kate thinks he's abandoned Gotham - he should've taken up the mantle while Bruce was gone.

Explore Dick's troubled history with Bruce (not to F**k Batman levels), how Babs being Batgirl caused him to quit, and the one-two punch of Jason Todd's death and Barbra's paralysis only validated his getting out while he could

Tender scenes between Dick and Babs alluding to thier teenage crushes on each other.

As a cop, Dick hates the Crows being on Gotham's streets and more actively conflicts with Kate's father, driving up the tension between them and Batwoman

RED HOOD

This arc would be like a finale-style thing

Jason Todd returns and starts assassinating criminals with the ambition of 'controlling' crime. Kate is a soldier, more brutal than Bruce, so she has greater sympathy for Jay's methods

Jay is after the Joker. Like in The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker has 'retired' to Arkham since Batman left - he got bored pretty quickly. This arc introduces him properly after a few teases earlier in the series.

Jay learns of Barbra's paralysis (which happened after he died) - even then Bruce wouldn't kill him. A scene where Jason visits Babs (little brother/big sister dynamic).

Both Dick and Tim return for this arc, losing their shit over the Joker. Kate's reaction to the Joker is much like Terry McGuiness's in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. She doesn't get why everyone is so scared of this stupid clown.

Tim is the one who figures out how Jason was resurrected; just like in the Red robin comic he's been travelling through the world of assassins and knows about the Lazarus Pit.

I think doing the Red Hood arc without Bruce - the main target of Jason's anger - is super interesting. Most people share his anger at Bruce for disappearing.

It also lets us dig deep into the inter-Robin dynamics - Jason hates Dick because he always had to live up to him (do that thing in the comics where Jay had to dye his red hair black to 'look like Robin')

Jay hates Tim for replacing him, for being proof Bruce didn't learn his lesson, for Bruce treating Tim better, the way he should've treated Jason

Kate is instrumental to this arc because, being outside all the drama, she has objectivity. She forces Dick and Tim to get their heads out of their asses and talk to Jason, forces them to confront the problem.

Instead of taking the Joker to Bruce as he does in the Under the Red Hood movie, Jason takes Joker to Babs, who has suffered the most because of him. Confronted with the man who 'ruined' her life, Babs proves bigger and stronger than him. She refuses to kill him. Unlike Jason, she's moving on and growing past her trauma, not looking for revenge.

Joker (being the Joker) turns the tables on Jay and has him at his mercy. Kate swoops in and, like Terry in Return of the Joker, messes with the Joker's head by refusing to take him seriously. The Joker is distracted, screaming about Kate not being Batman, and Babs gets to knock him the fuck out.

Jason escapes, but not before dropping a clue connecting Bruce's disappearance to the League of Assassins

I know the showrunners admitted they have no clue where Bruce is yet, so in my version he's off on some quest with Ras Al Guhl. In the time since he's been gone he's married Talia and had a kid. no-one in Gotham knows this yet.

VILLAINS

We can explore how Batman’s absence has had a strange effect on Gotham's villains - many have gone into states of hibernation similar to the Joker.

Two Face gets his dark Knight Returns plotline where the attempt to repair his face, 

Mr Freeze has a similar ‘cure’ story a la Batman Beyond

Clayface (as in the Rebirth run of Detective Comics) is trying to go straight - using his shape-shifting gift to make a name for himself in the movie business. He thinks he's finally been accepted, but people are just sucking up to him because of his talent - the reality of their disgust threatens to push him back over the edge

Without Batman there to fight her, Poison Ivy has pretty much taken over Gotham's main park space, but a kind of stalemate has been reached - she won't attack the city as long as the city doesn't move against her plants.

Kate's central dilemma is navigating these unusual waters - she toys with the idea of putting Ivy behind bars and we get an episode of her exploring the micro-climate of the transformed Park. Kate's disturbance makes Ivy threaten the city, and she has to stretch her underused negotiation muscles to talk her down.

I like the idea of Ivy as an ambivalent character, not good or evil. She'll do whatever she wants. Also she and Kate would have killer sexual chemistry.

Harley. Exploring Harley in such a strongly feminist show would be fascinating. Joker has closed off, given himself up. Harley is forced to fend without him, and finds an antihero niche with the Gotham City Sirens (hi, Ivy!)

With Bruce's disappearance, Wayne enterprises is designing revolutionary new weapons for the Crows. It's revealed that they’re using the Riddler to design these. After Batman disappeared it was presumed Nygma went through therapy and was moved away from Gotham - in fact he's here.

This plot point is inspired by the New 52's Zero Year arc. Kate discovers the foul play when the Crow's systems go haywire because of a virus Nygma planted, sending Gotham into a blackout and giving the Riddler control of its municipal systems

Kate finds Nygma and exposes Wayne Enterprises' corruption, but in the process Riddler escapes.

Similar to Ivy, Kate's appearance excites the Riddler and he reactivates his Saw-like trap rooms across the city. Kate has a different, much blunter way of solving puzzles that frustrates him, used to Bruce's genius-level intellect.

This raises the question - is Batwoman a liability to the city?

BATGIRL(S)/BIRDS OF PREY

With Riddler's re-emergence triggers the appearance of Spoiler. In the comics Stephanie Brown is Cluemaster's daughter, but no-one really gives a shit about him. The benefit of a decade-plus old Batman means his rogues gallery can easily have kids - Stephanie had her name changed in witness protection.

Steph helps Kate beat the Riddler in collaboration with Bab's hacking skills. Kate sees potential in Spoiler and sends her to Babs to be trained.

As Batwoman's appearance reawakens super-crime in Gotham, the Crows get desperate. They hire world- renowned assassin David Cain to start taking out targets

Intro Cassandra Cain.

Cass + Steph + Babs are this series' version of the Birds of Prey

Babs teaches Cass sign-language to communicate. Steal her friendship with Clayface from the Rebirth Detective Comics - Clayface leaves the movie business again because it was unhealthy, and is trying to do good

Everyone is very protective of Cass and determined she won't fight

[hamletandthegang]

Christmas Morning

Hamlet awoke suddenly as his phone beeped. It was early, earlier than he’d like it to be, but there were things to be done. He rolled out of his bed, and threw on some clothes. Hamlet had thought hard about how to give everyone their bracelets. Since he didn’t think it was a very sentimental gift (he was wrong), he wanted to do something special. 

So he got to work. The plastic sack that held the bracelets and colorful balls of yarn was sitting next to his door. He grabbed it and opened the door. A lump of fabric with a ribbon around it hit his foot. He unwrapped it and found that it was a soft black sweater with a white skull on it. The skull had Christmas lights wrapped around it, as did the sleeves. He laughed and read the card attached to it.

Hamlet, Please enjoy this sweater! I hope you like it, it was fun to design. Merry Christmas, Annalise.

Hamlet grinned, placed the sweater on his bed, and ran down the hall like a giddy child. Breakfast would just have to wait.

Ophelia yawned and blinked. It was Christmas! She still got a rush of excitement during the holidays, although she’d never admit it. She spotted something sitting on the stool that stood next to her small desk. Ophelia sprung out of bed and untied the ribbon wrapped around the thing. Holding it up, Ophelia realized that it was a sweater. It was a beautiful pastel blue color, with snowflakes on it. It was made of super soft crocheted yarn. A small note was slipped in the sleeve.

Ophelia, I hope you enjoy this sweater! I had a lot of fun making it. Merry Christmas, Annalise.

Ophelia let out a squeak, and immediately changed into the sweater. She grabbed her polaroid camera and opened her door to go out. But she stopped as she saw a little blue string tied to the handle. Ophelia poked her head out, and stared confusedly at the strings hanging around the hall. Her blue string was tangled in a bright red string, which lead the opposite way down the hall. She stepped out of her room, and her foot hit a small gift that was sitting by her door. She unwrapped the parcel to discover a battery pack and fairy lights! A little note was in it.

Dear Ophelia, These lights can be controlled completely from your phone. Just download the free app connected to them, and they’re pretty fun to mess around with. Have a Merry Christmas ~ Guildenstern

Ophelia grinned, and placed the lights delicately on her desk. Then she walked down the hall, following the blue string attached to her door handle. As she reached the corner, the red string lurched and she heard Rosencrantz whisper, “Shit- Ahh!” And he fell down, completely wrapped up in red yarn. Ophelia laughed, and helped him up. 

“Are you okay?” Ophelia laughed.

“Yeah, just got tripped up. Did Hamlet do this?” Rosencrantz looked at the yarn hung all over the hall.

“I don’t know for sure, but probably. Ooh!” Ophelia ran back to her room. “One sec! I have your gift right in here!” Ophelia grabbed a small book that was bursting at the seams, and skidded to a halt in front of Rosencrantz. “Here!” She handed him the book.

  “Oh wow,” Rosencrantz breathed as he opened the book. “Did you make a scrapbook?”

“Yeah, it has all the pictures that we’ve taken together, and some other stuff.”

“This is so cool!” He exclaimed, flipping excitedly through the scrapbook. “Dude, this is awesome. How long did this take you?

“A little while, but it’s okay! I had so many Polaroid pictures that I didn’t know what to do with, so… yeah.”

“Ophelia, this is literally the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten, thank you so much.”

They hugged, and Ophelia noticed that he was wearing a red sweater that had a reindeer on it saying, ‘Deck yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self.’

“I see you found Annalise’s gift,” Ophelia laughed.

“Oh yeah, it’s great.”

“I love that.” 

“Have a good Christmas, Elsa,” Rosencrantz laughed, pointing to Ophelia’s sweater with snowflakes on it.

Ophelia laughed again, and the two continued down the hall separate ways, each following their colored strings.

Horatio was awoken by a very jumpy Oliver.

“Horatio, wake up! Wake up, it’s Christmas!” Oliver exclaimed, while he shook Horatio. Their parents were going to arrive later that day; they lived far from the castle and Oliver’s boarding school, so Horatio had agreed to take him for a few days. 

Horatio rolled over and yawned. “Okay buddy, just give me a minute. I need to get ready.” Oliver was as ready as he’d ever be. He had his purple pajamas with small dogs on them, and of course his aviator hat was stuffed over his messy white curled mess of hair. 

Horatio walked over to his chair, and curiously picked up what looked like a sweater with a navy ribbon wrapped around it. He unwrapped it and held up the sweater. It was a dark blue color. On the front it had a pun ironed onto it. It read ‘Fa (La)^7.’ Horatio laughed, and put it on. He read the note stuck to it, and realized it was from Annalise. Then he noticed something underneath his sweater. It was a second, smaller sweater. He unwrapped that one, and called Oliver over.

“Hey, look. Annalise made you a sweater.” Oliver gasped and squealed.

“I love it!” He grabbed it, and put it on. It was lavender colored with super soft yarn. It had an image of Snoopy wearing a toboggan and flying on his dog house.

Horatio brushed his hair, and picked up a large brown sack. Grabbing out a small book, he gave it to Oliver, who gave him a hug. It was the third installment of a comic book series that he loved. Inside, it had a little note written on a paper. 

“Alright, buddy. Do you want to help me give the rest of these to my friends?”

Oliver nodded, and they set off. Or they would’ve, if there weren’t two strings tied to their door handle. One was a light purple color, and one was a vibrant blue. They led down the hall, tangled together in knots. 

“What’s this?!” Oliver laughed and jumped around, trying to touch the string. 

“I guess we follow them?” Horatio chuckled, and followed Oliver who immediately started running down the hall on the string’s trail.

After a few minutes, they passed by the kitchen. Oliver stopped and sniffed, smelling the heavenly smells coming from the kitchen. He peeked inside, and then waved Horatio over. He opened the door and looked in, to see Annalise taking some cookies out of the oven. On the counter were trays piled with cookies, brownies, and all sorts of other amazing desserts. 

“Wow Annalise! These are beautiful!”

“Oh, I didn’t see you there. Thank you!” Annalise turned around, wearing a yellow apron. “I hope you guys like your sweaters.”

“I love it so much! Thank you Annalise!” Oliver tackled her in a hug, and she laughed.

“They are great, Anna. Thank you for spending so much time on them.” Horatio gave her a hug, and she allowed them both to sneak a cookie. “I have your gift right here,” Horatio dug in his sack for a few seconds, and reemerged with a copy of The Secret Garden, with illustrated pictures. He had found it at a library near his college a while ago, and knew Annalise would love it.

“Oh my gosh, that’s perfect! Thank you, how’d you know I like it so much?” She looked at the book lovingly, and read the personal note Horatio had stuck in the front. 

“I remembered how much you loved the movie version that one night we watched it together.”

“Oh, thank you!” She gave Horatio another hug, and they continued to follow their strings down the hall.

After a minute, Oliver squeaked and ran down the hall. Sitting on the floor, where the strings ended, sat two bracelets. One was a navy blue, and had an ornate H engraved on it. Horatio put it on, and read the note on it.

Dear Horatio, thanks for getting me through another year. I don’t think I could if you weren’t here. Thank you, and Merry Christmas. Your frei your best fr Your brother  Your friend, Hamlet 

Horatio chuckled, and tightened the bracelet around his arm. Oliver showed him his purple bracelet, and Horatio helped him tighten it around his small wrist.

Horatio turned around when he heard Guildenstern behind him. He was holding a coffee in one hand, and a scrapbook in the other. He waved and headed towards the couch at the side of the hall, where his green string led. He picked up the note, read it, and put on the bracelet. He was wearing a green sweater with a picture of a person looking through a telescope, with glittery stars in the ‘sky’. Annalise strikes again.

“Oh, Guildenstern!” Horatio dug in his bag and pulled out a book. A copy of The Compilation of Galileo’s Notes. He handed it to him, and Guildenstern gasped.

“Oh my God, how did you know how much I wanted this?! I’ve been looking for this for forever!” He said, and immediately started flipping through it.

“I saw you looking at it on your computer,” Horatio laughed.

“Wow, thank you! I have a book for you too, actually,” Guildenstern produced a fat book from underneath the scrapbook. He handed it to Horatio, and he stared at it like it was the holy grail. It was an older, beat up copy of Principles of Mathematical Analysis. 

“You’re kidding, right? Blue Rudin? This is awesome!!” Horatio exclaimed. Guildenstern smiled.

“Oh I’m so glad you like it. I had to ask one of my professors, and he said this would be good.” 

“Dude, thank you so much. This is going on my shelf immediately.” Horatio hugged the book, and Oliver walked over to him.

“Oh, and here’s something for you,” Guildenstern pulled out a small wooden carved plane toy. It had a tiny propellor that spun.

Oliver shrieked. “WOW! It’s so pretty! Thank you so much!”

“Yeah, no problem. I got it at an art fair a couple weeks ago. I hope you like it.”

“This is amazing!” Oliver started flying it around the hall, and ‘shot’ down some bits of string that was hanging down.

“Do you want to come to the Great Hall with us? To the big fireplace so we can all meet up?” Horatio offered.

“Yeah sure, let’s go.”

The trio started off down the hall.

Hamlet sat on a couch, watching the flames dance on the logs of the fireplace. Ophelia’s blue string was tied to the side of the couch, and on it sat the pastel bracelet, next to a white rose. He had picked it out at the grocery store while Ophelia wasn’t looking. He had purposefully placed her string near him so he could give it to her personally. Now he just had to wait. And wait. And before he knew it, he was drifting off listening to the crackling fireplace. He tried to fight it, knowing that she would find him here asleep, but he dropped off all the same.

He started to drift back to consciousness when he felt someone curl up next to him on the couch. He sat up, and saw that it was Ophelia.

“Sorry, I fell asleep-” Hamlet started, but Ophelia stopped him with a kiss his cheek.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” She looked at the fireplace. “The rose is beautiful, thank you.”

“Yeah,” Hamlet tried to stop his face from reddening. He had been friends Ophelia since they were kids, and even as they had started dating, he couldn’t stop himself from blushing when she kissed him.

“Merry Christmas, darling.” Ophelia whispered as she nestled closer to Hamlet.

“Merry Christmas,” He said. “Has it been an okay year?”

“Yes, I think it has,” Ophelia replied. “If I could just get my dad to approve of us, that would be nice.”

“He doesn’t approve of a lot of things, I think I’m okay with him not approving of us being together.”

“Yeah, I think I am too. At least we do,” she giggled.

They stayed like that, bathing in the aroma of the crackling logs. At least they did until Oliver poked his head over the couch and between them.

“Hi guys!” He shouted.

“Hello little pilot,” Ophelia grabbed him and pulled him around and into her lap. “Are you having a good Christmas?”

“Yeah! I followed a string until I found this!” Oliver pulled up his sweater sleeve and showed them his new bracelet. “Oh, thank you Hamlet!” He gave Hamlet a hug.

“Yeah, no problem buddy. I’m glad you like it.”

“Oliver! Did you go in here?” Horatio ran in, breathing hard. “There you are! I've told you not to run off like that, you could get lost.” Guildenstern walked in behind him.

“Oh!” Ophelia jumped up from her spot on the couch, and picked up a scrapbook from a stack that she’d brought down from her room. “Here you go, Horatio. It’s a scrapbook of all the pictures we’ve taken together. Hamlet, here’s yours. I forgot earlier.” She handed the boys two books bursting at the seams with pictures and mementos. 

“Wow, Ophelia this is great.” Horatio said, flipping through it mesmerized. 

“Hamlet, I have something for you,” Guildenstern said, digging through his pockets, and producing a small white thing. He handed it to Hamlet, and he threw back his head and laughed when he saw what it was.

“Is this a felt skull? Oh my God, Guildenstern this is hilarious.” Hamlet laughed. 

Annalise walked in with a bowl full of cookies and treats. “Good morning everybody! I hope you guys got your sweaters.” She was wearing a bright yellow band around her wrist just like the others.

“Hey Anna,” Guildenstern handed her a small bee plushie once she had set down her bowl.

“Awwww it’s so cute!” Annalise cooed. She pet it lovingly, and gave Guildenstern a hug.

Rosencrantz ran in last, tightening his bracelet using his teeth because he couldn’t get it with one hand. “Oh, hi guys.” 

Guildenstern pulled Rosencrantz aside, and presented him with a small cooking set. It contained a red apron that said KISS THE COOK in bold letters, a coffee mug, a recipe book, and cutlery set.

Horatio handed out the remaining books that he hadn’t given yet. Ophelia received a color copy of Pride and Prejudice, a book she dearly loved. Ophelia did the same with her scrapbooks, and they all started to talk and laugh, snacking on Annalise’ cookies.

Rosencrantz cleared his throat, and everyone looked up. “Uh, so, I’ve been saying that I didn’t do anything because I didn’t know if I was actually going to go through with it or not. But everything worked out, and I need everyone to come out to the garden just for a few minutes.”

So they all wrapped up in their coats and hats, and followed Rosencrantz out to the garden. He instructed them all to stay there and not look where he was going. So they stood around curiously until the sound of a car pulled up right outside the gate where there was a path that led around the castle grounds.

Rosencrantz appeared outside the gate after a few seconds, and yelled for them to come over. Hamlet opened the gate and everyone filed out, and gasped.

Rosencrantz was leaning up against a beautiful Volkswagen van. It was a light seafoam blue-green color, with incredible drawings on the sides. There were paint splatters that connected to make a huge galaxy swirled across the whole van. Annalise walked up to Rosencrantz and gave him a high-five. 

The group was stunned. They stood there, staring at the van in awe.

“Rosencrantz,” Ophelia asked quietly, “How did you afford this?”

“Oh,” Rosencrantz looked away, “I’ve wanted to get one for forever, and I had some money saved up from my job at the coffee shop, so, yeah. Now we won’t have to borrow the castle’s stuff whenever we want to go somewhere.” 

“Dude,” Hamlet said, “This is awesome.”

“Do you guys want to see the inside?” He asked, and opened the doors. The others crowded around to see. The inside had two rows of seats, a bench seat in the very back, and one in the middle which could be pulled down to make a bed. Over the back row was a compartment which was padded in case someone needed to sleep, but mostly would just keep luggage. There were two removable seats right behind the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat, with a shelf installed between them. In all, the van would seat nine people. The inside was white and clean, and ready to be personalized.

After the van had been fully explored, the group went back inside. They spent the rest of the day feasting and being together. It was a good Christmas.

[lokislittlemagpie]

ask 16 and 32 wuw

((WOAH OMG HI LMAO- I'll add a meme for them too just to show more of their personality-)

Lets start with Benny!

(THIS IS A 20 YEAR TIME SKIP TO THE CURRENT SERIES!!!)

32) (this actually helps with explaining him anyway-) Benny was designed after Brook the skeleton big time- He has darker skin and jade eyes like his mom (an undead demon 1800s girl i made a long while back-) Unlike both parents, he is fully living since he was created by CC! But he does have a veerry sensitive body (can get sick very easily or can very easily die by eating anything too spicy-) small heart issues, and is kinda thin- He is about 6 feet 7 inches and has dark black curly hair that he usually has inna tight pony tail! (kinda like Usopp but it drops down more, not as round rlly) He is 18!

16) Benny, as i said, is a lot like Brook but he is also incredibly inspired by Cyclonus too! He does have a love for old music and loves sword canes- But hes a huge chicken like Brook too- He loves Les Misrerables and he loves Hamilton- if you even get this man started, he will earrape One more Day and Satisfied until that's all you can hear in your worst nightmares-

32) Yunni is about 5 feet 6 inch of pure sass- He is blond with big green eyes that are quite beautiful actually- He loves pink booty shorts and crop tops with things that say the dumbest jokes like "kawaii on the streets" on the front and "Senpai in the sheets" on the back- He is a great cook and will gladly be your sassy prep boi- his hair is kinda a combo of Sanji and Italy from Hetalia- He has that one strand of curly hair like he does but theat medium hair that covers one eye like Sanji but it's longer on the left and curls at the tips! He is 24!

16) He is inspired by 4 characters! Sanji, Italy, Swerve, and Bumblebee- His personality is a mush of Swerves low self-esteem jokes, Bumblebee Bayverse sass, Italy's cuteness, and Sanjis slight anger problems and his cooking skills aren't as great but hes a great bar tender! He loves Jeff Dunham, Gordon Ramsay, and Kevin Hart and he references their jokes or threats on the daily-

32) Ruby is the daughter of two black magicians! Basil Hawkins and Dorothy Hopkins (whos next!) She has looong hair like her dad but is a slightly dark brown with black a the tips! She has his deep red eyes tho- Her face is more rounded like her mother's and she's only 5 foot 4- She's calm ajd quiet but can and will burn you not just literally but with just five words, your life is over- She always has a small smile on her face and always carries her book of spells! She has both her parents clothing sense wth dark clothes but she has to have her fathers old school frills and long black and red robes like her mother! She is 20!

16) She is inspired obviously from Hawkins- But she is very slightly tinted with Drift from Bayverse! She will tell dark dark poems at honestly the not so best of times- and she loves swords! She loves Adventure time and Steven Universe- Its the only light side to her just don't say that to her face-

32) Dorothy is a 5 foot 5 Long slightly curly black curly haired magician! She has a third eye that runs in her now extinct royal family. She is always gently smiling but will put you in your place- One cold stare and make you wanna regret being born- She keeps her third eye covered with her hair and has emerald green eyes- her third eye has a huge dry eye problem so its kinda lightly tinted yellow with red veins- but its still green! She loves her medical dark magic gowns and gear! She is more into demons and sacrifice while Ruby likes to summon little demons and do blood moon stuff! They both love crystals tho! Amythest and Quartz are a must-

16) She is inspired by only a two people- Loki from Marvel with her slight sense of humor and honestly her hair- And she is also like The Black Magician who is from Princess and the frog who I can't remember the name of- She becomes someone else if she uses dark magic too long at once! She loves soap operas and would die to see Phantom of the Opera live-

32) Lucas is a fun loving spider mink human hybrid! He is the son of Admiral Kizaru and My GFs OC Kasumi! He looks a lot like his dad but his personality is a little different! His hair is more curly and his a milk chocolate brown! He has four eyes but usually only uses the blue bottom eyes and keeps the red upper ones closed- He has elf like pointy ears and his dad's ridiculous lips- He has his eye brows too- But! he has his mom's fangs and eyes! He also has for slightly clawed arms and hands! He is just at perfect 6 feet! He uses swords and webs in battle that come from his hands like spiderman! He is calm but has many jokes and could be hiding anywhere- He is always smiling and tapping a foot to some song in his head- He loves his light peach orange uni pocket hoodie and his loose dark blue jeans with his converse-

16) Hes inspired by Kizaru of course and he is like a Rose Trantula kinda- More calm than most big spiders but still can and will fight you- He is also inspired clearly by spiderman! He also kinda reminds me of Whirl when he snaps- Or like IDW Drift when he gets Slicy dicey- He loves the old stuff like Ren and Stimpy and he still gets nightmare about "return the slaaaab" From Courts the cowardly dog-

32) Julie Ann is a pink haired girl with purple tips and is full of spunk and curse words- She has a thin mechanical arm after getting it blown of by her own inventions! She is smart and narcissistic but secretly fears being alone- She loves military boots and torn up rock shirts that are almost a little revealing thanks to the giant arm pit holes- she loves black leather pants and always has half her head shaved on the left while the right is just flying around! But she does have a piece perminantly braided in the front of her head on the right and it's a just a few inches passed her shoulders- She will fist fight god and walk backwards into hell with both birds up- she has sky blue eyes!

16) She is inspired By Julie Sue from the sonic comics! (The older stuff) and Eustass Kidd from one piece! She can be a lot like Braintsorm/ Whirl too- Shes a scary woman- Five Finger Death Punch and the all edgy verse of DC is her life-

32) Mel is A very shy GIANT Angler fish- I know in real life male anglers are tiny as hell but I really wanted a big shy man and Mel happened- Melvin is green with sea blue spike fins on his arms and back of his calfs! He has huge spike fin gills too but has learned to breath air over time- he has the little dangling trap from his forehead and has a combed over blue mohawk- He has big sharp teeth that poke out from his mouth in random places- his hands have blue webbing and so does his feet- His eyes are black and have gold squiggly irises- He is at a scary 7 feet 4 inches but he just wants hugs- This man cries when watching Endgame and Phantom of the Opera- He has a love for shirts that are just a little loose on him and loves jean shorts with sandles! He also loves crocs- Don't tease him he'll literally cry-

16) He is inspired actually by Ten from IDW and a bit of Endgame Hulk- He is also like inspired by Katakuri from One Piece! His sharp teeth from Kat and his body build is not quite as beefy as Hulk but he's kinda close honestly- He loves Steven Universe and the original Teen Titans! He squeals like a fan boy when ever he sees Beast boy-

32) Jake is happy smart mini Dobbie! He is the shortest standing at 4 feet 5 inches! He has a stub tail and a golden pirate ring piercing on his right ear! He has all the colors and looks of a dobbie he just smol- He loves to fix things and will growl if you poke to much fun at him- Ruby calls it 'Short man syndrom' and he hates it- He only wears blue torn up blue mean shorts- No shirt and no shoes- His eyes are bright bby boi sea blue! He loves head pats every now and then and loves bacon- You can kill this mans family and hell forgive you for 5 pounds of bacon- He blasts Wheezer and Gorillaz from his work shop at all times!

16) He is inspired by your typical tiny Dobbie! But he kinda looks like a mechanic version of Rewind- He is also inspired by an old friends dog who was named Jake! He doesn't watch much tv or movies but if he does its gotta Be Marvel- This man looks up to Tony Stark like a god and has an Iron man poster for modivation in his shop-

((I hope this isn't like too gross or annoying- Ive never mentioned any of my OCs- In fact i just forgot my main OC Lola- w o w- If you want stuff for her just let me know! I'll even try to find my old doodles and my gfs doodles if you want me to-))

[militant-holy-knight]

For those of you who might not remember who Jake Lunt Davies is, he's the new creature, ship and droid designer for Disney Wars and the monster responsible for BB-8, the Porgs, the casino aliens, the giant penis worm lady and so many other generic scifi horrors. Anyway, I recently found out the possible reason why there are no familiar aliens or droids in Star Wars anymore other than donut steals. Apparently Jake designs his creatures with emphasis on "realism" in other words some of the new aliens in the movies are actually his attempts at updating old aliens or simply wanting to do them his own way.

This shitty not-Ithorian knockoff was called an "Ottegan" by Pablo Hidalgo but the original design for it, promotional cards and even the 3D models that Jake offered to EA for Battlefront had it labeled "Ithorian" (and "Ithorian Theologian") because a human mouth made more sense apparently. Its the same with so many other aliens, like the fat slug guys in the casino which are actually his attempt at "updating" hutts and the "bravaisians" are actually his attempt at "fixing" the Kubaz species. Because of this, I also found out why nu-Lucasfilm and Matt Martin are so hesitant to re-introduce Bothans, and its because Jake wanted to make his own version of Bothans. Remember those earless horse-dog guys from TFA and TLJ? Like the one supreme chancellor who got blown up in TFA? Well that's what a Bothan is now or at least Jake wanted them to be.

Hence why original Bothans no longer appear explicitly or aren't outright named (except one briefly seen in Filoni's Resistance cartoon, but Matt "I wish I were trans" Martin said those shouldn't be considered Bothans until publicly stated as otherwise). Pablo Hidalgo then stepped in and just called them Tarsunts to avoid trouble, which was the name of a Bothan territory in the old EU. Tarsunts is now the name they use in guides and toys but there's rumors going around that this might just be another name for Bothans to them, like Tusken Raiders and Sand People which they plan to reveal in the future, or at least planned to. Its also been said that their original also called them Bothans but I haven't been able to verify it. The reason Jake is probably encouraged to create like this (or is probably forced to) is possibly due to that KK or some higher ups want to replace aliens with donut steals so as not to give George any royalties, which as we've been discussing seems to likely be the case especially with the abandonment of anything pre-Disney including the OT. This is further noted in how there are no more mainline (orange) Mon Calamari in the films or Disney EU media outside of Ackbar (whose been killed) and some Mon Calamari cyborg with Grievous's body I talked about before, and with RO instead having albino variants and a blue variant. So in short, the loss of old aliens seems to be either due to an artist's ego or due to Lucasfilm not wanting to give George any money for using his aliens, or maybe its both. On another note, I've also been told that Disney didn't just kill familiar aliens via zombie ticks and viruses (although they still contributed plenty), but that in the new comics and novels its been revealed that the Galactic Empire (and by extension the First Order) had been committing attacks and mass genocide efforts (or at least have been trying to) against countless alien worlds as part of the human supremacy movement, causing many of the familiar aliens to become endangered or go extinct. The only ones I personally know of are the genocide of the Geonosians (bugmen from the prequels), an attempted bombing against the Twi'leks by the Empire and later an assault by the First Order, the genocide of the Lasats (aliens based on Chewbacca's earliest concept art), some brown skinned humanoid red heads with gold eyes who were genocided by Kylo Ren during a tantrum and finally Hutts who (although they were not technically massacred) lost all their influence and power after ROTJ with their cartels becoming replaced by Nikto cartels according to the Bloodline novel (I guess this debunks the Hutts return in IX since every new novel is 100% canon with the films...). There's also mentions of genocides and massacres in random media but not explicit as far as I know, but this is most likely nu-Lucasfilm's way of slowly getting rid of old aliens. Its made all the more blatant by how new aliens that never appeared before like the Not-Bothans above and these ugly fuckers are now called the most common and most widespread species in the galaxy who are just as numerous as humans despite never appearing before.

So there you have it folks, the reason why Disney Star Wars isn’t using classic aliens is because they are slowly phasing them out in universe to replace them with their own spin probably to not pay George Lucas any royalties. Now while I am little skeptic about that last part, the fact still remains: I double checked TV Tropes and turns out that the classic aliens have been phased out for one reason or another with the Geonosians being ethnically cleansed and the Hutts being no longer the supreme power in the galaxy’s underbelly which has been replaced by random cartels or arms dealers from Canto Bight. 

The worst part is that these choices further undermine the world building as one of the posters in the page have pointed out: how could the First Order be ignored and not taken seriously by the New Republic if they continue to commit genocide and war crimes specially against prominent species? 

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: Elizabeth Olsen on Grief, the Scarlet Witch and Her Next Life

The actress talks about juggling “Sorry For Your Loss” with the Marvel juggernaut, while dreaming up her next great adventures.

  NY Times – One weekend about four years ago, Elizabeth Olsen found herself in the enviable position of having a pile of scripts to read. Just barely into her career — not counting childhood cameos alongside her older sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley — she’d already raked in indie accolades for “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and ascended into the Marvel universe as Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch.

But something about Kit Steinkellner’s pilot for “Sorry for Your Loss,” and the role of Leigh Shaw, a young widow mourning the death of her husband, who either fell off a cliff or jumped, captivated her.

“I was doing a bunch of stuff that felt outside of myself, and I really wanted to be a part of something that’s a little bit more close to home,” Olsen said. Better yet, it came with an offer to be an executive producer.

“Sorry for Your Loss” quickly evolved into a critical darling, with James Poniewozik of The New York Times calling it a “quiet gem.” Season 2, now on Facebook Watch, picks up six months after the death of her husband (Mamoudou Athie, still present in flashbacks) as Leigh moves forward with baby steps: getting his comic book published posthumously, skipping grief group to have sex with her Postmates delivery guy. Then there’s the disconcerting fact that her husband’s brother (Jovan Adepo) has fallen in love with her.

Perhaps because of her paparazzi-hounded siblings, celebrity has never been a pursuit for Olsen, 30, who muses about the children she hopes to have with her fiancé, Robbie Arnett of the band Milo Greene.

“I never wanted to have a certain amount of power in the industry,” she said. “I really do love my job, and I’m happy doing just that and the charity I do, and being as private as possible.”

These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Grief isn’t something most of us long to confront. So why can’t we turn away from Leigh and her story?

I think going through grief, whether it’s losing a parent or a spouse or a best friend, is a really isolating experience. And I feel like we try and be as authentic to the truth as possible. We also try to handle mental illness and addiction the same way. For a show like ours to hopefully make people not feel alone and to feel seen, that’s a special experience. And the thing that’s been interesting with Facebook is that there’s a built-in community for people, if they want it.

Is there any particular experience you find yourself drawing on to tap into her grief?

Yeah. But those are the private world of the worst thing, so you just kind of keep them to yourself and recycle them and use them. I forget who it is — I think it’s Al Pacino who says that every scene he does is with his mother. It’s like some version of that. [Laughs]

And now you’re getting your own Marvel show, “WandaVision,” on Disney Plus alongside Paul Bettany as Vision. What can you divulge?

“WandaVision” is such an incredible concept. It’s the first time we get to understand her as the Scarlet Witch that she is in the comics, and that’s exciting for me, because I haven’t yet been able to give her that time onscreen. So that’s going to be fun. She’s always been a representation of mental health and illness in the comic book series, and her major role is handling that stigma within Marvel.

I have to admit that I’m sort of a Marvel illiterate. Where does Vision come into all this?

That I can’t answer, because he died in the last movie. I’m sorry. [Laughs] I know you wouldn’t care. I tell my friends, but I can’t tell you. They’re like you — they know nothing, so I just tell them everything because it doesn’t matter. I know it will go nowhere.

“WandaVision” is also a tie-in to the next “Doctor Strange,” in which you’ll star with Benedict Cumberbatch. Can you explain? “Doctor Strange” I don’t know too much about, because it’s still kind of early. And then after that I would really love to do a five- or six-week independent film, with a beginning and an end.

When you sign on as a Marvel character, do they monitor the kind of shape you’re in?

The thing that’s amazing about Marvel is that they never as producers tell anyone to get into any kind of physical shape. They don’t have expectations of you being thin or strong. They just assume that if you think your character needs that, that you will do that. It’s not something that they hold over you. I literally asked [Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios] at one point, “So when can I have kids? When can I be pregnant?” And he goes, “Live your life, and we’ll work around it.” I don’t think it’s happening within the next five years, but it’s something I’m really excited for.

In “Ingrid Goes West,” you played an influencer before that even seemed to be a thing. Do you ever feel like you paved the way?

Yeah, it was really weird — like six months later. It was all just happening so fast. The funniest thing for my friends with that movie was that I am social-media illiterate. I now have an Instagram because I saw it as a business opportunity and leaned into it. And I’m so ready to get rid of it when I’m allowed to in my contract [as an ambassador for Bobbi Brown]. But for right now it’s fine. It was really that movie where I was like, Huh, I guess I could see this as a business opportunity. I didn’t understand it at all, and now it’s a legitimate career, I guess.

You have six million followers on Instagram, but follow no one. Who influences you?

I was following interior designers and I got into pottery people from all over the world, and it was amazing to watch their videos and their techniques. I got a lot of good tips, and I started to like it too much, so I actually unfollowed everybody, including my friends. I just thought that if I unfollowed, I’d have to be more conscious of the content I want to take in.

What’s it like toggling between indie films and Marvel?

I really love working for Marvel. But the time part of it requires you to not be available for certain things, and that’s been heartbreaking. I think work is exciting as I get older. I’ve never really felt like a 20-year-old onscreen, and I’ve always felt excited to age. But when it comes to a career trajectory, I also really admire people who have lived many different lives in a lifetime, and I do want to play around with that. I have a lot of things I would like to do in my life, and it’s not just based in acting.

So what would your next life look like?

I would love to get into more design things. I would love to go to school for architecture. I would love to flip homes. I would love to be a store owner. I’d love to live in a small town. It’s all based off people I’ve met, and I’m like, If you did that, I can do that. I just think about creating as healthy of a life as possible, and about kids and where should they grow up. I love thinking about all of that.

  Press: Elizabeth Olsen on Grief, the Scarlet Witch and Her Next Life was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[twobitmulder]

On Spider-Man, Reboots, and the Future of the X-Men

A while ago I made a post called “Thoughts on MCU Peter Parker and Reboots” which ended up being mostly an examination (or rant) on why MCU Peter doesn’t work for me and was kind of soft on the analysis of reboots. Now, with the announcement that Sony and Marvel’s Spidey deal has fallen through, I thought I’d take another crack as examining why reboots lead to less than stellar versions of characters, and why it’s got me scarred for the X-Men to join the MCU.

Now, right off the bat I feel I should say that I’m not against reboots and re-imaginings. I think The Incredible Hulk is broadly better than the Ang Lee Hulk. I think the 1999 Mummy is better than the 1932 classic. Reboots can be a radical re-imagining, a second draft, or even an examination of different facets of the character (like how Lettier’s Hulk focused more on the lonely wanderer in search of a cure, while Lee’s focused on the father issues). This works especially for long running characters who have a lot of material to work with.

I think my problem with MCU Spidey starts with the way that Sony and Marvel approached the idea of the reboot. The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield felt the need to be radically different from the Rami films. The Rami films played all the silver age comic book tropes gleefully straight. An old fashioned news room, his start in wrestling, and the campy villains. It exists in a sort of anachronism stew to borrow the TVTropes term, much like Burton’s Batman.

Webb’s films tried to find their own voice by pushing Peter back into high school and making them a little more deliberately modern. They used a more modern incarnation of Peter as opposed to the good natured Silver Age doofus that Tobey Maguire played. Garfield’s Peter is probably my favorite, and the one who feels closest to my ideal comics Peter, but that’s not really the point here. The point is, he HAD to be different otherwise people would accuse it of being the same thing over again.

So there we were with (in my opinion) someone who acted a little more like the Peter I knew growing up, who occupied a more familiar world, but we also had to gloss over his rivalry with Osborne because it had already been done. This was a criminal waste of Chris Cooper and Dane Dehaan, who were fantastic choices for those characters, but more to the point, it shows how this could not just be a second draft. It had to be different, which meant that even if it fixed some things that Raimi might not have hit the mark on, it also got rid of things that he had done right. The Osborne’s, the Bugle, and Mary Jane (well, he didn’t quite to MJ right, but the fact that she had already been used probably spurred the switch to Gwen).

Then when those flopped Peter joined the MCU. I remember reading that in my dorm room my first year of undergrad and whooping with joy. I thought about his relationship with Daredevil, who we knew was coming, and Captain America. Having Osborne be an Avengers level threat who battles Peter on the lawn of the White House while the Sinister SIx hold the Avengers at bay (Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man was the saving grace of the Ultimate Universe). Feige promised Peter would have a “non-stop wit.” It was all coming together.

Civil War came out and he seemed a little tacked on but it didn’t matter because he was there. Sure Stark gave him his suit, but he had designed the prototype and there was no way they’d make Peter the science genius dependent on Tony Stark.

“Weary sigh.”

I want to like the MCU Spider-Man so bad, Everyone else likes him. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. I already went over why I don’t care for him, so I’ll skip that*. Once again, the point is, this one HAD to be different. Because he was back with Marvel we had been given the implicit promise of a fully realized comic accurate Spider-Man, fixing everything Webb and Raimi (read Sony) had gotten wrong.

The problem was that Webb and Raimi had gotten a lot right. So MCU Spidey glossed over Uncle Ben “because it had been done before.” He never clashed with Oscorpe or the Goblins “because it had already been done before.” There was no selling pictures to the Bugle “because it had already been done before”*. 

He didn’t make quips because everyone else was funny and he had to be the wide eyed kid, played younger and less mature than Garfield or Maguire. And (okay a little bit of whining from me) he had to rely on Tony Stark because we had to be reminded that now he was part of the MCU. 

The MCU Spidey got a lot right and some of their updates worked for the better. I love that Peter and May live in a small apartment instead of a house because they’re poor and New York is expensive. I like that his school feels like a real high school, with kids who basically act like kids. I like that he has a confidant (Ned Leeds was a weird choice, I’d have gone with Hobie Brown, Deb Whitman, or Kenny Kong, but I like the character anyway). I love love love their takes on Vulture and my favorite Spidey Rogue Mysterio. But, in their drive to be different from the past iterations they changed the character a little too drastically. It wasn’t a third draft to get Spider-Man right, it was a bottom up reimagining that (my opinion only) jettisoned a lot of what makes the character compelling.

Now he’s apparently gone from the future of the MCU and honestly, personally, I’m kind of relieved. I’m glad he’s indelibly a full fledged part of the MCU narrative, and he got to see the Infinity Saga through to the end, but I don’t think I could have taken another movie of Peter becoming Stark’s Robin just to be different from what came before.

This all brings us to the X-Men. I love the X-Men. I love Gambit, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Cyclops and all the rest (but them first and foremost). I love the place Mutants have in the Marvel Universe and the potential for clashes with other heroes and compelling stories to be told about the nature of marginalization and identity. The problem is, the previous X-Men movies covered those bases from a lot of different angles and my fear is that when they join the MCU they’ll be so concerned with being different that they’ll forget what makes them the X-Men*.

In the end, we still have years of comics and alternate universes, cartoons and canon that we can pick and choose from. It’s just so frustrating because we were so close to a perfect unified cinematic universe like we’d only ever dreamed of. We all have different bits of it that we wish had been done better, but I suppose the mere fact that it exists in any form is pretty damn cool.

*Except to say that, as Gail Simone so eloquently put it in an otherwise positive review of Far From Home, Holland’s Spider-Man isn’t the everyman who mocks the rich and powerful, he worships them and wants to be their friend.

*While I was happy to see the Jameson, Simmons, and the Daily Bugle return, and while I can’t deny that turning him into a lunatic pundit makes sense for the character as he’s portrayed in Spider-Man, I think that modern superhero stories have a problem with the old school journalist characters. Yes in real life print journalism isn’t what it used to be, but if we can accept superpowers, alien warlords, and good hearted billionaires surely we can accept the fantasy of a newspaper that still functions like they used to.

*I don’t have this worry for Fantastic Four (my first favorite superheroes) because while the Tim Story movies were close (and Trank’s reboot is emblematic of this whole issue on a massive scale) they haven’t been in the public consciousness and had a continued presence like Spidey and the X-Men so there’s less need to “be different” and more opportunity to actually get to the core of the FF the way they did with Captain America and Thor.

[avoutput]

Ulysses || Waterworld

Somewhere in 1996, a young boy and possibly his cohorts are sitting on a dirty couch or splayed across a carpeted den floor ridden with crumbs or something like it. In the VCR is a rented copy of an infamous film of one kind or another from the local discount video rental which ran a special every Thursday, 10 videos for 10 dollars. If a new film was considered especially bad, it skipped the “New Releases” and made its way right to the genre section. Children are especially gullible. Or inexperienced. Or stupid. But they do know a bargain and have more than enough time to waste. The stack probably consisted of a few new and repeat rentals: Thunder in Paradise, Surf Ninjas, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Twelve Monkeys, Billy Madison, Clueless, Bad Boys. Basically, anything our parents wouldn’t want us to buy. (My parents notoriously lacked the ability to understand the ratings system of both film and later games.) And yet, there was one special gem that stands out as being universally un-cult, un-loved, and yet known round the globe: Waterworld. Fast-forward twenty-three years and those same ugly kids are sitting on nicer couches and carpetless floors about to make the same mistake all over again. A recently rebuilt, full length, uncut copy dubbed “Ulysses” was released. A 3-hour cut made up of unreleased material and television edit made for a surprisingly nostalgic afternoon. It was like wasting time as a kid all over again.

First, a couple of thoughts on the new version that was released to give you an idea of the overall changes.The “Ulysses” cut of Waterworld seems to be some kind of fan created cut, including all of the cut material from the theatrical version, some scenes from the television cut, and an altered color palette that made everything more crisp and bright. It differs largely from the VHS version I had seen as a kid, obviously sharper with high definition, but jarring in that it had more than the 3 colors associated with the end of the world. Strangely, the new scenes somehow didn’t seem out of place. It was longer, but I couldn’t tell where the old content ended and the new content began, though there are some scenes edited in that were clearly never finished. You can see an island in the background that shouldn’t be there and there are a couple layers of post-production missing. What I can say for certain is the brighter color palette was not the best decision. While it made the ocean look a deeper shade of blue, it felt less gloomy. This was supposed to be a dystopian world covered in both water and despair. This new cut made it feel a bit more like a children’s adventure film without the fun, wonder, or sense of adventure found in films like The Goonies or Pirates of the Caribbean. It was like slapping some color on Twelve Monkeys and busting it down to a PG-13 rating. Still, it's the best the modern world has to offer.

The most memorable thing about this film for me has always been Kevin Costner and Dennis Hopper. If you can’t remember, the characters largely live by their titles and don’t have traditional names. Costner played the lead as “Mariner”, a mutated human with ability to breath underwater. The Mariner’s character arc is inadequate and unfulfilling. It confused me as much today as it did when I was a kid. Let’s take Terminator 2 as an example. Cyberdyne Model T101 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has more character growth in both action and attitude than Costner’s drift wooden Mariner. They both have similar interactions with their allies, but the Terminator actually gets along with both kids and mothers, like Kix cereal. In the 80’s and 90’s this was a pretty common character dynamic, stoic-seeming adults learning from kids. You might think Waterworld is going to follow this dynamic, but instead its sets a course on an endless desert ocean, drained of character and depth, and opts instead to make our hero as bland as his surroundings. The Mariner isn’t without his good points though. He does sail spectacularly and has some fun tricks up his sleeve both on and off the boat. But Costner appears to have absolutely no feeling in every delivery. Even when he's mad, it doesn’t feel right. I thought the extended edition would give me a deeper glimpse into his arc or growth, but it’s non-existent. Costner plays a truly mutated character.

Waterworld does have an ocean of visual treasures to offer, to borrow a washed out metaphor. The seafaring is entertaining and well shot. The props all have carved Styrofoam look that remind you of a swashbuckling children’s film, but oddly it doesn’t detract from the dystopian feel the production is meant to have. The floating sets really do feel like functioning habitats, but if you look to long, you get the feeling that the design department went a bit too far in trying to make the barges look like they were made from debris, to the point that it becomes a comical game of “I Spy”. This stage-like quality was especially present in the new “Ulysses” cut, which also has the added benefit of having the film upgraded to 4k (or visually adjacent) which gave definition where it was strategically vague in its initial release. The murky browns, greys, and blurred lines of the 90’s era VHS cinematic apocalypse have given way to the fine lines and details of technological advancement. Like human age, its both a service of time and largely for the better, but it has its downsides. Stunts that were hard to make out are crystal clear and even more impressive, although in its clarity, it looks like a professional stunt show from Disneyland or Universal Studios, which makes perfect sense. I think I read that Waterworld was one of the most popular attractions at Universal Studios despite the movie not being a hit.

Finally, the overall nature of the world our characters reside in is epic in physical size, the whole world (presumably) is covered by water, but quaint in execution. This level of focus becomes a strength. The actors get to take a stand in front of this expansive stage and put on their best pirate act. If you can imagine, spending lots of time on the water could be stressful, and you get the feeling that the actors felt taxed by working in this manner. There is an underlying tension to every scene, even the more lighthearted ones. The production was plagued with bad weather, lost time, rebuilds, and a lengthy edit that caused the director to quit. But from this hellscape, there is a salvageable adventure story that rides at the precipice of an ever crashing wave, teetering between campy fun and a bizarre wipe-out. There is even a faint religious reasoning to the actions taken by the villains that didn’t make much of the theatrical cut. The people of the barges breed a life for each one lost, but the raiders believe in a sort of manifest destiny, take everything they can see and living much more freely than their environment can withstand, evident by the large number of children living on their ship in terrible conditions. But even the films darkest moments play for bold laughs and bravado.

This was, in my mind, the story of a person, basically a god amongst the people of his world, who wanted nothing but to take. He could breathe underwater and dive so deep that he could get soil, the currency of the world on top of the water, pay for whatever he wanted, and leave them with nothing. Its true, he couldn’t help everyone, but he chose to help no one. Until of course he owed a debt. A debt he tries to renege on a few times throughout the film. There was something there to explore, but they only ever scratch the surface of the Mariner. Instead, we go a long way to see a man make a single grand gesture that absolves him of all of his sins. Ultimately, Waterworld is an excuse to make a sci-fi/fantasy action movie on the water, floating on an inflated ego and a bloated budget in the middle of a monsoon, and yet somehow, it stays afloat until the credits.

~* 6/10 *~