#marvel making good decisions. wtf

[freddyfreeman]

Kitty Pryde is dating women.

There’s a new Magik solo series announced for 2025.

Ladies, we are SO CLOSE to this…!!

[guiltycorp]

Damn i really want to know tf happened in the writing room of arcane s2. Some of the downgrades were inevitable due to the show's corporate limitations (not being able to progress the class war story in a meaningful way, having to tie things back to league of legends in terms of making playable characters more appealing to well, play... rip Mel and Viktor in particular), sure. But i still feel like it's even worse than that? There are so many bad decisions that i couldn't even start listing them all... the characters, plot, pacing, themes, it's just such a mess? Even the dialogue writing, it feels much more mm Marvel at its worst i suppose. What i am most bothered by is probably just the straight up harmful messaging so um... Cycles of violence and abuse can be broken by individual decisions to become a better person! Got nothing to do with systemic oppression, living conditions, mental health issues, you can just conveniently ignore aaall the social context, live laugh love and then things get better automatically yep, oppressors famously stop oppressing you when you show them that you're harmless and won't put up a fight anymore. Literally three out of three suicidal characters dying to redeem themselves? Not even in a tragic/cathartic way but in a bittersweet 'they finally atoned for their mistakes' way? Groundbreaking lmao. Romantic relationship between Vi and Caitlyn including no communication about their biggest fight, just conveniently skipping to sex and getting back together - would have loved that if it was framed as the unhealthy fucked up thing that it is, skipping over Vi's hurt and her background to once again become a cop, her girlfriend's direct underling at that (!) due to her not having any other support systems... But nope that was our cute lesbian romance wrapped up, a good thing all around, not concerning at all. Jayce telling Viktor that what he 'always admired about him' was his disability and his deadly disease (??? from a character who spent the whole s1 and first act of s2 desperately trying to help Viktor find a cure? sure) and that those imperfections don't need fixing, just wtf truly. Magic bullshit was also weird, some implications of 'natural magic is ok, but achieving that power through other means corrupts you into a crazy robot bitch or just wilts your trees i guess', but tbh it was written in such a weird and inconsistent way that we can skip this one... Yeah actually a lot of things were just such a mess that I feel silly pointing to specific moments or lines I didn't like, I mean duh, it barely makes sense as a story at all... I am happy we have s1 which comparatively was a masterpiece, and i also really enjoyed s2 act1, i truly believed it would lead somewhere good at the time, my mind still kind of cuts off the story at that point when i think about it, that WAS the open ending of the show to me (is it possible that there were rewrites? targeting act 2 and 3? idk, wishful thinking perhaps). Despite my extremely negative feelings about this season's conclusion i remain glad that so many people appreciate the show regardless, it is clear that there was STILL a lot of love in the process of its creation (although i'd argue that even some of the visual aspects of the show suffered in quality, once again i have to wonder about behind the scenes mood of it all) and i get very upset when i see creatives online despairing over reception of their projects even when i'm absolutely in the disgruntled crowd hahaha... ...however yeah, this wasn't great In a world that increasingly grows more and more right-wing politically... we really needed something different i think.

[bluechanas]

ok y'all here are some thoughts on the op live action trailer

- casting is great. but we already knew that

- i like the costume design a lot!!! its cheesy at times but that was expected. still, everyone looks great, i think they did a really good job

- on that note, rip usopp's nose and sanji's eyebrows, but i get why they did it

- and ON THAT NOTE i find it hilarious that they didn't change buggy that much (other than overall creepiness)

- the baratie looks super cool girl wtf (props and settings look good overall imo)

- from the snippets of dialogue it looks like the humor might be a bit marvel-ish which i don't love but we'll see

- i also feel like they might make some personality changes (zoro seems more stoic and luffy seems like he has slightly more functioning braincells than usual), which i think might just be an executive decision to tone down the goofiness so it adapts better to live action. idk how to feel about it. but then again we didn't get that much dialogue so i might be wrong

- not sure how well they're going to manage the action scenes since the fighting in this show is the kind of silly i don't think will translate super well into live action??? but that swordfighting scene looked pretty cool ngl

overall i have my qualms with some things but i think it looks good and i'm actually pretty excited. i'll get back to you in august😗✌️

[lappel-du-vide83]

SCREAMING BECAUSE I FINISHED LOKI FINALLY AND OMG???? MY MARVEL PHASE IS BACK (it never left) I DONT KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON BUT I LOVE IT

Also uh I have no criticism I think so be warned (this is not just a loki bias I just genuinely enjoy most media)

FIRST OF ALL CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW COOL GORGEOUS CREEPY AND KINDA UNSETTLING THE IMAGERY WAS?? LIKE THE TREE VINES AND THE GLOW AND THE RAINBOW AND EVERYTHING TURNING TO ROPES WAS KINDA???? AMAZING????

And ep4 holy shit my dudes I was actually starting to like Dox I loved her voice (accent?) and she just cared about the tva AND MFIng RAVONNA BOXED HER like because of morbid curiosity I want to see but god no I do not and that ep was kinda violent and then boom everything exploded

THE EP5?? SET UP FOR EP6?? I LOVE THEM

Personally I am a sucker for timeloops, my favourite trope even AND SEEING IT HERE IS JUST MSJSKWOPW AND THE SCENES ARE SO COOL DID YOU SEE HIM SNAP HIS WRIST AND SYLVIE FROZE OMG THAT WAS AWESOME

He is so op rn BUT HE IS SO DEVASTATING THAT IS THE SHITTIEST DILLEMA EVER LET HIM WIN WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST BE HAPPY

AND LIKE?? NOW WHAT?? DOES MY DUDE JUST SIT IN THE TREE?? DONT DO HIM LIKE THAT HE JUST WANTS BE WITH HIS FRIENDS I AM SOBBING

And also is that tree thing a reference to Yggdrasil or smt I'm not quite good with mythology but it kinda does

AND I FOR SURE WASN'T EXPECTING THAT ENDING

Ok we never really addressed the relationship between sylvie and loki but with like all of my problems running away is always an option and they're a pair that are amazing separate but not good together so I'm kinda glad they're just pals here

ALSO I NEED A HAPPY ENDING FOR HIM PLEASEEEE WTF WHY IS HIS LIFE DEVASTATING I CANNOT

Also the time looping (God I love this trope so much) brings its own set of problems and they said it themselves CENTURIES LATER WTF GIVE HIM A BREAK

But on bright side he is so bamf like scientific knowledge, time all the that good stuff

UEUE BUT WHY WOULD YOU MAKE HIM CHOOSE BETWEEN KILLING EVERYONE AND SYLVIE STOP IT STOP MAKING HIM MAKE HARD DECISIONS I'M GOING TO FIND THE PERSON WHO MADE BURDENS AND probably offer therapy

GAH EVEN IN THE END HE COULDN'T BE WITH HIS FRIENDS (FRIENDS!!!) AND I AM CERTAIN THERE'S SOME FORM OF IRONIC TRAGEDY THERE THAT I DONT GET

N e ways feel free to yell at me what you think I just needed to get the joy and devastation out of my system (pls I just want my little pocketable people happy)

Watch me realise I missed/misunderstood a huge thing after scrolling thru a bit 💀

Okay I was right I MISSED THE END LET THE TIME PASS THING OMFG??? I LOVE THEM I LOVE ALL OF THEM WHY ARE THEY SO TRAGIC AND SOMEONE MENTIONED OB(I would totally buy his books) AND MOBIUS AND GAH WHY CAN'T THEY HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS MFING KEY LIME PIE CAN'T DO THIS NO MORE

[vvivacious101]

WTF? - My Reactions to S&B S1E5-8

This show is not a Malina Stan because so far they have managed to recant or edit every moment between Mal and Alina that made their relationship special.

So far the reason why Alina has the scar on her hand is different and her testing happened differently. But that's not it. They have changed everything about their relationship. I think the only scene that I wanted to see that actually ended up on screen was the "I’ll meet you in the meadow" scene. Barring that nothing has ended up on screen.

So, their reunion scene was scratched, and there is no kiss but the worst part is that the climactic scene in the fold is completely different. The climax of Shadow and Bone (the book) is marvellous because it completely twists the nature of the story because, in that single moment, Alina becomes more than everything she has been until that point. Up till that point, she is innocent but going forward she has no claim to it. It also establishes her as a character who will make selfish decisions and own them and that single scene is so damn good, the fact that it didn’t translate to screen is a travesty.

I was wondering how the fact that her light kills or at least injures the volcra would change the plot and here it is. If her power only kept volcra at bay there would have been an acute need to develop her power into a weapon but now there is none.

In the climactic scene of Shadow and Bone (the book), Alina learns how to use the cut and it is amazing. I wanted that so badly.

Mal and Alina in the book are reunited at the Little Palace before they both find themselves on the run and that reunion was so good. Because, it told you that even though Alina seems to have let go of Mal, she hasn't actually let go of him in any concrete way. In all ways that matter his presence is enough for her to let go of the fact that he never wrote back. That scene is also so good but I guess it doesn't make any sense if your endgame isn't Mal and Alina and I highly doubt it will be.

In the show, their reunion is very wary and nowhere never the level of enthusiasm that could have been expected.

We do get some backstory on the Darkling which was interesting and it really helped solidify his character. But, one creative choice I really can't begin to understand is why is he not known as the Darkling why not? It would have been really cool!

The Crows are the best part of Shadow & Bone - not even a lie. I mean they are all amazing and their characters are treated with such respect and things are just amazing when the Crows are on screen the rest of the time I'm left feeling disappointed about how much they are changing from the books.

I loved how the crows have gotten incorporated into every major storyline on the show so far and in ingenious ways. It's amazing!

Moving on to Season 2, I'm looking forward to seeing how badly they have butchered 'Storm and Seige' & 'Ruin and Rising'. Season 2 also seems to adapt some parts of 'Crooked Kingdom' and that might be interesting, let's see.

[rantsandsparkles]

My Most Anticipated Movies of 2023

Honorable mentions that didn’t make my list in no particular order : Killers of the Flower Moon (if it actually comes about this year. how many years have we been saying this is coming out?!), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Napoleon, John Wick 4,  and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. And now to my top 10! 

10) Barbie

A lot of people are losing their shit over Barbie. I didn’t really care until I saw the photos of Ryan Gosling as Ken. I’m not the biggest fan of Greta Gerwig, I mostly enjoyed Little Women (although I am still BAFFLED at her decision to make it seem like Jo decided to be with Laurie and then got rejected like umm what ?!) , wasn’t too crazy about Lady Bird. And I won’t get into her non-performance in White Noise lol, but  she is a competent director so I’m intrigued. I think Blake Lively would have made a better “Barbie” but Margot Robbie is always delightful so I’m looking forward to this one.

9)  Creed III

I’ve never seen any of the Rocky movies, but for some reason I watched the first two Creeds, and I liked them both. Jonathan Majors looks isancely ripped in this trailer and yes i’m shallow enough to let that be enough to get my butt in the seat lol.  But more seriously, this is Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut and I’m very excited to see his directing chops.

8) Wonka

I am still scratching my head over who at Warner Brothers decided to cast Timothlee Chalamet as a Wonka, and make by default a Wonka that fucks. But here we are. When I heard about this casting news a couple years ago I literally said ‘wtf’ out loud, but when I saw the pictures I was sold. He has that mischevious Wonka smirk down pat. I am a little nervous about this after hearing the reaction to the footage that played at CinemaCon , and I’m like one of the few people on earth that didn’t love the Paddington movies, so the Paul King element isn’t comforting to me. But I’m excited to see Timmy in a musical. And the goddess Olivia Colman gushed about his performance, so I have faith.  Although if the rumors are true that it was between him and Tom Holland , and Timmy isn’t good in this I will be so upset.

7) Oppenheimer 

This cast list is insane, and the fact that he allegedly got to set of an actual nuke is absurd and suck a yep Christopher Nolan still a jackass thing to do lol.  Don’t know much about the plot, and haven’t read the book, but looking forward to this one for sure. 

Its also fun that this movie is coming out same day as Barbie. That is going to be a wild double feature day 

6) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

James Gunn’s first Guardians of the Galaxy is probably my favorite of the MCU movies. The second one , was uh , definitely not. I’m hoping that the trilogy ends on a high note and this one captures more of the charm from the first. Even if its bad, I know at least it will have a killer soundtrack. 

5) The Super Mario Bros. Movie 

I know the internet hates Chris Pratt , but I still like him. I think if he was truly a trash person then his co-stars wouldn’t speak of him so highly, and I’ll take the word of people that actually know someone over the opinion of the internet any day. But with that being said , I think it is almost INSANE that he was cast as Mario. Like it makes me laugh every time I think about it. I think its hilarious that multiple studio execs agreed , “yep, he’s our Mario.” I have no idea what this movie is going to be about and I don’t care, just going in with zero exception

4) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant Man’s Scott Lang is one of my favorite of the marvel characters and I really enjoyed Jonathan Majors’ Kang in Loki. I’m excited to see what’ll happen in this one and hopefully it’ll have better muliverse content than DS Multiverse of Madness. I have to admit however that the trailers have been disappointing in terms of visuals - I’m not paticialry looking forward to an entire movie essentially filmed in the volume.

3) Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lsFs2615gw

The fact that this movie’s title is Mission colon  Impossible dash Dead Reckoning Part One is ridiulous , and I hope the movie is just as ridiculous lol Tom Cruise is a freak of nature , and seeing this clip in Imax last month got me hyped. And anything with Rebecca Ferguson? Absolutely. 

2) Challengers 

Zendaya as a milf in a love triangle with Josh O’Connor and Mike Fiast? Ummmm Sign me the fuck up.  I will admit though I am nervous about this movie though because I didn’t love the script that was posted online, and although I know he’s widely known and respected as a great auteur filmmaker , I can’t say that I’ve ever really loved any of the Luca Guadagnino’s films that I’ve seen. I’m hoping that Zendaya gets to play this as a femme fatale kind of sex bomb character, and that it cements her as a movie star that can open a big movie. 

1) Dune Part 2 

I have truly have no idea why, but I have become almost obsessed with Dune over the past year. I watched it when it came out in 2021 and I thought it was fine , but I didn’t have an urge to revisit it. Then all of a sudden I got an urge to to watch Dune and after seeing it again I got really into the story. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Denis has planned for the second part of this adaptation, particialuar how he’s going to handle the trippy spice /water of life stuff, how they’re going to do Alia, ect. And everything the cast had crew has said about part 2 , that its bigger more cinematic etc has me so excited. And it seems like ever day we are getting another 🤯 cast announcment. I’m counting down the days for this one - November can’t get hear soon enough :) 

[iateyourcatnom]

Doin this 4 Noah coz I ain't got nothing else to do innit?

Buggy because she probably snuck in and is sleeping somewhere like the little shite she is.

Getting a mullet when he was like 10 lol 💀

He'd probable become a malewife and a motherfigure for everyone.

He really wants kids, even if he isn't married he still wants em- probably with a goddamn kid.

He can get a nosebleed in about 5 minutes- seriously like on command.

He's very.....clingy

He's driven Buggy after she's stolen like a pair of nike's from this gang leaders kid, but that's it, he's poisened his neighbours cats (yes, plural) a couple times.

A capybara or a swan, he thinks he would be a snow leopard.

He is rather subjective to cheating, he probably would but wouldn't get caught because he would accuse other people of cheating lol but it's all fun and games....

He's always wanted to hug a panda, that's like his most wholesome one.

Buggy.

Anywhere he can just chill and play games or listen to music or do yoga (feat. Buggy coz that girl follows him EVERYWHERE)

Culinary Arts probably

He's a fluffy romance guy, with manga and steven king on the side.

He wouldn't.

"Tall, good at cooking, pretty like REALLY pretty, love him lots" - Buggy (her acc name is Rylie)

There was an auction for the bluey game on playstation and he spent like 3000 pound on them (really bad scam and at the end Buggy was too drunk to even play it but in the morning she was psyched so he was really happy in the end).

Working in a cat cafe

He's pretty comfortable, he has a lot of savings actually Rylie lyches off of him but he doesn't really mind.

He doesn't need advice on most things, but he does ask Buggy before he makes the weirdest decisions or according to him "the one's that actually count."

He stole Buggy's favourite pair of socks and hides one of her panties in a box under his bed (in a totally platonic way ofc *wink* *wink*)

Cat and dog person.

The mullet.

He really doesn't like skunks.

Going about his day without hearing or seeing Rylie even once- not to worry she doesn't have to be there physically, he'll just listen to one of her voicenotes.

Silly cat videos.

R&b

Reece (he just keeps hogging Rylie like wtf)

Nothing really.

None.

He believes in God, he belives there is God but he just doesn't go to church.

He was pretty chill, except when he was with Buggy.

He broke his neck when he was 11 hurt like hell.

Live to work

DEFINATELY like 3 of em

The fact that Rylie hangs out at his house.

While he wouldn't call Buggy his significant other (to her face), but he loves her energy and the way she smells.

It's probably Buggy raiding the goddamn fridge again.

Offhead, can't name one, come back later.

He doesn't really give any other girl the time of day.

He's such a fluff, and very huggable

Hot.

Maybe his peircings idk.

He'll lie if he needs to, to protect feelings, but Buggy would say it upfront, she's very frank.

Marvel, DC, horror.

He'll probably be fishing Buggy out from passing out and throwing up on someone trying to flirt with her.

early bird.

Yes.

He thinks about what he wears, especially if it makes him smell night.

Not really.

His fashion sense maybe.

His diet is pretty healthy but not too much, mostly proteins.

He'd rather Starve.

Non really, ask Buggy that.

No one but he thinks Trevor Noah is a pretty chill.

Really nice, like Aud but in the sexiest way possible.

Wouldn't take em', wouldn't advise em.

Dunno.

Waking up to start a new day maybe.

White chocolate cookies, Time with Buggy, socking in the bath, avocado face masks.

sixty more OC asks 📝✨

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

What’s the one thing they would save in a fire?

What’s their biggest regret?

How would they fare in a zombie apocalypse?

Where do they see themselves in five years? Ten?

What’s their most useless, weirdest, or least marketable skill?

What are they like in the bedroom — well-rounded lover or wooden plank?

Have they committed a crime before? Which one(s)?

If they were an animal, which one would they be? Which one would they think they’d be?

Do they cheat to win or play by the rules?

What do they fantasize about?

Who’s the most important person in their life?

What’s their ideal vacation like?

What is/was/will be their college major?

What’s their favorite book genre, if they enjoy reading at all?

How would they describe themselves?

How would others describe them?

What’s the most ridiculous thing they’ve ever spent money on?

What’s their dream job?

How’s their financial situation?

Who’s their go-to person for advice?

What’s one secret of theirs that could potentially ruin a relationship they have?

Are they a dog person or a cat person — or something else?

What’s one childhood memory they’ve never forgotten?

Do they have any phobias?

What’s one thing they’re utterly incapable of doing without the help of someone else?

What’s one topic they could never get tired of researching or learning about?

What’s their favorite genre of music?

Who, if anyone, do they dislike most?

If they could change one thing about themselves, physical or otherwise, what would it be?

What’s their political stance?

Are they religious?

What were they like in high school?

What’s the worst injury they’ve ever had?

Do they work to live or live to work?

Do/did they want children?

What’s their favorite thing about themselves?

What’s their favorite thing about their significant other, if they have one?

If they hear something go bump in the night, do they get out of bed to check it out or do they stay put?

What’s one skill they wish they had?

What do other people find annoying about them, if anything?

What do other people love most about them?

What’s the typical first impression after meeting this person?

What do people notice first about them, as far as their appearance goes?

Does this person try their best to be honest or are they not above lying to get their way?

What kind of movies do they like?

Are they the life of the party or a wallflower?

Are they an early bird or a night owl?

Are they a good kisser?

Do they think about what they wear or do they throw on whatever they find first?

Do they have any insecurities?

What is their favorite thing about themselves?

What’s their diet like?

If they could only eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would it be?

What’s their body count, if they have one?

Who do they look up to most?

What do they smell like?

How do they feel about drugs?

If they could change one thing about their life, what would it be?

What motivates them?

What are some of their simple pleasures?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Go crazy.

[lvbcrne]

is it even possible for me to watch / get into even just ONE series without wanting to make a muse for it anymore ???

[therealvinelle]

What do you think the Cullens would do if some person they were talking to, out of nowhere just quite literally exploded in front of, and on them? Kinda like in that movie Spontaneous. Would they lose control and slurp up the mess on the ground, (and themselves) or would their bloodlust be curtailed by shock of wtf just happened?

I'd say something witty about how this is a strange anon to receive, but holy jesus you've sent me down a rabbithole.

Here's a trailer to the movie Spontaneous. It looks amazing. Kevin Feige wishes this had been his plot for Infinity War.

Here's a trailer for the movie Spontaneous Combustion, which I found by accident while searching for your fic. This looks amazing too. Can't believe Marvel didn't buy the rights to this guy.

I'm serious, people, you definitely want to watch these trailers. I just about died laughing.

So, on to your ask.

In the spirit of your ask, which implies a level of randomness, I thought the people blowing up should be random too. So, being in the mood to procrastinate through spending way too much time on tumblr things, I wrote a program that'll generate for me random Twilight characters.

Unsure whether the explosion should kill vampires or not, I generated an answer. The answer is yes, any generated vampire dies.

Without further ado:

Alice watches Vladimir blow up.

Alright, alright.

The first question to be answered here is why Alice is in Vladimir's presence in the first time. In canon they only meet once, at the end of Breaking Dawn.

For the sake of simplicity, we'll have Vladimir blow up then.

The Cullens and the witnesses are all celebrating being alive, when Vladimir suddenly explodes.

For the sake of the ask, Alice is sitting closest to him when this happens and making conversation.

Her first thought is utter shock. Not just that he blew up, but that she didn't see it coming (she wouldn't, because I randomly generated him. No decision was made). Her second thought is horror.

The Cullens just confronted the Volturi, now mere hours afterwards their allies are blowing up.

Holy fuck, Aro has a gifted ace up his sleeve, and he's using it to kill them remotely.

Panic ensues, not just for Alice, but among all the witnesses. Some of them refuse to leave, Bella has to shield those 24/7, though given the belief that her gift is psychic that doesn't make them feel very safe.

The others decide to go after the Volturi and beg for mercy, assuring them they never meant to challenge them.

Aro, of course, is very confused, but agrees. Why, yes, he does have a vampire who blows people up. Yes, yes he does.

Bella watches Aro blow up.

Oh I'm dying laughing at this one. And wishing I'd put this down for Carlisle, that would be even funnier, but alright.

Bella is walking about post-Breaking Dawn, minding her own business, when suddenly Aro appears in front of her. He looks around himself, utterly surprised by his sudden deplacement, and then blows up.

Bella has been living in terror of this man for years.

In Volterra he had his servant torture her and Edward and then made ominious threats, then a few months later the Eclipse disaster unfolded, finally we have Breaking Dawn where he showed up to murder her and everyone she loved.

Her shield may be powerful, but for as long as Aro was alive her family was never truly safe.

His untimely implosion changes all of that.

I imagine after a long moment of incredulity, Bella burns the rubble, just to be sure, then tells her family the joyous news.

Carlisle gives the guy a funeral. It's weird.

Carlisle watches Vassilii blow up.

Close call, due to my not switching out the names we almost had Angela. In which case Carlisle have stood there, covered in blood and in shock for several long seconds, before bringing out the bleach and gasoline for a crime scene clean.

As it is, Carlisle is minding his own business when suddenly an immortal child dressed like a medieval Eastern European appears before him. It says something in a foreign language that might mean "hi", he doesn't know but he says "hi" to it back, then the child blows up.

Carlisle stares at the rubble for a very long time, wondering if he is perhaps losing his mind. If, perhaps, Aro was right about animal blood being a slow suicide, and Carlisle has finally hit the limit for how long a vampire can go on without human blood.

He burns the rubble and prays for the child's soul, as an immortal child is doomed anyway, and keeps his silence about what happened. In part because there's a solid chance this was all in his imagination.

If Aro ever touches his hand again, and sees the immortal child that he burned a thousand years earlier resurrect, travel through time, all in order to blow up in front of Carlisle, he... well there comes a point where you say "nothing to see here" and refuse eye contact with the universe glitching.

Edward watches Randall blow up.

Randall, for the ignorants, is one of Carlisle's friends that came to witness for the Cullens in Breaking Dawn.

Suddenly he appears in front of Edward, says hi and how do you do, and then he blows up.

Edward tells Carlisle, who is saddened by this, and they try to piece the guy together. They fail.

Edward sends a somber thought to this noble man who agreed with Edward that the Cullens are awesome enough to be worth dying for.

Emmett watches Mary blow up.

Emmett will never admit it, but it's the coolest, raddest thing he's ever seen.

Esme watches Eleazar blow up.

Oh boy.

The Cullens are visiting the Denali. Irina has not been dead for long, but given the crystal clear memory of vampires, and the loss they already suffered (Sasha's death traumatized them) it doesn't really matter how long it's been, the Denali are devastated anyway.

The whole coven is as fragile as it can possibly get.

Then, Eleazar goes to join Esme in the kitchen, and explodes all over her and the kitchen.

The remaining Denali and the Cullens are called to the kitchen by the sound of Esme's screaming, and find her in hysterics, surrounded by gray rubble.

The Denali are near catatonic with grief at this point, while cooking has been ruined for Esme. One moment you're making food, the next people are exploding all over your kitchen.

Yeah.

Esme is not okay.

Jasper watches Nahuel blow up.

It's a shameful moment in his life.

But, hybrids are edible.

And that blood was splattered all over him.

Jasper has the worst control fail of his life, worse even than when he failed with Bella because this fail means he can't be around Renesmée anymore.

It's miserable all around.

The one highlight here is that it didn't happen when they were headed to the Volturi trial together.

Rosalie watches Emmett blow up.

Jesus christ, random Twilight character generator, just when I thought you were just going to give me boring results.

Not only does Rosalie lose the love of her life, the guy who kept her together, the one good thing she had going for her who made her life worth living, but he did so right in front of her, blowing up out of nowhere.

There's no explanation to be had, no culprit to be found, no reason for it. She had no goodbye, just as she can have no revenge.

She will never have closure.

Renesmée watches Renée blow up.

We go out on a high note, my god. Well done, generator, I'm laughing.

Renesmée is curious enough about her grandmother to go to Florida. She was going to watch from afar, but finds herself talking to the woman who raised her mother.

It's all going well until Renée suddenly explodes all over Renesmée.

Renesmée's first thought is nothing, she's in shock.

Then...

Well, she was controlled as an infant, so I don't think an adult Renesmée would lose it unless under extreme circumstances, like if she encountered a singer.

More, though, Renesmée might have any reasons of her own not to drink human blood, but she has been raised with this being a big no-no.

So she shouldn't.

However...

Is she ever going to get a better chance?

Ethically, she could easily argue this is the right choice. No one will be negatively affected by this, at least not directly.

The human is right there, already dead, and there's no body so while Renesmée does have to clean up the gore. Hell, if she laps up the blood on her clothes and the ground she will be cleaning up. Why waste perfectly good blood?

If Renesmée Cullen is ever going to have human blood, this is it.

It will come down to how much she respects her grandfather, and how important she believes Renée was to Bella.

-

Bonus, because I'm having way too much fun with this:

Bree watches Atheonodora blow up.

Bree is minding her own business when suddenly a vampire unlike any she has ever seen before, one with hazy eyes and odd skin, appears before her. They stare at each other. Then the woman blows up.

Bree takes this to mean that exploding is apparently something vampires just do sometimes, runs off in a panic and, sobbing, tells Riley.

Riley, having no idea what to make of any of this, tells her it was those evil yellow-eyes with their witchcraft and sorcery.

[wobster109]

AHAHAHHAAAAA—

In an affidavit filed on Thursday, Schwartz said he had used the chatbot to “supplement” his research for the case. Schwartz wrote he was "unaware of the possibility that [ChatGPT’s] content could be false.” He even shared screenshots showing that he had asked ChatGPT if the cases it cited were real. The program responded they were, claiming the decisions could be found in “reputable legal databases,” including Westlaw and LexisNexis.

HAHAHAAA 🤣😂😂😂

Ok look. Chat GPT is not sentient. It is a very advanced, very coherent pattern-completing machine. That is it! It's good at stuff like giving you more baby names if you give it some example names that you like. It's good at giving you more of what you put in. And it's good at remembering contexts that it's seen before.

That means that when you ask it for something relating to law, it digs up everything it knows about law, including the names of past court cases, and then—it doesn't know if you're naming a D&D character or filing an honest-to-goodness IRL affidavit. "Oooo, you like names that are like X v. Y Airlines", it thinks, and then it gives you more of that.

As to being asked whether its cases were real, all it's doing is taking a guess about what a human would probably say.

This is also why I'm not concerned at all about AI taking over for writers in the next 10 or so years. At the present day, it's not able to draw a boundary between fact and fiction—and a good story is a mix of both, and the boundary is somewhere different each time. A fantasy troll could be wandering the fantasy town of Grenwich-o'er-Tea, the names of towns and animals can be made-up, but start trying to make up names for objects like tables and ale, and your readers are in for a world of confusion. Another story could take place in modern day Texas, and if chat GPT starts making up town names, welp! What goes for one setting might be completely out of place in another. Or, can you imagine Pokemon? Made-up names abound, but wtf is a pikachutlotal? Silly bot, don't you know you can only use real made-up names?

I think it helps to think of talking to chatGPT as talking to a 5-year-old. It's lovely, and entertaining, and you marvel at how well it does! But don't take it at face value. It's words are the most realistic story it could make, but a story nonetheless.

I feel like the only person not tempted to use ChatGPT like it doesn't even occur to me as an option

[latent-thoughts]

I honestly agree with you on everything after ragnarok is not canon. Although I love Thor ragnarok, it’s an entertaining movie and ive seen it more times then I should, thinking about it now I’ve never seen Thor ragnarok as canon. it’s just been a movie that’s really shitty but entertaining, and funny when you don’t have context about the characters.

I just hate that it’s so disrespectful to the actual characters. AND what’s even worse, is that I did not even consider the movie disrespectful to the characters until I was on tumblr and found threads of old posts/things you’ve reblogged on why it is.

And everything after it, has come tumbling after.

People need to realise there’s a difference between entertaining cinema, vs actual good Quality cinema. Especially with something like marvel because it’s all “connected”. Marvel is choosing quantity over quality and it’s clearly showing.

Yup. Marvel-Disney has become the 'Five Minute Crafts' of movie making. They're pumping out multiple shows and movies annually, but there's hardly any substance to them anymore. Nothing actually connects in this so-called cinematic universe, but the promos and interviews will try to fool you into believing it.

There's no cohesive story, only easter eggs abound. They're mostly meaningless, because most of them have their roots in different storylines in the comics, not the movies. Like, wtf was Thanoscopter doing in the Loki series? Or why was Sylvie wearing the broken crown (which was originally worn by AoA Loki for very specific reasons)?

Moreover, every new entity boasts of bringing in a drastic change into the multiverse or having a powerful character like no other before them. Yet, all of this is forgotten in the next entity they release. Rinse repeat.

The problem with Ragnarok was that it wanted to be funnier and bigger than GOTG--a movie that somewhat broke the mold for MCU movies at that time. It constituted an unlikely team of antiheroes who became heroic, and it had a more zany kind of humour to it.

What Ragnarok didn't note was that GOTG had heart. It had zany humour, yes, but it also had plenty of poignant moments. It didn't make a joke out of everything, most certainly not the characters. Every character was handled carefully, their trauma and loss acknowledged despite their negative actions.

Ragnarok failed supremely at this. Bruce turned into a parody of anxiety attacks and 'useless' nerdiness (7 PhDs but can't fly a ship, haha). Loki--a character of a subjugated race, taken from his people, raised to hate his own race, a clear victim of Asgard's imperialistic and colonial agenda, was made fun of for simply existing. His trauma was ignored, his relationship to Thor was twisted to make Thor into a victim, and instead, his main oppressor, Odin, was glorified despite his war crimes and invasions. What more, the fact that Thor left Loki to die on Sakaar was glossed over and made into a joke. Valkyrie (she still doesn't have a name, even post l&t) was introduced as a slave trader (does anyone find it sus that a woman of colour was shown as a slave trader?) and this part of her life was never acknowledged again, not even by Bruce, even though she traded the hulk to the GM.

Thor...sigh, where do I even begin? Gone was the considerate and thoughtful Thor we had seen in TDW, the Thor who acknowledged his father's bad decisions and tried to counter them by putting his own life on the line. Gone was the Thor who held his dying brother in his arms and cried. Granted, canon Thor had his issues to overcome, but he was never crass and inconsiderate like Ragnarok Thor. Ragnarok not only uprooted Thor from his growing self awareness and growth, it uprooted him wholly from Asgard. Killed off his friends and killed off his home. And made a joke about it all.

There's so much more to say about that trash movie and it's confused purpose, but all in all, it put the first nail into the whole franchise' coffin. L&T is only a continuation of that, based in the same theme of ridicule and distasteful humour.

What rankles is that it could've been a great movie, had Chris and Taika taken their heads out of their respective asses for a bit to think it over. But they were too busy making toilet level jokes and jerking around the sets, ignoring the script (which btw had Thor admitting to his mistakes to Loki) and just improvising everything with their bs logic. Taika didn't even do his research on the characters.

And that's something he's proud of. A theme that has continued with the creators in other Marvel entities too.

I just feel very sad about it. Because phase 1 (even 2) Marvel was something if quality. Now, the characters these phases had established are either (unfairly) dead or completely unrecognisable. I no longer have any sense of anticipation for their new stuff. I don't even want to watch new movies or shows.*

Anyhow, thanks for visiting my askbox. ♥️

*Moon Knight is the only exception, and you'd note the show had no prominent easter eggs or even mentions of other characters from the MCU. Mayhe there's something to be said about that.

[youngbugandtonystank]

And now anti Tony people are blaming him for letting Sam’s family being in financial trouble wtf the man is dead! Let him rest!

Yeah, I saw. 

They’re definitely going to keep doing that, gotta say, the MCU never failed with Tony's character, they created circumstances for him exactly just like Stan envisioned. The ‘love-to-hate’ trope is strong when it comes to him, this is what Stan wanted out of Tony Stark's relationship with his fans/audience. Thing is, the reality of the MCU superhero is that they’re all flawed. None of them are exempt from anything. Why Tony gets more hate than the others?

He’s the most popular character. There’s no discussion in this instance. Popular superheroes that first come to people’s minds are always Batman, Iron Man and Spider-Man. Tony Stark/Iron Man is a pop culture legend and the fact that RDJ got to portray him as great as he did, helped a lot. People are always going to circle back to the character who has more hype and audience. 

He’s the one with the money. The fact that Tony is swimming in money automatically makes him the target of the ‘eat the rich’ mentality. People fail to remember that other characters such as T’Challa (who has more money than Tony would ever wish to see and lives in the most technologically advanced country in the world), Shuri, Thor (a literal king with a kingdom), The Pym family, Danny Rand (he has a net worth of $5 billion and is one of the richest comic book characters of all time), etc exist. And we still haven’t seen the other Marvel characters (in the MCU) that are richer than Tony like Reed Richards, Professor X, Warren Worthington, Norman Osborn, Namor, Doctor Doom, etc. 

Even if some of us see RDJ as attractive and good looking, some people don’t. For them, RDJ is nothing compared to Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Sebastian Stan, etc. It’s easier to hate a character you don’t find attractive. And also the fact that they find those actors relatively younger than RDJ. 

It’s the most shippable character. This also means he must be in the way of some other ships. Even if this sounds unbelievable, many people don’t get their irrational hate for a character until it dawns on them that they only hate him because he either treated one half of their ship unfairly or because he’s in the way of that ship. The more reasons they can find to hate him, the more legitimate their senseless hatred seems in their minds.

People don’t call out characters like T’Challa or Shuri because they’re scared of being called ‘racist’. T’Challa is so rich that Howard Stark could only buy (just an assumption, it’s a possibility he stole the vibranium lmao) only a portion of vibranium to build Steve’s shield, and because is the world’s most indestructible material, his worth is approximately $10,000 a gram (Fantastic Four #607) and Wakanda's vaults hold 10,000 tons of the material (Doomwar #1) T’Challa is not a billionaire, he’s a trillionaire lmaoooo everyone else is a joke compared to him.

Even having all of this info, Tony and T’Challa owe nothing to anyone.

T’Challa helped Bucky because of his principles (Tony offered to do this at the beginning as well until of course, he found out he killed his parents) but because of that, that doesn't mean T’Challa owes Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Natasha money or housing assistance. He didn't give it to them at all and he doesn’t have to. 

James Rhodes: Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years.

Sam Wilson: Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star.

Wanna know why? Because T’Challa knows they’re adults and they make their own decisions. Sam chose to be on Steve’s side, Wanda did too, Natasha too, etc. Adults make decisions and they should deal with the consequences that come with that. Tony was not going to deal with their financial problems because they made a choice and it’s not his problem to deal with. Tony is not their father. People need to ask themselves why Sam was not in the ‘lift the hammer’ scene after the party, because he wasn’t familiar with them, he wasn’t friends with Tony, only with Steve. Besides that fact, they all fought Tony, hurt his best friend, and left him to deal with the rest in CW. They’re not family.

Sam Wilson: No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy. Steve Rogers: Be it ever so humble. Sam Wilson: You find a place in Brooklyn yet? Steve Rogers: I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn. Sam Wilson: Well, home is home, you know?

There’s absolutely no reason Steve can’t afford a place. He’s an adult, he has a good reputation, he worked for shield (why aren’t yall on Nick Fury’s ass if he had Steve and the others as employees? Fury set an entire place for Clint, why can’t he do it for the rest of them, he is the founder of the Avengers after all), and was pretty much capable of doing stuff for others. Tony provided them with a home while they were working together, he doesn’t need to concern himself with their personal problems because they’re not actual friends. Rhodey is his friend. Happy is his friend. Also consider the fact that maybe Sam didn’t want his help? 

And let’s also take into consideration that Tony is not only an Avenger, but Tony is also a businessman, an inventor, an engineer, has a company to keep an eye on, he is the one who finances the Avengers’ messes and other superhero messes too by co-owning the department of damage control, etc. He has other things to do. The rest of the Avengers are adults too, they should seek a job that could give them a future too, not just depend on Tony’s money. Tony had a family and he had to make sure they were covered after his death, this includes, Pepper (his wife, therefore she gets his stuff), Peter (his son, he left him EDITH, he’s basically set for life with that given the A.I. has access to the majority of his things including bank accounts), Morgan (his daughter; his responsibility), Happy and Rhodey (I’m sure we’ll see what he left them in Armor Wars). Why? They’re his actual family. 

If some of you know this and you’re still looking for reasons to put the blame on him, you’re failing to recognize you’re obsessed with hating Tony just for the sake of being right. Wouldn’t you like a life where you don’t have to constantly look for reasons to hate on a fictional character, better yet, a character you don’t like at all. Why the effort? You can love Tony and Sam at the same time, I promise you, this is not going to kill you. 

So please, instead of whining about Tony Stark all the time, why don’t yall just enjoy the fact that the show is showing you a vital and important event that happens in life while representing a part of Sam’s life to add to his emotional depth and character development? Especially because he’s a superhero and possibly the next Captain America, it’s good to see someone who is supposed to be a figure (superhero) whose actions or achievements are far greater than what people expect deal with normal things. They’re giving you a background; a solid storyline for his character. Let it be. Enjoy the shows yall, you can’t keep coming back to blame Tony for everything that happens after every single movie or Disney+ show, look for another metaphorical punching bag. The man is dead. 

[herherteartear]

blanket kick

précis— Peter's not the suave man he would hope to be in front of his crush. instead, he's a blushing mess that haunts his memories and causes him to take out his frustrations on his blanket. luckily, you prefer cherry cheeks over smooth lines any day.

pairing— Peter Parker x enhanced!maximoff!reader

a/n— this is my first standalone written story and my first time writing for marvel! i hope you guys enjoy thisss<3 i'm also open to creating drabbles to continue this if anyone's interested????! pls enjoy and pls comment and let me know ur thoughts!!!

there are many ways to describe Peter Parker, but none could ever wholly capture the true essence of the boy

besides the obvious stuff,, his intelligence , his insanely good looks , his teenage awkwardness,,

it was a hard feat to string along words to describe the way he carries himself , the way he is with others , the way his heart loves with the same ability a sponge soaks up water and soap

Peter's had crushes before

perhaps more than he'd like to admit

(can't blame the boy, who gave Ty Lee the right be that cute!?)

but when he sees her, his heart begins to swell and suddenly, he forgets how to breathe..

or how to think... talk. y'know normal human stuff

in all honesty, Peter has tried his absolute hardest to block out their first meeting from his memories

he doesn't regret meeting her, of course not! never would he even repent that embarrassingly wonderful day

he only wishes it would've gone a little differently

let's set the scene, shall we?

the sun was shining brightly, the sky was a Carolina blue, the clouds were the prettiest porcelain color, rimmed with lace

Peter was riding in an awfully silent car that Happy was driving to the airport. despite being terrified of what's to come,, the fight Mr. Stark had recruited him for,, the boy was thoroughly enjoying this adventure.

the car came to a stop, which did little for Peter's nerves. he gathered his courage before stepping out, eyes squinting at the brightness of the yellow sun. once his eyes adjusted, they landed on the prettiest head of hair he had ever seen

(although he did think the same for Hermione Granger)

Peter had never been on a plane before that day. but even then, his sparkling eyes stayed trained on her,, completely ignoring the brilliant private jet behind her

"oh? Happy, i thought it was just us?" her voice made Peter's ears burn. he swallowed thickly. you blinked at Peter, curious but also intrigued , you smiled.

to which Peter choked. on air. your eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"a-are you okay?"

"god, kid, get ahold of yourself."

"i-i'm okay! it's– i'm– i'm fine!" Peter quickly stuttered out.

"well, Yn, this is– uh,, what's your name again?" Happy turned towards the boy who's cheeks were now redder than a firetruck.

"oh! i'm Peter– Peter Parker. it's nice to meet you- not that i don't know you. well i don't, y'know not personally. but like from the news.. not that i believe the news! they're awful to you, but i mean i guess i do sometimes– but never about what they say about you–"

"i'm Yn Maximoff. it's nice to meet you too, Peter." you cut him off before Happy strangled the cute boy. you had an amused smile

he was cute

finally getting on the plane, Peter had hoped he would be able to sit far away from you and wallow in his embarrassment,

maybe sneak a glance or two.. imagine a couple of scenarios where he wasn't a doofus,

but that's not quite what happened.

after witnessing just how much the new kids was able to ramble,, Happy was not about to spend a whole ass plane ride remotely close to him

so he took it upon himself to make the kiddies sit together.. much to Peter's dismay.

like!!? did Happy not see how Peter crashed and burned in font of you?!

you, on the other hand,, had the opposite reaction.

being the youngest avenger, you don't get to be around people your age too much,, which isn't something you're complaining about!!

you totally made the decision to be an avenger and you happily welcomed the consequences..

that didn't mean you didn't get lonely at times. especially now with the accords and the team breaking up., things got a whole lot more lonely

your sister, Wanda, had made her choice to leave the compound. you completely understood why, but a part of you had hoped she would've taken you with her

although, staying at the compound did ensure your safety.

it was a weird time for the avenger's , it felt wrong for you to say some of your teammates were criminals

it left a sour taste in your mouth

you glanced from the window seat to see Peter nervously wringing his fingers. you frowned.

"are you okay?" you asked, gently. Peter's eyes widened and his heart jumped to his throat. he wanted to say something, something cool or aloof, something that would make up for his ranting earlier

"i've never been on a plane before." Peter squeaked out. he dropped his shoulders, rolling his eyes at himself. that was the highest pitch he had ever heard his voice. you took in his clearly anxious posture.

"lets switch seats? maybe looking out the window will help you." you stated. before Peter could quickly shake his head, because how rude would it be of him to take your seat?, you were already stood up.

"oh god!" Peter breathed. he quickly shifted over to the seat you once occupied. he wanted to put up more of a fight, but the way you were swaying due to the turbulence, made his palms sweat in fear for your safety.

"you, like, swing from buildings and stuff, right?" you asked. he turned to you with a nod. "are you afraid of heights? or do you just not like planes?"

oh god. oh. no. you thought– you thought he was scared of being on the plane. Peter wanted to shrink in a hole and hide. you probably thought he was such a baby! that he could handle swinging from hundreds of feet in the air, but a plane is where he drew the line?

but what else is he supposed to say? 'oh, no! it's not the plane I'm scared of. it's just your beautiful smile and the way you smell like cocoa that gets me sweating'

wtf.

that was so wrong in so many ways.

"um, no, no. i'm okay, just– just a little nervous, is all." Peter tried to force out a chuckle. but it come out more like a cough. you mouth formed an 'o.'

"ohh, okay." you paused before your eyes lit up. "how about we play a game? to distract you?"

"o– okay.."

"can you talk with spiders?" Peter lifted his eyes from looking at his hands hovering above yours,; he let out a much more relaxed laugh than earlier.

you took advantage of his distraction to swiftly bring your palm from underneath his and slap the top of Peter's hand. he jumped.

"ouch!" he playfully pouted. you eyes glanced down at his lips. you giggled nervously. your hand went to hover over his, him now being the one to do the slapping. "of course i can't talk to spiders! i– i feel like i should probably be able to shape-shift into a spider in order for that to happen, y'know?"

you nodded thoughtfully. "that's true.. you didn't hear this from me, but i heard there's an Ant-Man going around." Peter looked at you with wide eyes.

"no way! that's crazy! does he like turn into an ant?" you bumped his hand with yours in order to get his attention back to the game. his hand burned at the feeling

"i don't know-" you said in a singsong tone. "it's just what's being said around the compound." you quickly slid your hands to avoid Peter's attack. he huffed.

"how are you so good at this?" he knitted his eyebrows to focus on how to attack quickly without hurting you.

"it's a game i used to play with my brother and sister." you answered. Peter finally took his chance to slap your hands, to which you squealed excitedly as you had tried to move in time. Peter and you fell into a fit of giggles.

you both leaned against your seats, still facing each other. your hands fell on top of Peter's.

the brown haired boy quickly slid his hand out from under yours, not because he didn't enjoy the contact, but because he was worried you'd feel how clammy his hands were

you frowned slightly at the loss of contact.

"a– are we really fighting your sister?" Peter wondered out loud, without a second thought.

you shifted uncomfortably. Peter quickly noticed; his heart sped up and he mentally scolded himself for being so inconsiderate.

"not because i think she's evil! i mean,, i know that's what the news says.. but they also think Spider-Man's like thirty. and i'm not thirty! its just everything's crazy right now.. with the accords., i can't even imagine how you're feeling! probably terrible.. oh, g od wait, not terrible, i'm s–"

you had been watching with an endearing look in your eye. you had come to find that you enjoy watching Peter ramble.

his eyes would become unsettled and shaky, his body would begin to become more and more animated, but his voice

gosh, his voice was something you wanted to listen to for the rest of your life

but you could tell he was getting more and more skittish. so you put him out of his misery

"terrible probably wouldn't be my go-to word, it's up there though.. at least i got to meet you." you smiled softly.

Peter's eyes ran over your soft features. night had fallen, so the windows of the plan displayed an almost picturesque display of the moon and stars. the light hue of color the moon provided painted your face in a way that clouded Peter's thoughts.

with your comment of being grateful to have met him, Peter wasn't in control of his mouth for much longer.

"so pretty." he breathed. both of you guys froze.

Peter's face quickly morphed from love-sick to mortified. you blushed violently.

deciding you didn't want Peter to fall into another rant-like apology (because if you got to listen to him talk for that long in this setting, you might just drop the 'L' word) , you said,

"let's watch a movie?"

the two of you sat, shoulder to shoulder, watching Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, but being too hyper aware of their thighs pressed together and brushing hands to actually pay attention

upon arrival, both teenagers walked off the plane, sleep deprived , but with thumping hearts and dazed grins.

Peter threw himself on his hotel bed that night,, hiding under the covers

his thoughts replayed your interaction over and over (and over and over) in his head

the boy shoved his head, face first, into the stiff hotel pillow and let out a muffled groan

Peter flipped himself over, stared at the ceiling, before remembering his spouts of unnecessarily long explanations

he thrashed his body, kicking his poor blanket in frustration but most of all, out of embarrassment

he calmed himself down once his memories refreshed themselves over your gentle giggles and how soft your hands were

Peter fell asleep with cherry red cheeks and a blissful grin.

because despite those small mess ups, despite the futile way he beat his covers in humiliation, Peter treasures that day like no other.

[stuckyfingers]

This is actually a good critique of his character, because the MCU didn't do justice to what he started out as. In general, I liked his humor, because it retained more agency over himself than the usual Black sidekick character. I also loved him in the first movie because it made me feel like was about to grow into such an interesting character- which he kinda did but also didn't.

Endgame and especially his OWN SHOW dialed his spirit down and ignored his frustrations and motivations just to turn him into a stamp of approval for the MCU's decisions.

He doesn't show up for people in the same way he used to do, nor is any of his internal struggles actually touched upon. Everything is just said and never shown when it comes to being a new Cap.

Instead he just. Arranged a statue and got to save a bunch of status-quo-protecting politicians in suits.

This EXACTLY. SAM WILSON is the kinda guy who got off his ass and willingly followed Steve into battle just to make sure he did his part eviscerating Nazis. He didn't mind destroying government property and helping in killing politicians if it meant getting people their freedom. If it was CATWS Sam in FATWS- he would've probably negotiated and teamed up with the Flag Smashers in a show of class solidarity.

When he decided to help someone, he'd go all the way into the thick of it, like he tried to find Bucky. So wtf was that statue?? I expected him to at least get them senators to enact SOME kinda reparations or laws in favor of Black people exploited by the government? A statue may spread awareness but honestly- the people who are going to actually go to that exhibit are already AWARE.

Isaiah is once again a footnote to Steve. He's just a diversity section of the white Cap exhibit. That's not even half an apology when you consider how passionately Steve regarded Isaiah's situation. But we can't say anything for this because SAM has made it with the melanin stamp of approval.

I never expected to see any real status quo change depicted in the US in a Marvel show,,, but that was so WEAK?

hopefully short rant:

I'm tired of pretending that Sam is in any way an interesting character. And I'm not just talking about he consistently spends most of his early pre-CapCrowning appearances in every medium as a mixture of a Magical Negro trope and the wise-crackin' Black BFF trope who says things in a "funny" way at key moments — most of the time the humor is just derived from the Black character suddenly using Ebonics dialects for a white audience and by white writers, which has centuries' of history in racially voyeuristic media tropes, but i digress. — But even Post-CapCrowning, the basis for his character is to bring down existing central characters to make this NPC Sidekick *** seem interesting by comparison like the proverbial Industry Plant, as if that's ever been compelling except to the newcomers who started with the Industry Plant character

And before *** *** savefacers try to insist this isn't true: How come hyping up Sam and his rise to prominence means that Steve gets turned into the backwards fuddy-duddy stuck in his ways old-timer, to the point that they break the rules of time travel to age Steve into a geriatric?

Why did Bucky have to be labeled as culpable/morally damaged/dangerous due to being tortured by Nazis in order to make Sam seem like a more moral and better character and Bucky evil/duplicitous/disposable in need to be put in check by compariso?

Why does Steve get rewritten as someone who somehow made his allies' lives harder and someone with moral deficiencies and a ghost of an inadequate predecessor to make Sam look better/slighted by the former guy?

Why did Bucky get his portrayal changed from the only other old supersoldier who's not only comparable but even strong than Steve and beat him in a fight twice, to a character who's just regular human-strength so that he could get a bunch scenes of being mogged by characters much weaker than Steve, just so that Sam can get a million more wise-crackin' quips about both of them being logged by the same opponent?

Why did both Buck And Steve have, in the movies, their screentime chopped and their storylines effectively cut short/placed in unresolved limbo after still not getting a sequel to the only, rightfully so, critically successful Cap installment whose story left off with a cliffhanger/promise for future development, only to get backburner-ed by half a decade of intrusive crossovers and a pandemic?

To be fair to Sam I guess...🙄.. a lot of these problems would've happened anyways with the combination of 1 · Marvel's refusal to let the story develop beyond circling around thr same Cap flag-wavin' ad nauseum to let Steve and Bucky move beyond that & 2 · a slew or creators in both mediums that all but admit that they hate Buck & Steve and would've/have watered down their characters to hype up a different proverbial industry plant instead. But still… not once but twice these changes keep happening just to hype up Sam and render the other 2 into unrecognizable Flanderizations at best, McGuffins at worst

Why should I have to like him? Even on his own merits, he's a loser, but also his presence exacerbates the aspects of the franchise that negatively affect characters I do like. And beyond that, his entire character on a larger scale is about the historical settler-colonial process to bring about an image of Patriotism for the settler state whilst donning a colonized face. His whole thing rebranding the USA's genocidal imagery with a Black face, the same reason Hollywood drastically over-represents Black cops & military on-screen to push the colonized subjects to sympathize for organizations that systematically engineer their deaths. The same reason why bringing in Sabra is consistent ideologically with the thematic purpose of Sam's character: to launder empire with a familiar face.

His character's purpose as propaganda is meant to target me, but I'm not swayed just on the mere basis of morals & politics, but also just as a character he pisses me off bc detracting/redirecting focus from storylines I was invested in to try to get me to like the character that stole that focus from my investment... that will never work on me, I will always hate on the industry plant character the writers are trying to force me to like, just like I hate on **** *****, duh, and also *********** from ******* ******

ok it wasn't a short rant, but in my defense it sounded only 3 sentences long when I said this to myself out loud

Posting under cut 👇👇👇

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the wise-crackin' Black BFF trope who says things in a "funny" way at key moments — most of the time the humor is just derived from the Black character suddenly using Ebonics dialects for a white audience and by white writers

There definitely is a recurrent problem of black characters only being allowed to appear as comedic sidekicks in white-lead movies, which is cast into even starker relief by the comic book movies that simply avoid doing that altogether. (Thinking of the animated Spider-Mans). Even when the MC isn't white... but is lighter skinned? (see: Kevin Hart as the Scrappy-doo to The Rock's- err- Scoob??)

I think CATWS did a pretty good job mitigating those issues with Sam's unique-to-him skillset / intelligence and plot-importance, from the off (admittedly I am biased cuz I love the movie).

Though it would've been further mitigated if they hadn't also had the only other black guy in the movie getting yelled at for not doing enough to stop Nazis.

(Victim-blamey, even if he is the only authority figure available to yell at, which Captain America should always be doing IMO. 😌)

Kind of bizarre to have the confluence in CACW where you suddenly have more black characters than white. But only because the main white heroes have brought their black sidekicks along. 😬

Why couldn't their Spidey have been black, too? 🤔

Hell, why stop at that, switch the genders too! They already have Zendaya onboard!

At the same time there is an opposing problem where black characters are presented in a way that is totally divorced from blackness. As if they're just white people who happen to be black. Like the writers wanted the cache of diversity but only, ugh, a very mild hint of chocolate in an otherwise vanilla concoction.

It can be a delicate balancing act, for a white writer to avoid both these pitfalls

PSYCH. No it's not. Just hire someone who can do their fucking job, Disney. Even, god forbid, hire black writers who can do their job!

Let black characters do and say and reference things white viewers won't understand and don't have to because it's not for them!

(Could even provide a nice teachable moment where Steve could ask about it only to be told to mind his business, and take it good-naturedly?)

🌈Imagine! ✨

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I feel like MCU Sam had potential to be a good character, with unique qualities... but we really haven't seen That guy since CATWS, AKA the best Cap movie.

(In fact, it almost feels like they cherry-picked the worst traits of CW Sam, kept only those, and then exaggerated them with each subsequent appearance. It's like they think what made Sam unique was... his wing jetpack. I was genuinely surprised when TFATWS had Sam go and talk to Karli/Flagsmasher, alone... because up until that point they had done absolutely fuck all to portray him as a man with empathy or counselling skills??)

A whole show of Sam where there's no mention of his pararescue experience, losing Riley, disillusionment with the military-industrial complex, medical training... only 2 weak uses of counselling skills...

(One where he espouses fuckin horeshoe theory, and the other where his advice to Bucky is villainizing / victim-blaming, disastrously dangerous, as seen in CW, and comes immediately on the heels of him saying... Bucky shouldn't be looking to other people for input... and yet he keeps talking??)

...Probably something else I've forgotten?

They stripped away 99% of the things that made him non-basic. 🤦‍♀️

TBH I think, a lot of the time, the reason we find a character annoying is because they're being written annoyingly. What we perceive as annoying is actually the weakness of writing working on us. They grate on our nerves without us really being able to put our fingers on why... 🤔 Funnily enough, I was just talking about this re: a female character in my other fandom, Hannibal. Of course, anyone who is conscious of this and actually dares to mention it is labelled a m-🤐-ist by the 'it's not that deep' casuals. Sometimes it feels like people on twitter have an instinctive distrust of cleverness. Very Elon Musk of them…

This can be fixed.

But Disney seems to actively seek out writers who don't understand very basic tenets of writing, and have no familiarity with the characters (and don't intend to acquire any). Since they have no skin in the game, they won't have inconvenient Opinions about how said characters should be properly written, or any power to enforce them.

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There's a definite correlation between what you're saying and the way Peggy is written, too, where the writers don't seem to be aware that you can't make a character look competent just by making everyone else around them incompetent.

Or: you can't make a character look like the best person for a job if they are literally the only option in a pool of one (1).

Having Steve only hand over the shield once he's too old to physically carry it himself... is not a compliment.

In the comics, Steve handed it over while still young himself, because Sam was the best guy for the job (not just the only guy), even when Steve himself was still around.

He would even correct people who called him Cap, to point out that Sam is Cap, and he's just Steve Rogers.

Now that's a compliment!

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Sidenote: I must point out, Steve definitely wasn't character-assassinated into an old guy (who abandons his entire characterisation), for the purpose of making Sam look good. It was definitely for the purposes of force-feeding us a comphet ending / burying the gayness of Steve and Bucky. But, it definitely feels like they saw Steve's physical incapacity to continue to be Cap as a perk, rather than a problem, when it came to him passing on the shield. (They are bad at their jobs.) The fact that the writers chose not to have young!Steve be the one to hand over the shield. That definitely was a deliberate ignorant snub to Sam. Sadly, Bucky being villainized and treated like shit (by Sam and others) predates tfatws, and was definitely more about making Steve look straight, making the 'has Bucky blown up the Accords??' subplot seem feasible, and making Spider-Man and T'Challa look good. Not about making Sam look better than him. (Which it didn't, anyway, since him being a dick just makes Bucky more sympathetic). Only the nerfing of Bucky in tfatws was about making Sam look good, IMO. And probably about setting Bucky up for whatever rancid clusterfuck of a characterisation they have in store for Thunderbolts. 😖

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Villainizing and nerfing Bucky doesn't actually make Sam look better than him (as any halfway competent writer would know.) 'Better than a weakass villain' does not equal 'good.' It just equals 'average'. (Also why bringing Batroc back was pointless.) It's like the anti-Worf Effect.

(So you're saying Sam would only look cool relative to Bucky if Bucky was made drastically worse?? Wow. Okay...)

In fact, if they had portrayed Bucky (and/or Agent Whatsisname) as a person who also has the qualities that could make a good Cap... That, would've made Sam look great; since he was chosen not only over one great guy, but over multiple great guys!

(Ditto with Peggy: introducing multiple great potential female love interests for Steve would make her look good for being chosen. But having no other female characters allowed near Steve when she's around. In fact, not allowing Steve to even mention his own mother as an important figure in his life?? That. Does not.)

Perception is relative, but if you have someone who's a 5 out of 10, you can't make them an 8 just by making someone else a 4.

All that accomplishes is making a 5 who's still a 5 but who now looks very slightly better if the 4 is standing next to them. Which is just pathetic.

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Including Isaiah in the way they did also does a massive disservice to both him and Sam.

Firstly, because they erased crucial aspects from Isaiah's story in the comics.

Those weren't just done for no reason -- those were important. (Of course, inept writers wouldn't recognise that!)

It actually was necessary, for example, that comics!Isaiah have mental disability. Because it explained why he wasn't just turned into another Winter Soldier like Bucky, why Hydra didn't re-develop serum decades ago, why Isaiah didn't appear in the public eye post-escape and seek vengeance for himself, etc etc.

It was important!

And, ironically, the very criticisms that the comics came under fire for, which were proven unfounded when the comics did the job properly... have now been proven correct of this version of Isaiah, because the writers erased all the fixes.

(They're like untrained construction workers, ignorantly knocking down internal structures without understanding what the term 'load-bearing' means. 🤦‍♀️)

Secondly... Isaiah's inclusion is a problem because they didn't even adapt that comics run (Truth) properly, but half-assed it in a way that A) makes Isaiah (a main-character) now subordinate in his own story, B) makes Sam subordinate in Isaiah's story, and C) makes Sam look less righteous than comics Steve.

Comics!Steve found out about Isaiah and waged absolute warfare on the people responsible.

But TFATWS Sam didn't get to do that.

(Instead he just. Arranged a statue and got to save a bunch of status-quo-protecting politicians in suits. Oyvey.)

Maybe that will be the plot of the next Cap movie...

But if so, they ought to have introduced Isaiah in Cap 4, and not in TFATWS, because the net result is Sam just Not getting to do the cool and righteous thing that comics!Steve got to do immediately.

Thirdly, how could any other black character compete with Isaiah's story?? It kicks the leg out of any other story that isn't as powerful.

It feels like the writers just wanted to give Isaiah a cool speech. and were so wrapped up in the idea that they could they never stopped to wonder whether they should.

In practise, all they've done is written a Sam-as-Cap show where Sam's first Cap speech isn't even the third best speech of the show. (Isaiah's preemptively blew it out of the water.) And where they've introduced a black Cap, only to immediately introduce a second, much more compelling black Cap.

Way to undermine, guys!

Fourth, they completely erased Faith, a cool black muslim character from the comics; the wife responsible for getting Isaiah free after campaigning for it for decades.

What even was the point of this erasure??

And they replaced her with... nothing. Just a reference to a character type lazily ripped off from the Luke Cage show. 🤦‍♀️

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Sidenote: It was also poor writing to reduce Sam and Isaiah's connection to one similar dimension of life experience, rather than many. Eg. they were both voluntary soldiers, from the south, both defined by rescuing other soldiers (Sam was pararescue, the-show's version of Isaiah risked it all to rescue soldiers) and protecting others at personal cost as civilians / outside of a warzone (both forced to become fugitives). They have much more to connect on, and that should be recognised, AS WELL AS (not 'instead of') how important being black also is to their experience. That is deeper characterisation. Meanwhile, Bucky, literally the only person on earth of the same-ish generation as Isaiah, who was also forcibly injected with superserum by Hydra and then tortured, by the same people as Isaiah, for decades, like Isaiah, and they're both punished / demonized by the state and get no credit for doing the right thing. But none of that shared trauma is allowed to be acknowledged because Bucky is being villainized. 🤬 Having Isaiah hate Bucky on sight is a valid writing choice. It doesn't have to be 'changed' or 'fixed' (characters don't have to be 'nice' to be good characters. 🙄) (It brought to mind testimony I've read of US soldiers who've had a problem of racism towards Japanese people, after the war, because of their experiences in Japanese concentration camps.)

Isaiah can absolutely keep having an irrational prejudice based on very rational association of Bucky's appearance with his abusers, (both inside and outside of Hydra, personal and institutional).

But don't pretend it isn't happening or that it's not prejudiced. To me it seemed jarringly ill-conceived. Very basic. Yes, of course, A black guy of Isaiah's generation could well feel this way... But Isaiah isn't just A black guy! He has had a very unique experience! He, of all people, should be the last to judge someone by their race because of the horrifying effect that that exact kind of thinking has had on him, personally, as an individual, arguably even more than on an ordinary black man of his time. So Isaiah should've felt connected to both Sam and Bucky, because he has so much in common with both of them. It shouldn't have been treated as only an either/or.

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There is another glaring issue with the way they write Isaiah which is, funnily enough, echoed in how the MCU has written Sam and Steve.

Isaiah said he didn't want to be brought out (i.e. made public) because he'd be dead in a day if Sam did that.

And then he just. Ignored that. And did it anyway.

And Isaiah for some reason acted as if he was happy about it, when he specifically warned Sam he didn't want it because it was dangerous to him.

In AOU, Steve specifically said he didn't want the white picket fence life that hetero-conformist Tony (mouthpiece of the writers??) assumes he must want.

(The fact that Steve, in fact, never expressed any interest in that life at all in the first place, in canon, makes it absurd that he even had to explain this. It's so heteronormative that it's just treated as a foregone conclusion that he must want a sub-urban apple pie life with 2.5 kids and a dog, when Steve never said anything about that, anywhere?? Instead, his canonical longing has always been for home -- which he always defined as Bucky and New York. Just because Steve belongs to the same Generation that white-fled to the burbs, that doesn't mean Steve is like them?? (Echoing my thoughts on Isaiah again.) He's not like anyone typical from his own time. That was kinda like... the Point. 🤦‍♀️)

But Endgame just... Ignored that. And did it anyway.

In AOU, Sam specifically said he wasn't interested in Avenging because that was Steve's world.

And then at the end of the same movie they just. Ignored that.

And showed Sam as an Avenger in the new Avengers compound.

(Why did he change his mind? Did he, in fact, change his mind? Was he happy to be there, or was he a reluctant convert? If he was reluctant, why did he stick with it? How can he take on this new job when he was supposed to be the one chasing up Bucky leads -- does this mean Steve just gave up on that, or took it on himself??)

Hey writers! There appears a fucking scene missing!

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To me, it feels like they were never really committed to the idea of SamCap and so didn't do their basic due diligence in showing the progression from 'I don't want to be an Avenger' to 'I want to be an Avenger' to 'I would pick up the Cap shield.'

His characterisation on this issue is so inconsistent -- first no (AOU), then yes (AOU), then yes (EG), then no (TFATWS).

Which is fine, if they actually fucking address his zig-zagging instead of ignoring it.

(Or, what's worse, simply not knowing about it, since that would require actual familiarity with canon outside of some shitty scenes in CACW.)

Even in TFATWS it seems more like Sam is only picking up the shield to stop a worse person having it, not because he's enthusiastic about doing the right thing himself, or temperamentally incapable of not doing the right thing (like Steve... until EG.)

It echoes CATFA's inept attempts to give Steve a motive the male writers think makes him more relatable.

(ie. not fighting Fascism because he's enthusiastic about it, but because being 'one of the guys' will finally bag him a girlfriend. Which he must want, right guys?? RIGHT??)

fellas is it gay to want to punch Nazis??

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"he pisses me off bc detracting/redirecting focus from storylines I was invested in to try to get me to like the character that stole that focus from my investment..."

That is certainly annoying.

It definitely did feel like CACW was trying to make sure Steve and Bucky were never truly alone together.

(Their reunion is rushed and Sam's voice is constantly intruding over Comms so they have no privacy. Scenes where they are in the same place Sam (or someone else) is always there too, and they're kept physically far apart in the same room while Bucky is excluded from conversation. Sam and Bucky rush off in the same direction during the airport fight, when that makes no sense cuz Bucky is supposed to be trying to flee with Steve and Sam has already been a dick to him. The only protracted period where Steve and Bucky were alone together they just cut the entire fucking scene out, wholesale, etc. etc.)

But outside of those instances I don't think it's accurate to describe Sam as stealing a disproportionate focus from Bucky in particular because:

The same people who brought you Steve's amazing homophobic vomitorium of an ending were never going to let Steve and Bucky be alone together for any length of time, anyway. There was always going to be someone intruding to make sure that never happened.

Sam as Cap was always going to happen. It was always going to be the natural progression of the story as soon as he was introduced in the MCU. WBK.

he's supposed to be the co-lead of TFATWS.

In practise, he didn't actually get much focus?

(And neither did Bucky).

It was other characters (not him and Bucky). Ones the writers palpably want to write more than him and Bucky. Characters they could be given free reign to write since Madam Hydra, WalmartCap, and Zemo are newish, and/or not particularly precious. So the Execs have no reason to interfere about them / and we don't care (much) if Zemo is suddenly a comic relief white supremacist mansplainer. The problem is they fucked with Sam and Bucky's characterisation as if they, too, were not beloved characters. And put them through this creepy 1980s toxic-masculinity locker room homophobia filter. 😬 (Based on said shitty scenes in CACW.)

It's been well-documented that ingrained unconscious prejudice means people will perceive certain groups as taking up more space than they actually do, just because they're present. (IE. 40% women in a crowd is perceived as 75% or sth like that; women are judged to be talking too much because they have spoken at all (measured against silence), whereas men are only deemed to have spoken too much if they've spoken more than other men.) Dislike of any character just Because is valid. But it's also possible that you / we / I / anyone might perceive Sam as taking up more space than he actually does, just because he's taking up... any space at all. 🤔 I guess it wouldn't be possible for me to know...

Really, when it comes to tfatws, it's squabbling over crumbs because neither Sam nor Bucky really got to Eat.

Which in turn makes every tiny speck of screen time seem even more precious and worth jealously guarding. 🤷‍♀️

Ingrained bias aside, Anon, I bet you wouldn't perceive him as taking up so much space if Bucky got a load of space too.

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"Why should I have to like him? "

You shouldn't. You shouldn't have to like any character.

Nothing kills character quicker than a sense of obligation; when you feel as if 'liking X' is a compulsory rule you must obey, enforced by a rabid fandom police. Just because they are, for example, female, when female characters are under-represented and poorly written.

coughPeggycough

Ends up making you feel like you've the lone person in a fandom who must have taken crazy pills not to like X character.

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"Even on his own merits, he's a loser."

Okay, that is not canon.

When we meet him he's a good guy: smart, good-natured, empathetic (albeit not to Bucky but logically there are reasons for caution, at least in CATWS.) He has his shit together. Has his own house, has accomplished things in life (see meta here), he has a steady job, helping people, etc., even if he does ditch it pretty quick.

And becoming an Avenger, helping to bring down Hydra, and taking up the mantle of Cap aren't the acts of a loser.

It would be wildly hypocritical of me to like Steve (who did a lot of that) and Bucky (who, also did a lot of similar things to Sam) as much as I do and call Sam a 'loser.'

If you are going to dislike Sam (which is allowed!!) it should be on the basis of what he actually is, and what he actually has done. Not on the basis of headcanons.

(For me, if I'm going to dislike him it'll be for his double standard in how he treats blorbo 99% of his screen time. Not some imaginary traits.)

I do think it would be very easy to write Sam out of this unfortunate rut. *fingers crossed for Cap 4? Like, one scene (lampshading previous writers' ineptitude) of Sam, eg. recognising the fucked up-ness of past behaviour -- even if he didn't apologise for it -- would be so much more complex characterisation. Giving him x negative trait for an actual character-arc reason in order to show him outgrowing it, etc. Better than just keeping him as the 'person who quips about Bucky being a braindead murderer' guy. 😬 As a stucky mono-shipper(?) I usually avoid fics where Sam is a part of the romance. But one of the most impressive fics I can recall re: Sam was one where he was Steve's ex before Bucky. And it actually addressed the fact (!!) that part of Sam's resentment of Bucky was based on jealousy / hurt over being passed over by Steve. 😱 Brilliant! A black sidekick who isn't happy about it?? Immediately fixes some of the problems of that trope! Much more interesting than flat two-dimensional persistent unprovoked dickheaded-ness. When it's Steve who should be apologising for -- perhaps -- unwittingly giving Sam false hope? (Not to mention abandoning him to handle everything, which is so exactly and precisely OOC for Steve that it's hard to believe these writers have seen a single fucking Steve film.) The way Bucky was made to apologise for Steve's behaviour in tfatws... That is a nonsensical, blood-boiling writing choice. The sheer lack of self-awareness in the writers. It was so cringey. Like something Generic White Guy would do in a Key and Peele sketch. (Hmm... Perhaps it was self-aware??)

Also: a character being a loser doesn't mean they're unlikeable.

Look at Luis in Ant-Man. Ex-con with nothing to his name but a van, when we first meet him. Or Ant-Man himself. Ex-con who can't keep a job as Baskin Robbins (those bastards.) Or, shit, even in Cap movies you've got Aaron the Apple Guy! Or Thor in EG! You can't any of those guys of being unlikeable!

And being-likeable does not equal you having to like them.

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"His whole thing rebranding the USA's genocidal imagery with a black face, the same reason Hollywood drastically over-represents Black cops & military on-screen to push the colonized subjects to."

I can't speak to the veracity of this in the comics because I haven't read them.

The only thing I can say is that... tfatws does have Sam fighting against the black-run ethically-based Flagmashers (yet another black-progressive villain for Disney) to shield status-quo-protecting white politicians in suits.

Which is antithetical to what Steve's Cap got to be about, even in the MCU, where Steve goes against the authorities in every movie (broke the law in like his third scene, even!)

Outside of one scene in CACW, where Sam correctly deduces that the State will abuse the Accords to lock them up like criminals without trial, he doesn't get to proverbially yell ACAB the way Steve did. 😟

It feels like Disney is too scared of BLM to let him do that, as a black man. That's something only the Killmongers get to do.

In a similar vein, the Sam who grimaced when he asked if Steve misses the 'good' old days... didn't get to be like 'dude, seriously??' when Steve contradicted himself to go and live in the past.

Instead he endorsed it.

So, yeah, you could say that is Disney 'using' a black character to paint a stamp of approval onto, for example, a rigidly comphet / amatonormative conformist ending that annihilates Steve's characterisation by pretending the 1950s (of all times!?) was some kind of Eden.

Pretty insidious... 😬

It reminds me of the way Fury is used as the front-facing black face of SHIELD, and the only authority figure who gets called out for its infiltration by Nazis, despite him immediately taking steps to fix that when he found out.

And when Peggy is right fucking there??

(This interpretation of mine is not canon, but: Fury coming from Huntsville, Alabama -- AKA, Nazi rocket scientist central -- smacks of him being groomed (without his knowledge) to one day take over SHIELD, and be the assumed-trustworthy face of a Fascist organisation. Alongside totally-lesbian second in command Maria Hill.)

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But here we bump against the problem of tfatws -- the same problem you often see when people discuss Steve Rogers, without knowing anything about him other than what he looks like.

They see the stars-and-stripes suit, and assume that Steve Therefore must be the physical embodiment of American Imperialism.

But that isn't the case, and never has been.

(It annoyed me beyond belief that the show writers make this same basic comprehension error, banging on about what the shield represents as if it has a problematic history when, no, America has a problematic history, the shield is what Steve Rogers -- also not problematic -- used for twatting Nazis on the head.)

In Steve's case, Cap is the representation of what America should be, not what it is. As I'm forever pointing out: the 'Captain' in 'Captain America' is a verb, not a noun.

Or, as another famous immigrant to America put it:

"America is what you do [ ... ] America is what we choose to make it."

Sam may have been given a speech where he says he believes America can do better...

But so far he hasn't got to 'do' yet.

As it stands, he has been used as a public face for something he shouldn't be seen as representing -- in a way Steve wasn't, and Nick Fury was.

(Because Steve is white, and Nick is black. And anything a black characters say is treated as disproportionately more 'political' than when a white character says it. In fact, a white character would be practically Canonized for doing the same basic good thing, and not called out at all for doing a worse bad thing. Again: Peggy. And, again, this is something they could have lampshaded and addressed in the show: by eg. possibly acknowledging that Sam isn't being as leftwing as Steve, because as a black man he cannot afford to / Steve's white privilege lets him get away with being radical but being perceived as merely moderate, whereas Sam doesn't have that luxury, etc? 🤔 If they wanted to keep Sam more milquetoast - which, egh, whatever - this is one way they could've done it, better?)

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Hopefully all this will change in Cap4, but the inclusion of Sabra doesn't exactly inspire confidence. 😬

Based on what has gone already, I don't think we're ever going to get to see a Hobie Brown-esque 'fuck the police' style Sam-Cap that he ought to have been. 😥

It's a damn shame!

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Yeah, but on the Avengers ymmv no one considers Loki being mind controlled Pandering to the Base

Link to The Avengers ymmv.

Who writes these things? It's so cringe-worthy at times that I almost stopped reading. They don't talk about pandering to the base, that's true, they say this:

Alternative Character Interpretation: Between Thor and this movie, Loki's tactics change from "Silvertongue" to "ranting villain with an army". That and some of his dialogue with Erik Selvig about their experiences with the Tesseract could be read as him also being under coercion from the Tesseract/Staff, if one wanted to do so (moreso since it's revealed in Age of Ultron that Loki's scepter contains another Infinity Stone). He also looks quite intimidated by the threats Thanos sends him through the Other and seems to genuinely believe that Thor was responsible for him falling into the abyss at the end of Thor.

Additionally, the trickster was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with Thanos, not really having the option to reject the deal but having no reason to believe the titan would keep his word. Many of the cases of Idiot Ball could very reasonably have been him unconsciously or even consciously trying to lose. And resolves the complete breaking of suspension of disbelief where the random scientist inserted a complex backdoor into the security of a device he didn't really understand, too; he didn't break the mind control at all. The person responsible for assembling the Avengers and defeating Loki might be... Loki. Albeit, not from the goodness of his heart, more to give Thanos something else to worry about and because he lives in this universe too, respectively.

That's nice and all but the rest of the page is disgusting, especially their obsession with "fangirls", there are several examples of this:

Draco in Leather Pants: Search for Loki on Tumblr. The fangirls have gone nuts about Loki ever since the first Thor film, to the point that some have said, without a single trace of irony or sarcasm, that he's the real good guy and all his misdeeds should be automatically forgiven. Yes, this includes his attempted conquest and subjugation of humanity. It's a character interpretation shared by Tom Hiddleston, incidentally. He thinks Loki needs a big hug.

Granted I have only been here for less than a year but I keep seeing people complain that so many Loki fans think he's a baby who's never done anything wrong... and yet I have never seen a post saying anything of the sort. Also, to ignore the countless meta posts written by dozens and dozens of fans and to sum everything up in "he needs a big hug" is downright insulting. Another:

Loki calling Black Widow a "mewling quim" ("whimpering c**t" in more modern vernacular) is supposed to establish that he's a nasty, unpleasant, misogynist villain. Either because the language was too dated and silly-sounding, or because fangirls will forgive anything if the guy is hot, that didn't happen.

Pot meet kettle. I always find it funny when a misogynist complains about misogyny. They mention fangirls not only when it comes to Loki but with Steve and Stark as well:

Ron the Death Eater: Steve is continuously demonized by Tony fangirls as a cruel bully.

This one is funny because half the page is full of the author kissing the ass of Stark in pretty much every single point. What's with this obsession with fangirls? See how nowhere in that page they mention the fanboys, not even once.

But in case that wasn't bad enough, there's also this:

The comparisons that are drawn between Loki and Hitler are much more amusing in light of Marvel's later decision to make Loki an LGBT character.

WTF is that supposed to mean? Amusing? Whoever wrote this is a piece of shit.

[bataddictedloony]

wait you think the percy jackson show’s going to be bad? why?

The last adaptation of any book that I genuinely liked AND was objectively good was Prince Caspian.

Between then and now, there’s been 2 Percy Jackson movies - one of which I liked fine, both were objectively shitstorms - 1 Percy Jackson musical - I didn’t like it enough to finish the totally legal bootleg, but I hear most people think it’s good? - a few attempts to make an animated show - this has been said for YEARS now and either production is taking for fucking ever or it’s a group of ambitious high schoolers that don’t know wtf they’re doing (do not test me on that one, I was in one of those groups).

I am… genuinely surprised so many people have so much trust in the production of a book that seems impossible to adapt, it’s both adorable and frightening because if it’s NOT good, the backlash is gonna be detectable from Mars. And then I can get to be the one sitting in the corner going “I told you so”.

This is not something I’m actively upset about but get upset over whenever it comes up:

When are people gonna start learning that not every story can fit every medium?

The second the trailer for the 5th wave came out, I knew it was gonna bomb, because the only reason the 5th wave worked is because it’s a BOOK. The way it was written, the way the story was told is why the book is so good. By adapting it into a movie, they HAD to remove all the things that made the book good. Same way how the Maze Runner is better as a movie rather than a book. A movie doesn’t have time to waste on keeping plotpoints secret for no reason, shit had to go fast so they could get to the interesting parts of the story. Fuckin- WHY ARE STUDIOS STILL ATTEMPTING TO ADAPT VIDEO GAMES INTO MOVIES? (I know why..) Games are literally DESIGNED to have a story that can only work in a video game. Books are the same. Some of them need to be books in order to work.

Percy Jackson works perfectly as books. There’s no way you can pour the nostalgia, the mysticism of greek mythology, the teenage sass, the feeling of an American summer camp and the sense of danger that demigods feel on the daily into an audiovisual media without making some serious sacrifices to the “Hollywood Way Of Things” (and by that I mean the vultures- I mean, producers who just want to get as much of an audience as possible for that green paper yo and therefore everything has to look like a Marvel movie OR ELSE) or the fanbase, which is huge and very easy to piss off (because they’re the same audience as Voltron.) The best way to make Percy Jackson into a Good audiovisual medium, is a small budget with some wacky creative decisions. Actually DO what the harry potter films did instead of trying to recreate the success of HP without putting in all the effort.

EDIT: ACTUALLY I have more to say, cus the more I think about this, the more conclusions I’m making.

Another one of the reasons I think people need to stop trying to make a series out of Percy Jackson is, because this series doesn’t deserve this. I love Shadow and Bone on netflix. I really liked Heartstopper. I’m sure there are more adaptations that I liked fine when they came out. But I always thought “they did fine with what they had to adapt.” Meaning: they did what they could, but it’s not really up to standard. The quality lf the story and the production HAD to be lowered because you’re adapting one media into another. But it shouldn’t have to be like that. We shouldn’t have to lower our standards just because it’s an adaptation. Lord of the Rings didn’t lower their standards. Game of thrones didn’t lower their standards (up to a certain point). Hell, the Haunting of Hill House on netflix just went “we’re using the original book as inspiration and go from there” and it’s the best series on that app. Percy Jackson doesn’t deserve to have their standards lowered for the sake of adaptation. Leave it the fuck alone.