#perthshirecottage posts

[perthshirecottage]

Early in the film, Peter tells Gamora about how Gamora wants to have a family and that it’s not the Ravagers but the Guardians. Then there are a couple of hugs between Guardians that Gamora isn’t a part of because she isn’t a part of their family right now. When Peter and Groot hug Rocket after he’s revived. Then later when everyone hugs Peter after he almost dies. Gamora even walks away during that hug because she doesn’t feel like part of that family yet and let’s them have their moment. But Gamora finally gets to be the center of her own group hug when she reunites with the Ravagers. Peter was wrong. She’s happy and complete with the family that she’s found since finding herself displaced out of time. I believe that eventually Gamora will find her way back to becoming family with the original Guardians again. But for right now she’s happy and where she wants to be. It’s just a neat parallel that I noticed.

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Gabriel is a classic abuser. He depends on manipulation to keep Adrien in line. Gabriel acts benevolent when he allows Adrien the most basic of freedoms. And he gives huge guilt trips when Adrien doesn’t do as he is told.

So it’s not surprising that when Adrien begins to “fail” in Gabriel’s eyes that things go badly for Adrien. Like most abusers who realize that their hold on their victim is slipping is willing to resort to violence to remain in control. Even just believing that Adrien was Chat was a good enough reason to “punish” Adrien. At the end of the day, Gabriel believes that Adrien belongs to him and therefore Gabriel can do as he pleases to keep Adrien in line.

I find the take that Gabriel was ooc in chat blanc so bizarre when people use Gorizilla as proof. Why's it so hard to grasp that their situations are different (where in CB, he was more desperate and closer to the jewels). It's like how people say its inconsistent for the class to initially side with Mari in Ladybug but not in Chameleon, despite one situation being Mari being accused of something while another is Mari accusing someone of something.

Hey anon!

First of all: 🍵🍵🍵

I don’t know if this has been brought up recently but it was popular during some times and... yeah I agree with you.

What we need to understand is that Gabriel is an excellent manipulator, and especially with his son who is looking for his approval and affection.

We also need to take into account that more than one season has passed between Gorizilla and Chat Blanc, and it has been clear that Gabriel is getting more and more desperate and irrational as the time goes on.

And if we look back to Gorizilla, I know people tend to take that as an example & proof as to why Gabriel care for Adrien and why Chat Blanc Gabriel isn’t the “real” Gabriel and that he’d never do that. Well. I’d like to ask: really?

Are we really sure the Gabriel from Gorizilla wouldn’t have somewhat turned into a Chat Blanc Gabriel had he had the solid proof Adrien was Chat Noir?

Because among the many different ways he could have had to verify his hypothesis, he decided to:

Akumatise his body guard, aka the person in charge of protecting his son, to have an akuma go directly after him. With no one to possibly protect Adrien (as we’ve seen the Gorilla try to do when Adrien is targeted by an akuma)

Give his akuma a giant and powerful form, completely capable of crushing Adrien at any given moments. I mean, Ladybug didn’t give him the helmet for nothing.

No, Gabriel hadn’t planned for Adrien to jump off Montparnasse tower and fall but it was still a possibility when he decided to direct a dangerous fight on top of it. Something he should have considered.

Him wishing his son won’t fall flat on the ground is normal: Gabriel loves his son. Gabriel cares for his son. Gabriel does all of this for himself, but also for his son. But in his own, twisted way. In his mind, this is what happens.

Truth is: it’s completely toxic and Gabriel is convincing himself of all of this. That’s not how you should love your son, how you should care for your son.

My point is: Gorizilla clearly shows us that Gabriel is an excellent manipulator with Adrien (just watch the end of the episode and tell me this isn’t what he’s doing), and that in his own head he cares for Adrien except... Not in a healthy and normal way.

So probably that at the moment Gorizilla happen, this Gabriel wouldn’t have done what he did in Chat Blanc. Maybe. But now, end of season 3...? I think so.

And you can’t compare Chat Blanc and Gorilla without taking into account the whole season between these two episodes: we got the Queen arcs that clearly showed him hesitating but in the end deciding to pursue his actions, in a more and more damageable way.

Now in Chat Blanc: Gabriel is completely desperate, more than before and he is so close to his goal thanks to his newfound information of his son’s identity. He has never been this close.

In his head, Adrien will forgive him because after all, he does that for him too, right? After all, Adrien is his son, Gabriel is the one Adrien should and will obey to. As his parents he is allowed to decide what his son can or cannot do.

So if all it takes to get what he wants is to akumatise his son... Why not?

Gabriel has never asked Adrien’s opinion on anything and has always taken decisions for him (except for when Adrien went to school). In Chat Blanc, it ain’t any different.

And after Chat Blanc or even during Gorizilla.... It ain’t any different either.

* * * * *

Anyway, sorry I rambled a lot and went in many directions but I’m very passionate about this part of the plot line in ML that I think is really well done hahaha.

To conclude though, it’s important to keep in mind that:

Gabriel loves and cares for his son in his own head but in reality it’s very toxic and not at all how a father should care about his son, and it doesn’t excuse his behaviour at all, quite the contrary

Gabriel is getting more and more desperate as time goes on, so he got worse from Gorizilla to Chat Blanc and plenty of episodes in between have shown it

Gabriel is not on a redemption route after Chat Blanc and likely to follow the same path as the Chat Blanc timeline in his madness and thirst for power. Proofs: Ladybug episode, Félix episode, the finale where he blatantly attacked an old man and once again manipulated a teenage girl, the New York special (trying to get another miraculous, threatening to start a world war, etc.)

I’d love to also ramble about the 2nd part of your ask with the classmates & Marinette vs Lila (and maybe I will in another post) but this one is getting pretty long already but all I have to say is: anon I love you and I agree 100% 👏 bless you!

[perthshirecottage]

There is no one who was right and no one was wrong in 5x14. No one acted well in this episode.

Fitz knew Daisy would refuse to have her inhibitor removed. Which took all the pressure off Daisy and put it on Fitz’s shoulders with no way to prevent what he thought was the end of the world. Daisy hid from responsibility and Fitz broke because she took away the only option he had as he was trying to save people. Which is why he didn’t regret what he did, only the way it went down.

Fitz took away all of Daisy’s agency. He put her in an impossible situation. Daisy didn’t know how her powers would destroy the world. She couldn’t prepare for an event that she didn’t know when or how it happened. She couldn’t make sure she didn’t make the same mistakes. The inhibitor gave her a way to stop the end of the world without knowing how it would come about. It gave her the peace of mind to keep moving forward. Fitz took some of the pressure off his shoulders and put it back on Daisy’s. He made her a monster and she hated him for it.

Another thing is I feel like something a lot of people get wrong is why Daisy is upset. So many fics focus on how Daisy is terrified of Fitz and can barely get past the trauma of what he did to her. Even people who like Fitz think that this is her issue. But even when Daisy is tied down and thinks she’s about to be dissected alive she isn’t that afraid. It isn’t until Fitz mentions giving her powers back that she starts panicking. That is what terrifies her.

When Daisy says she will never forgive Fitz, it’s because he’s giving her powers back. Daisy truly believes that she will cause the end of the world and in her mind Fitz has just made her responsible for the death of billions. That’s not to say that being operated on without anesthesia by one of her best friends isn’t traumatic but it’s also not the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. It’s not going to be the thing she can never move on from and the only thing she will ever see for her the rest of her life when she sees Fitz.

Of course afterwards Daisy is angry. She’s angry about being operated without her consent but mostly because she’s going to end the world. And why would she trust Fitz? As far as she’s concerned he just took away the only defense the world had. How does she know he won’t make another decision in trying to “save” the world that will only hasten its destruction? And she knows better than anyone that he is mentally unstable. Daisy is the only one who saw Fitz actually arguing with someone who wasn’t there. Which is another knock against him in the trust department. Despite the knowledge of his instability it is Fitz who is fully himself (although how clearheaded can he be after going through a psychic split?) and when he starts removing the device she feels she can’t forgive him for making her the Destroyer of Worlds.

And Fitz is angry because he did what he had to. He saved lives and now has no interest in hurting anyone else. Now he just wants the chance to save the world and they don’t have time for Daisy to be upset. He needs her to listen so that he can help her prevent whatever causes her to end the world. But he’s treated like a criminal. And even if he feels like he did something unforgivable, he knows they just don’t have time for this.

Both of them put the other into a position where they were responsible for too much, for too many lives. Both of them decisions that hurt the other in trying to deal with that pressure. They both broke under the pressure, just in different ways.

After losing Fitz and Coulson. After being reminded of how terribly everyone was acting, including herself, Daisy could step back and see why Fitz made the decisions he did, even if she was still angry and justified in being so. But she was able to see past that to remember the friend Fitz was. It makes perfect sense to me how in that year she let go of her anger. Learned to move on. Learned to put his actions into perspective. Plus cryo Fitz wasn’t the one who hurt her. He had the potential if placed in a terrible no win scenario again but they knew about his troubles and could help to prevent something like that happening again.

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I’m doing a full rewatch of Psych and I’m having lots of thoughts about Henry and Maddie’s parenting styles. I know that a lot of Henry’s parenting is used for comedic effect or to prove that he did teach Shawn useful life skills but that was too much for a child. Neither of them would physically abuse Shawn (I know Shawn was put in a trunk but Henry was there the whole time to make sure Shawn wasn’t hurt and he didn’t walk off and leave his son trapped for hours so that’s a very fine line. Not good but at least he wasn’t actively hurting Shawn) but their decisions really effected Shawn emotionally.

As far as Henry and Maddie are concerned, I do think they love Shawn and their intentions aren’t malicious but I don’t see either of them as very good parents. Maddie obviously took off without having an actual conversation with her son. It took over 10 years for her to realize that he just assumed that Henry had told Shawn that the divorce was her choice. And she couldn’t bother waiting til after Shawn graduated and left while he was still living at home. She did her fair share and was the one to actually abandon her child while at least Henry didn’t. Shawn feels more affectionate towards his mom but that’s because she is openly affectionate and Shawn craves that. But their communication is as bad as his and Henry’s. Maddie didn’t seem to actually do much for Shawn as it’s obvious that Henry actually had the biggest influence and guidance in Shawn’s life. So there isn’t much to say about her because it doesn’t feel like she was very active in Shawn’s life.

Truthfully the expectations that Henry placed on Shawn were ridiculous. Expecting an 8 year old to find his Easter eggs that were buried 3 feet underground under a camouflage tarp covered in broken glass is insane. And Henry still remembers and throws it in Shawn’s face 20 years later that he didn’t find all of the eggs.

It’s obvious that Henry doesn’t tell Shawn that he is loved. And it makes it hard for Shawn to say it either. Add on to that the way that when Shawn does do a good job Henry can only say that it’s adequate. Like he believes that Shawn can do better. The episode where he teaches Shawn that he either has to win or sit there and watch the winner eat a sundae is a prime example. Henry gives nothing for free. Not sundaes or affection. Everything has to be earned.

Henry always talks about how quickly Shawn gives up. How Henry didn’t raise a quitter but the irony is that Henry’s parenting is exactly why Shawn quits so easily. Shawn learned from a very young age that it didn’t matter how much he tried. How hard he worked to do Henry’s lessons. He would only ever be adequate. Never enough. If you can never win then what is the point of playing? If he always has to sit and watch someone else eat the sundae then why should he put so much effort just for nothing. Besides it hurts less to just not try than to put in his all and still fail.

Another thing that I have actually never seen talked about is Henry’s interests and how they affect Shawn. I’m not talking about police work because that’s obvious. I’m talking about things like fishing and camping. Shawn is incredibly vocal about not liking either activity and yet Henry took Shawn on fishing and camping trips a lot when he was younger. Henry still tries to get Shawn to participate even as an adult. Henry has tried to bond with Shawn using his own interests. But when Shawn is interested in something that Henry thinks is dumb (like comic books) then Shawn is berated for liking the thing then forced to spend more time doing things he hates. Henry wants to spend time with Shawn but it has to be on Henry’s terms and doing what Henry wants. Doing things he hated caused Shawn to never enjoy the time he spent with his dad and associate it as something negative. As an adult Shawn finally has the ability to say no and avoid those dreaded fishing trips. And Henry is upset because Shawn doesn’t want to spend time with him.

Henry is 100% like a football dad from the movies.

“But it’s your dream son.”

“No, dad, it’s your dream.”

Only it’s about being a cop not a football player.

[perthshirecottage]

Here is my theory regarding who is in charge of illegally selling dinosaurs: Daniel Kon. I know Kenji and Darius saw him get eaten but I think it was faked. I wonder if the kids were being targeted as a way to force Kenji to see his dad. Then his dad had 2 plans. Plan 1: get Kenji to be his new CEO so Daniel could have a new business but with someone more legit “in charge”. It was going the way Daniel wanted but then Kenji changed his mind. He refused to be his dad’s puppet again. Which is right when the aloraptors attacked. And for the first time the Whistle Lady didn’t hide and send in her raptors. No she stood there and kept whistling commands. Which she didn’t need to do before because it was just kill. This moment needed constant monitoring and different commands to be sent out. She even gave a whistle to not harm Daniel when they were being attacked. All Daniel needed were some packets of fake blood, raptors play “eating” him and some screaming. As soon as Darius and Kenji realized there was nothing they could do, they had to keep running and didn’t have time to see anything beyond the blood everywhere. At first I did think that Daniel was eaten but I also thought it was weird that Mr. master manipulator, won’t check out a distress beacon that could be my kid, leave my child on an island to die in an exploding island actually cared that it his son was leaving. But now I think it was a manipulative tactic to get the boys to stay long enough to see the act. And now Daniel can leave without anyone looking for a body. Then at the end of the season when Whistle Lady said that the boss didn’t like lose ends it hit me that Daniel must be the boss. Because who do we know that has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t like loose ends? I think this was a clue as to who is actually behind everything.

[perthshirecottage]

*Phoebe tries to draw something.*

Max, Nora, and Billy: Phoebe can’t draw! Phoebe can’t draw! Phoebe cannot draaaw! Even when she’s reading a how to draw book!

[perthshirecottage]

A big argument that I have seen against Molly that people say proves she plays favorites is how in the first book, she buys Percy an owl for making Prefect while not bothering to get Ron a new wand. And my question is HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE THINK AN OWL COSTS?!? The price of an owl has to be very nominal next to something like a wand. It’s not like Molly choose between two comparable things, like a pet and a new book bag. In which case, if the book bag is still usable, why should she not get a new pet to reward Percy for doing something great? The bag is perfectly fine if a little worn and it’s not that big of a deal to use it if the previous owner doesn’t need it. Comparing the price of a wand and an owl is like wondering why this family didn’t get Ron a brand new $1500 MacBook when his brother’s old one still works. And then telling the parents they are horrible people for buying their other son a $20 toy instead. I mean, if they bought one son a toy, surely they can have gotten the brand new laptop instead. But instead Ron has to use an old laptop that still works while his brother is obviously the favorite for getting a toy for a job well done. I mean, Ron needs that laptop for school and it’s necessary. Percy’s toy isn’t necessary and he could have done without.

This isn’t a moment of favoritism, it’s a moment of practicality. Molly and Arthur were able to wrangle enough money for an owl because it is much cheaper than a wand.

[perthshirecottage]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Thundermans (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Hank Thunderman & Max Thunderman Characters: Hank Thunderman, Max Thunderman Additional Tags: Hank is Trying, but max keeps making dumb decisions, set during secrets revealed, at the end of season 3, honestly, going alone to meet a supervillain was stupid, things could have ended very badly Summary:

Hank didn't want to keep Max's powers from him, but if Max was going to put himself in harm's way, then Hank would protect his son, even from himself.

[perthshirecottage]

Been doing another rewatch of this amazing show. I have said before that I don't understand the way the FBI treats Jonathan.

While yes, Jonathan has been convicted of a crime, it was for INVOUNTARY manslaughter. It was something that happened, and that something was very serious and needs to be punished. But the average sentence for involuntary manslaughter is 10-16 MONTHS! This is because the jury understands that it was not premeditated. That it wasn’t even a crime of passion where someone could get so upset that they lose complete control of themselves and can become a danger to those around them. It was making a dumb choice, like drinking alcohol in this case, where another person loses their life. Honestly, by the time the show started, Jonathan should have already been out or close to it at this point. And yet Jonathan was convicted for 10 YEARS! This is not justice, this is retribution. The sentence doesn’t fit the crime. The most likely reason is because he ran, but still, that is an insane amount of time just for panicked running from the scene. I’m sure the prosecutor made Jonathan out to be a horrible person because he hid from the world for 30 years. That he was hiding because it gave him time to torture animals or something equally ridiculous. But Jonathan was not the only one hiding. Cameron, Dina, Gunter, and Jordan were all complicit in that. They just hadn’t broken any laws and therefore no one could punish them. No one wonders if they’re trustworthy because of the lying that they did. Cameron was a part of the secret for as long as Jonathan was.

Once Cameron started working with the FBI, so did Jonathan. Cam often went and asked for Jonathan’s help on making deceptions work. He helps to put away bad guys who are actual criminals who are purposefully going out and murdering multiple people and selling drugs and just doing truly awful things. The FBI even gave Jonathan special privileges to work in one of the visitor’s rooms to solve Bishop’s codes. And when Cameron went missing, the FBI gave a special allowance for Jonathan to get out and help. All of this clued the other prisoners into the fact that Jonathan worked for the Feds. It’s why they hung a rat in his cell and someone tried to shank him. And the guards don't even care. They're against him because he's a criminal. The criminals are against him because he's helping the Feds. He literally has no one on his side in a very dangerous situation. I have heard that there are special areas in prisons where they put high target prisoners, like ex-cops or criminal informants who are more likely to be targets because they fall a bit on both sides of the law. Yet Jonathan isn't given any kind of extra security. Gunter isn't wrong when he talks about how the entire team, including Jonathan, have done so much to help the FBI and yet they haven't gotten anything in return. During the short time he was out after Cam was kidnapped, they act like he is some master level criminal on par with MW. Like he is just waiting for any opportunity to escape so he can go on some kind of crime spree.

Even if Jonathan was guilty of the crime he was convicted, then it’s still not the worst kind of murder out there. I’m sure there could have been a plea for compassion and safety granted to allow Jonathan to be put on house arrest where no one would actively be trying to kill him for his help. And that for every actual criminal that he helps put away that he gets something like a month off his sentence. But no one ever offers him anything. He just keeps putting his life on the line and gets absolutely nothing in return. I’m sure this is why he snaps at the end of the season. Maybe there’s some underlying resentment against Cameron, but I have a feeling most of it came from the FBI doing nothing and Cameron being the face that always had to convince Jonathan to keep hanging in there. To not escape and go find the evidence for his innocence. Now the FBI has left Jonathan out to dry despite everything he has done and all the horrible things that have been done while in prison. Jonathan just took it out on the only person who represented the people who screwed him over, even though it wasn’t Cameron’s fault.

And something to add is that at the end of the season after MW gets arrested she reveals information regarding Danic, the foreign diplomat. The team comes up with a deception and manages to save Danic and his wife. MW just reveals that Danic was in trouble and then yes she does meet with the bad guy (can’t remember his name) while surrounded by armed FBI agents. She didn’t contribute THAT much. Jonathan did a bunch to help with this particular deception and was treated with a lot of trust, especially after how he was treated last time. (I’m sure because there’s someone even more untrustworthy there and that person is MW!) And yet she managed to make herself useful enough to get into Witness Protection and not even get charged with anything because she proved her usefulness exactly 1 time! While the team still doesn’t have the proof of Johnny’s innocence, Cameron is a witness to multiple counts of illegal activities that far outweigh Jonathan’s INVOLUNTARY manslaughter conviction. Cameron has been held at gunpoint by this woman multiple times. She attempted to steal a $7 million diamond. Cameron was abducted by her. He watched her purposefully kill a man. Any single one of these is far far worse than Jonathan’s entire conviction because she did them all on purpose. And yet she just gets to walk. They still don’t even know her name or what else she actually knows beyond this one tip and yet they just decided to drop all her charges and give her a cushy life for free.

While the team was doing the deception, MW was obviously setting things up for herself. And because she was a prisoner, she had to have an agent reach out to the DA. It could have even been Deakins who did it. Deakins was the one who had to explain to the team why MW was just leaving with absolutely no consequences. Because MW could help put people who were much worse away. Which is what Jonathan has been doing but no one ever offered him a get out of jail free card. Or offered him anything at ALL!

I understand that the Doylist answer is because it kept Cameron and Jonathan sperate so that they weren’t having to constantly have Jack do a split screen. And so that at the end of the season they could have Jonathan off with MW. Also, if Jonathan had been released or was about to be release, then there wouldn’t be this drive for Cameron and the FBI to put everything into finding MW. Of course they would want to clear Jonathan’s name, but if he was free or on house arrest then it wouldn’t be something that was so urgent. When Cameron was kidnapped, yes he would want to get the evidence to free Jonathan, but he wouldn’t feel so desperate to break the law if Jonathan was on house arrest and at least had a modicum of freedom and had already taken a year off his sentence by working with the FBI. But Jonathan still got the short end of the stick.

It would be interesting to think about how the show would differ if someone were to decide that Jonathan deserved something for al of his help.

[perthshirecottage]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Thundermans (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Max Thunderman & Phoebe Thunderman Characters: Max Thunderman, Phoebe Thunderman Additional Tags: Episode: 04e29 Looperheroes Summary:

Max wasn't ready to find out whether or not he and Phoebe had made the Z Force so he created a device that would force them to repeat the same day.

These are Max's reasons on why he created the Repeat Clock. Set during Looperheroes.

[perthshirecottage]

I was watching some of the first episode and coming in right after having watched the last season, I noticed that Darius voice is higher pitched in the first season. And near the end of the episode when he is trying to sneak out he is standing next to Kenji and you can tell he is shorter than in the last season. I don’t think Kenji really grows that much but he is the oldest at 15 and Darius is the youngest at 12. But comparing the 2 you can see how much Darius has physically grown and that his voice gets a little deeper before the time jump even happens. It was interesting that they actually did that and I wouldn’t have noticed if not for watching both so close together.

It’s just a super neat detail!

[perthshirecottage]

Henry: I sleep with a knife under my pillow!

Lassie: Weak! I sleep with a gun under mine!

Shawn: You’re both pathetic!

Henry: Alright, what weapon do you sleep with?

Shawn (smirking): Juliet

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Adrien deserves so much better! His father is horrible and restrictive. Adrien, the sweet bean, is so isolated and forced into living his life dictated by his father’s will. Adrien is just his father’s doll, to be pose and be admired but not to be heard or seen as a person with actual feelings.

Adrien deserves Alya, who sees all the love he has to give and all the love he needs, and tries to set him up with her best friend who will receive and give all that love right back.

Adrien deserves Nino, who may not always understand Adrien’s interests but who sits and listens to Adrien ramble anyway. Nino who stands up for Adrien to Gabriel himself, all because he wants his best friend to be happy. Nino, who just wants Adrien to be safe and free to make his own decisions.

Adrien deserves Marinette, who makes him special gifts when he is feeling down. Marinette, who is happy to keep up her silly antics just to put a smile on his face. Marinette, who is willing to put his wants and needs above her own. Marinette, who only falls deeper in love when she discovers the boy she loves on both sides of the mask.

Adrien deserves better than Gabriel Agreste.

[perthshirecottage]

Honestly, one of my favorite things about the MCU Spider Man is Peter and May’s relationship. There are spoilers for No Way Home but they’re not til the last paragraph.

I know there are jokes out there about how young May is in this franchise, but she is actually the most realistically aged Aunt May’s out of all the movies. Marisa was 50 when she first started the role. Which if you go ahead and make that her age in the movies then she was only 35 when Peter was born. Even if you make her character 40 in Civil War, then she was 25. All reasonable ages for her character in relation to Peter. The other movies it’s almost like Peter was raised by his grandparents. Like, were May and Ben 20 years older than Peter’s parents? And were Mary and Richard older when they had Peter? Because you almost need both those things to have your aunt and uncle be in their 70-80s and raising a teenager. In Andrew’s movies they are closer to the right age but still just a tad too old. But at least it’s more reasonable that them being 80. They’re more like 60s and ready to retire. Having an aunt and uncle that aren’t ancient was a good choice for Peter.

The biggest thing that I like is that if actually feels like Peter and May have a relationship. In Tobey’s version they needed to focus a little more on Ben and Peter’s relationship at the beginning of the first movie to create more of an impact when Ben died. I haven’t watched Andrew’s movies in forever so I don’t remember a lot but they had to focus on Ben and Peter again for that emotional gut punch. But Ben was really just there to give emotional gravity to Peter who had to learn that ‘with great power, comes great responsibility’. Ben is more of a plot device than a character in both movies. In the MCU, I think that’s a big reason they didn’t have Ben in their series. Everyone knew what had happened and it’s not like Ben was going to add something different since his whole role is to die. By skipping Ben and the origin story, that gave more time to focus on Peter and May.

In Tobey’s movies Aunt May is just that, she is literally called Aunt May which creates a formality to all the interactions between her and Peter. She is also mostly there to give sage advice to the much younger Peter and to create anxiety when she is in danger. Peter graduates from high school and moved out pretty quickly so we don’t even get to see them living together much and when they were, the focus was on Ben and Peter. So you don’t get to see much with them. Again, I haven’t seen Andrew’s movies in forever. But Peter does live with her so you get to see them interact more. Peter had to help around the house and go get eggs. So you can see that they have a relationship but it’s mostly Aunt May worrying over her nephew while he is focused on becoming Spider Man and not really focused on showing a lot of their relationship outside of the worry and occasional advice and comfort. Andrew’s movies are mostly focused on Peter and Gwen’s relationship so Aunt May doesn’t get as much focus. Doesn’t this Peter also call her Aunt May? I called my Aunt and Uncles, well, aunt and uncle but I also lived in a different city than them and only saw them every 2-3 years so of course I wasn’t close enough to not be formal with tacking aunt and uncle to their names. But someone who is raising you and you see every day? Why are they so formal? Is Peter or the writer’s afraid that someone will forget that they are his Aunt and Uncle? I don’t get it.

In the MCU, Peter calls his aunt by her name without the formal moniker. We also get to see their relationship not just be told they have one. May and Peter joke around, like two people who live together and are close. They don’t mind teasing each other and you get to see them be silly and caring towards each other. I love the montage in Homecoming where Peter comes in all panicked because he needs help getting ready for the dance. You get to see the two working together, learning to do a Windsor knot, May teaching peter to dance. That’s a big part of what makes them feel like they have a relationship is that there are parts of the movie that let you see that May and Peter are close and have things they do and talk about outside of Spider Man. The other movies are mostly Aunt May worrying or giving advice to Peter about being spider Man while not having the full story. MCU May is Peter’s guardian and they show that she is raising him, not just financially but also as support in all areas even outside of Spider-Man. And I like that she found out that Peter was Spider-Man. It allowed them to become even closer because now there were no secrets between them. And despite knowing he was Spider-Man, in FFH, May was also giving advice about Peter’s relationship with MJ. Peter told May about his plan to woo MJ and they discussed it. The other movies don’t give off the vibe of their Peter’s just sitting around and talking about their inermost feelings and hatching elaborate plans to talk to the girl they like. Those Peter’s don’t feel like kids who are still trying to figure out life. They are independent and only need a pep talk when things get really bad but won’t actually let their aunt in on what’s happening in their lives. MCU May and Peter feel like two people who have gone through a lot together and had to deal with it being just them against the world. The only two to understand the loss of Mary, Richard, and Ben. Two people whose bond was forged through tragedy and came out the other side closer and stronger for it.

I think that’s why it hit so much harder when May died. We have had multiple movies showing how close these two were. We saw how much they both loved and depended on each other. It wasn’t let’s tell you and cram as much relationship as possible in before we kill Ben halfway through the movie. It was organic and felt real. I had grown just as fond of May as Peter was so it hurt me to lose her. If it was one of the Aunt May’s from the other franchises, yes I would be sad, but really my sadness would be for Peter and wondering why he had to suffer even more. I wouldn’t actually miss May because I never felt connected to her or like she was much of a character. But MCU May had so much life to her. I connected to her. And she didn’t just exist to give advice to Peter. She had her own life. She also dated and had her own relationship. She had a job. She was a mother and I truly felt like she was a mother not just a guardian. She was a person. It’s why it was an emotional gut punch to see her die. It’s why when Peter was begging for help, I truly understood his agony because I had seen how important she was to him and how this was honestly so devastating in a way I couldn’t with the Ben scenes. I wish so badly that she didn’t have to die. Honestly I’m even more upset by her death and Peter losing her than I was by Tony dying. Don’t get me wrong, I love Irondad and Spiederson, but they only knew each other for a couple of years and they were important to each other. Tony was a father figure to Peter but it was in a mentor way. Tony wasn’t there for everything. Tony didn’t live with Peter. As close as they were, Tony wasn’t May that Peter could go to for anything. May was Peter’s mother. She was the woman who raised him. She is the person who has been there as long as he can remember. She has weathered all the loss with him. She is the one who understood all of his pain because she shared it. May is the person who loved him through all the good times and the bad. She is the the one who was there for all the milestones. She is the one who was there for all the little every day problems and triumphs. She helped him learn to tie his shoelaces and with his homework. She gave him girl advice and to learn to dance. She hugged him and cried with him. She shared the small things. They had movie nights and went to Ben’s grave together. It was the two of them against the world and no one can replace May.

At least I have fanfics where I can pretend that May is alive. I can pretend she and Peter are still alive and happy. I like to pretend that even if everyone else forgets Peter, that May couldn’t because that boy and her love for him is written into her very DNA. Peter and May both deserve that.

[perthshirecottage]

I keep wondering about Jon-El and what his motivation is going to be. We know he’s not a great person but that it’s complicated. There’s also all this speculation that something happened to Jor-El, whether he’s missing or dead. And what if that’s why Jon-El has come over from this he Bizzare universe? What if Jon-El has been helping Ally, hoping to get these crazy powers, in the hopes of being able to get his brother back? Jon-El is selfish, willing to destroy the entire universe to save 1 person. But Jon-El is also motivated by love, willing to sacrifice the entire universe to save 1 person. And that’s why he and his dad have such a fallout. Maybe Jon-El did something dumb to cause his brother’s current predicament and this is his way of making amends? But Bizzaro-Superman knows that they can’t destroy the universe. As much as he wants his son back, he can’t kill all those innocent people.

It might not be what’s going to happen but it would be interesting and make things more complicated because Jon-El’s motivation would be understandable even if his execution is wrong.

[perthshirecottage]

Has this been done before? I present to you, the Whitley’s.