#rick face the consequences of his actions challenge

[rickandmortyfangirl1986]

"There's a lesson here, i am not the one to figure it out"

in the rick and morty season 4 episode "edge of tomorty: rick die rickpeat" near the end of the episode rick says this quote : "There's a lesson here, i am not the one to figure it out".

i think that wwas a reference to the movie ""Edge of Tomorrow". according to google when i searched for "the lesson in the edge of tomorrow". this is what came up:

"The central lesson in "Edge of Tomorrow" is that failure can be a powerful teacher, allowing for continuous learning and improvement through repeated attempts, even when facing seemingly insurmountable odds; essentially, the ability to learn from mistakes and adapt through a cycle of "live, die, repeat" is key to overcoming challenges and achieving success."

" Key takeaways from the movie:"Embrace failure as a learning opportunity: The protagonist, initially incompetent, is forced to learn and grow by repeatedly experiencing the same day over and over, dying each time and starting anew.

Persistence and adaptation are crucial: Through each loop, he gains valuable knowledge about the enemy and develops his combat skills, demonstrating the power of continuous refinement. Teamwork and collaboration are vital: While initially alone in his time loop, the character eventually realizes the importance of working with others to achieve a larger goal"

rick had not learned that lesson yet, and still holds on to the past, and makes the same mistakes over, and over, and over again. he becomes so obsessed with hunting down rick prime, and avenging beth, and diane, and has not let go of the past.

in this episode morty becomes obsessed with dying old with jessica, and in the end realises he wasn't looking at the full picture, and learned that lesson that rick hasn't learned yet. morty had to let go of the future. a deeper meaning is:

if you don't let go of the past; it will always haunt you, and no matter how hard you try to move on, it's really hard when you don't allow yourself to move on. past actions have present day consequences, and unpredictable future outcomes. it also has an inpact on not just your life but the lives of everyone around you.

if you only think about the future; you miss opportunities that could help lead you to the goal you wanting to achieve OR it can induce false hope, and blind faith., and it becomes more impossible to achieve anything when you're only fixated on "glimpses" rather than seeing the whole picture, and no one may be there to catch you when you fall [well, that pun was unexpected lol] just like with past actions' changing the future. present actions can also; present actions have future consequences, and it also has an inpact on not just your life but the lives of everyone around you as well.

so, the main lesson is: live in the present. today is yesterday's tomorrow. live [present], die [past], repeat [future].

[hookedonhuge]

A Hard Challenger to Beat

Wednesday night was men-only at the small country town bar. Living in a remote area could get awfully boring at times, but boy’s night was a highlight for most of the men’s weeks. There was truly nothing like blowing off some steam with your pals after a hard day’s work. No hassles, no consequences, just dudes having fun.

One of the main attractions on Wednesday nights was the Beat Billy pool challenge. The challenge was simple: play Billy in a game of pool, if you lose you have to give him ten dollars, and if you win then you get a special reward.

What was the special reward? If you saw Billy in action, it wouldn’t take long to find out. Every Wednesday night you could find Billy bent over the pool table lining up for a shot, with his big butt sticking out and his jeans, stuffed with ten dollar notes, looking like they’re about to split. 

Yep, the special reward was an all-expense paid trip down to pound town (also known as the last stall in the men’s bathroom) with the one and only, Bubble Butt Billy. It was a shame that Billy was the best darn pool player in that town and the next town over. 

It was a lucrative business for Billy, who never once had to surrender his pride to another man. However, it was speculated that the Beat Billy challenge was more profitable for the bar than it was for Billy himself. The challenge drew large crowds of pent-up men, some, who in their lustful delusions, thought themselves skilled or lucky enough to earn themselves some quality time with Billy’s behind, and others, who were more financially conscious, would instead egg on their pals to give the challenge a go just for the chance to see Billy bend over the pool table a couple more times.

Without a fault, each Wednesday night would bring to the bar a rowdy crowd, despite how predictable the events of the night were. Billy would pocket a nice amount spending money at the expense of his hopeful challengers, and the patrons would get their fair share of Bubble Butt Billy action. Billy barely had to try against his challengers and was eager to play a game of pool against an actually formidable opponent, and on one Wednesday night he got exactly that.

It was a Wednesday night that seemed to be going the same as every other Wednesday before it. Billy had just defeated yet another challenger and was counting ten dollar bills with his signature cocky smirk painted across his face. “Anyone else want to challenge me?” he said, teasing his audience by leaning his upper body ever so slightly over the pool table.

“I will.” An unfamiliar voice boomed from the back of the room. Billy turned around to size up the stranger. Billy, who was never short of words to belittle his upcoming challengers, was silent. It wasn’t the stranger’s face that left Billy at a loss for words; his eyes hadn’t even gotten up that far. Billy’s gaze was stuck on the bulging mass that was tenting the stranger’s tight jeans. For the first time in a long while Billy remembered the consequences of losing the challenge, his mind trapped in thoughts of how his virgin hole would fare if he lost this one time. 

“My eyes are up here buddy,” the stranger said in a playful tone, strutting towards Billy with an irresistible swagger. “Just teasin’ ya. The name’s Rick,” he said warmly, reaching his hand out for a handshake. “I’d like to challenge you to a game of pool. I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem.”

Billy snapped out of his daze and shook Rick’s hand. “You’re new around here, so I’ll have to warn you not to get your hopes up,” Billy said, building up his confident facade again. “I haven’t even been trying tonight.”

“I expect nothing but your best.” Rick was unfazed. “I’ll let you break.” 

Billy picked up his cue stick and the white ball as Rick set up the rest of the balls to break. As he had done a hundred times before, Billy got ready to begin play, lining his cue stick up to hit the white ball as his butt pointed out towards the leering spectators. Usually, Billy was so quick in his play that his opponent’s wouldn’t have time to register that the match had started. That night, Billy wasn’t so fast to start.

The cause of Billy’s delay was his opponent, who was standing on the opposite side of the table with his crotch directly in Billy’s line of sight. Rick’s hands were on his waist and he leaned just a little bit back to accentuate his large package.

“All bark and no bite,” Billy muttered under his breath. Billy struck the white ball, which jetted in the group of remaining balls causing them to scatter. Not a single ball had been potted into one of the holes, which was unusual for Billy.

It was Rick’s turn and he grabbed one of the cue sticks from the rack. He stroked the long wooden stick with his powerful hand lewdly under the guise of surveying its quality. “You know where I’m from, they call me Thick Stick Rick,” he said to Billy as he walked past him, meeting Billy’s gaze with a wink.

Rick quickly potted two balls in a row with ease, putting Billy on the back foot. Billy countered with his renowned precision. He potted three balls in quick succession and set himself up for an easy put away with a fourth.

The white ball had rolled to the centre of the large table meaning that Billy had to lean over extra far to reach it, causing his two large cheeks to stretch his jean fabric to its limit. Billy, who had been able to regain focus in the match, was about to sink his ball into one of the pockets when he felt something large and hard brush up against his crack. He turned around to see Rick towering over his lower half.

“Hey, you have to win first before you can have any of that,” Billy snapped, audibly annoyed.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to bump into you,” Rick said, feigning sincerity. “I just forget how big I am sometimes.”

Billy tried his best to brush off Rick’s comment and struck the white ball, but it clearly affected him as the ball he was aiming for, which was set up so well, bounced off the rim of the pocket and back towards the centre of the pool table. Billy swore under his breath; he never missed a shot like that.

“Don’t stress about it,” Rick said, placing his middle and index finger into one of the pockets. “These holes are so tight,” he wriggled his two fingers, “that these balls only just fit in.”

Rick’s innuendos had a marked effect on Billy, allowing Rick to even the scoreboard in spite of the vast difference in their skill levels. Each player now had one ball each to put away before they could go for the win by potting the eight ball. It was Billy’s turn and he was once again bent over the table, ass in the air, and lining up for a shot.

“Looking good Billy boy.” Rick chimed in as Billy was doing some practice shots in front of the white ball to check he had the right alignment.

“I don’t need you to help me with my alignment, I’m the expert… '' Billy trailed off as he realised Rick wasn’t commenting on his shot preparation. Instead, Rick’s eyes were glued to Billy’s famous butt.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just keeping my eyes on the prize,” Rick said, biting his bottom lip.

Billy tried to ignore Rick and went ahead with his shot. He managed to pot his final ball, but foolishly sunk the white ball as well. The crowd, who had fallen silent from the tension of the match, let out a gasp when Billy made this rare error.

Rick was able to sink his final ball as well, leaving the two in a race to pot the eight ball first for the win. Rick had no success on his first attempt as the eight ball was stuck in a tricky position. His comparative lack of experience showed as Rick was not careful enough to put the eight ball in a difficult position for his opponent to finish off.

All Billy needed to do was hit a straight shot from one end of the table to the other, which was easy for a player like himself. Rick, the schemer he was, was still not out of ideas. He moved himself behind the pocket Billy was planning to sink the eight ball into and started grinding his huge bulge against that corner pocket.

“How badly do you want to get into this hole, cause I want to get into this hole real bad,” Rick said with a slight grunt. Billy stayed silent. “It’s only a small hole Billy boy, it could be a real struggle to fit in.” Billy lined up his shot. “God Billy,” Rick’s voice turned low and rough as he took a step back from the table and squeezed his tightly wrapped manhood with his hand. “I’m a big boy, and I’m not even hard yet. You can’t even imagine the damage I could do to your bussy, or is that what you want? Have you been going easy on me on purpose Billy boy?”

Billy’s face was red from a mixture of anger and fear. He was sweating profusely and his hands were trembling. Billy drew his cue stick back then thrusted it forward with as much might as possible. The white ball rocketed into the eight ball which slammed into the pocket. In his desperation, Billy had struck the white ball far too hard and it followed the eight ball into the pocket.

Despair was the only thing that could describe Billy. Sinking the eight ball and fouling in the same shot was an automatic loss. The crowd knew this and roared with excitement. Thick Stick Rick was victorious. 

Billy looked to the crowd, his eyes pleading for mercy. This was futile as the crowd, who had lost a lot of money over the years to Billy, were seeking retribution and Rick would deliver it. 

“Rick! Rick! Thick Stick Rick!” the crowd chanted.

Rick approached the defeated Billy. “I ain’t gonna force you or nothin’ Billy boy, I ain’t like that,” Rick said, placing his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “But if you –”

“I’m a man of my word Rick. I couldn’t show my face in this town again if I didn’t go through with this.” Billy replied earnestly, not letting Rick finish.

“That’s the Bubble Butt Billy I’ve heard so much about. Now don’t you worry, Rick is gonna treat you real nice.” Rick gave Billy’s big butt a friendly smack.

The crowd’s chanting reached a climax as Billy and Rick walked into the men’s bathroom together. “Give ‘em hell Rick!” yelled a frenzied patron.

Soon, the bar fell into silence as the once raucous spectators listened suspensefully. At first there was no sound coming from the bathroom. After a little while a faint banging noise could be heard. It got louder and louder, until Billy’s moaning commenced. Billy reached a transcendent state, his shameless moans of pleasure filling up the bar and causing the pants of everyone in it to become a little more snug. Some opted to loosen their belts to relieve the pressure that was quickly building below.

“That son of a whore Billy is really enjoying this isn’t he?” commented one of the bargoers.

“Rick sure is a stallion!” remarked another.

“Billy won’t be able to walk properly for a week!” 

“Don’t tell me Bubble Butt Billy lost on purpose!”

Rick and Billy’s erotic encounter culminated with a shared orgasmic roar that reverberated throughout the entire establishment. Rick, ever the gentlemen, offered to book a hotel room for the two of them for the night once he caught his breath back. All Billy could do was nod and collapse into Rick’s arms, his body completely exhausted.

“You’ve got a body that men like me dream about, Billy boy.” Rick kissed Billy on the forehand and proceeded to carry him out of the bar on his shoulders to a nearby hotel. There, Billy slept peacefully in Rick’s arms and Rick dozed off with his hands cupping Billy’s big cheeks.

[laresearchette]

Sunday, November 12, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: BEACON 23 (MGM+) A HEIDELBERG HOLIDAY (W Network) 8:00pm KIDS BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP: SWEETS-GIVING (Food Network Canada) 8:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: LAWMEN: BASS REEVES (CBS Feed) CANDACE PARKER: UNAPOLOGETIC (Premiering on November 16 on TSN5 at 8:00pm) AMERICAN MONSTER (TBD - Investigation Discovery) GOOD COP, BAD COP (TBD - Investigation Discovery)

2023 FIFA MEN'S U17 WORLD CUP (TSN3) 3:48am: Venezuela vs. New Zealand (TSN5) 3:48am: France vs. Burkina Faso (TSN3) 6:48am: Mexico vs. Germany (TSN5) 6:48am: Korea vs. U.S.

BILLIE JEAN KING CUP (SN1) 9:00am: FINAL: Canada vs. Italy

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN) 10:00am: National - Men’s Final (SN) 2:30pm: National - Women’s Final

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN4) 9:30am: Colts vs. Patriots (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 1:00pm: 49ers vs. Jaguars (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 4:00pm: Lions vs. Chargers (TSN/TSN3/TSN4) 8:20pm: Jets vs. Raiders

NHL HOCKEY (SN360) 1:00pm: Chicago vs. Panthers (SN) 6:00pm: Stars vs. Wild (SNPacific/TSN2) 7:00pm: Canucks vs. Habs (TSN2) 7:00pm: Canucks vs. Habs (SN360) 8:00pm: Sharks vs. Ducks

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 7:00pm: Nuggets vs. Rockets (TSN5) 8:00pm: Thunder vs. Suns (SN Now) 8:30pm: Timberwolves vs. Warriors (SN1) 10:00pm: Trailblazers vs. Lakers

HEARTLAND (CBC) 7:00pm: Lou's forced to face the reason for her insomnia; Amy works with a new client who has a surprising connection to Katie; Jack wins over a prickly dude ranch guest….A GUEST HORSIE!

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW (CBC) 8:00pm: The four remaining bakers get fancy for Patisserie Week and the last chance to make it to the finale.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND: DRILLING DOWN (History Canada) 8:00pm: Matty Blake returns to Oak Island and gets an insider's look at the incredible challenges and triumphs the fellowship of the dig have experienced this year in their quest to finally solve the old Oak Island mystery.

BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm: Young mother Rachel frantically searches for her teen daughter, Hannah, after their car crashes outside a small town; people die mysteriously in Rachel's wake as she gets closer to finding out that the local doctor kidnapped her daughter.

ETERNAL SPRING (documentary) 8:00pm: Members of an outlawed spiritual group hack China's state TV to expose brutal repression; celebrated comic book artist Daxiong tells the story of resilient activists fighting for religious freedom.

CRIMES GONE VIRAL (Investigation Discovery) 8:00pm/8:30pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A defiant victim refuses to give up even when a thief runs him over; an unarmed security guard saves the day when a gunman storms in; brave homeowners tackle flames after an unprovoked car arson; a crossing guard risks her own life to save a child. In Episode Two, a quick-thinking employee outsmarts armed thieves; a mother jumps into action when her son gets snatched off the street; someone attacks a woman in her own driveway; a burglar literally gets stuck, with comedic results.

SKYMED (CBC) 9:00pm: A sick patient hits close to home, leaving Crystal reeling; Hayley struggles to face the consequences of her actions when Wheezer discovers her secret.

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT (Nat Geo Canada) 9:00pm: Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musical star Bobi Wine uses his music to fight the regime led by Yoweri Museveni, who's led the country for 35 years, and runs in the 2021 presidential election.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND (History Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): As Rick and Marty Lagina and their team relaunch their quest to solve the Oak Island mystery, they make a number of the most historic discoveries ever unearthed in North America.

[thejumbers]

ok!! analyse piss!! i think how the smiths are treating rick is a direct consequence of his actions. he is being treated how he conditioned them to treat each other for a very long time! i’m not saying that the smiths aren’t toxic and i’m not even saying that rick deserves it, but i do think it’s his fault. i think they shaped their lives around rick for a long time and now that he’s no longer the centre of their universe they want someone to deify. i think about ricks rant in the rickshank rickdemption a lot, after he’s manipulated beth into leaving jerry, it’s clear that he has had a huge impact on how the smiths interact with each other and him. his rant in s3 is a really good parallel to him telling morty to not everyone about pissmaster, he’s hasn’t told them when rick has done worse but it’s because of him trying to be better, morty isn’t as scared of him anymore. ricks is a transitional period where he is learning he can’t keep reaping the benefits of his manipulation while also trying to separate himself from it.

i also don’t necessarily think it’s the smiths wanting to feel morally superior or get back at rick, at least not for morty and summer, but more with ricks growth, all of the toxic coping mechanisms he’s instilled into them are coming back to bite him in the ass. analyse piss made rick incredibly sympathetic, and i agree with that but it’s obvious that how he’s being treated is in completely in line with the values he pushed onto the family, which is to deify for smallest victories and punish heavily for the smallest failures. because rick isn’t the head of the family anymore, this doesn’t work to his benefit anymore and everyone is dealing with all of the left over shit from ricks abuse.

i’m not trying to discount that beth and jerry specifically have always had these issues but i think it’s unfair to demonise all ofthe smiths for behaving how they were trained because it not longer benefits rick.

[hazelnut-u-out]

I think an interesting facet of the storytelling of Rick and Morty is the way that you’re intended to view Rick as a main character. It’s inarguable that both Rick and Morty are the main characters of this show (although, season 6 left Morty feeling a bit neglected, in my opinion). That being said, there are some things that I’ve found interesting regarding the way that Rick is intended to be perceived.

Generally, when you’re consuming a piece of fiction, there is a compulsion to like the main character. At the very least, you’re used to empathizing with them on most things. Now, I’m obviously not trying to say that main characters can’t be bad people. That wouldn’t exactly be a generalizable statement. In fact, I think that it is a marvelous tool in fiction to follow a protagonist who is very obviously doing the wrong thing. Main characters are allowed to be villains.

I guess what I’m getting at here is that I’m used to liking main characters as people (not just their presence on the page or screen, dialogue, or personality) even when they’re consumed by a villain arc. I really loved the tonal shift that took place in the last episode of season 6 of Rick and Morty, because they really challenged me on that. They flipped the script, in a way.

(Disclaimer: I love Rick. I'm just angry with him at the moment.)

I think the only other piece of media I’ve consumed in the genre that I’ve felt executed this same earth-shattering disappointment of being denied a main character you like was Bojack Horseman. Bojack is the main character. He’s funny, charismatic, empathetic, tormented. As the viewer, you want to like him. You’re waiting for a reason to be able to love him, but… it’s never enough. It never comes. No matter how many grand gestures he attempts or how well the groundwork is laid out for a redeemable character, as he says, “You have to be dependably good.”

That fundamental dissonance is something that I can’t help likening to Rick.

All the pieces are there, but he can't quite put them together.

I’ve even found myself waiting for the moment Morty gets to deliver a confrontational monologue to Rick with the same emotional significance of Todd’s.

“You can’t keep doing shitty things, and then feel sorry for yourself like that makes it okay. You have to be better.”

I truly felt, for the first time, that I wasn’t supposed to like Rick. I was supposed to hate him. ‘A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort’ and ‘Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation’ were both episodes told quintessentially from Morty’s perspective. This meant that, of course, I loved Rick’s screen presence, what he offered the narrative, his dialogue, and comedy; but also that I found myself hating him as a person. I was so angry with him.

These were episodes told from the perspective of a victim, but with the gift of adult/outside perspective on the situation, which Morty doesn’t have.

It was truly a brilliantly executed narrative device. As the viewer, I was begging Morty not to go down into that lab. I was urging Morty to realize that none of this is normal or acceptable or something he had to go along with.

On the other hand, Rick is a deeply tormented character that is incredibly easy to empathize with, but it’s very clear that he’s not who you’re meant to be rooting for anymore.

With all of this in context, it makes more sense to me why Morty was pushed to the background to highlight Rick’s growth as a character. It’s a lot easier to empathize with an abuser- to feel bad for them and be on their side- when you’re consuming a narrative about their healing from their warped perspective. It’s a lot easier to like them as a person when you’re not facing the direct consequences of their actions on their victim.

I think that’s why there’s something so eerie about the ending of ‘Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation’ to me. It left me feeling nauseous and anxious; consumed by this anxiety from watching an unknowing child fall victim to circumstance, manipulation, and abuse.

Rick’s drunkenness in that final scene isn’t played for laughs, like in the pilot or ‘The Rickshank Redemption,’ nor is Morty’s hesitance. There’s this harsh reality that he isn’t frantically stumbling and running away in terror, like he did in earlier seasons. Instead, he’s just uncomfortable. This is something he’s used to. His normal is dealing with his grandfather’s drunken, violent mania. His normal is accepting his role- his destiny to be a sidekick.

This shot of Morty’s face is actually what reduced me to tears while watching the finale. There is something so unsettling about this look of, ‘Nothing has changed.’ Something heartbreaking.

Rick’s role is to fuck Morty up, and Morty’s role is to forgive him for it.

And Morty is accepting his role…

For now.

It’s a harsh reality to accept that your beloved protagonist is destined to become a villain, and I can’t help but feel that we’ve rounded a corner with this series where Rick is fated to be the villain in Morty’s story.

Evil Morty and Rick Prime might be the facetious faces of the ‘big bad,’ but I have this sinking feeling that our bad guy has been hiding in plain sight for a long time- whether or not it’s his intention.

[perpetual-stories]

Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.

the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag's Pyramid

this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.

it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.

Freytag's Pyramid structure consists of:

Introduction: the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.

Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,

Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.

Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards...

Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero's Journey

the hero's journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.

it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.

although the hero's journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

The Ordinary World: The hero's everyday routine and life is established.

The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.

Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.

Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.

Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.

Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.

The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.

Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.

The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.

Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they've learned.

Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

the hero's journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

this structure splits the story into the 'beginning, middle and end' but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

exposition: the status quo or the ordinary life is established.

inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.

plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.

midpoint: an event that derails the protagonists mission.

plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

pre-climax: the hero must chose between acting or failing.

climax: they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?

Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon's Story Circle

it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell's hero's journey.

the benefit of Harmon's approach is that is focuses on the main character's arc.

it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don't know not a fan of the show.

the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.

they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.

the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.

adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.

they get what they want: often a false victory.

a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn't what they needed.

back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.

having changed: was it for the better or worse?

i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon's story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

the fichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.

this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

The Rising Action

the story must start with an inciting indecent.

then a series of crisis arise.

there are often four crises.

2. The Climax:

3. Falling Action

this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.

Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you're writing a 110 page screenplay)

Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.

Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?

Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.

Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!

Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.

Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.

B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.

The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.

Midpoint [55]. A plot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.

Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.

All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.

Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)

Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!

Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.

Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.

this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.

Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a "Call to Adventure" of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.

Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.

Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.

Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.

Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.

Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

Follow my tumblr and instagram for more writing and grammar tips and more!

[peppersonironi]

Duke Thomas VS The "Good Child" Stereotype Chapter Three

Wooo! Chapter Two (not including the prologue) is up now for my @dukethomasbigbang fic! Today's art is by @a-sketchy-character and you can find the glorious piece HERE

thx again to my betas @queerbutstillhere & @theycallme-ook

Today has a special thanks to @batgirls-appreciation who dropped out as a beta, but this chapter couldn't exist without her!

Summary:

Duke pursed his lips, not quite sure why Cass had come down to the basement, only to look into his soul, shrug, and leave. But that didn’t matter right now. As Bruce would say, “The mission comes first.”

Read on Ao3

Duke frowned down at his empty pad of paper, trying to brainstorm. It had been a mere twelve hours since the failed Rick Roll (though, the Rick Roll itself wasn’t a fail. Duke would be daydreaming about the chaos for years to come), and the day shift bat was itching for a way to make up for it.

Alas, the creative juices were not flowing that day. Duke had tried everything - taking a walk, training, meditation, writer’s sprint, and even resorting to watching prank compilations on YouTube. But nothing worked. So, he found himself watching the target Bat - Bruce - in his “natural habitat.”

Also known as the living room, mid lecture.

“But I don’t know what I did!” Tim pleaded desperately, trying to convey to Bruce his confusion.

Bruce shook his head. “No, you do, Tim. Dick told me you all will appeal to my affection to get out of the consequences for your actions -” wow, Duke remembered Dick using that exact tactic just yesterday, and it worked - “So I will not allow you to shirk the punishment.”

Tim groaned. “This is tyranny! I’m an emancipated minor, I don’t need to deal with this.”

“Actually, yes you do. You will be doing chores for Alfred for the next two weeks, and you aren’t allowed to run off to Mount Justice.”

“Then at least tell me what I did wrong!” Tim cried, throwing his hands up in the air. Bruce rubbed his temples, then glanced briefly at Duke.

“You know what you did, and how it affected those around you. And you’re grounded because of it. No room for arguments. Now go work on the sprinklers, Alfred has mentioned they’ve been finicky.”

Tim scoffed and stalked out, soon after followed by Bruce.

Duke considered relocating as well - he couldn’t very well observe Bruce if said wild furry wasn’t present. But something about that conversation that sent a light shiver up Duke’s spine, some small spark of inspiration.

An idea began to form in his mind, and Duke smiled slowly.

*****

“For all Bruce’s waxing poetic on the merits of high tech stuff, this pipe organization is seriously ancient,” Duke muttered under his breath as he glanced from the blueprints he had secured to the mess of pipes and spigots and nozzles in front of him.

Though to be fair, this wasn’t the Batcave. Duke was in the basement of Wayne Manor - yes, he was just as surprised to find they actually had one of those that wasn’t dedicated to the dark and mystique training of Gotham’s Protectors. And impromptu Mario Kart challenges, because as Tim had once told Duke “We all know that’s the real reason Bruce got a giant computer setup.”

Duke cursed softly under his breath when he dropped a wrench that began to clang around in the messy cage of metal. He set the blueprints aside atop the gallons of paint he had chosen, and reached around and down to get the wrench. When he came back up, he found himself face to face with his sister Cassandra.

Oh shit, Duke thought, as he tried to figure out how to cover for what he was doing in the plumbing of the Manor.

Cass squinted at him and, not for the first time, Duke felt like he was an onion trapped beneath her gaze, slowly being peeled back layer by layer till the young woman before him knew every little detail about him. Every thought or plan he ever had.

Duke began to sweat, unable to keep his panic under wraps. Cass was scarier than Bruce, that was just a fact.

Cass tilted her head a fraction of an inch, and Duke thought he was a dead man. But, much to his relief and confusion, Cass shrugged and turned. She walked lightheartedly out of the basement and to the stairs, whistling tunelessly as she went.

Duke pursed his lips, not quite sure why Cass had come down to the basement, only to look into his soul, shrug, and leave.

But that didn’t matter right now. As Bruce would say, “The mission comes first.”

*****

As all members of the Wayne family knew, the Library was one of the best places, period. Aside from the living room which was always a mess of pillows, bean bags, inflatable dinosaurs, spare semi-automatic weaponry and knives, the Library was the most personal room in the expansive home that was the Manor. Sure, it was cleaner and home to fewer surprise nerf gun fights, but It still had an air of warmth about it. It was the place that they would go to to rest after a difficult patrol. Where you could find Jason reading some book in a corner, Tim busy with WE work at the large table, Damian trying to teach Alfred the Cat and Titus to read picture books, Cass and Steph trying to be subtle about making out (though to be fair that was only half the time, other times Cass was working on reading with Steph helpfully giving her guidance). Dick would always be trying to decide what to read and but he would never actually succeed, Bruce would sit in his tall armchair in the corner overlooking every small detail of his children with a not-quick-smile-but-pretty-darn-close on his face.

Duke himself also had his own spot that he would work on writing poetry, or just surf Tumblr. It was a window seat at the far side of the library which was technically big enough for three people, but Duke had a strict policy that it was his and his alone and no he totally wasn’t bullied by Cass that one time to snuggle. Why on Earth would you ever consider such a thing?

It was in this spot now that Duke was situated, though he was not alone. Titus - yes, Damian’s dog - was draped across his lap. Now, Duke didn’t mean to steal his little brother’s pets, but it just happened. Titus was in need of snuggles or belly rubs when Damian was away with Jon or on patrol at night, and Duke just happened to be the only one that said canine could bully into granting him.

Thankfully, like all bats were, Duke was a multi-tasker. He wasn’t put off by having to scratch a dog behind the ears whilst simultaneously checking the twelve blinking dots on his laptop screen that represented his family members.

Duke stared intensely at the diagram of the Manor as all the dots slowed down and finally stayed in their predetermined positions. Huh, Tim was right. Stalking family members did pay off!

The dots suddenly stopped blinking, and Duke snapped out of his self congratulations. It was go time . He switched windows, then quickly pulled out his phone and pressed a button.

There were several screams that echoed throughout the ancient halls, those screams spoke of terror and surprise, and passed along the message that something was very, very wrong in the world. The status quo had been broken, and there was no returning from this.

Duke smirked down at his computer, where a dozen different squares displayed camera footage of the real time happenings of the Manor. Said footage was showing several members of Duke’s family drenched in paint. The same paint that Duke had meticulously divided and poured into the ceiling sprinkling system that the Manor had for some totally-not-plot-related reason. The same paint which had been primed and ready to be sprayed out of the spigots coating each bat with the perfectly calculated, even layer.

The paint had just finished being deployed, and yet several people were for some reason trying to fight it off like it was an attacker. Duke noticed that the swinging of bo staffs, AK-47’s and katanas were altogether unsuccessful. Honestly, the people who were standing completely still in shock, or who were trying to shake off the paint were having much better luck.

But then everyone finally realised that they weren’t being sprayed anymore, and a collective sigh spread out across the Manor. The onslaught was done, and they could finally gather together and grab the pitchforks to hunt down the responsible party.

It was then that the glitter was deployed.

The chaos immediately multiplied tenfold, and the screams sounded up again. The air was filled with the sparkly dust that was way too thin to swat away. (No, Duke totally didn’t spend extra time researching to find the world’s finest glitter)

Duke was outright laughing at this point, so hard that he almost fell off the window seat. Titus barked suddenly, and Duke sobered enough to get back upright and watch the finishing up of the chaos. He had to admit, this felt wonderful. If he had to describe his current state of thrill in two words, he would have admitted that he felt altogether too close to the Hellmo Meme.

Unfortunately, Duke was not Stephanie, and ran out of glitter eventually. The vents stopped blasting the film of fairy dust, and the bats were given a reprieve.

Though the break was short lived, as just then, Bruce’s loud bellow sounded throughout the giant house.

“ALL OF YOU GET IN HERE!”

Duke chuckled as he scooched Titus over and set his laptop to the side so he could get up. This was all working perfectly! He’d arrive at Bruce's interrogation completely free from all paint or glitter, which would immediately prove his guilt. And if that didn’t work, then he supposed he could outright confess. But that wasn’t the point of this. The point was for Bruce to come to the conclusion on his own.

He walked down the hall, completely carefree. So happy and confident in his own abilities that he never even noticed that Cassandra’s paint or glitter didn’t go off. That she wasn’t even present where the tracker he had subtly placed on her earlier that day said she was.

*****

Duke hummed to himself as he skipped along the carpet, past the antique vases and random finger paintings, past the drawing rooms and bathrooms, and towards Bruce. All was quiet.

Though that began to trouble Duke, as he got closer to one of the rooms which was very special. It was where Cass had been situated, playing with Selina’s cat Isis, for the past hour. Now, Cassandra was quiet, sure. But not that quiet. And besides, wouldn’t the cat be screeching right about now? Cass didn’t seem like the person to give a nerve hit to an animal just because it was being loud ( cough Jason cough ).

He slowly entered the room and looked around, but was surprised to find it completely empty. Not just of girl and cat, but of paint and glitter too.

“You were mistaken.”

Duke whirled around to find Cass sitting in an armchair, wrapped in shadows, and stroking Isis in a manner not altogether different from that of an Evil Mastermind™.

“Uh…” Duke replied, “about what?”

Cass smirked, and Duke felt a shiver run up his spine. “Actions have consequences. ”

Duke frowned. Wait, what? He glanced around again, trying to figure out what Cass meant. On a surface level he understood, but there was something about the way Cass was eyeing him that told him something else was up.

The only thing he could find that was out of the ordinary, however, was the camera he had placed just yesterday. Huh, now that he thought about it, he was at just the right angle to see it. Which meant he was in direct view of the camera itself. Pretty darn to close to where he had been planning Cass would stand, actually.

Then a faint spitting noise came from above him.

Oh.

*****

Duke trudged forlornly into the room where the rest of the bats - except Cassandra, who had disappeared after the glitter had deployed onto Duke - had gathered. He was one of the last to arrive, muttering curses under his breath, so all eyes were on him as he opened the door and joined them.

Though that also meant that Duke could see them. He had to admit, that as disappointed as he was, it was still hard to keep a grin from spreading across his face. Boy, he had done a great job with color coordination, hadn’t he?

Bruce was front and center, covered in a dark gray paint which had the sheen of yellow glitter. Dick had black paint completely covering him (much more than Duke planned. Did Dick roll in the stuff?) along with blue glitter. Jason had both red paint and glitter on him. Tim had started off with a lighter colored paint - this time red - and then the look was finished by black glitter. Damian looked like a small Christmas tree in his green paint and red glitter. Harper had blue paint then covered in purple glitter, both of which were the exact shades of her hair. Duke wasn’t a monster ; he knew how to match colors.

The cousins - both honorary and actually - had also been present. Bette had been appropriately targeted with a flaming orange and gold combination. Kate had black paint and, instead of red, Duke had picked a rainbow glitter for her. From the slight glint in her eye, Duke supposed he had chosen correctly. Jean-Paul had been doused in yellow paint and red glitter, and he honestly looked like a very large and human shaped version of his sword. Luke was covered in silver paint and an electric blue glitter.

Bruce, however, didn’t give Duke a second glance, covered in yellow paint and black glitter (which had been meant for Cass, but honestly, it fit Duke quite well), though he was.

“Good, now we just have to wait for Steph,” Tim remarked, rolling his eyes.

Duke frowned. “What about Cass? She’s here too.”

Everyone gave Duke a weird look. “Uh, no she isn’t. She’s been hanging out with Selina and Babs all weekend.”

“Then your intel is wrong,” Duke countered. “She was just here! I planned on her being here!”

The silence in the room was palpable. Before, where there had been bickering and accusations, the quiet had taken over. Everyone stared at Duke with suspicion in their eyes.

Finally, Duke thought, sighing in relief.

Bruce opened his mouth about to question Duke’s statement when the doors to the room banged open.

“What’s up, Bitches? The Waffle Queen has arrived and looks as fabulous as ever!”

Duke stared, completely amazed that she actually seemed to like the purple on purple combo Duke had picked for her. Oh, yeah, now that he thought about it made perfect sense that Steph was the only one to like this.

“Wow, whoever did this really got my colors right!" Steph continued as she waltzed in and posed in front of everyone, her hip cocked and arm thrown up dramatically.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, and he began to growl at her. “This is not funny.”

Steph pouted. “What do you mean? I sure think it is!”

Oh boy, she didn’t notice she was digging her own grave, did she? From the looks of the other bats, they shared Duke’s sentiment.

“Stephanie Brown, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Stephanie smirked. “Yup! I look way better than you, you old fur- hey wait! Are you blaming me ?!”

Bruce glared even harder, and Stephanie started to protest, claiming that she was but an innocent victim of these pain-filled proceedings! It was not her fault! Nor was it her fault that she happened to get colors that she liked better than everyone else.

Bruce refused to hear what she said, and told her to go get changed. “You will be cleaning up this whole mess, and no patrolling until it’s done.”

Bruce turned and stalked out, and Steph was left speechless - for once - in the hall. She backed away, seeing the angry stares from the others. The only one who didn’t seem mad at her, was Duke himself. He opened his eyes wide, conveying pity. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed silently.

Instead of being reassuring, however, Steph squinted in suspicion. Oh shit, that probably hadn’t been the best move.

Just moments after Steph left, Jason threw up his hands. “Okay, who wants to have a water gun fight to clean off?”

There were several cheers of assent, but Duke quickly made his own escape at that time. He honestly wasn’t in the mood to get splashed in the face with water. Now was not the time for fun, as the failed prank still hung over him.

Now was the time for plotting.

*****

“Okay, but why on earth do you have a fully functioning sprinkler system in every room?”

“Yeah, Bruce, even for you that’s paranoid! What caused you to think that was necessary?”

“You.”

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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After a disruption meaningfully interrupts a character's plan or equilibrium, and after they've had enough time to react physically, emotionally, and analytically, there's an implicit question asked of the character: "Well, what are you going to do now?" This is the third stage in The Disruption Chain.

When it comes to story structure, this is the debate. It happens over and over. When a character is called away to an adventure at the inciting incident, there's a question of whether they'll go. When a character's problem turns from simple to deeply challenging at the midpoint, there's a question of whether they'll keep going. When a character loses everything at the crisis point, there's a question of how they'll recover.

In Finding Nemo, Marlin's son is kidnapped. What do you do now? In Star Wars, Luke discovers a message calling him away on an adventure. What do you do now?

Character-Specific Debate

Every time something unexpected happens to a character, they're faced with a challenge about what to do next. If the disruption is a problem, do they try to avoid it? Do they immediately jump into action to try to fix it? If the disruption is an opportunity, do they hesitate? Do they craft a plan to pursue it immediately?

The answer depends on the type of character. One character may hesitate and shrink away whenever they're faced with a decision. Another may spend hours putting together pro/con lists and weighing all their options. Another character may always charge ahead and follow their gut.

The way a character responds to a disruption also depends on the character's position in their arc. In Casablanca, does Rick choose to be with Ilsa or let Ilsa fly away with Laszlo to help the Allied cause? The answer at the beginning of the story would be different than at the end. Likewise, if Woody were faced with the question of whether to save Buzz from blowing up on a rocket, his answer would be different at the beginning of a story than at the end.

The most compelling dilemmas do not have easy answers. No one choice is obviously better than the other. Does the character do what's right or what's easy? Do they do what they want or do they do what they need in order to live a better life? Which side of the thematic dilemma do they choose?

Does the character need to sacrifice anything if they make one choice over another? Are they choosing between their safety and the safety of a loved one? The decision that a character makes tells us about their value system.

Anticipation

After a character has decided on a plan of action, they may take some time to anticipate the response.

For each option in the debate, the character will use counterfactual simulations to anticipate the consequences of their potential response. In other words, they'll use their imagination to play out what might happen based on their choice.

Anticipation may itself look like a reaction cycle. The character may sit with the emotional weight of any action that they're considering. They may analytically consider the potential results of their potential actions. Some actions are so potentially consequential that they warrant time for reflection. Character anticipation can also serve to induce anticipation in the audience.

Going through the decision-making process is an important part of The Disruption Chain. It's here that the character decides what to do and prepares for action.

[lordterrax]

Lightbound

Aside from what Andrew Hussie wrote, and what I wrote on my LordOfClasspect blog about lightbound. There is something I wanted to go further into detail about that is pretty evidently clear in all examples of Lightbound that I think is pretty interesting.

So basically, aside from knowledge Lightbound are marked by an extreme challenge with Morality. Hussie describes that lightbound tend to find loopholes around the rules. This generally works out for them but it becomes a problem in that they often times end up with a distorted or grey perspective of morality, which leads into a tendency that when they do Wrong, they are explicitly Evil and marked by a curse.

Rose Lalonde tried to loophole the game Sburb, and in the process directly destroyed the game's architecture and doomed the entire session even for her friends. Nearly casting them all out into the Void to be eaten by the horrorterrors. Whether explicit or implicit she became the villain defacto. Even her alcoholism in general signifies that she doesn't care enough to recognize that even her seemingly lowly necessary Seer title was absolutely critical and responsible for the success and wellbeing of not just herself but her friends as well. Similar to Dirk's darkest bout of negligence towards his friends but more direct, straightforward and exact.

Vriska snapped the spine of an innocent and continues on destiny's path as if she will face no consequences. Constantly hijacks the plot and spotlight regardless of whether this is actually optimal or not. Her best character development came when she was humble and beating herself up as an inverted expression of her role. Then she could face up to her direct fault and flaws.

Aranae becomes so selfish she will literally doom another version of herself to do it, trying to make herself Alpha by force. In the process she disrupts both Jake and Dirk, Jake in a fundamental way and makes it clear she has no qualms with hurting Dirk to get what she wants. She goes from an extremely patient and kind being to one of impatience and grey morality.

Outside of Homestuck Canon, you have Rick Sanchez, who is an apt example to bring wider representation. As Rick Sanchez is a Lord of Light. Recently it was revealed in a canonical short written by Justin Roiland that Rick is in fact Morty. Rick hands Morty a potion saying that it's from excretions from the memory parasite in season 2, and that it will turn Morty into Rip Van Winkle. He also overlaps his reflection with Morty's face, and points saying "Rick Sanchez". Thus it's officially confirmed Morty is Rick, and the implications and realizations for what this means are endless.

For one, it puts things in perspective. Throughout the entire show Rick and Morty's stories run right alongside each other. And it clearly paints a contrast and shows the way the world works for Morty compared to how it works for Rick. There's also countless references and scenes that completely change context if you realize they are actually synchronized time events synchronizing Rick and Morty in a way that makes it plainly clear that due to Time Shenanigans, everything Morty does and goes through influences and changes Rick's character, memory, etc. So much so to the point that it's obvious everything Morty does IS Rick's actual back story, and Rick "already did it" before, as it's defined when Morty does it for the first time.

The realization is clear. Morty is bullied, is dumber than others around him, and struggles hard to keep up with others. Somewhere along the line, originally, Morty just shifted into prop comedy and entertainment like his father Jerry, before eventually getting into Science and realizing that the mathematical, concrete, and absolute nature of Science played really well with his Asperger Syndrome. He then at some point invents a portal gun, and explores the universe. At some point he flies under the alias Rick Sanchez, which in the real world is a notorious alias for people needing a fake identity especially people who have done so many crimes they can never get clean.

Rick and Morty are so opposite it's not even funny. Yet that's what makes this so obvious. Somewhere along the way Morty has an Ego Death because of how the universe treats him, and he evolves into everything he wasn't. This is why Rick suffers and explains his absolutely nihilistic and cynical view of the world. Because as Morty he learned the hard way that the universe does not care about you, does not play fair, and will just keep pushing and pushing with no limit. Eventually he just snapped and flipped it around so at least he always wins.

Now the relevance here is astounding. As Morty he was a Muse of Void. Inspiring the Void but in a Blackwing way. Morty seems innocent and harmless and like the Hero, but his actions always invariably lead to suffering, death, and evil. Evil Morty is predominated Morty and makes it clear that Morty is just in all ways inherently Evil and Destructive, but in a Passive way. Rick in contrast may contradictingly claim he doesn't care, thinks morality is bullshit, and does things which are morally fucked up. But inversely when challenged by the Devil, has a special passion for wiping him in the dust. Meanwhile even his worst acts which seem on the surface to be so reprehensible that they are unforgivable, what we are shown are things which with a good enough reason to balance it out, actually makes him a Savior.

It's actually Morty who is contradictory. Void is ambivalent and while Voidbound have half Light in them, Morty is the one who is ambivalent when it really matters and doesn't actually care when he absolutely should. Only to challenge Rick's authority and to rebel does Morty act like he's the good guy that really cares. Needless to say if we read the entire story a different way, Rick was inverted originally. As a single entity he became Light more and more over time, but it was a long process of trial and error. In the process to becoming the All Powerful Rick, Morty carries a lot of Moral Baggage. Every Rick has done something virtually ubforgiveable but continues moving through the universe running on as much borrowed time as he can get. Not really deserving everything he has and is but continues on anyways. Changing the Rick and Morty story in a very keen way if you view it as 1 continuous character both ways. Making Rick appear more like Vriska.

Basically if we view it as 1 singular and linear storyline. Then Rick is trying to run along after doing whatever evil and trying to escape the very consequences he created in the process. Nevermind that Morty gaining so much knowledge and changing personality so radically has warped his perception of everything so radically. That he can hardly tell right from wrong, and has no sense of what he is or isn't allowed to do. And technically he has the power to back it up. So much so it's hinted throughout the show of how Morty would have abused his science to do things for his own personal gain. Fridge Horror stuff.

The point is this is a perfect example of what I mean about Lightbound. Even Thor from Marvel Avengers has the fact that his family has a history of Genocide, and it's in his own veins as much as it was in his father's.

Lightbound embody the aspect of Perfection and Holiness. But as it has become obvious this has to be a story of a flawed mortal BECOMING the epitome of this... And God/The Universe is so forgiving and encompassing that nobody said you couldn't break a few eggs to make an omelet. What matters is where you end up/the destination/your intended goal.

Lightbound may mess up more than others, and in vastly worse ways than other Bound. But they succeed more than others do, and go farther.

[disappearinginq]

First 20

Tagged by @dragonnan - I have the memory of a gnat, so I have no idea when I was tagged, but just noticed it now. 

Guidelines: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20,  just list them all.) Choose your favourite opening line, tag some friends!

I have a mix of fandoms below - Deception, Torchwood/Doctor Who, Magnum PI 2018, White Collar, Merlin, Arrow, and Lucifer. 

Wrong Side of Heaven -  “So you’re telling me, you HALO jumped into North Korea –” Masters asked, scribbling as fast as he could in his notebook, writing indecipherable to anyone who tried to read it except for him, “for what? A possible defector? I didn’t even know we had actionable intel from there.”

Bad Things Happen (this is sort of a weird one since it’s multiple chapters but individual story lines that don’t necessarily connect, so I’m just doing the first chapter)-   “Jesus, Nuzo…”

Miracles -  “Look, I’m just saying – step – it’s a misnomer calling it a hostile takeover if there’s no fighting involved,” Danny said, as they walked along the sidewalk, Matt’s hand resting on Danny’s elbow as the younger man continued to rant about corporate lingo.

Found Family -  Rick tugged at the stiff collar of his dress blues for the umpteeth time, stretching the starched material a little further every time.

All That Grace -  She’d never actually stopped to look around the guest house since Magnum moved in.

Jinx -  “People are gonna start thinking you’re a jinx, Major.”

Crash -  Katsumoto jolted awake, sucking in a deep breath he instantly regretted.

Once Bitten -  Thomas was laughing and joking around, pointing the neck of his beer bottle accusingly at TC when Rick caught it.

Into the Night -  Foggy regretted that he didn’t always pay attention to what was on in the news - he listened for key words, like ‘masked vigilante,’ ‘Devil in Hell’s Kitchen,’ ‘John Doe found in the Hudson wearing bulletproof Satan costume’, and variations thereupon because, well, reasons.

Building a Mystery -  Juliet Higgins wasn’t an idiot.

Carry On -  “Detective?”

Remedy -  “No, Lucifer, you misunderstand,” Mary said conversationally.

Icarus -  They hadn’t believed him.

Consequence -  Somedays, Jonathan got really sick of his father’s shit.

Mirrors -  Kay Daniels wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she met Jonathan Black.

Guardians -  Occasionally, William missed his life in Central City.

Wayward -  "Rift activity," Gwen Cooper called from the computer station.

Oleoresin Capsicum -  Something wet splattered across his face.

Sand Castles -  If Morgause and Morgana didn't manage to kill Arthur, Merlin most certainly would.

Fair Warning -  Morgana was seething.

The fandoms are hella mixed - but I do tend to write in batches of fandom (and these are also just in the order they were posted or in some case, cross posted from FFN to AO3). 

And honestly - for opening lines, it’s a tie between two in the same fandom - the ones from Into the Night and Miracles, which are Iron Fist/Daredevil crossovers written for challenges. 

Tagging: @beguilewritesstuff, @ariaadagio (I forget if you play games - is it your off season yet? :-) ), @amandagaelic, @vix-has-arrived, @21forestglades, @aliathewriter, @itsjustdg aaaaaaaaand anyone else who would like to play 

[animetrashlord-007]

AOT ~ Revenge

Word Count;; 1.7k

Genre;; Suggestive

Pairing;; Reiner x Bertholdt

Notes;; Published: 2017-07-10

My Masterlist

AOT Week Masterpost

   It had started as an accident but soon escalated into a war. The small event was blown out of proportion and the once happy household was thrown into chaos. Terror lurked around every corner. Neither knew when the other would strike. They were on edge, every creak and moan sending shivers up their spines. It was only a matter of time before the next assault was launched. Both were out for revenge.

   Neither Reiner nor Bertholdt remembered who was at fault for the first blow. Reiner played the victim, however, and accused Bertholdt of targeting him whenever he was vulnerable. His moment of vulnerability being when he was naked in the shower. The water would fluctuate between ice cold to scalding hot every few seconds thanks to the laundry machine running at the same time. Reiner claimed that the brunet was well aware of his actions and their consequences, hence why he believed his own reaction was justified.

   Bertholdt hadn't suspected it. He didn't realise just how upset Reiner was over the water temperature problem. It had been an accident, after all. He had already forgotten about it the next day when he stumbled into the kitchen, his eyes blurry and moist from lack of sleep. He was too tired to notice the thicker granules within the sugar jar as he poured some into his morning coffee. Stirring in what he assumed was an abundance of sugar, he took a large gulp. Bertholdt thought of himself as a kind, forgiving man, but that was only after he had his caffeine fix. Without it, he was more than willing to swoop down to Reiner’s level.

   Reiner, still in bed and waiting for confirmation that his plan had worked, smirked when he heard Bertholdt scream. He had switched the sugar with salt, knowing full well that the brunet was like a zombie in the morning and wouldn't notice the small change. One of the perks of living with someone for so long was learning their routine. Bertholdt needed the hot beverage or he couldn't function - that was a fact of life. He was also running late to work on this beautiful Monday morning and had no time to find where the real sugar was hidden. With a sense of pride, Reiner rolled over and went back to sleep. Little did he know, Bertholdt wasn't backing down from this challenge. His retaliation already awaited the blond.

   Reiner strutted into the kitchen after his shower. He was grateful that Bertholdt had left early today so he didn't have to worry about any problems with the water. He wasn't grateful, though, for the mess left on the counter after his little prank. There was coffee spilled all over, some even leaking onto the ground with a soft patter. Reiner rolled his eyes and ignored it. Grabbing a pan, some eggs, and vegetables, he set to work on his breakfast. Twenty minutes passed in silence. He slid his omelette onto a red dinner plate. Pulling the tomato sauce out of the fridge, he squeezed the bottle and gasped. The lid popped off and landed in his food as the majority of the container emptied out onto his plate. Sauce splattered onto the counter, mixing in with the coffee, as well as onto his shirt. Although he changed his attire soon after, grumbling the entire time, he noticed a red stain on his fresh white shirt once he arrived at work. He chuckled, the sound low and menacing enough to scare his coworkers, as he plotted his next move. Two can play this game, after all.

   Suspicions were high when Reiner came home. He didn't say a word to his boyfriend who was sitting on the couch with a slice of pizza. He didn't even spare a glance in his direction or visit the kitchen to fetch his dinner. The blond went straight to their shared bedroom and hopped into bed. Bertholdt hoped he wasn’t too bitter about the childish prank from earlier and just needed some rest after a long day. He knew Reiner well enough to know that wasn't the case. Soon he would find himself ensnared beyond escape within their petty battle. There was no sensible end in sight. They were at war now.

   The next attack came at the end of the week. Bertholdt forgot his phone at home and Reiner didn't hesitate to play the dutiful and doting boyfriend, travelling into the heart of the city to give it to the brunet. Timing his arrival to coincide with the start of a meeting, he returned the device he had hid a few hours prior. Bertholdt said his thanks, giving Reiner a swift kiss before darting inside the conference room. Reiner wore a grin the entire distance to the subway. The other male had let his guard down and now Reiner was ready to strike.

   “I- I don't know what this is, I'm so sorry,” Bertholdt murmured, his cheeks flaming as he fumbled to silence his phone.

   The entire room was staring at him now. Some had amused grins, some suffered from secondhand embarrassment, but most shot daggers at the anxious brunet as he struggled to unlock the device. “Never Gonna Give You Up” echoed throughout the entire room. Bertholdt didn't even know his phone could play this loud as he always kept it on silent. Taking a moment to calm his nerves, he found the volume keys and at last silence filled the room. His entire body burned with embarrassment as he looked up at the people sitting around him. One of the couple’s mutual friends, Annie, rolled her eyes. He cursed his boyfriend and his sneaky trick under his breath.

   Once the meeting was over, Bertholdt bolted out of the room. Running to his desk, he clocked out for lunch and headed for the elevators. He needed to have a serious word with Reiner. Searching his contact list, he almost cried out in frustration. Had he not been in a very crowded lift, he might have punched the wall. Every single one of his contacts had been renamed to Rick Astley and their photo changed to match. His text message and call history had been erased to boot. Dependent on technology, he had no clue what anyone's numbers were. He had no idea how to contact Reiner but he sure as hell had an idea on how to repay this lovely gesture.

   A few days passed without incident. Even so, every day was torture as anticipation gnawed at Reiner. Whenever he opened a cupboard or entered a room, he double checked it for traps. He couldn't relax in the shower. Not even in his bedroom did he feel safe. His nights were restless. So when Bertholdt told him he had the day off, Reiner knew a prank was fast approaching. Unsure of what his partner could have conjured up, he went to work and tried to put aside his burning curiosity and mild trepidation.

   Annie offered no consolation, either. He had called to check up on how Bertholdt was doing in the office as of late (and to weasel information out of her). She told him to grow up and that she wanted nothing to do with their game, but she also accepted his earlier invitation to dinner and that she'd see him later tonight. They ended up meeting in the subway before walking the rest of the distance to his apartment. Even though he spent the entire trip calming his nerves, he wasn't prepared for the final assault. Opening the door with Annie by his side, Reiner took a step inside the apartment and caterwauled as the fine particles poured down from the ceiling. Annie, who was known for her neutrality that bordered on indifference, followed suite with her own infuriated bellow.

   “What the actual fuck is this?” She screeched, trembling in anger as she gazed down at the glitter covering her entire body.

   “A-Annie!” Bertholdt gasped, jumping out of his seat, “I didn't know you were coming!”

   “Enough is enough already, you idiots!”

   “I’m sorry, Annie,” Reiner sighed while he rubbed his temples.

   “I can't believe you dragged me into this mess,” she snapped, smacking Reiner across the arm. “If you don't have this shit sorted by the next time I visit, I'll kick both of your arses.”

   Turning on her heels, she stormed out of the apartment complex, leaving a trail of glitter in her wake. The two males stared after her, unwilling to face each other. Their prank war had gotten out of hand and they both knew it. It had gone on for too long; it was time to end it and make up. Neither wanted to be the one to admit fault, though, and they weren't sure how to move past the events of the last few weeks. After several awkward minutes, Bertholdt cast aside his pride and spoke up.

   “Reiner…”

   Bertholdt glanced at the colourful mess known as his boyfriend and the love of his life. To his surprise, Reiner grinned at him. Throwing his irritation and pettiness away, the blond crossed over to the couch. He wanted his boyfriend back. Reiner pulled the taller man down into an embrace. Bertholdt squeaked when he noticed glitter transferring onto his clothes and skin. Reiner laughed and pinched the brunet’s cheeks, causing Bertholdt to blush.

   “I've missed you, Bert. Your touch, your scent, your body, your smile. I'm tired of being near you without having you. I want you by my side, not just in body, but in heart and soul as well. I want all of you again. I want our early morning talks and our late night cuddling back. I need your warmth. I love you and I miss you and I can't stand not being here with you like this,” Reiner murmured before pulling Bertholdt into a kiss.

   “I've missed you too, Reiner,” his words transformed into a moan as the blond captured his bottom lip between his teeth and gave it a light tug. Bertholdt ran his hands down Reiner’s back, fingers resting on his ass before giving it a light squeeze. The action spurring him forward, Reiner pushed Bertholdt onto the couch before removing his own shirt. He unbuckled his belt and tossed it aside, his pants loosening enough to hang off his hips. Reiner then unbuttoned his pants and allowed them to fall to the floor. His boxers clung to his body, his own arousal growing when he noticed the tent in his boyfriend’s trousers.

   “I know I've been a big dick lately, but can you find it within yourself to forgive me?”

   Bertholdt chuckled, beckoning Reiner forward with his finger, “As if I can say no when I have this amazing view.”

[gra-sonas]

In the next episode of The CW series Roswell, New Mexico, entitled “Good Mother,” Isobel (Lily Cowles) is determined to regain control of her life, which leads her to make a risky choice that has potentially very dangerous consequences. With Liz (Jeanine Mason) still hard at work at trying to bring Max (Nathan Parsons) back, Isobel finds herself isolated and unable to turn to anyone to help her through what she’s experiencing, which causes her to further spiral.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Lily Cowles talked about the downward spiral that Isobel is currently on, how hard it can be to pick up the pieces after your entire world has been shattered, the relationship dynamic between Isobel and her mother (Claudia Black), how scary and thrilling it’s been to tackle her story arc this season, how Episode 206 could break the internet, and what it’s meant to the cast of this re-imagining to have some of the original cast involved with and supporting the show.

Collider: Clearly, a lot of things are happening this season, and Isobel is just not having a good time of it, right now. How chaotic are things for her to deal with, and does she have a handle on anything, at this moment?

LILY COWLES: Great question. I was really hoping, as an actor, that we would start this season six months in, with Isobel having a little bit of time to process, she’s been seeing a therapist, and she’s a little calmer. But of course, that’s not gonna happen, when you have to let the viewers see her in the trenches. Unfortunately, the beginning of Season 2 is about as bad as it could get for Isobel. She’s lost her brother, her twin, her best friend, the most important person in the world to her. And then, she’s lost her husband, who not only died, but died having turned out to be a psychopathic alien serial killer, who used her body to commit murders and manipulated her. So, she already has a lot to deal with. The world that she knows has already been completely destroyed.

She’s always lived in a pretty restricted gilded cage that she’s built for herself, where everything seems like it’s really fine and everything’s really good, but she’s been very co-dependent on these two men, in her life. Suddenly, her entire world is shattered, so that is already really terrifying, and enough to make anyone lose their mind. On top of that, she realizes that she’s with child, and that she’s carrying a baby, which is something that, three months before this, she might’ve been really happy about. But then, she finds out that she’s carrying the child of this man, who was completely abusive and deceptive, and who totally took her body and took away her own autonomy from her. This is not the way that she wants to find herself pregnant. To be honest, Isobel probably does wanna have a family. I think what she wants most in this world is stability and family and community, and people around her who love her and who make her feel safe. But suddenly, everything has been turned on its head.

She doesn’t have her brother, and her husband was a deceitful liar. And not only that, but now she’s holding his baby. I think this baby represents, for her, the continuation of the legacy of a traumatic abusive relationship and something that has completely ruined her life. She doesn’t think she can move forward with that. I think she feels that she needs to first find herself and rebuild herself, before she can think about taking on raising another life. So, Isobel is in really dire straits, at the beginning of this season, and she finds herself in a particularly bad situation because she really has no one to turn to.

Max is gone. I don’t think she feels that she can talk to Michael about it because he was an unwanted child in the foster care system and he doesn’t feel like someone that she can talk about this with. Beyond that, there’s no medical resources available to her. And of course, Isobel is an alien, so she’s biologically different than a human. She can’t exactly go to a doctor for help through this. She functions as an allegory for people who also find themselves in a situation where they can’t get access to medical care that would help them have autonomy over their own bodies. She’s facing something really bad right now, where she feels very much backed up against a wall and doesn’t have many options. I don’t think that she feels that she can have this child, but what are her alternatives. She has nowhere to turn, which is what leads her to start taking some really drastic measures.

We’ve seen Isobel spending some more time with her mother, to varying degrees of success. How would you describe their relationship, and what do you enjoy about exploring that dynamic?

COWLES: It’s great. We didn’t really get to see Isobel with her mother, at all, before. Isobel has learned a lot from her mother, who is a woman that has, on the front, a very polished exterior, where everything looks good and she’s very much playing by society’s rules. This is who Isobel learned how to behave from. So, we get to see who Isobel has modeled herself after, which is a woman who’s highly attuned to social cues and expectations. There’s no small part of her that really resents her mother for that. She doesn’t feel like it’s necessarily safe to be very vulnerable with her mother. And of course, Isobel is also hiding a giant secret from her mother, which is that she’s not a human being. There’s that complicated factor, as well. She’s hiding something very big from her mother, but clearly, she doesn’t feel comfortable telling her mother that. We can all relate to that relationship with your parent where you’re like, “God, I love them, but they drive me crazy. All of the little things they say, they just know how to trigger me.” She still wants to be close to her mother. She’s in need. She’s a woman who’s completely lost at sea, and she’s reaching out for people. Her mother wants to take her to this warrior class and, at first, she’s a little cruel to her and like, “I just wanna be alone.” But she sees that it hurts her mom and is like, “I don’t mean to make you feel bad, mom. Okay, let’s do it. It’ll be good.” But, it’s wonderful. Working with Claudia [Black] is incredible. She’s so funny and so open. We were really having a good time riffing and doing some fun things, in Episode 2. Ultimately, Isobel doesn’t feel that maybe she can turn to her mother in a time like this, which also probably many young women can relate to, who find themselves in a situation like this. You would hope that your parent would be there for you, and yet so many young women can’t turn to their parents, for whatever reason, and have to deal with it on their own.

When I spoke to your showrunner, Carina MacKenzie, and I asked her what she was most proud of with Season 2, she told me that it’s the fact that she was able to really push the stories in bolder directions and shake things up, and have it be a little darker this season. Clearly, all of that applies to Isobel. So, without spoilers, what has that been like for you, as an actor to get to really dig into and explore?

COWLES: It’s scary, and it’s thrilling. I remember when Carina reached out to me, proposing the storyline for Isobel, my initial reaction was just like, “Oh, my god.” I remember feeling light-headed, where I was just like, “We’re gonna have to put Isobel through so much pain, and as an actor, I have to go there with her.” That’s not a pleasant place to go, and yet, as an artist, you hope that you get to represent all aspects of the human character and experience, and at least half of those are not pleasant. So, I felt an enormous responsibility to do justice for this character because I know that she is an emblem for so many women and humans and men, too, in general, who have had to go through enormous amounts of trauma and come out the other side. Trauma and really terrible things can lead us to places that we never thought we could get. We can find inner strength that will surprise us, and that we never would have had to call on, if we hadn’t been pushed. So, there is real value in taking a character to a dark place and exploring these really dark parts of the human condition because that’s also where so much of the beauty of courage and strength and vulnerability comes from. It’s not hard to be strong and courageous when everything is going your way. It really is in those moments of extremis and dire need that people have to step up and they’re called to show their strength. That’s such a beautiful part of life, so it’s wonderful that Carina is challenging us and pushing us to go there. I was really honored to be able to represent this story, although it was also something that I took very seriously because it’s a very sensitive and weighty issue.

Do you have a personal favorite episode that’s coming up?

COWLES: I loved the first three. I loved them so much. Eva [McKenna] is such an incredible writer, and she wrote the second episode. Deirdre [Mangan] and Carina wrote the third episode, which I think is stunningly beautiful. But I will say that our dear writers, Rick [Montano] and Vinny [Ingrao] knocked Episode 206 out of the park. It’s funny and wonderful, and a reprieve from all of the really high intensity, emotional drama. It’s exciting and it’s got action, and it’s got really juicy things. I think it’s going to break the internet. Episode 206 – tune in!

Things have been a little bit different this season. Last season, you had this little alien trio of Max, Isobel and Michael, and it’s different now, with Max mostly dead. What’s that like for you, as actors? Does it feel like a very different experience without that?

COWLES: Yeah, definitely. All of the actors on our show are so fun to work with, in their own ways, so it’s cool when you get to switch it up. I love working with Amber [Midthunder]. I love working with Heather [Hemmens] and Jeanine [Mason]. I love the little Scooby gang that we’ve got going on, with [Michael] Trevino and Tyler Blackburn and Michael Vlamis and Jeanine and I, all working together to like solve the mysteries of the universe. But I definitely sent a message, at one point, to Michael Vlamis and was like, “I miss you! I miss working with you!” I love working with both Nathan [Parsons] and Vlamis. They’re so different as actors, and they’re both so good and wonderful. Vlamis and I get together and we just riff and have so much fun. I hope, in some world, there’s a blooper reel that comes out with all of our riffing ‘cause we’ll just go off. Eventually, the director will be like, “Okay, enough! Just say the lines.” We rev each other up and get going, and it’s so much fun. When I don’t get to work with my bros, I’m like, “Dudes, I miss you!” But it’s also so wonderful to be able to work with other actors and get to know them. There were characters that Isobel didn’t interact with as much in the first season, that suddenly she’s getting to be bumped up against in the second, and it’s really fun to see how the different characters relate to each other and work around each other.

It’s also very cool that this re-imagining of this has been able to include some of the original cast, with Shiri Appleby directing and Jason Behr now guest starring on Season 2. What’s it meant to the cast to see how the original cast is supporting the series, and what’s it been like to have them around, on set?

COWLES: We’re so lucky to have Shiri and Jason supporting us and wanting to be part of our show. When you make an adaptation of an original, of course, you want to do justice and you wanna feel that the people who made the original are supportive of what you’re doing. It means the world to us that they’re both so excited to be a part of it and to work on it. It boosts our morale so much to see them and to feel like we’re a part of this larger legacy of a story that’s being told across generations. They’re so professional and so funny, and they bring their ow flavor of the original, that was so specific and good, with that tone that they had. They bring that into our show, and it’s so wonderful to be able to infuse what we’re making with that OG flavor. It feels really good. They’re both the most gracious, warm, friendly and hysterical people. I have a huge crush on both of them. If I got to out with one, it would be very difficult for me to choose. And that’s saying a lot because Jason Behr is everything that I thought was good and true, as a 12-year-old. But Shiri, man, is something else.

~ CoIIider

[notmyrick]

General Arc 7

/She had a Rick once/ She remembered, she used to love sweets. /She had a Rick once, but she also had a Diane./ She remembered her life in Washington, in Michigan. /She had a Rick once, but she also had a Diane. Then she had a Beth. / She remembered the fights, the tears, the chaos. /She had a Rick once, but she also had a Diane. Now she only had a Beth. / She remembered her lowest point in life, how her sun can in the form of a small little girl. /She had a Rick once, but she also had a Diane. Then a Beth. / She remembered a house filled with only women at one point. /She had a Rick once/ She remembered her life before she pushed papers for the council. A life before she became the most trusted advocate for the Citadel of Ricks, before she used her business expertise to grow this space hub into the most glorious city on the central finite curve. She also remembered how she was experimented on for her "unique" effects on Ricks. /She had a Rick once/ And she'd be damned if she didn't get her Rick back. /She had a Rick once/ After 10+ years, both Rick and Roxxanne dropped back into the lives of Beth. She was undoubtedly pissed, but after a few months, and a lot of yelling, Roxy was able to explain what happened, to Beth. With this Roxx and Rick was introduced to the newest edition to the family, they might've been 14 years too late, but the boy finally got to meet his grandparents. The first thing Rick did with his grandson was go on an adventure. By the time both came back for dinner, Rick was yelling "Rick and Morty forever, 100 years!" Roxy smiled, age lines starting to grow in. Rick and Roxx finally looked like grandparents. /She had a Rick once/ Rick roped Morty in his antigovernment sentiments and most of their adventures started to target either the Federation or the council of Ricks. While her husband and grandson went off adventuring, she had a mission of her own as well. She started to target every Rick that has done her or her husband wrong during their time in captivity on the Citadel. With her unauthorized portal gun and a husband who could make portal fluid with a snap of his fingers she was able to maintain this lifestyle for a while. She didn’t know why it took her forever to learn that her actions create consequences. But by the time she learnt her lesson, it was already too late. /She had a Rick once/ And her Rick bled on the asphalt of the street. The red liquid painted the ground with majority on black pavement instead of his body. She walked into the Beth's home, where all their, now only her, memories were kept. The destruction in the living room, the kitchen, the garage, everywhere. Her lips trembled, truly scared of what she'll witness, but she must. If not for her, at least for them. For her Jerry, for her Beth. For her Summer and her Morty. But most of all for her Rick. "Surveillance, playback security cams. Reenact crime scene." She ended up puking for an entire day after watching. /She had a Rick once/ "Blow up dimension SW-33T. Record destruction and blame on terrorist Ricks C-550, 301B, C-132, and C-137. Follow same procedure for dimensions A-17, Zeta 02, and alpha 9 and all their sub-universes. Send "evidence" to the Citadel." "Action confirmed, now commencing destruction on 12 multiverses." The AI replied. Roxxanne did it, she got all her revenge to the people who did her wrong, but she never felt so empty. She caressed the portal gun her Rick made her. She modified so she can go unseen, by even the council of Ricks. She was able to create her own Portal fluid since the passing of her husband. She felt empty, and now wanted to fill the void. /She had a Rick once/ She did drugs, alcohol, and sex, but they were so temporary. Why couldn't something more fill the void, why couldn't be happy? Then she found her vice. 

/She had a Rick once/ She turned her body toward the man she was sharing a bed with. Her vivacious red hair turned strawberry blonde. Her body, although impressive for her age, was still saggy in some places. She turned away from the ebony skinned man and got herself dressed. It was time for the act to begin. She grabbed the expensive but very valuable cigars he gifted her last night and left. She came back with a drugged-out woman with similar hair color as herself and draped her across the man. She checked their pluses and vital signs to ensure they were alive but knocked out. Finally, she gave a call. --- Roxxanne with makeup, a tank top, and tight jeans ran into the motel room and covered her mouth. She looked at her "friend" then at the two dead bodies on the bed. She ran back out, stuck a finger down her throat with her hands still covering her face and puked over the railing. Her "friend" came out and held her hair. Roxxanne started to pinch her skin, willing tears to come out. "I told you where he was at so you could work things out, not kill him!" "Roe! He was cheating on me! With a sex offender! That woman is a known sex offender in at least 2 states!" "What if you husband was the victim!" "Oh don't give him too much credit. Once I could believe, twice I'll pity, but for months! There is no way!" Her "friend" tried to bring Roxxanne inside, for a more private discussion, but she could already see the neighbors calling in the cops as the look out their window. "I’m going to jail. I should've never told you where he was! I can't go to jail, what am I going to do with my granddaughter!" Roxxanne broke down crying in public, she edged her peripherals to see some of the callers seem to pity her. Perfect. "Roe! Get in the room!" "No! I don’t want to! Please, don't make me go back in!" She protested and "struggled" against her grasp as she was dragged into the murder scene. The man she slept with hours before her "friend's" arrival had his head blown into smithereens. The woman she dragged in had her insides spilling out of her. She was a known sex offender with quite a racist profile, she would rape people of color and either cry wolf or torture them. Both were shot with a shot gun at close range, which is why the scene was so messy. "Roe, take the shotgun and hid it somewhere." "Please, please don’t make me do this." "We are already in too deep, you are now an accessory of murder. If you want to ever see your granddaughter again, we need to clean this up." Roxxanne looked passed her friend and saw and undercover cop car, parked outside. Roxxanne vehemently shook her head side to side, but her "friend" shoved the gun in her hands and shoved her out the door. Roxxanne shivered and shook as she descended the motel stairs with a shotgun cradled into her arms. Suddenly a man appeared in front of her and covered her mouth. She "jumped" and bit the inside of her cheeks to start the water works. "Okay miss I need you to- wait calm down, look I'm an undercover cop, not some bad guy look. Here is my badge. Everything is going to be fine now. We got witnesses that can testify for your innocence. You’re not in trouble." Roxxanne nervously shook her head and "complies" with the police. He took the gun away from her arms and told her to go to his colleague and pointed at the undercover car she spotted in the window. She agreed. --- That day her “friend” was instantly arrested and was sentence to life imprisonment. “Roe” came by and visited that friend for 3 months. Roe kept this friend sane and happy. For it was Roe who told this friend about her cheating husband, for it was Roe that was with her through the toughest times of her marriage. This friend talked to Roe everyday she was in prison through a phone and glass. In a short while, this friend looked forward to the everyday, mundane transpires of Roe. Everyday she waited for her to come back. Until one day she didn’t. This friend waited for hours, then days, then a week. This friend asked one of the guards what happened to Roe. They informed her that her friend “Roe” was assaulted last week and died just outside the prison. That friend got emotional really quick. The following week after being informed, she challenged and fought many inmates. By the next week her “friend” was found dead in her cell with no one cause how she died. The official cause of death statement: depression. Just like Diane. "Roe" disappeared neatly off the census and so was her “friend”. Roxxanne was on her driveway, garage open, smoking a big, fat cigar with a margarita on the side and sunglasses. Her strawberry blonde hair was dyed lighter and bit more pink. She puffed hazy air, relishing on the high she was on, lounging on a chair. She tapped the singe off in the designated jar that was placed on a cooler along with her drink. Although this game was quite messy, she killed three birds one stone. The void in her chest seemed to shrink, it almost made her feel complete, but previous attempts told her this was only a temporary bliss. 6 months, this game lasted her 6 months. 3 for the husband, and 3 for her "friend". She honestly thought the game would last longer; she overestimated her targets. She was always down for the long game. She had the time, money, and patience. For a 63-year-old she didn’t look a day over 50. Or at least that what she told herself. She was obsessed with a few things in life. One of them was beauty. She wanted to look young even though she did not feel young at all. Personally, if she had the option to choose, she would rather feel young than look, but she hasn't felt young since she lost her husband, so she could only go for the next best thing: looks. She was also obsessed with pushing people to their own toxicity. It didn’t really matter who, but she still has morals so she tries to aims this obsession to the disgusting people of the world. Finally, she was obsessed with- "Ah gee, Rick, we- we need to clean this up before mom gets home!" "Sh...ut up Mooorty. I... I've... You k-know what, just don't think about it. I al... always have a p-plan." A blue haired scientist just crash landed on his own house, burping through his sentence with alcohol splayed on his face. Beside him was a young brown-haired boy hunched shoulders looking at his grandfather nervously. The space craft skidded on top of their house and into their driveway. Thankfully for Rick it didn't crash into the garage, but the vehicle itself looks worse for wear. Oh, and the roof. Roxxanne took a sip or her margarita as she watched the Smith duo from afar. Her shades displayed nothing abnormal on the outside, the world oblivious to her actions. The scientist grabbed a familiar box and pressed the button. "Hi I'm Mr. Meeseeks!" "Mr. Meeseeks, repair the roof." "Can do!!" The blue humanoid immediately began the process of repairing the roof. Rick ordered Morty to pick up the metal scraps scattered on the driveway from the space craft. With only very little resistance, he agreed, and the blue haired man took off his lab coat and start fixing his hovercraft. The woman sighed and took off her sunglasses. The Smith house disappeared as she did so. Her eyes gazed around the neighborhood she actually lived in. Generally, a better-looking neighborhood than the Smith family. It was more well-kept, a bit more pretentious, and still a suburbia: the grass was a bit greener, the streets were well paved with no cracks, and the sidewalks were clean. She was a few blocks down from where the Smith family lived. She stretched in her chair before moving to place everything back in her garage. In her driveway was a posh looking car and inside the garage was a motorcycle. "Great aunt Roxx?" She stopped briefly and looked at the person who called her. She smiled and continue to pack up as she replied. "Yes, sweet pea?" "Can my friends and I stay over your house for a study session?" "No problem, just tell me the date." "Thanks grandma!" "No problem, Jessica." Once the teenage redhead left back inside her house, she finished packing. Smoking the last of her blunt, she also downed her margarita like it was a shot. The sunglasses she took off hanged on the shirt near her chest. She took a brief look back at the Smith house and saw the same scenario. She took the glasses off and placed them in a cabinet in her garage. The garage was well maintained and clean. One half was dedicated to her tinkering or self-repair for vehicles, while the other hosted her joy ride. She closed the garage door and entered her two-story house through the garage. In this dimension, she never met Rick. In this dimension she didn't meet Diane. In this dimension she never had a Beth. In this dimension, she didn't have anyone. Not until she got an invitation to a funeral. A funeral of her apparent older sister by a few years. She went out of curiosity, and met her grandniece, Jessica. Memories, probably suppressed by this Roxxanne's body, flooded into her. She had a family? In this dimension, she never found anyone who could keep up with her, thus making her all alone. In this dimension she was smart, too smart for her own good. She was a successful business woman, did time in the army, and loved to tinker with improbable science ideas. This dimension was almost an exact mimicry of her own, the only difference… The only difference was she had no relation to the Smith family. Her consciousness, after she died in her original body, rerouted her to this dimension. To be honest she was ready to start over, turn a new leaf, be a better person. Sure, she had an estranged family, but this was her chance to reconnect. In addition, she could be herself and not act in front of them because they didn’t know her. The set up was perfect. Yet, it all came crashing down when she saw a familiar family at a grocery store a month after.

She knew then, this was the catch and she was too curious for her own good.

What was this Rick like? Was he good? Was he Evil? Was he bad? Old habits die hard. Yes, she had one more obsession. She was obsessed with Rick Sanchez. This Rick was one of the terrorist Ricks. One of which she blamed for the destruction of a few multiverse. /She had a Rick once/ Rick SW-33T. /She had a Rick once/

And this was not her Rick.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

One measure of the success or failure of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry will be just how much evidence they’re able to squeeze out of the Trump administration. There’s already a surprising amount of information out in the open about President Trump asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter. But now House Democrats must figure out whether Trump’s actions are impeachable, which has meant pursuing information from a wide range of sources within the administration, from Vice President Mike Pence to heretofore unknown figures like European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland.

The White House is, to put it mildly, not on board. Earlier this month, White House lawyers sent the Democrats a fiery letter declaring that the executive branch would refuse to cooperate with the investigation in any way. Since then, other administration officials have also said they’ll refuse to cooperate — including some, like Defense Secretary Mike Esper and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who have said the information requested by the House is confidential and may be covered by executive privilege.

We’re likely to hear more about executive privilege over the coming weeks as the tug-of-war between the Trump administration and Congress escalates. And that’s because if you are a president trying to withhold information from other branches of government, claiming executive privilege is an obvious place to start. It’s a powerful but sometimes murky concept that allows presidents to shield certain information about goings-on in the West Wing from the public, the courts, and Congress. But it’s also not a limitless power. Just ask Richard Nixon, whose presidency came to an abrupt end after the Supreme Court ruled that he couldn’t use executive privilege to avoid turning over a set of incriminating White House tapes.

So if you find the whole concept of executive privilege mysterious (and you are surely not alone), here’s a quick crash course on what it is and how it could affect the impeachment inquiry.

What is executive privilege? How does it work?

Presidents talk about a lot of sensitive issues within the confines of the White House — matters of national security, for instance, are a big one. And there are plenty of legitimate reasons why a president wouldn’t want the contents of those conversations to be broadcast outside the Oval Office — if advisers had to worry that their counsel would be made public, it would be very hard to have candid internal discussions. Enter executive privilege. It’s a power that allows the executive branch to ignore Congress’s and the courts’ requests for some documents or testimony that’s related to either presidential communications or the process of creating government policy.

Where does this power come from?

Executive privilege is not in the Constitution, but that hasn’t stopped pretty much every president from trying to keep information out of the hands of Congress. As a formal legal concept, though, it’s still relatively new. The term “executive privilege” was coined during the Eisenhower administration. It was first recognized by the Supreme Court as a legitimate presidential power in 1974 as part of the Watergate investigation — although ironically, the justices went on to conclude that even though executive privilege existed, it was not unlimited, so Nixon still couldn’t use it to avoid handing over the White House tapes to a court.

To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with exercising a power that’s not explicitly spelled out in the Constitution. But executive privilege’s vague origins do mean that we tend to find out about its limitations only when a president tries to use it in a legally questionable way — which means there are many gray areas in how it can be used.

What have the courts said about executive privilege?

Surprisingly, not all that much. In the Nixon case, the justices were clear that executive privilege isn’t a literal get-out-of-jail free card, in that a president’s ability to use it to avoid handing damaging information over to a prosecutor is very limited. But they didn’t say much more than that, and haven’t ruled on it since.

Over the years, though, some limitations have been hashed out in a handful of lower court rulings and by the Department of Justice. For instance, experts told me there is broad agreement that only the president can invoke executive privilege, but he can still assert it to keep aides from testifying in some circumstances. However, the president can’t use it willy-nilly even if he’s dealing with Congress and not a criminal investigation. He generally has to have a good reason for withholding information, rather than simply refusing to share something because he doesn’t want Congress to have it. What that has meant in practice is that declaring an entire topic or category of people off-limits isn’t generally allowed.

How has Trump been using executive privilege?

So far, Trump hasn’t been extensively asserting executive privilege in response to House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. But administration figures like Pence who have claimed that they don’t have to cooperate because the entire inquiry is constitutionally illegitimate have also noted that executive privilege could be invoked later. And in House Democrats’ other investigations, Trump has been aggressive about his use of executive privilege, going so far as to claim it for people like former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who never worked in his administration. So it seems likely that Trump will be continue to assert it going forward.

If Congress challenges Trump’s privilege claim, who decides who wins?

In the past, a presidential assertion of executive privilege was the opening gambit in a long negotiation that often — although not always — ended with compromise. But if the president doesn’t want to give an inch, the courts have to weigh in.

But there’s still an element of gamesmanship to these disputes, as the legal process can take a very, very long time to resolve. For instance, a battle over documents related to a botched arms-trafficking operation conducted under the Obama administration ping-ponged through the courts for seven years. Needless to say, House Democrats do not want to wait anywhere near that long to make decisions about impeachment.

Granted, if there were a fight over whether the Trump administration has to comply with subpoenas in an impeachment inquiry, it would almost certainly be expedited. But that wouldn’t stop White House lawyers from trying to slow-walk the process and hope that it kills Democrats’ momentum. And even if the Supreme Court decided to swoop in and short-circuit the legal process, it’s hard to imagine how the justices could weigh in by the end of November, when some Democrats have said they want to have articles of impeachment written up.

Who’d have the edge in a legal fight — the president or Congress?

If comes down to a legal fight, the Supreme Court would probably end up making the final call. And it wouldn’t be a slam dunk for either side. Several legal experts told me that in a previous era, they’d expect the justices to lean toward Congress, since Trump’s use of executive privilege is so aggressive. But the high court has never weighed in on the scope of executive privilege in a congressional investigation, and the current conservative majority might be a friendlier audience for the president, given some of the justices’ views on executive power. For instance, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested at one point in his career that the case involving the Nixon tapes might have been wrongly decided.

What if Democrats don’t have time to take Trump to court?

Democrats’ best bet, if they don’t want to trigger a lengthy legal battle, may be to get members of the administration to defy orders and testify anyway. And that already seems to have happened in at least one case. Lawyers for the Trump administration warned Fiona Hill, a former Russia analyst for Trump, that information about “diplomatic communications” would be covered by executive privilege. But Hill’s lawyers pushed back, contending (among other things) that executive privilege doesn’t apply when there’s been government misconduct. Hill did reportedly testify about diplomatic communications (her testimony was given at a closed-door hearing, so we don’t have all the details), but she hasn’t faced any consequences yet, so that may embolden others.

There’s also reason to think that if Trump’s use of executive privilege was particularly egregious, it could be spun as an impeachable offense itself. It wouldn’t be the first time — in the impeachment proceedings against Clinton, the president’s use of executive privilege was called frivolous and corrupt by House Republicans. So if Democrats can’t get all of the information they want, they could at least use Trump’s refusal to provide it as more fodder for impeachment.

[weapon13whitefang]

Challenge Ask: One of the theories out there is that Beth is part of the Whisperers. If so, what do you think Beth would have to do to get Daryl to join aswell? #BringBackBeth2019

I’m gonna start off by saying that, with one hundred percent belief on my end, Beth would not try to get Daryl to join the Whisperers unless she had absolutely no idea who he or Carol or Michonne – the only people she’d recognize at this point since Maggie and Rick are MIA – were at all.

The Whisperers in the comic would only kill people that wouldn’t conform to their belief. They shun civilization and humanity and view humans as animals. Basically, the apocalypse was a reset for them to “go back to their roots”, so to speak. Which is funny because on the show, that’s what The Wolves believed. Hell, a Wolf basically says that to Morgan and Gabriel before Carol kills him:

“We’re freeing you. You’re trapped. You need to know, people don’t belong here anymore.”

Which is why a lot of people who’ve read the comics probably thought The Wolves were going to be The Whisperers. They’re very similar after all… But it turns out it was more like a hint / foreshadowing of the Whisperers. At least in terms of dealing with people with views that are “way out there”.

Think about it this way. So far, besides Terminus and The Wolves, the other groups that TF has faced had very understandable reasons behind their actions that one could associate with human survival and mentality. The Governor was a bit mad but his choices stemmed from basic human emotions that were twisted. He lost his family and therefore it twisted him up and he wanted a cure to get his daughter back and he wanted control to run things as he saw they should be. His actions were disgusting and horrible, but he was still marginally human. A monster in his actions. But a human.

Dawn and Grady were an example of The Stanford Prison Experiment. The psychological perceived image of power and control over one’s prisoners. Dawn believed she had control and therefore she underestimated people and what they can and will do for power or to survive. If you’ve never read about the experiment or seen the tapes, fair warning that they’re hard to stomach but also really fascinating. But I can say that some of what we saw at Grady is very similar to the experiment. Especially when you focus on how each person fell into their roll and how quickly things fell apart since the experiment only lasted six days but many people left mid experiment…

Anyway, Grady still had the psychological connection to human actions. What we saw with Dawn and the other officers and the prisoners/Beth was examples of human actions when given no boundaries within boundaries. Meaning the actions of the officers were still “controlled” in the hospital because too much push could have consequences to them even if Dawn was slack on punishment for the sake of a power balance, she still had the illusion of control over things and psychologically that put people in place. Even the ones plotting against her. She was still being a cop just with very twisted views and survival choices… It’s kind of like when you deal with a teacher that thinks they can do whatever they want because they have ten year but, in the end, they still have to keep to certain school rules or risk a full-on student attack. Least in high school anyway.

Then there’s The Saviors. Negan was using charisma and intimation to rally people the way he wanted them. He was basically being an Adolf (I’m not gonna put the N with the Z word in here incase it gets flagged or something since Tumblr is on some cray with their tagging or mention issue) and he used charisma and the illusion of power to make things his way. We get a hint from Gordon (the Savior who tried to get away that Dwight killed) that things before Negan were different. That when Negan came in, everyone and everything changed:

“Thug swoops in with a baseball bat and smiles and we’re so scared we gave up everything – but there’s only one of him and all of us so why are we living like this?”

If you think about it, Negan’s reign was a very basic example of Adolf’s reign over Germany. Adolf came in, worked himself up to power in politics with cunningness, violence, and his overall charm. People liked him (crazy enough) and he was excellent at speaking and surrounded himself with people like himself that weren’t afraid of violence to fulfill their political gain… Who does that sound like? Negan. And Negan used a lot of psychological torture on people (example of letting Dwight fuck with Daryl by taking away his clothes, keeping him awake with cheery music, and feeding him dog food), something Adolf himself had done with his camps… Basically the Saviors could be an example of Germany and their fall to Adolf’s political party… And this is even more true when you think of how Germany had a hard time adapting after Adolf’s fall (I know there’s more history to it than that but I’m not going into politics and history here, just pointing out similarities).

So now look at the Terminus crew and The Wolves. Out of the two, Terminus is more human than the Wolves were. They were once a peaceful group who put up signs to bring people together to survive and have a future… But the wrong kind of people got in and stayed and used the Terminus crew and raped and just enslaved them. This broke Gareth and his brother Alex and their mother Mary. He started seeing his deeds – eating people and hurting them – as things he had to do. Not things he wanted to do. Things he had to do to survive. They needed to eat. Food was scarce, so they took a page from the Walkers. People became the food. You’re either the butcher or the cattle mentality taken to a whole new level… Those that didn’t fall in line – those that questioned the choice to eat others – became the cattle.

Really, Gareth even says it to Bob after Bob wakes up (I cut down some of the speech because it’s not really needed):

“I want to explain myself a little. You see, we didn’t want to hurt you… before. We didn’t want to pull you away from your group or scare you. These aren’t things we want to do. They’re things we gotta do. You and your people took away our home. That’s fair play. Now we’re out here like everybody else trying to survive. And in order to do that, we have to hunt. Didn’t start that way, eating people. It evolved into that. We evolved. We had to. And now we’ve devolved, into hunters… I just hope you understand that nothing happening to you now is personal…. A man’s gotta eat….”

It’s human to evolve… But it’s also an animal thing. Humans and Animals have evolved over the years to adapt to the changing environment and changing world. Gareth had a point when he said they had to evolve… But he was right in that when they evolved, they devolved as well. They went back to cave men. Because in TWD world you can’t be like you were. Like Beth said, you gotta put the past behind you or it kills you. The Terminus people became the Walkers… Humans as Walkers. So, they were the first simple example of The Whisperers in that they turned their back on civilized norm. They ate other humans to live. They weren’t too different from the walkers… Just maintained their human mind of being able to have cognitive thoughts. In the end, that got them killed cause they tried to eat the wrong people.

Then there’s The Wolves. Primitive and cult like, The Wolves used the walkers just like Terminus adapted with the walkers. Now we didn’t see a wolf eat a person (least I don’t recall seeing them try to eat a person) but they did use the walkers and took to overthrowing and raiding other survivor groups to survive. They were scavengers (taking the arc of The Scavengers in the comic, who are the ones who actually attack ASZ after Rick kills Pete). They were like wolves. They scavenged their food, mark their territory, and would grow in numbers with gathering more people to follow their way or gather more walkers to use as a trap, marking them with their W’s as well. Marking them like a farmer marks their cattle. A butcher marking their kills… Which is what a pack of wolves does. They mark their territory and take from it as they see fit.

So again, it’s easy to see why they were viewed as being The Whisperers. But I believe – like a lot of people – that they were just a “beta” version of the Whisperers for the group to face. The Wolves devolved from civilization to taking on animal qualities of a cult-pack mindset and were using the walkers to gain an upper hand against other “packs”, AKA the people they attacked. The Whisperers devolved to become those that use the walkers but walk among them… The Wolves and the Terminus crew were a buildup to the Whisperers – a buildup to Beta and Alpha. Alpha is basically like Gareth and Beta is like Owen, the former leader of the Wolves.

So, what about Beth in terms of my entire rambling? Well as I said, I do not believe that unless Beth didn’t know who Daryl was, she wouldn’t try to lure him to the Whisperers. That role seems to be going to Lydia – the girl we see telling Daryl in the trailer that “you don’t belong with these people” or so it’s being made out as… We’ll see.

Now I started writing this out before the mid-season premiere so I’ve gone and changed some thoughts, but most of the following stuff is still what I think. I think Lydia is going to try and persuade Henry and Daryl. More so I see Henry, as it seems they’re trying to play Carl’s role with Lydia on Henry, though I don’t see it going over like it did in the comics (We saw an image of Lydia violently lashing out in the future episode previews so I’m still with the belief that she can’t be trusted for now./// May change.)

Anyway, with Lydia persuading Henry, his easily impressionable and good hearted nature is gonna have him go after Lydia (SPOILER ALERT FROM HERE ON YOU’VE BEEN WARNED there’s going to be an exchange for Luke and Alden from Alpha to get her daughter back). Daryl is going to have to get into the Whisperers group because I’m sure others are gonna be captured (this part I do not know but I do know Daryl is supposed to put on a Walker suit and mask). That’s how he ends up fighting Beta like we see in the preview (which, ooc for this post I’m so fucking excited for just FYI ‘cause I love love love Ryan Hurst and I’m so happy to see SOA peeps on TWD… Can we get others? Please?! Lol) and that’s going to probably get Daryl captured by the Whisperers as well.

Now here is my speculation… I have a few ideas about – if she is with the Whispers – that can maybe be possible. One, I am wondering if Beth is going to be shown coming across the spiked Walker heads. Why do I think that? This:

This is Andrea after she finds the spiked heads of her friends with Michonne, Rick, Dante, Carl, and Lydia. Michonne in the comic was in a sort of relationship with Ezekiel (who is one of the heads that the group finds) and she breaks down, unable to put down Ezekiel’s reanimated head. Andrea takes a knife from Michonne and does it for her. Now… Look at how Andrea looks. She’s wearing a poncho, a hat similar to what Gabriel has been wearing (I believe it’s called a Gaucho hat or more commonly just called a Mexican cowboy hat), jeans, her hair pulled back, and the scar on her face.

The poncho automatically makes me think of Daryl. Daryl’s poncho was left back at the prison when it fell along with Merle’s bike. So unless Beth ended up back at the fallen walker over-run prison (which, hey, if she was still in Georgia when she woke up, wouldn’t be that far off though I highly doubt it) then her picking up a poncho not only would be a reference to something Daryl did but it would also connect to Maggie as Daryl let Maggie wear the poncho in S3. The hat would be a nod to Rick, as the Gaucho “Mexican Cowboy Hat” would associate to the cowboy hat that Rick wears and honestly with Beth’s jeans, would look dope as hell… Just saying. She’d look like a female Clint Eastwood, which is why Norman wanted the poncho – Clint Eastwood look.

This image of Andrea is one of the many that really paints that Beth and Comic!Andrea looked very similar. There are tons of images in the comic of Andrea that make Beth look like her twin. Especially with the new cut across her cheek she had received in Grady.

With this image in mind and being at this part in the comic on the show, I can’t help but just gravitate to it and think of Beth in general… Which is mostly just fan reaching with no solid evidence, but that’s one way I can see Beth having a connection to the Whisperers’ coming across their “handy work”.

Number two, if Beth survived the gunshot, her memory could be all kinds of fucked up. She might not have a single clue as to who Daryl or Carol or Michonne are. She might not recall that she has a sister or who Rick was or even know who Judith was/is. I always keep in mind that we were told the reunion could be bittersweet for Beth and the others… Bittersweet could mean that she doesn’t remember anyone OR that she’s partially blind and can’t recognize people OR that she doesn’t remember anyone and is a completely different person than she was… That would be the only way I’d be able to see Beth within the Whisperers world. The Beth we know wouldn’t stand for what they do. Would she maybe stick around to survive them if they captured her? Absolutely. But the moment she could, Beth would escape… Unless she didn’t know who she was at all anymore. As in who she is and who she was are not part of her and make her completely different. What’s more bittersweet than finding something you lost but it’s not the way you remember it? Ever find an old book or an old photo or something you lost, only to see it’s missing pages or is cracked in places or just not completely like you left it… That could be Beth. That gunshot has to have some kind of leftover affect on the girl… Trauma to the head isn’t gonna leave you in one single piece. Not from what I’ve studied and heard…

So of course the third thing is that she’s pretending and with the Whisperers as a means to survive because they said join us or we kill you / fuck you up. So she joins them… But if Beth saw Daryl or Michonne and her memory was still around, then she’d do her damn best to get to him and Michonne to get back to her family like she’s been trying to do FOR EIGHT YEARS. This is why I have a hard time with this whole “Boots is Beth” thing, by the way. I can see the appeal of it. And there are some strange things around it… But if Beth had any clue of where Rick or Maggie or Michonne or Daryl were, she’d have gone to them asap. Granted, she could’ve gotten held up / something bad happened to her on the way between the junkyard and Alexander. But even still, eight years is a long time to get held back…

Overall, eight years is a long ass time between Grady and now. Oh sure, it had been two years or so since they’d seen Morales and suddenly he shows up and his loose end was closed… But at least Morales wasn’t some weird ass fucking Dutch angle bullshit. He left for a new location with his family, he never made it, and he found the Saviors. That’s the basic of it… But it’s a story and it folds up nice enough to make sense… Beth’s story is an eight year fucking gap in the TWD world. For us it’s been just over five years of nothing… Would now be the best time to drop her in? Well it wouldn’t hurt the ratings right now that’s for bloody sure. I mean – I know everyone is pointing it out but why don’t I as well – the ratings for Season 1 were just slightly lower than they are now… Slightly. Not too far. But close… Season 4 and Season 5 were the best and highest in ratings out of all nine… They need to step some shit up. Not by taking away and adding in a bunch of who the fuck people… But by doing something no average viewer is going to expect. I took film classes. I studied this shit. They need to do something or the show can end up on the chopping block and goodbye big screen and FEAR and all the other ideas that were supposed to be played out.

Now… Back in 2015 – give or take – I did have a thought. This will be my final thoughts on Beth and the Whisperers, I cannot believe I’ve written something this long good god I am sorry for the long read…. But anyway, back in about 2015 or so, I wrote a post called “Liz Makes A Contribution to TD” (click to read if you want) . In that post I talked about the season five cast photos that were out at the time.

If you don’t recall which one those were, here’s a link from Skybound of them . So these photos come out and – like Skybound pointed out – there was no Tyreese or Beth or Carl. Which had people speaking up on Tumblr and I saw a few people on Twitter also comment to Skybound about how bizarre it was that we didn’t have these three… Well then we got a picture of Beth and Tyreese.

Of course Tyreese’s photo looked like everyone elses. Like they were all inside a barn (which they would end up in later… But not Tyreese) and Beth’s… Well, if you looked at everyone elseS THEN LOOKED AT Beth’s… Hers was completely different.

If you look at Beth compared to the others, hers just… Sticks out. Everyone else is inside something. There’s light coming through cracks and hitting everyone… But not Beth. She’s being completely covered in light. As in it’s shining down on her while it’s peaking at everyone else.

Now of course, if you read my post, you know that when we got Season 6 Promo pics, a lot of people flipped out and were pointing out how Beth’s picture looked like she was on the other side of the wall that Rick is leaning against and listening to the Walker on the other side.

Take a look

Even someone like me - on team fence - could still look at these images and go “Hey, Wait a minute…” and gasp at the realization that it literally looks like Beth is just on the other side of the wall Rick is against

Immediately I was thinking of Beth’s lines that she screamed at in Daryl to make a point to his drunk, angry ass. The same damn lines that many of us today have still been quoting and that many people have been pealing back layer by layer and feeling like this is important and it’s trying to tell us something.

“I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl. I’m not Michonne, I’m not Carol, I’m not Maggie. I’ve survived and you don’t get it ‘cause I’m not like you or them. But I made it and you don’t get to treat me like crap just because you’re afraid!”

How many times has TD gone over and over this line? How many times have you all found yourself just repeating that line and thinking “why did they have her say that if they just were gonna kill her” when we were told Scott had this whole damn thing planned out… Why give her that line to spit out? Or the line she says to Daryl as they’re sitting and talking on the porch?

“I’ll be gone someday.”

“Stop.”

“I will. You’re gonna be the last man standing. You are… You’re gonna miss me so bad when I’m gone, Daryl Dixon.”

Of course I highlighted the important elements... I have thought really had about this line many a times and I know you all have as well… So when I thought of those lines and thought of those promo photos and what they were saying to me, I went into “Holy Shit I Get It” mode.

Beth IS A dead girl… She’s among the dead…

At the time I didn’t understand what I was getting at. I just knew Beth would return with the Walkers. I felt that deep in my gut when I looked at the images. And even now, looking back at them, my body is like “dude, wake up and look dammit!” and I’m looking… But until now, I think I get what I didn’t realize back then.

The Walkers Beth will be with… Are the Whisperers.

A living girl among the dead… Who does that? The Whisperers do that. Alpha and the Whisper do just that. They LIVE among the DEAD. The WALK among the DEAD. They ARE the WALKING DEAD. They are what Rick said that Team Family was and what Daryl said they are not.

But what exactly does that mean… Is Beth a Whisperer… Or will she come from the Whisperers.

Let me explain… You asked if I believed Beth would try to convince Daryl to Join the Whisperers… If Beth is among the Whisperers AS a Whisperer, no I do not believe she will try to bring Daryl over… But rather try to get from the Dead to Daryl and Carol (who will be the only damn people left she will know with Michonne leaving) and reveal herself among the dead…. Or this whole Whisperers arc will lead to something that will clue Beth on where to find everyone… As in the Living Dead – the Whisperers – will be with the walkers that lead Beth to Hilltop or Alexandria or the Kingdom… Something done among the dead will lead the living back.

Make sense? God I hope so.

Those images are the only reason I could see Beth have anything to connect herself to the Whisperers… She’s among the dead. I do believe that… But how she’ll be with the living again is the mystery…

I’m so sorry this took so long and is so long oh my gawd lol!

Also imma tag @twdmusicboxmystery and @bethgreenewarriorprincess and @bethgreeneishopeunseen and @wdway cause they’re more TD than me and know more shit lol

[iambraiden-blog]

DCEU v Masculinity

EDIT: This post was originally published on Creators.co on June 12th, 2017 - since then the site has now closed down.

The DCEU films to me - Man of Steel, Batman v Superman AND Wonder Woman - are actually everything that's right with the DCEU. Its narrative. How it's told, both visually and in story. It wasn't until I experienced Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman, however, that I truly came to understand Snyder's intentions of the DC Extended Universe at large, beginning with Man of Steel (2013) and culminating with the anticipated Justice League (2017).

Have you ever wondered why Warner Bros - the same studio that gave us Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) not too long ago - placed Wonder Woman where it is in the DCEU slate, why it followed BvS and came before Justice League? Have you ever thought to realise that hiring a female director for Wonder Woman was intended from the moment Snyder laid the groundwork for the DCEU? What does 'dawn of justice' actually mean?

All the DCEU films are intricately linked and connected by masculinity, in more ways than one. And I don't refer to just male masculinity but female as well; not just white, but black; American and non-American (read: Atlantean); and human and non-human (read: Kryptonian). Even Rick Famuyiwa’s The Flash could have explored young masculinity, race and societal expectations in a culturally relevant piece of cinema.

Like what George Miller managed and succeeded with in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), it is my belief that Zack Snyder is using the DC characters to deconstruct and challenge cinematic masculinity within the action genre, to draw attention to the consequences of unchecked toxic masculinity / traditional white [hyper]masculinity, and address the importance and power of women - mothers, wives, sisters, friends, daughters - in our world and in the lives of the men they walk.

There is no "trilogy" in the DCEU. There is, however, an interconnected transition from male masculinity to female masculinity and leadership throughout the four films and an increasing focus on the power of emotion and love, passion and compassion, diversity and, well, humanness and human kindness. All traits that, as Diana (Gal Gadot) states, are worth cherishing.

"I used to want to save the world. This beautiful place. But I knew so little then. Because a land of magic and wonder is worth cherishing in every way. But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness simmering within. And mankind? Mankind is another story altogether."

To arrive at a destination we must first make the journey. We must make the hero's journey ourselves. We needed the darkness - needed to literally fight our way through it - to get to the light. We needed to be divided to understand what it meant to stand together. Diana says that the Amazons "are the bridge of a greater understanding between all men. Snyder, through Patty Jenkins's direction and Allan Heinberg's screenplay, implies that Wonder Woman herself - a representation of the female body - is that bridge for men in the Hollywood industry, for men in pop culture, for men in today's society and across the globe. Wonder Woman's success is a win for all - it's a win against traditional masculinity and patriarchy and it's a win for women and the marginalised of our society. Wonder Woman is not just an origin for Diana but so much more!

I intend to illustrate how my claim is supported with evidence from the literature pertaining to action cinema and the hard bodies of Hollywood from the 1970s and the Reagan Era (it's going to get very political!), followed by a discussion of how masculinity is portrayed and deconstructed throughout the DCEU films (these films are far more political than people have given them credit for!), and concluding with how this could all play out in Justice League.

Tonally, the DCEU films are right. As George Miller asks but not explicitly states in Fury Road, "Who killed the world?" we understand the answer is, "MEN!" However, Zack Snyder takes it a step further: we perceive the destructible, bleak world of men, a world without much love, without much hope. It is why on all the promotional posters, the Justice League above and the Trinity further below, it is why there's a light behind Wonder Woman (edit: although with Justice League post-Snyder marketing probably had no idea). It is why, in Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins opens the film on Themyscira, a land so different, lush, thriving, surrounded by glistening water and built on stone. We open on planet Earth, an object we could hold in our hands like a snow globe and we hear Diana's voice.

Bare with me here: before we can get to Wonder Woman we have to discuss how Zack Snyder and Patty Jenkins have addressed masculinity within the DCEU, and to do so you, the reader, must first have an understanding of how Hollywood has handled masculinity in the past and its relationship with American politics. (Prior to my research, I have never been more fascinated with US politics.)

The 1980s saw action film after action film being produced by Hollywood, with movies such as First Blood (Kotcheff, 1982), Terminator (Cameron, 1984) and Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988) showcasing a complex interaction between narrative and spectacle while addressing societal concerns of masculinity (Ayers, 2008). These films were largely based on visual attractions, with an emphasis placed on the bodies of the white male heroes and their weapons and vehicles as much as, if not more than, the dramatic violence and hyperbolic action sequences (Gjelsvik, 2013). According to Gjelsvik, the foregrounding of the male protagonist’s hard and sculpted muscularity represented the hero’s “almost invulnerability” and their capacity to cope and overcome any obstacle or challenge they're faced with. This was your typical action hero.

It is not surprising then that this hyper-masculine heroic depiction is associated with what continues to be described as “traditional masculinity”, an ideology that found prominence in the 1970s requiring a man to be capable of withstanding dangerous situations and be resistant to weakness (Beasley, 2009). To achieve this masculinity, men also needed to be powerful and authoritative, aggressive, and willing to take physical risks where violence is involved or necessary. This traditional masculinity influenced the films Hollywood produced and the heroes they presented, reflecting and representing an ideal American hero and nation.

Action films have found popularity leading into the 1990s and remain a drawcard for cinema-goers today, however it is important to consider when this body of film started, and more precisely, why.

The 1970s, from the Vietnam War’s eventual cessation in 1975 after twenty years of conflict to the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979 that lasted for four-hundred and forty-four days, saw the threat of death loom over the American people and negatively affect their way of life (O’Brien, 2012). A fear, hatred and aggression rippled across patriotic America following these traumatic ordeals. The then President was Jimmy Carter, elected for being a figure outside the mainstream landscape of American politics. He was optimistic, hopeful and untainted by the Vietnam War or the Nixon-involved Watergate scandal. Despite cultivating the image of the everyman and a set of strong values, Carter grappled with the complexities of the world and the country he was expected to lead and defend. His presidency was ultimately undermined by the hostage takeover, which headlined the news and media and subsequently influenced the American people to perceive his administration as weak, negligent and incapable of leading the nation (Priest, 2009).

With the turn of the decade, however, O’Brien suggests the threat of death moved on from American society to the actual body, and according to Susan Jeffords, this move was in part propelled by the ideals and policies of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

In her seminal work on cinematic masculinity, Jeffords (1994) asserts that there is a strong relationship between the representations of masculinity in Hollywood and Reagan’s America, a reflection of the cultural zeitgeist of the 1980s. Jeffords posits that the male bodies of Reagan’s idealistic self-projection and Hollywood’s “hard bodied action heroes forged an interdependence between actions of the nation and those of the individual” - a nationalistic crisis evolved into a crisis of masculinity and male identity.

Therefore, many people were effectively excluded from the national body by characterising them as part of the “soft body”, which included women, people of colour, homosexuals, children, refugees and academics. According to Carrier (2015), women were targeted as the cause and benefactors of the anxieties and fears experienced by American men due to their lost privileges, which were in fact more broadly caused by globalization and capitalism. Jeffords suggests that, like President Carter, these marginalised and often underprivileged sections of society were perceived by white nationalists as an internal threat to the well-being and autonomy of America, whereas the Iranian students taking control of the United States embassy in Tehran, and even Vietnamese and Soviet enemies during the war, were foreign entities who have terrorized American citizens and the nation from outside its borders.

Ronald Reagan became the hero for traditional, white America; he self-projected himself as being like the hard body heroes of the Hollywood action films, a paternalistic figure who defended and separated America’s vulnerable and voiceless from foreign, non-white bodies. The characteristics of traditional masculinity and the hyper-masculine action hero - aggressiveness, authoritativeness, a resistance to weakness, lack of emotion, individuality - were inextricably linked with Reagan’s values, presenting Reagan’s body and administration, and therefore the entirety of the American national body, as invulnerable as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hard bodied and determined Terminator (Beasley, 2009; Carrier, 2015; Jeffords, 1994).

This invulnerability of the national body had been explored to a degree in action films involving the Vietnam War. Hard bodied heroes like Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo and Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979) became representations and reflections of the 'true' American heroes of the Vietnam War, as claimed by Jeffords (1994). Through cinema, Americans were finally allowed to achieve the victory and strength that was unobtainable because of the weak and ineffective government administrations prior to the Reagan era. Jeffords points out that Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood involves a dire reclamation of the masculine body by rejecting the soft, overweight body as presented by Rambo’s judge and opponent within the film. Both films mentioned involve an excessive amount of violence too; Neale (1983) expresses that male audiences repress erotic desires for the masculine male hard body by displacing the eroticised gaze upon the weapons, vehicles and choreographed scenes that create the spectacle nature of this genre. Neale further specifies that these desires are not marked by an inclination towards violence and pain, but rather a want for violent acts to be unleashed on the enemies out of hatred and fear. Additionally, the pain experienced by the protagonists, self-inflicted through training or enemy-inflicted through torture, are a means by which male viewers can distance themselves from the male body and remain traditionally masculine, keeping homoeroticism at bay (Ayers, 2008). Most importantly, however, the heroes of these films, strong and capable like Reagan’s administration and America, would rather confront and oppose enemy states and fascist empires than submit and allow them to invade and take over (Jeffords, 1994).

Action films of the science fiction genre have used invasion narratives not only as a means of entertainment but to speak about both internal and external threats towards the American way of life and autonomy. The science fiction genre has often sought to ask what it is to be human (Kac-Vergne, 2012), and like the action hard body films, this fight to stay human (or alive) can be reconsidered as a fight to retain or reclaim masculinity, specifically to answer what it means to be a “man”. This genre treats obvious fictions as existing realities to support what Combe and Boyle (2013) describe as a social normal, with the abnormal represented by the monsters, the zombies, the robots and aliens in these films. Kac-Vergne acknowledges that the genre had become a mode for hypermasculinity in Hollywood, a vehicle for addressing what’s acceptable and normal. Tasker (1993) refers to alien invasion films, The Thing (Carpenter, 1982) and Predator (McTiernan, 1987), as being part of a hybrid genre - while engaging with science fiction conventions these films balance the tropes of action cinema, which emphasise masculinity and spectacle (Johnston, 2013). Moreover, in science fiction cinema femininity remains marginalised and not “real” (Beasley, 2009); the same can be more broadly said for action cinema.

If I broke this literature down for you straight to its relevancy to the DCEU's heroes it would go like this:

In Man of Steel, Kal-El (a     Superman-becoming) represents the everyman, who struggles with the power     he has (and a power he even struggles to use), and this continues into Batman     v Superman: Dawn of Justice - politically, his ideals and character is     like President Carter.

Throughout most of BvS, Bruce     Wayne/Batman is essentially the traditional hypermasculine hero, a man     charged by fear and anxiety due to internal/external threats on his way of     life and on the lives of the vulnerable and defenceless he has promised to     protect and watch over - he embodies President Reagan's hard bodies.

Wonder Woman and the 'others', as she calls     them at the end of BvS - Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash - non-male,     non-American, non-white, and non-masculine (or is that highly     intelligent?), represent the supposed 'soft bodies', as dictated by     traditional masculinity.

Now that the background around Hollywood, action cinema and their treatment of masculinity and of any non-white, non-male, non-American or "effeminate" person (with some exceptions such as Sarah Connor or Ripley, and more recently Furiosa) has been laid out, it's time to enter the DCEU and discuss Snyder's/Jenkins's fight against traditional [hyper]masculinity and the push for more women and diversity on screen at length.

You can bet that any criticism Snyder and Warner Bros. have received about Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice about character portrayals or spectacle, as well as the reviews of Wonder Woman by mostly white, straight men who've objectified and exotified Gal Gadot's appearances, has played into the DCEU's deconstruction and expression of masculinity as well as society's expectations and perceptions of masculinity and the action genre. The DCEU acts like a social experiment, an attitude measurement test, and audiences (and critics!) don't realise they're being experimented on. (Having previously studied psychology before film, this makes me as intrigued in the audience's attitudes as I am appalled at the behaviours of male critics.)

Masculinity in the DCEU

"I will honour the man you once were, Zod, not this monster you've become."

In the opening five minutes of Man of Steel we see the dichotomy of man. Russel Crowe's Jor-El, alone in front of the Council and armour-less, peacefully argues that although Krypton is doomed there is still hope, that he has held that hope in his hands (i.e. Kal-El, a child born by love and not by the machinations of a society). General Zod (Michael Shannon), on the other hand, storms in geared with guns and soldiers. He shoots the woman in power who questioned his male authority and claims that he can save the Kryptonian race by making them stronger, more assertive, by extinguishing the weak, internal degenerates that have threatened their planet.

After Zod's unchecked toxic masculinity destroys Krypton we cut to Kal (Henry Cavill), who, as an adult named Clark Kent, is a tough-looking, blue-collared everyman. Almost immediately Snyder captures Clark's selflessness on the fishing trawler - Clark doesn't watch out for himself. His masculinity, his manliness is questioned by the fisherman who keeps him from being "crushed" by a falling basket. And then when the trawler heads to the exploding oil rig, Clark has an opportunity to reclaim his masculinity. Reminiscent of the hard body action films of the 1980s Clark's body is bared. As he holds the rig to allow the chopper to escape, the camera pans down briefly to highlight Cavill's muscular body.

In a flashback to a younger Clark (Cooper Timberline), Clark's Kryptonian 'powers' suddenly dominate his senses; his X-ray vision forces his young male self to perceive his female teacher and classmate as bodies to fear, and this fear of his powers represents a fear of a hardening masculinity. This male emasculation, this emotional vulnerability even at such a young age, causes him to be othered by his peers. And when he is bullied as a teenager (Dylan Sprayberry) in front of Lana Lang, a girl he likes, she is the first to notice Clark after he saves the school bus. This approval by Lana propels him to save his bully Pete.

"There's more at stake here than just our lives, Clark; there are the lives of the people around us. When the world finds out what you can do, it's going to change everything: our beliefs, our notions, what it means to be human, everything."

Of course, Jonathan Kent is concerned about Clark's powers being known, but it more importantly connotes a form of masculinity that will be feared. Pete's mother's anxieties may be religiously motivated, but it's a fear of a potentially uncontrollable and destructive masculinity that will threaten her way of life, conservative or not. The "choice" Clark must make is not whether he should use his powers to save the human race or not, it's whether he should remain pure of heart, represent the goodness of humanity or let the hate and anger, the violence inherent in man consume him.

Man of Steel not only addresses traditional masculinity's harmful behaviour towards women, but the effects it has towards other men. In the pub Clark calls out a man for his inappropriate behaviour towards a waitress. The man, lacking Clark's stature, resorts to physical and verbal intimidation. His behaviour is approved by the other men - even the army men smile, remaining silent. The waitress steps in, keeping Clark's masculinity in check, and rather than resorting to violence Clark walks away. Instead Clark pummels and destroys a vehicle - the truck - that has played a significant part in shaping the aggressor's male identity, representative of a culture with toxic attitudes towards women. Clark, as a teenager and as an adult, is criticised for not living up to the traditional ideals of being a "real" man - authoritative and dominant, resistant to weakness and emotion, assertive and... violent.

When audiences call out Clark for being "mopey" and too emotional, they are in fact calling him out for being too feminine and not masculine enough. When Clark dons the Superman garb, it is still just a costume, nothing more. Clark understands that it is not how he is perceived that makes him a man or a hero, but how he behaves and what he uses the image of Superman for. Clark didn't give himself the name "Superman"; it was the media and the people who did. It was the people who claimed him as their hero, as their Superman, in much the same way that America elects and chooses their President.

Superman has shaped young boys' concepts of masculinity for decades, in both film and in the comics: what is ideal and what isn't. So when a cinematic portrayal of the man of steel is presented as being conflicted, unable to handle the complexities of the world he has been "called" to save against an external threat (similar to President Carter during the Iranian Hostage Crisis) then he is not their Superman, then Snyder doesn't understand - and will never - understand Superman.

This attitude is wrong.

"Be their hero, Clark. Be their angel, be their monument, be anything they need you to be... or be none of it. You don't owe this world a thing. You never did."

Superman is not a person. It is an image, a representation of something better, of what makes us good, of what makes us human. Snyder's portrayal of Superman is one of a masculinity kept in check - respectable yet respected, able to express love and yet be loved, able to be an emotional man yet be an assertive one, using his "hard body" for the right reasons, to make a change, to make a positive impact on the world. Holding onto a past Superman because of nostalgia is to be a sponsor for traditional masculinity and all that is wrong with today's conservative patriarchy. Cavill's Superman doesn't replace Reeve's Superman, he just enhances a character that has remained stagnant with old beliefs and ways of expressing. He is the Man of Tomorrow, not the Man of Yesterday.

Clark is not Superman in name alone. His suit is also apart of the Superman image. For Clark, though, that suit is associated with his Kryptonian ancestry, a demeaning representation of masculinity. For him to smile as Superman, teeth glistening, would be a fake display of happiness. The smile he produces as he saves people is one in which he must pretend to be assertive, dominant - a leader. By contrast, Clark shows his teeth when he's out of the suit, when he's just Clark Kent and in the company of Martha or Lois. There's a genuineness. Clark doesn't need to look like a leader in these moments, e.g. when Clark returns home to Martha in Man of Steel or when Clark arrives home with a bouquet of tulips for Lois (and then Lois brings up Superman and the smile fades).

Even for Trump teeth are not so freely given, as suggested by a psychologist earlier this year: “Although Trump instinctively recognises the demeaning potential of smiling, there are occasions when he is prepared to throw caution to the wind and give a full-blown smile, with his teeth on display and wrinkles around the corners of the eyes - the latter being the feature that defines a genuine as opposed to a fake display of happiness. Trump tends to produce these beaming smiles when he is in a convivial setting and when he doesn’t feel the need to look like a leader, or when he is with people whose company he enjoys.”

Don't misconstrue my intentions. I'm not insinuating that Trump is a hero or even a leader, nor do I believe Superman shares the ideals of Trump. But there's a difference between smiling with sincerity out of love and comfort and being forced to give an artificial smile because people demand it of you or because you think you're worthy of respect.

Holding onto a past Superman because of nostalgia is to be a sponsor for traditional masculinity and all that is wrong with today's conservative patriarchy.

MacInnes’s (1998) statement about masculinity as a concept is equally as relevant to Superman (and Batman and Wonder Woman etc.), that they are “shaped and expressed differently at different times in different circumstances in different places by individuals and groups”.

I jumped ahead earlier: The entire first half of Man of Steel is Clark discovering what he was sent to Earth for, learning that he's a force for change, for good. When Clark wears his suit and discovers his powers of flight, it's a self-affirmation or -confirmation that he has become someone good, not just as a man but as someone who could be a hero.

Clark then learns that Zod probed inside Lois's mind and then finds Zod threatening Martha shortly after - two women most important to Clark, two people who keep him human - Clark uses his strength against Zod. The destruction of Smallville, and then Metropolis, in the latter half of Man of Steel challenges Clark's masculinity.

When Zod's suit is damaged and becomes susceptible to Earth's atmosphere, he is disoriented. Seeing through his own armour and muscles, seeing the bones that make up his body, Zod is forced to question his invulnerability and mortality. "What have you done to me?" he asks. "My parents taught me to hone my senses," replies Clark.

There's no denying that there is A LOT of destruction, but it is caused by uncontrolled masculinity - there's no thought for anything other than the opponent. What made Zod feel powerful and assertive was having Kryptonians obey his orders. That's what made him masculine. In the end, Zod forces Clark to give in to the ultimate form of violence, the darkest act of humanity: killing. Yes, it meant saving Earth, saving the vulnerable family in that station, but to Clark it meant so much more.

With Lois there, however, Clark's violent act was justified. Lois's love, her empathy, her acceptance subsequently allowed Clark to reclaim his humanity, his individuality, the good masculine ideals instilled in him by Martha and Jonathan Kent, a final push against the toxic, immoral masculine ideals projected by Zod that would continue to consume him. Only one could survive and it was the choice Clark was meant to ultimately make.

Finally, in Clark becoming a journalist at the Daily Planet by the film's end, it provides Clark an opportunity to use words (not fists) to make the world better. He wasn't able to use words with Zod; Zod knew only violence and aggression. Like Jor-El at the beginning of Man of Steel Clark would attempt to reason through words, verbal and written, well into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Recently I’ve been reading a book by Bryan Doerries, The Theatre of War (2015), about what ancient Greek tragedies can teach us today and the relationship between story and human experience. It has also brought up many significant points for how relevant Batman v Superman is and how it is a tragedy like these Greek plays in it’s own right. But he brought up President Jimmy Carter who, in 1977, became the first American president to acknowledge that the nation’s resources and capacities had its limits. Carter said: “We have learned that ‘more’ is not necessarily ‘better’, that even our great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems ... we must simply do our best.” A couple years later, Carter stated that the nation’s problems were due to a crisis of confidence due to tragedies and events, damaging the national spirit. 

Argo (2012), an adaptation about the hostage takeover in Tehran, was written by Chris Terrio, so it's no surprise that he came on to rework David S. Goyer's initial draft of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and with Snyder they further explored the dichotomy of masculinity as started in Man of Steel.

Clark's embodiment of masculinity, as expressed through his actions and ideals as Superman, continue to threaten the men of his world. The media, the people, government bodies and even Batman question his existence and "otherness" - who he is, who he should be, and what he should stand for (in other words, an image homogenous with the President).

Clark maintains his belief in words through the Daily Planet. Instead of confronting Batman head on about his uncontrolled behaviours as Superman, Clark intends to do it in a civil manner through the power of the press. And when he is called upon by Senator June Finch (Holly Hunter), to question him on the validity of his actions, Clark walks in civilly, hands together in front of him - unlike in Man of Steel he marches alone and not handcuffed by the military. He intends to talk, which is reflective of Jor-El before the Council at the beginning of Man of Steel. The same can be said for when he confronts Batman after learning that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has manipulated them both - Clark wants to reason, to talk. But Bruce is far too gone....

Backtrack: After witnessing the Superman/Zod fight from the streets of Metropolis, Bruce Wayne becomes fearful about the threat Superman imposes on his way of life and the lives of the vulnerable and defenceless he has promised to protect and watch over. Although he resides in Gotham, Metropolis and its citizens are as equally as important to him, to his business, to the business his father built. Wayne Enterprises and the wealth it has generated have played a hand in Bruce's masculine identity, particularly in his identity as Batman.

Bruce/Batman, like the hard bodied and tough, hypermasculine action heroes of the 1980s, embodies Reagan's ideals. As shown in the early moments of the film, Bruce is seen as paternalistic, helping school children across the rubble and then comforting a young girl whose mother was in the Wayne Enterprises building. And so, throughout BvS, with twenty years of crime-fighting in Gotham behind him and as a witness to plenty of familial losses (his parents and Jason Todd to name a few), Bruce exerts the traditional characteristics of masculinity - aggressiveness, authoritativeness, a resistance to weakness, lack of emotion, individuality. He acts alone; his losses have hardened him and his violence knows no bounds from here on out. These traits are not only seen in his branding of criminals (internal threats) but in his attitudes towards Superman (a foreign, external threat [i.e., powerful immigrant]). Bruce believes he, himself, represents the human population and that it is only him - a man with power, status, strength, weapons and experience - who can bring down the Kryptonian.

If you think about the action films of the 1980s you would have seen Rambo and Captain Willard bleed, feel pain, stitch themselves up again but not falter, keep going, keep persisting to their goal. In just three words - "Do you bleed?" - Snyder and Terrio (and I guess Goyer) interrogate hypermasculinity. Batman, in his powered exoskeleton armour (a means to make himself more formidable), questions Superman's ability to bleed because, well, he never seems to bleed (and yet a 'nationalistic hero' like Rambo bled). Bruce defends his masculinity by attempting to oppress a figure who seemed far too masculine - Bruce wants to know if Superman is weak, if he feels pain, if he has felt pain to the degree Bruce has.  

"Breathe it in. That's fear. You're not brave. Men are brave. You say that you want to help people, but you can't feel their pain... their mortality... It's time you learn what it means to be a man."

To Bruce, Superman is a fake embodiment of masculine heroic ideals, much in the same way that patriarchal, white America perceived President Carter as being. Bruce has let toxic masculinity and traditional ideals blind his world view and his perception of Superman. Masculinity to Bruce became entirely about the exterior; his inner emotional weakness suppressed deep beneath the hard body - the suit and the weapons - he has forged.

That is until Bruce connects with not Superman, the image of a [masculine] "hero" mythologised and perpetuated by the media, no, but with Clark, a person who has also experienced loss and who is about to again, someone who has been displaced, someone who demonstrates selflessness even when he is dying. It was a connection beyond the superficial, on a level Bruce never knew was possible. Bruce is reminded of who he has lost, who he loved, of someone he almost forgot because of a masculinity he hadn't controlled. In killing Superman, Bruce would have given into the darkness, the rage, consumed by a toxic masculinity as defined by a traditional world view and conservative ideals. Therefore, to find reconciliation and with the approval of a purer man - Clark (as Lois had with Clark in Man of Steel) - Bruce gets to reclaim his identity, his masculinity by rescuing Martha Kent.  

Lex is unlike Clark or Bruce. He is a male wanting entitlement, power and authority, wanting to feel masculine despite his scrawny appearance (his "daddy's fists" made him emasculated). He tries to be assertive. He attempts to be authoritative. He's a person with no moral code. Senator June Finch, as well as the metahumans, are a threat to his manliness, his masculinity, so he disposes of them the only way he knows how: manipulation. The manipulation of Wallace Keefe, a man who even himself has been emasculated ("I can't even piss standing up"), to wreak havoc at the Capitol and the manipulation of Zod's body, failed masculinity, to birth Doomsday - these are the consequences of when toxic masculinity goes unchecked.

Although Man of Steel indicated that one type of man (masculinity) must die for the other to live, in BvS Superman sacrifices himself to kill Doomsday because he has learnt that there are people that love him (Lois, Martha, and men who approve of him, like Bruce) and to truly destroy the consequence of unchecked masculinity he must push through the pain, his ultimate weakness (the Kryptonite) - to bring hope, light and be reborn. But when that toxicity kills a man pure of heart, when Doomsday pumps his black blood into Superman, will Superman return in Justice League as himself, guided by ideals nurtured by the Kents and Lois, or as a Kryptonian bound by blood, as Zod said he would.

Will his good nature and ideals win out? His humanity? Or will his body determine what sort of man he becomes? His blood?

It harks back to the scene in Man of Steel with Clark and Jonathan arguing, Martha in the back seat of the car observing:

Clark: ... I just want to do something useful with my life. Jonathan: So farming and feeding people, that's not useful? Clark: I didn't say that! Jonathan: Our family's been farming for five generations, Clark -- Clark: Your family, not mine. I don't even know why I'm even listening to you. You're not my Dad. You're just some guy who found me in a field.

As much as I like to see traditional masculinity attacked in film, it's also extremely powerful and heart-rendering to see female masculinity grace the screen as well, with a strength or set of powers and character that have been attributed to traditional masculinity, or in the least not seem less feminine simply because they're taking on or adopting traditional societal norms of men. We have experienced a powerful woman before in Man of Steel, but while Faora was produced through the machinations of Krypton to serve for war, Diana was created by Zeus to defend mankind against war.

From Diana's heart-pumping introduction as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman to her gladiatorial combat in the mid-point of her origin film with No Man's Land, she exerts her strength as a warrior and her determination as a person, never showing weakness - she was taught to be all these things on Themyscira. To speak to today's gender norms around "male" sports, activities or expressions, Hippolyta only doesn't want to lose her daughter, but she fears that her daughter will be unable to remain pure of heart if Diana becomes "masculine" and susceptible to the corrupted hearts of men. When Diana discovers some of her power for the first time when battling Antiope, Hippolyta isn't fearful of the powers; she's fearful that Ares will learn Diana has powers and a strength that only Ares believes is inherent in the gods - men - but that she still holds onto the values of love and compassion, duty and equality that have forged her as an Amazon, the true powers of women. What No Man's Land and the second act of Wonder Woman shows is that Diana can be both: she could be naive yet be strong, she can love and be compassionate yet express fury, she could be a warrior and show emotion.

In these moments I cried. My gender doesn't come into play, nor does my sexuality; rather it's seeing a reflection of my sisters, of my mother on the screen. I saw myself in Wonder Woman as much as I have seen myself in Superman.

Like Furiosa to Max, Wonder Woman is more experienced in combat and war than Batman and especially Superman, but she fights alongside them as an equal. The final fight shows that for society to break down social gender norms and traditional masculinity there will only be success if we work together, and that mankind (men and women) will need to sacrifice what makes them masculine but also use that masculinity to show true humanity and make the world better (Superman, Antiope and Steve Trevor present this physically). It's why Wonder Woman leaps at the end of her film - in her life Steve was the only man who showed that... until Superman. She departs the plane in BvS because men cannot defeat what they have created.

As the more feminine Diana Prince in BvS, she threatens Bruce's manliness, in much the same way Finch threatens Lex's. "Oh, I don't think you've ever known a woman like me." Bruce's assertiveness and dominance doesn't concern her; she's fought against the same toxic behaviour and traditional masculinity with Ares, the same kind Finch has most likely come up against in her own career.

But even then, people have complained about how Diana dresses as Wonder Woman. Why can't women be able to express their femininity yet wield masculine traits? Why can't she be beautiful and assertive? Why can't she bare skin, such as her thighs when men's hard bodied musculature bodies have dominated action cinema? To these people, Diana is not being traditionally female, much in the same way that Clark as Superman has been called out for not being traditionally male.

Masculinity is not only attributable to men, but women, too. As is femininity.

In Wonder Woman, Steve and his band of misfits, comprising of Sameer, Charlie and the Chief, all struggle with the masculinity they've traditionally meant to express. Charlie, for example, is haunted by ghosts when he sleeps, and when Diana goes to comfort him he pushes her away and storms off with his gun. It is after they experience Diana's strength and power, do they share their feminine traits: Charlie sits at the piano and sings, Sameer shares his desire to be an actor, the Chief denies the offerings by the Veld townspeople... and Steve learns to love.

I could have distilled all of the above, but I needed to address everything. I'm most likely forgetting about a number of other ways that masculinity is challenged in the DCEU - such as, which I will discuss below in regards to the importance of women in these films, following Jonathan's death and Clark's becoming of Superman, it was up to Martha to care for the farm, it was up to Martha to fulfill both motherly and fatherly roles for Clark. Even within Suicide Squad, masculinity is addressed by the characters of Amanda Waller and El Diablo, for example.

The Importance of Women in the DCEU

The DCEU's fight against traditional masculinity begins on Krypton with not Jor-El, but Lara (Ayalet Zurer). Man of Steel opens with her face, giving birth to a child that will become all that is good. It is Lara who becomes the bridge to a greater understanding between men, launching the pod. When Zod is ordered to spend eternity in the Phantom Zone it is to Lara, standing with the Council, that he yells, "I will reclaim what you have taken from us", in other words, reclaiming masculinity. In hard body terms, if Krypton is the national body, then Kal is the individual body who was to save them.

Lara's final words before the consequences of unchecked masculinity implode Krypton: "Make a better world than ours, Kal."

Jumping to nine-year-old Clark at middle school who's fearing his powers (and therefore his masculinity), it is his human mother Martha Kent who helps him understand that if he ever gets caught up in the perceptions of the world, in a society dictating how he should feel or act, that who he is is more important to those who love him. Martha is that person who will guide him to being a better self. Interestingly, as Clark became a teenager the advice came from Jonathan; yet following his death, and then well into BvS, it is Martha who advises Clark on what to do.

Although Martha remains the compass of Clark's journey into selfhood and manhood, it is Lois throughout Man of Steel that wants his identity, his type of masculinity to be known. Lois becomes Clark's guide for how to express his masculinity as an adult. Both Lois and Martha are the only two people who keep Clark from giving into the darker side of man, into the toxic masculine ideals forced upon him by Zod. It is these two people that he shares his genuine smile with.

There have been complaints about Lois's role in Man of Steel. For example, why does Lois board the scout ship when ordered by Faora on behalf of Zod? I used to think it was for plot convenience, to fulfill the screenplay's beats, but now I believe it's because Zod wanted to learn what it is to be human from someone connected to Kal, so that Zod can crack Kal's resistance to the Kryptonian way of life - the dominant way of man. Lois keeps Kal from giving into his Kryptonian blood, from a potentially destructive side simmering within. Jor-El understands this as well; when Lois's pod is damaged and hurtles for Earth, Jor-El says to Kal: "You can save her, Kal. You can save them all." Lois is as much apart of Clark's masculinity as Martha is, and it is them in which hope will shine through, not the man himself.

There have also been complaints that Lois and Martha as being convenient to Clark's narrative or that they're always portrayed as damsels-in-distress. But in the context of masculinity, in a world dominated by men and in a world being destroyed by men, Lois and Martha do the best they possibly can with what they have available to them - which is their love, their peacefulness, their use of words. When Lois is persuading Perry to allow her to investigate the bullet she looks at Clark who catches himself from speaking for her, but Lois manages to finish herself - she was her own white knight. Neither Martha nor Lois are threatened by men - Martha did not feel threatened by Zod nor was she in distress with Anatoli Kynazev (she doesn't scream, which is why Clark would be unable to hear her voice). It is the consequences of unchecked masculinity that stop them from doing what they've set out to do and accomplish: Lois's quest to help Clark prove his innocence or Martha wanting to raise a morally good son regardless of his power. To elaborate, Lois puts herself in danger and 'enters' the domains claimed by men (e.g., travelling to Nairomi to interview a terrorist) so that she can alleviate the public's fears back in Metropolis around Superman - even the CIA don't trust her relationship with Superman by sending a male in 'James'. Lois constantly puts herself in "man's world", such as the men's bathroom to speak to Swanwick; when Swanwick's authority and the state's actions are questioned by Lois, Swanwick resorts to questioning her reliability as a woman and her relations with Superman. Lois is willing to risk her job to discover the truth; Swanwick would rather keep his position of power. When she reaches the Capitol or goes to retrieve the spear, it is the consequences of Lex's uncontrolled actions that obstruct her goals, first the explosion and then secondly Doomsday.

Since his parents' deaths, Bruce has always lacked a stable female figure in his life - he insistently talks about his father yet can only dream about his mother. Bruce had a fatherly role model as he came of age in Alfred, but never a motherly one. His father's ideals - assertiveness, aggression (as seen just before Thomas is shot or the fact that his ancestors were hunters) - feeds into Bruce's masculinity. Unlike Clark, Bruce only matured with the male masculine. He sleeps with women and forgets about them. He even tries his ways with Diana but his attempts are ignored by her.

Diana, on the other hand, is more balanced than either of them - she came from an island of women who demonstrated both feminine and masculine traits. What Themyscira shows is the harm social gender norms play in the shaping of our ideals as humans, and that within a patriarchal world of traditional values it is women who will pave the way forward to a brighter, more balanced future.

On a related note, it was revealed by the Hollywood Reporter towards the end of May that Zack would be stepping down from finishing Justice League following the death of his daughter, Autumn, in March.

If Martha and Lois mean to Clark what Deborah and Autumn mean to Zack, then...

Zack believed he could overcome the despair, the loss of his daughter, in his work. Yet the pressures of his job as a director and producer, as a leader, got the better of him. With his films showcasing the importance of women in the men's lives and the love and comfort they bring, it would have been impossible for Zack to ignore the very messages he has been conveying. He almost gave in to the traditional masculine ideals he worked hard to break. Toughness. Resistance to weakness. Lack of emotion. Endurance and strength. 

So like with Clark, it is Zack's family - Deborah and his children - that give him the strength to continue making these films, even through all the criticism and all the hate.

Zack has become my Superman as much as Patty is my Wonder Woman and Patty is my Superman as much as Zack is my Wonder Woman.

The DCEU films matter to me. These characters matter to me. Zack and Patty's tireless work matters to me. They matter to who I am; I may not believe, even still at 24, that I'm masculine physically (I've never been physically aggressive or assertive; I've never acquired masculine confidence because I've never received approval for my masculinity from other men; I'm not muscular, not tall, have short legs and wears glasses; I read, I write, love theatre, have danced, hate the gym) but these films have taught me it's how I act, how I behave, how I am towards others that define my masculinity, not as a man but as a human being.

These films have highlighted the importance of my mother and sisters in my life. BvS made me think about my mum and Wonder Woman made me think about my sisters - I cried during both. And although I may have matured without a stable male role model, I've become who I am today because of these women, not because of some traditional social ideals.

We have a Batgirl film in development, as well as Gotham City Sirens and a sequel for Wonder Woman, but what could we expect from Justice League if all the above is true?

Mad Max: Fury Road barely broke $400 USD million worldwide. Yet it was still successful because of what it held. For Miller to go from producing a little independent Australian film with unknowns in the '70s to a modern Hollywood masterclass in masculinity and action cinema, do you really think Warner Bros. is concerned only about how female characters perform at the box office? It's a good incentive alright and definitely an achievement - as I write this, Wonder Woman is tracking well better than Fury Road did overall in just its second weekend - but a film's worth, its messages and who it inspires, are far more important than the worth it accumulates.

What does this mean for Justice League?

Man of Steel gave us a glimpse of what may happen if Kal lets his Kryptonian blood take hold. Zod showed him that.

In Batman v Superman the Knightmare sequence shows us a post-apocalyptic future if Superman became what Zod wanted him to be. It's a possible future of Kal giving into the blood and rage because of the loss of Lois, who is his hold on humanity. Even at the end of BvS, even after Clark dies, he is fighting to hold onto that humanity. Lois is the last person to throw dirt on his coffin, which then rises.

I don't believe we'll see much of the black suit in Justice League, but what there may be is a final push for Clark against the dominant masculinity as dictated by the Kryptonian blood flowing within him. However, Lois may not be the only person who will help him - Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman will fight for him and believe that he can change. These other 'heroes' are individuals who represent sections of people in society that have been oppressed or othered by a patriarchy and would understand Superman's plight - displacement, isolation, loss - as if it were their own (edit: in Justice League Kal El uses his heat vision, which harks back to young Clark at school unable to control his abilities). It is they who will finally make Clark feel like a leader. For so long he was ostracised for what made him different, but to then have others who are also different but ultimately remained good would make Clark feel like he finally belonged. He will then smile, teeth glistening.

To add to this, in the official Justice League trailer and even the first look presented at San Diego Comic Con last year it is Bruce who goes and recruits Arthur Curry and Barry Allen. Bruce lets Arthur use his dominant, threatening display of masculinity and it is through words - "I hear you can talk to fish" - instead of strength that may make Arthur come on board. With Barry, on the other hand, Bruce uses his money and gadgets to compel Barry to join. In the comic con footage it seems that, although Bruce brings the league together, it is actually Diana that orchestrates it all. As for Victor Stone, I believe Diana will be the one to convince him, using her compassion and love.

If we bring Hippolyta's (Connie Nielsen) tale of the war of the Gods from Wonder Woman into play it is pretty much a representation of the invasion to come - it actually is the tale of the first invasion as she then goes on to tell Diana that it was just a story (edit: Ares was not “bad” at first and it was he who had the final blow on Steppenwolf, but was then used as a pawn and someone to fear by Zeus to protect the Mother Box). 

Therefore, looking at the broader picture of the DCEU, Diana will lead the 'others' - Batman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg - against the invasion of Darkseid's parademon army in Justice League and to stop Clark/Kal from losing what makes him human and compassionate and good. This is why Wonder Woman is not just an origin for Diana.

It's why the only word Zack Snyder could say about her success is 'proud' (source). His true intentions of the DCEU became its success. Audiences will come to see Diana in a ground-breaking turn as the leader of the #JusticeLeague.

I'm gonna bet there'll be many great female-driven moments in Justice League and Wonder Woman has already had white, straight men complaining. If this understanding of Zack Snyder's magnum opi (with powerful work by Patty Jenkins) is any indication to go by, a heck of a lot of damage is going to be done to the patriarchy come November. Justice League will be a superhero, action film for the ages - a film for everyone.

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