#the constant trashing of him or the idea that you have to somehow justify enjoying art by bashing him is weird

[24hrsoda]

“i hate ra’s but this is cute” “im not defending ra’s but…” “ra’s is terrible but…” “too bad ra’s is bad/abusive/evil…” “ra’s sucks but this is good art”

oh 🥲 ok….

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

The Queen’s Jealousy

So, Moonjumper's kinda a thing. There's a fanon thing going around where he's The Prince's body based off how he's dressed making it seem like the devs possibly intended for him to be The Prince before they decided to remove him from the game. So that's where this idea came from.

Also, I call The Prince 'Lukas' in this fic because I've read a couple fics where he was called 'Lucas' due to that being the name of Snatcher's voice actor. I like the name so I decided to just go with it and spell it with a 'k' instead because I prefer that spelling.

*

Vanessa was upset again; Lukas was spending too much time focusing on his studies. He was maybe spending more time on them than was strictly necessary because he didn’t want to spend time with her but it was important. It was his passion and since he was going to marry her one day, making him King someday as well, he needed to know this stuff.

That didn’t mean he didn’t love her, of course not. She was the… love of his life. He would make it up to her… one day. For now, he’d just get her another bouquet of flowers and pray it placated her for at least as long as his break from his lessons lasted.

Which was what brought him to the marketplace. A pretty young redhead manned the flower stall, possibly the daughter of the man who normally ran it? It didn’t matter though, she knew what and where all the flowers he requested for his bouquet were and bundled them up just as prettily.

“Thanks,” he said as he handed over payment, adding a whole extra gold as a tip because he was in a good mood. He took a breath to follow it up with a ‘have a nice day’ but paused at the sound of a familiar gasp of dismay. He glanced over in that direction but the crowds had already closed in, concealing whoever it had been. If it was anyone at all. His ears were probably just playing tricks on him, there were lots of sounds all around him after all.

Lukas turned back to the flower stall attendant. “Have a nice day.”

“You too,” she replied as he started to move away.

 -

He dilly-dallied around the marketplace for a while a longer. He didn’t want to go see Vanessa yet; he was stalling. It had been a while since he’d last had a chance to come here so he was going to enjoy it for a bit longer before returning to his love. But because he’d already bought the flowers – in hindsight he should’ve brought them right before leaving but he hadn’t been planning on staying long – he couldn’t justify staying for much more than an hour. Thus, he quickly found himself knocking on the door to Vanessa’s manor.

The door servant quickly answered it. He was tense, head bowed, and silent which suggested Vanessa was full on angry now, ready to snap at any servant who dared to even mildly inconvenience her. But… she couldn’t be mad at Lukas, right? He hadn’t seen her since that morning when she’d cried about how little time he was spending with her, saying he didn’t love her anymore so what was the point of even existing anymore? She’d then locked herself up in her room, freeing him to head out to get something to placate her with. So it would probably be fine to approach and apologize and assure her that he did love her and always would. Regardless he was already here and seen by one of her servants meaning he had no choice in the matter.

She was in her room, door wide open, sitting on the cushioned seat at the foot of the bed. Back to the door, the rigidity of her posture made it clear that whatever had angered her was still making her furious. Not a good time to approach. He’d retreat, come back later when it was…

“Luke.” He voice was filled with ice. Too late, she’d heard him come in… somehow.

“Uh… hey Vanessa.” The quiver in his voice made him angry with himself. He sounded like a sniveling coward.

“How could you?”

“How could I what?” He hadn’t done anything? Why was she mad him now? He’d brought her flowers for fuck’s sake.

“You know what you did.”

“Actually no, I…”

“Guards,” she interrupted. “Lock him up.”

Armor clanking, the guards standing watch outside of her room stepped in. Before Lukas could process what was happening, they grabbed him under the arms and started dragging him away.

“Vanessa, wait! You can’t do this! Let me go!”

But his pleas fell on deaf ears, she didn’t even turn to look at him as her guards dragged him away, too strong to be bothered by his struggles.

They brought him to the cellar, to the back. One guard pushed him up against the wall while the other two put shackles around his upper arms. They then stepped back.

Lukas let out an undignified yelp of pain as suddenly all his weight was put on his shoulders; his feet were a good foot or so off the ground. “Wait,” he said as the guards started leaving. “You can’t do this to me! How long are you going to leave me here?”

They didn’t answer and soon he was alone in the dark.

He grunted as he lifted his feet and pressed them flat against the stone wall behind him. If he could just get some weight off the chains holding him up… but it was no use. He gave up after a few minutes.

Vanessa was just having an especially bad fit for some reason. She’d release him soon and would then apologize profusely and then tell him much she loved him and was nothing without him and was trash for hurting him, just like she’d done on the rare occasions she’d slapped or actually hit him with a thrown object. And then she’d go back to being sweet and loving… until he did something else to upset her.

 -

Hours passed. An unnatural cold settled in, chilling him to the bone. The pain in his shoulders built steadily. Every move he made, to shift or in a desperate attempt to find a way to alleviate it, made it worse. It was the most excruciating pain he’d ever felt.

Never again! He was done with Vanessa. This was going too far. He was going to end it as soon as she freed him. … Hopefully that would be soon.

 -

It wasn’t. Time dragged as sleep alluded him. Hunger and thirst set in as the pain in his shoulders peaked, becoming a constant misery that could almost be ignored. At some point, he wet himself, adding shame to his suffering. His hate grew too, rivaled only by exhaustion. The cold seemed to grow as well, unnaturally, though it was possible it just felt like that too him because he body was weakening.

At some point he passed out, hunger, thirst, and sheer exhaustion finally over overpowering the pain and suffering enough to allow him sweet blissful unawareness. He was awoken by the scuffing of feet on the stairs.

He looked up but it was too dark to see and they weren’t here yet. But a person meant salvation… right? His torment was over? … Right? He’d do anything for that to be the case.

Finally, a small light came around the corner. A candle flame, held I someone’s hands. Even that was enough to make it feel like daggers in his light deprived eyes.

“I did it, Luke.” It was Vanessa. There was an odd quality to her voice that hadn’t been there before. It sent chills down Lukas’ spine even as her mere presence filled him with rage. “There’s no one to bother us anymore my love. They’re all frozen solid, especially that wretched flower girl and your whore of a teacher. They can’t tempt you away from me anymore, no one can.”

Lukas was finally able to open his eyes and look at her. She looked… different; her clothing tattered, her hair a mess, an odd discomforting glint in her eyes – were they glowing slightly red? Surely not, that was just a trick of the candle light… right? There was something else though that Lukas couldn’t place and made him feel almost nauseous to look upon.

“What did you do?” he asked through gritted teeth, his voice rough and painful from lack of use a and a dry throat. She’d mentioned his teacher and the flower girl – why her though? he’d spoken to her once – meaning she’d killed them? Really? She wasn’t that fucked up, was she?

“While you’ve been away with your studies, I’ve been studying some stuff on my own. Magic to be precise. I froze everything and everyone. I shattered your teacher and the girl you cheated on me with. So, it’s just us now. It’s just you and me now, forever. Aren’t you happy?”

“No! What the hell you, crazy bitch?” It couldn’t be true, could it? She couldn’t have killed everyone… right?

The disconcerting smile on Vanessa’s face vanished, replaced with an even worse frown. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want, you’re being a crazy bitch!” Lukas would’ve slapped her if he could. True or not, the words she was saying were awful.

Her frown deepened. “Fine. I was going to let you down but since you clearly have not learned your lesson, I’ll leave you down here for a couple more days.” She snapped around and started walking away.

Lukas took in a breath to tell her to stop and come back to let him down, beg for mercy essentially. He bit back on it though. Anyone other than her and he would’ve without hesitation but he’d rather die than beg for mercy from her.

Despite that resolve and the anger at her words, his heart sunk at the distant sound of the cellar door thumping shut a short while later. He was once more alone with his suffering and the darkness.

 -

“Friend…” a hollow voice pulled him out a doze that wasn’t quite sleep.

He lifted his head to see nothing but the usual darkness. Was he imagining things now too? Just what he needed to add to his misery, insanity.

“Good, you are awake…”

Lukas jerked back up. “Hello? Can you help me?” Whoever or whatever it was it clearly wasn’t Vanessa so… it had to be here to help him, right?

“I can help you and I will if you agree to help me…” Placing the location of the speaker was impossible. It sounded almost like it might just be in Lukas’ mind.

“W-what do you want me to do?” Under different circumstance Lukas wouldn’t have trusted such a voice in a million years but he was desperate. Everything hurt, he was dying of thirst, he needed it to end. “I promise whatever it is I’ll do it as soon as I’m able. Just… please let me down, please.”

“I need a vessel. Yours will do. Let me have it…”

“What does that mean? And… what are you?”

“You can call me Moonjumper.” That didn’t answer the question. “And by ‘vessel’ I mean a body…”

“What?”

“You are going to die anyway. Within the next couple of days if the witch does not come back to free you. So, let me have your body. In return, I will free your ghost. You will be a shadow but you will be free of your shackles…”

“A… a shadow?”

“A powerful ghost but still a ghost so not alive. Do we have a deal?”

Was Lukas crazy for finding that idea appealing? … Yes, without a doubt, it was death that was essentially being offered to him; death with a side of a mysterious entity taking his corpse. But… the alternative was suffering for longer and waiting for Venessa to come back. If what she’d said was true, assuming he lived long enough for her to return, she was going to keep him here with her indefinitely, just the two of them. Surely any fate was better than that so…

“Deal!”

For several seconds there was nothing, not even a sound from Moonjumper, whatever it might be. But then a strong force seemed to tug on Lukas. A nauseating feeling of something ripping accompanied it. It stopped just as suddenly as it had started it. But with it the pain, hunger, and thirst stopped too. It was amazing!

Shaking with relief, he opened his eyes to find he could suddenly see in the dark. Far better than he would’ve liked because he was staring at himself, hanging limp in shackles. It took a bit of the joy of release out of the moment.

Suddenly his body jerked and spasmed, making the chains rattle loudly. Colour drained from its face, fading to grey. Its eyes opened. They were empty, just white, no pupils. “It was a pleasure doing business with you…” the voice came out of it, unchanged other than being a bit louder. Whether that was a blessing since it wasn’t using his voice, or a curse because it was still using his mouth to speak, Lukas couldn’t decide. Before he could respond, it vanished, leaving the chains hanging open and empty.

Lukas shuddered, not from cold though, he barely felt the cold anymore. Maybe giving whatever that thing was his body hadn’t been a good idea. But… he couldn’t find it within himself to care… yet. He might later but for now, he was free and no longer suffering! He couldn’t help but smile for that reason alone, his face felt weird while doing so, like his mouth was stretching up further than should be possible. He didn’t care though. He had to get out of here. First though…

He looked down at himself. His body – ‘form’ was probably a better word for it now – was different. He had no legs but a long tail instead. His arms were long, his hands rounded and strange. He sensed other changes, his face and neck, but without a mirror he couldn’t see them. So, he moved on.

He hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Surely his new form would allow him to traverse along less mundane routes. … How though? … Eh, he’d figured it out later. Getting out and checking on the veracity of Venessa’s claims came first. He did however change course to exit the cellar through the back entrance, leading outside.

He didn’t have the key though so… he’d get to try out his new ghostliness some after all. It was surprisingly easy to slip through the crack between the doors, all he had to do was try. It felt like becoming one with the shadows.

Outside snow had piled up all around the manor. A lot, more than even the deepest of winter should bring. And it was still snowing. Something was wrong; very, very wrong.

He quickly moved on, unbothered by the cold even if he felt it a bit more out here. First, he went to the town. It was frozen over too. Blocks of ice that housed the bodies of residents littered the streets. Outside of town was more and more snow. Finally, he reached the forest. There was snow here too but not as bad, some of it looked to have blown in from the manor. And it wasn’t as cold so given time the now might clear out.

But… everyone was dead. Venessa had been telling the truth. She’d really killed everyone so it’d just be the two of them. … She was a crazy a bitch all right and Lukas never wanted to see her again.

What did he do now though? What could he do? He’d given up his body to an unknown thing and was a shadow, a powerful ghost, according to Moonjumper. What could he do with that power though? Could he destroy Venessa? She clearly had some powerful magic of her own too so could he take her? Did he even really want to try? … No, not really. If he ever saw her face again, even if it was a literal million years from now, it would be too soon. So, unless she came looking for him, he’d leave her to her frozen manor, to wonder its halls alone for the rest of her miserable life, that was a better form of revenge anyway.

What did that leave him with though? … Well, there were the numerous ghosts he’d come across in the frozen town, wondering around lost and confused. Maybe… he could do something for them? He could try anyway. If it worked, he could get them to work for him and together they could try to rebuild something of meaning in the forest, away from the manor and its foul Queen. He’d always wanted to take on a position of leadership and ruling over a bunch of fellow ghosts didn’t sound too bad. This whole death thing might actually be kind of exciting.

[phdna]

*arriving a month late with Starbucks and an uninteresting Endgame review*

This took me forever to write because work has been very intense lately, but I have thoughts I want to write down, for my own future reference when I’m an old woman looking back on my life, if for nothing else.

SPOILERS AHEAD, of course!

From whatever little I’ve been online since Endgame came out, it seems like the internet has been on fire swearing undying love, eternal hate and everything in between. I’m used to that because the MCU fandom has a tendency to be like that, but it feels like this time is more intense, which puzzled me a little bit, as it mostly adheres to the Marvel rules of storytelling, and people tend to not fuss over movies that do that as much as they do over movies that break the established MCU patterns. And then I did some reading and watching and talking and it just hit me that people aren’t reacting to Endgame itself, they’re reacting to the MCU. Both people who think it’s the best movie ever and people who think it’s absolute trash aren’t talking a lot about the movie, they’re talking about how the movie handled the end of this long journey that was the MCU. (Exception: time travel. I’ll get back to it in a moment!) I know I’m having a Captain Obvious moment here, but bear with me for a moment, I’m going somewhere with this.

Here’s the thing: as long as there are more movies coming, we can all overlook things we dislike about the MCU really well – “they’ll just fix it later,” right? Or we can fix it ourselves, even if we don’t write/read fics – the endless theories about what the next movies are gonna be about are in large part wish-fulfillment. Maybe next time Marvel will have more representation of all kinds, maybe next time Marvel will develop their female characters as much as their male counterparts, maybe next time Marvel will focus on this particular relationship that is either underdeveloped or so developed that it should get more attention, maybe next time Marvel will direct a character arc towards where I think it should go. But when the end arrives, we have to face that we aren’t in charge of the MCU and have sometimes wildly different expectations that what the Powers That Be have in mind. We have been emotionally invested in this universe for a long time – we bring the MCU with us in our lives even away from screens – and it sucks a little to realize that, ultimately, we are powerless to impact it. If Endgame was 100% everything you’ve always wanted for every single character and for the universe as whole, great! You’re still gonna mourn the end a little bit, but it’s cool! But if you feel like even one character of the dozens in the cast got the short end of the stick, you’re gonna be upset because don’t we all wish we could sit down with Marvel and teach them Why They Are Wrong About This Character?

I hope I’m not sounding holier-than-thou, like I’m being absolutely cool and adult about the whole thing. Hell no. I’d fight Kevin Feige in a parking lot any time, and have been ready to do that since huh… the MCU started. (Especially because the MCU has taken over the comics and I like 616 more than I like the MCU, so I’ve got beef with Marvel for that.)

So yeah, I have plenty of “What? No! Whose idea was that, that’s terrible!” moments, but I always try to focus on what I enjoyed more than on what I hated. Sometimes it doesn’t work and I get forever bitter, but most of the time, I make an active effort to 1) be grateful that WE EVEN HAVE GOOD SUPERHERO MOVIES AT ALL and 2) watch the movies I’m actually watching instead of watching the movies I think I should watch. For instance, I want to set myself on fire whenever I think about how un-family-like the Avengers are in the MCU, but since being a family isn’t a story the MCU is trying to tell, I consciously try to find something I enjoy about the constant conflicts, such as what they tell us about what each character believes, and how they keep coming back together to do the right thing despite their differences.

Arguably, that’s too much effort, and I get why some people want to be entertained and get upset if the MCU doesn’t deliver that entertainment – I mean, movies are supposed to be fun. But since I was a kid, I’ve always been a fan of imperfect things I have no control over, and I muddle through what I don’t enjoy to get to the shiny bits that give me goosebumps and keep me up at night feeling giddy over how good something was. It’s part of how I react to stuff I like by now. I don’t know, maybe it’s my History degree talking, but I don’t see what the big deal is with saying “Some of it sucks, some of it is brilliant, some of it has to be challenged on the ground of human rights, but overall I’m interested in learning more about it.”

Why the essay on how to engage with the MCU?

Because no matter how I think about it, my primary opinion about Endgame isn’t “I think it’s good” or “I think it’s bad” but just “I’m thankful.” That’s it. I can’t look at Endgame and see it as an isolated movie. I look at it and think “God, I was just out of school when Tony said I am Iron Man and now I’m a teacher and the MCU has always been there helping me keep track of the passage of time all these years.” Here, have a bad analogy: Endgame is when you finish a long travel and there’s nothing home to eat and you have to unpack and you’re exhausted and normal life is depressing and you have a headache and you’re frustrated that holidays are over and you didn’t do everything you wanted…. but that doesn’t make the entire travel a waste of time, does it? It’s actually the opposite. If the travel sucks, getting home is great. And very, very, very few people walk out of Endgame saying “Thank god this MCU saga is over, ugh, I was following it just out of obligation and I’m glad I’m free now” – I mean, there are people like that, and I can see why, but I also never finish things just out of obligation so I can’t relate. Anyway, mostly, people either expected more because the MCU is good enough to do better or thought this was the perfect ending. I’m both. Some things I loved, some things I really wish would be different, but mostly, I’m, like I said, grateful that the journey was so good that no ending would’ve fully satisfied me.

My biggest problem is with time travel. I’ve never liked the trope (not huge on alternate universes, either!), so I knew this would be a pet peeve even before I watched Endgame. I’m also surprised that apparently nobody involved in the movie can agree on how aforementioned time travel works. Fans certainly can’t. And I don’t think it’s a good thing if your audience is confused by a major part of your movie, even if there is a perfectly good explanation and the audience just didn’t get it. (Which isn’t the case, as apparently there isn’t a perfect explanation.) But you know what? I’m hand-waving it. It’s a convoluted plot device but it made a good movie, so like, whatever. Let it work in ABC way unless XYZ needs to happen, in which case, XYZ is how it’s always worked regardless of how ABC was used before. I don’t care. I’m taking what they say happened and saying “Okay, that’s how it happened” and ignoring the hows and the whys. It’s just bad comic book logic on the big screen, I’ve been rolling with this kind of thing since I was a literal child. Having said that, I don’t know what year it is in the MCU, I don’t know how Spider-Man will work, I’m not touching Cap’s time paradox with a ten-foot pole, and I’m not even gonna try to understand any of the timeline charts going around online.

My other major problems have to do with real life more than with the movie. The only original female Avenger dies in the same way the only original female Guardian of the Galaxy died, and neither of them get funerals but we do get the men in their lives suffering over it (which switches the focus from mourning the women to the men’s journeys.) Not sure if the joke was that Thor was clinically depressed or if the joke was that Thor was fat, but haha hilarious. The first openly queer character is omg a nameless cameo talking about someone we never see, isn’t the MCU so progressive? (The bar was so low that Marvel had to dig a ditch so they could somehow get lower than that.) Not loving the idea of “Thanos treated Gamora like shit but the Soul Stone recognizes he loved her” and “Tony’s dad was awful but Tony can Forgive Him” being presented as touching – it’s creepy af and makes me wonder if the MCU will end up saying Alexander Pierce actually cared about Bucky somewhat or something of that sort. Female hero team up: unironically loved it and want it projected on my tombstone (it was one of my favorite part), but it’s a little disturbing that almost none of them had much of a storyline in the movie because they don’t have much of a storyline in the MCU – it really highlights that Marvel has a boy’s club problem still. Now, none of these things make for a bad movie, it just reminds me that Marvel has a long way to go with they want to become inclusive.

Okay, now on to storylines…

Tony. Loved it. I love how the Russos direct Tony (I do have a problem with how M&M write Tony, sometimes, though, and always have) because they love to highlight how soft Tony’s heart is. Part of what makes the character interesting in any universe is that he’s willing to do morally shady stuff when he thinks he’s justified and he tends to think he’s justified because he knows exactly how smart he is, but if you explore this borderline antihero behavior without a deep commitment to reminding the audience that Tony is emotional and gentle, you end up with Reed Richards. 616!Tony will always be sweeter than MCU!Tony (even though 616!Tony’s dad literally tried to beat emotions out of him, while MCU!Tony’s dad more ignored him than actively tried to make him colder, but that’s besides the point) but Tony was so openly loving in this movie, and it helps make his death hit home, why so many people will miss Iron Man and Tony I pity Morgan a lot because she won’t remember her dad, but the only way to feel like the torch has truly been passed to other heroes was to kill Tony – keep him alive in any way and characters are gonna want his advice even if he stops fighting. I want to see how other heroes will protect a world without Iron Man. It’s exciting and brand new and feels a bit like when Fury said in 2008 that Tony isn’t the only superhero.

Steve. Let’s take the time paradox at face value and say everything goes well in every possible timeline and nobody suffers more than they would if he hadn’t done his time-heist thing, because I think that’s what the movie wanted to imply. I’m actually happy he got to be with Peggy. It’s not how I’d write him, mind you, but I always knew MCU Steve was being written as someone who is inherently out of place in the modern world. In the comics, Steve has a culture shock and he mourns people, but he finds a new family in the Avengers and truly becomes part of this century. MCU Steve was never that guy. And that’s okay, it’s a valid take! Not what I’d do, but given his storyline throughout the other movies, I think it’s a very satisfying ending that feels very organic. Saying “screw everything, I’ll do what I think it’s important” has been Steve’s constant in all movies, and it’s nice that he learned that he is important too, not just everybody else. Handing the shield was also very important – no “I think he’d want you to have it” to fuel conspiracy theories in the future: Steve made a good decision and that’s fine. (And I’ll cut a bitch if y’all keep saying “maybe Bucky had the shield before” because Sam can be a first choice fgs!!!)

Professor Hulk is a thing and I liked it more than I thought I would. Hopefully we’ll see more of him. I liked Bruce and I liked the Hulk, but somehow this version of him made me go from “Yeah, they’re nice” to “PLEASE TELL ME HE’LL HAVE A SOLO MOVIE” so good job in redeeming the Hulk franchise, Marvel! It only took you 10 years to get the right tone, but hey, what matters is that you did it!

Thor…….. Um. Hard. I liked his character arc but hated how it was handled. I’m not even a huge fan of Ragnarok because comedy isn’t my thing, but watching Ragnarok, I could see why the movie worked and the humor didn’t come at the expense of being fair to the character. Endgame felt more like the movie itself was bullying him. They’re laughing at his pain, basically, and it’s just not funny. It bothers me for the same reason it bothers me when people say pre-serum Steve should never leave home – just… no. But then, we got Thor and Frigga and I’d sell a kidney for more Frigga, so, it wasn’t completely awful. Just like, 90%?

Natasha!!! I hope everybody who said Scarjo can’t act paid attention to this movie, because she gave Nat a depth that we haven’t seen since CATWS, and even then, because it was Steve’s story, she was sidelined. That’s the Nat I’ve always wanted in the MCU. …and of course, she’s dead. Luckily, we don’t know anything about MCU!Nat, so we can still get prequels even if they don’t want to bring her back to life. It’s a little shady that she dies (why is it that the randomly decided death always seem to be randomly assigned to whatever the minority in a team is, huh?) but I love that she sacrificed herself for the greater good. It’s a heroic end to a woman who thought she was gonna be a villain her entire life. Oh, oh, oh, I have to say this: Natasha leading the remaining Avengers? Godtier. I’m not much of a fic person but I desperately want fics of that off-screen period where she’s being a boss.

Clint. MCU!Clint never did much for me, so I was impressed that I was rooting so much for him during the movie. I don’t know if he’ll just retire completely, but I’m hoping he doesn’t so we can see more of him in the MCU.

Okay, that’s the original Avengers and I’ve already written……. Too much. So I’ll stop – sort of – here.

But first, other random comments.

Fight choreography? On point, 10/10, would let Marvel beat me up to experience these sequences myself

“I am inevitable.” “I am Iron Man.” I cried so much the screen got blurry and I almost missed the snap. Thank you for this exchange.

I love and support Morgan, but I’m dreading the idea that in a near future, the MCU will get Riri’s entire story and give it to Morgan. Please, MCU, I’m counting on you, have Morgan grow up to befriend Riri, not to steal her role.

Nebula needs a solo movie. Nebula needs a whole cinematic universe, actually. What a character.

Speaking of which, GotG 3 is shaping up to be very cool

Sam being the one to say “On your left” in the movie where he becomes Captain America? Poetic cinema. Also! Sam Wilson is Captain America and both the human being who wants children to grow up in a better world and the geek who wants to see flying Cap in me are equally over the moon with joy

Bucky, my darling, the MCU hasn’t known what to make of you since 2011. It’s okay, Sebastian Stan will always do his magic and make you be Bucky even when Marvel doesn’t fully understand anything about your character

Pepper’s character development in 10 years is protagonist-worthy, I can’t believe how she always only has a couple of scenes every movie

Tom Holland should not be allowed to have crying scenes, they make my heart hurt

The movie feels a lot shorter than it is

There’s a lot more I could say, but I’m writing it on Word (tumblr sometimes eat my text posts as I’m writing them) and the wordcount is nearing 3k, so I better shut up. If you’ve read all of this, please treat yourself to a milkshake, you’re awesome. If there’s anything you want to talk about that I didn’t address (or just… you know, about Marvel in general), my ask and my direct messages are always open. I’ll probably take forever to get back to you (I NEED A VACATION ASAP) but I will eventually answer you and I don’t bite, so please go ahead if you’re curious about my not-so-very-interesting thoughts :)

TL;DR: Endgame isn’t my favorite movie (IM, IM3, CATFA, CATWS and BP all come first, sorry) but it’s up there in the “I can watch this movie a thousand times and I won’t get tired of it” list, and I think it does a fairly good job in ending the Infinity Saga, so I’m basically pleased!

[monkey-network]

WarioWare: The Series Season 3 Episodes

52 Episodes. Season 4 Coming 20XX Season 2, Season 1 * = Episode Submitted by @tmantookie

The End of the Show: WarioWare Inc. want to make games again… except Wario, who has grown tired of the idea and the gang somehow taking advantage of him (even when he steals from them), so he goes back to treasure hunting. This begs the question: can a company run smoothly without an (arrogant and maniacal) entrepreneur to lead it?

The Prince and the Bopper: An elegant prince gets transported to Diamond City and feels out of touch with this new reality, so JT helps him see a side that’s been locked away. His kingdom’s chancellor arrives to take him back, but he’s conflicted between becoming king of the castle or staying as king of the ball.

Wario Side Story: The Possums and the Squirrels, rival gangs of DC’s Crystal Park, have fought for territory for generations. However, the daughters of the gang’s leaders start to bond and wish to put an end to the war. With Wario and Mona spectating from afar, can there be enough resolve in putting an end to the conflict?

Hurry Up!: The WarioWare gang are making a mad dash to a concert, but when they try using a shortcut through the DC mall, they’re forced to confront persistent kiosk owners who will stop at nothing to make them pay.

Words Hurt: In the show’s quietest episode ever, 9 and 18 Volt study at a library when higher grade kids start getting them in unintentional trouble, so the duo set up prank traps that’ll surely get back at them. All without making a sound.

Greed Pluribus Unum: A master thief is taking money from Wario, the richest fatcats of DC, banks, schools, hospitals, everything from the town. Why and where to is anyone’s game, but Wario-Man’s on the case to track down, take back, and force himself to give back to those who’ve been wronged.

Robot Humble: Doris 1 short circuits and plots to lead a robot uprising, but fails at getting an army due to Crygor’s bots not being the most vicious (or stable). So she turns to Mike, who develops feelings for her but gets annoyed by her constant pleading and moping.

Star Tolls: Orbulon takes over Dribble and Spitz’s shift for the day and is somehow better than the duo at getting the job done. But when he accidentally scratches a car and is challenged to a race across the galaxy, he may have to break some codes of his to win.

Nightmare on W Street: Halloween has arrived and Ashley is still the one person who’s afraid of nothing (beyond that one time). She and Wario takes this as an opportunity for easy money from the city, but when a stranger shaman casts a spell on her, the scam might falter when she starts to finally recognize fear.

Man of the Woods: Former minions of Wario’s past are stalking him, and everyone’s trying to figure out how to sooth their haunting tension toward him.

Cater Joe’s: Manager Joe opens a diner on the edge of town to have some time away from the city life. Some of the WarioWare gang stop by to share an adventure they had over the week.

Penny Machine: A snooty scientist is dazzled by Penny’s science fair project, but Penny refuses to give it up as it’s her most delicate creation. So the judge does all they can to get it, but you can’t put a price on love.

The Hero’s Might: After her first ever sugar rush, a hungover Lulu is stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a lute, a water bottle, a mule, and Wario’s clothes on her back. Nothing left to do but try to make it back. And it begs the question: who’s the stubborn one in this story?

The Rhythm Hath Fallen* (Half Hour Crossover Special): A cosmic earthquake causes Heaven World to fall and collide with Diamond City, with HW’s citizens treating DC’s citizens to a week long block party. But the week starts to overstay its welcome, so Rhythm Heaven’s Tibby, his friends, and the WW gang try to fix things with Mamarin’s bizarre guidance.

The Opposable Opponent: Young Cricket starts training under a master that only uses his left thumb to fight, but struggles to keep up with the regime... until he starts to figure out how the master came to be.

Spell “Mi cup”: 9-Volt, 18-Volt, and 13-Amp enter and win a special edition movie branded mug and split up their days of possessing it. However, sharing germs is the one thing the three unfortunately overlook.

Tree Top Tango: Jimmy T is enjoying a jazzy walk in the woods, but gets in a pickle when creatures of nature’s variety start to surface. What’s a disco fool to beside show them a natural groove to ease their carnivorous minds.

Love at First Strike: Ana starts to develop a crush on 9-Volt, and is stuck between practicing and hanging out with him. 9-Volt would feel the same way, if she wasn’t pummeling him as a means to hide him from Kat.

The Typical Beach Episode: It’s an average beach day for WarioWare Inc... until a hurricane lands smack dab in the middle of the fun. So now the gang is caught between staying within the eye of the storm and dodging the chaos circling around them.

Ashociates: Ashley finally made some friends, dawg! Except not really, she’s only using them to get a mystical artifact and if you see her so called “friends”, her front is kinda justified.

Good Golf: Mona and Dr. Crygor are enjoying a nice day of mini-golf when a egotistical pro golfer butts in their game and begins ruining people’s fun. The two team up to beat him just in time for lunch, but things get difficult when he put up traps on the course.

Chili Dog Millionaire: Lulu finds out she’s a great cook, so she gets a job at a gourmet restaurant where the head chef demands for nothing but perfection. Nervous at first, the head chef treats her better than the rest, which prompts jealousy and potential sabotage her way.

King of the Dill: 18-Volt is selling hot pickles at school but sells out quick and ran out of his special ingredients. While going to the store, his classmates spot him and suddenly transform into sore throat, teary eyed zombies by the sight of his green jacket.

Becoming Human (For Dummies): Orbulon gets tired of people picking on him because he’s an extraterrestrial. So he invents a human suit that helps him appear like one. But, the intricacies of the suit start to send Orbulon dark thoughts that yet don’t stray from typical human ideologies.

Dueldreaming: Kat is suffering from nightmares to the point of not sleeping at all, so with the help of Penny, Ana goes into her dreams to slay the horrors but starts to cower before what she finds.

Way of the Birthday: It’s Young Cricket’s birthday, so Mantis has the perfect gift for him for all he’s done: a Battle Royale where it’s him against Mantis’s old friends.

Jump the Rope: We got ourselves a flash forward episode, where we see the kids grown up, the adults living out their days, and Wario.... ummm, in another place.

A New L.O.W.: Wario creates the League of Wario, a team of sinister pranksters, to get back at a viral video celeb that wedgied him great enough to put him in a wheelchair. 

Wario Party: It’s the anniversary of WarioWare Inc, and the gang wants to celebrate the occasion... by dining at the perfect restaurant. But they’ve dined at every place in DC, so they set out to go to the best place with the best palette, atmosphere, and prices.

Musclecats HO!: Mona joins a gym and enters herself into a bodybuilding competition. With the help of a supportive and swoll group of regulars, she’s aiming for the top.

Grey JT: A grey hair sprouts from Jimmy’s head and this makes him worry about how his routine may be the cause of aging faster.

That’s Enough, Buddy: Due to increase danger risk in DC, a young yet no nonsense sheriff is enforcing old rules on the public which interferes with Wario’s latest scam.

A Mother’s Metal: 9-Volt wants to give 5-Volt the best Mother’s Day gift ever, and eventually digs up an old relic of her past that’s both a blessing and a curse to 5.

The Best Worst Case Scenario: Television has gotten boring, even Wario thinks it’s a waste of his time, so everyone trashes their TV and goes outside to more productive means. Everything is swell, except for the people up top who soon rely on Wario to save them.

Oh Snow: Layers of snow has hit DC and while Wario becomes a life-sized snowman, Ashley learns about the multifaceted fun of snow.

WarioWaRPG: A digital virus manifests from Penny’s laptop and turns Diamond City into a card based RPG world. She kidnaps Penny and it’s up to the gang to save her. Unfortunately, they skipped the tutorial and don’t have the best decks on hand.

Let’s Be Lazy For Once: Due to a budget setback thanks to last episode, the WW gang decide to look back on previous episodes and provide as clever and nice a commentary as possible.

You’re Clowning Me: Dribble and Spitz pick a group of clowns that are on their way to rehearsal. What the two fail to realize is that they’re clown mafia with police, and rival clown cars, not far behind.

Chivalry is Dumb: A famous detective, and his maid sidekick, arrives at Diamond City to investigate an elaborate crime, only to be taken aback by Wario and all that he stands for, while his sidekick grows to enjoy the big guy’s rebellious and burly personality.

Break Out the Rainy Day Fun: Kat, Ana, Penny, 9 & 18 Volt join Ashley and Red at their manor while the rain’s heavy outside. And while Ashley is busy with a certain brew she’s craving, she summons skeletons to go play with, and not chomp, the others.

The Suit: Legends says there is a mystical 3 piece suit that can turn any normal being into a charming yet sadistically unruly reality bending version of themselves. Now this would be the part where I mention who stumbles upon such clothing, but I’ll let that be a mystery.

Consider the Fruit n’ Nuts: Dr. Crygor, with assistance from Wario, Mona, Cricket, and Penny, teaches us the good and bad of dieting.

House of Mike: After Mike stumbles upon a group of pugs who’re seeking a sense of purpose and bonding, he shows them a fantasy game he recently bought that could help them out.

The Hero’s “Happiness”: Lulu is comfortable with the life she now has in DC, but doesn’t feel happy, whatever that means. Only when a familiar villager of Luxeville enters the picture does she question whether it’s right to stay or leave for better purposes, and she turns to the least favorable person for help.

You Agree With Me?: In a shocking turn of events, a man who’s never able to decide on any choice was able to thanks to Jimmy’s advice. Now our more decisive denizen is indebted to his afro hero, to the point of imitating him to a bizarrely fleek degree.

Master Blaster: A few million years ago, jerk aliens decided to blast the earth with a laser beam that’s destructive yet really slow. A few million years later, it’s set to touchdown in 24 hours. Orbulon and Dr.Crygor team up to figure out how to beat the laser, but our alien is more worried with time than the doctor.

A Series of Unbelievable Events: At Joe’s Diner, Young Cricket and Master Mantis share their awful day and Manager Joe doesn’t find everything to be true, so they begrudgingly trace their steps and recount their day to Joe exactly how it happened.

Amp Unleashed: 13-Amp must face her fears when she has to rap battle against a duo that inspired her career. While she is alone on this mission, the memories of 18-Volt and Mike’s help give her new found strength.

Fronk Sonata’s Moonlight: Penny’s terrible singing practice makes her voice soul leave her body for 9V’s fronk, Snag, who becomes a hit nightclub singer.

Unininja: Kat and Ana fuse into one ultimate dual wielding ninja, but unfuses for good when they go too far with their newly acquired fun. But when a Tengu Shogun is coming with an armada toward Diamond City, it’s the perfect time to unite once again.

My Witch Ashedemia: Ashley is enrolled in a prep school for witches, but feels bored with the mediocre lessons. But she uncovers a secret about the school and uses this to blackmail the teachers for more advanced schooling, which inadvertently puts a target on her from an anti witch group.

LessTalkMoreTanks (Half Hour Season Finale): The WW gang finds a giant battle tank and take it for a spin, but it turns that they stole it from its cantankerous, anarchy driven owner. So... tank fight in the sand dunes, the gang vs the owner’s friends? Who’s on board?

[velcro-rave]

post-emoji movie Trauma

WARNING: the following text contains spoilers and can be considered disturbing to some readers. especially my brain, because it’s leaking out my ears after typing this.

This is the first movie ever I’ve gone to see on opening night. And let me just say that, for the record, I’m glad I went to watch with friends. Without them, I would have most likely calmly exited the room, climbed up to the roof, and dived straight off.

I’m honestly fucking terrified of how much this shitty movie has pushed me to the edge. I’ve never felt more ANGRY in my life and at the same time wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. This is so fucked up. What made it possible for this level of psychological warfare to be used so casually by Sony? Why did they decide this was ever a good idea to present to the public? I’m still shaking (and not from the overpriced Coca-Cola I was sold). Whether it’s out of rage or fear, I don’t know. Not even throwing myself into the deep fires of hell can attempt to restore the intrinsic warmth I felt before I witnessed this crime of a movie. They say that there’s a special place reserved below for people who cause enough pain to humanity, and it is at this point where I pose this question to the following:

Tony Leondis. Eric Siegel. Mike White. Michelle Raimo Kouyate.

Why?

Did you want this to happen to me? Was this the plan all along? To destroy everything you could possibly love in the process of creating this film, to make the audience suffer without any remorse? You got PATRICK FUCKING STEWART as a voice actor, and what is it you do?

Yeah, you make him play A WALKING PILE OF SHIT!!!!

Someone could’ve ran up to me after I left the theater, put a shotgun directly up to my forehead, pulled the trigger, and that would have still not come close to how much my mind had been blown at the shocking reality that this movie, this spawn, could exist in the known universe and continue to be shown to innocent people. There were kids there. Hopeful, happy, young kids with iPhones who thought it was a great idea to head off to the movies and watch a funny relatable movie about emojis without a care in the world. Communicating ideas without the use of words is the “staple” of their generation, as the movie so proudly portrays (even comparing it to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics!), and there’s no reason a family shouldn’t agree to bring their children to this beautiful, heartwarming adventure, right? WRONG.

Nothing could have prepared me for the horrific amount of groan-worthy jokes this movie tossed out. I’ve been wracking my brain for an entire hour trying to remember the most potent ones, but they were so easily forgettable that I can only recall a few offhand. They were tragic. Whenever an opportunity for a shitty pun showed itself, you can bet your ass the writers took it and ran with it to lengths beyond the realms of humor. From the character known as Hi-5′s nonchalant Bye Felicia! to his two puns about snapping (as if one wasn’t enough), I wanted to get up and scream at the ceiling in the hopes that my cries of agony would disrupt the structural integrity of the building and have it fall on top of me, finally freeing me from the slow-cooker of torture that is The Emoji Movie.

At a certain point, Hi-5 (by the way James Corden, I thought you were cool. I thought you were here for us, for all of us as an entertainer, but you just had to take part in ruining me and the world as we know it by accepting this role. I will never forgive you.) mentions something about his heart beating. His… heart? This walking, talking hand has a heart? Does he have lungs? What other internal organs could fit in there and be capable of being slapped around constantly as a result of his stupid ass decisions? Why doesn’t he have arms like Gene or Jailbreak, does his body somehow take into account that he’s already a living appendage? This movie is making me sit and contemplate the anatomy of a fucking animated HAND, and that’s not even as preposterous as a thought can get while watching.

On multiple occasions throughout my viewing experience, I had to take a break to just lean back and sigh, both in anguish of what was happening onscreen as well as the sheer exhausting aspect of it all. The voice acting couldn’t have been more unreliable. Every other line it was a gamble between it being a poorly executed pun delivered so flatly that not even the 4-year old up front let out a little giggle, an obvious statement about what they’re planning to do next, or the most unremarkable snippet of backstory ever revealed. I’m sure all those scenes between Gene and Jailbreak where they gaze at each other were meant to be construed as romantic, but her blasé response to each of his approaches because she “isn’t some princess waiting for her prince” or how “women are deserving of more respect” completely knocked the mood off whatever pedestal it was stepping up to. I get it, these are actual important themes that need to be recognized, and I would be more than happy to see this acknowledged in a movie built on as many metaphors as Zootopia, but the timing of her commentary was the worst I’d ever seen. The constant interruptions made it seem like her words shouldn’t be taken seriously at all!

Unsurprisingly, character background was virtually (unintentional pun. I’m incredibly sorry.) nonexistent, and everything that’s possible to be wondered about the universe could pretty much be answered with a big shrug. For example, why does Hi-5 have a band-aid? Did he get stabbed or something? When did Gene begin to show signs that he was capable of other emotions? Was the Just Dance girl deleted after the trash bin emptied itself out? We didn’t see any signs of the characters going back for her after Hi-5 had to shake off the troll, so did they just leave her there to die? If Jailbreak had been working for a long time to get out, why didn’t she use more of her hacking skills? She pulled up her hologram window things maybe three times total to escape or hide somewhere, does she seriously not have anything else in her repertoire that could potentially help Gene and Hi-5 get to where they need to be quicker? There’s so many questions that don’t even get passively explained. Then again, I’m arguing against the same people who genuinely advocated for the setting to be called Textopolis.

AND WHOSE FUCKING IDEA WAS IT TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER “MEH”??

The ONE emoji with zero interesting qualities and the most monotone parents that, for some fucking batshit insane reason, were given more than the minute of screentime they deserved. I understand for a quick gag, their emotionless response to everything could be funny, but their conversations would just stretch on and on and on. As for Gene, I trusted you, T.J. Miller. I can’t believe you betrayed me, especially after such a hilariously perfect role in Deadpool. Never in my life have I felt so disappointed in a single person. There is no justifiable reason for you to be proud of what you’ve done here. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I astral projected at least three times as I struggled to repress the memory of this trainwreck before it even ended. When I wasn’t desperately clawing at the armrests mid-convulsion, I was staring vacantly at the center of the screen, wondering how this week could have gone so wrong.

This was basically a 91-minute long advertisement. The whiplash of traveling between product placement to product placement nearly made me throw up, which was ostensibly the only thing that could’ve made this worse. Dropbox, Spotify, Candy Crush, Just Dance, YouTube, Facebook, and the almighty Twitter, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve wrought. The “emoji-pop” dance assaulted my eyes so suddenly, acting as the unnecessary cherry on top of the feel-good ending; I think that’s when I officially lost all hope in enjoying the rest of my night.

It’s honestly taking every ounce of my being to hold onto the little bit of life that I have after the Emoji Movie ripped my soul to shreds. The amount of violation I felt as my ears were subjected to endless pop culture references that were relevant years ago, nightmarish depictions of the content of each app on Alex’s phone, and the fact that the god damn Eggplant was in the Unused Emojis room when everyone knows that’s not the case is indescribable. I now have to live with the fact that every time I switch keyboards on my phone, those blank yellow faces will serve as a dark reminder of what I’ve gone through. To any of you reading this that have also watched The Emoji Movie, I am so sorry. I know how difficult it is to process. My recommendation to each and every one of you who haven’t had the chance to witness this sickening spectacle is to KEEP IT THAT WAY. Don’t give in to the peer pressure; this abomination parading itself around as an endearing motion picture will wholly and truly rattle you to the core. My only solace was the complete absence of dabbing or whipping (apart from hearing the song), and I’d like to thank every deity above and below for that small act of mercy.

Here’s to you, Sony. Thanks for ensuring that I not only sink deeper into my depression, but for forcing my mind to house the images I’ve seen today for as long as I live. I wish I could physically bring myself to chuck my phone in a garbage fire, but my entire body has gone numb. Here’s to you, and to all the writers, producers, and directors of this movie that made me sit in a corner pondering how I can possibly live in a future where this monstrosity exists.

Gravely, sincerely,

fuck you, and goodnight.

🖕

[wr8tur]

SUPERGIRL RANT !!

As a shipper of SuperCorp, I have mentioned how I recognize that it will never happen. I have expressed feeling like show runners and writers missed the opportunity because Sanvers is already a thing and they won’t let Supergirl and her sister be gay. Like I also said, I really have nothing against Sanvers or the actresses but I feel like SuperCorp would have been a better story to tell because we have had the Luthor/Super friendship before in Smallville.

Fine they’re going to differentiate somehow, possibly by not making Lena evil, but that’s not really that big of a difference because we’ve seen these dynamics before. 

I ship SuperCorp because of Katie McGrath, yes, but also because of the potential between the characters.

The story of the disregarded disgrace that was Lena Luthor and the hopeful heroine Kara Zor-El. That to me has always been a more appealing tale, not so much because of sexuality, but because of who they are.

I don’t want LGBT+ relationships to keep being portrayed in a way where the focus is on someone’s coming out. It’s like sexuality is some hindrance we should learn to get over. The narrative of watching someone realize something that shows and movies have been telling us for so many years; that it’s okay to be gay, has just been so repetitive for me. I don’t know about you, but I find the constant reassurance to be irritating and unnecessary in today’s story telling.

And I understand there are others there that are struggling, that are hiding, and are in need of reassurance, that they feel represented and validated.

I remind you that this is just my opinion because I’ve watched/read many tales where sexuality is something that has to be put under microscope, where it’s something that should discussed, something that needs to be justified instead of just being taken as what it is: two people who love and care for each other unconditionally.

Wouldn’t you rather have two same sex partners show you that they’re just like any other couple rather than have everyone else tell you that it’s okay?

I don’t know if that makes any sense....

I’ve never watched The 100 but I’ve heard people praise it because when CLexa got together, sexuality wasn’t made a big deal. SPOILER But then again, they gave Lexa an exit by killing her after she and Clarke had sex, so that’s taking the step towards the gay cliché yet again.

I would really like to see an LGBT+ relationship where sexuality isn’t an issue. It’s not about two women loving each other or two men being attracted to one another. I would love to see a show that will just show focus on the couple themselves, treat them essentially like a straight couple, without focusing on the gay agenda (telling us something we should already know such as it’s normal to be gay) or sticking to the gay cliché (giving the LGBT+ an unhappy ending by way of death).

The reason why I’m bringing all this up, is because of what happened during SDCC with the Supergirl cast.

First of all, why did Jeremy Jordan react like that? He literally yelled “They’re just friends” to the camera. As a singer (because he himself said he went to theater school and he was in a musical with Anna Kendrick), he knows how to control tone and voice, so why did he blatantly feel the need to point this out?

His reaction makes it seem like he isn’t joking, more like he’s exhausted with dealing with SuperCorp fans, and was lashing out.

And if that was the case, I understand because there were people kind of bashing the idea of Winn and Lena getting together and I’m not going to lie, while I believe I never disrespected either Winn or Jeremy Jordan, I myself said I don’t want Lena/Winn because it’s just like Sanvers where the relationship would have too many similarities between the characters, thus making it a dull and predictable relationship.

But then if that was his reasoning, if he was sick of dealing with the zealous nature of some fans, then he should have definitely expressed himself better.

He’s a professional actor, which means he should know how to conduct himself during interviews. What he did just showed that he is just as immature and disrespectful as those fans that treat him and his character like trash.

And I understand that he’s a human being, that he too makes mistakes.

But even the way he apologized didn’t feel like an apology. It felt like he was saying “I’m sorry you were offended but I am not a homophobe because I have gay friends, but really, you guys should just get over it because life is too short”. In the second part of his apology, it just seemed like he realized how badly he messed up and was probably reminded that the show is still in limbo given that they were only given one season approval, and they need as many viewers as they can get to assure a fourth season.

In the end, he was still disregarding SuperCorp shippers feelings and his ultimate apology feels like a cop out.

He wasn’t the only one.

As I mentioned earlier I know there are those thinking that because I think too many similarities means boring, that I should be on board with KaraMel. I am not. Because I think Mon needs more growing up before he even gets with anyone. His character lacks motivation and an actual arc in my opinion.

He was weak, and with the exception of the Jeremiah Danvers episode (which I feel like was a cop out, like honestly, out of all the people it was Mon who dared question what was going on? Like come freaking on! The writers obviously feel obligated to better him and they always do it by throwing other people under the bus!), he has always been wrong and angry and just downright derogatory whenever he is reminded of his mistakes.

I mentioned before that the writers could have done a better job. They could have built Mon up without tearing Kara down. They turned Kara into a foolhardy muscle head this season. She’s a far cry from what Supergirl was supposed to be.

Supergirl is the symbol of strength, of resolve, of righteousness, and justice.

Yet this TV version of Supergirl is so dependent on her lover, is so selfish that she is willing to let Earth suffer just so she can have a love life with someone she won’t crush when they have sex, then what the hell is the message that they’re trying to release to the little girls and boys who aspire to be heroes today?

They made her entire family, save for Clark, a bunch of arrogant conquerors who use their intelligence and military to prove their superiority. They made them no better than Daxamite slavers, if not worse since Kryptonians are so willing to commit genocide in order to protect themselves. The writers and show runners literally found a reason for Kara to hate her own flesh and blood just so she wouldn’t feel like she’s betraying her kind by falling in love with a Daxamite… If they used this story line in SuperCorp, I still would have hated it.

Honestly, the fact that they had to cheapen Kara’s whole heritage to make her equal to Mon is insulting. And also, they basically turned Kryptonians into the Lillian and Lex.

To speak of another insult, I understand Chris and Melissa are dating, I understand why he would be upset that someone doesn’t ship he and his actual girlfriend on the show, but I feel like he was mocking Katie’s ideals. He interrupted her response, and I know she was almost done, but countering it with his ‘sarcastic’ comment about how people’s sexuality should be defined by others basically dismisses Katie’s ideals, her belief that characters are open to interpretation and fans have a right to see what they want to see. And the thing is it definitely should be open to interpretation/ limitless in one’s imagination when you’re talking about FICTIONAL characters.

The fact that he thinks people should just take things at face value, well it’s disrespectful and downright ignorant.

He’s basically telling people to not see what they see, to not feel what they feel, because it’s not written that way therefore whatever the fan interpretation is, it is ultimately meaningless.

I’m taking it as a disrespectful remark, kind of like that person who drew Demi Lovato as a mermaid and she responded by saying it’s not her body… like obviously we all know she doesn’t have a tail. We also can see that the artist captured her facial features well so obviously, it was the artist’s choice to draw her that way, to turn her into a majestic mythical creature.

The reason I’m bringing it up is because my works are created with my own interpretation of how things are, with my vision of how they could be.

And whatever art form one makes, whether it’s writing, drawing, sculpting, the point is when someone makes something they tend to put effort in their works and, while that might not be the case for Supergirl writers, that’s certainly the case for fans who take the time to draw, write, make videos, sculptures, who make anything to portray their love for the character/characters and the couples they ship.

I feel like Chris Wood and Jeremy Jordan basically told us we are stupid for seeing something that isn’t there. Like we are wasting our time shipping something that will never happen.

All those works we created are worthless because our ship does not and will never exist, because characters should be defined solely by what’s written in their script, that there are no other interpretations, that the scenarios only have one meaning: the one we are given at face value.

They are basically saying we should not look for substance in their show, for artists to stifle their creativity with their renditions, for people to restrict their imaginations, to just watch the damn show, to let Chris and Melissa enjoy being a couple off and on screen, and ultimately for SuperCorp shippers to be quiet about our non existent never going to happen ship.

To learn that the actors on the show actually feel that it’s okay to ridicule fans, the people who watch the show, the reason why their show exists in the first place, well now I am torn between my hatred for their disrespectful behavior to SuperCorp shippers and my wish to show my support for Katie McGrath…..

I can’t comment on what Melissa said because I didn’t read/watch exactly happened about what she said… but from Katie’s reactions at some videos of her signing some SuperCorp stuff, I’m pretty sure Melissa isn’t a fan either.

Honestly, I don’t know if I’m still going to watch next season.

And I definitely don’t know how I’m going to feel inspired to continue writing my series or even support SuperCorp Week….

To those that feel like I’m over reacting, well I will say this once again.

I am tired of the crumbs they feed us.

I am tired of the way the media placates us.

I am tired of the way Hollywood tell us it’s okay to be gay, but still make us feel alienated by not letting people in the LGBT+ community get proper representation.

WE DESERVE BETTER!

[it-will-not-last-the-night]

Persona 5 - 3 (4) things

I think I should perhaps stop attaching a heading to everything I write. Hmm.

I think, overall, Persona 5 is a good game and very fun. I did enjoy much of it. However, I do have some major problems with it (3 as I stated above with a fourth which is a lesser concern). These keep it from being a Great Game to me. Now I’ve never played Persona games until Persona 5 so, I hope, the trend is towards fixing these instead of making them worse, but I cannot be sure.

1) The Cheating/Female Agency in general: Does Persona 5 have some great female characters? Yes, yes it does. I mean Ann, Makoto, Haru and Futaba (to name the most important) are truly enjoyable. They are interesting and actually are for the most part strong characters. Which is why the ability of the protagonist to essentially cheat on them (and more) with little to no repercussion hurts so much. It makes it almost impossible for me to respect them as much when I know that, according to the game, even if my character is blatantly caught cheating on them with no remorse he can still pursue a relationship with them and suffers a comedic scene as his only punishment, with no lasting harm to the trust between parties. This does three things which truly upsets me; firstly it portrays that, apparently, cheating on your significant other is not a substantial breach of trust (instead your comedic punishment almost seems to imply it is ‘cool’). Secondly it reduces the likeability and agency of the female characters by portraying them as, apparently, gullible enough to somehow believe no cheating is going on even when it is blatantly happening in front of them. Thirdly it feels horrible that the game seems to still, despite its hard work, at the end of the day take the position that the girls are effectively all into the protagonist at the expense of their dignity. I am not a fan of many ‘harems’, they are difficult to do well, and when I see them in Persona I fear they are there to appeal to base interests, not to make any kind of statement about the fact that genuine polyamory is as valid as any other relationship so long as all parties are consenting. Honestly, Persona 5 could simply of excised the capacity for cheating or, rather, made it that cheating always results in the extreme destruction of your relationships. Not just with the involved parties, but with all your friends. When I was watching the cutscene (on youtube since I’d never be willing to stomach doing it in my playthrough) my first thought was “In a setting in which Ryuji knows the protagonist has cheated on Ann and treated her like trash, how would they possibly go on as friends?”. The protagonist cheating, being willing to lie like that, should have MAJOR negative repercussions for all his close relationships. Sae, for example, should be pretty furious at someone who treats her little sister like trash.

2) The protagonist as Gary-Stu: This can be averted by a player intentionally choosing to sabotage themselves at points, which is fine, but at the same time the game can sometimes become infuriating to me with how I, the protagonist, am some sort  of perfect entity who never makes mistakes and always solves everyone else’s mistakes. I honestly would have enjoyed a game where the different Phantom Thieves help each other through their issues more than a game in which I, the protagonist, am seemingly just the appointed perfect being who knows all. To be honest I think I would have prefered a more scripted protagonist, with set narrative and personality, than an avater self-insert who at times bordered on too perfect for my tastes. A Fire Emblem-esque system by which I could rank up the relationships of my fellow Phantom Thieves also would have been enjoyable, helping to create the idea that the Phantom Thieves are a group and not simple a collection of individuals who all care about the protagonist.

3) Abuse is okay if its a ‘loser’ male: Imagine Futaba being physically beat up for doing something stupid. Imagine Shiho came back as a wet-blanket-ish female character and virtually 90% of all dialogue directed at her was just ‘pssh, what a loser’ to some or other effect. None of this happens, thank goodness, but the game does think its a-okay for it to happen to Ryuji and Mishima, even though BOTH HAVE BEEN PHYSICALLY BEATEN AS CHILDREN. The game’s seemingly cruel delight in torturing Ryuji and Mishima baffles me. Particularly since neither of them are as bad as the game wants us to believe. This part confuses me; if the game wanted me to enjoy Mishima and Ryuji’s near constant suffering why did it go out of its way to make them so pitiable and good-hearted? If their purpose was for me to laugh at their pain then I’d need them to be pretty horrible people to justify it but, instead, most of the time the two are surprisingly good-hearted and kind, particularly Ryuji who is willing to sacrifice himself for us within minutes of our first meeting. I found the game’s treatment of these two characters deeply unsettling. Worst, though, was perhaps how the game kept seeming to give some indication it could do better...but then just didn’t. Now for myself a thing which is good...but then lets me down is always much worse than a thing which is just plain bad (worse here  meaning my experience of it, not objectively, its still better than a plain bad thing objectively). This happened a lot with Ryuji. A small example to demonstrate; after our first journey into a Palace with Ann she texts the protagonist a thank you, I of course responded with ‘you should thank Ryuji too’ since I am accustomed to games like this making it that the ‘idiot’ character never recieves any gratitutde for anything. BUT to my immense surprise Ann shoots back with an immediate “I already did”. I was so impressed and happy. Not only did the game subvert my normal expectations of anime tropes by having Ann thank Ryuji, but the game also recognized that seeing as Ann and Ryuji new each other at that point better than either knew my protagonist character it would make sense for her to thank him first. That was good, gave me hope that the Ann/Ryuji friendship would be the first ‘Girl scolds idiot boy a lot but I am meant to think they are friends’ relationship I’ve ever seen in media I like. But then...then...as if determined to destroy this good will Persona 5 proceeded to muck things up. So after we finally destroy Kamoshida’s Palace and everything we are texted again by Ann to thank us. This time though, when we remind her to thank Ryuji, her honest answer is “I forgot”, as if us remininding her is the only reason she’s going to do it. It is particularly hard to swallow if, like me, you had Ryuji as the one to knock of Kamoshida’s Treasure. The fact that Ryuji tripped and almost died also makes it hard to imagine Ann can somehow forget to thank him. And this applies for Morganna too, she never thanks him either. And it really just gets worse from there. Abuse is not okay. Beating Ryuji up physically is horrible.

4) This is the obvious one which many people have said better than me but I still would like it enough to put it down here; why no relationships other than male/female are possible?

That being said it was still a fun and good game. I only hope that if the series continues these issues are not present in later versions. I’d enjoy a redone version of P5 which removes them as well, but I do not think that is a realistic expectation at all.