#there is no other marvel character with such a hype track like this

[sciderman]

song fo the sday

[roe-sesandthorns]

unfiltered thoughts on deadpool & wolverine

first, lemme just say I enjoyed the movie. it was a first movie-in-cinema experience after a looong while and I saw it in 3D. granted was a bit unwell so mayyybe that influenced my experience idk.

spoilers under the cut

is it an enjoyable movie? YES. absolutely. i liked the comedy, liked the characters, liked the plot (generic but we'll get to it)

there was obviously a lot of love and care in the movie, for ALL the characters - not just the main ones but also the variants of older marvel movies (or non-movies) like Electra, Blade, and Gambit.

the fight scenes were as always amaaaazing

the dynamic between wolvie and dp was beautifully done

basic premise of the movie works wonderfully. especially given the previous movies as well as the in-universe explanation.

they handled the multiverse thing a bit better than the other ones. there is a legit reason for deadpool to go through the multiverses looking for wolvie to fill in the gap Logan left in his.

speaking of, i was confused how deadpool was in the 616 timeline (which, still fucking bitter they decided to use that for the MCU shitshow) for the meeting with Happy and then 6 years later in the 100005-whatever-the-fuck of his universe if both of those happened after the second deadpool

OR the meeting w Happy was before deadpool 2 and then he goes back and creates the alt timeline which leads to 10005 or whatever. the second option makes more sense so that's what i'm going with.

still confused about how deadpool changing the timeline affected the Logan universe or if they merged cause Logan's death cause the destablisation but wouldn't deadpool's timeline be a new one with some other anchor being - possibly deadpool

anyway, they very strongly claimed that deadpool wasnt the anchor being - which, so many misdirects in the movie that deadpool leans into as almost a mouthpiece for the audience and then they pull the bait-and-switch

sidenote: the misdirects were well done, it didn't cheapen the "twist" or surprises. deadpool's (and our logic) was the obvious track before they flipped it. so no gripe there. it was a good use of calling out the thing then adding a twist or surprise.

anyway the anchor being and the timeline TVA stuff was (as usual) a bit annoying and hard to follow at times logically BUT this is also a superhero movie and it DOES obey its own in-universe laws so the problem I have with Marvel's TVA shit is a personal opinion and not a reflection of the movie itself.

also the movie (through deadpool) IS aware of how godawful the multiverse shit in Marvel has been - and honestly, I agree w DP - fucking stop w the multiverse shit Marvel. it's not fun anymore cause you dropped the ball a long time back. (Multiverse of Madness, anyone?)

I had mixed feelings about wolverine's backstory on the initial watch

they hyped it up as him doing this unthinkable thing and him being irredeemable and then they are like oh no, he just didn't answer when they called. and it was like.... okay, and? I kept waiting for there to be more or the story to be different. the real revelation was that he had started killing people. and killing indiscriminately using the xmen uniform. this was given in the middle of a crucial high tension point

i see the appeal in doing it this way - logan was hiding his REAL sin deep within himself. he wouldn't offer it up to someone especially not someone he had just met hours ago. and in hostile territory. that's not him.

secondly, the impact of the revelation I feel was supposed to be more earthshattering than it ended up being. it was meant to be a huge shock. but after seeing him claw through people (and deadpool) repeatedly taking kill shots and after so much DEADPOOL level of Rated R violence, it landed a bit too softly for the moment to make an impact.

it was later as I thought about it that I was like, oh shit yeah like that was a big ass deal and his whole relationship w charles and the guilt he feels etc... that emotional weight didn't land in the middle of the moment. especially cause it was immediately followed by him quipping at Cassandra and trapping her

so was it true? must've been cause she was in his head.

does he feel the guilt the same way? that's what he says.

does that show in the aftermath of the moment? kinda, when he decides to spare her for charles.

but idk, it just didn't hit the way they might've wanted it to hit. Maybe allusions to him being a murderer or something before? set it up? his mistake was catastrophically world ending or at least world impacting. the loss of the x-men was not set up previously or alluded to soooo it rings a bit hollow.

maybe dropping a few hints before the reveal would have helped.

ALSO, sidenote but how tf did humans end up killing ALL of the x-men?? that seems v unlikely given that they are the fucking X-MEN. idk maybe i missed something.

Moving on...

as a deadpool AND wolverine movie, it delivered. there were some really amazing moments - the danceoff obviously, the cameos, the misdirects, the action sequences were amazing

am I a bit tired of seeing the "lose vanessa - save the day and vanessa - get back w vanessa" cycle for the third time? yeah. I mean I get he loves her and all but it's a bit too cyclical to hold impact. like cool, again? really?

again, not a plothole, a personal preference.

would have loved exploring more of wade's dalliances like shiklah or even Death. would;ve been cool.

not that I am mad about a decent mostly healthy relationship and a stable love interest in a Marvel movie (v tony stark-pepper potts coded)

speaking of stability, or lack thereof, I felt like this movie in particular did not delve as deeply into deadpool's unique mental headspace. i was hoping sometime they would bring in the more debilitating aspects of his mental health (the boxes, the hallucinations, the suicidal/self-harm tendencies) but I get that it might be a bit too grimdark for Fox/Disney

would've been nice to have a bit more of that aspect of his character

although who's to know maybe MCU wade's support system helps him be a bit more well adjusted

also why the emphasis on Peter? is it for a joke cuase he's just some guy? is it a cheeky peter parker jab? is it both? it's mildly funny so i don't mind. just meh about - again, personal preference.

ok something that's more objective:

i think there were too many 4th wall breaks. it was fun, the references were amazing. some of them were really good. loved the opening one, the one where he smashes the camera, and some other moments.

but after a while it felt stale or too much. the jokes did hit. it's not like they were unfunny like the rest of marvel's humour

some of the deep cuts were D E E P but it's not even about the content. deep cut references are a staple for the character.

but just the frequency of the meta jokes and the 4th wall breaks was a bit excessive?

but then again, deadpool isn't deapool if he isn't a bit annoying or excessive. my guy's the arachetype for a comedic motormouth

the woke-jokes were funny but not as edgy as he could go. I felt like the jokes were a bit too tongue-in-cheek to make them almost cringe? but whatever. they played it safe and i'm not mad about it.

as a movie, it felt a bit too attention grabby in the wrong way. there was a "aren't i so clever" or smarmy marvel overtone of "look at us being self-referrential and allowing you to laugh at us becuase you've been joking about our products being shit but when we allow ryan reynolds to do it we beocme edgy and cool and don't u wanna buy more now? look we got so much to sell you? did i tell you RDJ is coming back? which, holy fucking shit fuck that shit it sucks "

maybe it's just my anti-marvel agenda idek

still, sometimes just having fox's logo in the back rather than pointing it out is enough ig

for someone who was and is so tired of Marvel, it was a refreshing movie

i enjoyed it, it was a decent movie, a good deadpool movie not as good as the previous two and a GREAT deadpool and wolverine movie. does that make sense?

i never really cared for wolverine much in the past decade but this movie made him cool again, which was awesome

the teamup and dynamic was great

marvel needs to learn to give people who love the characters (not just their own but OTHER characters esp the oft forgotten ones) and want to do them justice more creative control and let them tell the (hopefully self contained) stories rather than focusing on playing join the dots behind the scenes OR try to catch attention through shock value

it doesn't work. it's like jumpscares in horror. you pay attention for a second cuase you're startled but the real impactful horror is the one done through themes and story - not a loud bang.

altho i have a feeling that the lesson marvel is gonna take is about shoving more and more (esp obscure) cameos in a work than actually doing justive to characters and stories

oh, also. it goes to show that the two best received (so far) movies post Endgame have been the multiverse ones with nostalgic characters

MCU's """sacred timeline""" is fucked because of them. people want to feel what they felt like watching the older more self-contained stories like the x-men or the tobey spidey movies

it's not jsut nostalgia, it's about story and characters and HEART.

phase 4 is proof that marvel doesn't have a heart.

parting thoughts: the only interaction i want from deadpool and the main MCU is with spiderman. preferably andrew garfield but i'll take holland in a pinch.

I have hope that as long as ryan has the reigns his deadpool projects + appearances will always have heart.

And I have NOT touched on how GAY (non-derogatory) the movie is and I think I need another long rant for it cause goddamn the movie is queer af and I love it. the euphemistic van scene alone GODDAMN.

it's like ryan and team were NOT here to play - deadpool is queer, get with it or perish. love that energy.

Edit: the set pieces holy shit. it was a gorgeous movie that was shot amazingly and the practical effects and CG were ON POINT. LOTS of attention to detail.

[tobiasdrake]

Wolverine's whole intro is pretty hype. There's a reason this character became the Iron Man of the X-Men brand long before Iron Man was the Iron Man of the Marvel brand. In fact, I'm pretty sure he already was even before this movie came out; Wolverine's centrality to the X-Men films is a symptom of his massive publicity, not the cause. I think.

It also gives me thoughts.

Like. This dude gets the shit kicked out of him in the fight ring and then harasses Logan at the bar. Logan, having a lightswitch temper, breaks out the claws and exposes himself. This causes the bartender to pull a gun on Logan, even though the other guy was the clear agitator of the fight. Because prejudice.

But y'know what this makes me wonder?

How often does this happen? Not just to mutants, I mean. The government's fostering a culture of fear and paranoia. Anyone can be a mutant, gotta watch out for those mutants, you don't know who might be a mutant.

This guy tried to stab Logan because he decided, of his own accord, that Logan fights too good to be human. That was it. His evidence for Logan being a mutant is that he took a punch too well.

He's right. But that's still a stupid claim to make.

How many people are being accused of being mutants right now because they play guitar too well or run track too fast or throw a football too well? How often do you think someone watches a cool stage performance like sword swallowing or fire juggling and goes, "Nah, that's some mutant shit; We gotta get that guy."

[almadesarrollo]

MLB NEWS THIS DOESN'T STOP! THE NEW ANIMATION TEAM AND MORE ABOUT THE ENGLISH DUBBING

Very good, I come with more news, THIS DOESN'T STOP, WE HAVE GONE FROM BEING LITTLE INFORMED TO RECEIVING MORE AND MORE NEWS AHAHA OK LET'S GO IN PARTS.

NEWS 1

Ezra returns to the fray with the dubbing, and with Chloe, well we can say that she just uploaded this:

He says: pov: "when everyone says your character is off the show" and Ezra appears in his video with Selah (Chloe).

Then we have a post from Selah, the voice actor, where she says: "To all the people who have sent us a message asking if Chloe is off the show… she's back in the booth, baby. Don't be RIDICULOUS, this queen isn't!" going nowhere!! What's your favorite Chloe line from season 5?"

Well, the first thing is to note that it says #SEASON6 so we can confirm a little the doubt we had in the previous post and that is that all these dubbing audios are for S6, it is not 100% sure, but we have less doubt... 2nd is that clearly, she is going to participate a lot in this S6 and she is not out of the show, I never thought this, I don't know why there are people who thought that, just because she WENT to NY does not mean that she would never go out again, that It would cost less, but not that, so this doubt is clarified.

As for whether there is any other clue for S6, I don't detect anything here, but its role will be important, because they are giving it a lot of hype, for a reason... remember that through it we are given clues about kagami and KAGAMI IS A VITAL CHARACTER FOR THE PLOT BECAUSE OF THE WHOLE ISSUE OF THE TSURUGI....SO THERE IS SOMETHING BIG OUT THERE or the theory that I mentioned in my previous POST is real (CHLOE SENTI)

NEWS 2

Well we have more news about the animation of season 6, it seems that the DWARF studio will be in charge, and little by little they are progressing, with it we will have a more fluid animation and with more detail, which is ideal since we know that this season Our protagonists have another type of trait, they are older, and then take into account that JEREMY and Thomas wanted to create a BIG SUPERHERO universe LIKE DC AND MARVEL IS, AND FOR THAT IT REQUIRES GREAT ANIMATION, I mean THIS IS SERIOUS, THE SEASON 6 WOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT, IT WILL BE A REALLY SERIOUS BEGINNING AND WHERE THE REAL STORY BEGINS (that's why there are so many felinette jujuju tracks), BECAUSE IF NOT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE CHANGED THE ANIMATION, BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY NOTE THAT IT IS MORE EXPENSIVE, NOT REACHING THE LEVEL FROM THE MOVIE, BUT APPROXIMATE, it will look a little more realistic, so we will have a quality show, THEY ARE VERY SERIOUS!!! WHAT AN EXCITION!!!!

NOW as for the clue itself about the S6, I don't see anything here, I do see people zooming in on some images, but no matter how much I look I can't see who they are...so if you want a clue you'll have to see my post about Jeremy's video, he uploaded a video of what the animation would look like with this studio (the streets of Paris) and there is a lot of clue of what is to come IN S6.

Without a doubt, season 6 will be noticed with a great and fresh start. ARE YOU WANTING IT? I YES

Like, reblog and follow me if you liked the post, and follow me to see more content of this type

See you in future posts.

[namjhyun]

DRAMA REVIEW | MOVING (2023)

In a time when we are suffering from an over-saturation of content and less than mediocre stories, particularly related to people with superpowers, South Korea has released MOVING and proved there's still hope for the genre.

Like its tittle the story is in constant move, not only pushing forward but going back to different timelines to give us context o our main characters and how the things happening in present time are a direct consequence to the past. Technically, MOVING is perfect. One of the strongest points is definitely the editing and this can be seen in the way the story jumps from one year to another but you never lose track of what's happening nor leaves you confused. There are gaps to fill but with other episodes that will give you answers. The score complements the actions and emotions of the characters to perfection.

The performances are top notch and it's not surprise considering this drama is stacked. If you have been watching korean dramas or films for a while, you will recognize even the most random character or one-episode-cameo it's performed by an award winning actor or actress. These people have a reputation for a reason and they deliver in every scene, with a look, a touch, a smile or a punch that will push you through a wall. For some characters in the drama literally speaking.

Zo In Sung hasn't starred in a drama since Dear My Friends (2016) and I am so glad this is his return to the tv format. In MOVING he delivered a nuance, charming and badass performance that in the hands of another would have fell flat. His character's entire existence it's what pushes most of the story forward: a person used as a weapon to kill but all he ever wanted was to live. The big mystery of the drama it's to find out what was his fate after he got separated from those he loves.

Ryoo Seung Ryong remains one of the most compelling actors of his generation, giving us the incredible story of a good man lost in life until he found his purpose and redemption. His storyline, full of gore and violence, was actually a tender love story about how far a man will go to protect his family. Marvelous.

Han Hyo Joo's character could have easily fallen into the Smurfette principle but no. She's an equal to the men who love her and those that want to kill her, with a very strong motivation to keep herself on the top of the game. This character's loneliness comes through every scene she's in, bottling everything up in order to be strong for her family but you can tell she's waiting for a chance to be free and, most importantly, for her son to be able to live freely.

Ko Yoon Jung, Lee Jeong Ha and Kim Do Hoon are really promising actors, particularly considering they hold their own while performance with so many household names. I think Kim Do Hoon and Kim Sun Kyun probably gave one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful stories in the drama.

Like I mentioned before every single actor in this drama brought their A+ game face but I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention Kim Hee Won, Cha Tae Hyun, Ryoo Seung Bum, Park Hee Soon, Yang Dong Geun, Jo Bok Rae, Park Kwang Jae, Kim Joong He and, of course, Kwak Sun Young. She in particular was SPECTACULAR.

None of these characters are one-dimensional, they are not defined by the label society wants to put on them. They are all joined together by the experiences, hardships, love, motivations and ambitions they share. At the end of the day, related or not by blood, they are a family. Even the so-called enemies.

MOVING it's absolutely worthy of the hype that surrounds it through all social media and news outlets putting in the category of one of 2023 best tv shows. I only regret I didn't have the time to watch it sooner so I could have add it to mine.

[blueberry-lemon]

When trailers outshine themselves

I like watching trailers. Maybe even more now than I used to.

I’m well aware that the purpose of a trailer is to build hype and interest. It’s a commercial, to get you to buy something. In some cases, they spoil or ruin the very story they’re advertising. In some cases, it’s way better to go in “blind” than to look at marketing materials.

But, like many of us, I can’t help myself.

I really love a good trailer. It’s a cool artform. Somewhere between an advertisement and a music video. And because the trailer is such a different artform than the actual movie or game that it’s advertising, sometimes the trailer itself is even better than the final product. Sometimes I’ll go back and rewatch a trailer over and over, even after I’ve completed the actual thing it was hyping it.

I write this post not to complain about being disappointed about films or TV shows or games, but rather to give a shout-out to the trailer teams who I think did a fantastic job with their assignment.

The first examples that always jump to my mind are from Marvel Studios. I think they’re pretty great at trailers. I started noticing this when they started making their Disney+ shows. 

WandaVision: Both the initial trailer and the mid-season trailer are fantastic. I’ve watched them over and over. They do a good job of being charming, romantic, and lovesick. They do an even better job of being mysterious and unsettling. It’s a pitch-perfect way to get you to buy into the concept and want to check out the show. I enjoyed watching the full WandaVision show, maybe moreso than any other MCU Disney+ show, but I wouldn’t hesitate to admit that I like these two trailers even more than the show. Kudos to the editors that put these together.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: I had absolutely no intention of watching this show. I’m not particularly interested in this genre or either of these two characters. But the trailer sold me on it, with its hype music choices and intense cutting. I ended up enjoying the show enough in the end, but definitely not as much as this hype trailer.

I thought Marvel did a great job again with Loki’s trailer and Hawkeye’s trailer. Loki’s trailer makes the show seem a lot more mysterious and surreal than it actually ended up being, haha. Hawkeye does that classic “sweet Christmas music juxtaposed with action sequences” trick.

They got me again with Moon Knight, a character I didn’t know anything about. Although I’ll give credit, I feel like Moon Knight was about as weird and wild as the trailer hyped up it would be. So in this case I think it was a satisfying match.

Another satisfying match? The trailers made for Undertale. The release trailer and Nintendo Switch trailer come to mind. They’re fun, funny, and show off how the game works. I love this unique version of the Bonetrousle track that they use, which becomes very dramatic and grandiose. They’re also good examples of including original material into trailers that aren’t actually in the final product. That practice, generally speaking, doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind if trailers “lie” or show different footage, so long as it’s effective and doesn’t feel misleading. 

There are other trailers that I feel like match pretty well. I didn’t feel any gulf in expectation or emotion between the trailers for Avengers Infinity War + Endgame versus their final movie versions.

The trailers for Pixar’s Turning Red made me blubber and tear up, and the full film completely lived up to that and even exceeded it. So for me, that was a great film where the trailer editors captured it perfectly.

And for an example of one where I felt mixed on the end product, both the trailer for Pixar’s Elemental and the full Elemental film felt pretty equivalent to me. It wasn’t my favorite movie in the world, and I feel like I got that vibe accurately from the trailers.

But now, finally, for the trailers that brought me to writing this.

I really love the trailers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

I’ll include two here. One is the “release date announcement”, and the second was the “theme song announcement” that was aired at The Game Awards.

This is great. It’s moody. It moves into one of the game’s fantastic battle themes (which is itself a sweeping battle rendition of the original game’s main theme.) It’s shows off how the combat works beautifully, intercut with tantalizing plot snippets. The trailer builds up mystery and adventure. It confirms that Yuffie and Cait Sith are playable. It shows cool Synergy combo moves. It manages to somehow transition gracefully into Golden Saucer minigame mayhem. Love it.

Another fantastic one. And the last piece of marketing material I would ever need to see to sell me on getting the game.

The trailer is split into two halves. The first half establishes the plot of the game. It gives us Cloud and Zack’s stories intertwined. It shows us weird, confusing story stuff that sets the Remake trilogy apart from the original. It shows us different environments you’ll travel through. Gives us a heartfelt conversation between Cloud and Tifa. Snippets of Barret’s story too.

The second half is the new original song for the game, No Promises to Keep, which was performed live at The Game Awards along with the footage. I really adore this song, to be blunt, so maybe that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting here. But it really makes me emotional and ties a lot of these disparate clips together. The animation of Aerith singing is beautiful, and it ends on a heart-tugging cliffhanger.

Now….my partner and I have been playing Rebirth. I’m early on, but they’ve only got about a quarter of the game left. We’re enjoying it, it’s great.

But…

…would it be out of line for me to say that the trailers are more effective than the game itself?

Much like WandaVision, the trailers for Rebirth sew all of the different scenes and emotions together into a seamless tapestry. It makes everything feel intentional, beautiful, well-paced, and packing an emotional punch. When my partner and I play the game itself, it feels harder for that intentionality and emotion to come through. Of course your mileage will vary. But, for me, it’s hard for the minigames to live up to the frantic montage when playing them in-game isn’t super fun. It’s hard for the emotional storytelling of the game to live up to the trailer when it’s spread out thin over hours and hours. Nothing in the game itself as made me feel as emotional or hooked in as these two trailers have, at least so far.

Again, this is not a knock on Rebirth. It’s the reality of how much easier it is to move hearts with a 2-minute trailer versus a 60-hour video game. A completely different artform.

And, most of all, it’s kudos to the trailer teams who work at Square and at all these companies for knowing the assignment and knocking it out of the park. I really love what they did with it.

[thecurioustale]

I tend to get invested in powerful female characters who make their own rules and usually get shoehorned into being the villain by inept storytellers who don't understand the potential of their creations.

Lanfear was a source of endless frustration for me for many years, because Robert Jordan didn't write her well and, moreover, being a villain meant that she never really had a chance of exploring her desires let alone actually getting what she wanted. I hate it when storytellers open up these huge philosophical frontiers about the nature and possibilities of existence and are then like "Nah, let's go to the arena and watch sweaty people beat each other up in the most conventional ways imaginable."

Anyway, I was released from Lanfear's spell when The Wheel of Time series ended. In recent years they have come out with a TV adaptation, and Season 2 marked Lanfear's debut. I'm not subscribed to whatever streaming service it's own, so I haven't watched it, but I've caught a few clips. The show is taking significant liberties with the story, including in ways that make Lanfear appear a lot more viable as a general character and not a doomed-to-fail villain. And for a hot minute last year I was really hyped about it.

But then I was like "Wait a minute, there, J. You're being hornswoggled! Again! Of course they're going to do Lanfear dirty. They're taking liberties with the story but they're not actually changing the fundamental shape of the story, and they're certainly not wandering outside the safe, pop culture boxes of narrative story development that will inevitably doom her to a villain's track. They're just doing a much better job than Robert Jordan did of making Lanfear's love for Rand believable. Don't fall for it! You've learned your lesson."

And so I have. I realized that what I want to happen isn't what's actually going to happen. Lanfear is a dead-end character.

And so I didn't fall down the rabbit hole, and instead continued merrily on my way.

Ironically, this hasn't stopped me from enjoying the scenes she was in. I think they did a marvelous job; this incarnation of Lanfear works a lot better than the one in the books, honestly. Great acting, pretty good writing, very good direction (to whatever extent Lanfear actor Natasha O'Keeffe was closely directed in the nuances of her portrayal).

It has only stopped me from pouring my passion into something that would inevitably disappoint me.

She did exactly what she said she would.

[adjit]

3 6 12 :3

3. What were your top five books of the year?

MMMMM picking a top 5 is hard. To be clear, I only keep track of the new novels I read, not rereads or any other forms of fiction (comics, manga, webnovels, webcomics) and I'm not a super prolific reader, so I'm only coming in with about 30 books read this year. So I'm kinda gonna fudge this one.

That being said I did actually read the Murderbot Diaries this year (in January) so I could just list those. I won't but I could.

Anyway. I barely read new books so none of these are even new this year but they're NEW TO ME.

So, dubious if this is a top 5 of the year, but 5 books that I read and enjoyed this year, in no particular order:

Network Effect by Martha Wells (I can list one Murderbot, as a treat), A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

This year I've been working my way through queer scifi/fantasy, getting recommendations based on those, and then recommendations based off of those, so almost all of my reads have been along the same lines. I want to try to change it up more next year but it is what it is I'm having fun.

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

I never really plan that far ahead tbqh. I have a lot on my tbr pile but it's all kinda "sometimes in the future...". There are 3 books I'm still finishing, but...hopefully will finish before the year's end (Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat, These Are Not The Trinity Papers by Vale Zalecki, and A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers).

And I'm waiting for my holds to come in on The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson, A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, and The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. Actually that last one you recommended to me 2 years ago and I'm still working on it. So I think that's the real answer here. I'M WORKING ON IT this time in audiobook form.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow hands down. It was...fine, I didn't dnf or anything, I just deeply deeply disliked the main character that the narrative hinged on being universally beloved, so it kept pissing me off. That doesn't mean that the book wasn't good but it was super hyped up before I started it, so expectations were high and it felt like a letdown.

[moonlightperseus]

I was a classic girly girl as a kid so I wasn't watching any of the animated shows. I got into superheroes after watching the 2012 Avengers movie (which I still refused to watch for years) and I finally like really liked superheroes but it was a very fake, dabbling interest, and then my brother started sending me screenshots of injustice panels and now I don't shut up. 

I also primarily am a DC girlie, most Marvel I've read is either for specific Characters (Black widow, mostly) or because my eighth grade teacher lent me the comics. 

It's so annoying to have to find them, and worse when it's like random issues? So you're like "oh is this the new issue of (comic)? Well,,, it is *an* issue." And then you click on it and have to get like halfway through to know if you've read it or not. 

And some of them really are *so* long and that's so much to keep track of- I used to just have like 100 open tabs on my phone and they were all just different comics I was reading. Then I made a list just to remember what still running comics I was even reading so I'd remember to read new issues and that didn't even work. 

I loved BOP don't get me wrong! (Especially since I don't know if I already said that) but I am also the type of person who will complain about every little thing. (not all the time, and usually just inside my head, but like one thing I usually bring up with the movie is the way it's kind of weird that they like? Smashed Black Canary's two backstories together to make one? It's just a weird choice to me so I'll talk about that but it doesn't ruin the movie for me) Cass However is a big thing Im not a fan of. They didn't even make her a better character she's just lame. 

And in movies generally it's kind of annoying how studies and other movies can dictate things. I don't know if that makes sense, but how like in Marvel Spiderman was owned by someone else so he could never be in the main timeline. I understand why but it's still? Sad I guess? I don't think any of that made sense I am so sorry. 

I'm also sad that the DCEU is just non existent now. They're fumbling that ball so hard. I feel like they finally got somewhere? Like BOP was a very good movie (granted, it didn't get good reviews because women aren't allowed to exist, so I don't know how good it was for the studio's) and wonder woman was doing good. They had a lot of hype. And they just? Threw it away. Gal Gadot was loved as Diana but they threw that out. Same with Henry Cavill. They're making a mistake, I think. 

(I personally would probably consume little DCEU content anyway, because I don't like tv or movies, buy I 100% would've watched the Jurnee Smollet black canary show that was rumored to be in the works and am sad that has been thrown out) 

I've never heard of Luke Mitchell but I just googled him and that's not a bad fancast tbh. I personally am I did hard for Charlie Hunnam's fan cast though I think he's probably too rugged for Ollie. And all of that aside it still would've been really great to get any black canary or black canary and Green Arrow content. 

I bought a new comic today (Batgirl #1, rebirth) and found out I already owned it because my comic collection is such a mess since it's all from the dollarstore :(  I own the first Bombshells United, and other than that I haven't read any. I wanted it to be like, a comic I owned all of and read in person but I don't have the funds for that. 

I might use that site I appreciate that. I do the same thing but what I use is covered in bad pop ups and continuously opens new tabs I have ti be careful to delete and not open (I don't know how I still have a phone, but they almost certainly have all of my personal information). 

I don't know how comics heavy of a mood I'm in ATM (it's one of those things y'know, where you're like !! This is my main hobby!! And then you start it and you're like "I would literally rather die then do this hobby right now." ) but I will try to read the bombshells runs- I went as Bombshell Black Canary for Halloween a few years ago, so I AM a fan. And I'll try to finish secret six (do I know where I am? No. But I think it'll be worth it) 

​​​​​​​Also I'm so sorry that it took me this long I forgot I was doing this and got really distracted trying to see how likely id be to die if I broke into SeaWorld I did not mean to forget to send this 

no need to apologize on timing! i completely understand both life being busy and also being easily distracted & forgetting things. (for example, i started responding to this ask, and then very suddenly decided i needed to finish reading the batgirl 2000 run so that i could start on injustice bc my curiosity for it has been mounting, and now its almost 3am and i really should go to sleep so i might have to draft this to finish responding to hopefully tomorrow, but i’ve got a drive to do tomorrow so it may end up being a bit and now i’m going to apologize for the delay in my response and i do see the irony in that)

i have to ask, are you looking into breaking into seaworld to help the animals or more so just to see thats something you can do (no judgement either way im just genuinely very fascinated by that sentence)

okay under the cut i got ramble again

nothing wrong with being a classy girly girl! i was definitely inbetween being a tomboy and a girly girl personally. i didnt get into the superhero animated shows until i was like, 11? i didnt really have much exposure to superheroes much before finding the shows, but i got my little sibling to watch some of the shows with me

i remember watching the avengers (2012) maybe like a year or so after it came out (it was on netflix at the time) but im pretty sure i started by watching the shows (i remember being disappointed bc the wasp wasnt in the movie even tho in the show she was one of the founding members, which i believe is the same in the comics, and i really liked wasp from the show. i did enjoy the movie, but i never watched any of the sequels until endgame, which at that point i watched solely bc i was promised captain marvel and then they only gave me like 5 minutes of her.

as for marvel comics i’ve mostly read young avengers & runaways stuff. i can’t remember if i got around to any captain marvel comics but i was gifted the novelization that came out after the movie that was like an (unofficial?) prequel to it and i did enjoy reading that.

on the note of random comic issues i literally bought a like 50 pack of random comics that was like idk some kinda deal and that is most of my comic collection which is just literally random issues, i think its all dc stuff but it could be a mix of dc and marvel? i'm back at my parents now so i'll have to dig out the box to take home with me before i leave so i can go through it. another thing thats frustrating with comics is when theres like a uhh like story that spans across multiple different comic runs? like i was reading the 2000 batgirl run as previously mentioned (i have finished it now) but i did ended up just skimming a few issues bc they were a part of some bigger batfam plot that was spanning across other comics and i could not be bothered to go find the issues that that particular story continued through.

totally fair to be the person who likes to complain about every little thing, and super valid to like a movie and also have some issues with it! i can totally respect peoples hangups about the bop movie not being a perfect comic adaptation and i would agree, but to me being a perfect adaptation and being a perfect movie are not mutually exclusive and i will hold it in my heart as a perfect movie aksdjglk (its right up there with the old guard in my personal movie rankings) my problem is when people hate it for stupid reasons (i still remember seeing a post hating on the movie for how it killed black mask ((it wasn't a good enough death for him)) like this movie isn't about him!! hes a loser! the only "better" option for his death is if harley ran him over with a combine tractor bc i think that would be funny as hell. but i dont think gotham is the type of city that has a lot of combine tractors.)

yeah as far as the dceu goes i didnt have any attachment to the batman or superman films (i only watched bvs for wonder woman lajdfkjladf) but like the 1st wonder woman was really good! (didnt watch the second one bc i heard poor reviews of it ((and not just from fanboys who can't take a female centric superhero movie))), i enjoyed the aquaman movie and the 1st shazam (still need to watch the 2nd one) and obviously i loved bop. i was super excited for the batgirl film and the casting of supergirl (would LOVE to see her get a movie!!) i guess we'll just have to see where things go now. alas. i’m more of a tv show guy anyways. (not that there’s the best history for live action dc tv shows either…but they sure do. exist! and i sure have consumed a large quantity!)

yeah i’m also so mad about the BC show being thrown out i was sooo excited for it :(((

god super valid re buying a comic you already have. i lowkey wanna find out if there is a nice comic book store near where im living rn bc at the very least it could be a nice way to force myself to get out for reasons other than to go to work and to grocery stores (though idk if it’s a good idea financially but it could be a cool. occasional treat)

also SUPER valid w the not being in a heavy comic mood, it really is smth that comes n goes like the tide and it’s like a big mental investment (at least in my opinion) to delve into the comics world and sometimes there’s just not enough brain to spare! no worries/pressure on picking it back up. (but if you do, and check out bombshells, united comes after the original run so i would rec starting w the originals first!)

also :O going as bombshells bc for halloween is SO cool mad respect (i loveeeee her bombshells design. which. i love MOST of the bombshells designs but. y’know) i tried to go as black canary for halloween one year i got leather boots and a leather jacket and maybe leather pants and a blonde wig. i was aiming for an arrowverse black canary (e1 laurel lance) but i didn’t really match even that well lol. oh well.

okay i am gonna wrap up this reply bc i do feel like i could ramble literally forever and i already feel bad about the late response but i do have a question regarding injustice. as far as where to start, i looked up the reading order and there’s like the prequel (year zero?) which the article i found said you don’t have to start with or even read at all so i was wondering what your thoughts were on the best place to start/if the prequel is any good

hope you’re having a lovely day!!

[bearpillowmonster]

Guardians Vol. 3 is...bad?

Had so many thoughts about Guardians Vol.3 that I felt it proper to post here too.

It's James Gunn's furry version of Katawa Shoujo with the addition of Sid from Toy Story.

When someone said that the Guardians would continue to appear in future MCU titles, I thought that James Gunn responded "not all of them" meaning that not all of them were going to make it out alive, not that I was pining for it but I set up certain expectations for its characters in order to build up each one enough to make you think "oh this one is going to die" to the point where you thought that about all of them and were kept guessing until the end. Well that didn't happen, instead what we got was Rocket out of commission to show his flashbacks for most of the movie. Nobody died. But somehow, Rocket's story was the most compelling story in here and it's not hard to see why.

His story was good but it felt unnatural which brings me to the editing. The action is brimming in the first two movies but this one has a lack of such, having the "potential" to be cool but never really hitting the mark until the final battle. This is in part due to the constant need to cut away, there's a cool fight scene with Peter and Groot? Let's cut away to Gamora. Then hey, how about we cut back to Kraglin and Cosmo arguing over who's a good or bad dog for the eleventh time? And then finally we get a cool final battle and even that's ruined, because guess what? The music selection just wasn't as good this time around and- I'm getting really sick and tired of No Sleep Til Brooklyn being in every movie, to the point that there should be a rule that you buy the film rights to music, you keep them for a specified amount of time so that nobody else can for at least over a year because what was it? March, when Mario came out? Some of the tracks are good but that just left a bad taste in my mouth. There are other Beastie Boys songs, you know!

But those characters that I expected to be built up, weren't, Rocket was the only one. I mean, what is this mess? It's a waste of practically everything it adds. The hyped up Adam Warlock that was integral to the Infinity Saga in the comics skipped the MCU's version of the Infinity Saga for this movie, so what better is he doing? Cracking jokes and petting alien dogs, that's about it. Drax was shadowed, I see the arc they put in there and it's nice but I would've liked the comics one better, this one is more like they're making an excuse for being too jokey. Mantis...what exactly is her arc? Gamora, same deal. Nebula...can keep being Queen, she can save her arc, I wouldn't mind.

Peter. Peter. Peter. WHERE'S HIS HELMET?! WHERE'S HIS ROCKET BOOTS?! STAR-LORD WHO?! "They're in his desk drawer and those boots are no more, those rocket packs are superior-" I DON'T CARE! He doesn't even USE the frickin' rocket pack and you're telling me he was in such a rush that he forgot his mask and rocket pack but not his guns? He knew there would be action, why would he not have a spare on the ship, why- Nevermind, lame excuses. Sonic Adventure is where I thought it was a little too much to have Tails and Amy have the same arc to become independent from Sonic but this movie takes that and cranks it to where most of the cast have the arc that they need to be independent from the rest (namely Star-Lord).

That's the other thing about it. When I saw the Holiday Special, I just assumed it was lower quality because it was a short little one-off but this movie just gives off a similar vibe of production value, like it's too grey or something. The CGI is fine, luckily breaking that trend that the MCU has been having lately but that's the other thing about the Holiday Special, it was really only progressive to the overall story to officiate that Peter and Mantis are siblings and solidify Mantis and Drax's friendship but it was the siblings part that I so desperately desired. And let me tell you- when I saw GOTG2, I emailed Marvel about a potential third sequel, BEGGING that they give Star-Lord a sister, I won't disclose what I said in my letter but I was shocked to see it happen. I'm not saying it was me or even that they read my fan letter but I'm just showing how happy that made me to see it actually come to fruition. With that said, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot done with it...

And then we have the kids, yes, the kids. In Thor: Love and Thunder, it felt very much like Disney execs wanted them to push it in a direction where it's about the children. Fine, it fits with the theme of the movie, made for a cheesy ending though. But then they did it again for this movie and I'm just kind of...weirded out by it, like is this supposed to be a Disney ride? Is this meant to pander to kids? Then why do they curse and- Ok, I'll let it go, just a weird choice.

With No Way Home, I liked it more as time went on but with Guardians, I've liked it less, I seen and read what others have to say after I watched it but it doesn't change how I feel. I picked up on the stuff, I just didn't like it or felt it delivered. And some people feel the need to bring up that "James Gunn had no control over what happened with Gamora in Infinity War and Endgame, she missed out on so much development." And like??? She was in Infinity War and we got all this development so that leaves Endgame, Thor, and the Holiday Special which NONE of those three were anything crazy that she missed out on in comparison to the other Guardians. Also, James Gunn KNEW about this and he was FINE with it AND he admitted that he gets more slack than anybody else so I don't know why they're putting him in this victim position, he wanted to kill Gamora in 2 and Marvel talked him out of it then Marvel turned right back around and asked to kill her in Infinity War to which Gunn agreed that it was a good choice and he'd work with that. But Gamora was never the problem for me, it just was for other people and they came up with figmented excuses. Now, it did feel like Marvel might've asked Gunn to keep the characters alive so they can milk them as much as they can (which will probably inevitably happen to Iron Man and whoever else) but apparently this was Gunn's version so I don't know. The MCU is just falling into the same pit traps that the comics have had, part of the appeal of the movies was that they didn't have that baggage, it could seem concrete and have impact and stakes but whatever.

I didn't watch any trailers or material for this movie because I've given up on that, seeing as most stuff gets spoiled anyway. But the one thing I did see was Warlock's first appearance meme and the end credits card (Legendary Star-Lord) but that end credits scene was the least hype worthy thing I could've witnessed and really put the cherry on the bottom for my already bad opinion of this movie. It didn't feel like the grand epic finale to the trilogy, it just felt like another adventure. If you want a more satisfying ending, look no further than the Telltale game, it actually has a lot of similar beats executed a little bit better in my opinion, I just wish this movie would've taken more inspiration from it because it had the potential to be even better. (though it'd be at the loss of Linda Cardellini and I'm not mentally prepared for that) It wasn't even a bad movie, it was just a bad Guardians movie and an average Marvel movie so the expectation of a preexisting franchise made me give it a slightly lower score.

[kitbitanimate]

I want to talk about this controversy a bit more in depth First for people who may not be able to tell: Lego Monkey Kid was first animated by the Australian studio Flying Bark Productions, which has been around since the 1960's and has a long history of successful local and international commercial work and tv shows. most notionally they worked on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel's What If..?, a short film I personally love: My Jumper It Roars, among other things.

The studio has had decades to perfect it's style of animation which includes high action sequences, bright color use, motion, and recognizably unique designs. The flow of their scenes is so precise it's down to a science. This studio was the one responsible for Season 1-4 of Lego Monke Kid development. They are particularly skilled in cell animation and blending 2D centered characters/assets into 3D environments.

All of that is on display I think best with the season 3 trailer:

Now that's not a completely fair comparison to the new studio WildBrain. which is a much younger studio by comparison (Founded back in 2016). But their portfolio is just as visually interesting on it's own. With shows like Carmen Sandiego, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and Ninjago. Their studio specializes in 3D animation, especially styles like Vector Animation, motion graphics, and Screencasting. All beautiful styles and unique in their own right. Most people don't tend to notice the uniqueness of these styles of art, since the graphics move smoothly (if not smoother) than 2D cell animation, but it's incredibly noticeable in the joints of a character's body and the jaw movements.

Now watch the Season 5 trailer, notice how the characters heads move, their limbs are more stiff, the movements of the jaws are more vertically aligned. The conversation between Mei and Red Son show this the most. The multi-headed bird monster also does this, and the look Sun Wukong gives to Macaque shows where the "body parts" are independent from each other.

Compare the Season 5 trailer to Azure Lion's introduction in the season 4 trailer (00:33-00:56)

Now I'm never one to disparage artwork. Both styles are fantastic and it's clear Wildbrain is trying to keep up with the work Flying Bark put in. But it's incredibly obvious the Lego Corporation is cutting corners where they can.

And that hurts a show's quality, audience, and customers. By downgrading the animation from it's original studio to a younger (and left be frank here Cheaper) Studio and crew; the company is hoping people will still be interested in their products, and the hype that was there before will keep on track. They are hoping for complacency, "it is what it is", and toxic positivity to carry their business through this budget cut.

Why should I care about a show and toy line when the people financing it are not willing to put their money into making it better, grander?

The animation was the key factor for me to watch the series, to start buying Lego's again. I've known Journey to the West from the early days of anime. But the AU of this internationally important novel is not enough to keep me as a regular viewer, when the company is willing to cut the most visually fun artwork down to paper cutouts.

My argument boils down to my gripe with AI: why should I watch something when it's clear the people green-lighting and Financing the show don't care about it? Why not delay season 5 until Flying Bark studio could commit to more seasons? Movies and Tv shows have been pushed back for more petty reasons that scheduling conflicts.

Lego Monkie Kid is a product.

I don’t intend to make any more posts of this style for some time, but I’d like to put this out here for everywhere:

(After this, I’ll go back to uploading my usual content. I’m sorry for deviating from that, but I really wanted to make a post or two about season five.)

Lego Monkie is a paid-for product. You can buy it through Amazon, watch it on the Lego Channel with ads, import the comics from China, etc.

You pay for it. It’s not something put into the world for free. It is a product that people consume with their time or money.

It’s not something made with only time and love.

Lego Monkie Kid is a paid-for product with thousands of dollars worth of tie-in merch.

It is not bad; and will never be bad, to criticize the products you consume. We do not have to blindly consume for the sake of animators, or for the sake of a show.

Do not tell people to ‘just be happy’. Do not tell people that ‘the animators are just trying to feed their families’. Do not tell people to ‘just get over it’. Do not tell people that they’re ‘being ungrateful’.

People are allowed to form opinions of changes, whether negative or positive- especially when it is a product they pay for.

People are going to have negative feelings and thoughts and emotions. You are not a knight or a soldier. You get nothing out of standing guard against even the slightest scrap of unhappiness.

Toxic positivity solves nothing in the long run. You can’t just complain people’s upsetness away. You can’t kiss disappointment like a wound and expect it to heal.

People are upset about a downgrade in quality in the product that they pay to consume.

And that’s okay.

Stop telling them it isn’t.

[jelzorz]

Some thoughts about s4

First I'm gonna preface this with the disclaimer that I enjoyed season 4 immensely. It was a lot of set up, a lot of fun, and I'm here for the long haul no matter what happens because I love and support this show. HOWEVER, I have. Many questions about some decisions that were made, in many cases because it directly contradicts with what seasons 1-3 and TTM set up, and I have some thoughts about it and they're not the nicest thoughts I've had about TDP. Other people have already voiced their opinions and their critiques but these specifically are my own that I hope S5 onwards will address.

Strap in kids. This is long.

1. Tone, Pacing, Structure

S1-3 were tight, and not in the slang way. Everything that appeared onscreen was relevant in some way, parallels could be made everywhere, everyone was a foil for everyone else.

S4 was. Not that. S4 was, comparatively, all over the hecking shop. I am of the opinion that if you need an entire season or movie just to set up future movies, you're not doing the movie right, and that's what S4 felt like instead. Instead of capitalising on the set up s1-3 did, it varied wildly from entire scenes of exposition, to entire scenes about fart jokes, to entire scenes that just didn't do anything for anyone other than present awkward clunky dialogue that wasn't even necessary.

One of the biggest offenders? The Guardians of the Great Gates. Literally what were they for? They didn't do anything. The were there to be Difficult and to be Unfunny, and they don't even have the excuse of being an obstacle that Zubeia couldn't get past so she couldn't accompany the kids because a fucking rockslide did that. That entire scene could have been snappier if they weren't fucking there, and instead the show chose to spend time on characters that weren't relevant to anything to deliver bad banter, which leads me to

Tone and the way the season couldn't decide if it was darker and edgier or if it was still for kids ages 8-12. This probably wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't spend SDCC and NYCC hyping up the fact that it was darker and that they wanted it to grow with their audience, except it hadn't and it was purely because they kept bailing on scenes that should have been awe-inspiring or emotional and replacing it with dumb jokes.

There were, of course, some exceptional scenes: Ez's speech? Corvus playing cello? Beautiful. Raw. Important narratively and delivered flawlessly. Aaravos possessing Callum? Terrifying. Loved every minute of it. Ibis' death? Chilling. But those scenes are far outnumbered by things that didn't feel necessary and went on for far too long: Soren's stand up comedy act, Callum's failed magic presentation, fart jokes, the unfunny guardians, etc. It's like everytime they came close to doing something emotional and heartfelt, they copped out, and that is especially clear in the relationships between characters (and not just rayllum! But we'll come to that later).

And that. Doesn't track??? TDP has never shied away from emotional depth before and now it's like they're pulling a Marvel and removing the gravity of every situation with bad humour. The pacing and structure suffer for it. The spend to long on the jokes resulting in weird pacing, and there are references and characters put in there to be funny that are completely unnecessary to the plot and interfere with the flow. There were times I literally went "GET TO THE POINT" because it waffled for too long on something stupid.

It's as if they couldn't settle on the tone they wanted to set and hoped the fart jokes would balance out the murder.

2. Agency, Characterisation, Big Feelings

For a show that emphasizes being able to write your own destiny, they took a lot of that ability away. So much information comes to our heroes in the form of exposition. So many answers appear in the form of a character willing to just give them what they need.

Why, for example, couldn't Callum discover Aaravos on his own? He's been obsessive about magic for two years, why didn't he make more progress in Rayla's absence? Why have Zubeia deliver that information to him when it would have made more sense to just have him obsessive over the mirror, where Aaravos might have tempted him with more knowledge, more secrets, and then his possession of him would have hit like 10 times harder?

Why did Opeli, of all people, have to suggest that Ez et al go on their adventure, instead of Ez deciding it for himself? He's never had problems leaving her in charge in the past. He's the king, it should be his decision!

What the fuck was N'than for other than an Uncharted reference? Why couldn't the kids have figured things out together the way they always have? Why not use the opportunity for Callum and Rayla to hash out their MANY issues a la S1?

And this, obviously, isn't the only issue with the way the characters were presented this season. Characterisation itself was iffy af, and our first red flag was should have been the fact that everyone thought Rayla was fake.

Rayla, in particular, bothered me. TTM and Dear Callum made it abundantly clear that she was deeply troubled and that she knew leaving would tear Callum's heart out, and she comes back unapologetic? Flirty? Otherwise fine?? What the fuck happened to her many obvious mental health problems? What's happening in her head? Why did she come back empty handed?

The only way I can understand her logic is to assume that she came back because she realised her friends and family were more important to her than Viren. Which is fine! Okay! I'd buy that! BUT THEN SHE GOES AFTER VIREN AGAIN THE SECOND SHE REALIZES HE'S ALIVE?

WHY COME BACK AT ALL THEN? WHAT WAS THE POINT? APPARENTLY JUST TO CAUSE ANGST INSTEAD OF EXPLORING HER MENTAL STATE AND CHARACTER.

And then there's CALLUM, whose reaction to her return isn't cold, isn't angry, it's just. Kind of confused? I can excuse Rayla appearing in his office and then him writing it off in the morning—maybe he thought it was a dream, bc he's had to have dreams like that before—but then she reappears, and she's real, and... That's it? He should be furious at her! He would be right to be! He's, at the very most, confused! And I know what you're gonna say: of course, he's confused! He's happy to see her but he's still mad at her for leaving!

Then SHOW ME. LET HIM BE MAD. LET HIM HAVE MOMENTS OF WEAKNESS WHEN THAT FACADE BREAKS. LET THEM AIR THEIR FUCKING ISSUES.

But they never get to! Every time they get close, they're interrupted by more pointless humour, and this the thing that bothers me right: fine. They don't talk. I can understand that. But those issues can and should present in other ways: emotionally charged magic, tension in every interaction, Callum getting snappy, not just at Rayla but at everyone. Some people have been calling the way he handled that conflict "mature" but maturity involves addressing the problem and managing the resulting emotions, NOT AVOIDING IT COMPLETELY.

And then Rayla sees Viren and tries to leave a second time, and he lets her? This boy? The one who turned against his own morals and used dark magic to help her save a dragon? The one who jumped off a mountain to save her or die trying? The one who was ready to leave at dawn to go on her crazy mission too? He doesn't even offer to go with her?????

That scene was, again, an opportunity to start talking about it and they don't! He just lets her go! And that is so violently against the character traits they established for Callum, who is fiercely loyal to his friends and family, who would has followed Rayla against all odds just to help her and it's just??????

And listen, the problem isn't just with rayllum. Soren comes face to face with his newly revived father and he doesn't get to talk to him? He doesn't get to talk about it at all? Callum is possessed by Aaravos and nobody finds that Concerning enough to talk about? Rayla can't remember Ibis' name one second and then is suddenly SUPER cut up about discovering his body? Claudia tries to convince Soren he's on the wrong side by saying elves will only ever see him as Just Human while she's dating an elf?

There are other things, too, that don't make sense. The conflict between the Sunfire Elves and humans worked really well actually, and was one of the best parts of the season, but Karim presents Miyana with the possibility of a blood duel but then has to tell Miyana what it means, and Miyana is supposed to be one of their best generals. If she doesn't know what a blood duel would mean, neither would anyone else, and if no one understands it's significance, then it's not significant.

It's all so inconsistent, so against everything already established, and I can't understand why they chose to write it like this.

3. Alternatives

It's not even that hard to fix. There were fan theories and metas that were tighter than whatever happened this season, that built on what was already established and extrapolated from it instead of... Whatever happened here. They could even keep some of the decisions they did make just by addressing some of it. If I had to rewrite it, then:

Callum discovers something weird about the mirror, on his own merit, using his own research and knowledge. He takes the information to Zubeia who confirms and provides more information about Aaravos, and the pieces together, along with Ibis' death, provides the impetus for our gang to head into Xadia. Rayla doesn't return.

The kids arrive at the Storm Spire to find Ibis has been murdered and rendezvous with Rayla who has been tracking Claudia, so she at least hasn't spent two years away for nothing. Tensions arise. Callum and Rayla Don't Talk and Callum is noticeably cold to her. Aaravos possesses Callum, spurring Zubeia to send them to Umber Tor to seek help from Rex Igneous. Rayla and Callum agree, grudgingly, to co-operate, their concern for each other obvious in spite of the tension.

The kids arrive at the Great Gates only to find that they have collapsed and there's no way through. They receive guidance from a guardian perhaps in riddle form, and not in shitty banter form, to find the alternative entrance in the Uncharted Forest.

Frustrated, and with tensions rising, the kids (read: rayllum) bicker their way through to forest until their position is given away and they run into the Riders of the Drakewood. Fighting ensues. Callum and Rayla fall back into their old patterns and find that working together isn't so hard after all. You Fight Good scene, resulting in the first tension break since their reunion, however is short lived as Soren is captured. They go after him into the Pit of Despair.

The only way out of the Pit of Despair is through it. Rayllum continue to fight and argue a la 1x07. Their fighting inadvertently shows them the way forward, and they spend the episode relearning how to work together.

They take a break. Callum and Rayla have the beginnings of a talk regarding Aaravos' posession. Rayla shows her concern for him and Callum, angry, brushes her off: if she was so concerned, she never should have left. More arguing. Ezran, frustrated, steps in. Their arguing brings the next set of challenges. They push forward.

They find Soren at the mercy of Rex Igneous, but the scene proceeds as per the show. Rayla, having dealt with Claudia's sleep spell before, has the foresight to find something to keep her awake. She wakes the others and Rex Igneous as per the show before they see Viren. Soren freezes up on the spot but chooses his duty to Ezran. He will deal with his Big Feelings later. Rayla tries to go after him again, only for Callum to stop her. She can't go again, not after all of this. BIG FEELINGS TIME. Rayla chooses, in the end, that her friends and family are more important. She escapes with them. A promise to talk is made.

Anyway. Fix it tdp. Give me back my show.

[yesokaythatsfine69]

Moments in-between

Description: HC's of aot characters that are all kinda madly in love with y/n, if only just in different ways. Aspects of Modern au.

Character(s): Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Marco, Sasha, Connie, Historia, Ymir, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Levi, Erwin, Hanje

POV: 2nd, 3rd

Warning(s):

A/n: I know I said that I was ending my aot works but after the last episode's intense trauma I need some home groan therapy. Also please don't make fun of me for misspelling both Bertolt and Hange's names continually. Enjoy

Word Count: x

Song: lmao listen to everywhere I go by Hollywood undead.

*none of the gifs used are mine, full credit goes to the maker.

Y/n invites the AOT gang to a party.

You looked around for your friends, having foolish lost track of the chaotic group after you paused to hang your coat up. You warned them all to remain close, these college parties tended to get a little wild for your liking, but of course, they were all too stubborn.

"Hey you! I already said that we weren't playing Lady Gaga here!" Your ears prickled, and you turned, seeing Hanje at the DJ's box. You quirked a brow but made a mental note of where she was for later.

You moved on, searching for the rest of your friends. You opened the door to a bathroom, finding several girls hunched over, puking into the toilet, sink, and tub. Erwin was standing in the midst of the chaos, holding their hair as they drunkenly emptied their guts.

"Erwin? We've been here five minutes!" Erwin looked up at your newfound appearance. "Y/n! Quick, I think something in their drinks made them sick, you need to warn the other people at this party!" You met his blue eyes, "What?" He made a motion with his right hand, accidentally tugging on a girl's hair and bobbing her head. "Hey!" She squeaked before puking again. "Hurry, Y/l/n! They may not have much time left."

You rolled your eyes. "Erwin, they're drunk, not suffering from food poisoning." He looked down at the girls. "Really?" You sighed.

Later, you came upon Levi, who had been keeping a practiced eye on Hanje and other various members of your friend group. He had designated himself the designated driver of the group, which was admirable but you made sure not too drink too much either, knowing that there was no way Levi could possibly deal with all of you being wasted.

Reiner had challenged Annie to a drinking game, and was in the midst of losing miserably, whilst Bertholdt silently cleaned up the mess that Reiner and Annie created with their squashed beer cans.

You also found ymir and Historia cheerfully dancing to Poker face, and you marveled at the way the two seemed to be in their own world. You smiled, at the red that dusted ymir's cheeks and at Historia's hand on her cheek. A crash from the kitchen behind you caused you to cringe and jump slightly, before you rushed in.

Not unsurprisingly you found Connie and Sasha at the epicenter of the chaos. Neither were drunk but both were still idiots. A broken dish and what had been cheese fries was on the floor at their feet. "Hey! What'd I say about getting into their food?" You pointed threateningly at the duo. "If we do it don't get caught?" Sasha had a fry in her mouth and big eyes. "Clean this up, I'll go get Levi." "Oh, no don't get Levi!" Connie whined, waving his hands dramatically. "I'm getting him!"

Marco and Armin had found a old monopoly game and had sat down to play it in the dinning room of the house. You found it especially funny at the amount of girls the two had unwittingly attracted, who sat down to play with them.

"Y/n!" You perked up and turned, careful to not spill your drink. Jean smiled at you, his eyes the tiniest bit lidded. "Care for a dance?" You had actually been expecting this, since Jean's flirtiness doubled with the mix of alcohol. "You look hot, y/n!" He gently wrapped his hands around you as the two of you slid onto the dance floor. You laughed, enjoying Jean's wild dance moves. Finally he popped into a Russian dig, "hype me up best friend!" He called, and you whooped until he ran right into Eren.

"You drunk idiot! Hello, Y/n!" Eren glared at Jean, but smiled at you. "Look at this drink I made! It was clear but now it's brown!" Before you could respond, Jean hopped up. "y/n doesn't care about your shit drink!" You sighed as the two began arguing, which slowly developed into a tense dance battle between the two men.

Mikasa had been with Eren, you guessed most likely protectively watching over him. She watched with you, before you smirked and outstretched your hand. Mikasa took it, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

In the soft glow of a living room, you and Mikasa danced together to an old 80's tune, the rest of your friends giving elsewhere. It was a nice party.

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Y/n wears a skimpy outfit

You smiled at yourself in the mirror, tugging gently on your new top. Oftentimes you found it hard to truly appreciate your body, but the corseted top made you feel like a definite hot girl. You wore long black shoes, tight leather pants, dark jewelry. You just looked ready to step on some bitches.

You exited your room, and grabbed your purse, ready to head out with your girls. Eren was sitting on your coach, playing some video game. "Hey we'll be heading out soon so I left some numbers to order pizza for when you get hungry." You turned, digging in your purse for your keys. "Y/n, I'm not a child! I can take care of- holy shit, y/n!" You turned, Eren had dropped his controller, no longer focused on his game. "You can't go out like that! There are men out there!" You smiled and pulled out ur taser, flashing it a couple times. "I know."

Mikasa exited her room from the same hall, entering the living room. "Y/n, you look nice." You smiled and put your taser up. "thanks Mikasa!" "Wait, Mikasa you're going out too?" Eren stood up. "it's girls night out, Eren." You rolled your eyes. "but I wanna go too!" Mikasa opened her mouth but you beat her to it. "No."

The front door opened and Armin entered, his blonde hair flittering in his eyes. "Hey; Eren, Mikasa, and..." A blush erupted onto his cheeks. "Y/n!" His blues casted panicked glances around the room as if he wasn't sure he should make direct eye contact with you.

Eren pointed to his flustered friend. "See!" Again you rolled your eyes. "You look v-very nice, y/n." Armin mumbled before he sat down. "Thanks, sweetie." Armin's face reddened.

Suddenly the front door to the apartment flung open, allowing Jean, Marco, and Connie to enter. They were in the midst of conversation, laughing at a joke Connie had said. "Hey bitch-" Jean's words caught somewhere in the back of his throat as he saw you. His cheeks erupted into fire and he stopped, causing Connie and Marco to slam into him. "Hey!" Connie looked past Jean's frozen position, and smiled knowingly. "Bark, Bark, Bark! Y/n you look a sexy grim reaper!" Jean blinked as you laughed. Connie slid past Jean and made his way to the kitchen, giving the others a greeting as he did so.

Marco smiled at your outfit. "You look so pretty y/n!" Your cheeks were beginning to hurt from happiness and you wondered if you should wear this stuff more often and not just in your dreams. Jean seemed to snap out of it. "You...you...nice, y/n." He managed to get out, not right before Eren made fun of his stuttering.

Sasha exited her room, and to the delight of everyone gave a twirl in her little dress. "y/n! You look very nice!" She may or not have said whilst grabbing your boob. Historia admitted to helping you pick out the fit, and ymir made everyone thank her for her service.

"you should wear this more often, y/n. Or at least less more often." Annie nudged you from behind. You were amazed at her sauveness but also the blush that dusted the tips of her ears.

Reiner and Bertholdt came through the fire escape (because Reiner has been on a "parkour!" Kick recently. But Reiner made sure to call you hot, (effectively pissing off both Jean and Eren.) And Bertholdt simply blushed, quickly agreeing with Reiner.

Finally Hanje, Erwin, and Levi arrived, Levi bringing leftovers from his tea shop. Hanje had squealed and called you "hot!" Erwin was certain you were only wearing a bra and refused to look at you, whilst Levi couldn't take his eyes off of you, but said nothing all the same.

"Well ladies, I hope you all are ready!" Hanje smirked. "Who's riding with me?"

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Y/n gets a tattoo

"So...what do you think?" You stood in front of Hanje, Annie, and Ymir, your shirt raised to your underboob. Hanje clapped excitedly. "It looks great, y/n!" "I like the view." Annie said dryly. Ymir nodded. "yeah it's nice, just don't show Historia."

"Don't show me what?" Historia entered the living room via the kitchen. Immediately her eyes found your tattoo, and she smiled. "lovely!"

The others found the tattoo under different circumstances however.

Sasha had known first, since she went with you to get it originally, having helped you pick out the design. By that I mean, she mainly just agreed with whatever you said but helped you out none the less. Mikasa found out before you were training together, (she thought it looked cool).

Eren found out because he walked in on you in the shower. "Shit! Wait is that a tattoo!?" He would've told you he liked it had you not kicked the shit out of him and lectured him about coming over to your apartment constantly, blah, blah, blah.

Armin found out because you showed him, (and he promptly died a bit) but he also really liked it and you invited him to come get another one with you some time. Maybe, just maybe you had a weak spot for the blonde.

Jean and Connie found out because you sent Marco a snap of it, and they looked at it from over his shoulder. Connie laughed at Jean's sharp in take of breathe and Jean tackled Connie. Meanwhile as they fought in the background Marco sent you a video snap of his response.

Reiner found out via a training session, much like Mikasa. "Why, y/n I never knew what a sly devil you could be!"

Bertholdt knew because Reiner made sure to describe it to him in great detail, knowing that the tall fellow would get flustered.

Erwin was probably told at some point but forgot so anytime he sees in you in a bikini or something skimpy he gets his mind blown.

Levi found out because, you may or may not have sent him a snap (with much different intentions then the one you had sent Marco.) Levi thought it was badass, though.

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Y/n kisses the AOT gang

Yes, you had kissed each member of the gang. For any of these bitches, they could get it, let's be real.

You had given Eren forehead kisses many a time between he and you. This had been pretty random but regardless, it was something the two of you did often.

You often kissed Armin on the cheek, pinching them together whilst you smushed his face and pulled him in for hugs. Really, you loved Armin.

You kissed Jean on several occasions, partially because you weren't one to refuse an offer from an attractive man and also it was the quickest way to fluster the boy. He has the king of talking the talk but never actually walking the walk.

You give Marco and Connie platonic cheek kisses everytime you see each other. They also give you cheek kisses back. Marco also gives hugs!

You blow Reiner kisses all the time because that's exactly what your friendship is.

You give Bertholdt sweet little cheek kisses and he's always a blushing mess afterwards.

You give Erwin goodbye kisses and he always returns them.

You've made out with Levi. His tongue's been in your mouth. Yes, you kiss.

You give Hanje cheek kisses all the time. You seriously love this woman.

You've made out with Annie too. You also give her kisses on her neck just to hear her giggle.

You and ymir don't usually kiss, but you and Historia kiss each other's cheek.

You've kissed Sasha smack on the lips before, and you two cuddle all da time.

You give Mikasa forehead kisses because touch isn't necessarily her love language but you know when she needs it.

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Y/n gets into a fight

You don't get in trouble, like ever. You're reliable, kind, level headed. However sometimes you come across a Titan of an issue and need your friends to rally behind you.

Historia will get into an argument for you, but she isn't scary at all, nor is she very powerful when it comes to muscle might.

Mikasa will kill a bitch for you. Straight up. She may not always show it outright but she loves you.

Ymir would video tape the ass whooping of whoever dares to cross you until they tried to come after Historia. Then she's seeing red.

Annie would laugh at whoever is trying to fight you. She won't step into the fray directly until you need her though, she trusts you do take care of it.

Eren doesn't care if they haven't even thrown a punch if they even say a damn thing that he doesn't feel you deserve he will start the fight. He has no self control. He's an aries.

Jean will also fight for you. He'd be a hundred percent more levelheaded about the problem but he won't let you take shit.

Connie will at first be confused and then pull his signature "bruh" face. He'll be the one that takes the phone from Ymir after Historia gets involved.

Sasha will try to protect you the best she can. She doesn't want you hurt so she'll probably grab a spoon as a weapon and charge.

Reiner is just trying to vibe and then suddenly he's pulled into an all out war. Sigh. But at least it's for you.

Hange will find this all very funny, but she'll help out in between snorts.

Erwin will just stand there looking at your antagonist dead in the eye with the slightest raise of his brow. That's the end of it all.

Armin will go all manipulative bestie on however is bothering you.

Levi merely get in between you. He may be short but nothing scare him and he's literally willing to kick some ass if need be.

Bertolt would just take you somewhere else. Yes he's super annoyed and upset at this person, but he has better things to do with his time.

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Y/n gets a dog

To be honest, you'd wanted a pet for a long long time. Living closely with seven other women- and essentially nine men, had made that prospect rather slim, until one day approximately four months ago when you dropped the question.

The response was rather positive, so you carefully crafted a schedule and supplies.

The little puppy had been the runt of the litter, but that didn't bother you one bit (your not so secret infatuation of a certain 5'2" raven haired fellow solidified that.)

You were the first person to arrive home that day, and when you did you hurried to get the house puppified.

Bertolt came by early that day and was the first to see the puppy. At first he wasn't so sure about the little rascal. It seemed so hyper, a little too hyper, actually. But then, it licked him and he fell in love. He actually completely forgot you were even there he was so enthralled.

Levi came by with takeout, and much like Bertolt he wasn't sure about this creature. He'd always been more of a cat person, but even then he wasn't exactly an animal person. Just too messy. But for your sake he pat the pup on the head. (And to both your and bertolt's shock the puppy began to follow Levi around.

Armin loved the puppy. He immediately scooped it up and sang to it. You had never seen the blonde so happy as he cooed over the little Beasty. He raised it up into the air and swung it until Levi yelled at him for waving the animal over the takeout.

Erwin seemed a bit indifferent to the dog, almost as if the animal had just always been there. He did make sure however to share his food with it.

Hange tickled the poor animal savagely, vowing to buy it a sweater for the winter. You told them they didn't have to, but they refused. "What's a godparent for?"

Sasha vowed to help feed it and promised it that she would only buy it the best food possible.

Marco adored the tiny thing. "have you named him yet?" He had asked while lovingly scratching behind it's ears. "he looks like a sugar...or a Coco?"

Connie immediately sat down and started playing with newly named Sugar. "Connie! You're getting Sugar too riled up." Levi warned, but right then Connie was attacked by the tiny pup, and despite the small size of the dog the sheer force almost knocked Connie over. "Tch, idiot."

Jean was the first to take Sugar for a walk and you joined him. Together the two of you laughed at how cute Sugar looked as he bounced around in the grass. You made sure to have Jean clean up after him though, don't worry.

Sugar immediately fell asleep on Eren who threatened anyone that would dare touch or wake up him. Eren was extremely content with this little ball of joy.

Annie wasn't really excited for the puppy but she did promise to train Sugar when it was time, so there's that.

Ymir tried to act similar to Annie but Ymir is a total dog person, and after a bit she scoped up Sugar and put the sleeping pup on her own lap.

Mikasa was just happy everyone else seemed happy. She did sit by ymir though so she could get a few good pats in.

Later that night Historia grabbed the puppy and took him into her room, which she shared with Ymir. Really this puppy wasn't yours, it was everyone's.

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The AOT gang goes to a concert

You pulled into Eren's hand practically dragging him through the crowd. "That's the last time I'm letting you lead us anywhere, Eren!" He groaned behind you. "I thought the sign said Row one, it was an honest mistake!" You shot him a dangerous glare. "It was a sign for the bathroom!"

Finally you met up with your friends, who were all already comfortably seated, waiting for the concert to begin. "Hey guys sorry we're late, we had some...sign trouble."

You and Eren found your seats, "Good news is if anyone wants to know where the bathrooms are.." you elbowed your brunette friend.

When the concert began, it was immediately pretty damn hype. You and Jean clasped hands and danced together, shouting out the lyrics to the first song at the top of your lungs.

At the second song and Sasha took orders for food, and grabbed some grub. As you waited in the unnecessarily long line you pulled her into a hug and took a quick picture.

When you returned you stood by Reiner, but some big headed bastard had moved in front of your spot. So you climbed into Reiner's shoulders and screamed at the stage from your pretty impressive view.

Connie dared you to throw your bra on stage, but didn't actually think you'd do it. His face, and literally everyone around you, was priceless. In fact, you got a round of applause.

Hanje was video tapping about 90% of it, but they often drapped a hand around your shoulders and pulled you into the video, the two of you singing along to the musicians voice.

You and Levi held hands when a soft song came on, him pulling you into his chest at just the right note. You dipped your head into the chin, enjoying the soft thud of his heartbeat against the deep bass of the speakers. It was nice.

You face timed Bertolt, who unfortunately couldn't attend because he had "work". He enjoyed the concert better from that angle anyways.

You and Historia took a ton of pictures! So many! Some weren't even in focus! But you two didn't care!

Marco grabbed his phone light every chance he got and kept accidentally flashing it in people's eyes. He got you like seven times.

Erwin kept complaining that it was too loud, but you literally saw him full on do the sprinkler because he was vibing so hard.

You and Mikasa went to the bathroom together, and you forced her to take a picture with you. You also got lost on the way back but Mikasa helped guide you back. What would you do without her?

When you returned you ran into ymir and Historia dancing together, laughing and giggling. Damn them and their happiness.

After the show you and Armin went and met the people you watched and got a picture with them. They kept referring to Armin as your boyfriend so in the photo he looks like a tomato. He swore you to secrecy.

On the way back to the apartment you switched riders with Hanje so that she could take Eren home and you could just take Annie back to the apartment you shared. The whole way back you just let loose in the car. Annie could be very loud when with people she trusts entirely.

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Y/n flirts with the AOT gang

Unfortunately for you y/n you're not the sad drunk, clumsy drunk, dancer drunk, you're the flirty drunk. I guess there are worse things, though. These are the times when drunk you has flirted with your friends and their reactions.

One time you got blasted at a work party and Eren had to come drive you home. He was shocked at first, but he truly does care about you and is also the most oblivious person ever so he was just like "okay."

Annie was super confused at first, but she actually really liked the attention. She'd never admit that to you though. So she just kinda bumped shoulders with you and almost knocked you down, had she not caught you.

Jean actually almost shit himself your flirting flustered him so bad. But he realized that you were drunk and immediately lifted you up and took you home.

Armin blushed, squeaked, and giggled. He knew you were drunk but he just couldn't help it. He helped you to bed and you fell asleep next to each other.

Sasha took you out to eat immediately after you said you wanted to go on a date with a hot babe like her, because she just needs one reason to go get something to munch on. It helped sober you up and when you puked she held your hair. Besties.

You did have a line though and you never actually flirted with Historia or Ymir but Ymir always took videos of you drunk and Historia always made sure to help you to bed. Those two were your constant watch dogs though when you were having fun.

Reiner "pretends" to go along with your flirting. He really just likes it because your hawt. "oh really? Tell me more about my eyes." He does however makes sure no one messes with you and always makes sure you get home safely.

When you get drunk around Mikasa the Ackerman always just pats you on the head. Sometimes though she makes fun of you.

Whenever you flirt with Connie hes also drunk so he flirts back. The two of you are the most chaotic drunk duo though and always end up breaking shit.

Erwin tells you to stop. "Stop that y/n, it's weird." But he's always blushing when he says that and he acts like a parent. "No, no more tequila!"

Hange will literally just have fun with drunk you. She'd vibe and even give you her glasses.

Marco would think it's really funny, but he'd stick with you for as long as he needs to to make sure you're okay and then he'll take you home.

Levi will look so annoyed and so done but he'll blush and wrap his fingers with yours. Much like Jean, he'll try to take you home as soon as possible. He gets jealous way too easily for this and often he'll stay the night with you.

Bertolt's brain literally melts. Reiner has to drag him away from you. You've broken the poor man.

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They walk in on you changing

Annie- She opened the door and come in without even paying attention, realized you were essentially naked when you squealed. She rolls her eyes, and mutters "look the door next time," but that's a mental image she'll be keeping for a while.

Armin- he doesn't even allow himself a second peak, immediately putting his hand over his eyes. "Oh! I'm so sorry y/n! I-i-yeah!" He practically runs out of there faster than lightening.

Bertolt- He freezes, and you have to push him out. His brain dies and he stands outside your door for several minutes still trying to process.

Connie- he doesn't even notice you, but when you yell at him he simply turns and farts at you.

Eren- "If you were changing why didn't you lock the door?"

Erwin- "I'm sorry I thought this was the bathroom. Did you get a new book shelf?"

Hanje- She comes in, sees that your changing and puts a hand over her eyes, continuing to tell you what she wanted.

Jean- he puts his hands on his hips and smiles, "you knew I was coming, didn't you?"

Levi- he doesn't really care and neither do you (nothing he hasn't seen before) but he doesn't make sure to shut the door and wrap you on the head. "you have a lock, brat, use it."

Marco- opens door. "Whoops." Closes door. "Sorry y/n!"

Mikasa- "hey y/n," just continues.

Sasha had half a donut in her mouth when she walked in on you and then immediately it fell from her mouth when she turned and saw your body. she blinked and quickly bent over, grabbing her donut and covered her eyes, but only partially.

Reiner- "Hey, y/n I- Woah! Nice ra-" you effectively cut him off by throwing a shoe at his face.

Historia- "Oh! Sorry sweetie, you're so pretty, oh my goodness!"

Ymir- after storming in she proclaims, "Historia saw you naked, I have to kill you now."

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They find you crying

We all have those days, and this is when they find you having one.

Ymir found you in the your bedroom, completely bundled in blankets with the lights shut off. She notices that you've been crying because your sniffing loudly, but says nothing about it. "Hey, Y/n, do you have the wifi password?"

She'd leave, but tell Historia, knowing Historia is better suited to check on and deal with helping you. Historia will walk in and raise her hands, in an open hug. You'll wordlessly scootch over and allow her to slide in beside you and gently pull you into her grasp.

Sasha heard you crying and grabbed her comfort snacks, a blanket, and the puppy. All of which she carried into your bedroom. The two of you would sit, eat, and watch some comfort shows. "it's the best medicine!"

Reiner saw your car parked outside the apartments and thought he'd knock on your car window. When he got up to your window though, he noticed the tears that were streaking down your face. He'd immediately climb into the other side of the car, hopping into the passenger seat. You're shocked, having not even noticed him hanging outside your car to begin with. "Uh, Reiner?" "So," he buckles up. "Who did it?"

Mikasa could hear you crying when she was up late at night, (your door had been open a crack.) So she grabbed some ice cream and two spoons, and wordlessly walked into your room. She said nothing and didn't press you for information, and the two of you shared Sasha's favorite ice cream.

Marco witnessed you go full on break down mode after a ROUGH day and immediately gave you the greatest pep talk known to man. You were so amazed at his genuinely kind words you stopped crying, but Marco had become so touched that he had started.

You had actually went to Levi's apartment, and sat with him. He made you tea and listened silently as you told him about what had happened and how sad you felt. He didn't press any advice on you or dry your tears with grandiose words, but he genuinely listened and acknowledged your feelings. Then you cuddled, and it was more than enough.

Jean said something flirty to you and for one reason or another it set you off and tears were aflowing. At first he panicked because he thought he made you cry. When he realized it wasn't him, he gently brought you into him and held you as you cried into his shirt. Finally you looked up at him and he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously, "Would sex make you feel better?"

You called Hanje and told what happened after a particularly rough day, so she and moblit went and grabbed you some takeout and spent the day with you. They even took you to egg the offenders house. Revenge is sweet.

Erwin thought you were sick, so he left after finding you crying in your room, bought you soup, made it and just acted like you were sick. You didn't have the heart to tell him the truth.

Eren saw you crying and then flicked you in the head and promptly left. You were stunned, but also found it funny and confusing, so you stopped crying.

Connie facetimed you and by the end you weren't crying because you were sad, but because Connie's really fucking stupid.

Bertolt noticed you were in your room for a while so he checked on you. He gave you a hug and then asked you very nicely to "stop crying."

Armin literally sat his ass down and stayed with you until the two of you fell asleep. He's a top tier friend who cares deeply about your emotional health so he does everything he can to sort you out. He holds your hand, nods, listens, gives you advice, and agrees with you.

Annie calls you a crybaby but she sits down beside you none the less. She doesn't press nor did she speak. But she wants you to know that's she's here in her own special Annie way.

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Thanks for reading! Remember, requests are open!

[magnificent-nerd]

What’s his name, Marvel?

Image description: actor Haaz Sleiman, slated to appear in movie Eternals.

(NB: For the record, any of my criticism on this post is directed to Marvel Studios and Disney, not to the actor Haaz Sleiman (pictured above) nor Eternals co-star Brian Tyree Henry, whom I wish nothing but the best for.)

Now, I have some marketing moans about Eternals from Marvel studios.

It is August, 2021. 

There's been a buzz about the MCU's "first openly gay character" recently (how dare y'all disrespect Gay Joe Russo like that), and that the character, Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), will be shown in the movie to be married to another man (played by Haaz Sleiman).

The MCU's first gay couple, as Marvel studios themselves keep touting.

Anyway, I wondered to myself: what's the husband's name?

So I set to Google.

I Googled the cast list for Eternals, and this a screenshot from today of the lower end of the results:

Image description: Eternals cast list from Google, where actor Haaz Sleiman is listed as “Phastos’ husband”.

Ah, no name. 

The text under the actor's name simply says "Phastos' husband".

Okay, so I went next to IMDB, to search the 'full cast and crew' section, of which there is only 19 listed as of today (and I'd expect that list to grow after the movie releases).

IMDB screenshot:

Image description: IMDB listing for Eternals, actor Haaz Sleiman has no character name listed.

These are the bottom four results on the IMDB listing, and Sleiman's "Husband" doesn't even have the word husband listed.

Below him is a named character, Karun, and two 'uncredited' characters such as 'Girl' and 'Passerby'.

Um... Right.

Now, I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to know what this guy's name is. I also want to know: why isn't his name listed? Why isn't it easy to find?

I've browsed Google for articles on this nameless husband for the past half an hour, and the only sparse information I can find is seemingly one interview/quote that the actor (Haaz Sleiman) has given, stating that his character and Phastos share an onscreen kiss.

That's great, but what's his name?

I'm getting the impression that Husband (we'll have to just call him that for now) isn't going to have a prominent role in this movie, considering he's nameless and so far down on cast listings.

Just one up from 'uncredited', basically.

News outlets refer to his character as "Phastos' husband" only. Withholding a character's name makes no sense, unless that name/character themselves is a spoiler.

Yet... I'm not really getting that vibe from Husband, I'm getting more of a walk-on role vibe from him/this character. And if that's the case, his name won't be a spoiler, so why isn't is more widely available?

Leaving him nameless while also watching Disney/MCU pat themselves on the back for this gay rep onscreen feels disrespectful to his character.

Is he a well rounded character, or a nameless walk-on with one line?

All we know is from Sleiman's direct quote: "I'm his husband, I'm an architect, we have a child."

That's great, but did Disney give you a name?

Sigh.

I'm really trying to reserve my judgement until the movie is out (we may have to wait until 2022 if it gets delayed), and I'd love to be pleasantly surprised...

But then I remind myself this is DISNEY and Disney's track record with LGBT+ rep has often been hyped up only to fall flat and ring hollow when actually seen onscreen.

See the afore mentioned Gay Joe Russo in Avengers Endgame (2019), and LeFou's "exclusively gay moment" which was more like a vaguely gay nanosecond in Beauty and the Beast (2017). Hardly great rep.

And another barely there moment (two seconds, was it?) in Rise of Skywalker (2019) when two women share a kiss (Commander Larma D'Acy kisses her pilot wife Wrobie Tyce) in celebration at the end.

I rather fear we're going to get another two seconds, blink and you'll miss it, kiss between the two married men in Eternals.

Disney is putting so much emphasis on any visibly gay couple being MARRIED in order to kiss (while Hetero characters kiss and more without being married), attempting to package their gay characters as homely, 'respectable', and more palatable to a Het audience, but if one of these characters doesn't even have a name then how is it any better or more meaningful than the nanosecond that 2017's Beauty and the Beast served up?

How is a character going to matter when he doesn't even have a name? You're trying to tell me he'll be important to the story, to audiences? Doesn't seem like it from here.

Now, I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.

I'd love to see this character in Eternals get a name other than "Phastos' Husband" (I'll be keeping an eye on listings for a name, too.) I'd love to see him have lines, I'd love to see him onscreen generally. 

I want to see him matter.

As always, Disney wants us to 'wait and see', a line they often feed us when it comes to MCU characters.

Disney knows queer fans are here, they prove that enough by leaning into queerbaiting with their marketing (Bucky Barnes, and more recently Loki have suffered from this) but Disney rarely delivers anything satisfactory.

Writer Russell T. Davies, of fan favorite show Torchwood, recently said that Disney's attempts to show Loki as bi were "a feeble gesture". (He's right and he should say it.)

I'm not exactly holding my breath with Disney here, but I'll wait until I see Phastos and Husband for myself before I decide if it's any good or not.

Or if this poor dude ever gets a name.

In the meantime, all I want to see is Disney treating this supposedly ground breaking new character with the same respect as the other cast: list his name.

List his name with the rest of the main cast.

It shouldn't be this difficult to find out a character's name in a major movie, and especially not if the studio is making a big deal about the character being there, giving themselves points for rep.

If that name is out there somewhere (I gave up looking, it shouldn't take longer than thirty minutes to locate a name for God's sake), then it needs to be made more prominent so fans can find it.

Google and IMDB would be ideal places to have the character name listed.

If IMDB can list 'Girl' and 'Passerby' onto the uncredited roles, then we should also have a simple NAME for this Husband so we can start using it.

What's his name, Marvel?

~*~

Do YOU know what Husband's name is? Tell me!

#PhastosHusband

Originally posted on my blog, magnificentlynerdy.blogspot.com

[long-cosmos-overhead]

Can I please have Black Widow reaction/headcanons to having a crush on new S.H.I.E.L.D Agent and other Avengers noticing and Tony teasing her about it until she finally confesses?

This is a black widow fan account

(I do not own Marvel or it’s characters: gif not mine)

Natasha won’t let on that she has a crush on you for ages in fact no one would actually know until she got fed up of covering her tracks

She is nicer with you and a lot softer as well but in a way where it seems like you’re good friends or trusted allies rather than a crush

Natasha does go through a denial phase, love has been engrained in her head as weak and a blind spot it’ll take time for her to come round and pursue you

But when she does it’s adorable for one she watches you during missions not only to protect you but to find any of your weaknesses so she can help train you so you’re safe at all times

After training she makes sure you rest, eat and drink and won’t take no for an answer

Natasha gave you her water once when you forgot yours and for a good hour afterwards she was pondering if drinking the water was indirectly kissing you

She also checks your equipment before a mission - in secret - to make sure everything works and there’s no chance of you getting hurt

Nat loves sharing clothes it’s usually jackets or shirts but she always makes sure they smell nice so you’ll be more attracted to her

Following on from that she loves shopping with you she picks out 90% of clothes for you and will hype you up for all of them

Natasha leaves a lot of lingering gazes on you and always asks how you’re doing even if the room is full of people she naturally gravitates towards you

Eventually some people caught on that there was chemistry between the both of you eh hem Tony

He teased Nat endlessly dropping in so many hints whenever you were around needless to say you were confused

Usually Nats threshold for anything is high but not for Tony fucking Stark and his teasing plus she’d rather tell you than you find out from someone else so she confesses

It shuts Tony up when he finds you and Natasha kissing in the gym

She encouraged you to flip him off mid-kiss as well

[kirbymongerr]

Disney's goal is to make movies at a steady rate to keep them constantly in conversation, so if you haven't seen the new marvel or the new 3d animated musical, you're not in on the conversation. Your friends and coworkers are talking about it, you see posts about it, you don't wanna be out of the loop you want to enjoy the art, get the references, be in the conversation. So you watch it and it's renewed in relevance, you're talking about it, your friends are remembering it thinking "Maybe I should see it again" and so it goes, feeding into eachother.

This goes a layer deeper with the interconnected marvel movies. Dr Strange wasn't in the new spiderman just for a hype crossover. First, it means people who are primarily fans of Dr Strange and don't care much about the other characters have to see spiderman. Maybe they're dropping hints about what Dr Strange will do next! Maybe events from this movie will come up in the next Dr Strange movie! And along the way they might decide they like this spiderman guy, and watch his movies. Vice versa, Spiderman fans might decide they like this Dr Strange guy and go and watch his movies.

Not only does this renew old movies in the cultural consciousness, it also entices people away from Piracy because y'know, the sites are dodgy and the files unreliable and the ads annoying and you keep needing to track new sites down or wait for downloads, if you're already up for watching like 2 or 3 more movies, is a Disney+ subscription that much to pay for the convenience? Oh, and with it you can also watch that new movie people are talking about!

And so it goes, feeding into eachother.