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221brownstone · 5 years

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ET: Elementary Boss on Why Sherlock and Joan Deserved a Superhero Ending

"We're certainly hinting that there are adventures ahead, but people who watched the show and cared about Sherlock and Joan can turn off their TVs on Thursday night knowing that the most important story we told, which is the relationship between Sherlock and Joan, is going to continue. That's always going to be moving forward. That's not going to end."

ET: It must be bittersweet saying goodbye to Elementary. What was your approach for the final episode in wrapping up Sherlock and Joan's story?

Rob Doherty: As you recall, we thought season six was our last season and it meant telling a lot of our stories in a certain way. Season seven was an opportunity to know that the end was coming, to go into a season and look ahead and try to build everything piece by piece. We had to talk a lot about the 13th episode before we could talk about the first. We knew that there were elements from canon that we wanted to utilize. Specifically, we looked at two stories in particular, "The Final Problem" and "The Ins and Outs," that we borrowed liberally.

In canon, Sherlock did drop off the map for three years. He was thought to be dead. His Watson was in the dark on that front. That felt too cruel to do to our Watson and it also felt inappropriate. I think she would've known better. We knew we wanted a three-year window where they were separated and changing, making new choices and then bringing them back together so each could do a bit of self-analysis. Who were they apart and who might they be now that they are together again?

It's very clear from the three-year time jump that a lot has changed for both Sherlock and Joan. Joan has a young son, Arthur, now. Why was it important for her to accomplish one of her main goals of having a family?

It was a story that we started in season six and it's a story we would've told a different way if we had known at the time that it was potentially the final season. When it did look like the end for us, that was something that we had to move away from -- not abandon completely, but pin it, for lack of a better term. Season seven was a great opportunity to revisit it and hopefully, punctuate it. It was important a year ago and it was important this year because it just felt so true to who Joan is. Becoming a parent seemed like a very natural progression for her. Despite the dangers that come with her job and despite living with an addict in recovery, we felt she could be an incredible parent. With just 13 episodes in season seven, it didn't feel like something we could start at the top. Odin Reichenbach took up a lot of real estate and so it became, in our eyes, more appropriate to return to Joan after three years and find out she has Arthur in her life in the finale.

It was surprising to learn that Joan had been diagnosed with cancer, something she chose to hide from Sherlock when he returns. Why did you make the decision to have her go through a major health struggle in the final episode?

We've seen their lives in danger on multiple occasions over the course of the series, but more often than not, they are threatened by criminals and villains. Not many of us are stalked by guilds of assassins. I liked telling a story about a real-life threat to one of the partners. We all worry about getting sick or we all worry about a loved one getting sick, and so many people go through it, fight it and come back from it. Sherlock and Joan are, in their own ways, superheroes. It was interesting to put them in a situation where they're dealing with a much more grounded threat.

Joan reluctantly telling Sherlock that she's sick also seemed to be the main catalyst for Sherlock's decision to ultimately stay in New York. Was that actually the case?

Even with three years of separation, I wanted them back together again. I wanted them to ride off into the sunset together. I didn't want fans to come out of the final episode feeling like they thought, "It's good we've been apart. Our lives are better for having been apart." The problem is, for each character, they worry that they're putting the other in a bad position. Joan doesn't want to tell Sherlock's she's sick because it appears to her that his life is going great. And when Sherlock looks at Joan, he sees the same thing. He sees someone who has drive. But, when someone's sick, all of that falls away. No one has to be polite at that point. It brings them both right back down to earth. It clears the decks. Especially for Sherlock, he sees what's really important, understanding that his partner, his greatest friend and virtual family member needs help. It doesn't matter what else is going on in his life. He's going to step away from it to help her.

Sherlock says he relapsed during his time away and that, like Joan, he was secretly struggling. Was it important to highlight that these two were better together?

As far as Sherlock relapsing, we never wanted to suggest that it was because Joan wasn't there. She's not his heroin-proof vest, for lack of a better term. He relapsed when they were together, he relapsed when they were apart. It was more than anything, us being true to the disease of addiction. And yet, I think it was important that it happened because it informed his concerns about staying with Joan. Potentially doing it now that Joan has a child in the house, Sherlock just can't wrap his head around that possibility. He doesn't want to expose her son to any of that baggage that he carries.

Was Sherlock always going to stay, even if Joan wasn't sick?

That's a great question. The short answer is yes, they would have gone their separate ways again if the captain hadn't shared Joan's secret with Sherlock,. Each would have returned to their lives, not because it's what they truly wanted. The way I always looked at it was, they're thinking about each other. Now, Sherlock is about to leave New York because he thinks Joan is better off without him. Joan is going to keep her secret to herself because she doesn't want to disrupt what appears to be success and happiness on his part. Of course, that's not the least bit true and it takes someone who knows them as well as they know themselves to shed appropriate light on the situation, which is, Joan is ill and could use help. Gregson is the one who can look down and see the truth of the situation. Gregson knows each one is not being entirely honest with the other and he knows it's because of good intentions, but also, he knows the veil has to fall away. Sherlock has to know what's going on and he has to make a decision that factors that unfortunate truth in.

You also did another one-year time jump in the finale and I was worried for a second that it was Joan in the casket, so you did your job there. But it's Moriarty's death Sherlock is mourning, even though he believes she's not actually dead. Are you leaving that as a mystery?

I don't have it in me to leave it a mystery. I guarantee you Moriarty's alive. We'll never see it, but Sherlock absolutely goes back and digs up that grave and finds an empty casket. The intention was for that to be the takeaway. My hope was that people would, when they think about all stories we're not going to tell, those stories will include lots of Moriarty. Sherlock and Joan should be going into this future with her as an adversary.

Did you try to get Natalie Dormer back for one last appearance as Moriarty?

As a staff, we talked about it very briefly at the beginning of the season and ultimately, the concern was we would be telling a last story about three people and not two. Nothing is more important, at the end of the day, than Sherlock and Joan's relationship and yet Moriarty carries so much history that in a weird way, it felt like she would distract from the ending Sherlock and Joan really deserve.

Earlier this year, I asked you about Lucy's blonde hair. In the series finale, we see her character, after the one-year time jump, rocking a short black bob of a wig. How much thought did you put in Joan's post-cancer remission look?

I wanted her appearance to speak for itself and remind everyone that she has spent a year fighting cancer, she had experienced hair loss and she fought through it. The wig helps tell that story a little bit. What was amazing to me was how good it looked. Very early in the series, we had Lucy in a wig, when we were showing a flashback to another part of her life and it's one of my great regrets over the course of the series, so I was a little nervous. I was like, "Oh, man, I hope this wig is better." But the team in New York found something perfect.

When did you know you wanted the final image of Elementary to be Sherlock and Joan walking into Captain Bell's office and asking to be consultants again?

The final image is probably something we didn't settle on until we were actually breaking the episode. I don't think it's something I had in my head for a long time, unlike season six where we thought, if this is the end, we wanted to see them walking down the street in London. Knowing this would be a story set in New York, at the brownstone and the 11th precinct, those sets take over. The only real question was which space would be the last one? While I'm extremely partial to the brownstone, the story dictated a final beat at the precinct.

Looking back at the last seven seasons, are there any lingering stories you wish you could have had time to tell or could have told?

One thing I would have liked to have done is seeing more of Moriarty. Over the course of the series there were bigger, more serialized stories we wanted to tell about her, Sherlock and Joan. But we made the grave mistake of hiring an outrageously talented and very in-demand actress for the role. Natalie has had an incredible seven years. Every success had been much deserved and yet, it made it hard for our calendars to jive with hers. We love the character. We love Natalie. Selfishly, it would've been so much fun to have a little more time with her over the course of the series.

Joan becoming a parent was really a story I thought would begin and end in season six. It was something I felt we could serialize in the course of a year; circumstances changed and we had to put it to the side. But one notion I was really intrigued by is the very unique living situation that would have resulted for Sherlock and Joan. It would've been interesting to have a kid in the house for a season, not just to see how good Joan is at being a mom, but to show that Sherlock can do this too. I wanted to see what it would do to the living situation and I thought it would have been fun to see him try to be helpful in his own way. He would have had a lot of plans for Joan's kid.

You talked about how you saw this season as a "blessing." I'm curious if where Bell, Gregson, Joan and Sherlock ultimately end up is where you originally envisioned the characters' final chapters would be when you first started on this journey?

More than anything, I wanted everyone at peace in the end. I'm sure peace could be made that separating Sherlock and Joan would be more dramatic than killing someone off. It might've made a bigger splash. But as we got into it, it just felt right to settle everyone, to show how they've changed and to put them in good places as the series came to a conclusion. We're certainly hinting that there are adventures ahead, but people who watched the show and cared about Sherlock and Joan can turn off their TVs on Thursday night knowing that the most important story we told, which is the relationship between Sherlock and Joan, is going to continue. That's always going to be moving forward. That's not going to end. Creatively, I get it when [showrunners want to shake things up]. Sometimes, it makes all the sense in the world but other times, it just leaves the audience cold and I wanted a happier ending.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years down the line an Elementary revival comes to fruition.

Hey, I'll take it! That sounds great to me.

#sherlock holmes #joan watson #jamie moriarty #marcus bell #tommy gregson #their last bow #spoilers #rob doherty #read more

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kierongillen · 5 years

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Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine 41

Spoilers, obv.

After last issue's formalism, this one just accelerates. And, as everything in this arc, everything is a big beat. If everything is a big beat, how do you choose what to spend your space on? What beats really matter? How do you pace it? What can be a grace note and what's a scene? That's what this issue, and the rest of the arc, tends to be about.

This issue has gone down very well. I'll admit that while I absolutely gasped when I got paged in, I suspect it's going to be least favourite of the whole arc. That more says how much I enjoy the rest of the arc. Also, as a friend put it to me, I may be allergic to making people happy.

Let’s get on with this.

Jamie and Matt's cover:

There is, to some degree, a "Who hasn't had a headshot cover?" to this arc. As such, Mimir finally gets his. This is a glorious one – the pinks and blues, work really well, and the circuitboards frame it well. Obviously, Mimir plays a big role in this issue, so it is thematic. As is…

Paulina's cover

I just love Paulina's covers, as her being the regular alt-cover artist on Thunderbolt should imply. This made me want to immediately pitch a kick-ass pop D&D bard comic to someone, Xena Warrior Princess as produced by Xenomania. The names of the swords are the chef-kiss, but there's so much to love. The expression is everything.

Page 1

One page scene, with a modified nine panel grid. The one page scene is something that happens a lot this arc. I did a two-page version, but with the right seven panels, we're sorted. Yes, this is all we see of the de facto antagonists of the series this issue – when last issue was all about them, it doesn't worry me too much.

Page 2

Standard music journalist concept. That the second album tends to be worst than the first. Hard to prove, though my old friend Peter's note that "you have your whole life preparing for your first album and have a year to do your second" does seem to imply an easy explanation.

Page 3-4-5

Stealth mission! It's Metal Gear WicDiv!

We actually forgot to add the flashes to the first panel until the very last minute. Monthly Comics is a hell of a time sometimes, stress the “hell.”

I love the determination of Laura in the second panel of 3. That's great eyes.

Looking at this now, that "I can't do much now" is in a panel smaller than 1/9th of the page says a lot about the scale she's working on. The background was Matt in full trippy mode – I had a friend note that this scene is a little akin to Kohl in Rue Britannia 5 (The difference being Kohl is using nostalgia for a performance, while Laura is just doing a performance) but the moving squiggle does remind me the use of optical illusions in Phonogram 3. Bugs in the optic nerve are our friend.

Panel 3 on 4 is obviously Clayton living large and conquering. When you ask for something like "Can you sample the background and use as a speech balloon" you have no idea if it's going to work.

We could have divided the middle panel into two, but I suspect it'd have been less effective. We've seen the trick before. Now we see the same trick, but different. Mix it up. We're performers.

Hmm. I realise the Norns string of balloons is something I'm doing more often now – it's not something I've always done. I'm normally a one-panel-one-emotion, which strings of dialogue rarely allow (as, if there’s any change of emotion inside the string, the image is rendered ludicrous). In a middle shot, and a strong emotional throughline with the dialogue and I'm more okay with it.

While this whole three pages is an action sequence, it's also exposition for Laura's current state. The best exposition is demonstration, I guess.

I mean, the last panel of page 5? That's how cut to the bone we are. Problem? Solve it. Problem? Solve it. We don't need to fuck around anymore.

Page 6-7-8

And after six whole trades, the reunion between Lucifer and Laura. I suspect a different writer would have played this bigger and more melodramatic, but when the reader knows this, a splash feels overkill, especially with the taut pacing of the rest of the issue. However... there are five panels here. That's a page's worth of content, and enough to give an emotional throughline.

Sometimes when writing it's all about trying to find an honest response which is also unexpected. Like, in life, you think you'll feel sad or happy at certain times, but when you live through it, you don't. Or you don't entirely. What other stuff is happening? That's what rings true to me.

Anyway – that's where Laura's Guilt comes from. Laura at her most Dionysus.

And then Lucifer shatters all that self pity with the wink. Did you miss me? Of course, you did.

Page 7, panel 4 is one of those "a comic panel is not a moment in time" bits of magic McLeod always talks about. As in, as we read across the panel time progresses. The Mimir/Cass conversation is getting on for... 10 seconds, maybe? The teleport signatures do not take that long to appear. It's only with Laura's interruption that panel kicks into high gear.

As Multiversity noted you can easily imagine another draft of this with a bigger fight scene. And it's true – but also lying around was a version which cuts it even shorter. Do we need to really give a whole page to Cass breaking out? I felt so. Without the big beat, it feels flat. And it's good to see Cass let rip.

The slight angle on Jamie's external shot with a Norns black/white plus golden thread from Matt is really interesting. We don't often see the Norns as combatants in WicDiv, so this is a rare chance to give Cass a "Hello, I am a bad ass too, in case you've forgotten."

Page 9-10-11-12

Cripes. Going this and making notes I can't believe how tightly we're winding this and (more so) getting away from it. We did all this in four pages?

Two panels to the escape – the right image and a handful of taut captions to hold you between scenes. The first is doing a lot of work, but the second is just elegant. What do you need but the broken doors? Great stuff by Jamie here.

(Laura's captions do a lot of work here in setting up the themes, and the return of Sakhmet's memory to the story)

If you're wondering "How on earth could we get the escape be quicker, it's to take the first two panels on page 8 and move to the previous page. That makes it a five panel page, which is entirely do-able. That's a cost, but it would have bought slightly more space in this scene. As it is, I preferred to cut mid-page and end with Lucifer's first spoken lines in ages.

Once more, a big reveal in a small panel. Chrissy's note on the script was basically hearts for Luci at this point. Like, the second she cuts to the chase and tell s people what to do...

...and then the page turn, and she just goes full Lucifer. I know you lot have missed her, but I have too.

Getting back to Inanna was also easy, the sweetheart... but it all leads back to Sakhmet. That Mothering Invention was as tight as it was didn't leave much room for Laura to think about Sakhmet, or mourn at all... or, most of all, make it clear the story (and Laura) considers her loss important and real. It's an awful sad panel at the end of the page.

Inanna's voice was easy to find again. He's such a sweetheart. Tara is a little harder, just as I wrote her less, but I've been fascinated by this arc in terms of writing her as an actual character. I think one of the ironies of issue 13 was that it put Tara on a pedestal, and the pedestal is an objectifying as any other cage. Getting her back as a character is wonderful, and she gets to be as messy and flawed as everyone else.

Inanna not knowing ANY of this is hard. That's the problem with most of this arc – there is so much information flying around, and secrets some (but not all) are aware of. Who gets to respond to what and when? What to remind people of? What to let slide? Inanna not knowing about Baal is so huge it had to be hit and hit hard.

And then... the bodies.

When plotting this and trying to work out how I could get the cast – oh god, this is not a deliberate pun, but it's also clearly a pun - back on their feet, I was thinking of the Morrigan Gambit. Three heads, three bodies. Perfect. Then I remembered Mimir, and swore. I started to think about how that would be a tense, dramatic situation and how the personal politics could play out and I realised that Tara would just turn it down. I then realised that's exactly how the scene would work too.

(In a "tightness" thing, I suspect in another world, this scene would have been two pages. The "and Tara then just butts in" is the key thing, but you could get the timing a little more intricate to sell the moment more – still, even in this page, I could have extended it more, but seeing Tara's elaboration and everyone else's response to it was just key work for them all.)

In passing – Mimir's glowing in the dark in the penultimate panel just wonderful. Nice work Jamie and Matt.

Page 13

From the Sisters of Mercy's song, Marian.

Page 14-15-16-17

Here's where you talk about spending space. What's important here? You need the scale to show what Baph has been doing – and Jamie turns it into something astoundingly gothic. The use of blacks, the use of light and shade. Just the right level of suggestive. It’s one of my favourite bits of composition in the issue.

As the pantheon are getting back together, this leads to an increase in crowd scenes, which are the eternal artist killer. As such, I'm looking for solutions which only involve the absolute minimum of the cast in a scene.

Thee was an awful moment earlier in the issue when I went – wait! Do I have too many heads to carry? Then I realised I was fine. That said, finding places to put them down so we can have chat scenes was also somewhat tricky. The shelf turning up on page 15 is an example. Clealry Baph planned to (er) have a place to keep heads.

Well, I say, Baph, but it's clearly Nergal now. The road from early Nick Cave to late Nick Cave has been a long way. It's a great shot.

To go back to the space, why spend it on this? We’re reintroducing Nergal and Morrigan, and we’re also showing the scale of them in the plot, and the actions of Nergal. Where we go with the bodies is such a big beat, it needs to come from something similarly large. That’s also the reason why so much (relative in the issue) space is spent on the Morrigan/Nergal scenes. Of course, it’s also a key scene for this subplot, so demands space for that. It’s rarely just one reason. Probably a useful time for my usual “these notes are only ever a selection of thoughts.”

This is also a serious pose panel by Jamie.

The “I could bring her back.” He’s an underworld god too. If she could do it, he could. This is something which I suspect some people thought implicit in the old scene, but the final manipulation of Morrigan is unpacked at length in the nine panel grids.

Nine panel grids are a natural rhythm for this – when I was planning the later bit the triple-goddess of it made obvious sense, so it expanded to the whole scene. Also, the cropped image reduces the possibility of a Jamie crowd scene.

I always thought that, given the amount of time the various characters get on film, Ladyhawke could more accurately be called Blokeywolf. I digress.

Page 18-19-20

As said earlier, the triple-goddess to nine panel grid is one of those natural ways to give a stress to each of the elements. You’ll notice the clicks are left then right then centre. I’d originally written it as left to right, before – after Chrissy’s Editorial urging – rewrote to end with the Macha section to go last. Gentle Annie may have been the kinder part of Morrigan, but Macha was the part he mostly dated.

Then, in a moment of weirdness, Jamie actually drew it in the original order, despite never having seen that script. Morrigan has powers, as does the logical necessity of a left to right panelling order. As a nine panel grid, just moving panels around to fix it is easy. Hail grids!

Like most of the big acts of magic, it’s all about emotional sense than anything else. Hence, it is inevitable as Nergal actually does this, the bleak temple he’s constructed starts to crumble. And, in perhaps the most ludicrous bit of me in the comic, The Temple Of Love Is Falling Down. Too much is the bare minimum.

Jamie’s triple-portrait of the Morrigan is pretty startling. I have no idea if Jamie will miss drawing Badb’s hair, but I’ll miss seeing it.

Re-reading this now I’m struck by how low-key it is. That was always part of WicDiv’s magic – the finger click, and then things happening. The Morrigan transformation was usually drawn to be instantaneous – one panel Macha, the next Badb and so on. This kind of keeps to that.

And then… the reveal. That the new bodies isn’t a splash page says everything about this issue, but it still gets the punching the air moment. We had to have one of those eventually. Lucifer in a black suit is one of the things I’ve been waiting as long to see as Nergal in his. I giggled with glee at seeing this. Jamie’s worked in elements of the Morrigan into each of the gods – Lucifer’s red hair is the most obvious one, but Gentle Annie in Inanna and Macha in Mimir also have their notes. Inanna’s netting top is the main one – and note the shapes on Mimir’s armour changing to mimic Macha’s.

Yes, writing Lucifer remains fun and easy. I recommend it to everyone.

Page 21-22

In terms of seeing chat, people responding to the small details in the issue is one of the bigger joys. That Jamie got the Inanna/Nergal hug in the background of this exchange between Laura/Lucifer/Cass is absolutely wonderful. Laura and Cass have come a long way.

This is arguably a small cliffhanger – the smallest of this arc, at least. However, it sits on the weight of the rest of the run. We’re promising a solution to one of the larger mysteries in the run, and I suspect we get by on that. Note how space is used – this is a dense panel layout, but we go to a thired of a page for Laura’s “I know how to end this” (so giving it weight” and then going to three panel page for the conclusion (which adds weight to each of these beats.) Jamie takes the framing to tight on Cass for the beat as well to sell it. Note Matt with the Norn-colouring creeping in – and how it goes from the fires in the first panel to this is just a joy.

Page 23

Interstitial, and obvious reference to the Jay-Z record, but everyone is just excitedly clapping over the adding stuff to the godwheel. Sergio outdid himself here. It’s certainly an example of how you can have storytelling and even hero-shot audience-cheers beats out of things entirely unlike a traditional comics panel. After all these issue,s we get to see something added to the godwheel. Of course people cheer. That said, as I said to a friend, “Of all the things I’ve found to torture the WicDiv readership, hope is the cruelest of all.”

EDIT: Actually, I messed up here - Jamie did the tweaks. Nice work Jamie!

And that’s it. Next up – 42, wherein questions are answered. In passing – the letters we’ve been getting are amazing. I’m going to try and cram as many as I can in the issues to come, but issue 44 will be our last one with a letters page. So that’s a timelimit if you wanna try and get in. It’s [email protected].

Thanks for reading.

#WicDiv #the wicked and the divine #writer notes

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natsubeatsrock · 5 years

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The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 15 (Wendy)

What am I going to do with Wendy?

tfw you were going to crossover event yourself and review captain marvel the day after this came out but you don’t get the review ready in time and you don’t get the post for the blog you want to do this for typed up in time and you also realize you need to add stuff and this intro is too long

I'm in a tough spot with Wendy. I can't say that Wendy is a particularly bad character. She may be one of Mashima's best-written female characters this side of Rave Master. But I have some issues with how that writing is handled, keeping me from saying she's outright the best of either the Dragon Slayers of the Strongest Team. In fact, she might be the toughest of the five to rewrite.

In my analogy of the Strongest Team as a team of five protagonists, I would describe Wendy as a character similar to one I've mentioned before: Princess Yona from Yona of the Dawn. As I've mentioned earlier, Yona's journey is coming from a life of comfort and protection and growing into a strong and capable fighter and leader. The series involves seeing her grow in these capacities while also keeping core personality in the process. Also, something, something reverse harem series.

Wendy introduces herself as mostly able to use support magic. Of course, she knows magic spells that can be used to attack people. However, she knows she is at her most useful as a support mage, not an attack mage. After learning her life up to that point was largely a lie, she joins Fairy Tail and starts heading towards the path of becoming a competent combat wizard.

If you think about it, we don't see a strong showing of Wendy's fighting ability until the Grand Magic Games. She doesn't take out one of the Oracion Seis or Seven Kin of Purgatory. She plays more of a support role in the anime arcs. Even in the Grand Magic Games, she ties in a fight with Chelia and her fight with Cosmos had to be padded out in the anime. Even then, it's not that great and is easily one of the least memorable fights in a tournament arc, of all times. Her capture of Aquarius in the Eclipse arc is more about making friends than fighting with her. And, in Sun Village, she fought the Treasure Hunters with Lucy and Flare.

To be clear, this is not a knock on her. I don't think that this doesn't make sense for Wendy. Not to mention, I think that her fight between Chelia is one of the best fights in the series and might be one of her most important moments as a character.

However, it's hard to compare that fight with her fight in Tartarus. When she actually does fight Ezel, it's almost a spectacle to see. In the anime, before destroying Face, there's an unnecessarily long flashback of Wendy and Carla's time together. Thinking back through it, though, it's crazy that the same Wendy who wasn't confident in her fighting ability in Nirvana beat one of the Nine Demon Gates on her own. While she never exactly gets as great a spotlight, she more than holds her own in other fights.

There are two things that are important to mention in regards to how this plays out.

First is that she never actually gets worse at her main ability of healing/support magic. It never becomes something she does worse than regular combat magic. As much as the combat stuff becomes better, it's not too much of a stretch to say that her best role is as a support mage. After all, Irene takes over her body because of both her dragon slaying magic and enchanting abilities. Looking back, it makes sense that her secret arts were both the combat skill Sky Drill and the support skill Milky Way. And in the anime, she combines both in a fight against Erigor.

The second, a fact that I've come to recognize as Fairy Tail has ended, is that Wendy is a fast learner. Not just in being able to work out those arts in a matter of days of training, as one could argue that's aided with the use of Gale-Force Reading Glasses. She picks up the Sky Dragon's Wing Attack just from watching Natsu use his version of the move. So as annoying as it was to see Dragon Slaying Enchantment, it's not terribly improbable of her to after just hearing about it. (I didn't expect this to come back when I wrote the first draft of this.)

Why does this make her a hard character for me to rewrite?

One of the big issues I have with how this arc plays out for Wendy is one I've spend much time talking about before - lack of training. The fact that Fairy Tail doesn't focus on training probably hurts Wendy the most. The progression from Edolas to Tartarus makes less sense with little training in between fights. There's no sense of Wendy's making the change in perspective of combat magic. Obviously, with some of the changes to the series, this will help.

But the other bigger issue involves the way Wendy herself is written. I said that Wendy's fight with Exel marks a sign of growth for her. As it stands, it's probably the only sign of growth she has in the entire series. It's easy to look at Wendy only being about 14 now in the sequel and think about how little Wendy has grown up during Fairy Tail. I mean that's still around the time puberty happens so something, something Reedus' drawing, blah blah blah body issues.

But it's hard to say that she starts to grow up in many other respects. Of course, I've talked a bit about her magic ability growing. However, she doesn't become less prone to cry. She doesn't become less apologetic over things she can't possibly control. Even her cutting her hair after the Exel fight gets changed back at the epilogue at the arc.

I can understand this being excused as she still is a kid during the series and she has time to grow as a person. But, in rewriting this series, I can't carry the same type of mindset. With a shorter Fairy Sphere time, Wendy will actually have to grow up. She'll be at least 6 years older than she was at any point after the x791 arc in the original series.

This presents writing Wendy with a more unique issue than most other characters. For the most part, I can keep the characters in a similar state from the beginning of that time skip to the end. There are some issues to worry about, like justifying Juvia's prolonged unrequited feelings for Gray, but I have some ways to get around that. Wendy at the end of the first time skip doesn't have to be a drastically different character from how she is. However, she has to be written in a way that recognizes that, once Natsu returns, she's a young adult.

What should kick off that change?

As is the case for some other characters, one big catalyst for change ought to be the end of Tenrou. Of course, that's the biggest and most important moment before the skip starts. However, seeing Acnologia and recognizing the gap in power between them isn't a bad motivator, assuming she sees it as another way to support her friends. With Natsu going off later to find Igneel, there's also a recognition that she can't rely on him or other mages to fight battles she thinks she can't fight all the time. She might even want to go with him, but he doesn't want her to go with him because he's concerned for her safety.

You can probably tell what the end result should look like. We should get a Wendy more similar to what we got before chapter 416 with the abilities and skills she gains after the second time skip. She can't and shouldn't stop all her tears, but she has a better grip on her emotions than before and isn't afraid to get into a fight. She's still as kind-hearted and optimistic as she is in canon. The difference is that she's no longer just a girl. (I hate myself over this.)

Now that we’ve talked about the main characters in the Strongest Team, I’m going to start talking about some of the other characters in the series. Who am I going to start with?

Who else do you expect me to start with?

#wendy marvell #the rewrite of fairy tail #part 15 #well that's done #HOPEFULLY #i can get the next one done tomorrow #that one is a special one #at any rate #alita battle angel is a good movie #go watch it in theaters #there were 5 people in my theater #that makes me mad

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truthbeetoldmedia · 6 years

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10 Best Moments from Season 1 of “Anne with an E”

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Canadian children’s series, Anne of Green Gables, has been adapted many times in the more than a century since it was first published. When recreating a story that has been part of the childhoods of Canadians and other children around the world for generations, there are certain elements that must remain the same and others that can be invented or updated to keep the story fresh and captivating.

Anne with an E (or just Anne, in Canada) is the CBC’s most recent adaptation of the classic, in partnership with Netflix U.S. It stays true to the essentials of the original work with pristine casting, beautiful cinematography, plotlines and dialogue that are lifted right from the novel. But it also took the chance to modernize the story in a way that makes it relatable and necessary in today’s world, by including a “Progressive Mothers Sewing Circle” and multiple conversations and conflicts around feminism, choice, and education.

Here are 10 of the best moments from Season 1 of Anne with an E:

Anne’s journey to Green Gables - 1x01 “Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny”

Anne Shirley’s (Amybeth McNulty) romantic descriptions of Prince Edward Island throughout the series made it an ideal place in the hearts and minds of many young readers, and the sweeping shots and attention given to Anne’s enrapturement as she travels with Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson) from Bright River to Green Gables capture this sense of wonder beautifully.

This journey also introduces us to Anne, through the eyes of Matthew: she’s talkative, full of big words and bigger ideas, and in possession of an imagination of the likes Matthew — nor anyone in Avonlea — has ever seen before.

All of this is perhaps best captured as Anne and Matthew ride down the Avenue, a lane shaded by drooping cherry trees blooming with white blossoms, which Anne promptly renames “The White Way of Delight.”

Of course, Anne’s overwhelming happiness at finding a home in the most beautiful place in the world is overshadowed by the viewer’s knowledge that Matthew and his sister Marilla (Geraldine James) had expected a boy instead, something Anne has not yet realized and is sure to ruin her dreams of feeling wanted and loved.

“She’s my daughter!” - 1x02 “I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me”

If this moment didn’t melt your heart, you’re made of stone.

After Marilla sends Anne away for theft — which they soon learn was a wrongful accusation — Matthew chases her to Bright River, then to Charlottetown, then across the strait to Nova Scotia; he sustains an injury to the head upon almost spotting her in Charlottetown and he fruitlessly looks for her at the orphanage, before finally finding her at a train station where she’s collecting money by selling stories for a ticket to Halifax.

Anne is unforgiving when she first sees Matthew again, understandably hurt and unwilling to give him a second chance. A well-meaning stranger gets between them, worried that Matthew means her harm, but Matthew quickly dissipates the situation with a single sentence: “She’s my daughter.”

They’re words that Anne has been longing to hear and believe her entire life and she forgives Matthew immediately, wrapping her arms around him in a hug, and together they return to Avonlea.

Marilla talks to Anne - 1x02 “I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me”

Marilla is not one to wear even a sliver of her heart on her sleeve, and talking openly to Anne — who is so different from Marilla that she doesn’t even know where to begin — doesn’t come easily to her. Anne has no idea how her brief absence affected Marilla and instead assumes that Marilla doesn’t want or even like her, and it’s only because of Matthew that she concedes to keeping the child around.

Marilla does her best to smooth over her rocky beginning with Anne, in a speech made even more sweet by how obviously difficult Marilla finds it. “Anne, will you forgive me? I am very sorry, Anne. [...] You’re a truthful girl, Anne, even now, and that is an admirable quality. This was my fault. And all that you went through because of it. It’s a wonder you came back to Green Gables at all.”

An adult admitting their wrongs and asking a child for forgiveness is refreshing to see, especially given the time period. Proving that she does have a heart, and a heavy sense of remorse, does much to repair Marilla’s relationship with Anne, and although Anne will never feel the same sense of kinship with her as she does with Matthew, they grow to love each other deeply.

The PMSC (Progressive Mothers Sewing Circle) - 1x03 “But What is So Headstrong as Youth?”

Now that she’s adopted Anne, Marilla is invited to join the PMSC by several other mothers of young girls, a society that discusses and believes in progressive matters, such as girls’ education and equality between women and men.

It’s a clever opportunity for the show to discuss modern ideas in a 19th century setting, and Marilla, an older woman with a conservative bent, is a good viewpoint to see it from. At Marilla’s first meeting, the women discuss books and feminism and being a modern women in a modern world. Marilla is quite out of her depth, but is more than willing to listen and learn and even change her own ways of thinking.

Later, Marilla has a lively debate with her neighbour and friend Rachel Lynde (Corrine Koslo) about the PMSC, of which Rachel is no big proponent of, asking if the women “took turns shouting atop a soapbox” (a common misconception of feminism, even today).

“There was a lot of civilized talk about women’s education and social reforms,” Marilla replies.

Even Matthew chimes in on the discussion when he comes in to tea: “I reckon every new idea was modern once, until it wasn’t.”

Gilbert’s introduction - 1x03 “But What is So Headstrong as Youth?”

In almost any iteration of the Anne of Green Gables series, Gilbert Blythe (Lucas Jade Zumann) is nearly as essential to the story as Anne herself is. For generations, his character has been the object of countless fictional crushes and Anne’s relationship with him is a main driving force of the plot; such a character deserves a hero’s introduction.

And a hero’s introduction he receives. Anne’s on her way to school when she’s confronted by Billy Andrews, who threatens her for unintentionally spreading rumours about his sister. That’s when Gilbert appears, who immediately diffuses the situation by greeting Billy as a friend and suggesting they get to school, while Anne looks on in (surprisingly) wordless shock.

Anne runs from Gilbert and they’re not properly introduced until they reach the school, where she finally finds her tongue, tells him her name, and realizes that he’s the famous Gilbert Blythe as he’s immediately swarmed by his admiring classmates.

Gilbert has always seen Anne differently than everyone else, and feels a pull to her from the start. Where everyone else — including Anne — believes her to be homely and judges her harshly for coming from an orphan’s asylum, Gilbert says, “Why do I care where she’s from? A cute girl is a cute girl.”

(Later, when the class laughs at Anne for her dramatic reading of a poem, Gilbert only sees it as admirable: “She’s good. Invested.”)

Anne and Marilla discuss Anne’s future - 1x04 “An Inward Treasure Born”

After several weeks off, Anne is ready to go to school again. But she’s still concerned about what the minister told her earlier in the episode, about her not needing to go to school and becoming a wife instead. Ever since she heard that, Anne has been contemplating what it is she would like to be when she grows up.

Marilla is progressive enough and loves Anne enough to view the minister’s thinking as old-fashioned, and tells Anne that she should decide for herself what she would like to be and set her mind to it.

Gentle moments like this one between Marilla and Anne are rare, which makes them all the more touching when they come along. Marilla is new to parenthood, and while she certainly struggles with some aspects of it (and Anne is no easy child to raise, either), this is something that comes surprisingly natural to her. She always seems to know just what to say to ease Anne’s mind, and her unwavering faith in Anne’s intelligence and goodness is raw and honest, when she chooses to express it.

“You’ve got a good and nimble mind, Anne. I don’t see why you should limit it. In my day, we didn’t get to choose. I think you should make your own decision.” This statement means a lot, especially coming from Marilla, who wasn’t given the opportunity to choose her own path due to her family situation.

Anne saves Minnie May’s life - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

Anne’s experiences as an orphan prior to coming to Green Gables have her poorly adjusted for many things, but have taught her many things no child should be expected to know — including how to deal with croup.

When her dearest friend Diana’s little sister, Minnie May, falls ill on a night when both her parents and half the town are in Charlottetown to see the premier, Diana (Dalila Bela) goes to Anne for help. Anne immediately sends Matthew into town to fetch the doctor, while she accompanies Diana back to the house.

What follows is an extremely tense scene in which Anne does everything in her power to save Minnie May’s life — including employing remedies from old wives’ tales — while Diana and her Aunt Josephine (Deborah Grover) look on in shock.

The moment Minnie May coughs and breathes again after several minutes of choking silently on phlegm is an exceedingly powerful one. Anne’s role in saving the little girl’s life — when the doctor arrives, he confirms that Minnie May would have died otherwise — causes Diana’s mother to forgive her after the unfortunate currant wine incident of a month before and allow the two to be friends again, and raises her esteem greatly in the eyes of Aunt Josephine.

Anne and Gilbert talk about grief - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

For several months after the incident in which Gilbert called Anne “Carrots” and she responded by smashing her slate over his head, Anne holds to her promise not to have anything to do with him unless absolutely necessary. It’s not until Gilbert’s father dies and Anne feels that this is something she can relate to him about — after all, now they’re both orphans — that she makes any effort to actually talk to him.

Unfortunately, Anne isn’t a natural when it comes to sympathizing and not only does she not pick up on the fact that the last thing Gilbert wants is to talk to someone, but she manages to say exactly the wrong thing.

“Being an orphan has its challenges but you already have so many advantages, you’ll be much better off than I was. And...I didn’t know my parents. They died when I was a baby, so I couldn’t fend for myself the way that you can. And I don’t remember my parents at all, but you’ll always be able to remember your father. You know, when you think about it, you’re really very lucky.”

Later, Anne realizes that Gilbert has lost someone in a way she never has since she never knew her parents and thus never mourned them; however, when she arrives at Gilbert’s house to tell him this, he has already gone.

“I choose myself. That way I’ll never be disappointed.” - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

While out on a walk to “take advantage of the winter air,” Aunt Josephine comes upon Anne in her clubhouse, yelling aggrievedly to no one about Gilbert Blythe.

“What you heard just now had nothing to do with romance,” Anne assures the old woman, which leads into a discussion about Anne’s future and how all the other girls at school dream only of becoming a wife, and Anne herself has so many other ambitions.

Aunt Josephine is perhaps uniquely situated to give Anne advice, having never gotten married herself but spent her life living with the woman she loved (a relationship Anne hasn’t yet realized extended far past the realms of friendship).

“I have the following thoughts to offer,” Aunt Josephine says. “First, you can get married any time in your life, if you choose to do so. And two: if you choose a career, you can buy a white dress yourself, have it made to order, and wear it whenever you want.”

Aunt Josephine’s words do much to improve Anne’s mood, and she promptly exclaims, “I’m going to be my own woman.”

Gilbert and Anne meet in Charlottetown - 1x07 “Wherever You Are is My Home”

While in Charlottetown pawning goods in the hopes of saving Green Gables, Anne runs into Gilbert, who’s there to work on the docks. Anne is inexplicably happy to see him again, and the two go for coffee together.

Anne finally gets the chance to apologize to Gilbert for what she said after his father’s death, even if it’s an apology he doesn’t need to hear. The two strike up a truce and at last seem to form the beginnings of a friendship — with Anne even admitting that she’s missed him (although, supposedly, only in school).

Neither of them seem quite prepared to leave the other without knowing when they’ll see each other again (even Jerry notices the long looks that pass between them) and when they do eventually meet again, it’s easy to assume that a fundamental aspect of their relationship will have changed.

Season 2 of Anne With An E premieres September 23 on CBC in Canada, and is already available on Netflix in the U.S.

#Anne with an E #Anne #Season 1 #Anne Shirley #Gilbert Blythe

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tomeandflickcorner · 6 years

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OUAT Episode Analysis- Homecoming

And so it begins. The first half of the conclusion to Once Upon a Time. All things considered, this was quite the episode.

It starts with a rather strange flashback. It’s apparently early on in Henry’s soul-searching quest, and he’s trying to save a young woman under a Sleeping Curse. When he goes in to try and wake her with True Love’s Kiss, a dragon appears and attacks him. Before Young Henry could even make an attempt at fighting the dragon, some random bloke appears out of nowhere. This guy effortlessly kills the dragon and proceeds to wake up the young woman with a successful True Love’s Kiss. Upon waking up, the young woman runs off with Random Bloke, pausing just long enough to acknowledge Young Henry, who she clearly had already met. Personally, I am a bit curious to what the backstory was to that opening scene was. I’m guessing Young Henry and Random Bloke both fancied the young woman, and the young woman was completely ignorant to Wish Henry’s feelings, simply viewing him as a dear friend. But how did these three meet each other in the first place? And who even were those two? Also, how many girlfriends did Henry have before he met and married Parallel Ella? First it was Violet, now we got this random lady who Henry clearly liked enough for him to think she might be his True Love.

Either way, the happy couple run off, leaving Young Henry behind to tend to his wounded pride. And that’s when Wish Rumpelstiltskin pops up, approaching Young Henry. Wish Rumpelstiltskin starts talking about how Young Henry can only find his true Happy Ending with his help. But Young Henry, not seeming the least bit surprised that Wish Rumpelstiltskin found his way to Parallel Enchanted Forest, isn’t interested in hearing what he has to say, stating that nothing good can ever come from making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. Which is really smart of him. And I guess this probably explains why Henry didn’t stop to say hello when he passed by Rumpelstiltskin Prime when he rode past him on his motorcycle at the end of 7x04. He probably thought it was Wish Rumpelstiltskin again.

But that’s pretty much the only flashback we get in this episode. The rest of it is pretty much set in the Hyperion Heights timeline, with everyone celebrating the defeat of Gothel and the return of their memories. Regina even hosts a party in her bar, with Alice and Robyn brining some of Sabine/Tiana’s beignets. However, one dark cloud still remains over the festivities. They still haven’t found a way to lift the curse on Wish Killian’s heart, which is now fully activated again. As a result, he not only isn’t able to attend the celebratory party, but Alice has to move out of the apartment they’d been sharing as Rogers and Tilly. This is driven home by a nicely acted scene when Wish Killian and Alice are having a conversation via cellphone while standing on opposite sides of the street.

I also have to give credit to Regina here. She actually has the decency to inquire on how Wish Killian is doing when Alice arrives at the party. It’s quite the 180 from the attitude she frequently had towards Killian Prime. Case in point how dismissive she was when Killian Prime failed to show up for the Nevengers meeting in 3x19. I wonder if Regina would be this gracious towards Killian Prime now, or is she only being nice because it’s Wish Killian? I’d like to think it’s the former, because apart from a few lines that made me raise an eyebrow (such as how she spoke of Operation Cobra as if it was something she and Henry did together), I’ve overall been okay with Regina throughout this season. At least she hasn’t shown any signs of the behavior she displayed in the past that made it hard for me to like her.

Speaking of Regina, she is starting to worry as nobody has seen Facilier since the curse broke. When she stops by his office, however, all she finds is Rumpelstiltskin Prime, who had been tied up and magically hidden away behind this indoor waterfall feature. Upon being freed, Rumpelstiltskin Prime informs Regina of Facilier’s death by Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s hand.

We then cut to Henry, Parallel Ella and Lucy, who are having a smaller, more intimate party of their own to celebrate them being reunited at last, and to make up for all the celebrations they missed while under the curse. We also get a nice little callback to the Pilot episode, when Emma made a wish on her birthday cupcake to not be alone on her birthday, and Young Henry appeared at her door seconds later. But then, the peaceful moment is broken when Wish Rumpelstiltskin appears. He magically transports Parallel Ella and Lucy into Wish World and proceeds to go off on this whole spiel about how he’d once warned Henry that he’d never get his Happy Ending without his help and he’s decided to prove it. By abducting Henry’s family and holding them hostage until Henry agrees to help him with something. So, in other words, Wish Rumpelstiltskin has decided to completely drop the usual manipulation tactic and go straight for blackmail. Interesting choice. The only thing that bugs me about this is that Wish Rumpelstiltskin is trying to forge a deal with Henry, as if this is just another you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of thing. The sort of stunt Rumpelstiltskin did so often in the past. Except it’s not. Because Wish Rumpelstiltskin is holding Henry’s wife and daughter hostage. There is no deal here. This is blackmail, plain and simple.

Anyway, what exactly is Wish Rumpelstiltskin after? He wants Henry to bring Rumpelstiltskin Prime’s Dagger to him. Because apparently, Wish Rumpelstiltskin found out that Rumpelstiltskin Prime was planning to give up the Dagger and decided that he couldn’t let that happen. Wish Rumpelstiltskin states that, if Rumpelstiltskin Prime gives up the Dagger, then he will lose his Dark One powers, too. Which honestly doesn’t make much sense. Unless something went over my head, Wish Rumpelstiltskin has his own version of the Dagger, doesn’t he? So how would Rumpelstiltskin Prime giving up his Dagger have any effect on Wish Rumpelstiltskin?

Confusing details aside, Henry immediately seeks out Regina, Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime to tell them about what Wish Rumpelstiltskin had done. And they’re all instantly voicing their desire to stand with Henry on this one. To get to Wish World, Wish Killian, recalling how much of a packrat Alice was, returns to the boxcar where Tilly/Alice once lived in. There, he manages to locate an enchanted looking glass. Rather like the one that Will and Anastasia used to travel to Wonderland Prime in the Wonderland spin-off. But there’s a slight problem- the looking glass has a large crack running down the mirror’s surface. So it’s possible the magic within the looking glass won’t even work. Ultimately, it’s decided that it’s worth risking it, for the sake of Henry’s family. However, when the four of them jump through the portal the Looking Glass creates, the crack in the mirror ends up separating them. Henry and Regina end up in Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s castle while Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime wind up elsewhere.

At this point, we get our first cameo appearance. Upon arriving in Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s castle, Henry and Regina run into Wish Pan, who is being confined by a stock that had been set up within the castle. Apparently, at some point, Wish Rumpelstiltskin had made his way into the Wish World’s version of Neverland and sought vengeance on his father. However, this appearance of Wish Pan is completely pointless. All he does is tell Henry that he’d be better off giving up hope of finding his family and just leave. Which is something anyone could have said. They could just as easily given this role to a random extra. So unless Wish Pan has a bigger part in the second half of this series finale, this really was a waste of a paycheck. Granted I don’t have access to any focus group data, but I seriously doubt Pan was popular enough that people were asking to see him again.

As for Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime, they find themselves at the Wish World equivalent of Rumpelstiltskin’s childhood home. Rumpelstiltskin even takes note of the presence of the hammer he’d used to cripple himself in order to get sent home instead of fighting in the Ogre Wars. However, this is a slight continuity error, as Rumpelstiltskin was at the warfront when he’d crippled himself. So how did the hammer he’d used wind up at the home he shared with Milah? Maybe the other soldiers decided to put it there as a way to further mark him as the village coward? I guess that’s a possibility. Either way, Rumpelstiltskin Prime states that, while he did try to run from the Ogre Wars, this is a fight he’s willing to see through to the end. But Wish Killian pipes up, reminding him that he didn’t do so well against Wish Rumpelstiltskin earlier. He proceeds to suggest an alternative method, pointing out that he is from Wish World and they’re therefore in his territory.

Wish Killian ends up taking Rumpelstiltskin Prime to a seaside cave, where he admits he lived after Gothel had cursed him. He admits that he came very close to giving up all hope of saving his daughter and had pretty much came to this seaside cave to drink himself to death. Until he met a friend who helped get him on the right path again. Who is this fried, you might ask? None other than Wish Ariel. Because apparently, Killian and Ariel were always destined to meet and become friends. Interestingly enough, when Wish Ariel appears after Wish Killian calls her with a conch horn, she’s carrying a King Triton style trident. Which I guess means that Wish Ariel is the ruler of the whole ocean. Pretty cool. But did she take over for Wish Poseidon? I wonder what happened to Wish Ursula. Also, does this mean that Wish Ariel and Wish Eric didn’t end up together? In any event, Wish Killian’s plan starts to become clear when he asks Wish Ariel if she had any squid ink stored away.

There’s also a bit of dialogue in this scene, in which Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime comment on how this entire realm was created by a wish. Which results in this exchange.

Wish Killian: Make no mistake, I'm as real as you.

Rumpelstiltskin Prime: I wouldn't dare suggest otherwise.

Shame that Regina didn’t get that during her first trip into Wish World. Also, I get the feeling that this bit was meant to throw shade at people who have been calling Wish Killian ‘Fake Hook’ all season. But since I’m not sure how much the writers have been paying attention to what the fans have been saying on social media, I could be wrong.

Meanwhile, Regina and Henry, while searching through Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s castle, have run into another familiar face. This time, it’s Wish Cruella. And if you had been in the same room as me when I was watching this episode, you would have heard my agonized groan. Because I really didn’t care to see this woman again. It turns out that Wish Rumpelstiltskin is basically using Wish Cruella as an attack dog, so to speak. She ends up crossing blades with Henry in a duel. And the Captain Cobra lover in me started grinning like a loon when Henry utilized the spin move that he undoubtedly learned from his stepfather. The swordfight quickly ends with Henry disarming Wish Cruella, with Regina magically trapping her inside a nearby cage the moment Wish Cruella has been defeated. Once they have her contained, Regina and Henry question her on the whereabouts of Parallel Ella and Lucy. Wish Cruella is visibly disgruntled, but she informs the pair that Henry’s family is being kept in the dungeon. So they immediately head down there. Sure enough, when they reach the dungeon, they do find Parallel Ella and Lucy. But they’ve been shrunk down and are trapped within a glass ball

Before they could start to think of a way to free them, Wish Rumpelstiltskin once again appears. He starts blathering on about how Henry is trying to cheat the terms of their deal to trade Parallel Ella and Lucy for Rumpelstiltskin Prime’s Dagger (even though this is really more of a hostage situation and not an actual deal.) To try and up the ante, I guess, Wish Rumpelstiltskin casts a spell that would cause snow to fall within the glass ball. So, if Henry and company don’t hand over Rumpelstiltskin Prime’s dagger, or come up with an alternative way to free them in time, Parallel Ella and Lucy will become completely buried in snow and therefore either freeze to death or die of asphyxiation. With that taunt hanging in the air, Wish Rumpelstiltskin teleports away again, leaving Henry to stress about his family’s predicament. Especially when Regina’s attempt at saving them with her magic only seems to make the situation worse.

It’s here that Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime arrive on the scene. In desperation, Henry starts to contemplate giving into Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s demands and give him Rumpelstiltskin Prime’s Dagger, which is an option that Rumpelstiltskin Prime refuses to even consider. This leads to a great line from Henry: ‘Maybe it's time that we all ask ourselves who really deserves their happy ending?’ Honestly, that should have been the question to ask during that whole Author arc.

Regardless, Rumpelstiltskin Prime announces that he and Wish Killian already came up with a plan to get the better of Wish Rumpelstiltskin. And he promptly leaves to go initiate that plan. To make sure Rumpelstiltskin Prime doesn’t double cross them by cutting a different deal with Wish Rumpelstiltskin, Regina decides to follow him, with Henry and Wish Killian staying behind to scour the library for a way to free Parallel Ella and Lucy from their Snow Globe prison.

The confrontation between Rumpelstiltskin Prime and Wish Rumpelstiltskin occurs back at the Stiltskin Hovel. During this confrontation, Rumpelstiltskin Prime begins this whole monologue about how he’s been trying to rid himself of his copy of the Dagger for a while, knowing that he has to hand it over to someone with a pure heart but has always found that he couldn’t find it in him to burden someone with the Darkness. And now he realizes that he’s found a loophole to that. Because if he hands the Dagger over to Wish Rumpelstiltskin, then he wouldn’t have to feel bad, because he wouldn’t be burdening anyone or spreading the Darkness even further. Because Wish Rumpelstiltskin wants the Darkness. But then, when he hands over the Dagger, it turns out that this was a trick, as Rumpelstiltskin Prime had coated the handle of his Dagger with Wish Ariel’s squid ink. As such, Wish Rumpelstiltskin is temporarily immobilized. With his Wish counterpart incapacitated, Rumpelstiltskin Prime takes back his dagger, using a cloth to shield himself from the effects of the squid ink. He announces his intention to kill Wish Rumpelstiltskin with the Dagger. Which would undoubtedly transform him into the Super Ultra Maxi Extreme Mega Dark One. In response to Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s reminder that doing so would result in him never being able to rejoin Belle in the afterlife, he states that he’s willing to make that sacrifice if it means getting rid of Wish Rumpelstiltskin.

Unfortunately, this is when Regina barges in, having the worse timing EVER! Because her arrival distracts Rumpelstiltskin Prime long enough for the squid ink to wear off, allowing Wish Rumpelstiltskin to regain control, knocking out Regina and trapping Rumpelstiltskin Prime in a Force Chokehold.

And it’s here that Wish Rumpelstiltskin reveals that this whole thing was never about the Dagger. Because they’re bringing up that whole Blind Seer prophecy from 02x14. The one that said Henry would be Rumpelstiltskin’s undoing. And it’s here that the episode gets even more convoluted. So you’re telling me that the Blind Seer managed to foresee this whole entire mess with the Wish World? Wow. I have no idea what to say about that.

Meanwhile, Henry has come up with a possible way to help save his family. But before he heads off, he decides to knock out Wish Killian. Because he feels that, if Wish Killian knew what he was planning to do, he’d only try to stop him. Henry’s plan turns out to be tracking down none other than Wish Apprentice. Which was a cameo that was actually a nice surprise. Sadly, Wish Apprentice has fallen blind over the years, but he’s still as steadfast as ever. Henry tells Wish Apprentice that he’d come looking for the Author’s Pen. Because that’s apparently Henry’s plan- to utilize his mantle of the Author to fix the situation.

As one might expect, Wish Apprentice isn’t exactly eager to hand over the Author’s pen, as he would only relinquish it to the True Author. Henry reassures him that, in his realm, he IS the Author. In order to test the validity of Henry’s claim, Wish Apprentice, I guess, manages to enter into Henry’s mind and scan his memories. Which results in what is quite possibly the most meta moment the show has given us, with Wish Apprentice stating ‘the timelines alone; they make one's head spin.’ Stating that only a True Author could have lived such a story, Wish Apprentice is now convinced that Henry is the Author, and he therefore hands over the Pen. Before Henry leaves, however, Wish Apprentice reminds him that the Author’s job is to record stories, not create them.

So now Henry has the Pen. But he needs to locate the necessary ink before the Pen can work. Fortunately, Henry knows exactly where to find some. And it’s here that I actually have to applaud the writers for the callback. Because, if you go back to the events of the 04x19 flashback, you’d remember that Cruella’s bi-colored hair was actually the result of it getting drenched in the Author’s ink. (So, does this mean that there was a Wish World counterpart to Author Isaac, too?) In any event, Henry manages to siphon the ink out of Wish Cruellla’s hair and back into the Pen.

Now that Henry has what he needs, he’s ready to use his Authorial powers to save Parallel Ella and Lucy. Which is technically a blatant abuse of his position, but I realize that Henry is simply desperate at this point. However, before Henry could fully execute his plan, Wish Rumpelstiltskin once again pops into the scene and magically takes the Pen away from Henry. Because now it turns out that’s what Wish Rumpelstiltskin was really after this whole time? Seriously, show. Make up your mind already.

Of course, Henry points out that the Pen won’t work for Wish Rumpelstiltskin, as only the Author can use it. But Wish Rumpelstiltskin isn’t bothered by this statement, as he already knew this, and came into this whole thing with an ace up his sleeve. Namely Wish Henry. Yeah, that’s right. Wish Henry is back. I can’t believe I actually called that one. But there was a bit of foreshadowing to this in the first episode of the season. You know, when Young Henry Prime commented on how he was the only version of himself before he left Storybrooke on his soul-searching quest?

It comes out that Wish Rumpelstiltskin was actually trying to help Wish Henry get his happy ending, not Henry Prime. Because Wish Henry, understandably, is still angry over the death of his grandparents and subsequent loss of his mother. (Which once again presents the million dollar question- Was there a Wish Emma that Emma Prime magically replaced when we first were introduced to this realm?) So he made a deal with Wish Rumpelstiltskin. If Wish Rumpelstiltskin helped Wish Henry get revenge on the person responsible for the loss of his whole family, then Wish Henry would use the Author’s Pen to assist Wish Rumpelstiltskin in getting what he wanted.

To try and put a stop to this, Henry Prime tries to get through to Wish Henry’s better nature, offering to help him find a loophole to get out of the deal he made with Wish Rumpelstiltskin. But Wish Henry is not swayed, as he believes this deal will help him get what he wants. And so, at Wish Rumpelstiltskin’s urging, Wish Henry uses the magic of the Pen to make it so the Guardian’s powers will no longer exist. Thereby preventing Rumpelstiltskin Prime from freeing himself of the Dagger. Because that bit about how Wish Rumpelstiltskin would somehow lose his Dark One powers as well still stands. Which still doesn’t make any sense. Hopefully the final episode will clear it all up.

Relishing in his victory, Wish Rumpelstiltskin transports Henry Prime, Wish Killian and Rumpelstiltskin Prime to meet the same fate as Parallel Ella and Lucy. Only Regina is left behind. Because this is what Wish Henry was to get out of the deal- the chance to make Regina pay for the deaths of Wish Snowing and the apparent removal of Wish Emma/Emma Prime. Honestly, I’m kinda okay with this. While I’m not saying I want to see Wish Henry kill Regina, it’s about time that Regina was forced to deal with the repercussions for what she did during her initial jaunt through the Wish World. And this time, she can’t excuse her actions by claiming that Wish Snowing’s deaths didn’t matter because they weren’t real. Now she’s going to have to face the facts that she really did murder two people and leave a version of Henry completely alone in the world. Gotta say, for all the times Regina tried to belittle Snow and Emma for never thinking of the consequences of their actions, Regina was the one who never considered the repercussions of anything she did. So I’m really jazzed to see someone FINALLY making her practice what she preached for once.

Back in Hyperion Heights, Alice and Robyn are in the middle of searching for their own apartment to share when Alice, I guess, was able to feel it when she was stripped of her Guardian Powers. She instinctively realizes that her father and his friends are in trouble, so she and Robyn decide to go and try to help. But they’re not quite sure how to get to them. They end up going to Tiana and Naveen for assistance. However, when Tiana summons everyone else who had been brought to Hyperion Heights from Parallel Enchanted Forest, she initially struggles in getting their attention. There was a bit of a subplot earlier when Tiana admitted that she was having a bit of difficulty in adjusting to the fact that she had a lifetime of memories of being Sabine on top of her memories as Tiana and was now doubting that she could remember how to be Queen Tiana again. Which, when I think about it, is not too dissimilar to what Charming went through at the very start of S2. Fortunately, Naveen is quick to provide her with a pep talk, and then assists her in getting everyone’s attention, enabling Tiana to ask anyone if they had anything that would help Alice and Robyn get to the Wish World to save Henry and the others. After a moment, Remy, that guy who worked at Regina’s bar, presenting them with a magic bean that he’d just happened to find while making a cassoulet. By the way, did they ever explain who this guy was in Parallel Enchanted Forest? Because until further notice, I’m going to think he’s supposed to be the rat chef from Ratatouille.

With the magic bean in hand, Alice and Robyn head off, using Sabine/Tiana’s food truck. But it turns out that they’re not immediately heading to Wish World. Because Robyn had decided that they should gather up some reinforcements first. As such, the two use the magic bean to head off to….. STORYBROOKE!

Honestly, I’m a bit confused by that. It’s been established that the stuff we’ve been seeing in present day Hyperion Heights has actually been occurring in the past, and in Storybrooke, it’s around the time when Henry first left home. So, as far as the people of Storybrooke are concerned, Henry is still 18 and has only left a day or so ago. Wouldn’t it mess up the timelines even more if Alice and Robyn show up seeking help for Adult Henry? Not to mention that Robyn might run into herself, which could create an issue. But again, maybe the next episode will explain how they’re working their way around that one.

(Click here to read more Episode Analyses)

#ouat episode analysis #ouat 7x21 #henry mills #parallel!cinderella #lucy mills #regina mills #rumpelstiltskin #wish world!killian #alice jones #robyn hood #wish world!Rumpelstiltskin #wish world!henry #tiana #naveen

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losbella · 4 years

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ckyking · 7 years

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oracle!au - part ii

it’s time for more oracle!au :D! as always, thanks to @jasperraven for enabling me and whose blog you should visit if you want to read fics written in this au~ also, @goddamnminyard for inspiring the part about mechanic!aulea!

okay, when we left off, tiny oracle had just been released into the world with overprotective papa cor as a guardian

but we are first going through flashbacks because man did sylva, regis and aulea have an interesting life before being tragically cut down okay im shutting up

sylva totally had her own road-trip with a side of fighting in the resistance, alright? her and her girl gang of course. they were going to accordo to strengthen their alliance in the midst of the war against niflheim

her best friend, aulea, whom she met in high school but really got to know when the regalia broke down during her first test drive at sixteen and she was the one to repair it. after all, she’s a mechanic’s only daughter and fell just as hard as her mother for everything cars. tbh, she first fell in love with the regalia and only decided afterwards that sylva was “okay, i guess”. she ended up asking to be trained with sylva’s shield because there was no way she was letting sylva go without her on the frontlines! in battle, she is deadly with a rapier, cutting down anyone in her path.

amy and sylva gave her so much shit when they found out what type of weapons she favoured. they were sure she was going down the same “big fucking sword” road as amy. she got back at them through magical “mishaps” when she was “learning” how to wield sylva’s magic.

the regalia was totally aulea’s wedding present from sylva. all of them knew that it was more aulea’s car than sylva’s at this point~ she was ecstatic as you can believe. the heart attacks she gave regis when she took baby noctis out on drives though! she did not manage to pass on her love of cars to him, but speed? noct is all about it!

then, there is sylva’s shield, amaryllis “amy” amicitia, clarus’ twin sister. both clarus and her were trained as potential shields because it’s tradition that the eldest amicitia become the king/queen’s shield. except it was not possible to make the choice based solely on age in this case. it was decided that the next shield would be the one with the greatest compatibility with sylva, both magic and personality wise, while the other would become a high ranking military official and advisor to sylva. she is a fucking giant, okay? which was useful when she had to pick up one of the other girls to stop them from doing something ridiculous. really, her and gentiana were the most even-tempered of the group. though her and her greatsword are truly and intimidating sight, which was helpful during their travels

she ended up receiving a grievous injury in defense of sylva which left her sterile. this is why iris, clarus’ eldest, ended up becoming luna’s shield. after the wall was shrunk to surround only insomnia, she became sylva’s other advisor alongside her brother.

and while we’re talking about clarus, he also ended up travelling for a while, which is when he met his future wife, who is a power plant worker. however, she continues to work in lestallum and the children mostly live with clarus with occasional visits. when gladio ended up showing interest in hunting, he moved to lestallum and started training as a hunter around there to supplement his father's training and then started to move around eos

camelia claustra, another friend of sylva whom she met during one of the many political parties she had to attend. she comes from a family of politicians and is seen by everyone as a strong candidate for a high position in the government, maybe even first secretary, when she gets more experience. she meets sylva in secret when she can to organize the resistance’s next attacks and to talk politics in order to gain an advantage over niflheim.

she does keep contact with aulea after lucis falls back because they are both in “nifl” territory (accordo and tenebrae) though it’s much more difficult with sylva

and finally, gentiana, who will later become known as “the immortal” for her prowess in battle. she was recruited by the former commander of what would turn out to become the crownsguard. she wields a katana in battle and her strategic mind was a key element in keeping everyone safe during the bigger battles.

regis was not without his share of adventures though

he was one of the most rebellious of the oracles tbh. he did not think that his role was to passively keep the scrouge at bay while staying safe in tenebrae, a belief his parents tried to instill in him and one of the reasons why their country lost some of its hard gained independence during his father’s reign. despite not being acknowledged as the oracle at the time and not having access to his full powers, he went on tours to help those afflicted by the scrouge. it was also the occasion for him to travel the world a little. he mostly used swords and magic during his travels, having sought training from guards and hunters when he could while growing up so that he did not have to solely rely on magic.

it was in accordo that he met weskham, who would become one of his best friends yet. seeing that weskham was originally a tattoo artist, that’s when he started developing a passion for them. nobody would believe the many designs hidden under the oracle’s formal clothes~ he mostly used guns in battle and was the one to make sure everybody actually ate, what with regis’ and cid’s tendency to get lost in whatever they’re doing at the time.

he stayed in contact with regis and regularly visited him. he was pretty much a uncle to noct growing up, but could not be there as often as he wanted due to niflheim’s surveillance and restrictions after regis and aulea’s death. noctis does still visit him during his oracle tours, and weskham tries to be there for the biggest festivals in tenebrae where the oracle plays a significant role.

cid became another one of his friends when they met in one of the lucian towns afflicted with the starscrouge. fighting daemons together does create bonds after all. he teamed up with regis and co after that during regis’ tour. it was during that time that he started modifying weapons, with some “interesting” results in the beginning. after regis’s father died in the middle of one of the tours and he officially became oracle, cid ended up going back to lucis and founding hammerhead due to cars being his true passion. as you can imagine, him and aulea got on really well~

he also kept into contact with regis, mainly with letters sent via regis’ messengers and occasional visits. and just like weskham, tried to be there for noctis when he could

cid also adopted prompto as a child after regis and co saved him from daemons (more about that later!)

and to finish, they did journey for a while with clarus, who was on his own training trip. really, just like in canon, he is there to keep regis out of trouble which he cannot help but seek. it’s exhausting really.

like for the other members of regis’ “crew”, he keeps in contact via messengers, though it’s impossible for him to visit seeing that he is in insomnia and sylva’s advisor

one last thing about regis, his messengers are hawks, and not dogs. new messengers are born at the same time as the oracle they will serve and will be taught by the previous oracle’s messengers. in that way, power and knowledge grow with each new oracle that is born. most of the time, they die at the same time as their oracle except if the last of the oracle’s power is used to preserve them. of course, cor is an exception to all of that, seeing that he voluntarily joined the lucis caelum household at the time of noct’s birth. his origins are actually a mystery to regis~

as said earlier, noct is basically raised by cor after his parents’ deaths and was inducted at a young age as the oracle

it was during one of his first tours that he heard about galadh being overrun by the starscrouge and he decides to go there in spite of it technically being in lucis

when a gralean official learn about his plans and tell him that it is not possible, he tells them in his gentlest voice while cor is looming behind him that the territories surrounding insomnia are now part of niflheim, and seeing that tenebrae is also considered part of niflheim, it would be fine to go there, right?

of course they end up agreeing with him because they’re terrified of cor and they’ve received orders from higher up. the oracle is to be kept out of gralea as much as possible, and if that’s impossible, he is to be given what he asks for (within reason) to make him go away. noct milks that for all it’s worth and ends up getting free accommodations and transport in niflheim territory in spite of being around 8-9 at the time (regis and aulea’s influences shining through)

though, you know how gentiana uses her powers to photobomb the chocobros? cor uses them in a much more sinister way by appearing in the corner of gralean officials’ eyes and showing up for an instant on security footage to, ah, reinforce the message to leave noctis the fuck alone!!!

it works marvelously

finally, noct can be on his way and heal the galahdians, including nyx, who swears to become his knight and serve him

oh boy, nyx doesn’t know what he signed up for (everytime he hears nyx complaining about some ridiculous shit that noctis has pulled, he always laughs and point out that he was literally the one to hire himself as noctis’ guard. and “employee”? pffffttt, as if he was just that)

first of all, the first thing noct asks him is to call him “noct”. it takes nyx an embarrassingly long time to go from “your royal highness” to “noctis” to “noct” XD

and he’s so blasé by the time he finds out that noctis makes niflheim pay for nearly everything during his tours that he is not even surprise. he has accepted by this point that his boss casually pulls things like those and the only way to avoid a heart attack is to get used to it

eventually, nyx is the one to design the Oracle’s Knights uniform, seeing that he is the one that founded them (he is stunned when noct first tells him that)

now, nyx started his training as a galahdian warrior young under his father’s tutelage before he was killed in battle

after he joins noctis’s “entourage”, cor is actually the one to continue his training thanks to his experience and the time he spent on eos. it’s supplemented with the occasional mission with hunters so that he can gain fighting experience.

cor would never admit it on pain of death but he was totally jealous when nyx became the oracle’s first knight, seeing that he got used to being the one to protect his starchild

it takes noctis a few days to understand the root of his guardian’s “mood” and he confronts him in private about it. when cor notices that it’s something important, he kneels to put himself closer to noct’s level. which is when teeny oracle tells him point blank with no embarrassment whatsoever that nyx being with them does not mean he loves cor any less before kissing him on the cheek.

(the straightforwardness definitely comes from cor)

cor is confused and does not know how to answer and his chest feels weirdly warm (that’s called happiness, cor). he finally realizes that he got attached and that feelings, unfortunately or not, are catching.

the first time nyx go on a mission, noctis gives him one of his earrings (which have been in his family for a long time and that his father had given to his mother as an engagement present), with the implied promise that he will always have to come back to noctis to give it back one day.

this is followed by nyx giving him one of the charms his sister made, so that noctis too will always come back to nyx

it’s after one of those missions that noctis half-jokingly asks him what he wants, what with him never having asked for anything during all of those years

nyx not-so-jokingly answers “to be closer to you” which stuns noctis until he rewords it as “to be bonded with you in a way similar to the lucian crownsguard” to save face, which noctis accepts bemusedly (@jasperraven ;D)

it sends him on a research spree with the help of cor, during which he finds out about his ancestors having forged some of the nox’s royal arms. but the account of the oracle having forged the scepter of the pious is the most interesting

and it gives him an idea about how to channel his power through nyx using a piece of himself as a focus in order to always be able to find nyx in both astral and mortal realms magic-wise

really, he is always channeling power through himself and he can feel that he has lot more power than necessary to keep the starscrouge at bay. using it to strengthen nyx would not be a burden at all. it would also go well with an idea he’s had for a while

they all head to accordo to visit weskham, and noctis asks him to tattoo both of them. mixing each other’s blood in the ink would allow noctis to create a bond between them and to share his power by giving nyx access to a part of himself and thus access to his power

for the tattoos, noctis’ is on his back and represents a fish (because of course) similar to a siamese fighting fish with its flowing fins blending into sylleblossoms

whereas nyx’s is more simple and represents sylleblossoms climbing up his wrist, so that he can always see it/touch it for strength

to be continued in part iii~

#noctis lucis caelum #oracle!noctis #nyx ulric #cor leonis #regis lucis caelum #aulea lucis caelum #sylva nox fleuret #nyx/noctis #oracle!au #final fantasy 15 #ffxv #ffxv hc

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medproish · 6 years

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Avengers: Infinity War boasts the most star-studded cast of any superhero movie ever.

On Friday, directors Joe and Anthony Russo will reveal how they managed to give each of the dozens of characters their due in the Marvel Studios film. Only slightly less challenging: giving the large cast their due on the film’s posters. Throughout its three Avengers movies, Marvel Studios has always given top billing to its most bankable hero — Robert Downey Jr. — but the other spots have been up for grabs.

Why is that? First, let’s take a look at who got top billing for all the Avengers movie posters to date:

Avengers (2012)

Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans , Mark Ruffalo , Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Don Cheadle.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Don Cheadle.

Now, let’s take a closer look.

First Billing: Downey

Downey is the undisputed leader of the Marvel Universe. He was its first star, the studio’s anchor since 2008’s Iron Man. Not only has Downey been billed first in the credits, but he has also taken front and center on many, many posters.

Downey is Marvel’s highest paid star and from a box-office perspective, that has made sense. Until February’s Black Panther, no MCU movie had crossed the $1 billion mark without Downey in the cast. Those numbers prove that Tony Stark is not only the group’s “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” but also the one deserving of center stage.

Second Billing: Evans vs. Hemsworth

In Avengers, Evans was credited second, which could be attributed to him having just made his Marvel debut in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The film earned $370.6 million worldwide, resulting in Evans becoming a new force in the MCU. It likely helped that the coda of First Avenger led directly into Avengers, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) showing up to give him a mission. (Hemsworth’s Thor opened two months earlier than First Avenger, in May 2011.)

But when Age of Ultron came around, Hemsworth dethroned Evans for the No. 2 spot, who fell all the way to No. 4 (Ruffalo made it to No. 3).

It was a curious move; just a year earlier, Evans’ 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier become of of Marvel’s most acclaimed films, and earned $714 million worldwide. (Hemsworth’s 2013 movie Thor: The Dark World earned $644 million and is Marvel’s worst-reviewed movie to date.) Still, Hemsworth’s career had more mainstream heat than Evans’, as he’d distinguished himself in Ron Howard’s Rush (2013) and signed up for a number of studio roles. Meanwhile, Evans had spent his time outside the MCU indulging in his passion for indie filmmaking with his directorial debut Before We Go (which opened a few months after Ultron).

By the time Infinity War rolled around, Hemsworth and Ruffalo retained No. 2 and No 3, respectively. That comes as Hemsworth’s Thor: Ragnarok marked the actor’s most successful solo film yet, surpassing an $853 million gross (Ruffalo co-starred). Perhaps it’s the recency of Ragnarok that gave Hemsworth the edge.

Third and Fourth Billing: Evans vs. Ruffalo

Though originally credited second in the first Avengers film, Evans was billed fourth in Ultron, finding himself sandwiched between Ruffalo (keeping the third billing slot) and Johansson (fifth billing). Ruffalo and Johansson — who is arguably the biggest star career-wise outside of the MCU — also happen to be two of the Avengers who have not have starred in a solo film.

Ruffalo’s third billing position ahead of Evans could be attributed to his film career outside the MCU. Ruffalo has earned supporting actor Oscar nominations for 2010’s The Kids Are All Right, 2015’s Foxcatcher and 2015 best picture winner Spotlight.

Between Ultron and Infinity War, there were no changes in the rankings of its top-five stars. And on all three movies, Downey has been No. 1, and Johansson has been No. 5, even though outside of the MCU, she enjoyed a big hit with 2014’s Lucy and voice starred Oscar-winners Her and The Jungle Book (maybe there is a superhero glass ceiling, at least when it comes to Avengers posters).

Where’s Wakanda?

The second tier of the posters also reveal some surprising things, with Cumberbatch, Cheadle, Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Tom Holland, Black Panther‘s Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen credited. Though Holland and Boseman have each had their own solo films, they somehow failed to be worthy contenders against Cumberbatch and Cheadle. Could Cumberbatch and Cheadle’s bigger star power be attributed to their billing placement? Cheadle is an Oscar nominee who has been with Marvel since 2010. Cumberbatch is also an Oscar nominee, who has been in a number of other franchises (Star Trek, The Hobbit) outside of the MCU.

But what about Boseman? Since the first Infinity War posters were released, he has become one of the biggest stars in the world thanks to the success of Black Panther, which has become the top-grossing superhero film of all time in North America, earning a domestic total of $659.3 million, which also makes it the the third top-grossing title of all time at the North American box office behind 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7 million) and 2009’s Avatar ($760.5 million). It has also collected $1.3 billion worldwide — more than any other Marvel movie that doesn’t have Avengers in the title.

Though he was introduced to the Marvel cinema lineup with an appearance in Captain America: Civil War, Holland’s resume could be considered short when compared to Cumberbatch and Cheadle. Prior to the release of Homecoming in 2017, Holland’s most known projects included his starring alongside Hemsworth in In the Heart of the Sea and 2016’s The Lost City of Z with Charlie Hunnam.

In the third and fourth tiers, the film’s supporting actors are featured such as Captain America’s Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan; Thor’s Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba; Peter Dinklage and Doctor Strange’s Benedict Wong. The final names listed are the Guardians of the Galaxy team, with Zoe Saldana credited followed by Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper with an “as Groot and Rocket” credit. The lead Guardian himself, Pratt, is featured on the rear, a placement that Samuel L. Jackson occupied in the first two Avengers films. Though not credited first despite a $773.3 million gross for their first installment and $863.8 million gross for the second, the Guardians billing could be Marvel’s way to simply attract attention to the final block in the billing structure.

Missing Avengers

Noticeably absent from the credits are the Avengers’ resident archery enthusist Hawkeye Jeremy Renner and Ant-Man’s Paul Rudd, both also omitted from the overall poster image. While theories have stated that Rudd’s Ant-Man is simply hidden in the poster somewhere, their not showing up is an ongoing mystery.

Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige has addressed this himself, calling the fan interest in the hero being MIA “one of the best things that ever happened to Hawkeye.”

With Marvel billing Avengers: Infinity War as the end of the journey that started 10 years ago, it’s possible this could be the final movie to feature all of the Avengers (here’s to hoping Captain America survives). But no matter what, it will be interesting who jostles for supremacy come 2019’s Avengers 4 poster.

Avengers: Infinity War

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natsubeatsrock · 5 years

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The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Bonus (What If? #5)

What if Levy was more important?

One of the scary things I’ve learned in working on this project is the amount of power I have. I can take characters who did little, if anything, good or important and make them into near amazing and integral characters, just because I want to. Of course, I’ve put limitations on what I can actually allow happening in rewriting the series. But it’s not like these rules always stop me from making the exact kinds of changes they ought to prevent me from.

Every now and then, I’ll come up with cool ideas I can’t do anything with realistically within the parameters of this rewrite. Ideas like this often are painful because they aren’t just ideas I work on for a bit and realize are impossible. An idea like this was a part of an important series of changes that drastically impacted Levy as well as a number of big aspects of the series.

As is usually the case, let’s talk about precedent. One of the things I’ve talked about in the past is dropping hints to the greater history of the continent. While the series does this in some ways I mentioned earlier, one way I’ve played around with is using Levy’s knowledge as a way of getting at points that were missed in canon or added in rewriting the series. In the actual rewrite, this just means having things that happen close to her have a connection to that larger narrative or vice versa depending on how you see it.

The issue I with this is that, as this is happening, Levy has to remain only slightly more important than she was. While this inherently makes her more important to the series than she was before, I don’t want to write her to the point of being someone like Happy or Gajeel. (Don’t act like Gajeel isn’t more important than Levy in canon.) I don’t want to make Levy a character with insanely more plot relevance than the original. Rather, I want to dig into the potential she has as a supporting character, as is my general philosophy.

But what if I wanted to make Levy more important?

Levy’s role would be slowly uncovering the history of magic on the continent. While I could imagine someone making Levy more important from a fighting perspective, I want to lean in on Levy’s intellectual strengths. To put it another way, I want to make her more of a Lucy than a Natsu.

This becomes clear by about the time we get our first good introduction to Levy and Shadow Gear. With the Changeling special, we’re introduced to Levy as someone who can understand the languages and contexts of the past. I’m pretty sure it’s not controversial to think of this as a better introduction to her and her team than their canon introduction during the Daybreak arc or as a footnote at the beginning of the series or the tacked-on flashback after they got attacked in Phantom Lord. But, whereas the main rewrite takes this as a launch point for her to show interest in general stories, Levy in this scenario is more focused on the specific story of the past history of the continent.

A big reason why is a change in her backstory. Remember the wacky ideas I mentioned having for Levy? One of them involved her parents being researchers into the history of magic within the continent. In addition to learning more about their research, she wants to find out why they ended up dying. It would turn out to be that they found out too much and were taken out by the Magic Council. (You can see why I thought this was too much.)

I should mention that despite what may be argued otherwise, playing this scenario out doesn’t mean that Levy absolutely and completely makes sense of everything relating to my posts on the subject. I don’t know how you could come to some of the conclusions of the history of magic such as Dragon Slaying magic coming from Irene’s work with Enchanting magic or the exact connection to the Heartfilia Kozern and Zeref without that being revealed directly from them, as happens in canon. There are some things real-life people have trouble making the jumps to and from, even with the benefit of going back to see how events can connect together.

However, there are some things that could be hinted at in different ways. A simple example is a connection to Zeref’s followers to Mildian Academy. As a reminder, the teachings of the school become a hotbed for the eventual followers of Zeref. That connection isn’t terribly difficult. Ther just needs to be some references to the academy scattered through materials from the time of the continent-wide magic ban. Remember that even as these materials are banned, the mere existence of dark guilds and Zeref worshipers means they failed to a certain degree.

The trick is that there are so little places I can place hints at the bigger narrative, as opposed to the other aspects of the series. They exist and will be exploited at my leisure, but not so much as to be as important an issue to fans as the hangups surrounding the members of the Strongest Team. I don’t know how much I could bring that aspect out if I were going to make this Levy’s arc and make that arc more important to the series.

The real big issue is the ending. There are only so many ways I can end this kind of arc. The most obvious is that she figures out what happened to make the continent what it was. I can’t really manage that in a way that feels completely natural given what happens in the series. The only ways I can make it work in my mind would make sense apart from what we got and what I’m actually doing.

The alternative is that something causes her to decide not to search further for information. To be honest, I can't think of a way this could be made and not be infuriating. I don’t want people to give up their dreams for love. I also think, by virtue of being a guild member of Fairy Tail, threats from authorities are nonfactors to this search from the start. I feel that Levy should try to find out what she’s looking for at the end of the series.

Based on Part 18

What If? #1 | What If? #2 | What If? #3 | What If? #4

#fairy tail #levy mcgarden #what if 5 #the rewrite of fairy tail #so this was fun #if i do this right #this will be about 5 years #from the day i got an ask about levy being the female lead #that was after my second opinion #consider that's more than what the nalu fandom has done to me

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