#i know i’ve done one of these before with scarjo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wandaswifeyforlifey · 3 years

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Hey could I request a Brie Larson x r where they meet at the set of Avengers endgame and they both have a crush on each other and their co stars make fun of them and they just blush and it's really

A/n: Thank you for requesting this! I try to write them within 24hrs of either the request being sent or me seeing the request so sorry if this is a bit later. I do most of my writing at like 12-5 am so some of it might be shitty lol. I love doing requests tho and will always try my best to make them work for your taste.

Word Count: 1048

Warnings: None really, just pure fluff

Ship: Brie Larson x Reader

"You better get up soon or you're gonna be late!" Called Scarlett from downstairs. Scarlett and you had met on the set of one of your first movies and quickly began to hang out more and more until you decided to be roommates. You had finished shooting Avengers: Infinity War about 2 months ago and were exactly 2 weeks into filming Avengers: Endgame which you were pretty excited about because you would get to film with some actors that you never had before.

"Coming!" You shouted back. Sadly, you weren't quite adjusted to the earlier mornings yet which definitely wasn't helpful considering you would be doing tiring work all day. You dragged yourself out of bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey sleepyhead," Scarlett smirked at me as she cooked her omelette.

"Any news that could redeem my mood this morning?"

"Well… you are filming the 'female empowerment' scene today. You've got to be pretty excited to be acting with some new people, right?"

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot about that. I've got to admit Scar, that has perked me up a bit so thank you."

"Wow, you don't need to sound so surprised." She laughed.

You made yourself a coffee, had some cereal then went to have a shower. You put on a comfortable outfit considering as soon as you get on set you'll get your costume and makeup done.

Once you arrived you were swarmed with people filling you in on the scenes and telling you where you needed to go but they were all talking over each other so you understood nothing. Thank god I have my assistant, you thought to yourself.

*2 hours later*

You had your hair and makeup finished when you heard a knock on your trailer door.

"Come in!" You called while wondering who could possibly be seeing you when your assistant was on their break and you were already prepared to film.

"Hey, Y/n? I'm Brie. I just wanted to introduce myself before we started shooting."

You were just looking at her with pure adoration as the most beautiful woman you had ever seen stepped in.

"Y/n?"

"O-oh, yeah, sorry, hi." You cleared your throat because you noticed you were staring. "So I assume you're doing the all-female scene with me?"

You moved along your sofa so that she could sit down next to you.

"Yeah, actually and I'm super excited for it. I think it's brilliant to team up all the female superheroes."

"I could not agree more! But it sucks that Natasha isn't in it."

"Wait, she isn't?"

"No, I was chatting with Scarjo this morning, because we share an apartment, and she said her character wouldn't be in it."

"Oh are you and Scarlett, like, a thing? Because it would be totally fine if you were and I just didn't know your were interested in women and-"

"Hey, hey slow down," you laughed, "no me and Scar aren't a thing but I am interested in women."

"Me too! I don't really like to use labels because I find them too constricting though."

The conversation died down but not in an uncomfortable way, more in a content way. You stared into each other’s eyes until Brie said:

"Anyway. I should really get going. I haven't even got my makeup done yet." She spoke hurriedly and quickly left the trailer. You weren't sure how to feel about her sudden departure but deep down it hurt you a little. Why would she leave so quickly if we were having a nice time? Did she find it uncomfortable? I really hope the conversation ended positively in her books too, you thought.

You shot a couple of scenes before the all-women scene and took a break just before it to talk to Scarlett.

"Hey Scar, have you seen Brie? She came into my trailer to chat a bit and it seemed like we were having a really nice time but then she just left all of a sudden."

"Uh, no I don't think I have since our second scene but it sounded like you had a good time, eh?" She smirked and nudged you. You knew she noticed how concerned you were about Brie.

"Fine, maybe I thought she was really pretty and sweet but I don't know how she feels."

"Well from the glances she sent you during our first and second scenes I’d say she likes you back.”

“I never said I liked her, ok? I just said I thought she was amazing and charming and attractive and stuff.”

“That’s literally the same thing.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I need Y/n and Brie over here please? You guys are going to be opening the Female Avengers Unite scene so we’re just going to give you a little run-through,” shouted Joe Russo from across the set.

“Oo-ooh you enjoy yourself, Y/n.” taunted Scarlett. You playfully stuck your tongue out at her as you walked over.

*Once shooting was done for the day*

Yet again you heard a knock on your door as you were just finishing packing your stuff up to leave.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me, again,” announced Brie as she stepped in. This time though, she wouldn’t make eye contact with you and seemed to be rather nervous.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it's just, um… so Scarlett told me how you felt after I left and I felt pretty bad so I just thought I should come back and apologise and tell you that it wasn’t your fault, it had nothing to do with you. I promise.”

“Oh no, you don’t need to apologise! I’m so sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. I absolutely didn’t mean to.”

You saw the heat rise in her cheeks.

“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t just come here to apologise. I came here to tell you the truth. Okay… I just need to get this off my chest. I think I have feelings for you.” She looked at you hopefully, only to have a blank stare in return. You weren’t sure what to say. You were so overwhelmed with excitement and happiness that you just stood up and hugged her. Burying your face in the crook of her neck you whispered, “I want to stay in this moment forever.”

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earthchica · 3 years

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ungodly hour ➝ part three

Chris Evans x Reader OFC! ( Zariyah Hawthorne )

Summary: in which Chris and Zariyah have to work alongside each other despite being exes.

Warning: Slight Fluff, Jealousy, Angst and Cursing

Word Count: 1.6K

Note: my english and spelling is trash. i’m sorry lol but like, comment and reblog! 💙

WATTPAD LINK click here

January 6th, 2017 ➝ Dallas, Texas

ZARI 👀

It's been a few weeks since my encounter with Chris and his new girlfriend.

I was depressed about the whole situation at first but by the time, the weeks went by.

I was feeling alot better, thanks to Zachary. I've been spending most of my time with him in Dallas, Texas.

He's been such a gentleman and a great friend. I decided to not go the fwb route with him.

Though he definitely knew how to put it down in the bed. Staying in Dallas with him has been really fun but it was my last day.

Filming was starting early tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia.

I was so excited to get back to work but also scared because I’ll be seeing Chris on set everyday and I don’t want to show any emotions.

Zachary looked at me with a sweet smile and pulled me in a tight hug. I pulled away and looked down.

"I'm gonna miss you, darling," Zachary says, caressing my cheek. I look up at his beautiful green eyes with a smile.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Zach. You've been such a great friend and I really appreciate you" I said.

He makes a face when I say the word friend before nodding. There was a honk outside, and that was my cue to leave.

"Well, that's my ride. I'll see ya later, cowboy" I said with a giggle, giving him another hug before grabbing my bags and walking out the door.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

My body was filled with so much excitement and energy, I couldn't believe that I was here on set.

I was walking around when I saw Lily talking to one of the producers. I rolled my eyes, feeling like this day had just been ruined.

"She's a total bitch." I was startled by a voice. I glanced over and it was Tessa Thompson, one of my close friends.

"Oh my god, Tessa you scared the shit out of me. How are you" I said, hugging her.

She laughs and hugs me back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you and I'm good, how about you?" Tessa asks.

"That's good to hear and I'm doing better!" I answered genuinely with a smile.

Tessa was about to say something but someone cut her off.

"Well, well look who it is," Lily says with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes, looked over at Lily.

"Listen up, Zariyah just knows this is only business and nothing more. Nothing will happen between you and Chris. He's mine,"

"Girl, bye. I don't want Chris, okay. So please take your insecure ass somewhere" I said, waving her away.

"HE'S MY MINE NOW, SO BETTER WATCH THE FUCK OUT!" She growls, getting into my face.

I looked at her like she was crazy, then I remembered this was a place of work and I had to be professional.

"What the hell is going on here?' Chris asks, pushing between the both of us.

"Chris, you better check your girl before she has some teeth missing," I said, walking away from them with Tessa.

"Damn, Zari. I swear I thought you were about to kick her ass" Tessa says.

"No, not onset but if we were in streets hell yeah"

Tessa laughs. "Zariyah, I miss you"

"I miss you too, girl," I said with a giggle.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

It's been months into this, it's hella hectic. A lot back and forth to various locations, filming random scenes that didn't go together.

It will probably make a lot more sense when the movie is done but It was alot. I've been trying my best to get through this but it's really hard.

Chris and his girlfriend were everywhere, being all lovey-dovey and doing whatever the hell they want on set, it was making me sick to the stomach.

I was chatting with some of my costars in the food tent when Chris and his girlfriend came in and greeted everyone but me.

I tried to keep my cool but Chris kept looked at me while he and Lily were being affectionate in front of everyone

Like he was trying to make me jealous. GAME ON, motherfucker.

I got up and went to get myself something to drink. I was about to take a sip of my bottle of water.

But I jumped when someone covered my eyes with their hands. "Guess who?" A rugged, deep voice spoke.

I knew that voice, I removed the person's hands from my eyes and turned around.

I squealed with excitement, not believing who it was.

I jumped into his arms, making him laugh and he twirling me around in a circle happily.

Everyone was watching including Chris. "Oh my god, what are you doing?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Really?" I asked. “Yeah, I miss you.” He says with a charming smile

I grinned, pulled him into another hug. "I miss you too, I'm so happy you're here”

the petty games began.

"Me too, darling!" He says, pulling away and looking at me with those green eyes.

Someone cleared their throat and we both turned our heads to them.

It was Anthony.

"So Zari, who's the fellas?" He asks, looking him up and down suspiciously before looking back at me.

I was about to say something but he spoke for himself.

"I'm Zachary Colton" He says, holding his hand out.

Anthony smiles and shakes his head. “Cool, Cool and how do you know our Zariyah?”

“Uh we’re..” I cut him off.

"Dating, we're dating. He's my boyfriend," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest.

Zach looked down at me surprised. "Just go with it" I mumbled with a smile.

"Uh yeah. She's my girlfriend" He says with a chuckle, kissing me on the top of my head.

"That's amazing, well, let's get to know you-" I cut Anthony off.

"Oh no, I don't need y'all interrogating my boyfriend. Plus, I want to show my baby around" I said, removing my head from his chest and taking hold of his hand.

Chris was sending dangerous looks at Zach, I could see the look of his jealousy from a mile away. My plan worked.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

CHRIS 🤔

A few minutes later.

"Babe, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go to the bathroom" Lily says, kissing my cheek and I nodded, looking down at the food on my plate.

"Are you really gonna let that dude take your girl?" Mackie asks, coming over to sit next to me, I clenched my jaw.

"She's not my girl, Mackie. Plus, she broke up with me and I've moved on. I'm happy with Lily" I said, trying to make myself believe that.

When it wasn't true, dating Lily has been hell. She was the worst person I have ever met, she was such a bratty, mean person.

"Are you really? Cause the way I see it, you're not over Zariyah and you're just using Lily as a rebound" He says.

"First, I am not using Lily. Second, I’m done with Zariyah and she’s obviously done with me as well. As you saw she's moved on"

"Do you really think she's moved on?" Scarlett asks, coming into the conversation.

"I mean, yeah. Did you not see the guy?" I asked with a frown.

"She was obviously improvising, Chris. Zachary is her friend, she went on a blind date with him but that was it" Scarlett spilling the beans.

"Wait, that was the guy from Donatello," I asked, pointing to the direction they left.

I knew that douchebag looked familiar.

"Yeah and I heard you crashed the date," She says, giving me a knowing look.

I shook my head.

"No I didn't, did Zariyah tell you that..." I asked.

She raised her eyebrows at me "Okay, I kind of..that doesn't matter," I said, changing the subject.

"Do you still love her?" Scarlett asks.

"Yes!" I mumbled softly. It was hard to admit but it was true.

"Okay then so stop being so stubborn, and go talk to her about your feelings.”

"I agree with Scarjo, man. Everyone makes mistakes and they learn from them. Give her another chance before it's late" Mackie says, hitting my arm.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

"Did you just say I was your boyfriend just to make your ex jealous?" Zachary asks as we walk into my trailer and sit on my couch.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," I said, shaking my hand and looking at him nervously.

"It’s okay...Zariyah...I have to tell you something?" He says, taking hold of my hand.

“What is it?” It took him a minute before blurting it out fast.

“I think I’m in love with you, and I want to be more than your friend. I just need to know if you feel the same way too”

I opened my mouth to say something but there was a knock at the door. I look at Zachary for a second before getting up, and going to open the door.

I opened the door, and was surprised to see Chris standing there. "Chris?"

"Zariyah, I’m still in love with you" He blurts out sweetly. Boy, I was in some serious shit.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

tagged @chvntelle-99 @ultracevans @fentyblinders @spndarling @madisondelstan

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giveamadeuschohisownmovie · 3 years

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“Black Widow” movie review:

Short review:

It was a decent send-off for Natasha but the story was a bit messy. I give it a 7/10.

Long review:

Well, I figure I should start with a disclaimer before this review begins. While I’m generally a fan of all the MCU main characters, Black Widow is one who I’m not particularly fond of. It’s not necessarily the character, but how she’s written in the franchise. I feel like Marvel Studios had no idea how to write this character, so her character development just flip flops in each of her appearances. It’s like they write her character with another character in mind for her to work off of.

(What I mean is that, her personality is determined by what movie she’s in. So instead of having a consistent character, she changes depending on who’s the protagonist and what the tone of the story is)

So now that we have a movie dedicated to her character, we can finally give Natasha some much needed, consistent character development. And, yeah, she got it in this movie. It just feels weird because, and I’m being serious when I say this, this movie is not really a Natasha Romanoff story. Rather, it’s a passing-of-the-torch story focused on Yelena Belova.

Yelena is a great character and Florence Pugh absolutely steals the spotlight with her comedic timing and dramatic chops. But because she steals the spotlight most of the time, Natasha doesn’t really shine in her own movie. That’s why I’m feeling iffy about this film since, after being a side character for the whole MCU, she’s still being written as a side character in the movie about her.

In general, the movie feels like it’s focused more on setting up the future rather than exploring Natasha, who I guess would be the past. There’s definitely more to come with Taskmaster, Alexei and Melina’s characters, as well as the other Widows. And then there’s Contessa Valentina showing up and the tease to the Hawkeye series. While that’s fine and all, it does take away a lot of the spotlight from Natasha. And since this is Scarjo’s final appearance in the series, it does feel like her character just peters out at the end.

Aside from the disservice to Natasha’s character, there were other parts of the story that I felt were weak. Taskmaster was a half-baked character and the movie completely wasted Olga Kurylenko since she’s only in the movie for like two minutes. Dreykov was one of the weakest MCU villains I’ve seen in a long while. Then there’s the script, which dragged in several parts (namely the confrontation between Natasha and Dreykov, as well as the exposition scene in Budapest).

Now, there was still definitely a lot to like. Florence Pugh carries this movie, to the point that I feel she would’ve been marketed as the main character had it not been for Scarlett Johansson’s previous appearances in the MCU. David Harbour was also a delight. And, it’s not like the movie didn’t give Scarjo things to do, she definitely had her moments. The action was great and I did feel the story ended on a solid note, with Yelena taking over and Natasha being at peace with herself.

I just wish that the movie had done more for Natasha. I feel the biggest problem was that there was a bit of an identity crisis with this movie; at times, it was a send-off to Natasha Romanoff, at other times it was the Yelena Belova show, and at other times, it was setting up the pieces for the next MCU project. But...I still liked it and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters, right? I know I sounded harsh in this review but the movie was definitely enjoyable and a solid entry in the MCU.

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bloodstained-ballgowns · 3 years

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Hello, sorry to bother you but I was just curious about the Scarlett Johansson vs. Disney lawsuit and I saw a lot about it from your tumblr and thought you might know it pretty well. 😅

I read somewhere that she was requesting a 80 million additional pay (which with the addition of her 20 million base salary would be 100 million total) when the simultaneous release was announced, which was based on a hypothetical box office figure similar to Captain Marvel. With the pandemic and all going on, I read a lot of comments saying she was asking for way too much. Added with the supposed Russo brothers' contract worries, I also read comments upset with her for causing this issue.

So I just wanted to ask your opinion on a few things.

1. Do you think there might be a shift in support after more details are released, will people side with Disney more because of the amount asked for during this pandemic?

2. And with more details being released, do you think the lawsuit playing out in public may end up hurting her side more than Disney's?

I just loved reading your previous answers regarding this topic cause it was all so well written and explained, I hope you won't mind me asking this, thank you in advance!

I'm all for her getting her contracts worth but the media releasing articles of how there is no going back for Scarlett and Disney makes me a bit sad we won't be seeing her version of Natasha anymore. Hopefully the whole character doesn't get shelved though.

Hi anon! You're no bother! Thank you for your questions!

I don't know about the $80 million ask based on a hypothetical box office based around Captain Marvel, as I didn't think specific amounts were negotiated before box office actually came to fruition. For example, she earned $15 million up front for Avengers: Endgame, which swelled to $35 million when it earned as much as it did, because back-end deals are based on percentages of revenue (I'm pretty sure). I can imagine the $80 million as a prediction, though. I only know that $50-60 million are the numbers circulating from how much she could win from this lawsuit.

I've seen the same comments "upset with her for causing this issue", and their ignorance is really fascinating to me because she didn't create the issue? Disney created the issue? She's speaking on the issue that's been growing since streaming services were born, she's increasing awareness around this issue, she's putting it in the spotlight. People somehow seem think that holding corporations accountable will mean that they stop producing the media so many enjoy (I legit saw a post that said, almost word for word, "scarlett shouldn't have sued because if disney pays her all that money then they won't have any left for loki season 2" and the stupidity of that statement is breathtaking).

1. Do you think there might be a shift in support after more details are released, will people side with Disney more because of the amount asked for during this pandemic?

No, at this point in the case, I don't think more details will shift allegiances. If people are not already siding with Scarlett, knowing her claims, having read Disney's defence, and realising the larger implications of the case, I don't believe any more information will change that. If she wins, there may be a shift, because people love to say they were right, but otherwise, no.

From what I've seen, and this may just be my corner of the internet, or because discourse has died down a bit, but I would set the support margins at about 60/40 in Scarlett's favour so far. The 40% seems to mainly be made up of people who either are uneducated on the topic, think that being 'problematic' means she deserves mistreatment, or are misogynists. They are accounts with 13 followers arguing in comments sections. Inversely, the 60% is made up of people who matter. She has the support of the industry behind her, the endorsement of her coworkers, and new projects lined up to prove it (e.g. the star-studded Wes Anderson picture and Ghosted with Chris Evans). The Star Wars writers including Alan Dean Foster who went up against Disney last year with similar allegations have also thrown their support behind her.

So I hope you can see where I'm coming from when I say that there may not be a shift, but it doesn't really matter because Disney is not the only hand that feeds her. In fact, the others are eager, it seems.

2. And with more details being released, do you think the lawsuit playing out in public may end up hurting her side more than Disney's?

It's hard to say, anon, but there's a reason Disney's filing for the case to go to arbitration instead of court. They want it settled quietly, because it's making them look bad and from what details we do know, Scarlett's case is legitimate. These lawsuits are compromising their whole "happiest place in the world" family-friendly image. The curtain has been dropped and now that much of their insidiousness is out in the open, it will change how people see them. Many won't let them hide behind Mickey Mouse when they issue statements calling their actors "callous".

However, none of the consequences will lead to the destruction of the Disney corporation or something. It's not going to go up in flames. They'll be fine.

Scarlett is walking a much finer line. As a person instead of a company, and as a woman, she is in a much more vulnerable position (not at all as vulnerable as a woman of colour though). There was a very real possibility that she would be rocking the boat so much that she would fall out and no one would help her back in (also, she's rich, but losing $50 million, probably more, would put a huge dent in her bank account). There's also a reason why she, her team, and her lawyers wanted it public, anon. A) If this was done all very hush hush, it would be a lot harder to hold Disney accountable next time something like this happens. She knows exactly how much this could change things, a cover up would limit the fallout. B) Online backlash matters very little to her. Her lawyers/PR team probably estimated exactly how much support (or lack of thereof) this move would garner, but it's not like tweets saying "scarjo is greedy and selfish" are going to have any bearing in court, so I expect that she remains unbothered. In short, she has more to lose, but her 'side' probably won't be hurt more than Disney's by this.

I'm glad you found those posts informative! I try :)

I know, it's sad that the door on MCU!Natasha is truly shut and bolted. I have the same fears of her being shelved. I just hope they continue with old characters in new animation, like What If...?, and that at some point in the future, the MCU either gets a reboot, or a Black Widow story is curated for the silver screen outside of the Disney-Marvel umbrella.

Sorry this was so long, I struggle with concision. Again, thanks for dropping into my ask box, anon! Hope this was in any way helpful.

#replies #scarjo vs disney #scarlett johansson #disney

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inthedayswhenlandswerefew · 4 years

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Eccentricity [Chapter 2: You Can Run Around Infinite In My Head]

Series Summary: Joe Mazzello is a nice guy with a weird family. A VERY weird family. They have a secret, and you have a choice to make.

Potentially a better love story than Twilight (we’ll let @killer-queen-xo decide when it’s all said and done 😉).

Chapter Title Is A Lyric From: Rome by Dermot Kennedy.

Chapter Warnings: Language, mentions of violence.

Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE

Tagging: @queen-turtle-boiii @bramblesforbreakfast @killer-queen-xo @maggieroseevans @culturefiendtrashqueen @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark @escabell @im-an-adult-ish @queenlover05 @someforeigntragedy @imtheinvisiblequeen @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye @deacyblues @tensecondvacation @brianssixpence

Please yell at me if I forget to tag you! 💜

Missing In Action

I wish she would stop staring at me.

Lucille sat at the Lees’ usual table and apathetically picked through a heaping salad. (Friday was salad bar day, which I appreciated considerably more than the chicken finger obsession that marred Mondays at Calawah University.) Every once in a while, Rami nudged her and Lucille would spear a cherry tomato with her fork and bite it in half with perfectly even, white teeth. But her large blue-green eyes—they reminded me of webs of seaweed tumbling in the cold, frothing La Push waves—always found their way back to me, strangely focused, inquisitive, perhaps accusatory.

Ben probably told them how much he hates me for whatever nebulous reason and now they all hate me too and I’m going to spend the next two years being death-glared by five ridiculously attractive and somewhat incestuous foster kids.

Chemistry was a three times a week class. Ben hadn’t shown on Wednesday, and I was 99% sure he would skip again today. I spotted him around campus periodically, always from a distance: dropping quarters into a vending machine, clandestinely vaping behind dorm buildings (what self-respecting pre-med student VAPES?!!), browsing YouTube videos in the library next to a tower of unopened textbooks, biology and chem and physics and calculus. He wasn’t home, he wasn’t sick; there was no attempt made to construct any sort of pretext. He was patently avoiding me.

I stabbed moodily at the serrated disks of cucumber in my salad. Jessica was blathering away about the latest season of The Bachelor and ranking the contestants’ eyebrows from best to worst. “...Like seriously, has she never heard of microblading?!”

“For real,” Angela offered, not especially invested but forever a good sport.

Lucille’s eyes settled on me again as she sipped a cup of steaming tea, staring until her forehead crinkled with the effort, staring hard, almost leering.

“What’s her problem?” I muttered.

Jessica shot a glance towards the Lee table and slurped her Sprite. The great mystery surrounding her potential Mormon-ness persisted. “Who? Lucy?”

Only Lucille’s friends called her Lucy. Jessica, a shameless aspiring socialite, presumed she was everybody’s friend unless they explicitly informed her otherwise, which of course no one ever did.

“Yeah,” I answered glumly.

“Maybe it’s your dress.”

“My dress? What’s wrong with my dress?”

Jessica wrinkled her nose and surveyed me as if I were a bug, and not a cute bug like a roly-poly bug or The Very Hungry Caterpillar or whatever. Like a really hideous bug. Like one of those spider-cricket hybrid things that hopped straight out of a hell dimension and into the dark, drippy corners of your basement. “It’s, like, very 1960s. But not in a sexy Woodstock way. In a ‘I’m about to join a hippie murder cult’ way.”

“I got it at TJ Maxx. It was on sale.”

Jessica snorted. “Probably for a reason.”

“That’s it. I’m giving all the hippies in my new murder cult your address.”

She and Angela laughed. Mike and Eric, the missing pieces of our daily lunch puzzle, were preoccupied with a campus protest to convert fried fish day (Thursdays) into tacos day. I sympathized with their efforts, but didn’t feel that my one-week tenure as a Calawah University student gave me much right to go around overhauling the dining hall schedule.

“I doubt she’s actually offended by a dress,” Angela said, nibbling on French fries that shed grains of salt like snowflakes.

Jessica sighed dreamily. “But Lucy’s just so fashionable...and that accent...” She drifted off into some daydream which began—I could only assume—with Lucy’s invitation to go shopping together and concluded with marrying Ben on some lush tropical island in the South Pacific.

Lucille was definitely fashionable, especially today: short black dress with sheer sleeves that ran to her fragile wrists, black polka dot tights, black heeled oxfords, dangling ruby earrings like beads of blood. She would have blended in perfectly at Paris Fashion Week. Rami was wearing a cardigan and khakis, per usual; Joe was in dark fitted jeans and a roomy U Chicago hoodie despite the fact that Forks was at minimum a thirty-four hour drive from the Windy City. What did Angela say his major was? Finance? No, Mathematical Economics. So he’s probably aiming at Chicago for an MBA or Econ PhD someday. Angela had told me that Joe was wicked smart. He better be if he’s entertaining fantasies of grad school at the University of Chicago.

Scarlett had come straight from Fencing Club and was wearing bright pink yoga pants and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut out, sprinkling Hot Cheetos into her open mouth, her blonde hair secured in a tight French braid. You know those girls who are so irrationally, gluttonously, unfairly beautiful that it doesn’t seem possible the genetic lottery could spit out so many winning numbers at once, and you comfort yourself with the certainty that there must be some set of circumstances that would level the playing field—I bet she looks like anyone else without all that makeup, she just has a really good sense of style and knows how to maximize her assets, there are definitely some goofy oversized ears hiding beneath that hair and that’s why she always wears it down—and then one day you run into them wearing sweatpants and a ponytail in the tampon aisle at Walmart and they’re still so perfect it stings you, baffles you, makes you feel like there must have been some divergence in the evolutionary chain because there’s no freaking way you’re the same species? Yeah, Scarlett was one of those girls. Scarlett was the queen of those girls.

Ben was conspicuously absent from the table.

Scarlett’s pink leopard-print iPhone rang and she answered. “Hello?” She turned to Joe. “Dad says you left your phone at home. Do you need it?”

Joe was gnawing his way through his third slice of pepperoni pizza. “No, I’m good, thanks though.”

Scarlett relayed the message. “Dad says he’s going to bring it by just in case.”

“Oh my god, ScarJo, I’m fine! Tell him not to!”

“Dad says he doesn’t trust you and he’s going to be here in fifteen minutes. He’s also bringing the Game Theory homework you left by the hot tub.”

Joe groaned and rolled his lively dark eyes as Rami grinned at him; Lucille was still watching me and entirely oblivious.

“Isn’t it weird that Ben and Lucille have accents?” I asked Jessica. “That they’re from the U.K.? I didn’t think fostering kids was an international thing.”

“It’s not that weird. Dr. Lee is British too. Maybe there’s some kind of exchange system, I don’t know. But you know what I do know?”

“What?” Now my interest was piqued.

She smiled. “That the British accents are hot.”

“Ugh,” I exhaled involuntarily.

“Please get a hobby,” Angela begged Jessica. “Start a YouTube channel. Make care packages for orphans. Grow marijuana. Adopt a cat. I have a shift at the animal shelter this Sunday morning, you want to come with me?”

“Sorry, can’t. I have a temple thing.”

Temple on Sunday. The mystery is solved. She’s a Mormon for sure. I mentally resolved not to let her set me up with anyone unless I was still single on Valentine’s Day. Which, obviously, assuming I’m not dead in a ditch somewhere, I will be.

I gathered up my trash and slung my backpack over my shoulder. “Okay, well this has been a bizarre lunch to be completely honest, and now I have to go to Chemistry so I’ll see you later and hopefully we can brainstorm some more alternatives to Jessica’s current life trajectory on Monday. Because I am not looking forward to being a bridesmaid in these impending Lee nuptials.”

“Oh please!” Jessica lamented. “He doesn’t even know I exist. You, on the other hand...”

I scoffed. “Yeah, he wants to kill me. I truly have a gift.”

They waved as I left. I could feel Lucille’s eyes on me until I reached the door.

Sure enough, Ben wasn’t in Chemistry. I tried not to notice. I drew my atoms, wrote my equations, took my notes diligently and in my favorite sky blue ink. But I felt the emptiness in the chair next to me like a black hole, like an immense and dragging weight, like a snag in the fabric of all those interwoven strands of physics that orchestrate the universe like an immortal puppeteer. Why can’t I forget this guy? Why do I still feel like I’ve met him before?

Halfway through class, I hauled my emergency sweatshirt out of my backpack and pulled it on over my dress, floral and flowing and golden yellow like the sun, the sun that never shines here in Forks. I had liked it plenty under the florescent lights of the fitting room at TJ Maxx, and I had still liked it this morning; but Jessica’s words hummed around in my skull like wasps. The zipper of the sweatshirt was broken, but it accomplished the task of obscuring my dress well enough.

After Chemistry, I journeyed to the campus library to find a book I was supposed to read and present for a different class. I looked it up in the computer catalogue, spent an embarrassingly long time trying to figure out how the Dewey Decimal System works, eventually wound up finding the book on the highest floor of the library...and, to add a little extra peril to the mission, on the highest shelf. The book mocked me from its lofty, unattainable stronghold. The title was embossed in gold letters down the crimson spine. The Walruses And Me: A Transformative Experience. Idiotic title, I’m aware. It’s about some marine biologist who spent months alone in the Arctic studying the lifecycles of walruses. A noble pursuit, sure, but still a terrible title.

There wasn’t a chair or stepstool in sight. I tested my weight by stepping up onto the second-lowest shelf. The metal immediately squealed and shifted in protest. I retreated back down to the carpet, defeated by gravity. I scowled up at the book and sighed melodramatically. Ugh.

“Need something?”

I spun around to see Joe in his University of Chicago hoodie and pale flawless skin and intangible magnetism, that bewildering trademark Lee ethereality. I instinctively crossed my arms, clutching the sleeves of my sweatshirt, shrinking inwards like a startled armadillo in the Arizona desert.

“Are you, uh, anemic...?” he ventured.

“Oh no, I’m not cold. I’m just trying to hide my dress. My friend said it was too hippie-murder-cult 1960s.”

I figured he’d laugh, make a snide comment, maybe just blink in confusion. Instead, he glimpsed down at my dress—what could still be seen of it, anyway—and shook his head. “The neckline isn’t right for the 60s. And you seem like you’ve showered at least once in the past two weeks, so definitely not a hippie.”

I smiled, completely unexpectedly. “I didn’t realize Econ majors knew anything about leftist counterculture.”

“Disparaging it is our favorite pastime. Are you trying to get a book or are you just disrespecting university property for entertainment?”

I pointed. “The big red one.”

“The Walruses And Me...?”

“I know, it’s a horrible title. Not my personal preference. It’s for a class.”

“Bestiality 101?”

“Good guess. Marine Mammals.”

“Ahhh.” He glanced up and down the aisle, tapped his chin with agile fingers, pondered something I wasn’t privy to. “Turn around for a second.”

“What? Why?”

He waved his hand mysteriously in front of his grinning face. “It’s a magic trick. I’m going to make your problem disappear.”

“You can’t climb that,” I warned. “You’ll fall and break your neck. Or you’ll knock the whole shelf over and cause a tragic domino effect and the university will withhold your diploma until you pay them restitution.”

“I’m extremely athletic.”

“Are you sure?” I appraised him with exaggerated skepticism for comedic effect. “My dad refers to you only as the spindly annoying Lee.”

Oh my god, WHY did I say that?

Now he would definitely hate me. Now I’d have two mortal enemies on one campus. I mentally calculated how humiliating it would be to transfer to some Florida college, any Florida college, after only one week at Calawah. Hi mom, yeah I’m coming to live with you and Paul, a gang of hot pasty foster kids wants to slaughter me.

Instead, Joe threw back his head and cackled wildly. A librarian—mid-fifties, angry red hair from out of a box, fuzzy cat sweater—glared into the aisle and shushed him.

“Chief Swan...he actually...he calls me that? Really?!” Joe managed, wiping his leaking eyes. “That’s hilarious. I’m so glad my life is in his hands. Okay seriously, turn around.”

“Why would you help me?” I asked suspiciously.

“That’s just what I do. I’m a friendly guy.”

“This friendliness must not run in the family.”

Again, Joe’s cheerful demeanor didn’t falter. “You mean Ben? Forget about Ben, he hates everyone. Don’t take it personally.” Then he added: “Plus, as I’m sure you know, we’re not biologically related. No overlapping genetic material whatsoever. I didn’t get the male supermodel gene, he didn’t get the irresistibly charming gene, life’s not fair but the world keeps spinning.”

“It sure does,” I agreed softly. Unexpected wisdom from my new favorite Lee. I turned away from him. “Fine, I’m not looking, go ahead and dazzle me with your supernatural friendliness—”

“Done.”

“What?” I whirled around. Joe held The Walruses And Me in his hand. “How...did you...?!”

He passed me the book as I sputtered incoherently. “I told you. Magic trick.”

“I don’t....?!” I gawked up at the top shelf, at Joe, back to the top shelf. Sure enough, the space where The Walruses And Me once lived was now just a vacant slit in the row of dusty books. How could he have climbed up there that quickly? How could I not have heard anything? “The shelves didn’t even creak,” I murmured shakily.

“Yes, well, that’s due to my conveniently spindly physique.” Joe winked. “Any other problems I can help you solve at the moment, Baby Swan?”

“No. And don’t call me Baby Swan, or I’ll push this whole bookshelf over and tell the feisty librarian lady you did it.”

“That’s cold, ma’am.”

I liked that Joe didn’t make me feel like Ben did: unworthy, unloved, infuriating. Joe made me feel something else, something lighthearted, casual, buoyant; like the world didn’t have anything in it worth worrying about, regretting, agonizing over. Like unadulteratedly myself was all I ever needed to be.

I heard a muted buzz and Joe slid his iPhone out of his jeans pocket. Dr. Lee must have successfully delivered it. “Whoops, I forgot that Ordinary Differential Equations existed. Got to go. See ya.”

“Bye,” I replied. And then Joseph Lee was gone, very quickly, a little too quickly, the same way that Ben had vanished on that first afternoon after Chemistry.

Forks is weird. Calawah University is weird. And the Lee kids are super fucking weird.

Long Walks On The Beach

“Can I ask you a random question?”

“You just paid me $100 for an oil change that took fifteen minutes. You can ask me anything you want.” He grinned, flashing bright teeth and deep dimples.

It was Saturday afternoon. I had shoveled down a Chipotle veggie bowl as Archer changed the 1999 Accord’s oil in a small garage with a cracked concrete floor and the searing pungency of gasoline fumes thick in the air. He had apprenticed all through high school and rented his own shop after graduation. Archer now had a loyal clientele that encompassed virtually the entire Quileute reservation and a growing chunk of Forks...including Charlie and me, of course. Archer was the only child of Larry Foxchild—Charlie’s best friend since they worked together at Dairy Queen as teenagers—and the closest thing to a son my dad would ever have. I guess that made him like a brother to me, something that seemed intuitive now that I’d thought of it.

After the Accord was serviced we drove it down to La Push to walk on the beach, climb the salt-lashed rocks, toss pebbles into the roiling surf, reprise our childhood enthusiasm for poking dead washed-up marine creatures with shards of driftwood.

“Do you know anything about the Lees?” I asked Archer, investigating a deceased green shore crab.

His brow furrowed. He looked so serious like that, suddenly so much like Larry: the same tan skin, jet black hair, umbral eyes like oil wells, strong jaw overlaid with the stubbled shadow of a beard. We really aren’t kids anymore, are we? “The doctor and his kids?”

“Yeah. The foster kids. They’re really pale and strange and half of them are British.”

Archer chuckled. “I know who you mean. They’re hard to miss.”

“Are they...” Just eccentric rich people? Traumatized from abusive childhoods? Government experiments? CIA agents? Secret murderers? The image of Ben in that first Chemistry class came roaring back to me, including the adjective that had flashed red behind my eyes like an emergency exit sign: fierce. Finally, I decided: “Dangerous?”

Now Archer full-on laughed, gripping his belly, shaking his head. Drops of saltwater flew from his short hair. “Seriously?!” he exclaimed. “Come on, they’re freaks but they’re not, like...that kind of freaks.”

“Are you sure?” I was starting to feel better already. Of course they’re not actual demons, you fucking idiot. This is Washington, not The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. Not goddamn American Horror Story.

“Yeah.” Archer skipped a grey pebble over the water, something I’d never been able to do. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know them all that well. They usually keep to themselves. But I’ve never heard anything bad about any of the kids. And everyone respects Dr. Lee and appreciates him for taking the pay cut to come to some bumblefuck town like Forks. He’s insanely highly credentialed, has degrees from Harvard or Yale or somewhere like that. Super impressive. We’re lucky to have him. I definitely sleep better at night knowing he’ll be the one to fix me up if I ever get a few fingers ripped off on the job.”

“Don’t even say that. Then who would I grossly overpay for oil changes?”

Archer smiled, then sobered as he peered out over the Pacific Ocean.

“What?” I asked, feeling a plummeting in my guts like primal fear.

“Well...okay, so there is one thing that’s always bothered me. You remember Grandpa Foxchild?”

“Yeah, of course.” He had been an impossibly ancient man with long grey braided hair, a low rumbly voice, gnarled arthritic hands, ceaseless wrinkles. I remembered Charlie calling me when he passed away last spring. Renee and I had picked out a flower arrangement to send to the funeral.

“So,” Archer said slowly, like he was still puzzling it out himself. “Grandpa used to say things like ‘That Dr. Lee has been around a long time.’ Which of course makes no sense, the Lees moved here like two years ago. And I’d tell Grandpa that, but he completely ignored me. He would just keep repeating it. ‘That Dr. Lee shouldn’t still be here.’ ‘That Dr. Lee should go on home to where he came from.’ ‘That Dr. Lee isn’t right.’ Creepy shit like that. My dad and I always assumed it was the dementia talking, but...I don’t know. It just bothered me. Because Grandpa...he wasn’t just being gossipy or suspicious. He was angry. And he was afraid. Grandpa was at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima and he would talk about that no problem, mention landmines or flesh melting off a soldier’s face like it was nothing. He was a tough guy. Immeasurably tough, I’ll never be half the man he was. But if you mentioned the Lees, Grandpa got scared. Why the hell would he be so scared of them?”

I didn’t have an answer for him, not a single word. I just stared at Archer, my eyes growing huge, my heart sprinting, blood pounding in my ears. He knew. Grandpa Foxchild knew there was something off about them, and now I know it too. I don’t know how I know, but I do.

Archer tittered nervously. “Anyway, that was genuinely disturbing. But like I said. It was probably just the dementia.”

“What if it wasn’t?”

“It had to be,” he insisted. “There’s no other logical explanation.”

“I guess,” I agreed, scooping up the green shore crab corpse with my bare hands. I hurled it out into the waves, imagined it sinking through murky water and suspended grains of sand, the body settling into prehistoric silt, the scavengers descending upon it, the inescapable wheel of birth and death and resurrection through those who unwittingly carry our atoms with them into the next generation, into the perpetual future.

That night my dreams were full of pale skin and scorching eyes, Ben and Joe and Rami, Lucille and Scarlett, crashing waves, cold water and bleached bones; and Grandpa Foxchild’s mistrustful refrain: That Dr. Lee has been around a long time.

Benjamin

I soared down the staircase and through the dining room. Gwil was working late at the hospital, Mercy outside tending the animals, everyone else presumably scattered throughout the house. I had to get out before anyone noticed me. I had to get out without Rami or Lucy knowing.

I yanked open the door to the back porch. Rami was waiting there.

“Good evening,” he greeted me in that slow, thoughtful drawl.

“Stay the fuck out of my head.”

“You know how it works, Benny Boy. I can’t ignore the loud thoughts. And you’ve been having some very loud thoughts lately.”

I stared down at my shoes, all black Adidas. Black is good. It doesn’t show stains. For example, purely hypothetically, splatters of human blood and organs. “I can make it quick. I can make it painless.”

Rami’s aura flared maroon; not enraged, no, not quite that, but certainly revolted. I was always finding new and horrifying ways to revolt them, whether I was trying to or not. “She has a family, Ben. A father. You know Chief Swan, you’ve seen him around town. He’s a good person. She’s a good person. You really want to do this? You really want to relapse like this?”

I didn’t reply. I didn’t have to. Hearing thoughts is a tricky thing, and not a gift that I would ever want; unspoken words are rarely a steam and usually a storm, disjointed and twisting, interrupting each other, bottomless layers of whispers and screams. But I was sure Rami could catch the important parts: that I didn’t know the difference between good and bad people, that I didn’t know what to think of people at all, that for me her blood was not a desire but a compulsion. I couldn’t stop envisioning it spilling over my tongue and teeth, down my throat, hot and pulsing erratically and fading. “Why can’t you hear her? Why can’t I see what she’s feeling?”

Rami shrugged, characteristically placid and restrained. It was maddening. “There are seven and a half billion people on this planet. So maybe every once in a while you get one that lives in our blind spots, there’s something chromosomal or psychological that puts them on a different frequency. I don’t know. How the hell should I know? All I know is that you definitely shouldn’t be seriously considering...well. What you’re considering.”

“Have you ever met someone whose thoughts you couldn’t hear before?”

“No,” Rami admitted; and was that a ghost of unease that crossed his face?

“Please, Rami. Let me go. Pretend you never saw me.” My words come out strained, hushed, like a spilled secret, like a confession. I’ve never wanted anyone’s blood like I want hers.

He heard that; I could see the dismay in his eyes. Now his aura is dark grey, almost black. Disappointment. Resignation. Mourning. “I told you what Lucy saw.”

“What she saw is impossible and you know it.”

Again, Rami shrugged. That blind, mindless faith. I wished I knew what it felt like. “She’s never wrong.”

“Have you told him?”

“Who, Joe?! Of course I haven’t told Joe. He...”

“He wouldn’t believe it either?” I snapped, like it was a victory.

“No,” Rami amended carefully. “No, he would believe anything Lucy saw.” Lucy had visions: flashes of the future, the past, the present. They were rare and unpredictable, often fragmented, snapshots rather than arcs. But they were always true. Or, rather, the other Lees claimed they were. The real Lees. “I don’t know what he would do about it,” Rami said finally. “So I’m waiting it out. And killing one of the primary participants is definitely not waiting it out.”

I seethed as I glared at him, hating him in that moment, hating myself only slightly more; and he heard that too. But then that wispy, fleeting haze around him was a pink like the last threads of sunlight sinking into the Western horizon. Forgiveness. Attachment. Love.

“Come with me, Ben,” Rami said gently, opening the door. “Come back inside. You can beat this. You’re better than this. You’re a good soul. You wouldn’t be with us if you weren’t.”

I tried to laugh. It came out like a snarl. “I haven’t had a soul in a long time.”

#joe mazzello fic #joe mazzelo x reader #borhap #borhap fic #borhap cast fic #twilight au #twilight #supernatural au

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musette22 · 4 years

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Hi Minnie! First of all, thank you for being so sweet, reasonable and respectful, I can't even describe how much joy your blog gives me! You are a true pro in emotional support for Evanstan fandom, so I guess I kinda need some reassurance. [1]

The thing is, as you probably know, some Seb stans on Twitter take the whole Chris insta situation and turn it into smth embarassing, like making fun of Seb and Mackie ignoring Chris and calling the idea of the challenge stupid (even though Chris did donate, not just "asked fans for money", as they say). It's like they feel the need to attack the first before smb calls they fav out. [2]

I know there ARE good people in Seb fandom, it's just that the aggressive ones are so loud and spread their bs so fast, I end up seeing it on my TL. No matter how stupid it sounds, it keeps making me sad to see so much hate towards Chris and his fans not from some random locals but from Seb stans. It's like two halves of my heart are torn apart. Not even ship-wise, it just seems so hard to love them both and be present on twitter these days. [3]

And, since I'm whiney af today, one more twitter thing: the CW promo era was some kind of honeymoon for us, sure, but I've recently seen some opinions on how Chris was all lovey-dovey and Seb was stiff and bored and uncomfortable, how their interviews were unnatural and boring. I mean, in my part of fandom (non-English speaking country) there has always been a popular perception of boys' dynamic as these "over-excited puppy playing around a confused cat" vids, if you know what I mean. [4]

But it kinda seemed ok for me, and the way they acted a little awkward around each other etc. Well, you can tell I'm easily affected cause now it does feel more negative to me. Stuuupid, I know. Maybe it's my "let's feel sorry for Chris and his fans" phase, idk. Sorry for bringing it here, you just seem to reassure people so well. [5 and last, it was long lol]

Hello my lovely!! This was indeed long hahaha but that’s totally fine, I myself am also someone who also has trouble keeping things short to I feel you 😘

This is a very long reply so I’m putting it under the cut so I don’t clog up people’s dashes!

Okay so first of all, let me say I was never a fan of Twitter, but everything I’ve heard lately has just lowered my opinion of it even further. I know there’s a lot of amazing stuff and brilliant folks on there as well, but it also seems to be where all the bitchy, hateful, entitled and inappropriate people congregate. So personally, I’m very happy with my little community on Tumblr when it comes to fandom, and for news and social media I prefer actual news outlets and instagram. The sad truth is that there are a lot of harmful and hateful opinions in the world, and as someone who struggles with anxiety, I try to find ways to avoid a lot of it. Especially the stuff I can’t do anything about (you can try to reason with most haters until you’re blue in the face, and 90% of the time it’s not going to make an ounce of difference). It’s much easier to curate your own experiences on platforms like Tumblr and even Instagram than it is on Twitter, or so I’ve gathered. So I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of helpful advice for you there apart from ‘maybe try and stay away from Twitter if you can’ which you probably don’t really want either...

As for the whole Seb vs Chris issue: it’s clearly completely ridiculous. There is no ground whatsoever to believe they’re at odds. At worst, they’re now just casual work friends, but there is no reason to believe there’s any bad blood. It’s interesting to consider that initially, the argument seemed to be they had fallen out and both disliked each other (no idea where that came from but sure), then it was that Chris didn’t like Sebastian (because he allegedly shaded him when he joked that Scarjo was the only one of his friends who came to see Lobby Hero), and then Chris got Instagram and tagged and followed Seb, but because Seb hasn’t responded to the challenge yet, he now apparently hates Chris. For what reason, god only knows, because only last year at MCM London (where I was present myself) Sebastian gushed about Chris and his experiences with him while filming the Cap movies, and lets not forget it was him who initiated the hug at the Endgame premiere. Long story short: they don’t dislike each other. They’re completely fine, people just like to make up drama for whatever reason.

As for the Sebastian stans who hate Chris and vice vera: to be honest, I wasn’t even really aware it was an issue until recently, because I was under the naive impression that it was kind of impossible to love one but hate the other. Both of them are such amiable, sweet, thoughtful, funny, talented guys, and everyone who actually knows them adores them, so why on earth anyone could hate either of them is beyond me. But even if you do, I genuinely don’t understand this need to pit them against each other? Why? I think a lot of it is down to people just liking drama, or being actual 12 year-olds who still see the world in a kind of high school dynamic-way. I’m not saying Chris and Sebastian have never done anything wrong, but in my opinion, none of it warrants outright hate or being cancelled over. It’s such an immature and unreasonable take. I’m just sorry for the people who can’t love both of them, because man, are they missing out! I understand that it’s painful for you to see all those opinions when you love both of them so much, but that’s why I try to just avoid them. I know they exist, but not seeing them makes dealing with it a whole lot easier, I promise! ❤️

With regard to the challenge itself: if the celebrities who are taking part in it are not donating themselves, then yeah, that would be problematic. However, we know that Chris donates to a ton of different charities, so there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s donated to this cause as well. Asking people to buy tickets to try and win this “prize” is not in itself an issue, if you ask me. People can think for themselves, can’t they? If they think it’s worth it, they think it’s worth it. They’re not being forced to part with their money, and moreover said money is being used to help people in need. Of course fake and problematic charities exist, but there are still good ones out there as well, so let’s assume for the moment this one is actually doing all of this from a genuine desire to help people and it’s not some money grabbing scheme.

Furthermore, as I’ve said so many times before, I really don’t believe Sebastian and Mackie are “ignoring” Chris. If they’re choosing not to do the challenge (they still might do it at some point) then I’m sure they have a good reason for that and it isn’t that they’re holding a grudge and are thinking “screw this charity and that Chris Evans, I’m going to ghost him to get my revenge!” I mean, do these people even realize how ridiculous that sounds 🙄 I also believe they would have let Chris know about their decision privately. They do have each other’s phone numbers, you know...

And lastly, about the CW press tour... I don’t know what footage these people have been watching to come to such conclusions, or what’s wrong with their eyes and ears, but that makes NO sense to me. I’ll tell you what; it was mostly the footage from the CW press tour that got me convinced there was something going in between the two of them! Both Chris and Sebastian acted in a way that screamed “smitten kittens” to me, and if there was ever any “stiffness” from Sebastian’s side, then that was no doubt just his slightly more reserved personality compared to Chris and Mackie’s. Chris and Sebastian’s videos together give me LIFE, so for anyone to call them boring is actually kind of insulting lol. To me, almost every interaction Chris and Seb had during that press tour showed that they were either low-key (in a friendship way) or high-key (in a romantic way) crushing on each other, and they clearly admire each other very much. Any awkwardness I’ve ever seen between them for me seemed to stem from that crush (is anyone not at least a little awkward around their crush sometimes?) and not from any dislike from either side. That’s actually such a ridiculous idea to me that it doesn’t even make me worried, it just makes me laugh. Some people really don’t have eyes, it seems.

Anyway, that was a reeeeeeaaaaaallllyyyyy long reply lmao, I’m sorry! I hope this helps a little though, because I do know how shitty it is to feel like you do about things that are supposed to make you happy!! Tuning out the haters and focusing on people who feel the same way you do in my experience is the best way to get to feeling good again 🥰 Big hug, and hopefully you’ll feel better soon!

#evanstan #rpf #minnie answers #Anonymous

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smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

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Smokey brand Select: Vast and Infinite

I’ve done a few of these Smokey brand Selects, lists of some of my favorite films in any specific sub-genre, and it occurs to me that I haven’t even touched my actual, favorite, sub-genre at all. A few of these movies have made different lists, sure, but I've never cobbled together an actual, dedicated, catalog for the Cyberpunk category. I absolutely adore these types of film. They capture every aspect I look for in a flick; Beautiful imagery, enthralling sounds, compelling narrative, existential questions, and so much more. The sheer depth of this genre lends itself to great storytelling, diverse creativity, and enthralling visuals. I love Cyberpunk and these films are some of the best I've seen.

10b. Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic is probably the purest, US made, Cyberpunk film I have ever seen. It’s not a great watch, there’s a ton going on all of the time, but it is bursting with creativity and ideas. I adore this film, I really do. Even with all of it’s confusing, spastic, scatter-brained, story telling, I loved this film. Up until The Matrix and then John Wick, Johnny was my favorite Keanu Reeves performance. That, alone, has me coming back year after year. I highly recommend checking this one out if your a fan of the genre but it’s probably the weakest select on this list by a wide berth.

10a. Virtuosity

I was hesitant to put this one on the list because, I mean, this makes it eleven instead of ten, but moreso because I wasn’t sure of this thing qualifies as Cyberpunk. There’s a couple ahead on this list that have the same issue but I ended up putting them on so I guess this goes on here, too. Plus, I never hear anyone talking about this thing and I feel it deserves a bit more of a spotlight. Virtuosity is a goddamn blast. There’s a great performance from Denzel Washington a trite but ably executed plot, and some pretty interesting choices from a relatively new director. The strongest draw, however, is Russell Crowe as the artificial, glass eating, super psychopath, SID 6.7, as well as all of that mid 90s, virtual reality, conjecture. Virtuosity is definitely a product of it’s time but it's still a great time to watch.

9. Tron: Legacy

Legacy is, admittedly, not the best film. Even so, i had a ball with this one. The soundtrack by Daft Punk, alone, is worth the price of admission but couple that with the stunning, neon, visuals and you have a combo that can move even the most stoic of moviegoers. I absolutely adore this film. It get way too much hate for what it is. I’m a little perturbed we’ll never see the capping to this narrative but, for a second outing, I really did enjoy returning to this world. I’d put the first on this list but I really did connect with it beyond how dope it looked. Legacy gave me so much more to dig my teeth into and I respect it for that.

8. 12 Monkeys

I don’t even know where to begin with this movie. I’ve seen it a few times and dissected it in a couple of essays for school but I'm still not sure if i understand it wholeheartedly and that is incredible. For a movie to keep me so off-balance and I still enjoy the show is testament to the brilliant direction on display. The plot, itself, as convoluted as it can be sometimes, is rather gripping once you get a handle on what’s going on and the performances are outstanding. Brad Pitt really shows his range in this one, shades of things to come. 12 Monkeys is a Cyberpunk on the strictest sense but, like The Matrix, I was hesitant to add it tho this list. But, also just like The Matrix, if it is truly a Cyberpunk film, it has to be required viewing.

7. Dredd

Dredd is entirely Cyberpunk. From page to screen, Cyberpunk everything. The first outing was a little too campy to make this list but the second? The Karl Urban Dredd? That one fits this list perfectly. It’s a crying shame we didn’t get a sequel. I was itching to see Judge Death do it’s thing but the siege of Peachtree was more than enough to sate my ultraviolent appetite. Seriously, this movie is outstanding and it’s a crime more people didn’t see it. I feel like if this thing was released today, maybe on VOD, it would get the respect it deserves. Too early to the party, it seems.

6. RoboCop

It’s crazy to me that all of the classic, US made, Cyberpunk movies are all championed by foreign directors. Ridley Scott, Denis Villeneuve, Terry Gilliam, and Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven’s RoboCop is a scathing indigent of consumerism and it’s interchangeability with corruption. When I was a kid, that sh*t flew right over my head. All I saw was a dope cyborg named Murphy and a beautifully alien war machine called ED-209. As I got older, I learned to appreciate, more and more, Verhoeven’s vision and RoboCop became more than just an action film for me. This thing is one of the best in the sub-genre and far more intelligent than anyone gives it credit for being.

5. The Matrix

I don’t know if The Matrix belongs on this list. It never felt Cyberpunk to me but everyone else tells me it is. When I think about it, it checks all the boxes; Existentialism, robots, future dystopia, etc. All the boxes but I always felt it skewed more toward Neo Noir than anything. That said, if it is Cyberpunk, and it seems that is the accepted consensus, how can it not make this list? The Matrix is one of the most influential films ever made. It’s easily the greatest action film in history. Terminator 2 is usually the front runner for that title, I’ll eventually make a Select for action films so don’t worry, but Neo’s maiden voyage matches anything Cameron created.

4. Alita: Battle Angel

I was initially introduced to Alita way back in the early 90s. the SyFy channel, back then know as the Sci-Fi Channel, used to show these blocks of what was called “Japanimation”, later known properly as anime, and the original Alita OVA was one of the few that aired. I loved every bit of it. It got me wondering about the manga so i went looking for that, too. Imagine my surprise when it was hundreds of chapters deep and encapsulated an entire world. I was hooked. So was James Cameron because he optioned it for the big budget, US, blockbuster treatment and spent the next decade and change, adapting technology to bring Gally and her universe to life. What we eventually got was, hands down, the best adapted anime or manga to the big screen, ever. Alita: Battle Angel is an incredible film experience that deserves more eyes on it and more love. Here’s hoping HBO Max and ATT give it that sequel everyone wants because it gets real awesome after the rollerball arc we just witnessed. Plus, I mean, Rosa Salazar’s Alita is just f*cking adorable, man.

3. Akira

Akira was the first anime I really watched with intent and that viewing colored my perception of cinema going forward for the rest of my life. I had seen anime before, of course, but not like this. Macross and Go-Lion were serials, cartoons for kids, but Akira was a completely different animal. I didn’t understand the narrative as a child, that came later, but i knew the experience was revolutionary. As I watched this film over and over, year after year, I began to understand exactly the story being told in a critical nature. It wasn’t only the breathtaking visuals that held up. Akira is as influential as it is because of it’s absolutely pristine storytelling. It’s reputation is unassailable and if you count yourself a fan of cinema, you have to see it at least once. I am petrified at what America is going to do to this narrative, man.

2. Ghost in the Shell

Ghost is easily the most balanced Cyberpunk film i have ever seen. It’s what I measure all movies in the sub-genre against. The narrative is poignant, profound, and perfectly executed. For the record, I’m speaking about the 1995 anime, not whatever the f*ck ScarJo starred in a few years back. That sh*t was the worst but Oshii’s masterpiece? That sh*t is the best. For such a short stint in Masamune Shirow‘s world, you are immersed in the grit of it all immediately. Kusanagi’s story, her struggle with being and conflict, mirror each other brilliantly. This would be top of the list if not for how much the world, itself, resembles our own. The Cyberpunk aesthetic kind of eludes this most Cyberpunk narrative. Even that juxtaposition is a positive in my eyes.

1. Blade Runner 2049

This one was hard to place. I love the original Blade Runner to bits. I think it’s a masterwork of cinema. It’s deftly acted, brilliantly directed, and easily one of the most gorgeous films I have ever laid eyes upon. And then Denis Villeneuve drops his continuation. Everything i just said about the original, stands for it’s sequel, but maybe even more. 2049 is breathtakingly gorgeous. It tells a simple, yet, emotional story driven by outstanding performances from everyone. No one is bad in this at all. I enjoyed the characters as much as I enjoyed the first’s, absolutely falling in love with Joi and Luv. This movie is everything and doesn’t get the love it deserves. Admittedly, it can be a little long in the tooth, but it needs all of that time to tell it’s story. If you commit to the narrative, engage with the visuals, and accept what the film is offering, you will be absolutely rewarded with one of the best movies ever captured on film.

Honorable Mentions: Terminator, Appleseed Alpha, Hotel Artemis, Run Lola Run, Demolition Man, Black Magic M-66, Elysium, Upgrade, The Lawnmower Man, Dark City, Armitage III, Ready Player One, The Zero Theorem, Minority Report, Looper

#Smokey brand Select #Cyberpunk

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twiststreet · 4 years

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Best TV 2019

I think I’m not going to see anything that cracks my top 10 list for the rest of the year, so... here’s my top 10 because I like making top 10 lists when years end...

1) Fleabag - the Finale

That episode could have gone a million other ways. I’m glad it went this way. A perfect landing. If I made a list for the decade, it’d be on it, though way, way, way behind Twin Peaks, because duh. But I group Peaks, Atlanta and Fleabag in my head, just for how they each... commit not to soap opera like most of television, but to texture and expression. Yes, the “plot” of the season feels like a very classical 50′s story-- forbidden love, and priests and all of that-- but if you really dig into why it works, it’s those fucking gorgeous monologues, the way scenes are both hot or deeply disturbing depending on who’s watching and what they’re bringing to it, how it feels to be “seen” by the show in all its various ways (whether as part of the plot or in its main character’s loneliness and self-loathing). The texture of that show!

There’s a Phoebe Bridge interview where she talks about how she was excited to meet Donald Glover because she thought they were doing the same things, and Glover in turn talks about showing Fleabag to the Atlanta writer’s room, and I just think both those shows and Twin Peaks even moreso just... gets what’s worth watching more than cliffhanger shows or whatever, in how... they all use discord notes (e.g. Fleabag’s bracing “score”) or whatever other techniques to throw the audience off caring about some “what’s going to happen next” and really put them more within the moment, surrounded by a moment. Unmooring the audience.

Nothing as funny as the penis sculpture gag from season 1 in it, though.

2) Barry - Ronny/Lily

Constant delights. The tree gag. The tree gag. The tree gag.

Just a perfect episode of TV. Sort of the exact opposite of whatever the hell it was I was talking about before, because this one’s just a lesson in sort of classical “Because of that, then this” screenwriting. But with the pleasures of that, of just.... All the stuff in the car. Just a delightful memory, you know? A half hour where you just have to watch it and can’t turn away from it.

And the most exciting part of it being... I think it gives that crew a new North Star to chase after. What does Barry look like in season 3 after they know they can do an episode like Ronny/Lilly and the show can accommodate that and that they have that in them? It’s the kind of episode that makes you excited to see more, but for artistic reasons, because it makes you excited about the people creating the show.

3) Lodge 49 - Le Reve Impossible

Everything in season 2 built to this episode-- Lodge 49 is a show about people coming together, about people needing to come together because of the collapses in their economies, narratives, lives, etc., and in this episode, after a tough season, they finally do, to watch Paul Giamatti in a food-eating contest and have an adventure that completely satisfies what I wanted the show to be all season. Levitating.

I thought my pick for this year would be the episode that flashed-back to the frustrated woman’s story at the very core of this season, and I really admired that episode and all sorts of choices they made in it (the staging of that one, with characters from different timelines blending, or just how much it made explicit how the narratives of the women characters on the show were more important or deeply felt than the Boy’s Adventure stories), but ... This one is the one I really love, and that speaks more to what I’ll miss about that show.

Time, Vulture, New York Times-- it’s on the Top 10 lists for all of them, the cancelled show no one watched. We have a million streaming networks now and yet there’s really no space on any of them for this show??? Bullshit.

4) Documentary Now - Coop

Richard Kind. Paula Pell, too, but more importantly, Richard Kind.

RICHARD KIND.

5) Russian Doll - “Ariadne”, the Season Finale

Not as fun a showcase for Natasha Lyonne as the other ones, but that final sequence. That final shot with the timelines merging, I found that very memorable and extremely satisfying. Maybe the single best thing visually all year, besides the tree gag in Barry. Lyonne’s performance in this show, though-- I thought she was so goddamn much fun to watch...

6) Righteous Gemstones -- Episode 3, “They are Weak But He is Strong”

This is the episode that introduces Walt Goggins’s character, Baby Billy Freeman. I never got tired of hearing someone on the show say “Baby Billy.” Not once. The best character name, the absolute best character name. Plus, this episode ends with this site gag at a mall that...That crew has done that site gag before, in one of their movies, but I just like it when they do it, I guess.

And this was also my favorite showcase for John Goodman on the show. I mean, yes, obviously Edi Patterson’s Judy Gemstone is the funniest thing without question on that show. But that show having John Goodman and Walt Goggins in it, the other characters could really be played by pretty much anybody and I’d probably still be pretty high on the show.

I also like that the show wasn’t as judgmental as I was expecting. I think a West-Coast-TV-liberals version of the show would be much more cynical about televangelism, whereas I think this show gets... that yeah, there’s a money part and a flawed people part, but that’s not all incompatible with there being an element of a sincerity there, too. I may not be a fan of what they’re sincere about, not being religious or a big supporter of that flavor of mind-juice, you know, but... I think it’s more dimensional than like... what I can easily imagine what some LA shitheads making. Without going the other way and being treacly about it either...

7) Get Krackin -- Season 2, Episode 2

I like the one where the Kates had a studio audience. I didn’t know about this show, barely heard of it when I did find it, because no one cares about Australia in the U.S., at all, even a little, not since Kangeroo Jack broke our hearts. Meanwhile, the down-under-ers had this show! Why didn’t they find a way to let us know about this show? Or the Katering Show?

This was one of my favorite things this year just because... how often do you get to discover things anymore with the internet? I loved discovering things when I was a kid, which... I suspect is something that’s getting lost with people now. Everything’s more accessible but my suspicion is that’s making fewer craphounds rather than more, you know? And so to just be randomly surfing around and find something... You just have to be extra-appreciative now when that happens because it’s just... Either it’s gotten harder or probably more likely, I’ve gotten lazier (because I mean, obviously there are tons of movies I haven’t seen, but)...

8) This Time with Alan Partridge-- Episode 2

The bleacher gag.

9) Pen15 - “AIM”

A TV episode about what it was like for teenage girls to discover AOL chat rooms. I just liked how specific that was. I thought Plus One from this team was funnier than Pen15, but Pen15 just found a lot of things to do episodes about that felt really fresh to me, or stuff I hadn’t seen shows about before.

I kinda roll my eyes when I hear people talk about representation because ... I think people miss what’s important, which is ... An experience being represented like with this show, rather than just a racial phenotype, you know...? Like, who gives a shit if they put an Indian character in Black Widow or whatever because (a) it’s not going to have anything to do with me or anyone I’ve known’s experience because it’s in the middle of the usual same-old-same-old boring shit, and (b) it’ll probably be played by ScarJo, she likes to do that, whatever, we all have weird fetishes.

10) Succession -- Season Finale

I’m not as hyped about Succession as the rest of the internet because I think this season, I really got in my head about how... You know, it’s wealth porn. Is it as bad as Entourage? No. But is it from a different universe than that show? I’m not sure. People can talk about “oh the rich characters are bad” but I think the thing underneath it is just... The same reason they sell Vanity Fair magazines, or that people used to watch Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous back in the 80′s, or whatever. Middle class people liking to hear about how the rich are bad, but not in a way that really challenges them, in a way that’s just sort of ... porn-y. Or I don’t know. I kinda just circled this season in my head more.

Plus, I mean, this season also kinda felt more like just a soap opera to me, like Dynasty or something, just with characters I like a lot (aka Geri!!!), more than the last one did where... Discovering who the characters were was more of the delight of that first season, especially with Tom or Cousin Greg, and that pleasure became sort of absent here as it became more about ... the different characters maneuvering or coping or whatever. (Plus last season had the sin eater monologue which I think about, like, all the time so...).

But the finale really delivered the goods on that soap level. It was very satisfying to see the seasons’ Big Move. (And I mean, the rap scene from an episode or two before that, but...).

WORST TV: that episode of GLOW where the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling go out to the desert to reminisce about the holocaust.

#year in review

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rnaryjune · 4 years

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Rules: Tag nine (?) people you want to get to know better. Tagged by @suburban--dad, ayyyyyyyy (insert golden girls theme here)

Top 3 ships: Me x Joseph Joestar. That’s it that’s all it is. (Jk also me x cullen from dragon age.) ((jkjk also me x anyone the cuddle withdrawal is REAL)) No tbh I also don’t really do the whole shipping thing these days, mostly due to lack of time to invest in fandom stuff. But Cecilos will always hold a special place in my heart for sure.

Last Song: Last song added to the library is Heat Seeker by DREAMERS, last song I’ve been really digging? if you didn't see me (you weren't on the dance floor) by JR JR.

Last Movie: The Skin I Live In which. WHEW. That one’s not for the faint of heart. (Before that it was Under the Skin which. I lowkey wanna do Scarjo’s character for my Halloween costume this year >.> )

Currently Reading: I have one of the Animorphs books open on my computer but I’ve barely had time to get through it >.<

What Food Are You Craving Right Now: I WANT CHILI’S NACHOS AND ALSO THEIR SOUTHWESTERN EGG ROLLS AND ALSO THEIR CHICKEN STRIPS UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I miss eating out lol

tagging well see the thing is @suburban--dad already tagged p much everyone I would’ve done soooooooooo whoever sees this is welcome to it ^.^

#about me #me #my life #tumblr games #caps cw

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televinita · 4 years

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Little Women (2019): Thoughts

REQUIRED READING: the prequel post about my background going in to this film.

SNAPSHOT VERSION: Though I have some casting qualms, and may adjust my opinions after I reread the book, mostly I think this is everything my heart has needed since the magic of the ‘94 movie was broken for me. My heart is very full.

FULL VERSION: Twice as long as the prequel post (a.k.a. 1800 words), starts below.

I did not expect LW to be the first Unexpected Comeback Fandom of 2020 (or a comeback fandom ever, really), but here I am, having spent every day since I saw this film mooning about this story and looking up different editions and supplemental books in the library catalog, so I'd better process how I feel about it while the memories are relatively fresh.

Most of my thoughts are on casting rather than specific scenes because like I said, I can’t remember the book super well, so I’d like to get my movie memories to fade so that the book can surprise me. Also because I think I will have a more in-depth post about them when I watch the film a 2nd time, whether that’s in theaters or on DVD. But here’s what I’ve got for now.

ON CASTING

In no particular order --

* Emma Watson is very pretty but it is so hard to take her seriously as an actress. She's just Emma Watson, Famous For Being In Harry Potter and Getting Hired For Other Big Name Projects. I feel like she's so consciously acting all the time. She made a not-terrible Meg, I guess? No worse than she made a Belle. But it was roughly as hilarious watching her try to be a mother now as it was watching her try to be a mother in the last Harry Potter movie. To the point that I just kept hearing the "Damn! I'm SO maternal!" song playing as her theme in the background at all times. * I realized 6 days prior to seeing the movie that Florence Pugh is recognizable because she's in Midsommar and honestly, that just ruined everything for me. I didn't even see that film, I just know it's gross and I would hate it and while she is not tainted forever like the 50 Shades actors, she is definitely too tainted for Little Women. Also I could not stop thinking about how I associate Amy with being very dainty and prim and Florence, while perfectly lovely, is not. * Laura Dern was kind of strangely modern and kooky for Marmee, but I love her as an actress and I loved that she was just like "HELLO STRANGE NEIGHBOR BOY, COME BE MY FIFTH CHILD." So I was OK with that. * ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH BOB ODENKIRK. What kind of anachronistic garbage. What crack were you on, because it was obviously not the good stuff. "Did I stumble into an SNL parody??" I wondered more than once. * Meryl Streep as Aunt March was AMAZING. Ten Oscars. * Beth consistently looked younger than Amy, so that was weird. She was okay but kind of childlike, and failed to make Beth my favorite like she is in the book. * JO! Saoirse Ronan is by far my favorite actress in this set, but I didn't think she was right for Jo going in. "Jo's not a redhead!" I said, indignantly stamping my foot, because my childhood-era love for this novel reigns defensively supreme like for no other classic besides Black Beauty. (another 1994 classic they should remake soon, even though I love that version. Just saying.)

But damned if she did not COMPLETELY embody every essence of Jo there is and make Jo my favorite character this time. Truly, nobody except Meryl Streep so thoroughly matched my expectations for their character. Ten Oscars, part II. Or at least the one she is actually nominated for. If Jo loses to ScarJo I will riot. * John was nice. I feel like he was exactly what he was supposed to be, which is to say kind of plain and milquetoast but perfect for Meg. I don't actually remember him existing in the novel, so that was an interesting game of "how important is this guy?" until suddenly Meg was getting married and I realized I did, in fact, have a very dim memory of a wedding from the book. I think I will like their romance more the second time around, though. * Mr. Laurence was VERY EXCELLENT. IDK why I know the actor, even after looking him up, but I liked him in this role a lot. His grandfatherly quasi-adoption of Beth was so sweet. * As for Professor Bhaer...UGH. I hated him on sight and my brain wouldn't even let me recognize who he was for like 3 scenes, I was just like, "who is this random boarding lodger and why are we focusing on that weirdo." I mean, he's objectively handsome? But he did not do it for me. He lacked the gravitas I expect from this character and his thick accent scraped my ears and drove me insane (update from the future: his accent is also driving me insane in the book, where I have peeked in at a few chapters as incentive to reread. whyyyyyyy). * LAURIE: maybe it's been too long since I read the book, but never could I ever have imagined I'd want to use the term "fuckboy" to describe Laurie. It wasn't even Ski Chalet's face so much as it was that in all present-day scenes (post-rejection), he is such an insufferable, melodramatic, pouting trash heap that I didn't want him to marry any of them at that point. (Also YOU STILL DIDN'T MAKE ME UNDERSTAND WHY HE GOES FOR AMY, so good job.**) However, I took especial delight in paying attention to all the cuddly platonic friend cuddling he heaped on Jo growing up, in focus or in the background, and I loved it...kind of a lot? The ship radar made noise. That noise is getting louder by the day, smoothing away his faults. He may have permanently taken up residence in my mind's eye as the new Laurie. ...this is the worst. Make it cease. (**update from the future, I am peeking at the book and it looks like it's a lot easier to understand both in text and when you're inside Laurie's head. He is still clearly sulking his way through Europe, but in a way it's easier to recover from. Also, I don’t have time to unpack this but as I finish the edits on this post I started 5 days ago, I’m starting to think I could not only ship Laurie/Amy, but believe in it from the start.) ACTUAL PLOT AND FILM QUALITY

+ The shifting between past and present was very jarring right off the bat, but after that I think it worked.

+ I loved the attic play rehearsals so much

+ I am so glad Jo’s shorn hair is both fleeting and as hideous as it should look, and not Pixie Cut Chic (Childhood Me wailed at that part reading the book)

+ I remember hardly anything about the book's Part II / Good Wives, so basically everything in their adult lives was news to me. Amy and Aunt March go to Europe? Jo goes to live by herself in New York? Meg marries a relative pauper? Any of this could be true to the book or just made up as an alternate idea to explore, and I would be none the wiser. That made it more fun. (NOBODY SPOIL ME ON WHAT'S TRUE)

+ It did not occur to me until just now that the part where Jo publishes her version of Little Women is not in the book (right?), but that was beautifully done.

+ The house interiors were breathtaking. It's not like I don't regularly watch period pieces, but this time there was just something about seeing an old house, like the ones I am often in for estate sales, decorated the way I always imagine seeing when I enter those homes, that kind of made me tear up. + The outside shots were pretty too + Jo made me cry with her I'm so LONELY! speech, rude. (I went into this movie thinking I was 100% on board to finally read Alcott’s sequels for their Jo/Professor content, and now I'm like 'ah damn it is gonna be the season for the Jo/Laurie AU novel, isn't it.')

+ A strike against Beth and/or the actress playing her: I did not cry about her death (in my defense I was busy crying about Jo's pain).

+ I did NOT remember precisely how Laurie & Amy got married, so even though I knew it happened eventually, I felt that sucker punch to the gut reveal just about as hard as Jo did. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR WIFE.

+ My mom said she’d heard this movie was lauded as being super feminist, which rarely goes well for me, but I thought it felt like really authentic "married women literally were not allowed to control their own income and it sucked" 19th century feminism, and not someone using their 21st century voice to claim this is how people would have REALLY talked if The Patriarchy Of Historical Record hadn't silenced/suppressed it. Nothing rankled me. I’m very confused by the people who think it says Jo is queer and/or didn’t end up with the Professor, but if that’s what you see then I guess it’s a win/win situation for all of us. + LOVED the closing montage. + Basically, at all times that I wasn't annoyed by the casting, I was feeling the same magic I did while reading the book and/or while watching the 1994 movie as a child. I can’t think of any parts I really hated.

IN CONCLUSION

Part of me is honestly kind of sad I didn't reread the book before watching this movie, because even though I usually prefer to go movie first and then get the Expanded Edition that is the book, in this case I wish I'd taken my last chance to properly visualize everything in my head on my own -- since I’ve mostly forgotten the ‘94 film -- before the new movie washed it away forever. This is one of the rare times I would have liked to hope and guess what would be shown vs. cut, and be able to anticipate the thrill of seeing the page come to life.

However, seeing it was the impetus I needed to finally take my childhood copy off the shelf (and thank heavens I have it, because the library request is backed up 3 or 4 deep for every copy), and it took all of 5 minutes to get instantly sucked into chapter 1 and feel such rapturous joy and familiarity that I consciously cut myself off and decided I am going to journal out my feelings after each chapter on this reread. So that’s something!

#the biggest surprise is that maybe Timothee Chalomet is not the worst thing ever #and I frankly do not know what to do with this loss of identity #little women #little women spiral

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bisteverogers-archive · 5 years

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looks like it’s missing steve and natasha’s relationship sadness hours this fine friday afternoon, folks!

i’ve said it before, but i really love their trajectory in the mcu. they ran the entire gamut of strangers sizing each other up, team members, co-workers, and friends, all the way to ride-or-dies. there’s the trust they had in each other out of necessity in a1, the we don’t know each other but we have to work together for the greater good kind, and then there’s the turning point in catws, when i trust you to an extent became i know you, i see who you really are, i trust you with my life. they joke around with each other, they try and set each other up, steve’s an awful cook but nat takes it in stride. they’re ready to die side by side in sokovia, they whip the new avengers into shape together, they go on the run together with sam after cacw. they rely on each other and learn from one another, they endure. they’re a found family if i’ve ever seen one.

i do think part of it comes from evans & scarjo’s natural chemistry, considering they’ve been friends for over a decade. it translates on-screen so easily for steve and nat. at the same time, i think the seeds for their friendship have been there the whole time. nat and steve grow out of spy and man out of time and into a partnership of equals, fundamentally changed after meeting each other. until nat’s death, i think we’ve only ever seen steve cry twice -- after bucky’s fall in catfa, and during peggy’s funeral in cacw. (not that nat should’ve been a vehicle for anyone’s pain in the first place, but that’s a completely different post altogether.) i don’t think i have to reiterate bucky and peggy’s importance to steve, which emphasises how highly he thought of nat. maybe the chitauri invasion brought them together as captain america and black widow, but they made something for themselves as just steve rogers and natasha romanoff out of it, too.

in a perfect world, they could’ve found a way around the sacrifice and nat wouldn’t have died at all, or they could’ve at least gone back for her and held an actual funeral. since neither of those happened, my personal headcanon is that once steve’s done his duty with the soul stone (and hopefully punched the red skull a few times), he takes time to properly mourn the last best friend he lost -- the only one he doesn’t get back. there on vormir, though he and nat are as far away from their home, their time, and from each other as they can be, i imagine he celebrates her life, laughs and cries and says thank you for being you and for being my friend, before he finally says goodbye.

#spoilers #avengers: endgame spoilers #a4 spoilers #ship: to the ends of the earth #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #avengers: endgame #mcu #bianca's notes #long post #text heavy /#couldn't they have like...... at least gone back for nat's body and brought her back to give her a proper funeral.............#like....... they brought everything from coop's baseball glove to thanos's ship........... but not nat..........

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ekkorn · 5 years

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hi there, just saw in the tags that you didn‘t like endgame. would you like to expand on that? i am curious to know other people‘s perspective. personally, i liked it. it has flaws, yes, but to me it was enjoyable. if you don‘t feel like answering, that is fine :) have a great day!

oh wow. you really wanna know? okay, but on your own head be it. :o

i’m just joking, i’ll go easy, or at least give you the digest (a vicious lie) version. if you want to see the full extent of my derision and vitriol, you can go to @lowkeysebastianstan, which is the blog where i’ve tried to limit this too. but to give you the not at all short and not so sweet of it, here goes. (endgame spoilers obviously).

the first thing that really set me off was the ending, more precisely, what steve did. it made absolutely no sense whatsoever, and hit me closer to home than most of my followers here since bucky and steve are my fave characters, and the only ship i really have. now, i never thought stucky would become canon, not even a little, i didn’t even hope for it. sure, the representation would’ve been awesome, but there’s no way marvel could’ve done it justice, so it was just as well it was never gonna happen. what i hadn’t prepared for was to what extreme extent they were terrified of the ship and the effect it would have if they were to let it be even a hint that could be interpreted as some emotional connection between them, for 3 films they’re built bucky up as the most important character in steve’s life, he’s risked his own life to save him, he basically eradicated hydra during wwii fueled by grief for him, he was prepared to die for him in tws, he fought his friends and gave up everything for him in cacw, and then he just? leaves? to be with a woman who died of old age and natural causes after a long fulfilling life with another man and family of her own. who specifically told him to fucking move on in tws? yeah, sure. and do not get me wrong, i adore sam wilson, after bucky, and the real steve rogers, he is by far my fave in the cap verse (saving a few spots for my bp and cm peeps in the mcu, but we’ll get to them), and he is the superior choice to pick up the mantle, no doubt about it. (okay, a little doubt, they teased sebastian with that shield for 8 years, they based bucky on the brubaker storyline where he becomes cap, and so i do feel a little torn bc no matter how happy he must be for his friend, and him and mackie are good friends, he must be a little disappointed? but who knows, maybe they’ll do something with that in the series, which would be stupid af bc that would negate the positive leap in representation, and mackie deserves it too, so who the fuck knows, i’ll probably not be around to keep track anyways, and can you tell im rambling), but for steve’s last words to be to sam? while bucky stands and watch in the background? like??? i could go on in (more excruciating) detail, but that was why i linked the blog, there might be a point or two about this on there.

but that was just the start. all through the movie i felt disconnected and uneasy, they made some really weird choices, but i don’t think it was until nat took the plunge that i knew i had an absolute dud on my hands.

the mcu has done a lot of things right, but their treatment of women is NOT one of them. and oh boy did they go out with a bang. first is the obvious implication, he got to live bc he had “more to live for”, and she didn’t have a family, and ye gods we know she can’t have kids, so why should she live?

(see, if the bw movie wasn’t in the books, i’d completely get it, if it was to give scarjo her life back, and she wanted nat to be good and dead, sure. actually, when i first watched it, that’s what i thought tbh, that the bw movie was cancelled, so. but it’s not, so she will return. and since that the case it’s just fucked up that they yeeted her off the roster. and sure, some of the bw movie was always gonna be set in the past, but tbh? i don’t see much point in prequels for dead characters, you know that whatever happens won’t affect the outcome for the character at all, and i usually find them completely void of meaning. that might just be me though). and of course the fact that she died the same way gamora went didn’t help. (gamora’s death was maybe the single worst thing in aiw, she was fridged, not for the advancement of one man, but for two (thanos and quill) and it.just.shouldn’t.have.worked.thanos.cannot.love! again, mcu and women? not a good match.)

then of course, it comes back to steve and how much he doesn’t give a crap about the people close to him in the present, we never see him care or grieve for anyone but peggy, and he could barely spare two tears for nat before it was all business again. and the rest of the team? i think clint cared a little, and banner threw a chair, but that was it. no memorial, not burial, no nothing, it was like she never existed, and she died saving the world just as much as tony, he couldn’t have done jack shit without the soul stone.

and speaking of women, shuri and okoye? before the trailer dropped i was sure shuri was in this, that we’d get to see her lead in her brother’s stead. i actually did a short lament on this already, here.

carol was terribly underused, after all the oompf about her being there she was barely a blip. but the haircut was fantastic, and the best part of the movie was when she returned at the end.

then there’s nebula and gamora (again). at first i was actually quite pleased that they sort of found a loophole to bring gamora back, but then i thought about it (yes, sometimes i get seduced by the flashy colours too) and yeah. sure. a gamora is there, but she’s void of all the things that makes her interesting and all her development is just gone, everything “our” gamora achieved and experienced is gone, three films worth of arc is worthless. so what then is the point of getting “her” back? i don’t care about this person, i don’t know her. are we gonna see quill just harass her the next film, bc you know, she’s been with him, so why shouldn’t he expect her to just do that now? tbh i wouldn’t be surprised, but now that gunn is back maybe he can save it? not that i’ll be around to keep track though.

then nebula. nvm that time paradox, that’s a whole other fuckfest i’ll get back to, but we had to get to see her get killed too, didn’t we. by her sister, the only person in the world she loves. fucking fantastic, i cannot control my enthusiasm.

and no, cool as it was, the a-force surrounding parker is not enough to bring this home. it was a cool sight though. (see? i can see the good.)

then of course it’s peggy. a woman he knew for a few months back during the war. (sure they knew each other longer, but i’d say, even if you’re very generous, they can’t have spent more than a couple of months in each other’s company, and they kissed once). who they stripped of all character development and autonomy so that steve could go back and get his “damce”. everything she achieved, every good thing that happened to her, her husband, her family, her advancement in shield, all gone. bc steve must have his happy ending, no matter that she told him to move the fuck on in tws, who cares.

and then there’s sharon. yeah, they forgot about her, didn’t they. i mean, i was never really on board with that, the whole aunt/niece thing was a bit too weird for me, and this was way before i shipped stucky, but that doesn’t matter. bc they did that, they had them kiss within days after peggy’s death (oooh, look how he cared for peggy), making it clear that this was the beginning of something. (also marvel and several of the actors treated emily like crap, oh yeah, i remember, doesn’t help either.)

(gods i said this would be short, didn’t i? imagine if i could’ve spent all the words i’ve spent ranting about endgame on my latest chapter? good grief.)

then there’s their so called lgbt representation. 30 seconds of a character that had a total of 60 sconds of screentime in tws lamenting his dead lover? well. i. they wanted credit for that. i just.

then there’s thor. they negated every ounce of development he had in ragnarok, this also goes for aiw, wasn’t happy about that, and made him completely ooc, he just spends his time drinking ab\nd playing fortnite of all things? bold of them to assume that will still be a thing in 5 years, but also? thor? THOR? neglecting his people? his friends? the world? thor? then they of course made him fat, haha, so they could add fat-shaming to the list while they make light and fun of his drinking problems, his grief and his ptsd. awesome. the funniest.

then there’s clint. that they just randomly made a killer? just, like a straight up murderer? okay then. and still nat deserved to die. excellent.

then there’s banner. okay, i don’t think they fucked him up as bad as the others, but it’s still strange he would risk his intelligence to become hulk full time, but you do you.

rocket and rhodey were the best things about this damn disaster, just putting it out there.

then there’s tony. i mean, we knew he was the main protagonist, and im not objecting that, (even if i think it’s really strange he’d be born in 1970) but idk. that was strange’s plan? all that for that? and pepper just went, eh what the hell, just die, i can raise this kid you wanted. (i know, i know, she’s her mom, she cares), but it was just so flat. and idk. i mean, rdj wanted his life back, just as evans, but i’d want to see that switched, that tony get to retire and steve sacrifice himself to save the world. tony could still be the deciding factor in strange’s plan even if steve delivered the coup de grace. at least he cared enough to show an emotion™when peter came back, which was more than steve bothered with. jfc they fucked up steve.

then there’s the time travel. okay, a few things about the 2012 thing. they put him in the elevator, and then, instead of having him just kick the crap out of the agents, they reference hydra!cap? the biggest shitstorm in the comics in the last two decades? like what the actual fuck? then of course there’s the americas ass thing, which, again, that’s steve, cares about his ass but not his friends! (but at least 2012 steve cares about bucky, maybe he’ll save him a couple of years early, back to the future steve will just live out his life knowing bucky is getting tortured somewhere in siberia, good times.) oh! and i guess they have their loophole to get loki back too, great, they’ll probably just forget that he’s not in the main timeline, bc who cares.

and the fun just keeps coming with the time travel. oh they tried with some crap explanation that no one can make sense of, but here’s the kicker. they can’t either, they don’t even want to try, they don’t even agree with each other.

+ +

how did they know to meet up in wakanda or wherever, the dustees? did strange send a memo? not just the ppl in the soul realm or wherever they were, but all the others too, like valkyrie and hope. time and place just magically popped into their heads? and what happened when they all came back? or some came back, bc obviously a shit ton of ppl died at the dusting, like the pilot of a 747 gone? plane goes down and such, ppl really dead. and where do they reappear? where they disappeared? aka those passengers that got dusted comes back mid flight? fun! and what about the ones that moved on in their absence? what happens to the ones that come back when their wives and husbands are remarried, when there’s no place for them in their old lives. did all of peter’s classmates get dusted, or did the rest of the class graduate without him, i must assume that all of those in s:ffh did, otherwise some would be in college by now, yeah?

and that’s another reason their watertight time travel is leaky af, there’s no way to get the logistics to work. the only option as such would have been to go back to 2018 and fix it, to reset time, bc otherwise there are just too many holes, it’s just not possible. but they can’t do that bc then they’ll undo all the things that happen in the future that the characters don’t want to lose, like tony’s kid.

oh, i know, it’s a superhero movie, but im strange like that, i expect a modicum of internal logic in all my movies, the bitch that i am.

okay, im gonna leave it there, ive run out of steam, and i want to gif a set. there’s a few things more, but i think you’ve gotten the gist, that i’m not a fan of this movie and a short (lol, so sorry, nothing is ever digest with me, i should’ve warned you) list of reasons why. honestly this is the first time i’ve really don’t a more general account, ive pretty much stuck to steve and that crapshute, there’s a lot of other blogs that concentrate on the other characters, i’d list a few, but i don’t have it in me rn, pop me a msg if you’re interested, also if you’re interested in some real meta, this rambling rant isn’t something that people should be exposed to honestly.

avengers: endgame was a shit movie and no amount of “he’s worthy” and “avengers assemble” is going to fix that, BUT if you enjoyed it, i don’t think less of you, obviously everyone is different, and i envy the hell out of you, i sorely wish i could’ve liked it too. the russos directed what is by far the best movie in the mcu imo, tws, and they had us all fooled, even if we probably should’ve seen it coming after iron man 4: civil war.

hope you’re having a spectacular day, sorry you had to read this if you did, and and thank you for making mine better, i really had a rant in me needing out. (you’d think i’d run out of hate for this by now, but nah.)

thank you for the ask :)

#whyisitsohardtogetoutofbed #ask #answered #anti endgame #i am sorry #i know it's awfully negative #but you asked #obviously you couldn't have been prepared for this though #so i am i bit sorry #lisa's crap #oh look a new tag #i refuse to keep tagging for spoilers #if you've still not seen it idk what to tell you #also the read more should be enough

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noconcernofyours · 5 years

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5 Takeaways from Avengers: Endgame (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Here’s another one I didn’t really have a place to post, so it’s going up here. Hope you enjoy my Hot Takes™.

On Thursday I went down to my local cinema to watch Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of over a decade of continuous, intricate world-building and story-telling from the mind of Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige and co. This article is not a review of the movie. To be clear, I loved it and there are a million reasons why, but looking at it purely as a film doesn’t really make sense to me considering all of the factors that make Endgame more than just another Marvel movie.

Instead, here are five takeaways that I, as someone who has been seeing these films in the cinema since Iron Man released in 2008, have been sitting on since I walked out of the screening on Thursday night. WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

1. Sam Wilson is the perfect successor to Steve Rogers. Fight me.

There are several major emotional themes that Endgame introduces throughout the film: parenthood, reconciliation, coping with one’s failures. But, as the film moves into its insanely climactic final battle sequence, a new theme starts to move to the front of the pack – a passing of the torch.

From Peter being the major emotional anchor of Tony Stark’s death scene to Captain Marvel mirroring Steve Rogers’ heroic yet futile act of holding Thanos’ hand open from Infinity War, and even to Hawkeye teaching his daughter to shoot a bow and arrow in the film’s emotionally fraught opening scene, there is a real sense that the most definitive way this film can wrap up the original team’s character arcs is by showing who is still there to take up their mantles.

I’ve seen a lot of angry takes complaining that Steve passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam over Bucky. These takes… *clears throat*… are dead wrong. Bucky is just as out of time as Steve was, more so even, due to the amount of time he spent either in ice, or out of his mind. He’s also so unclear of his own identity that it makes no sense for him to adopt this mantle that is meant to be so clearly defined and inspiring, especially considering the amount of damage he’s done to the world. That same internal conflict is why Steve was so uncomfortable being Captain America for so long. The main argument, I guess, is that he has a closer relationship with Steve, but I would argue that this is an incorrect analysis of their relationship. One of the things clarified by the time travel sequence is how Steve’s relationship with Bucky wasn’t about friendship, or loneliness, but about one of the other themes of the film: failing to deal with one’s mistakes.

It makes so much more sense for Sam to take up the mantle because, arguably, he is Steve’s greatest achievement as Captain America. Steve’s deeds inspired Sam to act. His training made Sam, someone with no superpowers at all, a superhero and brought him to the highest echelons of the Avengers. He, like Steve, was a military volunteer, unlike Bucky who was drafted. And, like Steve, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t know how to exist without the next mission. Sam has been Captain America-in-waiting since his introduction in Winter Soldier.

2. This film shouldn’t be nominated for best picture, but there are Oscar nominations that it does deserve

This last Oscar season was incredibly long, taxing and discursively toxic. One of the narratives in various online forums was a sense of discontent that Black Panther was nominated for best picture over Infinity War. Now, despite the fact that I thoroughly disagree with that feeling – Black Panther is one of the most narratively and thematically powerful superhero movies ever released and Infinity War has a thoroughly unpleasant message of abuse=love – there will, without a doubt be an Oscar narrative surrounding this landmark movie.

Let me set the record straight here: Endgame, whilst being an incredibly important moment in cinema, a hugely emotional watching experience, and a massive technical achievement, is not best picture material. Why? It doesn’t stand on its own. Without the background of the rest of the MCU propping it up, it couldn’t achieve nearly as much of the emotional impact that it did. For the same reason, I don’t think Return of the King should have been a best picture winner either. Sue me. The film also has some tonal issues that prevent it from landing all the emotional punches that a best picture nominee should have.

That being said, there are elements of Endgame that deserve recognition from the academy, and they are thus:

Robert Downey Jr.’s gut-wrenching performance as Tony Stark

Honestly, it does feel like Downey’s been playing this character in his sleep since Age of Ultron, but not here. This, for me, is his strongest performance put to film, and that’s all down to an awareness of how this character has changed since his debut in 2008. His meltdown scene after he is rescued at the start of the film is masterfully frightening and sad, made all the more so by his CGI-facilitated emaciated state.

Alan Silvestri’s genius score

Alan Silvestri is an incredible film composer; this much is clear. While I loved his score for Infinity War, which was full of clever little twists on previously existing material, and stunning uses of silence, I did feel a little let down that some of the better leitmotifs from previous films weren’t utilised at all, particularly Captain America’s theme, which Silvestri wrote for The First Avenger back in 2011.

As of now, I understand why he made the decision to leave that out. It wasn’t studio interference, demanding overly aggressive aesthetic consistency. It was a choice made to enhance Steve’s character development. We haven’t heard Steve’s theme since Winter Soldier, because he hasn’t really been Captain America since that film. The moment in Endgame that brought me closest to ugly crying in the cinema was when Tony handed Cap back his shield, and we finally heard that theme again. Silvestri has been paying attention in a major way, and probably deserves a writing credit for every movie in which Steve Rogers has appeared since 2011 because of it. Thanos’ theme is terrifying and beautiful too. Give. This. Man. All. The. Awards.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy needs a soft reboot, Ragnarok style

I hate the Guardians. I hate all of them… well… except Gamora and Nebula, but the former was done dirty in Infinity War, and the latter pretty much finished her character arc in Endgame. All the other ones are either funny window dressing (Rocket, Groot, Mantis), or outright intolerable (Starlord, Drax). One thing that made me enjoy Endgame so much more than Infinity War, was that I didn’t have to watch the Guardians’ unbearable antics for the majority of the movie. It was a small reprieve from the dick jokes, backwards character development, unfunny temper tantrums and relentless stupidity.

The end of the film sets up the future involvement of Thor in the next Guardians movie. I hope to god that means they’ll bring Taika Waititi on board to help write the new movie with James Gunn. I’m glad Disney made the right decision to bring Gunn back after his premature dismissal, but after the catastrophe that was Guardians of the Galaxy, vol.2, and the negative impact the characters have had on Infinity War, I think someone with the creative instincts of Waititi needs to be brought on to help make these characters into people again. Thor joining the team is a chance to make that happen.

4. Marvel did ScarJo dirty

Ugh. Every member of the original team got a proper ending, except ScarJo, who got fridged. I’m a huge Hawkeye stan, but Black Widow should not have been tossed off (literally!) in order to develop his character in the way they did. To make matters worse, she doesn’t even get a funeral! Just a little nod at the end from the guy who she died to save. After everything that happened with Gamora in Infinity War, I can’t believe the Russo brothers, who did so much to develop this character in Winter Soldier, were okay with giving Black Widow a death that was not only meaningless, but so similar to the woman they killed in the last movie.

Come on!!!

5. Endgame wrapped up 10 years of movies so perfectly that I don’t have to care what they do next anymore

All that being said, it really doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Over the last few years, I’ve gotten increasingly frustrated with the MCU. With the exception of Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp¸ every film in the series since Captain America: Civil War has been a bit of a let-down for me. I hated Guardians 2, I was left feeling a little empty after Ragnarok and Infinity War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming was the biggest disappointment in the entire series that came close to ruining the character for me.

What’s so special about Endgame, is that it so neatly and powerfully brings to a close the narrative arcs of (nearly) all of the characters I’ve cared about since the MCU’s beginning over a decade ago. It, surprisingly enough, is a legitimate jumping-off point. If I were so inclined, I could be content to never see a Marvel Studios film again because most of the threads I was invested in have been tied up.

It also seems unlikely that they’ll be building to a huge single-narrative conclusion for a long, long while. How could they? Endgame was a movie a decade in the making, and I suspect it’ll be another decade before they get to anything that could rival the emotional resonance of their latest achievement. What comes next will, undoubtedly, feel substantially different than what came before, and therefore, probably isn’t targeted at me or others in my position. If I fancy seeing a new Marvel film, I will, but I highly doubt that by skipping one I’m going to feel like I’m missing out in the same way I would have done if I’d missed any of the last 22 MCU movies.

The greatest gift Endgame has given me, is a way out of the vicious circle of Marvel movie discourse. I can rest now.

#Avengers #avengers endgame #Endgame spoilers #avengers spoilers #MCU #robert downey jr #alan silvestri

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charlierejouis · 5 years

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Avengers Endgame Q & A Review (Spoiler Edition)

With a few days left until Spiderman: Far From Home, I think it's safe to talk about this movie in more spoiler-y terms. I think the spoiler ban has been up for a while, but I still know people who haven’t seen this movie yet. As usual, here’s an example of how this will go.

What do you think of the Endgame re-release?

It’s a hilariously transparent attempt to overtake Avatar as the highest-grossing movie that my only reason for not taking part in is scheduling conflicts and lack of money. I am pathetic and I don’t know for why.

Let’s go!

How has your view on Endgame changed in the months since seeing it?

Since seeing it, I’ve come to recognize more and more things about it I love and appreciate it. I genuinely can’t imagine another movie that’s been in the MCU topping it, nor do I expect a movie to have higher highs than it. However, I can appreciate people who would say that Infinity War or some other movie was better than it.

Are you willing to group this in with Infinity War, similar to how you see the Iron Man movies as equally good?

I can’t even say that Endgame stops being Infinity War until after the time skip. These two movies are different in both tone and motivation. I think they deserve to be seen as their own movies. Not to mention, much of the reason for my views on the Iron Man trilogy is because it is the trilogy of my favorite character in the MCU.

Which Avenger had the best run in Endgame?

This might upset some people, but I love how Thor was handled. Dude goes 0-2 against Thanos in the last movie and you don’t expect him to go depressed once he can’t get the revenge he wants? I said this before, but I love that this movie made me care about Thor: The Dark World, one of the worst movies in the MCU. I’ve been going through his movies again because I want to talk about how Thor has been throughout the MCU. What I will say is that Thor in the hands of James Gunn may result in an even better version of Thor than we’ve seen before.

Which Avenger had the worst run in Endgame?

I hinted at this before, but I don’t love the Hulk’s transformation being skipped. I get that it’s a long movie and we need to get to other points, but I do wish we got more of Professor Hulk’s development before he was plopped onto us after the time skip. Of course, the movie works as it is, but it would be better if we got more of that.

How does Captain America’s ending fall on that scale?

He had an awesome run in this movie. The events of the past few phases of the MCU, especially Infinity War, have given us a broken version of the once Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. That he decides to retire the way he does at the end of the movie is something I didn't allow myself to believe was possible but I should have expected nothing less from the directors responsible for his best movies and the writers behind his trilogy, especially once time travel was introduced as a plot point. For the consideration of some, I’ve seen the writers confirm the theory that Peggy’s husband in Winter Soldier was always meant to be Steve.

What did you think of the scene with Carol? You know, that scene?

When I originally planned to tackle this question in this post, I was planning on dealing with people who were mad at the scene for pandering. Now, we’ve gone the opposite way and people are arguing that Marvel Studios was wrong for having this scene exactly because of their less-than-stellar representation of women characters. At the time, I was caught up in the euphoria of the final battle that for like a half hour I lived in a world where political agendas didn’t exist. It took until I left the theater to realize I saw a tweet that hinted at this and days until I realized why people would have issues with it. I will say that Nando v Movies gave an improved version of this scene.

What are your thoughts on the Black Widow drama?

I find it all hilariously ironic. This time last year, people were mad at the concept of a solo Black Widow movie, making arguments for some other MCU heroine with a fraction of the screentime or relevance to get her spotlight. I even saw a post suggesting that they could recast Scarjo as Black Widow for the movie. Now that they killed her in Endgame, some of these exact same people want to act like they were her biggest fan and that the choice to have her die was motivated by some form of sexism. And the cherry on top of this whole situation? The Russos are being called sexist because one woman who helped work on the film thought it was a sacrifice needed for her to take over Clint. After Endgame and this drama, I’m even more motivated to see this movie and hope it does and is better than Captain Marvel, at the very least.

So, you think that Black Widow’s sacrifice was done well?

Kind of? I found it weirdly hilarious that the Soul Stone came down to the two characters argued to be the most useless within the Avengers, watching the scene play out in theaters. Frankly, I don’t know that there was a better choice between her and Hawkeye. They just decided to go with the one that allowed an actual family reunion to be possible. With the benefit of time, I’ve come to see how this works for her arc as she finally found a way to get the red out of her ledger. While I don’t think it’s bad to have this kind of thing happen, I wish we did get more of a proper memorial or funeral for her.

How do you feel about the information we’ve learned about this movie’s events in interviews?

I don’t exactly love it. While it’s an unpopular view, I consider “canon” [what is presented in a work] and Word of God [what is revealed by series creators] to be on about the same level. Consider part of that comes from my more biblical background being applied to these terms and my work in fan writing relying on both. I love that we have so directors and writers who recognize that they are making a movie that millions of people are interested in their work and willing to add insight to their thought process months before we’ll get their commentaries on the film. However, I don’t love hearing them explain stuff that could and probably should have been made clear within the actual movie. I wish some of the things made clear by the writers or directors were already clear within the movies, even though I don’t think the movie is made worse by it. I don’t think a lot of it comes from a sense of “trying to cover their tracks” but it can feel like that when you do this and I don’t love that.

With all the changes you wish happened, why would you still call this the best movie in the MCU?

I think that there are a lot of issues with this movie that could be addressed by some of the fixes others have suggested, including the ones I’ve brought up in this post. However, for every genuinely good and relevant change that I have seen made to this movie better, I’ve seen a heck of a lot of absolute zero takes on this movie and suggestions to fix this movie that make it worse than what we got. Around the time I posted my other review, I got to sit with some other people who saw the movie. When I told them some issues people I know had with the movie, they were shocked these could even be seen as issues. As low as this movie gets, I can’t say they’re issues that are bad enough to earn a lower spot in my ranking of the MCU movies than where it currently is and I can’t imagine one taking that spot soon.

So that’s been fun. It’ll be a while before I see Far From Home, but I have no reason to think it will be a bad film. See you!

#avengers endgame #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #marvel #russo brothers #this was fun to do again #also i'm on vacation #i thought i would have queued this #oh well...

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signalsfromvega · 5 years

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Endgame hot take. (contains spoilers)

Haven’t done one of these in a while because, well...life. But this is the end of an era, so it seems like a good time.

Spoiler free: 10/10. Actual emotional roller coaster. Fantastic.

Spoiler review and take on what I’ve seen via this shit stack of a social media site below. You’ve been warned.

Yeah so I spoiled it for myself when it was released in OZ/NZ, almost immediately. Because I do that...yep.

Honestly, I get that these are some of people’s favorite characters and what not, but some of the dumb ass shit I’ve seen on this hellscape is really naive.

The endings we got for the first 3 main Avengers was perfect. Widow made sense. If you didn’t see that coming when they said those two were going to Vormir well...I can’t help you there. Clint has a family. Natasha has nothing but the family she made via the Avengers. Saving them became her purpose. She fulfilled it.

(Plus ScarJo previously stated she wanted a say so in her ending and for it to be unpredictable but suiting.)

Tony was one of the lucky ones. Parker getting dusted was a hard hit for him, yes, but Pepper survived. He got 5 years of happiness that no one else was allotted. He had the knowledge that his little girl and love of his life would go on just fine. He had succeeded in his life in all avenues.

Let’s step into the real world for a sec: Did you really think RDJ was going to continue to type cast him self? He started this freight train my dudes. All of the OG cast wanted to move on. I think if they kept him alive they’d just keep calling him for Stark appearances. (Same with Widow and even Cap)

Tony needed a resolution, and he got the most heroic and selfless one yet. He had been one of the most selfish Avengers. (Tony fans don’t @ me.)

Now on to the most selfless Avenger.

LOL@ y’all for picking apart not only Cap but Bucky AND Peggy to boot.

Hard pills to swallow: Stucky is fan fic.

I can’t believe people don’t see that after all these years, Steve, who has been living his life for literally everyone else BUT himself, finally decides to be selfish just this once. After the deed is done, the safest time to finally indulge. He finally has a chance to get his dance.

Couldn’t have asked for a better ending for him.

To those who don’t know anything about the multi universe and time travel levels/paradoxes that can and have been created in comics: it is kinda like BTTF. (Scott was right.)

Specifically BTTF 3, when Doc goes back to the 1880′s and stays there, because he’s the happiest there. Meets the love of his life there. Marty has to come to terms with that and understand that it is Doc’s life and decision to do so.

You also had to be paying attention to the Ancient One and Banner’s conversation. They literally mentioned alternative timelines if the stones were taken into different eras.

Basically, Steve created an alternative timeline (IE: a tangent) when he went back to have a life with Peggy. Either he contacted Pym or Stark in that alternative timeline and was able to create another Quantum Leap to come back to the present timeline, or the two timelines joined back up to ‘heal’ themselves with old Cap on a bench.

Bucky immediately knew when Steve said goodbye to him. He also immediately knew who it was on that bench. Hell, you could assume they had a convo prior, where Steve told Bucky his entire plan. Buck knew Steve had longed for a simple life with the woman who helped shape him into the man he was today. The life he lost; the one he sacrificed for the greater good.

So you’re trying to tell me that Steve isn’t an infallible human that just wants happiness?

He was injected with super soldier serum, not turned into a robotic plaything for SHIELD. Let the man have his life.

As for Peggy’s alternate life via her series: That wasn’t the life she chose, it was life given to her. It was the life she had to make in place of the life she wanted with Steve. It was a scorned and unfortunate timeline, brought about by everyone else except them. She had to move on because there was literally no hope or accurate technology back then to actually find Steve. She had no other choice, and it wasn’t the choice she wanted to make. It was a “play the cards you’re dealt” situation.

So you’re telling me that if you had access to time travel, with little to no repercussions, after you fulfilled a life of selflessness, that you wouldn’t go for it?

It seems there are now multiple tangents, specifically Loki, created by the removal of the stones in different timelines. It syncs up to the ludicrous amount of tangents in comics anyway. Theoretically it seemed that Cap bringing them all back healed the time wounds. Except he might have made a deal with Howard and the time stone (creating his tangent) to keep him in that timeline until a specific set date. That date being the day Cap goes back in time.

This does not mean that the current history has been erased, it means the tangent is running along side the timeline we know. So those timelines still exist. Cap lived the life with his love in the tangent, Peggy more than likely passed before Cap, since he seems to age slightly slower. But it was a loving parting. Not like the one from Winter Soldier or Civil War; they got to say goodbye naturally and be at peace with it. All old Cap had to do was wait for the day of his time travel, and the two timelines became one again.

Everything in young Cap’s past was his. Everything in old Cap’s past was his as well.

Cap is a man between two times, like he always was.

Everything else? Awesome.

Though I do want to know what Cap did with Mjölnir in the 40′s? That’s one of plot holes I have questions about. EDIT: Duh, he had to put it back when he took the Reality stone back, since Thor took it out of that timeline.

Captain Marvel? I thought her amount of screen time was fine. Her fans are always going to want more, naturally. But I’m assuming since her movie came out a month prior, she is now the future of the studios with Parker and this movie was mainly about tying up the OG cast’s loose ends...they’re saving her for future films. They played her light and safe in this one. And she is really OP, so seeing her over taken by the Power Stone was a good counter balance. Technically, they were still semi-screwed without her. She took town the flagship quicker than anyone else could have.

I absolutely adored the way she took Thano’s head butt without a god damned flinch.

Honorable mentions:

The Dude Thor is life.

Scott Lang is a national treasure.

Hulk dab.

America’s ass.

Lang and Banner taco friendship goals

Ronin.

Holy shit the de-aging and thinning CGI.

The one guys in our theater that yelled “THAT’S IT, WE’RE DONE.” when Cap got the hammer.

Fortnite.

No but I want more Thor Lebowski.

That’s all I have to say on this one.

All in all it was a fantastic ride, that didn’t take it’s self too seriously. It rounded out the movies and cast poetically and in line with their stories.

#endgame spoilers #avengers spoilers #spoilers #i said spoilers you asshole

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