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mrdrhenwardhykle · 3 years

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So, I had this thought process

I've been thinking a lot about that Adam Sandler movie "Pixels", and I think I just wrote a summarized alternate plot for it in my head and I need to write it down.

Okay;

Let's start by brainstorming on writing better and more relatable protagonists. For many, this movie is very hard to watch because it almost feels like a bunch of middle-aged guy's writing in nice-guy self inserts of themselves to feel better about whatever mid-life crisis they're having. And maybe this wouldn't be too bad if their characters were just a bit more than "middle aged creep who lives in his mom's basement is secretly a romantic warrior when put in the right scenario".

At least for me, it's very hard to relate to that kind of protagonist; given how that character is usually the most developed out of all the characters in this type movie. I often find that it's hard to relate to nerdy nice guy characters who often get away with the lack of likeable qualities just because "life should have treated them better". It comes off more as a pity-party more than anything, and their unmotivated dynamic with the "out of their league" love interest, who always comes off as nothing more than a trophy and\or act as an excuse to get the climax rolling in the last 20 minutes after getting captured by the big bad.

So then, how would I write an 80's nostalgia themed adventure movie? What, say, would you think would be a practical way to write the main cast in a way that audiences new and old can relate? Easy; If your intention is to give your entire audience a wave of nostalgia, but to still keep it relatable, then why not make your main cast kids? (credit to Black Nerd Comedy for that idea) I would probably suggest between the age of 12 and 16, and maybe with the occasional big brother\sister type characters and some of their friends . Kids often have a ton of freedom, a large imagination, basic priorities, and a lot less worries than adults. Just about anyone should be able to relate to that, since everybody either was or is a kid at some point of time. And I'm not saying that you can't write for\relate to older protagonists, but you don't want to alienate your audience, especially when making something that might catch the eye of a younger crowd.

Not to mention that ever since the 80's, kids have always been a major player by the impact of technology. For some reason though, the plot of Pixels doesn't really have to do with technology. There's guns and contraptions that are specifically made to destroy the pixels, but it doesn't really go much father than that with the tech. The plot more focuses on going on the "alien invasion" route (which I would think would be more 60's sci-fi based than 80's, which was more experimental in cosmic horror with its alien media)(not including Space Invaders. Shush. That does not count). Honestly, I think 80's nostalgia can be replaced with just about anything when it comes to a "shape-shifting aliens who mimic earthly cultures" plot. It's very basic, yet it doesn't really fit in with the theme of arcade games. It just comes off as a poor excuse for pandering to 80's kids, instead of using that element to bring up interesting concepts and world-exploring in this universe.

So I have two solutions for this, either;

A. Do not do a time jump, and keep the story in the 80's. Make it an alternate universe where different forms of consoles and computers are being developed. Maybe the adult characters are very unfamiliar with these changes, but allowing for the kid characters to have more of an advantage because that stuff would be more relevant to them. Because this was before a time where kids often thought about becoming programmers, it will also work as a disadvantage to the kids because they won't have an excuse to suddenly know how the opposing side works.

Or B. It takes place in a modern era, with Virtual reality, game consoles, and laptops, but it doesn't overly modernize itself with teens on phones, saying outdated things like "lemmie just take a selfie" saying "hashtag" out loud, or any junk like that (Because guess what? Teens and kids don't usually act like that). Maybe make the environment time neutral by making it a mix between the 2010's, 2000's, 1990's, and 1980's. I don't really think it's relevant enough to work in a present setting.

And lastly, let's talk about the big bad of the movie.

Really in Pixels, it's more of a self-struggle either projected upon others, or manifested into it's own being for the protagonist to succeed. There's not really a lot of leg space for anyone else to develop other than the main character (and perhaps something happens occasionally to the comedic reliefs\mascot characters). I imagine maybe this version doesn't have just one central character\plot, kind of like Stranger Things. However, unlike Stranger Things, I would also like a compelling and intriguing villain. Sadly, Pixels doesn't really have that; i has Donkey Kong, but he's nothing more than an alien catering to the protagonist's inner struggles (and nostalgia). There's nothing really more to DK other than that, so there's not a lot of difference between him and any of his previous minions.

And there's nothing really compelling about DK; because at least in canon, he's just a scared circus animal. There's not a lot of reasoning behind his actions other than to just invade. It's basic alien stuff like I said before, it can basically be replaced with some other theme than arcade games.

So what would be a compelling antagonist? Foils to the main group of characters (such as an older school bully, or maybe twisted programmers), create conflict, but if we're keeping the theme of attack of the machines and videogame characters, there has to be a bigger bad than that.

Oh! If only there was an already established villain-coded, tech-based, 80's icon with the ability to control almost all technology!

....

Trust me, I'm onto something!

Max Headroom was always presented as an egotistical talking head. He had multiple shows in the 1980's, as well as guest starred on multiple shows. Perhaps Max survives off of his viewers, and constantly strives to expand his audience. Max does not tend to care about other's well beings, and just wishes to use them as a way to gain publicity for his shows. Max also has a tendency to step over whoever he needs to to gain popularity, including his own film crew.

Max also has multiple canon abilities such as:

Being able to transfer to any screen (including arcade games)

See and interact with the people watching him

Control more than one screen

Interact with himself from one screen to another (multitask)

Turn on and off lights (and likely other outlets as well)

Manipulate the visuals of the screen that he's controlling

All of these abilities can be expanded and explored enough to set him up as a powerful and unpredictable villain.

I've also came up with a couple motives as well;

A. If this is in a modern era, Max could be suffering from a long hiatus since he hasn't been that active since the 80's; causing Max to seek as much attention to thrive off of as possible. To do this, Max hijacks as many outlets as possible to air his show. He might also use this as a way to repel audiences away from all other media; making it easier to turn to him for entertainment.

B. This takes place in an alternate universe where Max Headroom became more popular than it originally was. He starts taking over half of ads and television shows on air, getting more power hungry with each channel he takes. However, in his media take-over, ratings take a slight drop due to uninterested children who have turned to other outlets like toys, videogames, and arcades. This inspires Max to take a full takeover over everything electrical, causing a full invasion of all things electrical.

(I also forgot to mention that Max very likely hates children, and has canonly protested the execution of all of them)

Bam! And there you have it. A slightly more efficient plot for Pixels.

This was rotting in my head for a while and I wanted to let it out. Sorry for the ramble.

#pixels #plot ideas #movie ideas #1980s nostalgia #rambeling #80s nostalgia #ramble #max headroom #pixels inspired #goonies inspired #tropes #arcades #pixels 2015 #goonies #adam sandler #writing rant #rant

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imma-soft-beeboy · 7 years

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Dear Star Trek Haters,

Star Trek was meant to inspire and help change the world! It INSPIRED scientists to advance in the direction of today. The first flip phones where based off of the communicators. Not only that, but it helped people except DIVERSITY. The main cast consisted of a Russian, African-American, Scottish, Asian, and an alien (that's why Spock is Vulcan to prove EVERYONE is EQUAL); all of which were treated equally on the ship. Women and men worked side by side, EQUALLY. Because the ships code was everyone, NO MATTER WHAT, was equal. Not only that, but one of the main crew members is canonly GAY! And he is treated NO DIFFERENT. This TV show back in the 60's also had the FIRST lip to lip INTERRACIAL kiss on screen. The PROGRESS this TV show made was phenomenal and mind blowing. And it all came from Gene Roddenberry's mind, he WANTED the show to help progress this world forward. He wanted to inspired new technology and inspire people to be more welcome to diversity. (In the 60's the civil rights movement was happening, people of color still had no rights.) IT NEVER WAS JUST ALL SCI-FI! Not only that but the PLOTS are wild and AMAZING. Overlords stealing the captain to force him to FIGHT in an arena for their amusement. A madness disease spreading across the ship causing everyone to do the most RANDOM, and bizarre things. (Including shirtless fencing.) Men slowly disappearing from the ship because they are turning into mosquito like CREATURES who move to fast to be heard. Aliens almost kill the doctor in a dungeon like thing to try to help another creature learn her powers! A GREEK GOD stealing men off the ship to force them to worship him. Each episode is NEW and EXCITING. Nothing is ever reused. (Except Kirk sleeping around but oh well.) And it's not like the actors were force to do this or be out of a job, NO ACTOR in this film ever DISAGREED with Gene Roddenberry's mission. They were all HAPPY to help inspire and change the world. They were all a family who loved the TV show and movies to pieces (even to their dying days). When the TV show ended they made the movies because fans everywhere were devastated with it ending. WHY can't it be like that again?! WHY does Star Trek have to be for nerds?! It can be for so much more. It REPRESENTS so much MORE! At first I DIDN'T want to watch Star trek either because I didn't want to be labeled as a nerd. But one day I saw it on netflix and I said oh what the hell. The pilot was good, so I watched the next episode and after that I fell in love. I LOVED Star Trek for everything it was, and everything it represented. (Despite the fact that it was made in the 60's so some effect are bad, but personally I like the bad effects.) If you don't there a cartoon, and two newer films that still embody everything Gene Roddenberry wanted, that you can watch. But now that I'm into Star Trek I'm RIDICULED for liking it by my friends, and even family. WHY?! It's actually REALLY GOOD, one of my friends who was doubtful, and didn't even really like Sci-Fi sat down and watched an episode at the end of the episode her mind was blown. Somehow SHE LIKED IT! Star Trek is an underrated TV show often traded in for the modern, more action filled, Star Wars. I'll admit Star Wars is good too, but I could never get into it because the plot was too confusing, but Star Trek was about a five year trek in space to discover different places and learn about them. (Simpler.) Therefore before you judge a book by it's cover, or make assumptions based on what you think you know. Sit down try it, have a look. I can understand how it might not be some peoples cup of tea, but simply hating it because your too ignorant to even try is bullshit. ~Sincerely, ArtistManillaPines

#star trek #rant #needs more love #captain kirk #spock

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myheartisbro-ken · 7 years

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For your greek!mythology au for supergirl do you think Alex would be daughter of Athena or Ares? Who would the other characters parents be? Winn would probably be the son of Hephaestus right? J'onn would be like the son of Hecate. What are some of your headcanons?

Okay so FIRST OF ALL!!!! That is mean. I’ve been racking my brain trying to decide which is a better fit for Alex, and you just forced me to do research (I love it, thank you).

Here we go. (Kara and Lena here)

Alex:

Whilst in a first look, Ares would be a good fit for Alex, I think that’s mostly an act. I think all that aggressiveness of hers is mostly an act that she puts on so she won’t get hurt, because if you see her with Kara and Maggie, she’s the softest softy. Also, in the books it is said that daughters of Ares are massively built ‘Ares’ daughters, in particular, have the physical bodies, skeletal structure, and muscle distribution of exceptionally large, strong, and well-conditioned human men.’ and Alex is tall but rather tiny in structure (Chyler is very skinny, I’m afraid she’s going to break like half the time I see her)

Most of the cool stuff Ares gets Athena also has. Athena is, after all, the female counterpart of Ares.

Athena’s children’s abilities include:

Enhanced strength and swiftness.

Able to adapt to using various types of weapons quicker than normal.

Never forget what they heard.

Immense expertise in war strategy.

Great control over any weapon.

Highly skilled in armed and hand-to-hand combat.

Possess high intelligence and wisdom.

Again, Athena is the goddess of: courage, inspiration, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, etc.

Alex is very brave, Alex is just, Alex is a fighter and a genius, she admittedly loves the sciences, she’s very good at using various different weapons (we’ve seen so many) she’s great at hand-to-hand, she’s a good strategist, she’s in a really good rank at the DEO so that proves that she is very intelligent even if we hadn’t seen other proof.

So Alex would be a Daughter of Athena.

Winn:

Winn is also a constant struggle for me because I can see the Athena qualities in him, but let’s analyze Hephaestus.

Hephaestus was the god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges and the art of sculpture. He was a kind and peace-loving god. And he made a few of the other gods’ weapons as well as armors for demigods, he also made jewelry and many other crafty stuff. Was the patron of the arts.

on the books, he is also the god of technology, craftsmen, and blacksmiths.

Hephaestus children’s abilities are:

They are expert builders.

They are mechanics.

Technokinesis: As children of Hephaestus, they can control and manipulate machines.

Can sense machines, mechanics, or metal.

Can identify machinery type and use by touch.

Can sense faults in metal ore.

Can find and sense traps in the ground.

These all fit for Winn the techy guy who likes toys and computers and other machinery and is really good at making stuff, including suits, armors, traps, gadgets and so on. Like, just everything Guardian is enough to prove this, and that is only a fraction of what we’ve seen him do. Winn is a genius with mechanics, great builder, and good at fixing stuff. He is also comical and stubborn and kind and not very into fighting, which are all traits of Hephaestus.

But he is much more than simply mechanical minded, he is a genius in other fields of expertises, admittedly good with math and sciences and languages and being a super nerd.

So Winn would be a Son of Hephaestus but I’ll go as far as saying he’d have the grace of Athena as well.

J’onn:

I’ve never thought of J’onn as being on the same level as the rest of the characters. He is Spacedad. He has his own category.

I like the idea of J’onn being a full on immortal who directs the camp and loves all the campers as his own children. However, he coul be a demigod who gained immortality from the gods.

In that case, I don’t really think Hecate would fit him because she’s the goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads, trivial knowledge, and necromancy. Those aren’t things I associate J’onn with.

I feel like Hypnos would fit him better. Although he is the God of sleep, here are some abilities of his children:

They are capable of memory retrieval.

They are capable of memory alteration.

They can induce sleep.

They can use hypnosis.

They can astral project/dream travel. (when asleep)

They can manipulate dreams.

J’onn is a telepath, on the show he can both retrieve, read and alter people’s memories, hypnosis is also a thing for a lot of telepaths and astral projection would be something I wouldn’t cross out of his powers just yet, it’s definitelly something I think he could do. He is also very calm and knowledgeable and insightful, and the son of Hypnos we see in the books, Clovis, is like that.

So J’onn would be an immortal Son of Hypnos and the director of activities of the camp.

Other characters,

James:

James is a little tricky one. But I think he could be a Son of Apollo like Kara.

Not only is he ridiculously good looking and athletic, but he is also very artistic, he is a skilled fighter, could be a good archer if they just gave him a bow on the show. He is a photographer, and Photography is all about light and Apollo is the god of light. Children of Apollo are skilled in physical contests and games, James is shown to be good at anything physical he likes games. Children of Apollo are natural healers and James really cares about helping people so I think that is something James would like to have do great use of.

And I’m sorry but that is literally the only God I could think for James.

So James would be a Son of Apollo.

Maggie:

For some reason, I think she’d be a daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of agriculture. I don’t have a good excuse for that, just that there are a few jokes of her being vegan and Demeter children can control plants. It’s silly, sorry.

But for real, Maggie could be a Daughter of Nike, who is the goddess of strenght and victory. I particularly like Nike.

Nike’s children’s abilities include:

They are extremely competitive.

They live for contests and never settle for second best.

They can be pretty intense and driven but they are hard workers and tough opponents.

They never turn down a challenge.

I think that fits Maggie. She is always making bets and challenging people at pool, doesn’t seem like the type to turn down a challenge or settle for second best. She’s tiny and she had that air that she’s ready to fight and challenge everyone all the time. She seems very competitive from what we’ve seen, and hard worker.

So Maggie would be a Daughter of Nike.

Vasquez:

I love her, we need more Vasquez.

Vasquez is a Daughter of Nemesis, goddess of balance, justice, and vengeance.

Children of Nemesis:

Believe that people who are full of themselves should be brought down.

Never forget an insult.

Make good allies.

For me it fits Vasquez, she’s a great ally for the Danvers’ sisters, she looks like she’d fight people for calling her the wrong name, and she cared about justice and fucking up the patriarchy. lol

Lucy:

Lucy is really smart, but she would definitely not be a Daughter of Athena. I think Lucy would be a Daughter of Aphrodite. She’s very poised, she always looks good, canonly smells great and seems to have a lot of social skills and awareness.

Cat:

My love. Cat is brilliant, Cat is elegant, Cat is witty, Cat dominant (ha, yes I rhymed). She’s really good with her words, she knows how to hold herself, she knows how to control people and boss them, she constantly insults people for their appearance and sometimes lack of wit/a brain, she always looks perfect beyond comparison, she’s sophisticated, she’s attractive, she is hinted to be strong on seduction, very influential, high social abilities and awareness.

Cat Grant is a Daughter of Aphrodite!

Like, there’s hardly room for debate on this. But she definitelly would have the grace of Athena.

And I can’t think of any other character of Supergirl, but I’m taking the liberty to add my favorite Flash characters here as well because why not, though I won’t go much into them because this is already huge, but they’re pretty much obvious

except for Barry and Wally, so here:

Hermes is the god of roads, speed, messengers, commerce, travel, thieves, merchants, athletes and mail deliverers (cuz that’s not random). Hermes was known to be quick and cunning and had the ability to freely move between the mortal and divine worlds. He is also the patron and protector of travelers, herdsmen, thieves, orators and wit, literature and poets, athletics and sports, invention and trade. In some myths Hermes is also depicted as a trickster where he would outwit the gods either for the good of humankind or for his own personal amusement and satisfaction.

Children of Hermes:

Are skilled at theft and trickery.

Have a high athletic ability.

Are persuasive.

Some or all of Hermes’s children have the ability to pick most locks with their minds.

Can sense any physical traps.

Are good at alchemy and making potions.

Are good with money.

Barry is a forensic Forensic scientist which means he is good with alchemy, he is a speedster and a good leader. He can ‘freely move between worlds’ and he is also good with inventions.

Wally likes the roads, like literally, he was into car racing, he loves speed, I’m pretty sure he is skilled at theft and lockpicking, he seems to be really into sports, he is witty and fun, totally into playing tricks on people.

So we have:

Kara Danvers, Daughter of Apollo

With the grace of Zeus, aka she can fly

Alex Danvers, Daughter of Athena

J’onn J’onzz, immortal son of Hypnos and camp activity director

Winn Schott, jr, Son of Hephaestus

With the grace of Athena

Lena Luthor, Daughter of Athena

With the grace of Aphrodite

Cat Grant, Daughter of Aphrodite

With the grace of Athena

Lucy Lane, Daughter of Aphrodite

James Olsen, Son of Apollo

Susan Vasquez, Daughter of Nemesis

Maggie Sawyer, Daughter of Nike

Barry Allen, Son of Hermes

Iris West, Daughter Aphrodite

Wally West, Son of Hermes

Caitlyn Snow, Daughter of Athena

Cisco Ramon, Son of Hephaestus

As for Headcanons:

Athena is the only deity to claim their children at birth, but Lena was ‘adopted’ by the Luthors and Lionel died when she was young, Lillian decided to never tell Lena about her real mother. And so Lena remained oblivious to her demigod nature and parentage until she went to camp at the age of fourteen

Lena is immediately claimed by Aphrodite when she arrives at camp and it takes a few years before she finds out she’s actually a daughter of Athena, so she’s the only demigod(ess) to be claimed by more than one God and because of that, some people don’t like her.

most people feel abandoned by their godly parent so they don’t like her having too much attention from the goddesses

Children of Aphrodite don’t like her because she’s too smart and cares more about studying than caring about her looks

Children of Athena don’t like her because they think she’s too vain, but they eventually come around when she proves herself as a true daughter of Athena

When she still believed to be a daughter of Aphrodite and lived in cabin 10, she would mostly spend time with children of Athena studying and stuff

It is said on the books that Hephaestus has a crush on Athena, and also he is married to Aphrodite, so Winn totally has a huge crush on Lena, for both her claims and they are total besties. Lena is constantly sneaking into the forgery to work with Winn on their crazy inventions

Winn doesn’t have Pyrokinesis, but he has bunker 9 and managed to open it one time when his gadget exploded in his hand while he tried to fix it.

Literally everyone in the camp is in love with Kara

Everyone but the children of Aphrodite and Athena have the hugest crush on Lena because she’s just ridiculously hot

Single mother Eliza Danvers raising her two demigod daughters, Alex and Kara, by herself and taking in Winn when he is not on camp

Winn actually being led to the Danvers, by J’onn, when his mother died before any of them went/were sent to camp

Eliza is just so freaking smart that Athena took a liking of her so much so that Alex is one of the only Daughters of Athena with a human mother

Alex, Kara and Winn all arrived at camp together after some crazy spider attacks on the girls’ bedroom made Eliza decide to send them off for the summers. Kara was six, making her the youngest person to arrive at camp, Winn was seven and Alex was eight

James was the one who showed them around when they arrived and decided to take Kara and Winn under his protection because they were both so tiny. Alex was initially jealous of him because ‘they’re my siblings’, but came around when she saw how well he took care of Kara

Kara cried the first few nights at camp because she had never been away from Alex and Eliza before, but James made sure to calm her and tell her she was safe and she’d be able to spend time with Alex the next day

Kara cried when James said she had to throw part of her food in the fire for the gods

James arrived at camp with a satyr at the age of nine, he was eleven when Kara, Alex and Winn arrived

Cat was fourteen when Kara arrived, Kara all but imprinted on her and decided to follow the ‘pretty girl’ around. Cat pretended to be annoyed but she adored Kara

Cat was the counselor of Aphrodite’s cabin and passed it down to Iris

Lucy and Cat are a little bit of nemeses

As an Aphrodite tradition, Lucy was told to break James’ heart but refused and they maintain a strong lasting relationship

Alex fights everyone who dares look at Kara, she once broke a boy’s nose because he tried to kiss Kara and a boy’s arm because he checked Kara out with too much avidity… they may of may not be the same person named Mike.

The moment she set her eyes on Kara, Lena was in love

Kara and Lena became really fast friends, but neither Alex nor James were very fond of the situation. Cat and Lucy were their number one shippers

Kara and Lena danced around each other for two years before Lena kissed Kara on the last day of summer, they started officially dating the winter after that when Lena spent the holidays with the Danvers instead of going home

Even before they started dating Kara would fight anyone who tried to say anything bad about Lena. She spent three entire weeks without talking to James because he called Lena untrustworthy and wouldn’t let her be in their team for capture flag and two days without talking to Alex because she called Lena vain. Has physically fought people for things they said about Lena. Broke a guy’s arm and nose because he touched Lena’s butt and tried to kiss her, Alex had never been more proud

Alex only started liking/accepting Lena when it was revealed that she was actually a Daughter of Athena

Vasquez is always Alex’s second at capture the flag and Kara is often jealous

Maggie went to camp at the age of twelve after her parents kicked her out

Alex and Maggie started dating without even knowing. Everyone just thought they were dating and when they found out they didn’t care to correct people and decided to start dating anyways

Winn is the nerdy and annoying little brother of the group. Everyone calls Winn ‘Danvers’ and he loves it, Alex and Kara never corrected this, and have many times encouraged and used the name for him

Winn likes to tease Alex about Maggie and run to hide behind Kara before Alex can hit him

Alex and Maggie take turns scaring Winn, James and Kara are his protectors

Alex and Maggie always compete against each other, they are never on the same team for anything, they like trash-talking the other with the silliest lines. Alex calls Maggie Adidas to get her riled up, Maggie teases Alex about not having a bellybutton and calls her ‘brainy’

James and Maggie stay at camp all year around. Kara, Winn and Alex stay on school breaks (all of them). Lucy only stays on summers. Lena goes to boarding school when she’s not on camp. Cat refused to stop going to camp even after she started college, she goes back every summer. No one knows anything about Vasquez’s life, there is no pattern of when she stays on camp, she disappears for long periods of time only to show up again as if she never left.

Eliza takes in any and every demigod that shows up at her door, her children often bring home friends to spend the last week or so of summer

And I will stop now because this is too long and has taken up too much time, I’ve been writing this for at least six hours why am I like this? I got a little bit carried away, can you tell?

#answered asks #Supercorp #sanvers #(like just a little bit)#pjo au #greek mythology au #supergirl

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