#but it is so different in circumstance and in reaction than anything barry’s ever done | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

coldestthief · 4 years

Text

A little D/scord RP interaction between the ever wonderful @hautecoldture and me that was too good not to share.

Len

Leonard is quiet until they are out of the room and away from the rest of the group until he turns his attention to Barry, watching him for a second.

The expectant energy is all but rolling off of him and it draws a small smile to Len's mouth before he looks away without actually taking his focus away from the young man nearly bouncing along beside him.

"It's something, isn't it? Time travel?", Leonard hums, one arm crossed over his chest, the other braced against it to gesture vaguely around the corridor. "How are you?", he adds then, because he can't quite help himself.

Barry

He wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting, but a pleasant ‘how are you’ has him looking wide-eyed at the other man. As if the instant he was free of the pressure of the larger group, Snart had retracted his claws.

“I’m about to go walk around in the actual wild west,” Barry slants a look of earnest glee toward the thief. “I’m feeling like my quick impulse to join this mission was the best choice.”

His eyes wander to keep taking in more of the ship, but they return to Snart after a few steps. “It’s really different to do time travel this way, it feels.. Uh, not bad exactly, but clunky. Which, I guess I should probably be used to it by now but I still geek out about time travel even though I’ve done it. A lot.” Barry shrugs, “What a problem to have, that I’m comparing the way it feels when it’s from me running versus flying on a space ship,” he has to shake his head at how ridiculous it is.

It’s been years of this, and while it’s gotten more normal, it also hasn’t. Maybe it’s because his normal is the stuff he relegated to daydreams and fictional adventures when he was a kid, but there’s an honest joy that bubbles up at just considering the circumstances he’s in. He wants to dwell on being grateful for that instead of the rest, and glancing back toward Snart, he can’t help but feel it twist in his chest. The fact that the thief is alive and there is still occupying a place of guarded hope that Barry can’t quite get past.

He also realizes he’d started rambling again without asking the polite follow-up, which he finds he’s even more interested in. “How are you doing?” He eases the question toward Snart the same way he might ask any of his friends, because it feels natural to. That guarded part of him repeats that this really should be more weird, but Barry keeps finding that it just.. isn’t. And he’s okay with that.

Len

"Ah! I forgot.", Leonard says, flicking his wrist. "Siberia. Our little... Adventure to save pretty little Iris."

No, he hasn't actually forgotten and he doesn't really try to make Barry believe he does. The slow, theatrical turn of his head towards the speedster, the way his hand curls against his chin, the mock-thoughtful frown on his face is all a little too much for him to actually have forgotten and just remembered it.

"You brought me back to twenty seventeen.", he draws out the numbers and there is an accusation there.

Because he's remembered this the night before. In the two hours he's walked the streets of Central City before returning to the Waverider, stealing a bottle of Sara's booze and proceeding to drink himself into a pleasant enough haze to fall asleep.

He remembered the fact that when Barry had come to find him in Siberia, Leonard had already been a dead man.

Barry

The corridor around Barry dims as his focus hones in on the other man who may as well have just used his gun to freeze him in place.

Even if he wanted to, Barry couldn’t hide the visible crash of his emotions at what Snart says— more, by what he doesn’t have to say.

It’s haunted him since the day Ray and the other Legends told him what had happened. That Snart had sacrificed himself, died a hero, and Barry was horrified to wonder how much longer it would have been before he found out if they hadn’t told him then.

He’d kept track of every one of his rogues after that, checking in on their whereabouts if it had been longer than a month; it was easy enough to justify keeping tabs on them because just in case, what if they got up to something again? Cisco had rolled with it. But for Barry, it was a constant reminder.

Every nominal check-in always traced back to the one that haunted him because he should have known, should have been able to do something. But couldn’t.

The way Snart looks at him now, he feels pinned and so, so wretchedly small.

Of course Snart would choose the perfect moment to strike at where Barry had shown himself to be vulnerable; Barry cursed himself for foolishly thinking he’d do any different.

“I’m sorry,” he starts feebly, a crack in the syllable that catches in the back of his throat. He tries to find the words to follow it, even though he knows none of them will be the right ones.

“I couldn’t— You couldn’t stay then, I couldn’t take you where you weren’t supposed to be again. I shouldn’t have even done what I did, I messed up. And I’m sorry,” he tries to keep himself composed, though the whiplash has left him laid raw and unprepared for anything close to heroic composure.

Len

It's exactly the reaction he's expected and there's cruel smugness on his face as he swings around to face Barry. One arm still across his chest, the other still resting casually against his jaw as he watches The Flash fall apart in front of his eyes.

Something hot and ugly pops in his chest and spreads as comfortable cold through him, loosening the tension he's carried all through the little meeting.

It's the same feeling he gets when he can bring a plan back on track after hitting a snag.

"Oh, no, I get it.", he drawls with a bob of his brows. "Saving the timestream and all that. Been there, done that, was ready to die for it.", the words his face into a snarl. The expression settles into a mean smirk.

"Proud of you, Barry."

He unfolds his arms in a quick, precise little movement and takes a step closer. He brings one hand up between them and curls it with an elegant little flourish to point a finger at the speedster's stricken face.

"Always knew there was a bastard deep down under that shiny scarlet hero veneer. Pluck a dead man from the past to save your girlfriend, save him from being shark bait, only to put him back on the path to his own destruction with nothing more than an atta boy. That's cold.", he smiles.

#{one shot}#//sort of #//roleplay content DO NOT REBLOG #hautecoldture

13 notes · View notes

pluviophile-bookworm · 4 years

Text

Thoughts/ reaction to AWAE 3x7

This cold open is… different. It has actual tension. Also, it ties directly to the end of last episode, and gods know I love that. And… it has actual speaking, too? Honestly, Anne is the typical teenager caught sneaking back in at night, while also being socially engaged. I mean, there’s nothing typical about her and the present mission of hers, but an untrained eye might have thought so.

I’m honestly afraid of people’s reaction to whatever Anne wrote in that paper. I have been since last week, and maybe not without good reason.

Have Diana’s parents learnt nothing? Not even from missing their chance with Mary? Apparently these people are immune to redemption. I hope I’m wrong about this.

Diana’s face after excusing Anne oh-so-smoothly is just like, “What has she done now?”, but she’s still not letting anything on. This is the friend we all dream of.

Poor Josie is getting those judging looks from everyone while Billy just sits there like he has nothing to do with it. In fact, he seems annoyed by the whole situation. Who gave you the right? How dare you sit there like you have no part in this? If I were Anne, I would definitely have done all she did and more. Heck, even if I were just me, I would have done something, and I’m so afraid of speaking up… Billy deserves the worst.

It seems to me that Josie’s father is no better than Billy. Blaming his own daughter and making her marry that little piece of *no swearing on main, but you’ll know what I mean* after what he did to her? Someone needs to teach those men a big lesson.

“Get him back”? Don’t you mean get back at him? Listen to your daughter, woman, why don’t you?

“How bad could it be?” Let’s just say you’re lucky not to know. I’m screaming right now, but we’ll have to live through this. No change comes without suffering.

Anne asking Marilla if she doesn’t deserve an opinion, and then bringing up Matthew’s blunder… hitting where it hurts the most, that’s what that was.

“All will sort itself out” Yeah it will, if Billy never so much as goes near another girl again. But we all know that’s not happening.

What? They’re looking for another girl? “More compatible with our interests”? What does that mean? Okay with being assaulted and treated like a piece of meat with no soul or opinion? No girl deserves the monstrosity that is Billy Andrews.

I knew Prissy would speak up. I hoped and prayed for at least one member of that family to have their mind and heart in the right place. The world needs more women like Prissy Andrews. At least two for every man like Billy Andrews. I still can’t wrap my mind around the two of them coming from the same genes. Biology and blood relations make no sense when it comes to what matters most, I guess.

Has Diana gone nuts? “Apologise to Josie”? For what? Trying to speak up for her when she herself wouldn’t dare to? Telling the honest truth to a town of people that are apparently too narrow-minded to see it? This isn’t the Diana that kissed Jerry at the fair last week. This isn’t the Diana that would fake an injury to experience freedom. I’m witnessing a full-speed slide down the metaphorical hill of character growth, back to square one. I’m disappointed in my girl.

“You’ve always been jealous of me”… for what? Being engaged to a piece of *see above* that assaulted you? Or for being too blinded by what society has taught you to believe - that you are lucky to be marrying him and are not the victim of what he did to you? Honestly, I feel bad for Anne in the present situation, but I feel even worse for Josie because, unlike Anne, she doesn’t seem to realise that she is the victim here and has rights to fight for. I hope this works out.

But honestly, does none of the girls remember about the Beltane? Does Diana not remember that Josie was in their circle and is therefore their sister now? Does Jane not remember what happened to her actual sister not so long ago - which said sister just reminded her of, in case she had forgotten? Josie is now her sister, too. Does that mean nothing? Is ostracising Anne and treating her like trash all over again going to benefit any of those girls? What is with everybody? Wake up, people!

Oh, shut up, Gilbert Blythe! Or whoever you are these days because I frankly don’t know you anymore. Do you still not realise what this is all about?

And Miss Stacy, too? You’d think she would have a thing or two to say about women’s rights. What is wrong with everybody?

Oh, so she agrees with Anne, but still won’t help her? I see where she’s coming from, but right now everything that goes against Anne even in the slightest is wrong in my eyes and ears. I’m looking at this too passionately. I might need to cool off.

All of a sudden I sympathise with Rachel Lynde. Who would have thought? But well, she just so happens to be the only woman in a council of men. Them trying to pass her opinion off as “hysterical” fits in perfectly with the theme of the episode about women’s voices and the right to equality.

Ok, so Diana might not be so lost, after all. I have to admit, I squeal in delight at the sight of her and Jerry. But… wait. What is going on just now? I’m not liking the sound of this. And why do I feel like his heart wasn’t in that kiss? Why are you doing this to me? I should be excited, nay, ecstatic, about Derry’s second kiss. Not hurt by the look on Jerry’s face. What did you do to my boy, Moira?

Miss Stacy seems to have finally come to her senses and is ranting about the stupid censorship that stupid men put on the newspaper instead of the “scandalous” actions that Anne took. And Anne having a full-on raging breakdown and taking it out on the remains of the writing club… “We rest in truth”… I feel for her.

Gilbert has finally come back. I have no idea where he was all this time, but he’s back and there’s at least one thing in this episode I’m glad about. It seems that suffering does bring about change, after all.

Anne coming back and being accepted with literal open arms… and then Gilbert’s face says it all. “I did what’s right. It was about time.”

“Anne’s farm boy is ever so tall…” First of all, yes he is, isn’t he? *heart eyes* Second of all. though, he has a name, and it’s Jerry. Third of all, he’s not Anne’s farm boy, he’s her brother. But at least we agree on something. Honestly, every now and then I feel that if I were to write a self-insert character for AWAE, I would end up with Ruby. She is just so much like me…

“Wonder if he has a farm girl…” Jerry’s just trying his best to hide at this point, and Diana looks like she would very much like to hide as well. But this is not hiding of the “secret forbidden romance” type. Why do I feel… embarrassment in her eyes? This is not my Diana.

“I’m certain Billy won’t understand any of it” - and that’s why the business should go to Prissy alone. Also because Billy deserves nothing, whether he understands the business or not.

What is wrong with Josie? The poor girl doesn’t even understand she’s perpetuating her own suffering. At least Anne tried. Multiple times. I’m afraid some victims deny themselves the chance to be saved…

“My girl”… oh sweet, gentle, wonderful Jerry… I fear she might not be very worthy of you right now… Also, it’s funny (read: cruel) what the fates do to us. I’ve wanted for Anne to know about Derry, but not in circumstances such as these…

“She seems to like the kissing part, but not the part where we talk”… this seems like a half-subtle parallel between their situation and what Billy did to Josie, and I’m not liking the implications this has about Diana. And it seems Anne has got the same impressions…

Poor, poor Jerry… I can barely see what I’m typing right now because I’m bawling my eyes out. I so wish I could be there to give him a hug and tell him just how much more he’s worth. Only, I couldn’t be much help because, as I said, I’m bawling my eyes out myself… That is NOT my Diana. Who’d have known the day I’d take Gilbert back in would be the day I’d lose Diana? But this is not about her. This is about how she made Jerry feel - wonderful, hard-working, smarter-than-he-is-given-credit-for Jerry who deserves absolutely no hurt. I knew the development of Derry was too good to last, but I did not expect the pain to come from within. I expected anything - society, their class difference, their families, even Diana’s higher education - to come between them, but never Diana’s behaviour to Jerry. Excuse me while I go throw pillows at my wall in rage and heartbreak.

“They can’t take your beauty away from you”… Umm, exuse me? All this happened because Josie was reduced to a “pretty face”. But you wouldn’t know. You weren’t there. She was, though, and she seems to finally realise just what was done to her. Please don’t let me be wrong in assuming that.

“I still like you”? Come again? What has happened that might reduce her likeability other than what you alone did to her? You’re an entitled effing brat, that’s what you are. And she owes you nothing. Good on Josie for finally realising her worth.

And you dare to just show up and act like nothing happened after what you did to Anne’s brother? If somebody treated my brother like this, I would make them pay. That much I know. I thought you would know better, Diana. “It doesn’t mean anything”… you better shut your mouth before you say anything else hurtful about the two people you’re alleged to love the most. walking on thin ice there, Miss Barry.

“Don’t you dare” No, don’t YOU dare! I was afraid Jerry would be just a temporary escape, a little adventure to Diana, but I shuddered to think it would be so anywhere beyond my anxiety-induced nightmares… and now there are some insulting words floating around in my head that I’m not directing at her just because I’m sure that, unlike Billy, she will redeem herself. I’m dying right here. I did not opt to miss my lectures to cry so much.

A real quote from my reaction to 3x5: “I live and would die for Anne and Diana’s friendship.” Well, now I feel like I AM dying - because this seems like the end of it. My brain knows it’s not, but my heart sides with Anne. And Jerry. I side with respect and equality. What side are you on, Diana?

“Just a suggestion. Not telling you what to do”… Gilbert seems genuinely a bit scared of her and I’m still dying - but now it’s of laughter. Gil has learnt his lesson and as of now deserves to be called Gil again… until further notice.

And the “rallying” that the episode description promised is in full force now. I’m finally smiling at this episode. It was high time.

Marilla stading up for Anne in front of the council and Matthew just smiling with pride is the golden content I had already lost all hope to see in this darkest of dark episodes… In Matthew We Trust!

In the name of all that is holy, I hope Moira’s deviations from the source material include the survival of both Matthew and Ruby. Seriously, source material, Matthew and Ruby? The biggest cinnamon rolls of them all? what’s next, Jerry? Delphine? No, forget I ever said that.

And now Josie joining in is just about the best thing I can hope to see before the hurricane of suffering this episode is comes to its end.

The “Not a Take Notice kind of guy” scene flashed through my mind when Gilbert said “Thanks for the suggestions”… this moment is so different, so much better… My Gil, Anne’s Gil, is back, and he’s making sure everyone knows it. You should see my face now.

The world needs more teachers - and women in general - like Miss Muriel Stacy.

Anne and Gil being aware of what exactly their relationship is like (Shouldn’t we be arguing about something…”) while not being sure what their relationship is like at all is… the most wonderful paradox I can think of right now. We’re getting a Shirbert kiss… in, like, season 6 or something, but it’s worth waiting for. Some slowburns should remain slowburns.

The spelling… oh gods, the spelling! #Shirbert

When Anne mentioned Winifred, I couldn’t help thinking of that time she mentioned Ruby… why do you do this to the guy, Anne? He’s trying to take a step forward, I can see that he really is.

Wait, what is happening? Why do they always make screens so dark, I can’t see what’s going on at all.

Oh no! When Miss Stacy mentioned the building spontaneously combusting, I didn’t think that was foreshadowing… but then, if I remember correctly, a fire was what made Anne and Ruby friends, so we never know - something good might come out of this. I hope so.

To sum up, in this episode we saw: Anne’s actions and their disastrous outcome; the town isn’t ready to accept the changes that are happening inevitably; Billy is an a**hole, Prissy is an icon - no surprises in either situation; Diana is not Diana; Josie doesn’t realise she’s a victim and has a voice; all the girls except Anne suffer from what we over at TV tropes call Aesop Amnesia about Beltane; Derry’s second kiss was nothing like the first one; Gilbert is BACK; Ruby is me; this is NOT MY DIANA; Anne finds out about Derry in the worst way imaginable; Jerry suffers and I want to kill someone because of it; the fall of Diana and what seems like, but is hopefully not, the death of Anne and Diana’s friendship; Josie realises her worth and puts Billy in his place; Gilbert is back like he’s never been gone; rallying and organised action at its best; In Matthew We Trust; Josie is back for the better; Shirbert knowing their relationship and not knowing it at the same time; Anne mentions another girl yet again - some people never learn; Miss Stacy unknowingly predicted the fire.

55 notes · View notes

wallacwest · 5 years

Photo

❌ —————— that might look like SEAN TEALE, but it’s really WALLY WEST/THE FLASH from EARTH-52. our records indicate that they are a TWENTY-NINE year old METAHUMAN using HE pronouns. unlike most HEROES, they are TRYING TO BE A SYMBOL OF HOPE which makes them perfect for THE JUSTICE LEAGUE AND THE TITANS.

basics —

NAME: wallace rudolph west ii

ALIAS: the flash

NICKNAMES: wally, kid flash (formerly), kid lantern (formerly)

AFFILIATION: the justice league, titans, flash family

SPECIES: metahuman

AGE: 29 years old

BIRTHPLACE: keystone city, kansas

CURRENT RESIDENCE: titans tower

OCCUPATION: mechanic for gotham city police department

HEIGHT: 6’0”

WEIGHT: 175 lbs

EYE COLOR: green

HAIR COLOR: red

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

MARITAL STATUS: single

PARENTS: rudolph ‘rudy’ west (father), mary west (mother)

CHILDREN: jai west (son, eight years old), iris ‘irey’ west ii (daughter, eight years old)

RELATIVES: iris west (aunt, legal guardian), barry allen (uncle), charlotte west (aunt), bart allen (second cousin), jenni ognats (second cousin), don allen (cousin), dawn allen (cousin)

BEST FRIENDS: dick grayson, hartley rathaway

origin —

wally west was born to rudolph and mary west in blue valley, nebraska. when he was a kid wally would often dream about becoming the flash. he was the president and only member of the blue valley flash fan club. his parents and his aunt charlotte thought that wally was setting himself up for failure. they would often talk down to him, dampening his dreams in hash ways. his father was manipulative, emotionally abusive, and punched wally on one occasion.

he was hurt that his parents didn’t have faith in him. rudy would often yell at wally, not caring if it was in front of the rest of their family. he did this at west reunion which sent wally running to his room in tears. someone familiar who was thought to be his uncle came up to visit him, encouraging wally not to give up on his dreams. this advise stuck with him in the years to come.

one summer when wally was ten years old his parents asked iris to take her nephew in, and she became his legal guardian from that day forward. wally always viewed his aunt as a best friend, getting more love from living with her for one day than he got in the last ten years with his parents.

she introduced him to barry allen, her boyfriend. barry introduces wally to his idol the flash — it was unknown at the time that barry was the flash. the boy asks him all sorts of questions, one of the major ones being about how he got his powers. it turns out that barry set up a chemical cabinet identical to the setup had been when the weather struck it for him. lightning ended up storming the cabinet, and bathing wally in the same chemicals that created the flash. wally got his abilities in the same way that barry did. after this is when barry told wally his secreted and gave the boy a suit of his own.

he became the first kid flash! wally goes on to become a founding member of the titans.

when wally becomes an adult he takes on the mantle of the flash. he’s the second one to wear the red suit. this is when he realizes that he was faster than his uncle too. he balances his time between the titans and the justice league, able to do the two responsibilities at once.

he has two children, who happen to be twins. they’re eight years old — jai and irey. they’ll be living in the tower with him. they’re also metahumans, being speed force conduits. his daughter uses her connection for speed similarly to what wally does. his son has a different use for the speed force, temporarily growing his muscles to give him superhuman strength.

his best friend is dick grayson who happens to be nightwing ever since they were little kids. wally would do anything for him which is a fact. his other best friend is hartley rathaway also known as pied piper. he’s one of the rogues, but they care about each other a lot. often hartley opens his eyes to circumstances that he wouldn’t have noticed on his own.

powers and abilities —

SPEED FORCE CONDUIT: wally is the fastest of all flashes. he is arguably the fastest person that has ever existed. he is currently fast enough to easily break all the barriers and even enter the speed force. wally has on several occasions — traveled much faster than light and entered and exited the speed force by his own volition. the flash is considered to be one of the most formidable and powerful metahumans on the planet.

SUPERHUMAN SPEED: wally west is by far the fastest being on the planet, according to max mercury he's the fastest man to have ever existed, making him one of the most powerful beings to exist. theoretically, speeds greater than Mach 10, are dangerous to both people and to the environment, but the speed force has shown that if needed, wally can use it to prevent such effects from occurring, hence why he is able to run at speeds much faster than light on the planet earth without it having devastating effects on the planet. he can also run across bodies of water and up the sides of buildings.

he is able to save and carry over half a million people 35 miles away from a nuclear warhead that had already detonated including the ones at ground zero in only .0001 microseconds (10 picoseconds, or 1/100,000,000,000th of 1 second) — a feat that would require moving 13 trillion times the speed of light.

SUPERHUMAN AGILITY: wally's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are heightened to levels greater than any human being. he is able to easily maneuver on falling debris and objects, while moving at super-speed.

SUPERHUMAN STAMINA: wally possesses vast superhuman endurance that is nearly inexhaustible. he was able to run non-stop for over 10 days straight without tiring once.

SUPERHUMAN REFLEXES: his reaction time is enhanced to levels far greater than any normal human being. he is able to easily perceive the movements of other speedsters, and react to danger and events

SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH: he is strong enough to lift 800lbs with no sign of physical strain, even while running with it. he has also been seen single-handedly reconstructing several ruined buildings, and moving heavy beams and girders into place. while rebuilding a bridge in 30 seconds, he carries heavy beams and girders one at a time, during the course of the construction.

AEROKINESIS: sometimes called “air manipulation", this ability represents an individual's ability to manipulate currents of air. by running in a circle at a certain speed, wally is able to create a vortex with a variety of effects.

DECELERATED AGING: along with every speedster that draws from the speed force, the loved ones of the speedsters will gain eternal youth.

DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL: has shown to be able to traverse dimensions with his own powers.

ELECTROKINESIS: wally's body generates large amounts of the electrical energy that he draws from the speed force. this lightning emanates off of him, especially when moving at superhuman speed.

ENERGY CONSTRUCT CREATION: he discovered if he concentrated, the speed force could be used to create solid constructs which he used to compose his costume. the first time he used this ability was to create a solid armor enabling him to run despite having broken legs. his costume itself is a construct molded from the speed force.

ENHANCED MENTAL PROCESS: mental abilities are also increased in speed, simple computations can be done at lightning speeds, and his ability to perform normal feats at increased speeds has allowed him to build hundreds of force field generators in a matter of minutes, move sandbags to cover a beach or search an entire area for something as small as a paper clip. wally can also read at super-speed.

MOLECULAR ACCELERATION: can vibrate his molecular structure at various levels to achieve various effects. if he chooses, wally can excite the molecules of whatever substance he vibrates through to critical mass causing it to explode.

INTANGIBILITY: can vibrate his molecules to achieve an intangible state. while in an intangible state, the flash is immune to any airborne viruses and can breathe regularly. he can also vibrate so fast that light does not reflect off him, rendering him invisible.

PHASING: has always possessed the ability to control his speed and angular momentum at the molecular level, and control his molecular interactions to allow his body to pass through any substance.

SPEED STEAL: able to absorb the speed and/or momentum from anyone or anything.

SPEED FORCE AURA: his body is surrounded by what he calls his “speed force aura". this aura protects him and anyone who is running with him or carried by him, from the effects of using his speed. wally can sync his aura with his children, giving him the ability to pull either of them to him with a thought.

SPEED FORCE EMPATHY: can sense when another speed force conduit is troubled, and can be drawn to the location of that speedster.

SUPERHUMAN DURABILITY: wally's durability is heightened to immense levels. it protects him from injury from high-speed impacts such as punches he delivers and receives from his opponents.

TIME TRAVEL: has shown to be able to traverse time with his own powers, unlike the other speedsters. he can traverse along the time-stream to specific points as they become visible, much like watching a movie in fast forward or reverse. in order to time travel to different periods, he must exceed light speed, which he can easily and instantly do

REGENERATION: accelerating his healing while using the speed force to sustain him, wally could heal from any injury instantly.

HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT.

MULTILINGUALISM: can speak english and french.

MECHANICAL APTITUDE.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS.

#earth:introduction #ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ɢɪғᴛ. [ MUSE ]#abuse mention //

1 note · View note

chaoticquips · 6 years

Text

The Other Wally West

I heard you weren’t feeling too good @linklyshow !! Also it sucks to hear your tablet died (This is based from that Coraline AU I was talking about a while ago!)

It’s strangely warm on the roof.

He likes to come out here when he’s at home- at home-home, but... Well. He’s sort of trapped at the moment and he isn’t sure how he feels about it yet.

“Always a catch, huh?” He thumbs the head of the buttoned-eyed ferret from his bedroom and it wiggles a bit in his hands. It doesn’t move after that, as still and lifeless as it looks. A sigh pulls his face into a frown.

The buttons unnerve him. Just... Wally’s always liked his eyes. His mother (his real mother) told them they were his best feature (despite the many science awards proudly lining his bedroom shelves). They were the first thing people commented on other than his flaming hair, they were what made him... Wally, almost.

He’s stared into too many mirrors with puffed, red eyes surrounding that patented West green that it almost feels like cheating to just get rid of them. To just forget the past and the present and the pain so easily. And the way They looked, so eager and hungry after dinner for him to say yes, it...

It unnerved him just a little too much. He went to bed earlier than he ever had before (and without dinner, of all things!) and woke up stiff, unsettled, and still here.

So he climbed onto the roof in the dead of night. It should have been cold enough to warrant his sweater but instead the entire world was warm and foggy. Just humid enough that it felt as if he reached out to grab it, it would melt through his fingers like ice cream on a hot sidewalk. Or maybe it was just his nerves making his fingers feel a little jittery, his palms a little sweaty.

He puts the ferret down, where it waits still as a board at his side, as he chucks off the stifling pajama shirt he was wearing. He barely feels a difference. Running a hand through his sweaty hair, he figures he should cut it soon.

A sharp, sweet wolf whistle flies through the air. Wally whips around to see the Other Neighbor Boy, who he’d dubbed Robin. The real version of the boy decided against telling Wally his name at all, always diverting the question or laughing it off like it was some sort of big joke. Whatever. He whistled and twittered like a robin in this world anyway, so it seemed fitting enough.

“Need something?” Robin grinned like a feline and worked his way nimbly to the other boy from the other side of the roof. He plopped down next to him, button eyes glinting slightly in the moonlight.

“...Yes?” Robin simply reached over with one of his fucking weird noiseless giggles and dragged a finger across Wally’s pectoral, only to flinch back like he’d been burned with a coy smile on his face. Wally flushed, neck turning red along with his face.

“Oh, hah hah, very funny.” Wally reached to pull his shirt back on only to find it missing. Turning back showed Robin dangling it in his fingers over the roof edge. “...Um. Dude, can I have my shirt back?”

Robin drops it off the roof. Wally doesn’t even want to think about weird, magical doll people right now, let alone have one blatantly hit on him while it looks like that kinda cute neighbor boy.

On the other hand, there is the implication that, hypothetically, it’s acting off base personality and its doing what the other boy, hypothetically, would do under the same circumstances, but-

“Jokes on you, I hated it anyway.” But based off their earlier interactions, he’s not so sure. This world was apparently made to his tastes, maybe he just wants someone to be interested in him. Maybe this isn’t really... anything at all. It’s just what he wants from him.

Robin sits close to him, letting their thighs touch. He shoots him a frown and Robin tilts his head inquisitively.

“I came out here to be away from you all. Why don’t you just go already?” Wally’s blocking the window from where he’s sitting, as Robin literally points out to him.

“Well, figure something else out! You’re supposed to be smart, right? Why don’t you, I don’t know, jump off the roof or something?” Robin shrugs, standing up and perching on the edge of the roof. In the brief second he has, Wally panics.

“Wait! I didn’t mean literally-!” But Robin is already flipping off with a wide mouth open in a grin. He’d probably be whooping and hollering if he had a voice to do so with. Wally scrambles to look over the edge and is met face to face with shiny black buttons. “Gah!”

He reels back as a single, illuminated daisy is thrust into his chest, falling on his butt. He lets out a groan and flops over the rest of the way so he can look up at the night sky. He’d forgotten there was a tree right underneath his room with big, gnarly branches that could easily break someone’s fall.

Oh, and that this whole world is a fabricated mess of magic. Nobody is really supposed to die here, considering it’s supposed to be his happy place. Duh.

He lifts his head up to look at Robin, who’s watching him, hand to his mouth, and shaking with silent giggles from the roof ledge.

“Is this a joke to you?” He drops his head without bothering to look at the other boy’s- doll’s- reaction and sighs again. “Does it even matter, anyway?” He mumbles.The flower’s stem feels odd as he rolls it in his fingers. He closes his eyes and listens to the rustles of clothing, of Robin moving to lay down next to him. He feels a body, but no warmth.

It’s quiet. Wally never did well with quiet for very long. So he turns his head to the side and sees Robin laying half a foot away, petting his ferret almost absently on his chest.

“...Did it hurt?” Wally whispers. It almost feels taboo to ask, like he isn’t supposed to really question the inner workings of this world, but Wally is a scientist through and through. He can’t help it. Robin only looks at him curiously again. “Your voice. You never answered me earlier, did it... did it hurt you, when they took out your voice?”

Robin stares at him.

“Did... does anything here matter at all? I mean, why should I go back home?” And there he goes, set off by one question he’s thought too much about that brings up the others. “It’s not like my parents really care that, you know, that I’m even here at all!” He sits up, suddenly angry.

“Hell, they didn’t even try to listen to me about this place, they thought it was such a joke. Like I was-! ...Maybe I should just sew buttons into my eyes and be done with people who don’t even care about what I do.” There’s nothing to stop him, so he keeps going. Robin sits up and lets the ferret run off him.

“Would anybody even care if I just dropped off the face of the planet to live the rest of my life in a magical doll house?! Would, would it even matter if, I just-” He pulls his knees to his chest and hides his face.

“I’m just... I’m just stupid ol’ Wally West. I’m not nearly special enough to warrant this kind of attention, I just-” He chokes back a sniffle but can’t help the tears that start to fall down his face. “I just, I... I want to say yes so badly. But I can’t! I can’t because there’s something wrong and something is always wrong, but I just can’t let it go this time because,” He sniffs, “Because it feels really wrong and I, I’m so fucking scared, why am I scared-?” He stops before his voice starts to turn into that embarrassing whine he slips into when he’s truly upset and lets himself shut down for a minute. Sobbing quietly into his arms, he feels Robin shift closer. A hand on his back.

“God,” A rough whisper, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this! You can’t answer me, you can’t even talk-” He pulls at his hair and whips around to face the other boy and grip his shoulders. “I don’t even know your real name!”

Robin stares at him. Wally stares back and feels something shift in his stomach. It...feels different this time, the way Robin’s looking at him. He looks more like the neighbor boy in the real world in this moment than the silly, playful doll that was supposed to be Wally’s cute escort around this world. Such a serious expression on him has Wally trying to swallow his snot and ask, “What?”

A gloved hand reaches out to wipe away tears before taking both of his cheeks in his hands. Wally sighs and closes his eyes, letting more tears fall out when he realizes its just... trying to complete its overall objective. Be some sort of pseudo boyfriend and make him feel good. It doesn’t act on its own volition. why would it?

“Are you even real? Or are you just another figment of my imagination or something. Another cry for help that... that no one will ever hear.” He lets out a little huff of a laugh and looks to the side. “Hell, am I even real anymore? Am I dreaming? If I said yes... if I said yes, would anyone even remember me? Or would I just... disappear like I was never there at all?” He doesn’t know why he’s bothering. Its cold, button eyes just reflect bits of Wally’s face back to him. He can’t tell if there’s any sort of recognition at all. He looks dead to Wally.

Robin moves a hand to his thigh, still staring at him. Wally lets out a sudden snarl of frustration and shakes the other boy- doll’s- shoulders again.

“Say something! Just say something already! I want you to talk! Please! Just... Just be normal for a few minutes, ok? Stop trying to-” He feels Robin wiggling his fingers across his leg and he stifles a yelp when he goes into his pant’s pocket before pulling out-

“Hey! Give that back!” His polaroid of him and Uncle Barry at the STAR Labs Tech Museum, two birthdays ago. It very well could be the most valuable thing he owns.

“Would you just, stop it!” He makes a lunge for it, only to hit Robin’s body with his own chest when the doll doesn’t move. He acts like such a solid deadweight that it winds Wally slightly. Robin is keeping his arm back, holding the photo away from Wally, precariously dangling between two fingers.

“Why... why cant you just... stop being so fucking weird for a minute?!” He yells at him. Wally freezes.

“I... oh god, I didn’t mean that. I’m so sorry.” There’s almost a sad look on Robin’s face as he pushes Wally to sit back. He pulls Wally’s hand out and places the photo in it, facing Wally, before pointing to Barry.

“That’s Uncle Barry.” Wally mumbles, still embarrassed about yelling. “What about him?”

Robin points to it again, being careful that his gloves don’t scratch it, before leaning forward and putting his hand right where Wally’s heart was. It takes Wally a second.

“...Oh.” Of course Uncle Barry would miss him. Of course he- they would. Wally never felt anything less than pure elation when he got to spend a weekend at Aunt Iris’s house. They would notice and... Wally loves that about them. They care. They’d probably believe him if he told them about this world, but not in the way an adult cares about a little kid’s imaginary friend. They really would.

“Oh.” He whispers again, a fresh new batch of tears coming out of his eyes. If I had buttons, I don’t even think I’d be able to cry, he thinks to himself. He takes one last look at the wild, happy grins they have in the photo before looking back up to Robin who’s got his head tilted again with that stupidly cute smile that the real one has. “I think I understand what you mean, now. I’m, uh, I’m sorry I thought you were, uh-”

He’s cut off when Robin suddenly leans forward and presses a small peck to his cheek. He feels a flush on his neck again when he watches Robin look away shyly. He’d probably be blushing if he could, too. “Was that...?” There’s no answer, the other boy pointedly looking away from Wally and fiddling his hands with what has to be the cutest pout Wally has seen on anything before.

He puts the picture of Uncle Barry back into his pocket and is hit with the realization that even if he did want to go back home now, he has no idea how to get there because he woke up still here. He tells Robin so.

Robin stares at him.

Wally stares back, then lets a small little smile out. “Well, at least I’m stuck here with you. You’re not so bad, actually. I could get used to the whole not talking thing, I think, but maybe they could fix it so you could-”

Suddenly Robin’s face warps into a painful expression and he vigorously shakes his head no, ripping himself away from Wally to hide his face in his hands.

“Robin? What’s wrong?” He pulls Robin’s hands away from his face only to see the most distraught, warped look he’s seen on the doll before. He gasps softly and Robin pulls Wally’s hand to lay over his chest where his heart should be.

Right. Right, there’s something horribly wrong with this world and... and Robin was sent to look after and take care of him while he was here, after all. He would tell Wally if there was something wrong... wouldn’t he?

Unless he couldn’t.

“Robin?”

The boy pulls off his glove, shaking in strange, jerky manners like he was crying. He lets the sand and dust fall from his sleeve until the only thing left sticking out of his wrist is half a black key. He sniffs while Wally takes a closer look.

“The key! How did you get that from her? Wait, what am I saying, you’re such a sneaky little snitch I bet it wasn’t even a problem, huh?” The awful look on his face is replaced with a tiny, sad smile as he pushes his arm forward to Wally, who plucks the key from him. A bit of sand flicks out and scatters on the roof.

“I... Thank you. You didn’t have to do this, but... something’s not right here, isn’t it? If I stay... If I stay, something bad will happen to me, huh?”

Robin nods. He stands and shoves his glove back on his hand so the sand stops leaking out, but it looks mildly deformed now that its half full. He pulls Wally up and leads him back into the house, carefully creeping in the hallways and takes him to the tiny door that sits innocently in the sitting room.

They kneel in front of it. Robin reaches forward to open the door but Wally stops him by grabbing his wrist.

“Come with me. They... they’ll hurt you again.” Robin looks at him, eerily still before removing Wally’s hand. He unlocks the door and the draft that blows back into their faces has Wally shivering, wishing he had his shirt.

Footsteps on the ceiling makes them jump.

“Wally? It’s late, what are you doing, sweetie?” The voice comes from upstairs. Wally feels a cold shiver travel down his spine. They need to go, now.

“Come on!” He tugs at Robin but the boy stubbornly refuses to go. Robin sighs sadly, leaning forward to press one last kiss to Wally’s cheek. Wally takes the opportunity to hug him, and when he pulls away Robin roughly shoves him through the door. He takes off his deformed hand and tosses it over to Wally while sand rapidly escapes his arm.

“No, please-!” The last thing he sees is Robin’s sad smile before the door is slammed in his face. He can still hear the footsteps of his Other Mother coming, so he books it to the other side of the dark tunnel.

When he crawls back into his house in the middle of the night, he pulls on Robin’s glove that just barely fits his hand and takes a deep breath. His skin prickles.

It’s strangely cold in his house.

When Wally crawls back into the tunnel- fed, rested and prepared for war, you parent stealing bastards- he comes across a small pile of sand that has seeped in from underneath the door. Stomach sinking, he trails a finger through it and feels his breath hitch. When he opens up the door, there’s two things on the ground in front of him.

One empty, crumbled glove and two heeled feet.

“Welcome home, dear.”

#superheroes #dc #wally west #fics #my work #birdflash #i was watching coraline with my brother and??#it fit wally so well idk #in this au I have dick as wybie but he's much more aloof about who he is #always wearing sunglasses #never telling wally his name #mostly because he's a rich boy but yknow #no superheroes in this world unfortunately #wally and his family move out next to the wayne vacation home whoops #also wally lowkey gay for mysterious neighbor boy?#you bet your ass he is #he may only show up once in a blue moon but hell if he isn't cute about it #wally will deny the crush he has on dick but lets be real in like three years theyll be boyfriends

79 notes · View notes

intergalactic-zoo · 3 years

Link

I decided, apropos of nothing, to put on Joss Whedon's Zack Snyder's "Justice League" while doing some work today. I discussed the movie when it came out eleventy billion years ago, and thought it was fine. It's not good, but grading on the curve of every DCEU movie up to that point, it was a solid B-. Sitting in 2021, I remember bits and pieces of it—Steppenwolf looking like he stepped out of an XBox 360 cutscene, the decent cell phone video of Superman that was marred by the terrible attempt to CGI out Cavill's moustache, all the characters sounding like their rough counterparts in "The Avengers"—but not a lot of details.

Obviously the intervening years have altered my perspective on the film, both through the revelations about the behind-the-scenes racism and abuse and through the fanatical and also frequently abusive behavior of the fans clamoring for this version of the film, which absolutely definitely existed and was finished years ago and also needed an additional $70 million dollars and reshoots to complete.

That perspective has not been altered for the better.

Against my better judgment, I'm going to watch the Snyder Cut sometime, probably this weekend, so I figured it'd be good to see how it deviates from the theatrical release, like I did for the Lester and Donner cuts of "Superman II" so very long ago. I don't expect to enjoy either one; my feelings on the superhero movies of Zack Snyder are well-documented, and even under the best circumstances, four hours is too @#%*$! long for a superhero movie. But four hours of nihilistic spite dressed up in cinematic deepities and CGI with a sepia-toned overlay is unlikely to be the best of circumstances.

Will it be better than two hours of the extremely generic re-skinned "Avengers: Age of Ultron" that got released to theaters? There's only one way to find out!

Boy, the New 52-ass character designs in the DC logo opening sure didn't age well. When was Rebirth, like, the year before?

Pretty neat that it's got Mogo and Jessica Cruz in there, though.

That cell phone scene was a lot better in my memory. Like, the kids with a podcast are kind of charming, but I remembered it being a good Superman moment, when it's really just kind of nothing. Certainly not enough to justify the extremely bad CGI. And is the negative space on the S-shield supposed to look so gray?

Gotham City looks like the background of a Robert Rodriguez movie, but I actually like it here. It feels grimy and a little uncanny, the way Gotham should. A big building with "JANUS" on it in glowing letters and big coal chimneys out of Victorian London are what I want to see in Gotham, along with copious brooding gargoyles and enormous iron statues of Greek gods that you could drive a car on.

A building that is continually being robbed by either Two-Face or Maxie Zeus

"Batman Forever," for comparison

Ben Affleck's Batman rasp is at least as silly as Christian Bale's. Batman can just talk in a voice, my dudes. I watched bits of "Batman & Robin" and "Batman Forever" to track down the right screenshots, and it's so much better when Batman is a guy with a deep voice rather than a guy who sounds like he's gargling gravel and sand.

The crook asking "where does that leave us?" because Superman's dead is a little weird given that Superman was a public figure in this universe for literally a year and a half. In 2021, it's a bit like asking how we could go on if Billie Eilish died, except Billie Eilish hasn't, to my knowledge, ever been involved in a fight that leveled a major city.

The maudlin mourning sequence probably should have come before Batman backflipped over a snarling Kirby monster and "Mindhunter's" Holt McCallany hopped around on a rooftop, because I laughed out loud at the unhoused person's "I Tried" sign and I do not think that was the intended reaction.

And then the Leonard Cohen cover gives way to the Danny Elfman score, and it sounds like "Batman" '89 again. God, this movie really is a mess.

I appreciate Wonder Woman explaining her powers like she's in a Chris Claremont comic. How long until we get a superhero movie with a proper reference caption? I just want to see a box in "Into the Spider-Verse 2" that says "*It happened in Spectacular Spider-Man #206, True Believers!"

I really wish superhero movies could stop having the scene where superheroes talk about how stupid superheroes are. It feels so self-conscious. Just embrace the concept without being ashamed of it, please.

I also wish we could have dialogue less on the nose than everything Henry Allen says. He talks exclusively in clichés about movement—"running in circles," "standing still," "find your own path." We get it, he's talking to the Flash.

I keep forgetting that this movie is a fetch quest. It could have worked if we'd seen more than Themyscira before. This could be like that sequence in "Avengers: Endgame" where we go on a little memory tour of the previous films, but instead it's a return to Paradise Island, our first brief, boring glimpse of Atlantis, and a nuclear plant cooling tower. This is one of the problems with setting the "let's get the team together" movie before you've met most of the team or established most of the set pieces.

The boom tube effect is pretty good. It's a shame Steppenwolf looks so much like a character from a Zemeckis film. I do appreciate that Joss had enough restraint to avoid dropping "Magic Carpet Ride" or something when he showed up.

Fus roh dah!

Also, I realize the ship has largely sailed on this, but the Amazons are supposed to be an incredibly advanced society; maybe we could stop depicting them as exclusively armed with bronze-age weaponry.

You know, it's hard to see Lois Lane so...despondent? Demoralized? Even in the wake of Clark's death. Like, Lois was pretty weepy for a few issues of the comics after Superman died, but within two months she was accosting cops and breaking into Cadmus in a wetsuit and punching dudes in the teeth. Lois Lane is a stone cold badass, and the only film in this erstwhile trilogy that came close to understanding that was "Man of Steel."

The frustrating thing about the dialogue is just how obvious it is that Joss knows how to write exactly as many characters as are on the Avengers. Batman just sounds like Tony Stark, Wonder Woman banters like Black Widow until she needs to exposit like Thor, it's just so lazy.

And so is the backstory of the Mother Boxes. I actually really like the "all the races of man joined together with the gods and the Green Lanterns to repel Steppenwolf" angle, because it makes this idea of uniting as a League into a theme that you could build a movie around (that movie was "The Fellowship of the Ring"). Unfortunately, they do it by stripping the Mother Boxes of anything that made them interesting as a concept and turning Steppenwolf into a low-rent Thanos. Thanos is supposed to be a low-rent Darkseid, get it right.

I was going to rag on Bruce for comparing Flash's suit to "the space shuttle" in the present tense, when the space shuttle program ended six years before this movie came out, but I suppose Bruce Wayne is a cranky old guy in this movie, so it kind of works.

Man, poor Ray Fisher, in addition to everything else, having to read this warmed-over Bruce Banner dialogue.

Not gonna lie, hearing the Elfman Batman theme is pretty great. It's nice that Batman and Wonder Woman have really solid, recognizable motifs in the score, even if they had to reach back 30 years to find one for Batman. It's a shame the other characters don't get anything so clear and distinctive.

Casting J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon was a pretty good move.

Our first full glimpse of Cyborg is a bit uncomfortable. Up until this point, we've seen him in sweats, so seeing him without clothes...it's like that bit in "Cats" where Idris Elba takes off his coat and even though he's covered in CGI, you can't help but think "okay, he's naked now," a thought you only have because he was wearing clothes before.

Batman does his "disappear while Gordon has his back turned" bit, and it becomes a gag because only Flash is left behind. Except that we've seen that Flash perceives things at a higher speed than others, so why would he be caught off-guard? Wouldn't their disappearance have happened in basically slow-motion to him? Why did Wonder Woman and Cyborg disappear when Batman did? How did they know to do that? The only reason Flash is left behind is for the gag, because he's the comic relief character right now, but it would make more sense for literally either of the others to be the one in that position. It feels like a "kill your darlings" moment. Like, they decided that this gag was more important than making sense, when they could easily have done a different gag—like Flash noticing that Batman was leaving and stopping him in the middle.

The Nightcrawler is a bad idea. It doesn't really make sense as the thing Batman would bring to this fight with Steppenwolf, and it's loaded up with guns, which...come on, guys. It doesn't even get a clear enough spotlight to be properly toyetic.

If you needed any confirmation that Joss saw how much better Quicksilver was in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" than in "Age of Ultron," the Flash is here in this battle to make it obvious.

God, the "Flash is awkward about being on top of Wonder Woman" gag feels like it lasts a thousand years. It's like something out of a "Big Bang Theory" episode.

It physically pained me to hear crappy Steppenwolf quoting New Gods #1.

I know there's pathos to Cyborg's character, but, like, is this really the version that they thought people wanted to see? Is this just the Brooding League? I thought a part of the reason for bumping Cyborg up to the big League was to bring in people who love the version on "Teen Titans," but there's nothing of that character here.

On the other hand, they've sidestepped the modern problem of making Barry Allen act like Wally West by instead making Barry Allen act like Bart Allen with a head injury.

I really like Bruce Wayne in a vest.

There's so many things that would have made this movie better, but honestly? I think Superman should've stayed dead. Obviously I love the character, and I even love Cavill's performance, but a movie about a superhero community coming together and being inspired by Superman's example to be better—you know, the thing Batman says at the end of "Dawn of Justice"—would have been a lot better than a movie where two characters we just met dig up Superman's grave to MacGuffin him back to life. It still wouldn't make that much sense that Superman would have such a massive impact after just a year and a half of public superheroing (come on, Snyder, if you're going to do the Christ allegory, why not give him three years?), but it would have been a better way to showcase what the character means to this universe and to these characters.

This runs into something I said way back when I first saw "Man of Steel": You shouldn't make General Zod your first-movie villain. I've been comparing this film to "Age of Ultron" a lot, but I'm starting to realize that the entire DCEU—with the possible exception of "Wonder Woman"—is made up of the second movie in each character's respective franchises. Zod should have been the villain Superman faced after he was established, to raise doubts about the character's allegiances and present him with a seemingly impossible threat. Batman should have fought Superman after a movie where we established what Batman's deal is, how he got to be so angry and bitter. The Justice League should have faced an enemy too big to fight without Superman after the movie where a threat and Superman's legacy inspired them to unite together. Heck, even "Suicide Squad" would've been better if they'd saved the "one of our own is a traitor" plot for a sequel, where we might have some emotional attachment to some of the characters.

Boy, Barry Allen attempting a fist bump with Cyborg and then laughing off the rejection with the phrase "racially charged" hits real bad in the wake of Ray Fisher's discussion about the environment on-set.

One thing to appreciate about Cavill's Superman is how much he exemplifies the hairy-chested, dimple-chinned version that Dan Jurgens draws.

And Elfman works the John Williams theme into the score. The motif works well the first time, less so the second when he's trying to kill the Flash. Hitting it in a more minor key would have been nice. Again, it's a shame they had to go literally forty years back in time to find a recognizable Superman theme when there were two Superman movies leading up to this.

This fight between Superman and the League is bad and unnecessary, but the bit where Superman reacts to Flash in super-speed is well-done, marred only by the incredibly doofy look on Flash's face.

God, Cavill doing the gravel-voice, asking "Do you bleed?" might be the worst part of this movie. Although Lois Lane entering the plot for the first time in an hour so she can say "the sun's gettin' real low" to Superman is a close second. Why isn't she involved in the formation of the League? Why wasn't she a major character in this?

Batman's "something's definitely bleeding" comedy bit feels like something out of a View Askew movie, and not only because it's Ben Affleck.

Clark's discussion with Lois, "it's itchy," it's yet another jarring tone shift from what we saw immediately before. And the greenscreen work on the farm (reshoots, I expect) is somehow worse than the moustache removal.

The bit with Aquaman baring his soul because he's sitting on the Lasso of Truth is the closest one of the comedy bits in this has come to actually working for me.

And then, adding to the "Age of Ultron" comparisons, we're back to fighting an enemy in a small Eastern European nation. The red skies are a nice touch. The Batmobile's 50-caliber cannon and chainguns, less so.

Did...did the Flash just say "oh snap"?

And Aquaman saying "my man" to Cyborg with the exact same inflection as Bradley Cooper in "Get Out" is another one of those real uncomfortable moments.

And then Batman gets a laser gun, because why not?

Superman asking "how can I help" and then rushing off to save civilians is maybe the best moment for the character in the entire DCEU. It's also nice that Superman gets a moment to help more or less each character with their individual missions.

And then Wonder Woman drops the "I work with children" line, which is the best line Black Widow gets in this movie.

Cyborg gets his "booyah" moment, which feels forced but at least makes some sense with his character arc. Flash gets his fistbump. Not-Sokovia gets to be the setting for a Jeff Vandermeer novel, and the team gets their triumphant moment in the sun.

We're on to denouement, and Lois gets the closing narration, which is mostly fine. It would work better if she weren't basically a cameo in the movie. I do like that it ends on "look, up in the sky," and that Cavill finally gets a chance to do the shirt pull.

Except that's not the end. First we get the beginning-of-credits scene with the Superman/Flash race, which is cute but unnecessary. And then a truly awful cover of "Come Together" before the post-credits sequence where Lex Luthor meets up with Deathstroke and his truly ridiculous dye job.

In summary, Joss Whedon's Zack Snyder's "Justice League" is a bad movie. In fact, it's several bad movies stitched together into a shambling bad movie Frankenstein. And tomorrow I'm going to watch Zack Snyder's Zack Snyder's "Justice League: The Snyder Cut," which is getting surprisingly positive reviews. I do not expect to enjoy it, because I really don't think my problems with this movie will be fixed by making it broodier and longer, and my track record with enjoying Snyder's films is basically nonexistent. But I'm watching it, because I'm a glutton for punishment, and at least if I do it while I'm still on vacation from Twitter, I won't be tempted to join in the undoubtedly toxic discourse.

#IFTTT #Blogger #TheFortressOfSoliloquy

1 note · View note

pluviophile-bookworm · 4 years

Text

AWAE 1x1 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

After two months of laughing, crying and every emotion in between, but most of all massive clowning, season 3 is in the past. Now, instead of being all sad about the cancellation - which is temporary, mark my word - time to rewatch every episode starting from day one.

A lot of my reactions to season 1 will probably be “omg [insert young character’s name] was so tiny”. If you don’t like that, you’re welcome to block the tag #jnk watches awae; otherwise, feel free to come with me on this trip down AWAE memory lane.

Horse riding parallels were very much a thing in season 3, but now I see they go back all the way to season 1. The premiere episode starts with Matthew riding a horse I could not identify, and 3x1 starts with Anne riding Belle. They’re even riding in opposite directions - as if towards each other. What can I say, I love Anne and Matthew’s relationship and I just had to find something even from before Anne arrived.

Just as I remember, this episode (and most of the first season, really) is much darker and greyer than the later seasons - especially compared to season 3, where a dark frame signified something really dark was about to happen. I cannot help thinking this was not just because the first two seasons were filmed in winter and season 3 in summer. I think the dull, dark colours were emphasised on purpose to reflect the dullness of life in Avonlea before Anne arrived, as well as Anne’s own dark and difficult past and her fear of being treated the same as before once again. Am I looking too much into this? Yes. But AWAE is the kind of show that rarely, if ever, does anything by accident. So I’m probably on the right track.

The choice to start off the series with Marilla and Matthew inside their home instead of Rachel and her point of view, as the book did, is a nice foreshadowing of the series’ emphasis on family. I love it.

And, as the colours of the frame brighten for a second before going back to grey dullness, we get our first glimpse of Anne. Her face was ever so thin. Poor child has been through so much already... the whole situation just makes me think that her past combined with what her future holds is way too much. Way, way too much.

Seeing the terrible memory of the abusive environment she was only recently taken out of, I cannot properly express my gladness at the realisation that in season 3, the sound of a crying baby no longer triggers Anne. Yes, she’s been through an awful lot, but life in Avonlea as part of a loving family has done her good. You know, these observations and the knowledge of all the positive changes in future seasons make it easier for me to rewatch these very triggering scenes.

“I like imagining better than remembering” After all you’ve been through, of course you would. Who could blame you for that?

“Why are the worst memories the most insistent?” I’ve been asking myself the same thing for a long time now.

Oh Anne, you have no idea... [image credit: kissthemgoodbye]

As if to confirm my theory, the colours are much brighter once Anne arrives at the train station. But now I have another theory: what if this brightening reflects how Anne sees things? The hope, the potential for a better life in a new world...

“I can also imagine that I am already a disappointment to you” And she doesn’t even know they were expecting a boy... poor thing. This scene brings me to tears every time I think about it. And the whole period of time that Anne spends wondering if they’ll let her stay at Green Gables. I have no idea how I will endure watching that over again. But I set myself up for it and what got me through the first time is what will have to do it again this time - that is, the knowledge of what is to come.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Mr. Cuthbert” I bet this is the first time Matthew has had these words said to him. Great, now I’ve made myself cry. Could it be that this is when he knew there was no way he was bringing her back to her old life? Those bright little eyes telling you how happy they are to see you... I am surprised Marilla took as much convincing as she did.

“I’m so homely, nobody would ever want to marry me. Unless he was a foreign missionary.” First of all, no, you’re not. Second of all, I hereby give Gilbert Blythe his new nickname - the foreign missionary. It’s ironic to think that if post- season 3 Anne would remember saying that, she would definitely come to the same conclusion. I need a season 4 and a reference to this in it. #renewannewithane

Since this Rachel we see here is pre - 3x7 Rachel, I’m back to being annoyed at her every time she appears on screen.

“... or some French ruffian.” I know full well Jerry is French- Canadian, not French-from-France, and yet I can’t help finding this extremely ironic. Like, thank heavens your new hired boy is not French... so what if he was?

“Well, we’re not getting a girl.” Oh yes you are, Marilla, and you will love her like she’s your own daughter, as much as you try not to.

My theory is just confirming itself scene after scene. Both of my theories, really. When Anne and Matthew are riding along the White Way of Delight and past the Lake of Shining Waters, everything is bright and positively just as wonderful as Anne says it is. We’re seeing what Anne sees, the way she sees it. Also, at that point she’s thrilled at the prospect of living in Green Gables and she’s approaching it - so the scenery lights up. But it goes back to darkness as soon as she has another flashback of her past.

As Anne and Matthew enter Green Gables together for the first time, I’m having flashbacks of 3x9 - another Anne - Matthew parallel. I can’t help thinking of how vastly different the two situations are, especially with Anne wearing the very same clothes as Marilla (being an inalienable part of the family) and Matthew standing up to the people from the “White Man’s Burden” school (after years and years of barely speaking and never putting his foot down except for one thing - to keep Anne).

Poor little Anne - she just wanted to be called Cordelia or Penelope for a couple of days before going back to her old miserable life... but I guess one can be satisfied with Anne with an E if Anne with an E has the chance to stay at Green Gables. Plus, I myself have always liked the name Anne.

“Girls can do anything a boy can do, and more” Why, Anne was just as much of a feminist back in the day as she is in recent episodes. She really is “ahead by a century”.

Why would anyone ever imagine they’re in the depths of despair? Besides, I don’t think anyone who has never felt that way would have the ability to imagine it, even if their imagination was as great as Anne’s.

The Princess Cordelia scene reminds me an awful lot of the Beltane scene in season 3 and I’m not even sure why.

I cannot believe Marilla just threw that beautiful branch into the fire. I also cannot believe how much she has changed in the course of 3 seasons. I’m glad she has, but it pains me almost on a physical level to go back now.

“You can’t make up family, only kin is kin.” In a show that goes on to have such a strong emphasis on found family. We have started from the very bottom, indeed.

Anne’s opinion of Matthew is my opinion of Matthew. I live and would die for that man.

“Red-headed people can’t wear pink”? I have a few examples on my mind that prove otherwise.

Anne saying she would never have a chance to be a child breaks my heart... it doesn’t mean just that she thinks she’ll never be someone’s child. It also means she’s spent all her childhood growing up too fast. This poor child deserves all the happiness in the world.

I am terrified of dogs and this scene - the only one where we see a dog on screen, as far as I can remember, does not give me a single reason not to be. But I guess everyone in that scene is lucky that Anne’s nothing like me in that respect.

Even 1x1 Marilla is not cold-hearted enough to leave Anne with that awful woman and her poor babies.

“I aught not to decide on anything without consulting him.” Well, that is new for certain. I see we’re improving already.

Anne’s description of how she would pray makes me feel she’d make a very good pagan. The “come to me, Muse” in season 2 and the Belthane scene is season 3 are further proof of that for me.

I’ve always loved that “Eggs!” scene... and the fact that Anne expected to be introduced to all the chickens had she not introduced herself to them... she really is a friend to all living beings.

Carrots... I had forgotten Rachel was the first to call Anne’s hair that. It sounds totally different coming from her than from Gilbert, that’s for sure.

Anne’s reaction to Rachel is my reaction to Rachel in this scene. She cannot be blamed for reacting that way, and yet she’ll be forced to apologise. It just so happens that this is not her last time apologising for telling the truth.

Ah, I see we’re there. At that cliff, looking out at the great sea... in such terrible circumstances, though. There really are worse things than hurt feelings, and Anne has been through some of those, and yet she ends up in this place for the first time precisely because of hurt feelings. How poetic.

Anne’s apology has been a favourite of mine since I first read it in the book, and Amybeth’s delivery was absolutely splendid. But I have to say, Rachel did kind of redeem herself with that auburn hair story.

Oh my, Jerry is there. Now Anne will really go off again.

I can’t, I just can’t even! Look at my baby, he is so tiny. Little did I know back when I saw him first that he would grow on me so much. His first interaction with Anne, though... once again, we’ve truly started from the bottom. And to think we almost went back there in 3x10...

That little tug at Anne’s sleeve... and the callback to it in 3x8... I just love Matthew and Anne’s relationship.

Mr. Barry is there. Oh my, oh my. I see the Barrys’ opinion of Anne used to be no different than their opinion on Jerry. I still cannot understand why accepting her, but not him, would ever be ok.

I can’t even look. Those awful girls were... well, awful. I can’t even look at them.

My, Diana almost looks boring compared to her season 3 self. But it’s not her fault.

I’m going to cry... I just witnessed, for the second time, the birth of DiAnne.

The brooch storyline, however brief, is one of those that make me cry every time I even think of them... Marilla was way too harsh with Anne and she knows it now.

The end of this episode is a perfect reflection of the beginning... except the beginning was hopeful and the end is desperate. I’m a sucker for framing devices, but not like this, no.

To sum up, in this episode we saw: the arrival of Anne literally lights up Green Gables; Matthew Cuthbert puts his foot down for once in his life; dreadful scenes of Anne’s past; Rachel sticks her nose in other people’s business - no surprises there; Anne is a feminist since day one; Anne’s opinion of Matthew and Rachel is most of the fandom’s opinion of Matthew and Rachel; Anne and Jerry are off to a bad start, which will change soon; Anne and Diana are off to a good start, which will, unfortunately, also change soon; a brilliant framing device, the first of many.

#anne with an e #anne with an e season 1 #anne with an e s1 #awae #awae s1 #anne shirley cuthbert #diana barry #jerry baynard #marilla cuthbert #matthew cuthbert #rachel lynde #jnk watches awae #renew anne with an e #save anne with an e

34 notes · View notes