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adenei · 3 years

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Auror 99 - Chapter 9

Hey y’all! Sorry about the hiatus with this one. I’m so stoked to share that the inspiration is back and I’ll hopefully be back into this one to finish it out!

Slow State of Affairs

The next few days moved slowly. Despite various stakeouts and more research on the state of Vampire affairs in the United States, England, and Italy, they still had very little on Gerteso. He hadn’t been spotted at all entering MACUSA. It was starting to feel more and more like a wild goose chase than anything because they weren’t making any progress.

Hermione had taken to spending her free time reading Amy’s Harry Potter books. Amy had been kind enough to go back to her apartment and get the rest so that Hermione could see what Rita had written. Ron and Harry had no interest in reading them, so Hermione would just share how accurate they were, which was incredible. Hermione had become convinced that Rita had other unregistered Animagi working for her, and their sole job was to spy on Harry and gather as much possible information as they could.

“You read faster than me,” Amy had commented when Hermione had finished the first three books in two days. “Would now be a good time to tell you that there are also movies?” she asked hesitantly.

Hermione had just taken Goblet of Fire off of the table. She looked at Amy. “What? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Um...no. Should I not have said that? I thought you might want to watch them, too.” Hermione’s jaw dropped as Amy went on quickly. “They’re really not as good compared to the books! The screenwriters....they really changed a lot with the char- I mean, with you all. We don’t have to watch them if you don’t want-”

“Oh, we’re watching them. As soon as the guys get back from their stakeout today.”

“What’d I miss?” Rosa asked as she came in the door. She’d been at the station in a briefing with Captain Holt and Kingsley.

“Just making plans for the evening. Any news?” Hermione directed the conversation back to the case.

“Still nothing. Jake and Charles haven’t seen anything. Not sure what the other two are up to. Shouldn’t you be researching the case and not what some bitch wrote about your lives?” Rosa raised her eyebrow in question at Hermione.

“I’ve researched everything I possibly can. Until we get a trace on Gerteso, I won’t know any more than I already do.” It was true.

They knew Gerteso’s motive, they’d learned everything they could about how the vampires worked, even down to known hangouts and possible headquarters. But there’d been no movement to suggest anything was happening. So, Hermione had taken solace in the books.

Hermione continued to ponder Rosa’s words as she set the children’s book down, her mind wandering back to the case. Harry and Ron were staking out different vampire hangouts in an attempt to get more information on the Cryptic, while Jake and Charles manned the entrance to MACUSA. Could there be an angle they hadn’t yet taken in the attempts of making a breakthrough?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jake and Charles walked through the door with Chinese takeout in hand for the evening. “Anything new?” Amy asked them hopefully.

“Nada,” Charles said as Jake shook his head.

“Whoever this guy is, he must relish in taking his time.” Jake said in frustration.

“Well, if he’s taking his time, there has to be some reason for it,” Rosa added.

“But what is it? That’s what we can’t figure out,” Hermione thought out loud.

Continuously stumped over it, she shook her head and checked her watch. Harry and Ron should be back soon. As if on cue, her husband and best friend walked in the door with a simple shake of their heads. Once again, no luck.

Everyone sighed as they began tucking into the food. They were all tired and losing motivation. Something needed to give, and fast. In an effort to make conversation, Amy said, “So, Hermione and I are going to watch the Sorcerer’s Stone tonight. Maybe even Chamber of Secrets if it’s not too late.”

Harry and Ron both looked up. “What’s she mean ‘watch Sorcerer’s Stone?’ Hermione?” Ron was looking back and forth between Amy and his wife.

Hermione let out a deep sigh as Boyle said, “You didn’t know there are movies, too?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harry said.

“Bloody buggering hell,” Ron muttered.

“If you don’t want to watch it, I’m sure I could download the second Die Hard. There’s more than one TV here…” Jake suggested.

Harry and Ron thought about it. “We should probably watch it. At least we’re not watching ourselves...just watching people act like us.”

Amy looked excited, but also nervous. “I feel like I should warn you, as an avid fan, the books are MUCH better than the movies.”

“What d’you mean by that?” Ron asked.

“Well, the first few movies are a fairly good adaptation of the books, but as they go on, stuff gets left out or changed.”

“Wait, so it’s bad enough the story of my life is in a children’s series, then it was made into movies, and those movies don’t even do the books justice?” Harry said in dismay. “Can this get any worse?”

“Well, not really for you, no,” Boyle said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ron asked.

“You’ll see,” Charles immediately went back to his food. Ron looked at Amy for further clarification.

“The screenwriters changed some of the characters. But we may not even get to the later movies, so I wouldn’t worry about it,” Amy said quickly.

“Great,” Harry said.

They all finished their meal and cleaned up before settling in the living area for the movie. Harry and Ron gladly took a beer from Jake who was offering them up. Maybe alcohol would make the experience easier. They settled into the movie, and by the time they reached the end, Hermione had to admit that, all things considered, it wasn’t terrible. She didn’t speak at first, though. Instead, she waited for Harry and Ron’s reaction.

“Of all the stink people gave about my eyes growing up, they chose an actor who didn’t even have green eyes?” Harry finally said. Everyone burst into laughter at that, and the tension seemed to be released from the air.

“I suppose it was fairly close, all things considered,” Hermione acknowledged.

“Ron, were you really that much of a badass on the chess board?” Jake asked.

“I- yeah, I guess. They downplayed the injury, though,” Ron said as his ears turned pink.

“Well, it is a kid’s movie,” Rosa commented.

“How close was the depiction of Voldemort?” Amy asked eagerly.

“Er, pretty close. Quirrell really was the perfect host,” Harry told her. “And the turban was the perfect disguise to cover him up.”

“I always did wonder how well Voldemort breathed in that thing,” Ron said, as everyone chuckled and agreed.

The conversation had continued on about the various characters and how closely the characters did or didn’t match their real life counterpart. But Hermione had stopped listening. She was stuck on something that Harry had said. The word disguise kept playing over and over in her mind.

Suddenly, Hermione looked up at the rest of the group around the room. “That’s it!”

“What? Hermione, we might need to have a talk if Alan Rickman as Snape gets you off…” Ron joked.

“I- What?” Hermione looked at him. She didn’t let the confusion of his words bother her for very long, though. “Nevermind that. What if Gerteso is using a disguise to get in and out of MACUSA?”

“What makes you say that?” Jake asked.

“Well, you’ve been staking out the entrance every day. After the altercation in the alley, he’s bound to remember you! He’s been so secretive and getting away with things for so long. Of course he’s not moving around in the open, especially now that he knows we’re onto him! He must be disguising himself!”

Realization began to dawn on everyone. “You know, Hermione, you might just be onto something!” Harry said.

“And we’ve been spending all this time in underground vampire bars, when we should be watching MACUSA!” Ron said. “Hermione, you really are a genius!”

Hermione blushed at his words. Even after years of marriage, his praise always meant the world to her. Instead of thanking him though, she said, “Always the tone of surprise,” as she smiled at him.

It was always their ‘thing’ that they said to each other, though perhaps the whole world also knew, too. She’d have to make a note to check for that when she got to the seventh book. If Rita did have such close tabs on them, even during the hunt, she had to give her credit for not selling them out to Voldemort…

“...Earth to Hermione,” she heard Jake say, “So what do you suggest tomorrow’s plan be, then?”

“Oh..right, sorry. Well, Harry and Ron should probably go investigate in the wand records office tomorrow.”

“But we don’t know what we’re investigating,” Harry said. “It’s not like we know The Cryptic’s actual name.”

Hermione furrowed her brow as she thought about what Harry had said. He was right, but before she could work it out herself, Amy chimed in. “What if you don’t need to know his name? Is there a visitor log you can track?”

“Yes! There’s a general sign in at the lobby, and another more detailed one in the wand records office. They don’t typically let anyone in that office.” Hermione answered.

“So if Gerteso’s been there, we’ll have a way to see what he was looking for,” Boyle said.

“Or what he found!” Jake added.

“And if he hasn’t been yet, he’s still working out a plan to get what he’s looking for successfully,” said Rosa. “If that’s the case, we’ll be more prepared to catch him.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Hermione’s mind was in overdrive, formulating details for tomorrow. “Now, we plan.”

#hp fanfic #hp/b99 crossover #b99 #hp golden trio au

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jeanjauthor · 5 years

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“I am Ironman“

I was chatting with my sister just a little while ago. She finally got the chance to see Avengers: Endgame. And the things we discussed, I decided I wanted to share here.

In my honest opinion as a longtime reader and a professional storyteller...the opportunity to open and close a massive series with a perfect line is exceptionally rare.

It can be done, and it can be pulled off...but the impact of that one line when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) cannot be understated.

Especially since it was a throwaway line by Robert Downey Jr. A moment of improve, where he decides to look right into the camera aimed up at his face, and pronounce those infamous, famous three words, “I am Ironman.”

Yeah yeah, technically that came at the end of the first movie, not the beginning...but that moment, readers & writers, was the beginning of the MCU. The entire span of over 20 movies would not have done as well, would not have held our attention, if it weren’t for that bald-faced ego-stroking truth.

Most people would’ve lied. Most would’ve kept their secret identities a secret. But the way RDJr played Tony Stark...it wasn’t in his nature. It just was not in his nature to hide his light, to hide his self-confidence...to smother his arrogance. He HAD to do it.

Now personally, I didn’t always like the character of Tony Stark. There were several scenes where I wanted to smack him upside the head. But that’s admittedly a viewer’s reaction, a reader’s reaction. As a professional storyteller, the ups and downs of the character of Tony Stark were absolutely amazing. The PTSD was believable. The fact that RDJr kept touching the arm that kept consistently getting more and more injured throughout all the movies he was in...all of it was masterfully well-done.

Perfectly? No. No piece of art, no creation, is ever perfection itself. Especially not parsed out over so many different movies with so many different screenwriters & directors & producers & actors interacting with each other. But that’s the key. Robert Downey Jr. played a character that had glorious interactions with the other characters. The ego/pissing contest he had with Dr. Strange, the anguish when he reminded Cap that they were friends, too, the playful way he offered Bruce a blueberry out of a packet the actor had stashed on the set (again, more improv by RDJr)...

When one movie is made, it’s the work of everyone coming together to tell a story. Key grips, digital artists, foley fx artists, cinematographers, casting directors... The heaviest burden lies upon the shoulders of the scriptwriters, the actors who must bring that script to life (or add improvements), and the directors who make the final decision of what gets included and what gets cut.

The MCU took a throwaway line destined for the cutting room floor, completely off-script...and allowed the actor to make his portray of Ironman into a character so memorable, so unforgettable, that he made everyone else step up their game.

And best of all, the directors kept allowing it.

That offering of food from Tony Stark to Bruce Banner while in the lab? Beautifully done, but total improv. Hawkeye bitching about Quicksilver while trying to evacuate & defend the citizens of Sarkovia? Completely believable, but yet again, improv. Starlord nearly dropping the sphere holding one of the Infinity Stones? A genuine accident with a fantastic improv recovery of the actor’s fumble.

The little flinch of worry from Thor when Mjolnir moved ever so slightly when Cap jokingly tried to pick it up during the celebration party. Later on in another movie, Thor compliments Cap on his “Thor-like” beard choice. The lines, too, not just the acting. “I’ll do you one better! WHY is Gamora?” which is hilarious...and the utter flipside tear-jerker of “I don’t wanna go” in the same movie. And the whole silent post-credit scene of the Avengers eating shawarma (which is delicious, btw; I had some in Jerusalem) was riffed off of yet another improv moment from RDJr.

All of these improvs made the characters more human to audiences. More relatable. We’ve all fumbled a ball, whether in a sports game literally, or in an important moment at work figuratively, whatever. We’ve all been arrogant enough to proclaim who we think we are are when someone is expressing doubt about our abilities...and then had to live up to that boast. We’ve all said things with a straight face in the heat of a oment that in retrospect were absolutely hilarious...if we didn’t feel like dying from embarrasment.

But that first major improvised moment, that opened the door.

We all expected Ironman to keep his secret identity. Spider-Man always did. Superman always did. Batman always did (with the exception of a delightful bit of snark from Alfred from one of the Keaton movies)... We all expected Ironman to be no different in the end. We all expected “just another superhero movie”...

We got something different.

We got something that broke the trope-mold.

We got something new.

And though there are still a lot of problems with all of the movies, from Ironman to Endgame (such as the “Engaming of female characters” where if you can take virtually all scenes with women out of the movie and it still makes sense, you haven’t given those female character any truly empowered roles--not empowering, but empowered, because there’s a huge difference)...despite all of that, there were a lot of new ideas, new characterizations, new spins on everything.

That’s saying a lot, too, because Marvel & DC comic book characters get revamped so often, that it’s not always easy to find something new. But they did it. As I said above, making a move is a group effort. (Much like playing a tabletop roleplaying game.) With the directors & screenwriters & producers allowing others to bring extra material to the story (including that Make-A-Wish child’s request of Thor claiming the Hulk is a friend from work), it became so much greater than the sum of its originally scripted parts.

With all of that, the writers very wisely brought things full circle by paying homage to that throwaway line of just three words. Through those three little words, that arrogant but finally earned assertion...we got to ride along as RDJr’s Tony Stark brought that huge plot arc of improv-providing-relatability, that humanity in cinematic history, to a satisfying (if rather tear-filled) sense of satisfactory completion.

By the end of the arc...we still don’t always like Tony Stark. He makes choices out of fear and arrogance and everything else flawed within him that drives him...but by the end of the arc of all those movies...he wasn’t just boasting about being a superhero. He was a genuine superhero. He makes an iron-willed choice to end the battle as a man, and not merely an admittedly genius but arrogant little manchild.

...One more thing: In the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, they talk about how “anyone could wear the mask! You could wear the mask!” With Tony Stark’s Ironman Suits, we got not only Ironman, but War Machine, Spider-Man (Tom Holland’s version made me actually care about Spider-Man again, since I’d gotten burnt out on the previous plethora), Rescue (Pepper Potts in her own Ironman-esque armor), and more.

Robert Downey Jr. made us believe that we could wear that metal mask, too.

#avengers endgame spoilers

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thevisionmarvel · 5 years

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We need to talk about WandaVision.

or the alternative title: I will be inactive for a while, but before I go, I need to write about what I think will happen, not what I want to happen, but what they, according to the facts and history of the MCU, might do. also a rant about why Tom King’s Vision is the worst.

Ps: older version used a fan-made logo to do a visual study, I'm Sorry for the mistake, this is the problem with second-handed information, I saw being used It Multiple times, and assume It things, I'm really sorry for the mistake.

Showrunner and Writers

So right now, the only thing we know about the writers room of the show, is the showrunner, Jac Schaeffer, and Megan McDonnell, the write that confirmed writting for the series in a podcast. First kudos for the show having a woman as showrunner.

I don’t know much about McDonnell work, but was in this podcast that the twilight zone inspiration talk comes from, the host talks that she comes from this background of weird, twist, fantasy stories and how Wandavision seems a good fit , and she confirms that it is. see here in the wonderful post of the @officialstellaacosta, and all the praise to @those-celestial-bodies that found about it the podcast.

I know a lot more about Schaeffer’s work, even before Marvel, also it rubs me the wrong way, that marvel is using the same writer to all the females centric movies and shows ( She is one of the screenwriters of Captain Marvel, she is the one that pinned the story of the Black Widow movie), even after what happened with Nicole Perlman . It’s hard to talk about the Schaeffer’s work with Marvel because the only thing which premiered is Captain Marvel, and she was credited as a screenwriter really late, the movie has four screenwriters, the story of the movie is by other three people, so this is a lot of hands, to know what was written by her .

So if you want to know more about her, this older interview with the Blaclist is great, also it has a really insightful look of her own writting that is backed up with the movies that she likes and mentions as inspirations to her writting:

“ I love movies that tell regular stories about regular people but I have a hard time writing straight. It’s often flat. (…) I need a weird situation and then I try to put authentic characters having truthful reactions inside the weird. Also, the weird needs to be a commentary on something (..). The ideas I see through always begin with what if… “

She is also one of the writers of the new remake with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson , The Hustle, but I know her work from her debut work that she directed and wrote that it is TiMER (2009) is a indie rom-com with a really great idea, you know the post about clocks that rundowns until you met you soulmate, so the movie is about that, and find the mudane in this weird set-up, it’s a average niche small movie, has almost every beat of a rom-com that you are expecting, just really stumbles in the end, like drop the ball in themes about love, relationships that wanted to talk about it, also the end is really, boy it just undermine the theme of the movie and also really hurt the most important platonic relationship in the story, also the comedy is so cringy sometimes and has some talk about latinos, that it’s really low-key xenophobic. Hope that since then she had learn with this. The writting has some really good bits. I think that the movie is in Amazon Prime video.

So what this tell about WandaVision : is that with the type of writers attached to the project, the idea of putting Wanda and Vision in a mudane environment seems likely to be true, them and their powers being the point of abnormality in the story.

this leads to…

Comics (or me ranting about Tom King, a lot)

I never made a post just about Tom King’s Vision after launched because I always feels like chewing glass when I think about it , but this is me apologizing to you that is reading this post because of that, this will be more like a rant, so sorry, but I’ll try to be really on point “stretch fingers again”

So first we have to talk about the Story of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision, their stories always were more ground, with the two limited-series really with them dealing with relationships and family problems, this is one of the really good things of their stories, it’s this insane of idea of a witch and a android falling in love, and with the all B-movie, pulp ideas just as backgrounds to really human stories, and they did one of the things that comics most hate, they evolved, we saw them build a family life, they moved to the suburban, they married, they had kids. One moment that always stayed with me, it’s really fun but also encapsulate all this, it’s the moment that they open their home to peter parker to take photos of their house, because is tax season, it just a really mudane thing, but it’s something that it clicks, yeah she is a witch, he is a android but their are grown-ups starting a family, tax season is going to be a part of their life now and then their fight the bad of the week with the help of spider-man. Simple, Fun but with a underline theme and story as comics aimed at children should be.

And we know what happened, which is one of more poignants things that happened with them and one of the best metaphors of the worse human thing that can happen wiith a couple, losing their child, one becoming emotionally distant and other shutting down even the memory of them, and Marvel butchered it. (but this is another post)

But before we talk about the comic, I need to talk about Vision, every superhero has one panel that define who they are, think super-man flying, batman in the gotham landscape, captain america punching hitler, hawkeye falling of a building, spider-man hanging upside-down, iron-man with his hand blast, This to Vision, is him alone, crying after being accepted by the avengers, it is a moment of vulnerability, of pure emotion, he was created to destroy and now that he was accepted to protect, he cries. the tragedy of Vision is not that he is a android, and could he feel? it is that he feels, but is still learning what this is because he was created fully formed. and when he did, when the emotional reach super levels off having a healthy family dinamics, he was stripped of it, and had to regain bit by bit, just to lose again, the most horrible thing that marvel made to him is strip him of this. His creation by Ultron made him “emotional handicapped” for lack of a better term. It is like the most shakesperian super hero comics character, because he embodies the paradox of the media, no matter how much he grows emotionally, a new writer always is going to come click on the switch and send him back to the start of the journey.

Anyone that reads you know the wikipedia article of Vision can see that, at least in broad strokes, and the last of the writers is Tom King, and boy, did it show that he just didn’t care about the story of character, don’t get me wrong Tom King has talent, he is really a one note type of writer, but he play the note really well, ( his book, and all his comics just use the same theme, same set-up, and boy, he has a portraying woman problem), you know he is really good in the most broad branch in western fiction canon, “white man broading being/learn to be d*cks but having feeling about it S/A” and he bring good ideas, the execution is the problem”, the mental heatlh facilities for superheroes, genius idea, heroes in crisis not so much. the growth of the relationship between Batman and Selina, genius idea, the execution of the wedding terrible.

This wasn’t exactly what happened with Vision (2016) that he wrote, the pitch for the comic is spectacular, in his own words “Breaking Bad meets The Incredibles”, if I was the executive receving this pitch I would say yes and the execution is a well-made, well-paced psychologigal thriller, so why I am saying that just to think about it that I want to chew glass, because this pitch was broken in the first sentence of the treatment of the comic, This is not breaking bad ( to people that don’t know , breaking bad is a series that starts as a man doin it everything for his family, he starts trafficking drugs but we learn in seasons ahead that no, he is d*ck, alwasy been, just wanted an excuse to be bad), because he has Vision create his own wife and kids, and god , with everyone praising this series , I felt that i was alone, Vision created his WIFE, with the only purpose of being his wife. this is not breaking bad, this is straight villain territory since the start , HBO has a series about how fucked up this is.

Vision became this monster even before the comic even starts, as a fan of the character I hated it , but I read it because I said well it’s a new experience, it’s dark, seeing one or my favorites characters as a villain, but no things could get so much worse. Nobody pointed out the obvious, the despicable thing he did, I waited the whole book to when Virginia would stab Vision or disconnect every part of him,but it never came, he made even worse when he made Wanda gave her brainwaves and the idea of him making this. And in the last issue, Virginia fridged herself with the words saying that everyone she killed was to prevent of Vision doing it the same, to preventing him of become a monster to defend their family, and this is portrait as sad, because Vision save the world so many times, and Virginia saved one, killing herself to make Vision not a monster. And now I am screaming “HE IS THE MONSTER, YOU ARE THE VICTIM, STOP BLAMING YOURSELF”.

And you know what? this won the fucking Eisner of Limited Series, I saw people saying that Vision became one of their favorite characters after the series, the one time that Vsion is a fucking terrible villain, he is held as like poor vision always trying to be normal, see he created a family, it didn’t work out because her wife didn’t want to him become a monster, so she become one herself”. Like I said, he has a problem with portraing women This is the Carol and Markus situation again, bit by bit, this is not a story that fit the character of Vision, he would never do this. and worse, everyone embrace it as a new take of the charater see this “Tom King has reinvented Vision from a non-feeling hopeful-human into a deeply tragic character” I had to read this, multiple times.the only new take that he brought is turning Vision in a rapist monster, and not even adressing it, I say this because this is something that no character can walk away from it, he molded the charaters to be in a story that didn’t fit them.

But Marvel and everyone tried , even me, pretend that this didn’t happen but Viv still exists. Vision entered a new part of his story, being a father, healing.

What does this have to do with Wandavision?

Well, one of the most thing that people say about it , it is that his run will be a influence in the series. So let’s start with the facts, this is the most recogniize work with the character in years, in decades really, (without counting the Chelsea Cain story that was canned before even start, but this made more news about how the industry of comics work that about the story itself) it won a Eisner, and Feige like famous storylines, so yeah, it a possibility, and Elizabeth said that are many comics that they are pulling from.

The story of living in a suburb, like i said before, this is not something that Tom King invented, The Vision and the Scarlet Witch made this decades before him.

Being a psychological thriller, see this I see being pulled right off his run. but it also made me think, most nothing in this shit-show of comics would work in the MCU, so it mosst of a genre type of thing that Feige would take from it.

Also, I saw people saying with some tweets that King made, that he could be in someway be involved in the series. I’ll try to explain how this work, even if Marvel wanted to do an exact re-creation of his run, how things are made, they could do, because Vision and every story made with him is property of Marvel, They are not required to tell anything to him. Jim Starlin has this famous story about how he had to pay to watch the first avengers, even if he is the creator of Thanos, well Marvel became more “generous” with some creators , Starlin even has a cameo in Endgame, but they are just required to credited you, if they used some character that you created, so in King case, they would be required to put his name, just if they would used viv,vic or virginia. It’s not fair, but this is how it works.

Do this mean that I’m saying that King is not involved? No, just saying that even if he is in the credits, as a “good action” by Marvel, this doesn’t mean that he nas any insight in the series, he could maybe be invited as a consultant to the writers’s room , to present himself his comic , but nothing besides that.

But the tweets about a secret TV thing? well by the dates of the tweets, yes he could being talk about some stuff about the series, but is more likely he is talking about this other project that he is making to TV, because in this dates, the show would even have a showrunner yet. (off note: Dude, but what a problematic plot to a series)

Can I be wrong? Yes, but Marvel would never get some writer without any experience in writting movie/TV scripts, not now, and with this commitment with other TV project, not happening it.

for lack of a better term, Marvel : Phase Four. (when we talk about Feige, businness, contracts, etc.)

This would be so much easier if we woud still on the phase three, but this is new territory, we don’t know what the future that Feige and the Disney wants to the MCU, but it has to go smaller, because they have to give space to “breath” after something so big as Endgame, if this was a roller coaster, phase four will start with a descent, the next movie (100% MCU) will just come in 2020. and now with the series, the scope will branch more, and Marvel is a big corporation, that is own by a even bigger corporation, so we can’t never forget the business side of things when trying to discuss where they headed. So the series, mostly were a business decision, Disney+ is comming late in the game of streamings and they used the biggest brands to throw a knockout, but the movies will always be the flagship of the MCU, so we work with two possibilities: first, that this talk about the series afffecting the movies is salesman talk and if this happen is slighty details or cameos or it is true and MCU will work with a more branched continuity.

the first one, my cynical side still think that they will going to do this, but my rational side think is more unlikely because they will be minisseries and Kevin Feige is producing them, everything we know about the Loki series fits with this version, just taking one character from the movies and isolating him in a series. How it was done before with AOS and Agent Carter.

The second one is a little more complicated, because then the series will mostly work as characters pieces, but nothing too big can happen in them, because if these characters will jump from TV back to the movies, if something has happened in TV, will have to be something that can explained in a quick dialogue in the movie, or this characters will just appears in the movies in the big fights (example: the people that were dusted just showing up to fight in the end) because no matter how bigger audience this series will have, the movies will be made to a audience even bigger.

But just because something is a businness decision, doesn’t mean that there is no motive in the narrative decision, (because if we stop to think, as a corporation every decision made by Feige and Marvel is a businness decision, buy you know what I mean). As in Endgame, Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers have ends that work with the narrative, but it’s not coincidence that between the two, the one with the bigger pay-check is the one that died and the other has an end which allows the easily return.

Also contracts is another clue that we have: see this article . The contracts for the TV Shows don’t negate the contracts for the movies, besides the burocracy that new contracts would definitively been made, because is two different medias, that they didn’t tried to surpass the old one, show that Marvel wants the option to still use the characters without renegotiating a new one. Elizabeth and Paul made their multiple movies deals in the end of the phase two, also known as the moment that Marvel noticed the “money problem” with shorter contracts , so I would say that they still has at least one more movie.. and Marvel is mantaining the upper-hand with this new Tv contract while still holding movies in the old movie contract.

So why Marvel would do that, if the didn’t want to use the characters again? Maybe to keep a safe net, to have the characters at hand but without having to worry of the actors getting very expensive pay-checks.

But maybe, is also has a narrative motive to do this , now I am back to the question that phase four is the calm between storms , the big shake it up that is coming and we know it it is the mutants and FF being in the MCU , but Feige said this is just comming in Phase Five ( I find this really sad, because then he loses the oportunity to use in Avengers Five, the roman numeral as Avengers V X-Men, now he just have to used it the X of X-men). I don’t have a solid opinion besides they are holding the actors to something.

Why? Feige is known by having famous storylines as just a base to the movies, remember when I said it in the comics parts, that every super-hero has a panel that define who they are, every fan hates it the one that Wanda has, is one of those moments that no character can overcome it unscarred, it also is connected to the dissassemble of the Avengers, and the original decimation (of mutants). and Feige after Dr. Strange, started saying that Wanda uses magic, maybe just to keep sinergy on brand, but he pointed out that she used it more chaotic, also don’t explain why every user of magic, use the gold one, and green one if is Loki, but she uses the red one.

But Feige had a problem if he is doing the ground work for this, they made Wanda suffers a lot already, because she already lost it the brother, she had to lose it Vision in Infinity War to Edgame to Happen, so how to set it up this, but in a way that it can work if you want to use it in the future , but without seems that it’s comming from nothing, you need time , more time that one movie has, you know what I’m saying it,

They using Wanda as literally as a time-bomb and using the series to set it up. and i hate this because it can works both ways, make the series, about she learning more about the powers and bring back Vision , blow it up in her face, boom here is the set it up, that can be explained it really fast in a movie, ends in a happy note, in the movie, they just need explain well she was happy and then boom tragedy is a no win situation.

Also last businness tihings, how these series are being made it really show that it’s more about Marvel with the ideas, because most of the series already existed as a concept even before the showrunners became involve, and in Wandavision in particular, she don’t have experience as a showrunner, but the marvel machine works very well, so I not so much worried about that.

The Concept Art

So we just have the description about the art, but just say it that they are using 50′s type of Clothes. No, I don’t believe, they use time travel, but it’s more a asthetic choice, because the image of suburb that we have is still predominantly of the 50′s, white fence, big house, so this other thing to contrast with them, they stand out.

Conclusion

So with this information, I can predict that the series will focus really on Wanda, and her powers, it will be in the suburbs with a 50′s asthethics, it will be more The Scarlet Witch and The Vision than Tom King’s Vision, but changing the melodrama and conecting the B-Movies threats of the first to a more sophisticated but soft psychological thriller of the latter, but still with a romance in the mix. and that Wanda will be back in the movies after the series. This are the things that I see the MCU doing it, not what I wanted them to do it.

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calzonekestis · 5 years

Text

My Endgame thoughts in 3,160 words and 17,025 characters. Under a cut. Spoilers, obviously.

Really. Truly. The whole thing.

Well. I texted a friend as soon as I got out, and I told him “that was a very good movie peppered with lots of shit that I didn’t care for at all.”

I don’t know what I think about it. If it was good or bad. If I like it or not.

If you read spoilers but didn’t see it, and we’re mad, I get that. I was mad too. I wrote most of this last night, and I’ve had to go back and amend it.

Also, please check your Tony vs Steve bs at the door. I like them both to varying degrees. That said I take issue with Steve’s choices and characterization at the end. We’ll get to that.

The Tony fans at least can say their boy saved the universe. They’re going to be mad still, but at least he went out in the best way possible if he had to die. Which he didn’t, but... we’ll get to that too.

The people who will be mad the most? Cap fans. Sharon Carter fans. Black Widow fans. Thor fans. Iron Man fans, probably, won’t be mad so much as sad. Actually, no, mad, because they probably wanted a happy ending for him.

So yeah. Is it “bad” if it makes so many people mad? Or are they just choices they didn’t like? For me, there was a lot of that. There was also a bit of characterization I didn’t like.

I’ll say this though, because the Steve thing that has everyone mad? I’m mad too, but per their time travel rules?

Steve didn’t erase Peggy’s family. They still exist in our timeline. Steve created a new timeline for himself to go live in. We don’t know if he stopped HYDRA and saved Bucky in that one, but I mean, we can assume.

So everyone complaining that he let all that shit happen? No he didn’t. This is an alternate reality he’s living in now.

If we go by what they established about changing the past not affecting the present.

But then we have Joe Biden Steve at the end, so... unless that’s a Joe Biden Steve who went from his timeline back to ours once he grew old. Not a Steve that existed and lived in the past of our current timeline. Then it actually works without contradicting their own time travel rules.

IMO... they ignored/ruined his character arc... but due to their aforementioned time travel rules, Steve going to the past wouldn’t affect that the present that he’s leaving.

So he COULD stop HYDRA, find Bucky, prevent Howard’s death, warn Hank and Janet about the missile.

That would all be an alternate timeline though, and our Bucky would still be the Winter Soldier.

So yeah, they contradict themselves... and completely fuck over Sharon Carter in the process. You know Steve didn’t tell Sam who his wife was, because he didn’t want him to tell Sharon that after kissing her he went back to marry her Aunt thus creating an alternate timeline to live in.

That’s the present being affected by him going back in time. Your time travel rules suck, Marvel.

So the children and family Peggy had? They still exist in our timeline, but not the timeline Steve created. The reality Steve created.

Okay so they don’t explain it, so this is just me trying to make sense of it myself. They say changing the past doesn’t change the present you left from, so unless Bruce was wrong and they’re contradicting their own rules Old Steve can’t have been actually out there all this time.

So I guess even though he didn’t show up in the gear and with the time machine when we see him, he did earlier, and just went to wait by the lake with the shield to be all dramatic? He probably waited to return until his Peggy died, and then he returned at some random point maybe like a day before they planned to send him back. He knew they would be there, so he just waited in his old man clothes.

That’s all I can think of.

So retroactively?

They had Steve kiss his wife’s alternate reality niece. I like Sharon Carter in the comics, I like what little they did with her on film.

They did her so dirty in the MCU, in the comics Peggy is almost a footnote and just part of his backstory. Sharon is Steve’s true love. Whether you ship them or not, they made Peggy out to be a bigger deal than she is in the source material.

I’m not here for pitting women against each other, but... God, the only woman the MCU has done dirtier is Betty Ross. Who should have been there with her dad at the funeral. Acknowledge her existence, Marvel. Yes they’re estranged, but maybe say having her die made Ross stop being such a dickhead and realize what really mattered.

Calling Peggy the love of his life is bullshit. Yeah, he had a date. Had. He never made it, due to being frozen. I don’t agree that they loved each other, tbh. I saw someone say they each had an idealistic, at times unhealthy attachment... but not love. Frankly? That’s not wrong. They liked each other. It never developed into love. Not in the timeline/reality we followed for the past ten years.

If this was their plan all along, then why did they introduce Sharon as a potential love interest?

Peggy is his past, Sharon is his future. The Lana Lang and the Lois Lane, respectively.

They didn’t plan this. It’s clear by how sloppy it is. It’s just so haphazard and insulting to all the characters involved, and yet Evans seems to be on board with it which disappoints but doesn’t surprise me.

Sharon didn’t have much screentime in the MCU, but every moment she had was important to the plot. She was one of the only agents that questioned Pierce’s orders. She held Rumlow at gunpoint even though the odds were against her. She let Steve know where Bucky was. She gave he and Sam back their gear. A lot of her scenes in Civil War got cut, and she got screwed by making it an Avengers movie instead of a proper Cap film.

She also got screwed by fandom. People acted like known like fucking toddlers, all because she was getting in the way of popular ships. Emily Van Camp was terribly harassed online, people calling her Steve’s beard or that it was icky and gross. Evans even said it was icky, which wasn’t that supportive of him... and then...

I liked Peggy in The First Avenger, but Hayley Atwell’s lowkey/high key narcissism is known within fandom circles, how she turned on Emily Van Camp and Sharon as a whole and threw shade at cons and on twitter and such. That left a bad taste in my mouth where I no longer care for the character at this point.

And they complete ignore/regress Cap’s arc of moving on. The fact he’s not the same man who went into the ice which is something even Whedon realized and addressed when he had him snap himself out of his Scarlet Witch!Vision.

The line from TWS they sampled for the trailer about the world changing and none of them can go back?

That was a lie. What’s ridiculous is that is the same exact directors, same exact screenwriters?

“Some people move on, but not us?” Well in that regard he had, so fuck that.

Speaking of regression, Thor’s?

I’m of two minds. He had depression and PTSD, but in my opinion, that’s end result wasn’t what Thor’s end result would be. He probably felt like he failed his people, but Jesus Christ, turning him into the Big Lebowski... fat jokes...

He becomes king, half his people are slaughtered and then and then he just... abandons the rest? To drink and watch his friends play video games? That’s sad. I think Thor would have felt like he failed and be hurting, but still try to do his best for the people who were left and still needed him? Instead of letting Valkyrie do it and the at the end to officially giving her the burden of ruling and fucking off into space?

And then at the end, he *officially* throws the burden of ruling in Valkyrie’s hands. Not that she isn’t capable, but it isn’t and shouldn’t be her responsibility.

“He’s being who he is, not who he’s supposed to be.”

That would be nice if it didn’t invalidate his arc. He didn’t want to be king at the end of Thor: The Dark World either, but at the end of Ragnarok he accepted it and was at peace with it.

Also, he didn’t need the hammer. Ragnarok made that clear. I’m glad Steve took it back with the stones, and I know it was more Thor needing to know if he was still worthy after becoming Big Lebowski... but it wasn’t needed. They just wanted Cap to wield it, and for them to have something else blunt to hit Thanos with.

This is the easiest money Natalie Portman made in her life. I feel bad for my friend who is a big Jane fan, as it’s literally maybe 15 seconds.

Nice to see Pierce, Sitwell, and Rumlow/Crossbones back, even if it’s only for a flashback and they’re all still dead in our reality. Or it would be, if it didn’t make the latter two out to be dumb. I mean, Rumlow isn’t a genius but he’s not just a dumb meathead. He wouldn’t just hand over the tesseract, he’d bring Cap to his superiors to ask “yeah hey what the fuck?”

Also, having Cap say Hail HYDRA is just... gross.

...Alternate timeline/reality Loki has the tesseract. I guess he’s the one the Disney+ series is going to follow. He’s wiped of all his development, though.

Vision is still dead. I guess maybe Shuri will rebuild him? Or it will take place between Civil War and Infinity War

So Guardians 3 is going to be about finding the alternate timeline Gamora who is now stuck in this one, huh? And I guess Thor is now a Guardian, or he’ll leave them between movies?

The alternate Nebula, I’m torn on. I think they could have gotten through to her, and she would be willing to team up with him. and would be willing to team up with them to kill Thanos. She never told him where the Soul Stone was. I mean, that’s why she aligned herself with Ronan. To kill Thanos. She hates Thanos.

Her wanting to make him proud and earn his favor despite what he did to her is heartbreaking on one hand, but the loyalty, when it’s been shown she’ll be disloyal and desert him if someone promises to kill him... idk. Btw.

Nebula should have gotten to kill Thanos. I don’t care that Iron Man started and is their poster boy. I’m sorry Tony fans. She deserved it more than he did.

Something else I’m curious about... was Peter Parker’s entire class killed? Not just Ned, the whole class. MJ, Flash, etc.? Because his entire supporting cast doesn’t seem to have aged at all in the Far From Home previews.

Also you’re telling me that in those five years, May never confronted Tony? Or if she did, we never saw it? Boo.

Oh, another dumb thing. Banner. Hulk. Professor Hulk. We don’t see how Banner made peace with the Hulk and became Professor Hulk, that all happens offscreen which is so cheap. He’s also just annoying throughout the whole film, and treated as comic relief? Also, the uncanny valley was deep this time around.

I’d honestly rather Cap had died as well, rather than the ending he got. Rather, if old man Steve didn’t show up, and there was just a cliffhanger of him being lost in time? Which has precedent in the comics? That would have been great. Instead of the bad characterization.

I’m indifferent to Tony’s death, honestly. He could have retired and raised his daughter. He could have died. I guess it’s cheaper to just kill him off and not worry about paying Downey for cameos they wouldn’t be able to resist.

Okay, the other death. Nat’s. I don’t care for it, but it worked. When I say it worked, I mean her motivations and the fact she at least had some autonomy. It was still fridging. It’s gross. It sucks.. but at least it wasn’t exactly like Gamora’s where she was a victim. I mean, she is a victim. A victim of gross writing, but... I like the character, you’re killing the only female OG Avenger for angst and drama... I would have preferred it was Renner, but her reasons worked even if I didn’t like it. I do think it would have been even just as heartbreaking/tragic though, it Clint had to give up his life for the hope of getting his family back. A devil’s bargain, they’ll be alive, but you won’t be and won’t see them again.

I question the hell is the point of a Black Widow movie now. Why should we care? Don’t get me wrong I like Nat. I have nothing against self contained, one-off adventures... but... it will be a prequel that doesn’t develop the character at all or see her grow and it’ll be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It may be enjoyable, but do we need to see it? It’s the Solo situation.

Do we need to see how the character became the character? What purpose does telling her backstory now serve, aside from just making people sad? Do we see how she started so we can appreciate how far she came, though? I can already appreciate that. You don’t need to twist the knife by making her origin her swan song. They can’t bring back our Nat, but who knows. Maybe the next villain will be Kang, and we aren’t done with time travel. Maybe we can have an alternate timeline Nat come into our universe like we did with Gamora.

A timeline where Clint was the one to die. I can deal with that, if they give ScarJo the money. I guess.

SCOTT LANG SAVED THE UNIVERSE. Well, actually. Also, a rat. A rat is responsible for saving the universe. I mean I laughed, but we couldn’t see Scott get himself out? He’s still my boy.

He’s probably my favorite character in the film. Seeing him and Hope reunite in the end battle was nice and made me happy, the way they didn’t miss a beat and got to working together. Him trying to keep it together when he talked about losing her. The end scene with them and Cassie. The fact she called Cap “Cap” and they shared a glance. Sucks for Scott to have missed five years of his daughter’s life, through.

Also, it kinda sucks that along with the people brought back, they couldn’t bring them the likes of Frigga and Quicksilver. Yes, they died, but you can still revive them in the present. You don’t have to make it so they never died. Maybe Quicksilver will Maybe in the WandaVision show, especially now that they won’t have to worry about a competing Fox version. Introduce her ability to warp reality. He was rumored to have been on set, and so I was expecting to see him in a flashback at least. Alas.

SPEAKING OF REVIVING DEAD CHARACTERS THOUGH. Why couldn’t like, Carol, use the gauntlet to revive Tony before they sent the stones back? She could take it. He didn’t need to stay dead, except for the fact... you know... Downey is expensive.

Something I find hilarious?

The kid from Iron Man 3 is at the funeral.

That kid knew nothing about the film whatsoever, except for the biggest spoiler? Cause if they invite HIM back to be at a funeral scene... whose funeral would it be, that he would attend, aside from Tony’s?

Oh, and SamCap. People, calm down.

I like Sam, Sam is worthy of the shield, Bucky’s not quite in a place where he’s ready for it anyway. In the comics Bucky becomes Cap, and then Sam becomes Cap after him. They can reverse the order. Bucky can still become Cap after him. Sebastian still has four movies left in his nine movie deal.

I’m curious about the Disney+ show now though. If it will be retitled, if they announced a fake title ala Serpent Society for Civil War. Although. I have a fear.

I don’t trust Marvel and I can see them killing Sam by the end of the Falcon & Winter Soldier series.

And then Bucky will take up the shield. Mackie’s 40. Idk how much longer he’ll want to be doing this, and he’s said in interviews he had no interest in bringing Cap and would like to see Sebastian take a crack at it, that he likes Falcon being Falcon.

Maybe age isn’t a factor. Bettany’s in his 40’s. Cheadle’s in his fifties. Paul Rudd is an ageless immortal who claims to be fifty. None of those are physically demanding roles though, not to the scale of Cap. The closest would be Chadwick Boseman, who is a year older at 41.

Age aside, I can see them doing it. That’s kinda the shit Marvel would do.

“Yay! We’re so progressive! We’re making Sam Captain America to placate his fans before we kill him! We won’t do that *just* yet in Endgame, we’ll wait to kill the black guy until he’s done helping out this other white guy figure out his place in the world!”

Now I’m gonna be anxious about that for the next year or two.

But so I think the shows are for characters on the shelf movie wise. Idk if when the show is over, we’ll see Mackie as Captain America in Avengers 5. It would be cool, but idk.

I don’t know if they’re even thinking of Avengers 5 at this point, or plotting out things like Guardians and Black Panther and Captain Marvel. And Eternals. And all their new Fox characters.

I guess the new Avengers line up will be Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Wasp, SamCap, and Spider-Man? Maybe Doctor Strange?

Wanda retires to TV. As does Clint maybe, to train Kate Bishop and/or his daughter. Rhodey and Banner are just around.

Also. Banner and Thunderbolt Ross, at the end. Ross and the Hulk. Both in the same scene. Neither acknowledging each other or having any interaction whatsoever. Odd.

I keep hearing rumors about a Thunderbolts movie tho, from someone who was accurate with all of their Endgame leaks. I wonder if they want Ross to be the Fury of that which is why they’ve kept him around.

Bucky recently led the Thunderbolts but also Zemo is so ingrained in their history and I don’t see them working together at all.

I guess you could bring in Bernthal’s Punisher by that point if you want. Elektra. They won’t do it but they could.

Ghost would be a good fit, tho I don’t wanna see her be forced to kill people again. I can see them forcing her to work of a sentence. If she’s still alive, cause God if she was snapped and went 5 years without the Quantum energy... but yeah.

Bring back The Leader as a villain finally. Crap, I’m plotting a fanfiction.

https://twitter.com/rogerwardell/status/1070465411387404289?s=21

Idk. I just. Am disappointed but not surprised tbh.

Everyone knows I don’t like MCU Clint, but the callback interaction between he and T’Challa with the latter remembering his name was nice I guess. The final battle as a whole was nice I guess.

OH. And the exchange between Dr. Strange and Wong about if he brought everyone, and if he anted more? Probably not the intent, but to me it just seemed like a big “shut up” to everyone wanting the Netflix and Agents of SHIELD characters to cross over.

Also, a final critique?

The whole fake scripts, not giving actors a script thing. I hate it. I know like Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland are notorious for letting spoilers slip, but I legit believe that a reason why A LOT of the actors got fake scripts was not to prevent spoilers but to prevent any of them going full Ed Norton and throwing a fit about the quality of said script.

Not letting the actors know the context of the scene they are performing is not only disrespectful but it’s broken and what can you expect but performances where they’re legitimately incapable of giving it their all?

That’s all I got for now. I guess.

I know it’s a joke, “I loved everything except for the stuff I didn’t” but seriously? I enjoyed everything except for the stuff I hated. Does that stuff ruin the movie? Do I not like it because I’m petty, or because it’s bad? You can not like something, it doesn’t mean it’s bad... but I think certain choices... were bad. Were very bad.

Was it shit sandwiched with awesome, or awesome sandwiched with shit? Do they balance each other out? Your mileage may vary. I haven’t decided yet.

EDITED: I replied to this in another post, a point by @chujo-hime, but I’ll copy/paste it on here since more people are likely to see this than our conversation.

“There’s no point in doing BuckyCap now that they’ve fridged Natasha”

I can’t fault you for feeling that way, and I don’t entirely disagree. have a theory on how Natasha could return despite them saying it couldn’t be undone.

Do what they did with Gamora. Take a version from an alternate universe/timeline. Maybe one where everything is the same, except that Clint died instead of her.

Whether or not they do this? Doubtful. Unless with the money they’re saving by letting another actor go (ahem) they give it to ScarJo to lure her back.

I mean, they have Kang back now. Next to Ultron, he’s one of The Avengers’ biggest villains. He’s also a time traveler, so there are ways… idk.

I’ve still not fully processed it. Whether Marvel is smart enough or cares to take advantage of their out, they have it. If nothing else, fans can exploit it in Fix-It fics.

ANOTHER EDIT:

Oh, what was the point of Ronin? I don’t mean sad Clint, I mean Ronin, aside from selling more action figures? He wasn’t even Ronin, they made him into The Punisher Lite. Ronin wasn’t Ronin, but I mean Clint hasn’t been Clint imo so...

#endgame spoilers #avengers: endgame spoilers #spoilers #Avengers: Endgame

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forever-rogue · 6 years

Text

All the World’s a Stage

Request: Can I request a Tom Hiddleston x screenwriter!reader with a lot of fluff? Maybe the two being best friends since childhood and finally expressing their feelings? And Tom being all shy and cute? Thank you very much 💛💛

A/N: This is too cute! I hope you all enjoy! Taglists and requests are open! xx

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: None

MASTERLIST

The weather was perfect for writing: a cold, dreary afternoon, with rain drizzling gently. Y/N stared out the window for a few moments, watching the drops of rain hit and slowly run down the glass panes of the window. She sighed contently before taking another sip from her coffee, which had long gone cold by now, but it didn’t bother her.

She cast her eyes back down towards her laptop, trying to get herself to write more. For some reason - she had hit a mental roadblock, unsure of how to move her story along. She had hoped to have this screenplay done by the end of the month, but now it looked like she’d be luckily if she was going to have it done by the end of the year, if ever.

“Fancy a refill?” Tom’s warm voice pulled her out of her thoughts as a smile worked its way onto her face. He held set down the fresh cup of coffee and slid it over to her, before taking a seat across the table from her, “sorry I’m late, love, rehearsals took forever. Of course, it doesn’t help when someone doesn’t know their lines.”

“Someone hadn’t memorized their lines!?”

“It was me,” he admitted, a sheepish grin on his handsome features.

“Thomas William Hiddleston, I’m shocked and frankly, quite disappointed,” she grinned as she saved her little progress and shut her laptop to give him her full attention.

“Everyone’s allowed a little slack now and then,” he insisted as he raised his eyebrow at her, “how’s the literary genius getting on this lovely afternoon?”

“This genius has major writer’s block,” she sighed as she reached for the fresh cup and took a hearty drink, “for some reason I cannot finish this story. It’s about this couple, a sort of character study, right? But I’ve gotten them to this point, a sort of revelation point, and I don’t know how to round it off. I think I’ll have to leave it for now.”

“I’d love to read what you’ve got written so far,” Tom smiled as he slowly reached for laptop.

“Don’t you dare,” she scolded him as she softly slapped his hand away, “it’s garbage at the moment.”

“You do realize that I’ve read all of your works, right? And I’ve acted in them?”

“Yes, but that’s once they’re finished and polished and good,” she insisted, “so maybe later on.”

“You are such a silly girl,” he chuckled, “are you free for dinner this weekend, perhaps Saturday? We can do the old dinner and movie marathon?”

“Definitely! It’s been a long time since we’ve just had time to hang out,” she eagerly agreed.

Sometimes she missed when the days when it was just her and Tom and they were almost inseparable. They had been friends since primary school and had grown up together, saving in all the triumphs and tribulations that came with growing up. One of the many things they had in common was the lack of finding a suitable partner. Both of them had been through a good handful of boyfriends and girlfriends, but for some reason, it never lasted - but they always had each other to turn to. For how smart they both were, they were both incredibly oblivious to how in love with each other they were.

Nowadays, with their busy schedules, they found it harder and harder to find time to spend together, but they always made something work.

“It has. I’m glad I’m going to be back in London for a while now, this past year and a half has been crazy,” he nodded in agreement.

“That’s because you had to go and be a big celebrity,” she winked at him, “your place or mine?”

“How about my place this time? I’ll pick you up around 5?” he proposed the idea and Y/N felt her cheeks heat up. As much as she had tried to suppress her feelings for him over the years, always reminding herself that they were just friends, it had never truly worked.

“That sounds lovely,” she said as she stood up. She grabbed her bag and drank the last drop of her coffee, “I’ve got a meeting to go to, but I’ll text you later, yeah?”

“Sounds good, darling. Have fun,” he smiled at her as she squeezed his shoulder as she headed out of the busy cafe. Tom let out a sigh as he stretched his long legs out in front of him, leisurely sipping his coffee, when he realized that Y/N had left her laptop on the table.

He thought about chasing after her and returning it to her right away, but his curiosity got the best of him. He pulled it towards him, looking around to make sure no one was watching him, before opening the laptop and quickly typing in her password, which of course he knew. He could have backed out and pretended like nothing had happened, but he was too far in, so he figured he might as well ask for forgiveness later versus asking for permission.

He headed over to her script writing program, and pulled open the last document she had been working before he had arrived. He noted that it didn’t have a title, before scrolling and seeing that it was quite lengthy already. He straightened up and pulled the laptop closer to himself and started reading from the beginning.

When Tom looked back up, after being engrossed for the past hour, he saw that it was getting dark. He had been completely enthralled by Y/N’s story. It as simple as it was complex, beautiful but unresolved. He wasn’t sure why she had called it a piece of garbage when he believed it was the exact opposite. The characters felt so familiar, but he couldn’t quit put his finger on who they reminded him off. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard his phone ring.

“Hello?” he hadn’t even bothered to look at who was calling.

“Hey, it’s me,” Y/N’s voice resonated in his ears as he quickly closing her programs and slammed the laptop shut, “did I leave my computer at the cafe? I can’t find it!”

“Yeah, you did, it’s still on the table next to me,” he said nervously, “I was going to bring it by later, I didn’t catch it in time before your meeting.”

“Oh good! Hmm...I won’t be home till late tonight. Do you mind dropping it off at my place?”

“Of course, it’s not a problem,” he gave a sigh of relief, “I’ll leave it in the kitchen and shoot you a text when it’s there.”

“Thanks so much, Thomas! You’re the absolute best!” she was happy she could always count on him, “I can’t wait for Saturday!”

“Yeah me too. I’ll see you soon,” he said as slowly ended the call. There was a knot in his stomach as he realized what he had done. He hoped she wouldn’t be able to tell he had snooped and read her new screenplay. He gingerly picked up the computer and started heading over to her place.

Y/N studied herself in the mirror, wondering if she was appropriately dressed for the occasion. She hadn’t wanted to look overdressed, or worse under-dressed. Something give her the inkling feeling that things between the two of them were somehow different recently. She smoothed down the dress she had opted for, deciding this was the look she’d go for, she didn’t have the energy to change again. The pile of discarded clothes on her bed were evidence to that.

She heard the front door open slowly and glanced at her phone - it was already time for Tom to pick her up. She sighed as she heard him call out, “hey love, I’m here.”

“Be down in just a moment!” she called out the door as she quickly pulled on some shoes, before grabbing her phone and heading down the stairs. She was greeted by the sight of Tom leaning against the kitchen counter, a bouquet of flowers in a vase next to him, “hello there!”

“Hi,” he smiled as he gave her a big hug, giving her the opportunity to get a good whiff of his cologne, “I thought you could use some flowers.”

“They’re lovely,” she said as she looked at them, nothing that he had selected all of her favorite flowers, “you’re much too kind.”

“Anything for you,” he winked at her as he grabbed her jacket off of the rack for her, “ready to go?”

“Of course!”

Y/N was hit by the smell of food as soon as they walked through the door of Tom’s house; she hadn’t expected him to actually, she thought they were just going to order in.

“You went and cooked a whole meal?” she asked incredulously as she stepped into the kitchen and lifted one of the pot lids to see what was inside.

“I had the time, so I figured why not?” he shrugged at her and poured himself a drink before offering one to her.

“Even though I’ve known you for almost ever, you continually surprise me,” she grinned as they clinked their glasses. She could feel a small blush creeping up into her cheeks, and hoped Tom wouldn’t notice. He was making it hard to suppress her feelings.

“I do try, trust me,” he responded with a small wink, “dinner should be ready in about 10. So as always, make yourself at home.”

“Can I help with anything?” she asked as she sat down at the extravagant dining room table.

“Of course not,” he said as he started pulling out plates and dishes for them. She held her drink up to him in a salute and made herself comfortable as she watched him work to finish everything up, “how’s your screenplay coming along?”

“Don’t even get me started,” she sighed as threw her head back in exasperation, “I’ve sat down in front of it every day, but nothing has been coming to me. It’s the only piece I’ve ever struggled so much with. Luckily at our meeting the other day, I got a small easy piece assigned, and I’ve been throwing my full attention that way.”

“Maybe if you had someone proof it? It might be useful to get some insight,” Tom pushed his luck as he focused his attention on the plates in front of him.

“Nice try, Thomas! I’ll let you read it either when it’s finished, or over my dead body, whichever comes first,” she shook her head fervently.

“You’ll give in eventually,” he insisted as he brought over he plates, setting it down in front of her with a flourish, “you can’t say no to your best friend forever.”

“That’s where you’re wrong kiddo,” she did the finger guns at him and he burst out in laughter.

By their third movie of the night, Y/N felt her eyelids slowly growing heavy, but tried to fight through it and focus on the movie. She pulled the blanket tighter around her body, when she noticed how close she was to Tom. Over the last several hours they had slowly moved closer and closer to each other, unintentionally, but neither of them were fighting it. She tried to hold back a yawn, but it slipped out anyway.

“You’re tired already?! The night is still young,” Tom chuckled as he stretched his arms out and lazily draped one on the back of the couch, right where Y/N was. She stiffened for a moment, but decided to press her luck as she snuggled closer to him, her body completely against his. He moved his arm so it was solely around her shoulders.

“It’s been a long week, Thomas, I’m allowed to be tired,” she shushed him as she focused her attention back to the television, feeling slightly more energized. It was quiet for a few moments before Tom decided to break the silence.

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“I have something to tell you,” he admitted, his heart racing in anticipation of her reaction.

“Oh? What’s that?” she asked as she looked up and met his eyes.

“I...I read your screenplay at the cafe when you forgot your laptop.-”

“Seriously Thomas!? Why? When I asked you not to you,” she asked as she straightened up, more worried about his reaction to it than anything else.

“I’m really sorry. I just...I couldn’t help myself and I know it was a total invasion of privacy, but it just happened,” he said with a small frown, “but it was really, really well written. I was taken with it.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. But...I couldn’t help but feel like the story felt somewhat familiar...like I’d heard it before,” her face fell at his words, “I’ve done some thinking on it, and I think I know why you’re stuck on it.”

“You do?” she asked, confused by what he was he was trying to get at. Meanwhile, Tom was growing more nervous by the second, unsure if his confession would be a good choice.

“The people in your story...they’re us,” he said, “that’s why you’re stuck on it - we haven’t reached a resolution and therefore your characters haven’t either. I’ve been thinking a lot about it since I read your work.”

“I...I don’t know what to say,” she admitted as she realized what he was saying was true. Whether or not it had been intentional, she wasn’t sure, but his conclusion made sense to her. Perhaps that is why she had been so stuck on writing, “I-”

“I’ve been wanting to admit my feelings for you for years. It’s you, it’s always been you. I just haven’t been able to muster up the confidence to do it. Years of watching you date other people has been hard to watch, and trying to convince myself it’ll work out with someone else hasn’t work. It always comes back to you,” he admitted as he avoided looking into her eyes for fear of rejection.

“Wait, really? It has?” she asked quietly as she reached over and touched his cheek in order to turn his face so he was looking directly at her. He finally met her eyes and nodded lightly, “oh Thomas.”

“I’m sorry if this is making you uncomfortable,” he whispered, “I shouldn’t just presume to think that you have the same feelings towards me.”

“Thomas, I’ve felt the same way for you since we were sixteen,” she admitted and a big smile grew on his face, “I’ve just never wanted to admit it in case I ended up making a big fool of myself. And you were so always so wonderful and then you ended up becoming a big celebrity.”

“We’ve both been fools, haven’t we?” he asked as they both chuckled as Y/N nodded.

“I’m afraid so,” she sighed as she stared at his handsome face, “all that lost time.”

“It doesn’t have to be lost much longer,” he said softly as he leaned in closer to her, “can I finally kiss you now?”

“Yes, please,” Y/N grinned at him as he crashed his lips onto hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as tightly as possible against her body, snaking a hand through his curls.

Once they pulled apart for some air Tom rested his forehead against hers, “I hope we can that more often.”

“Absolutely,” she beamed at him. Even if she didn’t finish her screenplay, at least their own story would have a happy ending.

Permanent Taglist: @ruinerofcheese @courtneychicken @courtneychicken @santa-crew @supernatural508 @ssweet-empowerment @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @wearegoldeninthenight @mannatgalhotra @prxttybirdz @piensa-bonito @mightyhemsworthy @shewalksinanotherworld @jems8241 @bookaddic @fairyxxfighter @asguardiansoftheavengers @esoltis280 @the-bright-lights @artisticlales

Special Tag: @curiousplanets

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #reader insert #one shot #request #loki laufeyson #loki x reader #loki #marvel #mcu #avengers #thor #infinity war #no spoilers

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bearlywatchable-blog · 5 years

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TOP 880 “SUPERHERO” MOVIES IN 2019

by Maverick B. Updated: Jan. 11, 2019

#1 - GLASS

Glass has bang or bust potential, and from all the birdies fluttering around, critics seem to think it’ll be the latter. I have unfounded high hopes for this, as it’s an interesting take on a new universe of superheroes/thrillers. Let’s coin it the Shyamalaniverse. Easy to say and spell, so that should catch on quickly.

Yes, Mr. M. Night has definitely disappointed us before (Re: The Last Airbender & Lady In The Water), he seems to be making the right moves here.

This continuation proves that Unbreakable was ahead of it’s time, and thankfully Bruce Willis hasn’t yet aged out of the character. Casting the genius of James McAvoy solidified that tertiary role as compelling and intriguing. Even if somehow the movie is a bust, Shyamalamadingdong has already qualified that by hinting the movie isn’t the movie represented in the theatrical trailers. That leads me to believe the 3 central characters, which pivotal aren’t what we will be watching for.

Enter: Casey Cooke. If that’s not a superhero secret identity name - well I guess I’m outsmarting myself. No more comments on this as theories can be just as bad as spoilers.

#2 - CAPTAIN MARVEL

Leave it to the Marvel Universe to release super fucking awesome minority character titles, right before the decade long saga blockbuster finales. Black Panther was an almost perfect Marvel movie, sadly over shadowed by the high anticipated Infinity War (Avengers 3-A). Now that they are closing out this intense storyline in Endgame (Avengers 3-B) a month after Captain Marvel is released, another minority superhero title will overshadowed by the majority of movie goers + critics. Yes, all signs point to Endgame being the film of this century, but I’m much more excited to see a female lead with such wicked awesome (MCU) power potential.

Sure - If Adam Warlock is just a diversion, Captain Marvel could play a huge role in Endgame, which would be so wonderful in my opinion. However, anyone who knows anything about the Infinity Gauntlet Saga, would be hard pressed to say that C.M. will seamlessly integrate into that storyline. This is actually why I’m more excited for Captain Marvel than Endgame. If it stands alone, it will be the foundation of the next saga of Marvel Movies (Phase 4). If it plays as a prequel to the final Avengers movie, then she will have a huge role in restoring the order of the Universe v. Thanos (Ya know, because she can time travel, among her many other super cool abilities). Both scenarios are fucking badass and exciting to me.

P.S. Brie Larson is gonna fucking kill it. You haters can go fuck yourselves.

#3 - DARK PHOENIX

//rant - Apocalypse (2016) was so bad I actually forgot it existed. Now that I have been reminded by many friends of the shit that FOX put out there- I was poised to move this down on my list. But then I went back and watched First Class (2011) & Days Of Future Past (2014), and it gave me hope again. AND THEN I watched The Last Stand (2006) again, and realized I’m obviously a masochist.

Bryan Singer is a mad man with no baseline. He, possibly, could have lucked into making one good X-Men movie on the coat tails of Matthew Vaughn, subsequently losing steam with Apocalypse. And now I’m down in the rabbit hole of the thought process; “Well Simon Kinberg wrote Days of Future Past, which was solid - and has been producing the the show Legion, which is phenomenal… and Bryan Singer is off this project so all signs point to this being more in the DOFP And First Class caliber”… meanwhile all I can do is think about Sansa Sta… I mean… Sophie Turner’s eyes and charisma… and then justify Apocalypse as a Phoenix timeline primer… which then spins me back to how bad The Last Stand was. How did that not ruin Hugh Jackman’s career? I presume Halle Berry, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen all died in post production depression from that movie. Fucking Patrick Stewart was still knighted 4 years after that, which was probably only by the grace of Ian McKellen and sheer will & power of the Star Fleet.

*head explodes* - rant//

Okay- maybe I’m just really in love with Sophie Turner and want definitively nothing more than for her to kill it! Yeah, that sounds less psychotic. I think…

#4 - Avengers: ENDGAME

Do I really have to explain this one? If you’ve been living under a rock for a decade here you go:

Iron Man (2008) spawned a wonderful series of movies that became the Civil Wars/Infinity Gauntlet Saga. And now’s it’s almost over. So - like… go watch them all and then come back to this list. NOW!

PS. You can skip Captain America: Winter Soldier. It’s a little important to the timeline… but only if you really care to waste two hours of your life.

#5 - Shazam

If you’re not excited for this, then your inner child is dead. This movie, in the same vain as Aquaman, will be the good kind of bad. Which is the best we could hope for with this type of Comic based movie. Think more “Great American Hero” than Shazam reboot.

AND the planned release of DC’s “Captain Marvel” (what Shazam was called previously) is just a giant “fuck you” to the MCU. So you can assume they have recruited the greatest comic book nerd minds and put them in god mode for the production of this. Or they just picked up a screenwriter and director from a street corner and give them 30 million dollars in a gigantic gamble that is certainly not gonna be a disaster.

I CAN’T FUCKING WAIT, FOLKS!

#6 - Joker

Here’s how the equation works for the modern time Cinematic Jokers.

Jack Nicholson = Terrible Joker Heath Ledger = Amazing Joker Jared Leto = Amazingly Terrible Joker Joaquin Phoenix = Terribly Amazing Joker?

Ya dig?

#7 - SPAWN [Delayed?]

It’s not a hard story to tell. Boy meets devil. Devil punks boy. Boy feels punk’d so he tries to murder the Devil. Just like Ross and Rachel, it’s that whole “will they, won’t they” game, and it’s a beautiful train wreck.

You’re right, that’s really not a good synopsis of Spawn. This is a can’t miss though. Three simple words: Jamie Foxx, brah!

What I really mean is, if it ever gets made, this will be a great movie.

#8 - FAR FROM HOME

Homecoming really nailed it for me, and this Spider’s contribution to the Avengers movies was great. I have no reason to put this so far down on the list except I’m really done with the same story over and over again, and they haven’t really promised me anything fresh for this movie. That being said, as long as Tobey Maguire doesn’t breathe near this film, and Marc Webb is never allowed near a Marvel movie again, this franchise has been revived and will continue to rock!

PS. Tobey Maguire is the dumbest way to spell either of those names. I know it’s not his fault, but he really had options - especially in hollywood - to fix this a long time ago. *sigh*

#9 - #877 ANY RANDOM BULLSHIT MEDIA THAT PEOPLE PUT OUT DURING 2019

This is the unofficial sum of the movies/videos/short films/youtube rants/whatever that will be put out there for the public to view that will be better than the final 3 films on this list.

#878 - THE NEW MUTANTS

Calling it right now, it’s going fail so hard that people are going to walk out of the theater. If it doesn’t, I’ll vow to destroy the thing most precious to me. (currently that’s my Uber Eats App)

#879 - SUICIDE SQUAD 2

FUCK… THIS… SHIT… How did they get funding for another one. I blame Will Smith for letting this continue. FUCK THIS SHIT!

#880 - HELLBOY II

Why? I’m not even going to waste my time with this one either. FUCK THIS SHIT x2!

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iamjaynaemarie · 6 years

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Watch this space for a minute as I have an interesting little chat with a friend of mine named @fortunatelyclevercandy. It’s okay, it’s nothing really. 100% innocuous blather in plain view of the entire world. The only thing saving me is I’m not connected to Instagram or Twitter from here. Just Facebook (and I probably can change that). Crazy, huh...well that’s how things are in this world of instant gratification on the worldwide web. Don’t you just love instant gratification on the internet?

LONGEST DEAR ABBY LETTER (with hot guys) IN HISTORY:

I fell asleep last night typing this and couldn’t post this until now. So, @fortunatelyclevercandy, remember that little, uh, thing I mentioned about Instagram that one time? I showed you one of my sisters on there. I just learned that two of them are there, but that’s not why I’m desperately trying not to say too much of anything except the only sister of mine you’ve seen is the one you called narcissistic (they both are actually; only me, my second oldest half-sister and my stepsister post our art, pets and with them, their kids--even though the two on Instagram have kids). ANYWAY...the one narcissistic one you saw just got a whole lot more narcissistic, I guess you can say. I’m all for loving yourself but I think I saw more of my sister than I care to the other day while I was posting something on my book’s Instagram. I think that might be 1/4 of the reason I didn’t get too much sleep yet. I multitask--I can be laughing my ass off in the background while being sad.

Moving on...I cannot unsee what I saw. Don’t get me wrong--she’s pretty. I love her to death but I’m trying har to figure out what’s with the modeling thing. I guess it’s going swell--she has more followers than me--then again, I’m writing stuff. My regular instagram is mostly cats--a few of me but I’m not, uh...um...posing like whatever my sister is doing...yeah...that was hard to unsee. I have NO idea in all of creation exactly what she’s doing. I mean, sure her kids are grown and out of the house but, still. I liked it because she’s my sister. She never likes anything of mine anywhere. I don’t really care but...I’m just like; what is she doing?

Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, Luke. What on earth is that girl doing. Really? If you scrolled down and saw Nikki Minaj, my sister--the one that is 16 months older than me--has less on than that but thankfully I can only see her back. I’m the youngest so naturally anything I say is wrong and don’t know what I’m talking about--never mind I’ve been an actor, model, dancer, voiceover artist, talent manager, playwright, screenwriter, poet and now author of a book and was uncredited Production Executive and creator of a segment on actual television working with the Hollywood Reporter and director John Frankenheimer. I’ve worked with nearly every casting director on the West Coast. My lawyer represents Kevin Kline (Maurice in the live-action film Beauty and the Beast), among other celebrities--he specializes in intellectual property law (reason I know what I’m doing with my book). I’m like seven degrees from everyone in the business, I’m sure. I dated the same guy Kirsten Dunst did.

In saying all that, giving my sister any sort of legitimate career advice is out of the question because, again, as the youngest with actual proof of all that stuff I’ve done--I will get ignored. Naturally guys will say anything and a few of her girlfriends but I’m trying to figure out if she is trying to upstage me. That would be ridiculous, @fortunatelyclevercandy. We are doing two completely different things. But she does like that she has more followers than me. I could have more if I wanted post half-naked photos of myself. I don’t think it has nothing to do with the task at hand and I’m the type of person that has been obsessed all my life with wanting to known for my intellect and skill rather than what I look like.

My sisters will say I’m the better looking one--I’m the skinny, in shape one everyone looks at. Whatever. I’m skinny because I’m not a big eater, I’m vegan and currently started a low carb, gluten-free/wheat-free diet with eating as little milk product as possible due to allergies. I try to exercise every day when weather and schedule permits and I’m also only 5′3/4″ and being over 110 lbs is hard on my knees. Also, I can’t afford new jeans right now and all of them are size 0-1 so if I want to have something to wear, I’m going to have to stay skinny.

I could be wrong but maybe it’s a mid-life thing. She’s a freaking mathematical genius! Why isn’t she showing off that stuff? She’s artistic--we come from a family where all of us play some instrument with a side art--I won’t go into the entire brood because we’d be here all night but I think it bothers me knowing the kind of riff-raff that is out there online and I know that if I say anything, she’d tell me I’m trying to get all of the attention. Right--I’m a short black woman writing stories as tall blonde elves from Middle-Earth. I can see how that would railroad her ‘whatever’ career. Only if my name was Lee Pace or Thranduil in real life or if I were actually LEE PACE.

I’ll claim her if I’m ever famous--though I know her; she’d push me aside like the black sheep in the family. They love it when they think I’m a failure (two of them do; the other two are cool). But why have a sister that, I don’t know--has been where she’s trying to go that knows how to “model” legitimately. I was judge for a modeling contest, for the love of CK-One commercials! I was on the panel with the Vice-President of Casting for 20th Century-Fox--DUH. My God, I worked with models from FORD ELITE, etc. MY GOD: does experience mean nothing anymore?

Don’t look, @fortunatelyclevercandy...I know exactly what you’ll say because I said the same thing. I guess I should just let her do what she wants (no matter how disturbing) because no one ever listens to me.

Oh, my life must make theirs look dull. I apologize in advance. Don’t tell her that the Elenya Evening Comics has more followers than she does--she’ll think I’m trying to upstage her. 🤨

#my sister has lost it #omg #wtf #is this for real #i cannot unsee it #i need a drink #i don't drink #dafuq is this #i'm serious #it's freaking me out

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sleepykittypaws · 3 years

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The Christmas Setup

Original Airdate: December 12, 2020 (Lifetime) Where to Watch?: Lifetime will re-air it in this, and likely future seasons, too; It’s also available for purchase via iTunes, et al, or you can watch now, with ads, for a limited time, on mylifetime.com (cable login required)

When Lifetime announced they were making their first LGBTQ-lead Christmas movie this August, I admit I had high hopes for this milestone that was far too long in coming, but an extremely welcome addition to the made-for-TV holiday romance cannon.

When we learned a month or so later that Fran Drescher had been cast as the meddling mom, and real-life spouses Blake Lee and Ben Lewis as the leads, plus the behind-the-scenes team was also LGBTQ+-centered—director Pat Mills, screenwriter Michael J. Murray and executive producer Larry Grimaldi are all out, gay men—my expectations were absolutely through the roof, and I'm thrilled to say that The Christmas Setup actually lived up to all of them.

By far the most sparkly, fun and legitimately romantic Christmas movie of the season I've seen, this gave us that welcome dose of the sweet, wholesome holiday joy we all crave—with a romance just happened to have two men as the leads. Seriously, I wish the 10,000 straight romances we've seen this season were half this sparkly and fun.

The script was clever and thoughtful, but this definitely wasn’t a message movie—other than the message that love really is love. The leads were both successful, confident and fully accepted by their loving friends and families. There was no coming out angst—not that, that’s necessarily a bad thing—nor lessons they had to teach. They were just two dudes, falling quite chastely in love at Christmas, like the million straight couples that preceded them…And it was joyous, from beginning to end.

The plot followed the pattern of one lead with work drama, heading back to their hometown for the holidays where they (surprise!) run into an old crush unexpectedly, then fall in love—only The Christmas Setup does this all quite a bit funnier, and also more believably, than most of these paint-by-number plots.

Using the tropes so many of these movies employ, but doing them so much better, was just genius, and the little mid-movie mystery the leads go on was much more charming than most of these have-to-hunt-down-X tales are. There was even a handicraft feint, where I thought they were going to do a give-up-the-corporate-job-to-work-with-my-hands route, but nope, just rediscovering an enjoyable old hobby because, duh, this guy went to law school and is up for partner, he’s not ditching that for woodworking in his mom’s garage.

And I absolutely adored Christmas Setup’s ending. Seriously, I now want every holiday rom-com to wrap up just like this.

(Actual) Spoiler Alert: If you haven't yet seen The Christmas Setup, skip the following four paragraphs…

Lewis’ "Hugo" is tasked with working on a “Save the Old Train Station” campaign, which requires tracking down the founder's past, which leads to evidence said founder might have been gay. It's the much-used trope of two people falling in love, while investigating a romance from the past, that's been done so many times, but never as subtly and realistically as we see here. No tracking down the parties involved, no definitive answers, just a subtle, touching, believable romantic tale that helps draw our two leads together.

The same goes for Hugo's mid-movie revelation that he has to decide by New Year's whether to take that big promotion to partner and move to London, or stay in Milwaukee and pursue his romance with Lee’s "Patrick," and the decision is…[drumroll please] We don't really know.

Yep, the movie ends without saying anything definitive about the train station’s fate or London promotion, and instead just with Hugo and Patrick deciding they want to make a go of their romance, whatever that looks like, and kissing under gently falling snow on Christmas Eve, like a thousand straight couples before them. The fact that it ends without every single detail neatly wrapped up? I loved that. It's romantic, and perfect, still kind of real, and yet oh-so-swoony.

Did they do long distance? Did Hugo give up London and move to Milwaukee? Did Patrick move to London with him? Who knows? It’s not the point! The point is they both acknowledge they’re falling in love, and want to keep doing that…See what I mean about swoon-worthy?

…End spoilers.

This really was very well-written. The characters didn't exposition us to death about their past, their goals, what's going to happen next, etc. (I am beyond sick of the endless tell-don’t-show explaining in these movies. It’s just exhausting!)

Even the dreaded "they have a big misunderstanding" moment—when Patrick thinks Hugo and Ellen Wong's "Maddie" are a married couple—is handled with a light touch, plenty of humor and, yeah, believability. Like, Patrick thought he was getting vibes from this guy, but then he shows up with this woman on his arm, finishing his sentences…Easy to see why he assumed they were a couple.

And, from Hugo's perspective, he was totally nervous, so leaning on his BFF also makes sense, and you can presume he's been out long enough, and he and Maddie are together enough, that he doesn't even think he'd need to actually spell out the fact that they're just friends.

Also, note to the made-for-TV Christmas universe, please cast Fran Drescher as the mom in every holiday movie from here on out. Yes, it's sad she had to be in the closet about her Jewish heritage in order to be Super Christmas Mom here, but she was brilliant at it. It is impressive that in a movie that features two men, married in real life, as the romantic leads, plus a drag performance of Ana Gasteyer’s “Sugar and Booze,” Drescher is still, somehow, the gayest thing in The Christmas Setup—and I was Here For It, 100%

They even managed an actually funny, and not cruel or demeaning, joke about Drescher's accent.

The Christmas Setup was not just the best, most charming made-for-TV holiday romance I've seen this season, but the best Hallmark and Lifetime movie I’ve seen in while, and it left me thinking, Why can’t straight people get stories this thoughtful, sweet and funny? So, congrats, tables fully turned.

I sincerely loved every second of The Christmas Setup, and not just because it was groundbreaking in a way that makes my heart happy—I’ll never stop beating that Representation Matters drum—but because it was just everything this middle-aged, midwest mom wants in a cozy Christmas romance.

Final Judgement: 4 Paws Way Up

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margarittet · 7 years

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Why the SPN mixtape scene from 12x19 is screenwriting gold, and should be taught to the next generations of screenwriters everywhere - analysis

20 seconds. Two lines of dialogue, three gestures, a couple more camera angles. Episode 19, season 12 of a genre TV show “Supernatural”. A single strike of screenwriting and cinematic genius. The mixtape scene.

Robert Berens and Meredith Glynn, I bow before you.

This scene should be used as an example for future screenwriters how you can put maximum of meaning into minimal time and dialogue. Should be analyzed and taught at universities everywhere, how to achieve the most using the least. How to write for TV, where you only have less than an hour to built something spectacular.

WOW.

Let’s just peel off all the layers of these 20 seconds of footage and these 13 words. 13 WORDS.

(Cas knocks, Dean doesn’t say anything. Cas opens the door, apologizes for disturbing Dean in his room, and then takes a cassette tape out of his left inside coat pocket, and puts it on the desk, while tapping the label on it that says “Deans (sic!) top 13 Zepp traxx”.)

Cas: Um, I just wanted to return this.

Dean: It’s a gift. You keep those.

13 tracks. 13 words. The future. So number thirteen is important for the future. I mean, are you trying to tell us something here, writers?

(Dean takes the tape, oustreches his arm, and gives it back to Cas. We see Cas’ hand grabbing the tape, and taking it back.)

That tiny scene is ENORMOUS from the perspective of the narrative and the characterization. Let’s see what we can get out of it. (Prepare yourself: it’s gonna be long. Damn, how much meta can you write based on 20 seconds of television and two lines of dialogue?) (Hint: A lot.)

Thoughts in no particular order.

LotR reference

Let’s start with text, because text is kinda my thing. This is this:

I half expected Dean to roll his eyes at himself for acting like an elvish maiden - maybe he did internally. Anyway, we all remember how Aragorn and Arwen’s story ended, right? (In the movies at least.)

It’s great how Cas and Dean re never strictly cast as a female mirror or male mirror in any of the romantic pararells that the show does. Their gender roles and characteristics are extremely fluid, and it’s wonderful.

2) The label

Deans (sic!) top 13 Zepp traxx”

First thing: “Deans” - not “Top 13 Zepp traxx”, not “The best of Led Zepp”. DEAN’S top 13 Led Zepp tracks. This shit is personal. Your favourite music says a lot about you, it’s like showing somebody your favourite book, or your favourite fictional character. ONE favourite track says something about what you like, feel, think. 13 songs of your favourite band, especially if that band is Led Zeppelin? You may as well get naked, because you can’t uncover yourself much more than that. This stuff makes you open and vulnerable. They will know what you like, what you enjoy, what you feel, what kind of stories your favourite music tells. It’s a mirror of you. Led Zepp is not a band with three beats and five words in the lyrics. It’s long, it’s literary, and it’s epic. It tells a lot about the person, especially a person who loves music and stories as much as Dean does. By showing Cas that he loves these 13 songs of Led Zeppelin, he told Cas he loves cock rock, sexual innuendos, shameless romanticism, fantasy references, biblical imagery, American blues, stories about life, death, love, sex, angels, Satan, mythology, science-fiction and Lord of the Rings. If this band is not a metaphor for the many sides of the real Dean Winchester, I don’t know what is. Dean showed Cas his non-performing side.

This is not even good gift giving, Dean, darling - a nice gift would be giving Cas music HE would enjoy, not you. Give him Beyonce (“Halo” would be nice, lol), give him rap, give him some Britney Spears. No, you gave him Led Zepp, with a NOTE that these are your favourite songs.

You wanted to show yourself to him. This is fucking intimate.

The cassette is a symbol for Dean, for Dean's heart, like the necklace was a symbol of Arwen's heart. That is why no matter what Cas did in 12x19, Dean is still on his side. Why he fixed his truck, gave him the Impala keys without thinking, tried to talk to him instead of fighting him, why he was so hurt Cas left before. That's why he didn't even consider taking the cassette back. Because he has made his decision, he gave himself to Cas, and he will not hear of Cas giving it back (you can't give it back, really). Just look how quickly Cas grabs the tape back. He even uses it later to highlight "we", waving it between him and Dean. This moment is showing us Dean has given his true self to Cas, and he is not changing his mind. This happened already, and no one witnessed it but the two of them. Cas only tried to give it back, because he thought that after what he was about to do, Dean would want it back. Nope.

Nothing to see here. Moving on.

“Top 13”

Yeah, these are his favourite songs, but not all of them, just the best ones. Why thirteen? This is actually a weird number of songs for a cassette tape, especially for a band like Led Zeppelin. It’s too few for 90 min, and too many for 60 min (usual lengths of tapes). So I see three reasons:

Dean just chose songs that send exactly the message he wanted to send, so he didn’t need more songs.

It’s a reference to season 13 - which, I believe, will be romance heavy and amazing.

It’s a reference to “13 Reasons Why”, a show about a girl’s suicide and cassette tapes since this is the same episode where Kelly kills herself, dies, and is revived by the Nephilim, (and therefore it’s canon that the Nephilim can bring people from the dead. Cas, anyone?)

All of the above.

“Zepp”

Besides the fact that liking Led Zeppelin says tons about the real Dean Winchester, it has also different meanings:

Led Zeppelin is a shorthand for seduction, but also for a cosmic romantic connection.

We know two situations where Led Zepp is mentioned in terms of seducing somebody. Jo mentions that hunters want to get into her pants with “some pizza, a sixpack and side one of Zeppelin IV”. This means pretty much the same as “they think they can impress me with cool music while they only know four songs played frequently on the radio, fucking posers.” See, I know Dean is better than to put Stairway to Heaven or Rock n’ Roll on his mixtape, since these are the most popular, i.e. impersonal of Zeppelin songs (although he may be partial to “Battle of Evermore”, since he is a huge nerd). Aaaaaanyway, the other time we see Led Zepp as a seduction technique is when Nick the Siren talks to Dean about some more obscure Led Zepp records - he outdid Dean with his knowledge of Led Zepp trivia - and Dean is bought. This is exactly the opposite of knowing only side A of Zeppelin IV. This is a real deal, and Dean is so mesmerized.

And then we have the literal “match made in Heaven” of John and Mary - and we know she used Led Zeppelin to test John as a potential lover. He knew all the lyrics (again, real, deep knowledge of the subject vs the superficial one), and she knew he was worth going for. I don’t think Dean is testing Cas, but I think that since John and Mary connected over Zeppelin LYRICS, the lyrics are as important for Dean as the music is. That’s why he used them to show Cas what he feels. And it also reminds him of his parents.

Plus, honestly, if reciting/playing Led Zepp lyrics to somebody doesn’t feel dirty and/or disgustingly romantic, you’re doing it wrong. “Squeeze me baby, ‘till the juice runs down my leg”? Really?

Led Zepp is connected to John

Remember how, when we see Dean for the first time connecting with a kid in season 1, he teaches him that “Zeppelin rules”? That’s because Zeppelin is in Deans mind “father’s music”. It’s something you show your kid, something you can bond over.

It’s a well known thing that we choose partners similar to our parents, so it’s not a shocker that Dean connects John’s music with his love interests. It’s nothing weird. If he was going for a girl, he’d look for somebody who is like more like Mary (and since she also loved Led Zepp - well, remember Jo?)

Led Zepp is connected to Mary.

Since Dean and Mary are so similar, it’s not surprising that his first thought how to connect with his love interest is through Led Zeppelin (just how her was, when she met John).

“Traxx”

Ha! This one is great. They spelled it this way probably mostly to get our attention. “Tracks” was a legendary gayclub in Washington DC, and even now there is a gay club under this name in Denver, plus there are gay clubs all around the US and Canada that are called “Trax” or “Traxx”. Subtle and awesome. It’s a nice shout out to Dean saying he was in Purgatory in Miami.

(Edit: Plus, as many people pointed out to me since I wrote this piece, XX is also a common shorthand for kisses. I knew that, but I wasn’t sure it was something Dean would do. But now I agree. I guess I didn’t give Dean enough credit for being sappy. :)

The whole “Deans top 13 Zepp Traxx” label is Dean “no-homo”ing the tape - “Dude, look how cool I am, ain’t got no time for good grammar and proper spelling, dude. Bro.” You know, in case Sam sees the tape, and there are questions. *eyeroll*

3) Music as a non-textual device

It was said once that even though Led Zeppelin is Dean Winchester’s favourite band, we will not ever hear it on the show, because the royalties are just too. Damn. Expensive. The show can’t afford it in their budget to put Led Zeppelin on the soundtrack, even though the band’s music is crucial to understanding Dean Winchester’s complexity. So instead of scraping more money, they pulled “High Fidelity”, and put music IN THE NARRATIVE. This, my loves, is pragmatism 101. Why to spend a fortune to put ONE Led Zepp song in the episode, when you could just send your viewers to their Spotify account and listen to ALL the songs there, thus creating their own soundtrack for this episode and the relationship between the characters. I wish I would be this smart. This actually achieved several goals at once.

All Led Zeppelin music is now a textual part of the universe and Dean’s character, not just two songs that he mentioned in season 4. We know the tape has 13 songs, but we don’t know which ones, which means all the songs can be there, until we are told differently - “Schroedinger’s Mixtape”. Some viewers can even no-homo the tape by picking the songs that are neither sexual nor romantic, but it will be HARD.

4) Michelangelo’s “The creation of Adam”

In the way this moment is shot, we are reminded where they stand in the beginning of this episode - Cas is the celestial being (who just has been to Heaven), and Dean once again represents humanity - the humanity that Cas is canonically in love with.

(On another note: Michelangelo is one of the most famous gay icons in history.)

5) This short moment showed us as well that there is so much stuff happening off screen that we never get too see. Who knows what else we don’t know? What else happened between these two characters that we never heard about? This made me think we should always be careful with the new showrunners, since they love puzzles, games, and pieces of information peppered over the whole season that are not always what they are. There is ALWAYS MORE. They love playing with meta reading, and it’s glorious.

Also, instead of showing us the moment where Dean gives Cas the tape (what would be a regular thing to do), they showed us the BACK END of the situation. We have to construct what happened from the end, backwards. We know Cas got the tape, both characters know what happened between them when he received it from Dean, but we HAVE NO IDEA. We don’t get to see it because we were not privy to that moment. It was JUST BETWEEN THEM. It was an intimate moment that no one else got to witness, even the audience. And it makes it so much more important. It adds a new level of privacy and intimacy to their relationship, and it’s amazing, especially since the last few seasons seemed like they never are alone anymore.

6) Why a cassette tape? Especially since we don’t even know if Cas has a way to listen to it?

Because it’s a frikkin’ romantic trope!

In the world of storytelling mixtapes scream romance, and not much else (well, parental love, but that is so not the case here). It’s a thing that made me sit up and stare at the screen the moment it arrived, because I couldn’t believe they went there. I thought it was another queerbaiting moment, like the infamous boner prom-shot, but once they started sharing with each other how they felt, ALONE, ON SCREEN, IN WORDS, I knew it wasn’t. It was a way to show more casual viewers a symbol they would understand, while still staying in character. Dean would not write a love letter, or a poem, or even speak openly about his feelings, but he so would take time and effort to create a tape, especially since mixtapes were the language of showing your feelings that was in use when he was young and had his first crushes. And if Cas was more human, he’d understand it immediately. I hope he did anyway, he has got his pop culture references from Metatron, maybe some John-Hughes-references there.

The tape is new, the label is clean, words visible, plastic unscratched. If it was a tape Dean had before, it’s be dirty from lying in his car forever. Plus, noone makes mixtapes for themselves, especially when they already have albums - it’s too much effort for too little gain. It’s not John’s, because it cleary says “Dean’s”. Ergo - it’s freshly made. For Cas.

In conclusion: with the shortest piece of dialogue possible, and exactly three movements of the actors, they shot the narrative onwards and upwards on so many levels:

Dean’s performing facade falling down,

Dean showing (and giving) his true self to Cas,

Hints of off-screen moments between them that we know nothing about (added a new level of intimacy),

Cas being linked to the textual and intertextual codes for eternal love and sexual seduction,

Some hints for the future,

Dean is humanity (and Cas loves humanity),

Bisexual!Dean,

Binding the show to its earlier seasons.

20 seconds. 13 words. I am blown away.

I probably could find more layers, but I think four pages of meta for 20 seconds of TV is enough for now. Thanks for reading! It was fun!

#supernatural #spn 12x19 #the mixtape #destiel #dean winchester #castiel #cas #screenwriting #brilliance #robert berens #meredith glynn #bobo berens #spn meta #dean is bi #season 12 #mind blown

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writerwandrian · 7 years

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Subtext. You’re Going to Need That.

Whether you’re writing a screenplay or novel, this is the magical mystery ingredient that is oft overlooked by newbies. Looking back on my recent writing, I was surprised at how subtext simply flowed out when I wrote it, how easily this process happened compared to the struggle I had when I was just learning. I mean, when the heck did that happen? Read on as I sort out my musings and possibly give you a swift kick in the trousers in the process depending on your technical skill level.

But it’s overwhelming, having to get into everybody’s head, including the readers’, some of you may whine, It’s just too complicated!

It can be. I won’t lie, it’s still irritating to keep track of when I’m writing something with a long, complicated plot line and/or many characters at once. But to all of you whiners and avoiders, I say, tough shit. It’s got to be learned if you want your writing to improve. And foisting it off on your beta or proofreader doesn’t count.

What is this subtext thingy? It’s the unspoken dialogue that goes on between characters, things left unsaid in an individual person’s movements or actions that motivate the actual dialogue and action. Think about it. You don’t always say what’s running through your head, do you? Same goes for your characters. Is your villain really going to tell their plot to the hero? Well, maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, maybe they’ll lie or tell a half truth. It all depends on what’s driving them. It’s this subtle expression of human nature that gives dimension to your characters and story.

If the above paragraph wasn’t straightforward enough, it all comes down to one word: motivation. If you have no idea what your character wants in a scene or overall, it just ain’t gonna work. Your writing will come off very flat - all characters will sound the same, have the same actions. Like smirking, for instance. Those fan fiction writers guilty of this travesty, which are many, shame on you.

But really, it’s become one of the standard jokes in fan fiction that certain actions and words are used over and over. Why is that? Well, those writers are moving their characters through the plot like a piece on a chessboard. They’re following the template of the show or book or movie and when they do deviate, they have no clue what to do with the character, how they should act, what they should say, which is determined by motivation.

Oh, god, now I have to figure out this motivation thingy?!

Yeah, you do. But really, it comes down to one thing: in a single sentence, what is driving your character to do the things they’re doing? What do they want? Oh, and, side note, this drive can be caused by factors internal or external. There’s the big M motivation, which generally applies to what they want in the overall scheme of things. This is easier for screenwriters than others, at least in my opinion, because the motivation drives the drama in a cleaner way. You have three act structure, scenes, etc. to plot your motivation through and often, a single motivator is the reason for the entire darn thing.

The good news is, Doctor Who often states the Doctor’s main motivation for the viewer: he runs because he’s scared. It’s such a brilliantly simple premise for a tv show. The Doctor doesn’t want to go back to Gallifrey, face his destiny. That’s it. This is the big M and beyond. It’s what compels him on a basic level, what defines the main action and all that comes from it. He’s a coward, at least when it comes to his feelings, his duties, his future, and that’s behind all his adventuring, lying, etc. This simple, clean big M motivation is generally what’s encouraged when you write, since it defines the action clearly.

You also have little M motivation, which drives the character in smaller ways, in smaller instances. Here’s an example: in the new Fantastic Beasts movie, Newt Scamander’s traveling to America to deliver a beast back to its home. It’s a solid goal. All of Newt’s other actions are driven by this fact, all the drama that ensues is started and ended by his motivation. But in one really cool scene he goes into the case to check on his beasts because he’s worried about them. That’s a little M motivation. It drives the immediate action, and, while it can, and usually is, it might not necessarily be connected to the big M motivation.

There’s sort of a middle ground within motivation, which are the types of things that drive stuff like single episodes in a tv series, or story arcs in a movie or book. A good example is shown in the Save the Cat Doctor Who Beat Sheet. It can be separate from a theme, which is the point or concept the author wants the story to get across. But that’s a concept for another post, eh?

And then, there’s an even more abstract version of motivation: what drives your character, not in the story, but in life. This is the mother of all challenges for a writer, since there are so many things that influence a character to live. Morals, childhood experiences, traumatic experiences, preferences, personality. Really, I could go on and on. But this all comes together to form the tics and odd pauses and ways they talk, etc. It determines how they react to and tackle big M and little M motivation.

To give you an example of how hard this is, right now I’m writing a fan fiction with the Doctor from Doctor Who as a main character. He’s lived for over a thousand years, changes personalities, is an alien with an alien perspective and experiences and formative years. Oh yeah, and he also happens to be inconceivably smart from a human perspective. We just don’t have the ability to understand how genius the guy really is. There’s years and years of footage, showing this, adding to his history. And I have to cram all of this in my brain and pop out a believable character! Good lord, is that man tough to write.

So tying motivation back in to subtext, subtext’s really the invisible top layer of motivation happening in a scene. It’s the words not said out loud but are going on in someone’s head, the actions that don’t really sync up to the dialogue because they’re driven by something internal. Or it could be something that a character’s not even aware of that fights its way to the surface. It can be caused by little M or big M or the abstract life M. And you, as the writer, have to keep all of this in your head as you go, using it to mold what’s going on on multiple levels of action and character interaction into something believable and coherent.

Ha, ha, ha.

How the hell do I write that? It’s simple. And complicated as Moriarty’s head games. Because it all depends on the person and their method of creating their characters and writing their story. I approach it like a method actor, and yeah, isn’t that a generalization? But I become my characters. Their ticks, their way of speaking, their history; I obsess over it, I internalize it, so much so that I almost don’t have to think about it, and then put it onto the page. The only drawback is that I have to drag myself from one character to another, often switching gears multiple times during a scene, mentally donning a new perspective. Ah, if only I were an extrovert, I would kill as an actor.

Others might write note cards or just write notes about what to keep in mind when trying to figure out what each character does. Or use their own experiences or motivations. The point is, you have to get to know your characters, dissect them until you are intimately familiar with their lives and loves and what makes them tick. There’s no shortcut or hack or trick. I’m sure there’re a bunch of ways to do this, all of which get the end result of a story with layered conversation and multifaceted characters. And plenty of good old subtext.

So why bother? After all this, I just want to write, have fun. To hell with technique! Learning about motivation and subtext and knowing how to identify them is one of those invaluable skills for both a writer and a member of the audience. Understanding how characters work, what’s happening beneath the surface and what’s not being said opens up an amazing level of depth in a story, especially the good ones. It clues you in to and makes sense of plot points or actions or dialogue that might go over the head of a casual viewer or author. I challenge you Whovians to go watch Midnight or Hell Bent and read between the lines.

It’s astounding, humbling, exciting, how accurately and powerfully a writer can capture a character between the lines, in the shadows and the echoes.

#fanfiction #writing #subtext #how to write #onwriting

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just-some-other-reviews · 7 years

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Ah... My Friday and Saturday were quite busy... What’s going to happen to me, since this drama took an end?

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is a romantic comedy with, also, action, supernatural and mystery. Bong-Soon was born with a herculean strength, a heritage from her ancestors. The thing is that the powers disappear if they are wrongly used, so she tries her best to only use her strength to help people out. It’s how she ends up trying to help a bus driver and catching the attention of the CEO of Ainsoft, Min-Hyuk, who cruelly needs someone’s help to catch the man who is menacing him. As she starts to work as Min-Hyuk bodyguard with a place in the company at the stake of her success, crimes start to occur in her neighborhood.

Since like the quarter of the drama is a crime mystery, I’ll really try to keep the spoilers to the minimum, even though I’m pretty sure a few thing will slip, so stay careful as you read the review.

There’s probably no better way to start a review about this drama than by talking about the plot. First of all, I found it quite original, even though I’m pretty sure it was used more than once. It has a reversal between the usual female and male lead role. The plot has the must of combining a more ‘’thriller’’ look-a-like drama with a very heartwarming and light story. The first episode sets a promising story by introducing various characters, but, also, by having hilarious dialogues and situations that are, by the way, completely exaggerated and improbable and introducing, in parallel a murder case. I’ll briefly talk about the murder case since it’s something, once spoiled that is completely unenjoyable. I’m a big fan of crime drama, so it really pleased me, at first. Many thought things were quite dragged after a few episodes, but I was still understanding and let it go, even though, with Bong Soon’s powers and Min-Hyuk’s information seeking, it was ridiculous that the kidnapper wasn’t already caught. But, after episode eight, things were a bit too stretched when it came to the murder case. Luckily, the screenwriter did a nice save by having a completely epic ending for the murder case, even though it was quite cliché, but who cares. I enjoyed it, since it helped summarize the whole evolution of the lead characters. Since I talked about one story, I should start writing about the romance. It surely isn’t the most original thing ever. I mean, it’s quite typical, but it’s really cute and awkward, so it passes. Also, the romance becomes really central (well, in my opinion) only around the thirteen episode, so most of the drama is more focused on the characters’ evolution and them learning to appreciate the presence of the other. Because I talked about the romance, it's unavoidable that I’ll quickly talk about this. The drama has a lot of really cliché scenes and events, but it doesn’t mean it’s less enjoyable. The story line is quite original and the progression is well-done. In general, the drama is well-paced, which allows it to not have many lengths. What’s more, the story stays coherent through the whole 16 episodes, which is really a must. I mean, I never felt lost while I was watching and found out that most of the thing was explained and detailed in such a way that the viewer wouldn’t have difficulty to follow. There’s only one flaw in the drama (even though sometime it’s one of its strength) and it’s the humor. Sometime the drama was hilarious, which is completely awesome, but sometime it was a bit over the top and because they tried so hard to do sketches or funny events, it wasn’t funny at all. I’m especially thinking about the monk… Damn… I skipped nearly all those scenes, they were just too much. Finally, the drama has a really satisfying ending that isn’t sad. Recently, a lot of drama I watched seemed a bit uncompleted when they reached the end or were extremely sad, so I happily welcomed such ending.

For the characters I’ll start by saying that they are pretty typical. No matter how cute and adorable you find the male lead, it’s unavoidable to see all the ‘’type male lead’s characteristic’’ that he has. I mean, awesome, rich, has eyes only for one girl. He’s seen everywhere. Yet, strangely, I found him unique in his way. Even if his characteristic, status is seen everywhere, I felt as if his character – well some part of it – were quite original by not only being ‘’mean that soften’’ or ‘’controlling’’. Sure maybe some might see him that way, but I felt as if Min-Hyuk was more the resourceful, always ready to help and slightly marginalized character in kdramaland. The key word is that I found him marginalized. Often in kdrama I have the impression that they try way too hard to make their characters fit some kind of social mold, but Min-Hyuk clearly wasn’t going that way. He didn’t fit the stereotype of the bratty heir that does nothing productive. He created a company of his one. But, yeah, that’s not quite what marginalized means, so let me explain more. He sure fits the ‘’successful genius’’ mold, but by his actions (that I don’t necessarily find acceptable) he isolates himself. He’s not someone who’s bothered over the fact of being called and rumored gay. He’s not someone who uselessly hate his family, even though they wronged him in many ways. He’s not someone who’s necessarily after success. He’s not someone who seems especially into the idea of finding a spouse. He’s not someone who, at the first problem, goes run to get some help. He’s not someone who stays powerless through most of the drama. Because of all those actions, he probably is a bit different than other male leads, but I should just pass to other characters now. Bong Soon, the female lead, is the most adorable character. I mean she’s just the cliché of the sweet, cute and clumsy female lead, but brought to a whole other level by having a completely awesome super power. Also, she isn’t as helpless as most female lead and compared to many female leads who just go around kicking annoying boys or slapping them (don’t know why I’m thinking about Boys Over Flowers…), she uses her fighting ability through the whole drama in a productive way that, generally, helps the drama to progress. She’s also the character who undergo the most change through the drama by her own and because of the people around her. I don’t want to give too much merit to Min-Hyuk because I feel as if, yes, it’s due to him, but not completely. She’s the strongest (literally and mentally) character out of all and the one that truly helps the story go forward. But, she does a lot of self-pity in the first episode, when she complains about her genial ability that make her so unique. I don’t want to spoil too much, but, by the end, she’ll completely embrace who she is and, at the opposite of many bad-ass female lead, won’t go downward when she meets the male lead. She’ll rather get stronger and more resourceful and full of confidence. Then, I can talk about the second male lead that is just completely adorable, even though he doesn’t stand a chance next to Min-Hyuk. I was quite glad that Bong Soon didn’t screw things with him by getting involved, even though it broke his heart. I could talk about a lot more characters, but this review is already way too long for its own good. I’ll just end up by saying that all the characters change through the drama and I really thought it was really great, since, even if there was many characters, each of them had the right to their own development and personality.

I’ll conclude here, since this review is already over 1000 words. There’s probably many other things that I could say, but, well, after all, I shouldn’t spoil. The plot would deserve a 8.5/10 because the murder case was a bit boring at some point, which doesn’t allow me to give it a 9/10. The characters would easily deserve a 4/5 since they were all developed and even the psychopath who didn’t have much backstory was completely awesome by having his own personality. The tearjerker factor would be a 2/5 for a few scenes, but, mostly, it’s a comedy.

#strong woman do bong soon #kdrama #K-Drama #korean drama #review

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wolfbrotherzach · 7 years

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Z. T. Blogs JoJo (Episodes 25 and 26)

I’m making this one a double helping, because making a post for each episode would be too time consuming.

Unnecessary recap again. I know what happened last week. There’s no need for this.

Kars stands up. Stroheim takes the Hamon damage on his hand will do him in, but his hand heals. Kars looks around and spies a squirrel. He then turns his hand INTO ONE.

“Get’s his hands on the Red Stone. First thing he does is make a squirrel?” That line could sum up this entire series in terms of weirdness.

The squirrel and the hand-squirrel interact, with the latter eating the other. It then plows through Stroheim and one of his men. The hand returns to Kars and resumes being a hand. This served to demonstrates Kars’ mastery over live itself.

The Sun begins to rise, giving everyone hope that he’ll turn to stone. The remaining vampires are destroyed but it does nothing to Kars. Kars has conquered the Pillar Men’s sole weakness.

He takes the time to mock his old nemesis, and states that it is a beauty he had never known.

Joseph and crew wonder what they can do. Joseph states he has a plan. He tells Stroheim to follow his lead. He grabs the Red Stone and books it away from Kars at top speed, much to Smokey’s frustration.

Kars turns his arms into wings and charges after Joseph, wishing to avenge Esidisi and Wamuu. Smokey runs after Joseph, trying to tell him about Lisa Lisa, but Joseph tells him to stop running with him. Kars was after Joseph, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Smokey died because of him.

Joseph jumps off a cliff and into a seaplane, he makes a pass around Speedwagon and them, before flying off with Kars in tow.

After some chasing, Kars shoots some of his feathers at the plane, hoping to bring it down. It did little, and Joseph kept on flying. Over the plane’s radio, he tells Speedwagon and Smokey he plans to throw Kars into a volcano. Speedwagon tries to get him to reconsider, and to tell him about Lisa Lisa, but the radio was breaking up.

Speaking of breaking up, the feathers Kars shot at the plane had turned into piranhas. Some near the engine had turned into octopus tentacles, jamming the engine, bringing the plane down.

Joseph appears to jump out with the parachute, leaving himself open to Kars. Kars swoops down to attack, only to discover it’s a decoy. Joseph’s still in the plane, and he managed to swing around to ram Kars into the plane, and into the volcano.

Kars returns his wings to arms. He chides Joseph on thinking it would work.

Then a hand latches onto Kars’ neck. Stroheim, who had stowed away in one of the plane’s floats when Joseph made his swing around, had come to help.

He tells Joseph to jump out before they hit the volcano. Joseph does just that, with Stroheim catching him, losing his robotic legs on impact. The planes goes into the lava, taking Kars with it.

Kars writhes in agony as the lava immolated him. He tries to make armor, but it catches fire as well. Kars sinks into the lava and disappears.

Joseph confident that they had won, picked up Stroheim to carry him back to the others.

Then his arm was severed.

Kars was still alive. He had made a second armor out of bubbles to protect him from the lava.

Now we get the backstory of Kars. Kars had no desire to live as the others of his kind did, never seeing the Sun, with untapped power. To that end, he created the Stone Masks to acquire these powers.

The Masks granted him untold power, so much so that his brethren feared him. Only Esidisi sided with him. They slaughtered their bretheren, sparing only the two infants who would become Wamuu and Santana.

Joseph gets up, and charges a Hamon kick, but Kars deflects it with… with…

with Hamon.

Kars had conquered the Sun and Earth. Hamon seemed like a natural extension of this. In fact, his was hundreds of times stronger than Josephs. Kars gloats over his assured victory. Joseph had realized it was hopeless.

Kars charged his intense Hamon attack, and prepared to obliterate Joseph. Joseph, even with all hope gone and acting on pure instinct, he held up the Red Stone in his remaining hand.

Kars’ Hamon charge gravitated to it. The already intense charge was amplified by the Stone, sending it into the volcano. The volcano finally reached it’s limits. It erupts, sending Joseph and Kars rocketing into the sky.

Kars was taken aback by the force of the eruption, but he quickly got to his feet. He tries to fly away, but Joseph’s severed arm latched onto him. Smaller rocks shot up and hit Kars, launching him further up and faster. He demands to know if Joseph had planned all of this.

He didn’t but he wanted Kars to think he’d been outsmarted by a mere human.

Kars had reached escape velocity, launching into the vaccum of space. Joseph lies down on the rock as it slows and plummets to Earth. He bids his final goodbyes to his friends and accepts his fate. Stroheim returned to the others, informing them of Joseph’s passing.

Kars was not about to be defeated yet. He tried to redirect himself back to earth with some air jets, but the cold of space began to freeze him. He couldn’t change his direction. Eventually he froze solid, and continued his drift through space. Eventually, Kars’ genius mind failed him.

A few weeks later, a funeral was held for Joseph. Speedwagon bid Erina to return home from the rain, but a late arrival caught eveyone’s attention.

It was Joseph.

Yeah, he survived. Stroheim also gave him a robotic left hand to replace the one he lost to Kars. Everyone was stunned by Joseph’s survival, while Joseph was stunned that he had crashed his own funeral.

Oh, and he married Suzi Q after she nursed him back to health after his fall from the stratosphere. And she kinda forgot to mail the telegraph explaining that he was alive.

Now for the obligatory “Where Are They Now?” segment:

Lisa Lisa finally revealed that she was his mother. That must’ve been an interesting conversation. She later remarried to a Hollywood screenwriter.

Erina continued teaching until she passed away, surrounded by family and friends.

Speedwagon continued to work for the advancement of science. He died of a heart attack, leaving behind no children. He never married.

Smokey worked his way through college, with a major in political science. He later became the first black mayor of a town in his home state. That’s good for him. Glad to know he got something good out of this mess.

Stroheim never saw Joseph again. He died at the Battle of Stalingrad.

Joseph and Suzi Q had only one child, a daughter. She grew up and married a Japanese man, with whom she has one son. Joseph, now an old man, expresses a lot of dislike for the Japanese because of this.

Dude, it’s one guy. Not the whole freakin’ country.

And that concludes JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I guess this will..

Wait.

Why are we cutting back to 1984 from a cut forward to 1987 from 1939?

There’s a boat out on the ocean. They’re fishing up an old chest from the bottom of the sea, and…

wait

You’re not…

You ARE?

Well…

I guess this WON’T conclude Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Just Part 2 of it.

Oh, what new and utterly insane possibilities will await us next week. I can’t wait to-

Wait, what?

Well, it looks like I’ll have to wait even longer, because Attack on Titan is coming back next week, taking Jojo’s place.

Bummer.

#JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #jojo #JJBA #zt blogs jojo

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“A gripping, sensual and darkly romantic masterpiece.”– Frolic

Pretty Scars, Carrie Drazen’s long awaited love story from New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss, is available now!

In Carrie Drazen’s diamond-studded world, beauty is everything: a blessing, a commodity, and a curse. Her beauty got her past the velvet ropes and into New York’s high society, but it ripped her away from the man she loved and chained her to an unbearable life.

Then, in a single night, a song played by a mysterious and secretive musician carries her back to a past ripe with possibilities, when love could open any door.

Who is this anonymous performer?

How can a man she’s never met tell the story of a boy she loved with such precision?

She needs to know. But sometimes masks exist for a reason, and this unveiling could scar them both.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EU3csm

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/PrettyScars

Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/2MrdPsD

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2L3eIar

Excerpt:

After four years at USC, I knew how to survive. I went to the University Village mall, where Earl the security guard liked to hear me play.

I needed to practice anyway.

“Play that Stravinsky thing, would you?” I’d educated Earl in the ways of classical composers and he turned out to have a great ear. He always had a request.

“You got it.”

“Gonna miss your playing after you graduate,” he said as I set up my case.

“I’ll miss the acoustics in here.”

“Where you going?” he asked.

“New York.” I drew the bow across the strings and made an adjustment.

“Big Apple. You got a job there?”

“Not yet. But that’s where the opportunities are.”

He shook his head not as a negation, but with a rueful look back at youth.

When I started playing the piece Earl liked, I wasn’t looking to fall in love. I wasn’t looking to get tied down. I hadn’t fallen in love since Babette, and that was fine. Making a name for myself as a musician would take up all my time.

The acoustics in the front hall of University Village were outstanding. My eyes were closed as I played, listening for off tones and missed notes. I was in perfect flow. My fingers acted before my mind could correct, so my ears made adjustments. The conversations, the clattering food trays, the dim Muzak in the speakers were miles away.

There was no reason for me to open my eyes, but I did, and that changed everything.

She changed everything.

Standing with her friend, red hair covering her face as she rooted around her bag, she looked up just as I saw her, as if my gaze had called out.

USC is full of the children of actors, models, and athletes. My friend Danny said you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting something fuckable.

But she wasn’t fuckable.

Not exactly.

She was more.

Calling her beautiful illustrated the inadequacy of language. She was a melody. A perfect symphony. The final crescendo in a masterpiece written by a genius. Taking my eyes off her would be impossible. All the air in the room bent in her direction and emanated from her as if she owned it.

And still, my fingers did their job, filling the room with music that had been written for her before she was born.

She was impossible. Eternal. Divine.

Nothing like her should exist anywhere but Olympus.

With a little smile, she dropped a bill in my case and walked out with her friend, getting momentarily lost in the afternoon sun.

I stopped playing to watch her go.

“You got a day’s worth out of her,” Earl said from behind his podium.

“Yeah,” I said, assuming he was talking about her looks.

“You gonna get greedy and keep playing?”

“Huh?”

He pointed at my case with its dotting of loose change and a single, rolled up bill. I picked up the cash. Benjamin Franklin stared at me with a sly smile.

That couldn’t be right. Even if it was, I couldn’t take it. Not from another student. Not from anyone who wasn’t Bill Gates.

Looking out the glass doors, I saw her and her friend make their way to the crosswalk and wait for the light.

“You okay?” Earl asked with a knowing smile. “Or did that pretty thing shake you?”

“I’m shaken,” I said, grabbing the pen off his clipboard. I scrawled my number on the bill and handed back the pen. “Save my spot.”

“Will do.”

I dropped my violin in the case and snapped it shut, losing a spray of pennies and dimes, grabbed my bag and case, and ran after her.

About CD Reiss

CD Reiss is a New York Times bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up she’s at the well hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.

She’s frequently referred to as the Shakespeare of Smut which is flattering but hasn’t ever gotten her out of chopping that cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.

Connect with CD Reiss

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2iwpkPQ

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cd-reiss Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDReiss.writer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cdreisswriter Instagram: https://instagram.com/cdreiss/ Website: www.cdreiss.com Stay up to date with Christine by joining her mailing list: https://cdreiss.com/cd-reiss-mailing-list-signup/

Sign here for new release and sale alerts: https://cdreiss.com/NewReleaseSaleAlerts

For Text Alerts: TEXT “CDREISS” to 77948

*standard text messaging rates apply*

Excerpt – Pretty Scars “A gripping, sensual and darkly romantic masterpiece."-- Frolic Pretty Scars, Carrie Drazen’s long awaited love story from New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss, is available now!

#CD Reiss #Excerpt #KU #Pretty Scars

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 5 years

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50 things to be thankful for in 2018

There's no denying 2018 has absolutely tested our patience, but it turns out the year hasn't been complete trash.

Beyond some of the most important aspects of life like your loved ones and your health, 2018 has truly given us a lot of good. From social justice initiatives like Time's Up and March for Our Lives, to pop culture masterpieces like Queer Eye, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, and "thank u, next," the year had its share of hopeful, joyous, entertaining, and positive moments.

So when times get tough and it feels like there's not much to be happy about in the world, here are 50 things to be thankful for.

SEE ALSO: The internet's best tips for how to be kind on World Kindness Day

1. Time's Up launched. 2018 started off strong with a group of more than 300 women in the entertainment industry coming together to form Time's Up — an initiative dedicated to standing up against sexual harassment.

I stand with women across every industry to say #TIMESUP on abuse, harassment, marginalization and underrepresentation. ⁰@TIMESUPNOW https://t.co/4zd5g2ByU0 pic.twitter.com/0h8ojLOq9U

— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 1, 2018

2. Laverne Cox made history on the cover of Cosmo. In January, actress and producer Laverne Cox also made history as the first ever trans covergirl for Cosmopolitan Magazine. Cox graced the cover of Cosmo South Africa's February issue.

3. The Fab Five came into our lives. It may feel like Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Antoni Porowski have been inspiring us all to eat, dress, groom, self-love, and decorate to the best of our abilities for a lifetime, but Netflix's Queer Eye reboot only premiered in Feb. 2018.

4. Drake's "God's Plan" music video. Remember pre-Meek Mill beef when Drake gave away nearly one million dollars and filmed himself doing all those good deeds like paying for people's groceries? That was nice!

5. The Parkland teens. Though 2018 was full of an unfathomable amount of tragedy and gun violence, the year also inspired a heartwarming amount of youth activism in America. After the deadly Parkland shooting in February, a group of teen survivors from the Florida high school shooting has consistently stood up to government officials and publicly advocated for gun control.

Parkland teens at March For Our lives rally.

Image: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

This year alone they've formed March for Our Lives, led school walkouts, inspired others (both young and old) to register to vote and protest gun violence, and even inspired the Obama's to write a heartfelt entry in the Time 100 issue.

6. Mirai Nagasu landed a triple axel. The Winter Olympics also took place this year! There were many standout moments but Mirai Nagasu absolutely slayed, making history by becoming the first U.S. woman to land a triple axel in the Winter Olympics. Thankful we got to witness this moment.

7. Black Panther came out. We were truly blessed this year by the arrival of the record-breaking Marvel's cinematic masterpiece, Black Panther, and the talented actors, fierce as hell soundtrack, and on-screen representation it brought to our world.

8. Jordan Peele's Oscar win. Speaking of movies, Peele's film Get Out won "Best Original Screenplay" this year, making him the first black screenwriter to receive the award.

9. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate wait is almost over. The highly anticipated video game is set to come out for Nintendo Switch on Dec. 7.

10. Beto O'Rourke. 2018 was the year of Beto, burgers, and a Beyoncé midterms endorsement.

We just want to say thank you to everyone who made this possible. Everyone who made us feel hopeful, everyone who inspired us. Everyone who became the most amazing campaign we could have ever hoped to belong to. Grateful that we got to do this with you. We love you. Goodnight! pic.twitter.com/1j6JnhtP0f

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 7, 2018

11. A Quiet Place. John Krasinski directed and starred in a horror film alongside his IRL wife that was so quiet and terrifying people were too nervous to eat snacks in theaters. What a time to be alive.

12. Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer. Remember when the rapper was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his fourth studio album, DAMN? Hell yeah!

13. Beyoncé at Coachella. Beychella was THIS YEAR. We knew she would slay but nothing prepared us for the sheer magnitude of her powerhouse performance, or Destiny's Child, or the movement she inspired.

14. The Royal Wedding. When the world needed a distraction from the bad and an escape from reality, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were there for us. And for that we thank them.

15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was saved. For several terrible, horrible, no good, very bad hours Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled. But thankfully, after a whole lot of love from fans, NBC picked it up for a sixth season.

Image: fox

16. Won't You Be My Neighbor reminded us of Mr. Rogers' magic. We needed a heavy dose of Fred Rogers' pure and wholesome goodness to get us through the year and this film did just the trick.

17. Ava DuVernay made history. DuVernay's adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time led her to become the first black woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million at the box office.

18. The world is finally taking action against plastic pollution. Plastic straw bans are spreading across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Businesses like McDonald's and Starbucks are even getting on board the movement.

19. We still have dogs. No matter how bad things get we still have furry companions to turn to, and play with, and occasionally throw cheese on.

20. Eighth Grade filled us with middle school anxiety. Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade reminded adults how stressful growing up can be and gave teens an emotional look at middle school through a more relatable lens.

Image: a24

21. Crazy Rich Asians was a smashing success. The film dominated box office sales and served as an important milestone for Asian representation in American pop culture. And guess what? It's getting a sequel.

22. Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! Love. Pregnancy. Death. Flashbacks. Dancing. Singing. Abba. Meryl. Cher. Andy García. Help!

23. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. 2018 has seen the rise (Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin) and fall (Ariana and Pete) of celebrity relationships. But through the ups and downs of the year Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's love never seemed to waiver. We're thankful this nice, soon-to-be-wed couple is here to restore our faith in love.

24. LeBron James opened up a school. The NBA star opened his "I Promise" school in Akron, Ohio, to give 240 third and fourth grade students a life-changing educational opportunity.

25. To All The Boys I've Loved Before captured our hearts. Netflix introduced the world to the film adaptation of Jenny Han's young adult book and after Peter Kavinsky's "woah woah woah," our hearts will never be the same. Not to mention it inspired dozens of Lara Jean Halloween costumes.

Image: netflix

26. That quirky, super high-maintenance cat was adopted. Remember Bruno, the thicc, polydactyl cat that Wright Way Rescue Animal Shelter in Morton Grove, Illinois, was trying to find a home? He found one :').

27. A sixgill shark was discovered. This is cool because most sharks have five gills. It's also a reminder that we should be thankful for oceanographers, researchers, and all those who explore the our vast and mysterious oceans.

28. India strikes down gay sex ban. On Sept. 6, members of India's Supreme Court unanimously voted to make the landmark ruling that eliminates the ban on consensual gay sex.

29. Moth memes lit up our lives. The year was filled with good memes but those moth/lamp memes? Pure joy.

30. Amy Sherman-Palladino and all those Emmys. Amy Sherman-Palladino has always been genius. Gilmore Girls? Bun Heads? Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life? It's about time she's properly celebrated, so we're thankful The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won four Emmys. We are also thankful for her husband, Dan Palladino.

Image: Rich Fury/Getty Images

31. Twitter did one good thing. We have no edit button and there's still bots and harassment a-plenty, but at the very least, Twitter brought back the chronological timeline.

32. Gritty came into our lives. Can anyone even remember a world without the Philadelphia Flyers' new hairy orange mascot?

33. The Office is back ... sort of. While fans of the NBC comedy are still holding out hope for a revival, 2018 treated those nostalgic for the days of Dunder Mifflin to a charming off-broadway musical.

34. Speaking of The Office — be thankful for Steve Carell. He stars with Timothée Chalamet and Amy Ryan (Holly Flax) in Beautiful Boy. He's got Welcome to Marwen coming out, which looks, uh interesting. He's on SNL. And he's making his triumphant return to television!

35. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave us life. A Star Is Born came out this year, along with a kickass soundtrack and some perfect memes. We will never be the same.

youtube

36. Fat Bear Week ran our lives for 7 days. Much love to all the fat bears out there who distracted us for an entire week just by living their lives.

37. This throwback baked potato costume. Halloween costumes are great but this throwback baked potato get-up really made us smile.

38. Thankful for the hot duck in Central Park. We thought we lost him, but he's back again. <3

39. We have a new anthem: "Party For One." How did Carly Rae Jepsen know we were in desperate need of a song to dance in our underwear and eat a large pizza alone to? And the music video! UGH!

40. And there's no musical praise without discussing Ariana Grande. The warrior of 2018, Ariana Grande, has given fans so much love, inspiration, and hope throughout the year. Not to mention, the ultimate independent BOP: "thank u, next."

i’m so ..... fuckin ..... grateful

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 11, 2018

41. BDE came to be. Speaking adjacently of Pete Davidson, for better or worse 2018 also gave us Big Dick Energy and that's something we'll never forget.

42. Netflix still delivers. Netflix has an entertaining social media presence and continues to create quality original shows and movies.

43. There was an increase in voter turnout. 2018 proved Americans are standing up for what they believe in and exercising their right to vote. Voter turnout for midterm elections reached a 50-year high, and young people voted at historic rates.

44. Midterm results showed a refreshing amount of diversity. It was a night of historic firsts — from over 100 women elected to Congress (the highest number ever) to wins for the LGBTQ community and more.

45. The Detective Pikachu trailer looks delightful. Another cute as hell movie to look forward to? Yes please.

youtube

46. Cher's Twitter is hilarious. Twitter is sometime awful but not Cher's account. That's always good.

47. All of the books. The world has so many books just waiting to be read — books for when you're mad at the patriarchy, books for hikers, books all about pride. And some great books written this year.

48. All of the great TV shows. Streaming aside, there are dozens of phenomenal shows airing on television this year, like Superstore, The Good Place, This Is Us, Killing Eve, and more.

49. Sports are still a thing! We've got football, we've got soccer, we've got basketball, baseball, hockey, and so many more. Sports bring people together!

50. All the people working to keep others safe, informed, and up-to-date with the news. It's been a tough year for news, mass shootings, and natural disasters, which is why we're thankful for all the hard working journalists, reporters, news anchors, first responders, weather forecasters, and hurricane scientists.

So remember: No matter how bad things may seem there are always some bright spots in the world.

WATCH: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez makes history as she becomes the youngest woman ever in Congress

#_category:yct:001000002 #_author:Nicole Gallucci #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_uuid:dc26a881-e89b-3466-8eb6-6d877b2c8944 #_revsp:news.mashable

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