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#i would totally murder baby hitler
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Hey Gaud which 5 history figures would you like to hunt down?
THANK you. 
christopher colombus, mao zedong, stalin, hitler, leopold ii, hideki tojo, hirohito, kim il sung, ronald reagan, nixon, both george bushes, andrew jackson, obviously trump, and preferably i would assassinate them as young adults but i’m genuinely not picky 
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porcelaintoybox23 · 2 years
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I think the funniest thing about fe3h is how much people hate these characters. The game has some serious writing issues, but even ignoring that, I still don’t understand the rage a lot of people have. I like Edelgard and Dimitri even though I side with El’s philosophy. I dislike Rhea the most but don’t hate her, she’s just fucking nuts. People will literally compare Edelgard to hitler, which is very inaccurate and also doing way too much. Seriously, the holocaust isn’t a light comparison to make toward anything. Be accurate at least. It’s not even a tumblr problem it’s everywhere, youtube, Reddit, etc. No side is totally right or wrong, but people will jump through hoops to bash/support someone.
Edelgard did some morally dubious things and better writing would’ve had someone call her out. Like I understand why, but the people she has around her are seriously messed up, though I understand that she has to play the field. People think that El should be able to enact continent wide change without war, but peaceful means have rarely worked throughout history. Maybe it could’ve been nice for the three house leaders to join up and strong arm Rhea into retiring and takedown TWSITD, but that’s a writing flaw. Like slavery didn’t end peacefully. Also, TWSITD has nukes. I don’t think El had that much power over them, clearly. A real discussion on Remire village would have been a great support.
Dimitri is a mass murderer who killed indiscriminately. Like everyone is, but I really didn’t want to kill those thieves. Still love him, but he was creeping me out. The blue lions are my babies the way the black eagles are, but it’s weird that Dimitri is okay with a lie being told to the populace. Sothis hasn’t been doing anything for like a millennia. That whole convo pre Enbarr was so bad. El could have been forthcoming with something, anything. Dimitri just seemed to be on the opposite side because.
The church is shady and built on multiple lies. Rhea has gone through some serious stuff but she has done and enabled a lot of harm. I understand her grief, but I don’t think it warrants a fake religion, upholding or at least not stopping the crest system, being able to execute people instead of the local rulers doing it, child soldiers, experimentation with the end goal of replacing the person with Sothis, and revising history. I don’t think Rhea is evil, she just doesn’t change anything? Or really just upholds crappy systems instead of grieving.
Edelgard is an imperialist, it’s the 12th century
I don’t know what hate has been thrown toward Dimitri, but the boy has schizophrenia and psychology doesn’t exist.
Haven’t played verdant wind yet, but I think “it’s the 12th century” is still a pretty good catch all excuse.
I admit bias here, I have nothing good to say about Rhea. Woman is creepy. I do like Cyril, Flayn, and Seteth though.
If these characters were perfect, there would be no story. They all have flaws and make mistakes. Each have a valid perspective, well maybe not Rhea
The only characters I can see people justifiably hating are Sylvain and Ingrid. A sexist, womanizing creep, whose depth doesn’t negate that, and a racist. (Okay, that’s just pure bias) Ingrid was really justifying genocide and basically called Dedue, “one of the good black people”
At the end of the day, this game is great for discussion, but these characters aren’t real. Like some heated debate is fun, but a lot of you seem to take this personally.
Edit: if you are replying to this post arguing for something, I do not care. None of these characters are uwu babies and it’s fine to disagree. That is the point of this post. I don’t care if you hate Edelgard and want Rhea to curb stomp you, or vice-versa, just stop insulting each other and making weird arguments.
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butwhyduh · 3 years
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Sickening
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You looked at the blood in your sink. It was becoming sticky and rust colored at the edge. It probably wasn’t a lot but it certainly looked like it. The fact that you weren’t exactly sure who’s it was made you feel sick. You closed your eyes and grabbed some towels to clean it.
After spraying your sink heavily with antiseptic, you scrubbed your hands clean and left the room. Your boyfriend laid out on the couch. Normally you found it a little funny the way his long body would hang over the arm. Now you were worried.
“Jason,” you asked. What is going on? He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“I got in a fight. It’s no big deal. You know how assholes in Gotham are,” he said. As if to emphasize his point, the sound of police sirens sounded close by. Yeah, this place was rough.
And Jason certainly looked like he had recently been in a fight. His knuckles were red and raw. He had a bruise blooming on his forearm. And his grey shirt had little specks of black that you couldn’t help but wonder was blood.
“Why are you always covered in bruises? Is that the assholes in Gotham?” You asked, sitting on the coffee table.
“You could say that,” he muttered under his breath. “I guess people just want to punch me. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“You need a bath,” you said. “I’ll throw your clothing in the wash.”
“I’m fine-“
“You’re covered in blood and I’m not sure it’s yours,” you said. Jason slowly rose from the couch and you see that he favored one shoulder over the other one when pushing up. Probably also bruised. Or worse.
He all but stumbled into the bathroom. You started a hot bath. Your small apartment didn’t have a shower attachment. Jason roughly pushed off his boots before grimacing as he pulled off his shirt and threw it in your tiny washing machine. That one was a gift from him that somehow your landlord was totally cool with despite being a complete ass.
His shoulder had nasty red and purple splotches of bruises and there was a small bloody area. He shoved his belt open and pushed off his pants and socks. Jason slid into the tub. He groaned. His long leg had his knees sticking out of the water almost comically.
You bent down and sat on the old tile floor. Someone, probably in the 1920s or something, had out tiny little white hexagon tiles all over the floor next to the claw foot tub. You grabbed a cup and started pouring water on Jason’s chest. He hissed before relaxing. Steam from the tub rose in the cold room.
“I worry about you. Worry what you’re doing. Why you won’t tell me what you’re doing. That you’re in trouble or something. Do you owe a gang money or something? Who hit you?” You asked softly. Deathstroke, Jason thought but he certainly couldn’t tell you that. His hard look soften a little.
“I don’t owe a gang money. Nothin like that,” he said. He couldn’t help but look at your face. You were too pretty, too innocent, too good for his world. He didn’t want you in this. Hell, he shouldn’t have talked to you in the first place because no one lasted long in his life. Jason knew that taking you on a date had been selfish. And everything after that was him being too weak to do the right damn thing.
You took the cup and poured water over his hair. The slight pink color had you grimacing. You didn’t push your questions. It was something Jason loved about you. He was a hard nut to crack and usually what worked best was time and space.
You grabbed your shampoo rather than Jason’s to wash his hair. There was no way that you were going to use his ‘mountain bear scented 4 in one shampoo, conditioner, body wash, motor oil’ when trying to pamper him.
You’d never washed his hair before. He’d definitely never let anyone close to washing him. Shower sex, great. But never something non-sexual and intimate as just being bathed. You ran your fingers through his hair letting the soap rub in. Jason literally felt goosebumps on his skin and he closed his eyes and leaned into your hand. You were the only person that he let touch him and high key, this was the best relaxation he’s ever remembered feeling. You ran your hands through his hair longer that necessary but you could tell that he wasn’t complaining. He groaned a little.
You poured the water over his head and was pleasantly surprised that the water was soapy but clear. At least there wasn’t a lot of blood in his hair. Jason bent and washed his face in the water. He had more stubble growing than he usually did.
“Do you wanna shave your face? I can do it,” you offered. For a fraction of a second his brow creased before he gave you a half smile.
“Not today. I’m good. Thank you,” Jason said holding your hand. He couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t trust anyone with any kind of blade near his face.
“Are you okay? Tell me what’s going on,” You said reaching a hand to his other cheek. His jaw clenched a little and his eyes almost looked hurt. He was thinking of all the people who had died because they knew a secret. Other vigilantes who’d lost their entire families for knowing their secret identity. But at the same time, Jason knew that you wouldn’t stay around forever and the lies were growing. He was going to do one more little selfish thing. He sighed deeply.
“I’ve gotta tell you something but I don’t want to scare you,” he said and his eyes showed so much worry and fear. He genuinely thought he might lose you over this.
“Scare me? Jay, what are you talking about?” You said confused. He inhaled nervously.
“I- I’m Red Hood! Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to say it so loud,” he said. Jason’s eyes searched your face. Your eyes were wide and you were frozen. His breath was all over the place in absolute fear. It was only a few seconds but he prayed for you to speak.
“Did you just say that you’re Red Hood?” You said faintly. Red Hood was infamous. Brutally murdered gang members, rapists, and traffickers. Even once famously fought the dark knight himself. The one continued theme of everything you heard: cold, cruel, and highly deadly. If you saw Red Hood, it was probably the worst day of your life, if not your last.
“Uh... yeah? Yes.” He gulped and watched you. His blue eyes were so round and worried.
“No. I can’t believe that,” you said. Jason, who would read Jane Eyr to you, that fed stray cats outside of the apartment, and was literally the sweetest boyfriend couldn’t be this killer. He looked down with a sarcastic smile.
“I’m Red Hood. That’s me. If you don’t believe me, there is a Glock 26 Gen 4 strapped to my bedside table. There are a few more around,” he said motioning around the apartment.
“You keep stuff here?” You asked with a mad look. Your head was spinning.
“No. Just some protection. None of the Hood stuff is ever here. I don’t want anything that could be found in this apartment. All the stuff here is new and never fired besides a few practice rounds. I try to be as safe as possible so you are never in danger,” he emphasized. You both sat in silence for a few minutes. The only movement was Jason’s fingers running along your hand.
“Why? Why do you do it? Be the Red Hood?” You asked finally. He expected that question but not right away.
“I should probably tell you how it started,” Jason said and he didn’t hold back. He told you about his parents, attempting to steal the rims from the batmobile, becoming Bruce Wayne’s ward, becoming Robin, being killed by the Joker, the lazareth pit, and becoming the Red Hood. By the time he was done, the water was cold and your legs were numb. “That’s why I have bruises and scars. Why I leave sometimes or miss dates.”
“I’m sorry,” you said softly. He gave you a look of confusion. What could you possibly be sorry for? “You shouldn’t have gone through that. You shouldn’t have needed to hide it from me. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t scare you? You don’t want to run from a murderer?” Jason asked. His eyes searched yours for signs of fear or disgust.
“Is it really murder if they are evil? Or justice?” You said slowly and he winced at that word. Bruce certainly wouldn’t agree. “Every time I hear the question ‘would you kill baby Hitler’ I would. Without question. I would shoot a baby because I would be thinking about 6 million Jews and unknown others that died because of him. The bad guys always get out and make things so much worse.
“You’re going to have to tell me where all the weapons are here. I’m paranoid that I’m going to reach in the couch and grab a sword,” you said with a laugh, standing up. Sure, you were shocked. But that wasn’t going to make you run screaming into the night. Or maybe you were in shock? You’d find out in the morning.
“Swords are more my brother’s thing,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll show you. I’ve been wanting to teach you some self defense too.”
“We’ll get back to your brother being into swords later. But first, let’s get you out of that wet ass tub and into bed. Because I can’t process any more information tonight,” you said handing Jason a towel. He obviously favored his right shoulder when dressing in sweatpants before coming to the bed where he flopped down. The lights in the bathroom flickered and you rolled your eyes. That’s Gotham for you.
“I’ll fix that tomorrow,” Jason said quietly.
“Nevermind that. Do you want an ice pack?”
“No. I want you,” he said and you smiled a little before crawling in the bed. Jason moved around to lay with his head next to your chest snuggling close. It was almost comical the way the big man hugged you and laid in your arms. He needed to be close to you even though your arm on his waist made him clench in pain for a second before you moved to a better position.
“I don’t deserve you,” he said quietly. “You’re way too nice to me. Almost gullible. Like Baby, you live this way?” he said with a smile. His sarcastic defense was back up. You rolled your eyes.
“Maybe I’ve got a thing for the whole bad boy thing. Or that I know last week, you had cereal with water and honestly, that’s the ultimate weakness,” you said back and he gave you a rare grin.
“We were out of milk. Like what was I gonna do? Eat it dry? No.”
You kissed the corner of his mouth and he grimaced.
“Sorry. We should get some sleep. It’s super late,” you said.
“Yeah, sleep. Sounds great,” he said already drowsy. “I fucking love you,” he whispered before falling asleep.
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jackoshadows · 3 years
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GRRM talking about exploring redemption specifically with Jaime and stating he personally hopes there can be a possibility of redemption for everyone is in his 2014 Rolling Stone interview. It’s a pretty well known quote, kind of a weird one not to know if you’re gonna weigh in on the big Jaime redemption debate... I guess you can just go for GRRM saying he finds it weird people crush on Jaime and the Hound instead, but it doesn’t really seem the most relevant one to me.
Alright, so I looked up his 2014 Rolling stone interview where he talks about redemption:
Q: Both Jaime and Cersei are clearly despicable in those moments. Later, though, we see a more humane side of Jaime when he rescues a woman, who had been an enemy, from rape. All of a sudden we don’t know what to feel about Jaime.
A: One of the things I wanted to explore with Jaime, and with so many of the characters, is the whole issue of redemption. When can we be redeemed? Is redemption even possible? I don’t have an answer. But when do we forgive people? You see it all around in our society, in constant debates. Should we forgive Michael Vick? I have friends who are dog-lovers who will never forgive Michael Vick. Michael Vick has served years in prison; he’s apologized. Has he apologized sufficiently? Woody Allen: Is Woody Allen someone that we should laud, or someone that we should despise? Or Roman Polanski, Paula Deen. Our society is full of people who have fallen in one way or another, and what do we do with these people? How many good acts make up for a bad act? If you’re a Nazi war criminal and then spend the next 40 years doing good deeds and feeding the hungry, does that make up for being a concentration-camp guard? I don’t know the answer, but these are questions worth thinking about. I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there is no possibility of redemption, what’s the answer then? [Martin pauses for a moment.] You’ve read the books?
Q: Yes.
A: Who kills Joffrey?
Q: That killing happens early in this fourth season. The books, of course, are well past the poisoning of King Joffrey.
A: In the books – and I make no promises, because I have two more books to write, and I may have more surprises to reveal – the conclusion that the careful reader draws is that Joffrey was killed by the Queen of Thorns, using poison from Sansa’s hairnet, so that if anyone did think it was poison, then Sansa would be blamed for it. Sansa had certainly good reason for it.The reason I bring this up is because that’s an interesting question of redemption. That’s more like killing Hitler. Does the Queen of Thorns need redemption? Did the Queen of Thorns kill Hitler, or did she murder a 13-year-old boy? Or both? She had good reasons to remove Joffrey. Is it a case where the end justifies the means? I don’t know. That’s what I want the reader or viewer to wrestle with, and to debate.
Q: I don’t know if somebody like Jaime or Cersei can be redeemed. Cersei’s a great character – she’s like Lady Macbeth.  
A: Well, redeemed in whose eyes? She’ll never be redeemed in the eyes of some. She’s a character who’s very protective of her children. You can argue, well, does she genuinely love her children, or does she just love them because they’re her children? There’s certainly a great level of narcissism in Cersei. She has an almost sociopathic view of the world and civilization. At the same time, what Jaime did is interesting. I don’t have any kids myself, but I’ve talked with other people who have. Remember, Jaime isn’t just trying to kill Bran because he’s an annoying little kid. Bran has seen something that is basically a death sentence for Jaime, for Cersei, and their children – their three actual children. So I’ve asked people who do have children, “Well, what would you do in Jaime’s situation?” They say, “Well, I’m not a bad guy – I wouldn’t kill.” Are you sure? Never? If Bran tells King Robert he’s going to kill you and your sister-lover, and your three children. . . . Then many of them hesitate. Probably more people than not would say, “Yeah, I would kill someone else’s child to save my own child, even if that other child was innocent.” These are the difficult decisions people make, and they’re worth examining.
So reading through this, GRRM says that he is exploring the answer to the question - Can the villains in my story be redeemed? As he points out in this interview, the answer to this question in 2014, was that he didn’t know.
He also compares Lannister villainy to Michael Vick, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Nazi war criminals. He asks if Nazi war criminals deserve forgiveness after feeding the hungry for 40 years. What do you think? Do you think Nazi war criminals deserve forgiveness and redemption?
But fandom has decided that according to this Jaime has now been redeemed and anyone who questions the existence of said redemption is a Jaime hater who lacks an understanding of how Jaime Lannister is totally a good guy now.
Oh and look, he is also talking about Cersei Lannister’s redemption in this same interview. Funnily enough, I don’t see anyone in fandom talking about Cersei’s redemption arc when GRRM is asking the same question with her character as he does with Jaime’s. He is talking about whether Cersei Lannister can be redeemed - Cersei has murdered babies!
GRRM is also asking if the Queen of Thorns deserves redemption for taking out baby Hitler. No one seems to be talking about that either.
GRRM also questions if Jaime’s attempted murder of a 7 year old is justified by framing it as the character trying to protect his own children. In my opinion though, this is a guy who is in his thirties, engaging in careless incestuous adultery with the Queen, in the enemy/guest’s home where the enemy could have come upon them anytime and then tried to murder a child to cover it up. Not justified, at all.  This is Jaime Lannister about Joffrey:
Because Joff was no more to me than a squirt of seed in Cersei's cunt, and he deserved to die.
I don’t know, the character does not come across as caring for his children. It was more about saving his and Cersei’s lives than it was about his children. And Cersei tried to stop him from murdering Bran.
Who had the harder choice to make? Jaime has sex with his twin sister, the queen, in Winterfell - because he just doesn’t care - and then tries to murder Ned’s child to cover it up. Or Ned, who wants to save Jaime’s children from Robert Baratheon’s wrath, warns Cersei to leave as soon as possible and in doing so dooms his entire family.
Ultimately the author is exploring the question of whether the baddies in his novel can be redeemed. Not that they will be redeemed or that they are on a path to redemption. He wants there to be a hope for forgiveness for his baddies at the end of their journey. Villains doing good for 40 years - can they be redeemed? In whose eyes do they need to be redeemed?
Jaime could be redeemed in Brienne’s eyes - because she loves him and he helped save her life. Does this mean Bran Stark should forgive him? Does this mean the small folk in the Riverlands who suffered and died because of the WOT5K brought about by his careless adultery should forgive him? Does this mean he is redeemed in the eyes of the reader?
As I stated, in my previous posts, from my interpretation of Jaime’s arc, I don’t see any redemption from Jaime Lannister in the books yet. He is still arrogant and self- serving. A little humbled by the loss of his hand - but able to brag all the same about being ‘Goldenhand the Just’ because he hanged some hungry outlaws. No introspection or acknowledgment of his past actions. We did see some guilt in the dreams he has about abandoning Elia and her children to the Mountain’s mercies despite having sworn an oath to protect them. What he will do about all that? I don’t know.
He did not abandon Cersei because she’s a bad person who murdered babies. He abandoned her to the mercies of the Faith Militant because she was unfaithful to him - because of the personal injury to him. He sees keeping his oaths with respect to Sansa as salvation and then sends off Brienne to do his job, while being engaged in enforcing Lannister rule in Westeros.
The comparison to Theon Greyjoy comes about because Theon has accepted his wrong, Theon is full of remorse and regret. Theon wishes he could go back and do differently. Theon is a broken man - and yet, despite being so afraid, he risks all to help Jeyne Poole - a character no one cares about.
'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid? ' 'That is the only time a man can be brave‘
Saving Jeyne Poole is not going to earn Theon Greyjoy any rewards. But he does it because it’s right - not because it makes him feel good. Does it mean that Theon Greyjoy - who murdered two little boys - is now redeemed and will get a happy ending?
So yeah, can Jaime be redeemed? The author will try to answer that question in books yet to be written and leave it up to the reader to decide if the character has indeed been redeemed.  Thus far I see no redemption, in my opinion and as per my interpretation of the text. Take that as you will.
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0aurelion-sol0 · 3 years
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SNK 134: Why we need to move forward.
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Well...
That's horrifying...
Oh but whatever they are probably bad people in there. Thieves, greedy people, hateful mothers, men who beat their wives , liars, bullies, killers, murderers, rapist, child rapist and racist babies.
Yeah...
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This is a rhetoric that has been used for ages and is currently being used in this fandom especially on reddit and 4chan.
The justification of injustice.
When George Floyd was slammed on the ground and died because he couldn't breathe anymore, conservatives and republicans at large ignored the police brutaliy leading up to that.
He was just a cocaine or drug addict who one day pointed a gun at a pregnant lady. So he was a criminal and deserved that.
Of course ignoring the racial segregation that happened from the very legalized slavery hundreds of years ago and how poor and racially stigmatized black people are being in America right now.
When the Uyghurs are being genocided by China, the world blinds itself because China is one the worlds necessary assets in economy as it basically produces a good chunk of what is being used in the world. Most made by children, " but it makes us live "... Apparently that's the only logical reason...
When Palestinians and Israelis are literally killing each other over some complicated non sense that no one ever really understands and also Israël basically doing Apartheid at this point,
When the totality of the Middle East has turned into a warzone because of the United States's violent imperialism,
When most far right or extremist group decided that Islam and Islamic terrorism are the same thing,
When xenophobes and racist always attack immigration,
"If she wasn't wearing that skirt, she probably wouldn't have been raped",
When we have homophobes, transphobes, LGBTphobes, telling us what's natural and always bragging about "\___-_-___/ God, Holy Jesus",
When you have people who tells you that poor people chose their way of living when there are a small percent of billionaires and soon to be trillionaires having such a gigantic amount of wealth,
When 6 millions Jews were genocided which was 40% of Jewish people at the time and 2/3 of European Jews,
When the prime minister of Israël is saying that the Holocaust wasn't Hitler's Idea but Haj Amin al-Husseini, (who was extremely anti semitic, don't get me wrong)who suggested it to him maiking the prime minister a revisionist but at the same time making his actions against Palestinians justified,
When around the world Christianic places of worship are being vandalized,
When entire SYSTEMS of segregations have made societies work,
When the South American continent has been attacked by the United States because of different political beliefs,
When people use their rape as a way to attack other communities of a specific religion or color,
When Black Panthers uses racism against White people because of the story of USA and are being anti semitic but essentializing a whole group,
When Nationalistic Israelis tells you what is a good Jew and what isn't a good Jew,
When dozens of groups have been forced to extinction,
Natives who were being murdered, yeah? YOU DON'T SEE THAT A LOT IN YOUR COWBOY MOVIES ?
When literal "feminist" calls for the destruction of men while they can't educate the kids about what to do and what not to do, OH, can also be transphobic apparently,
When you have entire websites who encourages pedophilia,
And pedophiles killed, left alone and live a life of endless torment while no one does nothing to help them and fight those who encourages it even in the highest places of our society,
Oh and Hollywood, that's all I need to say.
And let's not even talk about animal brutality and the destruction of ecosystems.
And there is more and more and more and more and more and FUCKING MORE,
All that because of reasons, reasons, reasons, reasons,
All stuck in a cycle of hate, violence and discrimination that just never ends.
The selfishness,
The greed,
And at end, everything is meaningless. There is just blood.
This is what this chapter represent the meaningless of it all. How everything goes to shit...
How everyone, whether it's the oppresor or the oppresed, will justify the violence, the injustice.
Society does nothing cause society right now runs for the entitled and the entitled only and creates it's own monsters.
I want to ask those people who defend the rumbling.
After everything we saw in this manga, after what the real world has commited, after how much these real events have inspired this story, how can you say it was the only way ?
After everyone hided Hange valuable informations including Eren who had information about KRUGER who was a spy in MARLEY. Who has created a civil war in Eldia and activated the rumbling while killing Eldian civilians in the way.
After seeing the mental breakdown of Bertolt, who we don't hear about anymore, Annie and Reiner's mental breakdown over GENOCIDING AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE, by the way Reiner totally didn't develop another persona at that time to cope with what he was doing, HUH ?
After all the deaths, Carla, Grisha, Dina, Faye Marco, Levi's squad, Ymir, Erwin, Sasha, Hange, Hannes, Floch and many others, how can you go and be like "CHAD EREN, BEING DADDY, FUCKING HIS MEAT WAIFU, PHILOSOPHER FREEDOM SEEKER"
"104th crybabies... xDdDDDD Prfrpfr"
Come on...
This isn't serious at this point.
And for the H character, we're gonna come back for her but...
GODDAMNIT!
THANK YOU, DEATH.
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This has sparked debates.
Some are thankful for this speech by the commander.
Others are finding it disingenous.
Others think it's too on the nose and not natural.
Others don't care.
On my part, I enjoy it but I take it with the context. Most of their airships have been destroyed and they are facing their doom upfront right now. It's more of a death plea at this point. Just like in the cave with Histor... GOD IT'S SO HARD SAYING HER NAME... with Historia who said truly horrible things at the point of an imminent death. At that moment, words like this can tell what you really are inside but even that is not enough to have a full picture.
It did have some interesting elements.
It is true, using, raising, breeding hate and shoving problems upon a group will always come bite you up the ass someday.
Marley in their extensive and violent coloniaslistic, imperialiatic behavior towards Eldia creates only weaknesses for them on an international field and create this monstruosity that is right now Eren.
Eren, a soldier who suffer from trauma and PTSD, who has terrible insecurities and everything to lose after losing so much and possibly in my book being influenced by another entity decides to kill them all.
But...
In no way does that justify Eren's actions, in fact it goes against it.
He is just as angry and hateful as they were back then but instead of destroying the system, he decides to genocide.
Essentializing the whole world as your ennemy and problem, and deciding to get rid of it is just continuing what has been started and continued for hundreds of years before.
No one ever thinks about the simple families, the innocent children, the homeless...
What about them Eren ?
What about the people who faced discrimination like Ramzi ?
What about the other groups that are almost extinct just like yours ?
What about the groups that tried to support the Eldians but were considered freaks ? HUH ?
What about the babies and innocent children ?
Isayama is even spelling it out for you this chapter.
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Is he not worth it ? To stop all this ?
He was born into this world just like every other baby.
Look at that while everyone, is trying to jump off, their trying to save the baby. Even if it's probably impossible. That's humanity right there.
And... jesus christ...
I literally saw people who said that the mother was dumb to give it to the people because titans were behind them.
I can't even...
Imagine if Eren is the daddy of H's Baby and that he completes the genocide, killing his friends or even persuading them and at the end he is saying you are free to this baby.
So this baby is worth more than this baby ?
He is more legitimate to live than him.
I can't even imagine what the arguments would be like with the Eren stans:
"He's protecting his friends."
While literally challenging them to fight and right now trying to kill them.
"Well, you know the Rumbling is horrible but they got what was coming for them. They did nothing to help Paradise."
While forgetting the complexity of human nature, how banalization of these acts of violence have come to be BECAUSE...
These just like me and you are just simple people. With simple lives and not too much power who can't do anything about it.
Most of the people today sees all the suffering in the world, they just don't have the power, nor the will to go against such complex geo-political conflicts.
Would you be able to just resolve the Israelo-Palestinian conflict ? I don't think so, so shut your ass down with this argument.
These people can't change the world with power that they have and the one that has the power to change that, is killing them right now. BRAVO.
" Well, uh, the child is a child, parents might be racist and uh... child maybe is racist or will become racist..."
God...
Just because someone has done horrible shits or is an horrible shit doesn't mean he should die like this.
Here it is people, how we work as human :
Fuck redemption and possible solutions, let's kill everyone who did something bad.
Y'all would have been perfect during monarchies time.
And like... having an argument on a baby should face genocide is just fucking disgusting.
AND DON'T GIVE ME THE BULLCRAP OF FICTION DOESN'T EQUAL REALITY!
That you are interested into what could bring the Rumbling in terms of thematics and story is fine.
BUT ENDORSING IT ?
Do y'all even hear yourselves sometimes ?
You just sound like every racist, bigoted, fascist and violent person that has ever existed.
You're just excited to see someone die because he commited something wrong, sadistic pricks.
You're no different. Perhaps the guy who was talking to Grisha in chapter 97, who was a Marleyan and gave serums to Eldian is right. When he was talking to Grisha, Isayama use it to break the fourth wall and talk to the readers.
Why do we watch this, all this violence ?
" Because it's fun!"
" People take peace for granted!"
" Of course we're abnormal in society's eyes."
" We wish to exterminate all eldians!"
" Your sister did nothing wrong. Shame she was an Eldian!"
The fun fact is that this guy is a racist fuck but he dies pushed by Kruger and killed by his very own creation: a titan.
Why do people endorse genocide ?
" Because it's justice!"
" They got what was coming for them!"
" Isayama is just showing us that genocide is not really wrong if you just understand the concept of morals. Puritans."
" Humanity can die, they deserve it!"
" I'm sad for Ramzi, he didn't do nothing wrong but you know... maybe he didn't have good ideas about Eldians."
While also saying why children could deserve genocide. \____@-@____/
Of course I found most of these on Reddit and 4chan, the nazi propaganda website. Tumblr is a little free of it.
Babies....
Literally babies...
That remind me of somethin'...
OH YEAH!
QUEER NO MORE.
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*put gloves on*
PUUUUUUUSSHH!!! COOOOOOOMMEEE OOONN!!!!
Breathe...
I SEEEEE THE HEAAADDD, IT'S HEREEEEEE!!!!
Natalie, bring the bucket, quick!
Of fuck she shitted on herself a little bit!
_________________________________________
So ?
Y'all like my fanfic ?
It's about how Erehisu is canon and how Historia is actually thinking about Eren right now because she is blushing.
But also about how Historia actually looks good and sexy while being pregnant and how she looks so happy!
She also is a lesbian that turned straight.
I'm so proud of my work.
_________________________________________
In all honesty...
This is... dissapointing and an insult to Historia fans. Why ? What is the purpose or the reason ? Being tragic ? To show how far Historia can go to protect her loved ones ? A female Eren so ?
I always leaned towards the fake pregnancy even if I don't know how something like that could be really pulled. I didn't understand this choice for his storytelling. The others I understand but this one...
O_o
What the fuck ?
So she really is pregnant ? But nothing leading up to it makes sense.
The character whose thematics still rings too much true for this arc is put in the background and as a breeding farm on top of that.
It even came to a point I started people to stop asking about her.
I had faith in her presence in the final arc. That she would have a role play.
But now ?
/\/\/\
For people who don't understand why this aspect of story is wrong, we have to break it down.
First off, Historia one of the first queer characters with Ymir in SNK. Others are suspected but these two are the few that holds a definitive representation as queer.
Most often in media or in real life, LGBT people have been forced into a situation that requires them to fall under heterosexuals lives. Here Historia is forced to be pregnant, yes in a way she agreed because of her people, but at the same time she didn't really want it.
For queer people, like me, this still rings true. Too much true. People literally forces you to go for your opposite sex everytime, to have a family.
No, stop forcing your view of your own life or desire of life on other people.
The fact that the fandom rationalizes that and says that she is happy and in love with Eren is just so fucking weird.
It either is blind ship following, heteronormativity or not understanding the story.
And I saw people saying she might be bisexual. This doesn't change anything. Also ignoring the fact that she hasn't shown any attraction to men other than women in the story.
If she is bisexual, it doesn't change anything, she is still queer. Not semi-straight AND EVEN IF SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO HAPPENED TO BE STRAIGHT, SHE IS STILL FORCED INTO SOMETHING SHE DID NOT WANT.
Bisexual is not semi-straight, semi-gay.
It's bisexual.
Bisexual, Straight and Homosexuality are not the same thing.
And if she was straight, that doesn't make it acceptable. It's just sick.
Just because you're a straight woman doesn't mean you are going to be more happy or have god like duty to have kids.
I just don't understand it...
A manga who was so progressive with his female characters reduces Historia to this.
Imagine...
Just imagine...
Eren is the father. I would shoot myself in the face. A forced straight relationship at the end for the pleasure of shonen readers and heteronormative readers.
" What if I have baby, Eren ?"
" Only if it is from me. I want him to live and have FREEDOM!"
" It's open bar, honey." *saying this after hearing the guy says he's going to genocide which goes against her own values and actions as queen*
Ew... Just ew...
And even worse she wasn't supposed to give birth right now, she was supposed to give birth in a few months.
She could DIE. SHE IS 19. This is dangerous.
Everyone is like this is normal.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL. *sigh*
This goes against what she is supposed to have as a character development.
The fact that she would be okay for genocide while as a queen she reached out to the most weak and in need is fucking incoherent.
No. This doesn't make sense. Even Eren said that Historia's action as a queen were to help others. How could she be okay sitting at her house ? Telling no one about what Eren was going to do ? And becoming a breeding farm ? What is the logic in that ?
Why make it suspicious than ?
The only thing that was able to make any logical sense to me was that the person we are seeing here isn't Historia.
I know if my theory is right, it's sick, even more sick.
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The only times we saw Historia after the timeskip was during flashbacks, the reveal at 107 and possibly at the end of 123.
If this is her at the end of 123, I want to ask you why is she all prepared, why is she all dressed up and why is she wearing the same clothes in 134 that she is wearing 107. Something doesn't add up.
She is young, small-petite, blonde and her belly and face are hidden.
I was only able to go through the theory that this is a fake Historia. Than who it is than ?
Well, I searched for female characters who look like her or who could look like Historia right now. From all the characters that we haven't seen coming coming back and that has interacted with Historia, there is only one.
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Rico Brzenska.
For those, who don't remember her : She was a Garrison Member who helped Mikasa and Eren during the Trost Arc and also helped Historia while she was exhausted during the Clash of the Titans Arc.
She hasn't appeared ever since the start of the Return to Shiganshina Arc unlike many of the older characters.
She is the only one I see who could pass as Historia I think.
I know this is still sick. But this is the only way I would be able to make Historia get out of this crappy storyline and play some relevance in the story. And if we look at Rico and Historia in 107, they kinda look the same. They have the heart shaped face, they are both small and they both have this sort of closed eyelids.
One line that just stuck with me of Rico was:
"Hiding/Lying about Eren's rampage in the report wouldn't have benefited humanity. "
This was during Eren's trial before joining the Survey Corps. What was discused was when Eren lost control of himself during the Trost Arc and attacked Mikasa.
The second line that struck was the one where she holds Historia who is exhausted in her arms:
"Wow! Who is this girl, is she okay ?"
I don't know why it just pushed that theory. And I kinda believe it now, because no one can make me believe that there is something satisfying coming out of this. Why would she sacrifice herself for Historia ? Well, I don't really know but Rico was always a little wary of Eren, even after the Trost Arc but yeah ultimately for Rico being able to give her own life for Historia. I don't know about that. But with this manga you never now. It is a very dark and twisted theory but this is the only logical thing I can see right now since no answers have been provided.
Monkey is BACK
Zeke is back and like most of us predicted, Eren dragged him with him. And I'm not gonna lie, the way he was attached to the spine was pretty badass.
He is used as a puppet which reinforces the theory for me that all three of them: Eren, Ymir and Zeke are being used by the Attack Titan.
I cannot understand Eren's illogical behavior especially after seeing the train scene where he says he wants them to live long happy lives and than having him kill his friends.
Ymir the first being free and having eyes to returning to having no eyes just like before and Eren.
And Zeke would have never agreed to the Rumbling. And we can't see his eyes either.
And...
Thank you, 104th for existing.
Because...
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After how much shit they have gone through and after how much the fandom, not just the Eren stans, have mocked them. Like the fandom has been the biggest asshole to the the Alliance while they were the ones who were able to survive through the sentence " Genocide is wrong!" that so many people seems to find to be so hard to say.
I will root for them until the bitter end, I don't care. They are the one who are fighting. You can call Cringevengers all you want but I am glad they are winning.
They all suffered like Eren but they didn't prioritize their own and only feelings above everything else and they stood by for the values they fought for since they joined the Survey Corps. Even if I have to admit they have, for most of them, conflicted feelings with what they were doing and have done things like trying to talk to Eren while it's obvious he wasn't going to talk and that in a situation like this I don't think someone would try to stop Eren by just talking.
Levi, and it would be foolish to not recognize it, is being consumed by his promise but he is restraining it and still is able to think about the bigger picture.
There's one thing I really like about this is Armin asking Eren:
"Eren... I'll ask you one last time... "What part of you is free" after we rip you out from there... "
Hehe... yes... what part of you is free ?
To be honest, there's many things I don't want for the ending.
A Lelouch Ending, it was all Eren's plan. Literally wouldn't make sense. No one would be questionning his free will and he wouldn't have these weird shits happening to him.
A Code Geass ending, why would Mikasa have to kill Eren, what does that add to her as a character ? More tragedy ? No she doesn't have the scarf, it's pretty telling what place she's at right now.
Eren being the daddy. NO, JUST NO.
Everyone dies, genocide is the right thing. You know all the worst shit that can happen.
But most of all I want important plot points to be explored and moved over because ever since the timeskip, there has been no important plot points out the way. Eren's behavior, Ackertalk, Bertolttalk, Historia's Condition, Paths stuffs, answers!
Whatever... Trust me Peace is not something I take for granted. Being proud of myself and having a life with the least conflict and problem is something you fight for. Having rights, being recognized as a human.
Never lose that, fight for it. But never with injustice, be smarter and stronger. Cause at the end what unites us is not only what we have in common but what the perspective of what we have not in common can make a bigger picture of what we are as humans. We all are different and have a different story with similarities but in the end, we are human and born into this world. And in that, we must move forward. In the present, because of the past and for the future.
We all wish for the problems to go away but if it's for the solutions to be rigged with injustice, it will not work. No one has acheived with genocide and never will.
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It's kinda sad that this long of a post has to say this. Did y'all see that ? Pretty inspiring what I wrote. Oh well you know what ? If they can be bigoted why can't I myself.
Here's a song I wrote:
(Fuck everyone and you.
We hate women
There are only 2 genders, the breeder and the breeded.
Everything is degenerate.
We hate brown, Arab and Muslim people.
Genocide is cool
And Hitler was too.)
I know but you know what, at least if they want a spy for Nazi Germany someday. They'll know not to give it to me because I'd laugh at the stupidity of the people just like you and I are doing with the rest of world cause for all the shits it gives us, it's entertaining.
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purplesurveys · 3 years
Text
1184
survey by xflirtykaosx
Alphabetti Spaghetti (2/3)
F o r e v e r - y o u r s - F
Do you fancy any celebrities? If so, who? KIM TAEHYUUUUUUNGGGGGGGGG
Do you watch any FBI shows? Which ones? No.
Have you ever been to a festival? Which one? I don’t think so.
Do you have a fireplace in your house? Hell no. Just the idea of having a fireplace considering where I live and the general climate we have all year makes me nauseous haha.
Do you have a hot flask? I’m not so sure what you mean but if you’re referring to tumblers like Hydro Flask that keep drinks hot/cold for a really long time then yeah, I have one.
What decade were you four in? 2000s.
Do you like the TV show Friends? I love it. I haven’t watched an episode in a while, but it’s always a go-to for me whenever I feel really really really down.
Do you like the feeling of cat fur? Sure, it’s pleasant. Same with dog fur.
Go girl, go; G
Do you have a back garden? Not really a garden but we do have a sort of backyard; basically some space behind the house. 
Do you have a gentle touch? Idk...depends on what I’m holding or touching, I guess? Like I would obviously hold an infant as gently and gingerly as possible, but I wouldn’t pay as much attention if I’m holding something ordinary like my phone.
Do you like girly programmes like Gossip Girl? LOL at girly. Who says Gossip Girl and literally any other show out there has to be for a certain audience?
Do you ever use gloves? Only when I order from Frankie’s since they provide gloves with their meals.
Do you prefer gold or silver? Silver.
Are you a greedy person? What makes you greedy? A little bit, when it comes to food hahaha. I don’t like sharing and I get angry if someone eats a portion I already called dibs on.
Have you ever seen a gypsy? No.
Hold on honey, I'm here. - H
Do you have any bad habits? What? I pick at my nails - either set - when I get tense. I also tend to get a liiiiitle bit reckless with my money, if I do choose to spend. I’m pretty self-disciplined for the most part, but I let that go as soon as I give myself the green light lol. Exhibit A would be me spending a total of nearly P7,000 just this week alone on BTS merch...
Do you know anyone called Helen? I don’t think so. My dad has a cousin named Helena, though.
Have you ever watched a documentary about Hitler? Not directly related to him, but I remember watching Night Will Fall in high school.
Do you put hm in a lot of your survey answers? Not a lot. Occasionally, though.
When was the last time you went to hospital? What was it for? May last year. Blood and urine tests.
Do you like HP (Harry Potter)? Who's your favourite character? I didn’t grow up with it, but it’s not as if I’m a passionate anti. It’s just not my cup of tea, even after trying to read the books.
Do you spell it honey or hunny? I never spell it as hunny unless I’m saying it sarcastically or playfully with friends.
Are you afraid of this Swine Flu Hype? That’s gone now, right? We’re dealing with something else entirely.
In the end we all die broken. - I
Have you ever been to Ibiza? Nopes.
Do you take ice in your soda/fizzy drinks? I don’t really have a preference as I don’t regularly consume fizzy drinks anyway, as long as it’s not lukewarm.
Who do you think is a complete idiot? Anyone supporting the government at this point is a good runner-up.
Do you often wonder what if? Sometimes. But I also find it a waste of time, so I don’t dwell on them.
Have you ever seen an Igloo? I haven’t.
Do you get ill often? No, almost never.
Do you ever imagine you were not human? What did you imagine you were? No, this has never come to mind.
Do you like sexual innuendos? If it’s not too trashy, sure.
What is your IQ? Idk, I’ve never had it checked.
Do people often call you irrational? I’ve never been called this before, at least not to my face.
Do you think the name Isis is pretty? ...Welp, not anymore.
Do you get itchy eyeballs? That never happens. Is that even possible?
Do you know what ix stands for in roman numerals? 9.
Just breathe baby, breathe. - J
Have you ever been in jail? I have a very vague memory of visiting a prison with my parents before, but I no longer remember why I was there.
Do you like JD (Jack Daniels)? Nahhhhhh. Had a tiny sip of it once, found it absolutely nasty.
Do you get jealous easily? Not anymore.
Do you tell a lot of jokes? Yeah. I like making people laugh, so I drop jokes whenever I can whether I’m in a formal or informal setting.
Do you finish school/college in June? When I was in college, my school year ended every May. Before that, the academic calendar ended every March.  
Kiss me, kill me, thrill me. - K
Do you know a girl called Karla? Yeah, one of the managers at work is a Karla but I don’t work with her. I also went to grade/high school with a girl named Karla; she was my friend for a while as well, but we grew apart over the years.
Did you watch Kenan and Kel? Nope.
Do you prefer kisses or hugs? Depends on the person, I guess. But in the context of being in a relationship, I do love being kissed.
Do you like Korn? I don’t listen to them.
Do you like watching films with Kung Fu in them? Not in particular.
Lessons learnt the hard way are the best I've ever had. - L
Do you like Lady Gaga? She’s okay. I’m not super crazy about her but I tend to like all the stuff she puts out.
When was the last time you had lemonade? Wow, it’s definitely been a while. Maybe a year or so ago? I don’t get to have it a lot; usually only when it’s offered at hotels or resorts when I go on vacation.
Do you ever lie to save your own skin? Sometimes, but I never let the lie be too big just in case it bites me back in the ass one day.
Do you think llamas are cute? Sure.
Do you use Lol a lot? Yes.
Do you think you are lucky or unlucky? Neither.
Melody in my heartstrings. - M
Do you like Mac and Cheese? Loooooove mac and cheese, especially truffle mac and cheese.
Do you ever eat at McDonald’s? What's your usual? Not very often tbh, but I do like McDonald’s. I don’t eat it frequently enough to have a usual order; I get whatever I feel like having at a given moment. And since we’re here, I’m gonna be plugging the BTS Meal, in stores 5/26! HAHAHA
Do you like Medieval games like 7elda? You mean The Legend of Zelda? I do love that franchise, but I don’t like the medieval genre as a whole; I just happened to grow up with the Zelda series and Nintendo as a whole, so I’ve taken a liking to it. 
What's on your mind right now? That it’s Monday again tomorrow. I feel like I’m starting to get burnout :/ I’ve definitely noticed I haven’t been being 100% at work lately...but it could also be because the weather is crappy hot again, which makes it a lot harder to work and keep focused.
Is money in your opinion, the root of all evil? It’s part of it.
Do you like Mr and Mrs the show? I’m not familiar with it.
Do you read murder mystery books? Which ones? No.
Do you find Mystical stuff fascinating? Not really.
Nobody loves me, what a change. - N
Do you know the name of your local shopkeeper? We don’t have those here.
Have you ever been called nerdy? I’m sure I’ve been.
Are you you truly a nice person? I hope that’s what people see and think.
Do you overuse nouns in your sentences? I like using adjectives, for one; but I don’t exactly know how you can overuse nouns hahaha.
Do you know anyone personally who is a nurse? Yes, I have several relatives who are in nursing.
Only you - it always has been. - O
Do you obey authority or deliberately disobey it? Obey for the most part.
Is there anything in your room that is an Octagon? What is it? I don’t think so.
What odor can you smell in the room you're in now? The neutral scent my aircon is blowing out.
Do you get offended easily? I think sensitive would be a more fitting word.
Have you ever been to Ohio? No.
Do you ever say Oi? Sure, but not frequently.
Do you spell it OK or okay? I use both; I don’t have a preference. What I avoid is ‘K,’ though.
Are you older than the number day you were born on? Yes.
Have you ever watched the film the Omen? I haven’t.
Name one thing you always have taken for granted? The basic things, I guess, like breathing.
Have you ever had an operation? On what? Never.
Do you like things in a set order or doesn't it matter? As much as possible I do want things to be organized, yeah. I get restless if I see a very messy spreadsheet or Powerpoint, for instance.
Do you have a habit of overreacting? I was a lot more...theatrical in my reactions before haha. Not so much these days; I’ve toned down a lot.
Do you think Owls are nice? Sure.
Do you know what an Oxymoron is? Yup.
Have you ever tried Oyster? Yessssssss I love them and now you’re making me crave them :(
4 notes · View notes
letterboxd · 3 years
Photo
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Watching John Malkovich.
To understand better why Letterboxd members set out on quests to watch specific actors’ entire filmographies, we invited Tim Rod to describe her dangerous and seductive journey through John Malkovich’s screen history.
For many film lovers, 2020 has been a year of catching up: on franchises, on directors’ filmographies, on historical gaps and top 100s. But for some Letterboxd members, the year indoors has been an opportunity to hyper-focus on a single actor and their work.
Jeremiah Lambert is on a Bacon Fest, Naked Airplane has embarked on a wild ride through the works of De Niro, Hackman, Hoffman, Nicholson and Pacino. Joey is preparing for next year’s centennial of The Kid by churning through Charlie Chaplin’s catalog (with David Robinson’s biography Chaplin: His Life and Art in hand). A quick Twitter survey found others churning through a performer selection as wide-ranging as Burt Lancaster, Parker Posey, Maggie Smith, Nicolas Cage, Cary Grant, Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, Adèle Haenel, Alan Arkin, Sam Rockwell and a Seth Rogen thirst project.
It can be a bumpy journey. In one performer’s oeuvre the quality will range widely, the genres too. But the rewards are many in a close study of craft, and there are revelations, whether it’s that Australia’s Miranda Otto deserves more recognition, or it’s “the total acceptance, lack of judgment, and vulnerability with which Alan Arkin has played so many of his flawed and wonderful characters”.
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With Christian Bale in ‘Empire of the Sun’ (1987).
In 2020, no fewer than three movies and two television series starring John Malkovich have been released: Arkansas, Valley of the Gods and Ava, as well as The New Pope and Space Force. The legendary actor has kept himself busy, and I know this because I have seen most of his filmography—41 films and two series—in the span of a single month. I adore Malkovich, always have, and I came out of this experience with a deeper admiration for him, and with some thoughts about his unique, remarkable skills as an actor. (And, I had a really good time.)
Allow me to begin by saying that John Malkovich is the best part of every movie he is in. No matter the movie, Malkovich will always steal the spotlight, and he can turn a good movie into a masterpiece, or an average movie that wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention into one worth watching, if only to see him do his thing.
He’s starred in movies that are considered masterpieces by many: Being John Malkovich (1999), The Killing Fields (1984) and Empire of the Sun (1987). Movies that may be considered the opposite of masterpieces, like Supercon (2018), Eragon (2006) and the most recent Ava (2020), and he’s also starred in some gems that I knew nothing about but am glad to have discovered, such as The Convent (1995), Eleni (1985) and The Ogre (1996). Malkovich has brought to life iconic characters including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Tom Ripley, Hercule Poirot (in BBC’s The ABC Murders), the artist Gustav Klimt, and several of David Lynch’s people, in the short film Psychogenic Fugue (2016).
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As Mitch Leary in ‘In the Line of Fire’ (1993).
Malkovich has received two Academy Award nominations, for Places in the Heart (1984), in which he played Edna’s lodger, the solitary yet kind Mr. Will, and for In the Line of Fire (1993), where he played the complete opposite: the psychotic Mitch Leary, determined to kill the President of the United States. Though Malkovich is not a classic action-film actor, his work in that genre is driven by logic, intellect and emotion, and the delicacy that he employs to challenge concepts of masculinity and keep us guessing. His soft and collected voice threatening Clint Eastwood over the phone is scarier and more effective than a deeper one would have been.
That voice. Malkovich has admitted that he hates the sound of it, that he would always avoid listening to it, just like so many actors avoid watching their own films, but I’m bewitched by his voice and I could never get enough of it. It can be tender, sweet and calming, seductive when the role requires it, and terrifying. With that versatility, it’s not surprising that he has done some narrating work as well, for films including Paul Newman’s The Glass Menagerie (1987) and Alive (1993).
Malkovich is at his best when seduction and villainy combine, as they do in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont has been performed by many actors over the years, but I find Malkovich’s take to be the most memorable and exquisite. He captures perfectly the depravity and evilness of Valmont, but also the nuances, his journey from womanizer to man genuinely in love and, ultimately, his tragic redemption. He even brings a comedic aspect to the character that adds more depth and dimension.
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With Glenn Close in ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (1988).
Valmont is an awful human being, a monster even, and yet, every time I watch this movie, I find myself fascinated by his mastery of the deception, his sensuality and complete control of the situation, until the situation is “beyond his control”. In her review of the film, Catherine Stebbins calls John Malkovich “a sexual force of nature”, and I completely agree. If you want to see more of Malkovich’s sensual side, other notable mentions include The Sheltering Sky (1990), The Object of Beauty (1991) and Beyond the Clouds (1995).
And then there’s Being John Malkovich (1999), in which ‘John Horatio Malkovich’ displays so many facets of his craft. The fictionalized Malkovich is possessed by different characters, one of them a woman. Catherine Keener’s character falls in love with a subtly different version of Malkovich, when he is a vessel for Lotte (Cameron Diaz). Even though Lotte doesn’t have full control of Malkovich, he uses his femininity to bring the character-inside-the-character to center stage, delivering a subtle-yet-perfect performance. Even when we don’t see Lotte, we know she’s there.
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John Malkovich as John Horatio Malkovich possessed by Lotte, in ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999).
Not many actors could pull this off as brilliantly as John Malkovich does. To be fair, not many actors have been given the chance that Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman gave Malkovich: a film with his own name in the title.
I’ve discussed some of the most well-known of Malkovich’s performances, but I’d like to mention an overlooked one that I found heartbreaking and noteworthy. I didn’t know of the existence of The Ogre (1996) until I took a closer look at Malkovich’s filmography. It’s not without its flaws, but I found myself absorbed in the fairy-tale story of Abel, a naïve French prisoner of war who is taken to Nazi Germany and used to recruit children for Hitler’s Youth. Once again, the actor’s duality is on display, as Evan writes in his Letterboxd review: “Malkovich is both queasy and endearing as the (ig)noble simp who just wants to save the babies.” The Ogre tells a tragic story, but thanks to Malkovich’s tenderness, we can’t help but have sympathy for his character. At times it reminded me of the innocence of Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1992), another of the actor’s more noteworthy performances.
One of Malkovich’s great contributions to cinema is elevating an average movie just by being in it. One such role is as English conman Alan Conway in the bizarre true story, Colour Me Kubrick (2005). Malkovich admitted in an interview that he thought his performance was good, and I agree. If there’s one reason to watch that film, it’s to see Malkovich playing an eccentric conman who poses as Stanley Kubrick, using different voices and accents. As TajLV writes, “if there were anything to commend this film other than Malkovich, I’d happily rate it higher”.
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As Alan Conway in ‘Colour Me Kubrick’ (2005).
One fun fact: I sometimes forget John Malkovich is American. Maybe it’s because he has starred in many European productions—out of the 41 films I watched, 18 were European. Malkovich is of European descent, has lived in France for a decade and speaks fluent French, which allowed him to star as the mysterious Baron de Charlus in Time Regained (1999), with entirely French dialogue. He also delivers lines in French and Portuguese in A Talking Picture (2003) by Manoel de Oliveira.
You’ve probably heard Malkovich use words, expressions and even entire lines of French dialogue on more than one occasion. He does this often, which gives him a certain European vibe, consistent with his own character, mannerisms and dress sense—elements that he sometimes brings to his characters. Maybe that’s the reason he has played so many intellectuals and artists: professors, scientists, detectives, painters, writers, a scientist and a robot, and even the Pope… It seems there’s nothing John Malkovich can’t do, including directing.
To end my marathon, I watched his directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs (2002), an assured movie adapted from a novel about the Maoist uprising in Peru in the 1980s, starring Javier Bardem. It was a nice surprise, and a strong start to what could have been a career as a film director, if not for the fact that he doesn’t have the patience to do it again. I recently read an interview where Edgar Wright revealed advice he always gives to directors, which is to make their second movie the one that will define them. I wonder if we will ever see John Malkovich’s second film, but for now, I hope he keeps gifting us with more unforgettable performances. At least we know that in the distant future, along with all the movies he has already appeared in, people will enjoy a never-seen-before performance when Robert Rodríguez’s short 100 years is released in 2115.
If there’s one thing I have learnt after watching most of his filmography, it’s that John Malkovich is one of the best and most versatile actors of our time, with the most unique voice I have heard in cinema, and with a rich filmography that encompasses every genre. And he’s not only a brilliant actor, but also someone I find personally fascinating. I truly find comfort in him. I hope we all get to enjoy his art for years to come, because his talent is limitless and I know he still has so much more to give. John Malkovich deserves all the praise for being a force of nature in the theater and film industry for over 40 years.
Tim is a Letterboxd member based in Spain, who has recently moved on from her John Malkovich marathon to a Sacha Baron Cohen quest.
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Toughts on this deviantart post?
Found this https://www.deviantart.com/hotwar696/art/Who-is-the-real-Gary-Stu-835695208 it’s pretty bad i think. Or at least misleading. Toughts?
Let’s throw up the image and text for full context
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A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days. Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him. Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage. Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane. He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face. Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.Image size
I am going to address every point here, but let me get the most important thing out of the way first.
This is not a valid point to make for two big reasons.
1) The first is that antagonists* do not count as Gary/Marty Stus/Mary Sues.
The function of an antagonists within fiction is to oppose and challenge the protagonists. By having them be extremely powerful, hyper capable, have immense accomplishments and so on, you build them up as a challenge to over come, as someone the protagonist is the underdog in comparison to.
A classic example from manga and anime is Freeza from Dragon Ball. As originally portrayed he can reduce whole planets to dust with a single finger and the true limits of his power are beyond imagining. Had the protagonists all attacked him at once along with all of Freeza’s subordinates they still would’ve lost because he is more powerful and all of them combined. He withstands the most powerful version of the most powerful technique in the series up until that point. 
Were this character the protagonist he’d almost certainly a Marty Stu. But as the antagonist he is a supremely effective challenge for the heroes to over come precisely because he does outstrip them so throughly. 
2) It’s very obvious the OP is reacting against arguments he’s heard from one specific or several specific people on an incredibly narrow topic. That’s fine. But he’s broadbrushing it as though it’s a widely held opinion when it’s at best widely held within a niche within a niche within another niche. 
Like, this is obviously a discussion he’s had at Toonzone or some other similar forum because he references BTAS, Spec Spidey and has drawn both Norman and Venom in their 1994 designs. 
But let’s talk about the broader points made.
- None of that symbiote crap. I don’t disagree that it’s myopic and disingenuous to dismiss symbiotes on principle. Putting aside how they’ve been a staple for over 30 years now (and their recent stories have been very good in fact), it smacks of failing to look beyond your own preferences. There are bad symbiote stories and characters. There are even things that inherently suck on principle within Spider-Man. But the symbiotes are not among them. They are exceptions to the rule and proven that over and over. The person the OP is referncing is entitled to not like them but not to dismiss them on principle. I hate Screwball but I don’t think her concept is inherently shit. I liked her in he Fake Red manga!
- Joker in BTAS was a wuss, Spec cartoon Norman was better. I mean, maybe that’s true. there can be extenuating circumstances applying to both. But the Joke screaming doesn’t make him a wuss. if he was a wuss he wouldn’t have taken on Superman or Batman repeatedly. Norman might have been scared but so full of spite that he wasn’t going to give Vulture the satisfaction.
- He technically killed Spider-Man because he killed Ben Reilly. Well, first of all he was trying to kill Peter. Second of all ben didn’t look stupid. he looked identical to Peter but with blonde hair; how is that stupid? Third of all killing a clone of Spider-Man isn’t technically killing him, if it was Norman would’ve routinely been murdering Spidey clone. Fourth of all the OP is framing this as a grand win for Norman because he got to kill Spidey technically. it is a win for him but not for that reason. Ben sacrificed  himself to save Peter who Norman was really aiming at
- Killing off baby May, apart from being debatable at all due to the presentation of that story, didn’t prevent Peter from maturing. it prevented him from maturing a specific way but it didn’t stop him from maturing period. Dealing with a miscarriage is  an experience that can age a person. Peter went back to ESU to complete his education immediately after that and some years later he became a teacher under JMS’ run. That’s also a totally meta-textual point to make and therefore doesn’t apply to Norman being a Gary Stu. Successfully preventing character development is something you attribute to writers not the characters. 
- I don’t get rh point about Nathanial Gray or Von Strucker
- Yes he was the Kingpin of Europe. How does that make him a Gary Stu? Wison Fisk was the Kingpin of America as were many other characters.
- Yes he was President of the USA but only in an out of continuity story, Earth X (and maybe other ones too). The argumentation of the OP is broken because he is conflating multiple different versions as the same thing. pre-OMD, post-OMD, Spec cartoon, Earth X etc. By this logic Venom would also be a Gary Stu and so would countless other characters. Superman would be a Gary Stu because he is DC’s Jesus but also DC’s Hitler. 
- The next point is a total strawman. Putting aside how in my experience people throw more shade at Norman than is deserved, even Norman fans like myself do not deny BAD stories with the character exist. What’s ironic is that he has chosen the more obvious targets like the Gathering of Five or the Final Chapter. 
Both of those stories are in most respects much worse than Sins Past and the element that makes Sins past bad isn’t even the fact that Norman slept with Gwen. It’s the simple fact that a woman who was clearly not pregnant in the Romita years apparently was and neither she nor MJ seemed to give a shit about the children after they were born. The further irony of his referencing this story is that he’s framed his argument as Silver Age stans are ignoring stuff like Sins Past. the reality is it is Silver/Bronze Age stans who HATE Sins Past more than anyone else in the Spider-Fandom precisely because  it messes with the stuff they stan
His referencing of the Clone Saga is also divorced from context. Everyone worth their salt is aware Norman was never originally intended as the villain of the Clone Saga. That was a late addition, and noticeably a late addition at a time when the Clone Saga stories being told were on the whole actually good!  Norman’s return story was on balance good!  It got a trade paperback in the 1990s when only the most popular stories got such treatment. It is utterly disingenuous to hold the worst of the Clone Saga up as a Norman Osborn story because those were never written with him in mind as the villain. 
Additionally I do not know why he is referencing Maximum Carnage or Superior Spider-Man. Okay, maybe he means the former is a symbiote story as opposed to a Carnage story specifically. But if he’s trying to prove Norman is a gary Stu but Venom is not why would you treat Maximum Carnage as a general symbiote story rather than cite a Venom specific story? And it still wouldn’t explain citing Superior Spider-Man. This is about contrasting Norman and Venom, what did Doc Ock have to do with any of this?
- Citing Morlun is equally confusing. The point the OP is trying to make is that silver/bronze age fans put Norman on a pedestal and look down on Venom. Putting aside how that really misrepresents the situation, why would you cite a villain who is not only NOT a silver/bronze age character but appeared long after Venom and if anything gets more  disdain than Venom does. Old school fans who dislike Venom or symbiotes on principle do not generally like Morlun, if anything they dislike him more  than Venom as they regard mysticism even more inappropriate for Spider-Man than aliens.
- The OP finally cites the Final Chapter but failed to do it at the appropriate point in his rant and also misrepresents it. He’s conflated the bomb implanted into Aunt May’s head in that story with the revelation that she was impersonated by an actress in ASm #400. He’s combined both characters and events. How do you fuck up that badly? The actress died of natural causes and then much later we got the implanted bomb. Norman never  killed the actress, the actress agreed to work with him specifically because she was already dying. Also the guy’s grammar is messed up. I’m pretty sure ‘operated into her’ isn’t a real phrase.
- ‘A chad lady killer’…um…what? Isn’t that term intended to be slang for a kind of James Bond figure? A ‘man’s man’ who has lots of sex with women? It doesn’t mean a man who kills women is a manly. Whether people use the term chad ironically or sincerely the overwhelming majority aren’t going around proclaiming Jack the Ripper as the ultimate real life Chad. 
- The framing of Norman’s relationship with Gwen is misrepresentative of what happened. It pretends like Norman had se with Gwen specifically to get one over on Peter. He didn’t. He wasn’t even aware he was the Goblin at that time, that Peter was Spider-Man and very likely didn’t know Peter had feelings for Gwen as they weren’t dating at that time. Norman had sex with Gwen because they were both vulnerable and had a moment of passion. 
I’d also question his designating Gwen as Peter’s second love interest. I guess that’d be accurate if you are speaking strictly in terms of Peter’s regular girlfriends. But normally love interest means someone the readers are aware is being framed as potential romantic partner for the protagonist. In this sense Liz was the first love interest, Betty was the second and Gwen was the third. 
- WTF does shit was so cash even mean?
Now for the text.
-A lot of Conway/Romita fans think that Venom is an awful Gary Stu. Ironically they like the post clone saga Norman Osborn who is not even the same character as the one back the in Conway/Romita days.
Yeah, there isn’t a lot. The vast majority of Conway/Romita stans do not like post-Clone Saga Norman.
And is he not the same character s he was before.
From a certain POV that’s true. But that’s chiefly because silver Age Norman was usually an amnesic who wasn’t his true self. His Goblin persona in the Silver Age is actually fairly similar to his post-Clone Saga self. The reason for the different presentation is simply a passage of time. Doc Ock in the 1990s wasn’t presented identically to how he was in the silver age just because times had changed. The Joker wasn’t presented the same way in the post-Killing Joke or Death in the Family eras of Batman as he was back in the 1940s.
The core of the character, that this guy was a real nasty, egotistical, sadistic and power hungry monster? No, that was all the same it was just ramped up. Norman’s ‘ghost’ had evolved in the interim between his death and his return too. In a sense his place and framing within the mythos had always evolved with the times. It’s just that when he came back suddenly that wasn’t a metaphorical ghost but a flesh and blood character.
But the same can be said of any successful character over time as I outlined above. Shit Absolute Carnage depicted Carnage in a way that is not identical to how he was initially presented. But it was most definitily an evolution of that.
- “Despising Harry Osborn when back in the days he simply did not have enough time for him.”
Not true. The first time Norman began to remember he was the Goblin he got passive aggressive towards Harry. When he got his powers he was downright mean to him as depicted in ASM #40. But he also never despised Harry either. Norman always loved Harry in a toxic manner, through neglect or abuse. That was true post-Clone Saga. 
In fact the entire reason Norman initiated the Clone Saga was specifically because he wanted revenge for Harry’s death.
And again, the OP is treating this as a wholesale invention of the post-clone saga era when it wasn’t. Norman being an abusive father was introduced long before anyone was thinking about the Clone Saga. It was established in the Child Within circa 1991 IIRC. Later (when the Clone Saga was being planned I think) it was further explored in Spec annual 1994, but that just added to what we already knew from the forrmer story. Shit, this depiction of Harry and Norman’s relationship was showcased in Untold Tales of Spider-Man. That was both set long before the Clone Saga, IIRC written before Norman’s return was decided upon and written by someone who definitely didn’t agree with his return.
Norman never despised Harry, but he was a shitty Dad. He was a shitty Dad in ASm #40. He didn’t just have no time for Harry, he neglected him specifically because he wanted to gain money and thereby gain power.
Even if you do argue that Norman didn’t despise Harry in the silver age but did post-clone saga, so long as that change was organically introduced that makes it fine. better than fine as that’s simply more dramatically enriching than him being a nice guy who happens to not have time for his son.
- “Also despite what post clone saga stories might have told you he only became a villain because an accident gave him brain damage.”
LOL nope.
a) As I just said, even if this was a retcon of the post-Clone Saga era (which it wasn’t) it made Norman a better  character. A man being bad because he got brain damage is a cliche, lazy, over simplistic explanation for his villainy. It’s also arguably less realistic and actually makes the characetr a lesser villain as some surgery and thereby might be able to fix them. In fact you could argue they are in effect a victim of their brain damage and thereby not accountable for their actions. That’s so much less substantive than someone’s life experiences shaping them into a horrible human being. By this author’s wn logic Doc Ock’s origin (pre-Clone Saga I might add) makes him a LESSER villain because it established that he was actually evil because of his life before his accident. that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, he didn’t just get a knock to the noggin and wound up evil
b) If Norman’s evilness stems from brain damage how come when he was a nice guy in the silver age neither he nor Harry suggested surgery or medication to help heal that damage? That would’ve meant he’d never have been evil again
c) ASm #40 makes it clear he was a piece of shit BEFORE his accident. He was neglecting his son, railroading his partner, stealing his inventions and power hungry before getting brain damage.
d) You could easily argue Norman was always brain damaged the doctors just mistakenly believed his injuries stemmed from the accident
e) Child Within and Spec Annual 1994 established Norman as a psychopath before he got his powers. Both were written before the Clone Saga. Post-Clone Saga stories like Revenge of the Green Goblin merely built upon this, they didn’t wholesale invent it
“Yes, that’s right with the exception of the animated Spider-Man series from 1994 the pre clone saga Norman Osborn was not some inhuman monster who became insane.”
LOL nope again.
First of all, 1994-cartoon Norman WAS fairly sympathetic before becoming the Goblin. In the show he got a loan from Kingpin and was forced to pay off the debt by targeting Spider-Man. Even if he didn’t initially realise Fisk was a criminal when he got the loan, by the time he did realise going to the police would’ve resulted in him losing his son and/or his life. He wouldn’t be the first man to get in deep with the mob after all.
When his inital effort to kill Spider-Man failed he was forced to give Kingpin his company and attempted to get out from this by assasinating Fisk. This backfired hard endangering his son, but Norman risked his life to save Harry. 
His whole character until season 3 was basically defined by being a morally grey character. he loved his son, he was maybe egotistical and a ruthless businessman but the worst things he did were either on Kingpin’s orders or attempts to free himself of a very powerful and very dangerous controlling force in his life. 
Not a nice man, but a far cry from an inhuman monster or an insane person, at least until he was exposed to the Goblin gas.
SECOND of all if you are an inhumane monster how exactly do you then ‘go insane’? Aren’t they functionally the same thing within the context of the dicussion?
It’s also not representative of canonical Norman. Canonical Norman was a psychopath because of his life experiences and possibly hereditary mental illnesses within the family. The Goblin formula by empowering him sent him on an ego trip.
The OP isn’t even using the commonly held misconceptions about Norman Osborn, he’s just using his own very specific ones. Most people mistakenly believe the Goblin formula drove Norman nuts when ASM #40 just claims the accident gave him brain damage. Over time creators decided the formula itself makes the user nuts. 
“He was a tragic bussinessman who lost his wife and got brain damage after an explosion to his face“
a) Unless I am mistaken there was little word paid to Norman’s wife in the Silver Age. And what little we got never presented Norman as being affected by her passing. That was an invention of the 1990s and 2000s; and a very good one at that. 
b) Yes how tragic a businessman he was to have neglected his son, sought power, rail roaded his partner and stolen his inventions. Obviously none of that is bad. he only became bad after an explosion gave him brain damage.
c) Even if he really was a tragic businessman blah blah blah, that is a LESS EFFECTIVE villain and a LESS complex character than the post-clone saga guy we got
“Becoming a villain after an explosion to the face by the way is also the villain origin for Dr. Octopus so yeah Norman Osborn was not a very original villain even before becoming the Gary Stu version of Lex Luthor.”
I’ve already addressed the idiotic criticism that Norman became a Luthor knock off.
The OP is disingenuous on several levels with his other point as well though.
For starters brain damage was never the sum totality of Norman’s origin as a character. Doc Ock was just a guy who was at best maybe a little odd looking due to his arms then had an accident and became evil. that was it.
Not only was Ott far from the first villain with such an origin, but to sit there and say Norman was unoriginal merely because he also took a boom to the face is moronic. Norman’s life before  his accident made him incredibly different to Otto. It made him comparatively more layered and complex next to the likes of Otto or the other rogues because he wasn’t nice initially, he had this strained relationship with his son and above all else he had this internal denial over his failings as a father. THAT shit doesn’t count as part of his origin? ALL that matters is explosion+brain damage=evil?
That’s obviously moving the goal posts to win.
And it’s a self-defeating argument. Silver Age Norman is bad because he is unoriginal (even though functionally he actually was). Okay, in the 1990s and beyond he got a revised origin that was more original. But that’s bad because changed him from his Silver Age self.
Goal posts. They a movin!
Not to mention as I already said DOC OCK’s origin was also changed so his villainy didn’t just stem from a random accident that knocked his noggin.
So Doc Ock sucks too right?
Finally, I say this as someone who likes Norman AND Venom.
I would never call Venom a Gary Stu. I’ve never even SEEN anyone claim Venom was a Gary Stu. BOTH Norman and Venom get under appreciated.
Fuck i wrote like over 10 essays DEFENDING Venom. 
You can pass my comments onto this idiot if you wish.
*Not necesarilly villains as you can have a villain protagonist, see Superior Spider-Man
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keyofjetwolf · 4 years
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Old Grandpa Shovel
I’ve technically gone through our time today, but I know answers to these two questions have been nibbling at some of you for a surprisingly long time, so I’ll go a bit over today to slake your thirst for knowledge. Come then, friends, come and hear the second of two tales that have nothing at all to do with each other.
~~~
Old Grandpa Shovel
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I’m actually a bit nervous that this one isn’t in any way going to live up to the near mythical levels of hype it appears to have reached by this point, but I shall do my best!
As with most humans, I spring from the collision of two sets of DNA. On the paternal side of things, we have an assortment of sterling characters. For example, we have the horse thief who, in effort to evade the lawmen chasing after him, took what became my family name when he ran off, NOT with the woman he’d conned into marrying him, but her younger sister. Such as the G-Man who was described in a book published just a couple years ago in 2018, as “dangerously ignorant”, “arrogant”, and “entitled”. Oh, AND he was delightfully racist! I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP
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Real quality stock, as you can see.
There’s much less of this on my maternal side, at least as far as I’m aware. While my father’s side has more the boring stuff, in the sense of being fairly pedestrian or just generally bad at shit, my mother’s side is colourful, with fascinating niches of unexpected nobility, and fulfilling proud and important work like being Henry VIII’s last Groom of the Stool. That literally means he wiped Henry’s ass. Again, I am not making this up.
One other thing my mother’s side of the family has going for her, though?
THESE ARE SOME CRAZY ASS MOTHERFUCKERS
Fast-forward from the glamorous time of the Tudors to what would have probably been the mid to late 1800s. London is booming, Victoria is Queen, and my great-grandfather is certifiably insane.
As the story goes, it was a fairly ordinary day in London. I assume the English were oppressing someone somewhere, and the skies were thick and black with the promise of lung cancer to come. Sadly, the motivations for this event are but one of the many details that have been lost to time, but for the sake of the story, I will fill in the blanks as best I can.
My great-grandfather was a home one day, making himself a sandwich of organ meat and Heinz baked beans, when he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of incredible rage. Somehow, someway, he knew -- HE KNEW -- one of his descendants would be retelling this story, poorly, to a bunch of strangers she’d never met, on a magic box connected to other magic boxes by way of magic, and HOOO BOY did this piss him off! He took a savage bite of his sandwich, wiped the bean juice from his chin, and slammed down a pint of Bass.
“Right then!” he said to nobody but the future. “Nothing for it but to kill me brother.”
And plan to kill his brother he did! He walked through the tiny house into the tinier back garden, and found a shovel somewhere buried under the rubble from the oh wait the Blitz hadn’t happened yet. HISTORY, AM I RIGHT?? Anyway, there’s rubble here for some reason totally not related to Hitler who hasn’t even been born yet, and so now my great-grandfather has a shovel and a garden and a serious urge to murder.
He spend the next hour or so, the story says, furiously digging a grave. A grave for his brother. A grave for his still-living brother, with every intention of changing that state of being this very day. And once the grave is dug -- and I also am going to also say he made a little tombstone and carved his brother’s name on it and also possibly a baby duck and a little lamb and a tiny puppy, all peeing on said name -- he ducked behind a tree with that shovel and waited.
I don’t know how long he waited. It’s not exactly like he could send a text wondering where his brother was and what was taking so damned long. But I also suspect my great-grandfather didn’t have anywhere much else to be, so he probably waited a while. Maybe he had another Bass.
I also don’t know the size of the tree, and I admit, this is a bit of a sticking point for me in the story. It’s a tiny fucking one-up-one-down or some shit in the heart of just-post Industrial London, I am having legitimate trouble believing it’s anything much larger than a very fatigued sapling. But again, I must point out, THIS FUCKER HAS SPONTANEOUSLY DECIDED TO MURDER HIS BROTHER BUT TOOK THE TIME TO DIG THE GRAVE BUT THEN ALSO DUG THAT GRAVE IN HIS OWN BACKYARD, so clearly logic and rational thinking are not his highest-rated qualities.
My questions and concerns aside, my great-grandfather waited. And when his brother returned home, he was indeed attacked with that shovel.
The murder was ultimately unsuccessful, I assume because the brother was all, “I can see you, mate.” and the best response my great-grandfather had was “...no you can’t.” There was indeed a shovel-based attack, but the grave remained sadly unfilled, and my great-grandfather was disowned by the family.
Good show, GGdad!
And then eventually he had kids, and one of those kids had a kid, and then that kid had me, and here I am!
I AM TOTALLY NOT GOING TO DIG A GRAVE FOR ANYONE AND TRY TO KILL THEM WITH A SHOVEL
TOTALLY
I PROMISE
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eddktr · 3 years
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Learn from our past!
In Germany, Austria and France during the nineteen thirties Jews were constantly saying to their fellow Jews who warned them about Hitler, “But I am German or I am Austrian or I am French!” They were shocked to find out they were mistaken. Now Americans of many backgrounds are saying, “But this is America!” Is it possible they also are mistaken?
There is a parallel between these two moments in time. The Jews of Europe were deluding themselves in much the same way these Americans are deluding themselves today. I am not saying Joe Biden, a man who can not put four sentences together coherently, is intent on changing America. I believe Joe Biden’s goal was to finally be the first banana, a job for which he was willing to join with anyone who could promise to make him President. I do not believe the Joe Biden of thirty years ago would have made such a Faustian bargain.
I believe his vice president and all the radicals on the left and further left are intent on destroying this country. They want a socialist and more so a totalitarian state. They are beginning to see the first rays of light in the tunnel that ends up with their desired goal.
To their credit they have not hidden their goal from the American people. The American people, of course, are not listening. Americans, folks who love this country with all its faults because they know it is the bulwark of democracy for the entire planet, just assume that this country as envisioned by the founding fathers will always remain so. 
These Americans are wrong. We are being tested by forces of not just socialism but Totalitarianism. (Totalitarianism is a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. It does not permit individual freedom.) This is the direct antithesis of what the founding fathers wanted. 
The folks who are intending to become the dictators in this 1984 scenario intend for us to turn our backs on the founding fathers and all they intended. 
They are beginning, as they should and as Hitler did with his youth movement, with the schools (they learned their lessons well). 
We are supposed to stop learning about Columbus (both sides of his story and yes he did discover America because it was his trip that opened the new world to the old. When the Vikings came here they left. When the Chinese fleet led by Zheng He and Zhou Wen came here they left. When Columbus came here we stayed and that is why we remember him.
Yes, some of the founding fathers owned slaves and that should be discussed in the light of eighteenth century mores. They were people of their time. Am I, a descendent of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt supposed to hate Egyptians or people of African descendent because my people were enslaved by their ancestors? To bring the question closer in time, Am I, a descendent of those murdered by the Nazis party supposed to hate Germans and Austrians until I die and then pass this hatred on to my children and grandchildren? The past is the past and though we need to know it and to understand it in the context of its time we can not use it as an excuse to hate forever or to use a colloquial expression, are we supposed to throw out the baby with the bath water?
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Ghosts Caught on Audio: The 7 Recordings and EVPs You Have to Listen To
It was only a week ago that I got a question from fellow tumblr user, @madphantom.
@madphantom told me that they picked up some paranormal activity whilst recording audio for a creative project.
The story goes that when they recorded audio for an actor who had died, things started to get weird.
When they replayed the audio, they realised that they had picked up a lot of static, and compared it to the iconic soundtrack from Slenderman’s notorious horror games.
Yikes.
And it was this story that reminded me of one my favourite horror film scenes, basically, ever from one of my favourite horror films, basically, ever.
There’s this scene from the film The Conjuring (which is based on the true case of the haunting of the Perron family) where they record the story of the haunting from one of the victims – the mother of the family.
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And upon replaying the audio, they realised it didn’t actually record her voice.
After discussion of some key plot points, the recorder turned itself on and produced some seriously terrifying haunted noises.
Now, this didn’t actually happen as far as I can tell.
But it got me thinking: has paranormal activity ever been caught on audio?
There’s enough faked videos clogging up the youtube trending page to tell you we all love a bit of the supernatural making its online debut, and the same goes for audio recordings.
Go ahead, try ‘creepy audio recordings of the paranormal’ into youtube.
And so I was convinced that essentially, I had come to a dead end.
(Pun unintended.)
But then I remembered something:
Audio recordings are actually really fucking important when it comes to recording and investigating paranormal activity.
Methods like EVP and the use of Spirit Boxes have ruled the domain of ghost hunting since the late 20th century, and represent our desperate search for evidence of life after death.
And so, in today’s edition of The Paranormal Periodical we are going to be discussing the theories and histories behind EVP and Spirit boxes, and the 7 audio recordings of paranormal activity that you have to listen to.
So, what is EVP?
EVP – or electronic voice phenomena – are recorded sounds that have been identified as coming from spirits.
It was popularised by some bloke called Konstantins Raudive, and he himself recorded some seriously amazing EVPs.
He even claimed that he recorded political figures including Hitler and Churchill. Fancy a listen? Find a link to this recording is later in this post.
Now EVP is defined by Raudive as a short word or phrase from beyond the grave.
So no, you won’t be able to squeeze a 3000 word opinion piece from a historical figure of your choosing, I’m afraid.
But the conversation about paranormal audio recordings has been present ever since digital goods hit the shops. Just think of all those blurry photos supposedly evident of the undead!
In fact, it was actually a photographer who tried to capture the first audio recordings.
Attila von Szalay’s first recordings in 1956 apparently caught spirits saying some seriously scary stuff:
“Hot dog, art!...Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all”.
3 years later a swedish guy was recording some bird song.
Each to their own, I guess.
Anyway, he replayed the bird song, and he realised that he had captured evidence of the supernatural.
He made out his dead father’s voice, and even heard the voice of his dead wife. And she was calling his name!
A few recordings later and he picked up a message from another deceased relative, his mother.
Now according to theory, there are 3 types of EVP.
Basically, classification A is a clear voice, B is distinct but requires close listening, and C is a faint whispering.
EVP training is even required for ghost hunting in order to develop the ability to hear messages from the dead. Clearly this is serious business for fellow paranormal believers.
What’s a spirit box?
EVP’s require a digital audio recording.
Spirit boxes on the other hand allow spirits to use radio frequencies to talk to people that are actually alive.
Supposedly the ghosts can manipulate the energy of audio fragments to form words and phrases not unlike those heard in EVPs.
And the great thing about spirit or ghost boxes is that you don’t just listen to the dead – you can actually talk to them!
Normal practice involves asking questions and listening out for rather abstract responses. But the fact is this is one of the most famous and trusted methods of communicating with those beyond the grave.
The first official ghost box was created in the 1990s, and the inventor – Frank Sumpton – created it based off of EVP and an article he read on spirit communication.
But if you aren’t convinced by the ghost box, what about the Spiricom?
Invented in 1980, William O Neil created a device that could actually hold a conversation between a dead and a not so dead person.
Unfortunately – and to no surprise – no one actually reproduced the results O’Neil claimed he had.
Did you know that in 1979 parapyschologist Dr. Rogo claimed that you could get phonecalls from those that had passed away? People frequently report receiving a short one-way call from deceased relatives, and it has even been considered a phenomenon.
So, you’ve heard the theories.
But are you ready for the evidence?
Here are the 7 spookiest audio recordings of spirits:
#1 - The exorcism of Anneliese Michel
This is a recording from possibly the most famous case of possession of modern times.
Heck, it was even given it’s own film to document the case, The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
But if you haven’t heard the tale yourself, the story basically goes like this:
A devout catholic girl starts exhibiting strange behaviour.
From unexplained seizures to claims of hearing multiple ‘evil’ voices, she was eventually deemed possessed.
And whilst the many recordings of her exorcisms aren’t EVP or recordings from a Spirit Box session, this is firm evidence of how important recordings were to investigating evidence of the paranormal.
Check out this video to make your own mind up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3aI8kpHxDM
And below is accurate footage of me noping the fuck outta here:
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#2 - Next up is the Enfield Haunting
Now this case is interesting because it was largely considered a hoax evoked by 2 young girls.
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Investigators used tape recorders and some EVP to assess the potential nature of the haunting.
What’s interesting here is that the debate largely centres around the supposedly possessed voice of Janet – the main girl involved – caught on tape.
Sceptics claimed it was produced by false vocal chords, and that we can all put on a creepy and different voice when we want.
But it was by analysing the actual vocabulary used, they could claim it was similar to that of a child and not a potential ghost or demon, and often evoked mannerisms similar to that of Janet.
Even on national TV, Janet waved her hand to get attention, put it in front of her mouth, and a strange voice was produced supposedly from nowhere.
Hmm.
What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWgImgIRic
#3 - The Haunting of an Unnamed New York Hotel
In early 2007, the Central New York Ghost Hunters were asked to investigate a hotel in New York.
Why was it unnamed? The hotel in question asked for the name to be withheld from public discussions for the obvious reasons that their living visitor numbers would fall.
The investigator’s claim this investigation was one of their most active, which is not a surprise considering its long history.
(Unfortunately, this is hard to trace for this post as I do not have the name of the hotel…)
Anyway, the main activity they picked up was an EVP carried out by someone sitting on a staircase.
You can clearly hear a scuffle between two people as a woman asks someone to get off her, a rather sleazy ‘hello baby’, and even the ring of an old fashioned cuckoo clock.
Fancy a listen? Click the link: https://youtu.be/dXa0QrS-WV8
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#4 - The Raudive Recordings
I’ve already mentioned Raudive and his innovatory practice, and thanks to his interest in EVP, he has created an incredible collection of evidence of the paranormal.
In total, he has 72,000 recordings of the paranormal talking.
Holy shit.
And this collection even contains the supposed voices of Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Churchill!
He claims Hitler spoke to him in Raudive’s mother tongue of Latvian which Hitler barely learnt while he was alive.
And what did Hitler say?
‘you are a girl here, or else you are thrown out’.
Yeah, I don’t know what that means either…
And what did Churchill say? Well, interpreters don’t really care much for what was said, but how he said it.
It apparently was a convincing EVP as it sounded like him, and was thus supported by many as evidence of the paranormal.
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Some of these recordings were even conducted in laboratories to ensure accuracy, and Raudive invited members of the public to listen and interpret the recordings he collected.
So why not try your hand at it too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz1PzPrOXPE
#5 - The Glen Tavern Inn
This tavern stretches back to the prohibition era, and its speakeasy history – which included being a brothel and gambling parlour – have fuelled its rumours of supernatural activity.
Whether its murdered prostitutes, or fights between budding gamblers, it does have some basis to the claims.
And these stories were confirmed by an EVP taken.
If you listen closely, you can hear a woman singing as an investigator enters a haunted room.
Check out the EVP here: https://youtu.be/iRtJLPWByFg?list=UU1VrWEFyQYIDKuWWfRjyj7A
#6 - The Eerie Mansion Basement
Now I’ve never heard of this mansion and its murderous past, and I’m kinda glad I hadn’t.
Rumour has it that this was once home to Bill Ely.
And it was here that he killed countless women.
But it was when the American Ghost Hunters took an EVP, they heard some paranormal activity more chilling than the stories that haunt this home.
The investigator’s recorded what sounded like the whimpers of a small girl.
And when they got close to what they believed what the source of the sounds?
A man in a gruff voice told them to ‘Leave that girl alone’.
Yikes.
Want to get seriously spooked? Check out the recording: https://youtu.be/JqQ6dx_w4qs
#7 - The Queen Mary (the boat, not the person)
The Queen Mary is deemed one of the most haunted ships in the world.
And it was all quite a recent discovery.
Only in 2008 did Time magazine claim it was once of the most haunted places, but many other people have made similar claims.
For example, suite room B-340 is one such spot which is considered ‘notoriously haunted’, and a stateroom is haunted by a murder victim.
But the location we are most concerned with here is the first class area.
And an EVP taken here recorded a woman calling for help in an area frequented by many ghost women and children.
Listen to that EVP here: https://youtu.be/re5-OGabpHk
So, we’ve heard what the ghosts have to say.
And now it’s over to you.
Do you think madphantom actually captured evidence of the paranormal?
What about the other audio recordings here?
Let me know by leaving me a comment!
Oh, and when you get out from under your quilt, make sure you hit ‘follow’ so you can always be updated with more stuff to traumatise you.
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kittyprincessofcats · 5 years
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I know I’m about to open a can of worms here, but... Can someone explain to me how the mind of a Loki-hater works? I just don’t understand? I mean, if someone just doesn’t like him or doesn’t care... fine, whatever, we all find different characters appealing. But what I don’t understand is the people who genuinely call him “a priviledged white murderboy” or compare him to characters like Kylo Ren (who is a priviledged white murderboy, just to be clear on that).
How can someone watch Thor 1, The Avengers, and Thor TDW and somehow come to the conclusion that Loki is a priviledged, sheltered, rich kid who never had problems and kills people for the lulz. HOW? Did they watch the movies with both eyes and ears closed? Did they only watch The Avengers and skip through half of Thor 1? Is it the misogyny (most of Loki’s fans are women so obviously they must only like him for his looks, “dumb fangirls” etc.)? Seriously, how do you watch these movies and miss out on:
- Odin being a dictator and colonizer who kidnapped Loki from his home country as a baby, changed his appearance with a spell to make him “pass” as Asgardian, stripped him of his birth culture and even raised him to consider his birth country evil
- Loki being neglected and not taken seriously his whole life, having his “feminine” interests mocked in Asgard’s partiachic society, constantly being made fun of by Thor’s friends, his own brother - who he adores more than anything - putting him down all the time, his father never acknowleding him
- Loki (who never wanted the throne in the first place) having to suddenly run a kingdom when his brother gets himself banished and his father falls into the Odinsleep, having to suddenly manage a war he didn’t start, dealing with Thor’s friends commiting treason, dealing with the revelation of his heritage and the feeling that he has to prove himself to Odin now. (Okay, to be fair, I think Frigga handing him control and telling him to make his father proud was a deleted scene, so the actual movie might make it look like he took the throne and planned all of this, but he didn’t. Think about it for one second: There’s no way he could have predicted the Odinsleep or Thor’s banishment. He looks shocked when both happen.)
- Loki trying to destroy his birth realm in a desperate attempt to prove that he’s “not like them”, Loki being so desperate that he commits suicide when Odin doesn’t approve.
- No one in Asgard (except for Frigga) mourning Loki at all. Loki asking Thor “Did you mourn?” in The Avengers, because he knows they didn’t and he’s right.
- Loki being tortured by Thanos and forced to attack New York. How is that something people miss? Did everyone take their bathroom break during that scene where The Other threatens Loki? Did they conveniently ignore the after-credits scene?
- Odin telling Loki “Your birthright was to die” and acting like Loki should be grateful Odin didn’t murder him as a baby. Just in case you forgot: This was their first interaction after Loki’s suicide attempt. Odin found out his son - whom he drove to try and commit suicide - was alive, and the first thing Odin did was telling him he should have died and that he would have executed him for his crimes if it wasn’t for Frigga.
- Just to put this into perspective: When Thor started a war and killed hundreds of Frost Giants, Odin banished him to Earth without his powers for three days. When Loki tried to commit suicide, got tortured and attacked Earth and killed people because Thanos forced him to, Odin wanted to execute him, only agreed not to because of Frigga, then locked Loki up in solitary confinement for the rest of his life and didn’t allow Frigga to see him.
- Loki wasn’t even allowed to go to his mother’s funeral. Thor never even asks him why he attacked Earth, only visits Loki when he needs his help, refuses to comfort him about Frigga’s death and promises to lock Loki up again if he does help him. And people are blaming Loki for not telling Thor he was alive? Would you have told the man who promised to lock you up for the rest of eternity that you’re alive? I kinda doubt it.
- And even after all of that, Loki was merciful enough to only banish Odin to a care-home on Earth instead of killing him. (Friendly reminder that Kylo Ren murdered his father while his father was offering him a second chance. Odin never offered Loki any chances, straight-up wanted to kill him, and Loki still showed mercy. But sure, tell me more about how your comparison is totally appropriate.)
How do people watch ALL OF THAT, and somehow not end up at least admitting that Loki was treated unfairly? How do people watch these movies and say that he’s selfish when all he’s ever been doing is sacrificing himself for his family over and over again and getting nothing in return? HOW??? Someone explain this to me, because it blows my mind.
And sidenote - the whole “straight white murderboy” thing is such complete BS it makes me want to slam my head against my desk. 1) Loki’s not straight. He’s canonically bi/pan in the comics and queercoded in all of this movies. 2) Not even the “boy” part is true - Loki is genderfluid. 3) The “white” part is what really blows my mind when people use it as a reason to hate this character. Because first of all Loki’s entire story is about being a different race than the rest of his family and being treated like shit because of it. (Yes, I realize it’s “fantasy blue people racism”, not real-world racism, but it’s still an aspect of the character that - in the fantasy context - makes him the opposite of priviledged.) And secondly... all of the Avengers in A1 are also white? 5/6 of them are straight white guys? So who are we supposed to root for, according to these Loki-haters? In Star Wars, there’s POC heroes who get ignored by the fandom and I understand the frustration of everyone loving the white villain instead - but in the first(!) Avengers everyone is white? So who does tumblr think is a more deserving fave here??? I just don’t understand this logic even in theory??
(Seriously, someone explain this to me? Is is because of the Hitler comparison in The Avengers? Because that honestly should be blamed on Joss Whedon being a shitty writer who can’t get a ‘character is evil’ message accross differently. Narratively, this comparison doesn’t fit at all. Or is it because people took the ‘Loki keeps betraying Thor’ line from Ragnarok and took it seriously instead of judging the movies by what actually happened? I tried to read posts where people explain why they hate Loki, and whenever they list all the “horrible things he’s done” half of them are things that never even happened? Like... “repeatedly betrayed his brother who trusts him” - NOT TRUE, “tried to commit genocide on earth” - NO HE DIDN’T??, “killed more people than anyone else” - FACTUALLY WRONG, “always fakes his death” - HE LITERALLY NEVER DID, “betrayed Asgard” - BITCH WHEN?, “only did one selfless thing in his life” - which one of them are you talking about, just wondering?, “freed Hela” - are we just making shit up at this point? he didn’t even know about Hela!, “caused Odin’s death” - why is anyone acting like that’s a bad thing and Odin didn’t deserve to die?, “facist dictator” - again: WHERE? Do any of you stupid Americans even know what facism is? Stop throwing around big words if you don’t know how to use them.)
Or is it just that people don’t actually know the movies, see a villain who has huge female fanbase and come to the “obvious” conclusion that it must be because those women are stupid and “like making excuses for bad boys”? Do people take Tom Hiddelston more seriously when he talks about Loki’s motivations and says he’s just misunderstood and not evil? Because this time it’s a man saying it?
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Michael In the Mainstream - Avengers: Endgame
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Endgame is a film that is really more than a film. This is a cultural milestone. This is the culmination of a decade’s worth of stories told by all sorts of different creative minds, a set of stories that all managed to have consistent character growth and development, a grand finale to ten years with all sorts of beloved and iconic characters. This film is the twilight of the age of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, and the dawn of a new era of fresh heroes, heroes whose stories we’ve only begun to experience. This is something that has never been done before, a massive storyline told throughout twenty plus films coming together in a big shared universe to deliver an awesome, climactic final confrontation between characters we know and love and a villain we love to hate. There’s never really been a film of this magnitude before.
I have loved the MCU since it began when I was a teenager. I had just started high school when Iron Man first came out, and it just amazed me how good it was. Unlike the year’s other superhero film, which was based on one of the Big Three of Marvel’s Distinguished Competition, I didn’t really have any sort of huge expectations for Iron Man. Like sure, I was aware of who he was, I knew he was a classic Marvel comic character, but he wasn’t Spider-Man or the X-Men, the characters I grew up watching in cartoons and who I was intimately familiar with. Hell, I even knew the Hulk better than Iron Man. But boy, did that change fast; Robert Downey Jr.’s incredible performance, the fun writing, the gripping character study, and the solid action all got me interested in this washed up B-list hero who had spent the most recent arc of his comics becoming the superhero version of Hitler.
And that was a running theme for the MCU. I ever cared too much about characters like Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, or Black Panther when I was younger, and I didn’t even know characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy were a thing. All of this was just beyond my knowledge. And yet, these films made me care about these characters, got me invested in them. It’s something that with a few rare exceptions the X-Men films completely failed to do. I honestly can say after all is said and done I love Iron Man, Captain America, and the Guardians way more than I do Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm, which is not something I would have ever guessed I’d say a decade ago. And growing up with all these characters and seeing them go through these films, going into this one I knew there had to be some big dramatic payoff, some sense of finality. You can pull of stuff like massive retcons and everyone coming back from the dead in comics, but in movies? That’s how you lose viewers. I knew they’d really have to blow our minds with this, especially after the brutal gut punch that was Infinity War.
And for the most part, they truly delivered.
Endgame is a satisfying conclusion to the epic first decade of the MCU, closing the doors on some stories but opening up a world of possibilities on others. And while there are some problems here and there, the overall product is just so good that it’s easy to forgive the flaws, though it is easy to see why some would be a bit less forgiving. Still, even more critical folk than me admit that regardless of problems this is still a good movie.
This movie has three acts, and I will be going over each individually. There are going to be SPOILERS here, because there is just so much to unpack with this film, so consider this your warning. Again, SPOILERS BELOW.
The first act picks up where the Avengers were left at the end of Infinity War: broken, defeated, and desperate. Despite Carol saving Tony and Nebula from deep space, things seem pretty hopeless, until an energy signature is picked up revealing the whereabouts of Thanos. The Avengers rush to confront him, eager to steal back the Stones and right what went wrong… but upon arriving, they find Thanos broken, scarred, and worst of all, utterly without the Stones. He destroyed them all so his work could not be undone. He has completely, irreversibly won. And so when Thor brings Stormbreaker down and cuts off his head only a short while into the film, it does not feel triumphant or thrilling. It feel sad, miserable, and bitter.
I think this is probably one of the better twists in the first act. The pace at the beginning is rather slow until they confront Thanos, and it ultimately works in the movie’s favor as it makes the horrific revelation hurt all the more, and then following it up with a time skip of five years later is just rubbing salt in the wound. It also helps cement the original Thanos as a truly unique villain. He not only won, but he died knowing he won. He was victorious in death for five years, and there was nothing any of the heroes could do about it. It seems a bit anti-climactic when you first think about it, but really this end to the original Thanos is a rather fitting conclusion of his character arc from Infinity War. He won, he watched the sun rise on the universe… what more could this Thanos really do?
The time skip shows what all the heroes have been up to in the interim: Steve is running support groups  for survivors, Tony has married Pepper and has a daughter, Natasha has been in contact with the remaining heroes, Clint has been out brutally murdering criminals as Ronin, Banner has managed to keep his intellect as Hulk and become a relatively famous figure, and Thor has basically become an obese drunkard wallowing in his failure. Our heroes are at their absolute lowest point… until one little rat walks over a control panel on a van in a storage unit and frees Scott “Ant-Man” Lang from the Quantum Realm.
I will say that a lot of the latter half of the first act, the part that sets up the “Time Heist” of the second act, drags on a bit, and this is really the portion of the film that will make or break it for you. You need to really be invested in these characters, you need to be ready to handle the ways they’ve dealt with the knowledge that they have lost. Thor’s fate especially has been contentious, with people crying foul that throughout the movie the Russos did nothing but “undo” all the development Taika Waititi gave him, which is quite frankly such a stupid argument it’s not worth addressing. What IS worth addressing is how Thor’s trauma, unlike most of the other Avengers, is played for laughs. For some, seeing Thor as a fat, slovenly drunkard is going to be a bit upsetting and tasteless; for others, the black comedy will cross the line twice and make it rather funny. That aspect is definitely going to help or hinder your enjoyment of this segment.
Even that aside, it does really feel like it takes a while to get to the real fun part of the movie, though it’s not as if anything in the first act is truly bad, per se; it’s just very character-driven as opposed to exciting and thrilling. If you’re into character-driven drama, then you’ll really dig this, since all of the performances here are excellent, with Paul Rudd in particular really showing off some impressive range and Scarlett Johansson actually managing to impress me with her emotional performance. Seeing Hawkeye become a complete and total badass who slaughters his way through thugs is also a refreshing change from the absolute joke he has been in previous films, and his winning streak in act one is happily carried throughout the film, completely redeeming Hawkeye. There’s also a lot of good comedy here as it builds up into the time heist, particularly Rhodey’s suggestion of what to do with baby Thanos or the ill-fated test run of the time machine.
I think it is important to note that unlike most films that deal with the subject, the movie actually gives clear, definitive rules on time travel: you can’t go back to the past and alter your present, any changes you make only succeed in creating a split timeline resulting in an alternate universe. This does not allow them to go back and kill Thanos before the Snap, but it DOES allow them to go back to times when they could reasonably steal the Infinity Stones and use them to undo the damage done. This is actually a pretty solid take on time travel and an easy take to grasp at that, though as I will mention later, this simple and clearly explained version of time travel has somehow left people confused. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Act two is where the movie really picks up steam, as the remaining heroes split into groups and head back to points in time where they get to experience moments from beloved Marvel films (and Thor: The Dark World) as they retrieve the Stones. Cap, Tony, and Ant-Man go after Loki’s scepter and the Tesserect following the battle of New York as seen in The Avengers, which leads to a lot of hilarity including Cap fighting his past self and an elevator scene that not only calls back to the one from The Winter Soldier but also features the redemption of one of the most awful moments in modern comics with one of the single funniest lines in the entire film; Hulk wanders over to the Sanctum Sanctorum and argues with the Ancient One for the Stone in the Eye of Agamotto; Rocket and Thor go back to the period of time where Jane Foster was at Asgard to steal the Reality Stone from inside her, which leads to Thor getting a touching reunion with his mother as well as an opportunity to snag Mjolnir; Nebula and Rhodey get to go to the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy and witness Peter Quill dancing and singing to himself like a moron before knocking him out and stealing the Stone; and Black Widow and Hawkeye go to Vormir to confront the Red Skull for the Soul Stone. I’m sure you can imagine how that one goes.
This part of the movie is a lot more fun with how varied it gets. There’s plenty of comedy, action, and character moments, and it just feels a lot more fun than the first act. Seeing how characters that rarely interacted or even never interacted in the past bounce off each other is really delightful, particularly Rhodey and Nebula. Of course, there is also great moments of development, such as when Steve and Tony botch their initial Stone theft and have to go back even further in time, which leads to Tony getting a heartwarming moment with his father while Steve is reminded of Peggy. And then, of course, there is Black Widow and her character arc coming to a close, as she heroically mirrors Gamora’s tragic fate.
There has, of course, been a lot of argument over Black Widow’s fate here. Here’s my take on it: Black Widow’s character arc throughtout the films has always been a desire to scrub the red from her ledger and find some meaning to her life. Age of Ultron, for all its flaws, shows she thinks of herself as a monster, and truly just wants to make a connection, find a group she has something in common with. With the Avengers, she found just that, she found the family she never had, she found something worth living for, fighting for, and ultimately dying for. Her sacrifice wasn’t some sad attempt at shock, it wasn’t her being stuffed in the fridge to further the character arcs of her male costars, it was her character arc becoming fully realized, it was her understanding that to save those she loved she had to make a choice, and it is the most utterly selfless and heroic act in the entire movie, and maybe even the entire franchise. Everyone would have lost if not for Natasha. She is probably the most heroic character in the movie… well, with one exception, but we’ll get to him shortly. The point is, her sacrifice carried more dramatic and thematic weight than if Clint had sacrificed himself; Clint is very much an underrealized and underutilized character, and while this movie improved him, it was still not enough to make his sacrifice as painful as Black Widow’s.
Act two comes to a close with heroes grieving Black Widow and preparing the Stones for a Snap to bring everyone back… unfortunately, they don’t realize there is a traitor in their midst: Nebula. Not out Nebula, but Nebula from 2014, prior to her character development. You see, Thanos could still access the future Nebula’s video recording eye since her software is still on the same server even in the future (it’s a bit weird but it still makes a bit of sense). 2014 Thanos finds out about his future self’s victory and becomes furious that any would try and undo his “mercy.” And so he enacts a plan to get him to this future and kill the Avengers once and for all. The evil Nebula bringing her father and his fleet to the future right after the second snap kicks off the third act, as Thanos obliterates the Avenger’s mansion with his ship.
The third act, the entire third act, is just peak MCU. The entire act from start to finish is the absolute best the franchise has to offer. It all begins with the heroes struggling to regroup and find each other in the wreckage, with Hawkeye having to run from aliens in a dark basement, Hulk having to hold up rubble to help save Rhodey and Rocket, Nebula helping sway 2014 Gamora to her side and then in the ultimate act of “God I really hate how I used to be” shooting her past self to death, Ant-Man rushing to save his friends after escaping the blast, and Cap, Thor, and Iron Man going to fight Thanos. This is the beginning of the end.
It is interesting to note that here, Thanos is a lot closer to the megalomaniac tyrant he was in the comics while still staying in line with his movie version from the previous film. It does go to show how fragile his ego is and how his talk of his work being merciful and good is just a delusion he has bought into; he freely admits here that he should not have been so kind, he blames everyone else for his failure, and he promises to remake the universe in his image, perfectly balanced and unaware of all they lost. Despite being almost an entire reversal of his previous characterization, it actually functions quite while as a weird way of continuing his arc while at the same time addressing the criticisms many leveled at the anti-villainous Thanos of Infinity War. It definitely looks like the Russos were well aware of how Thanos would be perceived, and did a really great job at having the best of both worlds in regards to his characterization. And even here, where he is fully embracing his villainy and saying how he will enjoy crushing his foes, one still gets the sense that he still sees himself as the hero in his mind and is absolutely furious that anyone would wish to undo what he considers a kindness.
Of course, the battle with these three fighting Thanos is quite enjoyable, and showcases even without his Gauntlet Thanos is a force to be reckoned with, as he trounces the three Avengers, though not without great effort… especially after Steve Rogers does something we’ve all been waiting a long time to see him do: pick up Mjolnir and wield it in battle. I think it’s safe to say that Thor’s jubilant shout of “I KNEW IT!” is one that was echoed in the minds of every single viewer of the scene. And just when you think the movie couldn’t get even more epic, just when it seems that Thanos will win as a bruised and bettered Steve stands alone against Thanos and his entire army… Steve gets a call.
“On your left.”
Hundreds of magic portals open, and the resurrected heroes all come through, along with any sort of crew they could bring. For the record, this is: Black Panther, Shuri, Okoye, M’Baku, the armies of Wakanda, Doctor Strange, Wong, all of the wizards, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, Groot, Falcon, Bucky, Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, Korg, Miek, the remaining Asgardians, Wasp, Pepper Potts in her Rescue armor, Kraglin, his Ravager crew, and even Howard the Duck. And if that’s not enough for you, the Avengers who were still alive before the attack all come in for the battle. And they said Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the most ambitious crossover of all time. Was Howard the Duck in Smash? I think not.
And as the heroes gather for the inevitable charge, do you know what Steve says? He says two little words that fans have been waiting for such a long time to hear him say, something a less talented writer and director teased us with several films ago:
“AVENGERS… ASSEMBLE!”
Hurry quick and wipe those tears from your eyes so you don’t miss the awesome final battle, which is just filled to the brim with moments where every single hero gets to shine. Highlights include Spidey and Tony reuniting, Spidey activating the “Instant Kill” function of his suit, Gamora kicking Star-Lord in the balls, Tony and Pepper fighting back to back, Scarlet Witch confronting Thanos, and the awesomely cheesy “GIRL POWER” moment that is far more empowering than the entirety of Captain Marvel. Everything about this battle is fantastic, everything about it is peak MCU, everything is the epitome of why people love superhero movies… and it all culminates with the conclusion of Tony Stark’s decade-long character arc, as he steals the Stones from Thanos and snaps his fingers, erasing Thanos and his army at the cost of his life.
This moment is depressing on two fronts. On one, there is Tony. He is the hero we have spent the most time with, the one we know the best. And after all these films, he finally proved Steve Rogers wrong: he was able to lay his life on the line for the greater good, sacrificing himself fully for his wife, his daughter, his friends, and the entire universe. Tony went from a self-absorbed egomaniac arms dealer to a truly great, heroic figure who did what he had to do to protect everyone he cared about.
But on the other is Thanos. Most villains, upon seeing their plans come to ruin and their armies laid to waste, would break down, rant, offer some sort of last taunt… but not Thanos. Thanos accepts his death, however much it pains him to. The look of exhaustion, anguish, and utter hopelessness on his face as he sits down in a dark mirror of the ending of Infinity War truly cements him as a great and worthy foe. For all his faults, for all his insanity, Thanos was still a man utterly deluded by his pain and past tragedies into believing his cause was noble and just, and here he sits in his final moments perhaps wondering as his future self did if it was really all worth it. His crumbling to dust as he so cruelly did to so many others I well-deserved and a fitting end for one such as him, but there’s no denying that there is an element of tragedy to it too. It’s the exact sort of emotional ending I would have hoped for from Marvel’s greatest villain.
The finale wraps things up with Tony’s funeral, as well as Cap going back in time to return the Stones and Mjolnir to the moments they were stolen so that the alternate timelines can handle themselves. But Steve decides to create his own alternate timeline before coming home, and lives out an entire lifetime with an alternate Peggy Carter before returning to his own time and passing his shield and title on to Falcon. Many were confused as to if this meant Steve changed the canon of the MCU, but… they explain what happens in the movie. Quite a few times in fact. If you paid attention at all, you would know it is not possible for him to alter the canon. He created an alternate timeline where he presumably lived a full, happy life and ensured things would go well for everyone. No Hydra infiltration of SHIELD, no Winter Soldier, no Stark assassination, none of that. Just a long, happy life with the woman he loved, his best friend, and a well-deserved retirement from the fields of battle in the end. While the conclusion to Cap’s arc is not quite as good as Tony’s, it’s still heartfelt and touching, and it’s hard to say he didn’t deserve a happy life after everything he went through.
And so ends the Infinity Saga, and the first ten years of the MCU. This movie changed a hell of a lot, to the point where even though only two main heroes died over the course of the film, things still will never be the same going forward, and I like that a lot. Unlike every other cinematic universe that has sprung up in the wake of the MCU, I fully feel like any stories told after this one will continue to build off the foundations that this film and its predecessors laid out. There won’t be the need for soft rebooting like with the DCEU, or with actual rebooting like Dark Universe, or just constant messy and confusing timelines like with the X-Men Series. The MCU has managed to remain remarkably consistent throughout, and there’s no reason to doubt they’d continue that into the future. There’s no stinger here, but the moments after the final battle with the Guardians and Thor certainly set up interesting possibilities, as does the now teenaged Cassie Lang, who may well take up the superhero role she has in the comics. It’s hard to predict where the future of the MCU will be going right now, but all things considered it certainly looks bright.
Ultimately, this movie is a love letter. It’s a slow build that starts by examining the characters we know and love at their lowest, builds into a nostalgic and hilarious trip down memory lane, and culminates in the most beautiful sort of fanservice imaginable that then brings a touching conclusion to two of the greatest heroes in all of cinema. Of course, as I’ve mentioned, that first act is going to be what makes or breaks this for some people, and the part does drag a bit, but ultimately this movie is more what it ends up as than what it starts out as. That finale is the single greatest work of art the MCU has produced thus far, and I’m not sure that even with another ten years they’ll ever be able to top it.
The amazing thing is, this movie is pretty accessible even if you aren’t a hardcore fan, though it’s definitely only going to have full emotional impact if you’ve been watching these characters for years. This is a movie for the fans first and foremost, and that’s really not a bad thing; why wouldn’t you make an epic finale to so many arcs that appeals to the people who invested so much time in it? As someone who grew up with the MCU, who has watched it grow and blossom into everything I ever dreamed of seeing as a kid, I only have this to say to all of the directors, writers, actors, stunt people, just everyone who made this and all the other films possible, and to the dearly departed Stan Lee who created so many of these people I’ve spent the past decade watching come to life on screen:
I love you three thousand.
Here’s to another ten years of cinematic superhero excellence.
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heymusings · 5 years
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Things I loved in individual Marvel Movies (FYI...there’s a lot)
Iron Man
The epitome of showing character development within the time frame of a single film through Tony Stark.
Pepper Potts pretty much being Tony’s baby sitter.
Soundtrack
A man who has everything and nothing.
It’s literally just a well balanced action movie.
The fact that is was mostly just RDJ improvising and the other actors having to work with it.
Tony realizing he is part of the problem and finds his purpose in trying to fix those problems, and by doing so working to become a better person.
The fact that Tony is still not a fully realized “hero” at the end of this film-- he still has some quirks to work through and is a little too arrogant.  But this really sets up for even more amazing character development in the next films.
It is a movie of its time-- terrorism and greedy businessmen as the villains.
The fact that Tony and Pepper are not a couple by the end, even when I ship them.
“I am Iron Man”  The instant new trend of not hiding their identity.
Tony: Throw in a little hot rod red.  Jarvis: Yes, that will help you keep a low profile.
Pepper buying herself a birthday present from Tony.
Tony seeing her in the dress.
Pepper “taking out the garbage”-- burn
Tony’s suite tests and Dummy trying to put out a fire.
Tony making the first suite in the cave-- i love that montage
Stane’s moment in realizing how the suite worked-- it’s such a silent but great moment
“Don’t waste your life.”
The acting that takes place in the moment Stane takes the reactor out of Tony’s chest is amazing-- RDJ doesn’t even say anything.
Pepper getting the thumb drive out of the office-- and having the forethought to have Coulson follow her-- Coulson just sitting there waiting (it was oddly funny to me).
The eventual use of the SHIELD acronym
Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.
I don’t have anyone but you.
Iron Man 2
Tony and Pepper kissing for the first time....admittedly the first two films came out at a time when the thing I mostly cared about was shipping.
Soundtrack
Stark clearly still developing as a person and superhero...I love me some character development.
Stark refusing to give the suite
“If your priority was to actually to...”-- Tony questioning governmental control
“I am Iron Man.  The suite and I are one.  To turn it over will be to turn over myself which would be tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution...”
The Iron Man suit as a “shield”--- interesting.
I love watching Tony in his workshop.
Dummy.
Pepper taking charge several times throughout.
Natasha totally taking out Happy when he assumes she can’t.
Pepper actually coming to like Natasha as her assistant.
Tony dealing with his mortality
Tony: Were you aiming for him or me...I can’t tell!
Happy just ramming into Whiplash with the car over and over again.
I told you I don’t want to be part of your super secret boy band.
Fury and Tony talking about Howard Stark and how he was one of the founding members of shield.
Shout out to the tessaract.
Phil: I will taze you and watch super nanny as your drool into the carpet.  Got it?
The ex wife.
Tony: Hammer tech? Rhodey: Yea.
Two seals fighting over a grape.
Phil leaving to go to New Mexico-- Thor shout out.
“Nice work kid.”
Pepper!!!
War machine and Iron Man working together to beat the iron suites-- I am partial to the shots of them in the Park area
Natasha beating the shit out of all the guys as she makes her way down the hallway...doing so very nonchalantly-- while happy takes on one guy.
Tony: You have a big gun but you’re not the big gun.
Hammer’s shock that Pepper is having him arrested while Pepper just glares at him totally unafraid of him.
Captain America shout out.
Pepper and Tony kiss.
I was here first, get a roof.
Tony: Text book narcissism?....agreed.
Getting the guy who hated Stark to present the award at the end.
“Funny, how annoying a little prick can be.”
Iron Man 3
Tony interacting with Harley  
The question if Iron Man is the suite or the man-- Tony clearly needing to come to terms with the question if his heroism comes from the man or the suite-- and has to do so by accepting his weaknesses.
Tony proving he can still be a hero without the suite. He is a mechanic-- him infiltrating the mandarin mansion without the suite and just a bunch of every day items is amazing.  This film just reminds us that his bad-assery comes from his mind. It is honestly just one of the best Stark moments all around.
Continuity in how Tony is affected by what happens to him.
Pepper coming to the rescue.
The fact that Tony went back for Dummy after his home was attacked.
In the end Tony is sure that even without the suite he is still Iron Man-- You can take away my tricks and toys, but the one thing you can’t take away...I am Iron Man.
The Dora Explorer watch
Honestly, I hate working here.  They are so weird.
Captain America
Agent Carter totally beating the men into place and Steve clearly loving it.
Bucky: Weren’t you smaller?... What happened to you? Steve: I joined the army.  Bucky: Did it hurt...is it permanent?  Steve: A little...so far.
The introduction of the heart of the character-- good man vs perfect soldier
He’s artistic-- this really says something about his character.
The flag bit will not make me laugh.
Peggy Carter...enough said...literally...everything about her.
Steve using the garbage lid as a shield-- I just like the foreshadowing... someone get that man a shield.
I can do this all day-- even when he is tiny and doesn’t stand a chance he doesn’t back down against a bully knowing he won’t win (but he still called out the bully)
Knowing Peggy touching Steve’s chest was technically an honest reaction by the actress-- she was literally so shocked by seeing him without a shirt for the first time.
The fact that I can say, “aw look how cute and little they are,” about both Bucky and Steve.
Steve jumping on the grenade...is this a test?
He’s still skinny.
“You have no idea how to talk to a woman do you.”
“Waiting for the right partner.”
“How do you feel?” “Taller.”
“I could do this all day.”
Peggy making a kill shot on a man that is in a car and at quite a distance.
Peggy non nonchalantly shooting at Steve to test shield, but mostly out of jealousy...and Steve looking ready to pee himself. 
Kid: go get him, I can swim.
The extreme differences in the reactions to the “performance” in the cities compared to the camps.
I really like the leather jacket.
“Where I am going if anyone yells at me I can shoot them”  “Undoubtedly they will be shooting back.”
Fondue
Peggy: You can’t give me orders.  Steve: The hell I can’t, I am a Captain.
Steve: You sure this thing works? Howard: It’s been tested more than you, pal.
Do you know what you’re doing? Steve: Yeah, I knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times.
Until the end of the line.
Bucky: You don’t have one of those do you?
Bucky refusing to leave Steve behind.
Cap and Bucky leading the rescued men back to camp.
I couldn’t call my ride.
Bucky: That little guy from Brooklyn that was too dumb to run away from a fight, I am following him.
Bucky: I am visible, I am turning into you.  This is a horrible dream.  Steve: Don’t take it so hard.  Maybe she has a friend.
Bucky’s face of pure confusion after realizing Peggy wasn’t going to give him the time of day.
The subtle development of the friendship between Howard and Steve.
Bucky’s sniper skills.
Bucky: Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island? Steve: Yeah, and I threw up.  Bucky: This isn’t payback is it?
Bucky: I had him on the ropes.  Steve: I know you did.
Any time Bucky and Steve work together-- it just comes off very natural.
Bucky wielding, if only for a moment, the Captain America Shield.
Peggy and Steve’s kiss
I am not kissing ya.
Steve’s sacrifice.
Steve being able to think coherently enough to recognize that something is wrong when he wakes up by realizing the baseball game is too old.
The shot of Steve on a modern New York City.
“I had a date.”
Captain America Winter Soldier
The opening running scene (rather than something more actionesque-- and the banter that builds as Steve continuously passes Sam... this also really sets up the fact that this is a film that concentrates almost solely on characters (despite having great action sequences).
On your left....two passes later...Don’t say it.
Steve’s speech over the intercom, “...It’s a price I’m willing to pay.  I may be the only one...but I am willing to bet I am not.”
Steve in glasses.
The Winter Solider-- his knife skills....the clear progression throughout the film as he becomes more and more conflicted.
“I am 95, I am not dead.”--- I need more information about this line.
“Does anyone want to get off?”
Natasha and Steve as a team-- Steve becoming more trusting of her
The fact that of any movie he could have watched after waking up Steve watched “Saw”
Steve/WS hand to hand battle
“This isn’t freedom; this is fear.” (Steve seeing Shield as a bully...he doesn’t like bullies)
Steve’s progressive realization that the power of the individual to make choices is more important than orders from an entity that may have ulterior motives.
Falcon/Sam treating Steve like a regular guy and just developing a loyal friendship that I appreciate.
 WS catching Steve’s shield with one arm.
Until the end of the line.
Bucky/WS’s murder walk.
Nat: Where did Captain America learn to steal a car? Steve: Nazi Germany, and we’re borrowing, take your feet off the dash.
It’s really not your style Rogers.  Steve: You’re right, it’s not, it’s hers (then commence Nat still trying to find Steve a date).
Captain America Civil War
Bucky noticeably uncomfortable when he first hears the sirens, then his relief when they pass him and the immediate return to being on edge when he notices the man looking at him from across the street.
So many reminders that Bucky’s nature is not toward violence.
Steve confronting Bucky in his apartment only for Bucky to run, trying so hard to avoid a fight...but the fight that happens I love, especially in the stairwell.
Bucky going after the reactor of the Iron Man suite-- noticeably not going for killing blows during the final fight and despite Tony full out trying to kill him.
How tired and sad Bucky sounds when he tells Cap, “It always ends in a fight
Wanda: You guys know I can move things with my mind right.
Wanda: You were pulling your punches.
Steve’s talk with Wanda about doing and saving who you can and that it doesn’t always mean everyone.
Tony managing to disarm the greatest assassin with nothing but a gauntlet while wearing a three piece suite.
Steve’s clear conflict regarding his friendship with Tony and willingness to forgive him at the end.
Wanda’s relationship with both Clint and Steve... I wanted more of this.
Steve understanding the dangers of the accords more than Tony (based on experience)-- and the importance of his message, “you can’t save everyone,” but you can save the majority.
I admit...this movie got me so worked up about how Tony wants so much to start pushing away the blame for even one lost life that he becomes so willing to place all the responsibility on a governmental power rather than the individual (as Steve believes) even at the cost of putting targets on the back of his friends/allies.  I will never not be shocked at his shock when he talks of Wanda as a weapon or his shock when they put them all in prison. But I also love that I got so worked up about this-- it makes for a great watch.
“No you move.”
Bucky and the motorcycle-- wow, that was not only cool...but it was really, REALLY hot.
I can’t control their fear-- only my own.
I retire for like what five minutes and it all goes to shit.
You want to mope go to high school.  You want to make amends, you get off your ass.
I can’t, but she can.
You locked me in my room.
Bucky being totally done with all the weird stuff going on around him.
“I can do this all day.”
Geez, Tony.  How old is this guy.
Bucky moving in front of Sam to protect him from Spiderman.
You couldn’t have done that earlier? (I hate you.)
Can you move your seat up. (No).
“You don’t deserve it-- My father made that shield”-- he sounds like a child trying to defend himself and his actions.  Steve dropping the shield and taking Bucky is pretty much him winning the fight-- taking the higher ground-- good man vs. good soldier being reiterated here.  The shield doesn’t take away from Cap’s strength at all-- what made him a hero is his heart, the fact that he is a good man and he doesn’t need the shield.  This is something that Tony is still learning and coming to terms with in his developmental arc.
This is the first time that we see Tony truly angry during his first with Steve-- he is being driven by his instincts to get revenge at that moment-- he is devastating but it takes away from one of his strengths-- thinking things out.
Tony is in the wrong regarding his trying to kill Bucky, he even practically admits it when Steve attempts to get him to see reason, “I don’t care, he killed my mom.” Tony is in the wrong and yet Steve still understands Tony’s feelings, yet he can’t let Bucky die even from someone he calls a friend-- this just makes for good emotionally intense conflict that is matched by the actual physical conflict.
Steve: He’s my friend. Tony: So was I-- this line literally emotionally devastates both characters.
Steve: I can do this all day. (Cap refusing to back down to protect his friend).
Tony losing because of one moment Bucky helps Steve simply by providing a seconds distraction.
Natasha being there for Steve at Peggy’s funeral
Tony trying to appeal to Steve’s past in order to get him to sign the accords using pens from Howard (one for each of them) and Steve’s response, “Some would say it bought us closer to war.” What a way to immediately set up where these two stand.
The idea that there are two sides to “right”-- Steve concentrating on moral and Tony being a realist... it really calls in to question which side you agree with most, and I love that.
Steve: If I see a situation going south I can’t ignore it.  I wish I could.  Tony: No you don’t.  Steve: You’re right, I don’t.
Tony clearly trying to use the accords as an excuse to help him stop because he keeps finding excuses to not stop even when he wants to for Pepper
Did you know?-- the fact that it finally is made clear that Steve is not perfect and is willing to lie.  He has reasons, but I think it is great to realize the contrast between the legend of perfect Captain America and Steve Rogers.
Steve realizing that the accords are similar to what Shield was doing in trying to deter war using fear/threats/control before it happened (which never works)-- Steve’s, “She’s a kid!” vs Tony’s, “She’s not a U.S. citizen and they don’t grant visas to weapons of mass destruction!” is really Steve’s break away from any possibility of him signing the accords. 
Tony’s greatest fear of being alone coming to pass as he is left at Avengers headquarters alone.
Steve: Where you from kid? Peter: Queens. Steve: Brooklyn
Tony never really seems to truly agree with the accords (not only does he also break them) on a moral level and he seems haunted by it throughout the film, while Steve is made stronger by his decision because he is sure of his position 
Tony: I am trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart. Steve: You did that when you signed-- how upset Tony is vs. how calm and matter of fact Steve is (who is surer of themselves?)
Thor
Frigga and Loki’s relationship
Darcy... she needs to be around more in the other movies.
Not that it’s a favorite thing, but I am honestly always confused how Thor is so hero worshiped when he’s kind of a dick at the beginning, and then when Loki starts doing similar things that Thor did he’s the bad guy (not saying he should have done them...but double standards and hypocrisy abound in this movie).  The more you watch the more you realize that everyone treats Loki like crap... like wow, they were all lucky Loki loved Thor and his family or he would have done something much sooner.
Loki’s manipulations.
Sif: I did.  Thor: True, but I supported you.
“ What happened, silver tongue turned to lead?”
Loki’s entire storyline.
Sif.
Loki using magic and daggers-- his fighting style is so interesting, wish we saw more of it.
“Go home little princess.” “Damn”
Loki being touched by the frost giant.
Loki more actively protecting the warriors three and Sif on Johtunheim than Thor.
Loki’s face while listening to the argument between Odin and Thor.
Darcy: Does he need CPR, because I totally know CPR.
Darcy: Yeah, we can tell you’re hammered, it's pretty obvious.
Jane: I grazed him, but she tasered him.  Darcy: Yes, I did.
The number of times Jane hits Thor with a car.
Loki’s confrontation with Odin and the pure emotion that Hiddleston portrays in that moment.
Thor’s new found love of pop tarts and coffee
Next time you decide to taser someone make sure he’s already in the car.
Jane and Darcy’s reactions to Thor’s attractiveness.
“I used to know this scientist.  I pioneer in gamma radiation.  SHIELD showed up and I never saw them again.”
The first introduction to Hawkeye...being told to grab a gun but taking the bow and arrow instead.
Barton: You want me to slow him down sir or are you going to send in more guys for him to beat up.
Thor: You’re big- fought bigger.
Barton: I am starting to root for this guy.
Science Fiction as a precursor to science fact.
Science Fiction is just science we don’t understand yet.
My realization that even as early as the first Thor film Thor and Loki’s earth fashion sense was already very much established- high power businessman vs. “very comfortable/casual”-- symbolic, maybe.
The fact that Loki as a villain is perfection-- he is a match for Thor, he is personable, his motivations are similar but he has different methods, and you can see some reason in them.
Donald Blake shout outs.
Loki going from being rather meek at the beginning compared to his second return to Johtunheim to strike a deal with Laufey.
The fact that Loki clearly had no intention of letting Laufey kill Odin.
Heimdal’s learning that Loki is a better sorcerer then he was given credit for and can cloak himself even from the gatekeeper.
Thor and Jane bonding over science/magic.
We got xena, Jackie chan and Robin hood.
“Found you!”
“Is that one of Stark’s?”
Thor’s sacrifice- I love the drama of it.
Thor’s powers being returned- again, very dramatic.
So this is how you normally look-- it’s a good look.
Loki: I never wanted the throne! I only wanted to be your equal.
Thor pinning Loki just by putting the hammer on his chest.
Loki: I could have done it, father!Loki’s look of devastation when he is again rejected by his father.
Thor Dark World
Ta Da!
Loki totally ignoring the chaos of battle around him as he reads a book.
“I like her.”
You’ll what? Kill me? Evidently, there will be a line.
Loki: Now they’re firing at us.  Thor: Thank you for the commentary Loki, it's not at all distracting.
Loki and Thor teaming up and using Loki’s magic in battle... I would have loved to have seen more of this team up happening in the films
To be honest, the only real saving grace of this movie was Loki... which I can get behind.
“I didn’t do it for him.”
Loki lecturing Thor about his escape plan and Thor pushing him out the open hatch in their ship.
Loki being revealed on the throne.
“Oh dear, is she dead?”
“I think you missed a column”
Loki’s reaction to Frigga’s death.
Loki’s look after having yelled at his mother.
Frigga attempting to make Loki’s imprisonment comfortable, she will never not see him as her son.
Who put me there! (There are so many levels to that statement and the acting is amazing).
Thor Ragnarok
Soundtrack
The whole play that Loki had written for himself and his pure enjoyment of it while pretending to be Odin.
“Beg your pardon?”
“You had one job. Just the one.”
“I am not a witch.” “How come you dress like one?” “Hey (offended).”
Thor’s powers
“I’ve been falling for 30 minutes!”
Hela-- love her-- a little anti-climatic ending.
Loki’s epic eye roll.
“Oh shit.”
Thor totally fangirling over Valkyrie.
Thor’s story about when he and Loki were 8 and Loki pretended to be a snake before stabbing him.
“It’s in my brain now”
Thor being full out God of Thunder and the soundtrack during the scene is amazing.
“I am not doing get help.”
“Do you have a better plan?” “No.” “We’re doing it.”
Loki cheering the Hulk smashing Thor.
Loki using his daggers again...I still wish we got to see more of that.
Your savior is here.
“I saw you coming.”  “Of course you did”
“I’ve never met this man in my life.” “He’s my brother.” “Adopted.”
“I’m here.”
Avengers
There is something I greatly enjoy about the shot of Loki being taken in shackles down the hallway of the Shield based-- he definitely still feels in control even then.
Learning to become a team and not just automatically being a well-oiled machine.
Tony and Bruce’s science bromance
There will always be men like you.
Loki: I am listening.
Tony: Doth mother know you wearath her drapes.
Fury: 10 bucks says your wrong...Cap paying up on his bet with Fury.
Cap’s simple response: You should have left it in the ocean.
Avengers theme
I’ve got red in my ledger, I’d like to wipe it out.... the whole scene between Loki and Nat and the changing power dynamics during it is simply great writing and acting. And the end line of Nat’s being, “Thank you for your cooperation,” to show she came out on top in that battle is extra awesome.
She turns out not be another pretty face--- and then Natasha proceeds to annihilate them single-handed
Coulson calling Natasha through her targets phone then arguing with him on the phone that she’s too busy working, while also being tied up.
Natasha being convinced to leave her mission by being told Barton was compromised.
Bruce is on the run but still trying to do good.
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce
“No its won by soldiers”...fade into Captain America’s first intro in the film.
Tony: Like Christmas, but more me.
12% of a moment.
Tony: his first name is agent.
Pepper:  Is this about the Avengers initiative...which I know nothing about.  Tony:...I didn’t qualify for.  Pepper: I didn’t know that either.  Tony: Apparently I am volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others.  Pepper: That I did know.
Phil and Pepper being chummy with each other...I would have enjoyed more of this.
Coulson totally fan-boying over Cap.
Coulson: I watched you while you were sleeping.
Natasha:  I thought Coulson was going to swoon.  Has he asked you to sign his trading cards yet?  They’re vintage, he’s very proud.
Bruce:  They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container? (sees its actually going to take flight instead) Oh no, this is much worse (in complete sarcasm).
Cap immediately accepting Bruce.
How obviously uncomfortable Bruce is upon first going on the helicarrier surrounded by people.  Such good acting.
Cap: Mr. Stark. Tony: Captain
Fury: Ant, meet boot.
Stark needing entrance music to confront Loki.
The near instant tension between Cap and Tony after capturing Loki.
Loki: I am not overly fond of what follows.
Cap: Stark, we need a plan of attack.  Stark: I have a plan, attack.
Loki: I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness.
Tasha: He’s killed 80 people in two days.  Thor: He’s adopted.
Cap: I knew that reference!
Hill: When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics.  Tony: Last night.
Tony: I am a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.
Tony: An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.
Bruce being uncomfortable naming the Hulk and calling him ‘the other guy’
Bruce looking so uncomfortable during the first act of the film
Tony and Cap bringing up phase 2 at the same time in two different ways-- action and intelligence.
Tony: I am sorry Nick, you were lying.
Bruce: I am not leaving just because you get a little twitchy.
Tony: How is this now about me?  Cap: I am sorry, isn’t everything.
Cap: You may not be a threat but you better stop acting like a hero. Tony: Like you?  Everything special about you came out of a bottle. (pretty much this entire conversation)
Cap: put on the suite let’s find out.  Tony: I am not afraid of you old man. (explosion) Cap: Put on the suite.  Tony: Yep.
Cap: It seems to run on some form of electricity.  Tony: Well, you’re not wrong.
Loki: Are you ever not going to fall for that?
Phil: So that’s what it does.
Man: You an alien...no...well, then son you’ve got a condition.
Tony: He wants a monument with his name plastered...son of a bitch.
Thinking he is going to die wants to call and talk to Pepper.
Tony: We have a hulk.
Tony: We may not be able to protect the earth but you can damn well be sure we’ll avenge it.
Cop: Why the hell should I take orders from you.  ( Cap destroys some aliens...cop then immediately obeys orders.)
Bruce: That’s my secret... I am always angry.
That epic Avengers assemble round shot.
Barton not even looking while he makes a kill shot.
Fury: I recognize the council as made a decision, but given that it is a stupid ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it.
Hulk saving Tony
The “A” left on Stark tower.
Avengers Age of Ultron
The reaction of the Avengers when discovering Barton’s family life.
The fact that Barton has a normal family life.
Language.
Please be a secret door...yay!
Tony: Good talk.  Random Hydra Extra: No it wasn’t
The teamwork in the opening scene
I somehow found myself shipping Nat and Bruce.
“A great deal of complaining and tales of torn deltoids.”- Thor
“He’s the boss”- Tony about Cap
“He’s fast and she’s weird” - Maria Hill
“What kind of monster would allow a German scientist to experiment on him in order to protect his country?”- Cap to Hill
“Unlike you, I don’t have a lot of time...will...Thor be there”
Sam: following cold leads on our missing person's case (Bucky).
“He’s also a huge dork...chicks dig that.”- Natasha flirting with Bruce by describing him...then Cap totally shipping them.
Cap: I’ve seen her flirt up close...As may be the world’s leading authority on waiting too long...don’t.  Bruce: What do you mean up close?
The team trying to lift the hammer.
Cap: Together.  Tony: We’ll lose.  Cap: Then we’ll do that together too.
Black Panther references
Tony admitting that watching his friends die is not as bad as watching them die and he doesn’t.
Tony: I cracked into the Pentagon when I was in high school on a dare.
Cap: I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science created was me.
Barton: You’re no match for him, Captain.  Cap:...Thanks, Barton.
Natasha: Cap, keep them occupied.  Cap (out of breath): What do you think I’ve been doing?
Wanda....everything Wanda
Wanda: Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it; where do you think he gets that?
Vision handing Thor’s hammer to him like its no big deal.
No one listening to Pietro so he comes back with a gun...”get off your asses.”
Cap: You get killed, walk it off....you didn’t finish....what were you napping.
I actually never realized just how snarky Steve is in this movie.
The teamwork between Thor and Cap is awesome.
Wanda’s entrance as an Avenger...YES!!!!!
Cap: We are not clear...we are really not clear.
Pietro: Keep up old man.  Barton: No one would know...no one...last time I saw him Ultron was sitting on him...quick little bastard.
The fact that the above line was improvised by Renner.
Thor:...I am running out of things to say....you ready.
Pietro’s sacrifice. Wanda’s reaction after feeling it.
Barton names his son after both Natasha and Pietro.
Cap and Tony arguing that Vision picking up the hammer doesn’t count...and an elevator is also not worthy.
Wanda: I’ll protect it (looks at Hawkeye). It’s my job.
Vision: He’s right, he hates you the most.
Hulk having an obvious soft spot for Natasha
Natasha opening up to Bruce about her past.
Tony: Like the old man said, together.
Natasha: Still think you’re the only monster?
The whole idea of what makes a monster and how many people view someone else or themselves as a monster is so interesting and play a huge role in characterization.
Steve refusing to leave the flying city as long as there was even one civilian left there... Nat agreeing with him, “There are worse ways to go.”
Fury’s entrance and Steve’s, “Fury, you son of a bitch.”
Avengers Infinity War
Cap’s entrance by walking out of the shadows
Tom Holland’s improvising his death scene.
We don’t want to kill you, but we will.
Earth just lost her best defender.
Wanda being a complete badass-- she literally destroyed a stone with one hand and held off a nearly fully powered Thanos with the other
Caps glorious beard.
“I see you copied my beard.”
Strange seeing only ONE possible win in thousands...then giving up the stone... we’re in the endgame now...it was the only way.
Shuri making Bruce feel like an idiot.
Someone get this man a shield.
Steve and T’Challa running to the front of the battle line.
“I hope they remember you.”
Bucky alive and well
You speak groot...it was an elective.
Bring me Thanos!!! (In fact, the entire scene of Thor arriving to join the fight is cinematic gold)
Thanos on the farm-- yes, let them reiterate he won...like wow... you don’t get that much
What was she doing up there all this time?
“She’s not alone.”
Loki revealing the tessaract...trying to take Thanos on alone...and getting in one last jab with, “You will never be a god.”
Quill attempting to mimic Thor’s voice.
Rabbit
Any interaction between Thor and Rocket
Rocket engaging Thor in a meaningful conversation to comfort him-- such a huge growth is seen in his character.
Quill: What kind of weapon are we talking about here.  Thor: The Thanos killing kind.  Quill: Don’t you think we should all have a weapon like that.
“Stop messaging his muscles.”
Thor: Your bodies crumble as your minds collapse into madness.  Rocket: Is it weird I want to do it even more now?  Thor: A little bit.
Thor: He’s never fought me.  Rocket: Yes he has.  Thor: He’s never fought me twice.
It will kill you.  Thor: Only if I die. 
I’m way past asking for permission.
The 50% of me that’s stupid, that’s 100% you.
Rocket being picked up by Bucky and both continuing to shoot.
Oh, I’ll get that arm.
Thor being heartbreakingly optimistic and hiding his pain behind a smile until Rocket asks, “What if you’re wrong?” and Thor responds, “What more could I lose?” and Rocket’s, “I could lose a lot.”
The snap...”Oh god.”
You should have gone for the head.
You’re an Avenger now.
Peter: I should’ve gone home but it was such a long way down... If anything it’s kind of your fault that I am here. (Tony’s face is great)
Tony: The kid has seen more movies.
Tony and Thanos’ confrontation.
The adults are talking.
Steve giving his all to hold back Thanos with his bare hands and Thanos’ face of momentary confusion that a single man could hold him back even for a second.
My constant wondering what the result would have been if Tony and Cap were together in any of the scenes-- they work best together despite their contrasting personalities.
Doctor Strange
An arrogant man being forced to reconsider his world view and grow
Strange’s reaction to killing a man is perfect for the character but also just great acting from Ben.
Strange being called Master Strange and not wanting the title and being very adamant about not wanting the responsibility
Refusing to kill and being called a coward for it, but refusing to budge from his belief which results in a very interesting and wholly creative end battle... and fully earning and owning the title of Master.
Strange: You lack imagination.  (No you lack a spine).
Dormmamu, I’ve come to bargain.
A hero actually using an infinity stone.
Say what you want about this film but I honestly think it has a great character arc for Strange.
The cloak.
Strange’s jokes.
Strange using astral projection to learn more.
The Incredible Hulk
It was better than the first one...remake it with Mark Ruffalo and we’ll talk.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Soundtrack
Introduction to Star-Lord
The mugshot line up and jailbreak
“You said it yourself bitch, we’re the guardians of the galaxy”
Dance off distraction... also perfect part of his characterization.
Quill trying to get Gamora to join in on the dance off.
The circle moment where Quill first becomes emotionally open and asks for help-- ending with Rocket’s “We’re all standing now.”
Peter coming to terms with his mother’s death as signified by his finally opening her final gift to him.
We are groot.
Rocket’s commentary while on the public while tracking down Quill
Rocket: What’s a Racoon?  Quill: You are stupid.  Rocket: Ain’t no thing like me except me.
Rocket’s bed fur.
Gamora: You must be joking.  Rocket: No I really heard they find you attractive.
Let’s just say I really like Rocket.
Quill: A bomb? And you just leave it laying around? Rocket: I was going to put it in a box.
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
The Guardians team...this movie was pretty disappointing in most areas but I did enjoy the interactions among the characters.
Ego brainwashing Quill through so much of the film to convince him that he is above his team and be swayed to Ego’s side
The bodies of Ego’s children reveal
Yondu being revealed to be the hero and the real father figure
You look like Mary Poppins...Is he cool....Yeah... I am Mary Poppins y’all.
Peter’s discovery of the cause of his mother’s death-- that moment is amazing cinema
Ego: You are a god...if you kill me you’ll be just like everyone else.  Quill: What’s so wrong with that? (aka being perfect doesn’t mean shit)
By the end, the Guardians become a family.
Rocket and Yando interaction... they’re both assholes that care.
Rocket’s shock that the colors shined for Yondu in his death... Quill accepting and sharing in Rocket’s pain in that moment.
Spiderman Homecoming
If you’re nothing without the suite then you shouldn’t have it.
The car intense car scene-- amazing cinema there
Peter: Come on Peter...come on, Spiderman. 
Training wheels protocol
If you even cared you’d actually be here.
The adult is talking.
Peter is pretty bad at keeping his secret.
MJ reveal
Peter deciding to continue being the friendly neighborhood Spiderman for a while longer.
Happy having kept a ring on him for years.
Peter speaking revealing he can understand and speak Spanish when the shop keeper talks about Aunt May.
Ant-Man
The father-daughter relationship is adorable.
“I hope you don’t catch him.”
My days of breaking in and stealing shit are done.  What do you want me to do? (I want you to break into a place and steal some shit.)
Scott as a father.
Ant-Man and Wasp
The montage of what Scott does in his spare time while under house arrest.
Again...father/daughter relationship.
The fact that Scott and Paxton go from viewing each other with low opinions in the first movie to seeing each other like family... it's so healthy.
Black Panther
Killmonger’s entrance into the throne room and very nonchalantly stating that he wants the throne before demanding to be asked who he is and letting it rip.  The calm to intense anger is awesome.
This corset is really uncomfortable so can we wrap this up and go home?
What are THOOOSSEE?!
Everyone is shooting at me...wait let me put on my helmet.
Okay...let us just assume most of this list would consist of the wonder that is princess Shuri.
“Americans”
Great another broken white boy for us to fix.
T’Challa’s growth as a character by coming to understand the world differently through Killmonger’s actions.
The fact that T’Challa and Killmonger actually want similar things but come into conflict by their complete opposite ways of going about accomplishing their goal.
Stand up, you are a king.
The fact that T’Challa surrounds himself with females rather than men as his most loyal, fierce, and intelligent people.
Killmonger and T’Challa sharing a sunset and having a moment of understanding before Killmonger’s death.
The truth behind Killmonger’s reasoning and goals.
“Would you kill me, my love?”  “For Wakanda?  Without question.”
You can’t blame me, I almost died.
The moment I believe T’Challa became king: You were wrong! All of you were wrong!  We let the fear of our discovery stop us from doing what is right!
.....I’ll add more, I’ve just been working at it for so long as I rewatched the films I am just posting it now and will add on later
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waterlilyvioletfog · 5 years
Text
Top 3 Supernatural Episodes Per Season
Warning: Spoilers below the cut. I am SUPER biased. Take everything I say with a HEALTHY grain of salt. 
Season 1: omg they look like INFANTS
1. “Home” 1x09. This episode is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing AND it’s super important to the mytharch AND we get Winchester family drama. One of those early instances of “Wow we need to give Jensen Ackles an emmy like yesterday”. Mary turns up and foreshadows like??? so much??
2. “Scarecrow” 1x11. Super creepy, major “The Lottery” vibes, fuck I just. I love it. 
3. “Hell House” 1x17. Close call between this one and “Something Wicked” but in the end, Harry and Ed and all the hilarity that ensues just. *chef’s kiss* 
Honorable Mentions: “Something Wicked”
Season 2:  ugh so many good episodes season 2 is SO good
1. “The Usual Suspects” 2x07. SAM GETS TO BE SO SNARKY IN THIS EPISODE AND I LOOOOVE IT. Also Diana is a bamf. 
2. “Croatoan” 1x09. UGH YASSSSSSS. Close call between this and “In My Time Of Dying”, though
3. “What is And What Should Never Be” 2x20. Look man, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m cheap as all get out. Dean angst? Gimme gimme. Also it has WYNONNA EARP IN IT.  
Honorable Mentions: “In My Time of Dying”, “Nightshifter” 
Season 3:  half of these episodes suck, the other half are perfect heeeelllppp
1. “Bad Day At Black Rock” 3x03. This episode it just hilarious from start to finish. Also, Bela vs. Dean. 
2. “Mystery Spot” 3x11. A double whammy of HILARIOUS and OH FUCK THIS IS DEPRESSING. 
3. “Jus In Bello” 3x12. It was real hard to decide between this and Ghostfacers but ultimately, Nancy Fitzgerald (aka Ella Lopez) and Victor Henrikson are the actual best and deserve all the love ever.  
Honorable Mentions: “Ghostfacers”, “The Kids Are Alright” 
Season 4: Somehow there is only one episode that is not stunningly amazing?? 
1: “On the Head of A Pin” 4x16. Cas becomes a main character and it is AMAZING and oh my god give Jensen ALL the emmys oh and ALSO we finally learn exactly what Sam and Ruby’s “extracurricular activities” entail. Feels like a movie. We get the reveal that the angels are working to break the seals. Anna is also amazing. Why is this episode so beautiful. I’m fucking crying and so is Dean. I could gush for hours. 
2. “It’s a Terrible Life” 4x17. This episode is just a fucking delight. (Am I giving it such a high score on the basis of The Kink’s “Well Respected Man” alone? Maybe. Honestly I SHOULD be putting Rapture here but oh well. I’m biased.) 
3. “Monster Movie” 4x05. It was hard to decide between this “In the Beginning” “Lazarus Rising” “The Rapture” and “Lucifer Rising” (which all deserve all the praise ever) but ugh ugh ugh this episode is ALSO perfect AND I love it a bajillion. It’s in black and white and the guest actress is SO pretty and also I think I’ve already gone into detail about how the MoTW is a Lucifer Parallel. Also Dean says he’s been rehymenated so TRANS!DEAN RIGHTS! 
Honorable Mentions: “In The Beginning” “Lazarus Rising” “Lucifer Rising” “The Rapture” 
Season 5: You want to be sad? You also want to watch really good TV? SEASON FIVE IS WHERE IT’S AT! 
1. “Two Minutes To Midnight” 5x21. I know, I know. I should be putting “Swan Song” here but look,, I am easily bought with the promise of Julian Richings as Death. 
2. “Free To Be You And Me” 5x03. Funny Destiel buddy cop film, Sam gets to be filtered through the eyes of an audience-stand-in in universe, also contains Castiel’s ICONIC line “but today you’re MY little bitch”. 
3. “Dark Side of The Moon” 5x16. Narrowly beats out “My Bloody Valentine”, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”, and “The Song Remains The Same”. I am trash for any pieces of Sam and Dean’s childhoods and also this episode gives me SO MUCH material for beating up John with a baseball bat. 
Honorable Mentions: “Swan Song” “My Bloody Valentine” “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” “The Song Remains The Same” “The End” 
Season 6: We Don’t Talk About Season Six. 
1. “The Man Who Would Be King” 6x20. Cas. Destiel. Ow. 
2. “Mommy Dearest” 6x19. Eve! Sam Smith! idk, I just really like it.
3. “Appointment In Samarra” 6x11. As I said, I am easily bought with Julian Richings. Tessa the Reaper!!! Sam stop trying to murder your father. 
Honorable Mentions: “You Can’t Handle The Truth” “My Heart Will Go On” “Weekend At Bobby’s”
Season 7:  Terrible reputation given the fact that it has SO many great episodes. Sera Gamble? You’re mean. 
1. “Slash Fiction” 7x06. Why is this episode so hilarious???? Robbie Thompson starting out with a BANG!
2. “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie” 7x14. In the total goop of “thick. black. ooze.” of this season, 7x14 is a light in the darkness. Every inkling of joy, of spark, of color, of childishness, all of it, poured out into this one episode, wherein Sam totally loses his cool and I love it. Sam looks so pretty at the end. Dean is simultaneously an actual child and an actual Dad and I love it. 
3. “Out With The Old” 7x16. I love me some levis, man, don’t know what to tell you. It’s just so fun!!
Honorable Mentions: All of Robbie’s episodes, “Hello, Cruel World” “Repo Man” “Reading Is Fundamental” “How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters” 
(The ONLY reason I’m not including TBAI is bc @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs is slowly converting me to hating Megstiel enough to not watch Destiel episodes) 
Season 8: That one season where we admitted that Crowley’s a DICK. 
1. “Hunteri Heroici” 8x08. CAAAAS!!! Also the only episode where anyone watching actually gives a shit about the Sam x Amelia flashbacks. 
2. “LARP And The Real Girl” 8x11. Super fun! CHARLIE RETURNS. Dean is a FUCKING NERD. Sam gets flirted with :) Real close tie between this one and Pac-Man Fever
3. “The Great Escapist” 8x20. Edlund really gave it his all for this last episode. Cas kicks SO much ass. Sam needs to be protected at ALL costs. Kevin ALSO kicks SO much ass. The actor who plays Sweet Pea on Riverdale is here??? Wow.  
Honorable Mentions: “Pac-Man Fever” “As Time Goes By” “Everyone Hates Hitler” “Trial And Error” 
(See note on The Born-Again Identity for why Goodbye Stranger is not on this list. Again, blame @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs )
Season 9: Sam is mad at Dean for not letting him go
1. “First Born” 9x11. No, I will not elaborate. Tim Omundson speaks for himself. There is nothing wrong with this entire episode and if you try to tell me there is I can and will gut you like a fish. 
2. “Heaven Can’t Wait” 9x06. DESTIELLLLLLLLLLLL. 
3. “Do You Believe In Miracles?” 9x23. Wow it’s the first Season Finale to make it to my top 3!! Metatron gets what’s coming, DEAN BECOMES A FUCKING DEMON. 
Honorable Mentions: “Bad Boys” “Mother’s Little Helper” “Alex Annie Alexis Ann” “Meta Fiction”
Season 10:  Dean is mad at Sam for not letting him go
1. “The Executioner’s Song” 10x14. See my comments on “First Born”. 
2. “Angel Heart” 10x20. BRING YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY. DESTIEL. JIMMY X AMELIA. COOL UNCLE SAMMY. DEAN IS A NERD. DEAN IS CLAIRE’S DAD NOW SORRY NO TAKE BACKS. (also, “blue eyes crying” is just ugh ugh ugh)
3. “The Werther Project” 10x18. SAMWITCH RISE!!!!!!!!!!! 
Honorable Mentions: “Hibbing 911″ “The Prisoner” “The Things We Left Behind” 
Season 11: Ahh, yes. You. Lucifer. Get fucked. 
1. “Don’t Call Me Shurley” 11x20. *slow clap* Robbie Thompson, you have served your country well. 
2. “Red Meat” 11x17. This is gonna sound strange, but this episode is sorta my comfort food?? I’ve watched it literally so many times. I love it. So much. 
3. “The Chitters” 11x19. Nancy Won wrote three episodes for SPN, all in season 11, they are all stellar. Chitters is GAY. She also wrote “Don’t You Forget About Me” and “Thin Lizzie” I’m putting them here so as not to crowd up the Honorable Mentions.
Honorable Mentions: “The Vessel” “Devil In the Details” “We Happy Few” “Baby” “Form And Void” “Into the Mystic” honestly just watch every non-bucklemming episode they are pretty much all amazing. 
Season 12: I WILL DEFEND MARY WITH MY LIFE DON’T @ ME 
1. “The Future” 12x19. DESTIEL. I would die for Kelly. Fetus!Jack. GOODBYE DAGON!! THE MIXTAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. “Who We Are” 12x22. JUST KILL ME WHY DON’T YOU, BOBO?! WE ALL KNOW YOU WANT TO. 
3. “Stuck In the Middle (With You)” 12x12. Destiel love confession!!!!!! Drowley!! Mary will fight everyone willingly!! SAM GETS THE ORANGE JACKET
Honorable Mentions: Every. Single. Non-BL. Episode. Watch. Them. Now. 
Season 13: JAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!! 
1. “Advanced Thanatology” 13x05. *inhales deeply* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Also, Steppenwolf. 
2. “Beat the Devil” 13x21. DICK JOKES GALORE. Also, we must protect Sam at all costs. Gabena is perfect. Samwitch is also perfect. Sabriel is also good. Lucifer can go fuck himself. 
3. “Breakdown” 13x11. It physically pains me not to put “Funeralia” here but alas, I must not show Steve Yockey too much favoritism. Anyways. DONNA!!! DOUG!! CREEPY!!! SAM’S HEART IS WORTH SO MUCH MONEY!! GIVE SAMMY A HUG!!
Honorable Mentions: “The Scorpion And The Frog” “Funeralia” “The Thing” “The Bad Place” “The Big Empty” “Lost And Found” 
Season 14: 
 1. “Moriah” 14x20. Proof that Supernatural will go down in history as ALMIGHTY. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE VILLAIN.
2. “Peace of Mind” 14x15. I still haven’t recovered. Jared must have had literally all the fun in the world. 
3. “Mint Condition” 14x04. Yay!! Very fun!!! (I wanted to put Optimism here, but again, I can’t show Yockey so much favoritism. It’s not my fault! he’s too good!!) 
Honorable Mentions: “Optimism” “Ouroboros” “Unhuman Nature” “Byzantium” “Damaged Goods”
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snapheart1536 · 5 years
Text
Logic III
Reputation
Anne Boleyn?
Pop Historians and Media: "WHORE!!! EVIL HOME-WRECKING WHORE!!! GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED!!!"
George Boleyn?
Pop Historians and Media: "Pfft! That family isn't he?"
Thus:
Pop Historians and Media: "PIMP!!! PERVERT!!! RAPIST!!! SOMETHING!!! GOT WHAT HE DESERVED!!!"
Jane Parker?
Pop Historians and Media: "EVIL!!! EVIL!!! EVIL!!! EEEEEEEEVUL!!!! KILLED HER OWN POOR FAMILY!!! GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED!!!"
Makes sense.
Depiction
In the media, Mary, Queen of Scots is shown as eternally youthful.
Pop Historians and Media: "Well that's because she was."
In her later portraits Elizabeth I is shown as eternally youthful, because it helped the public to stop worrying about the future with no heir, to give them a focal point for national unity, and fill that gap left by the Virgin Mary."
Pop Historians and Media: "VAIN!!! Come on, it's just ridiculous now! What do you think I am, stupid? I know you aged love, and aged badly, you DEFORMED OLD CRONE!!! Vain bitch! Couldn't even take reality!"
Makes sense.
Stepmothers
Anne Boleyn tried repeatedly to win Mary I over, but it didn't work.
It was politically impossible for either to give way.
Supposedly, Anne gave word for Mary to be boxed on the ears, but it's dubious and there is no mention of it ever being carried out.
Pop Historians and Media: "Oh poor baby! Beaten and TORTURED TO DEATH!!! ANNE CACKLED AS SHE WAS KICKED TO DEATH!!!"
Katherine Parr and Thomas Seymour got into bed with Elizabeth to 'tickle' her, (where is unspecified) then Katherine restrained the girl whilst her husband ripped her clothes off with a knife.
Pop Historians and Media: "Poor Saint Katherine, how she suffered! After All She'd Done For That Girl! How was she to know she'd let a WHORE into her happy home? Broke her heart it did! Oh, I'm blinded by her pureness!"
Punishment
Jane Grey once confessed how her parents scolded, pinched and beat her, and found fault with everything she did.
Pop Historians: "Oh well, you can't trust that source since it was written down decades later, so it's obviously been remembered wrongly. Anyway... We Must Remember that beating disobedient children was Perfectly Acceptable At The Time, and We Mustn't Judge.
As above, there is a story that Anne asked other people to box Mary's ears, but she never confirmed it, nor did Chapuys say it happened, and he would.
Pop Historians and Media: "You beat a child?! You beat a little girl?! An infant?! She had no arms and legs! Monstrous! Inexcusable! Worse Than Hitler! The most awful thing ever to happen! See? Anne was A VIOLENT, EVIL WHORE!!!"
Rape
Mary, Queen of Scots said she was raped by the Earl of Bothwell.
Pop Historians and Media: Omigod she was raped! Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! This totally excuses everything she did before and after! She was A Victim. She is Strong And Brave. You hear that? Elizabeth Murdered A Rape Victim! She is Evil. Fancy objecting to a Victim wanting to kill you. Talk about sick. What? Whaddya mean: 'Is it true?' Of course it's true, A Queen Wouldn't Lie! I find that attitude very disturbing. You must hate all women to think like that. If a woman says she's been raped she has been. Always Believe The Victim.
Katherine Howard said she was raped by Francis Dereham.
Pop Historians and Media: "Pfft! Oh yeah, as if! That's what they all say! You expect me to believe that when I've already decided she was a whore? Honestly, how low can she sink?"
Makes sense.
Never Happy
Elizabeth I caught smallpox and was hideously disfigured, apparently.
Pop Historians and Media: "OH GOD LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!!! OMIGOD I'M GONNA BE SICK! EWWW!!! VILE!!! VILE DISGUSTING FREAK!!!"
Elizabeth I starts caking on the lead to match her style icon Ronald McDonald.
That way the scars are hidden and people won't throw up on seeing her, apparently.
Pop Historians and Media: "OMIGOD HOW VAIN CAN YOU GET! VAIN!!! VAIN EGOTISTICAL BITCH!!! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!!!"
Makes sense.
Disinheritance
Mary I was declared a bastard at the annulment of her parents' marriage, stripped of the title 'princess' and barred from the succession. She never saw her mother again.
Pop Historians and Media: "It's all Anne's fault! Oh the degradation and shame Mary went through! So noble, so righteous, so true. This excuses everything she ever did."
Elizabeth I was declared a bastard at the annulment of her parents' marriage, stripped of the title 'princess' and barred from the succession. She never saw her mother again.
Pop Historians and Media: "Daddy's Little Girl. Ooh what a spoilt brat!"
Makes sense.
Hunchback
I hear Richard III had some spinal problem.
Ricardians Before They Found Him: "LIES!!! It was all made up by that damnable Henry Tudor and his entire abominable creed! Total baseless EVIL propaganda! What, you think he'd be able to wear armour and ride a horse if that were true? As if! We pity the brainwashed thickos who fall for that!"
Philippa Langley As They Found Him: "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Ricardians After They Found Him: "Oh, of course, Richard had a scoliosis, no one's ever said otherwise, and we embrace that truth, for it makes him far superior in our eyes, rendering his colossal achievements all the more inspirational, for he Overcame Great Difficulties to serve us. What a man. What a man. What a man. What a man. What a mighty good man. A mighty mighty good man. Where were we? No, the really important thing is that he didn't have a withered arm. It's important to remember that that's The Important Thing. That is LIES all made up that damnable Henry and his entire abominable creed! Total baseless EVIL propaganda!!!
Makes sense to them.
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