#this is the first thing I thought about when I saw the wv finale

[thestarlightforge]

I will update this post as I have more thoughts, but from my YouTube comment on the Quantumania trailer.

I’ve been saying pretty much ever since I saw the synced-up video of the WandaVision and Loki finales that arguably unlike previous phases of the MCU, by starting this new era with WV, Marvel editorial were actually setting up this final battle of the decade. Wanda was the solution to the problem we didn’t even know about when her show came out. Kang the Conqueror — a villain obsessed with time, order, and control — vs. Wanda: a Nexus being, one of spontaneous creation, destined to either rule or destroy all, chaos incarnate, the one thing he can never control, and most of all, someone motivated by love, always — The Scarlet Witch.

It’s why it’s the most preposterous bullshit ever that her story ends in gaslighting and suicide. And I believe this is the setup now more than ever.

Billy, Tommy and the Young Avengers will be important, but even more so in the next era of the MCU. And no matter how long she sticks around — Wanda is the key for this one.

And also, how awesome is their final battle gonna look, these blue and red clashes?

If it’s anything like Jim Cheung and Mark Morales’s art…

Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #4 (2010)

PEAK 😭❤️

P.S. I haven’t been as hype about a Young Avengers project since Billy and Tommy first appeared in the MoM trailers as when Cassie stepped out of that holding cell. They’re really going there!! And I’m proud of them! (But y’all Scott really might die this time—we’ll seeeeee)

#quantumania #ant man #ant man and the wasp #kang the conqueror #cassie lang #scott lang #the wasp #hope van dyne #janet van dyne #hank pym #stature #stinger #billy maximoff #billy kaplan #tommy maximoff #tommy shepherd #young avengers #wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #wandavision #loki #multiverse of madness #Youtube

[twelverriver]

absentia 3x10 // wandavision 1x09

#marveledit #wandavisionedit #absentiaedit #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wanda maximoff #wv 1x09 #absentia #emily byrne #stana katic #absentia 3x10 #parallels #*mine #userelliee #this is the first thing I thought about when I saw the wv finale #like THIS IS ABSENTIA

[tetriquinn]

Dream SMP locations/moments/characters as their respective canon Homestuck songs.

/rp /dreamsmp (based on characters, not creators)

Source: I said so.

SUPER LONG LMAO

The links go with the descriptions above them. Mobile formatting makes the list really confusing. Sorry about that.

The entire SMP. I tried to assign this to a specific event but I couldn't. Eternity is just too powerful. It literally has the best moment in all of Homestuck music history. That kind of raw energy cannot be defined by a single event. [Eternity Served Cold] Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur joining - L'Manburg War

[Sburban Jungle]

Pogtopia/Manburg War

[Welcome to the New Extreme]

The First Disc War(s, if you include the other disc-related conflicts)

[Showtime - Imp Strife]

The first half of the Final Disc War

[You Killed My Father (Prepare To Die)]

The second half of the Final Disc War

[Showtime - Piano Refrain]

The Eggpire after Tommy died (Yes I know I’ve made this joke before shut up it was my best meme)

The Banquet. Before the... y’know... murder part.

Actually no, The Banquet including the murder part.

[Pumpkin Party]

Ghostbur entering the prison

[Love You]

Revivedbur exiting the prison (er, just kinda showing up where he died I guess

[Hate You]

Manburg Festival (October 16th)

[Harlequin]

January 5th (New L'Manburg Festival + Ranboo's Panic Room)

[Dark Carnival]

The period between Tommy's death in the Prison and Tommy's revival

[Heir Of Grief]

Ranboo & Fundy's ice cream shop; Niki & Puffy's flower shop

[Moonsetter]

Revivedbur and Quackity with the burger shops

[Beatdown]

Ranboo and Tubbo with the burger shops

[Candles And Clockwork]

Jack Manifold. Just. In general. (AND NO IT’S NOT JUST A SOLLUX JOKE YEAH THAT’S RIGHT I SAW ONE OF YOU FUCKERS MEDIA SHARE THIS ONE TO HIM LAST WEEK)

[La2t Frontiier]

That little arc where Tubbo was trying to be a detective instead of mourning the violent and brutal death of his best friend

[BL1ND JUST1C3]

Doomsday

[Even In Death - T’Morra]

What? You thought I was going to say Carne Vale? You thought Doomsday was [S]: Game Over? Amateurs.

When Dream and Techno inevitably break out of the prison because let’s be real that’s happening one way or another (bonus points if Techno finds out about Dream manipulating Ranboo and goes apeshit)

[Carne Vale]

My DSMP sona when she encounters someone who manipulated the kids

Las Nevadas/ Casino Q

[Black]

The Syndicate lmfaooooooooo (I’m only half kidding here)

[I’m A Member Of The Midnight Crew but it’s the nice a capella version that everyone likes because it’s objectively the best one]

That one time Tubbo finally went to visit Tommy in exile and thought he [S] Game Over’d himself

[Flare]

The stream where they created Church Prime

[Creata]

PLEASE let Tommy just go apeshit ONE time every time he does even one SMALL THING for himself the entire fucking universe turns on him please he deserves to let it all out and kick actual fucking ASS EVEN ONE TIME COME ON

[Valor]

Tales From The SMP/ Karl in General

[Temporal Shenanigans]

Karl’s karaoke nights (yes I know this one isn’t a canon song but it’s a mix of 3 canon songs plus Space Jam okay it counts)

[Slam Jam]

Anyone remember the Karl Reef?

[Fuchsia Ruler]

Wilbur turning a drug van in the woods into an entire country

[WV: Become the Mayor of Cans]

The Dreamon Hunters, my absolute beloveds. My favorite arc on the entire SMP.

[At The Price Of Oblivion]

Tubbo sitting over the remains of his country on L’Manburgian Independance Day earlier this month (yes I’m spelling it as “Independance” because that’s what their constitution said okay it’s their fault not mine)

[Three In The Morning Aftermath]

Tommy leaving Exile (or him being revived I guess idk)

[Savior of the Waking World]

If Sapnap ever DID ANY LORE COME ON MAN YOU HAVE THE MOST POTENTIAL HERE

[Time On My Side]

The big final battle against The Egg that we never got :(

[Battle Against an Unfathomable Enemy]

Enderwalk Ranboo it’s literally perfect

[Black Rose / Green Sun]

I don’t think I even have to tell you what this is for. Look at the title. You’ll know.(Dream in the Prison in case you’re seeing this way in the future and don’t have this context)

[Constant Confinement]

Ranboo & Fundy doing dumb shit together (the good ol’ days)

[Wacky Antics]

I could use this for an actual, plot-relevant location, but no their SCUFFED-ASS NETHER IT HURTS SO BAD PLEASE SOMEONE JUST FIX IT IT’S SO GARBAGE (except for the portal hub that looks really nice)

[Underworld]

Ranboo’s lil’ Ender particles (chat) jammin to fuckin’ Cabinet Man or some shit during lore

[Arcade Thunder]

Tubbo’s execution

[Trials And Execution]

Clingyduo when they actually get to fight/hang out together canonically

[Skiain Skirmish]

Revivedbur (yes I’m serious)

[Hardchorale]

Dream XD

(I FORGOT IT HAD THE FLOWEY LAUGH AND I GOT WHIPLASH WHILE TYPING THIS DUSIGYUSIHV)

[Lordling]

Dream getting posessed by the Dreamon and having to be exorcised (yeah remember that? Probably not.)

[Sunslammer]

The Inbetween and The Other Side fighting to get Karl to listen (Another one I’m pretty sure is canon)

[Derse Dreamers]

The final battle of the SMP. It’ll happen eventually. It can’t last forever, you know

[Rex Duodecim Angelus]

This went from a shitpost to a very long, fairly accurate (and fairly full of memes) analysis help I’m so tired.

Honorable mentions that I couldn’t add because they’re technically not canon songs:

Eret all the time

[Let Me Dance, Let Me Glisten]

The Eggpire just being able to understand The Egg (I say sarcastically, as if I don’t have this song written in a fictional language memorized)

[Futma Kul Shemtor (Hymn of the Horrorterrors)]

#homestuck #homestuck music #dream smp #dsmp #dteam

[bex-pendragon]

I guess now is as good a time as any to collect my thoughts about the Loki series because I have very mixed feelings about it.

I want to start by saying thank you to the wardrobe department for letting this guy run around with his sleeves rolled up for multiple episodes. It was very much appreciated.

Spoilers to follow...

I also want to preface this by saying that I was never one of those hardcore Loki stans. I've always found the character compelling, but that's more down to the actor's portrayal than anything else. This is one of those cases of exactly the right actor for exactly the right role. (And yeah, I think Tom Hiddleston is attractive. What do you want from me, I'm superficial.)

After enjoying WandaVision and TFATWS, I was feeling pretty low-key about Loki. Just watch the show, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

WELL.

I was not expecting to have all these feelings about it??!

Let's start with some complaints:

I thought the pacing was a little off compared to WV and TFATWS. Episode 1 dragged. Things picked up in ep. 2, then things got WILD in episode 3, then episodes 4 and 5 were both solid.

I kind of wish it had ended right there because I, for one, was having a pretty good time.

This show was different than I expected it to be. When they first announced it, I had a grand vision of Loki running amok through the timeline and the TVA cleaning up after him, like an even more chaotic version of Legends of Tomorrow. After Thor: Ragnarok, I was hoping for some fun shenanigans. But, as this is an earlier version of Loki, we got existential angst instead.

We did, however, get Old Man Loki and this hilarious alligator:

I had a feeling that they would leave us with a fractured timeline for the final episode because that's the direction the MCU is moving in. I also saw the betrayal coming, even though I was really hoping they'd surprise me.

The series suffers from being the first chapter in a larger story. I think it would've been more affective to end the series with Loki and Sylvie venturing into the Mansion at the End of Time and then hit is with a post-credits teaser of the Big Bad. That way it would've felt a bit more wrapped up and we could've been left feeling good about a second season instead of being ANNOYED that we have to wait however long to see how things work out. However: the actor absolutely nailed it! He's going to be an amazing villain in future movies!

They balanced the self-contained story/piece of a larger story aspect much better in WandaVision. They wrapped up the story. It was sad but cathartic. Wanda's journey was so deep and I still get emotinoal thinking a bout it. And we still got the multiverse tease in the post credits scene.

TFATWS also told a self-contained story. Yes, it left us with plot threads to pick up later, but the main story was wrapped up. The characters got to learn and grow and it was so well done.

Loki was also on a great growth arc. I'm not complaining about that. They managed to take a character I've always had mixed feelings about and make me care about him! And they acknowledged that he’s bi! (Not that they did much with it, but I wasn’t expecting them to. This is the MCU, not the Arrowverse. I’ve learned to expect nothing more than blink-and-miss rep. That’s all they’re willing to give us at this point. The MCU is woefully behind when it comes to LGBT rep. I know I should be mad about it, but in this case, I’m willing to let bicons be bicons.)

But they just left way too much stuff up in the air for my liking. I don't mind an open-ended season, but it's so much better to wrap up the current plot and introduce the next thing! They... kinda did that? But with more questions than answers and in the most heartbreaking way possible!

There were a lot of interesting new characters introduced. Hunter B-15 was a standout, and it was awesome to have Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Owen Wilson rounding out the cast.

But SYLVIE! Sylvie broke my heart, y'all.

She's got everything: tragic backstory, powers, a dramatic lowering-the-hood moment. It's such a gamble to put an established character up against a newcomer. At this point, we've been watching stories about Loki for a decade. His name is the title of the show! And yet, Sylvie stole the show.

I hope this character sticks around, because I want to know more about her backstory and her exploits.

It's so wild to me because I (and many people on the internet) envisioned Katie McGrath as the gender-bent version of Loki. I'm a diehard fan of hers. I was never expecting it would actually happen, mind you. It was just a nice thought. And typecasting because, y’know, she looks like THAT.

I’m glad they went in a different direction when they cast this role. As much as I love Katie, I think it would’ve been too distracting. I was glad to see an unfamiliar face in the role. It skewered my expectations in the best way. I thought Sophia Di Martino had great screen presence and she held her own against the cast of more well-known actors. I also liked her dynamic with Hiddleston.

"And speaking of which…

Guys, I ship it.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, given the fact that they’re variations of the same person, but I was really rooting for these two! They totally snuck up on me. This is not the kind of ship I usually go for. I mean, it’s weird, right?

AND YET.

There’s something to be said about learning to love yourself. It’s heteronormative that Loki’s "self" ended up being a girl, but I liked them, ok? I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s just me being bi and thinking they’re both cute, but here we are. All aboard the chaotic bi express!

After Sylvie's big reveal in episode two, I was like: wow, look at her! I can’t wait to see Loki get his ass kicked by his alt-universe self! Then in episode 3 they were fighting and going off on an adventure together, bickering all the way. Then with the singing? And the eye contact? WTF?

Then we get the hand-holding in episode 4:

Then with the hurt looks, the back-to-back battle couple fighting, the EMOTIONS. When Loki thought she was pruned? OUCH. The acting! When he actually DID get pruned? The heartbreak! He was so soft with her in that last scene and like an idiot, I fell for it.

Then they meet up again in episode 5 and he RUNS TOWARD HER like he hasn’t seen her in years?! Getting past the enemy with the power of friendship? Them SHARING THE BLANKET??!!

Yeah, I’m a sucker. I’m a clown. I played myself. They gave me all the tropes. All that was missing was a dance scene with UST. *slides a 20 dollar bill to the writers as a bribe for season 2*

I totally saw the betrayal coming. And it HURT. I really don’t need any more tragic ships in my armada and these two are probably doomed, right?

Probably. Am I still going to ship it? Definitely.

And speaking of ships: it doesn’t have to me Loki/Sylvie OR Loki/Mobius. Loki has two hands!

Anyway, I just needed to ramble about all of that because my emotions are doing a thing. I really wasn't expecting to feel this way! I know it will never happen but I kind of want to see Loki, Mobius, and Sylvie to go to New Asgard and meet up with Thor. Imagine the shenanigans!

But most importantly: I think someday, when they meet up again, Thor will be proud of the man his brother is growing into. He's still got a ways to go to get there, but he's further along in his path than Sylvie is. I hope she gets there too.

What is love? Lady thou woundest mine heart.

#Bex talks about stuff #loki spoilers #seriously lotsa spoilers in here and a lot of feelings #my reviews

[brave-clarice]

“Clarice” Liveblog: Episode 2

Again, some extremely unfashionably late hot takes.

(Special thanks to @kathrynethegreat and @special-agent-pendragon​ for encouraging another liveblog!)

Clarice is working out! And eating junk food! I love it.

and cleaning her gun!

hey, Ardelia is drinking what I’m going to assume is her grandmother’s “smart people tea”.

Krendler disciplining Clarice already is infuriating but appropriate.

“I lost control.” Oh no, I don’t like that. Don’t make Clarice unstable. Her mental and emotional state never had anything to do with her failing career.

getting weird mixed signals from Ardelia. Last week, she obviously didn’t want Clarice to lie/stick to the script Krendler gave her, but now she’s telling Clarice she messed up by not doing so...?

“I better know you if you’re calling this early.” Amen, Ardelia.

I’m in love: this cinematography is straight out of the film (when she’s flying to WV with Crawford)!

“When’s the last time you went back to Appalachia?” “It’s been years.” What??? It has NOT been years--Clarice was JUST in West Virginia last week as well as in Silence, and she arguably attended college there as well. (UVA is at least nestled in the mountains, and you don’t have to drive far outside the Albemarle Valley to hit Appalachia proper.) After all the details about her character they’ve been nailing, they miss this glaring error? 

I like the tiny details she’s noticing (like the guy biting his nails). Not only because she’s an investigator, but because it’s reminiscent of Hannibal’s influence (imo).

Clarice Is Short: The Saga continues

still not getting any creepy vibes off Krendler. He’s going to be much less effective as an antagonist if he isn’t lewd as well as a dick.

I really don’t care for the way the opening “credits” fade out from the death’s-head moth to Clarice’s face. There are MANY animals that represent her, or parts of her, in the books--lions, lambs, horses, and of course birds--so this choice feels empty and lazy to me.

also lazy: having a fellow agent straight-up tell her in episode 2 “you shouldn’t be in the Bureau.” Maybe in two or three years, after some further “Death Angel”-type incidents, I could see this blatant rudeness, but not yet.

“Reesey”? Thanks, I hate it.

this flashback must be of Clarice’s little brother. That answers one question I had last week. That said...Clarice’s brother doesn’t play the same role in her story that Mischa does in Hannibal’s--but this sure feels like a Mischa-esque flashback.

good: they’re finally getting to the source of Clarice’s actual trauma!

bad: this is NOT how Clarice found out about her father. In fact, that whole incident is laid out in detail in the novels, and there’s nothing overly literary/un-cinematic about it, so this feels unnecessary. “The police are here! Something happened to Daddy!” No, bad! Show, don’t tell!

she would’ve known better than to introduce herself to that kid as “Clarice Starling, FBI,” come on now.

were they regularly able to wire tap hair clips in 1993? 

actually, nothing in this show looks very 90s to me so far. I’m sad about it.

so in eighteen months, Ruth Martin has gone from a junior Senator to the Attorney freakin’ General, and now she might run for governor?? At least let her get settled in one position of power first, why don’t you!

yet more Buffalo Bill flashbacks...alas.

are they trying to make this guy another surrogate Hannibal character? He’s commenting on Clarice’s accent and the dryness of her skin, asking about who she “left behind”...it all feels very Hannibal. (I know he’s a Charismatic Cult Leader trope, too--but when played off of Clarice...)

“Ew.” “I hate this guy.” I laughed.

I understand that Clarice probably feels conflicted re: her siblings in the book, but I’m really not digging the flashbacks of this Tim Burton character her brother.

@ the writers: Clarice already has the lamb backstory/symbolism, too. We don’t need this Little Brother stuff.

*shrieking* Mrs. Starling! At the sink washing the blood out of his hat!!! 

...aaand they had to ruin it with the brother’s painfully bad dialogue. Will still be good for gif-making, though.

are we supposed to interpret all these flashbacks as Clarice being incapable of controlling her emotions/state of mind? She keeps losing herself in memories and emerging all doe-eyed and panicky. I don’t like it.

not to be a broken record but...Clarice should be TOUGH. Again, Ardelia only saw her cry once in seven years. But she’s more worked up in this scene than Jodie was in Memphis!

when Mr. Cult Leader shouts “Agent Starling! Agent Starling!” he sounds exactly like Hannibal calling her back to his cell in the asylum. That has to be intentional. 

damn, wish that I could look as good five minutes after I’ve been crying as Clarice does.

I LOVE that Ardelia gets to be the crucial behind-the-scenes book-smart partner to Clarice’s action heroine.

AG Martin’s just playing politics by turning a blind eye to the crooked sheriff. But when her own daughter was just kidnapped and almost killed, she looks like a real hypocrite.

gosh, Rebecca Breeds is great. I already hope she gets nominated for an Emmy.

so Krendler is...doing the right thing???

Clarice’s father was definitely not a sheriff. I hope she’s just exaggerating for dramatic effect. (Maybe this will be clarified later.)

she couldn’t just sit with a manipulative guy without getting emotional, but she’s cool as a cucumber while telling an extended story about her father? HmmMM.

sometimes her mannerisms and facial expressions are so much like Jodie’s that it’s uncanny, like here when she leans forward to confront the Cult Leader.

“She did it.” Damn straight!

another great callback to Silence. this show’s camera crew knows its stuff!

“He’s concerned I have some residual trauma from Bill.” I. Hate. This. Subplot--and all its OOC implications.

“Catherine was close to her father, too.” Ooh, a nice allusion to the novel! Clarice makes note of their “common wound,” the loss of a father, when she’s in Catherine’s apartment in Silence.

she is just SO pretty.

little Clarice looks a LOT like Rebecca Breeds. I hope we see some more of her. 

The Good:

the continuing visual nods to the Silence film via cinematography

Mama Starling!!!

Clarice’s “The World Will Not Be This Way Within the Reach of my Arm” attitude, refusing to leave without helping the victims.

Ardelia Mapp coming in clutch! 

Clarice being, generally, a badass

and using psychological tricks/mind games to pin the antagonist...that’s the woman who disarmed a monster with just a few words.

Rebecca Breed’s acting has been phenomenal so far.

I like Clarice’s haircut a lot better when worn down (though it’s not very practical for fieldwork, so we probably won’t see it much).

The Bad:

the continuing Buffalo Bill-related Trauma Subplot. Ugh.

all the flashbacks to Clarice’s brother (and the not-so-subtle suggestion that her brother is, symbolically, another lamb).

will the real Paul Krendler please come forward? this guy is so TAME.

the other agents’ hostility towards Clarice needs to be toned down slightly so that it can escalate. Otherwise, where’s the tension?

is this actually 1993? I’m not feeling it. Shouldn’t it have a little of that Season 1/2 X-Files aesthetic? Please give me more than once-an-episode references to pagers and fax machines!

that glaring Appalachia continuity error...it’s still bugging me.

I missed the overt Hannibal references, even though they’re not necessary to any part of this episode. A lady can dream!

Overall, I really liked this one despite my various issues with it. It started shakily but built to a great finish. The emphasis across both episodes on Clarice being in the FBI not just to “get out, get anywhere,” but out of a genuine desire to help victims has been wonderful. I just hope they don’t swerve too far into the “too traumatized and emotionally compromised to function” lane. It would be a disservice to Clarice’s character and to her journey (and would smack too much of “Hannibal really did prey on her weak mind/brainwash her”.

Things I’d still like to see: More of her personality. Her hobbies and interests. That she’s cleaning her gun is great! Now let’s see “Poison Oakley” practicing her sharpshooting skills. Or car shopping. Or clothes shopping to show off her “developing taste.” (Ardelia can come!) I’ll take literally anything. Give us more of Clarice’s sense of humor as well. She had some subtle funny moments in the pilot, and it’s nice to see Rebecca smile for a change.

And Krendler? Smear that man in grease! I appreciated a happy ending even though Clarice’s career is, as we know, already in a downward spiral--the last thing we want is for every episode to be a slog, especially when a good chunk of the audience hasn’t read the book and doesn’t know Clarice is doomed to fail in the Bureau.

However... Krendler’s not a “redemption arc” kind of character. Or even a “run-of-the-mill sexist asshole” character. This is a man who spent seven years systematically sabotaging a young woman’s career because a) he was jealous that she solved the Gumb case before him, and b) she wouldn’t fuck him. He was a Justice Department official working fist-in-glove with a serial child molester who was planning some of the heinous vigilante justice imaginable. THAT’S why his very gruesome end at Hannibal’s hands felt deserved--even Clarice thought so! In short, he needs to get nasty.

Anyway, thanks for coming to another long-overdue TedTalk. Fingers crossed that the next one will be more timely (aiming for Sunday night)! 

#Clarice Starling #clarice #cbs clarice #rebecca breeds #once again I apologize for how late this is #and how long and somewhat ranty lol #please let me know if you want more ♥♥♥ #media [cbs show] #char [clarice starling]

[emcon-imagines]

Let Each One Hear Her Own Thoughts

gif

words: 1665 notes: based off of this post I made after the Wandavision finale. for those of you unfamiliar with my OC Willow featured in this story, you can read about her here, or just dive right in and enjoy this little post WV fic! Willow and Wanda share a sister-like relationship after meeting at the compound years ago, when Wanda took Willow under her wing pre-Civil War. summary: Wanda receives a regular visitor at her cabin, someone repaying a favor they owe her from years ago.

---------------

It was still sunny when Willow cleared the mountains and started over the lake, the late afternoon light casting golden shadows on the waves down below. She hadn’t heard a quiet like this in a long time, perhaps in five years, and back then, the quiet was more suffocating. This one wasn’t. It was freeing.

She could see why Wanda had retreated here.

On the opposite shore, the cabin came into view and Willow began her descent, her back aching from the long flight and her heavy backpack. New York City felt a long way away—try as she might, she could never make the trip in a single day. Maybe it was for the better. Time spent in the city was chaotic, busy, full of responsibilities she didn’t feel ready for yet. She still felt herself looking to someone like Natasha for the answers, only to remember that she wasn’t there.

Wanda was sitting on the porch, cup of tea in one hand and the other shielding her eyes from the sun as Willow approached. Her feet hit ground, the grass just poking through the melted snow, the air smelling like spring and dirt. “Hey,” Willow said, stretching her wings out one last time before folding them in, though not all the way. Another reason she appreciated the cabin. There was nothing to hide here, no strangers spying on her every move. Her wings could touch daylight.

“Hey,” Wanda said, standing and turning towards the house. “I hope the trip—”

“It wasn’t bad,” Willow answered quickly. “It’s nice to… you know… get away from everything right now.” She followed Wanda into the cabin, the smell of dust and pine had almost become a comfort to her. On the table, she set down her backpack, unzipping it and pulling out several plastic bags. “I think I got everything—except for the cereal, they didn’t have that brand, so I went to another store, and even asked but they didn’t have it either.” She passed a box to Wanda. “So… this is similar?”

“You didn’t have to do all that,” Wanda said, and the corner of her mouth lifted as she set the box down. “I’m not picky.”

Willow shrugged. “I am.” She nodded at Wanda. “You know, in case the roles are ever reversed, the brand does matter to me…”

“I get it.”

“Bread,” Willow said, handing the bag to Wanda. “I hope it’s not squished. It got bumpy over the mountain pass.” She pulled a few more plastic bags from her backpack. “Oh! And look!” She held up one of the bags so that Wanda could peer inside. “I forgot which spices you said you needed, so there’s like… an assortment… there.”

“What’s in here?” Wanda asked as she searched through one of the bags with produce. “Are these… baby carrots?”

“Yup.” Wanda gave Willow a questioning look and Willow rolled her eyes as she zipped her backpack up and slid it against the wall. “Oh, come on. The Scarlet Witch or whatever still should eat a vegetable once in a while.” The joke rolled off her tongue easily enough, and she hoped it would be received that way as well.

“Now you sound like Natasha,” Wanda said, and she began to put away the items Willow had brought.

“Well, someone has to,” Willow said, the weight of her own words settling uncomfortably as she thought over the last few weeks. “Anyways…”

“You all right?” Wanda asked, turning back around from the cabinets. Willow had taken to wandering the cabin, tucking her wings in further as she navigated the small space.

“Well, you know. It is what it is.” Willow paused, trying to put what she was feeling into words. “It’s a weird time to be alive. You?”

Wanda didn’t respond, half-smiling as she shut the cabinet door, though there was no joy in the smile, just exhaustion. Willow sat down on the couch, wanting to say more, and yet not knowing what to say. She stared out the window at the darkening sky, the mountains disappearing into the clouds and the purple horizon. Where do we go from here?

Willow leaned over the back of the old couch to face Wanda, who was still heating a pot of water on the stove. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Willow asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Wanda said with a sigh.

“Oh. Oka—”

“No, I’m— sorry.” Wanda looked up at Willow and leaned back on the sink, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her sweater as she thought. “I’m pretty sure I used to tell you the same thing, a long time ago. I know you’re just trying to help.” The pot on the stove began to simmer and Wanda turned her attention back to it, opening a box of pasta that Willow had delivered the previous week, and dumping enough of the shells into the pot for the both of them. “I’m glad you’re here,” she finally said. “After everything… you still…”

“You’d do the same for me,” Willow said. “You did the same thing for me. Remember when I first showed up at the compound?”

“Mm. It was like trying to tame a feral cat.”

Normally, Willow would have a retort back, but she only smiled at the memory, and then started laughing. “Yeah. I was really… scared, actually. When SHIELD found me, I thought my life was over.”

“How are the others?” Wanda asked. “I… well… I’m not sure they’d…” She gestured around at the cabin and shrugged helplessly.

“No, they’re just busy,” Willow answered. She laid her head in her arms as she continued to lean across the back of the couch and yawned. “Sam is with Bucky… I haven’t even begun to look into what they’re doing and honestly, I’m not ready to. But I have a feeling it’ll catch up to me eventually. It always does. Rhodey’s still at Stark’s, helping them sort through things. Clint’s home. Same with Scott, he’s home too. Remember Scott? He was at the airport. He was the one who came up with the whole time travel thing. Sort of. So, I’d say things have quieted down, but I don’t want to jinx it.”

The pasta finished and Wanda carefully used a spoon to hold back the pasta as she strained the water out before splitting the shells into two bowls and opened a jar of sauce on the shelf to pour over each one. “Cheese is in the fridge,” she said, and Willow got up to get it, also getting out two forks and two cups from the cabinet.

They sat on the floor, in front of the fireplace on the other side of the room, the cabin lit by a warm glow.

“You really just buy the cheese for yourself, huh?” Wanda asked as Willow screwed the top off of the bottle to shake out the Parmesan cheese faster. “I’m pretty sure you’ve gone through two of those in a month, and you’ve only been here for a few nights.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s called living deliciously,” Willow said.

For a while, the two of them ate in silence, the only sound the scraping of their forks against the bowls and the occasional press of wind rocking the cabin. It reminded Willow of the late-night dinners they used to make at the compound, long after everyone had gone to sleep, as they tried their damn hardest to not burn anything or set off the smoke detectors, which happened a few times too many.

“I saw a rat drag an entire burrito across the street the other day,” Willow said suddenly, finally tiring of the quiet.

“What?” Wanda asked.

“A rat. Like the size of a rabbit. Dragging a burrito across the street in Hells Kitchen. A fully wrapped burrito, filling and all. And it didn’t spill even a little of the filling. I stood there and watched the whole thing; I mean it took this rat like five minutes and cars were coming both ways.” She paused to scoop up a clump of sauce and cheese.

“Well?” Wanda said. “Did he make it?”

“Oh, he did,” Willow said. “I mean, it was close, the burrito got grazed by a tire once or twice, but he got it across the street. At one point he started rolling it on its side… now that was really something. It was like I was watching evolution in real time.”

Wanda smiled for the first time that day, a real smile, and it made Willow’s heart swell just a little, proud of the victory, no matter how small. “Hmm, we’re going to see that rat signing the Accords in a few weeks then,” Wanda responded with a small laugh.

“Yeah, right after the pigeon I saw take what I’m pretty sure was a deliberate poop on a cop car yesterday.”

They finished dinner and Willow cleaned up, washing the bowls and utensils in the sink and leaving them out to dry on the counter. She was exhausted, exhausted from the flight, the past week, and she was almost certain that if she wasn’t doing the dishes, she’d fall asleep standing up. She heard the crackle of static as Wanda turned the radio on, beaming in a signal from a lonely public radio station somewhere in the mountains. With a yawn, Willow climbed back over the top of the couch, plopping down and stretching as she tucked one of the pillows under her head.

“Oh, there’s no way you’re going to be able to stay awake for ten,” Wanda said, referencing the time their show started, some true crime radio show that they had been tuning into in lieu of a television and their usual fight over sitcoms, reality television, and documentaries, the latter which usually won out.

“No, I’ll make it,” Willow said. “Creature of the night and all.”

“Have you still been having them?” Wanda asked, laying down across the armchair that cornered the couch.

“What? No,” Willow said. “Not in a long time.”

“So, you’ve been sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Willow knew she didn’t sound convincing, but Wanda didn’t say anything else on the matter, the two of them sitting and listening to the radio as fuzzy alternative music came gently through the small speaker.

In Willow’s mind, there were plenty of other problems beyond stray nightmares, and besides, she knew she’d sleep just fine that night.

#wanda maximoff #marvel #mcu #scarlet witch #wandavision

[wolf-stark]

You ask I deliver — both tfatws asks in one!

tfatws weekly ask 1

i finally saw ep1!! i wont be able to see ep2 until thursday at the earliest but i already have some Thots on this ep. here are the ones I remember

first is, and i'm so sorry for this, a grammar lesson. an appositive is when you stick an additional phrase in between commas, dashes, or the like. i actually just used one! the "and i'm so sorry for this" in the first sentence of this paragraph is an appositive. thing is, most english speakers don't normally use them when they speak, only in writing. so i'm always on high alert whenever i hear somebody in tv or movies use one. (it's generally a marker of bad screenwriting). anyway there was one right in the beginning of the episode. the white army guy yelling at sam wilson said "first lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." yeah so. the writing of this series started out on the wrong foot for me. but the rest of the episode was obviously tons and tons better (every interview i see with malcolm spellman makes me love him more and more)

the contrast between the opening minutes (falcon action sequence) and the rest of the ep.... i would 100000/10 rather watch a series with just sam and bucky dealing with life. i dont give a single crap about the flag-smashers or any of that. i just want sam, sarah & fam getting their boating business back on the ground & yeeting racist dickwads, bucky going through therapy and making amends, sam and joaquin being bros, sambucky homoerotic tension, etc.

the cinnamontography! wandavision mostly used cinematography to signify era n stuff. tfatws doesn't have wv's premise to go off of, so here's some tricks i noticed:

with sam there's obviously all sorts of shots with the captain america iconography next to his face, but he hasn't totally claimed it. there's the mural of steve rogers in the background; there's sam staring into the shield like it's a spectre of steve's face; there's sam looking into the exhibit, the shield and sam separated by glass and a layer of camera focus. steve is a constant spectre, always there, an idea, a symbol himself. sam's relationship with this iconography is distanced. he is separated by glass exhibit walls. by painting canvases. he doesn't yet feel worthy to take on that iconography. this whole thing was pulled off quite well but also a bit on-the-nose if only in quantity. there's just sooooo much fancy iconography stuff

speaking of the exhibit, there's something that i get real pissy about. it's when like, there's an action going on you're supposed to be paying attention to but the cinematographer is like,,,, hey! check out this location! or this headline! or something! there was a lot of that in the exhibit. the camera was like, you could focus on sam and rhodey's convo (which was fine but could have been so much better with an extra like 10 minutes of deep character study talk) but noooo you want me to look at the symbol for the united nations and read all the text about bucky who hasn't even showed up yet. shut up i know the lore and ill watch the shot-by-shot breakdown yt vids you don't have to make the shot this long jkdsalcjklasejf

my fav trick was with bucky and the therapist. i had seen a clip of the scene with bucky and the therapist beforehand and i thought the cinnamontography was super obnoxious, but then i was like, oh duh. the shots frequently change the distance between the camera and its subject. sometimes it's uncomfortably close and sometimes it's really far. a clear allegory for the duality of therapy, esp for bucky! therapy is an invasive process wherein he is ruthlessly examined, picked apart, and berated for his trauma (this therapist is crap in every way btw, "mean therapist" works for greg house and greg house only). so the camera goes close. it makes the viewer claustrophobic like bucky. but when he's like "no i haven't had any nightmares" the camera suddenly goes really far. we see bucky as this tiny head in the center of the bottom of the frame. we are distanced from him. he has pushed us away. we cannot see him. he lies because he is vulnerable. so yeah, amazing work there. the therapy scene was hard to watch on purpose!

did bucky slip a note to yori inside the dollar bill? bucky stop making me emooooo. the suuper awkward fake smile has me 😭 (veteran trying to adjust!)

mark my worrrrds when sam asks someone y the govt picked john “white bread” walker they’re gonna say “we needed somebody everyone can get behind....someone uncontroversial, someone everyone can see themselves in” like that exact racist dog whistle

tfatws weekly ask 2

just saw ep2 so im taking advantage of the 2 seconds i can be on tumblr without worrying about tfatws spoilers before new episode drops

when isaiah said "your people put me in prison for being a hero" and bucky thought "your people" means hydra. 🤦‍♂️

speaking of racism, the interplay between sam being Black (anti-Black racism) and sam being the Falcon (negrophilia, "can i take a selfie w you as i deny you a loan?") and the intersection between the two (j*hn lichrally called sam "steve's wingman"! he takes the crypto out of crypto-racist in like 2 seconds!) !!!!!!!! a Black celebrity's Black experience, the separation of man and identity!!!! (thinking about vanessa bayer in snl in that skit "beyonce is black" telling her black friend "you're not black, you're...my girl!")

after sam gets racially profiled by cops we see j*hn standing in front of cop cars cinematic parallels turns out j*hn is racist who knew

this therapist sucks major ass but she got bucky and sam together in the same room and ready to collaborate...that's something ig. it was lichrally couple's therapy she said she used her miracle exercise with couples sambucky antis get blended

bucky says "he was wrong about you so maybe he was wrong about me"...that's not how people talk. when therapist asks bucky, the guy who doesn't talk at all about himself, "y do you hate sam", the last thing bucky's gonna do is actually connect his hatred of sam to his own self-worth issues. bucky generally refuses to talk about himself, so why would he talk about himself in the one context that nobody ever links back to their own neuroses: hatred of other people? one thing human beings hate most is admitting we're wrong. admitting you hate someone because of your own issues? that's a major therapeutic step. bucky would absolutely have to be prompted to do that. even like one or two lines of dialogue more would have set up that line better. but in terms of the actual thought? an amazing way to take the sam/bucky relationship. bucky bases his self-worth on steve believing in him, and if steve is wrong bucky has no self-worth, so 1) he has to develop self-worth disassociated from steve's assessment of him and 2) he has to love himself before he can love sam, and 3) he has to realize that sam giving up the shield is a sign of sam's humility not his unworthiness.

conversely, we don't get into why sam hates bucky? yeah sam has the right to hate a guy that has tried to kill him (albeit while brainwashed) multiple times, and now shows up in his life just to bash him but. everything happens so fast i cant follow their relationship

in fact i dont feel like i understood much of anything. like y did bucky and sam go on that mission together? how connected are sam/bucky/joaquin with the government? doesn't bucky just want to retire now? literally what is everyone doing/feeling and why???

if battlestar becomes a knowing commentary on the black best friend stereotype i'm gonna party, but i dont expect much of that

the interplay between man and symbol. captain america is obviously a symbol. the shield is obviously a symbol. but steve rogers? the. man behind the cowl? he too seems to become a symbol. a paragon of a good guy, so good he's unreachable. steve was just a guy stop idolizing him the last thing steve would want is to be idolized

as the resident musician/music nerd on mcublr, 1) that captain america rally music slaps, but 2) re: the song at the end of the ep, if you're just gonna rip off mozart's lacrymosa then at least play mozart's lacrymosa. we wont blame you the lacrymosa slaps (if you dont know what im talking about go on yt and search it up youll recognize it fo sho

look i love enfys nest as much as the next guy but if tfatws is gonna get erin kellyman to play another innocent little gurl blackmailed into the fakeout-villain position (her text seemed to suggest as such) then 😡 like why can't women just....be evil? young, freckly, innocent-looking women? girls are not untouchable pure objects but full of rage and resentment just as much as anyone can be

bonus ep1 comment: bucky says about that senator whose car he hijacked, "she continued to abuse the power i gave her." fictionaldarling on yt say that he says "i" because he can't disassociate himself from his winter soldier persona which begets endless and senseless guilt. like dude. can i not be emo for like 1 second.

OKay. First off, as much I enjoy your sending it to me, what made you decide to send me these??

-

TFATWS WA #1

Don't worry about getting this to me as early as possible. I usually don't watch the episode right away.

1. Cool writing lesson.

2. Everyone wants a comedy show [like Friends] about the MCU superheroes.

3. Cinematography is always a beautiful thing.

4. Sam definitely has to carve his own Captain America status for himself, outside of Steve's ya know everything.

5. They have to do that for people who was just now tuning in because they're in love with Sam Wilson or Sharon Carter.

6. I think the therapist was taking a 'tough love' approach for Bucky, because she likely has some very strong opinions about the literal assassin she's been assigned to give therapy too. She did not choose to talk to him, she was assigned that make that clear in the second episode.

And, Bucky isn't lying when he said it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, it was a resurfaced memory. So, technically he wasn't lying - and yes, the camera does move away because while he's saying he didn't have a nightmare, he's not expanding on what actually happened - so, he's still pushing the therapist/us away.

7. Bucky, and Steve, have/had a TON to adjust to.

8. Yeah, I agree that will be the bullshit line they give. If they ever actually talk about it.

TFATW WA #2

Yeah, always got to take advantage of avoiding those spoilers lmfaoo.

1. Honestly, that line was double meaning. Both about White people and Hydra [which is made up of mostly white supremacists/nazis] So, the line is gesturing to both White People in general and Hydra assholes together. I think the terminology is “double edge sword”??

2. This whole paragraph structure confused me, ngl - so I'm going to answer it the best I can. I do like that they're not ignoring the fact that Sam being Black is 1000% the reason he's not the Official Captain America - because the gov't is racist as hell.

I also like the little lines about how they point out little things about Sam's Falcon persona, like that kid calling him 'Black Falcon' specifically and Sam's response show the split between Sam and Falcon itself.

John is a dick for calling Sam the wingman of Steve Rogers. Sam was a hero all on his own before Steve asked him to join up again. [Side note, it's lichrally??]

3. Exactly, the parallel of Sam being profiled and surrounded while just on the street and John being surrounded by fans and being able to spring Bucky with apparently only a few sentences shows a Loooooot

4. Honestly, at this point I wonder if she's not actually a therapist and is just an agent assigned to assess Bucky outside of an Official Building. I do know, however, that her 'look at each other and speak' exercise is actually a real therapy practice. It's just a little slower.

5. Actually, I think he would've blurted that out. That whole line. I don't think Bucky hates Sam. I think they could've done the scene better, but I think that had Sam prodded him/the therapist been more annoying Bucky would've lost control of his emotions and blurted out the whole "If he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me" but I feel like the writing for this show is just... not there. Sometimes you blurt shit when you get overemotional and I think that was what Bucky was supposed to be like.

6. I don't think Sam hates Bucky, I think he doesn't trust him though. I do wish they'd talked about that though. The whole 'talk to each other' scene should've been a LOT longer and a LOT slower.

7. Sam and Bucky's relationship is being fast tracked because they don't really know how to work the relationship out, writers-room-wise. Bucky is technically retired, but I feel like he's trying to live up to Steve's expectations and doing what Steve would've done and we all know that if Steve was there, Steve would've jumped on that plane with Sam. It looks like Sam/Bucky/Joaquin are a side-team based from Military services but as Sam says they're all free agents so...?

8. Sadly, They seem to just be propping up to be another stereotype.

9. Captain America is a symbol. Steve Rogers is a man. But now Steve Rogers is an idol because of all the shit he's been through and honestly, it's not a bad thing he's become an idol for people - it's using Steve as a reason to make White Bread Walker the next Captain that makes Steve's idolization so fucked.

10. I don't know anything about music so I have no opinion here, sorry.

11. Enfys?? Also, I think they did the whole Innocent Girl Thing as side commentary for Bucky lowering his guard about seeing a young girl rather than a guy.

12. Bucky is the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider is Bucky. That is how Bucky will always see it because although he was brainwashed, it was still him and he remembers all of it. When you have constant memories of something 'someone else' did, you tend to not be able to pull the two personas out of each other. I want Bucky to take up the title, White Wolf instead of Winter Soldier. Honest.

This is all my opinion, I’m honestly a little disappointed with the writing of TFATWS so far so... I’m not really optimistic about this.

#Asks

[plasticnightmaredoll]

I thought I'd make some comments about the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," kind of in the same way I made a post about my thoughts on the "WandaVision" season finale. I don't plan on doing a post with my thoughts, opinions, and theories for EVERY episode of TFatWS because a) I don't have that kind of time or patience, b) Things are probably going to change left and right as the series progresses, just like in "WandaVision" so I don't see a need to document all of this, c) I ramble enough as it is lol

Of course, there are spoilers under the cut, so if you haven't seen the first episode, then I suggest you...don't look under the cut! If you have seen the episode and just want to see what another MCU/Marvel fan thinks, or if you don't care about spoilers, then have at it.

I will say that the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (I'm going to refer to it as TFatWS from now on because that title is long af) was good and brought forth lots of mystery and intrigue, but it didn't grab my attention quite as much as the first episode of "WandaVision." But this may be due to the fact that WV was just so bizarre right from the start, and there were tons of questions right out the door. So, the mystery (and confusion) was more intense than for TFatWS.

I still plan on finishing TFatWS, but I hope it picks up a little more in the next episodes.

Another thing I will mention that's really not much of a spoiler: Poor Bucky! Just like Wanda, he needs a damn break already 😭

And lastly, I haven't read any Marvel comics because I just don't have the time, energy, patience, sanity right now to devote to them. That, and I have always preferred manga (Berserk is still my favorite manga/graphic novel of all time. Hell, it's my favorite fictional story of all time! And the 90s anime is one of my favorite series ever). My Marvel knowledge is heavily based on what the MCU has provided, but I do know things that happen in the comics because I do read up on various comparisons between the comics and the MCU entries and people's theories based on the comics. So, I'm not completely clueless.

Ok, spoiler time!

I don't really have a list of things I liked and disliked for this first episode of TFatWS because it's just way too early for that kind of stuff, and who knows where the series is going to go from here. I'll just make a list of thoughts and opinions:

James "Bucky" Barnes/The Winter Soldier

POOR BUCKY! I mean, goddamn, this man can't get a break. We see just how much his time as a Hydra agent affected him, causing him to have nightmares about those he killed while brainwashed. He's closed himself off from others because he's depressed, burdened with immense guilt, and probably feels like he's not worth helping at this point.

I also like how we got to see just how negatively he was affected by being at war for so long. He'd be put into hibernation by Hydra, and awoke every time to go kill some people. Rinse and repeat. That was his life, which isn't much of a life if you ask me. The same happened when he was freed from their control and while it's understandable why he had to fight in "Infinity War" and "Endgame," it was clearly a lot for him to handle. He didn't get a lot of peace, and even now that things have settled, he still has no peace.

At first, I was wondering why Bucky was going out of his way to befriend his elderly neighbor, Mr. Nakashima since he wasn't associating with anyone else, not even Sam. Then we find out that Bucky was the one who murdered the old man's son why under Hydra control. He can't bring himself to tell Mr. Nakashima because it's too painful and he's too ashamed. He's trying to prepare for it, I suppose, by befriending the man, but at the same time, I don't think it's going to be less unpleasant to deliver the news.

I literally felt heartbroken for Bucky when I realized that he had killed Mr. Nakashima's son. Like, omfg, Bucky, this poor guy...he has to live with these painful memories of things he was forced to do and it's depressing to witness.

I know it seems weird that no one recognizes who Bucky is, but I have a theory on that: Those that do are people who actually know him or those who have seen his face at the Smithsonian. Those who don't recognize him may never have been to the museum or simply didn't remember his face. I mean, Captain America was the main focus of the exhibit, and he was in the public eye all the time, so Bucky could easily be forgotten. Also, after the Blip, people clearly have had a lot to deal with after being missing for several years while the rest of the world put itself back together. Bucky is the least of their concerns.

Sam Wilson/Falcon

Sam, our good boy Sam. I was expecting him to keep Captain America's shield, even if he didn't use it right away. I mean, I know in "Endgame" he said it feels like it belongs to someone else, but I thought he'd change his mind and keep it. But he ends up donating it to the Captain America exhibit, which was unfortunate. I mean, I understand why, and I thought, "Well, he can just go grab it later" but then...well, that's going to be discussed later.

I was glad Sam kept trying to reach out to Bucky despite how things seemed very tense between them before. I can understand why he didn't just visit in person because that would have overwhelmed Bucky. I am suffering from severe depression and I know how difficult it can be to have a surprise guest attempt to make chit chat. Not fun.

We find out how Sam's sister has been trying to make ends meet during the Blip. Things aren't going well financially for her, and she is considering selling their father's boat to bring in some much-needed funds. Sam tries to help by convincing her to go to a bank and take out a loan. He hopes that his status could help influence the bank's decision as well.

But that isn't in the cards. The bank can't approve the loan because now there are regulations post-Blip regarding such matters. Not even Sam's status as Falcon -- an AVENGER -- amounts to much. Then the accountant awkwardly behaved like a fanboy during the whole meeting, even going so far as to ask for a selfie from Sam during the most inconvenient moment. This scene shows, to me, that being an Avenger doesn't change everything, yet, they're still famous and loved (for the most part). It's a strange feeling: "We love you guys for all you've done, but yeah, we can't really help you out."

I'm glad Marvel is choosing to show the negative effects of the Blip. It's great everyone returned but...everyone literally popped back into existence. We saw some of this chaos in "WandaVision," and we're seeing more in TFatWS. It's a realistic approach because, like, yeah, people being gone for several years, presumed forever missing then suddenly reappearing out of thin air is pretty extreme. Not to mention, those who returned didn't always find their loved ones and friends waiting for them (i.e. Monica's mother died during the Blip)

Flag Smasher

Not much to say here other than we have a new villain to watch out for who clearly has superhuman abilities. The cause that his group stands for threatens to make things even worse post-Blip than they already are, and geez, give people a break already! But you always have fanatics that will terrorize others for a cause.

Captain America 2.0

Who is this random white boy and why is he the new Captain America? I know who he is from the comics but that doesn't make it any better. It just makes it worse! This guy's going to be a disaster, clearly.

Sam realized at that moment he fucked up by giving the shield away, but this can only mean he'll find a way to retrieve and -- hopefully -- take up the Captain America mantle. Captain Falcon? Captain America Falcon? Captain Falcon America? I suppose you can have fun with that.

[aspiestvmusings]

WV 2: QUESTIONS

The things that were never fully explained or answered on the show.

Some will be answered/revealed in future MCU projects, but some might forever remain a mystery. 

QUESTIONS THE SHOW NEVER FULLY ANSWERED FOR ME, SO I “ANSWERED” THEM MYSELF:

                             *************************

BEEKEEPER: 

What happened to the beekeeper from ep 2? Did he become one of the characters on the sitcom? Was he thrown out of the hex like Monica? Did he get erased from existence? Was re has “rewind” aka went back to the sewers & has been looking for a way out ever since? Is it possible that she turned him into a poster in the library...seen when Visions enter the library for their “word battle”? (because this is the only bee reference I’ve noticed & that poster was not there during the ep 2 neighborhood watch meeting, so...) Did he turn into the ice-cream guy in ep 3? 

                             *************************

MISSING PERSON: 

Who was the missing witness protection person Jimmy was searching for? Why did he or anyone else mention him again? Did the “sitcom case” take priority or what? Did he see the person on the show, but never mention it..to others/viewers...because he has to keep their identity a secret? Did we never see the person?

Unless it’s random...just to get the story starting, I see three most likely options:

a) Ralph Boehner - he is an actor or his new identity is an actor. Is he a skrull? (people keep saying he cant be the witness protection person, cause the headshot indicates he’s an actor & when you’re “in hiding” you don’t get assigned a cover/alias where you go out & be visible like actors on auditions. But... that headshot was old...of younger “Ralph”, so I’d say still possible & his cover-story is that he was an actor, but failed, and he doesn’t do that anymore)

b) mailman - he seemed sketchy to me til the end. Is he a skrull? Is he the witness?

c) “Vision” or “Wanda” - it was just one of Hayward’s tricks....to have  a reason to set up the camp  & all that. Hence why Jimmy couldn’t find any info on him...why no-one he contacted knew anything.

                             *************************

WV DOESN’T EXIST: 

What was the “memory loss” of those two cops & the missing persons relatives/associted all about? As Monica put it: why did these others people have no memory of WV or the missing person, but she & Jimmy did? Who & how was controlling those people or why didn’t they remember? (the cops thought the place is EastView, & a place like WestView does not exist. And others thought that the person X from witness protection does not exist even if he was supposed to be their “family member”) Why did some remember & some not? Everyone on the base seemed to be aware of the place, but pehaps it was somehow erased from everyone elses memory and/or existence?

Is it some sort of memory loss? Brainwashing? Wanda’s/someones mind-controlling? Something else? Agatha’s doing? Maybe she erased their memories/made them mix up things when she arrived to the hex & wanted time to investigate on her own before others arrived?

                             *************************

FIETRO: 

Fietro is Ralph, Agnes husband? The house is his, Agatha just took over & made him move to the “man-cave attick”? But who is this Ralph anyway? Does that headshot indicate he’s an actor? And that he was just cast in a role...much like Trevor Slattery was in IM3 (I personally loved that twist...maybe cause I love Ben Kingsley!). But perhaps there is more to him...than just a joke name? Or does he have that headshot cause he’s the witness protection person? Is his cover-story that he’s a failed actor (who has old headshots of himself,  but doesn’t act anymore)? 

                             *************************

THE NOSY NEIGHBOUR: 

What’s that gonna be like? What will Ralph think of this stranger living in his house, calling him her husband... Did Wanda trap her into the same house & role? Did she cast that spell correctly - will it work after hex is gone (based on her quick learning curve I'd say yes...the made sure the role extended also outside the hex). How will the townspeople react to her? Will they recognize her as an outsider... if she really did come there only after Wanda created the hex? Or are they only mad at Wanda & see Agnes as their hero? Will they remember the events of WV anomaly...or not? Based on Wanda’s promise “no one will bother you”, I’d say everyone will just remember Agatha as the nosy neighbour Agnes & no-one will know/remember seeing her fly & do witchy stuff?

How will that work? Were the peoples memories not wiped, so they know/remember that they saw this person fight Wanda, saw her powers? Will they know she's  witch, even if one "locked inside a character"? Will they then see her as their hero, freeing them from Wanda & try to free her from this "punishment"? Is there a witch among them who will try this? Will they go look for someone who could do that?  Does the line "no one will bother you" mean that everyone will act as if she is Agnes & that's how it'll work. And where will "Agnes" live? And what will she do? 

Will Jimmy & Monica handle that side? Giving her a "fake identity" (Is Agatha the missing witness protection person that no ones ever heard of? And Jimmy's search was a scene cut from the future, trandsported to the past/present?) Cause unless  Monica & Jimmy handle that side it's just gonna be weird...a 400-year-old witch with no ID just showing up in a random guys house climing she's the wife & "moving in" just like that...

But...since she seems to known a lot about the book & darkness then I’d say Wanda needs to consult her at some point. Or...since the broach was still part of her outfit...perhaps it serves as a key to help break Wanda’s spell and set her free. Maybe she’ll get help from someone?

                             *************************

AGATHA’S BROACH: 

When Wanda turns Agatha into "Agnes, the nosy neighbour" to play the role...forever, why does she not change her broach/why does the broach not change along with the rest of her outfit? Did she decide to not change it or did something prevent it from doing so? It's the broach Agatha took from her mom (a wicth) after killing her, it's the one she's worn throughout her stay in Westview.

                             *************************

AGATHA’S ARRIVAL: 

IF Agatha told the story correctly & she arrived to WC after Wanda created the hex...cause she sensed the magic, then how did no other witch seem to sense it & why was she able to enter the hex and do it without it altering her mind? Why exactly did the hex not affect Agatha in that way? How Was Agatha able to come there & bring her book with her?

When did she set up the secret witch-cave in the basement? Was it just an illusion...created as a show for Wanda? Or did she do all that during the frist episodes/days? Or was the basement real & already there? In that case...whose house is it & what’s that all about?

                             *************************

HOW DID AGATHA KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT WANDA? 

She seemed to know certain details. Were those all public knowledge (death of her brother, etc) and hence she could access the info? Did she “see” it through Wanda’s dreams & nightmares...that every person in the city was “watching in their heads”? Or did she use some kind of magic or tricks? Or have some ..sources? 

Though she seemed to know some details she was also unaware about many others, so...IDK. Possible that she knew of the bits that were public knowledge... from news, newspaper articles...

                             *************************

THE BUNNY: 

Was the purring & insect/bird eating just one of Agatha’s illusions/tricks, or is there more to that cerature? If it wasn’t just your regula pet then my money is on it being a Flerken (Goose...because Scratchy!)...which would make either Agatha and/or Ralph a skrull...in disguise. Or some sort of familiar or scary monster...turned into a bunny by Agatha. Cause no way that’s a regular pet bunny... it eats insects/birds! 

PS. The creators have confirmed that there were plans for the rabbit. There was a scene shot that revealed its true identity. The bunny was supposed to turn into a demon. But that scene was cut...for reasons. 

                             *************************

SKRULLS: 

OK...we got one more skrull revealed (one of the FBI is a skrull) in WV. We got two in FFH...which happens 8 months from now in MCU. Who else?

But are/were there more...and we just don’t yet?

                             *************************

MAILMAN/DELIVERY GUY?

What was really up with the pizza-delivery-guy turned into messenger (aka Wanda’s script csting her in several roles & him doing three jobs at once, being always on the move, never getting to rest - mailman, courier, delivery guy...for different companies)

I do not know if the mailman is also Jimmy's witness protection person (a courier/pizza delivery person might be a nice low-key job they would set up for such person?], but it does seem that Wanda cast her in all "delivery" roles. So he was pulling tripple-duty: mailman, courier... so he was exhausted, because he was always delivering something somewhere. Working many jobs at once. But... mostly I think the mailman was one of the chracters on a loop. While the people at the edge of the city were on a short loop...repeating the one move over & over, he seems to have been on a wide range loop. He was circling the town all the time. 

But... mostly I think the mailman was one of the chracters on a loop. While the people at the edge of the city were on a short loop...repeating the one move over & over, he seems to have been on a wide range loop. He was circling the town all the time. But mostly, his lines were on the loop. In the final episode he repeats his very first line. Meaning he was fed only like 5 lines of dialogue and after each was used once, he started from the beginning again. This is why he says "Don't shoot, I'm just the messenger" in ep 2 & again in ep 9.

                             *************************

DOTTIE: 

Was Dottie a red herring presented to the viewers in reality & MCU reality? By shows creators for us & by Agatha for Wanda and those watching Wanda’s broadcast? Was Agatha just trying to mess with Wanda, draw direction  away from herself by pointing to someone? Cause she claimed Dottie is the key to everything in WV? When she wasnt...based on what we learned. Was she really just used as a misdirection by Agatha...to fool Wanda (and us)? 

Based on the Season Finale it seems she was just a misdirection? But perhaps there is a reason that she seemed to be the one & only WV person, who after being freed from the mind-control didn’t attck Wanda right away, but instead tried to “bargain” - she was just asking to be able to hug her daughter. She wasn’t afraid of her like the rest - she even suggested their kids could become friends... She seemed to be the only one of “main cast”, who somewhat understood her. Why? Only other person who did was Monica - other superpowered individual who had just experienced loss & was grieving. Is this was connects Dottie with Wanda? Is this the reason she tries to talk it out first? 

I found it kind of interesing & weird that when they identified Phil Jones (the piano guy) as Harold Proctor they did not automatically identify Dottie (the wife, Sarah), too? Cause they put Jones info on the board, but Doddie does not get any identification. Why/How? Did they not think of at first assuming that "couples stay together", so first to check the identified peoples family members? Or did they try to do that, and in some cases it turned out to be not helpfull? Meaning that in some cases couple/familys were not kept together [would not fit Wanda's sitcome fantasy world as perfectly?] I just found it so strange.

  I do think the identification data was kept from the board for one reason only... to have that Agnes/Agatha reveal be "surprising" to regular viewers. because comic fans & TV-viewer detectives could sense that twist coing, but regular viewers probably could not.

                             *************************

DARCY: 

Where did Darcy really go at the end? Why did Darcy actually not stick around after hitting Hayward with the car? What is she really doing? Is she one of the people who are actually skrulls? Was she missing in the end just because they tried to keep the cast to minimum, so room for “side characters” cause so mjuch was hapening? Or is there a plot reason?

Yes, this was the result of real-life scheduling issue...due to covid. But...will they also write it in as something more/other in a future MCU project? Claiming she left early for a bigger reason?

                             *************************

HAYWARD’S PLAN:

What was Hayward & SWORD really up to? In the past few years he'd changed the focus to creating/buiding sentient weapons instead of just observing. What else were they building besides "new vision"? That hangar could fit a whole spaceship or more... And why does it seem that Hayward got his hands on some Stark tech (or something similar), considering the triangular "stark reactor" on his re-built Visions forehead. How did he get his hands on all this tech? Did Stark trust Rhodey, & Firy, who trusted military & Maria & SWORD, and hence certain things were made available to them? And who works for Hayward when they were able to re-build Vision in week (from parts to whole, paintjob done, arc reactor added to head...), cause someone who knows their stuff must work for him. Who, how? Who is the "scientist" who connected that "stark reactor" to re-constructed Vision's head...in a way that it works?

  Why do some viewers keep saying that Hayward shooting the kids came out of nowhere, and was like turning the helper to a villain in that moment? Um... can a story really be interpreted in so very different ways or did they miss something? The dude tried to use a "missile" on them already in episode 5! His goal might've been to get Wanda, but the target was not alone. In that specific scene the twins are right by her side.

  Hayward is not the good guy, because he planned this all along, he tricked Wanda & the others. He lied about things, he edited footage to manipulate facts. (yes, Wanda did the same with her broadcast, I know & understand). He had his own secret agenda & he manipulated Wanda, using her grief (he admits he knows what state she is in) to manipulate her to bring Vision back online/to life. He put on a show for Wanda & tried to get her to "feel" to get her to use her power to power up his new weapon. When she doesn't do so, he has to find new ways to get her to use her powers to get what he wants. And in doing all this he goes against Sokovia accords & Vision's will. 

Sure, part of his behaviour seem to come from fear (about the threats that universe hass seen) & desperation regarding the chaos the world had been past years, but his motivation is made cler pretty early on - he wants that pat on the shoulder from big boss. He will not stop at anything to create a sentient weapon, manipulate info/date...etc. His manipulation directly lead to the hex events - he put those ideas into Wanda’s head...but he was willing to take the risk. Just like with White Vision...he was aware they might not be able to control him (still under our control? yes, still ours) but he wanted his weapon so bad he was willing to risk it...knowing that Wanda’s powers often backfire & cause trouble. 

                             *************************

THE STORK 

Who caused the glitches during Wanda's pregnancy & while she was giving birth? Was it Wanda (her subconcious...her losing control of the illusion for a moment)? Was it Agatha trying to mess up things? Was it (partially) the kids already presenting their powers...from the womb? Was it the secret big bad that was never introduced within the show (Agatha's partner/master)? 

If we assume that the red she tried to use to make the stork disappear represents her magic then it not working suggests that it was the kids behind it, because she cannot control the kids. (though she probably could't control Agatha's "messing up everything" magic either)

                             *************************

FOR THE KIDS: 

“This is all for the kids...” I do not think this had anything to do with Wanda’s kids. After the finale it seems to me that those chants were all about the kids trapped in their bedrooms... kept away from their loved ones. The kids Wanda put in isolation/quarantine...for the duration of her sitcom (minus letting then out for Halloween..) 

The “actors” were just begging her to let them see their kids. They were playing their roles, and doing it all for their kids. Since she didn’t cast any other kids, but everyone asked about chid characters she created two...whote the parts for her twins to enter the story. To me this is confirmed by “Dottie’s” plea to Wanda..

But for Wanda’s mind it translated to a different message, too, because Agatha wanted to plant ideas in her head. So while the “cast” was taling about doing it for their kids, Wanda got the idea of kids of her own thanks to Agatha’s meddling and planting those ideas into her head (she’s like a marketing department... making her buy into the ideas she planted in her head thoughout the show...to write them into next episodes...)

                             *************************

VISION AT SWORD

How & why was he there, not in Wakanda or some Avengers or Stark facility? 

I do think that why he was there makes sense. Vision died in Wakanda during the Thanos Snap battle. Tony was in space then...and would not return for the next 3 months. Bruce & all other Avengers were defeated & the world as a whole was in ruins & in chaos.

  IF the Sokovia accords dicdated that the Visions body (vibranium) belongs to US government, then that is how & why he went to SWORD right away. But it is possible that initially he stayed in Wakanda (til Tony's return) or was kept somewhere else. But even though Tony & Avengers were not always agreeing with the government, then SWORD was lead by Monica's mother Maria back then, so it is possible they trusted her, cause Fury trusted her. That's the first reason why it makes sense he wold be kept there.

  I do think that since Tony & Avengers considered him as their friend, and "human", and he had a lliving will, and they knew that Wanda was his next of kin, and she had been dusted, then that is why they did not "bury" Vision. It was not their decision. It makes sense they would keep him hidden until Wanda's return, who would give him a proper burial when she'd return. Because the team, together & seprately were all quietly working on solutions how to undo the snap...

Also...since they considered Vision "human", then I dont think any of them wanted to keep his body in ther home or office (why he wasnt in Tony's garage or at the Avengers HQ probably). Because bad guys would probably come looking for the 3 billion dollars worth vibranium there first & they probably did not have the energy to deal with that. Also...they might have decided to not simply bury the vibranium simply because of the worth. Cause they did not want some bad guys dig him up & sell him to parts...for the vibranium.

  There are several options why he was at SWORD. But I think it makes more sense that Tony & co did not bury him (not their decision..it was Wanda's & Vision's decision...and we do not know what exactly his will said about that). It also makes perfect sense why they did not keep him at Avengers HQ. Because based on Hayward's comments he wasn't moved there after Endgame battle & destruction of the headquarters, but had been there all this time. I’m prerty sure Tony & co honoured Vision’s wishes not to be brough back to life AND to leave the funeral for the “widow” to arrange...since they all were hoping for & working for the return of the blipped...

                             *************************

WHAT WAS HAYWARD TRACKING INSIDE THE HEX?

He was tracking Vision & vibranium all along. He might not have known how there was a Vision in the hex, when he had the actual vibranium in his lab, but he saw a Vision, and since 6 million worth of vibranium is better than 3 million worth of vibranium, and 2 sentient weapons is better than one (he probably was not aware that they weren't completely real?). Since Wanda "created" an actual body made of vibranium, wires, blood, bones... it was possible to track it. And I guess Hayward did bring the best to the scene, cause Darcy figured out a way to see inside the hex (discovered the broadcast), but other experts in that "clowncar"seemed to have figured out things, too.

                             *************************

WHITE! VISION: 

What happened to White Vision? Where did he go (when he flew off)?  This is the original Vision - the one made of vibranium, a mix of Jarvis + Ultron + Tony + Bruce + other elements....minus teh mind stone. The one Wanda fell in love with. He has the physical body, he has the memories. He had his memories, but could not access the file...until Hex Vision unlocked access to that file & those memories. He remembers everything...up until Thanos. The only part missing is the Mind Stone...but as we learned in A3... he can survive without it, cause theres still a lot of “him” left without it. But he is probably still missing one element...the emotional connection w. Wanda (”soul”), hence I don’t see WV reuniting right away in next fim/project. What is he now? He recognized that he is (a) Vision & he, too, is the real one.

Did all the data coming in at once just overload his operating system & he needed to cool down? Did he go to find answers to Wakanda...where the vibranium in his is from, where he “died”, where he remembers Shuri separating the differents parts of him....to regain the missing bits...)? Did he go on a search for a mind stone? Did he still have that command “destroy Vision & Wanda” on his to do list Hayward gave him...and he went to destroy...himself? Did getting his memories back make him realize that if he wants to re-connect to Wanda, he needs the mindstone? Because while the team theorized in A3 that he can exist without it, I kinda think that Wanda & Vision connected “through” their shared element...the mind stone. I do not know if it has to be physically on his forehead. Maybe the “energy” from the piece inside Wanda will be enough? But...I do think that just like with the disassembled Vision at SWORD Wanda can not feel the White Vision...hence they had him leave, not stick around. 

Based on his eyes changing from robot to human after he gets his memories back I’d say he is free of SWORDS control. This is why I think he just went to search for the truth/answers. Because... when Hex Vision wanted answers, he went to look for them from the “outside world” & to do that he had to go past an OCTAGON - the “stop” sign before the hex border. And the Colourless Vision flew through an OCTAGON shaped glass ceiling to get out of there. Hayward said “He really wants out, doesn’t he?” when Hex Vision was trying to break free from Hex & “Wanda’s control” to find answers and to help people. I think this is exactly what this new version of Vision did. And the similar shape as an “exit point” symbolises this. “I want to break free” was the song paying inside his head. 

My main guesses are:

a) this Vision either went to Wakanda...where the vibranium his body is made of is from...and where he died... and since Shuri is back after the Blip, he might go for his “scan”... cause Shuri can provide him with more answer on himself. 99% 

b) that he followed the command from Hayward & since he know knew who he was (I am Vision), he destroyed himself. He now knows that he is Vision (he realized that he is Vision...which is more than original Vision did. His identity at first was I am...), so he is self aware...  0,1% possibility

c) or other options are that he just needed time to process everything and/or his returned memories told him he must leave Wanda time to go through some things... Too much data process at once, system overload...when Hex Vision overflooded him with all the memories...

I am still unsure how to read the moment where Hex Vision awakens White Vision... was he just giving him access to the secret memory dat/files or was he also trnsfering his own memories with Wanda/his soul into the version he knew would remain while he would be gone?

But if we are to believe that just like we the MVU universe doesn’t know about him until months later (Spidey 3, Dr. Strange 2), then most likely answer is Wakanda.

                             *************************

THE TWINS: 

What is the origin of Wanda’s kids really? We saw that she actually did create vibranium for Hex Vision’s body. Cause the two Vision were equal in every way & SWORD tracked two vibranium objects, so...he is a copy of the original in a way. So she can create things from “nothing” (unless it’s actually not nothing, and she’s pulling the materilas from somewhere or something... cause even in MCU laws of physics should exists/apply?) So did she create the kids from “nothing”? Or are the kids real in a way that 50% of their origin comes from Vision. We know Vision can take human form. We know this Hex Version had maybe even more human in him (of blood and bone) than original? And...we saw Vision CRY. He can cry, so if he is able to produce tears...whose to say he can’t produce other bodily fluids? To get technical about it. Maybe in this fictional superhero world things that are impossible in real world aren’t so? Maybe “robots” can evolve to be able to actually have offspring...even if said robots themselves are confused about how that’s possible (ep 3)?

But...then we have Wanda thanking the kids for choosing her as their mom &  that post end scredits scene with SW reading the darkhold & hearing her kids cal her for help. Was it her memory? Was is a dream? Were they actually calling for her help..cause they’re stuck..somewhere (other dimension?) This, along with all the devil/nightmare etc references throughout WV seems to hint towards the MCU taking more than just loose idea from the comics. Maybe Wanda did...knowingly or unknowingly use "Devil’s” soul to create her kids? Cause... Fietro was under Agatha’s control, and she knows the history, so why would Fietro make those “demon spawn” references otherwise? I’m thinking the MCU & MOM might go that route...that this is how they were created...

But... I do think that even if this is the route MCU takes (copying comics), the end scene of WV showed something very important. Wanda, Vision, Billy, Tommy...they became a family. And if they are not actually biological offspring of Wanda & Vision, then that end scene showed us exactly what makes a family, and a parent. Who did the kids call mom & dad? = Wanda & Vision. Because these are the two people, who are their parents, because biology doesn’t make one a parent. 

And we saw Wanda seeing what a wonderful dad Vision was. From the “proud Papay-a” joke...til the “I’m proud of you” & good night kiss... His journey was complete - he was experiencing the loss of  loved one (throwback to their old conversation on grief)

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THE TWINS - POST CREDITS: 

Where are the kids? What did Wanda hear in the end credits scene? Is it her nightmare? Is it her “imagination”? Is it real & the boys are “trapped” somewhere & actually calling for her & she can sense them...from another place & time (whoi took them & where are they in that case)? Is she trying to bring them back/re-create them...but this time without the restrictions of the hex (get the spell right, not cast a flawed one that had limitations)

                             *************************

HEX! VISION - FATE: 

If the boys are “alive” then what happened to the Hex Vision? Does he, too, exist somewhere is some form? Is he trapped somewhere, too? Or...is he now just a memory...without a physical form (until she re-creates him, again, too...when she’s learned how to do it without flaws like tying his existence to a dome)?

                             *************************

DR. STRANGE?: 

Where was Dr. Strange during the events of WandaVision? If Agatha could sense the hex/spells, then why & how could Strange not? Why was he not there? Why wasn’t he monitoring the situation? Or...if he was (just not shown to us yet) then I hope we get his POV on the situation. Or was Wanda somehow blocking him from sensing the anomaly and/or her? (then we have to wonder how Agatha sensed it or is she sensed it at all..cause how did she enter the hex & remain herself & uncontrolled? - can & does that happen/apply only to “superpowered beings”?) Cause I was surprised that we did not get a direct reference to him (no post credits cameo) considering his role in MCU... And I cannot wait for it to be explained in MOM.

Was he aware of the events? Was he busy with bigger issues and hence didn’t intervene? Did he monitor the situation from afar? Did he not intervene for a purpose (cause he looked further into future when he still had the time stone & knew how it ends etc)..because he needed this to play out..just like he needed Endgame events to play out? Perhaps he was playing the long game, and did not deal with it, because he needed Wanda to become the Scarlet Witch.... a more powerful being that he is? Pehaps he is aware that he needs her on his team to fight aginst a threat he alone cannot win against? So he had to let everything play out as it did...for Wanda to accept her true identity & become SW?

                             *************************

COTTAGE - END CREDITS: 

What is that cottage about? Is it supoosed to be more like Thanos retiring to countryside after “doing the universe a huge favor”? Or more like the end of 2008 Hulk film, when HUlk goes to a cottage in the middle of nowhere to learn to control his power (anger)? Or is it more like a reference to Evil Dead and the cotttage in the forest with a “dark” book inside. 

The heroes & villains in superhero stories always end up living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, kind of “off grid” after “the big event” - Hulk at the end of 2008 Hulk film, Thanos after his Snap, Tony after losing to Thanos, but getting Pepper (and Morgan) back.... and now Wanda after Westview...

Is this supposed to be the mountains from the comics? Is this supposed to be Wandas MCU homeland? Or is this suppsoed to just represent a secluded location where she learns about herself, her abilities, etc?

                             *************************

WANDA’S AWARENESS: 

When did Wanda start to realize what she’d done & when did she become fully aware? This was not fully answered/exlained, but based on everything I’d say the turn happened in ep 3 with birth of twins + mention of reality + throwing the outsider out. Though she censored the broadcast already in ep 2 & she & Vision  both started to wonder why they can’t remember things in ep 1 already, I thought that both the plot and the commercials suggested the turn happened then. She loses control of some of the things as the birth takes a lot of energy from her. Then she hears a reference to past & reality, and that awakens her. But I think that only after she looks at her hands in a “what have I done” way when she sees the destruction after throwing Monica out does she start putting the picture together...that she did this.

But...she does not understand or know the real effect of it on the people, and the ramification of her actions until that moment in the town square in ep 9 when Agnes has freed the cast from her mind control. Her eyes are opened to the truth only then. And the moment the truth hits her...she takes action: first she attacks herself for what she did (but since everyone feels everything she feels then by choking herself she is also choking everyone else) & she starts tearing the hex down. First attempt is interrupted...for reasons. But she sets things right: she can’t take it back, but she can stop it from going on. Even if it’s not a happy ending for everyone. For people of WV it’s just like a bad dream..when it’s over they realize none of it was real. But for her & her family.... it’s not that kind of a show (with happy ending).

She goes through the stages of grief with her take on the sitcom reality: first denial, then anger & bargaining, and in the end acceptance.

                             *************************

WANDA - MoM: 

What this story told us is that Wanda is a fast learner. And though she doesn’t have an actual teacher/guide, she learns “on the move”. Agatha reveals her secrets & trade secrets to Wanda by bragging about her knowledge & tricks... which Wanda quickly learns to use against her,

I am still unsure if they’ll go "Wanda becomes evil” or “Wanda chooses to be good” route. Will her story copy Agatha’s or will she do as she said she’ll do... that she is not like Agatha. Her mom realized she cannot be good. But Hex Vision knew she can be good & even tells her “Be good” in ep 6. And she herself, after realizing the damage she’s causing, immediately tries to fix it (taking the hex down when she is told her pain is hurting others) I can still see it going either way.

I’m not sure if she as a fast learner will be able to fight the darkness or if her maternal instinct will make her make rash decisions. Will she attempt to help her kids & cause another “accident” & hence Dr. Strange must come to save the day? Or...will she turn to him for help/he will offer his help to her? But either way...seems that MOM plot will be linked to her trying to save her kids from whereever they are trapped/bringing them back...safely (remember: Agnes hinted that there was a way to bring Vision & Kids to life in a safe way...without making their existance dependant of the hex....she will try to find out what that way is.

I kind hope she will be good... not turn full villain. Because... her origins story and whole storyarc, to me, seems done so similarly to Tony. Both considered threats & villains by many - govermńments, civilians...who they’ve unintentionally hurt. Both journeys strongly connected to loss & grief. Both carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Tony turned his life around when he became aware of the concequences of his actions...even if he still made mistakes on the way... and I think they’re gonna go similar route with “Wanda”

But I think her role in MoM depends mainly on one thing - if MCU/Feige considers the TV show to be part of the full story, or separate. If it’s part, then IMO she won’t be the villain. definitely not intentional, and possibly even not unintentional (cause that’d be having her go through the exact same arc she did in WV). And I hope they dont follow the comics story here in detail, because that’s not surprising. If they’ll do what happened in comics after she “lost her kids”, then we know exactly whats gonna happen, but I expect to be surprised. And since MCU likes to do their own twist on the stories, not copy everything exactly as in comics, I hope we get a surprise twist here, too. Cause I’d be more impressed if they kept her on “learning to understand & control her new abilities to not make the mistakes shes made in past” route instead of repeting the same mistakes she’s already made (letting a villain mislead her). 

                             *************************

MAKE HEX SMALLER?

Why did Wanda not leave  a small hex around her family & the house...keeping the fake reality up? At least until she figured out a way to keep them alive outside?

I am not 100% sure I understood why that was. But I believe it was explained with two things mainly: Agatha’s lesson on magic that explained some things & the fear of outsiders. Agatha told her that the fake reality she created was & would always be broken & one a spell is cast it cannot be changed, so the only way was to “undo it”, because “changing” was not an option.

And secondly...next outside force like Hayward would come & try to get their hands on her creation - the millions of worth vibranium, the superpowered individuals they could turn into weapons. And..she also knew that their happy home could not be there anymore, because in the eyes of WV people she/they were the evil, so they’d turn on the mini-hex.

Also...though she created Vision & the twins (whether in their fake reality the boys were created "naturally” or she used some kind of magic... is irrelevant here) she cannot control them - they were separate of her since start, and had free will. They would not stay inside the hex & fake reality...they would search for way out... for example, because they were looking for answers...beyond the world they were restrained to...

Sure, it seemed that when Agatha freed the townspeople from Wanda’s control during the final battle & the hex was still up, they were free of her control, so it kinda seems it would’ve been possible to untangle the hex & mindcontrolling of the people from the rest? But...IDK... 

                             *************************

WANDA = “HERO OR VILLAIN”?

I think that this is another philosophical question...just like “which ship is the real one” & “which Vision is the true one?”. There is no one singular answer here. She is made of chaos AND order. She, like every human has good & bad in her. And I think seeing her as only/just either 100%r good or 100% bad means not looking at the whole picture. There is no singular “answer” here...for none of the characters. 

I think Vision was able to explain it the best to us...throughout the series. She did not intend to do this, she was not aware of doing it, and it all being subconsious...but despite that what she was doing was wrong.

The people of WV see her as evil/villain. Should they? Shoud they fear her? How & Why was no-one beside Monica able to empathize with her? Has none of them lost anyone? Was the mind-controlling worse than anything other they’ve experiences in their lives? Why did they UNINOMOUSLY turn against her? For them it was a week of “pain”, and there was an end to it. 

I can understand & “empathize” with both Wanda & people of WV. Both have suffered & been hurting. 

What she did was wrong. The people should not just forgive her right then & there and move on ike it was nothing. But if this was the final push for her to start to understand her power, then good can come of it. What happened is simply because she did not understand or know how to control her powers. She did not anticipate that by simply crying or “feeling sad” she can change reality. That her feelings affect reality essentially. Normal people when grieving sometimes lash out on people around them...she cannot do that....cause when she does it “imprisons” peoples minds and makes them her puppets...without her knowing this happens....basically.

After she became aware of it, partly, she kept the freality intact for a few reasons: she had to grant him his final wish...to grow old together, she had to finish the script/story. No one else mourned Vision, no one else “cared”. Secondly...she was not fully aware of what it did to the cast of her show (it only become obvious to her at the end). And thirdly...as Monica said: theres no knowing what will happen if they make rash decisions (what will happen to those inside & those outside the hex)...Wanda probably didn’t know either. 

IF they make her the villain, then how about this twist (not following comics) - why not make her NIGHTMARE? Because it’s “her thing”...she intentionally or intentionally gives people nightmares. Others can feel her feelings & see her nightmares... Just use the name, but change the villain.

                             *************************

WHY DID WANDA “RUN & HIDE”? 

It’s the same reason why IMO she can’t just keep the hex intact just around their dream house...because there will always be another Hayward. Another government and/or villain, who wants to use Vision and/or her (superpowered individuals) as weapons, etc. 

Especially now, when Tony is not alive anymore, and the Avengers have been “disbanded”, she could not stay & be used as a “weapon”. So she fleed, and set up her own quarantine stacation. And I truly believe that her plan was to learn to understand her powers first. She did the only thing that would not hurt innocent bystanders... she removed herself from the world. Cause her powers aren’t contained by prison walls. And until she learnbs to understand & control them being on trial or prison might make her feel strongly gain and accidentally cause the next hex event. To avoid that happening she must learn to control the powers first... 

But I do believe that either unintentionally or intentionally (cause she tries to take shortcut to get her kids back) she makes mistakes along the way. The book “overpowers” her or something... That is a possibility.

To draw parallels to our real world.... I know families who have been separated because of the current state of world and who have not been in the same house, city, country or even continent...for months. Separated by “quarantine”.

                             *************************

AGATHA’S HOUSE: 

As Billy noted in 1x07 Agatha's house is quiet & Agatha herself is quiet on the inside...meaning he cannot hear her, he cannot read her mind inside the house. And he likes being in there because elsewhere it's "noisy" (in his head...as he can read minds). We know that Wanda cannot read Agatha's thoughts & cannot control her...like she does with other WV people, but it's never explained how or why. And as Fietro/Ralph notes in 1x09 to Monica - no-one can hear her screaming... from inside the house...and I think it applies to the whole house not just to the "soundproof" man-cave. 

Meaning...he is aware that the house if protected from the outside. But how  & why is that? How did Agatha protect the house from Wanda's spell/hex? How does that all work? How was she able to presumably enter the hex (without being changed), and create a space free of the spell within the spell? How did her book help her accomplish this?

AGATHA’S BASEMENT: 

Speaking of the house... why is there a safe room (man cave) in the attick? And a witch cave in the basement? Did Agatha create both environments or were they there when she moved in? Whose hosue is this really & why are there weird rooms in there? If this is Ralph's house then why does he have those places in his house? And what happens to Agatha's items after hex goes down? (the witch books, the rabbit..)

  I do not fully understand these comics themes like magic and such. So I don't fully understand what the show is telling (this fantastical magic is a myth, not science-based to me) But...if we assume that Agatha told the truth when she said that once cast, a spell cannot be broken then, then that still does not mean that other magic cannot happen within the hex. All the  powered characters proved that - Wanda & Agnes were both able to add or change things within the hex. So this is how & why Agatha was able to put her own spell on Ralph/Fietro, and their house. This is how & why Wanda could expand the hex. It didn't erase the original spells code errors, it just added more code to the spell.

It just did not change the original spell where she re-created Vision, and tied his existence to the hex...which became the stage for their sitcom. It didn’t affect the spell connecting the existence of her family to mind-controlling the “cast” into playing the roles written for them.  

                             *************************

IT WAS AGATHA ALL ALONG: 

No, I'm not looking into the things she messed up during Wanda's sitcom filming. Instead I am looking into the similarities & differences between Agatha & Wanda. And whether Agatha is the "bad guy" or the "more neutral teacher". Cause their stories are similar, it's obvious they made them similar in many ways. In 1693 Agatha has gone & misused her powers because she doesn't understand them enough (it's left unclear if on purpose or by accident). This is essentially what Wanda does in 2023. Agatha's own mother does not believe she can be(come) good. Wanda's guide in all things (her moral concience) Vision never loses his faith in her and that even though she has misused her powers she must not have meant it, and that she can fix it ("Be good, Wanda.") Agatha, on the other hand, seems to urge her to use her chaotic powers...which, as we know, she knows all about...so she knows the issues that come along with them.

  So while in many ways she's been a teacher, and a guide, and a (grief) concellour to her during the hex, it does seem that she has only taken those roles for self gain. She is after the power, because that is how she becomes more powerful, and because she thinks she is more deserving of it that her/others. Even after she finds out that Wanda is destined to become the Scarlett Witch she manipulates her into using her magic. Her main motivator is left unclear - does she want Wanda to use her power and bring on the chaos the prohecy in the book says OR if she wants to become the SW herself. We saw that in 1693 her own mother was about the receive a "witch crown",  but Agatha drained her of her power...yet not receiving a crown herself. Now history repeats itself. She sees yet another witch get the crown instead of her.

  And part of me thinks that one part of her motivation is jealousy of these others being chosen insted of her. Though at the same time there are also references about her being just a messenger - doing the simple work for someone else (either she's a willing partner, being "blackmailled" into doing so, or used without her knowledge). She seems to want to avoid Wanda making her mistake of using powers beyond her knowledge...not repeating her mistake. She also seems to envy her cause what has taken her centuries to learn through hard work, she can do without even trying. And she also seems to at times "grieve" and want to bring someone important to her back to life, too. I get so many different and a bit conflicting readings from her. I am still unsure what her real motivation and plans are. Or what role she really played.

  Her plan is to "steal" Wanda's power. That's her goal since the start. But...first she must learn more about what it is she's encountered. Who is Wanda, what her powers are about, and so on. This is why she meddles with the sicom. She is doing everything she can to  make Wanda use/show her powers. She also sets the snowball rolling on the kids theme. For an undisclosed reason she needs to know what powers Wanda has, and if she can create things/life from nothing, and/or bring back the dead. This is why she reads her the women's magazine article & manipulates her to think about kids (the seduction techniques article, making Dottie & everyone chant "for the kids"). She, for whatever reason, wants Wanda to show her powers, and create life/kids. We're left to assume she needs to see them grow up fast, too. She kills the dog just to see if the kids will age themselves up again and to see if Wanda can/will bring back the dead. We can assume why she wants all this, but the real reason/plan is never revealed to us.

  Agatha promises a solution - how to fix the hex, and she knows Wanda is easily tricked, because of her denial & state of mind. She misleads Wanda, because unlike Wanda she knows there is no fix, because "once cast a spell cannot be changed/fixed". Agatha's behaviour is strange. At times it seems she made these mistakes herself, and is now trying to guide Wanda, to not repeat her mistake. Though for some reason she also does not explain what it is that she did, or why & how to not epeat her mistakes (in using magic you've not  mastered yet) Agatha is just like a vampire, but instead of blood she feeds on others powers. I though that in a way Billy & Tommy discussing if Uncle P. was a vampire can be considered a litte funny nod to this idea. Because she is essentially a "power-draining vampire"

Agatha was behind many of the things happening inside the hex (which itself was created by Wanda). She manipulated events to keep it going longer. She kept hinting at kids so that Wanda would create them. She "started rumours" (hinting at Dottie being the key, Monica being outsider), making Wanda question Monica, etc. She came up with tricks to make Vision more suspicious. She did everything she could to separate Wanda from others (divide & concour) - she sent Vision to look for answer from beyond (The Truth Is Out There! such a Mulder thing) She had her kick Monica out. She "hypnotized" Ralph & used him as a pupet. When everything else failed, she kidnapped her kids, and then trapped her in the basement where her powers wouldn't work. PS. The fact that Wanda fell for such trick (a villain using her mother instincts and her kids to trap her) is why I am not entirely sure that fan theories about MoM are correct. Would she let another villain trick her again...even if the Darkhold makes its reader "mad" & hence not logical at all... 

Also, I'm thinking it was Agatha who deleted the cops memories of Westview (if we assume she really did come from outside the hex then it makes sense she "met" the cops who came to investigate...)

I do think that Agatha's mother was correct - she is not good. Maybe she let the Darkhold compromise her, maybe she just chooses to be not good, because no-one saw her as such, so she started not just seeing herself as "not good"; but became such way. She discovered the hex and she (unlike Wanda, the SWORD team, Vision, townspeople) knew what had happened since the moment she arrived, yet she shared the info with no-one & didn't try to help anyone...because she had her own agenda. She constantly kept messing with the hex & events, which lead to more hurting to people. She caused the rift between Wanda & others, she made Vision go looking for answer, which lead to Wanda expanding the hex. This was Agatha's goal all along. She needed her to use her magic as much as possible, to show her what she can do, to give her evidence on who she is & what she can do (how she did this, how she was able to do this). None of it was cause she really cared for the townspeople, or Wanda, or her family. She's the bad guy...with a few good sides. But mostöy she helped because it advanced her own plan & end goal (get more magic for herself, become more powerful by making those she deemed unworthy powerless)

IMO her goal was not really to get Wanda to the moment when she lets everyone go & frees everyone and ends the “torture”, but to get what she herself was after. It doesn’t seem that she did the “therapy” sessions and all with the intentions of the townspeoples wellbeing in mind. Though she and her motives remained unclear, it seems that she did...all of the things she did...for her own personal gain. Cause how dare some baby witch with no training or studies do better than her...someone who has had to spend centuries studying to achieve even a fraction of what Wanda can do without any effort?

                             *************************

RALPH:

It seems that this house is Ralph's house, because the bills are in his name (with water/eletricity usage going way up just recently...after long low numbers...suggesting that the house was unhabited...so he was dusted & just came back). But what's up with the house? Why would he need a man cave like that, when Agnes is not really his wife & he is actualy the only person living in that house...until hex? And why does he have that weird basement? Who is he really? And what's his story really? [Or was the basement an illusion Agatha showed Wanda & it doesn't really look like this?] 

And if that's his real name, why laugh at it? Something is definitely up with "Ralph". Is he the witness protection person & that was his file...for him to learn his new identity, and not a reference that he's an actor and that's his headshot? And his powers were never explained. We're left to just assume that Agatha gave him the ability through the necklace. But we've never actually told if she can do that kind of magic. That's why I don't think he's just a random Ralph. But I don't also think he's "from multiverse". Though it is stil possible...

  There are things that suggest he's the witness protection person. And then there are things that speak against it. The funny name (or...is he an adult film actor, and hence the name?), the strange safe room in the house (unless Agatha created it & moved him there & soundproofed it, then it was already there...). The overdue waterbill (with spikes on usage in Feb & Sept-Oct 2020?...when i's supposed to be around Oct-Nov 2023...) seem also interesting. If the wrong year is an error from props, then ok. But if it's not, then this guy just took over some guys house & identity who used to live there..until 3 years ago... around the time SWORD changed their meaning...

I do think that unless they're trying to double-trick everyone & a reveal is coming in further future that he was actually the other Pietro, it's most likely that he isn't & was never meant to be. But I also think there's more to him than just some random Ralph, whose house Agatha took over just because it was next to the one Wanda created. I do think the name might be the directors nod to a character on a tv sitcom he used to be part of the cast (creators love to add little nods to people & things they know & like into their works). But putting his name + Agatha's bunny + her comment that there's no taming Agnes comments together... that's a tripple adult joke...

And, untimately, I think this character being just Ralph was supposed to be about the viewers going through the same experience as Wanda. Wanda is pretty messed up, so when a stranger shows up to her door, and claims to be her brother, she at first embraces it. Because she really wants it to be true. But slowly logic takes over, and she becomes suspicious, and questions the actual truth. For Wanda he kinda looks similar, and he has the brothers abilities. So she accepts the lie as the truth...for a second (they did the same with White Vision in ep 9...when for a moment she thought it's her Vision...because she wanted it to be true..so badly). I do think that this was one of the reasons behind this character. I do think that within this show it was always supposed to be about the veiwers being confused together with Wanda. Which...does not mean there's not more to him that'll be explored in the future. And they might still turn it into a multiverse plot twist, but for now, I think it worked the way it did. Especially since they did leave it open with all the little weird details (laughing at his own name, etc)

And it worked...we, like Wanda, wanted to believe “the lie” so badly that we convinced ourselves into believing he is Fox Quicksilver. This is why I personally loved this reveal. And I don’t get the upset. Because this works so much better with the shows theme. It shows how powerful “suggestion” is, and how easy it is to trick the human mind. 

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AGATHA’S ACTIONS: 

If Agatha is able to free everyone from Wanda’s spell (as demonstrated in the finale), then why didn’t she do it sooner/right away?

Is it cause she didn’t fully understand what was going on soon enough? We know that Vision didn’t free everyone right away after ep 5 was because freeing them meant causing them feel pain, and Vision is all good. But what’s Agatha’s excuse/explanation? If she considers Wanda’s mind-control as wrong, then why did she not help the people if she could? Because she had her own agenda...she needed her to keep up the illusion in order to get what she wanted. And she was doing it all knowingly.

Agatha has no right to judge Wanda here. Vision & Monica do/have. People of WV can. The damage Wanda caused was an accidental byproduct of her grief (when she cries everyone feels it & cries..without her knowing...she can’t affect others emotions), but Agatha planned everything with full knowedge of what she was doing. She is the villain who seems to have good intentions. Wanda is the hero, who seems to have bad intentions. One lead by good, other by evil.

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WANDA VS MONICA/"GERALDINE"

I think that the reason Wanda seems to be hostile towards Monica, while she seems to be determined to help her at any cost (to herself) is all about reality vs hex-ality. If you pay attention then the moments that "anger" Wanda during this sitcom freality are the ones where something from actual reality gets through to her freality. Jimmy's radio message in ep 2. The beekeeper in ep 2. Mention of Ultron in ep 3. The drones. Since Monica represents the reality that is ruining her fake reality, does not fit in, is a deviation from her script, then she is trying to edit it out. Monica is trying to connect to Wanda because of the grief connection (she has similar experience due to what happened with her mom & the blip). Wanda is also probably not completety sure she isn't on the same team as Hayward is. She might focus her anger towards her cause in her mind she represents SWORD.

  Also...some bits are making me think that Wanda sensed that there was an outsider in her dream-world. That there was an enemy among her neighbours/friends. But...she either could not identify them, or Agatha mis-directed the suspicion at others on purpose, making her mis-identify the threat. Cause what Wanda tells Geraldine before she kicks her out is actually, in reality, applies to Agatha.

Also...from production POV...the reason they had Wanda physically attack Monica, and not others is because shes the only "random" person with powers. So she's a worthy match. And they used this to set up her powers, and showcase them. Once it was decided Monica was part of the shows story, and she'd get her powers, that was it. She had to exit the hex (2x enter + 1x exit), and Wanda is basically the only one who could make that happen (throw someone out). So from that POV it was just a means to an end. The ep 7 fight was to show us & Wanda more of her powers.

                             *************************

THE STATE OF WESTVIEW: 

Did Wanda see WestView as being in ruins & people all alone & sad when she was driving through the city becase of her own mental state (when she arrive there)? Was she projecting her own feeling to others & hence saw her own feelings in others? And in reality the city was not in the state she saw it? Because based on the finale the people of WV did not seem as sad & city as much in ruins as it looked to her? Did she accidentally project her feeling on others...for real? Is this what happened? 

When the hex goes down the city is still “rusty” (boarded up houses, no shine), but the people might not have been as un happy as she perceived? We won’t know...

Was her perception accurate or incorrect?  Not answered, really...

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THE AEROSPACE ENGINEER?

Though it seems that the engineer friend was the lady she met up with, who brough Monica the vehicle to enter the hex, I am still a bit unsure about her not being just the messenger, because Monica originally says “guy”...which kinda hints towards a male. So that, to me, was also left a bit open ended...

JIMMY’S FRIEND CLIFF?

Who is this other FBI agent Ciff who Jimmy calls to help. Who is this? I don’t think it’s anyone important. I just think that this is yet another meta joke. He is calling Cliff Hanger. #Cliffhanger lol 

THE END 

#text post #my thoughts #WandaVision #SPOILER #WandaVision spoilers #WandaVision spoiler #WandaVisionSpoilers #Wanda Maximoff #Vision #The Vision #Hex Vision #Soul Vision #Wanda #Wanda Vision #Wanda x Vision #MCU #LONG POST #LIST POST

[greatghuleh]

Loki show thoughts: I liked it. I came into it liking Loki and also with the mind frame of accepting that it was a stepping stone to future Marvel stuff. And I felt this show had the most to do with it being a stepping stone than the others and therefore why the last ep could have Kang, as it kept being hinted here and there for those looking that deeply for clues. Which was such a feeling of validation to keen viewers, as opposed to the disappointment a lot of people felt from WV when, for a bunch of reasons(the pandemic, not wanting to take away from Wanda's journey, and being more gentle with forging the path BECAUSE it was the first DP series) couldn't give us Mafisto or an actual Multiverse plucked version of Pietro pulled from the FOX X-Men. Plus, we got Classic Loki that was top tier performance, Kid Loki is such a Mood, and Gator Loki was a treasure! <3

I'm critical of it, but I did enjoy it. I had a good time watching it. and it definitely had me engaged through the episodes trying to predict things. I felt a lot of theories were better than the final result tho, sadly.

I think the Mephisto theory for WV was reaching. The Pietro shit makes me fume.

Interesting tho that you mention the other Loki's. that's one of my criticisms of the show. In that I LOVED those main variants we saw. Honestly Classic!Loki stole the show. Classic!Loki was LOKI. and I'm sitting here the entire season of this show waiting for MCU!Loki, the Loki we're supposed to be invested in here to actually do something really worth while. He basically became a side character, almost the straight man, in his own show. And it was almost really about Sylvie's journey. which is fine. the show just framed things very strangely... told the story very strangely.

I knew it was going to be a stepping stone into the Multiverse stuff. and really bring it to the forefront. I think they could have made some more interesting choices to get us there... and they could have done it without dumbing MCU!Loki down so much.

the show is worth watching. like... a solid 6/10 or something

#tv: loki #loki spoilers #loki spoliers

[curious-wildflower]

Mothman The Seconded Most American Cryptid Of All

Straight up first is bigfoot.

Anyhow, not here for him so let’s talk Mothman: calamity and capitalism. Everyone who knows anything about cryptids knows Mothman, people are very thirsty for him, he has that statue with the fine steel ass, have a festival for him the 3rd weekend of September, all over Point Pleasant you can find capitalism at it’s finest marketing everything for shirts to pizzas about Mothman.

Below I will be listing the Mothman sightings I know of before sharing my own thought upon it all, also to note I will not be including those that are about large birds which supposedly had wide wings (of which there are many) because I feel like that’s creeping into Thunderbird territory and I’m not looking at. You can also see where it went from your average small-town UFO/Creature sightings into well what it is today.

 1960- Shirley Hensley and her family lived on the outskirts of Huntington, West Virginia. Their house was located on Crotty street also known as 31st Street Hill. Shirley said that she and her family would often hear odd noises and see "two big, red eyes….. You could hear the grunting noise as it bumped up against the house and the leaves crackling - [as it walked.] We could also hear a gargling type of sound, and then a very loud scream would come out...and it was a blood-curdling scream like nothing I had ever heard before or since."  

Growing up as a poor child of nine "[they] all took turns getting the water [from the well], and [they] had a rule that [they] had to get the water in before dark - that is when this thing always came around. [They] never saw it in the daylight, so everyone knew that they had to bring in the water before dark. It would come around one or two nights for about three weeks, and then it would go away. This went on for about three years."

Her father once attempted shooting it once when it was digging around in the neighbour’s coal pile out front, “he shot at it and it let out a loud scream and started running towards the hill.” Her "dad was a little angry, because he had told [her] sister Mary to stay in the house, but she had witnessed the whole thing while standing behind him. She said it was a big, tall black shiny thing with big red eyes. [The] dad described it as at least 7ft [(2.1m)] tall, and that it had very long arms that went down past its knees and that when it ran up the hillside the arms stayed down at its side…it ran in an awkward manner.” And that it’s eyes “looked like red bicycle reflectors”

1961- A woman and her elderly father was driving on Route 2 along the Ohio River on the West Virginia side. As they passed through Chief Cornstalk Hunting Grounds, in the middle of the road suddenly she slowed as “A big grey figure. It stood in the middle of the road. Then a pair of wings unfolded from its back and they practically filled the whole road. It almost looked like a small airplane. Then it took off straight up...disappearing out of sight in seconds.” Terrifeid she stepped on the gas, and got out of there, and decided once having spoken with her father about it not to share the encounter out of fear of reticule.  

1965 - A woman living on the Ohio River, was amused when her seven-year-old son ran into the house one day and excitedly told her that he had seen "An angel . . . A man with wings". She assumed it was just his imagination and thought no more about it, until the next year.

1966- Early summer the wife of a doctor in the Ohio valley, was in her backyard when a 6ft (1.8m) long thing soared past her very rapidly. She thought it resembled a "giant butterfly" and she dared to mention the incident to only a few people.

August Sometime, Jefferson Avenue Point Pleasant WV, Lawrence Gray was coming home from church when he got the strange sense that something was in his house as he approached the steps at around 9:30PM. He lived in a small white house on Jefferson Avenue across from Wesleyan Church. As he entered his house, the feeling of dread grew stronger but he didn’t find anything when he searched around other than the hook-style lock on his basement door being unlatched. Lawrence and his wife went to sleep around 10:30 or 11:00PM. At around 3AM, he found himself awake and looking out the window by his bedside as a car pulled into the nearby church and the bright streetlight illuminated the street below.  

Lawrence turned his head to see a 6ft (1.8m) tall glowing figure with deep eyes and large wings standing with its shoulders arched and its head tilted. The figure was described as “lunar” in coloration meaning dirty grey and white like the surface of the moon. When Lawrence saw the being, he was paralysed. He was convinced that it was “the devil”. The encounter went on for about 45 seconds. Lawrence said that when he focused on Bible verses, the creature vanished.

September 1st, Mrs. James Ikart of Scott Mississippi was astonished to see a man flying around above the Pine Land Plantation. She telephoned the Delta Democrat Times, Greenville, Mississippi and a reporter armed with cameras was rushed to the scene, once arrived he found several people staring at the sky, all claiming that they had seen an object shaped like man manoeuvring overhead. "It got down pretty low and then would go up," Mrs. Ikart told him. "I have never seen anything like this before."

November 1st,  Armory near Camp Conley Road, Point Pleasant WV, a national guardsman at the armoury near Camp Conley road in Pt Pleasant WV claimed to have seen a large brown humanoid figure perched on the limb of a tree.

November 12th, Reamer Hill Cemetery near Clendenin WV, Kenneth Duncan Robert “Bob” Lovejoy, William “Bill” Poole, Andrew Godby and Emil Gibson were digging a grave for Kenneth’s father-in-law, Homer Smith, in a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia. Claimed to see a man-like figure that flew out from some nearby trees and glided low over their heads, the creature was brown and in sight for about a minute and that it didn’t look like any kind of bird but seemed to be humanoid, like a man with wings.

November 15th, Abandoned North Power Plant building, TNT Area, Mason County WV & Route 62, Point Pleasant WV. Two young married couples Linda Scarberry, Roger Scarberry, Steve Mallette and Mary Mallette were joyriding around in a black ’57 Chevy to a hangout spot north of Point Pleasant known as The TNT Area. When they suddenly saw two circular fiery red eyes next to the abandoned North Power Plant. They said the grey man-like figure was 6 to 7ft (1.8 -2.1m) tall with folded wings behind it’s back. They quickly drove off on Route 62. The couples then saw the creature on a hill by a large billboard. It spread it’s 10ft (3m) wings, went straight up into the air and began gliding over the car.  

When they got to a straight stretch of road, they were going about 100mph but the thing was still able to follow them. They were only able to get away from the creature when they reached the edge of Point Pleasant. The monster disappeared, veering off into a field as they entered town.

After stopping at the local Dairyland to discuss what to do next, the teens decided to head back onto Route 62 to see if it was still there before they drove back into town, stopped at the local Tiny’s Diner and contacted the police.

Deputy Millard Halstead accompanied them back The TNT Area but found no clear sign of the creature. The witnesses however claimed to see red eyes, shadows and dust being kicked up nearby. They also reportedly heard a strange noise that sounded like a squeak or a record being sped up. The Mallettes accompanied Linda and Roger back to the Scarberry home where they stayed awake all night from fear.

The next day, Sheriff George Johnson held a press conference and newspaper reports began being written. By that night, the TNT area was filled with cars of people looking for the monster. While the locals simply called it “The Bird”, the newspapers named the creature “Mothman”.

November 16th, Point Pleasant WV – Housing within the TNT Area. 21-year-old Marcella Bennett, her 2-year-old daughter Tina, her 19-year-old brother Raymond Wamsley and his 18-year-old wife Cathy Wamsley went to visit their relatives. Raymond and Marcella’s sister Virginia Thomas lived within the TNT Area with her husband Ralph Thomas.

When the group arrived at the residence, they found that the only ones home at the time were the Thomas children, 15-year-old Rickie and his two sisters Vickie and Connie. After exchanging a few words, the Bennetts and Wamsleys headed back to their car. It was about 9pm now and that’s when they spotted some strange lights in the sky hovering above the trees. Raymond stopped at the bottom of the steps and tried to get Marcella’s attention. She ignored him and began walking to the car, carrying her daughter.

She said she saw creature out of the corner of her eye as she was unlocking the car door and that it stood up from behind her parked vehicle. She first saw men’s legs which looked to be covered with grey feathers. It had wings drawn in toward the body and its head was tilted sideways and sunken into the shoulder area. Marcella described the creature as over 6ft tall, like a giant bird yet also a man. Raymond and his wife Cathy were both very frightened and kept yelling for Marcella to run, but she was paralysed by fear. When Marcella finally managed to turn she took only a few steps towards the house before falling to the ground in a state of shock on top of her daughter. She was unable to get up as if in a trance.

Marcella heard the flapping of wings as she was trying to run. After pulling herself together, she picked up her child and ran into the house. The family locked themselves inside. Marcella’s hands and knees were badly scrapped and bruised. She had been burned from her lit cigarette and the side of her face was bleeding from where she had fallen. The children inside were all screaming and crying in panic. Raymond Wamsley frantically phoned the sheriff’s department. By this time Marcella was lying on the sofa and could hear him telling them to get to The TNT Area because they’d seen the monster. He said they were locked in the house but that it was still outside.

The bird creature is said to have shuffled onto the porch, pushed on the door and peered into the windows. It took the police about 15 to 20 minutes to arrive but the creature was gone by the time they got there. They came with guns drawn and searched all around the property. The front yard was soon full of police cars and curious people. Raymond talked to the police and filled out a report.

November 17th Route 7 near Cheshire Ohio, a teenage boy driving on Route 7 reportedly saw a grey man-shaped bird creature with red eyes and 10ft (3m) wingspan. The creature pursued the witness’s automobile for about a mile.

November 18th TNT Area – Point Pleasant WV, Point Pleasant volunteer firemen Benjamin Enochs and Captain Paul Yoder supposedly sighted a huge bird-like creature with large red eyes while in the TNT area unlike anything they’d seen before.

November 20th Dixie, Nicholas County WV, Howard Miller reportedly saw a 4ft (1.4m) tall bird with red half-moons under the eyes which landed on a school bus shelter in Dixie, Nicholas County WV.  

Same day near Campbell’s Creek WV six teenagers claimed to see a grey red-eyed man-sized creature. On that night, Brenda Jones and four other teenagers driving along Campbell’s Creek saw a man-sized bird-creature standing beside a rock quarry by view of their car’s headlights. It turned and ran into the woods.

November 21st, Charleston WV, Richard West phoned Charleston police and talked with Patrolman D.L Tucker. He reported that a 6ft (1.8m) tall man with red eyes and a 6 to 8ft wingspan was sitting on a roof near his home. West said that it flew like a helicopter straight up into the air.

November 24th, Point Pleasant WV two adults and their two children reported a giant red-eyed flying creature.

November 27th Route 33, near New Haven WV, 18-year-old Connie Carpenter was driving home at 10:30 AM passed the old Mason County Golf Course outside of New Haven WV when she saw a large grey 7ft tall man-like figure with glowing red hypnotic eyes which caused her to almost run her car off the road. The 10ft(3m) wings unfolded from the creatures back and it rose straight up into the air then headed toward Connie’s windshield. When she accelerated forward, the creature flew over the top of the car and Connie raced home. She developed conjunctivitis for over two weeks afterwards supposedly caused by staring into creature’s glowing red eyes.

On the same evening at Route 60 near St. Albans WV, 13-year-old Sheila Cain and her younger sister were walking home from the store in St. Albans WV when they saw a large 7ft (2.1m) grey and white creature with big red eyes standing next to the local junk yard. Shelia screamed and they ran away stating that the creature flew up into the air and pursued them. They ran into a neighbour’s house who confirmed their sighting.

November Sometime in the TNT Area, North Power Plant, Mason County WV, Bob Bosworth and his friend Alan Coates were riding around Alan’s motorcycle towards the TNT Area along Camp Conley Road. When they arrived at the abandoned North Power Plant they saw what appeared to be two red eyes looking at them from the roof of the old building. They thought perhaps someone had nailed some reflectors to a board. The two men tried to turn and the lift the front of the motorcycle to shine it’s headlight at the roof but it was too heavy. They decided to go up into the building to check it out. As they began entering, the red lights seemed to turn to watch them.

Moonlight illuminated much of the power plant’s interior through the large industrial size windows. Within the shadowed section of the building, towards the back, a large 6’6″ to 7ft (1.8-2.1m) tall figure walked forward; stepping across the broken glass covered flooring. The figure in the dark had broad shoulders and its head appeared to be sitting on its shoulders with no visible neck like an upside down letter “U” which tapered to its body like a robin. It came within about 6 feet of Bob and Alan and just stood there. Bosworth, to see if it was a person, said aloud that he was going to shoot the creature. He put his hand in his coat as if to reach for something but the figure remained motionless and silent.  

Eventually, the creature slowly turns it’s body towards the decaying metal grate catwalks within the power plant and began walking along them. Bosworth shouted out to the figure, still unsure if it was a person, saying not to go onto the catwalks because they were dangerous and led outside to a multiple story drop they then heard something that sounded like wings, frightened the two men took off and left on Alan’s motorcycle.  

On a late fall evening in November, TNT Area, North Power Plant, Mason County at about 11PM, after seeing a movie in Ohio, Faye Dewitt’s 16-year-old brother Carlisle who went by Topper drove Faye (14) and her younger siblings Betty, Ray and Jack in his car to the TNT Area. He reportedly took them there to prove that the creature they’d heard about from the kids at school didn’t exist. As they drove at about 50mph, Faye turned to see something running beside the truck. It had a human-like head and was covered in feathers with large ruby red eyes that took up most of it’s face. The creature was described as over 5ft tall and white-ish and tan in coloration.

Her older brother Topper drove around a sharp turn in an attempt to try to lose the creature but it kept up with them and continued to follow. In a panic, Faye’s younger siblings were hiding by ducking down in the floor of the truck with Betty huddled over Ray and Jack. Topper went around another sharp turn and stopped his car sideways in the road by the abandoned North Power Plant. Faye said the creature got on the roof of the car and looked at them through the windshield. It then stood up, jumped down off the vehicle and ran towards the power plant, the creature then jumped up to the top of the old three-story-high power plant and crouched like a gargoyle. Faye’s brother got out and began throwing rocks and pieces of coal at the creature.

When he threw a larger chunk of coal that landed by it’s foot, the creature stood up, turned sideways to looked at him and jumped down from the roof. Topper rushed back to the vehicle and closed the door. The creature spread out a pair of 5 to 6ft (1.5-1.8m) wings and flew off into the darkness, they then drove to the Mason County courthouse and told the deputy what happened.

December 6th in the TNT Area, Mason County WV a couple spotted a huge man-like grey figure with glowing red eyes.

December 7th Route 33, Ohip, four women describe a man-shaped flying creature with glowing red eyes, brownish and silver in coloration. Same night in the TNT Area, Mason County WV author John Keel arrived in Point Pleasant WV. After talking to Deputy Millard Halstead at the Mason County courthouse, he met with Mabel McDaniel who was the mother of Mothman witness Linda Scarberry. Mabel made several phone calls and assembled the witnesses for Keel to talk to. This included Linda and Roger Scarberry, Steve and Mary Mallette as well as Connie Carpenter and her aunt Mary Hyre who was the local reporter. After recording statements from the witnesses with a tape-recorder, at about 9PM Keel and the group that consisted of John Keel, Mary Hyre, the Scarberry and Mallettes, Mabel McDaniel, Connie Carpenter and her boyfriend Keith Aeiker decided to go the sighting location at the TNT Area with a flashlight.

They went through the old gate at the abandoned North Power Plant where Keel, Connie and Keith went into the building. Keel climbed the steel ladders and walked along the catwalks. After not finding anything, the trio went for the exit. As they were leaving Connie suddenly saw two large red glowing eyes by the back wall and screamed. Connie and Keith left the building in a panic but Keel went back in, shining his flashlight around and searching for something that could’ve made the red lights she saw.

Finding nothing he walked out of the North Power Plant and saw Deputy Alva Sullivan had joined the group. Mary Hyre told Keel that they’d seen a tall running figure and asked if it was him but he told her that he’d been in the building the whole time. Mabel McDaniel added that while Keel was in there, they had heard a loud hollow metallic sound like something metal had fallen. The whole group, except for Keel, said they had heard this. Mary Mallette’s ear also began bleeding seemingly without reason. The group drove back to the McDaniel residence and Mary Mallete’s ear eventually stopped bleeding. Keel returned to The TNT Area alone at about midnight. There he found what he described as a “zone of fear”. It was a spot in the road that was mysteriously fear-inducing each time he passed it yet he couldn’t figure out why.

December 8th, Route 35, WV, two women sight a shadowy figure seen on hilltop with two glowing red eyes.

December 11th, TNT Area a man and his son spot a man-shaped grey figure which quickly flew overhead. Same day Kathryn Beaver on Route 35, WV, sees a very large grey creature with glowing red eyes, flew past her car.

December of 1966 13th Street in Point Pleasant WV, A month after the Linda Scaberry’s initial Mothman sighting, she had moved in with her parents, Linda reportedly looked out the window and saw the creature sitting on the roof of the house which slanted down from the upstairs bedroom window, the creature’s wings were folded around itself as if to keep warm in the cold weather. Its head was tilted, looking curiously through the window. Linda said she views the creature as lonely and thought it didn’t want to hurt her but to communicate.

1967- January 11th, Tiny’s Diner, Route 62 , Point Pleasant WV, Mabel McDaniel (mother os Lina Scarberry) was walking near Tiny’s Diner when she saw a large brown creature with a 10ft (3m) wingspan flying over Route 62. At first she thought it was an airplane but it was flying very low. The creature had “men’s legs” hanging down from it, she didn’t see a head or a neck. It glided silently without flapping it’s wings. It circled the restaurant and then flew away.  

March 12th, Letart Falls, Ohio, a woman reports a large flying being with long white hair and a 10ft wingspan which passed directly in front of her car.

May 19th, Route 62 TNT Area Pt Pleasant WV at about 10:30PM, while driving past the area, Brenda Stone and another woman witnessed what looked like a winged creature fly up to meet a UFO. The women claimed that they had seen a shadowy form with bright red lights like glowing eyes in the top of a tree near the road. A large hovering red light which looked to be a luminous object then appeared and approached the tree. The shadowy figure flew towards the red glowing object and vanished the UFO then flew out of sight to the north.

November 2nd, TNT Area Igloos, Point Pleasant WV, Virginia Thomas (sister to Marcella Bennett) was in the kitchen of her house when she heard a loud squeaking sound, she said was similar to a bad fan belt. Virginia stepped out on her front porch to investigate the noise and saw a large shadow across the grass field and a tall grey man-shaped figure moving quickly among the TNT Area igloos. The figure walked upright like a man but was much larger and moved amazingly fast in a gliding motion. It then disappeared into some nearby trees. After that sighting, Mrs. Thomas had several nightmares. One of which featured strange people along the river and an invasion of some sort coming over The Silver Bridge in trucks and going into the TNT Area. In the dream, the Thomas’ grab the kids and run. She wasn’t sure what the dream meant.  

November Sometime, Chief Cornstalk Park WV, four male Hunters encountered a large grey figure with red eyes they were so frightened that they didn’t think to use their rifles until after it was gone.  

December 15- The Silver Bridge was built in 1928 and named for the colour of its aluminium paint. The bridge was meant to be built with suspension cables but wanting to cut costs was made with the cheaper ear-bar chain suspensions instead, it carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio.

December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Analysis showed that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it had originally been designed for and had been poorly maintained.

Paranormal author Gray Baler made a Mothman theory especially popular in 1970 with his book ‘The Silver Bridge’ where he made links between the bridge collapse and the Mothman sights turning the Mothman into a harbour of death or an omen of bad things to come.  

Mothman’s origin story are said to be with Chief Hokoleskwa (spelled Colesqua in some accounts) also known as Keigh-tugh-qua and Wynepuechsika, "Cornstalk" by Anglo-Americans. Who lived 1720 – 1777 and was a prominent leader of the Shawnee nation just prior to the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783. When he along with other leaders of the seven nations of Indians  in the area (the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Mingo, Miami, Ottawa and Illinois) formed a powerful confederacy to keep the white men from infringing on their territory opposed European settlement west of the Ohio river- where they wanted to take over 100,000 acres/156.25 square miles/4.05 square meters of Indian land, they attacked. Over the years of death in 1764, to assure that American Indians would sign a peace treaty ending the rebellion, they seized several hostages, including Hokolesqua. The Shawnee agreed not to take up arms against the English again.  

During the next decade, fighting did occur between the British and the American Indians of the Ohio Country. Hokolesqua tried to peacefully ease the tensions, but the arrival of more white settlers placed him in the minority as to how to deal with the whites.

In August 1774, Pennsylvania militia entered the Ohio Country and quickly destroyed seven Ohio Seneca-Cayuga villages, which had been abandoned as the soldiers approached. At the same time, Lord Dunmore sent one thousand men to the Kanawha River in modern-day West Virginia to build a fort and attack the Shawnees. Cornstalk as the soldiers invaded the Ohio Country, dispatched nearly one thousand Shawnee warriors to drive Dunmore's force from the region. The forces met on October 10, 1774, at what became known as the Battle of Point Pleasant. After several hours of intense fighting, the English drove Hokolesqua's followers north of the Ohio River. Dunmore, with a separate force, followed the Shawnee across the river into the Ohio Country. Upon nearing the Shawnee villages on the Pickaway Plains, Dunmore stopped and asked that the Shawnee discuss a peace treaty with him. The Shawnee agreed, but while negotiations were under way, Colonel Andrew Lewis, and a detachment of Virginia militia that Dunmore had left behind at Point Pleasant, crossed the Ohio River and destroyed several Shawnee villages. Fearing that Dunmore intended to destroy them, the Shawnee immediately agreed to terms before more pointless blood was shed. They were forced to give up ownership to all lands east and south of the Ohio River. This was the first time that an American Indian group that lived in the Ohio Country were forced to relinquish their land. In addition, the Shawnees promised to return all white captives and to no longer attack English colonists traveling down the Ohio River.

Hokolesqua abided by this treaty of course angry most Shawnee did not. By 1777, the Shawnee Indians again planned to drive the white settlers from their region. This time they did so at the urging of British soldiers who sought assistance in defeating the colonists in the American Revolution. Hokolesqua and his son, Elinipsico seeking to maintain his faction's neutrality, went to Point Pleasant the site of an American fort, on a diplomatic visit to warn the whites of the impending attack and were taken hostage by them instead. Shortly thereafter, American militiaman stationed at the fort was killed by unknown Indians in the vicinity. Angry soldiers brutally murdered Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and two other Shawnees (Red Hawk and an unknown man) in American custody, even though the men had nothing to do with the crime, the Americans decided to execute the prisoners as revenge. Red Hawk and Elinipsico was shot where he had been sitting and the other unknown Indian was strangled to death. Hokolesqua was shot eight times upon his dying breath he was said to have pronounced his now legendary curse.  

“I was the border man’s friend. Many times I have saved him and his people from harm. I never warred with you, but only to protect our wigwams and lands. I refused to join your paleface enemies with the red coats. I came to the fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side, my young son.... For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in its hopes. May the strength of its peoples be paralysed by the stain of our blood.” And then he died.  

The bodies of the other Indians and his son were then taken and dumped into the Kanawha River but Hokolesqua ‘s corpse was buried near the fort on Point Pleasant, overlooking the junction of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. The murderers were acquitted.

Local legends arose about his dying "curse" being the cause of misfortunes in the area. Any disaster that stuck the area was blamed upon this curse such as:

1880s: Fire destroyed an entire downtown city block.

1907: The worst coal mine disaster in American history took place in Monongah, West Virginia on December 6, when 310 miners were killed.

1913- 1937: Point Pleasant was almost obliterated in floods.

1944: In June of this year, 150 people were killed when a tornado ripped through the tri-state triangular area.

1953: Barge explosion killed six men from Point Pleasant just before Christmas.

1967: The devastating Silver Bridge disaster that sent 46 people hurtling to their death in the Ohio River on December 15. Many have also connected this tragedy to the eerie sightings of the Mothman, strange lights in the sky and odd paranormal happenings.

1968: August, A Piedmont Airlines plane crashed near the Kanawha Airport, killing 35 people on board.

1970: On November 14, a Southern Airways DC-10 crashed into a mountain near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75 people on board.

1970 – 1984: The Minden-based Shaffer Equipment Company built electrical equipment for the coal industry from 1970 to 1984 and used the oil in transformers and other hardware, which was common at the time. The United States banned the manufacture of products containing oil with polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs in 1979, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies the group of chemicals as a “probable human carcinogen.”  

1972: February 26, a sludge dam on the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek in Logan County gave way, loosening a torrent of thick, murky water that promptly wiped out the small community of Saunders, and sixteen more Buffalo Creek Valley communities--Pardee, Lorado, Craneco, Lundale, Stowe, Crites, Latrobe, Robinette, Amherstdale, Becco, Fanco, Riley, Braeholm, Accoville, Crown, and Kistler--were either partially or totally destroyed claimed at least 118 death with an additional 1000 injured, 507 houses were lost or demolished; 44 mobile homes were destroyed; another 273 houses were severely damaged; while nearly 663 more houses suffered damage to varying degrees and a total of 4000 people were thus left homeless by this flood.

1976: March 2, housed in the Mason County Jail was a woman named Harriet Sisk, who had been arrested for the murder of her infant daughter, her husband came to the jail with a suitcase full of explosives to kill himself and his wife and to destroy the building. Both of the Sisk’s were killed, along with three law enforcement officers.

1978: In January, a freight train derailed at Point Pleasant and dumped thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals. The chemicals contaminated the town’s water supply and the wells had to be abandoned.

1978: In April of that same year, the town of St. Mary’s (north of Point Pleasant) 51 men who were working on the Willow Island power plant were killed when their construction scaffolding collapsed.

1979 – 1989: Released in July by the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, due to past PCB dumping suggest that the rate of cancer deaths in Minden could have been twice as high as for the rest of Fayette County.

1990 – 1999: Due to PCB dumping the Minden cancer death-rate spiked to four times higher than that of the rest of the county before dipping in 2000 to a rate that was nearly equal to the rest of the county.

2010: Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5 in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine blew up, twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed.  

2016: A flood hit areas of the U.S. state of West Virginia and nearby parts of Virginia, resulting in 23 deaths.

Any and everything that could go wrong can get pointed back to this curse and Mothman who since the bridge collapse has been tied to it all as well. Amazing how Mothman’s popularity is based on American racism blaming a murdered man’s curse, capitalism being happier for people to blame that then any of their lax government regulations, economic pressure and cut corners, because in America who cares what’s risked for a small profit? And my now they can market and sell it all for more profit. The Mothman is a symbol of calamity and capitalism as American as can be.  

For like newspaper clippings go look out at: https://themothman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mothman_Timeline

Sources:  

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel 1975  

Mothman and Other Curious Encounters by Loren L. Coleman (2002)

Strange Creatures From Time And Space by John Keel (1970)

Mothman- Behind the Red Eyes : the Complete Investigative Library by Jeff Wamsley (2005)  

https://www.aaanativearts.com/shawnee-chief-cornstalk

http://www.wvculture.org/history/disasters/buffcreekgovreport.html

#Mothman #Cryptids #Long rant #mothman says fuck racism #cornstalk

[trulymadlysydney]

2020 BABY!

Okay so as this year (decade wtf) comes to a close I just want to take some time to kind of reflect and be cheesy and thank you all for a moment.  You haven’t known me for this whole decade, but you’ve made the biggest impact on my life. This post is long as fuck so feel free to scroll past, but if you want to read my sappy thoughts go on! 💜

I’ve only had this blog for about four and a half years of the past decade, but in those four and a half years some of the biggest things have taken place in my life.  I am so thankful to all of you for sticking around (extra shoutout to those of you who have been here from the beginning) and have loved me and supported me and my writing. 

You lovingly guided me through every mistake I made and helped me learn how to grow and become better.  You quietly cheered me on through some of the hardest things I’ve ever been through (even if sometimes you didn’t realize you were doing it).  It was with your help that I realized that it was okay to heal from something awful that happened to me long before I even had this blog (and even realized what had happened at all), and it’s with your love that I continue to grow and heal and move forward.  

You saw me through TWO ridiculously hard moves. The first move was from my small town in WV, where I’d spent eight years of my life, where I was a blonde (lol) partying top-tier-sorority girl with my best friend from high school, where I had JUST seen One Direction live for the first (and last) time.  Where I deleted my entire existence off of the internet for like five days mid move because of fucking yachtgate lmao.  Where I was, admittedly, immature in the way I went about some things on this website. When I went through some of the loneliest years of my life trying to find my way as a 20 year old in an unfriendly city in Southern California.  You saw me through the first death in my family, and you encouraged me and kept me strong throughout it all.  You saw me through my first nightmare of a job (still bitter @ Macy’s,) through a few horrible dates with horrible people, through one of the worst possible few years I think I’ve ever gone through.

And then you saw me get better.  You saw me get a job at a bar where I fell in love with myself and with life again.   You saw me through a few broken hearts from guys at said bar (even if you didn’t know it!), but you also were right there cheering me on through some of the happiest memories I’ve ever had in my life.  

WE SAW HARRY GO THROUGH HIS FIRST WORLD TOUR TOGETHER! Even if you weren’t actually at The Forum, I feel like all of you were there with me through that experience, and it was so insane to be able to share it with you like that. (I even got to meet a few of you, and I CANNOT WAIT TO DO THAT AGAIN NEXT TOUR!)

And then you saw me through another move, now to Arizona.  Just as hard, but now I went through it as an adult.  And you were all there, just as loving and supportive and encouraging as ever-- and I’ll never be able to thank you guys enough for constantly being friends with me even when I feel alone.   We’ve created a little family here, as cheesy as that sounds, and as much as we all like to complain about tumblr, I don’t ever take it lightly.  I’ve genuinely met some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known in my life through Harry and through this community (even if I haven’t met some of them personally) and no matter what happens in the future, it’s something I’m always going to treasure.

This past year in particular was a bit of a rollercoaster.  There were so many things that went right, and so many things that went wrong.  I had another nightmare job.  I was turned down by an airline, and wanted to give up on my dream so badly.  There were so many times when I felt SO alone, and then I’d log on and you all would be there, asking excitedly about the next chapter of one of my stories, or updating me on your lives, or checking in just to see how I was doing.  You’re incredible people, and I genuinely mean it when I say I love you all with my entire heart.

Last month, it finally happened.  I landed my absolute dream job, and I leave early February to embark on an adventure that is going to shape my whole entire future.  I could not WAIT to share it with you all, my little family, when I found out and the amount of love and excitement I received, whether you were long time followers or brand new, was so overwhelming and meant more to me than I can ever even tell you guys.  

I know it means things are going to change from here on out.  I won’t be on here as much, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue writing much once I really get started with this.  I have no plans to delete, however, and I can’t wait to share some of my adventures with you!  I just wanted to make sure you all knew, as we start this next decade, that even if I don’t tell you all that often-- I love you all.  I think about you guys often, I remember your stories and I really do pray or send love and good vibes when you ask me to.  I get so excited when you come on here and update me, even if its months or, in some cases-- years later.  I’m so thankful I’m ending this decade and going into this terrifying but so exciting new chapter in my life with all of you behind me.  I’m so excited to get the chance to travel the world (and finally get to meet some of my most favorite people), I’m so excited to get to see Harry and experience Love on Tour with you all, and I’m just so excited for all of you to start this decade off on the right foot as well.

I’m so sorry this was so long and if you read the whole thing, thank you hahaha.  I’m so thankful for every single one of you, I can’t tell you how much you mean to me and how much you will always mean to me no matter where this upcoming year takes me, AND HOW MUCH I WISH I COULD THANK HARRY FOR GIVING ME SO MANY ONLINE FRIENDS! Whether you’ve been here for a few years or just followed me this week, I love you all, be safe tonight, have all the fun in the world, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! 💜

[homespork-review]

Homespork Act 3: Insane Mindscrew Haymakers (Part 3)

FAILURE ARTIST: We cut to PM, WV, and AR in the far but not that far future. WV is trying to obey the letter’s direction to give the package to PM but AR keeps shooting. Yet WV and PM take cover behind a rock and WV is able to complete the task. The letter calls PM “Miss Mail Lady” so we now have a gender.

Back to Dream Jade. She flies to another golden tower and peers in on John sleeping. This bedroom is also defaced like his one in the waking world, plus there’s a creepy harlequin doll next to him. She isn’t sure if he got her present or if she even sent it, so she decides she’ll ask later.

CHEL: Dream John is fitfully asleep, but Jade intends to let him wake up on his own. Here, it’s established that Dream Jade does not know everything waking Jade does, as she decides she needs a system to remind her of things, which in the waking world she has (remember the COLORFUL REMINDERS).

The moon on which the city is now revealed to be placed is moving close to Skaia, the gargantuan sphere of cloudy blue sky mentioned by Nannasprite as the crucible of creation. Apparently it’s not safe to be outside during the “eclipse”, so Jade heads back to her tower.

FAILURE ARTIST: We cut to John alchemizing a bunch of stuff, some useful and some never to appear again. One of these things is a Cosbytop computer and that hasn’t aged well. John feels like it’s both his birthday and Christmas and though he thinks that’s impossible these pages came out a few days before Christmas. This fourth wall wink and nod comes up during another alchemizing frenzy.

CHEL: He contemplates a “1980s time-lapse montage” but instead we have to sit through him alchemising everything item by item.

GET ON WITH IT!: 12

Though he does come up with some useful stuff, including a rather snappy suit. By combining his glasses with the PDA he gets hands-free internet, and the sledgehammer, telescope, and Sassacre book together create the TELESCOPIC SASSACRUSHER, an extremely powerful weapon which unfortunately he can’t lift. Nannasprite’s ectoplasm and the gushers make healing candies, and ectoplasm, the fake arms, and the PDA solve the giant hammer problem by making REMOTE GHOST GAUNTLETS. One of the funnier items is a steam-iron-hammer he calls the WRINKLEFUCKER.

Dave, meanwhile, is STILL strifing with Bro, who apparently doesn’t notice or doesn’t care about the fact that the city is being flattened by meteors around them. Not doing a good job of showing “yes, this fight should be taken seriously”.

TIER: Neither does Dave for that matter, fucks given remains at a cool absolute zero on this roof.

GET ON WITH IT!: 13 HURRY UP AND DO NOTHING: 6

CHEL: At least it’s captioned FINAL ROUND now. Surrounded by watching crows, Dave hurls himself at Bro, and their collision results in the snapping of Dave’s sword, the bisection of Lil Cal (hooray!) and, somehow, the splitting of the picture of the record on Dave’s T-shirt; not cutting the cloth, turning the picture of a whole record into one of a broken record, which it will remain for the rest of its time in the story. Lots of analysis has been done by fans about how this represents Bro’s abuse shattering Dave’s true inner self, but in the context, it just looks like even sillier cartoon physics than we already had, if one even notices it (in the rush of visuals it’s easy to miss the first time round). It probably doesn’t help that Bro never actually says anything (nor do either of the other living adults), so we don’t really know what his thoughts on the matter are.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 12

Dave goes flying, rolling and skidding across the roof, landing in a rather battered-looking heap but with no serious harm done, and Bro chucks the game discs at him and… flies off on a hoverboard which I guess he has? Yet again, not adding to a serious tone here. Are hoverboards normal in this universe? Like the sylladexes, it was never established. Dave messages John, matter-of-factly telling him “bro just kicked my ass”. It’s still unclear how literal John thinks this ass-kicking is.

BRIGHT: This is apparently a universe in which some form of combat with one’s guardian is apparently routine, so John might well be thinking of Dave’s strifes with Bro as just a more intense version of a normal practice. On the other hand, by that same token, there’s nothing at this stage to say it isn’t just a more intense version of a normal practice. In fact, both John’s and Dave’s reactions suggest this is the case.

The problem really comes later on. If Dave’s situation is going to be taken seriously, then so should everyone else’s. Right now, although there are suggestions that all is not well, the tone of the text takes none of these situations seriously. It keeps everyone on a more even footing.

CHEL: Back on the golden moon, the eclipse is happening; during same, the moon and Jade’s tower thereupon, which are chained to the planet, swing right inside Skaia, surrounding it with clouds. On the surface of the clouds, we see images of events which happened earlier, including John’s house in the Medium, Rose’s house aflame, the tree in the desert, and the meteors falling on Dave’s city. This, we gather, is from where Jade obtains her mysterious information!

Dream Jade types messages to John, while the Dreambot types them out on a keyboard in the real world so he can actually get them. We proceed to see the same conversation about the package and SBurb we saw when Jade was first introduced, but this time I think a recap of it is actually pretty useful, especially the reference to the explosion. What happens is a little hard to parse, but as far as I can make out, a cloud shows a vision of a meteor emerging from a space portal, and the meteor actually emerges from the vision, becoming a cloud in the process. Said cloud-meteor then passes into a vision of Jade’s island when the volcano was still active and strikes down as the real meteor did in that time period. Jade, in her tower, hears it; I guess this is why it’s not safe to go outside during the eclipse?

In the volcano vision, we pull into a close-up shot of the lava-filled crater beneath the volcano, and a very familiar featureless canine head starts to emerge from it. Creepy.

Jade leaves the tower to check, and finds a vision of the lava with a blossom-like lit-up spirograph emerging from it, but when she tries to look, vision-Bec blocks her view of it, as the real Bec flies back and forth in front of the Dreambot. She messages John again, saying Bec doesn’t want her to go near the meteor crash site.

In John’s dream tower, the bed is empty; Dream John is now hovering outside it, eyes firmly shut. Jade sees him and drifts toward him, while John’s eyes slowly open. (This bit fuelled a fair amount of shipping at the time.) We see again the shaped clouds and the slowly approaching silhouette of Jade, revealing this to be the time when John fell asleep earlier, and at the exact same moment, real Jade and real John awake.

Again, we have a repeated conversation, this one being the one where Jade implores John to wake up. Now we know what she meant! Again, I think recapping this is reasonable, but maybe it could have been trimmed down so we just got the important points? That should have been done with all the repeat convos, really.

TIER: Personally speaking the little blurbs of repeated conversation shown during the flash would've gotten the point across without having to completely rehash the conversations.

With Jade awake properly, we get another convo rehash (now with proper context from both sides). Jade then consults her COLORFUL REMINDERS, as the visions of past and future events visible in the clouds as she sleeps can get very confusing very fast and the things help her put everything into usable info! With is fitting because dreams are trippy and easily forgotten. Jade notes two things: that this time there wasn't that much of future being shown, and that this is the first time that her dog guardian Bec has shown up a dream.

Bec has apparently never let Jade wander into the weird temple that is such a strange landmark of her island, but with the overpowered pooch taking a nap at the feet of his master's corpse, this is a good a time as any to try and pull one over him!

As Jade zip lines towards the temple and Rose continues construction on John's house, we cut back to Dave in the aftermath of the strife.

Dave is slightly saddened by poor Cal's “unfortunate” bisection (personally I was hollering because fuck that thing Jesus). His strife kind has also been turned into a ½ bladekind, courtesy of Bro fucking up his shit blade. Fucking rude man.

BRIGHT: Fighting with half a sword never seems to hinder Dave, but it still seems a silly thing to do when Bro quite possibly knew Dave was headed into heavy combat. It’s funny at the time though!

FAILURE ARTIST: When I first read Homestuck, I was sad Bro didn’t seem to care about Lil Cal, but with later revelations...would be better if that puppet never existed.

TIER: Dave attempts to grab the beta that he worked so hard for, but wouldn't ya know it his dang inventory is all filled up. Mostly with useless crap, as Dave admits as well. After a quick setup change for his modus, Dave finally has the beta! Congrats!!

CHEL: *looks pointedly at GET ON WITH IT count*

TIER: While Dave attempts to pester her, Rose has finished building up John's house, which marks the end of how much more she can help John as his server player. There's not much else to do for her till Dave shows up. She's also nearly done with John's gift, that'll show him that Rose is the God King of, and I am quoting right now “facetious sentimental gestures”. That's a peculiar and slightly worrying sentiment to have. What an adorably wordy yet cheeky little goth.

With that, we jump back a few months into the past, when it was Rose's 13th birthday. She's opening a package from John (signed under his old handle ghostyTrickster) containing the gift of knitting stuff (yarn and knitting needles) and a very dorky yet endearing letter from the blue boy. What a goof.

Rose is then pestered by one of the trollslum inhabitants, this one by the name of grimAuxiliatrix! They type Like This, And I Think It's Very Neat. Also quite verbose this one. Like personally I kinda need to carefully read and reread their words to get what the fuck they're trying to get to. In this case, it's politely bitching about humans while weird time related fuckery gets explicitly name dropped. Mainly the weird situation that is the trolls being/not being from the future. It's as confusing as it sounds.

CHEL: I think here’s the first indication that the trolls aren’t just other humans. Meanwhile, notice that one of the names in the Trollslum is “centaursTesticle”. Lovely. That character will, as the handle suggests, be the source of a LOT of CALL CPA PLEASE points. But anyway.

GA: No We Arent From "The Future" GA: But We Are All Already In Agreement That You Dont Get It And Never Will TT: I thought you said we spoke in the future. GA: We Did GA: Your Future GA: For Me It Was Only A Couple Minutes Ago TT: I understand. TT: You exist in some temporal stratum through which you have communication access to various points of my timeline. TT: It's not that complicated.

TIER: While that confusing thing keeps happening, we jump on over to a younger Dave, whole record shirt and dumb not-Kamina anime glasses wearing. He too is opening a birthday gift, which consists of his iconic aviators and a letter as well. The letter is just as endearing as the one John sent to Rose. Might just be my bias talking concerning how much John is undoubtedly and unchallenged my favorite character overall.

CHEL: I think so too, but I’m still giving him a point for him telling Dave his “gay butt stinks”, even though he is a twelve-year-old boy - it never gets called out or presented as bad that the kids say -ism-based insults until near the end, and that part has its own problems which we’ll get to then. The rest of it’s cute though.

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 11

I’d like to bring up another webcomic which is known for its incredibly offensive humour; R. K. Milholland’s Something Positive. Specifically, I’d like to contrast the offensive humour of it with the offensive humour of Homestuck. In S*P, the point of the offensive humour is that the characters saying or doing the offensive thing are horrible people who should not be emulated, and even they disapprove strongly of homophobic/racist insults. Here is one of the tamer examples, from 2003 (so later comics have no excuse). Please note the character saying all this is both very drunk and very frustrated by having read a lot of terrible writing at the time, and his decision to do this comes back to bite him later.

In contrast, the point of Homestuck’s offensive jokes seems to be that either offensive things are inherently funny or the writer doesn’t realise why they’re offensive.

John tells Dave he thinks he needs to get out of his brother’s shadow, showing no concern for Dave’s actual wellbeing; more evidence that either they don’t know about the strifes or don’t care. The gift John has given is the glasses worn by Ben Stiller, which John suggests could replace Dave’s current anime shades. John worries that they’re “sort of a shitty present”, which again makes me wonder about the Egberts’ financial status - we weren’t able to find an actual figure for them but those things would cost thousands, so what the hell makes him call them “shitty”? How much did Hussie think movie memorabilia cost? Name of the count aside, we’re using it for when their economic statuses are weird in general, so here we go again:

WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 8

TIER: Dave too is dealing with a trollslum inhabitant, this one by the name of adiosToreador. It's around here that the trolls typing starts to get head tilt worthy. As Dave so eloquently puts it, toreador types like a tool. I mean, lOOK AT THIS, lOOK ME IN THE EYES, aND TELL ME THIS AIN'T RIDICULOUS.

CHEL: AT opens by telling Dave he’s awful, and Dave responds with frustration at having to deal with the trolls yet again. He complains that he’s “wasting good material on you guys” and that there’s no substance to their trolling; he also mentions one of them thinking he was a girl, which I think is the original source of the fandom’s popular female-to-male transgender Dave headcanon.

FAILURE ARTIST: I think it’s just that Dave is a popular character.

CHEL: I don’t know, it started well before the fandom started getting really enthusiastic about assigning identities to everyone, from what I saw, but maybe.

TIER: My two cents concerning this matter is that it's probably a combination of the two. Dave seems to resonate quite well with a great majority of the fans, so from what I've seen they more readily project onto him.

AT: i KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE, AT: oR WILL DO, aCTUALLY, AT: iT'S THE MOST AWFUL THING, tHE WORST YOU CAN EVER DO,

CHEL: The readers immediately start wondering what this thing is, but Dave is unconcerned, and immediately accuses AT of perving on him. Here is where the CALL CPA PLEASE count really starts to ramp up, because on one hand, yes it’s hilarious to watch the tables being turned, but on the other, this coming out of a boy who literally just turned thirteen that day is… uncomfortable for a lot of adult readers, especially since we know his home has obscene material lying around all over it and as mentioned before that can really mess up a kid, even if Bro was not in fact putting him in his movies directly.

TG: and i want to know exactly when i got to clear some space in my calendar for when some fuckwit blunders out of a magical phone booth and makes a ballad-inspiring play for my throbbing beef truncheon AT: sHOULD i BE PERTURBED BY THESE ALLUSIONS, TG: no man TG: look TG: i just need to know when to be there TG: when the stars come into alignment and your flux capacitor lets you finally sate your meteoric greed for crotch-dachshund TG: i wouldnt want to miss it and cause a paradox or something TG: itd suck if the universe blew up on account of you missing your window of opportunity to help yourself to a pubescent boy's naked spam porpoise AT: uHHH, AT: oK, THIS IS SORT OF STARTING TO UPSET ME, CALL CPA PLEASE: 5

TIER: How many words does a 13 year old need for his private parts? Asking for a friend. I get that Dave is a little gremlin but holy shit y'all.

CHEL: To quote Hiveswap, “SOUNDS LIKE SETUP TO ‘RIDDLE’ OR PERHAPS ‘JOKE’.” Or maybe a really weird rewrite of “Blowin’ in the Wind” and I just realised the (in)appropriateness of that song title. Anyway, I’m giving one CPA point for each of those elaborate descriptions. AT, perturbed, announces his intention to leave, but Dave continues.

TG: we're motherfuckin entrenched in this bitch TG: you and me TG: welcome to nam TG: now grab my hand and shimmy your soggy ass off that muddy bank before charlie gets the fuckin drop AT: uHHH, wHO, AT: wHO'S CHARLIE, TG: hes the guy whos gonna read our vows TG: im feeling pretty friggin MATRIMONIAL all a sudden TG: take a look down by your foot see that little bottle TG: stomp on that shit like its on fire TG: noisy ethnic dudes are flipping the fuck out and waving us around on chairs til someone gets hurt TG: im your 300 pound matronly freight-train TG: and my gaping furnace is hungry for coal so get goddamn shoveling AT: oH MY GOD, CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 14 WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 9

Hey, our first double point assignment! Two points for using the same racist joke again, as if it wasn’t offensive enough the first time. And another one for the fat joke.

FAILURE ARTIST: Lifting the newlyweds on chairs is a Jewish tradition so I guess Hussie’s antisemitism didn’t start this year.

CHEL: Isn’t stepping on a bottle a Jewish thing too? Does that count as more than one anti-Semitic joke or is it all part of the same one?

FAILURE ARTIST: Yeah, that’s also a thing. But I’d say it counts as one big joke.

CHEL: Does the Vietnam joke count as a separate one? I’m not sure what the general attitude to those is since about half of 20th-century British comedy revolves around WW2 jokes and no one minds those.

TG: thats what you see TG: a kaleidoscopic supernova of all your hopes and dreams all swishin together TG: radially effevescing arms of more little boy peckers than you can imagine TG: turning out insane corkscrew haymakers of a billion dancing vienna sausages strong CALL CPA PLEASE: 7

CHEL: All the counts aside, I can see what Hussie was going for and the general idea’s still amusing, culminating in one of the funniest bits in the comic when all this leads up to adiosToreador [AT] blocked turntechGodhead [TG] - I think we’ve all wanted to be Dave here. I’m fully aware that this sequence was meant to be somewhat uncomfortable, but given that Hussie later tries to tell us that Dave’s home life scarred him for real, yet he presented this as funny, it adds to the general feeling of Hussie berating the reader for laughing at the comedy. I think he was just trying to pander to the woke side of the fanbase with that, but we’ll get to it when we get there.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 13

FAILURE ARTIST: We go to AIMLESS RENEGADE, who has finally run out on his clip without hitting anyone. Apparently, some nitpicker on the forum (not me) pointed out the AR’s gun is magazine-fed, not clip-fed, but AR doesn’t give a shit about that.

CHEL: “A clip is not a magazine, a mag is not a clip; neither is a grip a stock, and "stock" does not mean grip.”

FAILURE ARTIST: AR examines the murals and declares the amphibian and reptilian images illegal pictography. AR arms themselves with a rocket launcher but wonders if they should befriend WV and PM - particularly PM. However, AR decides the two have committed too many crimes that make AR’s carapace steam. AR dresses as a judge (to complement WV as a mayor and PM as a mail carrier) and declares order in the court. AR wants to go down the moving platform to catch WV and PM but it isn’t operating right.

Closer to present time, Jade puts her gift to John on top of the monument. The gift disappears, just as Jade planned. Back in the future, PM looks at her drawing showing where she’s supposed to go. The drawing seems to be inaccurate until the tower is shot down. It turns out AR accidentally launched a rocket at it. AR tries again to hit the criminals but is distracted by PM’s beauty. Instead, AR shoots the mobile station. WV throws a can of Tab and PM grabs the package in a clever callback to SBaHJ’s sock ruse comic.

PM gets the package to the Appearifier and Sendifies it into Jade’s toddlerhood, back when Grandpa was alive and shooting butterflies. Inside the package is a letter from John, a too-big t-shirt with a blue ghost on it, and pumpkin seeds. So we have the root of Jade’s friendship with John and the others and her interest in gardening. That’s a very elaborate time loop.

CHEL: Get used to elaborate time loops. Anyway, the letter’s painfully adorable again. John thanks Jade for her years of friendship and for being the reason he met Rose and Dave. He gave Jade pumpkin seeds because future Jade had been upset that her pumpkins kept disappearing so he wanted to help her grow more. Unfortunately his declaration that three people is “almost like, TOO MUCH FRIENDSHIP” was cute at first glance, but given how he has no contact with anyone but them that we see, it becomes a tad creepy. Did he not expect to ever have any friends, or more than one friend? The implication that Dadbert kept him locked in his room all the time is looking more and more likely!

We cut to a cartoon sound effect, WHOP, and You bear the vicious brunt of this story transition directly in the face, “you” now being Archagent Jack Noir. The sound effect is the result of Dad Egbert punching Jack in the face. Jack pulls a switchblade, but Dad retaliates by lighting Jack’s hated jester hat on fire, throwing it to the ground, spraying shaving cream on it, and stomping on it. Jack immediately sets Dad free.

Jade is instructed by the prompt to “Play guitar to summon giant lily pads”, which she does, and it works… somehow? I’m not sure how that happens. Anyway, she uses the lily pads to hop over to the frog temple, finding in it a wall covered in tiny lime green glowing symbols.

Cut back to Dave, who has finally succeeded in installing the beta, and not a moment too soon as Rose’s room is now full of red light, soon to be aflame. Rose is calm enough to join Dave in a SBaHJ joke, and we go into the act-ending animation, [S] Enter.

Dave dramatically sips his fortunately-really-apple-juice and draws cartoons as the game loads, while Rose plays with Vodka Mutini and Jade scurries through the temple. For clarity’s sake, I’ll describe each character’s actions in a separate paragraph.

"Homestuck - [S] Enter [End of act 3]" (Watch on YouTube)

In Rose’s burning house Dave quickly deploys the necessary machinery. There’s so little safe room left to use that he has to throw Rose’s bed into the burning forest for one, put one in the observatory, and put the third on the nearby roof; fortunately Rose is able to get to them all. Dave uses the wizard statue to knock open the Cruxtruder, then drops it outside, breaking its hand off and sending the hand flying. He moves the cruxite to the lathe, where Rose produces a totem for her entry item, a bottle. Rose flings the dead Jaspers into the Kernelsprite and Dave grabs the Eldritch Princess doll to put in too, but the flying wizard statue hand knocks the entry item into the nearby waterfall. Rose leaps out over the drop, successfully catches it, and is in turn caught by a long purple tentacle....

Flaming whirlwinds approach the house; Rose swings the bottle to shatter it, and the meteor lands.

In the temple, we see an enormous flower atop another countdown device, noting four-and-a-half minutes till disaster, but Jade suddenly falls asleep again, waking up with only nineteen seconds to go. Unlike John randomly falling asleep mid-battle, this has been happening often enough to seem to be a legitimate problem with a story-based cause. Keep an eye on that.

Dave, meanwhile, is still in his room, which is now filled with crows. He seems flustered at first, but in a later shot he’s back at his computer with a crow perched on his head, seemingly fine.

Back at John’s house, Nannasprite opens up his newer copy of Sassacre’s book and starts to inscribe the very message we read earlier, so she didn’t in fact know about it during her life. Seems odd that she’d bother doing this rather than just saying it, though, especially since when she finishes, she drops the book into the chasm, where it plummets through grey clouds, emerging over a dark-blue land scattered with tiny lights and black rivers. John, covered in oil, runs up the many stairs of his remodelled house, smashing imps left and right with single blows from the WRINKLEFUCKER and directing the SASSACRUSHER with the GHOST GAUNTLETS to take on the ogres. When he reaches the top, he slams his hammer down one last time and bounces upwards to the spirograph portal, entering whatever’s on the other side. Fade to white.

Generally, a very good flash! Exciting but doesn’t sacrifice useful information for drama, and now two characters have reached their current goals but more is still going on. Lovely music too. I think the Flash animations are one of Hussie’s greater strengths here.

FAILURE ARTIST: The animation was what drew me into Homestuck and this is a particularly good one.

CHEL: A couple of static pages wrap up the Act; we pan out from John’s house to see it and the pinnacle it’s perched on are now looming above the same dark-blue land covered with thick clouds that the book fell onto, which we now see is in fact an entire very small planet. Curtains close.

So that’s the end of Act 3! What does everyone think?

FAILURE ARTIST: It was fun seeing Jade and the Exiles but sad thinking about how underutilized they ended up. Especially poor AR.

BRIGHT: This is where the elaborate time loops really started to kick in, and I’ve gotta say, I’m not a fan. I recognise that they’re a key feature of Homestuck, but I found some of them too confusing on my first read through. (Though they do make more sense on subsequent reads.)

I think on the whole this Act is quite well paced. I really loved the bits with Jade, and a lot of nifty background info gets introduced without being infodumped.

TIER: I wasn't even aware that webcomics on the internet were a thing at this point, but I do believe that it's around here that Homestuck's popularity was starting to pick up, no? This chapter went a lot deeper into the strangeness of the game to!

FAILURE ARTIST:

Homestuck was popular but I don’t think it became a phenomenon until Act 5 when the trolls were fully introduced. Lots of people even skipped Acts 1-4 and the Intermission to get to them. I think a lot of the pre-Act 5 fans were my age (20s) while after that many were teens or tweens. Admittedly, I didn’t do much in the fandom except check the SA thread until Act 5 came around.

CHEL: I don’t think I got into it until Act 6 - I remember the first time I got further than a few pages in I gave up when the Alpha kids got introduced because it was way too complicated.

As for my thoughts on the act, well… Before, I was able to more or less chalk up the racist/sexist/fatphobic/homophobic remarks as being from the characters’ mouths (they are, after all, twelve to thirteen years old) and not the author’s, but they don’t really get called out by the narrative and Hussie has sufficiently drained my goodwill that I have to complain, and I suspect after recent events that it actually was him speaking there, if you get my meaning. Most of the dialogue is still as sweet and funny as I remember it being but those bits really taint it. Hypothetical rewrite would definitely remove those.

I’m in two minds about keeping Dave’s hurricane of euphemisms to AT for said hypothetical rewrite; on one hand, considering his home situation, it’s worrying, but on the other the whole point of the joke is to make AT uncomfortable and it’s hard to do that without making comments that would also make the reader uncomfortable. Maybe if Dave’s home life was adjusted a bit the reader would be more easily able to assume he just picked them up from Urban Dictionary.

Speaking of Dave, his storyline here is where we really start to see a thing which is a recurring problem with the comic. Namely, reliance on theme and symbolism over what is actually happening. If Hussie was indeed trying from the beginning to portray Dave’s situation as serious abuse, then he shouldn’t have chosen to represent said abuse with ridiculous cartoon physics while literally portraying Dave as unharmed onscreen. Dave’s behaviour does hint at some issues, but they’re easy to pass off as related to other things, and swords so sharp they cause printed pictures to change are not most readers’ first assumption for the cause.

Other than those, though, I think we’re still mostly fine; none of the problems are problems with the underlying structure of the story, so it wouldn’t require a huge retooling. That state of affairs will continue on for another couple of acts, but when it fails, it fails.

COUNTS ALL THE LUCK: 0 ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 13 CALL CPA PLEASE: 7 CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 14 GET ON WITH IT!: 13 GORE GALORE: 0 HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 14 HURRY UP AND DO NOTHING: 6 IN HATE WITH MY CREATION: 0 RELATIONSHIP GOALS?: 1 SEND THEM TO THE SLAMMER: 0 SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS: 0 WHAT IS HAPPENING??: 2 WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 9 TOTAL: 79

#homestuck #Homespork #homestuck review #homestuck meta #homestuck reread #let's read homestuck

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWD 10x11: Morning Star - First Thoughts

What did everyone think of the episode? I thought it was fantabulous, of course. No major surprises, but I really loved it. Really a beautiful episode.

I know they said it would end on a cliffhanger, so we were expecting that, but we honestly didn’t get into ANY of the action until about the last five minutes of the episode. It sort of reminded me of Coda that way. Not in the story, of course. Just in the format.

As always, here are my first thoughts. The things that jumped out at me on first-watch. Tomorrow, I’ll do details.

***As always, spoilers abound for 10x11 below. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

1) Eugene and Stephanie (girl on the radio) talk about the satellites and shooting stars (I’ll talk more about those and the clock behind Eugene tomorrow), but they kind of had a very mini Beth template here. When she hears Rosita’s voice on the radio and won’t talk to him, she disappears and he gets depressed. Then, after he sings, Stephanie comes back. She says, “I’m sorry I disappeared on you for a while.” Sounds like something Beth might say, no? So, while there was no death fake out, she did disappear for a short time before coming back.

And that made me kind of re-evaluate other things. For example, when Eugene realizes she saw the satellite, he gets really happy because he realizes they must not be that great a distance apart. And he tells her that falling satellite is what spurred him to call out on the radio to begin with. In other words, the satellite is the only reason they met/he found her. So if he leads to Beth in any way, the same will be true of Beth and Daryl. Just a thought.

2) Stephanie tells Eugene where and when to meet her. This REALLY jumped out at me, guys, and I’ll probably have to explain why, because it’s not something I’ve focused on too much in my posts. Stephanie says Charleston, West Virginia at some rail yards. The rail yards first caught my ear because train tracks were such a big part of Beth’s story line in S4/S5. (I’m wondering if the train tracks in 5x09 were a hint at WHERE Beth would appear?) But Charleston WV is also at the confluence of 2 rivers. The Kanawha (probably a native American word) and the Elk. (ELK! DEER!)

It also made me think of a specific line that me and my fellow theorists still discuss a lot. Back in 7x06, when Tara snuck into Oceanside, she hears two women talking about someone who was searching for something and went all the way to “the mouth” (we assume of a river). There was also a serious/Sirius reference thrown in.

We’ve always felt like that was significant, but its significance has never been explained in the show. Maybe what they were saying right then in the moment wasn’t super important, but I’m betting it foreshadowed Stephanie’s group, and where Eugene is going to go. They are literally sitting at the mouths (sort of ) of two rivers, and guess what those two rivers make when they cross? You guessed it: an X. (X Theory)

Now, granted, this may be where Stephanie is meeting Eugene, rather than where her people actually live, but still. I’m super excited about this. I’ll talk about it more later. For the record, this doesn’t feel like this is the Commonwealth to me. And I’m not saying the Commonwealth won’t be coming into the story very soon. I just think this particular thing is something different.

3) Several scenes reminded me of Still. First there was Lydia and Carol talking on the porch. Just the way they were sitting was reminiscent of Still. But they were also having an honest heart to heart.  Then there was Rosita and Eugene. They had a heart to heart as well, which even involved romance, and they were drinking alcohol. So lots of callbacks to Still here.

I will say that the thing Lydia talked about with Carol—about how everyone has forgotten how to tell the truth—is a theme for the episode. This is a situation where they’re all pretty convinced they’re gonna die, so everyone is brutally honest with one another. Sometimes it’s harsh, but others it’s really touching (i.e. Daryl/Judith, Daryl/Zeke, Zeke/Carol, etc.)

4) The scene where Judith gives Daryl the vest is the best thing EVER!!! Even before she shows him the vest, it’s super sweet and honest and just beautiful. I just want to watch it over and over again.

And there’s an echo of Beth at the moonshine shack in it. They talk about being afraid and he tells her there’s no shame in being afraid. So it’s different than S4 because of what Beth taught him. *heart melting*

Even the scene where Daryl and Carol talk by the graves…is honestly very sweet. I laughed and commented about how dejected the shippers seemed by it. The spoilers said, “that’s it,” when it came to Daryl and Carol’s interaction, and made it sound like Daryl was still mad at her in this scene.

But it was a really touching scene between them. Different than the way they brought it across. It’s a really lovely scene about friendship and forgiveness, even  though it’s only about 30 seconds long. Leave it to shippers to bash it because Carol and Daryl don’t have sex in it. 🙄

Back to the Judith/Daryl/Vest scene. There is tons of green hanging out in that scene, which made me happy. I’ll talk more about colors and such tomorrow. And how cute was it that RJ wore the vest earlier in the episode. It was so long on him, it practically dragged on the ground. *heart melting *

But the thing I really saw significant symbolism in is how Daryl puts the vest on. When Judith presents it to him, he kind of swings it up over his head and puts it on. It just felt really significant. Like it’s been mostly gone for a long time and he hasn’t been wearing it. Now he is again. And they would only do that when Beth is about to arrive or something.

5) The portraits. While we do see Beth’s and Hershel’s clearly, I felt like there was a big emphasis on Glenn. After Carol walks out, the camera zooms in on Glenn’s portrait until it’s the only one we can see for a second. 

And right after that Carol goes out to talk to Daryl at the graves. Honestly, he’s probably looking at Glenn’s grave. I’m not sure why that is, but it probably has to do with Maggie’s imminent return. I have more to say about this, but it doesn’t have anything to do with this episode, so I’ll address it later. Suffice it to say, I think Glenn will somehow have a huge bearing on the show in the next little bit. I’m not sure how. And no, I don’t think he’s secretly alive or anything. I’m just reading symbolism. More on that later.

6) So I’ve been telling my fellow theorists that this is feeling more and more like a replay of 4b. I think the fall of Hilltop will mirror the fall of the prison, and chances are a lot of the characters are going to scatter into the woods and be divided into little groups. That’s only important because of what it’s setting up moving forward. And how it might point to Beth, of course. ;D Maybe I’ll do more predictions later in the week if I get time. Think of it this way: in 4b, the season ended at Terminus (train yard). And now Eugene is set to go meet Stephanie at a train yard. Just saying.

7) In the scene where Zeke and Daryl talk, there’s a part that made me laugh out loud because it was so obviously put in purposely. Daryl scratches his forehead and in doing so moves his hair off his forehead and we get a crystal clear shot of his forehead scar. The one from where Alpha cut him. Like, when does he EVER move his hair out of his eyes? And while yes, it is a knife wound rather than a bullet wound, and it’s on the opposite side, as we said before, it’s at the EXACT height on his forehead that Beth was shot at.

8) And how much does this final shot just LOOK like Still?

So those were the big things that jumped out at me. In short, we’re seeing more Bethyl templates around Eugene, and I have a really good feeling about him going to meet Stephanie. If you need a reminder, it will be the place they filmed at Grady hospital for. So there’s already going to be a lot of parallels. But I feel like a lot of things are pointing to this being where Beth shows up. *fingers crossed* And I also feel like they’re setting this war story line up a lot like 4b, and that’s a good thing.

Many more details to come. Stay tuned!

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[dear--charlie]

Dear Charlie,

Today is March 29, 2020.

‘Good things are coming.’ That was the last sentence of the second paragraph of the last letter I sent you. January 30. 2 months ago. If only I’d known then how quickly it would come to fruition.

It’s so funny how it worked out. I’d matched with a guy on Facebook and things were okay, but I’d been cautious because he’d been so clingy. I was concerned about that. Valentine’s Day came and went. The next day, I finally got my first tattoo (and I love it!). The 16th was Sunday, it passed like any day. But we’d made plans to meet the 17th. I was panicking. I was nervous. I wanted to ditch. I ended up texting him and saying that I was happy to meet for dinner, but I wasn’t sure that I really had the energy for much else. He told me that it wouldn’t cost me a dime, just my time, and that he would make it worth my while.

And so, I got home from work that day, and put myself together. My heart was racing, I was horrified. I didn’t know what to expect. 'He’s cute, sure’, I thought, 'but he’s clingy, he’s overly-enthused’. But he was so sweet, he hadn’t said anything to cause concern. So I was cautious, but optimistic. The time came, he came to pick me up, things were off to a good start. My mom saw him open the car door for me, so she already liked him.

We made awkward small talk until we got to the dinner spot he had planned. I learned he likes metal music, he learned that I know the metal bands he likes. We got a little more comfortable with each other after that. Amazing how you can bond with someone over music, right? Dinner was delightful, I’d never been to the place he took me to. I learned more about his family life, he learned that I knew the small town in WV he came from. We talked about tattoos, he asked to see mine (he had seen the pic the day I got it done). He doesn’t have any yet, but he has some planned.

We spent some time on the rooftop of that place, there’s a beautiful view of Atlanta on all sides. If you ever find yourself there, Charlie, be sure to take it in. I’m a sucker for a view, and I remember that night like it was yesterday. It’s a place you don’t forget, I promise you that.

After, we headed back down to the shops and restaurants. He knew I was into tarot cards so he took me to a shop there that sells them. We wandered through a few more shops, he learned that I’m a plant lady and I told him all about cacti and how cool the desert really is. I talked a lot that night, more than I usually do.

Eventually, we left that area completely and drove around for a little bit. We ended up at Centennial Olympic Park, I had mentioned that it was opened around my birthday, when the Olympics were here. He asked when my birthday is. 'It’s the 21st’, I told him. I hadn’t realized that he’s only 23 too, I swore his profile had said 24. But when I told him my birthday was in August, he told me his was too. His birthday is the 26th. I’m 5 whole days older than him.

We never kissed that night. Never even held hands or hugged. There was zero physical contact. And I was okay with that. I’d had a wonderful night, it was so much better than I could’ve expected. I was so delighted. I never felt nervous after that, I never got uncomfortable. He’s a delight.

We’ve gone on several adventures since; I can’t choose a favorite, but I will say that being kissed on the edge of a lake under a clear sky full of stars is definitely a big memory for me. It took a little over a month (and a lot of courage during a vulnerable moment exactly one week ago), but we’re finally saying 'I love you’ to each other. And we say it a lot, as often as we possibly can. And it’s comforting to know that the cute boy is all mine. He tells me all the time that he isn’t going anywhere, that we’ve got so many adventures ahead of us. And it’s so exciting. I kept praying for an adventure, did I not?

We can’t see each other for a couple weeks (at minimum) because of the virus getting so bad here. His county is completely locked down and mine is supposedly like that, but work is still unbelievably busy anyway. Apparently 'stay at home’ is purely suggestive. Hopefully they’ll do something about it, it’s only been one day and I already miss him terribly. Imagine how I’ll be the day before it ends? A mess. I keep praying for a miracle. With any luck, one will come soon.

Anyway, I thought I’d catch you up on how I’m doing, Charlie. The virus is bad and I’m anxious about it, but otherwise things are alright. I’m falling in love for real and it’s exhilarating. I can’t believe I almost ghosted him, but at the end of the day, I am just so thankful I didn’t. Another day, I’ll tell you more about him.

Your friend, with love, as always, Ann

P.S. I took the week off (for my mental health, not due to the virus). Let’s see if work tomorrow is any better than when I left..

#dear charlie #Ann

[missfinefeather]

MissFinefeather

Wow, so like, Davekat is suddenly 100% canon

Wakraya

That update was wild.

MissFinefeather

xDDD

I'm glad ^^ I mean, Jake x Dirk was always kind of rocky and a little bit messed up on both sides, I'm glad the male side of the equation has something they could root for!

Because Karkat and had a pretty good friendship with Dave in the original timeline, their romance will be a breath of fresh air ^^

...Wait, is it going to get gayer? Am I going to get Cotton Candy too? I shouldn't get my hopes up...

Wakraya

X3

Dave and Karkat are married and WV is their adopted son.

MissFinefeather

So true!

Wakraya

DAVE: look at our wonderful son

WV: I am a war veteran with PTSD.

DAVE: innocent and perfect

MissFinefeather

Hahahahaah

WakrayaT

Honestly after all the shit he went through, the Mayor deserves the love he gets.

MissFinefeather

Yes he does

Gog, if we get Cotton Candy, Homestuck is going to be the king of "fuck queerbaiting, WE'RE DOING IT! WE'RE MAKING IT HAPEN!"

heh, I bet Hussie even got flack for it. I mean, the hints along the way were subtle enough that people might not actually see it coming until that animation showed up... I mean, they were literally drawing dicks together, but the ignorant mind sees what they want

NoBrandMinda

[Withholding comment]

Wakraya

There's so much we're going to be talking about when you finally finish X3

But even mildly alluding to future events would be a bad idea when there's like 600-700 pages left

MissFinefeather

Gog, I've been thinking of holding off dropping my next video thing at 4/13 instead of the end. Might get a bigger viewership that way, but I fear the readers might not stick around that long... nah, Homestuck will always be here...

Wakraya

Oh that would be a great idea!

MissFinefeather

May still do fan animations weekly, and hell, I could do some top ten videos

Wakraya

"Top 10 times I said 'fuck you Hussie' before he blew me away a few pages later again"

NoBrandMinda

I can say that Hussie did get a little flack for the way DaveKat became canon, since it (along with most of the other developments in the New Game Plus timeline) just sort of happened. We didn't really get to see them come to fruition.

Wakraya

Yeah people also complained about the suddenness of Vriska just smacking Rose's cup away

NoBrandMinda

but that's more of a generalized complaint about the whole retcon mechanic

MissFinefeather

Well, there was always going to be problems with that

Wakraya

But then again when it was being updated serially without extra stuff from later pages, there was always some complaints with every update and weird theories that spawned overnight

Like- For a day or two, people thought Roxy was glitched because she was only saying 'sup'

Then the next update came out and she was just being silly

MissFinefeather

"MY 12 HOUR THEORY GOT JOSSED!"

NoBrandMinda

One interpretation of that that I saw and like is that Vriska is kind of living vicariously through Rose and Kanaya's relationship, since she herself has proven time and again to be a bad romantic partner. She can at least make sure two of her faves stay happy

MissFinefeather

Who wouldn't want Kanaya to be happy? ^^(edited)

Wakraya

I will give my takes on the whole Retcon shenanigans later on in the story. :pAlso I just recently noticed that like

The [??????] pages are set in really interesting placesThe first two ones are very far back in the story, there's the one before Vriska's death, the one at the Reunion, the one at Terezi's mind thing...

But you also have one before Terezi kisses Tavros' corpse, and another one before finding Nepeta's corpse.

Which, in retrospect, kind of muddle the conception of what the Retcon is about to change when you think back to itMore than it did when we were SEEING them appear slowly

MissFinefeather

So like... the quest mark blocks didn't get added as John jumped back, those were there for a while, right?

Wakraya

Nope, just like the tar and the hands, they appeared the day they were used and changed it forever for archival readers.

MissFinefeather

Oh

Okay, could have sworn Minda said different, but it is 2:30am

Wakraya

Fair :p

#hs day 136 #Missfinefeather Liveblogs #Missfinefeather reads Homestuck #liveblog #homestuck liveblog #Homestuck #Homestuck Act 6 #Act 6 #blacklist Missfinefeather