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aelaer · 3 years

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Hi friend! You seem vast in your knowledge of Stephen and willing to share so please enlighten me as I don’t read the comics but I do watch the mcu movies, and do love Stephen.

I know he’s erratic and impulsive and reckless sometimes but didnt we already complete this arc in his first movie? Especially since we’ve watched him deal with the consequences of his actions for the entirety of the film and end of the movie Stephen was a different Stephen from the beginning of the movie.

IW Stephen seemed like a more mature version of the man we’ve met at the end of his first movie, a linear progression of the character, more responsible.

The spider man trailer is just a few minutes so I’ll further reserve judgment till I see the film, but he seems.. silly almost? I’m aware he has his funny moments but I’m just nervous they’re gonna make him the joke instead of having him make the jokes.

Do you notice anything weird about how the adults act in these newer marvel projects.? (I’m thinking of loki specifically) they all have a silly undertone to them? I cant put my finger on it but it’s definitely new and ..off

Is this a constant characterization for Stephen in the comics? Is this what he’s like all the time?

Regardless, thank you for your time if you see this xx

Oh yeah, Stephen's my favorite subject at the moment so I'm happy to give my thoughts!

Note that my answers apply to MCU!Stephen and what we've seen in the four films he's been in.

In my experience of just living, there are personality quirks that can be tempered out and made better, but not entirely eliminated, even if it's undesirable. In my opinion, Stephen's need to push himself and prove that he can Do A Thing is a trait that won't ever go away--especially as that trait has helped him more than hindered him. Examples would include the more mundane such as getting through a combined MD/PhD program and inventing surgical procedures at what is still a really young age for a neurosurgeon. We don't have a canonical age for Stephen, but Benedict was 40 when Doctor Strange was filmed and released; even if he's canonically in his mid-40s, that's still very young for him to be at his caliber after the necessary years of med school and residency in the United States. He's young and nowhere near the end of his career when he gets in the car crash. So with that information in mind, we know that he's very ambitious and throws himself into doing difficult work with gusto. That doesn't even go into everything he did as a sorcerer.

Why get into all of this? Because while we, the viewer who has seen the multiverse open at... some point (possibly, in a rewritten timeline, it's always been open now with what happened in Loki!), we have seen just how nuts it gets. We have seen the consequences. Stephen's smart, but I don't think it's a matter of strictly recklessness and more a combination of ignorance on this specific subject (erasing memories across the world or slightly rewriting time-- we don't know how he's doing it, but a memory spell makes more sense to me), hubris (of course), and the real desire to help Peter out. The latter two traits combined in intelligent people have proven bad in both fiction and reality.

The reason I don't think it's pure impulsiveness is because in the trailer, we see Stephen doing some meditation type thing in the underground area before the spell. He's also always doing research and as he tells Peter he'll help him, he clearly knows of a spell already and has some working knowledge of how it works. The conversation with Wong wouldn't have happened otherwise. But I personally get the vibe off him that he'd not do it without being very confident that he can do it -- and his history in the films has shown 0 failures in any of his spells once he's past novice-level, so in that aspect, his confidence makes sense. If he *should* do the spell due to the risks of failure, and lack of practicing precaution in the face of his confidence, is where his flaws lie, IMO. And in that sense people could say he was reckless for deciding to perform a complicated, dangerous spell, but that follows his M.O. completely -- he performed a very complicated, dangerous spell consistently with the Time Stone again and again, from how the sorcerers spoke about the Infinity Stone (and he casually just... throws himself into a time loop, then to look through time. He takes calculated risks, but they are very much risks).

One last thought on this statement - the biggest, biggest lesson that Stephen learned in his first film was that it was not about him. There was more to the world than his glory and his brilliance and even his happiness. He started doing things for the greater good rather than himself. And he started doing things for others -- fighting for the Sanctum in his own film, and protecting the Earth. Serving something greater than himself. But that doesn't make him suddenly humble, and it doesn't suddenly take away his strange (hah) sense of humor.

IW Stephen seemed like a more mature version of the man we’ve met at the end of his first movie, a linear progression of the character, more responsible.

He was more serious in that film. So was Tony. They still had some quips and arguments, but they were very serious. And it makes sense as to why -- it was the end of the world. So the mood of the setting would change anyone's demeanour. But he had very little chance to unwind in that film, considering that he was trying to protect one of six items that would destroy the universe, and also got freaking tortured in the middle of the film with little time to recover. But nearly every Avenger was super serious in that film, and for good reason.

It's a completely different setting from what is now Stephen's life which, from what little we've seen in the trailer, is weird enough that he got a magical snowstorm in the Sanctum. It's safe enough that Wong's off on vacation. It's been nearly a year since he returned from the dead. He's either figured out how to move on in the last year or, as some prefer, has gotten good enough to put on a facade and bury the trauma so far down that he's putting on a normal act - but that's up to debate until MoM. And we have no idea if old traumas are going to be brought up there or if it's just the new things.

I think the point is that it's possible to be both a responsible person and also to make colossal mistakes due to either emotional connections or hubris (or both - we don't know which way the film will go, if they'll explain it at all). They're not mutually exclusive. He can be protecting reality fantastically, while also believing that he's skilled enough to pull off the ability to pull off a dangerous spell which he did in his own film and in IW. He's guided the timeline down a specific path in IW/Endgame, after all - what's a little identity item compared to the fate of the universe, after all? Removing the Spider-Man/Peter association is, in comparison, child's play I imagine to a man like Stephen.

He was definitely silly in his own film. He was constantly trying to get Wong to laugh and there was a banter between Stephen and Christine after he gets stabbed. He's always been a bit awkward and a bit jokey--I think Thor showed that combination of humorous snark and good research rather well, though he was flippant in a way that didn't get to show his kinder side that is better established in his film. And now we get to see that sympathy in his agreement to help Peter (at least, in my opinion).

Because he was doing an amazing awesome spell not once, not twice, but *three* times in the trailer alone, I am not worried about Stephen just being a joke. He seems just as powerful as he was in IW and Endgame. The rest of the world is just getting reminded that he's definitely a bit of a socially awkward duck at times (or, if you prefer, Putting On a "I'm Fine" Front And It's Coming Across As Weird). So him being a big joke is not something I am personally worried about.

Situational humor has been a staple of Marvel films since Iron Man. I watched the films casually before 2016 when I fell head deep into Stephen Strange (or well, 2018/9 is more accurate as that's when I *really* went nuts), and my viewings before that time and after that time was a lot more analytical. And it's very easy to see where the silliness started, all the way back when Tony crashed into his own car and Dum-E sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. Thor was the butt of the joke in the "fish out of water" scene in a good, good chunk of the film. Even Captain America had some situational humor. And remember that Guardians of the Galaxy was back in 2014, which was halfway through the MCU's time thus far. The stars of these films are almost always the butt of some joke a couple times and do things that could be viewed as childish.

I don't know your age at all, but if you were born after 1990, what might be happening, rather, is that they are not getting sillier, but that you may be getting older. I was an adult (legally, at least) in 2008, but the way I view the adults of the films throughout the early 2010s as compared to now is night and day. It's just come with my own life experience, and wider understanding to media tropes. The jump is even more significant if you were younger in Iron Man/Avengers days and are an adult now. If you're an older adult than me, then I'd argue it's the matter of life experience adding to your overall knowledge of media plus, potentially, rose-tinted glasses giving you a better vision of the older movies while forgetting that the older movies had plenty of their own flaws (and silliness). Could be a lot of things- it's too individual to really say why your perspective has changed. But I don't think the MCU's largely changed their comedy formula since 2012/2013.

Is this a constant characterization for Stephen in the comics? Is this what he’s like all the time?

Oh the comics are a mess of characterizations. It's very difficult to find full consistency across writers, and some writers did him much better than others. At the moment, Jason Aaron's 2015 run is viewed as very good by a large amount of fans, while Waid's 2018 run is viewed with mixed reviews. It's largely a matter of preference as you'll see traits that are just so uncharacteristic in an arc and then it never happens again. He takes on secret identities, he kills billions to save trillions (along with the other Avengers!), he sells his soul, he's in a steady relationship for 30 years, then he's sleeping with a new woman every arc he co-stars in-- it's just so dependent on the writer over the decades. What Marvel thinks will sell. Right now Marvel thinks his death is gonna sell issues, so yeah :P You pick and choose with the comics and build a personality from there.

Thank you for the thoughtful ask. I hope this wasn't too much of a drag to read through; I get rambly on my favorite subjects. Or anything, really.

#stephen strange #doctor strange #spiderman no way home #spoilers #meta #mcu #i did a long ramble #i love stephen #i hope this was somewhat enlightening nonny #anonymous #ask #answered #long post

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neighbourskid · 3 years

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2020

What a year, huh? Surely not anything anyone has expected to happen when we woke up on this day a year ago. I certainly haven’t. I’m not even sure, now, where to begin to sum up this year like I’ve done years prior. But then again... I may just as well just dive right into all the media I consumed this year, as I have done every year. I haven’t kept track as detailed as I have last year, but my year was definitely punctuated by pieces of entertainment that have come into my life.

Continuing on from 2019, my obsession with Good Omens was still going strong. Which was ideal, since I was gonna spend the first half of the year writing my Bachelor thesis on it. The intensity of the obsession may have waned a bit since, but I still love that show and book dearly and hold it close to my heart, and I don’t think that will ever stop. But while Good Omens was certainly an overall theme throughout my year, there were some other things that actually stood out.

With January came new episodes of Doctor Who, and having returned to that particular bandwagon the year prior, I was all about that. Jodie’s second season finally brought what I had longed for in her first--a darker kind of Doctor. She wasn’t quite as bubbly anymore, you could finally see some of the depths in the character that I loved so in the previous regenerations, which made me love Peter’s Doctor so incredibly much. In this season, I felt, Jodie was finally becoming the Doctor. Overall, that season catered to me personally every single episode. So many of the time periods they visited were of people I loved, and the introduction of Sacha Dhawan as the Master was absolutely....well, masterful. Sacha is brilliant in that role and I am utterly stunned by his talent. Although both John Simm and Michelle Gomez brought things to the Master that I liked, it’s Sacha’s completely unhinged take on it that made me finally like the character. He’s a madman and I love it.

The next major thing was The Good Place. I tend to have a talent of getting into shows just as they either ended their entire show, or the final season is just coming up. It’s happened quite a bit, and it was the same with this. I finally binged the show early in January and it would end its final season at the end of the month. True to form, I was completely obsessed with it for about a month, before I only occasionally thought about it again. But, thinking back now, I get this incredibly fond feeling for this show, and I remember that the finale absolutely wrecked me and I basically ugly sobbed through the entirety of it. Also very true to form, actually. I want to rewatch it again some time, but honestly preferably with someone who has never seen it before. Which, obviously, is a difficult thing to do given, well, everything.

Next up is something that surprised me a lot. In the middle of having to write my BA thesis, my procrastination thought it would be a great idea to rewatch and catch up on the entirety of Criminal Minds. And so I binged 15 seasons of that instead of writing my thesis. Which, coincidentally, had also just aired its final season not long before I started my binge in March. Rewatching this, I realised just how little I took in of the actual, like, stuff in the show when I first watched it as a teen. Although I mostly cared about the characters and their found family this time around--although I do find the cases really fascinating most of the time too--I noticed just how much I am not watching this for the fact that they are in the FBI. I was hyperaware of how often they shot at people before doing anything else, how many of the suspects died before ever being questioned or being brought in, and it made my skin crawl. I am aware how fucked up the criminal justice system is, and especially in the US, how the police functions and how incredibly glorified they are in the media. But rewatching this show, I realised how little I actually paid attention to anything when I was younger. Big yikes. Still, I remembered my love for these characters, and I really enjoyed that rewatch a whole lot. Found family will always get to me.

Once I finished writing my thesis and handed it in early in July, I then found my next momentary obsession: Community. The show had finally come to Netflix earlier in the year and a friend of mine had watched it then. I remember watching that pilot episode back then and being completely uninterested in watching it. The comedy felt like it wasn’t quite up my street, the characters were entirely unlikeable, and I especially disliked Jeff who the show was more or less centred around. I binged Criminal Minds instead, but then decided to give it another try. And, well, I watched it twice through without taking a break to watch something else in-between. Ironically, and maybe actually unsurprisingly, Jeff ended up being my favourite and I found myself relating a lot to him and his arc throughout the series. I even found myself writing some short ficlet-like things in the notes app on my phone. I made an attempt at starting a third watch, but I guess then the month was up, and my brain decided it was time for something else. My hyperfixations usually tend to die out after about a month. Which is why my complete devotion to Good Omens was a pleasant surprise. I did, however, end up watching quite a bit of Joel McHale and Ken Jeong’s The Darkest Timeline podcast throughout August.

Early in September, while already preparing for the new term at uni, and my first semester in my Master’s studies, I then turned to New Girl. Friends of mine had seen it and recommended it, and I remember watching probably the entire first season on TV while I was in San Diego the first time around back in 2016. Or at least I think it was the entire first season. Either way, I binged that whole thing, realised through Nick Miller that the go-to character I am drawn to and tend to project on in any piece of media is usually what I like to call “the garbage man,” which Nick is a prime example of. And although I spent a month watching the show in-between starting university again and volunteering at a film festival, I didn’t spend much time afterward thinking about it and moved on to other things rather quickly. I enjoyed watching it, that much I remember, and I’m pretty sure I cried at the finale because it was done wonderfully, but seeing as another month was up, my brain was probably like “okay fine that’s enough”.

I then spent most of fall and early winter watching every single bad Christmas movie available on Netflix, which was quite fun. In that moment of festivity, I also watched a movie I found absolutely brilliant and fell in love with immediately. It’s a beautiful movie called Jingle Jangle, it has a magnificent soundtrack and is absolutely incredible. I had no idea Forest Whitaker could sing and he completely blew me away. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend it. It doesn’t matter that Christmas is already over, it’s beautiful either way.

By the time December finally rolled around, I was already over the whole Christmas thing, to be honest and I turned away from festive movies or shows, and eventually ended up finally picking up a gem I had heard much about and had been meaning to watch for a while. A show which, as it were, also aired its final season earlier this year. This little show is Schitt’s Creek. I will be going on about what this show means to me probably in another post at length, but for now just let me say: if you haven’t seen it, find some place to watch it, and put this beautiful show in your eyeballs. I am on my second run through already (although I’ve seen the second half of the show a second time already while watching it with a friend on their first run through), and it brings me so much fucking joy. It’s a gift, this show. And it will likely stay with me for a very, very long time.

That’s about it for the big things. I also watched a whole lot of other stuff, including entirely new things, or just newly released seasons of things I was already watching. Here’s what I can remember off the top of my head:

Charlie’s Angels (2020). The Night Manager. The Witcher. Dolittle (2020). The Librarians (rewatch). Harley Quinn (2020). Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). The Chef Show (S1 part 3, S2 part 1). Avenue 5. Money Heist (part 4). The Good Fight (S4). Brooklyn Nine-Nine (S7). DuckTales (2017 reboot). Frankenstein live. Staged (2020). Hamilton. Sense8. Julie and the Phantoms. The Boys in the Band. One Night in Miami. Enola Holmes. Supernova. His Dark Materials (S2). Happiest Season. The Great Canadian Baking Show.

I also got some reading done in-between what I had to read for my thesis in spring, and then for regular university courses in fall. Here’s some of what I can remember:

Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk. Ramona Meisel, Sunblind. Donna Tartt, The Secret History. Good Omens novel and script book. Matt Forbeck, Leverage: The Con Job. Keith R.A. Decandido, Leverage: The Zoo Job. Greg Cox, Leverage: The Bestseller Job. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Lost Lamp. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Pot of Gold. Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602. Christina Henry, The Lost Boy. Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology. John Green, An Abundance of Katherines. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh. Maria Konnikova, The Confidence Game.

Having mulled over all this entertainment I consumed in 2020, there are also some non-tv or book things I need to point out. As many, many other people around the globe, I have also spent a large amount of time this year on my Nintendo Switch, playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It is a game I have waited for since the Switch was first announced, and I fell in love with it from the moment the first trailer dropped. It has brought me great joy in this weird fucking year, and I have more or less consistently played it since it came out in March. I ended this year with the in-game New Year’s Eve celebration and I feel like that summed up this year quite neatly and appropriately.

This year also brought with it another game very close to my heart: Super Mario Sunshine. With their release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars in September, Nintendo finally brought my all-time favourite Mario game to my all-time favourite console, and I played the entire game through in the first week of owning it, in-between university courses and volunteering at the film festival. Also contained in that package was Super Mario Galaxy which I have also played through in its entirety since. All that’s left for me now is Super Mario 64, which I am excited to play through in the coming year.

And to round off my year of entertainment, there are two more things I would like to mention. First, David Tennant Does A Podcast With..., which released its second season this summer. It is one of the only, if not the only podcast I keep up to date with and listen to immediately whenever a new episode drops. I’ve loved the first season dearly, and David came back with some incredibly fantastic guests for the second season as well. I can’t wait for what the podcast will bring in the future, but I will wait patiently until it is time. I can highly recommend it for everyone who likes interesting conversations between lovely people who clearly adore each other a whole lot.

And finally, while this year brought a whole lot of bullshit with it, it also gave me something I never thought possible and did not even dare to imagine in my wildest dreams. My all-time favourite show announced that it would be rebooted with the same main cast (minus one), a new wonderful member, and involvement of the original creators, and even started filming already in summer. Leverage is coming back. I still cannot believe it. I hoped for a movie, always. That maybe one day, they might bring the gang back together, for one last job, just one more encore. But to get a whole new tv-show with Aldis, Christian, Gina and Beth returning? With the addition of Noah Wyle? I can’t wrap my head around it. I am so excited for this. I predict that I will ugly sob through the entirety of the pilot episode, if not the first season, and will have to rewatch every episode because of it, but I have no doubt that it will be brilliant and wonderful.

True to form, I have now gone on about tv shows and movies for far too long, and haven’t really said anything about this year at all. 2020 was fucking weird. And I don’t think 2021 will be much different quite yet. I wrote an entire BA thesis in 2020. I successfully finished by Bachelor’s degree and started my Master’s studies and even got some excellent first grades in as well. I was lucky enough to be able to see some friends and family throughout the year, and even celebrate my birthday with a small circle of friends. I’ve become closer with friends, shared experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world, and, I think, maybe also grown a bit as a person.

I started this year excited to finally be able to start taking testosterone in February, and to finish the first part of my studies by summer. Although I did both of these things, they didn’t happen quite how I imagined them, but I am glad that I could do these things nevertheless.

2020 was a hell year, for sure. But there were some moments in there that I wouldn’t want to lose.

I’ve tried very hard to not be optimistic about this upcoming year, and rather take a more realistic, even pessimistic approach. But I can’t help but be hopeful. Hopeful that this year will be kind to us, and if it isn’t, that at least, we’ll be kind to ourselves and each other. It won’t be easy, and not much will change, I think. But we have to approach the coming time with kindness and compassion. That’s where I’m at currently. And I think that’s all for now.

Be well, friends, and take care.

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langdons-little-witch-bitch · 5 years

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In the dark of the night

(gif by @violadvis)

Summary: Gathered around the bonfire the creepy story being told scares you, but Xavier has his own way of comforting you.

A/N: Y’all can thank (or blame 😅) @itsmelunamoon for this. Our conversation about the gif above inspired this little OS.

Since the season didn’t aired yet this is nothing valid. The characterization is solely based on my imagination of how he’s gonna be like after seeing the 2 trailer. Idek if that’s really gonna be his name, but we’ll see. I can tell I already love this precious lil fuckboy 😄

Also I finished this around 5am so it’s probably not the best 🙈

(English is not my first language)

Pairing: Xavier Plympton x fem!reader

Warnings: NSFW, smut, fingering, public sex, unprotected sex

Word count: 1499

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The crackling of the fire held a comforting effect compared to the disquieting noises that echoed through the nightly wood. The screech of a distinct owl, rustling in the brush, branches snapping. A shiver run down your spine. From the upcoming cold or fear?

It was your free evening, but instead of just relaxing in your cabin your roommate convinced you to come to the bonfire with the other new counselors. You all gathered closely around the warm fire, grilled marshmallows, drank some booze that one of the guys had smuggled in the camp and now one of your co-counselors was telling a spooky story about some psychopath that was rumored to roam this forest and slay people with a huge knife. Just one of those classical bonfire stories to frighten people, nothing to worry about, you told yourself. But you couldn’t help feel a bit at unease.

Suddenly you felt someone sit down next to you on the big branch. Confused you looked to your left where you expected to discover your friend, but she was gone. You were so focused on the story and your own thoughts that you didn’t noticed her leaving. Instead of her small face, surrounded by hazelnut hair, you looked at the sharp features of Xavier. The blonde had propped himself on the wood casually, legs spread widely as he leant into you closely with a smug smile on his lips, his little earing glistening in the light of fire.

“Are you scared?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his deep voice.

“N-No. Why would I?” You didn’t wanted to admit that the whole situation, the scary story plus the surroundings do creeped you out a bit. You thought he would laugh at you.

“Mhh are you sure? You are shivering.” He leant in closer, his arm resting behind your back, not fully touching just brushing against it.

“It’s just getting cold, that’s all.” you tried to brush it off.

“How about I warm you up a bit then?”, his voice low and seductive, his hand suddenly on your thigh caressing your skin.

You swallowed hard, the whole situation overwhelming and confusing to you. He was so close, his arm now grapping around your waist, his lips close to your ear, his warm breath making goosebumps erupt on your neck running down your entire body. His nose brushed your cheek lightly, his smell intoxicating. You couldn’t think straight anymore. What the hell is happening here? you asked yourself.

Never would you’ve imagined of finding yourself in such a situation. You and Xavier weren’t close or anything, neither did you thought he would be interested in you. You shared a bit small talk about the work at Camp Redwood here and there, that’s it. He was loud and confident, always center of attention, a bit cocky. The complete opposite of you. Not to forget he was kind of a fuck boy, always flirting with practically everyone. Especially the camper were constantly gushing about him, throwing themselves at him. Not that you could blame them.

Xavier was incredibly handsome. Soft, fluffy, blonde hair with those cute little strands falling on his forehead. Dazzling blue eyes, that shimmered like the lake in the sunlight. Plump, pink lips that almost always held an arrogant smirk. A sharp jawline that could cut through glass. And you couldn’t help but stare at his thick thighs and firm bottom whenever he wore those super short, tight shorts.

“What do you say, how about we get away from here?” his smooth voice abruptly pulled you out of your train of thoughts.

You looked at him slightly shocked to find him wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at you. The silly gesture made you laugh softly. Sneaking away in the middle of the night to god knows where probably wasn’t the best idea, but the liquor from earlier and Xavier’s proximity made your head spin so you couldn’t think straight. You just nodded your head, and he immediately snatched your hand, leading you away from the bonfire, further into the woods.

“Where are you going?” you asked concerned.

“Somewhere more quiet of course.”

“Why can’t we go back to our cabins, they’re all empty now.”

“Nah there are way too many people at camp. I’d rather be alone with you.”

He suddenly turned around and backed you up against a tree, his arms trapping you, making you gasp. You could barely make out his face in the dark, the only source of light was the moon shining through the branches of the trees.

“I just don’t think it’s really safe out here.”

He started laughing. “Why? Because of that silly story? Don’t worry sweetheart. I protect you from the big, bad serial killer.”, he grinned, leaning his head down to catch your lips with his.

The kiss was a bit sloppy but nice. His lips were soft and warm, and you could taste the faint peppermint flavor of the gum he was often chewing. His hands found your waist and yours wrapped around his neck while the kiss deepened, becoming more passionate. Tongues swirling together, teeth nibbling at bottom lips. Xavier released a low growl as he pulled you in even closer, rubbing his growing bulge against your covered core. You moaned softly, your hands gripping at the back of his hair.

“Fuck I want you so bad,” he whispered huskily in your ear, taking your top and bra off hastily. His eager hands roamed your upper body, groping the tender flesh of your breasts while he kissed and sucked at your neck. Soft whimpers and moans fell from your lips at the feeling of his lips and hands caressing your body. One of them made it’s way down your stomach past the waistband of your shorts and panties. A loud moan escaped you as he started rubbing your clit.

“So wet for me babe,” he stated with satisfaction, your arousal coating his hand. He slowly inserted one finger, thrusting at a slow pace at first until he felt you grind down on him, the feeling of his long, slender finger caressing your inner walls so good. But you needed more. As if he could read your mind Xavier added a second finger. His thrusts at a steady pace now, his thump circling your sensitive bundle of nerves, while his lips had started sucking at the swell of your breast, before paying attention to your hardened nipples. The sounds of your pleasure resounding through the forest. Thankfully you were far enough away from everyone else, so no one could hear you. As Xavier hit the right spot deep inside of you, you let out a small scream.

“Fuck, right there. Feels so good.”

Just when your body started trembling from the pleasure and you were about to reach your high, he retracted his hand.

“What the fuck?” you panted.

“Sorry babe, I can’t wait any longer.” He worked fastly at his belt, pulling his pants and boxers down to free his neglected and rock hard length. A relieved moan escaped his lips as he wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking it. You bit your bottom lip at the marvelous sight, your heat throbbing with want and anticipation.

Xavier pulled your bottoms down and grabbed your thighs, hoisting you up against the tree. The hard bark grazing your skin, making you hiss slightly in pain. You wrapped your legs tightly around his hips. He rubbed his length against your core, moisturizing it with your juices before pushing inside. He groaned deeply at the feeling of being buried in your warmth. He started rocking his hips into yours at a rapid, eager pace. Your hands clawed at his shoulders as you meet his thrusts, trying to keep up with his rhythm.

Loud moans and pants echoed through the night.

“Fuck baby, you feel so good. So wet and warm.”

He hoisted you up higher against the tree, creating a new angle. The next deep thrust hitting your sweet spot. You moaned out his name.

“Do that again,” he growled, pumping his length in and out of you in a hard, fast pace now, trying to reach the same spot over and over again.

“Xavier,” you squealed loudly, “I’m so close.”

“Me, too baby girl.”

He started rubbing at your clit again and soon you felt warmth flood your entire body, your stomach tightened, your breathing turned into panting before that feeling of complete euphoria took over your entire body and you reached your high.

Xavier, lost in his own pleasure, watched you fall apart. The sight of you, eyes closed in pure bliss, head thrown back, moaning and whimpering incoherent expressions of pleasure accompanied by his name, triggered his own release. With a deep grunt he came hard, his head burrowed in your neck.

“Ah fuck, that was good.”

Just as you were about to reply your shrill scream filling the air as you spotted a dark figure right behind Xavier, a huge knife raised in his hand.

Tagging: @officialcodysfallenangels @hplotrfan @divinelittlelight @kalam22 @luthienshavenlove @stupidocupido @sojournmichael (hope it’s ok I tagged y’all)

*Usually I wouldn’t tag my work in tags where it doesn’t belong, but since the situation is a bit different here I’m gonna make an exception.

#xavier plympton imagine #xavier plympton x reader #xavier plympton smut #xavier plympton fic #fanfic #smut #my writings #ahs 1984 #michael langdon smut #jim mason smut #duncan shepard smut

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wandaposting · 4 years

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Because there is nothing else to talk about, a WandaVision “leak” 🤔

Hey guys! In my last post some of you asked for Wandavision info, so despite the fact that I have a lot less knowledge on that than on Falcon, I’ll give you guys some of what I know. Wandavision is set to be released in July 2021 following the delays, with Falcon releasing in December 2020. I’ve see a lot of people speculating that Falcon and Wandavision would reverse orders, but Marvel wants to keep the slate in order for storytelling reasons crucial to Phase 4. I’d expect a Loki release in November 2021. Without further ado, here’s some of what I’ve seen.

•Unlike Falcon, this show doesn’t kick off DIRECTLY after Endgame, but it does establish what Wanda’s been doing the last few months (she stuck around at the lake house with Pepper and Morgan, who took her in following the events of the last few months.) It opens with Wanda watching I Love Lucy, straight faced and clearly depressed. She goes to sleep and dreams of herself, Vision, and Pietro in the show, waking up in the middle of the night with an idea. I haven’t seen the in between scenes, but the next scene is the one shown in the Superbowl trailer with everything in black and white except Wanda.

•There is a scene in the Sanctum of things going awry due to both Wanda shifting her own reality, Steve Rogers creating an alternate timeline, and the effects of the snap. Doctor Strange is heavily involved in this series- Multiverse of Madness will be very influenced by Wanda’s choices in this show.

•As I’ve said before, Monica Rambeau is mortally wounded at the end of the series, but then gains powers similar to Capt. Marvel’s.

•Agatha Harkness manifests herself into Wanda’s reality as a neighbor, portraying the classic sitcom nosy neighbor. However, around episode 4 she steals the twins (Billy and Tommy) to lure Wanda to her in episode 5. She isn’t truly a villain on her own yet but more so someone just trying to sway Wanda to the dark side- Agatha gives Wanda the idea of taking on the Scarlet Witch persona and shifting the reality of others as she did her own. Agatha tells Wanda she’d just be helping people cope, but truly has darker intentions of creating a sort of mass societal delusion. She isn’t killed off at the end of the series, but Strange and Monica sway Wanda away from this idea.. for now.

•After Strange tells her that her alternate reality is affecting the multiverse as a whole badly, she has to “close” the reality. Doing so drains her powers significantly, leaving Wanda near powerless- something I’m guessing will be handled in Multiverse of Madness. However, her children are rescued from the alternate reality before she closes it, although they are separated from Wanda and taken to Kamar-Taj to have normal childhoods and be trained safely.

•As I’ve said before, every series will introduce a new character or team. Wandavision introduces not just the twins (Wiccan and Speed) but also one very unexpected character- Ironheart, a college student who is contacted by Strange to “finish up an old friend’s work,” - helping revive Vision outside of Wanda’s alternate reality in the final episode’s post credit scene.

That’s it! Again, I don’t have a whole lot given that the majority of the work on the series right now is VFX, not my kind of editing. Falcon is less VFX-heavy, so I got to work on editing the character-driven scenes despite the fact that the fights aren’t ready. Feel free to ask questions down below. (And yes, they’re leaving in the Vision Bulge scene.)

( source )

WandaVision is most likely getting pushed back to 2021 again to be closer to DSITMOM if anything, but I don’t super buy this.

I love the idea of her bonding with Pepper and Morgan (and “Auntie Scarlet” becoming a reality), but why is she staying with Pepper and Morgan over Clint and Laura?

Why is her hair STILL orange months after Endgame?

Wanda has to close her alternate reality, but Steve doesn’t eh?

I’m also not excited for yet another round of Wanda Does An Oopsie And We All Have To Fix It. 😩

“taken to Kamar-Taj” “have normal childhoods” choose one

I’m super skeptical of this and their FATWS “leaks”, but if they do have some truth to them it’s definitely missing plenty of crucial context. My kneejerk reaction is “i don’t wike this” but We Shall See™️

#wandavision #wanda maximoff

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brothermouzongaming · 4 years

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My Game Awards thoughts

I'm not going to cover everything that happened but I am going to go over some news breaks, my thoughts on the ceremony as a whole, some announcements we got/ ones we didn't, and maybe some "entitled gamer rage" just cause I can.

results for the awards here

The Xbox Series X announcement was unexpected but it is a nice jab from Microsoft to get the idea of the console in the minds of people even if it's just the physical look alongside what I can only assume was supposed to display its power and graphic fidelity. The ball is in Sony's court, I can't wait to see what they come up with. I suspect E3 2020 will be when we get something similar to what Microsoft did but maybe even bigger since they've had the time to work on it by then.

Let's stay on Microsoft for a minute cause that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 trailer was... a trip. If Microsoft keeps this up I'm definitely going to have a difficult choice to make come holiday 2020. The tone and visuals of the trailer as a whole are disturbing and gorgeous all at the same time. I was captivated the entire time and love the more psychological/mythological mesh they're really diving into. I literally had to go and watch it before I moved on to other topics while writing this.

That shark game Man Eater got another trailer, I am kind of surprised that hasn't come out yet. Not hyped or anything but I mean it does look like fun the way Untitled Goose Game does. Woooah here she comes (sorry couldn't help myself).

No More Heroes 3 coming out with the big weird trailer. Seriously I was so intrigued and caught off-guard. Touche Nintendo, every day you bring me closer to getting a Switch. Bastards.

GodFall a self-proclaimed "slasher-looter" action rpg by Gearbox Productions dropped a vague, but beautiful, cinematic teaser. It also subtly drops that it will come to PS5 and PC. This is the first mention/marketing for the PS5 at all, and it's through a short CGI trailer that tells us nothing. Weird.

Ghost of Tsushima got a great cinematic/ gameplay trailer that was teased at the State of Play event Sony just had. It was entertaining and gorgeous but I need more gameplay, still very interested.

Sons of the Forest This is interesting because it appears to be a very interesting step forward after The Forest's 2014 release. Definitely leaning into the blend of mysticism and body horror with the new trailer emphasizing on a sexually confusing four-legged woman and several fleshy faceless husks clearly intended to be enemies. I gotta try The Forest especially if this one fulfills the fantastical horror it advertises.

Control not only won Best Art Direction and was nominated for many more awards, but they also dropped new content. Bless. Expeditions are a new repeatable mission type that sends you into a Jukebox (if you've played it you'll bear with me here) where you can get new and high-grade mods as well as an outfit. This requires you to scavenge the world for the coins that get you into the...Jukebox...world place. The rewards seem meager, like what is going to keep me coming once I beat the highest tier and get the outfit? That said, it's a nice reason to pop Control back in and boy is it nice, even better with the patches that improve performance and finally let the game flow the way it's supposed to. I wish it was a little deeper and maybe there's more to it than we know now, but it's clear that this is supposed to hold players over until the first DLC drops. Not a complaint, more of a matter of fact.

Wolf Among Us 2 was announced...interesting... I guess they really are pushing that whole "TellTale is back" thing huh. We'll see, they can't afford to fuck that up. It's clear this is a tactical move to build hype and get people wanting that game they've been wanting since 2013. Why not come back with the one game you know anyone who cares about "TellTale" will, therefore, care about? Makes sense to me, don't fuck it up new guys.

Where the fuck was my Batman announcement? The Harry Potter rpg that we know is in development? BioMutant, where the hell is that game? There are so many games in development and some even close to release that really could use some shine on a stage like this. Since I'm out to prove a point: Last of Us 2? Marvel's Avengers? RE3? Dying Light 2? Vampire Masquerade 2? Watch Dogs Legion? Psychonauts 2? Moons of Madness? Digimon Survive? Since we're so focussed on turning back time (more on that later). OddWorld? Little Nightmares 2? I hope my disgustingly exacerbated point is made, we could've had so much more. One or two of any of those games would've made it way much better.

My point is if I'm Geoff Keighley and I'm ending one of the biggest broadcasted gaming-related events of the year and it ends with a FAST AND THE FURIOUS GAME? You bet your ass I'm taking however much Google paid for all those bullshit (though entertaining) Stadia commercials and I'm sweetening the pot for Sony, Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, WB Montreal, Capcom, literally anyone for an exclusive news drop of some kind. I'm sure any of those studios could've been persuaded in the name of publicity and hype and could've met/exceeded the excitement levels for a Fast and the Furious game. Fucking pathetic, is this 2009? Did you see those graphics?

Also...Green Day...? Seriously did I wake up in 2009 and no one told me? You have CHVRCHES on stage, you're handing out awards to bands and composers, you have a full orchestra for more musical numbers than even I'd care for...and you thought Green Day should be the headliner. I understand it was more of a personal choice by Geoff since he's a big fan but fucking hell go to a show don't subject us to it.

All in all, this night was pretty underwhelming with some flashes of entertainment strewn throughout. Yes, you have huge moments like Microsoft announcing the Series X, but when those are followed by minutes of Stadia commercials, moments like "Teh ken" and "This is gaming it's supposed to be free. Free love," and the myriad of obscure and nothing announcements it really shows that there are just some demons this award show can't seem to shake. No, I don't expect full gameplay reveals and walkthroughs but there is a middle ground between twelve-second trailers for new IPs and full-on presentations.

Ikumi Nakamura was there so I'm gonna start demanding she appears at all Game awards/ presentations thank you very much.

edit: all this ranting bullshit and I never mention that in my opinion, I think DMC5 should've taken GOTY. I totally understand why Sekiro won because it's great. It's deep, beautiful, visceral, rewarding; but so is DMC5. What tipped the scale was how much fun I had playing DMC5 and no Sekiro isn't for conventional "fun" but I thoroughly enjoyed DMC more and that really is what it boils down to when everything else is so evenly matched.

#The Game Awards #Microsoft #Xbox Series X #Sony #PS5 #No More Heroes 3 #Control #Man Eater #Wolf Among Us 2 #Godfall #Ghost of Tsushima #Sons of the Forest #Fast and the Furious

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jenniferladybug · 5 years

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Essay Wars - it’s a doozy

Last night my friend got in a texting debate about the story structure and character developments of Star Wars (a majority of it Kylo Ren). Well, what started off as my vigorous texting writing turned into full-blown essay responses.

Alright, let’s get into how this actually happened.

First, I was so excited about The Rise of Skywalker Final Trailer and I began to sing praises for Kylo Ren/Bendemption. My friend did not like that...so I whipped out the big guns.

I began to send scattered texts about certain things, mostly pertaining to:

Kylo Ren was turned to the dark side before he was even born via Bloodline, where Leia describes a dark presence over her womb.

Someone must be impersonating Darth Vader when Kylo goes to the Vader mask for advice.

Leia and Han were emotionally neglectful/did not know how to raise their son in the right way, mixed with brainwashing lead to Kylo Ren.

The Jedi are not good for the galaxy (yes, yes I know, but see my explanation down below...if you last that long)

Kylo wants to let the past die and start fresh with a new ‘order’, leave behind the Sith, Jedi, First order etc.

I also rambled on about a few other things in separate texts, but that is the gist of it.

So, in response to my scattered texts I received this from my friend Sammy, and oh boy was I ready:

So, let’s start with the story of Ben. The dark side since before he was even born thing is interesting and the fact that he’s been influenced his entire life by it is something they should have made much more clear in the films. That’s actually one of the problems I have with this new expanded universe- it just seems like damage control for the movies. The Previous EU EXPANDED everything, giving backstory to the characters we know and understand, in addition to secondary characters. Hell, they even gave us new characters as well but they never negated or changed the meaning of the films which is the bread and butter of the franchise, so if this super important info is coming from the book I think that’s just silly. You really shouldn’t have to read the novel iteration to understand what the movie did a bad job of interpreting. But I digress, that is some crucial info…

The Vader mask scene and the theory that it’s someone else like Snoke who has been pretending to be Vader is interesting, and I buy that, but like…Kylo didn’t know Vader was redeemed? Did Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Lando, Akbar, Wedge, or like literally anybody else form the Rebellion forget to tell him that? Big yikes.

IMO, feeling “misunderstood and neglected by his parents” isn’t a valid excuse for him to kill his own dad and being ok with his mom getting bombed to hell. Idk, you can ask why it’s ok for us to forgive Vader through his redemption arc but I think comparing his experiences to Kylo’s is like comparing apples to oranges. Vader was a BAD guy, but he ended up doing the ultimate GOOD thing in the end, and then the prequels fleshed out how he became bad intangible way, which to be fair, Kylo doesn’t have. But still, this is why most fans don’t take him seriously.

About the Jedi not being good- I challenge your credentials. “For a thousand generations the Jedi knights have been the guardians of peace and justice for the Old Republic”, then they were hunted down and everything turned to shit. And both in this canon and the previous one, it’s wildly considered that the few thousand years preceded the events of the movies things were super peaceful all things considered when the Jedi were in charge…and the Sith traditionally only operates in agents of 2. So how come everything was so peaceful for a thousand generations when there were a million Jedi and 2 Sith…ying yang in this case is bollocks.

And if Kylo really wants to “Start fresh”, why’d he start by becoming Supreme Leader of like the Star Wars version of ISIS? This is something we’ll need to find out in this next movie. I agree, his motive is to dismantle the Jedi and Sith way and create something else entirely, but the second Rey says “nah” he goes back to how he was. It’s not looking good.

The George Lucas rhyme thing lets not forget he’s talking about Episode 1 which was arguably one of the worst Star Wars movies made and he ended it with “hopefully it’ll work” and then grimaces…IDK bud lmao. And I doubt back in 1977 he knew there was going to be an episode 9 because he didn’t even know what he just made was Episode 4! It definitely was never a 9 episode arc from the get-go. Now, I know for certain after the prequels he had another trilogy in mind, and when he sold the rights to Disney he did hand them his drafts and notes, but even Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, admitted in his new book, they didn’t follow those drafts AT ALL. LIKE NOTHING. And he said that George felt betrayed. This idea of a new trilogy is something that was created in 2012, but I suspect they have been making this up as they went. After this last movie, Disney scrambled to get JJ Abrams back and figure out how they were going to get everything back on track. Daisy Ridley herself said JJ wrote a story for each of the 3 new movies, but Rian ended up created his own completely. I think that alone shows that production for these movies has been inconsistent, I don’t buy this was all part of some 9 series plan with a definitive beginning, middle, and end from the get-go.

Not sure what Rey’s lineage is, we’ll find out for sure in this next movie. I read one theory that Palpatine created her sorta through the force like many people think he did with Anakin.

So that was what I was up against.

Let’s take a brief moment to appreciate this:

Okay now that that is done...great.

My turn!

Now, I wrote my response (copied below) at top speed in about an hour, so maybe some of the things I say start sounding rushed or not as fleshed out as they should be. But I cracked my knuckles and gave it a go:

I am the first one to advocate for a film to have the ability to ‘stand-alone’ in any particular universe, whether it be Marvel, DC, Hunger Games, and Star Wars. By introducing a backstory for Leia’s pregnancy and hers and Han’s marriage in ‘Bloodline’, LucasFilm is doing just that: giving a backstory. In both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, there is proof that Snoke is the one pulling the strings when it comes to young solo. In the first film, Leia is quoted saying to Han, “There’s still light in him I know it! No. It was Snoke. He seduced our son to the dark side”, and in the second film Luke is quoted as saying, “Snoke had already turned his heart”. It is made apparent that ‘Kylo Ren’ is the production of Snoke, and Ren suffers abuse both mental and physical from his master. Though this changes when Kylo finally becomes free of the shackles Snoke once had on him when Ren slices him in half. The look of shock and release on Ren’s face when he realizes what he’s done says it all. Who are we to judge someone who is freshly out of the control of their captor? By just watching the films it is clear that Kylo Ren is not fully in control of his actions and he is being manipulated consistently as shown by the quotes above. When having that manipulation in conjunction with the neglect of a parental figure, then you get the full-blown reality that is Kylo Ren.

Feeling “misunderstood and neglected by his parents” is a valid excuse for turning to the Darkside in the world of a fictional fairy tale. Keep in mind we are not in a reality where this is okay, yet the world in which Star Wars exists allows such things to be redeemable and explainable. Take for example when Padme knew about Anakin killing younglings; she wanted him to still come home because she ‘loved’ him. If he had turned back to the light at that moment she would have most likely accepted him back. It is a danger of the force. They are not dealing with everyday normal emotions; the force, as well as the genre of the franchise, creates a heightened sense of urgency which is apparent throughout the forty-plus years Star Wars has been around (hell, as long as any fairy tale has been around). When you point out that Vader did the ultimate good thing in the end, do you mean to save his son and push Palpatine down a duct? If so, then this would be his redemption which occurred in the last of the original trilogies. If you are to treat Kylo with the same rules as Vader, then we must give him a chance to ‘do the right thing’, something which the filmmakers have been steadily building his character-arc for. Vader did numbers ‘wrong’ things, some of them much worse than Kylo has done. But yet the audience still chose to respect him, even before the prequels which fleshed out the story of Anakin Skywalker.

Now, you may be correct in that Ben Solo knew of Vader’s redemption, and I misspoke, to which I am sorry. He, in fact, learned of his heritage when he was training with Luke at his academy when he received a letter from his mother. The contents of the letter are unknown, though it is assumed she told him of his heritage when he was in his late teens. This was only because one of her rivals she was campaigning against in the senate threatened to leak the knowledge to the public that Leia was the daughter of the infamous Darth Vader. Ben had no idea before-hand though, so once again we assume that this had some type of impact. Imagine finding out your grandfather was Hitler. Would that be fun? But, since we addressed the fact that external material should not need to be consumed in order for a film to make sense, then we should disregard any idea as to how Ben Solo came to learn of his heritage. It is not mentioned in the films, but it is a widely held belief by many in the fandom that if Kylo Ren knew of his grandfathers’ redemption then he merely took this as a lapse in judgment in his late years (especially since it is hinted to in the films that Ren is speaking to someone via the Vader mask). Perhaps said mask has been telling Ren lies in lieu of the true story of the redemption. But that is speculation. What is not speculation is the line Ren utters in The Force Awakens, “Forgive me. I feel it again... The pull to the light... Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again... The power of the darkness... And I'll let nothing stand in our way... Show me... Grandfather... and I will finish... what you started.” What we can tell from the film is that Ren is in a constant struggle to stay within the dark, and through his words, it is expressed how this warrants forgiveness. The second half of the statement is even more worrying in the fact that Ren says ‘show me again’, referencing a previous time this ‘Vader’ has shown him what the darkness entails. Will we find out in episode nine if there was an imposter (Palpatine?) feeding more lies and brainwashing to Kylo Ren? That means not only was he getting terrible treatment from Snoke, but from his ‘grandfather’ as well. Perhaps this is why in the final trailer for episode nine we see Rey and Ren destroying said helmet. Until the film comes out, this will still be a mystery.

In coming to why I believe the Jedi are bad, I side with Luke Skywalker on this one. As he says in The Last Jedi, “ At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.” To that, Rey points out that it was also a Jedi who saved him. Which is true! Yet, the rules surrounding the Jedi order are such that allowed for Anakin to search elsewhere for support. True, he was very conflicted, but the Jedi are so extreme that they do not welcome outside opinions or thinking. You are either all light or you’re bad. There is no intermediary. That is why the answer is grey Jedi. I know those exist, and what needs to happen is a yin and yang between the light and the dark. Working together fosters acceptance and love within the galaxy. Even the symbol in the pool of the Jedi Temple in which Luke tucked himself away had a figure in a yin and yang pattern. “Powerful light and powerful dark...a balance”. Yet, any dark whatsoever that the Jedi see they stamp out.

When Anakin says, “If you’re not with me, then you’re against me”, Obi-wan responds with, “Only sith think in absolutes!”. Well, can you see the issue there? Obi-wan is also thinking in absolute. Using the word only further segmented and cast aside Anakin, by labeling him a lost cause. Such a similar thing happened with Kylo Ren and the incident with Luke at the Jedi Academy. The momentary lapse which Luke expressed to Rey was the tipping point. In Ren’s eyes, even his Master saw him beyond saving. And since everyone around him insists on thinking in absolute, then he must be bad according to them, right?

Slowly, Ren is beginning to realize there is another way, something not presently defined within the Star Wars universe. It is not Sith, it is not Jedi, it is not the First Order: it is the ‘new order’ which he proposes to Rey. Yet, he is not ready for redemption yet. The entire point of the scene was for Rey to realize that Kylo Ren cannot be saved by anyone but himself. This is a very powerful message and I am quite looking forward to seeing how his self-realization occurs in Episode Nine. Now, keep in mind that he had banked everything on Rey saying yes, and in his mind, she is “Still. Holding. ON!”, which she is, and he is right that it is holding her back. How can you expect someone from a family of yelling, angry people to get it right the first time? In fact, Adam Driver had to ask Rian Johnson if Kylo Ren had ever kissed a girl before. Kylo is not experienced in this ‘love’ world. He did not receive much love language from his absentee parents, so the only relationship he’s known for most of his teen and adult life is that of Snoke and General Hux. At that moment in which he wakes up to realize she is gone is one of abandonment and rejection. He thought he had found his match, the answer to his loneliness, and she snapped his lightsaber in two. He is basically throwing a grownup temper-tantrum, which is blatantly apparent in the standoff with Luke. When Kylo threatens everything, even ‘destroying’ Rey, Luke claims that everything Kylo says is “a lie”. It is clear in the last few moments of the film when Kylo is defeated and on his knees holding his father’s die that the audience begins to realize his anger was all a facade. In that shot, he is merely a lost and lonely boy realising the path he has chosen is wrong. The final force-bond between Kylo and Rey exhibits every one of those notions. There is no anger in his face, not very ‘destroy-ee’ of him, and he looks up with her with an almost longing. But when she sternly shuts the door on him, once again he is left alone, the die slowly fading from his gloved hand.

If that doesn’t sound like poetry then I don’t know what is! George Lucas was quoted saying in the behind the scenes of the prequels, “You see the echo of where it all is gonna go. It’s like poetry, sort of. They rhyme.” Similar themes and sequences occur within the franchise, and they have kept that alive at Disney Lucas Films, especially in regards to the parallels drawn between Anakin/Padme and Kylo/Rey. They even designed their respective costumes in a similar fashion. Kylo has his mother and father’s anger and stubbornness. They had a rough idea of where it was all going to go. And in regards to JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson, JJ Abrams was an executive producer on Episode 8 and had a say in the general outline of the plot. JJ had set up the relationship between Kylo and Rey in The Force Awakens, and Rian continued along that path. He followed the skeleton needed to get the plot from 7-9. But think about it, Disney would not allow Rian to just veer off the path completely. Yes he had some creative license but within parameters. Sometimes I don’t think people understand the workings of a large corporation with creative decisions. On a project like Star Wars there is always input from the higher-ups. In addition, JJ Abrams auditioned potential Kylo Ren actors with the script from Pride and Prejudice (Mr. Darcy of course). This is made clear in the writing decisions and parallels which have been made for that particular character.

Lastly, would you really want George Lucas at the helm of this new trilogy? People thought the prequels were terrible and Lucas went back and digitally altered the originals against the will of fans. He is not technically the best when it comes to scriptwriting (Exhibit A: “I hate sand, it gets everywhere!”) Also, Mark Hamill was interviewed in the early ’00s and said, "You know, when I first did this, it was four trilogies. 12 movies! And out on the desert, any time between setups...lots of free time. And George was talking about this whole thing. I said, 'Why are you starting with IV, V and VI? It's crazy.' [Imitating Lucas grumble,] 'It's the most commercial section of the movie.'” Yes, the first film was a stand-alone, since they had no idea they would receive any further funding. But then the immense success allowed for Lucas to develop the franchise further.

What I think people tend to forget is that Star Wars is a fairy tale, and it is not supposed to be about ‘a mass murder’ who is going to jail. It is supposed to be about redemption at its very heart. George Lucus had expressed that he intended Star Wars as a series for “twelve-year-olds”. This explains things like Jar Jar Binks and other bizarre choices he has made as a creator. Though this explains a lot of why most of the people who hate the franchise now are angry adults online who live in an overly politically correct world judging a fictional character who is in the middle of a character arc. As JJ Abrams had said in the director's commentary of The Force Awakens, “We looked at it like […] a fairy tale. What are the elements that you’re going to see that makes it this genre, this specific genre? […] You’re probably going to have a castle, and a prince and a princess, if you’re looking at a fairy tale. We wanted to give these fundamental, not cosmetic, but prerequisite elements.”

Okay, I’ve talked too much. I am going to end it there for now. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Haha hope that was entertaining and that sparked some thinking and inspiration. I know I let my keyboard run away from me and please excuse the odd typo from time to time. Let me know your thoughts.

I mean just look at that beautiful man.

Love you all!

#reylo #star wars #kylo ren #rey #long reads #in defense of kylo #ben solo #george lucas #bendemption

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amplesalty · 4 years

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The Invisible Man (2020)

You can’t see me!

The classic Universal Monsters lineup has been something of a frequent talking point on this blog, as has the ongoing attempts to reboot it in the realm of an Marvel style shared universe. Not so much ongoing anymore mind you. As mentioned during last October’s ‘House of Dracula’ post, everything has been scaled back and moving forward any entries are going to be more standalone stories. Maybe Marvel has a lot to answer for for making the concept of a shared universe so desirable to its competitors. Big business will always strive to copy the success of someone else so it was only natural that Universal and DC would set out to make its own version of it but both to limited success and both have ended up scaling back their visions. I don’t know if the shared universe idea was really that prominent beforehand and there’s only the odd one or two since like building towards the next Godzilla vs King Kong or the crossover between Unbreakable and Split leading to Glass.

For this Dark Universe, without looking into it properly it can be a little confusing knowing exactly what was meant to be part of it. I guess that’s just due to the public domain status of a lot of these characters. 2017’s The Mummy was the first time I remember hearing about the shared universe idea, mostly down to them announcing the wider casting for characters like Jekyll and The Invisible Man. But there’s been other notable monster related movies released, just off the top of my head over the last decade or so we’ve had Dracula Untold, I Frankenstein and Victor Frankenstein. Turns out only Dracula from that list was in universe but, as is tradition, got quickly downplayed when it underperformed. And that’s not even mentioning all the less well known releases that have come out. I never saw any of the those though, Victor Frankenstein is probably one I would look at due to McAvoy and Radcliffe. The Mummy holds a certain morbid curiosity in spite of its horrible reviews, maybe just to get a glimpse of what it is they were going for as I know Jekyll shows up in that one.

No doubt due to my affinity towards the 1933 Invisible Man, I was compelled to actually go see this remake but managed to stay entirely away from any hype or even basic details about the movie. I’ve had the trailer come up a few times on my Twitter timeline but avoided that as I’d heard that it basically gives away most of the movie. The first chance for me to really get an idea about the film was in the rating card shown just before it started which mentions the usual strong language, graphic violence etc etc but right there at the end is domestic abuse. If that wasn’t enough, the entire opening of Elisabeth Moss’ Cecilia character trying to sneak away from her controlling boyfriend in the middle of the night, sneaking around the house trying to collect her belongings and trying to not make any noise like she’s in A Quiet Place or something really sets the tone for the overall feeling of manipulation and control that runs throughout the entire piece.

Still haven’t got that legacy collection for the Invisible Man (though it apparently does exist now which it didn’t last time I checked) so perhaps it does a reverse Nightmare on Elm St and gets more serious as it goes along but that 1933 original really was playing silly buggers at times. I’ve probably talked about this before but I remember reading this interview with Jack Black around time he was promoting that Goosebumps movie. He was talking about horror movies that he liked and mentioned the Universal movies, The Invisible Man specifically highlighting its slapstick comedy that he likened to the Three Stooges. Obviously that’s a big part of why I love that version but this is about as polar opposite as you can get.

Here there’s just this dark and oppressive mood throughout, that idea of control transcending the relationship of Cecilia Kass and Adrian Griffin, taking over her entire life and almost beyond the screen itself. For Cecilia, it starts out with her just trying to rebuild her life now that she’s out of this toxic relationship but struggiling to even step foot outside the front door when every little noise puts her in a panic state, thinking that Griffin has tracked her down. As part of the modernisation, Griffin is some sort of tech millionaire dealing in security cameras and systems so that also plays as part as Cecilia is looking up stories about hacking and people taking control of webcams. As an aside, I don’t know what it is about the interior decorating of the super rich that lends itself to just completely empty houses. Like, I dread to think what I would be like with money considering I hoard enough as it is now. I would probably just have a mansion full of junk but I remember thinking this whilst watching Dr. Strange last year, he had this apartment that was just empty bar the odd statue or chair. Here, Griffin’s bedroom seems to be this massive room with one glass wall overlooking the sea, his bed in the centre being the only thing in it.

So even though Cecilia is out of this relationship, she’s not really out of Griffin’s control because he’s still very much in her head even though he’s not around. OR IS HE?!

And this is what I thought was really cool about this movie. It’s one thing to sympathize with this character but at times it felt like I was being manipulated as well. Cecilia would start to feel a presence around her, even if there was no one there that she could see. The visual direction really adds to this as well, using shots that are meant to imply that it’s from someone else’s viewpoint, looking at Cecilia or another part of the house. Or lingering on shots of what is pretty much just empty space for just a little too long, making you think something is about to happen or something is happening in a very subtle way.

It’s a very weird, sort of meta experience because they’ve done nothing up to this point to establish that invisibility is a factor but you obviously know going into it that it is and you can infer that he would be the one to do it since he is the defacto bad guy and if you’re a little more in the know, he’s called Griffin so obvs, right? But whilst they’re lingering on these shots of a sofa or a window frame, I found myself looking for signs of activity; an indentation on the sofa or a rustling of the curtains. I always talk about how I love movies that tread this line of whether or not the threat that is taking place is actually real or just in characters head and this movie is pretty much entirely that, it’s like Gaslighting: The Movie. But worse than that, now it feels like it’s screwing with me and getting in my head. Did I just see those curtains twitch or is it my overactive imagination?

Aside from adding that extra layer of paranoia to Cecilia’s character, the modernisation and use of technology really works well in how they handle the invisibility as well. Felt like a very realistic way to do it. There’s something creepy about the look of it as well, ditching the bandages of the past, though there are a couple of nods to that and that classic trench coat, scarf and hat look.

I think the only thing I was slightly confused with was the relationship between Cecilia and the person she ends up staying with, James. When she first walks out on Griffin, her sister picks her up so I figured he’s her boyfriend and he makes mention that he promised her sister that he’d help her try and get over he agoraphobic tendencies. But then the sister knocks on the door and they don’t act like BF/GF so okay, is there a third sister we’ve not met yet? Then later on the sister receives an email from ‘Cecilia’ saying that she doesn’t want anything more to do with her and the screen briefly shows snippets of the email, predominantly something along the lines of ‘I wish you had died instead of...’ but you don’t see how she’s referencing. So my thought was that the other sister had died and James was her widow? But I think that’s all me just putting 2 and 2 together and making 5, I guess they’re just old friends and that’s about it.

Overall, really enjoyed the movie and definitely one checking out. Unlike those other modern Universal monster movies it’s actually doing pretty well for itself too, financially and critically. Where does the Dark Universe go from here? Well, apparently there were no post credits for this (as I read and didn’t bother staying to fact check) but the ending leaves the potential for a sequel. And funnily enough, Elizabeth Banks is attached to direct and star in ‘The Invisible Woman’. Plus there’s still the oft talked about Bride of Frankenstein remake and a Dexter Fletcher directed Renfield movie? That one I would be interested in, always like the Renfield/Harker character in the different Dracula adaptations. That reminds me, never did post about the BBC finale...

#The Invisible Man #Dark Universe

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ironwebbs · 6 years

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Post captain marvel trailer release I’m seeing a tonn of people questioning why Fury didn’t call for her earlier in IW but like ??? Was there really a known threat before the snap??

Like classic aliens come down - nothing out of the ordinary for the superhero’s of earth, and then they cause a lil destruction for like 80 seconds and then they leave ?? Like to anyone else crisis averted?

The next battles are happening without thanos, and in the middle of the night in an empty station in Glasgow, a African city no one knew about, and on another planet?

Like the normal people are like “well yeah this rando space donut came to NY and then our lord saviour iron man saved the day and probs sacrificed himself again but we good lmao”

Did Fury know anything was happening? Was the first time everyone really knew there was a fight... after the snap?

Idk seems like infinity war was a hidden fight to me

#marvel #captain marvel #infinity war #thoughts #love my king and queen

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soundlessdancer · 5 years

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talk about ya favorite marvel movies ya nerd.

BITCH! YES! LET’S! GO! I mean outside of MCU? Deadpool, love those movies. Also, the only Spiderman movie I have seen in theaters (or at least I think I saw it in theaters) was Spiderman 3, y’know, that one. I’ve only seen two Spiderman movies out of the six released in the last twenty years (live-action I mean. I’ve seen Spiderverse) and the other one is Homecoming. But let’s get into the meat of this.

So I had only seen like 3 MCU movies in full before this past like…week and a half (FIrst two Avengers movies and GOTG, I was on vol.2 for about two months tbh) and I’m actually making a checklist in my bullet journal so I can keep track of what I have seen. But character-wise and everything, the first Captain America movie has to be my favorite right now. The three cap movies are definitely up there on my favorites, Civil War above TWS (which I just found the latter to be weirdly paced and it wasn’t as focused ON The Winter Soldier as much as you think it would be for that being the movie’s subheader/subtitle idk. You could name it Captain America: And Now There’s Nazis Again! and you have to say it the way John Mulaney does)

In short, I’m a big fan of Captain America. I’ve had a shirt with his logo on it for years. I tried watching the first film several times but my attention span can really suck but I finally was able to get myself through it and my guys, my friends- I. Am. So. Bi.

But aside from me being really thirsty over Bucky and Peggy in CA:TFA (Looking back to ‘11 when the movie came out I always found Peggy super pretty in the trailers and was super focused on that??? Like oh you sweet summer child yes some of that is just loving the aesthetic of her but also you’re so not straight. W/e i was in middle school that shit didn’t matter then) I just really love Cap’s origin story! Physically I’m actually just a tad shorter and like…10lbs heavier than Steve was pre-serum and like….can we talk about how tiny that is for a hot second? Especially for a guy in his twenties???? I’m a cis female and considered VERY tiny so for a cis guy that is just….so abnormally small.

(I’VE ALWAYS LOVED THESE PHOTOS THEY MAKE ME CRACK UP)

OKAY I went off topic again but yeah, first Cap movie! It is definitely my favorite because of my already large bias for him but also I really love Steve Rogers as a character, who is borderline chaotic good in this film just from how far he’d go so he could fight for the greater good and what not. The “I don’t like bullies” line is really something that struck me, especially as someone who was bullied from like….2nd/3rd grade to the end of high school. I mean a lot of what is said between him and Stanley Tucci’s character whose name I can’t bother to look up rn the night before the experiment is just…a really good scene and Steve sticks by what he was told, to stay a good man. I guess part of it may be self-projection because I’m really stubborn but who knows.

I also like that the whole movie you’re learning as to why Steve ended up in the middle of nowhere in some crazy aircraft thing all cryogenically frozen and everything. This really is a lot of rambling but some of my favorite MCU scenes are in this film:

Peggy punching that one sexist asshole -

Peggy being far more than just the romantic interest and how she brings up the blatant sexism she’s had to face

any scene with Peggy really.

Steve rescuing Bucky from the Hydra experiment place thing is well-done and does some very minor foreshadowing as to what will happen to Bucky/ what has already happened to him (I mean…how the hell was he able to do that much physical strain when he was just rescued from the lab where he was being EXPERIMENTED ON. Also, it explains why he fucking survives that fall from the train)

“I’m from Fresno, Ace.” WHAT A FUCKING LINE THOUGH

Did Cap really not know what fondue was….?

I’m like halfway through the first Iron Man and like…I know Howard Stark is shitty especially as a dad but idk I just like his portrayal in this film (him being one of the few who recognized Peggy as an equal

Bucky being completely brushed off when he hits on Peggy “It’s like I’m invisible” but him also realizing that she was far more focused on steve like…idk bucky just could’ve been lowkey a fuckboi here but he’s doesn’t pull any of that shit

I’m just really bi for Peggy and Bucky ESPECIALLY in this movie

I mean I even fucking knew what was gonna happen to Bucky and I was still shocked

OKAY I have no clue how well this answers the question but it is really just me rambling off what comes to mind. Honestly, a big push of motivation to watch these movies, in particular, comes from an Adventure Zone fanfic I’ve been reading called All the Things You Prayed For by @anonymousalchemist and @marywhal which honestly any Adventure Zone fan should read even if they’re not a Marvel fan because it’s just a super well-written story!

Alright, I think that’s it. Feel free to send in more asks if you enjoy these weird ramblings or are just curious! I’m super new to being like….into the mcu and marvel movies, so just having been bingeing a lot of them lately really makes me understand why people love them so much.

#words from your friendly neighborhood bisexual #marvel #oof this went on longer than i meant #but isn't that my life story #but no fr check out that fic it updates every 'wrong' thursday (which includes this thursday hELL YEAH)#it gives me something to look forward to inbetween taz episodes

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i-have-a-wonky-eye-too · 6 years

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Ready? Ready! - Part 7

I'll do the tags later on for this series (I'm on my phone ATM)

Warnings: swearing

"You got everything?" Chris asked as he came out of the small bathroom attached to your hospital room.

You nodded, taking another quick look around the room, double checking you did. "Yeah. Sebastian took the other stuff with him last night." you smiled softly up at Chris from the wheelchair you were sat in. Doctors orders, you were to remain in the wheelchair until you leave.

You'd ended up staying for a second night but everything was okay. Baby was healthy, you were healthy, Chris was happy.

"He's a good egg, isn't he." Chris smirked as he walked over to you. You nodded, giggling at the thought of poor Sebastian walking out of the room with your pink, fluffy dressing gown.

"Knock, knock." you looked over Chris' shoulder and smiled when you saw Robert stood at the door.

"Hey, man." Chris greeted him with a hug and a smile. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Rumour has it, the pair of you have been causing trouble and you need a ride home." he smiled, looking down to you, giving you a look. You knew that look, you hated that look. You were about to get a Robert Downey Jr lecture.

You blushed nodding. "Hmm... Oh babe, can you go sign those forms the nurses were talking about?" you smiled up at Chris.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, babe." he bent down and pressed a kiss to your cheek before he left the room. He definitely seemed more chipper today.

There was a comfortable silence between the two of you for a minute or so. You had known Robert for 10 years so you were used to just sitting with him. He was a lovely man you cared dearly about. You're practically best-friends, like a dad and daughter kind of friendship.

"So... The hell have you been doing?" he sighed sitting down on the bed looking at you.

You sighed smiling at him. "It's not like I meant for that to happen." you blushed.

Robert sighed. "I'm not saying you did but... Damn it, kid... That text Seb sent freaked me out. I was so worried about you. I nearly followed you guys here." Robert sighed as he looked at you with sad eyes.

You smiled softly as you looked up to him. "I'm glad you didn't. I think I'd have felt more guilty dragging you along too. I already feel shitty for putting Sebastian through all that... Not to mention poor Chris. I really let him down." you sighed heavily.

Robert shook his head. "Hey... That's the last thing you did and... If I didn't know Chris was capable of taking care of you, I'd have been down here kicking his ass." he nudged you with his foot making you laugh. Silence filled the room again before Robert spoke again. "What, happened? Every time Stan tries to tell me he gets all blurred eyes and runs off." he rolled his eyes making you laugh.

"It was... Nothing. The Doctor said, it can happen early on if things are... A bit, rough." you blushed again looking down.

Robert raised his eyebrow. "Are you two secret BDSM weirdos?" you burst out laughing, covering your face from him. Robert chuckled as he got to his feet. "C'mon, mommy, let's get out of here."

Robert pushed you out to the nurses desk where Chris was just finish signing the papers for your release. He looked round to you smiling at you. "Thank you." he thanked the nurses who seemed to have all gathered to help him.

You rolled your eyes as the three of you began to leave. "Oh-" you looked up to Chris behind you, Robert had taken your bag so Chris could push you. "Where's the picture?" you bit back your grin.

Chris slipped his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out the sonogram picture. "Here you go, baby." he leaned forwards to give you it, placing a long kiss on the top of your head.

You smiled holding it out to Robert. "There you go." you smiled as you watched him take the sonagram from you.

Slowly he began smiling as he looked down at it. "Well..." he cleared his throat. "... I'll be damned." he chuckled. He looked up, tears threatening to spill. "Congrats, man." he pulled Chris into a hug making you laugh.

They're just a couple of softies really.

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

You sat in the back of the car next to Chris, with Robert in the passenger seat. Of course Robert wouldn't actually be driving, not when you guys were working at least.

"Where are we going?" you asked noticing you were heading towards your hotel.

Robert cleared his throat. "Work, dumbass."

Chris looked up from his phone (that he'd been playing with for a while) with a frown. "What? No, Y/N needs rest."

Robert sighed. "I know but, you need to do some filming...dont worry, she can hang out in my dressing room." he winked at you.

You nodded shrugging. "Beats being stuck in the hotel room on my own." you smiled looking up to Chris. He nodded reluctantly before going back to his phone. You frowned glancing down to it. "What are you doing on that thing? You've been glued to it ever since we got in the car."

"Booking a flight." he shrugged.

You creased your brow. "For where?"

"For home."

"Why? You've still got a shit tone of filming to do." you pulled his phone out of his hand making Chris sigh. You shook your head before canceling what he was doing. "I'm not going." you locked his phone.

Chris sighed. "Babe, please. You can't work no-"

"Why can't I work? The doctor said I was okay. I just needed to take it easy." There was no reason you couldn't work. As long as you took the first week easy, maybe a little bed rest but after that you were good to get back to work. "I'm not going home to be on my own." you frowned.

"But-"

You shook your head. "No, Chris. I know you're scared, so am I but I'll be so bored in LA on my own. I mean... What if, and fingers crossed nothing does, but what if something was to happen? I'll have no help. You'd be all the way out here, Scott and your mom and sisters are in Boston, my mum is in London along with the rest of my family. Who do I call for help? Dodger? I know he's a good boy but I can't help think he'd struggle to call 911." you sassed.

Robert covered his mouth trying not to laugh. "She's got you there, Evans."

Chris rolled his eyes before laughing a little. "Okay, when you put it like that-" he sighed looking down to his phone. "I'm sorry. I just- I was over thinking, wasn't I?" he blushed a little.

You nodded smiling. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart... You were just taking care of your family." you whispered before kissing his cheek.

"Enough of the PDA, there's a baby in the car." Robert joked as he took his seat belt off.

Slowly, and with help from Chris you got out of the car and the three of you began making your way towards the trailers. In the middle of the 'Marvel Village' as it was called there was a general hang out area where everyone could gather at once if they weren't filming or in make-up or what have.

You and Chris held hands as Robert lead the way. You smiled looking up to Chris, admiring his beauty. You loved him so much, there was no doubt in your mind that he was going to make one hell of a father to your baby.

"SURPRISE!"

You jumped at the chorus of shouts and cheers as the two of you rounded the corner. There stood all your friends, cast and crew dressed in their costumes with balloons, banners and massive grins.

"Fuck!" you sighed, letting out a chuckle as your hand covered your heart.

Taglist: @mein1928 @marvel-fan23 @bethsaly @shyann6744 @berruneko09 @mandylove1000 @sydtrash @lokilover2000 @mollywolff @pink9874 @alexanicole0523 @sellulii @wangdesang @jordanlahey @impatientblog @snigs123 @bellejeunefillesansmerci @nerdgirljen

#chris evans x reader #chris evans x reader love #chris evans x reader fluff #chris evans x pregnant!reader #Dad! Chris Evans x pregnant!reader #Ready? Ready!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Cruella: Why Mark Strong Was ‘Fascinated’ to Work With Emma Stone

https://ift.tt/2SCjvU8

Disney’s new film Cruella is dominated by two exceptional performances from Emma Stone and Emma Thompson. The former plays the title character, an ambitious fashion designer who morphs into one of Disney’s most infamous villains, while the latter plays the designer who hires Cruella (in her Estella persona) and then tries to destroy her.

While the two Emmas drive the story and take full command of the screen, lurking around the edges is John, played by Mark Strong, the valet to Thompson’s Baroness who doesn’t say all that much. But even his stoic presence eventually reveals a character with more nuance and layers to him than the standard supervillain henchman.

Strong often plays antagonists and heroes with a certain level of complexity to them, whether it’s the haunted assassin Prideaux in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the well-meaning but ultimately corrupt Sinestro in Green Lantern, CIA analyst George Panetta in Zero Dark Thirty, the sinister Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes, or Dr. Sivana in 2019’s Shazam!

Strong himself is affable and charming in person (or at least on Zoom), marking quite a difference from the darker or more enigmatic characters he often portrays. We spoke with the London-born actor about working with the two Emmas, his own memories of the 1970s London punk and fashion scene that serves as the backdrop for Cruella, his own short career as a punk rocker, and more.

Den of Geek: John the valet is, without giving too much away about him, the silent, but watchful type. What was your take on the character and your approach to him?

Mark Strong: He’s exactly that. Silent, watchful. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Craig Gillespie, the director, basically said to me, “I want the character to have presence.” He said, “There’s not a lot of dialogue for him, certainly not in the first half of the movie, but I want him to be present. I want people to wonder who this guy is, what he’s thinking, what’s happening, whose side is he on? And so that when there is a revelation later on in the movie, it pays off.”

I also think he was playing off the fact that I’ve played a lot of villains. So you just assume coming into the movie that I’m going to be the bad guy. And although he’s the henchman of the Baroness, who is the evil character in the movie, as we learn, as the film goes on, things aren’t all what they seem.

He’s got layers to him.

He certainly has. Yeah. Still waters run deep.

As an actor, when you don’t necessarily have a lot of dialogue, what are the tools you use to make the audience feel his presence?

Well, you’re very reliant on the director then. And when I had the meetings with Craig [Gillespie], I hadn’t actually initially read the script, because it hadn’t been made available to me. But I wanted to meet him because I loved Lars and the Real Girl and I, Tonya, his past films. And I think he wanted to meet me. So we just got together for a chat really at first.

But he said, “I will make sure the guy has presence.” So I was reliant totally on him to film moments of John thinking whatever he might be thinking. And then finally to use them in the edit. And I think he used pretty much everything we shot. Because I think he wanted that character to be noticed, so that when the revelation comes, you understand what’s going on.

Emma Thompson recently said that she remembered the ’70s punk and fashion scene in London as a teenager. I think you’re roughly around the same age or so. Do you remember that era?

I do. Yeah, but mine was much more a punk thing. So that ’70s thing of long hair and baggy, baggy trousers and stuff, that was just before my time. My consciousness kicked in around about 1977. But of course I was still wearing early ’70s clothes when I was trying to be a punk. That’s the irony.

How’d that work for you?

Well, it just meant I wandered down my high street, I remember, and I had a very ’70s cut jacket, but with silver paint, I’d written the word “punk” on the back. But I still had hair down to my shoulders, you know.

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Apparently at college, you sang in a couple of punk rock bands: Private Party and Electric Hoax.

I did, I did. And what fun we had coming up with those names, you know?

It certainly all ties into the punk element of Cruella, in a way.

Back then, England at the time, Britain, was a very strange place. I think if you probably look at what was in the charts, it’s real middle of the road stuff, you know. And society was sort of dominated by just people who didn’t really have much drive. So when punk came along, it really was a massive social upheaval. It was a proper attempt to try and change things.

I always remember reading a magazine that had a picture of three different guitar chords. And underneath it said, “Here’s three chords. Now go out and form a band.” And I took it literally. I basically said to some mates of mine at school, “Okay, you go and get yourself a snare drum and a hi-hat, you get an electric guitar, I’ll get the mics and a bass.” And then we literally just made a noise. None of us could particularly play very well, but that was the genius of punk — you didn’t have to at first. But we kind of learned on the job, and then we got quite good.

Ever had the desire to get on the mic for old times’ sake or belt out a couple of tunes?

No, I don’t think the music industry’s lost anything important by not having me as part of it.

Let us be the judge of that, Mark. You got to work with the two Emmas in this film. How are they different or similar in their approaches to these characters?

They really are fine actresses. I’d say I loved every moment on set with both of them. Emma Thompson is just very funny, very inclusive. She’s generous, she’s warm, and she’ll talk to anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are on set. There’s no hierarchy going on with her. She’s really a really lovely lady and great company.

And Emma Stone is pretty much the same. I was fascinated with her, how hard she worked. Because she has to carry that movie. And watching it, she’s just absolutely mesmerizing. She does an incredible job of really painting in that journey with such subtlety, even though it’s a kind of heightened movie. It’s really moving and she’s really brilliant. And yeah, on set, she was still chatting to people. She was very casual. You know, she didn’t rush off to her trailer and go and have to stay in character or anything like that. They were really great company, both of them.

For this film in particular, how much did the clothes, the sets and all that period stuff really help to enhance just shooting the movie for you?

Well, Jenny Beavan, the costume designer, created some unbelievable dresses for Emma Stone. But also what she did was, there were three huge ballroom sequences, in which she had to clothe everybody. So everybody looked fantastic all of the time when I was on set. The thing about being an actor is when you get on set, and all the work is being done for you, because the set is massive and brilliant and really well done, and the costumes are all vivid and real, you just feel the part. You don’t have to do any work in a weird way. I mean, as a butler obviously, or a valet, I just got the one outfit. But that was fine by me because it was a really classy one. And it does the work for you.

What’s happening with Shazam: Fury of the Gods? Is Dr. Sivana coming back?

I literally spoke to the producer last night, because I saw that Zach Levi tweeted that they’re about to start shooting in Atlanta. Dr. Sivana isn’t in Shazam! 2. What’s happened is, I think Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu and perhaps someone else — they’ve got some female villains in. And to be honest with you, I’m very happy to take a back seat to some female villains and let them have a go, because judging by the work that Emma Thompson and Emma Stone have done in Cruella, it’s about time.

Do you think Sivana will come back if there’s a Shazam! 3?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Who knows? He’s still got unfinished business with Mister Mind.

Cruella opens in theaters this Friday (May 28), and will also be available on Disney+ via Premier Access.

The post Cruella: Why Mark Strong Was ‘Fascinated’ to Work With Emma Stone appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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captainsteviegracerogers · 7 years

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Thank you, D23

First things first; No. This post does not and will not contain any new information from D23. I know nothing, although I wish I did. What this will contain is the somewhat mad ravings of a person who paid waaaaaay too much attention to the news surrounding it yesterday whose brain concocted the most irritating and yet most entertaining dream I've had in a while. So, in case you don't know, D23 is a Disney thing where they announce cool shit that they're up to. Now that Disney owns all of the things I enjoy, I pay as much attention as I can. Kingdom Hearts has held a place in my heart (ha ha) since I was real little. It's a fun JRPG where Final Fantasy meets Disney. So, after nearly 5 years without a new full game, we finally have a release date on the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts III. 2018. Along with a new trailer showing us the updated graphics, a new world, and new information, that alone would've made my weekend. But then, I started to look into the Marvel side of things. We all know that Avengers: Infinity Wars is coming out May 2018. Hype hype hype. Only now, at D23, they showed the trailer. To my knowledge, no one's posted it yet. But, we have some information. First off, Bucky's out of cryo. Next, Thanos is here and one of his actions is gonna be punching Tony in the face. Along with some other important info (Cap has a beard, hehehehe), we currently know next to nothing. But, it's news. Both the Kingdom Hearts news and Avengers news has me excited beyond any normal levels, not to mention that's all I pretty much talked about yesterday. This, as you might imagine, affected my dreams last night. So, onto my brain. I had a wonderful, fun, and impossible dream last night in which the two aforementioned updates collided into Avengers Hearts III: Infinity Wars (it wasn't actually called that, but you get the idea). So we're talking an Avengers intro of Bearded Cap running around with the team again, when all of a sudden, who's coming in with those totally impractical clown shoes? Sora from Kingdom Hearts, of course. My stupid self was already having a blast. So where the characters because the cool looking battle scene ended with Cap running and the place exploding. Brain decides a Two Week Earlier time skip is in order. Tony's there, Pepper's there and a girl from a movie I watched last night is there (Ever see Keeping Up With The Joneses? Not Gal Gadot, the other lady). All of them are chatting until a high school (Stark High School????) becomes under attack (by ultrons????). Tony flies out. Pepper and lady from other movie talk about how well Tony's been doing and how he's trying to impress Howard (WHO IS SITTING THE NEXT TABLE OVER, MIND YOU). Scene ends. Transition time. BUCKY shows up. Apparently getting out of cryo means you head straight into a near cut and paste scene of Natasha from the first Avengers movie. He's trying to escape (RUMLOW IS THERE, I DO NOT KNOW WHY). In the middle of all of this hokey pokey weird shit, someone shouts in an echoey manner something about the light loving Bucky and lo and behold, my boy Bucky gets himself a Keyblade fresh outta Kingdom Hearts. My ass is confused. Alright now the last time we got a trailer for KHIII, we were told that my favorite, my boy, Roxas, was coming back. So, the last thing that happened in my weird ass dream was Sora and bearded Cap walking up to him, and bearded Cap picking him up and looking down at Sora like "You sure this'll work?" And Sora being an optimist that doesn't believe that anything could POSSIBLY go wrong goes "I'm sure, Cap. We've just gotta believe." AND THEN IT JUST ENDED. THE FIRST THING MY DUMB ASS THOUGHT "WELP I JUST GOTTA WAIT TILL THE GAME/MOVIE COMES OUT". Like, NO DUMBASS THIS'LL NEVER HAPPEN. *sigh* Tl;dr - An Avengers: Infinity War/KHIII crossover would more than likely be too much for my overexcited mind to handle.

#WOW EMMA SHUT UP #stupid #dreams #emma stop talking #Kingdom Hearts iii #avengers infinity war #sora #roxas #Cap #bearded cap #iron man #Tony stark #stupid shit #I want a dream sequel

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wesleyharrison-blog1 · 7 years

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Film Review: Split (2017)

The viewers who were attending Saturday night's showing of M. Night Shyamalan's new film, Split, were diverse. There were the usual teen horror movie crowd that wanted to laugh and scream at something while looking at their phones, middle-aged folks who were searching for something new, and a handful of people itching to see if Shyamalan has genuinely returned - that handful included me. Consistently, he has released a film every two or three years, but without critical success. A director known for his plot twists and evident Hitchcockian influence, it was disappointing that release after release, we weren't getting the same chills and thrills of his earlier works like The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000). Films like Lady in the Water (2006) and The Happening (2008) were so incoherent and - for lack of a lighter term - awful, that I wondered if his beginning works were all he had to truly offer. From that point on, I wasn't attracted or interested in any of his later projects. That is, until I saw the first signs of Split. The trailer for Split was captivating. The plot was familiar, yet it seemed to have an original twist. Reservation came when his name was revealed to be attached to the film, but the hope for a break in routine was stronger. Split's first moments get straight to the point. Without being flashy or showy, three high-school girls - two socialites and the other a misunderstood outsider, Casey, played by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Morgan) - are kidnapped by a mysterious man. It is unknown why they are dragged into a dungeon of cement and locked doors. Soon the layers begin to peel back and reveal the true horror of what awaits in the mind of their captor (James McAvoy). He goes by many names (Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, Kevin, "etc."), as he suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder with 23 developed personalities. We learn of the captors condition through the interweaving side story of his psychologist, Dr. Karen Flether, played by Betty Buckley (Carrie). Her character mimics what the psychologist in the last scene of Psycho did for Norman Bates, but on a much more involved level. It can be expected that Shyamalan will follow his normal routine of directing his audience to believe the legitimacy of a plot line, and only three quarters of the way through, throw a wrench in that understanding of characters and motivation, leaving the plot upside down and backwards. It worked for Sixth Sense, but over time it has turned itself into his cliche. However, his cliche has been given a makeover in Split, where Shyamalan takes his time, letting the plot boil, allowing the audience to learn and explore the situation, careful not to betray their confidence in his direction. Certain shocking and horrifying things are revealed of the captor's past, yet even more is revealed of Casey, which in effect serves the story immensely and gives it the extra depth and psychological development it deserves. Without it there stands the chance of the film being "another scary movie" with no rhyme or reason other than gross receipts. Shyamalan's use of camera and focal positioning keeps the film close and tight. With the talents of cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (It Follows),Shyamalan keeps his composition contained and enclosed, creating an experience where we are face to face with these characters, almost as if we are looking into their mind. And once the puzzle falls into place and the situation becomes do or die, he opens up the frame, creating a handful of masterfully tailored shots that serve to terrify. Notably, one such shot being near the end of the film of a long, industrial hallway as McAvoy's distant figure approaches and preys on his next victim. Most importantly, casting is a crucial ingredient enabled effectively in Split that could have been for the betterment of Shyamalan's past projects. James McAvoy performs a chilling depiction of this psychologically complex man and makes the transformations and personalities incredibly believable. And on the other side of the locked door is Anya Taylor-Joy, whose performance as a young girl, betrayed and broken for more reasons than her current predicament, gives this film a heroine we aren't used to in mainstream horror-thrillers. When the the two are isolated together in a few scenes, it creates the best moments the film has to offer. Granted, Split has its faults. For some, the "twist" that Shyamalan presents may be a bit of a stretch compared to the realism of the rest of the film. And even though he didn't give in to his usual formula, Shyamalan couldn't resist throwing a curve ball at the audience by following the Marvel standard, placing an end credit scene that may or may not lead to an expanding Shyamalan universe. When the connection to a prior Shyamalan film was made, I did find myself intrigued, if at least a little. After leaving the theater and digesting what I had just consumed, I found myself entertained and thrilled. It was nice to finally watch a film by Shyamalan that captivated and drew me in, causing me to want to solve the puzzle with him. The equation of an intriguing story and utilization of a talented cast made the film work, giving us a glimpse of the director we once knew. I am happy to say I am looking forward to what comes next. Welcome back, Mr. Shyamalan. Rating: 4.0/5.0

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wbwest · 7 years

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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 2/10/17

Last night, my friend Mike and I went to check out The Lego Batman Movie. Seeing as how we were the only two people in the theater, I’m not quite sure what its weekend box office is gonna look like. I bet John Wick: Chapter 2 takes #1, since that’s where everyone seemed to be heading. Anyway, I LOVED the film. First up, it considers EVERYTHING canon. If you saw it onscreen, then it happened in that universe. The whole thing is kind of surreal, as the movie focuses on Batman’s loner status, while also confronting his complicated relationship with The Joker. On the Batman Beyond cartoon, there’s an episode where old Bruce Wayne and his protege, Terry McGinnis, go to a Batman-themed musical. Bruce can’t get over how goofy the whole thing seems, but I feel like this film is the movie version of that musical. It doesn’t have the camp of the ’66 show, but it’s a movie that never really takes itself seriously. I loved the liberties they took, like making Jim and Barbara Gordon people of color (voiced by Hector Elizondo and Rosario Dawson). It doesn’t hurt the story any, while bringing some diversity to the Lego world. I also liked how it tied in concepts from The Lego Movie, such as the fact that Batman is a Master Builder. I’m not going to spoil the movie for you, but I feel like it’s strong until the middle of the second act, at which point it switches from a Lego Batman movie to a Lego Dimensions movie. Trust me, you’ll understand when you see it, and I think you’ll agree that the story gets a bit weaker at that point. In any case, I can’t wait for it to hit Blu Ray, so I can rewatch it a thousand times to catch all the Easter eggs.

This week, we got a trailer for a new season of Arrow. Wait, what? That was actually for Iron Fist? Huh. Yeah, I was really underwhelmed by that trailer. Finn Jones doesn’t seem like a great actor, there’s not a lot of Kung Fu on display, and it seems like it’s more focused on corporate takeover, as Danny Rand tries to reclaim his family’s business. Since it’s a Netflix Marvel show, there’s also Rosario Dawson and another damn hallway fight. I welcome the former, but I’m SO over the latter. I’ll get around to watching it, but the days of me binge-watching a Marvel season the weekend of its release are long gone. Considering I still need to watch Daredevil season 2 and Luke Cage, I’ll be lucky to get around to it in 2017. That said, I know a lot of y’all will binge it that day, and will tell me if it sucks or not.

In other TV news, it’s rumored that NBC wants to spin Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update segment into a weekly 30-minute show. I guess they looked at John Oliver and Samantha Bee, and realized they might be leaving money on the table. Still, Jost and Che as “polarizing”, at best, and I’m not sure if that segment has the legs to air 30 minutes every week, in the same format. Plus, would it also remain a part of SNL, or would it be excised completely? I think this would’ve been a good idea in an election year, as there’s just so much news to cover, but now that all that is behind us, I’m just not sure this is going to work. And then what happens? If it does leave SNL, would it come crawling back next season, with its tail between its legs? The difference between Last Week Tonight/Full Frontal and Weekend Update is that those cable shows are actually smart, with smart hosts. Plus, they can get away with a bit more because cable. Weekend Update has gotten a lot more biting since Trump was elected, but is it too little, too late? Are the SNL writers up to the task of this project? I just feel like it’s a bad idea that will dilute the Weekend Update and SNL brands.

It was also announced that Viacom will be rebranding Spike TV as the Paramount Network. In my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve witnessed a network go through as many format changes as that one. As far back as I can remember, it was The Nashville Network. Then, to appeal to a wider audience, it became The National Network. Then, to appeal to dudebros, it became Spike TV. Now, I don’t even know who they’re targeting. I also don’t know why they chose this particular name. It’s like they have short memories or something. After all, there’s already been a Paramount Network. Sure, most of us referred to it as UPN and not the United Paramount Network, but that’s what those letters stood for. And it was the definition of “failed experiment”. Sure, it hobbled along for about 10 years, but its legacy is basically Star Trek: Voyager, America’s Next Top Model and Girlfriends. Outside of that, it gave us such critical darlings as Shasta McNasty, Homeboys In Outer Space, and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. Hey, let’s see how many shitty (that means all of them) UPN shows I can list without looking them up: DiResta, Legend, Platypus Man, Hitz, Good News, Sparks, Dilbert, Marker, The Watcher, The Sentinel…yeah,that’s enough to make my point, which is you probably don’t remember any of these. UPN did NOTHING for the Paramount brand, and its effects are still being felt 11 years after its demise. So why, WHY would Viacom want to go down this road again? Anyway, the early plans for the rebranding call for the network to be a warehouse for hit Viacom programming from their other networks. It’s basically just gonna be the Now That’s What I Call Viacom Channel, posting the highlights from MTV, Nick, Nick Jr, etc. In fact, there are no concrete plans for the future of other Viacom networks, such as VH1, CMT, and TVLand, but reports say that there’s no immediate push to shut them down.

It was also rumored that there are already talks of an American Idol revival, but this time on NBC. Now, keep in mind the show just ended its run on Fox last year. The idea is that The Voice would be reduced to one cycle a year, and then they would slot Idol in one of its old slots. I feel like NBC sees the value in that show in that it actually creates household names – something The Voice has failed to do after 11 seasons. The focus is too much on the judges, and the winners have gone nowhere. Quick, name a winner of The Voice without looking it up. Hell, I watched the first season, and I can’t even remember that guy (I looked it up: Javier Colon. Who? Right). So, there’s definitely something to be gained from acquiring the franchise. That said, though, I also feel like a network only gets one of those shows. Fox had Idol, NBC had The Voice, ABC had Rising Star, and CBS had some show that got canceled that I forgot. Fox hurt Idol by double-dipping and picking up The X-Factor. That show never caught on in the US, and it hurt the Fox singing competition brand. If NBC picks up Idol, it’s going to do the same to The Voice. I mean, how much longer does America want to see Blake Shelton and Adam Levine bicker at each other? Sure, there’s a new dynamic now that Blake and Gwen Stefani are dating and both judges, but unless the show breaks them up, I don’t know how engaging that’s gonna be. And Miley Cyrus as a coach? Now, let me say that Bangerz was a great album. I’ve written about how awesome it was. But I don’t think Miley is established enough as a singer to be coaching anyone. She’s more known for her antics than her music. Then again, Paula Abdul was a has been, judging the talent of tomorrow, but that was intrinsic to the formula. Ultimately, America chose the Idol, and the show brought in established stars as coaches. The Voice has an unnecessary layer. They have talented judges, but then they also have the coaches, and then America. As Idol showed us, ANYBODY cane a judge, which is going to be an important thing for NBC to remember once it comes to for contracts to be renegotiated. Anyway, I think Idol needs to rest a few more years before they dust it off. It was once a powerhouse, but television AND music changed over time. Let the industry figure out its next steps before trying to reenter it.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with women, which meant I did a tour of duty with soap operas. I started with Days of Our Lives back in the late 80s, then shifted to The Young and the Restless, and then shifted back to Days in the 00s. And besides Victor Newman, there is no soap villain quite as diabolical as Stefano DiMera. Well, the actor who portrayed him, Joseph Mascolo, died back in December, but his final filmed episode aired yesterday. Although Mascolo had been battling Alzheimers for the past few years, he had portrayed the character for around 30 years. For some reason (I haven’t watched in a while), he was in prison (he’s killed/led to the death of a lot of folks. But they typically come back after contract negotiations), and at the end of the episode, he escapes! What a beautiful ending, knowing that he will be forever “in the wind”, as they can’t really catch him again unless they recast him. Seeing as how the rumor is Days is coming to an end this year, they won’t even have time to do that, with scripts written about 6 months in advance. So, here’s a toast to one of the greatest villains to ever grace the television set. You will be missed, you evil son of a bitch.

Let’s get a little controversial, shall we? This week, comedian George Lopez got in hot water for kicking a woman out of one of his shows when she objected to a racially-charged joke he told. Basically he said, “There are only two rules in the Latino family: Don’t marry somebody black and don’t park in front of our house.” Apparently, a woman gave him the finger after that joke, to which he began to tell her to “sit [her] fucking ass down or get the fuck out.” Now, comedians are on his side because they say he was just shutting down a heckler. Meanwhile, the general public is on her side because they’re offended by the joke, and don’t see why he had to kick her out for objecting. Here’s my take: First of all, he’s told variations of this joke for years. He used to joke about how his grandmother wouldn’t even want President Obama in her house. If you’re familiar with his material, then his joke the other night shouldn’t surprise you. Now, for the folks offended by the joke: was he wrong? All I know is my own life experience. I dated a Cuban, and as polite and Ivy League-educated as I could be, I was still the Black guy who could only illicit grunts from her father. And I don’t know anyone named Esmeralda Jenkins or Manuela Johnson. Growing up where I did, Black guys didn’t get Latinas or Asian girls. Those girls’ families weren’t gonna stand for that! So, this is one of those jokes that’s grounded in truth. It might rub some folks the wrong way, but it’s not necessarily untrue. Where I stand, I don’t think he really did anything wrong. After all, that’s how comedians handle folks who they feel are interrupting their show, and the joke itself was par for the Lopez course. I wouldn’t say it was “haha funny”, but it wasn’t wrong.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

An animated series based on the Castlevania video game is coming to Netflix later this year. Hopefully it will star gay Simon Belmont from Captain N: The Game Master.

Kate McKinnon will voice Ms. Frizzle in Netflix’s reboot of The Magic School Bus

Speaking of Netflix, Love, The OA, and Trollhunters have all been renewed by the streaming service.

Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, announced that she’s retiring after her next album is released.

After 25 years over covering the Olympics, Bob Costas announced he’s handing the reins over to Mike Tirico

Entertainment newsmagazine show The Insider has been canceled after 13 seasons.

Formerly of USA’s Satisfaction, Blair Redford has been cast as the first mutant in Fox’s X-Men TV series

Not to be outdone by Beyoncé, it was announced that George and Amal Clooney are expecting twins. Those Hollywood In Vitro clinics are working overtime these days!

Speaking of babies, Jason Statham proved he’s the Transporter of Sperm, as he announced he’s expecting a baby with girlfriend Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

I don’t like Tom Brady. Don’t like a thing about him. I find it odd that you can be suspended for cheating AND win the Super Bowl in the same damn season. That said, that was a Hell of a comeback during Sunday’s Super Bowl LI. Somehow, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead, allowing the New England Patriots to mount an amazing comeback and win their 5th Super Bowl title. It was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime. There was Edelman’s amazing catch. Some are calling it the most exciting game of football ever. But in the end there can only be one winner, and that was the Patriots. So, with that in mind, the New England Patriots had the West Week Ever.

#80s #Batman #DC #Marvel #Movies #Music #Politics #Race #Star Trek #Television #Toys #Video Games #West Week Ever #X-Men

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officialotakudome · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, And More

New Post has been published on http://otakudome.com/editors-choice-lets-grade-this-years-e3-who-won-e3-2017-awards/

Editor's Choice: Let's Grade This Year's E3, Who Won?; E3 2017 Awards

This year’s E3 has come and gone, with all the game trailers, gameplay reveals, and cosplay. This year’s E3 featuring a number of predictable outcomes, but also quite a few surprises. While some conferences were rather hit or miss, the big three did fairly amazing jobs, and even Ubisoft had some heavy hitters for its presser. However, there can only be one winner and one runner-up for our opinion of who won E3.

E3 Show Conference Grades:

EA Conference: EA’s show was met with mostly underwhelming sports titles and some mostly known fan favorites such as Star Wars: Battlefront II (gameplay) & Battlefield 1 (DLC), however it did shine when it showcased two “EA Originals”; Anthem and A Way Out. The former of which is being developed by staple EA Studio Bioware, while the latter is being handle Josef Fares who developed the critically acclaimed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Need for Speed: Payback also had an impressive showing as well. Grade Score: 69/100

Microsoft Conference: It was all about games for Microsoft at this year’s E3, with a no nonsense presentation focusing on titles coming to Xbox One and the now officially named Xbox One X (formerly Project Scorpio). One would think the Xbox One X would have taken up most of the conference’s time, but other than a few bits of mention to the console and the final portion of it, a majority of the conference was focused on software, which is exactly what Xbox One owners have been asking for. Microsoft also surprised with an announcement of 22 console exclusives coming to the system within the year or so. Admittedly they didn’t do too much to give reasons why people should buy the Xbox One X over the much cheaper 4K enabled Xbox One S. Grade Score: 85/100.

Bethesda Conference: This one is a little odd, Bethesda didn’t really showcase any new games beyond sequels to The Evil Within & their recent Wolfenstein reboot (no Doom 2 unfortunately), most of it was kind of just a showcase of already released IP, VR incarnations of those, and the aforementioned sequels, however Bethesda did surprise with a promising looking stand alone expansion for Dishonored II entitled “Death of the Outsider”, and The Evil Within 2 looks even more terrifying than the original game. Grade Score: 73/100

Devolver Digital “Conference”: Speaking of odd, Devolver Digital had some kind of pre-recorded. performance piece show that was an extremely brutal parody of the industry and E3 itself (no wonder there’s heat between the two), it was hilarious, witty, and brilliantly done for its fifteen minute run. No new games were shown (as promised), but we did get new trailers for already known upcoming Devolver Digital games, I highly recommend seeing this if you haven’t yet. Grade Score: 90/100.

Ubisoft Conference: Now Ubisoft’s conference was an excellent surprise, several new IP were shown off including Skull & Bones, a Pirate themed multiplayer title based on the critically acclaimed Naval battle sequences from Assassin’s Creed: IV Blackflag. This is a title that was long asked for and Ubisoft surprisingly delivered the goods. Alongside Skull & Bones, Ubisoft announced The Crew 2 (which looks extremely promising), a new Toys to Life title; Starlink: Battle for Atlas, a mobile spinoff of its South Park IP; South Park: Phone Destroyer, Steep DLC focused on the Olympics, Just Dance 2018, an Egyptian themed Assassin’s Creed title, and the amazing looking Mario & Rabbids crossover; Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (aka E3 show stealer), Ubisoft also shocked by re-introducing a new seemingly M rated Beyond Good & Evil 2. Grade Score: 94/100

Sony Conference: Much like Microsoft, Sony was all about software, so much so that once the pre-show ended there was zero presenters present, with Sony opting instead to have the trailers and gameplay footage to do the talking. Sony showed off some E3 returns such as God of War & Marvel’s Spider-Man (providing release windows for both), as well as surprising with announcements of a complete remake for Shadow of the Colossus, Monster Hunter’s return to Playstation, and impressive looking PSVR title Moss. Grade Score: 83/100.

Nintendo Conference/Tree House: Perhaps the most impressive show of E3 was Nintendo’s with announcement after announcement, and surprise after surprise the Switch & 3DS manufacturer went all in this year. Announcements included TWO Metroid titles; Samus Returns on 3DS & the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 on Switch, Switch debuts for Kirby & Yoshi next year, a core Pokemon RPG coming for Switch within the next year or so, the aforementioned Ubisoft team up for Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (yes I’m including this here), Nintendo also showed off some great gameplay for Breath of the Wild DLC & Super Mario Odyssey. Grade Score: 97/100.

E3 2017 Awards:

Below you can find our show awards for this year’s E3:

Best Sequel/Prequel/Continuation:

Winners: Life is Strange: Before the Storm, The Evil Within 2

Runner-Ups: Metro: Exodus, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Far Cry 5

Honorable Mentions: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Ori and the Will of the Wisp, Beyond Good & Evil 2

Biggest Confirmed Rumor:

Winner: Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Runner-Ups: Dual Metroid Prime 4 & Samus Returns announcements, The Evil Within 2

Honorable Mentions: Pokemon on Nintendo Switch, Shadow of the Colossus Remake, Forza Motorsport 7, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Dragon Ball FighterZ

Best Surprise Announcement/Reveal:

Winner: Backwards Comp for OG Xbox on Xbox One & Xbox One X

Runner-Ups: Beyond Good & Evil 2 Re-Introduction, South Park: Phone Destroyer

Honorable Mentions: A Way Out, 22 console exclusives coming to Xbox One/Xbox One X, Super Lucky’s Tale, Moss

Best VR Reveal:

Winner: Moss

Runner-Ups: Doom VFR, The Impatient

Honorable Mentions: Skyrim VR, Monster of the Deep (FFXV VR), Fallout 4 VR

Best New IP (First Game Entry):

Winner: Skull & Bones

Runner-Ups: A Way Out, Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Honorable Mentions: Detroit: Become Human, Days Gone, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Anthem

Best Indie Showcase:

Winner: Cuphead

Runner-Ups: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, The Last Night, Undertale

Honorable Mentions: Deep Rock Galactic, Super Lucky’s Tale

Best Gameplay:

Co-Winners: Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Super Mario Odyssey, Marvel’s Spider-Man

Runner-Ups: Dragon Ball FighterZ, Cuphead, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Honorable Mentions: Metro: Exodus, Metroid: Samus Returns, South Park: Fractured but Whole

Best Handheld/Mobile Showcase:

Winner: Metroid: Samus Returns

Runner-Ups: South Park: Phone Destroyer, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Honorable Mentions: Ever Oasis, Mario+Luigi 3DS Remake, King’s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon

Best Overall Presentation:

Winner: Super Mario Odyssey

Runner-Up: Marvel’s Spider-Man

Honorable Mentions: The Crew 2, Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Yoshi Switch

Most Wanted (2017):

Co-Winners: Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, Super Mario Odyssey, Cuphead, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Runner-Ups: Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Metroid: Samus Returns, Sonic Forces/Mania

Honorable Mentions: Crackdown 3, Forza Motorsport 7, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, The Evil Within 2

Most Wanted (2018):

Co-Winners: Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War 4, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Far Cry 5

Runner-Ups: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Yoshi Switch, The Crew 2, Yakuza 6

Honorable Mentions: Anthem, Skull & Bones, Monster Hunter: World, Kirby Switch

Best Long-term (Franchise/Enjoyment) Potential:

Winners: Skull & Bones, Sea of Thieves

Runner-Ups: Dragon Ball FighterZ, Star Wars: Battlefront II

Honorable Mentions: Starlink: Battle for Atlas, State of Decay 2

Most Potential As A Single Title (2017/18/Beyond):

Co-Winners: Kingdom Hearts III, The Evil Within 2, Cuphead, Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Runner-Ups: Anthem, Need for Speed: Payback, The Crew 2

Honorable Mentions: Crackdown 3, Monster Hunter: World, Far Cry 5

Best Multiplayer Potential:

Co-Winners: Star Wars: Battlefront II, Splatoon 2, Skull & Bones

Runner-Ups: Call of Duty: WWII, Cuphead, Dragon Ball FighterZ

Honorable Mentions: Pokken Tournament DX, Anthem, State of Decay 2

Game of Show:

Winner: Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Runner-Up: Yoshi Switch

Most Disappointing No Shows:

Winner: The Last of Us 2

Runner-Ups: Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077

Personal Favorite E3 Conference:

Winner: Nintendo

Runner-Ups: Ubisoft, Devolver Digital

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