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itspufflehuff · 3 years

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Spidey - Sebastian Stan x Holland!Reader

Summary: Being Tom Holland’s twin sister isn't all that bad. You each live your own lives and have your own successes. You don’t get to visit Tom on set much but when you finally make it to Comic Con will there be a special someone there for you to meet?

Hi! This is my first post in here so please let me know what you think! If you ever have suggestions or you find a mistake in my writing feel free to message me. Thank you and enjoy!

MATERLIST // TAGLIST

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four |

Word Count: 2,840

~~~~

Being Tom's twin wasn't as intimidating as people expected.

Sure he was Spider-Man but you still had your own success. Tom went for the big screen but you went for the big stage, Broadway.

You started with local shows, then you went on to be ensemble on West End. Soon you became an understudy for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It wasn't too long until you got the lead as Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked. With the attention you got as Elphaba you were scouted to audition for Broadway.

Seemingly around the same time Tom's fame skyrocketed so did yours. You two were so proud and happy for the other.

You decided to move out to New York seeing as how you were performing eight times a week.

Tom was your best friend so after every show, he called to ask how it went and to update you on his Spider-Man shenanigans.

The years came and went. You were still going strong on Broadway taking up different roles and Tom was still Spider-Man. He always talked about how fun it was being apart of the Marvel cast. You had still yet to meet anyone besides his Spider-Man co-stars like Zendaya and Jacob. Whenever they were doing a press event with the entire Marvel cast you were busy doing a show. Then one day you got a call to play Spider-Gwen.

You were so shocked when you got the call. You happened to be in your dressing room getting ready for a rehearsal. You sat there shocked, "Spider-Gwen?"

"Yes! Sony is making an animated Spider-Man and they think you would be perfect as Spider-Gwen. You wouldn't have to leave New York too long, just for some auditions. If you get the part you can do your recordings there."

"I don't know what to say." You were shocked. This is amazing! Imagine Tom's face when he finds out you're Spider-Man, well kind of.

"Say yes!"

"Yes!!"

~~~~

This was your first time attending Comic-Con. You never had a purpose to go before or even time. Now that you're apart of the Into the Spider-Verse cast you were attending so many different types of events you never did before. It was quite fun.

"Tom!" You shouted as soon as you saw him. You were in the middle of an interview but you didn't care. You hadn't seen your brother in ages. Tom laughed and walked over to you.

You two hugged and the interviewer spoke, "Our two favorite Spideys! Tom, how are you? What do you think of Y/N being Spider-Gwen?"

He laughed, "I'm doing well, I think it's great we have another Spider-Man in the family! But just so everyone knows I am the better Spidey." Everyone laughed.

"Sure you are." You playfully rolled your eyes.

"You're just a cartoon, I actually have to do flips and stuff," Tom argued.

You let out a 'pfft' before you spoke, "I could do the same things you can, you're not that special Tom."

"Alright, let's see it then!" He challenged.

"What? Right now?"

"Yes right now, come on let's go."

"Tom, I'm in heels."

He playfully rolled his eyes, "Heels aren't even that hard to jump around in, Y/N."

You looked to the interviewer who watched you twins bicker, "He did one dance wearing heels and he thinks he's amazing," turning to your brother you continued, "Newsflash Tommy I do that eight times a week."

The interviewer let out an 'ooo' as if you got him good. Everyone laughed as the interview wrapped up, "Well thank you for your time Y/N and thank you for joining Tom."

"Come on I want you to finally meet everyone." Tom grabbed your arm and pulled you along.

He basically ran through the crowd dragging you along behind him. When you finally got to where the rest of the Marvel cast was you and Tom were immediately surrounded by interviewers before you got to meet anyone.

Knowing neither of you were going to get through without at least one interview you both gave up trying to get by and stopped for an interview, "The Holland twins it's so amazing to see you both here today! How are you both?"

You answered first, "Thank you, I'm so excited to be here this is my first time so I'm a little nervous."

"Don't be nervous sis, just watch the pro." He smugly adjusted the jacket he had on.

You laughed and rolled your eyes as the interviewer asked another question, "Has there been any sibling rivalry now that both of have taken on the role of Spider-Man?"

You both looked at each other then Tom spoke, "You know what I was never mad because I know she's trying to be like her big brother which is flattering really."

You didn't notice before but next to Tom a couple of his castmates were doing an interview as well. The only reason you noticed them was because one of them came up to Tom and said, "Seriously Tom keep it down! Man, dude can't even do an interview without being a diva." You recognized him right away Anthony Mackie and next to him Sebastian Stan. Both you and Sebastian laughed at Anthony's obvious joke.

Tom looked down slightly embarrassed as he was trying to act smug before your interview was interrupted. "Y/N were you intimidated to take on Spider-Gwen knowing your brother was Spider-Man?"

"Umm, not really." you laughed, "I was actually really excited and thought it would funny to take on the role. I'm sure the casting directors thought the same thing."

The interviewer nodded, "Has there been a time where you two fought to prove who the better Spider-Man is?"

Before Tom could answer you did, "Well just a few minutes ago Tom tried to have a competition between us to see who was better at doing flips."

The three of you laughed, "And did you?"

"No, of course not! It is way too crowded in here and I'm in heels. I'm used to dancing in them not doing stunts. Maybe we can have that competition another time." You suggested to Tom.

He smiled mischievously, "You're on. May the best Spidey win." He held his hand out which you took. You both shook hands in front of the camera closing the deal to have a competition soon.

You didn't know this at the time but Sebastian couldn't take his eyes off of you for the rest of his interview. He knew who you were but never got the chance to meet you in person. Now seeing you several feet ahead of him he couldn't look away. You were more beautiful in person and your smile was radiating. Even after his interview ended he stood to the side watching you.

His eyes followed you as you smiled and waved to the interviewer. You were headed his way, quickly he turned and engulfed himself into a conversation with Chris Hemsworth.

Tom began introducing you to everyone as his little sister. He was only seven minutes older and always treated you like a kid for it. You were most excited to meet Robert Downey Jr. seeing as how he and Tom were so close. You two hit it off right away, he treated you like you were apart of the family.

You made your way down the line, meeting each member of the Marvel cast. You finally made it to Chris Hemsworth, Anthony, and Sebastian, "Hey guys I want you to finally meet my little sister, Y/N."

They all looked to you at you, well more like down at you. They were all so tall towering over.

Thank God I wore heels today.

"Pleasure to meet you," Chris grabbed your hand.

"Finally the famous Y/N! Now tell me was Tom always such a diva or is it just because he's Spider-Man that he's acting like a big shot?" Anthony asked.

You and Tom laughed. He did tell you about how he and Sebastian always teased him.

"Yeah and what about that juice obsession? Like, come on man you're too old for that." Sebastian joined in.

You looked to him and laughed, "You know what I've been telling him the same thing like come on Tom we're in our 20s and you're still hooked on juice like it's you're only will to live." You joked along and turned to Anthony, "As for the diva attitude he's always been this way like we get it you were Billy Elliot get over it!" Everyone laughed as Tom stood there pretending to look offended.

"Well, at least I never went out on stage looking like the green goblin!" He fought back.

"Hey! Elphaba is a very complex and demanding character. You're just jealous you don't have half the talent I do."

"Oh puh-lease, I totally do. Tell me who was it that taught you to dance?"

"Ok fine you have that but acting and singing was all me! All you can do is act and dance. I'm a triple threat."

That shut him up as everyone laughed at him, "I like this one." Anthony said. He reached out to shake your hand which you gladly accepted. He moved to the side, Sebastian happily took over his spot in front of you.

He reached out to shake your hand and when you grabbed it he pulled you in closer, "Just so you know you're my favorite Spidey." He whispered into your ear. A smile arose onto your lips as you pulled away, "Thank you."

"May I also add I think you have a beautiful voice, I want to one of your shows but wasn't able to catch you after the show."

A blush crept up to your face, "Thank you, again." A nervous laugh escaped, "I would've loved to have met you then. Sometimes I escape through the side exits. I love my job but I don't always love the crowds."

"I know what you mean, sometimes after movie premieres, I sneak out through the employee exit just to get away from the crowds."

Neither of you noticed but you were still holding onto each other's hand. It wasn't until Hemsworth cleared his throat beside you two, "Sorry to interrupt but we're heading to the panel room."

You both looked at him and quickly let go of each other's hands. "I'll meet you guys over there." Sebastian nodded to him. Chris looked over to the both of you, "Ok, well once again it was nice to meet you Y/N. I hope to see you soon." He gave you one last smile and walked away. You turned back to Sebastian. He spoke before you did, "I'd love to see you again late."

"Yeah, I'd love that too. I have a panel in twenty minutes. I was going to meet my brother after and join you all for the rest of the day, maybe we can talk more then." You smiled at him.

"Great, I'll see you then." He grabbed your hand gently, pulled it up to his lips, and placed a kiss there. He walked away to where his castmates went leaving you standing there with your heart beating fast.

You meet up with your cast and took photos with fans. Sebastian took up all of the thoughts in your head. You tried to focus on what was happening but your mind wandered off the feel of his lips on your had and how his eyes looked so deeply into yours.

Surprisingly enough your panel flew by. You were able to get Sebastian out of your head and get lost in hanging out with your cast as you answered fan questions. By the end, you walked out the door to see Tom waiting for you talking to some fans.

"Excuse me, I've got to go. It was nice meeting you all!" Tom excused himself from the group and walked towards you. "Ready to go?" He put his arm around your shoulder.

"Let's go." You said with a bit of excitement and nervousness.

Tom didn't notice, however. "So how many of your questions were about me?"

You were lost in thought once again unable to get Sebastian out of your mind, "Huh?"

"I got so many questions about the new Spider-Man in the Holland household." He chuckled.

Finally understanding him you laughed along, "Oh, yeah, I lost count after five. Someone asked about our rivalry so I started a rumor that we haven't spoken in months and I am actively hiding from you during this event."

Tom laughed, "Lucky for you, Mackie and Sebastian started a rumor that I'm a diva at home, so you're scared to be near me."

You laughed louder than you expected, "What?"

"Yes! They asked me about you and Mackie joined in saying you met everyone earlier and told them I've always been a diva. And of course, Sebastian had to join in," He imitated their American accent, "Poor girl looked terrified to be around him."

You both laughed as you walked into the room where the rest of the Marvel cast was.

The moment you walked in Sebastian's stomach flipped, in a good way. You were laughing when you walked in. It was the most amazing laugh he heard, he wanted to able to keep making you laugh like that. He watched as you walked around the room greeting everyone. You stopped at RDJ and Chris Evans. You all talked, but you were too far for Sebastian to hear what about. He saw you smiling from where he was at and he loved it. He excused himself from his friends and made his way to you.

"So, Y/N, what's it like to perform on stage like that? I mean it's all live and you have so much to remember, lines, songs, choreography, blocking." Evans sighed as if the thought of it made him exhausted, "I mean it's incredible."

"It was hard at first but this is my life. I love going up there each night. Sometimes we make mistakes but as long as you don't let the audience know it was a mistake then it doesn't matter. Plus we get to improve sometimes or make scenes better each night by seeing how the audience reacts."

He watched you talk about your work. The way your eyes lit up he could tell you really did love your job. Of course, he already knew that though. When he saw your performance as Eurydice in Hadestown. You had just happened to be there that night as the understudy, but he was glad to see it was you. He recognized you from the pictures on Tom's phone. He knew you were an actress on broadway so when he saw you he knew it was you. He fell in love with your performance that night. Your voice was so beautiful and the emotions you gave were so raw. Your energy was incredible it was as if you fell into the character.

"You should see her perform," He chimed into the conversation making his presence known.

Everyone turned to him, "I never did ask, which show did you see?" You tilted your head.

"Hadestown."

You broke out into a smile, "I know exactly which performance. You know that was the only time I played Eurydice?"

"Really?" His head hung in disbelief. From that performance, he would've been fooled to think you played that character a million times over, "Well you were incredible if I'd known you would be playing the lead I would've told Tom to set us up to meet."

You both smiled at each other for a moment before Tom spoke, "Yeah, that's my sister. I don't like to admit it but she's an amazing actress. Maybe even better than me."

"Maybe? More like definitely." You challenged.

"What show were you working on before coming here?" RDJ asked.

"I was doing an off-broadway production of Mamma Mia. I let my understudy take my place so I could tour and do some promoting for Spider-Verse."

Tom excused himself so he could talk with some of his other castmates. Slowly RDJ and Evans left the conversation leaving you and Sebastian.

"You know I live out in New York as well," Sebastian said casually.

"Really? I just assumed all you movie stars lived out in LA."

"Heck no! I'm a New Yorker. I love it there" He smiled looking at you.

"Maybe we can meet up there someday, now that we're acquainted and all." You suggested nervously.

"Yeah, that would be great. Which part of New York are you in?"

"Ironically Midtown," you laughed. It took him a second but he got it, "Ah yes Spider-Man goes to Midtown." He dropped his head with a chuckle.

"38th and sixth." You clarified. He looked up with eyes wide, "You're kidding? I live on 43rd and ninth! That's like ten minutes away from me." You both stood there in disbelief.

"All of these coincidences, you would think we'd met by now."

He laughed, "Well, we have now. I'd like to keep meeting. If that's ok with you?"

You looked up at him smiling, "I'd love that."

#tom holland #sebastian stan #winter soilder #spiderman #into the spider verse #spider gwen #sebastian stan imagine #mcu #marvel #buck barnes

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acecorvid · 3 years

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I’m thinking either dance class or yoga class for Spideyfam or Spideypool...

It's been two years since I've updated the series "This Spideyfam Has Two Dads" so if you wanna start at the beginning: here ya go. This will be part 12 in the series of Spiderfam adventures.

“I’m not as young as I used to be,” Peter moaned, muscles stretching in ways that were going to give him trouble for the next month. Despite his morning stretches—that he performed most mornings, if he remembered, sometimes he remembered—he wasn’t feeling particularly fit anymore. “Aw, that’s why you gotta stretch out, old man!” Of course it was Gwen, the spider that moved like a graceful dancer with ballet slippers to boot, who pointed this out. She didn’t do it maliciously. All of the spiders were trying to help him get back into shape so he didn’t throw out his back at least once a month. Sure it healed but it wasn’t entirely pleasant every time. Hence, yoga classes instructed by some youtuber that Gwen had discovered. She was disappointed that a yoga youtuber from her verse didn’t exist in Miles’ verse (or she wasn’t a yoga teacher on the internet in this one), but she said this one had the most similar vibe that made her feel relaxed and productive. Peter found it to be a mild form of torture...

but the others seemed to enjoy it. Even Noir, still clad in their coat and mask, was happy to participate—and was much more limber than Peter could ever hope to be anymore. Surely it would be easier without the trench coat but Noir never took it off, but no one in the Spiderfamily questioned it. They all had their quirks, their secrets, and they respected everyone else’s. “You know, it’s not really fair to do yoga when one of us defies the laws of physics…” Miles grumbled as he shifted into a much more complicated pose that Peter decided he was going to sit out on. Pan to Peter Porker, body stretched beyond logic. Looking more like a pretzel than a man or a pig. “The problem is your minds are too narrow to understand the right way to break those laws,” Porker replied, moving to the next pose in a way that hurt Peter’s mind and spine to watch. “It’s like he doesn’t have bones…” There was a sort of fascinating horror in Porker’s cartoonish abilities. On one hand, it was amazing and hilarious to see the kinds of things he was capable of. On the other, it was downright mind boggling and disturbing to witness. They’d all accepted the multiverse and their many differences, but coming to terms with cartoon physics existing was a lot harder to accept than this verse saying “you PUNT miette” instead of kick. Peter still had no sweet clue how old Porker was, or if age mattered in the same way for a cartoon pig. Though to be perfectly honest, all of the spiders were toddlers from his perspective. A man closing in on his forties had no business being a superhero when there were other younger spiders (with essentially his powers) able to take over when he could barely manage to do intermediate yoga poses without wanting to detach his stiff and aching limbs. Keeping up with the kids was difficult sometimes but what it really came down to was Peter’s unwillingness to sit back and let a bunch of kids do his job alone. He remembered what it was like: sixteen, completely alone, the fate of a city resting solely on his inexperienced shoulders, juggling secrets and homework and nemeses. He couldn’t retire when he could still do his part to help, to be a support for this unusual family of vigilantes trying to heal from their trauma by making the world better. “You alright, Pops?” Peter blinked out of his reverie to see all the spiders gawking at him as he laid in defeat on his yoga mat. “Just taking a break,” he grunted, forcing his old body to co-operate and focus on completing the next yoga post. Next to him, Gwen didn’t look like she believed him but she didn’t press. They fell into a comfortable silence as they moved through the next round of poses. Peter tried his best not to get distracted but he caught Gwen’s eye after he pulled off a particularly difficult pose for him. There was a fierce proudness in her eyes and it was almost too much for him, seeing how much she cared about him staying active. She easily slipped into the role of surrogate big sister and somehow landed them in the ‘struggling dad needing to rely on the assistance of the eldest kid’ trope. Peter wouldn’t have been happy with this development except her version of taking care of him was similar to the snarky scolding he would get from Aunt May, combined with the soft understanding of a strangely shared trauma. Not to mention it was also their deal. Watch over each other. “Oh hey, family yoga?” Wade’s voice interrupted the yoga lady’s instructions as the door flew open behind them. No one was expecting him back today, but no one could ever really expect Wade. He showed up without any warning, texts, phone calls, but—which he found was lacking in the Deadpool from his old verse—he usually showed back up in one piece and not entirely as bloody as one would imagine for his line of work. He made a big effort not to worry the kids when he could help it and Peter appreciated that. “Dad Number 3!” Miles called out. He attempted to turn his body mid-pose to greet him but ended up falling onto his mat the moment he lost his balance. “Wow, lookin’ good B!” Peter

could feel Wade’s eyes on his ass without even turning around. He flushed immediately but that was mostly from the pose that had positioned him with his ass in the air right before Wade walked in the door. Of all the coincidences… Of course Gwen chose that moment to stand up abruptly and clap her hands. “Okay gang! Let’s pack up the yoga mats and break into teams to patrol the city!” “Gwen, it’s only three o’clock.” Miles looked up at her in confusion. “I know ‘crime never sleeps’ but the city’s probably-” “Oh, Miles,” Peni shook her head, walking over to pat his head. “So young, so naive.” “You’re like twelve, Peni.” “I’m fourteen. Now, let’s go! I wanna kick some early worm bad guy butt!” “That’s the spirit, kiddo!” Gwen high-fived her and ushered the rest of the spiders out the door before Peter or Wade had the chance to comment. “So,” Wade’s smooth voice was suddenly right behind Peter’s ear. His body a warm and solid presence slowly pushing up against him. “Working on your… flexibility, huh old man?” Peter had to admit, there were definitely other benefits to staying active that did not involve superhero responsibilities.

#anonymous #arrawrites #spideypool #spideyfam #into the spiderverse #marvel #spiderfamily #mfic #spfic #into the spider verse #spideybpool #this spideyfam has two dads

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cracknoir · 3 years

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headcanons:

there were A LOT more members of The Gang back in the day. Most of them are dead. Kind of why so many of my characters are dead in canon, lbr this really is the Jimmy Show and the rest are just side-characters

little jake’s probably depressed, doesn’t realize

on the same note, jack has a lot of trouble sleeping

,jimmy liked fucking other peoples wives, if you asked him why he did this he’s tell you it was psychological warfare but really it was a power thing. also i said “liked” cos that would be pre zoe dying. when he comes back to new york, he sees sex as a waste of time, he has sex three times over the course of two years in the test-run novel thing i did.

that said, as a part two to the above, when he came back to new york after a while he did actually get into a pretty healthy relationship, right up until he ended up killing her dad

this isn’t really a headcanon, more just me relaying the characters history bc i don’t think it’s actually on this blog, but alex served in iraq

bruce goes on 4chan

not really a headcanon but i was watching this youtube video were they read out reviews of strip clubs or something and one of them said something like “and the bartender always has her derelict boyfriend hanging around” and how fucking good is derelict for a descriptor of a person. im deffo gonna use that at some point and u should too. it would make me very happy

jack and little jake play fifa on ps4 regularly

jack’s apartment is tiny, one bedroom, “spider”, his elusive room-mate, is meant to have the bedroom - hence why jack has a sofa-bed, but since Spider’s never around jack keeps all his clothes in there, in a big rumpled pile

molly has a lot of fairy lights in her bedroom

why have i never been interested in aus??? because everything is always canon forever. like, my marvel verse is just jimmy sometimes gets beat up by daredevil and that’s about the only difference

molly preferred weapon is an uzi, she also carries knuckle dusters

little jake bites his fingernails

jack regularly goes to the beach just to skim rocks. he also loves fishing but rarely gets a chance to do it. the americans don’t think twice about driving two hours but jack sure as hell does. he has tried fishing the hudson but it only served to depress him

oliver was a cowboy before he turned into a skinwalker. he was lost to the madness in the mountains. i’ll probs flesh this out a bit further if i ever write that spooky cowboy thing i’ve been wanting to

if u want jimmy to do something for u, money ain’t the way to get him to do it. he’ll usually ask for a favor

kayleigh’s killed a few people, but she never killed anyone before she moved to america, and she’s only ever done it in self defense/self preservation -- she has also killed to save the lives of members of the gang

satan can be killed, but a person couldn’t do it

jimmy will smoke meth don’t test him

brad really fooled dmitri into thinking he was an ally. took him fucking years to gain his trust. rasputin saw straight through him and tried to choke him to death.

jimmy’s default ringtone is sex noises, but he usually has his phone on vibrate

mollys apartment is shitty on the outside but really nice inside. she’s never moved, but always put her money into doing up her apartment.

im heavy regretting calling molly molly because she loves molly and it feels weird having american characters say ecstasy instead of molly so that the sentences dont read like molly loves molly. like i called her molly cos she loves molly. i fucked it.

its been so fucking hot here the past couple days why am i melting

buck has a boxing name but idk what it is. was thinking buck the bruiser but that’s kinda shit

all my characters have a severe case of swamp ass

bruce talks to himself a lot.

bruce loves the cheesecake donuts from dunkin donuts. spends a lot of time down there with crooked cops

been thinkin a lot about space lately and how big things are. been thinkin a lot about trees

i have no idea how im gonna do it but i have a swamp monster character called flower and i really want to rp her but like it’s annoying cos i can see what she looks like and there’s nothing i could icon that would even come close. could maybe icon the swamp-thing tv series but like,,,, it ain’t right

#do i have a headcanon tag yet??

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kylekozmikdeluxo · 3 years

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RIP Blue Sky Studios...

Established in February 1987... Iconic commercials, early innovation in CGI, packed to the brim with top talent, a rare East Coast-based house, and one of the first studios in a post-Don Bluth age to really challenge Disney and Pixar in the feature animation field...

Gone.

Once a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company had them since early 2019 after the acquisition of their parent company. It looked as if Disney was going to keep them around, despite already having two powerhouse animation studios making family features for them. I wondered back in the day if Disney could rebrand Blue Sky as a sort-of outre little studio that did more experimental, quirky fare as opposed to the more digestible works of Disney Animation and Pixar.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, signs were rather troubling. Despite a management change, you had the rather ho-hum marketing for SPIES IN DISGUISE. To me, Disney sort-of let that one disappear between FROZEN II and STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. I found SPIES IN DISGUISE to be a fun little movie, with a timely pacifist message and memorable gags. Sadly, it did not make its money back. Even more troubling was the constant delaying of NIMONA, an adaptation of Noelle Stevenson’s webcomic of the same name from FEAST and PEARL director Patrick Osborne. From the rumblings I’ve heard, it looked to be an innovative CG film and a next-level family film in general. Like a next SPIDER-VERSE. It was to be released January 14, 2022. 70% of the film was completed by this point... It is no longer a reality, Blue Sky is done...

450+ animators and staffers out of a job during an awful worldwide crisis...

Why couldn’t The Walt Disney Company just sell off Blue Sky Studios to a distributor looking for more animation to stock up on? If they didn’t need more than two animation studios (see the shuttering of their own Disneytoon Studios in early 2018), why shutter them and wait so long to do so? I know that absorbing competition and killing it is nothing new, but this is **expletive** for a multitude of reasons. Multiple talent out of a job, more movies and work squashed, a nearly-completed film likely dead. (It would be great if it was instead on the market, so that someone could snatch it up and complete it, but we shall see...)

Blue Sky Studios were no slouches. ICE AGE established them, big time. In fact, I’d say they helped show the industry that the features world wasn’t just Disney’s game anymore. Disney had seen rivals in feature animation in the past, notably Don Bluth and Ralph Bakshi, but they continued through the decades while Bluth and Bakshi’s feature opportunities waned. Blue Sky, alongside DreamWorks and a fledgling Sony Pictures Animation, changed that, and they were here to stay. And it’s quite sad that Disney had to acquire this notable studio and shut them down, they would’ve thrived elsewhere because of the success of their previous work and the amount of talent they have/had over the years.

They have a pretty distinct body of work, too. ROBOTS, HORTON HEARS A WHO!, RIO, EPIC, THE PEANUTS MOVIE, FERDINAND, SPIES IN DISGUISE. Some of them, I’d argue, were quite innovative. ICE AGE stabbed at cartoony, Looney Tunes-esque humor and visual design. The work in that movie rung more Warner Bros. than it did Disney or something more naturalistic in design. Their later work embraced that kind of outlook as well, but you started seeing other studios doing this as well: DreamWorks with MADAGASCAR, Sony Animation with OPEN SEASON and CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, and so on. The antithesis to the ever-more-realistic Pixar styles. Then Blue Sky just straight up redefined the computer animated feature with THE PEANUTS MOVIE, which not only kept the comic strip aesthetic of Charles Schulz’s iconic characters and world, but adapted them to a computer animated world while doing something new in the process. PEANUTS MOVIE, along with similar pictures like THE BOOK OF LIFE and CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, are indeed stepping stones to SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE and what lies beyond that feature. In short, Blue Sky played a big part in computer animation showing that it didn’t just have to look like Pixar movies, or most other computer animated works that were out at the time of ICE AGE’s early 2002 release.

Who knows where that could’ve all gone. NIMONA looked to be something new and exciting, something to really push things forward and widen the computer animation canvas. A musical called FOSTER also sounded like it had potential. When TWDC acquired 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), Fox Animation in general had several animated films in development, hoping to branch out beyond their one studio... All of that seemingly died after the Disney acquisition, with only Blue Sky and a couple of Fox primetime TV-showed based movies (i.e. THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE, another - and inevitable - SIMPSONS picture) left. Now Blue Sky is gone. More animation, gutted. And for what? Disney didn’t have to do this...

It’s even more egregious when you consider where Disney was in 1991... As opposed to now, 2021...

Think of this... Under the controversial Michael Eisner, The Walt Disney Company was willing to sink a massive amount of money into a project that had already been cancelled. Said project was given to blockbuster king Steven Spielberg, hit director Robert Zemeckis, and animation mastermind Richard Williams. This was not even a few years after Disney was a quiet establishment being circled by corporate raiders that could’ve ended them for good... And what came of it. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. An innovative animation-live action hybrid movie for a more adult audience. One of the biggest films of 1988, a bonafide blockbuster that Disney hadn’t seen in years, and more than lit the fuse of animation’s 2nd Golden Age.

Then, in 1990, a former animator of theirs turned big-time director realizes that a short story he wrote while at the company was still owned by them. That man was Tim Burton, and he expressed interest in revisiting that poem. A studio was set up, with similarly outre director and former Disney animator Henry Selick taking the helm. The result was an innovative stop-motion film that leaned more towards horror and German expressionism than something like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST did. The result was THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in 1993. A respectable hit then, an iconic classic today. Without NIGHTMARE, would have ever gotten future stop-motion efforts like CHICKEN RUN and everything Laika has made?

Finally, in 1991, Disney makes a three-picture deal with a small computer graphics studio based out of Marin County. One of their main guys was a former Disney animator as well, similarly outed for being too ambitious. Their plan? Make the world’s first all computer-animated movie. That studio was Pixar, their first movie was TOY STORY. Need I say more?

The Disney of today would’ve never in these three instances. Blue Sky could’ve been their chance to really make some kind of a splash in a post-SPIDER-VERSE world. Various shorts made at Disney Animation (including Osborne’s own FEAST) suggested this, and some Pixar shorts as well... But nothing really came of this. In terms of features being put out by Disney Animation and Pixar, only parts of MOANA, INSIDE OUT, and SOUL put this kind of thing in a long-form format. Blue Sky, who operated on smaller budgets, could’ve been their arm for more experimental feature animation. I say this because while Disney doesn’t need to hog up animation, Blue Sky was owned by them, and I felt the best way to go about this was to re-establish them as a more experimental studio. Make the most of it, you know? But no, they had to shut it all down.

When a studio shuts down, I feel a chunk of the animation world is just broken right off... While some of the artists are apparently being welcomed into various Disney houses, it sucks to see a studio with its own identity and output gone. Of course, my hope is that everyone employed there will have somewhere to go by April (when the studio shuts down completely) and that maybe, just maybe a new studio could be formed up from the remains. (Think Don Bluth setting up shop upon his departure from Disney in 1979.) Somebody has to get their happy ending, right? I know it’s moot asking for such a thing in this hellscape business of massive octopus conglomerates engulfing everything into their eight tentacles, but...

I wish everyone involved well, and that they’ll prosper afterwards. I certainly hope the 3/4 completed NIMONA doesn’t remain unfinished. (Netflix? Someone?) I hope to see some good come out of this...

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embeanwrites · 4 years

Text

Finding Home Gavin Reed x Reader

Chapter 15

Masterlist

Connor had driven me home after we finished the movie and now, I was laying in bed looking at my phone. I decided to send Gavin a text before heading to bed.

How’s burning the midnight oil with Nines?

lame, i wish i was with my cats

Me too lol

how was dinner

Pretty good, we watched Into the Spider-Verse after. Connor had never seen it!

i haven’t either

You’re joking, right? Is this the Jameson and Ginger Ale thing again?

i barely have time for new movies, let alone old ones

We’re watching it ASAP

lol ok pipsqueak

hey i have bad news

Damn, you couldn’t secure a place for the Dead Mom Society to meet? Or is the bakery out of chocolate chip cookies?

no i have to work through lunch on monday

What are you going to have for lunch then?

idk a pb&j from the breakroom

Would it ruin your “working through lunch” if I brought you lunch and we eat it in the breakroom?

nines wont be too happy

Tell him it’s revenge for lying and setting us up!

ok ill work on him and let u know

Awesome! Good luck saving the city tonight, Batman!

ur the biggest nerd ive ever met

yet for some reason i like u

Awwwwww you like me

…hm

Yeah, yeah I like you too

I gotta go to bed, talk to you later

Sleep tight, pipsqueak

I smiled at the screen for a moment, even if that nickname was rude and had started as an insult, it was his thing for me now. I'm an adult woman. A nickname shouldn't make me feel this giddy, but here I am, grinning at a now black phone screen, thinking about how he only grins and never smiles and how handsome it is when half his face scrunches up to accommodate those grins. I wonder if he's grinning now, a small one at his desk, maybe into a cup of coffee to hide it while he returns to his case files. I hope he's grinning, feeling like a stupid teenager. I hope he likes me as much as I'm starting to like him. I fell asleep soon after, thinking of what I should bring him for lunch, trying to guess what would surprise him most without being too flashy, what I could do to make him grin for me again.

I woke up the next morning around 10 am, and laid in bed for a moment questioning how necessary it was for me to get out of this nice warm cocoon of blankets, with the sunlight streaming in gently just out of my eyes, and sighed loudly when I remembered that it was indeed necessary that I get out of bed, as Tina would be here to pick me up at 11:30. I kicked the covers off, grabbing my phone off the charger and moving to sit on the edge of the bed to check it before truly getting up. The first notification was a text from Gavin, sent around 5 a.m.

u can come on monday probs around 11 bring whatever im not picky

Will do, Batman!

I turned on a throwback playlist while I got ready, a quick shower where I debated too long over shaving my legs before I actually did so, thinking about how Tina might have me try on a suit or dress for the wedding. I hadn't decided what I wanted to go for yet, hence the indecisiveness with the razor. Eventually I bit the bullet and just took the extra five minutes to shave just to the tops of my knees, not bothering with my thighs as I highly doubted I'd be wearing a mini dress to a formal event, though it might be fun to see how Gavin would react to more revealing clothes. I filed the thought away while I got out of the shower, toweling off and tying the towel around my hair and brushing my teeth. By the time I had thrown on a pair of well loved jeans and a plain tee, Tina was calling me, I answered and before I could even put the phone to my ear, I could hear music blaring in the background, and then Tina screamed "HERE BITCH!" and promptly hung up. I pocketed the phone, and hurried looking for my Birkenstocks, of course they weren't by the door, they were in front of the fridge, where I had stopped last night upon arriving home to grab some food before heading to bed. I slid the sandals on, stopping for a moment to grab two packets of the applesauce squeezies for a quick breakfast.

By the time I got to the car, Tina was listening to a different song, but the volume was the same, I'm sure my poor neighbors who were trying to sleep in on a Sunday morning were not very pleased. I opened the door and slid in, Tina turned the volume down. What a shame, she had excellent taste in music, ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by Arctic Monkeys isn't a song you just turn down!

"Took you long enough!" She laughed, a smile stretching across her face.

"Shut up I couldn't find my shoes!" I shouted, holding up my feet and wiggling my toes in the most comfortable pair of shoes ever made. She looked at my feet and raised her eyebrows, snorting.

"Jesus Christ I’m a lesbian and I still wouldn’t wear those ugly ass shoes, (Y/n)!” I gasped and smacked her arm.

“You’re disrespecting your culture!” I shouted, as the car silently started and began to pull out into the street, heading towards the dress store. Tina just giggled and I huffed.

“For that, I’m not giving you the applesauce I brought for you.” I tore open the packets, double fisting them and squeezing all their contents into my mouth. Tina howled with laughter

“What are you, fucking two years old! I cannot believe you!”

“You’re just jealous that you aren’t as stylish as me and now I’ve had a healthy breakfast which I assume you didn’t as you were at the station all night. I was going to be a good, kind, maid of honor and offer you sustenance but if you disrespect the birks, you disrespect me.” I joked, crossing my arms and looking out the windshield past her.

“Oh my god my maid of honor is two years old!!”

“Hey! That’s uncalled for, I’m not a toddler, if anything I’m like a seven year old, I make sense but just barely.” I joked. She laughed and nodded.

“Still can’t buy booze.”

“That’s why there are other best people who are of age who can.”

There was a natural pause in the conversation, the song changed and we both listened for a moment before Tina turned to me, a devilish grin on her face making me nervous.

“What?”

“So, I noticed something strange at work last night.”

“Yeah, what did you notice?” I laughed.

“A certain someone kept texting on their phone and smiling AND Nines wasn’t giving them a hard time for being on their phone.” She smirked. “I thought the date went bad?”

“How do you even know it was me, future Detective Chen?”

“Well, I may have glanced over his shoulder at some point and saw your name.” I laughed.

“Tina! I was going to tell you. You didn’t have to spy on Gavin!” She laughed.

“It was the heat of the moment. I promise the next time I spy on him I won’t tell you.” I shoved her shoulder and we both laughed.

“Man, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” The automatic car pulled into the bridal shop and we both squealed, jumping out of the car and practically running inside.

"I win." Tina said smugly as she crossed the threshold of the store before me.

"Hey who's the kid now!"

Time went by fast in the shop, the consultants immediately brought us back to a sitting area, offering us complimentary champagne that we happily took. Our consultant, a happy-go-lucky android named Lance, brought out a selection of pantsuits for Tina to try, and offered excellent counsel on all of Tina's concerns. She wanted something elegant and more masculine. She tried a couple things before deciding pinstripe made her feel like a mobster and that white was definitely not her color. Lance was always smiling and laughing with them, not minding at all when they laughed at one of the options or didn't like what he had brought for her. He was very efficient in bringing options, and after three 'no's' he brought out a selection of black jackets and pants, assisting her in a pair of slim fit high waisted slacks with a center vertical pleat to help her look taller, a simple white dress shirt with a short popped collar, and a sleek black satin jacket, with a black lining. The fabric shone nicely in the light, a little bit of a sparkle in the thread. She looked gorgeous, and I could tell she felt it too, the way her eyes shone a bit, and her cheeks flushed, though she would probably blame that on the champagne if I brought it up later.

“You should try on some bridesmaids’ dresses. I’ve got my suit and now I want to judge others!” Tina plopped down on the couch next to me and took my champagne from me.

"You haven't even decided on the style you want! Are you matching both bridal parties? Doesn't Valerie have a say in it then!" I squawked, reaching for the champagne flute she'd stolen from me.

"We actually have talked about it, and we decided that as long as everyone has blush pink or yellow in their outfit, whatever style they want is best. It eliminates the drama and keeps our wedding day happy." Tina said, tipping her head back and downing my champagne in one big gulp. I smacked her arm.

"Ah, I'd be happy to help you find a dress Miss. (L/N)." Lance offered, moving to sit next to me and offered out his hand, images of dresses popping up on his hand.

"What are you thinking Miss (L/N)? Would you prefer the blush tone or yellow?" Lance asked, looking at my face instead of his hand.

"Ah, blush please." I requested.

"Not a problem, it's a popular color so we have a lot of options. Now, what style cut do you like?" I looked at him like a fish out of water.

"I'm not sure, what do you think would look best, Lance?" He smiled, before pulling up a couple of images on his hand and explaining the styles and what design choices would flatter my features. I nodded, and he guided me back to the dressing room.

"I'm going to run and grab some of the options we discussed Miss. (L/N)." He told me, before shutting the door. He knocked when he returned about five minutes later, hanging six dresses on the wall for me. "When you're ready, join us in the showing room, and we can adjust the fit and see what the bride thinks." He told me. I shouted 'Thanks!' through the door before turning to decide which dress I wanted to try first.

“Wow.” I murmured looking at myself in the mirror. From the tag on the dress I learned it’s a ‘long chiffon dress with halter neckline.’ I didn’t really understand what any of those words meant, but this dress was…amazing. It made me feel like a goddamn princess.

“What’s taking so long!” I heard Tina shout.

“Give me a minute, you drunk!” I walked out of the dressing room, towards where Tina was sitting.

“Holy shit.” I laughed and spun around.

“It’s pretty good, right?” She got up and walked towards me.

“You’re getting this one. No question. I’m not letting you leave without it!”

“Are you sure? I can try a light-yellow dress if you want.”

“No, this one is perfect.” She smashed her cheek on mine and we both looked at ourselves in the mirror. I was smiling so wide my face was starting to hurt. She quickly grabbed her phone and snapped a picture of us, and I laughed.

“Tina!”

“What! I want to remember this moment.” She kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to come back here with you when Gavin proposes.” She teased, causing you to laugh.

“We’ve gone on one date! How much champagne have you had?” She shook her head.

“Just three glasses, I’m drunk on happiness! Come on, change back and buy that dress!” I laughed and walked back to the changing room. I picked up my phone and saw Tina had sent me the picture already. Smiling, I sent the picture to my dad.

Got my dress for the wedding!

Beautiful kiddo!

#gavin reed x reader #gavin reed #detroit become human #tina chen #dbh #hank anderson #x reader

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the-desolated-quill · 5 years

Text

Why Spider-Man Leaving The MCU Is The Best News I’ve Heard In Ages - Quill’s Scribbles

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Did you hear the news? I’d be surprised if you didn’t. EVERYONE has heard the news by now. A couple of days ago it was reported that the deal between Marvel and Sony that allowed the two studios to share custody for the rights of Spider-Man has fallen through. Spider-Man is no longer going to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Speaking as someone who is not only a big Spider-Man fan, but also a very vocal critic of the current state of Marvel and Disney’s cynical and convoluted ‘shared universe’, this caused quite a reaction when I first heard the news. I’m as happy as a man who just found out his high school crush likes him back on the same day he won the lottery. Happy, but not surprised. In fact I’m more surprised that other people were surprised by the news. The deal Marvel and Sony managed to strike was almost unheard of. Two rival movie studios in mutual cooperation. Never thought I’d see the day. But if you thought this was going to be the new norm, then I’m afraid you don’t understand this industry. I knew, or at least suspected, that once Sony had a hit on their hands, they’d cut ties with Marvel and Disney. It was only a matter of time. Now that Spider-Man: Far From Home has made over a billion dollars at the box office and now they have found success with their own non-MCU films, Venom and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, the simple fact of the matter is they don’t need Marvel or Disney anymore. So they’ve flown the coop. Yes it’s possible they could renegotiate the deal, but given how unlikely the prospect of the initial deal was in the first place, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. It’s more likely they’re going to take their ball and go home. Sony’s Universe Of Marvel Characters (despite its incredibly clunky name) is now going to be firmly built upon and expanded, and I for one could not be more excited.

Of course not everyone shares my excitement. Disney, for one thing, aren’t happy. Nor are the cast. Jeremy Renner has made his views clear, begging Sony to give the rights to Spidey back. (Perhaps he should focus more on his own character Hawkeye, considering what a mess he’s become). Die hard MCU fans aren’t pleased neither. Same goes for ‘celebrity’ fans like Kevin Smith, a filmmaker who preferred to be called a comic book expert on the Venom Blu-Ray bonus features presumably because he hasn’t actually been relevant as a filmmaker since the 90s. (it’s worth reading his thoughts just for a laugh. He honestly thinks Disney aren’t greedy, corporate bastards. ROFL). And of course the so-called ‘professional’ critics, who for years have deluded themselves into thinking the MCU is actually good, have been writing their own little think pieces about what all this means. Can Spider-Man possibly survive without Iron Man and pals to prop him up? To which the answer is obviously yes. Sony had the rights to Spidey for fourteen years before the Marvel deal. They made five Spider-Man movies, four of which were massive box office successes. They also released Venom and Spider-Verse last year. Both hugely successful and the latter even won an Oscar, which is one more Oscar than Marvel Studios have ever won (sorry Black Panther. You were robbed).Can Spider-Man survive outside the MCU? Gee I don’t know. I guess somehow Sony will find the strength to soldier on without them.

Although, that being said, there’s not as many journalists siding with Disney as I thought there would be. There are quite a few articles explaining how this split could help Spidey in the long run, which is both absolutely true and refreshing to see. Hopefully this is a sign that we’re finally turning a corner and critics are starting to use their brains again. Like how everyone worshipped the ground Steven Moffat walked on until Sherlock Series 4 where everyone realised that he’s actually shit and has always been shit.

Spider-Man leaving the MCU is the best thing you could do for the character at this stage. The way he’s been treated since joining the Marvel clusterfuck has been nothing short of appalling. I’ve made it no secret how much I detest this version of Spider-Man and some might dismiss what I’m about to say out of hand, perhaps claiming I’m biased because I’ve said numerous times that I love The Amazing Spider-Man films starring Andrew Garfield. Two films I will go to my grave defending because they were bloody good movies. People were just butt hurt because it wasn’t Spider-Man 4. Never mind the fact that the original Sam Raimi films were never that good to begin with (seriously, have any of you actually watched Spider-Man 2 recently? Trust me. It’s not as good as you remember it). No, I promise you that if MCU Spidey existed in a vacuum, I would still hate him just as much for the simple reason that he has absolutely nothing in common with the source material. Under the watchful, Orwellian eye of Marvel, they took Spider-Man, a character most famous for being a working class everyman, and turned him into the most spoilt and privileged little bum-balloon I’ve ever seen.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was a terrible movie. Plain and simple. A cynically produced, written by committee, pile of wank that gets so much of Spidey’s character and story completely wrong, it’s almost impressive. No longer a teenager/young adult struggling to balance his superhero life, his school work, his career and his social life, instead we got a groomed Mary Sue who doesn’t have to fight for anything because everything is basically handed to him on a silver platter courtesy of Iron Man. We never see him struggle. He’s not relatable. He never has to face consequences for his actions. He misses God knows how many classes and debate group meetings and yet he never gets punished for it. Sure he gets sent to detention a couple of times, but we see him leave whenever he bloody wants to. It’s just boring. If there’s no struggle, where’s the tension? And the less said about the villain, the better. Taking an eccentric antagonist like the Vulture and turning him into the stereotypical blue collar dad trying to provide for his family has got to be one of the most uninspired and blatantly lazy bits of characterisation I think I’ve ever seen. And that’s not to mention the supporting cast. Aunt May is youthed for no reason other than to make sexist jokes at her expense with every man that comes within her general vicinity staring at her with their tongues hanging out and eyes as large as saucepans. Minor villains like Shocker and the Tinkerer have their characters reduced to unfunny comedy sidekicks. And then there’s Peter Parker’s gang of racial stereotypes. We have Peter’s best friend, the fat and nerdy Ned who has no real personality other than being fat and nerdy (and is without a doubt the most annoying character in the damn film). Flash has been racebent so now he’s the stereotypical arrogant Asian prick. Michelle has no character other than being the same sassy black teenager who don’t give a shit, a caricature so old now it’s practically been fossilised. And then there’s the love interest Liz, a character so bland and one dimensional that I had to look her name up. Oh and lets not forget that the majority of this Spider-Man’s story was nicked from Miles Morales because people are only going to empathise with his story if it revolves around a white kid, am I right?

You know, I get so frustrated whenever people slag off the Amazing Spider-Man movies and claim that these new movies are better because... well... WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I’m sorry, but I was much more invested with Peter and Gwen than I ever was with Peter and... what’s her face? Or Peter and Michelle (who I categorically refuse to call MJ because she’s not MJ, is she? They just used the initials to pander to gullible fans. They didn’t have the guts to just make Mary Jane Watson black, did they? Of course not! We don’t want to alienate the casual racists, do we? They’re our main demographic after all). The reason why Peter and Gwen worked is because they’re well-written, three dimensional characters with great chemistry and whom we actually spend a significant amount of time getting to know. So when Gwen dies at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it becomes a heart wrenching moment because we’ve grown invested in this character and this relationship. If Michelle were to die in a future movie, I honestly wouldn’t bat a fucking eyelid. Even Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst had more chemistry than those two, and that relationship was a total shambles from start to finish.

It also helps that Peter and Gwen felt like real people. I loved the scene in the first movie where Peter awkwardly asks her out because it reminded me so much of how I asked my first girlfriend out. And that’s why I love the Amazing Spider-Man movies. Because out of all the Spidey films we’ve had over the past 17 years, the Amazing ones are the only ones in my opinion that manage to capture the humanity of the character. As fantastical as the world is, the characters, their relationships and their dilemmas are grounded firmly in reality. Homecoming on the other hand is just embarrassing. Despite casting teenage actors, none of the teenagers actually act like teenagers. They act like five year olds. It’s painfully obvious that the filmmakers are trying to pander to young kids and they clearly don’t know how to write them. Again, this is where the Amazing movies stands head and shoulders above the others. They’re not treated like kids or teenagers. They’re treated like people. Real people. Same goes for the villains. (Yes, even Electro, despite wonky execution).

But the main criticism people have with MCU Spidey is that these films aren’t actually about Spidey. They’re really about the MCU mascot Iron Man.

Now to be clear, I don’t necessarily have a problem with the idea of Iron Man being a surrogate father figure to Spidey. It could work. Captain America: Civil War, despite the clunky and contrived way in which Spidey was introduced to the MCU (oh you just happened to know about a masked vigilante we haven’t seen or heard of until now Tony? Okay. What about Daredevil and Luke Cage?... What do you mean they’re not in the movie?), did a good job of setting up the dynamic. Namely that Tony doesn’t actually care about Peter or his well being, merely using him for his own ends. Unless Americans have some kind of ‘Bring Your Child To A Warzone Day’ I don’t know about.

Despite its flaws, Civil War was good because it gave us an unsettling look at the characters we’ve been watching for years. We see Captain America consumed by his own naivety and idealism to the point where he can no longer see the bigger picture and we see Iron Man go from being an industrial capitalist to an authoritarian fascist. Homecoming could have followed up on that. Have Spidey realise that Tony doesn’t have his best interests at heart, reject him as a father figure and grow into his own man. Instead the movie seems to go out of its way to undo all the interesting things Civil War brought to the table. Of course Tony cares about Peter! Oh and his relationship problems with Pepper Potts have been magically fixed off screen and now they’re getting married! Relax people, it’s okay! Nothing morally complicated going on here! We apologise for assuming you’re actually intelligent and promise never to make you think about anything ever again!

Not only is this quite insulting to the audience, it also negatively impacts Spidey’s arc. Turns out the movie isn’t about Spider-Man becoming his own man. It’s about him proving he can be an Avenger. He’s constantly in the shadow of Iron Man and, more to the point, we’re supposed to be happy that he’s in the shadow of Iron Man.

Again, this is where the Amazing Spider-Man gets it right. The first movie is very much about father figures. Uncle Ben, Curt Connors and Gwen’s dad all play a role in Peter’s growth and development over the course of the film. He’s able to take all the lessons and advice he gets from the three and use them to become his own man. As director Marc Webb so eloquently put it, ‘it’s a story about a kid who grows up looking for his father and finds himself.’ Compare that to the current iteration of Spidey where Uncle Ben doesn’t even appear to exist in this continuity because he’s been completely supplanted by Iron Dad. Remind me again why people think the Amazing movies are shit?

The latest film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, is no better. Same problems as before only this time Mysterio gets MCU’d to death. Instead of the pathetic loser trying desperately to receive recognition for his talents, we basically get a rehash of the plot from Iron Man 3, which in turn was a rehash of the plot from The Incredibles. Mysterio is basically trying to supplant Iron Man because he got screwed over when he used to work for Stark, and it’s up to everyone’s favourite wall-crawler to stop him because there’s only room in this universe for one Iron Boy. Even when Iron Man is dead, he’s still front and centre of the fucking narrative. Here’s a bright idea. How about we make a Spider-Man film that’s actually, you know, about Spider-Man? (Oh yeah, spoiler alert, Iron Man dies in Avengers: Endgame. Not that it’s really spoiling anything because Endgame is a big piece of shit).

Here’s the thing. Everyone is blaming Sony for the deal breaking down, and okay, I’m not going to pretend that Sony aren’t cynical. As much as I love The Amazing Spider-Man movies, I’m well aware the only reason they exist is because Sony desperately wanted to keep the rights. They spent a stupid amount of money on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to the point where it needed to make a billion dollars at the box office in order to make a decent profit (a feat only achieved at that time by Batman with The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) and they crammed loads of characters and plot points into an already overstuffed movie in order to rush out their own shared universe to compete with Marvel. When that didn’t work, they went crawling to Marvel and Disney in the hopes that the MCU could bail them out of the shit. I get it. There’s plenty to criticise. But for the likes of Kevin Smith and other idiots to only blame Sony and defend Marvel is really quite galling to me because Marvel and Disney are just as cynical, if not more so.

Does anyone here actually know what the deal was? Basically the agreement was that Kevin Feige would get lead producer credit for any solo Spider-Man films and Marvel and Disney would get five percent of the cut. Meanwhile Spider-Man would be allowed to appear in any MCU film. Also, because Sony still hold the rights to the character, they get the final say on any creative decision regarding Spider-Man. Or at least that’s the theory anyway. In reality that wasn’t the case. Reportedly Marvel and Disney were so anal about keeping the plot of Avengers: Endgame a secret that they didn’t tell the screenwriters of Spider-Man: Far From Home what happens in the bloody film. And considering that the film follows directly on from Endgame, that’s quite a problem. Sony may have creative control over Spider-Man, but Marvel and Disney can still call the shots, deliberately sabotaging Sony in order to boost hype for their own films. Also Sony are actually worse off in this deal because Marvel and Disney are the ones making all the money. Spider-Man has appeared in three MCU films. Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. All three of these films made Marvel and Disney over a billion dollars at the box office. Sony meanwhile have only made two Spidey movies, Homecoming and Far From Home, only one of which has made over a billion and both of which Marvel and Disney get five percent of the profit. Now that Sony have finally got their billion dollar Spider-Man movie, Marvel and Disney had the cheek to propose that Sony share fifty percent of the profits with them. Because it’s not enough for Marvel and Disney to be making shit tons of money off their own films. No. They also want as much money as they can get out of films made by other studios that are only tangentially related to their’s. God forbid a movie studio should be allowed to keep all the profits from their movie.

So yeah, I’m glad Sony have split and are free to make their own movies again. Because Disney have got such a strangle hold on the entire industry that I’m always happy to see any studio or IP slip through their fingers. And I’m not the only one who thinks this. Do you know who else agrees with me? Stan Lee’s own daughter.

In an interview with TMZ, Joan Lee slammed Disney for their lack of compassion when her father passed away:

“When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they have commoditised my father’s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency. In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney’s executives.”

She then went on to support Sony’s decision to break the deal with Marvel, saying ‘whether it’s Sony or someone else’s, the continued evolution of Stan’s characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view.’

And do you know what? She’s right. She’s absolutely right.

While people were celebrating when Disney bought 20th Century Fox because the X-Men and Fantastic Four were finally going to be part of their precious shared universe, I was watching in absolute horror because nobody was actually talking about the ramifications of this. Disney serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when capitalism goes unchecked. Seeing this mega-corporation consume and absorb other major studios like some Lovecraftian monster is both frightening and heartbreaking for me because the industry is going to be so much lesser for it. Less studios means less movies are going to be produced. It also means less variety in the entertainment we consume. Marvel and Disney have already done their utmost to homogenise and dumb down every MCU film to the point where most of them all feel the same, look the same and have nothing unique or creative about them whatsoever. And now we’re on the cusp of seeing that potentially happening to my most favourite superhero in the whole wide world:

Thanks to the Disney buyout, plans for X-Force and Deadpool 3 have been placed on indefinite hold with people reckoning we won’t see the Merc with the Mouth again until Phase 5 (Christ, give me strength) of the MCU so that Marvel and Disney can work out exactly how to fit him into their shared universe. Naturally the R rated nature of the character makes him difficult to integrate into the PG-13 MCU. Some have suggested toning down the character. Even David Leitch, the director of Deadpool 2, said they could make a PG-13 version of the character, which just feels like such a massive betrayal. After literally years of Ryan Reynolds, director Tim Miller, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and the fans fighting tooth and claw to get an R rated Deadpool movie green-lit, it sickens me whenever I see people discussing how a PG-13 Deadpool wouldn’t be so bad and that they just want to see him pop up in an Avengers movie.

Here’s a suggestion. If you can’t make someone like Deadpool fit into the MCU, STOP TRYING TO FUCKING DO IT! Let him be his own separate thing! I’ve got no problem with that! But no. Everything has to be connected to this idiotic shared universe, but here’s the thing, I really don’t fucking care. I couldn’t give two shits if Deadpool and Captain America were to meet in a movie. I just want to see X-Force and Deadpool 3. I just want some good fucking movies. Is that really too much to ask?

The MCU, and by extension Disney, are slowly ruining the industry with this shared universe crap and I’m getting so bloody sick of this. Not only does the premise have absolutely nothing new to offer at this point, it’s also ruining the quality of standalone movies. Instead of telling compelling stories with likeable characters, they’re just adverts for more movies to come with nothing unique to offer. Oooooh, can the Avengers stop Thanos and unkill everyone who we know aren’t really dead because they all have fucking sequels planned? Tune in next week to confirm what you already bloody know! I don’t give a fuck what you’ve got planned for me down the road in ten or fifteen movies time. Right now I’m stuck here at a service station and I’ve got no fucking sandwiches.

Off the top of my head, the only MCU films I can think of that I’ve watched in recent memory and I’ve actually enjoyed are Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther. And do you know why? Because they actually have something to say. They’re not focused on teasing the next bullshit spinoff movie. Black Panther in particular has little to no connection with the rest of the MCU. It works as its own standalone piece and has its own unique voice, commenting on how black people are viewed in society. Civil War takes elements from previous films and goes in an entirely new direction with them, exploring the faults in our beloved Avengers and questioning their role as superheroes. It offers something beyond a tease for the next film. It poses thought provoking questions about the characters and forces us to confront some harsh truths about them. But in an environment like the MCU, where everything is pre-planned by committee, there’s no room for creativity or expression, which means the few good movies get stifled. It’s impossible to continue the themes of Civil War because Homecoming exists to contradict everything. Black Panther is an amazing and impactful movie, but its impact is lessened thanks to Infinity War where we see the Wakandans reduced to little more than cannon fodder so that the real heroes can fight the baddie.

It’s frustrating to see people blindly accept and support the poisonous business model of Marvel and Disney because it’s not normal, it’s not benefiting the industry at large and it’s not even financially viable in the long term. Marvel Studios’ success revolves around one franchise. What happens when the shared universe/comic book movie bubble bursts and people eventually stop watching these films? (and it will happen because it always happens. That’s how trends work). They’re going to be up shit street, aren’t they? At least Warner Bros have Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to fall back on. Their future isn’t entirely dependant on the success of the DCEU (thank God, some might say).

Also it’s worth noting that studios are slowly starting to move away from the shared universe format. Before the buyout, 20th Century Fox were taking risks with smaller budget, standalone movies like Deadpool and Logan. After the disaster that was Justice League, Warner Bros and DC have recently started focusing more on standalone movies to great success. Aquaman and Shazam, while still part of the DCEU, work as their own independent films. We’ve also got Joker being released in a couple of months time, which I think everyone should be paying really close attention to, because if Joker is critically and commercially successful, it could very well serve as the death knell for the concept of a shared universe. Definitive proof that you don’t need twenty movies and interconnecting stories with massive budgets to be successful. All you need is a very good idea.

Even Sony have finally learnt their lesson. They’ve taken a risk with Into The Spider-Verse and received an Academy Award for their trouble. As for Sony’s Universe Of Marvel Characters, they’re already off to a strong start with Venom. And mercifully they’re not making the same mistakes they did with the Amazing Spider-Man 2 or Ghostbusters. They’re not spending ridiculous amounts of money with unrealistic expectations of success and they’re no longer putting the cart way before the horse. They’re focusing on making a good movie first and worrying about potential expansion later. Venom may not be a masterpiece, but it’s a hell of a lot more entertaining and fulfilling than the majority of MCU films because it tells a complete story with a beginning, middle and end and it has well developed characters that we actually like and grow attached to. And if worst comes to the worst and Sony’s next film, Morbius, doesn’t do well, then they have Venom 2 to fall back on. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll still have Spider-Verse. They are no longer putting all their eggs in one basket and that’s good. That’s the smart thing to do.

Can you imagine something like Venom in the MCU? Of course not! Because Venom has its own unique tone and vision. That’s why it was so successful with audiences. Its mix of dark comedy and campy sci-fi horror made it stand out from the crowd. Marvel and Disney want us to believe that there’s only one way to make a superhero movie, when that’s simply not true. And now that Spider-Man is free to find his own unique voice again, hopefully people will begin to see just how creatively limiting and damaging the MCU truly is.

#spider-man #sony #anti marvel #anti disney #quill's scribbles

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tsarisfanfiction · 4 years

Note

Please can I ask E, L, O and Z from the writer asks list.

Of course you can! I’m always up for answering things :D

E. Have you ever written a crossover?

Yup! I’ve written a handful of them actually, from my first and only bashing fic Vampire vs Shinobi (Twilight and Naruto - I have always hated Twilight) which ngl is only still up on my accounts because it’s something I’ve written and if I prune fics to only be the ones I’m currently proud of... many fics would not stay up very long. My second-biggest fic, both in terms of wordcount and popularity, it also a crossover. The Combat School was my twist on the super common 2012 trope “the exorcists from the manga D.Gray-Man take part in the Triwizard Tournament”, and was my first 100k word fic and I think still ranks highly if you look at Harry Potter/DGM crossovers on FFN by reviews/favourites/followers. I think at one point it was as high as 4th but I doubt it’s that high any more. Slightly sneaky is my TAG/Fight Rising crossover Stolen Shadows, because strictly speaking you could just call it a dragon!AU for TAG, but they’re based on the fandragons I’ve got for the Tracy boys+Thunderbirds on the site and FR does have its own category on AO3 and FFN.

I think those are my only published ones, but I do enjoy prodding at ‘what if these two ‘verses collided’ in my head so there are a few others floating around that’ll probably never be actually written, but they’re fun to play with.

L. What is your favourite fic idea that you don’t think you’ll ever write?

Oh boy, this one’s tough. I usually try to write everything I think is worth anything, but some of them are just huge, so whether or not they’ll happen is another matter entirely. Because I’m really bored I’ll talk about all the current ‘huge and too ambitious to probably ever finish’ ideas. If they do end up one day happening, ah well, you heard them here first :P

Love Makes Fools (One Piece) - A retelling of the Wano Arc (most likely to be scrapped because the daydreaming I call planning happened long before the arc started so none of it is anything like how Oda’s actually shown) that’s actually a shipping fic, unusually for me. Shachi saves Kid’s life and Kid falls in love with him, leaving Shachi to handle the Kid Pirates while the StrawHeart alliance are off doing their usual crazy shenanigans and winding Kaido up.

Fight Against the Tide (Boku no Hero Academia) - A retelling of the entire manga except it’s not Izuku that’s Quirkless, but Bakugo, and unlike Izuku, Bakugo is determined to make it on his own and turns down the offer of One for All (but still manipulates All Might into training him). Lots of Bakugo and Mei chaos as she gives him the support gear he needs to keep up without a Quirk.

If They Never Were (One Piece) - A retelling of the entirety of One Piece (ahahah) except if Luffy never met Shanks and therefore a) never wanted to be a pirate and b) never ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Follows Luffy’s adventures in the Marines, and explores what would have happened to the rest of the Straw Hats if they never met Luffy - or at least, never met pirate!Luffy. I actually have a cast of OCs ready to go for this but this project is so ludicrously big I doubt it’ll ever be finished.

TAGxPJO thing - The Greek Gods foresaw the creation of IR and agreed with it, but there was one problem: the Tracy family are all suited to the sky, but most of the Earth is covered in water. Cue Gordon Tracy, son of Lucille Tracy and... Poseidon! The Tracys all know about demigods and gods and stuff but still consider Gordon their full brother, and to keep the monsters away from the powerful young demigod they ended up on the island where Poseidon could protect them (and a promise from Zeus that he won’t blast Thunderbirds out of the sky for having a son of Poseidon in them). Chiron’s going crazy knowing there’s a demigod out there somewhere that he can’t find and train.

TAGxDCMK thing - Okay, so this one is probably my absolute favourite. Scott sees something on a rescue that the Black Org didn’t want him to, so he got APTX’d, and TB1 got stolen. Conan and Haibara take him in and hide him from the world (including his own family) and he joins the fight to take down the BO. Meanwhile, the Tracys are going crazy looking for Scott. In this AU no-one knows who IR really are, so Conan and co. don’t know Scott’s real name. However, the Tracys are still a rich family so they’ve rubbed shoulders with the Kudos before and Scott’s met Shinichi as a kid and realises who he is. At some point they end up going to Tracy Island? idk, not sure where it would go after that. And KID is involved because you can’t not involve KID.

O. Is there any fandom you’ve been into that you haven’t written fic for? Why not?

Many, usually because I’m just not inspired enough to actually write anything for them. If they’ve got a really complex canon, or something I just can’t get my head into, I tend to not write, either. Same with if there’s a character I can connect to enough. Examples include Homestuck, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures (although I do have a vague wip for a Steel Ball Run fic, actually) and Miraculous Ladybug, but I’m sure there’s more if I think harder.

Z. Post an excerpt from either your first fic or your most recent one.

Oh hell, why don’t we do both so I can cringe and cry and what I used to be like vs what I’m like now. Going with posted only (wips are a whole other kettle of fish).

First ever posted fic, from September 2009: Unwanted (Naruto). The opening:

There was not a sound to be heard. For once, there was no breeze caressing the emerald leaves in the forest surrounding Konoha. Not a single bird sang; nothing stirred. The bright blue sky didn't contain one cloud - the sunshine was unbroken.

A raven haired teenager stood in the heart of the wood, gazing emotionlessly at the Village Hidden in the Leaves with cold, black eyes.

"It's changed," he murmured quietly. There was a rustle behind him and his three companions appeared.

"So there's your hometown, Sasuke," the silver haired shinobi said, violet eyes inspecting the village. "It's pretty busy." He was right - they could just about make out the general hubbub of village life. The dark haired adolescent said nothing.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" the only kunoichi in the team asked, putting one hand on Sasuke's chest where his shirt was open, and the other embracing him. He shrugged her off coldly.

"Quit flirting with Sasuke you cow, Karin," the silver haired ninja told the red head.

"I'm not a cow, Suigetsu you...you..." she spluttered, unable to think of a bad enough insult.

"Shut up you two," the final member of the team said quietly, his fiery eyes glinting in the sunlight. Karin and Suigetsu quickly stopped bickering. With much trepidation, Sasuke started to walk towards the gate. He hadn't eaten for days - starving himself, pushing himself further. His vision blurred slightly, but he carried on walking. It wasn't long, however, before everything went black and he fainted.

Most recent fic, from July 2020: Grounded (Thunderbirds). The ending:

"Scott?" Virgil sounded worried, and he opened his eyes – when he had closed them? – to look up at his worried brother. Alan and Gordon hovered nearby, and he looked at them all in turn, even John's silent hologram – his ginger brother hadn't been there when the test had started, hadn't been expected after he pointed out their holotech's range didn't reach that far. "Are you okay?"

Was he okay? He had a broken rib, was recovering from a near-fatal spider bite and its side effects of dehydration, bradycardia and hypotension, and the man who had almost killed his brothers multiple times was standing the other end of the same balcony.

But they were one step, one significant step closer to Dad.

"Yeah," he said, staring out past them, at the platform cradling the most important engine International Rescue had ever created. For the first time since that horrid trash mine day five weeks earlier, he could honestly say, "I'm okay."

I’ll leave you guys to be the judge on whether or not I’ve improved at all. I’d like to think I have.

#ask #hedwigstalons #not fic #unwanted #grounded

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love-of-fandoms · 4 years

Text

Mírënya (Thranduil + OC)

Prompt: “You know you should not have survived that, right?”

“Well, what can I say? Beginners luck!”

When Jiniel had signed the contract, it had been for Bilbo’s sake. Hobbits are peaceful, homely creatures by nature, and it would be good for them both to have the familiarity of the other’s presence on the journey. Jiniel also had a good deal of knowledge about fighting and weaponry, due to many summers spent in Rivendell, so she could help Bilbo train so should he find himself in a situation that called for confrontation, he would be prepared.

It wasn’t until the half-elf half-hobbit girl snapped a goblin’s neck defending Thorin in the goblin tunnels, however, that the dwarves began to respect her place in the company, though it didn’t take long after that for Jiniel to find herself with a pack of 13 new brothers. Fiercely protective, Dwarvish brothers.

Which is why, upon waking up in a room in a healing ward in the Great Greenwood after a spider had dropped her from a tree, Jiniel was met with 13 concerned, bearded faces watching over her, and Bilbo’s head of curls face down asleep on the bed next to her leg. He was sitting in a chair that had been pulled next to her bedside, and her hand was grasped tightly in his.

“Okay, who died?” she croaked upon seeing the forlorn looks on everyone’s faces. As an elvish healer quickly moved over to assist iniel with drinking water, her ears were assaulted with gasps and then cheers, startling poor Bilbo awake.

The hobbit smiled brightly upon meeting Jiniel’s emerald eyes, open for the first time in 3 days.

“Jiniel!” he gasped, grasping her hand tighter. “We were scared you wouldn’t wake up!” he closed his eyes briefly with a grateful look on his face.

“Scared is a bit of a stretch,” Fili was quick to interject.

“We knew you had it in you, lass!” Dwalin laughed, subtly wiping a tear out of his eye, the big softy.

“Why wouldn’t I have woken up?” Jiniel asked, not seeing any life threatening wounds on her body, and not feeling any as her entire body was comfortably numb.

“You were dropped from a great height, breaking all but two of your ribs, one of your arms, and fractured both wrists,” a velvety voice answered her question before any of the dwarves had the opportunity. The sea of dwarves crowding her line of vision slowly parted to show a blonde elf, towering above even his elvish kin, with twigs in his hair. “The healers were sure you’d have internal bleeding, however you have just passed the threshold where we would expect someone with internal bleeding to be dead,” he explained bluntly, stepping forward ever so slightly. Jiniel chuckled slightly, the action surprising the elf and sending a twinge of pain to her ribs before she was numb again.

“I’ve been stabbed too many times by the twins in pranks gone wrong to be killed by a silly fall,” she scoffed, missing the concerned looks shared between the dwarves. The elf just raised a dark eyebrow at the small peredhel.

“You know you should not have survived that, right?” he narrowed his eyes slightly at the girl’s shrug.

“Well, what can I say? Beginner’s luck!” she grinned, and Bilbo’s grip on her hand tightened to the point of cutting off circulation.

“And you’re going to stay a beginner, Jiniel, or I swear-” Jiniel quickly cut him off.

“Don’t worry, Baggins, I don’t plan on making a habit of it,” she soothed, and Bilbo sighed, loosening his grip on her hand and leveling her with a stern glare. The tall elf cleared his throat.

“Now that she has regained consciousness, the rest of you will be returned to your cells,” he said, and the dwarves all sighed, resigned to their fates. Jiniel scowled.

“Excuse you?!” everyone froze, staring with wide eyes at Jiniel while Bilbo frantically shook his head at her. “Who the hell do you think you are? Imprisoning these dwarves? I’ve never met more honorable people in my life! You can’t just throw them in some cells!” she shouted, clenching her fists and sitting up, gritting her teeth through the intense pain the motion caused. The elf narrowed his eyes at her, striding to her bedside and leaning down, comically far, to be face to face with Jiniel.

“I am King Thranduil Oropherion, of Great Greenwood, and I think you’ll find that I can,” he spat, and Jiniel’s eyes widened slightly as she realized that the twigs in his hair were actually a crown. With that statement, King Thranduil strode out the door, guards quickly coming in to escort the dwarves to their cells. Luckily for Jiniel, who was now on the verge of a panic attack, Bilbo was allowed to stay with her.

“Breathe, Jiniel, breathe,” the hobbit urged, breathing deeply to get her to mimic him. Jiniel’s eyes watered at the pain that had come from her sitting up and now again at the expansion of her lungs. Bilbo quickly changed course upon realizing this. “Jin, just close your eyes and relax, yeah?” he prompted, gently helping her lay back. When her eyes closed, Bilbo began to softly sing a lullaby they had come up with as children.

“Go down past the stream and walk through the woods,

‘til old Bombadil comes by

Then talk to the trees that rustle in the breeze

and let the day pass you by”

At this point Jiniel’s breaths began to even out as her face relaxed from its pinched state. She joined Bilbo for the next verse.

“Play til the sun sets then play a little more

don’t you worry ‘bout the dark

Cuz soon fireflies will light the skies

and set aglow your heart”

Bilbo ran his fingers through Jiniel’s hair, knowing she was close to sleep as she began to mumble and then hum the song.

“And when the fireflies and old Bombadil’s eyes

grow dim as they bid you goodnight

Just go rest your head on a soft moss bed

and sleep until daylight”

By this point Jiniel had drifted off with a soft smile gracing her features. Bilbo had a soft smile of his own as he rose, giving her a light kiss on the forehead before wandering over to his own vot and drifting off.

“Goodnight Jin,” he mumbled.

The next morning Jiniel was assisted in sitting up and she and Bilbo ate a breakfast of berries that made them both homesick for the Shire.

“Bilbo?” Jiniel called, and the hobbit hummed in acknowledgement, taking his hand out of his pocket where he had been fiddling with something.

“Why are the dwarves imprisoned?” she asked, and Bilbo grunted in displeasure, a scowl overtaking his face.

“Bloody politics,” he groaned. “And Thorin being a greedy, stubborn ass,”

“About?” Jiniel prompted when Bilbo said no further.

“The King wants some gems that his father asked Thror to refurbish or something, and Thorin is refusing,”

“So, the gems belong to Greenwood in the first place?”

“Yes!”

“Öh my god!” Jiniel groaned, throwing her head back. “Do you think you could find me a pen and paper?” she asked, and Bilbo nodded, standing and rummaging through some drawers until he produced a stack of paper and a quill.

When a guard came to collect their bowls of fruit Jiniel handed the elleth a folded up letter.

“Do you think you could make sure this gets to the King, please?” the guard’s eyes widened as she looked at Jiniel to see if she was serious before taking the letter and nodding. “Thank you so much!”

Meanwhile Thranduil was in a courtyard near the royal wing with Legolas for their morning spar, a tradition the two had begun when Legolas first joined the guard.

It was when Thranduil had finally gotten his son to yield that he noticed a guard standing slightly off to the side patiently waiting for the chance to speak. The King stood, his son doing the same, and both males threw their shirts back on before motioning for the elleth to approach with whatever news she bore.

“Yes?” Thranduil asked, and the guard bowed before handing him a letter.

“The peredhel who fell out of the tree asked me to deliver this to you, sir,” she explained and Thranduil nodded before dismissing her. After bowing once more, the guard returned to her normal duties.

Legolas peered over Thranduil’s shoulder as he unfolded and read the letter.

King Thranduil,

Bilbo has informed me of your reason for detaining the dwarves, and I feel as though Thorin is being ridiculous. As such, I would like to sit with you both to mediate a negotiation on the terms of the dwarves’ release.

Jiniel of the Shire

PS. I would also like to apologize for my outburst last night, it was uncalled for.

“Does she not have a family name?” Legolas asked, referring to how she had signed the letter, and Thranduil shrugged.

“I suppose not,” he responded, motioning a nearby guard over. “Have Thorin Oakenshield escorted to the healing ward where the peredhel and hobbit are staying.” he ordered, and the guard bowed quickly before turning to see to the order.

Thranduil turned after dictating the order, and began to walk to his quarters, Legolas following behind him to go to his own room.

“Legolas, I would like for you to be present as well, join me there after you get changed,” he said, and Legolas nodded before going into his room. Thranduil did the same and both males changed into cleaner, less sweaty clothes.

Soon enough Thranduil and Legolas were sitting on one side of Jiniel’s bed while Thorin and Bilbo were on the other.

“Okay,” Jiniel began once everyone was settled. “When I said I was going to mediate the negotiation about the terms, that was a lie,” she declared, and Thranduil and Legolas both widened their eyes in shock, while Thorin merely rolled his eyes, not surprised in the slightest. “You’ve already stated your terms, and I’m simply getting it in writing so all parties uphold their end of the agreement,” Thorin opened his mouth to protest but Jiniel shut him down with a nasty glare. “So, your majesty,” all three royals in the room perked up and Jiniel blushed, scolding herself for not being specific. She turned her head, careful of her torso due to her injuries, to make eye contact with King Thranduil, so it was clear who she was addressing. “What are the gems you want returned called?” she asked.

“They are the Gems of Lasgalen,” Thranduil responded, glaring pointedly at Thorin as Jiniel went to write it down, pausing and glancing sheepishly up at Thranduil, a pretty pink blush on her cheeks.

“Spelled…?” she prompte, avoiding eye contact with the royal who let a soft smile grace his face as he told her how to spell Lasgalen, surprising both Thorin and Legolas with his tender expression.

“And in return all members of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield are to be safely transported out of the forest towards Erebor,” Jiniel dictated as she wrote, but Thorin quickly made an amendment.

“You are staying here, Jiniel,” he said sternly, and the girl’s brow furrowed.

“But-”

“Agreed, you are in no state to travel,” Thranduil quickly interjected before she could argue. Jiniel frowned, worriedly glancing at Bilbo as she wrote down the amended terms. She didn’t say anything further, instead handing the paper to Thranduil the Thorin to sign, then on to Legolas and Bilbo as witnesses.

“Tomorrow morning a patrol will escort you out of the forest, in the meantime you will have proper beds to sleep in,” Thranduil said, standing and going to relay the news to the guards, and Legolas quickly followed after him.

Bilbo, who had noticed Jiniel’s lip beginning to wobble, swiftly sat next to her on the bed and threw an arm around her shoulders.

“I know it’s selfish,” she whispered, gaze cast downwards as she leaned her head on Bilbo’s. “But I don’t want to be alone.” Thorin took her hand gently.

“I’m sure there must be some elves who make good company,” he joked with a light smile, and Jiniel sighed with a nod, knowing there was nothing she could do about her situation. She motioned for Thorin to climb up on her other side, determined to get as many snuggles in as she could before her surrogate family left in the morning to continue their quest.

That night the dwarves took the blankets and pillows from the beds they had been provided and brought them to Jiniel’s room, taking shifts being the ends of a Jiniel sandwich, laying on either side of her. Each and every one of the dwarves were told to be careful and not to do anything stupid, and of course to come and get her as soon as possible.

Before departing, in the wee hours of the morning, Fili and Kili helped braid a Dwarf Friend bead into Jiniel’s hair, promising her they’d forge her a family bead once they were all settled in Erebor.

The first two days passed slowly, Jiniel spending the time napping and conversing with the healer who checked in on her a couple times a day. She also journaled everything that happened so she could make sure to relay every boring detail to Bilbo out of spite. The healer, an elf named Torien, was kind enough to bring her some books to read and was impressed upon learning she could read and speak most forms of Elvish.

“I spent the summers growing up in Rivendell, while the rest of the year was spent in the Shire,” she explained to him. “The elves there taught me how to fight with a variety of weapons, and I studied languages and history under Elrond,”

“Really?!” Torien gasped, Lord Elrond being his idol when it comes to healing, as well as just being an elven war hero. “What’s he like?” Jiniel giggled at the question.

It was on the third day that both Thranduil and Jiniel were in for a surprise.

Guests were beginning to arrive for the Feast of Starlight, including Elrond and his children. It came up in a conversation over lunch that a young half-elf half-hobbit was currently under Thranduil’s care.

“Jiniel?!” Elladan asked, stunning Thranduil who simply nodded his head in confirmation.

“Where is she?” Elrohir demanded, he and his twin standing from the table and demanding to be brought to Jiniel.

Jiniel was sure poor Torien was going to faint when King Thranduil lead Elladan and Elrohir into her room, quickly followed by Arwen and Lord Elrond himself.

“Jin Jin!” The twins cheered, pouncing on the bed before immediately being pulled back by Arwen, who ran further into the room when she heard Jiniel’s yelp of pain.

“She’s injured, you idiots!” she scolded, hitting both her brothers on the arm. Jiniel just giggled.

“They’ve given me worse,” she excused them, and Thranduil smirked slightly as he connected the dots.

“Are these the twins who have stabbed you on multiple occasions?” he asked, and Jiniel nodded as said twins pouted moodily, crossing their arms in sync.

“It’s not our fault!” Elrohir insisted.

“She’s just accident prone!” Elladan agreed, backing his twin up. Thranduil hummed, throwing a teasing look at the bedridden girl.

“I’m inclined to agree with you about her being accident prone,” he smirked as the peredhel pouted back at him. Elrond sighed, muttering about too much moodiness in one room before Torien began to ask him questions. Elrond humoured the gushing healer and offered to answer his questions over tea.

So over the next week as more guests arrived, the king occasionally joined the twin sons of Elrond when they visited Jiniel. He brought her flowers and potted plants every visit after she mentioned missing her and Bilbo’s garden, and Jiniel blushed every time.

The first day Thranduil went to visit her without the twins was the day Torien gave Jiniel permission to get out of bed and walk for short periods of time. Of course Jiniel took that as the all clear for her to do everything like normal again, and Thranduil nearly had a heart attack when he walked in to find her standing on a chair trying to water a hanging plant by the open window. She winced whenever she tried to lift her arms above a certain height, and Thranduil smiled fondly at her as he rushed over.

“Jiniel,” he sighed in a halfhearted attempt at reprimanding her. He grabbed the watering can out of her hands and watered the plant for her, Jiniel pouting as he effortlessly watered the plant, while when standing on a chair she was still slightly shorter than him. Thranduil opted to ignore her pout. “You must take it slowly,” he scolded, lifting her effortlessly and setting her down on the bed.

“I’ve been doing that for two weeks!” Jiniel whined, but Thranduil just chuckled softly at her impatience.

“You’re almost as bad as Legolas,” he muttered as he brushed some hair out of her face. Jiniel simply pouted harded, averting her gaze and trying to hide the blush beginning to spread through her cheeks. “Just a little longer, mírënya,” he soothed.

Jiniel, of course, had neglected to tell Thranduil that she knew Quenya and was perfectly aware that he had been calling her my gem for the past couple of days. She tried to suppress the warmth that threatened to invade her cheeks everytime he called her by the affectionate pet name, always averting her eyes.

“Too long,” she muttered, trying not to show how much he affected her. Though she would blame it on the pet name, Thranduil’s mere presence caused the previously dormant butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

Thranduil rolled his eyes at the peredhel.

“No more standing on chairs,” he admonished, kissing her forehead quickly before he had time to overthink the action. Jiniel’s emerald eyes widened as they snapped to meet his bright blues ones, not able to do anything except nod in agreement. Thranduil’s fond smile widened slightly before he offered her his hand. “A walk through the gardens, however, will be fine,” he chuckled when Jiniel’s eyes lit up, her hand snatching his and accepting his help to stand.

Thranduil took her on a tour of the herb gardens, which were closest, not so secretly relishing in the feeling of having Jiniel’s arm looped through his, his chest filling with joy every time Jiniel’s hand squeezed his arm upon seeing a bunny or when she told him stories from her own garden back at Bagend. He had to hold in his laughter when Jiniel pouted at him with widened, glistening eyes when he told her he should return her to her room. Her puppy dog eyes were absolutely adorable.

“I’ll show you another garden tomorrow,” he promised, Jiniel only realizing after he had walked her back and left her with a kiss on the hand that their stroll through the garden could have been considered, and probably actually was, a date.

Everyday Jiniel was able to walk a little farther and a little longer with Thranduil, until-

“Dancing?!” Jiniel gasped, and Thranduil nodded with the same soft smile he seemed to always have in her presence.

“Of course, the Feast of Starlight is 4 days away and I am quite out of practice,” he explained, grabbing her hand.

“But I don’t know the dances!” Jiniel protested as Thranduil pulled her into a starting position. Thranduil knew this, of course, but he had a plan.

“Teaching you will jog my memory,” he said, beginning to hum and guide the peredhel through the steps of a simple dance. He twirled her around the room, the difference in height between the pair comical.

“You’re too tall, I’m gonna get a crick in my neck!” Jiniel complained with a cute pout after completing a circuit around the room. After another moment, Jiniel giggled as an idea came to her. “Wait, wait!” she had Thranduil stop for a moment before stepping up so she was standing on his feet, and then she nodded for him to continue. “Okay!” she beamed at him, and the king simply rolled his eyes at her, continuing to twirl around the room with her in his arms.

“I have to admit,” Thranduil muttered into her hair after a couple dances. “I had an ulterior motive in asking you to help me practice,”. The two had come to a stop in the middle of the room, simply resting in the other’s arms, Jiniel’s head comfortably tucked into Thranduil’s chest. She hummed in question. “I was hoping you would do me the honor of attending the Feast of Starlight with me?” he questioned, and Jiniel tensed against his chest.

“Are you serious?!” she gasped, glancing up to meet his eyes before quickly looking away again.

“As the grave,” Thranduil pledged, looking deep into her eyes as he nudged her chin up.

“I, um… of course!” Jiniel stuttered, a nervous smile on her face as she looked up at him. He beamed back, placing a soft kiss on her lips before setting her on her own two feet again.

“I’ll have the tailor stop by tomorrow and help you with a dress!” he said excitedly as he moved to leave. Jiniel stopped him, however, eyes wide as she grabbed his wrist, still processing the kiss. She motioned with her finger for him to get on her level, and once he crouched down she gave him a kiss of her own, wrapping her arms around his neck. Both of their eyes fluttered closed as they innocently kissed for a moment, before Jiniel pulled away, dropping her arms from Thranduil’s shoulders.

“Goodnight, aranya,” she said as she closed the door behind him, giggling softly at his look of surprise at the Quenya for my king.

I wrote the lullaby, and here’s a bit of me singing it.

#The Hobbit #Thranduil #Mirkwood #Greenwood #thorin's company #Thorin #Kili #Fili #Bilbo #Hobbits #Elves #Elrond #Romance #One shot

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

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Spider-Force #3 Thoughts

Fucking Awful.

This story issue and mini –series as a whole was a fucking mess.

Let’s get some pleasantries out of the way.

The art was nice but a downgrade from Siquiera’s from the first 1.5 issues of this mini-series. The fact that we couldn’t maintain a consistent art team for THREE ISSUES speaks to how poorly thrown together this mini-series was.

Also a nice thing. The concept of Spider-People fighting in zero gravity where a lot of their powers would be undermined, especially their agility and webbing. Too bad the idea isn’t explored at all and downright contradicted.

Finally not exactly a pro or con here but something I forgot to mention as a problem in Spider-Geddon #4. I made a mistake in my thoughts on it where I said that I didn’t get what Ben Reilly had to do with Otto’s bargain with the Inheritors, but re-reading it I evidently forgot that it was stated that by absorbing his life essence the Inheritors would learn how his cloning tech would work. The problem with that being...the Inheritors don’t gain knowledge from their victims last I checked. Maybe I missed something else but I’m pretty sure that was never a thing before issue #4 and if so what lazy writing my God.

Why is that relevant to this issue though? Well because we’re diving into the problems of this issue of which there are numerous and I thought I’d start at the end instead of the beginning.

Sooooooo...the ending of this story doesn’t jive at all with Spider-Geddon #4.

When I read Spider-Geddon #4 I complained that it ruined the resolution of this mini-series. Now in fairness I wasn’t being exactly fair in that point as readers could still wonder of course what had become of the other Spider-Force members sans Charlie and (not that anyone cared) how precisely they got a hold of the Solus crystal.

Well if you did care about any of that prepare to be disappointed. Turns out Verna just gave the crystal to Jessica without her knowing and we don’t know WTF happened to any of the other characters. In fact the start of issue #1 is chronologically the last time we see them. What a fucking waste of time.

Worse is that as I said it doesn’t jive with Spider-Geddon #4 at all. Jessica’s body language and dialogue not match between the two issues.

Speaking of Jessica Drew not only do all the problems I cited before stand with her character, but Priest compounds them by implying she has like animal keen senses, as though she’s Wolverine or something??????????

She also claims everyone’s wall crawling powers are useless in zero gravity because there is no friction. I’m no scientist but I’m pretty sure friction would still exist in zero gravity. Even that aside...that...that isn’t how their powers work. I can’t entirely explain it but it’s about electricity not friction.

The same thing applies to her concerns about their other powers. I get that agility is at least less useful in zero gravity...but super strength? Gravity isn’t going to affect your gripping potential? Besides it doesn’t matter. The story has Verna speedily grab John Jameson and earlier on John viciously stab Verna in the throat and then plays like the characters are making a hasty retreat as though they were moving quickly but...they weren’t obviously because no one can run or jump in zero gravity.

By the way as we’re on the topic we reinforce the stupidity of Jessica being immune to the Inheritors because her powers come from radiation. They don’t and even if they did...so does Spider-Man’s but he can still be eaten so what gives?

Let’s talk about Jameson and Verna.

Let’s put aside how the recap page refers to John as the Spider-Man of this world (fuck Uncle Ben I guess). What a waste of an interesting concept. And Verna? So apparently she can...heal by eating people? Okay maybe I’m forgetting something but I don’t remember that being an ability either. But then again this mini-series has given people all sorts of random powers. For example not only are the Inheritors vulnerable to radiation but apparently it’s basically kryptonite to them. It’s not that it’s something that hurts them like it hurts everyone. No, no, no they’re MORE vulnerable to it than regular people. Which raises the question of why the fuck didn’t anyone in this entire mini-series arm themselves with radioactive weaponry? Like Peter Parker injected himself with radiation in the very first Morlun story, couldn’t you make a big ass gun to shoot radiation at these guys?

More confusing to me is the idea that she stashed away Solus’ crystal to keep it safe from members of her own family; with artwork so bad I couldn’t tell it was even her until dialogue clarified.* This is the first time the idea of the Inheritors backstabbing one another has ever been raised, it comes out of nowhere and is just a cheap aspect of the story to justify some of the plotting. Because if the Inheritors had the Solus crystal in their homebase then at the very least this mini-series wouldn’t exist.

An inconsistency with the crystal I noticed is that Charlie figures out that Verna set up a beacon nearby it in the train station and that was the unique energy signature John first zeroed in on because the crystal isn’t emitting an energy signature. Ummm....how does he know that? I get he’s Peter Parker who is smart but how would he be able to deduce this without examining the crystal? He just seems to know this stuff.

Speaking of Charlie there is little more I can add to his character or indeed Ashley’s. They’re storyline goes nowhere in this mini-series. At least Scarlet Spiders from Spider-Verse had something of an emotional payoff as their mission was a success, Ben died and this propelled Kaine into vengeance. Here the mini-series doesn’t end so much as stop it might as well be Spider-Geddon #3.5. Except at least the main book has been building towards a pay off for it’s central characters of Miles and Otto. This mini-series was clearly most invested in Ashley and Charlie and it goes nowhere, we don’t even get details on his past. Apparently he appears in Spider-Geddon #5 but I have little hope we’ll find out what his past is exactly.

The nicest thing I can say is that he displays intelligence via his trap for Verna. Where this plan becomes stupid though is in the fact that Kaine has a big ass gun out of nowhere and for some reason they were walking around without their radiation suits for awhile....why? Why would you do that???????? Has it got something to do with Charlie’s confusing Pokemon reference?

Consequently we find out that the radioactive water they flooded the subway with back in issue #1 is corrosive which....again not a scientist, but would radiation make water corrosive really?

Let’s talk about Kaine. He’s an out of character jerk who is dissed as not having a soul and who lied to his team for no reason. I don’t get it? And he was supposed to be the lead character? Maybe? It’s unclear because this mini-series is so badly put together.

Priest also makes some bullshit statement about how Jameson’s telepathic trick last issue boned them all but that’s talked about more than it is shown. We only saw 3 flashbacks last issue after all but now we’re talking about how Jessica didn’t get anything from Kaine because he’s a clone who has no soul maybe.

And yet we do get a random flashback from her in this issue to the brith of her son and...Skullls(????????????) are there???????????????? Maybe this synchs with her solo-book but maybe contextualize that for the new readers who’ve not read that Priest? Jesus Christ.

This series is a turd. Don’t bother reading it.

*That scene also had this weird pointless caption box about iron phosphate power cells which went nowhere.

#Spider Woman #Jessica Drew #Scarlet Spider #Ben Reilly #Clone Saga #Kaine #Kaine Parker #Spider-Geddon #Christopher Priest #Skrulls #Inheritors #Spider-Man #Peter Parker

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septembercfawkes · 5 years

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Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only One Impossibility"

You may have heard of the "one impossibility rule," the idea that the audience's suspension of disbelief can only handle one impossible thing. In this article, I'm going to talk about what the rule is, why it's a rule, and when and how to break it.

What's the Rule?

When we write, we invite the audience into our fictive universe. In order to take part, the audience must have what's called a "willing suspension of disbelief," meaning that they are willing to enjoy the story even though it's not real.

For example, maybe your story has fairies in it. But fairies aren't real. However, the audience is willing to accept that for the story.

The Rule:

In a story, only one impossibility can exist.

Why It's a Rule

Most audiences can only take in so much impossibility before their suspension of disbelief is no longer . . . suspended.

They might accept with the premise of the story that there are fairies. But if your story has not only fairies but also aliens invading the planet, there is going to be a problem.

That's two different impossibilities.

And they don't go together.

Take that a step further and add the fact that in your fictive universe, dogs have overcome humans in the species hierarchy, so they are the ones running society--and now we have three impossibilities.

It's too much. Every time you add an impossibility, you narrow your audience. With these three, I've really narrowed audience.

My examples are a bit exaggerated, but these are the sorts of things that the one impossibility rule is referring to.

However, it can sometimes be used in other situations.

One thing the audience has very little tolerance for is when human behavior doesn't make sense. Maybe your protagonist's mom dies, and he doesn't even grieve. That seems impossible. And the more you stack on unlikely human behavior, the more the audience's suspension of disbelief wanes.

For more on problems with unbelievability, see "Inconceivable! Dealing with Problems of Unbelievability."

How to Break It

By now you may have thought of one or more stories that clearly have more than "one impossibility." In a high fantasy, you may have fairies and dragons and dwarves and elves and centaurs . . . the list goes on.

Or maybe you thought of a rarer rule break, like a story that deals with both an alien invasion and restoring faith in God. Putting a belief of God in can be considered a big no-no in the industry when writing science fiction. From one perspective, you are dealing with two impossibilities. (I'm not saying I feel this way, I'm just talking about the industry.)

Or maybe you thought of something stranger still, a story where part of your soul lives outside your body in the form of an animal, where one of the intelligent species are (randomly) bears, where there is a clan witches, and some of the main characters are quite literally at war with God.

Clearly this rule can and has been broken. So let's talk about how to do that.

1. Use an Umbrella

The reason high fantasy gets away with so many impossibilities is because everything actually fits under one big impossibility: an imaginary world.

Sure, in our reality dragons and elves and dwarves don't exist.

But in a completely fictional world, like Middle-earth, all of them do, and more.

Tolkien, like basically all high fantasy writers, gets away with so much impossibility by lumping them together under one big one. Other examples include Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, and even Star Wars (in a galaxy far, far away).

Even though Harry Potter includes the real world, it does this same thing--everything impossible comes from a magic society within our world, that's the umbrella.

The umbrella does not even necessarily need to be a world or society. Those are just the obvious examples. It could be an origin, history, or something else. The idea is that the one impossibility encompasses and explains all others.

2. Make Connections

Similarly, the audience is more likely to take in more than one impossibility if they connect in some way. Maybe you are reading a novel that has vampires in the real world. Then the second book in the series deals with werewolves. What?

But it's okay, because Stephenie Meyer made them connect by explaining that werewolves exist because of the vampires--they are the natural predators of vampires (yes, I just used Twilight as an example) (yes, I know other stories put vampires and werewolves together as enemies).

When you use this method, you usually want to build off what the audience already knows. They already know about the vampires, great. So when you explain the werewolves, make sure to relate it to the vampires. This will make it easier for the audience to swallow.

Of course, there are some stories that don't do that. Usually in those cases, the writer may introduce them as two separate things and explain the connection later. If you chose to do this, you should know that it's more difficult to pull off, and it will likely narrow your audience, because people might be rolling their eyes and stop reading before they get to the connection. However it has and can be done.

In rare occasions, the connections may not be concretely obvious, but instead thematic. What do invading aliens have to do with regaining faith in God? Well, nothing, directly. Except that it works together thematically in a beautiful way in Signs. Keep in mind, though, that this is one of the reasons some people hate that movie. So for some people, it did not work--in other words, it narrowed the audience. That's fine, if you are willing to pay that cost and take that risk.

3. Shift Context

Sometimes you can get away with multiple impossibilities if you don't present them as all impossibilities to begin with. In Interstellar, we are dealing with some pretty heavy science fiction, but then on the other hand, one of the main characters believes there is a ghost in her room.

I would hazard a guess though, that most of the audience didn't believe there was a real ghost in the room. Instead we can accept that the character believes that. As we get more information and the context shifts, we realize the "ghost" really was a person.

Though worth noting is that it is still ultimately explained by science, so the movie also connects it the other impossibilities.

But my point is, you may be able to do something similar. Maybe we think the second impossibility is something other than it actually is, and it's truly explained later.

4. Foreshadow

Sometimes you can get away with more than one impossibility if you foreshadow it right.

I know a writer who saw Arrival and loved it up until the ending, where the entire story was "ruined" because it "broke the one impossibility rule."

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with that. All of the impossibilities, especially the last, were foreshadowed from the beginning, so when I encountered them, as an audience member, I was prepared.

Also notice how that movie also incorporates context shifts and connections.

The story essential has three impossibilities in it, but in my opinion, they pulled them off stunningly.

However, it didn't work for that one writer, so, like I said above, you are always taking that risk.

But then there are people like me and my family, who loved the story even more and were brought to tears because of how it incorporated three impossibilities.

Basically if you are breaking the one impossibility rule, you are probably polarizing your audience, which is sometimes a good thing, if you want word-of-mouth advertising.

5. Utilize Tone

Tone can go a long way in letting you get away with the impossible. This is especially the case with what are called "unreality" stories.

Unreality stories take place in what's recognized as the real world . . . but it isn't. It's an unreality. It's best explained through examples. Here are some unreality stories:

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Matilda

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Edward Scissorhands

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Like I talked about in the last section, you may realize that unreality stories can be very polarizing: You either love it, or you hate it.

Notice how all of the examples I gave have more than one impossibility (sometimes completely unconnected), but for audiences okay with the unreality genre, that's not a problem. (Which reminds me, it's also worth noting genre does play a role in what you can get away with).

If you establish the right tone, you can get away with almost anything.

6. Acknowledge the Impossibility

In some cases, you can get away with multiple impossibilities if you validate to the audience how impossible, unlikely, or strange it is, on the page. Since I have two posts that go into this, I'm not going to reiterate everything, but you can read more here and here.

7. Keep the Reader Hooked and Invested

Sometimes you can get away with more than one impossibility if the reader is already deeply invested in the story. They may be so hooked, so pulled in, that adding a second impossibility isn't going to ruin it--as long as you don't do anything too crazy.

Ask yourself (and maybe your beta-readers), is adding this one impossibility really going to stop the reader from reading and enjoying the story? It might give them pause, but you might be able to get away with it. After all, it is a story.

8. Start with the Most Familiar Impossibility

Everyone knows what a dragon is, even if they aren't real. So it's easier for the audience to accept that.

In Spider-verse we are dealing with two impossibilities that don't . . . really even connect . . . or fit under an umbrella. 1 - that radioactive spiders can bite people and turn them superhuman. 2 - that there are parallel realities. Those are both impossibilities, and they don't actually go together.

But the audience is willing to accept it, because they are so familiar with Spider-man and superhero movies. Adding parallel universes to it isn't a big deal. (Not to mention that parallel universes have been long established as part of the comic book world.)

The more familiar something is, the easier it is for the audience to accept and digest it.

Kitchen Sink Stories

There is a term in the industry called "kitchen sink." It's the basic idea that a writer has a lot of ideas, but they are throwing them all into one story. It's like a kitchen sink. It has a bit of this and a bit of that. A scrap of old pizza, an onion peel, a soggy fry. Sometimes when writers are trying to include a lot of impossibilities, it turns into a kitchen sink story. In some cases, you may definitely need to divvy out ideas into different stories. But in other cases, it's amazing which seemingly unrelated ideas you can make work, especially using these methods I outlined.

It's hard for me to tell everyone that their "kitchen sink story" isn't going to work. Because it might.

I feel like the best example of this is His Dark Materials. It has everything, and the kitchen sink. But in England, it became a hugely successful series. Yet so many of the concepts don't seem to belong in one story.

- Parts of people's souls live outside their bodies in animal forms.

- There is an intelligent species of bears (bears?? Why? That's so random!)

- Oh yeah, and there are also witches. (oookay . . .)

- And angels

- By the way, there is also a religion reminiscent of Christianity, but it's antagonistic

- Also, God is in it

- And there is this device that allows the user to know all truth

- It takes place in England . . . but it's sort of . . . somewhat . . . steam-punky

- Oh yeah, also, not only is this fantasy, but it's also science fiction. We will definitely be talking about dark matter and running experiments with computers

- Also, surprise, I know you didn't know this from the first book, but our world, the real world, is actually part of this same universe

- Aaaand there are spectors

- We'll also be following people into the afterlife. . . .

Okay, seriously, that whole series is a kitchen sink story!

. . . which is also why it was so revolutionary. It was unprecedented.

So . . . while it's very difficult to pull off . . . it's not impossible.

You might be thinking, "but everything fits under the umbrella of a parallel world." Dude, it doesn't. We don't even know parallel worlds exist until the second book.

It's a kitchen sink.

You Can Break the One Impossibility Rule . . . with These Risks and Consequences

Depending on what impossibilities you decide to use and how you implement them, you run these risks:

- Ruining the suspension of disbelief

Your audience may still not be able to accept your impossibilities. In truth, some readers are unwilling to even accept one. So they may stop reading.

- Narrowing your audience

This may lead to a narrower audience. Maybe most people don't like M. Night Shyamalan's movies (he breaks a lot of writing and film rules). That's okay. Enough people like him, and he obviously isn't trying to appeal to the masses.

- Polarizing your audience

Some people will absolutely hate stories that use multiple impossibilities. But other people love them. Polarizing your audience isn't actually necessarily a bad or good thing in and of itself--it depends on your goals.

These are risks and consequences, but they do not necessarily influence success. Some people cannot read any fantasy, yet it's one of the most popular genres. Not everyone likes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it's now a children's classic. Even a kitchen sink story has been highly successful.

Can you break the one impossibility rule? Yes! But like breaking any rule, it can be tricky.

Next week I'll be talking about critique letters and editorial letters, and how I write one. See you then!

#writing tips #writing tip #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writing a book #fiction writing #creative writing #writing help #writing helps #writing advice #writing lesson #help for writers #author #editor #fanfic #fanfiction

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thelittleredheadedmusician · 5 years

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It’s Lit

@wordshakerofgallifrey prompted “"all our friends are drunk" with whoever's most responsible between the Newsies and Les Mis revolutionaries (aka gimme more of your crossover please;))” This went more into crossover land in general and less into drunken shenanigans but I think you’ll like the outcome. Rating: G Words: 2,750 Gen AO3

Combeferre had been looking forward to spending New Years in New York. Not that they were going to the ball drop, no one really wanted to deal with that crowd, but getting to go into the city and spend the time with his friends had been all he could think about since Katherine and her friends had invited them.

The day after Christmas he’d packed his bags and his mom had given him a ride to the airport. It was shorter and cheaper to just fly from Savannah than to try and drive or take a train. Some of his friends would be doing one or the other but he knew that Bahorel and Musichetta would be flying in too, they’d tried to coordinate their flights to all land around the same time so it was easier for whoever would be meeting them at JFK.

Combeferre checked his phone once they landed and it had time to power up, Specs had texted that he had found Chetta and they were by the rental car kiosk. He smiled as he typed out a quick reply.

The Newsies seemed to be taking the task of hosting the ABC for a week with aplomb, figuring out housing arrangements and airport/train pickup/drop-off schedules and relaying it through Katherine to their groupchat. By the time they were leaving Baltimore from their last summit the week before the holidays it had already been settled and all that needed to be done was ticket purchasing. Combeferre had asked for his plane tickets as a last-minute Christmas present and been thrilled when his grandparents handed him them, wrapped up in an overlarge box and stuck into a book on the legend of Mothman. The book had made the flight interesting, if only because of the strange looks from the guy sitting next to him.

He scanned the lobby, looking for the car rentals and subsequently Specs and Chetta in the spacious white and silver environment. They saw him first and started calling out to him and waving; Combeferre grinned and course corrected as he made his way over.

“Ferre!” Musichetta pulled him into a tight hug when she saw him, forcing him to let go of the handle of his small carry one to return it. “How was your holiday?”

“Good! Good. And yours?”

“Oh excellent. I got new shoes!” She twirled her foot to show him the boots that did look new.

“Nice,” he smiled before turning to Specs who had been watching them with a grin of his own. “And how’s your holiday?”

“Well hosting one of my friends from D.C. for a week definitely makes it pretty great.”

Combeferre laughed and hugged the other boy. They’d gotten close over the last semester and when he’d been told that he would be bunking with Specs for the week Ferre couldn’t stop grinning.

“Rel should be landing now,” Musichetta commented once they released each other, checking her watch.

“Cool. I had to park pretty far, just warning you now,” Specs said, giving them both a look. “So if you want to sit now’s your chance.”

“I’ve been sitting!” Chetta laughed. “I can stand and troop to your car yet. Trust me.”

Combeferre quirked an eyebrow. “You drive?”

“Yeah. It’s my mom’s car but it’s better than having to pay for a cab or an uber out here.”

“I didn’t think you could drive,” Combeferre said honestly.

Specs smirked. “Oh, cause I’m a New Yorker I can’t drive? I’m a rare breed, sure, but my grandma’s not from the city and she thinks that it’s a necessary skill so…” he trailed off with a shrug.

“Well as long as we get where we need to be in time for food, I have no complaints,” Musichetta added with a twist of her lips.

“Race’s mom is hosting dinner for everyone tonight, homemade Italian,” Specs said.

“I heard, someone let that slip to R and he hasn’t been able to shut up about it. He got Joly and Boss set on it too.” She rolled her eyes but it was with love, not malice.

“Ayyyy-o!” Someone called out, drawing the attention of everyone in the lobby. They all looked to the area that led from the baggage claim where Bahorel was now walking, arms raised with duffel bag in hand and backpack on his shoulder.

Combeferre laughed as Musichetta let out a responding “Ayyyy-o!”

Bahorel ran the rest of the way over and pulled the trio into a tight hug.

When he could finally breathe again Combeferre turned to Bahorel with a raised brow. “Finally see Bohemian Rhapsody?” he guessed.

“And Mary Poppins and Aquaman.”

“Well you’ve got me beat. I only got to see Into the Spider-verse,” Specs said as they all turned to start the trek to the car.

“Oh how was it?” Chetta asked, leading to a conversation that ended up just being about John Mulaney by the time they actually got to the car. Specs wasn’t kidding about having to park far away.

They’d all left their bags in the trunk of Spec’s mom’s Toyota as they walked up to the apartment building in Manhattan Racetrack Higgins called home, at least for now. Specs had told them about how he and his boyfriend Spot were trying to find a place to move into together at the end of the spring semester.

Specs pressed the buzzer, waving at the camera with a warm smile. The door clicked open and he ushered them in. When they got off on the eleventh floor they turned a corner and upon reaching the door at the end of the hall Specs raised a hand to knock. A lanky boy with dirty blonde curls answered, pulling Specs immediately into a hug when he did.

“Race! Let me go!” Specs laughed as he tried to fight the other boy off, who by this point had turned the hug into a headlock even though Specs had a couple inches on him. He finally did and Specs shot him a dirty look before rounding on the three ABC members behind him. “This is Bahorel, Musichetta, and Combeferre,” he pointed to each in turn and Ferre gave a little wave at his name. “Racetrack,” Specs finished, pointing back at the boy still standing in the doorway.

“Welcome to the madhouse, keep your coats on,” Racetrack said and stepped aside to let them in.

The apartment wasn’t exactly small, after seeing Jehan’s micro apartment Combeferre had a new appreciating and understanding of what constituted a small home, but it was cramped. Filled to the bursting with people.

“We’re all going up to the roof then so you don’t have to sit on anyone’s lap to eat,” Racetrack called over his shoulder as he led the way. “My family’s pretty big so my ma knows how to cook in bulk and made up her mind before I could point out the space issue. Just be glad that the cousins aren’t all here yet, you wouldn’t be able to even get in the door then.”

Ferre took the plastic plate someone had handed him and began loading it up from the platters of food on the dining table. Some seemed to be leftovers from Christmas dinner the day before but there was still more that looked freshly homemade. Suddenly starving now that there was food in front of him everything else seemed to disappear but the table until someone clapped him on the shoulder. Combeferre startled but held onto his plate, turning to find Courfeyrac grinning at him.

“Happy Boxing Day!” Courf raised his own plate piled high.

Ferre snorted. “Boxing Day?”

“Technically my family is French-Canadian. It’s a Canadian holiday.”

“Your family has lived in Maine for the past hundred years,” Ferre said dryly.

Courf seemed unperturbed by this fact, just shrugging and turning to head back out to the living room where people seemed to be crawling out a window and up the fire escape.

“We were in Canada for Christmas,” Courf called over his shoulder as Ferre followed him.

Combeferre scoffed. “You were in upstate New York for Christmas.”

“Right. Canada.”

“You’re from Maine, you’re not allowed to call Albany Canada.”

“I dunno, it’s pretty close,” a boy about their age with fluffy blonde hair sticking up from under a knitted lime green beanie that Grantaire would be jealous of when he saw it had said from where he stood next to the window. It took a second to recognize him but once he did Combeferre grinned.

“See! Charlie here agrees with me!” Courf said with a smile. It was the one he only got when someone joined in on his ridiculousness. Combeferre had a love hate relationship with that smile.

Charlie smirked and held out his hand to Courf. “I’ll hold your plate while you climb through. There’s drinks up there already.”

“Oh! Thank you,” Courfeyrac beamed at him.

Once Courf was on his way up the fire escape Combeferre turned to Charlie. “You really don’t have to encourage him.”

“I’m from Manhattan, Albany really is Canada to me,” Charlie joked.

Combeferre snorted as he took his plate back. “Do you want help with the steps?” he asked, guessing that Bossuet had already given Joly a piggy back up to the top.

“Thanks but Jack’s gonna come. Besides it’s nice and toasty in here,” Charlie smirked and Combeferre nodded in return before starting up the stairs.

Charlie was going to soak up the warmth while he could and Ferre wouldn’t blame him for it. It wasn’t exactly cold out but it certainly wasn’t normal picnic weather. Yet that’s where they were all eating, on picnic tables on the apartment building’s roof. A small patio area with lights was all set up and it looked like just about everyone was there from the ABC with nearly as many Newsies.

“Combeferre!” Someone called and he turned to see Enjolras motioning him over to their table.

Setting his food down Combeferre folded his long legs under wood top and turned to see who all he was sitting with. Enjolras and Grantaire seemed to be next to him with Katherine, her boyfriend Jack, and David were across from him. Jack, David, and Charlie had all been to visit Katherine and Specs so Combeferre was glad to see the familiar faces so soon.

“Hey Ferre,” Kath smiled, lifting a glass filled with dark liquid to him in a small toast.

“It’s good to see you Katherine,” he told her. “I must admit though, I hadn’t realized you were a vampire.”

Katherine noticed his look to her glass and laughed. “It’s sangria. Race’s sister smuggled all the alcohol up here, something about if we’re going to be outside we might as well stay warm. Just, uh, mind the gap,” she giggled.

Combeferre caught David rolling his eyes. “She means don’t fall off the roof. It’s a bit stronger than anyone expected.”

“And she spent the entire day yesterday watching British movies with her sisters,” Jack snorted.

“So what?” Kath turned on him, a fire in her eyes. Combeferre couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from twitching up at that, he’d missed her and it had only been a few weeks.

Jack started teasing her, something Grantaire joined in on eagerly. Combeferre let the jokes flow around him as he began to eat what he was willing to call some of the best homemade food in his life. Not that he’d let his mother know that. The conversation changed to an actual topic, rather than just poking fun at Katherine, and Combeferre listened with interest. Combeferre realized that Charlie had joined them at some point and grinned as he said something that had Enjolras laughing.

Their table seemed to become the nucleus of the gathering, everyone coming over at some point to join their conversation. Combeferre also realized that everyone seemed to be getting steadily drunker. Even Enjolras seemed to be more than a bit tipsy, the sangria really being stronger than anyone had anticipated. Grantaire could hold his liquor but if the volume of his laughter was anything to go by then he was edging towards being inebriated too.

Everyone had finished eating at this point and Combeferre as fairly sure he’d been introduced to all the Newsies as someone pulled out a speaker and started playing Queen. The effect was instantaneous as a little over two dozen college kids all started singing “Mama, just killed a man…”

Combeferre couldn’t help himself, it was hilarious, but he knew that if Enjolras saw him laughing the blonde would get offended and the effect would be ruined. So, he got up from the table and moved to stand at the edge of the patio, laughing at his friends from the shadows.

“All our friends are drunk,” someone said from next to him. Combeferre glanced over to see that David had joined him. Ferre couldn’t read his expression and his tone had been hard to decipher too; whether David was annoyed or amused by this turn of events was anyone’s guess.

“I don’t think anyone thought this through, getting back down and into the apartment is going to present a challenge.”

David winced. “I’d forgotten about getting them back through the window and past Race’s parents.”

“Well we could dump the drinks and force them to dry out?” Combeferre suggested.

“I’m fairly certain they finished it all off themselves. I just checked the cooler and it’s only capri suns in there.”

Combeferre couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him at that. At this whole situation. David shot him a questioning glance. “I’m on a roof in the middle of New York City with a bunch of young, arguably, revolutionaries who have drunk literally everything but a bunch of juice boxes and are now thoroughly sloshed as a result. On the day after Christmas.”

“It is kind of crazy,” David said with a twist of his lips.

“I think my favorite part is how in to the song they all are.”

David’s head fell back a little as he laughed. “They really are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Spot that invested before and we play this song at parties a lot.”

An idea creeped into the back of Combeferre’s mind as he saw Courfeyrac grab Marius and start jumping up and down, Bahorel and Cosette dramatically singing to each other, and Joly, Bossuet, and Musichetta huddled around Joly’s cane as if it were a microphone. Even Enjolras had been pulled in, with his arms slung over Feuilly and Katherine’s shoulders as they swayed.

“Do you know whose phone is playing this?” He turned to David quickly.

“Probably Mush. He has a tendency to dj.”

“Do you think we could steal his phone and queue up some songs of our own?”

“Seeing as he’s trapped under Blink right now and I can see his phone on the table from here I’d say so.”

Combeferre glanced to where David had nodded. Blink was indeed sitting on Mush’s lap and had his arms wrapped around the other boy, giving the impression that Mush was truly trapped. Not that he looked like he minded.

“Be right back,” David said. He slipped around the edges of the patio, coming up behind Mush and Blink and swiping the phone off the table before retracing his route to come stand next to Combeferre again. He tapped at the phone and after a couple tries got it unlocked. “It’s Blink’s birthday. They’re cute if gross,” he supplied at Combeferre’s raised brow. “So, what did you have in mind?”

Combeferre passed David his own phone, a playlist called “White People Get Turnt” already pulled up. David laughed at the name but typed it in to Mush’s spotify search bar and found it on the first try. As soon as Bohemian Rhapsody’s final gong began to fade he pressed play and Mr. Brightside started up, to everyone’s excitement.

“So maybe most of us aren’t white, it’s still the best party playlist we’ve found,” Combeferre said with a shrug as their friends began to scream along to the lyrics. Combeferre raised his phone, zooming in slightly so that it was clear who was who in the video as he started recording.

“Really?” David whispered when he noticed.

“You have no idea how rare Enjolras acting like this is. It’s for posterity.”

David just snorted. They shared a wicked smile before going back to watching their friends make absolute fools of themselves.

#les mis #newsies #writing #own writing #my fic #les miserables #les amis

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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WandaVision: Behind the Scenes Of Marvel’s First Sitcom With Kathryn Hahn

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After a year away due to the pandemic, Marvel Studios is finally kicking off Phase 4 of its ongoing, expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe with…a sitcom.

WandaVision, which premieres Friday (Jan. 15) on Disney+, stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as the supernaturally powerful Wanda Maximoff and the equally enhanced synthezoid Vision, with the newly married couple navigating life in suburban Westview, a black and white setting right out of classic half-hour comedies like The Dick van Dyke Show or Bewitched, complete with live audience.

But since Vision was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Wanda was not just traumatized by his death but dusted herself by Thanos (only to return, thirsting for vengeance, at the climax of Avengers: Endgame), we have to wonder: how is Vision alive, why are they here, and what is behind this clearly unreal scenario?

While WandaVision will feature returning Marvel characters like Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) from Ant-Man and the Wasp and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) from the first two Thor films, in addition to its two super-powered stars, the nine-episode show will also feature new personnel, such as archetypal nosy neighbor Agnes, played by Kathryn Hahn with a perpetually cheerful smile and air of smug contentment — with something else lurking under the surface.

While we have no doubt that more will come to light about Agnes — and the rest of the strange goings-on in the town of Westview — in the weeks ahead, Den of Geek had a chance to speak via Zoom with Hahn (also known for voicing Doc Ock in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) about recreating the sitcom vibe, filming the premiere in front of a live audience, what the future holds for the show and more.

Den of Geek: What was the pitch to you about what the show would be and what Agnes would be?

Kathryn Hahn: They brought me into a conference room with Matt Shakman, the amazing director, and Jac Schaeffer, the writer, and Mary Livanos, our amazing producer, and then they walked me through the arc of the series. Being a little bit of an MCU newbie, they had to go through it a couple of times. But I was just so excited by the ambition baked into it. I couldn’t believe that it could be pulled off at that level.

They told me that I would be playing, basically, the sitcom nosy neighbor trope, that would also be following alongside this couple as they hurdle through these different decades of sitcom history. So I knew that I’d be able to play with different kinds of comedy, just culturally, how we would look at comedy, all of it. So I was very, very excited.

Did you have favorite sitcoms when you were growing up?

There’s so many when I was growing up. They’re just baked in there. Golden Girls was a huge one for me, Family Ties was a really big one for me, just that family. What else? Three’s Company. Loved it, for sure. So many. And then before that, Laverne and Shirley. I loved that show.

Did it sink into everybody how pervasive these things were to all of us? Plus profesionally, Matt actually starred in one as a child (Just the Ten of Us), Elizabeth’s sisters starred in Full House…sitcoms are part of everyone’s lives in some ways.

I think they’ve touched all of us, the sitcoms, in some way or another. It’s just something that’s baked into our collective consciousness. Just our first viewing experiences have been through the lens of those sitcoms and hearing that laugh track and the comfort of knowing that it’s going to be resolved in the end. I think that there is something, and all of us had some sort of connection to it, in some way or another. I certainly have had failed multi-camera pilots in my past that I could draw from. But at least I had the experience. It’s baked into all of our consciousnesses, I think.

The first episode was done in front of a live audience. What was it like getting into that headspace?

Well, not only was it shot in front of a live studio audience, but I think the cameras were actual period cameras, the lights were period lights. I think (everyone) had period clothing on. So the whole thing felt very much — we just were able to play pretend for a couple days that we were actually in that era. We rehearsed it like a play. That kind of comedy, to look as relaxed as it appears, takes a great deal of rehearsal ahead of time for a lot of those bits and the timing of the doors and yada yada.

I think comedy wise, we’re a little bit more cynical now. We want to have a wink on everything. I love a little bit of anarchic comedy myself. I love to improvise. And there was something about the earnestness of just having to really step inside a world that wasn’t cynical. It was a very hard tone to find, because it’s so antithetical to how we are comedy wise. That was a real challenge and so fun.

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Upcoming Marvel Movies Release Dates: MCU Phase 4 Schedule, Cast, and Story Details

By Mike Cecchini and 1 other

When Does Marvel’s WandaVision Take Place?

By Mike Cecchini

As comedy has become a bit darker and more cynical over the decades, does that also happen as you go through the eras of the sitcoms in the show? Does it also get reflected in the costuming?

Yeah, for sure. It all evolves.

At the same time, how does the character of Agnes evolve? We’re obviously going to learn some more about her. Is it possible that she may have a counterpart in the Marvel Comics canon that may be revealed to us at some point?

I think that there is definitely more to be revealed for everybody that’s involved, and everything that you’ve seen so far in these first couple of episodes. I can only say that it’s going to be constantly evolving and constantly shifting what you think is around the corner. And it will hopefully continue to surprise you. I know I was surprised when I read it for the first time. But yeah, it constantly shifts whatever you’re thinking is around the corner.

You said you were relatively an MCU newbie. Have you gotten more into it since joining the show?

My kids had to be like, “It’s an Infinity Stone.” So I was pretty new. I’ve been able to be introduced to it through them. But I will say, through even watching the movies, the little domestic heartbeat between Vision and Wanda was always so interesting to me because for a world that is so loud and big and expansive, and the stakes are so high, to have this little domesticity in the middle of it was really, really interesting to me. And then to know that this show is going to be able to burrow down into the two of them and be able to really have the luxury of time to get to know them better was very exciting.

Also, to answer your question, I did do a little bit of Scarlet Witch and Wanda Maximoff comic book reading, and boy, is that a dark story. Holy moly, there’s some darkness there.

Do you think that there could be a future for Agnes in the larger MCU?

Who knows? But I would say that clearly in this world anything is possible. What I’m learning is that the rules are that there really are no rules. So who knows?

How was it working day to day in this universe that Marvel has created?

As a newbie again, I think what I was so surprised by and so excited by was how intimate it really felt for something that was so big. I’m telling you, putting on that show in front of the live studio audience, it felt like it was just this little band of actors with this little group — knowing, of course, that there were hundreds of incredible artisans working so hard on it.

But Matt Shakman, Kevin (Feige, Marvel Studios president) and Mary really created this bubble to make it seem very, very intimate. My hat’s off to Matt for doing that. It’s a real trick that he pulled off, that within this enormous world, he was going to make it feel so personal and so human and so between the people. So for me, it felt very similar to other work that I had done, which I was surprised by. I thought it was going to feel really different.

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

WandaVision premieres Friday, Jan. 15, on Disney+.

The post WandaVision: Behind the Scenes Of Marvel’s First Sitcom With Kathryn Hahn appeared first on Den of Geek.

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deadcactuswalking · 3 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 12/12/2020

For the first time ever after being released in 1994, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” has hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart, like it did on the US Billboard Hot 100 last year and will probably do so this year. This is a really short week full of nothing so that might be the biggest story here, and the song deserves it. It’s a great song and it’s genuinely massive. I wonder how newer songs like Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” will be able to enter themselves into the Christmas canon after Mariah Carey proved that it can be done with modern pop. Well, that’s not for us to find out today, because this is REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

Like I said in the introduction, this is far from a busy week, which almost surprises me. Sure, nothing important was released – except that Shawn Mendes album which flopped remarkably and debuted at #12 on the Albums Chart this week – but I did expect another festive flood of holiday tunes. To my surprise, this didn’t happen or at least not to the extent that I assumed it would. Sure, we still have a lot of Christmas songs replacing newer pop songs that had already been in the charts, ‘tis the season, but this week only had five notable drop-outs from the UK Top 75, and none of those are that notable. I guess “Ain’t it Different” by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy, one of the biggest hip-hop hits of the year, dropping out is a pretty big deal, but otherwise we just have “Diamonds” by Sam Smith, “UFO” by D-Block Europe and Aitch, “Come Over” by Jorja Smith and Popcaan, and I guess “Chingy (It’s Whatever)” by Digga D. All of these songs are recent and might have a rebound after the Christmas season is over, but I do have my concerns about the longevity of these songs, particularly because of how, you know, none of them are actually good. I guess now we could discuss some of our biggest fallers, which are of some quantity considering the season, so I’ll run these off quickly: “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #15, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #18, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa at #20, “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #21 (these last four songs were all in the top 10 last week, by the way), “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa at #22, “Really Love” by KSI featuring Craig David and Digital Farm Animals at #31, “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber continuing to free-fall to #33, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur at #35, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #37, “Mood” by 24kGoldn and iann dior at #38, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #40, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring NAV and Don Toliver at #45, “Dynamite” by BTS at #46, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #52, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #54, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra at #56, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #57, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee at #61, “All You’re Dreaming Of” by Liam Gallagher off the debut at #62 (our biggest fall this week), same goes for “No Time for Tears” by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix at #71 and some long-lasting hits right at the tail end of the chart: “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey at #72, “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion at #73, and “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax at #74. We do have a lot of Christmas gains and returning entries, so before we get to anything non-Christmas, let’s round off those real quick. Returning to the chart are “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia at #69, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Frank Sinatra at #66 and “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby at #63. There are a lot more of our notable gains though: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sam Smith at #65, “Cozy Little Christmas” by Katy Perry at #58, “Love is a Compass” by Griff at #53, “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano at #51, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #49 (the biggest gain and deservedly so), “Santa Baby” by Kylie Minogue at #44, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin at #43, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes at #41, “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber at #36, “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney at #32, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #30, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band featuring the Harlem Community Choir at #29, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams at #28, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #26, “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis at #25, “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea at #17, “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne at #13, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande at #11, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John at #10, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid at #8, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #7 and finally, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at #6. That’s not all of our gains and returning entries though, as we do have some peculiar events outside of the Christmas singles. First of all, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd is up to #39 thanks to a remix with ROSALIA, and secondly, “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI returns to the chart at #23. I have no idea why or how this happened but I want it gone as quickly as possible. Anyway, we have three new arrivals to talk about, none of which are particularly interesting, so let’s get on with those.

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Real Stuff” – Juice WRLD and benny blanco

Produced by Dylan Brady, Jack Karaszewski, Henry Kwapis, Cashmere Cat and benny blanco

The song’s not called “Real Stuff”, but come on, this is a family show. About a year ago, Jarad Higgins, or Juice WRLD, died tragically at age 21 of a substance abuse-related seizure. Naturally, since it’s Juice and his label we’re talking about, they’re still pumping out unreleased content. Two songs of this nature were released around this time, one with Kid LAROI and Kim Petras we’ll probably see next week and even higher on the chart, but first of all, an emo rap anthem produced by benny blanco and Dylan Brady of 100 gecs. I mean, okay, sure, it is 2020 after all. Blanco posted on social media about how this was his first ever recorded song with Juice when they had a studio session before Juice was that recognised, and before he was signed, they cooked up a lot of music. This makes it surprising how it didn’t leak after all this time but it shouldn’t matter. What’s important is the quality of the song and since this is a genuine song from a real-life studio session, it’s not nearly as insincere and cynical as some of the other posthumous projects from Juice. Sadly, I don’t this makes it any good. The clicking, stuttering trap beat doesn’t sound bad with his bumping 808s but doesn’t complement the acoustic guitar strumming or even Juice as much as it should – and this is really early Juice, so it’s not like he’s mastered his style of emo-reminiscent self-loathing and painful, drug-induced relationship ramblings. It’s not even as catchy as Juice would start to be later on, so it is just a primitive version of whatever Juice’s sound would end up being. Sadly, we won’t get more development from the guy other than these cheap releases, and if benny blanco guided Juice more into a lane he’s comfortable with and more importantly, Juice was still alive, this could be an example of something great yet to flourish but since his incomplete discography of disposable output is all we have to evaluate, it makes Juice’s work much more difficult to appreciate, especially posthumously, where every throwaway bar about substance abuse has this haunting, unnerving impact it didn’t have before. Oh, and I really like the first verse, which is just aimless flexing but with more charm than he usually has, and with some promises of extra detail he could have gone into, before of course, it switches onto a different topic, an issue plaguing much of the man’s work. In conclusion, the song is fine but I don’t think I can listen to Juice’s work, complete or incomplete, released when he was alive or scrambled posthumously, without feeling sad or just having this contempt for the yes-men who surrounded him. Rest in peace, Juice.

#67 – “Oh Santa!” – Mariah Carey

Remixed by Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson

Produced by Scott M. Riesett, Marc Shaiman and Daniel Moore II

“Oh Santa!” is an original Christmas tune Mariah Carey wrote and released with Jermaine Dupri in 2010, for her second Christmas album, aptly titled Merry Christmas II You. The song wasn’t a success, and it couldn’t live up to “All I Want for Christmas is You”, which is fine. We don’t need more Mariah Carey songs in the Christmas canon if we already have an absolutely perfect one at the top of the charts, but if she wants to start flooding the market, I guess it’s best to do it with two experts at vocals, because for her little Apple TV Christmas special, she’s bought along Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande for whatever the triple version of a duet is. I assumed this would have been a returning entry because it’s a remix but the original never charted in the UK so I’ll have to talk about both here, and, well, there’s a reason “All I Want for Christmas is You” has never been replicated in terms of success and just sheer quality. I talked about this on my best list but there’s never been a song I feel is so ubiquitous of modern Christmas in the current millennium than “All I Want for Christmas is You”, an outright rejection of festive commercialism in preference of just having her significant other around for the holidays. “Oh Santa!” has a similar presence, but in this one, Mariah Carey’s asking for Santa Claus himself to wrap her crush in wrapping paper and gift it to her for Christmas, with a lot less of the warm intimacy of the classic song and without any of the charm. The 2010 version has this really gross drum machine and a lot of cheerleader-type chanting and clapping that starts off as really ugly – and the chanting still is – but honestly makes a pretty good backing for Mariah sliding over the beat with vocals that may not be as impressive as her best but are just as smooth as they should be over a more coy, low-key festive instrumental. My main issue with it is pace because whilst it is a short song, and she does treat us to some whistle notes and runs by the end, it just fades out and the instrumental doesn’t feel like it goes anywhere, making this song sound slow as all hell. If anything, this remix sounds dated, especially with the more modern vocal production with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, both in a constant struggle with Mariah for getting a word in, to the point where Hudson over-sells her belting and Grande is the only voice recognisable enough here that actually works. Half way in, the song completely devolves into a bridge of aimless runs and “harmonising” from everyone with that ugly chanting, seemingly unchanged from the original. Yeah, this isn’t pretty, and if anything is a remix of an older song that needed a lot more updates to make it work in a 2020 context and fits all of these incredible vocalists in. This could have been great with an original song that was completed to flatter everyone, but there’s too many cooks in the Christmas kitchen here and the cookies being made are being overcooked. Sure, let’s go with that analogy. Next.

#59 – “Daily Duppy – Part 1” – Digga D

Produced by AceBeatz

It’s not uncommon for freestyles to chart in the UK, particularly important British hip-hop tastemaker GRM Daily and their “Daily Duppy” freestyles, which have been the break-out moment for many rappers like Aitch or DIgDat because they reach a level of viral fame and attention that music videos can’t do as well, mostly because of the platform just letting them spit bars over usually decent beats. Digga D was actually opposed to doing one and even sparked some kind of feud with GRM Daily but that dried up soon enough for him to provide them with two “Daily Duppy” freestyles on two different beats but with one cold verse each. Only the first part charted here, as you’d expect, but I’ll cover both. The first part, produced by Ace Beats, has a pretty nice pitch-shifted vocal sample quickly abandoned for the same sample pitched differently, and then it comes back, under a pretty messy drill beat, and whilst Digga D’s riding it really well, I find it hard to be convinced by his delivery here, which is either checked-out or edited so heavily it’s bizarre. I mean, I thought this was a freestyle, right? He can just spit bars over the beat and it’ll be fine, but they add all these stuttering effects, ad-libs and censors that censor pointless words like “juice” but keep actual vulgarities completely intact, as well as censoring some locations but not others. It takes me out of the whole verse, honestly, even if some of it is some pretty slick and nice wordplay, with some funny punchlines and the typical pop culture references you can expect from the more lighthearted of UK drill. I know that people like to make references to their guns in ways that make them even more threatening and eerie, but just like 21 Savage calling his Draco a paedophile, I don’t think Digga D saying that he grooms young ethnic minority boys to sell drugs is “hard” or even enjoyable. I just think it’s pretty awful. I said I’d talk about the second part here, but honestly, it’s a lot less interesting, with a more trap-adjacent beat and boring synths instead of the cool vocal sample. Admittedly, it sounds more like a “freestyle”, but he wastes the moment where the beat cuts out by just rapping filler, and the quarantine references are going to date this, so, yeah, whilst I’m impressed by Digga D’s flow switches here, I’m not a fan of really anything else.

Conclusion

There’s not enough here to give an Honourable or Dishonourable Mention, so I’ll just have to give out the big ones... but everything here is mediocre, so I’m left with not a lot of content at all. I guess Best of the Week can go to the late Juice WRLD and benny blanco for “Real Stuff”, almost purely out of respect, even if the song is just listenable. Worst of the Week was really a toss-up, but I think I’ll give it to “Oh Santa!” by Mariah Carey featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson for being such a waste of talent and potential. Only time will tell what comes next week, but I predict a busy one with Christmas music, Taylor Swift and hopefully Kid Cudi, but we’ll see really. I’m going to hazard a guess that we’ll get at least two songs from Taylor and only the Skepta track from Cudi, but I think we could easily have three from each. Here’s this week’s top 10:

You can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for Imanbek fan-girling and thank you for reading, I’ll see you next week!

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smoltododorki · 6 years

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They never actually say how teams are formed in Lockwood and Co. The main characters are part of a tiny agency with only four agents, so their "team" is just all of them. My guess is teams are put together by the agency administrators. They probably assign people such that each team will have all their bases covered psychic talent wise. Also, most teams have an adult supervisor (usually a former agent) that helps guide the kids. Remember adults can’t actually see, hear or feel ghosts though.

As for Aizawa being a lone wolf ghost hunter as a kid, I don’t think so. I’d like to think he’s too smart to try that. He might have been an “independent agent” though, someone hired by agencies to supplement their teams on tough assignments. At present he’s too old to use any ghost relevant talents, but he’d probably be a great independent trainer/consultant for our favorite youngsters. That or he could be aged down tenish years so his talents are only just beginning to decay

I’m amending Izuku’s backstory a tad. Izuku didn’t actually know he had any psychic talents as he could never see the ghosts even the kids with the weakest psychic talents could. Still psychic talents fascinated him and he would always pester Bakugou (a former night-watch kid and now an agent at the Endeavor agency) about the ghosts he sees/deals with. (Night watch kids are too young to be agents or have weaker talents. They’re hired by business and such to keep an eye out for ghostly activity).

Izuku was going home late on day, courtesy of Bakugou being an ass and bullying him for his curiosity. He knew he should hurry, since the sun was going down and ghosts are out at night, when he heard someone crying. Being Izuku he of course ran towards the crying, instead of continuing on home. He then had the horrifying discovery he could hear the crying from thin air… meaning a ghost he couldn’t actually see. (Plus he could physically feel the ghost’s sadness, like a weight on him).

It hadn’t occurred to Izuku that someone could have the other talents and not have ANY sight (to be fair to him, such a thing has never been recorded). After Toshinori saves his ass he’s confused and mortified but after listening to his explanation of what happened Toshinori is impressed enough by his skills to take him into his agency. (This pisses Bakugou off greatly, of course, but he’ll live).

Anyway, thinking more about the agencies, the Endeavor Agency and the All Might Agency are the top two. The Endeavor Agency was a bit of an upstart agency once upon a time, which Endeavor started thanks to both his ego and his frustration with the way the All Might agency does things. The All Might Agency was THE major agency before Enji started his, and was previously run by Nana Shimura. While it’s still quite renown, it’s declined recently thanks to a rather gruesome bunch of deaths.

Deaths in paranormal investigation agencies are par for the course — They happen in every agency after all, no matter how well trained their agents — but when the All Might agency lost three teams to an unexpectedly nasty haunting things started to go downhill for them. Toshinori, the supervisors and the advisory board all became too cautious, which hurt their ability to effectively take care of incidents in a timely manner. That’s when Enji and his fact acting agency came in snatching up jobs.The research into means of giving adult supervisors more helpful roles (by letting them see ghosts once again via glasses for example) is one way the All Might Agency hopes to boost their abilities while still keeping their agents safe. (The Endeavor Agency has R&D too, but it’s mostly weapon focused. Saltwater pistols, improved magnesium explosives, etc.). This reminds me, our teams need supervisors too (retired agents who are too old to see the ghosts but who help advise/direct the kids). Hmm.

Enji sure as hell wouldn’t be a single team’s supervisor, and Toshi would also be pretty busy heading things. Aizawa would be fun with Shouto’s crew, but I can’t see him working full time for Enji (and I like trainer Aizawa better). Maybe Shouto’s eldest brother? Shame we don’t know his name or anything about him. Whomever it is, Shouto is usually the one actually taking point. Tensei would be a great supervisor for the Tenya, Izuku, Ochako, and Tsuyu team I think.

For the villains’ roles in all this, there were a great many ghost cults around in the Lockwood and Co books, and I can see such things ending up pretty big in Japan as well. All for One would either be one of the rare and elusive Type 3 ghosts himself or like the Lockwood and Co series’ big bad, whom I will say no more about because spoilers. Either way, he has Shigaraki and the gang messing with ghost sources and pulling shit, and it’s probably his fault those All Might agency teams died.

For one small example of the nasty shit you can do with ghosts… sneaking a source into someone’s bedroom during the daytime (without them knowning obviously) and trusting the ghost to cross over and kill them once night falls. (If you pick out a particularly nasty ghost, there might not be much of them left the next day. There was one sort who tended to leave behind “papery husks”). For another example, bring a poltergeist along anywhere and feed it “anger”. You could take out a city block!

Poltergeists are among the most terrifying of ghosts in the Lockwood and Co universe as they don’t actually manifest. Instead they feed off of negative emotions and then use said emotions to pick up and move objects… and by “objects” I mean ALL objects, including knives, appliances, floor tiles, roof supporting pillars, and of course people. Letting one of those feed off your emotions and then planting it on the property of someone you hate would be a very good way to destroy said property.

I won’t specify what exactly happens when one brings several ghost sources together in one place (that would be much too spoilery) but needless to say it spells disaster for pretty much all the local living population. It is for all these reasons Shigaraki and his band are absolutely terrifying in the BNHA/Lockwood and Co. verse. They keep stirring up ghosts and bad things are happening, which the government has no choice but to let children help deal with.Hmm, what’s a suitably horrifying ghost that both the Endeavor and All Might agencies might be called upon simultaneously to deal with… Or maybe it wasn’t that big a case at all, the patron was just terrified enough and wealthy enough to hire both agencies to make extra sure the ghost was taken care of. Changers are nice and nasty. They can take on any form, including things like rat swarms, giant spiders or blood dripping down from the ceiling. (And if they touch you in any form, ghost touch)

They could also meet up supposedly investigating a single haunting, which upon investigation proves itself to actually be a cluster. (A cluster is when several ghosts are attached to the exact same source. As you can imagine, unexpected clusters can prove quite problematic.) Imagine Izuku and Shouto finding the source’s rough location only to end up huddled together in the middle of an iron chain circle while a swarm of ghosts surrounds them. (They can’t use flares due to wooden surroundings.

it’d be interesting if the patron’s paranoia was actually reasonable, so what was thought to be a nuisance (mostly to endeavor’s agency) turns out to be a blessing in disguise. since the members on both teams are pretty amiable for the most part in canon, i like to think they get along really, really well in this au, especially tddk. toshinori would be pleasantly surprised by how well the two teams worked together, and enji would likely be less than pleased, cuz, yknow. consorting with the rivals.

im curious about how these kids are trained in each agency? i can imagine enji using… questionable training methods, and toshinori being pretty tough on his own kids cuz, like you said, the all might agency is super cautious about the kids’ safety and would so be more inclined to up their training in order for them to be better prepared.

#smoltodo answers #lockwood and co au #boku no hero academia

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lady-griffin · 4 years

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Birds of Prey and The Not So Fantabulous Opening Weekend

Birds of Prey did not do well at the Box Office.

I’ve seen some people disagree with that…but it simply didn’t.

$35 Million (Domestic) is not a strong opening for a Superhero Hero movie that cost between $85 – $100 million to make (not including marketing).

It’s Worldwide Total Opening was $81.6 Million, which is also bad.

Birds of Prey is the lowest opening for a DCEU film. It’s about $20 Million below Shazam, which made $53.5 (domestic) its opening weekend.

Not a good sign, since Shazam/Captain Marvel (DC) is not a character known by general moviegoers, while Harley Quinn is an extremely popular character and was made known to many people through Suicide Squad and was one of the most popular things to come out of that movie.

Now, I’m of the personal belief that the first two weekends of movie really tell you whether it flopped or not, as well as the movie’s entire box office earnings.

But it’s not looking great for Birds of Prey.

So, I wanted to talk about some of the reasons why it might’ve suffered over the weekend and also what are the chances of it making a comeback. As well as what the movie will likely have to make to earn its money back.

Title Confusion

Talking to some of my friends and family, I realized that the title did not do BOP any favors.

A few of them didn’t realize Birds of Prey was the a Harley Quinn movie, let alone a Superhero/DC flick. They knew a Harley Quinn movie was coming out, but they hadn’t realize the two were one in the same.

Birds of Prey and Birds of Prey (and The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) are not exactly eye-catching or gripping titles.

I personally, thought Birds of Prey (and The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is not a good title and annoying long.

Which leads it to be shortened to make it easier, which is how people are going refer to the film, and Birds of Prey doesn’t indicate to your casual audience what it is or about.

Especially, when not many people know who the Birds of Prey are, while a known superhero group for comic book fans, it’s not a well-known hero group.

And the studio seems to agree with that, if you go online to look up the film, it’s now Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.

That was not the title on Box Office Mojo on Sunday (Feb 09).

So the studio is definitely trying to fix the title problem.

Personally, for me, I think it would’ve been better if the movie was titled Harley Quinn and The Birds of Prey from the very beginning. For a few reasons, but mainly -

I think that’s more accurate to the actual plot of the movie and the importance of the characters in the film

You know it involves DC and Harley Quinn

And it has a more Girl Vibe to it, to the likes of Josie and The Pussycats

However, I am honestly curious if this title will change anything for the movie, especially with the box office this upcoming weekend or if it’s simply to late.We shall see.

What is this film even about?

Going off my own personal conversations with other people, a lot of people don’t know what this film is really about. Which is think is connected to both the title and trailers.

I was super-interested in the movie and I was actively seeking it out on my own. Looking up fan theories or speculations as well estimates for how the movie will do and I recognized who the character were in the trailer. So, I knew what it was going to be about.

But, if someone is more casual about this kind of movie or movies in general, than I can see where they felt lost or didn’t know all that much.

One of my friends had no idea that Black Canary and Huntress were even in the movie and once she learned that they were in it, her interest increased.

Especially, when I told her that this version of Black Canary and Huntress our second to my favorite from Justice League: Unlimited. Which is where she knows Black Canary and Huntress from.

Suicide Squad PTSD

Or, as two friends put it, the trailers reminded them so much of Suicide Squad that it turned them off from wanting to see this film.

That’s interesting to me and I think provides a unique problem for Birds of Prey in the DCEU, but also something I don’t think some reviewers focus on.

Overall, a telling of a movie’s success is (if it has one) its sequel’s success. Sequels are often expected to do better than the first movie, because they are going off the good will of said film. Now that’s not always the case, but that’s what Hollywood is hoping for.

And while many, many people saw Suicide Squad, its opening weekend being $133.6 million (domestic), a lot of people did not like the movie.

Including myself.

I liked aspects of it – Harley Quinn, Dead Shot, and Amanda Waller and two scenes that I thought were excellent.

People not wanting to see Birds of Prey because it looked too much like Suicide Squad, might seem less like a BOP problem, but I would disagree.

The movie still went with many style choices that are from Suicide Squad or similar enough.

And beyond style, the movie does have Suicide Squad elements. While I thought those aspects were done better, I wonder if that matters enough in the long run.

The Trailer

I personally did not like the trailers. I thought the music choice was not the right pick and made the movie feel like it was going to be slow and low-energy, which is the opposite of what you want for Harley Quinn.

When I think of Harley Quinn, I think of high-energy and I think a movie starring her should be a fast-moving and high-action movie with lots of energy.

One problem, I found with the film was its pacing. Sometimes it was too fast (with jumpy editing reminiscent of Suicide Squad) and other times it seemed liked molasses.

So, I thought the trailer was not the best marketing that could’ve been done for this movie. Especially when I thought a lot of the posters were really good and the music choices in the film were well-matched and worked with the film.

I personally love Joke’s On You By Charlotte Lawrence.

youtube

R-Rating

One of the reasons Birds of Prey struggled was because of the lack of teenagers.

An R-Rating makes it difficult for teenagers to see this movie. And from the “leaving cinema” reviews audiences gave, those under 17 had the most positive reaction to the film.

So, if the demographic that liked this move the most can only see this film with someone over 18, then BOP shot itself in the foot.

Not only does the rating make it more difficult for them to see the movie in the first place, but also multiple times. Especially with theatres being stricter with R-ratings from what I’ve heard.

This movie did not need to be R as it didn’t really use its R-Rating to the fullest extent. I even wondered what the point of the R-Rating was when I was watching.

Honestly, some edits and it could’ve easily been PG-13 and that would’ve opened it up to a larger audience.

One of my favorite parts of the movie, was the Police Raid Scene, where Harley uses non-lethal (movie-wise) force. And while that makes Harley more appealing to audiences (not killing people) it also feels odd and kind of makes the R-Rating pointless.

That was a major problem. Especially in comparison to the Joker, which I though utilized its R-Rating fully.

Also, DC clearly was trying to have Harley Quinn be their Deadpool. Which could work in theory, but they didn’t really commit to it and honestly it didn’t work out as well as I thought it coud’ve. At least with the execution.

So, maybe the R-Rating was not the best choice for this film and maybe it should’ve gone with the safer PG-13.

Theatre Rewatchability

How many people went to see this movie two or three times over this past weekend?

I’m going to hazard a guess and say not many, if any at all. And that is an interesting point in the huge box office success of big blockbuster movies.

How much of their monetary success is due to moviegoers seeing a movie just once vs. seeing it 2-3 (or even more) times?

Now to be fair, I wonder what the demographic of moviegoers who go to multiple viewings. I’m assuming male, 20s-30s. But honestly, I have no idea and I could be completely wrong, since I don’t do that.

Seeing movie multiple times in a theater is not something I personally get. There are very few movies where I’ve actively wanted to see it for a second time in the theatre, let alone actually went to see it a second time.

I can remember 6 movies in which that was the case - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Aladdin (2019), Avengers: Infinity War, Wonder Woman, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers.

So, while I am actually likely to see this movie again (with my dad in like two weeks), I can’t say over the weekend I desperately needed or wanted to go see it again. And I liked the film and had a good time.

Of course, that should be taken with a grain of salt, since again I’m not the type of person who does that.

I have to wonder, if the people who go to see (blockbuster) movies multiple times (especially on opening weekend) were simply satisfied with seeing this movie only once or simply didn’t like it or didn’t see it at all.

Alienating Comic Book Fans?

I don’t know how true this is and as a comic book fan, I went to see the movie and I enjoyed it.

But I have seen a few people say they aren’t planning to see it (at least not in theatres) as they are tired of the oversaturation of Harley Quinn in everything, don’t like that Cassandra Cain is there in name only (which did annoy me), and that while being Birds of Prey there is no Oracle/Batgirl who is a main member of said team.

And I say I don’t know how true this or even accurate, but Birds of Prey didn’t do itself any favors by not appealing enough to a mainstream audience nor its niche audience who know and love the material it’s based on.

Oscars

While the actual Oscars likely did not take away any audiences from BOP, as the Oscars aren’t exactly a huge audience magnet itself.

I think a lot of people (or enough) went to see an Oscar nominated film this past weekend over BOP.

My theatre was showing Oscar-nominated movies and had two theatres dedicated to an ‘Oscar marathon’ for both long and short nominated features.

In this past weekend’s Box Office results (Feb 07-09) , 1917 was 3rd, Little Women was 8th, Parasite was 11th and Jojo Rabbit was 12th.

And Marriage Story, The Irishmen, and The Story of Two Popes are all available on Netflix.

So, I wonder how many people went to see an Oscar Nominated film before the Oscars and decided to see BOP another day or weekend.

Man Hating...depending on who you ask.

This is probably longer than it needed to be, but I wanted to talk about. So feel free to skip to the Conclusion.

I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with this and be angry I suggested it, but a lot of people, both men and women thought this movie was hating on men and did not like that.

And according to the opening night or weekend demographics the breakdown of the audience was actually 55% Men and 45% women. So it’s not like men refused to see the movie, some probably did, but apparently so did some women.

Honestly that’s not a bad split of male and female demographics, but the movie was probably hoping for a larger female turnout, if not a larger turnout all together.

While I’ve seen several men dislike the movie for its lack of sexiness (and the hating on men) a lot of those men still went to see it. So, whether or not they hated it, their ticket still counts.

But a negative opinion on any movie can turn away who knows how many future audience members.

Now my impression of the movie was not so much Men=Evil and Women=Good, but more of the idea that this movie and its characters are dealing with the underbelly of Gotham City and the less than upstanding citizens.

Thay being said, I am only one ticket.

And when I thought about it, there are really only 3-4 male characters who weren’t straight up sexist or evil (which is a low bar) and all of them were extremely minor roles.

Spoilers Below

Male Assassin/Goon, who saw Helena was alive and saved her

A non-speaking minor role and to my knowledge he didn’t have a name, so not exactly a great representation of a good man.

The assassin thing is just neutral, given all the other characters.

Guy at Roman’s club, who was force to undress his friend/girlfriend out of fear of dying

You get why he had to do it, but he still did it. So again not great.

And once I thought about it, I feel like this scene could’ve easily been done differently. The guy could’ve refused and Zsasz could’ve beaten him or kill him and the main point of the scene is still there, that Roman is unstable and very, very dangerous.

Doc, the man who knows everyone in the criminal world and sold out Harley for money

Here is where things get interesting. I honestly didn’t think he was a bad guy.

I got why he did it. It made sense to me and I think he made the right decision there. And Harley Quinn, basically did the same thing to Cassandra, so at the very least he’s no better then Quinn.

So, while I saw the Doc example as criminals being criminals. Many other people, saw this as another example of men being shitty. And even though I’m aligning him with the ‘good men’ of the film, that kind of proves people’s point of there being no good men in this film.

Finaly, The Police Captain and Montoya’s former partner - Captain Patrick Erickson. I had to look his name up, so that’s not good.

Here is where I think you honestly get the narrative of the film being against men and unfairly so.

We don’t see him do anything in the actual movie that is that bad or even sexist (or at least I can’t recall it).

So while none his choices or actions in the film were bad, the narrative and the tone of his scenes (especially since their from the perspective of Montoya) he’s clearly meant to be seen as a ‘bad guy’ or at least an antagonist.

We are literally told he took the credit for Montoya’s big case in a voiceover by Harley Quinn. And that’s it.

A dick move to be sure, but again, nothing he does in the actual movie really shows him being a dick.

So, for me it felt like his character got the short end and unfairly so by the movie. Especially since that voice over primes the audience to see him as an antagonist, despite what he does in his actual scenes.

So, thinking about that, I am liking it less and less. And feel like the movie could’ve made some simply changes.

And while not my take away, I did consider this opinion after seeing it more than once. And I think that argument does have had a leg or two to stand on, especially when I consider how the movie handled the Police Captain Character.

However, for me I never really felt like this movie hated men, because while a villain and a complete psychopath who was sexist, I absolutely loved Ewan McGregor’s Black Mask.

I thought he was such a fantastic and engaging villain and I absolutely loved his scenes and was hooked everytime he was on screen.

Far from a good guy to be sure, but to me that didn’t matter so much, because he was such a fantastic character. And he was such a fun and gleefully evil character to watch.

For me, having a male character that’s was so goddamn fun and enjoyable mattered far more than whether or not he was good or bad, morality speaking.

Unfortunately, the movie wasted his character at the end.

So, whether or not you agree or disagree that this move hates men.

I would say that having at least one male character who wasn’t a bad guy or at the very least as good as the main characters would’ve helped the movie, given how it’s done so far.

If the movie had done amazing or met expectation, I would say you might have a different argument.

Conclusion

There could’ve been many reasons why BOP did less than great at the Box Office (to put it nicely). Some of the reasons could’ve been the main reason or not the reason at all, but most likely it’s a combination of several different factors.

However, if it has a good hold this upcoming weekend, then well the narrative of BOP’s success will change.

And that doesn’t seem impossible for it.

Despite some vocal negativity and it not being everyone’s favorite, Birds of Prey overall got a postive reaction from a lot of the people who saw it. It has done well with audiences and critics and while not a guarantee of anything, that’s something.

6.7 out of 10 on IMDB.

83% and now 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

B+ Cinema Score.

Google says 83% of its users like it.

Google Audience’s score is 3.7 out of 5.

60% on Metacritic

So while not the most amazing reviews of all time, they are not overtly bad and even some of them are decently strong.

The real questions is BOP capable of expanding on the moviegoers who liked and saw it.

BOP needs a good hold this upcoming weekend in its box-office numbers.

Basically movies that drop 60% or higher from their opening weekend to their second weekend, show that said movies are not going to do well (box office wise) and that they have no legs to continue on (not likely to make a lot of money in theatres).

They simply didn’t have a good hold.

Blockbusters are a bit of a different story, as most have a drop rate of 60% or higher, but that’s because so many people went to see it the opening weekend (they’re front-loaded films).

Also, if your movie made 100+ million (domestically) it’s first weekend, well your movie is likely going to be just fine. Actually, that depends on how much the movie cost to make and what were the expectations for it, but you get my point.

Birds of Prey did not have a Blockbuster opening, so a drop of 60% or higher would be awful for it and the movie will truly be dead in the water.

Second Weekend Total: $13 mil or less would be bad to very bad (60% drop)

Less than 59% is (technically) okay to even good.

Second Weekend Total: $15 million (55% drop) not great, but certainly better than awful. And I think people could spin this to being good or bad result.

Less than 50% is very good.

Second Weekend Total: Around 18.5 million (45%) would be very good.

Less than 40% pretty darn great and an excellent hold.

Second Weekend total: Around $21 mil (35%) would honestly be so good for this movie, I don’t know how likely that is to be honest.

Birds of Prey’s hold for its second weekend, could easily make or break this movie.

Of course, while the first two weekends of a movie are important, a movie’s final box office total matters just as much, if not more.

BOP cost $85-100 mil (not including marketing). So to find out what the movie would have to make to earn it’s money back for the studio. We are going to do a bit of movie math.

I am going to say the budget cost $100 Mil (to be on the safe side) and since marketing budgets are not public information, we need to guess that element.

To figure the marketing budget we just need to cut the production budget in half to make a safe assumption for the marketing budget (a good rule to follow for any film).

Birds of Prey cost $150 Million to make. ($100 Production + $50 Marketing)

It would have to make $300 million to make its money back. I say $300 not $150, because theatres get half of that money. So even if it make $150 Million, the studio is only seeing half of that.

That’s the simple version of that, as technically there are more complications to consider, but were not going into that.

Whether or not the second weekend is a good hold or not, if Birds of Prey makes $300 million in its box office, it has made its money back and was not a loss for the studio.

That doesn’t mean it’s a success, but salvaged its theatrical run.

Now of course, just because a movie doesn’t do well at the Box Office doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie.

That’s always important to remember. Especially, if you liked the film.

And while the Box Office is a very good indicator of a film’s success and its future (sequels and franchise), there is also the factor of the Ancillary market (non-theatrical markets for feature films) this includes streaming, renting, television, airlines/hotels and so on.

So, a movie like BOP if it does badly Box Office wise can always find a second life in the ancillary market world.

And the sad truth is that Female-Centric movies do have a harder road to go down. If a male-centric movie does badly, no one’s take away is going to be that movies heavily featuring men are box office poison.

And yet, unfairly so, that can easily become the take away for this movie. There is simply more pressure when a female-centric film does badly.

And I think female-centric movies that are just okay, don’t invite in a lot of success either. Female driven movies simply have to be more than just okay and while that’s not fair, it’s true.

And there are going to be men (and probably some women) who don’t want to see a movie because they think it is too female focus or too feminist and that can always hurt a movie.

But the good news is while some of those people have loud voices, they are rarely the majority of people.

I think I’ve lost my point.

Basically, BOP did not do well in its opening debut and there could be many reasons behind that, but there is always a chance it can salvage itself (if not do very well) in its second weekend as well as in its overall run in theatres and out of theatres.

#Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey #Birds of Prey #BOP #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #Harley Quinn #Harley Quinn Movie #Box office

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