#continually baffled by people who paint him out to be the exact same type of impulsive aggro idiot as Hawk
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@allvalley100
Prompt: Nice
Friendships: Miguel & Eli, Miguel & Demetri, Miguel & Demetri & Sam & Robby
This is a 6-parter--600 words total! Shockingly no prominent ships in this one (aside from some implied Samiguel).
Hey, y'all remember when Miguel admitted to Hawk that he'd cheated on Tory and Hawk immediately answered with "NICE!!!"??? Because I sure do -_____-
Anyways back in S2 Miguel was so CLEARLY not a fan of Hawk's increasingly douchey behavior, but I always got the feeling he swept a lot of it under the rug for the sake of their friendship. But had Tory not started the school fight, I got the impression things were leading up to a confrontation between them where Miguel really chews him out about being a dick to Demetri and being like. Gross and sexist in general. So these are some things I wrote for a "No School Fight" AU where that's exactly what happens!
***
“What’s your problem? Are you really that upset you kissed Sa—”
“What’s your problem?” Miguel is finally awake enough for his temper to flare up. “You congratulated me for cheating on my girlfriend! What’s wrong with you?!”
Hawk scoffs. “You land all the bitches now. You should be proud.”
“I don’t want to ‘land all the bitches.’” Miguel groans, face in his hands. “You know shit like that is the reason Miyagi-Do thinks we’re all douchebags, right?”
“Good! They should be scared of us!”
“Oh, get over yourself, Hawk. The only one taking this karate war seriously is you.”
***
“We can’t sit there!”
Hawk grabs Miguel as he starts toward where Demetri’s eating alone.
Miguel frowns. “Why?”
Hawk’s nostrils flare, like he’s considering a rant.
“Demetri joined the enemy!” is all that comes out.
Miguel rolls his eyes. “You need to stop buying into Sensei Kreese’s every word. You don’t want to get yanked around by him like Sensei Lawrence did.”
“Just because you’ve gone soft—”
“This is ridiculous.” Miguel’s had enough. “You can come or not, but I’m going to sit with our friend.”
“He’s not my—”
Miguel’s halfway across the cafeteria before Hawk can finish.
***
“Hey.”
Demetri starts when Miguel puts his lunch tray down. He turns, worry morphing into pleasant surprise.
“Not with the Cobras?”
“You’re my friend, too.”
Demetri’s expression softens.
“Thanks for returning the medal. Sam told me.”
“No problem. Sorry Hawk’s been an asshole.”
“Is he...”
Demetri glances across the cafeteria.
“Not coming. Too busy sulking about me sitting with a Miyagi-Do.”
“Okay, well, there’s something you should know—”
That’s when Sam and Robby show up. Miguel realizes he’s made a terrible mistake.
“What’s he doing here?” Robby demands.
“Miguel isn’t like the others!” Demetri raises his hands. “He’s nice!”
***
With Sam and Demetri chatting away, off in their own world, Miguel wonders if Hawk’s megadouche rants would be preferable to Robby Keene’s stony silence.
“So.” Miguel can’t stand this any longer. “Do you have Mr. Henderson for Algebra II?”
“Yeah. Seems like a hardass.”
“Had him 3rd period. Dickwad already gave us homework.”
“Hoping I can transfer to precalc.” Robby chuckles awkwardly. “Demetri tutored me a bit this summer. I got an 85% on the pre-exam.”
Miguel’s admittedly impressed. “Nice.”
Strange. After the summer’s drama, this kind of mundanity’s almost comforting.
Still, Miguel wishes his hand was in Sam’s.
***
Miguel hardly expects an SOS text from Robby Keene, but he doesn’t refuse. When he hears Sam and Demetri are in trouble, he comes running.
The Miyagi-Dos were jumped after school—Tory, Hawk, the rest of Cobra Kai. Miguel’s too late to stop the worst of Tory’s attack, but he turns the tide.
Kreese is pissed at him for opposing his teammates. Sensei’s pissed because Kreese is. Miguel will live.
He dumps Tory. He’s always given her the benefit of the doubt, but...
Seeing her looming over Sam, murder in her eyes, Miguel wonders if he was being too nice.
***
“You’ve got nerve, throwing your lot in with them.”
Miguel sighs, more tired than angry. “You’re lucky the Miyagi-Dos didn’t press charges. Sam and Robby wanted to, but Demetri begged them not to. Said you ‘weren’t yourself.’”
Hawk sneers. “And what are you, Demetri’s bitch?”
“He’s worried about you, Hawk. I am, too. You’re being an asshole, and I know that’s not you—”
“Fuck you. Maybe your bleeding-hearted ass is too nice, huh?”
Hawk shoves his way into a crowd, disappearing.
Got our work cut out for us, Miguel texts Demetri.
Keep trying, Demetri immediately responds. He’ll come around.
#allvalley100#miguel diaz#eli moskowitz#hawk#demetri alexopoulos#demetri cobra kai#robby keene#sam larusso#samantha larusso#tory nichols#cobra kai#cobra kai season 2#cobra kai season 3#continue to love how much Miguel Diaz absolutely did not give a metric shit about the Karate Wars in S2#like he was like “hey this is stupid and Kreese is a psycho” in all of 5 minutes#he's probably one of the most mature characters in the show tbh#he gets caught up in his Johnny idolization sometimes but the kid has SUCH a good head on his shoulders#continually baffled by people who paint him out to be the exact same type of impulsive aggro idiot as Hawk#I love my stupid bird boy but Miguel has infinitely more common sense tbh#speaking of though#I kinda love the idea of Miguel just bailing on douchebag S2 Hawk to hang out with Demetri Sam and Robby ngl#like lmao get fucked asshole#talk shit get hit (emotionally)#fwiw I think the endgame of this AU would be Sam and Miguel rekindling a friendship via Demetri#and then Sam and Miguel eventually dumping Tory and Robby to get back together lmao#Idk if Eli would end up being as much of a menace but his two besties would both bail before he got the chance so#get rekt bird boy maybe take a chill pill#also enamored with the idea of Miguel refusing to call Kreese Sensei Kreese solely out of spite#literally so valid of him#oops realized too late I forgot to include Chris and Nate at the MD table
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Hi okay so I was hoping you could do a headcanon where Fred has a crush( or is dating) a hufflepuff ( or just a really sweet and caring person) and honestly just so much fluff
I gotchu
Fred with a hufflepuff reader
Warnings: Gets deep as hell my dudes
Note: Set in non voldy au
You were this little spark of a person
You were so sweet and outgoing that even Draco didn't hate your ass
Oh you were sarcastic as hell
But you were adorably sweet
Even the portraits knew you by your first name and they loved seeing you
However you never really interacted with people until they interacted with you
So Fred and George had only heard of you
But they never actually talked to you
Well actually, George had talked to you numerous amounts of times
See he actually reads
So he goes to the library for more than a nap (Fred, that definitely was directed at you)
So when you’re there George does talk to you.
When George does talk to you his internal thoughts are “Oh. Oh Fred would love her.”
So he constantly brings him up to you.
Finally one day Fred had enough of listening to George say “Dude, I’ve met your best friend” and he walked over to the Hufflepuff table and asked who the hell you were.
You rose your hand and then pointed.
“You must be Fred!” You said.
Fred nodded. “So you’re the girl everyone seems to know.” He said, sitting next to you.
“Indeed. George talks about you all the time.” You said.
“When do you and George talk?” Fred asked.
“We see each other in the library alot, plus we have potions together.” You admitted.
“Oh--” “Y/n, Draco’s done it again.” A girl whined. “Another fight? You’ve got to be fucking joking.” You sighed before getting up.
Fred out of curiosity followed you and saw students fighting.
Cedric and Draco to be exact.
“I swear to God I’m going to beat your ass Malfoy--”
“Both of you, stop” You said standing between them.
“Move out the way--” “Not until you give me a reason to let this continue.” You said calmly.
“He called a fucking first year by a slur again!” Cedric said.
You turned to Draco who was glaring at him
“Draco. Side bar.” you said
You basically used psychology with Draco asking if it was “Internalized anger being used on others to get a result he wanted because he couldn’t do that himself” and Draco ended up having a mental breakdown because it got deep
Fred gaped and George walked over.
“She use psychology again?” George asked.
“Yeah and it worked?” Fred said confused.
“Wait did you just say AGAIN!?”
So funny thing.
This is a regular thing to do with you
You knew people, you knew how to talk to them and you saw how their mind worked
There were very few people you didn’t understand but you were almost like a little psychologist in the making as you talked people through their emotions in a healthy way.
If we’re being 100% honest here, you were the closest thing to a guidance councilor for students.
You understood people, you could understand their actions
Fred began to notice you more, you were always with other students when he did, talking them through things.
Then he caught wind of some strange bonding sleep over thing happening.
He went to it just to figure out what the fuck it was
and it was really strange what you were doing
It was like a group therapy session with cookies and games.
“Fred? What brings you here?” you asked.
“Wanted to know what was going on... And this is weird. Helpful clearly. But weird.” Fred said.
“Mmm. Makes people closer and limits the real fighting amongst the students. Why do you think Draco’s here?” You asked.
“Does Sprout know about this?” Fred asked.
“She made the cookies and cocoa.” You said.
“ARE THE HOUSE ELVES IN ON THIS TOO!?” Fred gaped.
“And the portraits.” You nodded.
“What the fuck?”
So he sat through this and my god it got DEEP
Neville admitted that sometimes he felt alone and often pondered what would happen if he just disappeared
Harry (Yes he also came to this shindig) admitted that he honestly hated being recognized easily for accomplishments and honestly doesn’t like that people see him as just that
Draco added onto that saying he honest to God hated it when people said his last name rather than his first because it makes him feel like he’s constantly living in his father’s shadow
House elves were listening and making notes of the students who might need the extra support while occasionally chiming in with their own personal issues
Then it got to Fred and he just sat there baffled by the vulnerability of everyone else spewing their darkest secrets.
“Fred? Want to say anything?” You asked
“Not... Particularly?” He said.
You nodded and talked people through things, validating all of them and making them feel safe
Lot of crying
A LOT of crying
“Y/n... Do you want to say anything?” Draco asked.
You shook your head. “Nope I’m good. My life is good.” You shrugged.
“Everyone has their problems no matter how big or small.” Neville quoted.
“Using my own words against me. Dick.” You teased making him smile.
You sighed though and finally spoke
“I feel the constant need to fix other people’s problems because I don’t want people to have to feel the same existential dread I do.” You admitted making Fred gape
“Wow... Y/n, are you okay?” Harry asked.
“Yeah I’m okay. I just get depressed sometimes. It takes a lot of energy carrying some of the things that I do.” You admitted.
“We’re all here for you... It’s literally the least you could so after helping us.” Neville said.
You smiled and looked at the students who nodded and agreed.
“Thanks guys.” You said.
“I feel like we need to do something to cheer us up or something.” Hermione said.
You looked over. “Hermione when did you come in?” you asked
“Like thirty minutes ago after Luna got finished.” Hermione admitted.
“Have anything you need to talk about?” “Nope I’m good.” She said giving you a thumbs up.
“Mmm. Fred, you’re the master at cheering people up, what should we do?” You asked.
He rose a brow. “Uhm... Well shit uhhhh.” He paused for a moment thinking
“Stress bake?” A student suggested.
“We did that last time” Another student said
“Ooh we could prank Filch’s office.” Someone said
Fred looked over at them
“Mm... How many of us have any problems with Filch?” You asked.
Nearly all hands went up.
“Yeesh.” You winced.
“The only other teacher we don’t like is friggin’ Gilderoy.”
“That’s Quirrell’s substitute right?”
“Yeah he’s an ass.” Harry snorted.
“Yeah, he’s a narcissist.” You agreed.
“Oh I have an idea!” Fred gasped.
“Hmm?” You asked.
“Who wants to help me sneak hair dye into Gilderoy’s shampoo?” Fred asked.
“I’m down.” You nodded.
“Good luck!” Luna said as both of you left
You grabbed hair dye from a chest in the Gryffindor common room
You ended up dying Lockhart’s hair blue because according to Fred he needed some “Ravenclaw pride”
You two were walking while Filch was on the other side of campus and talked
“So how often do you have these sleepovers?” Fred asked.
“Every Thursday night.” You said
“Wow.” Fred said.
“What?” you asked.
“Does it usually get that deep?” Fred asked.
“Oh yeah. But it helps because the house elves get to see who need extra support y’know. Like who needs cookies after exams, or who needs to hear ‘You’ve done a good job this week’” You said
“Smart.” Fred nodded.
“Y’know Ron and George have come to this before.” You said
“Really?” Fred asked.
“Both of them said you always know how to make people smile.” You said with a smile
“Huh.” Fred nodded mindlessly
“They also said you could be a pain in the ass at times.” You added before walking into the common room.
“Did you do it?” Draco asked
“The trap has been set. Who wants to paint shit?” you asked
“Yes please!”
So you all ended up painting and laughing with each other
Fred was beginning to understand why you were so loved by everyone
You all had fun that night and Fred was slowly beginning to actually like you
like... Like like you
Fred would smile and laugh with you when you sat with the Gryffindors
He was now going to the library
He told you not to tell anyone he was there because “it would ruin my reputation”
You would smile and laugh at that comment
He did come to the Thursday meetings and usually acted as the comedy relief for the night
btw your prank on Lockhart worked
He screamed like a little girl
P R I C E L E S S
even Snape almost laughed at seeing that fucker walk around with blue hair.
Fred loved seeing that smile, hearing you laugh or hell watching you breathe was mesmerizing to him
You loved seeing him interact with the students and actually act as another therapist type person in the group
If someone in the group had continuous harassment from another student and talking to that student didn’t help, Fred would prank their ass
When you went to Hogsmeade it was a blast
You and Fred seemed to get closer and George was realizing “Oh... Oh they totally like each other”
You met Harry’s Mother who was there for something: LILY LOVES YOU.
SHE THINKS YOU ARE THE PERFECT CHILD
She asked you to look out for Harry because he does look up to you and you nearly cried that you became that good of a role model.
So you got cold at one point and of course Fred bundled you up in his scarf
He wrapped it around you himself and smiled at you
Your heart did a thing and you were like “Oh. Oh fuck I like this guy”
So you started acting a little weird around him
Ten times more jumpier that’s for sure
He said hi behind you in your ear once and you literally threw your book and it hit George
You nearly fell in the lake because he flirted with you
You almost smacked Snape by accident after Fred implied you were gorgeous
During one of the Thursday meetings one of the others noticed you acting odd when Fred sat close to you.
“Y/n, are you okay?” Draco asked
“Yeah! I’m good, everything is alright here!” You squeaked out
Fred rose a brow and noticed you were bright red.
“Y/n, are you sure you look like you’re losing air or something.” Fred asked.
“I’m okay--”
Fred felt your forehead and noticed the redness get worse and it dawned on him what was going on
“Oh my God, YOU LIKE FRED!” Ron gasped
“Wha-- N-nooooo” You lied
“So you don’t?” Fred asked
“No I do-- Wait fuck!” you whined as you became a blushing mess
“I ship it” Cedric coughed out making Neville snort
“Shit shit shit shit shit-- this was not supposed to happen this way” You whined.
“Can we talk alone?” Fred asked.
“Oh God.” You whined as he helped you up.
You two went to the kitchens because you didn’t want Filch to find you.
“If you’re going to reject me please just say it now so I can promptly toss myself into the OVEN AND BURN” You begged
“I’m not rejecting you Princess.” He assured
“What?” “I’m saying I like you too.”
You gaped at him and pulled a stool to you before sitting.
“Are you good?” Fred asked.
“Holy. Shit.” You gaped.
“So... Do you want to date--” “Yes.” You nodded enthusiastically
Fred chuckled and you blushed looking away before Fred extended his hand to you.
“Shall we?” He asked.
You took his hand and he pressed a kiss to your hand making you nearly die
“By the way I am totally kissing you later, just so you know.” Fred added
You guys came back and the whole group was watching you two.
“Well?” Harry asked
Fred said nothing, pulling you to him and kissing you making the whole group go insane
You were a stuttering mess for the rest of the night
Fred was never seen away from you outside of his classes
He was always there with you, smiling and whispering sweet little things in your ear.
You would smile and kiss his cheek, telling him that you were so glad he chose you
You totally stayed with him during the summer
Molly loved you
fourth year started
Remus was now having to be a substitute for Quirrell because his dumbass got sick again
Remus FUCKING LOVED YOU
You were so smart and so kind it was awesome as hell
You were lowkey his favorite student though
you all had more people coming to you on Thursdays and it began to get kind of crowded
You went to Mcgonagall like “Can we just make this an official club or something that uses the Great hall at night”
To your surprise it went through and now on Thursday nights you slept in the Great Hall
You all would have a blast and plus you and Fred were ICONIC
You two were like the mom and dad of the group
Let someone talk shit
Let them
Fred would fuck their world up REAL QUICK if they didn’t listen to you
Now that Harry was able to go to Hogsmeade you got to meet his family when they met up with him
Lily was excited to see you again
Sirius LOVED you and Fred, Peter thought you were literally the greatest human who lived and James LOVED YOU TO PIECES
You absolutely loved them and actually spent Christmas with them
The meetings got super fun at times
Deep
but fun
You absolutely adored everyone in the group and Dumbledore did notice a drop in students fighting both verbally and physically
Remus sometimes supervised the meetings and noticed you always listened to the problems
Occasionally you’d ask Remus if he had anything he needed to talk about
He always said no
You slowly began to put together that he was a werewolf though
it became crystal clear after he had to intervene during the boggarts lesson and you saw his boggart
You waited till it was just you and him and you asked how he was feeling
He realized you knew and you assured him that you wouldn’t say anything
He admitted a lot to you to be honest
He told you how he was attacked as a child and he told you he was always terrified he’d hurt someone he loved
You became determined to help him or any student that might need it and uhm
Became an Animagus
Mcgonagall registered you don’t worry
You could turn into a dog btw, you were like Sirius except your fur was white
Fred was surprised that his girlfriend was this wizarding BADASS
You literally became known as the “white wolf” and it was kind of epic
You actually did help Remus out occasionally
You were kind of sad when Remus left but you and Fred ended up staying with the Potters for the summer
Remus was so excited to see his favorite person
Fun fact: because you could turn into a wolf the Marauders called you “Pup” and it was adorable
Fred loved seeing you geek out over books with Remus
In his head he just knew already you were the one
The triwizard tournament went down with Cedric being the champion for Hogwarts
Cedric admitted to the group that he was TERRIFIED of this competition so you were all cheering him on
The other school did have a couple of students who checked out the group
The Durmstrang students were not a fan of emotions so not many of them stayed
The Beauxbatons however had a ton of students who did stay
That’s when the group discovered Fred also spoke French?
According to Fred “There was a book, I was truly bored because Y/n wasn’t out of class yet and I wanted to know the hype over books”
To which Draco gaped and asked “So you learned FRENCH!?”
You teased him and said “Well shit, and you do that while I’m gone for like an hour, I wonder what would happen if I left you for a week”
he pulled you into his arms and said “DON’T YOU DARE”
You got really close to Fleur and Gabrielle especially though
You taught them how to speak better English and they taught you French
That fucking dance class came around and the group quickly discovered: YOU CANNOT DANCE
“It is not my fault my chicken legs have like zero coordination” you whined against Fred
“Wellllll technically--” “Shut it.”
Fred of course asked you to go to the Yule and your response was “Babe, I’m dating you, it’s implied that I was going with you but I appreciate the conformation”
You came downstairs that night and HOLY FUCK
Fred nearly dropped at the sight of you
He actually almost cried actually
You kissed him and told him he looked handsome
He was whispering adorable compliments all night to you
George and you danced at one point and he told you “Y’know, you and Fred might not be married but you are definitely like a sister to me”
You almost cried
Fred gave you a promise ring later when you were alone and you nearly broke down crying because you truly loved this boy
You two being inseparable after that
Cedric was fREAKING OUT later because of the last trial
you calming him down
You watching it with the last group
“Honestly this whole competition has just been the audience waiting except for the dragons... It’s quite boring.” Draco yawned
I mean... He wasn’t wrong
Cedric won
You were so happy for him and he was super hyped that he won
But he did something strange
He gave the money to Fred and George
“Cedric we can’t take this--” “I owe it to you guys, please just take the God damn check before I go all Hufflepuff on your ass”
You and Fred going to the Burrow for the summer and having the best time
You meeting Bill and him telling Fred “She’s the one for you man”
Charlie also meeting you and saying the exact same thing
Fred sitting down and talking to his parents saying “Look. After graduation I’m proposing to Y/n, any objections?”
Arthur and Molly being COMPLETELY ON BOARD
Going to school and having a good last year
The group having dance parties occasionally to get the feelings out
You did do a strangely cathartic exercise with them of taking cheap plates, writing your darkest secrets on them and then LAUNCHING IT AT THE WALLS
Everyone being kind of sad because you and Fred were leaving after this year and they weren’t ready for you to go
Placing Neville and Luna as the next two to take over the group after you two graduated
Molly mailing you Christmas sweaters before you came for the Christmas break
You waking up on Christmas morning and sitting in front of the fireplace with Fred while he had his arm around you
Dancing in the snow with him just because you feel like it
Accidentally calling Molly mum and her hugging you telling you to just call her that from now on
Lot of crying when you finally did graduate
lot of it.
You going back to the Burrow and Fred listening to you talk about how “The future’s in our hands now, we can literally do anything” and him doing something
He proposed
You cried
Said yes, but cried
You and Fred got married that summer and the group all went
Ron told you he was glad to have you as an older sister and you SOBBED
Ginny told you the same thing-- you also cried at that
You helped the boys open the joke store and worked there until you completed a psychology degree
You became Hogwarts’ guidance councilor
Then you found out you were pregnant after nearly puking on a student
Fred coming to the school because he heard you got sick
Damn it, he was taking care of his wife
“Baby, are you okay!?” He asked.
“Uhm... Yyeaahh about that”
You told him
He cried
He was kissing your face and telling you that he was so happy
You have a daughter: Adelaide Molly Weasley
She is a damn daddy’s girl that’s for sure
But my god does she love her uncle George
Taglist: @amhyeah @newtaholic-staygold @bbeauttyybbx @fleurho
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Military Propaganda is Nothing New to the MCU, but the Rendition in Captain Marvel is
(This post contains major spoilers for Captain Marvel, so read at your own discretion if you have not seen it yet.)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been chalked full of military propaganda from day one.
In fact, the very first scene in Iron Man is one of US troops driving though the foreign desert, making jokes and taking selfies in an attempt to paint them being there as normal and not at all intimidating. Iron Man is even one of the examples in the Insurge Intelligence article about the Pentagon’s Hollywood influence. This is an overall theme that carries through all the Iron Man films; humanizing the military because they’re the good guys. They can be trusted with all the weapons from Stark Industries. They don’t hurt innocent civilians, that’s what the bad guys do.
The propaganda in Iron Man is very simplistic and the same kind you see in most western movies when dealing with anything that takes place in the Middle East. White man good, brown man bad, #Murica. Because it’s so simplistic, it is easier to see through, once you actually develop the sight for it.
Then comes Captain America, who’s very name was meant to use US patriotism as an attempt to convince the US to care about WWII. And Captain America: The First Avenger brings a new type of military propaganda. Because let me just say that as a Canadian, American films about WWI and WWII are baffling. I mean I know your history classes are messed up, but do they really not even talk about Stalingrad? Crete? Hong Kong? Etc? Because your films all paint it like it was just the States against Germany, with maybe a mention of Britain there somewhere. Ya’ll were late to even join the war! But anyway before I get too off-topic, the point is, Captain America: The First Avenger is the kind of military propaganda that is all about heroic imagery. This is especially common in WWII films because there is no moral ambiguity in a lot of it, so it’s easy to point and say wow, look how great we were. American military at it’s prime, yep. Totally not like there are millions and millions of people dying to be concerned about, because look at all these manly heroic American men. And the military uses this imagery as propaganda as if WWII and American meddling in Iraq are the same.
Even in the later Captain America and Avengers movies, when up against the government, the films are careful to take blame away from the military and put it more on Hydra or politicians. The corruption in SHIELD? That wasn’t really SHIELD, that was Hydra influence.
You could argue that this is not in the same vein as true propaganda like what comes from Iron Man; I would agree to an extent. But it’s still there.
But the military propaganda in Captain Marvel is different.
Captain Marvel introduces the MCU’s take on the Kree and Skrulls. Well, there was minor Kree involvement in Guardians of the Galaxy with Ronan, but this is the first time on a larger scale. The movie starts by telling the audience that the Kree are peacekeepers and the Skrulls are terrorists, but upon actually talking to the Skrull leader, Carol comes to find out the Skrulls are actually mostly refugees trying to avoid total decimation from the Kree, because they refused to submit to their rule. The whole story has very anti military parallels...
...and it is at a huge contrast with pro-military subliminal imagery and messages.
What does Carol do the minute she realizes the Kree are bad? She points to child-turned Monica’s air force shirt and says that those are the colours she should use. The movie just finished painting a masterful comparison between the Kree military and US military, then took a dump all over it by saying no, that is not a comparison at all. The Kree are bad, but the US Air Force is good. Despite doing the exact same things Carol was shaken by the Kree doing just a scene ago.
Frankly I would have been fine with them still using Carol’s red and blue outfit, because the States do not have the monopoly on the colours red and blue, but they had to go out of their way to make it about that.
I have seen a few people talk about how messed up that scene is already though, but what I have seen less of is people talking about the weaponization of feminism as military propaganda.
There is a very strong #GirlPower message in Captain Marvel, and that on it’s own is great. I loved the scene where Just a Girl plays while she’s kicking ass, and I can’t think of a better ending than her telling Jude Law that she doesn’t have to prove a damn thing to him. But this #GirlPower doesn’t end there. Captain Marvel turns Carol’s military life into a statement of Girl Power. From the Air Force article they shared on the official twitter:
Less than one percent of the American population will know what it’s like to serve in the Air Force. However, major motion pictures give the global audience a glimpse into the service’s history of breaking barriers and a taste of its fighting spirit.
...
“Our mission is to project and protect the image of the U.S. Air Force through entertainment media,” said Lt. Col. Nathan Broshear, Air Force Entertainment Liaison Office director. “Major motion pictures, like ‘Captain Marvel’, provide an incredible platform to educate and inform the American public about the people, culture and heritage of the U.S. Air Force … inspiring the next generation of Airmen.”
...
The Air Force’s involvement also impacted character development and storylines. In December 2017, Larson, Boden, Fleck and producer Jonathan Schwartz visited Nellis AFB, Nevada, and spent one-on-one time with Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, Air Force Recruiting Service Commander and the Air Force’s first female fighter pilot.
It’s there. Just because they hid it better than before, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. The fact that the propaganda in Captain Marvel is not so direct like it is in past MCU films is what makes it even more dangerous. If it continues to fly below the radar for people, if people continue to say that it’s not fair to point this out because Captain Marvel is a woman and therefore it’s misogyny, then that is sending exactly the message the Pentagon’s Hollywood Liason wants to hear. And that’s what is scary about the propaganda in Captain Marvel in particular.
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The Ben Simmons vs. Donovan Mitchell Debate Is Interesting, but Ultimately Pointless
If I had to go out on a limb, I’d say that Ben Simmons is the Rookie of the Year front-runner in Philadelphia while Salt Lake City is leaning toward Donovan Mitchell.
Both fan bases seem totally baffled by the idea that their opinions could ever be disputed, but I think we know that Sixer fans didn’t watch many Jazz games and Jazz fans, like Mitt Romney, probably didn’t watch a lot of Sixer games.
So we could defer to the opinions of national people, but how much attention do you think a guy like Reggie Miller or Kevin McHale really paid to both players over the course of a full season?
This whole thing is ultimately a wash, in my mind, because Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT players. Simmons is a 6’10” converted point guard with a pass-first mentality who plays in an up-tempo and mobile system. Mitchell is a stone cold killer, the leading scorer on a top-five Western Conference playoff team.
That’s why the raw statistics are ultimately useless when you add a bit of context, but we’re gonna go down that rabbit hole anyway for the sake of the article, so here’s how these guys stack up against each other:
The nice thing about Simmons and Mitchell is that they both averaged very similar minutes this season – 33.4 per game for Mitchell and 33.7 for Simmons. Per-game numbers are going to look almost exactly the same as per-36 extrapolations.
Ben is obviously averaging more rebounds and more assists and shoots at a higher percentage because he rarely tries anything outside of the paint. Mitchell was a 43.7% shooter in the regular season and hit at 34% from three, averaging 10.2 two-point attempts per game and 7 from deep. Simmons didn’t shoot three pointers and his free-throw percentage was very poor compared to Mitchell’s. As a primary ball handler, Ben turned the ball over more frequently, but his assist-to-turnover ratio was, obviously, significantly higher.
On the other end, Simmons averaged more blocks and steals and finished with a 102 defensive rating. Mitchell logged a 105. Ben’s offensive rating was also better, with a 111 compared to Mitchell’s 103.
A big reason for that discrepancy is because Mitchell just requires more shots to hit his averages. He needed 17.2 average field goal attempts and 3.8 free throw attempts to average 20.5 points. Simmons needed 12.3 field goal tries and 2.4 foul shots to average 15.8 points, and that was without even trying three pointers. So even though Mitchell is more of a pure scorer, his efficiency is lacking, which is why the advanced stats like true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, and player efficiency rating all favor Simmons:
Among qualified shooting guards, Mitchell only had the 17th-best field goal percentage, finishing below guys like Buddy Hield, Courtney Lee, and Evan Fournier.
For comparison, look at a guy like Klay Thompson, who played 0.9 more minutes than Mitchell, shot the same amount of three pointers, and averaged almost the same exact point total, but did it with one less field goal attempt and 2.5 fewer free throws per game:
There was a little bit of Allen Iverson to Mitchell’s situation, where Utah was fine with him putting up 17+ shots per game. He had a 29% usage rate on that team, which is wild for a rookie. Simmons was a facilitator and involved a lot of his teammates while Utah needed Mitchell to be the primary scorer. Even though Simmons always had the ball in his hands, he wasn’t asked to carry the late-game scoring burden in the same way Mitchell was.
That sort of leads us into the whole issue of who played on the better team. Was one guy surrounded by better players?
I don’t think so.
Utah was missing Rudy Gobert early, struggled for a bit, then Mitchell found his feet and they went on a tear, putting together win streaks of 11 and 9 to finish 48-34 in what was probably the tougher conference. Philly similarly struggled out of the gates, going 14-18 through the hardest part of their schedule, then transformed into a different team after the All-Star break and finished by winning 16 in a row.
In a vacuum, both teams have elite defensive anchors in Gobert and Joel Embiid, both of whom are top-ten NBA centers. Gobert doesn’t have Embiid’s offensive chops, but he finished the season strong and is now averaging a playoff double-double. Both teams played chunks of the season without their big men, and both Mitchell and Simmons continued to perform at a high level without those guys on the floor.
Ricky Rubio isn’t an elite point guard and never has been. Joe Ingles can shoot the ball as a small forward. Dario Saric and Derrick Favors are different types of power forwards, so it’s hard to make a comparison there. I think you’d look at both squads and see that the biggest takeaway is that they were exceptional defensively, finishing #2 and #3 in DEFRTG after 82 regular season games. The Sixers liked to sling the ball around and play fast while Utah had the 25th lowest PACE in the league, so the style difference is apparent.
When you look at the talent on each team, I guess you could say the Sixers are better, but Simmons is surrounded by guys with a lot less NBA experience than Mitchell. Saric, Embiid, and Robert Covington don’t have half as many games under their belts as Rubio, Gobert, Favors, or Jae Crowder. Philly’s veterans are JJ Redick and a pair of bench players who were added in February. To that point, I think you’d have to be impressed that Simmons is orchestrating an offense that features two second-year guys and a Process-era success story.
Ben certainly benefited from being able to dish off to a variety of high-level perimeter scorers, but it’s not like Utah is chopped liver; they’re a damn good squad. If either one of these guys did what they did on the Suns or Nets, then the “better team” angle might be legit, but I really do believe that both teams are pretty good and I don’t see too much to pull from this storyline.
Here are a couple of other narratives being tossed around relating to ROTY:
What is a rookie?
Of course you’ve heard this thing about Donovan Mitchell being a “true rookie” while Ben Simmons sat out injured last year. Some people slap Ben with the “redshirt” label and feel like he had an advantage this season because he was familiar with the NBA game and the NBA environment even though he didn’t actually play last year.
Here’s Mitchell’s take on the redshirt thing:
“So, let’s say you have an exam to take on June 1 and you have a whole year to study for that exam, you’re going to get a pretty good grade on it, aren’t you?” Mitchell said. “But some people may not have all that time to prepare for that exam. So, that’s how I look at it and I hope that puts it in perspective for people.”
Simmons has brushed that off in the past.
Brett Brown is on the record with this:
I don’t have too much to add beyond that. Blake Griffin won ROTY in this “redshirt” fashion, and I don’t recall a ton of bitching about that, although Twitter and social media were not as “robust” back then. There’s a portion of people out there who felt like Simmons could or should have played last year, but that the Sixers were being extra cautious and simply looking ahead to this season.
Simmons and Mitchell are both 21 years old and were born about 50 days apart. Both were in the same class coming out high school. Ben was injured last year while Mitchell played an extra season at Louisville. Who really has the advantage here? I could see that argument being made.
If you want to slap an asterisk on the ROTY entry on Wikipedia, I think that’s justified, but it doesn’t hold a lot of tangible weight, in my mind.
Triple-doubles and double-doubles don’t always tell the story
I see people roll out all these arbitrary stats, like “Ben Simmons is the first player to do blah blah blah since Oscar Robertson did blah blah blah back in 1961.”
I’m not a fan of that stuff because I can easily just find a bunch of parameters I like and keep tweaking them until it fits my narrative. I can say, “well Joel Embiid is the first non-American right-handed Sixer since Manute Bol to average 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks while a Republican is in the Oval Office.”
Philly fans see those types of tweets and go crazy, like, “wow that’s an incredible piece of information,” when it’s really just fudging a bunch of criteria instead.
To that end, I think triple-doubles and double-doubles often lack nuance. For instance, Ben Simmons had 10 rebounds in game five against Miami. One was on the offensive glass and 9 were on the defensive end.
A portion of Ben’s rebounds are usually uncontested snags where he then quickly starts moving up the court, stuff like this:
There’s no statistical value in that.
That’s an uncontested defensive rebound with no opponent within 10 feet of Simmons, yet it counts just the same as a tough offensive rebound in traffic. This was one of 10 boards that got him over the hump for a double-double, and then you’ve got Sixer fans saying, “well Simmons is averaging a double-double when Mitchell doesn’t do anything besides shoot.”
It’s similar in the sense that…
…sometimes assists don’t check out, either
We’ve all seen a ton of amazing passes from Simmons this year. You could put together a 20-minute highlight reel of needle-threading if you really wanted to.
Sometimes he also gets the benefit of the doubt on his assist totals, when a guy takes a dribble or two and pulls up, or Simmons simply just dumps the ball off to a wing player for a catch and shoot:
Same thing there. The discrepancy is between some of the amazing passes he throws versus those gimmes is significant.
Take that play there and compare it to this:
My God, that Ben Simmons pass pic.twitter.com/QCMpMqv5Xc
— Good Takes NBA (@GoodTakesNBAPod) April 19, 2018
You see how one might carry more weight than the other, yea?
It does, of course, go both ways, and you can apply these same things to Mitchell, too. Difference is, we aren’t using rebounds and assists as main part of the argument as to why he’s a better player. There’s just a lot more nuance in Ben’s game, stuff that requires you to pay closer attention. It’s very easy for the casual NBA fan to say, “wow what an amazing three pointer in the 4th quarter!” versus watching how a rookie ball handler runs an offense or picks out passes or positions himself for offensive rebounds. Ben’s game has more layers to it.
As an exercise, say that each rebound, assist, and point counts for one “unit” of production in an NBA game. Considering what I wrote above, look at these three statistical lines:
30 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists
20 points, 0 rebounds, 10 assists
10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Option three looks the most balanced, right? Even contributions across the board, yea? But what if 4 of those rebounds are uncontested on the defensive end? What if two of the assists are just dumping the ball off for a catch and shoot?
That’s why the raw numbers are weird, because you just can’t take rebounds and assists at face value. Raw point scoring is much less nuanced. It’s more about what I mentioned above, the efficiency with which a scorer reaches his totals. If a guy scores 10 of his 30 points from the foul line, of course that’s worth noting, but the ball is going in the basket either way. Rebounds, to me, have the least amount of importance in a Simmons/Mitchell argument. One guy is a point guard and the other is a shooting guard and they’re playing completely different roles for completely different teams.
Of course, the fact that Ben can rebound the way he does shows how much more well-rounded and expansive his game is, but it’s more of an eye test thing and less about just data mining for triple-double and double-double narratives.
Consistency
One area where I think Simmons has a clear advantage is that he was performing at a high level from day one. He started 81 games and really didn’t have many clunkers at all. The Memphis loss stands out to me (6, 3, 7, four turnovers and five fouls). His numbers dropped a bit in December when he went through a deferential month where he wasn’t putting up as many shot attempts as he did in the two months prior. Otherwise, he showed incredible regularity throughout the year.
Mitchell started the season on the bench but ended up finishing with 79 appearances and 71 starts. He was a little slow to begin and threw up some rough lines, notably a 3-21 effort at home against an Embiid-less Philly and a 4-17 shooting night in Milwaukee. However, six of his ten single-digit scoring outputs took place in October and November. He finished the regular season with 24 straight double-digit scoring games.
So they both were excellent for LARGE chunks of the season, certainly light years ahead of anything Malcolm Brogdon did last year. But if we’re paying close attention, Simmons technically did what he did from day one while Mitchell needed a little bit of time to get rolling.
The Verdict
There really is no verdict. You just have to decide which type of player has more value. Do you rate dagger-dropping two-guard as more valuable than a unique and well-rounded point guard?
I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong answer to that, but if you’re making me pick one guy over the other for an ultimately meaningless award, I’d probably have Simmons as 1A and Mitchell as 1B. I think Donovan Mitchell is a LOT better than most Sixers fans give him credit for, but I feel like there’s at least one Mitchell in every draft. I see a smooth scorer who is going to be a perennial All-Star for years to come. But when I look at Simmons, I see a freak athlete with a wildly unique skill set who reminds me of Magic Johnson. I see “eye test” type of stuff that makes me believe his ceiling is much higher than Mitchell’s ceiling. It’s not off-base to view Simmons a potential LeBron James type if he develops a jump shot.
That said, I don’t know what typical national media person thinks. I get the sense that there is a bit of an anti-Process crowd out there that might lean towards Mitchell out of spite, but I’m really not sure. That’s just a hunch. One thing that should help Simmons’ case is that Salt Lake City ain’t exactly a massive media market. If Donovan Mitchell played for the Knicks or Lakers, he’d be getting 10 times the coverage and plaudits he’s currently receiving.
At the end of the day, both of these guys are gonna be elite ballers for years. We’re talking about two different players in two different systems playing two different positions. One guy is asked to score and the other is asked to facilitate, and both are exceptional in their respective roles. If you wanna stand firmly on one side of the debate, knock yourself out, but it’s also acceptable to straddle the fence.
The Ben Simmons vs. Donovan Mitchell Debate Is Interesting, but Ultimately Pointless published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/
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