#i am actually having a lot of feelings about morgan during this rewatch. like……..i love him
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morgan carrying other people's bags in lo-fi/mayhem is Very Important to me
#I LOVE HIM 😭#i am actually having a lot of feelings about morgan during this rewatch. like……..i love him#criminal minds#derek morgan#penelope garcia#aaron hotchner#3x20#4x01
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4x20. “Small Potatoes” - X-Files Rewatch
Scully's being so cute and teasing Mulder "Did he have a lightsaber?"
Mulder's face when she says she thinks Mulder's right.
"Birds and the bees and the monkey-babies, Mulder." - Scully
"Birds do it, bees do it, even educated MD's do it." - Mulder
Mulder thinking about Scully having sex makes my heart hurt.
Being mistaken for a couple at the fertility clinic.
"On behalf of all the women in the world... I seriously doubt this has anything to do with consensual sex." and Scully's hand over her heart makes me <3
Scully's so smol.
"Should we be picking out china patterns or what?" - Mulder, + standing close.
"Maybe its other people's reactions to us that make us who we are." - Mulder (again, paving the way for Eddie's transformation into himself).
Mulder looking at her so tenderly. *sob*
His hand on her back/arm from the car to Eddie's home.
Standing close after Eddie escapes.
I love how it's sort of ambiguous when Mulder comes to see Scully at the autopsy bay. It IS Mulder not Eddie but he acts so strange and awkward you kind of get a sense how Scully might not have noticed the difference between them later on. Sometimes Mulder is a giant dork, Scully loves him regardless.
Onto my 'Eddie as Mulder' analysis...
I know a lot of people find it incredible that Scully doesn’t figure out that it’s NOT Mulder, but I have a few thoughts as to why it would happen.
Scully is super good at denying stuff that she sees right in front of her. Even though she got Eddie’s dad analysed by the lab and his physical characteristics are incredible, she can’t exactly translate that yet into someone able to shapeshift. Also, we never saw it but based on Eddie’s previous encounters with women, he’s an expert at letting people believe what they want to believe. I’m sure he got Scully to do all the talking while he just listened, commenting neutrally about everything. So, even though it’s pretty hard to believe that Scully, knowing Mulder so well, would fall for Eddie’s tricks, I think it’s more than plausible.
So onto her thoughts...
Scully got to see a "Mulder" that listened to her and seemed to care about her as more than someone valuable to their work (how she believes Mulder sees her - not insignificant though, because their work is the sole focus of his life). She wants that - someone to be a friend and hang out casually with not just someone to discuss work. I'm sure she also liked the fact that (because he wasn't actually Mulder and didn't know) he never brought up her illness. It almost seemed as if she could forget she was dying, and that she could have a normal life. And maybe more?
I think she also didn't really want this from Mulder at the moment. She feels she's dying, are his advances something he'd do if she wasn't? She feels he's rejected her quite a few times before and would be hesitant to believe him kissing her was due to something she'd accept (he loves her) rather than something out of pity or some other thing. And even if he did love her and wanted to kiss her, would she want to start that with him if she was dying? She'd probably feel guilty about leaving him if that was the case. She's always ALWAYS resistant to accepting comfort from someone, and feels that resistance even more strongly since being sick. Mulder gives her strength, but its not something she talks about or actively seeks.
So - she doesn't want him to kiss her because she's not sure of the reasons behind it, and also because even if he was doing it out of love she wouldn't want to put that on him - give him a relationship for who knows how long. She initiates something so quickly after she gets better (Detour) but feels like she's rebuffed. Poor Scully.
So Scully's conflicted. She wants this from Mulder, but not if its for the wrong reasons, and definitely not NOW. She's not pulling away, her mouth opens when he leans forward, but she doesn't move towards him either.
Also. What both her and Mulder must be thinking. You know they just DIDN'T TALK about it. Not a single word was said until Mulder's comment leaving the jail: "I'm not Eddie Van Blundht am I?"
Scully's so embarrassed, goes back to her thinking that Mulder can't possibly feel that way about her. Mulder is shocked because he doesn't really entertain the possibility of them being together that way - not in reality. I'm sure he's fantasized about stuff like that, but the idea of Scully (who he puts on a pedestal) actually loving him back and daring to have a relationship/whatever with him is just something he can't think about being a possibility. So now he's confronted with it. But Scully is dying. He realizes during the cancer arc that he loves her, that he wants more with her, but he just doesn't think he deserves her and believes that if they were to do something like that she'd be hurt or leave, which he can't have happen.
Side Note: Darin Morgan as Eddie! So fantastic. I love that this episode features my two absolute favourite writers, although one in an acting role (that was WRITTEN for him).
#xfiles#x-files#x-files rewatch#x files#msr#msrheadcanon#mulder and scully#fox mulder#dana scully#season 4#cancer arc#vince gilligan#darin morgan#x files rewatch
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So heres the thing. After just rewatching ‘The Real Ghostbusters’ and looking of ‘Family Don’t end with Blood’ book, I feel the need to say a few things about the Supernatural fandom, especially now that the series is ending.
There are a lot of shows out there, a lot of series with large fanbases. I am apart of a few of them myself. Also anyone who knows me can tell you all about how much I adored Dukes of Hazzard as a kid and a few other series now. However with an exception of a small handful, I don’t see many that band together quite like Supernatural.
Supernatural is interesting because you can tell that many of the cast AND crew enjoy it. They enjoy the show, they enjoy working with each other, and even after years of not being in it, actors like Jeffrey Morgan came back to do a special episode just because he liked it. Many of the actors work to do programs as well, taking part in many charity events, the ‘Always Keep Fighting’ Campaign, and all the events that they do for the fans through each year...and that isn’t even counting the hours they put into work. And they all have amazing families that they can finally spend more time with. Then you have the fans as well who have taken away so much from the series, who have in many regards grown with these characters for the past 14 and some years. And not just the characters, but the actors too.
The series has changed a lot of peoples lives in both the fans, and the people who work so hard to make it hit the screens. Sure, the show has some issues, and yes there are some ‘fans’ out there who are pretty bad and can ruin it for the people around them. But over all it’s an amazing group that I am happy to be apart of.
The Real Ghostbusters was awesome because it was a good reminder about how the show was for fans. The two cosplayers who helped Sam and Dean were two guys who originally met in a Supernatural chatroom to discuss they’re mutual love over an underrated book series, and it allowed them to make first a friend, then a life partner. And I know a few people in life who are happily married to someone who they met through an event for a series they loved. This series has also saved many lives, mine included, and had helped people through some dark times.
In my own experience, something I might actually type one of these days, Supernatural premiered when I was going through a very chaotic time. And for the last 14 odd years or so, it has been there for the high moments and the low moments. And let me tell you, I’ve had some pretty high and some pretty low moments. All the way from getting my dream job down to living in a car with my family because we had lost everything. And these characters helped give me something to relate to to get through some pretty bad times, and gave me something to enjoy during the good times.
I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m very glad a community like the supernatural fans exist. It had helped many people in many ways, and part of that is because the cast, crew, and fans all reach out to each other from the start and we have all grown along the way. Supernatural has some amazing themes that especially resonated with a lot of the fans for when it was coming out. The themes of Family being important, how family isn't’ defined by blood, the importance of making your own choices, and the importance of just being yourself, even if the rest of the world would define you as a freak.
So I guess I just want to thank the fans and everyone who helped make such an amazing series because it effected so many lives and impacted a lot of people in many ways; and for the most part in good ways.
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A Review of: Avengers: Endgame
I feel like this is gonna be controversial to everyone I follow.
Avengers: Endgame
Directed By: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo
Written By: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin, and Danai Gurira.
Score: 7.75/10
Watch If You Like: Marvel Movies. There’s really nothing more I can say here, you know already if you like Marvel Movies. If you don’t, don’t watch this. If you do, you’re already planning on watching this. If you have never seen a Marvel Movie, for the love of god do not start here.
Content Warnings: PG-13 Violence, Abuse, an incredibly lackluster attempt at LGBT representation.
Spoilers under the cut. I repeat, ENDGAME SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.
Well, I liked it better than Infinity War.
What can I really say? Everyone puts in good performances, there’s some fantastic shots and cinematography, the score is adequate as usual apart from some well-chosen pre-existing music, the fight scenes are fun and inventive…
Just in general, this is a pretty well-written movie. The emotional pacing is great, knowing when to be sad, when to be funny, when to be triumphant… The plot, for the most part, makes sense, and the character directions make sense, for the most part. I’ve seen a lot of people accuse the writers of relying on twists and that’s why the whole spoiler culture is around it, to prevent people from knowing better, but I disagree. It’s definitely got some rewatchability to it.
But on the other hand, you definitely get the feeling that this is a mass-marketed story written by straight white men. There’s a definite aura off it, something I never really noticed in previous movies.
I laughed, I cried, I got annoyed at some stuff. Let’s get to the categories.
The Good:
The plot is pretty good, overall. The time-travel heist that we center around after the prologue is a unique idea for an Avengers movie, and it escalates naturally into the massive battle in the end. It breaks our cast down into small groupings, most of them pretty natural pairings. It goes wrong at points, sometimes they recover well, other times they have to go further off-plan to recover.
The prologue. It doesn’t really waste any time, gets straight to the point, and does some things I really didn’t think it would do (Thanos being smart enough to destroy the Infinity Stones, and Thanos dying)
Thanos’ motivations. I didn’t like his motivations in the previous film, but this one lays out pretty clearly what I suspected: it’s not actually about saving the universe for Thanos. It’s about his ego. He wants to be the saviour, he wants everyone to know it, and he wants to live to see this “grateful universe” he creates. He travels to the Avengers’ timeline because he wants to change his future, he wants to win and not die in the aftermath. He’s not a well-intentioned extremist, he’s a glory hound.
Consequences. They reverse The Snap, but it still has consequences. Everyone who died has lost five years, while the world has moved on without them. We get Gamora back, but she’s not the same Gamora who died.
The final battle. It lasts a goddamn hour and it flies by in a flash. It’s fantastically paced, never dragging, and highlights the next generation of Avengers while giving the old guard time to shine. It’s a big, epic comicbook battle brought to life.
Hawkeye’s character arc. It makes sense for him to go after the worst of humanity in his grief, and it brings his character around quite poetically, from the person who gave a chance to a killer, to a killer given a chance.
The focus on Nebula. Karen Gillan plays a blinder in this one, and she gets a lot of time to shine, both as her past and present versions.
The scenes with the Ancient One. They go into the heist all gung-ho, and she just smacks Banner down, explaining that he’d be dooming one universe to save another. You see a lot of stories that don’t care about the alternate universes our heroes visit, so it’s nice to see someone point out that those universes continue to exist afterwards and are just as worthy of saving as any other one.
Captain America is goddamn worthy and that was beautiful.
Scarlet Witch vs Thanos.
Rescue, after all these years.
Yes, the female Avengers scene was cheesy and I do not care.
Honestly? Pretty good use of Captain Marvel. Not in the movie much, but when she’s there, she makes the perfect impact. After all, the rest of the Galaxy doesn’t have an Avengers. Maybe she should change that?
First off, that shot of Cap alone against Thanos’ army? Fuck yeah. Then the reinforcements arrive with Sam’s “On your left”? Fuck Yeah.
Black Widow’s death. I was hesitant on this one, but while I hate that she died, it’s a good conclusion to her arc. She’s spent decades trying to wipe the red from her ledger, make up for the innocents that she’s killed, and it’s what motivates her to end her own life in the end.
Iron Man’s death. While I have a problem with him killing Thanos, him winning the final battle did feel fitting. He was the first. He made the sacrifice play, once again. His arc has always been about him being unable to do anything less but to devote his life to helping others, to detriment of his health and his personal life. He declared he’d stop being Iron Man, but went right back at the first opportunity. His line, “I am Iron Man”, as well as echoing Thanos’ repetition of “I am Inevitable”, is a final admission to himself. He could never do anything less than give the world everything, as much as he wanted.
Cap’s ending. The soldier who only ever knew war finally gets his peace. He finally gets the life he always wanted. This is the one that broke me, that made me cry, because I was happy for him, but so sad that we were losing him.
Also, shout out to actress who played Morgan Stark, she was fantastic and I can’t find her name on IMDb.
The Bad:
Thanos’ deaths. Look, Gamora and Nebula deserved to confront him, to call him out on all his bullshit, and now they’ll never get to. It’s unsatisfying. Like, if you had to have Tony kill him in the end, let Nebula end him at the farm, at the very least.
Thanos never gets called out on his bullshit.
Banner. I’m gonna be honest, the Professor Hulk thing is such a big change, it feels like a cop out to have occurred during the time skip. And on top of that, it’s clearly Banner’s mind in Hulk’s body. That’s not an equal relationship, because Hulk had a personality. Hulk was a person. None of Hulk is left in that fusion, you see it when the Ancient One sends him astral projecting. Hulk is dead, and Banner kinda killed him.
Once again, they kinda shat on Thor’s character arc. I appreciate his trauma, and him learning to deal with it, but after finally having Thor become the person he was meant to be in Ragnarok… he abandons it. Twice. And while I appreciate him handing power off to Valkyrie, the cynical side of me says this is an attempt to take Valkyrie out of further movies. Also the fat jokes are not appreciated.
Okay, what are the rules to the Soul Stone again? Because last time it was “sacrifice something you love”, and this time it’s “a soul for a soul”. If it’s the first, then self-sacrifice totally doesn’t count and our heroes should’ve been down a stone, if it’s the second then the scene in Infinity War contradicts it and should’ve been massively changed. Because the scenes around it were problems in and of themselves.
Remember that beautiful scene with Cap at the end? The one I cried at? Yeah, that breaks the rules of time travel that the film sets out. You cannot travel to your own universe’s past, only to alternate universes. And yet Steve manages to travel into the past of the main universe. You can’t say he simply traveled back to another universe and then back home for the visit because he’d have to use the quantum tunnel device that everyone was standing around. The other two devices were destroyed. Like, you could have changed that so easily, have him show up back on the pad as his old self and send him on his way again, but you went for extra poignancy and made yourself a genuine plothole.
Also, the advertised LGBT rep. Honestly, it might have gone over smoother if the directors hadn’t made a big deal out of it. Just a guy, not being played by one of the directors, talking about his life after the snap. And doing this to a fanbase that’s wanted LGBT rep for nearly a decade now isn’t fucking great, Marvel.
Overall… look, you already know if you’re seeing this or not. Personally, I liked it, it gave me some things I was waiting years for, but… I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, y’know? It’s a fitting ending, but... it could’ve been better.
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some endgame thoughts (spoilers under the cut)
just got out of the theatre and uh. wow.
the movie was fantastic at parts, lackluster at others. i can’t say much other than what’s already been said dozens of times on this site already but some general reactions:
i knew morgan was going to be in this movie but i didn’t know how much i would love the father/daughter relationship between her and tony. the scene with morgan and happy talking about cheeseburgers broke me, though part of me was really hoping we would get a scene with her and big brother peter
i love you 3000 :(
i am SO glad we got tony lashing out at steve at the beginning of the movie. spitting his words back right in his face and talking about how he needed him but he wasn’t there was so satisfying
they better fucking fix thor i literally cannot believe we had fat thor for the ENTIRE MOVIE i thought it was just gonna be for like a scene or two but they did him dirty
peter quill seeing gamora but not his gamora was so sad to see :( i want her back thanks !
they did natasha dirty. though seeing nat and clint fight each other over who gets to sacrifice themselves was probably the darkest part of the movie
the final battle was really cool. like, really fucking cool. steve wielding mjolnir was cool. all of the portals were cool. peter activating instant kill was cool.
i am strangely at peace with tony dying. like it hurt so much and it was awful, but his arc felt complete. steve, however..............
yeah. i dont fucking know what to say about steve. that shit is stupid as fuck. that’s all i got there. STUPID AS FUCK LMAO i’m pissed about it
definitely not watching his ending during my rewatches !!
on a much lighter note i literally cannot believe we live in a world where tony stark was actually checking out steve’s ass and straight up told him so. then steve checked out his own ass. wow. the one (1) thing the russos got right
overall this movie felt like i was watching fanfiction on the big screen. not even like, good fanfiction. so there’s that
i probably have a lot more thoughts but i have to do make a website mockup for my (last ever undergrad) class tomorrow even tho i’m exhausted after crying my eyes out when tony died. i just wanna go to bed and feel bad for myself u know
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Avengers Endgame: A (Late, Incredibly Long) Spoilertastic Review
Well, it’s done.
I did it. We did it. We all watched the original lineup of Avengers’ stories come to its end.
So what did I think?
It was phenomenal. A worthy ending to a more than worthy series of films and stories.
There are just so many things to go over and so many points to hit that I have to warn you this review is likely going to be just as long as Endgame’s running time, so strap in.
Overall Grade: A-
Naturally, spoilers below.
I’m taking a note from a friend of mine and have decided that due to the film’s epic length and its history, the best way to tackle my reactions is first per character, and then I can evaluate things like plot and story and action. Just a heads’ up. So here we go.
Tony
Christ. I…wow, where do I even start?
There’s just so much to talk about with this movie and the arc that Tony Stark has been fulfilling since his first film. I almost don’t know how I can even put into words what I feel for this character. Tony came to us as this swaggering, arrogant diva, and yet the first Iron Man breaks him down to his core character. Tony Stark is a man with everything and nothing. He has the looks, the intelligence, and the resources to have everything a person could want, and yet he has no family and no deep connections with others aside from Rhodey and Pepper when it all starts. The core of the MCU was very cleverly built around the theme of Tony’s heart, and that’s perhaps why so many of us are devastated to know his fate. We all saw it coming. There was sadly no other way Tony’s story would pan out if we wanted to stick to his full arc. Tony could not rest until he knew the universe would be safe, and he made sure it would be before he left us. His legacy is incredible. It’s so…hell, to use a bad pun, heartwarming.
I guess the best thing to do in order for me to not just recap every amazing thing he’s done since Iron Man is to recap moments in Endgame for Tony that leapt out at me as exceptional:
-The intro with Tony playing paper football with Nebula. Stab me in the heart. That was so cute. It’s so very like Tony to try and keep her strong and keep her spirits up when they were literally staring death in the face. It was unexpectedly adorable, and even without us having seen the days they spent together, you could tell that Tony treated her in a mature-ish fashion and that’s why Nebula appeared to be affectionate, or at the very least, respectful towards him when she is usually very distant. You could tell they totally depended on each other and it was an important partnership. I was very, very touched when she scooped him up and put him in the seat when they were approaching their final day together. It’s such a powerful thing to see how far Tony has come, through the lens of Nebula showing such compassion for him even in such a short amount of time. I love how the Russos are so good at conveying thoughts and emotions and story without saying it outright. It’s an amazing skill in filmmaking.
-Tony’s arrival back to earth, and his confrontation with the Avengers. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. My fucking feelings, y’all. Christ. I mean, the Russos already know how to gut-punch you and then kick you when you’re down, but Tony’s complete and utter break down still hurts like a mother. It’s just so raw and emotional, and it should be that way after a loss on this kind of scale. What really tipped me over into choking down frustrated tears was that Tony just looks at Cap desperately when he stumbles off that ship and says in this broken voice, “I lost the kid.” He can’t even bear to say Peter Parker’s name. The shame and loss and guilt is too much for him to say his little Spider Son’s name. Oh, fuck you, Russo brothers.
And then the team being in utter shambles over losing to Thanos, all of them just barely holding it together, and then Tony just shatters. He’s home and he’s with family, but he can’t get over this kind of failure. What really tears it is him going after Steve so viciously, and it’s so complex. He’s angry at himself, and he chooses to direct that anger at Cap because we all know Tony took it as a personal loss, as all of them did, that he couldn’t stop Thanos even though he literally gave it everything. He gave every last bit, every last drop, of effort, and he couldn’t stop Thanos. It just hurts. And the resentment that was already between Cap and Tony after Civil War is still clearly there, so the entire scene is just like being dragged naked over broken glass. RDJ and Evans’ acting here is some of the best of the entire series in this scene. It sets the stage and reminds us of the stakes amazingly well.
-Tony’s post Snap life, and his interactions with his family. All of us Tony stans called it that Tony would be a phenomenal father. He’s already shown us that he can be the right amount of strict and caring, and everything with Morgan is exactly what I dreamt it would be. I could rewatch the scenes with Tony and Morgan a thousand times. People can shit on Tony all they want and I will never listen to them, because it’s so apparent how much and how deeply he cares in scenes like this. Where he confronts Pepper after he figures out the time heist equation. Years ago, Tony may have lied to her or made a decision without consulting her, but Tony has grown as a person and he approaches his wife with one of the most important things he will ever do in his life and he asks for her opinion before he does anything. It’s such a good comparison to how he used to be. Tony’s heart is so huge in this whole sequence. It’s such a good representation of his internal battle between doing what is right for everyone and doing what is right for him.
-Tony and Cap’s reconciliation. Oh, my heart. I love how Tony approaches it in such a Tony sort of way, forgiving Cap and agreeing to move past their resentment for what happened in Civil War. I like that it was done in a brisk sort of way, and that a lot of the power in the scene comes from RDJ and Evans’ facial expressions. Really, these two act off of each other so well that part of why we’re all crying so hard about this movie is the horrible knowledge that we don’t get to see them act opposite each other in this context. I pray they stay friends in real life, and I would love to see them reunited on screen someday. It’s such a great relationship and it’s at the core of why this is such a great film series.
-The New York heist. Oh God. I can’t wait for them to tell us if the comment about Cap’s ass was in the script or if it was an improvised line by RDJ or Paul Rudd. It is by far one of the funniest things ever to happen in the MCU. Dear God, I was howling. The best part is that during the premiere we were all laughing so hard that I missed Cap’s initial reply, which was, “No one’s asking you to look, Tony.” Christ, I can’t deal. I know it’s straight up Stony pandering but I don’t give a fuck, it was hilarious. And it’s a very meta joke since Chris Evans’ gorgeous, flawless body is a meme thanks to his Dorito proportions (if you haven’t seen that yet, oh god, please look it up) and the fact that he has an absolutely phenomenal ass, especially for a white guy from Boston. Anyway, Tony and Scott’s whole interaction was perfect, and I loved how the scene went and how it led into the next one.
-The army base heist. Tony running into his father was such a good twist. I absolutely did not see that coming, but it was a really welcome conversation to give Tony closure. He’s felt so guilty for how he left things with them, and it was so touching to see him get a second chance at it, even if Howard was none the wiser. I really hadn’t expected anything like that, but it worked well with Tony’s arc and I thought it was very sweet.
-Tony’s reaction to seeing his baby boy, his little Spider Son, running up to him. My God. This was everything. I am a hardcore supporter of the Iron Dad and Spider Son dynamic, and this was the reunion I so sorely needed after the sick, demented, painful scene that was the final moments in Infinity War. Like the rest of you, the level of trauma that hit me when Peter Parker died is just…hell, infinite. The pain was just infinite. I both love and hate Tom Holland and RDJ for doing that shit to us. I did not know I could cry that hard about a fictional character, but I openly wept to the point of sobbing when Peter Parker died in IW, and to see him back in this scene was so wonderful. In my second viewing, the audience actually clapped when Peter swung through the portal, and that was quite sweet for me to experience. But back to the point: once again, I have to simply compliment RDJ’s acting. This is why we love him so much. It’s not even about the big, loud moments. His acting is so precise that the flurry of emotional expressions that Tony went through when his tiny son helped him up and started excitedly babbling to him about being dead, of all things, and then Tony just doesn’t even interrupt him, he just walks forward and pulls that little boy into his arms and holds him tightly in a hug and it’s just…wow. This is some spectacular acting on both their parts, and it heals a really wounded part of my heart, even though the next scene I talk about just breaks it all over again. Plus, at the time I wrote this review, the Spider-Man: Far From Home full trailer just dropped and (SPOILER ALERT) the opening scene is Peter Parker and Happy mourning Tony and I just feel like someone hammered a stake into my chest. This scene is so fantastic. It’s just another reminder of how damn much Tony Stark cares about the people around him and that he has an actual family now, and that’s why the next scene is possibly the saddest one of all.
-Tony’s death. Like Loki’s untimely demise, I knew this was coming from years and years of being a writer. Based on the track for his character arc and because RDJ announced this is his final official performance as the character, I knew Tony was going to die. There was no way around it. His determination to save everyone and correct the wrong done to the universe by Thanos would drive him past his limits and cause him to sacrifice it all. It’s just…man. I wish it had ended differently for him. Anyone who follows me on Tumblr knows that I tag all Iron Man posts with “we stan Tony Stark in this house” and that is how I feel. While Tony is not my favorite Avenger, I will stand up for him all day, err day. Tony Stark is the epitome of the human spirit, and in a different way than Cap, if you ask me. Tony is all of the dark and seedy parts, but also the defiance and the self-deprecation and the obsession and the power of the human spirit. He has so many vices and yet so many virtues. He cares to a fault. He blames himself to a fault. He has come so far after that brutal conversation in Avengers when Cap accuses him of not being the man to lay down on the razor wire and let the other guy crawl over you. He made the ultimate sacrifice play. As much as I reject the idea, we all knew it had to be him. It had to be. Because at the end of the day, Tony’s need to make his family safe was more precious to him than his own life. He gave up a future with his loved ones to make sure Thanos could never hurt them again. And all of it was capped off with a line that will probably haunt me forever, of Pepper’s soft, forgiving goodbye, “You can rest.”
-Tony’s farewell message to his family. Want to know something crazy? I cried so hard at the premiere. So hard. I was almost dry heaving with how hard I cried at Tony’s funeral. But then I had a week of time and I saw it again this past Sunday. I was choked up during his death but I didn’t shed actual tears this time until “I love you 3000.” Somehow, it didn’t hit me until the second time how they filmed Tony’s goodbye to us. They shot it in such a way that as he leans down to turn off the recording, he’s actually looking at us. Not directly into the camera, but so close to it that it finally hit me that this was RDJ’s goodbye and thank you to the fans. It was so touching and sincere that I finally broke down and actually cried again. What truly hurts is knowing that his loved ones have to be without him, and even though his sacrifice means everything, he is going to leave behind such a void. Even with his problems and his flaws, Tony was a damn good man and he was the right choice to begin this epic series. I can’t express how much I am going to miss him and how much I am going to miss RDJ in this shared universe. He’s so charismatic and wonderful and complex. It was not only a comeback for Tony Stark, but a comeback for a very troubled man, and it’s come full circle that Tony had a loving family just as RDJ has a loving family after his checkered past. To be honest, I’m likely going to do as I did for Loki and have a cutoff point in my brain for the MCU, where I don’t accept what happened because it’s too painful. I just pretend that nothing happened after that hug with Peter Parker and they all won the day and no one died. That’s just how it’s gotta be for me to survive a post Endgame world.
Thank you, Tony. You gave everything. I love you now and always.
Thor
-Thor executing Thanos. Standing. Fucking. Ovation. Right, so, I know that Thor probably should not have outright killed Thanos before they had more information, but at the same time, there was nothing more to get out of that son of a bitch and I clapped when Thor swung Stormbreaker and lopped that mo’fo’s head clean off, and I flipped off Thanos’ corpse with both fingers. Good boy. He told you he’d kill you, and he killed you, you sorry bastard. A+++
-Thor’s depression and weight gain. Alright. *rolls up sleeves* Time to make some enemies. I think Fat!Thor is a great idea, but the execution could have been done better. I recognize writing tricks when I see them, and Fat!Thor seems to be two ideas in one, and one of them is what is bothering the semi-reasonable part of the fandom. What I’ll do is explain my take on both parts of the overall idea.
(1) Thor’s depression at his failure (at the time) to reverse the Snap and save everyone is 100% accurate, in character, and is damn good writing. Thor has never actually full-on failed at anything in his life. The closest he has come is between being cast out in the first Thor movie for being irrational and cruel, and in Ragnarok where he had to let Surtur destroy Asgard in order to save his people. Even then, Thor lost battles, not the overall war. Therefore, Thor does not understand how to process failure. Yes, he also failed to save his mother, but at the same time, it’s not a failure on this level. He lost Frigga, Loki, the Warriors Three, and Heimdall, but this was literally trillions of lives that he feels were weighed on his shoulders, and his shoulders alone, even though as Rocket pointed out, losing the war was the fault of a LOT of people, not just Thor (and not Starlord either, you bunch of whiny hypocrites in the fandom, ugh). So becoming an alcoholic and giving up on his life as a hero is definitely how Thor would handle things. Think about it. He no longer has any guidance from his family, or his best friend, since they died. All he has is his Avengers family and Valkyrie. I’m sure the Avengers tried to talk him out of it to no avail, and that’s a really sad thing to know, that they couldn’t get him out of his depression spiral, so they let him wallow in it. As for Valkyrie, she’s still just barely recovered from her own trauma, and I am sure she probably tried to snap him out of it too, but he was too stubborn to listen. What I like about this point for his character is that Thor is right—he has always been expected to be “worthy” and to be the savior. Thor is the big gun on the team alongside the Hulk. He has always been the bravest, the noblest, and the most powerful person on the team, and he is expected as a king to win the day every time. But he lost. And he can’t reconcile it since he has always triumphed in the end. So it’s very understandable for him to lose control and just want to have nothing to do with the hero business, because if you fail once, you can fail again, and he couldn’t bear the thought of failing again, not after it cost him literally everything.
(2) Fat!Thor was an easy source of cheap laughs to keep the mood from getting too dark considering the subject matter handled in this movie. I am of two minds about this issue. On the one hand, I can see why certain people feel that this is fat shaming. It is. But the problem stems from the fact that the fat shaming is still a large part of American culture, and people have not broken the bad habit yet, and so it gets shifted into the easy laughs category. The easy laughs are for the Average Joe viewer. It’s for people who aren’t as conscious of how it sounds to mock him for his weight gain who are just used to “ha ha, fat person jokes.” Some fans felt uncomfortable that he was the butt of a few jokes because a lot of us who suffer from depression know that this is in fact a side effect. When you’re depressed, it’s easy to stress eat and overeat, and you lean heavily towards comfort foods that cause you to gain weight, and your depression makes you tired, so you also don’t exercise and that’s how you can end up overweight. On the other hand, while I agree with these folks about not liking the fat jokes, I also think it was necessary to show a character we all admire falling into the same pitfalls that we as mere Midgardians deal with on a daily basis. I don’t like the jokes, but I do like Fat!Thor’s inclusion in this story because people need to realize what depression does to a person. It shouldn’t have been handled this way, but from a strictly observer perspective, I understand why they went for the low hanging fruit. People needed to laugh since Endgame has very, very dark elements to it. I would have preferred they approach his weight gain in a more dignified fashion, but not every part of this movie was written for me and I sadly have to accept it. That’s my feelings on it.
-Thor’s encounter with Frigga on Asgard. I. FREAKING. LOVE. THIS. I did not see it coming, and I love it with every fiber of my being. This is such a heartwarming scene. I want to rewatch it a thousand times. I love Frigga immediately knowing what’s up (she’s not stupid and of course she noticed and it’s everything to me) and I love that she can clearly see how distraught her beautiful son has become. I love Thor having a panic attack, because that’s extremely realistic after he’s gone so long not having done any hero work, per se, and having to face his previous failed relationship with Jane, and with facing the day his mother died again. It’s really compelling writing. Frigga’s gentle reassurance is exactly what he needed, and it’s exactly what we needed to see him go through. He had to let go of the expectations piled upon him and accept himself for who he is, not who he needs to be as a warrior king and an Avenger. While I do wish they had gone on to show us a little more of who he considers himself to be instead of who he is supposed to be, I am really excited to hear Chris Hemsworth is one of the Avengers who has chosen to stay past the end of Phase Three. He’s young and funny and vibrant and I think Thor is his best role of his career anyhow (no offense meant, Hems, if you ever read this, you handsome golden retriever, you). I think exploring Thor’s personal goals and future will be very interesting.
-Thor’s reaction to Natasha’s death. This is a very small moment, but I actually like it a lot. I like that Thor’s optimism here is a form of denial. I like it because there are certain Avengers who despite the 11 year saga have not interacted with each other much, and Thor and Nat are probably my leading example. When it hit him that they couldn’t use the time stone to bring her back, the loss and devastation on his face almost made up for the fact that Thor and Nat have almost no lines with each other in the film series. I like it because it hurts and because it shows that she does matter to him, even though they don’t interact. It’s a nice detail to include since I was often a little sad I never got to see these two have dialogues. I personally have even written a bit of fanfiction about what their relationship could have been like, and I think it could have been sort of brother-sisterly. It’s a shame we won’t get to see it, but I like that it is given attention here at last.
-Thor wanting to undo the Snap. Yes. This is a very good character beat for him. Again, I agree it’s annoying he ends up getting another fat joke thrown at him (nice work, Rhodey, sheesh, it’s not like the poor guy was traumatized or anything), I like that Tony talks him down. I like that Tony doesn’t think he can’t do it, he’s worried that Thor is in so much pain that he shouldn’t try to make such a rash decision that could cost him his life. Tony seemed dismissive, but I think he was trying to protect his friend more than anything else. I think Tony also knew that it would be rough if Thor either died or became permanently crippled by undoing the Snap. Being able to fight is extremely important to Thor, even with his depression, because Thor is essentially a space Viking. It shows that Tony is aware that Thor’s not just bumbling around as a chubby drunk, but he’s legitimately in pain and he needs to take things slower.
-Thor giving Valkyrie the throne. First off, I need to sling salt at the freaking part of the Thorkyrie fandom that is somehow complaining about this scene. Are you kidding me? What movie did you watch? This is the ultimate freaking Thorkyrie scene, you bunch of whiny nincompoops! Thor literally gave Valkyrie the throne because she is so smart, powerful, and kind that he trusted her to take care of the people he loves with all his heart. The amount of trust and respect that is in this scene makes me want to just squeal for hours. I can’t handle how affectionate and reverent Thor is as he gives Valkyrie the throne. I love the long gaze they share. I love the handshake. I love that Val asks when she’ll see him again. I love that Thor has faith in her and how she will lead his people. Anyone bitching that this is an anti-Thorkyrie scene did not see the same movie we did, and you can all piss off. I love this scene to my core. I love seeing Valkyrie being assured to be a relevant part of Thor’s story and that it likely means Tessa Thompson is going to join us again for either Thor 4 or Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I am a giant freaking fan of her character and I can’t scream “SIGN ME THE FUCK UP” loud enough for her to be in future films with him, and with the MCU in general. I hope she signed a three movie deal or more. That would be amazing. But anyway, my point is, this scene is fantastic and I will be rewinding it a lot when this movie gets to DVD. Nothing makes me happier than Thor shooting heart-eyes at Val, and he was shooting them so hard in this scene that he even took his sunglasses off. God bless this scene.
-Asgardians of the Galaxy. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS BUT I LOVE IT WITH MY ENTIRE FUCKING SOUL YOU GUYS. Everything about Thor hanging out with the Guardians makes me so incredibly happy. I can’t wait for shenanigans. I would assume the plot of the next one is finding Gamora and bringing her home and re-teaching her about her family and falling in love with Quill again, but who knows what wackiness awaits us? I can’t deal with Thor being a little shit to Quill. I could see his Hemsworth peeking through, and I am here for it. Half the reason we all love Thor as much as we do is that Taika was one of the first people to suggest letting Hems be more like himself, and Chris Hemsworth is basically a giant, hilarious puppy, and it really made Thor more fun and likable. Don’t get me wrong—I loved my noble prince, but he was still a big golden retriever even when he was more Shakespearean and all they truly did was dial it up to be a bigger part of his personality.
Really, I like what Thor went through in Endgame and how it connects with lots of elements in previous movies. While parts could have been done better, I thought it was fantastic and it shook things up in a way that should be quite intriguing for his future appearances. Of everyone, Thor is the character I am most excited to learn about continuing to be in the MCU.
Natasha
-Natasha taking a leadership role in the Post Snap years, and her conversation with Steve. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a die-hard Captasha shipper, but more than that, I think the friendship and love (platonic or otherwise) between Nat and Steve is by far one of the best relationships in the Avengers saga. I love how it began, how it developed, and where it is when we watch this scene of them together. I love how soft and gentle Steve is with her, and yet he teases her in this subtle way that’s almost like a verbal hug. Steve is just so compassionate and conscious of her emotional needs, the same as how she has been with him. I think this is such a precious relationship and it’s vital to both of them that they have someone to confide in when times are hard. It’s possibly even more beautiful because they aren’t canonically together as a couple; they’re just two friends who have bonded and been partners ever since The Winter Soldier, and they without a doubt love each other. (Side note: and I am not alone in this because Chris Evans even ships it, and that makes me so very pleased.) I gobble up all Captasha scenes, honestly, because it’s so well written and it’s come a long way from the first time they met in Avengers. But to get a little more in depth, Nat’s brief breakdown about Clint is really something else. Seeing her struggle with the idea that the man she loves (again, platonically) has become a monster, and struggling with the idea that she should move on but she can’t because she’s lost her family, is really damn hard to watch, but it’s necessary. It’s a really good reflection of the level of loss and trauma and pain our poor Avengers have had to deal with since the Snap. It’s an excellent scene.
-Nat going after Clint to bring him home once they figure out that the time heist is at least possible. Ow. This is another scene that is a big kick in the nuts. “Don’t. Don’t give me hope.” “I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you sooner.” Bury me, this is such a good, quiet little scene for her. I really like their friendship and their bond. When Nat mentions family in the previous scene, this is what she’s talking about, and I love how Endgame might be the first film to openly acknowledge that the Avengers are family to each other. And what I like is that this series has earned that. Nothing makes me angrier than when people drop the F-bomb where it is NOT deserved. (*side eyes Suicide Squad and Deadpool 2*) The Avengers have fought and bled for each other, have supported each other, and have loved each other through hell and back, and they ARE a family. Bringing Clint home was a big deal to her, facing her fears of what he’s become, but seeing that he is still somewhat the man she knows and loves because he does return to the fold in the end.
-Natasha’s death. Hoo boy. Okay, so like Tony and Loki, I might just stick this in my Denial category. I was hit with a huge wave of “oh no, please no” when I found out Clint and Nat would be the ones going to retrieve the Soul Stone, because of course it had to be them. However, it was thematically the right choice for it to be Clint and Nat, since I personally think the only other combination it could have been was Steve and Tony or Steve and Nat in terms of “give up that which you love” that the Red Skull illuminated is the price for the stone. I think all the team members genuinely care for each other, but if I wanted to use the word love, yes, I’d say it comes down to members of the team who truly love one another, it’s Tony and Steve, Clint and Nat, and Nat and Steve. So I am in a very weird place about Nat’s death in this movie.
First off, I love how it was handled because it couldn’t have gone any other way. Of course both of them wanted to jump on this grenade for each other. Of course they both think they are the unworthy one who should die for the other person they love. Of course they fought over it.
Here's the thing, though: from a writing standpoint, it did need to be Natasha.
And before we go further, let’s address the elephant in the room fandom-wise: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU MORONS, THIS IS NOT THE ‘STUFFED IN THE FRIDGE’ TROPE. God, I hate you sometimes, MCU fandom. I knew as soon as she sacrificed herself that all the fake feminists would run into the streets and climb onto their soapboxes and try to call the Fridge trope. Shut up. It’s not a Fridge.
For those not familiar with the trope, Stuffed in the Fridge is when a typically female character is unceremoniously killed off for usually one of two reasons (1) to cause a male character to angst (2) to further or advance a male agenda somehow.
Natasha’s sacrifice is neither of these things.
First off, it was her choice. Clint made it completely clear that he loves her and he did not want her to die for him. One of the primary problems with the Fridge trope is it robs the woman of her choice, and Nat is the one who decided that she would be the one to die for the Soul Stone. Calling this a Fridge is a blatant, insulting erasure of her motivation as a character.
Second off, Nat’s death is a sacrifice that wins a war. It’s not pointless, and it’s not just for angst, and it’s not just for a male character to get ahead in the story. She literally saves trillions of lives by trading her soul for the stone. Trillions. Yes, the team is devastated, but her death is not simply there to make you shed tears and nothing else. She saved them all. So don’t you dare try to pin this dumb trope on her, because it’s not accurate or correct.
Third off, this completes Natasha’s character arc. We’re introduced to the beginning of her arc in the iconic scene of The Avengers where she tricks Loki into revealing his scheme, but it turns out that while she does succeed, we find out what motivates her, and that Loki’s cruelty did affect her in the end. Clint was sent to kill her, but he shows compassion and instead recruits her. Clint gives her a second chance. And Nat, in sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, gives Clint a second chance. It’s come full circle. One of my all-time favorite lines in this entire film series is hers, “I got red in my ledger; I’d like to wipe it out.” That. Is. A. Fucking. Great. Line. And this is the pay off and the completion of Nat’s character arc. She’s done horrible things and they have been chains on her soul and she felt that she needed to repay her debt in this way, and in a way that would save so many innocent lives. I will not have these people running around discounting that and acting like she is some victim. Natasha Romanov is not a fucking victim. Natasha Romanov died a hero. She is one of my favorite Avengers and I cried so hard at her loss, but I acknowledge that she did a brave, selfless thing for everyone she loved, and she will be remembered for that always.
Now. That being said…if you want to complain about a female character dying in a majority male story, yes, go right ahead. That is a legitimate complaint. It sucks that Nat died when most of the team is male. I will heartily concur with this criticism and offer no counterargument. It sucks. Period. I hate that she dies in the first act because I really love her fighting style and I wanted to see her kick more ass in the final battle because she’s amazing to watch. So yes, that’s a point I do take off from this movie.
In the end, I’m sort of straddling the fence for losing Nat, as I am with Tony, but I think a lot of people feel the same way. It is great writing, but the loss is so painful that I might not accept it totally.
Thank you for your bravery, Nat. Seriously, you’re one of my favorite female leads and you’ll be sorely missed. I can only hope the Black Widow movie helps me deal with the pain of losing you.
Steve
-Steve quietly taking all of Tony’s trauma-fueled ranting. This is so important. Chris Evans is so fantastic at acting in general, but all of his expressions as Tony lays into him are so underrated, man. He knows that Tony has reached a breaking point, and so he offers no vitriol in return. It’s a huge contrast to the scene in Civil War where the two of them argue. Steve is by no means a timid man. He recognizes that Tony is in such pain, as are all of them, and he just takes that rage because he knows it’s just how Tony chose to process everything because he can’t come to terms with it. We know he blames himself for being unable to stop Thanos, same as all of them do, and it’s such a testament to what a good man Steve is that he doesn’t fire back at Tony, and he is deeply concerned for him instead. Especially when Tony throws it back in his face that they’d lose together, and that’s what hurts the most during this scene. Tony was alone when he lost. Nebula was the only survivor, and she was a complete stranger to him until they repaired the Milano and tried to get back to civilization. I think Tony would still be angry and traumatized, but he’s always been able to look to his team members for ideas or comfort or just companionship in hard times. He nearly died, and that left a mark on him that ran so deep he just couldn’t stop spitting vitriol at possibly one of his closest friends, and it’s also important that they hadn’t spoken since the end of Civil War, so all of that anger and resentment is also tangled up inside them both. What a scene, man. What a scene.
-Steve mentoring people in the Post Snap years. This has a couple of really great things as a scene, honestly. First off, I love that even with Steve being heartbroken and refusing to move on, he still knows it is important to help others. Second off, I love that it’s almost implied that this is in honor of Sam Wilson, who did the same thing for soldiers who returned home from war struggling with PTSD. I really, really love Steve Rogers with all my heart for this scene. Even though he’s broken down and just as devastated as everyone else, he is still out there trying to help others. That is who he is at his core. Steve is the man who cannot stand by and let other people suffer. He won’t do it. It doesn’t matter what it costs him. He will defend and protect and nurture, always. By God, I love that about him.
-Steve’s quiet reconciliation with Tony. We discussed this above, but I love that Steve says so few words here and lets Tony do all the talking. There’s an almost silent “I’m sorry and I love you and I want you to be happy” in this scene together. Tony bringing back the shield just…my feelings…oh God, my feelings.
-Steve’s miniature speech before they head into the Quantum Realm. I love that even Rocket is impressed.
-Steve’s reaction to Nat’s death. Fuck. Me. Up. This hurt so badly. I can’t. I can’t with how Steve looks at Clint and Clint just looks back at him, and you can almost hear him telepathically saying, “Steve, we lost her.” Like I said before, Steve and Clint without a doubt love Natasha. Yes, Bruce does to some degree, but it’s not the same (sorry, y’all, I think BruceNat was trash and I will never accept it because it was forced and awkward and made no sense to me) as the deep vein of friendship and love she had with both men. It killed me when they were out on the dock and Steve was openly crying for her. We saw Steve crying in the trailer but we didn’t know this was the context. Oh, this hurts me. Steve loved her with all his heart. She was his best friend, same as Sam and Bucky were, and to lose her with no chance of ever getting her back is a terrible, terrible loss. Boy, this scene was rough to endure. I can only imagine how he must have felt having to let her go after he’s lost so many people he loved. Poor Steve.
-The entire New York heist. Oh God. I’m just in heaven over how Steve handled things, everything from the intentional recreation of the iconic elevator scene in The Winter Soldier to the insidious “Hail Hydra” (*makes strangulation hands in the direction of the Russo brothers because they KNOW most of the fandom hates Hydra Cap from the comics and so of course they put that in there just to screw with us*) to the smug smirk on Cap’s face as he walked away with scepter to Cap laying the beatdown on himself to Cap acknowledging his sweet, sweet, round, perfectly firm ass. (Seriously, Chris Evans, if you ever read this, marry me, we already met and hugged each other, we could make this work.) Yes. Special props to Cap vs. Cap’s interactions. It was just…everything.
-Steve wielding Mjolnir. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. So everyone’s already raved about this scene, but I don’t care, I have to rave about it too. Good gravy. Good God. This scene is everything. Honestly, it is easily one of the greatest things ever conceived not only by the MCU, but in action movies period. This can stand toe to toe with some of the best beatdowns in all of cinema. It’s just…where do you even start with how good this fucking scene is?! I mean, every second of it is just glorious. Whether it was the Russos or Evans or the script writers, whoever I need to thank, THANK YOU. Thank you for gift wrapping this total surprise. Every one of us was wounded that Cap didn’t easily lift Mjolnir in Age of Ultron, but at the same time, I loved the humor of that scene when Mjolnir did actually start to move and Thor totally panicked for a second. It was funny as hell. But for the Russos to fulfill our fantasy in a way that was not only a surprise, but just an absolute joy to watch, I can’t even express my fangirl tears. This scene is better than sex and chocolate and cocaine. It’s flawless. Everything about it is flawless, from Steve summoning the goddamn lightning to Thor’s gleeful “I KNEW IT!” I wish I could frame this scene on my wall in .gif form, and I apologize in advance to all my Tumblr followers, because the second this scene is giffed after the DVD release, I am going to reblog it three billion times. I will never stop reblogging it. This is the height of MCU perfection and it deserves to be known as such.
-Steve facing off with Thanos in his last stand, and actually holding his own. Dude. Steve Rogers is a human man, and he withstood Thanos. I just…I can’t with how awesome it is. He lost in the end, but he beat the shit out of Thanos for a good bit and I just have to give him all the props for that. He did the impossible and survived him. That’s amazing.
-Steve strapping on his broken shield and staring down Thanos and his army. This is peak Steve Rogers right here. “Yeah, you have thousands of soldiers. Yeah, you sheared my shield in half. Yeah, you beat me and my comrades. And I don’t give a single solitary fuck.” This is also an amazing echo to the moment in Infinity War where poor Wanda had to kill Vision, and Cap stood up to Thanos with his goddamn bare hands. Steve standing up after getting the shit kicked out of him is what he is all about. He doesn’t care that he is outnumbered. He doesn’t care that he is outgunned. He is Steve motherfucking Rogers and he is going to stand against evil period. This is top tier stuff, man.
-“Avengers Assemble.” Like everyone else, I jizzed in my pants. Full on. We all had a hunch that they would save it until the final Avengers film with the final appearances of the original team, and it was everything we dreamt it would be.
-Steve catching Stormbreaker as well and then trading it with Thor mid-battle. A tiny but hilariously awesome scene. I’m so glad they included it, and it was another little nod to Steve and Thor always having a small adorable friendship moment in each Avengers movie. Thanks for that, truly.
-Steve passing the mantle over to Sam Wilson. Holy shit. So a lot of us were relatively sure with Chris Evans confirming this as his last full appearance as Captain America that the mantle would go to either Bucky or Sam. My money was on Sam, simply for him still being new blood having entered at Phase 2 in the MCU, and because Sam is a lot more of a dynamic main lead that I think the MCU needs in the role. Anthony Mackie, as any hardcore MCU fans know, is a bundle of fun behind the scenes. He’s really hilarious and charismatic, and I think he’ll bring a lot to the role of the new Captain America. It’s such a touching scene as Steve hands him the shield. I really, really get choked up about how it was handled with such respect and trust and honest to God friendship. “How does it feel?” “Like it’s someone else’s.” “It isn’t.” Wow. What a beautiful scene. I’m a little misty as I type it out. And I do like that there was just this little nod from Bucky, who has been antagonistic to him pretty much all the time but here, he shows his support and it’s kind of just known that he will back Sam up no matter what. I cannot express how much I love this idea and its execution. It was perfect. (By the way, please look up the way Anthony Mackie found out about this before filming. It’s too cute.)
-Steve’s ending. Oh my God. Of possibly everyone on the team who I wanted to have a happy ending, I wanted Steve’s the hardest, even though I love Tony to death and beyond. Thank you, Russo brothers. Thank you for letting this man have his second chance at a life, and that he got to spend it with Peggy. I was already crying from the funeral, but the fact that they decided to end the saga with possibly the sweetest imagery in the MCU is just overwhelming. I loved their little slow dance. I love the tears of joy on Peggy’s cheeks. I love the softness in Steve’s expression as he dances with his lady love. I love the song choice. I love how he just looks down at her and she looks up at him and they kiss to close everything out and say goodbye to us all. What a scene. What an ending. I love it more than anything.
Thank you, Steve. Thank you for being our ray of light and sunshine and guidance all these years.
Nebula
I really did not expect to see an arc for Nebula, but I am delighted that we got it. This was very, very interesting considering what a sadistic murderess Nebula was in the previous films, so fueled by rage, and yet here we see that she is still powerful and effective and yet vulnerable. I enjoyed seeing her growth and getting some amount of closure with Thanos’ demise and saving Gamora as well as the rest of the universe.
Bruce
So here’s the thing: Bruce is probably my least favorite Avenger, next to Clint, but that’s not because anything is wrong with either character—I just find their personalities and abilities the least interesting. Therefore, I’ve heard complaints about Hulk not kicking ass in Infinity War and Endgame, and while they are valid points…I don’t care. I guess the thing is that Hulk has kicked ass in all his previous appearances, and I think it was nice of them to get back to the fact that Bruce is indeed a scientist and there is more to him than just crushing things. He is a very conscience driven character, and I was totally fine with him as a supporting member of the team, and of his brave decision to Un-Snap everyone back to life. I especially liked his sympathetic approach to bring Thor back home. “You helped me.” I fully admit that made my lip quiver, honestly, since Thor was obviously so traumatized and was in a lot of pain, and Bruce was gentle with him. That, to me, is just as important as all the bashing he could have done. Same with his impassioned plea with the Ancient One. Sorry that he didn’t kick ass in these last two movies, but honestly, I felt things were balanced and that it’s important to show he is more than the Hulk.
Clint
As mentioned above, Clint is my least favorite Avenger, but again, not because there is anything wrong with him or that he is written poorly—the others just outweigh him in what I like about them. I have to say opening the film with Clint losing his entire family with no knowledge of what was going on was almost as gut-stabbing as how Infinity War began and ended. It was somehow even more cruel since Clint would not have known what was going on until he called the Avengers. And yes, someone’s pointed out to me that it’s crazy he didn’t know about the war, but I have a headcanon that he just cut everyone off once he decided to retire, and he wouldn’t answer when they called so he wouldn’t be dragged into more shenanigans. I highly doubt the whole team just flat-out didn’t tell him what was going on. There’s a good chance Clint decided not to hear from the team again after Cap busted them out since he risked everything and almost got jailed for life after his decision.
All that being said, I did feel Clint’s loss very hard after Nat sacrificed herself. It was extremely well done on Jeremy Renner’s part and there was never a doubt that he loved her. Their bond has always been very cute and I never shipped them, so I wasn’t disappointed by the reveal of his secret family. I thought it was a nice touch and a surprising turn in the story. I’m glad he got to go home to his family in the end, and I especially liked the touching moment he shared with Wanda after Tony’s funeral.
Loki
Holy shit, y’all.
I did not expect this, and I love it more than anything in the world.
Right, so, I am sadly a fan of Loki’s ever since The Dark World, but at the very least, I am not a rabid fan of the character. He is an absolute fucking trashlord and I acknowledge it while still loving him anyway. I was positively giddy that they invited Tom Hiddleston back to shoot new scenes of Loki rather than simply using the old Avengers footage. And I definitely didn’t expect Tony, Cap, and Scott to screw up and Loki gets the Tesseract and vanishes. This is amazing. I can’t wait for the Loki mini-series on Disney Plus, and I assume this is what it’s going to be about. I’m really excited to see what kind of shit he gets himself into, and I loved the little bits we got of him mocking Cap even though they all just kicked his ass, and I loved him rolling his eyes in the background during the heist, and being the only one who knew something fishy was going on. Love, love, love it to pieces. Thank you for giving me more of my stupid trashlord, Endgame. You rock.
Scott
Oh, poor, poor Scott. Not only did he awaken to find his new family gone, but he lost five years of time with his daughter. Ouch. I really have to commend Paul Rudd for the reunion scene with his daughter. The shock and pain mixed in with the gratitude that she survived the Snap was so palpable. I’ve never really considered him much more than an easy going comedic actor, but he did a great job here. Kudos.
Gamora
I am really, really deeply hurt that this means our Gamora, the one we came to know and grow with, is truly gone. Like many fans, I had hoped she was somehow inside the Soul Stone and they could bust her out, but like Nat, it appears that we did truly lose her. I’m not okay. I feel so bad for Quill, who wooed her with so many great moments, and now he’s lost her again. He’ll have to try to make her fall in love with him again, and it hurts me because the sequence of events from the first two Guardians movies are how they fell in love, and it’ll be so much harder to make her understand what they meant to each other and what they had with one another as well as their little stitched together family. Damn it all. This might be one of the biggest underrated losses of all for me. Gamora is my favorite Guardian, period. I adore her, so I am both anticipating and dreading the third Guardians movie as a result.
Carol
Alright, I do have to admit one of my letdowns, even though it’s a total nitpick, is that the trailer gave us Thor and Carol, but the actual movie did not. Oh, why did you lift my hopes up this way?! I really wanted Thor and Carol to bond and have hilarious pissing contests about who is the strongest Avenger, and become battle buddies! However, this might be possible later since we know Hemsworth has agreed to at least one more film, if not more, so fingers crossed he and Carol share screentime. I adored that “I like this one” scene and Thor would play very well off of Carol if you ask me.
That being said, when Carol came back for the final fight…yassss bitch yassss fuck it up! When she came after Thanos, he was fuckin’ shook and I am here for it. I loved that failed headbutt. I want to frame that on a wall. Carol Danvers is not having any of your shit today, you purple Grape Ape punk ass bitch. She laid down the law, and it was glorious. 11/10 good shit of Carol whupping his ass and he had to suckerpunch her just to try to win.
And kudos for the utterly adorable interaction she had with my Spider Son, “H-Hi, I’m Peter Parker.” “Hey, Peter Parker. Got something for me?” *kisses fingertips* This could not have been cuter. Thank you so much, Carol.
Oh, and extra kudos for the Ladies of the MCU smackdown moment. My God. I loved every second of that assault. Please make that into a whole separate team someday and make a movie about it.
Wanda
Standing ovation for Wanda in every respect: her entrance, her powerful line (“I don’t even know who you are.” “You will.”), and the fact that she flat-out almost killed Thanos by her damn self. Wow, wow, wow, my girl. You brought the pain. I miss Vision too, honey, and I’m so sorry we can’t have him back. It’s so unfair that she’s lost her brother and her love within this story, but she still manages to keep going. Wanda is a testament to just how strong women truly are in spite of adversity.
Plot/Story
I know some fans didn’t want it to be as straight-forward as it appeared to be with them going back in time to grab the Stones and undo the Snap, but I was honestly fine with it. The story still managed to genuinely surprise me, especially with the development that the two Nebulas are what caused Thanos to find out what was going on. Holy shit, that was very creative and a great way to let her be a central character considering the trauma she has been through and overcome. I thought the pacing was excellent, and I will have to sit down and think it through but I don’t feel as if we had unnecessary scenes aside from the diner scene being a little longer than it needed to be. (You could have cut the photo op bit out and no one would miss it, for instance.) Like Infinity War, I felt that all the scenes had a use and showed us something, and the action was magnificent and creative. The Avengers pulling the entirety of the MCU together in the third act is some seriously iconic stuff that I really hope people will take into consideration as a legendary thing no one has ever really done before.
A friend of mine mentioned that you can neatly divide Endgame into three sections of story: build up, heist, and pay off. One of the best things about Endgame, to me, is the pay off. I love how many continuity nods we had and how many threads were tied off in a satisfying manner, from deeply emotional relationships to just sublime action sequences. We have so many films in this series that it’s hard to rank them, but I have to say I really would put Endgame in the top 10 for my preferences. It was a worthy ending to such an amazing set of films, and while I will miss the actors who won’t continue past Phase 3, I am incredibly grateful for their time and talents spent on this franchise. It is in its own category, honestly, with consistent quality in nearly every aspect it attempts. I think it was the perfect mix of solemn but affectionate goodbyes and bright, hopeful new beginnings. I am excited to see what is in store and what new ground we’re gonna break with the future stories.
So thanks for everything, Endgame. I’m glad to have had this era come to such a satisfying close.
See you in the funny papers.
Kyoko
#avengers#avengers endgame#endgame#spoilers#movie review#film review#the avengers#marvel#Marvel Cinematic Universe#mcu#spoiler alert#no really this is 14 pages long#i am so sorry but i had a lot of feelings okay#sorry not sorry
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Film Review: Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (2009)
On the tenth anniversary of the film Watchmen’s theatrical release, I decided to rewatch the film, only this time, I would watch the film’s Ultimate Cut. Whereas the theatrical cut ran approximately 2 hours and 42 minutes (including closing credits), the Ultimate Cut ran at 3 hours and 35 minutes (again, including closing credits). Having watched this film as a teenager and loving it to the point that for a few years, I’d called it my favorite film ever, I went into watching the Ultimate Cut with trepidation; I had feared that now that I was in my adulthood, I might not look so favorably toward the film as I had when I was a teen. I also feared that if I were to still enjoy the film, I hoped that it would not stem from a blind sense of nostalgia and that I would look upon this less favorably anyway. A similar feeling came over me a few years ago when I had rewatched Tim Burton’s Batman.
So what did I think of the Ultimate Cut of Watchmen? i absolutely loved it, and what few gripes I do have with it are so minute that I wished I wouldn’t even have to mention them here. And I can say with utmost certainty that not only did this movie stand the (albeit so far small) test of time of a decade, but if anything, it made me wonder if this film would have been more successful, critically and financially, if it had been released sometime this decade, what with R-rated films like Deadpool and Logan being so successful in both areas.
But enough about all this prelude. What was it that I loved about this film? What I love about this film, as I did when I was a teenager, was something that had been simultaneously praised and criticized even at the time of this film’s release, which was its faithful adherence to the source material and making only the most necessary of changes for it to be at all filmable. The film’s strength stems largely because of the graphic novel from which it is based, as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is not only considered to be one of the greatest comics of all time, it’s considered a landmark piece of English literature in general such that it, as a piece of the superhero genre, can be studied on serious thematic levels in colleges and universities (I’d cite my sources, but admittedly, I am quite lazy in that regard; but don’t take my word for it, look it up).
The film, like the graphic novel, is set in a fairly realistic world, much like our own in 1985, but with the twist of superheroes existing within it. The story showcases these heroes’ now-outlawed influence on this world, as that influence (namely from Dr. Manhattan) has led the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to the point where nuclear Armageddon is more of a possibility than even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The plot follows the investigation of one such outlawed vigilante, Rorschach (who, btw, is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction), who is looking into the death of the Comedian, a controversial (to say the least) hero who has been mysteriously murdered. Rorschach’s investigation leads him to a “mask killer” theory that, as time goes on and the threat of nuclear annihilation looms ever so closer, gains more credence as more of his fellow heroes, including himself, are attacked by an unknown powerful figure. With the aid of Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre, two of his former colleagues, Rorschach aims to find out who the mask killer is and ultimately uncover the possibility of that killer’s involvement with the impending global doom.
The film’s plot, like the novel, is given a fair amount of focus and does get a resolution that is as satisfying as it was unexpected (something that Rian Johnson seems to have trouble with when it comes to Star Wars: The Last Jedi). However, both the film and comic’s attention on the plot itself is surprisingly minimal compared to its focus on its own character studies, which is the core strength of both the film and comic. So let’s go into our six lead characters.
1. Rorschach: As I mentioned before, Rorschach has been one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, and here, he is probably given the most faithful depiction on the silver screen. Jackie Earle Haley’s performance as Rorschach is, in my opinion, more Oscar-worthy than something like Black Panther, as it is abundantly clear just how well Haley understood this character. He portrays an incredibly damaged sociopath with an uncompromising view of black-and-white morality so well that it makes me sad that Haley never gets the respect for playing this character as well as Ryan Reynolds does for playing Deadpool, Hugh Jackman for Wolverine, Kevin Conroy or Michael Keaton for playing Batman, or Robert Downey, Jr. for playing Iron Man. My hat goes out to you, Mr. Haley. Your performance here rates 10/10 for me still. :)
2. Nite-Owl a.k.a. Dan Dreiberg: As a teenager, I had an underappreciation for both the character of Dan Dreiberg and for Patrick Wilson’s portrayal of him. While I thought then that Wilson had done a good job playing Dreiberg, I didn’t much care for the character in general as a teen, as I thought that he was just a boring everyman. As an adult, however, I found both the character and Wilson’s performance to be as important as, if not more than, Rorschach and Haley’s performance of that character. Wilson’s portrayal of a defeated, pathetic sad-sack of a human being who has an underlying anxiety concerning the threat of nuclear annihilation is an important emotional anchor point for the film (and comic, of course); as entertaining as Rorschach is, I can imagine that not a whole lot of people can relate to him on a deep level. If Rorschach is the Jack Sparrow of what I can loosely call an adventure here, Dreiberg is Will Turner; you might not like him as much as the guy who gets the attention for his craziness, but you realize you need him as the everyman if you want your story to really work.
3. Silk Spectre a.k.a. Laurie Jupiter: Unfortunately, while my opinion on Nite-Owl had changed, my opinion on Laurie Jupiter, as well as Malin Akerman’s performance, has not. I hate to say it, but she’s essentially the female equivalent of Dreiberg, and while she does have some interesting emotional turmoil going on, I don’t find the character to be particularly likable. And I think the biggest reason for that stems from Akerman’s performance; I find her to be too wooden and bland in her delivery. While Akerman does make the character more likable than in the comic, her eye candy appeal doesn’t distract me from the unconvincing performance that she delivers throughout the film.
4. Dr. Manhattan a.k.a. Jon Osterman: A character, and performance courtesy of Billy Crudup, that I gained more appreciation for, like Dreiberg and Wilson’s depiction of that character. The nihilism and disconnection from humanity that serves as the basis for Dr. Manhattan is one that is properly delivered by Crudup’s deliberately robotic performance, and as a character, he stands out as incredibly unique in fiction. As a fan of Rick and Morty, I find Dr. Manhattan to be what Rick Sanchez would be if he had less personalty and gave even less of a shit about the universe in which he inhabits. A nihilistic character can be hard to pull off without coming off as boring, yet the writing and Crudup’s performance manage to almost perfectly convey someone who maybe layered in disinterest, but who, at his core, still retains enough of a sliver of humanity that he wishes to find any reason to still be a part of it.
5. The Comedian a.k.a. Eddie Blake: Now here is a character that you probably wouldn’t see much of in the superhero genre. As unique as Dr. Manhattan is when it comes to his nihilism, Edward Morgan Blake is probably what would happen if Rick Sanchez were actually grounded in reality and his actions had legitimate consequences. Jeffrey Dean Morgan manages to play a despicable human being so incredibly well that even though he says and does some genuinely heinous things, like attempted rape or shooting a pregnant woman dead out of anger for slashing his face with a broken beer bottle because he wouldn’t agree to raise the baby that he impregnated her with, he still manages to come off as understandable and believably human. This is especially highlighted in a scene where he actually breaks down crying to someone who had been his enemy for decades. It’s a shockingly real depiction of a monster who is still all too human and it’s one that I don’t think would be depicted in the mainstream media these days.
6. Ozymandias a.k.a. Adrian Veidt - As a teen, I thought that Matthew Goode’s performance as Veidt was dull, but now, like with Wilson and Crudup’s performance of their respective characters in this film, I now consider his performance to be an incredibly strong one. While giving this character a much more sinister and menacing air than the more tragic atmosphere surrounding Veidt in the comic, I can now assess that Goode is able to deliver a performance that is quite respectable for someone who can be reasonably argued to be the film and comic’s true hero rather than its villain. I don’t find it to be nearly to the same caliber as Josh Brolin’s performance as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but I’d say it’s at least within the same ballpark.
Now that we’re past the characters, I have to mention the extras that are part of the Ultimate Cut of this film and whether or not I think they add or subtract from the film’s quality overall. I can really only think of two scenes that I thought were unnecessary. The first is one early on that I thought made no sense, in which Rorschach somehow managed to survive being shot by a cop without even so much as flinching; it wasn’t even something that was from the book either, so what the hell? Also, I thought that including Hollis Mason’s death in the film was unnecessary, as it doesn’t really have a resolution, and that’s a criticism that I levy at the comic as well. However, in spite of these somewhat weak bits, I felt that the film’s inclusion of the Tales from the Black Freighter is one that lends some very interesting thematic weight to the film’s main story, just as that did in the comic. The Black Freighter sections were incredibly well animated, Gerard Butler put in a fantastic performance as the Captain, and it was a great representation of the comic-within-a-comic; I have no complaints here, but I do understand why it had to ultimately be cut from the film’s theatrical cut.
In conclusion, the film adaptation of Watchmen, as bolstered through most of the extra material of its Ultimate Cut, is not only an excellent adaptation of its source material, even if Alan Moore didn’t want his name attached to it, but it’s also a great film in its own right that I find to be incredibly underrated. I rate this movie 9.5/10.
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Tara Maclay or Lilah Morgan? (for some reason those two characters popped in my head) Weslah or Bangel? BtVS Seasons 1-3 or 4-7? AtS Seasons 2 or 5? Buffy's fight with Faith or Buffy's fight with Willow? Buffy's outfits or Faith's outfits? Hush or Restless? Something Blue or Pangs? The Gift or Chosen? :)
Hahaha, my reaction to all of these was, “NOOOOOOOOOOO, I CAAAAAAAN’T!!!!!” I am realizing belatedly that this was a terrible meme for me to reblog. When it comes to choosing, I am Chidi.
Tara Maclay or Lilah Morgan? This is SO HARD because I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH, ack, the pain!!! I feel like Lilah very slightly wins because of her snark powers, but honestly, I think I adore them pretty equally.
Weslah or Bangel? Another one that is hard!!! I definitely feel more interested in Wesley/Lilah (I went through a period of writing a handful of anguished Wes/Lilah fics during my last Angel watch some years ago, and that entire relationship burrowed itself into my heart in the process!), although technically I feel like Buffy/Angel is the better choice with more satisfying canon haps? Both, both are good!
BtVS S1-3 or 4-7. I feel like technically I should gravitate toward 1-3, but I often find myself rewatching season 4 through early 6 more often on the rare occasions that I do watch Buffy these days? (Technically, my last rewatch was s3-s5 but then I stopped at “The Body” because it was too sad for me to handle in a casual TV rewatching situation.) I think I’ve just grown to like seeing the characters as older as I’ve gotten older. Also, I really like having Tara and Anya and Dawn and Spike (well, Spike sometimes) added to the mix.
Buffy’s fight with Faith or Buffy’s fight with Willow?
Faith for sure. Ye gods, the romantic undertones! Also, I kind of hate the whole culmination of the Dark Willow arc? I feel like it had a lot of potential, but I don’t really like how it’s executed.
Buffy’s outfits or Faith’s outfits?
Buffy’s, for no particular reason other than that I like bright and pastel colors and I associate them more with her?
Hush or Restless?
Aaah, two of my very faves! I’ll say “Hush” just because the concept is so fun.
Something Blue or Pangs?
As a great lover of silly nonsense, “Something Blue” is one of my favorite episodes ever, so definitely, definitely that one! At last, an easy choice.
The Gift or Chosen?
I actually haven’t watched s7 very often (except for that episode about the boy with the magic letterman’s jacket because I find it pretty hilarious), so as a result i definitely lean more toward The Gift! Chosen is, granted, a much more satisfying ending for our girl Buff.
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the official-gay-spaghetti-chef khonjin house theory
after the finale i spent like a week rewatching khonjin house trying to figure out what the heck is going on and due to popular demand here it is but it is long
note tho that this is my interpretation and as we get the sequel Khonjin and Supermental things may be proven wrong
you’ve probably also heard all this bullcrap before
also this is all going under a read more
PART 1: Khonjin
If we get rid of Pent and Smack, we are left with one question: What is the plot of Khonjin House? How are all of these episodes connected?
This is the easy answer, and Khonjin went over it in a Livestream to Live
If you don’t wanna hear it out of his mouth, basically:
- Khonjin’s Dad is a powerful mafia man
- Gino works for him
- Gino & Khonjin’s Dad are trying to teach Khonjin how to be just as powerful
- Spag is just the embodiment of someone who just doesn’t belong there
And that’s it. That’s all Khonjin House is. (Psst: You can especially see this mafia theme in episodes like Father and Heist)
PART 2: Pent
Now we bring Pent in, and we are left with many questions. However, I like to merge these questions into one Mega-Question: what the fuck??
The path to answering this lies in the code we get at the end of Episode 49: 15-215-323-330-437-440-544-550
As the YouTube comments on the video were quick to point out, the code refers to Season + Episode. (ex. 437 is Season 4, Episode 37, the 10,000 Subscriber Special)
For simplicity, these episodes are: Fabric, Court, T-Shirt, Finale (s3), 10,000 Subscriber Special, Finale (s4), Blind Date, and Finale (s5).
I’m going to describe what I noticed in each episode with pictures, so if that isn’t your thing/you’ve analyzed the episodes already feel free to start scrolling like hell. tl;dr the majority have something to do with pent or smack.
Fabric: Khonjin touches the fabric of existence, and when he does we see Pent. Additonally, the voice that is talking to Khonjin is described to be “morgan freeman except with turquoise hair and i’m black.” aka Smack.
The thing about Fabric is that we aren’t entirely sure if this IS Pent - it’s the same model from Khonjin House Call - which came out 8 months before Khonjin House. For all intents and purposes for this theory, however, this is the first appearance of Pent and Smack.
Court: This is one of the few confusing ones. However, a line from this episode (HAVE YOU’RE hUSBAND EVER MADE LOVE?) is shown in episode 50.
If we want to stretch this episode’s liability, this second Khonjin could be Pent. Additionally, the court case is about Gino murdering his wife and children, which fits with the accepted idea that Pent and Shelby were in some kind of relationship and she’s now dead. I have no fucking clue what this episode does minus the quote, however.
T-Shirt: This is another confusing episode as to why it matters.
There’s a mention about a wife, though. To add to the mystery, there is a line that says “t he shot Fucking sucks,” in a similar manner to the previous quote, but no one I’ve met has been able to figure out if this matters at all. I have no clue what this episode does, period.
Finale: I don’t feel the need to comment on this one as much because it is pretty obvious what happens: Pent is now able to interact with the world of Khonjin House.
What I think happens is that Pent ends up actually using Khonjin’s body - since in every episode prior to the Finale they are never actually in the same scene. This will be brought up in the next finale.
This is a small detail I noticed, but during this Finale we get a scene that is similar to one in the Grand Finale.
10,000 Subscriber Special: This one is also pretty straight forward - Pent interacts with Gino and shit gets bad. There’s a lot of interesting dialogue in here, though.
Pent: “is your name by any chance, Gino?”
Pent (later): “You said you weren’t him! I thought I recognized you..”
Why does Pent know who Gino is? If we use the Khonjin House Call theory, then Gino (or who would be Gino in Pent’s world) was the other person on the phone.
Pent also tells Gino that “the next time I show up will be the last. If he’s anywhere here...and you haven’t told me...”
Referring to Smack, more likely than not. Why does Pent assume Gino knows who Smack is? (This will get more complicated later)
Finale: As the episodes go on, the connections get more obvious. In this finale, Smack gets a formal appearance and seems to be able to interact with the world too.
As seen by him getting hired by Khonjin’s Dad into the mafia.
That’s about it for that episode.
Blind Date: This is a fun episode. Like the 10000 subs, this comes mostly through dialogue.
Spag: ”I really admire your dedication, y’know, your passion and zeal for making Gino’s life a living heck...but what really goats my goat is just your God-like omnipotent powers of just like over the fabric of the universe...just to destroy and crush your enemies over and over and over and over again.”
This is a bit of foreshadowing to episode 50. Otherwise, it seems to be Spag fitting the role as being a walk-in character. What gets more interesting is the conversation immediately afterwards:
Pent: ”I bet Shelby likes that too. How’s she doing?”
Spag: “Oh, she’s doing great.”
Pent: “Really?”
Spag: “Uh, no, I have no idea who that is. Who is that?”
In this episode, o shit its shelby.
And now, at last, we are at
The Grand Finale: I’ll be going piece-by-piece here, since the finale is the longest and most complicated.
When Gino gives Khonjin the letter (the same letter Smack gave him in episode 49), that causes Khonjin and Pent to split and be their own entities again. Not only do their bodies split, they go to where Pent came from before basically stealing Khonjin’s body.
Pent does some god shit, namely deleting Spag from existance, leaving him alone with Gino.
Pent: No bullets?
He is obviously salty about the time that Gino shot him.
Gino: “Any time now, Smack”
Gino knows who Smack is. Not only this, but he knows Smack is able to do something. So, as we question how Pent recognizes Gino, we must also ask how Gino knows Smack.
However, this point gets mute because Pent decks Gino.
And then Smack shows up, fashionably late.
The following conversation between the two is a bit confusing, granted. In their conversation, we find out that
- Pent believed Smack was following him in order to kill him
- Smack isn’t here to kill him
- Pent made this existence (Khonjin House, all the characters), and basically announces himself as a god here.
- When Pent tries to prove this, his powers are mute - Smack knows that his powers actually belong to Khonjin now.
- Now that Khonjin has those powers, this world that Pent made doesn’t need him.
- The world that they came from does need Pent, but Pent adamantly refuses this idea.
- If Pent doesn’t come back, people will die.
- Pent only left because Shelby is dead.
At this last point, the finale glitches out a bit, and we get these pictures:
Recognize that top line from the court trial?
Anyway, Pent starts freaking out more and actually goes to try to attack and/or murder Smack.
Khonjin stops him.
Smack: “The fact that you saved me.. maybe you are a part of him.”
Since Pent made everything, it’s likely he made things out of parts of him/things he’s experienced, and Khonjin could be a Pent 2.0 or something along those lines.
Finally, Smack takes Pent away, the Khonjin House universe is left to be alone, and we are teased with our first taste of Supermental:
If you have been violently scrolling past all of this, you can stop now.
So, from all these details within the episodes, I tried to piece together an explanation for Pent and Smack.
The Theory:
Shelby died. Pent basically went mad from this and left the place he was needed and made his own instead. Smack followed him in order to bring him back. In his new existence, Pent created the universe that Khonjin and Gino reside in.
Pent realized Smack had followed him. He thought Smack followed in order to kill him, and fled into this world he had created to avoid Smack. While in this world, he interrogates the people to make sure that none of them are Smack (ex. Asking Spag how Shelby’s doing, since only Smack would know who Shelby is, threatening Gino to tell him if he spots Smack).
However, his work wasn’t good enough, and Smack was still able to follow him. Smack allied with Gino to get Pent out of this world via the letter, and then Episode 50 happens - where Smack finally succeeds in bringing Pent back to where he belongs.
Unanswered Questions:
- Who is Shelby Uavou?
- Does everyone in the universe represent a part of Pent, or is it just Khonjin?
- What is the deal with Gino? Why does Pent recognize Gino and why does Gino know Smack only from his voice?
These questions could be answered should I try hard enough, but they are most likely going to be answered in Supermental.
Other Things:
This theory was written directly after episode 50 came out. It doesn’t take into consideration
- The OST’s title songs and music
- The Patreon Goal Update video
- Apple police masculine perfection
- The Supermental logo, whatever the heck that is
But that is how I think Khonjin House goes!
I hope this cleared up some things for some of the new fans of Khonjin House OR if you knew all this shit you just get reaffirmation and don’t be a jerk about it
Again, this is only my theory, I am not saying it is the absolute best, but it’s what I have!
If there’s anything confusing or if you have any questions, feel free to send an ask!
i hope you enjoyed reading this nonsense lol
- spag
(posted feb 2017)
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Canes @ Leafs - Game 35 - Dec.19.17
KEY NARRATIVES
Toronto Maple Leafs (20-13-1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (14-11-7)
Tomorrow is a special day for the Maple Leafs in the ongoing 100 Years Celebrations that the NHL has been hosting since January 1st, 2017. While I find it a little strange that they're commemorating the 100th Year instead of the 100th season, who am I to turn my nose up at a party? Tomorrow is dubbed the Leafs' Next Century Game, the final hurrah for one of the Original Six franchises. While the NHL is hilariously choosy and editorial about what it presents from its history, the Maple Leafs claim a century of heritage, dating back to the Toronto Arenas who played the very first game in league history at 2:00 pm on December 19th, 1917. To commemorate this the Leafs are forcing me to watch hockey in a conference room at work at 11 am on the west coast. They'll also be wearing some throwback T Arenas Jerseys. Love me a special jersey game.
Along for the ride on this day of pomp and circumstance are the Carolina Hurricanes, a struggling non-traditional market team who didn't exist until 1972. As much as I have a soft spot for Carolina, it seems an odd choice for this game (why not another Original Six team or, on the other end of the spectrum, Vegas? It is the Next Century Game after all). At least the red and blue uniforms will contrast nicely.
Unfortunately, there might be rain on the Leafs prom night if this game looks anything like the last two the Leafs' played against the Canes. This will be the 3 game season series tie-breaker, as each team currently has a win. However, the Leafs looked like relative crap both times they faced Carolina and it was Freddie ripping the two points out of their deserving hands when they played in November.
While Carolina is still dominating in underlying metrics, with both the league highest Corsi For Percentage (shots lots more than the opposition) and the highest Expected Goals Percentage (hypothetically shoots lots better than the opposition), they've gone 4-5-0 in December and are still sitting in the last place spot in the Metro division.
It's extremely tragic.
Back in home territory for a few days after playing 5 games in 7 days, we received news that the Leafs have suffered their first serious injury of the season while Matthews is out day-to-day. Nikita Zaitsev took a blocked shot to the ankle in the third period of the game against Detroit on Friday and has now been placed on the injured reserve list, which means he's likely out for a few weeks at least. The Leafs will feel his loss on the penalty kill where he was playing league topping PK minutes with Ron Hainsey (who is averaging more than 4 minutes a night on the PK), it will be interesting to see what the Leafs' d-core looks like without him for a while.
It's been discussed, here and everywhere else, that the Gardiner-Zaitsev pairing hasn't been working, and Zaits, in particular, has had an alarmingly poor beginning of the season (especially considering he was just signed for a 4.5 million, 7-year deal over the summer). Based on practice lines, the Leafs will likely look like this against Carolina tomorrow:
Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Carrick
Borgman - Polak
Another polarizing Leaf in Martin Marincin has been called up from the Marlies as the Leafs seventh defenseman while Zaitsev is on IR. This is a fantastic opportunity for Connor Carrick who has been (insultingly) bumped out of the lineup recently in favor of Roman Polak. Carrick had decent success in the minutes he shared with Gardiner last year and they do have some complementary skill sets, so there's a real chance here for both of them to take silver linking on a rough situation.
Likely the Leafs won't practice tomorrow with the early puck drop, so the forward lines will likely be one of the following based on Sunday/Monday practices:
SUNDAY
Marleau - Kadri - Komarov
JvR - Bozak - Marner
Hyman - Nylander - Brown
Martin - Moore - Kapanen
MONDAY
Komarov - Kadri - Brown
Marleau - Nylander - Hyman
JvR - Bozak - Marner
Martin - Moore - Kapanen
Subtle differences here, but the big takeaways are that Nylander will definitely be at center and Kapanen earned a spot away from Leivo, which makes sense considering he was one of the few Leafs skaters who actually looked good against Detroit on Friday.
While I love the concept of a Hyman - Nylander - Brown line based on the fact that they were all teammates on the Marlies before they were called up to the big club last year (awww), I like the idea of Nylander getting some time centering Marleau. Time next to a reliable vet (who also plays center) could be good for Willy's development/transition. Plus, Marleau and Nylander have opposing strong sides on faceoffs, which will allow the Leafs to use their draw advantage strategy on this line (in which the centers on lines with certain wingers who have opposite strong sides take turns on appropriate faceoffs, so almost all draws are by a player on their strong side, which was most commonly used between Matthews and Nylander when they've been on a line together).
Hopefully, it goes well, as this is the last shot of the season to not be embarrassed by Carolina -- which would be nice, considering the fanfare around this supposedly historic game.
Some Key Numbers
53 - Jeff Skinner - Left Wing
20 - Sebastian Aho - Left Wing
57 - Trevor van Riemsdyk - Defenseman
86 - Teuvo Teravainen - Right Wing
5 - Noah Hanifin - Defenseman
27 - Justin Faulk - Defenseman - Captain
11 - Jordan Staal - Center - Captain
THE HIGHLIGHTS
youtube
THE POST GAME
Score: W 8-1
I probably would have got this post-game written a lot faster if I hadn't had to rewatch the Maple Leafs’ opening ceremonies like three times. While I was expecting a lot more pomp and circumstance and guest appearances, the Leafs seemed to sense that they'd done more than enough of that in the past year of celebrations and made the Next Century Game very specifically about the future. This included stupid cute photographs of all the Leafs as kids (including home-town boys Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman in their early Leafs gear). This was followed by two groups of children skating out in home and away jerseys to dramatically skate around their sides of the ice and stand with the teams for the national anthems, as well as kids in suits standing with the coaches behind the bench. Even in my grinchiest mood, it would be impossible not to find all this absolutely delightful.
But... not as delightful as this game.
The Leafs frankly blew Carolina out of the water. While Scott Darling finished the night with a heartbreaking save percentage of .778, the rest of the team looked pretty terrible as well. While perhaps there wouldn't have been 8 goals, even if Darling put up a .915 this likely would have been the Leafs’ game. They were beat out by Carolina in the Corsi battle, but considering the level of scoring effects present in a game that's 4-1 at the end of the first, it's actually shocking that the Leafs had more SOG at the end of this game, with 36 to Carolina's 33. Less surprising is the Leafs' continued expected goals dominance when they're on their game. At fives, the Leafs had 54.69% of the xGF share.
There are too many goals to break down one by one so let's just look at this delightful scoresheet where you can see that every goal was scored by a different Leaf.
Mitch Marner - 4 Points (1G, 3A)
Tyler Bozak - 4 Points (1G, 3A)
James van Riemsdyk - 3 Points (1G, 2A)
Zach Hyman - 2 Points (2A)
Patrick Marleau - 1 Point (1G)
Kasperi Kapanen - 1 Point (1G)
Connor Carrick - 1 Point (1G)
William Nylander - 1 Point (1G)
Leo Komarov - 1 Point (1G)
Ron Hainsey - 1 Point (1A)
Morgan Rielly - 1 Point (1A)
While the whole team looked pretty great, Mitch Marner, in particular, had a career night with his first 4 point game. While Leo's short-handed goal was the starting point, when Mitch scored on a beautiful runaway play that had him skating into the zone alone, straight through three Canes players to rip one top corner, it seemed to reawaken something in him.
It was glorious. He was all over the ice. It was like no one could touch him, including on a play where he once again waltzed through a horde of Canes to nearly score a second goal. Luckily Bozak was right there to serve up the delicacy that Marner had plated for him. Marner ended the night tied for the highest CF% on the team with a fantastic 60% at 5v5.
This game was a slump-buster all around. Marner, Nylander, and Komarov all have been waiting and waiting and finally got one in. Kapanen and Carrick both got goals and they haven't even been on the ice much in the past month or so.
On Kapanen - Mike Babcock is going to have some difficult decisions to make when Auston Matthews comes back from injury if Kappy keeps playing like he has. He was the only fourth liner with a neutral/positive CF% during this game and, as mentioned in the preview, was one of the only Leafs to look good against Detroit last Friday. As the only forward on the team who is still waiver-eligible though, it's hard to see the Leafs being able to make room for him outside of injury relief this season.
All in all, this was a game the Leafs needed. The most promising part of this game wasn't just that their offense was back, but they held kept Carolina in check in the defensive zone (something they didn't do often when they were scoring 5+ goals at the beginning of the season). While the stars sort of aligned here and Carolina seemed to have a pretty bad night, hopefully, this gives the Leafs the confidence they've appeared to lack recently.
It won't take long to find out, as the Leafs travel to Columbus today to face a rested Blue Jackets team where this new found swagger will be put to the real test.
Statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey, HockeyViz.com, Hockeystats.ca and Hockey-Reference.com.
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