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0aurelion-sol0 · 3 years

Text

"There's no place like gnome."

Stranger Things 3: The Game.

Gnomes 1-10. 🧙‍♂️

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

It's no secret that the Duffers take a lot of inspirations from Pop Culture. From the most well known movies to the more obscure comics, they are always able to sneak a reference somewhere everytime. And they are also able to make it connected to the story.

I've bragged about how the Stranger Things expanded universe in media is one of the best out there compared to many others. I think that the Duffers, the writers or people in the highest places of the marketing are really paying attention to what comes out of the ST franchise because there is no way to have such content with so many details without someone looking into them.

And ST3: The Game is a very good example of that.

So let's start! The first 10 Gnomes out of 50 that you have to find in the game.

BE AWARE THAT THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW!

"There's elements that could please those who makes metas/analyzes or theories. Especially things related to possible future plot points, easter eggs, references in previous seasons mainly season 3 like unsolved mysteries or unanswered questions and for future seasons such as season 4 like foreshadowing or teasers, trailers or as of lately the sneak peek."

If you have anything you'd like to add, might think I have missed or think it might be referencing something else don't hesitate to share it by commenting or reblogging.

(Say thanks to @hawkinsschoolcounselor for having helped me with some of them. )

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Gnome #1: Johnny

"He's here... with an axe."

Overall plot:

"The film's central character is Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the isolated historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Wintering over with Jack are his wife, Wendy Torrance, and young son, Danny Torrance. Danny is gifted with "the shining", psychic abilities that enable him to see into the hotel's horrific past. The hotel cook, Dick Hallorann, also has this ability and is able to communicate with Danny telepathically. The hotel had a previous winter caretaker who went insane and killed his family and himself. After a winter storm leaves the Torrances snowbound, Jack's sanity deteriorates due to the influence of the supernatural forces that inhabit the hotel, placing his wife and son in danger."

So I assume a lot of you know The Shining by Stanley Kubrick. A movie which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Stephen King in 1977.

There's a lot of things that could have served as an inspiration for ST.

A boy/child who has psychic abilities = Eleven has psychic abilities such as telekinesis. Will has his True Sight which consist in seeing what the MF was seeing and feeling.

Now there's also the theme of family and parenthood that is also a big theme in Stranger Things. Especially abusive parenthood such as Brenner, Lonnie and even Hopper to a smaller degree.

In Shining, Jack tries to kill his family with an axe due to supernatural forces that are in the hotel but there's a difference between King and Kubrick. While King specifically said that Jack was heavily influenced by the Hotel, Kubrick shows that Jack always had that sinister violence in him even before they arrived at the hotel.

It's interesting to draw a parallel to Billy and Will, both characters called William who tried to kill their families and other people while being possessed. But Billy compared to Will was shown to have been abusive even before that. Dacre Montgomery also said that he was inspired by Jack Nicholson's performance in the Shining for his character Billy.

Joyce and Jonathan were shown to get ready to fight the monsters by taking an axe.

It's also interesting to note that Jack dies in the snow while a blizzard is happening outside the hotel. Much like the storm of the Mindflayer who is in the Upside Down, the same Mindflayer who "likes it cold". While in the book, the Overlook explodes and burn.

(Cold vs Fire much like everything Upside Down related not liking Fire.)

Also "Johnny" = "Jonathan", it's kind of similar and Jonathan did wield an axe before. Maybe this is teasing parts of Jonathan storyline next seasons ?

The gnome was also found in Mike's basement, Mike who wants to be a writer when he's older just like Jack.

Let's just hope that Jonathan and Mike don't get the same fate as Jack.

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Gnome #2: Christine

"Two bright, beaming lights for eyes."

Overall plot:

"Written by Bill Phillips and based on Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same title, the movie follows the changes in the lives of Arnie Cunningham, an awkward and unpopular teenager, his friends, his family, and his teenage enemies in Rockbridge, California after Arnie buys a classic red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine, licence number CQB 241, a car that seems to have a jealous, possessive personality – and a mind of its own, which has a bad influence on Arnie. After working on a car in a junkyard owned by Will Darnell, Arnie drops his glasses, starts dressing like a 1950's greaser and develops an arrogant and paranoid personality. He than decides to invite and date the most beautiful girl in highschool, Leigh, who will soon become the next victim of Christine."

I was actually quite surprised by how this story parallels Stranger Things a lot.

First off, Christine is very much like The Mindflayer, a dangerous supernatural being set out to destroy anyone who is in her way, the people who tries to take the things that she thinks belongs to her or threatens her. This is very much relevant to The Mindflayer who after being hurt by the Fire created by the Hawkins Lab was upset and attacked everyone he could. Or as Will putted "Not me, everyone else."

This is very much like Christine who tried to kill Leigh because she was taking her place in the life of Arnie. Christine also tried to kill the bullies of Arnie who after a conflit with him, tried to destroy the car which angered Christine heavily.

The Mindflayer has been described someone who views himself as superior to other species and wants to conquer them, even if it's not his real "goal", the description fits anyone who is possessive and paranoid.

Both the MF and Christine are associated with the color red. Red storm = red color of the car.

Arnie ressembles Will and Billy alot. Will is an awkward and unpopular teenager who after being possessed by the Mindflayer became very different and more violent. Billy was shown to be paranoid, jealous, violent and his look even ressembles the one Arnie takes after repairing Christine.

Both of these boys have the same name as Will Darnell, the owner of a junkyard. Just like the boys in Season 1 who takes shelter in a junkyard, or in season 2 where they fight the Demodogs.

Billy dies, killed by the Mindflayer just like Arnie who was completely possessed by Christine who tried to kill Leigh and Dennis, his best friend after they tried to destroy the car when they realised the supernatural nature of it.

Billy's car ressembles a lot Christine with those lights on. Especially with shots like in the Void or at Starcourt during the night.

Chrissy, a new character that will be in season 4, the most popular girl in Hawkins High like Leigh, has a name that is the diminutive of Christine. It is said that under the perfect surface lies a dark secret. Much like the car Christine, while a beauty is actually a dangerous supernatural being. We'll see if the both of them actually connects in the show.

Also it is set in California where Billy and Max come from and has been rumored by many people due to set leaks (The Surfer Boy Pizza Van.) that it is where the Byers went. I won't get into it in this post but this could be a tease or hint of that IF the set leaks ARE true and not fake to mess with people and the fandom.

Arnie also dies in a car crash having been completely possessed by the evil powers of Christine which is something we see in the sneak peek of ST4. It also reminds of Carrie who has a bully named Chris who she kills in a car crash with her boyfriend Billy aka William.

So will someone die from that car crash ? Who is it ? Chrissy, Joyce, Lonnie ? We can only speculate.

The gnome is also found outside the Wheeler's house where Karen lives near the community pool where Billy works and where the car of Billy is located during the first few chapters of the game. Again, a "bad boy" hitting on the beautiful girl in town. (with a lot of creepy subtext all over it.)

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Gnome #3: Doc

"Always mumbling something about being late."

Overall plot:

"Set in 1985, in the town of Hill Valley, California, the story follows Marty McFly, a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown. Trapped in the past, Marty inadvertently prevents his future parents' meeting—threatening his very existence—and is forced to reconcile the pair and somehow get back to the future."

So I don't think I need to explain why this is here given how much it has been shown and mentioned in season 3. But few things are interesting here, the fact that California is mentioned is a big deal for me again. I know you are aware of the set leaks just as I am aware, if we can trust them than this could be a hint of that location.

Next, we have the theme of Time. Now ever since ST4 was announced, clocks and times have been a key feature in the promotion. Who know what this might mean but again, we're not going to develop that in the post.

There is also the whole funny scenes of Robin realising that indeed Marty's mother had tried to "bang" her own son. Now given the nature of the shown, certain images in the show during certain events and certain stories, you know to what it connects and to which theories it connects. Won't develop further on it but it can be used as an element that can go into those theories.

The gnome is also found outside of Starcourt Mall where Robin and Steve talk about "Back to the Future". It is also where Billy has his "Back to te Future" moment with his car going extremely fast just like the DeLorean.

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Gnome #4: Indiana

"Master of Adventure."

Overall plot:

"After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritualistic human sacrifice in honor of the goddess, Kali."

Fun fact, on Twitter for ST3 promo, a parody poster of this same movie has been posted here of the official ST account.

Jim is obviously Indiana Jones, the look speaks for itself and when he is in the Tunnels in season 2, there's a lot of Indiana Jones imagery.

And of course Kali as 008, a Hindu goddess but as we will see here, it parallels more the Mindflayer.

In 1935, Indiana Jones survives a murder attempt by Lao Che, a crime boss in Shanghai who has hired him to retrieve the remains of Emperor Nurhaci. With his young orphaned Chinese sidekick, Short Round, and the nightclub singer, Willie Scott, in tow, Indy flees Shanghai on a cargo aircraft. While the three of them are asleep, the pilots (employed by Lao Che) dump the fuel and escape via parachute, leaving the plane to crash over the Himalayas. The three narrowly manage to survive by jumping out of the plane on an inflatable raft.

(I wonder if this could be something we see in season 4 with Hopper where he tries to escape on a plane and ends up crashing somewhere or is betrayed by someone who he asked the help of. Now it's a trio and in season 3, Jim, Joyce, Alexei and Murray are the main group that fits this trio. Jim for all the fighting and crazy shit, Joyce and Alexei are kind of like Short Round, they are the sidekicks of Hopper. Murray the role of Willie Scott since she speaks Chinese and him Russian and that Jim just like Indy finds annoying sometimes. Alexei is also kind of like Willie since he kinda goes along with them.

But if we also look at season 2, El is alot like Short Round since she is kind of an orphan too and has a father figure later on. It could also be Will since Hopper is with him a lot of times through season 2. Also Willie did felt out of her element like Alexei because of course he is Russian. Willie in itself doesn't have a lot in common with Joyce but still it's another connection to Will since she has a name close to the one of her sons. Something that does fit a bit more is Jim and Hopper both escaping death, of course Hopper at the end of season 3 but also during season 3 at the farm where he's being shot at by Gregori and than the car doesn't work and explodes and they have to make their way through the forest.

Willie Scott could also be referenced when El disguise herself as this pretty blonde girl in season 1.

Now however, Scoop Troops does fit certain parts of these trio. All the fighting with Steve like Indiana Jones but Robin got his brain because she cracked the code. Dustin and Erica are kinda like short round (especially Dustin who has kind of the same hat as short round.) and are referenced with all the others as children by Robin. Steve doesn't feel in his element like Willie with the three of them who are nerds just like Erica who also doesn't want to accept it. And Robin just like Willie speaks some languages.)

They ride down the mountain slopes and fall into a raging river, eventually arriving at the village of Mayapore in northern India. The villagers plead for their aid in retrieving the sacred stone (shivalinga) stolen from their shrine, along with their missing children, by evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. Indy agrees to do so, hypothesizing that the stone is one of the five Sankara stones given by the gods to help humanity fight evil. (It's kinda like Alexei who turns his back on the Russians, for his life of course and agrees to help Hopper close the gate to save Hawkins and their kids before monsters start to appear or may attack one of their kids. Now the stone could be something similar to the promethium or the two keys who opens the gate and is a highly valuable ressource. It also may be the Flayed who are needed to create the monster for the Mindflayer.)

The trio receive a warm welcome at Pankot Palace and are allowed to stay for the night as guests, attending a lavish, but revolting, banquet hosted by the young Maharajah. The officials rebuff Indy's theory that the Thuggee cult is responsible for their troubles. Later that night, Indy is attacked by an assassin. After Indy kills him, he discovers a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue and sets out to explore them, overcoming a number of booby-traps.

(This could be like when Hopper, Joyce and Murray disguised themselves as Russian soldiers but was than discovered by Grigori who attacks them.

The tunnels could be both groups discovering that there is a secret russian base underground and a gate which explains why there are monsters again in Hawkins but it also be the Source, Brimborn Steel Works, where the Mindflayer is lurking underground where he has cult-like followers who makes sacrifices for him to grow bigger and bigger.

It's also like the Tunnels in season 2 who explains why the soil of Hawkins seemed to literally rot. )

The trio reach an underground temple where the Thuggees worship Kali with human sacrifice. They discover that the Thuggees now possess three of the Sankara stones and have enslaved the children to search for the last two, hidden in the palace catacombs. As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, and Shorty are captured. Thuggee high priest Mola Ram forces Indy to drink a potion that puts him into a trance-like state in which he mindlessly serves the cult. (It's very much like Robin and Steve who after discovering the gate are catched by the Russians and than drugged to answer their questions. But also like the Flayed who drinks the chemicals and serves the Mindflayer like a mindless cult.)

Willie is prepared for sacrifice, while Shorty is put to work in the mines with the other children. Shorty escapes and returns to the temple, where he first frees Indy and, later, the Maharajah from the effects of the potion. Indy saves Willie and retrieves the stones. After freeing the children, Indy fights a hulking overseer and leaves him to be killed by a rock crusher. (Basically Dustin saves Steve and Robin. Willie being prepared for sacrifice is kind of like El prepared for sacrifice by Billy in 3x08 but also frees Billy from the effects of the Mindflayer by making him remember his mother, a pretty blonde woman like Willie and sacrifices himself. And Hopper fights Gregori, a "hulking overseer" and kills him.)

The trio escape from the temple, pursued by Thuggees, and barely escape Mola Ram's attempt to flood them out. They are again ambushed by Mola Ram and his henchmen on a rope bridge above a crocodile-infested river. Indy cuts the bridge, causing several of the henchmen to fall to the crocodiles and leaving the survivors to hang on for their lives. As Mola Ram and Indy struggle, Indy invokes the name of Shiva, causing the stones to glow red-hot and burn through Indy's satchel. Two of them fall out; Mola Ram tries to catch the third, but burns his hand and falls from the bridge and into the river, where he, too, is eaten by the crocodiles. (This can be connected to all the kids fighting in Hawkins with the Spider Monster. But the bridge could also fit for the key in the secret base where Hopper and Gregori fights. The gruesome death of Mola Ram is similar to the gruesome death that Gregori has.)

Indy catches the stone safely and climbs up just as a company of British Indian Army riflemen, sent by the Maharajah, arrive and open fire against the Thuggees to drive them away; the surviving Thuggees are soon cornered and arrested by more soldiers. Indy, Willie, and Shorty return safely to Mayapore with the stone and the missing children. (While it may end well in the movie, we know Billy and multiple people die, the Thuggees unlike the Russians have been captured while the Russians where all able to flee before the US Army arrives and Hopper is presumed dead. Only the children in both stories are alive but are probably traumatized for life.)

All in all we can see that this movie might have had a big influence on the plot of season 3 through many characters and more. It may have some hints about possible events for Hopper in season 4 or even beyond but that's about it for. It's a nice package of comparaisons and references though.

The gnome is found in the Hawkins Community Pool where Billy is. The same Billy who obeys mindlessly the Mindflayer and sacrifices people to it. Just like the Thuggees with Kali.

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Gnome #5: Chunk

"Posed in some odd dance maneuver."

Overall plot:

"In the film, a band of kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and, in doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are chased by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves."

So first, let's get this out of the way, Sean Astin who play Bob Newby, our beloved who plays a character named Mikey.

The Goonies is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by executive producer Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and, in doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are chased by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves.

I wonder if this might hint at some Season 4 plot right here. The Hawkins gang faces the threat of Hawkins becoming a literal ghost down and might need to find something to save it. Also Willy like William, again Will is still there.

The Goonies include optimist lead Goonie Mikey Walsh, his older brother Brandon, the inventive Data, the talkative Mouth, and the overweight klutz Chunk.

Rummaging through the Walshes' attic, they come across a 1632 doubloon and an old treasure map purporting to lead to the treasure of legendary pirate "One-Eyed Willy", believed to be located somewhere nearby. Mikey considers One-Eyed Willy to be the original Goonie. (It kinda reminds me of Mike who got mad at Max in season 2 and told her they didn't need another party member. And he mentionned Will first right after him.)

The kids overpower and bind Brandon and make their way to an abandoned restaurant on the coast that coincides with the map; Brandon soon follows alongside Andy, a cheerleader with a crush on him ( there has been cheerleaders that have been reported in season 4 such as Chrissy.); and Stef, Andy's friend. The group quickly discovers the derelict restaurant is a hideout of the Fratelli crime family: Francis, Jake, and their mother. (Maybe it is both a reference to the Russians in season 3 who have a hideout under the mall who have many restaurants. Or the Lab who OBVIOUSLY does a lot of illegal activities. )

The Goonies find a tunnel in the basement and follow it (like the tunnels made by the Mindflayer in season 2), but when Chunk flags down a motorist to go to the sheriff’s station, he gets abducted by the assailants and imprisoned with their hulking, deformed, younger brother Sloth. (This is obviously like Dustin who befriends Dart in season 2, a literal Demogorgon in the making.)

The Fratellis interrogate Chunk until he reveals where the Goonies have gone, and begin pursuit. Chunk is left behind with Sloth, but befriends him. After Sloth frees both of them, Chunk calls the sheriff, and both follow the trail of the Fratellis. (This is very reminiscent of Hopper in season 1 who gets interrogated by Lab agents or Steve and Robin by the Russians.)

The Goonies evade several deadly booby traps along the tunnels, while staying ahead of the Fratellis. Finally, they reach the grotto where Willy's pirate ship, the Inferno, is anchored. (Will also has a ship, the rainbow ship he drew for Joyce, also Inferno literally means Hell just like what Hawkins has been called.)

The group discovers the ship is filled with treasure, and they start filling their pockets, but Mikey warns them not to take any on a set of scales in front of Willy, considering that to be their tribute to him. As they leave the ship, the assailants appear and strip them of their loot. They start to bind the Goonies and make them walk the plank, until Chunk arrives with Sloth and distracts the assailants long enough for the Goonies to jump overboard and swim to safety. (It's the opposite of the season 2 finale, where Dustin has to distract Dart so that the other could pass through the tunnels.)

The Fratellis proceed to grab all the treasure they can, including those on Willy's scales; this triggers another booby trap that causes the grotto to cave in. With Sloth's help, the Goonies and Fratellis barely escape.

The two groups emerge on Astoria's beach, where they reunite with the Goonies' families and the police. The Fratellis are arrested, but Chunk prevents Sloth from also being taken; he invites Sloth to live with him, which Sloth accepts. ("Unfortunately", Dart compared to Sloth probably died.)

As the kids describe their adventure to their parents, the Walshes' housekeeper, Rosalita, discovers that Mikey's marble bag is filled with gems he took from the ship and had not been seized by the Fratellis. Mikey's father triumphantly rips up the foreclosure papers, declaring they have enough money to negate the foreclosure. As the Goonies celebrate, they see the Inferno, having broken free of the grotto, sailing off on its own in the distance. (Could it be hinting at a possible happy ending for Stranger Things ?)

So Fratellis, is similar to fratello which means "brother, fellow, neighbor" which perhaps could be a reference to the Mindflayer who is kind of our neighbor since he is basically in the same places but in the Upside Down. The Mindflayer also has been paralleled to Billy and other abusive father figures. Billy who is the brother of Max. He has also been paralleled to Kali through his anger and him attacking people who hurted him or might hurt him. Could in itself The Mindflayer should be taken or seen as some sort of family figure ? Maybe him being always associated with Will The Wise especially in 2x04 or someone who has the name Will like Billy is a connection. The same Billy who also parallels Russians who just like the Fratellis have secret hideouts.

Though the Fratellis are more motivated by greed which fits Brenner, Lonnie (who tried to use his son's death to gain money.) or Russians most.

Now Willy, Willy is a captain. Maybe it could be hinting at the fact that Will has more importance to the story than we think. There's also Inferno, "Hell" which is Hawkins but also the name of the ship. And Will has a rainbow ship... Could Hawkins be the ship of Will where his adventures are taking place ?

As for the dance... well as you've seen upper in the post: it's the "Truffle Shuffle Dance". It's something that Chunk has to do before entering Mikey's house. It's similar to what Dustin do at the beginning of season 1 to the bullies when he makes his bones crack due to his medical condition, cleidocranial dysplasia.

As for where this gnome is located, it's in Weathertop where Cerebro is located which is fitting since Dustin has a lot of Goonies as inspiration for his character.

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Gnome #6: Elvis

"He's not dead!"

"Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known simply as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy." - Wikipedia.

It is a lot known that people in the 80's thought that Elvis Presley was still alive due to his status and the aura he had as a celebrity. However, no matter how appealing this myth may be, he died of an excessive usage of prescription drugs which reminds me of Nancy who said she thought Tom was on drugs when he fired her and Jonathan while he an the Flayed were drinking chemicals. He also died in 1977, the same year "Heroes" by David Bowie came out which is a song that was used two times when we thought a character died when he was actually alive which are Will and Hopper. Will and Hopper both have a lot of rock in their Spotify playlist.

Also, I personally think that Steve has kind of an Elvis Presley aura to him especially in season 1. After all, Steve has a nickname "King Steve" and Elvis Presley is often nicknamed "The King" and both were popular with girls.

Fun fact: Dacre Montgomery who plays Billy who literally becomes the new "King" of Hawkins will play in the biographical music drama "Elvis" about Elvis Presley where he will play a character called "Steve Binder".

Also actor David Harbour also got married with singer Lily Allen by Elvis in Las Vegas.

It's also found hidden behind bushes near the Public Library. Maybe indicating that Elvis is still out there in the world and hiding.

Which also may be a reference to Brenner who has a similar haircut but also about the novel "Suspicious Minds", a prequel of ST taking place in the Lab when Brenner was doing his sinister experiments which is the same title as one of the songs of Elvis. Like Elvis, Brenner is still out there, hiding in Hawkins.

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Gnome #7: Jack

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull gnome."

Again another reference to Shining. So what you are seeing here is a proverb, it means: "It means that without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring."

In Shining, it represents Jack's slow descent into madness. But it could be a reference to Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy who all work their asses off and don't take a lot of time for themselves and so don't have the time to explore anything else than work which also cause for them not to be there when Will got kidnapped. It may also represent Jonathan's words to Nancy in season 1 where he "called out" the boring life she will have and that she will live like her parents so in this case the proverb becomes about societal norms.

Mike just like Jack is an aspiring writer, Mike just like other members of his family falls into these societal norms that are expected like work and overworking in this instance which makes them boring in the eyes of people like Jonathan. "No play" may also reference D&D which Mike started to ignore in season 3 and worried more pointless and superficial things.

Again, hope it doesn't foreshadow anything for these two characters.

This gnome is found in the Library which is fitting considering Jack wants to be a writer.

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Gnome #8: Flynn (Flynn Rider from "Tangled" (2010))

"Looks like he rides well."

Overall plot of Tangled (2010):

"The film tells the story of Rapunzel, a lost, young princess with magical long blonde hair who yearns to leave her secluded tower. Against her abusive foster mother's wishes who kidnappee her when she was young, she accepts the aid of an intruder to take her out into the world which she has never seen."

This story is literally what the boys was arguing about at the end of season 1.

1)The lost knight...

Flynn Rider is actually the son of a king and queen that were from a kingdom that got destroyed by a powerful opal. He was evacuated and placed in an orphanage. He made his reputation as thief.

So Mike and El both parallels this guy, well Mike is a palladin in D&D and he is the son of a wealthy family so he is basically a night. El however also lost her parents like him and has more attributes of a knight in season 1 than Mike.

Flynn is arrogant, which Mike can be a bit sometimes but the both of them can be extremely courageous and care a lot about the people they care about though they are not very strong, nor athletic. Maybe Flynn a bit more.

Also fun coincidence Flynn = Finn, the name of the actor who plays Mike. (almost the same name).

Both him and El run into each other in the woods. Just like Flynn who discover Rapunzel while trying to enter Rapunzel's tower but is knocked out by her who is none other than the...

2)The proud princess...

Well first Rapunzel = Eleven. Both of these girls have magical powers and are used by an abusive and evil parental figure who needs them for their own interest, Mother Gothel used the powers of Rapunzel to stay young forever (like an addiction, a drug) and Martin Brenner aka "Papa". They are both locked away somewhere. El in the lab and Rapunzel in the tower which they both seeked to escape out of. Both believed that these parental figures loved them while it was not true. El also has long blond hair in season 1 like Rapunzel. And both quickly form a relationship with a boy they just met. Both don't know who their real parents are and wants to find them. While Rapunzel has long blonde hair, El had a shaved head.

Also in season 2, El is locked in a cabin in the woods because of Hopper because he believe it is not safe out there which is exactly what Mother Gothel tells Rapunzel. Just like her El disobeys and seeks to discover who her true parents are.

Rapunzel seeks to know what are those floating lights that always appear on her birthday, it is actually her parents who are the king and queen of a kingdom not so far away that do that every year hoping one day she will come back to her. She is a "lost princess". It is very similar to Terry Ives who was communicating through the lights to El.

Rapunzel's power comes out of something that is also connected to something famous in ST.

3) Weird flowers in the cave...

Rapunzel's power come from a flower called "Sundrop flower". = Sunflower which is said by Terry Ives.

This flower can pretty much heal anything including mortal wounds. The Queen got pregnant with Rapunzel but was also terribly sick so she took this flower to heal herself and while doing so, Rapunzel got this ability.

This is very reminiscent of Terry Ives who was pregnant with El and took part in the MKUltra experiences that gave her these powers including certain drugs. She is also "ill" in a way as she is now stuck in a loop. At least from what we saw.

But Rapunzel also parallels another character.

Will Byers. Will could communicate through lights to his mother, just like the parents of Rapunzel and Terry Ives.

The weird flowers could be referencing the sort of vines that entered inside of him in the Upside Down which gave him his "now-memories".

Both had abusive parental figure that would lock them somewhere for whatever reason. (Lonnie with Will in his trunk.)

(Also Hopper may have tried to separate Mike and El but he wasn't like what a Lonnie or Brenner would have been. This is why yes, the situation in season 2 parallels but Hopper truly wished good for El while Brenner and Mother Gothel didn't care for any of these two.)

Same is for Lonnie, he doesn't care about Will.

Since Will is a cleric, both him and Rapunzel have the same time of power. Powers that El doesn't have:

To heal the sick and injured

To revive the dead

To work as a shield

Given this story, it may hint at the fact that Brenner and Lonnie may try to take El and Will for their own greed and purposes.

Since Rapunzel parallels both Will and El, you know what that means for Flynn who parallels Mike.

Flynn in the movie is stabbed by Mother Gothel and dies before cutting the hair of Rapunzel killing Mother Gothel in the process. Rapunzel mourns him and one of his tears heal him.

If Flynn parallels Mike, than something bad could happen to him. If Will does have powers and has feelings for Mike, a supposed death may reveal his powers.

And if he has the same powers as his cleric role, than he could heal those who get hurt or even bring the dead back to life.

If Lonnie sees Mike around Will, given he is homophobic. He may try to hurt him so that he doesn't go near Will again which could lead to him being in grave danger.

Of course all of that is just speculation.

This gnome was found on the parking lot of Starcourt where El decided to break up with Mike and we saw Will smiling in the background.

Also I don't know but... "Looks like he rides well", I mean there's certain undertones to that which are... I don't know how to process that but from what you've just read, Mike apparently rides well. I mean I have nothing against gay sex jokes but still...

Even if it's unintentional, it's how it'll sound on the internet.

_____________________________

Gnome #9: David

"At 399, he's the oldest gnome around."

So this gnome was already in the first ST official mobile game. And this reminds me a lot of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit but also and of course; Dungeons & Dragons.

The World of David the Gnome, originally titled David, el Gnomo (also known as David, the Gnome), is a Spanish animated television series based on the children's book The Secret Book of Gnomes, by the Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet. The series was originally created in Spain by BRB Internacional (who were also responsible for the Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds franchise (Like Dart in season 2 and Mike, Lucas and Dustin where very much like the Three Musketeers in season 1.) and other cartoons such as Bobobobs and Around the World with Willy Fog)

The series presents the gnomes as a kind species, of 15 centimetres (6 inches) of height, and between 250 and 300 grams (8 and 10 ounces) of weight depending on gnome body mass. According to their habitat, different types of gnomes are distinguished: the ones of the forest, the ones of the garden, the ones of the farm, the ones of the house, the ones of the dunes, those of Siberia (David = David Harbour = Hopper = Hopper is in Russia), and nomadic "gypsy" gnomes (commonly looked down upon by other gnomes). A gnome's lifespan is usually 400 years, though there is one example of a couple in the Balkans living 550 years.

Gnomes such as the main characters live in pairs in comfortable caves or holes under trees [kinda like Hobbits] (in their case in the company of a pair of mice and a cricket). Their diet is mostly vegetarian. They are helped by the animals of the forest (kinda like Radagast who is the password to Castle Byers who is located in the woods) when travelling long distances or when they need to arrive quickly at a specific location. Gnomes work in various ways to repair the damage inevitably caused by humans. They also have the power of telepathy and mind control. (kinda like El or the Mindflayer, or even Galadriel in The Lord Of The Rings.)

Their main enemies are the trolls, malevolent and clumsy creatures who always make trouble for the other inhabitants of the forest, as well as gnome poachers. They have supernatural powers that are really strong but they have a weakness, if the sunlight gets on them, they turn to stone.(could be referencing all the Upside Down creatures who don't like sunlight and everything hot.) [Also very much like the Hobbit.] Also one of the trolls was voiced by someone who had the name Henderson, like Dustin Henderson. I also think it references a comic where some bullies attack Will and Mike calls them trolls.

Here are the most important characters:

David is a gnome of the forest. David is 399 years old, making him the oldest gnome around (since gnomes live no more than 400 years exactly, except Franklin, the gnome from the west, who lived 550 years), although he possesses exceptional constitution. David is a doctor, and he uses his knowledge of many fields, such as hypnosis and acupuncture, to heal his patients, usually animals, such as his faithful friend Swift the fox, or other gnomes. David also befriends a bird that, when he whistles, immediately arrives to quickly transport him to wherever necessary. For longer trips, he sometimes travels in a basket attached to the neck of the bird. (It may be a reference to clerics who are known to heal their allies and travelling with birds reminds me of Gandald who sometimes has the help of Eagles in some stories.)

Paul is David's twin brother. Not only does Paul have a normal moustache in contrast to David's handlebar moustache but his jumper is a darker shade of blue, he has a bigger nose, his gnome hat is dark blue whereas David's is red, and his trousers and boots are an inverse of David's: David's trousers are brown and his boots are beige, while Paul wears beige trousers and dark boots. (Of course this is a reference to Will and El who have been compared a lot of times throughout the show and who a lot of people in the fandom consider them siblings and twins, Will has a lot of Red in his wardrobe while El has a lot of blue.)

This gnome was found in a secret Russian base underground in Weathertop where Dustin discovers the Russian transmission coming from their main base located under the mall like a cave (like where gnome lives.). There are also gnomes in Siberia and having the name David, the name of Hopper's actor creates a connection since right now Hopper is in Russia. It may also be a nod to the group of kids who are all little gnomes running around the forest with their magical powers.

_____________________________

Gnome #10: Baskin

"Robin's favorite gnome."

Now this is a funny one.

This is a reference to the famous Baskin-Robbins which is a chain of ice cream restaurants that did special ice creams for Season 3 because of Scoops Ahoy. It is Robin's favorite gnome because they literally share the same name.

Baskin could also be a reference to the film of the same name where Five police officers, Remzi, Arda, Yavuz, Apo, and Seyfi, are dining at a restaurant, during which they have a discussion. Their meal is interrupted when they receive a distress call from Inceagac, a town known for being the focus of strange rumors. During the trip Seyfi has a terrifying vision of a bloody figure and accidentally drives their van into the water. Stranded, the officers eventually make their way to Inceagac, where they find themselves in an abandoned building (back in the Ottoman days, this used to be a police station), captured by cult members and are subjected to a number of increasingly bizarre and surreal scenarios. In the end, they realize they have all inadvertently wandered into Hell.

It has alot of similiraties with stories like Silent Hills or Hellraiser, two stories that inspired Stranger Things especially Hellraiser for Stranger Things 4. And it fully embraces the satanic imagery and themes which is something we are going to see with the satanic panic and also has the theme of time, dreams and visions.

We'll see how much season 4 decides to use those sort of elements in the show.

Well this gnome is easy to find. It's in the Scoops Ahoy parlor next to Robin. USS Butterscotch seems to be very popular there

_____________________________

Gnomes 11 - 20 coming soon.

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angstysebfan · 3 years

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Heyy!! Ok so could I please request something where Bucky and pregnant reader are about to get married. He and the guests are all waiting for her to walk down the aisle but after a little while she still hasn't shown up and it turns out she's nowhere to be seen. Bucky thinks she's left him and is all sad. After a while the others find out she's been kidnapped by Hydra because they want the baby. Cue avenger vs hydra scenes and after finding her she goes into early labour and it's all touch-and-go for her and baby but in the end it's a happy ending (maybe the next request I'll work up the courage for an angsty ending 🙈).

Oh I love this! Hope you like it @lookiamtrying!!

Wedding Day

Bucky looks in the mirror one last time, looking over to make sure he looks alright. Today is a day he has been waiting for for over 70 years. Today is the day that the love of his life, finally becomes his forever. When you got pregnant 4 months ago, Bucky didn’t think you would want to continue with plans for the wedding, but you told him nothing was going to stop you from being his wife.

Now being 7 months pregnant, you both decided to make the wedding an intimate gathering of your closest friends and family, which basically is the Avengers, T’Challa and Suri, the Gardians, and Dr. Strange. You both thought it was the perfect amount of people and didn’t need anyone else involved. You both thought the backyard of your new house was the perfect spot for the wedding as well. You have been so excited!

There is a knock on the door, pulling Bucky from his thoughts. Steve walks in with a smile, “You ready pal?” he asks. “More than ready! I just want her to be my wife already!” Bucky says with a laugh as they head out of the door. Steve puts his hand on Bucky’s shoulder to stop him from walking further, “I’m so happy for you Buck. You deserve this and more, and I am so proud to stand beside you both as you do this. I also can’t wait for y God child to be born,” he says. Bucky pulls him in for a quick hug and heads out to the backyard.

You both haven’t moved into the house yet, as it is under construction (Only best from Tony), but you thought the backyard was perfect. You have the chairs set and fairy lights all around, with a white tent behind the ceremony area for the reception. Bucky looks in awe at his surroundings, which make him that much more excited. He walks up in front of his friends and family and looks down the aisle, waiting for you to come to him.

He starts to get jittery as he waits, thinking maybe you were having some difficulty with your pregnant belly. After close to 30 minutes he starts to get nervous that you changed your mind. He decides to head back into the house to where you are supposed to be getting ready. When he opens the door, he sees the room is completely empty. His heart immediately breaks at the thought that you changed your mind.

Steve runs up behind Bucky and looks in the room, “She’s not here?” he asks. Bucky shakes his head sadly as tears rush to his eyes. “I guess she changed her mind,” he says and he slides down the wall to the floor. “I can’t believe Y/N would do that. I mean she is pregnant with your child,” Steve says. Bucky covers his face as tears start to flow down his cheeks. He doesn’t want to believe it either, but you’re not here.

Just then Natasha comes toward them and looks into the room. “I can’t believe she would do this. She was so excited last night! Let me call the driver,” she says pulling out her cell phone. After a brief conversation with the limo company, Natasha learned that the driver is not an employee. She tells this to Steve who immediately pales. You didn’t run out on Bucky, you were taken.

You wake up on a metal cot, handcuffed to the post. You look around and realize that you are in a cell underground. You try and control your panic, as you don’t want to risk anything with your unborn baby, but you are terrified. Suddenly the metal door opens and in walks a man in a black uniform, HYDRA. “Ah, you are finally awake,” he says.

“What to you want?” you ask. “If you think I’m going to let you get Bucky, you have another thing coming!” you scream in anger. The man looks at you and laughs, “First of all, you really think you are tough chained to a bed? Second, it’s not the Winter Soldier we are after... it’s his heir,” he says.

You feel the color disappear from your face. They were after your baby, Bucky’s baby. God you hoped that Bucky figured out what happened to you by now and is on his way. You couldn’t help but be nervous that you would not survive whatever they have planned.

Bucky punches a few more times as blood sprays all over. “Tell me where she is!” he yells in the man’s face. “Buck, enough! You’re going to kill him!” Steve says. “He deserves to die for kidnapping Y/N!” Bucky says as Steve pulls him away. “Buck, I know you are concerned, but if you kill him we will have no leads. Just go wait over there or leave the room,” Steve says. “I’m not leaving until I know where my girl and baby are, Steve,” Bucky says.

Steve nods and turns back to the man who is bloody and oddly enough, laughing. “Since when are the Avengers mobsters? Beating a man to a pulp for information! You have watched too many movies,” he says. Steve walks up the man and pulls his head back, “Where is she? You picked her up and dropped her somewhere, now tell me where,” Steve says patiently.

The man spit blood on Steve’s face which caused Bucky to start toward him again, but Steve stopped him. He wipes off his face and looks at the man, “Well, I tried to be nice. If you think the Winter Soldier was bad, you haven’t met Black Widow,” Steve says. At that the door opens and Natasha walks in with a bunch of different tools, a smirk on her face.

“Hello boys. Heard some information was needed,” she said eyeing the man who was tied up. He looked at her arrogantly, but Bucky heard his heart rate go up. he was nervous. Good.

You don’t know how long you have been there. Days and nights seem to have blended into one. They feed you, if what you are given can be considered food, but they have run tests on you, and you heard they are considering taking the baby out of you early. You are starting to lose hope that Bucky will ever find you, but you keep praying he will. Please Bucky, come find me. Please save us.

The door opens and in comes two men in black uniforms. They uncuff you and drag you to your feet. You try to fight them, but you are so weak.They continue to drag you down the hall to the same room you have been in multiple times. You look and you see a tray with different surgical tools. You know now that this might be the end. You have fought, but you don’t know if you will be able to save yourself or your baby.

You are placed on the table and strapped down tightly. You continue to wiggle and try to fight out of the the binds that keep you to the bed. You hear the laughing in the room, “You still haven’t learned that fighting is useless. We are going to get what we want. The assets child, with the serum running through their veins. We will be able to use this child to create more soldiers. HYDRA will win!” he says.

The doctor starts walking your way with the scalpel, and your breathing gets heavy in panic. In no time at all you start to scream as you feel the sharp utensil cut into your pregnant belly. Before he gets too far the door to the room and smashed down and Bucky, Sam, Steve, and Nat all run in fits, guns, and everything else blazing. Wanda runs in later with red floating around her hands.

You feel yourself losing consciousness and your child is moving like crazy in your belly. You try and focus on one thing to keep yourself conscious, but the darkness is winning. You swear you hear Bucky’s voice calling for you, but you can’t react. Your last thought is that your baby is safe.

You wake up to beeping, which is very annoying. You slowly open your eyes and see a bright white room with the sun shining in. You see Bucky slouched in a chair next to your bed, sleeping. You admire him for a moment before you quietly call out for him. “Bucky,” you say in a raspy voice. Bucky startles awake at the sound of your voice and looks at you.

“Oh thank God,” he says and he leans into the bed holding your hand. You see tears flow freely down his cheeks as he looks at you with relief. “How long was I out?” you asked. “Um.. 4 days. You were malnourished and dehydrated, but Dr. Cho and Bruce took great care of you,” he says inching closer to you. “And the baby?” you ask, putting your free hand on your bump.

“The baby is just fine. Still cooking,” he says with a watery chuckle. You pull on his hand and bring him into your bed where he wraps his arms around you, kissing the top of your head. “I’m so sorry, Y/N,” he says, kissing your head and when you look at him, your forehead.

“Bucky, it’s not your fault--” “You were taken because of me. They were going to hurt you both because of me,” he says. You take his face in your hands, “They wanted our baby, Bucky. If anything I should thank you and the rest of the team for saving us. You saved me and our baby. I’m sorry I missed the wedding,” you say looking into his eyes.

“I... I got scared you changed your mind. That you didn’t want me and my baggage. That you didn’t want to marry me,” he says. You lean in and kiss his lips softly. You pull away quickly to say, “I love you more than anything, Buck. I want to marry you so bad, I would do it in this bed!” you say.

Bucky kisses you again, passionately. “Let’s do it! I can have the pastor here, have our team here. Let’s get married right now,” he says with hope in his eyes. You give him a wide smile, “Let’s do it! Let’s get married!” you say before kissing him again.

In a short time your friends and pastor arrived and you and Bucky married from your hospital bed. The whole “ceremony” Bucky had his metal arm wrapped around you, and his flesh hand rubbing your baby bump. It wasn’t the wedding you imagined, but all that mattered was the man sitting next to you, pledging his life to you and you to his.

It was the happiest day of your life, as least until another month when your son Steve James Barnes was born. Happy and healthy!

Hope you liked it!!

Permanent Taglist: @hailmary-yramliah @tuiccim @comedictragedy @cap-n-stuff @thefridgeismybestie @aleaisntcreative @lookiamtrying @pinknerdpanda @morganclaire4 @iamvalentinaconstanza @verygraphicink @im-squished @joannie95 @peace-love-hobbitness @connie326 @arundhati1609 @amandamdiehl @harrysthiccthighss @its-izzys @roserose26 @rebekahdawkins @elegantobservationstudentsblog @broco8 @bestofbucky @white-wolf1940 @loser-alert @jassy2101

#Bucky Barnes #james bucky barnes #Bucky angst #bucky fanfic #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky barnes x reader

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thesharondefenseleague · 3 years

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They must be salty because Peggy is not going to have a third season because the end of Endgame fucked up and Cevans was not going to do a TV series.

So the reason Agent Carter didn’t and might not ever get a season three has nothing to do with that - in my opinion, it’s their own writers’ faults.

The first season was great. Peggy was a very flat character in the first movie (because Markus/McFeely are horrible at writing women in general), and her appearance in Agents of SHIELD helped boost her up higher, partially due to the nuance Atwell brought in her performance. Her show gave her the well-roundedness that she needed because, like FatWS, when Steve isn’t there, these characters finally have personalities beyond liking and following Steve. Seeing her have relationships, both platonic and romantic, outside of him, especially her friendships with Angie and Jarvis, were great. Her episode with Dum Dum was my favorite. Dottie was a great villain.

But after the first episode of season two, it went downhill. For some reason, the show was obsessed with writing Peggy into a romance with one of several men. They set up storylines without ending them. I hate that Madame Masque was wasted by becoming a bland and petty woman, while ignoring Dottie who was the only entertaining part of the season, and when Dottie is a more logical villain choice for Peggy. Madame Masque should’ve been used for another show, perhaps the Defenders (since Iron Man wasn’t getting more movies and she’s his villain/ex).

The Jarvis and Ana storyline was gross, especially following the backlash of Natasha’s backstory in AoU. The season was so disinterested in being about heroes vs villains that they paused the story to do a dream dance scene that contributed nothing, and was actually a bit ableist in choosing to have Sousa dance without his crutches despite being a character with a bad leg (which as a person with a bad leg that choreography was not something doable even for me and I’m not as bad as him). Plus the “tackling” of racism that was barely touched upon was fumbled at best. And introducing Michael ended up being the biggest way the writers shot themselves in the foot.

As I said with FatWS as well, you cannot write under the assumption you are getting a next season or a movie, because if you don’t, this haunts your show, and the writers have no one to blame but themselves for it. Atwell, however, was lucky to get another ABC show (which isn’t surprising, they like to do this for their actors regularly, how many Lost actors appeared on other shows for the network? At least half of them), because the messy writing, story, and character choices were going to guarantee there’d be no season three for Agent Carter regardless of what happened with how badly the character was written in Endgame, or whichever actor wants to move on from the MCU.

The only way I can see the show getting a third season is if it’s used to parallel Peggy’s life story with Sharon’s life story as two agents in different eras, and how Sharon lives in a shadow that she tries to distance herself from and make a name for herself while still honoring Peggy and everything she learned from her. (And it would mean bringing back another ABC leading actress! Seriously they love keeping actors on their network, it’s why EVC hosted that special they did years ago for Marvel’s anniversary.) No focus on who Peggy will end up with, no focus on Captain America, since both women lived most of their lives without him in it and didn’t really interact much with him in any of his movies (because more of Steve is one of the worst written characters in the series and his romance arcs are where it shows most), and since now we see that they’re flawed to a point where redemption is nearly off the table, it would be interesting to show the morally grey sides of them.

Peggy and Sharon in Agent Carter Season Three: Legacies has such a nice ring to it. And then maybe one of these actresses would be nicer to the other.

~Mod R

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daleisgreat · 3 years

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Old Joy

2006’s Old Joy (trailer) is the longest 77-minute film I have ever seen, but I mean that in only the best kind of ways. Director Kelly Reichardt intentionally establishes a deliberate, plodding pace about two distant friends who fell out of touch meeting up to go on a road/hiking trip to find a tucked-away and highly reputable hot springs. The film opens up with Mark (Daniel London) meditating at home when he gets a call from his free-spirited old friend, Kurt (Will Oldham), with an invite for a last-minute weekend trek to discover these mystical hot springs. That opening scene does a masterful job with its minimalist dialog and awkward body language to indicate how Mark is still not quite settling into married life with a kid on the way and comes off a little too eager to jump at the opportunity to get out of the house last minute for the weekend.

The film jumps to sitting in on an extended driving scene with Mark listening to political talk radio, and when he meets up with Kurt is when the intentionally long scenes start to take hold. I like smartly written films with smooth-flowing dialog filled with edgy quips and retorts, but I also appreciate a complete 180 as seen here and in movies like Slacker where the dialog sounds….uncomfortably natural. When Kurt and Mark start off driving, there are many advertent pauses during the conversations where it seems like the two are trying to think of topics to bring up to talk about and catch up. I can 100% relate to that, and it is insanely rare how often I run across that in average big-budget films and pull it off so well like it is done in Old Joy. Highlights from the road trip part of the film include how well shot little moments are like a gas station stop with oblique camera angles that somehow capture the subtle but noticeable moments of the excitement of getting out for the weekend as Kurt and Mark amusingly toss beverage koozies at each other. Watching the pair drive around aimlessly while Kurt tries to remember how to get to the springs and eventually resorting to a makeshift campsite while exchanging philosophical stoner verbiage is another memorable scene of their journey.

I would be remiss to go this long without giving a shoutout to Lucy, Mark’s canine pal tagging along for the journey. In the bonus feature interviews, it was enlightening to hear that it is actually Reichardt’s dog who she had no choice but to include in the film because she could not find a dog-sitter while filming. Reichardt stated she was anxious about how it would work out since Lucy had no film training. Lucy wound up as a perfect third wheel for the adventure. She blended in perfectly, especially with some smart improving with Oldham, where he would instinctually play with her during the hiking spots of the movie. Eventually, the trio found the hidden turnoff to their destination and go on a hike to see the hot springs. The film once again, through exquisite cinematography and intentional drawn-out shots with very little dialog, shows how all the hassle to reach their endpoint was worth it. It is a boldly ambiguous, memorable scene. The film not-so-climatically wraps up with Mark dropping Kurt off, and the movie goes out of its way to capture another little thing so well that few other movies have pulled off in the form of the malaise-filled drive back home and the dread of the return to the normality.

I have the Criterion Edition of Old Joy, and it has four bonus features totaling about an hour altogether. Daniel London and Will Oldham reunite for the first time since production wrapped in 2006 for a conversation filmed in 2019. They exchange many interesting production stories, with the one standing out the most to me being the warning from the park ranger escorting them to the hot springs on how brave they were to go in there because of all the gunk they have fished out of there over the years. An interview with Reichardt is a must-listen on how she decided to film this movie after taking a sabbatical from filmmaking. An interview with the author of the original short story the film is based on, Jim Raymond, on how he met Kelly and how satisfied he was with her treatment of the adaptation and changes she made for the big screen. Finally, Director of Photography Peter Sillen shares a fair amount of production factoids and insights. This being a Criterion release, there is the requisite booklet included, which has a 14-page essay by Ed Halter that thoroughly dissects the film and its production and the entirety of the 22 page original “Old Joy” short story from Jim Raymond. I accidentally stumbled upon this movie browsing through the latest Criterion releases, and the description of the film made it sound right up my alley by how unorthodox it is. This style of filmmaking may not be for everybody with its different structure and laidback style of dialog from the average theatrical movie. I wound up absolutely loving Old Joy, and was thrilled to hear how this film was a hit with critics and was the catalyst for Reichardt directing more beloved indie films following this like Wendy & Lucy, First Cow, and Night Moves. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Endgame The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve The Clapper Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Inglourious Basterds Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Justice League (2017 Whedon Cut) Last Action Hero Major League Mallrats Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Nintendo Quest Not for Resale Payback (Director’s Cut) Pulp Fiction The Punisher (1989) The Ref The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT Trauma Center The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

#random movie #old joy #kelly reichardt #daniel london #will oldham

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gideongrace · 4 years

Text

The Pandemic Survival Guide

The world feels like it's going to hell, so here is a list of cute, dumb, happy, fun things to cheer people up so we can try and survive this disaster.

Youtube:

-Jenna Marbles - Cute craft projects, weirdness and dogs.

-Julian Solomita - Jenna's boyfriend Julien has a cooking show and it's adorable.

-Wood Hawker/beat em ups - Wood is the cutest goober of all time, he has two channels, one is beat em ups, where he talks about nintendo switch and one is Wood Hawker where he just does goofy, fun stuff.

-Monster Factory - So these guys, the mcelroy brothers, make monsters in games like Fallout and WWE Wrestling and name them stuff like Snack Braff. It's hilarious.

-MEF (Movies Explained For) - This guy named Jeb does comedy reviews of movies with titles like "Back to the Future part 2 explained for realists!" and "Overboard explained for rich folks!"

-the try guys - Four guys try out all different sorts of stuff, from lie detectors to wearing corsets to baking cakes without recipes.

- unraveled - One of the greatest dorks ever BDG (Brian David Gilbert) does videos like "every sonic game is blasphemous" and "which dark souls boss is the best manager?"

-Satisfying slime video

-Hot knife cuts through stuff

-The lockpicking lawyer - This guy teaches you how to break any lock. It's oddly calming.

-kinda funny's internet explorerz - Basically the best of the dumb stuff on the internet packed into an hour long show every week.

-Markiplier doing a clickhole quiz about fucking rl stine.

-That time on murder she wrote - A comedy review show of the show murder she wrote.

my favorite asmr channels:

-raphytaffy - Lots of noises and whispering.

-shadowywhispers - Soooo many rps from overwatch to batman to captain america sam falcon to stuff like werewolf boyfriend, demon knight boyfriend and the android chronicles: syndicate.

-gibiasmr - Lots of sounds and whispering and clicking noises.

-jojoasmr - Really visual asmr.

-heatherfeather asmr - She does lots of roleplays and has a very soft voice.

-asmrdarling - Lots of different sounds and roleplays.

-dr. t asmr - This one is weird in the best way. He does like sci-fi asmr and calls viewers "the tingledroid army".

TV Shows:

-Lois and Clark - A cheesy 90s version of Superman that focuses more on the relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent as reporters while also having goofy villains every week.

-Golden Girls - Do people exist who don't know what Golden Girls is? Sophia Petrillo is the best, fiestiest little old lady ever.

-Brooklyn Nine-Nine - This show is the funniest, nicest, best, most diverse show on tv.

-Schitt's Creek - This show is just so gay.

-Yuri on Ice! - Gay ice skating boys fall in love! That's it. That's the show! Really, though.

-Jane the Virgin - A virgin gets accidentally inceminated, the girl (who is engaged to somebody else) falls in love with the guy whose kid it is, the kid gets kidnapped... this is an english language telenovella.(With voiceovers!)

Movies:

-Evolution - David Duchovny, Sean William Scott and Orlando Jones fight aliens with head & shoulders shampoo. No, really.

-Clueless - 90s LA retelling of Jane Austen's Emma.

-Blockers - Three girls try to get laid on prom night. (And one of them is queer!)

-Street Fighter - Um, this movie has this scene in it.

-Knives Out - The best modern whodunit about rich people getting what they deserve ever.

-In & Out - 90s gay film that's about an adorable gay english teacher coming out.

-Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil - Two backwoods dorks rent a cabin in the woods and a bunch of teens mistake them for serial killers.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - This movie is one of the cutest rom-coms I've ever seen. A teenage girl's sister sends out all her sister's unsent love letters.

-French Kiss - So a french thief (Kevin Kline with an accent) hides a necklace he's stolen in the bag of this American girl (Meg Ryan) and has to follow after her as she tries to get her boyfriend back and of course the thief and the girl fall in love.

-You Should Meet My Son! - A super cute movie about a mom realizing her son is gay and trying to find him a boyfriend.

Short, Sweet (Harringrove) Fic:

-rockisdead by flippyspoon

Billy is an instathot and Steve is into it.

-boldly go by tracy7307

Star trek but harringrove and Billy is a betazoid.

-homemade by lazybaker

So basically this one is like a Miyazaki movie, but Harringrove.

-starry night, portrait hung by lucdarling

Billy is a painter and he wants to paint Steve.

-I'm Falling Again (But This Time It's In Love With You) by greyspilot

The boys are just really sweet in this canon fic.

Stand-up comedians:

-John Mulaney

-Jim Gaffigan

-Trevor Noah

-Gabriel Iglesias

Music:

-chilledcow lo-fi - youtube

-chilledcow lo-fi spotify

-notice my lo-fi, senpai playlist by be_honest on spotify

-night runner - magnum bullets music video

-dance music - playlist by bree_cheese

-exciteable music - playlist by bree_cheese

-pretty - pretty songs playlist by bree_cheese

podfics/audiobooks

-audiobooks for the damned - A whole bunch of people did audiobook recordings of movie novelizations.

-the art of running by pprfaith, read by reena jenkins - The fast and the furious if Brian was a girl and gets together with Dom.

-dilf by twentysomething - teenwolf podfic read by rhea314 - Scott and Jackson are Derek's sons and Stiles is Scott's kindergarten teacher.

-drop dead gorgeous written by maya, read by heatherifics - The harry potter fanfic where Harry and Draco are Aurors and Harry is part Veela.

other stuff:

-The original script to the movie The Room.

-i write like - A website that allows you to put in bits of your writing to see what famous author you write like.

-squishables - Giant, spherical plushes.

-Not without you: a big, massive, hardcover stucky anthology.

I'll also be making other lists and tagging them #thepandemicsurvivalguide.

If you have anything to add to this list (fics, art, comics, shows, books, whatever) please reblog this and add it!

#pandemicsurvivalguide #and this list was made my a transgender asexual disabled gay dude #so i think i did a pretty good job of picking stuff that's free of transphobia and homophobia #pandemic survival

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nettlestonenell · 4 years

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Armie Hammer wants a sequel to The Man From U.N.C.L.E.—shouldn’t you?

This post is a long time in coming, Gentle Readers and @jammeke, but now, though it might be here, before your very eyes, to think it will be well-laid out would be a mistake. It’s set to be just about as messy as Ilya’s misplaced loyalties and murky motivations.

How dare!

I probably first watched this film well over a year ago (courtesy @jammeke posting things about it). I used Sling OnDemand (I think on TNT). In the ensuing viewings I also watched it in that way, but as I was sitting down for a fourth(?) viewing, it kept coming to me that I was tired of watching it with commercials I couldn’t skip, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it had been edited for time and I was missing out on scenes. [pointless aside: I was also watching the film in chunks, and never as a whole]

Where is she now? What’s the time stamp? How far along did she get? Are you shagging the hotel hostess yet?

So, I, uh, set out to buy it on DVD—without any luck! In the sense that copies I could find cost more (w/ shipping) than buying it to stream. So, I bought it to stream on Amazon. Do I regret my choice, Gentle Readers? No, no I don’t. I do regret burden of knowledge in learning that TNT was already playing the entirety of the film. That was a hard pill to swallow.

Nope, I’ve looked. That’s absolutely everything. Nothing additional lurking around here...

So here it is, as it is, @jammeke, “My Notes on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

Look, I don’t know what this film is. I probably can’t fully articulate its appeal. Or maybe I can--certainly after transcribing four page I’ve tried. Number One thing to know about me and fiction/films is that a top draw for me is seeing something out of the ordinary, such as beautiful locations, a historical era, delicious costumes. There are times, frankly, this can trump weak story and undefined character for me. (The best films, of course, combine all three) Certainly, The Man... delivers in the delight of the eyes. Additionally, I must confess that growing up as a person older than @reblogginhood but younger than Miss Fisher, so much of what was on TV was essentially reruns of this film’s iconic Look(tm). So, when I see women dressed like Gaby I am just another three-to-seven-year-old overcome with the drop dead glamour of it all.

Darling, tell me how you really feel...

Some questions I have:

· IS Armie Hammer a hulk of a man? Everyone in this film seems to think so, yet he always tracks to me as trim (rather than hulking)

· Why translate via captions some Russian speaking, but not all?

· IS Napoleon’s backstory directly cribbed from USA’s White Collar?

· DOES Gaby have a German accent?

· Does Ilya get preternaturally attached to all the people he’s ordered to look after? Also, what is his bonding rate with kittens?

Sorry, wrong iteration.

· If Lady Villain knows the lens is wrong—if her technical understanding is that in-depth--does she really need Gaby’s dad to make the bomb?

· How old was Gaby during the war?

· What happens when Ilya gets a NEW puppy assigned to him? (please let this be addressed in film #2)

Hooray for:

· �� That bathroom fight! *all the Burn Notice feels!

· Gaby is her own lady, and chooses sides as necessary—not always unilateral in her support for either male character. Case in point: she sides with Ilya over the clothes, and Napoleon over the incident of the wallet.

· That delicious (speaking as Rusty, here) Ocean’s 11-stylized action. It’s pretty, so I’m not bored with it. Sometimes a sandwiched montage gets shown, so I’m REALLY not bored. I’ve got 18 tiny moving boxes of things to look at!

· Pinkie rings. There, you’ve told me everything I need to know about that character.

· Solo in a beret. English has not yet found a word for the feeling it evoked in this viewer. Somewhere between ‘precious’ and ‘oh, no’.

See, there? Now you’ve felt it too.

· Goggles! All the accessories! Dune Buggies! (I mean, that’s what I’m calling Napoleon’s chase-scene ride)

Things I adore:

· It seems (after some research) that more than a few folks view Gaby as a third wheel, and though she’s not exactly a Princess Leia commandeering her own rescue and exuding competence and a deserved take-charge-attitude at every corner, she IS a foci for both male characters (though romantically it would seem only for one), just as Ilya is a foci for both her and Napoleon [no one seems to worry about Napoleon, though they should--film #2, anyone?]

· Mechanic Gaby not needing a beauty makeover, or being dragged into one. She gets some nice clothes, but it’s never suggested that she’s not attractive or acceptable before putting them on, and I respect, nay, embrace it.

Oh, my heart. She’s still not as tall as them!

· Ilya, drab pigeon Ilya, knowing fashion

· Oh man, don’t even get me started on the power of the statement, “it doesn’t have to match”

· You knew it was coming on this sublist: the wrestle-fight. I mean, c’mon. Poor little Gaby, locked behind the Iron Curtain, living a life of always being watched. She’s in the swankest hotel (I mean, Napoleon chose it, so we can be sure it’s swank with an E). She’s trying to celebrate her freedom, her liberation. She’s playing verboten music, she’s drinking to excess. Girl wants—and deserves—a party. And Ilya is…not built for that (that he knows of). For some fun, just imagine if she had been given Napoleon to room with instead.

o I will say that this scene, and some of their other interactions have what I would call early (non-sibling) Luke and Leia energy. Ilya seems to have moments of being struck by Gaby in a way Luke is struck by Leia in the early part of the trilogy. When Leia takes charge, and Luke accepts it. When Leia does something incredible, and Luke is left open-mouthed. *no, I don’t see OT Star Wars in everything. Shut up.

· “He fixed the glitch.”

· Again, shout-out to the non-action action.

· “I left my jacket in there.”

· The whole race to rescue Gaby I am in love with beyond words. [I have noted it as “Crazy Jeep Drive with Warhead!”] Probably b/c it comes across as totally egalitarian. Both men want her rescued. They’re no longer in competition. It’s just as important to Napoleon as it is to Ilya to catch up to her. Also, it is bonkers, like some sort of X-games version of a commercial for the vehicles they’re driving. And screaming Willie Scott does not make an appearance.

Someone says “winkle” out.

· Look! Another note about the screen divisions and how I love it, shout-outs to the original Steve McQueen The Thomas Crown Affair (a contemporary of when this movie is meant to be set), and TV’s 24.

Things that get a great, big NOPE:

· Jerrod Harris: you’ve been in so much streamable content in the last decade I can’t hate you, but frankly, you’re terrible here—unless you’re supposed to be giving a mannered, not-campy-enough-to-be-enjoyable performance here. Your American English puts me in the mind of Alex Hawaii 5-0′Loughlin where it feels you’re concentrating so hard on your accent that you fail to convince anyone that you’re a harried, over-worked and exasperated spy handler. Your performance is at odds with every bit of dialogue you’re given to say.

· That awful, mishandled title that doesn’t even connect to the film until the final moments (a sequel set-up, for sure)

· Look, you don’t introduce Hugh Grant casually mid-way through your film in a throwaway appearance. I mean, he’s HUGH GRANT we all know something’s up now.

· This is not exactly a great big NOPE, b/c I love a flat cap, Tommy Shelby—but I feel like a less tall man with a far rounder face in a flat cap would track more as Russian to me that AH does. To me, he just looks like he’s about to go golfing.

Over par? Unacceptable!

· Is Victoria a British-accented Italian? A British woman who married—what? Gaby’s uncle isn’t Italian!? An Italian who went to school in Britain? My head hurts. Also, is her hair meant to be unconvincingly bleached?

Other commentary:

· Napoleon’s adult ne’er-do-well backstory is so far from being emotionally equivalent to Ilya’s childhood trauma [and his enslavement to the USSR] it seems bestial when he calls it out on multiple occasions. Badly done, Solo.

· Gaby is the film’s key (sorry, Buffy fans). Everyone is connected to her. Yes, she could have been given a bit more on the character front, but I don’t see her as as much of a flaw in the film as some others/reviewers seem to.

· Look, essentially (and not very nuanced-ly), Ilya is a stalker. I think the film goes a certain distance in establishing that his early behavior toward Gaby is not normal, but concurrently it does not truly call him out on it. He’s essentially viewed as an odd-duck, sure, but not a true threat to her (should she not reciprocate or tolerate his intensity toward her). I think I might be able to cite his behavior when Gaby comes on to him (that he doesn’t jump at a chance with her) that maybe he’s given a little more nuance than a straight-on stalker, and it helps that he and Napoleon never get into a pissing match over Gaby’s person, only over her new clothes. But overall the film has to walk a fine line (and the jury is still out on how successful it is, I’d say) between playing Ilya’s laser-like attention to Gaby for its humor, and calling it out for the unsettling, threatening behavior it is.

· Honestly, it wasn’t until I engaged the Closed Captioning that I understood Napoleon was calling Ilya the ‘Red Peril’. So, that was nearly three viewings in.

· I give the screen credits A+, on both ends. Not to mention the end credits are actually INTERESTING with lots to see and learn! (Certainly we learn more about HG in them than we do at any time during the film)

Things I would have liked:

· More of fish-out-of-the-Iron-Curtain Gaby moments

· A better dichotomy shown of East vs. West Berlin/Germany. There’s nothing easy either visually or otherwise to distinguish the two.

· HC being given a more specific American accent (from an actual locality). This, for an American viewer, works better than the flat, unlocated American accent many a British actor will bust out. *Mind you, HC does a generally good job, but he fails utterly on both “Immediate” which he pronounces at least twice as “immeedeejt” [rather than imm-E-deeot] and “Nazi” as “NAHT-zee” [rather than “NOT-zee”]. And let’s not get started on that late in the film use of ‘earnt’, a word that—well, it’s just not in the American English twentieth century lexicon.

· C’mon. You gotta tease the Hugh Grant more.

· Solo is a blank before the war. I’ve read thoughts on the film calling out Gaby as the blank character, but they’re wrong. Solo is the blank. He’s the ‘made’ man, his identity seemingly assembled during the war and after. For example, he doesn’t go into the war a thief, nor (it would seem) a particularly educated or urbane individual. Now THAT’s a juicy backstory I’d love to learn about, perhaps in film #2--or #3? What creates a Napoleon Solo? What would he be doing if he weren’t on the government’s leash/incarcerated? Is anyone left caring about him back wherever he calls home? I mean, who doesn’t love a gender-flipped 60s-era Holly Golightly backstory? [And yes, I would love there to be an ex-wife or even a current wife mixed up in his origins as well—Guy Ritchie, call me!]

Notes I have that I’m not sure if they still make sense to me:

· Only mom calls me Napoleon (do he say it ‘mum’?) Is he a secret Canadian?

· Solo’s torture, 1st view recall Napoleon’s childhood? *I think this means that after watching the first time I somehow erroneously believed that during the torture Napoleon’s childhood was a topic gone over. This was wrong. HOWEVER, this would have made far more story-sense than the backstory we’re given on an easily disposeable villain.

· “Even the average Russian agent. You’re special.” ?

· Uncle is Baddie (*so glad I made this note to myself)

· Ilya’s dad IS an embarrassment. I’m not sure what genius commentary I had in my mind, here. Perhaps that Ilya himself is embarrassed of him? Not just Ilya’s handler’s? [Also, aside: Napoleon totally slut-shames Ilya’s mom, which is the doublest of double standards from ‘I got myself the biggest and most ornate suite b/c I-wanted-plenty-of-space-for-my-random-seductions’ and I really wish Ilya had thrown that back in his face] *yes, of course I know that Ilya and Napoleon would not likely equate a wife/mother’s sexual exploits with that of Solo’s, but let’s be honest, this film tweaks the nose of (I won’t say reverses, it doesn’t go that far) plenty of tropes and gender expectations, and this certainly seems like a missed opportunity to call Solo on the carpet (which I hope film #2 does far more)

Things I wrote down so long ago I don’t recall what they mean:

· CC-save

In conclusion:

What does film #2 look like? What title does it get? Will the Peter/Neil White Collar dynamic continue to grow? *note that I have no confidence a second film will ever come to pass...

In the end, all I know is, “It didn't help when American Tom Cruise, who was slated to play U.S. spy Napoleon Solo, dropped out, prompting the casting of Cavill (who had previously read for the Russian role).“ I would not have watched that film.

#tmfu #tmfu 2015 #ilya kuryakin #napoleon solo #gaby teller #henry cavill #armie hammer #alicia vikander #the man from uncle 2015 #the man from u.n.c.l.e.#the man from uncle #i don't know what this film's tags are meant to be to keep it from popping up in the TV series searches Sorry

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charliejrogers · 3 years

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Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - Review & Analysis

Here’s a non-controversial statement: 2017’s Wonder Woman is a legitimately great film (if you discount the last act’s boring battle). A fun, yet emotional anti-war tale with a great period aesthetic. What elevated it from greatness was its starkly bleak reveal that Ares does not start man’s wars, but he merely gives humans ideas for how to instigate them. Ultimately, it is Man who holds responsibility for our own destruction, and despite this Wonder Woman still chooses to help us poor creatures. Cool themes, cool hero, cool movie.

Wonder Woman 1984 shares the main character from its 2017 forerunner, as well as its dedication to recreating a particular period aesthetic (here the 1980s), but the brilliant writing from the first film is gone. The main themes are essentially… “be careful what you wish for” and “winners never cheat; cheaters never win.” Not the most grand and interesting follow-up to the prior film’s genuine insight into human nature.

But that’s OK. I’m really not sure why this movie is getting so much flak online. If DC’s recent prior history with filmmaking should have taught us anything, it’s that 2017’s Wonder Woman was a fluke. Remember that this is the same studio that brought us the outstanding climax to Batman vs. Superman where one grown man learns that another grown man’s mother is also named Martha. Oh, and did we all just forget that Justice League is one of the worst movies we have all collectively ever seen?

So let’s not be too hard on WW84 for not meeting the quality of 2017’s Wonder Woman. Few comic book movies can. In the more fair comparison to other movies in the DCEU, it sits below Shazam! and Aquaman, and just a smidge below Birds of Prey, but certainly above Suicide Squad, and then literally leaps and bounds over every other movie they’ve made.

Let’s start with the good. Honestly, despite my gripes about the themes of the movie not being very profound, I found the story to be interesting. The movie centers around Diana Prince (Gal Gadot in her role as an archaeologist for the Smithsonian and not as Wonder Woman) stumbling upon an ancient stone whose inscription invites people who hold the stone to make a wish. No one takes it really seriously at first, so two people make wishes without thinking they could come true. The first person is Diana herself who wishes to bring her boyfriend (whom she only knew for about a week, mind you) from the dead. As a reminder from the first film, her boyfriend Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) had died nearly 70 years prior to the start of this film in a dramatic, sacrificial, world-saving act. Apparently, Diana hasn’t moved on at all from the 1910s and still considers her short-time lover to be her forever lover. She’s not really a human and did not grow up a human, so I think we can forgive her for not moving on… but it is weird to imagine that Diana somehow works at the Smithsonian (without going to college? Or did she?) without developing any friends or interest in life. Wouldn’t she have moved on... like a little bit?

Anyways, she wants her boyfriend back, and that’s wish #1. Wish #2 comes from new character Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig… who I am shocked to find is 47 years old! She looks fantastic and far younger in this film). Were Barbara a man, the way she is treated by her colleagues would put them in the stereotypical role of a future school shooter. Barbara is a brilliant gemologist for the Smithsonian, but goes completely unrecognized for her brilliance. She is shy and unconfident, and subsequently people frequently forget that they have even met her. Add on to that the fact that she has to work in the same office as Wonder Woman, and her loneliness and subjective feelings of unattractiveness increase as male employees drool over Diana while they ignore and mock Barbara. Therefore, we would forgive her for having a chip on her shoulder. Yet, for all this, Wiig avoids playing her as an angry, emo goth. Barbara kinda has this air about her of “Well, this is just how life is, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.” Given the character’s lack of self-confidence and lack of social grace, it at times seemed like Wiig was just reprising her old SNL character, Penelope, the socially awkward one-upper. But that’s not fair to her character. Wiig portrays Barbara with an earnest goodness to her. She’s one of those people who when allowed to talk one-on-one proves to be more eloquent and interesting than you could have imagine. Far from being angrily envious of Diana’s confidence and beauty, she’s more sadly jealous. Naturally, then, she wishes on the stone to be more like Diana… unaware that this wish might have some unintended benefits.

But then, there’s a third key character to the film (and a third wishmaker), the main villain Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal). I cannot tell you if this was a good character or not… and I cannot tell you whether the imperfections of the character are more due to the film’s writing or Pascal’s performance. Lord is another loser, and like Barbara, his “loser” status is the result of being a victim of America’s prejudicial attitudes. But whereas Barbara fell victim to sexism, Lord falls victim to racism. Hispanic in origin, Lord grew up in America with an abusive father at home and racist classmates at school. Beaten down from an early age, all he wants in life is to make a name for himself, to prove he’s not a loser. In a clever twist, Lord (the person who originally ordered the wish stone to come to America before it was confiscated by the FBI and sent to the Smithsonian for analysis) does not simply use the stone to wish for riches and power… he wishes to BECOME the stone. That way, he can get nearly infinite wishes so long as he can con the people around him to wish things for him.

The scenes of Max Lord as a flawed human who just wants to not be a loser show Pascal giving a great performance as a human being at the ends of desperation. The scenes of Max Lord the supervillain are… not good. In a long string of over-the-top, eccentric, hyperconfident supervillains in countless superhero movies, Pascal’s Lord is just not interesting. In fact, he is literally a weak character. He cannot fight for himself as his body is crumbling (a side effect of wishing to become a stone). Furthermore, his initially grounded motivations to finally be respected and successful seem to be just utterly lost by the end of the film when he just wishes for world chaos… only then to turn around and declare undying love for his son. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Failure to understand a character’s motivations casts a shadow over Barbara’s character arc as well. It is explained that the wish stone takes something in return for granting someone their wish. So as payment for bringing Steve Trevor back to life, Diana loses some of her strength. Still… this strains to fully explain why Barbara, after gaining Wonder Woman-like strength, turns into a walking humanoid cheetah (complete with bad CGI like she walked straight out of the cast of 2019’s Cats.) Like I get that she lost some of her humanity and morality in exchange for strength… but Cheetah girl seems like a little much. And though initially it is fun to see Wiig get to play Barbara as a confident and sexy woman who fights back against the patriarchy, the movie (I think) unfairly pushes her into the villain role. In my opinion, she should be treated as a tragic character, something akin to a Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, as her villainous tendencies are not really her fault. She literally had the part of her that cares about other humans taken away from her when she naively and innocently wished to be like Diana. Instead, the movie has Diana lecture her that she shouldn’t be so evil. She literally can’t, lady! Stop being so hard on her! In any case, it seems like a failed opportunity to generate sympathy for a genuinely likable character who tragically becomes a villain not through her own accord.

That failure to create genuine emotions extends to Diana’s story as well. As soon as Steve is resurrected, you know by the movie’s end he will be dead again. There’s no other way this movie ends. Yet, the fact that Diana is so stubborn in refusing to give up Steve makes it hard to sympathize with her. She is simply being selfish, making her eventual decision to say goodbye to Steve feel more like her finally doing the right (and obvious) thing, and not some heartbreaking decision. Also the fact that seemingly Diana hasn’t even tried to move on in the last seventy years doesn’t help matters for me: it more just feels like a lazy way to write in Chris Pine’s popular character into the second movie. The move certainly weakens the idea of Diana as a strong, independent woman by making her emotionally stunted and crippled for the last 70 years. It would have been a much more satisfying (and daring) choice if Diana had moved on from Steve emotionally and had to deal with the guilt of having brought him back by accident, particularly if he didn’t want to go back to being dead. Instead... Steve knows he has to go back and Diana feels no guilt keeping him around. It’s weak character writing.

These poor choices I contrast with two of my favorite TV shows that demonstrate perfectly how former lovers who miraculously reunite eventually have to say goodbye for good: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jane the Virgin. For risk of spoilers to those still watching Jane, I’ll stick to the Buffy example. There’s an episode of Buffy (though technically an episode of the spin-off show Angel) where Buffy and her vampire lover Angel are fresh off their recent and tumultuous break-up, but through some dark magic that neither seeks out, they are given the opportunity to live a life where Angel isn’t actually a vampire and their love can be fully expressed. Yet, in the end, Angel opts to give up his life as a human and return to being a vampire. The choice is so moving precisely because (due to circumstances I cannot begin to explain) in choosing to give up his life with Buffy, he saves her life as well. Whereas in this movie, Diana choosing to let Steve go is really just her choosing to undo her choice to essentially cheat death. Angel, however, is actively choosing to give up a life of happiness he never wished for but was just given on a silver platter, and will now live in a world where his lover will never know his selfless act and will go on hating him. It’s heartbreaking in a way Wonder Woman dreams it could be.

And not to get too Buffy-heavy… but that show also deals with the emotional consequences of being ripped out of the afterlife much better than this movie. Steve just kinda unrealistically adapts to being alive again in all of five minutes. If, perhaps, from the start he questioned why he was there and hinted to Diana that something was wrong, the emotional aspect of this story, the doomed nature, the feeling of “this is the last chance we’ll have together” could have made this a stronger movie. I wanted to find myself crying when Diana finally says bye to Steve, and I was no where close to that. Gal Gadot shares at least part of the blame. She’s a pretty wooden actress. It’s something I noticed in 2017’s Wonder Woman, but in that movie she was supposed to be a fish out of water so her stilted presence seemed appropriate. Here, where she’s supposedly become an assimilated American for 70 years… it is just bad acting.

Anyways, another aspect of this film that was lacking were the visuals. The bad CGI of Barbara as Cheetah is just scratching the surface here. The opening flashback to Diana as a girl performing in the Amazonian Olympics just… looks fake. I don’t know. The reliance on CGI over practical effects is clear and distracting. It’s only worse in the subsequent scene where Wonder Woman stops a theft from occurring in a mall. The effects are just bad. Like passable for a film in the 1990s or early 2000s. But for a 2020 blockbuster, it’s noticeably bad. And already the scene where Wonder Woman is running towards the camera with a weird green screen behind her seems to have become a meme given just how weird it looks.

And yet, for all the negatives I’ve listed, this is a decent action flick. There’s even some nice set pieces like the one in the White House. As little as I liked Max Lord as a supervillain, I found figuring out the other half of each of his various Monkey Paw wishes (i.e. the downside of each wish) to be clever. unfortunately, each of the main three characters fails to have a story line that takes full advantage of their emotional potential, or they are just poorly acted. With few exceptions, the film eschews “fun” in favor of “seriousness.” Really the only exception is, as in the first film, the chemistry between Pine and Gadot. Their chemistry makes for some of the movie’s best moments, like when Wonder Woman makes the plane they’re flying in invisible and the pair flies over fireworks on the fourth of July. But that sense of whimsy in their scenes is largely absent from the rest of the film. This is particularly true of the action sequences, especially those at the climax. The seriousness makes them rather boring. Really, I’m comparing these action scenes with the last half hour or so of Birds of Prey which really set the bar for superhero movie fight choreography. So in the end, it’s overall an OK movie. It certainly isn’t as bad as others make it out to be, but I cannot believe I’m saying this… in 2020 if you’re in the mood for a fun superhero movie, you’re better off with the Suicide Squad sequel than the Wonder Woman sequel.

**/ (Two and a half stars out of 4)

#wonder woman #ww84 #wonder woman 1984 #gal gadot #patty jenkins #chris pine #kristen wiig #pedro pascal

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idreamtofmanderleyagain · 4 years

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Hellraiser Fandom and the Invisibility of Women’s Abuse

I’m starting to come to terms with why the Last Drive In interviews stuck with me in a bad way.

It kind of eluded me for a while, but to give you guys the emotional lead-up to what was underlying my sense of discomfort and irritation, let me explain a few things. When I heard the interview was going to happen, I watched some portions of a different Last Drive In episode to get a sense of what the whole thing was about. It’s your standard hosted horror movie show.

It’s also awkwardly sexist. They have a character on it, Darcy The Mail Girl, who as far as I could tell in my first viewing, basically exists on the show to be ogled and be the butt of sexual humor. The men filming would even break the fourth wall to snicker and whistle when she would say something sexual. In 2020, it was extraordinarily cringe-worthy to watch, and I’m at a loss that we’re still living in a world where this is normalized. It was like watching something from the 80′s. She is extremely objectified on the show.

I don’t blame her for this. Apparently, she was the victim of some awful bullying and body-shaming fairly recently, and I don’t want to put more suffering on that girl’s shoulders. I respect her. I think she respects herself. The circumstances surrounding a woman being in a position like this are complicated, and I do not pretend to understand her situation. She’s also allowed her own feelings about what she can and cannot handle, and what is and is not okay with her.

Nevertheless, the segment I saw in that other episode with Darcy was alienating and even rather upsetting. I felt a second-hand humiliation and pain. I didn’t feel like Darcy was put in a position where she was in control of her own sexual expression. Perhaps Darcy’s actress disagrees with me, and that’s fine. But as a female audience member, I was already feeling a sense of unease and unwelcome.

So I was obviously primed for discomfort before the interviews even started.

Joe Bob Briggs (the host) said a few things that did not sit quite right with me. Quite frankly, he repeated some more annoying fanboy statements that tend to stick in my craw. His rather basic interpretation of the film, juxtaposed against the awkward, stifling feeling of watching Doug and Ashley try to explain the deeper concepts that eluded him reminded my of my own frustrations listening to the male fans of these films’ constant comprehension failure.

How many times does Doug have to repeat the words he’s basically memorized by heart regarding the tragedy and complex nature of Pinhead? Why does this get forgotten, glossed over, even retconned so much?

Why does it always feel like Ashley gets disregarded? Every time we see an interview with her (which is comparatively rare), nobody really speaks to the deeper thoughts she expresses on her character or the narrative, but every man in the comments has something to say about her hotness level.

When we got to the point that Ashley tried to explain to Briggs that she thought Pinhead was fair in a certain scene, and that Pinhead was speaking to Kirsty’s accountability for her own desires, Briggs responds incredulously; “You think Kirsty OWES Pinhead?!”

Ashley had spent a portion of the interview having to dismiss the relevance of characters like Steve and Kyle in Kirsty’s life, and was now suggesting a deeper subtext in her interactions with Pinhead that both A) did not cast Kirsty as pure and sexless and without culpability, and B) did not cast Pinhead as her aggressor but as her psychological mirror.

This is the subtext that is most often disregarded by casual fans and some hardcore fans alike, that Kirsty may not be the innocent and sexless Final Girl, and that Pinhead may not be the predatory Slasher monster intent on using a sharp weapon to penetrate her violently for his own gratification, and that dynamic may not be the be-all-end all of their relationship for the rest of time.

I’ve been turning Brigg’s incredulous response around in my brain for a while. And it’s made me realize something about how men experience Hellraiser’s narrative, and why it differs so greatly for many women.

Doug has more than once spoken to the fact that women react to Pinhead very differently than men. He was of course speaking of the sexual interest he would get, but he has remarked upon the fact at least once that he’s not entirely sure why that is, exactly.

It’s...not that strange to me that women desire rather than fear the character, or that Ashley would have a more positive response to Kirsty’s relationship with him rather than her relationships with the seemingly benign boys of the films.

There is an order to which women first learn about sex. For some it’s a little different but I believe this is a fairly common experience: The very first thing we learn is that it’s going to hurt (but maybe also feel good after). The second thing we learn is that boys will want to take it from us and will manipulate and lie to us to get it, but that it’s supposed to happen in a loving relationship. The third thing we learn is that we want it too, but we aren’t supposed to because it’s dirty and wrong for us to want it.

Women grow up with an inherent anxiety around sex, an anxiety that is complicated by our own desires.

Everything in Hellraiser is perfectly reflective of a reality that men clearly do not have the context to fully comprehend, because women’s real experiences of desire, and of male violence, are a blind spot.

The men who hurt women don’t have pins in their head and wax gothic poetry about suffering. They don’t wear dark capes and turn into bats and hypnotize women from their windows to drink their blood.

The men who hurt women look like Frank, or J.P. Monroe, or Trevor, or Channard, or every bumbling aggressive fool Julia seduced home.

They look like Larry and Steve.

Larry let his wife scream “no” and “stop” several times before he responded, regardless of the true reasons she was screaming those words. And when he finally did stop, it was out of anger rather than concern. This is, as far as I’m aware, the most common form of sexual violence a woman can experience - a man they give their trust to suddenly doesn’t respect a “no.”

So, so many times, I have heard men say how badly they felt for Larry, how innocent poor Larry was.

Men live in a fantasy world where it’s more comfortable for them to imagine characters like Larry as good man, a victim of Julia’s callousness who isn’t in Hell not because he never touched the box, but because he is inherently innocent. They live in a fantasy world where it’s odd that Steve abandoned Kirsty the minute something deeply traumatic happened to her (Briggs remarked upon this). Raise your hand if a man has done the same to you when the cards where down.

Steve’s response to Kirsty getting too drunk to stand properly was to “jokingly” tell her to lie down in this sleazeball way that indicated he was insinuating taking advantage of her intoxicated state. Also one of the most common forms of sexual violence a woman can experience.

The men who Julia took home would respond aggressively when she chickened out of sex, either blindly or in an attempt to shame and guilt her into proceeding.

Should we talk about the fact that Kyle is a psychiatrist who shouldn’t be romancing a traumatized patient in his care who’s parent was just fucking brutally murdered? Or does that feel too petty in comparison?

The men who hurt women are more typically their friends, their fathers, their uncles, their boyfriends, their husbands.

What’s so funny about all of this is that Pinhead somehow does better at consent than these men, at least in a manner of speaking. He’s the only man who legitimately listens to Kirsty, and responds to her “no.” No matter what he threatens, he always stops to hear her out, lets her do what she wants, is always talking about her desires and pleasure, and in the end always ends up destroying the men abusing her rather than going through with ever harming her.

Briggs seemed keen on viewing Pinhead as a Satanic figure. Historically, what is the role of women who are in a position to encounter the devil? Usually, they are witches, wanton women who gain magical power through sexual communion with the devil. A framework of propaganda that men have historically used to persecute women.

The men who hurt and oppress women in real life don’t look or act like Satan, but they sure as hell are ready to write narrative after narrative of Satanic figures menacing women while they save the day, and they sure as hell like to blame women for preferring “bad boys” and “assholes” over the “nice guy.”

It’s more comfortable for men to imagine Pinhead as this cool figure of pure evil with no feelings or capacity for mercy, because they can live vicariously through his violence (particularly when they’re writing him doing it to half-naked women, looking at you H3) and yet simultaneously distance their moral identities from him.

It’s more comfortable to compartmentalize what good vs. predatory masculinity looks like in a way that benefits their self-image and the status quo. This is a lie men tell themselves.

It’s safer for men to point to Pinhead and say, “this is what a predator looks like,” while curiously never speaking of the callous, scummy and predatory behavior of every single other man in the films, even to the point of occasionally discussing the perceived tragedy of fucking Frank’s spiral into darkness long before they can feel entirely comfy imagining Pinhead as having a past where he was a good man with sad feelings, or regard his act of self-sacrifice for Kirsty as anything but a moment of weakness that was “bad writing” and therefore should never have happened.

There is an extraordinary irony in a man arguing with Pinhead’s own actor over the nature of his evil, while running a show where a female character’s fuckability is her main characteristic and it’s okay to behave as if she doesn’t even have real feelings.

All this nonsense in the spaces I go to have fun, while we’re dealing with the background radiation of a President who’s sexual abuses are swept under the rug, his masculinity praised regularly and his violence against our people gaslighted. While we’re dealing with the mass-recorded aggressive violence of police - white men in positions of authority whom we are supposed to trust to keep us safe. While men make other men laugh about the violation of girls so they don’t have to deal with the reality of one of the “nice” funny guys being a predator.

Fuck you. I’d rather burn.

#Hellraiser #rape cw #abuse cw

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qandnoablog · 4 years

Text

Mercy (Marvel Imagine)

Title: Discovered

Pairing: There is no final pairing (since I follow along with the movies as accurately as I can) but [Y/N] does gravitate towards Loki

Warnings: Based on the movie - Avengers: Infinity War

Part: 14, [13], [12], [11], [10], [9], [8], [7], [6], [5], [4], [3], [2], [1] Short story: [3], [2], [1]

Key: Y/N - Your Name Y/L/N - Your Last Name

Word Count: 3,772

Summary: After being portaled away yet again by Doctor Strange, [Y/N] found herself face to face with danger. Though Titan was bad, having to battle Thanos and all, it was 8 vs. 1. Numbers no longer were on her side as she was thrown right into the heat of battle, without even a second to catch her breath.

Note From Author: Part 15 will be out soon! Thank you so much for making it this far and check back in a week for more!

Part 14 - Mercy

[Y/N] went through the portal as fast as it appeared. The movement was so sudden that she barely registered how she had stumbled and fallen onto a rocky, somewhat grassy, patch of dirt.

The sun’s warm rays of light blinded her, making her head throb in her state of confusion. She could hear several people fighting around her, but her vision was blurry from all the dirt that had stirred from all the movement. Just as she was blinking away the tears that formed from the particles in the air stinging her eyes, the ground below her rumbled. While still disoriented and nauseous from the sudden portaling, she finally saw the giant metallic, bladed wheels barreling towards her.

Just as she was beginning to register the imminent doom that was before her, she saw two people that were dangerously closer to the wheels than her. One of them she recognized and immediately jumped into action before she could even process what on Earth was going on.

Running forward, just in line with the two women who were bracing for impact, [Y/N] let out a wave of her powers to stop the oncoming destruction. The huge, metal contraption creaked and resisted her barrier but she let out a shout as she sent out more of her energy to stop the blades from coming any closer.

The two women, who were baffled on why they were unharmed, looked up and saw her fighting to hold back the machine. Natasha immediately knew who had jumped in to help while the other woman was still a bit confused, given that she and [Y/N] had never met.

[Y/N] wished she could have a better reunion with her friend, but this wasn’t the time. Her muscles screamed out in agony as her powers were pushed to the limit, but she ignored the strain and continued to push back against the enemy. Sweat beaded down her forehead and she knew that she could not hold the wheels back for long.

“I can’t-” [Y/N] gasped out, her knees already starting to bend from the force pushing back against her.

Just as her powers could not resist against the machine, another Avenger flew down from the sky to save them.

Red waves of energy surrounded Wanda’s hands and the wheels as her powers pushed the blades back and lifted them into the air. Glancing behind her at the oncoming alien army, she grunted as she sent the now-divided gigantic wheels backwards towards the horde of enemies.

[Y/N] crumpled onto the ground, panting heavily, as she looked up gratefully at another friend she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Why was she up there all this time?” The only other woman [Y/N] did not know asked as she skillfully twirled her spear and brought it behind her.

While fighting alongside her fellow Avengers, [Y/N] was caught up on a few things.

One was that Bruce was safe and was able to contact Steve about the situation so that they could prepare for the oncoming invasion. The second was that they were currently in Wakanada, both protecting Vision and granting Shuri, King T’Challa’s - aka. Black Panther’s - genius sister, some time to safely separate the mind stone from Vision. And finally, the other woman that was fighting alongside them was the general of the Dora Milaje of Wakanda, Okoye.

Though already battle worn from her brush with Thanos and drained from holding back something that was beyond her capabilities, [Y/N] continued to fight back Thanos’ army. The three women were grateful for her arrival, given that any help against the numbers they were facing was a blessing.

“Guys, we got a Vision situation here,” Sam said through the earpiece that [Y/N] had received from Natasha, who often kept spares.

“Somebody get to Vision!” Cap yelled, knowing full well what the danger of those words represented.

“I got him!” Bruce confirmed.

“On my way,” Wanda added, but then she was suddenly attacked from the side by a familiar alien that [Y/N] instantly recognized. That was the female alien that was considered a “child of Thanos” and was there when Thor and Loki’s ship was attacked.

[Y/N] quickly leapt into action but before she could do anything to help Wanda, Natasha put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

“Go help Vision,” she instructed as she turned her back to [Y/N] and headed towards the female alien. “We got this.”

“Got it,” [Y/N] nodded and quickly took off into the opposite direction, shrouding herself in a blanket of air and vanished from sight.

By the time [Y/N] arrived at where Vision was, she saw that he was outnumbered. It was a two vs. one situation: Vision against the remaining “children of Thanos,” one being the bulky alien from the fight in New York, when the pale alien was after Strange’s time stone.

Unable to alert Vision of her presence, the bulky alien swung his hammer towards her friend. [Y/N] instantly sent out her powers, her invisibility unraveling, and took the damage for Vision head-on. She winced in pain, her hands trembling at the force she absorbed, but bit down on her lip to prevent herself from making a sound.

Vision flew backwards, the force behind the attack still making him stumble back, though unfazed by the impact. A bit confused, Vision turned and saw [Y/N] standing not too far from him. Many emotions flashed across his face, but it finally rested on one thing. Relief.

“Oh, no. Oh, no you don’t.”

Bruce swiftly entered the scene, adorning the metal armor that was once used to fend off the Hulk. Though new to its mechanisms, he still preoccupied the bulky alien and was thrown to another location, a bit further from where [Y/N] and Vision were.

“Guys!” Bruce yelled through the comms, “Vision and [Y/N] need backup, now!”

Of course everyone stiffened when they heard [Y/N]’s name, but they quickly brushed aside their questions and were instead reassured that a fellow Avenger had arrived at the scene. Though Vision’s situation was precarious, knowing [Y/N] was there would buy them enough time for backup to make it in time.

“Vision, get back!” [Y/N] instructed as she sent out wave after wave of her powers to push the enemy away.

Once he was pushed back far enough, she sent out a blanket of energy and draped it over Vision. Though that divided her attention and powers, she made sure that Vision was hidden from sight so as to not sustain any more damage while she distracted the enemy.

His weapon was the most troublesome out of everything. She had briefly heard of Vision’s situation from Wanda in the midst of fighting off aliens, that it was capable of taking on Vision’s infinity stone powered body. However, the same couldn’t be said about the alien’s body. So long as she could land a few blows while avoiding the deadly weapon, he would not be able to advance.

Her powers were useless against whatever material was used to craft such a weapon, but she didn’t survive this long for nothing. Feeling the brush of death so close to her, her body acted on its own and dodged the blade from touching her skin. Her vibranium gloves helped protect her as she tried to block some of the oncoming blows away from any vital spots, but she was just not fast enough. The moment his weapon missed its mark, the alien shifted his body and swung out his leg and kicked her with enough force to send her back and bruise her bones.

She tumbled on the floor, rolling from the hit, as she coughed and gasped for air. Her concentration was scattered and the invisibility over Vision dissipated into the air. The damage she took couldn’t be stopped with her powers alone and her untrained body was having a hard time getting back up. While unable to move, the alien shifted his attention back to the now visible Vision, who desperately tried to gather his strength in an attempt to fend off his attacker.

Gritting her teeth and willing herself to move, her powers wrapped around her body and helped her to her feet. Surging with as much energy as she could muster, she sent out another wave of power at the alien. This fight couldn’t go on as she felt herself getting weaker and weaker. Vision was in no condition to fight and she was running out of time.

Damn it! [Y/N] cursed herself for being so weak as she continued to bombard the alien with her power. The more she fought, the weaker her attacks became. Sooner or later, it would only be a matter of time before she was truly unable to move, let alone fight back.

He viciously smiled, knowing that hope was dwindling inside her, but before he could revel in his victory, someone barreled into him and tackled him to the floor.

“Steve!” [Y/N] cried out, her heart blooming with joy at the backup that finally arrived.

“Get out of here!” He instructed both of them as he turned his full attention back on the alien.

[Y/N] didn’t question his authority and immediately made her way back to Vision. He could barely stand up, so she used her body to help prop him up. Although she was nearly drained of power, she could still use them to at least do this much.

“Go!” Steve commanded as the two struggled to get out of his way.

He fended off the alien, but both of them could see that Steve had expended a lot of energy to just get here. The situation was becoming dire and just when he successfully made the alien drop his weapon, the alien grabbed his throat and threw him over a fallen tree. There was only a second to think, but [Y/N] and Vision both had the same exact thoughts. With one nod, they moved together in unison, knowing exactly what to do.

Steve was at his last breath, his throat being choked by the alien before him, but not giving up. Just when he was losing strength to fight back, the head of a spear stabbed into the alien on top of him, plunging deeper and deeper into the alien’s chest. Steve coughed, gasping for air, as the alien released him and was lifted higher and higher by his own weapon.

Vision had the strength and [Y/N] had her powers. Together, the two had grabbed onto the discarded spear and impaled the accursed villain. [Y/N] was physically too weak to do it alone and Vision was injured and could barely move. With her helping him stand using her powers as support, he found the strength necessary to finally finish off this alien for good.

With the adrenaline wearing off, both of them could feel their legs give out. Vision was the first to stumble, and Cap quickly caught him before he fell down. [Y/N] had a bit more strength and gently slumped down to the floor, utterly exhausted from her combined efforts of fighting with Thanos, stopping the gigantic bladed wheels, and rescuing Vision. Finally, there was time to catch a breath.

“I thought I told you two to go,” Cap sighed, relieved to see that Vision and [Y/N] were okay.

“We don’t trade lives, Captain,” Vision answered, a knowing look shared between the two of them. [Y/N] clearly missed something, but at this point she didn’t have the energy to care.

“He’s here,” Vision warned, a foreboding feeling enveloping everyone who heard his words.

No, [Y/N] thought to herself as she realized what those words implied and recalled the state her friends were in when she was forcibly separated from them. No, Tony couldn’t have lost! No!

She knew exactly how powerful Thanos was. If he truly succeeded back on Titan, then that meant that he had not only defeated Tony but also obtained another infinity stone. He was more powerful than any of them could even imagine. Her eyes said everything she was dreading as she turned to Steve and he nodded to her, understanding what she meant without any more words.

“Everyone on my position,” Cap instructed through the comms. “We have incoming.”

If they were going to face Thanos, they needed everyone who could still fight.

The moment Thanos appeared out of the cloud of gray and blue smoke, [Y/N]’s heart fell. More of her friends were lost. She didn’t know how many more were killed by this monster’s hands, but she knew how ruthless he could be. How could they have survived if he managed to get his hands on the time stone? How many more friends did she have to lose by his hands?

“Thanos,” [Y/N] breathed, tears welling up in her eyes from both grief and anger. Her voice was so low that it was barely a whisper, but everyone around her heard what she said.

“Cap,” Bruce called, “that’s him.”

Their confirmation was all the team needed. The two people who had met Thanos face-to-face. There was no room or reason for doubt. All they could do now was steel their resolve and fight to the death.

“Eyes up. Stay sharp.” Cap took command and readied his new shield for another battle.

He was the first to charge. [Y/N] had no more time to think. She knew that there was no more time left. From the corner of her eye, she could see the overwhelming pain Wanda had on her face as she tried to desperately stop Vision from convincing her to destroy the stone embedded in his head. [Y/N] couldn’t bear to see the torment that her friends were feeling from this decision, from this sacrifice, so she directed all her attention onto Thanos.

This fight was different from the battle on Titan.

Thanos learned from his mistakes and didn’t take any chances this time. Not when he was so close to his prize.

He discarded his arrogance and instead fully utilized the stones in his possession more than when he was fighting Tony and the others. Barely lifting his own arms to fight, he just sent wave after wave of power. All stones, except the time stone, were exploited.

Bruce’s charge lost its force as his whole metallic suit phased through Thanos and was tossed towards the mountain, encased in the rocks and unable to move. Steve was easily thrown aside, T’Challa was knocked unconscious with one blow, and Falcon’s wings were disabled midcharge, all with the help of the infinity stones’ power.

Vision had finally convinced Wanda to destroy his stone, just as Rhodey was nearly crushed within his own Iron Patriot suit. Bucky was knocked down, Okoye’s spear was stopped and her sent flying, Natasha trapped between rocks that pierced from the ground, and the tree creature’s constricting branches easily snapped off.

Then, Steve pushed forward and used his own two hands.

Punch after punch, hit after hit. Though exhausted, Steve persisted and fended off Thanos. Their goal was no longer defeating Thanos. No, it was now to buy Wanda enough time. Enough time to… To destroy the mind stone.

With one swing, Thanos knocked Steve out of the way and continued on towards Wanda. With only [Y/N] left standing, she stood beside Wanda as the two sent a wave of energy at Thanos. Her powers were far stronger than [Y/N]’s but any support was better than none. Using the last of her reserves she could muster, [Y/N] sent out all she had to block Thanos so that Wanda could finally rid the world of one infinity stone. One less so that Thanos could not use it against the universe.

To prevent him from overwhelming them with the stones’ might, [Y/N] sent out her powers to prevent him from closing his gauntlet. She didn’t have enough power to pry it off his hand, but she did have enough energy to fight against his one arm. Sweat streamed down her forehead as she continued to struggle with Thanos, his monstrous strength making her grit her teeth as every ounce of her being was used to stop him from using any more of the stones’ powers.

Wanda’s attention was solely on Vision, though her powers were divided. [Y/N] did not look away from Thanos as he inched closer, but in her heart she knew that he would be too late. All she needed to do was allow Wanda just a little more time. And so her eyes never left the enemy before her. However, those last words… The last words of her synthetic friend did not escape her ears.

Her heart felt as though countless knives were stabbing into them and she couldn’t even begin to imagine how Wanda must have felt at that moment. Those words, so filled with love and affection, were directed only to Wanda. The hatred [Y/N] felt for Thanos only grew as she felt the tears rolling down her face. Such a tragedy, if it weren’t for this monster, would her friends ever need to make such a heart-wrenching decision?

No. Never would we have been pushed so far over the edge. He’s the root of all of this!

The blow was not small. The moment the infinity stone broke under Wanda’s powers, the blast sent all of them back. [Y/N] had expended too much energy and was flung further away but Thanos and Wanda remained close to where Vision had once stood.

She lay upon the dirt floor of the forest, her mind going blank. Her ears were ringing and she could barely make out any sounds. Still, she was alert enough to know that it was not the time for her to be laying there, defenseless, while her friend and Thanos still stood, but her whole body refused to listen. [Y/N]’s breathing was heavy, utterly exhausted from everything that went down, and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest. But she couldn’t do that. Not here. Not now.

Still, her body didn’t listen to her and soon everything went black.

[Y/N] didn’t know how long she had blacked out, but the moment she opened her eyes again, Vision was back and struggling under the hold of Thanos. The energy she previously lost was slowly returning and the scene before her eyes made a jolt of panic shoot her upright.

Didn’t Wanda destroy the stone? Then how- That’s when it hit her. The time stone!

But it was too late. Thanos had forced the stone out of Vision’s artificial head and threw the lifeless body aside. The stone fit perfectly into the final place on the gauntlet and power surged into Thanos. All infinity stones were finally in his possession. If someone didn’t do something fast, he would-

Several bolts of lightning crashed into the purple alien, sending him back with plenty of force to spare. Only one man could make such a drastic entrance!

“Thor!”

The God of Thunder raced towards Thanos from the sky, his whole body wrapped with electrical energy. With all his might, he threw his new weapon at Thanos who shot out the combined powers of the infinity stones, the two powers clashing with one another. However, it wasn’t what anyone was expecting.

Thor’s new weapon defied the unrivaled powers of the stone and continued to break through their beam of energy. It tore through such vast amounts of power and finally… It lodged itself right in Thanos’ chest. Such a wound, it would be impossible for him to be unscathed.

“I told you,” Thor said, his voice low and filled with rage, “you’d die for that.”

With those words finally out, he pushed the weapon further into Thanos’ body. The purple alien roared in pain, unable to withstand the additional torment, and could barely speak.

“You should have… You should…” He murmured at first, but who knew where he found the strength to finish that sentence. “You should have gone for the head.”

One snap was all it took. A bolt of energy rippled through the cosmos as Thanos finally completed his goal.

[Y/N] was the only one there who knew the extent of Thanos’ plans. She was the only one who knew what that snap signified. And just knowing about it made her stomach churn. She knew what was coming, but she hoped and prayed that it wasn’t possible. That what Thanos foretold would not come to pass.

“What’d you do?” Thor cried out, not knowing what that blast of power meant. Nothing had happened to him but looking at the tattered state of the gauntlet, clearly the combined powers of the infinity stones had been used. “What’d you do?!”

But Thanos did not reply. Instead, he used the stones and disappeared to parts unknown. The weapon that was once lodged into his massive body clattered onto the ground, the blade stained with the alien’s blood.

“Where’d he go?” Steve asked, holding his side as he tried to catch his breath. “Thor… Where’d he go?”

“Steve,” Bucky called out, looking at his arm that wasn’t holding onto his gun.

In just a matter of seconds, Bucky turned to ash and fell to the ground. His body didn’t even have a chance to hit the dirt floor as he became dust and was blown away by the gentle breeze. The sight stunned everyone and no one knew what was going on. Everyone but [Y/N].

Thanos’ words echoed in her mind, his sick, twisted mission replaying over and over in her head His act of mercy had been fulfilled.

That’s when [Y/N] felt something within her stir. She knew that Thanos had accomplished his wish and people everywhere were being erased from the universe randomly, being purged so the remaining few could survive. A completely random process, but half of the universe would not live to see that “glorious” future that Thanos had envisioned for them.

“Shit,” the words escaped [Y/N]’s lips as she brought herself to her knees and bowed her head in complete and utter defeat.

Her words were not loud, but they were heard by everyone that still remained. They turned to her, their eyes searching for answers, as they tried desperately to keep the feeling of dread from swallowing them whole.

“He did it. Thanos won.”

[PART 15]

Tags: @themeanestlittlewitch @stressedandbandobessed7771 @moistpotatobear @fxckingfat @e7here4l

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oceanera12 · 4 years

Text

Winter Soldier!Steve

I don’t see enough of this AU

And when I do it is ALWAYS Stucky So let’s take a different route on this bad boy, shall we?

First movie follows the same story line up to the train section.

Don’t know how and don’t think too hard about it because AU but somehow Steve is the one thrown from the train, not Bucky--

BUT

Bucky isn’t Steve. Because when Bucky “dies” Steve breaks down and cries.

When Steve “dies” Bucky stares at the point where his friend fell in shock as he realizes he’s failed his friend. His stupid, punk, friend who survived getting beaten in back alley’s, illness inducing winters, allergies, the deaths of both parents, and a freaking government science experiment. His friend is gone and all he has left of him is a metal frisbee.

Yes, he is sad. But he is mostly ticked.

Zola is found by Barnes before the other Commando’s because Barnes rips off the flipping door, grabs Zola around the neck and starts choking him (and almost kills him), but the Commando’s manage to snap him out of his death rage and Zola is taken in (albeit very afraid and very bruised)

After some “interrogation” Zola admits to Barnes having a variant of a super soldier serum from his time experimenting on the soldier. Stark looks into it, confirms the fact, and suddenly Barnes finds himself in charge of the Commandos and is given Steve’s shield.

He agrees to do it on ONE condition. In the public reports of the incident, Captain America is still Steve Rogers and will always be Steve. If anyone asks, Bucky died on that train, not Steve because gosh darn it, Bucky is not going to let his friend fade into the background again.

Bucky and Peggy have a friendship and an understanding between them. Whatever happens next is for that little guy in Brooklyn.

Bucky makes a very ruthless Captain America. He does his job with efficiency and speed. The Commando’s back him up whole heartedly.

The movie plays out pretty much the same with the Red Skull fight and Bucky getting on the plane (he doesn’t kiss Peggy, geez), and then going to crash the ship in the ocean.

The radio call is different. In the call, Bucky makes Peggy swear to tell the public it was Steve in the plane. This was Steve saving the world, not James Barnes. “Because that kid saved me before he saved anyone else.”

Then he asks Peggy to tell him about how she first met his punk brother. She obliges, tears running down her face. She doesn’t know when Barnes was cut off but by the time she was done the radio had gone dead.

Seventy years later, SHIELD pulls out a frozen Captain America. Most everyone is confused when the man is brown haired, not blonde, and upon closer inspection they find whoever this is, it is NOT Steven Rogers.

Fury pulls up the redacted reports and very old, very disclosed files before finding the truth about Captain Rogers and that the person they have found is Sergeant James Barnes.

James doesn’t bolt out of the hospital room SHIELD staged. He points out the inconsistencies, the radio game being wrong, etc, then sits down and basically asks when they are going to start torturing him for information.

Fury comes in, tells him he’s been frozen and when Bucky doesn’t believe him, Fury takes him on a tour around New York City.

Bucky requests if they release anything on Captain America being found, to say it was Steven Rogers, who is now being very recluse and does not want any attention.

Avenger’s plays out slightly different.

For one, Tony and Bucky don’t butt heads as much. Actually, Tony thinks Bucky is Steve Rogers at first (he still really doesn’t like Steve because of how his Dad talked about him) and is extremely confused when James takes off the mask and introduces himself as Sergeant James Barnes. Then Tony backpedals on that information and does his own research on it. Tony’s the one who finds the SHIELD weapons, James is angry at Fury and actually sides with Tony

For another thing, Bucky doesn’t get along with Thor very well. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a stupid blonde but it’s just bad memories.

Nat and Bruce are fine with James, as is Clint when he comes around.

Everyone beats up the aliens and Loki and it’s a win, win.

In between movies, Bucky hangs out with Tony to catch up on modern day (because Tony really likes watching him be confused/learning pop culture and James needs it because what are these references?) Bucky tells Tony about the “real” Steve. The kid before the shield. I wouldn’t say Tony loves Rogers now, but he definitely understands him better and has a little more sympathy for the guy.

This is important because Winter Soldier is up

Bucky meets Sam while running. Sam doesn’t know who he is at first until they are introduced, then kind of confused because isn’t Barnes dead? But he doesn’t bring it up and leaves it at that because this guy is clearly suffering from PTSD and a soldier not used to being home.

Mission with Black Widow, goes to see the giant battleships in the sky, and Bucky isn’t Steve. But he also knows this is a bit much/extreme for a constant military station so he doesn’t support the project because, yes there are aliens. So why are we looking at threats on the planet and not in space???

Bucky calls Tony and chats with him for a bit about it (he feels uncomfortable talking to Peggy because it’s not fair that Steve doesn’t get to see her). Tony points out the pros and cons of the project and cracks some jokes. Overall, not extremely helpful but helps clear Bucky’s head a little.

Nick is attacked, runs to Bucky, Nick is “killed” and Bucky chases after the killer. Similar roof scene (*note: I don’t know if Steve has the metal arm. If he does, I’m thinking it’s the right arm, not the left. Don’t know why, just think it should be that way if it is) and Winter Soldier vanishes

Okay, so-- Fury says to not trust anyone. And Bucky sure as heck doesn’t trust Pierce. But I feel like Barnes is more trusting than Steve (I’m serious, the Winter Soldier experience just threw that trait out the window). So Barnes trusts Widow enough to actually leave her with the drive and not put it in a vending machine (also tells her not to show it to anyone-- which she doesn’t.)

Just going to say the movie carries out the same for the most part (including contacting Falcon) EXCEPT--

When Bucky pulls the mask off Steve he calls his name out and we still get shot at and captured. Rescued by Maria Hill, find Fury, etc, etc.

THEN Bucky calls Tony Stark from a payphone, who’s confused as to why Captain America is wanted on the news. Bucky tells Stark about Steve. Tony probably doesn’t believe him at first because, “Hello, Barnes? He’s dead. Has been for a long time. You hit your head or something?” But Bucky explains and suddenly Tony finds himself diving into old S.H.I.E.L.D. files and reading up on Soviet science experiments from the cold war.

Also, Tony comes to help blow up the carriers because heck to the no, Hydra is not using his technology, no siree.

So Falcon and Stark are flying around the carriers and taking care of goons, when Falcon gets shot down Stark goes after him and when everything is falling apart, Stark tries to get close to Barnes to grab him, but can’t because of the big guns.

Meanwhile in the Bucky vs. Steve fight, we get the whole “trying to kill one“ another thing, but I feel like Bucky is way better at pushing Steve’s memory buttons and Bucky is a little more willing to punch Steve because he knows Steve wouldn’t want to kill him. So Steve figures out “wait, I know this guy” just before they hit the water.

When they crash in the water, both are semi-conscious and they are found by Stark who flies both to his compound and calls the doctors to come work on these two sad super soldiers.

Now Steve doesn’t remember everything. But he knows that: One, Hydra is going to be after him if they find out he’s still alive. Two, these people that helped him either knew him or know of him somehow and he really doesn’t want to hurt them. Three, his name is Steven Rogers and the punk from earlier is James Buchanan Barnes.

So Steve pulls a him and goes, “Nope, not putting you in danger” and the first chance he gets he flees Avenger’s tower and disappears into thin air.

Thanks, Steve. Thanks a lot.

Age of Ultron, nothing really changes. Tony is also looking for Steve and Bucky is a little more on top of things and tells Tony that Steve might have had something to do with his parent’s deaths but he’s not 100% sure.

Civil War. Okay, bear with me for a second because I can see Bucky actually being Pro-Accords. Not one hundred percent of the actual document but the idea behind it because “yes, people need to be held accountable for their actions” but also “you can’t save everyone no matter how hard you try, trust me I know that better than everyone, but that doesn’t mean you just sit there and do nothing because some government people tell you no, you can’t get involved.” (Basically Black Widow’s stance on this whole thing)

So when “Steve” bombs the accords, Bucky knows that’s not him and tells Tony as much (who doesn’t believe Barnes completely, but willing to give him a chance because of the past) and since Bucky technically signed the accords he has more pull in what happens to him and Tony is way more willing to listen.

Which means Bucky and Tony track down Steve in that apartment with actual permission to do so, on the condition they take the “Winter Soldier” into custody.

I’m not really sure what happens after this because Tony is going to find out about his parents, one way or another. Maybe Bucky’s stories about his old friend will keep Tony from trying to kill him. Maybe they won’t. Who knows? Heck, Zola may not even make it through the front door because Bucky is allowed to talk to Steve as the “therapist”

So end this AU however you want, I think it’d be pretty accurate. I’m just going to say the Accords got thrown out the window and Bucky and Tony start helping Steve recover from Hydra. Yay!

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