tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67542523511025017452024-03-12T00:52:20.452-04:00A Bittersweet FountainWhere writing, engineering, geekiness, and Christianity collide.Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.comBlogger407125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-75622412956343780362016-04-14T06:00:00.000-04:002016-04-14T06:00:06.286-04:00Not Less<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>This was originally posted on <a href="http://the-feels-assassin.tumblr.com/post/102648875399/not-less" target="_blank">my tumblr, the-feels-assassin, on November 14, 2014</a>.</i></div>
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Earlier this week ESA put a lander on an asteroid. Something that is truly phenomenal and amazing and a step forward for space engineering. Maybe it wasn’t quite the moon landing in terms of coverage, but it certainly seemed like a lot of people were tuned into this event.</div>
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An ESA engineer giving an interview wore an unfortunate shirt that offended and alienated many women. The engineer has thus apologized, and I believe him. I believe him that he didn’t think when he put on that shirt in the morning. Odin knows as an engineer I’ve seen my colleagues–male and female and myself included–make some questionable fashion choices. </div>
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People have asked my opinion of this occurrence, which is only natural I suppose considering I’m a female engineer in the space industry. Satellites are my business. </div>
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But asking me to talk about a shirt is short sighted. This isn’t about one poor fashion choice. No, this is about being a female in a male dominated world. This is about the system and how it works. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today. </div>
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Hi, my name is Mandy, and I’m an aerospace engineer.</div>
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I wanted to be an engineer my entire life, but not just any engineer. I wanted to be Geordi La Forge. I wanted his job. I wanted to be the chief engineer of the Enterprise. Everyone else’s jobs…they were alright, but he was the guy who made the Enterprise sail through the stars! He was the one who made the magic happen. Without him, none of the adventures would be able to happen. And I wanted that to be me. </div>
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And because my parents raised me to believe I could be whoever I wanted to be no matter what, I didn’t think it was odd that my greatest hero in life was a blind black man. There was no one else in the universe I would have rather been. </div>
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My other hero when I was a kid was my brother. He was four years older than me, and I wanted to do everything he did. I played the sports he did, the extra curricular activities he liked, and I would’ve joined boy scouts if they would’ve let me. </div>
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Odin-help-me, I wanted to be him so bad. </div>
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Looking back on life, it’s very clear to me that I just wanted to be a boy. It’s hard to explain this without getting into weird gray areas. I am not trans. I have never been trans. I identify as female even if I don’t identify as feminine. But there are so many times in my life where I think, “God, my life would be so much easier if I was just a guy.”</div>
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But why did–do–I often feel that I would like to be a guy? That my life would be easier or somehow more normal if I was a guy? That I would be more successful or better if I was a guy?</div>
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And there it is.</div>
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To be a guy is to be better.</div>
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To be a guy is to make history. To be a guy is to be on the forefront of science. To be a guy is to affect change in the world. To be a guy is to go on adventures. </div>
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I wanted to be Geordi. I wanted to be von Braun. I wanted to be Feynman. I wanted to BE SOMEBODY.</div>
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This probably explains why when I discovered Marie Curie in the fifth grade, I read the biography written by her daughter five times that year. </div>
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I wanted, needed to believe that there was a place for me in science. That I could be her. That I could be the hero of my own story.</div>
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And it’s not like my parents ever told me girls couldn’t do things. My parents constantly told me I could be just as good as the boys. That I could excel at science and math. But while my parents told me one thing society told me another. </div>
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Society told me MEN saved the world. Not women.</div>
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I wanted to be Peter Pevensie. I wanted to be Luke Skywalker. I wanted to be Ender Wiggin. I wanted to be Harry Potter. I wanted to be Rand al'Thor. I wanted to be the person who saved the universe.</div>
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And I had every quality the hero of an adventure had except the most important.</div>
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I wasn’t male.</div>
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And worse, since I wasn’t particularly feminine, I couldn’t even aspire to be the love interest who got to go on adventures with the male lead. </div>
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I was nothing.</div>
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At some point in my life I decided that I didn’t care that I wasn’t a guy. I was going on the adventure and I was going to make my career and life choices as if I was a guy, even though I wasn’t. </div>
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And nothing was going to dissuade me from that. Not my math teacher telling me I would never make it in a career that required math. Not other college-aged engineers ragging on female engineers for having “TBS” (Tech Bitch Syndrome). Not the horrible male-to-female ratios at school (9-1) or work (20-1 and 50-7 at my two jobs). Not the insensitive middle aged prick who ragged on me for an entire summer because I was female and Polish and unmarried and any number of things he could harass me for. Not the inappropriate jokes about women, the insinuations that I was incompetent, or less of an engineer, or less of a girl, or just less. </div>
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I’m an engineer. I have two degrees. I have worked for NASA and now work in a job in satellites that I love. There are six satellites currently in space that I have worked on. I am awesome.</div>
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Would one silly insensitive stupid ESA shirt have deterred me from my path as a kid? No. But the thing is, it’s not just one shirt.</div>
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It’s one of the many many things girls are inundated with that tells us we are not welcome in STEM. We are decorations for a shirt. Not scientists. </div>
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Because we are less.</div>
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And no girl should have to feel that she is less. That she is somehow lacking because of the sex she was born with and the gender she has chosen. </div>
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If you are reading this, you are not less. I don’t care who you are. Female or male, cis or trans, bi gay or straight, poor or rich, I don’t care.</div>
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You. Are. Not. Less.</div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-37900623204944654222016-04-07T06:00:00.000-04:002016-04-07T06:00:03.022-04:00Wait For It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://newyorktheater.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/hamilton5-leslie-odom-jr-as-aaron-burr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://newyorktheater.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/hamilton5-leslie-odom-jr-as-aaron-burr.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was originally posted on <a href="http://the-feels-assassin.tumblr.com/post/133956332569/wait-for-it" target="_blank">my tumblr, the-feels-assassin, on November 25, 2015</a>.<br />
<br />
So I’ve been thinking about Aaron Burr recently, you know, like you do.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Note: this post is based on the musical <i>Hamilton</i> and it’s events, not the true historical events which do differ from the musical.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In <i>Hamilton</i>, Burr’s philosophy is to “wait for it.” Particularly he says,</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I am the one thing in life I can control</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I am inimitable</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I am an original</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m not falling behind or lying in wait</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m not standing still</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m lying in wait</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Burr’s
philosophy is good things come to those who wait. If you are patient,
if you study the flow around you, if you pay your dues, you will be
rewarded and get what you want.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hamilton’s philosophy is of course the opposite. You should seize what you want, otherwise you will get nothing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These
differences in philosophy obviously come from their differences in
upbringing. Burr came from a wealthy family and Hamilton came from
nobody. Hamilton had to seize the things he wanted because otherwise he
had nothing. But like Burr says,</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
[Hamilton] has something to prove</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He has nothing to lose </div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Especially before Eliza in his life, Hamilton
literally has nothing to lose. He doesn’t even have a good name. Unlike
Burr, who is protecting his family legacy, left to him at too young an
age after his death’s parents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I say all this to posit that, there is nothing wrong with Burr’s philosophy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There
is nothing intrinsically wrong with “waiting for it” and taking
opportunities as they come instead of going out of your way to seize
opportunities. Both philosophies obviously have their pros and cons. But
in Aaron Burr’s case, what is the risk of him not taking Hamilton’s
philosophy?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Before the<i> Election of 1800</i>, when Burr tells Hamilton he’s taking a page from his book what exactly is wrong with Burr’s life?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nothing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He was actually a successful lawyer, one that Hamilton said was a better lawyer than him. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He had a wife he loved and a daughter he adored. (His wife died, but this was not due to Burr’s philosophy.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He wanted to become a congressman and he did. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Success after success.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If
there was a flaw in Burr’s philosophy it’s that he didn’t always take
the opportunities given to him. A “wait for it” philosophy doesn’t mean
passing on opportunities that are presented to you, but Burr made that
mistake when Hamilton approached him about helping with the Federalist
papers and Burr refused. If Burr had taken the opportunity that
presented itself to him, it would have opened him to even more
opportunities after the Constitution passed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So what was Aaron
Burr’s fatal mistake that led to the unraveling of his life? I would
argue it’s not his “Wait for It” philosophy but rather his decision to
take Hamilton’s philosophy as his own.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hamilton’s philosophy led
to Aaron Burr campaigning for the Election of 1800, putting him on
Jefferson’s bad side. If Aaron Burr had simply thrown his lot in with
Jefferson he could have been vice president easily! Aaron Burr was NOT
Jefferson’s opponent in the race, John Adams was. Burr and Jefferson
could have worked together to secure the presidency. (Which is actually
more closely to how it worked in the real historical election.) As vice
president, Burr would still be in “the room where it happens” which was
what he ultimately desired, not the presidency.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also Aaron Burr’s
calling out Hamilton to a duel is far more reminiscent of Hamilton’s
philosophy than Burr’s own. After all, it was Burr who said in the first
act that duels were stupid and immature. Challenging someone to a duel
is a Hamilton-ism.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If Aaron Burr had just continued to live his
life as himself instead of trying to emulate Hamilton’s path to success,
he could have had his cake and eaten it to. Instead he made an enemy of
Jefferson and killed Hamilton, thus ruining not just his career but his
life.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If Burr had just stuck to his guns and waited for it,
trusted in his own philosophy and his own success, he could have been
successful. But in comparing himself to Hamilton, Burr found his own
successful life to be a failure. He adopted a philosophy that wasn’t his
own to try to remedy this, and fell prey to the risks in Hamilton’s
more aggressive philosophy. (Which is the further out of your range you
try to jump up, the farther you have to fall down.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>tl;dr: If Burr had just “waited for it” he would have been in “the room where it happens.”</b></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-89817019669012789842016-03-31T06:00:00.000-04:002016-03-31T06:00:04.156-04:00Why Clint Barton & Natasha Romanoff Are Soulmates<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>This was originally posted on <a href="http://the-feels-assassin.tumblr.com/post/111766600169/can-you-or-someone-you-know-explain-me-why-are" target="_blank">my tumblr, the-feels-assassin, on February 22, 2015</a>. When this post was written, Age of Ultron had not yet come out. That said, the existence of Laura Barton doesn't change anything I have to say here. :)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><a href="http://ourheartsrace.tumblr.com/">ourheartsrace</a>
asked: can you or someone you know explain me why are Clint and Natasha
soulmates? i've seen on Tumblr many people saying this. but i'm not
really familiar with the comics. i'm currently reading captain america
vol 5 so i don't know much about comic Clint but Bucky seems more - at
least so far - like a soulmate to Nat for me because of their backstory</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oh, my friend, you have come to the right place. <br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First,
let me be clear that my ship to end all ships is Clint Barton/Phil
Coulson, and that my number one Natasha Romanoff ship is
Natasha Romanoff/Bucky Barnes. Despite these ships Clint Barton and
Natasha Romanoff
will always be soulmates to me. Why? Why are these two dorks soulmates? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7E6JSagVk71YKNIiC0Wvk2VmLZhr_I60OedVUuFcYg1F5-fnuDM29PW65MJAhX5NNJdGJeSXMd1SWx_vGgGq0llrrwBDG2X8js-oObnN2IHj7hGVskmNt-LZSEud1OxuWwimn3JbcDvA/s1600/8cqe2y27.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7E6JSagVk71YKNIiC0Wvk2VmLZhr_I60OedVUuFcYg1F5-fnuDM29PW65MJAhX5NNJdGJeSXMd1SWx_vGgGq0llrrwBDG2X8js-oObnN2IHj7hGVskmNt-LZSEud1OxuWwimn3JbcDvA/s640/8cqe2y27.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Widow #6 (2014)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>*brushes off old comic books and lots of feels*</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the movies Black Widow and Hawkeye don’t get much screen
time. But we do know a couple of things about the two of them together. (1) All
Coulson had to do to bring Natasha in from an apparently successful mission was
say Clint’s name. (2) Natasha didn’t kill Hawkeye while he was brainwashed by
Loki, even though it would have been easier and less risky both personally and to
the overall mission of protecting the helicarrier. (3) Clint brought Natasha
into SHIELD when “he made a different call” and presumably defied a SHIELD
order for Natasha. (4) In the after-credits scene following <i>The Avengers</i>, Black Widow and Hawkeye
are all up in each other’s personal space. (5) In Cap 2, Natasha wears an arrow
necklace. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’s not a lot. And perhaps not enough to say whether or not
they are soulmates in the movies without some extrapolation and comic book
influence.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So let’s set the movies aside for a moment and talk about
the comic books.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow, was introduced in <i>Tales of Suspense</i> #52 (1964). <i>Tales of Suspense</i> was the comic book
that basically became the Iron Man comics; it was Tony Stark’s dog and pony
show, and Natasha Romanoff was no more than a Russian villain in his rogues’
gallery. She was a dark-haired femme fatale, she wore no costume, and she
looked nothing like the Natasha Romanoff we all know and love. Then, in <i>Tales of Suspense</i> #57, we meet Clint
Barton, aka Hawkeye.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hawkeye was a marksman at the Coney Island Circus when he
saw Iron Man doing his thing, being a hero, and thought “hey, I could do that,
I could be a superhero.” So Hawkeye, being the lovable doofus he is, goes out
and tries to stop a jewelry thief only to have the cops think HE is the one
stealing the jewels. Hawkeye is THISCLOSE to being arrested when along comes a
spider.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAXnQe_uZsGuoPmtawUaDKEO7yZWL71hFlJ4NnsMFJQgOlOgaE8mBaxdlNIkrQClQ_NISd-CfmBj8eWsTT9qLpOddVEMns2PNknb1xP6ByEvIPv3ZiAg4l6sTBkpcDXKNLxOsWq5fdCRv/s1600/m9sfaspn.bmp" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAXnQe_uZsGuoPmtawUaDKEO7yZWL71hFlJ4NnsMFJQgOlOgaE8mBaxdlNIkrQClQ_NISd-CfmBj8eWsTT9qLpOddVEMns2PNknb1xP6ByEvIPv3ZiAg4l6sTBkpcDXKNLxOsWq5fdCRv/s640/m9sfaspn.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjhr0MusLd6Vh0nwfZnMWBmTV3ssAvN16xqSbpFDRILSPJ0W1D2MUYh_jJ3-wgWsNNx8SDzYgGXCcGox06zzKP5EG0YmjbGa1-rkAlNofCxoLcA0NlKXqapK3-NKMsBBFyvSt3a1C_6oK/s1600/3yi5928l.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjhr0MusLd6Vh0nwfZnMWBmTV3ssAvN16xqSbpFDRILSPJ0W1D2MUYh_jJ3-wgWsNNx8SDzYgGXCcGox06zzKP5EG0YmjbGa1-rkAlNofCxoLcA0NlKXqapK3-NKMsBBFyvSt3a1C_6oK/s640/3yi5928l.bmp" width="616" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of Suspense #57 (1964)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Basically, Clint falls in love with Natasha and follows her
into a life of villainy. For three issues (<i>Tales
of Suspense </i>57, 60, and 64), Clint and Natasha are a villainous duo. While
at first it seems that Clint’s love is unrequited and the Black Widow is just
using him as her muscle…</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDqkEHH6So-mQHKT5j0Kihi1F4FEo2SgWmbQNzZjF36ZE5eQye6OwMY-O0Z68ItrIZ_YkmsQAtmUKxkTyFjTXdHBpgyxjbRBl1QUfUyWy39twwXRncBan4ZUQ1CimMMJHpfeboMCM4MZn/s1600/cy6ftd27.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDqkEHH6So-mQHKT5j0Kihi1F4FEo2SgWmbQNzZjF36ZE5eQye6OwMY-O0Z68ItrIZ_YkmsQAtmUKxkTyFjTXdHBpgyxjbRBl1QUfUyWy39twwXRncBan4ZUQ1CimMMJHpfeboMCM4MZn/s640/cy6ftd27.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of Suspense #60 (1964)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
…it quickly becomes clear that this is not the case. Natasha
loves Clint just as much as he loves her.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkPUd9m3RBNMCLgAiqB35S8bgfmI6JGiq38pbrWB8da_P5y0rMtSBmaWDyCeNNueqWkC7mMH2Hwb01PjRr3tXW1upHj8sgNFz1z5e7Kq-L4wSRjrjisgI95a4uvqitk9VgYDxORrTtm1X/s1600/xwa7nkc7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkPUd9m3RBNMCLgAiqB35S8bgfmI6JGiq38pbrWB8da_P5y0rMtSBmaWDyCeNNueqWkC7mMH2Hwb01PjRr3tXW1upHj8sgNFz1z5e7Kq-L4wSRjrjisgI95a4uvqitk9VgYDxORrTtm1X/s640/xwa7nkc7.bmp" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of Suspense #60 (1964)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In these early appearances of the Black Widow, it becomes
clear that Natasha has a mission given to her by her homeland—to destroy Iron
Man. Hawkeye is happy to help her do that, but he will not commit treason for
her, and he will not destroy Iron Man at the risk of her life. Most of these
comics end with Natasha getting hurt and Clint carting her away to safety, leaving
Iron Man undefeated. (In contrast to the tendency of certain portions of fandom
to characterize Clint Barton as a bumbler, it’s clear in these early stories
that the only reason that Clint doesn’t defeat Tony—repeatedly—is because he’s
more interested in protected Natasha from harm.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNByH38h3TTZrLra6ozOexuNm3DwJKjYmnlf2nK19_S3_q9UlpfSOhLruvXgXgaEMkcQsvdj02nT0qMImVahMAQGONJOwuF05bRF9S6PFlquESndORoNdK000kTTAn_D4Qrts6TNmTgH3B/s1600/gn8jwit3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNByH38h3TTZrLra6ozOexuNm3DwJKjYmnlf2nK19_S3_q9UlpfSOhLruvXgXgaEMkcQsvdj02nT0qMImVahMAQGONJOwuF05bRF9S6PFlquESndORoNdK000kTTAn_D4Qrts6TNmTgH3B/s640/gn8jwit3.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of Suspense #6 (1965)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unfortunately for Hawkeye and Black Widow, her Soviet masters
are not very happy with her failure to destroy Iron Man. So Black Widow’s
masters take her away after she gets hurt, leaving Hawkeye alone. Away from
Natasha’s influence, Clint remembers his original heroic intentions and joins
the Avengers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZkZBRtBPecJU-TSra4j7mXZ-Cs3ewUao9wcNCTf8N2hnwLYX0Mb5cCEaEfN2xWtmEsMwemtm-dy4g0Qrqgi6SWSVzaNGpqYo9wEdhKRYvLOfDlfUyPeOEq48xbMJ64GuRiHAUnT7o1rh/s1600/s2j2eqwz.bmp" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZkZBRtBPecJU-TSra4j7mXZ-Cs3ewUao9wcNCTf8N2hnwLYX0Mb5cCEaEfN2xWtmEsMwemtm-dy4g0Qrqgi6SWSVzaNGpqYo9wEdhKRYvLOfDlfUyPeOEq48xbMJ64GuRiHAUnT7o1rh/s640/s2j2eqwz.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3ApmWjSG8qkcKiSzlCGCxc0SI6rIQDdaY60GrPNTNvPJKAkdX3Mi7SXWwUTNODN5WQeKovNNceaDxj_Z3lPW-k9-xuXGtXlGy7vnUBus3qvA1NI7zHcOnRnxz8E6_Mu-wQsqkQNlggTj/s1600/9jk1249e.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3ApmWjSG8qkcKiSzlCGCxc0SI6rIQDdaY60GrPNTNvPJKAkdX3Mi7SXWwUTNODN5WQeKovNNceaDxj_Z3lPW-k9-xuXGtXlGy7vnUBus3qvA1NI7zHcOnRnxz8E6_Mu-wQsqkQNlggTj/s640/9jk1249e.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers #16 (1965)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So Hawkeye finally becomes the good guy he always intended
to be, but he does NOT forget Black Widow. And he never stops loving her. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unbeknownst to Hawkeye, Natasha’s masters brainwash her. (In
later issues, it’s revealed that this isn’ the first time Natasha has been
brainwashed or manipulated by her masters—and unfortunately for her, it won’t
be the last time she loses her memory, either.) </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNeB8hyphenhyphenw2JObXAwbR_ZTIFlyBVz35_IA8l8-q3Oti7Wf3KU3hyphenhyphenRTE7M6Ed4SuB2EhT6r7nUveRQOXVuy6RVCaYXw-FKy0fRGecRIQvcZlQ_Np0mlPsCEOu_C4ffEgkee-yvv4-_XXZG-r/s1600/a9mv9nze.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNeB8hyphenhyphenw2JObXAwbR_ZTIFlyBVz35_IA8l8-q3Oti7Wf3KU3hyphenhyphenRTE7M6Ed4SuB2EhT6r7nUveRQOXVuy6RVCaYXw-FKy0fRGecRIQvcZlQ_Np0mlPsCEOu_C4ffEgkee-yvv4-_XXZG-r/s640/a9mv9nze.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers #29 (1966)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But Natasha’s love for Clint is too strong. She calls
Hawkeye to her, intending to recruit him as part of her villainous team. When
he reveals that he became an Avenger while she was away, she knows she should
fight him like she fights the rest of the Avengers—but she can’t. And in the
end, her love for Hawkeye breaks through her brainwashing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoUiCGYHM2iE7NEIirOVEwOzqlOzTm8cP41FoTMKVOk6w2XWrvOqGKzIUx4wueaelXGlVUJja51hAa7DWxnGmduoqueUnKy7o1_UvethTdWBWUY_qwrkc8sjJREjM0cksTu1GGxVDihvH/s1600/qmm0vdtw.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoUiCGYHM2iE7NEIirOVEwOzqlOzTm8cP41FoTMKVOk6w2XWrvOqGKzIUx4wueaelXGlVUJja51hAa7DWxnGmduoqueUnKy7o1_UvethTdWBWUY_qwrkc8sjJREjM0cksTu1GGxVDihvH/s640/qmm0vdtw.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers #30 (1966)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He breaks through her brainwashing but….she doesn’t become
an Avenger. Natasha has to take her own path to the light, a path that involves
still more dark deeds and times when she and Clint are at odds with each other.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGxl0AbEvjMItdsMcF0fs4ZQwgPQzbhU_X8jiJufkJealSxjIIXpe4MwdZGnzox6TQ_FFQ9sGC6I8zG_TViGjC53_gnSkVBOCuLhpEmsRim7m2fPfMcRGrmSH83k0NTlrFs9zQuh_qCTF/s1600/s98n75cx.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGxl0AbEvjMItdsMcF0fs4ZQwgPQzbhU_X8jiJufkJealSxjIIXpe4MwdZGnzox6TQ_FFQ9sGC6I8zG_TViGjC53_gnSkVBOCuLhpEmsRim7m2fPfMcRGrmSH83k0NTlrFs9zQuh_qCTF/s640/s98n75cx.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Widow #10 (2014)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Natasha’s path to the Avengers is not straightforward. But it
involves her dating Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and working with him for quite a
while. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is some very childish behavior from Clint in
here—which makes sense if you think about how young Clint probably is during
this time period—where Clint sulks after being rejected by the Scarlet Witch
and then gets upset that Natasha is with Daredevil and not him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvB4PkxbvU_9UlMdPClsP1SUh7nqLiYpBFdITATg8BKtJ2DPD5cZ2qAB_qjtzDwj2g-Ucp-OeU_r-HDCHV_pk_C6M87s4VGBaE9b1M_KvMAE6fMTDcVFc5LWWawxBgI6JfdTmE898MPdAX/s1600/69kk527j.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvB4PkxbvU_9UlMdPClsP1SUh7nqLiYpBFdITATg8BKtJ2DPD5cZ2qAB_qjtzDwj2g-Ucp-OeU_r-HDCHV_pk_C6M87s4VGBaE9b1M_KvMAE6fMTDcVFc5LWWawxBgI6JfdTmE898MPdAX/s640/69kk527j.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers #111 (1973)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, we end comics history and start talking about some of
my thoughts, feels, and interpretations. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clint Barton was a lost carnie who was trying to be more
than he was, when his life path was completely derailed by this beautiful,
mysterious woman. And despite the wishes of her masters—and perhaps her own
intentions— Natasha Romanoff fell in love with him. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is, I think, one of the greatest regrets of Natasha’s
life that she turned Hawkeye into a villain. I think she looks at their
relationship and sees all the wrongs she did him, instead of the many ways she
did right by him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6GNzqWTqb39gWb0avwDSYqR_yby2HQakuhTQfc-2V-K5rBHS1M5tKhvYhK2qfEz9nLzGX0osNOUsMO5soQoRlANF1hjvmXPVaHMSGmgvRxeid8lNrrJi3Q2QPRV9gMPVItLyz7iC3urn/s1600/opnarz4f.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6GNzqWTqb39gWb0avwDSYqR_yby2HQakuhTQfc-2V-K5rBHS1M5tKhvYhK2qfEz9nLzGX0osNOUsMO5soQoRlANF1hjvmXPVaHMSGmgvRxeid8lNrrJi3Q2QPRV9gMPVItLyz7iC3urn/s640/opnarz4f.bmp" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers Assemble #13 (2013)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the greatest testament to Clint and Natasha’s
relationship is how it’s withstood everything in their lives—how it’s survived
all the other relationships. It doesn’t matter who Clint and Nat are involved
with romantically. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clint has had Bobbi Morse, Jessica Drew, and so many others
in between. Natasha has had Matt Murdock, Bucky Barnes, and others. But in the
end, no matter who they are with, they have each other. They have each other’s
backs. No matter what.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4wFXPQa_FsJAIzdq_8AIAenG9deCknnVKPgXl40WRqs65zX2FEARzmh99mxgCz4dlodxa2C-7Q7rE2eZbNE3c7FeP_k1FlhBEPEzHhA6J2D4E3AQOVL8S7N9xsMsfNclU5HW2EGwwy7q/s1600/xnurqojv.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4wFXPQa_FsJAIzdq_8AIAenG9deCknnVKPgXl40WRqs65zX2FEARzmh99mxgCz4dlodxa2C-7Q7rE2eZbNE3c7FeP_k1FlhBEPEzHhA6J2D4E3AQOVL8S7N9xsMsfNclU5HW2EGwwy7q/s640/xnurqojv.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avengers Assemble #12 (2013)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JDb8bIA5-siHpBCcRRi4Lhj65SXOEkyzCe0caRzpsnZ0-AVD6NXIk18HY1slX1HImwFoSrKzGYHrQsvO1j5oh1Wkb2PgGea1109UQW8qqhCnW9vim8G5r2y_KobqHnz8J3qCNRPo8_zr/s1600/743o85h7.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JDb8bIA5-siHpBCcRRi4Lhj65SXOEkyzCe0caRzpsnZ0-AVD6NXIk18HY1slX1HImwFoSrKzGYHrQsvO1j5oh1Wkb2PgGea1109UQW8qqhCnW9vim8G5r2y_KobqHnz8J3qCNRPo8_zr/s640/743o85h7.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hawkeye #15 (2013)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And out of all of their friends and lovers, out of their
colleagues and coworkers, Clint and Natasha know that they understand each
other. That they come from the same place. And that if no one else will
understand, the other will.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4bWK7BPc0aIUv0XurbCr6hkKWAevNd4B9I0cYl6mOJLPnBLSuwgbEWLpNvrLxNNE2L9ljwkLoU_q2-t_JWmx-Dd8eQ4iDQnKirOSUhKIJ6YBy-CNYlzhi-oaJCSB1ep08gf-soxz9AEk/s1600/e2n5hmuk.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4bWK7BPc0aIUv0XurbCr6hkKWAevNd4B9I0cYl6mOJLPnBLSuwgbEWLpNvrLxNNE2L9ljwkLoU_q2-t_JWmx-Dd8eQ4iDQnKirOSUhKIJ6YBy-CNYlzhi-oaJCSB1ep08gf-soxz9AEk/s640/e2n5hmuk.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Widow #10 (2014)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff are two very broken
people. They are the two Avengers most often misperceived by the public and
their colleagues: Clint gets underestimated and Natasha gets smeared. They have
pasts that should have made them villains—and did for a short while—but they
overcame those pasts. And it’s their
brokenness that makes them soulmates. To paraphrase <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F1167308&t=ZDc5YTc4MmY1YTgwZmUwNDZlMjBhM2NlYTM0NzhlM2RiNGE3YzM4ZiwyUEJ3dFRhQQ%3D%3D">myself</a>, they are two broken
people, incomplete in themselves because of the pieces other people have taken
out of them. It just so happens that their jagged edges line up, like puzzle
pieces. They fit together and complete each other.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And no matter the lovers, no matter the Buckys, Phils,
Bobbis, Matts, and Jessicas of the world, Clint and Natasha will always have
each other. Their relationship surpasses and transcends romance; it’s deeper
than kisses or sex. It’s bedrock, foundational to their lives and to the very
definition of their characters. No situation is too dirty, too dark, too dire,
or even too happy. They will always have each other’s backs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that’s why I think they are soulmates.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkdp71XW27MedCsz2Aw5DtZAV_5FhpDdawNTKtOgxABKGG2S7egBKuIyOzCLgazdT5wlsqaj9AY1vQN37_Ux7DnNX3nqRXqvvkmHVdwnBtEJu513mZ31bCH9O3moeQH4RWPo_x7HnHiLN/s1600/goy3x3ou.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkdp71XW27MedCsz2Aw5DtZAV_5FhpDdawNTKtOgxABKGG2S7egBKuIyOzCLgazdT5wlsqaj9AY1vQN37_Ux7DnNX3nqRXqvvkmHVdwnBtEJu513mZ31bCH9O3moeQH4RWPo_x7HnHiLN/s640/goy3x3ou.bmp" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of Suspense #64 (1965)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-45390094381829193112016-03-29T08:00:00.000-04:002016-03-29T08:00:11.597-04:00Disney Cruise Review<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Disney Wonder.jpg" data-file-height="1536" data-file-width="2048" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Disney_Wonder.jpg/300px-Disney_Wonder.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Disney_Wonder.jpg/450px-Disney_Wonder.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Disney_Wonder.jpg/600px-Disney_Wonder.jpg 2x" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney Wonder</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For our honeymoon this past December, we went on a Disney Cruise. Now I had never been on a cruise before but when it came to pick a honeymoon this just seemed the best option. I was really hesitant, which is why we picked a Disney cruise. As a former Disney employee, I trust that Disney is going to take care of it's guests, whereas I don't necessarily trust say Carnival. From my experience, Disney is going to do everything in their power to make my honeymoon freaking magical, and boy, they certainly did.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We got married in Galveston, TX and therefore, we wanted a cruise that departed from there. This led us to the Disney Wonder and it's Bahamas cruise. It was a seven night cruise, so pretty long especially for a first cruise. And it was Christmas themed, which was AWESOME. I don't know if you've ever been to a Disney park at Christmas, but they tend to go all out. And the cruise ship was no exception. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" class="spotlight" height="320" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1780783_10101555575501149_913040511728279441_n.jpg?oh=4f56f7ea5131c8ccf8716cab28a1374b&oe=5791DCE4" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Christmas tree in the lobby!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So what made the Disney cruise so awesome? I'm going to highlight five specific points, because I don't want to write up a long rambly post. </div>
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<b>5. Kids? What Kids?</b></div>
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The first question I get from everyone is always, "You went on a Disney Cruise? But you don't have kids! Surely the kids got annoying!?!?!" And honestly, on the Disney Cruise, as a person without kids, I barely noticed there were kids. Disney had several places on the boat that were specifically for 18+ only. There was an entire pool that only adults could be in, and kids weren't even allowed to sit around it. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/1916479_10101555586289529_8883518251926397628_n.jpg?oh=da9c4fd585afd1f8b797b4e6f05d706e&oe=577A6E27" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/1916479_10101555586289529_8883518251926397628_n.jpg?oh=da9c4fd585afd1f8b797b4e6f05d706e&oe=577A6E27" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the clubs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There were "clubs" on the boats, some which were for families and some which were for adults only. And I feel like I say "adults only" and people assume everyone in that area is sloshed or something, but that is not the case. Most of the adults only area were filled with adults who just needed a break form the kiddo chaos! During the day the "adult club" would have trivia competitions and other games, where only adults could compete with adults (so no kids crying because they lost)! </div>
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For people who had kids, it seemed like there was basically day care for kids of different ages. You could check your kid in and leave them from morning til dinner and hang out in the adult areas free of kids! Which I'm sure a lot of them enjoyed. And for my husband and me it was nice not to have to deal with the crying and screaming that comes with little kids running around everywhere!</div>
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<b>4. Castaway Cay</b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/12369208_10101555598135789_7872361355181569967_n.jpg?oh=af888910632cc252ac7c4fc72b7f2445&oe=577B9B96" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/12369208_10101555598135789_7872361355181569967_n.jpg?oh=af888910632cc252ac7c4fc72b7f2445&oe=577B9B96" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how clear the water is!</td></tr>
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Basically Disney owns it's own island in the Bahamas called "Castaway Cay" and I cannot express to you how truly beautiful this island was. And related to the last point, there was an entire beach on this island that was for adults only. It was as far away as it could be from the parts of the beach where kids were and only accessible by tram, so kids couldn't "mistakenly" show up. </div>
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The beach was so peaceful and quiet, as most of the adults chose past times like we did--which was reading on the beach with our feet in the water, or on one of the many hammocks. The water was ridiculously clear and even though it was the middle of December it was definitely warm enough to swim in.</div>
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For people with kids, the kid-friendly sections of the beach were also amazing. There were water slides and beach toys you could check out (or maybe rent, not sure since we didn't get one). And it seemed like everyone was having a blast!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/12390963_10101555598265529_6248083623925656055_n.jpg?oh=f52d34eb3c0aa50b0f9c8ec0c44e37f8&oe=57801EFA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/12390963_10101555598265529_6248083623925656055_n.jpg?oh=f52d34eb3c0aa50b0f9c8ec0c44e37f8&oe=57801EFA" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kid Beach Area with Water Slide!</td></tr>
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<b>3. The Live Shows</b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/12376433_10101555598929199_9189223730422222457_n.jpg?oh=bbb5b96011e86cfe519fd326637cb8d4&oe=5776CB76" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/12376433_10101555598929199_9189223730422222457_n.jpg?oh=bbb5b96011e86cfe519fd326637cb8d4&oe=5776CB76" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pirate Party!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A staple of Disney is live shows. If you go to the parks, they have live shows based on movies like <i>the Lion King</i> and <i>Finding Nemo</i>, but also live shows that are completely original like Fantasmic. The cruise was no different. There was a live show almost every night, like hour-long Broadway musical style shows. While they were all fantastic, the Toy Story show was AMAZING. It was a musical with all original songs. (And the young woman playing Sid was COMPLETELY AMAZING. She stole the show, it was fantastic.)</div>
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They also had shows on the deck starring everyone's favorite Mouse and his friends. From a Welcome Aboard party to a Pirate Party, there was plenty of Micky and Crew to keep kids and me happy. </div>
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<b>2. The Service</b></div>
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I can't talk about Disney without talking about the amazing service, and the service on the cruise was EXCEPTIONAL. I'm going to cheat a little though and break it up into two categories: "The Wait Staff" and "The Room Staff."</div>
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<b>A. The Wait Staff</b></div>
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Disney Cruises have this thing they call "rotational dining." Basically they have three different restaurants on the ship, and they want to make sure you experience all of them. However, they also want you to have an exceptional experience of having a waiter and staff who know you, so even though you change restaurants, your wait staff moves restaurants with you. So we had the same server, assistant server, and head server every night. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/1455927_10101555674597559_5311829558232177879_n.jpg?oh=5afa6a466aa3b68c8688c62d986d212e&oe=577E8A8F" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/1455927_10101555674597559_5311829558232177879_n.jpg?oh=5afa6a466aa3b68c8688c62d986d212e&oe=577E8A8F" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Table!</td></tr>
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Our staff was amazing. They quickly learned our quirks and preferences, like how my husband tended to prefer vegetarian options for dinner (though he's not a vegetarian, our dinner time was just really late and he didn't want a lot of meat before bed), or like how I want a Coke every night and it should be refilled any time it seems empty. And the one time I ordered a meal I didn't like, they instantly had another option there for me to try.</div>
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And OMG the food. I can't even begin to express how good the food was. We got an appetizer, meal, and dessert every night and on the nights where nothing on the desert list was appetizing they would bring me ice cream instead. </div>
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But really it was the staff and how they learned about you that really just made the whole thing awesome.</div>
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B. The Room Staff</div>
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If you've ever heard anything about Disney Cruises it's probably their towel creations they leave in rooms, and I have to say. Those towel creations are AMAZING. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10259952_10101555674587579_3351782802010115827_n.jpg?oh=48337604bddce0635d6ff959614d0e99&oe=577FBB2A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alligator!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Our room host was a magician with towels. He was also really nice and kept our room ship-shape despite the fact that I just tend to leave my crap everywhere. But what in particular made this make the list was this little tidbit of a story. I'm gonna quote my husband here (from what he wrote in our scrapbook):</div>
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I came back to the room to lay down after a dinner in 8 - 10 ft seas and saw a 'man' reading in bed. "Oh excuse me, sir," I told the man shaped pillow. "I must be in the wrong room!" Did I mention I was sea-sick?</blockquote>
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The room host used my hat and my husband's glasses to create this, and it was amazing and hilarious. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/12360206_10101555586339429_1899671337248548006_n.jpg?oh=1141e3261a6c55956053c3e9576ba66e&oe=579078B0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="320" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/12360206_10101555586339429_1899671337248548006_n.jpg?oh=1141e3261a6c55956053c3e9576ba66e&oe=579078B0" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mysterious "Man" in Our Room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>1. STAR WARS </b></div>
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Our cruise conflicted with the release of <i>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i>, in the sense that we were coming back on Dec. 18 and wouldn't be able to see it until Dec. 19. I'm the type of person who likes to see movies on the Thursday they came out and waiting til the 19th, while a sacrifice I was willing to make, was still a sacrifice. </div>
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Turned out, it was a sacrifice I didn't have to make.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotosSnowliftCaption" class="spotlight" height="240" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1476133_10101555674812129_8175505701612193788_n.jpg?oh=3b301109202588029cb1b63a092912db&oe=5788EE95" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">STAR WARS TICKETS</td></tr>
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You see Disney owns Star Wars now. Which means, we got Star Wars on it's opening night. We saw it at 6:00 pm December 17th. </div>
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They teased it all week but wouldn't confirm it. The cruise director kept saying things like "The Force is strong on this cruise." However, they were showing <i>Return of the Jedi </i>all week so he could have just meant that. But the day before, they announced that we were actually going to get to see TFA. Everyone got tickets that corresponded to their normal "live show" time. There was a 2D and a 3D theater. We saw it in 2D, since we were already a little sea sick to begin with. And if we had wanted to see it again, there was a midnight and 3 am showing we could have gone to. (We didn't. We went to sleep. Plus we still had our tickets for the 19th for a second viewing.)</div>
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This absolutely made the cruise. It took something already awesome and made it better, basically letting me have my cake and eat it too!</div>
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<b>In Summary:</b></div>
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The Disney Cruise was awesome. I highly recommend it. It's worth the price. It makes the time on the ship an absolute pleasure, and Disney also arranges some awesome shore activities, which I didn't even go into here but trust me were awesome. So if you're thinking about a cruise and can spring for the price, I highly recommend a Disney cruise for your next vacation. </div>
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Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-4192550707347176242016-03-25T06:00:00.000-04:002016-03-25T06:00:16.349-04:00I'm back!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5ZXC41cDT0Vbo7jVZo3tqTY-tb-8K3M5_8NoUio3AViUoLuZG4OLfh-TJk0m0OLIGhpCVaGHq5EKBCYsmF2HeOM7gO83HC1mzmPLpxIcmYrKRsOEYVzEqOwGmzKEteS82dexWDUsnnDx/s1600/Cap+cosplay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5ZXC41cDT0Vbo7jVZo3tqTY-tb-8K3M5_8NoUio3AViUoLuZG4OLfh-TJk0m0OLIGhpCVaGHq5EKBCYsmF2HeOM7gO83HC1mzmPLpxIcmYrKRsOEYVzEqOwGmzKEteS82dexWDUsnnDx/s320/Cap+cosplay.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Couples Cosplay! Agent Coulson and Captain America!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My dear, loyal readers, after over a year and a half hiatus from this blog I am back!</div>
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Why gone so long? Well a combination of factors related to work and some extracurricular church type activities but mostly because...well, I met a boy.</div>
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In July 2014 I started dating a guy and well what do you know? Now we're married!</div>
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We've been married for almost four months now, and life is starting to settle down again! Instead of spending all my spare time driving between his house and mine, or packing/unpacking my things as we move houses, or just setting up house and trying to figure out how to live with another human being again, I can actually spend my spare time doing the things I used to do! Like social media! And blogging!!!</div>
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So I'm back!</div>
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Now I know with the exception of one summer where I actually blogged every other day, my blogging has been pretty sporadic. So I'm not going to make any grand promises of some sort of rigorous schedule. However, I'm going to try to post every Tuesday and Thursday. (Try being the key word.) For the next few weeks, the Thursday posts are going to be a little "throwback Thursday." But instead of throwing back to posts on this blog, I'm going to be posting some things I posted on my tumblr during the hiatus. </div>
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Why the re-post? Well it's really difficult to find things on tumblr, and these are posts I would like to have chronicled on this blog for easier access. The majority of them are going to be character meta type posts--you know, lengthy discussions on fictional characters. I've got at least a month's worth of these type posts lined up. </div>
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On the original side, I hope to at least once a month talk about the comics I'm reading--what's currently on my pull list, what I'm adding, and what I'm taking off. I also want to do occasional highlights of specific comics, like say a whole article on why <i>the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl</i> is in fact unbeatable and awesome and you should be reading it.</div>
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And of course there will be a lot of random posts about everything that strikes my fancy! I'm currently watching all of the X-Files for the first-ish time. I'm SUPER PUMPED for Civil War and will undoubtedly have a lot of feels about it. It's almost summer, which means it's almost time for DragonCon cosplay prep! And heck, there are even some crazy home improvement projects were doing that I will undoubtedly report here, because that's the kind of person I am. </div>
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So yeah, the long and the short of it is I'm back!!!!! I'm looking forward to blogging again. I've missed this. And I'm happy to be back. </div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-76111761083015040772016-03-24T16:33:00.004-04:002016-03-24T16:33:42.394-04:00New Content Coming Soon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHN1Y7R24nd5uHzOBh33WWhQRQt4InPd8MKXMHtAaaJD3EKUdjMjwxItx9us4yXlVTZTpU6KBhbrTWllFSN59RFOvlJVYtBmlv05ODrDyEWbPoi3jLfiHGPwscYEqbL55CanEodazMuwf/s1600/PrincessandFrog_excited_squee.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHN1Y7R24nd5uHzOBh33WWhQRQt4InPd8MKXMHtAaaJD3EKUdjMjwxItx9us4yXlVTZTpU6KBhbrTWllFSN59RFOvlJVYtBmlv05ODrDyEWbPoi3jLfiHGPwscYEqbL55CanEodazMuwf/s1600/PrincessandFrog_excited_squee.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
New posts coming soon! Starting with a post on why the heck have I been gone for so long in the first place?<br />
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Might also be changing some of the formatting and other things, so don't be surprised if things start looking a little different.Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-53117495440428967452014-07-02T18:00:00.000-04:002014-07-02T18:00:05.133-04:00Sons of Legacies<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">This
is the second post in my series on “To Kill a Villain!” For the Introduction post
<a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/to-kill-villain-introduction.html" target="_blank">go here!</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">The first factor we will be studying in our
discussion of why some heroes kill their villains without angst while others
don’t is the upbringing of our four superheroes. Our parents have a profound
impact on all of us, even an orphan is strongly impacted by their lack of
parents and any legacy their parents left behind. But while most of these four
particular heroes were orphaned at some point in their life, most had parents
long enough for them to deeply and profoundly impact their children directly
with taught values, unspoken expectations, and parental example.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">In today’s post we specifically look at our two
billionaire superheroes, Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. Both are men who have been
deeply affected by their fathers and their fathers’ view of the world. While
Bruce and Tony are very similar—since in many ways Iron Man was created to be
Marvel’s version of Batman—we will see that their fathers were nearly polar
opposites of each other. It’s no wonder that two heroes raised by men who believe
such diametrically opposing things would grow up to view killing differently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Bruce Wayne</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-dvq_urGBAo4vYj9G8JzxTAyFa0n4nTSs-Hxaa6VZLuba4VU9c44c0I9Z879xj1dSOnY0-tv16_JBg2UadnuIkQNIT20HWA_97zMbtl4zAOq1hb_YkVekEsWzCIvAh93VcwvWCFd6xRP/s1600/ThomasMartha_train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-dvq_urGBAo4vYj9G8JzxTAyFa0n4nTSs-Hxaa6VZLuba4VU9c44c0I9Z879xj1dSOnY0-tv16_JBg2UadnuIkQNIT20HWA_97zMbtl4zAOq1hb_YkVekEsWzCIvAh93VcwvWCFd6xRP/s1600/ThomasMartha_train.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martha and Thomas Wayne</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Bruce Wayne was born to Dr. Thomas Wayne and his
wife, Martha. The movie <i>Batman Begins </i>unfortunately
does not give us much insight into Martha Wayne, other than she was a woman who
loved her husband and son, but it tells us quite about Bruce’s father, Thomas.
Though he owned (or at least was the majority shareholder of) Wayne
Enterprises, Thomas did not work there in any capacity. He left the running of
the company to other men, and instead Thomas was a doctor. We also know that
Thomas used his incredible wealth to build the public transport system that
runs through all of Gotham, a city riddled with crime that Thomas still had hope
could be saved. In fact, Ra's al Ghul later indicates that Thomas Wayne was the
only thing standing between Gotham and complete destruction, that Thomas
Wayne’s generosity and indefatigable belief in people countered the
League of Shadow’s efforts to bankrupt Gotham.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Thomas Wayne was not a soldier. This was not a man
who when confronted with a mugger could take him down. Instead Thomas Wayne was
the sort of man who calmly confronted the man pointing a gun at him, and when
that gun turned to point at his wife—instead of tackling the man or any other
form of self-defense or attack—Thomas stepped in front of the gun. (<i>Note: I will save talking about the effect the death of his parents had on Bruce for his origins post</i>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Was Thomas Wayne a pacifist? In the macro-sense, I
think we can safely say no, since the company he was majority shareholder of readily accepted DoD contracts. Though Thomas left the running of the company
to “better men,” I would think if he was an outspoken, political pacifist, he
would use his considerable leverage to direct his company away from accepting
contracts that help war efforts. However, in the micro-sense, it’s clear that
Thomas Wayne was not a man who ever resorted to violence, even in the face of
death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Thomas believed he had a responsibility to help
Gotham. He was not satisfied to merely be rich and live off of his wealth—which
he could have easily done. He could have become the playboy Bruce Wayne later
pretended to be. Instead Thomas became a medical doctor, a career that devotes
him to helping individuals. Most people would probably call their civic duty as
done, but Thomas Wayne was not satisfied with that. Helping individuals
wasn’t enough. He had to help all of Gotham, which he did through financing
public works like building the train system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicKrcLYHAy5TNUTm_LtQPlY2AKbSR5EwKezWGebdA1WD-axppeuRLUixcX6EvPE7UeyJi4bDwSNdYMSFypMKgkv1Jay4AZXAxAHS6zhsSRHFREaYKF1yPIj0u6OMCBnsg2mOjQ_o-DJv7/s1600/Thomas_stethoscope_Bruce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicKrcLYHAy5TNUTm_LtQPlY2AKbSR5EwKezWGebdA1WD-axppeuRLUixcX6EvPE7UeyJi4bDwSNdYMSFypMKgkv1Jay4AZXAxAHS6zhsSRHFREaYKF1yPIj0u6OMCBnsg2mOjQ_o-DJv7/s1600/Thomas_stethoscope_Bruce.jpg" height="168" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas having a moment with Bruce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">It seems clear from <i>Batman Begins</i> that
Thomas—despite his work and many civic projects—deeply cared about his son and
spent a fair amount of time with him. Thomas and Bruce seem to have a close and
loving relationship. Bruce isn’t afraid to cry in front of his father, isn’t
afraid to ask for his father’s help, and when Bruce gets scared at the opera,
Thomas covers for Bruce—telling Martha he needed a bit of air, instead of the
truth that Bruce was frightened. Bruce’s trust and confidence was clearly very
important to Thomas, and Bruce obviously adored his father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">If there is one clear lesson that Thomas teaches
Bruce in <i>Batman Begins</i>, it’s that the
reason why people fall is so they can learn to get back up. While this phrase
is often used in the movie as Bruce’s motivation to continue—a catchphrase that
encourages him to keep trying even as he fails—I don’t think we can
underestimate it’s importance overall and how it affects how Bruce views
the entire world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4JEZEb-eUY8QzIBSwTkwayv8gMtRUcBON9dIgqU0H5DRg8nFrzDd-a6h2YBMSMAxIK4PHis9eoCTKeLwuTE_fZqQY3MuNWXNc7_vmq67jQX4c-M9iSCzeW80jcMIn7tjpIfCVq2LpKp8/s1600/Thomas_carryingBruce.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4JEZEb-eUY8QzIBSwTkwayv8gMtRUcBON9dIgqU0H5DRg8nFrzDd-a6h2YBMSMAxIK4PHis9eoCTKeLwuTE_fZqQY3MuNWXNc7_vmq67jQX4c-M9iSCzeW80jcMIn7tjpIfCVq2LpKp8/s1600/Thomas_carryingBruce.png" height="171" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas carrying Bruce in (with Alfred) and reminding Bruce that it's okay to fall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">The League of Shadows wants to destroy Gotham,
because Gotham has fallen. But Bruce, ever his father’s son, believes that
Gotham can rise from the ashes and become better than it was before—that Gotham
can learn from its fall. It’s harder for Bruce to apply this lesson to
villains, but it’s something that Rachel Dawes tries to teach him. While it is
not and never will be okay that Joe Chill killed Bruce’s parents, that descent
to the very bottom did allow Joe Chill to change his view on life and to want
to testify against one of Gotham’s crime bosses. Joe Chill fell—a fall that
hurt multiple people including Bruce Wayne—but he was learning to get back up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Every villain has fallen. And like Gotham, every
villain has the possibility of learning from that fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">With a worldview that claims anyone can rise from their fall, it is no wonder that Bruce is unwilling to kill anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332061767578px;"><b>Tony Stark</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">In direct contrast to the Wayne family, we have the
Starks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Tony Stark was born to Howard and Maria Stark. We
know next to nothing about MCU Maria Stark and have no canonical interactions
with which to even speculate about Tony and Maria’s relationship. Howard Stark
on the other hand we know a good deal about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6mstWX6aO2fAKsr0i4n5FgxqJMN8qs2tOHOAir9QROJ8q9CF_ajsXvqCXZ7rLa0LMHn813dycpQ2qpzgfnmFZ8TVRw9pcK0oM6pSSJAoVzdqNvkc34k1hZ5OgWpaeAgCjDh3w4nA5s2m/s1600/HowardStark_pilot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6mstWX6aO2fAKsr0i4n5FgxqJMN8qs2tOHOAir9QROJ8q9CF_ajsXvqCXZ7rLa0LMHn813dycpQ2qpzgfnmFZ8TVRw9pcK0oM6pSSJAoVzdqNvkc34k1hZ5OgWpaeAgCjDh3w4nA5s2m/s1600/HowardStark_pilot.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howard Stark, piloting Cap and Peggy across enemy lines</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Howard Stark was born in 1917, a few months after Bucky Barnes was born and nearly a year before Steve Rogers was born. This
means that when we first meet Howard Stark in <i>Captain America: The First
Avenger</i>, he is merely 26 years old. I say “merely” because a 26-year-old Howard
Stark was already the best mechanical engineer in the country (and he considers
that a “modest” assessment of his intelligence), an extremely skilled pilot,
the founder of his own company (Stark Industries), and the head
engineer/contractor of the Strategic Science Reserve—the premier R&D division
of the Allies (not just America). So though Howard Stark was not a soldier,
this was a man devoted to the cause of the war, the man who built the machine
that created Captain America. After the war, Howard Stark devoted all of his
efforts to Stark Industries, which became the premier weapon’s manufacturer for
the United States. Clearly Howard Stark believed that the world had many bad
guys who needed to be killed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Tony Stark was born in 1970, when Howard was
53-years-old. The movies show little direct interaction between the two men,
but we know a good deal about Tony’s perspective of Howard and their
relationship. He thought Howard was a distant, cool, impossible to please man
that a young Tony Stark nevertheless tried to please. We know that Howard often
spoke about Captain America, that Tony was raised with this idea that Steve
Rogers was the ideal human being, a good man, a role model, and a hero—someone
Tony himself could never actually live up to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCnw5j1l6l0sSdb6b6aMXR3AQF8_8VztFWD6IDwP1mNNeEXywu5GDP-1Rym7_-YxYlAJ8EHEM6ecqS3ewiXhEHzYiTOIQ4pDL3ymwAvRnbauWjV1u30aBz0vQo0mkuC2IRCJlEs8Jg-C6/s1600/Howard_Steve_shields.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCnw5j1l6l0sSdb6b6aMXR3AQF8_8VztFWD6IDwP1mNNeEXywu5GDP-1Rym7_-YxYlAJ8EHEM6ecqS3ewiXhEHzYiTOIQ4pDL3ymwAvRnbauWjV1u30aBz0vQo0mkuC2IRCJlEs8Jg-C6/s1600/Howard_Steve_shields.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howard showing Steve Rogers the prototype shields</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">I don’t think we can underestimate how the
generation gap affected Tony and Howard’s relationship. Howard had Tony very
late in life. From the one scene of interaction we see between them in <i>Iron Man
2</i> when Tony is a child, Howard often probably viewed Tony as a nuisance and in
the way of his ambitions. And while it’s clearly stated that Howard loved
Tony—viewed him as his greatest creation—I think it’s also very clear that
Howard had no idea how to relate to his son. The only thing they had in common
was engineering, and I think it’s fair to say that Howard pushed Tony into the
career path.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<o:p></o:p>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyI6MF7me1lKXU0JHSQDcDmHiJTLbrXttqpTCGyZlnpslmYhQLacITl5aCHRgvjfayRjnhH32tHxuqOZebjzSysyJn_5iVwhyphenhyphen0fVCyBLVG0o1BvUDbw8PSf2-hNmanf8isIeu7Kuhq649/s1600/HowardStark_greatestcreation.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyI6MF7me1lKXU0JHSQDcDmHiJTLbrXttqpTCGyZlnpslmYhQLacITl5aCHRgvjfayRjnhH32tHxuqOZebjzSysyJn_5iVwhyphenhyphen0fVCyBLVG0o1BvUDbw8PSf2-hNmanf8isIeu7Kuhq649/s1600/HowardStark_greatestcreation.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howard talking about Tony in<i> Iron Man 2</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Which isn’t to say that Tony doesn’t love
engineering, because I think the movies make it very clear he does. He has a
natural aptitude for it and love of it. But very few four-year-olds are asking
to make circuit boards. Howard, in trying to share his passion with his son,
clearly set his son’s path before him. Tony wanted to please his father, and
engineering was all they had in common, so of course Tony dedicated himself to
it. Howard probably didn’t even mean to push Tony to his career as fast as he
did (Tony graduated from MIT at 17, which is obviously really young to graduate
from college). But I doubt the 50-something Howard Stark knew how to talk to a
child. He probably treated Tony as a lab assistant, and the incredibly bright,
if incredibly young Tony probably raced to keep up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">After Howard and Maria Stark died in a car accident,*
Tony continued his father’s legacy and became the leader of Stark Industries at
the age of 21. And while Tony actually is the playboy Bruce Wayne pretends to
be, I think it’s fair to say that before his capture by the Ten Rings—which we
will discuss in detail in his “origins” post—Tony Stark not only thought it was
okay to kill but that he was obligated to provide the weapons he did. Tony was
following in the footsteps of his father. And while Howard Stark himself may
have never killed anyone (we can only speculate), he provided weapons and
technology for Captain America—who did. Howard raised Tony to believe that
Captain America was the standard to which he should hold himself to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Tony is a man whose entire existence is shaped by a soldier and a weapons manufacture. It shouldn't shock anyone that he is okay with killing in battle or for a just cause. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Note:
Tomorrow we will continue this discussion of how our heroes were brought up,
but this time we will discuss Marvel and DC’s pillars of morality: Steve Rogers
and Clark Kent.</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*We later learn in <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>, that this accident wasn’t an
accident at all, but since Tony didn’t know that (presumably) until Natasha
Romanoff dumped all of SHIELD’s files on the internet—which takes place after
all of Tony’s current movies, it is immaterial to the point of this discussion.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332061767578px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-49010344810238467072014-07-01T20:04:00.000-04:002014-07-03T21:01:17.194-04:00To Kill A Villain: Introduction<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">I recently saw </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Captain
America: The Winter Soldier</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> for the fifth time. As I watched the Lemurian
Star sequence—near the very beginning—I appreciated for the first time that
Captain America straight up kills a lot of bad guys.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRQsS0s_rvZl7JbZMeaQ4KVjr0KoUAQfFI1x4J4CdEhpObpUa5nRhFZBAk0XQVrhkpBkj6slaS5coKGb7NHe6r_fIGuSKQuztVcY3ovEMuA6GSj_NKA3Z5teT5QXumikKGwHbRUAQhv8x/s1600/Cap_elevator_shield.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRQsS0s_rvZl7JbZMeaQ4KVjr0KoUAQfFI1x4J4CdEhpObpUa5nRhFZBAk0XQVrhkpBkj6slaS5coKGb7NHe6r_fIGuSKQuztVcY3ovEMuA6GSj_NKA3Z5teT5QXumikKGwHbRUAQhv8x/s1600/Cap_elevator_shield.gif" height="165" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admittedly most of these guys aren't dead, if any. Still a cool scene.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">At the time I didn’t think much about it, other than
to really appreciate it. Steve Rogers felt like a breath of fresh air among
superheroes, someone who isn’t angsting over whether or not bad guys should
die. Steve Rogers doesn’t worry about whether or not the Red Skull should be imprisoned.
He worries about how many innocents the Red Skull will kill if he lives. (Yes,
I know that’s from the first movie, but I didn’t want to open with spoilers for
<i>The Winter Soldier</i>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Other than appreciating it, I didn’t think much more
beyond it, until the other night when on <a href="http://mandyp12.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">tumblr</a> when <a href="http://the-cellist-in-portland.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">the-cellist-in-portland</a>
described Steve Rogers as “a precious, goofy, awkward death machine who no
doubt makes the best waffles ever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">I really enjoyed her comment. I still think it’s one
of the greatest descriptions of Steve Rogers I have ever seen. And I have no
doubt Steve makes fantastic waffles. It was also awesome to see someone else
who appreciated that Steve Rogers is a killing machine. (Seriously, re-watch
the Lemurian Star sequence sometime. There is no mercy there what so ever.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">So I responded with: “<span style="background: white;">Speaking of Death Machine, it wasn’t until I saw CA: TWS for
the fifth time this weekend, that I truly appreciated the fact that Steve just
effing kills people. He doesn’t angst over it like Superman and Batman. He just
does his freaking job and gets rid of the bad guys. If Steve Rogers was up
against the Joker, that dude would be dead. None of this put him in jail just
to have him escape in the next movie business. THANK GOODNESS FOR STEVE
ROGERS.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">The-cellist-in-portland responded: <span style="background: white;">“</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">He does get the job done. Damn yes, we need to let
him loose in the DC Universe and let him host seminars on ‘How to Get Rid of
the Bad Guy…Permanently and Without Angst’.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">At this
point I was prepared to end the discussion with an “Amen, sister” and a fun
gif, never to think about it again. But then <a href="http://a-long-way-from-here.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">a-long-way-from-here</a> brought up
the following, amazingly excellent point: “</span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">I feel like Steve Rogers doesn’t have to have all the angst about
killing bad guys because y’know he is a soldier for a worldwide recognized
government/institution. If Batman kills a guy he goes on trial for murder.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">My gut reaction was “Well, Batman is a vigilante. He’s already going to jail, what more is
murder?” Then I realized all DC heroes are vigilantes and most of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe (MCU) heroes are not. I started thinking if that was the
difference on their views of killing people, and then I realized it was so much
deeper than that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">In the end it comes
down to three factors: how the person was raised (upbringing), what made the
person a “hero” (origins), and whether or not the hero has a higher authority
they’re answering to (vigilantism). To explore this idea, I’m going to use two
examples from the Marvel movies and two examples from the DC movies: Steve
Rogers, Tony Stark, Clark Kent, and Bruce Wayne.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Why these four
characters? I chose them because they are counterparts to each other in the
different universes. Steve Rogers and Clark Kent are both the virtuous leaders
of their respective superhero organizations, and while it’s true that Steve
cannot match Clark’s power, they both stand for “Truth, Justice, and the
American Way.” Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are almost perfectly matched in every
way, except in how they go about their superheroing. Both are men whose only
super powers are their wealth and intelligence. Comparing such similar
characters will hopefully allow us to understand how Marvel and DC have ended
up with such incredibly different views on whether it’s okay for a hero to kill
a villain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">For the sake of
simplifying this discussion, I am going to limit my discussion of the
characters mainly to movie canon. For Batman I am going to specifically
reference Christopher Nolan’s Trilogy. For Superman, I will reference <i>Man of Steel</i>. For any Marvel characters,
I will stick to the MCU. But basically, for the sake of this argument, the true
Steve Rogers is movie Steve Rogers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Let me be clear about
something. This is not a discussion of whether it is actually the correct
action for a hero to kill a villain. This is not a discussion on whether we
want our superheroes killing villains. Clearly I have already expressed my
admiration for Steve Rogers for doing so, but my feelings are neither here nor
there. This is ultimately going to be a discussion on how these different
characters feel about killing and why they feel that way. And if we’re lucky we
perhaps might be able to draw some conclusions about the differences between
Marvel and DC, and why these movies appeal to the people they do.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Note:<a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/sons-of-legacies.html" target="_blank"> Read the next installment here</a>! It's a study of the upbringings of Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, specifically focusing on how deeply their fathers impacted them!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Comments? Anyone have any opening thoughts? Or do you think there are more than three factors that affect whether or not a superhero is okay with killing a villain? Also since I already expressed my opinion on admiring Steve Rogers for his willingness to kill, what do you guys think about that? Are you okay with superheroes killing their villains?</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-64882409464091518192014-05-09T09:57:00.004-04:002014-05-09T10:45:53.353-04:00Agent Carter<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Please forgive any typos. I literally wrote this while eating breakfast this morning before work. I'll proofread it later today and correct anything I find. :)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you follow me on any social media site, you undoubtedly noticed my intense excitement last night. Yesterday, Marvel announced Agents of SHIELD would be getting a second season AND that we would be getting an entirely new show entitled: Agent Carter.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I love Agents of SHIELD, I really do, but it was this second announcement that had me flailing. It's come to my attention that not everyone may understand why, they may not truly comprehend the awesomeness of an Agent Carter show, or even understand what it would be about. So, let me explain.</div>
<br />
<b>What is it?</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On every Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) DVD (so <i>Thor, Captain America, the Avengers, Iron Man 3</i>, and <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>), Marvel has released a short film. They call these short films One-Shots. If you have not seen them, you must go find someone with the DVDs (and/or blu-rays) and watch them now. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first two One-Shots where entitled <i>The Consultant </i>and<i> A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer </i>and were both about Agent Phil Coulson. It was through these One-Shots that fans learned of Agent Coulson's sheer awesomeness. And it's mostly these One-Shots that caused fans to latch onto his character (that and his smirk when dealing with Tony Stark) and start the #coulsonlives movement. This movement--an outright denial of the events that occurred to Coulson in the Avengers--is the reason why Agent Coulson is alive in MCU canon today. This insane popularity of a mere secondary character is what led us to have the Agents of SHIELD show we now all know and love. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKS_Kck24SwQqC2v4OVgJLrvAvySzvmyr-cFwrocFUVd33nwRIcIx9iycZ4Xhs1SkkWqmMkbr4JdgxiJHrpwt2FfG9LfCDdD6BcVkPSfjDJSRbQYpKYx-GRmSVBTBPN84Mn8qpf9jI4KF/s1600/Agent_Carter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKS_Kck24SwQqC2v4OVgJLrvAvySzvmyr-cFwrocFUVd33nwRIcIx9iycZ4Xhs1SkkWqmMkbr4JdgxiJHrpwt2FfG9LfCDdD6BcVkPSfjDJSRbQYpKYx-GRmSVBTBPN84Mn8qpf9jI4KF/s1600/Agent_Carter.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agent Peggy Carter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
But not all of the One-Shots are about Coulson. If you watch the Iron Man 3 DVD, there is a Marvel One-Shot entitled "Agent Carter." It's a short film about Peggy Carter after the war. She's still trying to work for the SSR, but because it's post-war time and she's a woman, her superiors refuse to take her seriously. They view her as nothing more than Captain America's grieving girlfriend who should be pitied but not actually trusted as a real agent. </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The short deals with a sequence of events where Peggy Carter shows them how truly wrong they are, and ends with Howard Stark calling to inform her she will be founding SHIELD with him. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
AND THAT is what our Agent Carter television show will most likely be about. Hayley Atwell, the actress who plays Peggy Carter, is on board to reprise her character of Peggy Carter. Dominic Cooper, who played Howard Stark in Captain America and in the short, is thrilled about the idea. And I'm betting we'll see at least a handfull of the Howling Commandos. (I would bet at least Dum Dum Dugan.)</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9CSto_hiLFtZN4GgridR3hxKJJgSQr072c-usiEcLiREk7aP1_0CSw94SVsbFq1G6u7_BgDsocvBrSDRhaGYZvJnFkxZDN1pRPs7nG6KKfJHti4tgphrPtRTo5FyDlGvO0bKuSEH8a1D/s1600/Howard+Stark.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9CSto_hiLFtZN4GgridR3hxKJJgSQr072c-usiEcLiREk7aP1_0CSw94SVsbFq1G6u7_BgDsocvBrSDRhaGYZvJnFkxZDN1pRPs7nG6KKfJHti4tgphrPtRTo5FyDlGvO0bKuSEH8a1D/s1600/Howard+Stark.png" height="165" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howard Stark & Dum Dum Dugan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This will be a show about Carter and Stark founding SHIELD. Imagine the shenigans (you always have shenanigans any time a Stark is involved). Imagine the missions and adventures! <strike>IMAGINE THE INEVITABLE BETRAYALS. SERIOUSLY. JUST THINK ABOUT THE LATEST MARVEL MOVIE AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT THIS SERIES.</strike></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strike><br /></strike></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Basically in short, this will be an action adventure spy show, like Agents of SHIELD but set in the late 1940s/early 1950s. So all those fun gadgets we had in the last episode of Agents of SHIELD? Expect more of that.</div>
<br />
<b>Why should you care?</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clearly you should care because it's going to be GREAT TELEVISION. But more than that, you should care because this is a female led Marvel property written and produced by females. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Look, I'm not here to argue representation with you. That's a matter for a different post on a different day. What I am here to tell you is that Marvel and other big Hollywood names are often scared to produce stories led by women.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That probably seems silly to you--what with the popularity of <i>The Hunger Games</i> and the like--but it's long standing Hollywood "fact" that movies led by females don't do well. Neither are we here to talk about how this fact is mostly bogus--just look at the Alien and Terminator franchises--but needless to say Hollywood believes this to be true whether it is or not. And this is why we have yet to get a female superhero movie, from either Marvel or DC. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.critiques4geeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/marvel-superheroines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.critiques4geeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/marvel-superheroines.jpg" height="181" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many ladies, yet so few movies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since I'm not here to argue the importance of representation to you, you may wonder why I even bring this up. The answer: representation or not, because of this "fact" we are missing out on some truly fantastic movies. You are being deprived, dear readers. You are being deprived of Wonder Woman. You are being deprived of a Black Widow movie. You are being deprived of Captain Marvel. You are being deprived of some truly great, awesome, and complex characters that aren't being given movies merely because of their gender.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxteCr5buH6rFEjNlApD3fGQqOWPS9LigM8Y6VsrhgGYyWiwyJpja5h7MmTmG7f8JgX6dZJCyLmIzuqqSo-b6T9YRVDSXg7eEjvBYYbwLTWLYMt1Vf87C4QABew3GEj3klMpQiICUggGAk/s1600/Captain+Marvel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxteCr5buH6rFEjNlApD3fGQqOWPS9LigM8Y6VsrhgGYyWiwyJpja5h7MmTmG7f8JgX6dZJCyLmIzuqqSo-b6T9YRVDSXg7eEjvBYYbwLTWLYMt1Vf87C4QABew3GEj3klMpQiICUggGAk/s1600/Captain+Marvel.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain Marvel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I want a movie about an Air Force colonel who accidentally gains the powers of an alien race and becomes a superhero. I want the story of the child who is trained and brainwashed by the country that was supposed to protect her. I WANT THE STORY OF AN AMAZONIAN PRINCESS WHO COMES TO OUR COUNTRY AND KICKS BUTT. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Granted, this probably won't lead directly to a Wonder Woman movie, since that's DC comics' problem. BUT if the Agent Carter television show does amazingly well, it will give Marvel the confidence that viewers will watch their stuff even if the stories are led by a mere female. (sarcasm, sarcasm of course.) And then Marvel might give us the Black Widow movie we deserve. It might give us the Captain Marvel movie we desperately need.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If Marvel starts producing female-led movies that do well, we could change the face of Hollywood.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that is something you should care about.</div>
<br />
<i>Have more questions about Agent Carter? Let me know! I'll answer what I can!</i><br />
<br />Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-48168699312695663232014-03-25T05:00:00.000-04:002014-03-25T05:00:07.740-04:00Issues, Trades, and Volumes! OH MY!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Like any medium, comics come with it's own terminology, and it can be confusing. You might have heard people talking about their "pull lists" or distinguishing between Young Avengers volume 1 vs. volume 2, and maybe you have no idea what those things mean. Well, never fear! I am here for you!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYbE4ShAgyaHZsRQ1YUA28w0FjoHMSUugDHYk9xGyMjl0UGPT_g-KWcI8u-pUmhwb-uUtkjnSBArhcgoWFcUT_CXYhAGZkL0iBfU9WLGYwrJJRMWE4j34qKCpr5CM7lCJfBFN9dgcM4qH/s1600/batgirl-new-52-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYbE4ShAgyaHZsRQ1YUA28w0FjoHMSUugDHYk9xGyMjl0UGPT_g-KWcI8u-pUmhwb-uUtkjnSBArhcgoWFcUT_CXYhAGZkL0iBfU9WLGYwrJJRMWE4j34qKCpr5CM7lCJfBFN9dgcM4qH/s1600/batgirl-new-52-1.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">new 52 <i>Batgirl</i> #1</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Issue</b>: This is the term that most people are probably familiar with. Issues are the flimsy, magazine like books that are numbered, like <i>Tales of Suspense </i>#57 (the first appearance of Hawkeye in a Marvel comic). In this case, <i>Tales of Suspense</i> is the "title" or "series," and #57 is the issue number (i.e. up to that point there had been 56 other individual magazines). Issues are what comic fans are buying on Wednesday--the day that new comics are released to the public.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pull List</b>: Speaking of comics coming out on Wednesdays, you might often hear comic fans refer to their "pull list." A pull list is something you can set up at your local comic book shop. Basically, it's a way to guarantee you get the issues you want. If you want to read <i>Hawkeye </i>and <i>Nova</i>, and you want each new issue when it's released, you go to your local comic bookstore, and you tell the people who run the store that. You list all the titles you want. Then they'll have the new issues waiting for you on that day. Otherwise, they may not order your comic (especially if you like something obscure) or they may run out before you get there (like <i>Hawkeye</i>). So it's basically a form of pre-order for issues.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Comic store owners use these pull lists to know which issues they should order. And then publishers use these pre-orders to determine how well a comic title is doing. It's a system that depends on people buying hard copies of issues, and it's slowly evolving to take electronic comic sales into account. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioR-8LexVKGjgLMqlvtsBW1zqMy1aEpvkXAL30wiu6mcEj35yjf-4uwVgvgWnF_AMKJIqodsqs4UjUoxuZPzCJC4Se40Y36UMilQuNGst8vFamkzKLzI6Kkbr-ybuWZDUaUWL36IkbJYH8/s1600/comics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioR-8LexVKGjgLMqlvtsBW1zqMy1aEpvkXAL30wiu6mcEj35yjf-4uwVgvgWnF_AMKJIqodsqs4UjUoxuZPzCJC4Se40Y36UMilQuNGst8vFamkzKLzI6Kkbr-ybuWZDUaUWL36IkbJYH8/s1600/comics.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trades for <i>Hawkeye</i>, <i>Avengers Assemble </i>& <i>Young Avengers</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Trade</b>: You may on occasion hear comic fans say something like "I'm interested in that title, but I'm going to wait until the trade comes out." What the heck does this mean?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A trade is a collection of six-ish issues. It can be more or less, but six is usually the average number. These collections are then published in a book that you can often buy at places like Barnes and Noble. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I find it helps to think about trades and issues like this: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Imagine each issue is a segment of an episode of a TV show, the breaks between issues are where the commercials would go. The trades combine all the segments into one whole episode. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Run</b>: When a certain creator writes several issues in a row, those issues collected are referred to as a "run." I myself have referred to Keiron Gillen's run on <i>Journey Into Mystery </i><a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2013/02/why-you-should-read-journey-into-mystery.html" target="_blank">here on this blog</a>. Keiron Gillen's run is all the issues of <i>Journey Into Mystery</i> that he wrote, which happen to be issues #622-645.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Volume</b>: I wish I could say that volumes were a collection of a set number of trades or issues or even that a volume was defined by a run. But none of these things are true. As far as I can tell, volumes are completely arbitrary and a volume can be anything from twelve issues to 100. Sometimes issue numbers are re-started when a new volume is created, and sometimes they're not. Really as far as I can tell there is no rhyme or reason. (If you know the rhyme or reason or rule, please share in the comments and I will update this post accordingly.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But volumes are important, especially in cases of re-numbering situations. For example, the current Hawkeye comic, which is Matt Fraction and David Aja's brilliant run, is Hawkeye volume 4. So if someone refers to Hawkeye vol. 4 issue #1, you know they mean the Matt Fraction/David Aja run, and not any of the previous Hawkeye comics.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0TcBVQkE5AMBMBQ8pqm4YGWuVFPbnEHYEscDwx3O9hcRW4uQbhKSgNJh4HgCB4dqtOQwAVTTivfM8db9bWCeCfaxu30aa4jskdsB7SVh4n9sMSWwvQpmaF_YypcVCiIUPtX0CD2PQMMK2/s1600/Runaways.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0TcBVQkE5AMBMBQ8pqm4YGWuVFPbnEHYEscDwx3O9hcRW4uQbhKSgNJh4HgCB4dqtOQwAVTTivfM8db9bWCeCfaxu30aa4jskdsB7SVh4n9sMSWwvQpmaF_YypcVCiIUPtX0CD2PQMMK2/s1600/Runaways.PNG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> All these volumes are in Volume 1. Cuz they're really trades.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Because volumes are so vague, I don't pay that much attention to them. I tend to pay more attention to creators and their runs. But they can be very useful when talking about titles where a creator spent many years writing the comic. Ed Brubaker wrote Captain America for 8 years, so his "run" is very long. But Captain America vol. 5, which he wrote, is the groundbreaking "The Winter Soldier" storyline, that the upcoming movie of the same name is based off of.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's important not to confuse volumes with trades. Sometimes trades are numbered, and sometimes they are referred to as "volumes." But trades and volumes are not the same thing. Volumes are (most of the time) collections of trades. But this is why you'll occasionally see, when a trade is released (especially in e-form), that you'll be looking at Runaways Volume 1, vol. 1. They'll publish a trade and call it volume 1 when really it's just the first trade of volume 1.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I hope that wasn't too confusing for you, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-76270603520088654122014-02-27T19:48:00.001-05:002014-02-27T19:48:03.453-05:00How to Read Comics<i><a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/where-to-start-comics-introduction.html" target="_blank">As I wrote about on Tuesday</a>, we're going to be spending the next few weeks on this blog talking about how to get into comics. Hope you enjoy today's post, where I do something a little different. </i><br />
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Learning to decipher the comics medium was my number one road block to reading comics. I don't want this to be a roadblock for you. I kept trying to write a blogpost about the basic rules in comics, but the more I worked on it, the more I realized this would make more sense to tackle as a presentation. So below is a 48 minute video tutorial on the basics of reading comics. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87817171" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/87817171">How to Read Comics</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user25517620">Mandy P.</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-35269319242001438602014-02-25T05:00:00.000-05:002014-02-25T05:00:01.801-05:00Where to Start: Comics: Introduction<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have failed you, my dear readers.</div>
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<a href="http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/you-have-failed-this-city-4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/you-have-failed-this-city-4.png" height="320" width="274" /></a></div>
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If this was the TV show <i>Arrow </i>and this blog was Starling City, the Hood would have hunted me down in first season and declared I failed this city.</div>
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How have I failed you?</div>
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Well earlier today, I was online and I saw someone ask, "I've never read a comic book before, but I want to, and I don't know what to do. Help me?"</div>
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And I started to answer and then realized....</div>
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I have an answer to this question now.</div>
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AND I HAVE NOT SHARED IT WITH YOU.</div>
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<i>Mea culpa</i>, readers. Please forgive me.</div>
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It's strange to think that less than two years ago, I had never read a graphic novel--that the closest I had come to comics was<i> Calvin and Hobbes</i>. That two years ago, I knew who Iron Man and Captain America were--barely--but still thought of little gray aliens first when you mentioned the names Thor and Loki. (And that Loki always made me think of Colonel O'Neill being cloned.)</div>
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And yet now, in the present, I am sitting here, typing this while wearing a Kate Bishop t-shirt and a Hawkguy beanie. (Because this is how I normally dress. Not because I dressed especially to write this blogpost.) And I've spent more money on comics than novels so far in the year 2014. And that a lot of people on twitter, tumblr, and facebook view me as their friend who is a comic book expert.</div>
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Which is kind of scary when you think about it.</div>
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I blogged a lot of my angst about getting into comics here: everything from <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2013/02/comixology-app-that-taught-me-how-to.html" target="_blank">finding the medium itself difficult</a> to trying to <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/09/jumping-into-deep-end.html" target="_blank">figure out where to start in Marvel comics</a>. I occasionally blogged <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-young-avengers.html" target="_blank">about finding something I liked</a>, but for the most part, once I settled into comics, I stopped blogging about it here. <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2013/02/why-you-should-read-journey-into-mystery.html" target="_blank">Since last February</a> I have not ONCE blogged about comics.</div>
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As I said, I have failed you. </div>
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But as of today, that failure is no more. I am going to once and for all give you my definitive--current--answer on where to start in comics. </div>
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The problem with comics, unlike my many other "Where to Start" posts is that there is no one answer. This isn't one complicated series that needs to be parsed. This is multiple series across multiple publishers, with multiple genres, characters, and things. This is a WHOLE MEDIUM I'm trying to guide you into.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-q9-PX51wEQdgpotSaOtPJmG0_eg7wzEbENNoi4XmnG8stRl5Xlbeq_GzjH78N769ZdP3Q0chL7vdUd5VIf9oKCdvKmFQDvK-POBl84ykiCzOLd9NrTNX4nD__lfxiKqxxbnvVVwU9M_/s1600/clint-barton-likes-his-coffee-black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-q9-PX51wEQdgpotSaOtPJmG0_eg7wzEbENNoi4XmnG8stRl5Xlbeq_GzjH78N769ZdP3Q0chL7vdUd5VIf9oKCdvKmFQDvK-POBl84ykiCzOLd9NrTNX4nD__lfxiKqxxbnvVVwU9M_/s1600/clint-barton-likes-his-coffee-black.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hawkeye</i>, Matt Fraction & David Aja</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And my answer isn't going to cover all bases. It's only going to cover the bases I know--the bases I used to break in. I'm also going to assess a few of the generally recommended starting points and whether I think they are actually good places to start or not.</div>
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So for the next little while here on this site, we're going to be talking about comics. I'm sure other topics will occasionally also be discussed, but mostly comics.</div>
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Prepare yourselves, my friends, it's going to be a fun ride. </div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-36868271735954816832014-02-20T05:00:00.000-05:002014-02-20T05:00:09.867-05:00Cheating the Redemptive Story-Arc<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://scifipop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Loki-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://scifipop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Loki-poster.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></div>
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Let's talk about Loki.</div>
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I don't just mean movie (MCU) Loki--though we will be talking about him. I mean Marvel Loki in general. This discussion will include spoilers for <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>, the end of the comic <i>Siege</i>, issues #622-645 of <i>Journey Into Mystery</i>, and Volume 2 of <i>Young Avengers</i>, and slight vague thematic spoilers for issue #1 of <i>Loki: Agent of Asgard</i>. Proceed at your own risk.<br />
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So the other day I was watching <i>Thor: The Dark World</i> for the umpteenth time, and I was thinking about Loki's redemption story arc. There is no doubt in my mind that MCU Loki wants to be redeemed. His interactions with his mother and Thor scream of a man who has dug himself in too deep and has no idea how to pull himself out. Take for example Loki's sheer joy when he's walking the halls of Asgard with Thor. That is not merely the delight of a man on parole. That is the joy of a person reunited with his best friend--that after two years separated from his brother is finally side by side making mischief with him again.</div>
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Also remember the regret on his face when Thor said he wished he could trust Loki. Loki wishes Thor could trust him too. But he has no idea how to make that happen, no idea how to earn that trust back after he has so deeply and repeatedly betrayed him.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ2c1EP85FMOw-6s9T4uC60itVQKhxpJU2LPTpwYQFe-ox4GUhVrh646SFeMTmLJUhiaHzM_8LgS-4QOE1qwKWO1zjpZXmH9d6mzZxsHm0MiFVzVamBhy2JZlqL9rCm5fdX09vHTG1kqv/s1600/Loki_Jane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ2c1EP85FMOw-6s9T4uC60itVQKhxpJU2LPTpwYQFe-ox4GUhVrh646SFeMTmLJUhiaHzM_8LgS-4QOE1qwKWO1zjpZXmH9d6mzZxsHm0MiFVzVamBhy2JZlqL9rCm5fdX09vHTG1kqv/s1600/Loki_Jane.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thor: The Dark World</i></td></tr>
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Loki does his best in the battle--nearly sacrificing himself to save Jane (a sacrifice Thor saves him from having to make and thus Thor redeems himself of not saving Loki at the end of Thor). And then Loki does sacrifice himself to save Thor.</div>
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Sacrifice. The easy road to redemption.</div>
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"Easy?" you scoff. "How is it easy? It's literally sacrificing your life for someone else! That's not easy!"</div>
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Yes, sacrificing yourself for someone else isn't easy. But sacrificing yourself--dying--is the easiest path here. Because Loki doesn't have to do <i>anything</i> after that. He's dead. He doesn't have to worry about re-earning Thor's trust, about being actually being a better person. He doesn't have to do any more work. It's easy.</div>
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Which is why Loki doesn't reveal to Thor he's alive at the end. Because he wants Thor to love him, to trust him again, and he has no idea how to earn that back. Redemption is too hard.</div>
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So he dies and lets Thor remember his sacrifice. Lets Thor love his memory.</div>
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Let's compare this with 616 Loki. What did he do?</div>
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Sacrifice himself to save Asgard.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqTkedyrnmpkDdjBBjrRMSDiiY3ssLOZVBPSzqAN-hqvcGBYFxOKcXugjakmQfKK6SXHDnL-zO9On25Wkr2mOYt1ueMp-Z8wlbB-v2hQ7rg6N4wAfza9_VzGBlkJ0z9GZVeEcDWOXl1IX/s1600/Loki_Why_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqTkedyrnmpkDdjBBjrRMSDiiY3ssLOZVBPSzqAN-hqvcGBYFxOKcXugjakmQfKK6SXHDnL-zO9On25Wkr2mOYt1ueMp-Z8wlbB-v2hQ7rg6N4wAfza9_VzGBlkJ0z9GZVeEcDWOXl1IX/s1600/Loki_Why_2.png" height="137" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Journey Into Mystery</i>, Issue #622</td></tr>
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616 Loki did not just stop there. Earning trust is too hard, too difficult for him. So he's reincarnated as a boy, but without old!Loki's memories and magic. Old!Loki lets Kid!Loki be the one to deal with all the crap Old!Loki left behind. He lets Kid!Loki earn back the trust of Thor, the Warriors Three, the All-Mother, and Asgard. And then when Kid!Loki succeeds, when Kid!Loki has finally reached a place where people assume he's a good kid who has the best of Asgard at heart even if he doesn't always go about things in a traditional Asgardian way, Old!Loki kills him.</div>
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You read that right. Old!Loki kills Kid!Loki. Kills him and takes over his life.</div>
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He let Kid!Loki do all the legwork, all the hard part, and then stole his body from him--obliterating Kid!Loki from existence.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjku__5o68Rbr37MI86uCZo6iotWxOq7XF6rVM6Tjlw2O5pt407_uHZKKZ6xH5d-RYSEqoQmgqloRX9b1rJ70kgO6wbHpnRnLDxHSVoJngpkSevc7f-bafan54-x6R18l7xXf2ZEEGsdj0/s1600/Loki_kidLoki.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjku__5o68Rbr37MI86uCZo6iotWxOq7XF6rVM6Tjlw2O5pt407_uHZKKZ6xH5d-RYSEqoQmgqloRX9b1rJ70kgO6wbHpnRnLDxHSVoJngpkSevc7f-bafan54-x6R18l7xXf2ZEEGsdj0/s1600/Loki_kidLoki.png" height="190" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Journey Into Mystery</i>, Issue #645</td></tr>
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MCU Loki is no different from his comic counterpart. Changing who he is and earning back the trust of the people he loves is too hard. So he goes for the easy path. He cheats.</div>
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And it always backfires, as <i>Young Avengers</i> Volume 2 spent its entire story-arc showing us. You can't cheat the redemptive story-arc. And I'm sure Thor 3 will show us that just as well, though perhaps in not quite as a meta way.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiosGna-j6hH0CLXuvUZ2yBjw1vLysF51kl8yD_ILO39N3GD9u-m-sHHg8kOpBJB7WWkHdPmtgotMbiERVHLXHg8_sEnCR2en2ST1hijso-bUX88cS0uAwYvMLnulhsZ-iety2g7A0aQF/s1600/YA_guitlyconcious.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiosGna-j6hH0CLXuvUZ2yBjw1vLysF51kl8yD_ILO39N3GD9u-m-sHHg8kOpBJB7WWkHdPmtgotMbiERVHLXHg8_sEnCR2en2ST1hijso-bUX88cS0uAwYvMLnulhsZ-iety2g7A0aQF/s1600/YA_guitlyconcious.jpg" height="274" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Young Avengers</i>, Vol. 2, Issue #12</td></tr>
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So many of us want to cheat, just like Loki. We don't usually go as far as to sacrifice our lives, but we think, "I want to be different, therefore you--the wronged party--should immediately accept that at face value and be okay with this."</div>
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Alas, it doesn't work that way. Trust once broken is not so easily fixed. It takes time and hard work to reforge broken bonds, to convince people you are a new person.<br />
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MCU Loki will get his comeuppance in Thor 3, I promise you. Old!Loki received his due already in <i>Young Avengers</i>, and after reading <i>Loki: Agent of Asgard</i> issue #1, it's obvious he is still working through cheating the story-arc and his crimes against Kid!Loki.</div>
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You cannot cheat the redemptive story-arc. You must slog through and be the new person you claim to be. That is the only way to regain trust, to regain the relationships and bonds you once had but broke.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PRWOuAHl_icfdN6VSjhErfkV1ot31oNx8rVs41Uk4LDU0_M2_WDPWi67gD1BDnyKdyA1g3jFoYmDWYsHSXIvSUFtOw9PrDEAuzoLtxQd6EwA0RCS9obcFIKTykEVGXoMFvvUEN60JcLQ/s1600/Loki&Thor.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PRWOuAHl_icfdN6VSjhErfkV1ot31oNx8rVs41Uk4LDU0_M2_WDPWi67gD1BDnyKdyA1g3jFoYmDWYsHSXIvSUFtOw9PrDEAuzoLtxQd6EwA0RCS9obcFIKTykEVGXoMFvvUEN60JcLQ/s1600/Loki&Thor.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>All-New Marvel Now! Point One</i></td></tr>
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Remember, always remember: <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-am-loki-part-vi-not-being-super.html" target="_blank">Don't be Loki</a>.</div>
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Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-11059263467173032412014-02-18T05:00:00.000-05:002014-02-18T05:00:01.733-05:00Introduction to Fan Fiction<div style="text-align: justify;">
In all this talk of shipping, I've kept mentioning Fan Fiction, also lovingly known as fanfic. It's possible that you may have no idea what fan fiction is.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.comicpow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/comic-pow-ms.-marvel-fanfic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.comicpow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/comic-pow-ms.-marvel-fanfic.png" height="304" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ms. Marvel</i>, Issue #1</td></tr>
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At its most basic definition fanfic is fiction (short stories, novels, and everything in between) written using characters and worlds from already existing fiction--so not original to the writer.</div>
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Mostly when people think of fan fiction, they think of unpublished, poorly written works. Some people might think of <i>Fifty Shades of Gray</i>, recalling that originally it was a popular piece of <i>Twilight</i> fan fiction. I myself have neither read <i>Twilight</i> nor <i>Fifty Shades of Gray</i> so I can not attest to how good either is, and therefore, will not be talking about them here.</div>
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Fan Fiction should not be synonymous with poorly written and bad. I know I've succumbed to this connotation at times, but its simply not true.</div>
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The<a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1012337" target="_blank"> best and saddest piece of epistle fiction</a> I've ever read was fan fiction. If you know me well, you know I don't read a lot of romance novels, but I will admit, the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/862194" target="_blank">one romance story I re-read the most</a> is fan fiction. And of course, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1475582/" target="_blank">one of my favorite television shows</a> is fan fiction.</div>
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<a href="http://www.networkknowledge.tv/sites/default/files/sherlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.networkknowledge.tv/sites/default/files/sherlock.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
That's right, my definition of fan fiction--fiction written about characters/worlds not owned by the writer--includes things like<i> Sherlock</i> and<i> Elementary</i>. (In fan fiction terms, <i>Sherlock</i> is a Modern AU--alternate universe--and <i>Elementary</i> is a Modern AU + fem!Watson.) My definition would also include things like <i>Wicked</i>, (heck, <i>Wicked </i>is two layers of fanfic deep, since the musical is basically a fan fiction of a fan fiction) and the entire <i>Star Wars</i> Expanded Universe.</div>
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Look, if it's not canon--it's fan fiction. Plain and simple.</div>
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So why do people write fan fiction?</div>
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Out of love.</div>
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As much as I rant and rave against Moffat--and boy, do I rant and rave--the man LOVES Sherlock Holmes. He loves him. And Sherlock is nothing but a labor of love, an ode to one of his favorite characters of all time.</div>
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It's also written with a mentality of "What if." What if Sherlock Holmes lived in the modern era? How would that be different? How would it be the same? And Moffat does a lovely job of exploring that.</div>
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But point of fact, Moffat did not invent Sherlock Holmes. Nothing he writes is Sherlock Holmes canon. Nothing he writes changes or has any bearing on the original stories. It is not canon. It is fan fiction.</div>
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Beautiful fan fiction that he's getting paid for, but fan fiction nonetheless.</div>
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And it is no different in the works that fill the different fan fiction sites of the internet. People write Avengers fan fiction because they love the Avengers and they want to explore the questions, problems, and situations that the comics and movies either can't or won't.</div>
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"Can't?" you gasp. "What kind of problems <i>can't</i> they cover?"</div>
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A lot of times it's the mundane ones. A published story has certain expectations of plot and appealing to a massive audience associated with it. It doesn't have time to answer the question "How does Steve Rogers react to a microwave the first time he sees one?" There just isn't time to answer that question in a movie or a comic. But a fan fiction writer can write a 1,000 word amazing short story on the topic. (I actually don't have an example for this, BUT I AM SURE it exists. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've read one, I just can't find it. I'm sorry.)</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.bleedingcool.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IMG_0055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.bleedingcool.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IMG_0055.jpg" height="277" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Loki: Agent of Asgard</i>, Issue #1</td></tr>
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But sometimes it's not the mundane problems. Sometimes it's questions of "what if" that leads to Alternative Universes--like <i>Sherlock</i>. What if Sherlock Holmes lived in the modern era? What if Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were dating? What if the Avengers were in high school? What if Loki had taken Coulson instead of Hawkeye in <i>The Avengers</i>? (Answer: Loki would have taken over the world quickly and efficiently. Seriously, <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/641798" target="_blank">read this fic</a>. It's good.) <strike>What if Coulson wasn't dead? WAIT! THAT'S RIGHT! FANDOM WON THAT ONE. COULSON LIVES!</strike> And then you get these amazing, often well written stories that are just as plot and characterization heavy as any published novel.</div>
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So yes, I read fan fiction. Mostly Avengers fan fiction: full of shenanigans, crazy super villains, team building, and roombas. Yes, I said roombas. (Seriously, read<a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/381185/chapters/622952" target="_blank"> the Toasterverse</a>. I cannot express enough how awesome it is. Also I can never look at a roomba the same way again.)</div>
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If you have a fandom you love that you're curious to check out fan fiction for, I recommend <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/" target="_blank">Archive of Our Own</a>. The stories are free, the writers are very good at tagging* their fiction appropriately, and the system is very searchable. Whatever you're looking for, you can find it. Also let me recommend--especially if you're new to fan fiction--a good way to figure out if something is good, is to look at the number of kudos. My usual rule of thumb is that if the kudos to hits ratio is around 10% than it's probably a good read. Anything better is of course better!</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbxdj2MO191rfgg6co1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbxdj2MO191rfgg6co1_1280.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fan Art of FanFic. It's a thing. By <a href="http://keesdemons.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Keesdemon</a>. <a href="http://keesdemons.tumblr.com/post/33631303486/dummy-get-your-outdated-circuits-back-here" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Though if you are new to fanfic, and like the Avengers, I really am going to have to recommend you start with the Toasterverse. The first story is <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/381185/chapters/622952" target="_blank">Some Things Shouldn't Be a Chore</a> by scifigrl47, in which Steve makes a chore chart for the Avengers and Tony makes a roomba army. It's rated teen, it doesn't really have a romance (just some background relationships and a little bit of pining if you read it with the right frame of mind, but that could be ignored if you're not a fan of romance), and it has a sentient toaster. What more could you want?</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*Tagging: On the one level I mean "rating" like G, PG-13, R, etc (though Archive of Our Own uses "Gen", "Teen", "Mature" and "Explicit"). On another level I mean the tags that let people know what the story is about. If something is tagged Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, you know that ship is in the story. If it's in addition tagged "Established Relationship," you know that they're already an item when the story starts. If it's tagged "Get Together" you know they're not together when the story starts but will be at the end. If it's tagged "pre-slash," you know they don't actually get together at all, there is just some pining and maybe hints at it. But it's not all relationship tags. Sometimes it's types of stories (fix-it), sometimes its warnings (if the story contains violence/rape/abuse, etc), and sometimes it's silly things like angst, cookies, or shenanigans. But the moral of the story is that reading the tags can give you a very good idea of what a story contains, and that the writers on Archive of Our Own are very good at tagging their fiction.</i></span></div>
<br />Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-41213637566326669482014-02-14T05:00:00.000-05:002014-02-14T11:18:57.455-05:00I Ship It<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Happy Valentine's Day!!! On this day of "luv...twoo luv" I felt it only appropriate that we talk some more about <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-shipping.html" target="_blank">shipping</a>, this time digging into some of the ships I actually ship! So enjoy!</i></div>
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Nine times out of ten, when I say "I ship it" what I'm saying is "I could see that" or "that makes sense." (Heck, I've used the phrase "I ship it" to mean "that makes sense" in situations where shipping was not actually being discussed.) So when I say "I ship it" it's not exactly a resounding level of "YES THIS IS TRUE LOVE THESE PEOPLE MUST GET TOGETHER." That doesn't mean I don't have fictional couples I feel that way about, it just means there are levels to this shipping business.</div>
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Your levels of shipping may vary, but these are mine.</div>
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I'm going to use examples to explain these levels, so <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-rules-for-discussing-ships.html" target="_blank">please remember my rules of discussing ships</a>. Keep it civil people.</div>
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<b>Canon</b></div>
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First of all, just to be clear by "canon" I mean the stories (whether they be books, movies, or radio broadcasts) that are considered "official." Canon is a whole discussion in and of itself, and maybe one day I'll write a blog post on it, but if you have any questions about it, feel free to shoot them my way.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XCri3UqZ0Ysc6DrKNknzfO7fzGs0NKnYIx-cZZT_9T6YYZW6Gievb0vXLs04SfTa6Uf_LNLkdxgWCvXPnzXA4juSVpVKjRpl54w5bSIH0bPsHk-XLhLGlXDh4OEVyw04DfmKpA2U6agV/s1600/Carlos_Cecil.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XCri3UqZ0Ysc6DrKNknzfO7fzGs0NKnYIx-cZZT_9T6YYZW6Gievb0vXLs04SfTa6Uf_LNLkdxgWCvXPnzXA4juSVpVKjRpl54w5bSIH0bPsHk-XLhLGlXDh4OEVyw04DfmKpA2U6agV/s1600/Carlos_Cecil.gif" height="203" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Airinn (<a href="http://airinn.tumblr.com/post/56834072803" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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I ship almost all of canon. Not necessarily with a passion, not necessarily with strong feelings, but on some level I ship it. A lot of the times it's just quiet acceptance (who am I to say Harry and Ginny couldn't be together) and sometimes it's with a stronger passion (CECILOS) but if two people end up together forever in canon, I probably ship it. There are a few exceptions--there always are--but in any geeky conversation or discussion of fan fiction, canon ships are in my mind and real.</div>
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<b>Headcanon</b></div>
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These are ships that I'm not heavily emotionally invested in, but I legitimately forget that they're not canon. And when I read/watch/discuss the stories they are a part of, in my mind they were/are in a relationship. The perfect example of this is Sirius Black/Remus Lupin.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/4a58b1448362dc246edc7888cf885777/tumblr_mjb4iqbBSq1qkehiio1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/4a58b1448362dc246edc7888cf885777/tumblr_mjb4iqbBSq1qkehiio1_500.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://imgfave.com/view/3306860" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
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I've legitimately had this conversation:</div>
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Me: When Sirius and Lupin dated during the Marauders era...</div>
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Friend: What?</div>
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Me: What?</div>
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Friend: Sirius and Lupin dated? In what book did JKR say that?</div>
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Me: ....oh yeah...headcanon...my bad....</div>
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I don't remember who first pointed this ship out to me, but it is a very common Harry Potter ship. In my headcanon, it's not that they are in a relationship during the events of the Harry Potter series, but that they were when they were students at Hogwarts. I'm not emotionally invested in this idea. Disagreeing with it isn't going to upset me. I'm completely willing to entertain other ships. But every time I read the books or discuss the series, it's colored by this head canon, my mental knowledge that these two characters totally dated at some point.</div>
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<i>Other examples of headcanon ships: Dean Winchester/Castiel (Destiel)</i></div>
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<b>OTP</b></div>
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OTP means One True Pair in shipper terms, and basically these are the couples I am extremely emotionally invested in the idea of. When I think about these two people together I'm just like "BUT HOW COULD IT BE ANY OTHER WAY! THEY'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER." Sometimes my OTP is canon (or becomes canon, as was the case for Ron/Hermoine) and sometimes it's not (PHLINT).</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc-jX4qyRlXaiGe3kY2UjfYmrkItMXMBSFHJ7lCT7g1MSP0EBmEB3e0LnMHd5m9Sr_lMfMepp_JEtG0TeQ-IpehnHHUQBh8ZAbznwZ46NadUL2YpT7nZP4xKldvInyjepaJgZi4s6XhiZ/s1600/tumblr_mfd6rs1UBN1rih7r6o1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc-jX4qyRlXaiGe3kY2UjfYmrkItMXMBSFHJ7lCT7g1MSP0EBmEB3e0LnMHd5m9Sr_lMfMepp_JEtG0TeQ-IpehnHHUQBh8ZAbznwZ46NadUL2YpT7nZP4xKldvInyjepaJgZi4s6XhiZ/s1600/tumblr_mfd6rs1UBN1rih7r6o1_1280.png" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by<a href="http://flatbear.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"> flatbear</a> (<a href="http://fuckyeahclintcoulson.tumblr.com/image/38551889323" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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Clint Barton/Phil Coulson (aka Phlint) was probably the most insidious ship I've ever been introduced to. The first time someone mentioned it, I was like "What? Huh? How does that make sense?" Then they explained themselves, and I was like "huh, okay, I see that." It was not an OTP, just a nod to the logic of it. But the more it came up (on tumblr and in fan fiction and in conversations), the more I realized it made COMPLETE sense. And the more I realized they would be PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER. And then suddenly, I was reading every piece of Clint/Coulson fan fiction I could find.*</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/221/c/a/happy_birthday_phil_coulson_by_xxjust_a_nobodyxx-d5aiios.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/221/c/a/happy_birthday_phil_coulson_by_xxjust_a_nobodyxx-d5aiios.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by <a class="u regular username" href="http://xxjust-a-nobodyxx.deviantart.com/" style="background-color: #dae5d6; color: rgb(51, 114, 135) !important; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.29866665601730347px; line-height: 17.546667098999023px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none !important; white-space: nowrap;">xxjust-a-nobodyxx</a> (<a href="http://xxjust-a-nobodyxx.deviantart.com/art/Happy-Birthday-Phil-Coulson-319991068" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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So yes, Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) and Agent Phil Coulson are my OTP. Clint is a somewhat bad boy, but more of a person who just makes terrible life choices. Not because he's a bad guy, but because his entire life has been awful. (Abusive parents who then died in a car crash, so he and his brother went to live at the orphanage, which sucked, so they ran away to the circus, where Clint learned all his archery skills but also learned some more...nefarious skills, and then his brother left him, and Clint was a bad guy for a while, and then he became the Avenger we all know and love. So yeah, tragic backstory.) Phil Coulson is a stable, straight laced kind of guy, who always makes the right decision, but could use some loosening up. THESE TWO ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, I TELL YOU. PERFECT.</div>
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And that level of vehemence is pretty much the definition of an OTP.</div>
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<i>My other OTPs**: Tenel Ka Djo/Jacen Solo, Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak</i></div>
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<b>BroTP</b></div>
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This is OTP but bromance variety. These are characters that I think are perfect for each other--but as best friends, friends with an epic bromance. We're talking JD & Turk (Scrubs) levels of bromance.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://31.media.tumblr.com/6f351d6b3104cc3d2d6978b880a10ec6/tumblr_mhw1q6kYKy1qgx21do2_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://31.media.tumblr.com/6f351d6b3104cc3d2d6978b880a10ec6/tumblr_mhw1q6kYKy1qgx21do2_1280.png" height="217" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://flatbear.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">By the lovely and wonderful flatbear</a></td></tr>
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I have a lot of BroTPs but I think the one I feel most fervently about is Clint Barton & Natasha Romanoff. (A brief note: "/" is used to denote romance and "&" is used to denote friendship. So Clint/Natasha is a very different thing from Clint & Natasha.)</div>
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In mainstream Marvel comics (616, for the comic savvy), Clint and Natasha were totally an item at one time. The two are intrinsically entwined in their back story. Even the MCU was sure to tie them together. (What's the one thing that brings Widow in from a mission? Name dropping Clint. And it's heavily implied that Clint is the one who brought her into SHIELD.) These are two broken people with nefarious pasts, it's easy to see why they would be soulmates.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUbJJAMvRzYRGBizu_rgEWPCUHau02s672Kt0nk0n9bj3-fpKx-RhYdARS7Us7tFJTN2A0RMGAXP9KZMPfn7qZHuxrVXuVc9bg7gAKTdEZqku8g2fZ9V6C7oF2C6NYLWUig3_yvR1Qdkt/s1600/Clint_Nat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUbJJAMvRzYRGBizu_rgEWPCUHau02s672Kt0nk0n9bj3-fpKx-RhYdARS7Us7tFJTN2A0RMGAXP9KZMPfn7qZHuxrVXuVc9bg7gAKTdEZqku8g2fZ9V6C7oF2C6NYLWUig3_yvR1Qdkt/s1600/Clint_Nat.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Loki: Agent of Asgard</i> Issue #1</td></tr>
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But I much prefer my Clint and Natasha as platonic soul mates. Sure, it's easy to say that's just me writing off Nat romantically so I can have my OTP, but I honestly think that with her backstory, Natasha is the sort of woman who has used romance and sex as a weapon. She needs someone in her life who doesn't want anything from her--sex or otherwise--and I think that person is Clint. I like to think they have such a deep level of understanding and trust that they can just cuddle up on the couch without expectations. </div>
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I think they both need that and I think they are that for each other: platonic soulmates, bros, besties. Our in the words of Clint himself (in <i>Hawkeye</i>), Natasha is his "work wife."</div>
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<i>My other BroTPs: Arthur & Merlin (from </i>Merlin<i>), Sherlock & Watson (specifically, but not limited to </i>Sherlock<i>), Harry Potter & Hermione Granger, Tony Stark & Bruce Banner (Science Bros!), Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Clint Barton, Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes...Steve with everyone. STEVE SHOULD BE BROS WITH EVERY AVENGER.</i></div>
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<b>I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP</b></div>
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This level only applies to non-canon ships, and most often it applies to ships that *could have* become canon, but slowly, over the process of new canon being released, you realize your ship is not going to be the one that comes to be. And you don't care. You don't care that canon just revealed your ship is not true, because you know these two characters are MEANT TO BE. </div>
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The perfect example of this, for me, is Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AvkoSKGMGtjVkkV95r1o-7eEcXQt_vc_uzHhNNWvfQ0g4XX68CgB_cVcdqWYevgypF2wAzKplBFcQdfx6IIN_VyKCW81Ni2vNNN3EFUi9-5WbtKtxEkeefwCiLwxNP2fFqP7-TLe0MB9/s1600/Jack_GoDownWithShip.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AvkoSKGMGtjVkkV95r1o-7eEcXQt_vc_uzHhNNWvfQ0g4XX68CgB_cVcdqWYevgypF2wAzKplBFcQdfx6IIN_VyKCW81Ni2vNNN3EFUi9-5WbtKtxEkeefwCiLwxNP2fFqP7-TLe0MB9/s1600/Jack_GoDownWithShip.gif" height="175" width="400" /></a></div>
I always felt that it was obvious that JKR was going for Harry/Ginny, but I also knew that she had and did change her original designs as characters developed and the books were written, so I always had this hope that maybe she would forgo the obvious Harry/Ginny and give us Harry/Luna. I loved those two together. Luna is an intensely loyal friend, and perhaps one of the few people who can relate to Harry's feelings of being outside of society. </div>
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And I went down with this ship. I still don't care--nearly seven years later--that Ginny/Harry is canon. If we're talking theoreticals, this is the couple I think should've happened. If I'm reading fan fiction, this is the couple I want to read about. I still ship Harry/Luna, and nothing is going to change that.</div>
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<i>Other "I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP": Tenel Ka Djo/Jacen Solo***</i></div>
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<b>NoTP</b></div>
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A NoTP is something that I don't ship--under any circumstances. Other people may ship them and that's their right and prerogative, but I just can't see it and /or I'm disturbed by the entire concept. Usually if I see a fan fic contains this ship--even if it's primary ship is my OTP--I will not read that piece of fan fiction.</div>
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<a href="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/167/7/9/loki_in_a_cage_by_godwitch-d53oghi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/167/7/9/loki_in_a_cage_by_godwitch-d53oghi.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Probably my biggest NoTP is MCU Loki/ANYONE EVER ****. Look, it's not that I'm opposed to Loki having love. It's that Loki is in a very, very, very, very, very unhealthy state of mind. He's so full of self hatred that he pretty much does everything in his power to sabotage his relationships, and even when he starts building them back up and fixing them again in Thor 2, he has to go and do something stupid once again so that no one--possibly not even Thor--will forgive him this time. (I'm not saying Loki is not redeemable, NOT AT ALL, in fact I have a whole separate post written on this subject that I'll be posting next week. I'm saying that Loki goes out of his way to do things to burn bridges between himself and other people.) </div>
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I just can't support anyone being in a romantic relationship with someone like that. Not even a fictional character.</div>
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But as I've said, it is your right to ship Loki with whoever you please. And that's fine. Just don't expect me to read the fan fiction about it or support your side in a geeky argument.</div>
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<i>My NoTPs: Anything to do with incest (looking at you Wincest and Thorki). I can't even support canonical incest (LOOKING AT YOU, </i>A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE<i>). As I said, you can ship what you want, but I just can't. I can't. </i></div>
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<b>Meh</b></div>
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There are a lot of ships in this world. A LOT. People ship nearly everyone with everyone else. Basically if two characters exist, they are shipped. And most of them I don't hate. They're not NoTPs. But they don't fall anywhere on my "OMG I LOVE THEM" scale and neither are they headcanons that I've just accepted.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoXHdVrsd9uHOqmJJgaoD7AP3JXjfmLfXT__EYKkIOVY1sF0zrUsJ2eWVSEqPAthRjvXTEntmmBRNJEwZSkEZ-mx8gtpHEps7rCkxB3baXxsY7FVNgS8ZUb1PYYKZrsNFzOAlbZLmJfA/s1600/caphug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoXHdVrsd9uHOqmJJgaoD7AP3JXjfmLfXT__EYKkIOVY1sF0zrUsJ2eWVSEqPAthRjvXTEntmmBRNJEwZSkEZ-mx8gtpHEps7rCkxB3baXxsY7FVNgS8ZUb1PYYKZrsNFzOAlbZLmJfA/s1600/caphug.jpg" height="320" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Avengers Prime</i> Issue #5</td></tr>
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The biggest example of this is probably Steve Rogers/Tony Stark. I don't really ship it. I prefer them as a BroTP. But I get why people do ship it, and I don't find the idea disturbing. And it's a very, very popular ship. So it's background in a lot of Clint/Coulson fanfiction. I'm still going to read that story--heck, I've even read Steve Rogers/Tony Stark fan fiction (the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/series/18228" target="_blank">Toasterverse</a> is amazing, you guys). I really have no feelings about it one way or the other. It can be, it doesn't have to be, and frankly, I just don't really care. </div>
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<i>Other examples of meh: Natasha Romanoff/Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, and A WHOLE LOT OF SHIPS</i></div>
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So those are my seven levels of shipping and some examples of my ships and NoTPs. Who do you ship? Where do they fall on this scale? Love/hate any of my ships? Just remember, keep it civil. <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-rules-for-discussing-ships.html" target="_blank">FOLLOW THE RULES.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9IYbvcc5WCgfGF9tgIAg8lMyOcuhHIwc_cCOgOQG2QF9oOKAT-rULlYNRJQIoUKCGod7F3uHUf3YV_lbVCw8dvAmNryEHKliu9bgPV6IIl9J-kz3FAYc-DYJJ5t7-3KzKGjAhJJrjHHO/s1600/ShiptIt_LetitBegin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9IYbvcc5WCgfGF9tgIAg8lMyOcuhHIwc_cCOgOQG2QF9oOKAT-rULlYNRJQIoUKCGod7F3uHUf3YV_lbVCw8dvAmNryEHKliu9bgPV6IIl9J-kz3FAYc-DYJJ5t7-3KzKGjAhJJrjHHO/s1600/ShiptIt_LetitBegin.gif" height="196" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I should say every piece of Clint/Coulson fan fiction that was rated PG-13 or less. I don't read the explicit stuff. I generally stick to the "Teen" and lower tags on <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/" target="_blank">Archive of our Own</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">**I have been very lucky that so many of my OTPs have become canon. This is not always the case. You may think Luke/Mara was always going to happen, but that is not true. There was a time where the Powers that Be in the EU that Callista was Luke's One True Love. And I never shipped that business. I was always hardcore Luke/Mara, and I'm so thankful it came to be, even if I'm not grateful for how it came to end. (Honestly, let's just pretend that everything from the <i>New Jedi Order</i> on didn't happen, okay?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">***You might say "but they are canon!" to which I say if that's your idea of true love coming to its fruition...we need to have a long talk. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">****We're just talking Movie Loki here. (MCU = Marvel Cinematic Universe). Comic Loki and his various incarnations are an entirely different bag of cats, as is mythological Loki. Myth Loki/Sigyn is probably one of the best relationships ever. Kid Loki/Leah are completely adorable. But MCU Loki...he needs to pull himself together.</span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-74242180672371473842014-02-05T05:00:00.000-05:002014-02-05T10:38:44.860-05:00My Rules for Discussing Ships<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNP3ChANQWYmOBQzvvNXkO4lNa5wvPo-kswj7x3zeJlezTZypHNRbW5OwU9nFqsQec2VeJsp5XZtdR0Ghm6xC38GtStRcCYUVySYXDo6qH6WCDeWAzW3f7uiG2mt4b6uBUCf3vypylnZI/s1600/Frozen_itstruelove.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNP3ChANQWYmOBQzvvNXkO4lNa5wvPo-kswj7x3zeJlezTZypHNRbW5OwU9nFqsQec2VeJsp5XZtdR0Ghm6xC38GtStRcCYUVySYXDo6qH6WCDeWAzW3f7uiG2mt4b6uBUCf3vypylnZI/s1600/Frozen_itstruelove.gif" height="182" width="320" /></a><a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-shipping.html" target="_blank">Shipping</a> Wars get vitriolic fast. Nothing brings out the
angry hoards faster than proposing a theoretical yet unpopular ship. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As I’ve said before, I think this is silly. All ships can
and should coexist peacefully.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But I get why this happens. People get very emotionally
invested in ideas—and especially in ships. And when you’re invested in a
non-canonical ship, odds are that people in real life have probably looked at
you like you were crazy when you mentioned it. And it’s hard to stand up for
yourself in a real life situation, when your parents, friends, or classmates
are staring at you like you’re insane because you see the homosexual subtext in
<i>Supernatural</i>.*<o:p></o:p></div>
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So you transfer all that pent up frustration with your real
life friends to the internet, and suddenly you’re lambasting everyone who
thinks that maybe Dean and Castiel aren’t meant to be together. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Look, we’ve all been there. I know I’ve been emotionally
invested in ships. I grew up in the Harry Potter era, and let me tell you,
Luna/Harry was never the most popular ship. Most people fell in the Harry/Hermione
and Harry/Ginny camps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But shipping wars—aka huge, hate filled arguments about
which ships are more valid—are not the answer. And to avoid them, I abide by a
few simple rules when dealing with online (and real life) discussions about
ships.</div>
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<b>1. NEVER use the word
“canon” like it’s the ultimate end to any discussion.</b> I guarantee the
shipper you are arguing with knows what is and is not canon. But the joy of
shipping is the joy of thinking beyond canon, thinking beyond the page—even if
it is in support of a canonical ship. Ultimately shipping is about critical
thinking. So if you want to argue in support of your canon ship, you need a
better excuse than “it’s canon.” I want to hear: “Hermione & Ron make sense
together because of these reasons.” Think about why you support a ship.
Don’t just support it because an author told you to. Support it because it
makes sense!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>2. LISTEN FIRST.</b>
Look, you don’t have to agree with me that Sirius and Lupin were totally an
item back in their Hogwarts days. That’s fine. But remember this is a
theoretical discussion where most of the fun is pulling apart clues from the
text and psychoanalyzing characters. We may not agree, but it’s still fun to
see what the other person’s rationale and reasons are. You might learn
something about one of your favorite characters from it. But the key here is:
don’t start yelling as soon as you hear “Sirius/Lupin” cross my lips. Listen
first. Then prepare your counterarguments or questions. Or maybe just say
“Yeah, in that context, that makes sense” and then explain to me why you think
Sirius/Snape makes more sense.</div>
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<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7v0bzcRAs1rn95k2o1_250.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7v0bzcRAs1rn95k2o1_250.gif" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
<a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7v0bzcRAs1rn95k2o2_250.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7v0bzcRAs1rn95k2o2_250.gif" /></a><b>3. Do not insult a
person’s ship</b>. You may think it’s the dumbest pairing you’ve ever
heard—that there is no way in Hell that Crowley and Sam Winchester would get
together (get it? No way in HELL…sorry, is that just me laughing over here?**)—it
doesn’t matter. Insulting a person’s ship is like insulting…a person’s actual naval and/or space vessel. You just don’t do it, or else Captain Kirk is probably going to punch you in
the face. So instead of saying “That’s dumb” or “That’s stupid” just say “I
don’t really see that, but if you do that’s cool.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>4. Sexual
orientation is always malleable</b>. Remember this is an
exercise BEYOND canon, and remember that we live in a world that has very few
gay and lesbian characters. Also, very rarely is a character’s actual sexual
orientation called out. Yes, Clint Barton had a relationship with Natasha
Romanoff and Bobbi Morse in the past, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t bisexual.
Yes, Harry dated Cho Chang, but he wouldn’t be the first teen to discover he
was gay at a later date. And you know what—I don’t remember Draco explicitly
dating anyone. Which isn’t to say that your straight ships aren’t equally
valid. Just accept that you can ship someone who might seem canonically
straight as anywhere on the QUILTBAG spectrum. And vice versa. You want to ship
Dumbledore/McGonagall? Go ahead, my friend. Ship to your heart’s content.***</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>5. Remember it’s
supposed to be FUN.</b> Any time we’re discussing a theoretical geeky topic,
it’s because IT’S FUN. If you find yourself getting angry or upset, you’re
doing it wrong. So step away from the computer and take a deep breath.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>6. Ships ARE NOT mutually
exclusive.</b> This is the big one, and the part that most fans get hung up on.
For some reason, people think that my believing in Clint/Coulson impinges on
their right to believe in Clint/Natasha. This is simply not true. All ships can
and should coexist in peace. I can simultaneously ship Clint/Coulson,
Coulson/the Cellist, and Clint/Natasha. AND THAT’S OKAY. It’s not mutually
exclusive. Heck, the Avengers exist in different forms in like five canonical
universes. Make up your own separate universes in your head. IT’S OK. And just
accept that someone else’s ship exists in their universe. Remember rule #5.
It’s about fun. Not about who has the canon-ground or who has the best psychological
profiles to match two people up. IT’S ABOUT FUN.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>7. DON’T FEED THE TROLLS.</b>
This is always a good rule to abide be when dealing with the internet. If
someone is attacking your ship from an angry place, just don’t respond. No one
is making you interact with anyone here. And in real life, just remind them of
rule #5 and then walk away from the conversation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And that’s it! My seven rules on avoiding a shipping war. If you have any additional rules or thoughts, please share them in the comments!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*”Subtext?” you cry. “That’s not subtext. THAT’S TEXT.” And
I agree. But not everyone sees it, and you know what? That's okay.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>**You still don’t get it? You must not watch </i>Supernatural<i>,
so brief explanation—Crowley is a demon and the King of Hell. Look, it’s funny.
Just trust me.</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">***Though remember that things can get sticky in this sort
of situation. People might accuse you of straightening a character because
you’re homophobic. In these cases, just remind them
POLITELY that you are shipping based on chemistry and remember the other rules
of shipping. </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-13977710310086607102014-02-04T14:44:00.000-05:002014-02-05T00:57:29.130-05:00What is "Shipping?"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(I've been meaning to write this post forever, but in light <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2014/02/01/jk-rowling-ron-hermione-relationship-regret-interview/" target="_blank">JK Rowling reigniting the Harry Potter shipping wars </a>this past weekend, I thought writing it now would be apt.)</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If you frequent tumblr or the geekier sides of the web, odds are you know what I mean when I say "I ship it." However, interactions with people outside of the internet has taught me that not everyone is familiar with this term, or at least how the term tends to be used in fandom. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Granted, writing a blogpost about shipping to answer the questions of people who don't frequent the web is something of a silly notion, but I know I have friends and family reading this who are not as deep in fandom as I am, so I figured the least I could do was explain the term I tend to use on Facebook, Twitter, and tumblr to their continued confusion.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">So....shipping....</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">First things first, it has nothing to do with the postal service. In fandom "ship" is a verb that is derived from the word "relationship" (get it? relationSHIP). To "ship" people is to wish they would get together, aka have a romantic relationship.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">The easiest pop culture example is <i>Twilight</i>. You'll remember that <i>Twilight</i> fans generally divided into one of two camps "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob." In shipping terms, this meant there were two major ships: Bella/Edward and Bella/Jacob. The angst and arguments between the two groups of "shippers" is what we call a "shipping war." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">(NameOne/NameTwo is the common notation for a ship, though you'll often also see name combinations, like Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff combined to form Clintasha, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers makes Stony, and perhaps most adorably Tony Stark/Pepper Potts is Pepperony.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shipping Wars can and do get ugly, much to my sadness, because I think all ships should be able to coexist in peace. But...I'm getting ahead of myself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">If you're not heavily involved in fandom, you may be wondering why people care and what exactly is involved in this shipping business. To answer the first question, there are a lot of reasons why people care.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">The most common--the one that everyone usually has at some point regardless of whether you're a hardcore fan or a casual reader--is that you're trying to predict who a person will end up with in a work that is as yet not complete. For example, as readers we had years between Harry Potter books. Years between books to hypothesize and wonder and try to figure out how things would turn out. One those aspects is who would end up with who. If you'd only read the first four books of Harry Potter and you're waiting the TWO LONG YEARS for the next book, you're going to wonder everything from "How are they going to defeat Voldemort?" </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">to "Do House Elf rights ever get taken seriously?" </span>to "Do Ron and Hermione end up together?" It's just one of the many hypothetical questions to be considered when trying to suss out the future direction of the story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Thus the Shipping Wars of Harry Potter fandom were EPIC. The Harry Potter shipping wars also had the distinct honor of being the first major worldwide phenomenon among kids and teens during a time when the internet was in its infancy. All of this built into the perfect storm of Harry Potter fandom that was both beautiful and ugly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">(If you missed it the first time, you're now getting a taste of it with <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2014/02/01/jk-rowling-ron-hermione-relationship-regret-interview/" target="_blank">JKR's announcement</a> over the weekend. The Harry Potter shipping wars got ugly. And now they're reignited. Thank you, JKR.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But guessing what will and will not become canon is not the only reason people ship characters. People ship characters even when there is a zero likelihood of them being a couple becoming a reality. So why do they do this? Why do we ship things that are never going to be canon?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Chemistry between characters is a big reason. Fans look at characters who are fantastic friends and think "but what if it wasn't platonic?" Fans also look at characters who have never met and think "but what if they did meet? They would get along famously!" </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And this directly leads to another reason: a lack of gay and lesbian characters and couples in canon.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When you look at a show like <i>Star Trek</i>, which manages to represent almost everything else under the sun but not gay and lesbian relationships, its easy to see why people might look at the Kirk/Spock relationship and say, "They're such good friends, but what if it was something more?" People are looking for representation, a reflection of themselves in the world.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Which is not to say that everyone who ships "slash" and "femslash" couples (gay and lesbian ships, respectively) is gay or a lesbian. Remember people ship based on chemistry. And as we move into a world that is more accepting of gay and lesbian couples, we move into a fandom that is more and more willing to pair characters into gay and lesbian relationships. (Arguably fandom has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to this. John Watson/Sherlock Holmes is probably the oldest ship in the book, followed by LOTR ships and Kirk/Spock.) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The final reason for shipping leads straight to the discussion of "what exactly is involved in this shipping business." And one of the big answers to that is Fan Fiction--which is a topic in and of itself and will be discussed later this week!</span><br />
<br />
Still the most common use for a ship is
geeky arguments. For those discussions at night in the college dorm where
someone asks, "Who do you think Sirius Black dated when he was at
Hogwarts?"<br />
<br />
And those are some great discussions.</div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-81989147291476395182013-12-04T12:41:00.000-05:002013-12-04T13:01:08.309-05:00PitchWars Mentee BioThis is me:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1UhhwCpyZahYY3NlVxRfRZgQyN4Qa5l-fVRScr77cHDquFlY1RfHgFBNLEsNFM9NImIb2kbhzmgSrHKc4E3pOvuE6GafZ508QnvLwYyr7Vl46hUSek8mVUZmRojg-i1JPj1Hzh1raZ50/s1600/2013-08-30+09.25.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1UhhwCpyZahYY3NlVxRfRZgQyN4Qa5l-fVRScr77cHDquFlY1RfHgFBNLEsNFM9NImIb2kbhzmgSrHKc4E3pOvuE6GafZ508QnvLwYyr7Vl46hUSek8mVUZmRojg-i1JPj1Hzh1raZ50/s320/2013-08-30+09.25.35.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<br />
So why would you want to pick me as your PitchWars mentee?<br />
<br />
Mainly because I'm awesome. And incredibly humble about it too. Much like this guy:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQr6S91PQoeRtpJy2xeL2AjJvL7GPVU0uOD0lv5mcFyMTDIql_oKJ-Xcsqwt-VrcnaE0iq_JBAUBCrtNtRWTZFHntEGC2tQk3WZY9s0baKrONH34VEnpcJZVoxYcA9rcd6uQ05ivD6Nhe/s1600/IronMan_historicallyawesome.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQr6S91PQoeRtpJy2xeL2AjJvL7GPVU0uOD0lv5mcFyMTDIql_oKJ-Xcsqwt-VrcnaE0iq_JBAUBCrtNtRWTZFHntEGC2tQk3WZY9s0baKrONH34VEnpcJZVoxYcA9rcd6uQ05ivD6Nhe/s400/IronMan_historicallyawesome.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Also, like that guy, I do SCIENCE for a living. I happen to be a Rocket Scientist. There are currently four satellites in space that I've touched. That's cool, yes?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRs6-Z9kXslblUTJKQ4TDF6hQ_VTyoaUUDdveubJAre7nqbvfvfSgt-J_-kFTPWtvKPJIqMann8Qfaw-CEqRwcHVMFfulAGysaagC7RZGFtzRPrOy8s-mWNk41jhU_W5Wgz6Hv0rdag1hl/s1600/TonyStark_science2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRs6-Z9kXslblUTJKQ4TDF6hQ_VTyoaUUDdveubJAre7nqbvfvfSgt-J_-kFTPWtvKPJIqMann8Qfaw-CEqRwcHVMFfulAGysaagC7RZGFtzRPrOy8s-mWNk41jhU_W5Wgz6Hv0rdag1hl/s1600/TonyStark_science2.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
I once gave an entire, professional presentation to a group of about 30 engineers in which there was an Avengers reference and picture on every slide. Seriously. For real. That happened. And my boss and my boss's boss both complimented me on HOW AWESOME it was.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3oGnSO2I-4o5LtcxSlXOz8rVk9CbhE7ZwkxbqJ9XjCGIbwSQ_9Vl-I9SwcDo9CYEpduXjhr0txFvDDln8HZIagwM9sOCQYwdhJPau28g0WqXTA_n_8j4vSfF4nJ-NRwnW_3ReBgI4YKi-/s1600/ScienceBros_English.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3oGnSO2I-4o5LtcxSlXOz8rVk9CbhE7ZwkxbqJ9XjCGIbwSQ_9Vl-I9SwcDo9CYEpduXjhr0txFvDDln8HZIagwM9sOCQYwdhJPau28g0WqXTA_n_8j4vSfF4nJ-NRwnW_3ReBgI4YKi-/s1600/ScienceBros_English.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
I have a <strike>huge debilitating</strike> minor crush on this guy:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvkytsjCpOJw-n9RdB11Xye3Yjxa1dvm910K50e3ARuwGyoEeqzEGtj4c4Tc0SMd01O53oryWVZgxfqhP9P3Q7c19X_Et1J5h_Tiw5T8dNSFm-HQ83njHnM2IZpCd49JYjIKbBuiGVDXf/s1600/Tom_staringintosoul.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvkytsjCpOJw-n9RdB11Xye3Yjxa1dvm910K50e3ARuwGyoEeqzEGtj4c4Tc0SMd01O53oryWVZgxfqhP9P3Q7c19X_Et1J5h_Tiw5T8dNSFm-HQ83njHnM2IZpCd49JYjIKbBuiGVDXf/s400/Tom_staringintosoul.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Because his portrayal of a certain god of mischief <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-am-loki-part-i.html" target="_blank">literally changed my life</a>.<br />
<br />
Cap and I agree on this, but like Steve Rogers, I love and respect everyone regardless of what they believe:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTkXAXlABzaNPahncS1eV_yNMjLTYYn6YCCh5XF6H4hOSJx32Ee5nOXeN0ss1gup9OoVH0xj1oXFi12p5Vf6rdRrMtyrplcFTnR4ocEEm9nV8Ho77iC8s-lWJenLNd_bVFET6xGdAoijd/s1600/CapAmerica_OneGod.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTkXAXlABzaNPahncS1eV_yNMjLTYYn6YCCh5XF6H4hOSJx32Ee5nOXeN0ss1gup9OoVH0xj1oXFi12p5Vf6rdRrMtyrplcFTnR4ocEEm9nV8Ho77iC8s-lWJenLNd_bVFET6xGdAoijd/s1600/CapAmerica_OneGod.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
On a daily basis, this is the person I quote the most often:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6ONCLeYlCc-oja1w5j-j_eJlUzy3bnhYhoM7qkAQRpNfEfeqtHaDaKPGLJQ3mB1nrSnegw1u1moMHOAfhAXEqjXWbR4kSUlWIyGFseRbIEN998oI5UCGR5pG9BlrNi0LQIQjO6vqcrvw/s1600/Gollum.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6ONCLeYlCc-oja1w5j-j_eJlUzy3bnhYhoM7qkAQRpNfEfeqtHaDaKPGLJQ3mB1nrSnegw1u1moMHOAfhAXEqjXWbR4kSUlWIyGFseRbIEN998oI5UCGR5pG9BlrNi0LQIQjO6vqcrvw/s400/Gollum.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
Let's see what else might you need to know about me? I probably would have been sorted into Slytherin at age 11 but have since mellowed into a Ravenclaw (Slytherclaw forever), would choose to be an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah, would probably never even rate a dragon on Pern, would kill to work at Stargate Command, would not survive the first five minutes of the Hunger Games, would pick Erudite in a heartbeat, and Loki's jail cell where all he has to do is read books is my idea of heaven.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6gJ9jbxvzY_JiHO-3__3ociQsI9L2C0k4hF3M9uSTNmzVB3h-X_Uz7XblAPVn6TyXjjPiLj1nvQCCQmxr8yD-l6pJiegNdFbFsh95xAVBHwIYjJ28KcAH_1nTrjyee3Jw9-zWQule6CX/s1600/Loki_reading_1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6gJ9jbxvzY_JiHO-3__3ociQsI9L2C0k4hF3M9uSTNmzVB3h-X_Uz7XblAPVn6TyXjjPiLj1nvQCCQmxr8yD-l6pJiegNdFbFsh95xAVBHwIYjJ28KcAH_1nTrjyee3Jw9-zWQule6CX/s400/Loki_reading_1.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
So in summary I am a HUGE GEEK.<br />
<br />
And here, have a bonus gif of sheer adorableness:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQby6ZpinENr53_AzgfkbkBgihucHK0liEA2Zfgv9aaejgGk3wyv0nwL1eQ8N22Oy_101RkuwQonb9rZfBYn_ktbqNTrw1-0Fk9eTk1Cct4E5WDXYUTtgchrJ5zuyuKLCj6khzvwJbj0Hl/s1600/Tom_Cookiemonster_nomnomnom.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQby6ZpinENr53_AzgfkbkBgihucHK0liEA2Zfgv9aaejgGk3wyv0nwL1eQ8N22Oy_101RkuwQonb9rZfBYn_ktbqNTrw1-0Fk9eTk1Cct4E5WDXYUTtgchrJ5zuyuKLCj6khzvwJbj0Hl/s1600/Tom_Cookiemonster_nomnomnom.gif" /></a></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-9427190699933078182013-11-12T20:41:00.002-05:002013-11-12T21:41:58.959-05:00My Review of Thor: The Dark World<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that people are asking me for this review, considering I wrote <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-am-loki-part-i.html" target="_blank">a six part blog post</a> on how watching the movie <i>Thor</i> changed my life. I always intended to write this review, but then over the weekend people kept asking me "Mandy, what did you think of Thor 2?" or "Mandy, when is your review going up?" So, my friends, here it is. Part 1 of my long awaited review of <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>. (Yes, I said PART 1, as in there will be a PART 2! Also, unrelated, as I'm writing this, the first Thor movie is playing in the background. No one should be surprised.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">To say I liked <i>Thor: the Dark World</i> is to underestimate my feelings in general about Marvel and the Thor franchise. I didn’t merely like <i>Thor: the Dark World</i>. If this movie was a person, I would marry it—i.e. confess my love to it and make a lifelong commitment to stay true to it for the rest of my days. Therefore, if you are looking for a fair and balanced discussion of this movie and its strengths and weaknesses, then you have come to the wrong place. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Now that that’s out of the way, let’s just jump straight into the spoilery discussion of why this movie was so freaking awesome, shall we? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Science FTW </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It was so nice for Jane to actually do science and have her science be critical to defeating the bad guy. Yes, it’s unexplained movie science that frankly makes no sense—but that’s science in every movie, so I really don’t care about that. What I do care about is that Thor would not have won the day without the devices that Selvig created and that Jane upgraded to create anomalies rather than stop them. Jane’s existence was actually critical to taking down the big bad, which is a huge change from the original Thor movie and it was fantastic.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Love Triangles Handled Correctly </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One of the trailers released before this movie came out had me really worried that they were going to punch up the Sif/Jane/Thor love triangle to a level that was going to make me vastly uncomfortable and upset with humanity and Asgardians alike. I was extremely pleased to discover this was not the case. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDwLO98yLWpQoRM7KaRqHlUTaLx_w5js6RuAqEr9G6JEWOG_ogfgi6kd_zbvmhBZdP_YP531PuEIEeAr6PNxYp_eRJHceJji-3v9aKUKo7LloRrvevdpX_QDQoIpQ-JITOPi4P1lI6BY6/s1600/jaimie-alexander-sif-thor-dark-world1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDwLO98yLWpQoRM7KaRqHlUTaLx_w5js6RuAqEr9G6JEWOG_ogfgi6kd_zbvmhBZdP_YP531PuEIEeAr6PNxYp_eRJHceJji-3v9aKUKo7LloRrvevdpX_QDQoIpQ-JITOPi4P1lI6BY6/s320/jaimie-alexander-sif-thor-dark-world1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It was obvious that Sif likes Thor as more than a friend, but that he is her commander and her prince first, and a possible love interest second. It was also obvious that she knew he liked Jane and wasn’t really going to push it. This displays that Sif is both (a) a grown up and (b) smart. Frankly, she has no reason to get up in arms over Jane. Jane’s going to be dead in 80 years tops. That’s nothing to an Aesir (i.e. Asgardian). And Sif has actual things to do. She doesn’t have time to pine. So for the next 100 years she’s going to be kicking butt across the universe and then she can check in on Thor again and see if he’s interested in starting a relationship. It makes sense. It’s intelligent and it’s how an Asgardian warrior should behave when faced with this problem. And I loved that. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Odin was making a bigger deal out of the love triangle than any of the people in it, which also makes sense. He’s worried about this as a father and a king. He wants to see Thor settled down and happy before he dies. Of course he’s going to over stress about it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I’m just so proud to see a movie deal with a love triangle in an intelligent way. High five to all the writers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Asgard</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've always felt the first Thor movie failed to give us enough of Asgard. They present us with this interesting world and then don't explore it at all. I know part of the reason they did this was out of fear that they would be going too out-there for their audience. It was so good to see Marvel trust us in this movie and have most of it take place on Asgard and the Dark World. Asgard is a beautiful place that deserves more exploration, and frankly I want to see more of it. I don't think we're ever going to get a movie that takes place solely in the non-Midgard Nine Realms (like <i>Journey Into Mystery</i>), but it was nice to see a greater exploration of Asgard: its bars, its medical facilities, and even its dungeons. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Comedy </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I had a friend who was worried that this movie wouldn’t be as funny as the original Thor. All of the goodness from Thor’s sequences in that original movie are from the sheer comedy of a confused Asgardian on Earth. (We all know the sheer joy of the Loki sequences was just Loki himself. Everything he does is wonderful, perfect, and just CAN I HUG HIM ALREADY?) I wasn’t so worried that this movie would lack comedy, because I anticipated that having Thor and Loki work together would result in comedy. And boy was I right. But even I really didn’t anticipate the comic gold mine that was Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston’s chemistry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Also in the first movie Thor was a fish out of water, but in this movie he was a true Asgardian on Earth. Watching him cram into the car or get into a subway, hilarious. And hanging Moljnir on the coatrack? I almost died of laughter. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDQqKH4Rbf45Vf3OBgYGfza41DN2NDhXEtub2fiw5u716iqg2Ux8E9RoEi5EKXyQO05w4UoHhV7QAHbJb1H9RG4Tw_JH3EMrH6xGQFyGOPDf9mp0NVZB-cM06hglbvGePyM-c0WQ8ce_5/s1600/CapAmerica_Thor2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDQqKH4Rbf45Vf3OBgYGfza41DN2NDhXEtub2fiw5u716iqg2Ux8E9RoEi5EKXyQO05w4UoHhV7QAHbJb1H9RG4Tw_JH3EMrH6xGQFyGOPDf9mp0NVZB-cM06hglbvGePyM-c0WQ8ce_5/s1600/CapAmerica_Thor2.gif" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">But we can’t talk about comedy without talking about the funniest moment in the entire movie: Chris Evans-playing-Loki-imitating-Captain America. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The first time I saw this movie I was laughing so hard I actually had no idea what Chris Evans was saying. Also I’m super proud of Marvel for managing to hide this moment from us rabid fans. It’s not often they can pull a fast one on us, and they did here, and half of the funny was the sheer shock of seeing Captain America in Asgard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Know Your Audience </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Marvel Studios has managed to make a blockbuster movie series that has very few cases of objectifying females. Thor 2 manages to not only not objectify females (uh, double negative? I mean it doesn't objectify women) but rather cater to its female fans. That Thor shirtless scene was completely 100% gratuitous. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Generally I’m not a fan of gratuitous anything. If I was trying to make a tight story, I would cut the shirtless Thor scene because it literally serves no purpose. But this is one case where I just have to shake my head ruefully, smile, and say, “Well played, Marvel Studios. Well played.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When I first saw Thor 2, it was at a Thor marathon put on by my theater (so Thor, Avengers, and then Thor 2) on the Thursday it came out. I would say 75% of the audience was female. The second time was the Friday, so a more general audience, and the theater was easily 50/50. Marvel knows that they have a huge amount of female fans, and I think it’s a wise decision to cater to them. Granted, I would prefer it be done less gratuitously, because I prefer tight story telling. (And I think they’ve pulled this off better in the past with the shirtless scene in the original Thor and Captain America’s shirtless scene). But I still applaud them for recognizing how many female fans they have. (And particularly how many female fans Thor and Loki have, though I don’t think we’ll ever get a shirtless Loki just because I don’t see how it could make any sense story-wise. Loki takes too much pride in his immaculate appearance and as he’s clearly displayed, he’s willing to use magic to keep it that way. So even torn clothes aren’t a valid excuse.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Loki </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Don't die of shock, but I’m not going to talk about Loki here. This review is already long enough. Instead I’m going to write an entire post devoted to Loki as presented by <i>Thor: the Dark World</i>. (Expect it to go up either this Thursday or Friday.) Basically my feelings are: Loki made this movie. But of course, I feel the exact same way about the first movie. Loki of Asgard is the best thing about the Thor franchise. And Tom Hiddleston just makes him leap off the screen, making him feel like a real complicated person rather than a comic book cliché. If I was Kevin Feige, I would be sending so many thank you’s to Kenneth Branaugh for taking a chance on an unknown actor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If you want a sneak peek of my feels regarding Loki in this movie, check out <a href="http://mandyp12.tumblr.com/post/66440640290/loki-thoughts-thor-the-dark-world" target="_blank">this post</a> I wrote for tumblr right after I saw the movie the second time. Also if you’re stressed about Odin’s end fate, just know that it’s officially ambiguous. We have<a href="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/movienewsandreviews/news/?a=89868" target="_blank"> these comments </a>from Anthony Hopkins and Allan Taylor saying one thing and <a href="http://io9.com/all-your-questions-about-thor-2s-multiple-endings-1462563061?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow" target="_blank">this interview </a>with Kevin Feige saying another. If you want to know my thoughts about it, check out <a href="http://mandyp12.tumblr.com/post/66481685591/lokis-end-state-in-thor-the-dark-world" target="_blank">this post</a> where I discuss Loki as king. (<a href="http://mandyp12.tumblr.com/post/66514014857/loki-odin-and-mat-cauthon" target="_blank">A bonus post here</a> for any <i>Wheel of Time</i> fans who also saw <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>.) I will also write more coherent thoughts on the subject in my Loki post later this week. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So overall that’s it. My non-Loki thoughts on <i>Thor: the Dark World</i>. To close I want to give you the one-tweet review written by my dear friend, @auhim (i.e. Michael Gabriel).
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<span style="font-size: small;">My official review of Thor 2:
Anyone who didn’t like it should’ve known better than to see it in the first place and can blame themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">— Michael Gabriel (@Auhim) <a href="https://twitter.com/Auhim/statuses/399731918235000832">November 11, 2013</a></span></blockquote>
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Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-67980853736585523152013-10-30T10:24:00.000-04:002013-10-30T10:24:00.549-04:00The Orson Scott Card Problem<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">My general rule of thumb has been to remain silent on this topic, to not join in the endless online <span id="goog_553341584"></span><span id="goog_553341585"></span>debates surrounding<i> Ender’s Game</i> and Orson Scott Card. I don’t like controversy. I don’t like people misconstruing what I’m saying. But I’ve been asked this multiple times now, so here is my attempt to explain how it is possible that I can love the novel <i>Ender’s Game</i> as much as I do when Orson Scott Card is such a completely vile person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But before we delve into that particular example, let’s back up. Because there are larger questions here than the awesomeness of Ender Wiggin versus the awful terribleness that is Orson Scott Card. Prepare yourselves. This is going to be a multilayered and extremely long look into this problem, so bear with me here, dear readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">First off, I think there are three things that should be viewed as universal and true of all art/artist relationships and the relationship the reader has with them. So these are my universal truths:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>A piece of art can be enjoyed without knowledge of the creator.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I think we can all agree that a piece of art can be enjoyed without a person knowing anything about who created that piece of art. For example, I know nothing about Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, but I adore “Welcome to Night Vale.” When I go to art museums, 99 times out of 100, I know absolutely nothing about the artists who created the pieces I’m viewing. I don’t know even know when the art was created (unless there is a plaque by it stating when) or what sort of artistic movement it was in. But I can still look at that art and connect with it, judge for myself whether or not I think it’s beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>A creator is not his piece of art.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On twitter the other day, Brent Weeks made a comment that he was writing a character who was expressing opinions he himself does not hold and he just knew someone was going to read it and think that was what he believed and give him grief for it. This is an atrocity. <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/09/when-characters-do-things-you-would.html" target="_blank">And I’ve discussed this before at length</a>. An author is not his world or characters. They do not necessarily represent at all what he believes. They can, but they don’t have to. A main character can have completely vile beliefs, and it doesn’t mean those are the author’s beliefs. By the same token, a character can be completely in line with your morals, and it doesn’t mean the author is. A person can identify with or hate a character, and that means nothing in regards as to how that person should feel about the author. An author is not his character. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>We all can and should read/watch/consume things that we disagree with.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It’s almost impossible to tell by picking up a book or movie that you’re going to disagree with its morals, thoughts, ideas, or anything. So I would say most people regularly consume things they don’t like or agree with. This is particularly important when it comes to news/opinions/politics and the like. Otherwise, people suffer from confirmation bias. The problem with confirmation bias is that it causes people to view people on the other side of the issue as insane/crazy/somehow Other. Also, reading intelligent discussions on topics you disagree with can stretch your understanding of the world, and challenge your thoughts on the subject. A challenge either results in changing a belief or reaffirming it. Both of these things are good things. In the words of my friend Erika, “I read Ayn Rand so I can better hate her.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now here are three things that are completely my opinion and affect how I consume art.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Knowledge about a creator does not change the creation, for me.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I really love Tom Hiddleston. The more I learn about him, the more I think he’s a completely adorable person. His existence makes this world a better place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But that doesn’t change how <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-am-loki-part-i.html" target="_blank">I feel about Loki</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even if Tom Hiddleston was a complete whack job. Even if he beat his wife or murdered people and was sent to jail, it doesn’t change the fact that when I watched his performance as Loki it moved me to tears and literally changed my life. And when I see Loki, I don’t see Tom Hiddleston—I see a broken, hurt god trying to find his place in the universe. Outside of the movies, I can look at Tom Hiddleston and appreciate that he is a good person who portrayed Loki amazingly, and I like Tom Hiddleston all the more for it, but in the world of the movies, I am completely absorbed. Who these people are in real life has no impact on my viewing of the story. It’s a complete dissociation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This may not be the same for everyone, and that’s ok. For some people knowledge about an actor/author/artist/creator can taint the piece of art. For others, it works the other way, the art taints the artist. I have a friend who doesn’t like Tom Hiddleston—despite his sheer adorableness—because she cannot dissociate him from Loki, who she views as a despicable evil villain (which is a valid view of Loki). I try to point her to earlier point that a creator is not the piece of art he creates—Tom Hiddleston is not Loki—but she can’t dissociate them. I view that as a problematic way of viewing the world. Because sometimes art has to be messy and dirty and disturbing. <i>Thor</i>, heck <i>The Avengers</i>, needs a villain. It wouldn’t work without him. But I am completely ok when things work the other way. If your knowledge about the creator affects your view of the creation, I understand. And that’s ok. That’s just not how my brain works. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>I do not do a background check on any creator before I purchase their content. Or even after.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Most of the time I go to the bookstore I judge a book by one thing: the blurb on the back. If it sounds interesting enough, I’ll buy it without even looking at pages. If I’m iffy on it, I’ll read the first few pages in the store to see how I like the writing style. That’s it. That’s all I use to judge a book. (If I’m not purchasing it off of a recommendation. Those I purchase without even looking at anything else most of the time.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even when I finish the book, most of the time I don’t even read the “About the Author.” Usually I do read the acknowledgements, but that’s because I’m looking for agent and editor names (both are usually thanked in the acknowledgements section). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It’s only recently that I’ve started looking up authors online. In fact, the first author I actively sought out an online presence for was Brandon Sanderson. And that wasn’t even because I loved him. Not at the time. It was because he was taking over <i>The Wheel of Time</i>, and I needed to know who this person was that Harriet and the Tor team thought he was good enough to take over my favorite epic fantasy series. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I since learned that Brandon Sanderson is a good person. And that’s awesome. But it doesn’t change how I view his books. I still think all of his original stories are amazing, and that he completely and utterly messed up Mat in <i>The Gathering Storm</i>. The fact that he is a good person does not mitigate this error. But neither does it make him a bad person. It means he messed up. It happens to the best of us, but it will hurt every time I read that book that Mat feels off. Brandon Sanderson is not a bad person because his art is bad, and his art is not made good because he is a good person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I rarely seek out information on an author. I only learned Orson Scott Card was crazy when the <i>Ender’s Game</i> movie was announced and I saw forums explode with objections to his person. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>If I limited my media consumption based on who I agree with, I’d never read another book, watch another movie, or look at another piece of art. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is just the truth. I’m a weird mix of a person, and I know very few people in this world who believe exactly as I do. Heck, I disagree on a lot of topics with a lot of my friends. In many Christian circles, people label me as liberal, and in the world at large, I’m usually labeled as conservative. I believe in evolution, I think that gay marriage should be legalized, and I am a feminist. I am also strongly anti-abortion, I think sex before marriage is a bad idea, and if alcohol magically disappeared off of the planet, never to be seen again, I’d be ok with that. If I required that creators agreed with my exact set of morals and personal beliefs, I would not be able to claim Iasaac Asimov as one of my favorite authors (he was an atheist), Brandon Sanderson as my favorite living author (he is Mormon), or heck, enjoy a Cassie Clare book (I’m told she had some issue with plagiarism in the past). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even if I did look up every author before I purchased their books, the odds of me being able to find out whether they donate money to an organization actively working against my beliefs is low. So how can I purchase their books knowing or not knowing whether they’re contributing money to something I may or may not believe in? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The truth of the matter is that I don’t know this about anyone. How do I know the grocers at my store aren’t actively working against gay marriage or actively supporting abortion? I don’t. And by shopping there, I’m paying them and they’re supporting these organizations I don’t support. What am I supposed to do about that? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But let’s assume that’s different, because maybe in this case, ignorance is an excuse. So not knowing is valid, and as long as you don’t know, it’s ok to pay for things. (Ignorance is bliss after all). Clearly, this is not the situation of Orson Scott Card. Not anymore.
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Orson Scott Card/<i>Ender’s Game</i> Problem </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I read <i>Ender’s Game</i> in the eighth grade. This would have been the school year of 2000-2001. At that time, I didn’t really have internet. Sure, I had access, at school and at home, but for very limited times. I was only allowed to use the internet for very monitored and limited means. Mainly I used the internet for research regarding school projects. But this was a time period when I was more likely to use a hardbound encyclopedia as a reference for reports than the internet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My father gave my <i>Ender’s Game</i> to read in the seventh grade, but I didn’t, because for some strange reason I felt if he recommended it to me it must not be very good. So I put it off for a year before I read it. My father knew nothing about Orson Scott Card. If you look at what the “about the author” says, it’s basically nothing. So we were living under the “ignorance is bliss” umbrella. We didn’t know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When I read <i>Ender’s Game</i>, it blew my young mind. I loved it. It was more than the twist. It was Ender himself, a boy who was both compassionate and ruthless. This was a kid I could follow into battle. And his story taught me lessons about life, about how to view strangers and the world around me, that have made me a better person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I re-read <i>Ender’s Game</i> on a yearly basis. I have every year since then. I cannot begin to describe the impact this book has had on my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what am I supposed to do when I’m suddenly told, over ten years after the fact, that Orson Scott Card is a completely vile person?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I do support gay rights. I do not support ridiculous rhetoric about overthrowing the United States government. Is loving <i>Ender’s Game</i> supporting these things? Does that fact that <i>Ender’s Game</i> has had an impact on my life somehow make me a vile person by association?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I would say no and no. If anything the story of <i>Ender’s Game</i> is in complete dissonance with Orson Scott Card’s personal beliefs. <i>Ender’s Game</i> is about discovering that the Other, the person who is completely alien to your entire frame of reference and existence, is actually no different from you. It’s the moral of the entire Ender-Verse. Ender Wiggin would pull Orson Scott Card up by the scruff of his neck and say “How dare you demonize these people because they are different from you! Remember the Xenocide!” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So what’s a person to do? I own three copies of <i>Ender’s Game</i> (which I admit might seem* excessive, but one copy is my original beat up copy that will fall apart if touched again—also its signed, something one of my friends did for me before we knew anything about Orson Scott Card as a person, one is an e-copy that I now use as my reading copy, and the other is the copy I loan out). I already have my ticket to the first showing of the movie. Does this make me a bad person?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If JK Rowling was suddenly revealed to be a serial killer, does that change the fact that she impacted millions of lives for the better?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The answer is going to be different for everyone. By owning three copies of <i>Ender’s Game</i>, I’ve stopped dozens of other people from buying it. Because for over ten years now, everyone I know has read it by borrowing my copy. Granted they read it on my recommendation, but they read it without giving Orson Scott Card money. (Admittedly, since I’ve only known about the controversy for a short period of time, it’s not like I was actively doing this to keep him from getting money. I just really like loaning books and most people I know don’t like buying them. I have quite the extensive library.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I don’t believe there is a wrong answer to this. Boycotting is a completely legitimate response. I also don’t think loving Ender makes you bad person. I don’t think that by buying a movie ticket, I’m somehow taking a stance against gay rights. Yes, Orson Scott Card is going to get money out of it (though I’m not sure how movie rights work. It’s possible he got paid a lump sum and it’s not based on how many ticket purchases happen), but so are dozens of actors, actresses, and movie crew. All of which support a wide variety of political, personal, and religious beliefs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I’m not going to go see this movie because I love Orson Scott Card. I’m going to see it because I love Ender. Because knowing Ender Wiggin has made me a better, more compassionate person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ender Wiggin taught me the lesson that people who are not like me deserve to be loved, live their lives, and deserve our respect and compassion**. Because of him I can look at someone who does not seem to be like me--be they gay, transgendered, a different race, or a different freaking species--and understand that they are in fact like me. They just want to live and be loved. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ender made me the progressive person I am. Ender taught me the lesson Orson Scott Card seems to not have learned. And Orson Scott Card’s vileness can’t take that from me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So that’s my answer to the Orson Scott Card question. It’s ok if you disagree. Ender taught me about that too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I say "might seem" because I have a tendency to be this excessive with all the books I own. There was a time when I had five different copies of <i>A Wrinkle in Time</i>. I do have three copies of every <i>Wheel of Time</i> book (paperback, e-book, and hardback), and I have double copies of many many books. I'm a book collector. It happens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">**Yes, my parents taught me about this too, but part of how I learn is through stories. <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-am-loki-part-i.html" target="_blank">Remember the Loki thing</a>? No matter how many times I was told not to be the prodigal’s brother, it took the story of Loki to make me understand. That’s just part of how I learn. It’s the power of stories.
</span>
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Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-85009594127650846252013-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:002013-10-24T13:17:51.125-04:00An Open Love Letter to Veronica Roth<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>NOTE: SPOILERS FOR <i>ALLEGIANT</i>. Read at your own peril. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dear Veronica Roth,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I finished <i>Allegiant</i> last night, and I cried. Please know that crying is not something I often do when it comes to novels. Though novels move me and I find myself connected to these fictional characters often better than I am connected to people in real life, it is rare that a novel brings tears to my eyes. The last novel that did so was <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i>. (<i>A Memory of Light</i> does not count, since I did not weep over the content. I cried as I turned the last page because it was the end of an era.) In fact, up until yesterday the only books I had ever cried while reading were the Deathly Hallows and <i>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</i> (Sirius' death still hurts). My tears do not come easily. They are not cheap.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">But I cried for Tobias.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Not for Tris. There are no tears in my eyes for her. Her ending was perfect and beautiful. No, I cried for the broken boy she left behind and the hard journey he has ahead of him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I know you've gotten a lot of vitriolic anger directed at you for Tris' death. Fandom is a tenuous thing, teenage fandom even more so. When Robert Jordan (via Brandon Sanderson) killed off a character, there were tears but no hate*. We understood that it was an adult epic fantasy series and that in adult epic fantasy series not everyone can survive (George R.R. Martin has taught us this lesson only too well). But Young Adult fiction--oh, YA fiction--it's supposed to be a safe place, a place where young couples fall in love despite impossible odds and live to grow old together...except, that's not true. This is a lie we've told ourselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Teenagers face tragedy everyday. Teenagers live in the real world. And Young Adult fiction, like all good fiction, should not only tell us amazing and beautiful stories, but it should help us understand the world we live in. A world where if you participate in as many military actions as Tris did, the statistical odds is that one of those bullets is going to hit you in the wrong place. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">And though Tris' died, <i>Allegiant</i><b> </b>is not by any means a dark book. It's a beautiful book of hope. Hope in the future and that even though the person who means the most to you may die, you must and should live on. And ultimately it's hope that YA books must contain. Not happiness. Not happily ever after, but hope that the future can and will be better.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Tris died to give the world hope. Caleb could not have done what she had. He was not Dauntless. Even if the death serum hadn't automatically killed him, if he had somehow managed to get into the room, he would not have been able to stay cool under pressure--when faced with David and his gun--like Tris did. Tris had to be the one to go in there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">And let's be honest, she wouldn't have been the girl that Tobias loved if she hadn't.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">The ending was perfect. I know you know that--you wrote it--but I want you to know that some of your fans know that too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">In a world where too many of our YA books end in unrealistic happy endings that just make them frankly cliche, I applaud your decision to the integrity of the characters and the story. The Divergent series has always been a series of sacrifice, from the very first book. We knew from book one that this wasn't going to be a happy story. After all in happy stories girls don't kill their best friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Your story was perfect. It was beautiful. It is a story I will not forget and that will stick with me for the rest of my life. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I will never forget Tris, Tobias, and their struggle for a new world. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Thank you for this series and it's perfect ending.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I wish Tobias the best in his new life--whether he finds love with someone else or not. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">And I wish you the best of luck in your undoubtedly forthcoming other series. You have turned me from a person who read your books and enjoyed them into a true fan. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Thank you,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Mandy </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">*I'll admit, there might have been some hate because of one particular character's death, but we all know that was Harriet's fault, not Brandon's, and that's neither here nor there.</span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-78731960179223827222013-10-10T13:13:00.003-04:002013-10-10T13:13:53.479-04:00This is Halloween! (Night Vale Style)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I really really really love Halloween, but <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-i-love-halloween.html" target="_blank">you guys know this about me</a>. As part of Halloween and the holiday season, I love to decorate my house. Anyone who steps foot into my house in October gets greeted by pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, and witches. I love it, and I've been known to leave up some of my Halloween decorations all year long. (I really love Halloween.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But since I live in a house now, I've finally been able to expand my decorations to a yard! My original plan was to just go to Hobby Lobby and buy whatever outside Halloween decorations I felt were satisfactory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And then I listened to <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-is-welcome-to-night-vale.html" target="_blank">Welcome to Night Vale</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Suddenly I didn't just want generic smiling pumpkins in my yard or cute happy ghosties. No, I wanted to make my yard the Night Vale Dog Park. I wanted warning signs. I wanted hooded figures. I wanted it all! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I figured it was perfect because Night Vale is in the desert and so am I! Granted, the one big difference between Albuquerque and Night Vale (other than, you know, all the conspiracy theories), is that Albuquerque has real mountains. So it's hard to live here and not believe in mountains. But I had a desert-y yard so why not use it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I've said before on this blog that I don't consider myself crafty, and that's true. But if there is one thing <a href="http://bittersweetfountain.blogspot.com/2013/08/cosplay-how-i-replicated-novas-helmet.html" target="_blank">making a Nova helmet</a> taught me, it's that I am an engineer by golly and I can make things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So I went to Hobby Lobby, bought some paint, bought some wood, and set to work!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">First I painted some signs purple! Why purple? Well <a href="http://commonplacebooks.com/welcome-to-night-vale/" target="_blank">the Night Vale logo and website</a> have made it very clear that Night Vale is a town that supports shades of purple. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn96F_uNMXug82Sg_3wXj3PJWIh7O7JH9_3qhjswi-g8BLHre7GWi9mx7puCvltH0hhHCu5jCkJGUcwz8_H3QkyLvjhk68_yxXfFfQE_LnvW79cKYCWOHDt4G0HuiHMZ50Fl85qqPVbwHF/s1600/2013-09-30+18.11.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn96F_uNMXug82Sg_3wXj3PJWIh7O7JH9_3qhjswi-g8BLHre7GWi9mx7puCvltH0hhHCu5jCkJGUcwz8_H3QkyLvjhk68_yxXfFfQE_LnvW79cKYCWOHDt4G0HuiHMZ50Fl85qqPVbwHF/s320/2013-09-30+18.11.59.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Next I got to work with some stencils! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY84f0SWaZ8uyP16Pn6JaBbRHVDPP2UhHbzZstmvuJ5k6a_owjLe_zhT_0XdleLJZWpLkl2GqdTRFIuW23yz262aowD2kuQ8kSsmWbiCCSxu9uOYBe3iTmnwrfIH5ek10NbNHr1rSKx384/s1600/2013-10-02+18.39.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY84f0SWaZ8uyP16Pn6JaBbRHVDPP2UhHbzZstmvuJ5k6a_owjLe_zhT_0XdleLJZWpLkl2GqdTRFIuW23yz262aowD2kuQ8kSsmWbiCCSxu9uOYBe3iTmnwrfIH5ek10NbNHr1rSKx384/s320/2013-10-02+18.39.20.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ok, so this post is going to make it look like this was super easy and I didn't struggle with this at all, but that's NOT TRUE. I ended up completely messing up the first piece of wood I had purchased. I had painted Night Vale across it, but was vastly unsatisfied with it, so I painted back over it. And this second attempt was even worse than the first! So I bought all new wood and started from scratch and this time it did work out. *wipes forehead in relief*</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNJ764fxFHV6yeCVvQw9MxheNRgKNQvbfIrP6DQmXwUxjDZCDy6mSX5V6T3TZHyc_P7iL5J3XOMF1Oj5AfaHhtb8jJboaxQNSozS6QDOFvKZxYC0mPFaYhnULVnPDIYRccwJizqiyHmRk/s1600/2013-10-03+11.47.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNJ764fxFHV6yeCVvQw9MxheNRgKNQvbfIrP6DQmXwUxjDZCDy6mSX5V6T3TZHyc_P7iL5J3XOMF1Oj5AfaHhtb8jJboaxQNSozS6QDOFvKZxYC0mPFaYhnULVnPDIYRccwJizqiyHmRk/s320/2013-10-03+11.47.53.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I made one sign like this that said Night Vale and another that said Dog Park. I bought a piece of wood/stake from Home Depot, painted it purple, and then glued both of these signs to it using Wood Glue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then I set to work making some warning signs. These were MUCH easier. Basically I went to Walmart, found the section where For Sale signs and Beware of Dog signs are, and bought a "Make Your Own Yard Sign" kit. The kit combined with some permanent markers and stencils gave me some lovely signs like this!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHyF-PRcIOQyqLD83va967Gcjo0cTbnAOZjJrWht7qTYlZlLbn4986rHvfCYPxrhdpIF6ui-VJ9sjW5U_AcKpx9pbLr8Yb_kXPKV9vTro_LeYKqq5hmPMlHqvMdynGZqfzf4aV2s6u7O6/s1600/2013-10-04+17.40.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHyF-PRcIOQyqLD83va967Gcjo0cTbnAOZjJrWht7qTYlZlLbn4986rHvfCYPxrhdpIF6ui-VJ9sjW5U_AcKpx9pbLr8Yb_kXPKV9vTro_LeYKqq5hmPMlHqvMdynGZqfzf4aV2s6u7O6/s320/2013-10-04+17.40.56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My last step was I bought some cheap, ten dollar black cloaks from Walmart. I then pinned them to the curtains on the front window of my house. Since the back of my curtains are white (ironically the front color is purple), the black cloaks really stood out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And voila! My "Welcome to Night Vale" Dog Park Halloween yard decor was complete!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG8AGZHcdw6gUg_dJd6hU3heIGL13uUpmQ7POEjUl2rPmCgCZxi3IDmS9oYCGT_mUPSuYZyoYZGroiw05U9QMO2yG65-8hqTYv1hGHyCAZZcObQWx3wQLusRWe04DIubsPd3UdoqgaZIf/s1600/2013-10-05+18.37.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG8AGZHcdw6gUg_dJd6hU3heIGL13uUpmQ7POEjUl2rPmCgCZxi3IDmS9oYCGT_mUPSuYZyoYZGroiw05U9QMO2yG65-8hqTYv1hGHyCAZZcObQWx3wQLusRWe04DIubsPd3UdoqgaZIf/s640/2013-10-05+18.37.30.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Happy Halloween, Night Vale!</span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-44144650860778835692013-10-08T15:25:00.003-04:002013-10-08T15:36:06.146-04:00What is "Welcome to Night Vale?"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If you follow me on twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, then you may have noticed that I have recently become obsessed with something called "Welcome to Night Vale." Undoubtedly you've had one of two reactions to my obsession: (1) "YES! NIGHT VALE IS AWESOME! OMG!" or (2) "What the heck is Night Vale and why do you keep talking about Dog Parks/Perfect Hair/Glow Clouds?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If you're in the first camp, then I need explain nothing. Night Vale is awesome. But if you're in the second camp, let me explain why this mysterious thing you may never have heard of is completely awesome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"<a href="http://commonplacebooks.com/welcome-to-night-vale/" target="_blank">Welcome to Night Vale</a>" is a podcast that releases a new episode on the 1st and 15th of every month. Each episode is less than thirty minutes and so far there have been 32 episodes. It's a fictional radio show set in the fictional town of Night Vale, narrated by Night Vale's favorite community radio host: Cecil Baldwin (which happens to be the actor who plays Cecil's real name).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But Night Vale isn't your average town. In the words of the creators of the show, Night Vale is a town where every conspiracy theory is true and a completely mundane part of life. Vague yet menacing government agencies? Secret police? Mysterious hooded figures? Invisible clock towers? All of these are regular parts of life in Night Vale, and Cecil often glosses over them as if they are nothing, instead focusing on things we might find mundane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Night Vale is a town full of horror and horrible things. But the show doesn't feel like a horror show. It feels like a wacky story about a town and its cooky residents, like the terribly racist Apache Tracker, the beautiful and perfect scientist Carlos, poor lost Intern Dana, old woman Josie who is protected by angels, and the farmer who lives on the edge of town. But this podcast definitely has its horror. Episode 19B is one of the more disturbing things I've listened to in my life. But the thing is, if you just listened to that episode alone, for the most part it wouldn't seem disturbing, just annoyingly cheerful. However in context with Night Vale and Cecil, it is highly disturbing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Through Cecil you come to care for (or despise--looking at you, Steve Carlsberg) these people, and you come to know Night Vale's laws and ways perhaps better than your own town's laws and ways. I've been listening to Night Vale for two weeks and I have all their rules memorized; whereas I've been living in Albuquerque for two years and only just learned weeds taller than four inches are prohibited in my yard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There really isn't much more I can say without spoiling the show. Half of the fun is the twists and turns it takes, how relationships and people change and develop, how the town changes and develops. All I can recommend is that you take thirty minutes of your time and listen to that first episode. If you're anything like me and Cecil, you'll be saying "And I fell in love instantly."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Welcome, dear readers, to Night Vale. </span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-34266544104891912412013-09-17T09:57:00.000-04:002013-09-17T09:57:11.067-04:00A Post on Percy JacksonI've got no post for here today, but please check out my post on<a href="http://www.tor.com/" target="_blank"> tor.com</a> about <a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/09/moral-ambiguity-in-percy-jackson-and-the-olympians" target="_blank">Moral Ambiguity in Percy Jackson and the Olympian</a><a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/09/moral-ambiguity-in-percy-jackson-and-the-olympians" target="_blank">s!</a>Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6754252351102501745.post-61083094269552513622013-09-05T23:04:00.007-04:002013-09-05T23:09:15.511-04:00Cosplay at Dragon Con 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The awesome cosplay is one of the big appeals of Dragon Con, at least for me. I don't know the actual statistics, but it's one of the cons with the highest ratio of cosplayers to non-cosplayers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This year I didn't go to the parade or any costume contests (my schedule just didn't work out that way), so I only grabbed pictures of people I saw walking around the con. But as usual the quality of costumes at Dragon Con was fantastic. So here are some highlights.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQE0XYfe6eGzOh9WplednX0dDqEcEEgvC9F976qhO0i1Y2orVaeZqYFzdu19HPo6xkAbjMVU2geTzu830c3WGzcP_XqLQFDzg2YWlaAgTKCt4RYyUKGLxaJtq25EYLmuk8GPFtWApITyE/s1600/2013-08-29+21.50.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQE0XYfe6eGzOh9WplednX0dDqEcEEgvC9F976qhO0i1Y2orVaeZqYFzdu19HPo6xkAbjMVU2geTzu830c3WGzcP_XqLQFDzg2YWlaAgTKCt4RYyUKGLxaJtq25EYLmuk8GPFtWApITyE/s400/2013-08-29+21.50.14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Stormtroopers are a fixture at Dragon Con thanks to the 501st legion. And every year I like to take a picture of my first stormtrooper sighting. This year my first sighting happened to be three stormtroopers who had an R2 unit with them. Apparently they did find the driod they were looking for.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vbBCXo2nWrb_LGmYnSAQy5NUpLuP2-uyiJnebrcrg_wSmfQsU0G3jYUb2-ftQg37G8-WOk-RKyj6HcxjuTG6ENGchF2dYeEX-EMcX72kWpw6Tv7oCrt435nOyfc2FqCLeaoX6ethw1e5/s1600/2013-08-30+11.13.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vbBCXo2nWrb_LGmYnSAQy5NUpLuP2-uyiJnebrcrg_wSmfQsU0G3jYUb2-ftQg37G8-WOk-RKyj6HcxjuTG6ENGchF2dYeEX-EMcX72kWpw6Tv7oCrt435nOyfc2FqCLeaoX6ethw1e5/s400/2013-08-30+11.13.52.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The impact of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time can be seen by the fact that people still cosplay it. Link cosplays from every Zelda game are always popular, but Sheik--who is specific only to Ocarina of Time--makes a strong showing every year. I think the popularity of this costume relates not only to the awesome twist in the end that Sheik was Zelda, but Sheik is kick-butt and female fans of the game want an awesome female character they can cosplay as. Sheik is that character. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There was one really awesome Portal themed Link and Sheik pair that I, alas, failed to take a picture of. But it was awesome. I love how creative cosplayers are and how they can mash up two totally different things into one awesome thing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyveza0j60xtN85yl-ALyeBdahPhmb9Fkq_MHDU7qJylGZH6_aayEXTGvhBat6cjsXkcw7L-zw1jmJVX1tC5wov_kDiZ-LfDCJYjQpI0Aa-NsJHXKToO1uaB8MyQB3SlnN9Ii3MaYasNBN/s1600/2013-08-30+22.28.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyveza0j60xtN85yl-ALyeBdahPhmb9Fkq_MHDU7qJylGZH6_aayEXTGvhBat6cjsXkcw7L-zw1jmJVX1tC5wov_kDiZ-LfDCJYjQpI0Aa-NsJHXKToO1uaB8MyQB3SlnN9Ii3MaYasNBN/s400/2013-08-30+22.28.03.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I always love a good Star Trek cosplay, even if I don't think technically Andorians would have been a part of Starfleet in the era the uniform clearly comes from. But she pulled off a fantastic Andorian and looked good in that red dress. I couldn't help but take a picture!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT283kwayr4zIa0FJUeT66Nqm6rnK8c2VJAwoKGlGiKsi3aDOUQ7FusmhCWNyMfy0PV1Tt7SPiI6PQDOkG78wFM7zjIVZqHCb7ZV1V3oK5kHbXAqAx2E_NKWxWvnCo8ZS6GB517jnISmpz/s1600/2013-09-01+00.05.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT283kwayr4zIa0FJUeT66Nqm6rnK8c2VJAwoKGlGiKsi3aDOUQ7FusmhCWNyMfy0PV1Tt7SPiI6PQDOkG78wFM7zjIVZqHCb7ZV1V3oK5kHbXAqAx2E_NKWxWvnCo8ZS6GB517jnISmpz/s400/2013-09-01+00.05.28.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I really love the show Merlin, so when I saw a kid cosplaying as Merlin I had to take a picture. Then it turned out his boyfriend was there as well cosplaying as Arthur! This was a timely cosplay considering the show just ended and I think they managed to capture the aesthetic of the two characters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And then finally my favorite cosplay of the weekend....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Abhorsen.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbzoZwzLlS0C0ToDwsbq0hqs_xe5Zj-7wBzpwoizI0sx_rXkD-R0zSA3eKvMJ_bywtdKtGR7fYUbISo2Uxen3QpK6s1tSEA3GBvVTWGkIs2zN5PGEWNwrYN_V04_DVuTEfBI2m5mcckg5/s1600/2013-08-31+13.58.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbzoZwzLlS0C0ToDwsbq0hqs_xe5Zj-7wBzpwoizI0sx_rXkD-R0zSA3eKvMJ_bywtdKtGR7fYUbISo2Uxen3QpK6s1tSEA3GBvVTWGkIs2zN5PGEWNwrYN_V04_DVuTEfBI2m5mcckg5/s400/2013-08-31+13.58.29.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In six years of going to Dragon Con this is only the second Abhorsen costume I've ever seen. (I think the last time I saw one was my first year at Dragon Con, in fact.) This cosplay was spot on. I could easily tell who she was supposed to be. Though she doesn't have the hair to be specifically Sabriel or Lirael, she's obviously an Abhorsen. And the great thing about the Abhorsen is there have been lots of them! So she didn't need to change her hair to be a specific one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Her bandolier with her necromancer bells was fantastic, and I have no idea how she drew on (stamped on? painted on?) all the keys on the blue fabric, but it was perfect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sadly, she said I was the only person to recognize her that day, which made me sad, because the Abhorsen trilogy is a fantastic set of books that you should all go read right now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So those were my favorite cosplays from around the con! Did you guys see anything interesting? If so send me links! Either here or on twitter @Brown_Ajah. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Random note: Apparently blogger is convinced "cosplay" is spelled incorrectly. Silly blogger. Cosplay is totally a word. </span></div>
Mandy P.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.com2