If you’ve been able to see Avengers: Endgame, good on ya. There will be a review post coming soon, I hope. There has been a lot going on on my end. Keeping with the spirit of commemorating the last eleven or so years of Marvel films, here is a walk down memory lane that shows you the funnier side of this universe.
The early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were in the early days of the internet becoming a hub for social media and meme culture. Memes as a form of humor, to my recollection, exploded in 2012, around the time The Avengers came out. You could argue that Marvel fandom invented online fandom and memes. If not, you have to at least agree that this fandom and memes have more or less always gone hand in hand.
The MCU fandom has spawned billions of images with funny captions or screenshots of Twitter and Tumblr text posts. This saga, that many are now referring to as the Infinity Saga, is the story that the digital generation grew up with. They have celebrated it in countless ways: the examples below are just a few.
1. Iron Man Not Having a Superhero Identity Crisis
SparkNotes Version/Summary: My headcanon is that the end goal of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok was to turn the universe into a realm of the undead by enslaving the souls of the living in a trance-like state, similar to what Thor saw in his dream in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
I wanted to do more for Women’s History Month in March. With the time crunch to an upcoming convention and Avengers: Endgame, I had to make some sacrifices. However, I feel this theory of mine is important enough to merit a blog post, and since it’s Marvel-related I can move forward with it. (If this reads like an English paper, please know that it’s how I’ve been trained to present an argument.)
Remember that tangent I went on in my Captain Marvelreview about how Carol Danvers should consider the possibility of taking over the universe simply because she is that powerful and she can just blow up anyone who gets in her way?
It was while I was pursuing that line of thought that it occurred to me that the MCU has already featured an overpowered female character who wanted to do just that.
Since then, I’ve rewatched Thor: Ragnarok. The whole movie is great, but the best part for me is Cate Blanchett as Hela, the goddess of Death. Seriously, I can’t take my eyes off her. Especially when she’s got her hair down. She is just soooooo fabulous. And of course, I loved cosplaying her last fall at FanX.
Thor: Ragnarok has been criticized for being too much of a comedy, but then again what could be more dark and depressing than the scenes of Hela just killing…and killing…and killing? Maybe the critics took home their blu-ray copies and just skipped all of Hela’s scenes.
Hela’s story in the movie is that she wants to conquer the entire universe simply because SHE CAN. She argues that it is Asgard’s responsibility because they are worthy to do so as the most superior people in the universe (not stated but definitely implied). It’s also because her dad didn’t let her do that before, and now he’s not in the way.
“It’s come to my attention that you don’t know who I am.” (Jason Hsu)
After Ragnarok came out, there was something small about Hela that bothered me for a while. She is the goddess of Death, but how so? In the movie, she conjures weapons, slaughters the innocent, and raises an army of zombies so she can kill even more people. In the comics and in Norse mythology, however, Hel/Hela rules over an actual realm of the dead, which seems more like the trait of a goddess than just being an overpowered warrior and conqueror. What does Hela killing people with magic weapons have to do with her being a Death goddess, besides the obvious?
Being single means preparing for marriage by taking care of myself. This takes place in various ways including self-care and developing my character and life skills. Naturally, I am always thinking of what kind of person I hope my future spouse will be. Being a nerd/geek/whatever, I am always looking for wanted and unwanted attributes in fictional characters, including males. As it happens, fiction is a good way to learn about life.
In preparation for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, I have been rewatching the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. This has given me a chance to evaluate and re-evaluate the personalities and quirks of the characters, both the superheroes and the not-so-super heroes. If I had had more time, this post would have been written in February in honor of Valentines. I think it’s worth posting even now with the impending arrival of Saint Patrick’s Day and Captain Marvel, and to serve as a comparison and contrast for a possible similar post about female Marvel characters for Women’s History Month (as well as analysis of men who support them). I also think it’s a good idea before we get too deep into the “Girl’s Rule” celebration this month that we reflect on the fact that not all men suck.
Note: This posts uses a lot of fandom slang. I have tried to explain the terms in context where possible, but click here for a more definitive glossary of terms.
Where to begin? Why do I love BuckyNat? How do I love BuckyNat?
It’s that time of year again when I devote social media and blog space to my favorite fictional couples or “ships.” This year I am doing my Marvel superhero OTP, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier. With Avengers: Endgame on the horizon, and with it the end of the MCU as we know it, I figured this year it was either go big or go home. (Subtext: it may never happen.)
Those of you who follow me on my socials know I have been doing a spam called 28 Days of BuckyNat. Mainly because I can, simply because I want to make Valentines’ Month a little more special for me (single in real life) by actually celebrating love through sharing something I am passionate about, and taking an opportunity to share not only materials I have curated but art and writing content that I have created myself about this pairing.
At the very least, they deserve better than her riding him like a bull during their fights in the last two Captain America films.
Hello, all. It’s been over a month since I last wrote. Long enough that I need to mentally wipe off the dust when I seriously contemplate beginning a new post. The holidays were crazy, understandably. And it’s taken some time for me to get adjusted to the new year. Now it’s time to get started.
The morning of Veterans’ Day (Nov. 12), I came home from eating out for breakfast to log onto my computer, and I discovered the sad news that Stan Lee had passed away only hours before.
I knew he had been suffering from some health problems in the last year. But I wasn’t ready for him to go.
The tributes that so many people in the entertainment industry have written have been touching and inspiring. I have written a few short tributes of my own already, but I feel the need to say more.
Avengers: Infinity War hit theaters last week, and after having seen it twice I would definitely say it lives up to the hype and I would not mind watching it over and over again. I have a lot of thoughts on this film, and I am sharing them with you as spoiler-free as possible.
The first time I saw Infinity War I had a hard time liking it. It was like having a bad dream. It’s the kind of dream where you get something you really wanted but then your subconscious put together the different elements in ways you don’t want, at a pace you can’t control, and you wake up the next morning and you’re not sure you like what you got. It’s not exactly a nightmare, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Again, that was how I walked away from the first viewing.
I don’t always do homemaking or decorating crafts. But this last winter I got in the mood for a particular project.
I use notebooks a lot for writing down all of my thoughts, story ideas, and dreams. I have been gifted some cute notebooks in recent years. But last fall I started thinking, how about if the next notebooks I used reflected the fandoms I am part of? A lot of the stories on my mind have been fanfiction, so it would be neat if the outer covers of those notebooks matched the contents.
There are beautiful geeky notebooks out there. But they can be hard to find within shopping range. Or paying range.
The Apprentice Chronicles 