There’s a Variety article I read today that summarizes how I felt about “Deadpool and Wolverine”. It’s a movie that was made by a genuine Marvel fan, from the fanservice to the disses.
The fanservice in this movie feels like it’s targeting the fans that are really into Marvel. Of course, you have yellow suit Wolverine. But there are references that casual fans probably wouldn’t understand, like Channing Tatum playing Gambit, the Wolverine crucifix, and Henry Cavill Wolverine.
The disses in the movie feel like they also came from a Marvel fan. When Wade says stuff like, “You joined at a low point” and “You’ll be playing this role till you’re 90”, those are the kind of jabs that the fanbase would make. Think of it like this. A hater would probably say something along the lines of superhero movies are the death of cinema, or that we should be watching A24 over anything Marvel related. You know, surface level criticisms. A fan would make digs that they could only do if they’ve been following the universe for a long period of time.
For example, I’m a fan, and I know I’ve made jokes in the past about the whitewashing in Doctor Strange. Or that Agents of SHIELD is better than anything in the main movies. Or that the Netflix Marvel shows were so poorly organized that they failed to properly build up to the Defenders miniseries. Or that the people behind the Fox X-Men movies don’t know how to make a good story without Wolverine. Those are critiques, but I could only make those critiques if I’m a genuine fan who consumes this material.
That’s why I like how Variety described Deadpool as if he was a Marvel fanboy. Because he is! He spends a great deal of the movie fanboying over Captain America and Thor, he views the Avengers as the gold standard of what it means to be a hero, he jokes at the expense of Fox and Disney, and he winks at the audience when he knows that the next scene is something that the Marvel fanbase would truly love. Again, the movie is a love letter to Marvel and the Marvel fanbase and it shows.
we cannot be using the word twink as a descriptor willy nilly...kevin day is most certainly NOT a twink, he's tall as hell and an athlete who's been training every day and night for his entire life probably eating the most meal prepped bland chicken and rice and then hitting the gym......
redraw of iconic photo by james patrick dawson, and how are you coping with waiting for tgr??
*takes you by the shoulders and shakes violently* listen to me. You have to listen to me. I don’t have enough time to explain.
Aaron Minyard opened his acceptance letter into med school with every. Single. One. Of the og 9 (10 in our hearts) foxes present. (Plus Wymack and Abby). He was surrounded by his entire family when he opened those results.
When he got in it was the only time any of them had seen Aaron cry. Andrew had such a tight grip on the back of Aaron’s neck during it he almost left bruises. Neil was holding his hand (neither will admit to doing such a thing). Nicky sobbed (Erik was on video call when Aaron opened the results. Erik got noise complaints from how excitedly he was cheering). Kevin finally realized medicine was Aaron’s exy and was happily shaking Aaron’s shoulders.
It goes down in fox history as one of the best moments for all of them. The photos hang on the fox wall in the foxhole court.
Wymack and Abby both keep framed photos of Aaron with his acceptance letters in their offices (right next to the photos they keep of all og 9 foxes getting their offers for pro teams).
Edit:
I FORGOT KATELYN OH FUCK
I’m at work rn but tonight I revise ok ok ok I promise (Katelyn my fellow red head I’m so sorry 😭)
I've put some thought into this and I've come up with a theory. My theory is as follows: there are two main reasons people think the aftg novels are filled with bad writing.
1. They are self-published. This point is really two points. Because they are self-published they have a lot of typos and editing errors. Also, because they are self-published they are associated with not being good enough to be traditionally published. The belief that self-published books failed at being traditionally published is false. Nora has stated that she received interest from agents and publishers. They wanted her to change too much of the books, including replacing exy with an existing sport. She said that it would have felt like betraying her characters, especially her female characters, as exy is a coed sport. As for the errors, this is not an example of bad writing. It is an example of amateur proofreading, which is different.
2. The books do not have lyrical prose, which is actually an example of good writing. What?! How can this be? I'm about to tell you. The novels are completely from Neil's POV. They stay in Neil's POV. The reason the prose isn't lyrical is because Neil doesn't think lyrically. He is blunt. Straightforward, even though he's a liar. Think of the scene where he rejects Marissa or when he tells Seth why people don't like him. The writing style reflects this. In fact, many writers struggle with staying inside someone's head, with keeping to their POV. The way that Nora keeps Neil's perspective, and Neil's perspective only, is pretty impressive. His language actually changes a little as the books progress, which is seen around Andrew and his golden eyes. He starts to feel feelings around Andrew and his perspective changes to reflect this. Again, an example of good writing.
In conclusion, aftg are actually really good books. Source: me
neil “pathological liar” josten and andrew “eidetic memory” minyard make for theoretically the most implausible ship and that’s what makes them the best. “i am alive because i am forgettable so the people hunting me don’t catch me” vs “i never forget anything”
crazy to me how much everyone loves being loved by kevin.
he asked neil ONCE if he wanted to talk about riko, and neil 'felt it like a balm to every bruised inch of his skin'. he has it in him to care so much and the foxes don't realize it 'cause his default setting is bougee bitch. but then he cares, and it shows, and they go 'oh wow. this feels awesome. kevin day cares about me.' like no wonder jean moreau was so down bad and defensive of him it's giving "imagine being loved by me" from hozier's talk
this speaking as a cis person. Nothing brings me more joy seeing people find gender euphoria in becoming a mediocre representation of humanity. And I mean that so genuinely. Local boy finds joy and fulfillment wearing a cargo shorts and t-shirt combo. Local girl has transitioned to look like someone's disheveled aunt, has never been happier. Local person experiences gender euphoria rocking the world's worst bowl-cut. Without a scap of irony, this shit makes me see the wonder and whimsy in just, being a human. An average, person going through their day-to-day, is a wondrous thing? That's amazing. And heteronormativity has stripped these experiences of their joy. Like you're right, wearing a basic girlypop skirt should make my heart sing. Why not? Why are these expressions lesser because they're normal? All this to say. Shoutout to all the basic bitches out there. Yes that polo shirt does make you look like a divorced golfer dad. Yes, that too is kind of a slay, now that I think of it.
no but LET'S TALK about how andrew is (outwardly) apathetic in every aspect of his life and towards every person he interacts with; this man shows nothing but indifference (i'd say half of it is true due to his severe depression and trauma/ the other half is just a performance so as not to hurt others with his rage but himself, as neil deduced).
but the MOMENT he gets to kiss neil he drops his neutral facade and throws his self control out the window -and we KNOW how important being in control is to him- and kisses neil like he wants to extract neil's soul out through his mouth.
neil described it like "he kissed him like this was a fight with their lives on the line, like his world stopped and started with Neil's mouth". my boy was STARVING he did NOT care about mantaining his apatheic front.
how is it possible to go from "i hate you 😐 most of the time i want to kill skin you alive 😒" to "let me kiss you like we're souldiers dying in the trenches and the only air i can breathe is through your mouth"
Merry Christmas