what do you think of Mario and Peach in relationship?
Well... I kinda regret to think Mario and Princess Peach were an actual couple, in an actual dedicated and passionate (you know, you know,) relationship, rather than friends and gave them fankids, the twins Mango (the girl in salmon orange) and Massimo (the boy in blue and purple).
Knowing know that Mario and Princess Peach are confirmed by Nintendo to be just friends, I'm not sure if I should retcon Mango and Massimo's story to that in which instead of being the biological son and daughter of Mario and Princess Peach, Mango and Massimo are some orphans that Mario and Princess Peach found one day while out on a stroll, and decide to raise together, with help from Luigi, Professor E. Gadd, Princess Daisy and Toadsworth.
//In case you just missed my having Yuri respond to the intro post, there's a new Otabek in our RP - @oap-rp! Feel free to go and send them asks!
There are a few minor changes to my blog canon:
The polyamory thing never happened, and has been retconned.
The sexual assaut has also been retconned, and never happened.
Otabek never announced his retirement.
I have been removing mentions that I've seen of the first two in my blog, but my blog is several years old now, so that will be hard to do it, so please disregard any mentions you see of either of those things, please and thank you.
As for the third one, I have changed the news article involving last season's Worlds and the scores announcement post, and reblogged the updated versions.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.//
Still Angry: Potential, but Not Foundational: Captain America: The First Avenger, Peggy Carter, and Steve Rogers
[Previously posted on another site (Still Angry Six Months Later) in June 2021, but relevant due to the staging of ROGERS:THE MUSICAL.]
One of the many reasons why Steve Rogers’ ending in AVENGERS: ENDGAME was so disappointing is it turned a lovely, poignant “what might have been” relationship with Peggy Carter into a creepy obsession where Steve was unable to let go of the first woman who was ever nice to him. The idea that Peggy was the love of Steve’s life is not supported by a decade of storytelling, in which the first time we hear the word “love” with respect to Peggy is in A:E.
In the movie where Steve and Peggy interact the most, Captain America: THE FIRST AVENGER, their affection is painted as respectful, shared but unequal, leaning to Peggy having stronger feelings for Steve than he did for her. Let’s go through some of their CA:TFA scenes:
In the scene where the audience is introduced to Peggy, she is in uniform, punching Hodges for his insolence and sexism. This sets her up as someone Steve would respect, a competent woman with no tolerance for bullies in a position usually held by men.
Next, they ride away in a jeep together, after Steve has vanquished the flagpole in training. He gives her a proud, cocky smile, and she looks at him admiringly.
In the car on the way to Stark’s and Erskine’s lab, the dialogue gives us more insight into Steve’s character, and he is not shown to be smitten by Peggy. But Peggy? We see our first indication here that she wants to be his “right partner”. And when she has a visceral reaction to his transformation, reaching out to touch his chest, Steve doesn’t react towards her at all.
After no hints he thinks of her on his tour as Captain America (which could have been easily shown during his tour montage or with his sketchbook on the facing page), Steve and Peggy are reunited on the front in Europe. And this scene gives Steve the catalyst to finally, truly become Captain America, but that catalyst isn’t Peggy’s saying he could be more than a showman, but rather the news that members of the 107th had been captured.
Then, there is the “fondue” comment on the plane while in transit to rescuing the 107th. A sign of Steve’s interest, yes. Comedic effect more than romantic intent? Also, yes. And this is honestly the closest we see to Steve showing overt interest in Peggy, and it’s played for laughs.
When Steve returns to camp with the remainder of the 107th, Peggy greets him with a “You’re late” and Steve holds up the broken transmitter and makes a comment about not being able to call his ride. They stare into each other’s eyes, and the scene then frames them with eyes only for each other in the midst of the crowd. This is the most classically romantic moment between them.
When Peggy walks into the pub, the physical reaction, the leaning to watch, by Steve and Bucky is the same. But when Peggy’s attention is clearly only for Steve, it is turned into a humorous moment, a callback to awkward double dates for the two men.
After witnessing a kiss between Steve and Lorraine, Peggy shoots the prototype shield Steve just picked up. This scene is not funny, because Peggy had no reasonable way to know the shield would deflect the bullets from Steve or if others in the room would be safe from their ricochet. But we all acknowledge the scene was intentionally played for laughs, a traditional comedy trope, continuing to how Steve talks to Howard about new design ideas for the suit as they watch Peggy walk away.
Our first glimpse of Peggy in the compass is also played for laughs; she shifts uncomfortably in her seat when the footage showing it is screened in front of Phillips. She is obviously embarrassed by it, and the way Phillips looks at her makes it another funny, rather than romantic, moment.
In the bombed pub, when Steve is grieving and drinking, he barely looks at Peggy. He seeks no physical comfort from her, no holding while he cries, no attempt to forget his loss while in her arms. This scene seems to intentionally steer away from romance, instead showing a friend emotionally supporting another friend.
When Peggy finally kisses him, and it seems clear this was their first kiss, he doesn’t respond. He immediately looks to Phillips, and it is a moment played for laughs again. Steve doesn’t lean in for another kiss. And while Peggy watches him fly away from her, possibly forever, Steve isn’t shown looking back.
In the climactic scene, as he crashes the Valkyrie, Steve never says he loves her. He never even tries. She is with him, via the compass, so her image and voice accompany Steve as he decides to die. The camera is on Peggy’s grief, but Steve sees a peaceful sky.
And not an interaction, but a last mention…the grim, coping humor of “I had a date.” This was a man grasping for a way to deal with his situation, not mourning the loss of Peggy in that moment.
Peggy has no theme, nor is there a love theme at all, on this soundtrack. No musical cue to resonate for their relationship carrying forward.
As you can see, many of their interactions are used for comedic impact, not romantic. And most of those involve Steve turning from Peggy to a man, whether it be Bucky or Howard or Phillips. (As Peggy is pretty much the only woman in the movie, it’s not a surprise Steve always reacts with another man present, but… I digress.)
In many ways, Peggy serves as the portal through which the audience sees Steve, as someone who was always worthy of love and who was meant for greater things. It is her affection for Steve that the audience is supposed to share. Is she framed as a love interest? Yes. Is she shown to have romantic feelings for him? Yes, via her jealousy and her instigation of a kiss.
Is Steve shown to have romantic feelings for Peggy? Yes, her photo is carried with him in his compass. Are they shown to have acted on or fully expressed those feelings to each other? No. Steve seems stunned by the kiss, and neither of them say “I love you” as he aims the plane into the water.
The narrative allows for Peggy to symbolize the potential life Steve lost when waking up in the future, but not necessarily a life Steve himself indicated he truly wanted. It surely does not add up to a love he would betray all his morals and his other relationships for.
So, what impression of their relationship does the audience receive from CA:TFA? Light-hearted. Charming. Sweet. Poignant. Potential. Nothing indicating eternal love, a soulmate connection, a burning desire to be together. The “happy ending” for their relationship rings false because it was unearned, and, quite frankly, obviously unplanned in its foundational storytelling.
I’m just not sure you all realize how hilarious it all is. I see some people who don’t think it’s funny. How can you not think it’s funny? I don’t get it.
Why is it that no one is talking about what they did to the spirit world in LoK, not just hc?
First off, there’s the aesthetics. The spirits and spirit world in AtLA are more mystical and, generally, kind of creepy (think Wan Shi Tong and Koh) as opposed to the technicolor Wonderland bullshit that is LoK.
Here’s atla:
Now here’s LoK:
See what I mean? It’s bullshit and the change really only goes to serve their shitty retconning with turning eastern philosophy and theology into the western dichotomy of Good and Evil, in that ham-fisted Disney way. Making the spirits and the spirit world generically “good” like this literally just makes it so they can go around and make things “bad” really easily. Oh, and the thing about the spirit world reflecting your emotions is fucking BULLSHIT holy dicks.
Also, I feel like it should be mentioned that everything about the “spirit wilds” in LoK is absolute bullshit because spirits are, well, spirits and exist on a completely different plane of reality. Making them just normal animals that can talk and have some funky little powers negates their identity as spirits. Oh, and having spirit portals at all is also bullshit because, again, it’s not a physical fucking place and having a portal would negate the necessity of meditating in order to go there and commune with the spirits and whatnot. Also, the poles are arbitrary and meaningless, plus the world already has a spiritual center in the form of the banyan grove tree. Having some funky spiritual tree help Aang learn how to meditate is fine, making a fucking portal to the spirit world is not.
