#because they all were taskmaster fans before even going on the show

[mothsantics]

just once i want taskmaster to have there be an extremely straight forward task with no special conditions. something like “organize these items by color. fastest wins.” and that’s it. that’s the whole task. i feel like if they made the contestants do this as the final task at least one of them would go “no, this is too simple... it has to be a trick...” and go mad trying to figure it out

#taskmaster #idk if there is even a possibility of there being fellow taskmaster enthusiasts here #but if there are then this one is for you #im trying to think of past contestants who would believe its a trick if they got this task #my gut instincts tell me that james acaster iain sterling ed gamble would DEFINITELY think its a trick #because they all were taskmaster fans before even going on the show #then that joe thomas might be suspicious of it but do it anyway #like he would overthink it a bit but then find no evidence to support his thoughts

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I finally decided to listen to the Perfect Brains podcast, did all four episodes that are out so far in the last couple of days. And, okay, I wasn’t going to say this because I didn’t want to be pointlessly negative about something people enjoy – but now that I no longer hold this opinion, I can say, I was pretty skeptical when this was first announced. It felt like a weirdly manufactured pairing, since as far as I knew Sam Campbell and Lucy Beaumont had nothing to do with each other before Taskmaster, and it’s not even like they clicked with each other especially well during Taskmaster.

It felt like one of those things where people on Reddit (or, to be fair, Tumblr) see two people on a panel show and say “Oh my God, they should have a sitcom!” And then Avalon just gave them a sitcom podcast, not because there were any artistic reasons to believe that would actually work, but just because fans thought it would be a funny concept. This seemed especially true since they didn’t even have a format when they launched, just said “Okay you guys liked these two on Taskmaster, well here, subscribe to this then.”

And I wasn’t convinced it would work. Sam and Lucy don’t have anything that would make them work well together except that they’re both weird, and they’re not even the same type of weird, or particularly compatible types of weird. Zany characters can be very funny on their own, but when bouncing off someone else, the “straight man” role exists for a reason. The weird one has to be paired with someone who’s been tailored to fit with them.

I can say all those now because it turns out my concerns were unfounded – this shit’s hilarious. It still seems like a bit of a cynical idea that might have just got lucky, but it really works. Possibly because I didn’t need to be worried about the lack of a straight man. They have a “straight man” in the podcast, and his name is Sam Campbell. And it turns out it’s amazingly funny to listen to Sam Campbell playing the straight man. He’s surprisingly good at it.

There’s a kid at the autism centre where I work who speaks almost entirely in “scripts”, in which he’s repeating things he’s heard elsewhere (songs, TV shows), mostly talking to himself, sometimes he can be persuaded to answer a question but only if it’s a very simple one and he can answer with something from his repertoire of quotes. By last week, I’d spent probably 50 hours with him one-on-one in various sessions over several months, and I was very used to his voice. But then we introduced a new program that he didn’t like, and when I started doing it, he suddenly said “All done all done!” in a completely different voice that I had never heard before. It was significantly higher-pitched. He normally mumbles a lot but this was clearly enunciated. If I heard that voice out of context I’d never have guessed it was him. It was shocking to realize I’d heard him say thousands of words and this was the first time I’d ever heard his “real” voice. How he sounds when he’s talking as himself, and not scripting from other things he’s heard. (Not relevant to the story but just to be clear: I didn’t finish the program after he said that. I do not torture children for a living.)

That’s what I thought of the first time I heard Sam Campbell respond to one of Lucy Beaumont’s most absurd statements. Sam stays in character on everything, even situations where most comedians break character (Taskmaster podcast, Off Menu), so the first time Lucy caught him so off guard that he just gave a genuine surprise response, his answer shocked me almost more than her statement. I had that same moment of “Oh shit, I’ve heard you say a lot of words before but I think I’ve just heard your real voice for the first time.” It’s not constant or anything, Sam’s still mostly in character throughout this. But every once in a while Lucy will throw him right off and it’s delightful. Her mother had him unable to keep up any persona for pretty much the whole time he was on, I think he nearly forgot he was meant to be acting and just enjoy the stories. (Please note: That moment of “Oh shit, you became a different person for a moment there and I think that’s the real one” is as far as this analogy goes, I feel the need to clarify because I know the internet is full of speculation about Sam being somewhere on some spectrum or other and that’s not the point I’m making here. I have no theories as to what spectrum Sam Campbell may or may not be on. But I do have views on how funny it is when someone gets emotionally pushed to the point of suddenly turning into the “real” person, my view is: not particularly funny if it’s a child confronted with a therapy program they don’t want and you should probably back off, but very funny if it’s a comedian who’s too confused by another comedian’s mother’s holiday anecdote to remember to do his inflection.)

The biggest downside to this podcast is I just can’t imagine anything living up to that guest episode. Tim Key was so good that by the time his segment finished, I felt bad for Lucy and her mother trying to live up to that. But I needn’t have, as by the time Lucy’s mother was done, I felt bad for Tim having given his time to that podcast only to be comedically upstaged by someone who isn’t actually a comedian (although Lucy’s mother is a playwright, and she sure crafted some theatre in that episode).

I’ve gone through various phases in my assumptions about Lucy Beaumont. It started with – well obviously that’s a character, it’s funny. Then – she is committing to that bit really hard, is there any chance she’s just actually like that and has lucked into her career? Then – oh that was some shitty misogyny of me to even consider that, no one wonders whether someone like Sam Campbell is a character act, obviously Lucy Beaumont also has a differently-pitched voice of a completely different person that she uses in real life, she just never lets it come out in a performance. Then I listened to her on the Comedian’s Comedian podcast where she started talking about how all famous literature was written by ghosts, and Stuart Goldsmith gave her so many opportunities to clarify herself, he kept saying that’s an interesting idea but she means it metaphorically of course, and she kept saying “No I mean it completely literally, I think people are possessed by spirits”, and you could hear the moment when it clicked to Stuart that he wasn’t going to get her to admit she’s doing a bit because she’s not, and he finally said “Are you pulling my leg, Lucy?” and she said no, and then he hurried off the topic. And after that I stopped feeling bad about wondering whether Lucy Beaumont might be actually just like that, not some carefully crafted character. I mean, obviously some of it is crafted. Obviously she couldn’t get where she is if she didn’t know what she was doing and understand that some of her absurd thoughts are funny, and funnier if she plays into that. But I think she does mean this stuff.

Hearing her mother on that podcast has broadened my view of Lucy Beaumont further, to thinking – oh, she might be the normal one. She might be genuinely like this but only because that’s her compromise between the normal she was taught and objective reality. And she, being very intelligent (and you can’t have as successful a career as Lucy Beaumont with having lots of intelligence, even if that someone goes alongside the belief that 1984 was written by an angry spirit), figured out where to find the humour in that compromise and in the gaps, and it’s worked out great. That’s my current working theory. I’ll let you all know how it evolves in another ten or so episodes.

The guests were great, but the three episodes with just the two of them have been funny too. Sam Campbell obviously brings a lot to the table, I’ve had the theme song stuck in my head for 48 hours straight, so fuck him for that, and Paul Williams too for good measure. It is fun to listen to them pass the brain cell back and forth, jockey for which one gets to be the weird one, and Sam Campbell normally loses, which is funny. But he still gets to be the weirder one often enough for that to also be very funny. Four episodes in and I'm sold.

[prawns-are-cannibals]

Taskmaster series 16

Honestly, I really enjoyed this series. I feel like it was back to the normality of the show I loved after not overly enjoying S15.

I'm so glad that they managed to get Julian and Sue on this show, they were such a delight to watch, I love both of their energys so much. Julian was such a vibe, he cared so little about the whole thing and always going for Alex. I did always think that Lucy put on a bit of a 'ditzy' act, but nope, she is actually like that, and it made her such a joyous contestant. Sam and Susan were completely new to me, and they were such a nice surprised. They were both chaos for different reasons. I think if they were all spread out over different series, they would all be the stand out fan favourites. And can we appreciate Sam wearing grey all series, then dressing like that in the final!

Top 3 tasks

Do the most surprising family friendly thing with this donut

Lucy dicustingly chomping on the donut with just har mouth, and regurgitating it and feeding it to Alex was pretty grim. It's probably not the grossest thing he's eaten either. Sue's pathetic attempts at firing the donut at Alex from the 'donut of doom' bin gave me flashbacks to Nish and him trying to kick a ball into a hoop. But she was so happy when it finally hit him. Susan putting all of that in her mouth was so gross. How she managed to do it, I have no idea, but at least she made it out of the room before (probably) expelling it all out and more. It was so in character of Julian to spit it in Alexs face. "good luck to you and your family"

Make the most cool and scary gang with the googly eyes

How Lucky though that a gang ment one person with a skatwboard and a saxophone, I have no idea, but it was one hell of a surprise. Julian was mildly adorable, in a half-hearted attempt of a way, with his 'tea-pot ladz'. Sam's was a fine piece of film, how he comes up with his ideas I have no idea. I always love it when Alex has to act in some form during the tasks, it's so awkward. And let's not forget Satan the gnome, Allison the mop, Helmet, one-eyed Tim, and Ian the leafblower. Susan showing again how weird and creative her mind is

Do whatever you like with these switches for five minutes. You will then do a task in the lab for five minutes.

I thought this task was the right amount of evil that caused the contestants to overthink things. It would psych anyone out, sat in front of buttons/switches with no idea what they do and how they'll affect you. And it also gave us a brilliant quote from Lucy - "I don't like uv light. My mum thinks it's because I was in an incubator". And the revelation that she doesn't like leaves, hotdogs, or folk music. I'm in agreement with Sue, I would also get really freaked out if a creepy voice repeated my name (with less farting though). Of course Sam was the one who gave himself time to muck about, it was so in character. Julian campness really came out (even more) with his "oh I say" when he started vibrating.

Contestants

Julian

Lucy

Sue

Susan

Sam

(This series was so hard to rank, other than 1st and 5th)

Series 15

#Taskmaster #Julian Clary #Sue Perkins #Lucy Beaumont #Susan Wokoma #Sam Cambell #Taskmaster Series 16

[kim-ruzek]

I've tried to keep my mouth shut and show empathy were I can in this CP fandom, especially since I have been an avid watcher since season 1 but I can't hold it in any longer. I will miss Jesse a whole bunch and this is a very sticky situation. But reading tweets from people telling Burzek stans to let fans grieve a character that is leaving, to stop being judgemental and to not trash what someone else loves.

But excuse me, this goes both ways. The amount of nasty tweets from Upstead stans is unbelievable! Just some of the things I've read about Burzek from Upstead stans - "rinse and repeat ship", "Burzek winning by default", "sloppy second ship" and "Upstead is the superior ship".

The advice also applies to them, you can be angry all you want but don't trash or demean what others in CP fandom love.

Asking Burzek stans to show empathy and grace while we are given none in return is what makes this fandom not a nice place to be a part of. I support Jesse and I wish him the absolute best but this experience has left me mentally drained and exhausted trying to stay positive about the characters, ship and show that I love. I can't imagine the words that are going to be said as the season progresses.

Ugh I mean a huge amount of upstead stans are just (yknow probably won't put words to this, that's for my dms only ascghjkgh gotta have plausible deniability after all lol) but twitter + upstead stans... they're the ones that brings out the petty in me (if you know you know).

I think it's just so ridiculous that it's hard to grasp what other fans not of upstead are frustrated by. Like I give them a lot more benefit of the doubt than I would ordinarily because like grief makes your emotions weird but also I don't have much good faith left in me because of their frustrating attitude for the last year and a half (when I joined the fandom fyi not saying they've only been like that since then). Like if they're attitude was different earlier on I'd have a lot more good faith but eh.

It is utterly ridiculous as well because by far and large they are what makes this fandom not nice (although there are so Wild burzek stans out there, on twitter) and like just I know that if it was marina or paddy leaving they wouldn't even give an ounce of empathy or grace that has been shown to them. And everyone's given them a LOT of empathy... We just want also to be able to be excited about this show still.

The nasty tweets are really so Out There, especially all the ones you quoted, like what gets me is the innate competition built into them. Like the concept of a ship winning isn't actually meant to be an actual competition, and when it is it's only when there's a common character in common (but even then I'm like don't make it one), and calling one ship superior (in this context) is just,,, that's not what fandom is about. Everyone has their merits and demerits of ships and it's just not able to be compared in that way. Like I personally don't see the point of upstead (I do technically but imo a lot of it has been tell not shown) but that doesn't make it inferior, especially because I know how much it means to others.

Also I just find the whole attitude towards burzek fans insane and ridiculous and I'd say I'm shocked that it hasn't changed during this whole news thing but I'd be lying. And Im not looking forward to what is going to be said during the season, and it's going to make me petty, I know it is, and I hate that bc I love Jesse and I don't want to be counting the time down to when he'll leave (although the attitude probably won't stop after that).

Thank you for this ask!! 💖 Sorry for the rant a little, I cut myself off before I went too in depth, but I guess I'm feeling a little grumpy today (I was going to answer with more decorum especially as I've been interacting with some lovely folks of late but I'm a bit of a grump-- despite, lol, me watching taskmaster clips to get myself in a better mood before answering ascghjkgh)

#ree's asks #chicago pd #burzek #thank you for asking!!! 💖 #leaving this until the end of the day probably wasn't my best move bc i start getting more tired #and i can't drink my lucozade but apparently my mind only gets into ask answering gear at night lol

[kanansdume]

You know what would’ve been easier than trying to 180 Agent Kallus into someone he isn’t just to try to force him into a redemption arc that doesn’t work for him?

Using Governor Pryce.

And I don’t mean the version of her we get once she’s introduced in season 3, since by that point they’d already settled on Kallus getting the redemption arc and Pryce is painted as pretty irredeemable.

But they MENTION Pryce as someone who exists out there and could become an antagonist if they ever wanted to bring them in. We don’t know a single thing about Pryce except that they are technically Governor of Lothal and always on Coruscant playing politics with Palpatine.

Which means that Pryce as a character was WIDE OPEN to be whatever they wanted it to be.

Instead of having to lampshade the fact that they’d already said Kallus was the one in charge of the genocide on Lasan by having him say he’d been lying about it this whole time and it was actually the EMPIRE’S choice and he had very little to do with that choice, they could’ve just... started with a blank character. Instead of pretending like Kallus doesn’t REALIZE how brutal the Empire is because he simply doesn’t ask questions even though we’ve seen him not only bear witness to Tarkin’s willingness to execute their own people and then actively go along with Anakin’s plan to kill Minister Tua before she even reaches the ship she thinks is taking her to her execution anyway, they could’ve let Pryce be that person.

I know that the reason they chose Kallus was likely fan reaction to him, I don’t know how it could be anything else, but they had to REALLY change over Kallus’s character and actively ignore a lot of ways they’d chosen to write and animate him over the last season and a half in order to try to make him seem redeemable.

Kallus spends a season and a half smiling and smirking gleefully every time he gets to enact violence against other people, whether it’s the rebels, civilians, or other Imperial officers. At least with Anakin, they understood the necessity of not showing him smiling gleefully as he kills people and even went so far as to have him CRY after all of the murder to really hit home that even though he doesn’t regret what he’s done and would 1000% do it again if he thought he had to in order to save Padme, it doesn’t necessarily bring him joy or amusement. Kallus, by contrast, seems to gain a LOT of joy and amusement from his actions and the violence he commits and the only other emotion we tend to see him show is frustration at being foiled again or anger at someone else’s failure. There’s no real build-up to Kallus saying he doesn’t truly know the atrocities the Empire commits because he just doesn’t ask, implying that if he truly understands just how violent they are, he’d decide they were the bad guys. But Kallus watched Tarkin stare him DEAD IN THE EYES as he has the Grand Inquisitor behead the Commandant and Taskmaster behind him and doesn’t even flinch or blink an eye as it happens. And afterwards, he still goes on to happily lead Minister Tua to her grisly doom, actively participating in the violence and atrocities they commit even against their own.

Kallus is not and never was someone who just didn’t understand how bad the Empire truly was. He’s not presented as someone who just needs to ask a few questions and find out the truth about the Empire to be convinced to turn on them. And he’s certainly not presented as someone who would be upset to come back to his ship and see that no one really gave a damn if he lived or died given how callously he treated Minister Tua. He’s not anybody’s friend, he never tries to build bonds with the other Imperials, and he certainly doesn’t mind betraying any of them and is never shown happy that one of them has survived. They are tools for his own ambition, tools to achieve their goals, and he gets that and seems to THRIVE on it.

But they had Pryce. They had Governor Pryce out there somewhere, clearly ripe to bring in and do whatever they wanted with because we knew exactly nothing about them except their rank and their absence.

Which means if they wanted a high-ranking Imperial officer to redeem and turn into an inside man for the Rebellion, Pryce was right there, completely blank and able to be molded into whatever they wanted the character to be. They clearly knew they had a third season since they set up a bunch of stuff for season three in season two, including Kallus’s redemption arc. So they knew they had an entire season to work with, which is PLENTY of time to take a character introduced as someone reasonable and maybe not entirely into the Empire’s ideas and redeem them, turn them over to the Rebels’ cause. Without having to pretend their own claims about Kallus having committed genocide were actually just lies and rewrite Kallus’s entire character in order to make this arc work.

Even if you pretend the first time we’ve ever met Kallus is when he gets stuck in an ice cave with Zeb and ignore all of the ways he’s been written that make this redemption arc unworkable, they still decide to make him sympathetic by giving him the worst sob story ever and compare judging Imperials for their CHOICE to join the Empire and do its dirty work with judging Lasat for just BEING LASAT, as if that’s in any way comparable. So it still doesn’t work because they’ve connected Kallus with literal genocide, which is pretty hard to make forgivable.

It should’ve been Pryce, and I’m forever going to remain salty that it wasn’t.

#star wars rebels #anti kallus #anti aleksander kallus

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

Things I Loved About Black Widow (2021).

*Spoilers*

Yes it’s been almost two weeks since release. Yes I’ve seen it almost three times now. Yes, all my thoughts are still a jumble. Somewhat ordering them for this post will be difficult.

Honestly, the entire first 53 minutes of this movie is perfect to me. Everything about it. The dialogue, the action, the way it’s able to convey so much without words, how it’s just Natasha, Yelena and Mason, everything is just *chef’s kiss*. (This isn’t to say the remaining 1hr 21mins is bad, it’s just not as perfect as the first act imo)

I have a thing for scores and god bless Lorne Balfe he really understood the assignment on this one. If you haven’t already, take a few minutes to listen to his composition, specifically ‘Natasha’s Lullaby’. I love when you can hear a story in music and I think this score does that really effectively.

Nat speaking Russian! Nat speaking Russian! The way she reverts back to it in the opening scene when she’s scared! I wish we’d gotten more of it honestly, especially in the family dinner scene, even something as simple as ‘pass the salt’.

Also, her Russian accent in the Budapest flashback! It was quiet but definitely there, and it showed that her American one was something she had to train herself back into once she defected, which I appreciated.

“I stashed that like five years ago” Is this a canon hint that Nat hoards her food? Maybe?! I’ll take what I can get to satisfy my headcanons thanks.

Natasha and Yelena’s fight sequence in the apartment is the best fight scene in the movie. No arguments.

So much of my inner monolgue while watching was just ‘imsogayimsogayimsogay”. That much leather and that many piercings??! The BRAIDS?? This movie is for the wlws.

Mason you absolute icon I love how much you care about Natasha I love that you’re sleeping everywhere because same. (You deserved better than to be a Taskmaster misdirect). Please turn up in more MCU properties as Yelena’s contact or something.

“But you’re not a mouse, Melina. You were just born in a cage, but that’s not your fault.” THIS LINE!!!

AND THIS ONE. “You took my childhood, you took my choices and tried to break me. But you’re never gonna do that to anybody ever again.” The emphasis on choice vs children, how it’s always been about bodily autonomy instead of the romanticised horror of sterilisation that Whedon went with. 

“I never let myself be alone long enough to think about it.” I GASPED.

HONOURABLE MENTION: “You didn’t work in the shadows, you hid in the dark,” (or something). There’s something really satisfying about that line. 

Everything about this film is so inherently female, I love it when things don’t reek of testosterone.

I’ve heard some critics say this movie felt really ‘isolated’ and ‘disconnected’ from the rest of the MCU because of the time jump and how many new characters there were and I have to hard disagree there. The appearance of Secretary Ross, name-dropping Tony Stark, and the continued references to the Avengers were not only realistic but also really cemented this oneshot in-universe for me. 

*cue me flapping my hands and opening another draft because every separate point is eliciting another two paragraphs of analysis that I absolutely cannot include on this post or it will never end*. Man I love this movie. See the read-more because this is getting longgg.

Similarly, how it actually carries through on a lot of previous set up, mostly from Avengers 1, like with ‘Dreykov’s daughter’ and “thank you for your co-operation”. I got very nervous when they announced they were going to tackle Budapest because a) I didn’t think anything they came up with would ever live up to the hype people gave that line so it would only end in disappointment and b) I’ve never particularly cared, to be honest. (it was a throwaway line in Avengers 1 that was repeated for nostalgia in Endgame in a context that now makes no sense, forgive me for being indifferent) but I actually loved how it tied everything together.

The way it reclaims her from every male creator that’s handled her (fuck the Russos and M&M) while simultaneously keeping the best of what they managed to foster (again, Avengers 1 is a heavy influence, and rightly so, but it gives a fat middle finger to AOU, also rightly so).

How competent Nat was shown to be without being unbeatable. She fully got her ass handed to her a couple of times, and yes, it’s very unrealistic that she was able to go through two car accidents, fall off that bridge, out of that window and then out of the sky without being seriously injured, but we finally got to see the physical manifestations of some of that pain! She was holding her ribs when she got out of the water, the bruises on her back, the dislocated shoulder, and the blood splatters were actual splatters when she broke her nose rather than delicate dabs.

This might be an unpopular one, because I know this was what a lot of people were expecting more of, but I was glad Natasha’s youth in the Red Room was confined to the opening credits. The aftermath of that training and Natasha as a product of it has always been more fascinating to me than the actual event.

As an older sister myself, the dynamic between Natasha and Yelena really struck home for me. Yelena’s pride in Nat and need for approval and validation from Natasha in conflict with realising Nat’s flaws, wrestling with her disappointment, seeing how human Nat is, were perfectly portrayed by Florence Pugh. I could completely relate to Nat, who, despite trying to convince herself otherwise, couldn’t fight her fierce protective instinct and specific brand of unconditional love that only an older sister will ever feel. 

A diverse set of Widows!

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of comics references in this movie. The frame where she jumped through the fire from the Waid/Samnee run, the pheromonal lock.

Now I have my problems with Scarlett Johansson, but I came out of this movie with a lot of respect and a little bit of pride in her. It’s clear that she put her everything into this movie, both as an actor and executive producer. She obviously cares immensely about Nat and how she’s portrayed, and it’s clear from interviews that the things she loves and finds fascinating about Nat are the same as the fans. (I also feel a little bit sorry for the way she’s getting brushed over in the coverage in favour of a new and shiny Florence Pugh, so this is me expressing some ScarJo-as-Natasha appreciation).

A big question I had going in was, ‘Natasha’s always reflecting the people around her, but what’s she like when she’s alone, and has only her own mind for company?’ and this movie really answered that for me. Seeing her out of her suit and wearing clothes that were for her, not for a cover or a mission, seeing her drink beer and eat ice cream and let her hair dry while watching a Bond film she’s obviously seen many times before, it was all perfect. The scenes in the caravan were a huge step for humanising women in action movies. 

I’ll probably be adding to this post a lot because this movie will not leave my mind and new things are occurring to me at the most random points. 

See my ‘Things I...didn’t like as much about Black Widow’ post here.

#black widow #black widow spoilers #natasha romanoff #marvel #yelena belova #mcu #scarlett johansson #antonia dreykov #melina vostokoff #alexei shostakov #my post #black widow analysis

[redspiderling]

I’m seeing comments that Taskmaster was the “worst MCU villain” and that the twist fell flat. I thought it tied well into Natasha’s arc. I can understand TM fans not liking the change, but there are a lot of dumb takes too. Saying that the climax inadequately showed Nat washing her hands clean, or that she had already “gotten over” it before. Even though Nat is so haunted by regret that she later throws herself off a cliff? Why does this movie go straight over some people’s heads?

Hiya anon!

Well, there's a few reasons why people can have these reactions, and not interpret the film as it was meant to. Some reasons are more innocent than others.

For example, Marvel did push the whole "Taskmaster will appear" message while promoting this film. We know they did this to hook in a very specific crowd. I find their frustration understandable because Taskmaster is a minor character, compared to the Russian family.

I don't understand though what those people's expectations were. This movie isn't called Taskmaster. It's called Black Widow. Natasha is going to be the main character. Even if Taskmaster was closer to the comic book version his role wouldn't have more prominence, or development, in the film. Everyone was saying that this movie was going to be a tribute to Natasha Romanoff, so, what gives?

I found the twist very satisfying. I don't see how that was "Natasha washing her hands clean". Just because the girl survived, doesn't mean that Natasha didn't make the choice to sacrifice her life. If I shoot a person and they survive, I'll still be put to trial as an attempted murderer. Natasha's decision allowed Draykov to turn his own daughter into a mindless tool. All Natasha got, was a moment to look her past action in the eyes, acknowledge the brutality of them, and apologise to another victim. Because they were both victims of the same system.

In regards to how this movie sits in reference to Endgame: It undoes a lot of it. Natasha's emotional state in Endgame would realistically be different if she had gone through the soul-searching adventure of Black Widow beforehand.

Even if her entire Russian family had been dusted she'd just be even more determined to fix the world, she wouldn't despair, and she wouldn't have looked so abandoned. Because the Natasha of Endgame was broken not by the events of Infinity War, but by the resignation of the surviving Avengers- they were the ones who left her alone to shoulder that burden.

Finally, while I rarely acknowledge the scene in Vormir as anything other than moronic and completely unnecessary, I do need to make this point clear:

Natasha didn't sacrificed herself because she thought herself unworthy. Marvel sacrificed Natasha because they thought she deserved it.

Natasha loves her people deeply, and she is just that strong, and that brave, and that heroic, that she could just run towards death without a thought and without a hint of fear. And Cate showed us that in Black Widow, where she made her jump off one crazy spot after another, when she literally jumped into nothing to save Yelena. Of course, Cate is smart and she brought Natasha back to us after each and every crazy jump. Because a character doesn't have to fucking die to prove that they're heroes.

Finally, this movie goes straight over people's heads for a lot of reasons.

For one thing, people are used to the male gaze, and focused on the wrong things. Like whether the human trafficker gets enough of a development to make us feel something when he dies for example. And then when the movie disregards that character like the bastard that he is, and just blows him to smithereens, they're disappointed because they're like "hang on, you just killed him off before I had a chance to bond with the lad!". And to them, that's a flaw.

Another issue is that Marvel movies tend to be very clear about who you're fighting against. It makes it easier when a villain has a face, you know? Even CAWS had enough baddies to make us direct our anger to specific characters (like Rumlow, Pierce, Zola, Sitwell), while the actual enemy was an organisation/system in place.

So when Black Widow comes along, viewers who are used to the system above are confused. Because if Yelena isn't bad, and if the Widows aren't bad, and if Taskmaster isn't bad, who is?

Our patriarchal, sexist society. That's who. The mentality that creates men like Draykov, who think of women as commodities. And how can you possibly show them as villains, when they're literally all around us?

You don't. You focus on the women, and how we deal with that pain. This movie was about people who were damaged by a fucked up system. And the movie itself couldn't offer a solution to fix the system. It could only give us the satisfaction of watching a trafficker get blown up, and the relief of watching those women free themselves from that hell. It showed us that there is hope in surviving. It gave us back what Endgame took away.

Anyway, to chose off this rant, don't be upset anon. I mean, there are people out there who, to this day, think Endgame was one of the best movies of all time. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at like, 95%. Some people are just interested in the surface of things, and the rest of us just have to accept it. Enjoy our moment of vindication, remind yourself that Natasha's living her best life, hopefully stay away from twitter, and all will be well.

#asks #anons #Black Widow Spoilers #Black Widow #the joy of ranting away about the black widow movie #man I could go on forever this is nothing #I don't think I've thanked Cate today #THANK YOU CATE

[copias-thrall]

Would it be alright to request some Papa IV x f!Reader? Like the reader is a very kind and sweet person and she has always supported Copia kind of thing? Maybe they’re having a whole day to themselves to celebrate?

Yes! Let’s get some more sweet Copia 😊 

They made fun of him and called him The Rat.

Terzo made him the butt of all his pranks.

Nihil undermined him at every turn.

Imperator pushed him to the point of breaking.

What you saw a man trying to do his best with his only flaw being an outsider within the Abbey walls, and in a place where actual hellbeasts were basically demon cats, were rats such an odd choice of pet?

You were fairly certain Copia knew the “Squeak if u like cheze” sign was taped to his back, but he just walked down the corridors anyway and let the Siblings and Ghouls chitter at him. You’d seen this man save one of the Abbey mice from a glue trap, and your heart just couldn’t let it continue.

So, you’d approached him and offered to remove the offending paper.

Copia, however, had just smiled at you.

“It is good of you to say, Sister. But let them have their fun, eh?”

He’d given you a slight bow and had gone on his merry way.

After that, however, Copia had warmed to you, often seeking you out so he could sit with you in the mess hall at mealtimes or chat theology with you on lazy Saturday afternoons.

When some of Terzo’s faction had started stuttering to make fun of Copia’s shyness with public speaking, you’d tried to shut them down. Not everyone was good in front of a crowd—especially when that crowd was hostile. All that did, however, was get them to double down and start calling you, "rat lover."

“Doesn’t it bother you, Cardinal?" you'd asked during one of your food dates. "It’s so…petty.”

But he’d just given you a fond look.

“It is of no consequence, dear Sister. Let them be thinking what they will.”

You’d learned all of his rats’ names and started smuggling them contraband from the kitchens.

Copia had you transferred from Imperator’s admin pool to work as his assistant.

“All this new paperwork!” He’s swept his arm across the stacks of his desk. “I thought I could be using a little help from a friend, yes?”

You’d inherently understood you weren’t there to file paperwork—you were there to tell him when to take a break, to replace his cold coffee, and to be a sounding board.

And you didn’t miss the way Copia’s mismatched eyes would look on you with adoration.

Well, you thought he was pretty neat, too.

When he’d been away on his first tour, you’d done your best to keep up with him. You had your other duties and your friends, but you tried to send him a supportive word before, during, and after each performance.

His missives back had grown fewer as the tour had dragged on, but each one had been effusive—if riddled with typos.

After the first tour, things had been different. Copia had come back from the road a glowing success…and in a tight suit that showed off his assets instead of his smothering cassock.

The tide turned, and while there were still his many detractors, gone were the days of “kick me” signs and farces.

You’d noticed a significant pay increase and an extra day off.

“But Cardinal! You need me here!” you’d protested.

He’d simply grabbed your hands and kissed each one.

“I do. And that is why you must be well-rested. Lots to get done. Now, shoo!”

And truth be told, the two of you had worked harder. Copia had spent less and less time in his study and more time attending meetings or at band practice or at weekend symposiums. You’d done your best on keeping his mountain of paperwork down to a molehill, but sometimes the two of you needed to work late into the night to meet seemingly arbitrary deadlines while you put your foot down and told the kitchen Ghoul that making some rigatoni past hours wasn’t going to kill them.

Of course, then you needed to put your foot down about Copia stopping long enough to eat the carbonara. Sometimes he’d growl at you, and you’d have to snap your fingers at him and tell him being hangry wasn’t a good excuse to be snippy with you; he was predictably contrite after he’d consumed a good portion, and you took his apologies as your due.

All of which is to say: you had Copia’s back from the get-go, and he knew you were always in his corner.

When he comes back from Mexico newly ascended, there are dozens of Siblings who want a piece of him. Some—like you—have been in his fan club since day 1; others jumped on the bandwagon during the final tour; while a few just see the razzle dazzle and want to shine too.

You’re in his study because you want to make sure everything is caught up before he comes back to work. You imagine that he’s going to spend a few days reaping the rewards of his promotion, and—while a part of you feels a little let down about not being a part of that particular party—you are genuinely invested in Copia succeeding.

So when the door bangs open, you’re startled to find Copia…er…Papa Emeritus the 4th striding into the room.

“Oh! Your Dark Excellency! I was just making sure—”

“How did I be knowing I would find you here, eh? Today is not a day to be working!”

“But you—”

He makes a shushing noise and reaches his hands out. They linger in the air between the both of you until he makes a “come here” motion with his fingers.

Tentatively, you curl your fingers into his gloved ones.

“We are taking the day off, yes?”

“W-we?”

Copia raises an eyebrow at you. “Sí. With who else should I be celebrating?”

You blush, pleased that he seems genuinely baffled.

The March air is living up to its reputation, so Copia leads you to one of the sunniest rooms in the Abbey. There, you find a picnic blanket set up with a picturesque spread of food, and Rain helping Mountain to position a bevy of potted plants around the area.

Copia clucks at them good-naturedly to leave. Rain gives you the thumbs up and Mountain just pats you on the head as they leave. (As Copia’s Girl Friday, you’ve had to backmanage his ghoulies as much as you’ve had to organize his report piles.)

When he gestures for you to sit, you arrange yourself comfortably in a big square of sun that’s streaming in from the windows. As you take in the meats, cheeses, sandwiches, and fruits that populate the corner of the blanket, Copia putters around with a bottle of Champagne and two glasses.

The whole thing is a little unexpected, but not unwelcome, and you watch him with fondness as he utters a Whoopsie when the cork goes flying at the ceiling and as he obsesses over making each glass level.

You two clink glasses with a Salute, both taking a modest sip.

“This is lovely, Cop—uh, Papa.” He’s all smiles. “But why me?”

His eyebrows draw together, and he tilts his head at you.

“Mia cara…who else would it be?”

You blush and shrug your shoulders, looking down at your platter. When he takes your hand in his warm, leathered one, you look up and get lost in his earnest, mismatched gaze.

“You are the most important person in my life.”

His thumb strokes over your knuckles.

“You are too sweet, mia cara. Helping an old man—”

“You’re not old—”

He tsks at you.

“Helping a person I am being. At my side even when you are in the knowing.” He taps his nose and winks. “Our little conspiracy of silence, yes?”

That Copia is not quite exactly the bumbling, nutty-professor he leads the rest of the Clergy to believe he is? Yeah, obviously.

He nods.

“And yet, you are by my side. Keeping my head on straight. Because you are wanting to.”

Because you saw the way he treated his rats, his Ghouls, and even Sister Imperator. He may have a dangerous ambition, but he’s not a dangerous man.

“I believe in you Papa.”

He gives you that fond look again.

“Well. I believe in you too, Sister.”

Copia lets your hand go and claps.

“Now! Let us enjoy this feast! Next up is a movie marathon where we enjoy our food comas, yes?”

You pop a grape into your mouth.

“Of course, Papa.” You give him a devilish smile. “How ‘bout you give the schedule so I can make sure we’re on track, hm?”

He blinks at you for a moment before giving you his little rat laugh.

“Ah, eh heh heh! There is my little taskmaster.”

“What would you do without me?”

He tosses a gape and just barely catches it in his mouth.

“I wouldn’t, cara. I wouldn’t.”

#marionette-ghoulette #cardinal copia #papa iv #female reader #fluff

[noel-fielding-web-page]

'Making TV during Covid is like being a hostage'

Noel Fielding on the return of Never Mind The Buzzcocks

As Never Mind The Buzzcocks is rebooted for Sky, returning team captain Noel Fielding reflects on how it – and he – has changed over the years.

What did you think when you heard that they were bringing the show back and wanted you to return as a team captain?

Well, usually I’d be like, ‘Never go backwards. Never go back,’ but I did it for five years and I became really good friends with Phill Jupitus. I love Phill, and we just got on really, really well. So I was half thinking, ‘Should I do this without him?’ I knew he wasn’t doing it. He’s gone back to art school, he’s in Scotland now living his best life.

But the reason I said yes is because I’m such a big fan of Greg Davies and Daisy May Cooper. They’re two of my favourite comedians, they’re two people that really make me laugh. So, I just thought, ‘Well, I know this show and I can’t not do it if those two are doing it, because they’re so good.’

I did Taskmaster, and literally I laughed all the way through it. Greg was cracking me up all the time. I just thought, ‘This is going to be really good. It’s a deadly combination.’

Did you feel any nerves at all sitting back in the captain’s seat?

Not really, but I had to slightly reposition myself mentally, because I suppose when I did it originally, I was much younger. I still feel like I’m 32, even though I’m not. I’m looking forward to the John Cooper Clarke years, where you’re still dressing ridiculously, you’ve got your ski suit on, and your crazy boots, and people go, ‘Oh yeah, it’s him.’

John Cooper Clarke is my hero, he’s still rock and roll, he manages to pull it off. And I saw him on Antiques Road Trip, and I just thought, ‘Well, if you can make Antiques Road Trip cool, that is the coolest thing ever.’

You must miss the social element of the show then?

Yeah, I would love if there was a bit more of a social aspect to it, because I feel like bonding-wise, it’s great if you can all go out and get smashed occasionally, because it just helps.

But I just feel lucky that we can still do television, because of the pandemic, not everyone can do the job they were doing.

You’re up against Daisy, how competitive does it get between  you?

Well, I’ve realised I’m getting thrashed, which is killing me! I think Daisy has a really weird knowledge of Britney type pop music, that I don’t have.

That’s slightly my weak point, is that I’m not big on that kind of pop stuff. I know it, but I just don’t know as much of it.

Daisy seems to know every lyric to every pop act. She knows Bieber lyrics, and stuff like that, which I’m hopeless at. I know Bieber exists, but I know it’s not for me! I think Daisy, so far, has been quite lucky with the guests. She’s had Lauren Laverne, who’s just like an encyclopaedia of music.

But I’ve never been that bothered about winning. I’m always trying to be funny, instead of giving the right answer, or I just have a laugh with my team.

Jamali Maddix floats between both teams, what’s it like having him on the show?

Jamali’s amazing, actually. I’d seen his stand-up and I thought he was really good, but he’s been brilliant on this. He’s quite a good counterpoint to Greg, because he’s coming from such a different angle, of youth, because Greg is always playing the old man card! Jamali is the person that’s going, ‘Right Greg, this is what’s cool. This is what’s happening’, but Greg’s like, ‘I’ve got no fucking clue,’ which is hilarious.

Some people might say that the music scene is not as wild now as it was back in the day. What do you think to that?

I think it’s different. I think that there have been a few guests on who are definitely rock and roll, but in a different way to what was classified as rock and roll, I suppose,. What was quite funny is, there’s a rapper called Aitch, and I don’t know how young he is. He’s very young, 21, 22 maybe. And he was saying that his guilty pleasure was Razorlight, and I was laughing, ‘I used to knock around with Razorlight, wow, my generation are being described as a sort of guilty pleasure!’ It was cracking me up.

The kids are always doing something different, and as you get older, you think, ‘Oh, it’s not as good as my generation,’ but, it probably is, it’s just different. I’m sure I used to say that to my mum and dad. They were very rock and roll, so it was very hard to out-rock and roll my parents. They used to go to see David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin. When I was growing up, the only way I could really rebel was by listening to Adam Ant, and stuff like Duran Duran, which they thought was just pop stuff, because they were the real deal rock and roll.

What’s the vibe of the show this time around?

Well, I feel like because Greg’s in control, it’s a little bit out of control to begin with, and I feel like Daisy’s energy is quite mad as well. And then I’m quite weird! The young pop stars that are coming on, and rappers are going, ‘I was a bit nervous, I thought I was going to get torn to pieces, but actually I really enjoyed that.’

The great thing about Buzzcocks is it’s a place where you can see your favourite bands, or singers, or rappers, or whatever, and you can get to know what they’re like. There are not many programmes where that happens any more.

I feel like we’re giving them space to shine a bit as well. I feel like Greg’s really warm and giggly, but he’s also so funny. Daisy’s a sort of wild card, and I’m quite surreal. And Jamali’s got a whole different thing going on, so I feel like we’re coming at it from loads of different angles.

I feel like the vibe is quite mad tea party. It’s nice, it’s a little bit out of control. I feel like if there were fewer restrictions because of the pandemic, we’d probably be all rolling about together,   where Daisy would be jumping on you, and Greg would be rolling about. I feel like it would be quite a tactile show. One of my big memories of doing Buzzcocks before was being chased around the set by Lorraine Kelly.

I feel like another series would just descend into absolute carnage, definitely. It’s just TV gold, right there.

What have the guests been like?

There’s been some great guests. Obviously, we had Bez and Shaun Ryder, which was fantastic, they’re such a brilliant double-act and such funny characters. There’s been a lot of stuff that we’ve been laughing at, that I’m not sure will make the show. Daisy said to me she really hopes there’s just an extra episode of bloopers and outtakes.

One of the games looks at pre-show rituals, do you have one?

It’s quite difficult now because you’re not allowed to come out of your dressing room until the last minute, so it is like a hostage situation. Then, you do the show, you get bundled into the taxi, and you’re gone. It’s a bit like a dream, it’s like you’ve been kidnapped, and then put in front of a TV audience, done some stuff, shown off for a bit, and then you’re back in the car. You go, ‘Did that happen?’

Apparently, Daisy revealed her obsession with ghosts during filming?

Daisy’s the weirdest person I’ve ever met… She’s so hilarious. I think her cleaner, who came to the show, is a medium as well. You couldn’t really write that, could you?  And, oh my God, she literally loves dancing. She’s always out of her chair, busting moves. I think she’d probably win Strictly if she was ever invited on it. She should definitely do it!

• Never Mind The Buzzcocks returns to Sky Max at 9pm next Tuesday, September 21.

Published: 14 Sep 2021

[x]

#Noel Fielding #Never Mind The Buzzcocks #Info #Interview

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Black Widow - an entertaining movie that is about 5 years too late

So, finally watched Black Widow. And I would say its a solid win for MCU in terms of quality. Its an entertaining movies that also has a fairly strong emotional touch and filled with good performances from the entire cast and delivers some new fresh characters that I am looking forward to seeing in future MCU movies and tv shows. However, it is also largely a filler movie with a story that really isn't very significant in scope of the MCU and that has largely to do with the fact that this film is retroactively trying to fill in a period of time in Natasha's life where we know very significant things happen right before and right after. And as big as this film gets sometimes, it doesn't really compare to the events that occur before and after. Its definitely a film that I feel will not be remembered for what happened in the movie as compared to the character(s) is brought into the MCU. If it had been made post Civil War and before Infinity War, some of the story and character elements from this film would have been incorporated into the following films and helped make it more consistent. As it stands, there are scenes in Endgame that you feel Natasha would have brought up her found family, especially if they got dusted and I would expect that Clint and/or Steve would have known that there are people out there who care for Natasha just as much as they do after she dies. There is even a scene where Tony asks whether Natasha had any family and Steve responds that they were her only family. There are inconsistencies like that which stick out because of this film being retroactively made.

Firstly, the things that are good about this movie. The film starts of really well. The opening sequencing depicting the "fake" family life immediately endears us to this family unit, and especially the sister bond which is the heart of the film. There is a pretty chilling credit sequence which really gives it a different feel from most MCU movies. In fact, the film for much of the first half really feels more like a Bourne movie with more humor than a MCU superhero movie. And these are the parts where it works really well. The film wisely emphasizes on the family unit, being Natasha, Yelena, Alexei, and Melina and the acting and the chemistry of all actors involved is top notch.

Florence Pugh really steals the movie with probably the best etched character. She has all the best lines and she really gives Yelena a wonderful personality where she's a complete badass but you also get the naivety and the more juvenile and fun nature of a younger sibling. They wisely don't go overboard on the angst for her character, which they easily could have done. But Florence provides a lot of the best laughs in the movie. She's also the emotional core because her life is the one we see is the one that was full of happiness and joy as a child and was snatched away in the most brutal way possible and the family dynamic is what holds precious to her. Her chemistry with Scarlett is wonderful and both actors do wonderful work together. David Harbor is another scene stealer. Completely game at being a goofball and managing to bring the lovable dad vibes without doing away with the bad decisions that he made. Weisz has the most sedate role but she plays it perfectly. The film does try to excuse her behavior a bit too conveniently but she and David Harbor end up with some fun moments together. Then we come to Scarlett, who is really playing the straight man role in this movie. While we are used to a more witty and sarcastic BW, here she is a bit more closed off and acts as a foil for the more humorous characters to bounce off of. But she really hits the high gears in the last act where she faces off against Dreykov. Her performance opens up in a way that mirrors the character arc. Its a very strong performance and an excellent send off. I am not sure if its her best performance in the role. I think some scenes in Endgame are probably her best acting in the role and she was great in TWS as well. Probably need to rewatch this one again to settle on an opinion, but the climactic face off with Dreykov is very satisfying from a character and performance standpoint. Ray Winstone is appropriately slimy and sinister in the role of Dreykov.

When it comes to the negatives, apart from the fact that the film loses some of its emotional impact from feeling like a film that was released so late, in that none of the characters ever feel like they are in danger since we know they appear in future shows or films set in the future chronology, the main issue with the movies is with the last act which does devolve into more standard superhero destruction as well as some story choices when it comes to villain and backstory. When it comes to the action, most of it is competent and well helmed but there is nothing quite as compelling as a film like TWS, which this film does bear a striking resemblance to in some ways. There is no doubt that Taskmaster falters when it comes to comparisons with the Winter Soldier who was a similar sort of menace. The way Taskmaster is characterized ends up feeling like a half measure. It is connected to Natasha in a personal way but that connection isn't given the time and emotional depth that it should. The Budapest sequence, that has been talked about so much, in this movies and all the movies before, is only given a brief flash and given how big a role Budapest plays in Natasha's guilty conscience and the tie in with Taskmaster and Dreykov, its a big mistake. Also, this feels like the last chance we had to see the origins of the Natasha and Clint relationship which has only ever been alluded to. So it feels like a big missed opportunity. So when part of the final action set piece is supposed to involve the emotion about Natasha confronting her past, while well acted, its just not emotionally powerful enough. And without that, Taskmaster is just an emotionless machine, which is disappointing from a comic book fan's perspective. Drekov, while incredibly slimy and villainous, appears also in far too little of the movie to really make an impact. I understand, that part of the story of the movie is finding where he is because he's like a ghost that haunts them all, but without much menace from Taskmaster, Dreykov's lack of screen time also makes him a bit of misfire despite no issue with Ray Winstone's performance. These issues feel particularly prevalent in the last act where the villain story all comes together.

The film does end on a bittersweet note. The reconciliation of the family and the sisters is sweet but the post credit scene is genuinely heartbreaking. From everything we know, this was Scarlett's last movie and its a shame we won't get her share more screen time with Florence Pugh's Yelena, who I think will be the legacy of this movie going forward. I am really looking forward to seeing more of her and her role in Hawkeye as teased. That has a potential to be emotionally rich as well. As for this movie, I think its a solid B-tier MCU movie which is not bad at all. A 7.5/10. Might go up or down on a rewatch.

#black widow #natasha romanoff #yelena belova #alexei shostakov #melina vostokoff #rachel weisz #david harbour #florence pugh #scarlett johansson #marvel mcu #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #ray winstone #general dreykov #antonia dreykov

[flowervolcano]

It’s finally time I sat down and just wrote this whole thing so I can get it off my chest and maybe help flesh things out for the majority of the fanbase.

Black Widow Spoilers are upcoming, scroll past if ya don’t wanna be spoiled.

Let’s start with “Hello, I am a Tony Masters fan, I adore him and his personality and generally everything about him, of course I am going to be upset that his character suffered such poor writing and adaptation, because it was insulting and gut punching to see a character you love be poorly executed.“

continue reading please because I’m trying to be reasonable here and share what a majority felt when viewing Black Widow (it may differ from yours but I hope it enlightens a few who may be confused or whatnot about this topic, generally it’s how I feel the fanbase as a whole had been handling it poorly)

quick side note, no one wants to feel their opinion doesn‘t matter, so be mindful the next time you fight someone just because you disagree, I love debating and talking so you can come at me if you disagree, I like educating myself on these things too in case someone can bring up actual arguments that prove their side and reasoning, on the other hand if I hear one more “it’s because she’s a girl huh?” I might very well scream.

Is it bad because he turned out to be a woman? Why is this the first thing that gets debated??

Let me explain just how annoying it is that this is the debate whenever it cuts down to it.

The answer is yes and no, I will explain why, because I don’t believe the gender should always matter to a character.

Although everything great about Tony was stripped from him, all of it, only the title “Taskmaster“ and I guess the color scheme if you will, stayed the same, it would’ve been the same trash written character even if he wasn’t a girl, because they had no personality no resemblance of the beloved character in the first place, which is why it is a bad idea to have changed him into a woman, why you may ask?

it’s the image, it creates an idea that women cannot be as great as men, that a female version of Taskmaster would just suck, be terrible and useless, it paints Antonia to be bland plot device character to show Black Widow‘s pain and suffering. The character herself has no substantial personality or drive, nothing, she’s just a victim. And yeah it is a tragic story I won’t say it isn‘t but it didn‘t work for me, and for a lot of fans as I’ve witnessed.

It would’ve been more effective to had foreshadowed the possibility of her being alive only to find that she had died and Natasha would then have to live with the fact that she murdered her for ”nothing” but no instead we decided that she would survive, only she was brainwashed, so there’s no real vendetta or motive as to why she tried to kill Natasha, it would’ve been more impactful if Antonia was angry with her attempt to kill her, wanting to show she could best her in every well possible. Like trying to tarnish her Avenger status.

There were variables on how to make Taskmaster a better written character, there is potential but I personally would like the Mandarin effect (which I love the comic Mandarin I was so mad in IM3 so I can’t believe they did it x2)

On top of it the fact that the plot twist you could see coming a mile away also felt like the biggest after thought in the whole movie, it felt like they had a different direction they were originally going to go, but they took the easy bait of “we need a big twist” which Marvel has suffered for years on, always with some twist and it’s getting sickening to see it happen every movie.

Besides the point, it doesn’t go over well a lot of the fanbase is conflicted, angry and there are actual debates, which it happens we have differing opinions, its hard to find a thing we all agree on… and yet the only defense I’m seeing is “it’s because she’s a girl now?“ “you just hate women.” I’m tired of being told it’s sexism when it’s not, this version of Taskmaster was already doomed, they didn’t wanna go a comic accurate to begin with, you can tell by how ugly the suit was. (no cape?? not even the mask was cool)

I had already suspected from the beginning of the first trailer that was NOT Tony Masters, something about it just felt like Blindstrike from Stretch Armstrong to me (they kept making it seem like a dude only to reveal it was a woman, although they executed that perfectly please give it a watch)

I had already called it, we barely even met Taskmaster yet I knew it from the trailer, I didn’t enjoy the movie it played out exactly how I expected (which my expectations were low)

I found it insulting for a few reasons, it made it seem like Black Widow is either too good or not good enough to fight a man, it felt like they wanted to push how powerful women are, which I’m all for, women are very powerful I would know because I am one.

But it rubbed me the wrong way that she can’t have an enemy go toe to toe with her unless it’s a woman?? It didn’t sit right with me, is this meaning she can’t have a rival that’s a man because men or stronger or weaker… that’s where my head went, the gender shouldn’t matter to her ever, we know Natasha can take out anyone, so why the sudden change of a character whose always been a male?

I understand the MCU wants to be diverse, but there are more female characters than a lot of the fanbase realize, the MCU has barely scratched the surface, instead of changing other characters drastically in the name of “diversity” they should just pull actual diverse characters, or create some, this version of Taskmaster doesn’t feel anything like Tony Masters, they lacked all flair, the fact that it’s just Winter Soldier and Ghost from AMATW 2.0 is just lacking.

it’s something we have seen before, and this wasn’t needed to “full circle” Natasha‘s story.

It’s not because Taskmaster is a girl that is the problem it’s the general writing that felt like they didn’t really care about the character and changing it to be a girl was like leading a lamb to the slaughter, so many fans were going to be enraged because they ruined everything about the character, so you should be mad they put the actress in this position, they chose to do that to the character and it feels like it was done on purpose, just for the reaction.

The character was already bad making it a girl just made it worse because it just felt bad. It gave me the impression that a female version of Anthony Masters is just boring, that is not what we should think but so many are, and yes a lot of people are mad just because it’s a woman because they might get the idea that the character would’ve been better if he was written to be a male, but what we all really want is just a good adaption of the character, that’s all, he very well could’ve been a woman and everyone might’ve been alright (some might be iffy or mad you cannot avoid this) but I know with good writing I would’ve been fine if it was Toni Masters, not this Antonia Dreykov.

And that is what I really could not tolerate and handle with what they did to Taskmaster.

It didn’t feel like they had plans to flesh the character out they were just marking boxes on “what comic character can we use for Black Widow” checklist.

I freaking love Tony Masters and he (and she) deserved better writing all around than what the MCU gave them (and us)

There was more I was going to add on but in my frustration I began to forget where I was going with this and didn’t get to properly express my feelings.

Now next time you see someone complaining over Taskmaster don’t just assume they are sexist, there’s so much more depth to the character which is why we’re so angry over this iteration, and the fact that people defend the character just because it’s a girl doesn’t go well for me, that’s a poor excuse for people who had more pressing reasons why the character was a failure, not because they’re a woman but because it feels like we can’t dislike them because they’re a woman.

Imagine if your favorite suffered the poor writing just for a different characters development, it is a terrible feeling and having people tell you not to be upset or say you’re sexist for being upset is so invalidating.

Not to mention that the MCU continues to erase many traits and personalities of characters and on top of that, their sexualities (where is that diversity??) is already frustrating but it’s starting to feel like the writers don’t even value the characters they have.

#marvel mcu #mcu #black widow #bw #natasha romanoff #taskmaster #tony masters #tony #black widow spoilers #marvel rant #rant #I’m just really upset #Sad

[therachelperspective]

FILM | Black Widow [2021, dir. Cate Shortland]

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the character of Black Widow. She was the only female hero – at least in the early days of the MCU’s Avengers films – amongst a sea of men. She kicked ass without super or godly powers, she had a mysterious past before her days with S.H.I.E.L.D. There were a plethora of details that made her interesting. So the fact that it took so long for her receive her own film is blasphemous to begin with. Through the media’s hype before the film’s official release, and the claims made about Black Widow’s place in the MCU, I believe my expectations going into viewing the film were more than they should have been, and that plays a big part in why I am less than pleased with the final result.

Don’t get me wrong, I am still incredibly glad that Black Widow received her own film because you’re damn straight she deserves it, but if you’re going to declare that it will be explaining Budapest, explaining the Red Room and the creation of the Widows, explaining more of Natasha’s past (and if it was not declared as such, it’s still what we as viewers would have wanted after all this time)... Needless to say, I would have preferred an actual origins film instead of whatever this was. It’s placement as a little blip between Civil War and Infinity War, as a “What was Nat up to?” sort of thing, felt ill-placed in the MCU timeline, especially since an epilogue scene puts her amidst the period of Infinity War (as shown with her short blonde hair), and the after-credits scene jumps even further forward in time to post-Endgame. Sure, there were scenes that took place in Budapest during Black Widow, but what happened there previously and any interaction with Clint before she became part of S.H.I.E.L.D. was only briefly (and I mean VERY BRIEFLY) mentioned in a short passing scene. The Red Room and how Natasha became a Widow, still only touched on in mere moments during an opening sequence, nothing more than what we’ve seen in previous Avengers films (i.e. Age of Ultron’s flashback scenes). But her time as part of the KGB? Any interaction with the Winter Soldier? Completely absent. Black Widow, unfortunately, failed in my perspective to do anything other than bring her back together with her old “family” and then, with them, merely going through a bunch of a big budget fight/escape scenes with the bad guys. When I then also read that director Cate Shortland had no experience directing budget action films, I came to the realization that Black Widow did rely a great deal on fantastical visuals to distract from the limited story, and it didn’t even do it that well. Instead of a true glimpse into the past of a most tight-lipped Avenger, we get another bang-bang-shoot-’em-up action movie to add more red to her ledger. Every male Avenger got better story treatment, over a series of films no less, than Natasha in her one and probably only standalone tale. Long story short: sure, they gave Black Widow a film, but they still did her reaaaal dirty.

Despite its incredible shortcomings, I’m still trying hard to like it. I want to like it, and enjoy what I was given. The humor throughout the film, especially from David Harbor’s Alexei Shostakov (a.k.a. the very obvious comedic relief character), was entertaining; Rachel Weisz has not seemed to age at all and it was great to see her amongst the action as mother figure and badass scientist Melina Vostokoff. But we all know the true shining star of Black Widow other than Scarlett Johansson in her final role as Natasha... was that of Florence Pugh as “baby sister” Yelena Belova. Although I was admittedly fond of Florence before seeing Black Widow, she was quite outstanding as Yelena and her chemistry with Scarlett undeniable; I really did like her in this role. It’s really no surprise that they will be/are making way for her and her character to become a bigger part of future MCU entertainment. I’m not complaining there. AND... although I was hoping for more, I also cannot complain about any “easter eggs” or commentary from Black Widow that connect it to the other films, because that’s truthfully my favorite part of the MCU as a whole – the way that everything is so intricately connected. I can’t help but smile when they make references spanning 13+ years; their dedication to that is really what makes them successful.

Was I disappointed? Yes. I won’t lie. Almost every good scene was shown in the trailers (the film itself just providing more context), and I think there was only one twist I didn’t see coming. But so much, even the details from the film itself, were poorly explained, if explained at all. I shouldn’t have had to research or come across information when reading various items on the internet to clarify as many details that I did. I shouldn’t have had to know information from the comics (which I have not read) to fill in some of the blanks. The MCU even claimed that you would not have to watch their shows in order to understand the films, when in actuality the final end-credit scene makes a helluva lot more sense if you had. Granted, I would watch the shows regardless, I just would have liked to know that I should have watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and/or Loki first instead of, say, Googling who the heck Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is.

Black Widow, on IMDb alone – I don’t dare venture further out into the Internet for this one – is flooded with poor reviews, and it really does pain me the amount of truth contained in the few I skimmed. Florence Pugh carried the film; Natasha was a sidekick in her own movie; Taskmaster (who I don’t know enough to say anything about here) was ruined... but the thing that bothers me most, as one reviewer stated perfectly, is that this is “the first MCU film I’ve hated, and I’m shook.”

I wouldn’t go all the way to “hate” per se, as I'll always love Marvel and the cinematic universe it has built, but... Me too, buddy. Me too.

#black widow #natasha romanoff #natalia alianovna romanova #yelena belova #alexei shostakov #red guardian #melina vostokoff #scarlett johansson #florence pugh #rachel weisz #david hardbour #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #MCU

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Taskmaster podcast, e152, s17e01

Ed Gamble: Had you seen the show before, or were you one of those people who was mad that you weren't on it so you didn't want?

John Robins: Well, I watched it at the beginning, but didn't then follow it for a long time.

Me: Aw that's disappointing. I mean, I know it's fine. I know that when people are on a television show, they are pretending to be really into it because they're getting paid, not because they've always been a huge fan. But I like buying into the illusion on Taskmaster that everyone there is genuinely really into it, and it's really fun when you occasionally get someone who was a big fan before appearing on it and appreciates all the little things about and cares about joining the list of champions and uses their knowledge of the game to try to well - in terms of looking for traps and loopholes but also in terms of just knowing what to expect and being prepared for it - and to be honest, I'm often slightly disappointed when my favourite contestants go on the podcast and admit that they hadn't seen much of the show before. They did a good job keeping up the illusion in the show itself, and I'm glad of that. But it's slightly less fun when I remember that in real life they don't actually care that much and do not spend their free time watching something for their job.

It's all right, whether he's hyper-familiar with the show or not, he's still got the competitive personality that will make him get really into it and that'll be fun, it was already coming out in the first episode. And he did look under the table, the most basic level of using Taskmaster knowledge but it proves he has a little bit of it, that'll be enough.

John Robins: But then obviously, when I found out I was going to be on Taskmaster, I immediately binge watched every episode of every season within two weeks, including pausing the video sometimes after they'd read the task but before we saw what people did, so I could think about what I'd do in that situation, and then check and see if they came up with anything better, and use that to train myself on how to have the best ideas for approaching tasks.

Me: I'm so sorry I doubted you even for a moment, John. It'll never happen again.

[thenexusofsouls]

What were your thoughts on BW?

{i am the caretaker of souls} MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BLACK WIDOW BELOW THE CUT!

I really liked the movie. It was entertaining but also very hard to watch at times, which is exactly what it should have been. I like that we finally got a better fleshed-out background for Nat in the MCU, I liked her "family," and I thought there was the right mix and balance of the calculating assassin and morally-conflicted hero Natasha that we know and love. We saw her be a hero, but we also saw her falter, deceive, and do some terrible things too. I think too often we forget or ignore that she is a morally ambiguous character in favor of "but she's cool and I like her." The movie didn't shy away from saying look, she's done some horrible things, and she's going to have to face them. That was very well done. I also adored Yelena so so so much. Seeing positive Ace representation in the MCU (even if not explicitly said yet but I can hope) is great. But... some things bugged me a lot about the movie.

So... no one noticed a huge floating Red Room in the sky (Ghibli anyone?) for years? I know MCU tech is crazy but that just seemed desperately contrived. Also the level of violence for non-super-soldiers to only get a few bruises in the end was just... absurd. Natasha and Yelena both would have been dead ten times over, I'm sorry. But it's crazy superhero stuff, so I just nod and pretend not to notice, heh.

I really hated what they did with Taskmaster. I mean, I honestly loved the whole "sins come back to haunt Nat" arc, I did. And it illustrated just how heartless, cold, and depraved that girl's father was. It worked, it did. But... that should not have been Taskmaster. He should have been his own thing, closer to the comics, in my opinion. Even genderbent, I'm fine with that, but don't tie it to this added MCU plot that changed Taskmaster's identity, style, motivations, etc. They should have been two separate characters. I feel like the whole thing was a troll to people who read some of the comics, like oh hey guess what SHE WAS THIS CHICK ALL ALONG, GOTCHA! Mmm... no. That wasn't cool, it was a giant troll. Shame on you, MCU. This is why I have trust issues. XD The only way they redeem Taskmaster at this point would be in the Frankenstein sense (for all you Death Race fans out there), whereby the mask and mantle remain constant while the person behind the mask changes. That... could be cool.

Also, Yelena was just freed from life under someone else's control and then she takes up with Valentina? Why would she do that? Why would she want to do anything like that? Wouldn't she want to just live normally with her finally-acquired dog, or at least on her own terms instead of again being told what to do? I dunno that seemed weird to me.

I got confirmation of my headcanon that Nat was involved with the Raft breakout, so that was cool, but also learned that Wanda was incarcerated at the Raft for at least two if not likely over three weeks, so that's upsetting. Adding that into my girl's canon on her blog like... sorry luv.

I can't watch Rachel Weisz and not think Evelyn Carnahan, and if you get what I'm talking about, I love you for it. So it was weird seeing her as a Russian spy, but it was wonderfully uncomfortable, lol. My Ardeth muse is wincing right now haha. It's okay, bruh. XD

But yeah, even with all its problems, I did enjoy the movie a lot. And I have so many feels. Not all of which are good, though. One thing that really limited my enjoyment of the movie is that it happened already during a time at which we now know all is said and done. Nothing in this movie changes anything. We already know what happens. We know how and when Nat dies. So the usual pumped up excitement for the future of a fandom that I have with a new installment of an action movie... was dampened. Because this movie changed nothing. EXCEPT... that as Natasha fans, we now have a better understanding of her perspective during IW and EG. We now know she went though this whole other ordeal before she ever showed up with Steve to aid Wanda and Vision in Edinburgh. We now know some of her past and silent struggles that she carried with her for so long. So we, as fans of hers and maybe as writers if she's our muse, now have a better idea of her perspective in life in general and at the time of the last couple Avengers movies. And that is valuable. But as far as the excitement after the fact, it was dampened by knowing... there is no more for Nat. We do get the tie-in with the end of TFatTW, and we do get a lead-in to Hawkeye and all, but for Nat... that's it. And it just felt anticlimactic to me. I felt... sad. And I don't usually feel that way after an action film, heh. But... yeah, I guess all told it was appropriate to feel that way, but it was definitely... a mood.

That's my assessment of the movie and my reaction to it. What are your opinions of it? =)

#{ i am the caretaker of souls } ᵒᵒᶜ #black widow spoilers

[weekendwarriorblog]

Review: BLACK WIDOW Finally Gives Scarlett Johansson’s Character the Storytelling to Truly Blossom

It’s actually nice when you can go into a Marvel movie these days with very few expectations, and a lot of surprises still intact, and what do you know? Marvel has done it again with Black Widow, a movie that finally shines enough of the spotlight on Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff to really flesh out the character in ways that’s hardly seems possible when she’s competing for screen time against a Downey, two (sometimes, three) Chrises, and a Hulk.

Even believing that I know quite a lot about Black Widow's history from the comics, I still don’t think I was quite ready for what we end up getting, since Black Widow still managed to be very different from what I expected after watching the trailers. It’s actually pretty cool that a Marvel movie can be delayed a whole year, but not feel like you’ve seen every cool thing in the advance marketing.

The Cliff Notes synopsis is that this takes place sometime earlier during Avengers history (my guess is after Captain America: Civil War), but it forces Natasha Romanoff to revisit her past being trained and conditioned in the Russian Red Room where she learned all her specialized killing skills. She also wasn’t alone, as the Red Room, run by Ray Winstone’s Dreykov, has spent the past few decades plucking young girls off the streets and away from their parents to turn them into similarly conditioned fighting machines.

But first, we begin in an idyllic Ohio setting in 1995 as we see Natasha’s family during happier times -- actually, placed in the USA as sleeper agents -- before Natasha and her younger sister Yelena were taken away by Dreykov. We reconnect with Yelena twenty years later when Yelena (as played by Florence Pugh) is on a field mission to retrieve vials containing a glowing red substance that turns out to be the one thing that can break the control Dreykov has over his Black Widow agents. It’s not long before we reconnect with Natasha, who is in hiding, because the Avengers are on the lam from the government due to the events in Civil War or maybe Age of Ultron. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter.

What it comes down to is that Natasha has learned that the Red Room is still operational, and she vows to destroy it with Yelena. But first, they have to free their father, former Russian superhero Red Guardian (David Harbour), who has been languishing in a Russian jail for the past 20 years, betrayed by his own government. Since he doesn’t have a clue where the Red Room is, they go to find the girl’s “mother” Melina (Rachel Weisz), who might be able to help them.

And honestly, that’s probably all that I want to say about the plot, because a lot of what happens after the family from the opening sequence is reunited goes so far into spoiler territory that I hesitate to say much more. So I won’t.

What makes the first half of Black Widow so intriguing is that you kind of are trying to figure out what is happening, because nothing is quite as cut and dry as other Marvel movies. In many ways, it’s more like a Bourne movie with Natasha and Yelena trying to revisit their past and save others from suffering a similar fate. While doing so, they fight a number of similarly-trained agents, as well as Taskmaster, a seemingly robotic killer that’s able to replicate anyone’s skills or fighting moves.

I will jump in here and say that I’ve ALWAYS loved Taskmaster as a villain from the comics, and seeing him on the big screen made me a little bummed, because I still have deep seller’s remorse from having to get rid of my entire 40-year comic book collection a few years back for way less than it was worth. Among those tens of thousands of comics was a long run of Avengers issues, including the one that introduced Taskmaster, and how couldn’t you love a character that looked so cool and could replicate everything the Avengers could do, whether it’s shooting arrows like Hawkeye or throwing a shield like Captain America? It doesn’t take long before we have a great fight between Taskmaster and Natasha early on, but then there’s an even better one involving an amazing chase through the streets of Budapest when Natasha and Yelena are reunited.

Black Widow will probably remind you of the Bourne movies, but one of the reasons is because there are so many global locations one after another bam, bam, bam… we’re in Morocco and then Norway and then Budapest… and if you pay attention during the end credits, you’ll see that they actually went to all those places. I could give another obvious reference (flagrantry teased earlier in the movie), but that would indeed be a HUGE spoiler. I will say that this is one of Marvel’s stronger “solo” movies since Captain America: Winter Soldier, probably because it deals in similar spy/political thriller territory, just in a grittier and more visceral way, while also touching upon the mind control over the Winter Soldier character.

For those that Black Widow will be their first experience with a film directed by Cate Shortland, she’s an Australian filmmaker who started out with indies like Somersault and Lore. Like Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, she hasn’t made a ton of movies before Black Widow -- exactly three in 15 years. But clearly, that formula seems to work, because there’s nothing in Shortland’s previous movies that could have informed me that she would be capable of doing a movie as big and full of jaw-dropping action as this one.

More than anything, it’s kind of nice to have a movie that mostly stands alone, and doesn’t really have anything to do with Thanos or Infinity Stones or anything but casual mentions of the Avengers. The movie acts exactly as it’s meant to in giving Johansson’s character who was killed in Avengers: Infinity War, a chance to really show how much more there is to her than we’ve seen previously.

The main four actors are great as they’re brought together, but it’s really Johansson and Pugh -- the latter having never really shown a proclivity for humor on screen -- whose chemistry makes up the core of the character dynamics. Harbour brings something else entirely, which is much bigger comedy relief, and then Weisz’s character… well, she’s just a great mystery from the second we’re reintroduced to her during the second half. When the four of them are together, the film does get slightly more emotional, but it’s also the first time when things slow down, and you can feel it.

Because I’m not reviewing for Below the Line, I won’t get into all the amazing work by Shortland’s team, but I do want to give special attention to the soundtrack by Lorne Balfe, who also provided the music for another movie I really liked, actually hitting streaming this week. I’m definitely becoming a fan.

Black Widow is an excellent return to theaters for Marvel, showing that the initial casting of Johannson and the weight put on Shortland’s shoulders to deliver a worthy Marvel action movie were both fully warranted. Maybe we won’t be seeing this Black Widow again, but a new world in the MCU has been revealed with this movie that builds upon the MCU’s proven ability to flow freely between genres.

Listen, I will say this, just as I’ve said in many reviews over the past few months: Black Widow was made by thousands of skilled people on both sides of the camera. You will see all their names go past as you wait for the inevitable end credits tag (and it’s a good one!). You’ll definitely enjoy watching their work in a theater more than watching it on any size television or projection screen. Sure, $30 is not that much money to watch the movie in the comforts of your own home, but Marvel makes these movies so that people can react and interact with others. So do them all a favor, and get off your couch and go see Black Widow in a theater.

Rating: 8.5/10

#Black Widow Movie Review

[salmankhanholics]

★ 'Radhe' song ‘Dil De Diya’ choreographer Shabina Khan: Wherever I am today, it is because of Salman Khan !

May 7, 2021

Choreographer Shabina Khan, who has worked with Salman Khan in films like ‘Jai Ho’, ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, and ‘Tubelight’, is currently enjoying the accolades coming her way for her work in 'Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai' song, ‘Dil De Diya’. The song that features Salman, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Randeep Hooda, has garnered a lot of attention for its music and choreography. In fact, Jacqueline and Salman’s quirky dance moves are already all the rage online. In an exclusive interview with ETimes, Shabina shares how she went about choreographing for the song, Randeep’s moonwalk, and her long association with Salman.

'Dil De Diya' is a hit and even the choreography is being appreciated...

It feels great to see the kind of response I am getting for the song. We have put a lot of effort into this song. In these testing times, when we are surrounded by so much negativity, the song has managed to bring a smile to people's faces. Speaking about the song, I am really happy with the response it has been getting. During ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ too, fans had been appreciative of my work, but this time, the happiness has doubled.

In the behind-the-scenes video of the song, you might have seen Jacqueline getting injured on the sets while dancing. Even my team got injured during the process. We wanted to come up with something different and unique, which was challenging. Prabhudheva is a taskmaster and also my guru. So, I had to give him the best that I could. Both Salman and Prabhudheva gave inputs and suggested changes, if they were required. When they give an 'ok', 90 per cent of my work gets done because whenever they agree, the song turns out to be a hit. Randeep Hooda’s moonwalk was also suggested by them. There is a story in the song and they wanted Randeep’s character to dance in that manner. Fans have been sending me messages on social media. They are telling me that the dance steps are so good that they want to try it, even if it's difficult. A few of them have even requested me to come online and teach them the steps from the song. I have been planning the same with my team and will do something about it soon. You have worked with Salman earlier. What kind of steps does he like? Salman has managed to create his unique dancing style. There is nothing that he cannot do. We always keep in mind that the dance moves we give him are such that his fans can easily relate to and copy. Every time he dances, be it in ‘Dabangg’ or ‘PRDP’, his hook steps go viral. Even he gives his inputs while we shoot for a song, which are just perfect. He doesn’t even rehearse for the song, he comes on the sets, we show him the moves, and he nails it like a boss! I I have been working with him since I was 8-9 years old; I started working as an assistant to Ganesh Hegde for his film ‘Khamoshi’. It has contributed immensely to my career.

I would call him the best dancer! Woh jo kar le, vo step ho jaati hai aur vo hit hai (Whatever he does, becomes a step and is an immediate hit with the masses). My kids and nephews copy his steps. How has your journey with him been so far? I first saw him on a movie set, when I was in school. I come from a very conservative family and we were not even allowed to watch films. I am the only one from my family who is working in the film industry. I started working with Salman in ‘Khamoshi’ and then later, continued working with him. I feel I have a natural connection with him. I have done a lot of songs but after doing ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, I got recognition. Before that, I did a lot of songs like ‘Aashiq Bananya Aapne’ and others. I even got nominated for several awards, I was also called the best young choreographer, but ‘PRDP’ was a milestone film for me. After that, I made sure to deliver the best and do better. Because if I am able to do a good job, only then will be call me for his next project. Today, wherever I am in my career, it is because of him. Like Salman Khan, you also have a charitable foundation... Last year (when the country went under a lockdown), there was no such foundation. I was just trying to help people voluntarily. We tried to provide essential help to people, like providing rooftops, so that they can protect themselves during the rains, and distributed ration kits. So, last year I got an opportunity to help the needy, and this year, we decided to take it ahead. Now, I have a foundation named Shabina Khan Foundation. Even this time, we have distributed monthly essentials, helped underprivileged women with their pregnancies. It's such a sad state; families are struggling for food, how can they afford hospital expenses? I wanted to help maximum people which is why I decided to start this foundation. Since the country is facing other issues like oxygen and bed scarcity, I thought of taking care of providing food and essentials in every possible home that needs it. Inshallah, we'll try to grow the foundation further. Go on…

I receive multiple requests for help, so my team goes to every family to verify it. Due to the pandemic, we advise people to connect via social media and we have given out our phone numbers as well. I have even distributed masks and sanitizers to people. What’s next for you? Next, I have two songs in Salman Khan and Aayush Sharma’s ‘Antim’. I will not be able to talk much about it now. I also have other projects but they are all stuck due to the pandemic.

#salman khan #shabina khan #dil de diya #interview #Radhe interview #TOI