The Antlerette Volume 97 Issue 5

The Antlerette Volume 97

January 2023

Issue 5

Katy Perry’s Inspo Avani Kumar, Staff “She eat your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer” Today we are talking about cannibalism, moral gray or personal preference?

The world record holder for “Most Prolific Cannibal” is none other than Fijian Chief, Ratu Udre Udre. Marking each meal with a stone, he’s known for consuming human flesh of up to 1,000 people in his prime. His mark was eating people that had returned from a War Victory, since Fiji was fighting against the British. Four years ago I was on the road during my trip to Fiji, and after 5 hours of driving, I finally found myself in Raki Raki, home of the grave for Udre Udre. It was not much, just a stone casket with his name engraved. There isn’t any proof that he is buried there; he was shot by the Fijian government, and the rest is undocumented.

Another popular face we’re all familiar with, our very own American treasure, Jeffrey Dahmer, like the one Katy Perry sings about. Even though he was literally crazy, he was diagnosed sane at his trial, facing it because he killed around 17 young men and boys, and ate them up. He was sentenced to 941 years in prison, but shockingly, he would not be able to serve out his whole sentence. Doing a bit of a favor for mankind, one of Dhamer’s prison mates, beat him violently to death.

1

People believed that eating other people’s flesh provided spiritual and physical powers. But as gross as it seems, the concept of cannibalism is one that is mildly rooted in our history. We learn about the Donner party in early history classes, and new land wasn’t the only thing they were gobbling up.

Many native tribes were also known as man-eaters, so it’s not a new concept, nor one that is only in lands abroad. So I’ll leave you with a scary thought, as old timey as cannibalism seems, there is most certainly still a large population of people eaters, so sleep with one eye open maybe!

2

So You Want to be Immortal? Get a Half Life.

Azriel Ezra Hu, Staff

You probably don’t know it, but you’re surrounded by radioactive material every day - some clocks and wristwatches, ceramics and glass, plant fertiliser, and even food. Everything we interact with contains some amount of radioactive material1; the human body even needs a little radiation to function at its best2.

That said, radioactive material naturally goes through a process called radioactive decay. Radioactive decay is a process in which unstable atomic nuclei3 break apart or change, releasing radiation as they do so; it occurs because the forces holding the nucleus together are not strong enough. However, not all nuclei will decay at the same time - in a block of radioactive material, there are trillions of nuclei.

Because of this, it’s impossible to tell which nucleus will next decay, or even when.

But because there are so many nuclei, it is possible to say that a certain number will decay in a certain time. Scientists use statistical methods to determine when half of the unstable nuclei in a given sample will have decayed. The half life4 is the amount of time it takes for half the unstable nuclei to decay in a sample.

As an example, let’s say we have some radioactive material - Sample A. It begins with a count rate of 160 Becquerel5 on Day 0 and has a half life of two days. On Day 2, it will have 80 Bq. On Day 4, it will have 40 Bq. The count rate will continue to halve every two days; note, however, that it will never reach zero.

3

It is also possible to determine how much of a sample should remain after a given amount of half lives. This can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, or a ratio6. For example, the amount remaining after five half lives can be expressed as 1/32 (½ ½ ½ ½ ½ = 1/32), 0.03125 (1/32), or 1:32. You can then incorporate this into other data. If a sample has 3,200 Bq and goes through five two-day half lives, its count rate after 10 days would be 1/32 of 3,200 - so, 100.

● ● ● ●

When it decays, the sample then turns into a decay product7. It will continuously turn into new decay products until it reaches a stable state. At that point, it is no longer radioactive.

1 This article is not written to scare you.

2 In fact, the absence of radiation is bad.

3 The nuclei of most atoms are stable.

4 It can also mean how long it takes for half the activity in a sample to halve or for the count rate to halve.

5 Becquerel (Bq): a unit of radioactivity; defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second.

6 The ratio is given in the form of ‘activity after n-half lives : initial activity’.

7 A decay product is also known as a daughter product, a daughter isotope, etcetera.

4

FIFA World Corrupt

Adrian Bayardo, Staff

Fédération Internationale de Football Association, better known as FIFA, was established in 1904 to oversee international soccer among several European nations. Eventually, FIFA set out to create an Olympic-like tournament of soccer to unite players from all around the globe, and thus, the FIFA World Cup was born.

Ever since the first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930, the tournament has continued to be the most popular sporting event in the world.

For every World Cup, one country is selected by FIFA officials to be the host country, but why is being the host country for the World Cup so important?

Hosting the most popular tournament of the most beloved sport brings an influx in tourism to the host country, which is why so many countries bid to become the host. FIFA analyzes each country’s bid and votes on who will be the best host, but what happens when multiple FIFA officials are bribed into selecting a nation clearly not fit to host such a crucial event?

In December of 2010, FIFA was set to determine the host country of the 2022 World Cup. Many wealthy nations entered the bid for the honor of hosting, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, who were all thought to have a decent chance at winning the bid. What stunned the world was that the country selected was not any of the favorites, but the small country of Qatar, a country that had not received much attention on an international stage. Not only was this an unlikely pick, it was also extremely controversial.

5

Qatar did not have any existing stadiums to host the tournament, and the extreme summer heat did not help their case for the bid. Immediately speculation about possible bribery to sway FIFA officials’ votes emerged, especially since another polarizing country won a bid that same year–Russia.

FIFA has a record of awarding host bids to questionable countries prior to this.

The 1934 World Cup was hosted in Mussolini’s fascist Italy afterall, but surely the organization has improved since 1934?

Since Russia and Qatar were awarded World Cup bids in 2010, several FIFA officials have been accused of accepting bribes and rigging FIFA elections like the one that resulted in Russia and Qatar being awarded World Cup bids. Some officials have even been accused of crimes such as money laundering and fraud.

The organization as a whole has been caught in scandal after scandal, and its credibility has been questioned by its own sponsors and soccer fans themselves.

The controversy over the 2022 World Cup being hosted in Qatar left many soccer fans divided. Some felt guilty about supporting a corrupt organization that gave in to bribery and gave bids to countries unfit for the job for money’s sake. Others simply wanted a separation of politics and sports and the ability to simply enjoy the game despite FIFA's wrongdoings.

The negative attention surrounding FIFA has started to fade as the 2022 World Cup has ended, but the damage done by FIFA remains, their image tarnished, and the people uncertain of whether or not the organization deserves their support.

6

The Prince Of The Forest Spruce Rants-Bigam, Staff

Anytime someone picks up a fantasy novel, the forest is always described as dark, menacing, dangerous. And for some, this was an accurate depiction. But for Cassiel, the forest was always a safe haven. Everytime his parents decided he was ‘too much’ for them to handle and told him to find somewhere else to sleep for the night, the forest welcomed him with open arms. There was never a moment where he was unsure of who he was within the woods - the trees he climbed did not care how he spelled his chosen name, and to the piney boughs he slept on high above the forest floor, his raggard haircut from using safety scissors was irrelevant. Beneath the canopy of greenery and bird calls there were no expectations of him, just an endless walk down a path only Cassiel could take.

As he stumbled down a small trail made by years of wildlife migrating through the woods, he wondered how it came to be. Was it from a family of deer wandering in search of a stream? Perhaps a bear and her cub were out to forage or maybe it wasn’t of the forest at all, and instead he had stumbled upon a path made by those with no regard for the natural life around them.

The trail began to taper off, so with a quick glance, he ducked off to the left and continued on eastward. His Go Bag was painfully light this time; he had just emptied it into the wash when he was chased out again. Internally he lamented his meager stash of protein bars and half filled water bottle. Maybe if he was lucky he could find a stream - though it may be best to risk dehydration; there was no telling what bacteria may be floating around.

7

He carried on for a few more minutes, eventually adjusting his course so as to run into a patch of blackberries he knew was up ahead. As he absentmindedly pushed a branch out of his way, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he didn't go home this time. Would his parents care? His siblings? Would anyone bother to look for him, or would he just fade from people’s memory the way his hair dye did after a few brutal washes under hot water?

The thought of just walking into the forest and never returning was enticing, but logically he knew someone would notice his absence, his teachers would have to report him missing from class, after all. Besides, he had promised to go to his sister's dance recital in a few weeks, and his brother was becoming a yellow belt in a month, so even if he thought he could get away with it, the guilt of missing those milestones would be unbearable.

As he thought of his siblings, he couldn’t help but smile. They were both such chatterboxes it was baffling, they always had something to say. For Cassiel, talking was always a chore — if he didn’t have to talk, then why would he? Life was easier when he didn’t have to worry about his words and stupidly high pitched voice. He was always glad to sit and listen to them though; for little kids they were surprisingly insightful, and always had the greatest ideas for games.

Eventually, Cassiel stumbled into the clearing with the blackberry bush and dropped his bag tiredly, groaning in exasperation when he realized the zip was partially undone, and had spilled its contents across the ground. Shaking his head, he turned his gaze to the thorny brambles of the blackberry bush, sighing at the thought of how mangled his arms would be after he was done scavenging.

He languidly approached the bush, and began sifting through the vines looking for some that were hopefully untouched by wildlife. He had just stuck his arm into the bush and stepped forward for a better reach when there was a rustling behind him. He whirled around and found himself staring at a cat, seeming to be attempting to paw through his bag’s contents.

8

Slowly, he extracted himself from the bush, holding just a few berries in his hand. The cat's eyes shot up, and it hastily retreated a few steps back into the underbrush. Cassiel stood for a moment, before walking back to his bag and sitting next to it. Carefully, he placed a singular berry on his jacket, holding the rest in his hand, and laid it out as far from him as he could without getting up.

Then, he pulled out a protein bar for himself and waited.

Eventually, the cat's need for food outweighed its fear, and it crept towards the jacket. It paused to sniff at the berry for a moment, before carefully picking it up and eating it. After it had swallowed, it stared distrustfully at Cassiel, who held out a hand with the rest of the berries. Slowly, the cat approached and snatched one from his palm before retreating back to the jacket.

As he continued the waiting game with the cat, he noted the lengthening shadows across the forest floor. He was immensely grateful that it was the middle of summer, already painfully familiar with how cold the forest floor could get at night.. Keeping the hand out with the berries, he struggled to replace the contents of his bag. The cat darted out for another berry, this time only retreating to the edge of the jacket. With a small smile towards the feline, he finally managed to shove his bag back together and zip it shut.

Eyeing the cat's neck, he duly noted the lack of collar. Not that it meant anything really, it was just as likely it was simply a housecat that had gotten lost as it was to be a truly feral animal. Either way, Cassiel needed something to call the poor thing, and began musing. He couldn't pick up the creature to check its gender — it would run off before he could shift to his knees. Honestly, Cassiel was not the person for naming things, he’d run through so many names before finally settling on Cassiel. It was almost embarrassing.

9

He was drawn out of his thoughts but a gentle sniffing of his palm, and a brush of whiskers against his wrist. Instead of taking its spoils and running off, it paused to properly inspect his hand first. He watched as slowly the cat began lapping at the stray berry juice running down his arm, and promptly decided that despite the feline's adorable nature, it was not worth the effort of finding a unique name. The poor thing liked the berries that much? Then their name would be Berry.

As Berry licked the last traces of juice from his arm, Cassiel finally took the time to open his own protein bar. Making a face at the chocolate peanut butter labeled monstrosity, he tentatively took a bite. Grimacing as he chewed, he haphazardly shoved his bag behind him and leaned back, trying to land his head on the makeshift pillow. Berry watched from the jacket as he struggled to maneuver himself into a comfortable position, slowly beginning to knead his jacket as they watched. Eventually, the bag was satisfactorily placed and he closed his eyes.

He likely wouldn’t sleep for a while, but resting as much as he could now be as good a plan as any. Besides, maybe showing his guard lowered so much would entice Berry into trusting him more— it would be nice to have a pet of his own.

But then there was the housing and feeding issue- well, he could worry about what-ifs later. For now, he was going to lay in the clearing and gaze up at the rapidly darkening sky and wonder how anyone could find a forest menacing.

10

Unlikely Allies

Cameron Cain, Design Editor The guards roughly threw him into his cell, his knees and palm colliding painfully with stone. He didn’t even get back up, instead sinking into a sitting position, staring blankly at the wall as he listened to them throw his cellmate in with him. He was vaguely aware that his cellmate seemed to be shouting something, but couldn’t focus on the words as pain flashed through his body. It felt like his veins were on fire, like his heart might give out any second.

The sounds of the jail cell being slammed shut and keys jingling in its lock, followed by departing footsteps, seemed so far away, as if he was on some distant land rather than on the damp stone floor of the prison. The seconds trickled by, seconds absorbed by pain, seconds that seemed to last an eternity, the cold of the floor slowly seeping into his skin. Suddenly he felt hands on his shoulders, his attention snapping up to the man in front of him, “Damien!” An angry desperation lined the man’s face as he shook Damien gently, trying to snap him out of his trance. Damien’s eyes fell on the metal collar around the man’s neck, a soft blue light emanating from the gem in the middle.

“Anthony.” His throat seemed to close up as he spoke, the name a rasping sound, though Anthony seemed to pay no mind.

“We need to find a way out, I can’t do that if you’re too busy staring at the wall feeling sorry for yourself.” Anthony’s hands slipped off Damien’s shoulders as he began to pace the room, an aura of frustration around him.

11

“Everything hurts, I need a minute,” Damien growled. The room fell silent, Anthony stepping out of Damien’s eyesight. He could hear Anthony shake the jail bars and scoffed under his breath, “It’s no use,” “This is all your fault,” Anthony hissed from where he stood.

“How was I to know Wildfire was some evil organization? All I did was follow orders and now look where I am,” Damien said, the pain slowly subsiding. He carefully stood up, scared the pain might return, and turned to look at Anthony, who was still looking past the bars.

“You were the one to capture us, you were the first one I saw, you shot me,” Anthony turned toward him, pointing at Damien as he spoke.

“We didn’t know what you were, you’re definitely not human. That’s why you’re the one wearing a collar.”

Anthony’s hands went up to the collar as it was mentioned, anger flashing in his eyes. The collars were used to keep the “Unnaturals”, as Wildfire liked to call them, from using their magical abilities. It was the only way to keep them contained.

“We’re Avalians. Just because we’re different doesn’t give you any reason to attack us. We’re not a threat,” “And I was a soldier who thought he was serving his country. It wasn’t my call.”

Another silence followed Damien’s words, Anthony turning back towards the bars of the cell.

“Look, I’m just as stuck here as you are. I’ll help you escape and after we can go our separate ways and never see each other again,” Damien said, breaking the short lived silence.

As he spoke, the familiar sounds of combat boots on stone alerted them that the guard was back. Anthony stepped back from the bars as the guard, Vera, took her position. Anthony looked toward Damien, making direct eye contact as if to catch his attention. Damien raised his eyebrow as he matched the eye contact, Anthony pointing towards the guard as he mouthed what looked like “What do we do?”.

12

Damien looked toward Vera, discarding half-formed thoughts as he screwed up his eyes at her, yet he couldn’t think of a single escape plan. Suddenly, light reflected off something he hadn’t noticed before; the key that hung from her belt. They could do something with that. He turned back toward Anthony and quickly signed “key.” It was only as Anthony stared at him in confusion, screwing up his eyes as he mouthed “what” that he realized it was dumb to think an interdimensional being knew ASL. Sighing softly, he pointed toward Vera, then to the lock on the door, before making a motion of locking a door in hopes Anthony would pick up on what he was saying.

“Key?” he mouthed, making a slightly less confused face.

Damien nodded. We could probably grab the key without her noticing if we’re careful enough, and the next time there’s a gap of time where no one’s guarding our cell we can escape. But how do I communicate that to AnthHe hadn’t even finished his thought when Anthony stood up and began to walk meaningfully toward Vera. He frantically waved his arms at Anthony, unable to trust that he’d be able to pull it off, but the Avalian didn’t see. Damien cursed under his breath as Anthony reached through the bars for the key.

“Hey!” Vera exclaimed, but Anthony quickly held her in a choke hold, using his other hand to grab her gun before she could. Damien jumped up, alarm shooting through him as Vera thrashed against Anthony’s hold.

“GUAR-” Vera started, but Anthony then continued to take the gun and use it to hit her over the head. Vera slumped against the bars, unconscious. Damien looked between the two of them in shock.

“What was your plan there???”

“I got the key.” Anthony lifted the small slightly rusted key in front of him.

“Just open the damn door.”

“Yeah, yeah, on it.”

Anthony fiddled with the lock, the seconds seeming to trickle dangerously by.

Any second someone could come across them.

13

This was barely thought out. Damien wasn’t even sure either of them knew where the exits were. Finally the lock clicked and the door swung open, the two quickly making their way down the corridor.

“Do you have any helpful magical abilities you could use right now?” Damien hissed, looking down the hallways to make sure they were alone. Anthony just pointed at the collar. Right. How did I forget?

“Well, if we find a way to take it off, do you have any helpful magical abilities?” he countered, slipping down another empty hallway.

“I’m a shapeshifter. It may help me but it definitely won’t help you. And if I manage to get it off, don’t expect me to try to help you escape. You’re the reason I’m in here,” “Fair.” As he spoke, Damien’s eyes traveled down to the gun Anthony still gripped closely by his side. Anthony traced his gaze, “No,” he said firmly, gripping the gun tighter.

“I bet you don’t even know how to use a gun. We have better chances if you give it to me.” Damien wasn’t even aware he had stopped walking as he reached for the gun, but Anthony quickly moved out of the way, “So you can shoot me again? I don’t think so.” Damien opened his mouth to protest, but the sudden unwelcome sound of the alarm blaring cut off his words.

“Crap, they must have found Vera,” Damien said instead, instinctively grabbing Anthony, who looked just about as panicked as he felt, by the wrist as he started running down the hall.

It felt like the alarm was splitting open his skull, blasting through his brain as he ran down hall after hall, dodging soldiers looking for them, seemingly making no progress no matter how long he ran. Finally, a door at the end of a hallway showed light filtering in through the small windows at the top. This was it, this was their escape.

But as he ran toward the door, a figure stepped in front of it, a grin widening on their face as they raised a gun toward them. A deafening crack filled the hall, an explosive sound followed by a ringing that reverberated in Damien’s brain.

14

But he wasn’t even able to begin comprehending the sound as sudden pain hit him in the stomach. He gasped for breath as he fell to his knees, his eyes instantly watering with tears.

More gunshots went off, though the sound was almost non-existent. Instead a harsh ringing was the only thing Damien could hear. The pain was unbearable, an unyielding, undying force that consumed all of his senses. He grabbed at his stomach, his hands now warm with his blood. He felt hands grab at him, suddenly the floor disappearing beneath him as Anthony picked him up, holding him to his chest. He was vaguely aware that Anthony had begun running, pushing past the door to the outside. Why was Anthony helping him?

Why hadn’t he just left him in the hall to bleed out and die?

Damien could barely think, half-formed thoughts rattling around his brain as he shuddered in pain, tears streaking his face, gasping for breath. It felt like he was dying. He was dying. There was no denying that, these were his last moments, and he was spending them in the arms of a stranger. He felt consciousness slipping from him, holding on desperately to that feeling of being awake, an overwhelming fear rising in his chest. But consciousness was slipping from him, the darkness growing closer with every passing second. There wasn’t much he could do to keep it at bay. He felt his pain start to fade and then nothing at all. He was gone.

15

Jack Antonoff & Taylor Swift

Nefertary Cabrera, Staff

Jack Antonoff is ultimately one of the most influential figures in music, whether you’ve heard of him via his band, Bleachers, or through his producing. Recently, he’s worked with Taylor Swift on her newest album, Midnights. Up until now, Swift’s most experimental album was folklore, which Antonoff also produced.

Midnights has broken records unlike any other albums. In just eight weeks, Midnights sold over six million units worldwide. Swift is the first to have five albums with over 1 million units during release week. Coincidentally, all those five albums, (1989, reputation, Lover, folklore, Midnights) were produced by Antonoff.

Since meeting in 2012, Antonoff and Swift became close friends and collaborators. When Swift began her famous country to pop transformation in 2014, Antonoff produced the playful pop album. 1989 was deemed “pop perfection” by critics. Soon afterwards they won the Album of the Year award at the Grammys. Cutting to 2016, the infamous feud involving Swift and Kanye caused Swift to go into hiding for an entire year. Within that year Jack and Taylor created reputation, her comeback album. Three years later, Jack and Taylor collaborated again for Reputation’s more cheerful sister album, Lover. The pair was supposed to go on tour, but the tour later was canceled due to Covid-19.

During the pandemic, Taylor and Jack created another pair of sister albums that once again transformed Taylor and Jack as writers, producers, and artists. In 2020 ,Taylor unexpectedly announced that her newest album folklore would debut at midnight. The album was a huge success due to its genre shift. A few months after folklore was announced, evermore came to be, another album with the same whimsical melodies as folklore. The two past albums sealed any doubt in Taylor’s writing abilities. With folklore and evermore, Taylor established herself as a writer.

16

Circling back to the Midnights album, easily Taylor’s most playful album yet, both critics and audiences have seen Taylor evolve and reinvented herself over the entirety of her career, with Midnights being a complete switch from her previous works. Without Taylor’s infamous lyricism and Jack’s distinctive sound, the music would undoubtedly not be the same. While some musicians are completely solo and others are just marketing plots, Taylor and Jack are the complete dream team.

17

California Weather Kyree Her, Staff

During the ending of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, California's weather has been bipolar and very chaotic. Not everywhere in California has had this very weird and nasty weather. One day it’ll be sunny and clear, then the next it’s super cloudy and rainy. This type of weather affects everyone and their lives. It has lately been having strong winds. It’s not any ordinary wind; this is the type of wind to knock huge trees down.

Roads have been closed due to this stormy, windy weather. Poles, trees, and others have all been knocked down. The cause of closed roads interferes with traffic, which forces you to re-route your way. It may cause you to be late to school, work, or an event. Traffic lights become dysfunctional and cause chaos.

The amount of flooding that happens on roads is incredible. I’ve seen so many roads that have been flooded. The roads are also trashed with things flying around from the strong current of the wind. You’ll see huge branches and maybe a few things from someone's house.

This chaotic weather leads to schools getting closed. Either power at the school is out or it’s just too dangerous. Some schools were even ruined due to the weather.

People are also getting super sick from this bipolar weather. Turns out that more students are absent on rainy days than on Mondays. Some students aren’t able to attend school because of the roads. Roads are either closed off, ruined, or it isn’t safe enough to pass through. I personally think that schools should be closed if the weather is doing so much damage already.

18

Strong winds cause so many problems. Homes are getting wrecked and torn down, trees have fallen straight onto a house. Imagine the amount of damage that this weather could do . This includes a huge amount of money. If the weather badly damages your home, you’re obviously going to pay for whatever's been broken or ruined. Trees have also fallen onto cars. Imagine if a tree outside your house falls onto your car. You’ll have no transportation to get anywhere, so you’ll have a choice to either buy a new car or just figure out how you’re going to get to places. Expenses for a new car, or to fix your home are a lot. Some homes were ruined due to the rain. Floods are happening and are causing families to evacuate their homes. If the flood gets into your home, everything will be ruined.

There will be nothing left for you to save.

This hectic weather is at its worst in Sacramento, California. This weather is not a joke. It could really put some people in jeopardy. This will be something to remember throughout the 2023 year. This is just the beginning. This weather is not the best to start the new year off with. We’ll all get through this disgusting weather soon enough. Can’t wait for Spring and Summer!

19

Black Panther-Wakanda Forever Movie Review

Owghianye Eki-Edo, Staff

SPOILERS AHEAD!! READ AT OWN RISK!! Black Panther:Wakanda Forever was an anticipated movie that came out in November of last year. The movie was talked about prior to its release date because the main character, Chadwick Boseman, died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020 and the director of the movie, Ryan Coogler, decided that he would make the character of T’Challa also die because he didn’t want to give away the character to another actor. This decision was controversial, with many fans of Black Panther being upset about this decision, but even with that, the movie has grossed about 733 million worldwide and is still counting. Today, I will give my fullest opinion of the sequel to Black Panther.

First things first, I feel like Ryan should have just given the character T’Challa to another actor. T’Challa was a fictional character that Chawick played really well in the first Black Panther movie, but I don’t think that Ryan should have killed off T’Challa just because Chadwick did an outstanding job and that just because he died, the character he played so well should die too. At the end of the day, T’Challa is a fictional character and Ryan should have separated the actor from the character when making his decision about T’Challa.

Back to the movie review, this movie was definitely on the more sad and emotional side, which was cool and all in the first half because T’Challa just died and everyone was mourning his death, but it continue with Rmonda dying due to the villian, Namor, invading Wakanda and killing her off, which added more mourning and revenge to the table.

20

The revenge and mourning was kind of complicated for me because I know that there were deaths and everyone was mourning, but I also wanted to see more action and other things that didn’t relate or go back to the revenge or mourning that the characters were facing in the movie.

New character Riri was the comedic relief of the movie, but her comedic timing was cool at times, but other times, it was not. Namor had a nice-psycho-killer type of personality to him that made him cool but scary at the same time. When Shuri turned into the Black Panther, I did feel goosebumps but I also felt ehhh.

Like, Shuri only turned into the Black Panther to get revenge on her mother’s death, which is definitely a goosebump feeling, but it also was not because I felt like I already knew that Shuri was not going to kill Namor because it’s not in her nature to do so, and she was not in the right mind to face Namor or any other villain, really.

When the final battle happened and Shuri didn’t kill Namor, it was a kind of a relaxed feeling because it was kind of the end of Shuri and her anger rampage of revenge. Nakia was also mourning T’Challla, but she also helped out with finding Shuri and getting her back to Wakanda when she was kidnapped by Namor. Nakia’s presence in the movie wasn’t really that much and she was mostly kind of a side character that was helping Shuri out with her revenge with Namor, which is cool since Shuri was the main character in this movie, but I wanted to see at least one flashback of Nakia moving to Haiti and setting up her life there, instead of just talking about it and not hearing about it again.

The shock value that I had when Nakai showed her and T’Challa son to everyone was astronomical. My jaw dropped and I was still in shock as the credits started to roll at the end of the movie. That was an amazing way to end a sad, emotional movie on a good note.

Nevertheless, I would give Black Panther:Wakanda Forever a solid 6. It was a good movie that had an interesting plot, but it isn’t a movie that I would watch over again or that if I was scrolling for a random movie, I would pick.

21

Marvel movies after Avengers:Endgame have followed a pattern of having more mourning and sadness in their movies than actually having a fun, nice type movie which is fair since many characters died in Endgame and other characters that are left were just seeing the effects of their friends dying. I hope that the new Marvel movies at least try to make a fun, nice type of movie that doesn’t have to deal with mourning or sadness of their loved ones, or other things happening in their lives.

22