Thor, Asgardian and naive: Loki, I’ve been meaning to ask. Are you and the Grandmaster involved in a… romantic relationship?
Loki, also Asgardian, naive to a degree: No, we have a mutually beneficial relationship that means I get whatever I desire from him, like wealth, and he gets whatever he desires from me.
Bruce Banner, Midgardian, knows exactly what a sugar daddy is: oh sounds great
Nakia watches Okoye in training drills with the Dora Milaje. She admires the way they move as one; their steps in rhythm with each other’s, all following the same rhythm; the sound of Okoye’s hands beating out a complex rhythm that they must follow without faltering.
Okoye’s voice is lifted, singing against the rhythm she is clapping out. She does not sing for ornamentation, for entertainment, but her voice is strong and rich. It thunders from the pit of her chest as she sings a song about the panther god, his lithe grace and fearsome power. Nakia thinks that Okoye is touched by the panther god too. The rhythm of her song fits against the beat she claps out but it is free of it, also. They are two systems, independent and separate, that wind around each other perfectly.
Nakia’s eyes follow the red and gold of their armor as they weave the steps, formation perfect, like a cluster of Nandi flame blooming in the trees. And Okoye’s bloom is always brightest to Nakia’s eyes.
not to be dramatic, but Okoye telling her bitch ass husband she would end him without hesitation when he tried to manipulate her changed me as a person and cured my depression.
“would you kill me my love?”
“for wakanda? No question.”
a woman in my theater: “oH I HEARD THAT!!!!”
Listen. LISTEN. *cups your face in my hands* Listen to me. I have never so perfectly and purely seen a Paladin depicted in a movie as I saw in Okoye. Lawful good to her core. Pure, unvarnished loyalty to Wakanda and her people evident in every goddamned motion. Dignified, graceful, reverent respect for the rules of her country and its greater good.
There is something so beautiful about faith, something that just burns through with a beautiful glow that lights up someone’s eyes and every expression. There is a confidence and a peace that is both palpable and enviable when faith has been tested and come through intact. You could so hear it in her voice.
Personal shit is great, and I’m glad she was seen in a loving relationship. The Lone Woman Warrior trope is worn thin, and I’m sure even thinner for black women who are often not allowed to be lovable people on screen. But the core of the Paladin is ‘there is something greater than I, and I will sacrifice everything for it’, and it was beautiful to not only see that happen on screen but see her proved right, see her win, in one case by not even raising her weapon. She stood firm in her faith and the narrative said yes, it said this is just, it said your very faith will protect you from harm. And she’s not seen as hard or cold edged weapon for that. The imagery around her in that moment is more like a saint or an angel, glowing and reaching out a peaceful hand to a symbol of one of the tribes of her country. Her country loves her back.
Okoye doesn’t just love her country. She doesn’t just serve her country. She doesn’t just believe in her country. She has unshakable faith in an absolute truth: Wakanda Forever.
She is elevated for her faith as much as her skill.
I rewatched Captain America: Civil War last night and when Peter and Steve are talking during the airport fight scene, Peter says
“He also said I should go for your legs” and he kinda chuckles
and the only thing I could think of was that Peter saw that vine “How did you take down Captain America?” and the guy responds in a Russian accent, “We shot him in the legs because his shield is the size of a dinner plate and he’s an idiot”
y’all notice how black panther quietly but fervently rejects western assumptions about women in non-western countries by not only displaying Wakandan women in a variety of influential positions but by making clear that only outsiders question them
women are shown in all levels of Wakandan society – Ramonda as a trusted advisor for her son, Shuri as the country’s leading innovator, Okoye and the Dora as respected warriors, Nakia as a spy and philosophical compass, unnamed women who serve as tribal representatives and spiritual leaders. it is not at any point suggested that their gender is a barrier to achieving anything in Wakanda.
there’s a moment during T’Challa’s crowning that’s small but very good, when M’baku questions letting a child handle the country’s technological advancement. he specifically calls her a child, not a girl, questioning her youth and perceived lack of respect for tradition but not her gender, which flies in direct defiance of many western assumptions about how masculine non-western men like M’baku treat women and girls.
that moment, as far as I recall, the most any Wakandan man ever directly disrespects a woman. a lot has been made of how much faith T’challa places in his female relatives and warriors, so I won’t rehash that, but it’s Good.
Ross briefly insults Okoye with his assumption that she doesn’t speak English, but 1.) the narrative and the audience both understand this to be an ignorant statement on Ross’ part for which he is promptly put in his place by Okoye herself and 2.) Ross immediately learns and does better. when he wakes up in Wakanda his disbelief is only for the level of the technology, not that a teenage girl is the mastermind behind it, and during the final fight he defers to Shuri’s guidance despite his piloting expertise.
a lot of words have already been written about Killmonger’s treatment of black women: the casual murder of his partner, his disregard and abuse of a spiritual leader, the slaughter of a Dora. it’s just one of many parts of his ideology that mark him as fundamentally misunderstanding Wakanda and being an Other in the kingdom.
Wakanda is a futuristic fantasyland that makes absolutely no narrative room for men who don’t respect the authority of women.
In addition to the Killmonger point –
I love how it circles back to the cultural disparity between Wakanda and the Western world. It demonstrates how similar ideologies – the drive for resource sharing and international responsibly – can appear so vastly different (ie Killmonger and Nakia). It speaks to the cultural environment in which they existed. I believe Killmonger to be a reflection of the internalised toxic values Western society presents poor Black boys – essentially following the well trodden path from vulnerability to violence.
On that last comment, the narrative also specifically positions Erik as a tragic character. He is clearly the villain because his values are warped but the tragedy is that he didn’t have to turn out that way. The difference between the three heirs to the throne and how they approach each other (T’Challa, Shuri and Erik) comes down to culture.
I kinda want to laugh at the idea that burning the heart-shaped herb means the plants are gone, like FUCK…have you ever weeded a garden in your LYFE?? You WISH burning plants killed them, holy shit. Those plants’re gonna come back even thicker AND they’ll have extra fertilizer from the ash compost. They’re vibranium plants, those roots run deep.
Attendants: Are you sure? That’s gonna set us back, like, a whole six months…
Erik: YES I’M SURE. I WANT THEM GONE.
Attendants: …We’re just not gonna mention that this won’t actually get rid of them.
Basically, I think the whole nation of Wakanda was like, “We’re gonna humour this guy to achieve our own ends until we can find a way to get rid of him.”
Fic where as part of N’Jadaka’s punishment/rehabilitation/community service hours he’s forced to replant the sacred flower beds while memorizing their spiritual significance in Wakandan culture
Question of Smoke 