#loki has had a bad effect on carol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mimisempai · 3 years

Text

Wait for me on the other side 2/8

Chapter Summary:

The mystery becomes clearer... or thicker... in any case a strange correspondence is born...

3888 words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32948254/chapters/81944953

Alone, in the teacher's lounge, Loki poured himself a cup of coffee. His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

He didn't hear the principal come in and jumped at the sound of her voice.

"I know about the accident in Vanaheim Square. Carol and I had to get there because there were students from the school on the bus. Fortunately none of them were hurt. The paramedics who knew you were a teacher here, told us you put up a good fight for that man."

Loki sighed, "But it wasn't enough. I may know first aid perfectly, but it wasn't enough." He paused, his throat tight before continuing, "I have to get back to class."

He headed for the door.

"Loki?"

Loki stopped and turned around, Natasha put her hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Do me a favor. On your day off, get as far away from here as you can. Okay? Go somewhere you feel... somewhere that brings you peace."

Loki nodded his head before going on his way.

**********

Mobius left the house and headed for the pickup. Before entering, he slipped a letter into the box and raised the flag, then set off for his work.

**********

At the same time Loki decided to follow Natasha's advice and headed for New Asgard. He drove north of the small village.

The day was clear and bright, with a slight breeze.

He stopped at the small local grocery store where he knew the owners well, to buy his lunch.

He greeted them as they entered the store, "Hi Laura, hi Clint!"

"Hey Loki! Haven't seen you in a while. How are things in the Big Apple?"

Loki shrugged and replied, "Good. I'm getting my bearings little by little"

Clint asked, curious, "What are you doing here?"

"I just needed to get out of the city. Needed the fresh air, and I missed the peaceful life here."

"I hear you, I wouldn't want to come back to the city for anything in the world." replied Laura while bending down.

"What's the matter, honey?"

She stood up straight, a little girl in her arms.

"Hey Lila, how big you've gotten!" exclaimed Loki. "How old are you now?"

"Two." replied Laura. "Say hello to Loki, Lila, you like him don't you?"

"Hi Woki!" chirped the little girl and held out his arms. Loki took her in his arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead. She giggled.

They talked for a few more moments and then Loki headed for the house on the cliff.

Once there, checking first that no one was there, Loki got out of the car and walked through the forest just behind and then went for a long time to admire the lake below the cliff, the wind blowing his long black hair. As the sun began to set on the horizon, he thought it was time to go home, but didn't hurry either.

Just as he was about to get into the car, he noticed the flag raised from the mailbox. Acting on an impulse, he opened it. Inside, there was a single envelope. To his surprise, it was addressed to him.

Loki sat down in the car parked in front of the house, and began to read the letter.

I got your letter. Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?

Because, if so, I don't understand.

Loki frowned as he continued to read.

I am not the "next tenant".

There was no previous tenant.

The house has been uninhabited for over twenty years.

At first I thought maybe you had the wrong place.

But how did you know about the paw prints?

Lok was confused. He pondered for a moment, then reached into his bag to find a pen and paper.

**********

Mobius pulled up in his pickup truck, happy to have finally finished his workday. The flag on the mailbox was up. He opened the box. A letter inside, he recognized Loki's handwriting. He looked at it as he walked along the path to the house. It was from the same address Loki had given him to forward his letter, 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village.

Once inside, Mobius was startled to feel something crawl between his legs. It was the alligator that had left the pawprints. Apparently it had chosen to live here and had figured out how to get in.

Perfect! Now he would have to find out what an alligator might need.

He opened Loki's letter and began to read.

**********

A few hours later, Mobius was waiting in front of the huge building exuding opulence and majesty, overhung by the two familiar letters, TK, Time Keepers.

He smiled as a short, dark-haired man, looking a little younger than him, stepped out.

Mobius shouted, "Casey!"

The younger man, seeing him, exclaimed, "Mobius! What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be busy in your little store."

Mobius replied with a smile, "I'll never be too busy to seek out an old friend and buy him a drink."

Casey answered softly, "I'm really touched."

Then Mobius added sheepishly, "I had to do something in town actually."

Casey laughed and retorted, "It's good to see you." before giving him a hug.

Over his shoulder Mobius saw a woman walk out.

Their eyes met and Mobius whispered, "Ravonna." The woman froze before continuing with a quick step. Mobius watched her go.

"Come on Casey, let's get out of here."

A little later, at a bar in Manhattan, Mobius and Casey are sitting at a table with burgers and beers.

Casey asked him, "So, how's life in your little store?"

Mobius smiled before answering, "Well, it was a challenge starting out on my own, sometimes it's frustrating depending on the clientele, but basically I..."

Casey finished his sentence, "Say no more, you're enjoying yourself."

Mobius nodded, "That's right, I'm also my own master and all in all it works out pretty well."

Casey toasted with his drink can, "I'm happy for you."

"Mind you, I bought a house.."

Casey's eyes widened, "So your business is actually doing really well."

Mobius chuckled, "I mortgaged up my underwear. But I don't regret it."

Casey took a sip of beer and asked him, "You never regretted leaving TK?"

Mobius shook his head, "Even though I know you like working there, this big conglomerate was not for me. When we wanted to create it, it was to give everyone access to quality watches at a fair price, but Ravonna got lost in the process. Does she ever ask about me?"

Casey shook his head, "She's too busy making money, and I don't think she likes me, I thought she was going to fire me today, because I didn't sell enough watches."

"Don't worry, you know her tantrums, she'll be like she used to be tomorrow."

They continued the evening, chatting happily.

Mobius offered to drop Casey off at his house before heading home.

"If you don't mind, I'd just like to mail a letter before I leave."

He parked his pickup around the street corner and walked, looking for an address.

He said aloud, "105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village."

Casey, who had followed him, asked, "What is it?"

Mobius looked around, puzzled, and replied, "I'm not sure."

"Who lives there?" inquired Casey, curious.

"I don't really know."

Mobius checked three times, but he was in the right place. Except there was only a recently dug foundation, no habitable building.

He took the piece of paper out of his pocket. The last letter from Loki. The return address was correct: 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village

Mobius stared at the letter because he noticed something odd. It was dated March 31, 2021.

**********

Loki walked through the hallways of the school, examining the new letter from Mobius.

There must be a mistake, I tried to mail the letter in person, but there is no habitation at this address, it's just a foundation.

And the date is wrong too.

Loki, annoyed, scribbled a note and as soon as class was over, he went to put the letter in the box.

**********

In the house on the cliff, Mobius was reading the last letter received in his kitchen, leaning against the counter.

I received your last letter.

I don't know if you will get the answer, but I want to get to the bottom of it.

By the way, for some reason the mail is not getting through to me. I still have to drive here to get it.

Anyway, all this to say that I didn't make a mistake with the address.

I know where I live thanks! Ok, it's ugly, but it's not a foundation either.

And I'm not stupid either, it's 2021.

Mobius laughed at what seemed to him to be a foolish joke and continued reading.

Just out of curiosity: what year do you think it is?

**********

On his couch with a glass of wine in hand, Loki studies Mobius' latest note.

It's 2019

SO PLEASE STOP BULLSHITTING ME.

Loki laughed, incredulous. Croki looked at him.

He patted his head while thinking, before getting up and walking over to his dresser and from a drawer he pulled out a shoebox full of pictures.

He began to rummage through the photos. He came across a photo he had forgotten about, him as a younger man with his then girlfriend, Sigyn. They were in each other's arms, laughing, in love.

He looked at it for a second, then put it away and continued searching.

He finally found the photo he was looking for. It showed Loki and others, outside at night, wearing T-shirts and jeans, with snow falling around them.

He turned it over. On the back is a date printed by the developer: APRIL 3, 2019.

**********

The wind was blowing hard when Mobius arrived home to find the flag on the mailbox raised. Inside was a new letter from Loki. He picked it up and ran across the road, because the sky was really starting to darken.

While preparing his meal, he read the letter.

Since you don't believe me, I'll give you a little warning.

There was a bad flu in the spring of 2019.

I remember it because it snowed suddenly in early April and for a long time.

After that, everyone got sick.

Mobius rolled his eyes and looked at the calendar, today was April 2.

He continued to read.

So, my mysterious pen pal, if you really are where... or when... you say you are...

I hope you are getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of herbal tea and eating fruit to store vitamins.

Warm milk with honey is also effective. And above all, cover yourself well.

Mobius chuckled, "Snow, right."

He crumpled up the letter and went to throw it away.

As he opened the trash can, he suddenly began to sneeze.

After a few seconds, the realization fell on him and he turned back to the bay window.

A magnificent sight was displayed before his eyes, although the beauty left him indifferent, so shocked was he by the implication of what he saw.

It was snowing heavily.

Stunned by both the cold that was coming on and what had just happened, he went to bed and slept like a log.

The next morning, he went to the snow-covered mailbox, and after struggling with the flap, he quickly slipped in a letter and closed the box, almost as if he was afraid it would bite him. He pulled up the red flag.

**********

Same day - 2021

Loki opened the box, took out the letter from Mobius and then lowered the flag.

He pulled out the letter, which had only one line.

CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

Loki, with trembling hands, took a pen and answered, then put the letter in the box and raised the flag.

Same day, same place - 2019

Mobius stared at the snow-covered box whose flag had just been lowered and it began to scare him a little. Shaken by a sneeze he rolled into a ball and when he raised his head he saw that the flag was up again. He took a step backwards but after a few moments, curiosity being the strongest, he opened the mailbox with great hesitation and took out... his note. The same as the one he had just put there. Slightly disappointed, but also reassured, he sighed and relaxed.

But when he opened the note, he gasped.

CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

YES.

**********

April 5, 2021

Loki returned home, a little dazed.

Sensing that something was wrong with his owner, Croki followed him into the living room.

Loki took him in his arms and placed him next to him on the sofa. Croki put his head on Loki's knee and Loki patted his head absentmindedly.

Then Loki took a paper and began to write.

April 5, 2019

Mobius was on his bed, surrounded by used handkerchiefs and still having trouble believing the letter from Loki that had just arrived in the box.

The alligator, that had really taken up residence in his house, was lying at the foot of his bed.

I don't know about you, but I don't even know the right questions to ask. Can you tell me something that might shed some light?

Mobius wandered around the house, thinking, trying to find a connection, when he arrived at the front door and saw the alligator's tracks in front of the door.

He grabbed a piece of paper from the phone and scribbled quickly.

I think we have the same pet.

Let's do a little test, so that we don't always have to wait for the other to answer, let's meet on April 7th at 10am in front of the mailbox.

He went to put the letter in the mailbox. He raised the flag and went home to crawl under his comforter, exhausted by his cold and the emotions.

April 6, 2021

Loki got up early to drive to the house on the cliff, hoping that his mysterious pen pal had answered him.

His heart pounding, he saw the flag raised and ran to the box, opened it and grasped the small piece of paper with trembling fingers.

He answered and put the note in the mailbox.

Is it a dwarf alligator?

See you tomorrow then ;-)

April 7, 2019/2021 - 10:00 am

This is how, two years apart, an extraordinary letter exchange began, punctuated by the movement of a small flag on a mailbox.

M: Hello and yes it is an alligator.

L: Does it rub against your legs as soon as you come in and follow you around until it gets fed.

M: Yes.

L: I named him Croki.

Mobius looked at Croki at his feet and said, "Nice to meet you, Croki."

The little alligator rubbed at his feet as if it understood.

L: Perhaps we could introduce ourselves properly.

I'm Loki, you know that, and I've just arrived as a literature teacher in an institute for extraordinary students.

M: My name is Mobius. I make and repair antique watches. I have a little store called Miss Minute. This is the mascot of my store.

Loki giggled when he read the name of the store and saw the little drawing next to it. A small watch straight out of a 1950s design. It was actually kind of cute.

He took on a serious look as he read the following words.

M: Okay. I'm still trying to figure that out. If two years from now you're living in a building at 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village... that doesn't exist yet... where are you, uh, "now" in 2019?

L: I'm studying for my PhD in literature at the Brooklyn College of the Arts.

Loki stopped writing and looked around before continuing.

L: And now I'm corresponding in an extremely weird way with someone I've never met. Too, too , too weird!!!

M: What's it like in 2021?

L: It's great. Everyone is driving around in flying cars. We all wear metal colored suits and we all have super powers.

Mobius smiled at the joke before continuing to read.

L: Actually nothing has really changed. No. We're moving to 5G and Samsung and Apple are still competing as much as ever.

I'm going to have to leave, I have class this afternoon. I won't be able to make it for three days, my next day off.

But... one thing worries me. What if, by sending these letters, by communicating in this way, we are accidentally altering the course of time itself, thus changing human history forever?

Mobius reflected for a moment before answering.

M: You're right, let's not do that.

Mobius posted the letter and went into the house, Croki as usual rubbed at his feet and started following him around.

"Croki! That's enough!"

He took the alligator in his arms and placed it next to where it used to eat. "You wait here and stop following me."

For three days he repeated the same trick several times until Croki quietly waited actually near his bowl. He gave him a small piece of fresh fish to congratulate him, "Good boy.

Despite what they seemed to have decided, he then wrote a small note and went to put it in the mailbox, which he raised the flag. He just hoped that Loki would still come and check.

April 10, 2021

Loki read the letter again as he entered his apartment, having understood absolutely nothing.

Sorry, I did change one little thing.

Loki closed the door and while he expected to be almost knocked over by Croki who always came to slip between his legs, nothing.

He went to the kitchen and was surprised to see Croki waiting for him next to his eating place.

No need to thank me.

Loki laughed out loud in a way he hadn't in a long time.

**********

The next day, sitting in class waiting for the next students, he was still wondering how he could thank Mobius.

When suddenly appeared shyly on the doorstep, Kamala.

Which was strange, because the bubbly girl was anything but shy, and especially not with him.

Surprisingly, since she knew that he specialized in Norse mythology, she had become attached to him and it was not uncommon for her to linger at the end of a class to discuss with him some point of her reading on the subject.

Natasha and Loki's colleagues had told him that this was the first time since Kamala had arrived that someone had managed to channel her energy.

"Ahem Professor... Loki?" she wore her strange oversized red scarf as always.

"Loki will be enough as always, Kamala." replied Loki softly to her.

"Come in."

She walked over and put something on his desk.

"Um... I wanted to thank you, because you always take the time to answer me no matter when I come and no matter what my question is, so I made you this little something myself."

Loki, touched, unwrapped the small package, he took out a green scarf, obviously hand-knitted, whose workmanship looked a bit like the one the girl was wearing all the time.

He looked up and said in a soft voice tightened by emotion, "Thank you Kamala, that's very thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome! See you later." She left as always with her bouncy step.

Loki contemplated the scarf for long minutes, it had been a long time since anyone had had such a thoughtful gesture for him, and especially for something he had done.

"Congratulations professor."

He looked up at the owner of the voice that had pulled him out of his thoughts.

It was the gym teacher, Thor.

"What?"

"You are one of the chosen few who have the privilege of being among the people Kamala respects the most. She only gives this kind of personal gift to people she holds in high regard."

"Oh..."

Thor leaned against the doorframe.

"I came to invite you for tonight. We're having a movie night with colleagues, the ones you know, at the Bi-frost. Interested?"

A while ago, Loki would have refused, but tonight, perhaps because of Mobius or thanks to him, he decided to accept.

"I'll come, thanks for having thought of me. What movie?"

"You've got mail. After class we'll meet at the door and go together."

A few hours later, they were discussing the movie over beers and burgers. There was Heimdall, Thor, Bruce, Carol and even Natasha the principal.

Carol laughed at the main characters, "Honestly, it's really stupid this match,

falling in love over words, I'd go to her as soon as I knew who she was."

Loki squeezed Mobius' last letter into his pocket before speaking, "I find there is something pure about it. A correspondence, free from social barriers, appearances, free from the past...no need to worry about details. There's something exciting about it."

Loki didn't realize that they were all looking at him, surprised to see him showing so much passion.

Thor elbowed him, "Do you have someone in your life Lokes?"

"Hm?"

Natasha looked at him knowingly, "It's hard not to notice that you're writing or reading letters all the time."

Loki blushed slightly, "It's not that kind of relationship, although it's true I've never met him."

"Why?" asked Carol, curious.

"Let's just say it's... complicated."

Seeing that Loki didn't feel like talking about it, the others changed the subject and they continued to have a pleasant evening.

As he left for home later, Loki felt a pleasant warmth. For the first time in a long time, he no longer felt lonely.

He pulled Kamala's scarf tighter around his neck in the cool spring evening. Suddenly he knew how to do something for Mobius.

The next morning, he went to clothing stores in search of what he had in mind.

Three hours later, at the house on the cliff, he put a letter in the mailbox with a small package. He raised the little flag and headed back to town.

April 12, 2021

Mobius had just gotten up, and like every morning since the beginning of this strange correspondence, he went to check for mail and was pleasantly surprised to see the little flag up.

He returned a little later with a letter and a small package.

He opened the package and took out a black scarf adorned with small silver watches. He put it around his neck and sat down with a coffee in his armchair and started to read the letter.

Thank you for educating my little Croki. Here is a little gift to thank you.

Put this on and don't take it off for the rest of the month. It will be cold until the end of April.

Mobius tightened the scarf around his neck and smiled softly.

Mobius, I don't know if what we're doing will change the course of time, but what I am sure of is that it is affecting my life in a positive way, so I don't want to stop.

This connection I have with you has allowed me to reach out to others and for the first time since I left home, I don't feel lonely anymore.

I don't want to stop.

But if you want to, I will, all you have to to is to let me know about it.

In 3 days at 7am I'll come for your answer.

Yours, Loki.

_______

What will Mobius answer? Is he ready to continue this strange long-distance relationship... or rather long-term...? Answer in the chapter 3

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 (End)

As always, bear with me as it is not beta'd and english is not my native language I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless🥰

#Lokius fic #Lokius #alternate universe #no power #professor Loki #Watchmaker Mobius #based on the Lakehouse #developing relationship #penpal #moki #wowki

14 notes · View notes

ghostinthebau · 4 years

Text

Super Fanfic Rec List -- Iron Dad Edition (because I just wanna share the love)

I’ve had such a blast reading fanfic of the IronDad and SpiderSon variety over the last 6 months or so, and I thought I’d just make a rec list of some of my favorite stories. Most of them are angsty, with whump and hurt/comfort because that’s what I live for.

This is in no particular order or in any way complete because there’s just way too many amazing fics/authors in the Iron Dad fandom, but it will still be hella long, so....here goes!

First off, @yellowdistress:

What We Are series - Bio-dad Tony series that goes all the way through Infinity War. Endgame AU.

Someday I’ll Make it Out of Here series - Adoption AU! It’s so good.

The Missing 92 Days - A take on HYDRA Peter that destroyed me emotionally.

Reviving Peter Parker - This about killed me. Peter actually died during his fight with Toomes and SHIELD brings him back a la the TAHITI project like they did with Phil Coulson.

A Sailor Went to Sea - Gut-wrenching Endgame fix it.

Double, Double

@losingmymindtonight:

Webcams and Webshooters series

I Never Lived ‘Til I Lived In Your Light series - !!! TISSUE WARNING !!! Peter dies, but there’s another one shot with a happier ending if you need it.

And You’ll Blow Us All Away - Adoption fic! A lovely one at that.

5 Times Peter’s Mental Illness Made Him Stumble And The 1 Time He Refused To Falter - I really love a well-depicted take on mental illness, and losingmymindtonight delivered 100%.

If You Can’t Catch A Breath (You Can Take The Oxygen Straight Out Of My Own Chest)

Cyanide? In My Shawarma?

@justme--emily:

The Guardian - Adoption AU with a lovely Loki and Peter friendship!

Radioactive - Peter endures the after effects of the spider bite, and scares bio-dad Tony to death. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

The Good Fight - Peter gets hurt at the airport in Germany instead of Rhodey.

@iron--spider:

ever in your favor - Hunger Games AU and an epic work of art!

Lazarus, come forth - The Endgame fix it before Endgame. Peter will break your heart.

dear mr. fantasy

this isn’t a game - Highly underrated fic based off the PS4 Spider-Man game. I’ve never even played the game, and I loved this story.

what if there is no tomorrow? - This story actually made me kinda like Justin Hammer, if you can believe it.

blindness

@tempestaurora:

hydra’s not a home series - HYDRA Peter, and also bio-dad Tony and bio-mom Pepper!

i’ll find you in the drift - Pacific Rim AU, and I have never seen PR, but I adored this so much.

it’s okay, we’re okay [whumpvember 2018] series

@jolinarjackson:

Lights To Guide You Home series - Another adoption AU. They are my weakness, and this is one of the best out there.

... and when you can’t crawl ...

Damaged At Best (Like You’ve Already Figured Out)

@blondsak:

No Life But This

come morning light (you and I’ll be safe and sound)

Burying Grounds - Eeeek! Tony has to choose between saving Peter or Pepper and it hurts.

hold on, hold on

Something the Soul Needs

@madasthesea:

turn back the clock (and I’ll try again in the morning)

when my body won’t hold me anymore (where will I go)

They have so many other lovely looking fics--including an adoption au series (which I, of course, love), but I just haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. I’m pretty sure anything they write is golden. :)

@signofuncertainty:

It’s Always the Little Things

I’m sure their other fic, The Third Option, is fantastic and I really, really wanna read it but I’m trying so hard to wait until it’s complete! It’s really difficult to wait, though, tbh....I may give in soon.

@upcamethesun:

Twelve Days Of Peter Parker - So cute and fluffy, and then it kills you at the end.

5 Times Peter Made Tony Laugh Out Loud

5 Times Tony Didn’t Need To Worry About Peter

5 Times Peter Pretended To Be Tougher Than He Was

@frostysunflowers:

Between how it is and how it should be - This story made me love a Peter and Bucky friendship.

@kitcat992:

Identity Theft - This was one of the very first Iron Dad fics I read, and it was a doozy. Full of whump, medical accuracy, and hurt/comfort! The author is posting a sequel now, too: Identity Crisis. :D

For Pete’s Sake!

@camelot-queen:

Goner - A perfectly heartbreaking kidnapping fic, but heed the warnings!

Who Saves The Hero

Never Meet Your Heroes

i’m the satellite (and you’re the sky) - Tony is Peter’s bio-dad but Peter doesn’t know it. I haven’t actually finished this yet, but it’s good. So, so good.

@peter-stank:

built from scraps - YOU GUYS, this is one of the best fics I’ve read on AO3. It’s a ‘Tony gets dusted instead of Peter’ AU, and it’s got such an amazing dynamic between Peter, Pepper, and Morgan. It’ll also make you tear up a few times, at least.

@geekymoviemom:

Sins of the Fathers - So, I’ve only read the first 5 chapters of this epic length (303k words@) adoption AU so far, but I’m LOVING it so I wanted to add it here. They also have an even longer bio-dad Tony with added Stony bonus series, Pieces of Echoes, that they’re posting the 3rd installment to right now. I’ll definitely be checking it out!

@too-many-bees:

let’s kick it

like a bridge over troubled water

@jbsforever:

it’ll be over (and I’ll still be asking when)

@tnyystark:

where the memories reside

@whumphoarder:

Quieting the Void series - Peter kinda has an eating disorder due to the spider bite, so take care if you read!

Poison Apple - Loved how medically accurate this was, and Ned’s reaction to Peter’s condition was heartbreaking.

@seek-rest:

It Hurts to Become

Someday We’ll Know - This is a Walk to Remember AU, so there’s MCD. I’ve gotten about halfway through, but I can only read it when I’m in the right mindset. But it’s lovely and so well done.

This author has so many fics that I’m sure are amazing, and they’re on my ‘to read’ list when I’m in the mood for beautiful Spideychelle stories.

@caraminha:

The Primary Reason Tony Stark Would Throw Down With an Anti-Vaxxer in the Street - Hella scary depiction of Peter with tetanus, and it’s SO GOOD.

@tonystarkstan:

it all comes back to this

skeletons series

to build a home series - I love recovery fics, and this was a beautiful story of Peter dealing with the aftermath of being snapped and coming back.

lay your weary head to rest

@foolscapper:

Exploding Head Syndrome - Everyone comes back when the snap is reversed, but Peter is sort of catatonic--stuck between the living world and the soul stone where he’s with Gamora. It’s such a lovely fic.

@alice-in-ink:

It’s a Little Bit We Do

Danger Pizza

@legalassie:

oh, darling - Peter’s kidnapped and Tony frantically searches for him--one of my favorite things. Peter uses his smarts to help him get out of the situation, too, which is also one of my favorite things.

don’t think about tomorrow.

@blackwatchandromeda:

Broken Thoughts (I Remember Everything)

Leave Me to Dream

A Nightmare to Remember

@emma--anacortes:

Accepting the Tides - Here I am with another adoption AU. Can you see a pattern yet? I love them, and this one has danger and whump and comfort as well.

@ardenskyedarcy221b:

they are standing in the garden - This hurt. Several times the author had me tearing up and there’s a few lines that will stay with me forever. It was just immensely lovely to read.

@iamallyetnotatall:

At the Start of the Universe - This was so much better than I was expecting! Peter is an Angel, and he knows Tony from the very beginning of the universe. It’s different, but absolutely gorgeous.

@starktowr:

somewhere outside my life - I don’t wanna say too much, but just read this. It’ll break you and you’ll love it.

@jessicagoddamnjones:

too bad (but it’s the life you lead)

@silver-bubbles:

The Fire’s Out (But Still It Burns)

@day-dreamer176:

Like A Strike of Lightning - I kinda took this as a demonic possession a la Supernatural, but I don’t think it actually was. Either way, it was fantastic.

fifty-four

five, tops

The World Stopped

@ambivalentmarvel:

Into His Fold series - Where Thanos brings Peter back from the ashes to make him into his new son (a la Nebula and Gamora).

@notaparty-trick:

Doom and Gloom - A ‘Peter doesn’t get dusted’ AU, filled with whump and Iron Dad and an awesome Carol Danvers. Angst!!!

Dust and Blood - Peter is hurt much worse when Toomes drops the building on him. More angst!!!! This author does angst very well.

@ema--vee:

You don’t have to hold your head up high - Peter can’t thermoregulate! I love that trope.

@forensicleaf:

All the Things We’ve Lost (And All the Things We’ve Gained) - This one gutted me, and then made it better. But there’s pain to be had before the comfort!

They just posted the first chapter of a new WIP that looks AMAZING, too: Can’t Part the Sea, Can’t Reach the Shore.

@plnkblue:

foolish, fragile spine - Peter’s severely injured in his fight with Adrian Toomes and Tony finds him.

@helloitisiafellowgay:

god did not craft us as altars, but as dying gods - Okay, guys. This one is heavy. It deals with Skip coming back into Peter’s life, and it’s not pretty but it’s handled superbly. It’s a tough read, but one I definitely recommend if you can handle it. Take care of yourselves first and foremost, though. <3

~ ~ ~ I’m not sure if the following authors have a tumblr, so I just linked their AO3 pages ~ ~ ~

eccentric_artist_221b:

Only for a Little While - This is a Titanic AU, and it’s AMAZING. There’s several scenes that just took my breath away and brought me to tears (not an easy feat). They’re also working on a WWI sequel!!!!

tiaylasglass:

the one who made it out - Short, simple in a gorgeous way, and poignant.

And finally, I thought I’d humbly add my own little contribution to the fandom. So far, I’ve only written the one fic, but I hope to write more in the future!

@ghostinthebau:

For Want of a Dad (in need of a son) - There’s a bit of blood, and a very distraught Tony at one point, so warning for angst and injury!

Again, this list is probably severely lacking, and if someone has a rec that’s not on here please please please reblog this and let me know! I’m always in the mood for more fics.

And I hope anyone reading this finds something they enjoy!

I’m sure you will.

ilu 3,000

2K notes · View notes

gotmymindsetonyou · 3 years

Text

The Best and Worst Things About Each MCU Movie

These are all just my stinky opinions. You are allowed to disagree, you are allowed to agree. Most of these are jokes anyway. I’m honestly just happy you’re reading this. Minor Spoilers Ahead!

Iron Man (2008) -

Best: This movie almost perfectly sets the tone for the entire universe that has at that point yet to have been created. Looking back, you can imagine the feeling of “Where are they going to go from here?” and I think that’s one of the most important things that this movie needed to accomplish.

Worst: What the fuck is Jeff Bridges doing? What’s his endgame here? I get he’s trying to take over Stark Industries but how’s he gonna do that from inside that giant metal suit he uses to kill people inside their cars?

Incredible Hulk (2008) -

Best: Tim Roth is in it and I think that is pretty cool.

Worst: I haven’t actually seen it, but the cgi looks god awful, what the hell.

Iron Man 2 (2010) -

Best: Sam Rockwell is so goddamn annoying in this movie and I think that’s amazing, he’s such a little stinker.

Worst: I remember basically nothing else about this movie except some guy talking about birds, idk.

Thor (2011) -

Best: It introduces Loki, probably one of the most beloved villains in the entire franchise.

Worst: This movie is so goddamn boring and it’s my least favorite and I hate it. Don’t @ me.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) -

Best: The first good chunk of this movie is actually a really compelling character study on Steve Rogers and what makes him a good man. Seeing him basically being paraded as this propaganda figure and watching him struggle with this is one of the most compelling things about him as a person. Really wish they kept this up for the entire movie.

Worst: The red skull is really boring guys. He’s red, that’s it. Give me something else to work with man.

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) -

Best: This movie proved that you can have a superhero team up with this many people and have it fucking work. It doesn’t matter if you hate or love this movie, you cannot deny the effects it has on the genre.

Worst: It’s shot like a bad CW show. It looks so ugly.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Best: This one is actually my favorite of the bunch. Exploring the question of what makes Iron Man, the suit or the person, is shown really well here. I thoroughly dig it.

Worst: That scene where Harley flip flops about whether or not he really knows Tony makes me so irrationally angry.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Best: It’s slightly better than Thor, and I actually can feel myself start to have a good time whenever Loki’s on screen.

Worst: Once again, this movie is insanely forgettable. Christopher fucking Eccleston is in this movie and I could not tell you a single thing about this character.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) -

Best: This movie has one of the best hand-to-hand fight scenes in the entire MCU. You know the one I’m talking about. It gives me chills, I love it.

Worst: Having the government stand-in that Steve questions in the beginning of the movie actually be a front for N*zis that he can just beat up, and not an actual metaphor for the issues with the government today? You ain’t slick.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014) -

Best: This is the mcu movie basically anyone can enjoy. Anybody can watch this movie and find something to love about it. The characters, the messages about family and learning to be okay with feeling love, the jokes, hell, even the space setting. THE MUSIC. It’s the full package baby.

Worst: Chris Pratt has an unfortunate cameo in this one.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) -

Best: I have a couple of things. A) The party scene where we get to watch the Avengers talk and be friends with each other and act like people. B) I love James Spader no matter what he is doing.

Worst: Why is everyone quipping? Why is the robot quipping? Why would they massacre my boy like that?

Ant-man (2015) -

Best: I want Paul Rudd to marry me, best dad in the mcu.

Worst: The moment Edgar Wright left this project.

Captain America: Civil War (2016) -

Best: Introduces two great characters, Spider-man and Black Panther. These two get a lot of love when it comes to designing their characters in this movie and it makes me very happy.

Worst: It made the fandom very unhappy and I don’t like picking sides. It feels like watching your many parents get divorced for two hours.

Doctor Strange (2016) -

Best: The magic looks really fucking cool in this movie. Also, the ending with Dormammu is up there for one of my favorite endings of an mcu movie. Having Doctor Strange actually outsmart the villain instead of actually fighting him is endlessly more satisfying.

Worst: Could not tell you a thing else about this movie other than I heard Tilda Swinton plays a character that’s probably not supposed to be white.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) -

Best: Guys, I gotta come clean about something. I actually like this one better than Volume 1. I know, I know, a good majority of people do not feel this way, but I feel a lot more emotionally attached to the movie, and that’s mainly because of two characters: Yondu Udonta and Rocket Racoon. Rocket realizing that he’s an asshole but his found family still loves him gets me, man. I can’t help it. Helps that Ego is a great villain as well. Also the cinematography is some of the best in the mcu.

Worst: No Howard the Duck.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) -

Best: I think the best thing about this movie is just the solidness of it all. No one part stands out as the best because most everything about this movie is pretty damn good. Michael Keaton will knock your socks off, go watch it.

Worst: Donald Glover is in it to tease a Miles Morales reveal, BUT NOTHING HAS HAPPENED ABOUT IT SINCE.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) -

Best: Taika Waititi knows how to do shit right, lemme tell ya. Taking away Thor’s hammer from the beginning was probably one of the smartest choices in the movie, and this is a movie of smart choices.

Worst: Jeff Goldblum isn’t in it more.

Black Panther (2018) -

Best: Erik Killmonger is easily the best villain in a Marvel movie, and you can quote me on that. An amazing performance from Michael B. Jordan. It’s also the first Marvel movie I saw in theatres (I know, I was very late to the game)

Worst: Everett K. Ross is CIA propaganda and the last fight scene on the train tracks looks like shit.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) -

Best: It’s really hard to sum up exactly what my thoughts are on this movie. I think one of the movie’s best qualities is the bigness of it. This movie feels huge, there’s a lot of different stuff to love here. If you like Wakanda, there’s a whole epic battle set in Wakanda. If you’re more a fan of the space stuff, we got a whole lotta space stuff. The best part of this movie is there’s probably gonna be something that everyone can enjoy packed in here.

Worst: I also think the bigness of this movie is also one of it’s larger weaknesses. Because there’s so much stuff in this movie, not all of it is fully fleshed out. Tony Stark gets a lot to do in this movie, but Steve Rogers sort of feels sidelined at parts. There’s a perfect balance that I don’t think was quite hit.

Ant-man and The Wasp (2018) -

Best: I still really love Paul Rudd in this movie, and I think his relationship with Cassie is still really cute. World’s Greatest Grandma indeed.

Worst: This movie really had its work cut out for itself, coming off the heels of Infinity War, so it sort of falls short in that respect. I don’t want to criticize it too harshly, it is what it is, nothing insanely memorable.

Captain Marvel (2019) -

Best: I still think this is a pretty good movie, despite what a lot of people think. I struggle a lot with believing that I have to prove myself to others, so having Carol finally realize that she doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone was really important to me, and probably a lot of other women.

Worst: There were parts where I wasn’t as engaged, like the scenes in the Kree empire. That made some of the movie feel off to me, it’s a bit unbalanced.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) -

Best: This movie 100% achieves what it sets out to do, and that is to be a huge cinematic event. I don’t even really see this movie as a movie, it’s more like one huge experience. My viewing had one of the most energetic crowds I’ve ever seen a movie with.

Worst: I don’t really think this movie holds up to multiple re-watches. Granted, I saw it in theatres three times. I don’t think any subsequent viewings are ever going to pack that same punch that my first viewing had, and that makes it harder to come back to. Also Steve had a totally lame ending.

Spider-man: Far From Home (2019) -

Best: After ending on such a downer note in the last movie, this felt like a weight being lifted off my chest. Jake Gyllenhaal gives an insanely energetic performance that I absolutely adore. (Also seeing it with my dad was fun, he would nudge me every time they switched locations to tell me he’d been there)(Also when I saw it with my sibling a kid ran out of the theatre during the Mysterio mind-fuck sequence, some just can’t handle that lifestyle)

Worst: Peter Parker and MJ remind me of how perpetually single I am.

#movie review #minor spoilers #mcu #marvel #marvel review

9 notes · View notes

ironhusbandsbingo · 3 years

Text

Time for roundup #2!

Title: Smells Like Teenage Drama Collaborator: Magica Link: AO3 Square Filled: I3 - Pepper Potts Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/Loki/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Rating: Teen Major Tags: Humour, Teenage Drama Summary: When you're a teenage superhero, it's bad enough to have one father figure, never mind two or three. Let alone five. Peter Parker would like to reiterate: he is not a child! Word Count: 2638

------------------------------------------

Title: War Machine Collaborator: fighting_for_creativity Link: AO3 Square Filled: G1 - Consequences Rating: Teen Major Tags: Soft Bois being Soft Summary: The whole 'acquiring a suit by any means' situation sucked big time. Good thing Rhodey knew where his loyalties ultimately lay. Also, pretending to steal something from Tony at least meant that Rhodey could spend some time with him beforehand. Word Count: 1131

------------------------------------------

Title: ‘Tis the Wind and Nothing More Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Square Filled: I3 - Poltergeist Rating: Teen Major Tags: fear, supernatural Summary: Some older students lure Tony to a house that's reputedly haunted... then lock him in. Word Count: 100

------------------------------------------

Title: The Art of Guarding a Genius Collaborator: InTheShadows Link: AO3 Square Filled: G1 - Pet Names Rating: G Major Tags: Bodyguards Bucky & Rhodey, Tony being Tony, implied Howard Stark's A+ Parenting Summary: Tony is bored. Tony is so bored and there is nothing to do in this stupid safe house except ignore his stupid bodyguards. He didn't want bodyguards to begin with, but did anyone listen to him? No. One little assassination attempt and they all freaked out and stuffed him here. Please. Just another day in the life of. But now he's here and he's bored and his not-so-stupid bodyguards are the only people who he has to interact with until this is over. Good thing they eventually hit on a way to keep him occupied. Word Count: 2618

------------------------------------------

Title: The Between Us Is Doomed - Chapter 2 Collaborator: Ducky, honestmischief Link: AO3 Square Filled: O2 - Dr. Doom I1 - Why Superheroes Make Bad Boyfriends Rating: M Major Tags: One-Sided Attraction Summary: Tony and Rhodey are happily married, but Doom keeps hitting on Tony. Rhodey suggests making a PowerPoint presentation to show Doom that Tony isn’t interested Word Count: 1576

------------------------------------------

Title: Untitled Collaborator: chel Link: Tumblr Square Filled: O4 - Disney AU Rating: G Major Tags: N/A Summary: Moodboard Word Count: N/A

------------------------------------------

Title: Don’t Ask Me Collaborator: half wheeze Link: AO3 Square Filled: G2 - Words Unsaid Rating: Teen Major Tags: MIT Era, Mutual Pining Summary: “What about you, Rhodes? You got a lady back home?” Word Count: 1814

------------------------------------------

Title: I’m Out of Gas and You Need a Jacket Collaborator: J_Gun_l, honestmischief, Ducky Link: AO3 Square Filled: O1 - Out of Gas - J_Gun_l, O1 - Camping - Ducky, O3 - Cows - Honestmischief Rating: Teen Major Tags: N/A Summary: Tony and Rhodey must camp out in a field after they run out of gas on a road trip. They get an unexpected visitor in the morning. Word Count: 1816

------------------------------------------

Title: Who Do You Want Me to Be? Collaborator: ceealaina Link: AO3 Square Filled: G3 - Guilt Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Friends to Lovers, Pining, Pre-Iron Man 1 Summary: It's the early 90s and Rhodey's just returned stateside with a shiny new promotion. So of course Tony turns up like a one-man USO troupe to help him celebrate. And all of a sudden Rhodey's seeing Tony in a whole new light. Word Count: 7908

------------------------------------------

Title: I See Your True Colours - Chapter 4 Collaborator: MagicaDraconia16 Link: AO3 Square Filled: B5 - Fake Dating Rating: Teen Major Tags: Fluff, Humor, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining Summary: In a fit of wishful thinking, James Rhodes tells his mom that he and Tony Stark are dating. He then tells Tony that his mom thinks they're dating (because, duh, he told her so). Surprisingly, Tony actually agrees to play along with this. It's going to be an absolute disaster. ...Isn't it? Word Count: 5565

------------------------------------------

Title: Spend the Night Right Here With me Collaborator: halfwheeze Link: AO3 Square Filled: O2 - Dog Rating: Gen Major Tags: Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship, MIT Era Summary: Tony and Rhodey spend the night after finals cuddling and watching Aristocats together. Platonically. Right. Word Count: 1027

------------------------------------------

Title: The Party Don’t Start Till I Walk In Collaborator: honestmischief Link: AO3 Square Filled: B1 - Hypnosis Rating: Teen Major Tags: Mind Control, Head Injury Summary: When Loki was unable to control Tony with the scepter, he found another man in a metal suit of armor to take his place. Word Count: 2096

------------------------------------------

Title: Tony’s Type_Bad Boys Collaborator: J_Gun_i Link: AO3 Square Filled: G3 - Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier Rating: Teen Major Tags: WinterIronHusbands, Pre DoomWinterIronHusbands, Crack(ish), canon typical violence, Doom is persistent Summary: Tony had come to terms with his uncanny ability to attract the attention of villains, or wannabe bad boys. During his years in MIT he had his fair share of wrong choices and even Rhodey to some extent had been a bad boy. Their friend Carol had loved to tease them with the song ‘Uptown girl’ in which clearly Tony had been the uptown girl.Then the Winter Soldier happened and then... well and then Doom. Word Count: 1768

------------------------------------------

Title: Is This Love? Collaborator: ceealaina Link: AO3 Square Filled: G2 - Mutual Pining Rating: Teen Major Tags: pre-SamSteve, Mutual Pining, Fluff and Humor Summary: ‘Tony wasn’t looking at him though, or at the speaker. His gaze was fixed through the glass windows and into the hallway beyond where the military delegation had just arrived, among them Colonel Rhodes. “Oh my god,” Tony breathed, staring at him. “He’s so hot.”'

Steve's stuck in the world's longest debrief and, to make matters worse, he's stuck beside Tony who won't stop waxing poetic about his husband. Word Count: 1531

------------------------------------------

Title: Take That Howard! Collaborator: Ducky Link: AO3 Square Filled: B1 - Maria Stark Rating: Gen Major Tags: N/A Summary: When Howard and Maria accidentally time travel to the present, Rhodey wastes no time letting the elder Stark know what he thinks of him. Word Count: 1322

------------------------------------------

Title: Little Hearts Collaborator: cami-chats Link: AO3 Square Filled: G4 - Post-It Notes Rating: Gen Major Tags: Post-Iron Man 1, Established Relationship, Fluff, Post-it Notes, Ficlet Summary: Jim knew that Tony was more effected by what happened with Iron Man and Stane than he wanted to admit. He tried to remind Tony that he was there for him whenever he needed it by leaving little notes around for him. Word Count: 563

------------------------------------------

#ironhusbandsbingo #ironhusbandsbingo2020 #roundup

2 notes · View notes

phantomchick · 4 years

Text

Tony Stark Fic Recs

Burning Candles - by kerravon Hurt/comfort, exhaustion, concussions, hurt tony, steve is a bro, nick fury being morally shady, the avengers! Summary: A few months have passed since the Avengers fought the Chitauri, and the team is coming together, except for Tony, who seems to be coming apart. At first, Steve assumes that he's just being irresponsible and annoying, but then JARVIS clues him in.

Fifth Time Lucky - by Arkada oneshot, fluff, this fic is short, sweet and a lot of fun. Well worth the read. Summary: Tony Stark has five soulmates, but he gave up on finding any of them a long time ago.

Hide A Heart Of War - by RayShippouUchiha Tony Centric 2 chapter fic. Flower soul mark au. EXCELLENT ANGST. Lots of feels, there’s also a slow burn romance in the background. Rhodey is a good bro. Loving all the descriptions of the soulmarks. Summary: “You’ve got war in your heart boy,” Howard sneers, “don’t ever try and pretend to be anything but what you are.” Tony feels the familiar burn of a flower mark being etched into his skin but he doesn’t look, doesn’t try and check to see what it is. Instead he keeps his eyes on Howard and his hands cupped around his bleeding mouth and nose.

The (Not So) Great Pretender - by RayShippouUchiha Complete, secret identities, tony/bucky which i don’t usually ship but hey this author really makes it worth it. Oblivious Avengers. Hilarious but also angsty? Summary: Basically no one believes Tony when he tells them he’s Iron Man so he’s just... reluctantly keeping his secret identity going? It’s super funny.

To Victor Goes the Spoils - by tisfan Tony Stark/Victor von Doom, 10 chapters, complete, secret identities. Summary: In which Doom finds himself at a super hero masked ball... and gaining the attentions of the handsome and charming Tony Stark...Just one dance... just one kiss... before Doom unleashes his evil plot. Backstory: I accidentally stumbled on this doom x iron man fic so i thought i’d read it for laughs but then the fic itself was really good and I was suckered into shipping it. Now I’m in rarepair hell. The end.

Iron Man Yes, Tony Stark...Not Recommended - by lilsmartass Gen. Complete. 9 chapters. Angst, lots of angst. Hurt/comfort. Unintentional bullying. Rhodey is the captain of the tony stark defence squad. AND HE WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE. Summary: Clint and Steve have both seen Natasha’s report on Tony and expect him to be a certain way. With Pepper now out of the picture, Bruce in India and Thor is Asgard they have no one to show them just how wrong first impressions can be.

That Which Kills Us - by Ironlawyer Ultimates!verse, steve/tony, oneshot, internalised homophobia, Tony is not a good patient. Summary: Sometimes Tony hates being alive as much as he hates dying. Trying to juggle duties to The Ultimates and a terminal illness isn’t exactly easy. Throw in an irate Steve Rogers and things just get too damn complicated.

Doomed To Failure - by DobbyRocksSocks Oneshot, excellent content, i read this fic and then i had to sit in my chair and be like ‘whoa’ for a while. This au is very well done! Summary: Everyone is born with their soulmate on one wrist, and their mortal enemy on the other. What do you do when it's the same person?

Say Goodbye to Yesterday - by melonbutterfly 4 chapter fic, complete, time loop, team building, alien invasion. time travel is a trope i keel over for this you must learn. Summary: The day after the invasion Tony wakes up and his tower is intact again; everything is exactly the way it was before this whole mess went down.

Don't Bet Against the House - by AlexTheShipper 2 chapter fic, complete, protective Jarvis, team dynamics, fluff Summary: In which jokes about the arc reactor are not taken lightly, not by JARVIS who will never again sit trapped in his servers as someone attempts to kill Sir.

From A to Z - by Rachel500 26 chapter fic.Complete. Very very good, *sips fruit juice out of my champaigne glass* a classic of the genre! I’m a sucker for time travel as a trope, pair that with fixing the disaster that was the mcu chronology? BUDDY I’M SOLD.\ Summary: “OK, hypothetically, you get sent back in time one year. Does that make a difference?” Strange asked. “Two? Three? Could you live through the worst experience of your life again to preserve enough of the timeline to continue? Could you stand aside and let someone you love live through a bad experience in their life?” “OK. I get it. Bad idea.” Tony smirked at Strange to cover for his unease. “So. Plan B?” Strange grinned but there was a serious glint in his eyes. “How about we make it plan Z?”

Acceptable Risk Is Not - by izumi2 Super bamf tony, oneshot, Maria Hill redemption arc. Captain america the winter soldier. Not steve friendly but this can be blamed on the plot of the movie making zero sense with hindsight. Summary: what if someone considered an alternate solution to the data drop? THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE FICS FOR REASONS SO PLEASE TRY IT.

The Course of Reason - by Infie Oneshot, aftermath of captain america civil war, Carol Danvers is a relateable ho whom I stan, the saltiest of all possible responses to that film. YESSSS. This is it. The fic that finally knocked me over the edge onto the civil war team iron man side of the fence. BEHOLD. It’s greatness. Summary: The UN has asked Tony to discuss their options with the Fugitive Avengers. It does not go the way they expect it to.

Uncompromising Principles - by Kizmet 19 chapter fic, it’s completed and it’s very well done, legal drama, Tony/Pepper, Steve is... a good person who made mistakes, he’s trying anyway, i can’t say more without spoilers, but it’s A Ride, like you’ll read this and it’ll make you have Feelings and Thoughts and it’s very clever in how it goes about making those Feelings and Thoughts happen. Captain America: civil war aftermath fic. Summary: After leaving Siberia Captain America begins his plans to overturn the Accords. But not all is as it seems.Not compliant with the end of "Civil War".

To intervene - by apathyinreverie Currently at 15 chapters, ongoing, a lot of fun, tony stark has a heart, tony and rhodey, civil war team iron man, mutant kind, pro accords. Summary: The one where Rhodey stages an intervention after the whole Ultron fiasco.

Veni, Vidi, Amavi - by Maedlin Treat yo’self. It’s a Time travel fic. ONE OF THE BEST: Bamf Tony Stark, Bamf Jarvis, Palladium Poisoning, Complete, 26 chapter fic, but you’ll wish it was longer by the time you’re done. (Luckily there’s an ongoing sequel series to enjoy!) THIS FIC IS SUPREMELY GOOD! And HEAVY on the Jarvis love! DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR AND TRY IT SERIOUSLY YOU WON’T REGRET READING THIS. Highest of recs goes to this. Summary: (We came, we saw, we loved.) Tony's not the hero type. To suggest otherwise would be outlandish and fantastic, clearly. Yet somehow, he's the one that's responsible for saving the universe. Now, he's a decade in the past. He's just revealed to the world he's Iron Man. Tony finds himself facing dozens of old problems, and as time passes the ripple effect of his presence generates ever more new issues. All the while, the impending threat of Thanos looms ever-closer.

With One More Try (Can We Start Again) - by Infinite_Monkeys 5 Chapter fic, and it’s Completed. Time travel fix it, not strictly tony stark-centric but still a firm fave, A masterpiece. Definitely in my top 5 time travel fics and i’ve read a LOT so that’s saying something! Contains: That Good Loki Content. Summary: Loki's attempt to conquer Earth has, to his great dismay, succeeded spectacularly. When Thanos sends him to collect the Time Stone, he strikes a deal with the Stone's keeper: He'll be sent back to the beginning of the invasion, and this time, armed with knowledge about his opponents, he can lose properly. Or: a time loop fic in which Loki does increasingly desperate things to try and get the Avengers to defeat him already.

(Science) Bros before (HYDRA) Hoes - by Kizmet Tony is the captain of the Bruce Banner defence squad, Legal Shenanigans, It’s marked as Ongoing but what’s there is satisfying enough on its own I promise, basically a huge callout for Johannesburg, Hulk deserves a hug. Summary: The Hulk isn’t taken from the planet after AoU, there’s no one conveniently out of reach to take the fall for Johannesburg… A choice is going to have to be made: Wanda or the Hulk.

A Larger Matter - by TheSovereigntyofReality Oneshot. Consequences! The ‘Steve’s blood’ scene in the agent carter tv show always pissed me off so this fic was uh Cathartic shall we say, but honestly you can read it and have it make perfect sense even without having seen the show, Howard Stark, teenaged Tony, Team Stark. Woohoo. Summary: When Peggy Carter tipped out Steve's blood, she had no idea the hornet's nest she just kicked.

Who in their Right Mind... - by AnonEhouse Crackfic, Oneshot Summary: Dum-E saves the universe

Catching Butterflies - by GremlinSR Ongoing, 6 chapters and counting, very very good content, like you wouldn’t think so from the summary which is a little bland but it’s actually very very good. Believe me when I tell you: It contains The Good Stuff. Time Travel fix it, Bamf Tony Stark, Bamf yet confused T’Challa. Summary: Tony snaps his fingers...and wakes up five days before the events that led to the death of JARVIS and the creation of Ultron. He decides he won't let the future he lived come to pass, no matter how thoroughly he has to destroy the timeline.

The War is Far From Over Now - by Dont_call_me_Carrie Ongoing, 40 dhapters and counting, this fic is clearly the author’s baby and they put so much work into it so watching it grow is a pleasure. Protective Jarvis, Protective Stark Industries Employees who like their boss. Rhodey is a good Bro, Awesome Pepper Potts. Fix it via Accidental World Domination. Summary: In which Tony does not, in fact, intend to take over the world.... unfortunately, everyone else missed that particular memo.

Can I Quote You On This? - by Wix Oneshot, Mcu critical, Avengers Critical, salty, extremely salty. Uncovering Plot Holes is easy when the road’s full of them. Summary: Christine was sent in to just do a puff piece about the Avengers. What she uncovers instead is so much more interesting.

Strong Enough to Bend - by Kizmet Oneshot, salt and shade, tony stark & steve rogers, the author has Opinions about mcu steve so if that’s not your thing i wouldn’t rec it, not steve friendly? Summary: Steve ‘watches’ the videos on Tony Stark that Shield provides him with

Take that Away and What are You? - by Kizmet Oneshot, kidnapping, bamf tony stark, not steve friendly, I love this fic Summary: Tony and Steve get kidnapped. Since Tony’s wearing a tux, Steve figures it’s all up to him to get them out of this mess. Steve never really thought much about the conditions under which Tony built the Mach I.

Facing the devil (and the deep, blue sea) - by petroltogo Oneshot, au, not steve friendly, steve isn’t a good person in this fic, but it’s juicy, soulmate au, soulmarks Summary: Alternate title: No obvious truth Post-CACW: In an alternate universe where everyone has the name of their soulmate and the name of their greatest enemy written on their wrists, recently captured ex-Avenger Steve Rogers receives an unexpected visitor two days before the start of his trial. [The trick is figuring out which name is tied to which fate.] [The trick is realising you’ll never know.]

Asking Why - by Kizmet Oneshot. the relief and catharsis of logic. Nat, Hill, Cho, Rhodey and Pepper sit Tony down to talk about what led to the creation of Ultron. Scapegoating is stupid: The Fanfic edition. Summary: Applying analytical techniques in the aftermath of Ultron

#Tony Stark Fic Rec List #tony stark #fic recs #tony stark fic recs #Iron Man #Fic Rec List #Tony Stark has a heart fic recs #Iron Man fic recs #Avengers #Civil War Team Iron Man fics #warning i am very much pro civil war team iron man so some of these fic skew that way #i tagged for it #but as the marvel fandom can be pretty vicious #i'd like to say once and for all don't send me anon hate for reccing the fics that pick a side #don't like don't read #these are just fics I happen to like PERSONALLY

36 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 5 years

Text

the endgame reaction post

I know you’ve all been waiting for it. It’s 3:30 am right now so this may not be totally coherent and I’m almost certainly going to forget things, but here goes.

HERE BE SPOILERS. LIKE, PLENTY O SPOILERS.

I went into this movie with one main question and that was “is Marvel going to stick the landing on what they did in Infinity War?” my answer?

sort of. I...didn’t dislike it? I liked parts of it a lot. but mostly my reaction, frustratingly enough, is kind of a “shrug, with a few ‘into it’ and a handful of ‘oh no thanks.’ I cried a couple different times but overall my emotional response is very...muted.

this could be a function of my being depressed right now, but I also think it’s because this movie...just didn’t hit the right notes, for me. it did a lot of things right, technically, and it had a lot of character moments, but it felt...I don’t know, something indefinable was missing for me.

I’m going to try to unpack that later, but let’s break things down a little.

the good

NEBULA, oh my god, Nebula in this movie was fantastic. her moments with her younger self (I’m always going to be here for older/younger self confrontations with characters with her specific brand of issues) especially, but also...in general, I felt like this movie did very well by her. and ohhhh god “you can change” “he won’t let me” my feelings.

i’m gay for Carol’s new hair and that’s that.

WAS THAT A FUCKING FLYING HORSE? WHERE DID VAL GET A FLYING HORSE. IS THERE A FLYING HORSE FARM IN NEW ASGARD

Thor and Frigga’s conversation. I...did not like almost anything else having to do with Thor in this movie (more on that later, and I know everyone and their mother has already written about this), but that conversation was...so lovely, and I’m glad Frigga got that after her fridging in The Dark World, and the “I was raised by witches” line obscurely delighted me.

this is the SECOND time we’ve seen Loki transforming into Steve onscreen and I’m just saying that Loki being obsessed with Steve? #confirmed

also, Loki taking advantage of chaos to bolt with the Tesseract is golden and while it is seriously unclear what happened to the timelines altered by intervention (more on this later too) I’m going to assume that this means there is at least one Loki out there having the time of his goddamn life

more on this later, but there were some great Natasha moments in this movie as far as character work, and I am still very into her “five years later” hair. also lots of good Clint and Natasha stuff like we haven’t seen since the first Avengers movie, so that was nice. (the arrow necklace!!)

while I have caveats about it, the ending they gave Steve was pretty much what I was expecting and the best I could hope for, so I think that’s a solid “good”

I have absolutely no caveats about Steve giving Sam the shield, and everything about that scene passing it on was delightful, and Steve and Peggy dancing made me cry, so there’s that.

STEVE’S WORTHY CAUSE OF COURSE HE IS

the whole concept of a time heist is super neat.

SO WE ALL SAW THAT A-FORCE TEAM SHOT, RIGHT? THAT’S SETTING US UP FOR AN A-FORCE TEAM, RIGHT?

wanda fucking wrecking thanos yes girl

the bad

the big obvious one first: the stuff with Thor. as a whole bunch of people have explained: it’s not the weight gain, it’s how his character change after the five year jump is treated. it’s the fact that roughly 75% of the character beats for him in this movie are weighted for humor, that even the emotional moment with Frigga is undermined by the “eat a salad” line, that while he gets moments with his grief they tend to be undercut for a laugh.

also the fact that he...doesn’t get anything back? I mean, while it’s true of Bruce to a certain extent, and obviously Natasha, Thor really doesn’t have any of his losses ameliorated. Tony gets Peter back, Steve gets his life with Peggy, and Thor...? I just...it feels like his character arc in this movie wasn’t, and I’m severely uncomfortable with how much of a fatphobic undercurrent (overcurrent?) it felt like there was in his scenes.

and while I love the idea of Queen Valkyrie, it doesn’t really feel earned, and feels like it shackles her to a role where she doesn’t really fit.

the final battle felt...tacked on. it felt like there was a feeling that “oh, we need an epic battle where there’s a whole army on both sides” and I...didn’t need that? it felt like a Lord of the Rings battle in my superhero movie and something about it felt very...mmm weird. I mean, I’m almost never one for Big Final Battles With Armies (with the major exception of the ones in Lord of the Rings) and it didn’t work for me here.

though I did enjoy “keep away with the Infinity Gauntlet”, that was a fun game.

Gamora and Nebula should have been given the chance to face Thanos again together at the very least, and preferably strike the killing blow. The fact that that was given to Tony...annoys me. I mean, I can see why they did it - they needed him to have a big hero moment for his big hero sacrifice, and it was emotionally effective (I assume, if you weren’t me), but...that victory should have belonged more principally to those two, and I’m disappointed that it didn’t.

so I guess all that “foreshadowing” in Loki’s death scene was...nothing? that was just...what it looked like? I mean okay I’m not surprised but I am disappointed

the ugly

SOMEONE DATE THOSE CARS IN THE END SCENE WITH STEVE AND PEGGY, HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN WORK, so, like, is that an alternate timeline? did Steve live a seriously down low undercover life with Peggy and that’s why it never came up that oh yeah, she was married to someone who looked exactly like Steve Rogers? how does this fit in with the Winter Soldier!Peggy? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

basically this movie did the time travel stuff but didn’t really think all of the time travel stuff through as much as it needed to, imo. time travel plots are hard, and messy, and very quickly get confusing, and this was definitely one where they were doing some “don’t look too close!” prestidigitation to keep the holes from showing.

but I’m thinking about it and the holes are showing and I want to know how this works, are the Disney+ shows going to be alternate timelines? I assume because Vision’s going to be in one? and if Sam’s still Falcon then he’s probably not Cap in that one? BUT I DON’T KNOW it’s all very confusing.

Natasha...Natasha. I was spoiled for her dying, though I didn’t know the circumstances, and I...gah. I wrote in my notes on my phone “I wanted Clintasha BUT NOT LIKE THAT” and that’s...kind of how I feel about it? I honestly thought she was safe, is the thing. of all the characters I was worried about, she wasn’t one of them. but in retrospect...I really should’ve been. if they’re trying to shuffle the original six out of the line up then...but I felt like “surely they won’t kill their only original female Avenger, surely the optics of that...” but no, nope.

and while she wasn’t fridged per se it did feel like a lot of the energy of her death went toward providing five male characters with angst, which... [squints]

...and now I’m thinking more and if it’s been five years then all of Peter’s friends should have graduated high school. or were they not going to high school? was school suspended for five years because of the apocalypse? are we going to get fallout from this in Far From Home?

I’M TELLING YOU THERE IS SO MUCH HERE THAT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE maybe it will moving forward but...I really don’t get how they’re going to sustain this five year jump forward timeline...

GUESS WE’LL FIND OUT

basically I think what I’m coming out of this movie with is “end of an era and that makes me emotional, also there is some stuff here I like but mostly....eh” and honestly I think I’m okay with that being where I land.

I said last year that I was going to hold off on my final verdict for Infinity War until I saw Endgame, because it seemed like they were, whatever they’d said, setting up a two movie arc. I thought there was some possibility that what they did in this movie might “save” Infinity War for me, or make me think it was worth it.

part of the reason I don’t feel like I can say Marvel did really stick the landing here is because it didn’t. they stuck a landing. they had, like I said, a lot of the pieces in the right place.

but I’m still feeling vaguely dissatisfied.

#endgame spoilers #avengers: forever after #a4 spoilers #AND NOW I'M GOING TO BED #jesus christ it is late

164 notes · View notes

ohmygoodnessgraciouss · 5 years

Text

Heist (Loki x Reader) Pt. VII - END

Masterlist

Let’s celebrate the release of Endgame on digital tonight with the final chapter to Heist.

Taglist:

@angelofasgard16 @it-jinxed-us @dark-night-sky-99 @pyrowolfgirl1408 @heartsxhoney @twhgirl @xavierwoodsxkofikingston @panda-duuu @nonsensicalobsessions @marisayouass

Loki jumped out of the way, hiding behind some parts from the ship. You took this as your chance to run over to him while everyone was distracted. "Loki!" You yelled at him.

He turned around, shocked to see you. He had millions of questions about all of this. "Y/N! How are you here?"

"It's a long story, and you're in big trouble, so listen. You can make illusions talk, right?"

He was confused by your question but answered anyway. "Yes, of course. I've learned to make them feel as real as possible. Why?"

Your eyes darted to where Thanos was quickly defeating Hulk. You didn't have a lot of time left. "Make an illusion of yourself. I'm not letting you face Thanos. Your illusion will delay him enough. Heimdall can get Hulk back to Earth so he can alert the Avengers."

It was like you were reading his mind. He knew Heimdall would at least try to get Banner back to Earth. He was planning on sacrificing himself so the others would stand a fighting chance. "What if it doesn't work?"

"Listen, do you trust me?"

"I trust you."

"Great. I know what happens. We don't win. Thanos snaps, and everyone you know dies. Everyone. So make the illusion and come with me if you want them to stand a fighting chance." You held your hand out for him to grab. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Ebony Maw grabbing the Tesseract and handing it to Thanos.

Loki's eyes widened as you finished your final sentence. He couldn't believe it. Could he trust you? The way you talked made him assume you were from the future. He wanted to trust you on this. Knowing it wouldn't end well for him anyway, he made his decision.

He took your hand in his, creating an illusion quickly. You pressed buttons on what looked like a watch to him. Lights lit up as a year was presented on it. 2023. Before he could even yell out, he was sent into a realm he did not know. "If I might interject," Would be the last thing the god would hear from 2018.

When you arrived back in 2023 with Loki, Bruce immediately turned to yell at you. "Where have you been?!"

"What do you mean where have I been? I was gone for maybe ten minutes," You calmly responded.

"You were supposed to return two and a half minutes ago."

"What?!"

"And Steve never made it back. He decided to stay in the past," He motioned towards where Sam and Steve were talking. It looked like Sam was holding the shield.

"It must've been because I brought Loki here." Loki was examining his surroundings. He didn't know what to make of it all. Bruce was the Hulk, but at the same time not the Hulk, and he was on Earth now. Captain America looked much older than he probably should, and who was the guy standing next to him?

"Where am I?" Loki decided to ask.

"Loki, welcome to the year 2023. Five years ago Thanos was able to find all six infinity stones and took out half of the universe. We killed him only a couple days after that. About a month ago we found a way to reverse the effects of the snap. Time travel. We brought back everyone and had to kill Thanos again." You shortly summarized it all.

Needless to say, the god had a lot of questions.

When you explained it all in detail to him, you had tears in your eyes. Recounting it all in great detail from the first snap to watching everyone take a knee as you lost Tony made it all real. Five years without Loki and having to admit everyone that you've lost was hard. Loki gripped your hand tightly as you told him the story, squeezing it every once in a while to try and comfort you.

"So, that's basically what you've missed," Your voice was shaky as you finished, "Or, what you wouldn't have seen if you stayed there."

Loki nodded, still trying to come to terms with all that happened. "What if this is how it was supposed to be all along?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember seeing you, five years ago. Well, now it would be ten years ago. You approached me the day my mother died. It was you from 2023. I wrote a letter to you that I gave to Thor. I remember seeing Thor back in 2013 as well. What if... what if in the other timelines, this same exact thing happens? In this timeline we're in right now, I didn't die."

"But that's not what Bruce said. His calculations and science was all correct, and it showed what the other timelines looked like." You were still trying to imagine it in your head anyway.

"No offense, love, but your science once believed that everything revolved around your planet."

"Fair enough," You admitted. "I guess it could be possible. It really doesn't matter though. There's someone who really needs to see you." You stood up from your chair on the porch of the lakehouse, holding your hand out.

Loki, understanding immediately, took your hand and stood. You led him through the house, passing a confused Pepper and Morgan, and going into the kitchen. There, Bruce and Thor were talking. Tony sat in a wheelchair with several wires connected to him. Not even harnessing enough energy to easily kill a single man thirty times over could stop him. Thor was chuckling at something Tony said and looked up to greet you. Before he could say anything, he noticed Loki and his smile dissipated. "Brother," Tears quickly filled his eyes as Loki smiled warmly.

Thor pulled him into a hug, nearly cutting off Loki's breathing. Loki, being his melodramatic self, used this to his advantage. "Brother, I can't breathe!" He choked out.

Thor loosened his grip ever so slightly, not caring if his brother didn't want any part of it. That didn't matter at all right now. He slowly felt Loki's arms wrap around his torso and awkwardly pat his back. "It's good to see you too, brother," Loki commented. "However, what in the nine realms happened to you?!"

"I'm sorry," Thor quietly (eerily quiet for Thor) said, not even listening to what Loki was saying.

"For what?"

"Failing you."

"You never failed me. I told you the sun would rise on us yet again. I'm only sorry I missed seeing Thanos die."

Tony watched the interaction with shock in his eyes. He had heard stories from both you and Thor, but this seemed insane. "Is this seriously the same Reindeer Games that destroyed most of New York ten years ago with an alien army?"

"I wouldn't say that, Tony," You replied, "It's more like a free Loki. A Loki who isn't controlled by Thanos. It's the Loki I've wanted you to see for several years." A smile grew on your face as you watched the brothers talk to each other. For the first time in five years, everything was simply okay.

"Are you sure you have everything, Thor? You don't want to forget the messenger in case something happens up in space. Especially since Carol got it and Tony fixed it up just for you and the guardians. Plus, you need to let me know how it goes with Gamora. I know Nebula said she was going to talk to her, but I want to know how everything ends up in the next few weeks." You were constantly pestering Thor to make sure he had everything he needed before leaving.

Thor was clearly annoyed by it, but he appreciated the sentiment. He recently left Asgard in charge of Valkyrie. He didn't know if he should leave it up to Loki instead, but you told him not to, knowing Valkyrie knew Asgard well enough and understood how the world worked here. Loki didn't know how anything worked here because he wasn't present. You'd teach him in due time, of course.

"Yes, I have it all, Y/N. Don't worry. You're worse than how my mother was sometimes. She could still put you to shame sometimes, but you're worse at the moment."

You rolled your eyes at the statement. "Whatever, Thor. And remember, no beer, whatsoever. The next time I see you, I don't want to see you with a beer belly."

"I can promise you that much, Y/N. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For bringing my brother back. And for not yelling at him yet. I haven't seen my brother that happy since our mother died. Even when he got to see me electrocuted, he was never as happy as he is with you."

"Well, that may be ending soon. I have a lot to discuss with him. As for now, I'm just grateful he's around. I'll yell at him when the dust settles a bit," You tried cracking a joke.

Rocket walked up to the two of you, telling you he finished preparing the ship. Thor said his final goodbyes to you and you watched them leave. Of course, you already told Rocket to keep the beer away from the Asgardian. The raccoon told you it was already taken care of.

When the ship took off, you walked over to Loki. He was looking out to the pond, deep in thought. "Want some company?" You asked him.

"Be my guest," He smiled as you sat down and let your feet swing out above the pond that was near the recently finished Avengers Compound.

"Is it strange to see everybody not trying to kill you?" You asked him, trying to lighten the mood.

"A little. I think the most peculiar thing about it all is just trying to adjust to the idea of there being many more Avengers while Thanos is dead."

"Would you believe me if I told you that the Stephen Strange is a part of the Avengers now?"

"Is he the witch doctor that sent me flying through portals?"

"That'd be the very one," You grinned.

"I can't believe he was allowed onto this team of yours."

"It's not really my team. It's more like Sam's team."

"Is he the one that has the robotic wings?"

"Yeah, and Steve gave him the shield."

"I feel bad that he has to carry that around now." You laughed at his remark.

"I missed this, so much," You leaned your head onto his shoulder. You felt his arm sneak around your waist to bring you closer to him. You two were like puzzle pieces, easily connecting together.

"So, may I ask when I have to hear about how angry you are for not telling you I'm alive?" He asked nervously. Loki was not eager to have to hear about it. He knew it'd be coming up at some point, but a part of him wanted it to be delayed while another part wanted it done and over with.

"Whenever I'm done being happy that you're here again, out of a cell, alive and well." You smiled while trying to bite back some laughter. He almost sounded like a child that was trying to figure out whether or not he was in trouble.

"When could that be?"

"It could be in a month, two months, or never. I haven't decided yet. I don't think there's a point in yelling about it right now. I just want to show you something since you're going to be here for a while." You continued your thought by asking him to come to your room in the compound.

When Fury heard the news of Loki being back, he immediately asked you to watch him during the day. That meant the god would stay at the compound at all times under watch by someone. Since you were close to him, it'd only make things easier for you to watch Loki. You agreed immediately.

Because of that, you had your own room in the place. It was large, nearly taking up an entire floor. It was practically an apartment. You didn't complain, loving the idea of never having to worry about rent. The best part about your "room" was the one part you specifically asked for.

"Well, remember how I'd give you books all the time?" You asked him, standing in front of the door to the room. Loki was slightly confused but nodded anyway. "Since I have to watch you, I figured I wouldn't give you any more books and just give you access to my little collection."

When you opened the door, it led into a room with several bookshelves. To say it was a small collection would be a complete understatement. There were easily hundreds of books ranging from science-fiction to autobiographies. It could keep someone busy for years.

Loki looked around, admiring all of the books. He pulled out one of the books, staring at its cover as if it was as old as he was. When you saw the title, you understood why it caught his eye. It was your collection of Shakespeare's work. You forgot you still had that book even after all of these years.

"You still have the book?" Loki asked, flipping through the pages.

"Of course I do. Torn pages, tea stains, and all," You smiled.

When he reached a page, he noticed something fall out. Your quick reflexes led to your powers catching it only inches before it fell to the marble floor. A light blue aura surrounded the object as you lifted it into your hand. The necklace Loki gave you was shining in all of its glory. The stone looked like it had never been touched.

Loki slowly took the necklace from your hand, twisting the stone around between his fingers. A small smile appeared on his face. "When I first gave this to you, I thought you'd keep it for only a few months at most. I can't believe you still have it after all this time."

"It was the day I realized how much I love you, Loki. There was no way I could get rid of it. Besides, I was waiting for the day I'd have to explain to Tony how I got a priceless necklace without his money," You joked.

Loki didn't miss how you didn't use the past tense. "Does this mean you still love me?" He asked.

"Loki, I have never loved anyone as I love you. Despite all that has happened, I don't think I could stop loving you. At the very least, you'd have to really piss me off."

Loki chuckled at your words before placing a kiss on the top of your head. You didn't realize that he had started to place the necklace on around your neck. He gently pulled your hair out and smiled.

"I love you too."

#loki x reader #loki #marvel #endgame #avengers #avengers 4 #tony stark #iron man #thor #odinson #laufeyson #tom hiddleston #bruce banner #hulk #fanfic #fanfiction #comics #mcu

37 notes · View notes

bravadoseries · 4 years

Note

All the evens for Audrey and all the odds for Margo!

thank you! this got super long so i’m putting it under a cut hehe

audrey:

2. why is your oc problematic?

audrey is problematic because she has no clue what she’s doing when it comes to anything and when it comes to being a hero, she relies almost entirely on trial and error.

4. what crossovers with other ocs have you talked about?

i have talked about crossovers with you for leila, @emiliachrstine with jacqueline, and @notaboutcat with grace barnes!!!

6. if your oc were to have superpowers, what would they be? if your oc has superpowers, what are they?

so audrey has super soldier strength as her primary superpower, and also there’s some other stuff that will be revealed during the thor: tdw arc

8. alright, be honest—whether or not they get the chance to prove it, is your oc worthy?

so i think that audrey does become worthy eventually during endgame, but i think that all the avengers are.

10. what’s your oc’s fight song? (e.g., immigrant song for thor, just a girl for carol)

girls just wanna have fun!!! i think is the biggest one. but i have actually picked out songs for the main fights in all of the movies audrey is in:

avengers battle of new york: “mama talking” by parov stelar

moscow fight against bucky: “bad guy” by billie eilish which i know wasn’t technically released yet but it’s okay

thor: tdw final fight: “big god” by florence and the machine

tws final fight: “seven nation army” by the white stripes

avengers: aou battle of sokovia: “glass & patron” by fka twigs

captain america: civil war airport scene: “bad blood” by taylor swift

angels of mercy final fight: “tomboy” by princess nokia

thor: ragnarok: “the future’s so bright, i gotta wear shades” by timbuk 3

avengers: iw: “yellow flicker beat” by lorde

avengers: endgame: “girls just wanna have some” by chrormatics and “lights up” by harry styles and “boys wanna be her” by peaches

12. what was your oc like in high school?

audrey didn’t officially go to high school because she was tutored privately until she started just going to college but she was generally bored with her tutors. when she went to high school in the 80s, she was jarred. even though she’d gotten several degrees by that point, she was like freaked out by being with other people and having to have a social life because in college she just didn’t talk to anybody. so she was nervous and quiet but she did have one good friend!

14. your oc meets thanos. what’s their first move?

omg audrey’s first move is to spit on him, i think, and then she just like attempts to tackle him and scratch his eyes out ngl

16. your oc gets married. which canon characters are in the wedding party?

yesss braudrey wedding time!! natasha is one of her bridesmaids, tony is the officiant, and both steve and darcy walk her down the aisle. steve and darcy have a young daughter by this point who is a flower girl with morgan, and they’re super cute. i could talk about the braudrey wedding for so long though i have so many little plans

18. what are your oc’s bad habits or vices?

audrey loves sweets, i think is one of her vices. she also tends to know she’s making bad choices but go through with them anyway.

20. your oc wears the gauntlet (without any detrimental effects on their health) and gets one snap to wish for anything they want. what do they ask for?

audrey asks to destroy the infinity stones, i think most likely. she doesn’t want that energy to be condensed into such a powerful form because that’s like a nightmare. i think it changes from film to film, but by the end, her final wish is for everyone to not be so powerful all the time

22. what does your oc’s bedroom look like?

audrey’s apartment is very minimalist, because it’s easy for her to get overwhelmed. before she moved into the tower, she was a workaholic because she would get so bored with her freetime that she always had case files everywhere. once she joins the avengers though and kind of like starts building a life for herself, she starts to settle into her place more and have details that reflect her life more—photos on the walls, little things that she collects from good memories, and a lot of books on the shelves! audrey likes big windows and keeps them open, but the space is mostly like white with dark blue accents.

24. which characters from other movies or shows is your oc a combination of?

excellent question! so audrey reminds me a lot of like the most chaotic combinations of mike schur main ships? she’s both chidi and eleanor, and both jake and amy. she’s anxious but also impulsive, awkward but also extremely loving, strong but also scared.

26. which canon character would they go to for advice? why?

audrey goes to different characters for advice about different things! with moral problems, she goes to steve. with fighting advice, she heads to natasha, obviously. with relationship advice, she heads to darcy. and later, post aou, audrey actually spends a lot of time with wanda and pietro becoming more politically active.

28. what’s your oc’s biggest flaw?

audrey is scared of everything! i think is her biggest flaw. it’s hard for her to overcome that fear.

30. what movies or shows is your oc featured in?

audrey is in agent carter, she has cameos in iron man 1+2, thor 1, captain marvel, and captain america: tfa. she’s a main in avengers, thor 2, tws, avengers: aou, captain america: civil war, thor 3, and avengers iw and endgame!

margo:

1. how did you pick your oc’s name?

margo is short for margaret! i think peggy is kind of an old-fashioned name (technically so is margo) but margo is cute and short too

3. besides their main ship, who else do you think they would work well with?

i think margo could have a relationship with magnus (thor and jane’s older son) but it probably wouldn’t be super healthy. also i think she and calliope could have had a cute relationship which coulson would have lost his mind about lol.

5. what’s a crossover with another oc that you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t officially discussed or planned?

i feel like it would be cool to talk about margo with @cassercole‘s queve family ! i think an audrey and q crossover would just slap in general because i think it would be angsty and cool and i can imagine q being like . i did not sign up to be a stepmother, but thanks, but then the two of them actually becoming friends eventually.

but anyway, i can imagine bonnie and tristan teasing margo and making them call her aunt and uncle but them all getting along well and hanging out at family reunions and getting into trouble . having a vision of the three of them stealing a blunt or something from tony’s jacket pocket at thanksgiving and then all of them being high and paranoid about getting caught by steve.

q catches them and margo is like please don’t be mad and please don’t tell my mom and q just rolls her eyes and closes the door to the room they’re all in after telling them dinner’s in 10 minutes, and she won’t tell but it’s up to them not to get caught.

7. rank their compatibility with the marvel teams: avengers, guardians of the galaxy, agents of shield, defenders, runaways

okay so: 1) avengers, because they’re her family. 2) gotg, because she thinks they’re all super weird and cool. 3) runaways, because i think she’s scrappy and has a similar sheltered background to them. 4) aos, just because found family time. 5) defenders. super brutal and she’s just like ummmm i am scared .

9. which other mcu characters would your oc really get along with?

i think gamora and margo would get along super well. also margo’s close with carol because she likes how she’s not too serious about herself as a hero. i think she’s also probably gets along well with wanda and pietro. she’s super close with her dad, also.

11. post a snippet of the next chapter of an oc’s fic!

okay to be honest i have not written any of margo’s fic yet so i will have to pass

13. what’s a secret about your oc that they would never admit? feel free to be as angsty or as silly as you’d like!

margo would never admit it but she has a slight schoolgirl crush on thor, who is one of the strength instructors slash english teachers at the academy.

15. if your oc has a costume/were to have a costume, what does it/would it look like? what colors? cape or no cape?

no cape, but sometimes she ties a towel around her neck and dances in her dorm room. margo’s costume would probably look a lot like helena bertinelli’s costume on arrow—very classic, infinity mask, etc.

17. after a battle, how does your oc recover?

she cries into her pillow for several hours and enters a period if intense self loathing and eats ice cream.

19. what were some other faceclaims you considered for your oc?

when audrey was shipped with pietro, margo was played by josefine frida petersen!

21. if your oc survived the snap, who do they miss the most?

in an au where audrey has margo before infinity war and the snap, margo would be devastated to grow up without her mother

23. what’s their love language? what’s the love language of the character they’re shipped with?

i think margo’s is words of affirmation, and leo’s is quality time!

25. which characters annoy your oc? why?

margo gets annoyed with her mom, a lot. audrey and bex are really close and so she feels left out of that relationship. i also think that margo doesn’t get along super well with pepper because she thinks pepper doesn’t like her. she doesn’t like peter quill that much, even though she likes the rest of the guardians. and she never meets loki, but i think she would absolutely hate him.

27. what’s your oc’s biggest strength?

i think her biggest strength is her big heart! she feels a lot and she’s kind of intense but she’s a very loving person.

29. team cap, team iron man, team i don’t care, or team please stop fighting?

team please stop fighting!! she’s like why is my life an episode of family feud . i know she doesn’t exist then but she looks back on it and brings it up sometimes and they’re both deeply embarrassed about it in hindsight and also like . okay BUT and she’s like okay nevermind!!!!

1 note · View note

explodingcrenelation · 5 years

Text

Tony Stark and the Messianic Archetype in Avengers: Endgame

* * * * * S P O I L E R S ahead for Avengers: Endgame * * * * *

From a purely analytical standpoint, I don’t have anything against Tony’s character arc in Endgame culminating with his death. His last moments in the heat of battle weren’t rushed, poorly written, or unearned. If Tony Stark was going to die on screen, of course he’d do it like a goddamn badass—and he did.

At this point Marvel is telling a single story to millions upon millions of people and there’s no way they can craft a narrative to suit every single person. When I say Tony's death didn’t work for me, I do so knowing that Marvel wasn’t writing the story for me anyway. And I'm not trying to disparage the creative team's efforts and storytelling choices. They made a call. I don’t agree it was the right one.

For me, Tony’s death traps him inside a Messianic Archetype that doesn’t elevate his character in a wholly satisfying way and doesn’t fit the themes of the established, team-centric universe. In this essay I will…

…actually write a fucking 4000-word essay, so buckle up and read on if you’re in for the ride.

What Is the Messianic Archetype?

The Messianic Archetype is a messiah trope. It’s exactly what it sounds like—one person (usually (but not always) white, usually (but not always) male) who sacrifices themselves for the greater good.

Here’s how TV Tropes puts it:

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the Messianic Archetype will include one or more of the following:

- The Chosen One. - True Companions who follow him. - Betrayal by one of those followers. - Persecution by nonbelievers. - Crucified Hero Shot (or other parallels to the Passion Play). - Figurative or literal resurrection. - A Second Coming. - The initials JC.

Some examples of Messianic Archetypes in popular narratives are: Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (or Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness), Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows, Superman in Batman vs Superman, or Neo in the Matrix trilogy. The Doctor in Doctor Who is frequently and repeatedly presented as a messiah figure. Multiple incarnations of Sherlock also follow suit in multiple imaginings of the the Reichenbach Falls scenario. (I won’t go into details with any of these characters. I trust the Messianic Archetypes here are obvious to anyone familiar with these stories.)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, we see Messianic Archetypes popping up all over the place—like daisies! Steve plays this part when he sacrifices himself in The First Avenger to stop Red Skull's plan to bomb several major American cities. His time in the ice is a kind of death from which he is subsequently “resurrected” in modern day New York. To a lesser extent, he also offers himself up as a sacrifice to save Bucky in The Winter Soldier.

T’Challa follows this pattern in Black Panther when he’s betrayed by W’Kabi, defeated by Killmonger, and subsequently resurrected within the safety of M’Baku’s tribe.

In the first Thor movie, Thor is betrayed by Loki, sacrifices himself to the Destroyer to protect his human friends, and he comes back from near-death with the return of Mjölnir, having proven himself worthy of the hammer.

Carol Danvers destroys Mar-Vell’s engine in Captain Marvel to keep enemies from getting their hands on tech that could harm millions of innocent people. Her human life symbolically ends in the subsequent explosion, and she’s effectively reborn with superpowers.

Pepper Potts is betrayed by her former colleague Killian in Iron Man 3, selected as his “chosen one” for the Extremis injection, and she dies and is reborn from fire.

Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2—

Well, I could go on for a long time, but... you get the idea.

The Messianic Archetype isn’t particularly new to popular media, let alone the MCU.

This trope is deeply, almost subconsciously, woven into the fabric of popular western storytelling. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Tropes are tropes for a reason—they speak to us on a cultural and instinctual level. We want to hear these stories over and over, replay them in new ways and look at them from different angles precisely because there is something meaningful in the narrative.

And Tony Stark's narrative is no exception. His repeated acts of self-sacrifice fit into the Messianic Archetype very, very well.

Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart

The MCU kicked off in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie and Tony Stark has ostensibly been the main character of the franchise from the beginning.

The Iron Man movies establish early on that Tony has a savior complex to match the size of his ego. Our genius playboy billionaire philanthropist is a deeply flawed hero who started out his career as a maker of WMDs. He was widely known as “The Merchant of Death” before he saw the error of his ways. Tony understands he has done many Bad Things and he must atone for those Bad Things—with his life, if necessary.

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. ... I finally know what I have to do and I know in my heart that it’s right.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

The first Iron Man movie climaxes with Tony ordering Pepper to blow the Arc Reactor to stop Stane’s rampage, even though Tony might perish in the process. In Iron Man 2, Tony is actively dying from palladium poisoning, but he faces down Vanko (sans Iron Man suit) on the speedway of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. In the first Avengers movie, we see Tony put his life on the line to get a nuclear weapon out of New York.

This is a repeated pattern for Tony, and like an addict, it’s one he struggles to break. Over and over Tony flings himself into the fray, believing he’s the one who makes the difference—he’s the willing sacrifice whose blood saves the world.

Tony selects himself to be “the chosen one” because he sees himself as the one at fault for bringing evil into the world.

“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter, I said it cause he said it. ...So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn’t even know it.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 shows us just how deeply responsible Tony feels for the wrongs of the world. Because he made naive (and selfish) mistakes when he was young, Tony blames himself for creating villains that plague the earth now.

We see this best in the aftermath of the destruction of Tony’s mansion in Malibu.

“Pepper, it’s me. I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. ...And I’m sorry in advance because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy. You got to stay safe. That’s all I know.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Yes, Tony absolutely provoked the Mandarin, a known terrorist, and the result is the complete annihilation of Tony’s home. Tony accepts responsibility for the destruction as though he was the one who shot the missiles himself. He goes so far as to volunteer himself for a solo mission to find the Mandarin without even bothering to contact SHIELD or the Avengers for help. He made this mess, he’s going to clean it up. All the while he suffers through crippling anxiety and panic attacks, demonstrating that the burden he’s put on his own shoulders is, in fact, too much for him to handle by himself. Still, Tony denies himself the comforts of home and family until he can atone for his wrongdoings.

Miraculously, Iron Man 3 gives Tony a respite when the tables are turned and, for once, Tony is the one ultimately saved by Pepper. After her rescue (pun intended), Tony gives up the armor, commits to having the shrapnel taken out of his chest, and he starts rebuilding the literal ruins of his life—both physical and metaphorical.

The respite doesn’t last, of course, because recovery doesn’t go in a straight line—oh, and also the franchise isn’t over and the MCU kinda needs Iron Man. And so Tony slides back into familiar, self-destructive patterns.

"Few years ago, I almost lost [Pepper], so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then. I never stopped. 'Cause the truth is, I don't wanna stop.” —Tony Stark, Civil War

Tony taking on the mantle of the Messianic Archetype once more in Endgame falls perfectly in line with his established need to compulsively and perpetually atone for his sins. As a perfectionist who needs to assuage his guilt for his ongoing (and perceived) failures, Tony simply can’t stop himself from offering up his life in penance. Statistically it was bound to catch up with him, and in Endgame it does.

And not only does Tony give his life in true Messianic fashion, we are “treated” to a hyper-realistic and painfully extended sequence where his life drains out of him as his loved ones gather to witness him gasping out his last breath. (Thanks for that, by the way, Marvel. I’ll put this scene with the dead baby bunnies my childhood cat used to bring home as gifts. How thoughtful.)

Maybe the reason for the intensity of Tony’s death scene is to make the audience believe his death is the Real Thing, not some comic-book-superhero-movie trickery that he’ll be back from in a few minutes’ time. Perhaps it’s the only way to ensure we commit to the emotional depth of the moment. Perhaps the filmmakers see it as an homage to RDJ’s acting talent and commitment to the role. Regardless of the rationale behind the camera’s unflinching gaze, Tony’s excruciating death hammers home the brutal and lonely reality of the Messianic Archetype: it’s cruel to put the fate of the world on one person’s shoulders.

But Tony embraces that end. He throws himself into the machinery of fate, convinced he’s the cog that will make it all work.

And he does make it work.

So why is that a problem?

The Team-Oriented Universe

The problem with Tony doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on the Messianic Archetype at the apex of the franchise is that the MCU is an ensemble, team-oriented universe.

“You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." —Nick Fury, Iron Man

Fury tells us from the get-go that Tony isn’t the be-all-end-all of the MCU. It’s possible for Tony—for them all—to become something greater than the sum of their parts.

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.” —Nick Fury, Avengers

The entire first Avengers movie is dedicated to establishing this premise, to getting these knuckleheads to work together because, alone, they’re too wrapped up in their own bullshit to adequately deal with the forces that threaten the planet. Things don’t start to go right for them until they set aside their personal issues and act as a unit.

As we all know, our team passes the test and they establish an important principle of the MCU: teamwork is powerful and it’s more effective than working solo.

True, Tony’s self-sacrifice in the context of the Battle of New York helps save the day; but it’s only one part of a coordinated effort. Tony chucking the nuke into space would have been pointless without the added efforts of Steve to coordinate civilian safety, Hawkeye to relay enemy movements, Thor to separate Loki from the scepter, Natasha to close the portal, and Hulk to subdue Loki and ultimately catch Tony as he fell from the wormhole. The team achieved a better outcome together than they each could have achieved separately.

But even in the shared afterglow of winning the Battle of New York, the individual members of the team struggle to perfect their dynamic. New challenges present themselves. There’s always room for the team to grow and become stronger together as the franchise progresses. That’s the whole point.

Tony, for his part, waffles back and forth between his desire to be the savior mechanic (to fix everything by himself) and his desire to work cooperatively with his found-family of superheroes for the common good. This internal conflict plays out over the course of the franchise as Tony takes on the Mandarin by himself in Iron Man 3. The issue then escalates in Age of Ultron when Tony convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. Murder-bot problems and team drama ensue. Tony’s cycle of guilt perpetuates itself in the wake of the disaster in Sokovia, which prompts Tony to adopt the Sokovia Accords. He submits himself and the team to UN governance in Civil War. More team drama ensues.

The logical progression of this escalating team conflict should have involved Tony confronting his deep-seated compulsion to destroy himself for the sake of others. This is exactly the problem Pepper keeps trying to point out to him—his Messianic tendencies have started to cause more problems than they solve.

“There is nothing except this. ... There's the next mission, and nothing else.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

Tony has struggled from the beginning to find the right balance between personal sacrifice and sharing team effort.

Pepper frequently tries to remind Tony that he doesn’t live alone in the world, he can’t do it all by himself. And there are people who want him to live.

“You’re all I have, too, you know.” —Pepper Potts, Iron Man

Imagine how emotionally satisfying it would have been to see Tony outgrow his need for sacrificial penance and internalize a better lesson: that the savior can be saved, the burden can be shared, and life can go on.

A Better Ending for Tony

The MCU had the perfect opportunity to give us an ending that would be happier for Tony and a better fit for a team-centric universe.

In Guardians of the Galaxy we see Peter Quill and his team survive the power of an Infinity Stone by working together to share the burden of its energy.

Peter Quill is the son of a Celestial—he’s basically immortal up until the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That’s why he and his team could hold the stone without any ill effects.

Also, they only had to channel the power of one stone. Not six.

That’s a fair point.

But by the time Tony had all of the Infinity Stones in Endgame, the battlefield was chock full of all kinds of superheroes. Wanda and Carol by themselves are embodiments of two of the Infinity Stones. Hulk had managed to bear all of the stones by himself earlier in the movie. Steve, T’challa, and Bucky are enhanced super soldiers. Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians might not be Celestials, but they are gods—and there were a lot of them on that field.

And we’re supposed to believe none of these characters could offer any help to Tony whatsoever? None of them could hold Tony’s hand for a single minute to save his life?

There are plenty of arguments that could be made: Tony was too fast, no one knew what was happening, or everyone else was occupied in battle. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice the creative team made. Tony died because they wanted him to die.

And not much would have to change to save his life.

Imagine this: Tony gets the stones from Thanos and, in true Messianic Archetype fashion, he commits to making the snap, fully expecting it means his death—but then Pepper is there and Pepper has always been the one asking Tony to stop offering up his life to pay for some imaginary debt he thinks he owes. He hesitates, and it’s just long enough for Carol and Wanda swoop in, putting their hands on him and taking the brunt of the energy. Thor and Steve and Bruce and Clint pile on. Peter Parker links up, too, and on and on until the entire rest of the team, all across the battlefield, are in contact with each other and alight with power, channeling the energy of the six stones, keeping Thanos and his monsters at bay.

Tony can still have his ultra-badass “I am Iron Man” moment as he stands at the center of this surging and fluxing cosmic energy—but this time he does it with support. There are people who care about him (and each other) on all sides. And there are so many of them. Tony isn’t the only one who matters, he’s just the lynch pin that holds it all together.

Tony is Iron Man.

More importantly? Together they’re all the Avengers.

*SNAP*

The universe is set right.

Maybe Tony doesn’t escape entirely unscathed. Maybe he loses his arm as suggested by this post. Maybe the others all leave with their own scars, too. But Tony’s alive and he’s finally, deeply aware of what it means to transcend the limits of personal sacrifice and share the hero’s burden with others.

He knows now exactly what the Avengers are capable of. Oh, and by the way? That protective shield he wanted around the world in Age of Ultron? Here they all are. All these wonderful, powerful people are going to protect the Earth. And you know what? They don’t need Tony Stark’s myopic self-sacrifice to do it.

Tony finally feels like he’s done enough—and maybe now he believes there are other heroes out there who can do better than he can. Anyway, he gets to go home to Morgan and Pepper and he finds that it’s not so hard for him to let the new kids do the tough jobs now. He happily goes back to his role as “consultant” for the Avengers, he’s a mad inventor helping change the world for the better, and he also gets to have the long adventure of being a husband and a dad. He doesn’t have to choose one identity over the other—he’s Iron Man. He can redefine what the job means whenever he wants to.

(Also, he finds a way to rescue Nat because she didn’t deserve to be fridged like that. Just saying.)

This ending, or any number of variations like it, would have allowed Tony to finally show real growth at the end of his character arc, instead of succumbing to the same old self-destructive pattern we've seen from him time and time again. And it would have reinforced the theme of teamwork and its power to elevate all those who participate.

Maybe it’s cheesy, but you know what? It’s the ending I wanted. I know I’m not alone.

Tony’s Not Really Dead, You Say?

“There’s no need to be upset about Tony’s death,” some might say. “Tony’s gonna come back!”

Resurrection is a huge part of the Messianic Archetype—and it might be that the filmmakers do intend to bring Tony back in some later movie. It might be they simply want Tony’s death in Endgame to sit a little while longer so it has a greater impact. (Gotta push for that best picture Oscar, right? The Oscars hate superhero movies, but they do love a sad ending.)

While I’m wishing for things, maybe Marvel will also release the multiple alternate endings they filmed for Endgame, essentially creating a “choose your own adventure.” Maybe we’ll all be able to pick the ending we like best and forget the rest exist.

But I can’t make a judgement based on what might be, I can only say how I feel based on what we were given in the theater—for all intents and purposes, that’s the official story Marvel wants to share.

The Endgame narrative insists there’s only one possible path to victory against Thanos. The “one possible path” is basically the equivalent of the creative team saying, “Don’t @ me.” There certainly must have been an impossible number of endings they could have put on film. Tony’s death is the one they picked.

So, sorry for @ing you, Marvel, I guess, but there’s just one more point I want to make...

A Personal Note

RDJ acted the hell out of Tony's final scene. He acted the hell out of the whole franchise. Tony's death was powerful and intensely moving. I wanted to ugly cry in the lobby after the movie was over, and I was upset for days after.

So. Good job, Marvel. You got in some surprises and you wrung out some feelings from viewers like me. Now that the movie’s taken the world by storm, the surprises will play themselves out. So, I guess the big question is: Will audiences want to revisit this adventure and the feelings you ultimately left them with?

For me? My reluctant answer is: no. I don’t want to see Infinity War or Endgame again. Not really. Not in their entirety. I didn’t mind the slog through Infinity War in 2018 because I thought, Hey, maybe this is leading to an ultimately happy and satisfying conclusion for these characters I care about so much. And, to be fair—right up until the last 15 minutes of Endgame, I was ready to say, “All’s forgiven.”

There’s this thing in storytelling called “payoff.” It’s when you deliver a satisfying resolution or fulfillment to your audience after they commit to your narrative journey. Payoff can be extraordinarily subjective, so, again, I acknowledge that there’s no way to please everyone.

For me, there’s no reward in the resolution of Endgame that makes the slog to its conclusion worth it. Tony’s ending is so needlessly sacrificial, so unnecessarily brutal, that it erases much of the enjoyment I otherwise had in watching the entire rest of the film.

Don’t get me wrong. I like sad movies and scary movies in their own context. I like them when I can choose them and know that’s what I'm getting myself into. Sometimes I want the catharsis of being utterly terrified or brought to tears. Sometimes we need stories to give us the chance to feel deep and scary emotions in a safe environment. That’s an important function of creative work.

And, I mean, truly, Endgame gave us some great acting, great effects. Amazing talent. Really fun and creative moments. I’m not trying to disparage all the work that went into its making.

But I feel like someone took me in a limo to a high-class restaurant to eat caviar and watch sad arthouse theater when all I really wanted was to go into town with my friends for some ice cream and a fun movie.

I didn’t need rainbow-colored sprinkles on my ending, but something a bit sweeter would have been nice. So, well done, Marvel. But also—no, thank you.

As it stands, Endgame was too bitter for my taste.

#avengers #endgame #spoilers #negativity #long post #meta #my rambling #tony stark #iron man

68 notes · View notes

cutiepasta-thewriter · 5 years

Text

DnD: Why we don't play with Peter

Tony knows how much Peter loves his nerdy tabletop RPGs. Every other week he'd sits down with his group to play a campaign but not recently.

His group was disbanded and while Peter was a little bummed he decided to find a new group.

Seeing this as an opportunity for some father son bonding he gets the other avengers to play a few games with him.

It was actually effective team building since the game requires the players to have patience and work together.

To everyone's surprise the GM was Dr.Strange who actually had experience with DnD when he was young and nerdy.

They decided on playing a Star Wars game with everyone split into Jedi and Sith teams.

Jedi: Steve, Clint, Peter, Thor, Bruce, Wanda and Bucky

Sith: Tony, Natasha, Loki, and Carol

The Jedis' job was to track down and defeat the Sith players.

The Siths' job was to gain political power, military power, influence, information and moral power.

The works was split up among the dark side agents which caused the Jedi to plan for each take down of the lords. Fortunately, they were all endgame battles.

Most of the Jedi were in training with Steve getting one of the master roles with Wanda.

During a training exercise Clint hit Peter in the back causing a random effect of dark energy lashing out and blasting the other character clear across the room.

Steve immediately took Peter aside to talk about power and using the right kind of power. Afterwards the other Jedi kept a close eye on Peter and rarely left him alone and never let him off the ship if they could help it.

Peter didn't object in the beginning but it was a headache in late game.

All the while the Sith players started spending their time gaining power. Carol had her own private army, Loki was rubbing shoulders with dignitaries that owe him a lot of favors, Tony gained control of his own citadel with control of his own trading port, Natasha kept her role quiet. To be honest the Jedi players were worried when they heard this because their most strategic allies were the enemy. Even Peter said he couldn't face his father.

As the game went on a few of the Jedi became that guy. You know the one, once he gets to high renown and is high leveled they begin changing alignment and becoming a dick. Those players can often ruin the game for others. Clint even told the Stephen to shut up, a cardinal sin in this game.

For Steve, his character began to believe his word should be law and micromanaged everyone. Peter who s task was to manage cargo and maintenance often got annoyed with him. Clint on the other had had the spirit of a murder hobo with the standard dubious morality. His reckless behavior got the team into many unwanted battles. This is how Thor ended up dead when Bruce wasn't there to heal him.

Bruce's character never forgave Clint since they were in a relationship with Thor's.

Later it was Wanda who died in a stupid battle and Steve got worse without the other master to stop him.

Each time the Jedi faced down the Sith the battle ended in a stalemate and the Sith getting away.

However during the invasion of the Citadel they managed to capture Tony. When Steve tried to kill Tony it was Peter who stepped in, in story Tony was the father of Peter's character and if Steve killed him it would end Peter's storyline since he wanted to turn his father back to the light.

Steve still did it since this was their only chance. He stabbed Tony through the chest as Peter screamed. The rest of the group OOC began yelling at Steve because that wasn't cool. Stephen said it was fine since the death was fair.

Peter immediately demanded he be given the body to deal with and later had it delivered to his homeworld. He wasn't the same after for a while but later said he accepted that this was because of his father's life choices and that he made made his own.

During the final showdown the two groups faced down. Steve delivered his self righteous monologue and in the middle of it he felt a saber at his back.

It was Peter holding it and smiling.

"Finally, do you know how old those speeches get after awhile. Dear god, you never shut up about the Jedi way! Do you know what it's like listening to you people with your self righteous bull. You think your so noble but your just as bad, you guys are constantly killing innocents and claim it to be the price of helping the greater good" Peter's character screamed as if he was in agony.

Steve turned his back to see not just Peter but Bruce and Bucky had also turned on him.

"I told you already. I can't go against my father." He said softly.

"Bucky? You too?" Steve asked.

"Sorry, but he has a point. We've done some fucked up stuff in the name of the light and I'd rather just not participate in any of this at all. I'm leaving." Bucky turned his back and left being spared from the onslaught by not choosing a side in what he sees as a pointless battle.

This was a pretty big deal since a player not participating in the last battle is unheard of.

Sure enough Bucky IRL was sitting back to enjoy the show.

That be said from behind the other Sith players came Tony who was very much alive. Where Steve had stabbed him in the heart was this universes equivalent of the the arch reactor.

Hearing Stephen describe this made the entire table break out in laughter and shock.

Apparently Peter had Bruce help revive Tony and had the sith shipped of to a private hospital he owned.

After Peter stabbed Steve in the back and Bruce made short work of Clint who was furiously trying to fight his way out, the game was announced over.

Stephen cleared up the confusion and stated at there were actually five Sith in the game one of which had the role of information (natasha) gathering the other moral influence. Natasha didn't say hers so the Jedi wouldn't be tipped off. Peter was there to gather what he could on the light and send it to Nat secretly and to turn their allies against them. They had failed to notice him the entire time. Every battle against one of the lords were sabotaged since Peter had already told them the plan.

In fact after Tony's "death" Peter made a shadow government to take over the citadel to make it look like the jedi had won.

All went according to plan and the Sith remained victorious.

You see when Steve and Clint got too out of hand Peter pulled Stephen aside. Since they were new to the game and hadn't yet curbed their impulses yet they had to be taught a lesson. The other party members agreed and allowed Peter his due.

One thing no one told the entire group was the reason Peter lost his previous group was because of his role. You see some groups may get out of hand with terrible party members who ruin the fun for everyone so instead of just kicking them put the DM will call in Peter who is well known for what he does by the DM community. Peter was known as a hobo killer. He won't just kill them though he would destroy them in an ironic twist he'd pull right before the end. He'd rob them of a satisfactory story line just so they couldn't reroll a character.

He had done this with the permission of his DM and caused all the toxic players to leave the group in anger. The DM was thankful knowing the players wouldn't be back after Peter released a terask apon the mortal realm and revealed that his character was a god and the end times were here.

That being said no one played DnD with Peter without being on his side and not being a dickish player.

#tony stark #ironstrange #irondad #peter parker #spiderman #strangefamily #marvel infinity war #iron man #sepremefamily #spiderson #stephen strange

91 notes · View notes

be-a-snake-stab-your-brother · 5 years

Text

ENDGAME

Here be spoilers. You have been warned.

We were warned this would be a different film, a separate entity from Infinity War and that assertion proved to be 100% true. Endgame is quite a different beast than Infinity War, dealing so much more with the psychological fallout of the Snap, of how each Avenger deals with their failure, culminating in a set a 6 (plus a few others) character pieces.

What struck me overall is how bleak this movie is, starting with Hawkeye’s family getting dusted, the “defeat” of Thanos, the consequences of the Snap, Tony’s realization that he was going to get sucked back in after starting his family and knowing that somehow it wasn’t going to end well for him.

Okay, from all accounts, Thor was played for laughs but for, upon finally watching his scenes, they were actually really difficult for me to sit through, because everything about Thor screams a man who is deeply traumatized, deeply depressed, on the verge of panic attacks (as we saw in Asgard), and not processing any of this except through booze and food. Honestly, for me it was incredibly raw to watch Thor in such deep denial and just...as someone who has been in that exact spot, with almost the exact same “coping mechanisms,” it just really struck me. Deeply. And the thing is, even with the Snap being undone, he’s still not over it. He’s better, but I can understand why he’s abdicating in favor of Valkyrie. He (and the Asgardian people) is much better off not being King of Asgard.

Scott Lang was superb in this movie. That’s all I can really say.

I...am not sure how I feel about Professor Hulk. It just seemed a little abrupt to me and I can’t say I was the biggest fan.

Clint is a badass in Japan and I love how he went off the deep end by going full-on vigilante. He also happens to be my second favorite Avenger.

Okay, so the missions. The “time heist,” as it were. I’ll get to New York in a second because obviously there’s a certain Mischief Deity I need to talk about.

But! What I liked about Thor and Rocket’s visit to Asgard (and did anyone else catch the Asgardians calling Rocket a “rabbit”? Must be an Asgardian thing) - well, a lot. Frigga’s advice - to be the best you you can be was spectacular and I imagine she told Loki that very thing more than once when the boys were growing up. Funny that it took Loki less time to be “him,” to accept himself (Prince of Asgard, Rightful King of Jotunheim, God of Mischief) than it did Thor, who is only now starting on that journey now that he is unmoored from Asgard nearly completely.

Vormir. Ouch. That hurt. I have to say, this movie made me like Black Widow a lot and the scene between her and Clint was just...emotional, especially when she tells him to “let go.” Just...yikes. I don’t like Vormir. Not one bit.

Ooooookay. And then there was New York. :) :) :) So, first of all, can we all just appreciate that out of all the Avengers, Loki has a habit of shapeshifting into Steve Rogers to mock their “high moral ground.” I think this is hilarious. Also, the little wave to the Hulk in the elevator? The facial expressions where Lokes was totally calculating what was happening? And then, in Loki’s own words, “Ta-da!” he escapes with the Tesseract.

Which means 2012 Loki is roaming around somewhere, presumably to interfere with human history in his upcoming TV show. In a movie that was very much about tying up the loose ends of the 6 OG Avengers (and knowing how every time Loki appears on screen, he basically steals the show), I am very okay with this outcome. He’s alive! And...I think for Lokes, all roads lead home, so to speak, in that he’ll come back to himself. He always does. Especially now that he will be absent the malign influence of the mind stone, now that he was hit in the head a few times by the Hulk. It will be interesting to see how he navigates this transition without his family this time (both good and bad. Odin probably didn’t help things, but Thor and Frigga may have.) In true God of Mischief fashion, he courts order from chaos, and once again leaves us all questioning - is he alive? (But of course he is, it’s just another story, another chapter, a novella within the novel.) The sun will shine again, whether separately or together for Loki and Thor.

One of my favorite speculations, however, is that Loki is the rat that helps to release Scott from the quantum realm. I am ALL OVER that theory. :)

The big battle was fun, loved Carol Davers’s a) haircut (twenty thumbs up to that one) and b) when Thanos went to punch her and it had no effect that was awesome. Can’t say I loved the whole Steve Rogers/Mjolnir thing but it was fun to see.

For me, both Tony and Steve had decent endings. In my mind, at some point Tony was going to come back to the Snap, not let it go, so that (unlike Thanos) was inevitable. I like the sassy Steve from the movie far more than 2012 Avengers Steve - his character has grown a lot in that amount of time.

Standouts for me: Scott Lang, Black Widow, Clint Barton, Thor

Not really sold: Bruce Banner

I mean, I would have loved to have seen Loki and Thor teaming up in the last big battle, but I get why they didn’t do it. There was just too much going on, too many main plots to tie up, and as I’ve said earlier, Loki demands attention when he’s on screen. Thankfully, we get an entire series to enjoy the antics of one God of Mischief.

On the whole, I’ll say I enjoyed Infinity War more than Endgame (even with Loki’s whole...ahem, scene). The end credits, though, did make me tear up a little bit (and, if we all noticed, Loki was included with all the heroes!)

8/10 - the sun will shine on us again :)

#snakes go to the movies #snakes hiss in real life #endgame #endgame spoilers #i'm alrady thinking of a post endgame fic for lokes #just a short one #anyway #i REALLY need to go to sleep #it's waaaaaay too late over here #more soon tumblr!

46 notes · View notes

ramajmedia · 5 years

Text

10 Characters We Hope Appear In Ms. Marvel | ScreenRant

With the upcoming launch of Disney’s streaming service Disney+ comes new Marvel series. In addition to comic book characters like Moon Knight, Hawkeye, and Loki getting their own shows, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel will also have shows on the streaming site.

Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a teenager who became a superhero after discovering she had Inhuman genes. A Terrigen cloud caused many people in her town to cocoon and transform. Her superpowers include being able to grow and shrink various parts of her body. Kamala named herself, and modeled her costume after her favorite superhero - the Carol Danvers incarnation of Captain Marvel. As Kamala joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are plenty of characters that fans would like to see make an appearance in her new series.

RELATED: Disney+: 10 Things You Should Know About Ms. Marvel

10 Bruno Carrelli

When Kamala first began her superhero activities, she did her best to keep it from everyone around her. The one person she couldn’t keep a secret from was her best friend Bruno.

Kamala not only tells Bruno about her frequent nighttime outings to save people, but she also drafts him to help her cover them up. He helps her hide her secret identity from her parents. Bruno also has genius level intelligence, making him a valuable asset to his best friend.

9 Kaboom

Kaboom has only appeared in a handful of comics since she debuted in 2015. She doesn’t have a lot of backstory - or really any backstory. That’s why she’s a good addition to Ms. Marvel’s television series as a potential villain.

Because Kamala’s version of the character is so new, she doesn’t truly have a rogue’s gallery of her own yet. Kaboom appeared in the comics as the recruit of a more powerful NuHuman. A newly formed Inhuman herself, Kaboom’s abilities involve controlling electricity, which is always fun to watch on screen. The show would be a great opportunity for writers to flesh out a new character like her.

8 Lineage

Lineage is the NuHuman who recruits Kaboom, which is why he’d make for a great (eventual) big bad for Kamala to face. He was once a crime boss whose family was at the bottom of the organized crime barrel. Thanks to the Terrigen cloud that rolled through comics, he discovered his Inhuman lineage and gave himself a new name.

His power actually involves his Inhuman ancestry. In addition to superstrength, the visages of dead Inhuman relatives appear on his skin as their consciousnesses become a part of him. He can speak to them and get advice, which is pretty handy as he tries to double cross nearly everyone he meets.

7 Jemma Simmons

Though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will come to an end next year, characters from the series might be able to appear in other MCU properties. Jemma Simmons has actually met Kamala Khan in the comics, so there is precedent for a story involving the two.

Agent Simmons went undercover for a S.H.I.E.L.D. assignment at Kamala’s high school. While her classmates were distracted by the actions of another student, Kamala changed into her Ms. Marvel attire, helping her substitute teacher in the middle of a fight. That was the extent of their meeting, but the series could easily flesh out a S.H.I.E.L.D. plot for the duo, allowing the teenage hero to interact with the wider MCU.

RELATED: Agents Of SHIELD: 10 Best Moments Of Season 6

6 Zoe Zimmer

Zoe’s comic book story is much like the story of any mean girl in young adult literature. She and Kamala used to be friends, but somewhere along the way, Zoe became more popular and more of a bully. The comics, however, allow Zoe to correct her course.

Zoe is the very first person Kamala saves when she develops her superhero persona. As a result, Zoe begins to change her life around again. She reconnects with her old friends, stops bullying other students, and admits that she has a crush on Kamala’s friend Nakia. Zoe’s storyline would give the series a little more high school and a little less superhero to play with.

5 Nakia Bahadir

Like Zoe, Nakia is one of Kamala’s high school classmates. She and Kamala, however, have a lot more in common than just high school. Nakia’s family is also Muslim. They even attend the same mosque as Kamala’s family.

Nakia would be an important addition to the series because Kamala and her family shouldn’t be the only Muslim characters. Kamala Khan becoming Ms. Marvel was a huge step for Marvel Comics, but it’s important for everyday aspects of Muslim-American life to appear in the show as well, not just Kamala saving people. Bringing Nakia into the series would provide Kamala with a grounding force at school in addition to her family at home.

4 Daisy Johnson

As the first Inhuman character explored in the MCU, Daisy Johnson became something of an unofficial welcome wagon for Inhumans introduced on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. With the flagship MCU series ending, it would be a nice nod to the fans to see Daisy give Kamala a crash course in Inhuman history.

Part of Kamala’s charm is that she takes on bad guys that effect her friends and school, not the entire world, in the comics. She’s very much a street level hero. Having a touchstone in Daisy, but not someone fighting her battles for her, would be the way to go.

RELATED: Disney+: 10 Things You Should Know About She-Hulk Before The Premiere

3 Red Dagger

Kamala’s high school participates in a student exchange program in the comics. One of the students who comes to New Jersey in the program is a teenage boy named Kareem. Kareem happens to have a connection to Kamala’s family - and is a superhero in his own right.

His mother and Kamala’s aunt are friends, and he even stays with Kamala’s grandmother in Pakistan for a while. While there, he creates the Red Dagger persona to save people on the streets of Pakistan. When he stays with the Khans as part of the exchange program, the hero also comes to the States. Ms. Marvel and the Red Dagger work together several times without learning one another’s real names, which would be an interesting dynamic to watch unfold.

2 Monica Rambeau

Before Kamala joins the MCU, there is another little girl who loves that her Auntie Carol became a superhero. Monica Rambeau appeared as a young girl in the Captain Marvel movie. She’s set to appear as an adult in the present day in the Disney+ series WandaVision, though it’s not clear in what capacity she’ll appear.

With Ms. Marvel set in the modern day as well, Monica Rambeau could serve as a way for Kamala to learn more about the woman she idolizes. After all, Monica knows the real Carol, not the idealized version a teenager dreams up.

1 Carol Danvers

Kamala only chooses the moniker of Ms. Marvel because Carol Danvers is one of her heroes. In Marvel Comics, Carol went through a lot of superhero names. At one time, she used the name Ms. Marvel, only becoming Captain Marvel to honor Mar-Vell, who used the name before her. Marvel Comics has a long list of heroes being inspired by other heroes.

Even if Carol doesn’t stop by for a chat, she’s got to appear in some form. It could be video footage of her in a fight or images saved to Kamala’s phone. The audience needs to see just why Kamala is inspired to choose the heroic name Ms. Marvel.

NEXT: Hawkeye Disney Plus: 5 MCU Characters We Want To See Return (& 5 We Don’t)

source https://screenrant.com/10-characters-hope-appear-ms-marvel/

#screenrant

7 notes · View notes

exclusivelyirondad · 5 years

Text

More Endgame thoughts (and spoilers) ahead. A lot has been said already, but I’ve been adding to this since April 30th, and I needed to express the thoughts and feelings that many others share with me in my own words.

It seems like everyone's just ghosted, like they just saw the movie and peaced-out. Maybe they felt a sense of relief when the ax finally did fall, but the fandom seems to be divided. I'm coping quite well--I'm not an emotional wreck (although I was when leaving the theater, and I’ve cried a few times since), but I also know that this wound hasn't closed; it's all been very slow. Maybe the majority who remain weren't very old at all when the first Iron Man came out, and thus aren't as attached to the Original 6. Maybe Marvel intended their younger audience to experience the Uncle Ben Effect for Peter. I was thinking that they wouldn't need to develop Peter's character down that route; I was thinking they'd have new plans for him, since he already had that under his belt when we were introduced to him. I've written extensively on my beliefs about one’s need for a consistent father figure, and while I am relieved that Happy might be stepping up to that role, Tony's removal is still unnecessary to a lot of us. It's not the only way to develop Peter's character, and certainly not the only way to remove a character from the spotlight. Death rarely has meaning in real life, but in stories it *can* mean something. I think Death should be used sparingly for this reason. Where a character Can Live, Can Thrive, Can Participate, they should be free to do so. Tony’s story wasn't by any stretch Finished, and his next line after Cap's assertion about Tony’s alleged cowardice (which the latter proved wrong in the first Avengers movie after taking that missile through the wormhole) stated that he would rather just "cut the wire." To cut the wire, so that you can go home, so that you don't have to trade lives, is a much more coherent, much more sensible end. To have Tony live up (down) to the sacrificial standard is to step backwards--the opposite of progress, to our informed understanding.

But venting my negativity, and seeing others vent theirs, sort of eases the pain, and in some cases gives me hope. The lack of consistency between timelines and directors' decisions is, ironically, a really big hope-booster. After hearing a couple friends' and family's qualms with the film in-person, I've gotten just a bit of closure, but it's not on the level of actual counsel as we didn't *keep* talking about it. We, very briefly, exchanged a preview-version of our interpretation and then were done with it. I felt I needed to find someone, somewhere, who shares my perspective. It was validating to talk to them about plotholes and such, because (ironically, as terrible as this sounds), it made his death look more, to me, the way in which I was already seeing it: not cheapened, not short of brilliant and beautifully-performed, but *less necessary.*

I began contemplating ways around his death. The writers cannot play the 'Fate'-card at any point because they are in charge of every detail--Carol conveniently getting blasted off-planet, Wanda & Thor being temporarily decomissioned--all the way down to the fact that [A] the burden of the stones could have been shared by everyone on the field (the strongest among them taking hold of the stones first) as they did in GOTG1, and [B] Tony & the others simply did not use the stones independently or in smaller dosages. But, in the end, we have two mortal, human deaths for the price of a restored universe in Earth-199999/616, which isn't ultimately so bad on the surface. They could have transitioned to the next heroes in celebration, the graffiti in commemoration of the retired heroes and a welcome to any who would rise in their place.

While I remain wary of criticizing Endgame just because it didn't go "my way," I also know that we have a lot of well-supported arguments stocked-up to affirm our case that Tony's death was an *overall* less-than-satisfactory decision. Besides, it's just a part of being in a fandom to criticize the media we consume--it helps to develop communication skills and independent thinking. Since Infinity War, I was erring on the hope that "Tony Lives," not so much because I was preparing for the worst but because it just seemed the intuitive way to go. And let's be honest, nobody in the theater who had been following the franchise for more than a few movies was surprised that any number of the Original 6 would be sacrificed. So, Endgame failed even to accomplish any Shock they might have hoped for.

I also feel as if a lot of people are perhaps expressing that they enjoyed Endgame while not acknowledging latent feelings that deeper digging into the plot might produce. Fans are perfectly within their right to enjoy the movie, but our objections to it are less on the level of personal opinions and more on the level of actual critique based in objective standards of narrative and character development.

It almost feels deliberate, doesn't it? Like they *knew* what they had before writing over it with something worse. Like they *knew* the value of Found Family. Like we really were baited, and aren't just imagining a problem. And *this* is why that ending landed us in the Bad Timeline. We were baited with Found Family and it was snatched away from us. If Happy's bond with Peter isn't as satisfying for the audience (trust me when I say that I very much support it, have high hopes for it, trust in Happy's steadfast character, and *do* recognize the progress in having him, May, and the remaining Ironfamily be there for Peter instead of the lesson being, "Grow up and be alone,") it won't be because he isn't an attractive superhero billionaire, it'll be because Peter's bond with Tony is still fresh, and was, indeed, beautiful, and *could have* been complete before it was untimely cut short. He was already dealing with loss when we met him in Civil War. What more can you teach him through that?

There's not really a way for us to "fix" this, being that it's Canon now, and the rest of the MCU henceforth will follow This timeline. This isn't just one movie that they have a chance to fix in the long-run with another, this is the final chapter--the most important one which will be solidified in movies to come. We're essentially cut-off and locked-in from here onward.

If we were to rewrite the world before 2023, we’d certainly be limited. To bring another Tony back wouldn't be a solution--it's not the same Tony (in much the same way that reuniting with an alternate Spider-Man or stranding our Peter in a new universe would feel eerie and unsatisfactory). This isn’t to suggest that any ending with an alternate Tony taking the other’s place cannot be written in a satisfactory way; just that the grief would still be ever-present for *this* Tony. If anything, another time heist where everyone keeps their memories seems more appropriate. Still, to go back in time, by the theory used in Endgame, only creates a new timeline, unless we collapse and merge the one where he died. Even a timeline *very* similar to the one through which we were led is still unique, and has its own Tony Stark. We might be able to salvage the other time-janked plotholes (Loki's escape, Nat and Gamorra's soul releasing Redskull, Thanos & Company departing their original timeline and going a different route, ultimately being destroyed, Steve rewriting the past and possibly erasing an entire generation, just to name a few), but that's still pretty far-fetched. At the end of the day, all that's left is to either Accept or Depart from Canon. RDJ is irreplaceable, after all, and tragically, as far as we know, his rendition of Tony Stark is finished. Although, I suppose any time you take a character into your own hands, it creates a new timeline for them--it's just that minor changes and major changes have different impacts, and the fans who previously felt free to manipulate minor details without having to leave the world altogether will now have a much more difficult time doing so without “becoming a dirty, no-good necromancer” (as my conscience likes to call me any time I even *think* about bringing Tony back in my own way.) The "secretly alive/A.I." theories are an okay solution given our alternatives, but it doesn't seem like that's where the story is going.

But so much happened in that movie, and likely will in future movies, that makes his death "essential," and I'm upset about that, too, because they're sloppily tacking on "purpose" retroactively. They want, so badly, for it to be meaningful, and not useless, but the way that it happened kinda leaves it in a sour limbo, as if the event, itself, were a corpse being strung up and made to dance like a marionette. Like, no matter how many meaningful strings they connect back to it from this point onward, it's still going to register as an unnecessary loss to those of us who were paying attention, to those of us who didn't want him to die, and to those of us who don't put stock in death, itself. Tony Stark *would* have still been a hero if he had learned how to pass on the torch (without dying.) He would have still been *himself.* You can grow, change, shed your flaws, learn new tricks, without losing your identity or role in the world. While his willingness to sacrifice himself was, indeed, a heroic trait, it shouldn’t have been one that ultimately killed him--there was another beautiful lesson just ahead of him, one which would have allowed him to rely on others to take up the mantle so that he could care for the new adventure he’d built with Pepper and the Ironfamily.

When you have a character like this in your hands, you're no longer just writers, you're gods. You have responsibilities. (I'm not used to speaking this freely, saying such extreme things. I know I'm all over the place.) These characters have been with us for so long that they may as well be real. I wouldn't doubt that those involved in Endgame's creation put a lot of planning into it, but even with planning you can still miss out on Perspective. Why didn't these questions win out during the Devil's Advocate phase of the writing process? Was there even a Devil's Advocate phase? What were their aims when creating it? To draw it to a close, to make room for new heroes, perhaps to leave just as big an impact as Infinity War. Far From Home is supposed to close this phase of the MCU (not Endgame), so we still have a bit of a wait. Did they want to appeal only to newer fans? It wouldn't be a problem if the feelings of older fans weren't sacrificed for that. I'm not even sure if Tony's death is what newer fans were interested to see. What if Marvel deliberately Twists the Knife? *What if their role for us is to see that any qualms we have with Tony's death are a reflection of our selfishness toward a man who just wanted peace?* (Of course, what a lot of us wanted for him was the same--peace, but without the insinuation that the only way out for him is by killing him off.) Did they mourn his death when killing him? Did the decision affect them to the point that it was difficult (and not just in terms of knowing there would be people upset by the decision, getting between them and the bottom line)?

I don't think they should put the onus on the fans who loved him--I think, for all the therapy he did not receive, for the lack of a True Happy Ending, and for all the people who became his family, the onus should be on those who gave him pain to take it away. If you are god-enough to impart pain and death, you are god-enough to remove it. We cannot act powerless against Fate when we write a character like this into the world. While some people rail at God for taking their loved ones away, I guess my grief-process is stunted because I have real people to criticize. But, again, that's still me putting the onus on myself. I don't think I'll be here forever; certainly, I do view these characters with a healthy eye, but they're not exactly a Small part of my world, either.

The mention of the Multiverse in the new FFH trailer may even deal with the responsibility on Peter's part not to selfishly venture into alternate realities (Mysterio's illusion tricks in the comics + the False Voice scene from Bambi II, anyone?) It may even be the case that we, the fans, are being pressured to feel similarly, being that Robert has completed his contract with Marvel. Of course, none of us are asking that he stay, merely wishing that his rendition of Tony had a better ending. I think our society has decided that growing up means more than gaining knowledge and skills--it means "getting rid of our vital connections after a certain age." This is not, to any extent, ideal, but it is expected, and it is perceived as "growth" when forced upon a young person in a story. Individualism is a toxic side-effect spurred by various factors in our current system (economic, legal, and religious history, leading to our current ideological climate, at least for those in positions of power).

If any criticisms could hold weight, it might still be worth noting their counterpart: /"Tony created his own enemies, even invited them--it's Peter's turn to make better choices."/ Apart from the complete inaccuracy of the opening phrase (just rewatch the films; I'm not expanding on this one), is that really what his creators were planning from the start, or did they just salvage pieces of past films like a patchy fan theory and write it in after the fact? (Point in case: JKR.) I'm not usually so feisty, but this is Tony Stark I defend.

/"It's heroic to sacrifice oneself for the greater good," "It's time for the young to grow up and face responsibility."/ All of these messages, though, are misplaced to me. They don't have to involve the taking of lives. In our world, they often do, but there is no *intrinsic* value to using death as a vehicle. The Ancient One was wrong. Death has only intrinsic *negative* value--as with any hardship, it can bring about positives but is not, in itself, a positive. When dealing with this philosophy it is important to distinguish chance from purpose. I cannot help but feel that I am alone because I've outgrown the ideology of those who glorify and romanticize struggle and war. A peaceful ending is progress compared with our reality; a bitter ending should remain in the past. Do they think they are bypassing this problem by the ending they chose for Tony? /"Your new heroes can have a better ending than he did,"/ it might be suggested (while still getting their Death in.) I disagree, since that isn't progress For That Character.

/"Death is not always fair, not always reasonable."/ A bit patronizing, that (not hearing it from Tony, of course, as he was merely preparing for the possibility of his own death, but as one of the Ultimate Lessons they needed to tie to it.) What's the target audience, 13 to 46? Somewhere in that range, plus the exceptions older and younger? Not really news to the majority. So what is its purpose? Why close a story like that?

/"Having Tony survive would've taken away a heroic ending from him."/ It's important to acknowledge there are multiple kinds of heroism capable of being expressed--we've known from Iron Man 1 that Tony was willing to sacrifice himself for one cause or another, but for him to finally see the value in allowing others to share the burden would've made for just as powerful and necessary a message. It would have been subtle; not many fans would emotionally pick up on it at first and many would openly criticize it, but those who are paying attention would recognize a new kind of heroism was being performed. This movie wouldn’t have been for those who only jumped in recently, anyway--there’s so much that’s been built up to over the past 21 movies for which there wasn’t time enough to cover. The ending to Captain Marvel had a similar effect--the inner strength which men often overlook is expressed through Danvers' willingness to do what is truly necessary, rather than what has been deemed "heroic," and the creators of superhero movies would do well to follow the trajectory of changes in audience values. "Superhero burnout" may come to pass but not because people will grow weary of superheroes or the hope and sense of victory they bring, but because of the glorification of war and fighting.

It is a comfort to know that Robert and Tom are still friends, and will be making at least one more movie together. It is a comfort to know that a lot of the Tony Stark we saw came straight from RDJ, so a good portion of him lives. Still, I instinctively know this feeling isn't going to leave for a while, especially since, a few weeks after Infinity War, I had a little meltdown. On top of this, we will be brought through Peter's own grief in his next movie--he, too, is fictional but should not be abandoned. I feel as if I cannot move on until I see Far From Home, and maybe that, too, is Marvel's intention.

#endgame spoilers #endgame critique #my post #text post

23 notes · View notes

hymn2000 · 5 years

Text

Chiquitita - MCU AU fanfic - C31

Story summary: Something strange is happening. Someone from space has made their way to Earth, armed with a strange weapon. Targeting teenagers, their ray gun, when fired, turns the victim into a toddler. The Avengers set out to stop this, and find a way to reverse the effects. However, they don’t all come out of the battle unscathed.

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: de-aging, family stuff, corporal punishment (early chapters only), mental health stuff, hurt/comfort, hospital/medical stuff

Chapter 31 - Tell Me What’s Wrong

Peter wasn’t happy. It had been two days. He was still getting his head around what had happened, and his body still seemed to be adjusting. He cried a lot and he got upset a lot, and he fell over a lot. To make matters worse, Tony was still acting the attentive, over-protective, over-affectionate father. He’d taken him to the doctors for a full medical and check-up, and Peter had gotten into trouble for telling the doctor to - and I quote - ‘get his filthy fucking old man hands off his fucking face’. He’d also gotten into trouble for swearing at Tony’s press manager, and swearing at Happy, and Rhodey, and Pepper, and just about anyone else who tried to ask him about Kindsprengen’s gun and the subsequent reversal.

To make matters even worse, Loki hadn’t spoken to Peter at all. In fact, he’d hardly seen him: Loki had taken on extra shifts at the hospital, and spent his off-shift time reclused in the reading nook or his room, and Tony wouldn’t let Peter near him.

All in all, it wasn’t a great combination.

Day Three.

Tony ruffled Peter’s hair.

“Hey kiddo, wanna come and help me in the lab? I’ve started working on this new-”

“No thanks” Peter said.

“Oh. Uh, just so you know, the school rang yesterday, wanting to know when you’d be back. I’m not gonna rush you; you can go back whenever you feel ready. Have you been in touch with anyone yet? The Bunnies, maybe?”

“Mind your own business”

Tony sighed. “You need to stop acting so much like me on a bad day, chunk. You’ve been really naughty these past couple of days. Like the way you spoke to the doctor? You’re lucky he just thought it was funny”

“When are you gonna let me see daddy?”

“When he’s ready” Tony said. “He’s upset”

“Why? Why won’t you tell me anything about it?”

“It’s not my place to say. If daddy decides to tell you, that’s up to him. Not me”

“Is he sick? Is it because of the crash?”

Tony looked at him. “What crash?”

“He had a motorbike crash, didn’t he?”

“That was a while ago now, chick. He’s pretty much recovered from that now”

“Physically, maybe”

Tony sighed. “It’s nothing to do with the crash, son”

“He loved that bike”

“...How much of that night do you remember?”

“I remember us going to the hospital, and seeing him and Jo Jo. Uncle Clint came and took me home and looked after me”

“Yeah, that’s right”

“You haven’t replaced his bike yet”

“Are you gonna help in the lab or not?”

Peter shook his head.

“Well, you need to come down with me anyway. You can’t stay up here on your own”

“Why not? I’m fifteen”

“You’re very accident prone right now; you’re still adjusting. I need to be able to see that you’re safe” Tony said. “Besides, I don’t trust you not to go and disturb your father”

Peter scowled.

“You know I’ll pick you up and carry you if you don’t come with me like a good boy”

Peter sighed. He didn’t want to go down to the lab. Even worse, Tony always took his hand when they went down the stairs. Loki hadn’t removed the seal from the top of the stairs yet, so Peter wasn’t able to get downstairs on his own. It was incredibly annoying for someone who didn’t even want to be around his father, let alone touch him. But he supposed he didn’t have a choice. Reluctantly, he stood up from the breakfast bar and followed Tony.

Peter lounged on the sofa in the lab. Tony had given him a small abacus coaster bead maze, so he held it above him, manoeuvring the beads across their tracks. There was something oddly enticing about it. It wasn’t too unusual: Peter had found himself distracted by simple things very easily since the reversal. He hadn’t even kicked up a fuss when Carol left the morning after, because she’d distracted him with a groan tube. By the time he’d grown bored of it, she was long gone. He’d got a bit upset with himself when he realised what had happened, but there was nothing he could do about it. He cried a bit, and Tony set up his marble run for him, and that distracted him and kept him occupied for a while afterwards. It all felt very strange.

Peter fell asleep for a bit. He woke up and stayed still for a while, listening to the sound of Tony’s tools working away. There was something quite comforting about that. After a while, he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Hey kiddo” Tony said, not looking up from his work. “How are you doing?”

Peter didn’t say anything. He stood up slowly, holding onto the sofa to support himself. His legs shook, and he took a few moments to steady himself before gingerly letting go of the sofa and standing on his own. He stumbled over to the work bench and leant against it, peering at what Tony was doing.

“You’re shaking, son” Tony said. “You should sit down”

“I’m fine here” Peter lied.

“Peter, do as you’re told, please”

Peter scowled but did so, admitting defeat. His legs hurt too much for him to be defiant.

“You know, you didn’t really talk much at the doctors, aside from your little sweary outburst” Tony said. “Can you talk to me a bit?”

“What about?”

“Everything. Anything” Tony said. “I’m worried about you. I think there’s something more than just the confusion of what happened going on with you”

“Mumma left too soon”

Tony sighed. “Maria was ill. You can’t really blame her for putting her first”

“No... But I’m still kinda sad about it. But I’m more sad about other things”

“Oh?”

“I want daddy” he picked up a nearby soldering iron, but when he held it poised, his grip suddenly slackened and it slipped in his hand so that he burnt his fingertips on the metal. “Ow!!”

“Peter! Oh, darling. You silly thing! Come on; let’s get that poor hand under the tap”

Tony picked Peter up and plonked him down next to the sink, sticking his hand under the cold tap.

“Ouch, looks like you’re gonna get a bit of a blister there” Tony sucked his breath. “Poor Peter... Oh sweetheart, are you crying?”

Peter turned his head away in a futile attempt to hide his tears.

“Oh Peter, sweetheart! Hey, it’s ok, don’t cry! We’ve all hurt ourselves down here before. Soldering irons hurt, I know. It’ll be better in a minute”

“I’m such an idiot..!”

“No you’re not! It was an accident, chick”

“It was just me being an idiot! My stupid hands don’t work properly anymore! I could even hold it!!”

“Oh honey. You’re still adjusting. Remember what the doctor said? You just need to give it a little bit of time and it’ll be back to normal. Kinda like how daddy was when he was in hospital”

“You’re hearing me but you’re not listening!” Peter whimpered. “No one’s listened to me properly since I got big again! I’m sick of it”

Tony put an arm round Peter’s shoulders. “I’m listening”

Peter just cried harder. “I’m sick of it! My hands won’t always grip properly and I keep dropping things and doing things wrong and I can’t do things properly, and my stupid legs keep giving out on me and I can’t walk for long and they get all shaky and they hurt so much sometimes, and I keep falling over and I have to hold onto things and then daddy won’t speak to me and you won’t let me near him and everyone keeps asking questions about the whole toddler thing and I don’t have the answers and I still don’t get what happened and I-”

“Hey, hey, slow down, chick” Tony said. “It’s ok”

“No it’s not!” Peter cried. “None of it is ok! I want my daddy!”

“Peter-”

“I WANT MY DADDY!” Peter howled.

Tony watched him for a moment, his heart thumping. This was all on Loki. He’d been doing his best since the reversal, but Peter asked after his other parent so much, and he needed him. He needed Loki’s side of the story, and more than that, he needed him to hug him. Slowly, Tony turned off the tap.

“Right, that’s it” he said, and he lifted Peter into his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to see daddy”

Loki was sat on the bed, and it made him jump when the door opened. He looked at Tony, and at Peter, who was crying in his husbands arms.

“I’ll call you back” Loki said, and lowered his phone. “Anthony, this isn’t a good time”

“I don’t care. You’ve spent the last three days in here; you’ve had enough time on your own”

“What are you doing here?”

“Your son needs you”

“He’s got you”

“He wants YOU!” Tony sat down on the bed, Peter still cradled in his arms. “You’ve had your sulk-”

“I haven’t been sulking” Loki interrupted. “Go away; I’m busy”

Peter cried harder, clinging to Tony. He didn’t especially want him, but if Loki wasn’t going to pay attention to him, Tony was the best he had.

“Remember that first week, the way I acted? Well you’re getting really close to being that way yourself, and we can’t let that happen” Tony said. “Our little boy needs both of us, and right now, he really needs you. So sort yourself out and give him a cuddle”

Loki kept his mouth closed, and he didn’t move. Tony scowled and decided to try a different tactic.

“Peter’s hurt his hand, and he says his legs have been hurting, alongside that whole dexterity thing I told you about. Can you have a look at him?”

“What happened?”

“Soldering iron. I put his hand under the tap, but he’s upset about a whole bunch of stuff. He was asking after you”

“I thought you said the doctor said it would all sort itself out”

“Yeah, but he’d never told us about the pain. Loki please, just give him a cuddle. Look at him” he glanced down at Peter, nestled against him, whimpering softly. “He needs his daddy”

Loki slowly swung his legs off the bed and sat beside Tony, leaving just a small gap between them. Tony loosened his grip, and Peter sat up a little. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look at either men. Loki took a deep breath and put his hands under Peter’s arms. He paused a moment before pulling the boy onto his lap. Peter clung to Loki, burying his face in his chest and crying harder still when Loki wound his arms round him. Loki held him tight and rested his head against Peter’s.

“Daddy..! Daddy!”

“Hello, darling” he said gently. “Shush now”

Tony watched them, surprised at how readily Loki had hugged the boy. He’d expected much more resistance than this. He was hugging him properly too; not at all as though he was being forced. It was as though he needed him. It was like he’d been waiting for the right moment to do it.

Eventually Peter calmed down, and he sat back, holding Loki’s hand and snivelling.

“Are you sick?”

Loki looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Dad wouldn’t let me near you, and you haven’t come anywhere near me. You’ve been working all the time, and you’ve been ignoring me”

Loki sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been very mixed up and upset about what happened”

Peter looked at him. “What do you mean?”

He glanced at Tony for a moment before looking back at Loki. Loki stroked the boys hair gently.

“I won’t lie to you” he said. “I don’t think we should have turned you back”

Peter blinked at him. “You mean... you mean you wanted me to stay a toddler forever?”

Loki swallowed, and nodded. “You were so happy. You really deserved to be happy”

Peter looked at him for a moment. He looked at Tony. Tony nodded slightly.

“Daddy was quite... open and adamant about his wants and wishes. We were kinda on other sides of the table with this one, chick”

“I always want what’s best for you” Loki said. “You were so happy as a toddler. You didn’t have any troubles or anything to worry about or anything like that. You had a good life, and-”

“I’ve got a good life now” Peter said.

“You weren’t poorly as a toddler”

Peter didn’t know what to say to that, or what to think. What if Loki had had his way? He could still be a toddler. In fact, he could have been a toddler forever. And he never would have known any different.

“I didn’t remember being big while I was a toddler” Peter said. “But I remember all of being a toddler now that I’m me again”

Loki sighed. “I see”

“I think I’m gonna go and lay down for a bit”

He struggled off Loki’s lap and pushed himself to his feet. He wobbled and Loki grabbed his arm, steadying him.

“Ok?”

Peter clung to him, willing his legs to stop shaking. He tried to make them go stiff, and his right knee gave out and he fell. Fortunately he was standing close enough that he simply flopped against the bed instead of crashing to the floor.

“Woah there” Tony said, pulling Peter onto his lap. “Are you ok?”

“No” Peter burst into tears and buried his face in Tony’s chest. “I wanna go to bed!”

“Oh darling” Tony sighed. “Ok darling. I’ll take you”

Peter felt a bit better when he woke up. He sat up slowly. He looked round the room, focusing mostly on all of his kids things that were still there. He rubbed the backs of his aching knees and slowly stood up, tucking his rocket under his arm and clinging to the headboard for support. Once he was sure his legs would hold, he carefully made his way towards the door, utilising the furniture for support.

He found his parents in the kitchen, as expected.

“Hey kiddo” Tony said. “Do you want a drink? Kettle’s just boiled”

Peter shook his head.

“Do you wanna sit down? You’re all shaky”

Peter nodded and went over to them, sitting in his usual seat beside Loki at the breakfast bar. Loki took his hand. Peter didn’t pull away, but he held tighter to his rocket.

“I know it’s a shock for you. Maybe you should talk to Steve. He’ll probably understand better than the rest of us” Loki said.

Peter looked at Tony. “My legs hurt”

“They’re still shaking, aren’t they?”

Peter nodded. “What if they never get better?”

“They will. You’ve just gotta adjust a bit first”

“It’s been like, three days, dad” Peter said sadly. “What happened? I mean, my powers...”

“Sweetheart, your healing powers have been a bit, uh, well, a bit less effective ever since the accident. Plus, I don’t think it’s really an injury; just that your body has had a bit of a shock”

“But I could walk and do stuff alright when I was a toddler, right?”

“As well as any other toddler, yeah. I guess turning back is a little different”

“Did all the others get this problem?”

Tony shrugged. “I’ve not really looked into it. I don’t think they really said much about the physical side in their interviews”

“Where does it hurt?” Loki asked.

“Mainly the backs of my knees” Peter said. “It’s really bad sometimes, especially like, if I’ve been kneeling”

“And the shaking?”

“It usually stops when I’m sat down. My knees keep giving out too”

“You should have told the doctor about it” Loki said.

“Um, well, I was cross. I didn’t really feel like talking, especially after I got told off”

“Yes, I was told about what you said to him”

“When are you next at work?”

“I don’t know” Loki said. “I haven’t scheduled anything yet”

“When are you getting a new motorbike?”

“I don’t know”

“Were you really gonna keep me as a toddler?”

“I wanted to” Loki said. “I thought it was the best option. You had a good life, you were happy, you were healthy, and I thought it was best to keep you that way. Unfortunately I was the only one who did”

Peter looked at Tony. “Is that why I was the last to get changed back?”

Tony nodded. “We had a bit of a fight about it. Well, uh, quite a big one. It took us a while to get to a point where daddy would let us use the reversal on you. And even then, he tried to stop it at the last minute”

“It still doesn’t feel right”

Peter looked at him. “You preferred me as a toddler, didn’t you?”

“We could have given you a better life as a toddler”

“It’s because of my PTSD and stuff, isn’t it?”

Loki paused, and then he had to nod. “In part, yes”

“Can we go and watch a film?”

Loki blinked a bit. “At the pictures?”

“No, just here. Please?”

Loki looked at Tony. Tony smiled at him.

“I think I know a good one to watch”

Tony put on Bolt. Peter started off curled up at his side with his rocket, but somewhere along the way, he ended up on Loki’s lap. Loki cradled him close and closed his eyes.

At first he thought about all of the time he’d spent with little Peter, and how close he’d felt to him. After a while he shook his head slightly and tried to shift his thoughts. He held Peter tighter, feeling his skin and touching his soft hair. He thought about the first time he met him. He thought about everything that had happened that first summer, and how hot and cold they’d been with each other. He thought about everything that happened afterwards, in the years that followed. He thought about how close he’d grown to Peter, and how their friendship had stabilised, and he’d grown to think of him as a son. He thought about everything that happened after they lost May. He thought about the first time he’d been called dad. He thought about the adoption. He thought about everything in between, all those nice evenings and holiday moments and conversations. He thought about watching him compete and seeing him in his spiderman suit and reading to him and soothing his nightmares and listening to his problems. He thought about all the times he’d turned up to A&E to find him, and how scared he’d been. He thought about all the times he’d stayed up all night to look after him when he was sick. He thought about cooking for him and holding him close and tending his wounds and kissing his nose and wiping the tears from his face.

“I love you, darling” he said softly.

Peter tore his eyes away from the telly and looked at Loki. Loki opened his eyes and looked at Peter.

“I’m sorry”

“You’re stuck with the regular me” Peter said.

Loki kissed him on the cheek. “I love you”

“I love you too”

Tony smiled, watching them.

“Anyway, you’ll have a toddler again at some point” Peter said.

“What do you mean?”

“The three-person baby” Peter said. “That’s not gonna be a baby forever”

“Oh yes...” Loki said. “Let’s not talk about that right now. I want to focus on you. You’re my baby boy. Nothing’s going to change that. We’ll work everything out”

“I get what you wanted from keeping me little” Peter said. “Dad once told me that people who think they’re right when they’re wrong are dangerous. But people always just do what they think is right, right?”

“I always want to do right by you”

“I was happy as a toddler, but I’m happy now too” Peter said. “Well, not right at this exact minute, but like, before I got turned into a baby. Even though I’ve got the PTSD and all that stuff. Still happy. You have done right by me. We’re happy, right? We’ve got a good life, haven’t we? Even after everything that happened with May and all the stuff after that?”

Loki looked at Tony.

“Don’t look at me” Tony said. “He asked you”

Loki looked back at Peter. “You didn’t have nightmares when you were a toddler. You’ve had one every night since you were changed back”

“I had a nightmare every night when we went on holiday with Liz and Flo too” Peter said. “I still had a great time. I have nightmares for no reason all the time”

“And why do you think that is?”

Peter scowled at him. “I used to have nightmares before the accident too, you know. Not as much, granted, but still”

“Mmm”

“I am happy the way I am. I know horrible things happened before, but so what? Horrible things happened to you, too, and you’re still happy with your life, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“So why do you think I can’t be happy just because of my past? Dad’s happy despite everything too”

“I suppose he is”

Peter buried his face in Loki’s chest, nuzzling into him. “I’m still yours. I’ve been yours this way, way more than I was as a toddler. Nothing’s gonna change that either”

“You’re far too serious for such a little boy” Loki said. “I adore you whether you’re a toddler or a teenager. But I stand by what I said, and I still feel like I’ve lost something by turning you back”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I feel like I’ve lost stuff too. I wasn’t me for four months really” Peter said. “I didn’t remember anything from being big. So I was just tiny Peter instead of like, you know, me. But now I remember everything again, and I remember being little, but it’s weird. Most people who remember being three, it’s distant, right? Whereas I have toddler memories from last week. I’m still getting my head round it all. It’s weird”

Loki kissed him firmly on the cheek. “I can only imagine”

“A bunch of my baby stuff is still around”

“I haven’t gotten round to putting things away yet” Tony said. “We could sort it out together. We should get a charity box sorted”

Peter looked at him. “I don’t wanna give my stuff away! I love all these toys and stuff. I’ve still been playing with some stuff these last few days”

“Have you?” Loki said.

“Yeah, he has” Tony said. He sighed. “Peter, sweetheart, I get it, I really do - whether you want to believe me or not. But there’s no reason for you to keep everything. All your little artworks and stuff, yeah, we can box and keep those. But the clothes? Those have definitely gotta go to charity. It’s not like you can wear any of that stuff again. As for the rest of it, all your toys and stuff, uh... Look, darling. We’ll sort it out together”

“I like all my toys”

“Bambino” Tony sighed. “Ok, chick. Look, my love, I’m not going to force you to give away anything. But I still think we should sit down and go through everything together. After that, if you decide there’s anything you wanna give away, we can stick it in the charity bag. But it’s all up to you. Ok?”

Peter nodded slowly. He might still be getting his head round having been turned into a toddler, but somehow he didn’t feel ready to let go of it. Not yet. Not until he understood.

#my writing #fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #frostiron #irondad and spiderson

4 notes · View notes

imagitory · 5 years

Text

So I saw Endgame! [spoilers]

To save your feed from nasty spoilers, here's a cut!

Overall, this movie was half-epic awesome and half...well, not.

The Good!

+As always, it was so great to see all of our favorite Avengers interacting and working together, especially at the end. Nebula and Tony playing games in space -- Natasha's friendships with Steve and Clint -- Scott fawning over Steve -- Tony and Steve teaming up to get the tesseract and more of Hank Pym's formula -- Nebula connecting with her past self and Gamora -- PETER REUNUTING WITH HIS PAPA TONY -- these characters and their bonds are what make all of these movies. There are a few I feel that got a bit overlooked, but to be fair, there are so, so many that it's not hard to see why not all of them could be in the spotlight.

+All of the action was well-choreographed and executed. It never felt one-note and it never dragged, at least for me.

+STEVE USING MJOLNIR, HELLZ YES. I cheered like an idiot when that happened.

+Even though I saw it coming, Tony's sacrifice was still well-written and not only fit his character but also the story. RDJ couldn't have asked for a better exit from the Marvel film franchise.

+Scott's reappearance after five years was great too! His reunion with Cassie got me kind of emotional -- such a proud daddy!

+As much as I do have problems with Steve's ending (which I'll come back to), I liked that it saluted the Falcon taking over the mantle of Captain America as he does in the comics.

+That whole bit with all of the ladies charging in after Captain Marvel -- total girl power, man!

+Tony and his daughter Morgan's interactions made me laugh -- who knew Tony could be such a good daddy? I always support good daddies. (And "I love you 3000"? My heart.)

+Thanos accessing Nebula's memories and thoughts because the technology in both her past and future selves are on the same network was actually kind of clever, and I loved how Gamora decided to fight with future!Nebula for the hope that they could really be sisters like she claims.

+All of the comments about Steve's ass made me laugh so hard. Looks like it's canon now, guys: Tony has given Steve's ass and what flatters it notable attention.

+Hey, Carol. Nice haircut. ❤️

The Not-So-Good...

+I must admit, half the reason I dreaded seeing this movie as well as Infinity War was that I knew that any deaths in Infinity War would inevitably be completely undone in Endgame, effectively canceling out any fatal stakes you could assign to the Cinematic Universe. It's something I hate about Marvel and DC comics, that in their long history, there are so many ways to bring characters back from the dead that you either don't believe they're actually dead or are left wondering why they're still dead. At least in Harry Potter, Harry surviving the Killing Curse (both times) was a fluke -- something that only came about by extreme chance that most people wouldn't have, something that could only have happened to Harry. That makes it so we still feel something when people die, and therefore care about what's going to happen. But yeah, sure enough, all the deaths in Infinity War basically get undone, thanks to some time travel and magic stones. It unfortunately almost had to be like this, if this story was going to be told, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't like that aspect of the story. This invalidation of stakes wouldn't hurt as much if this was the last film Marvel ever made, but really, with how much money Marvel could make with the remaining cast of characters, I sort of doubt that.

+The filmmakers try to give some logical explanation to the time travel thing, but in the end, thanks to Steve's decision (which I'll get into), it's kind of thrown into question again. The idea was that they wouldn't be able to change the future by going back in time...and yet I can't see Steve not trying to do anything to hinder Bucky's suffering in the past, if he was back there. Yes, maybe it wouldn't change future!Bucky, but it would still be his best friend. And Steve's return to civilian life in the past would surely influence some things, wouldn't it? Wouldn't him living a life back then involve him getting a job, earning accolades for his past service, making friends, having children...anything? The alternate universe scenario proposed by the Ancient One would inevitably have to happen if Steve stayed behind, which was the whole reason he supposedly went back to put the stones where they were in the first place!!

+Okay, and now finally what I've been leading up to...Steve. As appropriate as Tony's ending was, Steve's was just as inappropriate in my mind. Steve not only had gotten over Peggy in previous films, where he got to speak with her as an old woman and make peace with the life they never got to have, but Steve was actively moving on. He had been dating Sharon Carter. He had developed close friendships with the other Avengers. He had an entire scene where he preached to others the value of dealing with grief productively and growing despite it...only to run back to the past as soon as he got the chance? And this isn't even touching how terrible of a friend this makes Steve, leaving Bucky behind and not even bothering to talk to him about what he was doing. Steve barely even spoke to Bucky in this movie: even after Bucky came back from the dead, Steve never had a proper reaction. They never fought side by side, exchanged affectionate one-liners, hugged, nothing. And this is Bucky we're talking about, the guy who Steve let beat him within an inch of his life -- who Steve protected from Tony -- who Steve openly and painfully grieved during Infinity War. And Bucky not only is left out in the cold by Steve, but Bucky thinks the Falcon should be the sole person to talk to him after his decision becomes clear. Bucky should have confronted Steve. He should have been angry. He should've asked why Steve didn't ask him to come too, didn't ask if he wanted to. Bucky deserved a happy life just as much as Steve did, after all the horrible things they went through. Why did Steve deserve to go back in time and live happily, and not Bucky? Why was Steve okay with the fact that he wouldn't see his best friend for decades? Why was Steve comfortable with the thought that Bucky would have to watch his best friend die of old age not long after just fighting side by side with him? Not only does this ending break Steve's character, but it doesn't match his arc at all. He was adapting well to the present -- he was growing, he was evolving. And yet his ending ended up being running back to when things were simpler, running back to the past like a coward instead of embracing the future. FUCK. THAT.

+I really didn't care for either Clint or Thor's development in the five year time jump. For Clint, as much as I like the parallels the script made between him and Natasha in regards to the awful things they've done, I still have difficulty seeing someone who was so devoted to S.H.I.E.L.D. being a ruthless, lawless, out-of-control assassin, even if he did lose his whole family. But Thor's characterization was so much worse. Thor has always been funny in the movies, as are a lot of the characters, but something I always loved about him in the series was how he balanced humor, sincere emotions and being a total bad ass. In this film...yeah, he's almost entirely there for laughs. He had a few bad-ass moments, but he didn't get the chance for much sincere pathos, when he kind of deserved some. The loss of Loki and how Thor dealt with it is never really addressed after the five-year time jump. Loki in general actually doesn't get addressed after he gets the tesseract either -- that almost inevitably will have to be a spin-off, but...hey, yeah, if Loki's still unaccounted for, then Bruce's promise to not let any alternate timelines pop up is already going to be broken, isn't it? The God of Mischief has a hold of the tesseract.

+As much as I liked the thought of Bruce being able to balance out the two sides of himself, I preferred the execution from what little I've seen of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, where Hulk is the dominant personality but listens to Bruce more often and is therefore smarter than he was previously. In this version Bruce almost seems out of touch with his Hulk side when he tries to fight at first, even if he's now green all the time. It's just less entertaining, and seeing how Bruce evolved to the point where Banner and Hulk are interacting peacefully could've been an interesting thing to show over the course of several movies rather than something just alluded to after a time jump.

+Does everyone's vision of retirement involve moving out to a farm? Like, seriously, both Thanos and Tony do this. Thanos is almost comical, but Tony's just doesn't make sense to me. He just dropped his whole company, all of his weapons, protecting the world, everything?? Tony is a total control freak who became a superhero because other people were using his tech in a way he didn't approve of, yet he leaves his company and tech presumably in someone else's hands to raise his daughter out in the country? That just seems kind of unlike Tony.

So yeah, this film definitely is feels-worthy! I can see why there are so many strong reactions to it. It was a rather fun ride a lot of the time, but I admit, as an ending for quite a few of these characters, it wasn't all it could've been, in my opinion. Not a terrible way to end the Marvel Cinematic Universe's long run, but it's not an ending I'll have much fun revisiting. Once is more than enough.

Overall Grade: C

#marvel #the avengers #endgame #endgame spoilers #marvel spoilers #avengers spoilers #opinion #reviews #oh boy here i go

20 notes · View notes