#( are we magic or science — REED AND SUE. )

[arrow-guy]

Within the Ashes (1/??)

Summary: You’ve spent your life working for someone else. You watch their back, you protect them, but you’re left feeling empty and unfulfilled at the end of the day. What happens when a freak accident transports you to a different dimension, very nearly identical to your own?

A/N: Please understand this has been in my head for almost a year at this point and started out with the reader being an LMD without knowing it. That’s definitely not the situation with the story now, but please know it’s been through a lot of Idea Workshopping lmao. Also, the version of the FF that’s in this story is definitely a very Fanfiction-ified version, but it’s my coping mechanism, so I decide who’s good and who’s gay. Thank u for coming to my preface, please enjoy the first chapter.

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​​

Pairing: StevexReader, background Spideytorch

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Fire, explosions, extreme injury (burns, cuts, contusions), gross descriptions of burns, rapid healing, canon typical violence

“Reed, I honestly don’t think we should test it today.”

“And why’s that?”

“Promise you’ll take my concerns seriously? Because you’ve been a dick about it every other time.”

Without looking away from his screens, Reed suggests, “How about you tell me, and I’ll do my level best to keep an open mind.”

“Fine.” It’s not much, but she knows it’s the best she’ll get. “I just have a bad feeling about it.”

“Another gut feeling?” He finally turns his head to look at her, eyebrows raised dramatically. “Is that really enough to put off this test?”

“We live in a world where magic is real and you’re questioning a gut feeling?” She folds her arms. “There’s evidence that proves the existence of a nervous system in the stomach, Reed. You know this. Gut feelings are a thing, and very seldom are mine wrong. And you’d know this if you ever cared to actually listen to me.”

Reed stretches his neck so that his face is just slightly too close to (Y/N)’s. “Name one instance.”

“Two weeks ago when you were tinkering with that vacuum chamber. I told you something was wrong with it, you brushed it off because it was a gut feeling. Then it blew up.”

“Oh please-”

“I had a six inch shard of glass stuck in my shoulder!”

He rolls eyes and his head snaps back to his shoulders. Reed waves her off. “You healed.”

“I wouldn’t have had to heal in the first place if you’d listened to me.”

“We’re still testing the transport today.”

“Seriously?”

“I… respect your gut feelings, but we can’t allow that to get in the way of the progression of science.”

(Y/N) scowls. “This is exactly why no one wants to work with you.”

“You want to work with me.”

“I took the job as a favor to Johnny.”

“And yet it’s been eight years.”

“Yeah,” she mutters. “Eight years of me getting blown up and lugging shit all across the countryside.”

“I heard that.”

“Good.”

(Y/N) grabs her empty mug from her work table and stalks down to the kitchen. Sue is sitting at the bar when she walks in. She waves in lieu of a greeting and keeps her eyes trained on the tablet in her hand.

(Y/N) pours herself a cup of coffee and stares down at the full mug. The realization of what the rest of the day might hold hits her and she’s just about ready to give up. She tips her head back, covers her face, and groans.

“I think your husband’s trying to kill me.”

“Well that’s nothing new,” Sue says. “What’d he do this time?”

“He wants to test that interdimensional transport he’s been working on. I have a bad feeling about it, but I don’t have the knowledge to back it up, so he’s just brushing my concerns to the side.”

“Well that doesn’t sound good.”

“He always ignores me. And every single time, I’m the one caught in the blast. Literally.”

“I know, (Y/N), I’m sorry.”

(Y/N) dumps sugar and cream into her coffee and sighs. “If I don’t come back from the lab today, Reed did it.”

“Duck and cover if something starts sparking.”

“We’ll see if I even get the chance.”

(Y/N) takes her coffee, drains half the mug in one go, and goes back to the lab.

Reed doesn’t seem to have noticed her absence, so she simply takes herself and her coffee to her table and waits for instructions.

“It’s not supposed to make that noise, right?”

“It is not,” Reed confirms.

The thunking noise coming from the transport grows louder and (Y/N) resists the urge to rub her temples. Reed doesn’t appear to be particularly concerned as he stretches across the length of the lab, searching for the source of the sound.

“Something must be loose,” (Y/N) says. “Is it on the body?”

“Not that I can see.” A sheet of metal shears off of one of the machine’s rotating arms and (Y/N) yanks him back just far enough that it misses slicing off his nose. “Thank you.”

“So something’s wrong with the arms,” (Y/N) posits. “The most dangerous part of the machine.”

“It would seem so.”

“I vote we turn it off and try again next week.”

“We don’t know if that’s enough to hinder its performance.”

“It’s enough to hinder our performance as living, breathing people.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Reed creeps closer to his machine and (Y/N) cringes at the way she immediately follows behind.

“It’s securely locked away with the part of me that wanted to be a superhero.” She pulls him out of the way of another flying scrap of machine. “Because, contrary to popular opinion, just because I heal quickly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt when I’m injured.”

“Hm, maybe we should look at that when we’re finished here.”

“Maybe you should find a new assistant when we’re finished here.”

Reed says something about her not being any fun, but she doesn’t register any of it. Her eyes are drawn to sparking near the base of the machine. Another chunk goes flying at them just as some of the sparks are sucked into the vent below the arms. (Y/N) is struck by the flying machine chunk as she shields Reed from it. She winces and hears an unidentifiable function of the transport stutter as another plume of sparks is sucked into the vent. She grabs as much of Reed’s body as she can and throws him towards the door, limbs flapping behind him, right as the entire machine explodes.

The force of the explosion propels Reed out into the hallway, but (Y/N) is caught in the blast. There’s a bright white flash and a blood-curdling scream and then all that’s left is the fire.

Sue is sprinting up the hallway with Ben and Johnny on her heels just as Reed manages to get his feet under himself again. All he can do is stare.

“What happened?” Sue demands. “Where is (Y/N)?”

“She saw what was happening before I did. She threw me out of the lab, but…”

“Reed,” Sue’s voice is deadly low. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t listen,” he says. “The transport malfunctioned and (Y/N) was caught in the blast.”

“Johnny,” Sue is very careful to keep her voice steady. “Put out the fire.”

Johnny simply does as he’s told. He disappears into the fire to absorb what he can and stomp out the rest. Ben surveys the progress from just outside the doorway. He says something about calling Peter and Johnny agrees from somewhere deeper in the lab.

“I screwed up, Sue.”

“No, Reed, you killed our friend. Your employee, might I add. And not even two hours ago she said you were trying to kill her.”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything of the sort.”

“I know that, but you get so blinded by your work that you can’t see when you’re putting people in danger.”

Johnny appears in the darkened doorway of the lab, tears rising in steam from his cheeks. “She was my friend, Reed.”

“I know-”

“She took this job because I begged her to!” Johnny shoves Reed, hard, into the wall. Flames lick at his fingers and Ben gently separates him from Reed. “But now she’s gone and I can’t even find her body in that warzone you call a lab.”

Reed frowns. "You didn't find her body?"

"Wh-that’s what you’re focusing on?

“Answer the question, Johnny.”

He scowls. “No, I didn’t find her. She was probably incinerated."

"Are you sure you didn't overlook anything?"

Johnny's shoulders shake with his anger. "I know what charred human remains look like, Reed. She's. Not. There."

Reed raises one shaking hand to his forehead and turns to Sue. “It might’ve worked.”

“What?”

“The transport. If there’s no body-” he rushes past Johnny and Ben without another word. Sue follows silently after him.

“That’s it, I think he finally lost his marbles,” Ben mutters.

“It doesn’t change the fact that he killed (Y/N).” Johnny wipes his eyes and turns to follow Reed to the lap. “God, Peter’s gonna flip when he finds out.”

“Don’t think about that right now,” Ben says.

“Hard not to,” he mumbles.

“I know but, if Reed’s machine did work, she could still be out there.”

“What if this is the time she doesn’t heal? You see how burnt it is in there. How could anyone survive that?”

“Dunno, but (Y/N)’s strong. If anyone could do it, it’d be her.”

Sue reappears in the doorway. Her hands and feet are covered in ash.

“There’s no sign of her,” she says. “We sifted through everything we could. There’s only a spot with slightly less ash than the rest of the room.”

“So you think Reed’s transport worked?” Johnny asks.

“I don’t know what to think. For everyone’s peace of mind, I hope it did. Then we might have a chance to track her down and bring her home.”

Johnny nods and drags his hands through his hair. “I have to make a call.”

Sue rubs his arm and nods. Johnny stalks off down the hall.

“Boss, there’s a disturbance in the electrical field in your lab.”

“Any extra information on that?”

“Based on the readings, it seems that someone may be teleporting directly into the tower.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s the best word I could find.”

Tony frowns. “I’m headed up now. Find Steve and have him meet me there.”

“Of course, boss.”

Steve is already in the lab when Tony arrives, pacing along the far side of the room. There’s a bright ball of light forming in the middle of the lab and Steve’s eyes don’t stray from that spot as he moves, even when Tony strides through the door. Tony just stops and stares at the light.

“How long has that been here?” Tony asks.

“It was here when I walked in.” Steve squints at the light. “What is it?”

“Not sure. F.R.I.D.A.Y.  says someone’s trying to teleport into the tower.”

“Teleport?” Tony nods. “Does that kind of tech actually exist?”

“Not that I know of, but we’ve seen some pretty weird shit in the last ten years. It’d be stupid to just write it off.”

Steve stops pacing and jerks his chin towards the light. “Looks like it’s getting bigger.”

The ball of light slowly, steadily expands. When it’s about as wide as Steve is tall the lab fills with a terrible, painful scream and the light grows too bright for either man to keep their eyes open. The scream grows louder and Steve tries to shield his eyes in an attempt to find where the noise is coming from, but to no avail. Then, suddenly, the screaming stops and the light disappears followed by a distinctly sticky thud.

Tony rubs his eyes and Steve blinks light spots from his vision, willing his eyes to adjust to the room again. When they do, he visibly recoils from the vaguely human shaped mass of burned flesh on the tile in front of him.

"Oh God," he says. "Is that a person?"

----------

Part 2

How’s that for a first chapter? I’ll be very honest, I’m excited to finally be posting this one. It’s been a bit of a brainchild of mine for the better part of a year and a half at this point, maybe more. Pandemic time doesn’t work right.

As always, I’d love to know what you thought of this chapter! What do you think of the reader? Her relationship with Reed and the rest of the FF? What do you think will happen in the next chapter? Be sure to reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

Tag List:

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#steve rogersxreader #readerxsteve rogers #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers #steverogersxreader #readerxsteverogers #the other boi #reader insert fanfiction

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #307: METAMORPHOSIS

September, 1989

I don't usually root for Lava Men but nobody seems to want to make Gilgamesh interesting or put him in pants so yeah go ahead and crush him. Let's trade up for a better model.

I do suspect that Gilgamesh is getting the boot. Even though he's in the roster box, his name isn't included with the names above the title. Which I'm guessing are the mainstays despite the run having the premise that all Avengers are Avengers.

Anyway.

Last times on Avengers: Some stuff happened. And then the writer changed. Captain America declared that the Avengers would have a flexible roster of everyone. Also, some Lava Men hoisted Avengers Island and formed a big ball around the Avengers which then rolled into the sea. Namor showed up but got captured too. Then it was revealed that the Avengers had sorta killed the Lava Men's demonic patron and accidentally wiped out like... almost all of the Lava Men? And the Lava Witchdoctor Jinku is the one that summoned a bunch of not-sapient Lava Men and used them to kidnap the Avengers so he could summon a giant lava monster at them about it.

Meanwhile, Avengers Island is still teetering atop a big spire made of cooled Lava Men and those Lava Men are starting to crumble. The island is in danger of falling, wrecking the Avenger's nice, new base that they haven't had a chance to enjoy because they had a stretch of bad writing! Also Jarvis is still on the island! We like Jarvis here!

He uses the radio to issue an emergency priority double-A one, probably the most emergency of priority calls.

The West Coast Avengers West Coast heard the call last time but still haven't arrived. But Reed and Sue were still in New York so were able to respond much sooner.

Sue points out that they didn't bring specialized equipment with them but Reed tells her that she's all the equipment they need.

He always says the most romantic things.

But he tells her to use her invisible force fields to jam an invisible wedge under the island to shore it up.

It's hard though.

I don't know the exact mechanism of how strain on her force fields impacts Sue but she's carrying thousands of tons with only her brain. That's a lot of pressure.

Science brain Reed points out that the triangle is the strongest form in mechanics so she should be able to bear it.

The rock is still crumbling away from the pillar but Reed tells her not to worry about it. Just keep holding up thousands of tons of island.

Meanwhile, down down down below, the Avengers fight Jinku's lava beast.

Sure, he's calling them mean names like infidel and blasphemer, just because they killed his god but on the other hand, they killed his god and that act consequently killed most of his people.

Anger is a reasonable reaction to that.

I don't think I mentioned it last time but this is a very Marvel monster design.

The horns all over his head, the teeth that stick out like gravestones, the chipped nails, the red that looks like pink, the big brow ridge, the blank eyes. If he were introduced in the 60s he'd probably be called Lavva or Moltenn and have a tidy number of appearances over the years.

But he's actually called Avatar of Cha'sa'dra and has such a specific purpose in this book that he doesn't appear beyond this story unless its in a flashback to this story.

Gilgamesh leaps right at the Avatar, despite Cap's warning, and gets molten lava horfed all over him. Which quickly cools into a cocoon of basalt.

You wouldn't think it would cool that quickly but maybe its magic lava. You don't know.

She-Hulk rips up a stalagmite and whacks the Avatar in the ankle while yelling "IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!"

And she's kind of right because the Avatar leans over and clobbers her across the cave.

Cap tries to smash open Gilgamesh's basalt cocoon but can't make a scratch nor dent in the tough stone.

Gilgamesh just OH YEAHs free. Because he's super strong.

Captain America: "Watch it there, big man! Those flying fragments could have hurt somebody!"

It's sad that Gilgamesh and Captain America's dynamic has wholly become "Cap nags Gilgamesh for not considering his actions for even five seconds."

Back in the Inferno tie-ins, Cap was legitimately interested in getting to know Gilgamesh and to figure out if all his name dropping and claims to have been behind so many legendary deeds were bullshit or not.

Anyway, the mention of basalt gets Black Panther thinking.

Lava Men are tough to fight because they're semi-liquid. They can just reform from injury. But Jinku has hardened into basalt, apparently, despite being colored the same pink as the rest of the Lava Men. Instead of the dark gray that Gilgamesh's basalt coating had.

But given that Jinku is apparently solid stone and not gooey lava, Black Panther decides to excuse himself from the giant monster fight to sneak up and ambush Jinku while the guy is distracted controlling the Avatar.

Black Panther grabs Jinku's staff and wrestles for it. He tells him to surrender the staff or Black Panther will rip off his arm to take it.

But Jinku has more than just the strength of his basalt arm at his disposal. While he wrestles with Black Panther, Jinku is also controlling the Avatar. And he has the Avatar throw Namor at Black Panther.

Bonk.

Thor gets fed up with all this and decides to UNLEASH HIS TRUE MIGHT. He stirs up a hurricane, right here in this underground cave.

But Captain America stops him, saying that the storm will collapse the cave on the Avengers before it fells the Avatar.

Thor does stop but points out that they're getting their asses kicked right now anyway.

And then Black Panther notes that the Avatar is raising the heat in the cave and then passes the fuck out from it.

Captain America is holding up better, because super soldier formula. I guess the heart-shaped herb isn't a thing yet?

Feels weird for that to not be a thing.

Meanwhile, the Avengers West Coast arrives just as Invisible Sue is getting overwhelmed by holding up an entire island.

Wonder Man flies up to the teetering Avengers Island and grabs a corner to hold up. Taking some of the burden off of Sue.

In one of those moments that feels like a handwave to cover an error, Mr Reedtastic wonders how Wonder Man's dinky belt rockets have the lift to hold up so much weight.

Reed decides that the rockets are drawing power from Wonder Man's mutated life energy.

Despite that being a bonkers thing to posit.

Presumably, Byrne drew Wonder Man holding up a corner of Avengers Island and only afterward realized that's not how physics works.

Either way, Wonder Man manages to level the island, balancing on top of the rock spire.

Now that its temporarily balanced, Reed tells Sue to drop her force field. Let Atlas over here hold up the entire thing himself.

Wonder Man: "Hey! Do you mind, Richards? I'm already busting my back as it is!"

But Reed is looking at the big picture. Instead of just holding it up, they need to get it down, safely.

So while Wonder Man holds the entire thing himself, Invisible Sueman creates an invisible force field that spirals around the rock column.

Sue assumes this is to reinforce the column but it's still crumbling like this. Which Reed confirms is his plan. He wants the column to crumble.

MEANWHILE, back at the hot plot.

Black Panther, Captain America, and Quasar have passed the hell out from the heat. Namor and She-Hulk are flagging. And Thor and Gilgamesh are still going strong, monster punching.

Thor tells She-Hulk that this isn't just heat, it's magic heat. Which isn't constructive input.

She-Hulk suggests every Avenger still standing combine their strength to take out Avatar.

... Why weren't you combining your strength before?

Jinku: "It will avail you nothing, giantess! You who see yourselves as the noble champions of the surface world! But this time it is you who are the villains! And mine is the right of retribution!"

And then Jinku repeats the entire story about how their god Cha'sa'dra turned the Lava Men into immortal Lava Men, how he got called away from his busy god job to participate in some conflict (Inferno), how Cha'sa'dra got whacked by the Avengers, and how his death caused most of the Lava Men to turn to meat men again and instantly age to death.

She-Hulk: "We know all that! You told us not ten minutes ago..."

Do you get points for lampshading your own writing cliches?

Since we're in recap town for anyone who didn't pick up last issue, She-Hulk reiterates that Cha'sa'dra wasn't a god but an evil demon.

As you might expect, Jinku is no happier to hear this than the first time they told him.

So he recaps at them some more, explaining that the Lava Men that didn't instantly die, instead turned into "mindless stone."

So Jinku is the last Lava Man, he's pissed, and he's making it the Avengers' problem for causing the situation.

Even Thor is feeling the heat at this point. But Gilgamesh is still going strong because of bullshit Eternal resistances.

Gilgamesh EYE BEAMMMMs the ceiling of the cave, collapsing about a mountain worth of rock on top of the Avatar. THUS THE PROBLEM IS DEALT WITH FOREVER.

The Avatar just bursts out from under the rock pile, like he's coming back for one last scare.

Jinku says that since the Avatar isn't really alive, he can't die. Sure.

At this point, Namor has passed out from the heat and She-Hulk has gotten knocked out when the Avatar OH YEAH'd from under the mountain.

Leaving just Thor and Gilgamesh.

Except Gilgamesh decides he's going to solo this.

Thor: "Gilgamesh, no! Thy thoughts are madness!" Gilgamesh: "Then madness is the only way a warrior should think! Hear me, monster, if mind you have to understand... I am the warrior of the thousand names! I am the dragon slayer! I have fought ten thousand-thousand battles, and I have won them all! I am without equal in the annals of the Earth... AND I AM YOUR DOOM!!"

Dammit, Gilgamesh, why did you suddenly decide to be interesting? For irony reasons? Because he really does get smacked down immediately after that speech.

Fuckin' Gilgamesh.

Also, the hit Gilgamesh took was so devastating that he's just dead or something. The other Avengers have regained consciousness in time to observe that Gilgamesh isn't breathing.

Jinku gloats that soon the rest of the Avengers will be as dead as Gilgamesh probably is. And Namor goes Well Actually uh it seems less hellishly hot around here lately. Which Captain America seconds. Does seem less hot for some reason.

Jinku ignores that to direct the Avatar to kill the Avengers but he doesn't do that. He just stands and stares off at nothing.

Jinku: "What sorcery is this? My lava monster does not move... Does not obey me..." Someone: "Nor shall he, Jinku. He is ours now to control."

Dun dun dun.

Hey, remember all those Lava Men who didn't die but did turn into statues?

Yeah. They're fine now. They're good. They're better than good. They're golden.

And they karate chop Jinku so hard that he too becomes golden.

Apparently they all just needed some time to grow into their True Form.

Also, apparently, Jinku was constantly feeling agony every moment which does explain why he was so pissed and unwilling to listen to the Avengers tell him his god was shit. That and the blasphemy. But now that he's golden, the pain is gone. And he is in a better mood.

One of the gold dudes explains : "Free of the influence of Cha'sa'dra, we have evolved into this higher, finer form. And with this form comes greater understanding! Our brothers died because they were too thoroughly corrupted by Cha'sa'dra's evil magicks... But somehow, in our heart of hearts, we remained untouched... And so did you. For though you sought the destruction of the Avengers, it was not hate that drove you, but grief and anguish. You wished only to see right snatched from what you thought a terrible wrong. And so it has been. Set aside your weapon, brother, and let the joy of this beginning fill your soul!"

Well, okay.

This does not work for me.

For one thing, the people that became statues instead of instantly aging to death were said to be the ones who studied and used Cha'sa'dra's magicks for themselves. Why did using more magick mean being less corrupted?

For another, I dunno. I wish the Avengers had any input into the end of this plot. As it stands, they just get bounced around the room for a while and then deus ex rockina, they get saved because the plot clock ran down.

For another, dunno that Jinku is absolved of blame just because he was sad about bad things that happened. He was taking his grief out on Avengers that hadn't even been around to kill his god. She-Hulk, Namor, Black Panther, and Quasar weren't involved in that.

For a fourth thing, geez. You brought up the idea that the Avengers accidentally a genocide of the Lava Men. I don't like how they get absolved of all blame because "oh the ones that died, they all sucked, its good that they died." HOLY SHIT that is a take.

And I know, what kind of satisfying resolution can there be from the Avengers accidentally killing off all the Lava Men because they whacked a demon invading Earth. What moral lesson should they take from that? Don't punch demons? I don't know where I wanted the subplot to go after it was brought up that the Avengers did make an inadvertent fuckup and did real harm to this molten community but I can damn well tell you, never mind all that those guys sucked, actually, is maybe the worst way for it to go!

Anyway anyway anyway.

Jinku apologizes for doing the Avengers harm.

Hah. And Captain America says, half downplaying and half twisting the knife, that they'll all recover except Gilgamesh who is possibly probably dead from being punched too hard.

(I'm sure he's not dead. And not just in the way that almost no comic book character stays dead forever. More in the sense of what kind of shitty Eternal dies of being punched to death by a lava monster?)

Next time on Avengers, I guess we'll find out how dead Gilgamesh is.

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#essential avengers #avengers #Lava Men #Jinku the Last Lava Man #Avatar of Cha'sa'dra #captain america #She Hulk #black panther #Gilgamesh #namor mckenzie #Quasar #Edwin Jarvis #We appreciate him here #Mr Fantastic #Invisible Woman #Wonder Man #what a baffling way to wrap up an arc

[softgrungeprophet]

WIP ask game, what's "I'll be the light"? 👁️

oh this one i have mentioned to you before, it's the one that’s a fullblown au i probably won’t ever actually write in fic form, because tbh the ideal form in my head is a longer running thing w/ minor plots in addition to the main plot and i’m not doing all that lol but, it’s the au where dr doom kills the silver surfer and also, accidentally, the fantastic four, and then johnny forms a new f4 w/ wyatt, becky and jen mostly out of a sense of responsibility to his friends more than a desire to replace his family...

it’s not like, “written out” but i have fairly detailed notes for some scenes:

So killing the Silver Surfer and taking his silver skin as armor—in a renewed attempt to bring his mother and father back from the dead, Victor von Doom (ruler of Latveria) attempts to open a rift to the negative zone. The intent is to use the power cosmic and the negative/opposing energies of that opposite universe +magic and science to counter the main timeline, thus making their deaths opposite: so they are alive. Using his silver surfer armor.

Naturally the Fantastic Four go to try to stop this new chrome-coated doom (full skin-tight armor deal, no cloth, just cloak), and this is where some of the inspiration comes from the mega-doom stuff and Fraction's run (even though there's a lot to criticize about those runs). Victor von Doom, empowered with the power cosmic and negative energies and his own mix of magic and science, fights the Fantastic Four, all chromed up.

His rift stuff is once again chaotic, the energy a powerful rift lashing out with pulses of power, almost like a small sun which he struggles to control. Plasma and shit. He is weaponizing the chaos tho and using the rift itself + his new silver surfer powers and regular magic to fight the f4. These bursts do weird shit to whatever they touch. Also gravitational pull. Things happen—a burst makes Ben's rocks into flesh, makes Reed melt, makes sue… something… fireworks… explodes against johnny's flame (extinguishing him in parts sporadically)

So we have the fantastic four trying to persevere… ben with his rocks crumbling off of him in the cosmic wind of the rift, reed like so much taffy slowly melting and struggling forward, sue a bundle of lit-up neurons and sparkles, and johnny's fire flickering on and off, parts of him exposing and burning and other parts getting fire, all over. Pieces of the castle are coming off and being sucked in or vaporized. Each member of the fantastic four is grabbed by a beam of negative zone, drawn up into the air as victor too levitates, like the spokes of a wheel.

Weakened, Reed snakes over to reach for doom, and doom grabs him by the face. And reed asks victor… why? Reed knows how dangerous the negative zone is. And doom killed the silver surfer for this. Why? Can you not accept that your parents are dead? Why?

NO! doom says "I cannot accept that which I have the power to remedy!" Says "My reflection in the mirror is, every moment of every day, a reminder of my failure! A mistake which I seek to correct! Which I have the power to rectify!" And to that Reed says, "no. your scars are not a failure, victor. They are a testament to the fact that you cared enough to try in the first place. And that's what matters more than anything else. That you cared. But you don't have to do this, Victor. They're dead, and that won't change. That cannot change. But as you said, you have power. Look at your kingdom." And doom looks. "Your people. They love you. You use your position of power to do right by them. Is that failure? Using the past to change the present. Preventing future deaths like those of your mother. Your father. Is that failure? You don't need to bring them back to right a wrong, Victor. You've already righted so many just by being where you were needed, when you were needed."

For a moment, Victor is mollified. Gentled, even, with his armored hand on Reed's face.

Reed continues: "Doing this, though… Repeating the past… Doing the same thing, expecting anything different to happen. Victor, that's just foolish." Vulnerable to attack—Reed tightens around him like a snake and shouts "Johnny!" as Victor realizes he's been tricked and grabs Reed's face back with a howl (also offended at being called a fool)

(J: "But—") R: "NOW, LAD!" in the midst of a struggle

johnny heats victor's armor, burning reed's face and all of victor, but as victor throws the injured reed down, he begins to pull johnny's energy into the armor and it builds and builds, and johnny can't stop him.

The rift is gaining power with doom at the center of it all, chrome and glowing with power, the silhouettes of his parents' shadows slowly easing into being even as his castle crumbles, the f4 held up in the air unable to escape… reed wounded, sue???? doing something? Shielding them? ben hollering.

And linked to Victor and the rift… Johnny's power goes nova. Through himself and Victor simultaneously, growing and growing—He goes either nova or supernova, not sure which… it expands and expands and expands and he and victor are screaming and sue is struggling and flickering and then—it goes inward.

The rift implodes with its own power and the power of johnny's nova, briefly just whiteness, and sends out a shockwave almost like a nuke but it encompasses the globe in a wave of shimmering pink and blue cosmic waves like TAKATAKATAKATAKA sort of an EMP that briefly causes a global blackout and auroras in every inch of sky before the power comes back. Not even sue's shields can withstand this power.

Within a 100 foot range at least, it's just… a crater where victor's lab used to be, with johnny at ground zero, extinguished, burning flesh, for all appearances a bubbling corpse—and everything and everyone else is gone. Vaporized. The f4 are gone. Victor is gone. The rift is gone. It is empty, and silent. Just… johnny… lying unconscious.

Johnny twitches and opens his eyes. The left pupil is opaque. One earring has evaporated, the other melting down his ear and now cooling. He is already healing because of his fire powers and how they relate to burns. He's still gonna be blind in one eye and scarred. Also half naked because not even his unstable molecular suit could withstand the blast (nor any of his jewelry). His hair is partially burned off. He sits up, slowly, and tweaks a loose lock of singed hair.

#asks #kitausuret #arghwrites

[offollies]

( A STERILE ROOM ADORNED WITH GLASSWARE FILLED WITH VARIOUS LIQUIDS AND MACHINES RUNNING CONSTANT ALGORITHMS, A PASSION FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING OTHERS, A HEART THAT MEANS WELL AND HAS SOLID DEVOTION BUT DOESN'T ALWAYS SHOW IT )▸ welcome to latverion, REED RICHARDS (MISTER FANTASTIC). it’s time to be gracious, for in this vast multiverse, you have been saved by emperor doom. according to records you are 40 and use HE/HIM pronouns. emperor doom expects you’ll enjoy your career as a SCIENTIFIC VISIONARY AND RESEARCHER/CO-OWNER OF THE BAXTER BUILDING, or else. excellent. we look forward to your contribution. ( peter gadiot )

ABOUT BASICS

FULL NAME: reed richards

ALIAS: mister fantastic

AGE: 40

AFFILIATIONS: fantastic four, the illuminati, future foundation, avengers, defenders

GENDER AND PRONOUNS: cis man, he/him

FACE CLAIM: peter gadiot

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

POINT OF ORIGIN: reed comes from... all over the place, but mostly the comics ! i admit i haven’t read a single series all the way through but i bounce around enough to have a collective idea of how my reed is portrayed!

ABILITIES/SKILLS: plasticity, shape-changing, super-genius intelligence, hypnotism, martial arts.

HAVE THEY BROUGHT ANY FAMILY OR PETS WITH THEM: reed has brought his wife, his children, and his brother-in-law with him (though he hopes that ben is around as well).

ANY HEADCANONS YOU WANT OTHERS TO KNOW: since reed’s face claim is of mexican descent/half mexican - i like to incorporate that into his life. reed grew up with a white father (hence the last name of richards) and a mexican mother. (though she still passed when he was 7 years old). reed is, of course, a super-genius and has no qualms about letting anyone know about it. he’s fascinated by alien languages and tech, and for fun he likes to translate their languages and be, of course, the pioneer in doing so. as per usual, reed thinks magic is non-existent in the sense that magic is simply ‘science they have yet to fully understand’. no, you cannot change his mind. yes, he’s obnoxious about it. reed is blunt, forthright, and often-times comes off as rude. sometimes he realizes it and apologizes, sometimes he doesn’t and needs to be told how he came across.

QUESTIONNAIRE

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER FEEL ABOUT EMPEROR DOOM? this is probably THEE most loaded question about reed richards, ever. how does he feel about victor? it’s a mixed bag. he admires him, he rivals him, he considers him family, he considers him his worst enemy. it truly depends on the day and the way doom is feeling. (and reed too but he solely places the blame in doom’s court). but one thing he can count on is doom’s stalwart affection and care for reed and sue’s children. another thing he can count on, of course, is doom to allow his ego to get the best of him, but that’s another story entirely.

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER FEEL ABOUT THE BATTLES? ARE THEY TRYING TO AVOID THEM? OR ARE THEY EAGER TO JUMP IN? reed finds them barbaric and baseless. though he understands that the laws of nature will always have some people willing to throw themselves to the proverbial wolves for fun or recognition. he’s not going to try to shut them down but if they get too carried away, he’ll find a way to force doom to put an end to it. as of right now though, he’s keeping his head down and avoiding the killiseum at all costs.

WHY HAS YOUR CHARACTER ACCEPTED THEIR JOB POSITION? WILL THEY USE IT TO GET CLOSER TO DOOM? OR WILL THEY USE IT EXPLOIT HIM? OR DO THEY SIMPLY LIKE THEIR JOB? reed has always been connected to the baxter building and thus it’s no surprise he’s there as the co-owner and scientist there. he’s also thrown himself into being a researcher and developer so that he can (A.) keep busy and ensure his mind is always sharp, (B.) work on things to keep doom both placated and contained - whether doom realizes it or not. (C.) he just enjoys experimenting and discovering things. so, no he won’t exploit doom - but he will contain and control him if necessary.

#reed:intro #latverion:intro #reed:thread #reed:isms #reed:visage

[invisblgirl]

#( are we magic or science — REED AND SUE. ) #( i don't make a habit of disagreeing with you darling — REED RICHARDS. ) #( she is made of stardust and steel — SUE STORM. )

[guacam011y]

***SPOILERS FOR WANDAVISION EPISODE 6***

So I’m still processing everything but holy shite that ep was wild...

FIRST THINGS FIRST - WANDA, VISION, BILLY AND PIETRO ALL IN COMIC ACCURATE-ISH COSTUMES AND TOMMY IN A MINI QUICKSILVER COSTUME

PIETRO CALLING BILLY AND TOMMY DEMON SPAWN - GOD DAMMIT, IT’S MEPHISTO ISN’T IT? HOUSE OF M HERE WE COME

HERB ASKING WANDA IF SHE WANTED SOMETHING CHANGED

AGNES ASKING VISION ABOUT THE AVENGERS AND STUFF AND AT FIRST SHE SEEMED GENUINELY FREAKED OUT BUT THEN STARTED LAUGHING MANIACALLY AND I STILL DON’T TRUST HER AND AGNES BEING DRESSED AS A WITCH? AGATHA HARKNESS WAS A WITCH - COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!

DARCY LOOKING OVER MONICA’S MED SCANS AND TELLING HER HOW THE HEX AFFECTS HER EACH TIME SHE GOES IN - IS SHE DEVELOPING HER POWERS?

PIETRO’S CORPSE - SCARED ME JUST AS MUCH AS VISION’S

MOVIES SHOWING IN THE THEATRE IN THE BACKGROUND - THE INCREDIBLES: A MOVIE BASED AROUND A SUPERHERO FAMILY AND THE PARENT TRAP: A MOVIE ABOUT TWINS WHO MEET AT CAMP AND TRY AND SET THEIR PARENTS UP

DON’T GO PAST ELLIS AVENUE - NOW I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS A CONNECTION OR JUST A COINCIDENCE BUT ELLIS IS THE LAST NAME OF THE PRESIDENT DURING IRON MAN 3

TOMMY HAVING HIS SPEED POWERS AND BILLY HAVING HIS REALITY WARPING/TELEKINETIC POWERS - WELCOME SPEED AND WICCAN

A CALL BACK TO INFINITY WAR WHEN VISION EXITED THE HEX? SLIGHTLY DUSTING AND HE PROBABLY WON’T SURVIVE BEING OUTSIDE OF THE HEX - HE’LL JUST DIE AGAIN 🥲

I STILL DON’T TRUST HAYWARD - HE’S VERY SUS

DARCY BEING TAKEN INTO THE HEX WITH THE OTHER S.W.O.R.D AGENTS - HOPEFULLY WE CAN SEE THE OUTFITS THAT KAT DENNING’S WAS EXCITED ABOUT

I SWEAR THEY BETTER NOT STRAIGHTWASH BILLY AND TOMMY OR I WILL RIOT 😤

***FURTHER UPDATES***

So sit-com wise, it seems they were referencing Malcolm in the Middle as the twins broke the fourth wall and talked to the audience, like Malcolm did

However, the theme song has told the viewer to stop questioning the reality of Westview - which could be a little reference to Mystery Science Theatre 3000? - When Pietro first shows up in the title sequence, along with his name title card, the lyrics say “Though there may be no way of knowing who’s come to play” - Istg, I do not trust Pietro

Vision says to Wanda that he had to wear his Halloween costume because there were no other clothes in his closet, Wanda is trying to move the plot along and forcing Vision to play along

Evan Peters’ ‘Mom’ tattoo is shown, which is a tattoo he actually has in real life ! But could this stand for ‘Multiverse of Madness’ or some other red herring?

Pietro mentions to Wanda that if he had found ‘Shangri-La’ he wouldn’t want to leave either - Shangri-La is a real place on Earth-616 that was founded by a version of Vision

Tommy refers to Pietro’s speed as ‘kickass’ and then Wanda repeats that, saying ‘kickass’ again - Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Evan Peters (both versions of QuickSilver) were in Kick-Ass together

The ad for this episode was freaky af - the character on the beach who starved and decomposed could be a little nod to Indiana Jones, where a Nazi’s face melts in - and it could also be reference to Wanda being all alone and struggling to process her grief. The shark in the ad could also be Nightmare or Mephisto or just someone more powerful than Wanda offering her a new beginning with Vision or trapped her in some way - and is feeding off her magic? The flavour of the yoghurt is strawberry flavoured and strawberry’s are red on the outside and pink-ish on the inside - much like Wanda’s og costume and her magic being red 👀

Pietro and Wanda talk about their Sokovian accents at a point in the episode and how neither have them anymore. Wanda’s, as we know, has disappeared over the course of the MCU movies and Pietro’s just doesn’t exist - another nice little nod to Peter Maximoff from the fox X-Men films? Also, Pietro states that “I’m just trying to do my part, okay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the brother-in-law, stir up trouble with the Rugrats (a 90’s cartoon 👀) and ultimately give you grief.” - in reference to the grief part, could Pietro be killed off again? Stir up trouble with the rugrats, being possible shards of the demon Mephisto’s soul, could this be Mephisto trying to influence them on a deeper level? It’s also many many common sitcom clichès

Pietro talks about how “I got shot like a chump on the street for no reason at all” - nice little nod to how Pietro was killed off unnecessarily and how we as a fandom still talk about how regular bullets shouldn’t have killed him

Herb is dressed as Frankenstein’s monster - Dr. Frankenstein created his monster and soon lost control over him, and he was created using electricity or lightning - much like Vision was created and brought to life by Thor using Mjolnïr to bring lightning down to his incubator thingy majig. Could this also be a reference to either Wanda slowly losing control over Westview or someone else controlling Wanda/controlling the citizens of Westview - we saw in episode 3 that Agnes told Herb to be quiet as it seemed he was about to spill the beans 👀

Vision goes towards Ellis avenue and is at a ‘crossroads’ of sorts - in folklore, crossroads are often used to speak to or summon the devil and are also used when an important character is making a decision that could change everything. He spots some citizens repeating certain actions and/or just standing completely still, could these be npc’s (non playable characters)? And now that the barrier of the Hex has spread, will those citizens now start to move? 👀 Also I know that all stop signs look like it, but the stop sign is also a red hexagon 🛑

Darcy scrolls through Hayward’s computer files and goes past a file called “Project C4-113” - it could reference Avengers Issue #113 in which Wanda and Vision both appear on the cover and she says she’s going to make the world pay for Vision’s death. There’s also another file called “Project M5-247” which could be a nod to Avengers Issue #247, which shows the origin of the Eternals and in the same vein, Scarlet Witch and Vision trying to help Captain Marvel. And when Darcy emails Hayward’s cataract plans, you can see the names of “James Alexander and James Gadd” - James Alexander is a visual effects producer on Wandavision and James Gadd works on post production at Marvel

Also: Agnes pulls as Mrs Hart and repeats the same phrase over and over again

After Wanda blasts Pietro, you can see on a fake grave stone the name of “Janell Sammelman”, Janell is a first assistant director on Wandavision

When Wanda moves Westview to save Vision, she turns S.W.O.R.D and it’s agents into clowns + a circus - I just love that the agents turned into clowns 😂 but there is a nice little plot line in the comics where Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye join the circus - and this COULD be stretch, but earlier in the episode there is the number #22 which could be Avengers Issue #22, which is the Issue that they join the circus

As soon as Vision was brought back into Westview, he was healed - which means if he was to exit again, he probably wouldn’t survive 😭

The episode title is ‘All-New Halloween Spooktackular!” - which “All-New” is a designation that is often used on covers for comic books. And the first issue of the second The Vision and the Scarlet Witch series takes place on Halloween night - but the events in this comics didn’t influence this episode’s plot

Pietro points out that he has the “XY chromosome” - X for X-Men? Plus there’s the X gene 😂

He mentions “Uncle Peter to the rescue” - Peter is the name of Quicksilver from the Fox X-Men Franchise

Pietro and Tommy quote the movie Top Gun (1986) by saying “I fell the need, the need for speed”

Wanda almost seems hesitant to trust this version of Pietro (rightfully so, in my opinion) and is wary of him being around Tommy and Billy

Pietro says some very Mephisto/Nightmare-like things this episode - “Unleash hell, demon spawn!”, “The kids need a father figure”, “Damnit, if Westview isn’t charming as Hell...” - And if Pietro isn’t Mephisto/Nightmare, it HAS to be Agnes or her other half Ralph and Pietro is probably Ralph tbh...or could Pietro just be a scapegoat and Hayward is Ralph? 👀

The theatre in town, which is playing the Incredibles and The Parent Trap, is called the Coronet. There’s a classic poem called “The Coronet” written by Andrew MARVELL (Marvell, is also the true name of the first incarnation of Captain Marvel in the comics) and is about a guy who knows that the sins of mankind led to the death of Christ. He attempts to create a new crown for Christ’s head in an attempt to atone, but finds that there is sin in the crown as well, as the devil is within the crown and therefore he may achieve glory and success with his new creation 👀

Hayward’s confidential project “Cataract” included experimenting on Vision’s body, as was revealed by Darcy (my wife 💙 and Monica is also my wife 💚 and so is Wanda 💛, I just love women, you know? 😂). A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision - is Hayward trying to weaponise Vision? Or maybe even trying to bring Ultron back? Or do what Tony wanted to do in the first place, and make a suit of armour that’s around the world? Either way, it’s for nefarious purposes

Who is Monica’s guy? Jimmy and Monica are off to meet him - could it be Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic)? Or could it be Victor Von Doom (Dr Doom)? Could it be Hank McCoy (Beast)? Or even Adam Brashear (Blue Marvel)? Or if it is a woman, could it be the Skrull daughter of Talos that Monica befriended at the end of Captain Marvel? Could it be Abigail Brand (A major character in recent S.W.O.R.D comics and an Alpha Flight Member)? Or even Toni Ho (Iron Patriot, and could she be introduced to help lay the ground work for my other queen, Riri Williams/Iron Heart?)? Or could it even be Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)?

In the background of the episode we see a number of children and adults dressed up as many different characters, which includes: Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, Jason Voorhees, with a sweater striped like Freddy Krueger’s and even a kid that looks dressed in an off-brand Charizard costume 😂 Pokèmon has always been popular, but saw an increase during the 90’s

Pietro and the kids are drinking “Kane Cola” which could be a reference to the 90’s drinks “Jolt Cola” or even “Surge” - it could also, with all the X-Men Easter eggs, be a reference to Garrison Kane, who was a member of Cable’s mercenary team “Six Pack” and is sometimes also known as ‘Weapon X’

The kid that Wanda mentions having a “skin thing” in the orphanage - could that be a reference to her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants co-worker Toad? Or maybe even Mystique? Maybe Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)?

One of the houses has a sign up that says ‘Macabre Mansion’ - another possible reference to House of M?

During a flashback, it’s shown that the twins are playing Dance Dance Revolution, which came out in 1999. Also this might be a stretch, but the boys have a dog plushie in their room the right - which is coloured red and black - could this be a reference to Dogpool? 😂

I love this show 🤣💙

#wandavision #mcu #i cant even #disney plus wandavision #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #marvel comics #paul bettany #Elizabeth Olsen #speed #wiccan #wiccan and speed #hulkling and wiccan #Billy and Tommy #Pietro #pietro maximoff #Peter maximoff #xmen #Evan Peters #Kathryn Hahn #Darcy Lewis #jimmy wu #monica rambeau #speed marvel #wiccan marvel #scarlet witch #quicksilver #wandavision spoilers #wv spoilers

[gpsoftun]

Time for a detailed look into Definitive Victor von Doom. If that involves gazing upon Julian McMahon content, that is the sacrifice we have to make in pursuit of geekery, people!

(I have no doubt that Victor remained in the dark through the entire presentation all for this theatrical reveal. Is his excess hamming supposed to balance out all the heart-pulsing handsome?)

(Ben so badly wants to clobber that perfect smile straight off that perfect sculpted face. In due time, All-American Hero. In due time)

Julian's the Definitive Dr. Doom because as I've said before, comic/animated Doom is such a one-dimensional cardboard cutout of a villain. He's like Shredder from Ninja Turtles with the narcissistic personality disorder, except with more annoying monologues. Julian McMahon made him suave, sexy, funny, and legitimately intimidating. Unlike the other versions, I can see how he would cause low self-esteem in Reed.

Many will disagree with me on this- as if that's ever stopped me before- but I love the way the films ground the story into reality. The Fantastic elements are still there, only with genuine humanity and a lack of all-out comic book lunacy. This is a relief because Victor's original backstory is.... ludicrous is putting it way too lightly. Born in the Marvel eastern european country Latveria, his father was the tribe leader and a medicine man. Mrs. Von Doom was a witch- yeah. Victor's father managed to keep her sorcery quiet in order to prevent a lynch mob from attacking their family and all. Victor's mother died because moms are forbidden within Fantastic Four lore. After his father died, Victor combined sorcery and science to make custom gear that grew the attention of colleges. He met and formed a rivalry with Reed. That's all I'm saying because it only gets dumber from there. No clue about Stan Lee's thought process here. The Four got heartbreaking and relatable backstories while Dr. Doom got the same magic insanity origin as Magneto's twins. Must be a Romani thing, I dunno.

The movies and original screenplay confirm Victor to be a Latverian immigrant rocking the American Dream as a billionaire. His English is perfect and dropping an eastern european accent is NO simple task. It's more believable that after his wife died, Victor's father sent him to the US as a refugee child to stay with a host family. With his absolute refusal to show the smallest glint of weakness, his host parents were likely very strict in Americanizing him. It is revealed that Victor, Reed, and possibly Ben, attended MIT together. Only in this version, they had standard college kid issues between them as opposed to Victor hating Reed for believing he tampered with Victor's ouija board device- Stan, what? Just what?

From college onward, Victor had both a resentment and something of an obsession towards Reed. It makes very little sense why, though. Victor is a successful inventor in his own right, gorgeous, has a level of confidence that can outshine the sun, and money enough to just blast the old college crew into space. Reed is considered the more brilliant scientist, but he had to come to Victor because he was bankrupt. With how meticulous Reed gets about his research and creations, he likely burnt through the money his father left him. At the start of the film, he's been struggling financially for years. Even Reed himself initially believes Victor to be the better man for Sue. Still, Victor takes every single opportunity to one-up him.

Due to how one-sided the rivalry is, Victor comes off as obsessed with Reed. When they came to him with the mission proposal, Victor already knew about Reed's bankruptcy, fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building, and that NASA turned them down. The screenplay has Reed and Ben a little creeped out by how much he knows and wonders where he got the info. Remember this was in 2005 before the internet became the prime stalking tool it is today. The screenplay also makes it clear that Victor wants Sue because he sees her as Reed's lady.

While I don't believe Victor to be remotely on the spectrum, he is somewhat similar to Reed with a weird nature towards emotions. Victor plays the part of the perfect, most eligible man masterfully. However, underneath that impenetrable wall he puts up, Victor is still that poor immigrant determined to prove his superiority. Considering he came from poverty, it's believable he would honestly think money and power are the keys to everything. One of his few vulnerable moments is during his space proposal to Sue. He suggests she see it as a promotion. I don't think he intended to be offensive in saying that. In Latveria, a woman being proposed to by a man like Victor is an enormous life goal. Sue wants a deep emotional connection in addition to a strong man, but Victor is incapable of the former.

Reed mentions that when they were in college, they talked about working together. Obviously, Victor did not have the same hostility towards Reed during school that his comic counterpart did. In the screenplay, we see much more of Victor's condescension over him and Reed's struggle to stand up for himself. Ben has not one nice word to say about Victor and constantly urges Reed not to take his insults and patronizing. Similarly, Victor knows Ben is Reed's bodyguard, therefore a nuisance. He's also aware that Ben is the one person who sees right through him and even when asking for a favor, does not pretend to like Victor.

This gives some interesting insight into the dynamic between the three during college. Reed remembers them wanting to work together and does give Victor his fair kudos. Meanwhile, Victor only recalls how the 'Great Reed Richards' made most guys at MIT seem intellectually inferior next to him. With Reed's emotional struggles, he probably did not realize he had that affect on people. When Reed is out of earshot, Victor admits that his former classmate tends to be right about all things scientific. In the sequel, their collaborating looks so natural and Victor seemed proud of Reed going off against the military general.

All of this leads me to believe that there was something of a friendship between them once. Since Victor's attitude towards Reed is more belittling than hateful, perhaps when they first met, Victor did act more or less amicable. With the depth of Reed genius, he probably realized they could do amazing things together. However, Victor had to be the dominant one and with his charm, he easily could have been emotionally manipulative towards someone so socially inept like Reed. But because Ben- another alpha and Reed's childhood friend- was there, Victor only got so far. Ben already had the older brother influence, except he used it to protect Reed instead of exploiting him. It's possible that Victor's fixation on Reed stems from being unable to take control of him back then. With Victor's bullheaded pride, he cannot handle losing any contest of wills. If he couldn't have Reed as a friend under his strict terms, he would make a move on Reed's sole love, take Johnny's favor, and eventually turn his rock solid Ben against him.

Something else I really like is how after the cosmic rays, Victor *slowly* descended into madness. As the Four did not become instant heroes, neither did Victor turn into an overnight villain. The mission was a disaster, four people came back mutated- and eventually Victor himself, his stock crashed, Sue broke up with him, his investors voted him out, and despite the part Reed played in the space failure, suddenly the newly dubbed Mr. Fantastic became a media sensation, completely taking all press attention away from Victor. The Storms even moved in with him, meaning much more personal time with Sue. Without meaning to, Reed became the arch nemesis Victor accused him of being for years.

Like the Four, the cosmic rays created Victor's abilities as a manifestation of his personality. Being able to manipulate electricity came from his lust for power. His metallic skin represented him shedding the remainder of the humanity he considered weak and literally hardened him. Contrary to the others, however, Victor chose the dark path. There's something to be said about how he went from proposing to Sue to murdering her by stabbing her through her heart. Only the Silver Surfer's intervention managed to revive her. Funny how this does not grant Victor some sort of one-on-one brawl with his 'real' enemy Reed.

After acting as the devil on Johnny's shoulder in the first film, the Firestarter despises Victor in the sequel. The last time they defeated Doom, Johnny went straight to Reed and put an arm around him. This indicated his fully restored Team Reed status. After Victor killed his sister, Johnny flew after him and fire-clobbered that fool. On top of that, regular, fleshy, de-powered Ben dealt the crushing blow by using a cherry-picker to hurl Doom clear across Asia. So, even as an ordinary man, Ben won against hyper-powered Victor yet again. Once they got back to the others on ground level, Johnny receives feel-safe hugs from everybody, ending wrapped up in Reed's elastic arms.

Even though Victor commits so many unjustifiable misdeeds, he doesn't cause an Erik Lehnsherr outrage in me. He's well-acted, his motives are believable, and most of all, his horrible actions are treated as such. He and Reed could have accomplished such immense good together if Victor had not let his own irrational ego come between them. Such a sad waste for a man capable of achieving so much. Consequences- what a concept, right?

Hm, maybe Victor would have been given more free passes if we saw his mother being killed, he played the tragic immigrant card harder, and he called Ben's rock form pretty....

Nah, the very notion of even the dumbest superhero film operating by that logic is totally asinine 😏

#fantastic four 2005 #fantastic four rise of the silver surfer #fantastic four feels #definitive fantastic four #anti erik lehnsherr #anti magneto #MSU #marvel's stepchildren united #julian mcmahon #victor von doom #dr. doom #ioan gruffudd #reed richards #mr. fantastic #jessica alba #sue storm richards #chris evans #johnny storm #michael chiklis #ben grimm #kindness is not weakness #meaningful media messages #anti misandry #anti michael b. jordan #platonic love #brotherly #Ben Grimm is a big brother WIN #Devoted Wife Sue #Awesome Leader Reed

[yexiu]

can i get a new spideytorch fic rec this fine wednesday evening 😌 hope ur having a good day also

lmao sorry this took a while, i had finals! but sure, i can do that!! i’ll even do u one better and combine all of my past fic recs all in one post so i can have Just One and update it whenever there’s new fics in the tag! fyi these are all strictly non-mcu. as always, blanket rec on anything by @traincat!

work song

johnny and peter and the aftermath of superior spider-man and secret wars 2015. do i think you should read superior spider-man? no. should you read this? yes.

just married series

johnny and peter get married post-negative zone to fool some aliens

tales from the back pages

soulmate words au, really really cute and based around asm #1 and #3

the soul of love

johnny + cooking, post-secret wars + parker industries period

you light my morning sky

60s au, drive-ins and milkshakes and falling in love

between the smoke and ruins

fantastic four are villains au and i love it

always glad you came

teen spideytorch + identity antics and misunderstandings

:D bro!!

college roommates, fant4stic and webb spider-man verse

the gay superhero alliance

lgbt superhero group, lots of cameos

in the spotlight

of course peter parker would be in a musical disaster about himself and johnny’s life mission is to embarrass him

all of these thousand miles

gay space roadtrip to find the fantastic four and future foundation

black magic, love, and other unexplainable sensations

fantasy au, prince johnny

the world, reversed

johnny gets kidnapped (typical), peter travels across universes to get him back

satellite call

psychic vampires! projecting all of your self hatred to the ones you love the most! fun!

can you tell

identity antics! johnny is in love with spider-man AND peter parker? shocker! (shocker is not actually in this, sorry to deceive u)

perfect distraction

high school teacher peter trying to lead a club, johnny is a distraction. i ADORE teacher peter

whatever a sun will always sing is you

post-secret wars battleworld fallout

with your last breath

last words soulmate au with the negative zone! fun!

you could have been mine

spideytorch: the one where it’s ben

scorched earth

less focus on spideytorch, but it’s there! a exploration of ben & johnny’s relationship set during marvel two-in-one (2017) #8

the way you see through me

set after spider-man/fantastic four #3! spider-man very awkwardly kissed sue, and johnny’s…jealous? no, that’s not it.

a melody that’s calling your name

fake relationship antics in high school. also, the college five foursome is real

til planet-rise

star wars au, also heist fic

sleeping with ghosts

no powers au, peter is caught up in some shady science, johnny is gay and worried

out of the dead lands

au where peter joins johnny in the negative zone

surrounded by wolves

villain peter, johnny is gay and weirdly into that, kinda

the boy from new york city

if you read one fic from this list, read this. webb spider-man and fant4stic-verse. peter puts on the mask after gwen’s death while johnny convinces the team to move back to new york

an unsung melody is mine

kid fic. johnny and peter follow in sue and reed’s steps and get baby fever

better in picture

peter & matt are dating!? no but that’s what johnny thinks. 

i came in from the outside, burnt out from the joyride

more post-secret wars 2015 sadness

the spider in west egg

kinda based on the great gatsby? but not exactly. i mean, they’re still superheroes

river eyes

spider-man noir but now featuring movie star johnny!! man we deserved fantastic four noir

built to fall apart (and back together)

au where spider-man disappears after k*ssing johnny storm. also wow! peter parker is now a millionaire? 

secrets kept in half light

spider-man noir verse. detective stuff. 

that’s it for now! i’ll keep this post updated with any new ones that come out and i like so come back to the original if it’s been a while!

#spideytorch #johnny storm #peter parker #johnny posting #anons #📬 #thank you for asking!!

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #222

Tues Apr 27 2020 [08:12 PM] Wack'd: HERE WE GO. AFTER LIKE EIGHT MONTHS. THE AUSPICIOUS RETURN. [08:12 PM] Wack'd: FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 1 NO 222 [08:12 PM] maxwellelvis: Sound the music [08:13 PM] Umbramatic: huzzah! [08:15 PM] Wack'd: So! We are almost at the John Bryne era, but before we get there, Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz have like ten issues in 'em. [08:16 PM] Wack'd: We open with, uh. Sue Storm giving her increasingly preteen looking son a horsey ride while wearing a full pantsuit and pearls.

[08:16 PM] Wack'd: It's a choice! [08:18 PM] Wack'd: It's weird seeing Reed being playful...

[08:18 PM] maxwellelvis: Franklin shrank like two feet between cuts here. [08:18 PM] Wack'd: This, though. Weirder. Definitely weirder.

[08:19 PM] maxwellelvis: If I were a gambling man I'd say Franklin got kidnapped by Skrulls or something in the night and hasn't yet realized it yet. [08:21 PM] Wack'd: Reed heads out to the library and Ben joins him since he's on his way to the movies. Reed is very insistent they take a train rather than a cab, because he's worried about finances, but also [08:21 PM] Wack'd: *cough* [08:21 PM] Wack'd: IT'S NINETEEN EIGHTY [08:24 PM] Bocaj: There are trains? [08:24 PM] Wack'd: So we cut directly from this talk of personal finances and energy shortages to

[08:25 PM] Bocaj: I remember it going differently but go off I guess [08:25 PM] Wack'd: Nah she did that [08:26 PM] Bocaj: Dang [08:26 PM] Bocaj: Tough love [08:26 PM] Wack'd: In that annual where he nearly traumatized Franklin to death [08:27 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile, Johnny's out in Jersey doing some racing! [08:28 PM] Wack'd: Johnny you've had like three love interests since then, also she cheated on you

[08:28 PM] maxwellelvis: Damn you, Pavlov [08:29 PM] Bocaj: With Quicksilver [08:29 PM] Bocaj: Like fuck [08:30 PM] maxwellelvis: I've no idea what she saw in him. [08:30 PM] Bocaj: That’s just. That’s sad. And then she cheated on Quicksilver with a random real estate agent. It’s like a race to the bottom [08:30 PM] maxwellelvis: The only rungs left down from there are like, Blackheart and Irving Forbush. [08:31 PM] Wack'd: Okay Sue two things: 1. his powers aren't the only things he's suppressing, he watched you die like 20 issues ago, take this kid to a therapist

[08:31 PM] Wack'd: 2. "So long as nothing traumatic happens" is just asking for it [08:32 PM] Umbramatic: yeeeeeeeeeeeep [08:33 PM] Wack'd: SPEAK OF A GUY WHOSE NAME IS LITERALLY NICK SCRATCH, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE DEVIL

[08:34 PM] Wack'd: Gdi Sue and Reed, you just left to the door to the *Negative Zone open in a house with a child? Next you're going to tell me you leave guns lying around or put cleaning chemicals in easy-to-reach places or don't put plastic plugs over unused electrical outlets [08:35 PM] Bocaj: They’re bad parents [08:35 PM] Umbramatic: they leave guns in the cleaning chemicals with no plastic plugs over them [08:35 PM] Bocaj: You gotta keep your doors to the antimatter universe locked. That’s just common sense for raising a child [08:36 PM] Wack'd: ...HEY DOES THAT DRAWER HAVE A LOCK ON IT?! I WAS JOKING ABOUT THE GUN THING!!!

[08:37 PM] maxwellelvis: It's 1980, Wack'd; childproofing doesn't exist yet. [08:37 PM] Bocaj: Its juuuuuust a flare gun [08:38 PM] Wack'd: Oh so Franklin can just shoot a ball of fire, cool [08:38 PM] Bocaj: When has a child ever killed anyone or burned down a library with a flare gun [08:38 PM] maxwellelvis: Yep. No seatbelts or booster seats in the Fantasticar either. [08:40 PM] maxwellelvis: Unsafe at Any Speed was published in 1965 and I think by 1980 people still had yet to take it seriously. By the Clinton administration, that changed somewhat... [08:40 PM] Wack'd: Lorrie, you're not missing anything, he was gonna spend the entire time imagining you as his ex

[08:40 PM] maxwellelvis: Must be nice to not have to have a secret identity. [08:40 PM] Bocaj: Saves time [08:41 PM] Bocaj: Don’t have to think of excuses or find a phone booth [08:42 PM] maxwellelvis: What's not so nice is having a secret identity, but your enemies know who you are anyways. S'why Rita Repulsa would have been way more dangerous if it wasn't a kids show. [08:43 PM] Wack'd: 

[08:43 PM] Bocaj: “Oh no, he’s become a teenager!” [08:44 PM] Wack'd: "Easy, Susie, you don't know what you're saying! It's entirely possible that is Franklin, he says weirder shit than this all the time" [08:44 PM] Bocaj: True [08:45 PM] Wack'd: Wow. Uh. Probably not a good sign when the murderous spirit of a dead witch is cheering on your behavior!

[08:45 PM] Bocaj: I see the attempted ironic echo [08:45 PM] Wack'd: (Also, speaking of Franklin saying weirder shit than this, the "I like watching you and momm smooch--yeah [08:45 PM] Bocaj: But both situations were creepy so [08:45 PM] Wack'd: Yeah [08:46 PM] Wack'd: So Reed sends Johnny to fetch Dr. Strange as Franklin starts, uh

[08:47 PM] Umbramatic: FLOATING GUNS [08:47 PM] Wack'd: I swear to good I didn't read this ahead of time. I literally had no idea when I said the gun thing that I was being ironic [08:48 PM] maxwellelvis: To be fair, all the locks in the world would probably have done no good with Franklin's power and Scratch's magic combined. [08:48 PM] Umbramatic: Okay, i believe you. [08:48 PM] Bocaj: Hey Dr Strange! Both he and Reed always think they’re right [08:48 PM] Bocaj: It’s gonna be a hoot [08:48 PM] Umbramatic: (i actually do belive you i just had to link that) [08:50 PM] Wack'd: "I could do it. I could leave him to die. I could let Franklin murder him. I would be blameless...and I would be...free..."

[08:51 PM] Bocaj: HAH! [08:51 PM] Mousa The 14: Sue get possessed too? [08:51 PM] Wack'd: I think she's just in shock. [08:51 PM] maxwellelvis: No, I think Scratch just broke the Franklin Button [08:52 PM] maxwellelvis: He shouldn't'a did that. [08:52 PM] Mousa The 14: Tends to be poor form to possess a child right before his mother’s eyes. [08:53 PM] Wack'd: So Strange is out of town, naturally. But as Johnny leaves a redhaired lady named Desadia spies on him, and places a cryptic phone call to a Nick-Fury-looking guy called Gabriel. That will probably be important later. [08:53 PM] Umbramatic: probably. [08:53 PM] maxwellelvis: There's nothing ominous about those names at all. [08:54 PM] Mousa The 14: Desadia is definitely an uncommon one [08:55 PM] maxwellelvis: If her last name is Marcus, RUN [08:55 PM] Wack'd: Back at the Baxter, Reed snaps Sue out of her shock, which, like. I was honestly hoping she was mad at Reed for hitting her? Or something? [08:55 PM] Mousa The 14: Someone should be [08:55 PM] Bocaj: I’ll be [08:55 PM] Wack'd: I get that it's her kid but it's also Reed's and he's fine! Going into shock is not just a thing women do! [08:56 PM] Mousa The 14: How does Hank “has had some head issues” Pym never live it down but Reed “Man of Action” Richards just gets to do this whenever [08:56 PM] Wack'd: Marvel's First Family [08:56 PM] maxwellelvis: Grandfathering [08:57 PM] maxwellelvis: Nobody wants to be the one who broke them up for good. [08:57 PM] Wack'd: Johnny returns and he has a solution which is also the only solution he has to most problems [08:57 PM] Mousa The 14: Burning it? [08:57 PM] maxwellelvis: FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! [08:57 PM] Wack'd: He just...melts the entire fucking room to slag, yeah [08:57 PM] Wack'd: Because hey, no more weapons, right? [08:57 PM] Mousa The 14: God dammit, Johnny [08:57 PM] Mousa The 14: I mean yes that’s technically true but [08:58 PM] Mousa The 14: Other people are around [08:58 PM] Wack'd: Then they do what they only didn't do from the beginning because gotta make Sue look weak [08:58 PM] Wack'd: Shove Franklin in a force field and shoot him fulla sedatives

[08:59 PM] Wack'd: Some exceptional faces on Franklin this issue, gotta say [08:59 PM] Wack'd: Though he kind of has a Little Lord Fauntleroy thing going on in that first panel [08:59 PM] Bocaj: Maybe reed should try lobotomizing him again [09:00 PM] Bocaj: Worked out fine the first time [09:00 PM] Umbramatic: reed's face there reminds me of seasons greasons [09:00 PM] Wack'd: We don't talk about Conway anymore. 😛 [09:01 PM] maxwellelvis: Has Scratch given any indication that he's the one possessing Franklin? [09:01 PM] Wack'd: Not really [09:01 PM] maxwellelvis: Like announced his presence? [09:01 PM] Wack'd: But they figure they should bring him to Agatha's anyway. [09:01 PM] maxwellelvis: So for all they know he just did this on his own. [09:01 PM] maxwellelvis: FINALLY [09:04 PM] Mousa The 14: It’s a possession even if it’s not old scratch they know they need a magical solution [09:04 PM] Wack'd: I love that Reed starts this page having a séance around a pentagram and ends it declaring that actually this is all highly scientific

[09:04 PM] maxwellelvis: I just mean why's she second? [09:04 PM] maxwellelvis: "HAIL SCIENCE!" [09:04 PM] Wack'd: Also we're just going to trust this guy who none of you have ever met who just wandered in here out of nowhere, that's cool [09:05 PM] Mousa The 14: Yeah that’s weird. [09:05 PM] Mousa The 14: Like what are his credentials? A single eye and a white streak? [09:05 PM] Wack'd: In fairness that's more than Dr Strange has [09:06 PM] Mousa The 14: If he’s not blonde, in a trench coat, with a working class accent then this is not the man you’re looking for [09:06 PM] Mousa The 14: Good point, Wack’d [09:06 PM] maxwellelvis: Yeah, but Dr. Strange looks like Vincent Price [09:06 PM] Mousa The 14: However Dr. Strange has a doctorate [09:06 PM] Wack'd: A Doctorate Against the Dark Arts [09:06 PM] Mousa The 14: Hah! [09:06 PM] maxwellelvis: Daimon Hellstrom has a pentagram on his chest and goes around at all times without a shirt on, AND his hair goes up in devil points. [09:06 PM] maxwellelvis: 🥁 [09:08 PM] Bocaj: Look if you want to fight demons you gotta ditch the dead weight like shirts [09:08 PM] Wack'd: Why was this guy necessary? What was he doing that Agatha couldn't have? Just from a sheer plot construction point of view I don't understand what this man's utility is besides "someone besides a woman fixes this problem"

[09:09 PM] maxwellelvis: I guess we'll find out next issue? [09:09 PM] Mousa The 14: Maybe this is his backdoor pilot for a comic that never took off [09:09 PM] Wack'd: You know what, that seems likely [09:09 PM] Wack'd: He's got kind of a Gary Seven energy to him [09:09 PM] Mousa The 14: They did that quite a bit with the FF if I recall [09:10 PM] maxwellelvis: Namor, the Black Panther, those are just the examples that worked. [09:10 PM] Mousa The 14: Using the some of the  2 in ones or whatever to help enhance whoever’s book was failing [09:10 PM] maxwellelvis: The Inhumans too. [09:10 PM] maxwellelvis: @Mousa The 14 Or to conclude a series that was cut short prematurely. [09:10 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, next issue: field trip to New Salem! [09:10 PM] Mousa The 14: Indeed [09:10 PM] Wack'd: Speaking of series cut prematurely short, it's letters page time! [09:11 PM] Wack'd: Our first letter is from Chris Wells of Brooklyn, who was apparently very concerned that we's never find out what happened to Dr. Sun from Nova! [09:11 PM] Wack'd: Because as we all know, Fantastic Four would never forget about a plot point involving an evil golden robot. [09:11 PM] Bocaj: Return of the revenge of new Salem [09:12 PM] Wack'd: He also was happy to see HERBIE go even though he didn't hate him as much as he thought he would. And wants Johnny and Dazzler to hang out more. [09:13 PM] Wack'd: The next letter is all praise for Bill Mantlo. Folks...really liked HERBIE's heroic death? Even though it was a relic of a plotline that really never went anywhere and only existed because of a crossover with a book no one seemed to like [09:14 PM] maxwellelvis: And involving a character I thought nobody liked, too. [09:14 PM] maxwellelvis: Guess it's all in the telling. [09:14 PM] Wack'd: Every letter on this page is just "I hated HERBIE, but his death made me cry!" [09:14 PM] Wack'd: No accounting for taste I guess [09:15 PM] Bocaj: That’s what happened with Cipher too [09:15 PM] Wack'd: Adric Syndrome [09:15 PM] Bocaj: Not bill, Doug [09:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Forced to kill him off, she made sure EVERYONE felt bad about wishing him dead. [09:16 PM] maxwellelvis: How DID Cipher die, anyway? [09:16 PM] Wack'd: Tragic sign language accident [09:19 PM] Bocaj: He got shot with a bullet from a gun [09:19 PM] Bocaj: Saving Wolfsbane I beleive

#1980 #Doug Moench #Bill Sienkiewicz #The Main Book

[kurtty-drabbles]

The Omen au (part 21)

N/A: Ok, here we go. Using the motifs of the mother here. One last chapter to end this au.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @bamfoftheundead @everykurt

Terry Pryde was not a woman to stay home all day, no sir, she certainly likes an adventure, however, lately, Terry´s adventures have been label as chaotic to mind-blowing and Terry would like to go home if possible, of course, Kitty Pryde has a strong will about staying on Michael´s side.

So, in regards to this decision, Terry ended up in Latveria as an honourable guest from King Doom himself and yes, Terry does not like the name Doom and really does not like this place, but, what can she do? Take Kitty back pulling her hair all the way? She can´t do that.

Her room is nice-is not the word she would use to express anything regards Doom- it has nice furniture, painting and it has the best view of the city. Roma people are thriving here and while she can appreciate this...

"Kitty, this place is Doom. Why must you stay here?" she asked her daughter one last time. Too tired of hearing the same answer. Why is her daughter the epicentre of the antichrist.

Kitty bites her lips and said. "Because he´s here. Doom is here with him...and I need to save him, look, I´m not sure if he´s the real antichrist or just a powerful mutant, either way, many people will try to explore his powers and I need to make sure that no one will manipulate him..." Kitty completes and Terry looks defeats now.

"Ok, and how can you know he´s not manipulating you, Kitten?" is a question that has been plaguing Terry´s mind and it seems only Terry because Kitty has an answer for that too with 100% sincerity.

"He hasn´t manipulated me, mother, we trust each other" is spoken with such sincerity that Terry wants to believe. She recalls that Prof X did that test, let´s call as such, on Michael using her only daughter and Terry ponders for a minute. Only a minute.

Maybe...I´m wrong about him, maybe. He´s not that bad.

And she decides to just hug her daughter and let go of those thoughts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Victor Von Doom is a child. No matter what he does, no matter what he tells the others, Victor Von is still a child in search of his mother. To say he cope with her death poorly is not enough to say in his case. The man mixed magic and science to achieve both arts, yet, all this means nothing if his mother is not here with him.

Michael is peering through Doom as the man stops his lecture to gaze at a painting with such devotion-too devotion to be romantic as Michael deducts by himself- and waits to see what Doom will do. Michael was enjoying learning magic.

Doom seems to be back to reality as Doom clears his throat and decides to explain himself to his charge now. "This is my mother, she was taken by me when I was little...I got revenge, of course, but..." Doom trails off and Michael speaks for Doom.

"Is not enough, right!?" and Michael offers a gentle smile and Doom nods focused on Michael as his eyes narrow at the teen. King Doom changes the subject (can´t show weakness ever. Michael know this by heart) and offers more information and resources to Michael.

"Michael, I´ll adopt you as my son and heir. You understand the reason, right?"

"Of course, and you´ll  understand that I may not call you father, right?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rogue is at the FF and is demanding them to take her to Latveria, but, of course, Dr Reeds is not taking this demand so easily for a couple of reasons that Invisible Woman is explaining-she noticed the ashamed look on Jean Grey´s look and how she seems to quiet to Invisible Woman- and is having patient even though she´s pregnant.

"Doom banned us for the moment and he does have diplomacy prevent us to barking at Latveria" Sue stated and then address Jean- her once a student at some point in the past- in a calm tone and privately. "Jean, what´s going on?"

"Prof X did bad decisions and I helped...Am I a still a good person?"

Rogue, on the other hand, is more than ready to fight everyone but Gambit prevents her-no one needs to see an angry Rogue-and tries to think outside the box.

"Ok, so is possible to talk with Doom? You two have history and I know...Doom seems to be arrogant enough to have your number and answer at any minute, so...can you call them?" Gambit started gazing at Dr Reeds.

"I can try...Victor is not a predictable man..."

A few minutes passed and communication was establish. Doom was short and polite as possible. Michael is with him and he´s alright and no, he´s studying now and won´t be able to call, try later. And Rogue is more determined than ever to go rescue her little brother.

Are you sure he needs or wants to be saved?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Michael is walking among Latveria with Kitty-her mother is still uncomfortable around him and Michael does not mind too much, eventually, she´ll stop- and admiring the beauty of the city. Kitty is impressed by the art and is not entirely pleased how some ladies seem to be all over Michael.

"Is because I´m the heir of the throne?" Michael asked amused and Kitty pouts at that and Michael thinks she looks cute like that, however, he needs to make Kitty realize he does like Kitty and only her. "Kitty, I´d not care for those ladies. I ..." he tries to say something else but stops and Kitty is the one blushing here.

"Ok. I..." she looks bashful here. A sincere coy in her expression that Michael truly admires in her. Michael wants to kiss Kitty, but, he knows this should be a move coming from her. Michael loves Kitty and what´s love if not a bit of manipulation?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mephisto is not one to be subtle and Doom is aware of that. How Mephisto break the security branches in his castle remains a mystery - Clea put strongest fields, but, Mephisto is another league of his own- Doom is nothing if an excellent player and he always plays to win. Sadly, the same can be said about Mephisto.

"I see, Zaorva blessed your child. I thought you feared her" Doom asked drinking one of his best wines as Mephisto does not seem offended, far from it, Mephisto seems far too happy to mind any indirect jab throw at him.

"Yes, well... Celestial Mother is not something you should take lightly, plus, we all know how mothers have an effect on us, right, Doom?" Mephisto´s smiles increase as Doom looks at the painting of his mother proving Mephisto´s words true and he knows it.

"Do you come here to humiliate me? Or to steal Michael? whatever the option you choose...you won´t live to tell the results"

"Humiliate you? Never. I came here to bargain...you have something I want...and I have something you desire since forever"

"What? Hell?"

"No, Victor...your dear mother! I can give her to you once and for all." And Mephisto watches now Doom looks like a lost boy glaring at, searching and panicking about the loss of his mother. Mephisto is pleased and Doom made a decision.

"You want Michael"

"And you want your mother back"

#the omen au #antichrist michael #Kitty pryde #kurtty #doom has mommy issues #mephisto knows #tw: manipulation

[sebeth]

Fantastic Four # 4 - 6

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 Brief Summary: The return of Namor, the debut of Doctor Doom, and the first Namor-Doom team-up.

Debuts:

·         Doctor Doom

·         Baxter Building

·         Yancy Street Gang

Favorite Cover: #4 – I love the image of Namor escaping into the ocean with Susan.

Points of Interest:

·         Ben’s very indecisive on Johnny’s leaving the team. He starts with “He’s nothin’ but a spoiled brat of a teenager! What do we need him for?” to “When I find ‘im, I’ll team him to run off on us that way!” So do you want Johnny gone or not?

·         Sue once again causes panic in a public setting by using her powers for ordinary tasks. Why do you need to be invisible to drink soda in a café?

·         The amount of time Johnny has been away from the team isn’t specified. If it’s only been a few hours, the team is panicking over nothing. Johnny wouldn’t be the first teen to storm off for a few hours, cool down, and then return home. If it has been over a day, Johnny owes Sue a huge apology.

·         Reed yanks a passing motorcyclist off his bike to see if he’s seen Johnny.  Reed tells the man “But if you don’t know where Johnny Storm is, I’ve no more time to waste with you!”Reed’s rather rude.  I mean, Reed was the one who yanked the poor man off of his motorcycle – possibly damaging the bike in the process.

·         Reed thinks “I’ve got to keep trying!  Sooner or later I’ll find some teen-ager who’s seen him!” Yep, that’s Reed’s solution to the missing Johnny problem – question every teenager in New York City on Johnny’s whereabouts.  I was expecting more from the world’s smartest man – maybe a device that would sense Johnny’s elevated temperature or energy output but nope, instead he’s going to interrogate all of New York’s thousands upon thousands of teenagers.

·         It’s revealed that Johnny is at Swanson’s Garage working on cars and hanging with his pals. The same Swanson’s Garage we saw Johnny at during the first issue of the Fantastic Four.  I can understand Reed not being aware of the garage – he becomes so absorbed in his experiments he forgets the outside world – but are you telling me that Sue didn’t check out the place?  Sue wouldn’t be fooled by the “tell her I’m not here” game – one invisible drop-in later and Johnny’s busted.

·         Johnny uses his powers to weld the engine.  He also shows off by flaming on – while near cans of gasoline!  Johnny explains: “Notice how I can control my flame!  By not moving, it doesn’t go near the gasoline!” Way to scare the crap out of your friends!  

·         Ben enters the garage by breaking through the wall.  The team is racking up the collateral damage for a simple search mission – Swanson’s garage wall, the man’s motorcycle, and who knows if Sue paid for that soda!

·         Ben warns Johnny: “And now I’ll teach you what happens to deserters!  And your flame doesn’t scare me!  I know you can’t move while you’re burning, because there’s gasoline all over here!  One spark and your pals are done for!”

·         Reading Ben’s early appearances are rather jarring compared to his later personality. I understand Ben’s anger, frustration and bitterness.  I’m also sure his transformation caused a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder but casually dismissing the safety of innocent bystanders?  Not the Ben we know and love.  

·         Johnny, acting as the mature one, immediately flames off and attempts to defuse the situation.  Ben proceeds to throw a car through the other wall of the garage.  Ben takes a swing at Johnny: “You’ve always laughed at me because I was ugly!  Well? Why aren’t you laughing now? Don’t worry, sonny boy…I’m not gonna spoil your pretty features!  I’ll just rough you up a little…teach you who’s boss, once and for all!”

·         Ben turns back to human mid-rant.  Johnny takes the opportunity to flame on and retreat.  Ben’s calls after Johnny: “Go on, Torch!  Fly off!  What do I care!  Ha Ha! I’m human again!  Fly away, you flaming freak!!”

·         A flying Johnny thinks to himself: “The poor fool!  He should know by now his change is only temporary!” Sure enough, Ben changes back into the Thing seconds later.

·         Johnny’s often portrayed as the immature one but he was the exact opposite in this scene – he stayed calm, attempted to defuse the situation, prevented innocent bystanders from being harmed, and retreated at the first opportunity instead of being dragged into a senseless fight.

·         The scene nicely shows that Ben’s rage is caused by the transformation – as soon as Ben regained his human form, he lost all interest in the fight.  “The flaming freak” comment was interesting – did Ben feel that he was removed from that category since he regained his human form. Would Ben consider Sue a freak? Does Ben call Johnny a freak because he resents Johnny’s attractiveness?

·         Johnny decides to retreat to the Bowery and hang with the derelicts.  Johnny finds a comic from the 1940’s about the Sub-Mariner.  A derelict tells Johnny that they have “a stumble-bum right here who’s supposed to be as strong as that Joker was supposed to be!”

·         The derelicts harass the stumble-bum until a brawl breaks out and the bodies hit the floor! “Wham!  Pow!  Bam!”

·         The derelicts gear up for round two but Johnny intervenes: “Hold on!  Let him alone!  Can’t you see, he’s ill?  He’s got amnesia!  A loss of memory!  He doesn’t even know who he is!!”  Johnny decides to shave off the amnesiac man’s beard and cut his hair with his flame abilities.  Johnny proclaims: “Wait!! His face! No – it – can’t be!  It is!  It is!! He – He’s the Sub-Mariner!”

·         Johnny has clearly been working hard on controlling his powers as evidenced by this scene and the previous scene at the garage.  He seems to have done this without any prompting by Reed or Sue.  It makes sense as Johnny’s powers are clearly the most destructive of the Four.  

·         I highly recommend this issue for Johnny fans – he has many shining moments and it’s a nice, subtle look at his character.  

·         Reed’s continues his quest of randomly harassing random citizens on Johnny’s whereabouts – the latest being a helicopter crew (while in the sky) and travelers in the subway.   This amuses me way more than it should – maybe Reed really needed social time?

·         An invisible Sue enters the Bowery: “I can’t believe that Johnny would ever come here!” Sue proceeds to walk right past Johnny and Namor!  Seriously, is Ben the only observant member of this team? I guess Johnny gets points too for recognizing Namor

·         Johnny flies Namor to the ocean and drops him in!  Thankfully the bum is Namor and not some homeless man that Johnny terrorized for no reason.  

·         Namor returns to Atlantis to find that “It’s destroyed!!  It’s all destroyed!!  That glow in the water – it’s radioactivity!  Now I know what happened!  The humans did it, unthinkingly with their cursed atomic tests!”

·         Sadly, this issue is from 1962 but the “human unthinkingly destroy” plot is still relevant today – for example, the bleaching of the coral reefs and the tons of plastic found in the ocean.  

·         Namor returns to New York City with vengeance on his mind: “I am the mightiest living mortal on earth!!  And now, mankind shall feel that might…as it is turned against you all!”

·         Namor’s been able to make that claim – unchallenged in the Marvel Universe – since World War II.  He had to be really annoyed when the Thing, the Hulk, and Thor all debuted within months of each other.  Namor being Namor, I’m sure was still telling everyone that he was “the mightiest mortal living on earth!”

·         Namor uses a monster-controlling horn to summon Giganto from the depths of the ocean. Ben defeats Giganto by hauling a bomb into the monster’s abdomen. Poor Giganto!

·         Sue adds another name to the list of men infatuated with her. Namor declares: “Well! Here is a prize worth catching! You’re the loveliest human I’ve ever seen!  If you will be my bride, I might show mercy to the rest of your pitiful race!”

·         Namor’s not one to beat around the bush!  We now know Namor’s true weakness – it’s not lack of water, it’s beautiful women.  We can’t even justify that he’s attracted to Sue’s personality – Namor glanced at Sue and was all “Whoa, mamma!”

·         We now begin the longest running triangle in all of comics – Namor, Sue, and Reed.  I don’t count Superman-Lois-Clark as that triangle only involves two individuals.

·         Namor’s the epitome of mercurial mood swings so he changes from “Now I’ll have the girl, and my revenge!”  to annoyance that Sue isn’t properly impressed by his manly manliness.

·         Issue 5 opens with Doctor Doom playing with chess pieces modeled after the Fantastic Four. First Doom and later the Puppet Master – do all of the FF’s enemies act out their upcoming fights with action figures?

·         Doom’s lair contains a stuffed vulture and reference books labeled “Demons” and “Science and Sorcery” on the table. The books nicely foreshadow Doom’s later affinity with magic.

·         Johnny’s reading the “Hulk” comic back at the Fantastic Four headquarters. Marvel was really pushing the debut of the Hulk title – the previous issue had multiple “who is the Hulk” statements at the bottom of the pages.

·         “Fantastic Four!! Heed my words!  This is Doctor Doom!”

·         Sue: “Who?” I wish Sue had been able to say that to Doom’s face.  I don’t think his ego could handle it.

·         Reed: “That voice!  I recognize it!  But I thought he was dead!”  Reed has quite the talent for voice recognition since Doom is speaking through a metal mask from a helicopter.

·         I’m loving campy, over-the-top Doctor Doom.  Can you imagine if this was your first exposure to Doom in modern years?  You’d seriously question how Doom became the top villain in the Marvel Universe!  The crossover I want to see:  First-appearance Doctor Doom versus Batman from the 1966 tv series!

·         Flashback time: Reed and Victor Von Doom were college roommates.  Doom, a brilliant science student, was fascinated with sorcery and black magic: “One night, the evil genius went too far, as he brought forth powers which even he could not control!”  Cue explosion, facial disfigurement, and school expulsion.

·         The extent of Doom’s scarring/disfigurement caused much debate throughout the years – was it a small scar that Doom’s ego couldn’t tolerate or was it massive disfigurement?  The panel shows Doom’s entire head wrapped mummy-style so I’m going with the massive disfigurement option.

·         Reed tells the group that Victor left the school and when he was last heard of “he was prowling the wastelands of Tibet, still seeking the forbidden secrets of black magic and sorcery”.

·         Doom demands the Four send Sue to him as a hostage.  Sue:  Girl Hostage happens a lot in the early comics.  Sue insists it’s the only way and Reed agrees.  Seriously?  The net only covers the exterior of the building – Ben and Johnny have the strength to tunnel underneath the building and exit elsewhere.  Shouldn’t that be an option instead of handing Sue over to some ranting psycho?  Reed’s definitely not earning “the world’s smartest man” title during the early adventures of the Four.  Doom opens a section of the net so Sue can enter his helicopter.

·         Doom demands the rest of the team “board my plane, and you must swear you will not attack me!”  The team agrees.  What?! Seriously, Reed, this is why you can’t hang with Captain America and Cyclops when it comes to strategic planning.

·         Doom sends the male members of the Four back in time: “: “Gone to bring me the gems which, unknown to them, will make Doctor Doom the ruler of the earth!”

·         The boys disguise themselves as pirates.  Ben tells Reed to “Take it easy, Bub!” Ben was using “Bub” decades before Wolverine!

·         Ben’s having a blast playing the role of pirate: “Ahoy, matey!  Let’s see if we can date one of these pretty barmaids!  Heh Heh!”  It’s nice to see Ben enjoying himself as he’s been miserable throughout the series.

·         Johnny’s also having fun: “This is keen!  I feel like Errol Flynn!”  

·         Reed’s a fuddy-duddy: “Knock it off!”

·         Ben has a moment where he refuses to return to the present: “Why can’t I stay?  The future holds nothing for me!  In the Twentieth Century I’m nothing but a monster…a freak!  But here I’m somebody!  I’m a leader of men!  I’m a captain!  I’m the guy who started the legend of Blackbeard!  The kids will read about me in school some day!  I ain’t never giving this up…never!” Ben, you’ve been in the past for 30 minutes, calm down!

·         The trio returns to the present only for Doom to escape.

·         A total campy, ridiculous and fun issue.  Despite the goofiness, a few of Doom’s defining characteristics – the intelligence, the sorcery, the Doom-bots, the ego, the grudge with Richards – were clearly established in this issue.

·         “Have the Fantastic Four at last met their match when Mighty Sub-Mariner and Evil Doctor Doom team up??  Don’t miss the Diabolical Duo join forces!”

·         Johnny blazes across the sky.  An onlooker gasps “The Torch!! A living legend!  And I thought I’d never see him with my own eyes!” The onlooker seems to be mixing Johnny up with the World War II era Human Torch (Jim Hammond).  Johnny hasn’t been the Torch for long. Definitely not enough time to be considered a “living legend”.  Would the general public even realize there was a difference between Johnny and Jim?   Issue 6 was published in the early 1960s.  The original Human Torch operated in the 1940s – the older citizens of the Marvel Universe would assume it was the original making a comeback after a long sabbatical.  After all, how many blonde men can set themselves on fire, fly, and call themselves the “Human Torch”?

·         The same citizens gawking at Johnny are pushed aside by an invisible Sue.  Sue turns visible to apologize and enter the Baxter Building.  We’ve seen Sue use her powers multiple times to scare or push through people.  She’s either a big fan of the “jump-scare” or using her powers to let out her frustrations by shoving people. Seriously, it would be easier – and more polite – to stay visible and skirt around people as opposed to moving around unseen and shoving people out of the way.

·         Sue notes that “The Torch has been scouting for signs of Doctor Doom.”  Isn’t Sue better suited for the task?  She is the “Invisible Girl”!  Johnny’s a human-sized ball of fire – Doom will see him coming from a mile away!

·         We receive our first detailed glimpse of the Baxter Building.  The Fantastic Four’s headquarters are located on the 34th to the 37th stories of the building.  The members of the Four take the express elevator to the 34th floor.  The elevator operates via a signal that is sent from the belt buckle of the members’ uniforms.  The 34th floor clearly belongs to Reed – it consists of labs and computers. The 35th floor are living quarters, the recreation room, and the gymnasium.  The 36th floor are conference rooms.  The 37th floor holds the team’s vehicles.

·         Reed catches up on the team’s mail.  He discovers a letter sent from a child at Harmon General Hospital.  The hospital is located across the street so Reed stretches across to have a long chat with the child.  A sweet moment for Reed who is too often characterized as obsessed with science and oblivious to social mores.

·         Johnny and Ben continue reading the mail.  We receive the first mention of the Yancy Street Gang: “…and if the Thing will meet us on the corner of Ashby and Main Street, we’ll knock that chip off his shoulder and make him like it!  Signed, the Yancy Street Gang!”

·         Ben is not amused: “I’ve heard from those mealy-mouthed braggarts before!  They get their kicks out of tryin’ to rile me!” Ben decides to answer the challenge: “This block is titanium steel – six inches thick and the strongest metal known to man!  I’ll just roll it by hand into a from acceptable for mailing – I wouldn’t want the Yancy Gang to think I wasn’t neat – Here!  Send this to them!  And on the day they manage to unroll it, I’ll personally congratulate ‘em!” Clearly, adamantium wasn’t known to the Marvel Universe at this point.

·         The Fantastic Four – secret identities or publicly known?  The writers in the Fantastic Four and Strange Tales titles go back and forth on this point in the early issues. A few issues ago, the identities were stated to be a “secret”?  If so, how does the Yancy Gang recognize Ben?  He looks significantly different post-transformation!  If the identities are still a secret at this point and the Yancy Gang still realize the Thing is Ben Grimm…well, Batman will have to forfeit the “World’s Greatest Detective” title!

·         Ben’s itching to fight someone worthy of him, “a foe like Doctor Doom…or a Submariner!”

·         Sue defends her crush: “Submariner is hostile because he’s hurt and bitter!”

·         Yeah, Namor has man-pain!  The fact that he looks damn good in a speedo has nothing to do with Sue’s defense of him!

·         We switch to the ocean where the “hurt and bitter” Namor instructs porpoises in swimming maneuvers.

·         Doctor Doom travels to Namor’s location, proposes an alliance, and brags up his credentials: “ I am strong – strong enough to join the powers of science to those of darkness!  Show me the puny mortal who does not tremble at the name of Doctor Doom!”

·         Let’s recap Sue’s reaction upon hearing the name of Doctor Doom: “Who?”

·         Doom notes “It would appear that you’ve taken a holiday from your campaign against the surface world!  Men no longer speak your name in fear!”

·         Well, playing with dolphins doesn’t exactly reinforce an angry and vengeance-driven persona.

·         Doctor Doom notes a framed photo of Susan Storm.

·         Namor warns “Take care!  That female is no concern of yours!”

·         How did Namor get the photo?  Did Sue give it to him?  Did he take the picture while he held her hostage a few issues ago?  Clip it out of a newspaper?

·         Doom taunts Namor into assisting him: “What happened to your thirst for revenge? Have you forgot the glistening towers of your once great civilization?  The culture and comfort enjoyed by your happy subjects…imagine your great and proud people struggling for thousands of years, defeating all the terrors of the deep to build a civilization, superb and beautiful…yes, beautiful and glowing with life until that last terrifying moment when that monster of a bomb lodged in the midst of that beauty…gone! All that glorious history gone in one brief instant! Replaced by an ugly crater in the ocean floor…littered with fused masonry and bitter memories that cry out…revenge! Revenge! Revenge upon the surface world which did this in its ignorance! Revenge upon humanity’s defenders! Death to the Fantastic Four!”

·         Namor agrees: “I cannot harm the girl! But I will aid you in defeating the others!”

·         Dr. Doom is a large ham.

·         Namor is easily manipulated.

·         I want to see a “What If?” where Namor’s all “Nah, I’m gonna keep playing with the dolphins”.

·         Wouldn’t it be easier for Namor to simply ask Reed for assistance in locating the lost Atlanteans instead of trusting some random dude in armor?

·         Namor leaves to pursue his part of the plan and plays “chicken” with an airplane along the way: “No time to dodge! It’s going to hit us head on!” “Bah! That’s enough horseplay!  I mustn’t forget the mission!”

·         Back to the Baxter Building where Johnny snoops around Sue’s possessions. Why is Johnny snooping in Sue’s room? Typical younger sibling nosiness? Johnny’s around 16-17 years old at this time.  Sue raised Johnny – I’ve always felt that she was 10 – 12 years older than him.  The dual mother-sister role makes it even odder that Johnny is nosing around her room.

·         Johnny finds a photo of Namor and isn’t happy about it: “So! You’ve gone soft on Submariner – our arch-enemy!” The Four have only fought Namor once. I don’t think that’s enough to qualify him as an “arch-enemy”. Of course, the other options are: a short man who lives underground, aliens who were outsmarted by “B” horror movies, a maybe-maybe not hypnotist, and an egotistical man in armor whose master plan was throwing a net over a skyscraper.  I can see why Johnny chose Namor for the arch-enemy role.

·         Sue is not amused: “Give me that photo, you insolent brat!” When did this photo exchange between Namor and Sue take place?  Were they taking pictures of each other during issue #4?

·         Namor arrives at the Baxter Building and all hell breaks loose as Ben and Johnny brawl with the Sub-Mariner.

·         Namor advises Sue to get out of the way: “He’s too angry to listen to reason! You’d best stay out of the way! I do not fear the Torch!”  Yeah, Namor has had plenty of experience battling Human Torches.

·         It’s curious that Johnny is so angry over Sue’s crush on Namor. Does he dislike Namor so much or is he afraid it would cause the breakup of the Four which is his home, family, and a large part of his identity?

·         Namor states he’s come in peace and doesn’t mention the devices he’s rigged to the Baxter Building.

·         Crack! The Baxter Building is launched into space for the first but not the only time!

·         Namor rages: “The double-crossing dog is in a rocket plane above pulling this building into space!” And yet Namor will continue to ally with Doom after this betrayal.

·         Namor’s not in much danger – he can simply jump out and fly away.  Johnny would normally be able to escape but he “exhausted his flame” during his fight with Namor.  Johnny didn’t have much stamina in the early issues. The Four’s planes were damaged in the launching of the building.

·         Reed insists “our only hope of ever getting down is to seize control of that plane!”

·         Does Doom ever recall his earliest attacks on the four and face-palm?  They were so ridiculous and over-the-top!

·         Reed stretches after Doom’s plane: “Somehow, conditions in space tend to weaken my powers!” Was this ever mentioned again? The Four spend a lot of time in space.

·         Namor decides enough is enough: “That jackal Doctor Doom still has Prince Namor to reckon with!” Namor dives into a water storage, amps up to full strength, launches himself to Doom’s ship, evicts Doom from the ship, assumes control of the ship, and returns the Baxter Building to earth.  Doom hitches a ride to earth on a meteor.

·         Ben: “How do you thank an enemy? Submariner’s above us in that confounded ship.  And if I could reach him I still don’t know if I’d shake his hand or try to smash him!”

·         Sue: “Oh, he isn’t our enemy! I just know it! He’s so full of pain and bitterness that it blinds his better instincts! Submariner needs time…time to heal!” Sue, dear, I think the boys are over your continued defense of Namor.

·         Namor: “So shall I return to the sea! Perhaps someday when I am no longer haunted by bitter memories of my lost people, I may return…but, until then, this is where I belong! In the sea which is my home!”

·         So ends the first super-villain team-up in the Marvel Universe and the beginning of one of Marvel’s longest running love-hate relationships.

#Fantastic Four #Namor #Doctor Doom #Johnny Storm #Susan Storm #Reed Richards #Ben Grimm #Baxter Building #Yancy Street Gang #susan richards #invisible girl #Human Torch #Thing #Mister Fantastic #sub-mariner #Victor Von Doom #Giganto

[wits-writing]

Earth’s Mightiest Retrospective Ep 27: “The Private War of Doctor Doom”

(Directed by Gary Hartle, Written by Christopher Yost, Original Airdate: April 1, 2012)

“The Private War of Doctor Doom” marks the beginning of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes season two and there are noticeable differences from the start. Season two went into production around the time Jeph Loeb became Executive Vice President of Marvel Television and starts being officially credited in the opening as one of the show’s executive producers. It’s not a big deal since much of the original creative team stayed on but may have to do with elements from the comics this season chooses to adapt. EMH’s animation quality gets cleaner this season while maintaining the show’s overall aesthetic. This episode begins by showing a “previously on…” segment of clips from season one recapping major story points, where such segments were absent from season one altogether. Though the most disappointing thing comes down to the show’s new title sequence. The opening visuals set to the high energy theme, “Fight As One” by Bad City, has been replaced with narration by Alex Désert as Nick Fury reciting the “And then there came a day unlike any other” speech followed by introducing the core members of the team. I don’t know why they felt the need to make that specific change, but their solution was weak.

Onto the actual content of the episode, it’s mainly concerned with building on the Avengers’ place in the wider world of this show. Doctor Doom’s involvement in this episode is the first thing established and uses him prepping to attack the Avengers as a chance to get us up to date on the lineup, namely that Thor’s still in Asgard and Hank Pym hasn’t been seen in a while. Whenever Doctor Doom shows up in a story, the Fantastic Four are sure to follow as the show finally gives characterization to its version of Marvel’s First Family. We get treated to two different Avengers/Fantastic Four hangouts at their respective bases. Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, arrive at Avengers Mansion for a friendly poker night with Hawkeye, Captain America, The Hulk and Black Panther. Though the term “friendly” can be applied looser when it comes to the Hulk in this scenario, since he starts a fight with the Thing any chance he gets (“Grimm’s just sore he’s never won a fight with me.”)

Along with the hotheaded Johnny and gruff Ben, the other half of the FF are similarly on-point in their personalities. Seen when Wasp and Iron Man, using an older suit of armor since he didn’t get to keep the Asgardian one, get to the Baxter Building to catchup with Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, and Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. The time spent at the Baxter Building plays around with the differences between Janet and Tony’s worldviews. Each of them takes the chance to describe their adventures in Asgard.

Tony discusses how he’s certain he’ll be able to quantify magic from now on thanks to his observations in that realm to an absentminded Reed, more focused on researching ways to restore Ravonna from her time stasis. He says he has all the proof he needs that it’s simply another kind of science. Tony manages to get his old friend’s attention by making a pass about how he might talk to Sue about it. Reed responds to mention how distant Sue’s been with him recently. Janet’s attitude about the trip contrasts against Tony’s as she energetically raves to Sue about how amazing it was to witness real magic, highlighting how she got to ride a flying horse through space.

Any pleasantries at both bases come to a halt when they’re all attacked by Doombots. There’s not much to remark on about how either fight plays out except how Hulk still can’t resist messing with the Thing throughout, at one point using the other hero as a human club on the machines. There’s more to note in how the heroes at both bases can’t put together Doom’s motive. Black Panther notes how the attack feels like a move made in desperation, which is apparently unusual for the tyrant. While his motives remain unclear, the results become apparent when they realize the bots kidnapped Jan and Sue. The two are swiftly taken to Doom’s castle in his nation of Latveria, where they’re put in a machine that scans them for something. The rest of the heroes from both teams are left to figure out how to get their friends back without starting an international incident on Doom’s sovereign territory.

The answer ends up being that they nearly cause exactly that, as Doom’s able to sniff out their attempts at stealth and distraction almost immediately. How well Doom’s unflappability gets portrayed this episode makes me happy, since Doctor Doom’s one of my favorite supervillains. He doesn’t have time for anyone’s snarky banter, puts his vast resources to use fighting the heroes and no-sells a punch from the Hulk. The fight of the Avengers and Fantastic Four against him ends abruptly with him telling them he already has what he needs, freeing Janet and Susan. He lets them leave to wonder what he was after in the first place, since he’s not the type to concede a fight.

Turns out he got exactly what he wanted when we’re shown the results of the scans he was doing earlier, revealing Sue Storm’s yet another person replaced with a Skrull infiltrator. This secret invasion will be one of the major arcs of season two with most of its details building in the background. That kind of slow build-up gets to occur among the Avengers with the Skrull that replaced Captain America, henceforth to be referred to as “Skrull-Cap” in future recaps for clarity until Steve returns. Skrull-Cap asks a lot of leading questions about the state of the world, like what’s Doctor Doom’s deal and the capabilities of the Fantastic Four. Though the other heroes brush off these questions, assuming they’re a byproduct of the Captain’s misplacement in the modern day. The infiltrator also gets differentiated from the real Cap with a costume redesign that evokes the Ultimate Marvel version of the character rather than the classic suit.

This episode makes a strong start for the new season by giving a better sense of the casual lives the heroes lead among each other, giving a classic Marvel villain a well-presented highlight, and serving as a reminder for where the meta-plot is heading. Season two of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes marks the beginning of where my recollections of the season before this re-watch start getting hazier, so getting something strong on superhero action and casual characterization made a great way to begin the second half of these retrospectives.

Next time, the remnants of AIM go after Tony Stark.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

#Avengers #Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #Earth's Mightiest Retrospective #Wit's Writing #TV Review #Marvel Comics #Marvel #superhero tv #superhero animation #animation #comics

[traincat]

so I just finished watching Fant4stic thanks to your post about it (looking forward to listening to the stormcast commentary!) and OH MAN. I actually said out loud at one point "man, this movie REALLY ships Ben and Reed, doesn't it?" Also MBJ as Johnny is GREAT and tbh I wanted so much more time with Reed, Victor, Sue, and Johnny working on impossible science together (but also more Ben.) But also... that movie would've felt WAY more coherent if Victor had reluctantly and angrily [1/2]

[2/2] agreed to help them escape the military as long as they got him back to his broody planet of broodiness and science magic, since without the four of them the military wouldn't be able to go back to the planet... except then the device ends up exploding and he can't go back, so he angrily and resentfully storms off to go sulk about it, and then the Fantastic 4 go public to stop the military keeping them again. OR SOMETHING. IDK.

YES, MY IDEAL MOVIE, VICTOR “ECO-TERRORIST” VON DOOM HAS TO RELUCTANTLY TEAM UP WITH HIS FRIENDS HATED BUT VALUABLE ALLIES TO TAKE DOWN BIG MILITARY I love it, what a great idea. I do think it would have worked better if Victor had helped them bust out -- even if they wanted him as the final villain, he could have turned on them afterward. I think the time constrict a movie demands is always a big drain on Fantastic Four as a franchise -- you have to introduce four different characters, all of whom have relationships with each other, and then to add in a character as great and iconic as Doctor Doom on top of that is just asking a lot of two hours. I’d love to see how the series could stack up if it was given something like a Netflix series, with a much longer running time and hopefully more creative freedom. And, uh, nobody getting into fist fights on the set, ideally. 

The movie ships Ben/Reed so hard, and I love it. You’ve got the total shippiness of Reed calling Ben up in the middle of the night and saying “I’m not going without you” and the hug when Ben shows up combined with the growing sense of dread because you, the viewer, know what’s going to happen to Ben. And then Ben breaking out of the rocks and calling for Reed and Reed watching from the air vent and promising! “He was looking for him.” !!! The whole scene in the air carrier is painful in the best kind of way. I love the work on the Thing overall -- that real sense of heaviness to him, the way the rocks grind together when he moves, the like literal rumble of his voice. It’s really powerful. 

MBJ’s Johnny is so fun! I felt like they streamlined the character in a great way and didn’t get too caught up on the more manufactured aspects of him. (Also MBJ is gorgeous, which doesn’t hurt.) I wish we’d gotten more lab time with them, too. I love their engineering montage, especially when you see Reed, Victor, Sue, and Johnny sitting around and eating together, it’s really cute. I hope you like the @johnnystormcast commentary when/if you get around to listening to it! We had a lot of fun recording it.

#*replies #traincat talks fant4stic #did i make that a tag last time idk #nonimaginaryfriend

[fyeahfantasticfour]

Does reed ever get really truly sad?

ALL THE TIME. I’d even say that at the heart of his character is a deep and abiding guilt and sadness over his role in the spaceflight crash and what it did to his family. He has always blamed himself for it and he beats himself up constantly because of it, and I don’t think that he will ever stop. That is like…his Uncle Ben. His parents getting murdered in an alleyway. The death of Pa Kent. It’s the tragedy he’ll never really recover from and that drives and informs everything he does.

Besides, he hasn’t exactly had the easiest or the most uneventful life, even before founding the FF. For starters, Reed’s mother, Evelyn, died when he was a child (50+ years and no writer has ever bothered to so much as explain how she died, and if that’s not sexism I don’t know what is) and his father, Nathaniel, effectively abandoned him. Reed didn’t see him again for 25 years (ish. Nathaniel’s a time-traveller, and also comics). Also, just FYI, Reed originally got the premature grey at the temples as a byproduct of the trauma he suffered while fighting as a major with the Italian underground during WWII, which by all accounts was incredibly dangerous and it’s likely that a lot of his men died. (But I don’t know how canonical Reed’s military service is nowadays. Is it subject to the sliding timescale, or is it just out of continuity entirely?) So it’s not like Reed’s life was free of tragedy even before he became a member of the FF.

But if you want some good sad Reed moments:

Fantastic Four: First Family #1, which picks up immediately after the spaceflight crash and features the FF being taken to a military prison and studied. They’re all terrified, traumatized, and coping badly with their new, out-of-control powers and the reality of what their lives will be like now, and Reed’s so paralyzed by guilt over everything that he shuts down completely and is nonresponsive for days:

I 100% recommend reading this comic for the sad Reed feels alone.

Cut for length.

Fantastic Four v1 #66, where Ben’s emotionally and physically abusive towards Reed (who was just trying to help) and Reed just accepts it because he blames himself for Ben’s disfigurement:

Their relationship…went through a deeply unhealthy period after the spaceflight crash.

Fantastic Four v1 #133, aka the saddest New Year’s ever:

This is right after Sue left Reed for the first (of two) times, and needless to say Reed’s handling it none too well, which we see again in Fantastic Four v1 #140:

Fantastic Four v1 #142, after Reed’s forced to put his son into a coma in order to save all life in the solar system (it’s complicated), and everyone blames him for not finding another way, and, yes, that includes Reed:

I can’t say I entirely like the way Reed and Sue’s separation was handled, but I do like that Reed was horribly depressed and self-destructing the entire time. 

Also, that whole storyline highlights the unfairly high standard to which the FF can hold Reed at times – they have a tendency to expect Reed to magically solve everything that goes wrong in their lives, even (or especially) if it’s impossible, and if he can’t, they’ll oftentimes blame Reed for it, which doesn’t help the fact that Reed was always already going to blame himself for letting them down. Especially if he thinks they never would’ve been in that position in the first place if not for him/the crash. No one will ever be harder on Reed than he is on himself. Most of what he blames himself for isn’t even his fault.

Marvel Fanfare v1 #2, which features Reed working himself half to death in a desperate effort to cure Ben:

In this comic, Reed puts his own life and happiness on hold (he misses his wedding anniversary) and works nonstop for days with little food and no sleep because he thinks he’s close to curing Ben, and he spends the entire time beating himself up mercilessly for failing Ben so many times. I wait for the day when fandom finally understands that Reed locking himself in his lab because he is pushing himself too hard to cure Ben is a form of self-harm/punishment. Every time he tries to cure Ben, he relives the massive trauma of the spaceflight crash over and over, which, again, he can’t move past any more than Ben can. Even Ben realizes that Reed’s torturing himself and wishes he’d stop:

There’s also Fantastic Four v1 #296, which spotlights Reed’s undiminished guilt and Ben’s difficulty coping with his disfigurement/powers, and the deeply unhealthy and dysfunctional nature of their relationship after the crash (I don’t think it’s fair to say that Ben was doing any of this consciously, but I guess it doesn’t change the fact that it was happening):

This is after Sue catches Reed sadly watching old home videos of Ben alone in the dark because Ben broke up with him announced that he was leaving the FF. (Marvel, if you don’t want me to think Ben and Reed are in love, you should maybe stop having them act like they are. As far as tragic ships go, BenReed ranks pretty high up.)

Fantastic Four v1 #406, where Reed’s been presumed dead for months, but it turns out that he was exiled to the past and has been living alone in a cave, and his experiences leave him pretty badly broken and defeated in ways he never had been before: 

I’d recommend Fantastic Four: Unplugged v1 #2 for sad BenReed feels from Ben’s POV after Reed’s supposed death. During the reading of Reed’s will, we find out that Ben’s coping VERY badly with Reed’s death, and it’s not made any better after he finds out Reed left him the game ball Ben gave him way back when they were in college, which it turns out Reed’s kept/treasured for decades. Look, they just love each other a lot.

These next few are from Waid’s run, and I’d 100% recommend reading this because I feel like Waid really gets Reed and what a tragic figure he is.

Fantastic Four v3 #60, where Reed tells Valeria the story of the spaceflight crash, complete with soul-crushing guilt:

There’s also Fantastic Four v1 #501-502, which takes place immediately after a vicious attack by Doom on the FF that involved throwing Franklin into Hell and badly scarring Reed’s face. Reed takes to brooding alone in his lab afterward without doing anything, and the fact that he’s not sciencing is how you know he’s really upset.

Fantastic Four v1 508, where Doom forces Reed to kill Ben in order to save Johnny’s life, and Reed is devastated:

And Fantastic Four v1 #509-511, where Reed travels to Heaven to get Ben back, because he can’t handle life without him, and just….loses it completely when Ben tells him he isn’t coming back:

(Do you see what I mean about Ben and Reed being in love? Also, can I point out that Ben turned down Heaven itself for Reed and swore he’d never leave him, but now Reed’s left Ben…)

Marvel Knights 4 v1 #18, where Reed’s father Nathaniel unexpectedly returns, and Reed asks Nathaniel to stay and behave like an actual father for once, but Nathaniel abandons him again:

So Nathaniel Richards is a truly abysmal father. Like. He gives Franklin Storm a run for his money in terms of terribleness, and believe me, that is difficult. (At least Reed had the good sense not to name his son after his terrible dad, Susan.)

And honestly, as much as I hate the way Reed’s characterized in Civil War I, the one thing it got right was Reed being devastated over Sue leaving him:

There’s also Fantastic Four v1 #588, which takes place right after Johnny’s death:

Or Fantastic Four v4, Fraction’s run, where Reed discovers that he is dying of cancer, and he’s terrified:

Or Fantastic Four v5, which is basically about the Fantastic Four losing everything and Reed, being Reed, blaming himself for all of it:

Also, I just want it known that when Reed’s depressed, he watches Josie and the Pussycats, because it’s his all-time favorite movie:

#benreed #reedsue #reed richards #mod: lamujerarana #body horror cw #facial burns cw #asks #Anonymous

[puppetmaster55]

okay but how difficult is it really to do something close to a good fantastic four movie like

just have the “gets powers” part happen in a short montage, maybe even a newsreel, in the first five minutes, of whatever happened up on the ISS bc of Thanos’ attack, and then pan out to Doctor Doom in his darth vader suit expressing interest, and just. spend the movie that’s one half the FF going “no, we’re not inhumans, seriously” while Reed Richards and Sue Storm try to study Bruce Banner and Betty Ross’s work recreated the superserum to find similarities

maybe even have Betty Ross make an appearance as the Awesome Science Gal she is in effective science montage with Sue while Reed is in the background with the others testing out their powers

and periodically people show interest, like General Ross, and Tony Stark, and this ambassador from Latveria on his leader’s behalf

and then there’s the doombot attack that’s attempted to steal their research, and the mysterious attack by Doctor Doom himself, and the aftermath has everyone snooping and seeking to control them

and the ambassador’s back, and saying that Latveria is offering sanctuary, that the mysterious leader wishes to offer his embassy as a neutral meeting ground

there, we learn that the leader wants the research to save himself and he’s searched for so many options, from the mechanical like Stark, to the magical like Strange, to the cosmic like Wanda, and what’s happened to the FF is something he’d like to study, and will they kindly become his test subjects? He’s already attempted several times now to obtain their research but nothing quite compares to having the Four themselves within his grasp.

That’s when we have the big final battle, and the Fantastic Four coming together to destroy the doombots and stop Doom’s labrat plan. They return to the baxter building with public declarations of Not Joining the avengers, Doom returns to Latveria with partial notes to study (nobody really knowing that he was the one within the Evil Suit since he’s largely a recluse due to his health), and are established as their own independent sect of heroes branded by the public as the Fantastic Four

like does any of that sound like a difficult movie to do? or at all bad?

#puppet rambles

[dork-empress]

I was reminded of my hatred of fan4stic today, so I thought it was as good a time as any to post my outline for a 5-movie arc I would potentially make if given license of the fantastic 4. Reminder that I aggressively don’t CARE about the fantastic four, I just hate the movies about them SO MUCH I spent a great deal of time thinking about how they could be better. So. Yeah this probably doesn’t relate to comics at all, but *shrug*

Movie 1: 

-Reed Richards has developed cool go-through-space-real-fast technology. Working on it with mechanic buddy and childhood friend Ben Grimms. 

-The Storm Siblings are a brother-sister team who trained as astronauts and are going to be the ones using this technology 

-(Also Viktor has a cameo as Reed’s college buddy and consultant, also studying temporal mechanics. Hmm, I wonder what he’s doing that for?) 

-Something goes wrong with the machine at launch. Reed and Ben get aboard, trying to control the problem, but before they can get out, the ship launches, with WAY more power than originally calculated. 

-Their ship is picked up by aliens. The team is abducted and experimented on until they develop strange abilities. 

-The aliens (The Skrull) are super curious about these humans and want to get more humans to experiment on. 

-The Fantastic Four must stop the invasion while also breaking out of prison and like…getting home. -they are welcomed back as heroes.

Movie 2—Doctor Doom. 

-Victor Von Doom was born in a Romani camp on the outskirts of Latveria. It was super bad. 

-His mother, Cynthia Von Doom, made a deal with the devil (Mephisto) to send her young son Victor to safety. 

-Victor did not believe in magic, despite the fact he saw ‘the devil’ take his own mother away. Its just science he doesn’t understand. And he WILL understand it. 

-He becomes obsessed with trying to create inter-dimensional transportation that will get him to hell so he can save his mother.

 -Along the way, he also makes friends with Latverian rebels who are super against the Latverian Dictator. 

-Soon becomes apparent that Dictator was gasp set up by Mephisto. 

-Doom’s obsession turns from saving his mother and his people to gaining the powers and control of Mephisto. 

-Mephisto totally plays him and Doom defeats Dictator only to become dictator himself.

Movie 3 

-Doom trying to get maguffin 

-fantastic 4 thinks maguffin might be super bad destruction bomb (a doomsday device, if you will) 

-actually a kinda control-y thing 

-they defeat him and put him in super high security prison. Yay!

Movie 4 

-Alien ship lands. The fantastic 4 come out! Whaaa?? 

-Turns out these are skrull who have shapeshifted to look like them. They discredit the heroes a lot. 

-Also many cases of mistaken identity. Turns out at some point Reed WAS switched out, but not like…for a long time. Just for now. 

-Sue is in charge of fantastic 4. They need a scientist and someone who can identify the aliens from not-aliens. There’s only one person other than Reed: 

-They break Doom out of prison with agreement that Doom doesn’t want Earth destroyed either. 

-Meanwhile Reed discovers what they’ve done with the data the skrulls used from their experiments on the 4 of them: they’ve made a Super Skrull, with all the powers of the fantastic 4. 

-Epic 5-on-5 battle of fantastic 4+Doom vs. Super Skrull + fake fantastic 4

Movie 5 

-Put the doom back in the box 

-also in one of these things (probably movie 3? Movie 4?) Reed and Sue got married, so we can have the birth of Franklin Richards now. And maybe a skrull girlfriend for Johnny. Would need to play with it a bit.

#laura writes #fantastic 4