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buckybeardreams · 3 years

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Loss

Chapters: 1/16

Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Brock Rumlow/Sam Wilson, Clint Barton/Brock Rumlow/Sam Wilson

Characters: Clint Barton, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Brock Rumlow, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes, Lila Barton, Cooper Barton, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, Kate Bishop, Harley Keener, Darcy Lewis, Rebecca Barnes Proctor

Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Minor Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sappy, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, Grief/Mourning, Depression, brief alcohol abuse, Brief suicidal thoughts, Separation Anxiety, Insecurity, Misunderstandings, Protective Brock Rumlow, Sam Wilson is a Saint, non-sexual nudity, Soulmates, Mates, Non-Explicit Sex, Anal Fingering, References to Knotting, Bonding, Claiming, Claiming Bites, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000, Breastfeeding, Co-Sleeping

Summary:

After Clint lost his soulmate he didn't think he'd ever love again, then he started to hook up with Brock. At first it was just a nice distraction but after a while he thought that maybe it could be something more, that is until Brock met his own soulmate. Clint was sure that would be the end of things, but now Sam and Brock both are flirting with him and he doesn't know what to do with that.

This is the 2nd part in a 3 part series, second chances, but they can be read as stand alone fics so it's not necessary to read the first one to enjoy this one.

You can find part 1 on tumblr or on ao3.

I'm not gonna be posting the full chapters for this fic here after this one, but you can read them on ao3. I'll be updating every Mon, Wed, and Fri.

Words: 1,890

Tony grinned when Brock opened the door, Harley strapped to his back and a bottle of sparkling apple cider in his hand.

"I brought non-alcoholic beverages!"

Brock laughed and pulled him in for a hug.

"You still doing that attachment parenting thing," Brock teased.

"Yeah, you?"

Brock nodded.

"Yeah, Sam's got Sonny right now. He took him for a walk in the park so I wouldn't strangle him."

"Oh no, is it teething?"

Brock raised a brow.

"What? No, not Sonny. Sam. He's driving me crazy. Sonny's a perfect little angel. He gets that from me."

"Uh-huh, sure," Tony indulged, passing the sparkling cider to Brock and following him into the kitchen.

"How's the restaurant? Running smoothly?"

"Smooth enough anyway. Running a business is no easy task, but I manage."

"I'd hope so, seeing as you are the manager," Brock teased as he grabbed the bottle opener and opened the cider before pouring it into glasses.

Tony rolled his eyes at the lame joke.

"At least the transition from a bar into a family restaurant by day, bar by night went smoothly. Everything else is just icing on top now. With the renovations done and the remodeling out of the way, now all we have to do is manage the staff. Well, then there's the paperwork and finances and whatnot, but Steve handles all of that."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, as much as I love hanging out with your baby daddy, I do miss you at all the mommy and baby classes."

Tony hummed, shrugging.

"Not really my thing, but Steve says Harley loves the baby ASL. He's not a fan of the swim lessons though."

Brock nodded in understanding.

"Sonny hated those ones at first too. He doesn't really care too much about the ASL, but the messy arts class is right up his alley. Sam says it's because I insist on having a sparkly clean home. He acts like it's a bad thing. A home can't be too clean."

Tony just hummed, because his Alpha had a similar need to keep things spotless and Tony definitely didn't care for it. At least Steve was willing to do all the chores for him, because Tony would definitely object if he had to do the cleaning. A place could definitely be too clean, but he wasn't about to open that can of worms with Brock.

"Yeah, Steve was disappointed that Harley wasn't more into the art classes. He just doesn't like getting messy. He takes after Steve like that, kind of a neat freak, and yet Steve loves painting, which I really don't get. His paintings are fabulous though and his studio is a mess. The rest of the house though? Spotless."

Brock laughed and they headed to the couch to sip their sparkling cider.

Harley started to squirm when his feet touched the cushions and Tony set his glass down, standing back up to remove him from the carrier.

"Hi, pretty baby! Look at you! You're so pretty!" Tony cooed at him.

Harley just giggled and reached out to grab at his curls. Tony scrunched up his face and pried his grabby hands out of his hair.

"Okay, enough of that. Mommy likes his hair too much to let you pull it all out."

Tony set Harley down in a large octagon-shaped playpen. It had pillows and toys in it that Harley immediately made a beeline for. It's what Brock liked to call a yes zone, because pretty much everywhere else in their apartment he had to say no to Sonny constantly, but in his playpen everything was a yes.

"How are things going with you and Sam?" Tony asked, sitting back down.

Brock groaned.

"I'm not sure."

"Uh-oh," Tony said and Harley looked around like he was trying to figure out what was an uh-oh. "Trouble in paradise?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Things aren't bad or anything. Actually Sam's kinda annoyingly perfect. Sometimes I feel like it's hard to live up to that."

"Aw, Brock, I don't think Sam cares so much about that."

"I know he doesn't," Brock groaned. "Because he's freaking perfect and I'm a lost cause."

"No, you're not. You just need to give yourself a break. Trying to be perfect is just going to leave you feeling like you're not good enough."

Brock narrowed his eyes at him.

"When did you get to be so wise?"

"When my firstborn turned one," Tony teased, nudging him with his shoulder. "No, seriously though. Don't worry so much about trying to keep the house perfect and all sparkly clean and worry more about living your life. Spend more time with Sam."

"I spend almost all of my time with Sam."

"Yeah, but Sonny's there too. There's nothing wrong with family time, but when was the last time you went on a date night?"

Brock wasn't even sure. It had been months.

"You need to get yourself a babysitter, or drop Sonny off with us, and then spend some time alone. Remember why you became mates in the first place. It wasn't because you wanted a baby. It was because you loved each other and you fell in love at first sight. So spend some time looking at each other again and maybe you'll find that spark you used to have."

Brock sighed and downed the rest of his cider.

"God, I wish there was alcohol in this."

"Don't we all?"

They could hear the sound of keys in the door before it opened and Sam came in, Sonny strapped to his belly. Brock got up when the baby started saying mamamamama and pulled him out of the carrier.

"Hi, angel, look at how big you are? You want to go see Tony? Show him your new skills?" Brock cooed at his son, setting him down on his feet. "Go get him!"

"Come here, Sonny! You gonna walk to me?"

Sonny took a few wobbly steps before he got close enough for Tony to reach out and snag him up.

"Woah, you're so big! Such a big walker, huh?" Tony praised the baby. "Did you see that, Harley? Did you see how big your friend is? Walking up on his feet like a big boy? You're gonna be doing that soon too."

Harley was already pulling himself up and walking around while holding onto things, so he probably would be walking soon. He was only a month behind Sonny in age, so they played really well together, for the most part at least. Sharing wasn't any baby's strong suit.

Tony set Sonny down in the playpen after they cooed over him for a few minutes and Harley immediately crawled up to him and tried to crawl on him. Sonny shoved him off, but Harley wasn't offended. He just giggled and rolled over onto his belly, so he could push back up and go after the ring stacker. Sam came over somewhat hesitantly. Brock had been pretty irritated this morning, so he wasn't sure if he should give him space or not.

"Hey, Tony! It's good to see you!"

"You too! Always happy to come over and eat all of your food."

Sam laughed.

"You doing good, babe?" Sam asked Brock carefully.

Brock nodded, biting his lip. He had been pretty distant and irritable the last few weeks and he felt bad about it. Sam didn't deserve that. He was such a good Alpha and a good dad.

"Yeah, I'm good, Alpha," Brock said, licking his lips.

He patted the cushion next to him.

"Wanna sit with me?"

Sam looked surprised for a moment, then he smiled softly and sat down, looking like he'd just been given the best gift ever when Brock curled into his side and rested his head on his shoulder.

"I've missed you," Sam murmured in his ear.

"Missed you too, Alpha."

*****

Brock was trying to make more of an effort and Sam definitely didn't miss the signs. He was more affectionate and he even got Sam a gift. It was important to point out that while Sam had felt the strain on their relationship, he hadn't really been upset at Brock about it. It was just one of those things where he assumed Brock would come around eventually and, well, he wasn't wrong.

"What is this?" Sam asked when Brock tossed a water bottle at him.

He caught it thanks to his great reflexes, not because Brock had given him any warning before throwing the metal cylinder his way. Brock rolled his eyes.

"What does it look like? It's a water bottle, Sam."

"Yeah, but why?"

"I got it for you," Brock said with a shrug.

Sam's heart fluttered at the thought of Brock getting him something, but his brows furrowed in confusion.

"I already have a water bottle."

"No, you don't. I threw it away."

Sam pursed his lips.

"May I ask why?"

"No, you may not," Brock said plopping down on the couch.

Sam raised his brow at him and Brock ignored him for a moment, flicking on the TV before glancing back at Sam with a groan.

"Fine, I got you a new one, because I read that the owner of Hydra Flask is an asshole who doesn't support Omega rights. I can't have my Alpha running around sporting that logo on his bottle, now can I? People might think you're a traditionalist. God forbid."

Sam blinked at him for a moment before a fond look fell over his features and he sat down next to Brock, pulling his Omega into his side. Brock blushed when Sam pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you, love."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Brock grunted, but he leaned into Sam's side, turning to press his face into Sam's neck and hide a small smile.

Sam could feel it against his neck, but he didn't comment on it. He just ran his fingers through Brock's hair until his Omega yawned and made a sleepy little whimper.

"Come on, baby. Let's go to bed," Sam said softly.

Brock grunted, but didn't protest when Sam scooped him up off the couch and carried him off to bed. His back hit the mattress and his hands shot out to grab Sam's shirt, whining when Sam gently pried his fingers off of him.

"Shh, you're okay. Just let me undress you, then I'll cuddle with you."

Brock pouted, but let his Alpha do what he wanted. When Sam climbed into the bed he was wearing only his boxers and Brock had on only his shirt. Brock usually liked to sleep naked, but he had whined when Sam asked him to sit up, so Sam had just rolled his eyes, pressed a kiss to his forehead and left his shirt on.

Sonny usually slept with them, even though he technically had a crib in the nursery, but tonight was one of those rare nights that he actually was using that crib that usually stood around empty like a decorative piece. Brock rubbed at his eyes, turning to press his face into Sam's neck and Sam smiled softly, wrapping his arms around him.

"Night, baby," Sam whispered softly.

"Night, Alpha, love you."

"Love you too, Omega."

Things weren't perfect between Sam and Brock, but that didn't mean they didn't love each other. Just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean it's wrong.

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spicycreativity · 3 years

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Fanfic Appreciation Week Day 7: A Place Where I Can Breathe

Yes, folks, I'm appreciating my own darn fanfic for the final day of Fanfic Appreciation Week because I worked really hard on it and it was a labor of love for/with one of my QPPs, my roommate, the man who got me into Sanders Sides: @\cadeorade-powercade (That's him in the aesthetic board)

Allow me to present the director's commentary for A Place Where I Can Breathe:

Content Warnings: All content warnings mentioned in the fic apply.

Chapter 1: I actually wrote this fairly late in the game. It's meant to serve as a prologue and orient the viewer in the universe, s opposed to staring on Chapter 2, which just throws the viewer in without context. I think it was a good choice, as it also allowed me to introduce the concept of the Sides having power focuses early on.

The Premise: Cade is a Virgil stan and he was getting frustrated looking for Virgil fic. He was finding a lot of stuff written without nuance by young authors, a sort of "by teenagers for teenagers" type deal. We are not teenagers, so we both have a hard time relating to that kind of teen angst fic, as we're not the target audience. So he asked me to write him a Virgil fic and we worked together to identify what plot he wanted, what the Mindscape looked like, and what quirks the Sides have. So a lot of this fic is quite gratuitous and self-indulgent

The Title: Lizzie McAlpine has a song called "Apple Pie" which includes the lyric "I've been running around trying to find a place where I can breathe." Apple Pie SCREAMS Moceit to me, and I had taken notice of the lyric and wanted to use it as the title for a Moceit fic. I didn't really have an idea beyond that, and when Cade asked me to write this fic, I realized it was actually perfect and summed up Virgil's inner struggle quite nicely. So cheers to "A Place Where I Can Breathe," the Moceit Fic That Wasn't

-Cade asked me specifically to include Virgil having a spider and I wrote nearly the whole fic without doing so, then had to go back and sprinkle some references in. I think I managed 2 total.

Chapter 2:

"Uh, how about I hold off on that until I actually see my room?" Virgil stared expectantly at Roman, who bounced on his toes. "Lead on, Macduff."

"That's not the line and you know it," Roman complained, but he turned to lead Virgil to his room. "It's ' lay on, Macduff,' and--"

-This fic was originally supposed to reach a climax with a confrontation between Remus and Roman, and "lay on, Macduff" would come back as a brick joke. Unfortunately, the original ending was a result of me getting tired and lazy, so I had to go back and fix it, and we lost the Roman-Remus confrontation.

It was hard for Virgil to not shudder at the sudden heat and weight on him. With his senses already open and taking in more information than his brain seemed to want to process, touch was an added stressor, more unwanted sensory input.

-Virgil being touch-averse is a direct shoutout to Cade, who is also touch-averse.

Roman had already transformed the living room: metallic streamers of purple and black stretched across the corners of the ceiling, and shiny balloons spelling out A-N-X-E-I-T-Y hovered above the TV.

-Upon first writing, Virgil had already given the upstairs crew his name, so the banner spelled out "VIRIGL" which is way funnier than "ANXEITY." But then his name reveal became a plot point so I had to go back and change it.

-Let! Virgil! Be! Mean!

-Virgil's line about hearing refrigerator noise when Roman talks is another shout-out to Cade, who has leveled that accusation at me

A small, cruel part of him protested at the idea that he would need special treatment and desperately wanted to throw it back in Patton's face. He wasn't a sweetheart, he wasn't a baby. He didn't need to crawl into a blanket fort with Dad just because he was a little stressed.

-Remus calls Janus "Janus Geminus" because I was tired and couldn't come up with a pun. "Geminus" is one of the Roman god Janus' epithets; another is "Pater" meaning "Father." That led to a conversation about Remus deliberately confusing Patton by calling Janus "Daddy," but I couldn't think of a clean way to fit the explanation into the narrative, so I stuck with "Geminus."

Chapter 3:

"There's nothing normal about that! " Roman stared in horror at the coffee massacre Virgil had orchestrated. What had once been a respectable (if not very tasty) cup of black coffee was now part of a 1:1 coffee to milk suspension, the liquid a tasteful shade of tan suitable for business casual trousers or a show-ready chihuahua.

-Cade is a certified Nightmare Man and came up with Virgil's horrifying coffee order after I asked him about it. Keep an eye out for Janus' equally horrifying coffee order later in the fic.

1) Shouts out the fact that Janus is canonically a Dostoevsky fan

Chapter 4:

Janus smiled at him. "Where reason fails, the Devil helps." He fussed with his gloves and straightened his capelet. "It's showtime."

-I fucking love Crime and Punishment. Look at me. Look at me. I fucking love Crime and Punishment. Janus' quoting Raskolnikov serves multiple purposes:

2) Lampshades the fact that Roman just conveniently happened to be alone in the living room, because I didn't want to waste time getting him there. That makes me, the author, the Devil

3) Foreshadows the impending disaster. When Raskolnikov says this line it is because he had planned to commit axe murder. The axe he was planning to steal had been moved, but he finds another, different axe to use. Raskolnikov messes up the murder and ends up killing an innocent witness in addition to his intended target. Janus messes up his manipulation attempt and ends up murdering Roman's self esteem

-I was going to include a reference to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Remus' line "debauchery and vomit" was originally going to be "blood, love, and rhetoric") but I didn't because... Uh... Hm. Why didn't I do that. Maybe I just forgot about it???

-Roman is too stubborn to manipulate for long and that is a fact.

"I was pretty much done anyway," Remus said. "There's only so much debauchery and vomit you can fit into one story."

-Cade specifically ask me that nobody cry in this fic, but after I had Janus eviscerate Roman I knew he couldn't not cry a little. I kept it to a minimum because there's already a billion fucking fics about [literally any Side] crying on the shoulder of [literally any other Side] and it's really just not interesting to either of us.

-It didn't come up because it doesn't matter, but Thomas dreamed he was participating in the exact Dionysian orgy that took place in The Secret History because it's my fic and I said so.

Chapter 5:

He just sat back and watched and tugged at his hair while Janus spooned mound after mound of crisp white sugar into his mug and Virgil poured his customary eight fluid ounces of milk into his own mug.

-Cade strikes again. Virgil's coffee order is equal amounts milk to coffee; Janus' is equal parts sugar to coffee. He had asked me to include a scene where Roman catches Janus massacring his coffee and is appropriately horrified, but I uhh... Didn't write it. I still might include it as an omake someday.

-I imagine that Roman feels really strongly about dragons vs wyverns, and Remus just pretends to give a shit because he thinks it's funny to wind Roman up. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for my sense of realism in writing, I can't relate because I adore my sister and we get along perfectly almost 100% of the time.

"You shut us down every chance you get!" Remus said, baring his teeth. "How would you like it if your pens never wrote, hm? What would you do with all those thoughts in your head?"

-I do wish I had developed the concept of power focuses a bit more, established rules and such. Basically, Patton is always on the prowl for wrongthink and actively represses it, which in turn breaks or sabotages the Dark Sides' power focus.

Chapter 6: This chapter really should have been Janus and Roman but I was really tired and didn't want to bother with it. Plus, you know, Moceit. This chapter was meant to demonstrate how the characters would get along without Virgil nannying them. There's friction, but everyone is making a conscious, deliberate effort to get along because they love Virgil, and love is a series of choices you make.

I chose "Leo" as the answer for the answer to the crossword clue instead of "Virgo," because my other QPP is a Leo. She'll never read this fic, but I did it anyway because I love her. (Trivia: My sign is Virgo, so it was really a choice between shouting her out and shouting me out, and the last chapter is self-indulgent enough, thank you).

Chapter 7: I was gonna write a fic where all the Sides watched Cats the Musical because I was going through a phase. Then Cade requested this so I combined the two ideas. By this point I was fucking exhausted, and that's the only thing that saved you and the rest of the world from me writing the Sides riffing on the movie scene-by-scene. I could come up with snarky commentary for almost every, if not every single song from the movie.

Most notably, I cut a Patton-Remus interaction where Remus declares his love for Grizabella and Patton gets all staryy-eyed about Remus connecting with the idea of rising above rejection and being loved and accepted only for Remus to shoot him down and explain that he just likes that she got to die in a tire fire.

Other cut scenes include Janus quietly pretending not to go feral over Mister Mistoffelees, Patton full-on fucking sobbing over Grizabella and the kittens, and Logan experiencing a deep, soulful kinship with Munkustrap during Of The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollices (and henceforth introducing the phrase "like herding cats" into his regular vocabulary

#spicypost #fanfic appreciation week

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thedeaditeslayer · 4 years

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Exclusive interview: Bruce Campbell is having a renaissance.

Here’s a highly recommended interview which discusses what Bruce Campbell has in store for fans in the future.

Bruce Campbell is experiencing a creative renaissance, of sorts. In a recent chat with the actor, he discussed a return to his horror roots, cutting a comedy album with Ted Raimi and so much more.

Bruce Campbell hasn’t been idle during his time in self-isolation. The actor has been experiencing a creative renaissance of sorts. So, we figured now would be a perfect time to reach out and get some of our burning questions answered.

With so much uncertainty in the entertainment industry at present, rumors are running rampant. We gave Campbell a chance to clear the air so to speak and address some of the myriad of questions that fans have regarding Mortal Kombat 11, the latest Evil Dead incarnation, Ripley’s and whether or not he will work with Sam Raimi in front of the camera again.

The actor also surprised us with some monumental news. He will be returning to his horror roots with the sequel to My Name Is Bruce as well as several other projects that he has on his docket including a comedy album with one of his closest friends.

Get comfy, grab your favorite beverage and let’s catch up with Bruce Campbell.

Mortal Kombat 11, Ripley’s and the State of the Industry

1428 Elm: Thanks for speaking with us, Bruce. It’s always a pleasure. We have so many things to discuss. Recently, a site came out and said that you were definitely going to be Ash in Mortal Kombat 11. It seemed like a done deal the way it was reported. Can you comment on that?

Bruce Campbell: I probably shouldn’t emphasize yes or no because I don’t know. I have not been told. If it is not through my agent or proper channels than it usually means its wishful thinking.

1428 Elm: Apparently, an email from Warner Brothers Interactive was sent to a well-known entertainment site and Ash as well as Army of Darkness was mentioned in it with the trademark from MGM.

BC: The reason why it may not happen, just so you and the readers can know this, a lot of time for legal purposes, that character cannot appear in other things because of the license. If you can’t make a deal, that character is not going to show up. So, we may have been talked to about it.

But I do know with MGM that handles the Army of Darkness licensing that they’re hasn’t been a discussion with them about it. They’re pretty touchy. We have to be careful of ownership.

I honestly don’t know. I think I would have heard something. It’s not like my agent books me without consulting with me.

Even if Mortal Kombat came to me and said they want to put me in it, you still have to make a deal. If my agent says, “Bruce Campbell wants a hundred billion dollars,” and then they say no, the deal is dead.

The answer is we don’t know. No point in beating around about that.

1428 Elm: You might not be able to discuss this but what’s going on with Ripley’s Believe It or Not!? Will there be a Season 2?

BC: We’re one and done. It’s not your father’s Travel Channel anymore. If I wanted to host a ghost hunting show, I’d be on the air right now.

Ripley’s was made for the older school Travel Channel like Drive-Ins and Dive Bars where you go to wacky places around the country. There is a big push for paranormal, mystery and science-fiction, Discovery type stuff. I think we just “out aged” ourselves.

1428 Elm: It would have been nice if the Science Channel would have picked it up.

BC: It’s all good. I remain philosophical about all shows that come and go. There are so many factors involved. You change executives and things change, companies get bought and sold and things change, ratings aren’t what you expected…

After this virus, we’re going to see what shape the motion picture industry is in. It’s going to be a wounded beast. Projects are going to go away.

You’re going to have fewer tentpole movies too. I am hopeful we’ll have a return to low budget filmmaking.

That’s what I hope comes out of it. Each studio will start a low budget division and spend the money wisely.

Number One on the Charts with a Bullet

BC (Cont.): In the meantime, what is nice, I’m finishing up a couple of projects. I’m hoping by the end of the year to put a book of essays out and a comedy album with Ted Raimi.

1428 Elm: A comedy album?

BC: Yeah, we finished it. I’m in post-production on it. I’m putting all the sound effects in now.

1428 Elm: That sounds great!

BC: Who knows? We’ve never done one before so we’re going to find out.

1428 Elm: So, you guys are harkening back to the 1960’s when comedians like Bob Newhart had hit albums?

BC: It’s our version of that. I used to listen to the top comedy albums during the 60’s and 70’s. I wouldn’t dare compare myself to any of the masters like Mel Brooks and the 2,000-Year-Old Man with Carl Reiner. We gave it a shot. I love audio and I like radio plays.

Bruce Campbell vs the Classic Monsters

1428 Elm: So, tell us what is going on with your political satire, House Divided. Are you still working on pitching that once everything gets back to business as usual?

BC: It will be on the sales block. It’s a harder sell. There’s no blood. It’s not a horror movie, it’s a political satire. Associating Bruce Campbell with political satire isn’t the first thing investors whip out their checkbooks for.

To combat that, I just finished writing a sequel to My Name Is Bruce. The idea is we want to take Bruce and have him go through each of the classic film monsters. The sequel is Bruce vs Frankenstein.

We’re done. I finished my draft and sent it to Mike Richardson, my partner at Dark Horse Comics. We’re actively looking for money on that one. It is the Expendables of Horror. I fully intend to load the cast with so many familiar horror faces. It should be a lot of fun.

It would be a cavalcade of genre stars, old, young, on TV now. We really want to cover the bases. A lot of people will be getting killed. Guest star kills. Basically, Bruce bumbles his way into being a hero.

1428 Elm: Will you have to go through Universal to get permission to use the classic monsters?

BC: Some stuff is public domain. I’m not a lawyer but we would figure out a way to do this.

I think the bolts on Frankenstein’s neck are trademarked, as well as certain looks. But you can make a Frankenstein. That story is under public domain.

It’s also a parody of a Frankenstein movie and that gives a lot of leeway legally as well. I don’t think you can say, “Wolfman,” but I think you can say Bruce vs the Werewolf. This is my version of the Bob Hope road movies.

Ted has two parts; I have two parts for Robert Englund and I have a couple of parts for Kane Hodder. If they’re a name, I am going to put them in it.

After we come out of the zombie apocalypse that we’re in and everyone gets back to work, that is what I will be actively pitching. There’s plenty going on. So, I have been self-isolating in a constructive way.

It’s an Evil Dead World

1428 Elm: We’re curious about the 1970’s period piece that you were working on when we talked to you last year. What happened with that?

BC: It’s currently on my action board. I will eventually get to it. I am going to finish my book of essays first and then I am going to get to that one.

The story is set in 1979. The idea behind it is what would have happened if us raising money for Evil Dead went horribly, horribly wrong. It becomes a horror movie in and of itself.

1428 Elm: How did this idea come to fruition?

BC: I was going through projects in my computer. People who have a lot of downtime do spring cleaning. Clean out your woodshed, toolshed when you have extra time. In this case, I went to the head of my projects folder.

This one popped up and it was just an outline that I had written 15 years ago. I thought, wait a minute, this is pretty well thought out.

In the 70’s, filmmaking was real, you didn’t have a lot of options. You had to get cameras from a certain place, you had to have insurance. There were a lot of steps that you had to take that made the process really difficult.

I remember making calls for money from payphones in blizzards and s*** like that. You had to leave messages, you’re getting busy signals, you’re not texting anyone. There are no computers, there’s no email, its old school. You sent things in the mail.

Today, filmmaking is not difficult. I can go to a store and buy a 4K camera. I can make a movie with $5,000 worth of equipment. Probably less.

1428 Elm: Well, you can do it on your phone too. Sam Raimi is on Quibi now with 50 States of Fright, which is entertainment tailored to your device. If his series continues once everything settles, do you think there’s a chance you might appear on the show?

BC: Never say never, that’s all verbally at this point. They have to succeed; they have to survive. Any new format, any new platform, I’m game and if Sam’s involved all the more reason.

1428 Elm: Have you ever thought of doing anything like Quibi?

BC: Not yet. I’m used to writing 90-page screenplays with a three-act format. I can adapt anything too.

I was thinking the other day, I have a few screenplays that might be tough sells but maybe I might convert them to a fricking novel and put them out as books. There’s lots to do. I’ve got plenty going on.

1428 Elm: Has the current situation affected the new Evil Dead? We remember that you talked about possibly going into production at the end of this year. Is that pushed back like everything else?

BC: No, not really. It was so early in the stages that we can keep going. I just read the first official draft today. So, then we’ll give notes and additional writing will take place.

Then you have to budget the thing so you know how much money you need to raise and then you have to get the money. Nothing will stop any of that.

You can make calls for money, you can send the script to people, you can do budgets. The only thing that will be affected will be the actual start date. Which we didn’t know anyway. We may end up not being delayed at all.

Many thanks to Bruce Campbell for chatting with us.

#Bruce Campbell #Ted Raimi

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it-will-not-last-the-night · 4 years

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PQ2 - End

As I did expect; making sure I was able to comfortably beat the Velvet Rangers first did mean Enlil, though visually impressive, wasn’t a difficult fight. I simply equipped Ryuji with the Omnipotent Orb and had him All Guard every turn and this left Enlil unable to do anything whilst the Joker, Mitsuru, Chie and Ann wailed on them.

The ending was honestly good though, very emotional, heart-tugging, I honestly haven’t had this much fun finishing a game since J.J. Macfield and the Island of the Missing.

PQ2 is honestly a gem I feel. Beyond fun mechanics that I found easy to get back into even after long gaps, it balances the character development of an enormous cast very successfully, with only some issues.

Even though I knew nothing of P3 or P4 the game conveys their characters in a way I found enjoyable and easy to sink into, and that is really no small feat considering that the cast is, honestly, just insanely large by the end.

I enjoyed Enlil as an antagonist for the most part, though they could definitely have used a little more substance in the plot, but this game, overall, was less focused on it’s villain and more on it’s protagonist, and that’s fine.

To that end Hikari: the game is honestly the story of her character development and I loved her. It’s a pity we don’t see much of her in the fandom, because I honestly adore Hikari and find her enchanting and relatable in a number of ways.

Her farewell to the friends she made at the finale of the game was genuinely touching.

In general the farewells at the end are emotional, and I enjoyed them all, event he little nod to Akechi’s own mixed feelings, clearly dealing with something, as he is the most hesitant of the Phantom Thieves to finally exit the theatre after they have learned they will forget everything once they are outside. A nice touch!

Of course, because it is me, I do wish to gush briefly about Ryuji: OH MY GOSH I love his dynamic with Hikari? But, also, I just love him in this game? He comes across in PQ2 as if he has matured from his incarnation in the vanilla game. Not only is he the character, along with Futaba, who spends the most time supporting and speaking with Hikari, but even in the ending when most of the Thieves all express varying degrees of excitement or forced enthusiasm about returning home, Ryuji is the one who most noticeably feels sad about the whole affair, expressing how he suddenly misses everything they’d gone through.

On the note of Ryuji and Hikari’s bond: I had thought it mostly just an accidental outgrowth of Ryuji’s common role as an externalization of Joker’s words, but when I watch the ending perhaps it is more intentional than I thought. Noticeably Futaba and Ryuji deliver the closing lines to Hikari, Ryuji is the one who, as she tears up, tells her to remember to keep her promise to invite them to see her movies and in the post-credits scene Ryuji is the character who feels they NEED to see her movie when they find a flyer for it, going so far as to clutch at his head because he, without knowing why, just knows he HAS to go do this. Furthermore, the cutscene as Hikari says her final goodbye and leaves, is framed around a small group of characters: Ryuji, Futaba, P3FemPC, Yukari, Mitsuru and Morgana. Among those Ryuji, Futaba and P3FemPC are the characters with the largest interaction with Hikari throughout the game, and I honestly have adored those four together.

I honestly have no idea why I am typing this, the game is dated and I believe interest in it limited, but I’d recommend any fan of Persona who hasn’t given it a try to do so, if only because the story and characters are honestly well executed, better in many ways than Vanilla.

To be frank; whilst Vanilla has moments that legitimately make me depressed, the scene in Shinjuku and the scene after Shido’s Ship, even at it’s worst PQ2 never has it’s characters be that mean to each other. Even when they jibe or insult they never cross a line to abusing or accosting, and they never all single out one character to relentlessly, constantly, deride.

A breath of fresh air really!

Anyway; I loved the game, I had fun, now I guess I wait for Scramble to become available, and I hope we get to see more of the P5 cast still in future (ALSO ATLUS JUST LET ME HOOK THE PT’S UP WITH EACH OTHER OR DATE THE BOYS PLEASE I WANT TO GIVE THEM LOVE TOO THEY DESERVE IT).

For fun below the divide I’m just gonna mention the relationships, romantic or platonic I’m not going to bother much with a distinction, I really have come to like following this game even though, I am sure, they are all crack.

Enjoy:

Chie/Yukiko: Whether best friends or girlfriends no pair of characters in the P4 cast seemed to, from the outset, come across as obviously as if they are close. The two seem to complement each other well, know each other well and play off each other well and are always delightful and entertaining to watch.

Mitsuru/Junpei: I talked about this one before; I just honestly loved their Ticket and found it endearing how both, in their interactions with each other, were almost Tsundere-ish in admitting to private desires to get along, and take care of each other dearly, but struggling to break through the shell of the other to confess this.

Ryuji/Hikari: Talked about this one at massive length already; suffice to say I honestly loved their interactions so much and, along with Ryuji’s interactions with Sophia I have seen now in Scramble, Ryuji radiates enormous, powerful, Big Brother/Father energy. Which I think is great? What better arc for Ryuji than, a person who’s life is overshadowed by his awful father, to turn out to be a wonderful father himself.

Yusuke/Yukiko: These two just get each other. Honestly they just click. They tune in to the same cosmic wavelength and leave everyone confused as they naturally just synch up. It is a pity as the game enters its later stages we see less of them, in the early game they are a treat.

Ken/Akechi: Ken and Akechi just are perfect, wonderful, foils to each other and it’s almost a pity the game can’t actually go the full way with it because Akechi’s secret can’t come out. This leaves it as a tease, the suggestion, of what could be, but that’s still plenty good. I also find it always interesting to see Ryuji and Akechi, two boys heavily formed by an abusive father, both in their own explicit words state outright they relate themselves to Ken in some way. With Akechi, because he is so good at wearing masks, I wonder how true it is when he relates himself to Ken, it’d be interesting to know if this is one of his lies to maintain his façade, or a bit of his true self creeping out as it often does.

Joker/Junpei: I don’t know why I like these two? But Joker comes across as really fond and supportive of him with his consistent chances to shout out “Junpei! Master Detective!”

Yukari/Junpei: As I said in my head I go back-and-forth whether this would be endearing or a toxic hate-love relationship. There’s no denying, though, that these two interact more with each other than anyone else in the P3 cast, they’re the Yukiko/Chie in that sense, if Yukiko/Chie consisted of a lot of barbs and harsh words. We actually get a glimpse of what, I feel, is a healthier dynamic for the two in P3FemPC’s world in the epilogue, where Yukari is still barbed but rather than deflating Junpei ripostes back, this automatically makes it seem less mean-spirited heckling and more two people, comfortable with each other, bantering.

Futaba/Hikari: This one is the obvious choice since the game is obviously going out of it’s way to make this an important relationship. Futaba sees herself in Hikari and appoints herself like an older sister to help her. It is adorable and amazing character development as the socially reclusive and shy Futaba clearly forces herself out of her comfort zone to prove to Hikari that she can change and that she is not a lost cause. Along with Hikari it is, perhaps, Futaba who is the true MVP of this entire game.

Futaba/P3FemPC: Futaba gets some lovely Sister-like sequences with the incredibly fun and social P3FemPC, who Futaba is clearly in awe of. It is a pity that these really only happen in the early game, I’d love for them to continue, but P3FemPC as the big, fun, sister figure of Futaba is fun.

Ryuji/Yukiko: This one is just because the ending of Haru and Yukiko’s ticket has one of the funniest bit ever when Haru and Yukiko decide they want to ‘play’ with Ryuji and Yosuke. Yukiko’s ‘Will you devote all of your being to the name of the Amagi Family?’ is wonderful and I can just imagine Ryuji’s reaction to such a frank proposition.

Mitsuru/P3FemPC: This one was actually surprising to me but Mitsuru really has something of an almost maternal instinct for P3FemPC. She seeks to console her and let her know she is valued, even if Mitsuru is poor at expressions of affection, as seen in Junpei’s case as well. In many ways it strikes me as a more sympathetic Sae/Makoto. Mitsuru clearly cares for the P3FemPC and is aware of her disconsolate feelings, but struggles to find the words to comfort her, but doesn’t let that stop her trying.

#persona 5 #persona #p5 #pq2 #hikari

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vaguelygeiszlerian · 4 years

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1 to 50

ok i just saw this existed, i live on tumblr mobile where i ignore the activity tab and scroll endlessly, bear w me

Animated character that was your gay awakening? uhhhhhhh,,,....,,,.. if i remembered anything abt my childhood i would tell u, im gonna say rukia from bleach because i want gorgeous short people to step on me

Grilled cheese or PB&J? peanut butter Always... tho if it was a fancy grilled cheese (there is a special preparation).... i would be torn

What show/YouTube video(s) do you put on in the background when you when you don’t have anything to watch but you want something on? it really depends! i bounce around, i watch a lot of baumgartner restorations, i watch a LOT of nyx fears video essays on horror movies i would never watch, i watch longplays of, like, nier automata bc im still delighted by cryaotic?

Your go-to bar order, if you drink? i dont really get to order a lot of drinks at bars, itll depend, if im with friends ill order as many things off the cocktail menu as my money allows, if im with my parents ill order long island iced teas or whiskey and lemonade

What’s your favorite pair of shoes that you own? i literally own like 3 pairs of shoes, one of which being the only pair i can actually safely wear haha.... but my favorite pair is the black red and gold converse that dont fit anymore but still remind me of high school

Top three cuisines? mexican, italian, whomever the fuck invented kasoundi

What was your first word as a child (that wasn’t a variation of “Mom” or “Dad”)? yeah as said above i have no clue about anything about my childhood so idk i think mum said once that my first proper word was just ‘no’ which sounds abt right

What’s a job that you’ve had that people might be surprised to find out you’ve had? idk if my last job counts? i mean i used to do all round garden labor stuff until my pain got worse and i literally couldnt anymore so i got relegated to desk work

Look up. What’s directly across from you? oh a container of pesto i didnt like the flavour of and just... forgot to throw out.... i will do that tomorrow

Do you own any signed books/memorabilia in general? i have a rwby poster signed by ray and jack? its p cool

Preferred way to spend a rainy day? preferred right now? wrapped in a metric fuckton of blankets w my partner

What do you get on your bagels? What WOULD you get if you had access to anything you wanted? i..... dont like bagels

Brunch or midnight snacks? i live a weirdly scheduled life, midnight snacks and brunch are interchangeable to me now, so both

Favorite mug you own i..... dont really have one? all of my actual mugs that are mine have my deadname on them haha

What coffee drink would you describe yourself as? overbrewed black coffee that someone left to go cold before dumping six packs of sugar in

Pick a song lyric to describe your current mood (and drop the name and artist!) ‘ And I don't want your pity I just want somebody near me ‘ bc we all love a bit of mitski when we are feeling the self isolation creeping in

Fruity or herbal teas? fruity teas only! or rather i drink fruit tisanes! but if you mean actual tea then herbal, i only drink peppermint tea

What’s that one TV show that you’re a little bit embarrassed to watch but you still like nonetheless? fruits basket! everyone watch the reboot

That book you were forced to read for class but actually ended up enjoying? all the books i read for class sucked but medea wasnt so bad

Do you match your socks? only when theyre very fun patterned socks, and even then sometimes i will match them to the wrong pair but the same pattern, aka my double watermelon combo (i have a pair of green socks w watermelons and a pair of black socks w watermelons so)

Have you ever been horseback riding? no and i never will because i am fucking terrified of horses

What was your “phase” when you were younger? (i.e., Mythology Nerd, Horse Girl, Space Geek, etc) uh.... uh i mean im not sure if it counts as a phase but i was stupid into vampires (to the point of me and my friends constructing the intricate theory that our teacher was a vampire and we had to kill her by the time we graduated (she was not and we did not and i hate all of those people now) i was just the weird conspiracy kid i guess, we used to spend every lunch staring across the oval at a house we were SURE an alien lived in (it was just a plastic bag being rustled by a fan)

Have you ever been to jail? bkdnbrb god no

What’s your opinion on Lazy Susan’s (the spinning tray in the middle of tables)? im a lazy susan

Puzzles? i cant solve a rubiks cube but give me a 2000 piece jigsaw and ill sit there for 6 hours trying to solve it

You can only have one juice for the rest of your life, what is it? oh this is tough..... orange juice, the fancy kind but with no bits in it, i used to like the bits but these days i just want a clean juice experience

What section do you immediately head for when you walk into a bookstore? ,,,,,,the ya fiction section, i never buy anything from there but i like to see if series i read as a teenager ever got new instalments after i stopped liking them

What’s one thing you’re trying to learn/relearn in your downtime right now? how to sleep like a normal person

Who’s your go-to musical artist when you’re feeling upbeat? uh, it depends! lizzo or my playlist of musicals! (which is literally just starkid/tcb stuff)

Where could someone find you in a museum? i could literally be anywhere, probably in front of some old piece though, just staring for an hour bc im struck by the majesty of it (and my legs probably locked up so i couldnt move anyway)

What’s that one outfit in your closet you never get the chance to wear but want to? so i have a nice white button up and some really nice jeans i just got, and my suspenders, and my cool blue heels that i know i cant wear bc my legs cant handle walking in heels anymore, but it would look cool am i right

Rainbows, stars, or sunset colored clouds? i look up at my roof which is almost entirely covered in glow in the dark stars and then stare into the camera (i wish every day that my roof was like the roof of the healthy harold van, i still have fucking dreams of that beautiful ceiling)

If you could own any non-traditional pet (dogs, cats, fish, rodents, etc), what would it be? non traditional? id want a lizard that could curl round my shoulders like a leathery scarf

Do you have more art on your walls or more photographs? i dont have any photos on my wall so art by default

You have to get one meme tattooed on your body, what meme is it and where does it go? i just want the pensive emoji tattooed in the small of my back so if i wear a crop top everyone has to suffer with me

Pick a superhero sidekick to hang out with fuck superheroes they suck, can i hang out with jason todd red hood style

Lakes, rivers, or oceans? oceans, i want to go to the beach so fucking bad

Favorite mid-2000s song i dont really have a Big Favorite but like..... i constantly thank god for esteban

How do you dress when you’re home alone? ive been in the same sweatpants and old paint shirt i got from my painting and decorating course for three days

Where do you sit in the living room (we all have a preferred spot, and you know it)? armchair closest to the kitchen, perfect to make a quick escape if dad comes in

Knives or swords? knives, i dont have the upper body strength for swords

A song you didn’t think you’d enjoy but ended up loving? oh uh run away with me by crj, *bwoooooooo buhnuhnuuuuuu buhnuhnuuuuuhhh buhnuhnuuuuhhhhh*

Pick an old-school Disney Channel Original Movie HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL BUT SPECIFICALLY ONLY CERTAIN PARTS FROM EACH OF THEM BC COLLECTIVELY THEY SUCK BUT PARTS OF THEM ARE PERFECT

Are you a “Quote that relates to the photos” caption-er, an “explanation of where I took the photos” caption-er, or a no caption kinda person when you post pictures online? no caption i dont want people to really acknowledge that i post things

Name a classic Vine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anQds9PQ7CA

What’s the freezer food that you stock up on when you go to the grocery store? hash browns hash browns hash browns ONLY

How do you top your ice cream? god its been so long since ive been able to eat ice cream.... with the reeses peanut butter ice cream shell topping

Do you like Jello? jelly is the pinnacle of our society and i wish i were eating it right now

What’s something that you don’t have a picture of that you wish you did? i wish i had a picture of myself and my partner so i could set it as my phone lock screen (that or i wish i had a picture of me and a friend i really dearly miss bc i have pics of her in my phone but not of us together and i want some but i cant bring myself to say so)

How are you at climbing trees? theres a tree in my front yard i used to be able to hang off but nowadays i think id hurt myself just trying to lift my nasty meat sack off the ground trying

#long post #christ that took like 3 hours #i dont know things about myself #thanks for asking though #Anonymous

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the-gongoozler · 4 years

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POST-TROS Trilogy reactions, my own opinions.

I just saw The Rise of Skywalker. These are my opinions as someone who doesn’t follow any of the actors (besides Adam Driver’s charity because that’s something I wrote a paper on) or fandom drama (racism! sexism! something happened with John Boyega?)

Preface: I don’t need outrage. I don’t care. I will block you if you’re rude, period. This is my opinion and I am not a crazy fan, I just watch the movies about once a year and I enjoy every single one of them. I loved The Rise of Skywalker and found it to be a fantastic full circle for the entire 9 movie series as well as the trilogy. Don’t need any negative vibes, thank you :)

Ben Solo

I really enjoyed Ben Solo. It felt like the point of the series was the redemption arc of Ben Solo. It was a symbolic repeat of Anakin/Vader’s story line. Anakin was alone, taught by masters, tempted by the dark side, and then turned into a completely separate man. They both came back to themselves in time to save the day, but there is a massively key difference. Darth Vader is not Anakin, he is the darkness that lives inside of Anakin (and everyone has this darkness). Kylo Ren was the corrupted Ben Solo, but he never got the foothold in Ben’s psyche that Vader got in Anakin’s. Anakin was controlled by Vader completely whereas Kylo Ren never had complete control over Ben (first example I can think of: He didn’t shoot Leia when he had the opportunity to kill her). In the body of Anakin Skywalker, there is only Vader, whereas Ben’s body has two battling minds: Ben v. Kylo Ren.

What I found really really cool was that Rey killed Kylo Ren. On the Death Star II in IX, where Darth Vader died in VI, Kylo Ren dies when he is stabbed by Rey. Then, with Rey’s help, Ben Solo is reborn as the only mind in his body. He was healed by light and love and then told that if he was just Ben Solo, she would have taken his hand. If he hadn’t thought that he needed the Dark Side to be whole, he might have had everything that he could possibly hope for (romantic love, familial love, a future, power).

The tragedy of Ben Solo is that Luke saw him tempted by darkness and accidentally pushed him toward the darkness. If Luke had talked to him, expressed love and understanding instead of fear, then Ben Solo would never have been controlled by Kylo Ren. Instead, he fell and was corrupted only to be brought back by someone truly understanding him (which, other than through unstoppable access to his deepest thoughts,would have never happened) and then choosing to love him because of that understanding. Ben didn’t have to bring Rey back, he could have just mourned her and disappeared to live his life, but he was driven to sacrifice himself by the love he felt for Rey.

I am a HUGE fan of a redemption arc and I think they pulled it off beautifully for him. His last words ever spoken (while holding Rey’s lifeless body) were “Can you hear me? Hold on.” The instant recognition of his goodness by Rey, the smile on his face when he saw the result of his sacrifice, and then their kiss (a recognition of his return to himself) was honestly just... it was achingly gorgeous. I really liked the film.

Rey

A strong force wielder, a mechanic, a scavenger, and an orphan. She kicks ass, she takes names, and she is the strongest Jedi the world has ever seen. Love her.

Finn

Finn is cool in VII and IX. He was funny, smart, and helpful in the first and last of the trilogy, both playing a stand alone and serious character while providing good comic relief. I also really appreciate the platonic nature of the relationship between him and Rey, something that could have turned romantic. He’s a good soldier and he found his way out of the ranks of the Storm Troopers on his own. He’s obviously less developed in VII because it’s the first movie, but he’s generally a nice guy (not a Nice Guy) and I was excited to see more from him. I loved his connection to BB-8 and Poe immediately.

In VIII, he did more harm than good. Had he not disobeyed orders and left the ship, less people would have died. He left the ship, freed that guy from jail, then that guy gave the plans away and made the bad guys aware of the escaping ships that they otherwise would have missed. If Finn had stayed put, those ships would have escaped. It was a failure in writing and his character would have been better served by not even being in the movie. His near-sacrifice didn’t even make sense to me? He would have been obliterated by the laser before he could have reached it anyway? Give him something more epic, thank you please.

Then, IX. He kicked ass. I don’t know what he was going to say to Rey, but everything he said to Poe was golden. They are a great duo and I enjoyed every moment they interacted. He was a good friend and he tried to keep his group together (mostly having to go after Rey when she was being a stubborn brick wall). I mean, Rey made it to the Death Star because she had a lot of experience with machinery and the force. He did it by sheer “I gotta save this dumbass” willpower. He had a similar energy to Steve Harrington in Stranger Things (”mommy steve”).

Poe Dameron

Love him. No complaints. He was Han Solo but less brash and more funny. He was funny as shit and I enjoyed him from the first moment we saw him. I really wish he was in more of the trilogy, but the parts that he was in were great. Him and Finn kicked some serious ass. I love the way that he incorporated Finn into his family unit immediately and then again with Rey. He is a dedicated and headstrong and funny pilot. That’s it.

Rose

Tbh, I don’t care too much about her? I just disliked everything she did/was involved in in VIII and the way she was introduced was mishandled, really. She was 100x better in IX and I definitely cared about her more. Her introduction felt rushed and forced and she was a big character before I cared about her at all, then she was put into the worst plot line in the whole series (discussed in the Finn section). I think that they could do more with her, but I don’t mind if they don’t.

Luke Skywalker

His whole thing was kinda bullshit? He was the catalyst for the birth of Kylo Ren, he abandoned the galaxy when it needed him most, and he wasn’t gay- those pussies. I didn’t like when he yeeted his light saber, it felt disrespectful. I didn’t like the way he died. I did like his personality and the way that he dusted off when Kylo Ren shot him all those times.

Leia Organa

People I’ve talked to keep bitching about her using the force and like... what? She was always force sensitive and she had a long time to learn between series. Plus, she lived with or around Luke for a long time before he decided to fuck off into a corner of the galaxy. She was a general and a Jedi and a gorgeously perfect woman. I also love the way that she was always ready to give her son another chance. The only way to get someone to come back is to tell them they are welcome and no matter what he did (HAN SOLO) she could always accept him if he changed. Adore.

Han Solo

He was also ready to help his son, if it was necessary. He had faith that Ben could do what needed to be done. Also, the version of him that is in Ben’s memories is so sweet and fantastic. I loved that little bit. When Ben calls him “dad”?? my heart melted. Plus, his mentorship of Rey combined with him and Chewie’s interactions? God, he’s cool.

I didn’t like that he was so dispassionate though. That was bothersome, I would have thought he would have been more for-the-cause since he was connected to the rebellion the whole damn time. It would have been cool to have him havea moment where you saw that change.

Chewbacca, R2-D2, C3-PO, BB-8, and D-O

Obviously fantastic?

General Hux

rat bastard

Snoke

Weird thumb man

Palpatine

Aggressive tickle monster

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Another note-

Rey/Ben

I saw it coming the moment I watched VII. I really enjoyed it. They both were so closed off to the world and so horribly alone for various reasons, both in and out of their control. They were tempted by the dark side and anger and hurt and betrayal. They were scared of their own burgeoning power. Where Rey’s powers and temptation were met with support, Ben was met with fear. That drove him down.

Because of their force bond, they were literally soul mates. Not in a romantic way! They literally were made with an unbreakable connection through the force and that allowed them to speak and know the depths of their hidden thoughts and desires and fears. Ben knew Rey better than anyone else did and better than he knew anyone else, the same is true in reverse.

Rey could see the dual nature of his mind and understood his struggle. She knew Ben Solo and she knew Kylo Ren. She also recognized that it was his fight to win and that all she could do was offer her hand to take if he wanted it. She admitted outright that she would have stayed with him had he been just Ben Solo when he offered her a place by his side. She was in love with Ben Solo as soon as she knew him and that was shown very explicitly in that moment by the fire, when they were both vulnerable and curious. In the moments that he was Ben, she would reach out to him. When he was Kylo, she had no interest.

I love that she had no interest in Kylo Ren. She wasn’t about to stick around and fix him, that was his job. This sort of draws the line between physical attraction or shallow attraction and the true bond that she had with Ben Solo. She wasn’t drawn to him out of interest, she loved him and understood him and was not going to be tricked by that love into falling for Kylo Ren. Super strong choice for her and it goes against a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes.

When she stabs him, she kills Kylo Ren. When she heals him, she revives Ben Solo. She all but says that she loves Ben and that provides the momentum that he needs to move forward. She held out her hand one last time by saying that she would have stayed with Ben, then escapes for her own safety and the safety of the Rebels in case he makes the wrong decision once again.

Then the fight scene where she transfers him the saber? The way that he limps over to her and hold her in his arms? The way he smiles when he looks at her beautiful lively eyes? The kiss that said “You saved my life/I’m so proud of you/You are the only person in my entire life that truly understands me” on both parts? Gawjus.

#Reylo #TROS #Star Wars #Kylo Ren #Rey #Ben Solo #TROS spoilers #The Rise of Skywalker #TROS positivity

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machi-kun · 5 years

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Avengers Endgame: an analysis far more detailed than you asked for

I decided to make a huge ass post talking about Endgame, with some opinions and some observations. A) because I’m physically incapable of shutting up, apparently, and B) because as I write my IW fix-it, Endgame does provide some very nice points to consider in terms of character development. As a long-time fan and someone who likes wasting months making character studies for fun, I have a lot to say about this movie and what it means. So, if you’re somehow interested in seeing me talk about this movie for far too long, go right ahead.

It’s gigantic. I warned you.

First of all, I have to say something. I grew up with the MCU, I watched nearly every single movie on theaters when they came out, and it shaped my teenage years. I will never, ever, not be grateful for it. For someone who followed the MCU step by step, it’s undeniable this movie is a thank you gift from the Marvel Studios to the fans, because there are moments in it that were crafted for us, with intention and purpose. They are gifts. And for that I’m thankful, that makes me like the movie more, but it also feels a little bittersweet – not only because it’s over, but because some things don’t end in a satisfactory manner.

So, let’s talk about it.

Starting from the beginning. First off, I love how it starts. It’s a sharp contrast to the final scenes in IW, where we see Peter vanishing in Tony’s arms – Clint turning around at the exact moment his family disappears and he has no idea what happened to them? Extremely powerful. It’s nice to see the two sides of the event, from one that explodes in your face with agony and one that sneaks in silently, but hurts just the same. That was a nice touch. I appreciate it.

Just wish we had more context for how it goes after that, because the next time we see Clint, boy, you sure did a 180, didn’t you?

But I’ll talk about Clint later. Now, let’s talk Tony Stark.

I am so pleased that they gave us the Nebula and Tony bonding moments. It’s essential to Nebula’s character, and it’s so good to see. Playing a silly game to pass the time while trapped in space in dire conditions? It screams Tony all over it, and it shows. Nebula’s reaction to losing is very telling too, her body language stiff and ready to act defensively, and the gentleness with which Tony treats her is perfect. Calm, unspoken, but clear. The sharp cut from this scene to the trailer scene, with Tony malnourished and nearly dying is a bit of a harsh transition, but I was so pleased to know his speech is even more heart-wrenching in the movie, his voice cracking and losing breath, so intense! RDJ was phenomenal. And in turn, we see Nebula return the kindness Tony gave her, and that is so damned important because it solidifies Nebula as someone who is not afraid to be vulnerable now, not just to her sister, but to other people who she has no “familial bond” to speak of, but that doesn’t mean she can’t find in them hope and connections. It opens her up to a world of possibilities.

Carol arrives at just the right moment, looking absolutely gorgeous with that hair, URGH, and brings them back. Now, as much as I love Carol, let’s jump forward a bit and talk about Tony’s return. The Benatar arrives. The door opens. Tony steps out, and Steve runs towards him. Which is a huge deal, considering how they left things between them. I scream at the implications of this, not only because this is so fanfic worthy, but because in more detail, it hits so close to what I believed would happen. Let me tell you why:

Steve runs towards Tony, and Tony doesn’t push him away, because he’s so exhausted and so, so shaken. So shaken, in fact, that the first thing that comes off his lips is I lost the kid. Mind you, at this point, Tony has no idea Steve knows who the kid is. But it doesn’t matter. Tony is so torn about it that he needs to tell someone, because it still doesn’t feel real but it hurts like it does, and for Nebula, he had been holding it in. Now he’s home, he can let it all out. And how does Steve reply:

We all lost someone, Tony.

Now. That might just be me, but that doesn’t read as sympathetic. It reads kind of insensitive, actually. Remember, Tony doesn’t know Steve knows who he’s talking about, but he’s saying it anyway, he is exposing his grief in the rawest manner possible – and Steve’s reply doesn’t acknowledge how intense Tony’s grief is, at the moment he needs it the most. Sure, it’s not wrong. It’s true, everyone lost someone. But would you say that, when you know it’s the moment it’ll hurt the most, when the person hearing it still hadn’t had the time to process it?

But I’m not mad about it! Why? Because it makes sense!

Fast forward a bit. Tony is in a wheelchair, all skin and bone, and once the initial shock wearied out, he’s angry. He’s angry because no one is giving him time to grieve, he’s angry because he just got back and he was right, dammit, he was right and no one listened to him and look what happened! It’s the anger of someone who finally got acknowledged in the worst way possible, and he doesn’t want to be right, but he is and now all he feels is guilt. It’s the worst moment possible to try and convince him to think about it or, god forbid, fight again. Which exactly what they do! They push him to speak about something he’s still not ready to speak about, and he lashes out. It’s glorious.

First of all, it fits perfectly with Steve’s character. It goes to show that on his time on the run, whatever soul searching he did was not enough. Not enough, because even if he feels any guilt for what happened when the Avengers broke apart, his instinct is still pushing Tony despite the clear warnings to step back. Even if Steve has gained some self-awareness, he still hasn’t learned to deal with it with Tony. And it shows.

And for the first time, it backfires!

Tony can no longer hold it in and he rants straight into Steve’s face about how he has nothing. He has given everything and Steve still wants more and Tony won’t give it to him. Liar. You have any idea how powerful this is? Tony had idolized Steve for every moment until Siberia, and that image has finally crumbled. This is so strong Steve doesn’t even argue back, which is unprecedented. If there’s a moment where the realization hits Steve, this is it, and this is the only reason why I am not incredibly bitter about what happens later in this movie. If Steve had argued back, and still was able to lift Mjolnir at the end, I would have despised this movie forever. Because it’s impossible. This was the confrontation Steve was lacking, he needed to listen and learn, and he did, because the next time he interacts with Tony, five years later, his body language and words have a completely different tone! He is humbled. This needed to happen, or else Steve’s character would have been lost forever.

Well. Except for that ending. We’ll talk about that.

But Tony says no. He says no, he fucks off to live in a farm as he says he would, and now, we come to another point I need to make: Pepper Potts. I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t like Pepperony not because I don’t like Pepper, but because Pepper’s morals didn’t fit with her role in Tony’s life, as we can see from the number of times they have broken up over the course of the MCU. But this is where this movie made me surprised: they gave Tony a family in the beginning. And that changes everything.

Making Tony’s decision to quit the Avengers not one of guilt like in AoU, but of rage, actually works better. Anger is fuel, it keeps him away longer. In the time he is gone, he has a kid, and this also makes him feel better, it gives him something other to care about than the fight. This is good. Tony is staying away out of his own volition, not because Pepper asked him to or warned him that this will kill him, and that is strange for Pepper. Pepper has argued with Tony over this for a decade. Now that she gets what she wants, but not in the way she expected, it puts things in perspective: Tony will start missing being Iron Man. Because he always does. But he will force himself not to do anything, without her asking, because it’s not because of her, it’s because of himself.

That changes things. In those five years, Pepper finally sees how much it kills Tony not to act. Up close. And Tony will tell himself he doesn’t because of Pepper, because of Morgan, but Pepper knows that’s not all. She finally sees Iron Man for what he means through Tony’s eyes. This is also what makes her suit up, I am sure of it. Of course, she goes to the fight because the fight needs her, the universe needs her too, and she even risks leaving Morgan behind with the chance of dying because she knows how important this is.

But the only reason why she does this, is because she now understands. And dare I say, she had been practicing behind Tony’s back, because her flight is flawless. So she was gearing up beforehand.

Because she knew he would go back to the fight. She knew, she always knows. But this is the first time she allows it, because she gets it.

This is an incredible character development for Pepper, and honestly, I’m back to shipping Pepperony now because of it, when I had stopped by the time AoU came around. Finally, it makes sense. Finally, her ideology aligns with his, and it finally makes sense for them to be together, not because Tony is conceding something, but because she met him in the middle.

And I have nothing bad to say about Morgan Stark. I love her. 3000.

Scott comes back (let’s all say thank you to the real MVP, the rat), CASSIE IS ALIVE, I’M SO HAPPY, and as we all knew, Scott proposes that they use the Quantum Tunnel to travel back in time and fix this mess. Scott is just lovely, I adore him with all my being. I also love that we get to see how the others are faring: Steve picked up the support group, to give other people hope even if he doesn’t feel it himself, and Natasha is keeping herself busy as we all knew she would. Not only that, she is the one essentially leading the ones that are away, and she is the one they all report back to. That’s how pivotal Natasha is, and I’m glad they showed that.

And Okoye calling Natasha Nat? Carol nodding to Rhodey and telling him to be careful. It speaks of a story there. Of a time when they bonded, we just didn’t get to see. I like that.

Now, Scott proposes Time Travel and they all jump at the idea of fixing this. They are Avengers, it’s what they do. They grab Bruce, now Professor Hulk, which is just pure fanservice but I like it, because it gave Bruce that edge of confidence that comes with accepting the Hulk, that I’ve been waiting for forever, they grab Thor – and oh, this is an entire post all by itself, Thor’s character, I am not happy with it –, they grab Clint, again, a little jarring to see him going on a murder spree but stranger things have happened, and they start to assemble.

And then there’s Tony. Tony rejects the idea first, but it’s so in character that he keeps working on it even after he has said no. This is what he always does – and if Pepper hadn’t understood that in those five years, this is the moment where they would fight about it. But they don’t. Because Pepper now understands, and she knows Tony won’t be able to rest without trying to make this right. Reaffirmation of character development. Good writing. As far I’m concerned, this is amazing. So Tony fixes it, he figures out time travel, and he goes back to fulfill his mission.

Time travel. A headache, to say the least.

I’ll admit: I’m having a really hard time fully enjoying some things because the time travel element is driving me insane. I can’t help it, because as much as I was excited by the idea of seeing my favorite characters together one last time, I was so eager to see how Marvel would handle a subject so delicate as time travel, especially when I have a plot of my own and was itching to see what kind of comparisons I could make. But, OH, BOY. MARVEL AND I COULD NOT BE FURTHER AWAY FROM EACH OTHER IN THAT ASPECT.

Let’s discuss time travel.

Jokes about time travel movies aside, Endgame does make a very good point right up front: time works differently in different stories, and you need to know what kind of time travel you’re dealing with to work around it without making a mess. So, the first thing I did was try to identify what kind of time rules Endgame was following. Bruce says they can’t change the past because the past has already happened, but this is only half the information. Because if we only consider that, we don’t know what happens when they do go back and change something. If it won’t affect the present, then what will it affect?

Now, let’s see the scene where Bruce meets the Ancient One, when things get a little weird with the time travel rules. The Ancient One starts by confirming that Bruce’s past, the original MCU timeline, won’t change, but then, she says some additional information:

Every time they do something in the past that alters an event, they create a branching timeline.

This is the information we needed. These are the rules. This is what you have to know: the timeline you know, the MCU you’ve watched, doesn’t change. Other timelines will separate from it and develop on their own. If it’s hard for you to visualize, think of it as a road. The main road is the MCU, the journey we and the Avengers are traveling in. When Bruce goes back to 2012, for instance, what he does is that he carves out a separate street, from which now a new road will develop. The main road is still there. But this new road is now full of unknown possibilities, and it will certainly not develop the same.

That’s okay, if you look simply at our timeline. It doesn’t affect us, who cares what’s gonna happen in those other timelines. That wouldn’t be a problem, if they hadn’t given Steve the ending they gave. But that’s for later.

With that in mind, Bruce proposes something: they’ll take the stones, they’ll use them, and then they’ll go back and put them in the appropriate places, thus preventing branching timelines. You see: in theory, is not impossible! Their plan starts off really, really well! If they have a way of going back, taking what they need, use it, and then put it back, that’s a great plan! Thing is, tiny little detail they forgot to include: You need to put that thing back before someone notices its missing. If not, it’s too late. The alternate timeline is already created.

If you don’t know how that works, let me give you an example: Let’s suppose you are cooking something, and in a moment, you’ll need a spoon. You only have one. You’re gonna need that spoon, or else you won’t be able to finish your meal. Now imagine someone sneaks in behind you and takes that spoon. If they put it back before you notice it, before you need it, you won’t even know it was gone. You’ll finish your meal and you’ll be on time for whatever you have planned next. Your day goes on uninterrupted. But if you turn around and the spoon isn’t there, and you needed it to be there, your task is interrupted. The plan you are supposed to complete doesn’t get completed. And that changes the following events.

So you need to put it back where it belongs before someone notices its gone. If no one notices, it might as well never have happened. See what I mean?

And now, we’re gonna make an alternate timeline count. The most obvious one to me is the Power Stone timeline: Rhodey and Nebula steal it the moment Quill steals it in Morag. In the MCU timeline, as soon as Quill gets the Orb, he gets attacked, and that kickstarts a long chain of events that will eventually lead him to the Guardians. But if Quill has no Orb when he wakes up, he has nothing to trade. If Quill doesn’t have the Orb, Gamora won’t go after him. And the first Guardians movie never happens. Alternate timelines: 1.

The Aether. Rocket steals it from Jane Foster right before Malekith invades Asgard – if Malekith sees Jane, which he does, when he kills Frigga, he will know Jane no longer has the Aether within her. Which means they have until that moment to return the Aether, or else we have alternate timeline number 2.

The mess that was 2012. The Time Stone is fine, because it won’t be used until 2017/18. The Tesseract and the Scepter, however, have their own stories. The Tesseract has to return to Asgard, so it can also go back into play in 2018, when Ragnarok happens, immediately followed by IW. Problem is, Loki runs away with it. That’s immediately alternate timeline number 3. The Scepter is stolen by HYDRA and it will be shipped to Baron von Strucker, as we know from AoU, and will be used to transform Wanda and Pietro. If there’s no scepter, there’s no Wanda and Pietro. The entirety of AoU doesn’t happen. Alternate timeline 4.

The soul stone is weird. It was confirmed in an interview, but it’s hinted in IW: Red Skull is trapped in Vormir guarding the stone, and no one has ever took it. Because if the stone is not there, there’s nothing for him to guard, then he goes free. If they go to Vormir in 2014 and take the stone, Red Skull is free. Does he go back when they put it back? Like a genie to a lamp or something? How do they put it back? They just… throw it down the cliff?

Anyway. Weird.

They try to by-pass this problem saying they can go back to the exact split second they took the stones from and give them back, and there will be no problem. Thing is, if the Ancient One is to be believed, time flows continuously. The past will not freeze while it waits for them to return. If you recall as Bruce says by the ending, “it’ll be as much as he needs back there, for us, it’ll be just five seconds”. The time of the travel can be manipulated from the jumping point, the present, not the past. The Ancient One’s reality, the past, will continue to flow, because past, present and future flow all the time, forever, and again, if the stones are missed by any important event, it’s too late. Branching timeline.

Which means they can’t restore the timelines created by Loki escaping or Nebula being stuck in 2014, at least.

Anyway, time travel! They suit up, they get ready, they go back. First off: the one which closes the fastest, Clint and Natasha in Vormir.

We all knew this was gonna happen. We knew someone would die for this stone. I think it’s fair they ended up pushing Clint and Natasha for this position, because they are the most identifiable pair of the og6 besides Tony and Steve, but at the same time, I am enraged by what it causes. Very in character, having them argue about it, and then try to take the chance by force and kill themselves so the other won’t have to. No complaints about that. And to be honest, I understand what this is supposed to mean. Natasha spends most of the MCU trying to prove herself heartless and unyielding, when he have more than enough proof that that’s not true, and her sacrificing herself not only for the entire universe, but in favor to save the life of the man who once chose to spare her and give her a chance is, to be truthful, very poetic. But not all poetry, even if pretty, is satisfying.

My problem is what happens after. Natasha dies, and besides one conversation, no one does anything. She has no funeral. No picture. Not a ceremony to honor her. I’m not saying she would have wanted that, because she wouldn’t, but recognition is important. To have this moment and what? The final fight scene where the ladies gather, to somehow honor her? Nice thought, but still not enough. Natasha has been here since IM2, she deserved to have her ending acknowledged. A nod at her at the final fight scene is a nice touch, not a celebration. Natasha was a part of the original team, and not to shit on anyone who likes Clint, but she has done more for the Avengers than Clint has. From him, she deserved more. She deserved more from all of them. It would have been far more powerful to have her on the field for the final battle than this sob moment in Vormir, away from everything, away from her family.

The meaning of this scene is not lost to me, but it feels cheap. The Russo brothers have implied that we might get a funeral scene or something similar in the future, in a Black Widow movie, but that is just an excuse. There’s only so many times you can leave something open-ended and then come back later to patch it up and pass it off as a missing scene or foreshadowing. MCU has already used this trick so many times it’s exhausting. The final movie with the original team is not the time to do this.

Rhodey and Nebula. First off, may I point out how much I love James Rhodes? Okay. It’s all going just fine up until the point where Nebula’s device somehow stops working. Interference? I don’t remember exactly. What I do remember is that Ebony Maw is somehow capable of accessing 2023!Nebula’s memories as 2014!Nebula, which shouldn’t be possible, because the timeline at this point has already diverged, and 2023!Nebula is no longer 2014!Nebula’s future, but we’ll follow as it goes. Now Thanos is aware that they have visitors and captures 2023!Nebula.

This troubles me for two reasons: Nebula and Gamora. If 2014!Nebula is capable of seeing 2023!Nebula’s memories, why is Gamora so much quicker to accept the possibility of escape than Nebula? In GotG 2, Nebula expresses that her rage towards Gamora is not because she was better, but because Nebula wanted a sister – 2023!Nebula’s memories has undeniable proof that by leaving Thanos, that’s what they can become. The 2014!Nebula seems too eager to please Thanos, aching for his approval, which makes it seem like her motivation is completely different. It pushes 2014!Nebula and Gamora apart, which is very convenient, because in the end, 2014!Nebula dies, and the duo we are left with is 2023!Nebula and Gamora. Sure, it reinforces the bond between them, which will help later when 2014!Gamora replaces the Gamora that died in 2018, but that’s also not good. It feels like a recycled TWS: in GotG 3, the Guardians will be chasing down and missing a person who has no idea who they are. It doesn’t make me angry, per say, but I do find it just… okay. A little boring. Kinda wanted more from this.

Thor and Rocket in Asgard. Now, this scene I do like, because the moment Thor shares with Frigga is very, very nice. It’s the only point where Thor acknowledges how much his trauma is affecting him emotionally, and he does it in a way that he shows it’s painful to talk about it, and it’s so powerful to see a character like Thor express this out loud on screen. It’s nice. I have a lot of issues with how his change in appearance was handled as a joke and not as a serious consequence of him not handling his PTSD well, but this is perhaps the only scene where they handle it in a way I appreciated. Not even the final fight did this for me. Thor’s happiness when he realizes his behavior in the last five years has not made him any less worthy of Mjolnir is exactly what I wanted, and I’m glad we got it. I just wish they had managed to sneak in any recognition of Loki still being alive in that timeline, and how much that should have affected Thor. They should have talked about it. Loki’s death in IW is a very important thing for Thor, and ignoring it is out of character for him.

Now, I need someone to tell me how Jane reacted when Rocket just got into that room and poked her with a needle and sucked a whole ass Infinity Stone out of her. And then later, Steve will put it back. Damn, Jane Foster was not having a good day, was she?

2012, New York! Time, Mind, and Space Stones. Time is just fine, fairly easy compared to the others, and I do want to say I was very glad to see the Ancient One because I love her. And I’m also a little glad we get to see Bruce outside of the Professor Hulk form – I love him, but damn, I love Mark Ruffalo too.

Space and Mind are a little more complicated. I love that they recreated the elevator scene from TWS because it’s one of my favorites from the entire franchise, and Steve whispering hail hydra to deceive Rumlow is peak snarky-bastard Steve Rogers, which we hadn’t gotten any of since AoU. That, and the scene where Steve fights against his 2012 self is great character development! Remember when I said that the confrontation between Tony and Steve was what was missing? This is Steve reaping the results in real time. After five years and a good serving of some harsh truths to his face, Steve has now developed a sense of his own character that was lacking in the previous movies. He’s no longer a paper cutout of a character, that moves along pulled by two or three strings of the same line of thought. It’s him using his own past experiences against himself, it’s him proving that he now knows better, and he is amused by this younger version of him, who still doesn’t know how ridiculous he sounds, how much this idea he has is silly and soon enough he’ll be tired of hearing, even from himself. This is the Steve Rogers I wanted! This is what we needed. Real change. Change that even Steve himself recognizes!

It had been going so well. Oh, Steve.

On the other hand, Tony and Scott are getting the Space Stone. Tony tells Scott to give 2012!Tony a heart attack, the man is so damned dramatic, so they can get it. It backfires and Loki runs away with it. That is it’s own problem in itself, but we never see it, because alternate timelines. Now we are one stone short and no way of getting it back from 2012. So they go back even further: 1970.

And then we get Howard Stark and Peggy Carter.

A fucking can of worms, this scene.

Let me be nitpicky for a second. If I recall correctly, Peggy meets Daniel Sousa in somewhere around the late forties, since Agent Carter starts in 1946, which means that in 1970, twenty years later, she probably is already married and has children with him. The woman Steve sees through a blinder is a married woman. She has moved on. If this is the timeline Steve decides to go back to, we have a big, big problem in our hands. We can only hope we went back further, although it’s never shown, so we just have to assume! I hope he did. The alternative would be bad. But again, I’ll talk about Steve a little later. Let’s discuss Howard first.

Now. I, like many others, think Howard Stark can go fuck himself. Though it’s never said that Howard is physically abusive in the MCU like he was in the comics, it is said, by Tony himself, that Howard never told Tony he loved him. Not even that he liked him. Howard is, then, neglectful and very possibly verbally abusive. Which means that in the end, he’s still an asshole. I am not blind to what this scene represents from Tony’s perspective: Tony has always held Howard in extremely high regard, even after he passed. In IM2, when Tony discovers the new element, he attributes his discovery to Howard by saying “He’s still taking me to school”, showing how much Tony still thinks Howard can influence his life in a good way. We don’t agree with him, but this is how Tony sees his father, sometimes. His relationship with Howard is, at the very best, strained – Tony clearly thinks highly of him, but was bitter, and they were never close, by any stretch.

And then we have Tony meeting him. First of all, I can’t believe that when Tony is in his house at the beginning of this movie, when he looks at the picture of Peter, that he has a picture of Howard right next to it. Not of Maria and Howard, just Howard. How does that make any sense? Tony’s visceral reaction to learning Maria had been assassinated in CW, and now we’re not even acknowledging her, in favor of giving Howard an attempt of redemption? And fine, Tony doesn’t hold Howard accountable for any of the strain of their relationship, which is unfair, but not out of character for Tony, and I could almost let that slide – until Tony hugs Howard, and completely ignores Jarvis.

That, I will not accept.

Tony might be more affectionate now that he is also a father, and he might be more lenient with Howard’s mistakes now that he has experimented for himself the struggles of fatherhood, but this is no excuse. If Tony knows anything, is that is father was a part of a cycle of shame that constantly caused problems in the Stark family, and here Tony is, working every day to break that cycle. Tony is fully aware that Howard neglected him. And Tony has an AI named after his childhood caretaker, Jarvis. Between the two of them, Tony choosing to give Howard, the man he never fully connected with, a hug, and not even spare a nod or a glance to the one person who will inspire the AI that Tony genuinely mourns when gone, is Howard the one they chose? Marvel, we need to talk!

They get the Tesseract, possibly creating a fifth timeline, we don’t know for sure because 1970 is not a time we’ve explored in the MCU, and done! All stones collected. They bring them back, minus Natasha and with 2014!Nebula disguised as 2023!Nebula, and they make a Gauntlet. It’s hysterical to me that Tony just built a Gauntlet strong enough to hold the stones in his basement when Thanos destroyed the entire race of Dwarfs for his’, but let’s keep going. They make a Gauntlet, that changes sizes, may I point out, and Bruce uses it.

Snap, and everyone is back.

I love the tension is this scene. As we know 2014!Nebula is bringing Thanos as they do so, the fact that we don’t even get to see the people that returned before another attack strikes again is great. We don’t get any time to breathe. 2014!Thanos arrives with the entirety of his army, how, for starters, and decides that since he’s here, he’ll fucking snap this timeline too, because they’re annoying him and he wants to. His speech doesn’t really sticks to my brain because Thanos’ motivation shifts from: preventing the universe to fall for the same fate Titan fell, to I’ll kill you all because I feel like it, and it doesn’t… do anything for me. But as a villain, it’s solid logic, and it’s fine by me. So he goes, and demands the Gauntlet.

Anyone, please tell me why didn’t they shrink the goddamned thing so Thanos couldn’t fit his hand in there. It changes sizes. It’s the Ant Man thing all over again, it’s a simple solution, why won’t anyone go with the simple solution.

I don’t have much to say about the initial struggle there. The Compound is breaking, everyone is chasing the Gauntlet. Standard stuff. Nebula kills her past self, which has all sorts of metaphorical meanings that I appreciate, and while we are all fighting to follow what’ going on, Thanos sits there and waits, and it’s time.

Thor, Steve, and Tony decide to fight him right there, where he stands. Three against one.

And this is where I get confused again.

May I remind you, this Thanos has no Infinity Stones on him. Thanos takes the Power Stone from Xandar first in IW, in 2018, whereas this Thanos is from 2014. He doesn’t even have a Gauntlet yet. In IW, Tony faces against Thanos in Titan when Thanos already has four stones, and he draws blood. Not at no cost, for sure, but still – it happens. Tony’s nanotech armor stands a direct attack from the Power Stone, canonically. If that is not enough for you, Thor attacks Thanos in his final stretch of the fight in IW, when Thanos already has the Gauntlet complete, against a direct attack from it, and Stormbreaker cuts straight through it and hits Thanos in the chest so hard it’s enough to wound.

Both Thor and Tony have proven that is possible to face Thanos one-on-one.

Why the three of them together, against a less powerful Thanos, can’t?

I’m not saying I don’t understand why it happens like that. For dramatic effect, it’s better if they seem like they’re losing at first. Thor is not in the same physical state, although I’d argue that’s no excuse, since he still is and always will be the God of Thunder and being fat doesn’t change that, and Tony is older and no longer using a nano suit, although I doubt Tony would trade a suit for a lesser version at any time of the day – but these are all excuses. I can appreciate the dramatic tension of it and still be bothered by the fact they overpowered Thanos just because they could. This far down this post you already know how much I care for consistency. 2014!Thanos being more powerful than 2018!Thanos not only makes no sense, it takes away from the threat 2018!Thanos presented in IW. It undervalues the power of the Infinity Stones, in a movie about colleting Infinity Stones.

Dear God, is CA:CW all over again. There, I said it.

Anyway. Steve lifts Mjolnir.

This, at least, I can say they handled right, because as I said – if Steve’s character had been the same as it was in IW and in every other movie before, without his development in the first half of the movie, I would have hated this moment. No matter how cool it was. I don’t fully embrace it either, mind you, but not because of Steve – because of Thor, who considers this hammer an extension of himself, a tangible proof of his worth, and to have someone else lift it in a movie where Thor has been made a laughing stock for the audience for almost the entire film doesn’t sit right with me, how nonchalant he is about trading weapons with Steve in the middle of the fight, choosing to fight with Stormbreaker instead of Mjolnir; But those are my personal feelings on it, not an analysis. But yes, Steve lifts Mjolnir, and I’m thankful it happened the way it did, because the other possibilities for it were less than pleasant.

Then we get the so waited moment.

On your left.

I’ll admit, the scene with the portals opening and they all assembling? Visually stunning. So, so powerful! It is an amazing scene, and I can’t say I didn’t smile like a fool because there are so many good moments in this fight scene. This final part, more than any other, is a gift to fans, because it finally brings together iconic characters we were all dying to see again. And I don’t care who you are or what your opinion is of this movie, if you think the reunion of Tony and Peter was anything other than incredibly emotional and Tony proving that he considers Peter a son, you are wrong. I take no criticism.

Although, if anyone has an explanation to how the hell Valkyrie got that Pegasus, I would love to hear it. Just for shits and giggles.

But it had to come to an end. We knew that. We all knew. Tony raises his eyes and sees Strange lifting one finger, trembling – one chance. One. I’m gonna say it right now: I don’t think its at all unexpected that it happened the way it did. When Tony steals the Stones and makes a Gauntlet for himself, it’s exactly what I expected from him. But that doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly emotional still.

Tony is on his knees, and yet, he is the most powerful being on the universe. The power coursing through him will rip him apart, and he knows it, he accepts it, and he declares that he is Iron Man, because that is where is started, and that is where he will end. Tony always knew. He embraces it, his destiny, and the snaps his fingers knowing he won’t survive and he’s okay with that. It’s not only in character, it’s a sacrifice bigger than any other we’ve ever seen, and it’s only right that Tony do it, because he is the founder, the point where it all started, and this proves that he was the strongest avenger.

Now. Full circle doesn’t mean closure.

Marvel has a terrible habit of killing off characters when they are right at the cusp of reaching their final relief. Tony has gotten things in this movie I never expected him to get, considering how frequently Marvel used him as a piñata just because they needed someone to be guilty of something. In Endgame, Tony gets not only reunited, but an actual connection with Steve and the others, he gets the girl, he gets a family. Tony has struggled for a decade to achieve any sort of happiness, and when he finally does, they rip it from his arms. Yes, what he does is heroic, and no one can argue that is not powerful and extremely important – but imagine what kind of message it would have created if he had survived.

He would have snapped his fingers with the full intent of sacrificing himself. To die a hero.

But the universe finally acknowledges his efforts, his strength, his passion – and lets him live.

Tell me this isn’t powerful. Tell me this isn’t what he deserved.

I am not enraged by his ending – I’m left feeling hollow. I am proud, but I’m unsatisfied. Not just because he is my favorite Avenger, my favorite character of all times, and I will miss him terribly every day; But because had he lived, his final message would not have been sacrifice, it would have been hope. Reward. An honorable death is good, but sometimes, it doesn’t close a chapter. It leaves it unfinished.

Tony was loved, and he always will be. But at what cost?

His funeral was quiet, which I think it’s fitting. The experience of watching it on theatre was incredibly real because of it. Everyone in that room, including myself, was mourning. I’m glad they had the foresight of making it so. The silent messages in this scene: the original reactor, Steve and Peter to the front, close to Tony’s family, Harley being present, Bucky being present, Nick Fury being present. It’s a scene that is nearly silent and yet is speaks volumes. No matter if I don’t fully accept Tony’s ending, this scene is absolutely beautiful, and I really like it.

And for our final considerations, Steve Rogers.

Steve volunteers to take the Stones back, because while Thor decides to go on a journey with the Guardians, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of him in the future, Steve is the only one who can now return Mjolnir to its proper time.

Steve goes up to that machine with the full intention of not coming back.

For the Stucky shippers out there, this moment caused a lot of rage because it seems like Steve didn’t even say goodbye to Bucky – and to all the others. And I get it. But I also get that Steve would have never told anyone, because this is Steve making a decision he now has full awareness is not the right one, in a manner of speaking, but he’s taking it anyway. It’s different from TWS or CACW: in those movies, Steve had been acting on his morals with no consideration that he might be wrong. Now Steve has changed. He knows what he’ll do is not only bad news in time travel terms, but it’s also a dead giveaway to his own emotional state, and that might alert people that would try to stop him. So he doesn’t tell them. He believes he has done what he could for this timeline, that he has paid his dues, honored as much promises as he could, and now, he’ll do something for himself.

Many people called him selfish for it. Others said he was only doing something his heart desired, and he earned it, and that’s not selfish.

I don’t think it’s either. I think backtracking.

Steve’s ending is… a rough topic for me. I don’t like it, bluntly put. Not because I have anything against Peggy or StevePeggy as a ship – but it doesn’t make sense to me both for Steve’s character and for the time travel rules.

Get ready, you’re about to hear me talk for a while.

For his character: Let’s consider the timeline of Steve’s romantic venues. Steve and Peggy meet in the 40s, when they share ONE kiss and nothing else, so they didn’t actually have a romantic relationship per say. Not that takes away any merit from the force of Steve’s feelings for her – if he says he loves her, then he loves her. If he says he thinks she was the love of her life, then that’s what I’ll consider when I analyze him. So as far as I’m concerned, until CA:TWS, Steve is going about his life fully aware that he has lost his chance with this woman, and eventually, he’ll be able to get over her.

Now. Let’s talk about the scene at the nursing home and Sharon Carter.

I have never shipped Sharon and Steve, but I don’t shit on anyone who does because they aren’t doing nothing wrong, as far as I’m concerned. Two years pass between A1 and TWS, time enough that Steve can experience things in the future as a separate life from his life in the 40s, and that could help him overcome his guilt. AND AT FIRST, IT SEEMS LIKE HE DOES! He congratulates Peggy on her family and despite being sad, he is happy that she was happy, and that is a big step towards getting over someone. Now, this alone would not convince me, because people lie, and Steve is the kind of guy who would suffer in silence, so this interaction, for me is not enough.

Then, let’s consider Sharon. Sharon is living as Kate for who knows how long, but I assume it’s long enough that Steve feels comfortable enough flirting with her. At this point, Steve has no idea she is Peggy’s niece, so even those who use this argument can’t say he’s acting wrong. The essence of this is that Steve is trying to move on, he is flirting, he is searching for a new love in this future.

Cue Peggy’s funeral. This is where it gets weird for me. Actually, it gets weird before, when Steve learns Sharon was deceiving him and that somehow doesn’t make him wary of her, when the entirety of TWS is Steve being at the peak of his mistrustful arc – but the funeral pushes Steve into a very uncomfortable position. He is saying goodbye to the woman he loved, and the next relationship he will have on screen is with her now-revealed niece.

There’s two ways to go about this: Either Steve isn’t over Peggy and hooked up with her niece, and that is so very weird, or either Steve is over Peggy and is hooking up with Sharon with no hanging feelings for her aunt, which allows us to comfortably believe that Steve is looking at Sharon completely separate from Peggy.

Now I ask you: knowing Steve went back to be with Peggy, how well did TWS age, in face of Endgame? Not a lot, don’t you think?

Let’s also consider Peggy. As I said, I’m working with the assumption Steve went even backwards and caught Peggy somewhere in the late 1940s, or else, he has just caused a divorce. It creates another timeline, which means that, at the very least, it won’t change the MCU as we know it. The Agent Carter series already happened, and it continues to be canon. Every movie since IM1 continues to be canon. Steve simply ceases to live in our timeline, to live in a reality he created for himself.

Now, let’s consider Bucky. By 1946, Bucky is already in HYDRA’s clutches. Bucky’s history directly affects Tony’s, which in turn, affects the entire MCU. If Steve messes with it, this timeline will change until it becomes something unrecognizable from the timeline we know. As from what I know of Steve, he will. “If I see a situation going south, I can’t ignore it”? Steve will try to find Bucky. He’ll probably find him. When he does, he’ll find HYDRA. There’s also another Steve, sitting at the bottom of the ocean, waiting to be found. Will Steve tip off his location? Will Steve send the other Steve in his stead and watch? I doubt it.

Steve creates an entire timeline to himself, and although it’s very cute we get to see him finally get the dance he wanted, what will he do after?

He will go back to the fight.

This is not moving on. It’s backtracking. They took all the progress they made with his character and threw it in the trash, because they pushed him into the same position he was before, when this all started.

Steve was not selfish, nor he was right. He’s going in circles. They had the chance to make him stay in the future, to give him something to look forward to, to push him forward in those final inches towards the finish line and again, give him closure. But they didn’t.

It’s not even out of character. This is something Steve would have done in 2014, in 2016, in 2018. Problem is, this was the only chance he had to learn that he could do something different. And then they didn’t give it to him.

Full circle doesn’t always mean closure. Remember that.

And just so we’re clear, ignoring everything that goes wrong with the timeline before Steve goes to the past, let me explain why Steve’s ending also doesn’t make sense plot-wise: According to what happens in 2012, when Loki grabs the Tesseract and immediately forms an alternate timeline, they are still able to come back to their own future because the starting point of the travel is placed there. The machine works not only as a time-traveling device, but also an anchor, that allows them to go back to their original timeline without getting stuck in the alternates. Nebula’s mishap in 2014 also confirms that, when she loses the signal of the starting point and suddenly cannot leave.

Meaning: Steve left through that machine to an alternate reality. The only way he could have gone back is through the same machine. If he doesn’t, if he just… shows up by that bench as if he’d been waiting for them to notice him, it’s one of two things: either he passes through the portal earlier and like a dramatic asshole, he sits and waits, but considering the Compound gets destroyed when Thanos attacks, he must’ve gotten then earlier. Which means the fight happened while he waited. And doesn’t that make you feel just great?

OR, which is the worst of the two: he didn’t alter anything. Somehow, his going back didn’t alter enough events to make the timeline diverge enough that they would lead to different fates. Which implies that he lets Bucky become the Winter Soldier and kill Tony’s parents. He allows SHIELD to be infiltrated by HYDRA. He allows everything. And it’s horrible I can’t even accept as a possibility.

I know it may not seem like it, but I enjoyed this movie, in my own way. Don’t take this as me being bitter or furious – this is just how my brain works. I analyze things. Looking at this movie as an independent experience, it’s very fun and very emotional, and it certainly hits all the nostalgia points a long-time MCU fan could want. I’m happy about that. I will treasure the parts I liked with all my strength, because this was the end of an era, an era I’m glad I got the chance to be a part of. I don’t want to erase it from my mind. It belongs in our timeline now, and as we all know, part of the journey is the end.

But as someone who has dedicated a long time to this story, to this entire universe, I look at the big picture. And some pieces simply don’t fit. I will not stop questioning them just for the sake of nostalgia or conformism, because the experience created by a universe as large as this lasts a lifetime. Fandoms live on. We live on. And isn’t that the entire purpose of the thing? Of what we do, as content creators for a fandom? We keep it alive, we cherish the good stuff, we fix what’s broken?

It’s what I like to do. If nothing else, Endgame will keep me alive. Will keep us alive.

What you take from it it’s up to you.

THAT WAS SO FREAKISHLY LONG, OH MY GOD. To the anon who asked for this, I am so sorry, this is way more than what you bargained for, but there you have it. My thoughts on it. And hey, if you have something to say about it, if you were crazy enough to get this far, let me know. I’m open to talk about it. However you feel about Endgame, I hope you took something from it like I did, and hopefully, I could give you some food for thought.

Congratulations if you made it this far into my long ass rant. Maybe I’ll see you in another one :p

#endgame spoilers #avengers endgame spoilers #machi writes

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scrapyardboyfriends · 5 years

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Jenny’s Belated Live Blogging - 11th April 2019

- I love Maxine episodes so much. No one is surprised by that at this point but they always work so well and have such nice flow and fit in a lot of the things that I like. When does she get to write every episode?!

- even from the start just getting Eric and David standing outside the B&B while all the ornathologists were running around. That was fun and felt like the old days with random ridiculous things going on in the village. And I loved Bob and Dan running around in their camo trying to take a picture of the bird and getting the wrong one and all the other villagers just being amused. That’s a plot that we would not have gotten this time last year and I’m really happy that kind of stuff is making a comeback because it’s just good lighthearted fun and it’s something that works great with those characters too.

- the Kim/vets stuff was great too. I am so thrilled to see a return to the work related stories. I feel like part of the reason there were so many dumb cheating plots and so many heavy stories in the past couple years, is because a lot of the work drama just got cut out and they had to fill time in other ways. But aside from just the general, I just really like this vets story now that Kim is involved and that’s not something I thought would happen. But her and Rhona together is so good. It brings her down to earth even if she is still scheming. And there’s minimal Graham, which is excellent. I also love that they’re going to continue to build on this relationship by having her get Rhona to help with Jamie, which is a great idea. I’m so happy they’ve managed to turn Kim around now that the Joe Plot is...over?!?

- And Paddy and Vanessa who we can sometimes get annoyed with when they’re in their respective relationships, work so well together in this type of story. I’m so happy Vanessa was finally allowed to go back to work so we could have this content again. That suspension was the worst decision ever. I even loved them both not wanting to tell Chas and Charity about the deal. This kind of content is what will make those relationships work better too because they have each other to bounce this kind of stuff off of. A couple months ago, Paddy and Vanessa sharing a scene was so weird because it had been so long and now it finally feels like it’s supposed to and I’m so glad.

- the Vic/Ellis, Tracy/Billy stuff was also a lot of fun today. I love that Tracy and Billy figured out what Vic was up to straight away and then locked them in but also spent the whole day together anyway so maybe they’ll work on things between them too. Things were thawing anyway. She got a drink with him. And Vic and Ellis singing Cher and drinking champagne together was perfect. They got together so weirdly and we didn’t even realize they’d become anything more so I’m sort of glad they broke up and now we get to see a little of them getting back on the same page. Those early stages are really important for me to enjoy a couple so I’m glad we’re getting that. I just fear for the Big Night Out stuff but for now it’s all lovely and sweet.

- I thought the Liv/Jacob/Maya stuff tonight was great. I’m soooo glad that Jacob said no and broke up with her just so she didn’t have to have sex with him and do something she didn’t want to do even if I was still heartbroken for her.

- I’m so happy Gabby was back with her this week too. I love their friendship and it was so nice seeing her be so supportive with Liv. That hug she gave her was so important too. I adore them when they’re getting along.

- with regards to the ace stuff. I do think it’s kind of time for her to use the word. They really did miss their opportunity when she said she was doing internet research. It’s a bit frustrating because, we all get it and it’s very clear that they did their research because she is saying all the right things. Like the part about ‘sometimes people like me just do it anyway for their partners’ or some variation of that. I just wish they’d stop having her talk around it even if everything she says does ring very true. I still hope she gets to say the word one day.

- that said, my heart broke when she said that she didn’t know how someone was ever going to want someone like her because I feel that so much. And again, I loved that Gabby was there to give her a hug. She needed that and the encouraging words and I’m glad she got them.

- I was also very happy to get to see both Robert and Aaron be there for her tonight. Thank you Maxine. I liked that, you know, we got typical Aaron wanting to kill Jacob and Liv having to talk him down. I loved Robert putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him in his chair. I of course adored the entire conversation with Robert on the bench. Definitely long overdue. I also can imagine them finding the condoms and deciding Robert may be the best one to go have that chat just because Aaron a) doesn’t always do well with that and b) he might get too worked up. In any case, I love Robert and Liv’s relationship and I’m so glad that Maxine loves it too so we get this kind of content. He was so sweet with her and understanding and calm but also so encouraging, telling her she’s brilliant as she is. Plus, I love the added bits of humor in there with the ‘boys are rubbish’ line and the ‘you’re telling me not to get revenge?’ line. Perfection.

- and I liked that that wasn’t it either. I loved that we got Aaron checking in with Robert after the chat and Robert telling him not to worry. I loved that Liv came downstairs and reiterated that nothing happened and that she was okay. They were such good family scenes, the kind we rarely get and the three of them do work well together when given the chance.

- and of course, the surrogacy stuff. There were definitely a few things that could have used more on screen discussion but I was relatively satisfied by what Maxine did manage to get in there within allotted screen time.

- I was happy Aaron questioned Robert’s sudden decision to give him a chance to explain. They were always going to have to do it in the UK for logistics purposes anyway, so I don’t mind his change of heart. I also liked that when he said he didn’t want to make Aaron wait, that Aaron challenged him on that too so he could explain. I don’t know that every writer would do that. I mean, I still wish they would address Aaron’s Seb related issues/motivation. It will forever drive me crazy if they never go back to it and I don’t think they will now but I guess I’ll have to get over it. I at least like that they addressed some of the Robert concerns.

- I also just liked seeing them so excited to be on the same page again and to feel positive after the meeting. Plus, Aaron’s cute little clothing crisis before hand was amazing and I loved Robert telling him he looked great. Also I liked that they managed to get both of their color codes in today. Red and blue earlier and then they changed into their blue and black. Well done.

- even though they’re talking about money still, I like that they’ve moved forward a bit in the process now. We’re no longer stuck completely at square one and that is very needed. Even if this surrogate doesn’t work out, at least they’re at a new stage now.

- I also loved having Liv involved and interested in what was going on and especially that she did it in that sarcastic way. They really felt like a family tonight and it made me very happy.

- with regards to the ‘swimmers’, haha, I do wish they’d had that conversation on screen but I’m glad that they at least said that they’d had a conversation and didn’t just announce that they were going to use Aaron sperm or something. And I know there’s a portion of the fandom that has a massive problem with all of this but like...I don’t think that the characters at least did it in a particularly offensive sort of way. Especially since Maxine consciously had Aaron correct himself and say ‘well it’ll be both of ours obviously’. Plus, I always love Aaron not being able to talk about that sort of thing and his ever popular awkward hand gestures. I love that that’s just his consistent thing. Haha

- and of course the sofa cuddling and giggling at the movie. I’ve waiting ages for them to lay on the sofa like that and I’m so glad it finally happened. Plus the dialogue, talking about their future kid. Again, I loved the family banter with Liv saying Seb was going to be an evil genius and Robert correcting her and saying ‘handsome genius’ was perfect. And of course the comment about Aaron’s eyes. We all use Robert loving Aaron’s eyes so much in fan fic so it was great to get that little moment. And Aaron craning his neck to look up at Robert was lovely. Good content. I am pleased.

- as for the blackmailing. It makes a lot of sense that it was Liv that caught them and that it’s her that’s blackmailing Maya. With anyone else, I feel like it wouldn’t make sense that they would tell but since Liv has been involved this whole time, Maya is able to use that and her alcohol problems to manipulate David to preemptively discredit her and then threaten her with. But I also really liked that Liv brought up Gordon. Yay relevant character history! It’s good that she can take that knowledge and apply it to this situation and see through Maya. But it’s also such a messy situation since Liv was with Jacob and there’s so many hurt feelings on top of everything else. It makes a tough situation even tougher so it all does still feel relatively believable. At least within the context of a soap. And as much as I wouldn’t want robron using pedophile blackmail money to fund their surrogacy, I sort of like that Liv even went there because well...she’s learned from the best living with her brothers. Haha. But yeah...it’s all a mess and I can’t wait for it all to come out so all these kids can start getting help.

- all in all, these were great episodes and again I shall profess my love for Maxine Alderton. She is perfect.

- I hope these thoughts met your expectations @memorieswarm haha

#belated live blogging #emmerdale #robron

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local-star-wars-kinda-nerd · 4 years

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Episode IX review.

In short, my primary reaction was facepalm.

I had a bad feeling about this episode since first teaser has been released. It made me feel... nothing, which was strange. When any teaser or trailer for previous films had been released, I got excited about these movies. Every one of them: from The Force Awakens to Solo. But not this time. And, unfortunately, I was right (at least for myself).

Detailed review is under cut, as well as spoilers are. You've been warned. I also want to warn you that I'm not professional critic, just a fan like a lot of other people.

IMHO, the whole trilogy should've been made by one director. No guarantee this would make these movies a lot better, but at least the story would've been whole. Why am I saying this? Because one of the biggest, if not the main, problems of TROS is it's trying to apologize before fans for mistakes made in episode VIII. Instead of trying to fix them, giving a good and understandable explanation for questions left after TLJ, they just said: "Forget about episode VIII ever existed". No jokes, I could've just watch TROS after TFA without watching TLJ and only questions I'd have are where is Snoke, why Kylo's mask is destroyed, where is Luke. And that's disappointing. I'm not saying episode VIII was perfect, it has done some things wrong, but also some things were good. And they should work on fixing bad and improving good. I realize that J.J.Abrams was given an impossible task: to finish Star Wars saga with the most unstable fan base. TROS was gonna be hated anyway, no matter what director has done with it.

Okay. What I liked about The Rise of Skywalker?

- More Poe and Finn interactions. I know it's not enough, but they made a really cool bromance.

- C-3PO. Just C-3PO.

- Luke training Leia the Jedi ways.

- The idea of redeemed Kylo Ren (or Ben Solo at this point). I only wish his redemption arc has been executed better.

- Hey, they haven't forgotten about Anakin's existence, the true Chosen One.

- Visual effects. As always, magnificent.

- Lightsaber duels also looked good.

- Luke admitting that he made mistakes and that he shouldn't been hiding on Ach-To.

- Hey, they showed that Rey had some kind of training.

- Finn turned out to be Force-sensitive. I thought it would be cool since TFA has been released.

- Music, because I love John Williams' work obviously. Though sometimes some tracks from other episodes in this movie seemed off.

Now, to things I disliked or even hated (forgive me, I'm a simple human being with the right to feel negative emotions towards things. I'm not gonna hate or blame other people for their disagreement with me):

- Too fast. TROS had some good scenes, but I couldn't feel their weight and importance because everything was going too fast.

- Maybe it's just me, but despite movie's best efforts it hasn't managed to convince me that the main trio is a team. Poe and Finn - yes, their friendship was obvious since TFA. Finn and Rey - also believable friendship (for me). But I never got feeling that all of them are good team, best friends. A New Hope managed to make the same thing way better.

- Kylo's mask. In TLJ destroying the mask was important point of his character arc. Snoke just humiliated him for being beaten by a just scavenger and pointed at that Kylo isn't Vader, only a child wearing a mask and pretending to be his famous grandfather. And at this moment Kylo decides to stop trying to be someone else (even someone he idolizes) and finally try to be himself. And then he repairs it in TROS. Why? There is no explanation in movie. My guess is on a huge amount of hate towards Adam Driver and his appearance.

- Remember Rose from TLJ? Well, either your answer is yes or no, forget about her. You barely will be able to notice her role in this movie. Yes, she did questionable thing. Yes, she was hated by half of fans. And that's why you will even forget that she was here.

- Palps is back! Remember how he returned from dead in EU? He's also not dead in our movie! So it vanishes importance of every episode made by Lucas, so what? Ya boy Palps is back! Aren't you glad? Okay, no jokes. When a lot of people hated TFA and TLJ, I thought: "Hey, at least these episodes haven’t made the biggest mistake EU's post-Endor made (and by this said "Anakin's sacrifice and Luke's path don't matter! Balance isn't restored, Sith are still there, the Empire isn't dead yet, have fun!") - they haven't brought Sidious back. Sequels still have a chance to be a not bad trilogy". And then the teaser happened. Honestly, his comeback feels like a YouTube theory on the big screen. That's what you expected from the finale of great Skywalker saga? Total unimportance of Skywalker's sacrifice. Alright, it would be only half of trouble. The real pain is Palpatine's comeback makes no sense. How he survived? Why waited so long? What he even wanted? What was his plan?

- If there is a thing I liked the most about The Last Jedi, it's Rey's parents being just scavengers, who sold their daughter for drinks. Again, since I watched TFA in theater, I was hoping the creators won't make Rey Skywalker, Kenobi, Palpatine, Bridger, or anyone else at this point. But no. She is Palpatine's granddaughter. And somehow this explains her abilities. I have no idea how. And it also feels like writers were looking for YouTube theories about Rey's bloodline and just picked the most popular one.

- Rey is Mary Sue. More than ever. I absolutely don't mind her a being powerful Force-user, but please, can anybody explain me how she manages to use tricks without training some Jedi couldn't use even with years of training and practicing? This explanation from TLJ novel sucks, honestly. In TFA she used mind trick. How? Okay, she did only once, maybe that's all. In TLJ she moves a hella lot rocks. How? Alright, not everything is too bad. But in TROS she is using Force lightning, healing, she holds a ship(!). And that's because... what? Palpatine's blood? No. No, and again no. Being daughter of someone powerful doesn't mean you can now do every-freaking-thing with the Force you want. And thing is, she face no consequences of such power. What do you say? She killed Chewbacca? Nope, he's alive, and we didn't even have time to believe in his death, and Rey has no time to realize the cost her uncontrolled power. Does she need help in defeating Palpatine? Well, voices of Jedi helped her to rise, but why it had to be her alone? If you present us Rey and Kylo being a diade (sorry for spelling, wasn’t watching in English), be so nice to use it.

- Redeemed Ben doesn't matter. He isn't remembered, no one's gonna be upset of his death, he won't show in the final scene as a member of Skywalker family (and why Anakin isn't there is big mystery too).

- I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Reylo. Yet another thing I didn’t want to be brought into movies since TFA. I don’t believe in their love. I can believe that Kylo cares for Rey after she shows some amount of compassion towards him, something he hasn't got in years. I can accept that Rey wants to help Kylo to return to light (honestly no idea why she does, but I can accept it), but not love to death. They just didn’t have enough time or interactions to make their feelings believable, if these feeling are even real. As someone who thinks that Arcann's romance is pretty fast, even it is way more believable (and his redemption arc is better, too).

In the end, question is, was the sequel trilogy needed? Maybe. The story could've been finished better. Was this trilogy needed? I'd say no. Nothing has really changed, we still don't know if Jedi Order is going to be reborn, or the new order will come to replace them, or what is going to be with all Force-sensitive at all. This episode was supposed to be the finale of whole Star Wars saga, but for a finale it leaves way too many questions about future. As finale of Skywalker story, there's not enough Skywalker's influence for victory over Palpatine. Especially Anakin's. He is the Chosen One (or at least was before TROS), and everything he did to finally bring Palpatine down in this movie is... said a few lines. No more than any other Jedi. It destroys all previous episodes for me. It hurts me to admit that for the first time I was shocked by how a Star Wars movie turned out. In bad meaning. Of all new movies The Last Jedi was my least favorite, and still I like it. The Force Awakens had great potential, even with everything Abrams did. Solo was such a satisfying story for me. Rogue One is personal favorite of new movies. But The Rise of Skywalker made me sad and disappointed. And that's considering I love a lot of Star Wars. For me, it wasn't worth it.

#star wars #episode ix #the rise of skywalker #tros #tros spoilers #slight swtor mention heh

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fanforthefics · 6 years

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Please can I have sid Geno as an actor/celebrity au?

1) Sid is the classic child star gone right story. He probably won his first Oscar at like 10, but he never had the mental break–he just kept working, and kept making hits. Some people say it’s because he’s that steady and grounded. Other people say it’s because he’s a robot–he’s a great actor but he’s known for being the least interesting interview you can have, because he’s been so very media trained, though everyone who meets him also says he’s also always very nice. He also, of course, has a reputation for being hard to work with as a co-star or a director–he doesn’t pretend he’s not a perfectionist. But he keeps making good movies, sometimes even great ones, and the awards keep coming and so do the box office returns, and if he’s not the most interesting actor in the world he’s definitely a reliable one.

Which is why everyone’s surprised, when he takes the role as the leader in the newest superhero ensemble movie.

2) That everyone includes Geno. No one is more surprised than Geno, when he’s cast as the lancer/foil/eventual second in command to Sid’s leader. He’s basically unknown in Hollywood at this point–he made some Russian movies that were well received, but nothing that’s particularly made it into the US. But when he hears Sidney Crosby–whose career he’s watched with excitement and delight and competitiveness from an ocean away–is going to be in this movie, he throws everything he has into the audition. He needs to act with Sidney Crosby. He’s going to get this role. These are the things that Geno knows. He’s ready for Sidney to be exacting and difficult and bratty and all the things that he’s heard about, because it’s all going to be worth it to be in one of his movies and make it to those sorts of audience.

What he’s not ready for is to meet Sidney at their first table read, and for Sidney to stick out his hand like he’s been doing for all the rest of the cast, from the lowest to the highest–and the crew too, Geno later hears–and shake his hand heartily. And, while Geno’s still working on remembering English in the face of meeting him and the realization that he’s even more attractive in person, fuck, Sidney grins sheepishly. “I’m really excited to do this with you,” he says, a little bashful. “I’m a big fan–I’ve been watching all your movies. I mean, I don’t understand a lot of them, but you’re good enough that I don’t need to.”

Geno swallows his tongue. Then he just swallows, as he tries to figure out what to say. He actually does know how to speak English, and he’s been brushing up for this role. He just wasn’t prepared to speak English in the face of Sidney Crosby telling him he’s a fan of Geno. “Thanks,” he says at last, enunciating carefully. Sidney waits patiently. “I’m big fan too. Watch all your movies, from when I kid.”

Sidney gives another humble little shrug. “Oh, well,” he says, like that’s supposed to mean something. Then he straightens. “Do you want to get together sometime to flesh out our roles’ relationship?” he asks–or well, demands. “I was doing some research into military bonds, but I’m not sure that’s all there is between our characters–I’m thinking about playing mine…”

That, Geno thinks, trying desperately to follow along, is more what he was expecting.

3) Sidney tells the press he took this film to widen his range, to keep from being typecast, to reach more people. What he doesn’t tell the press is he took it because he’s been bored. It’s getting rote. He never thought it would–he loves acting more than anything, he’s devoted his life to it–but recently it’s been getting stale. His agent suggested he take a break–he doesn’t have to work again, money-wise–but that doesn’t compute with Sid. Instead, he found a role that will hopefully make him remember why he loves to act. That will make it fun again.

And–it does. Sid’s incapable of not throwing himself into a role 500%, and he does it this time too–his character’s fascinating, a combination of loyalty and PTSD and expediency that he relates to more than he wants–but it’s… it’s also reading comics in his trailer, with whoever else on the cast is around that day. It’s being dragged out to drinks with the rest of the cast. It’s being on a green screen and seeing himself fly.

It’s Geno listening to him talk about his character motivations and run lines with him and push him in every scene they have together. It’s Geno hanging around his trailer–”You have nicest trailer, make most money, have to put up with us take advantage”–and making space in his life and laughing at him when he stops to sign autographs and teasing Sid for how uncomfortable he seems, even now. Sid’s trying not to think about how much of how good this role is is because of Geno. Shooting friendships–or more–linger on, in Sid’s experience, but they’re never quite as intense. Sid’s learned to take them as they are, for as long as they are.

4) “Were they supposed to have so much…subtext?” an AD asks, watching Sid and Geno shoot a scene.

“They are now,” the director tells him. “Zoom in on six.”

5) Geno’s not really lying to himself. He never stood a chance against Sid. He was primed for a crush, given his longstanding appreciation of his work, but how was he supposed to stand up to the reality of it? He’s had unrequited crushes before, it’s fine. Sid keeps his private life so intensely private that Geno doesn’t know who he’s into, or if he’s into anyone at all. It’s probably better that way anyway. Geno does want to go back to Russia, to have a career in both countries, and if he were to do anything with Sid–Sid’s a household name. There’s no way Geno could keep it quiet. Geno’s not even sure he’d want to.

6) Sid is lying to himself. Sid’s had a few very quiet, very discrete, very easy relationships, which generally fizzled because of Sid’s schedule or because they didn’t want to be quiet and discrete. People don’t get it, generally–Sid’s kept his sanity because he’s kept such a tight control over what he gives other people. He’s seen what happens, to the celebrities who give too much and end up having nothing left for themselves. Sid can’t do that. Sid won’t do that. Sid guards himself jealously, because no one else is going to. And Geno–Geno who loves so loudly, who gives of himself so freely to everyone who passes, who has yet to really deal with the shitshow of US stardom though Sid knows he will as soon as this movie hits screens–Geno’s not made for Sid’s sort of love. So Sid lies to himself, and says he doesn’t care.

7) “Do you wanna know my secret?” Sid asks. It’s late, and they’re both a little drunk–they’d been running lines until they got too tired and the booze was brought out, and because Geno’s got a shirtless scene tomorrow they’re drinking hard alcohol instead of beer. So now they’re passing Geno’s flask back and forth, Geno slumped back on the couch and Sid sprawled over it, his head on Geno’s lap. Sid, Geno’s learned, doesn’t really have a conception of normal physical boundaries, raised as he was on movie sets and fans. Geno is very much not complaining. it means he has an excuse to run his fingers over Sid’s hair, tug a little at the curls.

“Secret for what?” he asks, amused. Sid’s definitely drunker than he is.

“For–staying sane. You’ll need it too,” Sid warns, and he blinks up at Geno. “When everyone wants a part of you, you’ll need to learn.”

“You think I’m gonna be famous?” Geno teases, and Sid grins.

“I know it,” he says. Geno can’t help preening at that. Then, “I sort of wish you wouldn’t.”

Geno stops preening. “Why? Can’t handle competition?” he demands, louder maybe than he has to to hide the hurt.

“No.” Sid smiles, and it’s sad. “I like you how you are. I don’t want you to lose that.”

“I won’t.”

“You will,” Sid tells him, with a sigh of long experience. “That’s why you can’t let anyone else know. Let anyone else see you. If people see you, they’ll ask for more and more until you’re all gone.”

It sounds sad, to Geno. “Sounds lonely,” he points out. Looks down at Sid, flushed and warm and so very human on the couch, and thinks of the image he has behind a camera.

Sid shrugs. “Better than the alternative, though.” He looks at Geno, very long, very deep. “I don’t know how to stay sane any other way, you know?”

Geno knows. Or no, he doesn’t, but–he gets what Sid is telling him. Gets it, and understands, sort of, even if his heart is breaking. “I know,” he says, and lets himself run his fingers through Sid’s hair one more time.

8) “So what was it like playing against Evegeni Malkin?” the reporter asks at the premier. "Was it a big change for you?”

Sid smiles, his perfectly crafted media smile. “It was great,” he says. “Geno’s one of the best actors I’ve had the privilege to work with. You’ll see once you see the movie–he’s going to blow you all away.”

“So are you looking forward to the sequel?” Sid looks over to where Geno’s holding court, the reporters laughing and smiling around him. Geno looks up, like he could sense Sid, and he grins and winks, clearly having the time of his life.

“Yes,” Sid says. “I’m looking forward to a long and successful partnership.”

9) It takes four movies, eight years, and a hefty AO3 pairing for both them and their characters, before Geno corners Sid again. It’s at the premiere party for the movie that’s going to end both their contracts, so they just watched the final movie. It’s been eight years of a successful partnership, and Geno figuring out how to deal with his new fame and understanding more where Sid was coming from, and eight years of Sid for the first time really wanting someone he can’t let himself have, and realizing what he’s been giving up.

And now–now they’re in a Hollywood garden, and they just watched a movie which ended with a shot Sid didn’t even really remember, with him resting his hand on Geno’s as they talked about the future.

“How you like movie?” Geno asks. His English is perfect when he wants it to be, by now; with Sid he doesn’t care. “Last one.”

“Yeah. It was good.” Sid always has critiques, of his performance and everyone else’s, but he also knows now isn’t the time to air those. “The ending wasn’t what I expected.”

“What you expect?” Geno asks. He leans over, looming into Sid’s space.

“I…” Sid shrugs. “That was a romance ending. But it wasn’t a love story.”

Geno takes a step closer, and he’s looking down at Sid as intent as he’s ever looked. “Wasn’t it?”

“Geno–” Sid starts, but Geno cuts him off.

“We do it your way for years, Sid. Maybe you were right then.”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe,” Geno confirms. “But–it’s been long time.”

“And you’ve only gotten more famous. You get what I meant now.”

“Maybe.” Geno reaches out, takes Sid’s hand, and Sid lets him. “And I was right. it is lonely.”

“You never seemed lonely,” Sid bites back, then regrets it when Geno’s eyes glint.

“You looking?”

“That was never the question.” Sid meets Geno’s eyes, and this is a man who’s stood up to hordes of reporters and the most demanding of directors. “I can’t–I can’t be anyone who I’m not.” It’s the best way he can explain it. “And I don’t want you to be either.”

Geno rolls his eyes. “Is called compromise, Sid,” He tells him, and, like one of the romance heroes he’s occasionally played, brings Sid’s hand to his lips. “We superheroes, you not know? We can figure it out.”

And he grins at Sid, and it’s–Sid remembers what it feels like to fly. “Yeah,” Sid agrees, maybe not 100% convinced but getting there. “Maybe we can.”

#pens fic #my fic #this got away from me and the conflict did too #but celebrities! dealing with fame! superhero movies!#a lot of my interests tied up in onw #Anonymous #pens tumblr fic

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 6 years

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Venom review

You know, Venom really isn’t so bad.

Not that you’d know that. Critics everywhere are saying this movie is bad, with the more lenient reviews calling it “So bad it’s good.” It has been compared to The Happening, I’ve seen it compared to Catwoman, it has been called a disaster, it has been called a pile of shit… and frankly I’m still kind of unsure why after seeing it. I think the “so bad it’s good” argument has a bit more merit, but even then, I don’t actually think the film is bad enough for that. This isn’t Suicide Squad we’re talking about, my brain was on for this whole movie. It’s silly, a bit campy, kind of goofy… but I think Venom is a pretty solid movie.

Of course, right out the door Venom has an uphill battle: it’s a PG-13 version of the notoriously violent brain-eating anti-hero, so of course the lack of gruesome brain-eating is pretty disappointing. That being sad, Venom has been good in more family-friendly environments, like the PS1 Spidey game or the various cartoons, so it’s not an impossible sell. The bigger hurdle is overcoming the character’s connection to Spider-Man, but frankly I think people make a bigger deal out of that than is necessary. Venom is a cool character regardless of Spider-Man or not, and I think this movie does a solid job of establishing that. Venom doesn’t NEED Spider-Man, not necessarily. I certainly wasn’t crying over Spidey’s absence in this movie (though considering where Spidey is as of Infinity War… yeah, you know, probably a good reason why he can’t show up).

Anyway, here’s the story: Eddie Brock is a journalist, and one who kinda does what he believes is right, consequences be damned. Too bad he decided to go up against a corrupt billionaire and ended up destroying his own life and relationships in the process. Eddie gets a chance at redemption when one of said billionaire’s scientists gives him some secret details of what the guy is up to; Eddie sneaks into the labs this guy runs and ends up getting infected with an alien parasite. Now the billionaire wants his alien back, but that’s easier said than done when it has bonded with Eddie quite well, though it turns out to be more of a shoulder devil than a shoulder angel. Can Eddie curb this alien’s violent tendencies and figure out what to do before he gets captured?

Ok so that plot summary is kind of a mess, but then so is the plot. But it’s not a mess in the sense that something like, say, Suicide Squad is, where it’s a trainwreck to the point of being incomprehensible. No, Venom is more of a mess in the sense that the plot shifts gears so often it’s honestly a bit nuts. So much shit happens in the span of this film, it’s almost ludicrous. I believe Tom Hardy said in an interview that about forty minutes were cut, and honestly, it does kind of feel like it when some scenes end abruptly and some plot points just happen so fast. All that being said, the movie is still pretty straightforward and simple, and while there are bumps the ride is mostly enjoyable.

This really comes down to the absolutely brilliant and bonkers performance from Tom Hardy. Muttering in some completely unknown accent and just having the most epic freakouts and reactions imaginable, he seems to be channeling Jim Carrey from the 90s in this film, and I mean that as the highest compliment. While Eddie Brock is a bit cookie cutter in terms of character archetype, Hardy injects quite a bit of charm and likability while still making Brock a flawed but still likable character. Brock is a lot nicer than usual, but he broke into his fiancee’s computer for private files and ended up getting her fired and is okay with Venom eating people he deems as evil, so it’s clear Brock isn’t 100% nice. It really shows that a lot of Hardy’s performance was improvised, and frankly I think that was for the best; Hardy knows what he’s doing, and it pays off well as even in the duller moments Hardy carries this film.

The bickering friendship between Brock and Venom is really amusing, and Venom himself when he shows up is cool. Frankly there’s a lot of homoerotic tension here, which culminates in Venom possessing Eddie’s former flame and making out with him (as I’m sure you’ve already heard everywhere; it makes more sense in context). I guess that level of closeness just comes from being a symbiote. The best part of it all though is Venom’s eventual rationale for becoming a good guy: Venom was a loser on his home planet, just like Eddie, but together they’re a lot cooler. I am not fucking kidding. Seeing such a bizarre and silly rationale played straight like that (or IS it being played straight?) is so absolutely endearing to me; a lot of the stuff in this movie is like that.

The action is mostly ok, but it’s not anything too special. I think that neutering the film to a PG-13 was a huge mistake on Sony’s part, because they could have had a very impressive amount of black comedy on their hands. Oh, there’s still some good dark jokes here and there, but I feel like it would have been so much better if all the gory glory was on display. If they are gonna do Carnage, as the mid-credits scene teases, they better be prepared to up that rating because a neutered Venom is one thing, but a neutered Carnage is inexcusable. But yeah, the action is a bit generic but passable, which is also what can be said for the evil symbiote Riot. He’s an okay villain, but not amazing or anything. You’ll probably be wishing they had just made Carnage the bad guy, though I do have to give them props for using a character that not many people know about. I always like when comic book movies utilize less well known characters.

Overall, this film is a lot of goofy, cheesy fun. It is by no means a perfect film, but I do think it lays a decent foundation for sequels, and most importantly, unlike Sony’s previous attempts to make a Spider-Man movie, this film is very standalone and doesn’t try and shoehorn in a bunch of elements for an expanded universe like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did. So props for that Sony, you’re slowly learning! I’d definitely say check this out, especially if you’re a more casual comic book movie fan or are a big fan of cheesy early 2000s style superhero movies; I will say this is a lot more Raimi Spider-Man than theatrical Daredevil or Catwoman at least. If you’re a hardcore Venom nut who is appalled that he could be PG-13, just skip this and wait to see if they release an extended cut, because I think if there is one it could help the film be a lot better. Bottom line, it’s a fun film if you’re in the right mind for it, and I do think there is enough genuinely good elements to keep it from being bad enough to be “so bad it’s good;” with a little more polish this film could have been genuinely great, and I definitely think sequels can improve upon what was laid out here.

If nothing else, this is 100% genuinely better than the last time Venom appeared in a live-action film. I may have forgiven Spider-Man 3 for a lot of its sins to be able to find it unironically decent… but some stains just run too deep to ever be fully cleansed. Topher Grace Venom is one such stain.

#Review #Movie review #Venom #superhero movie #comic book movie #Marvel #Sony

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tumblunni · 5 years

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OH FUCK I THINK I FINALLY CRACKED THE CODE OF WHY I ALWAYS LIKE THE VILLAINS BETTER

Like man it always makes me so confused cos i mean im a soft AF person and i always end up having sympathetic redemption headcanons for them so its not like i like VILLAINY ITSELF but what else do all these characters have in common?

Thats it. Thats it, ursula helped me crack it.

I just WANT THOSE TRAITS ON THE HEROES

I really want a nice confident sassy funny chubby trans auntie who promotes body positivity to our young hero and always gets to say the coolest lines and get the best moments and BE LOVED FOR WHO SHE IS

And like usually whenever you get anywhere close to seeing those "villain traits" on a hero they like.. Remove all the good parts. If you have a supportive hero aunt she's always boring and generically supportive instead, and has to look like the most stereotypical boring mess ans have a super small plot role and uuuugh thats IF SHES EVEN THERE i mean seriously aunties and grandmas are weirdly less represented as mentors than grandpas who are already REALLY HARD TO FIND and again OFTEN GENERIC AND UNFUN WHENEVER THEY GET TO APPEAR

And how damn often are we allowed to have a chubby gay aunt!! WHERE IS MY CHUBBY GAY AUNT!! ive met SO MANY chubby gay aunts in real life like 90% of all my psychologists have been either that or like.. The exact same but a straight lgbt ally instead. Sassy plus size aunties are THE BACKBONE OF OUR SOCIETY DAMMIT! I've had so much help thanks to sassy gay aunts!! And like even just looking at any damn crowd scene in a normal city centre youre gonna see so many chubby aunts and long nosed uncles and all those sorts of bullshit "ugly people" that mass media pretends are ugly and relegates to One Minor Role In The Entire Cast despite them being infinately more common than supermodels and NOT UGLY AT ALL GEEZ IT PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH

I cant believe im a fuckin disney villain fan cos of body positivity

Tfw u suck so bad at making hateable people that the fandom universally hugs all your villains and ignores your boring protagonists like fuckin TAKE THAT DIDNEY

God i wanna hug hades sooo bad he just needs a friend aaaaaa

And i mean its not just disney, every damn time ive obsessed over a villain its been because they have some trait thats supposed to be "bad" but its actually good and we dont get to see it on the heroes

Like my thing with science villains in particular is that when i first played ff7 i really liked the idea of an evil minion who's a bad sidekick not just because he's "dumb" or "bumbling" but because he's actually not interested in any of the evil stuff and he works against his own boss and is like.. Friendly to the heroes, i have no particular grudge against you and i wont stop you if im off duty and all. I liked the Turks for the same reason but in the origibal ff7 translation they were kind of stoic and serious and i didnt really become as much of a fan of them til i saw them being more goofy and comic relief in some optional sidequests and then their movie adaptation. But hojo was always being all "lol my boss's plan is so stupid amirite" and had that very memorable scene where he's just sunbathing and tells you everything you need to know to get to the next thing to ruin his boss's plan cos i mean fuck it who even cares im just here to soak up some sun while fully dressed in a turtleneck and labcoat. It sucked so much that he was such a reprehensible bastard with creepy sexual assault vibes and murder and child abuse and experimenting on people and basically just NOT A LOVEABLE VILLAIN but his CONCEPT held so much potential to be filled by a sympathetic character instead...

So yeah then cos of him i kept being obsessed with finding SOME CHARACTER SOMEWHERE that actually lived up tp that potential, and thats why i was instantly interested in charon from pokemon and totally on edge waiting for the slightest chance for him to become That Perfect Sass Gramps Of Legend. And then he was indeed sassy!! And had so little screenyime that there was potential for interpretation of him as potentially redeemable cos i mean the game never said he wasnt, the game barely said anything about him at all, lol. And he was so old and small and frail looking and i just wanted to protect him!! And then that one wifi event that actually hinted at synpatheticness!! Aaaa its a recipe for a Forever Fave~

And i guess maybe it all started with my grandma being awesome and me really missing her? Cos i had shitty abusive parents and she was my ONLY good family member who showed me what love was like. And she was also basically a supervillain. Like every damn supervillain trait except being evil! She was bombastic and confident and sassy and mischievious and loud and passionate about stuff and always had something funny to say and never gave up no matter how many times she failed. And she also used all that great power for the forces of good!

So yeh thats why i love sassy good guys and i hate that often even when a sassy villain gets redeemed they seem to lose all their edge and become more generic now theyre a good guy. Or they get totally sidelined with no screentime anymore, or they ONLY get to be comic relief and dont get the full and complex redemption they deserve. Or just a lot of bads!! Its never the simplest answer of just fuckin.. Keep the character the character. Thats kinda why i didnt feel too much for the maleficent movie even though the concept itself sounded like everything i ever wanted. The character in that movie is a very different person to origibal maleficent, she's more just a stoic tsundere mumsy figure than a hammy badass iconicness. Still a nice villain redemption but it felt like it would have been better as an original story instead of an attempted maleficent. Also i wish they handled it better with the whole "true love's kiss could be from your mum instead" thing cos i get sooooo grossed out whenever i see people shipping movie maleficent and aurora! Like yes sleeping beauty with lesbians would be great but not when one of them is old enough to be her mum and raised her like a mum and changed her goddamn diapers! Also why did they have to ruin the three good fairies just to make maleficent have the mum opportunity? Like just remove them from the story if you wanted maleficent to raise the kid instead. No need to rewrite them into incompetant assholes when they were everyone's fave part of the original! Dont sacrifice the rare and elusive Good Sassy Gay Aunts!! THEYRE LIKE THE ONLY ONES IN DIDNEY!!! (Incodentally merlin is the equivelant of this to hades as the fairies are to ursula)

Also also villains tend to have ACTUAL FLAWS in stories that have a more boring bland protagonist. I wanna see the story behind charon's neuroses and how he struggles with overcoming his temptation to be bad because of greed but ultimately manages to conquer his own negative side because power of friendship and such. Thats a great character arc that provides so much more than he does as a villain where they just wasted him entirely :(

SO BASICALLY IN SUMMARY

* villains are often more complex and well developed characters with flaws while the same wroter might make shitty heroes due to the illogical fear that nobody would root for them if they werent 100% perfect and successful at everything ever

* villains are also often made as negative stereotypes of minorities and other rarely seen traits, which means its easy to reach out to them and reclaim them as a more positive version when theres literally no other options for you to cling to

* the quite common accidental sympathy factor where a villain will seem to be hated more than they deserve for their actions, ir unjustly punished so much that they feel like an underdog, since the writer assumes you'll think theyre "more evil" for being a stereotype and if you dont agree that this thing is bad then it seems like they have way less sins than the story claims they do

* also sass. Sass is good.

But basically the whole root of it is that its stupid and cruel and doesnt goddamn work when you make villains bigoted stereotypes. It just makes me love them! The only person i hate when i see a stereotypical villain is the writer who thought that was a good idea, lol. Just imagine that meme of the samurai holding the cat but its me holding all disney villains!

Also even if a villain isnt outright intentionally meant to be "this minority is bad", it can still make me symoathetic to them if theyre still something thats rare amoung the hero side in the same series. Like charon being the "most unredeemable" villain despite being the most harmless and funny and his plan being so much less world destroying than cyrus, and also he's the only grandpa villain in like.. The whole of all. And he's drawn very much in that way thays supposed to be "ugly" i.e normal grandpa, vs that weird sort of younger than he looks grandpa that hero ones tend to be because blablabla beauty ewuals goodness anti body positivity whatever. Tho actually sinnoh was good with that, they had the best grandpa professor in my opinion cos he got to be sassy too! Rowan always reminds me of auron from ff10. Sinnoh was a good game where i liked a lot of both the heroes and villains even if i still had more villain faves cos i mean pokemon is always biased towards that for me since every game has a voiceless perosnalityless main character and often theyre the one doing most of the heroing with the supporting hero characters having surprisingly little proper screen time. Thats a big part of why i loved hau gladion and lillie in sun and moon! They felt more like a real friend group than any other ones before.

ANYWAY now im just going offtopic into more "i love lots of stuff about every pokemon game" so ill stop typing now

But just basically VILLAINS ARE GOOD COS THEYRE GOOD CHARACTERS and if those stories gavethe same character a good guy role then id still love them just as much, if not more. I dont specifically like villainy, its just that my definition of a good character is often considered a bad character by lazy writers, apparantly?

Also WHERE IS MY SUPPORTIVE GOOD GRAMPS CHARON GAME AND GAY AUNTIE URSULA GIVES YOU FASHION TIPS SMARTPHONE MMO

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uglypastels · 6 years

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When You Say Nothing At All - Tom Holland movie AU (3/3)

(a/n) So I decided no to write the whole movie. there are two main reasons for it. 1) I don’t really like the end of Notting Hill (honestly, I always liked it more for the comedy than the romance, whoops) and 2) it also takes a long time to write. A long time, which I don’t really have. I thought that this was a good moment to end it on. Sorry to anyone who is disappointed.

word count: 5179

warning: swearing, sexual themes, SPOILERS FOR NOTTING HILL

part 1 /// part 2

Tom’s POV - 1999 - London - characters are in their late 20′s

The doorbell rang when Max was filling up Tom’s glass with some white wine. Personally, he wasn’t the biggest fan of the drink, but Tom needed the alcohol. Max put down the bottle and stared at Tom before he went and opened the door: “Now, try.” Tom just nodded. He wasn’t feeling very enthusiastic about the blind date.

Max went away to welcome Tessa, whose voice could be heard as soon as she walked inside the house. Tom shared a look with Bella as they listened. “I got completely lost. It’s really difficult, isn’t it?” Yes, bright as a button. Tom saw in Bella’s face that she was thinking the exact same thing. “Everything’s got the word Kensington in it. Kensington Park Road. Kensington Gardens. Kensington bloody Park Gardens.” She walked into the living room. Tom looked at her and couldn’t decide what was more terrifying to look at: the bright blue skirt and jacket she was wearing, or the bright red perm on her head.

“Look, Tessa, this is my wife, Bella.” Max interrupted. Tessa gasped.

“Hello. You’re in a wheelchair,” she squealed. Bella just responded:“Yeah, that’s right.” with a slightly uncomfortable smile.

“And this is Tom.” Max introduced Tom. Tessa walked up to him. Her hair bounced up and down with every step she took. “Hello, Tom.” He managed to only squeeze in a small Hi before she kept on talking, still vigorously shaking his hand. “Max has told me everything about you.”

“Has he?” he looked between her and Max.

“Oh yes. You are a naughty boy.” Max suggested her some wine before things got too inappropriate. “Oh yes, please.” she kept moving between Max and Tom, making her hair shake along. “C’mon, Tommy, let’s get sloshed.” She laughed hysterically. Tom thought she reminded him of a hyperactive puppy.

Very clearly, Tessa was not a big success. But it didn’t stop his friends from trying to find Tom other dates. Not less than four days later, Paddy called him to say that he had found the “perfect girl for him”. Tom doubted it highly.

“Keziah,” Max walked up to the table holding a tray of baked birds, “Some woodcock?” It looked rather appetizing, yet Keziah still looked blankly at it and said, in her monotone voice: “No, thank you, I’m a fruitarian.” Max awkwardly walked away and sat down in his seat between Bella and Tom.

“What is a fruitarian exactly?” Tom was scared he would soon regret asking this.

“Well, we believe that fruits and vegetables have feelings, so we think cooking is cruel.” It was unnerving to Tom to hear her say we the whole time. As in, there were more of those kinds of people. “We only eat things that have actually fallen from the tree or bush. That is, in fact, dead already.” he wished he was dead already.

“Oh, right. So, these carrots…” he pointed at the bowl of vegetables in front of him.

“Have been murdered, yes.”

“Murdered?” Keziah nodded. “Gosh, poor old carrots. That’s- that’s beastly.” Easy to say that Keziah had not stayed for very much longer either.

“Delicious coffee,” Emily said as she sipped from her cup. She was a friend of Bella’s and another attempt for Tom’s blind date. She had been absolutely lovely, so far. No strange bouncy hair, no bizarre dietary restrictions. Just a simple, lovely woman. Almost perfect.

“I’m sorry about the lamb.” Max sighed. He held a good long streak, but a day had to come where had would almost burn down the house and this day was, unfortunately, this day.

“No, I thought it was really, you know, interesting.” Emily tried to make him feel a bit better.

“Interesting means inedible.” Tom translated her words. She smiled and hid her face in her hands. “Really inedible, yes, you’re right.” She had a very cute laugh.

The dinner ended and Tom decided to walk her to the door. He had really enjoyed this evening with her.

“Well, maybe we’ll meet again.” Emily smiled nervously. Tom was already opening the door. He would actually like to meet her again. He had not expected that. “Yeah, yeah. That’ll be great.” Emily put her hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek gently. Her lips were soft and the kiss was very nice. She pulled away and stepped outside. After four or five steps, she turned around, still walking, and said: “Bye.” Tom watched her walk until she turned the corner at the end of the street.

Back in the living room, Max and Bella were waiting for him. He sat down on the sofa, letting out a deep sigh.

“Well?” Max asked. He seemed to be a bit drunk from all the wine. Tom just smiled. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

“And?” Bella knew Tom well enough to know that wasn’t all of it.

“You see, I think you’ve forgotten what an unusual situation you two have.” he eyes the couple down. They didn’t seem to understand. They looked at each other. “To find someone you actually love, who’ll love you, I mean, the chances are always minuscule.” Bella smiled at him, understanding what Tom meant. “Look at me. Apart from the American,” he didn’t dare say her name anymore, “I’ve only loved two girls, both total disasters.” He looked up at the ceiling.

“That’s not fair.” Max said. Another glass of wine had made it into his hand.

“No, really. One of them marries me then leaves me faster than you can say, Indiana Jones. And the other, who seriously ought to have known better, casually marries my best friend,” He glanced over at Bella with a knowing smile.

“She still loves you though,” she told him.

“Yeah,” Tom rolled his eyes, “in a depressing asexual way.” Bella thought for a moment about what he said, or at least Tom assumed she did. She smiled and then said: “I never fancied you much, actually.” Max’ giggling turned to full out laughter. Tom groaned and put his head in his hands.

“I loved you, you were terribly funny, but all that kissing my ears…” she cringed around in her wheelchair.

“I don’t believe it. This is just getting worse. I will find myself 30 years from now still sitting on this sofa.” Bella laughed but it was a sad laugh. She felt sorry for him, and honestly, who wouldn't. He was a sad man after all. “Do you wanna stay?” She asked. Tom probably needed to go home, but it was late, the way back home was long and he was tired.

“Yeah, why not. All that awaits me at home is a masturbating Harrison.” Yes, a very sad life indeed.

Tom watched as Max picked Bella up from her wheelchair and carried her upstairs. The three of them said goodnight to each other and then the couple made their way up the stairs. Tom watched them disappear from his view. He wished he could find something like that. Something simple, but worthwhile. Obviously, he was happy for his friends. He just wished he could be as happy like that for himself.

The next morning, Tom was still eating breakfast when Max had to leave for work. “See you, Tom.” he waved off. Tom choked on his toast as he tried to say goodbye too. Bella rolled into the kitchen, looking for something. She went through the mail and other papers that lay on the table in front of Tom. He saw one that she neglected right next to him and handed the case file to her. “Guilty. Very, very guilty,” he spoke of the case. He knew he probably shouldn’t have, but he couldn’t sleep at all and started reading through the file. Bella glanced at it while taking a bite out of her toast.

“So it seems,” she smirked and then left too. Just like any time through the years he had known Bella and Max, he could leave whenever he wanted, as long as he locked the door with the spare key that he had in his possession.

Tom stepped outside. It was a rather warm morning. Too warm for a jacket, even one of the lighter kinds. He looked around, wondering which way to take home. There was one option really. He had not walked the other way since the night of Paddy’s birthday party. He stepped out the gate and turned left. Almost immediately, he bumped into a man who tried to walk six dogs at once. He apologized for running into him.

Back home, he knew he needed a proper wash. He took a shower and then started to shave. The facial hair never grew anyway, so what was the point in trying. His face was still half covered in shaving cream when the doorbell rang. Harrison wasn’t home so he had to answer it.

He ran downstairs, trying not to fall as he dried his face with a towel. He opened the door while busy with one final sweep of the cloth. When he pulled it away, the sight in front of him made him breathless. No! It couldn’t be! He was dreaming. Still on Bella and Max’ couch. She wasn’t actually really here. Only, she was. With a soft whisper, she said: “Hi.” She didn’t look well. A part of Tom was glad, but a bigger part hated to see her sad. Her hair had lost its shine. She was wearing a weary sweatshirt and some old jeans. Her sunglasses were clearly hiding her puffed up eyes that had gotten as red as her nose from crying. “Can I come in?”

“Come in.” he moved so she could pass. He lead her to the living room part of the flat, where she sat down in a chair. Her hands were shaking. He didn’t feel comfortable asking what was wrong. They hadn’t seen each other in months and now suddenly she was at his doorstep, probably in need of help. He did not know for sure he could be that help. But apparently, she did, because she started to explain what was going on. “They were taken years ago.” Her voice was also shaky. Her eyes glued to the ground.

“I know it was...But I was poor and it happens a lot.” she looked at him as if she was specifically trying to explain herself to him, apologizing. “That’s not an excuse, I just...But to make matters worse, it now appears as though someone was filming me as well.” Tom could see her swallow with difficulty. “So what was a stupid photo shoot now looks like a porn film.” Her eyes filled up with tears again. “And the pictures have been sold, and they’re just everywhere.” she beginning to shake more and more. She looked at him helplessly. “I didn’t know where to go. The hotel’s surrounded. I know it’s been months, but…”

“This is the place.” It might not be the perfect circumstance that brought them back together, but Tom was happy she was here. He needed to see her again.

“Thank you,” she whispered through the tears. There was a silence. (Y/N) looked down at her hands, that had stopped shaking. “I’m just in London for two days, but what with your papers, it’s the worst place to be.” She got up from the chair. Her breathing indicating anxiety. “I mean, these pictures are just so horrible and they’re so grainy! And it makes me look like…”

“Listen, don’t think about it.” He tried to use the calmest voice he could. “We’ll sort it out.” She wiped away the fresh tears from her face. “Now what would you like? Tea? Bath?” He just wanted to help.

“A bath would be great.”

After her bath, and a rather embarrassing situation with Harrison in the bathroom, Tom and (Y/N) sat next to each other at the table in the kitchen. They weren’t talking. Just looking at each other and smiling. It was nice.

“I’m really sorry about last time.” Ah, yes. Someone had to bring it up at one point, didn’t they? “I mean, he just flew in. I had no idea. In fact, I had no idea if he was ever gonna fly in again.” Tom didn’t want to talk about it. It was something he would much rather keep behind, forget if possible. (Y/N), unfortunately, did feel the urge to talk about it. Tom took a sip from his mug while thinking of something to reassure her.

“Listen, it’s not often one has the opportunity to adiós the plates of a major Hollywood film star.” he was glad to see she smiled at the comment. “It was thrilling for me.” He felt like he needed to ask about him. What if they were still together? He had to know. “So how is he?”

“I don’t know.” she laughed nervously. “It just got to the point where I couldn’t remember any of the reasons why we were together… And you and love?” Tom didn’t answer for some time. Not only because he had nothing to answer with, but because he was frozen looking at her. They broke up? They broke up. What did this mean? Did he have a chance again? He had to shake out his thought to function properly again. With a smile he said: “Oh, well, there’s a question,” he looked down at the table, thinking for a second or two if there was something with him and love, “ without an interesting answer.” Suddenly, Tom felt very peckish. He walked away from the table to counter next to sink to get some toast. He was putting marmalade on top of the piece of bread when (Y/N) confessed: “I have thought about you.” He sure hoped she did. There were a million thoughts rushing through his head, but the only one that managed to leave through the door was: “Oh.” He kept on marmalading his toast.

“It’s just that any time I’ve tried to keep anything normal with a person that was normal,” so he was normal. Good to know. “it’s just been a disaster.”

“Yeah, no, listen, I appreciate that, absolutely.” he shrugged, walking back from the kitchen part of the room to the table where she was seated. In her hands, something that looked remotely like a script. “So what is that, a film you're doing?” he pointed at it with his knife.

“I start in LA on Tuesday.” She didn’t look excited to be getting a new paycheck. He sat back down in his chair.

“Would you like me to take you through your lines?” Her excitement immediately lit up. Tom took a bite from his toast.

“Would you? Because it’s talk, talk, talk.”

“Come on, hand it over. Right.” He took the script from between her hands. It was open around the middle of the bundle of paper. “Uhm, Basic plot?”

“I’m a difficult but brilliant junior officer, who, in about 20 minutes, is gonna save the world from nuclear disaster.” Tom had to admit, the plot sounded a bit basic, but he didn’t want to offend her.

“Okay, well done, you.” they both laughed.

It was getting a bit cloudy, but the air was still warm. Tom suggested going through the lines on the roof, where (Y/N) would have more space to move around instead of the small flat. She liked the idea. He took her up to the roof. (Y/N) looked around, down at the street, at the people hurrying around. Tom settled in his usual chair. The script in his hands, he read it a few times through to be able to say it more smoothly to her. It really was not the greatest writing. When she was done, they started the scene. (Y/N) walked back and fro as she said her lines.

“Message from Command, would you like them to send in the HK’s?” Tom read out loud.

“No. Turn over the four TRS’s and tell them we need radar feedback before the KFT’s return at 1900 then inform the Pentagon we need Black Star cover from 1000 through 1215. And if you say one word about how many mistakes I made in that speech, I’ll pelt you with olives.” She had said everything so quickly that Tom had trouble catching on, even with the literal script in his hands. He had counted the mistakes as she went along. He continued with the scene: “Very well, Captain, I’ll pass that on, straight away.”

“Thank you,” she glanced at him, while still walking around, “How many mistakes did I make?”

“Eleven,” he said from behind the paper.

“Dammit. And, Wainwright…”

“Cartwright,” Tom corrected her, not really sure if he should have done that or just counted on the mistakes she made. She looked flustered at him.

“Cartwright, Wainwright, whatever your name is… I promised little Jimmy I’d be home for his birthday, so could you get a message to him that I may be a little late?”

“Certainly. And little Johnny?” he nudged her into the correct direction of the text.

“My son’s name is Johnny?” Tom just nodded. “Well, then get a message to him, too.”

“I’ll do what I can, Captain, but I can’t make promises.” He read on to the directions. “And, Cartwright goes.” (Y/N) let out a big sigh. She gripped her forehead and looked a bit frustrated.

“What do you think?”

“Gripping. You, know it’s not Jane Austen. It’s not Henry James. But it’s gripping.” he didn’t want to say what he was truly thinking, knowing that she was already unsure about her choices in work. She sat down on the chair opposite of him.

“Think I should do Henry James instead?”

“Well, I think you would be brilliant in Henry James,” Tom put down the script. “But, you know, this writer…” He looked down at the front page, where several names were scribbled down. “Writers… they’re pretty damn good, too.”

“Well, you never get anyone in Wings of the Dove saying, Inform the Pentagon we need Black Star cover.” She slouched her shoulder a bit. Tom tried to make her feel a bit better by commenting: “Well, and for me, the book is the poorer for it.” She smiled, knowing very well it was a joke.

They decided it was enough for the moment and went back downstairs. Tom thought they would go to the sofa, but (Y/N) took the stairs down to the kitchen and sat down at the table. He followed her, but before sitting down, getting something to drink. He was pouring it out for her as she looked to the side.

“I can’t believe you have that picture.” Tom looked up from the glasses to the wall to which she was pointing at, where a replica poster of Marc Chagall’s LA Mariee was hanging.

“You like Chagall?” he had not expected her to do so. Not many people that had come to his flat had ever really paid attention to the little poster, let alone actually compliment it.

“I do.” She played with the hem of the sweater that Tom borrowed her as she looked at the poster again. “It feels like how love should be. Floating through a dark blue sky”

“With a goat, playing the violin,” he questioned her idea, but at the same time agreed completely. She stared at him, dead in the eye. “Well, yes. Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.”

After drinking something, they moved back upstairs into the living room part of the flat. There, they stayed for the rest of the day. Harrison had not shown up for the better of it. She was sitting on the sofa, while he sat in the arm-chair. Their feet on the table. It was already getting dark and Tom had turned on a few lamps around the room so they could continue reading; she her script and he his book.

Tom could feel her eyes move around, glancing at his feet. He looked up from the words on paper in front of him.

“You have big feet.” She commented, biting her nails.

“Yes. yes, always have had.” Where was she going with this? He could see her smirk. “You know what they say about men with big feet?”

“No, I don’t know. What’s that?” he knew very well what they say, but was just curious where the conversation would be taken.

“Uh, big feet, large... shoes.” She hid her face behind her script. Tom chuckled at the innocent yet still indicating a joke.

Tom had suggested some ice cream. Without a hesitation, in her look or voice, she said that she would love some. He took out the emergency tub of Häagen-Dazs and split the content in half. One half in a bowl, for (Y/N) and then he could eat out of the tub itself.

He handed her the dessert and a conversation formed again. Tom had enjoyed the pleasant silence in which they had read before, but this was time and times better. He watched from the couch as she walked back and forth around the room, just like she did on the roof when they were going through her lines.

“The thing that’s so irritating is that now I’m so totally fierce when it comes to nudity clauses.” Tom had no idea how they had come to the subject, but it didn’t matter. It was nice to listen to her voice again.

“You actually have clauses in your contract about nudity?”

“Definitely.” She gave him a look as if it was the most normal thing in the world. And in her world, he assumed, it probably was the most normal thing. “You may show the dent of the top of the artist’s buttocks but neither cheek. Or, if there’s a stunt bottom being used, the artist must have full consultation.” She recited. Tom was impressed at how easy and ordinary it all was to her. A stunt bottom?

“You have a stunt bottom?”

“Well, I could have a stunt bottom, yes.” She grinned cheekily and sat down opposite him on the sofa.

“And are people tempted to go for better bottoms that their own?” The idea was too bizarre for Tom, but (Y/N) on the other hand: “Yeah, I mean, I would. This is important stuff.”

“Well, it’s one hell of a job, isn’t it? I mean, what do you put on your passport? Profession: Mel Gibson’s bottom.” Tom laughed, but (Y/N) didn’t.

“Actually, Mel does his own ass work.”

“Right.” Of course, she would know that.

“Why wouldn’t he.” She took another spoon of ice cream, staring blankly at Tom. “It’s delicious.”

“What, the ice cream or Mel Gibson’s bottom?”

“Both. Equally.” She said between spoons.

“But you wouldn’t necessarily lick both?”

“Well, this is tart.” She explained and started laughing, making Tom laugh. “And fuzz free.”

After the ice cream, (Y/N started to yawn a bit. Tom thought it would be best to show (Y/N) her, or actually his, room. They took the other staircase up to the bedroom. “And… the bedroom, I’ve put clean sheets on.” He had been walking in front of her, so once he was on the landing, he stepped aside, letting her walk by. He expected her to go into the room and close the door, but she didn’t. When (Y/N) got to the door she stood in the middle of the doorframe and turned to look at him. A bit tired, she said: “Today’s been a good day.” She looked down, avoiding his eyes, “Which in the circumstances in unexpected.”

Tom just nodded awkwardly, having no other words than “Thank you”. She looked at him in a way that said that she expected him to do something, but Tom didn’t know what that was. And if he had an idea and that idea came to be true, he highly doubted it would be considered appropriate to kiss her now.

“Anyway, time for bed.” he said a bit disappointed, “or, sofa bed.” (Y/N) smiled knowingly. Then she softly kissed his cheek. The simple gesture made Tom’s heart skip a beat. He didn’t understand why this was happening. They have kissed already multiple times, yet still, a kiss on the cheek is the one that makes his palms sweaty.

She pulled away and said softly, so softly it was even barely a whisper: “Goodnight.” He responded with the same. She stood in the doorway, a glass of water in her hand, the other playing with a hem of the sweater Tom had to lend her. Tom stood on the opposite side of the landing. They stared at each other for a moment, just smiling sheepishly, until (Y/N) turned around and walked into the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Tom on the stairs alone.

With a sigh, he walked down the stairs. He made his sofa bed ready for a night sleep and lay down. It was not the most comfortable in the world, but the sofa did its job. At least, it could if Tom could actually sleep. He didn’t even manage to close his eyes for longer than five seconds. The thought of (Y/N) kissing him was fresh in his memory again. It was just a peck on the cheek, but it could be more? The blanket under which he was laying was starting to get too warm. He jumped up, throwing the material off his legs. He sat down, his face in his hands as he started thinking what he should do. Should he go up there? No, he couldn’t just walk up there. With a sigh, he lay down again, his head hit the pillow.

Then he heard something, the faintest creaking of the stairs. Could it be her? He took a deep breath before he asked: “Hello?” Another footstep and then he could feel the presence of someone right behind the wall and a voice saying: “Hello.”

Tom groaned as his head hit the pillow again. “Harrison.” He said, a little frustrated. Of course, it wasn’t (Y/N). Harrison didn’t seem to notice Tom’s agitation.

“I wonder if I could have a little word?”

“Right,” Tom was massaging his temples. Trying to keep calm. He didn’t want to be too loud in case it would wake her up.

“I don’t want to interfere or nothing, but she’s just split up from her boyfriend. That’s right, innit?” He was whispering, his face very close to Tom’s. A bit too close for his liking.

“Maybe,” Tom’s face was still in his hands.

“And she’s in your house?”

“Yes.” Tom pulled his hands away from his forehead, brushing one through his hair. He looked at Harrison with one eye.

“And you get on very well.” he kept on whispering suggestively. The only problem was, that it wasn’t very clear what he was suggesting. Tom thought for a while about Harrison’s last statement before mumbling a: “yes.”

“Well, isn’t this perhaps a nice opportunity to,” He suddenly stopped. Tom thought that he maybe froze, this time for good. Then he spoke again. “slip her one.”

“Harrison, for God’s sake. She’s in trouble. Just get a grip.” He was getting more and more frustrated by his flat-mate by every sentence he spoke.

“Right, you think it’s the wrong moment, fair enough.” and with that, Harrison sneaked back to his room, leaving Tom once again alone in the complete darkness. Tom turned around, his body now facing the direction of the window.

“Do you mind if I have a go?” Tom almost fell off the sofa. He turned his head around and yelled out: “Harrison!”

“Right, okay,” he whispered. Tom realized that he talked way too loudly for such a late moment in the night. Trying to calm down a bit he said: “I’ll - I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“Okay,” Harrison walked away, but almost immediately came back again, “Might be too late, but okay.” Tom decided to ignore the comment. He listened as Harrison walked up the stairs. He could hear the creaking of the stairs again. But there was still a presence next to the sofa, he could feel it. Being completely and utterly tired with Harrison, he groaned, “Please, sod off.”

“Okay, sorry.” He heard the voice of the other person, but it wasn’t Harrison anymore. Tom quickly realized his mistake. He got up before (Y/N) could leave.

“No, no, no, wait, I thought you were someone else.” She came back, staring at him blankly. Most of her face was covered by the shadow, but he saw the mix of fear and sadness in her face. “I thought you were Harrison. I’m thrilled that you’re not.” He smiled weakly, but the smile got bigger when he saw her smile back. Without saying anything, she reached for his hand. Tom got up and took her hand. They were so close to each other that he could feel her breathe on his neck as he looked down into her eyes. He was pretty sure he could feel her heartbeat against his chest, and they weren’t even touching.

Slowly, and carefully, he closed the gap between them, kissing her. Finally, a kiss that he was able to initiate. A kiss he was finally prepared for. The kiss he had waited weeks, if not actual months for. A kiss that was so soft that it was like a feather touch to his lips. Without thinking, his lips moved to her cheek which was then followed by more feathery kisses on the neck. He pulled down her nightshirt off her shoulder, revealing her back to the night air. He could feel the goosebumps on her skin as he continued kissing her every possible inch of skin.

With one hand on the small of her back, and the other on her neck, he kept on kissing her until his lips had found their way back to hers. After one last long kiss, he pulled away. He watched her face. The most beautiful face he had ever seen. She had her eyes closed, a small smile on her lips as the aftermath of the kisses that they had just shared. When she opened her eyes, they flickered between his and his lips. Tom was absolutely mesmerized.

“Wow,” he whispered.

“What?” she giggled.

“Nothing.” he didn’t want to say it. He couldn’t say it. There was so much going on in his mind that he didn’t know what to say. It was too perfect to be true. She was too perfect. He didn’t deserve any of it. Instead of telling her with words, he kissed her again. Hoping that all his thoughts would be translated for her with it.

That night, he slept better than he had ever done in his life. He fell asleep as he could still feel her body against his. Her arm draped around his lazily. He could hear her soft breathing, the heat of her naked body against his. It was a night he would never forget.

THE END

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

@whatanight13

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northlandian · 5 years

Text

How I Fell in Love with Marvel

As a die-hard MCU fan today, it's hard to imagine where I would be and what I would be interested in today if it wasn't for my discovery of these fantastic movies. This is the story of how I accidentally saw my favourite movie to date, resulting in me finding one of my greatest passions today.

For context, before that day occurred, the closest I had been to anything Marvel related was having seen the original Spider-Man movies, 1 through 3, and I actually liked them (well, except for the obvious). A few years after that, I also saw Guardians of the Galaxy in theatres, which also happened to be on accident, as I was cottaging in a small county during the summer, and my sister and I were bored one night. However, Guardians wasn't enough to reel me in. If I'm being completely honest, it was never one of my favourite MCU movies (I even prefer the sequel over it). Not that it's not good, it was, but at the time, there was a lot of information thrown at me all at once that I didn't quite get because I didn't see any movies previous to it. Obviously, being young, stupid, and not that into that kind of stuff at the time, I didn't know I was supposed to.

It's also worth noting though, that before this accident I'm about to delve into occurred, I knew I wanted to be a Marvel fan. I had seen the Spider-Man movies and enjoyed them (although I didn't know that the MCU would differ from those, but anyways), so I knew there was a fairly good chance I would enjoy the others. Just the idea of these incredible fighters had always intrigued me, and it's probably why I enjoy video games as well. But I also wanted to feel like I was part of something, something bigger than myself. I was over my book phase, Gravity Falls had just ended, and I had finished all the Harry Potter movies... I wanted to find something else to love. But at the same time, I could never really find the time or effort to catch up on however-many countless movies were out at the time.

SO, without further ado, this is how I happened upon the MCU.

First of all, it was near the end of December 2017...yes, this took place just last year, I'm aware of how new I am and I only wish it could have happened sooner.

Anyways, my sister and I were staying at my cousin's for a few days during the winter break. We decided to go downtown for the day, which included seeing a movie. We hadn't bought the tickets ahead of time, but we were planning on seeing Coco - I had only heard good things, so we were all really excited. We get to the theatre, and one of my cousins goes to buy the tickets, while I wait with her three little brothers and my sister. Eventually, she comes back, only to tell us that Coco was sold out...big bummer for me. There was nothing else to see. My sister began complaining. My cousin then informs us that she had instead, purchased us all tickets for the new Thor movie...what? Her brothers seemed happy about it, and I decided to grin and bear it, but I gave my sister one look and knew I'd be sitting through one boring boy's movie. Whatever. I'd get it over with.

So we sit down in the theatre, we sit through the previews (I saw the preview for Black Panther for the first time, and ironically thought, "huh, that looks pretty good"), and the Marvel logo comes on. First impressions? Well, it was pretty cool. It was my first time seeing the newest Marvel logo, considering Guardians never had it.

Then it pans down to Thor, and he starts monologuing in his deep Asgardian accent, and I'm expecting it to be expositional and boring but...wait, it's not? It was actually pretty funny. The Surtur scene continues, and now first impressions are really kicking in... they were able to make it expositional and funny at the same time, and it worked well. Then the fight began, and suddenly, I was like...woah. These fight scenes are really good. Like. Really good. I found the camera angles made to follow the hammer very cool. Enemies were being taken out like dominos. Even Thor using his hammer as a shield against Surtur's fiery breath was literally a battle move I had doodled all the time! And now I was seeing it in front of me! Then, of course, his escape. I fell in love with the score instantly. The Bifrost aesthetic had me captivated. And from the moment the camera panned up into birds-eye view to read "Thor: Ragnarok", I knew this movie was going to be a bit more than interesting.

Suffice it to say, first impressions were good.

I won't go into detail about every scene like I just did, but I'll highlight the important ones that really made the movie for me.

Loki's introduction. Little did I know I'd be meeting one of my favourite characters of all time. His magical capabilities were revealed instantly for a first-timer like me, something I appreciated at the time I was watching. So was his relationship with Thor; not all of it, obviously, because there are many, many layers, but it was enough for me to determine that he was someone who had the kind of relationship that allowed him to act very jokingly, as seen while also being very jealous deep down, and expressing resentment (his desires of wanting to be King, making a stage production out of his own death, exiling his own father, etc). I could also pick up his immediate character traits fairly quickly - he’s funny, he's someone who practically embodies trouble, and he will always put himself first. It was unclear how much he truly did care for others, specifically his brother, but then again, it's been like that throughout most of the MCU anyways. I, of course, did not know why he was the way he was, but his personality had me intrigued from the very beginning.

The references made to past MCU movies. Believe it or not, I wasn't completely lost, unlike with Guardians. The reason for this was because it was presented in a way that made it so simple. For example, Loki faked his death. How do I know? Because Thor comes back to a stage production about it, but surprise! He's not dead. Another example is, Hulk and Thor always fight alongside each other. How do I know? "He's a friend from work". "Work" obviously being the Avengers (I didn't live completely under a rock, at least), and "friend" being enough to tell me that they were on pretty good terms the last they saw each other. Even the line "adopted" being enough to tell me that there was some deeper story behind why Loki is the way he is. It was small things like that that really set this particular movie apart, and sure, there were some references I didn't catch until seeing the previous movies ("Yes! That's how it feels!"), but it was nice to not always be in the dark about everything.

Valkyrie. Literally, everything about this character. I hadn't exactly been acquainted to Natasha Romanoff yet, so she was the first female badass I had ever had the pleasure of watching. From the moment she's introduced, you can tell she has a deep backstory. Her confrontation with Loki had me rolling when she beat the crap out of him, and then proceeded to throw a bottle at him shortly after. And of course, there's her entrance onto Asgard... enough said.

The last thing I'm going to mention goes out to the film's director, Taika Waititi, as well as the perfect portrayal performed by the actors, and that is the constant humour in the movie. Perfect example: “Get help”. It had me rolling. This is why I always consider it the most wonderful, yet coincidental incident because the truth is, if it was any other MCU movie, I wouldn't have been enticed enough. The movie was so damn funny, I must've laughed through half of it. Before I had seen it, I didn't know Marvel didn't take themselves so seriously. Or at least, I didn't know they didn't have to. I know now of course that that movie specifically was purposed to completely rebrand Thor in order to make him more interesting, and damn, did they do a good job.

So, that last point especially lingered as I left the theatre that day. I cannot express how much I thought about that movie for the rest of the night, which rarely happened to me, as it only happens when I watch something really good. The best thing I can think to compare it to was when the author of the journals was revealed in Gravity Falls (for those who have seen it). I even remember asking my cousin, "Wow, I had no idea Marvel movies were that good. Are they that funny in all the movies?". She responded, "Yeah, we should definitely watch the Avengers tonight", to which I agreed.

We watched Wonder Woman. I was highly unimpressed. Sorry, not a DC stan, never will be.

But when I got home from my cousin's, I did end up watching it. And then I watched Ultron. Then the Thor's. Then the Iron Man's. Then the Captain America's. I loved them all. I even enjoyed Guardian's 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, as I was hesitant about both. A few months later, I went back to the theatres to see Black Panther, just like I wanted to. With each time I watched and rewatched the movies, I fell more in love with the characters, I picked apart more from the storyline, made sure I knew every after-credits scene...started crafting my own theories for Infinity War.

And of course, little did I know, it would smash my heart to pieces not five months after I first discovered it.

And now, here I am, still obsessing over these movies, still undecided on who I could possibly like more, Thor or Loki, just as I felt from the moment I left the theatre for the first time. It's cool to think I found my passion on a happy accident, and it's weird to think that considering how happy it's kept me, what I'd be doing without it today.

#marvel #MCU #storytime #thor ragnarok #thor #loki #avengers #iron man #captain america #spider-man #guardians of the galaxy #origin #story #love

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