#I kind of want an adventure book or something about marvel Thor and Loki as kids now

[loki-hargreeves]

More than battles won or lost, it’s relationships that truly define a hero. The people who shape them, their stories.

Thor and Loki, a brotherhood so strong and pivotal, it would change the fate of a universe. Their childhood taught Thor many lessons.

But in another universe, instead of raising the Jotunheim prince, Loki, as his own son, Odin returned him to his people.

Without his Trickster brother to keep things, let’s say lively, Thor grew into a very different prince.

#This part of the episode was so beautiful #I love the artwork so much #I kind of want an adventure book or something about marvel Thor and Loki as kids now #also I love how it looks like Thor is reaching out for Odin who is giving Loki away #as if he doesn't want them to go #I could look at these few shots all day #What if #What if spoilers #Loki #Thor #Marvel #my gifs

[lokiondisneyplus]

After spending over 30 years in the world of makeup design for film and television, Douglas Noe landed in the time-defying, creative playground of Marvel Studios' Loki. Serving as the Disney+ show's makeup department head, Noe not only designed the characters' individual looks, but continued to be Tom Hiddleston's makeup artist. Noe has worked on Hiddleston's Loki since 2012's The Avengers, carefully evolving the God of Mischief's look over time.

Loki isn't the first time Noe has spearheaded a makeup department for a Marvel Cinematic Universe production. Previously, Noe served as the makeup department head for Thor: The Dark World's additional photography -- making up approximately 20% of the film's final looks. He's also no stranger to the magic of prosthetic work and the intricate details needed for Marvel's epic adventures, having a creative hand in bringing both Captain Marvel's Skrulls and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Kree to life on-screen. In the industry, Noe is also known for specializing in palettes for actors of color and has worked on stars like Jackie Chan.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Noe discussed what it was like bringing The Avengers-era God of Mischief into Loki and his approach to doing makeup on a production stuffed with special effects. He also shared which MCU stars have graced his chair and his advice for makeup departments looking for practical ways to de-center whiteness.

Loki's Makeup Evolution

CBR: One thing that I noticed -- which I'm excited to pick your brain about -- when we first see Loki, he has a really pale complexion. His hair is greasy. As he evolves, his skin gets a warmer look. Was that an intentional progression from when we first see him as a villain-ish and how he grows within the MCU?

Douglas Noe: Yes, that's a very astute observation. Of course, at the beginning of The Avengers, he's kind of a wreck, isn't he? And as he settles and normalizes, his pallor then indeed calms down. It was very nuanced. It was only a matter of maybe one or two shades difference, but you definitely caught something most people have not.

That was 10 years ago, but it was a very minor detail we decided would be important as the narrative and the dialogue and the intellect of that character evolved into the storyline. It became important to kind of mainstream and refine his appearance.

Since Loki kicks off from that earlier version of Loki, did you think about bringing any more of that paleness to his look? How did you decide on how you wanted to show him from Loki's time period/first episode?

Oh, that's a good question. The truth is, from the end of The Avengers also shot again in Avengers: Endgame, we change nothing.

We did exactly what we did on Endgame that we did for The Avengers. And in turn, that's how we started the Loki series. It was that that look from Endgame, which, of course, is the look from The Avengers. No alterations were made, other than -- and I can already tell we're not getting anything past you -- we did warm him up. We did bring some more flesh into him... The truth is, that was Tom's idea. I get it because it was an unspoken understanding between us that there's greater accessibility to Loki if he looks more like most people. Now, those are my words. Not his. But, he definitely wanted us to warm it up just a skosh.

How Loki's SFX Affected Its Makeup Design

With Loki, there's a ton of visual effects. With makeup, it's so dependent on lighting -- it can change everything. What was the biggest challenge about working on a show like this that has so many special effects being added in post?

What you just said, it's working on a show like this. Marvel gets it and they do it right. There's almost an aspect where we lean into these kinds of things. And we change nothing to take into account the constantly evolving and changing lighting effects. The approach was to keep everybody natural, or naturally beautiful. Whatever happened happened. [We] knew Marvel is going to give it the once over once it's all done. And if there was anything to address that did happen because of lighting, it would have happened in post.

But, to my knowledge, nothing was addressed. We just accepted that. At certain times, people would be pink because of the light. They would be blue because of the light or purple and we accepted that and didn't try to make any attempts to balance it or right it in any way. We leaned into it and accepted it made it part of the story. It was its own character, if you will.

Sylvie's Makeup Was Always Meant To Be "Natural"

Building off what you said about a natural look for Loki's actors, did you always know you wanted Sylvie's makeup to have a natural look?

Absolutely, absolutely. The approach there was less is more. We didn't want to bury her in beauty makeup. It would have been very easy to do, because Sophia Di Martino is gorgeous, of course. But, the idea was let's do just enough to keep her naturally beautiful.

Practical Ways To De-Center Whiteness In Makeup Rooms

You designed Hunter B-15's look, and you're well known in the industry for specializing in makeup palettes for people of color. Since you've been in the industry for so long, what are some practical things that people within the makeup department, or its heads, can do to make it less white-centered?

That's a great question. Get out of the way. You have room for everybody, especially with today's explosion of content. But I would say to those who are going to hold tightly that they may as well just squeeze it out of their hands, "Just understand color theory." And, have it in your head that if somebody wants someone to do their makeup that closer represents how they look, get out of the way. It really is that simple. As you said, I've made it a specialty, a rite of passage to learn the ins and outs of all color tones. For me, I bring that to the table, so I don't have to get out of the way; but I know enough to know when it is time.

I have an anecdote that relates. I just did the Netflix series [True Story] with Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes for eight episodes. And Tawny Newsome [who portrays Billie in the upcoming series] was our leading lady, a beautiful African American woman. I could have done a bang-up job, but that wasn't the right decision to make. She needed a female makeup artist because it was a modern beauty glam look we were going to do on her. Now I do get modern beauty glam very well, but I wanted somebody that would do it great. So I got out of the way.

What's one, nitty-gritty thing that helped in expanding your understanding of color theory? Any books or makeup brands?

Oh, well, I could talk about makeup brands all day long. But, again, go back to the color theory. Get a color wheel from an art store. If you don't know how to mix colors, how to make primary and secondary colors to get tertiary colors, get a color wheel and be a sponge. I'm, what, 36 years in this career? 31 in film. I've never stopped learning. I'm never closed off to garnering new info. And when I don't, again, I get out of my way. I'm not up to snuff on this contemporary modern book with the square eyebrows, so I hired somebody that was.

But, getting back to your point, there are so many books. I have countless books on this very topic. I would say, "Be patient, learn color theory. And accept that, especially now, we're in an era where you may just have to get out of the way. And let it be what the person in the chair wants it to be." Because, ultimately, that's who we're there for, the actors.

You've been working in Marvel's world for a long time. What's one Marvel character that you would love to do their makeup or prosthetics?

I've never thought about it because, to be honest with you, I feel like I won the lottery. When we started with doing Loki on The Avengers, we didn't know what was gonna happen. I'm trying to think, hmm. On Captain Marvel, I was doing Skrulls -- that was fun. I did some work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they had a couple of episodes with Kree.

They were so cool.

Right? I'm trying to think -- I did mention to somebody before that on The Avengers I was given the choice:  [Jeremy] Renner or [Mark] Ruffalo or this new guy called Tom Hiddleston. The makeup was described to me and I was told that Hulk was going to beat him up a little bit and we were going to do a little something-something and they asked, "What do you want to do?" And I said, "I want to do a little something-something." So, I landed with Tom.

I'd have to really think, "Who would I like?" I've done Lizzie Olsen's makeup for the Tom Hiddleston film I Saw the Light. I've done Idris Elba's makeup a couple of times for a couple of Marvel films, but also for a movie called Takers. And I worked with him on a movie called The Reaping. He's a gem, of course... I'm really happy with who sits in my chair at the beginning of every day on these things. I've never thought past that. I garner so much pleasure and we have so much joy together. I'm happy where I'm at... I'm happy with Loki. I love Loki.

Well, Loki is coming back for Season 2, so you never know who will pop in the chair.

I've heard we're coming back, but that's all I've heard. That's all I know. And that's truly wonderful for me because ignorance is bliss. Whatever they dream up, I'm always eager to jump in and be a part of it.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Hush" Monsters Were Hand-Painted

Digging way back into your history, you were once a makeup designer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is one of my favorite shows! What's one thing about that era of monster-makeup that you don't think gets enough credit for doing?

I always refer to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Buffy the Weekend Slayer because we would get off on Saturday morning as the sun was coming up and have to be back to work a couple of hours before the sun came up on Monday... What you see is what you get. You had to be on your game. We were real craftspeople back then and there was no margin for error. The words that go with CGI simply didn't exist in 1999. You really had to be on point with makeup.

I would say what's lost now is the notion that makeup always has to be perfect. We know now it doesn't have to be perfect because we can fix it in post. I think a lot of people would say that helps us, but I think it handicaps those of us that are able to deliver the product without a computer's touch.

I remember I did one of the gentlemen on Buffy's episode, "Hush." My boss, Todd McIntosh, was saying, "You got to do the back of the neck... You never know what's gonna happen. You have to make sure that the back of the neck has makeup on." And, sure enough, the camera goes by and they were supposed to leave the frame, but the camera follows them. We just had to be on point and I think now many artists who came into the business with CGI, don't understand what it's like to be grinding your teeth and clenching your fists on set, hoping it looks okay because there's nothing left to fix it for you.

#Douglas Noe #makeup #Loki #Tom Hiddleston

[magical-girl-hell]

A Fan-%#&#$-tastically Good Story

A Reading Guide to Marvel Comics’ Loki

This is an updated version of an old post that was getting a little unwieldy to edit. Same caveat as the original post: this isn’t every appearance of Loki in the last fifteen years, but it’s pretty dang close! I’ve tried to focus on trade paperbacks with the most commonly listed author, to make it easy for people to find them.

Part 1: 2007-2015

Thor by J. Michael Straczynski (volumes 1-3)

Thor, now king of Asgard and wielding the Odinforce, is returned from the void after Ragnarok. He decides to bring back the rest of the Asgardians and establish a new Asgard floating above Broxton, Oklahoma, but Loki has plans of his own –  or rather, her own.

There’s a lot in these, but particularly there’s a good amount of time devoted to Loki’s origin and how he came to be adopted by Odin. I highly recommend these! They’re quite good, and if you’re new to the Marvel Comics universe (if you’re coming from the cinematic universe, for example) it’ll give you a good idea of who the characters are and how they fit into this world.

Thor by Kieron Gillen (Complete Collection) and Siege by Brian Michael Bendis

With the help of Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers, Loki works to bring new Asgard crashing down – but the heroes bring chaos that not even Loki is prepared for.

Thor: The World Eaters by Matt Fraction

In the wake of the siege of Asgard, Thor misses his brother. Oh, and Galactus wants to eat Earth or something.

These are transitional, and there’s a lot less focus on Loki overall, but I still recommend them. Siege is a big Avengers crossover event, Gillen’s book and Siege contain the end of Old Loki, and World Eaters contains the beginning of Kid Loki. If you want to skip them, the next entry in this series will recap them.

Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen

The complete(ish) adventures of Kid Loki. The old Loki is dead and in his place is a new Loki: a child with no memories of his predecessor’s evil. But Asgard doesn’t trust him, and old Loki left behind plenty of schemes. Some crimes can never be forgiven.

If you want these in paperback and you can afford it, there is a pair of lovely and sadly out-of-print omnibus books, but for the rest of us peasants, there are five volumes to keep track of:

Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself

Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself Fallout

Journey Into Mystery: The Terrorism Myth

Journey Into Mystery: The Manchester Gods

The Mighty Thor / Journey Into Mystery: Everything Burns

Tie-ins:

The Mighty Thor by Matt Fraction (volumes 1-3) -- While Loki and Leah are doing their own thing in Journey into Mystery, Loki’s having some adventures with Thor on the side, as well. If you want to read about them, this is where to find them.

Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen

Loki schemes to manipulate a bunch of teenage superheroes into helping him regain his full power as the group is pursued across the multiverse by the sinister Mother: an extradimensional entity invisible to adults, who manifests as murderous doppelgangers of the teenagers’ parents.

At least digitally, these are available now as a single collection: Young Avengers by Gillen & Mckelvie: The Complete Collection (But one comic didn’t look that great so... enjoy the original three trade paperbacks -- the full collection has the same cover as the last volume, sans volume title.)

Tie-ins:

A+X 005 (collected in Marvel A+X TPB: Equals Awesome) -- Directly before the events of Young Avengers, Loki appears in issue 5 of Marvel’s one-shot crossover series A+X, in a teamup (of sorts) with Mister Sinister. I can’t find the trade paperback anywhere, but it’s just a one-shot side story and he only appears in the one issue, so unless you’re really invested in finding out the fate of Doom’s Loki clones from Siege or you want to read the rest of the Avengers/X-men teamups in the book, you can skip this.

Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing

Loki makes a deal with the All-Mother of Asgard: for every mission he takes on for them, they will strike one of old Loki’s crimes from the books. Since the old Loki was reborn when Thor called the Asgardians back from the void, he has been scheming and struggling against the vicious cycles of his past. Loki has done terrible things to become the god he is today -- and now he is determined to wrest back control of his destiny and write his own story at last.

Or die trying... again.

Original Sin: Thor & Loki -- The Tenth Realm by Jason Aaron and Al Ewing

Loki takes a break from dealing with the All-Mother’s missions to accompany Thor on a mission to the sealed-off tenth realm to find their long-lost sister.

These are available as a single complete collection digitally (Loki: Agent Of Asgard - The Complete Collection), and I highly recommend it, as it also contains the relevant parts of the elusive Marvel Now! Point One 001 one-shot prequel comic (without which, the beginning of Agent of Asgard is rather abrupt.) Otherwise, if you want the three original volumes, don’t skip Original Sin -- it’s not recapped in Agent of Asgard, and without it the transition from volume 1 to 2 is very confusing. Think of it as volume 1.5.

Tie-ins:

Ms. Marvel 012 (Collected in Ms. Marvel Vol. 3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson) -- (Takes place before Original Sin.) Loki makes some mischief in Kamala’s neighborhood -- and her love life! -- in the Valentine’s Day issue of Ms. Marvel. One-shot, can be safely skipped.

Avengers & X-Men: Axis by Rick Rumender -- The full Axis alignment-swap event. Relevant parts are included in the trade paperbacks for Agent of Asgard, but there’s more Loki content in the full event! It can be safely skipped.

Angela: Asgard’s Assassin (Collected in Angela: Asgard's Assassin Vol. 1: Priceless by Kieron Gillen) -- Loki has a brief part trying to help Thor hunt down their sisters when Angela steals Odin and Freyja’s new baby daughter, Laussa. Recommended if you liked Angela from Original Sin and/or if you’ve enjoyed the rest of Kieron Gillen’s work so far. If you’re just here for Loki, you can safely skip it, he ducks out of the adventure pretty early.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 007-008 (Collected in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 2: Squirrel You Know It’s True by Ryan North) -- Somewhere between the end of Axis and the end of Agent of Asgard, Loki helps Squirrel Girl trap Ratatoskr, the wicked squirrel-god of gossip – never mind that he’s kind of the one that let her out to begin with! While you can skip this one, I actually really recommend reading it unless you’re super not into SG. Loki gets a fair few more little teamups with her (including some that span multiple issues), Thors appear (in both Worthy and Unworthy flavors), and Ratatoskr stays relevant. It’s pretty easy to find single issues digitally if you don’t want the whole tbp. (Loki appears in the second half, in issue #8)

Honorable mention:

Thor and Loki: Blood Brothers by Robert Rodi and Esad Ribic -- In an alternate universe, Loki has waged war on Asgard and won, and now he must decide what to do with his new crown and his captured enemies. To secure victory for all time, all he must do now is execute Thor -- so why does he hesitate?

A heavy deep dive into Loki’s character, his past, and his relationships that, while not canon to the 616 comic universe, has greatly informed both the comics and cinematic adaptations of Loki. A piece of Loki history, and the source of a lot of common fanon.

-

I’ll link to part 2 when it’s finished. Until then, enjoy this updated guide!

I don’t know that I remember some of these well enough to give good content warnings for them, but I definitely remember Siege in particular having some brief but surprisingly extreme gore, so you might want to skip it if that’s gonna bother you. (And maybe World Eaters, if that contains the dream arc?) Tenth Realm and Asgard’s Assassin also both contain babies in mortal peril.

#marvel loki #marvel thor #marvel comics #reading guide #long post

[bestofblackwidow]

The "Let me go - it's okay," she told him the last time we saw the Black Widow, it was - to say the least - emotional. "Let me go - it's okay," she said to Hawkeye, plunging to her death on the arid planet Sleeping in Avengers: Endgame for the ultimate sacrifice to save the world. While the deaths in the Marvel Cinematic Universe go on - sorry, Iron Man - there was probably no more heart-stopping moment, since the former SHIELD spy who became Avenger gave her life to recover the Soul Stone.

Still, it left the MCU in a bind. For years, a Black Widow film had been mooted, right back to 2004 at Lions Gate Entertainment before the rights reverted to Marvel. When Scarlett Johansson first appeared as Natasha Romanoff - the former KGB assassin with a very particular set of skills - in 2010's Iron Man 2, it didn't take long before questions were asked about a solo outing. Marvel Studios conductor Kevin Feige even held discussions with Johansson, who was then only 25. But there was a caveat, he said. "The Avengers comes first."

While others - Thor, Captain America, Black Panther and even Ant-Man - had their moments in the spotlight, the Black Widow was forced to wait. And wait. And wait. Not that Johansson thought that her character demanded the same treatment; if she was going to be in front of a Marvel movie, there had to be a reason. "Is there anything exciting to do creatively, as an actor?" she says. “Will we be able to do something extraordinary and strong? And something that stands on its own? "It's what makes the independent Black Widow an intriguing prospect: an inauguration of Phase 4 of the MCU promises to step back in time before her dramatic death to answer the provocative questions that still hover over her Crucially, the script transports audiences back to the events right after Captain America: Civil War, after that huge internal confrontation of the Avengers.

Without relatives or an organization that employs her, the Black Widow is alone, says Johansson. "It gave us the opportunity to really show her when she's kind of out of her game, you know? Because of that, anything was possible." The actress was there "from the start" at the script meetings, as they began to figure out how to delve into Romanoff's origins. "You are trying to map all of this ... which is extremely stressful," she laughs, "because there are no guidelines."

Fortunately, Johansson was not alone. In another inspired choice for the MCU canon, Feige recruited Australian director Cate Shortland, best known for discreet dramas like Somersault and Lore. While she was surprised, Shortland was encouraged by the creative freedom that Marvel was offering. “They allowed me to be myself and encouraged me to make a movie that I was passionate about,” she says. "We were allowed to have a lot of nuances and make a character-oriented film."

After several Skype sessions with Johansson, who also receives producer credit, Shortland worked with a Russian researcher to embody Romanoff's dark story: "the red in my ledger", as she told Loki in 2012 in Os Avengers. As she sings in the trailer, "We have to go back to where it all started" - the promising teaser clips of Romanoff as a young man (played by Ever Anderson, daughter of Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich) in a childhood that seems far from idyllic. That's what makes Black Widow a family reunion of the kind that only Marvel would have the courage to conjure. Joining Romanoff is Yelena Belova, a sister-sister and fellow murderer who trained alongside her in the so-called Red Room, the punitive Soviet facility that produced 'Black Widow' spies.

"Their stories intersect," promises Shortland. "They clash." Played by Lady Macbeth's British star Florence Pugh, Belova is more than a physical match for Romanoff. Still, emotionally is where it really matters. "What Yelena does is kind of point to Natasha's pain," says Pugh. “She is part of Natasha's story. And I think that's why we have an opportunity to look at Natasha's story, because Yelena has been knocking on the door and says, 'Hey, let's deal with this pain. ”As Johansson comments, Belova is not just a carbon copy of his own character.

"She is completely alone. She is strong and different. She is so different (from) Natasha." Beside them are Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbor), two father figures whose own stories intertwine with Natasha and Yelena. "This is the coolest thing with this whole group of people. They all had parts of their past that they regretted," says Pugh. “They’re older. They’ve had more life experience. They know more about the system, about this world they’re all living in.” Harbor, the Emmy Stranger Things nominated star, managed to put an indelible mark on the muscular Shostakov, better known as the Red Guardian super soldier, the Russian equivalent of Captain America. "There is a gangster quality to him," the actor smiles. "And he's covered in tattoos. He's got a beard and those gold teeth. He's crazy." But after years of making bad decisions, he's also full of remorse.

"He's in a bad situation," adds Harbor. "And he needs redemption." Weisz's character, Melina, is another who experienced the rigors of the Red Room, a place that put her in contact with Natasha and Yelena. Marking his first dive at the MCU, Weisz acknowledges that the film addresses the idea of ​​discovering his favorite family. "It's definitely about finding out where you belong and where you came from, and what your background story was, and who you really are, and what matters to you - your ideology, I think." Along the way, Feige made reference to The Kids Are All Right - the 2010 Lisa Cholodenko film about a same-sex couple raising two teenagers. "Which is so weird," laughs Johansson. "You would never expect that from a Marvel movie." no it was the only strange nod to the film. Harbor speaks of Shostakov in terms of Philip Seymour Hoffman's drama teacher in the dramatic black comedy The Savages.

Or even expressing "the pathos of a small town, independent, family-run, weird movie... like Little Miss Sunshine". More understandable cinema references include "things like Logan and Aliens and The Fugitive," says Shortland. "We saw movies like that." Certainly, it's easy to see comparisons between Sigourney Weaver's determined Ripley, from James Cameron's masterpiece Aliens, and Johansson's Romanoff, an Avenger who has no superpowers. "We saw it as a force," says Shortland, "because she always has to dig really deep to get out of shit situations." According to the director, everyone in the production invested in deepening Romanoff - even Scottish composer Lorne Balfe (Pennyworth, His Dark Materials), who replaced Alexandre Desplat's original choice. Balfe looked at the character's origins, says Shortland. “He said, 'I want to put it on the ground, because it has been dug up in the movies in the past. I want to give her that flesh and blood. 'And he created this soundtrack that is really Russian."

However, perhaps the real blow here is to recruit Shortland, the first female director to face the Black Widow (and only the second, following Captain Marvel co-director Anna Boden, to enter the MCU). "This film would not be what it is without Cate Shortland," says Pugh. "I think having her eye, and having her mind with this script, has taken her to a whole different realm." Johansson agrees. "" You can feel it was made from a female perspective ... cooked there. "Although Ray Winstone's casting as Supervisor of the Red Room Dreykov (whose daughter contributed to the abundance of red in Romanoff's book, according to Loki) add more to the psychological battleground that the Black Widow will explore, it also deals with victimization, a very pertinent topic in the current climate. The Red Room itself is where trainees are brutally sterilized. "You will see that these women are hard working and strong, and they are murderers - and yet they still need to discuss how they were abused," says Pugh. "It is an incredibly powerful piece."

Judging by the 2020 Oscars, where Pugh and Johansson had their own private relationship session on the red carpet, the two actors got along very well. "She has a really beautiful career ahead of her ... she's a very special person," says Johansson, excited when Pugh's name is mentioned. More specifically, Pugh may well have more Marvel to chew on, if it is rumored that her character will take on the 'Black Widow' mantle for new adventures. By learning Parkour, kickboxing and knife fighting for role, Pugh can safely cut things physically, though she's reluctant to claim that the Black Widow is just a setup for future outings. "Even though it is obviously where everyone wants to go and want to think - think about what comes next - this film never really seemed to be what he was trying to underline." According to Johansson, however, test the audience who saw the film thinks otherwise. "Her character and her performance are so dear." Now, after more than a year of pandemic-related delays to July 2021), it will not be just a few lucky spectators who will be able to see. Black Widow will even be the first Marvel movie to debut simultaneously on the Disney+ streaming site (with a 'main hit' fee), an understandable move considering the uncertainty that still exists around the world. And in fact, after the success of the Marvel TV shows WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, it doesn't seem like such a strange home. Johansson believes that fans will respond to Black Widow, with this flashback of an earlier part of her life, bringing more poignancy to the Endgame's outcome. "Our goal was for them to be satisfied with this story; that maybe they could have some solution, I think, with the death of this character, in a way. It seemed like people wanted this." Shortland agrees. "We felt that we should honor his death," she says. And the Black Widow will surely honor him.

#blackwidow interview #totalfilm black widow #scarlett johansson interview #cate shortland blackwidow #scarlett johansson #florence pugh #david harbour #rachel weisz

[bulkyphrase]

Everybody & the Avengers Team

I've got a new fic rec list for you!

The stories in the "X & the Avengers Team" tags focus on one person's relationship to the Avengers team as a whole. Courtesy of AO3's tag browse and Excel, here's a ranked list of the top 20 most popular pairings:

Tony Stark | 2470 total, 240 OTP

Peter Parker | 2255 total, 85 OTP

Steve Rogers | 602 total, 56 OTP

Loki | 387 total, 26 OTP

Natasha Romanov | 308 total, 35 OTP

Clint Barton | 268 total, 46 OTP

Bruce Banner | 244 total, 15 OTP

Thor | 209 total, 7 OTP

Avengers Team | 174 total, 24 OTP

James "Bucky" Barnes | 156 total, 7 OTP

Wanda Maximoff | 143 total, 4 OTP

Phil Coulson | 105 total, 9 OTP

Darcy Lewis | 91 total, 6 OTP

Matt Murdock | 60 total, 8 OTP

Sam Wilson | 53 total, 5 OTP

Nick Fury | 41 total, 5 OTP

Harry Potter | 40 total, 0 OTP

Pepper Potts | 31 total, 1 OTP

Vision | 29 total, 2 OTP

Stiles Stilinski | 25 total, 0 OTP

In chart form, if you like charts:

Notes:

The numbers after the names are the number of stories tagged with that ship. OTP means the number of stories where that is the only relationship tagged on the story. Numbers are accurate as of July 2021.

Story Recommendations

For your reading pleasure, included below is at least one fic rec for each pairing except the crossovers from non-Marvel fandoms (apologies to Mr. Potter & Mr. Stilinski). Most are gen fic, and even in the ones with a romantic pairing, romance is not the focus.

Tony Stark

As Subtle As Cognitive Recalibration by petroltogo (Teen, 8949) tumblr: @tonystarktogo

Standing inside his penthouse, listening to Rogers, Barton and Banner explain to Fury how they just happened to stumble over the Tesseract on a routine security check of Stark Tower’s roof and wouldn’t you know, they’ve managed to fight off the looming alien invasion before it could really start and secure the missing overpowered nightlight is one of the most surreal situations Tony has ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Peter Parker

the worst field trip ever by shrill_fangirl_screaming (Teen, 3420) tumblr: @i-am-having-an-emotion

"We're on a field trip," Peter said. "To here. And Tony decided to be our tour guide and absolutely embarrass me, so can you please help get him under control?"

Which is how Peter Parker, architect of his own destruction, ended up with not one but two superhero pseudo-dads being annoying on his school field trip.

Steve Rogers

Do You Remember Being Happy? ('Cause I Sure Don't) by GalaxyThreads (Teen, 11022) tumblr: @galaxythreads

That seems about right. He doesn't know how he knows that, though. He does have vague memories of an annoyed fondness at finding peanut butter in some sort of jam. Thor's doing, because he doesn't see the point of using two knives when one works just as fine. He knows that. How does he know that? He knows all those little details, though, almost innately. How can he know these strangers so deeply?

Everyone else below the cut!

Loki

Proprietary by TheThirdMarauder (Teen, 7639)

No, Loki simply wants the Avengers conquered. The details of whom, how, and when matter not. Unless, of course, said details interfere with Loki's plans. Then, well, then none can fault him for protecting his own interests.

Loki has always been exceptionally good at lying to himself.

Natasha Romanov

What Girls Are Made Of by enigma731 (Teen, 4613) tumblr: @enigma731

She rolls her eyes but does as he’s indicated, using his shoulders to leverage herself up onto his back, her arms around his neck and her legs hugging his waist.

“You know,” he says blithely, “this isn’t really what I tend to picture when I think of a hot girl riding me.”

Natasha groans, deciding that if his sense of humor gets them arrested, she’ll kill him herself. “Just go.”

Clint Barton

Dear Clint Barton (circa age 7) by pollyrepeat (Teen, 4221)

With a normal person, this might count as blackmail material, but a) this is a case of mutually assured destruction if ever there was one, and b) Fury is immune to embarrassment. Not just in the regular, Tony Stark way, either, oh no. Things that could possibly end up being embarrassing to Fury get somehow warped and changed until they go from mortifying all the way over into useful and/or good for his image. It’s like a superpower.

Carrying Clint’s small child self around on his shoulders more than once has probably already hit the interagency rumour mill as an example of Fury’s innate awesomeness: good with rocket launchers and small children.

Also available as a podfic!

Bruce Banner

They're Not Wrong by Trumpeteer34 (Teen, 10163)

As Tony began to pace around the hole in the road to keep himself from shooting repulsors at the nearby buildings in a fit of rage, Thor began to study the nearby area. There was no sign of either the Hulk or Bruce Banner beyond the crater. The surrounding area, aside from the rubble of the fight, held no clue as to their friend’s location.

“Guys, he’s gone,” Tony growled into the communicator on their private line, drawing Thor out of his darkening thoughts. “Someone tranqed him and took him. He’s gone.”

Honorary mention goes to the Responsible Science series by @letteredlettered - the stories don’t have the "Avengers Team & Bruce Banner" tag, but they could, and they are amazing. The best Bruce Banner writing I've ever come across.

Thor

Fortunately, I Am Mighty by onward_came_the_meteors (General, 3062)

Steve was the first one to speak. “Are you okay?”

Thor nodded. Which was a bad idea, as it turned out, because now there were little gray lights flashing in front of his eyes. “I’m fine.” Absolutely everyone narrowed their eyes, and he added, “But, uh. Could we possibly not get back in the car just yet?”

Avengers Team

Civil Wasn't by onward_came_the_meteors (General, 7123)

"We're having an ideological conflict here," Tony stated with disbelief. "Are you telling me you still want to go out to dinner?"

"It's a standing engagement, Tony," Rhodey reminded him.

"Not you too—"

"We already had to reschedule from Friday when Natasha was..." Rhodey frowned. "What were you doing?"

The question was directed toward Natasha, who shrugged and said, "Spy stuff."

James "Bucky" Barnes

You Know How I Feel, aka, The Adventures of Bucky and Muffy the Dinosaur by ifeelbetter (Not Rated, 4511) tumblr: @ifeelbetterer

“As you may have heard, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier, recently rescued a tiny part-robot dinosaur during the Avengers’ battle with Dr. Doom in Antarctica,” the other newscaster explained. “Pictures of Barnes and the dinosaur were posted on twitter by fellow Avenger, Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, and immediately made Barnes’s new pet America’s sweetheart.”

“Her name’s Muffy,” said Steve."

Wanda Maximoff

and the woman was young again by Mira_Jade (General, 3669)

Tony Stark called them the Cap's Kooky Quintet, and sometimes the term amused her – causing her to lift a sardonic brow where someday a smile would truly smile. She enjoyed the presence of comrades – true comrades – and she enjoyed the way their minds wove and bound together about each other to fluctuate against her senses as one. There was something soothing about being in their midst, and even when their loud and brash ways – their painful Americaness - rubbed her raw and drained on her, it was ever the knitting of their minds that soothed those moments over, and made them inconsequential.

Phil Coulson

Coulson's First Day of School by storiesfortravellers (Teen, 3055)

Coulson looked up at him. “I like drawing pictures with Mr. Rogers. I like having tea parties with Ms. Potts. I like it when Dr. Banner reads me books, and I like it when Natasha teaches me things. And I like when you play with me. You do really good voices when we play action figures. And you’re the only one who lets me do stuff like jump off the high diving board at the pool or eat three cupcakes or play tackle with kids at the park.”

Clint didn’t realize that. He was pretty sure that meant that he was doing something wrong.

Darcy Lewis

Beginner Yoga for Dummies (Darcys) and Sad Hobos by chailover (Teen, 3434)

Darcy had a theory: crazy attracted crazy, working kind of like gravity. It was pretty much her explanation for her life after Thor. And if she had thought the type of crazy Thor attracted was bad, be it Loki or the Warrior Three and Sif, or the dark elves and the Convergence, it was still nothing against what the Avengers manage en masse.

Matt Murdock

Double Blind by smilebackwards (Teen, 2381) tumblr: @smilebackwards

Stark snaps his fingers. “You can’t see half of my inventions. This explains so much about you and why you’ve never been properly impressed by me.”

“Does it?” Matt says, ambiguously.

Sam Wilson

Bystander by scribblemetimbers (Teen, 52029)

“I just want you to know,” Sam says loudly, cautiously raising his hands, “That I’m very poor and very sleep-deprived and literally the only thing you can kill me for right now are my notes.” He pauses. Wait. On second thought: “Please don’t steal my notes.”

“I’m not—I’m not a mugger,” Not Mugger rasps out, and for all that he looks about to keel over and die, the man actually manages to sound offended.

Nick Fury

Bedtime Story by dixiehellcat (Teen, 2532) tumblr: @deehellcat

Fury snorted. “I have to check in with the duty officer. I’ll be back in, let’s say twenty minutes. I expect all of you to have whatever your pre-bedtime routines are completed, and be in here pajama’ed and ready to be read to.”

He tapped the book under his arm, then left with the usual dramatic swish of his long coat. Bruce scratched his head. “Did…he just say be ready to be read to?”

Pepper Potts

Pepper and the Avengers (Which She Knows Nothing About) by rebelmeg (General, 6696) tumblr: @rebelmeg

The Avengers, that mismatched group of hurt and heroism, was one of the most important things in Tony Stark’s life. So, naturally, Pepper had made them an important part of her life too.

Vision

039. Intoxicated by aimmyarrowshigh (Teen, 100) tumblr: @aimmyarrowshigh

It might be nice to fit in, just this once. To lose a bit of composure.

Vision floated over to the refrigerator and, with some timidity, pulled off a magnet. He stuck it to his forehead.

#marvel fic rec

[perfectlywisedelusions]

Loki: Theories For The TV Shows (I Think I Know Who The Main Villain Is?)

With the show Loki coming out in May, let’s look at what we know about it, and my personal theories.

1). I have absolutely no clue what the elevator buttons say. In the middle, though, the numbers FE3, 2WE, LK3, and 3FG form a pattern.

So FE3 and LK3 both go letter in the alphabet, previous letter, 3. 2WE and 3FG are reversed, going 3, letter, following letter. Obviously 2WE doesn’t follow this pattern. As the lone outlier with a 2 instead of 3, there is a solution. Replace the E with the letter in the middle, X, and it follows the pattern, assuming you then change the two to the three. I have no clue what this means, and it could just be a coincidence. 

2). Loki is not DB Cooper. In the trailer, we see Loki dressed as DB Cooper.

DB Cooper is infamous for holding a plane hostage with a bomb, getting $200,000 ransom, and then jumping out the back of a plane. Loki clearly imitates this, but he is not the DB Cooper in our timeline. Loki is clearly one to two rows from the back, but DB Cooper sat in the very back. We have to assume that Loki is imitating Cooper, not that he is him from this. (Either that or Marvel has some serious historical inaccuracies).

3). I may know who Sophia Di Martino is playing. This is a total theory, but it is speculated that she may play Lady Loki or some form of villain. I don’t think she is Lady Loki, but rather another villain from Loki’s past. In the canon YA novel titled Loki: Where Mischief Lies, we are introduced to Amora. She can use magic, like Loki, and is training to become the Royal Sorceress of Asgard, who is basically the most powerful magic-wielder on Asgard. She is exiled to the human world after some misdemeanors, where she is confronted by Loki and begins to nearly die after raising an army of the dead because she wants to take over Asgard. What is interesting is that she touches a magical amplifier which restores her strength, at least temporarily, before she flies off a train and vanishes. It is never established that she actually died, and her dead-army enchantment is still in effect after her “demise.” This leads me to the conclusion that Amora, who was to become the Royal Sorceress of Asgard, is the villainess being played by Sophia Di Martino. (the character in the trailer in the cloak who drops the lantern). Here are some pieces of evidence to support this theory.

1). Sophia Di Martino fits the age and description for Amora, and seems like she has the acting talent to pull off “crazed homicidal exiled Asgardian.” Her costume could also work with Amora’s character, as seen in the set photos.

2). Amora, as apprentice to become Royal Sorceress of Asgard, had access to items in the Asgardian vault, maybe even the Tesseract, which could grant her a time-hopping ability, or she could have found the Tesseract or other forms of time-travel while on Earth. She  “died” in 19th century Earth, and since Asgardians are immortal, could have spent 200 years trying to return home or change her fate.

3). Amora had the ability to see the future using various devices. She could have forseen her fate or Loki’s fate at some point, resulting in a decision for her to find ways to access or change the timeline.

4). It is never specified that Amora is dead.

5). The synopsis of the book is not on the official Marvel fan page, rather just the publisher’s description. This is suspicious, because it is a canon book and the descriptions of such things are almost always on fan pages. (cough cough Wookiepeedia cough cough)

6). Amora was kind of a “female” version of Loki in that they were both magic wielders, and she made him into the anti-hero we know today. Plus this would focus on Loki’s magical power, something that was glossed over in the movies and made comic book fans angry. The “female Loki” theory has been a long-standing one, and this would kind of tie in to that.

7). Amora was the one who convinced Loki to wear green, and we see the color green very heavily in the trailer.

8). Amora would make sense from a character standpoint. Because Loki has not undergone the majority of his redemption arc, he needs something to make him a more likable hero/anti-hero. Having his former love interest be the villain would be a good way to do that.

9). The author of the book is writing two more, one to be released in 2021 about “other anti-heroes.” Since the release date is most likely to be after the show airs, one of them could be about Amora and her journey through Earth, especially since the author hasn’t been able to talk about who the main characters are. 

10). This could also have ties to the Young Avengers, in which Amora appears as a teenager with magic. There could be a lot of different plot lines which allow her to come back.

My theory goes one of three ways in terms of main plot for the show. One is that Amora wants to kill Loki because he almost killed her and foiled her plans, and he has to escape her. The second is that Amora is wreaking havoc in the timeline, and that Loki, as a fellow Asgardian, has to track her down. The third is the most interesting, and I think the most likely. Amora and Loki team up to save Asgard before its destruction in Ragnarok, thus saving Loki’s life and allowing Amora to take over. (But Loki won’t let Amora take over) Along the way, they have to evade the TVA. This could also tie up to Thor: Love and Thunder, or any of the other MCU shows if there is blatant time-stream hopping. They could also change the timeline enough to result in some Thanos showdowns or any number of showdowns, which could be tied to other shows and/or movies. This would also be a fun adventure and definitely fit in with Loki’s character, allowing for double-crosses and trickery at every turn. It is also important to keep in mind the trailer only shows the first few episodes, as is pretty standard. Look at any of The Mandalorian trailers, and most events happen by episode 2-3, with one hook from a later episode. At any rate, I am looking forward to the show.

#loki #marvel #loki theories #marvel theories #disney plus #marvel tv shows #thor #theories #fan theories #tv theories #sophia di martino #tom hiddleston #mackenzie lee #loki where mischief lies

[shlabam]

TOP TEN COMICS BOOK VILLAINS WE PROBABLY WON’T SEE IN THE MOVIES

Superhero media is the hottest thing going right now. It was true ten years ago when the MCU was in its adolescence, and it’s even truer now. Even with film production on lockdown, Marvel and DC are still planning on literally dozens of their characters entering their respective cinematic universes. However, for the fans of the source material, things can be contentious. For every memorable Tony Stark quip, there’s Superman destroying an entire city because he’s, frankly, kind of dumb now. A major point of contention is how the various popular villains are utilized. Making an intimidating and potent villain in a comic book is very different than in a film. In comics, you have months to establish motive, powers, and backstory before the villain even makes their first move. In films, that all has to be compressed and spilled out in the scarce few minutes when Captain America and Bucky aren’t making bambi eyes at each other. To be concise, some villains adapt perfectly, and some, no matter how good they are in the comics, just don’t. And to be clear, this list is of popular villains who have the possibility of appearing in a big-budget film, so no, you won’t be seeing Ten Eyed Man or Big Wheel in there. Their powers are, respectively, having ten eyes, and being very good in business. (That’s a lie, he’s just a huge wheel who chases Spider-Man.)

10: Mr. Mxyzptlk:

Cool, let’s get this one out of the way. Despite being one of Superman’s oldest, longest-lasting, and most popular enemies from all the way back in the Golden Age, there’s no way in hell he will be in a movie. For the uninformed. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional wizard-genie who appears every ninety days to torment Superman with his reality-altering antics, and can only be sent back to his home dimension if Superman tricks him into saying his own name backwards. Yes, it would be very dazzling, as Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers in a movie would basically look like if Christopher Nolan directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but he’s a little too silly to fit in with the current “everything is gloomy and also a bummer” tone of the Superman films. This silly tone has lent itself perfectly to the Supergirl series, where he’s made a handful of appearances. Besides, if we get Mxyzptlk in a Superman movie before Brainiac, I’ll lose my entire freaking mind.

9: Hobgoblin:

There have been eight Spider-Man movies so far, and of those eight, four of them have, in some capacity, featured the Green Goblin. And that makes sense, right? The Green Goblin is easily Spider-Man’s most memorable and reoccurring nemesis, with Doctor Octopus and Venom close behind, and Peter Parker’s link with Norman and Harry Osbourn makes their tragic story perfect for film adaptation. On the other hand, we have the Hobgoblin, who is essentially Green Goblin with all the gimmicks, none of the Parker-adjacent backstory, and an orange and blue color scheme, likely tying him to the Denver Broncos [citation needed]. Still, in those four cinematic attempts at tackling the Goblin, none of them have quite gotten him right, and I can’t imagine this character, who is, even in canon, an intentional Green Goblin rip-off, would fare any better.

8: Starro:

Brave and the Bold #28 from 1960 featured the first story with the Justice League, and this story put them up against a very unique new villain: Starro the Conqueror, a giant telepathic starfish who can release tiny versions of himself. If these tiny starfish latch onto your head, you’re under his control and obey his commands. The Justice League have battled him fairly regularly over the last fifty years, and he’s a distinct and powerful enemy that the fans generally appreciate, leading to him being referenced occasionally in Smallville, Arrow, and Flash. Why won’t he ever be in a movie? Because if you’re a Hollywood producer, you stopped paying attention at “giant telepathic starfish”. Sorry. Maybe Shuma-Gorath will pop up in the next Doctor Strange movie, and he’ll set off a Twilight-esque wave of starfish monster movies! Then again, almost absolutely not.

7: Puppet Master:

Speaking of mind control, what’s scarier than that? For my money, nothing. Having your body and will taken away from you by an unseen force is a terror greater than death. How could you possibly make a villain based around such a chilling concept and have him not be scary? Well, maybe if it’s an old bald man in an apron playing with dolls. The Puppet Master is an ongoing threat for the Fantastic Four who is just that: he makes models of his foes out of radioactive clay, and makes them punch themselves and dance around and kiss each other, because he’s, y’know, a weird old man. Why is he such a consistent threat who hasn’t fallen into obscurity like other dumb gimmick-based villains? His stepdaughter, Alicia Masters, is the Thing’s longtime girlfriend. As long as she keeps appearing in movies (including being played by… Kerry Washington? That can’t be right), there’s always a chance he’ll pop up, but I don’t think any movie studio is that stupid, despite the quality of every Fantastic Four movie blatantly defying that prediction.

6: Bizarro:

Superman has always suffered in the villains department. When you’re essentially a god, what can they throw at you? As it turns out, Lex Luthor, almost always. But why not another Superman? Bizarro is essentially that, an imperfect clone of Superman who speaks in opposite speak - “Bizarro am good! Me not punch you until you live!” - and features the same abilities as the Man of Steel. Sounds great, right? Putting a hero against a villain with their same powers has worked for nearly every Marvel movie (shots fired). So why won’t we see him grace our silver screens any time soon? Because they’ve never really figured him out. Is he funny? Is he lethal? Does Kryptonite work on him? If he does everything the opposite of Superman, why does he wear clothes? Isn’t being naked the opposite of being clothed? Bizarro is a major Superman side-character and has made appearances in Smallville and Supergirl, but the idea of him being the Big Bad going toe-to-toe with Henry Cavill doesn’t sound like it would generate a lot of views.

5: Impossible Man:

You remember what I said about Mr. Mxyzptlk? Remember? So take that bit, but everywhere I say Superman, have it say Fantastic Four instead… yeah, that should do it.

4: The Wrecking Crew:

Thor has a unique quirk of having a very cinematic rogues gallery. Sure, most of the movies have pitted him against Loki, but if they were to run him up against the Enchantress, or the Absorbing Man, or Ulik the Troll, or Kurse, or even the Stone Men from Saturn, that’s not a bad movie! However, in one of the attempts to give Thor more of a mortal nemesis, they put him up against the Wrecker, who has an… enchanted… indestructible… crowbar. Yeah. Incredibly, the Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew have become very present characters throughout the Marvel Universe, essentially serving as “jobbers”, being rolled out to get beaten up by the new top hero or villain, but that may not work in a movie, where villains have to be seen as having some level of potency before being struck down. That means we’d need at least a short scene where it seems like Thor might lose to a guy whose power is “crowbar”, and that’s about as likely as an Edward Norton cameo in the next Avengers. Ho boy, they did NOT part on good terms!

3: Clayface:

When the movie-going public goes to see a Batman movie, they generally want something a bit more grounded than your typical superhero fare. After all, Batman has no powers, and therefore the most supernatural thing that should happen in these movies is a gas that makes you smile, or a different gas that makes you think your dead parents are back and disappointed in you. Might wanna put a mouth covering on that mask, Bruce! The one and only they’ve made a movie where Batman fights people with real, off-the-wall super powers (Batman and Robin), it did not go great. And those guys pale in comparison to Clayface, who is, yes, made of clay. In the comics and cartoons, Clayface looks awesome, turning his limbs into weapons and being very challenging to incapacitate, but in a live-action, realistic Batman adventure, we wouldn’t want to see the Dark Knight fight a poop-colored version of the T-1000, especially if it’s got the same chemical composition of a little dreidel that I made.

2: Red Hood:

A relative newcomer to the Batman universe, Red Hood is the revived body of Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was brutally killed by the Joker in one of the most controversial storylines DC Comics ever produced. Literally, fans called a 900 number to tell the writers to kill him off. A 900 number. That’s how much they hated the little turd. Anyway, Jason Todd, whom Batman and the rest of the world believed was dead, was revived by Ra’s al Ghul and became a ruthless villain. Since then, he’s gravitated more to the side of the hero, though one a bit more willing to spill blood than his mentors. Why won’t we see him in the darker, edgier Batman films? Because… that’s Bucky. It’s the same thing that happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Teen sidekick killed in controversial manner, revived by super villain to be a thorn in said hero’s side, later changes his mind and becomes a good guy again, though with enough PTSD to fill a PTSD super store. The two storylines even occurred in the comics in the same year, 2005, to much fanfare and across-the-board declarations of one company ripping off the other, reminding the world of the great Aquaman-Namor debates of the 1940s. Considering that DC’s films have criminally underperformed compared to Marvel’s, the last thing they want to do is be accused of lazy plagiarism, so Jason Todd will likely remain a permanent fixture in the afterlife, hanging out with Batman’s parents and, at the rate that people are coming back from the dead, literally no one else. (Plus, if they can’t even get Robin right, how are they gonna do this?)

1: Mister Sinister:

Yes, he was teased at the end of X-Men Apocalypse, but ignoring that the film underperformed both critically and commercially, Mister Sinister is never going to be in a movie. It would make sense for him to appear, though, right? He’s one of the most present and potent X-Men villains, he’s played crucial roles in many memorable storylines, he’s got a sick cape, but… something a lot of comic book fans tend to overlook is his murky backstory, powers, and motivations. He was a biologist in Victorian London who did genetic experiments on homeless people in the hopes of finding clues about the oncoming threat of mutants. In this time, he unearthed the long-dormant En Sabah Nur, whom you plebeians may know as Apocalypse, and Apocalypse gifted him with great abilities. What abilities you ask? HA HA, good question! At various times, Sinister has displayed: telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection, shape-shifting, regeneration, and teleportation, but these powers will mysteriously disappear whenever they want him to get sliced up real good by Wolverine. Additionally, it has never been made very clear what Sinister wants. Does he seek perfect mastery of the human genome? Does he live to torment Cyclops? Is he a blind follower of Apocalypse? Is he just running through all the different kinds of goatee? Of course, in adaptation, the writers would pick and choose the aspects they’d want to use, but I doubt they’d want to untangle the Christmas lights mess that is Mister Sinister, especially when they’ve got a perfectly good villain whose power is just “magnets”.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #232: And Now... Starfox!

June, 1983

“From Titan with love... Starfox!”

oh god no

Err. Anyway.

Last time on Avengers Z, the Avengers were bad enough dudes and lady dudes to rescue the president from wooden dopplegangers. The sinister and badly dressed Plantman (not to be confused with a Mega Man boss) summoned a giant-sized man-shaped swamp thing to battle the Avengers. They were doing a decent job fighting it when Starfox crashed his spaceship into it in his rush to join the Avengers.

And now, what happens after that.

Hawkeye is a terrible patient.

So also last time, a ceiling fell on Hawkeye’s leg and it be broke. He’s apparently the kind of dude who thinks its more manly to refuse anesthetic so She-Hulk has to literally pin him down long enough for Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake to cast it up.

And wow, that cast goes all the way up!

Where did you break your leg, Clint? At the sternum?

Actually this reminds me of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes because Hawkeye got his arm snaked and in-this-version-a-paramedic Jane Foster was asked to look at it but Hawkeye was similarly uncooperative there.

I wonder if that was an intentional reference or whether an accurate portrayal of Clint’s sparking personality just gets you there naturally.

But with the casting call done, Dr. Donald Blake makes to leave, making a point to mention how lucky that he was in town instead of in Chicago where he supposedly lives.

THUS Thor’s secret identity is secure forever.

Wasp and Captain America take Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake to the elevator to show him out but really, he just transforms back to Thor in the elevator.

Because Cap and Wasp already know his secret identity. As does Dra- oh wait, he’s dead. As does Iron Man.

In fact, after Cap mentions he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to seeing Dr. Donald Blake transform, Thor mentions very few mortals have ever seen the change.

Thor: “E’en Iron Man -- with whom I did share the secret of my dual life -- seldom watched me assume my godlike form. I believe it disturbed him.’

Wasp: “Uh-huh.”

Uh-huh is right. That’s a weird, random character beat! I wonder why it bothered Tony. Is it the god part? Transformation in general? Would it bother him to watch Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk? Or Captain Marvel/old broke version and Rick Jones chaaaaange places?

I’m intrigued. And yet there’s no further information. Hmm.

Anyway, the three founding or retroactively made a founding Avengers pass through two sets of ultra-security doors because obviously the thing in your base you most want to protect is your conference table.

Its got the cool, personalized chairs. Don’t judge.

As always, I wonder what symbols the other Avengers get.

Wasp delayed the resumption of the Avengers meeting (because it got interrupted by presidential ransom situation last issue) by a half hour because she wanted to run some things past Thor and Cap.

Wasp: “After all, we are the only core members on active duty and... well... I wanted to ask you both first... should I step down as Avengers chairwoman?”

Thor asks if she feels unduly burdened by the job but she says no, in fact it makes her feel so aliiiiiiiiiiive.

Cap: “Then stick with it, Jan! You’ve been doing a fine job! What on Earth made you even think of stepping down? Surely you don’t blame yourself for Iron Man leaving -- ?”

Surely in fact, she does do.

That weird call they got from an Iron Man quitting the team has shaken her. She probably thinks its because of Wasp dumping him. And in fairness, Tony ghosting the team happened not very long after that. But its not actually related.

Also apparently, Captain Marvel (the new cool one) was made a full active member and not an in-training to fill the vacancy Iron Man left. But now Hawkeye has gotten injured and there are no reserve members available.

Hercules is off doing him knows what. Beast is with the Defenders. Wonder Man is on the West Coast, presumably trying to make it in Hollywood. Vision and Scarlet Witch are trying to be civilians.

Wasp: “We used to have too many members around. Now we may not have enough!”

Yeah, ever since the roster shake-up that was soon followed by Hank’s No Good Very Bad Day, the Avengers have had a bit of a difficulty in keeping the team at good numbers.

Dammit, Hank!

Thor suggests, hey, we have Eros of Titan hanging around asking to be made a member. Why not... let him?

Thor: “Perhaps we should induct the brash Eros! He is swift -- and nearly as strong as an Asgardian!”

Cap: “Yes, but is he Avengers material? Does he have the proper training?”

Wasp: “Training! That’s it! We could try him out as an Avenger-in-training! It worked for Captain Marvel! She was almost totally unused to super-powers when she came to us, but she developed into a peach of an Avenger! With a little on-the-job training, I’ll bet Eros would fit in, too!”

So she calls the White House and asks if the president is back from his kidnapping yet. She has networking strings to pull.

And this honestly brightens her right up. Being group leader really does make her feel so aliiiiiiiiiiive. That and being able to call in favors from the government.

Twenty-six minutes of calling in favors later, Wasp reconvenes the meeting, this time with special guest Eros.

She asks why he wants to be an Avenger.

Eros: “Why not?”

This gives Hawkeye an anger and he bangs the table and also accidentally bangs his broken leg.

Eros decides to expand on his answer and says that he’s a lover of adventure and what better way to seek it than as an Avenger? He’s already aided them in the past so they already know of him.

Thor: “Aye! Against the threat of your mad brother, Thanos!”

Eros: “Too true. But I believe your brother Loki has also given the Avengers trouble hasn’t he?”

Wasp has to interrupt and tell the two to keep family matters out of the conversation. She makes a better moderator than some.

Eros: “You are quite right, Wasp! I hold no one -- god or man -- responsible for the actions of relatives! I seek but your fellowship! Indeed, I can think of no assemblage so appealing... so charming... anywhere in the cosmos!”

Wasp, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk seem to approve of this answer.

... WAIT ARE YOU USING YOUR CHARM POWERS ON THEM? EROOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!

Anyway, since Hawkeye is out of action-

Hawkeye: “What do you mean, ‘out of action’? Who says I am?”

Cap(tain America) says he is and tells him he can’t be expected to charge into action with his leg in a cast. Which Hawkeye sadly agrees.

Anyway, since Hawkeye is out of action, Wasp decides that the Avengers can accomodate Eros as an Avenger-in-training. But the government did have one condition for letting his alien man become an Avenger.

He needs a codename.

Wasp: “Frankly, the president was hesitant to approve of anyone named Eros. He would rather you were called something less provocative in public.”

Hey, fuck you, Reagan.

But Wasp has an idea.

Wasp: “You’re a pretty foxy guy... and you’ve been out among the stars... how about ‘Starfox!’”

Good god, Wasp. Did you really just name this man Spacehunk? You’ve gone mad with power.

Also, I jumped the gun last post. I didn’t realize that Wasp comes up with his codename here so I was using Starfox to refer to him already.

Also also, he has a fox emblem on his shirt. Why does he do that if he wasn’t Starfox yet? What does the fox represent in Titanian culture??

Eros: “Starfox? I don’t know... Is this necessary?”

Captain America: “Well, it could make things easier, and you’d still be Eros to your friends. After all, my real name isn’t Captain America!”

Eros: “It isn’t?”

Hah.

I adore that last exchange.

Imagine the incredulity in the tone. ‘I thought that Earth names were Just Like That.’

Anyway, Eros accepts the name Spacehunk Starfox and the position of in-training so Wasp decides to get him started right away.

Remember that thing with the president and the wood men? Happened like an hour ago?

Well, there’s a Navy task force tracking the submarine which was spotted escaping from the scene and they’ve requested Avengers help. But, eh, why send the whole team?

So Wasp sends Thor, Captain Marvel, and Starfox-in-training.

And in fairness! That’s a trio that can handle a whole heck of a lot with their respective powers!

So off they go.

Starfox: “Duty and glory, Thor! Songs shall be written about this day -- even if I must write them myself!”

You know. That’s actually a very good attitude to have. Eros will be the fanfiction he wants to see in the world.

With that issue handled, Cap(tain America) and Wasp head off to take care of some other business.

Leaving She-Hulk and Hawkeye with only each other as company.

Hah.

On their way to the mission, Captain Marvel zooms all around, practicing her cornering in flight. As a new superhero... like its been under a month, I think? Captain Marvel still thinks flying is the neatest thing.

And she’s right!

But she’s also discovered a new ability. Since her energy form is made of energy and she has control over energy. Instead of flying around as a vaguely her shaped glowing blur, she can concentrate to create a light image of herself, why not!

She has made herself harder to draw but easier to portray!

Thor: “Your radiance rivals that of the golden apples of immortality!”

Captain Marvel: “I’ll have to take your word for that!”

Hah.

She zooms over to where Starfox is flying. Captain Marvel has been eyeing him throughout the book, which Wasp has been assuming was because he’s a space hunk.

But maybe she just wanted to learn more about Captain Mar-Vell because that’s what she asks Starfox about.

Starfox: “He was a gentle warrior... a noble soul. He was a true hero... Worthy of rank and name!”

I guess the description or the sadness Starfox still has at Mar-Vell’s death makes Monica feel like shit, like maybe she isn’t worthy, so she zooms ahead to let the navy know the Avengers are on their way.

Starfox: “Have I offended her?”

Thor: “Eros, I begin to wonder if your reputation with the ladies is truly deserved.”

Hah.

But also: If you have magical fuck-me powers you don’t need to actually be charming, I guess? Dammit, Starfox!

Captain Marvel arrives on the deck of the navy task force flagship as a bolt of lighting (SHAZAM!), alarming the navy in two ways.

First, lightning. Its just so loud! But second, wait the Avengers only sent one person?

Captain Marvel goes nah I got Thor and Spacehunk but they’re slowpokes. Not moving the speed of light. Imagine.

Admiring Admiral: I don’t know who the redhead is, but I’d sail into Hades itself with Thor in my crew!

Its fun the insight we get into how respected and beloved Thor is. I don’t think that’s the case anymore with modern Thor. The marvel citenzry has just become jaded to the cool hammer man.

The admiral explains the situation. That they’re chasing the submarine seen in the area of the presidential ransom attempt. But its hiding in an undersea canyon that navy frogmen kero kero can’t reach and that its somehow been deflecting depth charges.

The admiral was going to wait for navy subs to arrive but hey, if the Avengers want to try, this is their book.

Meanwhile, in aforementioned sinister submarine, the horticultural horror... Plantman! Nah, just kidding. He’s a goofus and I will point and laugh.

His cool sub lets him pre-explode the depth charges before they reach his sub but even he doesn’t want to tangle with trident-class submarines so he wants to skedaddle. And if the navy is blocking his way, the navy gotta pay.

He activates his PLANT RAY which is a real thing, look it up, and energizes the kelp in the undersea canyon.

The kelp reaches up like a kraken, a kelpken, and starts trying to pull the navy ships under.

Thor: “‘Tis an attack by yet another form of plant! Our unknown foe has struck again! Stand you back... the son of Odin shall end this threat!”

And then Thor jumps into the ocean, leading a confused Starfox to ask whether Thor needs to breath.

Captain Marvel helpfully informs him and the audience that Thor can hold his breath for hours.

Thanks, Monica!

And then some kelp yanks Starfox and then Captain Marvel off the ship.

Meanwhile, a very expensive Manhattan apartment occupied by a grumpy Tony Stark.

Tony Stark: “Why waste good money getting a T.V. remote control fixed, when I can do it myself faster an’ better? Hah! When I’m done with it, it’ll do more’n change channels... it’ll walk the blasted dog!”

... Tony, how though?

And do you have a dog?

What is going on in your mind?

His remote repair reverie is interrupted by a binging and a bonging on his chamber door. Only this and nothing more.

He grouses about the interruption but HEY ITS HIS FAVORITE PEOPLE! Its Wasp and Captain America!

They’ve been stalking him, a little.

The pressing matters they had to attend to was running down a list of homes owned by Tony and searching them one by one to find him.

He’s happy to see them though and offers them some morning whiskey. Or bourbon. Or perhaps chocolate soda.

Look, I googled eyeopener and its booze you drink in the morning to wake up although I’m pretty sure its afternoon now and if you need to drink booze to wake up, you might want to consider limiting your intake actually. Especially for Tony Stark who had an entire story arc about alcoholism. Dammit Tony!

Wasp: “Eye-opener?! Tony Stark, where’s your mind? We’ve been worried sick about you! No one’s been able to find you for days on end -- you haven’t answered Avengers emergency calls -- and when you did call this morning it was to resign!”

Tony Stark: “Now jus’ hold yer horses! Maybe I have been outta touch... but I’ve had my own ‘mergencies to handle! An’ I didn’t call you this morning! I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

Iron Man: “He’s right! I’m the one who made that call!”

Imagine being someone who reads Avengers and not Iron Man. How blown would your mind be seeing Iron Man fly into a room Tony Stark is already in?

Somewhat, right? Somewhat.

Imagine being Captain America and Wasp and seeing Iron Man fly into a room where Tony Stark is when you know for sure that Iron Man and Tony Stark are the same guy.

Cap demands to know whats going on and who is in Tony’s armor.

Tony Stark: “Jus’ who he appears to be... Iron Man, my faithful armored companion and bodyguard... jus’ like it says in the Stark International press releases! Ya see, boys an’ girls, ol’ Uncle Tony has decided to quit the hero biz while he’s still ahead of the game! No more playin’ Iron Man for me! Nosirrebob! Time to let a younger man wear the boilerplate!”

Oh.... Tony.... if this only weren’t the perpetual superhero narrative, you might be able to bow out gracefully.

And its not like this is gracefully anyway. As indicated by the charmingly tousled look, the slurred speech and the morning drinking in the afternoon, Tony is quite drunk.

Wasp asks New Iron Man to confirm and he does. He clarifies that the reason he quit the Avengers is because he doesn’t feel experienced enough yet to hold his own on the team.

And apologizes for the confusion. The Iron Man helmet has voice modifying circuits so New Iron Man (secretly James Rhodes) sounded just like Old Iron Man (aka Tony Stark). He didn’t realize that the Avengers knew Tony’s secret so didn’t realize he’d just be creating an intriguing mystery prompting readers to check out the Iron Man book slash confuse the Avengers.

Tony Stark: “Yeah... I forgot to tell ya that Cap an’ the Wasp were in on the ol’ secret. Thor, too! Oh, well... no harm done!”

Then he drinks some more booze alcohol. Cap asks him doesn’t he think he’s had enough? And Tony is like hey no I don’t and don’t butt into my life kthx.

Wasp: “We don’t want to pry, Tony! We just don’t want to see you throw your life away... like Hank did.”

Tony Stark: “I am not Hank Pym, lady! I’m nothin’ like your ex-hubby! I don’t need your help -- an’ you don’t need mine! The Stark Foundation will pay the Avengers’ bills with or without me! So, if you’ll kindly get out of my life -- !”

Oof. Why does everyone Wasp dates turn out to be a jerk?

I assume she was just leaning into it the time she dated Havok. But otherwise, oof.

They really have no choice but to leave Tony to make his own bad decisions. At least he was responsible enough to get someone else in the Iron Man armor?

Geez though. Geez.

Hate seeing you like this, Tones.

Meanwhile, back in the Atlantic Ocean... Captain Marvel fairly casually assesses the situation of being dragged into the water.

Captain Marvel: “Never saw any kelp like this before! It grips tighter than an octopus, and it feels as tough as steel! I could just turn to some form of energy and slip out of it, but then it could grab some poor sailor!”

So instead she explodes, which she can do, shredding the kelp holding her.

Then off she goes to find how Starfox is faring.

He’s faring okay. Just casually punching some kelp like it ain’t no thing.

But since teamwork does make the dream work, she blasts the kelp for him. Starfox thanks her though also says that he could’ve kelped himself.

They discuss how they can hear each other perfectly well underwater thanks to SCIENCE! The science of water conducting sound. I find it a bit dubious but whatever. Not as dubious as the next bit.

Captain Marvel asks how Starfox is breathing underwater.

Starfox: “A thin shell of air clung to me as I was pulled under... due to the gravitic potential of my body, I suppose! It all relates to my flying abilities. I was surprised myself! This is the first time I’ve ever taken an ocean plunge!”

Fun way to discover that, huh!

Also, heck, how long does a thin shell of air last underwater? How shallowly do you breathe, man!?

-google- Huh, Wikipedia has this description of his powers using almost the exact words (although not the word order) from this scene. I feel that it does not come up much so this is the primary source.

It also says that he doesn’t need to breathe as much as a normal hooman. So that’s answered.

The two newest Avengers find Thor already has things well in hand freeing the propeller without need for any further kelp.

So all three Avengers surface (and Thor retrieves his helmet, which in a nice bit fell off when he dove into the water and just floated on the surface).

Thanks to ex-boat cop Monica Rambeau knowing navy semaphore, she recognizes the signal from the navy vessel that the enemy sub is making a run for it.

And since none of these three Avengers have trouble fighting underwater, Starfox suggests they give chase.

Plantman: “NO! Not the Avengers! Not again!”

Yes, again. Yes, always.

He shoots some anti-personnel torpedoes, hoping they’re enough to stop the Avengers.

“They’re not.”

Hah. I love when captions get sassy.

The Avengers soon are busting into the sub, breaking through bulkheads and coming for Plantman.

Plantman realizes that they’ll have him trapped in the control cabin in seconds. So he pulls the last resort lever that his silent partner told him to pull as a last resort.

Some manner of escape sphere forms around Plantman, launching him high into the stratosphere and capsizing the sub right on top of the Avengers.

I mean, they’re beefy. I’m sure they’ll be fine.

But no time to verify that, SCENE CHANGE.

Over on Central Park West, She-Hulk has carried Hawkeye all the way from Avengers’ Mansion to his apartment. On foot.

Dang! Mighty nice of her! Even Hawkeye points out that he could have gotten a cab.

(But do we believe that Hawkeye has money for a cab?)

After gently dumping Hawkeye on his couch, She-Hulk asks if he wants to have her stick around. She literally has nothing better to do today.

Hawkeye: “Will you get out of here and leave me alone!!”

She-Hulk huffs off in anger because this is a rude way to thank someone who helps you home.

Hawkeye even realizes that he shouldn’t have yelled “but I can’t stand to have anyone mother-hen me! Besides, I have things to do... important things!”

Yeah, Hawkeye does seem like the kind of guy who hates getting any help at all because men are self-reliant and junk. Toxic masculinityyyyyyy!

And the important things? I dunno! He calls his head of security workplace Cross Technological Enterprises and tells them to send a car for him.

That’s probably going to be a thing in another issue. God forbid it be a thing in another book. I’m not made of time. I’m still dreading West Coast Avengers where Hawkeye goes off and makes his own team. The jerk.

Okay, back to the plot.

Thor, Captain Marvel, and Starfox of course shake off a submarine imploding on their heads without much effort. Starfox is the most shaken by it. Guess the new guy isn’t used to submarine implosions lol.

Meanwhile, Plantman’s escape pod keeps escaping up, up, and away but mostly just up.

Then a prerecorded message from Plantman’s ‘silent partner’ and/or ‘mysterious benefactor’ plays.

Wizard: “Plant-Man! This is a recording. If you have been so stupid as to get yourself in a predicament where you needed to use the emergency handle, you are now hearing this message.”

“While I appreciated your aid in escaping prison, the equipment I gave you should be considered payment in full. I owe you nothing more than an explanation.”

“Thanks to my anti-gravity generators -- which you activated along with this module -- you will soon find yourself safely in orbit!”

Plantman: “In orbit!”

Wizard: “There, you will be of no further embarrassment to me or our ‘partnership’ as you so distastefully called it. You will be beyond harm... for as long as your oxygen holds out. Farewell!”

Oof. Ice cold.

Ice cold, the Wizard.

Captain Marvel phases through the pod floor to basically say the same thing.

Plantman begs her to save him from his own dumb decision making. She’s like huh look, I don’t really know about anti-gravity but I do have an idea.

Then she blows a hole in the side of the pod.

And the pressure difference blasts Plantman out of the pod, right through Captain Marvel who has turned into intangible energy.

Captain Marvel: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

HAH!

That was mean, Monica. I love it.

But as Plantman hurtles screaming toward the ground, Thor catches him and tells him to stop screaming beside.

Thor: “Cease your cowardly whining! The Avengers do not wantonly kill their foes... not even such as you!”

These days though... well... probably still not wantonly? Depending on how you define it? Maybe during War of Realms though. The kid gloves came off then.

Starfox is loving this by the way. The whole thing that just happened.

Starfox: “What grand sport! Yes, I think I’m going to enjoy being an Avenger!”

‘Ha ha we made that guy think he was going to die!’

Also, Plantman’s outfit looked green and purple in the sub. I guess it was the lighting because its just jolly green now. But its still a terrible outfit.

Meanwhile, back at Avengers’ mansion, Wasp is back from Tony Stark locating duty! She-Hulk is back from being angry at Hawkeye duty!

She-Hulk mentions that she took Hawkeye to his apartment and for a loudmouth, he has a really nice apartment.

She-Hulk: “I wish I could find a nice apartment, but I’m still getting lost in this town. I don’t know where to begin looking.”

Wasp: “Well, if you’re so set on getting a place of your own, why don’t I give you a hand?”

Wasp is going to fulfill her delayed promise to take She-Hulk apartment hunting! And hey, why not focus her efforts on a friend that will let her help?

So Wasp changes into street clothes (or since we see her shrink later, its more that she changed her Wasp outfit and put clothes over it, which is almost like getting dressed in street clothes) and takes Jen out on the town.

Apparently, the Daily Bugle has the largest section on rentals and real estate of any New York paper. I guess they need something aside from diatribes about Spider-Man to attract subscribers.

Ben Urich’s award winning investigative journalism can’t pay all the bills.

Because this is the same New York which frustrated Tigra, some idiot immediately starts hitting on She-Hulk at the newsstand.

Some idiot: “‘Ey, beeg mama! I love that green body paint! You need any help removing it? Huh?”

She-Hulk: “Stuff it, creep! Or better yet -- stuff you!”

And she puts the garbage man in the garbage can. Where he belongs. While Wasp literally looks the other way.

She-Hulk: “Sorry, Jan, I just don’t care for men with fresh mouths. This sort of thing would never happen in California.”

Wasp: “Oh, fer shure...”

That sounds like the polite way of saying ‘Doubt.’ Surely there are sexist jerks everywhere?

Sadly for the She-Hulk Apartment Hunt, her expectations are also a little LA centric. You’re just not going to find an affordable condo with a hot-tub in New York.

Wasp asks what She-Hulk has against the free rent at Avengers Mansion with its built-in sauna that they’ve apparently always had but never mentioned.

Avengers Mansion is real nice!

She-Hulk says she can’t get behind the idea of living where she works but as someone who works from home its actually highly recommended! Although, She-Hulk’s situation is more ‘firemen live in the firehouse’ so it lacks the ‘don’t have to wear pants to work’ aspect.

Then the apartment hunt is interrupted by an incoming crossover slash a stampede.

She-Hulk grabs a random panicking passerby out of the crowd and asks whats going on but he can’t give a good answer.

She-Hulk: “Hot dog! I was hoping something would happen to break up the monotony. So far, this afternoon has been a big, dull...” -THUD-

First, I love She-Hulk’s enthusiasm for punching.

Also, hey, who put thin air in She-Hulk’s way!

There’s some kind of invisible barrier right across the sidewalk.

She-Hulk instantly decides that the thing to do is to TEAR INTO THE PAVEMENT TO SEE HOW DEEP IT GOES.

Instead of, y’know, feeling to see how wide it stretches.

Wasp tries blasting thin air too but to no avail.

Despite She-Hulk reminding everyone that “at close range, your sting can knock down a wall!”

And when she really tries, a whole house.

She-Hulk: “Wasp... This is impossible! We’re Avengers! Nothing can stop us!”

Wasp: “She-Hulk... I’ve the strangest feeling it just did.”

And apparently: this is to be continued in THE ANNIHILATION GAMBIT! Which is a crossover with Fantastic Four!

Which means I actually need to pop over to an Avengers Annual first because despite running into the invisible wall (Sue, is that you?) the Avengers are doing stuff on the Moon before getting involved.

I dunno. I’ll see when I get to it.

And you will too! Provided you follow @essential-avengers​! Also maybe like and reblog? Who can say.

#avengers #Plantman #the Wasp #Captain America #Thor #Captain Marvel #Monica Rambeau #she hulk #Starfox #Iron Man #Tony Stark #James Rhodes #we learn whats going on with iron man #starfox has a good day #hawkeye is a rude #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging

[realityhelixcreates]

Lasabrjotr Chapter 69: Nice

Chapters: 69/?

Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: 

Relationships: Loki x Reader 

Characters: Loki (Marvel), Bucky (Marvel)

Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending (Canon-Divergent), Loki Has A Worse Time,

Summary:  You find yourself in an explosive situation. Loki figures some things out, and so do you.

You floated through nothing, bathed in sparkling blue light. Loki held your hand, pulled along behind you, staring into the azure cascade with gentle joy.

Forever forever forever

Til death do you part

The words pulsed inside you, so deep down that it was more like a feeling than a voice. What did it mean?

You knew you were going to be linked to Loki for the rest of your life. If he hadn't figured out how to sever that connection yet, he never would. But this beautiful light seemed to promise more.  More than your life. Adventure. Knowledge beyond your world. Power. Romance. The high and exciting life you had always dreamed of. Or safety. Love. Comfort. The stable and idyllic life that you really wanted. You could have it all, if you would just... Learn me learn me learn me “I'm trying.” You were. You had been. You were grasping your power. You were discovering your romance. Your love and comfort. You were gaining that knowledge, you had tasted adventure, and weren't sure that it was to your liking. Still seeking that safety and stability though. Perhaps it was holding your hand right now, gazing serenely into the light. Perhaps it was the light itself, bathing both of you in such glory. You stretched you arm out toward it. Closer. Closer. If you could just grasp it, you would have everything you ever wanted. If you could just understand it. If you could just learn it. But Loki was tugging your other hand now, slowing your progress. You looked back at him in confusion. His face, no longer suffused with contentment, now showed concern. He wanted you to stop. But you were so close now! So close...it was just right there! If you just...reached...a little further... He was pulling hard, like he did when he was trying to keep you out of the dream-void, but the void was no longer there. Now it was just the light. Your fingers just barely brushed its center. The light resolved itself into a brilliant sapphire blue crystal, rough but pure. It screamed for you, and Loki screamed for you, and with a final push, you closed your hand around the gem.

Knowledge flooded you. Light and power flooded you, more than you could ever hold. Your physical body disintegrated into light, and like a tiny Bifrost, you scattered across the universe.

                                                                               *****

You awoke screaming, flailing out of your bed, tearing at your blankets. Light filled your eyes, blinded you. You could feel runes marching up and down your body in blazing trails, like fire ants. It was too much!

Your brain pounded at your skull, too big to fit. The mark on your hand seared down to the bone. Too much!

Your whole body contorted with the overload of energy. Your stomach twisted and lurched.

Too much, too much, too much!

You shrieked again, and a pulse of magical energy burst from you. Everything in your room lifted, began flying around. Things crashed into the walls, through the walls, through the window. The door ripped from its hinges.

You heard Loki shout, heard Andsvarr's distressed cry, and more crashing, in the hallway and beyond. How far would it carry?

Loki appeared in your ruined doorway, just as your sight faded back in. His body coruscated with runes, both eyes blacked out, save for the bright glowing blue of his irises. Did you look like that right now?

But with the power released, your body relaxed, your stomach calmed. Finally, you collapsed, shivering, and Loki scooped you up into his scintillating arms, the runes already fading.

“I will go fetch a healer!” Andsvarr exclaimed, and rushed off down the hall. Loki carried you through the little library, past skewed shelves and fallen books, to his room, in which a dresser now rested on its side, a mirror toppled.

He lay you down on his bed, making sure to give you the pillow you preferred to use. He up-righted a chair and sat next to the bed, clasping your hand in his.

“Do you know what happened?” He asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I don't think so.” You said weakly. “Not injured at least. It hurt, but not now.”

“Do you remember anything?”

“Not really. A dream. Light. Flying. Trying to reach something and then...too much light, too much energy. Do you remember?”

“No.” He said quickly. “Don't worry about it right now. Just rest.”

Bjarkhild arrived, looking as if she had been hastily roused, and gave you a quick look over.

“There doesn't seem to be any damage to your body, though your mark looks freshly burned. I want you to see me tomorrow, so I might see it more clearly. You are suffering magic fatigue, but I think his Highness might be able to do something about that. Gently.” She said, giving Loki a stern glare. “She is in no shape for more...energetic activities.”

Loki looked away sharply. It might have just been the firelight, but his face looked red.

“I will care for her according to her needs.” He said with as much dignity as he could muster.

After Bjarkhild left, Loki crawled into bed with you, snuggling close with one arm around you protectively.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I will be. The fatigue always feels better when you're close.” You wished you had a better handle on it though.

“Yes. But...are you okay?” He asked again. You could see the worry not quite hidden behind his eyes.

“No. No, I really don't think I am. I don't feel right. I feel like I should be screaming right now, or something. Why aren't I screaming?”

“Because I am here to protect you.” Loki declared. “I'm here. I'm here forever.”

Forever forever forever

Til death do you part.

What did it mean? Half-remembered words and blue light.

“Are you upset about the giant too?” Loki asked.

“Of course I am! He was right there! And he tried to kill me! And then you killed him! Right in front of me!”

“Well, technically Thor killed him.” Loki began.

“I should feel worse than this. I could have tried talking to him, but I just jumped up on a table with my knife. What did I think he was gonna do? I should have done something else. I should be freaking out, but I'm not.”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that.” Loki said. “It seems to me that you are, but you are being less up front about it. Like one of your computers. A 'freak out' program running in the background, sucking up all of your processing power.”

“Loki, this isn't...you know, I want to say that this isn't a joke, but that's a good analogy? I'm so worried, I can't think. I'm scared it's going to happen again. That lady in the ice. We're going to dig her out, and then what? You have to know she's gonna hate us. Last she knew, we were the enemy. And what if that was her guy? What if he was the kids dad?”

“I have it on very good authority that he was not.” Loki assured you. “He left behind some information that let us know, at least vaguely, who they are. The child is, presumably from a noble family, and the woman, her caretaker. The woman might be a threat; she is still ten feet tall, after all. However, and I hate to put this so callously, she will soon see that she has little choice but to cooperate. There's not really anywhere else for her to go. As for the girl...no one will harm her. She's not a warrior, she's just an innocent child.”

“Yeah, but will everyone else see it that way...Loki?” His face had suddenly gone crimson, lips pressed tightly together. “What's wrong?”

“There is this curse.” He muttered. “It says that when you get to a certain age, you will find yourself opening your mouth, and your father will come out.”

“Yeah, we have that saying too. Why?”

“No reason.”

Right.

“But you understand, right? Why I feel like this about...feeling like this? I don't want this to become normal. I don't want to get used to this kind of thing.”

“Fear not.” Loki said soothingly. “There will be no more killing of Frost Giants, and hopefully no more Asgardian deaths while you live.” He pressed a kiss to your temple.

“But you understand?”

“I understand. Now rest.”

You were exhausted. You let yourself drift off to sleep, feeling just a tiny bit better about things. As long as he understood, it would be all right. As long as he understood.

                                                                         *****

“I just don't understand!” Loki complained into his phone. He sat, naked and dripping in front of the bathroom mirror, on a call with Barnes, the only human he believed to be capable of helping him comprehend the bizarre nuances of human cultures and relations. “She has seen death before. She has been in battle. She's defended herself. We're teaching her how to fight. But there is this resistance in her. She doesn't want to get better. She doesn't want to overcome this fear. It is part of my duties to help her face war with a still and steely heart, if need be. But she wants to remain soft.”

“Well yeah, that makes sense.” Barnes said from his end of the line. “Nobody likes war.”

“A single glance at your species' history shows that to be a lie.”

“Yeah, okay, we do fight a lot. But nobody actually wants to go to war. Well, except the people who make money off it, but they aren't the ones actually going into battle. No one else likes it. Why do you think we invented so many machines for it?”

“So you do it all the time, but you hate it?” Loki tried to reason out. “Then why do it so much?”

“Because a lot of us are greedy SOB's who don't give a shit about anyone else, and those are the kinds of people who usually grab up leadership positions. But for someone like her, peace is the ideal. For her, getting used to violence means she can more easily perpetuate it, and she wouldn't want that.”

“She wouldn't want to slay her enemies swiftly and cleanly, so that she can go back to peacetimes?”

“No, she wouldn't see it that way. To her, the act of killing would end peace forever, because that act would just stay with her forever.”

Loki paused for a moment, rolling this over in his head. The contradictory nature of humans. You'd punched him before; when you were afraid. Had you felt guilty when you had done that? Was it normal behavior for you, or a product of everything you had been through?

“Look, I know it doesn't make sense. But we're different than you guys. Our brains, I mean. We're really not supposed to be doing this. It messes us up pretty bad. And you can't forget that she's seen some pretty terrible things, too. I mean, you and I were soldiers. Well, sorta. Weren't you?”

“In a way.” Loki said. “Asgard was in a state of relative peace through most of my life, but we did muster to the defense of our protectorates fairly regularly. As soon as I was old enough, I was sent with our warriors to direct them, and fight alongside them. I wasn't rank and file, but I've led armies, and I've been in battles.”

“Yeah, well she hasn't. Your experiences and hers are extremely different. This isn't something she was brought up to, so it's not surprising that it repulses her.”

“So...I should be preserving her pacifist nature.” Loki said slowly. “Rather than encouraging her to move past it?”

“Maybe. Maybe that's what she wants.”

“But I want to keep her safe. She's already been exposed to so much danger. And this is a time of upheaval for us; there will only be more.”

“And I'm not saying to make her stop learning how to defend herself, I'm just saying to be sympathetic. She's culturally different than you. She's going to react differently to things than you do, and this is a big difference between you. Don't just brush it off.”

“Right.” Peace was the ideal, violence was an abhorrent last resort, and compassion was a precious treasure. Even if you struggled with them sometimes, these were important facets of your being.

“Got that straightened out, your Highness? Can I go back to bed now?”

“Er, yes. Thank you for this.”

After they had said their goodbyes, Loki remained in front of the mirror. There were some other things to think about. He held out his hand, the Space Stone, wrapped in its icy containment, sat in his palm. Blue spread down his arm, over his body. This was the only use of his native Jotun magic that he currently employed, and it 'revealed' him whenever he held the frozen sphere for more than a moment.

“Just what are you up to?” Loki mused.

Why should the Stone be appearing in your dreams? Was it the source of the blue light that was so often featured in them? Did that mean it had been there all along? Why?

The possibility shed a new and disturbing light on some of the events of those dreams. How you sometimes seemed to be listening-even responding to-a voice he could not hear. How you sometimes brought physical objects out of those dreams of far away places. The dust and dried leaf from Titan, the snow from Jotunheim. As if you had in some way actually been there. Maybe you had. But how? And again, why?

And most worrisome, was it actually possible for you to free the stone from its containment, through dreams, and bring it back out into the world, out of his possession? Was that what it had been trying to do?

But you couldn't handle it. In the dream, you had shattered into beams of light. He hadn't wanted to tell you.

Did it want freedom? The stone was not...often... malignant. It seemed to enjoy being used. It liked to make things, to empower things. Was it bored?

Perhaps he ought to take it to work on the Bifrost a bit more often.

He heard a choked off gasp from the bath chamber door, turned just in time to see you retreat. Heard you run down the hall and out of his quarters entirely.

Well, that was familiar. But it wasn't as if you hadn't seen him naked in the bath before, so why-

Blue light, blue stone, blue skin, blue him!

You had seen.

#lasabrjotr #loki (marvel) #loki x reader

[sserpente]

Book review: “LOKI - Where Mischief lies”

Alright, my lovelies. I read it. I read this marvellous book called “LOKI – Where Mischief Lies” by Mackenzi Lee and I loved every single page. It made me cry and scream and gasp and squeal, and I have to talk about it with you guys. Before you read on, beware of spoilers though.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I thought that reading this novel was like reading a fanfiction. When Odin banished Amora to Earth in Chapter 6, I swear to Loki, it was exactly like a fanfiction I once read.

There is so much canon information to work with. Seriously; that was my first thought. This novel confirmed Loki is pansexual because on Asgard, just like we thought, it doesn’t matter whom you love as long as you’re being genuine about it. And Loki is genderfluid. Canonically now. He literally said ”I don’t change my gender. I exist as both.” and the fact that in the novel, he is not willing to accept the concept of being feminine as a man or masculine as a woman being allegedly bad within society, or that certain things like painting your nails and wearing high shoes is something only the female gender should do, is prodigious. Guys. Loki painted his nails black when he was young. I’m in love.

This novel gave us such a perfect insight as to what Loki was like when he was young. The novel takes places roughly two centuries before the first Thor movie (as Odin declares Thor would become his heir in the end) and it proved singlehandedly that Loki (surprise surprise) was never evil has always been misunderstood. It literally states that Thor’s “warrior friends” (e.g. Fandral, Volstagg and Sif, etc.) didn’t want anything to do with him and that out of the two, Thor was the spineless one for the most part. I mean… blaming Loki alone for their failure in Alfheim? Buh, you whore. And Odin… well, Odin has always been a jerk but that’s been canon for a while anyway.

And then all the little details! The concept of there being little to no magic on Earth and your powers being drained from you if you spend too much time there is fascinating and it raises a particularly important question—with Asgard destroyed, what will Loki do? But then again, he has the Tesseract. He can go anywhere he pleases.

Did you notice Mackenzi mentioned more than once that Loki never freezes? That the amount of that blackout powder Theo had to use on him to render him unconscious when he arrived on Earth was strong enough to knock out a Frost Giant?

Oh and now we know that up until the 19th century, at the very least, Loki didn’t know who Shakespeare was. He didn’t know what dogs are, he’s a sweet tooth (though we already knew that thanks to the Junior Novelisation of Thor Ragnarok) and he likes coffee! For some peculiar reason, I’ve always wondered if Loki would like the black brew. He’d either love or loathe it. Now I’m glad I finally know the answer.

Back when he was young, Loki was pretty shy when in love. He did not dare kiss Amora for a long time and rest assured I screamed when he asked her. Loki was soft. He didn’t understand why the nine realms were so against him and why there is “something about him that makes people not trust him”. I dare say that the softness which we see glimpses of in the first Thor movie is not gone. Loki is still soft, especially when in love. I do think he is more farouche now, though. More dominant and hence even more restrained than he already was. Amora ceased to be Loki’s true friend when she turned hysterical and tried to kill him for her own benefit. As for Theo… he had already made up his mind about Loki when he read the myths which Loki wasn’t even aware of until he grabbed that book himself but at least Theo came round. Oh and Loki did like him. Because of his past, which this novel confirms, I think it’d be hard for him to believe that somebody would truly accept, like or love him just the way he is and I love how this plays right into my own Imagines which I’ve written in the past.

Anyway, my personal theory is that Amora is not truly dead. She was swept away by the force of the strong airflow more dead than alive when she let go (writing this I realised Loki attempted the same kind of suicide Amora did… oh my God…) but I highly doubt she died. Mind you she was strong enough to destroy the Godseye Mirror with Loki and drew life force from humans to survive on Earth. What does that mean? Could she possibly make an appearance in the Loki series? In the next novel? At this point, anything is possible. And what about Theo? I remember Loki’s “This day, the next, a hundred years, it’s nothing. It’s a heartbeat. You’ll never be ready.” Loki lied to him because he had to. He couldn’t have brought him to Asgard if he wanted to and he also couldn’t stay on Midgard with him. He knew it’d be so damn hard for him, an Asgardian (since he didn’t know he was a Frost Giant) and a human to be in love. Loki knew that when he told Thor to say goodbye in TDW. Odin would not have allowed Theo on Asgard, especially not if Loki asked. He even compared Thor’s (ex-)girlfriend Jane to a goat when he brought her.

So what did Theo do after? If you read the book, you’ll know that Loki discussed the SHARP Society’s name with him and Loki… Loki suggested SHIELD. I mean…?! Did Loki influence the foundation of SHIELD? Is that what Theo did with his life after Loki had gone?

Last but not least, Odin’s and Loki’s conversation at the end broke my heart. I thought having to witness Odin telling Loki that his birth right was to die was bad but apparently, there is worse:

“The only truth with which you need concern yourself,” Odin said, “is that any man who sticks his hand into a fire will be burned. You have disappointed me greatly today, my son.”

“As opposed to what, exactly?” The vehemence of his own voice surprised him. Before he knew what he was doing, before he had truly considered it, he mounted the stairs and walked up to the throne, uninvited, and faced his father. “You have never given me a reason to believe you were anything but disappointed with me since the day I was born.”

Odin shook his head. “You do not give me reason to show you anything but that.”

“I have done terrible things, but you let me be nothing but those things. Tell me, Father, do you think me evil? Do you think me monstrous?” He spread his arms. “Did you need a villain and I was available? Someone to make Thor look prettier than he is so that when you give him the throne, everyone will be willing to overlook the thousands he’s slaughtered in the name of peace and Asgard?”

“Enough!” Odin roared, […].

I was a sobbing mess. Now tell me if Loki ever had a choice not to be selfish. Who else is going to think about him, consider his opinion and take care of him if he doesn’t do it himself? That he decides to “become the witch and know everything”? And in spite of it all… I am soft for how much he still loves his brother. Mind you, the (actually deleted) scene from the first Thor movie in which Loki tells Thor that he’s looked forward to this day as long as he had, is yet to come. “My brother. My friend. Sometimes I’m envious… but never doubt I love you.” or what he told the Warriors Three after his banishment: “I love Thor more dearly than any of you but you know what he is.” Yes, he led some Frost Giants the way into Asgard to “protect the realm from his idiotic rule for a while longer” (thank God he did, Loki was right, Asgard would have drowned in chaos—not Loki’s kind of chaos but bad chaos) but I don’t doubt the sincerity of his words to Thor before his almost-coronation.

Yet to come is also the revelation that he’s a Frost Giant, for him to find out why he never stood a chance against Odin’s constant disappointment. I should have known from the beginning it was him who took the Norn Stones. For himself. Loki is so relatable it physically hurts.

He didn’t just snap when his whole world fell apart that day. This novel proved that it was only the tip of the iceberg; like a tiny pebble removed from a mountain made of rocks, causing it to collapse.

I am definitely going to read this novel again. It’s incredibly inspiring for Imagines (I’ve already got a pretty angsty Imagine planned based on Loki’s adventures and I’ll make sure to work that in between all the Halloween requests I received) and I am desperate for more details. Mackenzi has to write the next one ASAP.

#loki: where mischief lies #loki where mischief lies #mackenzi lee #loki #marvel #mcu #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #tom hiddleston #book review #thor #the avengers

[alienspawnwrites]

Laying Hands: Chapter 8

Read on AO3

A Complete Party

Before long, the two of them had returned to their separate reading. Althea marveled at the speed with which Loki was devouring the tome in his hands, emphasized by the crisp sound of the ancient pages turning every few seconds.

Stealing a move from his playbook, she addressed him without looking up from her text. “Either you’re reading a picture book or you’re the fastest reader I’ve ever seen,” she said light-heartedly.

“The latter,” he replied simply. “Though I admit I’m rather familiar with this volume. I’ve read it many times.”

“What’s it about?” Althea set her copy of The Count of Monte Cristo aside, enticed by the opportunity to learn more about the enigmatic god.

“Candlemaking.”

Althea looked at him blankly, taken by surprise. “…really? And that’s… that’s something you’re into, then?”

Loki lowered the book, his expression a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

“Do I look like someone who makes candles in their spare time?”

Althea answered with an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders. “How would I know? Why would you keep rereading a book about making candles if you’re not interested?”

Loki tensed, the amusement falling from his face. “I… wasn’t able to bring many Asgardian texts with me. My selection is a little limited as a result.”

Althea peered past Loki to the wall of stuffed bookshelves behind him. “There are plenty of books here. I’m sure you could find something a little more entertaining than a book about wax.”

“Midgardian books,” he scoffed. “I’m not interested in what passes for literature on this backward planet.” He had, in actuality, dipped into Stark’s impressive library many times, even finding a few pieces that he quite enjoyed, but he refused to admit that to her. Better to keep her, like everyone else, at arm's length, he reasoned. And since she neither feared nor hated him like the rest of her race, he would just have to rely on his signature air of superiority.

“You are so…. pompous,” she said, shaking her head.

Loki expected her expression to match her harsh words but found she was smiling, shaking her head.

“Here.” She stuck her copy of The Count of Monte Cristo out for him. She still had a few chapters left in the novel, but she figured she’d get it back soon enough - it wouldn’t take Loki long to get through the French work. “You’ll like this,” she insisted, extending it out a little further.

Loki hesitantly reached out to take the book from her hand. He held it gingerly, sneering as though it were made from refuse. “And what is this about?”

“Oh the usual,” she feigned, “adventure, love…”

Loki rolled his eyes dramatically.

“…betrayal, prison breaks, deceit, vengeance, some murder,” she continued, awaiting his reaction.

Loki’s eyebrows raised. Althea figured the darker themes would appeal to him.

Loki studied the cover with an appraising look. “I suppose I could give it a try.” He sounded reluctant, but quickly cracked the cover and began reading.

Her reading material now firmly occupying Loki’s attention, Althea decided to fix herself a snack. The perpetually stocked fridge made the task equal parts easy and challenging and she found herself trying to choose amongst the ample selection for a few minutes. When she finally emerged, the ingredients for a simple salad in hand, she caught Loki making his exit.

“Still wordlessly fleeing rooms, then?”, Althea called out after him.

“It’s about to become a little crowded for my taste,” he replied, neither turning around nor pausing his stride.

Althea watched him go, realizing that the two of them had, essentially, just spent the day together. She’d even go so far as to call it a nice day together. Sure, Loki had been snarky and more than a little haughty, but she was proud of her ability to keep up with him. She’d even caught him off-guard a few times, though he’d be loath to admit it. As she assembled her salad she pondered what book she would recommend to the other-worldly prince next.

From a young age, her parents had encouraged her penchant for reading, often pushing her towards more and more difficult works. She had been steadily making her way through ‘the classics’ with their guidance. “You have to start with the classics,” her mother had told her. “You can learn just about anything about the world through them.”

“Plus, you’ll have a leg up in school. Easier to write a book report on something you’ve already read,” her father had added, always the more practical of the two.

It was one of the few concrete memories she had left of her parents. Althea tried to push the nostalgic recollection aside. If she didn’t think about them, then she didn’t have to think about their demise. She focused instead on adding just the right number of croutons to the bed of greens in front of her.

She’d only taken a few bites when she heard the Quinjet landing behind her, signaling the return of Steve Rogers and the rest. She turned to greet them as they made their way back inside.

“You do realize there are other rooms in this place,” quipped Tony immediately heading to the bar to fix himself a drink. “This building’s got 93 floors and you’ve got clearance for oh, 20 of them? You don’t have to spend all your time here, you know.”

“I like the view,” she mumbled through a mouthful of spinach, shrugging. She swallowed before continuing. I like reading in the window seats. Not much else for me to do.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll have to do something about that,” Tony said, throwing a meaningful look towards Steve and Natasha in turn.

“You and my brother have that in common,” Thor said, smiling. Althea wondered if he was referring to reading by the window or having nothing else to do.

“I know,” she told him, stabbing another forkful of greens and chasing a rather evasive crouton around the bowl. “I actually got him to read a book from Earth: The Count of Monte Cristo,” she boasted.

“Huh. Good choice. That’ll appeal to the whole ‘victim complex’ deal he’s got going on,” Tony commended.

“Stark…” Thor warned. It was endearing, the way he stood up for his brother, even against Stark’s throwaway jokes.

“Actually, I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten to that one yet,” Tony continued, unperturbed.

“…what?” Althea looked at him, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“That guy’s a voracious reader. Goes through about three books a day sometimes,” Nat chimed in as she passed Althea to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

“Loki said he only read books from Asgard,” Althea persisted. “He said our literature was below him.”

“That arrogant little shit,” Tony cursed, rolling his eyes. “He’s read just about every book in the place.”

“One time I watched him read all of Lord of the Rings in one sitting. He even read The Silmarillion,” Bruce interjected, his expression one of exaggerated disbelief. “Who does that?”

“That arrogant little shit,” Althea echoed. Still, she smiled to herself. Loki could pretend he held nothing but disdain for humans, but now she knew better. She looked forward to calling him out on his lie.

“We’ve got more important things to discuss than Loki’s reading habits,” Steve reminded them dutifully.

“Right, yeah.” Tony looked at Althea, his playful demeanor gone. “So kid, you’ve been staying with us for a while now. We finally know why Hydra was interested in you and you’re not a secret from SHIELD anymore. Really, there’s no longer a reason for us to keep you here.”

Althea felt the blood drain from her face. Before accidentally healing Loki and revealing her ability to the rest of the Avengers, she had been afraid they would continue Hydra’s experimentations. When the team had left this morning, she’d been worried that they’d hand her over to yet another shadowy organization. She’d never considered that they’d simply turn her out, leave her to her own devices in the world, abandon her. It was suddenly harder to breathe. She didn’t know anyone outside this tower. She was otherwise entirely alone. How would she get by? What would she do?

“Jesus, Tony, you couldn’t think of a better way to phrase that?”, scolded Natasha.

“What Tony means to say,” Steve shot the billionaire an exasperated look, “is that you don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. No one’s kicking you out, but you’re free to go if you want.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” Althea said defeatedly. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I could, of course, help you out there,” Tony told her flippantly. “Set you up with a place, some scratch, even a job. You could live the rest of your life in comfortable obscurity, free from the troubles of the world.” He paused then, letting the idea sink in. “Or, and here’s an interesting idea, you could join us. This party could use a cleric.”

“A what?” Thor and Steve posed the question in unison. Off to the side, Bruce snorted. Natasha rolled her eyes.

“A cleric… you know, a healer? We’ve got just about every other class spoken for. Cap’s our fighter. Nat’s a monk and Clint’s a ranger. Banner is clearly the barbarian, that one’s so obvious it’s not even funny. We even have a paladin with Thor bringing his god power into the mix, and I’m clearly a rogue. A cleric would really round out the gang.”“Eh, you’re more of an artificer, Tony,” Bruce cut in, now openly chuckling.

“Fair enough. I’m an artificer with roguish good looks.”

“Will someone tell me what in the world he’s going on about?”, Steve asked, exhausted by the conversation’s left turn.

“Dungeons and Dragons, old-timer,” a nonplussed Tony answered.

“I have fought many dragons and even I am confused,” said Thor.

“It’s a kind of roleplaying game. Every player has a different class and skills to… wait, you’ve fought dragons? Like, actual, fire-breathing dragons?” Bruce stared at Thor in amazement.

Before Thor could launch into another boastful tale, Tony cut him off. “My point is, we could use someone like you on the team, Thea. So what do you say? Want to be an Avenger?”

All eyes turned to Althea. She stood frozen on the spot, eyes wide and jaw slack. For a moment it looked like she wouldn’t respond. Finally, she spoke. “You want me to join you? To… to fight crime and save the world and stuff?” Her voice was breathy in her disbelief.

“Only if you want to,” assured Steve, stepping forward. “It’s entirely up to you. I won't lie to you, it's a dangerous job. No one would blame you for saying no, but we think you’d be a good addition to the team.”

Althea focused on him, finding his warmth and confidence comforting. “I don’t know the first thing about fighting.”

“You don’t have to do any fighting,” Steve answered, “but it sure would be nice to have someone like you around in case someone gets hurt.”

“You’re like the Swiss Army medic, kid,” Tony added.

Natasha moved to stand beside Steve. Her expression was softer than any Althea had ever seen her wear. “I know healing others causes you pain, and I know you’ve had enough pain for a lifetime. But I also know you want to help people. This could be your opportunity; your chance to use that power for good.” The two women looked at each other, a silent understanding passing between them. Althea knew very little about Natasha or her past, but she was starting to realize the two might have more in common than she’d guessed.

“You don’t have to decide now,” Steve began. “You can-“

“I’ll do it,” Althea cut him off. “I want to help, anyway I can.”

#loki #loki fanfic #loki fic #loki (marvel) #loki x oc #loki x ofc #loki x original female character #slow burn #slow build #avengers #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic #romance #marvel #MCU fic #mcu #angst

[thelostnymphaeum]

I'm with you 'til the end of the line.

Entry: 004

// Cinema //

Marvel Cinematic Universe

MARVEL MANIA

Superhero movies were not my thing. The only superhero movie I have watched as a kid was Spiderman. I am not into sci-fi or superhero movies albeit being a huge fan of cinema. But during this quarantine, I decided to experiment with my taste and try to indulge in a new set of genre – the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These movies were a far cry from films that are to my liking, such as “Brooklyn” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. I used to find superhero movies corny or cheesy, because they were not based on real people and I fancy movies that tackle the inner spectrum of humanity. Additionally, I used to think that actors who choose to be in these movies are not “real actors” because portraying a superhero does not really seem to me as a role where you have to internalize the character. I was probably the only person in my class who did not cry when someone said “I love you, 3000” after the Endgame came out, and the only one who did not get the “Wakanda forever” reference. That changed because yester night, I finally finished the entire MCU. I came in with a viewing guide from my friends and I came out feeling like I just had a whole cultural experience.

THE AVENGERS

I like all of them. Except maybe the Captains. I don’t like Captain America. I understand that he’s supposed to be the poster boy of “superheroes” where he’s all righteous, courageous, virtuous and kind to everyone – but that does not seem realistic at all. His character just seemed predictable and bland for me. Maybe that’s why I prefer Tony Stark, he is more dimensional. He is someone who is unapologetic, makes mistakes, smart, arrogant; but his heart will always come from a good place. During battles, it’s always Tony Stark who is thinking of ways to end them (like how to diffuse Ultron at Sokovia) so I feel as if it’s him that should be leading them. Captain America only lead them because he was born in 1918 (just kidding, don’t eat me Steve Rogers stans).  He also looks way too good. It’s unreal. What a knucklehead (Loki will agree with me on this). Jk. Anyways, he earned plus points from me when he returned the infinity stones successfully. As for Captain Marvel, I don’t think I need to explain why I find her insufferable. 

A little piece about Spiderman. I like this reboot of Spiderman, and Tom Holland deserves all the hype he got because he worked so hard for his movies. No one can beat Tobey Maguire of course, but we are all just glad that Tom did not ruin Spiderman for us. The only thing I did not like about his reboot was that he relied too much on Mr. Stark. Tobey’s Spiderman never relied on anyone, he was just his own superhero. But for the sake of integrating him into the MCU, I guess that they have make this fun and fresh Peter Parker juvenile in order to be able to develop his character more. So I think I’ll give it a pass.

I personally like the Thor films the best. Because it was based on Norse mythology. Because of Loki. Because Anthony Hopkins is in it. I dislike the Captain Marvel movie the most.

ENDGAME THOUGHTS. We did not need Captain Marvel. Thor did not deserve to become a drunkard and a greasehead – he’s a freaking Norse God! Why was Pepper Potts at the final battle against Thanos? Thank you, Doctor Strange. Tony was genuinely and undeniably- the heart of the Avengers.

SCORSESE, COPPOLA & PEWDIEPIE

Along with its colossal popularity, the MCU movies have also acquired prominent detractors. Prior to watching the entire MCU, I would have probably agreed with Scorsese, Coppola and Felix (here is his “controversial” video on “I don’t like Marvel movies”).

“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” – Martin Scorsese

"Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema. He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is." – Francis Ford Coppola

Parts of it are true, on the basis where the entire plot lines are predictable and it’s not the kind of cinema I learned to love as well. Marvel movies usually follow the same backbone. This is a huge reason why some cinephiles don’t like them, because the mystery is gone and it’s all obvious. After watching all of them in a 3-week streak, I could pretty much sum up the Marvel movie plot line into this:

The protagonist is in a helpless or vulnerable position.

The protagonist meets someone who can help them.

The protagonist works hard to get to his pre-final form and along with it, learns to fight in the name of eradicating the bad guys. 

The protagonist finds out that her/his master is not all-good.

Chaos but then they forgive and understand the master.

2-3 battle fights, the last one is usually the peak battle where we see the protagonist in final form.

I like movies that tackle more about realism. I like seeing actors play roles that depict humanity as humans. I’m not a huge fan of special effects or super powers either. When Scorsese said that they are “not cinema”,  I understood it because there are no intricacies or space for a different form of expression when you’re doing mega franchise films that are meant to sell to the general public. Which brings me to another point, that MCU is largely a business profit. These movies are made by mega corporations in the film industry, and it might also hinder other smaller filmmakers from showing their films if a titanic franchise is showing on the same week as theirs. Comic book fans are enormous in numbers which is why there is such a huge following for these movies even if they use the same plot lines all throughout. Humans are slaves for nostalgia, and people like to see the characters they have read and admired during their childhood come to life. Because of that, these corporations will try to capitalize on that and make more movies for as long as they can, and in a sense, you can see that they might be doing it only for the sake of money and not of art any longer. This is what the disparagers would say; that there is very little artistic values to these films because they are made to be sold, not appreciated for its artistry. 

“Many of our grandfathers thought all gangster movies were the same, often calling them “despicable”. Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same. I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, “I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!” Superheroes are simply today’s gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers. Some superhero films are awful, some are beautiful. Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses. And that’s okay.” – James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Director

Here’s my two cents on this whole hullabaloo. Art is expressed in different ways. Just because something is popular does not mean that you should hate it or feel as if it lacks creative value. For one, I think that if the Norsemen would see the Thor films, their jaws would drop. Art in these movies is seen through the elaborate special effects and costumes. A lot of people work behind the scenes to make this kind of art form. They are not any less of an artist. The effects are wonderful, amazing and beautiful. Sure, they don’t have meandering plot lines or mysteries that are meant to make you think. But they are able to show art in a way that is along with the times, showing the capabilities of what computer generated imagery could be. It gives us the fantasy that otherwise would not be achievable in real life (for all I care, my favorite scenes are seeing Spiderman glide across the buildings of New York).

These movies are intended for children and teenagers (adults are there for the sake of nostalgia or lighthearted entertainment, I guess?). For kids, it inspires them that they can be anything they want to be. For teenagers, it might be a good footing for their moral compasses. For me, it just inspired me to get fit (hehe). My point is, these movies are made to cater to a particular type of audience, and the others are there just for the spectacle. If all the movies were Scorsese or Coppola, what would the kids watch in the theaters? Kids would not understand “Taxi Driver” nor would be a good foundation for their morals. It was a classic and it deserves the reputation it has, but after only a certain age will you be able to appreciate it, and only if you had a particular knack for appreciating films. MCU movies are made for people who just want to have a good time; you don’t have to like high-brow or art-house movies to understand it, and that’s all there is to it. It’s made for entertainment, what’s so wrong with that?

And the actors – a lot of them played the characters so well which made me realize that taking on a superhero role does not lessen your credibility as an actor. My particular favorites are Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. (bonus points for Anthony Hopkins, his range, man, his range). They were able to bring their roles to life in such a distinct way that it would be hard to never associate them as superheroes, which of course, is a double-edged sword. As a starting actor, that could be a bubble that is hard to get out of. For example, Tom Holland as Spiderman; people will always associate him as that, and how many of you has actually seen the movies he has done aside from MCU? It might be hard for him to bridge his career from being a huge franchise film protagonist into doing films to his own preference. MCU movies make the popularity and the money; indie films – not as much. 

I don’t think that the existence of MCU is throwing away the spotlight from smaller filmmakers. Because back then, I simply chose not to see MCU movies because I was not interested. People will find ways to support art that they like, and just because MCU existed, it did not hinder me from looking for movies that I like. The cinema is made by individuals who like to create movies. There are different ways to express them. There are different subscribers to different genres. To each their own. But then again, I am not working in the film industry, so I can’t speak for them, I can only say what it’s like for a movie buff like me.

These are the movies that make up people’s childhood. These are characters that gives reason for people to bond together. When Tony died, the entire world felt like they lost a father. If it’s able to touch lives as much as any other film, why should we discriminate against it? Love is love, after all.

#Marvel #Marvel Cinematic Universe #Martin Scorsese #Francis Ford Coppola #James Gunn #Pewdiepie #Movies #Cinema #Film #Iron Man #Captain America #Black Widow #Thor #Loki #Hawkeye #Spiderman #Vision #Wanda #Black Panther #Doctor Strange #Hulk #Guardians of the Galaxy #Starlord #Gamora #Rocket #Groot #Nebula #Drax #Mantis #Ant-man

[striving-artist]

Conclusions (Mute!Tony)

Ok, folks. The delay in getting this posted is because my day job was obnoxious before this presentation. But. Guess. What. I’m publishing a book in five days! Five! That’s so few days! Barely any days!

It’s about magic and adventures and coping with mental health issues, and following hope through the darkness and the reality of making painful choices. And I am absolutely GIDDY about the fact that you can Pre-order it Here!

And by Giddy, I actually mean anxious. So to distract myself, I am posting the first chapter of the follow up to the Mute!Tony fic. 

Its going to hurt like crazy, like always, but there is a sweet, kind ending at the end of it all. 

******

Officially, it was a party to celebrate the Avengers absolutely destroying Doom that morning. 

Four thousand bots attacked Detroit, and there were zero civilian deaths. Even injuries were minimal; cuts and scrapes, sprained ankles and wrists, a gentleman who fell on the stairs and cracked his ribs, and three moderate concussions. It was a good day. A great one. They deserved to celebrate, and it was a great excuse.

But all of them knew the party was for Iron Man. 

For Tony Stark. 

For a man that lost his voice and lost himself, and found his way back to them even though they’d failed a hundred ways as they tried to reach him. 

So. 

Naturally.

The room was bright and happy, the Avengers shared smiles they refused to explain as Tony flitted from group to group, telling stories, chatting, and gossiping. Rambling. Babbling. His smile alone could have lit up the room, but twinkling red and gold bulbs strung haphazardly from the ceiling made him laugh every time he saw them, and that sound dialed the space even brighter. 

Steve and Nat tailed him, not unlike the way dogs around a family member that was gone for a few weeks - half thrilled, half terrified they’d vanish again.

Bruce talked to Helen Cho about her latest research as they drank some fizzy concoction that Clint had invented and given a Doctor Doom themed name. 

Thor and Sam were trading soldier stories as they played pool. 

Clint was at the bar with Hill and Rhodey and Pepper, making increasingly silly drinks for everyone. 

It was perfect. A big happy family, celebrating their happily ever after. 

Jarvis was probably taking pictures and B-roll shots for the press team to show how friendly and approachable and human the Avengers were. 

Tony cracked up as Steve blushed over whatever Nat said, and every group paused what they were doing to smile towards him. It was impossible not to. They loved him, and they’d messed up, and they didn’t deserve him, but they’d gotten him back again. Of course they’d smile and breathe deeper every time they heard proof he was so carefree and healed. 

It really was perfect. 

Like a promo photo. 

Four months after Tony returned to them, everyone was happy again. 

Bucky slipped out through the stairwell before he could ruin it. 

***

It wasn’t a light switch. 

It didn’t change all at once, but the burden he’d carried since Tony got on the jet eased when he heard the man speak in the kitchen. Too fragile to risk, Bucky didn’t ruin the moment by blurting out anything that needed a reply. He let Tony hold onto his hand, marvelling that he was back, and shook with the relief of him coming back at all. 

The others came later. 

An hour and a little bit more. 

That’s how long Bucky sat with Tony in the kitchen, drinking coffee, skipping his morning run. After so long spent without speech between them, he didn’t know how to talk to him. He didn’t know how to say that he’d spent every day thinking about him, and hoping he’d come back. He didn’t know how to tell him that, in his loneliest, most hopeful moments, he had dreamed of having with Tony. It would be too much to put on him so soon, so Bucky kept quiet, like they always were together, and savored the time they had. 

The Avengers came in search of coffee that morning, and found their missing teammate. 

Tony shivered when he heard Steve tromping down the hall, and Buck watched him glue a smile to his face. 

“Sweet T,” Bucky whispered, “It’s gonna be okay.”

Tony nodded, pulling his hand away and rising to meet the Captain.

Jokes were cracked in awkward voices, and Tony threw them right back, visibly forcing the discomfort to dissipate. The team arrived in drips, and Tony talked to all of them, quieter than he’d been maybe, but he talked. One by one, as they arrived, he picked up pieces of the man he’d been, like a jacket he’d left behind. 

Tony’s return threw off everyone’s morning routine. No one minded. By the time they were ordering lunch, Steve bumped into Bucky’s side and said how nice it was to see Tony happy again. How great it was that he was joking and laughing. How good it would be to have him back to himself.

Something in Bucky’s stomach clenched. 

That was the start of it. 

But he didn’t know it then.

 ***

Recovery wasn’t linear. 

No one on the team was immune to trauma, and none of them expected Tony to come back with bells on, exactly as he’d been before it all fell apart. None of them expected him to improve steadily and without backsliding. They understood.

There were bad days. 

Really bad days. 

There were days when Tony could barely handle the sound of his own breathing. There were days when Bucky watched the man sabotage his own recovery, and wanted to shout at him. There were days when he did. 

There were days when the team set him off, and Tony went silent and walked out of the room. The voice simulator was active in all the suits, and the video systems were always on standby in the lab. They all knew sign now, which was helpful when Tony was so far gone that he didn’t notice he’d slipped back to non-verbal.

Those days were the outliers though, and a month after Tony came back to the Tower, they were decreasing.

Not gone, though.

When the team was too much, when speech was too much, when the bluster and bombast of Tony Stark’s mask was too much, Tony would retreat to his lab, and Bucky would follow. They didn’t talk, but Bucky got to sit at the table, and read on his tablet, and watch as Tony worked beside him. Watch as science loosened the grip that his anxiety had on him, and watch as, beat by beat, Tony would start bouncing in time with the music. 

Jarvis kept it loud enough that even when Tony slipped and mumbled a few words, he wasn’t sent into a spiral by hearing himself. 

Bucky declined the earplugs he was offered, accepting the painfully loud music as fair payment for getting to hear the little murmurs Tony didn’t mean to make. Slowly, Tony would lean into Bucky’s space, until he had his hip pressed against Bucky’s thigh as he worked. One time, he’d dozed off leaning into Bucky’s shoulder.

It was a system, and it helped. 

Six, or eight or maybe twenty hours later, without warning, Tony would cut the music, gesture the screens closed and start yelling to Jarvis that they needed food. Until then, it was Bucky and Tony, like they’d been for so many months. 

Those bad days became special for Bucky, because they were the only chance he got to spend time alone with Tony anymore.  

He loved them. 

He hated himself for loving them. 

***

Mission-oriented. 

That was Natasha’s joking descriptor of him. 

Really, it was hard to contest that. Bucky had always been at his best when he had a clear goal. Get Steve out of the alley. Make enough for rent. Follow the lieutenant. Follow the Captain. Assassinate the target. The rest of the world went quiet when he was on a mission. He didn’t get lost down dark paths, because too much of his mind was eaten up by the goal he was pursuing. 

When he had something to do, he was better. 

That was the only reason he got so happy when Tony fell to pieces. 

It gave him something he could do that had an obvious intention and goal. 

Not because he wanted Tony hurting. 

***

“Vanished early tonight, Sweet T.” Bucky said softly as he walked into the lab. Tony looked up, abruptly guilty and tense. “S’not a problem Tony, I just wanted to check on you.”

“It got, ah. loud.”

“Usually does when Thor brings out the mead or whatever that stuff is.”

“Steve’s...”

“Making up for lost time or something. Yeah. Tiny bastard woulda died if he had a drink and now the giant bastard can’t get drunk on anything else. Him and Nat were going shot for shot. Him on the mead, and Nat with her vodka.”

“Yeah, so: work.”

“Doll.”

Bucky hadn’t wanted to believe the team last year when they told him to give Tony some space. He thought they meant literally and was convinced they were idiots. Tony was desperate for contact back then. But they were right in their way. Tony couldn’t let anyone close while he was silent. Not in any way that mattered. He could have sat in Bucky’s lap, and still kept himself at arm’s length in all the ways that counted. The team told him not to push closer to Tony. Bucky ignored them, tried to force the issue, and everything went to shit. 

Of course, if he’d done exactly what they’d said, Tony would have never made the progress he had. More likely than not, Tony--and Rhodey with him--would have died during that mess with the Mandarin. 

“Steve.”

“What?” Bucky asked, startled from his mental wandering. 

“Steve. And Thor. They get loud. Got loud.”

There it was. 

It shouldn’t have made Bucky smile so widely to hear how Tony’s voice wobbled on the admission, but it marked progress, and that meant the world. 

“Got it.” Bucky answered, voice as even as he could. He left the air quiet, open if Tony wanted to expand on it, but didn’t push. Steve and Thor had been rambunctious. Like a couple of toddlers that got into a barrel of soda and a case of cookies. They’d been carousing and swaying as Thor taught Steve a drinking song from Asgard. Clint joined in. Then Sam. Steve bellowed about it being a team event. 

By the time Thor had finished the song about Loki and a horse that Bucky was hoping he’d misunderstood, Tony had vanished. 

Made sense, in retrospect. 

Should have made sense at the time, but even half a year into working with Tony, it was too easy to slip. 

But today was better than a month ago. 

Today, Tony admitted something set him off, even if he couldn’t talk in detail about what it was. Today, Tony took a deep breath from his refuge against Bucky’s chest, and mumbled, “Next episode?”

“Sure thing, Sugar. J?”

“Of Course, Sirs.”

***

Five weeks after Tony came back, Natasha and Steve conceded their mutually losing battle, and stepped out together. Dating. That was the modern word for it. A couple. And like all couples did, they spent most of their time with each other.

It was…. Good.

They’d fallen into each other while Tony was falling apart.

While their friend was alone in Scandinavia, while they had no proof of his health or safety except for Jarvis’ word, while their friend tried to recover from the way the team had so utterly failed him, they found time to build a romance. Sure, they waited until Tony came back before they owned up to it, but it had started before then.

Gingerly loosening his crushing grip, Bucky left the remnants of his phone in his jacket pocket and grinned broadly at his best friend. Steve’s nervousness vanished, and after a long hug, they pulled back for their usual insults and teasing. 

“All those nice dames I set you up with, and here you are with a Black Widow? Oh Stevie, where did I go wrong?”

“Jerk. Don’t let her hear you talking like that, Nat doesn’t need an excuse to remind either of us that we’re pushing a hundred.”

Bucky leered, “Maybe I want her to use her signature move on me.”

Another shove, but Steve was blushing like only an Irish boy could. Then he paused, and turned serious, “You’re not, uh, upset about it? I know you’re still rec--”

“Yeah yeah, I’m a real delicate flower, Stevie. You think I can’t get by without you around all the time to keep me entertained? Go on and get Nat and go on your date. I can watch four hours of How It’s Made on my own, you know.”

Steve went, awkward and excited, like he’d always been before any of their double dates before the war, and Bucky watched, confident for once that the dame wouldn’t duck out after half an hour. He should have had that all his life, not just after he got big. He shouldn’t have had to wait for a new century or a woman like Natalia Romanova. 

It was good. 

The team was healing with each other. As Tony went longer and longer between his bad days, it was like the team was healing with him. 

Bucky set the shattered phone on the counter, aware that Jarvis would order a replacement, and retreated to Tony’s lab and a night alone. Tony was at some business meeting with Pepper.  Now that Steve had admitted where he kept going, there’d be more nights like this one. Dum-e greeted him from his charging station with a bee-woop and bob of his claw. Bucky waved and sank into the couch. 

Healing was good. Recovery was good. 

Tentative steps came first, sure, but they’d get stronger, more confident. 

Steve would finally have a relationship with someone that could keep up with him. Someone as tough as him. Someone who would fight him and push him and love him. 

Tony would retake the world, the team would get back to better than before, and it was good. 

***

It wasn’t love. 

It couldn’t be. 

Love was something built together. Slowly. Carefully. The first flare could distract a person, but real love wasn’t flash pan distraction. It was built piece by piece as a couple shared fears and hopes and kind touches and soft words. So it couldn’t be love. It was infatuation. 

A crush. 

It wasn’t even that. 

Whatever Bucky felt was for the man he’d come to know in silence. A man that everyone told him was shucking off that person to return to who he really was. 

Bucky didn't know that person. 

So no. 

It wasn’t love. 

It couldn’t be.

***

“Honey bear!”

Colonel Rhodes came to visit in week six, and Tony may as well have been back in a Nordic cabin for all the team saw him. 

It was like the man had a superpower. Ten, maybe twelve seconds after he crossed into the Tower, Tony smiled more, trusted more, laughed more. Bucky only got to see that light hearted, happy Tony for a few minutes. Then the pair would be off to watch the Knicks, or do aerial maneuvers over the Hudson, or race to see who’d get to pay for dinner at some hole in the wall restaurant they’d heard about. 

It was a good thing. 

It was.

Rhodey had apparently informed his CO that he was taking three weeks off - and since he had just saved the president, no one argued. He stayed with them the entire time. No, that was wrong. He stayed with Tony. 

For a couple days after Rhodey arrived, Tony floated, he was so happy.

He babbled about the next update on the suit, and then dragged Rhodey into the lab when the Colonel insinuated that the glitch in the Starkphone was because of an engineering error. Tony’s outraged squawk made the team laugh long after they’d vanished. 

Rhodey was the best medicine for Tony’s recovery. 

Eight days into the visit, none of them were expecting Tony to have a bad day.

That didn’t stop it happening.

The things that set him off -- and calling them triggers was one of them -- were simple to the point of boring, which wasn’t the worst part. That was the challenge of his triggers being things that the rest of the world considered to be universally good and natural. Sing Alongs were no issue, but drunken ballads were. Answering a reporter was easy, Steve directing Tony to answer a reporter was a time bomb. Nat had quiet talks with each member of the team about what they could do to minimize the episodes, and it helped, but Tony noticing them changing their behavior? Also a trigger. It was hard, but they all tried. 

Clint signed to a kid at a table in a restaurant they’d all piled into, and Bucky saw the way Tony went tense. It wasn’t instant, he didn’t go silent on them, but it was coming. For months, Tony-watch was Bucky’s job. He’d spent enough time with the man to see when trouble was coming, and it was his job to step in and help. To take care of him. To follow after and stay at his side until Tony was ready to face the world again. 

When they got back to the Tower, Bucky was sick to his stomach, caught between the thrill that he’d spend the night in the lab with Tony, and hating that it only happened because Tony was hurting. 

It was his job. 

Rhodey intercepted him on his way to the elevator, waved him off, and went to chase Tony down himself. Tony was back with the group, playing Mario Kart, and yelling about cheaters an hour later. 

That wasn’t the start of it, but it was when things got bad. 

***

The thing was, Bucky knew he had a few dozen problems rolling around in his head. He didn’t need a therapist to tell him that. He’d lived it and watched the opening chasms in his mind and in his heart and in his soul. He was well acquainted with the way his brain spiralled off into the dark when he gave it the opportunity. Even a terrible therapist would have been able to point out that BARF had sanded down the triggers, but hadn’t solved the more mundane trauma and psychoses. 

There was his need to do perimeter checks. There were the intrusive thoughts. He didn’t sit with his back to windows or doors -- which he maintained was purely sensible. He had weapons stashed in every room in the tower he frequented, and carried several more on his person. 

He had nightmares. 

He had flashbacks. 

He had tics.

He heard a kid crying at a restaurant and dissociated so hard his soup when cold before he snapped out of it. 

Bucky didn’t think he was some perfect soul. That would have been delusional, and since that was one of the few boxes he didn’t check, he wasn’t inclined to add it. He tried not to lie to himself. And when it was something unbearable to admit, he’d gotten very good at dissociating from it.

So, that night, not even eight weeks after Tony returned to them, and spoke to them, and began his recovery, Bucky forced himself to examine what was happening, and draw rational conclusions. He’d always been a smart man. The conclusions were obvious. 

Denial meant that he spent three hours in the dark of his room, trying to find a different result. 

There wasn’t one. 

Bucky was bad for Tony’s recovery. 

That was too far. He couldn’t prove that. 

Bucky wasn’t helping Tony’s recovery.

He was a feature of Tony’s mutism. He’d made himself a feature. He’d pushed himself into the man’s space, when everyone told him to stay out, watching over him, hoping he’d be able to draw Tony close enough to help. That was naive. No one controlled Tony Stark except for Tony Stark. He’d clawed his way into recovery on his own, come back alone, and every time he’d gone to his lab alone... Bucky had followed him. Pushed his way inside. Forced himself into Tony’s recovery. And it took hours and hours before Tony talked again. 

He’d thought - hoped - that maybe in a few more weeks, maybe a little more healing, and Bucky would --- 

He was mistaken.

***

It was a mission. The same mission. 

Take care of Tony.

Only the details changed. Before, it meant close observation, and staying nearby, and following when Tony was falling apart and keeping negative influences or triggers away from him. After he’d realized his presence was detrimental to mission success, the solution was obvious.

Tony’s recovery was more important than Bucky’s idle fantasy about a happy ending with a man he didn’t truly know. 

***

It would have been noticed if Rhodey hadn’t been around, and if Steve wasn’t still wrapped up in bubbles and giggles about Natasha. The Avengers were all on high alert for internal troubles and would have spotted the way he changed his habits, but it didn’t look like he was changing. It didn’t look like a problem. Rhodey was there, so it was only natural that Bucky would spend less time withTony. 

It hurt, but the Winter Soldier had long since taught him how to divorce from his own feelings. 

They would fade. 

***

Bucky spent an evening with How Its Made on the screen, paying no attention to it, tracking how his own decisions were made. It would be ironic if he made the same error in logic as Tony had. It would also crush Steve to find out he’d failed two friends. 

It hurt, yes, but he wasn’t hurting himself. 

He sparred and went to team dinners and planning sessions and he participated in game nights. He wasn’t removing himself from the team’s support.

This was different from what Tony had done. Bucky was sure of that. 

This was self care and mission compliant assistance all at once. Tony would improve faster, and Bucky would get over his feelings faster. 

It was a good thing. 

***

Rhodey left, but the lightness he’d brought to Tony didn’t. 

Their next press conference ran long when Tony went off on a tangent about the moral challenges of globalism. 

Tony did a late night show. 

He did a closed door session with the Senate Armed Forces Committee. 

A paparazzo got dressed down on the street, some teenager filmed the whole thing, and it was immediately viral on twitter. 

Tony was back. 

He went two weeks without a bad day. Not so bad he retreated to the lab, just slipped into terse sentences. Two weeks more without a bad day, and Bucky tested what he already knew. 

Numbed by weeks of ignoring it, the hurt in his chest had faded to something bearable. It hurt if he touched it, but that had a simple solution - don’t. 

Bucky brought Tony a coffee on the excuse he was saying hi to the bots before the post-Doom battle party, and clung to the opportunity to watch him work. He mouthed along with the lyrics, and bobbed in time with the beat. One had was tapping a rhythm on the table and the other was gesturing middair, manipulating the holograms of Steve’s shield harness. The change was clear in him. 

He was brighter. He smiled more. He was confident again. He didn't need a guard hovering over his shoulder, because Tony Stark was stronger than anyone else on the planet. He’d fixed himself. He’d rebuilt himself. 

Bucky didn’t know this suave, self-assured man. That wasn’t who he’d spent months sitting with in the Lab. 

He was happy for him. It was what he wanted for him. 

Bucky set the cup down, and the sound caught Tony’s attention. 

It was like someone dumped cold water on the man. Or pulled a plug. Or flicked a switch. Tony had already started forming a greeting before he saw who it was. It cut off mid inhale, and Bucky catalogued the way Tony’s hands twitched as he broke eye contact. 

It wasn’t the awkwardness of surprise, or fear, or a crush. He wanted it to be, but he knew better. Bucky got close, and Tony put on a mask.

“Just saying hi to Dum-e. J said you were out of coffee down here.” 

“Yeah.” It was terse, forced. 

Tony talked. He rambled. He soliloquized about competitors’ products and the villains they faced.  It was only around Bucky he got like this. 

Greed whispered that Bucky wanted Tony, even if that meant the man was unhappy. It whispered that if Tony slid back into mutism, Bucky would get to scoop him up, take care of him, be the one he leaned on and trusted and let close. Bucky would be the only person near him. He wouldn’t have to share. 

Only one of them could have a happy ending, and it was best that it was Tony. 

“Right. Well, I’ll leave you be. Bye Tony.”

***

#Winteriron #bucky barnes #tony stark #mute!tony #my writing #for real it's gonna be such a glorious ending #but I'm gonna make you earn it.

[literarydissection-blog]

Meanwhile in London

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Author’s Note: I don’t have a lot to say for this one... I am a little thrown off my game today so hopefully it turned out well.

Word Count: 1280

Warnings: None

Summary: London was offering you adventure and possibly the best escape money could buy. With careful consideration, a friendship may be formed, but you must proceed with caution when it comes to the rich and famous.

Requested By: Anon

---

London was not nearly what you had imagined it to be, in both the best and worst ways. It was both quiet and obnoxiously loud, the river Thames shot through the city in a marvelous curve of sparkling water that kissed the North Sea at some point.

But that was the thing with new and exciting places. They sparkled.

Everything was nearly overwhelming when you moved into your new flat, there were numerous markets that kept you busy with food that was to die for. You were still figuring out the currency, but most people didn’t get too annoyed.

Your landlady was a dotty stout woman with dreadlocks and a rather acquired taste. She was rather charming in her own way and didn’t make you feel cheated—but she was a little nosy from time to time. To be honest, you hadn’t noticed your neighbor at first, and it was nearly a month into moving in before you caught each other heading out for the morning.

He was wearing jogging clothes, a small chocolate puppy stood patiently by his side.

“I like your socks.” You smiled, catching the mismatched blue and purple striped socks from the corner of your eye.

He looked down, and then you recognized him. This was Tom Hiddleston from Thor, right? Either that or he had a doppelganger running around London.

“Thank you.” He smiled a little, seeming to want to get going while still not wanting to be rude.

You didn’t want to keep him, so you waved in a tiny goodbye and said, “See you around neighbor.”

Tom seemed a little surprised, glancing over at the flat near his, before running off in the opposite direction.

At the same time, you headed off to go figure out what you would be doing for the day.

That night you saw Tom again, he was just getting home but he was dressed in much nicer clothes and was sans his puppy. You had kind of hoped that you’d get to pet the dog at some point but apparently today was not that day.

You headed over, startling Tom a little when you spoke, “Hello stranger.”

He shot his eyes over to you before smiling, his head tilting to the side just a little as he regarded you with an air that he apparently was born with or had learnt from a very early age. “I apologize for this morning; I didn’t quite catch your name.”

“I didn’t catch yours either.” You said thoughtfully, “But I think I can guess.”

You couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or proud or maybe a strong mix of both, but you offered him your name as a way to break the moment. Allowing him a full recovery.

“That is a very beautiful name.” Tom said.

“What are you reading?” You asked, seeing a book in his hand, it was older and obviously frayed.

“The Odyssey.” He didn’t bother to show the cover, and you didn’t bother quizzing him about the contents. It was pretty clear that you both knew what it was about.

“How long have you lived here?” He asked as he tilted his body towards his own door. You could take a hint when you saw one.

“Just a month or so, I hadn’t seen you before this morning though.”

“I just got back.”

You were a little surprised that he offered the information so easily, “I hope you had a nice trip.”

“I did actually. It was a lot of fun.”

You figured that it was some top-secret project stuff, so you didn’t press him. “If you ever want to stop by for tea, just knock.”

You disappeared behind the door before you kept him any longer. He seemed busy and you had to clean up anyways, your flat was a mess and Annie, a tiny sausage shaped chihuahua, was starting to give you dirty looks when you came home.

“Sorry girl.” You patted her head and gave her a peanut butter treat, “I’ll get things cleaned up right now.”

It was weeks before he finally took you up on your offer, knocking on a quite Sunday morning. You were still in your pajamas and Annie was still sleeping. Her ear twitching ever so slightly when she heard the noise but opening an eye was obviously too much to ask.

You headed to the door muttering under your breath as you made your way to the door. Hoping you looked half-way decent.

To be honest, you had forgotten about the offer you had presented to Tom, but didn’t minded finding him on your door step. Smiling, you stepped aside when you noticed the bag from a local café held in his hand.

“Good morning to you too.”

“Is it too early? I mean I thought you were already awake…”

There was obviously more that he had wanted to say but you shook your head, “I was already awake, just being lazy is all. Oh, and don’t mind Annie, she’s a grouch.”

Tom sat down on your couch as you went to gather plates, from your vantage point you could see him look around, Annie opening her eyes lazily before ambling over to make a pillow of your neighbor for optimal chihuahua sleeping performance.

“Oh, hello little one.” You heard him say.

“I hope you like Twining’s! It’s all I drink, to be honest.”

“Whatever you have is fine.”

It was a few more minutes before you came out with some vanilla and honey English Breakfast.

“Looks like Annie likes you.” You smiled offering him a cup.

He took it and smelt the tea before taking a sip.

“Sorry if it’s not exactly how you like it; I probably should have asked.”

“No, it’s perfect.” He said setting the tea down as he divvied out the food.

“So, you decided to stop by, I didn’t think you would.”

“I wouldn’t want to be too predictable. That’s no fun.”

You chuckled, “Now if that’s not a Loki quote, I don’t know if I want to see the movie.”

“I would hate to be the bearer of bad news. So, you’ll have to watch it to make sure.”

Your nose crinkled as you made a face, tucking your feet under yourself as you sat across the table from Tom. He was wearing something similar to what you were, minus the fluffy socks. Apparently, a comfy little tea meeting was what the doctor ordered because he looked a little tired, but he could have been recovering from The Odyssey binge reading.

“How are you? Anything new?”

Tom seemed thoughtful for a moment as he looked down at his tea, idly scratching Annie as he fell into his pondering. “Nothing’s really new and I’m well.”

You took a few bites and sat in a weird but comfortable silence. It was nice watching someone sit there and not look absolutely bored with your company, even when you weren’t saying anything at all.

“I actually came to ask you a question.” Tom spoke quietly, almost like he was trying to avoid disturbing the vicious pup on his lap.

“What question is that?”

“Next week I’m holding a party with some close friends, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come by. Nothing extravagant, just friends, some party games and food.”

The surprise on your face must have really seeped into the atmosphere because Tom sat back a little and looked rather put out.

“I’d love too!” You recovered, trying to not sound so eager. “Just tell me when and where and I’ll make sure to wear something that is the opposite of extravagant.”

He smiled, and your stomach twisted just a little.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddelston x reader #tom hiddleston x you #imagine #mcu #actor #writer #writing #cute #fanfic #writeblr #reader insert #marvel #write #will write for requests #fluff #fanfiction #loki #Loki Laufeyson #you

[hackedmotionsensors]

Mind if I ask you what you didn't like about Thor in IW? Or if you don't want to talk about that, what cake would be a thematic cake you'd design for Loki to go along with Thor's lemon one?

I can answer BOTH of these.  There’ll be spoilers here so I’ll tag that but be careful.

1) i can’t seem to get the cut to work so I’ll put the cheesecake thing up top 

So the cheesecake at Disneyland for Thor was a raspberry cheesecake with a chocolate Mjolnir on top. I would probably do another cheesecake but maybe with a citrus flavor to it. Like a lemon lime cheesecake with green icing on top and a little chocolate Loki helmet on top!!! But I love citrus lol

Okay spoiler filled rant beneath the cut

In Ragnarok you can tell that Taika KNEW a LOT about Thor the comic book character and cared about this character. I mean he was the first one to bring in Immigrant Song as part of his pitch for the movie which is INSANE that no one had thought …..to make Thor about a heavy metal viking in space??? because that’s EVERYTHING that made Thor appealing in the 70s-80s in a sense lol. Hemsworth was tired of playing this TOTALLY under-utilized and under-powered GOD OF THUNDER!!! And of course he’d get bored. If you go back and you look at the Thor movies on their own he’s not even really the main character in his own movies. Jane and Loki are more compelling, more story driven, given more character development and those moments you remember from Thor 1 and 2 are NOT Thor moments. (M&M wrote The Dark World which is why no one outside of die hard Thor fans really like that movie).

Taika and Hemsworth collaborated on Ragnarok. Taika’s main point was that if you’re going to have a movie about Thor he NEEDS to be the best character in the movie. A lot of people loved Ragnarok but there are a lot of people who thought it wasn’t DRAMATIC enough or MEANINGFUL enough but a man who didn’t want to be king, doing the most KINGLY things of protecting his people, sacrificing himself against a colonizing murderer even if he is a part of that family of colonizers. It shows Thor coming into his own as his own character. Taika knew how to use Hemsworth’s humor and is a great comedian on his own. All of Taika’s comedies have these really HEARTFELT moments that make the funny moments much more entertaining because you care so much about them).

Marvel gave up on Thor.  Marvel Studios gave up on Thor. M&M gave up on Thor and the Russos never knew what to do with him anyway. And in a sense I kind of see why someone would fall to the wayside when you have a cast of over thirty heroes to try and be entertaining, give the audience their scenes and have people want to care about them.

When Ragnarok came out it was so under promoted that they were sure that it would flop. It wasn’t until those screeners came back or the reviews came back that people actually cared about it. Because they made an amazing movie. 

Like when everyone’s contract was coming up to end Hemsworth wanted more and that was all Taika and Hemsworth collaborating on this character.

ALL OF THIS WAS THROWN OUT THE WINDOW WHEN THEY STARTED FILMING INFINITY WAR/ENDGAME. 

I’m not gonna spoil endgame but I’ll tag it anyway but these two films were filmed at the same time. Not counting pick ups and retakes. So everything we knew about Thor in this last movie was filmed roughly at the same time as Infinity War.

Hemsworth said in an interview that he really wanted to keep what he and Taika had worked on with Ragnarok. But what are you gonna do? you can’t fight TOO much for that last movie because its the last two movies. Eventually he was convinced on what they were going to do with Thor.

Ragnarok: Thor realizes he’s more than just a weapon. Lighting COMES and flows THROUGH him. Not the Hammer. Mjolnir is what makes him fly but not what summons the lightning. He was referred to as the God of Thunder. That’s WHO HE IS. The previous movies kept emphasizing he’s not a god. Even Odin calls the Asgardians not gods which GOES AGAINST WHAT THEY ARE IN BOTH MYTH AND THE COMICS. Thor had his own humor and it worked because Taika knew how to write Thor and Hemsworth knew what to do to make him funny.

Infinity War: Somehow Thor cannot fight without a new hammer. (Its to sell toys) So lets go on this adventure ELSEWHERE to get a new fucking hammer. And then the Hammer is used ONCE. And then in Endgame he’s completely useless without his hammer??? or Stormbreaker?? Stormbreaker can use the rainbow bridge. Why couldn’t he use it to go get Tony? Granted he didn’t know where Tony was but it makes just as much sense as Captain Marvel finding him. And I absolutely love that scene but ??? Thor has this ability and used it once??? 

Like he has a whole conversation with the guardians and rocket about having to go get a new hammer. Why? WHY? Because he didn’t defeat Thanos? 

But he’s reliant on this weapon AGAIN. Which completely defeats what we learned in Ragnarok. It just seems like they literally didn’t know what to do with Thor because Thor was so powerful. They did the same thing with Vision. That’s why Vision gets nerfed at the beginning of the movie. They LITERALLY said “We had to take Vision out early on because he’s too powerful”

Which is fucking stupid. Because if Vision is so powerful and Thanos fucking wrecks him then THANOS IS NOW MORE POWERFUL THAN VISION. The people who should be able to wreck Thanos without really any issue are Wanda and Captain Marvel because they’re BOTH birthed of Infinity Stones and so is Vision but if he can take out Vision then you have more fear for what he can do to Carol or Wanda. 

Thor is one of the most powerful Avengers in the comics and throughout most of the series he’s just sorta …..really strong.

Taika tried to fix that and the Russos and M&M erased that.

Also.

We had an entire movie that proved that Thor wasn’t a complete buffoon. Thor isn’t supposed to be a Tony Stark or a Reed Richards or even a Black Widow for that matter. But he’s not stupid. Which makes Loki that much more manipulative because he’s constantly tricking Thor (granted he’s had about a thousand years to perfect tricking Thor and a mom who taught him how to be a witch so…yknow)

And there’s nothing wrong with HOW Thor fell into a depression or dealt with trauma. But his trauma wasn’t any different than Cap or Tony really but it was dealt with as a joke. And there’s always something really uncomfortable to me (even tho I did laugh at the jokes because of course I would. They’re framed as jokes and some of them land really well like when he’s asleep in the chair or when he’s telling the tale of Dark World) where being fat is being made to look like a sign of laziness or that being fat is something that in and of itself is funny or how underneath that fat is a really buff man who can take his fat off at any time and as a card carrying fat person I don’t have that ability. 

I like Fat Thor. I do not like that on top of being Fat he was a complete idiot. They took everything he was good at and the humor that Taika and Hemsworth brought to the character and made it a three hour fat joke.

So I’m hoping if he shows up in Guardians or they do get Thor 4 (or Thfour) we get Taika’s involvement again and we get some writing on this character that isn’t belittling. 

So basically I hate that the Russos and M&M didn’t know what to do with this character that we had to wait so long to see actually get shown in a light that wasn’t just “That Blonde Dude with the Hammer”

#Anonymous #endgame #endgame spoilers #avengers: endgame spoilers

[lightandwinged]

Endgame happened!

Spoiler free: easily the best superhero movie I’ve ever seen, mindblowing in the best possible way, I cried like a little baby so much, and while it wasn’t perfect, I still think that it hit all the right beats and hit them correctly in a way that should genuinely make the DCU sit down and think about how it will never be this good.

(spoilers beneath the cut!)

WHEW LADS

I spoiled myself for this movie, so I knew basically everything that was coming and every beat the movie would hit, and I did that because I like to know how many tissues I’m going to need by the end of the night (the answer was that I haven’t needed that many since Return of the King, holy shit). I’d also seen a lot of the early criticism, and while I agree with some of it (I’ll get to it), the rest was eh to me. 

The only thing I did NOT like was Thor’s arc, which it seemed like straddled the line between funny and sad a little too much. Like, it was genuinely sad because you could tell that this was his manifestation of PTSD: letting himself go completely, hiding away from the world, drinking beer and playing video games all day. I felt like it was less that it was played for laughs and more that people just thought it was funny because it was just too sad to accept. And Thor in-universe wanted people to think it was funny because accepting that it wasn’t hurt too much. At the same time, I don’t know how they could’ve done the arc better with the time they had. The movie was already bursting at the seams at 3 hours long, and there was so much happening. I REALLY HOPE that the way the film hinted at Thor joining up with the Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t just a red herring, because I will absolutely buy a thousand tickets to see that on opening night. And if he is in Guardians 3 (side note: I wonder if that’s why GotG3 suddenly spiked as people’s most anticipated upcoming MCU film?), I feel like that will allow him a little more room to react to Things.

Tony’s entire arc was perfect, beyond perfect. It blew me away, and I genuinely feel like RDJ should be nominated for an Oscar for it, if nothing else than for the sheer scope of the performance. It was absolutely heartbreaking, but it was also done so well--Tony’s entire story has been this kind of fear of death in one way or another, so in the end, having him accept his own death to save the universe was fantastic. And I knew he was going to die, even without reading spoilers (RDJ’s contract is up, after all), but it still hit me so hard when he did. 

Steve’s arc felt really good, too, though I know a lot of people have had problems with it. It felt earned, and it felt deserved, and I was perfectly fine with hand waving all the possible issues his ending caused because he looked like Fred Rogers at the end. His entire story has always been a reverse of Tony’s: he’s never feared death and has always had a willingness to die, but he wanted something that his conscience never allowed him to have (that being a normal, peaceful life). Him finally allowing himself that peace felt right. 

(and he 100% cleared it with Bucky beforehand, every single aspect of it, from “but wouldn’t going back to have that dance with Peggy break time?” to “but you’re being tortured while I’m dancing???” and I guarantee Bucky was like “bitch, if you don’t do this, I am going to dust you”)

Looking at the Nat thing, that felt inevitable, and it was the first thing that made me cry. It also felt like a huge culmination of her arc. Her entire story through these movies has been to try and wipe away the red in her ledger, and I doubt that anything she ever did would’ve been enough in her mind. Like looking through the writing of the story, she did feel like the best option for the soul stone, and her death hit me WAY harder than Gamora’s, because on Gamora’s part, you understood that Thanos’ love for her wasn’t the kind of love that would’ve fought to be the one to sacrifice himself for her. Clint loves Natasha, as much as she loves him, and to see him lose her so soon after losing his family (well. Film-wise, at least) was wrenching. And Jeremy Renner was AMAZING in this. He looked so haunted. Good job, dude.

I still really like Thanos as a villain, because he remains one of the few movie villains who’s actually read the Evil Overlord Checklist, so victory against him isn’t because he fucked up somewhere along the way (he knows that turning into a snake never helps) but because it was a contest of wills, and the heroes’ will was stronger than his. That makes their victory feel properly earned, and not narratively forced. 

Odds and ends: 

Steve wielding Mjolnir made our entire audience scream and clap so very loud, and I’m glad one of the view good bits in AoU paid off in a major way.

Thor getting lightning powers will always be very sexy to me. 

That final battle was legit the best I’ve ever seen, including Helm’s Deep and Pelennor. The sight of everyone coming out of the magic yellow portals looked exactly like a comic book spread, and I really hope Stan Lee got to see a cut of it before he died. 

I appreciated the moment of Carol being escorted through the battlefield by the (admittedly, depressingly small) entire cast of women who’ve played a major role in these movies and were still alive (including the Wasp, who was my favorite because she spent the entire battle like “???? what the fuck is even happening? I guess I’m here now?”). 

All of the five years post snap scenes were haunting, in that “life after people” kind of way. I LOVED Scott wandering through the neighborhood that’s all overgrown and a mess, with no idea what’s happened or what any of it means. 

I also loved that all the time shenanigans basically set up “here is how we’re dealing with there being 72 different versions of these characters in the comic books, also here is why Loki, Scarlet Witch, and Vision are able to have their own series, even though 2/3 of that sentence is dead.”

Really, I’m just a slut for time travel shenanigans. 

And Thor and Captain Marvel. Brie Larson looks SO good with short hair. Help.

I just also loved that even though they planned their time travel adventures down to the second, they still managed to fuck it up royally because, at the end of the day, these guys are just a bunch of a-holes. 

Anyway. I am emotionally compromised. This movie felt like a real finale, and it was a good finale. It gave me the same vibes that Return of the King gave me back in 2003, where it wasn’t 100% perfect (me, to this day: BETTER TRANSITIONS BETWEEN YOUR SEVEN ENDINGS, PETER JACKSON), but it still hit all the beats I wanted it to hit and served as a nice ribbon to tie up the series. A solid A of a film, five stars, I need to see it again but this time with more hydration so I don’t have a crying headache afterwards.

#avengers: endgame #avengers: endgame spoilers #my thoughts on this movie: let me show you them #my eyes hurt that was a lot of crying