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thebibliomancer · 4 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #223: of Robin Hoods and Roustabouts

September, 1982

Apparently a “roustabout” is an unskilled or casual labor.

And lets admit the obvious that if Hawkeye is either of the two things, he’s a robin hood. And its not inaccurate but be nicer to Scott Lang.

Even if he manages to be even more hapless in this issue then in modern takes that leans into him being a fuck-up.

As for the cover? Pretty striking cover. I’ve been waiting for Hawkeye to shoot Ant-Man at someone. Its apparently an Iconic Avengers moment and to think it first happens in a filler.

Because I’m pretty sure this is a filler. Its written by David Michelinie alone instead of Jim Shooter getting a plotter or co-writer credit. It doesn’t really have anything from the dangling plot threads of Hank Pym or the Masters of Evil.

Between this and and the filler with the immortal child who badly wanted to die and all of the plotter or co-writer credits, you just really get a sense that Jim Shooter did not have time to devote to Avengers anymore.

So what kind of filler will this be? Weird? Impactless? Good Actually? Let’s see!

Well, apparently Hawkeye is going to the carnival so at this point, it could go either way.

I like that Hawkeye has a H belt buckle because that’s the kind of thing that he would do and that I can make fun of him for.

I know that it’s been a while since he’s mentioned kewpie dolls but Hawkeye came from the circus. He and his brother ran away to one when they were little and the Swordsman taught Hawkeye archery. The point being, “he’s come home.”

As in, this is specifically the carnival he used to work before he became very briefly a superhero, and then for slightly longer a supervillain, and then for much much longer a superhero for real.

Point is, he’s been away for a while. But he received a flyer in the mail and decided he just had to come.

Because someone wrote HELP! on the back.

Hawkeye figures that the previous owner’s daughter and current owner Marcy Carson sent it as a goof but heck if she’s going to go to that trouble, he’ll be happy to visit.

So he breezes past the workers outside the owner’s trailer and-

Actually they beat the shit out of him for trying to breeze past them. Goes to show.

When Hawkeye threatens to beat them up for this rude treatment, they get ruder and call him a rube. Can you believe! Him, a former employee himself being called a rube! Also they pull a fancy sci-fi gun on him.

So Hawkeye does buzz off. So he can change into his hawking eye duds and buzz right back on.

Roustabouts carrying laser pistols is very suspicious. And I guess Ant-Man isn’t the roustabout of the title. He’s moving up in the world.

MEANWHILE, Perfectly Ordinary electronics technician, ex-con, and Ant-Man Scott Lang is having a night out with his daughter Cassie. And they’re having a bit of a disagreement.

See, Cassie, future superhero, wants to ride the really cool roller coaster the Spin-’n-Heave. Scott Lang, dad with dumb views on gender apparently, insists that a roller coaster just isn’t ladylike enough and she should ride something more refined like the pony ride or ring toss.

Also, Scott is carrying the Ant-Man suit with him, loose in his pocket. And the helmet just drops out of his pocket and the damn fool would have lost it if Cassie hadn’t spotted it and mistaken it for a marble.

Geez, Scott! I stood up for you!

Scott’s attempts to dad by restricting what his daughter can and can’t do based on his own views on what is ladylike get dropped when he spots Hawkeye hauling ass across the carnival and decides that This Cannot Stand!

Scott Lang Ant-Man may not be an Avenger but dangit he can’t leave a fellow hero in the lurch! He must offer unsolicited aid!

So he caves on the Spin-’n-Heave issue because its a way to keep Cassie occupied for the length of exactly this issue.

Scott gives the operator a bunch of money and tells the operator to let Cassie ride until it runs out and then takes off.

Cassie is thrilled.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye has returned to the owner’s trailer but Marcy is gone and so are the two goons that were guarding the door. But he spots them marching Marcy through the crowd.

The goons are complimenting Marcy on being so cooperative but also say that if she’s not cooperative, her star acts are gonna get fed to the lions. And that might happen anyway once everything is said and done because their boss be like that.

Anyway, that’s when the two get hit by a KRAK THUBB arrow. Punch arrow? It looks nerf-y.

Hawkeye grabs Marcy and runs off with her into a tent so she can explain it all.

But first: he has to notice that she is beautiful. He has been gone a while so, y’know. People grow up or whatever.

Hawkeye: “There, that’s better! Now maybe I can get to the bottom of -- hey! You’re beautiful!”

Marcy: “I’ve waited a long time for you to notice that, ol’ buddy.”

Hawkeye: “Yeah, well, it’s hard noticin’ anything when you’re bein’ tripped into a pile of elephant dirt -- which, as I recall, used to be your favorite pastime!”

Marcy: “People change, Clint.”

Young Marcy sounds like a really interesting person. She certainly gave Hawkeye the business.

Anyway, she explains that it was pure luck that she was able to sneak that message out to him. And that the carnival has been taken over by some freak with powers.

Marcy: “Why, if he even suspected I was in touch with you he’d kill me deader than a Monday night in Des Moines!”

Off-screen Villain: “Nicely put, dumplin’! Should make you a dandy little epitaph!”

SCENE CHANGE TO PRESERVE SUSPENSE

Scott Lang has ducked behind some circus carts to change into Ant-Man.

Except he still has the whole shrunken costume piecemeal in his pockets so the process is one of slapstick. Scott goes digging in his pockets for the suit and accidentally drops it all in the straw.

Then he has to go digging around for the incredibly teeny pieces of gear while realizing that this was a stupid plan.

Maybe he should keep the suit in a tin. Like a mint tin or something.

But he finally gets all the pieces together and uses a safety pin to trigger the enlarging gas to full-size the outfit so he can put it on.

Huh! Enlarging gas! Early days in Avengers, they were all about the logistics of the shrinking and growing for Ant-Giant and the Wasp but it hasn’t been talked about in a long while. Wasp just changes size without the how being discussed.

But if it is Pym Particles, then I guess Scott isn’t at the point yet where his body naturally produces them so he has to use the gas canisters on the belt.

Scott does get dressed in his ant duds and uses the helmet to command some ants to find Hawkeye. And this is a carnival with a lot of dropped funnel cake and cotton candy so you know that there’s plenty of ants available.

SCENE CHANGE because we can only preserve suspense so far.

The mysterious off-screen villain hits the lights in the tent that Hawkeye and Marcy were talking in. Which reveals a bunch of gym and training equipment. It’d be nice if carnivals could provide such robust gym benefits to their workers but I feel that this is actually suspicious, finding this here.

Especially the combat flight simulator.

Hawkeye: “This place looks like a training ground for World War III!”

Off-screen villain, about to be onscreen: “And what better setting for the world’s greatest trainer? Namely... the TASKMASTER!”

Heyyy its the Taskmaster!

I forgot that he was a loose thread. He got away after the THREE-PARTER that introduced him. Then again, I guess since he’s the explanation for where villains get their armies of mooks, he didn’t really need to be tied up because that would defeat the purpose.

Anyway, Hawkeye wasn’t on the team for that three-parter but thankfully, the Avengers take thorough records.

Hawkeye: “Yeah, I remember readin’ about you in the Avengers’ files! You’re some sorta goon peddler!”

Taskmaster: “Watch yer mouth, bow-bender! What I am is a teacher!”

And then he recaps his goon, mook, henchman training business for the audience. He even clarifies that his series of secret academies are going great, thanks, but he’s trying to branch out with a mobile recruiting center.

Aka, this circus. And heck, according to Taskmaster, carnies already come off unscrupulous so having a bunch of goons hanging around won’t stand out.

THE PERFECT CRIME.

Actually. I don’t know if this is a crime? It’s not illegal to do combat training or learn how to fly a plane, probably. Then again, when 100% of your alumni wind up arrested for helping steal the Statue of Liberty, a legal goon school would get a lot of unwanted scrutiny. So best keep it secret.

And of course, extorting the owner and workers of a circus is definitely a crime. Pretty sure.

Anyway, the mobile recruiting center scheme is helped by Marcy telling anyone who asks that the new people hanging around are a new act that isn’t ready to open yet.

Hawkeye is sick of Taskmaster’s smarmy smarm and tries to shoot a grabber arrow? at Taskmaster.

Who just blocks it with his shield.

And takes the opportunity to brag about his photographic reflexes, where he only needs to see a sweet move once and he can do it perfectly.

He shows off by doing some Cap moves and then doing a Spider-Man move. Which he seems to do just to do.

And by Spider-Man move I mean hanging upside down from a line. Which, yes, Spider-Man does do that but it doesn’t really seem that necessary or helpful here and you’re totally doing it just to show off but really you look a little ridiculous.

Taskmaster even shows off some Tigra moves by kicking Hawkeye in the face. Its fun to me that he shows off Tigra specifically. Its for some acrobatics like flippy kick but there’s gotta be other acrobatic heroes. Like Spider-Man.

But Tigra was on the Avengers recently and briefly and dammit, he’s gonna show off what he learned!

Anyway, Taskmaster beats up Hawkeye until he gets bored of it and then just takes Marcy hostage to get Hawkeye to surrender.

He just really wanted to show off some of his sweet moves. And as soon as he ran through five different hero movesets (Cap, Spider-Man, Tigra, Daredevil, and Iron Fist) he’s just like ‘k I’m done’.

Meanwhile, back to Ant-Man ant-again.

He’s lurking around a corner trying to be inconspicuous while children are pointing and asking if he’s a clown. Perhaps realizing that he didn’t need to put on the full costume to use the helmet and that he’s just made himself look foolish.

But some of his ants report in that they’ve found Hawkeye so Ant-Man shrinks down to ride an ant into action.

Wait. Yeah. You could have just shrunken down and perched somewhere to wait for ant reports. You’ve made yourself look a fool and you fully had the power to avoid that in so many ways.

Meanwhile back to Hawkeye yet again, Taskmaster knows that killing an Avenger would attract notice so he’s going to make it look like an accident.

So he’s locked Hawkeye in an electrified cage with a lion, a normal situation that can accidentally happen to anyone. So now when Hawkeye gets mauled to death by the lion, nobody will suspect it was anything but an accident.

Taskmaster walks away because its villain tradition that you don’t watch the heroes you lock in the death traps. That’d just be gauche.

The lion sizes up Hawkeye and decides that he’s food and leaps for the kill!

And Ant-Man grows out from under the lion and throws it into the electrified bars, knocking him out.

Pretty good timing Scott! And that poor attempted man-eater lion! That poor five hundred pound lion! WOW SCOTT, do you work out?

I also feel that Republic Serial has aged poorly for more than just lion tossing.

Ant-Man and Hawkeye get each other on the same page. As it happens, Ant-Man actually has more experience with Taskmaster since he was actually in that three-parter. That’ll give them a tiny, tiny, tiny edge.

They’re still stuck in a locked cage and Hawkeye is like ‘gee whiz shrinking hero guy how can we possibly get out?’

Would you be surprised that Ant-Man just shrinks Hawkeye? Scott does muse that he could probably have picked the lock if he had the tools for it but shrinking just saves time.

Hawkeye does not care for it though.

I don’t know what he’s complaining about. Big sleepy cat even bigger now. You could live in the mane at that size.

You could be a tiny man living in a lion’s mane. Imagine.

Anyway.

Over in Taskmaster’s private tent, he’s telling Marcy she done fucked up calling for Hawkeye and she’s going to wish she was getting mauled to death by a lion in an electrified cage like Hawkeye was.

And Hawkeye does the equivalent of clearing his throat and saying ‘hey dingus, not dead’

Taskmaster reaches for a magnesium flare like he used against the Avengers but Ant-Man’s expert knowledge of meeting Taskmaster one time lets him warn Hawkeye who shoots it out of Taskmaster’s hand.

Taskmaster just questions why they didn’t go for a killshot when they had him surprised and then calls a goon squad on the heroes.

Of course, goon squads being called on heroes is just a setup to make heroes look really cool showing their stuff on some expendable targets.

“While the Taskmaster’s troops have been well-trained for normal combat, they fare woefully poor against these super-normal foes!”

And show their stuff they do. Like Hawkeye leaping around firing net and bola arrows!

And Ant-Man... shrinking down really small to punch a guy’s earlobe.

Look. He’s trying.

Also, Marcy is braining people with a juggling pin like some manner of alien clown because she is exceptionally irate at Taskmaster and his goons.

While the three beat up this crowd of goons, Taskmaster runs off to set up his “escape insurance.”

Ant-Man and Hawkeye chase him into the big top where there’s already a crowd watching the show. And waiting for the human cannonball act.

BUT! Taskmaster is apparently a cartoon villain because he’s replaced the human cannonball with a dummy full of explosives and he’s going to shoot it and blow up the grandstand, killing a couple hundred innocent lives.

Taskmaster tells them they can capture him or they can stop his ridiculous scheme.

Taskmaster: “Have fun decidin’, chumps!”

And then presumably he runs off giggling.

Hawkeye wants to go after Taskmaster and have Ant-Man take care of the nothuman cannonball bomb.

Ant-Man: “No, Hawkeye! There are too many lives at stake! And it may take both of us to stop that cannon!”

Hawkeye: “But we can’t just let that psycho walk! We can’t -- .”

Ant-Man: “Hawkeye! Think about it! Think! Please... !”

Hawkeye: “Yeah, I guess you’re right... blast it.”

Scott Lang has his heart in the right place to be a hero even if he is a bit of a goofus about it. I like you, Scott Lang.

Hawkeye runs back into the tent and shoots the goon manning the cannon with a bola arrow. he gets the goon but the goon falls on the button.

Fortunately, its the elevation control, not the fire button.

Unfortunately, there is no firing button, so the firing cycle is automatic.

Fortunately, hitting the elevation control accidentally made the cannon point up instead of at the grandstand. So the bomb is still going to fall and blow everything up but they have time and Ant-Man has an idea.

He has Hawkeye nock his fastest arrow and jumps on it.

Hawkeye shoots the arrow and hits the explosive filled mannequin in the neck right as it reached the top of its trajectory and hung very briefly in the air.

As the bomb starts to plummet, Ant-Man crawls up the arrow onto the bomb-man and to the detonator.

All too soon the bomb hits the ring

but doesn’t detonate.

Ant-Man managed to defuse the bomb!

And he also managed to survive the fall because of course! He’s not destined to die for a long while and only then in a really dumb way.

Thanks to Scott’s experience of watching Raiders of the Lost Ark twenty-seven times he’s a real expert on jumping from one speeding object to another.

Aka, from the falling bomb to a flying ant. Sure.

The heroes see that Taskmaster has escaped while all this was going on but Hawkeye decides he’ll get him next time.

Also? The audience has thought that this was part of the show the whole time so they’ve loved every second of this.

Soon the other Avengers arrive, too late to take part in the plot but in time to help clean up the goon operation.

Also, She-Hulk is in her tattered white dress outfit again. I really think there was some miscommunication here. Like with having her dressed like that on the previous cover and having her dressed like that here in this filler issue.

She doesn’t wear that anymore but its the Iconic outfit for her so if an artist needs a ref to draw her, they’re probably looking at a picture from her Savage She-Hulk series.

And Scott Lang gets the last page because whoops, he left his daughter on a roller coaster the whole time and forgot her in the heat of the adventure. DAD OF THE YEAR!

Scott runs to find her sitting outside the Spin-’n-Heave looking down, head in hands. Scott is worried that something is wrong with her but

Cassie Lang: “I’m a little tired right now, daddy *yawn* but can we come back an’ ride the ‘Spin-’n-Heave’ again t’morrow?”

Scott Lang: “Tomorrow? Again? *sigh* Kids.”

Hah, she tuckered herself out riding the roller coast over and over again but is game to keep doing it again tomorrow. That’s the Cassie Lang that will grow up to join the Young Avengers!

So, Avengers filler but it wasn’t weird or inconsequential. It doesn’t do anything with the ongoing plots but it feels like it does since Scott Lang has come back into the books recently because of the Hank Pym plot. And it follows up on Taskmaster who has gone unaddressed since his introductory stories.

Its just a nice story and by focusing on a guest star and one of the Avengers doing an impromptu team-up it has some fun energy.

Good times.

Hey. Follow @essential-avengers maybe? Its better than the Spin-’n-Heave! ... I can’t actually prove that. But also like and reblog this post because I’m a cool person. ... I can’t actually prove that either...

#Avengers #Taskmaster #Hawkeye #Ant Man #Scott Lang #some roustabouts #some robin hoods #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #some avengers in a one panel cameo in their own book #ant man and hawkeye make a good team weirdly #i'm weirdly fascinated by the Spin 'n Heave #it has a waterfall

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kylosbrickhousebody · 3 years

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Ch. 4 of Quiet Hours is up

Ch. 4 of my super weird sadfic about KyloRen/Reader is up. If you liked Mercurial, you will probably (eventually) like this, too. NSFW

She stares at it for a long time—longer than she truly has to spend given that she’s already been separated from her work group. Her taskmaster is probably terribly confused; she’ll probably already face a beating when she goes back.

Still, the wonder of it holds her in place.

A credit.

Kylo Ren gave her a credit?

It’s there, unmistakable, on the table.

She blinks once, twice, three times, pressing her eyes closed tighter with repetition.

It just seems unbelievable. She’s never seen a real credit up close before.

She stares dumbly for a moment longer before realizing she should probably return it to him.

Having a credit on her person—well, it’s likely not even legal. Slaves can’t own anything, let alone carry currency. Possessing a credit is probably some sort of high crime.

She runs over to the doorway, peeks her head out into the austere hallways.

“Sir?”

She looks left; right.

There’s no one there.

Little legs carry her to one end of the hallway, where it splits into two leading to and away from the Bridge.

“Sir?”

Nothing. No response, no one in sight.

She runs to the other end, a little panicked now, whipping her head from side to side to try to catch a glimpse of him—the coattails of his cape, maybe, turning a corner somewhere in the distance.

Again: nothing.

She bites a lip and hurries back into the small room where he once sat.

It’s still there, still on the table where he’d left it.

She peers back at the doorway before she shoves it into the scratchy lining of one of her frock’s pockets.

Then she scurries out the door, into the foyer, down the passageways leading back to the Bridge. It’s critical that she re-join her group. If she doesn’t, she won’t be accounted for in the next check, and that means a guaranteed beating. Even worse, losing track of one’s group means she’ll likely miss both the next feeding and her next refresher break.

She nearly runs into one of the huge blaster doors guarding the entrance to the Bridge.

She bows her head at two of the elite squadron Stormtroopers stationed as guards.

“Could you please—erm—could you please let me in? My group was assigned to cleaning duties here, and—”

“Scram, filth.”

“I—yes, sir, I understand—but please, I need to rejoin my group, and—”

“I said,” one of the troopers says, shoving the butt of his blaster into her ribs, “scram.”

“Yes—yes, sir. Yes—”

She turns, quickly, and hurries down the hallway.

The cold sheet metal venting on the floor digs into her bare feet as she scurries out of the Stormtroopers’ line-of-sight.

They’re not going to let her in, and she certainly isn’t going to get away with tailgating an authorized person into the Bridge. She looked terribly out of place there—well, all the slaves did—and she wouldn’t even pass for a servant. The raggedy, unwashed standard issue of the slave uniform see to that all on their own.

She pauses to catch her breath in one of the less frequented tunnels. She presses her back up against the wall, the cool metal pressing into her shoulders. It grounds her a little, reminds her that she’s still alive somehow.

She waits a long moment, trying to clear her thoughts, savoring how pressing up against the wall slightly soothes her aching lumbar region.

She’s lost. So, so lost. She’s never been to this area of the ship before. Usually she cleans servant sleeping quarters, or the hallways in the hull: areas with predictable designs, created to maximize space and cram the greatest number of bodies and workspaces into the confines of the ship.

It’s clear now, though, that she’s very far out of her depth. The series of hallways she finds herself in doesn’t match the maze that she’s used to. This area of the ship is clearly designed for something else: comfort. Luxury. Flashiness.

None of it looks familiar at all.

She walks down more hallways, timid, trying to project as much feeble respect as she can in case she gets spotted. She presses her right hand up against the right walls, making every right turn she’s presented with. That should eventually get her somewhere, right?

Right?

It’s because of this frantic, desperate strategy that she finds herself actually relieved when she encounters another station of Stormtroopers. They stand guard against glass walls which look somehow familiar—maybe she passed them with her group—and she approaches as respectfully as she can.

“I’m afraid I’m lost, sirs,” she starts.

No answer.

The troopers look between each other. No doubt that she’s a strange sight.

“I was stationed with my group—we were cleaning—and I got pulled away for, erm, a specific cleaning assignment. Pulled away by a superior, I mean,” she adds quickly. “I didn’t just leave! I tried to go back to join up with my group again after I finished, but I couldn’t locate them again. I think by now they’ve likely moved on to another area of the ship. Could you possibly help me, please?”

One trooper tilts his helmet.

“Yeah, we could help you, honey. We could both help you. Right over in that break room, in fifteen minutes, when we get off shift. We’ll help you real good.”

She swallows, hard, shuffles a little bit in her place.

“Erm. I—no, thank you. I appreciate, uh…” she trails off. “Could you please tell me what time it is?”

It’s the other one who replies.

“11:43.”

Oh.

Much later than she’d thought.

She’d must have wasted precious time navigating the ship—or maybe the time spent with the Supreme Leader lasted longer than she thought—

She realizes, with a severe pang of regret, that she’s missed her daily feeding and one of only two refresher breaks.

“I—oh, okay, thank you—um—” she pauses, fraught with indecision about what she could possibly ask that might receive a real answer. “Do you know where I might be able to report to?”

“No idea,” the first trooper answers, sounding harsher this time, “but down those steps would be a good start. I’d get going before we report you for trespassing up here.”

That makes her blanch all the way white.

“Yes—yes, sir—of course—”

She hurries in the direction indicated, down a flight of stairs made from metal grating which tears at the underside of her dirty feet.

She emerges into a small atrium, simply relieved that she’s been able to get this far without a keycard.

Perhaps she’ll run into someone more approachable—an enlisted person, or maybe even a servant—who can direct her back to an overseer or taskmaster, back to her group. All she wants is to lay low, to do her work, to get the day done with.

She takes a right and walks down an arterial hallway lined with black pillars. There are sounds up ahead, she thinks; there’s faint clacking, fainter voices. She follows the noises, hesitant but nevertheless ready to accept her punishment and get it on with it, and soon finds herself tiptoeing closer to a broad sheet of glass windowing.

She peers in, obscuring most of her body behind the opaque paneling next to where the windows begin.

She discerns quickly that the room is some sort of feeding center; it’s set up similarly to the ones used to feed slaves, but this one is bigger, cushier. Cafeterias, she thinks they call them.

Multiple stations with multiple different kinds of foods line the walls. The people within—enlisted officers, it seems—actually talk to one another. Some even smile.

There are real tables and chairs—comfortable-looking ones—and refreshers off to the side for use at any time. It baffles her a little to watch the officers within just excuse themselves from conversations to use the refresher whenever they want.

And there: she spots what will become the primary temptation of the room. There, towards the edge of the feeding room, closest to her, sits a small table. She’s not sure exactly what the sign says, but the intention is clear. A small coffer rests beneath the sign emblazoned with some words and then the symbol for a credit. To the right and left of the coffer sit an arrangement of baked goods: odds and ends of assorted breads, day-old buns and pastries.

Just the mere sight makes her stomach rumble.

Slaves are usually only fed a porridge-like gruel once a day—it’s packed with all the nutrients you need! they say—and left to live life perpetually hungry for something more.

She’s certainly no stranger to hunger. It reflects in her body: in her lack of strength, her hair and her nails, the constant acidity that tinges her mouth from a stomach completely empty and angrily rumbling for more.

How bad would it be—truly be? —if she snuck into the room, placed her newfound credit into the coffer, and took a piece of bread?

She wouldn’t be stealing, she figures. After all, she truly does have the required credit.

And, true, while slaves aren’t supposed to eat food they aren’t explicitly given, its clear that the table is for cast-asides, for goods from yesterday.

She wouldn’t really be hurting anybody if she took something to eat on her way back to her group, would she?

The intense rumble of her stomach seems to provide an answer. She swallows back the newest wave of stomach bile and acid and walks into the room, confidently as she can muster, over to the table.

She tries not to look out of place, tries not to glance around to see if anyone is watching her: that would only draw more attention than her appearance does on its own.

She digs into her pocket and grasps the credit, then drops it quickly into the collecting coffer.

Her eyes survey the goods on the table a little greedily. There’s a half-torn bagel; a very dry-looking croissant; small end pieces of stale bread.

It takes a few moments before she sees it, but when she does, she knows its for her. It’s a small raisin bun, less stale-looking than her other options, small enough that she might conceal it in her pocket. She takes it and, indeed, pockets it, making quickly for the entryway.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” She turns, nervously, open-mouthed, to meet the eyes of an officer. “I just watched you steal, slave.”

“I—no, no, sir—I paid for it. I paid for it; I swear.”

“Paid for it with all that money they give you, did ya?”

“No—really—I had a credit, and—”

“You had a credit. Of course. And I have a luxury villa in Canto Blight, that’s why I work as a jailsman in the First Order. Please.”

The man moves forward, takes her by the arm.

“I know just the place to send you for punishment today. Consider yourself in luck. You’ll be getting a very special treat.”

“No—please—truly, I paid for it—”

“And even if you did,” he cuts across her, “you have no business in the cantina of your betters. You were trespassing at a minimum. And where exactly is your post? Aren’t you worked nearly all hours of the day?”

“I—well, see, that’s the thing—”

“Right. That is exactly the thing.”

“I—”

“Be quiet, slave-girl.”

She blanches white for the second time that day, falls completely silent. Her heart pounds out of her chest. She feels delirious.

He leads her back nearly the same way that she came: up the stairs, up past the two troopers stationed nearby, down an adjacent hallway.

He stops clear of a heavy metal door, which he unlocks manually with a set of keys tied to a clip on his waistband.

He rips the raisin bun out of her pocket just before shoving her into the room.

“I’m sure he’ll enjoy practicing his mysticism on you. Very painful, or so I’ve heard.” He cocks his head, considering. “Well, based on all the screams, that is.”

The door slams shut.

She manages only to make it to the other side of the room—a hexagonal cell, gray and dark and ominous—before she sinks down to her knees, the adrenaline rush shakes proving far too much for her joints and weak muscles to handle.

It’s exactly here that she curls up for the better part of an unknown amount of time.

The acid from her increasingly angry stomach burns her esophagus.

The hotness of her tears streak down the dry skin of her cheeks.

This is how she lies some number of hours later, slipping between light sleep and terrifying reality when the door opens again.

Heavy footsteps echo on the plate floors.

The metal door locks with a clang.

A tall, black figure stares down at her from within the shadow of the doorframe.

Kylo Ren.

#kylo ren #reader #ben solo #supreme leader #reader-insert #fanfic #star wars

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fairestfall · 4 years

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TAGGED BY : @tharanduil { thank u, friend! } TAGGING : @iaurhael, @ardabuilt (for Manwë or Melkor), @sungruin, @minastiriiths, @tinuviele & you!

— BASICS.

▸ IS YOUR MUSE TALL / SHORT / AVERAGE ? She stands at 6 and a half feet tall, but is probably average/short compared to most flesh-bound Valar.

▸ ARE THEY OKAY WITH THEIR HEIGHT ? She definitely uses it to her advantage when intimidating men, but she dislikes that it makes her stand out in a crowd.

▸ WHAT’S THEIR HAIR LIKE ? It reaches her mid-back, and is a sable black in color. Thick curls are often wild and wind-swept, and some may chance that they have a mind of their own, often flaring like the cowl of a cobra when she is incensed.

▸ DO THEY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HAIR / GROOMING ? Not unless she needs to look presentable for the sake of social propriety. Although there is a stalwart beauty to her, it is as untamable as an ancient forest. On an average day, she hunts in coarse cloth and fur, trodding upon the earth barefoot, twigs and leaves untangled in her hair. Orcs also have their own beauty standards that stem more from reliability and strength rather than daintiness, and she’s come to adopt such attitudes whilst living with them.

▸ DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE / WHAT OTHERS THINK ? Her uncanny appearance is something that has driven a rift between her and potential allies-- even already existing friends. She bears the light of the Eldar in her flesh, but it is corrupted with Morgoth’s darkness. She is an elf in feature, and yet her fell gaze, fangs, and claws speak of a powerful spirit tightly bound in a prison of flesh. Looking in the mirror reminds her that she does not belong in either world, and it hurts. Not that she’ll admit it. She can yet be beautiful and use that to evoke sympathy and adoration. She can masquerade as a harmless maid, if only to endear herself to the peoples of Middle-Earth and make certain that her clan is not eradicated.

— PREFERENCES.

▸ INDOORS OR OUTDOORS ? Outdoors. ▸ RAIN OR SUNSHINE ? Rain. She can forebear sunshine but overall finds it unpleasant. She prefers the gentler light of the moon and stars. ▸ FOREST OR BEACH ? Forest. ▸ PRECIOUS METALS OR GEMS ? Neither. She’s actually more fond of rocks, obsidian in particular. ▸ FLOWERS OR PERFUMES ? Flowers. Her favorites are yellow peonies. ▸ PERSONALITY OR APPEARANCE ? Personality. She always looks at the heart first, although Snow is a teratophiliac no matter the verse. She’s more likely to partner with an orc or goblin than a man. ▸ BEING ALONE OR BEING IN A CROWD ? Being alone, or in a small crowd. She’s introverted by nature, and too much socialization proves to be exhausting. ▸ ORDER OR ANARCHY ? Order. ▸ PAINFUL TRUTHS OR WHITE LIES ? Painful truths. ▸ SCIENCE OR MAGIC ? Both. Magic is merely science that has yet to be explained. ▸ PEACE OR CONFLICT ? Peace. Although born to be a weapon, she despises war. ▸ NIGHT OR DAY ? Night. ▸ DUSK OR DAWN ? Dusk. ▸ WARMTH OR COLD ? Cold. Her core temperature is higher than that of a humans, and winter has always been her favorite season due to the longer nights and shorter days. ▸ MANY ACQUAINTANCES OR A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS ? A few close friends. She wants to form bonds knowing that she can trust and be accepted. ▸ READING OR PLAYING A GAME ? Reading.

— QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸ WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MUSE’S BAD HABITS ? She tends to bury her emotions for favor of aiding others; even though she tells them that they deserve to be healed, she does not believe the same for herself. She is quick to grow cynical and to hypocritically lay judgment on entire kingdoms after being wronged by a few individuals therein-- example in point: her leaving Númenor to its fate after being mocked and driven off by Ar-Pharazôn. Which, yeah, super hypocritical given that she wants her clan of free-born orcs to be accepted by the rest of Middle-Earth. When feeling threatened or insulted, she’ll also attempt to unnerve the party by staring at them unblinking, baring her teeth, peppering in more Black Speech than usual, etc. The whole ‘if they believe me to be a monster, I’ll give them one’ shtick.

▸ HAS YOUR MUSE LOST ANYONE CLOSE TO THEM ? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THEM ? Her life has been thoroughly marked by loss. Her mother was taken, corrupted, and lost. The father she’s always wanted proved to be a coward and a cruel taskmaster. Many of her old friends died in wars with elves and men. Her children and mates are dead. She is immortal, and so loss is a constant, and she daily grieves because of it.

▸ WHAT ARE SOME FOND MEMORIES YOUR MUSE HAS ? The first time she saw the moon after escaping Angband. The first time she felt soil under her feet and bark under her fingertips. The first time she fell in love and bore a child. The day Morgoth was taken away and his kingdom broken, the day she truly gained her freedom. The first generation of orcs she oversaw who knew neither war nor hatred. Forging friendships with men and elves that lasted for centuries. It’s the small things that make her happiest.

▸ IS IT EASY FOR YOUR MUSE TO KILL ?

She hunts to survive, and she kills only if given no other option, and only for the causes of her people’s safety and Sauron’s downfall.

▸ WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOUR MUSE BREAKS DOWN ? Yikes. Okay, in this verse in particular, she pre-dates the sun and moon. She’s ancient and tired and is nursing so much heartache, and because she likes to bury her feelings rather than deal with them, she usually ends up exploding. When this happens, she’ll usually self-isolate and then,,, let loose. Sobbing, screaming, cursing. Darkness flowing from her being and blotting out moon and stars. Storms gathering. Thunder, lightning, and the rain that mirrors her flow of tears. Then, when she returns, she is bound again, serene mask betraying nothing.

▸ IS YOUR MUSE CAPABLE OF TRUSTING SOMEONE WITH THEIR LIFE ?

Her life is a bit hard to entrust into someone else’s keeping because she is effectively immortal. Although her vessel has been nearly destroyed thousands of times, it merely takes energy to replenish itself and she comes back. It’s doubtless if anyone can kill a Vala. Even her father is trapped in the Void rather than slain. However, she holds her heart of far more regard, and she doesn’t entrust that to just anyone, for she’s seen enough of betrayal.

▸ WHAT’S YOUR MUSE LIKE WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE ?

Because love is still very much a rare, foreign thing to her, hers is selfless and fervent, yet also possessive. She will worship the other with every thing she has and do anything to see them smile, and woe betide any who stand against them. If they seek riches, she will bestow them, and they will never lack for companionship, affection, and a source of support. She will try her best to make them feel as special and treasured as she feels whenever she is with them. Whispered words of admiration in the dark of night. Eyes that drink them in for fear of losing them all too soon. Hands that reverently cradle; teeth that greedily mark. Yet for all the self-sacrifice she is willing to endure, she will not become a submissive wife or a queen that stands in a king’s shadow. All her partnerships will be based on equality and with those who can accept her and challenge her in strength or wit.

#{ Listen to the mirror ;; Headcanon }#tolkien verse headcanon #long post /

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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Caramel skin under a vanilla sky

Daibazaal, the planet of purple and black that seemed designed to keep Keith constantly off guard and directionally misplaced. Living in what was once Zarkon's residence still refused to sit well with him, even a year and a half after the fall of Honerva and the return of the planet he now called home with his mixed up family. Woken from his first real nights sleep in a phoeb by Axca's persistent knocking, he held his temper as he dressed. They were all exhausted. His team at any rate. Running relief missions was fulfilling in its own ways, but since had started to spread through the known universe he'd felt himself pining for the glory days of Voltron. The thrill of the fight. The feel of his lion beneath his hands. The constant bickering of his adopted castle family. It was all gone now. They'd all started to go to their seperate ways yet despite swearing to be friends forever. It wasn't like they didn't regularly catch up, weekly phone calls were very much a thing, and when the Atlas was close enough, he'd take the time to swing by to catch up with Shiro and Curtis personally, as well as Hunk and Shay, sometimes Pidge if she happened to be on board too. Dressed casually, Keith whistled at Kosmo to follow, his hands jammed into the front pocket of his black jeans as he wandered through the busy halls, a step behind Axca the whole way. Working with Axca, Zethrid and Ezor was rewarding, yet it failed to thrill him the way Voltron did, then there was the whole crush thing Axca had been nursing for him, which he'd been blind too until she'd asked him out and he'd known in the moment she was absolutely not the one for him. No. He'd fucked things right up with the one person he'd liked back on Earth and learned his lesson from his mistake. He didn't need to love anyone outside the weird collection of friends he'd made over the past few years in space. Sighing to himself, Axca turned to smile at him "You would think they'd let us rest" "Yeah. But you know mum and Kolivan. If you're breathing, you can take a mission" His mother dating Kolivan was another reason not to come back home as often as he did. It wasn't that he had anything against Kolivan at all, he didn't know how to act when they were holding hands or leaning into each other. Kolivan was still the same hard taskmaster he'd always been, and his boss... who was now dating his mother, which lead to mental images he definitely didn't need. Following Axca into the control room, Kolivan and Krolia were waiting for him. Kolivan frowning deeply as he approached with Kosmo, earning him a nudge in the ribs from Krolia "Keith! I'm sorry to wake you, but we need you for a mission immediately" He'd already deduced as much. Following the pair over to one of the tables, his mother started pulling up files on its holotop "We have a missing operative. He was on his way to an arms deal when we lost contact with him. He's now over a movement late reporting in, and no sign of him has been seen at any of the rebel camps in the Ghazex quadrant" Reaching down, Keith manipulated the files with his finger tips. It seemed all above board, the sellers of the goods honestly not caring where their clientele came from provided they paid up front and collected the goods from the designated coordinates "You want me to head out there and check for signs of life?" "We've been in contact with rebel forces and they found nothing. The weapons themselves aren't so important as the intel that could be gained through interrogations. There've been a number of odd occurrences in the sector space, that's why the meet was arrange there. Guile felt sure there was a link there between these occurrences and the gun runners" Guile barely looked older than Shiro, despite being four times his age. Nodding, Keith transferred the files to his wrist communicator "I'll leave immediately" Looking up from the table, his mother and Kolivan shared a long look at each other as they silently communicated, Kolivan giving a small nod of his head, granting his mother permission to continue "Keith. We're sending you alone on this one. You'll need to stay below the radar. If it proves to be nothing, then take your time coming back. You're supposed to be on standby as it" "I'm fine. You worry too much" "I'm your mother, it's my job" He was already 23, practically 24, he didn't need his mother's constant worry. He ran his own team, had fought in countless scuffles before their lions had left, and afterwards. He really didn't need his hand held. Quiznak, he'd even been nominated to rule the whole damn planet... Crossing his arms, he frowned at his parental figures "I'll be fine" "Why don't you give Shiro a call once you've checked things out? It's been a while since you saw any of the others" "Mum. If there's something you're trying to say, say it already" "I'm not trying to say anything. It's simply been a while since you spent some quality time with them" "I talk to them every weekend by video call. They're all fine" "But when is the last time you saw them?" "A few weeks ago? Before the last mission?" "You've only seen them once since Allura's memorial. Curtis is driving Shiro crazy" Keith raised and eyebrow. That couldn't be right. He distinctly remembered dinner with Hunk and Shay, with Curtis and Shiro casting enough sideways glances at each other to make Hunk blush in second hand shame. After the death of Adam, Keith knew his adoptive brother was capable of moving on, despite how deep the wound ran. It'd only been a matter of weeks between Adam's death and their return. As Adam's brother, Curtis understood Shiro's pain in a way Keith couldn't. Curtis had been there for Adam, he'd been there as Adam had fallen apart over their broken engagement, Shiro's disappearance, the reappearance of Sam Holt... and somehow along the way they'd bonded deeply yet both were hesitant to take the next step so as to not tarnish Adam's memory. Keith personally thought Adam was a dick for breaking off the engagement when all Shiro wanted was one last trip to space. They'd both hidden from him how much Shiro had suffered with his condition, Keith not noticing the subtle small ways Adam would check how Shiro was fairing with just a touch or a look. Now Curtis was the one to cast Shiro those subtle looks, his people skills having sharpened drastically since he'd first left Earth. That's what happened when you had a loud mouth like Lance for a best friend and right hand man. Out of all of them, Lance was the one who'd constantly surprised him, such as his choice to say goodbye to space in order to be a farmer "How do you know about Curtis and Shiro?" "Because unlike you, I've spoken with him. Take some time off after this mission and go see him. It'll be good for both of them, and for you" "I was going to take some time off now that we've returned" "Excellent. Look into the disappearance then take your break" Right. The mission. His thoughts definitely shouldn't be shifting towards Hunk's fine dining skills which left everything he'd eaten since lacking. There was a whole planet out there, yet food goo still seemed to make up the basis of most long term supplies for the Blades "Keith?" Huffing at his mother, Krolia continued to stare at him "I'm going already. I'll call you when I find a lead" Axca fell in behind him as Keith left to pack "I could come with you, if you need an extra set of hands" "You heard Krolia. I need to stay below radar" "You have a habit of getting into trouble when left alone" You fly the ship in the wrong direction once and they never let you forget it "I'll be fine Axca. Take your time to relax. We've been working nonstop this last phoeb. Maybe you could take some time to check in with Veronica?" "She's busy" Keith could hear the pout in her voice. Axca had formed a firm friendship with Veronica during their time on Earth. Despite having confessed her feelings for him, Keith was sure that Axca was harbouring a crush on his so called rival's elder sister. With Zethrid and Ezor in a long term relationship, he wasn't sure what was stopping Axca from seeking out the same happiness "Then call her again" "I have. Twice. I don't think she's accepting my calls" "Have you tried since we returned?" "No" "There we go then. Kosmo, take us to my room" Grabbing a fistful of his wolf's fur, the jump across the palace was instant, saving him from dishing out more bad relationship advice. He'd had plenty of stupid crushes that had never amounted to anything more than a momentary fixation that served to confuse him even more. The highlight of his nonexistent dating life had been receiving the sex talk from Shiro who'd been just as red as Keith was by the end of it. Unfortunately, he'd had to suffer through the same talk with his mother... with Kolivan present. A two phoeb relief mission hadn't eased his embarrassment over the whole thing, as he'd found himself unable to meet Kolivan's eyes for longer than he'd cared to admit. Grabbing out his go bag, he packed light. Most of his things were already aboard his private ship on the off chance he'd be randomly evicted like he was currently being. His ship was nothing like Black. There was no magical mental bond to keep him distracted or reassure him when things went wrong, but it had been a gift from his mother so held some sentimental value "Ok, boy. Let's go before I give into the urge to crawl back into bed. Can you believe they're sending me out again so soon?" Yipping and teleporting across his room, Kosmo had far too much energy. Or maybe he was getting too old for all of this shit. His bed was a crumbled, yet inviting mess, that almost begged for him to crawl back beneath the covers for at least another 6 to 12 vargas of sleep. Catching hold of Kosmo as he teleported again, his wolf teleported him straight into the cockpit of his ship "Good boy. Let's get this show on the road" * With 9 vargas between him and his destination, Keith took his mother's advice. Pulling up his com's list, he thumbed through his contacts where he accidentally hit Lance's name. Each time he'd talked to his friend had been hard. Keith unable to forgive Allura for hurting Lance like she did, despite understanding her sacrifice had been necessary. Her death had shook Lance to his very core, and had left him shaken for months after the fact. Being Lance he'd cried, cracked jokes, then announced he was staying on Earth. His best friend's parents relieved to see their son not leaving again, and the term Voltron was spoken in hushed tones right up until the day they'd left him behind. Lance hadn't even come to see them off. "Yo! Leandro, turn that thing off" Catching sight of bright neon lights, what looked like some kind of club, then an awkward downward angle of two sets of legs, Keith rushed to apologise for the misdial, only Lance cut him off first "Hey. Sorry man. Now isn't good. Talk later" With that the call was dropped. Keith frowning down at his communicator as his brain kicked into gear. That was definitely Lance's voice... but who the fuck was "Leandro"? And that city... it didn't look like it was on Earth, though it had been some time since last visited. Earth was recovering and rebuilding, it didn't make sense to concentrate all their resources on the planet when other smaller planets were in greater need. Besides, Pidge was there, her family having taken over training and building the next generation of space fighter jets. If they needed the help, they could always recall the Atlas. Shaking off the weird call, he was extra careful not to click Lance's name as he scrolled back through his contacts, first thinking of calling Shiro, then remembering he'd probably wish to talk about Curtis and that he'd be no real help there, scrolling back up, he tapped Hunk's name as he pulled the call up onto the ship's screen. It was only a few short tick's before the former Yellow Paladin's face filled his screen "Keith! Hey man, is it that time already?" That time being their preorganised once a movement call "No. I was going to call Shiro, but Krolia filled me in on the Curtis situation" Sighing deeply, Hunk nodded "It's driving all of us mad. Anyway. What's up?" Hunk was clearly in the kitchen, Keith could hear the soft sounds of a blade against a chopping board. His communicator must have been placed on a shelf or something so he could take the call "If you're busy, I can call back?" "No! No, man. It feels like its been ages" "You know what it's like, one mission after the next. Axca's been trying to contact Veronica, but she hasn't been taking her calls" "Things have been crazy here. That and she's been dodging calls from home" "That sounds like something Lance would do" Hunk nodded "That's exactly what he's been doing. His mother wants her to go check in with him in person, but Veronica insists Lance is doing what he needs to do" What now?" "I thought he was on Earth?" "No? Didn't he tell you? He took a job on Erathus not long after Allura's memorial. Being his best friend, I thought he would have told you" No. Lance hadn't said anything... that was what... at least 5 phoebs in space and he'd said nothing. Forcing a smile the best he could, Keith nodded back at Hunk "It slipped my mind. Have you heard from him?" "No. He took a job working security, and apparently he's been having a blast. He can't call all the time, but I know he keeps in contact with Veronica" "You're not worried?" Looking into the camera, Hunk gestured with his knife "We both know how messed up he was after Allura. I feared he'd given up his dream of space completely. If he's enjoying his new line of work, then good for him" Messed up... was one way to put it "Yeah. Anyway, I'm going to sign off, you know a Blade's work is never done. Krolia's insisting I take a vacation after this mission, so we might be catching up sooner than you think" "Please come talk some sense into Shiro over this Curtis thing" Snorting, Keith shook his head "I am the last person who should be giving relationship advice to anyone" "Don't sell yourself short, man. You're the number one bachelor in the universe" "Now you sound like Lance" "What can I say, he rubs off on you. Take care of yourself, and I'll let Shiro know you called" "Thanks, Hunk. You too" Signing off, Keith slumped back in his pilot's chair. Lance was in space and he seemed to be the only one who had no idea. Did Pidge know? Probably. Leaving Earth required notifying the Garrison. If Pidge and Hunk knew, then Shiro would have to. Did Axca know? If she didn't before, she would now. And why was Lance on Erathus? Erathus was the playground for the rich. Kind of like the Hollywood of old reborn with the boom in interest when it came to all things Earth related. Earth wasn't exactly the closest of planets, so a barren planet had been cultivated then gifted the Erathus in reference to their Earth. None of this should be bothering him as much as it was. Lance had made it clear where they stood. Attempting to make his best friend feel better after the loss of his girlfriend, they'd gotten wasted on Nunvil and fallen into bed together. It was sloppy, they hadn't even had sex, just some awkward alcohol driven mutual masturbation as they made out then passed out drunk without cleaning up. The following morning Lance was gone. Keith know that for Lance it was an ugly mistake that never should have happened, his own heart felt as if it'd broken when Lance acted like nothing had happened, then admitted that the whole night was a blank when Shiro had teased them over drinking. So rejected by his crush, Keith had pushed his pain down to be there for Lance, only for Lance to decide he wasn't coming back to space. Coran had coaxed him as far as Altea by requesting his help in erecting Allura's monument, and speaking of her to the people of Altea, but if it wasn't Allura related it seemed to mean nothing to the Cuban now. Whining softly at him, Kosmo nosed at him with his wet nose "I know. I'm being pathetic. He already rejected me, yet here I am thinking of him all over again. Come on, let's get some sleep?"

#Omega Lance #vld #klance #Laith #bottom lance #top Keith

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Who is John Walker, the US Agent?

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John Walker, the US Agent will be one of the antagonists of Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

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When The Falcon and The Winter Soldier starts up on Disney+ next year, one of its main antagonists will be the returning Daniel Bruhl as Helmut Zemo. At D23, it’s been announced that there will be another major antagonist in the form of John Walker, as played by Wyatt Russell. Walker is a B-lister-at-best to Marvel and it makes sense that this would be the project that would formally introduce him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While there have been various people to take up the mantle of Captain America outside of Steve Rogers, there are only five who truly matter. Isaiah Bradley was the prototype for Captain America as revealed in the excellent Truth: Red, White, and Black. William Burnside became Captain America in the 1950s in response to Rogers’ disappearance after World War II. John Walker became the new Captain America after Steve Rogers was dismissed from the role. Bucky Barnes took over as Cap when Rogers temporarily died. Then Sam Wilson became Cap when Rogers (living again) lost his super soldier powers and became physically elderly.

While Bradley and Burnside have potential to show up in the future (though they’d have to get a good Chris Evans double for Burnside, if not Evans himself), John Walker is the perfect wrench to throw into a story about Sam Wilson wielding the shield.

So who is John Walker, the Captain America of the 80s?

Walker was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary, debuting in the pages of Captain America #323 in 1986. In his original appearances, he played the role of Super-Patriot, a glory-hound loud-mouth vigilante backed up by his own propaganda machine. He’d spend much of his time giving speeches about how Captain America was old news, falsely portraying him as a gun-toting psychopath, and he’d even stage fights with goons in Captain America masks called “The Buckies.”

Though respecting the First Amendment and all that, Captain America obviously didn’t like this. Walker, who was driven by fascism, couldn’t leave well enough alone and instigated a fight with Cap. It went on for a while and Walker considered himself the winner because he...threw a shuriken into Cap’s chainmail.

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

A few issues later, Rogers had issues with the US government. The two parties disagreed on the status of the Captain America identity and the United States’ ownership. Deciding that he answered to the dream and not the suits behind the desks, Rogers gave up being Captain America, choosing instead to fight crime as Nomad and later The Captain. Tony Stark even made him a new shield!

The high-ranking government types discussed who would make for the best replacement. Fittingly enough, one even suggested that Sam Wilson would be a perfect candidate...but the public wasn’t ready for a black Captain America. They instead went with Walker, because jerk or not, he was still pretty damn good at punching terrorists in the face.

read more: Everything You Need to Know About The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Walker was taken aback, especially considering he made had made a name for himself specifically by telling everyone how much Cap sucked. He ended up agreeing to the terms, mainly since he would do just about anything the government tells him to. It was there that we also got to learn his origin.

Walker was the younger brother of a soldier who died in Vietnam and was celebrated as a real hero. Idolizing his brother, but stuck in his shadow, Walker decided to prove himself by joining the military. While he was active, the US wasn’t involved in any wars, so his attempts for glory and acknowledgement were empty gestures. He ended up getting powers from the Power Broker, a pro-wrestling promoter who was the lazy way out whenever a writer in the '80s needed to give someone special abilities without revealing that they were actually a mutant. Walker never entered the squared circle, as he instead got himself an agent and a dream to be America’s #1 patriotic hero.

Then again, he did stage pre-determined fights with the Buckies to get him more cheers from the public, so I guess he's more pro-wrestling than I originally thought.

After Taskmaster trained Walker to sling a shield like an expert, the new Captain America started kicking ass in the name of ‘Murica. For roughly two years, Walker played the role, where he was portrayed as a violent psychopath dressed in the flag. He wasn’t quite Frank Castle level of bonkers, but he had no problem tying his villains to explosives and leaving them to die.

Over the course of his run, he started to chill out a bit, question authority a little, and the narrative made sure to make him sympathetic. For instance, he got doxxed and his parents were murdered because of it. Then he wasn’t even allowed to see their funeral because duty calls.

In the end, it turns out the big puppetmaster of everything was the Red Skull. Walker and Rogers teamed up against him and took him down. Then everyone decided to go back to the status quo with Rogers as Cap.

Walker was lucky, though. You see, the 90s were on their way and there was no better haven for an edgier copycat of an existing hero. It was a time when Iron Man was flying around with a giant gattling gun on his shoulder, Spider-Man’s alien double was eating the brains of drug dealers, a Thor knockoff was embarrassing all of us with a leather jacket and ponytail, a new Batman had a hideous costume covered in razors, and so on. Rather than go back to being Super-Patriot, Walker dressed in a black version of the Captain America outfit, got a shield of his own, and fought crime as US Agent.

Even though the two were never really shown to be close friends, Captain America and US Agent co-existed as politically-opposite counterparts with a mutual respect (usually). US Agent received a couple miniseries to his name, but never got a full-on solo series.

Instead, he spent the next few decades jumping from team to team. As part of the West Coast Avengers and later Forceworks (oof, the '90s), he often played opposite Hawkeye. Hawkeye initially was the Avenger who was a stubborn asshole to nice guy Captain America, so now he had to deal with a version of Captain America who was actually a stubborn asshole. US Agent later led the Jury, a team of armored soldiers who were originally put together as a revenge pact against Venom, then just kind of stopped fighting him after two stories.

For real, though, it's kind of amazing how nobody cares about the Jury and yet they still show up from time to time.

Speaking of teams nobody cares about, US Agent was also part of Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad (STARS) and one of the modern incarnations of the Invaders. He became the American liaison to Omega Flight (which he hated, because they’re filthy Canadians). This led to him joining Hank Pym’s Mighty Avengers during the whole Dark Reign thing. Funny enough, Walker was a big supporter of Norman Osborn being in charge of the superhero wing of the government for a time. Of course he was.

read more: Marvel Pulls Essay Over Political Fears

This came to a head in a Siege tie-in where the Mighty Avengers fought Osborn’s Thunderbolts and we got US Agent vs. Nuke. It was the battle of the I-can-see-where-you're-coming-from right wing patriotic super soldier and the crazy-email-that-your-uncle-sent-you right wing patriotic super soldier. The Mighty Avengers won, but US Agent took some horrible damage from the fight, losing an arm and a leg in the process.

No longer wearing the tights, US Agent became Warden Walker as part of the Thunderbolts. He remained in a wheelchair as he didn’t want to use cybernetic attachments to augment his body and be one step closer to becoming like Nuke, the unfortunate super soldier knockoff who first appeared in Daredevil: Born Again. The comic was bloated with characters, so his panel-time was limited, but Walker at least got a rad moment when he took care of a prison riot on his own, Bad Day at Black Rock style.

It’s the guy meekly bringing over the wheelchair that gets me.

Thunderbolts became Dark Avengers and US Agent was briefly sucked into an alternate reality where the heroes of NYC were at war with each other. Using a lobotomized Venom symbiote, the creature was used to replace the missing pieces of Walker’s body, making him whole again. Team member Toxie Doxie had US Agent under her control, but that was a series-ending cliffhanger that was never touched on ever again.

After that, US Agent has been just kind of kicking around Marvel, showing up whenever someone needs a cranky guy who can still kick some ass. Fittingly, one of his last appearances was him going after Sam Wilson Captain America, but that ties into Civil War II and Secret Empire bullshit and I really don’t want to have to discuss those events.

Outside of comics, the biggest appearance for US Agent was the Capcom tag-team fighter Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. He was a secret character and really just a recolored Captain America to the point that they didn’t even make his outfit accurate. Still better than how the game turned Blackheart red and called him "Mephisto." US Agent would reappear in Marvel vs. Capcom as an assist character and would be an alternate costume for Cap in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

read more: The Legacy of Marvel vs. Capcom

As a newcomer to the MCU, Walker is going to be a real wild card. He could be anywhere from a full-on villain to an eventual member of the Avengers. The most likely scenario, at least at first, is that the government isn't going to be thrilled with the idea that Steve Rogers bequeathed the Captain America legacy to Sam Wilson without checking in with them first, and Walker is probably their preferred candidate. I can’t wait to see what Wyatt Russell has to offer.

Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and wonders how long until Forceworks shows up in the MCU. Don’t say they won’t because we’re getting the goddamn Eternals! Nothing is impossible! Read more of his articles here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature

Books

Gavin Jasper

Aug 24, 2019

Marvel

Captain America

Disney+

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

from Books https://ift.tt/2KTufay

#aion-rsa #Books

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penciltopbear · 4 years

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I finished lining the drawing but I REALLY don't wanna color. I'm gonna do it I just. Won't enjoy it. The things I do for attention on the internet

#yeah im being dramatic leave me alone #its gonna take awhile and i just want it done #i want to get onto drawings like i like more.#this one is kind of. eh. imo #but im just gonna draw more taskmaster so whatever ig #im jusy. tired. and its only like six here

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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CSUAVS - Chapter one start

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