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britesparc · 3 years

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Weekend Top Ten #467

Top Ten Romantic Couples in Superhero Movies (& TV)

It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. Woo, I guess? I dunno. I’m not generally cynical about holidays but Valentine’s Day does seem to be entirely focused on selling cards without any of the associated pleasantries of, say, Christmas or Halloween. I’d rather just try to be nice to my wife all year round. At least because of the apocalypse all the restaurants are closed so we can’t be tempted to pay through the nose for a set menu. Anyway, it gives me a strained excuse to tie this week’s Top Ten to something vaguely romantic.

Superheroes are often horny. This seems to be a defining characteristic of the artform. Whether it’s their descent from ancient myths, or their creators’ origins in writing romance books, or just a function of genre storytelling in the mid-twentieth century, there’s quite a lot of romantic angst in superhero stories. Pretty much every superhero has a significant other; Lois Lane even got her own comic that was actually called Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane. It’s hard to conceive of many heroes without their primary squeeze, and often – as we get multiple media adaptations of characters – we can add diversity or a twist to the proceedings by picking a lesser-known love interest, or one from earlier in the character’s fictional history; for instance, Smallville beginning with Cark Kent’s teenage crush Lana Lang, or The Amazing Spider-Man swapping out Mary Jane Watson for Gwen Stacey.

Anyway, I’m talking this week about my favourite superhero couples. I’ve decided to focus on superhero adaptations – that is, the characters from movies and films based on superhero comics or characters. I find this a little bit easier as I don’t have a phenomenal knowledge of sixty years of Avengers comics, but I have seen all the movies a bunch. As many comics as I’ve read, and as much as I love various ink-and-paper pairings, I can arguably talk more authoritatively about the fillums than the funny books. And let’s be real here, kids: my favourite comic book romantic couple is Chromedome and Rewind in Transformers. Also if I split them in two I can talk about comic couples next year. Woohoo!

It really is hard thinking of these things nearly nine years in, folks.

So! Here, then, are my favourite movie-TV Couples in Capes. Obviously there’s a fair bit of MCU in here. And I’ve been pretty specific about “superhero” romances: so no Hellboy and Liz Sherman, sadly (and I do really like them in the movies, of which they really need to make a third). Some are civvies-and-supes; some are capes-and-capes. You’ll work it out.

Superman & Lois Lane (Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder, Superman, 1978): who else? The most famous romance in all of comics, a combo so strong it remains the focus of pretty much every interpretation of the character, but arguably never better than here; so good are Reeve and Kidder that their fast-talking banter and inherent goodness set the template for a huge swathe of other comic adaptations to follow. She’s sarky and streetwise; he’s gormless and good-hearted. She leaps in where angels fear to tread, he’s an invulnerable alien in disguise. They have buckets of chemistry and an utterly believable (tentative) romance. They’re perfect performances and the scenes of Clark in Metropolis for the first time (including Superman’s balcony interview with Lois) are the best bits of an already excellent film.

Raven & Beast Boy (Tara Strong & Greg Cipes, Teen Titans Go!, 2014): on a totally different register, we have the comedy stylings of the Teen Titans. Raven and Beast Boy had a flirtatious relationship on the original Titans series, but on this longer-running and much more demented comedy follow-up, they were allowed to make the romance more official (I nearly said “explicit” but, y’know… it’s not that). The jokes and banter – BB the love-struck, jealous suitor, Raven the too-cool partner who feigns nonchalance – build and build, but every now and again they’re allowed a moment of genuine heartfelt romance, and it hits all the more strongly amidst the ultra-violence and outrageous comedy.

Captain America & Agent Carter (Chris Evans & Hayley Atwell, Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011): the premier couple of the MCU, Steve and Peggy spend a whole movie flirting (she sees the goodness of him even before he gets all hench) before finally arranging a date that, we all know, is very much postponed. Peggy casts a shadow over the rejuvenated Cap and the MCU as a whole, founding SHIELD, inspiring dozens of heroes, and counselling Steve to her dying days. She remains Steven’s true north (like Supes with Lois, Peggy’s an ordinary human who is the actual hero of an actual super-powered hero), guiding him through the chaos and tragedy of Endgame, until they both get to live happily ever after. Even though he snogged her niece.

Batman & Catwoman (Michael Keaton & Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns, 1992): Pfeiffer delivers a barnstorming performance as Selina Kyle, all barely-supressed mania and seductive feline charm. The chemistry between her and Keaton is electric, and propels the film forward even when the Penguin-runs-for-mayor stuff gets a bit daft and icky. There are beautiful moments of romantic comedy when they’re both trying to cover up injuries they gave each other, and of course there’s “mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it” – a line that runs a close second to “dance with the devil” when it comes to Burton-Batman quotations (just ahead of “never rub another man’s rhubarb”). Burton, generally favouring the macabre villains over the straighter edges of the heroic Batman, nevertheless makes great play of the duality of the character, and how this is something he and Catwoman can share – both “split right down the centre” – but also how this means a happy ending for either of them is impossible.

Spider-Man & Mary Jane (Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2002): whilst a lot of this is really down to the sexiness of them kissing upside-down in the rain, there’s a nice duality to Peter and MJ seeing through each other too: he sees the wounded humane soul beneath her it-girl persona; she sees the kind, caring man underneath his geek baggage. This arc plays out beautifully across the first two films (ending in that wonderfully accepting “Go get ‘em, tiger”) before sadly getting all murky and unsatisfying in the murky and unsatisfying third film. Still: that kiss.

Wonder Woman & Steve Trevor (Gal Gadot & Chris Pine, Wonder Woman, 2017): probably the film that hews closest to the Clark-Lois dynamic of the original Superman, to the point where it includes an homage to the alleyway-mugging scene as Diana deflects a bullet. Steve is Diana’s window into man’s world, showing her the horror of the First World War but managing to also be a sympathetic ally and never talking down or mansplaining anything. He’s a hero in his own right – very similar to another wartime Steve on this list – and very much an ideal match to the demigod he’s showing round Europe. And, of course, Gadot’s Diana is incredible, both niaive and vulnerable whilst also an absolute badass. There is an enduring warm chemistry to the pair, with a relationship which we actually see consummated – relatively rare for superheroes! The inevitability of his heroic sacrifice does nothing to lessen the tragedy, and no I’ve not seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet.

Hawkeye & Laura Barton (Jeremy Renner & Linda Cardellini, Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015): I love these guys! I love that Hawkeye has a relatively normal, stable family life. He has a big old farmhouse that he wants to remodel, he’s got two kids and a third on the way… he’s got something to live for, something to lose. It humanises him amidst the literal and figurative gods of the Avengers. And they’re cute together, bickering and bantering, and of course she is supportive of his Avenging. I hope we get to see more of Laura and the kids in the Hawkeye series, and I hope nothing bad happens to them now they’ve all been brought back to life.

Wanda Maximoff & Vision (Elizabeth Olsen & Paul Bettany, Avengers: Infinity War, 2018): theirs is a difficult relationship to parse, because they’re together so briefly. They cook paprikash together in Civil War before having a bit of a bust-up, and by Infinity War they’re an official couple, albeit on the run (and on different sides). That movie does a great job in establishing their feelings for each other in very little screentime, with their heroic characteristics on full display, before the shockingly awful tragedy of Wanda killing Vision to save the galaxy, before Thanos rewinds time, brings him back to life, and kills him again, and then wins. Their relationship going forward, in WandaVision, is even trickier, because we don’t know what’s up yet, and at times they’re clearly not acting as “themselves”, defaulting to sitcom tropes and one-liners. Will Vision survive, and if he does, will their relationship? Who can say, but at least they’ll always have Edinburgh, deep-fried kebabs and all.

Batman & Andrea Beaumont (Kevin Conroy & Dana Delany, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, 1993): woah, Batman’s back but it’s a different Batman, say whaaaat. Animated Batman has had a few romances, from the great (Talia al-Ghul) to the disturbingly icky (Batgirl, ewwww), but his relationship with Andrea Beaumont is the best. Tweaking the Year One formula to give young Bruce a love interest that complicates his quest is a golden idea, and making her a part of the criminality and corruptiuon that he’s fighting is a suitably tragic part of the Batman origin story. Conroy and Delany give great performances, him wringing pathos out of Bruce, torn between heart and duty (“It just doesn’t hurt so bad anymore,” he wails to his parents’ grave, “I didn’t count on being happy”), her channelling golden age Hollywood glamour. The tragedy of them rekindling their relationship years later, only to wind up on different sides again, is – again – so very Batman. It’s a beautiful, earnest, very Batman relationship, a great titanic tragedy of human emotions and larger-than-life ideals. And they both look good in black.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell, Harley Quinn, 2020): this one’s a little bit of a cheat, as I’ve only seen the first season of the show, where Harley and Ivy don’t even get together. But in the wider, non-canonical sense of these being characters who are part of the pop-cultural ether, Harley and Ivy will always be a couple, I feel; and there’s definitely enough in there already to see the affection between them, not yet consummated. They adore each other, are always there for each other, and as the season follows Harley getting out of her own way and acknowledging the abuse of her relationship with Joker – and finally getting over it in the healthiest way possible for a bleached-white manic pixie in roller derby gear. And all through this, holding her hand, is Ivy. They’re utterly made for each other, and I’m glad that they do get together in season two. I hope that Margot Robbie’s rendition of the character can likewise find happiness with a flesh-and-blood Ivy. Hell, just cast Lake Bell again. She’s great.

Just bubbling under – and I’m really gutted I couldn’t fit them in – was Spider-Man & M.J. from Spider-Man: Far From Home. Like Batman, I’m comfortable including multiple continuities here, and those cuties offer a different spin on a classic relationship.

#valentine's day #romance #top ten #love #superheroes #comic book #movie #films #dce #mcu #marvel

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thewritewolf · 5 years

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Nino’s Quest Chapter 8: The Quest Begins Again

Adrien and Marinette are a stuttering mess for reasons unknown to the Lord DM, but that won't stop him from pushing this story forward. The party seeks out a dread enemy - The Necromancer!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3. My ko-fi.

Nino knocked at the door to the familiar apartment and heard his girlfriend’s voice call, “Come in!”

Stepping inside, the first thing he noticed - after Alya, of course - was the bags of groceries on the table. A warm smile lit up his face as he recognized them as the ingredients for one of his favorite meals that he’d ever had at the Cesaire household.

“Is all this for me, babe?”

Alya quirked an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. “Well, I was hoping that you’d share with the rest of the party…”

“Hm…” He tapped at his cheek, pretending to give it some thought. “I guess that’s a fair deal. Need a hand cooking it up?”

She scoffed. “No, but I wouldn’t turn down help if you’re offering.”

The sound of chopping vegetables and the sizzle of the meat on the stove was all the noise that passed between them for a few minutes. The two of them worked well together, especially when it came to the kitchen. As Nino was busy cutting the carrots, he finally broke the silence.

“So where is everyone today?”

“You probably guessed Nora is at a tournament. If you did, congrats - you were right.” Alya leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. “Took awhile but she’s finally in a league that she doesn’t just completely wreck instantly.”

Nino nodded along. “That’s totally sweet. She needs to be challenged if she’s gonna get any better.”

“Her point exactly. Ella and Etta are with mom and dad. They were going to the park, then to a movie. We should be clear for the next few hours, at least.”

“That’s not far off from what our last couple dates have been like.” Nino chuckled. “Park, movies, although we did go out for dinner a few days ago…”

“It’s good exercise. Can’t be too out of shape when Ladybug calls us back into the fight.”

“Right on. And if we are already out and about, it's way easier for you to go charging into an akuma battle phone-first, yeah?”

Alya had the decency to blush at that. “So, ah, you noticed that, huh?”

“Mhm. Don’t worry, babe. It’s all good to me, so long as we’re chillin’ together.”

“Aw, thanks babe.” She turned around to stir the rice some more. Still stirring, she asked over her shoulder, “By the way, have you seen the footage of the last akuma battle?”

He snorted. “Babe you say that as if you don’t have me read all your posts to edit them.”

“Okay, fair. So you’ve noticed that Ladybug and Chat Noir have been acting… kinda weird lately?”

“Understatement of the year. Stealing glances at each other, stutters when they actually manage to talk to each other, all those blushes. They’re the second biggest mess of all the couples in Paris.”

“And the biggest mess is our babies, right?”

“Yup.” Nino dumped the carrots in with what Alya was stirring. “All props to Ladybug and Chat Noir though - they’re giving our kids a run for their money, even though Marinette has had way more practice being awkward. And my boy Adrien is right there with the best of ‘em.”

Alya sighed. “It’s a mess. But I bet we can fix-”

“Babe.”

“What? I’m just saying if we-” Nino put a finger on her lips, silencing her despite the glare she shot his way.

“You gotta let them figure it out on their own. They’ll get there eventually.”

“Yeah? Well, let’s see how you feel after this session. You haven’t had to see them together nearly as much as I have.”

“Yeah, I really wish Ms. Bustier would start letting us do groups of four.” He paused. “Is it seriously that bad?”

Her eyes widened for a moment, remembered exasperation crossing her face. “You’ll see, cappy.”

Her phone went off. “Well, that’s them. Just in time for lunch, too.”

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As he’d expected, Marinette and Adrien were quiet and blushy as ever. This ultimately left the leadership of the party in Alya’s hands - a task that she was uniquely qualified for as they sought out leads for the Necromancer’s lair.

“Alright, dudes. We’ve all leveled up. You’ve just finished shopping in the marketplace and you’re ready to leave town on a moment’s notice. But you’ve got no clue on where to head out. What’re you going to do about it?”

Silence greeted him as Alya looked between their friends and the way they very deliberately avoided each other’s eyes while surreptitiously staring as much at each other as possible.

“Right, well…” Her eyes sparked as an idea occurred to her. “So we’re basically drumming up leads, right? Doing research, chasing down rumors of this bad guy?”

“Yeah, babe, you got it.”

She rubbed her hands together in excitement. “Now that is something I can do. What’s the marketplace look like? What sort of people do I see there?”

“Besides the locals? Rough mercenary types, travellers dusty from the road, wandering merchants, that sort of thing.”

There was a pause as she narrowed her eyes in thought. “Tell me more about the travellers. What do they look like?”

He rolled a perception check behind his DM screen. “You notice that a bunch of ‘em are sticking together and they’ve got kids with them. Their threads are pretty similar too, like they got ‘em from the same place. They seem pretty uneasy, casting suspicious looks around them.”

“It’s not normal for wanderers to take their children with them, yeah?”

“Not usually, no. Unless they’re nomads.”

She shook her head. “Nah. Nomads wouldn’t be that freaked out by new people. It sounds like they’re country folk that were driven into the city. Which means…”

“...Refugees?” Adrien supplied, frowning at the table.

“Only one way to find out. I’ll walk up to them.” Alya cleared her throat and adopted her character’s voice. “Excuse me, can I ask you where you’re from?”

Nino dropped his voice an octave. “Doesn’t matter much anymore, does it? Nothing left to go back to now.”

“What do you mean?”

“‘Strange happenings up in the mountains, lass. Smoke billowing out. Scared me to my bones, it did. We picked up and headed out.’ The dude gets a distant look, like he’s remembering the sight. ‘Been on that farm for six generations. But I hear we were the lucky ones.’”

“I thank him for his time. What do you guys think?”

Marinette and Adrien seemed to have forgotten their embarrassment for the moment. Adrien shuffled his character sheets again. “Do I know any legends about the mountains? Like, monsters that lived up there, or old forts? Maybe it’s not the Necromancer at all but something else.”

Nino took a long sip of his pop. “Roll it.”

A grin split Adrien’s face as the die landed high. “What’ve you got for me, bro?”

“You remember hearing stories about a lost dwarven city out there. It went quiet decades ago, though.”

“Dwarves…” Marinette cupped her chin, her eyebrows creased with worry. “Like, big forges, deep mines, strong doors? Enough space to arm and equip and army? That sort of dwarves?”

Nino finger gunned at her. “One and the same, my dude!”

Alya buried her face in her hands. “Fantastic. If the Necromancer isn’t there, I bet he wished he was. Let’s go.”

“Don’t we want to look for other clues?” Marinette asked.

“Y-yeah.” Adrien swallowed heavily, dragging his eyes away from Marinette to Alya. “He could be somewhere else.”

“Doubt it. And even if he isn’t, someone is driving honest people away from their homes. Necromancer or no, we’ve got to do something about it.”

Steely determination dawned on their faces. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil…” Marinette began.

“...Is that good people do nothing,” Adrien finished. “Guess it’s settled then.”

With their goal in mind, the rest of the session was spent on travel. They met more people on the road - battered survivors and the usual wanderers alike. It put a strain on their supplies, but they helped out as best they could while approaching their destination. After a couple hours of social encounters and skill checks to help the displaced, they were close.

“Looming on the horizon are the great western mountains. While they’re usually supes gorgeous, something about ‘em feels off. Just like the farmer dude said, there are smoke plums coming from somewhere in the mountain range. And that…” Nino said as he closed his DM notebook, “Is where we’ll end today’s session. If you chose right, next session might totally be the end of the Necromancer, and this adventure.”

The tapping of Adrien’s pen came to a stop, Marinette’s packing finished, and even Alya looked up from her character sheet. All of them wore similar expressions of surprise.

“Wow, really? It doesn’t feel like its been that long…” Alya muttered.

Marinette frowned. “It can’t be almost over already, can it?”

“No way!” Adrien brushed the thought aside. “I’m sure we’ve got plenty of adventures still in us.”

“That’s up to you, my dudes. This campaign might be almost over, but there could be more.” Nino shrugged and chugged the last of his pop. “If you want to, I mean. But anyway, that’s a question for later.”

Slightly more somber, they finished packing up. Adrien took Marinette and Nino home

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Direct Message to Adrien

Nino: So Bro Wanna tell me whats goin on between you and M?

Adrien: There isn’t anything Which is half the problem But don’t worry about it

Nino: No can do We’re best buds Its my job to worry about you

Adrien: And I get that I really do! But you’ve gotta trust me There isn’t anything you can do Sorry :(

Nino: Well… okay. I’m here if you need me dude

Adrien: I know [heart emoji]

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Direct Message From Alya

Alya: Did he tell you anything?

Nino: Nah, babe Clammed up U?

Alya: dang No Mari is hiding something Not sure if it is a BAD something But def something

Nino: Not much we can do about it I guess Just let ‘em figure it out

Alya: Speak for yourself, cappy Theyre almost there They just need… ...a little push

Nino: Alya...

Alya: What? It won’t be much Just a gentle nudge Really

Nino: [eye roll emoji] Alright fine What did you have in mind?

Alya: heh heh heh Okay so! We get them into class early Like SUPER early Maybe like an hour

Nino: Alright… Tough to pull off Esp for Mari But doable

Alya: ...and then we lock the door behind them And we leave them alone We don’t open it until either they’re dating Or class starts Preferably the former

Nino: That’s What No Stop

Alya: Why not? It worked for us And it smells a whole lot nicer too

Nino: point You know what? Sure We’ll do it Otherwise we might be waiting on them for a g e s

Alya: I knew you’d see it my way. ;)

#Miraculous Ladybug #Nino Lahiffe #Alya Cesaire #DJ Wifi #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Adrienette #D&D #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #ml fanfiction #my writing #Nino's Quest

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