#it also foreshadows oops. so nice

[eat-a-dicker]

this is a screenshot i took a while ago. it's interesting to me that fizz's expression is one of glee, a tiny bit of judgment, but he is happy to see blitzo at ozzie's with a boyfriend of high status.

[maukree]

Masterpost with all parts

Heyyyyy, I’m back. Again.

Did you miss me? Don’t answer that, I’m fragile.

Anyway, I just posted Chapter 5 of my increasingly 616-obsessive winteriron fic (you know, the one that this recap was meant to be for and all, not that it got away from me or anything), and it suddenly hit me that I may have jumped the gun there a tiny bit in terms of canon context.

Oops.

So here I am, crawling back into this super short (ha. HA.) recap series to catch up with my own fic timeline before anyone starts shaking receipts at me in the comments. And yes, I’m painfully aware that my very fancy, very curated, very aesthetically pleasing cover art doesn’t actually list half the comics I’ve ended up referencing in these posts, but we’re still on track: from when Bucky pops into the 616 continuity just before Civil War, through all the post-Civil War fallout, and heading straight toward Fear Itself.

Yes, other events are going to pop up in between. No, I’m not updating my Photoshop files to reflect that. Just squint, pretend it’s all intentional, and move on.

Now, as for this specific part, if you read this, you’ll find out:

What happens to Tony as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

What happens to Bucky while Tony mostly flails under the weight of the world's dumbest job offer.

That there are some intersections between them, but this is canon, folks, and, sadly, they both spend time banging people completely wrong for them (just my opinion, calm down).

Still, this is the part where, if you make it to the end, you’ll finally know how the hell Tony ends up deleting his own brain after the Secret Invasion—because he’s just that dramatic—and who he sends the only backup to. It’s Bucky. Sorry, I just knew the suspense would be killing you.

Quick reminder: we left off Part 3 with Tony handing Bucky Steve’s shield, Bucky agreeing (somehow??) to let Tony mess around with his brain, and both of them pretending this was totally normal behavior and not the fandom equivalent of swapping promise rings.

Anyhow, let’s go.

Holy shit, you clicked again. What’s wrong with you? Kidding, please stay.

So… Tony has finished emotionally decimating the superhero community via Civil War, and also just had his sexy little moment with Bucky in Captain America (2004–2011).

I might repeat myself a bit here, but I’ll at least try to keep it only to the relevant shit you came here for. (Lies. I will likely repeat myself a lot here, because only a crazy person would re-read their own ramblings to see where I actually stopped. And I will very likely add a ton of completely irrelevant information and too many bad jokes, but if you are reading part 4, you might be sorta into it, so that’s your problem, not mine.) 

We are roughly over in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 4 (2004–2007), around Issue #15, where Tony bullshits himself into thinking he’s ready to lead. Despite the fact that he’s been freshly dumped by his entire friend group and is still grieving his dead boyfriend who asked him—in writing, to make it legal and binding or something—to take care of his very stabby former possibly-love.

This stretch of comics in general is fascinating because it’s less about the suit and more about Tony vs. The System, which is hilarious when you remember he is the system now. He’s balancing national security, superhuman politics, his own guilt, and the absolute circus that is post-Civil War America. I mean, you might love him, you might hate him, and he did make a spectacular mess of things in Civil War, but the man’s trying, okay? And the art is really nice. 

Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #15–18: The Initiative 

This tiny arc is mostly foreshadowing and starts off Tony’s tenure as Director with exactly the kind of subtlety you’d expect from him: by pissing off everyone. Especially Dum Dum Dugan, who, as I’ve mentioned before, is around, is very ginger, has a very impressive mustache that deserves its own comic book run, and has some very strong opinions.

So, let’s talk about Dugan for a second. Because my man is not having it. Tony rolls into S.H.I.E.L.D. with his futurist swagger, immediately starts running it like a Stark Industries satellite office, replaces a beloved cook named Cookie (rip legend, we never knew you, but your name lives on) with a private chef, and suddenly—for completely no reason at all, honestly—Dugan's looking one fabulous lunch away from full mutiny.

I mean… he kind of has a point? From the very beginning, as soon as he takes the job, Tony is so hands-on as Director that it's a miracle anyone else at S.H.I.E.L.D. has anything to do. He’s micromanaging ops and personally suiting up to punch bioweapons, which is, arguably, super effective, but also very infuriating for hardened pros. I kinda agree with Dugan here in a sense that Tony’s behavior is giving the entire agency, who already has deeply repressed authority issues from Fury, too many reasons to call Tony both daddy and their emergency field response unit.

But don’t worry, Sal Kennedy is here to try and convince Dugan that Tony’s fit for the job. If you were around for Part 1 of this totally useless recap series, you’ll remember (or not, I don't remember if I told you about him) Sal from Extremis—Tony’s chill tech philosopher BFF who wears sandals on government property and speaks exclusively like a walking TED Talk. He is ride-or-die Team Tony, which we respect, and Sal spends most of Issue #15 trying to convince Dugan that installing childcare on the Helicarrier is a boss move (it is) and that Tony isn’t an actual threat to the republic (debatable). He’s the only person besides Jarvis who talks to Tony like a human being, which, of course, means he is absolutely doomed.

More on that in a minute.

Meanwhile, over in the “Should’ve Stayed in Jail” department, Maya Hansen is still around. Remember her from Extremis, where she invented nightmare fuel, emotionally manipulated Tony, got him nearly killed, and then helped him inject that nightmare fuel into his bloodstream? Good times.

So, yeah. This gal. Unofficially working on Extremis for Tony, officially killing Tony’s chances of having a normal relationship for the foreseeable future, and vibe-check failing in every panel. She and Tony have that tragic pseudo-ex energy that won’t fucking die already, mostly because she keeps hanging around long enough to remind us she still exists.

And Tony, poor bastard, is just trying to get to the part where he can start obsessing over Bucky in peace—but no. Maya is here with her Extremis research and suspicious side-deal offers behind Tony’s back because everyone in this comic is after Extremis like it’s a completed, no archive warnings applies, slow burn, good smut on AO3.

Also, yes, in case you’re wondering who’s looming in the background all mysterious and villainous—since there’s always one of those per series—it’s The Mandarin. Yay? Different from the MCU, for sure, and you don’t know that yet in these issues, but I do, and now you do, and I’m telling you this man will haunt Tony’s entire run like the yoga-practicing demon asshat he is. He doesn’t do much here at the beginning aside from loom and look ominous and flex his yoga poses, occasionally making me confuse him with Sal (’cause both could use a haircut), but…

Anyway.

By the time we hit Issue #18 and Initiative wraps up Tony’s intro to being Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., things go from “shaky office politics” to “oh no, Tony’s having a trauma spiral again.” 

Sal dies. 

And it is gnarly. It’s really gross, people, and it leaves Tony absolutely gutted and flashing back to a few folks he’s recently lost, starting with Steve.

Thankfully, this is not a Captain America comic book, and reminiscing about dead friends is more of a Steve move, so the writers of the Iron Man comic book promptly decided that this specific moment could wait and instead gave us an epic naked scene to round this arc off—for which I am willing to forever visit comic book shops on Wednesdays and buy so many I am running out of storage space, hoping for another naked Tony scene.

That. Yeah. Tony takes off his clothes and uses the power of being hot, upset, and nearly dead to defeat an Extremis-inspired biotech weapon. It’s symbolic. It’s sweaty. And yes, I will be including those panels.

This arc ends with Maya, the sweet summer traitor that she is, taking that shady offer and wandering off to go work for the Mandarin. Seriously. Get Bucky on the phone. Or someone else on the phone. Because this isn’t the person Tony should be banging, okay?

At this point, it should be painfully clear that the only person Tony should be entangled with in the 616—or any continuity—is either:

A) A traumatized assassin with a metal arm and an obsessive lip-licking habit

B) A traumatized, mouthy, currently unemployed and on-the-run photographer who goes by Spider-Man

C) Okay, fine, a guy who used to have a shield, but is currently dead, so not dealing with trauma, lucky him

Unfortunately, Peter is busy dealing with his own angst in New Avengers, Steve is, in fact, still dead, and Bucky is somewhere punching fascists and feeling feelings off-panel—which brings us to a small detour to discuss World War Hulk, because I briefly mentioned it in my fic, which I will continue aggressively plugging because it’s Tumblr and nothing is free in this life except maybe actual fanfiction.

Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #19–20: World War Hulk 

Ah yes. The event where Marvel looked at the most damaged and in need of a break heroes and said, “Want to be punched in the face?” And Tony, being Tony, said: Sure, I’ll go first. Make sure to hit hard.

A while ago, Tony and his big-brain boyband—also known as the Illuminati, or, as I like to call them, powerful assholes with terrible ideas—decided it would be a genius move to yeet Bruce Banner into space. For reasons, obviously. Because he was too unstable, dangerous, big green feelings, etc., and because nobody in that group has ever heard of successful therapy.

Naturally, Hulk comes back from space with an army, a lot of rage, a spaceship (well, you kinda need one to come back from space, but it’s a cool spaceship), and a very short, extremely pointed “Puny humans, I’m gonna wreck your shit” speech.

This is an actual Marvel event, but in issues #19–20, we stay tight on Tony’s perspective, while others, presumably, have their own tragedy happening. Since I read this event in full donkeys ago and don’t feel like doing it again just yet, here is a basic recap as it pertains to Tony.

Tony is spiraling hard. He feels genuinely awful about what they did. But guilt doesn't stop him from immediately dusting off the Hulkbuster armor to fly straight into Hulk’s fist, since 616 is peak martyr Tony. This is “let me throw my body at a problem because I deserve it and maybe also it’ll prove something to Steve, who’s still dead and everyone would not shut up about it, and Bucky, who’s probably watching” energy. It’s so Tony. And if by now you are at the very least not interested just a little in reading 616 comic books, idk what I’m doing wrong here.

Anyhow, Maria Hill and Dugan, who were skeptical at first, are fully Team Tony by this point. They’re trying to stop him from the full-on confrontation by reminding him they have protocols, but Tony always needs to suffer because he hates himself a little, so suffer he does, and he absolutely does not win. 

In fact, Avengers Tower gets leveled, which is deeply rude to all the fic writers who imagined Bucky moving into that specific version someday. Tony gets captured, but still looks great while doing that, assuming you’re into him being all chained up and in a lot of trouble. Panels included for all interested in that dynamic, you perverts. But I am not deleting those screenshots from my phone, so you are not alone. Isn’t that nice?

The actual World War Hulk is pretty fun, and a lot of shit does get wrecked, but Tony isn’t the one to save the day. It all boils down to the very shirt-ripping showdown between two of the most overpowered boys Marvel has ever created: Hulk vs. Sentry. And yes, if you’re here just after the new Thunderbolts movie, it’s that Sentry. Our boy with sad eyes and weird slippers—Bob.

I’m not gonna spoil anything about Bob (much), but 616 is different from the MCU, so don’t worry too much, I guess? The point is, both of them go full God Mode, and for a few glorious panels it’s “trauma vs. trauma,” gamma rage vs. unstable sun-god energy, and absolutely no one wins except the artists who got to draw it and readers who forked out $3.99 per issue for it.

In summary: this is a cool event, Tony gets his beatdown, gets humbled once again, and the city gets a facelift. I wasn’t yet a winteriron shipper when I read WWH, so I actually do not remember what the hell happened to Bucky during this event, but there are no Captain America issues that cover it, so… possibly not much? I assume he punches things. 

On a completely unrelated side-note (but also kind of important because I can’t stop thinking about it):

The second I mentioned Sentry, my brain—filthy thing that it is—flashed me straight back to that one issue of Mighty Avengers that ran during the same timeline as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I had to cackle when I remembered Tony got turned into a girl, and the first thing he did as soon as he came to after it was over was check that all of his body parts were still there.

Like. No “is my heart okay,” no “do I still have functioning lungs,” just straight to “do I still have my Stark Industries, patent-pending, nanotech-augmented dick.” Iconic. (I’m kidding about it being augmented, btw—that man has big dick energy, we all know it.)

And no, I am not recapping Mighty Avengers fully here, unless I have to. Because if I do that, I’d have to go back and cover New Avengers properly, and that’s no longer a recap—that’s me writing a wiki.

Just sort of assume that there are many other issues, adventures, and semi-shippy shit happening at the same time as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. We nod, acknowledge, giggle at Tony pawing at his boy-parts in front of his new team (Bucky excluded for the moment), and, yes, move on.

Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #21–28: Haunted 

In this arc, Tony is just trying to do his job, save the world, maybe cry in peace over Steve’s memory, and instead gets absolutely steamrolled by the government, by biotech horror, by Maya “Poor decision making is my thing” Hansen, and, finally, by Mandarin.

It’s important to remember that during his time as Director, Tony is doing the best he can under impossible circumstances. And by “impossible,” I mean: the government is always on his ass, Norman Osborn is also on his ass, Norman Osborn is also just... an ass, and Tony can’t stop losing people.

This lovely eight-issue arc begins with Tony getting mindfucked on his own balcony by hallucinating Steve standing there looking all blond and tragic and judgmental, which is extra delicious for Stony shippers—especially since this is a very tender hallucination moment that hurts in all the right ways. But if you’re here in winteriron goggles, Bucky is currently wearing the stars and stripes, and if Tony saw someone in that somewhat similar suit and had a flash of “Steve?”, there’s a very real chance his brain could've hiccupped and whispered “Bucky?” first.

Anyway. Real Steve is still dead at this point (ish), so hallucination Steve disappears, and Tony is left spiraling. Again.

Then he gets… mindfucked. Also again—this time by Maya, when he’s told she’s dead. Maya, in her defense, doesn’t know she’s being accidentally evil, which is kind of her brand at this point: smart-stupid. She possibly thinks she’s helping humanity but is really just aiding Mandarin who is doing Extremis experiments on kidnapped humans and superheroes in a very evil-looking lab.

Tony, upon learning all this, reacts the way anyone in his position would: by launching an actual investigation. The government, in turn, puts him on probation, and if there’s one thing this arc reinforces, it’s that no one appreciates Tony unless he’s saving the world shirtless and bleeding.

Maya eventually does discover she’s being evil, but still manages to nearly cause a full extinction-level event, since Mandarin’s very classic plan is to unleash Extremis on the world, knowing full well only a tiny percentage of people (Tony included) can survive it.

You’d figure that instead of trying to make it more difficult for him, the government would back off—but instead, Tony gets collared with a device that dampens his Extremis connection, has to use his clunky old Iron Man suit, gets blamed, blocked, and nearly blown up. Which is where it builds to a massive showdown between Tony and Mandarin that includes a lot of sci-fi body horror, Maya yelling science things too late to be helpful, Tony nearly dying, Tony mutilating his own body to rip off the collar and reconnect with Extremis (ugh, that was very ick), and Tony saving 99.9% (or something) of the planet while bleeding out.

It’s pretty epic. It’s horrifying. It’s kind of hot in a very unwell way. And yes, I recommend reading it. At the end of all this, the same government that was just about to fire him suddenly goes, “Oh wait—you’re a hero,” and lets him keep his job.

It’s, obviously, a very squished recap of what actually happens, but do you want me to write up in detail Tony having to slice off his own heel to save the world? Nah, I didn’t think so.

Bucky’s not around in these issues, but he’s wearing the suit, carrying the shield, and probably somewhere hearing the news about Tony almost dying again. Personally, I like to imagine him muttering something like “idiot” under his breath while lowkey loading a sniper rifle labeled “In case of Osborn.”

Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #29–32: With Iron Hands 

So, these four issues are technically the final arc of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. era in this run (unless you count some stuff about War Machine doing War Machine things)—even though Tony keeps clinging to the Director title like it’s an unhealthy relationship (which it is) through the beginning of the next series. Honestly, the timeline is a bit of a mess (classic Marvel), and the next run kinda starts before this one fully ends, but for all narrative purposes: this is where Invincible Iron Man Vol. 4 drops the mic. Gently. Into a crater. While on fire.

You’d think, after everything Tony’s been through—bio-horror of Extremis, Maya-related betrayal, his support system and friends dropping dead all around him, government gaslighting—they���d give him a proper send-off. But no. Then again, maybe it’s perfectly fitting that this run closes out with two separate murder plots, a mini-nuke or two, and literally everyone and their mother acting like Tony on purpose handcrafted their personal trauma in a Stark Industries lab.

The arc is about Tony winning (barely) yet another fight, but also looking like he desperately needs a nap, a decent lay (you know with whom), and five minutes where someone isn’t trying to lecture, blame, or explode him. This arc also has two villains—sorta—because, heaven forbid Tony gets a single uninterrupted crisis. Bad Guy #1 is a former friend turned nuclear hobbyist, since in Marvel, failed friendships don’t simply end in blocked numbers. Bad Guy #2 is a salty ex–S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist-slash-weapons designer who is so terminally offended by Tony’s brilliance that he hijacks a superweapon just to scream “NOTICE ME, SENPAI.”

To the shock of no one—and please tell me you are seeing the pattern here—Tony nearly dies while trying to sacrifice himself.

I could walk you through the whole plot—the plans, the explosions, the monologuing—but it’s frankly boilerplate Evil Genius 101. The real meat of this arc is in the ending, where Tony takes the win and the guilt in equal measure. Broods. Reflects. Self-flags. Stares off into the distance while flashbacking to everyone he’s ever failed and—no, this time fully dressed.

If you’re feeling MCU nostalgia, this is “I remember all of them” mood before the Russos gave that line to Bucky for drama purposes (panel included). This is OG 616 Tony Stark, kinda constipated when it comes to expressing his feelings but fully aware of every ghost he carries around in his tortured Gucci luggage.

Depending on who you ask in the 616 fandom, Tony from this era—with Civil War and all—is either a fascist, a martyr, an idiot genius with bad boundaries, or just a problematic fave with better hair than everyone else.

I say he’s a man doing his fucking best.

Yes, I’m biased. Yes, my "I Heart Tony" goggles are welded to my skull. But this run makes it very clear that Tony always believes he’s doing the right thing—or at least the best possible thing when everything is already falling apart, and the best possible thing is, okay, occasionally, a still pretty shitty choice. And unlike a lot of other superheroes who love to grandstand and sulk from rooftops, Tony actually steps up every time and doesn’t run away from hurt. And, boy, do comic book writers love to hurt him.

616 Tony is wildly flawed, emotionally repressed, and so bad at self-care it makes fanfic-level angst look tame, but he always shows up for people—whether they want his help or not. He tries, even when he knows that his past choices made it impossible for some to even say thank you. Could be why S.H.I.E.L.D.—for a hot second here—actually respects him at the end of this run. Sure, he’s a control-freak boss if there ever was one, but they don’t just tolerate Tony; they believe in him because he never asks his people to do shit he isn’t willing to do himself. And yeah, that belief is going to implode spectacularly the minute we step into the next run and Tony helps to level the whole organization, but shhh. That’s future drama.

We’ll get there.

Okay. So we’ve been elbows-deep in Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while now, and at this point, you might be reasonably screaming: “What the hell is Bucky doing during all this, and please don’t tell me he’s off-panel polishing a gun?”

Well. I'm glad you asked.

It’s time to treat ourselves to Captain America (2004–2011) and catch up with our favorite murder-angel-turned-America’s Sweetheart boytoy.

And yes, before this gets more confusing—let me for the tenth time shout it loud and clear for those in the back: comic book series all happen at the same time, simultaneously, in parallel but out of order, written by four different caffeine-guzzling writers on a gazillion separate timelines. 

It’s a fact, no matter how sad, that it’s logical to suspect they don’t even read too much into the issues that do not relate to them directly. And while the guys who wrote Tony’s run didn’t think to include Bucky (we deserved at least one rooftop scene with heavy breathing and unresolved sexual tension), the guys who wrote Bucky’s Cap run did include Tony, because they clearly know he can’t resist orbiting drama that isn’t his.

Quick refresher: this picks up right after Bucky officially steps into the Captain America role, courtesy of Tony, who is secretly funding and outfitting him like it’s his side hustle. Of course, Tony lies about all this to his government bosses because honesty is not for people who are just after meeting the love of their life.

At this point, Bucky’s already thrown a few punches in the suit, decided he’s definitely not Steve, and fully committed to his own personal combat aesthetic: gun in one hand, shield in the other, a lot of fucks suddently left to give. This man is perfect, and his main bad guy to deal with is Red Skull who is lurking in the background like a racist cockroach. 

Sharon is still around (we love her), but girl is having a time. She’s pregnant with Steve’s baby, which is already a lot, was the one to kill him (oh, honey, I know brainwashing ain’t fun), and she’s also currently being mindfucked by Red Skull, which is somehow the least of her problems. Last we saw her, she faceplanted over a mysterious sci-fi tube in an evil lair she’s currently hanging out in, inside said tube finding someone who looks suspiciously like her dead baby daddy.

Captain America (Vol. 5) #37–#42: The Death of Captain America Act 3: The Man Who Bought America

This arc is super packed. Not plot-wise (meh), but emotionally, sexually, and with more sweaty men in tight costumes than a single arc should be legally allowed to contain, and this is me saying it.

Things get rolling with Tony trying to explain to Sam (Falcon) that his whole “I gave Bucky a shield, lied to my bosses, and started secretly outfitting him like a blushing sugar daddy” thing isn’t what it looks like. 

Sam’s not buying it, and neither are we, because let’s be honest: this smells strongly of love at first sight. That shield was not handed off platonically, okay? You don’t break protocol for just any guy with cheekbones and a murder record, and nobody can convince me otherwise. You can, of course, try, but when was the last time you won an argument on the internet?

Right.

Anyhow, Sam, who is hanging out with both unregistered heroes and Tony because he’s a good guy like that, is very unofficially—but also very emotionally—asked to “keep an eye” on Bucky. Aw. Again, that’s either babysitting, low-key stalking on Tony’s part, or the 616 equivalent of “he needs someone who isn’t me to make sure he eats.”

As for the actual plot, yeah, yeah, evil guys are trying to install their own president via independent candidate blah blah political corruption blah, but who the fuck cares when the shippy content is this loaded? 

Such as: Clint shows up at Bucky’s place while Bucky’s sweaty and angsty (arrrr), and they proceed to have a feelings-heavy pow-wow about what it means to wear the suit and be Cap and carry that legacy and—yeah. Winterhawk is practically canon-adjacent, tbh, and the sparks are flyyyying as Clint and Bucky have their first interaction in this timeline.

This is where we pivot to Sharon, who’s still being held hostage in Red Skull’s lair of awful and finally stumbles into a tube containing... someone who looks a hell of a lot like Steve. But… sadly not Steve. Clone Steve, since this collective trauma lasagna clearly needed more layers. So, back in evil plot town, the bad guys are still pushing their off-brand evil president, but now with a combo pack of cloned Steve they’re trying to pass off as Captain America. If you’re a little confused, we’re in this together. Let’s just assume the bad guys think this is a cool, normal, stable plan.

Some things do progress, such as: Bucky going head-to-head with evil Clone-Steve in a mutual homoerotic recognition; Sharon getting into a bit of a fight with Red Skull’s demented daughter Sin (who Bucky fucked up a few issues back); and Sam saving Bucky from falling to his death (allegedly—Bucky probably had a backup plan, but sure, let’s give Sam his moment). Bucky and Sam then set off on a shady-motel road trip to track down the clone, who sorta escapes.

I am going to repeat this again:

Sam. Bucky. Bucky and Sam. Go on a road trip that includes very shady motels, and while we are not explicitly told they’re sharing a bed, I only see one, and this was giving off so many gay vibes that Marvel editorial immediately had to send in Nat to join them before folks got the wrong idea.

On a more serious note, by the end of this arc, Sharon finally gets saved by the good guys, but loses the baby she also now doesn’t remember ever being pregnant with, which is heartbreaking. She also gets kinda fired for it, and I am not sure I am with Tony on how he handled that particular HR dispute. Sin is to blame for the baby loss, which was sorta easy to see coming and gutting to read about, and I assume was added in so we have one more reason to hate her annoying AF character. 

Bucky, of course, performs like an absolute beast under pressure, wins hearts and minds, and everyone stops side-eyeing the New Cap—though he’s still technically illegally running around as far as Tony’s official stance is concerned.

And the end of this arc—because Marvel giveth and Marvel taketh away—has Bucky celebrate by starting a cozy little hetero-flavored romance with Natasha, which I personally choose to ignore in favor of yelling “winteriron supremacy” all over Tumblr when I’m not busy yelling about winterspider, starker, or, occasionally, winterhawk. 

And while I think Anthony Mackie is one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever had the privilege to water-damage my keyboard over from excessive drooling, I am honestly blanking on what the Bucky/Sam ship is even called, which should give you all you need to know about how much I care about it. I will, however, be fair and keep my own eye for any shippy Sambucky (looked it up, are you people serious with that name?) panels.

The clone doesn’t die, btw—he’s still around and cracked crazy—but a few bad guys do get what’s coming to them. Just not the main cast. Obviously.

Captain America (Vol. 5) #43–#48: Time’s Arrow Arc & Old Friends and Enemies Arc

Okay, I’m not gonna lie—by this point in the reading order, I’m running out of steam, out of chill, and possibly out of character limit. So consider this a speed recap of the two arcs that are very much worth reading, where Bucky is doing some extra brooding, Natasha is being very bendy and helpful, and I am rapidly losing patience because Secret Invasion is coming and so is the Tony-deletes-his-brain moment we’ve all been thirstily waiting for.

But first, here’s what matters for these two arcs—which really should’ve just been one, because they both deal with the same issue, technically. The big mood for this stretch of time is: Bucky has trauma (shocking), Nat has abs (glorious), and Bucky is having some trouble sleeping. Which is unfortunate for him but also possibly unfortunate for all Bucky/Nat shippers, because instead of having healthy sex with his extremely attractive girlfriend or at least cuddling her in bed, Bucky chooses to brood and monologue about the ghosts of his past. I mean…

These arcs are basically the closest thing we get in comics to the Bucky vibes from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier show, minus Sam, who is just... not here. What we do get initially is Bucky staring into the distance, whispering “I remember them all,” and quite possibly in this timeline at approximately the same time Tony is doing the same dramatic whispering with a nearly identical speech/thought bubble.

Yes, yes, I know I joked about this line belonging to Tony and being given to Bucky, but here’s the actual beautiful winteriron parallel: both of them, simultaneously, are struggling with their past mistakes. Yes, Bucky’s guilt isn’t his fault. Yes, Tony’s guilt is kind of his fault. But I’m calling it: soulmate behavior and winteriron brainrot symmetry at its finest.

Now, about Bucky/Nat. I know I’m biased—deeply, unreasonably biased—but I don’t fully ship them? Like… at all? Even though I love them separately to bits? Yeah, they’re canon. Yeah, there’s chemistry. Yeah, they are still, sorta, going strong in the comic books. Yeah, she shows up in most of these arcs wearing strategically unzipped spy suits, and he’s out here looking like a beefcake with PTSD who is super into that, allegedly, but. Okay. Okay. Hear me out.

They have history, sure. Soviet conditioning, manipulation, sexy espionage nights, all that jazz. But both of them were stripped of agency for most of their lives, and now you want me to believe that makes for a solid romantic foundation?

No, Marvel. That makes for trauma buddies who should’ve stayed very emotionally intense besties without benefits. And yes, I do have a panel of Bucky below doing some next-level brooding on a motorcycle while referring to Natasha as his “best friend,” and if that’s not textbook “we should’ve just stayed friends” energy, I don’t know what is. Please don’t throw tomatoes, this is just a woman’s opinion. 

Back to plot: Bucky, Nat, and Namor (that fishy guy in charge of the oceans that I don't care about because DC got Jason Momoa to play Aquaman first) head to Asia and deal with some bad guys. That’s pretty much the whole plot aside from aforementioned brooding and too many (never enough) panels of Nat almost flashing us her behind. 

The bad guy in question is someone Bucky had encountered in his Winter Soldier days when he was like… 12 years old or something. Said bad guy is a super-genius with a world-ending virus, and he’s a bit salty since Winter Soldier may or may not have killed someone they love. The bad guy has a plan to use a body of Bucky’s old buddy Human Torch from the 50s (they had one when Bucky was with Steve in the Invaders) to unleash a deadly virus on the world (while, yes, Tony is preventing Mandarin from doing the same with Extremis—and are you seeing what I am seeing here?). 

There’s obviously more to this very generic bad guy and very generic bad guy plot, but the key takeaways are that Nat does cool flips, looks flawless, and occasionally side-eyes Bucky’s descent into angst. Bucky wins. World doesn’t end. The virus stays in the plot fridge.

The end.

TL;DR: Before Secret Invasion kicks off, Bucky’s haunted but doing well as Captain America. Nat’s hot but emotionally evasive, sorta. They flirt, fight, presumably do fuck. The whole dynamic is sexy, but mostly friendship-coded with a side of spy kink, and I won’t be convinced otherwise. Bucky clearly wants someone to say, “You’re enough as you are,” and I would like a word with whoever is in charge of making these decisions about why that someone couldn’t be Tony.

Anyway.

That’s it. That’s the recap. Nice arcs. Great art. Solid Bucky development. You should read it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s finally time for Secret Invasion: proper trauma porn, and Tony fucking up so bad he has to resort to turning his entire brain into downloadable content.

How do Marvel Events actually work?

Alright. Quick but necessary explanation I probably should’ve done in Part 1. Because if you’ve ever opened the Marvel Unlimited app (recommended), tried to “just read Civil War,” and suddenly found yourself 26 tabs deep in something called Front Line, you’ve already been here. Welcome to hell. We have tie-ins.

So how do Marvel events work? Well. Every once in a while, Marvel goes, “You know what would be great? Making every superhero’s life miserable at the exact same time.” That’s an event.

Here’s the basic structure: Main Event Run — usually around 5–10 issues, sometimes more. This is the “core” storyline. Think:

Civil War (2006) #1–7

Secret Invasion (2008) #1–8

Fear Itself (2011) #1–7

You can also think of Infinity War—that was an event in the MCU. Everyone gets wrecked, regardless of how well their franchise is doing. Sure, they called it a “phase” or whatever, but an event is where the big bad stuff happens to everyone and overlaps other plotlines: alien invasions, political fallout, exploding cities, Steve dramatically dying (again), Tony spiraling (again), Peter being stuck in the middle (also again), etc.

And you probably sorta get this already, but tie-ins to events specifically are where Marvel interrupts your regularly scheduled programming to say:

“Hi, we know you were enjoying Spider-Man’s personal arc, but now we’re hijacking it to show you what he was doing during this big crossover event. You will be very confused as to what the fuck is going on unless you suddenly subscribe to about a dozen other runs you never had any desire to pay for before. You’re welcome.”

Every major character, side character, and pigeon that’s ever been near a superhero gets a tie-in. Some tie-ins slap (Iron Man, Captain America), some are emotionally devastating (Front Line), some are hot garbage. But they’re all technically canon.

So when I say Secret Invasion had about 98 issues related to it (I counted once, while scrolling), I mean: the main run, a bunch of spin-offs and all those pesky tie-ins.

Am I a well-adjusted person who read all of these once like a sane casual reader? No. I read them three times:

Once for fun, because I love comic books and already finished my list of 100 classic books to read before I die, so everyone can fuck off with it not being an adult hobby (do you know how expensive it is to collect runs that completed decades ago?). Second time a few months ago for a few fic paragraphs, to make sure I got the canon right. And third time for this recap, which is less of a recap now and more like 60% my weak analysis of trauma (and repeating the words trauma, again, and hot too many times), and 40% my unhinged shipping headcanons.

I never claimed sanity. I do, however, claim to have a comic book collection, three fireproof longboxes, and a boarding technique that would make your LCS weep tears of pride—just for this event alone and the event-adjacent other runs. But that’s my cross to bear, I digress. Yes, if this amount of space for only 98 issues is confusing, well… I can’t possibly slot, say, New Avengers into my event without, like… having the whole New Avengers run. So there’s that.

I am not actually going to cover all tie-ins, just what I think is somewhat relevant to Tony and Bucky, for once.

Avengers Groups: Explained Poorly but Accurately Enough, I Hope

Okay, now that you do suspect I’m a bit crazy, let’s clear something up before Marvel gaslights you into thinking there’s only one “Avengers” team in comic books. Here’s the cheat sheet for this specific stretch of time:

Mighty Avengers

The Clean-Cut Government-Approved Avenger Experience led by our professional mess, Tony.

Includes: Carol Danvers, Ares, Wonder Man, Sentry, and others whose names I keep forgetting because they never seem to be around when Tony is having a breakdown and needs a hug.

New Avengers

The Underdog, Off-the-Grid, “We Don’t Follow Your Rules” Vibes Team—essentially Steve’s resistance crew.

Led by: Luke Cage, and occasionally (they come and go), featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, Jessica Jones, and Doctor Strange. Clint’s around—I'll tell you about him banging Wanda in a second (whoops, let it slip too early).

Basically, they’re the scrappy, emotionally exhausted, chaotic little brother of the Avengers world. And yes, for those who’ve seen Thunderbolts, I just need Marvel to call Sam’s team the Mighty Avengers and my life will be complete.

There’s actually a new New Avengers run planned? Bucky’s on the cover. Arrrr. I can’t wait.

So… let’s assume that just before Secret Invasion, Tony is running S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Mighty Avengers, and Bucky is Captain America and mostly aligned with New Avengers vibes—though he’s not technically with them where we left him before Secret Invasion and is mostly doing his own thing as Cap while also doing Nat, who works for Tony. Neither team seems to know jack shit about what the other one’s doing 90% of the time, though Tony does spend a lot of time trying to talk his pals on the other side into giving up already and coming back to him.

It does involve the New Avengers sitting very quietly inside Strange’s magicked-to-look-like-crap mansion and pretending they are not home while Tony is standing outside with a small army, scratching on the door like a sad rejected puppy and asking for Peter to come out. I am not kidding.

Back to more important things: it is now canon in my brain (and it was planted there by the evil mastermind known as @massivespacewren) that during this exact post–Civil War, pre–Fear Itself period, Tony and Bucky were absolutely having a secret relationship. Like, think about it: Tony helps him, even though they’re on opposite sides / they’re both grieving Steve / they’re both emotionally compromised on the account of feeling too much guilt, weaponized hot, and need someone on their side privately who just wants them for them / neither of their respective teams knows where they’re going at night or why they keep showing up with mysterious bruises and better moods (Ugh… fine, this is pure headcanon, whatever.)

Still. Tell me that’s not peak forbidden romance setup. Tell me that’s not operationally inconvenient, emotionally catastrophic, and deeply sexy. You can’t. You won’t. Right? 

Anyway… now that you understand how events work (not that you didn’t before, after I alluded to this about 20 times), that Marvel dabbled in money-grabbing before Disney, and how the Avengers are more of a rotating trainwreck than a team, you’re ready to tackle Secret Invasion. Good for you. Keep reading. You know you want to.

Secret Invasion Event

When I didn’t say but very much implied that tie-ins can joyfully fuck themselves with a chainsaw, I meant it. I wasn’t exaggerating—and yes, I meant it with the full force of a person who has willingly, repeatedly, and stupidly read every tie-in to Secret Invasion, not once, not twice, but three times. That’s… not dedication so much as a personal obsession I’ve accepted. I’m not putting you through that insanity. Instead, I’m giving you a bite-sized recap of how it kicks off and what you actually need to know.

Well—bite-sized by my standards, and if you want to know more, just… read comic books or something.

So, let’s begin, like I always do, with someone emotionally repressed and traumatized making it everyone else’s problem.

Clint comes back from the dead.

This was pre–Civil War business (long story, Wanda killed him) but, as I’ve repeatedly pointed out, nobody commits to permanently dying in comic books. So, here he is, very much alive again.

After checking in on the emotional wreckage of his friends, Clint finds Tony, chats briefly about the concept of being Captain America, politely declines, and then goes off to find Wanda. To clarify, this happens just before Tony chokes on Bucky’s super-thighs and slaps that shield on him.

Now, what Wanda’s up to is happening in a completely unrelated comic I didn't read, because, contrary to what it looks like, I do actually have a personal life, the cutest dog to ever dog and full-time job. But yes, Clint finds her while Tony and Bucky are sadly not banging, bangs her, does not get the closure he’s looking for (since he’s still very much in love with his presumed-dead wife), pops up in Captain America to say hi to Bucky, considers falling in love with him on the spot and moving on just for him, but changes his mind (postpones), and decides to reinvent himself instead.

While Clint was dead for, like, five minutes in comic book years, a spunky gal stole his Hawkeye brand, and Clint’s a giver, so he lets her keep it instead of asking for his shit back. He’s a bit upset with Tony, just like everyone else, even though he missed entire Civil War and has no fucking leg to stand on, so he heads off to Asia with the New Avengers (Luke Cage, Peter, Spider-Woman, et al.), wearing a mask, wielding a sword, and being unnecessarily sexy about it as Ronin.

While in Asia, they fight Elektra, they kill Elektra, and then her body turns into what I can only describe as a very unattractive green alien lizard-zombie thing. Not even the weirdest thing that’s happened in 616, but there’s usually a bit more lead-up when a popular (ish) character like Elektra dies and is then revealed to be an alien. So this is the moment the New Avengers take a collective shaky breath and go, “What the actual fuck?”

That’s when the event kicks off.

Spider-Woman (whose arc in 616 is wildly underappreciated, btw) promptly fucks off with the Skrull-Elektra corpse, finds Tony back in his bedroom in New York (not for a sexy, slightly complicated Avengers hookup… this time) but to drop the suspicious-looking dead lady in Elektra’s clothes on his floor and ask, him being Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the guy allegedly in charge of Avengers with a big, government-approved A, what exactly he plans to do about it.

I am not a mind reader, and while Tony—who, at this point, has been holding his career together with sheer delusion and willpower, who does not need this job, who is increasingly unsure whether the clout was worth the collapse of every meaningful relationship in his life—gets out of bed, I can only hope he at least starts to wonder if he should’ve opened a winery in Malibu instead of becoming America’s scapegoat-in-chief.

But, yk, he does get involved. Of course. 

Which brings us to…

Who the hell are Skrull and what their deal is?

Green. Shapeshifting. Space assholes. That’s the short version.

The longer one is that they are a race of green-skinned, pointy-eared alien shapeshifters from a planet called Skrullos (come on, Marvel, you can do better than that). They’ve been around in comics since the 1960s, which means they’ve had decades to cause a bunch of bullshit.

They can look like anyone, down to DNA-deep impersonation. I mean, it’s not the shittiest power. You want to be Tony? Cool, now you are. You want to be Peter and perfectly mimic his resting trauma face and bubble-butt? Sure, go for it. The Skrulls started out as just one of many alien races Marvel cooked up to make the Avengers’ lives harder, but then they got kinda interesting and actually got good plotlines. Their history is unclear on some points and clearer on others, but basically for the purposes of this event:

The Skrulls once had an empire.

Then their shit got blown up.

Then they got very religious and very desperate.

Then they said, “Hey, let’s infiltrate Earth by pretending to be their heroes and sow paranoia even though… we could probably just invade.”

Which… I mean, it is still a much better plan than to keep cloning superheroes for plot reasons (cough, Thor, cough, Steve). 

And Skrull are not actually always evil by default, but Secret Invasion makes sure you think they are. If someone was a crazy-obsessed lore-hungry lunatic, one might know by now that there are good Skrulls, bad Skrulls, sexy Skrulls (hi, Teddy), and just deeply tired Skrulls who don’t want to shapeshift into your dad anymore and would rather go back to pretending to be cats in Brooklyn.

But in this specific arc they’re mostly fanatical religious terrorists with a God Complex and a master plan called “He Loves You” (the he is God, or possibly Reed Richards who they used for evil purposes, depending on how cracked your interpretation is). So yeah. They infiltrate Earth. They replace a bunch of heroes and hero-adjacent individuals—some A-list, some Z-tier (RIP whoever was pretending to be Dum Dum Dugan), and sit quietly in the background for years, waiting to strike.

In addition to their normal shape-shiffting thing they’ve got going on for them, in Secret Invasion, they’ve upgraded. They’re not just Skrulls anymore—they’re Super-Skrulls? Which somehow means they have composite powers of multiple heroes. Essentially, imagine fighting a guy who’s Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, and has Carol Danvers’ energy blasts. Now imagine there’s 20 of them. Now imagine Tony—poor, trying so hard, nobody loves him anymore Tony—emotionally compromised and under pressure, trying to tell who’s real and who’s a lizard in Steve Rogers’ pants (who, duh, is still dead).

I personally both loved and hated this event, because literally anyone could be a Skrull. That sexy panel of Natasha? Could be Skrull. That dramatic moment where Sue Storm leaves Reed in Civil War and tells him about an oily fish dinner? Actually is? That villain who suddenly got a redemption arc? Guess what. Essentially, the main reason not to love this event is that if you care about canon and character development, especially given the clusterfuck that was Civil War… well, fuck you, your favorite character might not even be the real person. So, the basic wisdom of this event, as it stands is: trust no bitch, she might be Skrull.

Main Secret Invasion Event

While we’re talking about Secret Invasion—because Tony deleting his entire brain (god, I hate that phrase too) is a direct consequence of what goes down during this event—you are not going to get a lot out of me (again, by my standards). 

Unlike Civil War, which I lovingly dissected like it was a frog in a high school lab, I’m not as emotionally invested in giving you the full play-by-play for everyone involved. So here’s me speed-running through most of it until we hit the juicy Bucky content, because, let’s be honest, that’s why we’re all here anyway.

The main event has 8 issues. Issue #1 opens strong with Tony’s meltdown arc, Season 87, things kicking off in the Savage Land. You might remember that place from that one amazing ’90s X-Men cartoon with the dinosaurs and inexplicably shirtless Charles Xavier. This is where a Skrull ship lands, so, both the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers decide to crash the party.

And just a quick side note while we’re at it: while this group of unrealistically hot people is off playing jungle lizard whodunnit, Skrulls are already running amok around the globe too. People are turning mid-sentence, Tony’s tech is getting absolutely wrecked by alien malware, S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised, satellites are offline, and somewhere there’s probably a Skrull that was pretending to be you, stopping drawing hearts on the poster of Sebastian Stan and getting to work.

Both Avenger squads show up in the Savage Land with maximum distrust, immediately run into each other like exes in the same shop aisle, both thinking they totally had the right to be there first, some yelling happens, insults are exchanged, and everyone is kinda sweaty until the Skrull ship dramatically opens and spits out a lot of heroes.

Including Steve, which is not cool, Marvel. And Peter, who is already there, making the whole situation extremely awkward and extra uncool. No one knows who’s real, everyone is sus, the vibe is mostly paranoia, and Clint has a full-on oh no my dead wife is alive but what about Bucky moment when Bobbi Morse steps out looking sexy but possibly lizard-coded. It’s emotional. It’s also probably a Skrull.

Issue #2 is technically not filler, but it sure does feel like everyone in the Savage Land just woke up, had a group panic attack, and decided violence was the best love language. We’re deep in jungle fever now—with everyone, yes, sweaty, pissed, and staring down their dead friends in the world’s worst family reunion. Like I said, the Skrull ship has popped like a horrifying piñata full of imposters. Some of them look like old-school Avengers, some are presumed-dead exes, and others are “please God no” duplicates of people who are already standing there. And they all think they are the real deal. Spider-Man vs Spider-Man standoff freaked me out, and is literally the only thing that could make his life worse than it already was. (Besides, you know, One More Day. But we don’t talk about that anymore.)

Teams split into smaller groups to punch each other because you can’t keep stuffing 50 people into a single panel, and paranoia hits a ten. Outside the Savage Land, the rest of the world is still watching S.H.I.E.L.D. crumble, big scary spaceships land and the general question floating about is: “Are we about to get bent over by our new scaly overlords?”

Issue #3 is gutting. It’s trust no bitch, take 3—but now with the addition of not trusting your butler. The issue itself is also a banger. I love it. Peak chaos.

So. Everything’s blowing up. S.H.I.E.L.D. is fully compromised, strategic facilities around the globe are detonating like it’s clearance week at Doomsday Depot, no one knows what the fuck is happening, including the reader who is now losing track of who is alien and who is not, refusing to believe, and the only consistent thing is that literally everyone is accusing each other of being lizards.

Like—Maria gets called out for possibly being a Skrull purely because she’s competent, organized, and doesn’t flirt with Tony. Which, in 616 logic, is apparently suspicious behavior. She’s also a robot who gets very much beheaded. Long story, all good there. But the biggest betrayal of all is Jarvis. My sweet, soft-spoken, murder-capable butler is also a Skrull. The betrayal cuts deep, and this is why we can’t have nice things.

Tony, for the moment, doesn’t know he needs to start looking for another British emotional support blanket, and is hiding in a cave in Savage Lands. No, really. Tony, billionaire genius futurist, is once again dying in a dinosaur-infested jungle cave. He has no Wi-Fi, his Extremis is crashing harder than his social standing post–Civil War, and his fancy suit might as well be made of wet cardboard. Then—just to add insult to internal bleeding—Spider-Woman walks in. You’d think: “Oh, cool, someone here to help and finally give him a hug.” No. Absolutely not.

She slinks in all sultry and suspicious, looks him dead in the eyes, and says something that sounds awfully similar to: “Hi babe. You’re one of us. Surprise! Congrats! You’ve done so well! Mommy Skrull is proud.” The Skrull Queen claiming that Tony—the man who already hated himself more than the public does—is the greatest Skrull weapon of all time is just…

You know what? For a second there, it makes sense, and would explain a bunch of things and his recent fuck-ups. But no… they just let Tony be Tony, that’s all. Which is somehow worse. Give him enough rope, a registration act, and control over national defense systems, and boom: StarkTech in everything and the Skrulls are waltzing in—all thanks to the damaged but still very lovable unintentional war crime with facial hair I don’t approve of in these runs. 

Issue #4 is somehow both eventful as hell and weirdly filler-adjacent, in that a bunch of important shit happens, but also half of it is setup for the finale and the other half is just everyone still being sweaty and confused. Tony is still not enjoying his caving experience, looking like he’s just lost a three-way fight between a Skrull, his nervous system, and the concept of self-worth. Thankfully, Nat kicks in cave’s non-existing door, with guns blazing and hair immaculate, delivering the closest thing Tony gets to aftercare in, like, a decade of comic books. She scares the Skrull Queen away, sees Tony mid-breakdown, and is like, “Jesus Christ, you look like shit.” Then she shoots him up with adrenaline, because she’s awesome like that.

Back on the mainland, Nick Fury finally crawls out of his hidey-hole, just after finishing binge-watching all of Netflix and is now ready to kick some things. He’s got a new crew, a trench coat, and approximately zero time for anyone’s bullshit. Thor shows up too, back from the dead, officially. Not a clone. Not a Skrull. I don’t actually remember why, but I assume it happened in his comic book. The point is, the big blond thunder daddy is back and is descending from the sky to say, “Alright, who the fuck broke Midgard?”

I don’t know if Bucky found out about Skrull on TV or opened his door in New York to find a Skrull on his doorstep trying to sell him girl scout cookies, but he’s joining the fight too and doesn’t currently know how much trouble Tony is in. 

Issue #5 is… kinda skippable. It's the narrative equivalent of holding your breath and hoping nobody asks if you’re a Skrull. The Skrulls decide it's time to go full reality TV and broadcast a heartfelt global message starring Tony, a few random politicians (lol, "trusted officials"—Marvel, be serious), and a touch of “we come in peace” bullshit. Classic intergalactic gaslighting, now with better production value. Shockingly, some civilians buy it and start chanting “Take us!”—which is maybe kink, maybe cowardice, but definitely not the way to be saved.

Issue #6 has Thor, Tony, and Bucky-Cap gracing the cover, which is the stuff of dreams for me, honestly. Thor and Bucky share a weirdly intimate, testosterone-heavy moment where Thor’s like “Who the hell are you?” and Bucky’s like “America’s rebound, nice to meet you.” Meanwhile, Tony is still out here having a crisis inside a crisis, his Extremis all but useless, but also gearing up to save the world while nearly dead again. For the love of God, someone hug this man already. Or at least offer him a sandwich and tell him he’s doing okay.

The rest of the issue is just Marvel flexing every team-up they’ve got. New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Young Avengers, probably someone's cousin from the West Coast Avengers—all yeeted onto a battlefield in New York. The Skrulls are out here led by Queen Veranke, who is still doing her sexy Spider-Woman cosplay, and the issue ends with the general vibe of it’s everybody-vs-everybody-else-but-green and “Avengers Assemble!” energy. It’s very symbolic post-Civil War, it is. I just wish they didn’t touch Jarvis, that was a low blow.

Issue #7 is 90% punching, 10% emotional damage, and 100% shipping fuel if you’re feral enough (hi, it’s me). The big battle’s in full swing now, and we finally get a panel with Tony, Bucky, and Peter all in the same frame—which, if you know me at all, is basically my OT3 doing a full-body naked Eiffel Tower in my brain. We eat.

Tony is grumbling that his suit’s duct tape, since Extremis is toast. He mentions it while punching bad guys, and then Bucky—who is surprisingly tender when he wants to be—looks at him and goes: “Go fix yourself. This isn’t the place for—damn!”

Now.

I’m not usually the type to hallucinate ships out of nothing (bold lie, moving on), and I’m sure someone out there will claim “He just meant Tony was complaining and Bucky just needed him in top shape to fight,” but no. No. Because this isn’t just a professional concern. This is “I’m trying really hard not to say ‘baby’ in front of the Avengers.”

There’s a pause. A cut-off word. That’s comic book language for feelings, people. He might as well have whispered, “Get to safety, love, I’ll hold them off,” and slapped Peter on the ass just to make Tony jealous.

Panel included. Because I’m a giver too. You’re welcome.

While you rejoice and want me to shut up already to scroll to that panel, we cut to Jessica Jones, who has been hanging around for a while like a relatable, exhausted mom trying to finish one (1) cup of coffee before a new level of shit hits the fan. She’s mostly been off-panel burping the cutest baby in the Marvel universe, which she made with Luke Cage, obviously. Power couple. Literally. But now, while sipping her juice and watching the Skrullpocalypse unfold on basic-ass cable, she clocks her man Luke out there getting his ass handed to him and goes, “Yeah, no.”

She panics. She tears up. And in the ultimate I’m-a-bad-bitch-and-a-bad-mom-sometimes-too move, she grabs her jacket, tosses the infant at Jarvis, and fucks off to join the battle. Yes. You read that correctly. She leaves the actual, literal Avengers baby—the Marvel equivalent of America’s Next Hope—with Jarvis, who, friendly reminder, is currently a Skrull, which we know and are crying about.

So, good issue. While Jessica is off joining her man in battle, Bucky is here being a supportive, leather-clad husband, telling Tony to “go fix yourself” while casually sticking around to bodyguard Peter—the traumatized child they co-parent via mutually unresolved guilt or, like, do other unspeakably awesome things to, since he’s—I am tired of saying this to everyone—not underage in 616 (dude was married) and, since it’s about time you all quit it, is also not underage in the MCU anymore. Starker, winterspider, and winterironspider for life, every ship is valid. I give you SamBucky, Stony and Stucky in equal measures, give me that.

So let’s break that down:

Jessica says, “I see my man suffering—I’m going in.” Bucky sees his man suffering—says, “I’ll take care of our kid while you go put some make-up on, darlin’.” Jarvis is in the kitchen being like, “Would now be a bad time to reveal I’m not actually me?” The symmetry is gorgeous. The emotional neglect is peak Marvel. And the shippy content is everything you want it to be.

Issue #8 is where the event technically “wraps up,” as in, we won—but at what fucking cost? The Skrulls go down, the planet is saved, sure, whatever, congratulations Earth—but emotionally this issue breaks Tony over its knee like a cheap broomstick. The final kill shot doesn’t even come from one of our main heroes. Norman Osborn is who gets the last shot in on Queen Veranke, who is already dying anyway. And that one move—that one media-perfect, camera-ready “hero” moment—is all it takes for the world to decide he is the new face of heroism. As opposed to Tony and everyone else who busted their ass and didn’t roll in at the last minute like the criminal with greasy hair and government connections and the moral compass of Elon Musk he is. 

One last Skrull ship opens its door on the battlefield (because drama), revealing the real Dugan, real Spider-Woman, real Jarvis, and real Bobbi and some other real folk. It's supposed to be a big moment—yay, everyone who was a Skrull is now not a Skrull and are technically back, just missed the last few however long—but the only one who really gets anything good out of this is Clint, who starts making out with Bobbi immediately. That is, of course, until Bucky becomes emotionally available for some mutual pining in Hawkeye and Winter Soldier run, which I really should cover one day, ‘cause Tales of Suspense slap.

And while Jessica and Luke promptly realize that their baby has been kidnapped…

Tony. Is. Ruined.

He’s bruised. He’s exhausted. He’s so happy to see Thor again—you can literally feel the baby-hope coming off him in waves. He’s already smiling, already probably planning post-battle shawarma and a group therapy invite—and then Thor tells him to fuck off. Just, “No, you don’t get to be part of this.”

And then everyone walks away. Yup. Every hero on the battlefield, including Bucky, turns their back on Tony. Like he didn’t just risk everything (again). Like he didn’t just crawl through this entire event bleeding from the brain and still trying to fix everything.

And look—I’m not saying this is the moment that broke him, but if Tony was still on the fence about deleting his own brain before this? Yeah. This is the last straw. He’s lost his rep, lost S.H.I.E.L.D., lost the narrative, and now he’s lost his people what feels like for good.

Which leads us—seamlessly, tragically—into World’s Most Wanted and Dark Reign, which I’m going to skim past because if I don’t, this recap will hit 15k and nobody is that committed to reading my shit unless it involves actual smut. Not that I have any illusions that anyone’s still reading this except maybe Googlebot and the 2.5 mutuals who also cry about 616 Tony at 2AM, but I’m stubborn as hell and I need this finished—for me. Because I have plans. I have fics. I have so many winteriron and others ideas shoved in my notes app related to 616 I will die on this hill.

So… we keep going. Just for a few more issues and the brain deletion. But, like, we sprint, okay? 

Invincible Iron Man (2008–2012) #8–#19.

Or, as it will be known from now until the solar death of the internet: Brain Damage Is a Love Language.

Note: The first 7 issues of this run feature Tony still as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. pre–Secret Invasion, with Issue #7 featuring both Tony and Peter on the cover—for my brand of perverts—but we’re gonna skip those, because they’re not that relevant.

So here we are, post–Secret Invasion, and boy, are things just peachy. By “peachy,” I mean Tony has been very publicly fired, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been deleted from the timeline for the foreseeable future, and Norman Osborn—yes, the former Green Goblin—is now in charge of national security. He’s renamed the operation H.A.M.M.E.R. after firing everyone else, which everyone from the MCU probably finds at least a bit confusing (the name)—since, what about Justin? Idk, nobody cares.

Tony is not coping well, sure, and he’s once again been abandoned by everyone. He’s been ousted as Director, publicly humiliated, accused of handing Earth to the Skrulls (it wasn’t entirely his fault, okay?), and now Norman “I Put the Creep in Creepypolitics” Osborn is breathing down his neck demanding the superhero registration database. You might wonder why he needs it, but Norman has an uncomfortable fixation on Spider-Man that will make Quintin Beck seem very subtle and boyfriend-material, and if Norman can’t bang Peter, he at least wants to fuck him up—or, at minimum, know his legal name.

If you’ve been paying attention, you might recall that during One More Day (gross), Peter traded his marriage and the knowledge of his secret identity to Mephisto for Aunt May’s life, like the messy Catholic masochist that he is. So now no one remembers he unmasked during Civil War, not even Tony. This is prime Starker identity-porn brainrot territory—Tony doesn’t remember Peter’s face, but there’s this haunting familiarity, this vibe, this urge to protect the mouthy little spider. Delicious. But this is not about Peter, so this is all you get on this for now. (Pause for mournful sigh from the Starker corner.)

So, this is the real start of Norman’s Dark Reign era: Tony disgraced, on the run, hated by everyone, but still hot and surprisingly functional until becomes a lot less functional but remains hot even when in a coma. We are nearly there, I know you are tired.

So while Peter is swinging around anonymously again and Norman is salivating over his IP address, Tony is quietly deciding to erase his memories from existence. Because that’s what you do when:

Your public image is in the toilet

Your tech has been compromised

You’re personally holding the most dangerous database in the world inside your brain

And literally everyone you love has left you or been brainwashed or died

As in: Tony takes one look at the hellscape that is Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign, knows he’s about to be officially hunted, and goes, “You know what might fix this? Me, but less,” and starts planning his brain deletion.

Like… is this him giving up? Is this him taking a mental health day? Is this a long-overdue vacation into clinical dissociation? I am honestly unsure—it’s a bit unclear. All I know is, he thinks wiping his brain like it’s a crusty hard drive is a good idea, and unfortunately, nobody can stop him.

Now, to be fair, Pepper and Maria both try to talk him out of it. They give him the whole “Tony, sweetie, maybe don’t” routine. But their voices of reason are quickly overridden by the even louder voice of comic book logic, which says: yes, deleting your own memories to protect the superhero registry from Norman Osborn is a totally normal decision. It’s also extremely yummy when it comes to angsty fanfiction follow-ups, so we are gonna call this a splendid move on his part, cool?

Anyway, here are some greatest hits from this extremely questionable arc:

Tony leaves Stark Industries to Pepper, but then tops it by giving her her own Iron Man suit, because apparently you can’t be CEO of SI without having a repulsor of your own.

He also bangs her goodbye. As in, “Sorry I’m about to erase my personality, wanna hook up real quick?”

Then Tony gives the only backup of his brain to Maria Hill and pretty much tells her, “Take this to the one man I trust with my entire mind.” Maybe not in those words, but sending his chance to ever wake up again to Bucky has to mean something, right? Let’s pause and feel that. Bucky. Who Tony, allegedly, met only a handful of times. Like… Maria is there. She could just hold onto the drive. But… no. Give it to Bucky. Do I even need to say more here? How are there not, like, 10000 fanfics about this?

Then, of course, Tony bangs Maria goodbye too. Which I’m honestly fine with because it’s weirdly sexy, but also a clear sign that the brain deletion is working and we’ve officially entered the “Tony regresses emotionally to horny self-destruction” portion of the arc. For further clarity, the brain deletion is not instant, hence all the random banging, not that it’s not already Tony’s brand.

To my extreme disappointment, this whole storyline is not just “Tony on the run, being clever.” I wish. It’s Tony getting increasingly dumber by the issue, Maria losing her mind trying to keep the backup safe and delivered, Pepper doing something I really couldn't be arsed mentioning, and Norman Osborn looming like an asshole he is, making his crush on Peter everyone’s problem. It all culminates with Tony finally going full potato, Norman about to kill him, and then having to back off because it’s being broadcast live on TV.

By the end of the arc, Tony doesn’t get fully dead, but does fall into a coma, Norman doesn’t get his database, Bucky is doing Bucky things and about to properly team up with New Avengers, Peter included, and that’s the big ending of the World’s Most Wanted arc which will be promptly followed by actual panels of Bucky standing over Tony’s unconscious body and resisting the urge to hold his hand. 

And that—that’s where I leave you. Also where I left you in my fanfic, since my refreshed canon knowledge and my AO3 published shit like to meet at the exact same tragic midpoint. Sorta. 

I’ll be doing some more comic reading this weekend, so expect another recap soon, my trusty Googlebot. Later.

P.S. Yes, I’m including the panel of Tony banging Maria—not just because I’m weirdly into it (I am), but because Marvel gave us a full visual of Tony going at it against a wall and this needs to exist on the interwebs.

[ageless-aislynn]

I almost forgot to show the rest of my highlights of my cursed "No Import ME3" Male Shep run, oops!

A lot of people died. 😬 Jack (Jacqueline Nought), my bb Kaidan, 😭Legion (unavoidable by the end of ME3 in any run), Miranda (I did everything I was supposed to in 3 but forgot that without an import, you don't have her loyalty from 2 so...)

Thane (unavoidable except he died in ME2 and since both he and Kirrahe are dead, then the Salarian Councilor also dies and Udina frames Shep for the murder 😬) and Wrex. My boy Wrex!!! 😭😭😭

Without Wrex and with Maelon's data not saved from ME2, then Eve was doomed. I immediately noticed that when you talk to her, she coughs a lot and often sounds weaker. It was so sad to experience but, at the same time, I'm glad they foreshadowed her tragic end ahead of time.

I wasn't expecting a funeral pyre for her! 😭😭😭

I noticed that Shepard's Renegade scars got noticeably worse after this. I definitely believe it was his guilty conscious. That's him in the first cap at Eve's funeral, then immediately back on the Normandy.

This turned out to be as Renegade as his eyes went. I was expecting them to go full Terminator red but it must've required an even more Renegade run than this. I'd started more Renegon, so I think that affected it.

I definitely enjoyed his romance with Ashley. It was nice to see how things unfolded with her.

I also made sure to get Javik and brought him on a lot of missions with me to make up for all of the runs I've previously done where I, um, left him in the freezer. 😯😉

Though I find this does actually create something unrealistic. Yes, even more unrealistic than this earlier moment:

Ashley sang "Fly Me To The Moon" the entire elevator ride, lol! 🕊️🌛

Back on point with Javik, though. Other than just the fact the game forces him to leave with the other squadmate, you can't tell me that he would just give up and leave and let Shepard continue on alone to try and destroy the Reapers. I don't care HOW badly J-man was hurt, he was still on his feet and was able to help Ash, so you'll never convince me that anything less than Strict Plot Requirements got him to go back to the Normandy instead of getting vengeance for his people. 🤷‍♀️😉

There was one thing, though, that I think it's an absolute shame that you can only have happen by doing a cursed run:

Mordin lives. Oh man, I loved that SO much. You get an email from him later where he's joined the teams working on the Crucible. You can talk to him one last time along with your other remaining squadmates who weren't on the Normandy with you.

It legit made me teary-eyed just to see him survive, though the cost was a dreadful one to get him here. Still, I'm honestly glad to have played this cursed timeline just to get moments like this!

In conclusion, one thing I couldn't help but wonder about, though, was a decision I had to make all the way back at the start in the Interactive comic, whether to go immediately to save the crew (in ME2) or to keep recruiting and making the Normandy stronger. I chose to save the crew but lost Jack, Thane and Legion.

So, I couldn't help but wonder... what happens if you make the other choice? 🤔

Stay tuned, friends! 🤗🤗🤗

[drop-dead-dino]

⭐️ Finally done, wooooh!!! ⭐️

Throwing my existing FNAF sona into @wyervan ‘s Slasher AU!

Just in case the font is hard to read, I’ll put their info here too!:

Rylee, Final Girl Sona for DCA Slasher AU!

27 | Any Pronouns | Genderfluid, Biromantic Demisexual

Info:

-5’2

-Struggles with anxiety and chronic GI pain.

-Often rambles when nervous or excited, talks a lot with hands.

-Horror movie and popcorn enjoyer.

-Skateboard is her only mode of transportation, can’t drive.

-Works at the theater across the street from the Arcade, their boss is a dick.

-Visits the arcade to play the games when on break.

-Becomes friendly with the two weirdos who own the place.

-Is after a unique red gator plush stuck in a claw machine that is near impossible to win.

(Moon purposefully jams it in difficult to reach spots just to mess with her.)

Extra info and whatnot that’s been swimming around in my dome piece under the cut:

-A bad GI flare up leads to an incident of calling into work last minute, pissing off her boss.

-Next day he’s shouting at her outside the theater, causing a scene, and then snaps their skateboard.

-He goes missing a few days later, wonder what happened 🤔.

-“I mean, it is kinda nice that he’s not around to scream his head off at everyone—But he was signing my pay checks so—Also, I need the money for a new board…”

-Oops, Sun feels a bit of guilt suddenly

-🌙”..Why not work here?..”

-“Oh—?! You guys are hiring? I-I mean, are you sure??”

-☀️(Moon, you absolute genius) “But of course, Starshine! What are friends for! Besides, the extra help is much appreciated! And, if I’m being completely honest here, ahehe..needed.” (kids aren’t known for their ability to clean up after themselves.)

-Gets hired at the arcade, hell yeaaah.

-Tho the theater is closed, Rylee can still get in and knows how to operate the projectors. Horror movie night in an abandoned theater anyone?

-Rylee’s bafflingly oblivious to Sun and Moon’s extra curricular activities on the nights they’re not available to hang.

-“What’s with the rusty stains on their clown costumes? Maybe face paint? When they worked as circus clowns, did they get pelted with tomatoes? Or is it ketchup? Yeah, bet it’s ketchup.”

-They’ve slipped up plenty of times, in small ways sure, but you’d think she’d catch on by now.

-Wouldn’t narc if she did find out what they’ve been up to, does it look like she likes cops?? But she wouldn’t necessarily be cool with what they’ve been doing either—

-The pair would become a source of unease for sure, but also intrigue and mystery..They’re only killing bad people..right?? It’s fine as long as they don’t involve her in their morbid shenanigans. Foreshadowing—

-It would already be a confusing shitshow of emotions, but could you imagine how extra conflicting it would be if they all felt some sort of way for each other 🫣???

[burstbubbbles]

things im noticing as i rewatch bnha, an ongoing thread:

SEASON 1

- deku really was such a nerd lmao he's just like me fr (like i KNEW but i didn't remember how much i could relate to it. oops.)

- it's also interesting that he always fights back against bakugo and calls him an idiot a lot. idk why (probably because of fandom characterization) i remembered early-seasons deku as a lot more innocent and scared of bakugo. like, here's the thing, deku is scared of pretty much everything at the start because he's shy/anxious. he gets nervous talking to most of his classmates (especially, but not only, girls) when he first meets them and starts trembling when he gets elected as class president before handing the role to iida. so basically, his anxiety isn't reserved to bakugo like i remembered – if anything, he seems to get over his fear of getting bullied by him pretty quickly once he realizes he can fight back.

- kaminari tried to ask uraraka out in their first or second day of school and she was like "uhhh i like to eat... uhh... WAIT DEKU CAME BACK FROM THE NURSE'S OFFICE" lol i really didn't remember that

- bakugo's insecurity was always there. as you're reading this you might be thinking i first watched mha with my eyes closed or sth, and you're not very far from the truth. here's the thing, i first watched it when i was like 14-15, so all i knew back then was that bakugo was insufferable and i didn't think further than that. of course, he ended up becoming one of my favorite bnha characters after reading all of the manga, but it's cool to realize his character arc was foreshadowed from the beginning and didn't just magically start around season 3.

- but yeah, anyway, bakugo's insecurity and his envy over deku's natural noble nature was always there, since season 1. also, deku's real admiration over bakugo was also there. like, going back to my other point, deku wasn't just Not Overly Scared of bakugo, he actually looked up to him despite knowing he was deeply flawed. tbh they were always a bit crazy about each other.

- uraraka is so funny i love her.

- all of class 1A was so chaotic good coded

- like they collectively made fun of bakugo on the bus to USJ for being rude lol. they really bonded over their shared dislike for the guy.

- bakugo gets fucking HUMBLED all of s1. i would also be irrationally angry ngl.

- the dialogues in the first season sometimes are so unnatural for the sake of exposition, like all might telling recovery girl: "do you mind not talking so loudly ab OFA? only you, a close friend, the principal, and midoriya know about OFA. but most professors and some pro heroes also know about my condition and not being able to fight for more than 3 hours a day" like WHO TALKS LIKE THAT ??!1?1?

- deku had to go to recovery girl's office a total of 4 times (if i counted correctly) for broken limbs of fingers in HIS FIRST WEEK of school. which is funnier considering no one else from class 1A had to go even once.

- damn shigaraki was a skinny legend before he got OP

- aizawa did not react at all when he first saw kurogiri (about the shirakumo thing). that was surprising.

- also. AIZAWA IS SO BADASS?? like yes i knew he was badass from the later seasons, but i genuinely didn't remember his first fighting sequence at USJ where he single-handedly fights like at least 20 villains.

- i had also forgotten that shigaraki calls eraserhead "really cool" so early on in the anime, i thought it was a later-seasons thing.

- this is really obvious but i had forgotten the all might theme's resemblance to superman's theme. it's such a cool little detail tho!

- uraraka and deku definitely were crushing on each other when they first met, but i think it's nice that they ended up developing a really strong friendship instead of getting together after hori didn't consistently develop them romantically. it also makes a lot more sense narratively, like why would we care who deku ends up with at the end of his first year of UA when the story actually ends 8 years after that, and it's very unlikely that you marry the same person you started dating when you were 15. idk, i liked that. i like that you can have two characters who maybe have a crush on each other but can't focus on that due to Circumstances and eventually move on and become good friends. it's a win for the platonic department!

- the animation was kinda bad in the first season 😭 but it's understandable and i had fun watching it regardless.

okay im done with s1 tune in for s2 !!

[sensitivehandsomeactionman]

Rewatched 1x02 Wendigo

It's an easy-to-follow adventure, and as the second episode, has a feeling of confirming story style and motifs. They repeat the use of fake IDs. There's a cheeky wink to the audience about how implausible they are when they're imposters along with reassurance that as the heroes they have plot armor. The ep revisits blood dripping mysteriously from above, leading to a jumpscare horror. And revisits Dean ending up a total, muddy mess. There's detective-like interviewing and exposition, reminiscent of The X-Files, as well as the tell-tale woodsy wetness of filming in Vancouver, and a ritual explanation as to why they're taking a break from hunting for Dad.

A week has passed, and they found no clues in Jessica's death. Sam is understandably having nightmares and is withdrawn and somber and on edge. I do love that on rewatch the audience knows that Sam is hiding a secret and a guilty conscience. Dean sends many concerned glances Sam's way. The dynamic I see is Dean trying to direct their energies towards something more positive, which is solving Haley's case; the job John sent them to. I think it's a consistent strategy for Dean throughout the series to seek a hunting "win" as an emotional reset. And by the end of the hunt, we see it does revitalize Sam.

Dean says the iconic "saving people, hunting things, the family business" line. It's framed as "saving people, hunting things" = "the family business," and that works for the Kripke years. Now, having been through the whole series, I hear it as three separate things. The business (or workings) of family really is its own theme as the show goes on, and sometimes it doesn't have to do with the other two.

DEAN: Do you want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?  SAM: Dean... DEAN: No, you're not fine. you're like a powder keg, man. It's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?

I do find it strange to hear Dean say, "I'm supposed to be the belligerent one," except maybe it's said jokingly to get a reaction from Sam. So far Dean's been quite stoic when challenged, and likely to respond to hostility with smirky humor. Sam's more direct and quicker to be confrontational. Nice bit of foreshadowing with reference to Sam as "freaky" and about to blow up with anger, since the appearance of YED will expand on that later.

A few things that I especially enjoyed in this ep -- Dean's charm and chutzpah. The way he improvises on the fly. He's flirty but in a surprisingly sweet way. Sam's earnestness, knowledge, and fearlessness. His exhilaration when they finish the hunt. I'm also amused that starting here, bears come up as a civilian explanation for monster stuff.

It's hard not to take it for granted now, their chemistry as brothers. They especially feel like they're in their own world separate from the normal one, and we're privileged to peek into their experience. We're also privileged to enjoy their beautiful faces in cinematic closeups.

There's smarmy low-brow humor that seems characteristic of Kripke. I feel like he enjoys making the audience squirm a bit over it, just as he does with the horror gore. This isn't a show for nice bougie people, he seems to want to say, we like 'em rough around the edges. It's a bit of a caricature, but it's different, and feels harmless.

Harmless, like Dean's flirting. We can see through the artifice; we're in on the joke. Part of that joke is a show that's sometimes rough around the edges. Like the ep's final scenes making a big deal of Sam taking the keys to drive the Impala, followed by a long shot of them in Baby, with Sam on the passenger side. Oops! 😂

[cringecompanionapologist]

An Analysis of Susan and Rogues Cameo in Wish World

Oops I got bored again help

Obviously, Here There Be Spoilers for Wish World

It begins with Conrad narrating, as he does a lot throughout the episode. What he says is most likely meant to be foreshadowing if it isn’t obvious how it connects to current actions. So, he starts talking about the Big Damn Secret (probably Omega).

“The secret was beginning to wake.”

Screen shows Susan. This is the point when the Doctor is meant to start paying attention.

“She knew that Doctor Who was weak.”

Rogue’s message.

This might be meant to imply that the Rani sees Rogue as the Doctor’s weakness. The timing of the line implies that Rogue was part of the Rani’s plan. She wants the Doctor to doubt and Rogue points him in the right direction.

“Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me? I haven’t got much time. They’re coming.”

That could refer to the Chulders he’s been trapped with or some other mysterious enemy.

“This hell dimension is sliding into the pit. I don’t know if I’m gonna survive.”

The screen glitches here. Not sure if that’s significant.

“Thank you for that, you know?”

After the glitch, Rogue is sarcastic and bitter about the hell dimension thing, even though it was his choice to go in there. The Doctor chose the hell dimension, but Rogue wanted to kill the Chulders, so he otherwise would’ve just died.

“But I have to warn you. I can only send you one warning and this is gonna sound strange, but listen to me. Tables don’t do that. Remember. Tables. Don’t. Do. That. I gotta go. I miss you. Well, more than that. I love you.”

There’s another glitch and Rogue is gone.

The last lines sound completely genuine. So, despite the earlier bitterness, the “I love you” was probably genuine too. Rogue might just have very mixed feeling about the whole situation, something the Rani could exploit if she was able to contact him.

If this is purely an illusion, it would also make sense. The Doctor feels guilty about what happened, so it has to be commented on, but he still hears what he would want to hear if he could remember everything: The Rogue misses and loves him.

The only thing that’s completely clear is that this was something the Rani wanted. She saw Rogue as a weakness of the Doctor that she could exploit and the probability of him breaking through dimensions to speak to the Doctor is…unlikely. Unless it was a wish. Rani has the God of Wishes with her. She’s already exploiting wishes in the case of Conrad. She lets him shape his perfect world. The Rani knowing about Rogue and how to contact him would be difficult, so she could’ve just wished for whoever the Doctor missed the most to give him a hint, or she tapped into the subconscious wishes of the Doctor: to see Susan and Rogue again.

Why Susan and Rogue, you might ask. Doesn’t the Doctor miss a lot of people? Hasn’t he lost a lot of people. Susan and Rogue are the first and last. Susan was the first companion to leave him. Rogue is the most recent “tragic separation”. He saw Ruby earlier that day, so the “most recent companion to leave” thing doesn’t really work with her. So we back up to Rogue. We have two people the Doctor misses and has regrets about. He deliberately left Susan behind and Rogue sacrificed himself so the Doctor wouldn’t lose Ruby. A lot of guilt there.

Why does Susan just briefly pop up while Rogue gets to actually say things? This might just be because Susan appeared in the previous episode and Rogue didn’t. The audience already knows that Susan could show up, but Rogue would be a surprise. So that one’s probably just for the audience’s benefit. Also, in a season full of decades old continuity, bringing back a character newer audiences would recognize and immediately understand the importance of would be nice.

Maybe the Doctor wasn’t doubting fast enough for the Rani’s liking so she wished that someone he’d, without evening remembering them, immediately pay attention to, to give him a hint. This actually gives another reason why Rogue got to deliver the message instead of Susan. The Doctor in this state wouldn’t recognize his granddaughter. She’d be a random woman. But, even if the Doctor didn’t recognize Rogue, he’d still be attracted to him, which would get his attention, even if his memory failed.

Even though the Doctor doesn’t remember Rogue at this point, Rogue still speaks to him as if he should know who he is, referencing continuity, so even though Rogue is giving the Doctor info to break free of the false reality, he also acts like he’s already broken through it. Not sure what this contradiction means. 

There’s also a chance that this could all just be bad writing. It’s hard to tell with RTD. Still, he’s probably trying to be clever, so acting like this might be going somewhere interesting is fair.

[allhailthemightyquattro]

Thoughts on The Robot Revolution

I'm finally getting around to watching the new series of Doctor Who, so here are my thoughts on The Robot Revolution (written down as I watch):

The timeline captions at the start bug me. It should be either "17 Years Ago" followed by "Now", or just a "17 Years Later" when the timeline shifts. Having both 17 Years Before and After just doesn't seem right. Like someone forgot they'd added the first title.

The Doctor appears to be looking for Belinda, which seems to be setting up a Moffat-style "special companion " story arc such as we got with Clara. Sigh.

Did the Doctor just accidentally turn off the hospital life support machines along with rest of the power? Oops, indeed.

The poor cat 😢

The robots and spaceship look like toys. Disney marketing attempt or just silly Doctor Who charm, who can say?

I'm still not fond of the Mrs Flood fourth wall breaks. Which is a shame because other than that she's a fun and intriguing character.

Okay, we're finally at the titles. Only took 7 minutes.

I like the idea of kidnapping Belinda because the planet and star is named after her. It's reminiscent of the good half of the Girl in the Fireplace plot.

The polishing bot is cute.

As a writer, I am loving that the villain is an "AI Generator".

The effects for the disintegrating guns look very high budget but also very terrible.

That was way too much melodrama for a character who had two minutes screen time and no personality.

I am liking Belinda so far.

Love Belinda's reaction to the Doctor's heart.

Sigh. Yes it's a companion is extra important story arc.

"Left Earth May 24". Hmm. The same day the finale is supposed to air, I believe...

Manny is hot but he's also a bit of a dick.

The "every ninth word" fault is very pick and choose, huh?

Did not see the Alan twist coming, though it was nicely foreshadowed with the "I haven't seen him in 16 years". Guess this means AI isn't the villain. Pity.

I do like the anti-incel message, but it is a bit over explained. The line about coercive control was not needed. We can see the dude was controlling.

Also, I think I would have preferred the incel thing to get its own episode so that the issue could be explored properly. It just kind of felt chucked into this one, making it performative rather than thought provoking.

I knew I loved the polishing bot for a reason. Sweeping up Alan. 😆Can it come onboard the TARDIS as a pet?

Belinda's first words upon entering the TARDIS are great.

Yes, Belinda you tell him! Unfortunately, Clara gave him the same telling off in The Rings of Akhaten, and it was useless, so my hopes that the Doctor will listen are not high. Please don't let this be a repeat of Series 7 Part 2.

Love the last shot of all the Earth objects in space. That shot alone has got me intrigued for the series story arc.

Overall, not a bad episode. Certainly better than last season's opener. I think it's gonna go squarely in the "it's alright" category.

[s-ccaam-era-crepe]

hi scamapult just checking in i suppose ^^ makin sure u aren't crashing too hard n all that. and while im here i had a good day i cleaned up my window and made it all pretty and put some stuff on the sill and i also sewed my old curtains together to make a big curtain for my eyesore bookcase i think i told u about this earlier ? anyway yeah :] tomorrow i probably ought to start working on birthday presents.... im sewing a makeup bag for one friend and cat toys for another and painting a hollow knight rubber duck for a third weugh idk why i do this to myself every year next year i think i will just buy them presents lol. however with all that in mind it is entirely possible that i will spend tomorrow just playing video games..... could play one of my many sonic games (i have like 5 in progress at this point) or snufkin or just like. balatro. or i have been planning to replay my favorite game series this time taking notes so i can keep track of notable foreshadowing tidbits and other things i want to remember and compare. ok wow this was just supposed to be a short ask but then i started yapping oops. tbh i have no idea if tumblr will even let me send this i think it like. rate limited my asks because i was spamming my friend shffhjfshf. but post limit resets in 24 minutes so if i can't send it at the time of me writing this then i will simply send it then!! though by that point u might be asleep if u aren't already (and if you aren't asleep by then.... get on that!! it's midnight!!!) ok anyway bye love you mwah 🫶

!!!! hiiii :333 i was sleeping like a good scam dw <3 ty for checking in on me that’s like. So sweet <3 I didn’t crash too hard tbh I did most of the crashing at the park and on the bus soo getting home was just nice and then I vced before going to bed so I was mostly good !!

Also it’s soooo cool that you can sew I want to learn so bad <3 and homemade gifts take so much time but they’re so fun and worth it tooo

I have a day off today after the trip so I’m finishing my graduation cap design today hopefully :3 and that’s most of my plans for the day, I want to take it easy lol

[bonefall]

I’m not sure if you talked about it, but what do you think about A Thief in Thunderclan? I actually liked it, though it definitely had a few ehhh moments

Eh, honestly? Im kinda disappointed that James Barry had to go out on such a low note. I did not like it, it felt like a waste of time.

It wasn't like... offensively bad but I have very little good to say about it. It was fine. If you want to see more ThunderClan you can check it out?

(A lot of Thief in ThunderClan critique below the cut, I didn't like it much)

First of all, the mystery was just bad. I'm sorry. An owl? Swooping in at night for dead animals and leaving perfect scores in the dirt? It felt like a real "running out of ideas" type plot.

Brightheart was NOT fun to follow. She was uncomfortable for most of the story and secondhand embarassment is an emotion I really don't enjoy. Even moments that were supposed to be thought-provoking (like the Brambleclaw name confrontation) just felt like cringe because they were written so poorly.

Like, seriously? "Firestar why did you name Bramble after his father who disfigured me?" "Oh its because i uhhhh wanted to remind ppl of it so they would stop being reminded of it eventually" WHAT? That was a brainless enough choice when it was FIRST made, you can't fucking tell me any cat with a brain cell would go "wao... really makes you think... hngsociety"

I disliked the fact they decided to give Brightheart serious suspicion towards people like Longtail and Brambleclaw, I strongly disagree she would be like that. She feels so much to me like someone who would feel awful for doubting people she logically knows are innocent, and express to Cloudtail that it makes her feel like a bad person, but she CANT help it. She is such a kind, loving, and self doubting sort of cat... or, was, I guess? Or maybe it was never there at all and I'm the fool.

On that note? Her character arc was a mess. As much as I hate Shadow in RiverClan, I can say that Feathertail's arc was a competent *story*. Brightheart is having nightmares, suspects Bramble and Long of treason, is trying to figure out this mystery, trying to help train Rainpaw, the fact she resents not being his mentor is mentioned and dropped, she is pregnant... so much shit is going on and it feels absolutely unfocused.

And even worse, because it's overlapping with the beginning of Firestar's Quest, we end up having to Show Off The Continuity instead of telling a cohesive story. Oop Willowpelt died and Rainpaw is kind of sad about it! But wait we have to say bye to Firestar, make sure to squeeze in the Brambleclaw name confrontation before he goes! GO BACK Longtail has been blinded!! ALSO THE OWL! HERES WHY THE OWL WASNT MENTIONED IN FQ!!

And DUDE if there's anything that's a SERIOUS problem, it's Brightheart's stupid ass cutesy "look who's being USEFUL in here!" When blinded Longtail is helping out in the medcat den

First of all fuck you for the wording of that line! Second of all, GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD that disabled people shouldn't have to find a way to be "useful" to belong to their society.

The fact we're getting a book from Bright's perspective as a disabled person and the whole thing is chock full of "useful" language as she struggles with PTSD makes the fact this is COMMON in WC sting so much more.

Anyway back to just, normal critique and not frustration with ableism in wc.

I feel like they really wasted Brightheart's family. I enjoyed finally getting Cinder and Bright hanging out as sisters, but we got a MENTION of Frostfur, and barely anything with her brothers. It's already a mess so why not go the whole way?

Ashfur also has his post-TBC personality retcon which absolutely kills me. Why do we need this shitty "foreshadowing"? Why do we need him to have been so obviously controlling and argumentative? Why are these writers fucking allergic to having a villain that people thought was nice and normal once?

NITPICK: if i have to see another cat gently picked up by a large bird of prey without at LEAST getting a cracked rib I will shapeshift into 10,000 crows and fly away forever

I have some good feelings towards it though, and I have to be clear, this is actually Ambivalent Bones. I'm only mad at the "Usefulness" rhetoric, the rest is just my normal amount of whinging lmao.

I do really like Cinderpelt and Brightheart finally getting some interactions. It's long overdo lmao

I like Cloudtail and Brightheart as a ship so it's nice to see them hang out.

Uhhh this is a bit of a backhanded compliment but I liked how she was upset at not getting one of Whitestorm's children to mentor? I don't like how it bodes for the wider narrative though, because we know this ends in her getting shafted FOR YEARS and unable to get an apprentice. But I liked the plot setup of her having resentment for Cloudtail because of this. I thought that would make a really good plot point for putting a wedge between them to work through. Like, stop being cowards, LEAN INTO Firestar making some very serious, insulting, short-sighted mistakes, and it interfering with Brightheart's ability to heal. Kill your darling.

There were some nice lines. I do remember Ashfur's lame "greedyclaw" insult, which was funny.

I enjoyed the cute moments between the cats in ThunderClan. Ferncloud chasing after her kids, Brightheart convincing people to help her investigate, the Willowkin being upset about their mom. It's a mess but there's some nice stuff in that mess, y'know?

Overall, my memory hasn't been kind to it. I think I was giving it a 6/10 when I first saw it, but it's dropped down to a low 5/10. Not (very) offensive but too messy and pointless to revisit.

[madrone33]

I finally listened to Hadestown! 🎉

Starting with the Original Cast Recording, ‘cause might as well do it in release order. Loved it! Groovy music. Snickered. Cried. Wrote down my reaction as I went, so if you're chill with rambled thoughts and observations, here you go lol

(Soz for any typos, I was touch typing most of the time, and I've edited it but probs missed stuff)

Road to Hell (Live)

Oh it’s JAZZY. Huh. Didn't expect that, but I am living.

I like how at the start they’re simulating a train’s chugging.

Those call and response harmonies tho *chef's kiss*

Kinda reminds me of Udad.

Oh that’s Hermes!

“It’s a sad song” he says, while singing the boppiest of bops.

I like that “suitcase full of summertime” line.

“About someone... who tries.” Oho, we’re gettin into it now! *rubs hands together*

Also, I completely get now why Jorge said that first draft of EPIC: The Musical Hermes was like Hadestown.

Livin' It Up on Top (Live)

That’s a smooth transition👌

Persephone’s voice is really cool. Kinda rough texture?

Oh I didn’t realise Persephone and Hades would be having a turbulent relationship in this.

Oooh Orpheus’ voice is smooth.

They’re all so happy huh. Welp, you know there’s gonna be a crash in their future.

Orpheus seems really grateful for Persephone’s... graciousness? When he said that she'll always fill their cups and they'll raise them to her and stuff. Theory: either she’ll have a soft spot for him later, or he’ll feel betrayed and blindsided by the more cold side of her later.

All I've Ever Known (Live)

I don’t know anything about Eurydice, but is this her song?

Ah yeah Orpheus is singing, so it must be.

Oop. Foreshadowing.

Way Down Hadestown (Live)

Hermes is back!

“Bored to death” HA

“Graveyard” wow the puns/metaphors are going hard XD

I can’t tell who’s singing lmao. This is like when I listened to Hamilton for the first time. I’ll need lyrics, or familiarity RIP

The coins as the percussion/tambourine is a nice touch.

Hades’ voice is DEEP.

They haven’t mentioned gods yet, I don’t think? Just the Fates, right? It sounds more like a mining operation metaphor for mythos right now, hmm.

Epic II (Live)

King of diamonds and spades - like the playing card suits, but also like the mining operation.

It’s the La la la la thing from Wolfy’s animatic! Almost. A different rendition - I bet I'll hear that later 👀

Why is it called Epic II? Where’s 1? Am I missing something?

Chant (Live)

Oh they’re doing overlapping meodies!!

Ah wait this is Eurydice now, gotta go back a few seconds to catch that. I keep getting her mixed up with Persephone 😅

Oh now we’ve got Eurydice and Orpheus relationship troubles? Huh, I kinda assumed they’d be the perfect couple till her death.

And a semi callback to her song, nice.

Hay Little Songbird (Live)

DAMN his voice is deep!

Is this Eurydice??

Is- Is Hades seducing her? To work for him of smth? Ummm.

Not the canary!

That shaker sounds like a rattlesnake, and it does not bode well for a little bird.

When the Chips are Down (Live)

Oh hey I was right! It is a metaphorical rattlesnake!

Does she choose to go to the Underworld of her own volition? I thought she like- died.

Gone I'm Gone (Live)

She does??

Ouch. She sounds so resigned.

Is this a metaphor for her starving to death? Oof.

The harmonies!!

Wait for Me (Live)

“Six feet under” oh yep.

“Lay low, stay outta sight” - getting Hamilton's Stay Alive vibes.

“Don’t look back” ah. FORESHADOWING.

Ohhh the River Styx being a high wall is so smart!

“And don’t look no one in the eye” I must be too deep in the Odyssey related fandoms, because I'm seeing puns where there are none lmao

The HARMONIES!

Poor Orpheus, but I mean, he was kinda being a bit… naive? If he didn’t prepare for winter and just went off in his own head to make songs?

Why We Build the Wall (Live)

Free from who?

Enemy? 👀

(Yes, I'm aware I'm being led into asking all the questions he wants me to ask, but in my defence, it's very effective.)

Oh huh. Wasn't expecting it to be poverty, tho maybe I should've.

Him calling them “My children” plus the chanting is uh. Why does this sound like cult propaganda?

His voice sounds like the Ozymandias poem guy.

Also giving Frollo “She ran, I pursued” vocal vibes.

“Behind closed doors” - ominous.

Ha! Ok nice subversion.

Our Lady of the Underground (Live)

Persepone is a drug dealer XD

That’s a strange note on “there’s a crack in the wall”

Oh no, am I supposed to remember all these band member names? *crying*

Way Down Hadestown II (Live)

Bringing back motifs I see.

The pickaxes as percussion is cool.

Oop, Eurydice is getting a bit of a wake up call.

Chant II (Live)

Ooooh does the ‘backdoor’ Hermes meant, mean that Orpheus doesn’t have to ‘die’ to get there? ‘Cause he didn’t sign anything, which is a metaphor for him not actually being dead in the myth, so he can still leave.

“Hungry for the underworld” - the pomegranate?

And now Eurydice and Orpheus are singing half the La la la la tune each as if to each other from across the Underworld!

Ooh I LIKE those slant rhymes! "Young man, you can strum your lyre, I have strung the world in wire."

Oh this is where Orpheus sings his plea!! I know this is a thing because of Udad's Underworld Blues lol.

Epic III (Live)

The harmonies 🥺

Oh! It’s that part from Wolfy's animatic :O

I’m tearing up bro.

Just thinking that Eurydice was so upset with Orpheus for focusing on writing his song about Hades and Persephone, but it's that very song that is giving him a chance to sway Hades' mind. But on the other hand, if he'd focused less on the song, he never would've had to use it, y'know?

Word to the Wise (Live)

Ha the Fates(?) doing Hades’ inner monologue like, yeah bro u screwed yourself.

Uh oh this is probs where Hades comes up with the ultimatum. Wait no don't-

His Kiss the Riot (Live)

Those strings are creepy.

Belladonna? Oh the poisonous flower.

Did he call Orpheus the Jack of Hearts?

That acordian is awesome.

Fuck, I knew it.

He sounds like the guy who does the creepily ominous monologue in Micheal Jackson's Thriller.

Promises (Live)

Oh huh. It’s my theory from the 2nd song but it's Eurydice feeling betrayed that the world isn't always plentiful and not Orpheus?

Those strings are gorgeous!

Oh! A duet!

When the couple actually works out their shit:

“I do” omgggg!

KEEP WALKING. DONT LOOK BACK.

Wait for Me II (Live)

Aww that’s nice. Persephone and Hades are gonna try too!

Oh no not the “wait” like in Hurricane-

Doubt Come In (Live)

Oh noooooo

KEEP GOING. JUST KEEP GOING. SHE’S WITH YOU

OH NOOOO DON’T FALTER

LISTEN TO HER! HOLD ON! KEEP GOING!

... Oh god

Road to Hell II (Live)

NO THERE'S A FUCKING AD

Hermes sounds so sad but resigned. Like, 'Oh well. I knew it would turn out like this, but I'd hoped.' Which like. SAME.

The instruments stripped away so it's only silence and one voice is so good.

I can just imagine Orpheus collapsed shell shocked on stage as Hermes not unkindly pushes him to go on.

That reprise and ending is so fucking good AHHH omg no regrets. Some regrets. Whatever, it was good.

... Time to listen to it again with lyrics :D

And then I'm gonna listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording!

[bi-writes]

When you said "and so would simon" to the bullet ask I was praying it wasn't foreshadowing, but also I lowkey kind of live for the drama and I would also take a bullet for all of them Simon inc.

no, i wouldn't do that. as much as i love angst and stuff, i always like to wrap up nicely, and i don't think that would be a very good conclusion to what i've written. i mean, that might be for someone else, but for me personally, it wouldn't be how i would want to end anything.

can't say the same for johnny tho oop.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

FR it’s actually crazy where are the itoshi non enjoyers at…im crying is your latest reblog also in ref to him bc if so you’re so real

REAL the lives are all connected the multiverse just is like that yk (pause yuki protag and he regains his past memories that kinda cooks) LMAOO because he would be so hyped like “oh yeah im that man the super cool ninja ladies love me fish (idk what equivalent would go here) fear me”

SIBLING GOALS PLEASEEEE LMFAOO king of kalos yuki…its giving insane aura

No because im just hella paranoid LMAO fortunately tumblr seems a lot chiller than other platforms but SHSJSB THANK YOUUU even a a tumbler inactive acc I’ll be the number one Mira defender o7 call me Oliver aiku the way I defend LMAOO ok Twitter is actually insane like INSANE insane I fr only use it because some official accounts like to update there and there’s also some really nice art there but other than that absolutely 0 interacting because that’s like reddits younger sibling

LMFAO no actually Nagiy/n just gatekeeping the love sorry only room for one couple!!! /j but so real it adds depth to the whole world if people don’t get that they can leave!! IM CRYING nagi outing Reo like that is so funny

It’s like Isagis the angel and aikus the devil of the little consciousnesses consultants (bro what are they referred as ykwim like when they pop up on your shoulders) LMFAOAOAOAIAH THE BIKE LINE IM CRYINGGFGG stop that bright back so many memories I can’t

Your brain working so hard it’s foreshadowing for you LMAOO before I even read I was already thinking “I bet he’d be annoying af but eventually their daughter warms up to bug boy and they fall in love” HAHA wait why is he lowk giving igaguri vibes though….like not for igaguri to be inserted in as him but just purely on a vibe comparison standpoint….(grandfather nagi he alr acts like one NOW /j)

I was fr laughing so hard imagining that like it’s a classic poorly drawn picture done from like five colors of crayon but because of Barou gyarados and defeated Mr Mikage it’s almost 75% red LMFAO THE TEACHER PLAYING CPS IS CRAZY and she finds out like “wait your the former champions kid??????” OOOOH OMG no wait they have their son and readers like “omg he reminds me sm of my cousin…maybe this is a sign he’s always with me” BYE I started at new kiyora so long I forgot what s1 kiyora looked like LMAOO I see the vision!! It’s even funnier when you think about how Nagi and kiyora beef with each other now LOL

AHAHAA guys so im actually reader like ACTUALLY now /j this’ll be a very immersive read but LMAO on the flip side imagine reader also just trying to catch some random pokemon and for whatever reason she’s separated and just not with her own pokemon (idk maybe she’s setting up their campsite so everyone left to gather supplies or train or whatever so she’s just alone with all their traveling stuff) and some pokemon pops up that she wants so she just eats through Karasu’s entire quick ball stash and eventually catches it on like the last ball and Karasu comes back like “BRO WTF” LMAOA ok but another tally for a Karasu L HAHA first it was hioris ducklett now it’s the quick balls (maybe yayoi made fun of him before in a sibling way like this is why I’m gym leader not you cuz you suck)

AHAHA dumbass x dumbass power of friendship imagine his abomasnow also has a bunch of moves that inflict confusion on itself LMAOO or it’s just general super susceptible to anything that might inflict that status because it’s already confused 24/7 but WAITTTT this should just be a real series atp THE OVAS fr just have an entire expansion of the verse we all cheered if you have the time/motivation PLEASE MAKE THE OVAS wait this is Lowk becoming orv orv also has side stories (i haven’t read them oops) wait im laughing imagine hiori in a full safari zone fit BUT why not combine both ideas…hioris pokemon have a dispute INSIDE the safari zone LMAOO maybe he goes in to settle a dispute in there and while he does that his pokemon have to wait outside to which they start throwing hands (probably swanna starting it like we should go in and look after him and protect him from the pokemon inside or sth and they can’t figure out who they should send in to follow since a full team of 6 is too inconspicuous and then that just spirals into plain old fighting) WAIT I WANT A TABIEITA DUMBASS EPISODE does this warrant another notion folder (idk how notion works so I hope ykwim)

BAROU VERSION IN THW WORKS WOOHOOOO YES NIKO INTRO homeboy Niko coming in clutch, as aiku would say LMAO

HSGDJSS guys why’d she phrase that like peregrine and hollyhock are already dead….guys??? Ok but it’s ok someday I trust it’ll come into existence!! Speaking of did you end up deciding what you’re doing for the event?

Barou would truly appreciate the graphics “thanks for honoring my death maybe you’re not a donkey” LMFAOOEO sorry I’m having too much fun with this au and I’m not even the one writing it

BLLKS2 TRAILER!!! YES I DAW bruh the up close and personal screen of shirtless sae sends me but LOWK THE CHARACTERS LOOK PRETTY GOOD FOR THE MOST PART?? Omg Karasu our man got his justice!!! I agree I love how he looks!! Glow up from some of his initial manga panels LMAO I’ll admit the cgi somehow looks even more cgid (specifically the zoom in on Isagis feet with hiori in the back) and some animation sections feel very screenshot additional time-esque but WHATEVER (they also looked really oiled up in that one top6 shot like why are they sparkling like that) like you said s1 wasn’t unwatchable but some parts of the trailer feel even choppier, specifically with the lip syncing? Like when Nanase talks and when Rin and Shidou are beefing it’s giving like Pac-Man ass mouth but I’ll live with it the Karasu moments are saving me (the last shot of otoya in the trailer where he’s staring into our souls has me rolling though he kinda looks like he’s ON something but it’s ok) WE’LL LIVE

STOP NOT THE YOTD NAME DROP IM CRYING but FR!!! At least we have content and I bet for panels it really matters it’ll look fire! The way they did otoyas aura was kinda cool too!! But THATS WHAT IM SAYING where’s all the money they’re raking in going?? Like what….i kinda wish they’d splurge and go with a bigger studio but maybe they’re contractually bound to eightbit ugh but im sooo excited for s2!!!!! Maybe after this s2 they’ll finally put their eightbitussy into it

Im still kinda losing it over the fact that it’s 14 eps though? I’ve seen some people speculating saying maybe they’re doing another two cour division and it’s just for cour 1 but we’ll see….if it’s just 14 eps of super crunchy quality I won’t be as ecstatic though LOL but I think there’s also a chance they’ll refine it before release? Because actually the end credits scene for epinagi got refined in the Amazon prime release iirc so they gave Karasu and hiori a glow up (that locker room scene) and they look a lot less crunchy so manifesting…

- Karasu anon

YESSS IT WAS ABOUT SAE DHKSDKSJS i’d drop a piano on him in every life 🥲🙂‍↕️ nah because the itoshis occupy the same space as nanami jjk in my mind like i can see where the appeal comes from but they need to be humbled so i must hate

pursuit otoya def has a hat (he probably got it from karasu let’s be real) that just says “women want me magikarp fear me” but then reader’s magikarp loves him and no women want him thereby proving the hat completely wrong 😭

nah because king of kalos yuki…i need him tbh…he’s another one (kinda like reader when she retires) where he had to give up battling for personal issues so nobody’s ever beaten him in an ACTUAL league battle either 🤩 like lowkey bro could’ve been champion too the world will never know!! so he def commands insane respect (makes tabieita slandering him even funnier like do y’all know who you’re talking to rn)

all of my mutuals post relevant twitter screenshots so i get it secondhand HAHA avoiding the bad and receiving the good 😏 agreed it has mega reddit vibes for sure i’m scared of it…PLS you are the aiku of this verse we love to see it

imagine nagiy/n dueling tullireo “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us” FJSKDJJS real talk though i agree when a story is this long it’s impossible not to have background dynamics going on!! it adds to the fun anyways people who don’t get it just will have to miss out ig!! PLSS nagi has 0 chill he does not gaf he’ll out anyone…imagine reader asks reo for recommendations afterwards or smth LMAOOO he’s like how did you know you don’t even have any psychic types and she’s like uhhh my aegislash?? which is technically correct but from then on reo is super paranoid around aegislash because thinks it can read his mind 😭

HAHAHA wait shoulder angel/shoulder devil isagi/aiku goes so hard (consciousness consultants is cracking me up) their dynamic is so funny…wait this means aiku HAS to know barou in the past ☝🏻 maybe since he’s the one who gives reader her keystone after seeing her houndoom with its houndoominite he’s like “i knew this asshole with a houndoom who also had houndoominite what a coincidence” and reader’s like “not really that’s barou we’re related” and aiku’s like???

okay lowkey i was thinking niko but igaguri fits so well i’m crying 😭 pursuit sequel where it’s an igaguri x reader and we’re nagiy/n’s daughter real and true (new it trio reader + igaguri + kurona) /j ofc HAHAH but fr i think it would be so cute imagine her bringing him to meet nagi and reader and reader’s just like “i’m so proud of you for continuing the ‘dating losers’ trend in the family” and nagi’s like “yup 👍” because he’s accepted he’s a loser atp LMAOO omg nagi would def be that grandfather that lets you get away with whatever when he’s babysitting you and gives you like caramel candies or smth KFCJSJKS PLSS him sitting on a porch in an ugly ass sweater (from when reader or reo attempted knitting and used him as a guinea pig) in a rocking chair with tea i’m crying

sometimes a family is a man, his wife, his best friend’s father who his wife destroyed in battle, his wife’s vaguely homicidal hellhound, and his wife’s cousin watching over them disapprovingly from heaven 🥹❤️ i hope you like mr mikage’s mustache and barou’s hair i worked hard on them /j LMAOAAOAOO anyways i was crying making this i hope you appreciate it (also the ribbon on houndoom is because her mega stone is tied on her neck with a ribbon by barou when he gives her to reader but obviously nagiy/n’s child exaggerates things and yassifies houndoom to the max…the teacher pulls up expecting some cute weak little puppy pokémon and is met with THE houndoom who killed the leader of team x himself i bet she pisses her pants)

HAHAHA I LOVEEE GIVING KARASU L’S he truly cannot win…okay wait that’s so pokémon anime coded her using all of karasu’s quick balls to catch her phanpy and karasu comes back and is like um?? so he makes reader repay him but she doesn’t have that much money and she has to go around battling random people for enough cash and that’s how she gets to know phanpy LFJDJSJFH karasu’s gentle parenting at its finest he’s like “i hope you learned an important lesson today 😐” and she’s like “yeah apparently my phanpy knows rollout 😄” karasu just gives up atp 😭

ZANTETSU WITH A PERPETUALLY CONFUSED ABOMASNOW IS SOOO FUNNY TO ME AND SO CANON!! lowkey the side stories would be so fun especially because we could show more characters like zantetsu who don’t appear in the main story…maybe yuki taking his pokémon to aryu to get groomed or smth 🤔 PLSS THE HIORI IDEA I’M CACKLING 😭 imagine the tabieita ova is just otoya trying to teach karasu how to rizz girls up but he keeps getting rejected so karasu’s like bro you suck let me try and he gets a date on the first try FHDJDJSJ omg or we could have one of yayoi and karasu as kids…i had an idea for an otoya one but tumblr deleted half of my response for some reason?? like i had literally responded to your ENTIRE ask and just went to look something up and when i came back tumblr was like lol fuck you redo the entire thing 😰 WAIT possibly the same otoya one or maybe a diff one but just an ova of him being a chris prince stan and trying to follow the chris prince regimen ™️ but his muscles give out and his pokémon are like HELL NO or it’s like him just buying chris prince merch for an entire chapter 😭 or a tullia and loki ova when they go on a date and it’s just tullia being like “huh i wonder what reo’s doing rn…hold on why do i gaf…” (sneaking in the tullireo agenda as always) LMAOAOA NO FR i never read the side stories either but this is literally orv pokémon edition like maybe we WILL reach that 1.5 million word count /hj

AIKU IS VILLAINOUS IN THE BAROU VERSION HE’S SLANDERING EVERYONEEE so far lorenzo, barou, and niko have caught strays his inner monologue is cracking me up though 😭 fr homeboy niko ALWAYS comes through for the gang we love him!! aiku would be nothing without him

NOOO THEY’RE NOT DEAD DEAD i’m just pursuit brain rotted so once i get more of the oaeu and requests out i’m going to work on that for a while!! HAHA dw i’m having sm fun with it too it’s such an entertaining au with so many possibilities!! PLEASEEE barou’s like ok i guess it’s acceptable because it’s aesthetic you get a pass this time 😒

SADLY NOOO NO IDEAS YET actually ykw a pokémon theme would be really fun and in character atm!! i’d have to think of how to go about it but that is def one option (it’s coming up too AHH so i have to get to cooking for real!!)

agreed it’s not as awful as people are making it out to be!! a lot of the trailer was still frames too so it just looks choppier because it’s not an entire scene in motion yk…the budget is apparently higher than s1 so i doubt it’ll be worse than s1 if anything it’ll just be the same!! AND KARASU LOOKED SOOO GOOD THEY DID HIM JUSTICE i can’t wait to see him in action…i will forever mourn the thought of him with jet black hair and pretty violet eyes though 😩 purple/black karasu you will live on in our memories/99% of fanarts + colorings 😭 i feel like the blue falls a bit flat like he’s kind of just giving “isagi’s sexy cousin” atm HAHAHAHA but it’s all good he’s fine either way!! tbh yk me i’m just waiting for s2 for the edits anyways and if editors can make fire stuff out of manga panels they’ll def cook with whatever the anime gives us!!

speaking of edits do you know those tik tok sounds with the usa eagle screech i NEED people to start editing karasu with it because yk bird LMAOAAOOA JUST IMAGINEEE i don’t think he gets a bird aura panel until NEL (this is what i went to look up when tumblr glitched out for you to get a sense of how far i got) but i am investing i need people to get to WORK idk how no one has seen the vision yet!!

hmm i think if it’s only 14 eps they’ll definitely either go crazy or they’ll do two cours 🤔 tbh more content is more content i’m just hype to see my boys back on screen 🤩 the animators always yassify nagi so i’m chilling because there’s a high chance he’ll look good for the most part JFKSK i’m worried they might mess up barou because they seem to be allergic to him slaying but i still have faith!! ACTUALLY YKW i’m waiting for everyone to crawl out of the woodwork remembering how much they like nagi once they’re reminded of how cool he is…like NUH UH go back to the kaiser glazing hole you scrabbled out of leave nagi ALONE i have been here through everyone slandering him he’s MINEEEEEEEE (insert wolf ripping its shirt open meme) /j

anyways if it seems like i missed anything i’m sorry tumblr hates me so i probably thought i responded and didn’t LMAOAOA i think my og response was more fleshed out but alas…😓💔

[borathae]

Chapter 35

it was a pretty bad dream. I tried to make it stop”, MOM I LOVE HIM

we are in his room 👀👀 what happened afterwards “You got pretty drunk last night and then insisted on sleeping with me so I wouldn’t feel lonely.” oops lets see what all she did 😭😭

“I wouldn’t take advantage of you like that.” PERIODT

“You’re a terrible fighter, especially when drunk.” 😭😭😭

are you telling me that you were awake the entire night?” EDWARD CULLEN WHO??

TAE IS GETTING RELEASED YESS YEEHAW WE DID IT

he want to see her happy oh oh

“Also your cheek is really soft, it feels nice to kiss”, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS INFO?? CRY? SCREAM? YEET MYSELF OUT THE WINDOW? PUNCH A WALL? SHIT BRICKS? PULL OUT HAIR? AAA

“Whatever, I’m leaving AAH HE IS SUCHA CUTIE PIE I CANT PLEASE MY TSUNDERE KITTY my lil yogurt

WAIT IS THAT FORESHADOW OR SOMETHING or just me overthinking?? didnt say something like that last chapter( wait that was me jumping into conclusion in the review🤡)

“Nuh-uh you’re not. XD this is so funny, like she just did that haha i love them both pls

You shouldn’t assume the worst, especially when Yoongi is trying so hard to be better for you. You should be better for him too and finally stop doubting him. He is a sweet man, a little rough and cold at times, but at his core Yoongi is a good man. wow just called us all out for having mixed feelings about him BUT I ALSO LOVE HIM STINKING SOO MUCH

HE GAVE US SWEET DREAMS, taking "sweet dreams/goodnight" to another level

“You should have come to me whenever it happened. I could have calmed them down.” oh my yoongi bear

she is so nice, cuz i would have chosen violence for joon

“it offends me that you think so lowly of me.” im sorry 🤷🏻‍♀️

“No, of course not”, he grumbles. ofc he is 😭i love him and his new feelings, the way u subtly describe those changes aah

“Test you?” you giggle, “come on Yoongi Boongie, relax”, you tell him, leaning down to kiss his tensed neck. you have officially broken him

“It’s just how the pants are cut”, he mumbles. sure sure i believe you

The Creator of vampires possesses a sensitive neck and is shivering from mere kisses. AAAAH

another panties ripped #justiceforpanties #stoppantyabuse2024

their chemistry is just 😭😭

“Yeah?” you try not to sound too affected by his confession, but honestly you are. me at you

His voice was made for such dirty words, they sound so sinful when his tongue forms them. HISVOICEINCONCERTSAAAAAA

“Tell me what to do next” I HAVE ASCENDED

“uhm, damn Yoongi, give me a moment. I, I wasn’t ready for you to be so into this.” sis is shooketh, im her she is me

WE ARE RIDFING HIS FACE??

Since when did he get so hot? "Always was”, he says.  WTF SHUT UP U DIDNT HEAR THAT SNEAKY MY

"Christ. Stop teasing hold on yoongles is bc, LIKE BC cuz he is 3000 holy shit, my mind is blown

His hair tickles your nose, it smells of mint and green apple. where did he get green apple scented shampoo

"I think”, he croaks, fingers squeezing your hip.  HE IS HAPPY YES MY YOON

HE IS ARCHING HIS BACK “Princess, s-slow down”, he chokes out. YOONGI UR TOO HOT UR KILLING ME

Yoongi furrows his brows and lets out a soft sob. It sounded desperate and high-pitched.  I HAVE DIED, RESURRECTED AND DIED AGAIN

“I’m your willing s-slave”, boi u cant just say that out of nowhere my heart just gave out

you can devour me IM GONNA BITE YOU, VAMPIRE HEALING WONT DO SHIT TO THE HICKEY IM ABOUT TO GIVE YOU BABY

they are so hot and adorable together i wanna give them my unborn child

it was a pretty bad dream. I tried to make it stop”, MOM I LOVE HIM

I LOVE HIM TOO GAAAH

“I wouldn’t take advantage of you like that.” PERIODT

he is actually so important to me

“You’re a terrible fighter, especially when drunk.” 😭😭😭

jJFASJDF he is so sassy I love himm

he want to see her happy oh oh

*sobs so hard she dies*

“Also your cheek is really soft, it feels nice to kiss”, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS INFO?? CRY? SCREAM? YEET MYSELF OUT THE WINDOW? PUNCH A WALL? SHIT BRICKS? PULL OUT HAIR? AAA

ME FRO REAL LIKE OMFMDFM

“Whatever, I’m leaving AAH HE IS SUCHA CUTIE PIE I CANT PLEASE MY TSUNDERE KITTY my lil yogurt

omfg "my lil yogurt" is unironically such a cute nickname OMFG I MIGHT NEED TO MAKE HER SAY IT TO HIM ONCE IIIHIHIHI

WAIT IS THAT FORESHADOW OR SOMETHING or just me overthinking?? didnt say something like that last chapter( wait that was me jumping into conclusion in the review🤡)

mhhhhhhhhhhm 👀👀👀

“Nuh-uh you’re not. XD this is so funny, like she just did that haha i love them both pls

fajdsjf I love her she is so hot

You shouldn’t assume the worst, especially when Yoongi is trying so hard to be better for you. You should be better for him too and finally stop doubting him. He is a sweet man, a little rough and cold at times, but at his core Yoongi is a good man. wow just called us all out for having mixed feelings about him BUT I ALSO LOVE HIM STINKING SOO MUCH

fjasdjfj HE IS THE CUTEST YOU CANT BE MAD AT HIM GOSHH

HE GAVE US SWEET DREAMS, taking "sweet dreams/goodnight" to another level

😭😭😭😭

“You should have come to me whenever it happened. I could have calmed them down.” oh my yoongi bear

LIKE HE IS SO COMFORT!!!!!

“No, of course not”, he grumbles. ofc he is 😭i love him and his new feelings, the way u subtly describe those changes aah

jadjsf htank you!! heheeh

“Test you?” you giggle, “come on Yoongi Boongie, relax”, you tell him, leaning down to kiss his tensed neck. you have officially broken him

boy is officially fainting (real)

“It’s just how the pants are cut”, he mumbles. sure sure i believe you

jfajsdf I love how he is always lying lIKE BOOy

The Creator of vampires possesses a sensitive neck and is shivering from mere kisses. AAAAH

*feral noises*

their chemistry is just 😭😭

THANK YOU IT IS LIKE IT'S MAKING ME INSANE

“Yeah?” you try not to sound too affected by his confession, but honestly you are. me at you

JADSJF

His voice was made for such dirty words, they sound so sinful when his tongue forms them. HISVOICEINCONCERTSAAAAAA

DONT I WILL CREAM

“Tell me what to do next” I HAVE ASCENDED

I forgot that I made him say that- OGOODBYE

WE ARE RIDFING HIS FACE??

*dies*

Since when did he get so hot? "Always was”, he says.  WTF SHUT UP U DIDNT HEAR THAT SNEAKY MY

I NEED HIM SO BAD

"Christ. Stop teasing hold on yoongles is bc, LIKE BC cuz he is 3000 holy shit, my mind is blown

jfasdjfjas he is indeed JFJADSF

His hair tickles your nose, it smells of mint and green apple. where did he get green apple scented shampoo

THERE IS ACTUALLY GREEN APPLE SHAMPOO YOU CAN BUY IN MY LOCAL STORE IT SMELLS SO GOOD

"I think”, he croaks, fingers squeezing your hip.  HE IS HAPPY YES MY YOON

boongie yoobi baby :(

HE IS ARCHING HIS BACK “Princess, s-slow down”, he chokes out. YOONGI UR TOO HOT UR KILLING ME

HELP I FORGOT ABOUT THE BACK ARCHING WTFFDSFSA

Yoongi furrows his brows and lets out a soft sob. It sounded desperate and high-pitched.  I HAVE DIED, RESURRECTED AND DIED AGAIN

I forgot about this too *dies*

“I’m your willing s-slave”, boi u cant just say that out of nowhere my heart just gave out

I DID NOT FORGET ABOUT THIS I THINK ABOUT IT DAILY

you can devour me IM GONNA BITE YOU, VAMPIRE HEALING WONT DO SHIT TO THE HICKEY IM ABOUT TO GIVE YOU BABY

ME FOR REAL LIKE SREIOUSLY

they are so hot and adorable together i wanna give them my unborn child

HELP HAHAHHAHA THIS IS SO FUNNY HAHAHHA

[corens-relisten]

MAG 37 Burnt Offering

spoilers already oop-

breekon and hope, avatars of the stranger, looking "exactly as youd expect" IS SO COOL id forgotten aboht that detail but honnestly i love it so much like yes the weird and uncanny can be creepy but so can the completely ordinary

"were arent in the business of destroying knowledge" also elias told jon to destroy the table?? OH MY GOD??

im here already, so may as well make my guess. i think this is the Desolation, of course. all the heat nd stuff (: oh and the Web too!

spoilers done!

omg martin <33 hii wait did jon just call him a "waste of tape"?? dude.

"it keeps the fear away" hm. i genuinely love how pissed he is at the archives, bc he just hates himself and he knows it and he wants someone or something to take it out on.

the whole foreshadowing whats to come and "i regret what happened without saying what happened" usually irritates me a bit but i really loved it in this one. idk i love the anger i guess haha

OMG HE DIDNT LOSE ETHAN!! whys he in a foster home tho? OH SHIT THATS WHY- OOP yes yes jon thats very normal for alcoholics LIKE WTH DUDE YOU CANNOT TRY TO CONVINCE URSELF THATS NOT SUPERNATURAL

oh Gertrude??

anyway heres my offering! silly lil angy jon (i think near the end of s1 he has to start tying his hair or slicking it bad)

omg only 2 episodes left to the season!! have a nice day!

(i keep forgetting to post these lmaoo)

[nojean42]

BTS - LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her'

a new bts era begins lets gooo!!! hadn't branched out to other groups quite yet, but we'll get there lol

this might be the only album i discuss hidden bonus tracks for cuz i actually have the physical album and know they're there. if i miss any similar tracks in the future its because i just didn't know they existed

if i had to rank all the love yourself albums this would probably be in last place (extremely close ranking they are all very very good albums) cuz i lovelovelove the songs on tear so much and answer having a bit of everything just elevates it. but maybe listening to this again while writing will change my mind and bump it back up lol, we'll see.

Intro: Serendipity peaceful space vibes, very nice intro song :3

DNA ok i do think this is my fave title track out of the love yourself albums tho,, its so fun!! the whistle is forever iconic

Best Of Me for some reason i kept thinking this song was from their japanese album face yourself (there is a japanese version on there but i had it in my head it was originally in japanese) anyway good vibes!

dimple i also had a video of me dancing to this that is lost to the void lmao,, maybe someday i'll be able to find them again and post them here. ii wonder why the title of this one is in lowercase

Pied Piper "hey girl *wink* you should focus on school *lip bite* and not dedicate all your time to fangirling over us *body roll*" it's so funny lmao stop calling us outttt

Skit: Billboard Music Awards Speech i was sat up so hyped for this omg you have no idea,, we were all so excited for them to get recognition in the US, you just had to be there

MIC Drop omg its weird hearing the original version i'm so used to the steve aoki remix

Go Go haha silly meme song! one time my friends were playing bts uno as a joke and i was the only one in the group who actually knew bts so they kept consulting me for knowledge. the special rule card is either draw 3 cards or do a bts dance, and one of my friends dabbed as a joke for their dance and i had to unfortunately inform them it counted due to this song smh my head

Outro: Her yo they say "answer" and "tear" in this,, foreshadowing!!!! i always mishear "you woke me up" as "you fuck me up" lmao

Skit: Hesitation & Fear its nice hearing them talk about their thoughts after winning the billboard award! unfortunately i'm too lazy to look up a translation so i have no clue what they're saying most of the time oops. ooo i think they're talking about the grammys now! exciting hope for the future :) maybe they will finally get that grammy when they return later this year <3 why did they start singing spine breaker what is going on 😭

Sea love the ocean sounds, this song is so chill and nice :3 really wish it was on spotify so i could listen to it more

I really do love these songs <3 its hard to say what rate i'd give it out of the trilogy before relistening to the other albums tho. and happy new year if it was still eve in your time zone for yesterday's post!