#MARVEL FANS OF THE WORLD UNITE

[marveluniversehero]

Avengers Fan Art by Phil Cho

[creatingblackcharacters]

“Across cultures, darker people suffer most. Why?” Multiethnic and Multicultural Blackness

“Across cultures, darker people suffer most. Why?”- Andre 3000

Tell me what's wrong with this picture.

Hint: This is Miles Morales- from the video game depiction- canonically an Afro-Puerto Rican. Jefferson is Black American; Rio is Puerto Rican.

So why is the Cuban flag on their wall?

This is what happens when no one (with any saying power) in the board room is representative of the group being depicted! And mind you, this was produced under SONY and MARVEL, for the PS5, a product under two brands that combined churn out hundreds of millions in profit! And… No one on any level corrected them until the beta came out and fans saw it. That's how pervasive this sort of ignorance of other cultures can be. How are you writing a story about a character, and you don't even know how he identifies?

Multiethnic & Multicultural Blackness

Realistically, you’ve probably walked past many a biracial, multicultural, or multiethnic Black person before and assumed they were “just Black”. One example: Rae Dawn Chong- known as Mama du Pointe du Lac- is Afro-Chinese, but that Chinese background did not play into the role she played. A more personal example: my recent loctician was also Afro-Chinese, with very dark skin (she made jokes about how her eyes reveal it, but we can’t make those jokes here). I would have never known.

Point is, we reacted to what we saw, and that’s not an accident. Blackness is treated as a monolith, and an indicator of social level whether you realize it or not. You see a ‘Black’ person, and without wondering any further about their identity, you will treat them as you’ve been socialized to treat ‘Black’ people! But every Black person is not the same!

You don't have to write an entire essay with citations mid-story about how you learned so much about the Afro-Chicana or Afro-Iraqi experience for your main character. We didn't ask. But, slipping natural things here and there into the story of a character’s culture helps cement that yes, this character has this multicultural identity and it matters to them; it is who they are, it has an effect on their life and character in some way. It is how you deepen the character and show respect for the culture you are depicting!

I love using Miles as an example, so here’s a good example. In Across The Spiderverse, he goes to a party to celebrate Jefferson’s new position. In that scene, Rio walks through a mix of all his family members. Even when he speaks with his parents in this scene, they managed to incorporate his Afro-Puerto Rican identity without shouting to the rooftops “HEY! HE’S BLACK AND LATINO! SEE HOW I’M TELLING YOU?”

Race vs Ethnicity

The Black experience stretches as far as the African diaspora- worldwide! It's why it's frustrating when people assume "Black people" means "United States" and the West's perception of "Third World Africa" (especially when it comes to existing in media that people have strongly claimed is just White). Latin and Central America? West Europe? East Europe? Southwest Asia and North Africa? The Mediterranean? East Asia? Australia? You will find Black people!! Just because we aren't the majority doesn't mean we aren't there!

But just because we're Black doesn't mean we're all "African-American". Ethnicity is "the quality or fact of belonging to a population group or subgroup made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent." Race is "a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society."

"But I thought you said Black is an identity!"

It is! Black does not only mean “Black American”. The reason Black Americans identify as just Black (which is why I demand that you show respect by capitalizing it) is due to the loss of our specific heritages from the enslavement meant to scourge us of them, to make us property. To call us by our actual names would be acknowledging our equivalent humanity and culture. In order to enforce slavery without qualm, they had to be violently removed. Black Africans of numerous ethnic groups, now violently forced into this amalgamation, had to come together and forge something new. We had to find a common connection- our Blackness (and that experience as defined by whiteness in this society) was it. It also functions as a reclamation of our identity, of our presence in this world. We are a culture, we are an entire group of people, and we should be acknowledged as such.

Again: all Black people are NOT the same!!! This is like… anti-racism 101, but so many people continue to fall for it, even those ‘well-meaning’. You cannot ask one Black person to represent the ENTIRETY of the world's Black experience. Many other factors will come into play, and this includes their culture.

Keep in mind how being multicultural and/or biracial and Black will put many people at a crossroads that is complex and difficult to traverse. There will always be parts of incomplete acceptance, an extra layer of code-switching based on where you are and who you're with. A Black Kenyan is not a Black American, who is not a Black Greek, who is not a Black Colombian, who is not a Black Filipino. They're different cultures, that will treat each other differently. Society- from strangers to your own family- may try to pull multiethnic Black people one direction or another- are you ‘Black’ enough, are you ‘technically Black’, are you ‘technically’ something else, are you that ethnicity enough?

(I will discuss Black biracial people with whiteness in the next lesson, because I felt like the interracial and biracial White & Black topic needed its own talk, but this is relevant there as well.)

Where- In the world- Is-

Coming back from the opening of this lesson: keep in mind that you need to know specifically WHERE your character is from! For example, just saying they're "Afro-Latino" reveals very little- there's an entire chunk of the planet that falls under the "Latin America" category (as defined by U.S. standards).

A follower of mine- they identify as Caribbean Latine- sent me this in discussion about the topic:

"I wish people actually thought about where their Afro-Latino characters are from. It’s always very vague and it’s so reductive because an Argentinian Afro-Latino is very different from a Puerto Rican Afro-Latino. This is very subjective but I think this issue is pretty blatant in The Owl House. They flash the Dominican flag a couple of times, but when it comes to actually making her Afro-Latino…I don’t think they did a very good job. They barely made her Black in the first place. I don’t want to dog on the voice actors too much because there are a million factors that might have affected this but. When they make a point to have the characters speak Spanish, it’s really noticeable when the accent/dialect doesn’t align with their ethnicity. Dominicans have a really identifiable dialect in Spanish. When the Afro-Latino characters speak in Spanish, it’s the most neutral accent I’ve ever heard. This is such a me-issue, but this is to say that people should actually research where their characters are from instead of vaguely painting them as Afro-Latino. We are all SOOO different. Our dialects vary so much that sometimes an Afro-Mexican and an Afro-Puerto Rican won’t understand each other even though we speak the same language.”

WHO are we talking about? How does that factor into their identity, and the way the world- both in story, and how readers from around the world- will perceive them? Will an Afro-Dominican know that they're supposed to relate to your character if they're vaguely Latino?

Note:

While I was doing my research, I noticed that searching for “Afro-_” doesn’t always offer much, as it does the ubiquitous antiblack experience and roles in politics and resistance. And while I think that’s super cool and mandatory, I think another way to approach this would be to focus on the culture as a whole, and then go from there. So for example, if I wanted my character to be Afro-Mexican- maybe even from a specific location in Mexico, or their family is from that area- it would be easier to look up the cultures and activities of that area itself, and then inform with my knowledge of how Blackness is treated there.

As I am not a member of these groups, I thought it would be better for me to find resources that better explain, than to try to speak for them myself. Hell, just from doing this research, I learned that I have far more to educate myself on. There are so many good resources out there! People speak on these topics that y’all want to know about, and there are so many books and videos- find them and educate yourselves! This is a long section filled with links, so I'm going to put them under a readmore.

I also could not possibly sit here and name every single ethnic combo because that would be endless. So what I'm going to do is give some broad strokes of a few major groupings, that will hopefully start you on the path of how to conduct your own research!

The African Diaspora

This is such a good resource. There are short chapters going into the details and history of Black people in many regions, all around the globe. I’m honestly in love with how this is set up. It's a good starting point!

Black Africans

This one isn't specifically an example of multiethnicity; I just want to emphasize that there are many ethnicities and cultures within Africa itself! One is still multiethnic if they are Black American and Ivorian, for example! As the birthplace of humanity, there are plenty of ethnic groups in Africa with endlessly rich cultures, and all of them will come with different foods, fashions, languages!

Notable Figures: Nelson Mandela, Tobi Lou, Patrice Lumumba, Tems, Wizkid, Kwame Nkrumah, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wangarĩ Maathai, Agnes Tirop, Chéri Samba, Sheikh Abdullah Ssekimwanyi

Internalized antiblackness in African countries is due to the long and violent history of western imperialism in Africa. “The Carving Up of Africa” by European nations has long worn on the continent, its resources, and its peoples, and that includes remnants of their beliefs. Another pervasive idea in media is that all African peoples are ‘poor’, ‘living in huts’, and ‘starving’. There are people doing that all over the world, it is not inherent to being Black African. But even if that were the case- and it is not, every African does not live that way- it would still be the fault of aforementioned imperialism. Please do your research, and do not EVER write that if someone is African, they ‘must not be used to food’ or ‘have never seen such magnificent things as [what white character offers]’.

Afro Latinos

Notable figures: Celia Cruz, Frantz Fanon, Zoe Saldaña, Colman Domingo, Lupita Nyongo, Gina Torres, Cardi B, MJ Rodriguez

Notable music styles- Reggaeton? Salsa? Rumba? A lot of the best music of the area has roots in Blackness.

Antiblackness in the Afro-Latino community

Colorism plays a huge role in perception, to the point of putting you into classes of people. From the same Caribbean Latine follower:

Also, they have to do research on racial groupings in LATAM. It’s unavoidable. A Latino that’s considered Black in the USA may not be considered Black in LATAM. This is because of Blanqueamiento. That is a LOT to explain, but TLDR: A big difference between racism in the USA and racism in LATAM is that white people aren’t focused on segregation. It’s racism through imposition. “Blanqueamiento” refers to whitening and it’s the belief that you can cleanse the bloodline by having children with white people. The lineage will get increasingly lighter. That is why whenever a child comes out lighter than their parents, people will praise the parents for “bettering the race” (mejorando la raza). So a light skinned Black person in the USA may have another racial classification in LATAM (prieto, moreno, mulato, etc)."

One example is 'pelo malo' (bad hair)- how afro-textures are deemed unwanted, as a holdover from Spanish colonization and ideas of whiteness being equivalent to purity. Another severe example is of the slur "mayate"- apparently, it means "f*ggot black bug". If you're Black, and someone ever calls you this, know that you are being severely insulted. If you are interested in more Afro-Mexican history, Colonial Blackness by Herman Bennett is a book that follows the stories of enslaved Africans and their descendants in 17th century Mexico, questioning the existing history told that often leaves out their presence.

Afro Indigenous

*Indigenous doesn't just mean "to America", though the links are to the Afro-indigenous experience in the U.S.

Notable Figures: Crispus Attucks, Lucy Parsons, George Henry White, Charlie Patton, Jimi Hendrix, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Ausben Jordan

What’s interesting is that it was much harder for me to find solid evidence of people who are Black Natives, mainly because it seems this history was lost and/or never recorded, or due to Blood Quantum and antiblackness, not acknowledged. That is something worth thinking about, if you are writing an Afro-Native character.

Blood quantum: A system developed by the United States federal government to determine how much “Indian blood” an Indigenous person has and if they are qualified for Tribal enrollment. Blood quantum limits accessibility to citizenship and is designed to decrease enrollment numbers. Today, some tribes still use blood quantum as criteria for Tribal enrollment. As part of their sovereign status, every federally recognized Tribe determines its own criteria for membership and enrollment.

Further reading:

Young, Black Native activists say it's time to appreciate Indigenous diversity

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage

Blood Politics: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma By Circe Sturm (2002)

We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power By Caleb Gayle (2023)

Afro-Arab/SWANA

Notable figures: Bilal ibn Rabah, Fatima Bernawi, Layla F. Saad, Samirah Srur Fadel, Ahmed Osman, Sara El Hassan (known as bsonblast), Ali Jiddah, Maryam Abu Khaled

Here's an amazing resource cataloguing the history of Afro-Palestinians, as well as a timeline of the solidarity between Black Americans, Afro-Palestinians, and Palestinians!

I sat here and tried very hard to come up with a way to summarize this, especially given current events in our world, and I found that at this moment, I lack the skill to do it. Not because there’s nothing to say- God knows there’s plenty- but unraveling the intersections that comes with the SWANA experience would take me far longer than a summary. I think Maryam Abu Khaled can speak on her experience far better than I, anyway:

Afro-AAPI

Notable figures: apl.de.ap, Michael Ealy, H.E.R., Karrueche, Rae Dawn Chong, Naomi Campbell, Naomi Osaka, Chanel Iman, Anderson Paak

Interview from famous R&B artist, guitarist, actress for Belle, and Afro-Filipina: H.E.R.

There is a strain between Black and Asian communities, in the United States and beyond, white supremacy playing a major role. But that does not mean that we cannot move forward together, or have not shown one another solidarity.

One of my biggest pet peeves that happens often in fandom spaces is fans who claim that Asians- East Asians in particular, but Asians in general- don't know what Black people are and what we look like. It's racist to every ethnicity and background involved. Yes, there are Black East Asian and Black South Asian people. Yes, these countries have access to the Internet to look up what we look like. There have been plenty of well-drawn Black people by those artists. Just like every white artist isn't going to draw a caricature, every Asian artist isn't going to. It all comes down to practice, their commitment to their craft, and their commitment to not being racist. Being from these areas is not an excuse for not drawing Black people accurately- the same amount of effort they can be put into depicting a white person (that would also be a minority in these places), can be put into depicting us as well. Knock it off.

Conclusion

Antiblackness is unfortunately ubiquitous, yes, but that doesn’t mean the rest of every Black person’s life experience is going to be. We are everywhere on this planet, which means there’s a planet’s worth of experiences to be had. If you decide that you want to create a Black character with a multiethnic or multicultural background, you need to commit to that! Even by mentioning their music, or their food, or- if you’re going to get into it- how others might treat them due to their Afro-identity. Something that lets us as the viewers know that you didn’t just write a white person and then claim they were “Afro-Blank” for clout. If you mean it, do it, because as always, it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[megalony]

Exploding Emotions- Part 2

After getting a lovely request and so much feedback, I managed to do a follow up for this Evan Buckley imagine, I hope you will all like it, please let me know what you think.

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Evan Buckley Masterlist

Part 1

Summary: While out on a call, an accident gives (Y/n) flashbacks to the night her husband got trapped beneath the fire truck and what happened to her while he was stuck.

Enjoy.

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"Mr Buckley, please-"

"Off! Off, get off!"

When a blunder of 'fuck off' and 'leave me the fuck alone' spluttered past Evan's bloodied lips, everyone in the room was surprised. He had been stuttering through the simplest of words since they got him in the ambulance, but now he was riled up he wasn't quieting down. And his expletives had been loud and clear.

His arms thrashed at his sides and he fought off the hands trying to push him back down on the gurney.

All the team looked at one another, unsure what to do. They needed him off the gurney and onto the bed, but Evan wasn't making any of this easy. The more Evan thrashed around, the harder he would make it on his leg and the more pain he was going to give himself. Not to mention moving and disrupting his leg could cause damage to the split blood vessels and torn muscles and the bone that was splintered in multiple places.

"Let us get him on the bed." Bobby waved his hand towards Hen and Eddie while Chimney stood in the doorway with Maddie clinging to his arm.

It was going to be easier if the team transferred him onto the bed in the middle of the room. They weren't leaving until Evan was safely in an operating room and right now, he was in the trauma unit in the ER. He was getting a portable X-ray, his leg would be assessed and they would see what kind of surgery he needed and get him on monitors and most importantly, medication.

Hen and Eddie busied themselves carefully twisting Evan onto his right side so they could place a slip sheet beneath him but once he was rolled onto his back again, his hands were moving. He smacked Eddie in the shoulder with a surprising amount of force before he fisted Bobby's shirt in his hands.

"(Y/n). (Y/n)."

"Okay, let's sort you out first, kid, okay?" Bobby held his arms while Eddie and Hen pulled the sheet on the count of three.

Evan screamed. His voice crumbled and the sound pierced through the air when he was jostled onto the trauma bed and the gurney was shunned out of the way.

"I m-missed it." Evan's words came out as a whisper that no one else seemed to hear. His eyes rolled from left to right and briefly tilted to look at the back of his head. He couldn't get his thoughts in order, he could barely see and he felt like he was on a boat, rocking over tumulous waves in the ocean. Everything fizzled out for a few seconds.

All he knew was he had missed one of the most important moments of his life.

His girl was already here. She was already in the world and Evan hadn't set his sights on her yet. He hadn't held her in his arms, he hadn't kissed her or introduced himself. He hadn't promised her the world and told her how much he loved her and everything he would do for her to give her the best life and make sure she was loved every day of her life.

He didn't hold her when she was born, he didn't cut the cord or hear her first little cry. He wasn't one of the first things she saw when she opened her eyes. His daughter had probably been held by ten other people by now, all of them except for him. Nurses, midwives, (Y/n), Maddie. His sister had seen his daughter before him.

How was this right? How was any of this fair?

His senses came back to him in one big hit like the truck had collapsed on him all over again when someone tried to touch his leg. His left leg, the one that wasn't currently split open, automatically jerked and twitched from the pain that radiated throughout his whole nervous system that had been shot to pieces by now.

He did his best to sit up. He didn't want to be laid down because it was making him feel woozy and sick.

He felt a bit better when someone angled the bed up so he was at an angle. He was barely sitting upright and still felt mostly laid down, but it was better than nothing.

His upper lip curled and he huffed when someone started undoing the buttons on his shirt. What were they doing? Why were they stripping him down? His trouser leg had already been cut off near the bottom of his boxers to expose the full extent of his injuries. He gruffed and groaned when he was leant forward and his shirt was pulled off him completely.

But when cold stickers attached to his chest and wires clipped in place, he started to get uncomfy. The ECG machine beeped to life, showing his erratic heartbeat that was far too fast for his own good. And when a blood pressure cuff was slid onto his arm, Evan reeled his arms to his chest and closed his eyes.

The numbers were too high. He was getting more and more unsettled and he was going to crash if this carried on.

He barely felt the lady tapping the back of his hand and inserting a cannula into his vein.

"(Y/n)! I want- I want-" Evan paused for a moment when someone held his arm. Their touch was gentle, their hands soft and their presence so close that his pleading came to an abrupt stop.

He twisted to the left to see who it was, to see if it was his wife like he was been praying for.

It wasn't.

"…blood thinners now, and get a dose of morphine ready. Get the leg in place for a quick X-ray, and I want the anaesthesiologist in here now."

Most of the doctor's words reached Evan's ears, but he was more focused on dragging his arm away from the nurse at his side. He didn't want her help. He wanted (Y/n). He wanted his wife. He needed his daughter. He hadn't seen her yet, were they going to be cruel enough to make Evan wait to see his daughter? Was nine months not long enough?

A bubbling scream erupted from his lips and his body writhed when his right leg was moved. Their touch was tender and slow but Evan felt like his leg was hanging on by a single thread that was about to snap. He didn't like the foam blocks placed on either side of his leg to get a clear X-ray. He didn't like them moving the wires and straps around his fragmented skin to make the shot clearer.

And he hated the small, portable X-ray that was wheeled over his leg and felt like half of his body was stuck in a tanning machine.

All the surrounding bodies stepped back so pictures could be taken and every time his leg was adjusted, his split knuckles bashed into the bedframe and he screamed.

Maybe it would be better if they just chopped the leg off. He wouldn't be in agony if they simply knocked him out and took it off. He wouldn't have this pain, this suffering, this agonising wait.

All he cared about was seeing his girls, his leg be damned.

"I want my wife!" Blood and spit foamed past his lips and acidic tears stained his already bloodshot cheeks as his chest started to shudder up and down against the bed.

He moved his trembling hands to the ECG wires that felt like they had been superglued to his chest. He ripped them off without a second thought and tried to throw them away. He snagged the cannula from his wrist, not caring that even more blood was leaving his body and was going to drain him dry. He had to find his girls, wherever they were. They were too far away from him.

"Mr Buckley calm down. You need to let us help you."

"Buck no don't do that. Stop it!" There was an odd sense of authority in Hen's voice but it fell upon deaf ears.

"I want m-my wife!" His words screamed through the air and had everyone wincing and jerking away from him.

But when one of the doctors grabbed Evan's wrist and shoulder and tried to pin him to the bed, all Hell broke loose. A deafening roar left Evan's lips, his body jerked up from the bed and he thrust his arm up as harsh as he could until his elbow smashed into the doctor's nose.

The doctor stumbled back, knocking into the ECG machine before Eddie grabbed him, saving him from a harsh landing on the floor. Both his hands moved to cradle his nose that was splurting out blood and had officially been broken.

He ripped himself out of Eddie's steadying hands and stumbled to the back of the room. He couldn't help anymore. He coughed into his hands, anger and resentment in his eyes before he looked around the room.

"Someone get his damn wife in here before he kills the anaesthesiologist." With a shake of his head, the doctor headed out the room to get himself cleaned up and assessed by a colleague.

If Evan was going to start breaking bones until he had his wife in the room, then someone had to go and fetch her. They couldn't have him lunging for the anaesthesiologist who they would need to put him under ready for an operating room.

Bobby dragged his hand through his hair and twisted to look at the doorway while Hen and Eddie moved over to Evan. Hen busied herself holding Evan's hips down to the bed while Eddie grabbed his wrists, bracing one knee on the side of the bed so he could lean over Evan and pin him down as he struggled.

A round of "No!" and "Fuck off!" was spat at them, but neither of them listened.

"This is for your own good, if you want that leg then stop fighting us."

"Maddie, is (Y/n) in recovery now?" The pain in Bobby's eyes was evident. He didn't want his daughter to witness her husband in this state, it wouldn't be fair. She had been through an ordeal herself and she had only just had her baby. She would be exhausted and in pain and maybe on meds herself, she didn't need to be moving about she should be resting.

But Bobby knew his daughter. He knew she would be worrying, if not crying and screaming about not knowing the state of her husband. She would want to see Evan and right now, they needed her help.

When Maddie nodded, Bobby brushed the few tears out of his eyes. "Go bring her down here as fast as you can. She's the only one he'll listen to."

Maddie set off into a sprint, Chimney following one step behind her. They would comandeer a wheelchair and snatch (Y/n) from her hospital bed. She would willingly come down to the trauma unit with them once they hurriedly explained what was going on. They needed (Y/n) to calm Evan down because they would end up hurting him to sedate him if he continued to fight.

The remaining doctor and nurses looked at the X-ray images, conferring together in the corner of the room about the damage to the bone. They were all in agreement. They could save the leg if the blood vessels could be repaired and the nerves were in tact, and judging by the way his leg jerked and reacted to stimulant, he had a chance.

"Give me your hand for the IV." Hen turned around with a huff and pinned the right side of her chest and hip down into Evan's abdomen to try and keep him still and in place.

She tried to take his hand when Eddie let go of his wrist, but she couldn't get a good grasp when Evan started throwing his arm out at her. He wasn't opposed to elbowing, hitting and punching his colleagues if they were going to continue pinning him to the bed like this.

"Alright kid." Leaning over while Eddie had Evan's shoulders and left hand and Hen was practically laying on his waist, Bobby grabbed Evan's chin. It stopped him from trying to sit up and prevented him from writhing back and forth so much. "My daughter isn't coming in here with you lashing out at your own team and bleeding all over the place. So get that IV back in and stay put."

As much as Bobby wanted to be understanding, caring, compassionate, and be the father Evan had seemed to make him when they became family, he just couldn't. He couldn't give in to those feelings because they were making Bobby cry and giving in to Evan's lashing out wasn't going to help.

Bobby wouldn't let (Y/n) in here if Evan was lashing out because what if he hurt her by mistake? What if seeing him in a state like this pushed (Y/n) over the edge and sent her into shock? What if it upset her too much and she broke down?

If he wanted to see his wife, he had to calm down just a little and let them help him. (Y/n) wouldn't let Evan fight everyone in the room if she was here and they all knew it.

They were lucky he hadn't been restrained to the bed already for breaking a doctor's nose. Bobby was going to have to have a few conversations and do some pleading to make sure the doctor didn't sue or try and cause problems for Evan after this. But the doctor hadn't seemed vengeful, he seemed to understand that Evan was acting out of trauma and the worst agony of his life. This wasn't how he usually would be.

(Y/n) could hear evan before she set her sights on him.

Her hands were trembling, curled as tightly as possible around the arms of the wheelchair until her knuckles were close to popping through her skin.

The discomfort she felt and the agonising pain she had just been through with their daughter was nothing compared to the symphony her heart was creating from being apart from Evan. The agony she was in from not knowing if Evan was okay, from knowing he was in immense agony and there was nothing she could do about it.

Maybe now she could do something. She wanted to be there when he had been trapped. She had so desperately wanted to hold his hand and kiss his tears away and hold his hand through the mess. But she couldn't. Maybe now, she could calm him through the storm and then be there on the other side when he was out of surgery.

The sound of her husband's screams and tormented, gasping sobs called out to (Y/n) before they were down the hall in the trauma unit.

She pushed up onto trembling, heavy legs that felt like they were made of cement. Her knees tensed and tightened but hersocks glided against the floor as she shuffled towards Evan's room, using the wall as leverage to push herself faster. The dull cramps in her abdomen livened up as she moved, but she didn't care.

The sounds in trauma room three died down when (Y/n) appeared in the doorway. One arm secured around her waist, the other clinging to the doorframe. Hair askew and falling out the bun at the back of her head, eyes heavy, knees trembling and tears drenching her face once again.

Bobby's lips rolled together into a thin line that stopped him from bursting into tears then and there. He kept hold of Evan's shoulders but his eyes stayed focused on his daughter as she hurried into the room.

Both Hen and Eddie let go of Evan and backed away until they were stood at the far side of the room, allowing the doctor and two nurses to take their place so they could continue to assess him and get him ready. And Bobby finally let go of Evan and stepped back, resting one hand on his daughter's back as he leaned over to peck her temple.

As soon as Evan's sights set on (Y/n), a river of tears poured down his face and the ache in his heart overtook the throbbing trauma splitting apart in his leg.

Trembling set in all over his body and he finally stopped writhing against the bed as if all the worry, the tension and the pain had left his body. He didn't realise the nurse had confiscated his left hand so she could inject blood thinners and the morphine into his cannula.

Instead, Evan reached his right hand out towards (Y/n) as his lower lip wobbled and he started to sob.

A shudder ran down (Y/n)'s spine when she dared to look down at Evan's legs and her hand moved to cover her mouth. But it didn't stop a broken "Oh God," from leaving her lips.

It was worse than she expected. Seeing him being dragged free from that truck, he looked better than this. He looked like his leg was still attached and useable and able to be fixed. But seeing him right now, with the muscle split apart, the bone shattered into tiny fragments and all the blood soaked down his leg, (Y/n) felt sick.

Was his leg going to be saved? What would happen if Evan woke up with nothing below the knee? How would be cope? What would they do?

Shock had (Y/n) shaking and spasming, but she forced herself to look away from the tattered mess that was her husband's leg. Her hands reached out and she stood as close to the bed as possible, with her dad stood behind her, close by in case he had to step in.

Reaching her left hand out, (Y/n) shakily dragged her fingers through Evan's hair that was damp with smoke, sweat and surprisingly, blood. She raked her nails through the matted knots and leaned as close as possible while her right hand deadlocked around his left hand that was held out towards her.

"Oh baby," It hurt to crease forward but she didn't care, (Y/n) leaned over and smothered her lips against his temple. She could feel how flushed he was and he smelt of smoke and dirt and burnt rubber.

She inhaled all the different scents until all she could focus on was the scent of her strawberry shampoo that she bought multitudes of because she knew her husband used it every time he washed his hair. Her lips moved against his temple, whispering sweet nothings against his skin while he clenched her hand so tightly she wondered if he was going to break her hand.

Evan had gone oddly still on the bed, the only movement being the trembling that wouldn't stop, even with the high dose of morphine they gave him a few moments ago. After a few broken cries and hitched breaths, Evan turned his head to the right and burrowed his face into (Y/n)'s lower chest. He tried to take deep breaths, breathing into the shirt she wore which he recognised as one of his own along with his pair of joggers.

So that was what she had packed into the maternity bag she made in advance for when she went into labour.

"I- I'm so, s-so sorry-" He couldn't speak clearly for hiccupping and he let go of her hand in favour of binding his arm around her waist. He didn't want to hurt her, but he reeled her closer and smothered his face against her lower chest. His cries got worse when he nudged his nose against her stomach that now felt different.

Empty.

"The only thing you need to be sorry for, is hurting that doctor. You're gonna be okay, baby. It's okay."

She had been told why they were dragging her down to the trauma unit, although the moment Maddie said Evan needed her, (Y/n) was already up out of bed. She would have run all the way down here if her sister in law hadn't of practically heaved her into the wheelchair Chimney confiscated on the way up. They told her Evan was lashing out and he'd accidentally whacked one of his doctors.

They explained they were worried how they would sedate him in this state. No one had seen him so riled up and infuriated and broken before.

"I wasn't t-there… you had… had her alone." The more Evan thought about it, the worse he felt. He wanted to change time. He wanted to go back and put the universe back into place. He wanted to make everything better, have no mangled leg and have his daughter in his arms and the memory of her birth in his mind.

He knew for as long as he lived, he was never going to get over this. The ADHD part of his brain was going to hold this over him for the rest of his life. He was going to be infuriated for as long as he lived that the universe had broken him on the very night that he was supposed to welcome his first child into the world.

He tried to open his eyes, but looking at (Y/n)'s misshapen stomach only made him howl. And nuzzling his nose and lips against her soft bump where there was no longer a baby moving and kicking him made him hold her tighter.

He bound his arm around her back until he was beginning to hurt her and he buried his face into her abdomen until (Y/n) had to tilt her head back and take a deep breath to control her reaction. She didn't want him to know it hurt to hold her tight and she didn't want Evan to feel any worse. If holding her was going to calm a tiny part of him down then that was okay, (Y/n) would bear the uncomfortableness. She had been through much worse tonight, and the night was far from over.

"It's okay, shh." Tilting her head back down, (Y/n) kissed Evan's curls and moved her free hand to brush her thumb across his cheek. She glided her fingers around the side of his neck and slowly moved her thumb up and down his cheek and across his jaw while she pressed sloppy kisses to the top of his head.

"Is she o-okay?"

The tender tone in Evan's voice made (Y/n)'s heart soar, break and melt all at the same time.

She pulled back just a tiny bit so she could bend her knees and move down to Evan's height. Her fingers continued to card through his hair which seemed to be calming him down and keeping him in a soothed state. Her other hand cupped the side of his face and she pressed a chaste kiss to his wet, bloodied lips.

"She's perfect, a-and she's waiting for you." (Y/n) took a deep breath when she heard the door open and felt her dad's hand on her shoulder.

"They need to sedate him now and take him for surgery." Bobby kissed the top of (Y/n)'s head as he squeezed her shoulder. They had given Evan morphine, they had done an X-ray and they had managed to see his nerve endings and his blood vessels were somewhat in tact and could be saved.

He needed to go straight to an operating room so they could start patching him up. With Evan being so enraptured with (Y/n), the nurse had already managed to give him some more medicine through his IV to settle his heartbeat. And she was now prepping something to bring down his blood pressure so he would be stable for surgery.

"Baby, someone's here to prep you now."

A tiny, croaked whimper left Evan's lips and he tried to bury his face in her stomach again, but (Y/n) kept hold of his cheek and nudged her nose against his.

"It's okay, because you're gonna get that leg fixed, and when you wake up, I'll be right here holding your hand. And you can see your little girl, okay baby?"

(Y/n) figured the noise Evan let out was him agreeing with her. His eyes closed and his trembling simmered down for a moment when (Y/n) kissed his chapped lips, tasting the blood on her tongue when they parted. She leaned back up to her full height again which made her stomach feel a bit better. But having Evan tucking himself into her stomach like he was filling the void their daughter had left made her feel queasy.

He stayed compliant, left arm now wrapped around (Y/n) while his right hand was held in the nurse's frail grip so she could give him the medicines to settle his heartbeat and blood pressure.

The anaesthesiologist checked Evan's chart while the ECG clips were reattached to his chest, his leg was shifted and kept in place and the bed was lowered so he was flat on his back again.

"Okay Mr Buckley, once this is in your system, we'll get this mask on you and I'll need you to start counting for me. Don't worry, when you wake up, your lovely lady will still be right here with you." The newest doctor seemed calm and attentive with a charming smile that Evan couldn't see as he was still tucked up against his wife.

He must deal with troublesome patients a lot.

He fiddled with the medicine trolley and once a large dose was in Evan's system to work with the anaesthesia, he found the mask and got the tank turned on.

Evan whimpered again, trying his best to tuck himself into his wife, but no one was having it. He was compliant now, they could move him with ease without fearing a broken bone in retaliation.

"S'alright baby, I'll be here when you wake up." (Y/n) kissed his temple while Eddie gently rolled his shoulders back so he was laid on his back.

She began dragging her fingers through his hair in a soft, rhythmic motion and went back to holding Evan's hand so it wasn't bruising her waist anymore. She could feel tears drenching her face when Evan shuddered at the mask going over his lips. He didn't count like he had been asked, but he tried to mutter something which was as good as counting.

The shaking started to subside the more anaesthesia he inhaled until he was loosening his grip on (Y/n)'s hand. Softly drifting into a calm state of sleep, with the last thing he could make out being (Y/n)'s voice as she murmured "I love you." In his ear.

***

Opening her tired eyes, (Y/n) cast them about the room and soon felt herself waking up immediately when she heard Evan started to mumble.

It took some effort to push herself up from the small cot bed that had been laid out in the right corner of the room and (Y/n) felt her stomach crease and twinge when she pushed up to her feet. All she wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep, but she hadn't slept for over two days now.

As soon as Evan went into the operating theatre, (Y/n) thought that maybe she would get an hour or two of sleep, but her body decided against her. She couldn't sleep, her mind was too wired with the sound of Evan's cries and the mangled formation of his leg burned into her eyelids.

She hadn't been able to settle for fear of seeing Evan come out of that operation with only one leg. She wouldn't be able to piece her husband back together if he lost his leg. And (Y/n) didn't know what she would do if the operation didn't go well.

She had spent the hours cradling her daughter and crying while her parents tried in vain to comfort her and reassure her that everything would be okay.

When Evan's operation was finally over and they got him onto a ward in the recovery unit, (Y/n) made a small request. She was going to be discharged in the morning as long as her baby was feeding properly and all the checks were okay. (Y/n) asked if she could stay in Evan's room until she was discharged. She didn't care if that meant sleeping in a chair, just as long as she and their daughter could be in the same room as Evan so when he woke up, their family would be together.

Bobby and Athena had finally gone home for a few hours of sleep and would be back in the morning. Maddie had been in to see Evan, but he had been ninety percent asleep and high on morphine so he hadn't spoken a word. But she had been reassured her brother was okay and would be on the mend, so she and the team had all gone home with the promise that tomorrow afternoon, they would be back to see him.

Now though, now Evan seemed that he was finally coming out of the anaesthetic and (Y/n) was hoping he would finally wake up and be conscious enough to talk.

Shuffling across from the little cot bed, (Y/n) slowly heaved herself up to sit on the side of Evan's bed. She took his left hand in hers and entwined their fingers together while her right hand gently brushed across the side of his temple. She carded her fingers through his hair and peppered a few kisses to his cheek as he began to groan and twist his head from left to right.

It took a few minutes for him to properly come around. His fingers twitched in her grasp, his eyelids fluttered and little murmurs and noises left his chapped lips before he finally started to wake up.

"Evan, baby, are you with me?" Her fingers tangled through his hair when he opened his eyes and managed to focus his sights on her.

She leaned back to be out the way when Evan moved his free hand and shakily clutched the oxygen mask strapped over his mouth and nose. With one swift yank, he ripped it off his face and tossed it to the side.

"(Y/n)? I- did I…" He pressed his head back into the pillow and arched his chest up off the bed as he tried to draw in a deep breath.

Oh God, why did his mind feel like it had been beaten with a whisk? Why did his body feel like he was floating but with the absolution that any moment now someone was going to yank his chains and have him falling through the air to a harsh landing.

When his eyes opened again, Evan moved his right hand until his fingers were tracing over his thigh, but he couldn't find the will to move them any further past his knee.

Did he still have both his legs?

He could feel tears welling up in his eyes that were aching from the headache forming in his throbbing temple. But when he looked over at his wife, he found comfort in the tepid smile on her lips and the feel of her lips pressing against his cheek.

"Your leg's still there, baby, just with a few bolts and pins to keep the bone in place. You'll be up and walking in no time."

The relief was evident in Evan's features and he allowed a tear or two to slip down his features while he squeezed her hand. He tried to take a few deep breaths. He still had both legs. He would be able to walk soon. It might take some time, but he wasn't going to be learning how to walk with a prosthetic or crutches. He would be walking about soon. He would still be able to do his job.

"Talk to me baby, do you feel okay?"

"I feel high."

A quiet laugh rumbled past (Y/n)'s lips and she leaned down to kiss him, feeling elated when he squeezed her hand and leaned into her touch.

Feeling high was preferable to the pain he had been in last night. It was much more preferable than being in agony or feeling

uncomfortable or sick or drowsy or like he was having a bad reaction to the medication. If the morphine was making him feel high then it was doing its job and making sure he was comfortable and that's what they wanted.

"Good." Her lips formed a smile, but there was something hiding in her eyes that made Evan uneasy. He leaned into her touch, nuzzling his cheek into her palm, but when he saw the tears in her eyes, he felt his heart rate picking up. "Evan, I'm sorry baby. I'm so sorry I wasn't there, I tried-"

"You? Sweetheart it's me that should have been there."

He tried to sit up, but he didn't have the willpower or the core strength and he flopped back into the pillow with a groan. Until (Y/n) let go of his face to press the button beside the bed, tilting the bed up at an angle so he was sitting up rather than lying down.

Sorrow filled his eyes as his right hand moved out to skim his fingers across her stomach. Only a few days ago he had done that and felt kicking against his palm. He had kissed her stomach and told their baby that he couldn't wait to meet and hold them and kiss them.

Now it was all over and he hadn't been there for any of it. He had let (Y/n)) go through something so traumatic without him and he was never going to be able to rectify that.

"You needed me, you needed help, and I- I couldn't help you-"

(Y/n) wondered how things would have gone if she hadn't of been in labour last night. Would she have been able to go to the scene if she wasn't in labour? Would her mum have taken her down there and let her hold Evan's hand while the team got him out? Could she have calmed him down while he was stuck beneath that truck? Could she have calmed him and travelled in the ambulance with him and made some sort of difference when he arrived?

She wanted someone to have been holding his hand through that ordeal. None of the team had told him he would be okay, they didn't hold his hand or kneel beside him to let him know he wasn't alone. Bomber or not, they shouldn't have left Evan alone. (Y/n) was never going to let go of that and she would never forgive herself for being in the hospital when Evan needed her the most.

"I broke every promise I made you. I wasn't with you… you gave birth alone, I- I wanted to be there, to hold your hand, a-and hold her…" When tears started to fall down Evan's face, (Y/n) let go of his hand in favour of cupping his face and pressing a tender, wet kiss to his lips.

"Maddie kindly took your place," Her thumbs swiped beneath his eyes to dry away his tears. "We can't change what happened, baby, but you're gonna be there for so much more. Her first word, her first steps, when she falls and cries and laughs, you'll see it all."

No matter how badly they wanted to change what had happened, they couldn't. All they could do was make sure that nothing like this happened again, and they could move forward.

(Y/n) didn't dare broach the subject just yet about Evan's recovery. The doctor was going to have to explain that he would need another operation to remove the pins, and maybe a third if the bone needed setting again or if any complications arose. Physio was going to take some time and he wouldn't be at work for at least five months, maybe more.

But that would give Evan ample time to be with their daughter. He could hold her and cuddle her to his heart's content. He would be there for her first smile, her giggles, her moving and interacting with them. And in the years to come, he would see her first words and her first steps, he would be there for everything that was important. Missing the birth wasn't much in comparison to what he was going to witness in the future.

"She won't remember or hold it against you that you weren't there, you know. I'd rather you miss the birth and be there for the first word or her first day at school. You'll be there when it counts, that's what she will remember."

Tilting her head forward, (Y/n) pressed her temple down into Evan's chest, smiling against his skin when she felt him kiss the top of her head and weave his arm around to cup the back of her neck. She felt his fingers tangle into her hair and they stayed like that for a few moments until (Y/n) finally tilted her head to look up at him.

"Are you ready to meet her?"

The light that lit up Evan's eyes was one that made (Y/n)'s stomach flip and she felt him bristle against her as he looked around the room. He hadn't thought she would be here or anywhere nearby, but Evan's eyes locked on the small plastic cot he hadn't noticed before at the far side of the room.

His baby was here. His baby girl was sleeping soundly across the room, so close that he should have felt her presence already.

He had waited long enough.

He didn't realise he was shaking until (Y/n) glided her hand up and down his chest and pressed a soft, fluttering kiss against his cheek. She patted his chest and slowly stood up to move across to the cot, feeling Evan's eyes on her with every step she took.

(Y/n) brushed her cheek against her shoulder to try and stop herself from crying when she turned around and slowly perched back down on the side of the bed. Evan was still shaking and he didn't look certain that he would be able to hold their daughter without dropping her, but that wasn't going to stop him.

His arms moved out before he could think about any of it and his teeth sank into his bottom lip as he trembled, desperate for that little weight to be rested in his arms.

A quiet gasp left his lips when the newborn was placed in the crook of his left arm and the movement seemed to wake her up. He didn't mean to wake her when she had clearly been sound asleep, but he was mesmerised by those bright, wide eyes that stared up at him when she came around. Her hands had little mittens covering them so she didn't scratch her nose in her sleep and Evan reached out to remove one of them.

He wanted to see the difference in the size of their hands. All of her tiny fingers could barely curl around his thumb and when he brushed his index finger against her chubby cheek, she actually leaned into the touch.

"She's beautiful." He couldn't help the tears he shed when he looked down at his little girl in his arms.

It took Evan a moment to remove his finger from her tiny hand, but when he did, he carefully shifted his hand around so he was holding her sides, allowing him to lift her up. He held her close to kiss her cheek that felt warm and cosy against his skin, and he tugged the itchy, uncomfortable hospital gown out the way so he could lean his daughter against his chest.

He loved the feeling when she instantly nuzzled herself into his bare chest as if the warmth was reeling her in. He curled his large hand around the back of her head and glided his thumb over the small streaks of hair that felt as soft as silk against the rough pad of his thumb.

The way she smacked her lips against his chest felt like she was trying to give him a kiss and Evan reciprocated the touch by attaching his lips to the top of her warm head.

"We need a name, up to now the nurses are calling her baby Buckley." (Y/n) dragged the back of her hand gently across their daughter's head, nudging Evan's hand before she moved to rest her hand on his arm instead.

Their eyes locked for a few seconds while Evan remembered the little agreement they'd had. They had a list of four names they had agreed on, depending on whether they had a girl or a boy and whoever guessed the gender right got to pick the name. Evan guessed a girl.

"Do you think Lilah suits her?" He mused, not breaking his lips away from her head since his girl was nicely snugged into his chest.

For a brief moment, Evan let his eyes drag away from both his girls and he looked down at his right leg. He had a cast from his foot all the way up to the middle of his thigh. Great. For the next month, he wouldn't be walking without a struggle. It sent shivers up his spine, but he warded away the bad thoughts with the knowledge that he still had a leg and he could learn to walk properly again and he could build up his strength.

He wasn't starting from the beginning with a prosthetic and crutches, waiting to adapt.

"Lilah Buckley it is." (Y/n) murmured softly, leaning across so she could kiss Evan's neck while her hand moved to rest on his good thigh.

She watched him for a few more moments as he got Lilah comfortable on his chest and slowly reclined into the pillows, easing her back on his chest. He still hadn't stopped kissing her temple and the way he was leaning from left to right was slow and almost unnoticable, but it made her smile. She dragged her free hand up and down his arm, gliding her nail across his skin to cause goosebumps in her wake as her head tilted to one side and she grinned.

"You're not gonna put her down, are you?" (Y/n) had a feeling that for however long Evan was going to be in hospital, their daughter was going to remain in his arms.

If he couldn't get up and walk about or carry her, he would be sitting here. Evan would want to feed her, he would want to wind her and cuddle her and get her to sleep on his chest so he never had to put her down. It was going to be hard for anyone else to try and hold her when Evan seemed to want to attach her to his person twenty-four seven.

The way he grinned against their daughter's head confirmed (Y/n) was right, but she didn't mind. She could see the serenity in Evan's eyes and the calmness that was washing over his face. He wasn't bothered about the state of his legs, the pins attached to his bone that was covered in a cast. He couldn't be bothered to think about the nuisance this cast was going to be for the next few weeks.

Evan couldn't even work up the nerve to think about the struggle he had ahead of him. All he could think about was the sense of peace he had now that his daughter was in his arms.

"Never."

[gay-jewish-bucky]

Debunking the Claim that Bucky Barnes' Dog Tags "Prove He Cannot Be Jewish"

In 2021 and 2022, when discussing the fact that MCU!Bucky (henceforth referred to simply as Bucky) is based off of Arnie Roth, a gay Jewish man and Steve's childhood best friend, I received pushback from fans telling me that Bucky can't possibly be Jewish due to his dog tags; citing a behind the scenes picture posted by Sebastian Stan to his instagram story.

Transcription of the dog tags:

James B. Barnes (Legal Name) 32557038 (Serial Number*) T41 42 (Tetanus Immunization) O (Blood Type) R. Barnes (Next of Kin) 3092 Stockton RD (Address) Shelbyville IN (Location) P (Religion Marker)

*A serial number starting with a 3 indicated that the servicemember was drafted into the Army, it's important that we do not forget that Bucky didn't chose to fight.

During World War II the dog tags of American service members would have had one of the following regulation religion markers:

P for Protestant (the marker we see on Bucky's dog tags)

C for Catholic

H for Hebrew, this being the marker for 'Jewish'

NO (or left blank) for No Religion

For Jewish servicemembers fighting in Europe, being discovered to be a Jew by your captors–especially if you were captured by the Nazis–carried considerable risk and could mean the difference between life or horrific torture, experimentation and possibly even death.

Some Jewish service members, justifiably incredibly fearful of what could happen if they were found out, would either omit a religion marker altogether or, after getting their tags, would attempt to obscure the 'H' marker in some way so it could not be read by their captors.

While this saved some lives, it was not a perfect and fool-proof system, and we have no way of knowing how many times it failed.

In 1943, the year Bucky was drafted, the Army introduced a more official (and more widely adoptable, and thus widely adopted) option to protect Jews in its ranks:

Through the European Theatre of Operations United States Army, Jewish servicemembers could elect to have the 'H' marker for Hebrew on their dog tags replaced with a 'P' for Protestant.

This would offer Jewish servicemembers a more convincing layer of protection if they were ever captured by the enemy, because, unlike an obscured religion marker (or that lack of one) which could itself draw suspicion, a set of dog tags printed with a 'P' would be entirely indistinguishable from the dog tags worn by a gentile and would be less likely to draw suspicion.

Due to this option being made available to Jewish people serving in the United States Armed Forces, the 'P' marker on Bucky's dog tags not only does not definitively prove that he's really a gentile, in actuality its presence provides even further historical support in favour of him being a Jewish man.

Sources and Additional Reading:

Jewish GIs and Their Dog-Tags by Rabbi Akiva Males - Hakirah

A Star of David for Pvt. Benjamin Garadetsky - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

U.S. Army WW2 Dog Tags | WW2 US Medical Research Centre (med-dept.com)

Do You Know the History of the "Dog Tag" (jcveteranscouncil)

Beyond The Battle: Religion and American Troops In World War II (uky.edu)

World War II and American Jewish Identity

European Theater of Operations, United States Army - Wikipedia

Pride Month 2022, 40 Years of Arnie Roth and Michael Bech - Marvel Comics: The Queer History Behind MCU Bucky’s Backstory

J.M. DeMatteis, the creator of Arnie, confirming the character's use for MCU!Bucky

Full screenshot of Sebastian Stan's post of the dog tag

How to Decode a WWII US Army Serial Number | Amy Johnson Crow

[celadons-penultimate]

Marvel has such great potential in STRANGE ACADEMY. A live-action or animated adaptation alone could be a huge win, whether it closely follows the comics or not, as long as they give us the diverse, inclusive stories that JK Rowling's Wizarding World fails to.

Strange Academy's diversity is a central feature, not an "exotic" aside. It unites people across various cultures, so you see Norse runic magic, Voodoo practice, Aztec nahual lore & more, performed not just by fictional creatures, but women, people w/ melanin & LGBTQ ppl.

Strange Academy's headmaster is Dr. Jericho Drumm aka Doctor Voodoo & various fan favorites act as instructors to the young mages, to humorous effect: Wong, the Ancient One, Magik, Scarlet Witch, Nico Minoru, Agatha Harkness, Talisman, Daimon Hellstrom, etc

Strange Academy's prominent students INCLUDE:

-Zoe Laveau (zombie/necromancer/aspiring lich? & descendant of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau)

-Germán (Nahual animal mage)

-Iric & Alvi (Asgardian twin sons of Amora the Enchantress)

-Emily Bright (newcomer on an interesting path)

-Doyle (nbd, just a son of The Dread Dormammu™)

Strange Academy is set here in the United States, not another dimension or some other fictional locale; specifically, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

You get plenty of charismatic flavor & mystic color, whether you're reading about the mortal or mystical aspects of magical school life.

Rather than typical YA-style focus on a singular "chosen one" & companions, Strange Academy offers engaging ensemble narration that addresses multiple story lines w/ due respect, all while managing to offer impressively dynamic & flamboyant magical feats.

In short, if you're a fan of Marvel, a fan of magic users & a fan of YA stories that AREN'T transphobic or otherwise characterized by bigotry (whether implicit or overtly stated), you might want to set aside any...other options, in favor of Strange Academy. 😌

[demifiendrsa]

MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics - Announce Trailer

 Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will launch both physically and digitally for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam) in 2024.

Key visual

Screenshots

Overview

About

Join fans from around the world in celebrating the legacy of some of the most beloved fighting games with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. This jam-packed collection includes seven timeless games in an all-in-one package, including:

X-Men: Children of the Atom

Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

The Punisher

Key Features

Battle It Out Online – All of the fighting games in the collection will have online ranked, casual, and lobby matches unlocked for players to showcase their abilities with friends, family, and other players from around the world!

Robust Rollback Netcode – Online play for the collection is supported with rollback netcode for a strong and stable online experience!

Be the Best! – Global high score leaderboards come to every game in the collection so players can track their journey to the top of the list!

Practice Makes Perfect – Training Mode comes to all fighting games in the collection so players can learn, practice, and master their moves!

A Rare Gem – The classic beat ‘em up arcade game The Punisher comes to PC and modern consoles for the first time ever in the United States!

Watch This! – Spectator Mode is available so you can enjoy watching your friends and co-combatants battle it out!

Additional Features – Check out the collection’s enhanced features like a music jukebox, in-game Museum, new display filters, and more!

For Capcom fans, fighting game enthusiasts, comic book and Super Hero aficionados, and everyone in between, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics offers a timeless celebration of a legacy fighting game series, delivering a diverse roster of iconic characters, enhanced features and competitive gameplay. Relive the nostalgia or discover enduring classics for the first time, uniting fans of all generations in celebration of Capcom’s legendary fighting game series.

[useless-catalanfacts]

HI! Love your blog a lot!!💛❤️

I have a peculiar rant to make!

There are many motorsport events happening in Barcelona during the year, and they are often called "Spanish Grand Prix", and they are portrayed as the "home races" of people usually from other parts of Spain (most times these people are rich blokes from Madrid with links to Vox). I'm not Catalan, but that makes me so mad. It's once again the erasure of an entire history and culture. English-speaking media don't even make an effort to understand where they are, they are just happy to call it Spain and wonder why they're playing two anthems before the actual races.

But anyway, visca Catalunya i bona diada dels Països Catalans!

Thank you very much!

Yes, I completely agree with you that it's annoying. It's a way for the Spanish state (and every other state, because this happens to other occupied nations as well) to use the sports for propaganda and to cement the association "Catalonia=Spain" in the minds of everyone from around the world who's watching.

If I may, I will answer to your rant with another rant of my own. In general, most sports tend to be very state-centered. For example, for most sports you can't be a professional athlete unless you sign up for a specific state to represent it, wear its flag on your clothes while you compete, play their anthem if you win, the teams must be organized according to people who come from the same state, etc. And if you don't have one, then, bad luck, you either do it for the state that occupies your homeland or you don't get to become a professional sportsperson at all. But even if you have your own independent country that you identify with, still... why so much focus on it? Why is where these people come from so important that it becomes even more important that the person? Imagine if people did this with any other aspect of the athlete's background or identities: "Twilight fans won 5 gold medals this year, and Marvel fans went down to only 3". Or imagine if we did it by sexual orientation, conservatives would be so mad saying "why do you have to wave it in everyone's faces!?". All of those would be ridiculous, so why isn't this strong focus on what state they come from also ridiculous? It would seem more logical to focus on person, school/trainer, or teams that they could choose according to how they view the sport or how they think training works better or work better together. But we seem to just accept that the state (not even culture or nation, just a geographical-political administration unit) is the most defining trait.

That's why I personally never liked the Olympic games or world cups, it feels like it's more about nationalism than about sports. I used to follow them when I was young but I always felt like the gymnasts themselves weren't recognized enough because all the media was focused on "how many people from our country won", or "this sport was won by [country]". And Spanish media does this a lot, to the point that I think they are disrespectful to the sportsperson. Why do all Spanish people have to feel proud or like they won the games because someone from their state achieved something, but not when someone from another state did the same, even when someone from a state might be geographically closer to some parts of their neighbour state than other parts of their own? It's not like the random citizen who is supposed to feel like he himself won the games did, maybe he spent the whole competition eating chips at the sofa (that's me btw). It just never made sense to me. And even less for team achievements like F1 or MotoGP, where they play the anthem of the state that the pilot is a citizen of, but so much of that victory is owed to the rest of the team who worked on making and improving the car/motorbike, so it's a team effort but the anthem of the state of only one of them is chosen to be given the victory to. It makes no sense!

And if you're hosting on a city, it's the same. What does a state's anthem even have to do with an F1 racing? Why is it even there? Show the city and the area around it if you must show something, after all that's the people whose taxes are going to pay for that sport and whose lives are going to be inconvenienced by it.

Because that's another thing, events like the F1 race inside Barcelona (not on the actual track, when they made them fake-race on the street Passeig de Gràcia, afaik they were not even actually racing because the velocity limit was too low), the America Cup, etc contribute so much to worsening the worst problems of the city (touristic massification, gentrification, poverty, and pollution). For the America Cup, the neighbours of the Barceloneta quarter have to use cards that identify them as residents to be allowed in their own neighbourhood because that whole neighbourhood has been kidnapped by the America Cup people. And the F1 fake race thing in one of the busiest avenues of the city was very annoying to the citizens, too. It meant cutting a significant amount of the city's traffic, including public buses, and collapsing part of the metro system as a result. Some of my co-workers had difficulties arriving to our workplace that day because of it. Just so that cars can show off inside the city and pollute it, skipping the city's laws that aim to reduce air pollution by banning people whose cars pollute more than a certain amount (which in practise means old cars, the ones that poorer people are more likely to have). We can't use our cars in the city unless we can afford a green model, but they can cut off a whole avenue in the very centre of the city, asphalt it new just for them, and race there when they already have a track made for them to race in.

It's all part of the capitalist obsession with uncontrolled growth, they want everything to happen here for more and more people to come. Not just with sports events, but anything that will be used as an advertising for the city. Like the Louis Vuitton catwalk that was happening this month in Park Güell (a UNESCO World Heritage Site btw) and which damaged part of the architecture. Until now, the hotel lobby was the main promoter of many of these events because they wanted more tourists, but even the hotel owners are now saying that this has gone too far and the tourism monoculture model has become absolutely unsustainable and is ruining the city.

Don't get me wrong, sports are important and we need to support them and promote people practise sports, and it's good for entertainment purposes and we have to support people having fun (that's what life's about!). But the model that professional competitive sports use needs to be completely rethinked. I think every city that has gone through the devastating experience of hosting Olympic Games will agree with this.

Anyway, that's just my opinion and what you pointed out is definitely more offensive, but when I stop to think of it I can't but see how it's all.... not great. Sorry for getting out of topic but I have been personally very annoyed by these sports and fashion events this month.

Thank you for your message and your understanding, I read it on the Sant Joan but I'm answering late. I hope you had a good diada dels Països Catalans and that you're having a great beginning of summer 🌞

[dreamyeuphoricll]

REST IN PEACE TO DRAGON BALL CREATOR🕊️🕊️

Akira Toriyama, the visionary creator of the beloved Dragon Ball series, has left an indelible mark on the world of manga and anime. His recent passing on March 1, 2024, due to an acute subdural hematoma, is a profound loss for fans worldwide ⁴⁵.

Toriyama-sensei, your imagination transported us to a universe where powerful warriors, magical dragon balls, and epic battles unfolded. Through your artistry, you ignited our imaginations, inspired countless artists, and brought joy to generations.

Your legacy lives on in the hearts of fans who followed Goku's adventures, cheered for Vegeta's redemption, and marveled at the fusion dances. Your work transcended borders, cultures, and languages, uniting fans across the globe.

As we bid farewell, we remember your dedication—45 years of creativity, unfinished works, and boundless enthusiasm. You were more than an artist; you were a beacon of inspiration.

May your unique world of creation continue to resonate with us, and may your spirit soar alongside Shenron, granting eternal wishes.

Arigatou gozaimasu, Toriyama-sensei. Rest in peace.🌟🐉🙏

[misscammiedawn]

Intersectional Community Cooperation in X-Men 97

The discussion around X-Men 97 has died down and I've not really seen a lot of ongoing discussion about it, which is a true shame as it actually managed to update the queer community allegory for the franchise to the mainstream.

I say mainstream as, despite a recent return to status quo, X-Men comics have understood that the formula is essentially about managing intersectional in-fighting in marginalized communities for some time.

If you ever found yourself asking "Why does Krakoa have [insert villain here] at the table?" then it's important to understand that the allegories have by necessity updated to discuss the fact that there are multiple minorities who are all excluded, hated and resisted by the dominant culture under a single banner. The anti-mutant bigots of 616 view Jean Gray, Scott Summers and Charles Xavier as "dirty muties" as much as Erik Lehnsherr, Nathan Essex and En Sabah Nur.

All sects of the mutant community need to unite and fight for their rights under a single banner because Mutant prejudice is not over until The Morlocks can walk in the sun and for the most part. Though individual writers and a worrying number of fans do not understand this fact, it is still the core DNA of modern X-Men.

I think X-Men 97 did a good job bringing the mainstream friendly 90s Cartoon up to date with that in their own way and by adapting 90s storylines, too. I'm impressed.

Especially as I did not trust them to pull it off. In fact we very much were prepared for the typical fumbling of the ball that comes with Disney-Marvel stories on nuanced topics.

In way of demonstrating the lack of faith, after the first episode of the final 3-part arc I (for certain values of "I", these posts do not read like my prose) had written on a forum (edited for conciseness):

Thoughts on today's ep though: Whatcha expect? They have amazing villainous parallels to real world atrocities on oppressed minorities at a time where all the talk of using apathy and overloading empathy bandwidth hits too dang true-- then they cut to what amounts to "punch the bad guy real hard" after 8 episodes of getting the audience to understand bad guy and kinda root for him! Previous ep had Hank framed between fallen statues of Charles and Erik and after walking towards Charles he ends the scene walking to Erik due to his leftist bigot love interest's ignorance-- like they had the makings for emotional complexity that they brewed carefully over a season-- in my heart I knew it would end with "hit Magneto really hard" but like-- it didn't have to y'know?

Turns out, though, the ending was not hit Magneto really hard as we had feared.

It was deal with the internalized self-prejudice of Bastion. I read it as internalized homophobia, particularly as Bastion's journey is played to parallel Charles and Erik's but it's about internalized prejudice that was instilled into him by his bigot parents.

For all the show glossed over Bastion's origins, they did a good job sticking the landing with the allegory. After the genocide in Genosha they all but had Rogue say the pissed-off cockroach motherfuckers tweet at General Ross and we are shown the natural evolution of the cockroach queer, the curly moustache man himself, Mag-Fucking-Neto.

The final conflict between Charles and Erik relives the moment that the pair discovered the other was queer a mutant. The scene, in a bar, has Charles vaguely graze the topic and feel out for safety. Erik, accustomed to hatred, rebukes Charles and tells him that if he were gay a mutant then outing himself would lead to invite violence to be acted upon him. Erik knows the violence that man can and will enact upon marginalized communities.

Where I had worried the fight would amount to "punch Magneto really hard" for endangering the Earth it actually ended up with his ex-boyfriend accepting the sheer amount of pain that he felt and acknowledging that the agony the world had inflicted upon him was consuming him via a literal ocean of agony, the only ship above the tides of despair being his family. It wasn't even choosing love over hate, it was accepting community and the mere idea that life could be anything more than eternal torment and pain. Erik had been conditioned to ONLY expect heartbreak, rejection and prejudice and Genosha proved all his darkest fears true. Magneto was incapable of believing in a world outside of pain and Charles had to reach him and tell him there will always be those who will keep him afloat.

Meanwhile Bastion, with all his self-loathing, has decided to try and exterminate all mutants, a population he himself is a member of. He views himself as an abomination.

If Magneto hates the world that has hurt him so many times, Bastion hates himself for not being what the world considers normal. His hatred of mutants is so strong that it consumes him entirely.

He completely overpowers the X-Men, taking punishment from all the team at their peak of desperation and after his health bar depletes enough to activate a cutscene he mocks "You call yourself a team--- a family? But a family that can't save itself merely works together to die alone."

Hearing that is the turning point in which Cyclops orders the team to stop fighting and embrace him. They extend an olive branch, explaining the prejudice was learned from his mother and that he is still a welcome member of their community.

He resists and fights, unwilling to take them at their word. Insults them, mocks them for allowing him to massacre their people. He notes that humanity is going extinct, being "replaced" by the mutant population. Jean responds that more humans are being born every day and yes some will be queer mutants but that just means coexisting will become more necessary.

The hearty debate is ended when Bastion notices that the USA have launched nukes at the Meteor.

I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards.

I also do like that President Kelly, Steve Rogers (who was shown refusing to "get involved" in mutant affairs earlier in the season) and Tony Stark are all shown in the war room nervously watching after having sent nukes to destroy Meteor M. Allies until the chips are down because they're not brave enough to stand for the marginalized themselves.

Given how ungenerous I had felt while watching the lead-up to this final episode, I really do think that the writers understood that infighting within vulnerable communities will always lead to circumstances where we cannot stand up to oppression.

And the massacre of Genosha was committed because they had established an inclusive community. One that included everyone. Their leadership round table had villains and heroes alike, Pryor, Frost, Shaw and Magneto sat alongside Worthington, and even (as far as we currently know in this canon) human Moira McTaggert. Mutants were learning to stand together and erase the self-inflicted barriers between mutant communities. The Morlocks were in Genosha. All were equal.

That was a threat. It needed to be destroyed.

-

Anyway. I just wanted to praise X-Men 97 for the plea for all those living in a world that hates us to link hands and find love, family, growth and healing in one another and together. We do not have to be swallowed by our pain or try to limit ourselves to be accepted by a world indifferent to our attempts at assimilation.

I legitimately cannot wait for one of those lovely English major queers with free time and a platform to tackle this topic because my uneducated butt is just seeing outlines of a thesis.

[justforbooks]

In the 1960s, there was one actor who could justifiably claim that ladies prefer blonds. As the secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the TV series The Man from UNCLE, David McCallum, who has died aged 90, received more fan mail from young women than any other actor in MGM’s history.

With his Beatles-style haircut, his liking for black turtleneck sweaters (which created a fad among viewers nationwide), and an aloof and enigmatic air, through which he sneaked a fair amount of charm and self-amusement, McCallum made Kuryakin into a sex symbol of the period. He provided a trendy contrast to Robert Vaughn’s Napoleon Solo, his fellow spy, who went in for expensive suits and ties.

Although Solo and Kuryakin worked perfectly in tandem, their personalities were at variance, the former being urbane, easygoing and sociable, the latter more reserved, intellectual and intense.

The James Bond film craze had already taken off when The Man from UNCLE series was launched in 1964, so US audiences were used to laidback heroes and their villainous nemeses. However, it was surprising to find a hip Russian alongside the good guys of United Network Command for Law and Enforcement fighting against the evil organisation THRUSH (an acronym for Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity), during the cold war.

McCallum, who played Illya with the slightest Russian accent and an occasional Scottish lilt, was also known recently for his long-running role from 2003 in the popular CBS crime series NCIS.

He was born in Glasgow. His parents were classical musicians; his mother, Dorothy Dorman, a cellist, his father, David McCallum, a violinist and leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. McCallum Jr won a scholarship to University College school in Hampstead, north London, before being accepted at Rada, where he studied from 1949 to 1951, having given up his ambition, and his parents’ wish, to play the oboe professionally.

In 1951, McCallum managed to satisfy his love for both music and the theatre by landing the position of assistant stage manager at Glyndebourne opera. However, he was called up to do his national service in West Africa. Demobbed as a lieutenant, the 19-year-old McCallum headed for the theatre, which mainly meant stage-management jobs in rep.In 1956, he half-heartedly posted off some photographs of himself to the Rank Organisation, which was scouting for young talent. The photos were seen by Clive Donner, who was casting his first feature, The Secret Place (1957), and he invited McCallum to do a reading.

“Although he was nervous, his voice was firm, and he was very good,” Donner recalled. “I sat and looked at him for a long time. He was very skinny, with a marvellous head and huge eyes. I think he was living in a bedsit in Archway at that time and had little money. We put him under contract straight away.”

Obviously under the influence of James Dean, the leather-jacketed McCallum, playing a young punk involved in a heist, does his best to express teenage angst. In Cy Endfield’s gritty thriller Hell Drivers (1957), McCallum plays Stanley Baker’s brother, on crutches as a result of a crime. In the cast, as a waitress, was 20-year-old Jill Ireland. McCallum and Ireland were to marry a few months before the film’s release. Soon after, they played young lovers in Robbery Under Arms (1957), an adventure shot mostly in Australia. At that time, the couple were often pictured together in fan magazines.

It was back to British realism with Basil Dearden’s Violent Playground (1958), in which McCallum plays a juvenile delinquent gang-leader. Despite a mite too posh an accent, he makes a vivid impression with his drawn features and mop of fair hair.

There followed several more conventional supporting roles, such as radio operators, first on the Titanic in A Night to Remember (1958), and a jumpy one in an Elstree-studio Burmese jungle in the second world war drama The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961). He was even more nervy in John Huston’s Freud (1962) as one of the first of the psychoanalyst’s patients, a young man who assaulted his father because of an incestuous love for his mother.

After appearing as a sympathetic officer in Peter Ustinov’s Billy Budd (1962), McCallum went to Germany to make John Sturges’s The Great Escape (1963), the most expensive PoW picture of them all. Among a starry cast, headed by Steve McQueen, James Garner and Charles Bronson, McCallum held his own among the Brits as Eric Ashley-Pitt – “Dispersal – who devises a way of getting rid of dirt from the digging of an escape tunnel. But more significant for him was the fact that Ireland, who was with him during the shoot, fell for Bronson. Ireland and McCallum divorced; he later married Katherine Carpenter, while Ireland married Bronson.

McCallum, who was already making his principal career on television, was given the secondary role of Kuryakin in The Man from UNCLE, but was soon granted equal billing with Vaughn after it rapidly became clear that he had a huge fanbase. Alma Cogan recorded a song called Love Ya, Illya, which became a pirate-radio hit in Britain in 1966, and as late as 1991, an Argentinian funk duo named themselves Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, after McCallum’s character and the Colombian football player Carlos Valderrama.

The first feature-film spin-off from the TV series, To Trap a Spy (1965), in which McCallum had a minor role, did little business. But the second one, The Spy With My Face, co-starring McCallum, really lifted off, followed by the box-office hits One of Our Spies Is Missing, One Spy Too Many and The Spy in the Green Hat (all 1966), and How to Steal the World (1968).

After The Man from UNCLE finished in 1968, McCallum continued to make guest appearances on TV until his second long-running series, the BBC’s Colditz (1972-74), in which he played Flt Lt Simon Carter, a hot-headed RAF officer who is impatient to escape.

Subsequently, McCallum appeared and disappeared as a scientist in The Invisible Man (1975-76), a US TV production, and co-starred with Joanna Lumley in ATV’s spooky sci-fi series Sapphire and Steel (1979-82) as the eponymous extra-dimensional detectives sent to Earth to monitor threats to the time-stream.

McCallum was seldom off television screens over the next three decades, making the occasional sortie into films. He also did some theatre in New York, where he and his wife had settled, notably Julius Caesar in a Central Park production (2000), playing the title role as “a senile old man, suffering from ideas of grandeur” according to the actor; and portraying the Emperor Joseph II on Broadway in Peter Hall’s revival of Amadeus (1999-2000).

In 2003, his looks belying his age, McCallum began playing Dr Donald “Ducky” Mallard, chief medical examiner, in the TV series NCIS, following the cases of the fictional agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. His research for the part included studying pathology and sitting in on autopsies. He stayed with the show for the rest of his life, appearing in all 20 seasons up until this year. In one episode, a character asks another what Ducky looked like when he was younger. “Illya Kuryakin” comes the reply.

McCallum is survived by Katherine, their son, Peter, and daughter, Sophie, and by his sons Val and Paul from his first marriage; Jason, his third son with Ireland, died in 1989.

🔔 David Keith McCallum, actor; born 19 September 1933; died 25 September 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[marveluniversehero]

Avengers DeviantArt by steeven7620

[whoufuckingfaldi]

I know a lot of people were sad that Yaz just walked away and there was no kiss etc but I think it was fundamentally a good ending for them and for Yaz.

The Doctor has learnt from experience that they will keep on going in whatever form (the timeless child story has made that even more underlined) but unfortunately, their human companions cannot. In terms of romance, 10 learnt the hard way with Rose. 11 learnt what it was like to loose family in Amy and Rory and 12 lost a soul mate in Clara. In twelves case he lost her despite how desperately he tried to cling onto her, going to the absolute extremes.

13 has shown that she has learnt those lessons. She has clearly learnt not to cling onto those relationships, as demonstrated by the exits of Ryan, Graham and Dan. In Yaz's case, she had fallen for her companion and knows the feelings were reciprocated. In fact, she even subtly admitted to those feelings in Legends of the Sea Devils. However, having learnt the lessons of the past, she asked Yaz to go on as they were and not make that step into a romantic relationship.

Yaz could do nothing but agree to this, but it was clear in the Legend of the Sea Devils that she still didn't 100% understand why. This is were Yaz meeting Ace and Tegen was important to what was to come. The Doctor evolves and regenerates, and perhaps more quickly than Yaz had realised. In Ace and Tegan you have two former companions, with an age difference but not a vast one, who clearly know the Doctor as different regenerations. Having Ace there highlights it quicker because she of course refers to the Doctor as 'Professor'. Yaz already knows the Doctor was a Scotsman in the last regeneration.

The key line was when Yaz said 'where is my Doctor?'. Not THE Doctor. Not THE REAL DOCTOR. My Doctor. Going through a regeneration with the Doctor is hard enough for a companion even when they are just the Doctor's friend. Yaz doesn't feel like that about the Doctor, she is in love with her. She is in love with her mannerisms and her personality. No doubt, she is also physically attracted to her too. It's not just as simple as getting used to a new character to go off galavanting with. Yaz tried to save the woman she loved but despite everything she failed. She saved the Doctor, but not her Doctor. It was poignant that Yaz, having seen regeneration energy before (and now a forced regeneration), was the first to realise what was going on. Instead of panic or histrionics there was just a sad realisation that it was over.

The Doctor knows this and feels for Yaz in return. Imagine regenerating and looking at the person you have come to love, only for them to look back at you like you are a stranger? The Doctor knows that everything has its time and place. Yaz has been with her since she first regenerated until her final moments. She is Yaz's Doctor, but Yaz has been her consistent companion. It made sense for her to go onto her next journey alone and it made sense for Yaz to step away and remember her as 13, but in the knowledge that the Doctor is safe and will go on. The Doctor singled out the fact that she had loved her time with Yaz in their final quite moments together. In the end, it was all very mature from both of them.

Now, if you are a Yaz fan, take heart. There is rumour abound that RTD would like to make an extended Doctor Who world (mini marvel style). If this was to happen, expect to see a revival of Torchwood and its very feasible that an Agents of Sheild style UNIT series will be considered. What did Kate say in the support group? She might try and recruit them! It's very possible that we may see Yaz again and other companions. We may even see an old Doctor or two...

[satoshi-mochida]

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics announced for PS4, Switch, and PC - Gematsu

Capcom has announced fighting games collection Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC (Steam). it will launch both physically and digitally in 2024.

Here is an overview of the collection, via Capcom:

About

Join fans from around the world in celebrating the legacy of some of the most beloved fighting games with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. This jam-packed collection includes seven timeless games in an all-in-one package, including:

X-Men: Children of the Atom

Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

The Punisher

Key Features

Battle It Out Online – All of the fighting games in the collection will have online ranked, casual, and lobby matches unlocked for players to showcase their abilities with friends, family, and other players from around the world!

Robust Rollback Netcode – Online play for the collection is supported with rollback netcode for a strong and stable online experience!

Be the Best! – Global high score leaderboards come to every game in the collection so players can track their journey to the top of the list!

Practice Makes Perfect – Training Mode comes to all fighting games in the collection so players can learn, practice, and master their moves!

A Rare Gem – The classic beat ‘em up arcade game The Punisher comes to PC and modern consoles for the first time ever in the United States!

Watch This! – Spectator Mode is available so you can enjoy watching your friends and co-combatants battle it out!

Additional Features – Check out the collection’s enhanced features like a music jukebox, in-game Museum, new display filters, and more!

For Capcom fans, fighting game enthusiasts, comic book and Super Hero aficionados, and everyone in between, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics offers a timeless celebration of a legacy fighting game series, delivering a diverse roster of iconic characters, enhanced features and competitive gameplay. Relive the nostalgia or discover enduring classics for the first time, uniting fans of all generations in celebration of Capcom’s legendary fighting game series.

Watch the announcement trailers below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

English

Japanese

[joshuasumter]

The Marvel/Disney Crossover Mashup series

What happens when your favorite epic Marvel superheroes (and villains) collide...with your beloved Disney favorites? What If the Marvel Universe joined forces with the heroes of Disney Television Animation!?

Introducing the team-ups you never thought you'd see -- The Marvel/Disney Crossover Mashup series, where Marvel's iconic superheroes (and villains) meet the beloved characters of Disney Television Animation in some of the most mashup retellings of your favorite Disney TVA shows.

VOLUME 1: Young Avengers Series In these mashup retellings of the Marvel/Disney Crossover Mashup's Young Avengers series, the all-new, all different interpretations of your fan-favorite Marvel characters -- Dr. Stephen Strange, T'Challa/Black Panther; Loki, the God of Mischief; Tony Stark/Iron Man, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Howard the Duck, and America Chavez -- collide with the current worlds of your favorite Disney TVA shows from the 2010s and 2020s -- The Owl House (2020-2023), Amphibia (2019-2022), The Ghost and Molly McGee (2021-present), Big Hero 6: The Series (2017-2021), Gravity Falls (2012-2016), DuckTales (2017-2021), and Star vs. The Forces of Evil (2015-2019) ...all leading up to the big fusion finale, where their different universes and worlds collide, and heroes will unite -- Coming Soon!

The Owl Sanctum -- (Doctor Strange (2016) X The Owl House)

The Black Panther of Amphibia -- (Black Panther (2018) X Amphibia)

The Ghost, the Trickster, and Molly McGee -- (Loki/Avengers Endgame (2019) X The Ghost and Molly McGee)

Iron Hero 7 -- (Iron Man X Big Hero 6)

Marvel Falls -- (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel X Gravity Falls)

Howard's DuckTales -- (Howard the Duck X Ducktales (2017))

America and Star vs the Forces of Evil -- (America Chavez (2017) X Star vs. the Forces of Evil)

VOLUME 2: Defenders Series The Marvel/Disney Crossover Mashup awesomeness continues in the Defenders series, where the all-new, all different interpretations of your favorite Marvel characters -- Guardians of the Galaxy, She-Hulk, Shang-Chi, Miles Morales/Spider-Man and Moon Girl -- have made their way to five, totally unexpected worlds and universes of your favorite Disney Channel shows from the 2000s - Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-2006), Kim Possible (2002-2007), American Dragon: Jake Long (2005-2007), The Proud Family (2001-2005), and Recess (1997-2001)

Ohana of the Galaxy -- (Guardians of the Galaxy X Lilo & Stitch)

The Impossible She-Hulk -- (She-Hulk X Kim Possible)

Shang-Chi and the American Dragon -- (Shang-Chi X American Dragon: Jake Long)

The Proud Spider-Man -- (Miles Morales/Spider-Man X The Proud Family)

Moon Girl X Recess

[doamarierose-honoka]

May is quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest months for new comic book releases in a long time. Marvel alone is going all-out this month, kicking off the massive Blood Hunt crossover and celebrating the milestone 50th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man with the return of Spidey's greatest nemesis. Elsewhere, DC has big stories planned for two of Batman's most important sidekicks, while Image is launching several promising new projects like The Whisper Queen and Grommets.

Read on to see all the biggest comics of May 2024, and be sure to let us know in the comments what you'll be reading this month.

Blood Hunt

Creative Team: Jed MacKay & Pepe Larraz

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: May 1

As is tradition for Marvel, the first week of May brings with it the start of a major summer crossover event. Blood Hunt pits the Avengers and other assorted heroes against a resurgent vampire nation. For the first time, the many vampire tribes of the Marvel Universe are united under a common cause, and that's bad news for the human world. Expect some major heroes to be turned to the undead as this massive war unfolds.

Blood Hunt will unfold in the pages of the core miniseries by Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, but expect a lot of tie-ins to accompany that book. Most of Marvel's Avengers and Spider-Man-adjacent books will tie into the event, and several new limited series will also launch aside the main book.

Get Fury #1

Creative Team: Garth Ennis & Jacen Burrows

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: May 1

Garth Ennis doesn't often write for the Big Two publishers, but we're always excited when he does. That's especially true whenever Ennis delves into the grim and gritty world of Marvel's MAX imprint. Get Fury brings together Nick Fury and Frank Castle, arguably the two characters on which Ennis has left his greatest mark. In this Vietnam War-era story, Fury is captured by the enemy, leaving the military to dispatch Frank to bring him back by any means necessary. We're getting strong Apocalypse Now vibes from this book, which can only be a good thing.

The Whisper Queen #1

Creative Team: Chip Zdarsky & Kris Anka

Publisher: Image

Release Date: May 1

It's hard to go wrong with a creative pairing like writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Kris Anka, and we're big fans of their work on The White Trees. At long last, the two are reuniting for a new story set in the Blacksand fantasy universe. In The Whisper Queen, a former assassin named Javro must hunt down the king's killers before her son is murdered by a ghostly threat known as the Dark Whisper.

The Boy Wonder #1

Creative Team: Juni Ba

Publisher: DC

Release Date: May 7

DC's newest Black Label series comes from Monkey Meat creator Juni Ba. The Boy Wonder aims to present a fresh spin on the origin of Batman's son, Damian Wayne, and his rise as Robin. In this limited series, Damian is forced to confront the realization that he isn't Batman's first Robin and embrace the idea that he's part of a legacy bigger than himself. It sounds like a great primer for the character, and a worthwhile read for anyone who simply craves more of Damian's crimefighting adventures.

Doom #1

Creative Team: Sanford Greene & Jonathan Hickman

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: May 15

Jonathan Hickman's latest Marvel epic is quite the deviation from books House of X and G.O.D.S. In Doom #1, Hickman teams with Bitter Root's Sanford Greene for a very different take on the Fantastic Four's most iconic foe. This oversizedone-shot is set in the future, as Doom takes it upon himself to defend Earth from a ravenous Galactus. Can his mighty ego stand up to one of the most powerful forces in the Marvel Universe? We're about to find out.

Nightwing #114

Creative Team: Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo

Publisher: DC

Release Date: May 21

DC just celebrated the 300th issue of Nightwing, and now they're speeding straight ahead into one of the most important chapters of Dick Grayson's costumed career. This issue kicks off "Fallen Grayson," a story arc that explores what happens when Dick loses his ability to leap. Can he still be Nightwing when his city needs him the most? This is the climax of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo's excellent run, so it's definitely a bittersweet moment for fans of what has easily been one of the best superhero comics on the stands.

The Amazing Spider-Man #50

Creative Team: Zeb Wells, Marv Wolfman, Nikesh Shukla & Various Artists

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: May 22

Thecurrent volume of The Amazing Spider-Man reaches the all-important issue #50 mark this month, and it's shaping up to be a big one. This oversized issue features several new stories, including new material from guest creators like Marv Wolfman and Terry Dodson.

But the real news is that ASM #50 features the return of the Green Goblin. For years now, Norman Osborn has tried to prove that he's reformed and can be a crucial ally to Peter Parker rather than his worst nightmare. That all seems to be at an end, as Osborn becomes consumed by his sins once again. But is this simply a return to the status quo for Osborn, or do Zeb Wells and Ed McGuinness have another big twist in store? Hopefully we'll find out in issue #50.

Blood Squad Seven #1

Creative Team: Joe Casey & Paul Fry

Publisher: Image

Release Date: May 22

Superhero deconstruction stories are nothing new in comics, but it's not often that we see them directed at the bombastic, gritty heroes of the '90s comic book explosion. That's what Joe Casey and Paul Fry aim to do with Blood Squad Seven. This new series focuses on a team of former superhero celebrities who flamed out after the '90s, leaving a new generation to try and take up the mantle in 2024. We're expecting a book that both pays loving tribute to the '90s and skewers the more over-the-top aspects of the era, and it should be loads of fun.

Grommets #1

Creative Team: Rick Remender, Brian Posehn & Brett Parson

Publisher: Image

Release Date: May 29

We're immediately on board for any new project from Rick Remender, but this one looks especially intriguing. Grommets pairs Remender with comedian Brian Posehn and Tank Girl artist Brett Parson for a limited series steeped in 1980's skateboard culture and punk rock. The series is both a throwback to that bygone era and a timeless story of two Gen-X outcasts who find a new home in this scene.

Fall of the House of X Finale

Creative Team: Various

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: Various

We all knew the X-Men's Krakoan Age had to come to an end sooner or later, and that finale is now close at hand. May marks the end of both Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X, capping off a journey that began way back in 2019's House of X and Powers of X. Will the X-Men finally triumph over Orchis? What sort of future will there be for mutantkind when all is said and done?

May also marks the end of both the current volume of Wolverine and the Immortal X-Men epilogue X-Men Forever. We'll see Logan leap into his latest and bloodiest battle with Sabretooth in Wolverine #50, while X-Men Forever #4 promises to close out with even more startling revelations about Krakoa and its survivors. All of this paves the way for Marvel's X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch in July.

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Hello my dear friend, I cordially come to ask for an Ask. As you can imagine from my requests I'm not a big fan of the famous Yae Miko, so I wanted a M!Reader that has a problem with Yae Miko and doesn't hide it, when she arrives he leaves, when she tries to talk he just ignores her. And the explanation for this would be why she provoked him (We all know that she has a certain hobby of teasing others) in a horrible situation (Like the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship) and he took it to heart . And he always looked like a normal person with no vision, but when Yae was teasing a younger person (Above 18 of course) she witnessed the sword art of M!Reader who is currently the best swordsman in the world, and that he would attack to kill because the person she was teasing was his younger brother, and he would hate for her to break his heart with her teasing. And would he keep attacking and tearing everything in two on the way, electricity? redirected, outside interference? Just balancing combat, raiden shogun itself? Two swords and pray you don't get hit by either blade. And he completely dominates the fight, pressing Yae to a point where she really thought it would be her end, but the Brother of M!Reader stopped him explaining that he knew about Yae's provocations but he wasn't taking it seriously, narrowly saving his life. from Yokai. And the M!Reader wouldn't care if Sara or Raiden had gotten in the way, he would just hold his brother's hand and walk away as if nothing had happened, what would be the reaction of both Yae and the ''Powers'' of inazuma with such an event? And I got a little carried away, sorry

The Shrine Incident Imagines

A/N: Hello! Cordially it indeed was. So extensive, in fact, that I decided to try out a new format - this time more true to its core idea - imagines! First time doing the real thing, so I hope everyone likes it.

CW: Male!Reader.

Miko would be surprised to say the least. 

Yes, she indeed knew that annoying the army's second in command, just after his unit suffered heavy losses in the war, wasn't right. But she never expected to face actual consequences for her actions. She never did. The most Sara usually did was huff, flap her wings a bunch and leave when Miko amused herself at the Tengu's expense. 

And to think a human could have a worse temper than a Tengu… 

Miko never expected him to have a Vision. Unlike many others, he chose to hide it instead of showcasing it to the world, as a surprise element, Miko thought. And she suffered quite the shock one day indeed. 

She was just minding her own business, or rather making others uncomfortable and miserable for fun. A young soldier came to the shrine to pray. As he was leaving, Miko did her thing - caught his attention and marveled at his shy and uncomfortable reactions when she got too close and personal, both physically and in conversation. And then… 

Leave the boy alone, the man said. She looked at him with a mocking smile. Or what? 

He approached closer, standing barely a few inches away. He repeated his order. Leave. Him. Alone. 

Miko then huffed, annoyed at his rough tone. Ordering Kitsune, are we? You are either bold, or just not that gifted in the mind. 

What Miko didn't expect was him drawing his blade. He repeated the words one more time, but Miko summoned her weapon in response. Before she could give him a scolding speech, he already moved towards her. She summoned her shield, but it was shattered with a Pyro-infused strike, throwing her back. She quickly got to her feet, shaking the shock of the resistance she has not experienced from a mortal in hundreds of years. 

She moved on to attack, but the resonance between their visions made anything she threw at him next to useless. Even worse, he seemed to have a great deal of experience in using his vision in combat, as would be expected from a warrior of such high standing. Miko had to push down her pride and call for the shrine guards to help. 

The Kitsune expected them to be cut to pieces, but instead, the general stunned and disabled them without lethal blows. A strike with the flat side of the sword to the head was enough to knock down many guards, coupled with vicious kicks and punches. A few minutes were enough to turn a group of trained professionals into a mumbling mess on the floor, clutching their hurt heads and broken limbs. Miko growled in frustration - those humans were useless… 

Just as she was about to call Sara, a new face appeared on the mountain top. A younger man, dressed in uniform as well. Quite similar to the general, who was now holding Miko against a wall in his iron grasp. He stretched out his arm at the general. "Y/N! Don't hurt her!"

Y/N eased his grasp, letting Miko get a few gasps of air in. 

"I'm sure she didn't know!" 

"Know about what exactly?" Miko responded. 

Y/N turned at her, and practically growled out the words. "That man has lost his parents in the war, and came here to pray for their souls. And you, Yokai, have the nerve to strike at him in such a grim situation?"

Miko looked down, and for the first time in a hundred years, felt ashamed of herself. 

"Forgive me, general. I didn't know."

"You should ask him for forgiveness, Miko." Y/N dropped her to the ground, and left with his brother. 

Sara arrived shortly after the incident, and was understandably angry at Y/N. She was going to call him into court, until she learned all the details. The Tengu gladly crumpled up and discarded the file. She whipped up a new sheet of paper, and began writing a call for payment to the Guuji. It was her fault, and so it should be her wallet that covers the medical bills. 

The story was… honestly amusing to Ei. She had known Miko for quite a long time, and the moments when she got her due were always fun to hear about, even if the Archon didn't admit it openly. 

Both women, however, agreed on keeping a closer watch on Y/N. It was fine, as long as the small disagreement remained a one-off event. 

Thanks for reading!