#We've only got two months left of 2023 guys

[bezierballad]

Maybe I have ridiculously high expectations

But I'm desperately hoping (praying, even) that the new Fantasy Life game doesn't suck.

Like, I'm not saying that Fantasy Life i is gonna be a bad game.

Nor am I expecting the new Fantasy Life to be a perfect carbon copy of its predeccessor. That's nonsense, obviously.

But as someone who has such fond memories of playing the 3DS game, I'd like to be able to somewhat recreate those experiences.

After so many years, I want to be able to explore new fantastical environments, meet new friends, play through an engaging story, and fight mystical creatures.

And not just simply rebuild the town I'm living in i.e. Animal Crossing New Horizons fashion.

I'm hoping there's gonna be more to the game than we're being shown in the trailers, but only time will tell.

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

Let's talk about Jump GIGA

Jump GIGA covers, 2016-2024. Volumes are published (left to right per row) as Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn releases, with 2018 and 2019 briefly breaking the pattern by having three Winter and three Summer volumes each. 2023 has an Early Spring volume in addition to the standard four.

So, people have pointed out that the 2024 Spring cover is, uh, not like other covers.

But I've only seen comparisons to other MHA GIGA covers and MHA Weekly Shonen Jump covers. Out of curiosity for what GIGA's typical marketing aesthetics might be, I put together a comparison between all of Jump GIGA's covers to date.

And, um. Some things stand out, to say the least.

First, let me clarify what Jump GIGA even is: it is a seasonal magazine from Shonen Jump, published separate from Weekly Shonen Jump. SJ is an absolutely massive brand and they have a number of magazines serialized outside of the most well-known weekly magazine.

The content of Jump GIGA is primarily made up of one-shots and spin-offs. From the beginning, a lot of the appeal has been the cool cover illustrations which showcase special merchandise that comes with the purchase of GIGA. Usually the cover also promotes big things going on related to the WSJ series, like movie events, new games, or special figurines for sale.

The marketing aesthetic has been clear from the start: the cover consists of one core illustration and a number of ads surrounding it. Most often you get a cover illustration of a protagonist, and then ads and merch for other series, e.g. Food Wars protagonist cover with One Piece film promotion and Haikyuu!! merch.

The purpose of this marketing direction is pretty obvious. Spin-offs and one-shots are not likely to generate a ton of interest consistently, so they lure people in with the cool covers and tempting limited edition merchandise of the series they already know and love. In this way, highlighting one series with the cover and different series with the merch makes sense, because maybe somebody doesn't care about Food Wars, but they definitely want those Haikyuu!! stickers, stuff like that.

Starting from 2020's Autumn volume, you can see a shift. For the first time, basically all of the merchandise is for the cover series. The Demon Slayer manga had already ended five months earlier in May, but a two-chapter spin-off was scheduled for release in WSJ during October. This GIGA was released exactly one day before the second chapter was published and it capitalizes on the hype.

After this point, only MHA and Jujutsu Kaisen dominate the cover and the merch in quite this way, with Black Clover getting attention last volume as a way to highlight the fact that it actually switched syndication from WSJ to GIGA.

Anyway, most commonly the cover illustration is a solo shot of a core cast member (usually but not always the protagonist), and if it's not a solo, it's a big cast illustration.

Only a few covers focus on two characters, and usually it's a crossover as opposed to characters from same series sharing the limelight.

Here we've got Food Wars' protagonist with the main characters from Dr. Stone and Act-Age.

The two covers most similar to the Izuku & Kacchan cover are 2022 Winter and 2023 Autumn.

Winter depicts the main trio of Blue Box in a seasonally-appropriate aesthetic. Not gonna lie, this one kinda makes me laugh--Blue Box is a romance and sports manga, and even though Christmas has a romantic air to it in Japan, instead of depicting any sort of like, hesitant but hopeful romantic energy between the heterosexual couple that actually get together later in the series, they focus primarily on the two girls being cute with the guy is a wee footnote? I mean, all right.

Meanwhile, Autumn depicts one of the protagonists with the series antagonist with a typical cool action style. I'm not very familiar with JJK, but I hear these two have got Some Drama going on, so, there's that.

The merch itself has also evolved over the years. Stickers and posters were present early on, but they have since expanded to decorative folders and now acrylic stands and coasters. 2021 Summer sees the first time the cover illustration is marketed as merch, with the Jujutsu Kaisen cover included as a decorative folder.

Right after that, the Kacchan cover of 2021 Autumn is included as a poster alongside earlier covers featuring Todoroki and Izuku.

2023 Summer's cover is a huge, wrap-around MHA cast illustration and it was published three days after chapter 396 came out, strategically timed to highlight the big shift in the final battle as Ochako vs Toga ends and All Might vs. AFO begins. Merch includes a decorative folder of the wrap-around cover and character motif stickers.

And then we get this!?

A duo cover illustration where the cover art itself has been merchandised to hell and back!?!?

Acrylic stand and pin set!?

Double-sided coaster showing bkdk greatest hits!? With volume 29's river scene cover!?

There's also a double-sided poster featuring the Spring cover with the ninth popularity poll art and a decorative bag with the anniversary art. The cover art itself is plastered all over the volume, front, back, and spine, apparently a total of 19 times.

I honestly don't know what to say about this. It feels wild that this is actually what the cover is. Obviously it is a huge marketing push in anticipation of season 7, and Izuku and Katsuki are the most popular characters, but. it just feels... unique.

In the course of Jump GIGA's publication, this direction is kind of unprecedented. Genuinely no one could have expected this. This seems to be the first time there's been this much merch for a cover. And it was a solid fucking move, marketing-wise--it's sold out basically everywhere, everyone is talking about it. And even people who don't follow the series or ship these two can't help but comment on how strikingly romantic it looks!?

I don't know how much say Horikoshi had in what the cover was, but damn it sure feels like he drew this with immense affection. I kind of wonder if he personally pushed for it to be these two, rather than the typical solo shot, cast shot, or even a protagonist vs. antagonist shot.

I'm KO'd, man. idek if this post is useful to anybody I'm just on my hands and knees here.

Everybody knows what we're all here for, and it's these cute boys finally getting their happy ending.

[miakate-writes]

HIHIHIHI. this isn’t a prompt ig BUT IT KINDA IS. im wondering about love story prompts but YOUR love story 😭. i love hearing abt people’s crushes and tea in general 💀.

you mentioned you had a bf(ITHINK) SO LIKE DROP THE LOVE STORY???? if you’re comfortable in saying ofcofc and it doesnt have to have that much details if you’re not comfortable in sharing it..

GIRLLLL U ARE NOT READY (also tysm for this ask, any opportunity to talk about him 🫶🏻)

also idk how i want to lay this out so i’m just gonna tell u some deets bc i love him sm :)

so basically i’ve liked him since october 2022 and we started dating on april 24th 2023 (the day before my birthday if anyone cares)

defo a “she fell first, he fell harder”

after talking for a painful month (i think it was a month but i’m not really sure bc i didnt even know what a talking stage was or how to know when ur in one), i asked him out

now, the asking him out process was a very stressful one - i had to go downstairs from my bedroom and make myself a VERY strong coffee to get me through it and after screaming a lot, jumping up and down a lot, and my mum and brother crossing their fingers for me, i managed to send that hella risky text and *boom* he felt the same way

the week of our photography exam (we shared a class which is how we got to spend so much time together during secondary school) he bought a flask of coffee into school and we shared it and i got all excited bc it was an "indirect kiss"

our first kiss was on 22nd June, i had been building up to kissing him for like a month and i even started to get my friend to hint to him that he should kiss me - but i beat him to it and kissed him before he left my house that day, then went and celebrated with my mum <3

we went to prom together in July after we had been dating for a while and he said "i love you" while we were dancing - not to slow music bc prom was shit and they only played disco music - and he now will never let it go that he beat me to saying "i love you" even though i asked him out and i kissed him first

he's been the literal best person ever in terms of helping me through all my mental health shenanigans (there's so much going on guys) and i love him so much for it

its been 8 months and 3 days now and i've literally never been happier and i have a small feeling that he feels the same

yea guys we're gonna get married and have 2 kids, 2 dogs and a cat

(might do a part two to this of like stupid quotes that we've said bc this is so fun el oh el)

[fratboykate]

How does Tom handle Kate being pregnant because I figure the answer is, uhm, not well 🙃 Especially as she gets more and more pregnant and he can't deny it in his mind anymore

---

I can only imagine how much of his shit Tom loses when Kate announces she and Yelena are having a baby. I feel like he shows up piss poor drunk at there place. And of course he’s got some choice words for Yelena who’s just trynna be cool. Wonder if Kate ever heard him talking about his shit and she just casually slips in “Yeah, she’s the best I’ve ever had.” To get him to shut the fuck up

///

Okay so I got a lot of variations of these two asks. You guys are always asking for "Part 2" but this is...a prequel lol. This is two weeks before Ri's 9th birthday party which you got some time last week. I think it gives a little context for where everyone was at mentally at that party and what set some things in motion. Anyway...here is 5.1k of...“How A Bitter Ex Ruins A Baby Shower”...bookended with fluff because I’m my 2023 resolution is to be nicer to you lol It’s definitely like a 2:1 ration of fluff to angst because...again...look at me being nice.

---

Yelena feels Kate's lips gliding up her shoulder past her neck and land on her earlobe. When they reach their destination, Kate’s teeth barely graze the skin before she pulls with a soft, playful bite and whispers.

"Your alarm started ringing twelve minutes ago. It was really getting on my nerves, so I turned it off. Wake up. We have so much to do today. We NEED to be ready and out the door by 9:30." Yelena grins into her pillow but refuses to open her eyes. "I know you're awake...No? Shame because Ri is somehow still asleep and these hormones have my sex drive through the roof. Woke up drenched. But I guess no one’s around to help me take care of the problem." Kate flips onto her back. And she waits. "No one? Not one person around?" Yelena finally peeks over her shoulder and back at her wife with sleepy eyes and a devilish smile. "Took you long enough. I'm so horny and I think she has MAYBE fifteen more minutes of sleep left in her, so we gotta be quick." Yelena's smile grows, but she doesn't move. "What?! What are you looking at?! Since when does my wife turn down ANY opportunity for sex? I'm handing it willingly. Don't even have underwear on. Zero obstacles in your way."

Yelena cackles while rolling over and using her elbow to hover over her wife.

"I got my period last night."

"Yeah, well..." Kate throws the cover off herself, revealing her taut eight-month pregnant belly. "...I clearly didn't. You can do me. Besides, you know I don't care. Wouldn't be the first time we've been there, done that."

Yelena sleepily chuckles anew and bends down to dotingly kiss the brunette.

"I feel like shit, love. Truly like someone ran me over. Can I get a rain check? I can get you something from the closet. To...help with “the problem”. Can't have my wife walking around unsatisfied. More than happy to watch. Would make my morning, actually."

Kate pouts and pulls Yelena down to her, forcing the blonde to nuzzle into her neck.

"No. I wanted you. Boooooooo."

"I'm sorry."

"You definitely owe me."

"You can cash in anytime I don't feel like my insides are being torn with shears."

"Did you take anything?"

"Yeah. Cramps kept me up half the night. I took something like three hours ago but hasn’t really helped."

Kate lifts Yelena's head to survey her face.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"What the hell would I do that for?"

"So I could keep you company? Rub your tummy?"

"I'm not eight, baby. That works on Ri, not me."

"You don't know that."

Yelena smiles and lies back on Kate's chest. In response, Kate envelops her in an intimate embrace, pulling her in as close and tight to her body as she can muster. Yelena rests her hand on Kate’s exposed belly and caresses it. The baby promptly responds to the touch, stretching out, leaving the little imprint of a limb poking through the strained skin. Yelena drags her fingers over and ghosts her digits over the same spot. 

"So close," Yelena mutters while Kate runs her fingertips through the slept-on, blonde braid trying to break it loose. 

"I know."

"Five weeks...Feels like forever but not enough at the same time...Are you as scared as I am?"

"Terrified." They both laugh. "You wanna know what makes me feel better?" Yelena 'hmmms' and tilts her head to make eye contact with Kate. "Getting to hold a tiny thing with your face." Kate traces the contour of Yelena's face with the tip of her index finger. "And your nose." Then the bridge of her nose. "And your lips." Then the outline of her lips. "And your eyes. I can't wait. Terrified but so excited."

They opted to use Yelena's egg for the pregnancy Kate is carrying. It's how they both get to be a part of the baby's gestation. If they ever decide to have a second child, Yelena will carry a baby conceived with Kate's egg and sperm from the same donor they used for this baby. That is their way of ensuring their children are blood-related. Not that it would have mattered to them at all if they were or not. But it was a small thing they thought made it extra special.

"But you have...Ri. You say we look the same all the time."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah."

A piercing clanking coming from the kitchen abruptly rumbles through the house. Eight-year-old Ereka is awake and on the prowl.

"Hurricane Ereka. Category 5. Alert!" Yelena jokes.

"One of us has to go make sure she isn't burning the place down."

"Uhum."

Neither of them moves.

"Yel..."

Yelena whines.

"I'm comfortable for the first time in hours! We invested in a top-of-the-line fire system for a reason. Something would be beeping or shrieking by now if she was setting something on fire."

"Is that what we're doing? Delegating childcare to AI or whatever that thing is?"

"It cost thirty grand! The least it could do is watch our kid for half an hour while I nap on your limited edition, extra comfy boobs for a bit."

The distinct crack of something large and fragile shattering and exploding into a million pieces in the distance forces an involuntary sigh out of Kate.

"THAT ONE DEFINITELY BROKE!"

They hear the almost nine-year-old Ereka holler from the kitchen, already tinting her voice with shades of ignorance as to what could have possibly happened. 

"DO NOT MOVE AN INCH! MOMMA'S COMING!"

Kate shouts in response while pushing Yelena off her and the bed.

"Why am I the mom on duty?!"

"Because you’re the mom with pants on. There’s glass everywhere, she can’t stay still for more than three seconds, and I’m now moving at the speed of molasses." Yelena grunts and begrudgingly heads for the door. "Oh, and babe, you should look into getting a refund on those thirty grand. That thing is a terrible nanny."

Yelena playfully flips her wife off on her way out the door.

"Ri, what the frick are you doing in the kitchen by yourself?!" Yelena admonishes the girl as she runs to her.

Kate can vividly envision the guiltless, ostensibly angelic face Ereka will be making when Yelena walks into the kitchen. Kate is also well aware that “wasn’t me” face will be Ereka's "get out of jail" card even though she is quite literally standing at the crime scene. Yelena is putty in that child’s hands, Ereka knows this, and sometimes takes advantage of that knowledge to walk away scot-free if Yelena is the one supposed to be dishing out consequences to actions.

---

Kate became fixated on the idea that she wanted her baby shower on a rooftop, by a pool, with a picturesque city skyline view. The three things individually? Perfectly doable. Together? IN NEW YORK CITY? IN LATE AUGUST?! Damn near impossible. Not happening. 

Thankfully for Kate, she has a filthy rich mother, an unwavering wife, and a Type A elite event planner for the stars hired by the aforementioned women. The event planner is there to make each and every one of Kate’s obstinate, affluent, hormonal girl fantasies come true. Truthfully, she’s also there so Yelena and Eleanor can survive this with their sanity intact and that doesn't have a price tag. The family has two large social events essentially back to back this month, and if they can get someone else to handle Kate and her needs related to those things, everyone will be better for it. So hire an event planner they did and off Kate went...

One of Eleanor's friends knows someone who knows someone who could make the call to give them the okay to shut down the hotel’s rooftop pool Kate fell in love with for a day. Eleanor wrote a blank check and threw caution to the wind. Susan has made it clear she is never having children and Kate has been exceedingly vocal that this was it for her, so if Eleanor is only paying for one baby shower in her life, it will be a grand ol' time.

The theme Kate went with for the event is a “classy summer tea party”. The tables are set with authentic vintage British china and silverware. A tea sommelier makes personal recommendations on which tea to choose from the endless assortment of top-shelf global teas and then brews cups for each guest. Silver cake stands overflow with scones, sandwiches, mini cakes, patisseries, and jams from the best pastry chefs in the city. The kaleidoscopic flower and balloon arrangements put most weddings to shame. The women are expected to wear floral dresses and fancy hats to match the theme. 

While the official baby shower only runs from 11-2PM, they've closed down the entire rooftop and pool area until 8PM. Whoever wants to stay and hang out, swim, have drinks, or watch the sunset over dinner is more than welcome to do so. Male friends and partners are also invited to swing by in the afternoon. 

Unlike most traditional showers, this venue has no pink or blue in sight. Kate and Yelena decided not to find out the gender of the baby. At least, that's what they’ve told everyone. No one, not a soul, knows that they know. It’s been easier that way. 

Since Ereka could form sentences, she's been asking for a little sister. It's been incessant, well beyond the point of evolving into a full-fledged nuisance. When they decided to start trying, they kept it from the little girl. IVF can be a long, arduous process and adding her to the mix was merely going to complicate an already physically and emotionally draining circumstance further. It’s why they decided to keep her in the dark. Kate and Yelena went through a few failed rounds, then...success. When Kate is far enough along that they feel it prudent to share the big news, when they tell Ereka she’s finally going to be a big sister, Kate and Yelena don't think they've ever seen that child any happier. She hasn't come down from cloud eleven since. Ereka talks about her little sister to anyone who will listen. Problem is...Ereka's “little sister” is actually...a little brother. The ultrasound tech saw that penis clear as day on Kate's fourteen-week ultrasound and they've triple-checked on every appointment ever since. At this point, it'd be an act of god if that baby wasn't born with a penis because they've looked at it from every angle at Kate and Yelena's behest and it’s always there. 

Kate and Yelena have more or less been living in modest denial and trying to will the willy away, as they strongly feel that extra and unexpected bit of anatomy will not go down well with their daughter. It's more than a strong feeling. They know that with certainty and are endeavoring to put off sharing the information for as long as possible. None of this means they're being irresponsible about their approach. As the birth becomes imminent and the truth harder to conceal, they've begun consulting a family therapist to gradually help them lay the groundwork for when the baby comes and they ultimately have to detonate this bomb on the unsuspecting and eager eight-year-old.

---

The Bishop-Belova trio exit the elevator on the top floor of the ostentatious five-star Brooklyn hotel negligibly late at 11:13AM. Depending on which of them you ask, they'll each blame someone different for the tardiness. 

Kate wears a yellow fitted dress with thin straps, a crossover cutout detail that gives a baby bump peek, and a v-neckline that Yelena is quite fond of. This outfit is not at all a “classy tea party” look, but at the very last minute, Kate isn’t feeling the dress she bought for the party and decides she needs to change. If you ask Yelena, this is the reason why they’re late. 

When Kate tells Yelena she has to choose a yellow statement piece since that's what she and Ereka are doing, Yelena agrees. Easy enough. Yelena initially wears a light yellow button-down with a navy suit and yellow pocket square. Yelena likes the look. It’s a solid look. She thinks she might even look rather attractive in it. Kate, not so much. Kate flips and makes her wife change the suit because "Blue is for boy. You're being too obvious." and Yelena has to change. That's how Yelena lands on her current very bland and gender-neutral combination of: yellow shirt, a tan blazer, and khakis. If you ask Kate, Yelena having to change is the reason why they’re late.

Before they step into the madness of greeting, mixing, and mingling, Kate knows she needs a quiet moment with Yelena. She taps Ereka’s shoulder blade and jostles her towards the doors that lead to the roof and pool. 

“Go find grandma and Suzu. We’ll be right there.”

They watch her go and once the girl has disappeared past the glass doors, Kate pulls her wife into one of the indoor private cabanas behind them and quickly pecks her lips, then runs her thumb over them to wipe her lipstick off.

"The main thing is only three hours, then most people you have murderous fantasies about are going to leave and the people you can somewhat tolerate will stay. You like Greer.” 

“Greer’s fine. She’s funny. Sometimes.”

“Exactly. So I made sure you’re sitting next to her. It’s a few silly games, pictures, jokes, ha ha ha, people, joy. All so unfamiliar and very terrible. I know. But you're not going to die. You'll make it. I promise. I love you more than life. Just roll with it. They're not laughing at you; they're laughing with you."

"I'm only here for you."

Kate kisses Yelena once more and speaks against her lips.

"I know."

"No, I'm not saying it to guilt trip you or something. I'm just saying I wouldn't do this shit for anyone else. That's how much I love you."

"I know. I know. You're a grouch, but you're my grouch." Yelena grunts and rolls her eyes. "I truly do love that you’re a ‘get off my lawn’ eighty-year-old man trapped in this young body." Kate cops a feel of Yelena’s ass and squeezes it. "Big fan of the сексуальный русский [sexy Russian] body."

"I should’ve never taught you how to say that."

"I did insist.”

"You did...And I’m not THAT big of a grouchy old man."

"Baby...you LITERALLY chased kids off our lawn the other day. Literally."

"That thing they were playing with was ripping the grass out! I still have to talk to Javier and see if it’s okay or if we’re going to have to mow the whole thing down and wait for it to regrow evenly.”

"Okay, Grandpa Cyrus. I think it’s time for your meds."

"Weren’t you just trying to grope Grandpa Cyrus?"

"Listen, Grandpa, you’re very hot and I’m very horny. You have no idea. I don’t know how you have clothes on right now. I could be tearing them off with my teeth."

Yelena hangs her head back laughing.

"That’s not tea party behavior, love."

"I’m well aware. Part of the reason why you’re not naked right now.”

"Let's get it over with then. Sooner you get me home, sooner you can take my clothes off."

Yelena places her hand on the small of Kate's back, and gently nudges her, guiding her to the door.

"That's the spirit! We'll get you a drink first because I'm a good wife. I'd never make you do this sober. I know who I married."

Guests are already milling about and cheer for them when they make their grand, if ever so slightly shameful, delayed entrance.

---

About an hour and a half later, the function is in full swing. So far, they've managed to play the infamous blind diaper changing game, “Songs With Baby In The Title”, and "How Old Was She?" featuring the most embarrassing photos of Kate and Yelena that Eleanor and Alexei could dredge up.

They're currently in the midst of "You're Craving WHAT?!". Kate's cravings have been LUDICROUS this pregnancy. Yelena figured that if she has had to put up with them, it is only fair for everyone else to do so too. Guests get blindfolded and sample some of the things Kate's been willingly putting in her mouth, then try to guess what's in them. This is the only game that didn't make Yelena’s body fill with dread when she thought about this day the last few weeks, perhaps because she came up with it. She may be a baby shower game genius because, unlike the previous ones, this one hasn't brought her to the edge of suicide even once in the last fifteen minutes. Hard to admit, but...she could conceivably be having a good time.

"KATE, WHAT IS THIS?!" Kate’s blindfolded friend inquires while toiling to chew the sickening blend currently destroying her taste buds. 

"Cottage cheese, clementines, spicy ahi tuna, and chocolate milk," Yelena reveals with a delighted grin.

Kate's work friend gags violently and spits the mush onto a napkin.

"My mouth is watering. Hand it over. So good." Kate extends her hand and the cup with the foul concoction starts to make its way down to her.

"That baby is coming out and first thing it's going to do is ask you to say sorry, Kate. The hell...I'm finding out things about you I didn't want to know. What do you mean you've been making my niece eat pulled pork with frosting and alfredo sauce?! That's jail time!" Greer chimes in and the table roars with laughter.

"KitKat, you look so beautiful."

"DADDY!"

The guests turn to find the source of the voice coming from behind them. Before Kate can hold her, Yelena is already on her feet and stamping toward a visibly intoxicated Tom.

Kate exchanges a furtive glance with Susan, who understands and takes firm hold of Ereka, preventing the girl from going after them.

"Dude..."

The distance between where Yelena sat and Tom stands isn’t inconsiderable, yet she reaches him in what seems like a blink. Once she’s in front of him, she continuously rams her open palms across his chest until she’s thrust his body inside, away from everyone.

"Do you have mental problems? Is that the issue here? Do we need to have you committed?"

Kate finally reaches them and jerks Yelena away from Tom. Kate glares at Tom and points at the side door that leads to a small adjacent room filled with a few tables and loungers. 

"Go over there." When he starts walking, Kate turns her attention back to her wife. “Let me handle it.”

“You always ‘handle it’ and we still have the issue.”

“I’ll handle it.”

After a beat, Yelena attempts to force herself past Kate. Kate drives her back. 

“I’m going over there.”

“If you go over there, I’m afraid you’ll kill him.”

“Exactly. Problem solved forever.”

Kate doesn't even dignify that with a response. She simply steps away and walks to where Tom waits, leaving the door ajar.

“No.”

“KitKat.”

“No.”

“CupKate.”

“No. We’re not doing this today.”

“KaterTot.”

“I probably always hated that one the most. You have to go home.”

“I don’t even care that it’s another man’s baby...”

That incenses Kate.

“It’s not ‘some other man’s baby’! It’s Yelena’s baby!”

“...I’ll raise it...Oh come on! We both know that’s not true!”

“There’s more to being a parent than DNA.”

“Spare me the gay agenda bullshit. There’s a mom and there’s a dad. That’s how babies are made. THAT is some random guy’s baby...” Tom softens up again. “...and I’m totally fine raising it. I want to! I don’t even care! It can be the four of us.”

“I’ve fucking had it with you. I’ve had it. How did you even find out where we were?...Did you text Ri?!...Leave her out of this. Leave her out of it. There’s no reason she should be mixed up in this.”

“I think she should have a say in whether she wants mommy and daddy to be together.”

Kate closes her eyes and takes a centering breath. She refuses to allow herself to lose her cool on this man. Not for his sake, but because she knows if she does, she’s going to go ballistic and it wouldn’t be healthy for her baby.

“Kids don’t get a say in adult matters. Especially not on ones that aren’t a fucking possibility, Thomas.”

Kate expresses with as much composure as she can summon.

“They could be IF YOU STOPPED BEING SO FUCKING STUBBORN AND STUPID!”

Tom leans in to scream in Kate’s face. Yelena's been watching through the door crack and he got much too close to Kate for Yelena's comfort. She’s done waiting. Yelena stomps over, bursts through with such force that the door ricochets off the wall, and grabs Tom by the arm without saying a word, dragging him behind her.

“Yel...Yelena.”

“Let me fucking go.”

Tom fights back, but Yelena’s grip on his arm is iron tight. She continues to wordlessly drag him to the elevator with Kate hot on their tail.

“Yelena, I was handling it.”

Tom aggressively shoves Yelena trying to get her to loosen her grip and that’s her tipping point. That’s her last straw. Her martial arts training kicks in and she swipes his legs, sending him to the floor with a thud. He whines pathetically on impact. 

“Give me one good reason for why I shouldn’t beat your ass right now. Just one. Because I can come up with plenty for why I should.”

Kate pulls Yelena back away from him and glares at her.

“Stop! Stop it.” Kate turns to Tom. "Please leave. Please. Please. PLEASE. I don't want you here. We can talk some other day. Please. We’ll talk. Just go."

"Okay, KitKat." Tom gets on his feet and walks over to Kate. Yelena steps between them and they have a staredown but being much taller allows him to lean above her and place a wet kiss on Kate's cheek regardless. "We can talk another day."

He calmly heads for the elevator and his eyes don't leave Kate and her body until the elevator arrives and he steps on it.

"'We can talk some other day'?! THAT'S THE SHIT THAT FUCKING FEEDS HIS DELUSION, KATE? WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Is he gone or not?"

Kate flings back coldly. 

"Until you let me and him beat the shit out of each other, I feel like we'll have a problem. I'm a jiu-jitsu brown belt. Why do you think I can't take him?"

Kate steps up to Yelena, directly to her face. At least as close as her pregnant stomach will allow her to get.

"I don't give A FUCK if you can give him a black eye or break his arm or not. I'm sure you could. That's irrelevant. You are a licensed attorney. You catch a charge, we have a problem. A big problem. You think he doesn't know that? You think he wouldn't LOVE that? He works with his family. He can be angry, and obsessed, and delusional, and slowly become an alcoholic all he wants. He's never getting fired. His last name is on the business cards, on the trucks, on the warehouses. What are you not getting?"

"Then let me talk to my dad. He'll make some calls. It'll actually be handled."

Yelena shrugs, nonplussed. Kate backs away, head shaking with incredulity. 

"For the sake of our marriage, I'm gonna pretend you didn't just threaten to have Alexei’s crazy Russian mafia buddies kill my daughter's father."

"I didn't say kill. Never said kill."

"Please stop talking."

Kate bites back curtly. Yelena becomes irate.

"Then what do you want me to fucking do?! What do you want me to do? Because I can't keep standing by while he treats you like shit, treats her like shit, and makes our lives fucking miserable. You ask me to let you ‘handle it’, but nothing ever changes. You won't let me beat the shit out of him and you won't let me get guys who will, so what do you want me to do? Tell me because I don't fucking know what to do anymore, Kate." Yelena's shoulders sag and in an instant, she shifts from livid to defeated. "I don't know what to do, but I can't keep living like this. I don't want to...I don't want him to have to."

Kate approaches, holds Yelena's hand, and places it on her belly.

"I don't want that either...but..."

"Fuck, Kate. What? What is it? What excuse is it now?"

"The next few weeks are gonna be so crazy. Baby's coming soon. I want this to be about us. I don't wanna do anything that's going to send Tom into a spiral or do something crazy. Her party is in two weeks..."

Yelena cuts her off.

"Has he told you if he's coming or not?"

"No. And if he does..."

"I don't want him there."

"...IF HE DOES...I need you to be the bigger person. For her. That's her day. Not a day for you two to have a pissing contest."

"Why can’t you tell him not to come?"

"He's her dad and it's her birthday, Yel."

"So what?! If he makes our lives fucking hell...so what? When does it stop? When do we say enough?!"

"He's never gonna hurt anyone. He's...sad. That’s it."

"It's been YEARS. What the hell does he still have to be sad about? Go to fucking therapy and stop making it our problem...I can't listen to this again."

Yelena walks out.

"Yelena."

---

Kate steps out from the room to find Yelena hovering by the elevators, pressing the buttons furiously as if that'll make them go faster.

"What are you doing?"

"I feel awful, Kate. Cramps are fucking killing me. I just want to curl up and lie down."

"Please don't make me go back out there by myself."

"I feel like actual dirt and I would very much like to go home." Kate stares at her, silently pleading. "You know I won't be able to say 'no' if you ask me again. Please don't ask me because I want to leave."

DING! The elevator arrived.

"I won't ask, but I don't want you to go."

Kate utters shakily, barely above a whisper, tears threatening to fall. Yelena closes her eyes and locks her jaw. She grunts as the elevator doors start to move toward each other and rests her head against the cold metal of the door jamb once it’s fully closed and on its way back down.

"I feel like shit."

"I'm sorry. You can go. My mom and Suze are here. All my friends are here. It’s fine. Call it back up. You don’t have to stay."

Kate walks to her wife and hugs her sideways, pressing a kiss to her temple, and whispering into her ear.

"Go home. I love you."

Yelena shakes her head.

"It's fine. It's your day. It's baby boy's day. I can suck it up."

"Not true. It's your day too. We're a team."

"Doesn't feel like it sometimes."

Kate holds Yelena tighter.

"I meant it when I said ‘not right now’. It doesn't mean forever. Baby could come tomorrow or six weeks from now and I don't want chaos in the background whenever it happens. But..." Kate leans back to look at Yelena. "...as soon as we settle once he's here, let's get a lawyer. Tom loves to threaten with them all the time. Let's finally do it. We have witnesses. We have proof. We have nothing to lose. But I need you to give me a few months. I need these weeks to be about the three of us. Shut Tom out. He doesn't matter. We matter. Baby Russ matters. Okay? Give me thirty more minutes and then we can go home. Yeah? Deal?"

"Kate, you had them shut down this whole thing until eight. You can't go home at..." Yelena looks at her watch. "...one thirty. That's insane. It probably cost your mom like ten years worth of college tuition funds to do this."

Kate chuckles. 

"She refuses to tell me."

"We're not going home. It's fine. I'll live."

"If you wanna leave, I won't stop you. But please don’t sneak out. At least tell me beforehand this time. I hate when you do that."

"Sure. Whatever. I'm fineeeee. Let's go." Yelena nudges Kate and they start walking, arm in arm, back to the outdoor area while talking. "It's our party. I don’t need to sneak out of my own party. I just need a drink. By now, people either think we died or are having the craziest sex somewhere."

"I'm not opposed to..."

"Not happening, Kate Bishop."

"That's me getting shut down for sex three times in one day. In case you're keeping track of the ones you owe me."

"I always pay my debts."

"I'm expecting you to."

The party faces are back on when they become visible to the guests through the glass doors. Isn’t all of life a performance anyway?

[b0nelessdoodles]

Art Summary 2023

shoutout to the one month were i drew fanart and then everything else was just dnd content again lmao (also shoutout to me being late to posting this haaaaa)

2023 wasn't the best year for me personally. between money problems and job searching, health issues, mental health issues, unintentional discomfort at my new job, and the overall issues of the world it just hasn't been great and I felt it heavily in my creativity. I never really had any creative highs this year outside of artfight (and even then i felt like i didn't do well) which only fed into some of the issues I was having.

But looking back I am really happy with most of what I made! Sure I didn't draw much but hey I think I popped off when I did!

So here is to 2024! Already off to a good start in the art department and even if I slow down at least I've had fun so far!

(i was gonna put me gushing about things in tags but its a lot so i'm doing a read more this post is already so damn long lmao i'm sorry)

okay i'm here to gush about two pieces at a time and their contents cause then make me happy to look at so lets get started on that with march and september 'cause hey! look at the relationship development of my little goblin guy!

march was when kk (tic's best friend and now boyfriend) first appeared to the rest of the party outside of just tic talking about him. literally the entire party could see that kk was in love with tic and was just like "oh buddy sorry about that" 'cause tic was a dumbass and romance was just never something he thought about until meeting the party. then we flash forward to september where the two confessed to each other after what really felt like the end of tic's story arc. at least it felt that way to me 'cause he reached his goal of killing groll and becoming the king of goblins but i know he still has shit to do I'M LOOKING AT YOU TRAVELLER AND RIP! but yeah that was the whole reason he left and it was done. he did it! but it almost cost him kk and the two ended up having a really important talk about it. kk chewed tic out and spilled his guts and i still think about it a lot holy shit it was so good omfg but it was in that moment that it clicked for tic. that if he had actually lost kk he had no idea what he would do, that he felt like his whole life would fall apart without him. and just man it was good wholesome content. congrats to the goblins for being the first canon relationship! (even tho they were not the first confession that one goes to rhami!)

now that that block of the text is out of the way we get to more depressing ones, those being january and october with my guy, dr. cecil wilfree.

its just.... man. what do i even say about him. january was probably the last moment before his life went into a full downward spiral, eventually leading into his demise. that piece isn't even anything major but rather something like a reminder going "hey, remember when wilfree had two normal eyes? good times!" and just man (-insert that image of a horse standing on the beach-) compare that to where he's at in october and knowing what happened in those 10 months? january he still had trust and hope, he believed that he was going to get back home and help river out with his plague, maybe even get aster home if she'd let them, maybe find a way to cure himself and help casey. but by the end there was no hope and he found out that he had been used, was nothing more than a tool for someone who he trusted, despite knowing that he really shouldn't have. river was dead and it was his fault (at least in his mind it was), he had failed to protect aster and traumatized both her and willow, and he could do nothing to save an entire population from being wiped off the face of the map. and he caved under the guilt. he gave up. its sad to see him alive and pissy in january and then look at december and see a shell of the same man, no more thoughts in that head as his mind got disconnected from his body and self.

and then for extra sads we've got december which was his birth month, so i drew something from a time before the campaign. back when he was alive and well, no soul curse and unknowing of the horrors yet to come, and receiving a gift from someone whose life he could soon destroy due to his own hubris.

anyway! pay no mind to may! i didn't draw a damn thing that whole month!

[f1]

Aussie billionaire reveals plan to launch Formula One team with first female driver for decades

Aussie tech billionaire reveals stunning plan to launch his own Formula One team - with the sport's first female driver for decades  Aussie billionaire wants to launch new F1 team  David Dicker wants female F1 driver to race  Dicker says Jamie Chadwick could fit the bill  By James Cooney For Daily Mail Australia Published: 03:30 EDT, 4 May 2023 | Updated: 03:30 EDT, 4 May 2023 An Aussie tech billionaire has revealed his extraordinary plan to launch his own Formula One team out of a remote location in New Zealand with the sport's first female driver in decades. David Dicker, the head of Dicker Data Australia, has founded Rodin Cars - a passion project which manufactures small boutique race cars out of Christchurch on the country's South Island. The wealthy tech guru has recently bought into well-known racing team Carlin, which runs in Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula 4. Dicker has also funded W Series champion Jamie Chadwick during her career - and has stated that he'd be happy to put her in his F1 car. He wants to expand Formula 1's presence away from the mainly Europe-based teams, stating he has more than $465million in resources to fund the bid. An Aussie tech guru has revealed his bold plan to launch his own Formula One team out of New Zealand, with the sport's first female driver in decades, Jamie Chadwick (pictured) David Dicker (pictured left) has recently bought into well-known racing team Carlin - and has also funded W Series champion Chadwick (pictured right) during her career 'We'll make the whole car here and we guarantee to put a woman in one of the seats,' Dicker told Motor Sport Magazine. 'We'd be the only team that's got a full junior program. We've been covering the entire spectrum from F4 all the way up to F2 and no one else is even close to doing it. 'A lot of people would be really interested in getting a team that was based in New Zealand into the F1 program. It'd do a lot for Formula 1.' To obtain a FIA Super License needed to compete in F1, a minimum of 40 points is required over three previous racing seasons. Chadwick, who was won the W series three times, is the only female driver who currently qualifies.  The deadline for an expression of interest from Dicker has reportedly been extended from April 30 to May 15. Two new teams could enter Formula 1 as early as 2025, although options are available for 2026 and 2027. 'It's obviously a crazy scheme and I can't imagine that we'd be successful,' said Dicker. Dicker has said he'd be happy to put Chadwick in his F1 car - which he wants to build out of his base in New Zealand 'But if you look at it, if you look at our actual resources, we actually have a very compelling offering. 'I've been thinking about it for a couple of months to be honest. Just sort of oscillated back and forth about whether to apply or not. 'We actually have a very compelling offering because we'll be making our own power unit 'I'm sure none of the other guys that are pitching in for now I'm going to make their own power unit. 'We've already got a pretty sophisticated facility. We've got a tonne of gear. So, you know, we've got pretty much all the equipment we already need now to build the car.' Share or comment on this article: Aussie billionaire reveals plan to launch Formula One team with first female driver for decades via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[gauravp01]

#116

Sat, 21 Jan 2022; 7:26 pm

Just woke up from the evening nap, which is not unusual these days.

When I write the blogs, I might use some words which could not convey the actual meaning of the sentence because of my limited vocabulary since I'm not native English speaker. It's the language I use in writing only, or maybe in a few phone calls sometimes... Still I try to communicate in the best possible way...

Two or three days ago I had discussed the POV of others needs to be understood before saying anything in some situation... It was in a similar context and anything that we see is usually biased from our prerequisites...

Let me tell you a story.

Four blind people were once passing through a forest. They encountered a giant elephant there. They went closer to it and tried to know what it was. All of them were standing at different positions with different body parts of the elephant in their hands.

The person with the feet said that it was a tree. It's a snake, says the one holding the trunk. The person holding the tail said, "It is a branch of a tree." The last one had the torso (main body) in his hands. He perceived it as a giant rock.

This is how we perceive things. We are not less than those four blind people. The situations that we encounter daily are the elephant and we all have different body parts of it in our hands. As per our understanding, we evaluate the things and usually go to a conclusion that seems perfectly fine to our understanding and is generally biased. It is normal human psychology that is not limited to some individuals.

A few lines yesterday were about the unexpected behaviour of mine. The sudden changes that occur in my behaviour, especially after the second wave of C*VID.

It was mid of 2021. The second wave was at its peak. It was the time I started facing some problems. I was very unstable for a few months and maybe I have discussed this in some previous blogs. It is 2023 now and still I can't sleep properly. I want to sleep early, but I can't. Too much has improved since then, maybe because of the change in routine as well.

Panic attacks were very common those days. Started sleeping with mmy papa and had even developed a "fear" from sleeping... I was convinced that it's very common, but not for me. Some days it felt like it was the end... End of everything...

I even had to go for the sleeping pills that used to make me unconscious in daytime as well😅😅

I left everything. Already I had left a highly paying job. During the time, I even left the studies and tried to divert my mind from everything... Started watching movies, that I rarely do...

I started disconnecting from the world. Away from all social media. Started hating phone calls and WhatsApp chats. Still I avoid gatherings. Haven't celebrated my birthday for 3 years now. I even changed my numbers to minimise the contact with others.

Friends from MSc had planned multiple trips but I mostly avoided them. I am sorry guys... I lied every time. I didn't have any online class or some important work at my home. These were excuses to avoid trips.

But I believe in one thing. Anything that happens, is for some good reason. The same happened this time as well. Apart from all the negatives, a few things were in my favour. It completely changed my views on life. I realised the value of life we've got. Tried to know the real purpose of life. Went through multiple videos on the same... Dived into a world of spirituality... I still remember myself watching a video titled, "What is Life" by Sandeep Maheshwari during Diwali preparation that year. I started reading Geeta and learnt multiple things from studying about different religions that still continues.

This has, to some extent,made me free from the biased. I see things as they are. But afterall, we all are humans, and can't be free from biased.

It was such a difficult phase of my life, that only a few people are aware.

But as I already said, this too must have happened for some reason. And remember, "Ye waqt bhi beet jaega"... This is true for both good and bad times. So don't think too much about anything. God has planned something very good for you, which you can't even think about. Don't worry about the bad times... THIS SHALL TOO PASS..... And yeah... Be grounded in your good times as well. Because....... THIS SHALL TOO PASS......

It was the story that I usually avoid telling about.

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Now smile, and leave the blog with a positive energy. Believe me, god is there with you....

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Smile......

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Jai Shree Krishna

❤️

[galacticturtlefromwildspace]

Tour Life: The Pack

January 20th, 2023.

Months of planning all culminate with "the pack." It's the last thing - plus or minus rehearsals - that happens before the start of a tour. "The pack" could refer to a lot of things. You could be packing a suitcase, a car, a van, a truck, or even an entire cargo plane. But to make the same show happen in cities across the country or the continent or the world, you're probably going to need to bring stuff with you.

My biggest tour had four trucks - three for production and one for merch. Other tours have dozens of trucks and I can only imagine how that works out. My first tour of 2023 is almost all fly dates and we're not trucking anything. That means everything we need is either coming on the plane with us (production gear) or getting shipped out to venues ahead of time (merch).

Yesterday I left my home base of Philadelphia and am now in Seattle - home of the company that hired me to run this thing. I'm here to solidify "the pack." Luckily this show is pretty simple. What made today more complicated is that merch production started way later than it should have which meant there was no time to ship a whole bunch of it out to the first city. So what am I doing tomorrow? I'm getting on a plane with all our production gear and a crap ton of t-shirts and hoodies. Counting my blessings that there's no vinyl this time around. It doesn't make sense how much boxes of that stuff weigh.

The most important part of the pack (on my end) is labeling and inventory. I like to have every single thing documented down to the cables. If this were a more extensive tour going to multiple countries, I'd have to get a carnet made which is basically a manifest that lets your stuff go around the world and (hopefully) not get caught up in customs and seized by a foreign government. This particular tour is only going to the US and Canada. I've heard it might get extended to Mexico and South America but... that wouldn't be until April and I've got a whole other tour to worry about between then and now.

Today started bright and early with a visit to the shop that's printing all our merch - an uncomfortably clean place with the most mellow dog I've ever interacted with. I was introduced as the Tour Manager, the man there first responding with a look of surprise then a list of questions about my entire life story as we loaded up the back of a pick-up truck. It happens more often than you'd think. Like I've said, everyone wants to hear about the crazy stuff.

I also got a call from the tour's Production Manager. We've worked together a lot in the past and the last tour we did together was nothing short of traumatic (talk about crazy stuff). With her I walked through everything from production world I was getting my hands dirty with and with a final thumbs up, I got a preview of everything the two of us have to catch up on once we meet up tomorrow. Sure I saw her as recently as last October, but I did a whole other tour in the interim and so did she.

It's good to make friends in this business. I don't think touring would be bearable without them. They know what the life is like, they know the language, and it doesn't take long before they've seen you at your best and at your worst such is the case when you live with your coworkers.

If this were a more complicated gig, she would've been supervising the pack instead of me. When she's called in to do things it's less sorting through a bunch of cases in an office building and more having a crew of eight guys and a forklift pulling stuff from an entire warehouse worth of inventory to tetris into trucks. And you only get to that part after a few days of building the lighting package - taking a bunch of lights out of their cases and pre-rigging it on several pieces of truss with all the cabling. It's tedious but cuts hours off of load in time that we don't have. Meanwhile, I'm on the phone with a company called Rock-It Cargo making sure our final manifest is legit and we're prepared to get everything out of LA or Nashville to its first destination on time.

In the past, we've stood together on a giant soundstage - the outline of a semi-truck taped out on the floor - as we tried to think through our pack. That was after days of conflict with the show designer who was supposed to give us a show that would fit into two bus trailers. But the artist was willing to break the budget by upgrading to a whole truck instead of cutting down on any production elements. What a sneaky move. I really don't like designers. Where's that extra budget for hotel rooms and catering, huh? (spoiler alert: it only came up when an artist threw a tantrum about not getting to have a penthouse suite at a certain hotel - crazy story snippet)

Alas, the first pack of 2023 is done. Let's just hope the person I get at the airline check-in counter tomorrow is in a good mood.

[geekiary]

Avengers: Endgame is once in a lifetime cinematic experience.

Picked up right after the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the movie tells us how our heroes cope with the changing of the universe with half of it gone, and then how they deal with the lost and Thanos himself.

The movie itself premiered in my country on 24th April 2019, but I haven't written any review despite have watched it two times since to avoid spoilers, but I guess it's time.

I'm still going to put ⚠️ SPOILER ALERT ⚠️ warning just in case. And again, this is more about my personal opinion about the movie instead of professional review.

So. Here we go. What will you read below is going to contain spoilers, so please proceed with caution.

⚠️SPOILER ALERT⚠️

After a year waiting on how this whole Thanos debacle will conclude, Marvel Cinematic Universe presents us Avengers: Endgame. And despite having everything about the movie being guarded secretly so that it won't leak anywhere, we still got few things right.

First, time travel. This already been a fan theory. Because that's the only possible thing on how to re-do what Thanos done in Infinity War. At first, the story sets in 2019 right after Infinity War event, and then fast forward to 5 years later in 2023, where everyone already cope with their own way. And then after a mouse accidentally release Scott Lang from Quantum Realm, the story picks up from there.

Second, is the funeral. We all already guess that some would die in Endgame, and some of us guessed it right. Despite that, it still makes me cry.

And even though the movie can be categorized as once in a lifetime experience, it's far from perfect. Plotholes can not be avoided still.

Characters-wise, there are characters that are well-written, but there are also that disappoints me.

The well-written ones including Clint Barton. After being deprives of Hawkeye for years (how they didn't do him any justice in Avengers (2012) or Age of Ultron or Civil War and even had him not being there for Infinity War event at all), Endgame did him good. Endgame started with Clint and his family, and how they disappeared, leaving Clint alone. And then he turned to Ronin because of his anger, that Thanos snapped good people--like his family--instead of bad guys and that's why he went on a killing spree, to kill of those bad guys who still has the audacity to keep on living. And in this movie, if you Clintasha interaction after being denied from it for years, I think this movie going to satisfy you, despite what happened with Natasha later.

Talking about Natasha, the ends up died, so that Clint can get the Soul Stone from Vormir. And it's one of the saddest moment, but still, the plothole is disturbing. Because in order to get the Soul Stone, you must sacrifice the one you love. Natasha and Clint came to Vormir together. So they have to kill one of them to get the stone. But Clint didn't kill Natasha. Natasha killed herself, by throwing herself to the valley. But Clint got the stone still. But anyway, plothole or not, this moment broke me, because Natasha barely lived for all this time. The only family she got was the Avengers, and I want her to have a normal happy life somehow, instead of died like this.

For Bruce, he finally made peace with the Hulk side of his, after spending 18 months in his lab. The result is that Bruce is now big and green all the time, but in total control of his anger and strength. I can't say much about Bruce because I don't think he's being written badly, but I also can't say his being written well. Just so, so. However, I'm looking forward on what MCU has for him next.

And as for Thor... Oh my God, Thor. I've been wary of him. Because I don't think anything good ever happen to him since Thor Dark World. His mother died there. And then he broke up with Jane. And then his father died. And then he lost his whole planet. And Loki died. And he still can smile so wide? That worries me, to be honest. And in Endgame, they showed that Thor is actually not okay. And I'm glad they showed that. And I'm also looking forward for Thor next project after Endgame because I need to see him heal. Because if they left him like this, it won't be good anymore. Thor in Endgame will only be good if they made him heal.

While for Steve... *sighs*. I used to think that Russo Brothers are the best on writing Steve Rogers. But they ruined it in Endgame. Because that ending where Steve decided to be with Peggy and grow old and leave Bucky? Hm. I thought he is Steve "When I Had Nothing I Had Bucky" Rogers. I know this is probably because they need Captain America to retire and pass on the shield to Sam Wilson, but still. They could do better, I think. But despite that, I'm wheezing when they made Steve said, "Hail Hydra," and also made him be able to pick up Mjolnir. We've been waiting for that Mjolnir moment since 2012 and that's epic.

The last one, is Tony Stark. RDJ has been played Tony Stark since 2008. 11 years. And he will forever be Tony Stark, because for 11 years, he played the character very, very perfectly. The ending for Tony is very, very sad. Even until the very last moment I still hoped that he will live again somehow. But I'm glad Tony finally got the peaceful life even for only 5 years. Where he married Pepper and got a beautiful daughter named Morgan. He can rest now.

Other than the original 6, the other marvel ladies are also being so badass here. Nebula, Carol, Valkyrie, Pepper, Mantis, Gamora, Wanda, Hope, Okoye, Shuri, they are all kick-ass. So awesome.

Though despite the plotholes, I think the movie is satisfying still. What a ride.