#and it echoes the subtext of (being attracted to another guy is just not really spoken or thought of

[daisyachain]

Megaera and Thanatos’ miniroutes feel really fitting to them both just as stories beyond BioWare ‘I love you insert-name-here’ and as stories that work with Megaera being the girl option and Thanatos the boy option. Meg and Zag’s chief obstacle is expectation. Their prior relationship creates outside expectation of how they should act towards one another. Meg’s place as guard means her expected role is to oppose Zag directly. She doesn’t dislike or resent her duty at all, but what she does do is bristle against Zag’s assumptions that they’re on even terms because they used to be together.

Rather than pushing him away out of pure tsun, she wants their relationship to be Zag’s active choice and will instead of just inertia. Fits with the heterosexual subtext of their relationship. Women and men are expected to get involved if they’re roughly the same age/shape/location. Your mom keeps telling you to get a boyfriend. Dating can feel as perfunctory as a job application. Meg’s fear is that her very real care for a friend is just going to shrivel up in the face of ‘well we may as well be together since that’s what we’re supposed to do.’ It works.

[romanarose]

The Bikeriders as a metaphor for bisexuality

Now I ain't saying this was intentional because I'm pretty sure it's not but this is how I read the struggle between Johnny and Kathy for Benny just feels like Benny's internal struggle between homosexuality and heteosexuality, how neither of it fits him so he was always walking that line.

For the record Im speaking in terms of binary gender because this is just a simple movie theory. I am well aware of other genders but this is just how I see it.

Spoilers below

Kathy tried to get him to leave, he wouln't do it. It's like he wouldn't let go of that same/sex attraction, the queerness, the subversive side of him.

Johnny never tried to get him to leave Kathy for him, but his pull comes in the two times he tried to get Benny to take over the club. Benny refused, because that full commitment to the club, the lifestyle, would be rejecting the other side of him.

He didn't want to choose. he wanted to just be himself. I think his happiness came in accepting that.

Benny didnt give up riding because Kathy made him. He gave it up because Johnny was dead and that broke him. He was ready to settle down. Benny didn't choose "being straight", I think in his crying, his finally crying he and Kathy new what Johnny was to him and I think Benny accepted who he was. Then he was happy with Kathy, because he did love her. I think she was wrong that he didn't miss it. I think he did. But I think he misses it in a sense that we as people will always long for the past.

Another way I see it is that yes, he's happy. Yes he has a good life. But Maybe he was always going to end up with Kathy as the "settling down". Johnny didn't equal settling down. I think a lot of times, especially back then, homosexuality was viewed as a phase, like the trope of college girls going through a "gay phase" or concepts of homoerotic military men secluded from women. That its something you do for a while then you "grow out of it." But thats not how it really works. I stand by that Benny loves Kathy and is happy at the end.

He smiles, which is rare for his character. He's smiling when Kathy isn't looking, so he's not performing for anyone.

But I think when you look at it in the context of the time, she was the option if he wanted to settle down. That, as bisexual people, maybe you have some crazy times in college but then you find someone in a heterosexual relationship and settle and try to put that behind you. It doesn't mean he's not happy, as bisexual people in straightpassing relationships are happy. It just means, when the motercycle sounds echo for him, he still thinks about the past. the what if.

And thats just a human thing to do.

I saw The Bikeriders on Saturday and then twice, yes twice today (sunday). I was bawling at the end the last two times when the bisexual metaphore theory came to me. I read Benny as bi right away.

Johnny is said to have gotten his inspiration from Marlon Brando. Bando has talked about being bisexual. Another famous name and face of Brando's era was James Dean. Although Dean was more a car guy in the end, he was deffinetly into motercycles. Dean's sexuality is speculated but many close friends say he was bisexual.

I think it would be almost impossible not to have homoerotic subtext with this sort of thing if the movie was true to inspirations of the era. I don't know how you can watch it and think benny and Johnny dont want each other.

Personally, I don't think Johnny was bi, I think he was gay. I think because of how little emphasis on his wife there was, how she never quite seemed to get him, not in the way Benny got him, I think he was gay. I think he married and had kids because thats what you did.

Anyway all this to say I fucking love this movie. At first watch I wasn't a fan of Austin butlers performance but now I get it. Wow. I get it

I know its not anyone intention making the movie for it to be a metaphore for bisexuality but I can just see it see clearly.

This came out during pride month for a reason

[couragehopelovefaith]

Unexpected bonding

(The short fanfic based on the first proper meeting between Musa and Riven on “Fate: The Winx Saga”. English is not my first language, so apologies for the possible grammar- and spelling-mistakes.)

Musa walked across the yard, among training and chatting students, trying to calm her twirling thoughts by firmly holding the combat stick. Usually, she enjoyed the lessons and this place felt like a second home to her. But in all honesty, these last few days could've gone a lot better. For some reason, this complicated mix of excitement, worry and determination around her was harder to take than usual. Everyone was restlessly and impatiently waiting for something to happen, even though they didn't fully know what it was. But it was there, hiding in the plain sight. This was the time her help would be needed the most, but she had never felt herself so...damn useless. How she wished she could've already been in her room, put her headphones on, focused on the music and let the rest of the world keep turning by itself for a while.

The sudden flash of obvious arrogance and more hidden anger was an oddly welcoming change in the common atmosphere and attracted her attention. It didn't take long for her to figure out its source: one of specialists was training with a battle rope a few long steps away from her, clearly apart from the others. His technique appeared to be nearly flawless, but she didn't need her powers to notice that behind it there was a deep need to let his frustrations out.

Musa didn't actually know much about Riven. Of course, everybody had heard of him - other than being close with Sky, he had gotten quite a bad reputation in Alfea, and his questionable habits with drugs didn't exactly help on the matter. These "stormy and unbalanced"-kind of energy auras were often too much for an empath like her, and that fact alone put him among the people she had usually been avoiding. 

Still walking forward, she answered his sharp glance nonchalantly – a neutral, silent hello, that didn't expect any kind of discussion. However, hearing quiet, out of the blue chuckle made her stop reflexively, full of doubt. They hadn't changed more than a few words with each other before and she had had no reason to believe it would change now. He stopped his training too and looked at her, estimating.

"You like holding that big stick?"

His slightly amused, undermining and suggesting tone after a long and exhausting day made Musa react quickly; with secure grasp, she rotated the stick swiftly and bent into an attack-position, holding the stick very close to his face – staying still, half waiting for some kind of anger or offended surrendering-movement. However, her intuition was wrong again: instead, the youngster touched the head of the stick lightly and lowered It, raising his eyebrows and smirking almost flirtatiously. "I'll take that as a yes."

Young fairy repressed her will to roll her eyes: sadly, Riven was also well-known for his narrow-minded, obnoxious and somewhat prejudiced comments and opinions. This year Terra and Dane  had seemed to have gotten the worst blows of them. Even though Terra hadn't admitted it to anyone, Musa had lived with her long enough to know that some of the remarks had really gotten under her skin. And that was saying a lot, when it came to a generally happy person like her. Some people just couldn't take a hint of crossing the line, and the boy standing in front of her was definitely one of them.

To show him that she really wasn't in a mood for such behavior today, she partly leaned on her stick and titled her head. "I think I just threw up."

In spite of the loathing tone in her answer, Riven couldn't help feeling a tad impressed: this tiny fairy seemed to have more fierceness and spunk in her than the most of the well-trained Specialists. After the lackey-like, avoiding or somewhat fearful reactions he had faced lately, this strictness from someone else than his best friend or mentor – especially a girl - certainly was something new. There was no denying that Beatrix had offered him quite a portion of that as well in her own, seductive and slightly twisted way, but this lass had some exceptional gentleness, vision and different kind of honesty in her that Beatrix just... had not. 

Still a hint of smile on his face, he came a little closer to her, unwilling to change the subject. "I saw you on the support rounds with Miss Dowling  at training." His tone was trying to pursue neutrality, but even the fool could've seen that he wanted to prove his point.

Musa tried to separate her own feelings from all the other auras around her to process his new, startling attentiveness. Was she honored or bothered – and more importantly, which one was the right way to react? At the moment, even the Expert of Emotions herself couldn't tell. What was the catch here? It would've made more sense for him to keep an eye on assertive and strong people like Stella or Aisha. She stayed quiet, letting a little patient smile crack her poker face, wondering where he was going with this.

Being wise enough not to test her patience any longer, Riven decided to answer the unspoken question himself. Without fully meeting her eye, he let his gaze linger at her feet. "I wouldn't have expected a mind fairy to have such good moves."

Without an invitation or permission, Mrs. Dowling's task-orientated but friendly voice echoed in her ears again.

 "Not all fairy magic is suited to combat roles. Support is equally, if not more, important. Your magic can help us assess the fragile states of minds and uncover hidden enemies."

It was a common knowledge that the Headmistress was encouraging to the core, cared for her students, and meant well. Still, Musa's speculative mind constantly found hidden subtexts in her words, which started with "too theoretic" and ended up at something like: "Insufficient" or "powerless when things actually go wrong."

"I used to be a dancer." The words escaped her lips, before she managed to stop them. Whether it was because of Mrs. Dowling, her own defense mechanisms against Riven's prejudices, his infuriating abilities to give compliments and offend at the same time, or just pure tiredness, she was surprised by her own transparency. She had told about this only to her very few close people in her life. Not even her roommates knew. And now she had blabbered it in front of a basically complete stranger! But on the other hand, it was really refreshing to talk to someone, who didn't pry or force their curiosity on her out of duty or responsibility. Unable to help herself, she admitted: "I kinda miss being physical."

When she had been younger, her mother had taught her to dance and they had made it something they shared. It had been wonderful to dive deep into music and focus on the movements and the different worlds, in which melodies had transferred her into. But when her mother had passed away, she hadn't been able to bring herself in that flow anymore. No matter how persistently she had tried, it hadn't felt the same. Now it only reminded her of everything she had lost.

Abruptly, she returned back to reality and noticed that Riven's gaze had found its way in her eyes again and his posture had returned to its natural defensiveness.

"Yeah, well, too bad", he spat out in a slightly husky voice. "You're a fairy. They don't care what you wanna be in this place, only what they want you to be."

Quite a nice reward for being honest! It would've been so easy and rightful for Musa to get mad at him. But her mother had always used to say that no one's story and melody should be shut out, and she had chosen to live through that code. Even with the douchebag like Riven.

Now that she looked closer, with a little help of her own, she was able to see the dark circles under his eyes – eyes that were actually really observant and sincere, like they were trying to convey her an important message. Under the arrogance and "know it all"-attitude, there was buried bitterness and sadness. This wasn't just a cocky boy fighting for his territory. It was a sincere warning, born by his own, long-term experiences.

When one really stopped to think about it, this guy had gone through quite a rough year. The first more hidden emotion Musa sensed – perhaps because it had been also her friend for the last couple of days – was the fear of not being enough. Mr. Silva had always been righteous and fair leader and mentor who wanted to treat everyone equally, but still there was a little...guess it could be called conflict of interest. Even though Sky’s bloodline had guaranteed him the place in this school, he had been motivated and trained himself to the top and hadn't expected any special treatment. But after his father, Andreas of Eraklyon, had passed away in a battle, Silva, as Andreas' best friend, had taken him under his wing and now saw him basically as his own son. Due to this fact and his carefree and rebellious stoner-history, Riven must have felt overshadowed and the need to prove everyone that he belonged here.

Obviously, there was also worry and complicated feelings about Beatrix on his mind. Despite her... interesting personality – kindly expressed – and her shady and threatening motives that were becoming clearer by the moment, they had been close. She had been one of the few people who didn't judge him in one way or another. And now she was imprisoned and not many people knew what the faculty was planning to do to her. He probably also wondered how big role he had played in causing the danger – partly by being nasty to Dane – that was now hanging above everyone. He clearly tried to act like it didn't have an effect on him, but Musa and Aisha had witnessed his lousily finished training this morning. All of this would've a lot to bear to anyone, and Musa couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.

"You really hate being here, don't you?"

She hadn't even acknowledged she had used her powers on full force until she saw the look on Riven's face: it was disoriented, almost blank, and there was a hint of surprise in his eyes. Musa was fully aware of what her powers awoke in others: being mentally and emotionally exposed without their own control could be terrifying.

Suddenly, Riven snapped out of his slumber, obviously startled, and pointed his finger at her accusingly. "Stay the fuck out of my head!" His voice was loaded with as much poison as possible, but a tiny, unintended smile screwed his cover up.

Snorting, he shook his head a little and turned around, away from the control of her bright eyes. "Mind fairies..." Still somewhat confused, he started to walk away, mumbling something like: "Walking red flags..." Nosey even at their best, thinking of being know-it-alls because of their abilities... He had been a careless idiot for letting his guard down. There was no doubt that the girl would go straight to Dowling, perhaps Silva, too, to report that the school's unstable rebel should be watched under this big threat...

Annoyed, he lifted his gaze off the ground just in time to see Sam, Musa's boyfriend, approaching them. Personally, he had nothing against the lad: if anything, despite being a loner, Terra's brother always seemed to be nice to everyone. Truth to be told, there was nothing to complain about his fighting skills, either. Perhaps those traits ran in the family. Passing him by, he tapped Sam's shoulder heavily. "Good luck with that one, mate!"

Without his own will, the fairy had awoken something in him, something he both feared, wanted to forget and also secretly missed...things from last year, that almost seemed like another life... Needing his own space, he sped up his steps and headed inside, the image of deep purple eyes oddly and fascinatingly haunting him.

Musa couldn't help smirking to the different auras of these two boys: one reminded of the serene, sunny summer day, while the other one was pretty more like an autumn storm.

For a moment, Sam looked after Riven and then turned his confused gaze to his girlfriend. "What was that about?"

Musa came closer to him, smiling and enjoying his calming and innocent presence. "Nothing." Technically, she wasn't lying. She had no room in her heart to be offended; over the years, she had become quite familiar with those kinds of hostile reactions to her powers. Whatever that had been, she didn't have energy to analyze it now. Besides, she had more pressing, romantic and distracting matters on her mind right now. "Wanna head back to the suite?"

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

About poison and love. Noah the Gorgon and Harper Sayles (and Dean, Cas, Jack, Michael)

Jack, I’m already writing. Isn’t that crazy? I’m not crazy. But our love is so vivid. I can’t wait to find you. You are the first man to ever get me to leave McCook. Now I’m in the world. I’m sorry I have to kill you for what you did to Vance but then I can bring you back so that we can be together again. It’s gonna be perfect. See you soon. Love, Harper

I have already talked about how Harper Sayles is a dark mirror for Dean: he thinks his love for people has the same effect on the people he loves as Harper does. Dean believes that his attachment to people in harmful to them, that he “kills” the people he loves in the sense that he destroys their chance to be their own selves and pursue their own paths, and that there’s something toxic in the way he clings to people instead of letting them go (remember when Sam explicitly directed these accusations to Dean after the Gadreel incident? That was the textualization of a long-living fear of Dean’s, that he destroys people because he cannot bear to be without them).

And now we have a new mirror for Dean that presents interesting parallels to Harper. Noah the Gorgon and Harper Sayles both play a sort of game where they flirt with a man, or let him flirt with them, and then they get the men killed. There’s emphasis on the fact that they kill men: “she's lost people--not people, men” the waitress says, then echoed by other patrons who also say “men”. The conversation between the Gorgon and his latest victim also emphasizes how Noah’s most recent victims are all men - in fact “a pretty biased sample at this point, really”.

They both rely on a cute attractiveness (Harper’s charming attitude, Noah’s campy appearance) to appear harmless, although not everyone falls for it - several women and one guy affirm that Harper is “bad luck”, and apparently Noah has been having a hard time getting close to women because they wouldn’t trust a stranger. Basically, they both have a specific kind of victim: men who are looking for romantic or sexual connections.

Obviously, Harper is living a typical heterosexual romance, while Noah’s field is queer, and this brings us to the next point. We have been talking about how Harper basically lives her life like it were a story from a book, but the wrong genre: she mistakes horror for romance. I’d say that the main difference between Harper and Noah is that Noah appears to be more aware than Harper of the genre he lives in, although he does seem to be trying to live in a different genre. I’d say that, while Harper acts like she’s in a typical romance novel, Noah acts like he’s in a NBC Hannibal-esque show, which is a fascinating choice from Steve Yockey and Amyn Kaderali. The initial scene of the episode is obviously filmed to be reminiscent of Hannibal, with just that more Supernatural-like flavor in the aesthetic - not the high-end classy style of Hannibal Lecter, but something campier. There are similarities between Hannibal and Noah, including their unconventional (feminine-coded) styles in physical fighting (see also the connotations of poison as a weapon) and a tendency to get into your head with speeches about metaphors...

But now let’s get back to Harper and Noah. As I was saying, unlike Harper, Noah is aware that the genre he’s living in is not a romance; and maybe there’s something here about the fact that straight people will interpret anything where there’s a man and a woman as a romance (including violence and abuse), while queer people will always find themselves in tragic narratives... Maybe Harper and Noah do represent the stereotypical genres women and queer men are stuck into - romance and tragic narratives of isolation and death. Obviously, they both bring twists to those roles, because Harper is a necromancer that killed and turned her boyfriend into a zombie, and Noah a demigod that eats human flesh and will snack on your eyes. Stereotypes are too narrow, Supernatural says, as it gleefully gets its little horror hands on everything.

Anyway, Noah does seem to be more aware of the reality of his existence: when hunters come, unlike Harper who just substitutes Jack as the hero of her romance novel, Noah warns Dean to stay away from him. And here we get to a very interesting point: Noah also writes a letter to Dean, like Harper did to Jack.

Dean, I see you standing alone by the truck reading this note. I see you and the tall man and the red-headed witch chasing me. I will always see you. Stop, or I will make you stop. Regards, Noah.

Noah’s message to Dean is coded as a love letter of sorts, too. Dean himself points out - a little awkwardly, kind of like he also gets the vibe - that there’s something strangely intimate in how the letter places them in a first-name basis towards each other (Sam and Rowena, on the other hand, are not mentioned by name - which is bizarre since Noah knows Dean’s name, but is less bizarre if you consider the subtext). When Cas wonders why the letter doesn’t mention him (in an exchange where neither Jack, Sam or Rowena are mentioned), Dean suggests that’s because he’s not Noah’s type - implying that Dean is.

Noah is doing what he’d rather do as “a lover, not a fighter”: send Dean away from him, rather than fight him. Noah is aware of what he does to people, unlike Harper who consider her zombie-ification of her boyfriend as an act of love.

Honestly, it’s not like I enjoy eating people. It’s a lonely way to live, and there’s only so many ways you can cook human. But sometimes fate is cruel and boring.

In his own twisted, murderous human-eating demigod way, the Gorgon laments his condition. It’s a lonely way to live, being unable to connect with people because you’ll poison them and will eat them... which brings us to the initial point of this post.

Come on, man. Can’t you see? I’m... I’m poison, Sam. People get close to me, they get killed... or worse. You know, I tell myself that I... I help more people than I hurt. And I tell myself that I’m... I’m doing it all for the right reasons, and I... I believe that. But I can’t – I won’t... drag anybody through the muck with me. Not anymore.

Dean believes he’s poison to the people around him, and while he obviously isn’t in the same mindset he was in 9x10 when he said the above line, he has always carried this fear within himself, that he drags people down. And that counts especially with Castiel, a literal angel that literally fell because of Dean. While Cas considers getting close to humanity (insert double meaning here) an act of elevation for a non-human creature, Dean - while he has no delusions about how bad heaven and angels can be - sees Cas’ descent into the pain and suffering that comes from getting close to humanity (to him, really) in negative terms. Awful, Jack calls the experience of loving something that will die. Living, Cas calls it. Remember his words when they gave the demon cure to Dean: only humans can feel real joy, but also such profound pain... Now we can add, a non-human creature can feel real joy and profound pain by loving humans. And while avoiding that is “easier”, it is no real living.

Cas’ speech is the opposite of the speech Michael gave Jack in the hotel in Kansas City:

My uncle's in the cage. And you -- you’re not family. Well, not literally, no. Our connection, our relation is more a matter of scale... of power. Haven’t you learned yet? In this reality, monsters, humans, even angels -- they are insects, atoms compared to us. But you -- you’re just a child, a mere infant. For you, the past two years -- the entirety of your existence -- feel like eons. You don’t even know what time is. But you will. Real time, the time that makes mountains, that wipes out species. You’ll see it all... with me. No. Year by year, century by century, and as your power returns and grows, we’ll only become more alike. Oh, I know. Your loyalty to Castiel, the Winchesters, the rest of humanity? It will fade. And so will the minor differences -- angel armies versus monster armies, this Kansas City or that Kansas City, one world from another -- they'll fade, too.

And that’s the deeper meaning of Jack yelling to Michael, before killing him, that he’s not a child. He reiterates his loyalty to humanity and to the Winchesters.

Michael is a parallel to Noah too - makes sense, both dark mirrors for Dean (plus Jack, of course). He also basically lamented an existence without connections, too powerful, too alien from everything else to be able to connect to them. Michael probably never enjoyed his version of “eating people” - cleansing the worlds, destroying everything - either, but he felt like it was his nature to do so, because he saw no meaning in getting attached to something ephemeral and fleeting.

As Noah says, it’s a cruel fate one that forces you to live a lonely life with no connections. And Cas tells Jack that, no matter how much it hurts, it’ll always be better to have loved a human and lost them, than not having gotten close to them at all.

Now, I sincerely doubt that Cas’ story will develop the way he expects it to - no one’s really living in the exact genre they act like they were in, are they? - so we’ll see who’s really going to lose whom now... and which kind of ending this genre entails.

[elcorhamletlive]

MCU Rewatch: Age of Ultron

Those first few moments at the beggining of the battle are kind of dull, but I do love the shot of all the original six together.

I like the “language” line. I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but to me it works because of how obviously shocked Tony is by it and how Steve himself recognizes he’s kind of playing into his own stereotype when he goes “...I know”. I think it’s fun banter.

I also love that he throws his motorcycle at a car just before he says “it just slipped” lol.

There’s a very weird “people outside the U.S. resent the Avengers” subtext going on in this movie that is just too shallow for the theme it’s serving. It’s something that I see in fandom sometimes too, and it always rings kind of hollow because it’s like people trying to be “woke” without actually understanding what imperialism is and how it works (that’s also where a lot of Bad Takes about CW come from, but I digress). I feel like the movie just kind of puts it in the middle of the larger “are we monsters?” theme, but it really doesn’t work if it’s not properly explored.

I love that Steve lands on his feet after Pietro throws him up in the air LOL. Acrobat Steve is very present in Avengers movies in general, which I appreciate.

I looove the move of Thor slamming the shield with his hammer. It’s so clever and so cool.

“Please be a secret door, please be a secret door... yay!” So cuuute.

The emphasis Tony’s vision places on Steve is downright amazing. Tony straight to him, checks his pulse and no one else’s. Hears his voice talking. I live.

Wanda definitely sees the vision she gave Tony, but I don’t think she necessarily crafted it. This is an important detail for no one but myself and my endless wip-creating mind that still wants to write a fic of these two.

It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but Steve is helping Clint on the quinjet when they’re going home. 

Thor’s report on the Hulk is amazing.

“How is he doing?”/”Unfortunately, he’s still Barton” LOL.

Everyone’s outfit in the party scene is so on point, and then there’s Natasha with that weird skirt.

Also, that kind of goes without saying, but I love everything about the party scene. So many small and fun interactions, and the seeds to Steve’s home arc are laid out. It’s nice.

I love everything about Steve’s characterization in this movie, in fact. Him talking to Bruce is so sweet, and he’s also helping Nat as well by doing it. I love.

Everyone attempting to lift Mjolnir is the best part of this movie. Rhodey and Tony trying together. Steve managing to move it. Thor by the end with his “you’re not worthy” line. It’s perfect.

I love that Hill just has a gun on her at all times.

Oh my god Bruce falling with his face in Natasha’s cleavage is so cringe-worthy.

Aside from that I love the fight with the Iron Legion scene. Steve using the table as a shield, Tony using the fondue fork to attack a robot. Very good.

I’m sorry I’m not trying to get into Discourse but in the scene right after the fight? Tony is completely in the wrong and I literally can’t fathom someone watching that scene and thinking he’s a poor misunderstood baby in need of protection.

I do GET the complaint about how Whedon wrote Tony here, though, because the whole laughing and pretending it was funny was just a very, very dick moment that did feel a little forced. I feel like maybe if we had gotten one extra scene exploring how the vision played with his ptsd and anxiety (or even him just dwelling a little on the vision itself) it would’ve worked better, because then we’d see Tony’s emotions at play a little clearer.

Hnnnnng and there’s it is. “Together”. The moment I turned into absolute certified garbage. Tony’s FACE.

I do like that the Maximoffs interactions with Ultron kind of set up how they’re in over their heads with this whole thing. It’s also shown when they try and epically fail to intimidate Klaue.

Ultron’s whole “I’m not like Tony” thing while also saying things Tony would say is another weird element that never really pays off. It’s just... there.

I will forever love the “pretending you can live without a war” line, and how it ties with Steve’s vision. How the camera flashes sound like shots and wine stains look like blood. How Peggy asks him to “imagine” going home and then the room goes empty because he CAN’T. I really love it.

I feel like Clint’s family is kind of a weird plot point and it plays into some tropes that I don’t really like (like, we don’t know anything about these characters, but we’re supposed to care because they’re the stereotypical Nuclear Family and this makes them important), but Tony’s “these are.. smaller agents” line almost makes it worth it. lol

Clint staring out at Steve and Tony thoughtfully while saying “maybe they’re my mess” is the most relatable moment of the entire MCU.

I feel like BruceNat could have worked a little better if Ruffalo had made Bruce seem actually attracted to her, as opposed to incredibly uncomfortable every time she comes on to him. And she comes on so strongly, it eventually gets awkward because of how one-sided it feels.

And hoo boy there’s the “I’m sterile” talk. I really don’t think Whedon meant to equate infertile women with monsters here, but the way the dialogue is written, it’s kind of the impression that gives off. It’s uncomfortable.

LOG-RIPPING SCENE, YES!! I have a lot of Feelings about how Tony deliberately pokes at Steve because he thinks Steve seems to be doing okay (because Steve is hard to read for him), and how he doesn’t seem to notice that the whole “go home” thing hits Steve really hard. And he is being honest and trying to communicate, he just... can’t see it, and Steve doesn’t know about the vision, so it can’t really get anywhere. 

I will say that this movie is definitely missing a scene where Tony TELLS the others (or even just Steve) about his vision. Like, it feels that the resolution can’t be complete without it, because Tony’s fear can’t be fully addressed if it’s never out in the open. I enjoy Tony’s scene with Fury (and I love him calling the tractor “dear”) but I feel like this moment was necessary.

Tony gives a cute smile at Steve’s silly “craziest thing science ever made was me” line :D

Okay, the Thor subplot is completely unnecessary. I know it sets up the Infinity Stones, but it could have been waaay shorter. And the second fight before they create Vision is so dumb. There’s no reason for Tony to just jump into creating Vision AGAIN without even TALKING to everyone else. I’m on board with pretty much everything Stony-related in this movie, but this is unnecessary, dumb conflict that didn’t need to be there.

All the pseudo-philosophy that comes out of Ulton’s mouth is just so weird and artificial. It doesn’t fit with the quippiness he’s supposed to have inherited from Tony, and the result is that when he needs to seem scary he just sounds kind of stupid.

I do love Clint’s speech to Wanda, though. And Natasha talking about the view. These are nice moments.

Awww the “captain’s orders” guy from TWS is at the helicarrier! I had never noticed that.

The fact that Tony echoes the “together” warms my heart, and I do feel it provides some resolution for his argument with Steve - as in, he gets his point, they should work as a team. But I still wish there had been an actual turning point where we could see Tony understanding that, instead of just jumping from point A to point B.

Pietro’s death is so hollow because we just don’t spend enough time with him to truly care, but I like Wanda’s scream destroying all the bots around her. And also her ripping off Ultron’s heart.

I do like the last talk between Ultron and Vision, too. Paul Bettany just sells it to me.

Steve and Tony and their dumb bantering because of Mjolnir is too cute.

ALSO: When Tony says “I’m gonna miss him. And you’re gonna miss me”, like... It feels like he kind of throws it out as a joke, and then immediately adds the “manful tears” comment. And then Steve says “I will miss you, Tony”, and you can see for a second the little look he gives, like, “yeah?” like he can’t really believe it at first. And then when he asks if Steve is okay... I feel like this is a rare moment where they actually manage to understand each other a litte more, through these small glimpses, but it’s all still very tentative, very hesitant but still very sincere. I love this scene to bits, especially the last line.

“It’s a very nice wall” is the WEAKEST snark ever omg Steve. Nat absolutely drags him by calling him and Tony out in response lol

I actually do like this movie. It has many flaws, it’s not as tight as the first Avengers by any means, but ultimately I enjoy it and I think the hate it gets is a little unfair, even if I get where it comes from.

[eriseclipsenuiwitch]

The Outcasts- chapter 8

The air in cave under the Citadel was heavy and stuffy from moisture. In addition, it was the evening and without a sea breeze didn't blow towards a land at all. The situation was not easy with a small lake over which hung his cage made of thick bamboo shoots. Because the only opening that let in fresh air was from the west, the last sharp rays of sunlight came in with warmth and caused the water to evaporate from the pool and plants growing between the gray and black rocks. Qilby leaned his forehead against one of the wooden rods and tried to catch the normal rhythm of his breath. With so heavy air and a collar on his throat it was not an easy task. May the devil take Adamai to his damned for eternity Dofus. Yugo doesn't need to know that. His guard, the strange canine creature named Lucky, probably also was cursing somebody now. Judging by the frequency of his panting, he also suffered because of bad atmosphere of the cave. Suddenly, the dog guard stopped pant and listened. "No way! She refused?!" The canine looked in amazement at the entrance to the cave, where two guards in ragged robes dragged Yaga, who was whistling joyfully some melody. "No," Yaga said with a smile. "What?" Echo blinked, not believing her own long ears. "Sometimes you have to," the girl grinned as two guards pushed her into the second bamboo cage and closed its floor. Then began to pull the bamboo cylinder up until Yaga was on the same level as Qilby. "All this fun of yours smells like radicalism to me" explained the dark-haired gir. "I'm not radical. And such big change at the top is not something that you can just carry out. Unless you have a dead planet somewhere" "Although I might have offended her with one comment..." Yaga rubbed her chin, pretending she's deeply concerned "I never was good at compliments" "I advise you to think again" now Lady Echo didn't even tried to be polite. "Sorry, dear. The only one... talent I can offer you is the ability to massage tense muscles" the girl replied insolently, and her brows danced full of subtexts dance. "Did you really say that?!" Lucky felt his jaw dropping. "What can I do? She's an attractive woman, and probably it's not the only one of her qualities." Yaga leaned against the grating and shrugged. "I hoped that if we can't cooperate, we would try to know each other better." Previously Qilby just suspected it, but now he was sure. This girl was, beyond any doubt, crazy because she wasn't stupid for sure. And bringing everyone to the brink of endurance gave her some perverse pleasure. And if so, how was she still alive?! ------------------------------ "Is everything all right, Sister?" Adamai looked at Lady Echo's back. The woman stood leaning against the window sill in her office and stared grimly at the gray, turbulent sea. "I admit that I had excessive hopes," she sighed, "that damned fools have discouraged her. I don't think a girl who has made fifteen people crippled, and killed five others really was against radical solutions. We need to attract her somehow" "I'm afraid the cage will not help us. And we don't have other collar," the young dragon noted. "By the way, why did you insist on setting Shushu collar on your own relative?" Echo looked at Adamai with corner of her eye "Why didn't you want me to try persuasion on him?" "Because Qilby is a plain liar, and a clever manipulator. He can wrap anybody around his finger and use them unscrupulously" snarled the ivory dragon grimly clenching his fists. The woman noticed that her 'little brother' is trembling. She only heard gossip about who he was and what the false Eliotrop King has done, but the details of what has happened between him and Adamai and Yugo were covered in mystery. "I didn't want to ruin our plans if he would become a formal member of the Brotherhood." "I see," oh, Echo knew perfectly well that there was also another reason; Adamai was furious at the thought that his twin brother had allowed the traitor so close to himself and his family. The ivory dragon wanted to be sure that Qilby wouldn't try to drag anyone, Eliatrop, dragon, or ordinary person to his side. "Thank you for being so concerned about the Brotherhood, brother Adamai." And she put her forehead against the young dragon's. It was a sign of sympathy and concern. Like Yugo, Adamai was still, to some extent, a child. Breaking the fresh bond also weakened him. But he had the support of beings who understood this pain perfectly. "LADY ECHO!!!" A completely frightened guard came to the office, and Echo and Adamai quickly moved away from each other. The man couldn't say anything more, because a small stone on the string came from behind, struck him in the back of his head and left him unconscious. And in the door stood a tall woman with short white hair, dark complexion and purple eyes, in which was burning a real hellfire. Her hands were on her hips, her legs wide, her jaw protruding aggressively forward. On her face was painted a skull- a symbol of God Sram, who she certainly worshiped. "I will only ask once: where is this witch?" Kira snarled, knocking her heel against the floor. What miraculously mixed with the sound of a storm coming from the sea.

----------------------

Okay, before somebody will have such wonderful idea: I'm NOT shipping Adamai and Lady Echo!!! For me their relationship can be like sister/brother or mother/son (considering that Adamai and Yugo never had one) not lovers. (but it's my opinion, if you like such pairing it's your thing, I wash my hands of this). Sorry for cliffhagger (again).

P.S. Sorry for these short flashbacks on the beginning of chapter but I had home movie night with Guy Ritchie's films and... well, in few of his films there is such strange narration: present, short flashback and present again.