#as i think we all know about the whole big brother scott sacrificing himself | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dynamicduoofstackie · 3 years

Text

I’m curious why SamBucky is so rare-ish in these streets when it comes to pairing Bucky with an MCU character? I get it, I get it, with the Stucky ‘end of the line’; we been teaming up since the comic book days spiel. I personally see Bucky and Steve as brothers after Captain America: The Winter Soldier cause it felt like Bucky was ready to adopt Steve after his mother, who was his only remaining family, died.

That’s me. I know everyone not going to see it in that light. But Bucky gives me big brother vibes whenever he has to save pipsqueak Steve in the MCU. Plus the original comics had Bucky as an adorable, little sidekick that would make you think reverse big brother and little brother, with Steve being the big brother and Bucky the little brother. I don’t read the comics so it might just me. No offense.

Is it really about the, Steve knew him longer thing? I mean other than possibly Natasha in the comics, Bucky has no clearly defined MCU love interests. Bucky was a flirt before he met Sarah Wilson, so him being able to flirt, just proves he’s coming into his own. I’m not saying he doesn’t like Sarah that way. But he also flirted with Peggy in the first Captain America movie because he’s a lady killer and was more than willing to take the two girls off Steve’s hand at the Stark Expo when Steve floundered. Steve/Tony I sorta get with the enemies to lover trope. The Bucky x Clint thing is really mind-boggling to me because there were no interaction between them in the MCU; so something must have happened in the comics. So okay... But the fact that Sam had more interaction with Bucky in the MCU and had a whole comic book series with him and Bucky shouldn’t have the ships OF SamBucky and Sam x Clint at a 700+ fanfic difference. Fandoms are so weird sometimes... anyway...

Sam and Steve are the only ones in the MCU who really interact with Bucky outside the strong and beautiful people of Wakanda. None of the Wakandians seem interested in Bucky, except in maybe a familial way. Like they found a stray cat, nursed and raised it; but the cat is still an outdoor cat that might visit from time to time, but is mostly out there doing its on thing. Just the feeling I get with how comfortable Bucky was interacting with Princess Shuri and/or the Dora Milaje. They respect him, fixed him, and let Bucky roam free.

Steve is somewhere on the moon or wherever, in The Falcon and Winter Soldier tv series and Sam is the only one willing to stay in contact with Bucky. Shoot in Endgame only Sam and Steve were Bucky’s only people because Steve protecting Bucky caused a rift between the Avengers. It was repaired, but Team Iron Man doesn’t know Bucky at all, and/or don’t seem interested. Team Captain America are either dead (Natasha), being with their family (Clint and Scott), or dealing with their own shit (Steve and Wanda). So that leaves Sam. That’s really no coincidence even though I’ll admit, Steve going to a support group to more Peggy instead of his two best friends that were recently missing was kind of shitty.

So again, getting back on track, why isn’t their more Sambucky love? We already know Stucky is default most popular in the fandom for Bucky pairing. But Sam, who has the enemies turn friends aspect about him and has been the only one, besides Steve, who openly tried to find Bucky. I mean what better love story is it for a man who went from thinking Bucky would be better off dead, to suddenly sacrificing his 9 to 5 and freedom to search for Bucky and help him escape the airport in Germany?

I mean SamBucky is one of the few ships that has a foundation of amazing content from Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s interactions with each other. Mackie and Sebastian literally went from play pretending like they couldn’t stand each other, to damn near needing someone to chaperone them in their interviews because they so random shit, flirt and love to be close. Sebastian has talked about Mackie more than any costar and Mackie has a wonderful knack for finding Sebastian on any red carpet event to compliment the hell out of him. They literally had a show created for the two characters because of that amazing chemistry and Sebastian even co-signed on it with this gem below.

The MCU was throwing Bucky and Sam together over and over again, way before they got their own tv series. They argued together, fought each other, tried to one up each other by ripping wings and dropkicking from the air. Even in the television show big-hearted Sam willingly allows Bucky to go on a top secret government mission with him. Checks in on him constantly to make sure he’s okay. The only one that defends Bucky against people like Zemo, Sharon and John Walker.

Sam really was the one person that helped put most of Bucky’s demons to rest in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He gave him the tough love he needed in the end. He gave him purpose. He teased him like he was a normal person and not a former, brain-washed assassin. Sam watched over Bucky because he wanted to. Steve never asked him to check on Bucky. Steve never asked Sam to help him find Bucky. Steve never asked for Sam to sacrifice his freedom and go to the raft just so Bucky and Steve could escape in the airport. Sam volunteered to do that all on his own because he saw how worthy Bucky was.

Why else would Sam have him on a top government mission? Why else would he try to bail out Bucky from jail or follow Steve and Bucky against his Avenger allies? Why else would he let Bucky talk him into let Zemo go? Or any of the other insane things they did together, unless he didn’t care?

And that’s what Bucky needs, someone to give a damn about him. Someone to text him and chase after him. Someone to defend him and remind him that he’s not the Winter Soldier anymore. Someone to offer him a place to stay and normalcy. Someone who isn’t afraid to introduce to his family or watch his six in a battle. Someone touch him because he knows Bucky’s been touch-starved or tease him because he’s not afraid to be next to him.

Sam knows this Bucky. The Bucky who was determined to give the Shield to Sam. The Bucky who dangled kids off his arm while talking to Sam’s sister. The Bucky who has trouble sleeping at night because he still has demons. The Bucky who tried to kill him because he didn’t have control of his own body The Bucky who was just as broken as Sam when Steve just Peggy over them. The Bucky who is trying to find purpose in a world that has forgotten about him. He doesn’t have to remake himself into the old Bucky for Steve because Sam only knows this Bucky. Bucky doesn’t have to be anybody, but himself around Sam and he is.

I mean maybe people don’t care to pair Bucky with Sam because he was against saving Bucky the first time; or didn’t pull up the car seat; or didn’t want to jump in believing Bucky after he threw him across the room by his chin; or maybe because Sam’s black... WHO KNOWS.

I just thought it was odd that the fandom doesn’t respect Anthony Mackie as a whole, too. Like the poor man has to insert himself into interviews with his white costars just to not be pretty arm candy. But that’s another rant for another post.

282 notes · View notes

theanarik · 3 years

Text

Because nobody asked for it and it came to me while i was cooking, i bring you: sterek hurt/comfort! Hope you like it :D

Derek flinches when Stiles puts the cotton ball on the wound. He's just gotten the bullet out of his chest and it seems to be finally healing, but he insists on cleaning it before it finally closes. Stiles glares at him, using his other hand to keep him put on the couch.

"You need to stop getting hurt like this", he says after a moment, and Derek knew this would be coming.

He sighs an "I know" and Stiles stiffens.

"Do you? Do you really, Derek?" He asks, and Derek is taken aback by the fury in his eyes. "Because after every single fight I ask you to be more careful, and you always promise me you will. I don't need to hear your heartbeat to know when you're lying, Derek, I can always tell when you won't even look at me."

If he's being honest, Derek knew Stiles knew he was lying when he promised he would be more careful during fights; he always smelled of pain and sadness, and his eyes would search for something in his face before settling on a blank, emotionless expression. That isn't to say that it was easy lying to him.

"Look, Stiles-."

"No. Shut up. I'm talking here and you're going to listen." Derek raises his eyebrows as he watches Stiles stand up from the floor. "It's always the same fucking thing. We go into battle and you act like a self-sacrificing idiot that doesn't care about his life at all, that gets hurt in the process of doing some heroic shit. It happened today with the hunters, and last time with the rugaru, and three months ago with motherfucking harpies! And I am the one who comes here to patch you up!"

"You don't need to do that and you know it. I heal".

"Of course I know you heal, you dumbass! But I also know that when it's a close call, you won't even try to take care of yourself. And today was a close call, Derek. I'm not even sure you would have taken your time to even dig the bullet out of your chest."

"Of course I would!", he says, trying to deffend himself but they both know that the posibility of him just crashing on the bed for the night, not even changing out of his bloody clothes, is very high.

"I really want to believe that, Derek, I really do. But you live your life like there's no one out there who cares and loves you and you know that's bullshit; because newsflash, asshole, you have a fucking family that loves you to death. And maybe we're not related by blood but that's the best part of it."

Derek stands up and turns away from Stiles, not leaving, but purposely not looking at him.

"Scott loves you like you're his big brother, and you don't seem to realize how much he looks up to you. Kira loves you a fucking lot, you're her best friend! Liam basically kisses the ground you walk and Mason thinks you're a god send. Malia doesn't know how to express it but she feels the most human when she spends time with you; and Lydia... well, Lydia will deny it but she loves you with her whole heart. So stop the martyr act and start realizing that you have a family that loves you, and who wouldn't be the same without you in their lives."

Stiles seems to have stopped. Derek can hear the truth in his words, and not just because his heartbeat stayed steady throughout his long rant. It's more the heavy breathing and the silent sobbing he can hear coming from behind him.

Derek turns around to finally face Stiles. Nods once, twice, three times, and opens his mouth.

"... do you?" He asks Stiles and he frowns for a split second.

"Do I, what?"

"Love me?" Derek adventures to ask and watches as a myriad of expressions go through his face. Confusion, happiness, sadness, nostalgia.

"You're such an idiot". Stiles murmurs and walks in four long steps the distance Derek himself created, closing it as fast as he can and stopping for a second, cupping Derek's face softly and leaning forward, kissing him right on the lips.

What d'ya think? Should i create a background story for this or nel? I did have a scene to come after this but i feel the kiss is kind of enough? I love my dumbass boys a whole lot

#sterek #fanfiction #fanfic #derek hale #stiles stilinski #sterek fanfics #hurt comfort #first kiss #idk how to tag on tumblr

54 notes · View notes

steve0discusses · 4 years

Text

Yugioh S4 Ep 18 pt 2: Yami Visits Yugi in Hell, California

So, last we left the team, we were running straight into Hell, which is located about where the IRL Costco is.

Everyone except Tea, who is apparently way too scary of a person to run into Hell.

So the rules of the spirit realm are that if you have more than one person too many vengeful spirits will be present, but like...how many vengeful dead spirits does Tea have??? The implications of Tea’s former life here are kind of a lot. Anyway, no Tea’s allowed.

TBH, Yugi saw Tea running after him into Hell to pull out his soul he would probably be too scared of the implied commitment to come out.

So, lets get a rollcall of vengeful spirits going, remember Season One?

holy crap, that’s right, it’s PaniK.

(more dead guys under the cut)

Then we have the twins who only spoke in rhyme and...I checked the notes here..they didn’t die. They were absolutely fine the last time we met them. But I dunno...maybe Pegasus got bored and sacrificed them to the crypt during Season 2.

Then we come across this guy.

So according to Bro, Bandit Keith burned alive in the manga or something, while in the show he got away scott free from that warehouse that was on fire in the beginning of S2. My brother has a lot of spicy headcanons but like...

(bro note: I can’t find any reference on the internet easily so it didn’t happen. I just heard it somewhere. Maybe Pharaoh regrets not mind wiping Keith.)

...I feel like even if he’s dead in the Manga you can’t just have him dead here without me lifting my own Stars and Stripes colored eyebrows in doubt. If this guy were to die, it would have to be by very excessive fireworks, and other than that burning warehouse, we’ve had no other opportunities to do it.

Ah...it’s...this guy. Who never had a name, ever.

Why would you even put him in this montage?

And then we get two people that I know for certain can’t be kicking it.

So it seems to me that everything happening here is probably not real. This is all Yami’s head, Yami’s thoughts, and Yami’s guilt. And Yami is already really, really hard on himself. He lives with a lot of demons basically all the time. So he kind of walks through here and is like “whaddup, demons.” because this is a very been there, done that situation.

Can’t believe that Noah and Gozaburo made so little an impact on Yami, as well as all the Big 5 who we’ve killed at least twice, but I guess Yami was kind of sleeping most of that arc.

Other people Yami has dueled in the past that coulllllllllld be offscreen dead that didn’t make the list:

-The Rare Hunter twins who did a terrorism and fell into a skyscraper

-Alt-rock Kingdom Hearts Mime

-Bonez (who was Bakura’d so like...he might cease to exist on any timeline or anyone’s memories now)

-Pegasus

-BAKURA (Any version of Bakura, honestly. Where is Bakura?)

Anyway, eventually we get to the middle of California Stonehenge, which is where Yugi is currently hanging out like a Star Trek holo deck.

Speaking of hologram--Yugi’s a card right? Yami could have just played Yugi and been like “hey! Can I tell you something?” (and then Seto Kaiba somewhere would notice on his dueling disk facebook that Yugi just plated Yugi Muto’s soul and would be like “Mokuba, we need to ban Yugi’s account, half of his deck is not even tourney legal.”)

And then Yami spends this precious time to talk mostly about himself. Like honestly, he just went halfway to hell (or Millbrea, or whatever this is) just to vent what he basically already knows.

And what makes this conversation kind of strange is that Yami starts going off about how Yugi’s the “pure” side of him, the “light” side of him, if you will. I’ve already touched on how much I disagree with this since Yugi is a freakin madman all on his own. And, this episode goes out of it’s way to do the same.

Because it’s about this point that Yugi starts getting real uncharacteristically mad. It’s lowkey kind of hilarious because it’s like:

And yes, it’s about time that Yugi went off, but it does make you wonder--so is this what Yugi would be like all the time if Pharaoh wasn’t in there, or does Pharaoh assume that Yugi is mad at him, and so his SpiritJourney!Yugi reflect Pharaoh’s own insecurities?

Like, is this even Yugi?

This might not be Yugi at all, this might be just Yami screaming at himself in a desert, which is also very on key for Yami and has been Yami’s whole deal for about (checks watch)...this entire season.

Either way, Yugi’s REALLY pissed off and tired of Pharaohs 49ersfit.

And so, to take this a step further than just screaming at most likely a hallucination of yourself, Yugi pulls out a duel disk and the two decide to play cards because...

...It just always comes back to cards. Can’t have a heart to heart without doing life threatening card games first.

And so they decide to have a card match. It goes just about as smoothly as a card match would go when you consider that this is Yami hallucinating/possibly dueling a ghost of himself/just crawled out of a train crash/just murdered the hell out of Weevil Underwood.

Basically this duel has a very silly gimmick.

Other than playing a lot of the same cards as during the Raphael fight, Yugi spends most of his time just tearing into Yami, which again...justified.

And for just a little blip of an eye, a little tiny moment--he’s almost a Season Zero Yuugi. Just a nice dark magic Yugi with no ghost, just a real bastard underneath those glowing eyes.

But anyway, much like the duel where Yami lost his mind and went evil, it didn’t last more than a few minutes before the duel was over and Yugi was just instantly better. Of all the duels this season--this is the one I would have liked to have 3 episodes of. Just saying.

Yugi’s whole explanation for why he’s done this--and this is a stretch, but I guess it still follows card logic--Yugi decided to use the Oricalchos so that he would become the darkness inside of Pharaoh’s mind (since they are the same person), and so when he lost the game, that darkness inside of himself was taken by the Orichalcos, leaving Pharaoh now darkness-free

...It’s a stretch. They’re both still ripe with dark magic so I don’t think it did what they think it did, lore wise. But yeah, it did make Pharaoh physically fight all his insecurities until he killed them (who was also Yugi, don’t think about it). It was also very manipulative, and I just want to throw out there you should not do this to your best friends.

How many fireballs now has Tea watched Yugi take straight to the chest? At least 3, right? 5?

Anyway, Yami gets reaaaally upset that he killed his fake dead boy who just used fake (but maybe real?) Orichalcos.

Yami just can’t keep any version of Yugi alive.

And just like that, Yugi leaves the series, again.

Kind of.

Again, this Yugi was...probably not even Yugi. This was probably a grief-onset hallucination.

Sure am glad that Pharaoh can talk to this barely-even-Yugi to work out his insecurities instead of the--youknow--the GIRL he’s been kind of dating for the past 4 seasons. Really glad Tea kind of stood on a ledge and was like “Do you need to talk about it!?” While Yami was like “Not Necessary!” while he sort of dueled the ghosts in his head.

Kind of a marvel that the only person Yami knows how to talk to is Yugi (who as we found out this episode might be a crazy person) and...kind of Seto Kaiba (who is definitely a crazy person). That’s about it.

Yami’s had a hard time, but hopefully now he can talk to Joey without getting punched directly in the face. I guess we’ll find out next episode.

And if you just got here, this is a link to read these from the beginning.

Hope y’all are staying safe and inside. Us personally, are stuck inside until at least May 1st. Please pray for my patience.

#Ygo #yugioh #yu gi oh #photo recap #episode recap #humor #yami #the return of #yugi muto #who shortly died right after #tea gardner #solitaire #solitaire with a dead guy in hell (who is yourself) (hell being california)#y'all california is just hell #I knew it #I love this place #S4 #ep 18

30 notes · View notes

raybyanothername · 5 years

Text

Hey Loser - Teen Wolf

Stiles is now living a sitcom - a bad Disney one. Or was that ABC Family? Whatever! Either way, he is now officially Lydia's stepbrother and far too close to the Unholy Alliance of Mean Girls. Why is Derek Hale in living room? Why is Derek Hale so attractive? More importantly, why is Lydia smirking?! That is far too dangerous of a reality for Stiles to comprehend in this moment.

Alternatively: In which I attempt to write a high school AU in Stiles' voice and still keep some semblance of a plot!

Notes:

Written for HappyJuicyfruit on Ao3 as part of the Sterek Spring Break Exchange.

-.-.-

Stiles was living in a sitcom. He didn’t know how it had happened. WHY it had happened. But he could pinpoint the exact when.

It was about, oh, two years ago when his father had responded to a 9-1-1 call from Natalie Martin. For a flat tire.

Granted she did get said flat at the creepiest part of the road that ran along the reserve. But still. 9-1-1? For a flat tire? That was such a cliché! And a stereotype! Stiles objected to that…that…lameness!

This was not a cheesy romance novel! This was his life! And now, now he was moving in with his life-long crush. As her step-brother. If his life was going to be changed horrifically, he’d like it to have a bit more creative flair. This…this was just annoying.

Why couldn't Melissa have been the one that got the flat tire?! He was totally down to play Drake and Josh with Scott. That would've been fun! But no… no. He was stuck playing Life with Derek, with Lydia. Without all the fun sexual tension!

Because Lydia? Way hotter from a distance. A distance that you couldn't hear her from. Or have to watch The Notebook from. Seriously, he officially felt bad for Jackson. And sharing a bathroom? Not a thing he enjoyed. Especially with a teenager girl’s makeup.

Powder? It got everywhere. Everywhere!

Stiles was mentally scarred. He needed therapy and everything.

Seriously. What was his life? Who did he kill in a previous life to make this happen? Was it the Dahlia Lama? The Pope? A president?

Oh! He hoped it was the president of somewhere cool - like Venezuela or Brazil. Oh…maybe Afghanistan, that would've made him like a CIA dude or something. Or was he too old to have done that in a previous life?

"Hey! Loser!"

Stiles looked sideways to his new bedroom door (reason #3844 that he hated his life right now) to find his sweet new stepsister standing there with her arms crossed.

"I have friends coming over," Lydia eyed his room with disdain, "Try not to embarrass yourself." She grinned, "Or, more importantly, me."

There was a hair flip and a hip twist. Stiles gagged. He rolled over on his bed and reached for his phone on the nightstand. Lydia, plus her gaggle of girlfriends? No, thank you!

"Please tell me you have something to get me out of here?" Stiles didn't wait for Scott to speak, "A distraction, an annoyance, anything that does not involve me staying in this house?"

If Lydia's gaggle was coming over then Stiles was going out. Preferably to Scott's, but he'd take Amityville at this point.

Scott chuckled and there was a thud on the other line, "There's a Buffy marathon on?"

"Oh, thank you lord," Stiles pushed himself out of bed and clamored for his shoes. The doorbell rang. "Shit."

"What?" Scott's voice pitched as Stiles whined.

"Lydia's got friends coming over," Stiles grumbled as he pulled on his sneakers. A few near face plants and a caught lamp later they were on.

Scott harrumphed. "Window?"

"I wish," Stiles glanced out his second story window. It opened. On to a straight drop. With no well-placed trees. The modern aesthetics of rich people houses were not conducive to the lifestyle to which Stiles had become acquainted.

Stiles resigned himself to walking downstairs to the door. As if mocking him, a loud giggle traveled up from the living room.

"Remind me again why I ever liked Lydia Martin?"

"Because she's smart and pretty," Scott supplied, voice dripping with sarcasm. He wasn't saying 'I told you so' this time.

Stiles snorted, "And the devil incarnate!"

"Dude!" Scott protested, "Anti-Christ." Stiles smiled.

He waved his hands out as he gathered his laptop and a few books into his backpack, "Right, sorry, forgot about Cora for a second there."

"Sounds great," Scott teased, "If you want to be sacrificed!" That was probably a myth. Or a rumor. But given the circumstances, Stiles wasn't risking it.

"Well, on the upside I wouldn't have to live here anymore," Stiles mused aloud as he closed his bedroom door behind him. Scott chuckled, "See ya in 20."

"I'll make popcorn."

Scott was awesome.

Another giggle carried up the stairs as Stiles slunk closer. He kept to the shadows, lurking. If he were lucky they'd be in the kitchen. The whole open-concept thing would make it challenging, but there was a bulb out in the entryway. He could make it work if they were in the kitchen!

And, because when had Stiles ever been lucky, they were gathered around the couch. Argent and the rest all sat around Lydia like hand maidens around a queen. There was even a beefy knight.

Why was there a beefy knight?

Stiles paused by the coat closet.

Beefy knight was tall, dark, with a very tight shirt. Handsome was a word. Not one Stiles would use out loud, but, a word.

"What's with the beef cake?" Stiles really needed to work on his filter. They hadn't noticed him and he'd just drawn every eye. His finger pointed at the beefy knight.

Lydia growled. Actually growled.

"In my defense," Stiles held up his hands, "He looks older than you. I'm just making sure some creepy cradle robber isn't taking advantage of my sweet sister."

Beefy chuckled, wide grin splitting his whole head in half. And, because apparently he was living in an alternate reality, Argent smiled too.

Lydia stood up. Stiles took a side-step towards the door.

"I believe I instructed you not to disturb us."

Stiles grinned, "Technically you just said not to embarrass you." He shrugged his shoulder.

Lydia's lips turned up in a cruel smile, "Your existence is embarrassing." He just shrugged again. Lydia rolled her eyes and gestured to Beefy, "This is Derek. Derek, I apologize in advance for my lame-ass stepbrother."

Derek. Derek. Stiles filtered through his head for a Derek. Nothing was coming up, except… "Derek Hale?" His voice squeaked, "Cora's brother?"

Beefy nodded. Oh god. Forget that Lydia was hanging out with a senior – and seriously, did Jackson know about this? - she was only one degree of separation away from his worst nightmare.

Stiles groaned, head against the door, "It's happening… The Unholy Alliance." Lydia's shriek was enough warning that Stiles got outside and closed the door before something banged against the door.

-.-.-

Despite his fears the Unholy Alliance of the Mean Girls did not occur. And based on the conversations he was eavesdropping on - Derek and Lydia had been friends since they were kids. Derek had just gotten back from visiting his older sister in New York.

How a beefcake who played lacrosse and wrestled had anything in common with the future world dominator? This, Stiles did not know, but he had some theories.

"Are you and Beefy in some sort of arranged marriage deal?"

Lydia looked up from her desk and, well, she didn't glare. Actually, she looked confused.

Oh, right. "Derek." Now she was glaring.

"No!" Lydia was Officially Offended. Never a good thing.

Stiles quirked an eyebrow, "Not sleeping together?"

Lydia's face was almost as red as her hair. It was great.

"No, ok, that wasn't my favorite theory anyway," he quirked an eyebrow, "Is he like, the big brother friend who threatens Jackson when he gets too handsy?"

Her outrage dissipated slightly and she stood, a smirk growing on her face, "Why do you care?"

She stepped closer and Stiles didn't budge from the doorway. He had an idea what she was implying. She'd made more than a few references to his bisexuality when their parents weren't around.

"Do you like Derek?" Her eyebrow quirked, mirroring his face, "Isn't he a little out of your league?"

Stiles shrugged, "Just curious." He smirked down at Lydia - she wasn't wearing heels for once! - and took a step in to her room, "Wouldn't want my sister being taken advantage of."

And the scowl was back. A shove and a door slam were her next, cliché, reactions. Seriously, if she didn't like being his stepsister she could do with acting less like one.

"If you think that's going to work," Stiles yelled though the door, "You're watching the wrong kind of television!"

He turned around, smug, and then ran directly into Natalie. He stumbled back, catching himself on the wall beside Lydia's door.

"Heeey, Natalie," Stiles rubbed his head under Natalie's raised eyebrow, "How's it going?"

She looked at him, looked at Lydia's door, looked back at him. The other eyebrow joined the first.

"Just, uh…" Stiles swallowed, "Sibling bonding."

Natalie's lip quirked up on one side, "The wrong television?"

Stiles gestured at the closed door, "According to proper sitcom canon, the best way to get your sibling to do what you don't want them to do is to antagonize and then ignore."

"So, slamming the door eggs you on?" Natalie smiled, "What would be the proper way to make you behave?"

Stiles wrinkled his nose, "Forced affection. Effective bonding." And then, "More specifically, bowling."

"So a family bowling night will make you two get along?"

Sirens were going off in his head as Natalie turned to walk away. He gestured wildly, hands in front of him moving erratically, "No! No. No, no, no. Not what I meant!"

"Too late!" Natalie was cackling. Definitely cackling.

Stiles groaned, "Shit." Lydia's door popped open.

"Are you always this stupid?" And then it slammed shut again.

Yeah. He was.

And it was very annoying!

-.-.-

"Bowling?" Scott was laughing at him, practically doubled over as they walked into the school. Stiles glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah," Stiles knocked his shoulder, "Laugh it up, but dad said we could each bring a friend."

The laughter abruptly stopped, "What?" Stiles grinned. Allison Argent was Lydia's newly minted BFF this semester - and Scott was now bright red at the possibility.

"Don't hurt yourself," Stiles chuckled as Scott froze in the middle of the hallway. Stiles grabbed his sweatshirt and dragged his best friend closer to the lockers.

Scott stared at Stiles, "But…I can't even walk in a straight line when she's around!"

"And I can't be in the same room as the she-devil for a long period of time without going insane," Stiles barked back, "We all have to adjust to the new order of things."

Scott gave him a bland look and then banged his head against the locker.

"I cannot believe you got us roped into bowling!" Lydia appeared behind Stiles, making both him and Scott jump about two feet. "I had plans on Friday!"

"So did I," Stiles grumbles as the entire hallway paused to watch their argument. Why couldn't Lydia just ignore him like she had for the bajillion years before the wedding?

Lydia rolled her eyes, "Whatever weird crap you were going to do while holed up in your room does not count!"

"And making out with Jackson after watching The Notebook for the Thousandth! Time! does?" Stiles was fairly positive he just agreed with Jackson about something and he instantly felt dirty.

There was a huff, a foot stomp, and then a dramatic turn - complete with hair flip!

Sitcom Stiles was apparently produced by Disney.

"You want me to come with you...to deal with that?" Scott looked a little pale when Stiles turned back around.

Stiles shrugged, "Bring your inhaler."

-.-.-

Scott's balance lucked out. Allison didn't come. Derek did.

"Who is the hulk?" Scott whispered as Natalie hugged Derek. She was all excited to see him so obviously his intelligence had been correct about the long friendship.

Stiles bowed his head closer, "That's Beefy." Scott nodded, understanding immediately.

"My name is Derek," Beefy called over to them. Hair pristinely gelled, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Scott stammered out an apology. Stiles shrugged.

"Beefy is an accurate descriptor word."

Lydia face palmed. Natalie raised eyebrow at her husband, he shrugged.

"Be nice, Stiles."

Stiles gaped, "Beefy is a compliment!" Scott was officially dying of laughter next to him, laughter that he was trying so hard to suppress. Derek was even grinning now, eyes crinkled.

Ha! Take that Lydia! Stiles was hilarious.

"Why don't we just call everyone by their first names tonight?" Natalie offered with a grin, which Stiles knew was aimed just as much as Lydia. She stilled called his dad Sheriff.

It was met with a chorus of denials!

"No." Dad.

"Hell no." Lydia.

"Please no." Scott.

Stiles shrugged, "I mean, if you can pronounce it."

Natalie sighed, "You people are impossible."

"But we're impossible," Stiles raised a finger, "Together!" And he drew a heart.

Beefy grinned again.

The game started - with his dad taking a massive lead right out of the gate. Stiles was just aiming for not ALL gutter balls.

Stiles leaned back in his chair as Derek took up his ball. The view from behind was, if even possible, better than the front. Who wore tight jeans to bowl? Derek Hale apparently.

Serious ass cupping was occurring and Stiles was definitely filing the picture away for later use. Scott elbowed him and he sat back up before anyone caught him ogling.

"So," Derek took Scott's seat when he got up to bowl, "What is your first name?"

Stiles smirked, "I'm afraid that's classified, Beefy. You don't have the clearance." Derek laughed.

It was a nice laugh - deep, rich, a nice baritone sound to it. Stiles felt his stomach lurch. Over Derek's shoulder he noticed Lydia watching them. Smirking.

Oh. Technical foul! This had to be a violation of some sort of stepsibling rule. Using your friend as a weapon was just wrong!

"You're up, sis!" Stiles grinned at her as Scott came back over. Her face fell into a scowl immediately.

Stiles grinned. Small victories were the most satisfying.

"Dude," Scott nudged his shoulder as he sat on the back of his chair, "If she stabs you in your sleep, I'm not helping you."

“My big sis would never hurt me!"

Stiles enjoyed the way Lydia's hand twitched. Her ball skimmed the side of the pins, taking down only three of them. When she turned around to glare at him Stiles only grinned.

"Stiles," his dad warned. Stiles grumbled, but kept his mouth shut while she bowled a spare. By the end of the night she was in first place. A total sitcom moment that involved much gloating and the stealing of his snack bar nachos.

Derek stopped him outside the bowling alley. Stiles raised an eyebrow at the hand on his shoulder, "What's up Beefy?"

"I know Lydia and you don't get along," Derek pressed a hand over Stiles mouth, "But she's secretly awesome underneath the Mean Girl exterior. And she doesn't hate you nearly as much as she pretends to."

Derek waved goodbye to everyone then, as if he hadn't just been manhandling Stiles, and walked towards his obnoxiously nice sports car.

Stiles and Lydia avoided eye contact on the way home. Natalie chatted happily up front about a successful family outing.

Well, technically, no one was stabbed with a fork this time, so success was relative.

-.-.-

"Alright," Stiles knocked on Lydia's door, waiting. It was her birthday after all, he was attempting to be…nice…er.

She opened her door with rollers in her hair and a shiny robe tied at her waist, "What do you want?"

"I figure I'd give you your gift," Stiles glanced down either side of the hallways, "Without witnesses."

Lydia nodded, "No need to give them false hope." She let him in.

He placed the small package, wrapped with newspaper and string, on her desk and then stood in the center of the room. Touching nothing.

There was makeup and hair stuff and a fancy shimmering dress hung up on the wall. Stiles had never felt so out of place as he did in Lydia's room. And he lived in her mother's house.

"Thank you," Lydia said stiffly as she started to open the present. She breathed a shaky breath when she finished unwrapping it, "Thank you."

It was a book on female scientists and a voucher for a chemistry supply store. The clerk on the phone had found his request weird, but Stiles was very convincing.

Lydia turned to face him, her eyes shimmering with tears and a giant smile on her face, "This is… Thank you."

Stiles swallowed. He hadn't quite expected such a response. He'd been living here almost six months, it wasn't hard to figure out her interests.

"Well, uh…" He rubbed his head and made a move for the door.

"Derek's coming to the party tonight," Lydia offered after clearing her throat. Still smiling, "You should talk to him."

Stiles laughed, "Uh, I was planning on spending the night at Scott's. Wiping the floor with him at Mario Cart."

Lydia folded her arms, her hip jutted out, and her lips puckered out, "You're coming to my party."

"That sounds more like an order than an invitation."

"That's because it was an order," Lydia grinned, her hands moving to her hip. Stiles inched towards the door.

Her eyes narrowed on him. He froze.

Her hand waved in front of her, "You can even bring Scott so long as he doesn't creep on Allison the whole time."

"Okay?" Stiles shrugged, sighing in defeat. Lydia smiled again and then shooed him from the room.

-.-.-

The party was everything TV movies had promised a popular party would be. There was music, dancing, and underage drinking. Dad had taken Lydia's mother to dinner and the living room was covered in streamers.

Decorations and food had been provided by the best money could buy. The alcohol was whatever rich kids could get their hands on. Which was a much higher quality than Stiles or Scott was use to.

"There's vodka," Scott watched one kid passed by them with a Grey Goose in hand, "Who are these people?"

"The product of me-generation parenting."

Scott and Stiles looked to the left of their corner-based observation post. Cora Hale was leaning against the wall, a Kiltlifter at her lips.

"Are we about to die?" Scott whispered into Stiles' ear. Cora didn't even blink.

Stiles swallowed, "Nice observation. Why are you over here rather than…" He jerked his head towards the dance floor where Lydia, Jackson, and the rest of the ‘It’ crowd were gyrating to the Top 40.

"Not my crowd," Cora took another swig and gestured towards the stairs, "Plus, partying is less fun when its big brother approved."

Derek Hale was leaning against the railing on the second floor, chatting with a few of the older guys from the lacrosse team. Watching the party with clear eyes. He hadn't drank a thing.

Stiles had been watching. Mostly his chest - tight t-shirt, party of one, thank you. His pecks were cupped in that spandex almost as well as his ass was in denim, not to mention the abs. Dude was shredded and Stiles appreciated the view.

"So, how many kids do you think your brother will have to take home tonight?" Stiles turned to grin at Cora. She grunted and pushed off from the wall. Her brother’s Designated Driver status apparently not up for grabs.

Ok. Conversation over then!

"Talked to Cora Hale," Stiles smacked his lips together, "Didn't die." He smacked Scott on the back, "I'd say that's a good night."

Scott rolled his eyes, “You have weird goals, dude.” This was true. And one of those goals was currently laughing, eyes crinkling and shirt ridding up as he doubled over the railing.

Derek Hale was truly a gift to all male-body-aficionados.

“I’ll be back,” Stiles rolled his shoulders back before grinning at Scott. Scott shook his head, but said nothing as Stiles walked towards the stairs. Derek met him at the top, a smirk on his face. “How’s it going, beefy?”

The smirk on Derek’s face widened. Stiles squinted at him, suspicious.

“What?”

“Mieczyslaw.” Derek pronounced it…fairly close to right.

Stiles would have been impressed if he weren’t so shocked.

“Gesundheit.” Stiles kept his eyes narrowed even as Derek laughed.

Derek stood up straight, pushing off from the railing, “Come on, I was close right?”

“Eh,” Stiles shrugged, “No clue what you’re talking about.” He looked off to the side, enjoying the buzzy feeling that came over him at Derek’s gaze.

“Right,” Derek chuckled, “Classified.” He took a step closer. Stiles bit his lip at the movement.

“Not a horrible attempt though,” Stiles grinned, meeting his gaze, “Who’s your source?”

The shift to lean back against the railing has a wonderful effect on the pull of Derek’s shirt. Very pleasant. Stiles appreciated it for sure. He did not appreciate being knocked by some rando coming up the stairs.

At least not as he stumbled forward. The whole Derek catching him thing? That was okay.

“And here I thought you were only klutzy on the field.” Derek grinned as he tugged Stiles up, causing said klutziness to kick in and send Stiles hurtling directly into his chest. A very yummy chest, but still!

Stiles grimaced as he jumped back, rubbing at his head, “Right. Sorry.” Stiles chuckled, a little more hysterically than intended. Derek smiled.

“I kind of like you klutzy,” Derek’s eyebrows raised and then he walked backwards. His smile turned into a grin as his nodded his head backwards.

Did someone flip the script on the sitcom? Was he in a romcom now? He did not approve that change! Though…he was cool with playing along.

It was, sadly, a PG-13 romcom because he followed Derek away from the party, but not into a bedroom. The internet had warned him life wasn’t like a porno. Damn, reality.

“I heard you gave Lydia the, and I quote, best birthday present ever,” Derek was standing very close to him. Stiles swallowed, because you know, proximity to hot guy does not negate the mentioning of awkward topics.

Stiles shrugged, “I plead the fifth.” Derek kept smiling – which was nice, but also unnerving as he kept shifting closer. Millimeter by millimeter. Stiles was tempted to check for pigs blood at this point.

“You and Lydia are made to be siblings,” Derek shook his head, officially deep into the personal bubble. Without permission! Stiles was about to refute the insult, when Derek kisses him. A soft, quick press of lips. And then Derek was back to smiling, “You’re both stubbornly hiding hearts of gold.”

Derek stepped back then, eyes sparkling. He was biting his lip. Stiles was fairly positive he should say something at this point. Like, anything. But he just stood there.

“See ya around, Mischief.”

And now Stiles was dead. He was alive. But he was dead. This was some weird ass mix of heaven and hell. He had no proof, except for the everything about what just happened!

Somewhere, out of nowhere – or the depths of hell, if his theory was right – Lydia appeared. Smirking.

“Don’t screw it up, loser. I don’t let just anyone date my best friend.”

Wait…what?

#ray writes #prompt ray #fanfic #fanfiction #teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale

103 notes · View notes

fyeahwildfire · 5 years

Text

Sacrifice (part 3)

Summary: Y/N is the sister of Clint Barton. You are also the girlfriend of Bucky Barnes. You’ve helped him during his recovery. You even took his insecurities and made them his strength. Meanwhile, he taught you that not everyone was the same. You gave him a chance. He changed you. He made you believe you were loveable. The two of you have been dating for 2 years, you’re relationship started out passionately so you couldn’t understand why Bucky was being so distant. It wasn’t until you noticed the scent of perfume, the perfume of your best friend, Natasha Romanoff.

Pairing: Bucky x reader, Bucky x Natasha

Warnings: Angst, Endgame spoilers, death

Throughout the next five years,

You and your brother continued on your missions. You and Clint had gone to Mexico and ruthlessly eliminated all members of the cartel. But then you and Clint were found in Tokyo, Japan, where you both planned to eliminate all members of the Yakuza faction there.

Succeeding your mission, you and your brother became aware of Natasha standing behind you. She apologized to both of you for not giving you both hope sooner. Natasha wanted to apologize for much more but knew now was not the time. The three of you headed back to New Avengers Facility, in order to attempt to undo the actions of the Decimation.

With Scott Lang giving the idea to use the Quantum Realm to travel back in time. You decided to pull Natasha to the side, while the Avengers began to work on a way to successfully do so. You could sense Nat was nervous as the last time you had seen each other, you had walked in on Bucky confessing his feelings towards Nat.

“Thank you, for this.” You smile hoping she could relax.

Nat nodded, not knowing how to say she was sorry for all that happened between them. How she missed you.

“I forgive you.”

Natasha was shocked, she never expected you to forgive her. Hell, she wouldn’t if it had been you sleeping with her boyfriend. “What? Why?”

“Because I need peace.” You sigh tiredly. “Bucky loved you and I can see you still love him. Do me a favor, when we fix all of this, don’t let him go.” You pull out a photo from your back pocket and hand it over to Nat.

“Cute kid, who is she?”

“She’s my daughter.” You smile softly at the baby. “She didn’t make it. Thanos took her away from me.”

Nat truly felt sorry for you. To lose a child was terrible thing. Your whole world came crashing down at the loss of your daughter. Nat wrapped you in her arms and held you as you cried.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N.” Nat felt tears running down her cheek.

After a while, you and Natasha both rejoined the others. Clint had been sent through the Quantum Realm and came back, proving the plan had worked. You look down at the picture of your baby girl. Tears run down your cheek as you realized you would never hold her in your arms again. You walk away from the others and make a recording, knowing the message was going to be your last words.

With the means of travel accounted for, everyone split into small teams, each responsible for a different stone. Tony, Steve, Bruce, and Scott going to 2012 to get the space stone, mind stone, and time stone. Thor and Rocket to 2013 to get the Reality stone from Asgard. You, Clint, and Natasha were tasked in retrieving the Soul Stone in Vormir, with Rhodes and Nebula, who would go to Morag to retrieve the Power Stone.

You, Clint, and Natasha argued over who would sacrifice themselves for the Soul Stone. Clint and Natasha had attacked each other. You would never let your brother sacrifice himself. Never. Not when there was a chance for him to reunite with his family. You had foreseen this play out and it was up to you.

Clint launched himself over the cliff and you jump after him, wrapping the grapple hook on his belt. Clint realizes what you had just done, he holds onto your arm tightly as he tries to get you with his other hand. But because of the position he’s in, he can’t. You can see the tears running down his cheeks.

“Please. Don’t.” Clint tries to pull you up. “Please.”

You push your healing ability towards Clint. You see the golden glow pass through you to Clint. “Clint, when the time comes you have to give my power to Tony. Tony is the key!”

“No…” he tries to grab you with his other hand again.

You knew what would happen to Tony and you couldn’t bare it. He deserved so much better. He had Pepper and Morgan to go back to.

“Let me go.” You whisper, your voice faint.

Clint shakes his head, choked cries and pleas leave his lips, desperately asking you not to do this. To not do this to him. He couldn’t lose you.

“No! Please…” He chokes out a cry again, feeling your hand slip in his.

“It’s okay, big brother. I love you.”

This is how it was supposed to end for you. Dying for someone you loved. Dying so your baby could live again. So Clint could get his family back. So the Avengers could reverse the effects of the decimation. You would never regret making this decision. You press your foot against the side of the cliff and push off, pulling your hand from Clint’s. You hear the faint sounds of Clint and Natasha crying for you. And then, your world fades to black without an ounce of regret.

Back at the Avengers facility, everyone looks to Clint and Natasha, they had asked for your whereabouts.

“Where’s Y/N?” Tony asked, looking at Clint and Natasha’s faces. Horror, sorrow, and regret filled their features.

“Where is she Clint?” Tony started to panic, before he had got with Pepper. It was just you and him. You two had once loved each other and spoke of your possible futures together. You understood him more than anyone. You were his person. Tony falls to his knees and cries. Despite you both not being together you both still loved each other.

Nebula basically told everyone what happened. The avengers heard your voice and had hope that you lived. But it was just your recording. You told about how you foresaw your death in order for this plan to work. You told them about your strange connection to Thanos and how you felt him die, it was like the link was severed. You were relieved that he had died, after he took your daughter from you. You tell them you loved them all and sacrificing your life for them was a fitting end for you. You apologized to Clint and Tony. But what surprised them all was your last wish.

“When all of this is fixed, my baby girl is going to need people in her life.” You sob on the recording. “People who will accept her and love her. I know she is going to have the best Aunts and Uncles.”

There’s a pause. “This truly hurts me. I will never get to hold my little sunshine again. I’ve been thinking on who is suitable for adopting her. I will leave that amongst you, but I do hope you try to introduce her to her father, Bucky. Nat, I know we recently put the past behind us, but I was hoping you could adopt (Y/D/N). She needs a mother who could love her and you have always wanted a child.”

Nat wipes her eyes as she nods. She’s going to take in your precious sunshine and tell her stories about you. How brave you were. How you sacrificed yourself for everyone, including her.

“Tony, listen to me love. I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you about my plans, if I did, you would have stopped me. I’m glad I got to love you. I’m glad I get to save my first love. Clint. Now. You have to give him my gift.” Tony looks over to Clint, who has placed his hand on his shoulder. The golden glow of your healing ability flows though Clint’s arm to Tony. Tony could feel the warmth of your powers. It was like you were a part of him.

“And to my brother, I love you. I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because I don’t regret sacrificing myself for you, for everyone. This is how it’s supposed to happen. We had 1 outcome. This is it. It’s my turn to protect you. May we all meet again.”

“I am Iron Man.” Tony smirks as he snaps his fingers.

Everyone sees Thanos and his army disintegrate into dust. Peter hovers over Tony, his eyes red from crying. Tony is barely conscious. He’s surrounded by Pepper, Rhodey, Thor, and Steve, all of them looking on, devastated by Tony’s selfless act to save the universe. Pepper moves Peter to the side and looks into his eyes.

“It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. You can rest now,” Pepper’s tears run down her face.

Tony blinks and looks at his wounds that have begun to heal. A tear runs down his cheek. You had seen his death and yet you saved him. Pepper hugs Tony, relieved to see him alive. She pulls back and looks into his sad eyes.

“Y/N.”

Pepper nods with understanding, you had saved her husband, the father of her child. She was going to do right by your baby girl.

Everyone looks relieved to see Tony alive and well. Bucky, however, looks among the crowd searching for someone. His eyes pass over Natasha and continue to roam, looking for you. Natasha walks up to him. Her eyes laced with sorrow and despair. She tells him how you sacrificed yourself for everyone. She sees his heart breaking for you as he falls to his knees and cries.

Had he done this to you? Had you committed suicide because of him? Nat seemed to know what was going on in his head and informed him that it had not been him fault. That you chose to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. For your brother. For everyone. For your child.

#bucky x reader #endgame spoilers #clint #natasha #bucky angst

74 notes · View notes

mahalzevran · 5 years

Text

Lightly inspired by this post by @devoraakss

Luke looked at the three force ghosts before him: Obi-Wan, Yoda, and finally his father, Anakin. He smiled and followed Leia back to the celebration. The screen cut to a shot of Luke and his friends reveling in their victory. Then the credits showed.

Liam shut off the screen. He was excited to see Jaal and Bahaghari’s reactions. “So?” he grinned, “what did you guys think?”

Jaal let out a sniffle. Tears were steadily flowing out of his eyes and he was dabbing at them with a tissue. “He had good inside him the whole time. And Luke knew it.”

“See? Earth movies are perfectly fine even without using vid components.” Liam opened his mouth to ask Hari her opinion but immediately stopped.

She was sitting on the couch, mouth slightly agape. She had her fists clenched. It looked like she was fighting back tears, but it wasn’t working as a tear was already making its way down her cheek.

“Hey,” Liam said sitting down next to her. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her cry up until now. And he certainly didn’t expect it to be over a movie. “Hari, it’s ok. Luke still has Leia. And his friends. Plus it’s not over yet. I still have to show you the next trilogy.”

She let out a sob and proceeded to bury her face in his neck. “He gave up his life to save Luke.”

Liam wrapped his arms around her. It wasn’t about the movie. She clutched him closer. He turned to Jaal. “Maybe you should leave us alone for now?”

“Why? It’s good that Ryder is expressing her emotions. It might-”

“Jaal.” Liam shook his head.

He looked between the two of them, contemplating. Then he nodded and left.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Liam asked as he stroked her hair. There was no response. “It’s okay. Take your time. Let it out.”

After a few minutes of Liam holding her, Hari finally sat up. Her breath was shaky.

“We don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to,” he said as he wiped both of her eyes with his thumbs.

“No. I want to.” She took a deep breath as Liam took her hand. “My dad and I weren’t exactly close.”

Hari recounted how difficult it was growing up with her dad. He had trained her and her brother in various types of combat using his experience from the N7 program. His expectations were high for the two of them, but there was significantly more pressure on her since she was the older twin. If she had succeeded in training or took home exemplary grades, her father only gave a curt nod. It wasn’t much, but it was better than the look of disappointment he’d give otherwise. These interactions were the only times Hari could remember getting attention from her father, who was usually busy working on his AI project when he wasn’t training them. That aspect of parenting usually fell to her mom. And though Hari knew she tried her best to give enough love for the two of them, it usually wasn’t enough since her mom’s job required her to be in the lab for extended periods of time. When she was younger, her mom would take her to work. That kickstarted her interest in the sciences and research. But when her mom got sick, they were scared that Hari would too so coming with her mom was no longer an option.

As she grew older, the pressure to please her father began to affect her social life. She’d spend so much of her time working and practicing that she never had a chance to make friends. Hari only had Scott to talk to. And the experience of living with their father made the two of them closer.

It all took a turn for the worst when her mother died. Her death hit her dad pretty hard, especially since he hadn’t been discharged that long ago. If she thought she hardly saw her dad before, she definitely wasn’t seeing him now. He buried himself in his work and she was lucky to see him every few days. Then the Andromeda Initiative contacted him. And when the invitation was extended to her, she said yes. But the effect of her father’s discharge on her scientific career wasn’t the only reason. Secretly, Hari had hoped that this would help her become closer with her father since they’d be working together after all. But when Cora had been chosen as her father’s second, that hope was squashed. Of course she was happy for Cora. There was no one else more deserving. In fact, being Pathfinder wasn’t something that she wanted anyway. But at one point, Cora had been spending more time with her father than her. She couldn’t help but feel some resentment.

Then when her father sacrificed himself on Habitat 7 and named her the new pathfinder, Hari had been thrown for a loop. The man whose attention and approval she’d been seeking her whole life had done the most selfless thing anyone could do for her. And then left her in charge of his legacy.

Hari’s tears had started to fall again. “I wish I had known earlier that all I had to do was almost die,” she chuckled.

“Hari…”

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around Liam and buried her face in his neck again. “I don’t know what to feel,” she said between sobs.

Liam stroked her hair. “About what?”

"He was a horrible dad. But I wanted to impress him anyway." She gripped Liam's shirt. "He was so shitty. So why am I upset?"

"It's not wrong to be. He may not have been the best parent, but he was still a big part of your life. Made you who you are. There was still an attachment."

She stayed in Liam's arms until her sobs subsided. Hari looked up at him and gave him a small peck on the lips. "Thanks."

He intertwined their fingers together. "Feel better?"

"About my dad? Not really," she said after a moment of thinking. "I don't think I ever will. But I think talking about it helped. I've been keeping it in for so long; it was nice to finally let it out."

Liam gave her a kiss on her forehead and rubbed her shoulder.

"Oh!" Hari said suddenly, "you said there were three more Star Wars movies? We should watch them. It might take my mind off things? I can call Jaal back."

Liam hummed. He thought about the final interaction between Kylo Ren and Han Solo.

"Maybe some other time? I don't think that's a good idea right now."

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #liam kosta #liam x ryder #ryder x liam #mass effect fic #mea #pathfinder ryder #sis!ryder #custom ryder #bahaghari ryder #hari x liam #long post #writings #mine #holyyy faq its been so long since i wrote something this long lol #i get its not that long but its long for me ok

19 notes · View notes

moonstruckbucky · 5 years

Text

My Thoughts on Endgame

I went to see Endgame last night and have had all day up in my office all alone to compile my thoughts and feelings, of which there are numerous, about the movie while it’s all still fresh. Major spoilers below the cut, so if you haven’t seen it, back away!

Warning: Super long post ahead.

First, I’d like to say I am a Tony/Nebula stan, wholeheartedly. Somehow, the Russos managed to lighten up a very dark reality where Tony and Nebula are floating listlessly in space and running out of oxygen. The dark mood is made a little lighter by a noticeably very thin Tony teaching Nebula about paper footballs, and her innocence of Earthly activities gave her a human depth that only made me fall even deeper in love with her character. And the way she pushes Tony’s (probably last) bag of food towards him, knowing he needs it more than she does. (Does she even eat? Do cyborgs eat?)

Second, Clint’s family disappearing was the first time I cried. Honestly, I didn’t have a dry eye the entire movie, but it progressively got harder and harder for me to not sob. We’ll get to that.

Carol popping out of literal space to come cart Tony’s ass home was admittedly a little cheesy, but I didn’t hate it. What I really loved was Tony’s reunion with both Steve and Pepper, and the fight that ensued, mostly on Tony’s end, was emotional and so very Tony that I still had a hard time keeping it together. And I’m really glad that the Russos didn’t just skip over Civil War in favor of uniting everyone to take down Thanos for good. And it showed how broken up over it Tony still was because we all know Tony does have a heart and Steve Rogers broke it.

An appropriate time skip 5 years into the future and Scott Fucking Lang and that goddamn rat busts out of the Quantum Realm only to discover almost his entire family has been dusted. Ouch. And once he finds his daughter, instead of moping and falling into a pit of depression and grief, he hauls ass to the compound to talk to the Avengers about time travel and undoing everything.

Here’s where Meg really loses her mind. The teams. The effort to get the stones back. Natasha Fucking Romanoff schooling the Science Bros in figuring out there are three stones in New York all at once. Fucking Captain Sassypants fighting his 2012 self and Mr. Stark Scott Lang (i’ve been corrected) perfectly coining the term “America’s Ass” and Steve just going with it. I can’t with these two, honestly. Steve swearing. Talk about sticking it to Joss Whedon for that pathetic little joke we all thought was funny until we knew better. That whole sequence was perfect, especially because it didn’t go off without a hitch. Which means Loki is still alive somewhere in another reality. Yahoo!

Thor. Poor alcoholic, out of shape, PTSD-stricken Thor. My baby angel. It hurt to see him so lost and broken, but Korg and Meike playing Fortnite about killed me. The balance of humor to sadness was utterly perfect through this whole movie and it was all comprised of jokes that made sense. The fat suit made me cry of laughter because it looks so goddamn unnatural on someone who’s as cut as Hemsworth, and Tony’s Lebowski dig was wholly appropriate.

This is where Meg realizes she is not going to be okay for the eightieth time. When Nat and Hawkeye are delegated to retrieve the Soul Stone, because we know while they don’t what needs to be done in order to get the stone. I had a feeling Nat might be one of the ones we lost, but I have to say I never saw it coming like this. I was inconsolable through the entire sequence as she and Clint are fighting over who’s going to be the one to die. I had my sweatshirt over my nose to stifle my sobbing and my boyfriend’s looking over at me wondering if I’m going to be okay. Y’all should see my eyes today, no lie.

And the fact that they played the same music for Nat that they did Gamora in IW was the knife through my heart followed by that heart-wrenching shot of her lying dead at the bottom. She’s gotten rid of the red in her ledger. Natasha, my beautiful, intelligent, bad-ass, super spy, we love you. So much.

Steve in mourning for Nat deserved more screen time than just a quick shot of him crying while Banner pitches a bench across the lake. Steve and Nat were one of the powerhouse friendships of the MCU, and this is one of the few shortcomings of Endgame. I wanted to see Steve angry, and heartbroken, something on par with Clint’s outburst that it should have been him. Steve and Nat were best friends, he deserved a little more screen time to mourn such a powerful relationship.

The epic battle scene that follows after this is nothing short of incredible. The entire theater erupted in cheers when Steve wielded Mjolnir like he was meant to, so at least Joss Whedon got some foreshadowing right! At first I thought it was lifting by itself but nope! Steve is worthy, and he knows he’s worthy. There’s an incredible theory out there that Mjolnir can detect someone’s perceived self-worth, and I fully believe that theory after watching this movie. And the little humor in there when Steve ends up with Stormbreaker and Thor gets Mjolnir and says, “No, no, give me that. You get the little one.” Kill me. The fact that Thor is doing all this badass fighting with a beer gut leaves me in stitches just thinking about it.

That epic entrance of all those who fell to the Snap emerging in a beautifully shot sequence gives me life, okay? It was perfect. I even looked to my boyfriend and said, “Where are the others? If it worked, where are they?” and BOOM! There they all are. Bucky with his long-ass hair is such a fucking look, I can’t even. AND STEVE FINALLY SAID THE THING. I swear the entire theater cheered again for this!! Also Rocket wearing Bucky’s goggles that he probably stole? Epic. Even if they aren’t his, but you can’t really convince me they’re not because they’re too similar. So Rocket hasn’t lost his penchant for stealing things.

Okoye, fierce queen, we see you taking out Corvus Glave all on your own. We also see that amazing, powerful female battle squad who cut through Thanos’s army like it was fucking tissue paper. Wanda, the Strongest Avenger (fight me on that, I dare you), taking on Thanos and stripping him of his armor like the fucking boss she is. Say it with me again: Strongest Avenger.

I also really really loved the game of Hot Potato with the gauntlet. Which brings us to...Mr. Anthony Edward Stark. The OG, the Big Guy. These next two paragraphs will be dedicated to him. The man who, 7 years ago, told us he would just “cut the wire” rather than lay his life on the line to save the other guy. When Dr. Strange said to Tony, “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen,” I really, truly believed that Strange didn’t think Tony would go through with sacrificing himself in order to stop Thanos. He’d try to find another way. And yet I, along with a lot of others, knew he would do just that. Because Tony is nothing if not determined to prove everyone wrong about who they think he is, including Steve Rogers. Especially Steve Rogers.

Tony gets to interact with his father and learns that while Howard was incredibly flawed, he was still wholly dedicated to his family. Proven by his nervousness about fatherhood because all he’s ever known is technology, and he knows a child does not work the same way tech does. He’s terrified. And he hides, buries himself in his work because he doesn’t know what to do. But he loves his family, I know he does. A lot of other people know he does. I was a mess for that whole thing, too.

Tony’s funeral was absolutely perfect, a perfect sendoff to this legendary man who basically built the MCU. RDJ, we love you 3000. Thank you for giving us Iron Man. Thank you for carrying us through this journey of hilarity, sadness, darkness, anger, grief, all of it. I have a ton of emotions over RDJ’s exit from the MCU but I can’t properly formulate words.

ALSO: HARLEY WAS AT TONY’S FUNERAL. HE WAS THE LONE OLDER TEENAGER. CUE MORE CRYING FROM MEG.

And the final bit that seems to cause a lot of dissatisfaction: Steve’s final decision.

I personally loved it. I don’t like the misstep in jumping over Steve and Bucky’s bond, because that was a driving force for an entire movie, Russo brothers. So I feel a little cheated with their relationship taking a backseat to Sam receiving the shield to take up the Captain America mantle. But aside from that, Steve’s decision was very, very fitting. He’s given so much of himself to wars and other people that he deserves to be selfish. And maybe he had that quote in AOU that someone else came out of the ice, but A4 Steve knew he could have that life, and he chose it. Bucky knew, almost instantly, when Steve was about to bring the stones back, which was why he was so relaxed and calm when he didn’t come back.

Bucky, I feel, is relieved above all to see Steve reach old age, since he probably never expected him to, at least before he became Captain America. He’s lived his life as Cap, and now he gets to live another as the man who finally got the girl. I just wish we could have seen more of the bond between the two of them, unless they had some kind of heart to heart off-screen which, again, a waste of one of the quintessential relationships in Steve Rogers’s life.

And Bucky and Sam having some kind of mutual understanding, I know for a fact there was some reconciliation in the Soul World that we may or may not get to see in the new series coming out. I would love to see the two of them struggle with coming to grips with the fact that they were dead, and came back because their friends put themselves on the line at an incredible risk to try and bring everyone back. I think they could really create a bond similar to Steve and Bucky’s that was built on being “men out of time” and instead create a bond that’s men who survived the Snap and now are living a life without Steve Rogers (assuming he won’t take up the mantle again and will succumb to old age, like he goddamn deserves). Bucky is all for Sam taking that mantle, and that second of understanding between the two of them sent me off into another cry fest because I really love their dynamic, and Seb and Mackie both just have amazing on-screen chemistry. I am so excited to see what they bring to the new series coming out.

I would also like to say that while I was very emotional over Steve hearing Sam’s voice over comms saying, “On your left,” I really feel that Bucky should’ve had something. That’s really where Endgame’s biggest shortcoming is. They’ve built up the relationship between Bucky and Steve through CTFA, CATWS, and CACW, especially Civil War, and all you’re going to give them is four minutes of screen time together? Outta here with that. You dedicated an entire movie to Steve going to war for Bucky and y’all are gonna disrespect them like that? Even not shipping Stucky romantically, I can see the loving bond between the two of them that’s held up for 8 years. They deserved more than just a one-off line from CATFA, though that really set me off on another crying spree. I’m really not joking when I said there wasn’t a minute of that movie that I was dry-eyed.

Overall, I give this movie a 10/10. For what it was meant to be, it was everything I had expected and so much more. This movie made me roar with laughter, broke my heart more than once, and gave me an overall feeling of closure all at once. I am forever grateful to the cast, the crew, and the amazing characters created. The incredible late Stan Lee with his final cameo, to which the theater, again, erupted in applause. I’m just so overwhelmed by the work everyone at Marvel has put in to these characters and this world to give us these amazing stories. I’m tearing up as I write this because this is the end of an era for a lot of people who grew up with Iron Man, Hulk, Cap, Thor.... Black Widow. I just want to extend the biggest of thank yous to all of those people who made this world possible and brought so many people together.

#endgame #endgame spoilers #avengers: endgame #avengers endgame spoilers #a4 spoilers

25 notes · View notes

hellsbells91 · 5 years

Text

Avengers: Endgame, a day later

What an absolute ride. My brain hurts though. It’s a lot to unpack and this post/review/scrutinisation turned into a bit of a mini-essay.

Spoilers are all below the cut and they are detailed spoilers for the whole film, just to warn everyone:

An emotional rollercoaster that despite us knowing that time travel would be involved still had its moments that kept me guessing as to what could happen, or how it could happen. I still felt the joy and intrigue during the ‘time-heist’ and a moment of piercing dread when Thanos picked up the fully-loaded infinity gauntlet for the second time.

I also loved how Endgame took the time to be immensely fun. Of course it had bleak moments, depressing moments, angry moments, but damn did it make me laugh. Korg, Frigga, OG Hulk, Loki... their presence, however short-lived or ultimately unfulfilling, was like a soothing balm for the soul and reminded us why we fell in love with these guys the first time around. How much charisma and charm can Tom Hiddleston fit into about a minute of screen time of Loki, also without speaking for most of it? A lot. He is on form as always and I’m glad for it.

Infinity War was of a much darker tone, I feel, and I very much enjoy the parts of Endgame that made me feel like we were in the original Avengers again (I mean aside from the actual time travel portions), recapturing some of that joy and excitement and most importantly hope that was a constant comforting presence in the first title.

The emotional beats with Clint and his family, Scott and Cassie and Tony and Morgan (and Howard) also in particular gave the film much needed time to breathe after Infinity War’s ‘GO GO GO crank everything to 11!’ pace, and were for me at least among the most heartfelt moments.

I actually don’t have too much to say about Thor and Bruce, honestly. They were entertaining, I liked them, it was a bit of a shame we didn’t get more of Hulk and that Thor was made to be the butt of a joke for most of the film, but they both got pretty satisfying conclusions at least. I hope Thor shaves and gets a haircut though, I’m not digging the Volstagg look on him.

One sticking point for me was that Thor doesn’t even say Loki’s name once, not even to joke about him in the past or even glance at him in his cell on Asgard and this did slightly annoy me throughout the film, but I’m not overly torn up about it. Maybe they didn’t want to overdo the fact that in most of his films, Thor is grieving for Loki one way or another - we get it, he misses his brother. In the overall very long list of ways in which Loki’s character has gotten shafted in the MCU, this is one of the lesser things.

At least Thor got to say goodbye to Frigga this time, and I couldn’t help but also be lifted (just as Thor was) by her words, As I mentioned before, this was one of those times during the film that I got to be filled with hope.

The supporting cast were also great, and I’m kinda happy that they didn’t give Captain Marvel a bigger role, along with a decent excuse for her not being there most of the time. I was worried that being a new character with an upcoming franchise, she would be made to outshine the others in Endgame and they didn’t do that. Keeping most of the focus on the original six made Endgame more of a satisfying conclusion to their stories, with just hints of what will happen now for everyone else. Point to Marvel.

Onto fatalities:

So let’s start with the big one, Tony Stark. Iron Man was the first MCU film I watched and he’s been my favourite character (aside Loki) throughout the series. The world is a slightly duller place without him, but whilst it was undeniably upsetting and many tears were shed in the cinema and now while I’m writing this, it didn’t have the sour taste that Loki’s demise left me with.

Because if you’re going to have to go, you might as well save the entire universe in the process.

As we passed over all the characters standing at Tony’s funeral, I was sad, but not enraged. I was struck with this sense of ‘none of them would be here without Tony’ and it left me feeling just bittersweet about the whole thing. And after a few minutes when Happy asks Morgan if she’s okay and she says she is, I know that the characters, and myself, and everyone else will be too.

Of course we will be.

What a wonderful, hopeful ending.

I was pretty satisfied with Natasha’s end also, to be honest. I didn’t always love her presence in past films, but I can appreciate that her story in the MCU has been all about trying to do what she thinks is right, even if it sometimes means going against allies. Her sacrifice is an act of love, and hope. It’s not done out of guilt, she’s not trying to make up for past mistakes, it’s not framed as punishment - she’s just doing what she can to ensure that everyone else, especially Clint, has the chance to carry on - just like Tony does. So, like Tony, I’m more bittersweet about it than angry.

Loki on the other hand died brutally and needlessly - that whole opening scene in Infinity War caused so much controversy on how odd, cryptic, out of character and poorly edited it was that a lot of people straight up assumed that there just had to be more going on, there’s no way such accomplished filmmakers could be so sloppy! But like the other inconsistencies in Infinity War, Endgame offers no answers other than yep, the filmmakers really are that sloppy.

So with the major deaths out of the way, onto some bad stuff. This film is excellent to watch don’t get me wrong, just don’t start thinking about the time travel implications for more than 5 minutes. Because whilst the film takes the time to establish its own (confusing) set of rules for time travel, it then proceeds to play pretty fast and loose with those same rules.

Yes I’m going to complain about the timey-wimey stuff.

It’s a shame that the film that takes such care in adding in so many references to the past films, would take such liberties in other areas. I joked with my friend that i’d need a diagram to work it out so that it makes sense, and that has not changed so if anyone here can explain it, please let me know because I’m not a scientist, time travel or sci-fi expert and I can’t wrap my head around it.

By the logic that Gamora is alive in the 2023 present and her death has been effectively erased, so must Loki’s, Heimdal’s and the other Asgardians’ deaths be erased. Gamora cannot simultaneously be sacrificed for the soul stone but not exist in the timeline that led her there. Despite the film telling us the past can’t be changed, it seems that past versions of characters can change their own future, but then also have that alternate future have no bearing on the original timeline.

Using that logic Natasha and Tony could simply be brought in from an earlier time. No one ever need die again because they can just be brought forward from the past without consequence to the current timeline. Maybe this will come up in the future again, maybe we’ll learn that taking people out of their timelines has severe personal consequences as they start to remember multiple lives and states of being, a bit like Nebula, which would then give a solid enough reason as to why people shouldn’t just be brought back and could inform the plot of Gamora’s new existence in GOTG3, along with Loki’s TV series next year.

It still wouldn’t explain how Steve manages to pull this off without any consequences to himself and the fact that he lives in parallel to another Steve Rogers, but it would be something I guess? Even so, by going back to what appears to be the 40s/50s and staying there, Steve has also changed Peggy’s timeline (that’s one of those rules broken), and it would be a bit too dark for Marvel to link up Peggy’s eventual alzheimer’s with the fact that she has effectively led two separate lives, one with Steve and one with her husband and children - unless they’re gonna tell us that Peggy left her husband to be with Steve?? And are you telling me that Steve would sit back and not tell Peggy about HYDRA? Or help to free Bucky sooner?

Also Steve must have re-infected Jane with the Aether. Nice one Steve. And this putting the stones back where they came from would have also meant having to avoid the time-heist troupe, lest they see Steve again and figure out they must have won.

Idk I’m thinking about this too much.

The Thanos who is killed at the end of Endgame (... ha) is the Thanos from 2014. He leaves his original timeline and doesn’t return (unlike the Infinity stones) so how is any of what he did between 2014 and 2018 possible? Is the film trying to tell me that Thanos can jump from 2014 to 2023 and be killed but somehow also exist up until he is killed by Thor one month after the snap in 2018?

The film tells us the past can’t be changed when clearly it can. Or is it that the past can be changed but it won’t affect the present?

BUT HOW?

Have multiple timelines been created or not? It’s suggested that by returning the stones, the new timeline that was created by removing them in the first place would no longer exist, reverting everything back to how it was. In Loki’s case, as much as it pains me to say it, as soon as Tony and Steve go back to 1970 for the Tesseract, the alternate timeline Loki made by taking it in 2012 would be essentially overwritten, reverting everything back to how it was before.

There’s a whole lot of maybe’s and what if’s circling around and I hate padding this post with ‘lol idk what’s going on’ but I went into Endgame expecting some answers but ended up just getting more questions.

Apparently the upcoming TV shows have close ties to Endgame, and how cool would it be to see a Loki series in which his 2012 tesseract-wielding-self grapples with knowledge of his own future and plans accordingly until he catches up to the present day?? Watching as this powerful agent of chaos takes a steaming dump on time itself by refusing to stay dead or be erased from existence.

Something tells me though *cough*Marvel’s track record with Loki*cough* that this route will not be taken.

GOTG3 will at least, hopefully, help towards sorting out this time travel mess.

So, ultimately, is Avengers: Endgame a satisfying conclusion to the series? Kinda. Just don’t try to sort out the timelines. There’s more to come yet for a good while, and maybe (there’s that maybe again) we’ll still get the answers we seek.

....

Bonus: I’m reaching higher than the moon here but until told otherwise, the ‘clink clink’ noise at the end is totally Loki getting his handcuffs removed.

#a4 spoilers #endgame spoilers #avengers: endgame #Avengers #MCU #Tony Stark #Loki #steve rogers

5 notes · View notes

ganglylimbs · 5 years

Text

Endgame Review

!Spoilers for Endgame! Also, I'm going to try to put this under a read more. If it doesn't work, I apologize for the long post.

I'll be honest, I did not expect to come out of Endgame liking it as much as I did.

Don't get me wrong. I expected to like the movie. I'm a slut for action movies, in fact my favorite type of movie is action-comedy, and Marvel has always pulled that off very well.

[[More]]

But with some of the spoilers I saw (Nat and Tony's death, Steve returning to the past, some things the directors have said that I'll get to), I expected for this review to be a lot more salty.

I mean, as a fair warning, I still don't like any of the things I mentioned above. I hate that Natasha died (hate it for the fact that until this movie, they never treated her like a character. And only do so now because they need to make her death sad). I hate that Tony finally got his family and was killed for it. I said before the movie even came out that I hate the thought of Steve returning to the past permanently.

But. They weren't as horrible as I thought they were going to be. (I did cry like a baby for both Natasha and Tony though.) And the way they did Steve, well I still hate it (for me, it feels too much like him giving up, abandoning his friends) but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and does give an end to Captain America.

So. The movie was a lot of fun, I liked the action scene. I really, really loved the big action scene at the end with everyone coming together to stand against Thanos' army. But you know why I actually came away liking the movie overall?

It's because, besides the first 30 minutes where Tony yells at Steve, this movie was about them being a team. This movie was about them being friends.

You have Tony and Nebula playing table football, where I suspect Tony let's Nebula win. Nebula pushing the last of the food towards Tony. Nebula setting Tony up as he's dying. Nebula and Rocket traveling the planet as they help Nat keep Earth safe.

Rhodey checking on Nat. Nat and Steve's friendship has always been great ("I'd offer to make you dinner but you look miserable already.") Nat bringing Clint back.

Scott is a delight with everyone and treats them all as friends. That scene when they all come together and Rhodey scares him. Then Rhodey and Scott arguing against Bruce and Nebula about the rules of time travel (and Scott's "You mean Back To The Future lied to me?" is amazing).

Rocket and Bruce bringing Thor back. Bruce telling Thor that he's here because Thor was the one to bring him back. Bruce, Tony, and Nat's brainstorming session about where the stones might be. Tony and Steve reconciling and even joking around with each other. Tony and Scott complimenting Steve's ass. That trust scene between Steve and Tony.

Basically, this was all I wanted from the past three Avenger movies. Them being more than a team. Them being friends. And it was so nice, to watch them work together on screen like that.

It's just sad that MCU decided they could only do that at the end. Because imagine if we got this in another movie? Where everyone survives and they beat the bad guy? How good of a movie that would have been.

Of course, that would involve them to actually follow through with friendships and romances which MCU is fucking terrible at. Look at Bruce/Natasha, who have no conclusion. They don't speak about the ending to AoU. Ever. Just a couple glances and Bruce being upset at her death. But they don't follow through with it. At least have a discussion about the events of AoU, even if the audience doesn't like it, dammit! Follow through on your ideas so they have a satisfying ending!

Or Steve/Sharon, who is never spoken of again. Like, she just never existed. Or Wanda/Vision, a couple that doesn't really have any buildup but I would actually be ok with. Except for the fact that Wanda barely mentions Vision in Endgame.

Look at the friendships. Steve and Tony have this great friendship in any other Marvel thing ever. And yet they are never friends in MCU, no matter how many times they try to imply that they are.

Bucky and Steve barely talk in Infinity War and Endgame, which is weird considering Steve destroyed Shield, the Avengers, and betrayed Tony for the guy. And then at the end, Bucky doesn't even talk to old Steve!

With Sam and Steve, my problem stems more from what the Russo brothers supposedly said. (I'm going to spend the next few minutes bitching about the supposed things they said. I am saying "supposed" because this is all second hand stuff I have seen). So, "supposedly" the Russo brothers said that the reason Steve returned to the past was because he didn't trust anyone in the future. Which makes no fucking sense considering his last moments in the future has him talking with Sam. Sam, who is practically begging Steve to stay with him. Sam, who cries at seeing Old Steve and getting the shield.

And so this begins my problems with the Russo brothers. All the memes about them becoming JK Rowling is true. Because again, I didn't like the thought of Steve staying back in the past but I still thought it was done well. Why do you have to explain it? Why not let the fans talk and discuss and theorize? Because any explanation (especially a stupid ass explanation like that) will just let people down.

Like the thing about since Natasha is a shadow, she wouldn't want a funeral. The thing is, Tony's funeral wasn't a big public thing. It was friends gathered around to send off another friend. While not make it a Natasha and Tony funeral, then? They both sacrificed themselves for the world. They both deserve that respect.

What makes it worse is that they could have so, so easily put it in there. If they just wanted the ending to be about Tony, ok, there's another scene right after she dies that could have been perfect. The group was already gathered around. Tony asked about if she had any family. Steve says they were her family. There, right there, is a good time to have a mini funeral. Just...say a few words, remember your friend.

Have a funeral for her.

It's just...the Russos keep trying to explain things and talk about why they make certain decisions and it ends up all being bad.

Anyways. So here's a list of Good and Bad things I liked/hate about Endgame

Good

Nebula. Just Nebula in general. She has quickly become my favorite character. But I thought it was especially great that it was Nebula who pulls Gamora from the dark side this time. And it's a cinematic masterpiece that future Nebula kills past Nebula for Gamora, symbolizing Nebula letting go of the past.

The fact that Nebula and Thor are now official Guardians is amazing and I can't wait to see them in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Also, more Peter and Thor interactions!

Gamora not being revived but being brought back from the past. I just think there is a lot of angst potential there, the Guardians having to deal with a just turned from evil Gamora. Also, we hopefully get to see the actual progression of Gamora's and Quill's relationship this time.

The best joke was hands down the America's ass bit. Every single thing about it, from Tony starting it till Steve commenting on his own ass, was amazing.

Steve vs Steve fight and Steve being exasperated by his own catch phrase. I loved it.

The Time Heist. Man, as someone who usually doesn't like time travel stories, the whole Time Heist plot was great. It kind of made me want to see what would have happened if the entire past! team saw Future! team and tried to stop them from taking the space stone, though.

Again, everyone bantering with each other! Being friends! Fuck yeah, for friendship!

Thor's talk with his mother. I know there are some problems with fat! Thor, but I thought that the fact that he got so excited about being still worthy was great.

Bad

Huce. Or whatever the Bruce/Hulk combination is called. Not that I hate that they combined, but that they didn't explain it. When the Russos' talked about the problems Hulk and Bruce had in Infinity War and why Hulk wouldn't come out, that Hulk was upset with Bruce because he felt like he was being used, I was excited to see how that would play out in Endgame. I wanted Bruce to talk about it! Or go on a journey to figure himself out. Except they didn't do that. They just breezed over it. They didn't explore that at all. How disappointing.

I have a few minor problems with the characterization of Tony in the beginning. Mainly that throughout the MCU, one of the few constant things they had was that Tony couldn't stop fighting. He couldn't stop being Iron Man, he couldn't stop thinking of the future and how to save it. So you're telling me, suddenly he doesn't want to fight anymore? I mean, it's not even that he turned the team down at first when they asked for his help figuring out time travel, because I can buy him being scared. It's that he doesn't change his mind till he sees the picture of Peter (I get that the whole thing they were going for is that everyone has a personal stake in this, but again, this is Tony, who has been trying to protect Earth long before Peter came around). And it's especially the fact that even figuring out time travel, he offers to hide it. To forget it and live in a post-snap world. What makes it more startlingly is you have those two bits of crap characterization contrasted with him still creating suits, for both Pepper and him. Again, this is a man they have made clear can't stop being Iron Man, can't stop trying to protect people, and suddenly he wouldn't immediately try to change back time to get everyone back? It just bugs me a bit.

Which leads me to an overall universe problem I have. I'm sorry, but I don't like Pepper/Tony in MCU and Endgame kind of brought that to the forefront. Because I suspect that they had Tony offer to throw away the chance to get everyone back specifically so they could have Pepper tell him to be a superhero. I get that it's supposed to be Pepper finally giving him permission to be who he is, but that's my problem. I just don't think it's a good relationship when one partner wants the other to change so drastically or change such a fundamental part of themselves. Tony Stark is Iron Man. That, again, is something they hammered into everyone. No matter how much it cost him, no matter how much it put his life in danger, no matter how much Pepper begged him not to, Tony could not stop being Iron Man. So yeah, I just didn't like their relationship that much.

Tony dying. Specifically, the fact that the one character that is constantly plagued with PTSD is only allowed to rest when he dies. And that he gets the family he so wanted, he gets the friends he so wanted, and he never gets to enjoy this. This wouldn't be such a problem if it also wasn't for the fact that the Russo brothers have also supposedly said that Bucky couldn't be a superhero because of his past and because of his mental problems. So yeah. If that part is true, then I don't really trust their stance on mental health and I can totally see them thinking that dying is a fitting ending for someone with PTSD.

Overall, I would absolutely watch Endgame again, if just to get those friendship feelings again. It's sad that this is an end to an era, that we will probably never see the original 6 again, but I do hope that when Marvel needs to milk that cash cow again and re-do the Avengers, they actually have them be a family this time.

#endgame #endgame spoilers #avengers #just some thoughts #i like the movie #it is what it is #there's just so much they could have done #but didn't #hopefully the read more works #mighty heroes

3 notes · View notes

beaubaltsoul · 5 years

Text

just got back from seeing endgame. some thoughts below.

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, DUH!

So I feel like I should preface this by saying that I'm not really the type of person who wants or likes to dwell on the bad parts of movies. If I go to the theater to watch a movie it’s because I'm excited to see it. I WANT to be there, you know?

That being said, as I sit here after having just come back from seeing Avengers Endgame, trying to find the right words for how I feel, all I've got is: sad. *insert helpless/confused shrug gif*

(Edit: I started writing this as soon as I got home from the movie but that has now been many hours ago)

I mean it’s the end of an era I guess, so maybe sadness is just par for the course. Things ending are kind of like small deaths. There’s gonna be a grieving process. But y'all, I just don’t think that’s what it is for me. (At least not completely.)

I like the mcu a lot. I don’t like it unequivocally and unconditionally. I have favorite and not so favorite mcu films. I have favorite and not so favorite characters. We all do. That’s the cool thing about the world of superheroes. There's a whole lot of variety and options.

And overall, I really did like Endgame I think. The fights were intense and thrilling, the funny parts were funny, mostly coming from who you’d expect, and other times coming from a surprising source. The emotionally heavy parts were a mixed bag for me. Some of them made me feel a lot of things. Some of them didn’t make me feel anything. If only because some of them were centered around characters that I have not connected to or cared about in other movies.

But all this so far has just been me giving a kind of vague review of the movie. What I really came here to talk about was how unexpectedly pissed I got about Natasha’s arc in the movie.

I should let you know that I don’t know much about the character of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow outside of what I've seen in the mcu. And even within the mcu she hasn’t been one of my favorite characters. I've liked her and appreciated her, she just hasn't been my fav, you know?

So anyway, I don't really know how to transition to this smoothly so I'm just gonna outright say it: I'm so fucking pissed they had Nat sacrifice herself on Vormir to get the soul stone. I'm just. SO ANGRY ABOUT IT. It was an absolutely horrible inverse parallel to Thanos killing Gamora to get the soul stone. They made me watch another woman be sacrificed to serve the story. And once again, they gave us that awful prolonged shot of her dead body at the bottom of that cliff just like they did with Gamora.

Like, y'all! what the fuck! I know Natasha willingly chose this for herself and I know that Clint was just as willing to sacrifice himself, and he actively tried to to so and there was a scuffle, but that deosn’t change the fact that it ended up being Natasha. I really desperately hoped that since she sacrificed herself, since the two of them were willing to lose their own lives instead of forfeiting someone else’s, then they’d get the stone and also get to keep their life. I thought maybe the soul stone would reward them for making the selfLESS choice instead of the selfISH one. But she died just like Gamora. And she remained dead. I just really can’t get over it.

The one woman on the original Avengers team didn’t even get to participate in the final epic showdown and I'm very unexpectedly emotional about it.

Speaking of the final showdown, everyone’s entrances, all those that got dusted portal-ing in from across the globe to fight Thanos and his army, was definitely one of the well-earned emotional highs of the film.

And I'm sorry but I really need to talk about a few other parts of the movie that irked me.

First of all, I CANNOT BELIEVE that they didn’t let Nebula kill Thanos!! That woman has been trying for soooo long to kill that bastard and they fucking gave that honor to Thor at first, and then Tony at the end. And I get that this is an AVENGERS movie, that those original six would be the focus of the film. And I get that every single protagonist in the film has suffered greatly because of Thanos, but are we not all agreed that Nebula has the most personal stake in this fight against Thanos? That fucker physically and emotionally abused her for most of her life and then killed her sister just as she and Gamora had begun to have a healthy relationship with each other. NEBULA DESERVED TO KILL THANOS. I really thought they would at least give her that.

And lastly, and I recognize that this is my own personal bias since Carol has been one of my favorite characters for many years now, but I had really thought/hoped that Captain Marvel would be more involved. I know the Russo brothers talked a lot about figuring out how to involve her without having her overpower the other heroes, but I think they did a shit job of it. They just crippled her character by sending her back into space to do whatever, while everyone else figured out how to fix the universe. She was left out of most of the movie only to come into the final fight towards the end to take out Thanos’ giant ship that was bombing the battlefield. Like, the Russos only wanted Carol to be powerful when it when it was convenient for them and other than that she was unnecessary. It’s so annoying. And god, they painted her as such a better-than-you lone wolf type of person, I hated it. Like, yes, Carol is a very independent and capable woman, but she’s also absolutely a team player and I don’t think the Russos understand her. Please Marvel, let Carol be written by someone who understands her from now on. And I know that Brie filmed her parts of Endgame BEFORE Captain Marvel had started filming, so that might be part of the characterization problem. But the problem is also just men.

And I guess I was also hoping for her to be more involved because I thought there would be more of a passing the torch feel to the movie. Not just for Carol, but also for Peter and T’challa (and also Valkyrie???) There kind of was for Scott I guess? And there definitely was for Sam. Again, I know this is an AVENGERS movie, so the original group would be the focus, but yeah, just to repeat myself, I did think there would be a sort of group passing of the torch. A bit disappointed that there wasn’t.

We did get short haired Carol which was a blessing. And we also got that really cool part of the final fight where all of the female superheroes teamed up for a hot second. But it really was just a hot second y’all, it could have lasted a little bit longer. ALSO, there was some emotional emptiness to it because NAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE TOO.

Okay, I lied above, this is actually the last thing i'll say. I'm fine with how they ended Cap’s story. Was it a cookie cutter happy ending that we’ve seen countless times before? Yeah kinda, but like I said, I'm cool with it. I am of the opinion that both Steve AND Peggy deserve to get what they want most, and what they want/wanted most was each other. They finally got their dance, and then they got a lifetime together and I'm happy for them. (Side note, old man Steve looked like Joe Biden and it made me uncomfortable. I really hope Chris Evans doesn’t age into a Biden doppelgänger. That would be sad.)

I really don’t know what this post has turned into. It’s mostly just an outlet for me to express my feelings about the movie. I just wanted to say somewhere how incredibly sad I was about Natasha’s story arc, even if I'm still mostly confused about why exactly it impacted me so much. And also to express my disappointment about some other aspects of the movie. And like, I get it, this is a big fucking film in terms of characters involved and that’s a really difficult balance to pull off, but I just feel like where sacrifices were made, they were made to the detriment of some of the female characters. idk. Natasha’s death just really fucked me up y'all.

#avengers endgame #avengers endgame spoilers #endgame spoilers #natasha romanoff #black widow #mcu

2 notes · View notes

precise-magic · 5 years

Text

ENDGAME KILLED ME

Okay, so I'm just gonna rant and yall ain't gotta read jack squat. this is for me to find in a couple of years and hate myself for ;)

WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCK FUCK WAS UP WITH NAT DYING LIKE AND TONY DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER AND STEVE WENT BACK TO PEGGY AND TONY AND HOWARD AND LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI LOKI

Okay. One thing at a time

I was a little bitch and found it online first, and then went to go see it in the theaters cause I had to work opening weekend and Spoilers are a botch. also, I knew i would be crying a lot and so I was able to pause it while I was at home so its fine don't worry about it.

But like.

the opening, with Clint, teaching his daughter to shoot a bow, and then his family dying. I was crying. weeping. wasn’t sobbing yet.

tony and nebula playing paper football was great. thank you. like we got to see tony and nebula interact and nebula was stiff and awkward but not trying to kill Tony and Tony totally let her win and I love him for it. so much. I'm crying again. it's fine.

!!!!!!!!!!!!! rocket and nebula holding hands was so sweet!! it really shows you how upset they are cause of !!!!!!!!!!! yeah and nebula lost her sister, and then the rest of the Avengers. she failed.she couldn't even avenge her sister. and rocket. lost Groot once? and now it's even more painful. and he lost the rest of the guardians. and they only have each other now and I'm going to die

tony saying “I lost the kid” came into my house and shot me point blank in the chest

Tony yelling at Steve and throwing a fit was not what I expected and it upset me cause it was like watching your parents argue before the divorce. but yeah he was justified i believe.

Carol showing up was great and i loved her and Thor interacting!!

The first 20 minutes came into my house and shot me in the head cause that’s not how i was expecting this movie to go and I love it

Thanos destroying the stones. it makes sense now but before i saw the movie i never would’ve thought of it!!!

A rat saves the universe. Okay but how did strange know that the rat would do it like??? time magic wibbly wobbly stuff i guess

Also scott being the one to come up with the plan!! Love it!! ANd poor cassie!!

TONY STARK HAS A DAUGHTER! SHES ADORABLE AND ID KILL FOR HER TBH

I WANNA SEE MORGAN AND PETER INTERACT OKAY BYE

I’m trying to remember the order it happened like?? its so much but im not complaining!!!

yeah just time travel. not what i was expecting

OKAY SO

Steve, scott, and tony go back to 2012-the first avengers movie. Loki gets the Tesseract, and he disappears. that prompts tony seeing his dad and steve seeing peggy in 1970

but

Thor and rocket go to The Dark World movie. who cares what year. but it’s after 2012-the avengers. YOU SEE LOKI THERE. how? why? did they explain it and i missed it? is loki going to pop back up somehwere? I’m confused? is loki going to end up alive like gamora did? its past gamora brought into the present? its past loki brought into the future by him not being on that ship when thanos comes for the tesseract? how does the dark world happen w/o loki? how does Ragnorok happen? I am confusion. time travel logic confuses me unless its back to the future time travel logic.

Okay so the hulk. I’m cool with this development, I feel like the last movies with the hulk were leading up to this and it wasn't just hastily written into canon unlike somethings *cough* clint’s family in Age of Ultron *cough cough* what with the hulk leaving in age of Ultron and then him Ragnarok and his character in infinity war

my dad, on the other hand, is not going to be happy. I already texted him. He’s not happy with me

Okay so the ancient one already knew about strange??? like?? But then it leaves her and bruce not fighting and she’s like, “ well he must’ve had a reason” and i respect that

also the wizards fighting in 2012 was wrapped up in a nice little bow

steve fighting steve was great

steve being a smart cookie and saying “hail hydra” was neat but now the hydra dude are going to be confusion? and poor past steve, he has to fight himself and he heard “bucky is alive” hell think it was a joke and then when bucky is alive the guilt;’( i would feel guilty anyways) also i expect lots and lots of fanfic for me to read about steve finding bucky faster

Tony getting to talk to his dad!! Im so happy!! It s so great!! if only he got to see his kid again before he died!!

natasha... and clint.... i....

i watched the first avengers movie when i was aboutttt 10? i remember seeing nat kick ass. I loved their interactions. I . I knew she was going to be the one to die. i knew as soon as i saw them and only them there. the writers weren’t going to kill clint cause he was trying to get his family back nad they already established that the avengers was nat’s family. i cried then. im crying now. but seeing thise two genuinely willing to die so the other didn't?? that’s some good shit you can @ me if you like. and i dont feel like it took away from nat’s character. did tony’s sacrifice take away from his? no. no it didn’t i just wish that there had at least been clint lighting a candle for her at the end of the movie. some form of recognition. but thats what fics are for i guess

also her words were “see yall in a sec” or smthg like that before they all went into the past and im not okay

this ended up being longer than i intened.... im not even finished yet... ill just hit the high highlights from here on out

loki. love him. can’t wait to see more him

they really hyped up captain marvel wayyyyyy too much for my taste but she’s still badass and i love her

the peter and tony hug i was very grateful for but at that moment i knew tony was going to die. and so i cried twice as hard

pepperoni being the strongest they’ve ever been and I'm fucking here for it

or well i was...

steve wielding thor’s hammer (i cant spell, sue me) was great and i was happy all the way Up until his shield broke

tony’s funeral as really well done. the arc reactor pepper gave to tony, Harley being there, everyone being there. it was good. i cried. really loud. so yeah. his hologram. he fucking planned for dying so im not okay

also strange and the whole “if i tell you it won’t happen” what did that mean? that if he tells tony that tony will die he won’t snap??? uhhh sounds fake but okay marvel

peter is so going to have a shit ton of nightmares from when he was hugging the gauntlet on the ground and then the badass ladies coming to save him

great scene by the way 9/10. would be 10/10 but no Natasha

i wanna see harley and peter interact and be great big brothers to morgan

Steve going back in time was some utter fucking bullshit. that deserves it’s own rambling post from me so watch out for that mess i’ll post at a later date

all in all(that wasn’t everything I assure you I'm just tired)

I loved the movie. It didn’t let me down like Age of Ultron did. It seemed, to me anyways, to have fewer comedy moments than many of the earlier movies which is to be expected. I did not see the plot line with the time travel and the five year time skip though. I was not expecting that at all. thoroughly enjoyed it though, cause I had no expectations on what was going to happen. They kept dead/present! gamora dead but replaced her with past! gamora which im cool with i want more sisterly bonding with her and nebula and i can’t wait to see her and quill interact again. no bringing nat back, which i would’ve felt cheap if they had tried. like she sacrificed herself so clint could be with his family. if they could’ve just brought back whoever had died, it takes the weight away from the decision and cheapens her death. same with tony’s. i hate it so fucking much but the symbolism and the poetics ending of him anwsering thanos’s “I am inevitable” at the end of the film (which past-in-the-present him parroted from past present him the beginning of the film) with “I am Iron man” from the first film I just.... fucking died and ascended. my body left my soul... I lovedit. And the parallels with peter and him and peter died last time, tony died this time. Im not crying, you are. and yeah..

I hated it so much. But they did it really well. and pepper told him he could rest now.

Basically. It was a great movie. was it perfect? no. but what movie is? This movie was great and you can fight me on it thank you and good night <3

#endgame #avengers endgame #avengers endgame spoilers #endgame spoilers #end me pls #spoilers

1 note · View note

lovinnelily · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on Tony Stark on Endgame.

People may be sad and want a happy ending for Tony but that death had a lot of closure to it. Tony, sacrificing himself? For the greater good? You know he would. But we had a lot of things he would NOT do. The biggest of them all was him being okay going back to Loki's invasion.

It gave him PTSD, he was scared by that event and they wanted me to believe he was just fine with going there? Being face to face with Loki again like that? That was just wrong and bullshit and should have been hurtful for him.

Tony began the movie accepting his death, he became suicidal, reclusive, he made a new family but he was already working on getting back the stones even before the others came to him after those five years. I can understand and accept his death, but I can not understand how he went through the past, seeing his dead father right after going through his life's most traumatic event again (after Thanos), and being THAT calm? Really, Tony losing the Tesseract to Loki and being ok? Even after he was that mess after every single one of his losses? Bad and inconsistent writing. You may call it growth, I call that out of character.

On the other hand, everything else about him was perfect. How skinny he was, you could see without looking twice and it hurt. He basically trying to kill himself and still being hurt about Steve and spitting the truth in his face right before doing that showed how fragile that man was. Goddammit, the acting by RDJ is always flawless and this is no exception, if you didn't at least gasp or full out cried when he dropped on the floor without the arc reactor you ARE heartless, don't even try me.

The way he cares for his kid, God, we knew he was going to be a great father (Harvey, Peter, sincerely, we been knew. Iron Dad). Five years went by and I was like "the fuck", but when Morgan appeared my brother almost ripped my arm out, that's how excited he was. And I was too! He finally had a kid, he and Pepper had a Daughter (and she was the cutest little thing). He was in a better place, damn, Tony Stark living by a lake/river surrounded by nature like that? I lived to see this and I'm glad!

But life ain't perfect and he know. That's why he was still working to undo Thanos job but in a way that he wouldn't lose what he had now (you can't tell me that he just had a massive project of time travel halfway ready before and when Scott appeared he got the answer to what wasn't working and fixed it that same night). The man is tired of losing.

And we owed him a win, a full out win, without losing anything. Peter telling Tony that they won hit home hard, this time he won and his daughter, his wife, his friends and his family and the rest of the whole damned planet was fine, he saved everything. He won. And what he lost was himself.

Sincerely, —and don't tell me I'm overusing this word, I can't be nothing but it right now— it was a strong foreshadowing when Bruce told us, the people on our sits, looking worriedly at the big screen, that he was the only one who could stand to use the gauntlet. So you can't blame me for screaming "no!" and crying harder while the whole theater was screaming yes and clapping when Tony took the stones.

At first I thought he took out his arc reactor, put it on the gauntlet and was going to explode the whole thing but then I saw it in his hand and man, he was going to do That™ (Doctor Strange's face told me that was the moment I was going to lose the iron man. Sincerely, Benedict was there for such a short time but that man, oho, he knows how to do his work).

It was so powerful, like everything in this movie, and so fragile, like everything in this movie.

And I am glad it was like that. I don't think I could accept it being any other way if not for him being alive still.

#avengers #avengers endgame #Avengers spoilers #Endgame spoilers #SPOILERS #I will be posting spoilers #Avengers endgame spoilers #Endgame #I was crying too much to remember anything

1 note · View note

angelearnshaw · 7 years

Text

TEEN WOLF SEASON 6A

(Warning: Some spoilers ahead)

All I can say is WOW.

For me, Teen Wolf Season 6 has been the best so far, which is why it doesn’t make any sense to me as to why the viewer count for the series seems to be dropping. I just read an article in Forbes online, hoping to get updated on news for Season 6B, when I found out this piece of information. I’m sorry, but I really don’t get other people.

Season 6A was an amazing ride for me, and I’ve taken the time to write down my reasons:

#1: The Stydia Feels

COME ON! Who else hasn’t been waiting for this to happen? I know, I know. There are also a lot of Sterek and Stalia fans out there. I totally respect that. But it’s just so sweet that even after six seasons, Lydia is still the one who Stiles really loves. The scene in Radio Silence (I think that was Ep. 5) really hit me right in the fucking feels, when Lydia said “You said to remember I love you.”

My heart was not made to withstand moments like this.

And then there was the scene in Episode 9- well, actually, the entirety of Episode 9 had me turning into an emotional wreck as each character (Scott, Malia and Lydia) took a trip down memory lane and relived their moments with Stiles.

When Malia was like, “Stiles told me you were getting an apartment together. And I said it isn’t always the best idea to live together with your friend, even if it’s your best friend. But Stiles said it didn’t matter, because you weren’t just best friends. You were like brothers.” (Obviously, these weren’t her exact lines. My memory isn’t that good, but it’s close enough). I was ready to cry my eyes out.

But then Lydia also relieved that kiss she had with Stiles, when he was having a panic attack. And she was like “That’s when it happened. That’s when everything changed.” Then all these other cute moments of her and Stiles started flashing. My gawd. The writers did a tremendous job of it.

There might be other love teams on Teen Wolf. Scott and Allison, Scott and Kira, Liam and Hayden, Corey and Mason. But none will give me the same feels that Stydia does. I rest my case.

#2: The Increase in the Creepiness Factor

Seriously.

The villains on Teen Wolf just keep getting better. Not only because of the writers, but I think we should also salute the make- up team and the special effects team,too. The Dread Doctors in the previous season were so cool! But the way the Ghost Riders look now… man. It’s a whole different level of creepy. I’ve had a couple of nightmares about those guys. Don’t tell me you haven’t.

When they say “a face only a mother could love”, I don’t think it applies to this guy either.

Mr. Douglas pales in comparison to them. Sorry, Mr. Douglas. But you’re too good looking to be scary lol.

To further prove this point is Caleb in Episode 6 (I think). A ghost conjured up by a banshee after the Ghost Riders took all the other people. Whoever that kid was, he did a great job in scaring the crap out of me. A good sign for someone so young who is thinking of being in the acting industry. Kudos to you kid!

Lastly, there was that living nightmare Theo had. Where his sister kept ripping his heart out. I shudder just to think about it. If I were Theo, I’d rather let Malia kill me than go back there.

#3: Peter Hale’s Return

Who doesn’t miss Peter? He’s probably the only loveable bad guy there is. And when he comes back to save Malia in Episode 8, I just fell in love with his character more. Damn Peter. How can a bad guy be so funny and charming? I don’t know, but Ian Bohen does a splendid job. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Peter. I even hope Derek comes back in 6B and they all have this big family moment, along with Malia. A girl can dream *sigh*

#4: Theo’s Reutrn

Peter wasn’t the only one to make a re-appearance this season.

After Season 5’s finale, I didn’t think I’d see anymore of Theo Raeken. Thank the universe for proving me wrong. Just like Peter, I fell in love with Theo’s character. Is it bad that I seem to be falling in love with most of the baddies? I just can’t help it. They’re written so well! Besides, I think Theo might be on the path to redeeming himself.

Theo’s not super bad. I think he’s just confused. From my point of view, the Dread Doctors manipulated him when he was still young, and maybe that’s why his sense of right and wrong is so askew. But the fact that he helped Liam and even sacrificed himself stating, “I’m being the bait,” with that devastatingly handsome smirk of his tells me there is still hope for him. Which is why I’m so happy when EP Jeff Davis said he’ll be in Season 6B because Cody Christian was just too good to let go off. I agree Jeff. I totally agree.

#5: Liam is Growing Up

I’m sure all of you remember how much of an ass Liam was when we first met him.

But watching him through the seasons was a real treat. Especially this season. He’s making his own decisions now. He’s challenging some of Scott’s decisions with his own. And it’s so interesting to see the two of them interact. I’m so happy they got over the whole Liam tried to kill him thing. Can’t wait to see what happens when Scott goes off to college, leaving Liam to take care of Beacon Hills.

So yeah.

These are just some of the reasons why I love Teen Wolf Season 6. Maybe some people didn’t enjoy it because of the fact that Stiles wasn’t around that much, but I think we got to know more about Stile’s character even if he wasn’t always in the episode. We found out why he’s called Stiles (apparently a nickname he got from his gramps). We saw how much his dad love him and his mom (another slap in the feels). And the fact that his jeep came from his mom now tells me why he won’t give up on it, even if it’s just duct tape holding it together lol.

I also love the cute moments between the other characters- like Mason and Corey and Hayden and Liam. They’re so young and figuring things out. It kind of reminds me of when Scott and the others were also just starting.

I also love how Lydia has become so powerful. Before, I kind of felt bad for her. Also, her character was shallow in the beginning. But look at her now! She’s the only one who can survive the Ghost Riders, she can wield her banshee powers in a badass manner and she is always using her brains. Go Lydia!

*sigh*

So yeah. Really looking forward to Teen Wolf Season 6B, even if I wish the series wasn’t ending. I hope I’m not the only one.

What about you? How are you finding Teen Wolf’s final season?

8 notes · View notes

xavierfiles-blog · 7 years

Text

Entry 060 - Cable

Art by Marko Djurdjevic

Name: Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani’son Summers

Code Names: Cable, Soldier X

First Appearance: New Mutants #86 (Feb ’90)

Powers: Telepathy, Telekenisis, A Big Gun

Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, X-Force, Six Pack, X-Men, Avengers

About

Continuity is one of the trickiest things in shared-universe superhero comics. In the hands of a good writer, the history of a character adds to the impact and relevance of story beats for the veteran without sacrificing anything for the new reader. In the hands of a bad writer, continuity bogs an otherwise good story down with references that fly over reader’s heads and editors notes that make someone feel like they are missing out. Too often, creators as well as fans, hold a good story hostage so that a pristine continuity can be held in place. But continuity is messy, continuity is imperfect, and continuity is largely irrelevant, continuity doesn’t deserve to be held at the same level as storytelling. A cumbersome devotion to continuity is the downfall of otherwise great works, and too often have the X-Men fallen into the trap of continuity before story. This folly has never been more iconic than with Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani’son Summers, the mutant commando known as Cable.

There was a lot that Nathan Dayspring didn’t know about his past. He didn’t know that he was a genetic weapon created by a mad man who cloned a dead woman to bear him. He didn’t know that his sister from an alternate reality coaxed his father to into sending his infant self into to future to avoid being killed by a virus implanted in him by a god he was destined to kill. He didn’t know that that sister cloned him to ensure his genetics survived, or that the god would raise the clone as his own son. He didn’t know that his father and the woman his mother was created from were brought forward in time to raise him for the first twelve years of his life, and he didn’t know why they weren’t around for the next few decades. He didn’t know that after fulfilling his destiny in killing the god, his clone would become just as oppressive of a tyrant. He didn’t know he would fall in love with a doomed rebel woman, or if the child she bore was his or his clone’s. He didn’t know if the years fighting, leading an uprising, waging war through out the time stream was worth it. But he knew that the mutant race needed a leader if they were going to survive and he knew that, regardless of the past, he could fight for the future.

To wage his war, Cable needed soldiers and the young team of New Mutants needed a new leader. He pushed the kids to their breaking point and soon they stopped being kids at all. They weren’t students, they were soldiers. No longer New Mutants, they were X-Force and they battled threats like the Mutant Liberation Front, a radical organization lead by Cable’s cloned brother Stryfe. It came to a head when Stryfe attempted to assassinate Professor Xavier and the brothers fought man to man, and quite literally face to face. Cable was able to best his brother, and after a detour through time, returned to lead to increasingly independent X-Force. They came to outgrow Cable and he continued to fight his mutant war in the shadows.

Art by Rob Liefeld and Brad Vancata

When Apocalypse gathered The Twelve, Cable ranked among them. The X-Men were able to free the captured mutants but at the cost of Cyclops’ life. In honor of his father, Cable joined the X-Men and, for the first time, grew close with his mother. They were able to find the psionic remains of Cyclops, still merged with Apocalypse (which you can read about here) and Nathan was able to restore his father and fulfill his destiny by destroying Apocalypse. He soon turned into a man without a mission, a soldier without a war to fight, and tried to find a new direction for his life.

Art by Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, and Jung Choi

He eventually found that direction alongside an unlikely ally. While Cable was using his massive powers to make the world a better place, including creating his own island nation known as Providence, many were worried about the unchecked power he possessed. The X-Men recruited Deadpool to help control him and this would lead to a begrudgingly long partnership between the two mercenaries. Cable also joined a new iteration of the X-Men at the time and assisted them in battles against the Children of the Vault and protecting Providence against the Hecatomb.

Art by Rob Liefeld

Soon, Cable found himself with a new challenge. A mutant child had been born, the first since the Decimation of the race, and everyone was after her. Cable got to her first and dedicated himself to protecting the new mutant messiah. The battle waged on, but Cable was eventually able to find Cyclops and the two great mutant leaders, father and son, talked. Years ago, Scott sent Nathan through the time stream to save him. Now, they both knew that the baby girl would never be safe and Scott made a decision, she couldn’t stay here, but Nathan could find a time where she was safe. Nathan always struggled to forgive his father for sending him away, but in that moment, they understood one another. They slid into the future, towards a better tomorrow, racing towards hope.

Art by Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend, and Brian Reber

With the little girl strapped to his chest, Cable made a life in this future. They never stayed in one place long, Nate wasn’t one to get comfortable and his fears were soon realized. The former X-Man Bishop believed Hope would cause the dystopian world he was from and made it his mission to prevent that at all costs. Bishop chased Cable into the future and attempted to kill the baby girl. In the ensuing fight, Cable’s time-travel module was damaged and he had only one choice. He jumped further into the future, with no assurance that he could ever make it back.

Art by Ariel Olivetti

In that time Cable and the little girl found a home, he found love, and they found some semblance of a family. His wife, Hope, always asked why Cable wouldn’t give the girl a name, but the soldier didn’t think it was his place. Though months past, he tried to keep his distance from the child. He was a soldier, she was his objective. He couldn’t get attached. Even then, Cable, Hope, and the little girl created a life in their farming community. That life was threatened by Bishop who scorched the past to ruin the girl’s future. Cable, his wife Hope, and the little girl became nomads like his parents before him. They were careful but the world was dangerous and on a routine stop, Hope was shot. Cable buried his wife and all his attachments with her, save one. He finally had a name for his daughter, the one thing the mutant race needed more than anything else, Hope.

Art by Ariel Olivetti

They continued to jump through time, avoiding Bishop and training. Hope was his daughter, yes, but she needed to be a soldier first. She detonated her first semtex before she could say full sentences, fired her first shot before she could ride a bike, she was everything her father could want. The years past and his little girl bloomed into a strong teenager. They only had each other, but it was enough. Eventually, they found their way back to the present and Cable was finally close to finishing his mission. They made their way to Utopia, but the return of the mutant messiah didn’t go unnoticed and soon the island was under siege. The leaders of Utopia had a plan, but it was suicide, not that Nathan cared. He had dedicated years to keeping Hope safe, he found it fitting that he would do so with his final act and the soldier charged into the great unknown.

Art by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback

Cable’s story didn’t end there as his death flung him far into the future where he was found by his old friend and partner Blaquesmith (who, yes, we totally skipped over). Blaquesmith told him that this desolation was caused by the Avengers causing Hope’s death and sent him back to make it right. He attacked the Avengers but was eventually stopped and brought to Utopia. He began having premonitions, visions of things to come and created a new iteration of X-Force to help prevent them from coming to fruition. They operated outside of the jurisdiction of the X-Men and the Avengers, but Cable only focused on completing the mission. After the Alexandria Incident (which I went into greater detail here) he became even harder, to the point that Hope had to step in and relieve her father of his duties. He blurred the line between good and evil and he needed a reminder of what he really stood for.

Art by Rock He-Kim

Nowadays Cable has mostly reverted to his 90’s ideal. Deadpool helped unionize the fractured versions of Nate across time and space and, in return, Cable joined the newest incarnation of the Uncanny Avengers. He struggled to step away from being the leader with such strong personalities like Captain America and Rogue on the squad, but he took the mission of stopping the Red Skull to heart. Continuity marches on, and after years and years, retcons and retcons, Cable is back to being who he always was, a big guy with a bigger gun. And really, that’s all you need to know about Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani’son Summers.

Art by Pepe Larraz

Must Read

As I have mentioned before, I am a father of a fantastic one-year-old boy who shares one of Cable’s several names (yes it is Askani’son) so stories about parenthood really impact me. That’s why it shouldn’t shock any long time readers that I am gonna recommend Cable by Duane Swierczynski. The book is a great examination of a soldier learning to be a parent in his own way. In some ways, this is the most essential supplemental reading for the Messiah Trilogy and it deserves to be experienced. It is on Marvel Unlimited and there are 4 trades and a cross over that cover the whole thing.

Ranking

Cable is an interesting character to rank. For the most part, I kinda hate everything the character did for the first half of his history but absolutely love everything in his last half. That should be obvious by the fact that I skipped through most of the 90’s. Still, there is something appealing about a guy with more guns than the Punisher and more knives than Wolverine and for most of his existence, he is more an action figure than a character. He is also a great examination of what it means to be a soldier and father, so I am conflicted. I think he is easily the best of the Summers Clan and he is better than his archenemy Apocalypse. A similar character is his X-Force teammate Warpath, both were cookie cutters until they quickly weren’t, but I think Cable wins just because he has a cooler design. Right above Warpath is Cable’s protégée Cannonball (who I didn’t freaking talking about) and I think Sam wins on the basis of consistency throughout the years. That is why Cable breaks into the top 10 as the new number 8 in the Xavier Files.

Cable was requested by Scott from Pateron. Thanks for the request and the generous support! If you have a request just submit it at the bottom of this article and I will add it to the list that currently stretches into June 2018! If you want to cut to the front of the line, like Scott did, we have a Patreon if you want to support it and get a line cutting reward for just a $1 pledge. We just hit our 2nd goal and now I guess I am reviewing X-Books so that will be coming soon. Oh and we also have exclusive physical items so check those out!

Click here if you want to see the full ranked list, with links to every entry in the Xavier Files so far.

If you liked what you read be sure to follow Xavier Files on twitter, Tumblr, Facebook!

Next week will be up to your vote! See you then!

Character Request

Who do you want me to write about? *

Who are you/what name do you want me to thank you as for the request?

Entry Key

Who should I cover next?

— Xavier Files (@XavierFiles) January 18, 2017

Entry 060 – Cable was originally published on Xavier Files

#cable #Deadpool #Hope #New Mutants #Rob Liefeld #X-Force #X-Men

38 notes · View notes

superhollywall · 4 years

Text

Murder in the city

Bullets exploded like fireworks early in the afternoon on January 1, heralding not only the beginning of a new year, but the city’s first homicide of 2017.

Two of Jeffery Gooden’s eight children were preparing birthday festivities for another sister. Mercedes, who’d just moved into the Riverview Park Apartments four days earlier, stepped outside onto the cold ground in her bare feet and was met with shouts from two neighbors across the way, a couple of guys she didn’t know whom she would later describe as black men in their 20s with braids and dreadlocks.

"You’re trifling for not having shoes on," one of them yelled.

"Get some shoes on," the other echoed.

And then, when she wouldn’t answer, "Bitch, you hear me talking to you?"

"Do y’all got something better-ass to do than harass females?" she fired back. "You need to go find a job and leave me alone."

At this, they rushed toward her, three women suddenly appearing alongside them. Mercedes scooped up her children, who were playing outside, and ran to her apartment, while these people, whom she said she didn’t know, circled her home. She called each of her parents and at least one of her siblings, repeating their threats: "Bitch, we’ll kill you and your kids."

When Nyesha Scott, Mercedes’ sister, older by two years, arrived at the apartment complex, there didn’t appear to be anyone outside, but when Mercedes opened the door, her harassers approached, one gripping the butt of a gun he’d tucked into his waistband.

Nyesha tried to talk them down. "We don’t need no weapons."

"Please, put the gun down."

"No, no, no, we’re not doing this."

Nyesha remembers one of the women saying, "We’re not here for no talking, we’re here to get down to business," and one of the men: "We’re from Louisiana, this is how we get down."

"My little brother Jamal came around the corner, thinking he saw one of the guys pull up his pants like he was getting ready to hit us," Nyesha recalled later. "The guy pulled his gun out, pointed it past my face to my brother. After he pulled his gun out, I saw my daddy and my brother Christopher, and Christopher was on the phone with my mama. And they walk up, and the guy just started shooting."

Jeffery Gooden grabbed his gun before heading toward his daughter’s apartment. His wife, Chestine Gooden, said he didn’t carry a firearm all the time; he thought he might need it to protect his children and grandchildren.

"He didn’t go out there for no trouble," Chestine said, "he just wanted to keep the peace."

But when the man who’d been fighting with his daughter started shooting, Gooden fired back, hitting one of the women in the leg. He was struck, too, multiple times, and his daughter said he dropped to his knees and looked skyward before falling onto his back. Tears ran down his cheeks. Chestine, still on the phone with Christopher, screamed for someone to tell her who’d been shot.

Nyesha says she attempted CPR, but Jeffery Gooden was pronounced dead at St. John Medical Center. The woman he’d struck was treated for her injuries and released.

2017 began a lot like 2016 had ended.

Last year, Tulsa saw a record number of homicides—82 as of December 31, or 20.5 murders per 100,000 residents. The previous record was 71 in 2009. From 2002 to 2015, the mean homicide rate was approximately 52 per year, or 14 murders per 100,000 residents—almost triple the national average.

2016’s homicide rate was four times the national average.

Homicide Unit Sgt. Dave Walker said 2016’s murders don’t appear to have a whole lot in common, other than proximity. Twenty-two of the homicides last year started with altercations between those involved, and 16 were domestic homicides.

"That puts 16 people real close to each other," Walker said.

When people are closer together, they become better shots, he said.

Bullets are more likely to meet their target. Stabbings and brute force become more lethal.

At least 54 of the crimes involved guns, including the year’s seven officer-involved shootings. Ten were robberies gone wrong, and five resulted in the deaths of children.

Gang violence appears to be down—by Walker’s tally, only two of last year’s homicides were gang-related—but drugs and mental health played a role in last year’s statistics. Walker said PCP, a dissociative drug with hallucinogenic side effects, is making a comeback from its 1990s glory days; it played a role in at least four of last year’s homicides.

Walker responds to every homicide call the Tulsa Police Department receives—"whether it’s the middle of day or the middle of night"—along with at least two of his unit’s nine investigators (there’s a tenth investigator dedicated to cold cases). Sometimes the warrants and patrol units get involved if there’s a suspect to chase. Walker said his team also relies on the community to help solve the crimes—and currently, the unit boasts a 94-percent success rate.

"It doesn’t matter whether the police chief solves it or the trash driver solves it," Walker said. "We want information and that’s how we respond.

"A lot of times we’re working with the transient community and people—people on PCP don’t want to wait around for cops to show up two days later. We try to get out to those people while it’s fresh in their minds. We get what we need from citizenry, get suspect identification and get help finding them. It’s not rocket science; it’s just work."

Walker said he believes his officers have a good relationship with members of the community, and that’s why they’ve had so much success in solving murders.

"I think people respect what we do," he said. "I think ‘The First 48’ [the A&E series has had camera crews embedded with Tulsa’s homicide unit since 2014] has something to do with it, I think open dialogue with the media has something to do with it. People see us more, they know what we’re up against. They know we’re not all-knowing. If citizens don’t want to take their protection of their community serious, they can blame us, but we’re not going to take the blame."

But solving homicides won’t necessarily stop people from killing each other. How can a city like Tulsa lower its homicide rate by preventing the crimes from occurring in the first place?

"Every time there’s a murder, we look at it and say, ‘What could law enforcement have done, or somehow government intervention—how could we have stopped that murder?’ " Walker said. "But when you and I are fighting and I pull a gun and shoot you, there’s not much we can do about that except take your gun away. And I’m not a big proponent of taking everyone’s guns."

Walker said drug-addicted and mentally ill citizens seem to have more contact with law enforcement, and more methods for getting their hands on guns and other "instruments of destruction," so "getting people off drugs and gainfully employed would be a big thing."

He also, in a sort of roundabout way, spoke of criminal justice reform, saying, "Who do we want to incarcerate, people writing bad checks, or people killing

people?"

He mentioned Wanda Cooper, a 60-year-old woman who was stabbed to death on December 27 by a man who was arrested on December 4 with a loaded firearm and a trafficking weight of heroin. Two weeks later, he was released on bond and murdered Cooper.

"We can’t keep putting these people out there and expect good things to happen," Walker said. "Why are we releasing people with handguns who’ve shown a propensity for violence when we’re keeping people—I don’t want to say my stuff is more important, because that gets me in trouble."

I asked the family of Jeffery Gooden what they think the city should do to prevent homicides.

His widow, Chestine, didn’t hesitate.

"They need to clear these guns out the streets," she said.

Nyesha thought for a moment and then said, "I don’t feel like there’s a way to prevent this type of violence. Because if a person got it in their mind they want to kill somebody, they’re going to do it. I just feel like staying out of that type of environment and staying out of the way is what will prevent it."

Chestine said her husband and children had had run-ins with law enforcement in the past but that they’d "turned their lives around." She moved her family to a quiet neighborhood in East Tulsa in an attempt to keep her children and 14 grandchildren away from crime, drugs, and gangs.

Chestine and Jeffery had just married in September, after 28 years together.

"He said to me, ‘Now we can grow old together.’ And they took him from me. They took part of my heart. I break down three or four times a day because I can’t take this. Every second I look for my husband to come around the corner."

Chestine, who walks with a cane and a portable oxygen tank slung around her neck and suffers from a number of ailments, including Lupus, COPD, fibromyalgia, and heart disease, says her husband was the one who took care of her.

"He was a good person," she said, "a deacon in the church and a hard-working man."

The Gooden family sees Jeffery as a hero.

"I think if my dad and brother had not come up, he would have shot me first," Nyesha said. "I think he drew attention toward himself to protect his kids. He basically saved us. He sacrificed himself for his kids."

"Both sides have taken the childlike way out and are hiding from us," Walker said. "We will find out who and what transpired probably only to resolve the case by self-defense or justifiable. Even though the original reason is sophomoric."

The Goodens say they’ve given the police all the information they have, and now they want justice for their husband and father. "Get them off the street."

Jeffery Gooden’s murder is, at the time of this writing, still unsolved. In the two weeks since, Tulsa has seen four more homicides.

Originally published in The Tulsa Voice on Jan. 18, 2017. Read it here.

1 note · View note