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topguncortez · 1 year

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What to Expect | Chapter 11

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synopsis: Your greatest fear comes true as you rush to the hospital to hear the fate of your best friend and the father of your unborn child.

word count: 2.8k

warnings: pregnancy, cursing, canon character death, injuries, topgun shit, fighting, questions of paternity,

You had never met Nick “Goose” Bradshaw. You were born about three years after that fateful day in 1986. Carole and Bradley had shown you pictures and told you stories about Goose. How funny he was, how loveable he was, how he could light up any room that he walked into. Your father still had a picture of himself and Nick from back in the days at the academy. You had never asked about how Goose died, and you never really wanted to know. You knew it was tragic and you knew it was sad. To you, that was all you needed to know.

You knew that being with an aviator came with risks. You had a front row seat to all the risks that came with being with anyone in the military. You had been to a few servicemember funerals in your lifetime, and each of them was just as sad as the other. You had heard the cries of partners and spouses as the chaplain walked up to their front door to tell them the news that no one wants to hear. You had gone to school with kids who were called “Gold Star” kids.

Ice didn’t tell you a lot over the phone. He wasn’t really supposed to say anything, but he knew that he had to tell you. They were already planning on returning early when the accident had happened. He told you to meet with them at the VA hospital on base. Alyssa had to drive you because of how bad you were shaking when you walked back into the teachers lounge. Stephanie was worried that you were gonna go into preterm labor, and had called your mother to alert her. Sarah was already at the hospital when the three of you arrived.

“Where is he?” You asked your father as you saw him. Ice pulled you in for a hug and rubbed your back.

“He’s being checked out right now,” Ice said, “He’s okay. Just banged up and a little bit shaken up. He’s been asking about you and the baby.”

You nodded, “And what about Bradley?”

Ice sighed and tried to come up with the right words to say, “The ejection failed. He hit his head on the canopy.”

“Oh god,” You sobbed out and Ice had to hold you from collapsing to the ground. He helped you over into one of the nearby chairs. You knew how Goose died, Bradley had eventually told you a couple years ago. You knew it was one of his greatest fears when flying over the ocean was if his canopy didn’t open correctly, “I-is he-”

“He’s unconscious,” Ice said and you sucked in a breath, “He called out for you when he was going down.”

“I need to see him,” You said and attempted to get up from your chair but Sarah put a hand on your shoulder.

“You need to calm yourself first,” Sarah said, “You being stressed out isn’t good for the baby.”

“I’m not going to calm down until I see him,” You argued and then looked at your father, “I need to see him.”

Ice and Sarah shared a look. They knew how stubborn you could be and they knew that you wouldn’t relax until you saw Bradley Bradshaw with your own two eyes. Sarah nodded and walked over to talk to a nurse. The Kazanskys were on Bradley’s emergency contact list, being some of the only family he had left. The nurse gave Sarah Bradley’s room number and permission to go see him. She walked with you, making sure you safely got down to Bradley’s room.

“Do you want to go in alone?” Sarah asked you, as you stood outside of his room.

“Am I a bad person for wanting to see him first?” You asked and looked at your mother, “My baby’s father was also involved in the accident but I don’t feel the rush or need to go see him.”

“No, I don’t think you’re a bad person,” Sarah said honestly, “I don’t quite understand your relationship with Jake or what is going on between the two of you. But I do know that the love you have for Bradley is something that you have always felt. You love Jake, but not the same way you love Bradley.”

You nodded and looked down at your bump, “I want to be alone.” Sarah nodded and rubbed your arm. She kissed your cheek before leaving you alone to go see Bradley. You sucked in a deep breath before opening the door.

From afar, it looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but the closer you got the more you could see the small cuts and bruises all over his face. His head was wrapped up and you could see a plastic neck brace on his body. His hand was also bandaged up and you wondered if that was from the accident or if he and Jake got into another fight. You covered your mouth with your hand and tried to stop the tears from falling, but you couldn’t help it. You slowly walked closer to him, as if he was some sort of wild animal and you were afraid you might scare him off.

“Oh god, Buckles,” You said, sitting down in a chair by his bed, “What the hell happened?” You gently grabbed his hand in one of yours, and then brushed your fingers over a cut on his cheek, “For fucks sake,” You sniffled and looked down at your hand in his, “I am so sorry, Bradley. For everything. I-I never should’ve hurt you the way that I did. But, I can’t lose you. Not now, not ever. I need you, Bradley.” The tears were flowing down your cheeks at this point in time, and you laid your head on the side of his bed and cried.

Bradley wasn’t sure if it was the whisper of his name in his mom’s voice or the image of his dad standing in front of him that made him start to wake up. Or maybe, it was the sound of crying that made his brown eyes flutter open. He was a bit confused at first, his head starting to ache at the bright fluorescent lights and smell of antiseptic. His neck was stiff and he could hardly move it. Images of the accident started to come back to him. The sounds of Hangman yelling his name for extra coverage, the feeling of bullets littering the side of his jet, and then everything went black after that. Bradley lifted his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, before looking down at the source of the crying.

You were the last person Bradley expected to be crying at his bedside. He was taken aback, and thought that maybe he was still dreaming. He had seen this dream before, and it usually ended with his mom and dad walking in through the door telling him to wake up. Expect, that never happened, and you were really there, crying on the starchy hospital sheets. Bradley’s heart broke, as he gently raked his hand through your hair. You pulled your head up quickly, and looked at him.

“Oh my god,” You launched yourself at him, wrapping your arms around him.

“Ow, fuck,” Bradley groaned and you retracted your arms, “Sorry, my neck. . . I think they said whiplash.”

“I am so sorry. I uh- I’ll be right back,” You said quickly and stood up from his bed. Bradley watched as you waddled out of his room, more than likely going to get a nurse. He hadn’t seen you in about eight weeks, and you had really popped. He had said you had a waddle back then, but now you really were waddling around.

“Lieutenant Bradshaw,” A doctor said walking into his room, “Welcome back to the land of the living.” Bradley’s brown eyes looked back over to the doorway and noticed that you hadn’t come back. He sighed and tried to put on a smile as the doctor looked over his chart.

— — —

You had meant to go back to Bradley’s room, but you walked right past Jake’s on the way to get a nurse to go look at Bradley. You knew that you had to check in on Jake, he was after all the father of your child. Jake was sitting up in bed, flipping through channels when you walked in. He didn’t look nearly as beaten up as Bradley did, but you did notice a large cut above his eyebrow that was stitched up.

“Hey, stranger,” You said and Jake looked over at you. He smiled, and scooted over in bed. You crawled in next to him, and he wrapped his arm around you, his other hand going to your bump, “How are you?”

“As well as I can be after being shot out of the sky,” Jake said, “I don’t want to talk about it. Not with little ears around.”

“She can’t-”

“Yes she can,” Jake corrected you, “Hearing is one of the first things that is developed. How have you been? How was the end of the school year?”

You filled Jake in on everything that has happened in the final weeks of school and what happened at your last appointment. You felt very content being back in Jake’s arms and the soothing touch of his hand on your belly. You didn’t realize how much you missed him in the past two weeks. Jake talked a bit about what he was doing while on detachment, he made sure to leave out the details of the accident. He didn’t want to relive them and he didn’t want you to start worrying again. Even though you were laying in Jake’s arms, your mind was on Rooster and what the doctors had told him.

“You should go check on him,” Jake said, and you looked up at him, “I know he’s on your mind right now, and I don’t blame you. I-I was worried about him too. I even told him on the chopper ride back that he better not die cause I’m not sure how I can explain that to you.”

You giggled and leaned up to kiss Jake, “Thank you for understanding.”

“Of course. As long as I get cuddles with my girls afterwards.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Jake’s words as you walked back down the hallway towards Bradley’s room. You took a deep breath before knocking on the door and waiting for an invite to come in. Usually, you would’ve just walked right into the room, but it felt odd doing that. Everything felt odd between the two of you right now. Once you heard Bradley’s voice call out, you pushed the door open and peeked your head inside.

“My junk is covered if that’s what you’re worried about,” Bradley said and You scrunch your nose.

“I have seen it before Bradshaw,” You chuckled, walking over to his bedside. You sat down with a sigh, and looked at your belly. It was silent for a moment until Bradley spoke up.

“I’m sorry,” Bradley said, looking at his hands in his lap. You looked up at him, and met his baby brown eyes, “I-I,” He sniffled, “I never ever meant to hurt you in the way that I did. My mom would have smacked into next year if she knew what I was doing.”

“I’m surprised the ghost of Carole Bradshaw hasn’t come to rain down on you,” You said and Bradley chuckled.

“Oh trust me, I think she has,” Bradley said, “My transmission in the Bronco dropped the day after I stormed out of your house. I feel like her and dad were somewhat behind that one,” You broke out in a smile and felt the baby kick against you, “She kicked?”

“Can you see it?” You asked. The shirt you were wearing hugged your bump just right, and you could see any dramatic movement that baby girl did inside you.

“Yeah, I think I saw a foot,” Bradley looked at your belly, “But as I was saying before someone interrupted,” You giggled and rubbed your belly, “I am sorry for putting you in the position that I did. It was selfish and wrong of me. I was just so. . . blinded by my feelings. I guess the idea of finally having a family was just so appealing that I wasn’t even thinking of how much it was hurting you.”

“Bradley,” You shifted closer and grabbed his hand, “You have always had a family with me.”

“I know,” Bradley smiled sadly at you, “I guess when you started dating Jake. . . I thought that I was losing my family all over again. I was happy that you had found someone to make you happy. But you moved away with him, and I didn’t see you for so long. And then you came back so heartbroken, and I did everything that I could to pick up the pieces. I thought ‘yes, I am finally getting my chance to secure my family.’ Then little bug came along, and Jake came back, and I was losing my family all over again.”

You got out of your chair and sat on the side of Bradley’s bedside. You grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“No matter what happens, Bradley, you will always be my family,” You said, and grabbed his face in your hands, “You have always been my family. You have always been the one who gets me, who is there for me. Buckles, you were my first love.”

“And you were mine,” Bradley said, grabbing your hands, “You were the last thing I thought about when I was going down. I was thinking ‘i’m going to die, and you still hate me.’”

“I could never hate you,” You said.

“I’m glad, because I hated not talking to you or seeing you,” Bradley admitted, “Can you give me a hug? I’d hug you but the whole-” He gestured to the brace around his neck. You giggled and leaned in to hug him carefully, “I love you, Bug.”

“I love you too, Buckles.”

You stayed in Bradley’s room until he fell asleep. The two of you had nearly two months of stuff to catch up on. You filled him in on information and development about the baby and showed him some of the sonogram pictures you had on your phone. He wanted to come over as soon as he could to help but the nursery together with Jake. Bradley had told you that he and Jake had somewhat reconciled while on the carrier.

But just like Jake, he left out details on the accident, probably to save you all the stress. Bradley’s doctor had come by and told him about his injuries. He had a concussion from hitting his head on the canopy, and it also gave him whiplash (hence the neck brace). The wrapped up wrist was from him trying to punch out but it had failed. The two of you watched Forrest Gump until he fell asleep. You kissed his cheek and pulled his blanket up, tucking him in.

There was a smile on your face as you walked back down to Jake’s room. You felt like everything was sort of working out for the better now. And even the baby inside you could tell things were starting to change. Jake had texted you for more saltines about an hour ago, and you snatched a sleeve from the nurses station.

You pushed open Jake’s door, “Jacob, I got your salt-“

“For the last fucking time, dad, I’m not getting a fucking paternity test done!”

You jumped at the sound of his voice. Jake was standing at the foot of his bed, and hung up his phone, throwing it with force at the pillows on the other end. He sighed and gripped the footboard, trying to settle his heart rate down.

“Jake?”

“Annie saw your snapchat the other day,” He said. You cursed yourself, you had been careful about posting on social media because his family didn’t know, “They want me to get a paternity test done.”

“Ohh… I mean, Doctor Carp-“

“I said I won’t do it,” Jake stood up straight, “I don’t care if that baby is biologically mine or not. . . that’s still my baby.”

You smiled as you walked towards Jake and hugged him tightly. He rested his chin on the top of your head, and rubbed your back.

“Your baby, huh?” You looked up at him and Jake smirked.

“My baby,” He kissed your forehead, “My girls.” He tilted your chin up and kissed your lips.

Taglist: @materialgirl01 @cherrycola27 @love2write2626 @averyhotchner @xoxabs88xox @nagygreta @bioodforbiood @violyn20 @abaker74 @misshoneypaper @callsign-joyride @auroraboreallisfine @thedroneranger @rosewritesitout @nobody7102 @bradleybeachbabe @wildxwidow @cm27078 @caitsymichelle13 @whisperofsong @bonitanightmxres @maverooster @mizzzpink @khaylin27 @shawnsblue @shelbycillian @sexualparkour @thenewdaysalreadyhere @fandom-princess-forevermore @double-j @momc95 @buxkybarnez @paige-alexandra-may @coffeebooksandfandom @86laura11 @some-lovely-day @ohemgeewhat @itsmytimetoodream @emmaelix @springholland @atarmychick007 @okiegirl24 @i3k2ts @gassyandsassy1 @happierbelle @captain-beskar @celestialeviereads @kandierteveilchen

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bracketsoffear · 1 month

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The Book of the War (Lawrence Miles et. al.) Synopsis: "The Great Houses: Immovable. Implacable. Unchanging. Old enough to pass themselves off as immortal, arrogant enough to claim ultimate authority over the Spiral Politic.

The Enemy: Not so much an army as a hostile new kind of history. So ambitious it can re-write worlds, so complex that even calling it by its name seems to underestimate it.

Faction Paradox: Renegades, ritualists, saboteurs and subterfugers, the criminal-cult to end all criminal-cults, happy to be caught in the crossfire and ready to take whatever's needed from the wreckage… assuming the other powers leave behind a universe that's habitable.

The War: A fifty-year-old dispute over the two most valuable territories in existence: "cause" and "effect."

Marking the first five decades of the conflict, THE BOOK OF THE WAR is an A to Z of a self-contained continuum and a complete guide to the Spiral Politic, from the beginning of recordable time to the fall of humanity. Part story, part history and part puzzle-box, this is a chronicle of protocol and paranoia in a War where the historians win as many battles as the soldiers and the greatest victory of all is to hold on to your own past."

Propaganda: A text which purports to be a constantly shifting and updating guide to The War, a conflict so overarching and complete that every other conflict is but a pale shadow thereof; the Time War. Of course, since it would shift retroactively with the changing timelines, there is no way to prove or disprove this claim. Notable entries include cities built from days stolen from shifting calendars, the secrets of removing yourself from history while still leaving yourself free to interfere, Grandfather Paradox, the location of the exact center of history, how to weaponize banality, and Parablox.

Oh, and there's something else in there. Something that seems to be talking to you.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/ Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there (Lewis Caroll) "Both books have a similar structure and are spiral for the same reasons: little Victorian child Alice founds herself in a strange world with rules vastly different from hers (for example, there's no real geography and the scenery changes suddenly from one place to another very much like in a dream). The characters she crosses constantly defy her understanding of the world and applies logics she struggles to understand. Even though she ends up going with the flow most of the time she never ceases to question whether shes experiencing real life or a dream; sanity is brought up a few times, and there's also the popular quote "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad", delivered by the grinning cat that appears and disappears like a slippery distortion. Lastly I may add that the TMA episode whose title references the book (Mag 177, Wonderland) is a spiral episode."

#spiral poll #the spiral #poll #the magnus archives #leitner tournament #The Book of the War #faction paradox #doctor who #Lawrence Miles #alice in wonderland #through the looking glass #Lewis Caroll

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chocolateteapotsvis · 2 months

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Halbarry Recs: POV Outsider

What is POV Outsider? For shipping purposes, it's a story focused on the romance, but is told by a character outside the main ship. Ollie POV, Batman POV, anything goes!

Ephemeris by mehmehmeh (@mia-nna)

The world’s greatest detective has got some things to say.

“Bats ... perform the vital ecological roles of pollinating flowers and dispersing fruit seeds; many tropical plant species depend entirely on bats for the distribution of their seeds.” (wiki)

you've got the best of my love by finalfrontierpioneer (@finalfrontierpioneer)

Five times Hal goes to Oliver for romantic advice, and the one time he puts it to good use.

Hal's just trying to be a good boyfriend; Oliver's got no idea.

Just the Two of Us (We Can Make It If We Try) Ch5: Ice Cream by layspotatochipabs (@layspotatochipabs)

Bruce stalks Hal and Barry. He's so fucking done with their flirting; why can't they just get together? If they don't, he'll resort to writing fanfics about them violence (telling them about their mutual feelings).

I Came in Like a Racquetball by ChocolateTeapots (@ tacky self-promotion)

When Hal suggested a series of sports competitions with his square of a best friend, Carol assumed that meant he’d be out of her hair.

All Carol wants is to get her fucking work done. Is that really so much to ask?

Or: Silver Age Hal's attempts to seduce his best friend through sports competitions of increasing ridiculousness, as seen by an exasperated ex with better things to do.

Young Padawans by mehmehmeh (@mia-nna)

In which a green cupid shoots a few arrows to push two heroes together. Every Mulder needs a Scully and vice verca. How else will they prevent Mars Attacks?

(Hal Jordan + CWverse, fledgling halbarry with a platonic flarrow and slight hints of olicity)

Was learning @shehungthemoon ALSO loves this POV the catalyst to finally post this specific list? I'll let you decide!

This is one of my all time favorite things, and I'm also behind on my Halbarry reading, so if anyone else has recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Also, for fics actually about Hal's birthday...

Pic inspired by you've got the best of my love by finalfrontierpioneer, because this image has been stuck in my head since I started illustrating these lists! (So I completely forgot that I already rec'ed this on another list AND did an illustration for it! I'll mix things up more next time!) Stock photo reference because hands are hard

And if you're looking for a couple more, (and don't mind more tacky self-promotion), here's Vampire Dinah putting up with Vampire Hal who's totally, absolutely, going to follow orders and kill Barry, and (not Halbarry) Random Mook #5 in a Gotham terrorized by a Bruce Wayne who modeled his hero persona on a different fear

#halbarry #fic recommendation #my doodles #using Hal's birthday as an excuse to share a couple of my absolute favorite Halbarry fics #happy birthday Hal!#these (mostly? eventually?) go well for you

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 4 months

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I can't help it compare kamala and Carol with Peter and Tony. I meant how they relationship in screen.

Even the marvels probably not the best and well many critics and all but I can't help it how Carol threat kamala in film, Carol is well kind arrogant and blank face like Natasha but she not horrible to kamala, she pretty much nice to her even she knows kamala personality like fangirl but she not like disgust or disrespect her. And when Carol mean or do mistake to kamala she (not really immediately) she apologize to her. And even the situation forced they together Carol really take care kamala and guide her, she see her a a kid but not like go 'I am adult and you are a kid so do what I said and I always right'

And Peter and Tony?.... Well you know what happened

I am not really watching the marvels and see a few clips but the chemistry between kamala and Carol definitely good like how mentor and protege should look. Also Monica is more nice to kamala than happy to Peter.

And they said Tony is best mentor?

Stark was a terrible mentor for Peter. His relationship with him had a huge power imbalance where he kept the control and the flow of information close to himself, and he just ordered the kid around at will. That included lying to him and ghosting him for months, even chastising him for not knowing something he had never told him in the first place. Not to mention the jabs which were always personal, aimed at making Peter feel small.

But then, of course, we have the apologists who claim since he had a tough upbringing then it's "normal" for him to act this way. Well, newsflash: if you're not well enough to act as a parental figure for a kid, then do NOT act as a parental figure for a kid. We're all responsible for our crap and the trauma it left on us. It's not our fault... but it is our responsibility to put in the work so as not to continue the cycle.

The difference between that and Carol/Kamala (even Stephen/Peter) is that they recognize where they went wrong and actually apologize to the kids. It always takes a bit of work at first, but their relationship is built on something honest - even when all characters involved are dealing with their own thing.

There's also the fact that Carol was shown feeling guilty and remorseful after destroying the Supreme Intelligence. With Stark, I didn't see much guilt after almost murdering Bucky, or creating Ultron... so to have such a moralistic kid like Peter kiss the ground he walks on makes no sense.

Not to mention that while Kamala is a huge Carol fan, her epiphany is not realizing how perfect Carol is. Her epiphany comes when she realizes Carol is just a woman. A powerful one, sure, but still just a person with her own insecurities and fears. That scene is lovely and it helps make their relationship a lot better. With Stark, Peter is a blind follower who never questions anything and keeps acting like he's the greatest thing since sliced bread - which of course means none of his actions are ever questioned.

There is a reason it took them three movies to get Stark's influence off Peter and why NWH was the best of all three. (Maybe because Stephen was in it? That's likely, but then again... I am biased).

#anti tony stark #Carol Danvers #Peter Parker

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popculturebuffet · 5 months

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Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Retrospective Part 1: Breakout (Episodes 1-7) (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)

Assemble all you happy people and welcome to the first of many looks at one of the greatest cartoons in marvel history, an adaptation that honors the source material while streamlining and improving it to create something impressive. One of the best adaptations and one of the last before the MCU was in full force. It's a show unlike any other, it's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

And the timing isn't concidential. While i'm a few months off, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the avengers, the first time the team assembled and hulk was a clown for a bit because the 60s. And since I both hadn't really talked about the Avengers on this blog despite being a massive marvel nerd and because i'd rewatched this very arc a few months back, I was happy to jump on it when Kev suggested this. He won't be sticking around for the rest of the retrospective, but I plan to cover this series on and off for the foreseable future as i've only seen about half of it and hadn't rewatched it in years and it was about damn time I did. And i'm glad I am as this is one of the sharpest shows in marvel history.

For those less familiar Earth's Mightiest heroes was a cartoon that ran for two seasons from 2010 to 2012, and was a fan faviorite for most comic nerds like myself, as what I caught of it I love. It's not hard to see why either: EMH is a giant love letter to the Avengers history and Marvel in general: Ciro Nireli, Christopher Yost and Joshua fine, who developed the show, all were clearly fans and thus try to cram as many iconic foes for each of the avengers as they could into this show, from cameos to arc villians to our big threats, just about every major avengers threat you could want makes it's way into season 1.

It's also a smart remix: The show takes after the earliest days of the team, starting with the original roster of Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ant-Man/Giant Man (Hank Pym), Wasp (Janet-Van Dyne), Hulk, and Thor (Odinson), while soon adding cap as happened in the comics, as well as adding longtime mainstays hawkeye and black panther soon into the season, with many of season 1's episodes adapting early avengers tales and the art style is a very stylistic jack kirby style art, while still being it's own thing with a bit more expression and some anime styling in the eyes and how the action unfolds.

That said it's clear the crew was also aware those early tales could use a coat of paint and thus the series takes from all across the heroes histories, combining Kang's first apperance with the later epic kang dynasty for instance, or setting up Carol Danvers becoming Ms Marvel as soon as Captain Marvel debuts. It's a streamlined approach that feels like what the ultimates should've been: honoring the past but looping in the present, with the classic avengers being assembled using the breakout arc from the new avengers. More ont hat later. The result is a fresh take on the cast that feels awesome.

It also feels unique as this was before a LOT of change swept through the marvel universe and productions: the x-men and the ff still show up beofre their LONG unecessary hiatus due to marvel being dicks about not owning either's film rights, the mcu was just budding so only iron man is modeled after that version as Cap and Thor's films would air the same year as EMH, and Black Widow is a recurring character rather than part of the team, though it was hinted they might have her join up eventually.

It also happened before a lot of comics biggest events of the 2010s, which like the MCU stuff isn't bad at all, it's just neat to see just how diffrent things were: Carol Danvers wasn't captain marvel yet, next gen heroes like Ms Marvel or Miles Morales weren't around, and ideas like Jane as Thor or Sam Wilson as Cap hadn't happened. It's an intresting time capusle of a comics brand before it changed forever.

So opening this capusle is a treat. As for this batch of episodes, EMH started in a unique way: With shorts. See at the time cartoons were just starting to captalize on the concepts of minisodes, tiny shorts in continuity usually distributed via youtube. Most shows just have some skits, like Lapis trying to destroy her phone thinking Steven's trapped or Tilly Green getting buried in cats

EMH decided to get ambitious with theres: TWENTY shorts, all from what I can tell intended to be repackaged as full episodes, all setting up important stuff for the series and serving as introductions to our main cast before they all assemble properly, including later additions Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Panther.

It's an approach I respect: much like the MCU was doing around the same time, it allows the writers to set up each character, get to know who they are as a person, what their deal is and put them into place for the series proper, essentially giving them their own solo series like they had in the comics. It's a great idea and makes these feel like characters who had their own lives and plenty of adventures BEFORE we step into them, and makes the idea of them coming together all the more awesome. It also fits the avengers well: the x-men and fantastic four are largely their own spheres of the marvel universe and most members of those teams were created for them. With the avengers it's marvels' best and brightest all assembled into one massive dream team, so showing said team's adventures. We even get setup for later additions to the team: Black Panther gets a short detailing his origin story and Hawkeye is a key part of hulks before getting his own.

I have only two gripes with this setup: the first is that it's long. It's well done and important but it's still a LOT of setup, and both times i've found myself happy to get to the end: Glad I took the journey but thankful we can get to the main event.

The other is the structure: as a result of them being shorts every non-thor episode here has one segment that serves as an epilogue to the others.. but really dosen't lead as effortlessly in. It feels like the episode ended and we're now just in an extended post credit's sequence. Not a bad one, all of these are necessary and important, it just shows why this type of structure wasn't repeated: it has it's limits, and they show at the end of almost every episode. You could for instance cut out the kang bit that starts the cap one and the kang segment that ends the cap ones and have a cohesive story. Their still GOOD shorts, it's just clear they don't quite work as a cohesive episode, which woudln't be an issue if these shorts also weren't clearly part of the season order.

Still I admit these are minor complaints. They drag the presentation down slightly.. but not enough for me to not have enjoyed this episode pile. So assemble under the cut as I break down the first 7 episodes of Avengers: EMH

Iron Man is Born! (Micro Episodes: Iron Man is Born!, HYDRA Lives, Behold, The Mandroids!, and Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

So our first episode. .is third on disney+. Getting this out of the way if you watch these on disney +, start with this one, as disney mildly messed up the airing order. It isn't as bad as say Ducktales was at first, which was so bad the creators had to ask directly, but it's still very noticable disney coudln't be arsed to.. move two episodes on the list they gave people down a few slots. Then again this is the same company who won't give us the weekenders dammit, so i'm not surprised, just mildly in convinced.

Anyways this short follows Iron Man and as we go through our mightiest heroes, I thought it'd be fun to give my own personal history with each character. As I said, I really haven't gotten to dive into the avengers on this blog. I've covered Avengers #200 and Avengers Annual #10 this year but the former is more a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants story guest starring Ms Marvel and the Avengers, and the former.. is a nightmare from which there is no waking where only The Scarlet Witch and the Vision are remotely in character. Neither were really a time to talk about the team, the members of said team, or anything besides deep hurting and an antidote for said deep hurting that involves Carol Danvers verbally bitchslapping the avengers. Which is awesome, but not really a time to go "Gee this is why iron man is so great".

So starting with the cool exec with a heart of steel, I'm a pretty big iron man fan. I love Tony as a character a guy whose arrogant and overly macho at times.. but deep down is a man who just wants to make a better world after helping burn it to the ground for a profit. Someone who can be an arrogant know it all ass.. but also someone who once you've got his loyalty, he'd die for you. A man struggling with addiction, but whose also a poster boy for getting better.

I became a fan of Tony's around the movie, as before that I only really knew him as "that guy who was on spider-man once", "that weird cartoon I watched once or twice" or "That fucking asshole who ruled the superhero community with an iron fist and kicked every dog he could find post civil war".

Thankfully the movie changed that, and along with finding out his fascinating history and the utterly awesome run by Matt Fraction that launched alongside the movie, something I badly want to cover in some form at some point, I was a fan of shell head for life. My favorite runs for him aren't anything suprising: Fraction's run with invincible iron man, Dennis O'Neil's awesome epic run that sees Obdiah Stane break tony with every intention of having his enemy relapse and see's tony rebuild himself while Rhodey puts on the suit, and of course the classic Layton and Michillne run that introduced Tony's Alcholism in the first place.

The movie is important to this series as it not only launched the MCU, but said MCU incoming is likely why it happened, and while it was still young enough at the time to not impact this series heavily for most characters, that wasn't going to happen with tony. Tony, his CFO Pepper and his best friend and military liaison Rhodey, are all heavily modeled after the movie versions. That said given said versions are entirley accurate to the comics and all the MCU did to Tony was give him even more swagger.. this isn't remotely a bad thing and making sure kids had the iron man they were familiar with dosen't hurt the series. The suit's still more designed after the then current bleeding edge suit from the comic, one of my favorites. I have no issue with using stuff from the MCU, the mcu is mostly great. My issue is when latter stuff kinda.. ignores the comics except to bring in more people to punch.

Iron Man is Born gets tony down pat, in large part thanks to his VA, Eric Loomis. To my shock Loomis hasn't done a ton outside of play tony in this show and various video games but damn if few do it better. He gets the swagger, the desire to do better, and the stubborn ass refusal to let people help him down PERFECT, as does the writing. This is tony stark. Leading with him was also smart given, again the movie would be fresh on everyone's mind.

What's also neat about this one is it dosen't put tony up against any familiar foes. We'll still see some in Breakout and like the other heroes here he's already well experienced by the time the series opens up. The only thing close to it is Ultimo, a giant robot he fights in cell phone footage at the start of the episode, and even then that's just to establish Iron Man Slaps.

No instead it sells Tony's obession with his tech not hurting people by putting him up against some HYDRA robots using his tech. For those less familiar with marvel stuff, HYDRA are a bunch of snake themed nazi offshoots who are everywhere and generally the go too mook to punch in the face in the marvel universe. Who dosen't want to punch a snake nazi? Except bob. He's just there for dental. Oh bob.

The fight with said HYDRA bots is awesome: not only are they well designed, but it's classic iron man stuff: his suit running out of power, and tony having to use his brains, and hold out against his suit rapidly draining. Been used before? Sure. Helps establish how Tony fights and how his suit is both super strong and has a logical weakness in battery life? Yup.

And the best part is.. while HYDRA are his main threat... the real conflict simmering underneath this one.. is Stark vs S.H.I.E.L.D. the world's top super cops and shady assholes. Wether their being actually helpful or being obtuse and trying to obstruct the hero largely depends on the day, with the MCU making them more helpful and less greasy.

See SHIELD is mad Tony stopped making weapons. Tony is mad they won't quit bugging him about that, as he simply.. dosen't want to be an arms dealer no more. Which is fair. He made their weapons, and as he makes clear to Rhodey who also wants him to work closer with SHIELD, he's still HELPING them. He just won't build weapons. As we find out in breakout he built the Vault, one of four supervillian prisons , this one specializing in tech criminals. So he hasn't STOPPED helping them, he just wont' give them tech to go kill people with, which is fair. While they don't give his origin, at least not yet, it's very clear whatever version of it taught him the same lesson: just because someone else fires the gun dosen't mean you won't have blood on your hands.

So naturally SHIELD"S reaction to Iron Man taking down HYDRA.. is to try to arrest him

Yeah Tony has.. done ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong here.. and Nick Fury, for all his flaws we'll see in VERY short order, is not so stupid as to fire and orders them to stand the fuck down. The fuck is implied.

Tony trying to help them.. instead gets them to fire on him as the SHIELD Agents are using mandroids powered armors using tony's tech.. and unlike the comics where he BUILT the mandroids for them as a compromise, no lethal weapons but still a way to be on even foot with superheroes, here they just flat out used his blueprints to make their own weapons and expect him not to be mad. He has no right to get mad at them for doing this, he sold them the goods and clearly gave them enough legal room to do whatever, but they have no right to be mad at him for SAVING THEIR LIVES.

And they are as while Tony takes down the last hydra bot that suddenly wakes up, when he shows up at the hellicarrier, RIGHTFULLY pissed at being fired on and having them make their own iron man.. maria hill, Nick's right hand and like the comics a total asshole, PUTS A GUN TO HIS HEAD

I mean yes she has him surrounded by shield agents and if fighting them tony would half to hold back.. but he's still a man in a mostly powered armored suit that can suplex a train, while your only strategy is "hope he's really scared of a hand gun".

Fury wisely asks her to stand the fuck down, again fuck's implied, and we get a really compelling argument with him and tony: Tony has every right to not want to sell weapons, while Fury makes the point that with supervillians ont he rise they NEED this tech to compete. Tony still wins in my eyes mostly because while yes he's witholding tech and what not.. SHIELD... isn't hurting. They made the mandroid armors, they have the tech to compete with the hydra bot likely bodying them because it has the element of suprise. THey have a giant hellicarier, tons of staff, and plenty of super powered allies help keeping the various super prisons safe. Granted all four prisons are about to become paper mache, but that's not down to SHEILD being stupid. While Tony dosen't SAY it to his face, which given this is tony is a fucking achivement... the issue isn't that Fury can't handle these or the various super powered heroes out there don't have this covered for now. It's that Fury dosen't have CONTROL over it. IT's a problem inherent in most versions of Nick: it's not enoguh to be the world's top cop he has to CONTROL the situation, the info everything. He's often resonable sure but he puts control over what makes sense and antagonizes valuable allies simply by not respecting they want autonomy.

Our backup story is really just "why nick fury is badass" and "Why hydra is super dangerous". Turns out Fury has their leader, Baron Strucker. Strucker is an egotistical nazi who frequently runs hydra and is Nick's arch enemy and opposite number. So this whole mech thing.. was a smokescreen to get one of their agents, The Grim Reaper in.

The Grim Reaper in the comics is the brother of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. We'll get into him more next time as he has a full episode coming up, but long story short, he died, Grim blamed the avengers, and then he tried to kill his brother when Simon came back because he'd put simon on a pedestal. Here the two are pretty much detached and Grim is instead hydra's top enforcer, single handidly breaking in and wrecking up the place, only stopped, and captured alongside strucker, because Nick Fury is that badass. He also life drains fury a bit, giving him his signature white streak from the comics.

Thor The Mighty (Microepisodes: Thor the Mighty, The Siege of Asgard, My Brother My Enemy and the Isle of Silence)

As I said Thor the Mighty is the only one of these episodes that feels like a mostly cohesive 22 minute episode. I mean you can still see the seams where the shorts were, but it's one 22 minute story instead of one long story and one short one connected to the first. It's also not suprisingly my faviorite, but not just for this reason but for having some gorgeous action, great character work and a hell of an ending.

Before all that we have to talk about the god of thunder. Thor's a character I love, I mean I have a mjonr I got a yard sale somehwere around here. But he's also one i'm pickier on story wise: you either have to REALLY sell the scope and granduer of asgard, as done by Walt Simonson, god among men, and currently Al Ewing or do something fresh with it like the start of Jason Aaron' srun, Donny Cate's recent run or my all time faviorite thor story, J MIcheal Strazenzki's run. Thor's not a bad character but there is a tendency to focus on ye olde english and not on him as a person.

EMH thankfully sidesteps that. It shows thor as fucking awesome and has him do cool stuff.. but it also emphasises who the odionson is and WHY he prefers our world over his own. We start with his daily routine: finding some supervillians to punch. He fights the wrecking crew. The Wrecking Crew are villians I like, marvel's designated Jobbers. If you need someone to get their face punched in these are the guys. They CAN be dangerous, see the avengers storyline under sige where the four of them together bodied a slightly frazzled hercules, but their primary there to show up and get knocked down: their strong enough to fight thor, having asgardian enchanted construction tools.

But still not SO strong that say spidey , the runaways or whoever needs a pick me up this week can't body these jackasses. So their the perfect starter foe for thor: powerful enough to give him a good scrap, but not nearly as strong as what he faces on his home turf.

It also serves as a handy intro to Thor's love interest, Jane Foster. The film takes her from a doctor to a paramedic, ironically years before the comics would do the same, and it's a great update: Since Thor isn't spending time as mortal doctor Donald Blake here, there's no real reason for her to be at his practice as a nurse then doctor. Instead she's in the field trying to save lives just like him, and is shown to be fearless DESPITE being a squishy human, getting out to help someone the wrecking crew hurts without any hesitation while her partner cowers in the car instead of helpign. I mean .. I get it , supervillians, but yoru a fucking emt man. Your job is to save lives even at your ownr isk.

Thankfully thor provides backup. And cleans house. The Wrecker TRIES to hold jane hostage, with Thor chastising his lack of honor.. before smacking him in the back of the head with mjonir because hammer's don't respect chilvarly. Thor and Jane hit it off, and I like how even if Jane's entirely in this series to be thor's love intrest.. they give her personality and a reason he falls for her: she's just as dedicated to her job of helping people, and Thor is awed by the fact that DEPSITE not having the powers of a god and being at high risk she does it anyway. Which for us is a normal thing but for thor.. sums up why he likes Midgard so much. On asgard heroisim happens all the time, death is an endless cycle. Here humans are fragile.. but the best of us try to help each other anyway.

Thor is played by Rick D Wasserman and as you can wager i'm mostly focusing on the main cast's voice actors for this review. I"ll point out some others, for instance Jane is voiced by VA legend Kari Whagreen whose also played Charmcaster in the ben 10 franchise and Saturn Girl in the awesome Legion of Superheroes cartoon i'm bound to cover at some point, it's just EMH has a MASSIVE cast and introduces a lot of characters in the span of these 7 episodes, so adressing every single one is a lot to ask. I will try to adress the most important ones and some in future reviews as the voice cast here is positively stacked.

Which makes it weird that once again one of the main cast is a pretty low key voice actor: like with Iron Man, Thor's va did his voice for Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Marvel Ultimate ALliance 3, but otherwise hasn't really done much else in the main roll. And given just how well Rick slides into the roll of thor as if he was born for this it befuddles me.

But we, and the god of thunder, have bigger issues..s pecifically frost giants thor writing shorthand for "We wanted something big for him to hit" I can only think of one run in recent memory that hasn't invovled thor hitting a frost giant in the face.

Turns out their invasion is being led by Loki. Loki here is another intresting time capsule as a combination of Tom Hidelston's standout performance in Thor and Avengers and character defining runs I need to read and finish respectively from Kireon Gilleon and Al Ewing placed Loki squarely in the anti hero position. As such instead of the genderfluid trickster we know and love, this is the old school loki they were for much of their run and what loki at present is deeply afraid of becomiing again: manipulative, evil and hellbent on burning down everything his dad and brother built.. if with a dope horn helmet. He at least has that.

As such this loki gets into a badass fight with thor, with Thor BEGGING his brother to reconsider.. but it falling on deaf sweet horn helmets. Loki wants to burn it all. Thankfully Thor is able to beat him and being thor does it in the most badass way possible.. gatherting a GIANT STORM above him before focusing all it's energy into a massive lightning bolt. And those horns are really good conductors.

Odin, who sat this one out as his powers are weak at the moment, more on that in a sec, punishes Loki by banishing him to thei isle of silence. It's one of his faviorite pastimes. The other is questioning his son's life choices, wanting Thor to stay to guard Asgard while Odin takes a nap. It's why he was weak: Once a year Odin enters the odinsleep for a few months, to a week to a day. Whatever's narratively convent. It's how he recharges.

Thor.. dosen't want to as he's needed on earth and the two get into a snit and what I like is it's well ballanced: Odin isn't wrong to want his son to protect the kingdom that will one day be his.. but Thor isn't wrong that the warriors three and sif, his best friends and badass warriors, can do the job and Thor is only one call away if needed. Odin bringing up Jane dosne't help as Odin comes off as being a spying dickhead which.. he is. He entirley is. So Thor leaves in a huff.

And so we get our final segment.. which unlike the others ties in directley. We see Loki in the isle of silence, which is neatly depecited as a black and white void with no sound. Loki is visited by the Enchantress. The Enchantress is a powerful sorceress whose vane as she is obessed with thor, but dosen't understand he's just not that into her for being you know.. manipulative, cruel and trying to kill his friends. Turns out, in classic loki fashion, this was ALL his plan. ALLL of it.

He set up thor to run into the wrecking crew by spying on them taking a job for the Leader, more on him later, having the Enchantress disguise herself as a regular woman , i.e. just a green dress, and point thor their way. Fun fact: She and jane have the same VA. Funner fact: Loki is voiced by Scottish actor Grahm McTavish of the Hobbit and Outlander fame. Both do a terrific job.

Loki then pretended to be Baulder, Thor and Loki's third brother and painted what Thor was doing as egocentric hot doggin and grand standing and the Jane thing as more serious than "They just met". All of this was part of a larger scheme... all going to plan.. and neither the god of thunder nor his neglectful dad have any idea they were played. Granted Loki's scheme would fall apart of Odin brought up that conversation with baulder to the brave himself, but while a risk.. Loki still wasn't TOO reckless with this: in any other thor story this would be highly stupid. Here it's risky, but with Odin going into the Odinsleep soon and Loki's plan HINGING on his dad being in the odinsleep anyway, it gives his plan a VERY small window for fuckups.

And what is his plan?

I genuinely forgot what his grand plan was other than "conquer asgard" but we'll find out as the season unfolds. For now we move on to another hero..... some call him a man, some call him a monster.. but is he both?

Hulk Vs the World ( Microepisodes: The Coming of the Hulk! , Hulk Vs the World, This Monster, This Hero!, and Beware the Widow's Bite!)

Now we talk about the strongest one there is, the man whose wrecking the town with a power of the bull, ain't no monster clown, he's that loveable and ever lovin Hulk. And sometimes immortal, grey and what have you but point is Hulk slaps.

Yeah like Tony I love me some hulk: I haven't read nearly enough of his earlier stuff but I adore the late 80's early 90's run of peter david, one i'm just one digital omnibus away from having the complete run of at the time of this writing, and Al Ewing's recent and incomprable Immortal Hulk, which I REALLY need to cover and just. .haven't. Hulk's just a good character: A man with DID who turns into the literal represntations of the emotions he represses: his rage, his childlike innocence that his abusive dad made sure he never had, his need for a father, his hornier and more traditionally masculine traits... Hulk is an endlessly fascinating character.

And the show does him good, partly by exploring a key part of Hulk's marvel history: the fact that for the vast majority of it.. he's an outsider. Oh sure Hulk will show up for crossovers if needed and what not, but most of the time people treat him as a giant monster to be put down instead of simply an angry, powerful being tired of people trying to kill him. Hulk is oft pegged as a monster, and can often turn on his own allies thorugh bad luck or simply a poopy mood. Most people in Hulk's suppporting cast care about BANNER not hulk, while Bruce is often hunted simply because.. he has a mental illness. Granted most mental illnesses can't suplex a train, but many people genuinely don't seem to CARE that Bruce isn't responsible for what hulk does. Hulk is part of bruce banner.. but he's NOT bruce. And the poor guy is constantly hunted for something he tries to cure or control but often simply can't.

EMH emphasies this as when we meet Bruce he's deshevled, in a hat, looking like the unibomber and getting harassed by the police like one. And this is a Bruce who as we learn later ACCEPTS that hulk is part of him: he dosen't LIKE turning into a rage monster, no one does, but he acknowledges the big guy can do things he can't and that curing him simply hasn't worked. He's someone trying to manage his condition: until now staying away from population centers and only going into them.. because he's worried.

This is also our intro to our second of the four supervillian prisons, the Cube. The Cube is a heavily locked down place for radiation based supervillians, mostly gamma mutates like Bruce himself. And in a fitting shift instead of being a place to stash away or rehabilitate their foes.. the cube is basically one giant lab and Bruce fears it's purpose.. is to create a hulk SHIELD can control. It gives a reason to why he runs: Sure the Cube has facilities to help.. but one hulk is already incredibly dangerous and barely managable. Now imagine if say it goes wrong and hulk ends up with no brain or concense like the current hulk, just PURE. RAGE.

Or they succed in making a super solider with gamma power.. but he simply dosen't want to do what they ask and has all the power of a hulk but none of the restraint, and all the ingellgence to misuse it.

Or you get someone with repressed issues and DID like bruce.. but you get something darker than a cranky teenager who just wants to be left alone

Granted that last one didn't turn out so bad but Bruce's point is easy to see just looking at the comics or basic logic: Making more monsters is way too big a gamble and as we saw with SHIELD in the Iron Man episode, they aren't exactly moral paragons to begin with. Fury will go to any lengths to make a safer world... so whose to say even IF best case scenario we get a she hulk style transformation... that fury can be TRUSTED with that power.

So Banner goes to get some answers. Bruce is played by Gabriel Mann, who played Alan M in the JOsie and the Pussycats film I need to cover, and also played Bruce in Wolverine and the X-Men, which shares a universe with this show. More on that later. He does a great job selling Bruce's fear but also compassion.. he wants to CURE the target he's after, Absorbing Man.

Absorbing Man, aka Crusher Creel, is another frequent Jobber of the marvel unvierse, though unlike the Wrecking Crew he's slightly less of a joke, though like them he started with Thor. Unlike them he became more of a hulk villian and a general marvel villian. If they need someone dumb and powerful, Crusher is their go too. In the comics he also has a wife Titania, also a super villian. They have an adorably healthy and happy marriage.

So naturally Crusher.. wants nothing to do with this and wants to instead punch the hulk. He gets his wish.. but then gets plenty of punches back. The Hulk here is based more on then recent Planet Hulk Storyline: Hulk is still not super smart, but isn't thuggish like say Joe Fixit or sadistic like Devil Hulk. He's just savage hulk if given the chance to learn and evolve: all the power, all the rage.. but with SOME smarts and dry quips. He eventually flattens Abosorbing Man easily after a brief fight.

Hulk himself is played by Fred Tatiscore. Much like Thor and Iron Man's VA"S, Tatiscore is marvel's go to for the hulk for adaptations, and has played him a LOTTT: Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2, Avengers Next, Avengers Assemble, Hulk Vs(Also part of this continuity), Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel's Spider-Man (Cartoon), The Incredible Hulk Tie IN game, Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, All three Marvel Ultimate Alliances. If you want someone mean and green you go with Fred and that's JUST his rolls as hulk. Fred is a prolific voice actor with a WIDE list of credits. This isn't even his only roll in this SERIES, but we'll get to that. If you want a good gravely voice, Fred Tatsicore is your man.

So Hulk is no sooner done punching his daily asshole when General Ross shows up.

So for those who haven't had the distinct pleasure of meeting this twatballoon before, General Ross is one of Hulk's two main arch enemys, the other one we'll meet later. He's the old man who ruins everything, a hard nosed general who already didn't like banner and hunts him and hulk like a monster, and is LARGELY responsible for both the hulk being treated like a monster (though his earlier, far shadier versions didn't help), and for Banner being hutned like one. If someone's going to fuck a situation that could've helped the hulk up, it's this fucking guy. It's shown here brilliantly as one of his men questions WHY banne'rs here.. and ross dosen't care. He can interogate banner later, not getting that bruce wont' want to help him.

Ross charges in with a bunch of smashable robots, but is ordered to stand down by the Black Widow and Hawkeye, in their classic outfits. For Nat it's .. really the same as the movies, for Hawkeye.. he has an actual costume instead of purple spandex and maybe sunglasses... please bring this outfit back.

Thankfully Clint isn't a piece of cardboard like the MCU , though he is an agent of SHIELD since Thor was in production and the Ultimate Unvierse existed. The two plan to subdue the hulk.. yes the martial arts master who is great in hand to hand and the expert marksman... think they can take down the hulk. or at least hold him off. Hulk is less than impressed but has bigger worries as Ross FIRES A MISSLE AT TWO SHIELD AGENTS DESPITE BEING ORDERED TO STAND DOWN

Seroiusly ross you fired on two fedral agents. I'm shocked he wasn't disohnorably discharged but he's gotten away with worse in the comics.

Thankfully hulk beats missle.. and we get a heartbreaking moment as Ross's stupidity and the hulk reflecting the missle nearly downs a hellicarrier... Hulk saves it.. and is taken in anyway. Always hunted, always alone with Banner's cries of having actually made the hulk work and not wanting to be cured falling on the deaf ears of Doc Sampson, usually Hulk's therapist here just a scientest.. and an asshole. Hawkeye though buys it.. unfortuantely he thenf inds out Black Widow is seemingly a tratior and she betrays HIM, framing him for working with hydra. So yeah this one ends with our heros impreioned for doing nothing wrong, the bad guys ahead and things about to get so much worse.

And if you thought we were done with downer endings well.

Meet Captain America (Meet Captain America, The Red Skull Strikes!, If This Be Doomsday!, Come the Conquerer)

Almost forgot this till I was done with this section: So I fucking love Steve Rogers. Loyal to nothing but the dream, kind, thoughtful and a badass through and through. That said when it comes to solo stuff it's hit and miss. I've come around to Ed Brubaker's run as while the winter soldier itself has lost a little impact with the fog of ages, Bucky's turn as cap is great, what i read of Ta'Nesi Coates run is fantastic, and I love Mark Gruenwald's lengthy run. I like cap, he can just be very hit and miss for me on his own, but usually if he's in a team he slaps and there's a reason he's key to the avengers.. and getting his own episode despite not being there for the origin story.

Meet Cap is a fun WII adventure, reminding me of the First Avenger despite coming first. It's got a lot of silver age charm and pep to it as Cap breaks into a hydra castle with the Howling Commandos. The Howling Commandos are Nick Fury's WWII running buddies in the comic and his dad's friends here. The roster's mostly the same, characters I don't really know and who won't be relevant to this show so i'm not going into... except one. He's still not relevant to the show.. but it's a cameo I can't not mention. One of the commandos here is...

YUP. As one of the many subtle hints this is the same continuity as Wolverine Vs X-Men and it's prequel Hulk Vs Wolverine, Logan fucking HOwlett is on the team. He dosen't go snikit either because he dosen't have bone claws in this continuity or simply to keep that under his helmet but it's still neat to see him. THey even got Steven Blum for this tiny apperance. There's small hints like that here and there, with another in the next episode we'll get to but sadly a combination of diffrent networks and Nick screwing over WATXM meant we never got an actual crossover, and Disney screwing over this series meant we never got a fully absorbed finale either. And as should come as no shock as a giant x-men nerd, I plan to cover WATXM after this show.

Anyways, cameos aside it ventually comes down to Cap and Bucky. Bucky is cap's sidekick, and unlike the mcu he' skept to being around 17. This is also one of his first apperances in animation after the landmark winter soldier story recontexutalized Bucky from "Child sidekick who really REALLY shoudln't be fighting WWII" to "that being a propoganda and Bucky being Cap's stealth man who does the stuff too dirty for america's symbol".

As a result this version, at least as Bucky, is voiced by Robin voice actor Scott Melinville, an excellent bit of meta casting given Bucky comes off as a fairly blatant robin clone. The two's banter is genuinely heartwarming as you really get a sense of their friendship.

Cap himself is played by Brian Bloom, who like most of theset voice actors continued the roll for Marvel Vs Capcom 3, it's sequel Infinite, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and unlike the rest recently in Midnight Suns. He's awesome and plays Steve Pitch Perfectly.

So the two's target is Red Skull, Naziism incarnate. He's pure evil, one of the most horrifying villians in the Marvel Universe and one of the few most other villians will nope out of working with being a literal nazi. And not just a snake Nazi, though as he does here he will work with Hydra. He was taught by Hitler himself. Fun fact that's pretty brutal: he has in fact met Magneto, Marvel's #1 holocaust survivior, who held his contempt of the guy long as he could when forced to work with him for acts of vengeance..a nd then first chanc ehe got Erik buired the guy in a bunker with this chilling as it is awesome sequence

This is just one long fun pulp adventure as Cap punches out hydra agents and i'ts revealed the Red Skull was experimenting with the 9 realms of norse mythology and marvel comics. Well 8, he's already on Midgard. His various captured norse creatures escape from fairies to a frost giant he almost kidnapped. it's fun chaotic brawl as many a nazi is eaten and we get some really cool lighting. We also get a mention of a Baron Zemo. This will be importnat later.

The Baron himself is absent though, and rather than being the one escaping on a rocket it's the red skull. And anyone familiar with the comics just tensed up a bit and really even if you aren't.. the fact that this is Cap's origin story, he's getting a full episode, and it's WWII kinda tells you this won't end well.. and it dosen't. Steve prepares to sacrifice himself.. only for Bucky to tell him "The world needs cap more than it needs bucky" and push him off. The Skull and the boy wonder apparently die .. and seemingly so does cap.

Well.. KINDA, as our last short happens: see the cap shorts kicked off with someone watching and we find out it's Kang, the Conquerer

For those who haven't heard of him or seen him thanks to the MCU, and the less said about his actor there the better, Kang is from the 30th century, a time of peace, love and no traffic accidents. And it was BORRRRRIIINNNGGGG to him, so longing for the past he only read about he stole a time machine, and ended up in a savage post apocalypse he eventually conquered and made the bedrock of his empire, using his time travel tech, vast army and genuine stategic knowhow to conquer civlizations throughout time and space.

Here though he seems to have just conquered this future, which is still a lot... but is about to be a little as it's in danger of being erased.. thanks to Cap. Kang is puzzled since if Steve DIED.. then how is he fucking up Kang's day? We get a really cool seuqence of Kang traveling through the previous parts of the episode, trying to figure out what he missed.. and finding steve frozen. Steve lived.. and thus his future will die. He plans to go back and stop this, but his future starts deteroating already, leaving him with just one warship. He TRIES to get his girlfriend Ravona on the ship in time.. but interfernce means she comes in and thus is stuck between fading out of existance. Kang's able to put her in stasis... but to save his empire steve rogers must die.. in about half a season.

Yeah Kang... dosen't come back up for a while and while it baffled me.. the more I thought about the actual two part premire.. the more i relaized why this was there.

The Man in the Anthill (The Man in the Anthill, Enter the Whirlwind, The Big House, Welcome to Wakanda) We end our slew of origin stories with the introduction of Ant Man and the Wasp, my faviorite avengers out of this intial lineup. I love all these characters but Hank and Janet are some of my faviorites in all of marvel. I became a huge fan of Hanks after reading Dan Slott's run on Mighty Avenger where Hank, follow his ex wife Jan's death, takes up the wasp mantle. He also gets into the greatest pissing contest in all of marvel history with reed richards... though in his defense, Red started it

It was a burn so fucking awesome that the rest of Reed's team were all asking him to please, for the love of god call back and apologize. He did not and suffered the consequences. Again story for another day.

With Jan it took some more time but this series and various awesome apperances, chiefly her time in Zeb Wells uncanny avengers and what i've read of Roger Sterns avengers, sold me on the winsome wasp. For good stories for each, for Hank there's the aformentiond Mighty Avengers, Avengers Academy where he serves as headmaster, and West Coast Avengers for his redemption after his mental breakdown and abuse of Jan. For Jan I recommend Stern's avengers, The Unstoppable Wasp which follows Hank's Daughter and Jan's adopted daughter Nadia but heavily features the OG wasp, and most recently the Wasp mini series from king of awesome Al Ewing and it's currently running Followup, Avengers Inc, both things I intend to cover some day.

So for those less familiar with them or more familiar with the MCU versions, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne were founding avengers and the first Ant Man and Wasp, going in and out of the team to retire. They were in love.. but sadly hank's obession with work, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and Janet marrying him while he thought he was someone else because Hank having a mental breakdown was the PERFECT time to marry him, the marriage fell apart, hank had a large scale mental breakdown and well.. you likely know the rest. Both would rebound with Janet finding a new indpendence and sense of self and Hank , after hitting rock bottom.. .finding the will to live on and atone for the various mistakes he made, first as just Hank Pym then as a superhero but not wearing a costume. I love these characters, their rich history, their powers just all of it. I also love these versions of them: With the baggage of his mental breakdown and the infamous and horrifying slap gone, Hank is back to his roots as a science hero, finding his work the neatest thing in the world, while Janet is back to being hank's younger girlfriend , a social butterfly, and the one helping him get to do all his science stuff by doing the promotion, the last one a clever addition. It takes her later swagger and better writing by writers who knew how women worked as opposed to silver age stan lee who while many impressive things.. could not write a woman who wasn't some form of a sexisim. Likewise Hank ignores jan but it's more "he's a workaholic" and less him ranting about her being a stupid woman and friviolus and I wish I was making this up. It takes the best of them in the silver age, mondernizes and makes it awesome

They also each get a short spotlighting them: The first has Hank researching some Vibranium near wakanda when he has to deal with Klaw. Klaw is a recurring avengers bad guy, black panther bad guy and general punching bag. He's not yet to full costumed villian here, instead just having a giant sound canon instead of having said canon as a new hand. He and some mercs break in to steal the vibranium.. and get utterly wrecked in the best way possible as Hank shrinks, easily dispatches them in a scene straight out of a hroror film as each mook goes unconcious, tehn in an awesome moment, when Klaw uses his really big gun fulla sound to try and blast hank, hank GETS BACK UP and presses a button.. shrinkign EVERYONE present. Also while again i'm not pointing out EVERY villian's va i'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Klaw's is mark fucking hamill.

As for Hanks, Hank is played by Wally Wingert, who for once for this show DIDN'T play this character again in Marvel Vs Capcom 3 because Capcom wasn't awesome enough to include an ant man. THey DID include MODOK who Wingert also plays and got to reprise so he still got a well deserved paycheck. He's also been in Bleach and is the voice of Cubot in Sonic. Who knew. I also love the ending: Jan comes in, we get her adorably just throwing her arms around hank.. and then hank casually asking his girlfriend to go save the mercinaries before his ants eat them

The next one focuses on Jan and also shows the contrast between the two. Hank has super powers.. but prefers his research and rehabilitating criminals, not wanting to fight them. In contrast Jan recognizes sometimes you gotta throw hands, action is her reward, and gladly speeds into battle. We also see that while this hank hasn't spiraled yet.. he still has control issues, showing up wot Jan's battle with Whirlwind and telling her to back down, despite her both making the vallid point they can help people and that she can handle herself. And given she stings teh fucker in the eye and beats a guy with tornado powers with just her stingers and some inginuity yeah, hank ease off there bud.

Jan is voiced by Colleen Ann O'Shaughnessey, a va I grew up with as the Voice of Sora on digimon, a role she STILL has to this day. And if that and Jan wasn't enough she's also Jazz Fenton, a characte ri'll be looking into next year. For now though she just rips as Jan, whose the best of the founding 5. I mean their all pretty great and Hank comes close, but Jan's sarcasm, energy but also her heart and talent make her hard NOT to love.

The third short and the final one focused on our duo is the big house which reveals the third of the prisons: The Big House. Focused more on rehabilitation, the Big House was made by hank, housing a LOT of characters i know. Whirlwind tries to escape. If your curious who this schmuck is, Whirlwind is the closest thing Jan has to an arch enemy: he started out fighting her and hank then started stalking Jan who didn't take it well. He's incapaciated as the big house shrink's it's prisoners. Whirlwind is put back inside.. but is insured by the Mad Thinker that they'll be out soon. It's just a matter of time. The Mad Thinker is a long time fantastic four villian, a mad genius and.. that's basically it. He does have an awesome android though

He's a very good dude.

As for Hank and Jan theyt alk to Nick Fury who wants to recruit them. Jan's all for it but Hank says no.. that being said, it's not just Hank not wanting to be a costumed superhero: he dosen't TRUST nick, dosen't think he genuinely wants to rehabilitate criminals, and dosen't trust shield. And given what we've seen.. he's right. Jan follows Hank's lead, if reluctantly while fury.. berates hank for actually carrying about reform and building villians "Comfier jailcells".

With that we get one last standalone to set up episodes later this season: we see the origin of The Black Panther as his dad dies in comnbat fighting Man Ape, whose not NEARLY as cool or nearly as fun in the comics or this cartoon. Man Ape kilsl his dad with help from Klaw while T'Challa's people.. all agree to this trial by combat bullshit.

T'Challa not taking this shit heads off, takes the Panther Mantel and plans to find Allies. To be continued next time, same as cap. I love the animation on The Black Panther as he skulks around. So damn cool. He's voiced by James C Mathis III a voice actor primarily known for playing the character in this and Marvel Vs Capcom.. infinite this time. He's fantastic. And with that it's time for the MAIN EVENT BABY

Breakout Parts 1 and 2

So here we are, the big one. The reason we're all here> the Main Event. Breakout is the proper premiere for the show, airing before the repackaged episodes above though taking place after. And like the MCU with those episodes in mind it feels like a well built up climax to almost everything in the shorts, while setting up the rest of the season, with what wasn't setup for this being setup for later in the season like Cap, Kang and Black Panther.

Part 1 has the characters still in their own corners of the marvel universe before fate assembles them: Tony breaks up an arms deal between AIM, a bunch of super scientests in neat beekeeper suits who function as world conquerers or arms dealers depending on the day, and Lucia Von Bardis, one of Doctor Doom's minons in Latveria. Iron Man easily stops the sale, especially since it's his tech their selling and warns Doom via his proxy: do not come for his stuff again. He then drops them off at the Vault, talking to Jimmy Woo who sadly isn't as in to close up magic here but has noticed it's security is off and asks Tony for help since he designed it and it's not a weapon. Tony agreees.. but also wants him to make an appointment because Tony is a lot of things.. but he's also a massive asshole no matter where in time and space you find him.

Banner is still in the cube, trying to warn Dr. Sampson of two things: the cube is not a jail but an incubator to make another hulk, and that filling a jail full of super strong gamma mutates and gamma research is a ticking time bomb... and given bruce blew himself up with one he should know.

Thor.. is having a far chiller day of stalking Jane as she does her job since as an EMT she finds trouble and he dosen't exactly have a thor signal. And because she fascinates him, not getting how creepy that sounds. Jane finds it charming, partly because he's built like a norse god and partly because she gets this is less "I need to call shield a god is stocking me" and more "He's REALLY that clueless he dosen't get this is a felony".

Finally we have Hank and Jan on the hellicarrier, with Hank doing mods to the big house and arguing with Nick and Jane sorry she can't take maria hill's offer... only to realize hank had a point when maria won't answer a simple whose that.

It's then chaos breaks out.. as does every super villian at the 4 prisons with the Hellicararrier, which houses the big house, also going offline. Oh and Nick's house just blew up, but that happens every tuesday. You can just ignore that one, don't know why I brought it up.

As you'd guess most of our heroes are soon caught in the middle of it: Iron man flies back to the Vault, getting a heads up from Pepper that SHIELD"S in chaos, but finds all his foes have already kitted up and gang up on him including Crimson Dynamo, his russian equilveant and Blizzard, a villian i've always had a soft spot for who gets a truly awesome look here

Is his look baiscally just captain cold and mr freeze smushed together now? Sure? Does it look fucking dope? yes.

Thanks to SHIELD being stupid though, Iron Man isn't the only hero there and despite nearly blasting him earlier, Hawkeye helps for a sec before fleeing to clear his name. I like this setup for hawkeye as in the comic's hawkeye also started as a costumed criminal thanks to a misunderstanding, a nice way of meshing his mcu/ultimate self with the og. Hawkeye is also one of my faviorite superheroes, and something I can gush about later when Clint properly returns to the story. For now he's just awesome as always.

So Tony decides to escape by BLOWING THE FUCKER UP with his enemies inside

Yeah the civilians have apparently evacuated and the villians scene DO come back but you'd think after a few months after this Tony's go to wouldn't be "Cave a building on them and let god sort it out". Then again this IS Tony Stark we're talking about....

Bruce is IN one of the prisons and thus has a harder time, though there is one silver lining: Dr. Sampson.. is now fully on his side, having realized from the buildling falling apart that Bruce was right about this being a powder keg and promising to help. Granted it's a bit too late but still. The radiation abound has also given the good Doc super strength

Zzzax shows up. Zzzax is an energy being the hulk fights on and off, a big zappy man made of electricty who has a name that's as fun to say as it is to type. Naturally this brings out the other guy and Hulk fights him, winning becasue of course.

In the core of the cube and it's control rooms is the Leader. The Leader is Hulk's arch enemy and polar opposite: Hulk is pure rage and strength, the Leader is a calculated super genius with the durability of any other guy. And unlike the other villians in the other prisons.. Leader has no intention of leaving, to the bafflement of Absorbing Man and Abomination. Abomination is Hulk's other arch enemy, a KGB agent who got caught in a gamma ray blast when Hulk tried to kill the hulk with.. .the same thing that makes the hulk, being almost as strong but retaining his mind.

Leader sends the two to fight hulk as a distraction but once Hulk has them down he flees with Sampson.. and the Leader has his minons back off, explaning WHY he wants to stay in prison: he's going to change the world. And impliclity, what better lair for a super genius gamma mutate than a giant gamma based lab and former prison? It's almost like putting the lab next to the dangerous criminals was a bad idea waiting to blow up in their faces.

Before we move on Leader is played by horror legend Jeffery Combs, most famous for playing Herbet West in Re-Animator and it's sequels. Combs is a large ham supreme, a true craftsman of playing hammy bastards with no morals, and is perfect casting for the Leader, and SHOULD have played him in the mcu. Then again given how little the MCU has acctually DONE with the leader thanks to universal, it's a blessing in disguise. They can use him another way. Lots of mad scientests with no morals in marvel. Leader's story will be continued later, but I coudln't just.. pass by Jeffery Combs. I'm not made of stone.

As for Hank he gets the shit beat out of him by the people he was genuinely trying to help. Which is just.. sad... the problem wasn't hank's idea, a deluxe prison with creepy robots where he genuinely tries to reform people.. it's just most of the criminals were either people he brought in, resenting him automatically, or simply didn't WANT to change. Had he tried it on like the beetle or screaming mimi or someone who genuinely had the potetial to reform who knows what he could've done. Thankfully he's backed up by Jan and the fact he can become a really big man, a GIANT man if you will.

While this goes on Thor.. has a date. Jane gladly listens to his daddy issues, Baldur the Brave had visited earlier.. and Odin hasn't let up on the "come home thing". Jane breaks down "ancient asgardian things beyond your understnading" into what it is "You had a fight with your dad" and tries to convince him to go home and patch things up.. but then thor hears the explosions in the distance and goes to help.

So the bad news is a bunch of our heroes villians are free, with the only ones who aren't.. now running the prison. The WORSE news is that there's one more prison that didn't have a superhero on duty as Thor was out to lunch: the raft, a secret fourth blacksite prison hinted at earlier, containing the highest security cases... and one of them just woke up from a ten year nap, radaiting with power and rocking the helicarrier.

This yelling bearded man is Graviton, also played by Fred Tastiscore, whose hamming it up from here to eternity. He wants Fury dead and tha'ts where part 1 ends.. with him holdling fury hostage and sinking the hellicarrier.

Part 2 opens up with the origin of Graviton: Franklin Hall was a physcist for SHIELD before Fury tried to shut him down... for good reason as while Fury was trying to do this Franklin not only refused but his experiments blew up in his face. Then rather than help Hall.. fury locked him unconcious in the raft. Even the breakout didn't let him out it turned out ot be Baron Zemo. Baron Zemo is one of my faviorite super villians, a genius tactician and son of a nazi what cap fought. Naturally he tells franklin he's been down here for a while, then skedaddles. Unsuprisingly we'll be seeing the martial artist whose so skilled and cunning he's in the same jail as the guy who can make gravity his bitch.

Graviton is distracted by Iron man, who shows up to fight.. but tony gets a refresher in Gravity and gets bounced all the way to the endless cornfields of Kansas. Trust me having been in the car as someone's driven through them, that joke is not an exageration. Ther'es plenty of towns, intresting places.. but also large stretches of corn and nothing. So much corn and nothing.

While Tony calls for a backup suit, Thor tags in, while Hank chews Fury out, especially relevant since Fury refuses to tell them anything at first calling it classified... despite the giant exploding gravity man fighting a god above them.

As for Hulk... Hulk needs a snack. Prison hasn't done wonders fo rhis appittite so he stops at a diner, asking them to get help for Sampson... when Hulk has another guest: his brain buddy bruce who urges Hulk to help as he's the only one that can. Hulk makes the valid if misnthropic poitn that if no one's helped him, why should he.. but Bruce poitns out all the good he can do.. he can be more than the monster they see him as and he knows it. SO Hulk agrees to serve as backup.. provided Bruce make one concession: Hulk becomes the dominant personality and bruce comes out , as we find out later, only once a month.

As we wait to see the results of that deal, Thor gets plumeted to the bottom of the sea and Jan decides she isn't going to stand by anymore.. while Hank is like "NO YOU'LL GET HURT. LISTEN TO ME. " because he hasn't gotten Jan dosen't CARE she can get hurt, knows the risk, and is doing the right thing comma jackass. Jan.. actually puts on a decent showing as her stingers, small lasers , aren't affected by gravity. She is.. but Hank catches her having gotten his giant head out of his ass, while Thor regains Mjonr and tony joins back up. The avengers have.. mostly assemebled.

They still can't make much of a dent though: not only are they still very new at this tea-m thing, but Graviton is still strong enough to body a god: a scientest, a fashioin icon, and billionare mass attempted murderer aren't really going to turn the tide. Unluckily for Franky he decides to get braggy.. and gives too good an intrance cue NOT for someone to stomp in and ruin his day

Graviton: I'm stronger than all of you! I'm the strongest one there is! (BOOM) Hulk: You sure about that?

Hulk is here and easily beats the stuffing out of Graviton. We get a truly EPIC moment too as Graviton tries increasing the gravity on him which only works for seconds at a time as Hulk KEEPS, GETTING, BACK UP. With the others helping, and sometims just.. rushing him, Hulk is able to land the final blow on Graviton. My faviorite moment during this is Wasp lasering a container in half, confused someone's helping him... before Janet helpfully pipes in he's the bad guy. THe two will be incredibly close after this and given they both like hitting things and impulsive desicions, easy to see why.

Well almost final, He still has time to weakly rant before Wasp shuts him up.

Naturally SHIELD"S response to Hulk saving the day, the future avengers lives, and stopping an evil they created.. is to point all their guns at him. This time though Hulk has something he didn't have back in Vegas: Friends. Iron Man refuses to let SHIELD take him and everyone else gladly joins in, Jan naturally being the second most vocal behind tony.

Fury reluctantly gives in, and admits he could use the five's help: the various prison breaks have unleashed 74 other super villians and someone needs to round them up.

Hank.. turns him down, getting one last callout and a very damming one: they CREATED this mess: while Franklin made himself into a living god instead of trying to cure him or turn him into a force for good they locked him away an dhoped he'd never wake up, and new york nearly got leveled. I forgot to mention it somehow but motherfucker LEVITATED manhattan.

Tony does concede Fury has a point:.. not about joining SHIELD, they suck dirty ass in thunderstorms. But about working as a team:

Iron Man: One on one, we can each take down a villain or two, but 74... none of us can do it alone. Together we have a chance. What we did here, it can change things. The world needs us, but not as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. As a team of our own. Together, we can avenge the wrongs caused by all these villains. Wasp: We can be Avengers. Hulk: Huh. Good name.

And thus.. a team is born. Hulk agrees to stay for now and everyone else, even pacifist hank seems excited. And even Fury, while not exastic, dosen't really poop on their parade. He is worried about one thing though: Who was behind this?

So yeah.. the first 7 episodes of EMH, the breakout two parter in paticular, are amazing. It sets up the world, fleshes out the cast, and gives us some great hooks going in: how will this team mesh? can hulk be accepted by the rest of the world? Who caused the Breakouts? What's loki's plan? How is leader going to "Change the world"? What did steve do to destroy Kang's timeline? All valid questions we'll answer another time but for now we've got 7 pretty excellent episode an da great start to one of the greatest avengers tales ever

Sometime Next Year: The avengers loose a member, gain an icon and a king and deal with their growing pains, ionic men, dougboys, ape men, living sounds, and a bunch of hulks. See you then and thanks for reading.

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octopi-wall-street · 1 year

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some various rambles from the boston jangle ball!

the show started w/ deck the halls of northville high which they called a villain song (which felt like a diss @ robert lmao)

in twisted clark took the "i only wanted a coat made out of puppies!" line and it was great

there was a whole bit about aj upstaging people to do gilderoy

another bit, or could've been a well-improvised technical difficulty, before queen b where they like restarted it and joked about time travel. also the dancing here was SO GOOD

after each of the first few songs they did like a fakeout "that's our show goodnight"

JANAYA DID STUTTER. IT WAS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN AND HEARD.

they wrote these little holiday lyrics to status quo it was cute

there was a "capitalism medley" because "the real villain is capitalism" (mood) iirc it had cup of roasted coffee, golden rule reprise, and the wiggly jingle. wasn't part of the medley but corey also did our doors are open

despite being a villain themed act i they didn't do rogues are we/rogues medley??? there was no hmb rep at all unfortunately, same with tto (and mamd but that's predictable)

vhs christmas carol was very much in concert form, they weren't really playing characters a ton or in costumes. james did have the shutter shades for christmas present which was great

the "not in character" part was most evident with dylan-- despite being scrooge he was clearly having the time of his life onstage the entire time and cheering on everyone else it was so wholesome

everyone came out to do the christmas electricity dance

joey carried bholden in on piggyback to play tiny tim

jamie played turkey boy and had the most delightful accent

brerideth played the couple in christmas future and shared a kiss it was so cute

joey and dylan had a little handshake they tried to do in the finale but they messed it up lol

the entire atmosphere was so much fun!! everyone on and offstage was having a great time, i mentioned in another post but people were literally singing along to the intermission playlist it was just really good vibes. as someone who has been to very few concerts, and never been to one alone, it was an awesome experience

#starkid #team starkid #jangle ball tour

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lola-andheruniverse · 6 months

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Two Caryl fics by Rambling Rose are so good. Broken Mirrors in au non za. It is very long and very good. A version of Sophia is in it. They meet through Sophia… All the King’s Horses is also a AU non za. Both Daryl and Carol meet as single parents. Both have been hurt and they meet. They are on Ninelives, AO3 and FanFiction, I think.

Hi, dear anon! Thanks so much for participating with two classic caryl fics written by our talented baby fic queen @spanishrose2002! All the King's Horses is one of my favorite fics and I'm currently reading Broken Mirrors for the first time! 🥰 All the King's Horses is posted on it's entirety on 9Lives Caryl Archive, but also on Ao3 and FF.net. It's one of my favorite fics, with one of the most beautiful portrays of Daddy Daryl I ever read. His bond with Russ it's so endearing! The way caryl connect and form a big family together is very heart-warming.

Summary: All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put their hearts back together again...Caryl AU. He's a single father with just one concern and a past he'd rather leave behind him. She's a single mother just looking for a new start and an escape from her own past. Everyone knows life is not a fairy tale. Caryl, Mandrea Rating: E / Explicit Chapters: 84 Word count: 199361 Published: April 20, 2014 - COMPLETE Broken Mirrors can be read on 9Lives Caryl Archive, Ao3 and FF.net. Even though I haven't finished it yet, I can say that this fic is a very special one. Rose writes these versions of Carol, Daryl and Sophia with ultimate care and respect. For me, the greatest strength of this story is how they feel like real people, how their struggles and joys are tangible and concrete. I don't know how exactly I'll feel when I get to the finish line (I'm still on chapter 85) but I'm sure I'll miss them like real friends. Summary: AU Caryl fic. When broken people encounter each other, is it possible for them to glue the pieces back together? This is very AU. Carol, Daryl, and Sophia are all broken people who live in very different worlds, but when those worlds unexpectedly collide, can they find healing in themselves through healing each other? Carol Daryl Sophia, other characters may play in later. Rating: E / Explicit Chapters: 179 Word count: 584228 Published: April 20, 2014 - COMPLETE

Lovely fics, lovely recs! Thanks again, anon! And thanks Rose for writing them. Dear fellow caryler, I hope you enjoy our recs for today. Don't forget to leave a nice review to our author while you're at, she deserves all the praise and love! With this, we finish week 5 of caryl fic recs! It's a pleasure to share my love for caryl fanfiction with you all. Tomorrow we start all over again! Caryl on, lovelies, caryl on!

#caryl #caryl positivity #caryl fic recs #caryl on #caryl fanfiction #caryl fandom #your turn sunday #our fic recs

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livlepretre · 2 months

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I'm really curious (sorry if you answered this question before), but do you see canon Klaus doing the same kind of things FE Klaus does?

Yes, absolutely.

FE is my unvarnished interpretation of the characters, as they were presented in the earlier seasons of the show. The entire plot of FE is even taken from a scenario Klaus himself voices: he declares in 3x05 "what I want is to take my girl, take my hybrid, and get out of this one pony town." Obviously he wants to kidnap her in order to use her for her blood. The whole thing about wanting to make sure Elena settles down with a mortal to bear children and continue her bloodline is taken from his stated intentions in the episode "The Dinner Party," also season 3. Please keep in mind that I started working on FE when season 3 was first airing, so the characterizations are GREATLY taken from that era. So, when I was first working on this fic, Klaus had no canon romances save for what we saw of his affair with Katerina in 1492. Lines like "love is a vampire's greatest weakness" had huge influence over how I envisioned him-- and the fact that his early characterizations bear this out only added fuel to the fire. Wondering things like, why use Jenna in the sacrifice??? and speculating on his psychology all fanned the flames. I saw him as emotionally cowardly, and vengeful, but also, that there was no line he would not cross. That's the fun thing about writing Klaus. If I'm trying to figure out how he will respond to something, the worst and most dramatic possibility is OBVIOUSLY the answer. Whenever I wonder if I should dial it back, I think about that time in the season 4 Christmas special when he slaughtered all of his hybrids in a mad rage and then drowned Carol Lockwood and I go LOL NO Klaus is going to Klaus, I might as well let him go as far as he wants to go.

As for other various things-- like, I think the tv show had various constraints as a teen tv show-- a lot is implied in tvd but not explicitly stated because the show couldn't. It wasn't on HBO. So, while there is a weird amount of gore (heads falling off shoulders, hearts ripped out of chests), the sex stuff is all pretty tame. I have to assume the debauchery (and the viciousness of the gore) would all be dialed up without those censorship limits-- they're vampires. Like, Stefan is called "ripper." What does that mean? What are their habits? what are their cavalier attitudes about human life?

So, for me, when I watch tvd, I absolutely do interpret it as "oh, Stefan and Klaus were fucking in the season 2-season 3 hiatus, and Rebekah is obviously incestually invovled with Klaus and in a threesome with him and Stefan"-- the subtext is there and is just too strong a vibe to interpret it otherwise, for me. But the network wasn't going there. The spiciest sex dynamic they were willing to imply was a Rebekah x Sage x Damon threesome; which, ffm is just not that big of a deal on American tv; I doubt the show would have ever gone for a mmf threesome, let alone an incestuous one, let alone with their male romantic lead (and the woman isn't even the heroine). Like, mainstream network tv just isn't going to jump into that, even though this dynamic is basically screaming itself from the rooftops.

Uhhhh and do I think Klaus would fall in love with Elena?

I mean, to me it seems like the obvious ship, which is why I keep writing about it?

I am not one to let the fact that Elena has so many love interests stop me from adding in more or seeing the potential for more.

And one of the main goals of FE was to try to write this ship as I think it would realistically play out: this is why it is so slow, and painful, and full of so many set backs.

It's the sort of ship that sets fire to everything around it and then, MAYBE, some sapling will grow out of the scorched earth.

(Well, I say maybe. Yes. Definitely some young green shoot is going to burst out of this and turn into a majestic ship tree. Or something.)

#anonymous #fairytale ending

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thealmightyemprex · 8 months

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Muppet Movies Ranked

I've recently marathoned all 8 theatrical Muppet movies ,and these are my rankings.Keep in mind I think all 8 are good movies,I just prefer some to others

8.The Muppets

I like the nostalgic look back stuff.....But the peoblem is I dont like Walter or the human characters .This film is the most meh to me

7.Muppets From Space

ITs diffrent,being the only non musical in the series ,and I do like that the film focuses on my favorite Muppet Gonzo and doesnt showcase just the Muppet Show guys but the Muppets Tonght guys as well but the story isnt all there,I dont think Jeffrey Tambours villain has the right ending and it is painfully 90's

6.Great Muppet Caper

Oooooh for putting this so low I might get some hate,but I shall explain .This is the most irreverant ,silly and funniest Mupppet movie,if you just want to laugh this is great .THis film is pure Henson wackyness,the film is not taking itself seriously at all.....And while I enjoy that.....I prefer a Muppet movie to have a bit more heart and story to go with the silly FOr me the characters,story and songs are a bit lacking .Again jokes are brillaint,performances are good (Charles Grodin looks like he is in LOVE with Miss Piggy and it is amazing) and it may have my favorite cameo in any Muppet movie .I do like the movie,I just like 5 others better

5.Muppets Most Wanted

This film is VERY similar to Great Muppet Caper ,and while not funnier,I think its more solid .I adore the songs,especially the Big House ,I think the story is really good ,I love Sam and Ty Burrels chemistry ,the cameos are top notch ,Tina Fey as the Russian warden Nadya delivers one of the best human characters in all the Muppet movies and the film has possibly the best villain in all the Muppet movies in Constantine who is good mix of hilarious and threatening .Not all the effects worked and....I really wish someone else other then Ricky Gervais played the secondary villain Dominic Badguy.Overall though its an enjoyable film

4.Muppets Take Manhatten

The one that surprised me .Of the orignal three its the one people dont talk about but ....I love it,its a bit more of a low key Muppet film ,ITs a much more character focused film. .The Dabney Coleman scene cracks me up,Saying Goodbye is tearjerking and the finale is spectacular

3.Muppet Christmas Carol

A legit really good take on a Christmas Carol,possibly one of the best takes .The first film without Jim Henson ,and I think it showed the Muppets could survive .Less about the jokes and more about the heart and artistry while still having fun and humor . the Muppet performers are on top form,especially Gonzo and Rizzo as the narrators ,but the highlight of the film is honestly the phenomenal performance of Michael Caine as the coldhearted Scrooge ,giving off a legit good dramtic performance while talking to Puppets .Also the songs by Pqaul Williams are just top notch

2.The Muppet Movie

The one that started it all,a heartwarming story about a bunch of weirdos coming together in pursuit of a dream,its sweet,its funny ,Paul Williams songs are great (Especially Im Going to Go Back There Some Day and Rainbow Connection),theres some fun cameos (Mel Brooks steals the show ) and Charles Durning gives an underrated performance as a psychotic fast food mogul

1.Muppet Treasure Island

This....WAs one of the first movies I ever saw,and I have never stopped loving it .The muppet mayhem is funny(DEad Toms Dead always gets me ),its exciting ,the songs are all top notch ,and it has the best human cast with Kevin Bishop as the adventurous young Jim .Jennifer Saunders asa bombastic Inn owner,Billy Connolly as old drunkn pirate Billy Bones and the legend himself Tim Curry hamming it up as the villainous Long John Silver in perhaps his greatest performance ,cause he is equally great with the comedy as he is at delivering tender softer moments with Jim as a sort of surrogate father

@amalthea9 @angelixgutz @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @ariel-seagull-wings @themousefromfantasyland @the-blue-fairie @princesssarisa @greektragedydaddy @filmcityworld1

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mirrormazeworld · 1 year

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Hey i want to point out something here. (if you don't mind! ) but Walt Disney was very interested by Alice Wonderland book, he made a series (Alice's Comedies) who was his "first" work (even he made 5 little short before...) and a point he created his company (which is celebrating 100 years right now! Coincidence? ) which they are two characters (a little creature and Alice) who looks like Grim and Yuu, more later, he wanted to create an Alice movie instead of Snow White movie! ( https://lostmediawiki.com/Alice_in_Wonderland_(partially_lost_original_draft_of_Disney_animated_film;_1939 ) it was dark and at the end of the movie, alice is carried away by one of the executioners with the red queen who wanted to cut off his head ( https://lostmediawiki.com/File:Off_With_Her_Head.jpg ), so they scrapped and put back later in 1951 with new ideas, Walt disney wanted on one of his interviews to be the white knight. (which parallel with Lewis Caroll role in the book.), but scrapped that idea. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Knight_(Through_the_Looking-Glass) ), Also Disney thinking his movie was not perfect to his idea, so i defenitevely think Yana wanted to pay homage not only with Lewis works but to Walt Disney works. And that's super interesting! And definitely think the character of Phantom Blot can play an interesting role... (since he's twisted from Walt Disney.) and they defetively put tons of details in his presence in the game. Like the lonesome ghosts was based on the comic "the seven ghosts" in reality. ( https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seven_Ghosts ), who was created by Floyd Gottfredson, the same creator of Phantom Blot, so well, is Ramshackle based of Phantom Blot? Probably...Especially since these ghosts on twst have the same outfit as Crowley's. Uhm...

Hello anon! Sorry it took me for a while to reply your message because you just gave me information I didn't know and I need to arrange my thoughts to answer your message properly, because I think you might have solved one mystery of Twisted Wonderland!

I didn't pay attention to Disney's side of Alice in Wonderland because all twst analysis and theory that I did previously are only based on Lewis Carroll's work. What you pointed out anon, it all makes sense now why Ramshackle dorm, the dorm that I suspect to be the dorm of Through the Looking Glass is older than Pomefiore but somehow also forgotten. It's because Alice Wonderland was supposed to be Disney's first movie and was actually the starting point of Disney company, even it's already there far before Snow White or even Mickey.

I get it why Disney was so obsessed with Alice in Wonderland that it became his first work out of all and revived the discarded idea of making a movie of it back after the enormous success of Snow White. As someone who love Carroll's Alice in Wonderland series and know some answer to the riddles in it, I want to say there's a reason why Alice in Wonderland (and it's prequel Through the Looking Glass) is one of the greatest books of all time in the world. For those who doesn't know, it's just a children book full of nonsense but for those who knows the secret behind it and at least managed to solve some of the riddle, they'll know that Alice in Wonderland is like a time capsule keeping a lot of secret information behind it, unscathed by time. From math, to mythology, to alchemy, to theology, even culture at that time, everything is there as the logic behind it that built nonsense called Alice in Wonderland itself.

I suppose in the past Disney tried to replicate what Carroll did and revived it as a movie but although it was one of his successfull movie, the critics and even Disney himself was not satisfied by it. It's because Disney himself said the "Alice in Wonderland" that he made doesn't have a heart at all. Even decades after he died, when live action Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass was made, it wasn't even as satisfying in the eyes of critics even though the graphics was admittedly incredible.

We can say that all this time, Disney's versions of Alice in Wonderland are all a failure because even though it's good, it's still not good enough to do Lewis Carroll's work justice. So when there's a rumor saying "Twisted Wonderland was supposed to be released for celebrating the birthday of Disney company" and from what you said anon, if it's true then that's very sweet of Disney JP to pay tribute to both Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney and even tried to fullfil Walt Disney's lifetime wish that was failed to become reality. This is the best gift Disney JP could give to its founder and they did a right choice hiring Yana as she did her job really well of doing Lewis Carroll's work justice in my opinion by re-creating Wonderland of her own version, a world full of wonder that would make us question what's going to happen next after we read the story accompanied with beautiful graphics. She did what the predecessor of Alice in Wonderland couldn't do, and in my eyes, that's very incredible.

And lastly it's just my opinion, but you said "the lonesome ghost was based on the comic 'The Seven Ghosts' " but somehow I just have a feeling that 'The Seven Ghosts' might actually the main inspiration/concept of the seven dorm leaders who are overbloting since the ink monster behind them is called "Phantom". I don't know how to explain, but as we know a character in twst can be a combination of two or more of Disney character in a concept (like Idia for example, who is the combination of Hades and Megara), we can't dismiss the posibility that Yana used The Seven Ghosts as one of the concept for overblot.

Anyways, thank you for your ask anon! I'm really grateful you let me know because I've learned so much from you things that I didn't know!

And Happy 3rd Anniversary twst JP! 🎉🎊

#twisted wonderland #twst thoughts #twst theory #twst theories #letter from ayu #twst yuu #twst grim #twst #Happy 3rd anniversary twst JP🎉

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fortunatelychaoticphantom · 4 months

Text

Highlighted Posts - Fandom Topics

For some explanation, see serious topics post.

Avatar the Last Airbender / Legend of Korra:

Aang, forgiveness and violence in The Southern Raiders (meta).

Aang’s (lack of a) character arc (meta) + same response, posted independently from the original chain post with a bit of revisions (meta).

Avatar, violence and last second anti-killing rhetoric (meta).

The actual advice the past Avatars gave Aang (meta).

Aang vs. Ozai final battle and Star Wars influences (meta).

The Great Divide is good actually (meta).

Aang being rewarded by the universe? (meta).

Third season Scorched Earth plan out of left field (meta).

Bloodbending and Energybending (meta).

Katara didn't have a “plot armor” in the final battle with Azula, she's the epitome of a warrior (meta).

Katara and non-lethal battle winning (meta/joke).

Katara didn’t beat Pakku (meta).

Katara didn’t choose Aang “over” Zuko (meta).

Anastasia!Zutara AU (headcanon).

Mai and Zuko, what should have been (meta).

Mai happily joined Azula to hunt Zuko (meta).

Kanna and Pakku... why??? (meta/joke).

Gender equality in the Fire Nation and WW2 equivalents (meta).

Legend of Korra, the status quo and the institution of the Avatar (meta).

Making Korra’s dad chief is just… awful (meta).

Harry Potter:

The Malfoys didn’t have a redemption in canon (meta).

Michael Gambon is great, you guys are just mean (meta).

Snape, Dumbledore and the Defence against the Dark Arts (meta/joke).

No thanks, I don’t need a young Snape movie (joke).

What Harry’s reaction to his name being pulled from the Goblet should have been (joke).

The Tri-Wizard tournament has no rules (meta).

Star Wars:

Star wars and Pirates of the Caribbean are the same story (meta).

Kylo Ren and redemption in the Star Wars universe and Hollywood [tlj post] (meta).

DC:

so... does Superman have an appendix? (joke).

Why Selina Kyle never goes to Arkham (joke).

The Scorpion King/Wonder Woman comparison (joke).

Marvel:

Infinity War and the horror of the snap (meta).

Who’s the avengers’ designer? (joke).

Black Panther and The Lion King similarities regarding women (meta).

Shipping in the MCU (joke).

Antman and family (joke).

Pirates of the Caribbeans:

Elizabeth and Will’s relationship is the heart of the movies (meta).

The best things about PotC (meta).

Disney:

I sort of wrote a one-shot about the bimbettes from Beauty and the Beast (fanfiction).

Belle in the Hunchback of Notre Dame (meta).

Del Toro, monstrosity and Beauty and the Beast (meta).

Inner Workings is amazing (meta).

Frozen’s Anna and Hans (joke).

Quasimodo is awesome (meta).

Around the world with Captain Phoebus (joke).

Pocahontas’ ending is subversive as fuck (joke/meta).

Hercules didn’t know who Hades was (joke).

Other:

Bullshit “feminist” retelling and Mad Max Fury Road (joke/meta).

“Feminist” retellings explanation (analysis).

She-Ra and the inherently good protagonist (meta).

I hate the ending of She-Ra (meta).

Once upon a Time, Regina and redemption (two diverging threads of the same post) (meta): First and Second.

Ross Geller isn’t that bad, you guys are just mean. Or: The unbelievable cruelty of what Carol did to Ross (meta).

Bella Swan and Hermione Granger comparisons are bullshit (meta).

Twilight and depression (meta).

New Moon reread comments (meta).

The Good Place is the greatest show in history. But also I have thoughts (meta).

The single most beautiful Geralt and Jeskier art ever made [The Witcher] (fanart).

Dimitri wanted to find the real Anastasia all along in hopes that she survived the revolution [Anastasia 1997] (meta).

Godzilla, Pacific Rim and Hollywood: between grim-dark and camp (meta).

Wednesday Addams and the usurpation of the summer camp for rich white kids (meta).

Debbie Jellinsky is the best [The Addams Family Values] (joke).

Achilles and Patroclus sitting in an urn. K.I.S.S.I.N.G. (joke).

Of course the Jewish women are the witches in Oz the Great and Powerful… (joke/meta).

Bird Box and mental illness (meta).

My problems with Carmen San Diego (meta).

Ice Princess and teenage movie tropes. Or: They're lesbians Harold (meta/joke).

Lord of the Rings life goals (joke).

The School of Good and Evil and that little bit of antisemitism… (joke).

Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon genetics are weird (joke).

Why wouldn’t I keep talking about old fandoms? (joke/analysis).

I hate Barbie. Sorry. (meta).

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snowblossomreads · 1 year

Text

To Find Joy

Summary: In where Richard reminisces about what the holidays meant to him in the past and what they mean to him now. (Prompt 23 Cherishing Joy)

Pairing: Judge Turpin x Wife!Reader

Tag(s)/Warning(s): narrative heavy (sorry lol), a dash of angst and realization, a sprinkle of adoration and love, a pinch of fluff and wholesomeness (mix it all together to get this finale!)

Word Count: 2.2K

A/N: And here we are! This will be the last fic I have for Rickmas!! I'm so sad that this is ending 😭😭 but I have had a blast this whole time! It has been fun writing for different Alan characters but it also made me a little weepy 🥺🥺. But enough of that for right now please enjoy this cute little fluff piece and I'll see you at the end. ❤❤❤

Christmas. It was a time for being merry and joyous. A time for giving and being grateful for all the things that had transpired during the past year whether they be good or bad. It was a month when people were more generous and when family from near and far gathered together and celebrated.

And it was also a season that Judge Turpin deeply loathed since boyhood.

Ever since he could remember he hated how insincere everything about the holiday felt around him. How people seemed to change their attitudes toward all that was around them. Suddenly there were family members showing up after months of not seeing them even though they were only a carriage ride away.

Then there were the leeches from high society. The schmoozers and wealthy families that his parents used to host and it disgusted him the way those people would laud his family only so they could seek favors from them later on.

What was particularly irksome to him was that his parents seemed to reveal in the praise of people who only cared about what they could do for them. So Christmas to him for those many years just happened to be the season that the mask people wore every day was simply now decorated in bells, and glittery things to reflect the true version of one's self. To deceive and make oneself look more generous and kind than they really were.

And if there was one thing he hated, it was deceit.

Maybe it was all those years that caused him to become such a harsh interpreter of the law. To bring those, no matter how petty the crime they committed, to justice. To make sure that their lies and deceit would no longer affect the peace and stability of society's order.

Wasn’t that the greatest gift he could give to the people of the city as a High Judge?

Yet it seemed that no one cared. No one was grateful for the work he had done on their behalf to keep them safe during these treacherous times. No, they just caroled away ignoring everything that was wrong around them for some silly holiday that truly had no meaning. A holiday that was supposed to bring joy to the world.

But for him, he felt none of it. Each year he would spend the season alone. No decorations, no carols, no feast or visits from so called friends and acquaintances. Only the housekeepers and other servants in the house kept him company as he worked the month away ready for it to be over as he found no delight in the festivities.

For many years he thought the holidays maddening. Hating that joyful bright month he felt no true happiness in even though all around him people were merry and cheerful. He found the celebrations bothersome, unnecessary and distasteful. All of it he despised and he would be more than happy for it to never exist in the first place.

That though had been him almost five years ago.

A bitter, dark, stern man who brought fear to those who dared cross his path. A man who hated the season as much as he hated the liars, thieves, and criminals who roamed the streets. He was still all of those things to the public, never faltering when it came to making sure people knew who exactly he was. Lord Turpin High Judge of London. The man who dealt out death to all those who decided they were above the law.

But as he pushed open the door to his home. There was a change that could be seen and smelt. No longer were the walls dreary and dark; instead, they were filled with beautiful deep green wreaths of holly and mistletoe.

Multitudes of candles were neatly placed on top of shelves and drawers that were covered with deep red and green cloth to match the other decorations. Each candle cast a warm orange illumination over the area making the area feel cozy and welcoming unlike how it was previously.

The smell of freshly baked cookies mingled with the natural smell of the greenery around him. An interesting yet not at all unpleasant combination as he shrugged his coat off to hang.

When he had stepped foot over the threshold of his home he was no longer the High Judge that men feared. No, he became someone different than he had been those joyless years ago. He had become-

“Papa!”

The sound of tiny footsteps rapidly approaching him had him turning around, his gray eyes, seeing the blur of a red night shirt right before he felt a small body wrapping itself around his leg. Looking down he was met with a toothy grin that was accentuated by chubby cheeks and bright eyes full of awe and excitement.

His body relaxed and the stern frown that his lips had been drawn into the entire time he had been away melted into softly knitted brows and a small smile reserved only for the two he deemed worthy of seeing it.

“Hello there little prince,” he murmured, reaching down and gently picking the boy up who happily traded in hugging his father’s leg for being held in his arms. “Were you well behaved for your mother today?”

“Yes!” He chirped, wrapping his arms around Turpin’s neck and beaming at him. “We made cookies and mum even let me lick the spoon!”

“My word it seems you had a most productive day then?”

The little boy nodded eagerly about to say something else when another pair of footsteps echoed toward them.

“William, be careful my darling! I don’t want you hurting yourself, or knocking something down. Lord knows we don’t need a fire to be set.”

Even when she was scolding the little boy in Turpin’s arms she sounded beautiful. Her voice rang so sweet and clear like those bells people used to decorate all types of things during this season of giving.

It was nothing like the grating voices of those at court and it soothed his ears as he watched her appear from the sitting room doorway. Freezing at her husband’s sudden appearance, her expression of concern for her sweet son morphed into one of surprise not expecting him to be home already.

“Mama! Papa’s home!” William squealed, elated at seeing his mother and wiggling excitedly in his father’s arm as he turned to wave at the woman.

“Richard!”

The twinkle in her eyes was more beautiful than the moon’s light reflecting off freshly fallen snow as she bounded toward him. Her confused expression was no more as it morphed into a radiant smile as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, squishing the little boy closer to his father as she leaned up to give Richard a sweet kiss.

William, who was a bit squished in between, didn't seem to care at all as he giggled happily nuzzling into his father’s neck as Richard leaned down to meet his wife with a tender kiss of his own.

“[Y/n] my heart,” he murmured in that rich baritone that had her shivering while he shifted a bit so that he was holding William with one arm and able to snake the other around her waist.

Her eyes were bright as she watched him hoist the little boy up with ease and hold her with the same amount of effort. Goodness she loved him so much, so strong and gentle with both of them it made her heart flip and warm as she gazed up at both of her loves in adoration.

“My sweet you are home early I wasn’t expecting you for another two hours,” she said, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek and feeling some of the rough stubble that had begun to grow. “Is everything all right? No trouble at work today?”

“No, nothing of that sort,” he answered, stroking her waist and becoming lost in her serene features that gazed upon him softly.

If it was someone else giving him such a look, he would be offended, disgusted even that they would stare at him in such a manner. It felt like they were pitying him and he needed nor wanted any of that. But with [Y/n], it felt so, right, so soothing to have someone so sweet and radiant look upon him with such adoration. Maybe it was why he had been so eager to propose marriage to her so soon after their meeting

“I just thought that after all the work you and the house staff-.”

“And me to papa!” William cut off exuberantly causing both his parents to look at him with amused expressions. “I helped mum put up that flower,” he pointed out to a wreath hanging above a shelf right against the staircase.

“And of course you too little one,” Richard added leaning down, placing a kiss on the young boy’s forehead causing him to giggle and quiet down again after his recognition. “I just thought it ungrateful of me to not cherish what my sweet wife and son have done to make our home look so wonderful.”

A bashful look overtook [Y/n] and she suddenly felt herself become shy at his words of adoration. Even after being with him for five years, she couldn’t help how much she loved to hear his praises for her. But of course, she knew how much he didn’t like the holidays.

It had been something that was discussed during their first Christmas together as husband and wife and it absolutely had her thinking about what she could do to at least lessen his hatred for it. Because to her, it was the season for joy and family and she had always adored it growing up in a close knit family.

So to have him slowly warm up to it each year, made her heart happy. And she was sure now that they had a little one that had somehow softened him even more regarding the subject.

“Oh, Richard! As much as I want to say you didn’t have to,” mirth in her voice as she stroked his cheek before moving her hand and repeating the action against the little boy’s making him giggle. “I do love being able to spend time with both of my loves. You two bring me so much joy and I wish to cherish it for as long as possible.”

“I know, and it was a wish that I hoped to grant you this year seeing as I failed to do so the last year.”

Shaking her head at his words her smile never faltered even at the reminiscing of the past Christmas where things had not gone as planned. Still, they were able to be with each other as a family and that’s what mattered.

“My love, do not let what did not happen last year bother you, you are here now and it is all that matters,” she spoke, assuring him as always. And for a moment he mused about how wise she was even at her young age compared to him.

How he had studied and interpreted law for decades yet with just a simple sentence of understanding she had calmed and warmed him.

“So if it is agreeable with both of you,” she started, eyes darting between Richard and William, “should we have an early supper and maybe some stories by the fireplace?”

“I have no objections my heart, but does our little one find it agreeable,” Richard asked looking down at the boy who was just happily watching mum and pa as he cuddled Richard.

“Can you read papa,” he asked sweetly, head lifting from his father’s shoulder to look at him with wide eyes that the older man had become weak to after so many years. It didn’t help that the little one had the same color and shape of eyes as his mother which made Richard adore him even more than he already had.

“I like it when you read and so does mama!”

“Is that true love?” He asked knowing the answer as he looked at [Y/n] knowing full well of her answer, “do you enjoy my reading?”

“Of course what kind of question is that!”

Humming, as if he were truly contemplating this matter as if it was a law to be decided, he finally answered after a brief moment.

“Well then I believe this is a settled matter. I will read for both of you after dinner to show my gratitude to you both.”

A cheer broke from the boy as he tightened his hold around Richard leaning in to kiss him on the cheek happy that his pa would be reading to them. It warmed him, so much he couldn’t stop from squeezing the little boy and retightening his grip on [Y/n] who happily went to wrap her arms around him hugging him and nuzzling him just the same as their son was doing

And he felt that after all those years of hating the holidays that brought him no happiness or cheer. He had finally found a reason to cherish the joy the season seemed so well known for. And they were both in his arms.

A/N: That's all folks!!!! I hope that you all enjoyed reading these stories as I had so much fun writing🥰🥰! I may or may not be sobbing that this is over as I've been rewatching so many of Alan's works recently and I'm super heartbroken that we never got to see more of him in movies or on stage😭🥺😩I'm sure he would have been fantastic and as many said we will never see the likes of him again.

But I'm so happy we still have a fandom that keeps his memory alive even though it has me weepy sometimes when I see posts and such (chill out girl). It's made of such great people and I hope it stays forever ❤❤❤ This was so much fun and I hope to do it again next year and write for even more prompts and I didn't have time to write for all of the ones I wanted to this year!!!

Of course, thank you to the wonderfully talented and amazing @deepperplexity for hosting this and also giving us some fantastic stories to entertain ourselves with🎉🎉🎉🥰 you're so great ma'am, and know we adore and appreciate you!!!!! I'm definitely going to go binge some other Rickmas fics that people wrote though for some holiday comfort hahaha.

Thanks again you all and have a Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas 🥰✨🎄❄

(P.S. there may or may not be a second part to an earlier prompt coming out right before the new year is not technically Rickmas but still😉😉)

#judge turpin x reader #judge turpin fic #rickmas2022 #blossom writes #turpin x reader

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