#carol is literally one of the worst types of human beings

[thediamondarcher]

hstt fans be like: oh no, a mother that has discussions with her children!! we must now compare her to an abusive mother who literally killed her son's dog because "it was a distraction"

[avengerscompound]

Moving On - Chapter 3

Moving On: A Falcon & Captain Marvel Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Sam Wilson x F!Reader, Carol Danvers x F! Reader

Word Count:  2003

Rating:  E

Warnings:  just a little canon complaint drama this chapter

Synopsis:  You thought Sam Wilson was the love of your life.  You had planned to do it all with him - marriage, kids, see the world.  Even when you’re life gets turned upside down, and you both end up international fugitives, he’s there by your side.

Then Thanos comes.

When Sam is one of the many turned to dust, leaving you alone and pregnant, you don’t think you’ll ever stop grieving.  Yet, everyone tells you that Sam would want you to move on and live your life - that he’d want you to be happy. Gradually you open your heart up to another.  Carol Danvers has lost people too.  First her daughter, then her wife.  As the two of you lean on each other, feelings grow and you move on together.

So what happens when Sam is returned to you?

Chapter 3: The Accords

When Sam had left on his mission to Lagos, you had been worried but not in a major way.  You had thought maybe he might come home bruised up or with a cracked rib.  The last thing you had expected was for a lapse in attention would allow Rumlow to detonate a block leveling amount of C-4, and that when Wanda had tried to contain it and it had taken out a floor of a building instead, she’d get the blame.

Still, while that was bad, it wasn’t something that you had thought would directly affect you.  It might mean there was some argument with governments about Wanda being in the custody of the Avengers and how training should be done to prevent things like that from happening again.  You were fairly sure the insurance policy the Avengers held for such things was going to be hit hard.  But for you and Sam - life and love and wedding plans wouldn’t have been affected.

And then Tony Stark had shown up with General Thaddeus Ross.

Ross had dropped a bomb into the compound and run.  Not a literal bomb, but one that had the potential to be just as damaging.  The Sokovia accords had been dropped off - a document stating that any enhanced individual would have to register themselves with their country's government and the UN and provide them with biometrics as a way to keep tabs on them.  Along with that, anyone working for facilities such as SHIELD, SWORD, or the Avengers as operatives, and any of these enhanced individuals were unable to act on matters of security without the go-ahead from their countries government or the UN.

While that didn’t change too much for you, according to the document, Sam’s wings counted as enhancements.  Steve Rogers and Wanda Maximoff were also both enhanced and would need to provide DNA to the government.   Wanda would be registered as a weapon of mass destruction.

It meant you and Sam had to decide what you wanted to do.  You knew there was no way Sam would sign.  He had already left the airforce, he wasn’t going back to working for the government again so soon.  Especially not with the added condition of registering humans with them.  You also knew he was unlikely to stop fighting - it just wasn’t in his nature.

Unfortunately, you didn’t have a chance to even talk about it before Sam was out the door again.

“Look,” Sam said as he got his best suit out of the closet.  “This is a big deal.  It kinda changes everything for us.  So maybe decide what you really want to do and what you’re okay with?  I mean… worst case scenario I could end up an international war criminal.”

“How likely is that though?”  You asked as you watched him zip the suit into a suit bag.

“I doubt it’s very likely but you gotta consider it, babe,” he said.  “I love you.  I want a life with you, but I don’t want you to end up resenting me because we end up on the run from the law together or something.”

“Right,” you said with a nod.  “You wouldn’t consider… I dunno… retiring?”

“Of course,” Sam said, moving on to the underwear drawer.  “And if these things go through and they make me sign, that’s what I’m gonna say I’m doing.  But you know me, I’m never gonna take some back seat when a big bad goes down.”

“No, I know,” you said.  “Me too.  You sure you don’t want me to come to this?”

Sam shook his head.  “This is Steve’s thing,” he said.  “I didn’t even know Peggy.  I’m gonna be there for him.  I’ll be back in a couple of days.  You think while I’m gone.”

“You know I’m just going to do whatever you do,” you said.  “Right?  I mean, the whole premise sounds a little -” you paused and rocked your hand back and forth “- the whole ‘registering people for being different’ thing?  And then to muzzle them and treat them as dangerous weapons.  It’s fucked up.  And besides.  You’re my man.  Where you go, I go.”

He smiled and came over and kissed your forehead.  “I’m your man, huh?”

“Mm-hmm… my fine man,” you hummed.

He laughed and touched the tip of your nose with his finger.  “Stop trying to distract me, woman.  I’ve got a funeral to go to.”

“Alright, alright,” you said, zipping up his bag.  “You’ll call me when you get there?”

He kissed your forehead again.  “Of course.”

You grabbed his t-shirt before he could pull away and dragged him down into a deep kiss.  He hummed softly and caressed your jaw, before pulling back and grabbing his bag.  “You think on it.  Okay?  No rash decisions.”

You agreed you would and watched him leave, not realizing how this was the point where everything would change.

You had been watching the news in your room when the word about the attack on the UN at the Vienna International Centre.  It hadn’t taken you long to realize if the number one suspect was James Barnes that Steve would be quick to take after him.  Sam had been on the trail of the infamous Winter Soldier since the day you’d met him, there was no way that Steve would let anyone else bring him in.

You also knew that if Steve went, Sam would likely go too.  Not because Sam was Steve’s shadow, but because they both had their moral compasses so inline that they ended up having the same thoughts at the same time.

Which would mean they were breaking international law and that unlikely scenario where they would become fugitives was a little more likely than you thought.

You needed to contact him, but you knew it was dangerous.  You sent him a text.  The two of you had gotten into the habit of sending large groups of emojis with little messages hidden inside.  Most of the time they were for no reason.  There would be a string of eggplants and peaches and then a random egg and milk carton to let the other person know you needed eggs and milk.  It was a habit that was built out of the paranoia you had drilled into you as a spy.  If something happened and you need to message each other covertly, seeing a string of random emojis would at a passing glance just look like the cute-coupley thing you both always did.  It wouldn’t withstand any deep probing, but it would be enough to let each other know that one of you was in trouble or to go grab the burner phone and run.

You texted Sam a string of hearts in kiss emojis with an American flag, a bird, a jogging emoji, and a snowflake mixed in.

He texted back a similar string with a thumbs up in the mix.

You replied with the more sexual emojis, eggplants, peaches, the droplets, the tongue, and among them was the girl with the hand raised in the air.

Sam replied with the same only instead of the girl was a thumbs down.

Yes, they were going after James Barnes.  No, he didn’t want you to come.

You didn’t hear from Sam again for two days.  Two days that only seemed to make matters worse.

Steve had indeed tracked down Barnes, but so had just about everyone else.  It ended with a car chase through the streets of Romania where Steve, Sam, Barnes, and weirdly the new king of Wakanda had been arrested by Rhodey of all people.

Sam called you when they had been taken back to Germany.

“I know you’re antsy, baby,” Sam said.  “But you need to stay put.  Right now they’ve confiscated my wings and Cap’s shield, but we think we’ll be let go.  We went after Barnes.  He’s captured.  That’s it.  Slap on the wrist, don’t do it again, type of bullshit.  Worse comes to worst… well, it’s not the first time they’ve tried taking my wings off me, is it?”

“Sam!”  You yelped.  “This line…”

“I’m joking!  I’m joking!”  Sam said, holding his hands up in front of the screen.  You knew he wasn’t.

“Anyway…” Sam continued.  “I think Tony’s trying to talk Steve into signing the accords.  I dunno if he will or not.  Maybe just to keep the peace.  But there’s no way I’m going to.”

“I want to be there with you,” you pouted.  “I could help.”

“It’ll just make things messy,” Sam said.  “Trust me.  You’re better off there.  It’s not like I can get in any more trouble now Barnes is captured.”

He was wrong.

The next you heard Barnes had broken out and Sam and Steve had taken after him.  You received a text not long after the news broke with a series of hearts and a cellphone emoji.

You went to your closet, grabbed the burner phone, and went out for a run.  You were just leaving the perimeter of the compound when the burner rang.

“Sam?”  You said, pressing the phone to your ear.

“Yeah, baby,” Sam said.  “It’s me.  Did you hear?”

“They’re saying you’re on the run with Barnes,” you said. “Please tell me you were just recapturing him.”

Sam laughed.  “That was the idea,” he said.  “This shit is going deep and we need help.  There’s this guy - wanted to get to Barnes to find out about some other Super Soldiers and where they’re kept.  So now we might have a bunch of really psychotic super soldiers being released on the world by someone even more psychotic than they are.”

“Where are you?  What do you need me to do?”  You asked.

“I’m tempted to tell you to stay put,” Sam said.

“Sam, I’m not…”

“No, I know,” he said.  “But think about it.  You do this - you come after me and we’re fugitives.  We can’t go home.  All this talk of weddings and babies?  It’s not happening.  It’ll be you and me on the run from everywhere.  Best we can hope for is one day when we’re both too old to run we settle in some country that doesn’t extradite.”

“I heard Montenegro didn’t sign,” you half-joke.  “It looks pretty nice there.”

Sam laughed.  “See I was thinking Cape Verde.”

You let out a breath and smiled a little.  “Always thinking, you are.”

“You know it, baby,” Sam said.  “Now, Clint’s coming…”

“What?  But his family?”  You yelped.

“I know… but like you, you can’t tell him no,” Sam said.  “He’s going to grab Wanda.  When you get back, go to her, but say nothing.  Just a little girl’s bonding time.  Okay?  I’m sure Vizh will be hanging around her.  He always is.  Don’t leave her side even if they do make it clear that you’re third-wheeling.”

“Should I pack?”  You asked.

“No,” Sam said quickly.  “I’m even a little worried you grabbing the burner might be too much of a giveaway to what’s going on.”

“I did it while I changed into my jogging gear,” you said.  “Nabbed it with my heart rate monitor.”

“Good.  Well hopefully that covered that gorgeous ass of yours,” he said.  “But aside from deciding you want to hang with Wanda you’re not doing anything strange, okay?  Clint will get there and you go.  Tony’s an asshole, but not that big of an asshole, I don’t think he’d burn our things, so we’re gonna have to trust that the compound will act as our storage until this is sorted out.  If it ever is.”

“Okay,” you said with a sigh.

“I love you,” Sam said softly.  “You take care of yourself.”

“You too, Sammy,” you said.  “Don’t do anything dumber than you already have until I get there and can join in.”

Sam laughed.  “You got it.  I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah.  See you.”

You disconnected the call and shoved it back behind your heart rate monitor and turned to run back to the compound.  You had a fight to prepare for.

//  NEXT

[mcbride]

Daryl Dixon + romantic gestures

Daryl’s always taking care of people, but there’s no one he takes better care of than Carol. He’s always doing little things for her, some of them completely platonic with no ulterior motive than to help, support and comfort his BFF Carol. although on some not so rare occasions, there’s no mistaking that some of his actions can be interpreted for what they really are - romantic gestures. 

Daryl Dixon is actually a pretty sensible/sensitive guy, which coming from someone with an abusive past and complete lack of experience when it comes to relationships and expressing his feelings, is shockingly surprising. Plus, it’s the damn apocalypse, there’s no time to court a woman, but consciously or not, that’s exactly what Daryl’s been doing for the past decade. I really think sometimes he’s completely clueless he is actually doing it until he becomes too self-aware, showing some vulnerability, shyness and even awkwardness. However those romantic gestures just come naturally to him when he’s around Carol.

The most painfully obvious romantic gestures by Daryl Dixon after the jump...

The shoulder massage

Carol is uncomfortable, her shoulder hurts, and without thought Daryl simply offers to massage it for her. He’s so distracted by the ease the two now have with each other that he only notices the intimacy boundary he just crossed when Carol intensely looks back at him and smiles. “Pretty romantic,” she comments. Yes. Yes, it is. Daryl did that. He becomes aware of exactly what he is doing and what it could mean, but since he’s not ready for any of that, he backtracks. Carol’s teasing jokes aren’t unwelcome but he really doesn’t know how to respond beyond the cute, smiling “STAHP.”

The sanctuary hug

As soon as he realizes it’s Carol approaching the group, Daryl completely forgets himself, everybody else around them and runs to literally sweep her off her feet. This is the first time Daryl actively seeks physical contact on a deeper level with another human being on the show. It’s a huge turning point. Do I need to say more?

The protective/chivalrous act

Daryl always acts as a protector of those who need the most, but he subtly and unconsciously acts extremely protective of Carol even knowing she is damn capable of protecting herself. Daryl will have Carol’s back on every occasion and physically stand between her and potential danger, like when they first encountered Father Gabriel or when Noah put her in danger. He will offer her food/water, make sure she is sleeping and she is ok. He may act like a crude rude redneck around anyone else (pissing in the corner, manhandling people, beastly chugging spaghetti), but not around Carol. There’s so many examples of Daryl continuously doing the apocalypse equivalent of opening the door for her. Daryl’s chivalry is reserved for Carol. She may know him better than anyone else, but he really wants her to see the best version of himself.

The water jugs (part II of the chivalrous act)

Yep, Daryl’s got no game whatsoever, but he did try to be smooth, showing Carol that the redneck can be a real gentleman, and that’s progress. Even though, Daryl is already carrying as many water jugs as one can safely carry, he offers to take one of Carol’s too. There’s no logic to this gesture that ends with Daryl facepalming in embarrassment when he lets one of his jugs fall out of his hand to land at Carol’s feet. Carol’s face is priceless. He gets a teasing smile and probably should take that as a win considering her state of mind in that moment.

The food tray with flower (part III of the chivalrous act)

Something as simple as leaving someone a tray of food with a flower would have been a perfectly casual act. But we’re talking about Merle Dixon’s brother, the one who considered himself a nobody before the world went to shit. Daryl, the guy who eats raw squirrel/possum with his bare hands, took the time to pick a flower to decorate the tray of food he carefully left at Carol’s door. Is there anything more romantic in the middle of the damn apocalypse ffs? I still can’t believe we were robbed of watching Carol’s expression when she realized he had done that for her right before she’d tease him about it. But Carol wasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind to voice her appreciation for these small grand gestures.

The compliments/teasing

When Carol needs an ego boost, Daryl is there to remind her she’s a good shot, she saved them all at Terminus, and she’s got a whole lot more to offer, but her place is with them/the group. She is needed. He has been slowly learning to tease/flirt with Carol through the years. Daryl, too pragmatic for the frivolous things of the past, lets Carol know she looks good in pink. He’s also quick to let her know her soccer mom style is so not her. “You look ridiculous.” Recently, they have crossed into teen love territory with their competitive flirty games of kill the walker or hit the can, while relentlessly taunting each other. This new playfulness between them resulted in an exchange of gifts- the friendship bracelet and lucky acorns, - they obviously both cherish.

The unconditional support

There’s absolutely nothing Daryl won’t do for Carol - from babysitting her kid to letting her know he could and would never hate her no matter what. Daryl will defend Carol against Rick, Tyreese, Gabriel, Magna, and whoever else. If that wasn’t enough, he was also there for her, holding her during the two worst moments of her life - losing both of her kids, Sophia and Henry. And he continues to stay by her side through anything and everything, even when she’s on a reckless revenge mission. “I’m the one you tell. Me.” Daryl wants to help her, but Carol is not able to open up to him and yet it does not stop him. “I wanna be there for you.” After Carol crossed every line and pushed all of his limits and you think he’s had enough, Daryl is still reassuring her everything is gonna be alright. “You still got me.” This is LOVE, not platonic love, it’s the ‘you are under my skin’ type of love that is forever.

The need to comfort

The skittish Daryl, who was afraid of any and all human contact when we first met him, is now completely gone. He’s grown so much and he’s finally in a position to provide emotional comfort and to express it through physical contact. He has done this with Judith and Connie too, but Daryl’s weakness (and strength) is Carol and her emotional well being is his priority. The best way he found to express this is to hug her whenever he feels like she needs it the most - from finding her at the savior’s compound, checking up on her at the creepy house in the woods, trying to bring her back to think about the future they can still have, to reassuring her he’ll always be there for her. Daryl is no longer shy about pulling her in for a big full body hug, and sometimes I wonder if he’s not doing it for his own sake too. I mean who can ever resist a teary eyed Carol!?!

The desire to spend time together

For someone who isn’t used to express his wishes/feelings, Daryl has been making an effort to let Carol know how much he enjoys spending time with her and her alone. He started with a timid “I don’t like not seeing you” to openly ask her to come home and tell he needs her to stay and not isolate herself again. “Otherwise I’ll have to punch holes in all them boats.” This quickly escalated when Carol suggested they could stop fighting and leave it all behind. The idea the two of them could just get on the bike and go, run away together, has been deeply seeded on Daryl’s mind and he alludes to it few times through the last season. “We have a future./New Mexico’s still out there.” Daryl is finally ready. Carol just needs to catch up.

[sasakisniko]

For the ask game: malex & kanej

i'm dying of laughter because I literally just answered both of these. But I will try to give slightly different answers.

Also, this is going to be incredibly long, so

Malex

What made you ship it?

I don't know exactly what started it (other than that I was shouting at the TV for them to kiss before the end of the first episode), but I stuck around because they are my ship type. These two characters are both dealing with a shit ton of trauma. Alex has an abusive father who caught him and Michael together when they were teens and attacked Michael (and Alex blames himself for all the bad things that happened to Michael after, because he was missing a lot of context). Michael has a shit-ton of abandonment issues and Alex keeps leaving (because some part of him thinks Michael will be hurt because of him again). Basically, these are two damaged people who see the best in each other and who struggle with accepting the good in themselves.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Okay, I'm gonna lift this from the previous answer I gave, but with more context. And I have two answers.

First, these two idiots will sacrifice themselves for each other and face their worst fears for each other without blinking. So, back in s1, we all assumed explosions were incredibly triggering for Alex for obvious war-vet related reasons. And, when he was dealing with a building that was about to explode and Michael wouldn't leave, it wasn't even a question. He was going to stay until Michael left with him.

In s2, when Alex was missing, Michael confronted both Alex's father and brother (who he knew were basically trying to kill all aliens) using his alien powers because Alex was in danger. He proceeded to build a bomb that would kill all aliens (himself, his siblings, and his then-girlfriend) because that was what he had to do to save Alex.

Second, they both see each other as the best the universe has to offer.

Again, in s2, when dealing with Alex's dad, Michael goes off about how he used to think humanity was so cruel and awful and he was so superior to humans. And then he met Alex and fell in love. And he talks about how, even after all Alex has been through, he still has the capacity to love, that he's even able to love his father. And he says, essentially, that Alex is beyond him.

Alex literally says Michael is the best of him at the end of s2, so...

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm dying because you know me, Liddy! Of course there is.

I'm gonna explain this in C@ryl terms.

Basically, there's a large, very vocal, 'one true way' segment of the fandom that is all 'Alex is a badass' and they reduce him to that. You survived the Carol fandom with me, so I'm sure you can guess what I think of that.

Anyway, my boy is incredibly strong and capable, but he also has cptsd and some serious self-loathing (again, I have a type) and I just need both him and Michael to be there for each other and support each other. Alex shouldn't have to be constantly strong and badass and to suggest such... To me it shows a lack of understanding of the complexities of humans in general. And that's me being nice about it.

Oh, also, friends don't pursue relationships with their friend's ex, especially when said friend is still in love with said ex and hopeful about their future. I have a lot of other unpopular opinions about this particular situation, but... I'm gonna try to keep myself from getting into things that will send me spiraling.

***

Kanej

What made you ship it?

I don't know what started me with shipping it. I know I fell completely in love with Inej as a character. But, also, they are very much my type. They're both struggling with trauma (let's not look at that too close) and they see the best in each other. And they have each other's backs.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I mean, the thing that will always destroy me the most is how they end the series. How Kaz has given up everything he thought he wanted to give Inej her freedom. How, when they get their big win at the end, he still doesn't really focus on revenge. Instead, his money goes towards giving Inej her freedom, her dream, and her family. And how he's trying to pull himself together for her. Because it's what she deserves.

And I love the way Inej thinks about her own future and any future relationships. And how she wants someone who knows her and understands her. How, yeah, she could try to be "normal", but she isn't who she was before her trauma and she doesn't want to act like she is.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm sure I have a ton. I'm not really involved in the fandom though. So idk. Maybe the extent to which I adore Inej. I'm there for her first (and I think a large majority of the fans are there for Kaz first and, to be clear, no judgment, this is just a difference and not an argument). I love her heart. Her morality. She is so good and the fact that she struggles so much with what she has to do is just... Beautiful and heartbreaking.

[dollfaceeeeee]

How the Avengers would react if you flinched when they tried to touch you..😭

I have been dealing with the aftermath of domestic violence for a couple years now, and with intense PTSD and panic disorder, this was so calming to think about tbh.

Tony Stark: Oh gods, he would notice, with immense distaste. He would probably hesitate to touch you afterward, but he would be gentle about talking to you about it, and would reassure you over and over that you’re safe, and that nobody will ever hurt you again. He may also ask for addresses and names, just because he’s..well, he’s Tony. He’s got the power to do crazy shit. And if he cares about you, can you imagine what he would do to someone that hurt you? My sweet man.

Steve Rogers: He would be horrified that you would ever think he would hurt you. He would probably tell anyone else in the room to get lost and sit you down and just hold you, telling you that you’re safe with him always, that nobody will ever hurt you again. He wouldn’t push you to talk about it, but if you wanted to, he would listen. He’s not one to reveal his anger as easily as Tony or Buck, but it would break his heart to hear about it, that’s for sure. He would leave the killing to Bucky and Loki tbh, but he might join in too. Maybe.

Bucky Barnes: He might be hurt, physically, that you would think he would hurt you, but he wouldn’t be surprised at the action. He was a scary guy, at one point or another, but he would gently pull you in against him and squeeze you so tight you couldn’t breathe, maybe even sway with you for a while until you felt better. And then, he’d blow up, ask who the fucker is, where they are, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He would be on a death mission with only one thing in mind, and that’s keeping you safe. That’s all he cares about.

Thor: Honestly, he might not catch on at first, because he probably doesn’t see domestic violence as much at home, but after you explain it to him or get emotional, he would want to understand what he did wrong. He doesn’t seem like the type to push you, but he does seem like the type to go in to hold you, maybe run his fingers down your back, and just kinda curl himself around you protectively. He would probably bring you to get food too, and maybe ice cream to cheer you up.

Loki: OKAY so the tough one. On one hand, he may understand why you might flinch around him, but boy would he explode once you told him it wasn’t from him, but from..someone else. Holy shit he would be a time bomb. Who is it? Where are they? Do they have a DEATH WISH? He would slide those daggers out like nothing and call Bucky to assist him. He’s out for fucking blood. He would probably leave Thor to babysit you in the meantime lol.

Bruce Banner: Soft boy would be HORRIFIED. He would get it because the green guy can scare people sometimes, but of him? Oh no. He would bring you somewhere quiet and make you a cup of tea and just kinda talk to you gently about it, rubbing your shoulder when it gets tough. He’d probably also put a movie on afterward and just hold you, just to remind you that you’re safe with him. He’s definitely a snuggler.

Natasha Romanoff: She would be joining Bucky and Loki. Someone HURT YOU? Death, on the spot. Of course she would want to understand what happened and if you’re alright, and she would probably just talk to you one on one if you needed it, but she would give you her full attention. And then afterward, she would be joining those boys on a death mission. Those three, as a group, with Wanda too? And CAROL? I mean, RIP whoever decided to lay a hand on you.

Clint Barton: Oh he would be HARDCORE concerned. What do you mean you’re gonna flinch when he raises his arm? Why? He would bring you in the kitchen and force you to talk to him about whatever the hell that was while he makes you a grilled cheese. I mean, what kinda sick fuck hurts someone like that for no singular reason? He’s such a dad, but he’s got your back, always.

Wanda Maximoff: I’d tell her literally all my deepest secrets. She would never take anything personally, but she would be upset that someone blatantly hurt you. Why would they hurt this small, ordinary human? Absolutely not alright. She would hold you for however long you wanted and then make you some good food for dinner while she made you laugh. When you went to bed, though..like I said, she would be joining the death party. Sorry.

Pietro Maximoff: PIEEEEEETRO. He would be so confused, and unsure of what to do, but he would probably blatantly ask you if you wanted the person to die like it’s a normal question, like “hey what’s for dinner?” Yeah, like that. He would make a big blanket fort with snacks and soft blankets and hold you until you fell asleep, and wouldn’t sleep a wink, keeping watch over you the entire night. He’s ✨soft✨.

Vision: He would try so hard to understand what the fuck is going on, but his mind would have a hard time processing why the fuck some idiot would ever hurt you. Why? For what purpose? Even after explaining it, he would probably just be infuriated, no matter what you say. How could they do this to you? Those assholes. He would probably offer a hug, or something to eat to make you feel better, but he would be plotting their demise. Guaranteed.

Carol Danvers: She would start a full out war, given the circumstances. How dare some scummy human being hurt you? She would show them, and make it the worst day of their lives. No matter how much you tried to calm her down, she would be out for blood. No way this woman would NOT be are you KIDDING? She’s too spicy for that.

Sam Wilson: He would also be another one I would tell literally anything to. He would be incredulous that you would ever think he would hurt you, but man would he pay attention when you told him. All that man would do is pull you into his arms, hug you as tightly as he can, and tell you everything is alright now, he would never let them hurt you again, and that he loves you. Sammy just seems like a guy that would tell you he loves you during something traumatic like that.

Doctor Stephen Strange: Another one that wouldn’t quite know how to react. He would probably be confused, at first, and then deeply concerned for you once he caught on, and would probably ask to speak to you about it whenever you were ready. He would probably mention that you can come by later to his room to talk about it when everyone else is asleep so it’s a calmer atmosphere, and would probably rub your shoulder as he passes you, but that’s it. And that’s enough.

Peter Parker: My devastated little bean. He would be WILDLY apologetic, thinking he did something wrong, and just saying he’s sorry over and over and wondering what he did wrong and how to fix it, but then when you explain, he wouldn’t be so..apologetic. Peter would probably order a pizza and pull you onto the couch with him and let you choose a movie, and just let you curl in against him. He would probably fall asleep with you, too, while Tony has to pay for the damn pizza.

T’Challa: Um..tbh I feel like he would be furious, in a plainly way to put it. That guy has venom in his eyes every time he’s on screen, and this wouldn’t make him feel any better. Of course he would move to comfort you first, but that man is a whole king. You think he wouldn’t do something about it? Say goodbye to whoever hurt you. He would take them off the map.

Scott Lang: He would probably joke about it at first and think you’re just messing around, but he would be absolutely devastated when you get upset over it. He would be HORRIFIED that he upset you, and would probably try desperately to talk to you about it, or try to make you feel better. He would probably end up getting knocked out by Sam or Bucky, but he would welcome it after that lol.

Valkyrie: She would not probably comment on it until you guys were alone, because she might think it’s a private matter for you and she would respect your boundaries, but if you got seriously upset on the spot she would probably pull you into a hug and yell for everyone to get the fuck out. She wouldn’t make you talk about it, but she would know when you needed to be alone, so she would make sure you got the time you needed. If you needed her afterward, she would be there.

Groot: I AM GROOT. That is all.

Rocket: A lot like Antman and Thor, he would probably joke about it or think you weren’t being serious at first, but after you were, man he would be upset for you. He would probably comfort you by telling you jokes to get you to laugh, or something, but in his mind he would probably be plotting the end of a pitiful human being far away.

Gamora: She wouldn’t let that shit go, no sir. She wouldn’t pester you, but man she would want to know what the hell that was about, and what stupid, God forsaken bastard decided that you were a punching bag. Not on her watch. Be prepared to tell her, because she won’t let anything like that go. I don’t make the rules.

Peter Quill: Idk if he really knows how to be serious at..serious times..maybe? Anyway, he would make sure to never move that sharply around you again, and wouldn’t say anything about it unless you wanted to talk to him about it. He might ask the others what was going on with you, but he’s not the type to show that he cares about a lot of shit. Sorry, Quill.

James Rhodes: He is such a dad lol. He would be taken back by the action, don’t get me wrong, but he also wouldn’t be one to let it go. Who is it? What happened? He might not be aggressive about it like the others, but he would want to know that they are long gone now, and he would remind you that you’re safe.

Nebula: Ah shit, what did she do wrong now? That’s it. Haha.

Baron Zemo: Who the fuck was it? Who the FUCK hurt you? Oh no, Zemo would be out for blood. He wouldn’t need a team, or partners in the quest, nah, he would be going alone and would scare that bastard in their beds in the night. DING DONG, it’s the boogeyman, I’m here to end you for your bullshit choices.

Hope van Dyne: This badass Queen would not back down from asking you about what was wrong. Did someone in the compound hurt you? Did she have to kill them? But when you tell her, she would be horrified for you, and offer to hurt the person that hurt you. An eye for an eye, right? Up to you.

Drax: Do they need to die? He would do it for you. No charge.

Mantis: She would read you like an open book the second you flinched, so don’t try to deny it, or say that it was just a reflex. She would probably have a detox night and make nachos with you and throw on some comedy movie she heard about from Rocket. She wouldn’t let you hurt on your own. She would be there.

Wong: UGH what a GUY. He would probably make you some soup because it’s the ultimate comfort food and talk about it together. He wouldn’t get agitated, or force you to open up too much, but he would offer his company and his attention as long as you wanted it.

Okoye: She would probably be with T’Challa tbh. Sorry. She would be out for some tucking vengeance.

Shuri: She would be the one to bring you along with her somewhere private, wrap you in a blanket, and hold your hand as she urged you to tell her what the hell that was. She would be one of the best at comforting, and afterward she would show you around her collection of inventions to make you forget about that stupid, repulsive human being.

Pepper Potts: Someone..HURT YOU? Oh no. She would go right to Tony with it and demand that the two of them do something to avenge you. There is absolutely no way that she would let that slide. She would also make you your favorite food, some warm cookies, and get a bath going for you to help soothe you.

Korg: Dude is made of rocks. ROCKS. You expect him to understand what the fuck is going on? He would probably get a video game going to let you release some anger and ask Thor for help in the meantime.

[southern-belle-outcasts]

;the belle

real name: Anna Marie Darkholme (known to only people it’s been revealed to)

codename/alias: Rogue

single or taken:  verse and thread dependent

abilities or powers: In any threads unless plotted differently, Rogue is post absorption of Carol Danvers and Wonder Man, meaning her canonical powers include- absorption of memory and emotions connected, life force, significant physical features if they do not appear as a normal human, and powers if present, abilities being absorbed for sixty times the amount of time she had skin contact. psyche absorption is permanent. flight. invulnerability. super strength- listed as class 100, limits presumably unknown. can see in the dark. some ultraviolet vision. resistance to most poisons and toxins. ionized cells prevent illness and aging, reduced need for oxygen. Knowledgeable in martial arts and hand to hand combat. Speaks fluent bayou French.

eye colour:  green

hair colour: auburn with a white streak in the front

family members: Owen, father, presumably deceased. Priscilla, mother, deceased. Carrie, aunt. Raven Darkholme, adoptive mother. Irene Adler, adoptive mother, deceased. Kurt Wagner, adoptive brother. Other non-biological family members, verse dependent.

pets: in v; parle moi sale- Spades, Remy’s black cat (who is still Salty™ Remy brought Rogue home to stay). Default Romy verse- Figaro, Lucifer, and Oliver, Remy’s cats. Other pets verse dependent.

hobbies/activities:  reading- majority fantasy, mystery, and sci-fi (escapism queen here, people), large piece count jigsaw puzzles but only with an audiobook playing or the quiet drives her nuts, knitting (that anxiety gotta go somewhere), swimming (clothing optional), horseback riding (western or bareback style only), drinking coffee (that IS an activity), stargazing, hiking, daydreaming, getting stuck in her head thinking of a million and one things that could go wrong, playing hide and go seek with things she just had because Object Permanence

animal that represents them: giant river otter- peaceful, family group animal, powerful, nearly apex predator, and will kill a person in defense of its cubs. Or like, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever- water loving, suspicious of  new people, protective, strong, lots of wavy hair, loyal af.

worst habits: heavy drinking (she can barely get drunk okay it just LOOKS bad), pulling at her gloves or sleeves, jumping to conclusions, pushing people away when they get close, doubting her self-worth and capabilities, blaming herself for true accidents, raging when feeling emotionally vulnerable or betrayed, thinking she’s unlovable and that all love besides the love she offers is only temporary, LOSING SHIT, forgetting to eat and then getting lightheaded for it (look I’m making the executive decision the canon is wrong and she still needs food and water).

role models: Ororo Munroe, Logan Howlett, Kurt, others verse dependent.

sexual orientation: pansexual, demiromantic (she’s not going to fuck you without feeling close to you, time unable to touch people be damned)  

thoughts on marriage/kids: Craves it but does not easily trust that it will go smoothly or that she deserves good things. She wants very much to have both but she also views them as a giant oppurtunity for her to fuck something up, as she does so frequently in her mind. This is showed in canon with literal years of off and on relationship with Remy, working through trust and abandonment issues before she finally agrees to marry him. Unlike canon, my Rogue never changed her mind out of the blue AFTER being married, doesn’t matter what verse it is, she eventually would like kids. She might not ever bring it up, depending on the partner and their stance on kids as she would rather settle for a partner she loves, then have kids with someone who doesn’t want them, as she feels that was the situation with her birth mother. While she is very nuturing and loves kids, she just doesn’t quite trust herself not to fail with the rolemodels she had growing up, as well as always having in the back of her mind the what if she never gains and/or loses control.

style preferences: She has a very eclectic style. some days she might be in a sweater dress, leggings, and boots, others it’s jeans and a flannel shirt. Regardless of where she lives, she always has a least one bomber jacker and one leather jacket in her closet at all times. Gloves are still a staple, she ‘gets cold’ very easily- while it doesn’t affect her health and won’t get frostbite, she is still Aware of the cold and she doesn’t appreciate it. Card holding member of the leggings are pants club. Lots of greens, greys, blacks, and whites in her wardobe. Typically red and black, or green and white for the plaids. You might have a hard time finding much underwear...well, anywhere. She is not a fan.

approach to friendships: Sus of people getting too close initially but once they have gotten close enough to win some trust they have a friend for life. She considers friends family and will go feral protecting them. She is very prone to people going quiet out of nowhere as an indication they are no longer interested in her and she will not initiate contact without them saying something first. Any sort of perceived betrayal, especially something she would never do to someone, is taken as a serious affront and has potential for her to go cold as ice, and cut ties.

thoughts on pie: As long as it isn’t pumpkin or sweet potato (she cannot stand the texture and eggy aftertaste) or lemon meringue (again, texture, and the sour is too much), she is questioning why anyone doens’t love pie. Eat all the pie.

favourite place to spend time at: The country or the river. Places where you don’t have the smell and sound of civilization, the crowding . OR somewhere with her person. She will put up with the most polluted, noisy, crowded city because they are there so it’s worth it.

swim in the lake or in the ocean: Lake, but obviously only the cleaner kind. The ocean is too much of a run-off site. Even if she isn’t going to get sick from it, it’s the Principle.

their type: Someone that isn’t going to shrink when their exceptionally strong, extremely emotion driven, prone to getting Loud partner Loses It™, or thinks they’re not loved anymore, or is starting to get very angry. So while she very much requires someone that can be kind, affectionate, and okay with clingy (she TRIES not to, okay? She’s aware, she’s paranoid of it pushing people away), she also very much needs someone with a backbone, who can call her on her bullshit, and when needed can be a stabilizer, not toss gasoline on the flames. If that isn’t present, she won’t be able to consider them, aesthetically pleasing or no. She’s also very much an ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’ kind of person. If there isn’t a, for the lack of a better word, spark in them, she’s not interested. 

camping or indoors: Depends on the day of the week, honestly. Sometimes you want to get away and have some campfire cooked food, and enjoy the crickets. Sometimes you want your goddamn bed and a hot ass shower with a microwave.

Tagged by: @mynameisanakin​

Tagging: anyone with Pants

[quatschmachen]

Bitchumen

A nice heartwarming sort of xmas fic. Phone call takes place in 2000, the xmas in 1999.

Edward rants to someone about something.

XXX “Right, like you can actually understand what’s going on.” The sarcasm dripped thick like bitumen from Edward’s tongue, the sticky anger clinging to every surface.“You treating me with the polite decency of a stranger doesn’t actually make you a good person, Calvin – it doesn’t even make you a friend.”

Blowing a breath out, Edward rubbed his face, his shoulders stuck between wanting to spike up in stiff defense or simply drop down in defeat.

“Which is why you get the couch,” here his arms crossed, brooking no argument, “I don’t even know why you thought it was going to be fine just showing up, months after being an asshole thinking I would even put you up. I just know Edith would have you out on your ass, and honestly you’re lucky you got me when I was even in town. Hold on… Mr. Big Shot, you have enough money to get a fucking hotel room, why the shit am I even considering you to stay here with me? Why the hell am I not throwing you out on your ass?”

Another breath out, and Edward sighed, “No, this won’t do.”

With a slump, he plopped onto the couch, and glanced around his small living room, wondering why the hell he was even practicing this as a conversation. Calvin hadn’t dropped by in months. It wasn’t like he was going to any time soon. The lines had been clearly drawn, and even an entitled oil cowboy wasn’t going to pretend everything hadn’t changed.Apparently the weeks off were just giving him time to go crazy. Usually this would be the time he would jet off to Montreal, but instead he was stuck in his house losing it. He was worried if he showed up on Étienne’s doorstep he would just start crying. Definitely not a thing to do.

His thoughts were disrupted as the telephone began to ring. With a sigh, he rolled off the couch and grabbed it. “Hello?”

“Eddy!” Étienne’s voice rang out through the phone and wrapped around him like a warm hug.

“’Tienne,” Edward breathed out, automatically relaxing, he flomped down into the seat beside the telephone.

“I’ve been calling for weeks and thought you had died,” he joked, but the edge of worry was still there.

“Sort of had.” Edward murmured, “Actually I sort of moved out, I guess. Mac came down in January and I ended up moving north with him and picked up a hitch. Just got off and am laying around at home too dead to do anything.”

“Hitch?”

“Uhm working in the oil patch. Living at camp, pretty much isolated from the world…”

“Surrounded by big burly men? You could have at least sent me a postcard, Eddy,” Étienne teased, but there was an underlying tone Edward had difficulty deciphering, “I was thinking if it was my turn to come pull you out of the swamp of misery.”

“I guess I could have but… to be honest it all sort of just happened?” Edward sighed, “And once I was up in Fort Mac, and then out working, it’s difficult to really communicate. Just work till you drop, then into the camp to exercise or watch porn.”

“What? They actually supply porn?”

“And sometimes even prostitutes, but that’s apparently not truly allowed…” Edward paused, “but unfortunately no prostitutes were of interest to me.”

“How unfortunate. I was up to my eyeballs with inconvenient work,” Étienne paused, “Christmas was about the same as always, Suzette passes along her best wishes. The food was divine, and I ended up losing an arm-wrestling match to Élyse.”

Edward laughed, “What were the stakes?”

“Hmmm, well she got to eat my slice of cake; it was some terrible cake Samuel had made – yes I know, please believe me when I say he made this cake. Truly no real artisan of food would have produced something as terrible as that cake. I think it ostensibly was supposed to be a fruit cake – with a thick layer of chalky marzipan on top. Somehow he managed to over-alcohol a cake while having it be dry at the same time. I was ready to submit it to the Guinness Book of Records…”

“So why was Élyse battling you for your slice?”

“You see, I may have already had a fight or two with Samuel – he has some new boytoy, and he was being so insipid and sickly about it, I may have been ready to fight over any little thing. Élyse figured if I got rid of the slice via arm wrestling it could possibly save Christmas or something. Yadda yadda. Apparently no one seems to enjoy the Christmases when Samuel breaks down in angry tears and yells for an hour – not sure why when I find that sooooooo entertaining.”

“God I wish I was there for that… seeing Samuel’s face as if he was punched when he tries to cry elegantly is so therapeutic…” Edward murmured, “I feel like my Christmas was just me being the crying one.”

“Crying? What happened, Édouard?”

Squiggling in his seat, Edward wondered how much he should tell. A part of him wanted to spill it all, but another part wondered if that would be too much of an inconvenience. How much of his stupid worries did Étienne really want? Closing his eyes, Edward pretended they were in the same room together, maybe even touching, head on Étienne’s shoulder, not necessarily looking at the man, but bodies snuggled up, his hair getting played with. Those small stolen moments of bliss, where the worries got spilled, and he didn’t worry about the consequences.

“Christmas was so awkward; I don’t even know where to begin. The entire time I desperately wished I had gone to yours… it felt like the last time I try to be a functional person among them… hell, I only went because I thought maybe I could improve relations with people… start the new millennium off with some hope about the future.”

It really had been terrible. They had held it at the ranch – Bert’s ranch. Why the hell did he think hanging out with people at the ranch would be a good idea? Surrounded by people you probably should know better, but in reality only held passing pleasantries with. The one bright spot had been Calvin. Calvin who seemed to be best buddies with everyone who arrived, Calvin who smiled brightly at him and argued with him, distracting him from the knot of anxiety he was harbouring over whether he should come out during Christmas or hold off until New Years?

He was attempting small talk with Jo, who was talking at him about how they should go shopping together (did she not do other stuff?), when he overheard Bert loudly say “I personally don’t think those fags should be given the deal.”

It felt like time had slowed down for Edward. No one seemed to pause or care. Orson in fact nodded along with Bert’s rant, sipping his Sprite. Jo continued on with her plans for her next visit, and somewhere nearby Red laughed at a joke Madeline made. As he observed the room to see if there was any reaction to Bert’s loud rant, everyone was involved in their own conversations. Calvin was in the distance deep in conversation with someone he could not quite make out. 

Right, this was not the place. He still wanted turkey dinner, and as he dimly nodded along to Jo, Edward felt small. He had no allies here. Well, that wasn’t true. He was sure Edith supported him, but one in how many? Edward didn’t want to ‘ruin Christmas’.

“And you know how I’ve been thinking about coming out and stuff, but uh, can I just say no? If you were in the room you would understand – seriously Étienne, these people who claim to be my so called family would just as well lynch me as their Christmas bonfire – I dunno they could just douse me in bitumen and light me up human torch Christian martyr style for bringing the faggotry home for Christmas… Soooo I didn’t want to ruin Christmas and make the event awkward for everyone,” Edward related over the phone.

“And then horror of horrors, Orson managed to corner me in what he thinks is jovial conversation. It felt like everything he had to say to me was condescension masked in care and concern – honestly I am not sure how he even manages that. I think he felt like it was his civic duty to carry on a conversation with me. He even reminisced about the temple open house he dragged me to. Ok honestly I went to the open house out of curiosity, to see what sort of cult he’s in, but I didn’t think he would already be reminiscing about something that had literally JUST happened. Temple? Yeah, a Mormon temple just opened up in my city… so it meant I had the pleassssuuure of Orson coming up for the Open House and dragging me along. Stay with me? God no, please ‘Tienne I’m not that insane, what would I do if he snooped and found my big old dildo? Yeah he was staying with some church people since he was volunteering and such.”

“I think I wanted to die when he sat down at the piano – yeah, I didn’t even think Bert ever tuned that thing, but knowing Orson maybe he came extra early to tune it, and began banging out the Christmas carols. Like he’s talented and all, and I don’t mind a round of Jingle Bells, but he really has this creepy 1950s vibe and I wanted to roll my eyes when his eyes started to shine with unshed tears at Away in a Manger and O Holy Night.” Edward twisted the cord around his finger, as he listened to Étienne chuckle. Apparently the tactic was avoid talking about himself and instead rant about goody-two-shoes Orson? “You should count yourself lucky you don’t have to deal with him on a regular basis… mmm? Yeah he is kind, considerate and is literally the guy to volunteer for the worst tasks but there is something about him where he is a little too perfect? Like somehow can’t let my hair down around him type of deal. Which makes him perfect for Lilith – as she always has her hair up, haha.”

Edward had relaxed into his seat, somehow feeling lighter, as the words slipped out, “And then New Years was somehow worse… no I wasn’t at the ranch. I probably should have taken you up on your fireworks show, because the one here is uh Edmonton grade. You know – trying real hard but still somehow failing to miss the mark,” he chuckled at his own joke, not picking up on the strained tension from Étienne over the phone. “Calvin came up, which surprised me since I assumed he would want to be gallivanting about in Calgary, but apparently he wanted to spend it with his best buddy which is me? Somehow? Don’t worry Teddy, you’re still my best friend…” Edwards voice lowered, as he realized what he was about to say, admit. Pause. “So how was your New Years? Aahh why are you yelling – oh you’re saying I didn’t mention why New Years sucked? It’s because it wasn’t with you, darlin’.”

Somehow Edward couldn’t do it. Couldn’t quite bring himself around to admitting he had come out to Calvin. How he had fallen into a depression when he got outright rejected. “Hmm? Well, how else can I put it… while I could have been kissing you and sucking your cock, I instead got to hold Calvin’s hair back as he literally puked in my poinsettias… yes… mmhmm. The poor plant didn’t make it.”

Tangling his finger in the phone cord, Edward found himself relaxing as Étienne told him about his New Years event, feeling like he had dodged a bullet. The other man’s voice soothing him. Trying to be home for Christmas and the New Years - attempt to enter the new millennium as a man of his own place, had been a major mistake.

He should have kept to his original plans of escaping to Montreal, escaping his own clay dirt to mold himself into his own dream man.Sometimes he wondered if he loved Étienne or simply wanted to be Étienne. A complicated mixture of feelings confusing him ever more when it came to that man.

“Visit? I would love to visit… oh wait, you want to come visit me? When? Hmm let me… check my calendar.” Edward sat up, looking around, and then picked up the phone, carefully picking his way into the kitchen, so he could squint at the calendar. His telephone cord ran out though, so he had to do an awkward strain, trying not to unplug the phone, while seeing his own scribbled-in life.

Well… the only thing really was his work shifts. Everything else a blank. “How does this time work? You’re booked up. Alright…” Edward and Étienne haggled over dates, until somehow, it lined up that Edward was going to Montreal. A subtle shift, but as Edward said with some practicality – that’s just how it lined up. As he hung up the phone, he wrote down the date of his trip, feeling better. Now in between work was a small bright spot, one small thing to look forward to.He was not as friendless as he thought, and, perhaps with enough courage, he could finish his New Years story.        

[rose-lighters]

Time to rank every MCU film

Yes I am doing that oh so original thing of ranking every marvel film from worst to best. Criticisms and debates are welcome. (Disclaimer: I like all these films unless stated otherwise)

X. Incredible Hulk - I haven’t seen it. Sorry.

21. Guardians Of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - I can honestly say I hated this film. The only likeable part of the whole film was the soundtrack and the first few minutes with Groot dancing. Beyond that it was dull, cringy and oh so predictable. The second that Ego (???) appeared and said he was Quill’s dad I was just like “Oh so this guy’s the villain then” and noped out of there. I never saw past that point and don’t intend to.

20. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - People praise this film till kingdom come and I for one do not get it at all. Many say that it is unique in moving away from the typical superhero film and towards the spy genre. Maybe I just don’t like spy films but it is in no means a great Marvel film. I liked it enough but it’s so forgettable I had to google the plot for this review. I liked the characters and all but it just never stuck with me as anything special.

19. Guardians Of the Galaxy -  Maybe I just don’t like the guardians??? I don’t know but this was another film that just didn’t stick with me. I like Rocket and Groot but beyond that the Guardians themselves hold no interest with me. I don’t care for the humor particularly and whilst the music is great that really shouldn’t be the best part of a film unless it’s a musical.

18. Avengers: Age of Ultron - People hate this film, I however do not. It’s an okay Marvel film, I don’t care for it enough to hate it. I like that scene where they’re all trying to lift mjolnir and I think I liked the ending (I watched it like two years ago so I don’t remember that well) but I have to agree with a lot of the criticism of white washing the Maximoffs (despite how much I love Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor Johnson, it was still shady). I didn’t hate the ‘giving Hawkeye a family’ like a lot of people did because the already made it clear he wasn’t like comic Clint.

17. Thor: The Dark World - Now we’re moving into films I do like (I love Marvel films more than I dislike them, it's literally just GOTG2 that I don’t like). This was a good film from what I can remember (as I said it's been a while since I’ve seen a lot of these films). I liked the story arcs, I liked that it was set in places other than America and space (ok, so I’m from England, sue me), I loved Tom Hiddleston in this film and I like Darcy. All in all it was an enjoyable viewing, a little dull at times but generally harmless.

16. Doctor Strange - This would be further up if it wasn’t for how dull the first half hour or so is. I had to go back and watch this months after I had first tried just because the start was so boring. Once I moved past it however it was a great origin film. I liked the humour in it and I have always had a soft spot for magic so it was a brilliant film. The effects were absolutely stunning and on aesthetics alone it would place as the second or third best marvel film. I loved the good guys and was genuinely rooting for them despite Strange being a bit of a snarky arsehole.

15. Iron Man - Is this a very important film? Yes. Is it a great film? Also yes. Do I remember it? Not at all. Okay, so I remember some stuff and what I do remember was great but to say its a film that sticks out would be a lie. It’s THE origin story in as much as it’s a formulaic one: flawed character is traumatised and realises their flaws in the process, is influenced by important person, becomes a hero and is betrayed. It works though. That’s the thing, it works so damn well that its almost not in the formula. It's a great watch and honestly RDJ looks great in it (so not the point but I digress). That bit with Stane ripping out the arc reactor made me feel betrayed and I kinda knew it was coming. ( https://tonynatashas.tumblr.com/post/184375713429/that-scene-in-iron-man-where-obadiah-stane-is this post explains why this scene is so great important)

14. Captain America: The First Avenger - Another (enjoyable) origin story. If Sebastian Stan wasn’t in it it would probably be three places down but hey I have a type. No but seriously this was a great film because not only did it show off the brilliance of Roger’s transformation and gave us an idea of who he was and what motivates him but it also then gives us details of his waking in the 21st century and begins to expose his issues with this time travel (for want of a better phrase). This film shows you what you’re gonna get whilst still having pretty good effects, a good, solid storyline and a pretty badass comic book villain. The serum guy creeps me out though and there are so many ethical issues of that level of human experimentation on a person whose only friend went off to war, had Steve died they chose someone no one would really miss which is so concerning.

13. Captain Marvel - A lot of people may have a criticism of this film being so far down but for me it needs to be. I like superhero films where the main character overcomes a flaw and amnesia is not a character flaw. This is a good origin story but it is not a great marvel film. I like Carol but I don’t love her. I love the fact that we have a superhero film with a female main character and i liked that scene where she talks with biker guy but it felt like Samuel L Jackson was a more interesting character at times. I often rate characters on humor so there’s that. It was a good film but I’m mostly looking forward to what will be done with the character as she has so much potential. 

12. Spiderman: Homecoming - This is a weird one for me. It’s the only marvel film I own on DVD and it’s the only one I like where I skip scenes. I can not deal with cringy humour so I skip 80% of the jokes and awkward moments in this film however it’s a really good film. It’s funny and the music is great, I love Zendaya and Jacob Batalon probably more than Tom Holland, their roles are great and the film’s emphasis on friendship is one of the elements from the Iron Man and Captain America films that I love just further amplified. The references to Ferris Bueller and the fact that it is, at its core, a teen flick makes it a brilliant film. The vulture twist was also amazing. 

11. Ant-man and the Wasp - I feel like it isn’t talked about enough but I really bloody love Scott Lang. He is one superhero that I can really get behind because above all else he is just the nicest guy. He is probably one of the most human seeming characters in the MCU and it always makes for such an enjoyable viewing. This could probably draw with ant-man in terms of great films. I loved Ava Starr so much and my heart really went out to her and that FBI guy was a total joy to watch. The Ant man films are so funny and light hearted that they don’t have that sort of weariness that other MCU films have. If only Luis told more stories in the MCU.

10. Ant-man - Honestly just look above. Also I love Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne so much. The villain was kind of eh but I loved the heist aspect.

9. Black Panther - I watched this film for Shuri and to an extent because I felt obligated to so I had low expectations. People were talking about it for the significance of fighting for equality (which I am all for, don’t worry) so I was expecting it to not live up to the hype and it didn’t. That being said it was a bloody great movie. The movie was beautiful, the use of colour and the CGI tech was so damn pretty. The plot was brilliant and for a while I wanted Erik Killmonger to win, he put forward a good argument and I like a ‘baddy’ so to speak. The fights were great and I was so here for their version of going under cover finally not being a hoodie and cap. Was it over hyped? Hell yeah. Was it still a great film? 100%

8. Iron Man 3 - This gets a hell of a load more crap than it deserves, mostly from comic book fans who can’t stand that their precious mandarin was a hoax but honestly I respect the fuck out of marvel for that. Rather than having a stereotypically asian terrorist they turned that stereotype on its head and made the white guy the actual terrorist. Ben Kingsley is one of my favourite actors and he was amazing. I, obviously, also loved the representation of PTSD as a serious issue and how it was displayed in all of its real ugliness. For once it didn’t just show a damaged person who was fixed with romance. So yeah, this film was a masterpiece.

7. Captain America: Civil War - Zemo may just be my favourite MCU villain to date, why? Because he fucking won. This was a film about a man who knew his victims and rather than stupidly trying to attack the big scary strong guys he exposed them and made the best of circumstance. He got under Captain America’s skin and played him like a puppet. This was more than just a villain, this was finally a smart villain. Not to mention that this film had some of the best action sequences and heart breaking moments whilst still having time for a laugh. It’s also the first film (in my opinion) that called out Steve’s morals and his obsession with the past. Bucky was hot used against him and it showed that above all else, even the little people, Steve’s loyalties are with his past.

6. Thor - Most people would disagree and rate this film far lower however for me this was the start. I didn’t grow up watching superhero films because I didn’t like watching TV as a kid so it wasn’t till I was 13 that I saw a superhero film and this was it. I honestly watched it because my friend had it on DVD and I thought Tom Hiddleston looked hot but from what I can remember this was one of the best films I ever saw. I wasn’t too bothered by Jane Foster but I absolutely loved Darcy, Loki and Thor. Whilst I’m not adopted I do know what it is like to be the younger and smarter sibling with an older thuggish brother who is still the favourite so I loved Loki with a passion and was so upset when he fell.

5. Iron Man 2 - This was the film that made me realise that I liked girls, Scarlet Johansson in a black cat suit and red ringlets was an amazing thing to little 13 year old me. Beyond that it was just a solid film, it had spies and daddy issues and sass and Samuel L Jackson. What more can you want?

4. Thor: Ragnarok - This is the peak of Thor, I’m calling it now. Never had a director before been able to capture the absolute chaos of Loki and the sweetheart-ness of Thor so brilliantly. As far as representations of characters this, Captain Marvel and Iron Man 3 may just be the best of all the MCU. This is the full completion of Thor’s arc, this is the film that the first Thor set up. Finally Thor is ready to be King. This film had so much humour but still set it all up so perfectly that it was more than just a comedy. Jeff Goldblum was amazing and honestly Taika Waititi should direct the whole of the MCU. He knows the characters better than anybody.

3. Avengers: Endgame - I cried three times. That scene with the portals was the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed and whilst many criticize much of the plot I don’t have too much I’d change, though in fairness I did like the cursed child so maybe I just have a soft spot for all things time travel. Dynamic timelines are not used in cinema enough and the three alternate timelines create have all sorts of implications for future films in the MCU. If Thor is not fat in the next film this may go down to 20th though.

2. Avengers Assemble - This is the film that I believe best represents what the MCU has to offer. It’s a light hearted superhero film with all the characters that were needed at this point in time. For its time it was ambitious and honestly it shows. I loved the dynamics between the characters, the plot was engaging and not overly complex and even if you haven’t seen any other MCU films it makes perfect sense. In some respects it probably is the best the MCU has to offer.

1. Avengers: Infinity War - Oh boy do I love this film. This isn’t just a film, this is the film. Did it have the same emotional impact as Endgame? Fuck no but it didn’t need to. It was serious. It was funny. It had just the right amount of just the right characters and may I just say that is the best that Captain America has ever looked in the MCU. I (controversially) really loved Gamora dying and most of the Guardians being dusted. The memes were great.This was the most ambitious cross over event since Wizards of deck with Hannah Montana. One thing that I can’t get out of my head though is Bruce’s comment of “broke up like the beatles?”. Does that make Bucky Yoko Ono?

[aion-rsa]

New Mutants: How Magik and Lockheed Fit Into the X-Men Franchise’s Evolution

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains New Mutants spoilers.

The New Mutants, now available to watch on streaming, is the final outing in Fox’s eclectic X-Men film franchise. While Marvel Studios’ finally confirmed Deadpool 3 is a wild card in how it connects to anything, that’s in Disney’s hands now. Otherwise, we have 13 movies in 20 years celebrating superpowers as a metaphor for real-life prejudice. But only in the end, did the X-Men franchise really start to open up to a universe where mutants aren’t the explanation to everything outlandish.

One of the reasons the Avengers movies worked out so well was the contrast. It was a tech super-genius, a super-soldier from another era, a science-based anger monster, a Norse god, and two hyper-competent humans teaming up against an alien invasion. This felt fresh and right for a comic book universe. For X-Men, they didn’t embrace such an idea until it was too late.

Being from the Marvel comic universe, X-Men has always shared continuity with otherworldly concepts from other walks of life. And while the movies didn’t include connections to the larger Marvel Universe, even the X-Men properties themselves eventually strayed off from the mutant gene.

Think back to X-Men: The Last Stand. The movie introduced two major parts of X-lore in the form of the Juggernaut and the Phoenix. In the comics, Juggernaut is powered by a demigod bent on destruction and his connection to everything X-Men comes from his relationship with his stepbrother Charles Xavier. Understandably, they didn’t want to delve too far into that for a supporting villain and made zero mention of any relationship with Xavier, all while explicitly showing that in this world, Juggernaut’s strength was based on the mutant gene.

As for Phoenix, despite being one of the most defining X-Men storylines, the force was revealed not to be a cosmic being from beyond the stars, but an overpowered and uncontrollable part of Jean Grey’s psyche. It is depicted as the worst-case scenario for someone having mutant abilities.

Even the super-science of the X-Men movies was almost explicitly about mutants. A psychic hub to track down mutants. A cure for mutant abilities. Shoving multiple mutant powers into a single human test subject. Time travel by using mutant mind powers. Robots programmed to exterminate mutants and counter their powers.

Gradually, they started to branch out. Wolverine fought a samurai mech. Deadpool showed that excessive physical abuse could awaken powers in non-mutants if done right. Cable used time travel in a way that wasn’t directly linked to a mutant’s abilities. In Logan, Donald Pierce is a cyborg. Even though X-Men: Apocalypse once again reveals the Phoenix as an extension of Jean’s psychic powers, Dark Phoenix goes against it by adding its cosmic origins and throwing in a bunch of aliens as the antagonists.

Who is Magik and what are her powers?

That brings us to New Mutants and the character of Illyana Rasputin, otherwise known as Magik. Unlike the other four main characters, Magik existed before New Mutants was a thing in the comics. Dating back to Colossus’ first appearance in 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1, Illyana was just a side character with the focus on her chrome-plated older brother. Being that she was only a little girl, they decided to dramatically age her up in order to make her a believable hero type.

Seven years after her debut, Illyana was involved in a storyline where the villain Belacaso pulled her into Limbo (not-quite-Hell, but kinda). A moment later, Kitty Pryde pulled her back to Earth, but Magik came out of it as a teenager. A later miniseries explained what she was up to in-between those instances, where time moved differently and she spent several years training in combat and magic.

Magik then joined the New Mutants as it turns out, she does have a mutant power based on teleportation. It’s just that, at least back in the early days, she would have to go to Limbo before choosing where else. So she could get you to the Grand Canyon if you want, but there’s a quick stop in an otherworldly hellscape first.

This situation would lead to Inferno, the New Mutants’ big event that was going to be the basis for one of the film sequels had New Mutants caught on and not have been released among a gigantic film industry quagmire and global pandemic.

What’s up with Lockheed?

The movie was fairly accurate on its portrayal of Magik, but what of that weird dragon puppet stuff going on? That would be Lockheed, another one of the non-mutant aspects of classic X-Men comics. Lockheed is more linked to Kitty Pryde than even Magik, but Illyana does have ties to his origin. Sort of.

Back before Illyana took her trip to Limbo and lost her innocence, Kitty was trying to get her to sleep by telling her a bedtime story. It ended up being a medieval fantasy where the characters were mapped out as members of the X-Men (this was adapted into an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, but it’s told by Jubilee and mainly remembered for its rough animation). Since the team wasn’t going to have a state-of-the-art sci-fi jet in this setting, Kitty came up with Lockheed, a large dragon that they would fly around on.

A few months after Magik’s return from Limbo, the X-Men were stuck in a space story where they fought Xenomorph knockoffs the Brood while teaming up with Carol Danvers (who had a really, really nasty split from the Avengers prior). During that adventure, Kitty was rescued by a random dragon.

Imagination! Imagination!

A dream, can be a dream come true!

With just that spark… in me and you!

The dragon – which Kitty named “Lockheed” because of her bedtime story – ended up following her back to Earth. They were only a few years before such a thing bit Spider-Man in the ass, so everyone was okay with Kitty having her own pet dragon from outer space.

Later comics revealed Lockheed to be far more competent and intelligent than anyone realized, to the point that he was an undercover agent of SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) like a character out of Men in Black. And he can talk, but chooses not to do that when anyone’s in the room.

Lockheed has indeed palled around with Magik in the comics, but he’s more of a sidekick to Kitty. Considering they did a whole five-season animated series without even mentioning Kitty (despite the previous attempt at an X-Men cartoon, Pryde of the X-Men, literally being named after her) there was no problem in cutting out the middle woman.

While the New Mutants movie suggested something supernatural was going on with all the Pennywise-like horror situations haunting everyone, the whole thing ended up just being Dani Moonstar’s psychic powers manifesting and going out of control. The double-twist in all of this is that after all this time, the X-Men film franchise had fully embraced stepping outside the box by going full ham on Magik’s character.

Teleports to Limbo on the reg? Check. Her dragon puppet can manifest into a literal purple dragon? Check. Has some kind of mystic sword? Check. Yes, she’s a mutant, but that doesn’t mean she’s not magical.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Ah, well. Too little, too late.

The post New Mutants: How Magik and Lockheed Fit Into the X-Men Franchise’s Evolution appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2UZ77vt

[renee-walker]

Welp, I guess I'll be the one to send Carol Peletier and Daryl Dixon (I think I sent you his character for something else a while back lol)

Carol (aka the love of my entire fictional life, god bless you Kimmy)

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Her heartbreaking altruism and total inability to stop the overflowing love she’s made of. I can (and have) written essays on her neverending selflessness. It will destroy me until the end of time. She is genetically incapable of not caring. She’ll do it until it destroys her.worst quality: SHE HAS NO BAD QUALITIES FIGHT ME. Ahem well. Her worst quality is probably her inability to put herself first, ever. Because it’s not healthy and it’s literally killing her inside. (I still love her for it though. She’s perfect omg.)ship them with: Life, love, hot chocolate with marshmallows, warm soft beds with fluffy comforters, bubble baths with champagne and strawberries, mind-blowing orgasms, mental health, Daryl Dixon, and every other goddamn good thing on the universe, because she deserves the sun moon and stars.brotp them with: Any decent human who’s ever spoken to her pretty much, but right now Morgan.needs to stay away from: Anything that can kill her. Her own endless self-criticism. Sadness. Pain. Suffering. misc. thoughts: I am 99% certain I will die before I ever love a fictional character half as much as I love her. I just want to see her smile and hear her laugh and know that she understands – at least in some small way – that every single person in Team Family owes her their life. That she does nothing but contribute. That she matters. And that Daryl loves her for exactly who she is, and he wouldn’t change a single goddamn thing about her.

Daryl:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would banghogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuffbest quality: Because I am such a sucker for this, I love the fact that he would, without even thinking twice, die for the people he loves. Also he’s just generally speaking such a fair person? Like for his terrible upbringing, he should be completely different than he is, but in an overall sense (a few ridiculous writing choices be damned) he makes thoughtful choices that have nothing to do with bravado or machismo and are all for the good of his family.worst quality: Being saddled with terrible writing that makes him do super OOC shit, tbh.ship them with: Carol, always and forever, world without end. They’re each other’s person and his entire self changes the second he’s in her presence. I get butterflies just thinking about that voice he uses only for her. It’s heart-melting.brotp them with: Denise. GODDAMMIT, GIMPLE. Also Michonne, if they’d ever give them any scenes again, ugh.needs to stay away from: Rick. I mean wat. Anything that keeps him away from Carol. Legit his blood pressure goes down by 20 points just looking at her face.misc. thoughts: Ngl, I’m pretty angry about a lot of what the writers have down with Daryl since 4A. I’m cautiously optimistic that this may be turning around, given that 7x10 was certainly nothing but goodness in this regard. I truly want the writers to give him a storyline that doesn’t center around either crying or being angry about someone else’s death. All the digits are crossed for S8 for sure.

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... The Strain (S04E02) The Blood Tax Airdate: July 23, 2017 @fxnetworks Ratings: 0.913 Million :: 0.30 18-49 Demo Share Score: 2.25/10 @thestrain-fx TVTime/FB/Twitter/Tumblr/Path/Pinterest: @SpotlightSaga **********SPOILERS BELOW********** Messy. Messy. Messy. The whole entire first half of the episode for Dutch (Ruta Gedmintas) and Setrakian (David Bradley) is a flashback, which is extremely confusing considering that the other narrative playing out involving Gus (Miguel Gomez) and his random cousin, Raul (Michael Reventar), who we've never met, not even once, is happening in the current timeline. Luckily, for Gus, Raul works at a high clearance blood farming lab at 'The Partnership' and I'm literally losing interest as I'm writing this sentence. It's crazy to think we were all so excited about the possibilities of 'The Strain' when it first premiered. It really felt boundless, a new twist on an old genre. Even more insane is that I truly believe that people actually want to like the show. About 1.5 Million Viewers tuned in to the S4 premiere, which is huge for a show that's been on cable since 2014, as very few series see actual gains in overall viewer numbers... Albeit, the gain was only 6%, but it's a rare & notable gain nonetheless. After the first episode of S4 premiered, many of us were left wondering what had become of the fate of these characters covered in this 2nd episode, the same ones that are completely absent from any scene in the premiere, besides Setrakian in a strange dream sequence. Suddenly, I wish I had never wondered or even asked. 'Time Jump' tropes can already throw a lot at you, but filling in the blanks can make it even worse. It's almost better for the writers to set the stage and insinuate bits and pieces of the lost path here & there, otherwise it becomes extremely convoluted... Let the audience think for themselves, don't dog walk them through everything, because then we're left scratching our heads, feeling confused and even a bit dumbfounded, when really it should be cut & dry. When things are supposed to be simple, but you position them in a chaotic & restricted way, it feels like you're reading a children's book that you keep having to turn back to the previous page again & again, asking yourself, 'Wait a minute... Now what just happened?!' Frankly, it's insulting. FX Networks is better than this and even this show, during its lowest of low points, have been better than this clusterfuck of an episode. The good news is that every episode of 'The Strain' moves fast as lightning... Before you can even lift up your hand to scratch your head, its over and the credits are rolling. Unfortunately for us we still have a bit more ground to cover. Dutch has been separated from Setrakian and is being farmed for breeding due to her rare and Strigoi friendly B-Positive Blood Type. One of her captive roommates is happy that she's at least safe in her bizarre, bloodletting, breeding ground, Dutch brushes off that ridiculous notion. Imagine Carol from 'The Walking Dead' being locked up with someone for some random reason and then having one of her fellow prisoners telling her, 'Well at least we're safe and breeding out new Walkers vs fighting for our lives and living in fear out there in the wild.' Dutch doesn't give 'Roommate #4' quite the look of pure disdain that Carol would return that sentiment with, but nonetheless 'Roommate #4' gets the picture and rolls out. She's weak, Dutch isn't, we get it. Thank you writers, crystal clear. If you guessed that everything was going to go wrong with Gus' plan to use his cousin for his and his ruthless crew's personal gain and then put him in danger by keeping him around his homicidal group of friends, cookies for you. The flow of the episode is such a mess at this point that I found myself flipping through IMDB to see who Directed this nonsense. Ah, J. Miles Dale. Ok, now it makes sense. Usually on a bad day 'The Strain' is still a solid '5' out of '10', but this episode is more like the bottom of a muddy, moss covered rock behind a venomous snake pit deep in the banks of the Appalachian Mountains. If you aren't familiar with Dale's Directorial Debacles, let me catch you up; Robocop: The Series (1994), F/X: The Series (97/98 - yet another needless tv adaptation), Earth: The Final Conflict (2000 - so a late series episode), Andromeda (2002-03, no we weren't aware the show even ran that long), The Skulls III (2004 - The first film was quite enough), Doc (2001-2004 w/Billy Ray Cyrus, yeah we have no idea either), Sue Thomas F.B.Eye (2002-2004 - WTF?!), Shadowhunters (2016 - Did I just hear you snort?), and every previous episode of 'The Strain' that you hated... No seriously, we looked back as we keep all of our ratings on file and the highest rating we'd given to any episodes with his name on the Director's Chair was a 4/10. Dale is not a Director, he's a producer with money and power. He's severely untalented and he's worked on some of the worst tv shows in the history of television, but he's thrown money at some decent ones... See the difference? I had to watch the episode twice, because I was so disinterested the first time, I was unable to piece together a coherent review. It was more cohesive than this episode, but it needed work. I'm a perfectionist... And I really don't like going negative, but if I have to, it's going to be in an entertaining key. Hopefully this article is far more interesting than the episode itself. Luckily we won't see Dale return to 'The Strain' until the 10th episode... But if the gravity of that reality hasn't sunk in yet, I'll give you a moment to think about it... No, go ahead, take your time. You already got it, didn't you? See, I knew it, you and me, we're on the same level. We love the #horror genre... We've loved parts of 'The Strain' and have enjoyed its lighting fast pace... We all love to hate Zach (Max Charles) and are most likely all completionists. We are going to ride S4 all the way out, we were hoping for a huge turnaround for the big series finale, but more than likely Dale has thrown a lot of money down to help sustain this project, so he's going to be directing the FINAL EPISODE. Why, God, Why? God gave us Cancer. God gave us AIDS. And God gave us J. Miles Dale. Suddenly I'm rooting for The Strigoi... And whoever they hired to write this drivel... Liz Phang, girl, what the fuck? If anyone asks, you blame it on Dale, you at least have a few good episodes of USA Network's 'Colony' under your belt. Quick 'flash review' on where we are here, mmhkay? Zach sets off a giant nuclear bomb, directly causing some sort of hazy like fog that's thick enough to allow The Strigoi to run free in the daylight, blocking the sun's harmful UV Rays... Winston Churchill did some sort of version of this in real life, wonder why people don't hate him like they hate Zach?! Everyone is fine though, forget what we know about Hiroshima and all those mutations, that stuff is happily skipped over because that might create a few more hours in the workroom for the writers (can't have that). Dutch takes lead in the B-Positive Breeding Ground, possibly showing her cards before she should play them to the 'Head of B+ Blood Type Breeding Operations', Sanjay Desai (Cas Anvar). He's still alive, who knows why, most likely to participate in ridiculous subplots like this one. Don't worry, I'm still not giving up, it's most likely due to the diligent person inside of me that can't get this far into a show and simply just stop. The most disheartening take on this whole episode, which congratulations 'The Strain', you've ensured we leave a little section for 'Worst Of' for our end of 2017 Awards (consider it a small Spotlight Saga/TV Time Community Version of the Razzies), is that the Dutch character is completely wasted. Once upon a time she was a bad ass, making sketchy decisions and given redemption arcs. Then it was made clear they had no idea what the hell to do with her next... Dutch's Fall From Grace: Unnecessary love triangle? CHECK! ✔️ Female who needs strong but damaged male character to save her? CHECK! ✔️ Almost escaping but puts another, weaker human being, Sherry -or as we referred to her earlier, Roommate #4-, (Jess Salgueiro) before her and it backfires? CHECK! ✔️ Getting her only way out doomed to a terrible fate for allowing the other useless, weak character to take her place instead? CHECK! ✔️ Its 2017. I don't know how it runs in your city, but in Miami we don't help you if we don't know you. So add 6-foot tongues in a blood sucking ancient race of #vampires that come from tiny worms that look like extremely fast moving maggots, a bustling, b-positive, baby-making, muncher snack maker, nursery prison... And then have the most intelligent & capable woman in the entire building stick the one psychologically frail woman of the group , who's already directly told her that she feels safer on the inside, into her only chance to escape... Only she doesn't even want to escape... So really this is just a way for the writers to take yet another shortcut to fuck everything up? Oh hell no! Keep with the East Coast, NYC to Miami attitude, Dutch. Walk over a bitch, before a bitch walks over you. This is a horror series, not a 'everything works out in the end' type of series. It's almost over, people. Picture me saying this next sentence with every word annunciated as if I'm asking a really difficult question very slowly in a genuine state of confusion, possibly in a massive K-Hole, or 'Stoned' for all you chemical amateurs... "I'm sure things will get better and be totally worth it by the 10th and final episode????" Inspiring confidence yet? Damn, I was sure that would work! At least we have Eph, who seems to be finding a purpose in the midst of his gloomy, dystopian, post wife and child, existential crisis. The resistance group, led by possible unnecessary romantic interest Alex Green (Angel Parker), that he stayed behind with and helped in return for supplies, conveniently has to get out of their hiding spots due to a Strigoi draining a member's blood and therefore absorbing all of his memories. Suddenly Eph can help, suddenly he wants to. It's cheesy, but Corey Stoll is very aware of that and even deliver's Eph's sudden 'back into action' style-line like a Schwarzenegger one liner from an old 80s action film with all the heart of 'one of the good ones' like Mark L Lester's 1985 'Commando'. In all fairness, barring directors like Dale from touching this show, 'The Strain' still has a chance to deliver us a semi-satisfactory ending. It's time to ham that shit up tho... Break out the Gouda Cheese, the blood red corn syrup, those creepy ass, aforementioned 6-foot muncher tongues and give Eph a whole lot more ridiculous one-liners, bomb detonators, large amounts of explosives, guns & firepower and we could still be walking out of this thing with a smile on our face yet.

[arthur36domingo]

12 Mental Habits That Will Derail Your Goals

It feels the same every year: you set some goals for yourself, the year starts with the best of intentions, but then it’s October and you are looking at a partially completed goal and feeling pretty frustrated with yourself. It happens to everyone—literally. But not everyone struggles all the time. Here are twelve ways that your mind is sabotaging your goals and some approaches to getting your head right.

1 Lacking clarity on values and priorities

You have a goal or two (or five) in mind for the next year or so, but you’ve only really made progress on one of them. This happens when you lack priorities. Over time, you tend to do what’s easiest or quickest and neglect goals that are more complicated and require more effort. You can avoid this by simply prioritizing your goals.

How to Overcome It Basically, figure out what really matters to you and organize your goals accordingly. TED has a great playlist to help you put everything in perspective. Then, when you start to document the values and priorities that will guide your time management, remember to keep your list simple.

Not sure what kinds of priorities and values to pick? MindTools will talk you through selecting your values, and James Clear has a good list of values to get you started. He recommends picking no more than five.

2 Being a Perfectionist

People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have, and looking for it where they will never find it. —Edith Schaeffer

Have you ever caught yourself thinking: “If it can’t be done right, don’t do it at all”? Or the more intense version—“If I can’t do it perfectly, why do it?” This is the nirvana fallacy, and it stops us from achieving our potential because it discourages us from making even make small improvements. Charly Haversat, a recovering perfectionist and former professional athlete, discusses the damage perfectionism does to our productivity and how we can try a different approach: the pursuit of good enough.

How to Overcome It There are a few ways to stop perfectionism.

Lifehack has a great article on how to get to “good enough.”

Let go of the fixed mindset that locks you into to an all-or-nothing situation and embrace growth. You can read more about the fixed mindset and its opposite, the growth mindset, in Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Deeply entrenched perfectionism and control are signs of anxiety, a mental illness. AnxietyBC has put together a great step-by-step guide to help cope.

3 Isolating Yourself

Taking some time for yourself to focus is one thing, but cutting yourself off from people to “avoid distraction” or “be more disciplined” is another. Very, very few people have brains that allow them to function best in isolation. Odds are that your mind will do better if you talk to people and share your ideas. Not only will you boost creativity, but you’ll give your noggin a rest from intense work.

How to Overcome It If you don’t have friends you can discuss your idea or goals with, consider finding a specialized group for your interest. MeetUp is a great way to find niche groups of people on similar journeys in everything from training for a marathon, writing a book, or building a mobile app. If there are no good MeetUps in your area, consider finding a forum or starting your own blog.

4 Not Building Your Self Confidence

If you’re your own worst critic, you might be struggling with perfectionism (see above) and a distorted sense of your own value. However, research points to one reality: what we believe is true matters. If you believe you can, your performance improves significantly. If you believe you can’t, your performance suffers. If you’re feeling a little unsure of yourself, spend some time building up your confidence.

How to Overcome It

Take some time to regularly invest in your confidence. This TED playlist can help.

Before you start a difficult task, jot down a few times when you felt competent and successful. It’ll get your mind in the right place for success with the new task. Having trouble? Ask a loved one or friend to tell you what you’re good at.

Use it or lose it! Test your confidence and focus on wins when possible. Forbes discusses how to build confidence here.

Looking for more? TIME Magazine put together a research-backed list for building your confidence.

5 Thinking Too Big—Too Often

In western culture, we have loads of axioms that encourage us to “shoot for the stars” or “think big.” There is even a push in business to pursue “big, hairy, audacious, goals” or BHAGs for short. These are well-intentioned ways to encourage us to push ourselves, and they often work in getting us out of our comfort zones; however, focusing too much on the immensity of the problem or task can be paralyzing—especially if coupled with self-doubt or perfectionism.

How to Overcome It There are two keys to dealing with a big, hairy goal. Make sure your goal is SMART, then break it down into smaller, manageable bits over a smaller, manageable timeline. Hannah Braime of the blog Becoming Who You Are outlines a step-by-step plan for tackling goals.

6 Trying to Multitask

The science is pretty conclusive—multitasking is bad for you. What you’re doing is not actually multitasking but “task switching.” The habit slows cognitive processing, decreases efficiency, lowers IQ during task completion, and increases production of the stress hormone cortisol. Though multitasking may feel good (completing small tasks rewards your brain with dopamine), it’s not a winning long-term strategy.

How to Overcome It In addition to scheduling time for checking emails, texts, etc., it can also be helpful to try out some time trackers to help you focus your time. Toggl is a popular free time tracker. If you don’t want the hassle of setting up projects to categorize your time, try the Pomodoro Timer and just commit yourself to only working on one task during a given cycle.

7 Responding Inappropriately to Criticism

Criticism, even when it’s constructive, can be hard to cope with, particularly if the criticism gets to the heart of what you are trying to do. However, if you find yourself getting too emotionally involved with criticism, it can stunt your confidence and potentially ruin your progress toward your goal.

How to Overcome It The first step to dealing with criticism is understanding what kind of criticism it is. There are three types of criticism:

Friendly criticism, or constructive criticism, is usually delivered with good intent and is tactful, so you can clearly see room for improvement.

Unfriendly criticism is well intentioned but poorly communicated.

Malicious or false criticism is delivered with the intention of inflicting hurt rather than creating an opportunity for development.

Once you understand the kind of criticism you’re dealing with, you can practice techniques to processr it correctly, including, among others, focusing on the suggestion and not the tone, not taking it personally, and smiling.

8 Trying to Plan It All in Your Head

If you’re trying to plan a goal completely in your head, you’re gonna have a bad time. You’ll forget things, have a much harder time staying on schedule, and struggle to focus.

How to Overcome It Get it out of your head. Whether on paper or digitally, dump all your ideas, goals, and timelines somewhere else. There are several planning techniques that can be used for any number of different goals or projects, but the most basic and often most helpful is the simple to do list. If you’re not sure what kind of list you need, take our quiz.

9 Getting Distracted

If you are constantly finding yourself checking social media, email, or texts, you are letting your focus slip and using these little tasks to procrastinate. Some research has shown that it can take up to twenty-three minutes for you to recover your focus after a distraction!

How to Overcome It Some of the most common techniques for reducing distractions are to

schedule “distraction time”

batch and do small tasks last

remove yourself from the distraction

In addition to making a few habit changes, you can also get technology on your side to fight distraction. There are several tools for your computer and browsers that will help you manage the amount of time you spend on time-sink pages like Facebook.

10 Having an All-or-Nothing Approach

An all-or-nothing approach is damaging not only because it sets you up for perfectionism but also because you lose the ability to appreciate the progress you make along the way.

How to Overcome It The key here is to focus on what you are able to achieve. On a daily basis, this can be as simple as keeping a “done” list—literally a list where you write down everything you accomplish, even if it wasn’t on your original to-do list. For bigger projects, this can be harder, but try to plan regular check-ins to assess your progress. If you’re prone to all-or-nothing thinking, it’s important that you try to focus on what you have been able to accomplish overall and not just what you have not accomplished.

11 Rushing

You’ve got a new idea. It’s exciting, and you want to start, like, yesterday. That passion and energy is terrific. Use it, but make sure you don’t put off necessary planning and research. And definitely don’t try to do an inhuman amount of work in a human amount of time. A bit of planning and balance, even fresh out of the gate, can save you from burning out or even putting too many eggs in one basket.

How to Overcome It Invest some of your creative energy in helpful ways. Conversations about your ideas with trusted friends can help you keep things in perspective. To help preserve balance, Dr. Charles Sophy recommends monitoring a life-checklist, S.W.E.E.P.—Sleep, Work, Eating, Emotional expression of self, and Play.

12 Not Sleeping On It

If you have a big project or a big decision, it might not help to dive in before a good night’s rest. The fact is that your brain needs sleep to dispose of its waste properly. Going without sleep can severely impact judgement and work quality, while good sleep can keep your brain clear and healthy while also helping drive success.

How to Overcome It Unfortunately, for many it’s difficult to get enough rest. In addition to simply blocking off enough time for sleep, there are a number of lifestyle habits that can help you easily improve your sleep.

Turn off electronics and television at least one hour before bed. Set an alarm to remind yourself—or use iOS’s new bedtime feature.

Keep away from blue light after dark. A tool like f.lux automatically adjusts color settings on your computer so the light is better for your eyes—and brain.

Spend at least twenty minutes under natural daylight every day.

Exercise more.

Reduce or eliminate caffeine and stimulant intake after lunch.

In the end, we all have our own unique obstacles that keep us from completing our goals. By identifying which of the above habits you are prone to and trying to incorporate fixes into your planning, it may be possible to make greater progress on your goals.

What other mental habits can keep you from achieving your goals? How do you overcome them?

The post 12 Mental Habits That Will Derail Your Goals appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/mental-habits-that-kill-goals/

[ber39james]

12 Mental Habits That Will Derail Your Goals

It feels the same every year: you set some goals for yourself, the year starts with the best of intentions, but then it’s October and you are looking at a partially completed goal and feeling pretty frustrated with yourself. It happens to everyone—literally. But not everyone struggles all the time. Here are twelve ways that your mind is sabotaging your goals and some approaches to getting your head right.

1 Lacking clarity on values and priorities

You have a goal or two (or five) in mind for the next year or so, but you’ve only really made progress on one of them. This happens when you lack priorities. Over time, you tend to do what’s easiest or quickest and neglect goals that are more complicated and require more effort. You can avoid this by simply prioritizing your goals.

How to Overcome It Basically, figure out what really matters to you and organize your goals accordingly. TED has a great playlist to help you put everything in perspective. Then, when you start to document the values and priorities that will guide your time management, remember to keep your list simple.

Not sure what kinds of priorities and values to pick? MindTools will talk you through selecting your values, and James Clear has a good list of values to get you started. He recommends picking no more than five.

2 Being a Perfectionist

People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have, and looking for it where they will never find it. —Edith Schaeffer

Have you ever caught yourself thinking: “If it can’t be done right, don’t do it at all”? Or the more intense version—“If I can’t do it perfectly, why do it?” This is the nirvana fallacy, and it stops us from achieving our potential because it discourages us from making even make small improvements. Charly Haversat, a recovering perfectionist and former professional athlete, discusses the damage perfectionism does to our productivity and how we can try a different approach: the pursuit of good enough.

How to Overcome It There are a few ways to stop perfectionism.

Lifehack has a great article on how to get to “good enough.”

Let go of the fixed mindset that locks you into to an all-or-nothing situation and embrace growth. You can read more about the fixed mindset and its opposite, the growth mindset, in Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Deeply entrenched perfectionism and control are signs of anxiety, a mental illness. AnxietyBC has put together a great step-by-step guide to help cope.

3 Isolating Yourself

Taking some time for yourself to focus is one thing, but cutting yourself off from people to “avoid distraction” or “be more disciplined” is another. Very, very few people have brains that allow them to function best in isolation. Odds are that your mind will do better if you talk to people and share your ideas. Not only will you boost creativity, but you’ll give your noggin a rest from intense work.

How to Overcome It If you don’t have friends you can discuss your idea or goals with, consider finding a specialized group for your interest. MeetUp is a great way to find niche groups of people on similar journeys in everything from training for a marathon, writing a book, or building a mobile app. If there are no good MeetUps in your area, consider finding a forum or starting your own blog.

4 Not Building Your Self Confidence

If you’re your own worst critic, you might be struggling with perfectionism (see above) and a distorted sense of your own value. However, research points to one reality: what we believe is true matters. If you believe you can, your performance improves significantly. If you believe you can’t, your performance suffers. If you’re feeling a little unsure of yourself, spend some time building up your confidence.

How to Overcome It

Take some time to regularly invest in your confidence. This TED playlist can help.

Before you start a difficult task, jot down a few times when you felt competent and successful. It’ll get your mind in the right place for success with the new task. Having trouble? Ask a loved one or friend to tell you what you’re good at.

Use it or lose it! Test your confidence and focus on wins when possible. Forbes discusses how to build confidence here.

Looking for more? TIME Magazine put together a research-backed list for building your confidence.

5 Thinking Too Big—Too Often

In western culture, we have loads of axioms that encourage us to “shoot for the stars” or “think big.” There is even a push in business to pursue “big, hairy, audacious, goals” or BHAGs for short. These are well-intentioned ways to encourage us to push ourselves, and they often work in getting us out of our comfort zones; however, focusing too much on the immensity of the problem or task can be paralyzing—especially if coupled with self-doubt or perfectionism.

How to Overcome It There are two keys to dealing with a big, hairy goal. Make sure your goal is SMART, then break it down into smaller, manageable bits over a smaller, manageable timeline. Hannah Braime of the blog Becoming Who You Are outlines a step-by-step plan for tackling goals.

6 Trying to Multitask

The science is pretty conclusive—multitasking is bad for you. What you’re doing is not actually multitasking but “task switching.” The habit slows cognitive processing, decreases efficiency, lowers IQ during task completion, and increases production of the stress hormone cortisol. Though multitasking may feel good (completing small tasks rewards your brain with dopamine), it’s not a winning long-term strategy.

How to Overcome It In addition to scheduling time for checking emails, texts, etc., it can also be helpful to try out some time trackers to help you focus your time. Toggl is a popular free time tracker. If you don’t want the hassle of setting up projects to categorize your time, try the Pomodoro Timer and just commit yourself to only working on one task during a given cycle.

7 Responding Inappropriately to Criticism

Criticism, even when it’s constructive, can be hard to cope with, particularly if the criticism gets to the heart of what you are trying to do. However, if you find yourself getting too emotionally involved with criticism, it can stunt your confidence and potentially ruin your progress toward your goal.

How to Overcome It The first step to dealing with criticism is understanding what kind of criticism it is. There are three types of criticism:

Friendly criticism, or constructive criticism, is usually delivered with good intent and is tactful, so you can clearly see room for improvement.

Unfriendly criticism is well intentioned but poorly communicated.

Malicious or false criticism is delivered with the intention of inflicting hurt rather than creating an opportunity for development.

Once you understand the kind of criticism you’re dealing with, you can practice techniques to processr it correctly, including, among others, focusing on the suggestion and not the tone, not taking it personally, and smiling.

8 Trying to Plan It All in Your Head

If you’re trying to plan a goal completely in your head, you’re gonna have a bad time. You’ll forget things, have a much harder time staying on schedule, and struggle to focus.

How to Overcome It Get it out of your head. Whether on paper or digitally, dump all your ideas, goals, and timelines somewhere else. There are several planning techniques that can be used for any number of different goals or projects, but the most basic and often most helpful is the simple to do list. If you’re not sure what kind of list you need, take our quiz.

9 Getting Distracted

If you are constantly finding yourself checking social media, email, or texts, you are letting your focus slip and using these little tasks to procrastinate. Some research has shown that it can take up to twenty-three minutes for you to recover your focus after a distraction!

How to Overcome It Some of the most common techniques for reducing distractions are to

schedule “distraction time”

batch and do small tasks last

remove yourself from the distraction

In addition to making a few habit changes, you can also get technology on your side to fight distraction. There are several tools for your computer and browsers that will help you manage the amount of time you spend on time-sink pages like Facebook.

10 Having an All-or-Nothing Approach

An all-or-nothing approach is damaging not only because it sets you up for perfectionism but also because you lose the ability to appreciate the progress you make along the way.

How to Overcome It The key here is to focus on what you are able to achieve. On a daily basis, this can be as simple as keeping a “done” list—literally a list where you write down everything you accomplish, even if it wasn’t on your original to-do list. For bigger projects, this can be harder, but try to plan regular check-ins to assess your progress. If you’re prone to all-or-nothing thinking, it’s important that you try to focus on what you have been able to accomplish overall and not just what you have not accomplished.

11 Rushing

You’ve got a new idea. It’s exciting, and you want to start, like, yesterday. That passion and energy is terrific. Use it, but make sure you don’t put off necessary planning and research. And definitely don’t try to do an inhuman amount of work in a human amount of time. A bit of planning and balance, even fresh out of the gate, can save you from burning out or even putting too many eggs in one basket.

How to Overcome It Invest some of your creative energy in helpful ways. Conversations about your ideas with trusted friends can help you keep things in perspective. To help preserve balance, Dr. Charles Sophy recommends monitoring a life-checklist, S.W.E.E.P.—Sleep, Work, Eating, Emotional expression of self, and Play.

12 Not Sleeping On It

If you have a big project or a big decision, it might not help to dive in before a good night’s rest. The fact is that your brain needs sleep to dispose of its waste properly. Going without sleep can severely impact judgement and work quality, while good sleep can keep your brain clear and healthy while also helping drive success.

How to Overcome It Unfortunately, for many it’s difficult to get enough rest. In addition to simply blocking off enough time for sleep, there are a number of lifestyle habits that can help you easily improve your sleep.

Turn off electronics and television at least one hour before bed. Set an alarm to remind yourself—or use iOS’s new bedtime feature.

Keep away from blue light after dark. A tool like f.lux automatically adjusts color settings on your computer so the light is better for your eyes—and brain.

Spend at least twenty minutes under natural daylight every day.

Exercise more.

Reduce or eliminate caffeine and stimulant intake after lunch.

In the end, we all have our own unique obstacles that keep us from completing our goals. By identifying which of the above habits you are prone to and trying to incorporate fixes into your planning, it may be possible to make greater progress on your goals.

What other mental habits can keep you from achieving your goals? How do you overcome them?

The post 12 Mental Habits That Will Derail Your Goals appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/mental-habits-that-kill-goals/