#gonna be talking about more movies I have vague memories of or rewatched after years because I can

[animationismycomfort]

watched the seventh dwarf again after years

and honestly…..

it’s pretty good

i love the dwarfs energy like idk how to explain it but I love it

[sanvitheartificer]

time for “I’m gonna screw up my courage and post creative ideas, i guess”  latest little interest-drift is Megamind, which i DID see once, when it came out? I should rewatch it, but that would require tracking it down, and i’m pretty sure I’m going to be bored of the movie by the time I can make myself do that.  I mention this because this is going to be.... nooooot well researched, i guess? like I’m going off fanfic and vague recollections of a movie i watched 10 years ago and i refuse to double check anything because the POINT is to be honest about what I’m thinking about without having to make it well-put-together. 

so, this is a fun idea! but not a good one. 

anyway: concept for a fic i’ll never write! it’s a post-canon time-travel fix-it story where Megamind saves his planet. I’m Pretty Sure that Megamind universe specifically doesn’t allow time travel/a redo button, BUT i have a way around that.  once i read a really interesting harry potter fic wherein George saved Fred. in HP time travel seems to work okay, as long as you’re doing something that you already did -- Harry sees his future self saving himself, for example. So in this fic, George went back in time, hid from everyone in the past, and made Fred’s death look exactly like he remembered -- but secretly saved him. It had always happened that way; Fred had never actually died in that battle; everyone just thought he did. And then George took Fred back to the future! and he was alive after that, just missing, like, a year of his life or whatever. (i might be getting which twin dies mixed up and i’ll tell you what: i literally don’t care)  This has always been a fascinating concept that I’ve wanted to use in something, and a universe like Megamind where I’m (pretty sure?) they say “reset buttons aren’t a thing” is perfect for it.  So! Post canon, Megamind is a hero, is traumatized, is dating Roxanne, etcetera. at some point “I’m literally the last of my species and so is Minion” comes up. 

Roxanne... wonders. about this. it’s horrifically traumatic, of course, and he did say that thing about reset buttons being impossible, but... also. also? she’s seen a LOT of impossible things, lately. She asks Megamind some subtle, theoretical, “just curious” questions about time travel. What, exactly, is impossible about it? 

You can’t change what’s already happened, he says. Paradox. The time-space continuum won’t let it happen. Trust me, I tried. You can... you can go back, but you can’t change anything, all you can do is, is, walk around an empty field maybe, at the most. 

He looks so sad at that that she stops pushing. But Minion keeps records of almost every experiment they’ve ever tried, every machine they’ve ever built and she has access, now, and... it could work. She’s just human, she’s not sure, but she thinks maybe it could work, she could give him -- give him a world, she laughs, a little hysterically, because sometimes people say “i want to give them the moon” and that’s supposed to be hyperbole and this is -- this is even bigger, somehow, what is she even thinking -- 

but she keeps thinking about it. is the thing.

megamind goes quiet, still, when she finally brings it up, and roxanne flinches but meets his gaze. she won’t back down from this. not when it’s this, not when there’s a chance she could save a whole world. two worlds, even!

he’s angry, and he’s scared, and minion at his side isn’t playing peacekeeper like he normally would, because minion looks just as angry, or maybe even more. 

how could you, minion says, roxanne, how could you, and roxanne flinches but she meets his gaze, and she has never seen minion so angry in her life. 

tell me it won’t work.

she looks, steady, in both their faces, caving in with a grief bigger than she can imagine, the anger of a hundred trillion billion lives, just gone. 

Tell me it won’t work, and I won’t -- I’ll -- I can’t make up for telling you this, for asking you this, she says, I can’t, but I’ll say what I can, I’ll do what I can to fix it. But first tell me it won’t work, that it’s completely impossible, because if it’s possible it’s -- it’s your world, and her voice cracks, because she can’t say anything bigger than that, because there is no poetry in the universe that could contain a loss that immense. 

and megamind shakes his head, and minion’s fists are clenched so hard the metal creaks, and neither of them. says. anything. 

Megamind discovers, after figuring out how to compare earth time to time thirty years in the past in another part of space, that the black hole actually should not have destroyed his planet for an hour. after what he remembers. it’s not... clear, of course, because anyone who was close enough to measure this accurately is dead. but. but it doesn’t match up, and maybe it’s his calculations, or his memories; he was eight days old; maybe he’s wrong 

(maybe he’s not. maybe there’s. maybe there’s a possibility.) 

and once he’s started thinking about it he can’t stop. of course he can’t stop. it’s his world, every person who looks like him in the whole universe, it’s -- he’s lived on earth his entire life, but this is -- 

Megamind starts theorizing about making something that looks a lot like a black hole, that could transport entire planets through time. he starts doing experiments. if you take something forward -- if no one knows -- 

it seems to work, somehow; it’s so complicated that even Megamind isn’t entirely sure why, or how, this will work. he can’t stop a black hole, but maybe he can swallow up his world, steal it away before it gets a chance, maybe he can -- he thinks of his parent, saying, “you are destined for -- “ and laughs and laughs because maybe what he destined for is! is this! to destroy his entire planet before the black hole even gets there! maybe he is -- maybe he is -- 

but the thing is. there will be a device. a very large device, and he’ll have to somehow simulate a black hole swallowing two planets whole, he’ll have to find some way to yank them all forward; he needs someone who’s impossibly strong, who can move fast. an hour, an hour (57 minutes 33 seconds 12 milliseconds --  will it be enough? could it possibly be enough?) they could arrive sooner but no one can see them and even he can’t sustain a jump for very long, not when they want to bring two planets back with them -- he needs. wayne. he needs metro man. 

they talk. sometimes. it’s awkward. wayne hasn’t gotten any better at guitar, even though it’s been three and a half years, now. megamind still doesn’t like him, but... well... he’s. metro man. they’ve always been something to each other, and it’s harder to give that up than he ever would have expected. besides, roxanne likes it, when they talk. she doesn’t like metro man, either, but she thinks he’s someone, too, was friends with him for a long time. it’s wrong, somehow, to just never talk to him, terrible music and decades of enmity and horrible betrayal of a faked death or not. 

on very rare occasions he even has semi-kind-of useful-ish advice about the whole “hero” thing. minion still refuses to acknowledge metro man’s continuing existence, but megamind is... he’s not. angry, or sad, that he didn’t actually die, that megamind didn’t actually kill him. whatever he is, it’s not sad. 

roxanne is there, when they talk to wayne. even minion is there, angry, angry, angry, but there, asking. 

wayne laughs. megamind asks him to help save both of their planets, billions and billions of sentient lives, and he laughs, like it’s a good joke, and roxanne thinks that this is the evillest laugh she’s ever heard and minion somehow looks even angrier than when she first brought up the possibility and he’s still -- he’s -- how can he possibly be this -- 

c’mon, he says, you’re not serious.

wayne is. he’s stupid, but he isn’t this stupid. roxanne pretended to date him for long enough that she recognizes the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice. 

wayne is terrified. 

megamind looks ready to lunge at him invulnerable or not and minion just goes blank and roxanne grabs wayne’s arm, like she’s back at one of the endless fancy galas and he’s just said something thoughtless to the mayor, and she smiles with teeth, and she says, give me a minute alone with wayne, will you? thanks. 

they step aside and she rounds on him. 

they were serious, and you know it, she says, calm. that was cruel, she says, like she’s talking to a child. like she’s talking to someone who doesn’t know better. 

i, he says, and doesn’t complete the sentence. 

you. don’t have to help, she says, although the words scrape her throat; they can’t do this without him, and it’s not her world but it is -- it’s megamind’s world, it’s minion’s world, and she’s spent so long thinking -- trying to figure this out -- listening -- some days she can almost see it, before the black hole, before anything -- billions and billions and billions of lives -- but she is a reporter and she is used to talking neutrally about things that are not neutral at all so she says, you don’t have to help. but you can’t... don’t make fun of them. don’t pretend like it’s not serious. this is their home world, it’s their whole species, it’s, it’s your -- 

wayne interrupts her. THIS IS MY HOME, he roars, and he is frightening, now, three heads taller than roxanne already and floating three feet off the ground. this is! i! i’m! human!

his voice breaks. wayne never was a good liar. 

this is my home, he says, weakly, but wayne never was a good liar, and this time he isn’t lying at all. 

roxie, i’m tired, he says. i’m so tired of being the hero -- being the only one who can -- what if they don’t like me? he says, and he looks like a child, again, and he sounds like a child, again, an alien who could pretend, could pretend really well, but was never really -- 

wayne never was a good liar. except, of course, when he was lying to himself. 

wayne, she says, wayne. i won’t lie to you. this isn’t... fair. to ask you. you’re not a hero, anymore, and it’s not... fair. but. but... 

she takes a deep breath. 

you have a home. here. and you won’t. you won’t lose it, okay? I’m still your friend, and your parents are still, still your parents, still the people that raised you. we’re... we’re adding things, okay? we’re not taking them away. 

and you’re -- i’m so, so, so sorry wayne, but you really are the only one who can do it, this time. 

they are quiet, for a moment. and then roxanne says, quietly, have you ever heard him sing? 

wayne looks confused, past the anger, past the fear. he shakes his head. 

he only knows a few songs. they didn’t... he... he knows a few songs. he’s sung them for me, and told me what they -- wayne. there were sunsets, there, over the sea, the whole world lit up in red and blue and gold shining the ocean vibrating with music, and he says -- he told me, once, that your world had mountains, bigger than any of earth’s mountains, and once they lived at the very top, they -- 

stop, he says, soft, in all the ways wayne never is, 

music man, she says, don’t you want to listen to the music you never got to hear? 

stop, he demands, glass-fragile. 

he only knows a few songs, she says, bleakly. and her voice is like a black hole that wayne cannot remember, empty, empty with its impossible fullness. two entire worlds, and he only knows a few songs. 

okay, wayne whispers. 

okay. 

i’ll help. 

[dafukdidiwatch]

As Above So Below

This somehow both scared and bored me at the same time

<Lots Of Major Spoilers>

Overview

: After years of searching, Treasure Hunter Scarlet finds a clue that would lead her to the fabled Philosopher's Stone somewhere in Paris. She gathers together a crew to find the stone in the catacombs of Paris, but there are other things that lurk down below.

I would consider myself a big time movie/tv person. Have I seen everything? No. Do I like watching anything? Yeah, I'll give it a chance. I like most genres.

Horror though, I have mixed feelings.

Now, I'm gonna be honest, it was hard trying to go into this movie open minded. I have a love/hate relationship with the Horror genre of movies. Older classics like John Carpenter's Thing, Alien, even Scream are movies I adore. But...modern horror movies are a pain to me. I hate how they use shortcuts to try and scare me with random ass Jump-scare for no purpose other than to scare me. It's ridiculous! I can call out when the jump-scares happen, and they Still scare me because of the freaking sound track!

Anyway. I felt it would be unfair for me to say how much I like/dislike the movie without mentioning my preferences. If you like the newer horror movies, awesome, you do you, but for me, its like one of those gatchapon machines where theres a 50/50,chance you'll like it or not.

With that out of the way, lets Actually start talking about the movie.

The movie is shot in Found Footage style and that already added a tally against it in the 1st minute. I am not a fan of found footage. I know that it's popular to make it cheap and personal, but it makes it so hard to follow what is going on. When they are being chased or attacked, I don't know whats happening! Its too dark to tell, the camera is jostling around making me slightly nauseous, and if it does show something, its only for like 5 seconds unless it is stupidly close! There were parts that felt more like watching a Let's Play of a 1st person horror game. Run Run Run, Punch Monster, Run.

It is due to this 1st Person view that, not gonna lie, I barely followed how they got into the catacombs in the first place. Scarlett was in Iran...then she went to France, then...a church to pick up a reverse vandalizer, club, tunnel, catacombs. I can remember the place order, but like hell can I remember what exactly they were saying. All of that took 30 minutes and I was bored out of my mind. And the things that I do remember, they just sort of randomly popped up? Like, they were discussing on whether to jump into the hole

There are parts of the movie that I think was their attempts to build atmosphere, but sort of came out of left field. They say a pale woman walk away from a club: ok. They see her...directing the creepy ass ghost choir?? No idea what that was about. Then They ran into statues that just....came to life to bite at them??? This,was Never Mentioned as potential threats anywhere, it was as if the movie decided it needs random encounters to fill the climax, which is a shame because the tension in this in the middle was really good.

In the middle, when they are Finally going underground to when things got fucked, had a good tense build up. Showing landmarkers that shouldn't be on their route later on. Local lore of "don’t go down the cursed tunnel" (PSA: If the locals say don't do something, don't do it). They get trapped trying to crawl through a pile of bones. Now that part wasn't scary, but was Very Uncomfortable, especially if you have claustrophobia. They have just...random ass things appear like a Piano and Phone which, these people are dumbasses for thinking those things are natural to be there, but does add a good "what the hell" moment that just pikes on. I thought they might go the whole "vague supernatural tunnel turning tricks and getting them to turn on each other" route instead of "slowing pick one off one by one" type. And maybe that’s what they were trying to have, but it was still random monsters popping out to attack so... c'est la vie. 

Another thing I take issue with is part of the lore they use for the Philosophers stone. First, they use the legends and work of alchemists. And that’s pretty cool. Like mystical National Treasure, unlock secret symbols and solve chemical problems. There was a part where they had to figure out the number of celestial planets in the sky based on what century the stone came from since it kept changing over the years, that part was pretty clever. I didn’t know the information, but i appreciated the history.

But they just add random bits from around the world to be like "ooh they connected" like, ok. They have alchemist lore, 14th century Flamel. Makes sense. Then they add a mummy of a crusades guy. I don't know which crusades, but it doesn't matter since he was used more as a prop than plot device. Hell it might be Flamel himself, I don’t know. Then they throw...Ancient Egypt....Sure. Why not. Alchemists could go to Egypt to learn then stick hieroglyphics and traps in the french catacombs. Given how I don't know anything about alchemists history, I'll go with it.

What I WONT accept is them calling Dante's Inferno Mythology! That is Bullshit! I call BullShit! That! Is where I DRAW THE LINE!!

Because they carved "abandon all hope he who enter here" into the tunnel wall when things turned batshit and thats where i gave up on the lore.

Dante's Divine Comedy is not a myth! It is a poem! A poem written by Dante about Christain ideology of what heaven and hell is like! But the movie doesn't give a shit. The line just sounds cool to have as they go deeper into the tunnels!

If they just went with Dante references and alchemist lore, I would have been fine there. The main reason I got angry at that part with Scarrlet saying about "Dantes myth" is that she knows like 5 languages + 2 dead ones, all this backstory and alchemist stuff, and she doesn't know that inferno was a poem? Yes, part of that is semantics and technicalities, but it sort of pulled me out of the world a bit. Because at that point, it felt like they were picking and choosing lore to fit in because it sounded cool. Have an egyptian trap! Why? Because it was cool! Have hieroglyphic puzzle to find the stone? Sure, don’t know why it’s in France but whatever!  I dont know. It threw me off because it felt like they were adding too much, which is a shame because some of the Dante references like traveling through a pool of blood was really good.

I don't get the visions. I really don't. Like...random pianos and telephones just appear on level one of their journey, that calls out to their memory. Which is...bizzare. Especially since they actually touch the freaking things. Like, don't touch the childhood piano! It will make things worse! Seriously! White people!

You later learn that the visions come from their sins (like the one and only tormented sin they got) and it is only when I googled the end of the movie did I learn that they have to acknowledge their sins or die. Which if you have to google the movie to understand the message, the message didn't go through. And opens up to more questions.

Because there were other people that died that didn't get to see their sin visions. George and Scarlett got taunted with pianos and objects since the 1st floor. What about Benji? He was followed by the creepy ghost choir and fell down a hole. Tell me what sin that means. Do They....all have sins, or did the vague demons here have to kill off the innocent ones first before putting the focus on the true targets?

And Scarlett finding out that the power was in her all along? What? Did she...consume the power? Was it transferred? Did she have it since she was born? Does she still have it? It felt like a bad moment to throw in a self esteem psa in this movie.

I will give the movie credit though, i liked how they were forced to go down to get out. When everything turns to shit and they have to do the same things they did but in reverse order, but still forced to go down, that was good. It adds to the tension of "holy fuck how are they gonna get out is this even the right path?" And that last scene with the manhole, gorgeous. Really truly gorgeous. It just shakes you to the core with what you are seeing.

But Overall.....yeah did not like this movie. Wasn't a fan of shakey cam. Wasn’t a fan of the "gotcha" jump scares. The movie felt a little more uncomfortable than scary to me with the claustrophobia. There were a bunch of times where I had to check how long was left in the movie because I was really bored with what was happening. I did like the use of alchemist lore, the Egyptian trap scene, and the end scene, but just wished they stuck to one part than try to mash up different myths to fit.

And if they wanted to stick with Dante, fine. Apparently this entire movie was an allegory of Dantes inferno. (Thanks google) But while i can appreciate looking back on it in hindsight, it doesn't change the fact that I really didn't "get" the symbolic nature of what they were trying to do in the initial watch. Maybe if I rewatch it I would appreciate it more, but I would just skip like half the movie to the actual cave exploring part because I am not sitting through the full thing again. 

If you like horror movies with historic flair, this might be for you. But its not my cup of gatorade.

[whoslaurapalmer]

For the ask game, a commentary on your "time present and time past" fic. It makes my heart ache so bad!

aaa thank you!!! (this is so long oh my god but i have so much to say about all my fics) 

first, I can’tbelieve it’s been almost a whole year since I posted it, where hasthe time gone???? where has it gone

I went into the ficintending to talk more about like, the concept of running into the‘same faces, same souls, different people,’ particularly donna’s,because I was thinking so much about what laura would feel, seeingsomeone who looked like donna and having to relive her mistakes withdonna and knowing that there was a definite chance that she wouldn’tbe able to do anything about it, even now, like I wanted so much moreof that in there, but then I started writing and it became more aboutcooper

which is, weird,because i’m not particularly confident in my ability to writecooper!!!! i’m only even vaguely confident in how I writelaura. I feel like I always wind up writing her in stories that Ifeel are so removed from canon, even though i’ve really removednothing about canon!laura????? I don’t know. (in fact, looking backon her dialogue in this, I still worry about it.) I actually feellike I write albert the best although the peaks fic I have out therehas so little albert, oops. (before I started really writing peaksfic, I spent a few weeks one summer just banging out some coop+albertfic, so I like my albert voice.)

donna’s ‘sameface’ is named teresa because once a year I get absurdly obsessedwith the godfather and tom hagen is my favorite character inthose movies, and his rarely-seen wife is named….teresa.

I think ‘desperatekindness’ is honestly the best description of donna and i’m nevergonna top that

the title is ‘timepresent and time past’ because for christmas last year, I got lanadel rey’s honeymoon, and one of the songs is ‘burnt norton[interlude]’ where she recites part of the first part of t.s.eliot’s poem of the same name, and when I went to read the poem Iwas struck by how much it reminded me of coop and laura andparticularly where they were, or where I thought they were, afterseason 3.

I really like thepart where laura digs around through her pockets for cigarettes sheknows aren’t there, I was thinking of the muffin scene from themissing pieces where she does something similar. I rewatch a lot offire walk with me when I write laura, especially when i’m firststarting a fic with her.

one of my favoriteparts is “it’s so strange to see her face, filled with all theseemotions, after the calm mystery of his dreams and her corpse.sometimes he catches her staring in a mirror, like she’s trying tofigure out the cause of each line in her face, each dip in her skinshe can’t remember.” and when I wrote that I was thinking moreof, it’s less that laura is processing time and memory but morejust the idea of looking at herself and seeing herself, inparallel to the scene in season 3 where cooper sees himself in themirror, because the last time at least the audience had seen thathappen, it was bob, and I thought laura was feeling somethingsimilar, although the fic is from cooper’s POV so he doesn’t knowthat’s the reason for her (also referenced in laura’s dialoguewhen one of the things she can remember about the original timelineand her death is ‘a mirror’)

I went back throughthe end of season 2 to find out what exactly the last things werethat cooper said to harry and albert and mannnnnn I was soheartbroken to find out that like, it’s basically the same thing,cooper believing that he just needs himself to do something when IT’SNOT GONNA WORK OUT LIKE THAT, EVER

after I wrote laurasaying “i would’ve wanted to help you too” I got brieflywrapped up in trying to map out how a true role reversal wouldwork out with them, where like, sort of the ages were swapped (Imessed with time so much in trying to figure it out), wherelaura leaves twin peaks because bob disappears and SOMEHOW she ends up as an fbi agent and lives with donna (cause why not,whatever) and gets called back to twin peaks (because gordon cole’sjust Like That) when small local teen dale cooper, who moved theresome time after laura left, mysteriously disappears (cause if I wasgonna keep laura alive in a role reversal, I was not gonnakill off coop) (working off the theory that bob’s original targetwas cooper, too) and I had a hard time getting it to really goanywhere, and I couldn’t really get behind laura working for thefbi either, but I wrote some lines that I really liked. I liked theidea that like, they had both used a tape recorder, that was a bigparallel I wanted to work on with it

ALL I WANT IS LAURATO BE HAPPY, and okay, and I thought it was important that cooper try and giveher a choice at the end when he took it from her before, even thoughin this timeline they really have so little options, I guess???? buti’m big on characters changing in fics, even in minuscule ways,because that’s what makes a story A Full Story to me, so it wasimportant to me to have that in there, and I like the ending and thelast line a lot.

[occasionalfics]

Finding You, iv

part iii

Summary: You do what you can to get on the team’s good side. Hopefully, it’ll get you into Space.

A/N: Sorry for the delay! The holidays are crazy and I work in retail XD

Tags: @fandommemporiumm (let me know if you want to be tagged!)

Words: 2,051

~~~

You did what you could. You made dinner, cleaned the dishes that had already been dirty, went to fetch tools when someone asked for them - if you knew what they were. And as the day wound down, you suggested they watch a movie. None of them knew of anything Terran - except Peter, of course - so you picked something you hoped they’d like: E.T.

A few floors below the kitchen, Stark had a movie room. Of course he did, you thought. You wouldn’t have been surprised if Dr. Banner sat in the same seat as you at some point. The room was small with wide seats made of soft memory foam material. Rocket sat on Groot’s shoulder toward the back of the room. Nebula sat in the corner away from everyone, Drax and Mantis shared a seat - he sat toward the back to rest against the headrest, while she sat cross-legged at the front of the seat. Peter pulled Gamora into a seat, which she tried to get out of until he frowned. She rolled her eyes and sat with him, but faced as far away from him as possible. You wondered what that was about as you took a seat in the front row after queuing up the movie. You were surprised when Kraglin sat in the seat next to you.

Rocket laughed at the most inopportune times, but you tried not to say anything about it. No one else did. You kept your eyes on Elliot, Gertie, and E.T., wondering why you hadn’t rewatched the movie in so long. You really loved it. You heard gasps when the bicycles lifted into the air, but didn’t turn to see who was fascinated. You let them have their moment, whoever they were.

After the movie ended, they all wanted to talk about it. Mostly. It was odd; Peter, Rocket, and Kraglin droned on about it but Gamora and Nebula stayed quiet. Mantis piped in whenever she could, and Drax laughed whenever Peter and Rocket argued. You, on the other hand, were very tired. You said goodnight to everyone before heading upstairs.

You were vaguely aware someone went with you, but you didn’t look back to see who. They were far enough away not to cause alarm, and you’d walked away before hearing anyone else heading to bed. They probably just took their time before going, too.

When you made it to the room you thought was yours - they all looked the same from the outside - you heard Kraglin call your name. With your hand on the knob, you turned to look at him.

He stopped a foot away from you and put his hands in the back pockets of his pants. “I think you did good today,” he said. “That movie...it’s real good.”

You nodded. “Thank you for saying so, Kraglin.” You let go of the knob and turned fully to face him. “Have a good night.”

“I hope you get to go with us,” he said. He held your gaze, a serious look on his face. “You really wanna go, right?” he asked.

Again, you nodded. “I do.”

“Then I hope tomorrow goes good, too.”

You barely knew him. You liked the look in his eyes, though, and the intensity with which he held yours. You sighed and moved forward to hug him, despite the warm smell of sweat on his skin. You’d had worse scents in your face before. Kraglin worked a lot, and it showed. He was built of all muscle, you realized as you put your chin on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” you whispered. You let him go, turned to your room, and gave him a final smile before going into the dark, unfamiliar space.

You weren’t sure if someone would come to get you in the morning or not. You didn’t know what their schedules were - when anyone woke up or what they were like in the mornings. You didn’t even know if any of them were nocturnal or not. You just hoped, upon seeing the first light of day - which you thought had to be artificial based on where your bedroom was - that you’d done what you could to gain their approval.

Making breakfast probably wouldn’t hurt your chances, you figured. You got out of bed, slipped your sweater from the day before back on, and went downstairs to the kitchen. No one was there, not that you’d expected anyone to be. You pulled out skillets, turned on the stove, and found eggs, bacon, peppers, potatoes, cheese, and milk - among other ingredients. You went to work, pulling your phone out of your tiny pocket to turn on music.

Everything was frying up and you were in the middle of a Runaways song when someone cleared their throat from the door. You could hardly believe someone from space fell into that cliche, but they had. Still, it didn’t stop you from shaking your hips as you stirred the pan of potato wedges.

“This food smells delicious!” you heard Drax say. He came bounding into the room, a large green smile on his face as he examined the food. “You has to come with us if you know how to do all of this, Terran Woman.”

You smiled to yourself as the song on your phone changed to something more modern. It was fun and upbeat, and you jumped along with it as you flipped some of the peppers over and into the potatoes. “Call me, (Y/N),” you said.

Gamora followed Drax, watching you closely as you went. Peter came in next, bobbing along to the music.

“What is this?” he asked, pointing to the phone.

“It’s...a cell phone,” you said.

“No, the song.”

“Ah,” you said, smile returning as you twisted around and raised your hands. “It’s called ‘Cut To The Feeling.’ I love this song.” You hummed along to the chorus as you turned to find plates - which were all clean because of you. You put them out and started taking things off the stove, finding silverware and napkins before letting anyone dig in. The whole time, you kept up the dance, knocking into Peter a few times as he danced with you.

You didn’t notice Kraglin perched on another counter, watching with a huge smile on his face. Nebula looked disinterested, Rocket confused, and Mantis ecstatic, but you still didn’t notice. When the song came to an end, you sighed and found some serving spoons.

“Alright y’all,” you said. “Dig in.”

Most of them did. You weren’t sure what Groot ate - or really what any of them ate, but you figured those who would eat what you’d make did. You waited until everyone else had food before getting some yourself. Kraglin lagged behind the rest of the group, finishing his plate as you picked up a few pieces of bacon.

“That was a good song,” he said, standing closer to you than you expected. “You’re a good dancer.”

You smiled and shoveled some potatoes onto your plate, missing his blue blush entirely. You didn’t know that Peter didn’t miss it, but neither of them said anything.

“You should’ve joined in,” you said. “Sometimes it’s fun to just...let go like that.”

“I’ll haveta remember that,” he said, picking up a fork.

“This is what Terran food is supposed to taste like?” Mantis asked. “We’ve only eaten things that have...much less flavor.”

“Could that be because none’a y’all know how to cook Terran food?” Peter asked, his mouth half-full.

Gamora rolled her eyes, then sighed and glanced up at you. “This is very good, (Y/N),” she said, attempting a small smile.

You returned the gesture. “Thank you,” you said, coming around the counter to take a seat. “Peter’s mamma used to let us help her cook on the weekends. I picked up a lotta my recipes from her, actually.”

“You really knew Quill’s mother?” Drax asked.

You nodded. “She was more of a mom to me than my own.” You smiled softly at Peter, who had stopped chewing with a cheek full of food. You laughed before going on. “She cared deeply about everything she did. Her food was so good because you could taste the devotion she put into it.”

“That’s impossible,” Drax started. “Devotion has no taste! It’s an emotion, not a flavor.”

You stared at him as Gamora elbowed his meaty arm, then you shrugged.

“Did you ever meet his father?” Nebula asked.

“No,” you said.

“My dad left before I was born,” Peter said.

Nebula shrugged and shoveled a huge spoonful of eggs into her mouth. “Just asking,” she said as well as she could.

“So you can cook,” you heard Rocket say. He approached you with an empty plate, jumping to sit between you and Kraglin on the counter. “What else can you do, Terran? We ain’t gotta lotta space, so we can’t just go pickin’ up every doe-eyed girl who says she’s Peter’s sister.”

“Rocket,” Peter whispered with vehemence on his tongue.

“I’m his step-sister,” you said. “I’m not related to him by blood.”

“Even more of a reason we shouldn’t bring you along!” he said. “We don’t need a maid. We need Guardians.”

“Rocket!” Gamora said.

“I am Groot!”

“No, I ain’t gonna go easy on her,” Rocket said, lowering his furry brows at you. You didn’t know if he looked intimidating because he was a raccoon or just on principle of the glare. “We all keep our place on this team. How’re you gonna do that, (Y/N)?”

You refused to look away from him. You didn’t have an answer, but you refused to back down anyway. “I’ll figure something out,” you said. “I can be resourceful. I learn quickly.” You looked at each member of the team as you continued. “I’ve never had something like you have. Not really. All I had to do was see you defeat a Titan to know it.” Rocket had his hands balled into little fists at his sides when you looked at him again. “So I have to earn my way into this,” you said. “I’ll do it. I’ve got nothin’ else.”

No one said anything. You waited for someone to step up, to back you up, but no one did. When you thought about it, you didn’t blame them. You were right about them having something - a family. But they’d created it together. You even let Peter off the hook - you’d only known him four years before he’d been abducted. He didn’t know you, at least not as well as he knew anyone else in the room.

You looked at Kraglin. He knew Peter the longest. The feeling from the afternoon before rose in you again - Kraglin got everything you were supposed to get with Peter, and now a talking raccoon was trying to keep you from ever having anything with him. It wasn’t fair - to you or to Peter.

“I think the Terran woman should come with us,” Drax said, finally breaking the tension in the room. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged. “She’s got spunk. I like her.”

“Obviously I want her to go,” Peter said, quieter than Drax.

“I really don’t care,” Nebula said. “But she does cook well.”

“I think we could use some good hearts,” Mantis said. “I hear it’s good for morale.”

“My vote’s a yes,” Kraglin said, smiling at you.

You couldn’t stop from smiling back. Unless they weren’t counting Nebula’s nonchalance as a vote, more than half the team had given you their approval. Gamora looked at Peter, then back at you and nodded.

“We’ll train you to do what we do,” she said, her arms crossed over her body, though she didn’t look sinister.

This was it. You were going into Space. You pictured Sally Ride smiling at you, and Mae Jemison, too, though you didn’t think even Peter would know who she was. He was gone when she became the first black American woman in space. You’d be one of them.

“I am Groot.”

Rocket turned to Groot, throwing his arms out with a huff. “What?! I-”

“I am Groot,” Groot said, this time more stern, if that was possible.

Rocket’s shoulders dropped, he huffed once more, and then he turned to face you again. “Fine. You got Groot’s approval. You’re coming.”