#mcu fandom salt

[ro994art]

To all the MCU fans saying that Sam "should've" taken the super soldier serum and that being of average human strenght won't be helpful when fighting against mightier, bigger villains such as Doom or Galactus, to them I say:

Sam may technically not have super strenght, but let's not knock his fighting skills either, even without taking his suit's Wakandan enhancements into account. Just look at the BNW opening scene and then we'll talk. Sam is a super skilled fighter in his own right.

I know not all villains are going to be able to be reasoned out of their villain ways, but it's always worth a shot, and Sam is by far the best person to do that. Empathy and compassion ARE strenghts, ones that superhero movies way too often overlook, and it's honestly refreshing to see a hero that can promote that.

It's not as if he doesn't know anyone who can give him a hand in the fighting. The point of the BNW ending is that Sam's going to assemble his Avengers line-up, and chances are a GOOD chunk of the ones already announced for Doomsday are gonna be part of his team. Plus, if it wasn't for that stupid and OOC Thunderbolts* ending, Bucky would for sure be on his team as well, to satisfy the fanboys who are so desperate for serum-infused heroes. In a world where the TB* ending is less idiotic, Bucky would've presented the new team to Sam after getting Valentina in jail (as they should have), and I'm sure Sam would've been willing to give them a shot. Or at least a trial period or something.

What Bucky said in BNW was true: Sam gives people something to aspire to. Heroes in the MCU are Earth's protectors, true, but they're also public figures and celebrities. That's a fact we can't ignore. So the importance of Sam inspiring people, ALL kinds of people, to be better and to never give up regardless of their limitations is HUGE actually, and shouldn't be overlooked.

[legalandnotease]

Me: The whole "making amends" idea in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is incredibly stupid and smacks of victim-blaming because Bucky should not be forced to make amends for things he was *made* to do against his will.

Its literally like telling a SA victim to apologize to all the other people their attacker also hurt.

Also, don't tell trauma survivors to *get their shit togeher* its extremely insentistive and misinformed. Mentally ill people aren't just being annoying or mean on purpose.

Sam Stans and people in wider fandom:

*That's not victim blaming! Bucky was never a victim, it was doing it all willingly anyway and that's why Sam said to make amends!

Also Sam has PTSD too. He is the only person in history who ever suffered discrimination, so Bucky trauma doesn't count and if you keep mentioning it you are a big bad racist!!

Me: OK, that's messed up. Don't dismiss and invalidate people's trauma.

Also know its not just black people who are subject to discrimination? Lots of people suffer discrimination, including disabled people and mentally ill people and this applied historically as well.

Furthermore, having been subjected to racism doesn't give Sam or anybody else a free pass to mistreat others. What's wrong with just treating those around you with basic decency, sympathy and compassion?

That includes Bucky, who is also disabled BTW.

Sam fans and others in general fandom:

"Bucky is not disabled! I already told you HE IS NOT A VICTIM he never was! He is not marginalized! Stop babying him! He's an adult and he CHOSE to do all the things he did as the Winter Soldier!"

He's just being mean to Sam on purpose and being selfish. Sam doesn't have to be nice to him! That's so tone deaf and its racist!"

Seriously poeple: if Bucky had bought up how the disability jokes and blaming him for things that caused his PTSD made him uncomfortable IRL Sam would have been receptive and understood because he's actually a decent human who knows its wrong to mock people for things they can't help. Or blame them for things that they didn't choose.

It is a shame that the writers of FAtWS and a good number of Sam Stans can't seem to grasp this.

[buckydeservesthebest]

I'm going to write my own general response since some Sam Stans have started with absurd posts about how in their distorted version of reality Bucky "has been a bad friend and betrayed every black person he has ever met"... *sight* this could not be more stupid, untrue and unfair.... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

On the subject of Bucky and the rest of the New Avengers "working for Valentina", I already wrote a long rant explaining that there is NOT a single shred of proof of this. And that at the end of it all, the OG Avengers literally were formed by a government organization (SHIELD), Sam was going to form his own team of Avengers at Ross's instruction and was going to work alongside him had the Red Hulk scandal not happened and Ross not ended up in prison. THE AVENGERS WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT SOMETHING NEW. BECAUSE WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T MEAN BEING SUBSERVIENT TO IT.

Bucky having his own team literally does NOT in any way in the remotest way affect Sam, because literally nothing detracts from him or minimizes him as Captain America or in any other way, nor does it somehow prevent him from being able to form his own Avengers team and operate as he sees fit.

So this description of "traitor" to refer to Bucky COULD NOT BE MORE STUPIDLY FALSE AND BE FARTHER AWAY FROM REALITY.

And for those who complain that one of Bucky's team members is John Walker, does everyone forget that they already worked together briefly at the end of TFATWS to capture the FS and there was no problem??? Bucky does NOT hate John, literally the only disagreement from Bucky and Sam towards Walker was over the possession of the shield, and that problem is over, so don't come whining that Bucky can now be his ally, because there is literally no moral impediment of any kind for them to be part of the same team.

And do people forget that, again, Sam was going to work alongside Ross?? The same guy who ordered the extrajudicial execution order (which is literally illegal) against Bucky, convicted him as guilty for the UN bombing without a fair trial, which is literally also a violation of his human rights, and on top of it all lamented that the SWAT team couldn't kill Bucky. Ross is a horrible person (no better than Valentina) and literally ordered Bucky's murder, and I don't see anyone calling Sam a traitor because he was going to form an Avengers team under his instructions and was going to work in conjunction with his government.

So don't come with your shitty double standards calling Bucky a "traitor" either, when no one called Sam a "traitor" for allying himself with the one who ordered the murder of his friend.

It's almost funny how no Sam Stan has ever wanted to acknowledge the ableist and victim-blaming attitudes Sam directed at Bucky. All those horrible jokes and tasteless comments like "cyborg brain", "bionic looking machine that killed almost everyone he met", "we're not assassins" "you're going back to your frozen rat diet of your time as the Winter Soldier", that only in the mind of imbecile could be funny. All of this disgusting shit is ableist.

Sam literally held Bucky responsible for what he was forced to do as the Winter Soldier ("you were stopping all the wrongdoers *you* enabled as the Winter Soldier" ep. 5) and gave him "advice" that is exactly the same as Dr. Raynor's, and is nothing more than re-victimization.

There is absolutely nothing healthy about telling a victim of abuse that they should "make amends" for something they were a VICTIM of. Let alone showing up with the other victims of the same abuser and apologizing as if Bucky was the victimizer and not another victim. This is extremely dangerous and damaging to both parties. Already a real life therapist created a Twitter thread where she explains absolutely everything that is wrong with this.

Sam is NOT a victim of abuse or mind control, nor is he a therapist trained to talk to people who are victims of this situation, so he can NOT go around pretending to give advice on something he knows absolutely nothing about. That is unethical.

If you think that telling this truth is "racist", let me tell you that there are people in the black community who think exactly the same thing. Are they racist too??

...

Oh and regarding the Wakandans issue...I've talked about this a lot before, but in light of some Sam Stans wanting to revive this ridiculous issue as an excuse to try to vilify Bucky.. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

*sigh* first of all the reason T'Challa offered Bucky assistance in removing the Winter Soldier's programming from his brain, was not because of how magnanimous T'Challa is in wanting to help a poor man who had suffered too much, but rather that that assistance was given in the form of an apology for having spent it trying to kill him without being sure if Bucky was the one truly responsible for his father's death, and also in the form of thanks because thanks to him and Steve, T'Challa was able to get to the one truly responsible. The canonical comic Avengers Infinity War Prelude literally said so:

So while Bucky is grateful for the assistance Wakanda offered him, he does NOT owe them lifelong loyalty nor is he limited to only doing what feels right to them and did not represent a damage to their pride, because that is a stance worthy of an abuser.

So NO. In absolutely no way did Bucky betray Wakanda because Zemo's temporary freedom does NOT affect them in the slightest. Literally Bucky always intended to send him back to prison and literally Ayo understood this and that's why he gave him the 8 hour deadline to come back for Zemo, and literally Bucky NEVER objected to this.

Regarding Zemo. Literally the plot gives Bucky the reason to enlist his help and assist him in his escape, because as "the foremost expert on Hydra and the super soldier program" his knowledge was needed to figure out how the serum was recreated to get to Karli. This is what canon book The Art of TFATWS says, and it literally also says that Sam knew this and agreed.

People deliberately and conveniently forget that Zemo is NOT only responsible for the death of T'Chaka and the other dozen people from the UN bombing. Zemo was also an ABUSER of Bucky and one of the people who hurt him the most in his life. Zemo framed him for the UN bombing causing everyone to try to kill him, put him in the crosshairs of any Hydra member that still existed, had him imprisoned in cell that was electrocuting him all the time, subjected him to mind control and forced him to kill people and fight his friends which caused more charges to be added against him, etc, etc, etc. Now it turns out Wakandans know more about their own abuser than Bucky himself?? This is bullshit.

In just world part of Zemo's sentence should have been for all the damage he caused Bucky.

And the point is, again, Ayo understood and agreed with Bucky's plan and that was why he gave him an 8 hour deadline to come back for it. Ayo was NOT upset about that. Ayo didn't handicap and dehumanize Bucky because she felt "betrayed" but because she was upset that he had stopped her from committing unjustified murder against Walker. Bucky tried to reason with her and only defend himself with non-violent techniques, Ayo disconnected his arm in a low and dishonorable move, and now it turns out that Bucky is to blame?? 🤡

"Bucky betrayed the Wakandans" say the same people who always planned to betray him by putting a kill-safe (on a prosthetic that he didn't even request to have in the first place, but was given to him by T'Challa himself for him to fight for his nation) behind his back whose unawareness could have proved fatal to him, in case by sheer bad luck something could activate it when Bucky was hanging on to it for his life...

IT IS NOT JUSTIFIED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO REMOVE DISABILITY ASSISTANCE FROM A DISABLED PERSON.

BEING A BLACK PERSON DOES NOT GIVE YOU A FREE PASS TO HAVE ABLEIST AND VICTIM-BLAMING ATTITUDES TOWARD ANOTHER PERSON.

And yes, people in the black community also think Ayo's attitude was unjustifiable.

Are they "racist" for daring to say this?? Of course they are NOT.

[anobjectforasister]

Help Me Pick A Ship

So I wrote an outline for a story, right? Now I just need to pick a ship to write a story about. If u have any suggestions for a different ship or a specific ending for one, feel free to comment and let me know? Even if it's from a fandom not listed.

Anyways, the outline comes with a handful of endings, ranging from fluffy to bittersweet to toxic, with one of the endings including side paring ending. I'll decide according to how the story flows and what feels in-character, or if anyone wants a specific ending.

Also don't expect perfection, i don't write for most of these characters, but I do read a lot of fics for them, so that's the best you'll get.

The story is based off of "Good Luck Babe", but it's also best friend to Lovers. Heavy situationship, lots of angsty feelings, and all that jazz. Even if you only know one ship feel free to drop a vote, I really can't decide for myself

[captainwidowspring]

On Nico's Ability to Defend Himself

An often-overlooked aspect of Nico's death scene in TFATWS is that there was literally nothing preventing him from thwarting John's attempt to kill him, and keeping it from being a death scene; he just didn't so that there would be a reason for the Captain America title to be stripped from John and given back to Sam. I feel like a major reason why a lot of people don't pick up on this fact, and instead perceive Nico to be defenseless (aside, of course, from the shamelessly manipulative framing) is that in the Siberia incident, the incident Nico's death scene is frequently compared to, Tony, after he lost the upper hand, didn't really get a chance to do much before Steve disabled his suit. It thus didn't stick out too badly when Nico also didn't do much before John attacked him with the shield, even though there was a lot more he could have done. Therefore, let's examine the two situations to see how they are different.

This is how the shield incident played out in Siberia. Near the end of the battle, Tony had managed to gain the upper hand and inflict serious damage on Steve. After Steve refused to stop defending Bucky, Tony prepared to straight up blow Steve out of the bunker and down the mountain: but right before he got the repulsor shot off, Bucky grabbed his leg. Irritated, Tony turned and kicked Bucky in the head with his metal boot. Then, before Tony had the chance to do anything else, Steve grabbed Tony and hoisted him into the air; Tony tried to use the jet packs on his boots to get out of the situation, but too much damage had been inflicted on them at that point for them to be of use, and Steve threw him to the ground. Steve then immediately rushed on top of Tony and punched his face mask three times out of sheer fury, after which he broke the helmet by hitting it twice more with his shield and then tore it off. He subsequently raised the shield, which caused Tony to frantically raise his arms to cover his face, and this allowed Steve to have a clear shot at the arc reactor, which he brought his shield down on and broke.

Now, considering how thoroughly biased Civil War is against Steve, and how much it sought to act like he was the one in the wrong—even though the entire Siberia fight was literally just Tony having a temper tantrum and Steve and Bucky trying to survive it—the creative team certainly wouldn't have minded if Tony had cried out in fear like Nico did, as it would be quite useful for the propaganda efforts. Therefore, there is clearly some reason why he didn't.

And it appears that there are two main reasons for this. The first reason seems to be that everything simply happened too fast. Indeed, the entire incident, from Tony preparing to shoot Steve to Steve disabling the arc reactor, took place in the span of about fifteen seconds. And Tony totally wasn't expecting Steve to grab him; presumably, he assumed that Steve was injured enough that taking his attention off him for a few seconds in order to kick his friend in the head wasn't a big deal. He underestimated the strength that poured into Steve's limbs when he saw Tony so callously abusing Bucky, as well as the fact that Steve is a supersoldier, so he can move really fast when he wants to.

So there was the element of surprise, and there was also the fact that Tony probably would have been a little stunned, both from the impact of being thrown to the ground, and from being hit in the head multiple times. It must, of course, be remembered that Tony was wearing a full-body metal suit, so no actual harm was inflicted upon him, but Steve is a supersoldier, so even with the layer of protection the impacts would certainly have been felt. These factors combined to produce the effect that, when Steve raised his shield, rather than take the time to yell anything, Tony simply prepared himself to face what was about to happen, which he thought would be Steve attempting to end him. But fortunately for him, he was wrong. Steve wasn't trying to kill Tony; Bucky was still alive, so Steve was able to contain his fury enough to refrain from a killing blow, and he hit the arc reactor instead.

Now, let's look at how Nico's death scene played out. After John pursued Nico for a bit, and managed to fend off a concrete trash can that Nico threw at him, he was able to hit Nico with the shield as Nico ran into a square. This forced Nico to stop to keep his balance, which allowed John to hit him again, and this finally knocked him over. Nico then tried to get back up twice; the first time John hit him with the shield again to keep him down, and the second time he put his foot on Nico's chest to pin him to the ground and stop his escape attempts. Then, since he couldn't try to get away anymore, Nico waved his hands and nervously insisted, "It wasn't me." He said this because, given the role he played in Lemar's death, he was well aware of why John might be mad at him specifically, for more than just being a friend of Karli. John, for his part, had been preparing to interrogate Nico about Karli's whereabouts, but this clear falsehood evidently filled him with rage, and he raised his shield in a fury. Rather than make an effort to block the imminent attack, Nico simply repeated, louder, "It wasn't me!" even though it was clear that John was not about to accept his garbage. And then, of course, since Nico wasn't about to actually do anything, the beating with the shield commenced.

Nico just lay there and was obediently killed, even though there was literally nothing stopping him from simply catching the shield and keeping it off his chest. His arms and hands were not at all restrained—indeed, he was waving them around—and unlike John, who had acquired a gash on his head, Nico was completely uninjured, so there wouldn't have been any pain distracting him either. And as we saw earlier, Nico is just as strong as John—he was able to restrain John so effectively that Karli would have been able to easily stab John if Lemar hadn't stopped her—and his evident fear would likely have given him enough strength to cancel out John's rage. So he would certainly have been able to keep the shield off his chest until Sam and Bucky, who appeared shortly afterwards, could save him if they wanted to.

Indeed, Nico didn't save himself even though, as evidenced by the fact that he did actually have a chance to cry out, he was dealing with a much less challenging situation than Tony was. For one thing, John bringing down the shield on Nico's chest was not at all a surprise. After John had pinned Nico to the ground, Nico had time to say, "It wasn't me" before John made any sort of move: and after John registered what Nico had said, he shifted his shield, which had been on his arm, into a two-handed grip, and then raised it. Nico clearly saw this coming; indeed, this is what caused him to shout "It wasn't me" a second time. And John's intentions at that point were obvious, so it's not like what happened with Tony where Tony thought that Steve was going to do one thing but he did another; it was pretty clear where John's shield was going, and this would have been plenty apparent to Nico since terror tends to make time slow down. So he had ample time to catch it.

Additionally, Nico would not have been stunned in the way that Tony was. Tony was slammed to the ground and then received five forceful rapid-fire close-range blows to the head, which is several hard impacts in a short span of time. Nico, by contrast, was hit once with the shield, then was knocked by John to the ground. This was a much shorter distance to fall than the overhead bench-press position that Tony was thrown from, and there were even stairs to break Nico's fall. Thereafter, Nico was hit with the shield again—and he hadn't gotten very far up, so he didn't fall very far back down—and then John thwarted Nico's final attempt to get up by pushing him down with his foot. In addition to the fact that the push was much gentler than getting hit with the shield again would have been, as before Nico hadn't gotten very far up, so he wouldn't have hit the ground that hard.

Therefore, in contrast to Tony, who received six sharp blows pretty much back to back, Nico received three fairly spread out blows—after the first hit with the shield, John had to close the distance between them and wind up again before hitting him a second time to knock him over, and then Nico fell to the ground and started to get back up before he was hit a third time—as well as a kind of shove. Nico thus did not receive nearly as harsh a pummeling as Tony did. And on top of that, he is a supersoldier: so even if his treatment had been rougher, Nico would have a much higher tolerance for pummeling than normal human Tony would.

Hence, Nico would not only have had plenty of time to see what John was doing, but he also would not have had to contend with the disorientation that Tony experienced. There is no excuse for why his only reaction to John's attack was yelling.

And here's what makes the fact that Nico didn't try to defend himself even more ridiculous. Even though Steve's attack was much more rapid, forceful, and unpredictable than John's was, Tony STILL did the logical thing and was ready to try to catch Steve's shield. Indeed, you can actually see a bit of strategy in his response to Steve raising the shield. Tony knew he wasn't strong enough to entirely keep the shield off his face since his suit was failing, so rather than try to stop it from hitting him, he was instead planning to try to grab the shield during its descent in order to slow it down and cushion the blow. As Steve brings the shield down, you can even see Tony open his fingers as he expects to encounter the shield. Nico did not do anything of the sort, he just aimlessly shouted as he passively lay there and waited for John to kill him. But come on! If Tony, who was just a normal human encased in a suit of rapidly failing metal, and who had been completely taken by surprise with a harsh walloping, could make an attempt to stop Steve from killing him (even though, as it turned out, he didn't need to), then Nico, who was a supersoldier, and who had received far less of a thrashing, could definitely have tried (and succeeded) to stop John from killing him. Especially since, unlike Tony, he actually would have been able to completely stop the shield from hitting him.

There is another difference between the two situations that is very interesting, however. Tony, for his part, was well aware that he was acting dishonorably. For instance, a little after Tony began his assault, when Bucky was trying to run away and Tony was intent on pursuit, Steve stood in front of him and said, "It wasn't him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind." But Tony already knew this, so he simply responded "Move," in a way that clearly indicated that he didn't care and didn't want to hear it. And a short time later, when Tony prevented Bucky from escaping, Steve tried again to get through to him and said, "This isn't gonna change what happened," but Tony replied, "I don't care, he killed my mom." Tony knew that Bucky wasn't to blame for his parents' deaths, and that killing him would not help anything: but since he was angry with Steve for refusing to accept the Accords and all their rights-violations, he saw the revelation as an excuse to attack both Bucky because he knew it would hurt Steve, and Steve himself because Tony knew that Steve would not just stand by while Bucky was being assaulted. He ignored Steve's attempts to reason with him because he figured that he had enough power to be able to do whatever he wanted, and he also correctly guessed that Steve and Bucky would continuously hold back against him, even though they shouldn't have. And because of these things, before Bucky's intervention, Tony had been about to do something that could have quite possibly ended Steve's life. So when Steve regained the upper hand and Tony was at his mercy, Tony was aware that he had no right to ask Steve to spare him, because when he had been in Steve's position, he had been ready to potentially end Steve's life without a second thought. Therefore, he said nothing; his only response was to see if he had enough strength left to hold off Steve.

So Tony, in the face of Steve's attack, didn't yell anything because he knew that what he had done was indefensible: and it is due in part to this modicum of contrition that Steve was able to contain his rage enough to spare him. Nico, meanwhile, had been doing something similarly heinous. He had been actively engaged in trying to kill John because John was Captain America, and when Lemar frustrated the attempt on John's life, Nico was also the reason why John was unable to protect Lemar from Karli's subsequent death-blow. And just like Tony, Nico had been relying on his strength to protect him from repercussions. So what he had done was just as indefensible as what Tony did: but instead of taking the smallest bit of ownership of this, he tried to completely absolve himself of responsibility for what had happened, and this resulted in his downfall. For while John had clearly been intending to just interrogate Nico, the fact that the person who had held him helpless while his best friend was murdered was trying to act like he was not at all responsible for what had happened caused him to lose it, and this resulted in the shield incident. Now, Nico definitely should have made it clear that he was surrendering if he intended to, and even apologized if he genuinely regretted what had happened to Lemar: and again, when the attack did happen he could have easily fended it off. But if he had simply recognized the fact that he was not worthy of John's mercy since he had not been prepared to show mercy to John, and remained silent like Tony did, the shield-attack would never have happened in the first place.

But in any case, as mentioned above, Nico didn't try to defend himself because John needed to kill him, so that the show would have an excuse to take the Captain America mantle from John and give it back to Sam without it seeming too dubious. (Though considering that the incident ended up resulting in Sam and Bucky attacking John for the shield a very short time after he literally lost his best friend, the show completely failed at that.) Not to mention, if Nico had put up a fight, this would have highlighted how much he was still capable of threatening John, and put lie to the show's attempt to act like he was helpless. Particularly since, again, if he had tried to save himself there is no reason why he would not have been successful.

Now, it is important to also remember that Nico was definitely not surrendering, the other widespread misconception about his death scene. He kept trying to fight John until he literally couldn't—he threw a concrete trash can at John while he was running away, and tried to get back up twice after John initially knocked him over, which is not something someone who wanted to surrender would do—and then after John had him pinned, all he did was try to disingenuously absolve himself of responsibility for Lemar's death, rather than trying to apologize or making it clear that he was surrendering. But on top of the fact that Nico wasn't trying to surrender, and refused to own up to what he had done, he was perfectly capable of surviving John's attack when it happened. These things make his death scene, as well as the subsequent reaction to it, completely ridiculous and utterly nonsensical.

[frumfrumfroo]

I'm still reeling from the fact that they decided to include the kiss during a reshoot. What didn't they include during a reshoot? That theory that Rey's parentage was changed during reshoots sounds pretty believable to me now, if they're willing to alter Ben Solo's final moments.

Actual trainwreck is a trainwreck.

Now I want to complain about something: I like watching Red Letter Media. I like when they talk about niche films, they're in their element there. But I was watching their old Infinity War review, and I cannot believe that they think the 'subversions' of that film worked better than The Last Jedi. Like, the Marvel films are soulless, if they didn't have Marvel branding, nobody would be talking about them. It's the greatest stunt ever pulled in Hollywood. Sure, they've gone off Marvel now, so this doesn't reflect their current stance as much, but lollllllllll

Endgame is incoherent, if a few steps ahead of TROS on the basis that it's a technically complete film.

Anyway. Star Wars is not fitting for the superhero genre, but they're sure trying.

I've blocked it out now, but for months after it came out we kept learning new depths of what a shitshow it was. All of the most insane leaks were accurate. At this point I would believe almost anything about their level of incompetence pinching out this turd. It's absolutely fucking embarrassing.

Yeah, I like RLM but sometimes they really don't Get It. The Plinkett reviews of the prequels raised some great points and were generally fairly quality criticism, but they also missed a lot and sometimes focussed on things that aren't valid arguments. Their review of TFA I found much less well constructed and more shallow. I don't remember which video it's in, but their discussion of the climax of RotJ shows some serious holes in their understanding of the themes of SW and Luke's character arc. And that's exactly where not getting what TLJ was doing will come in.

Nothing about the narrative shape or character arcs of TLJ should have been surprising to anyone who understands the structure of SW or the literary tropes it was consciously modelled on. The only thing about the main plot which is/was genuinely 'subversive' in concept or shocking was Snope's death.

I've seen them have some dumb takes, mostly in their blockbuster reviews, but it seems to usually come from not bothering to understand a context they're not familiar with or not always recognising when a film is trying to do something different than what they expected. Like the MCU films were mediocre at best from the beginning so it makes sense to judge them as forgettable formulaic entertainment, but there are more interesting conversations to have and it doesn't mean all blockbusters should be judged the same way.

Yep. I spent a lot of time talking about this both before and after tros. So fucking depressing.

[coulsonlives]

Being a Marvel fan right now like

[dizzying-waves]

I don't even go to BNHA, but seeing the fandom throwing a temper tantrum over shipping is further proof some people take shipping way to seriously.

[mischievouswork]

I think it was like this in 2012? When we were all doing “they live together in the tower” fics and, like, I wasn’t really a fan of the *heroes*, but it was nice sharing space with that other half of the fandom. I wasn’t on tumblr but I did interact with fans on social media and it was interesting to encounter, like, Iron Man fans and to swap fic recs and stuff.

These days it’s more like… “I hate them as a company so I don’t know what we are anymore. Are you, diehard fan, my enemy? My ally? A beloved friend?”

Do you think, idk, MCU fans feel the same way Shakespeare fans feel when they meet someone who is a fan of Shakespeare but not *their* Shakespeare? - I just got followed by a Twelfth Night blog and I LOVE being like "hey! not exactly my fandom but also we are fandom cousins!".

[ro994art]

I have some THOUGHTS. ⚡

Well, I have preemptively salted on this movie for so long now, that I'm betting at least some of you are curious to know my opinion on Thunderbolts* by now. Specifically Bucky's role in it.

Disclaimer, I have not actually watched the movie and I have absolutely zero plans to go to the theaters and spend money on it, but I have read several plot summaries for it and seen many spoilers. So I do know about 90% of what happens in it, and my opinion is solely based on that. And let me tell you, it's a strong one.

Spoilers ahead, if anyone cares.

Bucky is not a "NeW aVenGeR".

Because he already was an actual Avenger.

Because he already was working with Captain America and already had done heroic acts working beside him.

He was referred to as an Avenger onscreen, by Walker no less.

This movie refuses to acknowledge any of that.

You can throw all the technicalities you want at me, you can hit me with all the "Uhm, but aCTUALLY..."s that you want.

The truth is this movie takes away so much of what Bucky had already worked so hard to achieve. Including a stable and reliable friendship with Sam Wilson, a clear name, a newfound purpose...

But most importantly, they took away one my man's most defining traits, and one of the biggest reasons why I fell in love with Bucky in the first place: his loyalty.

The man who showed up for Sam Wilson time and time again (especially when he needed emotional support after his protegé was in critical condition), the man who reassured him, the man who was visibly, personally offended when his late friend's shield, title, and legacy was handed by the government to someone who hadn't earned it, the man who fought to give it back to the person Steve had actually trusted with it because he believed only he could carry that legacy with the respect that it deserved...

I refuse to believe that's the same man who tried to talk Sam into just "letting them" use the title of the Avengers, despite knowing damn well why Sam would be opposed to letting the likes of Valentina and the government in general just appropiate it so thoughtlessly. Or heck, even the same man who would just hear Alexei casually insult his best friend and just say nothing??? Like what have they done to him, that's not the Bucky I know!!!

I can and will only accept that ending if they confirm that Sam and Bucky are actually secretly working together to outsmart that woman, and have to keep up appearances in the meantime and pretend to be in a tiff. Otherwise, it does not make sense for either of them and just character-assassinates my fav.

From what I'm seeing and hearing, this movie probably should've just been Black Widow 2 and focus on Yelena and Alexei helping out Bob. Those three seem to be who the movie cares the most about anyway. It's certainly not Antonia. 🙄 (That's my second biggest gripe with this film by the way, I get that she wasn't the most popular character, but that was straight up NASTY of them)

So there may be many good things about this movie. But unfortunately, they decided to rope my favorite character into it in a way that ignores most of what was so great and inspiring about his character arc so far. And they also chose to shamelessly insult and undermine my second favorite character and paint him as a petty bully (which is very OOC for him I might add). And they also chose to do all of this with a cheeky little "LOL we're the New Avengerz now 🤪" attitude and publicity campaign.

And for that alone, they could never make me like this movie.

[legalandnotease]

This post accidentally highlights everything wrong with the MCU in terms of its depiction of mental health and trauma.

Namely, the idea that people with PTSD, depression or anything else are required to effectively "cure themselves", stop being a burden on society and then provide support for those who do not have said conditions.

Apparently there's no such thing as therapy or positive care and support for the mentally ill, and how dare you suggest it.

[buckydeservesthebest]

I rewatched TFAWS recently and Walker never said Bucky was an Avenger. He said he was Steve's right hand. Even Bucky didn't consider himself an Avenger, thats why he said its better he goes see Zemo alone. Because Zemo wouldn't trust Sam, as he's an Avenger. Other than that, I agree with what you said.

Hi Nonnie! Actually John did say it in ep. 4 of TFATWS. When he searches for and finds Bucky and Sam in the company of Zemo in Latvia. Bucky asks him how he found them, and John replies: "You think two Avengers [Bucky and Sam] can walk around Latvia without drawing attention?"

It's true that Bucky doesn't consider himself an Avenger, but in some people's eyes he is considered one. In fact, in Spider-Man No Way Home, the video tribute to the Avengers made by Peter's school, Bucky appears among the heroes who fought Thanos in the Battle for Earth.

And actually, in that battle, all who fought Thanos were considered Avengers.

I think in Thunderbolts, Bucky saw in forming a new team of Avengers, an opportunity for Yelena, John, Ava, Alexei and Bob to find a true purpose, head down the path of good, be able to clear their reputations and start over, the same way he did. Add to that the fact that a new group of heroes fighting for the greater good is good for a world facing dangerous threats without respite...

Glad to hear you agree with my rant! Because in reality, Bucky has as much right to form his own Avengers team as Sam does. Sam is NOT affected in the slightest by this, as there is nothing stopping him from doing the same and operating in whatever style he sees fit.

People (the Sam Stans) are taking this too far for no reason. They really just seem to be upset that Bucky ended up inadvertently forming his team before Sam, when he actively tried and failed to do so... but hey! That's not Bucky's fault nor ours... 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[nikkoliferous]

no disrespect intended to the OP, but the problem here is, there are basically 3 different versions of Loki in the MCU now: OG Loki (the version of the character that existed from 2011-2013), Ragnarok/IW/EG Loki (TR was a soft reboot and, as a result, all pre-existing characters were either killed off or had their personalities drastically altered), and series Loki (not only are his personality and mannerisms drastically different from OG Loki, but he is canonically a separate character; a variant of the OG Loki, not OG Loki himself).

the poll, however, makes no distinction between any of these (read: "curious to see where tumblr stands on him 12 years later"), so for those fans like myself who do make a clear distinction (a portion of the fandom that is, at least in my experience, not insignificant), there's no acceptable option to vote for. "smash" is by default a vote in favour of all three iterations of MCU Loki and "pass" is by default a vote against all three versions, and neither of those accurately represents my feelings about Loki.

I can't help wondering if this division is at least part of the reason for the surprisingly lacklustre results thus far.

"i’m curious to see where tumblr stands on him 12 years later"

[laurashapiro-noreally]

Good Omens S2 fic recs

Need something good to read?

it's written all over by @et-in-arkadia, who never fails to grab me by the throat. Aziraphale comes back that very night and gives Crowley exactly what he wants...sort of. (E)

A Million Times by @chamyl. A breathless, tender reconciliation with excellent Muriel in. (E)

Not for All My Little Words by @mia-ugly and soft_october. For everyone who wants to see Aziraphale apologize. A lot. (E)

I'll Wait by @copperplatebeech. Could've chosen any of a dozen of Copper's sharp, shrewd pieces. Whether you like them funny, aching, hot, or tender, she's got your number -- often all at once. This one's (T)

A Bit of a Gray Area by @princip1914. Look, I for one was waiting for bad angry standing-up sex in a bathroom. The fact that it's one of my favorite authors providing it is the icing on my eccles cakes. (E)

(Do eccles cakes have icing? Is the E in eccles capitalized? I am not doing research for this Tumblr post.)

Five First Kisses And One [5+1 Things] by @werpiper. If you need to believe that there were many kisses before That One, this is a great story to enjoy, and if you need to believe they were banging through history, @werpiper is a great writer to get acquainted with. (E)

in the french fashion by @giddygeek. Were you wanting that 1941 "something I can do for you" hot, romantic, in-character, and intellectually intriguing? Step right up. (E)

the soft animal of your body by @focusfixated. A short but powerful take on the ox rib situation. (E)

An Invitation to Dance by @lavraiemonchichi. Another short take. What if the apology dance, but kinky? (E)

Covenant of Salt by @twwings. Make it long, make it deep, do it in the dark. Hard, complicated like fine wine. Yeah, that's the way I like it. Get acquainted with twings, she's dynamite in this or any other fandom (ask me about her MCU novel!).(E)

the two shepherds of uruk by @inkatesbush. WHAT a story, OMG. A slow burn in the context of the Tower of Babel. These two hardly know one another, but they'll learn, oh, they'll learn. Agile prose, storytelling like a blow to the solar plexus. (E)

White on White by @twilightcitysky. What could be a more appropriate erotic awakening for Aziraphale than a sad wank in Heaven? Well, I could tell you, but you'd have more fun if you read this story and its sequels. (E)

The Butterfly Effect by @plaidadder. A master storyteller at the top of their game, this Doctor Who crossover works even if you don't know Doctor Who and aren't excited about crossovers. Why? Because what could be more satisfying than putting Aziraphale and Crowley in a time loop until they work out their nonsense? I'll tell you what: humor, stunningly romantic prose, Revelations-inspired eldritch horrors, and happy endings for everyone. (T)

Have fun and don't forget to leave comments!

[dizzying-waves]

I don't care about that Pressure game (the one with the fish guy), but hearing what happened to the creator...good god...