#my favorite mcu character forever and ever :)

[diazisms]

i haven't been taking any of the anons seriously when they come into my inbox and start yapping on about how i clearly never cared about buddie and how i'm jumping ship and how i must hate eddie which is not only untrue but also unbelievably silly. 911 is the first fandom i've ever seen that's majority monoship. everyone ships bathena, henren, madney, and buddie only with each other and absolutely nobody else. which, hey, there is nothing wrong with that, but 911 is the exception, not the rule. in every other fandom characters are shipped with multiple people. mcu steve is shipped with tony and bucky and bucky is also shipped with sam and natasha. derek hale is shipped with stiles but also scott. dean winchester is shipped with just about every man that breathes in his direction his brother included. purity culture has its claws so deep into the 911 fandom that i think people forget so many things just aren't actually that big of a deal. there's nothing wrong with polyshipping. there's nothing wrong with liking the canon relationships and still also shipping the fanon ones. otp doesn't mean "one true pairing" for shits and giggles, once upon a time it was used to show that out of ALL the MULTIPLE DIFFERENT SHIPS, their otp was their very favorite. i think bucktommy is cute. buddie is and forever will be my otp. these are feelings that can and should coexist. fandom is not a catholic church, y'all. and you don't have to like it, nobody is forcing you to read bucktommy fics or even like them together at all, but let's not pretend that shipping a character with multiple people is weird, wrong, gross, or a new thing in any capacity.

[evelynhenare1]

It makes me so incredibly mad that Thor Love and Thunder being kinda bad has made the internet think Taika Waititi is a terrible director or refer to the various corny lines that plague thr mcu as "taika lines" when like, Taika is genuinely such a fucking amazing director snd you only have to see his other movies to know that.

Like yeah Jojo Rabbit was fantastic, it was nominated for best picture for a reason but i think his earlier, more kiwi stuff is really his peak.

What we do in the shadows (the og movie) is probably one of the funniest films ive ever seen, its really well done.

Hunt for the wilderpeople is a fsntastic mix of funny and sad.

But my favorite will forever and always be Boy (2010), a movie that will never fail to make me genuinely weep. It's probably my favorite movie of all time, such a painful ride but also such a joyus one. He also plays a main character in this and gives imo his best performance by far.

Like look, besides love and thunder, all of his other films have been hits, so dont act like hes a shit director just because he had one miss.

(Also dont act like yall didnt love ragnarok, yall fucking loved ragnarok because it was great)

[evansboyfriend]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love ❤️

sorry for taking forever to reply to this, i haven't been in a fanfic-mood for a few days but today im trying to get back on that horse so to speak. thanks for the ask <3

ok the first three are stevebucky (MCU) because i've been writing them for a decade. i've managed to write some good things during that time.

1. afraid nothing can save me (but the sound of your voice) - a steve rogers character study fic where he is going to therapy and unrepressing shit and dealing with his survivor's guilt and ptsd and latent homosexual feelings for his best friend (who's also been in love with him the entire goddamn time and then they kiss about it). utterly self indulgent. it's very dear to me.

2. i would not ask you, neither would you - another stevebucky fic, an AU with an actual plot (im bad at this usually). which i kinda put together with ideas from burn notice and an episode of white collar. journalist steve x retired spy bucky team up to take down some bad guys. plus i finally managed to write a slow burn that's actually slow! and my longest fic at 48k words.

3. no matter how they toss the dice - one of my best ideas i've ever had (perfect for stevebucky). there's vignettes of steve and bucky in various decades because they accidentally go through a portal, but they're also in a different parallel universe during each snippet, so it's like a bunch of mini AUs within canon verse. it's all loki's fault, but he was just trying to do his 'messing around with the humans' thing. it was SO fun to write and googling random things during the process.

4. and some part of me came alive (the first time that you called me baby) - my first bucktommy fic!!!!!!!! it will always have a special place in my heart for this reason. i dont think it's like, profound or anything, i just wrote a little bit of the continuation of their relationship post 7x06 because i was down so bad. ridiculous. i love them so much<3

5. write our names in the wet concrete - bucktommy AU. childhood friends in which tommy was buck's first boy crush and buck was tommy's best friend and then their path split and they reunite in the future and go on their first date. honestly it's just cute and fluffy. gives me the warm fuzzy feelings.

[fabiansociety]

i started playing yakuza 0 in August last year, and I've been playing my way through the entire series ever since. it's been a wild ride — a lot of nonsense plot has flowed through and out of my brain, a lot of janky combat, a massive amount of characters i've come to love, and hundreds of warmly empathetic substories that have pressed themselves into my brain. it feels like i've crammed an entire found family into my life, speedrunning through decades of character growth, major triumphs and minor failures. what it all means, in retrospect, i couldn't quite say. the series hasn't had a consistent point of view, except for an increasing melancholy of how life's narrative opportunities narrow with age and poor decisions, of the ways that childhood trauma lives with us forever, the ways that young men are brutalized into something useful for the powerful men at the top—but that's all a shadow passing over the true landscapes of the games, the long period hanging out in arcades or pool halls or drinking in a favorite bar, or singing karaoke alone or with someone. of watching kamurocho and sotenbori shift with the years, of the new cities we've visited and the food we've eaten. i remember the takoyaki place on the corner that got replaced with a gelateria much more than i remember any of the yakuza heavies that have driven the plots of these games, and that may actually be the point?

it's so weird to not have another yakuza game to immediately start playing. i've gotten so used to opening the next game as soon as i finish the previous one that it feels wrong to just be… done, for now? like, what am i to do with myself now? these games have been such a major part of my leisure time this last year. i've still got Ishin, but that's not really the same thing. the faces will be familiar, but the people will be strangers.

it feels right that the man who erased his name was the only one of these that i've actually 100% completed, from achievements to in-game trackers. they've lowered the bar for completion substantially with this latest game, and frankly it feels like an act of grace for people who have played through the entire series. i'm never going to get good at virtua fighter 2, no matter how many times it shows up, so it's nice to not have to get good at everything in order to round everything out. i've already taught myself mahjong for this series, is that not enough? LADG says, yes, it's okay, you've done enough, and i appreciate that tremendously, here at the end of this loooong road.

i spent *50 solid days* this last year doing nothing except playing yakuza games, that's ridiculous. i read every single nero wolfe book in significantly less time than that! this is the problem with doing this sort of run-the-board project for a video game series, it just takes so long to get even a basically thorough experience. running through the entire MCU, including all the D+, Netflix, Hulu, Freeform, and ABC shows, only takes 424 hours, by comparison. you could watch all of it in less time than in took me to get from Y0 to Y4. i read all the nero wolfe books a couple of years back, and i was ripping through those at a book a night. video games are massively more decompressed as a medium, which makes them much harder to approach. i've loved doing this, and really valued the experience, but how do i even begin to recommend someone approach this, when so much of the specific pleasure i get is from seeing these characters and locations grow and change over time? how do you even begin to read a work of that scope? what is even meaningful out of that time to convey to another person? and yet it is meaningful, having lived through it, in the way living in another city is meaningful. i can tell you what i did there, and the important things that happened to me, but the only way to really get it is to move there yourself, and that's a lot to ask of someone.

stats under the cut, if you're curious about just how much time i've spent on each individual game

yakuza 0: 115:45 started 8/10/22, completed 9/7/22

yakuza kiwami: 66:24 started 9/9/22, completed 10/10/22

yakuza kiwami 2: 73:20 started 10/10/22, completed 10/30/22

the majima saga: 2:49 started 10/18/22, completed 10/26/22

yakuza 3: 103:20 started 10/31/22, completed 2/20/23 (with a break from november to february)

yakuza 4: 124:14 started 2/20/23, completed 3/17/23

yakuza 5: 168:17 started 3/18/23, completed 4/27/23

yakuza 6: 76:05 started 4/30/23, completed 5/20/23

judgment: 114:29 started 5/22/23, completed 7/16/23

yakuza like a dragon: 131:31 started 7/16/23, completed 9/2/23

lost judgment: 131:10 (shocking how close this is to YLAD) started 9/17/23, completed 11/4/23

the kaito files: 12:59 started 11/5/23, completed 11/10/23

the man who erased his name: 75:17 started 11/11/23, completed 11/27/23

total time, across the entire series: 1195:40

i benchmarked these against the completionist starts on HowLongToBeat, and i was actually under par that way until about yakuza 4, when my times suddenly got much longer than estimated. what changed? mahjong. i learned how to play mahjong, and that was great (mahjong rules), but it's added dozens of hours to my games, easily, and even with that LADG is the only one of the games where i managed to complete the in-game mahjong objectives. y4 has four separate tournaments you can climb your way to the top of, one for each main character, and i never even got close, but i spent a lot of time trying!

[thankssteveditko]

A brief introduction

Hi. My name's Bobby. (She/her.) You may know me for running my inexplicably widely known Archie Sonic blog Thanks Ken Penders, or for making the game Super Lesbian Animal RPG. Maybe you just know me as a furry artist. I wear a lot of hats!

While it's not one of the main interests I'm known for, I've been a fan of Spider-Man for most of my life, ever since the fateful weekend in 2002 when my dad decided to rent a certain Sam Raimi movie. He passed on his love of the character to me. Spider-Man remains my favorite superhero to this day, even in an age when MCU fatigue is really setting in. My tastes in fiction (and, by extension, my own writing) were surely influenced by the mix of fantastical and relatable elements found in Peter Parker's stories. The way he can go on these adventures swinging all around New York and then be like "shit, I forgot to pay my rent for my hellhole apartment." As my dad put it, unlike a lot of other superheroes, under the mask Spider-Man's just a normal guy from Queens.

I'm not the most hardcore fan, sure, but I've enjoyed plenty of takes on the character across different storytelling mediums. Movies, cartoons, video games, etc. That is, with one notable exception. The original comics. The Earth-616 Spider-Man comics that have been going for 60 years now. Even though I was the rare 21st century elementary schooler with a comic shop pull list, the mainline Marvel universe seemed completely impenetrable to me. I didn't know where to start, and every year I put it off, the backlog only grew larger and larger. I did read the first few volumes of Ultimate Spider-Man in middle school because my local library had them, but that was about it.

Recently, though, being in a Spidey mood thanks to the Insomniac games and Spider-Verse movies, I had a crazy idea. What if I just... read the main universe Spider-Man comics from the start?

I've read plenty of other long comics. Manga series that span hundreds of chapters. All sorts of Sonic and Transformers comics. I read all of Homestuck. I'm a One Piece fan, for Christ's sake. It can't be that hard, right?

Right?

...Okay, yeah, this is gonna take forever. Which is why I've made a whole blog for my little Spider-Man posts as I casually read these comics. Enjoy!

[jinxquickfoot]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @16woodsequ. Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

82!! And that's counting the one-shot collections as 1 fic.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,572,787

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Still in Marvel, although I've had a few ideas around Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss that I probably would written if my MCU WIP list wasn't so impossibly long.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends!

The One Where Peter is Tony's Weakness

You're Always Spider-Man

The One Where Clint is Tony's Weakness

You guys really like it when I kidnap Peter Parker.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Of course!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Worst Thing, it's the only ending I wouldn't call 'happy'. I labelled it 'bittersweet' instead, which I think is fitting. Actually Dollhouse also is a strong contender.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Let's Whump the Spider-Kid and Friends! teeters on the edge of soppy. Everyone is alive post-Endgame, Peter gets a prom with all the Avengers and his high school friends, and the Spider-Kid in question gets a whole month of rest.

In hindsight, I wrote that fic during pretty extreme burnout (that I am now thankfully over), and I can see my need for rest and care just bleeding through Peter in those final chapters. I'm so grateful we both got what we needed.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not for a long time, since the debates over Civil War have... if not settled, maybe don't hold as much interest as they used to.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not yet, but I think I might be brave and include some Winterhawk smut in the Heart of Stone series.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I've come across one or two with eerily similar premises and wondered, but I've never followed up. Tropes are tropes for a reason.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not a translation but Hair is Everything has a podfic!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Many! And tried to many at the same time which was a mistake, but I'm so glad I've gotten to work with so many incredible authors:

The One Where Clint is Steve's Weakness with @16woodsequ

The One Where T'Challa is Shuri's Weakness with @fluencca

The One Where Bruce is Thor's Weakness with @onwardmeteors

The One Where Peter is Peter's Weakness with @spagbol99

The One Where Bucky is Steve's Weakness with @usaonetwothree

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Winterhawk aka Clint/Bucky has my heart forever and ever, but I have a soft spot for Clint/Matt and Wanda/Vision as well. Outside of Marvel, I love reading for Stede/Ed, Husk/Angel, Caleb/Essek and Buck/Eddie.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you will?

If I've posted it, I'll finish it (I swear, I know I haven't touched the Whumptoberverse in three years). I do have an outline for something called the Amendment trilogy which I thought had some promise, but I've done so many Civil War Fix-Its now I doubt it has anything original to say these days.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't think my plot twists are too shabby, and I like to think that I find new things to say about well-worn characters and tropes. I'm also pretty damn good at structure, but that's because I studied and practised the hell out of it. Oh and occasionally I like to think I'm funny, especially when writing for Tony.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I focus too much on getting a fic done than letting it breathe. I've been told several times the ending to The One Where Peter is Bucky's Weakness is disappointing, and I agree. I was ready to get out of there so I Game of Throned it instead of spending a good 5-10 chapters wrapping that fic up properly.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Short bits are fine if you pop the translation in the end notes. If not, I like to just say something like, "He switched to Russian [continues dialogue in English]."

19. First fandom you wrote for?

MCU and we're still going, baby.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

AH okay I want to include all those I co-wrote but that feels like cheating, because what I like about those fics is often what other people brought to them.

I used to say Budapest and that's still a strong contender. But I actually love The One Where Clint is Sam's Weakness, specifically the final chapter. The idea of mistakes and regrets and choices not making you who you are is a very personal thing for me. Clint saying "You’re my hero, Kate." might be my favorite line I've ever written in a fic. Sometimes the simplest ones are the best.

Low pressure tag: @fluencca @usaonetwothree @queenofalotofdifferentworlds @spagbol99 @teeelsie-posts

[sliipppy]

I haven't read Marvel in forever, i dont keep up. I dont read much of it in general despite it being what got me into comics. (Ms. Marvel is my favorite comic character ever, and her 2016 run is still to this day my favorite series ever.) So basically what I'm saying her is take way I say with a grain of salt.

I think Tom Taylor is Dc's Zeb Wells. Like fans hate the writers, but they keep getting projects. Taylor is dominating DC, doing so many series, and Wells keeps getting to work on the mcu projects. They both pull the most insane plotlines out of their ass to keep readers that end up going against their characters.

Importantly, neither lets the character they write progress. There's no development, just insane plot twists. (Like the whole Mj-Paul thing or most recently Bruce becoming nightwing shenanigans.)

While Spider-Man stays miserable, unable to just be an adult who can be married, have kid, be a person. Like he's not allowed to move on, which is why Ultimate Spider-Man works so well. Nightwing, on the other hand, is kinda the opposite, he is this perfect golden boy who can't do any wrong, who has no issues, has great relationships with every member of his family for some reason and is just happy-go-lucky. Both Nightwing and Spider-Man are bad because they are the two extremes of opposite ends, and neither are allowed to develop or progress as a character because of it.

Fortunately, for Spider-Man fans, things seek to be getting better as that series is ending soon, and there's Ultimate Spider-Man. I think DC fans are going to be stuck with Tom Taylor for a while, though.

This is random rambling at 2am, don't take any of this seriously.

[zmediaoutlet]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged to do the do by @prince-of-elsinore, ty ty for thinking of me

How many works do you have on ao3?

211 (and elsewhere, maybe a dozen we don't talk about, bc they suck, on livejournal; maybe a couple dozen short pieces here on tumblr that have never migrated to ao3)

What's your total ao3 word count?

1,515,103

What fandoms do you write for?

Almost all Supernatural, but also some video game fandoms (FF, DA, maybe BG3 soon), MCU, etc. usual suspects.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. oh so good, oh so fine -- 993 kudos 2. there will be better days -- 846 kudos 3. see things so much clearer -- 621 kudos 4. into the flood again -- 602 kudos 5. side two, track one -- 558 kudos maybe someday we'll break 1000, lol

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do, and would find it rude not to. I know other people have all kinds of reasons they don't respond but I don't have any of those reasons, especially since I'm pathetically grateful every time someone bothers to say they liked something, lol. If anyone's even a tiny bit encouraged to become a repeat reader by the writer responding, I want to encourage that as much as possible. Plus, every once in a while, you can get a dece conversation going in the comments! Find a like-minded fan! That's worth any effort to compose a few sentences of thanks. The only comments I don't respond to are emoji strings or cut-and-paste 'another kudos here' comments, because they're not actually comments. (I appreciate the thought, but... I don't want them.)

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have had some beta friends who would argue about this one, lol. I guess the saddest is probably the hollow summer, since the whole plot is kind of hurt/no comfort. I don't believe in a successful boy king, let's say that.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

again, probably depends on how you define 'happy'. glory days is probably the most cheerful; for me, the happy comes better with more experience behind it, so the thirty-third yard would maybe be my personal choice.

Do you get hate on fics?

nope; worst I ever got was some twerp who actually responded to someone else's comment, bitching that I didn't put the right peepee in the right poopyhole. But only one of those, ever, and safely ignored. idk, I don't attract that much.

Do you write smut?

...yes.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

only one, and it only sort of counts -- i heard love was blind, which is Cordell Walker/Dean Winchester, but of course the point is that Dean's getting the body of his brother by other means. I like crossovers but I usually want there to be a point beyond 'let's mash these two faves together and see what happens'; I'm more inclined toward doing a whole-universe fusion, e.g. fully placing characters with what you can salvage of their key backstory elements into a universe not their own... which I guess would also count as a crossover, wouldn't it. so I also did that with putting the Winchesters into the Dragon Age 2 plot, in whatever we were before. definitely 'crazier' than the first one here, lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think that's the kind of thing that happens on WattPad. Who cares.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a few.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried; it didn't work. Both people need to be contributing to the writing for it to really count as 'co-written'; nevertheless it's stuck with both author names on ao3 because I don't think there's a way to change that.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I think from context this should be clear. Although will also forever hold many small candles for the little guys.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

the aforementioned "co-written" fic, which was meant to be a huge series. The first fic is finished because I brute-forced my way through it, but there was a full five-season arc we were going to try to get through. Alas. The first one is decent, though, and works as a complete fic on its own: In a Cursed Hour.

What are your writing strengths?

voice, pacing, naturalism; characterization, though that can be argued in a fan-space

What are your writing weaknesses?

plot -- I find it intensely boring. Avoidance of plot then tends to flatten stories into similar non-arcs; I don't mind that, but it's a skill to exercise.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'll only do Spanish, and that's only because I studied it for eight years. Even then it's usually the wrong choice, unless it's a fully blended multilingual story (which most are not, and in the wrong hands it comes off as absurd); better to convey through the POV character either understanding it or not, and dealing with it in narrative instead of straight dialogue. Although a word or two here or there is nbd, clearly.

First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy VIII

Favorite fic you've written?

well, questions, you got me, because I don't believe in favorites. at this moment in terms of writing skill I think the best might be asceticism, but in terms of one that sits in my head and fully just is canon, lol, it might be there will be better days, mentioned above. the only heaven fic I need. I guess that says something.

kind of interesting to look at the stats, if also stressful. let's get some other writers to be interested/stressed -- uhh @redmyeyes, @phynali, @hellhoundsprey, @stillwaterseas, @whiskeycherrypie

some shots in the dark :)

[st-eve-barnes]

2023 CHARACTER WRAPPED

I was tagged by @aemonds-fire to share my top nine characters of this year. Thank you so much for the tag!

1- I think it's very clear this guy OWNS the nr 1 spot, completely taken over my life in 2023 and I wouldn't want it any other way:

2- His pathetic, sad, troubled brother (I can fix him, I swear!):

3- My baby, my love, the sweetest character ever (who is alive and very well, forever):

4- I'm going to cheat a little here but I don't want to chose between these 3, they're like a package deal and they're family (honestly I know I was late to this party but TLK has been such a comfort show for me this year, they just make me very happy) so of course:

5- This one is a surprise to me as well but I was mesmerized by him in the movie and what can I say? I love myself a good villain:

6- Never thought I would relate to an actual doll but this was the best female character of the year hands down for me, never thought I'd be so affected and emotional over this movie:

7- I sort of lost connection to the MCU and the fandom but I did really enjoy the last season of Loki, I was going to pick Loki but then I thought of my favorite moments and lines in the show and I actually can't pick Loki but have to go with:

8- I don't know what it says about me that I relate to her but I can't get her out of mind after finishing the brilliant Fall of the house of Usher:

9- Because I have to:

No pressure tags: @sihtricfedaraaahvicius @arcielee @whitedarkmoonflower @talesofoldandnew @lovebittenbyevans @eltherevir @beautifulsweetschaos @fan-goddess @humanpurposes

[applejuiz]

i love michelle jones bc of u thank you for ur older fics.. shes so important to me

It means the world to me to get this ask while I’m on a trip dedicated to Michelle Jones, best character in the MCU.

There’s a reason that she remains my profile pic years on, because she truly is one of my favorite characters ever and has genuinely changed my life. I’ve been a Spider-Man fan since childhood, but had never really connected with Mary Jane, especially not when Gwen Stacy was an option (thank TASM and the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon.) I was in high school when Homecoming came out and it was a revelation seeing a character like her who was allowed to be such a weird girl and not wear make up and have her hair frizzy and be unapologetic in her intellect and values while also being insecure and awkward and growing, all without judgement from the story. It felt like I’d been waiting for a character like her my whole life and knowing that not only was she all these things, but that also she would be the MCU’a MJ was iconic. When FFH didn’t change a thing about her to make her more palatable as a Love InterestTM, I was so relieved and overjoyed and inspired that there was room for stories about characters like that.

Writing about her was the easiest thing I’ve ever done, her avoidant attachment style and emotional repression and dry dark humor were both uncomfortably relatable and deeply aspirational. Having so many people enjoy my fics about her was one of the first times I saw the impact of my writing and it genuinely changed my life.

She is my girl, now and forever <3<3<3

[xenokattz]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @htbthomas. Hi! How've you been?

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

52

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

616, 114

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has eaten my soul. But I also have works in X-Men comics & movieverse (Summers brothers, Gambit/Rogue), MCU Avengers (mostly Taserhawk but a few Captain Hill thrown in there for fun), and possibly my longest running faves, Clois, in all sorts of media.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?*

Investigations Into Interoffice Relations : Outsider POV Clois. Man of Steel (13,104 words)

The Pearl I Carry in My Heart : World-building, political drama Nashuri. Black Panther MCU (115,128 words)

Peace With a Faulty Heart : Gen/Family dynamics, minor Taserhawk. MCU (7,486 words)

I Would Like To Give You the Silver Branch : Atmospheric Clois. Man of Steel (4,697 words)

Dilated Eyes Shooting the Breeze : Dramedy Taserhawk. MCU (2,620 words)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I'm trying to be better at it but I did go through about 5 years of not writing so I never answered those comments. Right now I try to reply as soon as I post the next chapter of the same fic.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A very very very VERY old Gambit/Rogue fic that I would disavow except I believe in archiving everything even your shittiest piece of work.

Angstiest ending of a fic that I don't mind naming? Toss up between Because Thorns Have Roses, a X-Men Fox movieverse involving a time-travelling Gambit; or Polish Them Rockets, Swallow Those Pills an MCU Taserhawk break-up fic (which has a sequel that negates the angst).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics end happily. They just go through the wringer to get there.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think so? Unless there are some subtweet style comments out there that I'm not privy to.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeps. Yeppers. Absolutely yes. About half of my fics have smut. I can't write PWP though; all my porn has plot.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes. I wouldn't call them crazy by any means but I have 2 X-Men/Superman ones-- one where the Kents with a young Clark ended up adopting Scott Summers|Cyclops after his parents' plane crashes in their field. And another where FoxMovieverse Cyclops' ghost possesses Richard White from Man of Steel, just because James Marsden played both characters. Neither are on Ao3 at the moment. I should really post them there with FFN in its death throes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. I hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nopes.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have too many control issues to co-write anything.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I don't know if I have one favourite. I don't write them if I'm not utterly compelled by their chemistry.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

LeBeau, the third installation of my D'Ancanto series. It's not a even a WIP, really, more like a detailed outline but I don't know if I'm in that headspace any more. Even if I was, I remember thinking the outline needed such a major overhaul that I'd basically have to start all over again except the very last scene.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Possibly world-building? It's my favourite part anyway. Dialogue for certain characters.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm very verbose. That world-building thing. Also, sometimes I think I rush endings especially on the longer (> 50,000 word) fics

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends. Long conversations in another language, I just write in English with a comment somewhere in the beginning that it's in whatever language. Phrases or words that have no "English" translation, I'll put in said language with translations in the notes. Also, if the character tends to say those words/phrases in another language. I try my best to find a real person translator though I've started to learn a few languages trying to translate it myself.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Probably X-Men. Or the Anne of Green Gables books.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh my god! I don't have just one, it rotates a lot, and usually whichever one I'm working on is my fave. My current top 3 are:

The Pearl I Carry in My Heart : The world-building, political drama Nashuri I mentioned before

Cho Chang and the Jasmine Code : an HP fic about using magic based on other cultures not just Latin/Greek/British-based lore; specifically, Chinese magic which is based on calligraphy and music/tonality.

and, D'Ancanto : an gory whodunnit X-Men FoxMovieverse, post-X2, with Rogue/Marie D'Ancanto is a detective in the first police department where mutant cops solve crimes against or by other mutants.

Soft, no pressure tags to @pilesofpillows, @gaal-dornick, and anyone else who wants to play.

[dharmasharks]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @voylitscope, thank youuu 💙💙💙! I love reading everyone's answers because I am nosy as heck and you all are very interesting.

1.How many works do you have posted on ao3?

8.

2. What's your total ao3 wordcount?

129,639. I worked really hard to make time for all of 'em, so woop woop for passing 100k this year.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

My reading habits are all over the place but for writing it's still all stucky all the time.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The more things change (Wartime, E)

Lonesome no more (Wakanda, E)

You are here (Civil War, M)

In the deepest night (Pre-war, E)

Well-worn (Pre-war 5+1, T)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely. Probably with too much enthusiasm. Posting fic is not always my favorite, but I love talking about stucky in the comments, so it balances out. Sometimes it takes me forever if I'm on a writing roll or if I have to like, work and hang with my family and stuff.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I wouldn't call them unhappy endings by any means, but both of my most kudos'd fic have a little twist of pain there at the end, just by the nature of being canon compliant and by engaging with the tragedy looming around the edges of the story. Lonesome no more probably takes the cake, though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Till there were no more wolves in the West, my western/historical AU, has the most unequivocally happy ending I've ever written. The lows are low and the highs are high, I'd say.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no, because I'm sensitive and would probably flee to the woods. Why do this? Don't be mean!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

The big feelings, character study kind! But really, my top tags are Angst + Blow Jobs, so there you go. I like writing emotional sex in which closed off, lonely people get to (or have to!) be vulnerable and tender. I've also written non-explicit smut for You are here and Wolves in the West and like it very much, too.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't. Not to say that I wouldn't, there are just so many toys I still haven't played with yet in the MCU sandbox.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Jeez, I sure hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

The more things change has been translated into Russian, which is neat.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but that sounds really fun!

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

SteveBucky, Steve and Bucky, Bucky and Steve. I consume a lot of content and tip my hat appreciatively to a lot of ships, but I don't know, man. There's something about those guys. It has been years! They make me insane every day! What is that!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a pretty extensive graveyard on my gdrive and I'm pretty okay with that. If I've abandoned it, it's because it stopped being fun and if it stops being fun then it's time to work on something else. I do have a 1920s AU that I don't think I'll finish, but that's only because it morphed into something else that I like better.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterization, tension, emotions. I think I have a restrained style that works well for the kinds of quiet moments I like to write about.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Being the slowest of the slowpokes, ugh. But technically speaking, plotty stuff is hard. Dialogue also takes me a while. I think I've gotten a lot better, but sometimes I'll read something (stucky, obviously) with just the snappiest, most gut punchy exchanges and want to throw my computer out the window.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Oh gosh, that intimidates me. I've dropped one-word phrases here and there, but I only speak English fluently and would be so embarrassed if I used some google translate gibberish. (Although, apparently that's good enough for Marvel, so maybe my standards are too high.)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I had a semi-functional desktop computer in my room growing up that wasn't connected to the Internet, so the world will never know how much hurt/comfort Animorphs fic was happening in there. I also wrote a lot of original fiction for most of my young adult life. Stucky is the first fandom I ever posted stuff for, though.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Wolves in the West is my most favorite thing. I dug so deep on those characters and went so far out of my comfort zone. I quit and un-quit about 5 times. It's my favorite 'verse to hang out in when I'm washing dishes or bored in a meeting, which explains why I'm writing a porn-with-feelings addition...instead of the fic I'm supposed to be working on that has an actual deadline. (*sweats*)

Tagging in @hipsterdiva @dontcallmebree @xoxobuckybarnes @sparkagrace and anyone else who hasn't gone yet but wants to!

[seiya-starsniper]

10 fandoms/10 characters/10 tags

FUCK YEAH LET'S GO BLORBO LOVING HOURS

Tagged by the amazing @sans--seraph and @verminetroglodyte

Loki from MCU He is single-handedly responsible for my descent into madness with the MCU. None of my friends could get me to watch a single movie until the bestie one day said, "Hey you should come watch Thor with us, there's a character we think you'd like" and it was OVER after that.

The Corinthian from Sandman A lot of people probably think my favorite character must be Dream or Hob because of my ship but nope, it's The Corinthian. My beloved serial killing, eyeball eating, just needs a hug and some validation baby, I love you so. Also, it helps that he'd played by Boyd Holbrook, who I was OBSESSED with as a teen when he was a twinky model lmao.

Hawks from My Hero Academia I know Hawks is a pretty polarizing character in the fandom, and I think that's part of the reason why I love him so so much. He's technically one of the "good guys" as a hero yes, but he has done so many questionably things in the name of corrupt hero society. He's the type of character I'm not sure I'd like if he were a real person, but I think that's part of what makes him so interesting. Absolute sweetheart on the outside, but will gut you like a fish if he thinks it's for the greater good.

Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh MY OG BLORBO I LOVE YOU SO 💖💖💖 What else is there to say about this iconic boy? He's a dick. He's rich, screw the rules he has money. He's a meme. He is absolutely over the top and tries to insist he has no friends but he's been adopted by the heroes as a bestie. Love him forever.

Sara Lance from DCTV/Arrowverse I've GOTTA include my White Canary queen because she was my bisexual awakening. I had always known I had some attraction to women, and even had gone by pan for a little bit, but lord my attraction to women came alive with Sara. I may not longer care for Arrowverse, but Sara Lance will always have a special place in my heart.

Hiccup Haddock from How to Train Your Dragon Hiccup holds a special place in my heart for bucking the trend on traditional protagonists. He's a little weakling. People underestimate him. He doesn't always get things right! But he loves fiercely, he's determined, he's smart, and he believes the best in everyone. One of my favorite blorbos ever.

Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist Smarmy bastard with a heart of gold. He will go the distance to protect those he loves, and he's not afraid to burn people to a crisp to do it. He knows his weaknesses and tries to push past them anyways if he needs to protect someone he loves. Best boy, I love him so.

Harley Quinn from DC Comics Another important character in my bisexual development ahahha. I know Harley's kind of over saturated the market as a Strong Female Character but she's still so important to me for so many reasons. She came out on the other side of an abusive relationship. She's funny, she's silly, she loves life, no matter how many wrenches get thrown at her, literally and figuratively. And her relationship with Pam is SO IMPORTANT to me ahhhhhhhhh.

Jyn Erso from Rogue One Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I love her. She's a grump. She's a survivor. She's a tragic figure drawn into a war she never asked to be a part of and she dies for a cause that never knowing how important her impact truly was. I have read a million fix-it fics and AUs of her and the whole Rogue One crew and still love her to this day.

Q from James Bond (Daniel Craig Movies) My nerdy baby. He's so smart and so awkward and so endearing it hurts. I love him so. He has two cats and a mortgage. Bond takes too much advantage of his goodwill and Q lets him because he's in love a good friend.

Tagging: @rooftopwreck @virgo-dream @nygmobblepot-trash @lyriclorelei @gil212 @valeriianz @valiantstarlights @writing-for-life @two-hands-toward-the-sun @bazzybelle

[prince-of-elsinore]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

How many works do you have on ao3?

32. (Three are orphaned, all old fic; one spn fic is under anon)

What's your total ao3 word count?

627,118 words (I assume the anon fic is included in ao3 stats, and I added the orphans manually.) That's more than I expected, but it does stretch back to fic I started writing in 2011!

What fandoms do you write for?

Under my current pseud, Supernatural and The Outsiders. I have WIPs underway for both! I also have a languishing WIP for M*A*S*H* :( In the past I have written for the MCU, The Walking Dead, Hetalia, Teen Wolf, and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Ephemeron (MCU, Starker), 1,393 kudos; 2. With A Bit Of Spit And Luck (SPN, Wincest), 401 kudos; 3. Is It Tomorrow (Or Just the End of Time) (SPN, Wincest), 304 kudos; 4. Closing Night (SPN, Wincest), 222 kudos; 5. Baton Rouge (SPN, Wincest), 205 kudos It's no surprise to me that my one MCU fic and the only multi-chapter fic on this list, though forever unfinished, has far and away the most kudos, and that all top 5 fics are rated E. If we knock Ephemeron off the top spot and just look at fics under my current pseud, then 5th place would go to Some Starless Night (Love May Come an' Tap You on the Shoulder) (SPN, Wincest), 184 kudos (and rated M!)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I haven't always in the past, though I always liked engaging with readers, but ever since I returned to fic in 2020 when I started writing for spn I've made sure to on principal. Not always quickly, but eventually. I'm really so grateful to the small fraction of readers who leave comments so I want to express my gratitude that they took the time! I also love giving thoughtful responses to thoughtful comments. Sometimes readers have unique insights into my work!

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A lot of my fics have fairly bleak or bittersweet/mixed state endings (my favorite type!); of my current pseud fics, I'd say the bleakest is either Plano: Some Town Halfway In Between (SPN, John/Dean) or Road Risk (SPN, Wincest). If we're looking at all-time fics, the angst gets--uh, angstier: Ludovicus Caecus (APH, Germancest), based on Oedipus Rex, ends with Ludwig killing Gilbert, gouging out his own eyes, and carrying his brother's severed head around in a bag; and When the Dead Do Not Rest (APH, Germancest) ends with Ludwig keeping Gilbert's severed head in a chest. Although in that case he's sort of happy with the situation so maybe it doesn't count...

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Baton Rouge (SPN, Wincest) and Like They Talk About In Books (The Outsiders, Ponypop) are pretty equally happy, with both ending on a hopeful note for the new relationship and the characters finding a sense of belonging in each other's arms <3

Do you get hate on fics?

Not outright! The worst I've gotten have been a couple rude, entitled comments along the lines of "why don't you write what I want you to write." I soundly told them off.

Do you write smut?

Yes :) I'm very thankful to various spn fandom smut events (Salt Burn Porn, Bro-Bang, and more) for helping me get my freak back on.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not generally. I like to stay close to canon, for the most part. The only one I ever tried was my Teen Wolf/The Internship crossover Colors That Are Real, which used the fact that both starred Dylan O'Brien as the flimsy excuse for a twincest ship, lol

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Maybe more than one, I can't remember. I've definitely gotten several requests to translate, but idk how many of those people went through with it. The one I know of for sure is Ephemeron, which was translated at least partially into Chinese, and fully into Russian. I was actually really touched by what a robust following it had in Russian fandom. I used to go on the site and use google translate to read people's comments :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

gotta go with the one, the only, the ultimate, Wincest.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

That M*A*S*H* fic I mentioned. It's post-canon Beejhawk. I've considered posting the two chapters I have; they sort of work on their own.

What are your writing strengths?

Rhythm and tempo! Creating an atmosphere. Dialogue. Pacing. Voice.

What are your writing weaknesses?

For spn, I really rely on good betas to check my characterization. Canon is so sprawling and the characters change so much and are so essentially complex and contradictory; it really helps to have a trusted second set of eyes to say 'hmm I don't think Sam would do that in that way at this point in canon' or 'this sounds a little like early seasons Dean more than late seasons.' They also point out where language can sound more specific to the character, which doesn't always come easy with spn's lingo and references. But honestly my biggest weakness is consistency of output/motivation :(

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

To be avoided at all costs. And if it must be done, you better know what you're doing or at least do your damn homework and try to get a native speaker to check it over.

First fandom you wrote for?

Hetalia (APH) 😅

Favorite fic you've written?

Damn that's so hard haha. I think I'd have to go with Baton Rouge, but Plano: Some Town Halfway In Between is a close second. I'm also happy to report that my current WIPs, for spn and The Outsiders, may well become my new faves. I'm very excited about both projects!

Tagged by @buddyaldridges--Thank you for the tag! This was a fun restrospective! Tagging @nigeltde-fic, @flownwrong, @zmediaoutlet, @balefully, @nevergettingoverwincest and anyone who wants to do it!

[demontouched]

i'm slowly catching up on the mcu....

(thoughts and opinions of someone who is not, and probably will never be, a comic enthusiast, a film major, or cgi specialist below the cut.)

so. i have heard and read nothing but votriol for just about everything after end game. maybe it was the classic fandom progression where everything gets turned into a cesspool (either the fandom survives and becomes good again, or everything implodes and only incels and tarpits remain). i don't really know because i left fandom spaces for like 3 years, but that's a whole different story.

i dropped off after end game, i'm just barely catching up, so i don't know how a lot of everything else turned out. i've liked the multiverse movies i've seen so far (shang-chi, eternals, multiverse of madness, quantumania). they're not masterpieces, but they're good movies. (please remember that this is my opinion and i'm not an expert on anything except myself. the block button and i are best friends.)

despite starting the movie several times, i can never seem to finish wakanda forever. it just feels... sad. without chadwick boseman. don't get me wrong, the movie is interesting, and i love shuri and wakanda. it just doesn't feel right that chadwick isn't there. call it parasocial or whatever, but idk. when black panther first came out, it was compelling. i fell in love with the story of the mcu all over again, and this character specifically. call it parasocial or whatever. idk. i just can't finish the movie.

i really liked shang-chi, i thought it was an interesting movie and it was very pretty in the special effects/cgi department. i liked the story, and while i wasn't completely blown away by the lovie, i did enjoy it a lot. probably my current favorite of the post endgame movies.

eternals was... well, i didn't much care for it either way. it felt strange and lonely, but i think any movie would feel strange and lonely if it happens in a preexisting universe, and is effecting the whole globe, and yet only a certain set of super powered people show up to help.

multiverse of madness was interesting to me. we got to see two preestablished characters who have never interacted collide in a way that doesnt really happen in marvel movies. it wasn't a crossover of any sort (not like venom in no way home or deadpool's fourth wall references) but it was cool. i haven't seen wandavision (i'm television adversed for the most part, honestly. watching movies is like pulling teeth for me, and focusing on a tv show is worse. to me, the tv is for background noise so i don't go insane.) so i'm missing pieces of background for that, i'm sure. something something wanda wanted kids and so she'd destroy the world to have that or whatever. (i'll watch wandavision eventually) i sympathize with craving a life ripped away from you by circumstances out of your control, and i found myself in tears at that one scene, when the kids are terrified of her.

quantumania was a whole other thing. they're setting up the big bad of the arc. like they did with phase one. those little touches of thanos in the end credits, ths machinations of a monster much bigger than them. this is just a step up, a mulitversal problem rather than an in universe one. they did (*imo*) a great job taking this step through by including the slow build to it. the hints of the quantum in phase one movies has lended itself greatly to the build up of this phase.

quantunmania itself was mid. i didn't hate it, i didn't love it. it was interesting to see the probability storm. i think it says great deal about scott as a person that even when he is split into hundreds of millions of versions of himself, his focus will always be cassie. that's a dad if i've ever seen one. it was also an interesting read of hope, as well, that she came all together to help scott and even though the scotts all helped og scott, they only came together when hope arrived. (the metaphor was like a bright red circle in a youtube thumb nail.) also, i loved the ant mimicry in thay scene. and the ants! the ants were probably my favorite part.

end game was a unique film, with countless hours of work from a HUGE cast and crew put into it. blood, sweat, and tears went into that movie. it's a cgi wet dream. it tied up loose end after loose end, sweeping the plot bunnies together in a neat 3 hour long package. i could wax poetically about end game for 3 hours at least. anway. the point of all this is that these movies are fine. they're not end game levels, but i don't think anything will ever live up to end game. maybe i'm wrong, we shall see. maybe i'm stuck in the past. maybe i'm missing a humongous chunk of context bc i haven't been keeping up with the news surrounding marvel. idk. i'm gonna keep enjoying what i enjoy, and despite it's flaws, i do enjoy marvel.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

“Superhero movie fatigue” is the idea that, because of the recent oversaturation of the market with superhero movies combined with the increased interconnectivity of the stories and the push for elaborate narratives with movies serving as building blocks for franchises rather than standalone experiences, audiences are getting tired of superheroes and the genre is finally starting to show cracks and die off. This idea is incredibly flawed for a wide variety of reasons (Wakanda Forever’s success alone easily debunking it), but it’s kind of interesting seeing how opinions shifted towards these movies so quickly. Obviously the oversaturation thing is indisputable as the sheer volume of releases in the wake of Endgame can attest to, but when you’re releasing that much that quickly the weaker works are bound to stand out more. To really examine why people feel this way, one must single out the weakest link in the chain, and as far as critical and audience reactions go there is no weaker link than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

The Ant-Man movies have always been a bit divisive among audiences, but I’ve always maintained that they are the most overlooked and underappreciated films in the MCU. They are low-stakes, lighthearted heist films with strong focus on friendship and family while making full creative use of the title character’s abilities. While by no means the greatest superhero movies ever, they were a breath of fresh air in between the bigger, “save the world/universe” films other superheroes got and were carried by a likable cast spearheaded by the charming and hilarious Paul Rudd. Maybe it was hard to want to call these films your favorite , but they’re even harder to call the worst or even really that bad.

That changed with Quantumania. Critics were pretty mixed on this one, but audiences were scathing, comparing the film unfavorably to Spy Kids 3: Game Over and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl due to the cartoonishness of the CGI and the uncanny similarities shared between Mr. Electric from the latter film and this movie’s take on M.O.D.O.K. While the movie wasn’t some massive bomb, it was fighting an uphill battle from the moment of announcement and was losing handily with fans. Between this and Shazam: Fury of the Gods, people were proclaiming “superhero fatigue” was here to stay and Marvel was going down the drain… at least until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 played that Uno Reverse card and restored people’s hope.

So with the fickleness of audiences taken into account and the lack of water the “superhero fatigue” idea holds, I decided to take a look at Quantumania and see what the fuss was all about. I mean, come on, it’s just an Ant-Man movie, right? Is it really that bad, or is the fatigue real after all?

THE GOOD

I’m absolutely elated to report that my boy M.O.D.O.K. was done justice.

Yes, they did indeed yassify him to make his ultimate redemption easier to swallow (audiences aren’t nice enough to accept a really ugly person being heroic in the eyes of executives), but for me the core appeal of M.O.D.O.K. is how absolutely goofy he looks combined with being a legitimate threat, and this take on him mostly delivers on the latter while delivering the former in spades. As soon as he revealed his face for the first time, I completely lost my shit, and every time he appeared after I was pretty overjoyed.

It helps that this reimagined version is the completely serviceable but otherwise unremarkable villain Darren Cross from the first film rebuilt as a cyborg. While the writing and comedy aren’t doing him too many favors, giving him more diverse and unique powers as opposed to just being Ant-Man, but bad is a great and inspired move, and Corey Stoll is clearly having a lot of fun hamming it up as this goofy cyborg death machine. His ridiculous heroic sacrifice coupled with his delirious dying christening as an Avenger by a confused Scott really helps cement him as the best thing in this movie. Move over, Cap! We’ve got a new perfect ass in the Avengers!

As bad as the effects can be, which we’ll get to later, there are some really fun and unique designs for the alien beings inhabiting the Quantum Realm. And despite the film’s issues utilizing Scott’s powers (again, we’ll get to it later), there is a really cool sequence involving millions of Ant-Mans working together just like real ants.

And now I must unfortunately give props to Johnathan Majors, a real-life asshole who is regrettably a good actor. He takes the generic, cookie cutter doomsday villain dialogue this film affords him and injects so much menace and intensity into him that it honestly makes him seem better written then he is. His multiple variants even get a silly, comic booky mid credits scene with a whole stadium of whooping and cheering Kangs that manages to be cheesy in a good way (aside from how shitty the Scarlet Centurion looks).

THE BAD

Unfortunately, Kang runs into the same sort of problems that plagued Gorr in Love and Thunder, but it’s exacerbated by the fact he’s meant to be the next big bad of the MCU. The film wants to sell you that this Kang is an unstoppable badass who has wiped out innumerable timelines and slaughtered countless Avengers (including Thor, a god)… and yet he ends up getting killed by the combined efforts of a swarm of ants, a goofy floating head, and fucking Ant-Man of all heroes. It is genuinely baffling that they thought the best way to hype up their next Thanos was to have him lose to the goofy heist guy who talks to bugs. It’s like if Guardians of the Galaxy debuted Thanos by having him get his ass handed to him by Howard or Cosmo.

It doesn’t help that in spite of Majors elevating the writing with his performance, he suffers like Gorr did from inconsistent characterization. We are shown in flashback that despite being evil he does have honor and is willing to keep promises… and then a few scenes later he goes back on his word to return Scott’s daughter in exchange for help. It certainly does him no favors that when he’s not inconsistent, he’s a bit too mysterious for his own good, leading to it being hard to really grasp what his personality is beyond being a generic doomsday villain.

It’s not as if the writing does anyone else well, though. Scott is still charming as ever thanks to Paul Rudd, but he’s also shockingly unfunny here. Much of this can be chalked up to his entire supporting cast being written out of the movie save for his daughter and the Pym-Van Dyne family. You could see the foreshadowing to this in Endgame, with the ending featuring Scott, Hope, and Cassie together without a hint of the rest of the family, but it takes full force here with only Jimmy Woo popping in for a non-speaking cameo. The removal of at least 80% of what made Scott grounded and relatable being dropped does nothing but hamper him and lead to him feeling incredibly generic.

It doesn’t help the Pym-Van Dyne family all end up being a bunch of assholes, aside from Hank who is now a silly old dad obsessed with ants and leads an army of hyper-advanced socialist ants into battle against Kang, which might make him the most badass character in the movie. It’s understandable the others can’t measure up to anything that cool, but just how awful they are is still pretty egregious.

Hope is bland and mostly inoffensive, but I think that just makes her worse; Evangeline Lilly is an anti-vaxxer, and if you’re gonna be anti-vaxx you need to really bring your A-game for me to overlook your moral failings for the duration of a film (like Letitia Wright in Wakanda Forever). She didn’t even bring her J-game. Then there’s Janet. Janet is a fucking horrible person. All she does in this movie is offer vague foreshadowing, conceal the truth from her family whenever possible, and reveal she once fucked Bill Murray during his awful, pointless cameo. Michelle Pfeiffer’s talents are absolutely wasted in a role where she exists seemingly to dump exposition.

Finally, there’s Cassie. Emma Fuhrmann’s portrayal of the character was one of the most praised aspects of Endgame, with her giving a very believable and emotional take on the character as a teen. For reasons beyond my understanding, they recast her with Kathryn Newton, and I’ve gotta say she is not even remotely believable as Scott’s daughter. She’s easily the worst character in the movie, to the point you have to wonder what the point of the recast was. Did they want Cassie to suck?

Then there’s the Quantum Realm itself. Aside from some cool alien designs, the Quantum Realm is unbelievably boring and does nothing to allow our heroes to use their skills in fun ways. The fact it’s rendered in really unconvincing CGI like an early 2000s Robert Rodriguez kid’s movie does nothing to beat those Spy Kid allegations. At least with those movies the cheap CGI felt like part of the charm; coming from Disney, one of the most powerful studios on earth, it’s just unforgivable.

But what ultimately kills this movie is that it is a film designed for literally no one. The story feels like an AI was prompted to generate a Marvel script written by an MCU hater, as it has every cliche associated with a mediocre superhero movie on full display. You have abysmal special effects and costumes, terrible editing, awkward humor undermining drama, and an absurdly high-stakes plot, the hallmarks of any bad superhero movie, but even then it manages to fuck that up. As high as the stakes are in the plot considering it concerns the literal annihilation of multiple alternate timelines, there’s not really a sense of thrill or urgency at play here, for instance. And every single problem is compounded by the fact they chose Ant-Man as the lead.

What makes Ant-Man’s solo films work is the low stakes and fun supporting cast, and that’s all absent here. Everything there is to like about this character is excised so he can be inserted into a plot to prop up the next big villain, which as stated above the film also fails to do. No character really develops here, there’s no personal growth at all for Scott, and it just ends up feeling like someone mashing action figures together rather than any attempt at a coherent story.

And his powers are never used in creative ways either! It’s all shrink-grow-punch, with the alien world leaving no room for things like enlarging Thomas the Tank Engine or shrinking down buildings. Nothing about this film allows the hero to be utilized properly outside of one scene; you could replace Ant-Man with almost anyone, even Hawkeye, and it would make no difference at all because in reality this movie exists to debut Kang, nothing more and nothing less. The hero never mattered at all, and in the end it just shit all over a good character for nothing.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

This is, hands down, the worst film in the MCU.

Every other bad or divisive movie in the MCU at least has some semblance of understanding for story structure, even if they go about it in stupid ways. Thor: The Dark World furthered the relationship between Thor and Loki while still being part of a larger story; Love and Thunder at least told a self-contained story that exists on its own merits without tying in to some grand storyline; Black Widow at least developed its characters and made them feel like a believable if dysfunctional family; and Eternals is trying really damn hard, and has tons of fascinating ideas and concepts. Whatever you feel about these films, they at least have some grasp on how to tell a story, however tenuous a grasp it may be.

But Quantumania just doesn’t. It’s supposed to be an Ant-Man movie, but it doesn’t understand why people like the character. It wants to hype up Kang, but it doesn’t understand what’s needed to make him feel threatening. It wants to be an epic sci-Fi comedy adventure, but it’s not utilizing the right characters in the right locations to excel in any of these genres. And most of all, it’s trying to be an important and major foot forward for the MCU, but it’s structured in a way that is generic and, most damningly, pointless. It does not feel like this movie matters at all aside from a mid-credits scene, which wouldn’t be an issue if this film wasn’t so desperately trying to feel important. It says a lot about how hard this film failed when the audiences responded more warmly to a Black Panther movie with no Chadwick Boseman than to the film introducing the overarching big bad of the next few years worth of films and shows.

It’s not even just that this is a bad movie, though; it’s also boring. I actually fell asleep for a minute while watching this because there was nothing engaging. These aren’t the characters I cared about in previous films, there’s no emotional grounding at all. If Corey Stoll’s giant goofy head isn’t onscreen, what is there to give a shit about? Why not close my eyes and dream of something better?

The fact this film is above a 5 boggles my mind. How is this rated higher than She-Hulk? How does this have the same rating as Ms. Marvel? In my eyes this movie deserves a 2, max, and that one extra star is entirely because of M.O.D.O.K. I couldn’t even recommend this in a “turn off your brain” kind of way because it’s not fun or exciting enough to hold your attention even if you don’t think about it. It frankly disturbs me there is a growing coalition of people on Twitter trying to gaslight people into thinking this movie was good, because I genuinely can’t think of a single thing this film does well enough to justify watching it over almost anything else.

With all that said, does this prove that “superhero fatigue” is real? No. If anything, this film’s failure and the success and acclaim of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 prove the exact opposite. What we have is Bad Movie Fatigue. Audiences are sick and tired of sloppily-written, lazy, overindulgent CGI spectacles meant to advance decade-long storylines and sell toys. We want films with strong emotional cores, well-crafted stories, and characters we can relate to and empathize with. We want stuff like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, The Batman, The Suicide Squad, or Peacemaker, and we’re not gonna settle for procedurally-generated cookie cutter slop that feels like it was made by someone who hates the genre. We want good movies, and if we can’t have that at least make an entertaining and stylish mess like Multiverse of Madness.

Quantumania is Marvel hitting rock bottom, but you know what they say about hitting rock bottom: There’s nowhere to go but up. The final Guardians of the Galaxy proved there’s still hope for Marvel; let’s just pray they never make anything as pointless and forgettable as Quantumania ever again.