#ross is so annoying he's literally pierce and it would be so much better if he were gone

[maraczeks]

friends s2 thread

[pbandjesse]

Today was such a good day that my post is much later than normal because we were to busy having fun. Its rainy now and Im trying to wind down. But it is hard. Im just in a really good mood. 

I didnt sleep great last night. And I honestly woke up not feeling very good. I just felt sort of off centered. But I knew Jess was here, and shes an early riser. And with James waking up super early now Im sure he woke her up a bit. But even if I wasnt in the best space I knew I had to get up. We had lots of plans. 

And it was a great day. I got up and got dressed and tried my best to shake off the bad feelings. I took a dayquil and it helped by head but my belly was sort of weird all day. James made us biscuits and after I got dressed I had one of those and it was really good. I missed James's biscuits. 

I felt so stinking cute today. It was a really high self esteem day. And Jess looked so cute too! We were just adorable together. 

We had our breakfast and wasted a little time until it made sense to leave for Joanns. Jess decided to drive today because it was going to be rainy tomorrow so I will drive then. It was nice just being out with my best friend. 

First stop was Joanns for tye dye. I wanted to try this tye dye with black and Im hoping it doesnt overwhelm my other colors. But it was a lot of fun running around the store and finding sales for embroidery hoops and looking for the best dyes. We also just touched all the yarn and talked about projects and it was a good time. 

We had to waste enough time there that we werent waiting for Savers across the street to open. And we ended up taking just enough time and were over at the thrift store only a couple minutes after they opened and that was pretty cool. 

The big look for the day was something for me to tye dye. No luck at savers though. I was also looking for a basket for our bathroom that would fit on the ledge over our shower wall. No luck at savers either. But I did get some other great stuff. I got another skirt over all. One that actually fits me, as my other ones have gotten a little to small. I also got a button up dress I love. And some shirts for James. I also got a printed fleece and Im super excited about it because its thinner then my others but still very soft. I have been looking for a printed vintagey looking fleece but they are very in right now so its all expensive on ebay. But I found one in the men's pj section and Im super excited about it. 

It was funny though, when me and Jess were looking at dresses there were some workers there discussing the resale value of some dresses and it was super annoying to hear this person talk about what you can get something for. Stop pricing out thrift stores!! It is so obnoxious. The fun and the value in thrift stores is that you find gems for cheap. Stop pricing things based on labels!! Its such a pet peeve of mine. You got this stuff for free stop being shitty. 

But I still had a lot of fun, even if we have no self control when were together. We spent to much monies. But It was a good time. 

We went and got lunch next. With a pit stop to look at the ross to see if there was a tye dye able thing. No luck. We stopped for hair dye too since this color came out so nice, so I got a new one for next time. And then lunch. 

We got five guys. And we got our sandwiches with only good natured bullying from the cashier about our order. It was pretty funny. And I was just in a good mood. 

We had a car picnic. Talked about life. Listened to music. Complained about how our fries werent spicy.  And then we were off again. 

Next to the goodwill. Much better tye dye luck!! I found a creamy colored button down dress. And some things for Jess that Im just really excited to see what she does with. I found baskets!! The one was perfect but had no tag and I decided to take it to the cashier just so no one else would be disappointed. But then she was like. I can price this for you! And I looked at Jess like. What the fuck! Because I have literally been yelled at by cashiers at goodwill over tags!! This lady was amazing and I am so excited about it. So I got the perfect basket that is the perfect size for $4. Amazing. Incredible. So pleased. 

It was time to go home though. We got back here around 1. And had about an hour to put everything away. Take off tags. Take a breather. We sat on the bed and looked at a sustainable online shop together. And then it was time to get sweetP in his carrier to go to the follow up vet appointment. 

Which went fine. We got out there in one piece. We were a little early but they took him back and said it would be about a half hour and we could go to whole foods while we waited. 

So that is what we did. We got snacks for us and for James. I got 2 juices so I can have one tomorrow. Had a nice chat with the cashier about the cake we got. And then back to the vet. 

Sweetp did very good. Got all his tests and things. But again the bill was twice what I thought it was. So this whole thing has cost almost a grand and Im trying very hard no to be really upset. And just be happy I have a job and can deal with it. Its just. A lot. But I am glad sweetP will be okay. 

So we went home. And tried to keep the good energy flowing. 

We had out snack. Got sweetP treats too. And got to work figuring out tye dye. We watched some videos and made a plan. Jess was laughing at me when I brought out James's broken bike wheel to use as a drain rack over some bowels but it totally worked. I was a little bit of a director making a video well finish tomorrow. And it was just a blast. Like I said I made mine pretty dark. But I think it will come out cool. And if its to dark I will do the bleach dying over that and keep playing with it. It's all good. It was honestly just a blast doing this project together and Im excited to see what happens. 

Once we finished that we spent a few hours playing animal crossing next to each other. The snow is finally gone on our islands so we just worked on taking down the snow based things and moving stuff around. It was a lot of fun just being together. James made us pizza. And eventually I brought out the crayola crayons I brought from my parents and we went through them to find discontinued color names because Jess collects them and it was so much fun. We ended up find a resource that had all the 900+ colors and we started making lists and reading things and just sunk so much time into this silly fun project and I felt like I was in grad school researching again and it was so much fun. I just feel really happy. 

But we were all tired. James had been playing video games and music and spending some of the night with us. But they work such long days, so they are asleep next to me now. Love them so much. Trying very hard to write the correct pronouns, but its hard to rewire. I will keep trying because I love my James so much. 

We all decided it was bed time. Wind down time. I went and got a shower. Bumped my piercing pretty hard so now its bothering me. I tried on all my new clothes and Im so pleased. And now I am in bed and very sleepy. I hope I can just fall asleep easy and tomorrow I will feel great. 

We are going to a mall together. So weird. I hope its just a fun day and we finish our tye dye and we just feel happy. And I hope you do too! Goodnight my friends!! Be safe out there! 

[rather-impertinent]

Girl Next Door Chpt. 4

A/N: Hello friends! It’s been a fkn hot minute since I last wrote any fic, especially this one! I am now free from the clutches of university coursework and exams, and thought to celebrate by finally releasing this chapter! It’s a long one, hopefully it’s worth the wait! Thanks for all your patience, let me know what you all think, much love xo

“No. Rosina is a lovely girl, but I think she’d be lovely for someone else,” he said thoughtfully, a gentle smile on his face. Caroline’s intoxicated state meant that she could not smother a grin at this news. As Dwight fell asleep that night, he convinced himself that he had imagined her reaction. The door to his flat finally opened, he entered, immediately turned on the light and unbuttoned his coat. He was quickly followed by Caroline, whose white heel caught on the door frame. She swore and stumbled clumsily, before falling right into Dwight’s arms.

An utterly inebriated yet incredibly beautiful, young woman had just fallen into his arms, inside of his own flat, and Dwight didn’t know whether to thank the Lord or curse Him. She made no attempt to move and dangled limply.

“Caroline? You okay?”

She mumbled incoherently, and Dwight realised that she was probably blacking out. At first, he encouraged her to walk, but she complained in unintelligible groans about having sore feet and “fuzzy legs” so Dwight resorted to carrying her. She was ridiculously light, he discovered, barely weighing more than Julia after a Sunday roast.

He kicked open his bedroom door with the ball of his foot and entered sideways, holding Caroline securely, her mouth slack in sleep despite the short walk to the bedroom. Once inside the room, he pressed the light switch on with his nose and then gently placed Caroline onto the bed, careful not to wake her. He carefully removed her heeled shoes and put them on the floor beside the bed. With a slight smile and shake of the head at the now softly snoring girl on his bed, he covered her body with the navy duvet and left to fetch her a pint of water and some much-needed aspirin for the morning. He placed the tablets and water on the somewhat untidy table beside his bed before stealing one of his pillows and a pair of pyjama trousers to go sleep on the couch.

Caroline supposed that the light that shone on her face to rouse her from her dreams was that which people speak of when they die, such was the relentless throbbing in her head. She reached for the pint glass of water on the bedside table and popped two pills out the packet that had been placed beside it, hoping to relieve her horrific headache and the painful dryness of her throat. She shielded her mascara clogged eyes from the light flooding through a gap in the curtains, before it dawned on her that those were not her curtains, and this was not her flat. She panicked slightly before her nostrils caught a whiff of a familiar scent. She brought the dark duvet cover up to her nose and sniffed. Dwight. She was in Dwight’s flat. As she considered the implications of this, patchy memories from the previous night flooded back to her, and she groaned, knowing she likely made a complete twat of herself.

Before she had time to contemplate this further, she heard a soft tap at the door. She cleared her throat: “Yeah?”

“Morning. Are you awake?” Dwight’s voice sounded just as rough as her own.

Caroline thought the answer was obvious, but replied anyway, “yeah.”

“Mind if I come in?”

She gestured helplessly to herself, how could someone possibly be so polite? “It’s your room!”

Dwight came in then, smiling but looking a little worse for wear, like he’d just finished a gruelling night shift. He was huddling two steaming cups of tea as he sat down on the bed, quickly handing one to Caroline. “How are you feeling?” he asked, a little smile on his face as he examined her tired eyes. “I didn’t know how you liked your tea, so I just guessed.”

Caroline accepted the mug with an amused expression and brought it to her lips, hoping it would return her voice. “Well,” she began, still croaking slightly, “when I woke up I genuinely thought I had died and ended up in Hell.” She took another glug of her tea, which was made perfectly with two sugars and a small splash of milk.

They both winced as Dwight’s laugh pierced their sharp headaches. “Ah, your first vodka hangover. Brutal. Now, no doubt, you hate me!”

She chuckled and met his tired gaze. “Now, no doubt, I hate you.” It was curious, thought Dwight, that a declaration of hate had managed to suck all of the air from the room. They hid their smiles behind their respective cups before Caroline examined her mug in dismay. “This is the most boring mug I’ve ever seen; it’s literally just white. Don’t you have any fun ones?”

Dwight’s brows furrowed in confusion as he took in the genuine dissatisfaction on her face. “What? Why would I need to have a ‘fun mug’? You just drink coffee out of it! Besides, I rarely get a chance to drink coffee out of an actual mug for a start; it’s usually shitty paper cups from the hospital vending machine!”

She scoffed and pointed at the offending mug. “Oh, live a little, Dwight! It’s the simple things that make life count!”

He laughed in disbelief, “Says you – who probably grew up in some fancy mansion in the countryside somewhere and had more money than God!” Her mouth fell open, and Dwight’s eyes widened in panic. Shit. He’s offended her and ruined everything, and now she’ll never speak to him again and – his thoughts were halted by a pillow whacking him in the face, causing some of his tea to spill on his tartan pyjama trousers.

“Fuck off, Dwight!” Caroline laughed. “I don’t live there now, and I don’t really have any money at the moment,” Her chin was held aloft in defiance, “I was just trying to give you some friendly advice about your shit cups!” He returned her smirk at this. “I’d give you some of mine, but they’re all of pugs… Oh, shit! My keys!” She whined, covering her face with her hand. “Ugh, I’ll have to go to the pub and get them, wearing the same clothes as last night and smelling like a fucking distillery, oh my G–“

A loud jingle in front of her face caused the end of her sentence to catch in her throat. “You have my keys?!” she exclaimed, an impressed smirk appearing on her face.

Dwight nodded and returned her smile, continuing to jingle the cluster of metal and pug keyrings. “Yep. I walked down to the pub earlier to get them, I know the owner really well. Besides, one of the disadvantages of being a doctor is that you don’t ever really manage to get much sleep, no matter how hungover and tired you are!” He chuckled, dropping the keys into her open hand.

“Thank you,” Caroline said sincerely, clasping her long fingers around the bundle of keys, meeting his gaze. She regarded him with amusement and raised an eyebrow in challenge at him, “I wonder how I could repay your noble deed, Dr Enys?”

“Maybe you could give me your phone number?” Oh, Christ. He did not just say that. Those words did not just come out of his mouth. He must still be dreaming; this is a nightmare. Or it’s true; alcohol kills the brain. All his brain cells must be dead for him to have blurted that out. What a twat. “Errr, I mean in case you ever lose your–“

She held up her hand, laughing at his lack of composure and the blush that coloured his cheeks. “Sure, why not?” she shrugged nonchalantly, while almost snatching his mobile out of his hand to enter her number. She entered it quickly and handed his phone back to him. “Test it to make sure I entered it right.” He nodded, thinking it was a smart idea – when really, she just wanted to have his number, too. Her phone lit up, displaying an unknown caller. “Great, it worked. I’ll just save your number, too.” She displayed her new contact ‘Dr Enys’ in confirmation.

He grinned and shook his head. He opened his mouth to ask her something when his phone rang so loudly it caused them both to jump. He noted the caller and excused himself without making any effort to vacate the room or even move off the bed.

“Morning,” he chirped.

“Afternoon, more like,” laughed Demelza. She cleared her throat overdramatically and waited. “So? Spill it.”

Dwight glanced involuntarily at Caroline, who pretended to text someone while he spoke on the phone. “What are you talking about?”

Demelza huffed impatiently. “What happened after the pub last night?” she drawled suggestively.

Again, he glanced at Caroline, hoping she couldn’t hear this. “Nothing.”

“Dwight! You better be kidding!” Demelza accused with a whine, and Dwight could hear Ross groan beside her on the couch.

“Give me the phone, love,” Dwight heard Ross instruct her. There was a moment’s pause. “Dwight, it’s Ross,” he croaked, his throat still burning from the near entire bottle of whisky he drank the previous night. “Listen, mate, do you actually mean to tell me you left the pub with not one but two beautiful women–“ Demelza slapped his bicep “–on your arm, and you didn’t even shag one of them?!”

“Yep,” he confirmed sardonically, slightly annoyed at their attempted interference in his sex life.

“Oh, for fuck sake,” Ross groaned, squishing his eyes together, “you were right, Dem: he likes her. He likes Caroline. That’s why he couldn’t shag Rosina. Why are you always right about these things?” Demelza’s excited shriek pierced Dwight’s ears, and she snatched the phone from her husband.

“I fucking knew it!” she gloated. “When did this start?”

Dwight looked at Caroline, who was staring absently at her phone, likely scrolling through social media, or so he hoped. “I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” he said through gritted teeth.

There was a moment of silence. “Why are you acting so weird? You normally tell me everything. Wait. Is– is she there right now? Cough once for yes and twice for no.” He coughed once. “Ooh, alright, we’ll continue this conversation another time,” she taunted, a smile colouring her tone, a tone that suggested that she would not forget to bring this up again. “Oh, by the way, tell Caroline I got her a job at the café.”

Dwight’s annoyance melted, and he smiled. “You did?! When?”

Ross linked his fingers through Demelza’s, and she giggled. “Yesterday, I texted John about 30 seconds after she asked for a glass of Moet. I like a girl with taste. Plus, I like her. She’s really funny, and lovely.”

“She is, isn’t she?” he agreed, before quickly clearing his throat. Demelza chuckled in victory. “Alright, I’ll tell her, thanks, Dem.” At this, Caroline’s head popped up from her phone, her face curious. “Bye!”

Caroline stared at Dwight as he placed his phone by her blanket feet. “Was that Demelza?” she asked innocently, knowing full well it was.

“Yeah, she says she got you a job at the café!”

Caroline spilt some of the tea on Dwight’s duvet as she happy-danced in celebration of her new job. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she tried to wipe it up with her hand, only spreading it further. 

“It’s OK, don’t worry about it. They’re due a wash anyways. Well done on the job! I’ll give you Dem’s number so you two can sort out a start date. What do you say we get you a celebratory breakfast that will simultaneously cure your hangover?”

Caroline shrugged. “Oh, Demelza already gave me her number last night. She’s so nice!” Dwight smiled in agreement. She sipped what remained of her tea, “What did you have in mind for breakfast?”

He stood up and placed his hand over his heart. “A waffle sandwich, the breakfast of champions,” he announced.

Caroline’s face contorted in disgust. “A waffle sandwich?”

Her expression caused Dwight’s face to fall. Thinking she must have misunderstood him, he elaborated: “Yeah. Like, potato waffles on a sandwich. It’s delicious. Have you never had one?”

Her laugh came out in a high-pitched tone. She threw the duvet cover off and gestured dramatically to her flawless, hourglass figure. “Does this look like the body of a woman who eats potatoes between slices of bread? I think I just gained half a stone thinking about it!”

Dwight managed not to allow his gaze to linger on her slender form. “Oh, come on. Did you not just tell me to live a little? You should take your own advice!”

Caroline narrowed her blue eyes at him and bit the inside of her cheek, considering the throbbing in her head. “You promise it will cure my hangover?”

“I promise,” he said, offering her his hand.

She took his offer of assistance and bent down to get her shoes. “Well, alright, then. But first I need to go home, shower and get changed. I should probably go pick up Horace from Mrs Figg, too. Can you wait half an hour?”

He could wait, and as soon as she left, he began to tidy his flat; washing the dishes and putting a small load of laundry on, tea-soaked bed covers included. Just as he was about to sit down, his phone pinged.

Caroline 12:11pm Hi! Sorry for taking ages, I had to sit down in the shower! Hangovers are the worst. I’m finally ready, but Horace is at my heels, is it okay if he comes too? X He’s really friendly. Plus, how can you say no to this little face? X

That was a cute little face, Dwight had to admit.

Dwight 12:11pm Of course Horace can come too x

Less than a minute later, she appeared at his door, wearing an oversized white woollen jumper and pink pug pyjama trousers while being draped in a fleece blanket. Horace growled at Dwight and stepped in front of Caroline.

Dwight laughed at her appearance and stepped aside to let her in, “You look comfy!”

“Oh, I am!” she confirmed with a grin as she entered.

He closed the door behind her and locked it. “What are those?” He asked, pointing to the bag of small, orange balls that dangled from her left hand.

She held them up and gave them a small shake. “They’re clearly oranges.”

He blinked slowly and let out a sigh, “I can see that but why?”

“Why not?” she asked, a tad indignant. “They have vitamin C and stuff, right? Plus, I need something to balance out all the carbs you’re forcing me to eat!”

“As a doctor, I can indeed confirm that oranges do have vitamin C.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, we may be hungover, but at least we won’t contract scurvy!”

Caroline groaned and swung the bag of tangerines at his side. “Oh, my God, stop! I can’t bear your terrible doctor jokes. If you don’t put a film on in the next ten seconds, Horace and I are leaving,” she teased, her nose aloft. Horace yapped in agreement, quite ready to leave right now, and continued to glare at the doctor man who had recently distracted his mum.

Dwight held his hands up in defeat. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. No more shit jokes! What do you want to watch?”

Caroline hummed as she considered this and sat herself down on the beige sofa. She swept her feet up before encouraging Horace to jump up and join her. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” she answered, almost automatically.

Dwight’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he placed his hand on his hips as he eyed the popular DVD boxset on the bookshelf. “The Goblet of Fire? Why?”

She looked at him as though the answer was obvious. “It’s the best one,” she announced with certainty, carefully smoothing Horace’s wrinkled brow.

He hung his head and shook it slowly, unable to process this information. “You’ve got to be kidding!” he insisted, “The Chamber of Secrets is the best. The Goblet of Fire isn’t even in my top 3!” The toaster pinged, signalling that the four potato waffles were at their peak crispiness.

Caroline glanced past Dwight and into the kitchen. “Well, then, why don’t you get my promised hangover cure and I’ll put The Goblet of Fire on and explain to you why you are wrong?” She batted her eyelids and smiled sweetly at him, and Dwight found himself doing her bidding.

“Are you always so demanding?” he called over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.

“I’m afraid so!” She called back, smiling, not in the least bit sorry.

As he busied himself in the kitchen buttering some slices of bread, Caroline noticed some piles of paper on the coffee table as she crossed the room to fetch the DVD off the shelf. She placed the disk into the side of the large TV – which hung on the wall – and made her way back to the sofa, where Horace remained seated, sulking.  Her curiosity getting the better of her, she pried at the documents on the table: several folders with titles she could barely understand, charts, graphs, something about insulin.

“Oh, sorry about all of that,” he said as he came back into the room, placing their sandwiches down on an uncovered part of the coffee table. “It’s for work; I’m going away on Friday.” He offered her a sandwich before gathering his notes and putting them to one side.

Her heart fluttered oddly at his announcement, and she accepted the proffered brunch with a degree of hesitation. “Away? Where?” She finally took a small bite, and then another, and another.

“Boston. I’m attending a medical conference; I’ll be there for about two weeks.” He had said so casually, negating to tell her that he was, in fact, a guest speaker on account of his pioneering research into type 2 diabetes.

Two weeks was a long time, she thought. “Impressive!” He couldn’t tell if she was genuinely impressed or mocking him. “But you’ll miss my first day in the café, when I win over the hearts of millions with my coffee making skills!” She continued to devour the carb-loaded sandwich, annoyed that she genuinely liked it.

Dwight observed this and chuckled in victory, not even feeling the need to comment. He reached for a tangerine on the table and flicked it up in the air with his wrist before catching it again. “Hm, yeah, I’m sorry. You’ll have to make me one when I get back.” He rested his feet on the table and settled back into the sofa, press play on the DVD remote.

Caroline smirked as she chewed her sandwich, “I’ll see if I can fit into my schedule.”

[junker-town]

Every Marvel Cinematic Universe villain, ranked from forgettable to iconic

Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for ReedPOP

From Malekith to Loki, we covered them all.

All week, we’re having a little fun and diving into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The MCU exists thanks to endless battles between our heroes and the villains that torment them. Some of the villains — hello, Vulture — are fantastic. They’re well-rounded, they have depth, and there seems to be a method to their madness.

Then there are the other villains. Their backgrounds aren’t particularly explained, you’re not entirely sure what they’re doing — looking intently at you, Malekith — and motivations seem weak at best.

As part of our Marvel Week, we took the 26 primary villains from the 23 MCU films and ranked them from 1-to-26. Warning: THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW, so act accordingly. Let’s get to it.

26. Ivan Vanko (Iron Man 2)

Be honest. The only thing you really remember about Ivan Vanko is when he said “I want my bird.”

25. Aldrich Killian/Maya Hansen (Iron Man 3)

This movie had far too many plots, and therefore far too many villains. There’s one point in the movie where it’s revealed that the Vice President is in on Killian’s plans, and then it’s not mentioned again. Surprise! Maya Hansen is actually bad. Surprise! The Mandarin is an actor! Surprise! The VP is in on it! I need this movie and its collection of villains to do a little less.

24. Zemo (Captain America: Civil War)

Zemo’s motivations are clear — he is driven by his rage and sadness over losing his family in Sokovia — but he’s little more than an accelerant to get the real conflict of the movie going between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.

23. Emil Blonsky/Abominable (The Incredible Hulk)

The only really nice thing that you can say about The Incredible Hulk is that the fight scene between Abominable and Hulk is pretty cool. Tim Roth is high key the best part of this movie.

22. Kaecilius (Doctor Strange)

Dormammu didn’t have enough screen time for him to be ranked here, but we do get Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius. The fight scenes are awesome, but I spent a lot of time wondering if he was going to start weeping blood.

21. Malekith (Thor: The Dark World)

Malekith? More like Male-kiss-my-ass, amirite? Sorry, trying to delete.

20. Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Red Skull is the most cartoon-like villain of the movies, but there’s still something about the first time he rips that Hugo Weaving face off. Also, being a Nazi gets you an automatic top-20 spot. This dude was evil.

19. Ava/Ghost (Ant-Man and the Wasp)

You could make the argument that “The Feds” are actually the villain in Ant-Man and The Wasp, but for our purposes we’re just going to go with Ghost. Ghost is visually a stunning villain as she phases in-and-out while simultaneously kicking serious ass. She’s not higher up on this list because she’s actually ... not a bad person and is instead trying to find a way to end her crippling pain.

18. Yon Rogg (Captain Marvel)

Wow, they really cast the MCU well. Jude Law is the perfect smarmy guy that you think is on your side til you realize that actually he’s a psycho and is trying to kill an entire group of people. Captain Marvel is more about the origin story for Carol Danvers and less about the villains, so not much to write home about with Yon Rogg.

17. Justin Hammer (Iron Man 2)

What a jerk. This guy just stinks. It doesn’t make him much more of a compelling villain, but he’s the perfect insecure guy that isn’t as smart or creative as his competitors. He brings on Ivan Vanko, gets him his bird, and basically lets a murderous mad man easily take over his whole fleet of replica Iron Man robots. His ambition coupled with the “I will literally do whatever to get that government contract” vibes moves him up this list a little.

16. Ultron (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

I might be alone in this, but I found Ultron far too boring to be a super compelling villain. He goes from zero to murderous in a matter of seemingly seconds, and he is really only saved by James Spader delivering a stellar performance with voice work. The movie actually gets better upon rewatch (especially after watching Infinity War and Endgame), but Ultron just doesn’t do it for me villain-wise. His motives felt rushed and under-explained, and there are far too many monologues.

15. Lieutenant General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (The Incredible Hulk)

Don’t be fooled. Lieutenant General “Thunderbolt” Ross is 100% the villain in The Incredible Hulk. On the annoying-but-not-that-bad end of the spectrum, he’s an overbearing dad trying to interfere with his adult daughter’s dating life. On the other end, he directs soldiers to open fire TWICE in areas infested with civilians. First, they have an open-field battle ON THE CAMPUS OF A COLLEGE. In the third act, when trying to track down Abomination (a creature he helped create, mind you), Ross has a helicopter — with his daughter on board — shoot at what appears to be an apartment building in Harlem. This man would not only NOT be the Secretary of State later (he makes a reappearance in Captain America: Civil War among other films), he would be in prison for war crimes.

And this dude tries to arrest the Captain America side for not signing the Sokovia Accords. This guy sucks.

14. Mandarin (Iron Man 3)

They really could have done so much more with The Mandarin, especially considering they got Sir Ben Kingsley to play the role. Kingsley is really the only thing that saves this performance, going from a cruel, murderous terrorist to gassy, beer swilling fool in a moment.

13. Supreme Intelligence (Captain Marvel)

ANNETTE BENING IN A BOMBER JACKET!!! Bening plays both Dr. Wendy Lawson and the artificial intelligence being that rules the Kree, but it’s her turn as the latter that gives us some pretty intense evil. Let Annette Bening play more sinister characters, imo.

12. Ronan (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Maybe it’s because I remember Lee Pace as Ned from the quaint 2007 TV drama Pushing Daisies, but I loved this performance of Ronan. He’s shadowy enough that you still get that air of mystery about him, but he’s also just straight-up a mad man.

11. Darren Cross/Yellow Jacket (Ant-Man)

This guy literally goes into the bathroom at work, melts Frank into a small glob of former human, then WIPES HIM UP WITH A TISSUE AND FLUSHES IT DOWN THE TOILET. The biggest of yikes.

10. Obadiah Stane (Iron Man)

Obadiah Stane wanted to run Stark Industries so badly he helped orchestrate a kidnapping of Tony. Some good came from that — namely the creation of Iron Man and all the tech that went with it — but Stane also did some super dastardly stuff. The betrayal of a guy that looked up to you after his father’s death is one thing, but all the war profiteering is just too much.

Oh, and him yelling at and firing William Riva (AKA Ralphie from A Christmas Story) for not being able replicate Stark’s arc reactor leads to Riva joining forces with Quentin Beck in Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s like a coaching tree of villains.

9. HYDRA/Alexander Pierce/Dr. Zola/Rumlow (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Those backslashes are doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and honestly this collection (HYDRA) could have been a little bit higher as they have a lot of tentacles (pun intended) in a lot of places. Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce is one of the best castings, and the “elevator scene” is perfection that somehow gets even better in Endgame.

8. Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

IT WASN’T BUCKY’S FAULT. Cap’s best friend in the whole wide world, Bucky Barnes, was somehow rescued after plummeting from a moving train, frozen, un-frozen, and brainwashed to become a brutal assassin. While Bucky is a hero, Winter Soldier is a war machine (no, not THAT War Machine) that even murdered Tony Stark’s parents. Big yikes.

7. Ego (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

The mystery around Peter Quill’s father spanned both Guardians of the Galaxy movies before we got Kurt Russell dramatically riding around on the top of a spaceship as Ego in Vol. 2. It doesn’t take long to realize something is super fishy, and that that something is Ego spreading his seed — literally — on multiple planets in the hopes of creating a part-god child to help him take over the universe. Quill turns out to be that offspring, but he is able to break Ego’s spell when Ego TELLS PETER HE GAVE HIS MOM CANCER. That’s messed up, man.

T5. Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Spider-Man: Far From Home)

T5. Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

I don’t know what it is, but the solo Spider-Man stories have gotten two of the best single-movie villains so far. Michael Keaton’s Toomes is perfection as the arms dealing, jet-pack wearing Vulture, but the added depth of him being the father of Peter Parker’s crush is fantastic. They manage to establish him as a guy with a somewhat relatable story (he’s just trying to make things work!), and the car scene between Keaton and Tom Holland is one of the best moments of the whole movie (and top-10 in the MCU).

Beck is low-key horrible. Anyone who tricks poor, sweet, grieving Peter Parker is on my shit list automatically, but Jake Gyllenhaal plays it so well. All Peter wants to do is tell MJ he has a crush on her, and he gets duped into fighting battles and handing over Tony Stark’s glasses. If that wasn’t enough, Beck literally shoves him in front of an oncoming train and leads to Spider-Man’s identity being leaked.

He does give us J.K. Simmons’s J. Jonah Jameson back, though. That’s a point in his favor.

4. Killmonger (Black Panther)

It was really difficult to rank these top eight or so villains. All of them have intense back stories or more character development than we got in the early movies of the series. Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of Eric Killmonger in Black Panther was fantastic, and delivered some of the most meme-able moments of a villain (IS THIS YOUR KING?!).

While the rage and hurt felt by Killmonger over his father’s death is understandable, his actions as the movie’s antagonist are brutal.

This scene is so powerful:

3. Hela (Thor: Ragnarok)

The long-lost sister of Thor has some serious family issues. She’s absolutely ruthless, crushes Mjolnir (and therefore Thor’s spirits for a bit), and has an admittedly very cool wolf pet. Cate Blanchett knocks it out of the park with her portrayal. Hela is horrible and evil and also kind of badass, which shoots her up these rankings.

2. Loki (Thor/The Avengers)

Ah, the anti-hero. Loki is a pretty terrible dude most of the time, but he has his moments of actually doing the right thing. He’s petty, jealous, and the most untrustworthy person in the MCU. In Thor, he tries to kill his brother several times. In The Avengers, there’s the whole opening a portal in the sky to let the Chitauri in to kill a bunch of people and destroy half of New York thing. Oh, and don’t forget about when he faked his death, pretended to be Odin, and was content to hang out on Sakkar with the Grandmaster without helping Thor escape the gladiator-esque games.

1. Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame)

We get glimpses of Thanos’s lilac tinge in a handful of the MCU movies, but he’s clearly the pièce de résistance of the culmination of Phase Three with Infinity War and Endgame. Josh Brolin plays the genocidal maniac perfectly, even leaving some viewers after Infinity War saying, “you know, Thanos might have a point about how we’re destroying the planet.” He’s willing to kill billions of people on countless planets to get a little peace and quiet, and is the reason we lose a lot of characters we really care about.

Thanos gets the benefit of a multi-movie arc to explain the full extent of his cruelty, ambition, and willingness to do anything (including kill his own daughter) to achieve his goals.