#they get to go on a government destroying spree

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 56

Hear me out: Au where GIW took Vlad while he was in the hospital or close to it. They learned about the ecto-contamination, how somehow he was still alive, continuing to live even while his temperature fluctuated between extremes that should kill a person, that should be impossible. So they sweep in- wipe all files on the man, and slip away. Of course this means that Vlad never becomes Plasmius, his Obsession never gets to form around Maddie It’s Freedom he just wants to be free, to see the sun one last time nor does he become an antagonist. In fact, he has no idea about what his old college friends are up to, nevermind the existence of their children. But that doesn’t stop Danny from becoming a Halfa himself. 

Ultimate Enemy came into being from Danny getting captured and also tested on, to where he nearly shattered. He lost everything, he just wanted to be left alone, but they wouldn’t stop, and well, they have two specimens now, they don’t need the first now, do they? Dan is still a fusion of sorts, of a Danny who ate Vlad’s ghost. But he didn’t have a choice. Vlad was already splintering, was already dying, and they both agreed that the GIW couldn’t get a Core, that it would be catastrophic. And maybe, just maybe, with the power boost Dan could escape, do something. But that core? That grieving, broken core that Hates just as much as Dan does, it doesn’t just raise his power. 

Danny, he learns all of this. Looks into the eyes of a him who has lost everything, not just once, but thrice, and has an epiphany. He’s not the only one, not the only halfa, and it’s earlier in the timeline, all this not come to pass and…

“We can save him this time.” 

Bonus DCxDP crossover on if they flee to Gotham or Bludhaven- a heavily traumatized Dan, a visibly sick and injured Vlad, a worried Danny, and a new clone they manage to stabilize along the way while breaking Vlad out of that hellhole. Or maybe they did a half blind dimension hop with wishing for somewhere safe to hide where they could actually get help. 

[phantoms-world-and-more]

There are a series of mass murder going on. Most of them are government agents with 3 other casualties whose only relation is that they were the ones that brought the topic up to the light. After a series of leads and investigations, they happened upon a castle in the land of the dead. In it was not a ghost king but a human woman wearing a powerful artifact where she draws her power and calls herself Queen. Somehow, she overpowered the previous king with said power and turned her personal vendetta into a revenge spree. They fought her. If they can destroy the artifact then they would have the upper hand.

After a series of struggles, Jazz managed to save her brother. But he is so heavily injured that he retreated to his core. Jazz keeps him close to protect him and moves to the ghost zone to heal better in ambient ectoplasm. But the zone still need their king, especially now that he is injured and causing mass panic in his absence. So she took over as the rightful placeholder as Queen regent and redirected their vengeance to those who hurt her brother. His people. She needs to make sure the earth is safe enough for him to wonder and not fear getting caught. She only draws Danny's powers for emergencies, and in the zone where Danny is loved by his people, it doesn't happen at all, so he gets to heal. But this people who calls themselves heroes, who was not there for her brother, for Amity, who don't understand that they are facing their consequences and she's too afraid to trust enough to tell them, threatens to destroy her brother. After all that she's been through to protect him. She would do many more.

Bad ending: they manage to grab and destroy the artifact, causing a number of them to victory cheer, only to stop after hearing a devastating scream of the queen. Crying and collecting the artifact slowly turning to dust. Some thought she was devastated to lose her super OP powers but to others. They know that scream. And begins to think "ohh, they fucked up"

Good ending: uhhh, idk. Haven't thought that far

.

[ljh-writing-blog]

Batmom #1

     The first time you encountered the Batman, who you would later know as Bruce Wayne and your husband, is a day you would never forget.  Gotham’s Dark Knight had rescued you from a life of villainy and crime, your personal hero. It was the start of something beautiful you always said, although your relationship was anything but smooth in the beginning.

Past 

    You were a test subject of Jonathon Crane, he wanted to use fear toxin and psychological torture to awaken meta-genes in ordinary humans and you happened to be his most promising subject at the time. You remember volunteering for the program, they had framed it as test-trials for a new drug meant to strengthen immune systems and increase quality of life in exchange for a hefty payment dependent on how long you stayed in the program. After two years living in shitty motels and alleys you jumped on the offer. Anything was better than petty theft, eating from garbage cans, and sleeping in corrupt homeless shelters.

     Living in Gotham wasn’t kind, after your apartment and all your belongings had been destroyed when the Joker decided to go on a bombing spree you had no choice but to turn to the streets at 20 years old. Gotham’s Mayor and city officials had promised their citizens they would be rehomed and cared for, in reality the displaced apartment renters received a check for a hundred dollars worth of groceries and a two day stay at any hotel in the city. You gave your hotel and grocery voucher to your neighbor with two small children and an elderly mother to care for, she needed it more than you by far. Recuperating after that was nearly impossible. Anyone who said homeless people should just get a job was a damn fool, it wasn’t nearly as easy as it seemed when nice clothing and access to a shower was in scarce supply. The city had failed it’s people and it wouldn’t be the first time it failed Y/N. 

     In the beginning there was sixteen of you, an even split between the men and women. Some of them you recognized, like the two girls who worked the corner of your “street” night and day. There was a third usually with them but she had been murdered two weeks ago. The cops suspected an overdose but the streets knew, they talked and whispered in the night. She had been killed by a client, dumped in the alley that Y/N usually stayed in. That night had been awful, she had been the one to inform them of their friend’s death. She assumed her death had been a wake up call for the women, it had been for herself. She needed to get off the streets before she was just a girl in an alley, taken advantage of and left for dead. There was a few homeless men you recognize from nights spent around dumpster fires and sharing the days spoils. The rest were strangers and she found herself wondering what circumstances had brought them all together. 

     All the volunteers met at Gotham City Mall where you were given new clothes and bussed to a second location, halfway through your bus ride you were all instructed to put a blindfold on. A black cut of cloth had been given to each person, many of you were confused. Why couldn’t you see where you were going? You spoke up as several exchanged looks of fear, “Why can’t we see where we’re going? What’s going on?” You voiced the concerns easily felt throughout the bus, weary of the answer you would receive. What had you gotten yourself into? “The facility we’re going to is a top secret government owned building. This is standard precaution for any non personnel visiting the building.” A man towards the front answered, easing many fears. Not yours though, something felt wrong, you felt this man was lying. 

     Still, you led by example and put your blindfold on. When you had arrived and been shuffled into the building, your blindfolds being taken off, you were met with a stark white room. A scientist began speaking to you, explaining the trials you’d be going through and how you were to be separated. There would be one man and woman to a room, though when you were shown your “rooms” they looked much like a prison cell. They explained they wanted to study their, each man and woman’s, reactions to the opposite sex as they did their research. You started to  become suspicious as this was explained to you. Why would they need to study your reaction to other patients? You were supposed to be in trials for drugs related to strengthening the immune system, that should have nothing to do with other patients. In your head it made more sense for them to isolate all of you, what was going on? What was she about to be subjected to do? And worse, this had all been her doing. 

In the end, you were the only test subject to have survived the “trials” and torture. The trials, you had never been able to refer to your time in the facility as anything but torture and abuse. The scientists always else referred to them as trials, as if giving them any other name would make what they were doing even more sadistic and cruel. Subjecting you to different drugs like LSD, cocaine, Haloperidol, methamphetamines, and truth serum to expose your fears and use them against you. Sleep deprivation was one of their favorite forms of torture, it not only produced natural hallucinations but with the added fear toxin your hallucinations increased tenfold. After developing a dependency to certain drugs they forced you to consume they began to use withdrawal as a form of torture. 

     Your stay in the facility lasted three years, one year after your torture began your metagene that had previously lay dormant was activated. The scientists hypothesized that because of your mania and emotional displacement along with the fear toxin your metagene was influenced in a way that allowed you to manipulate the mind and the emotion fear. You felt all emotions but fear was much prominent, fear was the easiest to manipulate. Once your abilities manifested they began the brain washing. They knew you would never willingly submit to their commands with how much they had awakened your abilities so they began the brain washing. It was another year of  pharmacological torture before they were successful, you willingly began to do missions for Crane and his friends. You believed he had saved you from the streets and given you extraordinary powers, he had saved your life. Your third year stuck with Crane you commited crimes in the name of several villains, Jonathon gave you the alias the Scarlet Witch. Your powers manifested physically as a red energy, it behaved like a fog in a way: clouding the minds of your victims, manipulating their actions, and bringing their worst fears to the surface. 

     At 23 years old you were just a missing person’s report, a face lost to crime and a failing, corrupt police force. That was until Batman caught you, you were usually gone by the time he arrived to stop you. But this time you had faltered, you swore you recognized the faces you had been forced to mar with a bullet to the forehead. They had tried to speak to you before you killed them, to beg for their lives. But this was your mission, they were your mission. That had been the last mission you ever did for Jonathon Crane, the Batman took you into his custody that night. He delivered you to the Justice League. There you stayed while the League tried to find any information on how you had become this but all they had was a missing person’s report. 

     There they monitored your health and watched you go through withdrawal. It took Bruce three months to find the files that told the demise of Y/F/N Y/L/N. In that time you were diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia from the extended drug use you were subjected to. You gained weight, not so sickly looking anymore. You bonded with Diana, she was one of the few people who didn’t hide their faces from your. Somehow it made you feel more human, while you didn’t trust these people she trusted you enough to see the real her. You hadn’t been around someone so genuine in a long time. It took a year of physical and mental therapy for you to begin unlearning what had been brainwashed into you. In that time you grew closer to Batman. Somehow it seemed he understood what it was like to be unmade and made into something darker. That was the rough start to the beginning of your relationship. 

Present

You never expected to live the life you live now, a life in a mansion with too many kids to count and a husband who loves you unconditionally. A life with friends who she could rely on, some superpowered and some not. A butler who may as well be her father, oh how her young self would scoff at the idea of her life now. Bruce Wayne had given you so much and you only hoped one day you would repay the debt you owed him.

A/N: This is probably absolute shit but this is my idea for Batmom.Rn I’m just setting up backstory. I’ve always loved the idea of Scarlet Witch in the DCU because there’s so much backstory you could put in there. She (you) are still from Sokovia, her immigrant background is going to help tie in with Dick/Damian identity struggles. I also really wanted to do something with fear toxin because I feel Scarecrow is such an underrated villain. So here we have it, enjoy or don’t. I’d really appreciate feedback whether that’s likes/comments/reblogs. Thank you <3 

[thebibliomancer]

What If? Vol. 2 #3

What if Steve Rogers refused to give up being Captain America?

Okay that’s non-specific if you don’t know your Captains America.

A government commission on superheroes brought Cap in and declared that since the Captain America name and outfit were made by the government, they owned it. They owned him. And they wanted Cap taking orders directly from the government.

Cap refused to play ball and surrendered the outfit, the shield, and the codename and started going by the Captain instead.

The government made John Walker Captain America and he did a really bad job. Not helped by Red Skull having engineered the whole thing to tarnish Captain America’s reputation by replacing him with Some Jerk.

Steve confronted a spiraling John Walker and took over being Captain America again and the government put John Walker in a variant of the Captain outfit, making him US Agent. And a pain in the ass for the West Coast Avengers.

This What If? story instead has Steve refuse to surrender the Captain America name. In response, the commission tells all the soldiers in the Pentagon that Cap is actually a commie impersonator and to shoot him please.

A bit of an overreaction. But maybe not unrealistic.

I don’t know why “Featuring: Freedom Force!” is so prominent on the cover. They do feature in one scene, where they hassle the Avengers, trying to find where Cap is. But that’s it.

Were they so popular that they deserved this much hype?

The government gets Taskmaster to train Super-Patriot John Walker and some dudes with B’s on their cowls to hunt down Cap.

But they don’t have to try very hard because Captain America has Rick Jones organize a rally so he can argue his position to the American people.

Obviously, Super-Patriot shows up to punch Cap and friends a lot.

But then a Reagan ex machina happens.

President Reagan just shows up and presidential pardons Steve and declares he can be an independent Captain America while Super-Patriot will be the government’s personal patriotic mascot.

So we end up basically where we would have? Steve Rogers gets to be Captain America, John Walker works for the government.

Well, no.

Remember how Red Skull was manipulating this from behind the scenes?

He’s livid at Reagan ex machina and orders one of his agents to shoot Cap right then and there.

Reagan shrugs and asks John Walker to be the new Captain America.

John goes through his same breakdown in the same time span and kills a guy without Steve around to stop him. And like Batman always feared, murder is like potato chips.

The government tried to cover it up but Walker just kept killing until he got fired and arrested.

The Captain America identity got retired and Red Skull laughed his ass off having finally destroyed his nemesis.

My problem with this one is that the most interesting idea here is Steve Rogers dies, he’s not around to stop John Walker. And it happens near the end of the book.

The rest of the book is filled with Cap having an action sequence where he escapes the Pentagon after being branded a commie imposter. Freedom Force hassling the Avengers and Peter Henry Gyrich cracking down on the Avengers too. Cap gathering allies like Falcon, D-Man, Nomad, and Vagabond. A talk show where Reed Richards, Rick Jones, and the president of the VFW speak out in defense of Cap. A brief fight scene at the rally until President Reagan could just show up and resolve everything.

There’s a lot of Stuff that happens to fill the page count that doesn’t really mean anything because Red Skull flips the table.

Complaining that a thing isn’t a different thing is a type of criticism I try not to do. But…

In terms of this What If? and if the endpoint is dead Captain America and John Walker out of control…

The story should have started with Cap being killed in the Pentagon escape. Shot by a normal soldier or killed by Freedom Force since you’re so proud of having them involved for some reason.

Focus the issue on John Walker’s fall. That spree of violence he went on that the government tried to cover up.

Have the allies Cap gathered in this issue instead be the people that stepped up to confront Walker in Steve’s stead.

As it is, What If Steve Rogers had refused to give up being Captain America? manages to hit two different What If? indulgences at the same time.

In spite of a nail, everything ends up roughly following the same events anyway. And everything is worse forever.

[insane2madness]

Pspapspspspsps free pass to ramble about your husband,,, I want to know more about him

Thank you! So unfortunately Mako doesn't REALLY have a lot of Lore in Overwatch. The only things that have been shared are that he lives in Australia and the government uprooted him and several other people from their homes to build an Omnium (which is basically a factory to build robots (which are called Omnics in the Overwatch Universe) so, of course, this pissed Mako off so he started the Australian Liberation Front (ALF) to get their homes back but it ended up backfiring when the Omnium exploded and destroyed the home he was fighting to get back. That's when he turned into his “Roadhog” persona. We’ve got other bits of lore here and there. He’s a (former) Junker. He used to be one of the Junkerqueen’s enforcers, he used to be a part of a group called “The Wreckers” and he used to have a farm. Now he spends his days going on crime sprees with Junkrat!

[sjsmith56]

It Mattered - Part 22, From There To Here - Bucky Barnes One Shots

Summary: Set during the Blip, Steve Rogers meets with a man who has acquired many official HYDRA files on Bucky.

Length: 6K

Characters: Steve Rogers, named original male character Grant Allman.

Warnings: Grief, disgust with HYDRA, lack of trust in government, Steve missing Bucky.

Author notes: The subtitle on From There to Here is Bucky Barnes One Shots.  This part will not have Bucky actually in it, although he will be a topic of discussion.  It mostly takes place about a year after the snap of Thanos' fingers, which turned half the universe's population into dust..  For the purposes of this story that tenure will be referred to as the Decimation.  It is told from Steve Rogers point of view.

<<Part 21

🗂️

It had been almost a year since Thanos succeeded in dispensing with half the world's population.  Six months of disbelief, raw grief, and anger, especially at the remnants of the Avengers for our failure to stop the alien mass murderer, psychopath, sociopath, narcissist and any number of descriptors ascribed to him by the survivors of his purge.  It had been almost that long since I last spoke with Tony Stark, blamed by the latter for not being on the killer's home planet with him to deal with that evil presence, even though I was already leading the force against Thanos on Earth.  It was unfair; I knew that objectively, but I still felt the guilt, still had nightmares of seeing Bucky, Wanda, T'Challa and so many others disappear in front of me. 

One would think that with my early history of being a weakling that I would have adjusted better to losing that fight.  As if adjusting to the deaths of billions was easy.  It wasn't.  Not since I lost Bucky after he fell from the train had I been so angry about not being able to get drunk.   It would have been the bender of all time.  At least there were still a few Avengers alive; specifically Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and Rhodey.  We also had help from a couple of aliens; one of them a cyborg woman named Nebula who spent weeks alone on a space craft with Tony Stark, both of them trying to eke out their fuel and food to make it back to Earth.  They were rescued by a human hybrid who apparently knew Nick Fury back in the 1990s.  Captain Marvel is what we called her, but she started out as a fighter pilot on Earth by the name of Carol Danvers.  She rubbed some people the wrong way with her manner, but Rhodey said if she had been a fighter pilot, she came by that attitude honestly.  Her powers were incredible, and she confirmed the effect of the Snap and following decimation on planets outside of our solar system.  There was also a talking raccoon named Rocket who came to Wakanda with a walking, talking tree person, Groot, who sadly didn't make it.  Rocket and Nebula fixed their spacecraft, and we used it after we found Thanos hoping to take back the infinity gauntlet.  But the bastard had destroyed the stones, stopping us from undoing his deadly snap.  Thor lost it and killed Thanos outright.  We were beaten and had to go back to Earth with our tails between our legs to tell them there was no hope, no chance of fixing it.

But losing the confidence of Tony Stark hurt the most.  He'd had it, retreated from everything and everyone.  Calls were not returned or even accepted; his email addresses were all erased.  He became a ghost.  Thor retreated to New Asgard, drinking and eating away the pain of not killing Thanos the first time, in Wakanda.  Bruce retreated to Stark's remote lab in Mexico to find a way to combine the Hulk and himself but have them each in balance.  I hadn't heard if he made progress.  Clint went rogue after his family disappeared.  We'd heard rumours that he'd gone on a killing spree of criminals who survived the Snap, but the rumours were hard to confirm.  In Wakanda, both T'Challa and Shuri were lost.  So much loss everywhere.

I lived in New York City, figured that I might as well stay in a place I was familiar with, but it wasn't the same without the people.  There was a feeling of emptiness about it, a sadness that pervaded everything.  With the Avengers out of commission I had to do something to pass the time, so I began attending a support group for those of us ready to try and deal with our losses.  It helped and I became a counsellor for the organization that funded it.  Three afternoons and three nights per week, I led a group of ordinary people to talk about those we lost, the effect it had on us, and how we handled life now.  Turned out I was pretty good at it.  The supervisor said I was very empathetic but objective enough to handle the depression that most people were feeling, once they got past the anger.  Still, whenever someone lost it physically, my strength came in handy to subdue the individual calmly, with dignity, allowing them to get it out of their system without hurting anyone.  The rest of the time I boxed, I ran, and I sketched or painted.  I didn't date.  The only woman I even considered seeing before, Sharon, was lost to the Decimation.  I took it as a sign that maybe being celibate was how I was supposed to be.  Ma would have liked to see me become a priest, but I didn't believe anymore, not accepting that God would allow Thanos to do what he did and walk away from it.  So, I lived a boring life.  At least I did until a man approached me after one of my weekend sessions.

He was just an ordinary man, in his late 30s, maybe early 40s, light brown hair, brown eyes, 5 foot 8 inches or so, maybe 170 pounds, muscular.  Dressed well, he stuck his head in the door near the end of a Saturday afternoon session then waited in the hallway for me to be finished before coming in.  I was stacking the chairs as he approached.

"Steve Rogers?" he asked, extending his right hand to me which I shook.  In his left hand he was carrying a small leather case.  "Grant Allman.  I wonder if I could have a few minutes of your time."

"Were you interested in the counselling sessions?" I asked.  "You just missed this session although I have one Monday evening, starting at 7 pm."

"No, I'm okay," he said.  "I was already alone when it happened, so I didn't lose anyone.  This is about a mutual friend of ours, Bucky Barnes."

He had my attention.  "How did you know Bucky?" I asked.  "You realize he is one of the decimated."

Grant nodded soberly.  "It goes better with coffee and a donut," he said.  "My treat.  I think you may be interested in information I found out about him, about when HYDRA had him."

Now I really was interested.  As soon as I finished stacking the chairs, I grabbed my jacket and locked up.  Grant and I walked a couple of blocks, finding a coffee shop.  I ordered a black coffee and a glazed donut.  He asked for the same and paid for it, leaving the change from a $20 bill as a tip.  We sat at a table near a window. 

"I met Bucky when he was trying to get to Boston to buy passage on a cargo ship to Europe," he said immediately.  "It was just after he met with two old hippies and a teenager in Townsend.  He booked a motel room at the place I worked at.  I noticed some guys checking out his car and let him know.  Figured he was on the run, and they were up to no good so I offered to call some acquaintances who could lead them astray.  He gave me several thousand dollars to do it, which surprised the shit out of me."  He took a bite of his donut, and a drink of his coffee then studied me for a moment before continuing.  "I offered to buy his ticket for him, which is when I recognized him, we talked, and when he found out I was a veteran he opened up more about who he was."

He showed me his infantry tattoo on his left forearm to prove he was a veteran, and drank some of his coffee, waiting for my response.

"Did you help him just for the money?" I asked.

"At first, yeah," he admitted.  "I hadn't done so well after getting out of the military.  I had substance abuse issues, and the job was all I could get.  It was dead-end, minimum wage.  But the more I spoke to him the more I realized that he had been through infinitely worse, but he was still a good guy, a really good guy."

We both took another bite of our donuts and drank some more coffee.  So far, all Grant had told me was preamble.  He obviously had something more to tell me and I wondered if he wanted money before he told me.  I decided to cut to the quick.

"You run out of the money?" I asked.  "Is that what this is about?  You want more money to tell me something I likely already know?"

He smiled in a self-deprecating manner, but he didn't seem offended.

"No, I'm quite well off now," he said.  "I've been to rehab, and I've been clean for almost 5 years.  I have Bucky to thank for that.  He gave me something before I left him in the Port of Boston at the dock of a cargo ship.  He gave me the locations of a considerable number of HYDRA safe houses in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Because of his generosity in giving me that information I was able to come by a lot of cash, weapons, and a treasure house of unencrypted and unredacted HYDRA files on him.  Some of the files were also marked with SHIELD stamps.  So, the reason I came to see you was to see if you wanted them ... for free.  It's the least I can do for the guy who literally saved my life."

"But he's dead," I replied bluntly.  "It would all be moot, now."

"Yes, and no," said Grant, leaning forward.  "I also found something mentioning the woman who founded SHIELD."

"Peggy Carter?" I asked.  "There's a file on her?"

"Oh yeah," he said, "but I want you to see all of it because at the least you can clear Bucky's record.  He was a victim and people should go to jail for what they did to him.  Some of them should be shot."

He stopped talking then, his face set in a hard look.  Opening his leather case, he gave me a file folder.  I opened it and closed it immediately, so disturbing was the image.  Then I opened it again, seeing an actual picture of Bucky in some sort of machine that was obviously torturing him.  What was even worse was that the picture was taken at the same moment sutures in his amputated arm burst, spurting blood everywhere.  The next few images showed him in surgery, repairing the damage caused by whatever that machine did to him.  He looked dead by the time they finished.  I stared at Grant, wondering what else he had.

"By the date stamp on it that was in January of 1945," he said grimly.  "There are notes at the end, written in German.  I had them professionally translated.  The machine was basically a conduit for electroconvulsive therapy, ECT, but done at such a high voltage that it would result in severe seizures, followed by memory loss.  From the medical experts I consulted about it the result would make the recipient very susceptible to suggestion.  With his arm injury still healing the accompanying rise in blood pressure burst the sutures on his arm, resulting in him almost bleeding out."

"Brainwashing," I said.  "They were brainwashing him and pushing his body to the limits to get it done."

Grant nodded grimly.  It was obvious he wasn't about the money anymore. 

"This is just the first file, the earliest one," he said.  "The fucking Nazis documented everything as if they were so proud of the torture they inflicted on him as part of their mad science experiment." 

He wanted justice for Bucky and I found myself liking Grant for that.  As we finished our coffees we made plans to meet up the following day.  Grant had an apartment in New York, giving me the address.  I agreed to come over at about 1 pm and begin to look through the rest of the paper files he had.  He left me with that first file, said that I should find a way to make sure no one ever went through that again.

At home I dropped that file on the coffee table in front of my couch.  While I made something to eat, I kept glancing at it, hating what was in it but knowing I had to read it through, to look at everything, to understand what they did to my friend.  After I ate I sat down and opened it, once again studying those disturbing images.  Then I began reading the translated notes and read how they did this to him, over and over and over again.  They had a transcript of what was said by Bucky and by anyone in that room with him.

At first Bucky would repeat the standard phrase all PoWs said to their captors: Barnes, James Buchanan, Sergeant, serial number 32557038.  It was all the enemy was entitled to as part of the Geneva Convention, as if HYDRA ever honoured those rules.  Then the command would be given for the machine to be turned on.  My lips curled and I could feel the bile in my throat as I read through the multiple repetitions of that torture and each instance after.  He fought them.  God help me, when he told me in the quinjet that he fought them I envisioned him fighting physically but he couldn't even do that, being so injured and then restrained on that gurney.  All he could do was endure the torture then fight them with his persistence and his very soul.  Looking back it was obvious when I found him in Austria at that factory, that they had started the process there, with the serum injections and the memory wipes.  He never said a word about it, was probably ashamed that I would think he had given himself up to the enemy.

"Buck, you should have told me," I whispered to myself.  "I would never have put you into danger like I did." 

He was probably already halfway to being a super soldier when I rescued him.  It's why he survived the fall off the train.  Whoever found him took him to HYDRA and they were only too eager to continue the process.  My transition was done in one long moment of simultaneous multiple injections and a burst of Vita Ray radiation.  Bucky's was spread through weeks, perhaps years of injections of the serum, in between the sessions on the ECT machine, all while still being seriously injured.  The realization of the torture he went through hit me and I cried for him, for what the best man I ever knew went through, alone and without hope of rescue.  Wiping my eyes and blowing my nose I finished reading that damn file.  Although I barely slept that night, I knew that I owed it to Bucky to read the rest and find out exactly what HYDRA did to him.

I arrived early at Grant's apartment.  He wasn't surprised to see the look on my face either.  I imagine he had a similar one on his face when he began accumulating the evidence.  Everything he found were stored in file boxes, marked with the days, months, and years they referred to.  He brought us both a coffee and sat next to me.

"Before you ask, the money that I found in the safe houses has made me well off," he said.  "I'll admit that.  But I promised Bucky I would do good with it, and I have.  After I got clean, I began sponsoring other vets with substance abuse issues to get into rehab.  I invested some, that's what paid for this apartment and my lifestyle, which isn't flashy, but I do alright.  I went back to school, and I offer my services to people who need help, either with a person, or a problem, or a situation.  Officially I'm a private investigator.  Unofficially I rescue people in trouble.  I don't kill.  Bucky was emphatic that he was done with that, so I've kept that up as my mantra.  Every once in a while, I find someone who is named in these files and if they are HYDRA, I turn them in.  If they were victims of HYDRA, I help them."

He turned to me, trying to gauge my reaction and I felt I should respond.  "I'm glad to hear it," I said sincerely.  "Bucky never did like bullies.  It's how we met.  He was like my big brother and when I found out he was still alive I knew I had to help him."

"There's another thing you should know," said Grant.  "These files have taken me since 2014 to accumulate.  They were scattered around all the safe houses, in no particular order.  Maybe the people who put them there didn't want everything in one place.  I know Bucky kept the list of European safe houses with him when he left.  But I don't think he ever used it because I got word of someone trying to sell HYDRA files of him on the black market and that didn't sound like Bucky's style."

"There was a con man," I answered.  "After Bucky got to Italy.  He must have recognized Bucky and used his knowledge to trick him out of most of his cash and the list of European safe houses.  That person might have sold some of the files to the CIA because they knew Bucky was in Bucharest in 2016.  I saw the file myself.  Bucky told me he ended up helping some Roma people, and they helped him in return.  They got him to Romania, found him a little flat, and helped him find work.  It gave him the time to get a lot of his memories back."

A small smile creased Grant's face.  "Roma, huh?" He shook his head.  "If they helped him that means he meant something to them.  They must have adopted him.  I have a Roma contact in New Jersey I can ask."

"Jovan?" I asked, remembering that name.  "Bucky mentioned a guy by that name being from New Jersey."

"Yeah," he replied, nodding his head.  "Damn he keeps his hands close to his vest.  I came to him about some information for one of my cases, and he never let on that he knew Bucky even though I mentioned finding information on him."

Something occurred to me just then, as it seemed too much of a coincidence to let go.  "Do you think he knew about Bucky's sister?" I asked.  "She lives in New Jersey, in a very nice senior's home."

"That's a very good question," answered Grant.  "If they did, they're probably watching out for her.  If they made him family, then she's family by extension.  I could check it out if you want.  What's her name?"

I told him and we began our session, going through the files of what had been done to Bucky.  The documentation was thorough, sickeningly so and I was ready to take a break when I read about the nurse who was shot in front of him because she gave him her name, Anya.  They put Bucky through the wringer after that, an endless stream of ECT, serum injections, and torture seemingly just for the hell of it. 

"They punished him for showing concern or empathy for people," I noted.

"Yeah, in fact, I only found one instance where they didn't, but it was an odd occurrence," he said, flipping through another box.  "This is from later that year, 1950, I think, after he was taken to Siberia.  His first metal arm has been attached and he awakens from some sort of anaesthetic, sees the metal hand and goes into a rage, trying to strangle an attendant.  They stun him repeatedly with cattle prods and there is a discussion of a failsafe word to disable him quickly.  There's talk about them realizing the serum is repairing the damage they've done to his brain, undoing all of their brainwashing.  A woman scientist, Dr. Eva Waslewski, recommends cryostorage, as it was her specialty.  She suggested it as a way to keep the brain from repairing itself too quickly and that using it judiciously would extend his lifespan, allowing them to bring him out only when needed."

"He thought that was so they didn't have to feed him so often," I said bluntly.  "Maybe that's how it ended up being used because he was pretty sure they wiped him before and after each session."

"What is most interesting is that Dr. Waslewski was the sister of the nurse, Anya," said Grant.  "It's not in the files but I did some research on my own.  They were both born in Poland, were conscripted into the German army, and assigned to HYDRA.  The doctor may have been a double agent, as she was seen speaking closely with Bucky, and treating him with kindness, something that was not allowed."

"You think she was working with SHIELD?" I asked. 

"If she was, she wasn't the only one," said Grant.  "Bucky was ordered to kill her, when she was betrayed by persons unknown.  He did so, quickly, cleanly, and after he gave her a tender kiss.  That was the only time on record he was not punished for showing mercy.  That account comes from another SHIELD agent, unnamed, who sent a report directly to Peggy Carter."  I wasn't expecting to hear that she was killed by Bucky or that Peggy knew about it.  But Grant seemed to have another thing to say.  "Eva and her sister Anya were raised by their maternal grandmother, a Roma, Kezia Pawlowski."  He shrugged.  "Another coincidence?  There are so many and they are buried deep in these files.  I don't know if Bucky were still alive, if he himself would remember as surely some of his memories are gone forever.  I do think you and I should go to New Jersey.  I would like to meet Bucky's sister and I would like you to meet Jovan Sakić.  Perhaps we can get some more answers."

It sounded like a good idea to me.  I hadn't seen Rebecca for a while, not since before I helped Bucky get to Wakanda.  We had a good visit at the time but I had the feeling she kept some things from me.  After that small break Grant and I went back to the files where we learned about the American super soldier who fought Bucky in Goyang in 1951.  An African American, he was referred to by ugly slur words, as nasty in German as they were in English.  They didn't even say his name but he apparently may have been sent to retrieve Bucky and bring him home.  Instead, the fight got out of hand and he tore Bucky's metal arm in two.  I remember him mentioning that when we came out of the Siberian facility and encountered T'Challa.  Bucky told him the arm that Tony shot off was a replacement arm.  I think he meant to tell me more but we didn't get around to it.  Grant jumped ahead and brought out another file, a SHIELD file that was apparently copied and sent to Peggy.  It identified the American soldier as Isaiah Bradley, then reported that he committed suicide in 1953, after being imprisoned on his return to the United States as his reward for defeating Bucky.

"That Dr. Zola had the fix in," said Grant.  "He was part of SHIELD as well as HYDRA and insisted on Bradley being kept against his will as a test subject because they didn't know why the serum worked so well on him but not so well on the others."  He made a disgusted sound.  "They were all African Americans and were told the serum injections were vitamins.  I tried to find his family, but I hit a dead end.  It's like anything about him went into a black hole."

That angered me.  We had our own issues with racism, having Gabe Jones as one of the Howling Commandos.  Bucky knew him from the 107th as they were captured together, along with Dum Dum Dugan.  Even with his language skills and communications know how, some of the powers that be didn't want him as part of our unit.  Said it would give his people the wrong idea.  His people ... humans just like me and the others on the team.  I wish I had known about Bradley as I would have gone in myself and got him out of whatever hell hole they were keeping him in. 

Before I crashed that Valkyrie aircraft, I knew the allies wanted Dr. Zola's know-how to continue on with Dr. Erskine's work.  I was against it all the way but was obviously overruled.  When Natasha and I found that electronic version of him in the computers in Camp LeHigh it made me sick to see how thoroughly he had infiltrated SHIELD, turning it into the errand boy of HYDRA.  I told this to Grant, as I was done keeping secrets.  He wasn't surprised having experienced some of the military mindset himself when he fought in Afghanistan.  His own experience of how it seemed that everyday their enemies changed as war lords changed allegiances like we change our socks sounded all too familiar.  It reminded me of what Bucky had said about the Vietnam War veterans he encountered in Townsend.  Wars and soldiers didn't really change but the soldiers always paid the price in the end.  With that we decided to call it a day and agreed to go to New Jersey during the week.  He would contact this Jovan Sakić person while I would contact Rebecca then we would go see both of them and try to get some more answers.

  As it turned out we didn't go to New Jersey that week or for some time after.  Grant called me to say that something came up but when I pressed him, he admitted that he wasn't even in the United States.  That's all he would say, other than he wanted to keep me, Rebecca, and the information he had already uncovered safe.  It was another two weeks after that call before he contacted me again to say we could meet.  I met him at his apartment and was shocked at his condition when he opened the door.  He held his hand up before I could say anything and beckoned me in, making a show of locking the door behind me.    Gesturing to a chair with the hand that wasn't covered in bandages and in a sling, he sat across from me and said nothing while I looked at the bruises that still covered his face.

"You've looked better," I finally said.

He smirked.  "I've felt better but they fared worse than me.  You know there are still pockets of HYDRA around.  Turns out there are some people in the CIA who are "helping" them stay hidden.  I contacted Jovan and asked him directly about Bucky Barnes.  Turns out we've been searching for the same thing, except his focus has been on Europe while mine has been North America.  He invited me to go with him to France because of a sighting of the man who conned Bucky out of the list of European safe houses.  You were right, he had been selling the information that he found to the CIA."

I wasn't surprised.  The CIA, known as the OSS during World War II, had a stake in Dr. Erskine's research.  Their people were witnesses to my transformation.  They were also witness to the removal of 12 vials of my blood after Dr. Erskine was killed.  Eleven of those vials disappeared into the bureaucracy of the American government.  One vial of blood disappeared with no trace, at least according to the SHIELD files that Natasha had released.  I always wondered if either the CIA or HYDRA ended up with it.

"We, that is Jovan, some of his associates, and me, found the guy living the high life in Provence," said Grant.  "His name was Leon Meier and he told the CIA about recommending Romania to Bucky, told them that he cut his hair and shaved his beard, that he was travelling on a German passport under the name Jakob Schmidt; he basically sold him out for money.  That's why when that Zemo guy pulled his stunt it messed up their plans to take Bucky back into the fold.  The CIA wanted him for themselves, to be their assassin."

Why was I not surprised?  How long had HYDRA used him, successfully, to kill their enemies?  It only made warped sense that the CIA was envious of their asset.  Once again, someone didn't see the man, they only saw the killing machine they could control.

"So what happened?" I asked, gesturing at Grant's injuries.  "Did he fight back?  Did the CIA try to come to his rescue?"

"Yes to both," replied Grant.  "You have to understand that the Roma were going to deal with Meier permanently.  They see Bucky as one of their own, because he stuck his neck out for not just a Roma family but a whole community.  He went up against the Russian mob for them and they knew enough about him to be properly scared if they stayed so he basically got peace for the whole Roma community in Zagreb.  That's where Jovan met him, after Bucky took multiple bullets in several encounters with the Russian mob before finally confronting the head man there.  He didn't kill anyone but he made it clear that he would, if he had to.  Jovan had been in the military here, went over to help the extended Roma family when Yugoslavia fell apart and stayed.  He drove Bucky to Bucharest, set him up in the apartment and made sure the Roma there watched out for him.  But the CIA was also watching and they were watching Meier's place in Provence.  They came at us as we were taking him elsewhere."

At this point I wasn't sure I wanted to know more.  Grant sensed that and didn't try to justify what the Roma were planning to do to the man who cheated Bucky.  Of more interest to me was that this Jovan had been searching for the same information Grant was, evidence of what was done to Bucky, or ... maybe it was evidence of what was done to Anya and Eva. 

"Was Jovan related to the two women in HYDRA?" I asked.  Grant shrugged slightly but nodded his head just as slightly.  Perhaps that meant that the Romani people feel related to all the others of their background no matter where they were from in the world.  "Did you find anything?"

"Yup," said Grant.  "But Jovan won't give it to us.  You know that a lot of Roma people were killed in concentration camps?  Because many of them weren't officially registered in the country of their birth there is no official count, but Holocaust experts estimate the number is between 250,000 and 500,000 victims.  The Waslewski sisters were Roma, but both were blond, fair haired, and their father was of Polish ancestry.  I think they may have been plants to find Roma who were being experimented on by HYDRA and found Bucky in the process.  With how quickly the brain washing wore off they would have learned quickly that he wasn't the killer HYDRA wanted him to be.  Jovan thinks that somehow, they were able to get word out to SHIELD that he was alive and being tortured into becoming the Fist of HYDRA."  He stopped as if he wasn't sure whether to go on.  "You'll have to talk to Jovan directly about what evidence he has from the sisters.  He knew about Bucky before he met him.  Of that I am certain.  They've been going after everyone who had a hand in the deaths of those Holocaust victims, and any other Roma victims of HYDRA since."

It sounded like the Roma had their own score to settle with the Nazis, HYDRA, and the CIA.  Couldn't say I blamed them.  A lot was at stake and Bucky's files were the proof of the spider web that had connected all of them.  On advice from Jovan the file boxes that Grant possessed had been moved to a secret location, in a storage facility owned by Roma.  Even though Jovan wouldn't give us his files he was willing to let us go and see them, and make copies of them.  He was doing the same with the files that Grant had accumulated.  I was to be brought into the fold, to be given the location and access to all of it.  I told Grant that in the two years between when Bucky and I fought on the helicarrier and when I found him again in Bucharest that Sam Wilson and I had filed official requests for all military, SHIELD, and CIA records on Bucky.  We received a lot, heavily redacted but still containing enough information to prove that Bucky was a PoW, abandoned through the efforts of HYDRA supporters within the military, SHIELD, and the CIA, in exchange for favours, and copies of the treatments being forced on him.  He shook his head in disgust.

"When you say favours do you mean assassinations?" he asked.

I nodded.  "Specifically a very famous one, of a sitting president."  I didn't say anything more but Grant's eyes grew large.

"Shit," he muttered.  "No wonder they wanted to find him.  That's one of the biggest conspiracy theories out there.  All of that to keep his existence a secret, to keep him bound to them, until they accomplished their goal."

"You don't know the final indignity," I said.  "Alexander Pierce was willing to let Bucky die when he sent him to the helicarrier to stop me.  Those helicarriers were to be used to take Bucky's place.  From space they could target anyone, anywhere, and kill them with a laser weapon.  They wouldn't need him anymore and they didn't care what happened to him.  When I destroyed them, they wanted him back because that's all they had left, other than mercenaries, and goons they had turned.  He had enough of his will return to realize he could never let them get control of him again.  That's why he went into hiding.  For two years he lived under the radar, working, not getting into trouble, not hurting anyone.  At least now he's out of all of it."

"Yeah, but they still want to keep the secrets about him," added Grant.  "We owe it to his memory not to let them get away with it."  He stuck his hand out to mine.  "Promise me, that we'll do this together.  We'll make copies of all of it and make sure it sees the light of day.  Bucky deserves that much.  So do Anya and Eva Waslewski, and the hundreds of thousands of Roma victims, hell, all of the victims of the Holocaust because I can't see HYDRA caring who they experimented on.  We won't let this get buried."

His words were true and I shook his hand.  Even though Bucky was dead there were still people bent on hiding the truth about what was done to him.  As his friends, fellow soldiers, and as decent men, Grant, myself, and Jovan, who I had yet to meet, were bound together in a pact to honour Bucky's memory by doing the right thing.  We would make sure history knew who James Buchanan Barnes really was, and how he was the victim of the world's largest conspiracy, one that spanned decades and involved thousands of willing participants.  It mattered, damn it, it mattered.

Part 23>>

Series Masterlist

[flowerchildwren]

Blog intro and Navigation

Hey there my name’s Wren and I’m a hobbyist digital artist. I primarily post OC art but I do post fan art occasionally (don’t get your hopes up). My art tends to feature a lot of saturated colors, I do my best to tag it but if you come across a post that isn’t tagged please let me know. Also as a general courtesy to your follows please tag it as well (I just use the tag “bright colors” without the quotes). My art currently focuses around my characters for my (to be posted) comic, SVR so prepare to see a lot of them.

I go on random reblog sprees where I reblog other's art that I like in newest section of certain tags, if you just want to look at my art I have my main art tag listed below

This blog is generally SFW but there is some gore/body horror/ blood and some of my characters have more revealing outfits, if that kinda stuff isn’t for you I wouldn’t stick around. I tag the first three things with a tw tag so if you want to filter them out make sure you put “tw gore”, “tw body horror” and “tw blood” in your filter list.

Check out my art! (Under the cut!)

My Art: What it says on the tin(post 2020)

Super V Redux: an (upcoming) webcomic about a group of college students navigating their lives as magical girls while trying to stop their world from being destroyed (a reboot/rewrite of Super V)

Super V: The original (and discontinued) Webcomic SVR is based on, featuring: old art, not very good character design, and an unfinished plot by time of starting, You can read it here it’s hosted on Webtoon

Penn’s Tome: A D&D inspired story featuring too much lore (I’ve yet to make a post explaining all of it oops), Mostly just snippets of character interaction and small pieces of story

After The End: Another Discontinued webtoon, you can read it here it is also on webtoon tho. The story is about a woman who sleeps through the entire apocalypse and wakes up with powers and begins aiding in a rebellion to take down an oppressive government. The story is unfinished and the art is old   

Unaffiliated OCs: character’s that don’t have a story behind them or do but it’s old enough that I don’t remember the original name/ it never got past the first or second art piece

References/Tutorials: that’s it that’s the tag (mainly tutorials to reference not pose based references)

The Horrors: okay it’s actually just my art pre-2020 (the first link in the list is post-2020) this is mostly here so I have a quick and easy way to get to it but if you want to look at the art i was making back then go ahead I guess

[dancing-to-architecture]

37 - Muse - Black Holes and Revelations (2006)

As Mellon Collie was to high school, this album was to college/post-college. I have some pretty distinct mentors of driving around Bloomington-Normal with this album cranked.

Here's hoping it doesn't also emotionally devastate me!

Take a Bow-

i believe in every single word of this song, unironically.

Incredibly violent things need to happen to every single one of the terrible people in power.

Starlight-

I will never understand the fear some people have of alien life, and i can day with zero hesitation that if they offered me a way off this rock, i would take it.

Supermassive Black Hole-

(Because the girl he's talking about really, REALLY sucks.)

Fun fact: a girl i was seeing at the time wanted to sing this one with me at karaoke.

That relationship didn't work out for a wonderful and complicated variety of terrible reasons with a whole cast of characters at fault.

...I didn't see the irony in her song choice for quite some time.

Map of the Problematique-

"I can't get it right since i met you"

Yeah, i already talked about the bad relationship this album is associated with in my brain, let's not belabor the point.

Soldier's Poem-

(If it's not scrawled in Sharpie on a latrine wall, is it REALLY a "soldier's poem"? Just saying.)

So, this album came out in 2006. The US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan ended with a spectacular plop in 2021, but even in 2006 anyone who was paying attention knew that we were just wasting lives, money, influence, and time on some horrible bullshit that George W only did to make his daddy smile.

I defy any soldier not to resonate with the lyrics, here.

"How could you send us so far away from home?

When you know damn well that this is wrong

-

There's no justice in this world

And there never was."

Invincible-

Please, please, let all of this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair. They may kill some of us, but they know that they can't kill all of us.

Question is: will you die on your feet, or on your knees?

Assassin-

Okay, see, i was worried about this album putting me down a bad mental rabbit hole regarding one of the worst breakups in my life, but I'm starting to think this album might actually be why I'm an anarchist.

I'm still eternally amazed that in a nation that has so many crazies and so many guns, we haven't had that many political assassinations, all things said and done.

I guess the right-wing psycho spree killers nowadays go after softer targets... like schools.

Exo-politics-

The recent drippings of military disclosure about UAP (unexplained aerial phenomena) still makes me feel like it's an op.

At the risk of sounding like a crazy myself, yeah, i would bet that there's stuff our government knows regarding alien life, but they have to sit on it because "releasing evidence that destroys the very concept of all organized human religions" might be a Bad Thing.

•City of Delusion-

"Destroy this city of delusion

And break these walls down

And i will avenge

And justify my reasons with your blood

You will not rest or settle for less

Until you guzzle and squander what's left

Do not deny

That you live and let die."

Eat. The. Rich.

•Hoodoo-

"I've had recurring nightmares that i was loved for who I am

And missed the opportunity to be a better man."

Yeah, i get that.

•Knights of Cydonia-

Honestly this one always just brings me back to one of the better party nights I can remember, me and a few buddies from college (two of whom are now openly living as trans women and ladies, i love you both and miss the hell out of ya) drinking and playing guitar hero 2 until we developed what we referred to as "the twisted claw" trying to get through this and Metallica's "One" on hard/expert.

Any other thing i might derive from this song is simply overwhelmed by that memory, though "Don't waste your time or time will waste you." is one hell of a great line and the video is incredible and should be watched.

•Glorious-

Wait, where did this come from? Knights was the last song on the album, wasn't it? Oh, it's on the Japanese release. Okay.

The guitar kicks ass on this one, the climbing chords just go on and on..

Has a big "there will be fighting, but i assure you, it will be worth it" vibe, but honestly i think Knights is the better album-closer.

Gotta say, it's pretty nice anticipating a swath of emotional trauma and instead ending this album fired up, ready to lace up my combat boots and kick the shit out of a fascist, while also pretty depressed that they called what's happening over fifteen years ago.

Favorite Track: Knights of Cydonia forever

Least Favorite Track: Supermassive Black Hole and all the bad feelings associated with it.

[fiendish-insanity-in-the-written]

@writingxthexsilence​ continued from X

The endless wait was feasting on his thin nerves. Jace’s forced himself to stay calm, collected, not making any wrong moves that could make this situation any worse than it already is,. But could it really be any worse? Helplessness, confusion and not knowing what was going on did not suit well the man with devil’s tattoo under that fine suit he borrowed. One that belonged to the lawyer that was giving everything in his power to gain some information about his clients, that were no where to be seen. 

Jace glared at the over-payed man as George’s nervous state doubled, making him turn and changing his approach to the agent behind the counter to a bit harsher, threatening him with legal actions that will follow if they don’t present them with his clients this instant. But with no effect.

Jace walked down the hall as far as the prying eyes of the detectives around him allowed. He felt like a sheep among the wolves. Not weak, but almost sniffed out and served to be devoured for his crimes. Blond man could not allow that to get to him, but his gut already felt like filled with led. For the last half an hour the climbing anxiety only grew like the weeds in the garden, destroying the calm state mercilessly.  Palms were getting sweaty, thoughts laced with panic he could not call his own, as he just have told a lie and prayed like fanatic between the church’s pews for forgiveness.

His feet stopped collecting steps as he pushed his hand in his pocket, dialing a number he tried not to before. No overthinking stopped him now, as busy fingers started to write up a text.

‘Hay, everything fine at your end? My ‘flu’ is acting up, and was wondering are you suffering the same symptoms.’ 

Innocent enough to escape any unwanted scan of the government radar. Jace hit the send button and shoved the phone back in his pocket, deciding against the idea of asking Emily about her brother’s job. They have just met, no matter the odd things happening, the woman owed Jace and Clare nothing, why would she risk herself and her brother’s safety to help a criminal and...well, by the looks of it, another freshly created criminal. Jace was running out of time. Last desperate look towards the seemingly useless lawyer, before the ground under him started shaking.

“What the fuck..”

No time was granted to him to even realize what was happening, nor to the others around him, when the main gate exploded with a thunderous sound. Glass shattered everywhere, pieces managing to cut into the unlucky ones standing near the door, wall collapsing like it was made of legos not firm brick. Jace’s body was blown away as if he weighed nothing at all, crashing him on some agent standing near him. 

Panic, yells, screams spread like wildfire through the space, as guns started rising to the cloud of dust. Jace jumped on his feet, searching for the gun hidden in his shirt...well..that was there usually, before he had to leave it behind to get the clearing to enter this damn place, that was now a battle ground.He could not even see the figure behind the waves of dust still rising, only a sooty silhouette...but whatever it was, it was not human. Or at least, not any more. The things that rushed from the mist of dust were something resembling Clare’s abilities, something not part of her but obeying her commands. Rain of bullets started towards the infected one, as Jace ducked down. 

This was not his first rodeo, far from his first messy situation with bullets flying left to right, as he saw this life-threatening occurrence as an opening to get to Clare. He rushed towards the hallways he remembered the interrogations was held, being there for one himself back at the day. People around him didn’t even notice him, as all either tried to get out or join the shooting spree at the creature that attacked.

 * * *

Darkness was supposed to be her ally. It always was, from the young age, in so many ways. Finally having the dreams turn to reality and the magical stories actually being true, drove her to grasp her inner strength by its tail, pulling it to the front lines of this event. The man’s physical strength was bigger than hers, and there was no surprise in that. He was a large man, a trained one to subdue the ‘guilty’ ones, the ‘dangerous.’ However, he was only a human. Or at least she thought so.His hissing to her ear made the splinters of her wrath to sink in to the only remaining control, as she was being swallowed into the jaws of unexplained pain caused by the mystery scar on her chest.Damn shadows swimming around him like sharks, but no bite.

 Clare’s veins popped out on her neck as she screamed her orders inside of herself, but they kept whispering in a still not familiar language and do nothing but climb on him, causing no damage. He took the advantage quickly enough, since the next thing she knew, she was losing ground under her feet, being thrown from his chest to the wall. She closed her eyes and awaited in that fatal second to hear her bones breaking, spine cracking and pain shooting through the barely any remaining non-hurting parts. But it never happened. The wall cracked as glass behind her, but not a scratch on her, not one sting...as if she just fell on the softest mattress. 

Confusion made her feel like a cornered animal, haunted down and losing the options where to escape or what to do. However, escaping was the last thing on her mind when she saw the man’s wide frame hovering above her. Something in the redhead cracked, making the coffin of her terrors to surface. It was only once that she was cornered in her past,one period, when she was indeed helpless to anything about it. Never again, that is what she promised herself. 

From the moment she left the house of horrors where her mother remained as her torturer, no one ever managed to lay a hand on her. And this man now presented the rage that was directed at her. His words rang in her ear. Mixing Lucian’s name in the already destructive hurricane of her emotions was the absolute hazardous move. Scenes of his doings and little games destroying her mind further banging at her sanity.But in the moment when his fist landed next to her head and almost made the wall crumble down, the last string was cut, and her eyes darkened. Clare snapped. He was infected as well. Search and destroy, only things left echoing through her mind. Sanity shutting down, mercy disappearing, as she could taste his desire to crush her down. 

“ No need to tell you, I’LL SHOW YOU!”

She screamed at the man, as all the darkness swirling around them rushed towards him, devouring every bit of his body. The whispers turned into shrieking that only she could hear, as the shadows swallowed the flesh and depraving it from light, but the body was intact. Clare’s rage blinding her. They refused to listen,,,they are again refusing to listen! She grabbed the man by the jaw, pulling it down as hard as she could just so he opens his mouth for a brief second that she needed, so the sooty thing can slip in. But it didn’t, it traveled around his lips quickly as its master growled in pure fury.

“YOU WILL OBEY ME!!”

The order this time did not came from within, but yet was screamed out loud. Clare took Lucian’s advice, unleashing the shadows to eat as they please, but not even a nibble. The dark things quivered, hesitating, hissing, as her eyes went dark.

“ I AM ORDERING YOU!!END HIM!!”

There was nothing left in her but the hate for the insolence of the things that she adored, the things people hated, the dark...she cradled the shadows like she would her own child, and now, they were turning against her...against themselves. Refusing to hurt a man that was about to finish her and with her, them. The  loathing of this level managed to poison the powers in that moment, as one shadow tore itself form the rest that did not want to attack their own, no matter did their master know it or not, and ‘bit’ the flesh of his lip. It would slip to his throat and stay there until he chokes, but hard push on its master and the lost of the focus was enough for the rest of the shadows to devour back the piece that lost it course. 

Clare’s lip opened in the same time Oscar’s did, blood coloring her shirt as the drops fell. Her body was slammed back to the wall but this time, she felt the hit all the way.

“STOP! CLARE STOP!!”

The voice of her friend did not manage to snap her from the fog of rage, as she returned her killer glare to the man bathing in shadows. Her busted lip like a mirror image of his, reaching above the peak of her confusion, as she tried to push Jace away, going back on Oscar. 

“Stop Clare, let him go!!”

He yelled his pleads, once again petrified with the abilities his friend possessed. Jace saw what she could do, but he never got used to the sight, and it was never as bad as this one. Fear rushing through his veins as he watched her empty glare. It was cold, heartless,..almost souless. Jace was horrified, but not because of the man almost being crushed by the untouchable forces, but before he saw his friend being one breath away from losing herself to the madness from which there was no return.  

Jace’s heart skipped beats, as he had a few seconds, no, not even that, he needed to act this instant if he wanted to save his friend from the point of no return. Jace turned swiftly, jumping on the man that had snakes of darkness covering his entire being. The same moment as his hand reached for the man, the darkness spread like wildfire to him, eating his body away. But unlike Oscar, the cuts started lining up on his arms, as the scarlet bloomed on the white surface of his shirt. Jace roared but did not let go, grabbing the man harder with all his might, as the shadows spread faster along his torso. He roared in pain as if he was drag down the road filled with thorns that tore his skin.

Only when the roar of agony coming from her friend filled the room did Clare managed to open her eyes fully. Image of Jace almost being completely devoured by her darkness made the air from her lungs to disappear, heart almost stopping, while she witnessed the malice of her powers. 

“STOP!”

Yelling in sheer horror, Clare’s order worked instantly unlike her previous ones, as the shapes of black evaporated in the thin air. Bloodied man remained holding the intact one, and before she could step forward, Jace moved, grabbing the gun strapped at the agent’s belt. Turning , he pushed Clare behind his back in the protective stand.

“We need to go, now.”

Shaken, he uttered as he tried to remain on his two feet. Cuts burning on his body but he did not give in. He gazed at the agent that had only one scratch on him, one on his lip. Jace stared in shock. Everything was overwhelming, he could not think straight nor did he know where to start. He only knew he needs to get his friend out....but this man saw her. He saw what she is. Jace swallowed, rising the gun, but before he pointed it towards him, in the corner of  his eye he noticed Clare’s face. The cut on her lip. It would be a complete other concern if the cut wasn’t the exact replica on the one the man had...even more so...he would maybe oversee that too if he just didn’t stare at the man that was completely intact by her shadows, while he was cut as if someone whipped his flesh for hours. 

“What is going on..”

[ulovemelightsout]

spoilers phantom of liberty *a randoms impression*

I like phantom of liberty a lot, but one of the endings were lacking in sense to me, does not make the story bad tho. I have a strong opinion over thinking a show, film, or game story doomed all bad because it didn't end how you wanted to. The story has a life of its own, and sometimes we grow so attached to a certain narrative that we limit our experiences, visions and often forget what the message is all about. I'm not saying we should just accept it for what it is. You can absolutely not agree with it, and that's how I feel about this dlc, still doesn't make it a less magnificent experience.

I understand the world cyberpunk show's us is one of tragedy before our very own eyes, full of heartbreak, deceiving, consumerism, and violence. We shouldn't expect fun and rainbows, there is always a knife twist here and there. I get that, but if you're going to do it, at least make it make sense.

In my first gameplay, I failed most of the time playing the 'bad guy' even when it fits the narrative. My first V was an ambitious Nomad that wanted to be a Night City legend, before the DLC my ending was bombing Arasaka and enjoying the few months left of my life getting to fulfil the dream. I helped many friends along the way, connected with them, they all wanted to see me get a cure, be well, some even risked their lives to help me get there. Why in the fresh dick motherfucking hell would it make sense to have an ending when i finally get to, at least, not die, they would just flip a thousand birds my way? What it surprises me the most was the Nomad's and Panam's reaction, by the way. I'm not even going to mention River's because I haven't digested that yet.

Are you serious?

Okay, I was gone, for TWO years not TWENTY because I was in a COMA. You have the option to call each friend/romantic interest and tell them about saving the president and that you might get the cure, so they KNEW. Suddenly you disappear, and they don't even try to reach you? Or even want to know why you're missing, after saying “hey V you are like family to us, we will never forget what you've done.” BE. FOR REAL WITH THIS.

By the way, my first choice was to help Songbird, but I wanted to try out the cure ending. I knew it would have a catch. It's very logical the government wouldn't get V the cure and leave it at that after that level of killing spree, we're talking about one person being able to bag government militia. It makes total sense to lose the very thing we wanted in exchange for continuing to live. The sacrifice and the strong meaning of that choice, losing Johnny, this alone would have make the right level of bittersweet, especially for a V that was highly ambitious, but they lost the tracks in the relationship department of things.

It makes no sense to me at this moment.

The last conversation with Johnny, I think it requires some level of affinity to get new types of dialogue, ok, but even the neutral ones are out of touch and in my opinion had a blurred tone of Johnny's alternative motives in "wanting V to live."

If i'm not mistaken, there is a scene in a motel room in Pacifica where Johnny talks about the war and how he stayed in that room for days thinking about his life and the friend he left behind that took a bullet in his place or something like that. He revels he wants to be that friend for you (granted that in a way he uses V for getting back at Arasaka anyway, so yeah, is just the truth that v is used throughout the whole game and even worse in the dlc.)

He blames you for not wanting to try the other options, clearly very mad that he is no longer able to get back at Arasaka before going for good and in my opinion that is a bad take in his character's arc. It destroys all the other emotional moments that showed his growth.

To be done with this, my take is: if you want to make a sad/bittersweet ending, fuck yeah, do it, i love those, but don't just throw things, we don't do that. We place them, we build them, we make'm make sense in this house.

[glapplebloom]

Man, it’s been a long time since I got to do this.

Death Battle Season 10 is here and I got four fights researched. The first being the Atom. Now I did not grow up with Atom or know a lot about him. The most I did was his DCAU appearance and that one bit from Linkara. So for this I read as many Atom related comics I could find and presented my argument. So let’s talk about the things I found out.

THE GUY PICKED UP A CHUNK OF WHITE DWARF STAR! Before any of the super hero stuff, he picked up a chunk of white dwarf star and carried it to his car. He’s also a black belt in Judo and an Olympic Level Gymnast... And this was all prior to being a superhero. Like that is just nuts!

You remember Linkara being upset that Ray Palmer tortured a guy by growing inside a guy’s head? Well, in the Sword of Atom series, he was okay with killing because he was in a war. And when they all were taken away from him, he still had those violent tendencies. Like I found two creepy pictures that made me go “that’s the face of someone who would definitely torture a guy”.

So you think his adventures would be related to his size, right? Well, besides your usual “take down bad guys” his early adventures featured him going back to the past to do wacky stuff and bring back a souvenir for his scientist buddy who found a time pool. One of these stories led to the creation of Aladdin’s Lamp, because it was originally Al Atom.

Man, Palmer’s life is a rollercoaster of tragedy. He proposes to his girlfriend over 57 times and gets rejected. When he finally gets her, she cheats on him because he is so busy between science and hero-ing. Then he got stuck in the Amazon at a small size and presumed dead. He gets captured by warrior imps and forced to do his own take on World War Hulk. Find a girl. Loses said girl and family because the government wanted him back. Went on a murderless murder spree when he found out. Old wife wanted him back, killed the wife of an old friend to do so. Then he went to another realm to find a life where he could be happy. Only to find out there’s a super virus that will kill everyone. Tried to fix that, only for space observers to no longer observe and destroy his happy life. Best friend gets turned into a Black Lantern, new protege gets killed by Deathstroke, tries to get revenge but couldn’t...

Thankfully that last part got fixed because Ryan Choi was brought back to life and all it cost Ray was a hand. Which was thankfully fixed thanks to Ryan’s exclusive Mass Manipulation powers that allowed Ray to get his hand back and Deathstroke being Teen Titans Go Robin. Then the reboot happens where he’s still divorce, decided to stay in the Microverse, and had to deal with yet another psychopath who wanted to destroy everything.

This is Strobe, I mean Edg the Destroyer. That’s all.

There is this image I found that I believe is perfect meme material. There were so many times I wanted to use it. And now that I have, sadly not as much. Not many opportunities to present it... Yet.

Now for the match. I was going into the meeting confident that I could convince Atom would win. But the belt was the big issue. It could be hacked into and it could be detectable. If Atom’s powers were more biological, maybe he could have won. Though Pym did have more feats that put him on a higher cosmic scale.

And no, Ray Palmer could not grow. The instances people think he could be either 1, when he was de-aged and gained that power. Lost it. 2, Attributed to Atom Smasher, whose power is to grow. 3, Ryan Choi who has the ability to take or give mass to others. Thus the one time Ray Palmer had the ability to grow a massive hand. As far as I found, outside just being able to grow back to normal size, Ray Palmer can not grow.

This is it for now. Probably save some stuff for their own separate Research Bin entries. But for now, enjoy the next time. As for my remaining matches, I bet two of them you can see me do while another one you may not...

[writer-of-various]

Do/did they want children?

Emilia, Evan, Erika

I really had to think about this, this is a very good ask.

Emilia had though about having kids shortly after marrying Russell

However any time she brought it up Russell would talk about his insecurities and worries– both agreeing that bringing a child into the world at the time wasn't ideal

Emilia barely remembers her mother since she had died when Emilia was very young. Her father was abusive, so Emilia isn't sure how good of a parent she'll be

She does think back to it but both her and Russell are active, she has her own clandestine work and Russell is working on retirement

When they finally settle down and help Frank raise David, Alex's son became their god child, in simple words (but they knew they would always be known as Uncle Russ and Aunt Em)

After the 9/11 attacks, Russell re-enlists and is very healthy and fit despite his age so he gets in quick

Emilia is concerned but follows Russ' wishes of her staying retired– but she does still help out when it comes to decoding/intel/interrogations for the CIA/DIA

When Russ is killed in 2009, Emilia is heartbroken, and her mind wonders back to the topic of children– she regrets not being a mother

There were a few times in Evan's life where he thought of becoming a father, wanting to adopt a little one and raise them the best he can

He talked to Naga about it, and despite their brash personalities and extreme living as agents, they did agree on one day settling down and adopting four children

The thought of raising little ones often kept Evan going under dangerous situations, same to Naga– they even wanted to marry

However their plans are cut short in 86' when the government learns of their collective and alliances and a stand off takes place right outside their safehouse

Evan knows evac time is cutting short and knew that the KGB wouldn't stop until they captured or killed them all

He sacrifices himself, holding them off the best he can, and the safehouse was rigged with explosives that Evan would trigger before his final breath

Naga never dates or marries and adopts four children, two boys and two girls, in honour of his only true love

Erika had a tolerance for children, but she didn't necessarily think or care much about them– she has always prioritized work before anything else

She won't admit she has a soft spot for babies, their curious expressions and little noise and how small and fragile they were– she always had the need to protect

After reuniting with Stitch and getting together, the Russian always brought up children

Erika at first was quick to shut down the conversation and Stitch was smart enough to not fight or continue talking about it

But in '83, Erika confronts the idea and knew she wanted at least one kid, so her and Stitch started planning it out (Perseus would have been the godfather but he passed away too soon)

In '84, Erika planned to propose to Stitch, only for news to come in that he has been killed

She's outraged and goes on a murderous spree, killing KGB, NATO, Warsaw– she did anything to avenge her lover's death

The thought of children never again crossed her mind, she disbanded Perseus and joined the CIA as an intel collector officer

She made plans to destroy Russia to free Ukraine, but her plans became futile until 1991

She spared glances at parents doting over their children, she paid no mind to the kids waving at her from their schoolyards– she refused to move forward on any plans made with Stitch

[saltypiss]

Men are disproportionately arrested in general. Or murdered. Or die in general.

What does it mean. What does it matter. There's hundreds of little topics everyone is discussing already that flood such sentences to the point there is no argument being made, just pointing out reality for the actual sake of doing so.

Women commit suicide far more than men, women are more likely to win in parental cases, women aren't arrested nearly as often.

Again, what does this do? We already have the mini topics being discussed, this is an amalgomation of everything that doesn't make you look smart.

I think that's what people need to realize. You're not smart for pointing out the obvious. You're not smart for mentioning it and running away. You're not smart when all you can do is point out flaws with no fixes.

So, I ask of you, what is the purpose, what is smart about it, and what does it accomplish, pointing out that all mass shootings have been by men.

Now don't misconstrue me here, I too see the statistic, and would like to be informed on why. Except I already am because since 2013 the internet has had a boner for discussing every topic into a political umbrella as possible.

So I know that Men have less mental healthcare, Men have less emotional resources, Men are belittled, mocked, and thrown away like trash for crying or showing anything other than masculine bravado. I know that Men are disproportionately arrested by police, I know that divorce is worse for Men. I've talked to men who's lives were upended by a false claim from a women and the court took her side until it became obvious it was a lie.

I've talked to men. Actually discussed and discourced with them. I actually know what a majority of men go through. Not just because it's been endlessly discussed since 2013, but because I and every possible male has lived it.

I don't hear about women losing their kids to an insane man who ends up killing them later after a court custody battle allowed the child to go with the obvious worst choice. I do hear about men in general getting their entire life upended over false claims of any variety. You know what else I hear about Men? Total lack of a support system.

Know what else I hear about Men? A constant struggle to not have the wrong perception of you, because that can mean your entire life.

Men have to pay alimony even in ridiculous circumstances. Men lose their kids more often than women.

So with all this said, that hardly scratches any surface, it's far closer to pointing at the moon, Why is it, that all the mass shootings this year, have been done by men?

I mean, it's not like our systems give a fuck about men. It's not like Men have any outlets. It's not like Men are allowed to emotionally process without a court of law calling it irrational when they mean unmanly. It's not like the economy is destroyed, and women have ample opportunities for housing and mental healthcare, friends that'll take em in. There's women only homeless shelters, for a reason yes, but it goes to show.

Is the problem men? Personally, not trying to "both sides" this shit, but personally, I don't think inherently Men are all shooters, murderers and pedophiles. I think, and stick with me here, this country is broken from culture to government, from social to independant, this country is fucked. And despite progress socially, men are still the breadwinners in a majority of families. They are also, culturally pressured to be successful, rich, leave a legacy, own property and capitol, etc etc.

Women aren't expected shit culturally but being birth machines, and as fucked up as that is, no woman is going on a killing spree because of it. It's simply no where near the same pressure as males have to deal with. That's not to be offensive or to put down women, obviously there's shades of grey, but culturally, what are women really expected to accomplish? Get with a man, have a kid maybe.

So no. I don't see any importance in kicking in a door, dropping the statistic with literally no follow through, and running away screaming. I don't see the importance in devilizing all men and putting this weight onto them as if it's in their control.

Tell ya what, when the council of women can stop other women from false rape reports, the council of men will consider letting one (1) women commit a mass shooting.

Fuckin ridiculous. Drop statistics just to demonize. Why not just drop "despite making up" too? Wanna just look at numbers and ignore context? Did anyone who read that tweet ever speak to a man about their mental health and other slew of problems? No. They don't experience it, so don't care. The hypocrisy of feminism is not understanding the injustices of men to the point that when they see any man that breaks, or is unmanly, they are childish and unreasonable. Potentially murderous. They have no problems, they're on top! Those on top never deal with problems! (You're thinking of the rich, not men)

Really the only question that comes to everyone's mind is "what is wrong with men" much like the 13% argument also only leaves the same question to those of african descent. So. Why is it okay now? Why is it okay to point at a statistic without any surrounding information, frame it as poorly as you possibly can, unless you're just wanting to cause division between multiple groups?

It's not frustrating that it's men, I'd be annoyed regardless, animals, women, PoC, real statistics or not, what's frustrating is thinking you're smart for noticing a statistic, but not actually smart enough to offer anything but the number. Why? Answer that then post. Otherwise, it's just divisive and immature.

We went backwards because of that dipshit's tweet. It singlehandedly pushed republicans back further being posted unironically by lefties and to various lefty forums. Nobody. I repeat. N o b o d y, learned from this tweet. Nothing was gained by hostility. Just so they could feel smart. Totally worth the tweeter points...

[gpsoftun]

And now, for a rant years in the making....

The longest thing I've ever written began because X-Men First Class was such a well-acted breath of fresh air. The dynamic between Charles, Raven, and Erik really captivated and inspired me. Enough to create an ongoing series that has had more good years than bad.

Unfortunately, starting with Days of Future Past, FC's legacy was sacrificed to the creatively bankrupt egos of the very production team that ruined the X-Men film series in the first place. This, along with the misandry/racism disguised as empowerment/diversity plaguing modern media, torpedoed what could have been an amazing series. James McAvoy pulled off the impossible by cementing himself as an iconic Charles Xavier on par with Patrick Stewart. After years of Ian McKellen's hammy one-dimensional villainy, the God's gift to acting that is Michael Fassbender emerged as the definitive Erik Lehnsherr. In Jennifer Lawrence's casting as Raven, the producers took an asinine, fanfic-esque concept like making Mystique Charles' adopted little sister and pulled it off so unbelievably beautifully. Despite their limited screentime, Alex, Hank, and Sean displayed more personality and likeability than any depiction of Jean and Storm across multiple films. However, moronic Brian Singer and Simon Kinberg could not wait to destroy all of FC's good will for their own agendas.

James McAvoy portrayed Charles as spirited and slightly mischievous yet highly intelligent, altruistic, nurturing, and self-sacrificing. Then the sequels tried in forced desperation to paint him as an overbearing, elitist misogynist and the one responsible for Raven and Jean's destructive abuse of power. Even though all he did was give them a home, make difficult choices in order to protect them and others, and brought both of them onto his team due to his personal relationships and trust in them. Because women are so strong and capable except when it comes to taking responsibility for their horrible choices. No, human flaws are strictly of the Y chromosome. Charles has been abandoned his entire life, received no real support, had his body and mind mangled because of his 'best friend', yet puts everyone before himself and always forgives the undeserving. Still, the producers and equally idiotic fandom reduces him to a spoiled white male with no concept of pain or hardship.

Through extensive research and dedication, Michael Fassbender put more into portraying Erik than, quite possibly, any actor taking on a comic book role. Erik is so worldly intelligent, handsome, sauve, and masculine to alpha levels, but with a pained vulnerability about him. FC is the ONLY film to paint him in this light. According to the sequels, Erik completely abandoned the friend/brother he crippled, couldn't hold his own team together for even a year, got captured by regular humans- the strategic nazi hunter got captured by REGULAR humans for ten years, betrayed his friends who freed him at the first opportunity, took no responsibility for the unforgivable things he did to Charles, abandoned his pregnant lover, almost ruined the lives of mutants everywhere by attempting a terrorist attack on TV, then ran off with his tail between his legs once thwarted. And that was only DoFP. In the next movies, he gave up his mutant identity completely, married a regular woman two seconds after declaring war on regular humans, was a pitiful excuse for a father who couldn't train his ONE mutant child to control her powers, got his family killed by his own past actions, then went on a murder spree with a lunatic that resulted in Charles' torture, Alex's death, and the destruction of the school- with the students being saved only by Peter's coincidental presence. I'm not even going to talk about that stupid phoenix movie. My blood pressure is already to the ceiling. No wonder Michael Fassbender grew to hate his character.

Speaking of hating their own character, even Jennifer Lawrence doesn't like how the warm, familial relationship between Raven and Charles deteriorated into something so cold and bitter. Raven abandoning her devoted brother is not only never properly addressed but the sequels want to pretend like it's Charles' fault they're estranged. Raven spends their every scene being a hostile, rude ingrate towards him right up until she's killed by that monotone wet rag they call Jean. Charles is willing to sacrifice his own life multiple times for Raven but she shows more regard for her attempted murderer Erik. So, I suppose the feminist message is that a protective, peace seeking, reasonable man is too controlling and toxic but a violent, unhinged, homicidal man is worthy to be praised. That phoenix movie sure thought so, considering they completely demolished Hank McCoy.

These movies also have no care or concern for life itself. The hellfire club slaughtered an entire facility full of people and killed Darwin yet Erik and Raven jumped to join them. Then, we're supposed to care that those monsters are dead by DoFP. Meanwhile, Sean and Alex's deaths are glossed over but Raven's is supposed to be tragic and meaningful.

That brings up yet another problem with this cursed series. Mutation is supposed to be an allegory for various prosecuted groups. The producers really wanted the live action mutants to be lgbt stand-ins. I can't even begin with how insulting that is. So, Magneto's the face of the gays, huh? Meaning if other people do anything but pledge absolute loyalty to that  lifestyle, gays will react with violence and destruction, willing to kill anyone- even their own-, who gets in their way. Also, those who believe the lgbt lifestyle will lead to inevitable chaos are proven right by X-Men execs. Mutants have caused massacres of government officials, killed their own family members during uncontrolled rages, and nearly doomed the planet too many times to count. This is what gays relate to? This?! This infantilized depiction as sadistic megalomaniacs?!

Overall, FC- as engaging as it was- is a mere anomaly in the grand scheme of the X-Movies. A dour, joyless, soulless catastrophe of unforgivable discontinuity, underdeveloped characters, multiple horrid actors, outrageous missed opportunities, and nonexistence ethics with a transparent, hypocritical agenda.

I started my fic in 2011 as a way of addressing the growing racial upheaval going on in the US at the time. Ten years later and things are infinitely worse than anything I could have predicted back then. There are no intelligent conversations to be had nor heroes to look up to. The entire entertainment industry has become a battleground for the war of identity politics. Not even just fandoms arguing amongst themselves but also Hollywood creators taking the time to be aggressively insulting and dismissive of their own fans. The flames of hatred are being fanned and everyone seems so blind to it.

[caldoww]

Thoughts - The Suicide Squad (2021)

James Gunn is a director adept at the blending between the ridiculous and the human. In Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2, he made me cry over a CGI racoon’s inability to accept love - “he stole batteries he didn’t need”. Gets me every time.

But this ability has reached new heights with his latest film - The Suicide Squad (spoilers btw). This film is purposely silly with its character designs and dialogue, however this is not to say that it doesn’t take them seriously. While characters like Polka-Dot Man are often the butt of many of the film’s jokes, there is still so much empathy created with the character. His ridiculous super power and dumb costume are where the jokes come from, but also where the character’s tragic nature and the audience’s sympathy come from. There is a beautifully empathetic moment halfway through the film where Polka-Dot enjoys a drink with the rest of the squad, feeling accepted for the first time in his life. Then he dances, and the lights from a disco ball cast beautiful polka dots over him and the rest of the crowd - he is no longer a freak, an outcast. 

Anyways, I digress. I mainly wanted to write about this film for its use of  ridiculous satire and a plot straight from an exploitation movie to explore American foreign policy. Yes, the film with a talking shark in it has things to say. 

The plot revolves around the US government making criminals (who they can deny work for them) invade a Latin-American country to destroy scientific experiments that could pose a threat to the US. On this mission is John Cena as Peacemaker,

a violent sadist wearing red, white and blue who justifies his murder sprees as protecting liberty. See where Gunn’s going with this? The US government has, and continues to, destabilise countries, wage war and stage coups all across the world, in the name of “liberty”. And one continent that has been crippled by US foreign policy is South America. The film uses this context and this character to satirise and condemn the USA’s attitude to making peace. Peacemaker says at one point: “ I cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it”. 

This isn’t the most in-depth analysis of the effect of US intervention, but I do appreciate its directness. However, it is deepened in my favourite scene that packs a surprising emotional punch (along with lots of actual punching). Once the squad have infiltrated the scientific base, they realise that the experiments that have killed thousands of innocent people were conducted by the US and their real mission is to destroy the evidence now that the country is no longer sympathetic to the USA. Peacemaker has been instructed by the government to make sure that the mission’s leader, an honourable soldier, Rick Flag (get it), doesn’t let the information get out. Flag, outraged that he has been fighting to protect the governments horrible, selfish interests, intends to leak the data to the press. Peacemaker won’t let this happen.

The ensuing fight scene is played out in the reflection of Peacemaker’s chrome helmet - “a beacon of freedom”. What a visual. This shot broadens Gunn’s analysis to not only the effect on countries but also the American soldiers. Flag is the idealised American soldier - principled, fighting to save people. But in this film, and the real world, these men are being exploited, dying for a cause that they believe is heroic but in actuality is horrific and selfish. This shot shows us that America, a self-proclaimed ‘beacon of freedom’, is really waging brutal wars whose casualties include US citizens and the very idea of peace. Peacemaker wins the fight and stabs Flag through the heart. As he bleeds out he splutters: “Peacemaker - what a joke”, just to hammer it all home. 

A real masterclass in using a ridiculous character to satirise the real-life horrors of American imperialism.

The exploration goes even deeper than just Peacemaker’s character. What were the experiments? They were growing a giant space starfish to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, because of course they were. In the final act, the space starfish escapes and wreaks havoc on the city.

Again, ridiculous, but not without meaning. The heroes prevail and as the starfish dies it tells them: “I was happy. Floating. Staring at the stars.”

The starfish was taken from space and experimented on for decades. This is what drove it mad and led to it destroying the city. The scientist calls it “Starro, The Conqueror” as he sees it being used to conquer and destroy the country’s enemies. The dictator of Corto Maltese, the imaginary South-American country, plans to unleash it on the USA, to conquer the country that has subjugated  Corto Maltese for decades. Starro’s final line ties his motivations to that of the dictators of Corto Maltese. They would have been happy with their lot in life but then they were dominated and broken by an outside force. Their only escape is to dominate and break their oppressors. Starro is no conqueror, he’s just a starfish! But he was made a conqueror by the cruelty of the American scientist. The growth of many terrorist organisations can be partly attributed to US imperialism - creating conquerors through cruelty. 

James Gunn has created a silly and outwardly dumb movie with B movie and exploitation characteristics while slipping in a surprisingly insightful exploration of the effects of American imperialism. He uses characters as a representation/metaphor of ideas or groups of people in a way that allows for efficient and empathic analysis of their situations. 

It’s still in cinemas, give it a watch/rewatch!

[annebaneriddle]

So, here is and explanation of why Bucky is so obsessed with the shield beause people really see to be missing the point so hard that it’s impressive to me:

As we all know, Captain America is the symbol he is and the shield have the meaning it has only because of who Steve Grant Rogers was. Steve wasn’t great because he was Captain America, Captain America was great because he was Steve. Steve made Captain America be great because of the person he was: honored, caring, strong and loyal. Steve was a good man on all the meanings of the word and that’s why Captain America turned into such a great symbol of protection for the people. Steve, when told to leave the prisioners in Azzano to die, went there alone with nothing but a plastic helmet and an alluminium shield and saved more than 400 soldiers, on the batlle against Thanos, he was the last one standing in front of Thanos’ whole army and wasn’t about to run even when he was shaking. Steve has always been the representation os the last deffense of people, of the person who whould stand for them until his last breath. Because Steve was Captain America, that title gained the same symbolism, and, as Sam himself said, symbols are nothing without the men and women that give them meaning.

Now, Steve is gone and passed the shield to Sam. Sam didn’t want the shield (either because he thought that people would accept a black Captain or because he didn’t feel ready to take the shield yet, what would be totally understandable, because Steve threw that responsability on him literally out of nowhere. One minute he was waiting for his friend to get back and on the other there was that said friend looking like fucking Joe Biden and giving him the shield without even asking if he wanted it or not), so he gave it to the government, trusting their word that the shield would stay on a museum. The goverment, as the expected, betrayed Sam’s trust to give the shield to some random white man.

For us, who are watching it from both Sam’s and Bucky’s perspective, it’s easy to see why Sam gave the shield away, but some of you are forgeting that it isn’t WandaVision and Bucky isn’t watching Sam’s life as if it was some 90′s romcom, and he also isn’t Wanda to be able of reading Sam’s mind.

They are trying to talk about it and Sam wants to explain why he did what he did, but as we can see, everytime something interupts the conversation. When Steve gave the shield to Sam, Bucky was there, and he saw Sam’s reaction. Sam was happy, he was proud, his face was full with determination. That was the impression Bucky had of it all: that Sam wanted the shield, that he was happy to being the one to get the shield, and that he was detirmined to mantain the shield’s legacy.

After that, Bucky and Sam didn’t talk anymore. Sam tried to call him, but Bucky never answered for some reason we still don’t know (maybe because he still feels he doesn’t have the right of making friends, maybe because being left by Steve made him afraid of letting someone gett in again), so he couldn’t see Sam changing his mind about having the shield.

The frist impression Bucky had was that Sam was happy about getting the shield, but now he doesn’t want it anymore, and that shield has a lot more and deep meaning to Bucky than to Sam. For Bucky, that shield means not just having a part of Steve with him, it also means having a part of himself that he thought to be dead with him: the good part.

As we all know, Bucky blames himself for what Hydra made him do, because he saw his hands killing for Hydra, the organization he almost died to destroy, he saw his hands killing innocent people who were just on the wrong place at the wrong time, he doesn’t feel worthy of even getting help (as we saw on CW). However, Steve dropped that shield twice for him, and both times because he was still believe that Bucky is a good person, that he is worthy fighting for, that he is worthy helping. He was pardoned for the government, but that doesn’t mean he pardoned himself.

That shield if more than a symbol to Bucky. Its the visual representation of who he is. Bucky is still recovering, and while doing so, as @saitamasgreencactus siad on her reblog of my last post about it, he is projecting his identity onto the shield to the point it became an obsession. The man got the worst therapist possible, so unfortunatelly I think it will take a lot of things to make him get rid of that toxic coping mechanism.

So now, Sam doesn’t want the shield, Bucky has no idea why because they had no time to sit down and talk as civilized people (no, the couple therapy scene was fun, sad and all but didn’t really gave time to them to breath and talk in a way to don’t storm off on each other. let’s be realistic: “Why does Sam agravate you” was by far the worst way of that therpist taking things if she wanted them to talk calmly), Bucky has an extremely unhealthy attachment to that shield that Sam doesn’t undestand, because, again, they had no time talk calmly about it, Bucky doesn’t feel he is worthy of getting the shield, so he wants Sam to have it because Sam is by far the best person he knows (and because he doesn’t undertand Sam’s side of that yet, he is frustrated to see that Sam doesn’t want it anymore), and now he is willing to take the shield himself if Sam doesn’t want it because he is desperate to hold on that part of himself.

Some of you are acting as if Bucky is a monster (and even a racist) because of that without taking in consideration what I said on the post, because I really don’t see how it’s something hard to understand. I even saw someone saying “Stop using his trauma as an excuse” when that whole situation is literally something caused by trauma. His trauma wouldn’t be an excuse if he was going on a killing spree like Clint did after his family died. 

Bucky doesn’t understand Sam yet, and that’s fine, the same way that Sam doesn’t understand Bucky yet and that’s fine. Part of the plot of the show is Bucky and Sam getting to know each other, so stop acting as if any of them is a heartless bitch because of that.