#well not like the most serious movie like the Biggest. which means mcu or whatever

[maddy-ferguson]

It’s major, major cinematic storytelling that happens to be called a TV series. It's as big as any of the biggest movies that we see. is very cringe sorry i hate the it's actually a movie but it's "a show" because it has to be it's just a coincidence but treat it like a movie because it's as serious as the most serious movie you've ever seen thing. you are a netflix show on netflix

[0ptemash]

My (Brief) Thoughts on Rise Of The Beasts

SO…Rise Of The Beasts came out…like a few months ago. Safe to say I’m late to the bandwagon, but I wasn’t really into Tumblr that much and wanted to stew on things. I was thinking of writing a an in-depth review, but I think I’ll just give my brief thoughts. In anticipation for Transformers One that will release later this year, which I hope to do a review on. This is all just MY opinion. If you enjoyed the film, all the power to you, I did so as well in parts. Alright, here goes.

(Also like Spoilers for the whole thing)

I think, for the most part, it was a step backwards. Like a big step backwards.

I really enjoyed Bumblebee. Yeah yeah it just wasn’t because of the fan servicey bits such as the opening. It was more grounded, down to earth (is that a pun? Maybe…), smaller scale is what I’m trying to say. There’s no Allspark, or Sun Harvester or any other bull crap mcguffin to collect. Just Bumblebee trying to find his memories, himself, and building a bond with Charlie, who, refreshingly was a human character with an actually personality, was likeable, had motivations, and an arc of some description. Them, versus two decepticons, who, while not some multilayered villains, had infinitely more personality than any insectoid killing machine in the Michael Bay films.

Rise Of The Beasts takes this, and throws it all out the window.

We are introduced to TWO new factions in the film, the Maximals and Terrorcons, which, with the Autobots and Decepticons makes four to keep track of. There is no slow escalation, or building of stakes. We have for whatever reason, gone from two Decepticon warriors, to the world conquerer Unicron, without even ONE, at least ONE film in between. I’m really scared that this is going to develop into the same issue I believe the MCU developed post Endgame. They are going to have difficulty trying to find bigger and bigger threats. And Unicron is one of the biggest. I can think of very little that are greater, or even come close to his level. And remember they haven’t even introduced properly the Decepticons and Megatron yet. What is the point even. Sure the Autobots didn’t exactly KILL Unicron, but they beat him and his heralds, so the Decepticons are going to be nothing compared to them. Unless they arrive in some huge army. Furthermore, Charlie is just tossed out the window, meaning we now have to establish a new human protagonist. Of course I was surprised that Noah was, thankfully, still an interesting character. But it was a little off putting that Charlie was tossed aside so quickly, without even being mentioned (with the exception of some throwaway line by Bumblebee).

And the plot. Oh boy.

We Must Find The MCGUFFIN. A.K.A. the Transwarp Key.

Like cmon, are you kidding me? I thought we were past this. It’s just another fetch quest. We need to go here, to get this thing, and then over there to get that thing.

I feel as though this movie has reduced the stakes as well. Scourge (Unicrons Herald) kills Bumblebee quite early on, which was a shocker and set a more serious tone for the film. Of course though, Bumblebee is Transformers Pikachu equivalent, so they revived him later on (for that sweet sweet merch)

But hey, they still had a chance. In the final act they kill Mirage, which also surprised me. But…what do you know? He’s hinted to be brought back to life in a post credit scene.

*sighs*

I still have more to say but I’ll end on Optimus Primes characterisation and do a seperate post for the villains.

There were times where he was genuinely interesting. I found how he and Noah had similar grievances, guilts and personality traits to be interesting. How prime feels responsible for his fellow Autobots that he feels he’s stranded on Earth without a way home.

But then there are parts where he just reverts back to Michael Bays Optimus Prime: some mindless bloodthirsty killer. Now I admit, this Prime has more motivation to do that because yknow the villains killed Bumblebee. But it still rubs me the wrong way. I can’t really describe it. There’s just this moment where one of the villains (Battletrap) is about to be attacked by Optimus Prime, but a Maximal, Optimus Primal, rips Battletrap to pieces. After this, Optimus Prime says something like “hey he was my kill.” And it’s not delivered angrily, or menacingly. He almost says nonchalantly, like the film makers wanted it to be in there for laughs.

I genuinely don’t know where this continuity is headed, with this (and the bill crap GI Joe “Twist” at the end) in mind.

Still there were things I did like, but I’ve been more worked up about the stuff I didn’t like. Call me a hater if you want to, and I’m open to opinions/comments to convince me otherwise.

Part One of Two maybe?

[morizoras-cave]

Sleepover (Collab with @lozzypoz321)

Sebastian Stan x f!teen!co-star!reader, MCU Cast x f!teen!co-star!reader

Genre: fluff, crack honestly

Description: You and the MCU cast have a secret sleepover on set.

Warnings: language!!

A/N by morizoras-cave: this was even more fun than the last fic, loz is so so funny and so so talented and i just feel so comfortable writing with her :) also so many… bad things… happened while we wrote this. I mean it was chaotic.. I hope you enjoy its LONG

A/N by @lozzypoz321​: this was so much fun to write and I loved it!! Honestly you do not want to know what happened behind th scenes because that was a m e s s. Vic is suck and amazing writer and deserves so much love! Hope you enjoy!!

“Kid, open the door!” your head snapped to the door of your hotel room. You recognised Sebastian’s voice coming from outside. “Open up!”

“I’m coming” you yelled, padding over to the door and opening up. Sebastian and Anthony stood out there. They looked oddly child-like as they stood there with their sleeping bags and dressed in pjs. You snorted. “Well, hello to you too!” 

“Don’t laugh, N/n, this is serious.” Anthony said as you walked out, you also dressed in your marvel pjs and with a sleeping bag in hand. Although, you thought, it was hard to take him seriously when he was dressed in Winnie The Pooh slippers. 

“Whatever you say, man.”

The entirety of the marvel cast had planned a sleepover on set. It was very secret, apparently. You didn’t know the full story, but they had seemingly asked the directors if they could have an onset sleepover and they’d refused, so someone had to steal a key. It was a whole process, but nonetheless you found yourself on the way to set at around 10:30. 

“Is anyone bringing snacks?” you asked. You, Seb and Anthony were walking down the street. You could see the set already. “Damn, I hope so” Anthony mumbled and you all continued walking. 

When you got there Elizabeth was standing outside, holding the door open with what you assumed was the stolen key. She ushered you inside. “You’re late and for some reason I’m not surprised.”

Inside all the others were already waiting, the entirety of the cast. Notably, you could see that Robert, Scarlett and Mark had created a pillow fort, and were hiding out in the coziness with a bag of popcorn. 

“Welcome, late-comers!” Robert greeted you dramatically, standing up in his Iron Man onesie. “You’ve missed the pizzas. You know, because you’re late!” 

“It’s fine, we already ate. Which is why we’re late,” Sebastian pointed nodded to Anthony. You nodded along.

Everyone sat down on a large stretch of couches, blankets and pillows, where Elizabeth had placed a projector pointed to an empty wall of the set. You sat down with Tom (Hiddleston), Sebastian and Mark. It was a rather weird thing to see so many grown men and women (that you had previously had respect for) in their most colourful pjs, but you supposed it was on you to expect any differently from this cast of people. 

Chris (Evans) had picked a movie and, unsurprisingly, he picked Iron Man 1. Robert protested for about two seconds, before he let everyone shower him in compliments because that movie was so damn good. “Okay okay, I guess we can watch it if we really have to”

Scarlett lightly laughed and pressed a button on the projector to start the movie after placing the disk inside that Chris (Evans) had brought from his collection at his house. “Where’s the snacks?” You heard Chris (Hemsworth) loudly whisper to Scarlett who sat next to him. 

“Ooh do we have popcorn?” You quietly asked Sebastian who nodded and reached across Anthony who was laid next to him to retrieve the salted popcorn that Mark had gotten just for you as he was in charge of the snack committee. Chris (Evans) silently got up, after making sure nobody noticed him (except from you), and crawled across the room in his rapunzel pjs on his hands and knees to reach Robert who was now on the verge of unconsciousness with dribble falling from the side of his mouth. Trying to be discreet, he raised his hands scarily behind him, gaining everybody’s attention in the room except Robert, and suddenly pounced on him in a playful manner. 

The man leapt up without warning with wide eyes the size of dinner plates and held his hands up as if he was doing karate in a mode of self defence. Everybody in the room burst out laughing at his reaction, Chris (Evans) reaching for his left pec as he leant back on his knees in a full on belly laugh. “You looked like you were a 6 year old girl” Scarlett laughed out and shook her head towards the man, who was now grumbling as he sat back down on his spot with an abundance of blankets by his side. 

“All the snacks are gone” Anthony exclaimed to the cast, making Tom (Hiddleston) look up from the screen and ponder “well we could do something that doesn’t require food” he suggested, making everyone look at him to continue. 

“I mean, we could play hide and seek?”

“Oh!” You exclaimed excitedly, one of your first inputs of the night “I’d love to play hide and seek! My dad used to do it with me all the time!”

Your happy demeanour made them all smile as you began explaining how he would hide next to you while your brother tried to find both of you. “Well it’s settled then, we’re playing hide and seek!” Chris (Hemsworth) announced in his Australian accent, before you could be told twice, you jumped up and grabbed Sebastian's hand before racing out of the room, not even giving anybody a second glance. 

“Woah, where are we going?” Sebastian chuckled, following your rapid footsteps. “Don’t worry about this, Seb, I’ve the perfect hiding spot!” It was a little bit embarrassing to admit, but every time you entered a new place, you thought about the best hiding spots (in case of an unwarranted game of hide and seek). 

You pulled Sebastian into the costume room and shuffled awkwardly into the back. There, you found your masterful hiding place. It was a vent, but not a small one. It was big. Sebastian looked at you in surprise. “Not bad, Y/n.” 

You popped the cover right off, catching Sebastian off guard. “I unscrewed it back in February,” you explained and jumped inside. Sebastian seemed to want to question you further, but instead just shrugged to himself and followed you inside, closing the vent cover behind him.

“This really is the perfect place,” he mumbled, voice echoing slightly in the vents. It was pretty cold, but stable. “And hey, didn’t you say that your dad used to hide with you?” He asked while looking around the airy place. “Oh, um, yeah” you said sheepishly, just now remembering the moment in the other room. 

“Um- I-I mean, not that you’re my- Like, my dad-” you stammered, blushing at the awkward moment, “Like- My dad is my dad- You’re just- I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to make this awkward, I just-”

“Shut up!” Sebastian hissed suddenly. You looked at him, taken aback. He was staring out the vent covers, and then looked back at you with a grin. He pointed to it silently. Your brows furrowed, and you looked out. You saw Chris in the room, hand holding a flashlight while aiming it around the room, trying to find a sign of anybody. You held your breath. 

“I know you’re in here! I can smell your fear!” he yelled trying to act scary. Meanwhile, he just looked kind of goofy in his Disney princess pjs. You saw Sebastian beside you, trying not to laugh. His face was contorted into a forced frown, but a smile still crept up the corners of his mouth. Seeing his face, you started feeling the urge to laugh too. 

You both laughed silently, trying so hard to not give away your position to Chris. You were failing miserably. 

“I will find you!” Chris said again, and this time Sebastian let out a laugh, immediately clamping a hand over his mouth. His eyes widened and so did yours. Chris stopped moving, snapping his head around furiously. “Who was that? Where are you?” 

You saw the moment Sebastian decided to give up on hiding, as he just suddenly started laughing like a maniac. You did too, both of you clutching your stomachs. Chris scoffed and tore the vent cover off, revealing the two of you laughing uncontrollably. 

“Come on, guys, it wasn’t that funny!” Chris sighed, but he was wrong, it was definitely that funny. You guys went back to the movie room. Robert, Tom, Scarlett and Anthony had all already been found.

“Welcome to the losers!” Tom grumbled. You both sat down with him and chatted while waiting for the others to turn up. The next was Mark, who had been hiding under a table, and then Elizabeth who wasn’t even trying, but was somehow second last anyway. 

Then came the waiting game. Hemsworth, the biggest of you all, the goofiest, and seemingly the easiest to spot, was still at large. Chris was hopelessly searching, but came back every ten minutes with a more and more depressed look on his attractive face.

“I can’t find him!” he admitted finally. There was a collective sigh, and then everyone started searching together, simultaneously calling out “Chris! The aussie one!” Eventually you did find him, crammed behind a couch uncomfortably. 

When you finally did, Anthony (as well as several others) seemed to have only grown hungrier, and the need for snacks was larger than ever. “I swear to god if we don’t find food right now I may just quit the job” Anthony swore and huffed as he crossed both his arms over his chest. “That seems a bit dramatic but okay” Scarlett laughed as the ten of you rounded a corner in the building to only come face to face with an abundance of vending machines that everyone used at break and you all had seemingly forgotten about. “Woah” Tom said, impressed at the arrangement. 

“Food galore,” Elizabeth expressed and was the first one to walk towards, closer to the arrangement, leaving the rest of you by the wall with your jaws dropped. “If I’m sick, don’t blame it on me” you quietly expressed, making Mark laugh from his spot next to you. 

Trying not to seem too excited, Anthony ran forward, eyes following each and every item of edible food and drink. “I think you better hurry up” Tom commented from his spot the furthest from you, noticing the way Anthony and Chris were now eyeing your favourite type of chips. 

“Umm yeah, that sounds like a good idea”

You, Robert and Sebastian immediately went over to the vending machine that was holding doritos, lays, and other classic chips. “Um, about earlier,” you mumbled to the Romanian man as Robert began to shake the machine with force, hoping something would fall down “I didn’t mean it like that” your cheeks flooded with embarrassment as the memory came flashing back to you.

But before you could start apologising even more, he stopped you and sent a reassuring smile your way “don’t worry about it Y/N, I know what you meant.” He gave your shoulder a small squeeze, before going back to watching Robert yelling at the Doritos to “fall out, you big pussy!”

Before Chris (Evans) and Tom could come over to your side of the room to be responsible adults and make a rational decision, Chris (Hemsworth) had already come bounding over to you and kicked the glass where the chips were held behind. He put full force behind the kick, so it shattered and fell loudly with a crash to the ground. 

“Erm. Good idea?”

For no reason at all the situation was just funny to you, so while everyone in the room was stood still shocked (apart from Hemsworth who rocked back and forth on his feet sheepishly) you began to laugh. “What’s funny? You could literally cut your feet if you move!” Tom exclaimed with wide eyes, “you can’t get hurt we need to return you to your mom the same as we got you!”

Without warning Chris (Evans) ran over to you, making sure to carefully avoid the glass panes. “I’m not getting sued for this shit” he muttered as he picked you up and brought you over to a corner, which was a safe distance away from the wreckage.

“Alright, this has gotten out of hand,” Mark ran a hand through his hair, as he surveyed the broken glass on the floor in distress. Elizabeth nodded. You made eye contact with Scarlett and Anthony, who very clearly didn’t share the same concern that Mark and Elizabeth did. You all giggled quietly. 

“But uh, let’s take advantage of the situation, eh?” Chris (Hemsworth) pulled a couple bags of doritos out of the broken vending machine, “Free doritos?” He shook the bags playfully. There was a moment where people seemed to question whether they prioritized their dignity of the free doritos, and it’s fair to say that a large number of them chose the doritos. 

You all went back to the movie room, collapsing on your mattresses and blankets, with your snacks. But before any of you could begin to focus on the movie once again, a sudden gasp broke out from across the room. “He has the last bag of Doritos!”

“No I don’t” Hemsworth was quick to deny Elizabeth’s claim but everyone could see the full bag that he had attempted to stuff under his blanket. All of a sudden, Scarlett leapt out of her sleeping bag, trying to reach the chips before he did, but unfortunately all the gym workouts he had been going to (or yoga lessons you weren’t really sure) were paying off, as he held the woman at bay so he could grab the snack and hold it far out of her reach.

“Give it” she grunted and tried to reach past his grip and take the chips for herself, but before she had a chance, Chris (Evans) jumped up from his spot over by Tom and snatched the bag from him, holding a victorious grin on his face. Chris (Hemsworth) pouted angrily at his costar, not bothering to fight back as he knew it would be a losing battle (he was captain America for Christ’s sake). But you had a trick up your sleeve, you wanted those chips and you were going to get them whether it was the last thing you did.

Picking up the pillow beside you, you held it up as a shield as ran forward as fast as you could, taking in the confused expression Chris held in his face before you smashed into his stomach, knocking the air out of your lungs but unfortunately, not his.

He chuckled deeply as you smashed back into the wooden floors groaning as the pain surged through you. “I don’t think that worked as well as you thought it would” Mark commented from his comfortable spot on his mattress. 

“No, it really didn’t”

The movie ended, and slowly but surely people started going to bed. There were yawns and stretches around you all bundled together on the floor. You too found yourself growing tired, stuffing yourself into your sleeping bag and getting comfortable. 

“Goodnight!” you murmured and those who were awake mumbled it back drowsily. You distinctly heard Sebastian mutter back to you from his sleeping bag “shut up, I’m tired”. You chuckled for the last time that night, as soon sleep overcame you. 

Then, at the the buttcrack of dawn, a scream came from the nearest entrance: “WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK-” 

And that was the inspiring story of how body searches became a daily routine on set, so the Russos could make sure no one had gotten their grubby hands on an extra key.

___________________________

Tag List:

@hera-the-writer @marvel-madness @40srogcrs @whatthefuckimbisexual @snarky–starky @garbage-potato @lozzypoz321 @allthecreativeonesaretaken @missamericana713 @rororo06 @shady80smusicsingercolor @ireadfanficforfun @deephideoutmilkshake @rae-is-typing @sophs-library @herecomesthewriterwitch @alicedanganh @eviemarvel @idk123906 @tamayakii​

[hufflepuffhollander]

off limits: tom holland one-shot

a/n | this is my submission for @chloecreatesfictions’ 1k writing challenge! i’ve never done the “brother’s best friend” trope and i def got a little too excited and carried away! real talk, this might be the cutest thing i’ve ever written

summary | as harrison osterfield’s younger sister, you’d always just seen his best friend tom as an annoying older brother. until, one day, you didn’t.

cw | tom x osterfield!reader. contains language, alcohol, recreational use of weeeed, teenage angst, sexual tension, fluff n’ stuff. 5k words.

For as long as you could remember, Tom Holland had been a stitch in your side that you could never get rid of.

Growing up as your older brother’s best friend, he was always at your house when you were children— and his favorite pastime when Harrison was boring him was to break into your room and mess with you, stealing your toys or running his hands across the piano keys when you were trying to practice in peace. No matter how many locks you put on your door just to keep Tom out, he was always able to pick them.

As you all got older, he grew to annoy you in a different way, blasting loud, grungy music through Harrison’s bedroom walls late at night or eating things out of the fridge that clearly had your name on them. Once he’d started to garner some attention as an actor, his ego skyrocketed, and somehow he became an even bigger nuisance. He dragged Harrison away from you and took him all over the world while you had to sit idly by and love your brother from a distance.

When Tom would come over now, he would talk of nothing but hollywood parties and getting drunk with the biggest a-listers when he knew you were listening. He would ignore you when he breezed past you in the hallway, and even had the audacity to go into your bedroom when you were out and smoke a blunt on your bed so your whole room smelled like a music festival when you got home; and worst of all, it was your weed.

It was sufficient to say you were Tom Holland’s least enthusiastic fan. And it was rather unfortunate, because you were a big stan of the MCU—and secretly loved getting high and watching and re-watching the spider-man movies the most. Okay, don’t make that face. They have a good storyline.

It was a regular Friday night, you were aimlessly scrolling through your phone while Harrison and Tom were getting ready to go pub hopping. Harrison always invited you, but you never took him up on his offer because you knew how flirty you got with alcohol in your system and wouldn’t dare feel that way around Tom. He was notorious for taking anything nice you said about him and rubbing it in your face for at least a week after. 

“You know you secretly love me, babe.”

You hated when he called you babe, and he knew it. But since you’d both grown up, time had done you both a favor, and there was always an air of something you couldn’t quite place your finger on whenever you interacted...the pet name just made it more interesting.

“Hey, y/n, are you sure you don’t want to come out with us?” Harrison yelled from outside your bedroom door, and you peeked your head out to respond.

“Nah, it’s fine, Haz, go have fun. I have enough uni work to keep me busy.”

“It’s a Friday night, nerd.”

You stuck your tongue out at him and smiled. “Sorry I’m not a budding alcoholic like you, big bro.”

He laughed, blew you a kiss, and he and Tom were off.

Only about an hour later, you decided to take a break from studying and light up a joint, turning on your go-to movie for background noise- but were snapped out of your vibey trance when you heard the front door swing open, and your brother’s loud, drunk voice.

“W-why are we h-home, you div,” he slurred, as his heavy footsteps start to climb the stairs. After a long moment, you heard him collapse on his bed through your thin walls, still stammering out his words. “Thomas, I promise you, I am fineeee...”

“Mate, you’re sloshed. Go to bed.”

You decided to leave them be. This was a typical occurrence- one of the boys went too hard too early, and the other had to babysit until they made it home to pass out cold, usually on the bed, or the couch, or on a good day, the floor.

A few minutes passed while you hotboxed your room, feeling amazingly relaxed, until you saw your doorknob wriggling out of the corner of your eye. Your door was locked, so you ignored it. But the knob kept twisting and falling back in place, making the whole frame shake. After a long while of witnessing a ghost try to make its way into your room, you watched your lock turn slowly and click out of place, the door creaking opened to reveal Tom, swatting at the air when a cloud of smoke greeted him.

You snapped your laptop closed before he could hear his own voice flowing out of your speakers. “Tom, for the last time, stop picking my fucking lock!” You beamed your nearest pillow at him—which he caught before it struck him—and he threw it back, hitting you square in the face. Of course.

He flashed a cocky smile. “Why? It’s so easy.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m serious! I could’ve been naked or something!”

He just stood in the doorframe, giving you a once-over in your thin cotton t-shirt and yoga pants, and kept that smug expression locked on his face. 

“Ew, Tom, you’re disgusting. Get out.”

He decidedly did not get out, instead closing the door behind him and hopping up next to you on your bed, the divot in your mattress leaving your bodies pressed much too close together. You were met with a strong whiff of his cologne and the gin he must’ve been drinking earlier. “I’ll take that,” he muttered as he lifted your joint out of your fingers and took a puff, sucking his breath in as his lungs filled. 

Your stomach filled with a dull fire and you narrowed your eyes. “Do you mind?”

He turned to face you and blew a big puff of smoke directly into your face, the notorious smirk making its reappearance. “Not at all, thanks for asking though.”

You groaned aloud. “What are you doing in here?” he took another draw and handed you back what was rightfully yours, smoke dissipating from his mouth as he spoke.

“Haz is pissed and I’m bored.”

You relit the bud and inhaled for a long while, figuring you’d need to be pretty intoxicated to not smack him in the face if he tried to talk again. “Well, go be bored somewhere else. I was busy.”

He cocked an eyebrow at you and reached across your lap for your computer. “Doing what?” 

Oh shit. “Dude, can you not-?!” you yelped, but he had swiped it too quickly out of your grasp, and opened it up to find himself paused on your screen. You laid back on your bed so he couldn’t see your cheeks now flushed with embarrassment and grabbed your lighter from your nightstand. It was going to be a long evening.

He leaned himself over to catch your eye and had the stupidest, most prideful look plastered across his face. “Gotcha.”

You punched him in the arm as he erupted into laughter—but the anger inside you had been dulled by the weed and replaced with a childlike silliness—and you started to giggle, too. You looked up into his eyes, pupils now wildly dilated and tinted red around the edges.

“Shut up, Tom, you’re high,” you said in between chuckles.

“Yeah? Well so are you!”

You poked fun at each other for a while, suddenly in a mutually fantastic mood. You knew in the back of your mind that none of this would be happening if you hadn’t gotten stoned together, but you enjoyed the warm company anyway. 

“Well, you gotta finish it, don’t you?” he said, settling back down and fixating the computer on his lap so you could both see it.

“You really want to watch your own movie?”

“Doll, it’s my favorite thing to do.” he smiled at you.

“God, you’re the worst.” you felt some butterflies make an entrance in your chest that had never been there before.

He pressed play and cozied up on your bed, lying back against the wall with his arm lazily draped behind you. You pulled a blanket up onto your lap and had really no choice but to lean on him for support, neither of you admitting out loud that you were full on cuddling and not angry about it.

“Hey, aren’t you gonna share?” he whined, pulling at the corner of your blanket.

“Get your own,” you responded, internally high-fiving yourself for finally getting the chance to sass him back. Sure, you had your head comfortably resting on his shoulder, but that didn’t mean you were suddenly friends.

You let the movie play, the two of you blowing through the joint until it was a dwindling nub. The scene where Peter has his big kiss with MJ started, and you stifled a snigger as their lips met on the screen.

Tom had clear offense laced through his words. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” you shrugged.

He sat up to look at you, eyebrows knit together in an angry pout. “Tell me.”

“I just...feel bad for Zendaya, that’s all.” you covered your mouth to keep from laughing, and his eyes rolled so far back into his head you were sure they’d be stuck that way forever.

“You’re such a brat,” he started, his ego finding its old place back in his voice. “I’m an amazing kisser. She told me herself.”

You looked away from him, taking a heavy exhale. “Yeah, whatever, dude.”

He sat even more upright and paused the movie, taking hold of your shoulder to make you turn to him. “What, you don’t believe me?”

You realized then how physically close you had gotten, as you could feel the syllables of his words in his breath hitting your face. He was doing that thing boys do, when they’re thinking about kissing you but don’t- their stares going back and forth between your lips and your eyes in a not so subtle way. It freaked you out to see him that close and personal, and you whispered back exactly what you knew would irk him the most.

“Nope.”

He moved his face impossibly closer to yours, and you felt his soft lips lightly brush over your own. You weren’t sure if this was real, or just a high hallucination, but you didn’t move away. This was entirely uncharted territory.

“Tooommmm!” you heard Harrison yell out from the other side of the wall. “Where are yooouuu?! I’m so thirsty!” Tom immediately jerked his head away from you and shook himself out of the moment. You brought your hand up to your cheek and shuddered at how hot it had become- your own body was betraying you.

“God, he’s gonna be the death of me,” Tom said, shoving himself off the bed and walking out of your room, glancing back at you for a moment and then closing the door behind him. Just like that, he was gone, and you were left trapped in your own psyche wondering what the hell had just happened.

Over the course of the next week, things has become exponentially weirder between you and Tom. He seemed to be spending much more time at your house than he normally did, even sleeping a few nights there instead of driving the five minutes back to be in his own bed. One unsuspecting morning, you knocked on your bathroom door, annoyed that it had been shut for such a long time. 

“Haz, if you use up all the hot water again, I’m gonna kill you,” you said in between knocks. You were taken by surprise when it swung open, steam billowing out into the cool air.

“Whoops,” you heard a voice say, immediately realizing it wasn’t your brother. You took a step backward to see Tom emerge, wearing nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. His hair was damp and clinging to his forehead, and he looked like some glowing magazine model. 

“Uh, sorry,” you stammered, accidentally inhaling the yummy smell of his soap and shampoo emanating off of his skin.

He noticed you eyeing him and a sly grin appeared as he rolled his bottom lip under his teeth. “Shower’s all yours, babe,” he said, bumping your shoulder with his own as he walked away. You were stuck in place and didn’t see him glancing back at you as he wandered down the hallway. 

Another day after that, Tom and Harrison were looking for a certain record to play, but it was nowhere to be found. “It might be in y/n’s room,” Harrison said, sitting back in his lounge chair. “Wanna go grab it?”

Tom coughed. “Why do I have to get it?”

“Because I’m comfortable.”

Tom felt a mix of annoyance and nerves in his chest as he walked the short distance down the hallway to your room where the door was already cracked open. He invited himself in—excitement faltering a little when he saw you weren’t in your usual spot on your bed—and started to sift through your bookshelves.

You had been in the bathroom getting dressed after your shower, but realized you left your shirt in your closet- and seeing that Harrison’s bedroom door was still shut, you figured it was safe to run across the landing into your room without anyone seeing you. In just a bra and spandex shorts that left little to the imagination, you swiftly made your way across the hall and walked through your door that was still open a crack to see Tom kneeled down as he shuffled through your record collection.

He heard your small gasp when you entered to find him, and swiveled around to you standing only a few feet away from him in the least amount of clothing he’d ever seen on you. He abruptly stood up but didn’t move, eyes sparkling as they rolled down your body.

“What the fuck! Why are you always in my room?!” You were too shocked to think about finding something to cover yourself with, and put your hands over your face, trying not to die of embarrassment. Tom remained glued to his place on your carpet, clearly at a loss for words.

“Tom, can you leave please-”

“Right, yeah, okay, uh, bye-” he hurried out of your room, swinging the door almost shut but leaving just a crack so he could speak into it.

“...I like your shorts.”

“TOM!”

He chuckled and closed the door, and you slumped against the wall, still holding your head in your hands. What was this sudden hold he had over you? And why did you love the way that he was staring at you?

That night, you had a big paper to complete, and you were perched in your bed typing away as it got dark. In between two songs on your playlist, you heard the familiar jiggle of a doorknob. Looking up over your screen, you watched as the metal turned in its socket, and heard a soft “crushed it” as the lock undid itself. Your door opened steadily and slowly, a familiar face peeking in at you.

“Hi.”

“Oh sweet jesus,” you mumbled.

“You busy?”

“Clearly.”

“Cool.” Tom let himself into your room, shutting the door behind him and sauntering over to your bed, sitting down next to you, bouncing like a little kid and singing his words. “Whatcha doooin’?”

“Homework,” you said, continuing to type and trying your best to ignore the way the sound of his voice was waking up something electric inside of you. He leaned into your body to peer at your computer screen, pretending to be interested in whatever you were writing about. His elbow got in the way of your hands, and you had to stop typing.

“Thomas, is there something I can help you with?”

“Haz is asleep,” he said, resting his head on your shoulder like it hadn’t been a week since your almost-kiss and you hadn’t been actively avoiding bringing it up.

You felt jittery. “And?”

He gently pushed your hands away from the keyboard and closed your laptop shut, giving you a sheepish smile. “Wanna get high?”

Honestly, you did.

You turned on your lamp and turned off the overhead light, put on that record he finally found, lighting a candle and then another hand-rolled blunt. This time, Tom sat upright with you perpendicular to him, your legs swung over his lap. When he made a joke, he’d give your leg a little squeeze- and whether it was purposeful or not, you were filled with schoolgirl nerves every time it happened.

All the angsty barriers built up over years of a sibling-like rivalry had come down between the two of you as you smoked together; you suddenly found all of his bad jokes funny, and he couldn’t peel his eyes away from the cute way you scrunched your nose when you laughed. Every time you exchanged the blunt, you couldn’t help but think about how his lips had just been on it a moment before yours. The night came and went, and you ended up falling asleep wrapped in his arms as he dozed off with his chin pressed to your forehead.

You both woke up at the same time in the dead of night, unsure of how late it had gotten. Still nestled into each other, you exchanged sleepy glances and no words, taking a moment to realize the position you had put yourselves in. 

Tom grazed your jawline with the back of his hand and lifted up your chin with his thumb. You let your eyes flutter shut and he kissed you in the dark for one long, everlasting moment. He pulled back from you hesitantly, leaving you breathless. Did that really just happen?

“We...we can’t,” he whispered, his words tinged with sadness.

Your heart broke for him just hearing his voice. “Why not?”

“You’re my best friend’s little sister, y/n.”

“And you’re my brother’s best friend. So what?” you were almost upset with yourself for being so vulnerable; so visibly pining after him.

“So, you’re off limits,” he said, resting his forehead against yours. 

“Says who?” 

That prompted Tom to meet your gaze again, and this time you took initiative, moving your face to his and taking his bottom lip in between yours. He took a sharp inhale as you kissed him and seemed to let all inhibition go as he put his arms around your back and pressed you into him hard, all of his pent up feelings for you suddenly flowing out of him. He kissed you in a needy, desperate kind of way, and you loved every second of it. You ran your fingers through his hair, traced his jawline, using your hands to feel every bit of him that you couldn’t before. The strangest part of it all was how natural it felt- like you had been practicing for this very moment all your lives. 

Your record had stopped spinning a while ago, the room now filled with just the breathy noises of your kisses, your contented hums and his tiny mews when you bit his lips. You were both still barely lucid, and after countless minutes of nothing but innocent kisses, you were on the brink of falling asleep again, serotonin whisking you away into dreams. Tom sighed into you, and clasped his hand around yours.

“I have to go.”

“What? Why?” you felt your heart preeminently sink in your chest; like you should’ve known this was too good to last.

“I don’t want him to wake up and find us here,” he trailed off, staring down at your intertwined fingers fiddling together.

“So that’s it?” you tried to swallow back the sudden upwell of feelings inside you.

“No, no...” his eyes filled with some type of emotional strain you’d never seen. “I- I don’t want this to be it. But I don’t want things to get...messy.”

Unfortunately, you couldn’t blame him, because you understood.

“Can you come back tomorrow night?” you whispered, very not ready to let his spot next to you grow cold.

“I don’t know...”

You looked up at him doe-eyed, cooing. “Please?”

He nodded, looking away from you before he completely caved and stayed there forever. “I’ll come back.”

He pressed one last kiss onto your lips and slowly got up, reluctantly letting go of your hand as he left your room. “Goodnight, babe.”

Hearing him call you babe, finally free of demeaning sarcasm, made your heart soar. 

“Goodnight, Tom.”

The door shut and you were left alone, the stillness of your room sticking out in sharp contrast with how quickly your heart was racing.

For the next few nights, Tom spent the evenings at your house with Harrison, waiting until he fell asleep to make his way next door to you. You’d smoke together, watch his movies—and in heated moments got a little handsy—but you never went past kissing, though you both desperately wanted to. It was too risky having your brother right next door; and you knew all too well how paper thin your walls were. But in those secretive hours after solar midnight, just being able to exist next to Tom and letting him hold you, you were the happiest you could ever remember being. The second night he left your room to let you sleep, he placed a light kiss on your forehead after he stood up that made the whole thing feel a little too...real.

The next day, you walked into the kitchen and found Harrison at the fridge. You were in a great mood for obvious reasons but couldn’t let it show. “Hey, got any fun plans today?”

He turned around after shoving a handful of grapes in his mouth. “Nope, got some admin stuff to do and gonna turn in early.”

“Oh, Tom isn’t coming over?”

“No, I told him to take a night off. He’s been smothering me, y’know?” he laughed and ate a few more grapes, but then turned to you, confused. “Since when do you care if he’s coming over?”

You swallowed, unsure of what to say. “Just want to know if I need to stay out of the way,” you faked a laugh and blinked hard, hoping he wasn’t paying too much attention to your facial expressions.

“Uh, alright then. You two are always so fuckin’ weird around each other.” He seemed to feel that was a good way to end your exchange and walked out of the kitchen, throwing a grape at you.

You rolled your eyes at your brother, but then felt the sadness bubble up upon registering that you weren’t going to see Tom tonight. But really, how long did you think you could keep this up? The feelings you were developing for him scared you, you didn’t know what to make of them; all you knew was that your days suddenly seemed much grayer without him.

Nighttime came around, and you couldn’t sleep, so you did the unthinkable and sent Tom a text. Your thumb shook as you hit send, knowing that there was now tangible evidence of the connection you’d developed, that it wasn’t just some invention of your mind.

hey, are you awake?

T: yeah, can’t sleep. you?

obviously, i just texted you.

T: shut it.

A minute passed...

T: got room for one more over there?

You smiled like an idiot at your phone.

maybe.

Less than 10 minutes later, you heard the familiar wriggle of your doorknob. You don’t know why you even bothered locking it anymore.

“Hey you,” he whispered, carefully shutting the door behind him.

“Tom, you know you could’ve just knocked and I would’ve let you in- you don’t have to keep picking the lock.”

“Old habits die hard.”

You chuckled and stood up to greet him at your door as he unexpectedly wrapped you in an amazingly tight hug. He rested his chin on top of your head and started to sway your bodies back and forth. You laid your head on his chest and said hello to his heartbeat.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it was almost hard to fall asleep without you,” he murmured, placing another one of those domestic kisses on your scalp.

“Well, now you don’t have to.” you smiled. He waddled you backwards to your bed and you sat down as your legs hit the bedframe, prompting Tom to fall onto you as you giggled into his body that was now covering your face.

“Okay, goodniiight,” he said, refusing to move. You poked at his sides making him jump, and he grabbed your waist and rolled you on top of him. You instinctively leaned down so your lips could clash together in the way you were so used to, trying hard to not confess that you’d completely fallen in love with him when you finally had the breath to speak. He pushed your hair to cascade to one side of his face, and nuzzled your nose with his own, closing his eyes and humming with a smile. “Mmm.”

“Hmm?”

“Just happy.”

You rested your sleepy head on his warm chest, and fell into a deep sleep, letting the steady drumming in his chest be a metronome to breathe to.

~

“Oh, shit. Shit shit shit.”

You woke up abruptly, the bright light of day blinding you as you tried to open your eyes to the string of expletives you’d just heard come from a familiar voice. Once you’d opened them, though, you wish you had kept them shut so you hadn’t seen who had spoken.

“Harrison?!”

He was standing in your room, peering at you with hands half covering his eyes when you realized that there was a sleeping Tom underneath you.

Your brother paced in a circle and exhaled loudly. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.”

You nudged Tom awake with your elbow and immediately rolled off of him, trying to hide the very obvious fact that you had slept together all night. You never let him stay the full night for this exact reason, but he had been so ridiculously happy holding you in his arms that he forgot to set an alarm to wake him at the crack of dawn and leave. You sat up straight in your bed, twisting your hair in your hands, bracing yourself for the inevitable tirade.

Tom picked his head up to see Harrison standing there with his arms crossed, and flopped his head back on the pillow. “Fuck. Hey, mate.” He tried to play it off like this was the most normal thing that could happen on a Thursday morning.

“Is this why you’re always such bumbling fools around one another? You’ve been, what, fucking each other when I’m not around?” Harrison looked like he wanted to throw up at the thought.

“Haz, no, it’s not like that,” you said, but he didn’t seem convinced. “It’s just been smoking together and cuddling, really, that’s it,” you were torn between wanting to console your brother and admitting to both him and Tom that this was more to you than that. But Tom already knew that, because it was for him, too.

Tom looked like a deer in headlights. “I’m so sorry, dude-”

Harrison walked out of the room, and the two of you were left sitting in your bed, worry filling your eyes. Only a moment later, your brother reappeared in the doorway.

“Look, you idiots, I don’t care that you’re snuggling off the clock—you’re my two favorite people in the world, and to see you together, honestly, it’s about damn time,” he started, making both your and Tom’s jaws fall slightly agape. You exchanged a knowing look. Wait, is he not mad? Wait, about damn time??

“But I wish you would’ve told me so we could all hang out together. I don’t appreciate the sneaking around.” 

You cocked your head at him, sending him a loving gaze for always just wanting what’s best for you. 

“I’m just mad you aren’t including me in your hotbox sessions, really.” He laughed and ran his hands through his hair, pulling his face back to make a wild expression.

All three of you started to chuckle out of sheer awkwardness and relief.

“Come here.” Harrison held his hands out and you both gave a mutual aww as you ran into your brother’s arms, squeezing him tight.

“I love you, big bro.”

“I know. Now I’m gonna get out of here before you start kissing in front of me, or worse,” he moaned, swiftly exiting your room. “This is gonna be the grossest thing I’ve ever seen...” you heard him say to himself as he left.

You turned to Tom, still shocked at how well that had gone considering what he was assuming would happen. You swallowed the butterflies that you’d welcomed as friends and stepped back to him still sitting on the bed, putting your arms around his neck.

“And you,” you started, swinging your legs over his lap to straddle him. “I have to confess something.”

Tom placed his hands back on your hips where they rightfully belonged and smiled at you. “I’m listening.”

“I don’t mind you calling me babe anymore.” you grinned at his face drop, obviously assuming that you were going to say something else.

“Oh, and why’s that?” he prodded.

You looked up and off to the side as you squeezed his shoulders. “Maybe because I’m just a tad bit in love with you,” you trailed off, stiff as a board at what he could possibly say next.

“Well, babe,” he put emphasis on the pet name, “That’s a relief, because I was worried I might be the only one falling here.”

You grabbed his face and kissed him, kneading his soft cheeks under your thumbs, whispering exactly what you knew would get him the most.

“Nope.”

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 35)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 2630

Warnings: angst, fluff,serious Tony Stark,  happy moment for the reader!!!, emotional Loki Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things had gone back to normal, or as normal as it could get for The Avengers, everyone was back to doing their own thing and always getting together for dinner as much as possible. Planning had gone underway for the wedding. Both had agreed they wanted something simple and quiet they didn’t want the public to ruin their happy day. 

True to her word, Shannon had brought down things to ask you for an opinion from flowers, to cloth colors, to dress designs. Everyone was basking in the happiness that the soon to be husband and wife were in. That was until word got out to the press that the billionaire playboy genius was finally settling down with the one woman they have seen on his arm for the past two years. 

The morning the team saw the news they tried  to hide it from Tony and Shannon but had failed when they saw he was reading the news on his holographic tablet. 

“Morning everyone!” Tony said sounding cheery as he had been lately. “There still some coffee left?” came from him without looking up from the tablet he had in his hand, going over some paperwork. 

“Morning, Tony. What’re the plans for today?” Steve asked trying to keep Tony busy. “Shannon have anything she wants you to do or get for the wedding?” 

“Not yet. We’re still looking at some possible ideas.”

He took a sip from his mug. “Although I did hear something about going to some chocolate tasting, I might not like it but I’m sure she’d appreciate you or Clint going with her to see which would be best.” He looked up at the tall blonde. 

“Sure thing, I’ll ask her when she’s doing that.” 

“Everything alright, Cap? You seem a little tense.” Tony could see the way Steve was holding himself like as if something was wrong. 

“Oh it’s nothing,” he said nonchalantly. “Just a bit sore from my last training session.” 

Just then Shannon had walked in wearing an oversized hoodie and her hair pulled up. “Good morning, everyone.” She gave everyone a kiss on the cheek. “Mm something smells good in here. You cooking again, Steve?” 

“Morning, doll, just trying out some old recipes.” He smiled at her. “Tony, says you want to go chocolate tasting?” 

She hummed while eating the food. “Yeah I was hoping you’d come with? Seeing as Tony doesn't like chocolate that much.” She looked up at the super soldier. 

“I’d love to, doll, just as long as we keep Clint away from eating too much,” he joked. He hadn't noticed that Tony was reading the news.

The coffee mug slipped from Tony’s fingers and landed with a thud on the table thankfully it was a metal mug and not a ceramic one. “Umm… Babe, you wanna come take a look at this?” He sounded weird. 

“Sure thing, Tony.” Confused as to what it might be she walked quickly to his side. She was speechless when the cover story was of them two and how they’re getting married.  “How did they find out?” She was confused as to how someone could have found out only those closest knew. 

“I have no clue… Could one of the workers here have said something?” Hoping that was the case. “Oh crap, your parents are going to find out and it’ll ruin the surprise,” he realized. 

“Tony?! We need to get this off the news now before it’s too late! I already have everything set to tell them tomorrow evening,” she groaned knowing it might be too late already. She covered her head with the hood and leaned her head on the countertop. 

“Don’t say that, doll, they probably haven’t seen the news yet. I bet Tony could get it removed in less than 3 hours.” He walked to her and was patting her back. 

“Sir, you have an incoming call from multiple magazine companies wanting a scoop for their issue.”  

Hearing that he groaned and saw Shannon shrink herself some more. 

“Send all the calls to the conference room. I’ll pick up all of them at once.” He cleaned up his mess and was heading out. “Don't worry, babe, I got this. Jarvis, contact the company who got the word about the engagement. I need to speak with them,” he said is a tone he only uses when he means business. 

Clint silently suggested he and Steve get Shannon back to her room and contact the chocolate place to have then send their samples to the tower so they could try the samples in peace and away from the public eye. They all knew it's the last thing she would want. 

“Come on, Shannon, let’s go back to your room and set up a movie or something.” Clint stood at her other side. “Let’s get your mind off this stuff.”

“I’ll make a quick call and meet you guys there,” Steve said after getting Shannon onto Clint’s back so he could carry her. “You guys pick the movie, I’ll get the snacks.”

She nodded her head and turned to look at Steve make a call while she was taken to her room. 

“Hello this is Steve Rogers calling on behalf of Shannon. We ran into a bit of a situation and wondered if the samples of your chocolates could be sent to us? If not I’d be happy to go pick them up myself,” he asked the lady who picked up his call. It killed him to see his best friend feel like things are going wrong when they shouldn’t be.

On the other side of the line he was told that it would be no problem at all getting the chocolate packaged and sent to the tower in half an hour. Steve thanking the woman who was kind to have that happen and walked to Shannon’s room to see if everything was ready for them to make her feel better.

“Alright the chocolate samples should be here in half an hour” seeing that Clint was laying at the edge of the bed he moved to sit next to Shannon. “What movie we watching?” he ask hoping that watching some movies will help.

“Well we were thinking of starting off with something Disney so I found Trolls seems like it could be a silly movie” Clint said while about to start the movie. “How much chocolate are they sending?”

“Your not going to get to eat much of it” Steve warned him “You and chocolate is not a good mix we don’t need to go off chasing you around form you being hyper.

“Oh come on Steve don’t be a party pooper.” He stuck his tongue out at the blonde

Meanwhile on a different floor of the tower Tony was in one of the many conference rooms addressing the matter at hand with all the news channels. He wanted this to be over as quick as possible and make sure that the news doesn’t get to Shannon’s parents at whatever cost it takes he know how excited she was to tell them but seeing her the way she was when she heard that it was out in the public.

“Alright thank you for waiting for me as it would seem someone has given you personal information of my life and foremost would like to know who exactly it was that told you so that they can face the consequences appropriately” he said. 

“We were told by an anonymous figure,” came the response from a few of the channels. “We were told of this news from one of the towers workers,” said channel 12 who had kept quiet until now.

“And does said worker have a name?” he wanted to know now. “Now as for the reason for calling you all, I need you to get rid of that footage ASAP. My fiance is currently worried that her parents will find out from your channels rather than what she has planned for them. Yes we are getting married but that is all you will get from me so please don’t bother trying to get anymore information because you wont get any.” They all saw how serious he was about getting the footage removed. “This is the biggest news we’ve had in a few years, Mr. Stark. You can’t just expect us to drop the story just like that,” one channel said.

“You do realize who you’re talking to right?” he challenged who had spoken. “I could easily make few calls and make sure you don’t have a job for tonight’s viewing. Now I’m not saying I will I’m just saying I could.” He smirked seeing the person pale. “The same will go for all the channels any sponsor you might have I have connections with so if you don’t remove the footage of announcement of my wedding there will be trouble.” 

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” a few of the channels said seeing a bit of fear for their current jobs. “We’ll have that footage removed and deleted.”

“Thank you now if you excuse me I have a fiance to go make sure is okay, have a good rest of your day and I will be looking into if it’s been deleted or not.” With that he ended the video call with all the channels.

Walking out of the conference room Tony felt a whole lot better knowing that they would definitely be getting rid of the footage of the story that had be created and had high hopes that it would be gone before Shannon’s parents had a chance to even look at the news. Knowing her parents the would probably wait to be in bed to watch the news at night which gives the new channels a good time slot to do as he had ordered.

He headed up to the lab wanting to give her some time with her friends and later on tell her about it’s all taken care of and that she can go on planning the surprise reveal. He hoped that with her being distracted by her friends she will feel a lot less stressed out.

>> Rogers let Shannon know I’ll be in the lab for a bit there’s something I need to finish then I’ll head down to where you three are.

<< you got it, Tony. Is the issue fixed?

>> yes, it took a bit of threatening but yes

<<good it’ll help make things better for Shannon

Tony had finished off what he had been working on early and headed where Shannon and the guys were watching movies and laughed when he saw Clint lying on the floor covered in chocolate wrappers and Steve looked annoyed. Overall things had gone well the chocolate had been picked thanks to the guys and Tony could tell that Shannon was in a better mood

“Hey, babe, so I just got everything fixed you can go back to planning how you wanted to tell your parents the news” he went to sit next to her seeing her light up made him happy knowing he’s the one that made her feel like that.

“You mean it?” 

“The news won’t be showing that story ever again.”

“What a relief I didn’t want my parents finding out like that especially with what I had in mind”

“I know how much telling your parents means to you so of course I would do everything to make sure you could”

Three days later both had gotten invited to have dinner with her parents at their house. Which helped because they wanted to announce the news somewhere private. Once they understood what they had been given with the sweaters they were excited for the happy couple and could not wait to see how the planning was going for the wedding and who would be going and when the wedding would happen and where too.

_____________________

“Are you sure? Like… is this okay?” you asked as you stood in your cell, wringing your hands.

“Yeah, absolutely!” Shannon said with a wide, bright smile.

“So Tony, Fury, they all know about this?”

Shannon laughed at your fears. “Don’t worry. I’ve taken care of everything. SHIELD and the Avengers have all signed off on your parole.”

“Parole… Wow. Never thought that word would be assigned to me.”

Shannon shot you a sympathetic look. “It’s just for you though, right now. Loki’s will come shortly.”

You nodded. “That’s fine.”

“And that’s only because you’re getting out early to help me with the wedding.” 

“I know. This is amazing. I told you everything would work out.” 

She smiled at you. “Well tell your boyfriend you’ll be back.” She gestured to Loki who sat on the leather couch, pretending as if he wasn’t listening to the conversation.

You walked over, feeling guilty. You were gaining freedom before him, and it didn’t feel right. Part of you felt amazing to get to go out and do everything you wanted to with Shannon, but the other part of you felt enormously guilty for leaving him here.

“Well… I’m gonna go. Dress shopping with Shannon,” you stated, laughing a bit uneasily as you sat beside him. He continued to flip through his book, not meeting your eyes. 

“That sounds wonderful,” he evenly said. 

“Yeah. It is. I’m pretty excited.”

Loki sighed, closing his book and looked at you, his gaze softening. He put the back of his hand on your cheek. “You should be. You deserve this. Have a good day.”

Truth be told, he was slightly terrified that you would never return. That once you left through those glass doors, you wouldn’t come back. Shannon wouldn’t come back, you wouldn’t come back, Tony wouldn’t check in. A random orderly would come down once a week to bring food and a change of clothing, and that would be the rest of his life. 

Maybe you would convince everyone that Loki needed to stay down there and rot. Maybe you would say it was all his fault and he deserved to never leave. 

Yes, you stayed by his side while you were on Sanctuary, but was that only because you had no way of escaping? Did you only find safety with him because he was a friendly face? When you came back to Earth, did you not flee due to fear of Thanos? So far, he had no real proof you would ever return to him. Every time you were near him, it was in a situation you couldn’t control.

Maybe now you saw him for what he really was, and would leave and never look back. These were the fears that danced through his mind and heart as he looked at you. 

“I will be back…” you suddenly promised, concern coloring your features. “I promise.” 

Loki temporarily wondered if you could read minds. He smiled at you, and you knew that was his stage smile. You knew there wasn’t sincerity in it when he said, “I know.” He leaned forward, cupped the base of your head in his slender fingers and gave you an earnest kiss. 

With that, you stood. You knew words would never help Loki. You could only prove your loyalty by returning back to him tonight. Returning back to the cell that kept you prisoner for over two years… To walk into a place that you loathed, that you never wanted to see again, just to demonstrate how much, how impossibly much you loved this man. 

“Ready to go?” Shannon asked from behind you.

You turned to her and said, “Yeah.” One final glance behind you where Loki nodded and smiled at you, this time it was a little warmer. You gave him a small wave, and you left that cell, a free woman for the first time in over three years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​ @bubblyanarocks3​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​ @kaelingoat​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​ @damalseer​ @heyitscam99​ @yknott81​ @sorryimacrapwriter​ @glitterquadricorn​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​ @alyssaj23​ @sea040561​ @princess76179​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​ @sarahp879​ @malfoysqueen14​ @ellallheart​ @breezy1415​ @marvelmayo​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711​

Loki: @lostinspace33​ @ultrarebelheart​ @lenawiinchester @esoltis280 @tngrayson @wangdeasang @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice

UC: @lokis-high-priestess​

@pandacookieowo​

[captainchrisfics]

Endgame Interviews and Special News

About: As per the request of @rororo06 , Chris Evans and the (first person pov) reader are married and going through a round of press interviews, although the plot of Endgame isn’t the only thing they’re worried about spoiling (hope you don’t mind that addition to the plot!)

Words: 2,600

A/N: Featuring the lowest key hint at what could possibly be considered a spoiler, lines lifted straight from Chris and RDJ’s dialogue in The Avengers, and a reference to a quote from my favorite author, Jandy Nelson.

“So, this is potentially the last time we’ll see the two of you in the MCU. I’d imagine that feels pretty weird, huh?” The interviewer asked, sitting a little closer to us in her chair that looked so much comfier than the folding ones Chris and I have been sitting in all day. I felt bad for omitting her name from my memory. I really did try to remember, but this is our seventh question session of the day and there reaches a point where they all kind of blur together and you forget things. I made an effort to push the thought of exactly why forgetfulness was plaguing me way worse than usual out of my mind in the hopes that it wouldn’t accidentally slip from my mind to my mouth during this Q and A.

“I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that after shooting so many of these, getting back on set sort of feels like coming home,” Chris said with his Boston accent accentuating his vowels in a way I would’ve laughed at if it were just the two of us. “Granted, it’s in the same weird way a high school reunion does.” The interviewer giggled at that and tried to hide her blush behind her notes, but I’ve gotten pretty good at catching the flirty eyes women gave my husband and how their voices raised a couple octaves around him. I couldn’t blame her, Chris has always had this disarming charm about him and I was secure enough to know he wasn’t entrancing her intentionally. Chris intertwined his arm with the one I had sitting on his armrest, never knowing where the blurry boundary of my personal space ended and his began, and held my hand. “What do you think, babe?” he asked, turning his baby blues to me with his attention and perching one eyebrow higher than the other. I nodded in agreement and added, “We’ve watched them grow so much over the years, it feels more like sending our kid to college.”

The interviewer cleared her throat and turned to me, more serious now. “I mean, I grew up watching these movies over the last decade. Being one of the first female heroes in the series, you’re someone little girls everywhere have been looking up to for a long time now,” she said, eyes boring into mine the way they do when conveying the kind of admiration someone had when they saw you as a hero, despite the fact that all I did was pretend to be one. The appreciation people who could see a reflection of themselves in your mirror, one that the screen didn’t show them too often, wasn’t something I’d ever get used to. “Thank you,” I said earnestly, placing a hand over hers. “I can only take so much responsibility, though. The most amazing women in this industry from the cast to crew work on these movies, standing alongside them has been one of the biggest honors.”

Chris smiled down at me as I spoke and stretched to wrap his arm around me and I leaned into his side comfortably, giving into the giant magnet always pulling us together. “Your relationship has been something so many fans loved seeing develop on and off screen as well. Any clue as to how your characters will be affected by the Endgame?” she asked, tucking one index card behind another. I started twisting my wedding ring around my finger unconsciously, thinking about how crucial this franchise was in bringing us together for the first time in a while, with a new sense of nostalgia. It wasn’t a secret that our contracts were up and, as excited as we both were to move on to new projects, there was a bitterness sprinkled in with the sweet when I thought about hanging up our superhero costumes for the last time.

Chris was established as Captain America in his origin story, but I was a new addition on the set of The Avengers. Still, the role wasn’t as second nature to him then as it is now. He didn’t feel as though the shield felt right on his arm. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to Chris, but that’s not why I invited him back to my trailer after a particularly stiff scene, even though when he tells the story it’s because his blue eyes and high cheekbones ignited an irrevocable love for him within me and a burning need (not desire, need) to be in  his presence every moment I could. It was an exceptionally humid day, made worse by our heat-trapping supersuits, which grew into a sticky summer night spent sat in my trailer going over our lines for hours on end. There was something I noticed about the way Chris was carrying himself during our scenes together that was so unnatural, I just hoped to help him grow more comfortable with me so the camera wouldn’t pick up on whatever was bugging him next time we were on set.

We were at this part where everyone’s arguing, shouting over one another while Loki’s scepter glowed behind them. Chris and I were standing a little too close for comfort, sandwiched together by the counters in my thin trailer, which made it increasingly difficult to stay in character. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” I said with faux nonchalance in reference to Bruce’s growing temper, slapping my hand on his broad shoulder. Chris shook the script in his hand to stiffen the pages, staring at it intently before turning to me with a dramatically furrowed brow and tight jaw. He slapped my hand away, shoulders heaving as he breathed heavily with acted anger, and said, “You know damn well why so back off.” Chris took a small but threatening step toward me, looming just inches away. Although the harsh lines of his bone structure and intensity in his stare made Chris that much more intimidating, I tried to rely on my character’s own unabashed smugness as I rolled my shoulders back and crossed my arms, playing his challenger. “Oh,” I said, eyes dragging from the frown on his lips to meet those gorgeous blue eyes. I tried to step back, as the script directed, but my back hit the cabinet. “I’m starting to want you to make me,” I said lowly, conscious of my breath fanning across his face.

Instead of saying his next line, Chris threw his script down on the tabletop. He closed what was left of the little space between us by reaching out and caressing my cheek. His other hand slipped behind me, resting on the small of my back. Our chests rose and fell together, brushing against each other with every breath. His eyes searched mine, looking for permission. When his mouth opened and closed like a fish, trying and failing to find the words, I kissed him. It was slow at first, soft and uncertain as our mouths melded together, but before I knew it everything was on fire. I felt hot, every inch of skin Chris touched burned for his attention again. So did he, with the way his blood rushing turned his skin into a radiator. I wasn’t thinking about it as Chris pushed his hips into mine and sucked on the skin of my neck, leading me to the trailer’s sorry excuse for a mattress, but I read somewhere that when people fall in love they burst into flames, which I think is as true as the sky being blue.

Although, watching the movies now, it’s clear there was always some sort of tension between us if you know what you’re looking for. In the scenes we shot before that day, Chris stood straighter around me and puffed out his chest while I walked with an embarrassingly prominent sway in my hips. After though, even by the next morning, it was clear to everyone we’d grown more comfortable together. We found our rhythm and it showed, causing the directors to pursue an on-screen relationship between our characters. Chris and I didn’t complain too much about getting paid to do what we already were anyway.

“Would you agree?” Chris inquired, tracing the tip of his thumb along my shoulder to regain my attention. I nodded absentmindedly, focusing on trying to keep the blush in my cheeks to a minimum. My hand floated to where it rested on my stomach without me noticing while I was reminiscing, which I pulled away quickly and prayed no one would notice in the recording’s shoulders-up shot. “So I think we’ll see a new side of Steve,” Chris reiterated the point I’d missed. “At this point, I’d say he’s willing to stop at nothing to get her back after she got dusted in Infinity War,” he elaborated, moving the light line his finger brushed against my shoulder a little higher to draw shapes on my exposed skin, sending shivers down my spine. Chris either didn’t know or didn’t acknowledge the effect he was having on me as he kept talking without breaking the interviewer’s eye contact. “It’ll be interesting to see how he handles really losing everything for the second time now.”

She nodded solemnly and gave his words a minute to hang on suspense in the air before leaning toward me as she shifted her attention again. “Your chemistry is so clear on screen, you two get along effortlessly. I was wondering if it’s like that in real life as well?” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at the assumption, knowing that suppressing my anger every time I had to pick up the socks Chris strewn all over the apartment since he refused to put them in the laundry each time he peeled off another pair sure as hell wasn’t even close to resembling effortlessness. “Sorry, it’s just… of course it isn’t,” I said, causing Chris to feign hurt as he pressed his hand to his heart and joked about me twisting the knife. “No, really. We’re real people. We fight over the stupidest things,” I insisted. Chris nodded, bringing up how the third world war almost broke out in our kitchen this morning after I discovered he finished my favorite cereal and put the box back. I fired back by mentioning the time he lost the screaming match over whether we should record the Patriots game or the premiere of my favorite show.

“At the end of the day, I love him,” I said, as Chris placed his hand over mine. “It’s like stumbling through the house when you’re sloppy drunk,” I paused to allow Chris the time to throw his head back in the laughter I knew was coming, the kind that pulled his hand to his pec as he sunk into his seat. “Really,” I implored once he finished. “Sometimes it’s dark and you have no clue where you’re going, but you figure it out. It isn’t perfect, you forget to take your makeup off, we fight, but you put on your pajamas and choose to land on your soft bed instead of the floor, which feels like exactly where you’re supposed to be. It’s where you fit in the world but you have to make it work, too.” I turned to Chris who met me with a quick peck on the lips. The interviewer cooed, calling that the sweetest thing she’d ever heard though her tone told me that wasn’t the case. “You wouldn’t think it was so cute if you poured your heart and soul out in your vows and she stood at the altar and compared you to a drunk night in front of your whole family,” Chris dramatically pinched in between his eyes to drive the joke home to the woman across from us, who genuinely believed him for a second until we both burst into laughter.

“I’m sorry on Marvel’s publicists’ behalf,” I apologized, wiping a tear from my eye. “They really should know better than to put us together for these things, being twenty-two movies deep and all.” The interviewer chuckled lightly and I could tell her patience was running thin as she tried to reign Chris and I back in. She asked the usual concluding question: if there was anything more we could say about Endgame without losing our jobs.

“Whatever you’re expecting, I guarantee you’ll still be surprised,” I promised. The interviewer raised her eyebrows and laughed, joking about how ominous that sounded. I just shrugged, letting my answer speak for itself in an attempt to be mysterious. And to avoid breaking my contract, spoiling the movie, and being sent to that training camp they made Ruffalo attend. Chris contemplated the question a little more than I did before saying, “It’s definitely an ode to the fans, which is my favorite thing about it. I’ll guarantee,” he said, shooting me a pointing look coupled with a knee-weakening smirk, “that they’ll love watching it as much as we loved making it.”

Chris thanked the interviewer and excused himself to the snack table while I shook her hand. We were only afforded short breaks between shots, which he intended to make the most of by stuffing as many grapes into his mouth as possible. I met him there and took a donut that disappeared in mere minutes. “You know what else I really loved making?” Chris whispered to me with incisive eyes aimed at my stomach, taking advantage of our few moments alone today to poke fun at me. “That’s such a weird thing to say,” I remarked, crinkling my nose at his comment. “I know,” he laughed, popping another grape into his mouth. Before swallowing he cocked his head toward me and said, “You know what’s worse? I actually almost said that.” I rolled my eyes as I giggled at him. “Imagine if that’s how everyone found out we’re pregnant,” I entertained the idea, laughing harder at the absurdity. I could just imagine the YouTube comments now. Maybe even an E! News headline that went something like: Chris Evans Spoils Pregnancy Instead of Endgame. Chris shrugged sheepishly, taking a step toward me as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “I can’t help it, I’m just so excited,” he grinned down at me, staring at me with soft eyes. My gaze met his, making me melt from the inside out. “Me too,” I said quietly, wrapping my arm around his waist and bumping our hips together as we fused. “Don’t you think it’d be a fun way to tell everyone? Like hey guys, we’ve got some special news- here’s the link to our pregnancy announcement!” Chris tried to get me to give in. “It’s still way too early and-” I started, until the director cut me off.

“You two, back on set!” he called Chris and me back to our chairs to start the next round of interrogation. This time the interviewer was a young kid who gaped at us with a grin so big it looked like it ached. He was dressed as Captain America, which Chris kept insisting would be our baby’s first Halloween costume, so I knew he was about to be putty in this boy’s hands. “Don’t slip now,” I reminded him, shooting Chris a threatening look. His head ping-ponged between me and this kid who sat in a folding chair, legs dangling above the floor. “But-” he started, until I squeezed his hand a little harder than necessary to prove my point. “Fine, but this is harder than not spoiling the movie, you know?” Chris groaned playfully before walking toward his seat again, ready for another Endgame interview.

[mrs-dragneel-stark-solo]

Unforseen Chasm (part 35)

Part 35 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 2630 Warnings: angst, fluff,serious Tony Stark,  happy moment for the reader!!!, emotional Loki Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93​​ what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Things had gone back to normal, or as normal as it could get for The Avengers, everyone was back to doing their own thing and always getting together for dinner as much as possible. Planning had gone underway for the wedding. Both had agreed they wanted something simple and quiet they didn’t want the public to ruin their happy day. 

True to her word, Shannon had brought down things to ask you for an opinion from flowers, to cloth colors, to dress designs. Everyone was basking in the happiness that the soon to be husband and wife were in. That was until word got out to the press that the billionaire playboy genius was finally settling down with the  one woman they have seen on his arm for the past two years. 

The morning the team saw the news they tried to  hide it from Tony and Shannon but had failed when they saw he was reading the news on his holographic tablet. 

“Morning everyone!” Tony said sounding cheery as he had been lately. “There still some coffee left?” came from him without looking up from the tablet he had in his hand, going over some paperwork. 

“Morning, Tony. What’re the plans for today?” Steve asked trying to keep Tony busy. “Shannon have anything she wants you to do or get for the wedding?” 

“Not yet. We’re still looking at some possible ideas.”

He took a sip from his mug. “Although I did hear something about going to some chocolate tasting, I might not like it but I’m sure she’d appreciate you or Clint going with her to see which would be best.” He looked up at the tall blonde. 

“Sure thing, I’ll ask her when she’s doing that.” 

“Everything alright, Cap? You seem a little tense.” Tony could see the way Steve was holding himself like as if something was wrong. 

“Oh it’s nothing,” he said nonchalantly. “Just a bit sore from my last training session.” 

Just then Shannon had walked in wearing an oversized hoodie and her hair pulled up. “Good morning, everyone.” She gave everyone a kiss on the cheek. “Mm something smells good in here. You cooking again, Steve?” 

“Morning, doll, just trying out some old recipes.” He smiled at her. “Tony, says you want to go chocolate tasting?” 

She hummed while eating the food. “Yeah I was hoping you’d come with? Seeing as Tony doesn't like chocolate that much.” She looked up at the super soldier. 

“I’d love to, doll, just as long as we keep Clint away from eating too much,” he joked. He hadn't noticed that Tony was reading the news.

The coffee mug slipped from Tony’s fingers and landed with a thud on the table thankfully it was a metal mug and not a ceramic one. “Umm… Babe, you wanna come take a look at this?” He sounded weird. 

“Sure thing, Tony.” Confused as to what it might be she walked quickly to his side. She was speechless when the cover story was of them two and how they’re getting married.  “How did they find out?” She was confused as to how someone could have found out only those closest knew. 

“I have no clue… Could one of the workers here have said something?” Hoping that was the case. “Oh crap, your parents are going to find out and it’ll ruin the surprise,” he realized. 

“Tony?! We need to get this off the news now before it’s too late! I already have everything set to tell them tomorrow evening,” she groaned knowing it might be too late already. She covered her head with the hood and leaned her head on the countertop. 

“Don’t say that, doll, they probably haven’t seen the news yet. I bet Tony could get it removed in less than 3 hours.” He walked to her and was patting her back. 

“Sir, you have an incoming call from multiple magazine companies wanting a scoop for their issue.”  

Hearing that he groaned and saw Shannon shrink herself some more. 

“Send all the calls to the conference room. I’ll pick up all of them at once.” He cleaned up his mess and was heading out. “Don't worry, babe, I got this. Jarvis, contact the company who got the word about the engagement. I need to speak with them,” he said is a tone he only uses when he means business. 

Clint silently suggested he and Steve get Shannon back to her room and contact the chocolate place to have then send their samples to the tower so they could try the samples in peace and away from the public eye. They all knew it's the last thing she would want. 

“Come on, Shannon, let’s go back to your room and set up a movie or something.” Clint stood at her other side. “Let’s get your mind off this stuff.”

“I’ll make a quick call and meet you guys there,” Steve said after getting Shannon onto Clint’s back so he could carry her. “You guys pick the movie, I’ll get the snacks.”

She nodded her head and turned to look at Steve make a call while she was taken to her room. 

“Hello this is Steve Rogers calling on behalf of Shannon. We ran into a bit of a situation and wondered if the samples of your chocolates could be sent to us? If not I’d be happy to go pick them up myself,” he asked the lady who picked up his call. It killed him to see his best friend feel like things are going wrong when they shouldn’t be.

On the other side of the line he was told that it would be no problem at all getting the chocolate packaged and sent to the tower in half an hour. Steve thanking the woman who was kind to have that happen and walked to Shannon’s room to see if everything was ready for them to make her feel better.

“Alright the chocolate samples should be here in half an hour” seeing that Clint was laying at the edge of the bed he moved to sit next to Shannon. “What movie we watching?” he ask hoping that watching some movies will help.

“Well we were thinking of starting off with something Disney so I found Trolls seems like it could be a silly movie” Clint said while about to start the movie. “How much chocolate are they sending?”

“Your not going to get to eat much of it” Steve warned him “You and chocolate is not a good mix we don’t need to go off chasing you around form you being hyper.

“Oh come on Steve don’t be a party pooper.” He stuck his tongue out at the blonde

Meanwhile on a different floor of the tower Tony was in one of the many conference rooms addressing the matter at hand with all the news channels. He wanted this to be over as quick as possible and make sure that the news doesn’t get to Shannon’s parents at whatever cost it takes he know how excited she was to tell them but seeing her the way she was when she heard that it was out in the public.

“Alright thank you for waiting for me as it would seem someone has given you personal information of my life and foremost would like to know who exactly it was that told you so that they can face the consequences appropriately” he said. 

“We were told by an anonymous figure,” came the response from a few of the channels. “We were told of this news from one of the towers workers,” said channel 12 who had kept quiet until now.

“And does said worker have a name?” he wanted to know now. “Now as for the reason for calling you all, I need you to get rid of that footage ASAP. My fiance is currently worried that her parents will find out from your channels rather than what she has planned for them. Yes we are getting married but that is all you will get from me so please don’t bother trying to get anymore information because you wont get any.” They all saw how serious he was about getting the footage removed. “This is the biggest news we’ve had in a few years, Mr. Stark. You can’t just expect us to drop the story just like that,” one channel said.

“You do realize who you’re talking to right?” he challenged who had spoken. “I could easily make few calls and make sure you don’t have a job for tonight’s viewing. Now I’m not saying I will I’m just saying I could.” He smirked seeing the person pale. “The same will go for all the channels any sponsor you might have I have connections with so if you don’t remove the footage of announcement of my wedding there will be trouble.” 

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” a few of the channels said seeing a bit of fear for their current jobs. “We’ll have that footage removed and deleted.”

“Thank you now if you excuse me I have a fiance to go make sure is okay, have a good rest of your day and I will be looking into if it’s been deleted or not.” With that he ended the video call with all the channels.

Walking out of the conference room Tony felt a whole lot better knowing that they would definitely be getting rid of the footage of the story that had be created and had high hopes that it would be gone before Shannon’s parents had a chance to even look at the news. Knowing her parents the would probably wait to be in bed to watch the news at night which gives the new channels a good time slot to do as he had ordered.

He headed up to the lab wanting to give her some time with her friends and later on tell her about it’s all taken care of and that she can go on planning the surprise reveal. He hoped that with her being distracted by her friends she will feel a lot less stressed out.

>> Rogers let Shannon know I’ll be in the lab for a bit there’s something I need to finish then I’ll head down to where you three are.

<< you got it, Tony. Is the issue fixed?

>> yes, it took a bit of threatening but yes

<<good it’ll help make things better for Shannon

Tony had finished off what he had been working on early and headed where Shannon and the guys were watching movies and laughed when he saw Clint lying on the floor covered in chocolate wrappers and steve looked annoyed. Overall things had gone well the chocolate had been picked thanks to the guys and Tony could tell that Shannon was in a better mood

“Hey, babe, so I just got everything fixed you can go back to planning how you wanted to tell your parents the news” he went to sit next to her seeing her light up made him happy knowing he’s the one that made her feel like that.

“You mean it?” 

“ the news won’t be showing that story ever again”

“What a relief I didn’t want my parents finding out like that especially with what I had in mind”

“I know how much telling your parents means to you so of course I would do everything to make sure you could”

Three days later both had gotten invited to have dinner with her parents at their house. Which helped because they wanted to announce the news somewhere private. Once they understood what they had been given with the sweaters they were excited for the happy couple and could not wait to see how the planning was going for the wedding and who would be going and when the wedding would happen and where too.

_____________________

“Are you sure? Like… is this okay?” you asked as you stood in your cell, wringing your hands.

“Yeah, absolutely!” Shannon said with a wide, bright smile.

“So Tony, Fury, they all know about this?”

Shannon laughed at your fears. “Don’t worry. I’ve taken care of everything. SHIELD and the Avengers have all signed off on your parole.”

“Parole… Wow. Never thought that word would be assigned to me.”

Shannon shot you a sympathetic look. “It’s just for you though, right now. Loki’s will come shortly.”

You nodded. “That’s fine.”

“And that’s only because you’re getting out early to help me with the wedding.” 

“I know. This is amazing. I told you everything would work out.” 

She smiled at you. “Well tell your boyfriend you’ll be back.” She gestured to Loki who sat on the leather couch, pretending as if he wasn’t listening to the conversation.

You walked over, feeling guilty. You were gaining freedom before him, and it didn’t feel right. Part of you felt amazing to get to go out and do everything you wanted to with Shannon, but the other part of you felt enormously guilty for leaving him here.

“Well… I’m gonna go. Dress shopping with Shannon,” you stated, laughing a bit uneasily as you sat beside him. He continued to flip through his book, not meeting your eyes. 

“That sounds wonderful,” he evenly said. 

“Yeah. It is. I’m pretty excited.”

Loki sighed, closing his book and looked at you, his gaze softening. He put the back of his hand on your cheek. “You should be. You deserve this. Have a good day.”

Truth be told, he was slightly terrified that you would never return. That once you left through those glass doors, you wouldn’t come back. Shannon wouldn’t come back, you wouldn’t come back, Tony wouldn’t check in. A random orderly would come down once a week to bring food and a change of clothing, and that would be the rest of his life. 

Maybe you would convince everyone that Loki needed to stay down there and rot. Maybe you would say it was all his fault and he deserved to never leave. 

Yes, you stayed by his side while you were on Sanctuary, but was that only because you had no way of escaping? Did you only find safety with him because he was a friendly face? When you came back to Earth, did you not flee due to fear of Thanos? So far, he had no real proof you would ever return to him. Every time you were near him, it was in a situation you couldn’t control.

Maybe now you saw him for what he really was, and would leave and never look back. These were the fears that danced through his mind and heart as he looked at you. 

“I will be back…” you suddenly promised, concern coloring your features. “I promise.” 

Loki temporarily wondered if you could read minds. He smiled at you, and you knew that was his stage smile. You knew there wasn’t sincerity in it when he said, “I know.” He leaned forward, cupped the base of your head in his slender fingers and gave you an earnest kiss. 

With that, you stood. You knew words would never help Loki. You could only prove your loyalty by returning back to him tonight. Returning back to the cell that kept you prisoner for over two years… To walk into a place that you loathed, that you never wanted to see again, just to demonstrate how much, how impossibly much you loved this man. 

“Ready to go?” Shannon asked from behind you.

You turned to her and said, “Yeah.” One final glance behind you where Loki nodded and smiled at you, this time it was a little warmer. You gave him a small wave, and you left that cell, a free woman for the first time in over three years.

Unforseen Chasm Tag list- @reigningqueenofwords​ @oldfreakything​ @weclassygirl​ @adefectivedetective​ @dontbetooobvious​

Tag list- @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @winchester-writes @winchesterenthusiast @georgialouisea @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog  @sammysbuttcheek @misz-adrii @sandlee44 @womanxofletters @natsuccs @childishhoebinoo @expecteddifferent @girl-next-door-writes @fanaticfanfiction @dakotapaigelove @sassy-spn-knight-of-hell

[ramajmedia]

Hulk’s Three-Movie Arc Didn’t Fix The Character’s MCU Problems

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has largely failed the Hulk - and even his recent three-film arc didn't fix the long-standing character problems. Both Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and actor Mark Ruffalo have suggested they see Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame as a loose "Hulk trilogy." Feige has always allowed actors themselves to have input into their characters' stories, and he and Ruffalo figured out a journey that they believed would work for the Hulk.

At heart, the Hulk is a Jekyll and Hyde-type character, and the MCU brought these two personas into a head-on collision. In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor was shocked to learn that the Hulk had been living on the planet Sakaar for two years, with the Banner identity completely submerged. When Bruce Banner was finally restored, he was shaken to learn just how long he'd been out, and feared he'd never return if he transformed again. Fortunately, Bruce was proven wrong; the arc took a twist in Avengers: Infinity War when the Hulk turned back into Banner and then refused to come out and play again. The story was resolved in Avengers: Endgame, which revealed that Bruce had managed to work out a solution, blending the two personalities into "Professor Hulk."

Related: What is the Hulk's Future After Avengers: Endgame?

On paper, this has the makings of a fascinating story; indeed, it's drawn from some of the best comics by Peter David. There's just one problem: it didn't come together to fix the issues that have plagued the Hulk since the early days of the MCU.

The Hulk is one of Marvel's most iconic superheroes, a brand almost as strong as the Jade Giant himself. For all that's the case, his big-screen presence in the MCU is pretty muted - and that's mostly due to legal issues. Marvel regained the production rights to the Hulk back in 2005, but the distribution rights still sit with Universal, who have the right of first refusal to distribute any future Hulk films. That wasn't a problem for 2008's The Incredible Hulk, because back then Marvel didn't have a distribution network of their own (all other Phase 1 films were distributed by Paramount). But in 2009, Marvel was purchased by Disney, who has one of the best film distribution networks in the world.

All that means Disney can only make more Hulk films if they offer them up to be distributed by a rival studio. Universal, for their part, seem to have no desire to give up the distribution rights. That led actor Mark Ruffalo to publicly complain about Universal. "I just want to make one thing perfectly clear today that a standalone Hulk movie will never happen," he fumed. "Because Universal has the rights to the standalone Hulk movie and for some reason they don't know how to play well with Marvel." Barring a massive change in corporate strategy at either Disney or Universal, The Incredible Hulk is the only solo Hulk film that will ever be made in the MCU.

This is why the character has exclusively been in team-ups and ensemble films since; Universal's option on the character only goes as far as solo movies. He can be a part of the Avengers or turn up to fight Thor without issue.

Related: Why Marvel Can't Make a Standalone MCU Hulk Movie

Edward Norton had originally played Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, and was expected to reprise the role in The Avengers. Instead, Marvel chose to replace him with Mark Ruffalo. They released a terse statement that they were looking for "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members," a somewhat snide remark that they never explained. It seems pretty clear the two parties had some serious behind-the-scenes conflicts, possibly connected to Norton's extensive rewrites of The Incredible Hulk's script. Whatever the case, it meant that Marvel essentially reinvented the Hulk again in 2012's The Avengers.

It was a good call, and Mark Ruffalo is generally considered to be a far better Bruce Banner than Norton. What's more, Joss Whedon's Avengers script gave the Hulk quite an entertaining character arc, with Banner learning that the Hulk could be a force for good and actually choosing to unleash him during the Battle of New York. After that, though, Whedon struggled with Hulk in the sequel, 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, choosing a rather left-field romance plot between Bruce Banner and Black Widow, which proved somewhat divisive given it has no comic book precedent and seemed to come from nowhere.

Underpinning the pivots was the unavoidable truth that both Bruce Banner and the Hulk were relatively undefined as characters in the MCU. All the other Avengers had important arcs that Whedon could either draw upon or (quite frequently) ignore; the Hulk was a blank slate. And Whedon only had so much time he could dedicate to the Green Goliath, meaning the Hulk never got the chance he deserved to shine.

That explains the context of the three-movie arc devised by Mark Ruffalo and Kevin Feige. They were aware the Hulk was being under-utilized, but also by now had come to accept the fact they'd never be able to make another solo Hulk film. The resulting three-movie character arc is, therefore, really something of a second-best; and, frankly, it's not a very good one. The basic concept is lifted from Peter David's classic "Professor Hulk" story, which treated the Hulk as a sort of multiple personality disorder, and forced the minds of Bruce Banner and the Hulk to confront one another.

Related: The Problem With Hulk In Avengers: Endgame

Unfortunately, Marvel Studios couldn't match David's story. There's a sense in which that was inevitable; David is a particularly skilled writer, and his Incredible Hulk run naturally focused on the titular character. In contrast, the Hulk was a secondary character in Thor: Ragnarok and part of a massive ensemble in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

While Thor: Ragnarok writer-director Taika Waititi set up the arc fairly well, the third and fourth Avengers films dropped the ball. It was unclear what was going on with the Hulk in Avengers: Infinity War; the Russo brothers spent months fielding questions about why the Hulk was scared of Thanos, which wasn't the story they'd been attempting to tell at all. Editing decisions meant Infinity War's Professor Hulk transformation was cut, and instead the biggest character moment in the Hulk's entire MCU history happened off-screen, with Bruce Banner apparently merging with the Hulk after spending eighteen months in a Gamma lab.

Instead, Hulk's defining part across all the movies was his snap to bring back Thanos' victims, something that doesn't at all rely on any of the journey to get there. The Peter David story was boiled down to its simplest elements, a story that was then told in a remarkably disjointed way.

At this stage, it's hard not to conclude that the MCU has mostly wasted the Hulk's potential; and this is one problem that can't be cracked by eighteen months in a Gamma lab. Mark Ruffalo is believed to have just one more film left on his contract, and - because the conflict between Marvel and Universal is still unresolved - that means he'll be appearing in a final team-up movie. The Hulk's as-it-stands last outing will be as a secondary character, unable to fully get to the heart of his character once more.

Related: Hulk Was Injured In Ragnarok: Is That Why He Couldn't Beat Thanos?

After all, what Hulk story can Marvel tell? In the comics, Professor Hulk worked because it was a deviation from the status quo, a break from the norm that thrilled readers. Neither the Hulk nor Bruce Banner really has much of a status quo in the MCU to deviate from, which is one reason the Professor Hulk twist fell flat. Avengers: Endgame essentially left the Hulk unrecognizable, a brawny being whose mind seems more like Bruce Banner's than a blend of the two, weaker than before and with a permanently crippled arm. The MCU's Hulk could perhaps serve as a mentor to the next generation of Avengers before bowing out, but that's about it. And the Hulk deserved far more.

More: MCU Characters Missing From Marvel Phase 4

source https://screenrant.com/hulk-mcu-problems-ragnarok-infinity-war-endgame/

[headlesssamurai]

Your thoughts on the new Star Wars?

[Disclaimer: The following is sarcasm targeted at social trends and contrarians the world-over. If it offends you, buck it up and have a fucking sense of humor.]

A Completely Serious Breakdown OfStar Wars: The Last Jedi

by Anita Sarkeesian & Rachel Maddow

To begin, let’s just say the best format in which to write anything on the internets is by breaking it down into a comprehensive list for no goddamn reason, other than maybe the idea that lots of people like to read lists or something because it feels a lot less like reading, and lots of people dislike reading. Right? Right.Thus, the following is a list of reasons why Star Wars: The Last Jedi is an atrocity bordering on Nagasaki levels of horror.WARNING: The following will contain spoilers and angsty disappointment.

1. Not enough transgender charactersThis one is clearly a no-brainer. Every respectable sell-out of a Hollywood screenwriter ought to know by now that their movie should contain at least one transgender, one gender-fluid, one gender neutral, and one tri-sexual character, if not more. And this is especially true in bombastic, overblown blockbusters. It disgusts me to see them disregard such a large percentage of their viewership. I know they tried to placate us with the pink-haired drag queen admiral who takes command after Leia is incapacitated, and the Asian kid who is running around with Finn the entire movie, but these characters seemed more like afterthoughts than anything else. To see them be so cavalier and conservative with their dramatis personae is just shameless.

2. It supports animal murderRight off the bat, we’re treated to a horrific scene in which Luke Skywalker, previously a shining beautiful example of a peaceful pacifist Zen master, is shown violently murdering an innocent fish with a barbed spear, then casually carrying the poor slaughtered animal back to his hut like a caveman. If that’s not enough, we later see Chewbacca, previously the most non-violent and docile character in the entire franchise, roasting a poor decapitated penguin on a spit over an open fire like some uncivilized neanderthal. Did he skin the creature while it was still alive? Perhaps we’ll never know, but it was clearly murdered with an intent to eat, and the Wookie carelessly roasts the creature’s remains in full view of its mournful cousins who must be wondering which of them will be next for bloody execution. This blatant disregard for the lives of the magical, peaceful animals of nature is truly horrifying. I can’t imagine how the filmmakers could be this vulgar. For achieving such advanced levels of technology, the people of this galaxy sure behave like feral savages.

3. Not enough wacky comedyI know there was a scene in which a confused elderly woman plays the general of an army, a riff on Karate Kid, an awkward reference to deep throating, a robot doing its best Solid Snake impression, a little kid getting mercilessly whipped by a character from a Pixar movie, Yoda acting like a weirdo again, furry anime creatures making cute noises, a guy getting unexpectedly electrocuted, enough bad dialogue to fill a Star Destroyer’s cargo hold, a fucking prank phone call scene in a Star Wars movie, and Benicio Del Toro’s face; but still. This movie could’ve used more comedy. This is made by Disney, after all, the same studio who gave us Guardians of the Fallacy, I mean every gag in that movie is just such a fucking knee-slapper, you know? Goddamn.

4. Too much explicit sexualityI was very glad to see that in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Disney decided to completely sever all of the vulgar and explicit sexuality depicted in every previous Star Wars film, particularly making certain this new portrayal of the galaxy was as sterile and sexless as a Dominican cloister. However, they’ve decided to flush that newfound dignity down the fucking toilet with this film. You all know what I’m talking about. There is a single scene in this movie where one character kisses another character on the lips. I know it’s just a little peck, but that’s just too much. This movie is vulgar, kids should not see it. Don’t even get me started on Kylo Ren’s sexy shirtlessness, Snoke’s pervy sex offender vibes, and all of Rey’s wet t-shirt scenes.

5. Not enough Han SoloHan Solo isn’t in this movie. ‘Nuff said.

6. Female heroine needs a manRemember Rey? That amazing, strong feminist icon from Episode VII who could do anything, fix a ship, fly a ship, shoot a gun, wield a laser sword, speak any language, and conquer anyone who stood in her path? Yeah, that girl decided to take a nap in this movie. You guessed it, she’s all fire and energy, yet the moment she sees Kylo Ren’s sweaty shirtless abs this new Rey can’t resist and falls head-over-heels for a guy who tried to slice her in half the first time they met. I mean, nothing comes of it, thank god! But seriously Disney? This is just lazy writing, and feminists everywhere should boycott this movie and fire-bomb any theater still showing it, along with all the homes of those who buy tickets to support it.

7. Too much talkingAgain, this movie was made by Disney, right? So why the hell is all the talking filled with so much boring character-driven dialogue, and not a goofy joke or lyrics in a sing-a-long? I cannot imagine how they expected to tap their drooling Marvel MCU fanbase with this many narrative-relevant scenes of people talking which don’t include funny gags or nerdy references from a Tony Stark-esque character. What a disappointment.

8. Not enough racial diversityI know there’s a Spanish-Puerto Rican man, a black man, a Guatemalan man, two Vietnamese women, a few white people, another black guy, a Wookie, the previously mentioned drag queen, a Mon Calamari, some other aliens visible when they go to Monte Carlo, and whatever alien that one dude was; but still. That’s only representing a few out of, like, hundreds of thousands of other ethnic groups all over the planet, not to mention the millions if not billions of alien species throughout the galaxy whose children have no characters to look up to in this movie. The distinct lack of Jews was most jarring for me, and I wouldn’t hazard to call this film anti-Semitic exactly, but it does make you pause for contemplation.

9. Glorification of violenceDo I really need to say this out loud? Holy shit. There is so much violence in this movie it makes me nauseous. People blowing people up, decapitation and dismemberment, savagely beating each other to death with clubs, animals being whipped, children being whipped (even if it’s funny, it’s still violent), casino patrons being violently trampled to death by stampeding anime creatures, bodies being engulfed by fiery explosions, explosions engulfing explosions, and at least two cases of fanatically intentional suicide which result in the violent death of hundreds if not thousands of others. All told, it’s one of the most violent movies released this year, with a body count that likely surpasses Man of Steel and the first Avengers film combined. How can audiences be this bloodthirsty? It’s just, I don’t know, sickening. You fandom kids should renounce yourselves and practice self-flagellation, as far as I’m concerned.

10. It supports child slave soldiersIn the very first scene, the character Poe Dameron supports a group of Resistance bombers who are trying to destroy a First Order dreadnought. We see the flight leader protecting the bombers is a young girl who couldn’t be older than twelve piloting an A-wing fighter and mercilessly blasting TIE fighters out of the sky. Forgetting the fact that war is already traumatic for fully grown adults, how is the Resistance okay with putting a child in harm’s way like that? I’m astounded. This is so controversial, I can’t believe it isn’t being hotly debated by mouthbreathers all over the internets.

11. Not enough lightsabersLikely the film’s biggest transgression of all. It’s a well-known fact that the mindless drooling fans who attend the cult gatherings known as Star Wars Celebrations and sew their own costumes to wear to premieres (only to turn around and hatefully review the film later on YouTube) only really want to see one thing: lots and lots of lightsaber battles. That’s the only thing Star Wars has going for it these days, after all. And this time nobody bangs a lightsaber against another lightsaber even once. Not once in the entire movie! Jesus, Joseph, and doggy-style Mary! What pointless drivel. I’m considering petitioning the studio for a bid to get my money back after seeing this farce. Don’t they know anything about what makes Star Wars great?

Parthian shotsDespite all of these many, many flaws, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is not entirely without merit. There are some cool CGI effects in almost every scene, for one thing. Throughout the film we also learn some very valuable life lessons, such as:- Anime creatures have invulnerable faces that can smash through anything without the slightest injury.- Shields work best when gunfire is coming from very far away.- Any man in a position of power is either irredeemably evil or an impulsive and weak-willed incompetent fool.- All roads lead to failure.- The best way to be good at something is by sucking at it.- It’s okay for bystanders to be violently trampled to death so long as they’re rich.- All law enforcement officers are evil corrupt bastards.- Freeing captive animals is more important than freeing the slave children who tend to them.- And the only way to win a war is through the magical power of love, even if the enemy is in the process of blowing up your friends while you’re deliriously saying so.

   Huzzah.

       侍   headless

[spideys-pack]

Death(s) in Infinity War??!!

My purely speculative ideas on what might happen to our heroes.. I hope none of it happens but in my mind, it’s possible.. Lets hope no one actually meets these fates.. 

I don’t hate any of these characters, unless I state so, I don’t mean any beef with anyone because again, these are just ideas that have been bouncing around my head since the trailer was leaked.. I thought I might as well let my thoughts out instead of letting them consume me at 5am or while I'm trying to take a relaxing shower. 

They aren’t in like a countdown order either, I just need to number them because you know... OCD. I DO SWEAR SO BEWARE IF YOU DONT LIKE THAT. Now, without further stalling. Lets get to it. 

1. Vision

Vision is probably on everyone’s lists because of the same reason which is an Infinity Stone literally being in his face. Thanos needs the Infinity Stones to complete his gauntlet. Considering the Mind Stone has the biggest spot on the gauntlet, perhaps it gives him the most power? Anyways, I think Thanos will want to take the stone from Vision and I’m willing to bet like my left big toe that he wouldn't be gentle about it and Vision wouldn't be able to survive the process. That’s why he’s on my list. 

2. Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch

As much as I hate to put Wanda on my list, it seems likely and makes sense that she could die or get seriously injured during Infinity War. Why? Because she may still be harbouring guilt over what happened in Lagos in Civil War. Yeah she did say to Vision that she couldn't control everyones fear and seemed to have accepted that she had made a mistake but I can’t help feel like because this is Wanda, one of the sweetest little smol beans in the MCU, she still feels bad about it and would die trying to prove to people that she is one of the good guys. That or her other most likely cause of death is trying to protect Vision from Thanos and dying in the process. I would honestly hate to see Wanda get hurt let alone die. 

3. Drax The Destroyer 

Everyone loves Drax and if you say you don’t you’re lying. But if you genuinely mean it... We can’t be friends. Perhaps everyone thinks Drax is going to die in Infinity war. Due to the fact that since the first Guardians movie he has been out for revenge for the death/killing of his family. That has been majority of his story arc. At first, he thought the killer and target was Ronan, the Accuser but in the first Guardians he declares Thanos the “real mission” after finding out Ronan was acting under his orders. Although Drax did literally punch Thanos’ heart out in one storyline, I feel like Marvel/the MCU won't let him get away with it and survive. I have a feeling they might kill one Avenger and one Guardian so each team has a reason to fight for one another or remain allies after the war. Drax will probably be the one to kill Thanos. That’s very likely. (But between you and I, I kind of hope it’s Nebula. After years of him shitting on her, I hope she seriously gets a few licks in or honestly fucks him up). Though he’ll probably be the one to do the deed, Drax will probably die doing it. This way, Marvel gets their victory and Drax gets his vengeance and doing so, is reunited with his family. But also saving his friends doing so. Making him not just Drax the Destroyer, but Drax the Hero. 

4. Nick Fury

I know this one seems kind of far fetched, I mean I pitched it to one of my friends and she looked at me like I had sprouted a second head. Just hear me out though... So, basically The Avengers have broken up that’s obvious. 

Side note: (For Friends fans...) It would be funny if like Cap or someone that got arrested because of Tony and his team brought it up and Tony just goes “We were on a break!” I would literally cackle myself into an early grave.. 

With the Avengers at odds, what could possibly bring them all together again emotionally more than physically? The death of Director Fury. I mean it worked for the first Avengers movie when Agent Coulson “died”. Since Fury has roots with pretty much all the Avengers, they may feel a need to unite to avenge Fury as well as protect the Earth but as a team. Marvel sometimes reuses plot ideas, perhaps they would do it for this one? Plus, Nick Fury is a fan favourite and it would no doubt have a very big emotional impact not only in the MCU but with the fans as well. 

5. Thor 

Now I would honestly rather rip my own intestines out of my ass than see Thor die. He’s one of my favourite characters from the MCU. He had the potential to be such a bruiting, tough guy character but instead we get our version and I couldn't be more in love with him. I mean this guy is literally a Norse God and he’s sitting there in his trailer telling Hulk/Bruce about how he “So much has happened since I last saw you! I lost my hammer like, yesterday so that’s still pretty fresh.” Like this guy is literally huge and I love that he’s not serious. “Did I win?” “No. I won. Easily.” I was laughing the whole trailer. Just fyi. Anyways, enough about my crush on Thor...

I hate to think that we could lose Thor. But, his death makes too much sense. The Thor movies don't make as much as the others (Cap, Iron Man). After Ragnarok, The Thor movies are done. Ragnarok ends his individual storyline. The movie also brings Asgard into the war. It’s likely Marvel will kill off Thor because they had even said they wanted to switch up the Avengers team line up, and getting rid of Thor who is one of the strongest could prompt the Avengers to recruit not one but multiple heroes to fill his place. My theory us sadly also backed up by the fact that Thor/Chris Hemsworth is not yet confirmed for the following Avengers or Marvel movies. Perhaps he has signed a contract and they’re keeping it under raps because they know we look into that shit but that could also be my wishful thinking... 

6. Tony Stark / Iron Man 

*Collective gasps from the crowd* 

No, but seriously Marvel loves to build us up but then (hulk)smash us down. Think about how involved and intertwined Tony is with the whole MCU. He’s such a big character and he does a lot for the heroes. Plus, Marvel has launched a comic reboot storyline where Iron Man is now an Iron WOman. And let’s be honest, everyone is crawling over each other to get media attention over being supportive of women/races/LGBTQ... So, they would most likely kill Tony to bring in Riri Williams. Not only will this get them even more media coverage BUT it also allows them to send a huge shockwave throughout the MCU. With Tony being at odds with Cap and most of the Avengers, and him having a son-like figure in his protege, Peter Parker... He has people to leave behind and mourn in other movies. Tony Stark’s death would change the MCU a lot. But maybe too much? I’m still iffy on this one. 

7. Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

There’s no denying that Nat is a fan favourite. She’s also just about as much interweaved with the MCU as Tony. Appearing in several films, she is a huge supporting character but as much as we try, she's a supporting character and is in a group with heroes like Vision and Hawkeye where they are the most likely not to get stand alone films. She seems to always play a big role in the victory of the team we’re supposed to root for, An example would be when she helps Steve and Bucky get passed T’Challa in Civil War. 

Side note: I would love to link this to the fact that Bucky and Natasha have a history. In the Comics that is, it isn't canon in the movies but I would also like to link Nat saying “You could at least recognize me” to Bucky in Civil War to that as well. Considering Nat and Bucky were romantically involved briefly, that could be an interesting arc considering whatever she has/had with Bruce. Either way, I would love Red Room flashbacks or even a movie... 

It seems likely that Nat could get killed trying to help everyone with the war. Considering she is one of the team members who doesn't have powers... Thanos could easily, and regrettably rag doll the shit out of everyones favourite red head. 

8. Bruce Banner / The Hulk

MARVEL. FUCKING. WOULD. 

They would take Bruce “I know, I tried” away from us. One of Marvel’s biggest hard-hitters who also needs to be protected at all costs. For as long as he’s been in the MCU, Hulk has been seen as the tank. “We have a Hulk”. Perhaps during the Infinity War, our heroes over estimate Bruce and he goes up against Thanos and ends up dead because of it. 

9. Thanos 

Marvel has a tendency to kill off their villains before they necessarily should. I admit, I haven't even met MCU’s Thanos and I already want this mother fucker to get dropped but I would also love to see Marvel develop a villain. The only villain(s) they’ve really developed are Loki and The Winter Soldier and majority of us would argue that these two are not villains. They are pretty much the only two however who have been on the opposing side of our heroes and survived to come back and/or develop. Loki jumps back and forth between good and evil and Bucky was never truly evil, he was brainwashed. The other ones like The Red Skull and Obadiah Stane/War Monger die in fiery explosions before we even get to experience their full story. Although we spend most of their movies hoping and wishing for it. I just hope Marvel gives Thanos enough time to develop outside of the post-credit scenes before the Avengers and Guardians eventually bring him down, if they even do that in Infinity War. 

10. Steve Rogers / Captain America

The thought of losing Cap really hurts, especially since he just got his bestie Bucky back. Although we all know this is going to happen. Chris Evans has been reported saying that he has indeed signed one more contract with Marvel after reading it over and feeling that one more movie was needed to wrap up Cap/Steve’s story. My thoughts are, what exactly is stopping Marvel from offing him in Infinity War and just making him majorly flashback-type scenes in the next one. We all know both Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have dawned the Cap suit and Shield but he true question would be exactly who is Marvel’s choice? Perhaps Cap will in fact die in Infinity War and it will be Bucky who takes up the mantle and the only reason we see Steve is through Bucky’s returning memories as he tries to handle being Cap? 

11. Loki

Loki is another one of my favourites, only due to the fact that I’m weak when it comes to misunderstood villainy... *cough* Jason Todd *cough* It’s not just me who has succumbed to the seduction of the God of Mischief and his constant knack for well... Mischief. Loki has died in the MCU but he always seems to come back. If Marvel is planning on keeping Thor around, having Loki actually die just might break him if they want to pro sue a more serious angle, we’ve seen what Loki’s death does to Thor. Perhaps having Loki die after he presumably gives over the Tesseract may fuel Thor with enough rage to be one of the potential people to take Thanos out.. 

12. Nebula 

Nebula is a likely casualty of the Infinity War. Simply because of her role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. 

Or, perhaps she plays a much larger role in Infinity War. In one storyline Nebula steals the Infinity Gauntlet and sabotages Thanos betraying him. If Nebula does this, Thanos could easily kill her. After she was humanized in GOTG Vol. 2, this might be an emotional trauma Marvel could want to inflict on Gamora. Gamora has a possibilty of playing a big role in the destruction of Thanos but having her lose her sister who she kinda patched things up with... That could give her the edge she needs. Despite how much I want to see more of Nebula and have more development for her, this seems possible. 

13. Sam Wilson / Falcon

Sam Wilson would honestly in my opinion, be a tragic loss. His character was amazing from his first 30 seconds on screen. He has heart and humour and it’s hard not to love his character but that’s also a moth to flame with Marvel. They might kill off Sam to not only hurt Steve but also promote Bucky to have something to avenge after Steve dies and he has to become Captain America. We’ve already seen Bucky throw himself in front of Sam to take the brunt of a hit from Spidey so maybe, just maybe there’s some sort of friendship there and killing one of them might trigger Bucky’s need to become an Avenger kicking off a storyline that could support Marvel’s 9 contract deal with Sebastian. 

14. King T’Challa / Black Panther 

Why T’Challa? You ask... Well, as much as I would like to say it’s because Chadwick is just too precious for this world and be done with it, I must make a point.. Marvel probably won’t want to have two multi-billionaire badasses with equally badass suits in play. This is assuming they don't kill Tony, perhaps they will kill T’Challa? Again, this goes back to my theories surrounding Sebby Stan’s  9 contract deal. I think it’s very likely they have chosen to follow the storyline of Bucky becoming Cap after Steve is gone. From the Infinity War trailer, it looks like Bucky is settled in with T’Challa and the Wakandans. Or is that just me? Perhaps Bucky decides to stay in Wakanda. After all, the world isn't exactly welcoming him with open arms at the moment.. How do they get Bucky out of Africa so he can become Captain America? They kill off T’Challa. His only tie to Wakanda. 

I don’t know a lot about Chadwick Boseman’s contracts and I can’t seem to find anything but this again is one of my more iffy theories. I hope it doesn't come true, I love T’Challa, or what we’ve gotten so far, I hope we get a lot more.

15. Peter Parker / Spider-Man = Tony Stark Version 2?

I know, I know.. The thought kills me too. We just got our MCU Peter Parker and I think it’s safe to say, everyone loves having him. 

I have Peter on my list not as a death though. I just think he’s going to get seriously injured. Marvel might just be baiting us with that whole trailer “Tony, I’m sorry.” snippet but at the same time, Peter getting injured makes sense to carry a certain plot line. *cough* Tony’s death *cough*. Tony stated in Spider-Man: Homecoming “And if you die, I feel like that’s on me. I don’t need that on my conscience.” Tony’s compassion and love for the people in his life is a special thing. Something I honestly love about Tony. But, it could be his downfall. In Ultron, we saw that Tony’s worst fear is the Avengers dying and the fact that he “Could have saved us. Why didn’t you do more?”. Tony is a protector. So, having Peter around during the battle could be dangerous and potentially fatal for Tony. Peter has sort of become Tony’s surrogate son/protege and I don’t think he would let anything happen to him. If/when Peter gets injured in Infinity War, I think it will throw Tony off his game. He may feel guilty or worried about Peter and being distracted like that while facing someone like Thanos? Let’s just say if anything happens to Peter, we shouldn't just be worried about him, we should also be worried about Tony. 

16. The Stark Era/Legacy

I swear to you, I don't hate Tony or RDJ. I just can't shake the thought that we’re going to have to say goodbye to him. 

The MCU started with Tony, even if the earliest events take place in the 1940′s with Cap. It was a Stark that made Steve Cap. The Starks are rooted in the MCU and are the basic foundation of it. They’re heavily involved with all of the events of the MCU. This theory isn't entirely the death of Tony Stark but the death of Stark involvement. 

Let me explain/paint a picture... 

Captain America: The First Avenger: Howard Stark develops a serum that can turn an ordinary man into the ultimate soldier. Thus, creating Captain America which in turn saved America from destruction. And well, German rule. Howard’s super soldier was the one that took down The Red Skull before he could develop and distribute deadly weapons to Hitler and his Nazis. In doing so, the Americans and their allies were able to stop Hitler. Also, it was Howard who built that iconic shield and thought to build it from Wakandan vibranium. 

Iron Man: Tony is running his father’s business seemingly where he left it. Using intellect no doubt inherited from his father, he develops weapons and other tech to continue to protect the world that Howard had helped protect in the 1940′s. The plot of Iron Man is showing Tony not only becoming Iron Man but Obadiah, becoming greedy with power and wanting to overthrow Tony. It was Stark tech that ended up saving Tony and America from terrorists and Obadiah.

Skipping forward to the Avengers... 

The Avengers: It’s obvious that Tony had been playing with the idea of the Avengers with S.H.I.E.L.D. He doesn't say something like: “What the hell is that?” When Pepper mentions it. It also seems like it was Tony who had been talking to Pepper about it in the first place when she says “Which I know nothing about...” So obviously Tony had been part of coming up with the idea. So, we can thank a Stark brain for the Avengers too??? 

Avengers: Age of Ultron: No one lets us forget that Ultron was Tony’s fault. Especially Tony. “And then Ultron.. My fault.” (Civil War). Tony was scared for the safety of Earth and more importantly it seems, his team mates. After his vision of the Avengers laying dead and Cap accusing him of not doing enough Tony gets the idea to create the synthetic being that is, Ultron. His intentions were good but his execution faltered. 

Captain America: Civil War: I won’t say that Civil War was Tony’s fault because it wasn't, it was equally Cap’s too for not wanting to sign the contract just as Tony did want to. It was a Stark who opposed the title character which carried the plot. And when all of the basic plot lines were complete, the big finale drawing the movie to a close for the final climax battle was because Tony found out Bucky had killed guess who under HYDRA’s control?? 

Howard and Maria Stark.

At the end of that fight, we see Cap give up his mantle to continue protecting Bucky. What was the reason to give up his mantle? 

“That shield doesn't belong to you.You don’t deserve it. My father made that shield!”  

(Oh, yeah.. a little side note.. Go back to watch that fight scene and at the end when Steve helps Bucky up, Sebastian’s groan in that scene holy fuck, jesus on a tricycle it’s HOT.)

Spider-Man: Homecoming: Tony was the one who built Spidey’s new suit. He was also the one that gave Peter the idea that he was capable of a lot more than stopping “grand theft bicycles”. I mean he held his own against THE Captain America. In one scene Peter and Tony start to argue and Peter’s reasoning for all of his behaviour throughout the movie was because: “I just wanted to be like you.” So, Peter’s mistakes and actions throughout his movie were rooted from the fact that he just wanted to be like Tony. 

Avengers: Infinity War: This movie hasn't even come out yet so I’m not going to act like I know Tony’s full involvement or whatever, but we do know that Peter is prepared for the war because of his brand new Iron Spider suit curtesy of you guessed it, Mr. Anthony Stark. 

Also, Marvel might lean more towards this option because keep in mind, RDJ is getting hella expensive because even he knows how important he is to Marvel’s cinematic universe. They might lean more towards offing Tony to save themselves some cash..

Therefore, if Marvel really decided to kill off Tony, that would be the end of heavy Stark influence. Of course, the Starks would still be present but only as a memory and a company. There wouldn't be an actual Stark to back everything up or come up with new ideas. Unless Pepper is cooking up a little Stark bun in the oven, Tony’s death would mark the end of the Stark line, thus, lessening his influence in the MCU. 

[geek-gem]

Man Of Steel Review

Why yes I'm making a review. I'm gonna keep this professional and have been thinking of also copying this to DeviantArt. So if your reading this on DeviantArt so yeah man. But yeah I've decided to watch this film now. It's been years since I've seen it fully. Back in 2013 in theaters. Yeah I'm gonna do an intro a bit explaining what's going on. Also I've been wanting to make more detailed and professional reviews for some time. I'm just saying I really focused on this film a bit along with that I was pacing back and forth when the credits were rolling trying to gather my thoughts. Now I'll say this. For some time I've been rethinking and I honestly like Zack Snyder who's the director of this film. Including the upcoming Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice which I'll watch soon. Also in November Justice League but cause of events of why he was replaced. To be honest and I won't get into that part of why he left. Yet it saddened me quite a bit. Including that week was really depressing. It made me rethink a bit about how I felt about his DC films. I was fine with Man Of Steel and think it could improve upon. While BVS I had troubles with. So with the extended cut now available. Really I've been rethinking. Including stupid silly shit like to be perfectly honest I feel like a younger Zack Snyder. Also the fact I've even considered him just imagine him making a Sonic movie, or Godzilla film, even Transformers but I feel I don't wanna mention that stupid movie franchise. Because compared to Michael Bay. I feel with Zack Snyder the man has ideas, he wants to tell a good story, he tries. But at times the way they are presented aren't the best. Including I like his style of film making. But I agree he's more of a visual director then a story teller. Also I've been a bit off set about Disney and Marvel Studios with their MCU. Nothing against them they've made good and great films. Yet I feel with DC they are going with a direction I like and also some risks. Yes some Marvel films are dark with some stuff I'm not saying it's all jokes. But just I like what the DCEU or DC cinematic universe for trying to be different. Also I've been taking a liking to DC quite a bit. Along with the silly fact I'm angry being like fuck you Disney for cancelling Wander Over Yonder. Seriously great show deserves more seasons, fine Save WOY shit. But yeah I'm sorry if this has been long. Yet I've been wanting to give these films a retry. Are they as good or whatever when I'm thinking about them. Let's find out. Man Of Steel. To be honest I'm gonna say I liked it. In a way maybe I like it a lot man. Including such as the themes that the film focuses on in parts about the idea of choice, and becoming what you want to be, and what you can greater be. I'm gonna spoil stuff in this. Be warned because I'm gonna spoil some major parts of the story. Including about critics. Mainly throughout the maybe first two half's of the film. With the focus on the themes of wanting to be something greater, becoming your own person, making your own choices. Along with well striving to be better and this being the focus of Clark Kent Kal-El aka Superman. The last half I did like. Yet honestly the themes are still there. Including with Zod mentioning of how he is. Yet it kind of becomes a different thing. But it's still enjoyable. In fact as the movie goes on. It's a bit slow, and I was really trying to focus. But yeah slow at the start but as the movie goes on it becomes better and more entertaining. Honestly their are some nice sweet moments I liked before well it got a bit more intense. Even between some parts. What I mean is moments where it's Clark with his family. During certain parts such as with his mother. Which I find to be some nice parts that bring up emotion a bit. They are just these quiet moments I like. I'll talk about some of the characters. Such as Henry Cavill as Clark Kent Kal-El aka Superman. While being a bit more serious. I honestly like him. Despite not being able to work with a whole lot. He does give a good performance. Along with the story about him trying to find out who he really is and him being an outcast. The way he's reacting I feel is reasonable. Including asking questions. Also the fact like people have said when talking about this film when defending it. It's a less experienced Superman. We watch him go on this journey of self discovering and him trying to help save the planet. Including I honestly seem to like the scene with him going to the church for advice. Really I like this version. Also seriously I like Superman I'm not the biggest fan. But I feel this Superman is one I think we can go along with. Including the idea and this may have been done before about him feeling like an outcast and wanting to feel like where he belongs. Along with doing the right thing. I feel Henry Cavill can be a great Superman. If you give him more material. Really I see potential. For this it was just the start. I like what I saw. Now for Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I felt she did a good job. Including just I'm not the biggest fan of Lois Lane. Really what she worked with again I think she does a good job. Along with some moments like people have mentioned she's tired of people's shit. The girl can take care of herself. But now about her chemistry with Henry Cavill. Really I don't mind them. Including at times I feel they can work well with each other. But again like I said with Henry Cavill, they don't work with much more. I feel they could of done better. But I feel their relationship was okay. But I feel it could be better. So okay I wanna talk about Michael Shannon as General Zod. Now being honest I like the kind of villains where do you understand their reasons. Yet also the ones where they think they are the heroes. Well with Zod's case being breed to be a leader and save his planet. Really I feel he shines throughout the movie. Along with his lines what he says Michael Shannon does a good job with what he's given. I'm guessing he's maybe my most favorite of all the actors in this movie. I'm not saying the others are bad. I feel Zod really shines. Including how far he's able to go to get his goals. Theirs the other ones. Theirs Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Johnathan Kent, Lawrence Fishbourne as Perry White, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. Not gonna name the other ones I remember one name best Christopher Meloni. The other ones are difficult. Also the woman who plays Faoroa sorry Superman fans if I got that wrong. They are do such a great job. Really everyone in their roles did a good job. Along with what they worked with. Some stood out and really I liked them all. They contribute to the story and work well. Didn't mind any of them. Now I'm gonna talk about the action. Honestly the action is really kick ass. The way it's portrayed just how all the Kryptonian's are fighting. It's really awesome. Including it kind of feels rough. Just watching it. Including as the movie goes on. Yet I'm gonna mention this. People have mentioned this too, the camera zoom ups. I don't know if they wanted zoom up for detail. Because I'm thinking maybe that's why. Zooming up to see details up close and at certain times I'm okay with it. Yet at times I'm bothered a bit by it thinking if it was nessacry. Because it just bothersome. It's just that one thing at times that bothered me as the film went on. At times I was okay with, other times I felt like I didn't like it cause it's well bothersome. Now the score. Even during the credit the score by Hans Zimmer is fantastic. It goes with each part. Including it's powerful. Along with during some scenes even the last half of the movie mainly the terraforming part. I started to feel a bit emotional. Some shit like my eyes felt watery a bit. I was really trying to get very invested. Because just really the score does a good job capturing the scenes of what they are. They go really good. It just it sucks Hans Zimmer after Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice heard that he's done making music for comic book films. Because he does a damn good job. Now about well I wanna mention this. The tone and really I'm fine with being a bit more serious. About how would humanity react to a being like Superman. It does work, yet I'm gonna warn you. Throughout a lot of the film it's very serious. Or mainly serious but not that tense. Basically your waiting for a certain moment to come up. I don't mind it. Yet I don't feel like just I like that they are being different from Marvel. Also I freakin loved Wonder Woman that film was amazing it kicked ass. But at times during Man Of Steel you just wanna hope this is my opinion I guess hope something happens. Yet it moments like I said the sweet moments with Clark's family I like. Because it kind of takes a break from the serious story and well takes a break. Also some silly moments or not much. But as the movie gets going it gets more exciting. Such as the fight scenes. I don't mind it. Maybe it's just me I hoped for some more stuff happening. Also I really wanna talk about the ending. Not the exact ending but the part where people were surprised by what happened. The part where Superman kills Zod. Including yeah the Metropolis fight. Again the less experienced Superman and he tried. Also he saved the world. Really it's all cool working and kick ass and was invested in a bit. Mainly of being invested of how the fight was going and how it was showcasing both characters including the talking. But Superman killing Zod. I'm gonna say this I don't mind it. Even from what I heard Christopher Nolan during the making of this film said to Zack to not kill Zod yet Zack decided to do this anyway. But I'm gonna say this I like this risk. Yet how it's portrayed is why I'm okay with it. Including with DC wanting to be different from Marvel and this is quite a risk. The idea of Superman having to do this. Because it gives the idea that not everything can be solved so easily. Such as Jonathan Kent talking about maybe letting the bus full of kids drown but Clark's saves them cause he thinks it's the right thing. It's difficult to find the answer. Including when your son is basically a God like being with these powers. With the idea of Superman killing Zod is something I'm okay with. Because if handled right. Including with the destruction of Metropolis you can have some great character development. The idea they Superman is haunted by this. That he basically killed last of his mind. Also like what Angry Joe said during his review with Nostalgia Critic, Zod basically won. By basically making Superman do something he never wanted to do. Including to set up this concept that people have said your actions have consequences. Something we can learn from and hope we can make a better tomorrow or some shit. I'm fine with the choice. Yet here's why I'm bothered by..........the next scene. I was hoping their would be maybe some time to adjust to it, but no littertly a couple of seconds after that scene. It's legit just Superman acting like nothing happened. It's the scene where he takes down a drone and the funny moment yet I agree with the girl who's a captain says he's hot. Along with Superman telling the general he doesn't wanna be found. The way it's portrayed. I'm bothered by this cause it's a legit few seconds. Really I feel if they had more time and this idea may sound like bullshit even a deleted scene but that doesn't exist. Where it shows Superman actually dealing with the aftermath of what he's just done. Including the destruction of Metropolis. With him then trying to get through it and even some scenes of him helping to restore Metropolis. Yet that might miss up a bit what happens in the next film. But it's an idea I got from a YouTube comment. Also showcasing I'm gonna help the best I can despite everything that happened. Just the way it appears all of a sudden. I honestly like the scene and okay with it. But I feel it's wasted of the aftermath. It's mainly the other thing I have a problem with. Well I feel like their isn't much to say. Also gonna use tags man. Well got that done put Superman twice ha sorry. Yet yeah I'm gonna use the stars rating. I'm gonna rate this movie 4 stars. I liked the movie. Honestly I feel it's a nice start to this DCEU and I feel Warner Bros should of really had that in mind instead of what I heard a trilogy. They should of had a plan for this to be in a DCEU. But I'm glad they are at least sticking with it man. The film gets more exciting as it goes on, everyone does a good job, and it has moments that shine, great action, a great score. Yet it I feel it could of been a bit better. Including with the writing. Did I give oh yeah ha I did four stars man. I'm thinking of watching it well Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice the ultimate edition on Blu Ray like I watched this on Blu Ray on my PS4. Also during the first half of the movie two updates like Lego Marvel's Avengers finished downloading yes bought that game, and Outlast 2 updates. So hoped to enjoy the review.

[smokeybrandcompositions]

Not Muh Marvel

I recently saw an editorial on the Youtubes about the plummeting sales of Marvel comics.  This individual attributed that decline to the push for diversity within the company. As a black dude in America, I don’t think that was the problem. I think it’s much more serious than that. Dude was upset that all of these legacy characters were getting the boot on top of all this “PC” nonsense. Mockingbird is a bra-burning, SJW, third-wave feminist, The Hulk is some Asian kid named Amadeus, and Thor is a cancer riddled Jane Foster!  The FF are gone, Captain America is a Nazi, Captain Marvel is a women and an apparent fascist, and the X-Men are slowly being replaced with Inhumans. Hell, they “killed” off Wolverine! How does one “kill” Wolverine? And then you replace him THREE TIMES! Seriously, Laura, Old Man Logan, and Jimmy Hudson from 1610; All claiming the title of Wolverine. Why even “kill” our Logan off at that point? Or that whole Superior Spider-Man situation. Doc Ock in Pete’s body? Really? Superior was a decent book and it made a ton of sense about how they went about it, then to just write it off after a year? Ridiculous. And THAT’S the problem. Not all of these SJW politics. Not all of this Legacy tarnishing. No, the problem is, at its core, terrible f*cking writing and false sense of entitlement to characters the world has laid claim to, long before these asshats got hold of them. Marvel’s writers and executives are terrible, that’s the issue. They’re ruining the brand with their poor skill set and ridiculous egos.

Comics are art and art is a reflection of the individual creating it. If you’re a writer, your prose reflects your innermost self. Of course politics, onions, and the like are going to find their way into your work. You draw from what you know, obviously. And the illest thing about all of this is the fact that Marvel has always been that company to address social issues. Like, Marvel was an allegory for society. All of their major characters represented a facet of the underlying issues with the country as a whole. Stan Lee’s self-insert, Spider-Man, is essentially a tale of adolescence to adulthood. Skinny nerd, constantly picked on, thrust into a much larger, fantastical world where he is an outsider who has to learn to be better than he was. The X-Men are basically Minorities and their whole being hated for who they are is a direct distillation of the civil rights movements of the 60s. Literally Magneto and Xavier had their overall philosophies directly molded after Malcom X and MLK, respectively. And those books sold so well, X-Men became the number one comic for, like, 20 years. And do you know why? Because the writing was GOOD! The Hulk? Mental illness and abuse. The FF? Choice and consequence. Reed Richards is a malignant narcissist who is a vocal atheist even though he’s met and had a conversation with Marvel’s “God”. Big G, son! Where was the outrage for that? Nowhere because the writing of that character was so well done, people bought into him as a hero. Carol Danvers was essentially raped by her future son to ensure that he would be born. How is that not addressed? Hell, Carol Danvers herself was created specifically because of the 2nd wave feminist protests of the late 60s and 70s. No one has anything to say about her, overall, as a character. Hell, she’s Marvel’s Superman sort of, the biggest of guns! Politics, all over. Captain Marvel has become one of the biggest heroes in the Marvel Pantheon, even getting the first female led, Marvel film!  And that’s an issue in itself.

Much to the chagrin of Marvel Comics, the MCU has exposed the world to what can be done when you write good stories for lived in characters. Guardians is a perfect example of what can be done when you write a good script. Guardians II shows what can be done when you actually sit down and think about where these characters need to go, instead of what big ass, laughably shallow, unnecessarily convoluted event you need to push for f*cking sales. That team, those characters, they’re nothing in Marvel. Who cares about Star-Lord? What the f*ck is even a Gamora or Nebula to a casual fan? Who the hell thought a talking anthropomorphic, raccoon and a big ass, half retarded, tree could be so goddamn compelling? James Gunn did. And Marvel Studios trusted him to craft a story that would make these characters relevant. And he did. Twice. Groot, along, is a goddamn pop icon. Who doesn’t know  the phrase “I am Groot” now? Before this film, before Gunn created the modern Groot we know today, he was a deep cut in the Marvel universe.The MCU is murdering the comics on scale, accessibility, and lore. Since 2008, in just 9 years, we have seen three phases of films that have taken B-list characters and given them more depth, range, growth, and personality than the comics have in probably the last 20+. Do you honestly think anyone would have cared as much if Riri Williams took over for Stark in the Iron Man book if this sh*t happened in 2000? Hell, 2006? No. Because it’s been done before. Rhodes was iron man for a rather long stint and no one gave a sh*t. But because RDJ has done such a fantastic job creating that character over the last 9 years, far more people are invested now. And it started with Favreau’s script.  That treatment was so well done, it took nothing for RDJ to bring Stark to life. The comics, not so much. The very best version of Tony Stark I have ever seen in print was the 1610 version of him. That’s who Stark is. That’s how Stark would operate. That’s what the MCU Stark, and the entirety of the universe as a whole, is based upon. That’s what the MCU understands and the comic cats don’t. Hell, look at Daredevil. His show is the very best of the lot on Netflix and it is, again, because of how well those characters are written. The actors give outstanding performances but the core of that vision begins what is in point, that words in those scripts. Do you actually thin D’Onofrio would have been as compelling as the Kingpin if he had to create the character from the schlock the movie presented? F*ck no! That’s because those writer had no idea what the character was about. They had no theme. They had no understanding of how to bring that character to life outside of getting Ben Affleck to headline a film.

The second, and probably biggest problem with Marvel right now has to be their collective ego. Seriously, the audacity these mother*ckers have right now is ridiculous and it’s directly because of how successful and popular the MCU has become. But that’s a not your wheelhouse, Marvel Comics Executives and Writers. The MCU is a completely different animal, run by completely different people. They even separated those operations further but creating separate Film and television divisions. Sure, it’s all one big pot (when you one of your branches is making a couple billion a year, you tend to drink some of that milkshake, even if you didn’t pay for it) but that doesn’t mean you get to just coast along with your responsibilities. It doesn’t mean you can do whatever to these characters because the Superhero cinema bubble is so prominent right now. Eventually, those characters and this trend are going to go the way of the Dodo, as most films do, but the comics will endure. Unless your ego gets the better of you and just alienate everyone trying, wanting, to support your craft. You don’t have to look further than Dan Slott for this bullsh*t. You ever just skim his Twitter? That motherf*cker has a disdain for the fans. He has a disdain for the Spider-man character! Everything that was built before his got his creatively bankrupt hands on my favorite Superhero is a awash to him. He’s effectively replaced Pete with Doc Ock, not once, but twice! Doctor Octopus is literally running around in a clone body of Peter Parker because Dan Slott was just SO in love with his Superior Spider-Man arc. Which, was just okay at best! Spider-Island was a better arc and that was little more than just fan service and a way to retcon Kaine’s awful characterization. But that scene where MJ says to Pete “I love you” only to immediately disregard that in subsequent volumes was disrespectful. It was a dick move by a dick writer. And he does this sh*t all the time! Like, all of the time! No more Pete and Mj. Made a deal with the devil (literally bullsh*t writing) to annul that marriage. Oh, but here’s some Renew Your Vows. This is the book you want. And it is! Fans are eating that sh*t up so why not fix that relationship in the 616 universe? Because Dan Slott’s ego won’t allow it. So move him off the book then. Get some fresh blood in there to see what they can do with the character. Nope. Because Dan Slott has declared himself the master and writer of the Spider-Man mythos, forever. Even if he sh*t’s on the lore. Even if he writes the characters completely against type. Even if he makes Doctor f*cking Octopus more of a Spider-Man than Spider-Man himself! Because he’s Dan f*cking Slott. I adore Spider-Man. He’s my favorite superhero. As a kid, I was Pete. I was that comic nerd who was too good at math and never really fit in with his peers. I wanted to play Fina Fantasy instead of Madden. Pete made it okay to be different. It’s ridiculous to say, but when Pete and MJ began dating, I knew that there was someone out there that would love me for me. It was reassuring to know that, even a goober like me or Pete could find someone just as goobery to spend out life with. And I eventually did find my MJ. To see that kind of love just f*cking erased because a guy liked it more when Pete was “a swinging bachelor” (which he never really was) is absolutely asinine to me. It erases that depth and stunts the character. All that growth, all those experiences, everything that made Mj and Peter so compelling, gone at the drop of a pen that saw the literal Marvel devil, erase everything they had, over f*cking Aunt May. How much of a hack do you have to be to write such a terrible conflict, give such a weak motivation, and resolve it with one of the most cliché resolutions imaginable?

Marvel Comics is facing the same problem the DCEU is facing; They have forgotten who they’re characters are and who they’re writing for. Secret Empire is going to be sh*t because no one is buying Captain America as a Nazi. Civil War II was sh*t because no one was buying the whole McGuffin of Ulysses or that Captain Marvel was that much of a goddamn Fascist. One More Day was a terrible alteration to the status quo and antagonizing the multitude of fans who have cast their support behind Renew Your Vows is the most ego-maniacal and shortsighted situation I have ever seen a business commit. The disrespect being hurled at Jane Foster’s Thor is less about Thor being a woman and more about the characterization of her sudden godhood. I rather liked Schism, for the most part, because that was the natural progression, I think, of those characters. Kitty siding with Cyclops, though? Not even realistic. Neither was Laura going that way. But Scott becoming Magneto? That was an inevitability. That was where that character had to go. Giving him the Phoenix force (along with those other forgettable ass characters minus Magik because i adore Magik) though? Stupid.

There’s nothing wrong with SJW Marvel. There is everything wrong with the cats writing SJW Marvel.

[smokeybrand]

Not Muh Marvel

I recently saw an editorial on the Youtubes about the plummeting sales of Marvel comics.  This individual attributed that decline to the push for diversity within the company. As a black dude in America, I don’t think that was the problem. I think it’s much more serious than that. Dude was upset that all of these legacy characters were getting the boot on top of all this “PC” nonsense. Mockingbird is a bra-burning, SJW, third-wave feminist, The Hulk is some Asian kid named Amadeus, and Thor is a cancer riddled Jane Foster!  The FF are gone, Captain America is a Nazi, Captain Marvel is a women and an apparent fascist, and the X-Men are slowly being replaced with Inhumans. Hell, they “killed” off Wolverine! How does one “kill” Wolverine? And then you replace him THREE TIMES! Seriously, Laura, Old Man Logan, and Jimmy Hudson from 1610; All claiming the title of Wolverine. Why even “kill” our Logan off at that point? Or that whole Superior Spider-Man situation. Doc Ock in Pete’s body? Really? Superior was a decent book and it made a ton of sense about how they went about it, then to just write it off after a year? Ridiculous. And THAT’S the problem. Not all of these SJW politics. Not all of this Legacy tarnishing. No, the problem is, at its core, terrible f*cking writing and false sense of entitlement to characters the world has laid claim to, long before these asshats got hold of them. Marvel’s writers and executives are terrible, that’s the issue. They’re ruining the brand with their poor skill set and ridiculous egos.

Comics are art and art is a reflection of the individual creating it. If you’re a writer, your prose reflects your innermost self. Of course politics, onions, and the like are going to find their way into your work. You draw from what you know, obviously. And the illest thing about all of this is the fact that Marvel has always been that company to address social issues. Like, Marvel was an allegory for society. All of their major characters represented a facet of the underlying issues with the country as a whole. Stan Lee’s self-insert, Spider-Man, is essentially a tale of adolescence to adulthood. Skinny nerd, constantly picked on, thrust into a much larger, fantastical world where he is an outsider who has to learn to be better than he was. The X-Men are basically Minorities and their whole being hated for who they are is a direct distillation of the civil rights movements of the 60s. Literally Magneto and Xavier had their overall philosophies directly molded after Malcom X and MLK, respectively. And those books sold so well, X-Men became the number one comic for, like, 20 years. And do you know why? Because the writing was GOOD! The Hulk? Mental illness and abuse. The FF? Choice and consequence. Reed Richards is a malignant narcissist who is a vocal atheist even though he’s met and had a conversation with Marvel’s “God”. Big G, son! Where was the outrage for that? Nowhere because the writing of that character was so well done, people bought into him as a hero. Carol Danvers was essentially raped by her future son to ensure that he would be born. How is that not addressed? Hell, Carol Danvers herself was created specifically because of the 2nd wave feminist protests of the late 60s and 70s. No one has anything to say about her, overall, as a character. Hell, she’s Marvel’s Superman sort of, the biggest of guns! Politics, all over. Captain Marvel has become one of the biggest heroes in the Marvel Pantheon, even getting the first female led, Marvel film!  And that’s an issue in itself.

Much to the chagrin of Marvel Comics, the MCU has exposed the world to what can be done when you write good stories for lived in characters. Guardians is a perfect example of what can be done when you write a good script. Guardians II shows what can be done when you actually sit down and think about where these characters need to go, instead of what big ass, laughably shallow, unnecessarily convoluted event you need to push for f*cking sales. That team, those characters, they’re nothing in Marvel. Who cares about Star-Lord? What the f*ck is even a Gamora or Nebula to a casual fan? Who the hell thought a talking anthropomorphic, raccoon and a big ass, half retarded, tree could be so goddamn compelling? James Gunn did. And Marvel Studios trusted him to craft a story that would make these characters relevant. And he did. Twice. Groot, along, is a goddamn pop icon. Who doesn’t know  the phrase “I am Groot” now? Before this film, before Gunn created the modern Groot we know today, he was a deep cut in the Marvel universe.The MCU is murdering the comics on scale, accessibility, and lore. Since 2008, in just 9 years, we have seen three phases of films that have taken B-list characters and given them more depth, range, growth, and personality than the comics have in probably the last 20+. Do you honestly think anyone would have cared as much if Riri Williams took over for Stark in the Iron Man book if this sh*t happened in 2000? Hell, 2006? No. Because it’s been done before. Rhodes was iron man for a rather long stint and no one gave a sh*t. But because RDJ has done such a fantastic job creating that character over the last 9 years, far more people are invested now. And it started with Favreau’s script.  That treatment was so well done, it took nothing for RDJ to bring Stark to life. The comics, not so much. The very best version of Tony Stark I have ever seen in print was the 1610 version of him. That’s who Stark is. That’s how Stark would operate. That’s what the MCU Stark, and the entirety of the universe as a whole, is based upon. That’s what the MCU understands and the comic cats don’t. Hell, look at Daredevil. His show is the very best of the lot on Netflix and it is, again, because of how well those characters are written. The actors give outstanding performances but the core of that vision begins what is in point, that words in those scripts. Do you actually thin D’Onofrio would have been as compelling as the Kingpin if he had to create the character from the schlock the movie presented? F*ck no! That’s because those writer had no idea what the character was about. They had no theme. They had no understanding of how to bring that character to life outside of getting Ben Affleck to headline a film.

The second, and probably biggest problem with Marvel right now has to be their collective ego. Seriously, the audacity these mother*ckers have right now is ridiculous and it’s directly because of how successful and popular the MCU has become. But that’s a not your wheelhouse, Marvel Comics Executives and Writers. The MCU is a completely different animal, run by completely different people. They even separated those operations further but creating separate Film and television divisions. Sure, it’s all one big pot (when you one of your branches is making a couple billion a year, you tend to drink some of that milkshake, even if you didn’t pay for it) but that doesn’t mean you get to just coast along with your responsibilities. It doesn’t mean you can do whatever to these characters because the Superhero cinema bubble is so prominent right now. Eventually, those characters and this trend are going to go the way of the Dodo, as most films do, but the comics will endure. Unless your ego gets the better of you and just alienate everyone trying, wanting, to support your craft. You don’t have to look further than Dan Slott for this bullsh*t. You ever just skim his Twitter? That motherf*cker has a disdain for the fans. He has a disdain for the Spider-man character! Everything that was built before his got his creatively bankrupt hands on my favorite Superhero is a awash to him. He’s effectively replaced Pete with Doc Ock, not once, but twice! Doctor Octopus is literally running around in a clone body of Peter Parker because Dan Slott was just SO in love with his Superior Spider-Man arc. Which, was just okay at best! Spider-Island was a better arc and that was little more than just fan service and a way to retcon Kaine’s awful characterization. But that scene where MJ says to Pete “I love you” only to immediately disregard that in subsequent volumes was disrespectful. It was a dick move by a dick writer. And he does this sh*t all the time! Like, all of the time! No more Pete and Mj. Made a deal with the devil (literally bullsh*t writing) to annul that marriage. Oh, but here’s some Renew Your Vows. This is the book you want. And it is! Fans are eating that sh*t up so why not fix that relationship in the 616 universe? Because Dan Slott’s ego won’t allow it. So move him off the book then. Get some fresh blood in there to see what they can do with the character. Nope. Because Dan Slott has declared himself the master and writer of the Spider-Man mythos, forever. Even if he sh*t’s on the lore. Even if he writes the characters completely against type. Even if he makes Doctor f*cking Octopus more of a Spider-Man than Spider-Man himself! Because he’s Dan f*cking Slott. I adore Spider-Man. He’s my favorite superhero. As a kid, I was Pete. I was that comic nerd who was too good at math and never really fit in with his peers. I wanted to play Fina Fantasy instead of Madden. Pete made it okay to be different. It’s ridiculous to say, but when Pete and MJ began dating, I knew that there was someone out there that would love me for me. It was reassuring to know that, even a goober like me or Pete could find someone just as goobery to spend out life with. And I eventually did find my MJ. To see that kind of love just f*cking erased because a guy liked it more when Pete was “a swinging bachelor” (which he never really was) is absolutely asinine to me. It erases that depth and stunts the character. All that growth, all those experiences, everything that made Mj and Peter so compelling, gone at the drop of a pen that saw the literal Marvel devil, erase everything they had, over f*cking Aunt May. How much of a hack do you have to be to write such a terrible conflict, give such a weak motivation, and resolve it with one of the most cliché resolutions imaginable?

Marvel Comics is facing the same problem the DCEU is facing; They have forgotten who they’re characters are and who they’re writing for. Secret Empire is going to be sh*t because no one is buying Captain America as a Nazi. Civil War II was sh*t because no one was buying the whole McGuffin of Ulysses or that Captain Marvel was that much of a goddamn Fascist. One More Day was a terrible alteration to the status quo and antagonizing the multitude of fans who have cast their support behind Renew Your Vows is the most ego-maniacal and shortsighted situation I have ever seen a business commit. The disrespect being hurled at Jane Foster’s Thor is less about Thor being a woman and more about the characterization of her sudden godhood. I rather liked Schism, for the most part, because that was the natural progression, I think, of those characters. Kitty siding with Cyclops, though? Not even realistic. Neither was Laura going that way. But Scott becoming Magneto? That was an inevitability. That was where that character had to go. Giving him the Phoenix force (along with those other forgettable ass characters minus Magik because i adore Magik) though? Stupid.

There’s nothing wrong with SJW Marvel. There is everything wrong with the cats writing SJW Marvel.