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#but here's hoping that his presence in the mcu helps with that a lot
thislilstangirl · 1 year
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Hi! I really love your posts about the characters and wanted to ask what are your thoughts on the rumored "Vibrainum War" going around atm, and how that might lead to Shuri asking for Namor for help, and what you would like to see between the future relationship between Wakanda & Talokan/Namuri? (Srry if this is a silly question :<)
hi! and thank you so much!
and it’s not a silly question. i have some thoughts. i think it was obvious even before those rumours that something like this was on the cards. namor was literally telling the audience “hey, don’t worry i’ll be back when shuri comes begging for my help and that’s going to be real soon !!!”.
i don’t have many concrete theories or ideas for what’s going to happen in the future. i’ve been burnt before by having detailed predications only for the story to take a nosedive into hell. so i always try to check my expectations (especially ROMANTIC expectations) and take every new mcu instalment as it comes.
BUT…i’ll indulge a little. yes, shuri is going to have to ask for namor’s help against, most likely, the us or an outside group that val is controlling. vibranium is hot property and wakanda has never had this many eyes on it before. i imagine it will be a tense meeting between the two of them. shuri on edge knowing that wakanda will soon be threatened once more and namor feeling very smug and ready to go to war at a moment notice. they will both want to fight the war in different ways, which will cause even more tension. the wound left by the death of ramonda might have started to heal or be healed, but is still extremely sore in namor’s presence.
depending on how much they still want to centre their dynamic (hopefully a lot), i would love to see their relationship focus on healing and eventual forgiveness. tenoch has made it clear that their bond isn’t flimsy. it’s intimate, human, bright, beautiful, magical. while damaged by the actions of both kingdoms, it’s not beyond repair. of course i would like to see an intentional romantic arc between them. here’s the chance for an epic, complex love story for the ages- take it marvel!
i know there’s a lot of buzz around a possible marriage alliance. i like it as an idea to get my shipper heart excited, but i don’t see the mcu going down that route. mostly because the mcu likes reversible decisions and that’s one hell of a commitment. for both character and story. it would make sense as a symbol of strength to an outside world looking to strike wakanda while weak. the gorgeous romantic arc that can follow from tense allies, to a political power couple, to a genuine couple would be amazing. the angst. the DRAMA. i love it, but i won’t get my hopes up.
these are my quick, *sensible* thoughts. my unhinged shipper mind has more of a LET THEM KISS response.
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musette22 · 1 year
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Happy Friday! ✨🌻🥳️🌷
I was just sitting here at my desk before lunch, and I saw you in my notes and in posts I have queued up and I just was overcome by how much I enjoy seeing your username float across my dash.
Then I started thinking about Steve Rogers and how much I love him for the decade-ish we got to spend with him, and also thankful for how he lives on in fandom, in fanfic and thrives so we haven't really lost him. I wanted to ask if you have three favorite things about Steve that you'd like to share with us?
You make me really happy, and I hope you have some lovely weekend plans ahead of you ✨
TEJ, you beautiful angel!!! 🥺💖 First of all,
HAPPY FRIDAYYY💕🥰🥳️
And second of all, WHY are you so sweet? HOW? 🥺 This message genuinely made me tear up a little because I'm just so touched that my presence on your dash and in your notes means anything at all to you, let alone that you enjoy seeing me and that I make you happy 😭 That's just so wonderful to hear, I can't even tell you. Especially coming from you, who I adore and admire so much in return!!! ✨✨ Sorry to make this all sappy lol but this message really meant a lot. I've been saving it for last, so I'm heading to bed after this, but yeah, just... thank you for being so sweet and kind and thoughtful ❤️✨
And also, thank you for loving Steve too, and for asking me about him, because GOD I love him so damn much? He and Bucky literally are my favourite characters ever, and I can't believe how much they've come to mean to me. I could talk about Steve forever and pretty much everything about him is my favourite thing, but let me see if I can think of three things I love about Steven Grant Rogers! 🥰
Ok, thing number 1. I love how GOOD Steve is. He's a genuinely good man who I'd trust with my life, with the fate of the world even, because you just know he'll never stop standing up for what's right, never stop helping people in need and doing the right thing. Steve's internal moral compass is strong, and he's steadfast and incorruptible, and in this world that is pretty rare and sorely needed. I just feel safe with him, you know? He kind of feels like an anchor and a true north and the sun all at once, and I love love love him for that.
Having said all that, I also love him because he's a little shit. He's got a great and underrated sense of humor, witty but dry, and while he takes himself seriously when he needs to (though he's never self-important about it) he's also self-deprecating (sometimes to a fault) and is absolutely able to laugh at himself too. And you just know that he loves good-naturedly trolling his friends (you know that swear jar headcanon? that's 1000% Steve) and is always up for a pulling a good prank. He and Bucky got into so much trouble together back in the day, I just know it <3
And thirdly (but definitely not lastly, there are so many more things!), I love how Steve loves. He just cares so much. About good people who deserve better, about making the world a better, more peaceful place, about protecting the beauty in the world. Steve is for a large part the person he is because of Sarah Rogers, and he loves his mother so, so much. I'll be forever mad that their relationship was so neglected in the MCU. Steve also fiercely loves his friends, like the Howlies and the Avengers, and he'd do almost anything to help and protect them when it came down to it, because he cares. He's incapable of not caring and I think that's beautiful.
But most of all (and this is more of an extension of the previous point but also kind of deserves to be its own point), I love how Steve loves Bucky. Bucky is the most important person in Steve's life. His best friend, his partner (both in crime and in life), his lover, his one and only. Soulmates, if you will, because Bucky is a perfect match for Steve in every way. Just as good, just as kind and incorruptible, just as caring - he just goes about some things in a slightly different way, which helps to ground and balance Steve and keeps him from losing himself completely in his noble but sometimes idealistic pursuits. And even when Bucky is seemingly lost, not remembering who he used to be and literally trying to kill Steve, Steve never considers giving up on him. He'd rather die than give up on Bucky, that's just a fact of life. Their love feels so certain and steadfast and unshakable and eternal, and that gives me so much peace and joy and comfort on a daily basis, you know? So yeah, I love Steve for the way he loves and cares, and particularly for the way he loves Bucky ❤️
So sorry to ramble on like this, I did warn you 😭 Thank you so much again for your message and this question, sweetheart. I hope you have had a wonderful Friday night, and that the weekend ahead is full of fun and relaxing things for you! Love youuuuuuuuuu 😘🌷
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antvnger · 6 months
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Blood Brothers AU - Ant-thony
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((Indeed! It was not!
A lot of what I picture about Scott and Ant-thony can be found here. There’s definitely some Blood Brothers stuff here, but a lot of this can be applied to the MCU too.
See below for it all.))
Scott Stark missed his brother. A lot.
And to be fair, this was a particularly crazy time for him. And that’s saying something because he is a Stark after all. A quiet, chill life was never really in the cards for him.
But he’s fresh out of prison which provided its own physical and mental scars, he’s separated from his precious Peanut, he had no home, and his only allies at the moment plucked him out of his sloppy return to civilian life and have been training him and keeping him under the radar until the time was right.
Not even Luis right now was allowed to know where he was or what he was doing.
And these allies aren’t really fans of his name. Well…Hank really wasn’t but Hope just wasn’t his fan period. For now.
He’s working on that though; she wouldn’t be the first to change her mind about him in that regard.
All the same, Scott’s lonely, and he found himself wanting two people the most: Cassie and Tony.
Maggie made it clear Cassie was out of the question until he changed things.
Tony? Well, Hank pretty well made that clear from the get-go: as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Scott Stark was MIA until this job was done.
“Not even Tony Stark should track you until this is over, Scott. For the sake of your mission. Understand?”
He did of course, but it still sucked.
Even if Tony was still the alcoholic narcissist Stane and Stark Industries turned him into which he wasn’t at this point, Scott just didn’t know it yet, he was still Scott’s brother, and right now? Scott just wanted someone friendly on his side.
That was about the time Scott started learning about and training with the ants. 
Eventually, he got to “Camponotus pennsylvanicus.”
“Alternatively known as a carpenter ant. Ideal for ground and air transport.”
Scott looked through the magnifier, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Wait a minute…I know this guy.”
Indeed, it was the very same Ant 2-47 that Scott rode to escape jail, the first ant Scott got real close and personal with.
The ant looked up at him with a curious head tilt, and it chirped and clicked at him, like it was trying to tell him the ant knew him too.
It made Scott grin a little wider. An ally. As strange as it may sound, that gave the newly appointed Ant-Man some encouragement.
His first real ant ally, and he decided to honor the ant and the occasion in the best way Scott knew how. “I’m gonna call him Ant-thony.”
To Scott’s surprise, the ant seemed to stand taller, and its chirping and clicking became more vibrant for a moment. Like it liked it had a name.
And in an instant, an ally became a friend.
Hank did tell Scott to spend time with the ants and get to know them and earn their trust, which he did, but Ant-thony seemed extra sensitive to Scott’s presence, which only made Scott attached to the ant all the more.
He was gently warned not to get too too close by Hank though. Carpenter ants did not have that long a lifespan, and Hank spoke from experience on attachments to ants.
Nevertheless, Scott was going to enjoy the friend he had in his noble steed for as long as he could.
And it turned out, Ant-thony was a really great listener. In Scott’s off time, he would sometimes take the suit, shrink down, and talk to the ant about anything and everything while giving him sugar water as a treat.
He mostly talked about Cassie and Tony as well as all he was feeling about this whole Ant-Man gig and the heist they were going to try to pull together.
“What do you think Tony would say about the Pym Tech heist?” he asked the ant one day. Ant-thony chirped at him, and Scott nodded. “Yeah…that sounds about right.” Truthfully, he didn’t know what the ant said nor what Tony would say.
“Do you think he misses me? Maybe he’s actually worried that I’ve suddenly disappeared…maybe one of a few who would be…”
Ant-thony, to his credit, understood Scott’s sudden mood change, and he pressed his head against Scott’s head and clicked gently, and Scott couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Don’t tell the others I said this,” he said as he petted the ant’s head, “but you’re the best.”
The first mission proved to be a tough one for the Ant-Man. Unexpectedly tough but completely manageable. Hell, he rocked that mission.
“How about the fact I fought an Avenger and didn’t die?”
But Scott sure didn’t think he would do all that great while waiting in the airplane that was transporting him and his ant companions to the drop sight.
The closer they got, the more his nerves tried to get the better of him. Heists we’re no problem. Heists while smaller than ants and leading teams of ants? Well…This was a big leap from sugar cubes to this, after all.
Ant-thony nudged the tiny Ant-Man with his head, and Scott gave him a gentle pat. “I’ll be alright, buddy. We’ll be alright. We got this, right?”
The ant gave a firm chirp as his wings flapped for a second before taking a step to stand right beside Scott. That was something Scott definitely understood. Ants don’t go into a job alone, and Scott was definitely one of the ants now. He didn’t go into jobs alone. We got this. 
And boy, did Ant-thony come through with flying colors! He was a clutch player in this first mission, especially when the Sam Wilson showed up.
Scott made sure Ant-thony, as well as the other ants that went along of course, got a special treat for the success of that mission.
Little did he know that his “Hi, I’m Scott” moment was exactly what his big brother needed to know his little brother was alive and well and totally learning some new tricks. As much as I would like to say that was the whole reason Scott did it, I cannot. Scott Stark was just being Scott Stark.
A couple days later, the day after the Pym Tech heist was successful, a tiny Ant-Man flew over where the building used to reside.
He was looking for something. It was a longshot and a really silly notion, but he couldn’t help himself.
If Hank knew what he was up to…well, he couldn’t really imagine what Hank would say. But he understood Hank’s advice a little better today.
The ant he was riding was now named Ant-drew it’s too soon for an Ant-thony II flew just as well, following Scott’s commands to the letter.
It was a very long and tedious search over the ruins, but Scott was too invested to give up just yet. The bombs that were planted during the heist probably took what he was looking for anyway, but he just had to see for himself.
And then Scott’s flight path hit an angle just right that he could see the sun reflecting off something very very tiny, and it made Scott stop in his tracks.
Was it possible? It survived? He quickly had Ant-drew fly to the location of what reflected the sun’s light, and he gasped when he got close enough to see what it was. “Holy shit, it survived?”
One lone wing. A carpenter ant’s wing.
Scott hopped off Ant-drew’s back and moved closer to inspect it. Sure enough, somehow despite all odds, it had survived the mess from the night before. One last little gift perhaps, but it was quite a gift all the same.
Scott carefully picked it up, afraid it would crumble at his touch, but it did not. He actually wanted to hug the wing, but he dared not or maybe it really would crumble.
“Come on, Ant-drew,” Scott said quietly, “time to head back.” 
Time to give Ant-thony a proper goodbye. A friend’s goodbye.
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jupitersmoon167 · 1 year
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Original Character - Elina Spector
Full Name: Elina Abigail Spector-Grant el Faouly 
Faceclaim: Adelaide Kane
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“You may not love her, but she is your daughter, Spector.” 
Elina Spector, daughter of Marc Spector, his alter Steven Grant, and Layla el Faouly. On Earth 426 at least.
Conceived after the events of Season 1 of Moon Knight, and born shortly after, Elina had a relatively normal childhood. That is, if you ignored the elephant in the room. The elephant being that she could see Khonshu clear as day when she was just a baby. It was only until she was a toddler that the system and Layla knew she could see Khonshu, and found out about Jake and the system still being Khonshu’s avatar (and if I ever do write more about this character, more will be delved upon that whole bucket of worms).
Over the next few years, with a few bumps in the road here and there, the family was at peace. With Marc and Steven helping Layla care for their daughter, and Jake fulfilling his duties with Khonshu. He also made sure to see Elina every time he fronted, before he left for whatever duty Khonshu sent him out for (he also did this in secret before the system found out about his existence). However, he never saw the girl as his child, only as his niece, earning the name Tío Jake from Elina.
Everything seemed to be all and well, up until Elina was 12 years old. With this being a different dimension, the timeline would be different compared to the original MCU timeline. In this dimension, the events of Infinity War took place years after Moon Knight. And when Thanos snapped his fingers, he took half of all life in the universe, including Layla and the Moon Knight system. Even Khonshu’s healing could not stop them from turning to dust. Shortly after the snap, another major event occurred, leaving Elina to be one of the last few humans on Earth, with only Khonshu at her side, as he refused to leave the girl he saw as his granddaughter.
Two years pass by, and Elina officially becomes his avatar after she nearly dies. And over the next few years, she traverses the earth with Khonshu at her side. That is, until the Watcher appears, asking for her aid in defeating Infinity Ultron, becoming a Guardian of the Multiverse (as seen in the What If… series). After defeating the variant Ultron, Elina refuses to go back home to Earth 426, seeing as there’s nothing left of her home, and having lost hope that she could bring back her family. So, the Watcher entrusts her to look after America Chavez, a being able to traverse the Multiverse at will.
Over their travels, the two become good friends (even seeing each other as sisters), and Elina protects her to the best of her ability. At least until Wanda Maximoff of Earth 199999 targets America for her power. Long story short, Elina Spector and Khonshu are included in the events of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness. After the events of the film, Stephen and Wong have Elina stay in Kamar-Taj, wanting to keep an eye on her (and Elina refusing to leave America).
All seems well. At least until the Khonshu of that Earth detects Elina’s presence. He sends Jake to find her, and dispose of her, believing that she’s posing as his avatar. And when Elina finds out that the Moon Knight of this Earth hunting her down, is none other than her uncle, she realizes she’s just made things a lot more complicated for the system.
“Is that your Dad?”
“… Kind of?”
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Playlist:
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tiptapricot · 2 years
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10,000 Lightyears Somewhere Out In Space notes and meta!🚀
Heyo!! With the final chapter of my dear old Commander fic up, it’s time for me to nerd out about parallels, character arcs, easter eggs, and some general meta thoughts, because I can💖 Ty for those who checked out my story and I hope you enjoy a peek behind the scenes! This also serves as a lot of my general thoughts surrounding Commander’s development as a whole, as well as how I wanted the story to tie into the Lemire run :-)
Chapter 1.
Based on a flashback from the Lemire run, in the outer world Marc is finding out abt the DID diagnosis and has his first conscious meeting w Khonshu
This causes Commander to form
For Marc, things are scary and uncertain and he doesn’t know how to process it, and in the inner world, Commander’s experience parallels that by him also being introduced to the scary and unknown by seeing the first vestiges of the werewolf virus being spread
The Khonshu stuff is also intense enough to push him briefly to the front bc it’s…. A god. And no matter how they present themselves to humans, gods are never fully meant to be comprehended
This also mildly introduces Commander’s repetitive comfort stim of squeezing or picking at things over and over :-)
Darkwing duck was chosen as the TV show because it would’ve aired in the early 90s, and with MCU ages in mind, could’ve been somth Marc watched, and I think it would’ve been a comfort show :-)
Chapter 2.
Commander has been dormant/unaware and holding the memory of seeing Khonshu, but is brought out of dormancy by the system’s second contact with him: when he reaches out to Marc in the temple
In the outer world, Marc has been betrayed by Bushman, shot, and his life is going upside down
In the inner world, Commander is woken by a red alarm (indicating the degree of extreme distress the brain is under), finding the moon base’s outer perimeter protection has fallen due to a mutiny (mirroring Bushman’s betrayal), and that this has allowed the wolves to attack (khonshu turning their life around)
He is then readied for the beginning of the war AKA his ongoing role of processing the supernatural presence of Khonshu and who they fight on the streets
Lines during Commander’s interaction with Frenchie were pulled directly from the Lemire run, specifically the first thing Frenchie says to Marc, and the last thing he said before leaving him. This is also why Commander feels strangely uncomfortable around Frenchie here, he is feeling Marc’s loneliness and perceived betrayal
All of this is to indicate the closeness of Commander to Marc at this stage (Commander still being more of a fragmented piece of him), as well as the nearness to front that Commander is inhabiting due to Khonshu’s presence, causing stronger emotion and experience bleed over
This is also where I wanted to set up an explanation for his fanon name! Since “Commander” as his name is found nowhere in Lemire run canon, yet fits him super well, I wanted to give my own take on him getting that name (which happens in the next chap) but wanted to start it here with the line: “They planned for [an invasion]. He helped them do it.”
I think Commander starts out inhabiting more of a strategizer role AKA being the base’s Commander, which is close to his initial system role as a processor. He works through problems and figures how to combat them, which more literally is what his actions in the inner world are helping to do for supernatural trauma and experience the system endures
Chapter 3.
More of a general chapter not tied to a single experience, and not directly showing him fronting. It instead shows how Commander processes certain memories of the system fighting various strange and supernatural foes over the years: by his adversaries changing before his eyes
While it’s intentionally not clear, these are not just memories being held by him, I think many of them are him being coconcious or blurry with who’s in front while they fight, but not being aware that his setting has changed
All monsters and villains listed were all either pulled off MK villain lists, or inspired by the show (“amorphous human clay,” for example, is referring to the collective)
The overwhelming level of wolf attacks was also meant to mirror the never ending missions Khonshu is putting Marc through in the real world
I do fudge the timeline here a good amount as well, as I mention cufflinks, indicating Steven has gotten his suit, which can be a bit funky with MCU show canon. Overall this chapter covers a large swath of time, from the beginning of the system’s time as Moon Knight up to the MCU show’s canon. And honestly, MCU canon is likely not exact in this world as I’m fusing a few things together, so I think there may have been more supernatural fighting done sometime between Steven getting the suit and the system getting shot in Cairo (which I’ll talk ab later)
Ch 3 also has Commander’s comrades falling in battle, paralleling the relationships the system has falling apart in the outer world (Marlene, Matt). I hc Marc/Jake had various relationships but had falling outs over time, and this is mirrored in Commander’s experiences
This also indicates the beginning of a bleed of memories unrelated to his original role
Furthermore! This is also when he starts to grow a stronger sense of self and more solidly grow beyond role he formed to take on, realizing his name isn’t Marc (no longer being the same split off facet that he was before) and that he has other desires
However Commander is kept in his unbroken reality despite doubting it by being told the changes in adversaries and the extra monsters are hallucinations. This is a vital reasoning for the brain to make, as he would not be able to process what he has to process with too much exposure to the outer world
It’s the specific scenario he lives out and experiences that lets him perform the role of processing the strange and supernatural that the system’s brain needs him to
This also solidifies where I feel he got his name, taking the title of “Commander Marc Spector” and keeping the one piece of it that he doesn’t feel alienated from, becoming simply Commander
Chapter 4.
Beyond the actual goal of this chapter, there’s a few things at the start
First, I wanted to show that Commander has regular dreams of Khonshu (“…the familiar skull of a creature he can never place when he opens his eyes…”) but I didn’t want him to recognize who he was seeing because I think he only experiences his unfiltered strangeness and not him
Second, this section:
They only get worse when Crawley is shot down—two shots, he fell in two—and the title of Captain is passed to Commander’s shoulders. The guys in charge don’t care that he pushes back against the decision, that he insists he’s unfit to lead. They don’t believe him when he tells them that when Crawley fell, he saw a boat sailing through the stars into golden gates, and swore his cockpit was filling up with sand.
Is pretty obvious but is how Commander processed the body dying and going to the Duat (two shots for getting shot twice, the boat sailing through golden gates/the gates of Osiris, his cockpit filling up with sand being a memory of Steven/Marc getting frozen in the Duat)
I don’t think he was conscious while they were there, or if he was doesn’t remember it fully, however it’s enough of a huge change to impact his role
Because the Duat is so much, sooooo so much to process, that Commander is essentially… bumped up. It shakes up his section of the inner world, losing the leading Captain and putting him in the role instead, now fully in control and needing to “captain” the intense processing of seeing an afterlife
This is also meant to explain why he is the Moon Knights’ captain in the Lemire run :-)
As for the rest, the intent here was to show that Commander has grown enough into himself and into existing as himself that he is no longer solely there to process what he formed to process, and so he starts getting triggered to front through positive triggers instead of negative ones (his being space ofc)
He fronts at a space museum, and this is like… Literally the first time this has happened
I think that a mix of Commander becoming more fully formed and the MK system being able to heal more after Ammit led to Marc wanting to connect or humor his childhood love for space again
Because while a good chunk of that interest and the memories/emotions associated with it are more strongly held by Commander, Marc still has them. So he and Layla went on a space museum date :-)
But then it is so strongly similar to some of the positive memories Commander shares with Marc and so strongly like… a positive trigger for Commander that he ends up fronting for the first time for somth not negative
He’s still very fuzzy and I don’t think it’s a full switch, but he’s absolutely there
He meets Layla for the first time, and this causes some recent memories of the system’s fight in Cairo to make up his “dreams” for the night
Chapter 5.
The MK numbers used at the start are Commander’s (MK-1), the year the Lemire run was released (MK-16/2016) and the issue Moon Knight first appeared (MK-32/Werewolf by Night issue #32, 1975)
The mention of a living house was meant to reference the House of Shadows from the Mackay run (my beloved💖) and the people with bleeding eyes the victims of the villain Truth from the comics
I like the idea that the structure of an endless war and an endless fight is what allows Commander to process, because he likes being able to rely on routine (I wanted to include him being autistic but was only able to in small ways like his stims and certain ways of thinking ab things)
This chapter is also meant to show the weight that Commander holds for the other system members, sometimes gaining access to memories after the fact if another member thinks too hard about an experience they’ve had and it has the possibility to impact them too harshly. He’s getting more overwhelmed because I think post Ammit, Marc, Steven, and eventually Jake all have more time to sit down and think about stuff, which is good generally, but there’s still stuff they aren’t really ready to touch
Commander also becomes more aware that “they” exist through this, though he still filters it through his existing worldview and doesn’t recognize them from the perspective of a system member
As for the rest my main idea was basically just… Commander attempts to process the multiverse!!
Now I haven’t seen any of the MCU movies involving the multiverse, but I have seen some clips and screenshots, as well as Spiderverse, so I sort of just put my own twist on things
The thought that sparked wanting to tackle this was that the MK system is still around when that stuff happens in other parts of the world, so they have to deal w it too, but they don’t always know what’s happening. I think the multiverse breaking through dimensions is already scary enough, but like extra scary when you don’t know what’s happening
Also obvs small detail but for ppl that haven’t read it, Lupinar is from the Lemire run and Commander’s main enemy there
The course of the fight also is meant to parallel the outside world, where the other system members likely started seeing news reports of strange happenings (the fight begins), before the universe started breaking apart over London itself (the first tear appears), and the gravity of the situation hits them (second tear forms, throwing everything into chaos and sending Commander spinning)
It’s too much for their brain to comprehend, and so Commander’s usual routine is thrown off a lot
The emotions and processing of the real time events the other system members are experiencing straight shots to Commander because the others can’t dwell on stuff at all if they’re going to help people, so he gets the overwhelm they would experience otherwise
While going out to patrol the city/reign in any threats, Marc (I think, I didn’t have someone in mind while writing but just whoever’s in front) sees people from another universe fading into their own (inspired by Spiderverse, again), and the shock of it causes Commander to be kicked to front in the alleyway
It doesn’t last long, and the others get more of a handle on what’s happening, and Commander is left by himself to just sort of process and be while the other do their thing
The set up for the next section where Commander falls from the sky is… roughly that the guys were fighting various villains bleeding over from other universes and briefly got thrown into/through a rift before coming out the other side, and it was so incomprehensible that, again, it boots Commander to front mid fall, however the others are still fighting to front/rapid switching, and it’s very overwhelming and blurry
Commander hits his head and when he hits the ground is panicked and blurred enough that he gets a flash of his source, which is extremely disorienting and scary in the moment and he doesn’t feel wholly himself for a second
He also internalizes the injury of hitting his head, which becomes the eyebrow split he has in the Lemire run
Marc, Steven, and Jake talking through the pod’s radio was to show that Commander is still extremely close to front, and that’s how he’s perceiving their communication with him
Also I really like the other members being aware of Commander even if they don’t know who he is and caring about him or at least hoping he’s ok :-)
When Jake tells the other two to focus, he’s letting them know of an incoming threat, which Commander them feels them jump and punch before he retreats away from front
Also very small, but wanted to incorporate Commander liking pressure/compression, which is why he hugs himself tight when he’s panicking
The next scene is Commander blurring with Marc, since he’s been close to front for the whole day and stuff is funky
This is post fight, when some group of magic people has come to remedy the rips in reality so the guys are off the hook
Marc is getting ready for bed (with coffee, Steven was going to read fr a bit) when a Randall from another universe briefly flashes into their apartment, likely because Marc is someone he’d be tethered to in their universe
When Commander and Marc talk, they are talking in the headspace, which I headcanon as pretty similar to Steven’s apartment or the original midnight mission from the Mackay run
I also think that not all of the alters perceive themself as being exactly identical to the body, so while similar, Commander and Marc have slightly different faces
Marc does not do well with meeting new headmates because he’s really bad at not feeling like it’s “his” fault that they formed, even tho obvs it’s not related to his choices at all, and he definitely recognizes Commander from his childhood
Commander still views this interaction through his worldview and so again registers it as something else, seeing Marc as some kind of inter dimensional being he has a psychic connection with or something
I also want to be clear that when Commander goes back here, it is not him accepting his role, he still doesn’t really get what’s happening, he’s just a bit more steady, and a certain level of separation/amnesia is also present
Wanted to have Commander switch to calling Frenchie Jean-Paul to show the furthering of their relationship. I think they’ve been dating generally most of this time but it’s been a bit more casual, and this is when it’s like… more serious
+1
Whew ok, ALMOST FINALLY
The little memory orbs Commander receives are how he perceives other times positive space triggers have either pulled him closer to the front, or meant he gets a new memory associated w them
So he’s like aware of these foreign sweeter moments where the other system members interact or engage w space somehow and just… gets to have those memories along with the ones he helps to process
I think Marc still remembers a lot of space facts, because I’ve read so many good fics and takes on that and because I also personally just agree w that! So he still remembers stuff he learned when he was younger, like how the distance between the earth and the moon fluctuates and isn’t always the exact same distance
I think post multiverse, the system takes a little break from Moon Knighting, or at least pulls back from it to recover and chill and let themselves relax a bit, and so the level of attacks Commander deals with lessen a LOT, and he gets to have more of an inner life beyond fighting
The system n Layla absolutely go on camping trips together, which is where the second memory blip comes from (and those s’more marshmallows are kosher/vegan, I did think ab that while writing)
I think after the multiverse incident Khonshu takes more of an active interest in Commander and decides to observe him, which is where we get the scene of Commander meeting him in a dream, which is also another piece I wanted to put in where he’s the only one really consciously aware of how… un-understandable Khonshu is to the human mind
THE MIDNIGHT MISSION AND THE MACKAY RUN GANG IN THE THIRD MEMORY
This was originally Steven getting his job back and being at a museum staff party but I decided I actually hate that job for him and I love the Mackay run guys so now it’s Reese and Soldier and the House of Shadows bc I love them💖
I know it’s not as solid of a +1 moment as some fics, but I really wanted Commander’s acceptance/coming to terms moment to be about like… accepting that he doesn’t have to know, that the unknown is out there and likely will stay unknown, but he can still live and exist and be, and that with everything, knowing that there is so much out there is actually a comfort, therefore allowing him to be happy with his place in the universe
BRIEF last thing ab tying into the Lemire run:
Already mentioned, but I wanted to set Commander up to be in the same place he is in the Lemire run so he becomes captain, he gets his eyebrow scar, and becomes close to Frenchie.
As far as how the canon of this fic fits into the Lemire run plot, the way I see it is that all of the alters are sort of put in simplified versions of their lives and made to forget the more complicated inter system stuff they’ve experienced, so Commander wouldn’t remember interacting with Marc, and may even have been put back to the point of believing he’s Marc, as a lot of other stuff is fucked up.
ADDITIONALLY, being the part of their brain that handles supernatural stuff, Commander’s world is sort of kicked into high overdrive since Khonshu is messing w their brain, which causes the big huge battle w Lupinar and the breach and ensuing loss of the base, as Khonshu has essentially breached their brain and is winning.
Ok…. That’s all! Thanks if you read all this holy shit uhhh I love you :-)💖💖💖
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doctorofmagic · 2 years
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I remember now, (SPOILERS, incase anyone reading, also long I'm so sorry!) also I apologize for my English if it is confusing ;; hope it sounds ok.
I didn't like how there's hype for the toys only for the characters to not have much importance. Like Rintrah, I thought he'd be the one to sew the cloak's burn and have more lines atleast. And Sarah, I was not surprised but very disappointed that they did not made her native american, I would've been fine but they made a toy of her, got lots of theory of which Sarah she is only for her to die too quick, and Wong seem to be still ok at the end even when they showed they have romance subtley. Wish she would've been mordo's mother instead Then I would let it slide that she had a toy because then she would be maybe important since we still have our 616 mordo around. just a thought.
And there was a defender wong too in one of the key chains (sorry I just love wong) and was sad we didn't get atleast a second or so of him, but I am glad our Wong's still there. And wanda, I am a horror person and I love her and love the actress but after learning of wanda, I do wish they did not change her entire origin. Elizabeth has 7 more years in the mcu I believe, BUT my only hope is they do her better next time. that's all, since the mcu is going 'bit' comic acc, I really do hope they change or improve on her story a little more. If they do her better then I would be happy
I must say, I kinda think the theorists have a better story, understanding and thoughts about her on what would happen in their theories and I liked it better than what we got in the movie. but I still love it for Stephen since it is his movie and his character development. I am honestly torn, I love the movie so much but have such mix feelings. Stephen feels more human now and now I understand why nwh have to go first to show his development and I love them for that.
Now I hope dr strange 3 would be somewhat a lil better, especially now we have clea, hope he gets lovestruck of her. I don't read comics but I remember her because of you and all of your knowledge that I learned here. I almost screamed, kept myself tad quiet when everyone on theater is confused of who she is.
Now with what I love, I'm so sorry ;;
I am happy for xochitl, didn't like that many where bullying her when she's just 15 or so at the time. I was thinking of magik, sad we won't see her in the mcu. But I love America's character in the movie and the relationship they gave her with the two sorcerers. The reason why I brought up the what if comic is because the parallel of ss Stephen in the comic and Magik is close with each other, while in the mcu, Chavez is close with ss wong. And I found it really sweet, especially when xochitl is very close with Benedict wong. But I do hope she gets closer with Stephen too, now she got two dads!
I apologize so much that this is so so long! I didn't have anyone to share abt this properly because they either don't listen ;;
Hello, Wongrange CEO! Nice to see you around here again n.n
My friend @godofmagic and I were discussing about the characters that were hyped but ended up having one or two lines in the movie. He mentioned we were supposed to have more 30-40 minutes of screentime and this content was cut. This is why Rintrah and Sara even received Funkos but barely have any meaningful presence. Regarding Sara's heritage... I can't even tell if that Sara was supposed to be our Sara Wolfe, or even Mordo's mother. Her surname was never revealed, which makes things more complicated. So I really can't comment on that. But yeah, it's super odd, and the fact that they kept Sara and Wong's relationship as subtle as possible bothered me a lot as well. I can't help but feel like they saw a panel of Sara on twitter and went "yeah, let's use this character whose origins we know nothing about!" It wouldn't be a first.
Also Wong was really shadowed in this movie as well, but I can't even complain on that part because the very protagonist had to share 50% of the movie with the antagonist haha *pain* and speaking of her, I read that she wasn't very happy about Waldron's decision to massacrate the character, and I'll have to agree with her. I hardly think they will be able to improve her after she was whitewashed and had a completely different origin but eh. I don't expect anything from the MCU anymore. This is why I'm not disappointed with dsitmom =D I'm with you about the mixed feelings but at least they got Stephen right, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Waldron's doing. I need him to stop writing for Marvel asap.
I really appreciate that you remembered me when Clea showed up! I'm always trying to push more people into comics so it's always a pleasure n.n
Xochitl's cast is indeed problematic because America is afro Puerto Rican (and I saw firsthand how it hurt a close friend of mine because they're also Afro Puerto-Rican), but it doesn't justify people going for a minor to harass her like that. People on the internet are always out of touch and it's really disgusting. And yeah, you're absolutely right! America and Stephen's relationship is very similar to Illyana's in What If? Magik and The End. Illyana is an adult now though so I'm not sure if they'd still work with this trope, even though I still see her as Stephen's daughter. Also I hate her character in the New Mutants movie pleaaase. But hope never dies!
And don't worry about sharing your thoughts, this is why this blog exists haha. I'm glad you feel safe to share them here. Thank you for passing by!
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Knowing that their time was running out, Doctor Strange summoned those who knew the truth about Latverion and representatives from every domain to strategize as to how they could best defeat Doctor Doom and his reign once and for all. Although the Scarlet Witch stepped in to help right memories, the arrival of the Thors Corps signaled death for one in attendance and a staggering blow was delivered to the movement.
THIS IS THE OFFICIAL CHAT LOG COVERAGE OF THE IC
STEPHEN STRANGE/DOCTOR STRANGE(MCU): It was surreal, seeing all of these familiar faces in front of him for what felt like the first time in years. Eight years, to be exact. Although being on the ship in the Negative Zone felt like yesterday, a lot of time had passed in Latverion since there was a meeting of this many forces together in one room. This conversation was going to be difficult, especially for those in domains who had a rough go of things, but it was necessary if they were going to stop Doom. “Thank you all for meeting us here today. I understand the risks being taken to all gather outside of your domains like this but soon I think most of you will understand just how dire the situation is and will be able to forgive the short notice.” His eyes drifted over to Clea as he raised a soft brow at her.
CLEA STRANGE/SORCERER SUPREME (616): Had they done enough? It was hard to say. There were some who were convinced and others who needed convincing; it was no easy feat to try and push back against a massive empire that was apparently an elaborate fabrication. Clea still had her reservations and was entitled to them. She loved Stephen, though. She trusted him. Even if it made her feel like she was going crazy, she would stand by his side. “Some of us have shared a spell that helps show memories from the world before -- the world some of you came from. Do the rest consent to have it passed as well?”
MARC SPECTOR/MOON KNIGHT (MCU): Marc stood against the wall in the back of the hall they were in, arms crossed across his chest as he stayed silent and listened to the wizards talk. Layla was standing at his side, and despite the short explanation he'd shared with her back at Essex's Lab, he was sure she was just as confused and skeptical as ever. Not that he blamed her. If he hadn't had his own memories intact, he'd deny all of this just as hard if not harder. Seeing Jake and Steven separate from him his head and living their own lives out here wasn't helping with trying to convince himself that he wasn't still losing his mind, but he tried to keep his held up and focus on the task in front of them.
PETER PARKER/SPIDER-MAN (616): Bouncing his leg to burn off even an ounce of the nervous energy currently coursing through his body, Peter looked around the room, comforted by the presence of others who knew the truth. He gave Miles a nervous shrug before turning back toward Strange.
STEVEN GRANT/MR. KNIGHT (MCU): Steven wasn't sure how he'd managed to convince Elsa to come with him to this meeting, but he was thankful for the presence of his fellow monster hunter by his side. At the mention of a memory spell, he was hopeful that soon this would all make a lot more sense to her. It was easier to convince her that he wasn't totally bonkers once Clea stepped in, at least. His eyes drifted across the room though, and he felt his heart nearly stop when his eyes made contact with Layla. Layla, who last he'd seen was dead in not only Egyptia, but also their true reality. And by her side, Marc was also here. Tugging at his sleeves, he silently excused himself from Elsa's side for a moment before nudging past people in the back of the room to get over towards them.
MILES MORALES/SPIDER-MAN (1610): Miles shrugged softly back at Peter, knowing that his friend was just as nervous as him based on the constant bouncing leg at his side. He nudged Peter's arm gently and nodded his head firmly, mumbling under his breath. "We're gonna have this whole room on our side here in a minute, man. It'll be okay."
CAROL DANVERS/CAPTAIN MARVEL (MCU): She had a pretty good feeling that the rumors of unrest being spread were in relation to her and her supposed lack of tact. Carol was surly at the moment, arms crossed and feet firmly planted. She had never been the type to just sit idle and watch things happen. She had to be out there, doing and punching and moving. Now, however, she was forced to stand still and wait for others to make up their minds.
DAISY JOHNSON/QUAKE (AOS): Daisy chimed in then, knowing that she couldn't be the only one who thought this entire thing was just absurd (and slightly insulting). "I'm sorry, but you pulled us away from our domains with some cryptic message, and now you want to perform some kind of spell on us? Some of us have real problems back home."
STEVE ROGERS/CAPTAIN AMERICA (616): "Daisy." Steve replied cooly but with a stern tone to his voice. "I know this all must sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but they're telling the truth. I promise."
RIRI WILLIAMS/IRONHEART (616): “What, you got some kind of monopoly on real problems?” The words were coupled with air quotes and a look of mild annoyance. “We all got something to lose by being here.”
SCOTT SUMMERS/CYCLOPS (616): For a man as bone tired as he was, Scott stood straight, the natural, proud jut of his chin weighing on the muscles in his neck, but he didn't relent. Not now. The other's didn't know, what came before. They existed in old bodies with new minds, ignorant to the ground beneath their feet being a fabrication from universes colliding. He chewed on the thought -- restoring memories was ethical, it was the right and proper move, but how many more would come for Jean to restore their reality? His gaze ventures to Wanda and indecision hangs in the air.
EROS/STAR FOX (MCU): "Come on everyone no need to be so hostile. If we all just relax and hear each other out I'm confident we can come to an ideal solution." Eros announced to the room smiling his gleaming smile trying his best to not let the pain of frustration set his brain on fire.
GWEN STACY/GHOST-SPIDER (65): Gwen nodded. “I was gonna say, I doubt the Reich is the only one with incredibly pressing problems. Have you seen the spider mutates? Not that it’s a competition, of course. I’m just saying.”
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): "I'm not saying it's a competition. My point is all of us have shit back home to get back to." Their own individual empires to crumble, whatever.
NOH-VARR/MARVEL BOY (200080): "You're kidding me? You have to be fucking kidding me. You interrupt my important work for this? Accusations of universal distortions via singularities and now you want us to consent to casting a mind altering enchantment on us? Completely unlikely. Do note, that this will be in my next report."
DAIMON HELLSTROM (616): "Clea, my dear. If this was all just a ruse to get us in the same spot an enchant me you surely could have done better. I give you points for creativity and effort but this?" He says gesturing to the room around him. "Is just a pitiful mess, but you have my attention. Give me a good enough explanation before I end your entire fucking bloodline." Daimon said grinning ear to ear as flames dripped from his eyes.
JEAN GREY (616): Jean stood by her husband, the man she had fought time and time again to be with. Between the Phoenix and Apocalypse it felt as if there was always something pulling at them, and now if the Sheriff was to believed Scott wasn’t even her husband. Not as she remembered him, at least. The weight of everyones thoughts pulled at her mind and left it caught in different directions. It was a terrible cacophony of thoughts both confused and seemingly enlightened. Jean had accepted the offer to read Strange’s mind, of course. She saw what he believed to be true. She desperately wanted to believe it, but it was hard to conceptualize. Looking to the side, Jean sought reassurance from Scott. It was hard to miss the eye contact he made with the blonde in white, her body exposed through cut outs in white silk. Emma was also a telepath and undoubtedly offered the same look into the Sheriff’s mind. Emma suffered no fools -- if she was here, there was a chance it could all be true.
KATE BISHOP/HAWKEYE (616): “Did you say ending bloodlines?” Katherine -- who had absolutely no stake in Clea’s life or connection to the dimension -- interjected. “I thought we all came here for the same reason: to fix things that are supposedly wrong.”
PETER PARKER (616): At every additional comment, jab, and gripe Peter felt his hope dwindling. He appreciated Miles’s optimism, but getting everyone on their side, was a tall order. “I don’t know man…” he muttered in reply.
LAYLA EL-FAOULY/SCARLET SCARAB (MCU): From her spot next to Marc, Layla’s gaze was shrewd. She was exhausted and not long removed from Sinister’s Labs; it had to be said that both the Eternal Old God’s Sersi and Makkari both looked worse for the wear as well. She remained silent until she saw a dark figure moving through the crowd. Pushing off of the wall, she hurried through the small group of people that separated them before her body collided with Steven’s in an embrace. She was happy to kiss him -- unlike her kiss with Marc -- and pulled away tearfully. “It’s you.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen quickly launched himself in front of Clea, his eyes narrowing at Hellstrom as he stood his ground, his hands were already ready to defend the two of them should Daimon take anymore steps towards his wife. "Do you really think we would have dared to invite you here if it weren't absolutely necessary? I don't care who you are, watch your tone when you're speaking to my wife."
CLEA STRANGE (MCU): “That seems a tad bit excessive, Daimon, especially considering the fact that you already wiped out most of my bloodline.” Only Doyle remained, but he was safe at the school with Jericho. His words didn’t ruffle her, though. Clea had long ceased to be afraid of the baron who had felled her family. “No one is forcing you to be here.” She followed after Stephen finished defending her. It was quite attractive of a gesture, really, but they had to remain focused. “Thank you, dear.”
STEVEN GRANT (MCU): Steven barely made it past halfway across the room when Layla's body was colliding with his and his arms clumsily wrapped around her form. There weren't really any words to describe the relief that washed over him at the sight of her, at the sound of her voice. He'd been so convinced that he'd never hear it again. He kissed her back like his life depended on it, his hands gripping onto the back of her hair as he felt tears welling in his own eyes as well. "Layla, I thought you were.. I'm so sorry. You look-- pardon my language here but you look like shite." He chuckled sadly as his thumbs traced her cheekbones. And while he knew now that his memories of Egyptia betrayed him, they still felt so real at the sight of his-- no, wait, this was Marc's wife. Glancing over at his alter, who he also hadn't seen in the Gods knew how long, and he pulled his hands from Layla's face guiltily.
DRUIG (MCU): In the growing chaos he hadn’t noticed her presence until now. Makkari. She was on the other side of the room, obscured by the crowd, but Druig knew it was her. He could feel her. Pushing past bodies he crossed the room in record time, stopping as she came into view. His expression fell at her overall state, but a tired smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
JANE FOSTER/THOR (616): There wasn’t really anywhere for her to put her hammer down, so Jane clung to Mjölnir. The helmet was off at the very least, the metal dome not squeezing the blonde waves her title came with. Her memories remained intact even when warring with the ones that Latverion was trying to force on her. “I think we’re getting off topic here...” she tossed out. “Maybe we can get back on?”
NAMOR (616): The vein in his brow swelled. These foolish earth breathers, bickering and polluting the air with their hot putrid breath. He despised it. He kept his distaste for them no secret but always managed civility when it came to it. But this? Their wining, simplistic threats, and outlandish claims were grating. He couldn't stand this posturing to continue any longer. He did not change his position in his chair, which while embracing him appeared like a throne, but he would not let his words go mistaken. Slamming the base of his trident into the floor creating an enormous boom that shook the room around them. the water in their glasses brewing like a sea in storm as he proclaimed, as a king never shouts, "Silence you simplistic air breathers! I need not hear of your small concerns, your bickering or even your blood feuds. I rose from the Fathoms, leaving my people for one thing. I came to fix problems but all that I see are why the surface is so flawed. It's no small feat to get me up here, and very few have my respect enough to leave my domain. So make it worth it lest the maelstrom shall come."
JAKE LOCKLEY/MOON KNIGHT (MCU): Jake noticed the way Layla suddenly shoved herself off of the wall, and when he caught sight of her practically making out with Steven across the room, he had to bite back an actual laugh as he held the back of his hand against his mouth and smirked across the room to Marc. "I second la dama de Hierro here."
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): Daisy's eyebrows shot up at the sudden raised voice from across the room, and scrunched her nose up at his choice of words. Glancing back towards Steve, she just scoffed under her breath and kept quiet, despite very much wanting to bite back at him and everyone else in the room. As far as she was concerned, what they had going on at the Reich seemed to outweigh the importance of whatever this meeting was supposed to be. Steve suddenly wanting them to leave the Reich for this was abrupt and confusing, and none of this was helping. "If sharing these memories you guys say exist is going to make this end any faster, then sure. I consent."
T’CHALLA/BLACK PANTHER (616): All who knew of Afrika and the Fathoms knew the perpetual conflict the two domains seemed to be stuck in. Ever since King Kamu had flooded Wakanda with the salty waves that swallowed the dunes things had been tense. They were on the road to recovery now, but it took great strength for T’Challa to not comment on the dramatics of Namor. The Atlantean/Wakandan conflict was all just a part of Latverion, though. It was no more real than the title of Baron that T’Challa now possessed. “What my friend says has some merit to it,” he nodded once to Namor. “As harsh and jaded it may be. Jane is right as well. We are falling away from what is at stake here: the end of Doom’s reign.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): "I understand if there's some hesitance, but the spell is one hundred percent safe. If you all don't mind undergoing it, the picture will become more clear and hopefully we can work more cohesively." Because right now, they weren't getting anywhere. Stephen knew that sharing everyone's memories with them would expedite the process and they needed to be prepared for the upcoming summit if they stood any chance at ending Doom's twisted vision.
MAKKARI (MCU): It was unlike her to sit. Makkari was a woman perpetually in motion, but the last eight years had dulled the spark in her. Running nonstop had left her in a wearied state. For the first time, her legs shook when she stood. The chair she was seated at was situated near the back of the room, Sersi by her side. The other Eternal Old God looked concerned but had remained silent so far. Both women seemed to sense it at the same time: the stirring of another like them coming into a close proximity. Then, he was there. He was smiling at her. She pushed herself out of her chair with a wince, legs unsteady in the few steps it took to close the space between them. A second later, a slap rang out as her hand connected with his cheek. You. Left. Us.
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "Do we have a plan of action," Scott spoke up "For resolving this further? What do the memories supply for the end goal?"
MARC SPECTOR/MOON KNIGHT (MCU): A lingering sense of protectiveness with his wife from before Doom had twisted up their reality made it difficult for Marc to not immediately follow after her when she suddenly walked off, but then he caught sight of Steven and his feet were already moving to go greet his alter as well. He never thought he'd miss having the Brit constantly nagging him in his head, but he missed him just as much as he'd missed Layla ever since he'd woken up. But then they were kissing each other and Marc stilled, no longer able to will himself to go any further. It shouldn't have made him as angry as it did, seeing them embrace each other like that, but it did, and Jake's smug smile only made it worse as he huffed and leaned back against the wall. For once, he stood behind Scott's words as he nodded his head at the mutant.
EMMA FROST (616): There was a roll of blue eyes at the Submariner’s little show. Emma, perched across the room in an armchair like it was a throne, crossed one white clad ankle over the other. She had been making sex eyes at Scott earlier, yes, but her attention was now zeroed in on the matter at hand. “If they had a plan of action, darling,” she glanced to Scott once more. “They would have said it instead of trying to cast a little spell on us. Summers does raise a good question, though.” Emma paused for dramatic effect. “Say our eyes are opened, so to speak. Doesn’t that just make us a target?”
WANDA MAXIMOFF/SCARLET WITCH (MCU): “I think I can do better than a spell to share Strange’s memories.” The Witch in red stood near the back of the room, arms hanging by her side. They called her crazy in Genosha; she spoke in half truths of a real reality and one fabricated. Wanda wasn’t crazy. She never had been. What she was was reluctant. If the truth came out she’d lose the life she’d desperately wanted -- but when she looked in the mirror she had to admit she didn’t deserve it in the first place. Taking a step towards the center of the group, light eyes searched the crowd as she recognized familiar faces. “I remember. I was not on the ship, but I do. My powers--” the chaos magic that coursed through her “--are strong here as well. Many of you don’t know that you have reason not to trust me, so it seems unfair to ask you to, but I think I may be able to unlock what you’ve lost.”
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): Layla wasn’t sure where to begin. It had been a long time and they had a lot to discuss. For starters, he had left her. Steven had absconded to the Darkforce Dimension while Layla rotted in a cell. She had plenty of words for him, but none of them mattered in that moment. She kissed him until he pulled away and her mind remembered their setting. This was supposedly an important meeting and an auburn haired woman was making some sort of proposition. “What’s wrong?” She asked, looking between a seemingly disgruntled Marc and her husband.
DRUIG (MCU): Druig could tell she was going to slap him, she had done absolutely nothing to hide it - but he let it happen. He deserved it. One hand moving to rub at his reddened cheek, he grimaced slightly before turning his attention to his fellow Eternal. His hands slowly signed a response, I know. I’m sorry.
MAKKARI (MCU): Both index fingers connected with her thumbs to make a circle before a flicking motion was made. I hate you. Sersi didn’t, though. Sersi was too kind and forgiving for that. Makkari just stared at him for a moment before she moved to sit and find relief for her legs.
STEVEN GRANT/MR. KNIGHT (MCU): Steven shook his head softly, knowing that this was impossible to fully explain to Layla without sounding crazy. There was no way she'd believe that Marc was really her husband. His hands found his way to her face again as he brushed some hair behind her ears and frowned at her current state. It looked like she'd been through hell, and judging by what he knew of Egyptia, it didn't take much to connect the dots about where she'd been all of this time. "I think once Wanda does the spell all of this will make sense, yeah? Are you alright with that, love?"
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): "Like I said, sure. Do whatever you need to do, I guess."
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): She nodded at his question. The idea of spells made her uncomfortable, but Layla had grown up around gods. She knew that magic was real and the feeling of not knowing what everyone else did was grating.
DAIMON HELLSTROM (616): "Very well. I'll listen to the ramblings of a crazy person this once. You may attempt, thought should I feel any attempt at foul play you will be ran through." Daimon replied with a smirk.
NOH-VARR (200080): "If you're going to do something just do it fast." Noh replied, agreeing.
CLINT BARTON (616): Clint hadn't left Bobbi's side the entire meeting, alongside the rest of the group from the Reich. This entire thing was more than confusing, but he figured it couldn't hurt to agree to whatever the woman was offering. If it made everything finally make sense, he'd take it, even if magic was foreign to him. "I'm okay with it." Glancing down at Bobbi, he rubbed the small of her back and listened to see if she felt differently.
SAM WILSON/CAPTAIN AMERICA (MCU): Seeing Bobbi, Clint and Daisy agree, Sam nodded as well. “If we’re gonna do it, we might as well get it over with.”
JEAN GREY (616): Without thinking, Jean reached out to squeeze Scott’s hand. It was as instinctual as breathing at this point. She was scared. She wasn’t going to lie and say that she wasn’t, but this was important. It was better to use Wanda’s magic than the Phoenix at the very least. “If you think it’ll work.”
PETER PARKER/SPIDER-MAN (MCU): Standing alongside Gwen, Peter was masked and had stayed quiet for most of the meeting, unsure what to even chime in. Even if he wanted to, he had no idea what was even going on. They'd all just been called here with some cryptic message about Latverion itself not even being real, and now they wanted to do some kind of spell. At least, that's what he was following with the whole thing. Shrugging his shoulders at Gwen, he held his hand up and nodded. "I'm also fine with the spell if it helps us understand whatever this is you guys are talking about."
WANDA MAXIMOFF (616): Being near another version of herself wasn’t unsettling. Wanda had seen Wanda before when scrying for Le Fay and she knew her other self was different than the woman who lived in High Avalon. She was surprised to see that she offered any assistance, but it was needed. Wanda just bowed her head in silence and waited for the spell.
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): Scott looked down at the pressure against his hand, at Jean's fingers interlacing with his own, squeezing for some sense of stability, some promise that there's more on the other side than what is here, what is now. It tugs at the tether between them and he's reminded that Jean deserves this too -- not his unsolicited protection, fearing for her life, but rather the option to make her own decisions with her memory fully intact. His shoulders slumped, just a hair, and he squeezed back. "Do what you need to."
PETER PARKER (616): Peter nodded in agreement, consenting to the spell, but his gaze continued to roam around the room. Whatever would get them home sooner.
DRUIG (MCU): Druig stepped away from Makkari before moving to stand by her side a few feet away. She had every right to be angry at him, but she was alive and clearly needed time to heal. They had nothing but time. Right now though, Druig turned to the others with a nod, “Do what you must.”
WANDA MAXIMOFF (MCU): The rest gave their consent -- some more willingly than others: Andi Benton, Betsy Braddock, Elsa Bloodstone, Emma Frost, Flash Thompson, Gamora, Gwen Stacy, Hope Summers, Jennifer Walters, Jessica Jones, Julia Carpenter, Kamala Khan, Katherine Bishop, Katherine Pryde, Makkari, Matthew Murdock, Ripley Ryan, Riri Williams and Sersi. Once the room was in agreeance, Wanda closed her eyes and felt a stirring in her gut. When she opened them, scarlet replaced the green. There was no Darkhold to influence her or twist her spells. It was on instinct that she allowed the red to move from one mind to the next. It was, by no means, a fast process. It was as if each mind had a lock in it and Wanda had to try key after key until it clicked and opened up the door to the truth. Thankfully, there were some she was able to skip over due to their already knowing what reality looked like. Wanda was delicate with the rest, coaxing them into remembering. It was a mix of mind control and reality warping that did the trick in the end, and scarlet strands slowly faded from the room. “It’s done.”
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): Her time in the Reich had exposed Daisy to various different forms of mind control, whether it was watching all of the complacent Widows or interacting with the Winter Soldier, and it made her uneasy, but once the Scarlet Witch finally made her way over to Daisy's mind, scarlet laced her eyes for a brief moment as her mind seemed to tug apart, layers unraveling all at once as her memories from another reality made their way to the surface. Her memories swirled and warred with the ones from the Reich, considering they directly contradicted each other. One reality, S.H.I.E.L.D. had won the war, another less fortunate one, Hydra. Blinking hard, Daisy felt like she might throw up at the realization as her eyes caught finally Steve and Sam alongside her. "Holy shit.."
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc watched the room cautiously as Wanda began the spell, resisting the urge to grimace at how spaced out everyone looked as she messed around with their heads and patched up their minds. Was that really what he looked like when he checked out? Slowly releasing his back from the wall, he stepped towards Steven and Layla and stood in front of Layla as he glanced over to Steven, whose eyes were apologetic. Okay, so maybe he wanted to wring Steven's neck in for that kiss earlier, but his main concern was Layla as her eyes lost focus and lit up bright red.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen kept a careful eye on Clea, still wary of Hellstrom's presence in the room and his threat from earlier, but he made sure to be there for when she finally came to as he found himself reaching down to interlock his fingers with hers. Maybe she wasn't his wife in the reality that they'd originally come from, but he still shared the memories from Latverion with her and it was hard to not give in to the comfort of her presence as if he'd been married to her for years. If he was lucky, neither of them would remember this when they got back and have to deal with the awkward aftermath.
SAM WILSON (MCU): Well, shit. Sam had (mostly) believed them but having his memories put back in place by Wanda of all people was a trip. He was just really fuckin’ glad to see that she wasn’t dead and buried. “Guess this changes things, huh?”
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): Although she had been clinging to Steven, Layla’s hands went slack as Wanda entered her mind. It was hard to say how long that it took. One moment she knew the world and the next she was blinking away scarlet sparks with an entirely new outlook. Awkwardly positioned between Steven and Marc, Layla took a step towards her husband and took his hand. “Marc.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Sorry for getting mad when you kissed me?
WANDA MAXIMOFF (616): Reality righted itself in (the other) Wanda’s hands. The Wanda of “High Avalon” did not take long to have her mind set back on course. The magic of that Wanda and this fit well with one another. Interestingly enough, she spotted Khonshu’s avatars still split in thirds. Jacob/Jake Lockley was known to her, and she moved to stand by him. “Your situation remains unchanged?”
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): The touch of Layla's hand jolted back back into the present as he gripped back and stared at her, unsure of what to even say himself. Ever since that night in Times Square he'd been running through apologies in his head of being stubborn and insisting that she went to the Baxter Building, but now she was here in front of him and seemingly aware again and all of his words were lost at the sight of recognition in her eyes. "Can I hug you?" He asked this time, even if all he wanted to do was yank her towards him.
JAKE LOCKLEY/MOON KNIGHT (MCU): Jake heard a voice speaking to him once everyone seemed to slowly be waking up from Wanda's meddling and kept his arms crossed over his chest, shrugging slightly at Wanda's question. "I guess so? Depends on what situation you're askin' me about."
CLEA STRANGE (616): “It worked.” Clea exhaled in surprise as her head cleared. She glanced down and found her fingers to now be intertwined with Stephen’s. Instantly, a sharp pain shot through her heart. Stephen was dead. Her husband was gone. Tears filled her eyes at the thought, and she removed her hand from his. How was it, then, that she loved this man as well? She had the memories of him being her husband in addition to the one she had lost. Clea found herself unsure with how to mitigate the conflicting emotions. She repeated: “It worked.”
STEVEN GRANT (MCU): Steven wanted to hug Marc, but it was clear by his altar's body language that a hug wasn't anywhere in their near future after the way he'd kissed Layla. It wasn't fair of Marc to hold it against him, but they had more pressing issues than Marc's unwarranted jealously. He smiled at Layla seeming to receive the spell well, but his heart did ache when she reached for Marc's hand first. It made sense-- he was her husband, wasn't he? Not Steven. That had all been just as made up as his existence was.
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (616): Instead of answering, Layla just wrapped her arms around Marc and pulled him close. “I love you.” Her words were a low murmur in his ear.
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc returned the hug, pulling her as close as physically possible as he buried his face into her curls and nodded, closing his eyes tightly. "I love you too, baby." His voice sounded just as tired as he looked, but she was in an even worse state than he was. Bruises lined her arms, and she was scarily thin. The thought of everything she'd gone through during her time in Essex's Labs made his blood boil, but right now he was just happy to actually have her back. When he finally looked up from her hair, Steven was awkwardly standing there and staring at them, almost looking unsure if he was permitted to speak. Marc knew it was because of him, and so he hesitated before stepping back from Layla's hug and nodding over to Steven. "You're allowed to hug her too, you know."
STEVEN GRANT (MCU): Steven raised his brows as his mouth fell open, words feeling too hard at the moment as he smiled sheepishly at Layla. "It really is great to see you." He still didn't go in for a hug, his body feeling stuck right where it was.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen didn't blame Clea for pulling her hand away, and he was almost relieved that she had done it first now that she had regained her own memories. The logical part of his brain knew that they couldn't get lost in whatever reality had been crafted for them in Latverion. She knew the truth now, that was what mattered. "I'm sorry, I know it's probably a lot to take in."
EMMA FROST (616): Ah, love. It was quite beautiful and quite cringeworthy from the outside. It made people do pathetic things. Emma watched with an icy gaze as Steven Grant was seemingly burned before being welcomed into the fold. They had gone on their mission together recently and it had been a success. She had been very patiently waiting for their prize to regain consciousness, and as soon as she felt her mental stirrings Emma rose and proffered a hand to Steven. “Shall we?”
CLEA STRANGE (616): She’d never meant to try and replace Stephen. Clea couldn’t even if she tried. What she had with this Stephen was different, an affection born out of necessity. Wiping at her eyes once with a purple gloved hand, the sorceress cleared her throat. “You can all see now why it was important for your memories to be returned. We have to figure out how to proceed against Doom.”
STEVEN GRANT (MCU): Steven opened his mouth again, unsure of what was even about to spill out of it, but thankfully Emma interrupted him and he paused before his white glove accepted her hand. "I'll leave you two to it then, yeah?" He stammered out awkwardly, his gaze shifting quickly from Layla's eyes to Marc's before he followed her to the other side of the room.
EMMA FROST (616): Steven in hand, Emma left the room and moved through the mansion towards the chambers they had deposited the girl in. Clea had sent them out on assignment with strict instructions to not breathe a word of it to Stephen; should it fail, she reasoned, he would be heartbroken. As odd a pair as they were, the White Queen and Mr. Knight had sashayed their white clad asses into Doomstadt and stolen the God Emperor’s prized possession: the star he used to traverse Latverion. The star, now girl shaped, had stopped glowing by the time Emma let her out of the room with instructions to join the group. She opened the door to let her in first. “Since things are going so well, I’ll accept verbal praise and affirmation for our success here.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen nodded at Clea's words, resisting the urge to reach up and wipe her tears away himself. He knew better, and they had a job to do. In fact, they had a whole room of people looking up at them for the next steps. There was a lot to be planned out now that their memories were restored, but before he could even speak again, a door to his left opened up and his eyes widened when he spotted America. Alive and well, and standing before him once again. Trying to figure out where she'd ended up was the first thing he'd done when his memories returned, and when he discovered she'd been in Doomstadt under Doom's careful eye he given up hope of ever seeing her again. His former protege, now God Emperor Doom's star, his key to navigating Latverion, seemed lost forever. But now she was here, and all professionalism was thrown out the window as he pulled her into a tight hug and choked back a sob. "America,"
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc let out a frustrated sigh, the feeling mostly directed at himself as Steven hurried away with Emma of all people. His hand found Layla's again, squeezing onto it tightly as he shook his head. "I think I messed up." He muttered down to her.
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): “What did you do?” Layla looked to him as Steven left. “I’ll need to talk with him as well.” She added quietly. Right then, however, she was tired. “Can we sit while they all stand around and talk at each other?”
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): “Oh Dios mío.” America exhaled, all but running to wrap her arms around Stephen in a tight hug. They had told her she’d get to see him soon, but actually seeing him after eight terrifying years was different. She was taller now and more of an adult but it didn’t matter. Doom had kept her so isolated and restricted from the world that she felt largely the same. Her memories were intact after falling through the rift; one second she had been at 4 Yancy Street and the next in Doomstadt. It had all been terrifying. America pulled back. “You’re shorter.”
NAMOR (616): Namor regretted nothing he said.
NOH-VARR (200080): Noh-Varr regretted everything he said.
FLASH THOMPSON/AGENT ANTI-VENOM (616): Flash has regrets unrelated to today.
DAIMON HELLSTROM (616): Damian is regrettable.
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): "Of course," Marc nodded firmly, his eyes scanning the room and finding a padded couch over by the window. They'd all discuss a plan and he'd do whatever they needed him to do to fix things, but right now Layla's comfort was his top priority. He carefully latched his arm underneath her arm to support her and gently lead her across the room, seating himself next to her on the couch. "I made him feel bad for kissing his wife is what I did." The word was still laced with resentment, despite his best efforts to conceal it in his voice. It wasn't Steven's fault that their new reality had been rewritten this way, but Marc was still bitter nonetheless. "But Layla, I'm-- I'm so sorry. For insisting that you stayed in the Baxter Building. I know that feels so far removed from everything going on, right now, but I.." Trailing off, he scoffed at himself. The words were hard to convey, but he knew just how much of a force to be reckoned with his wife truly was. Suit or no suit, he had always known her to be one of the strongest people he'd ever met, and it was insulting to have insisted she stay in that tower with the rest of everyone's loved ones.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen didn't even notice that he was crying until his laugh nearly choked itself back into his throat at her comment. "You're just taller." He quipped back, shaking his head as he examined her and resisted a frown. He shouldn't have been so bittersweet at seeing how she's aged during their time here, but he was anyways. It was strange to not look down at least two feet to make eye contact with America. He never thought he'd feel so bad about missing out on that sort of thing, her growing up. "Are you alright? Actually, you know what? Maybe don't answer that."
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): Daisy wasn't sure if there was a right way to process the fact that her entire life here had been a big fat lie. That in the true reality, she hadn't ever worked for Hydra at all. Hadn't ever been forced into the type of containment that she was subjected to in the Reich. There was a weird swirl of guilt and nausea in her gut that she couldn't shake. Swallowing thickly, her eyes darted between Sam and Steve. "I don't even know what to say." Sorry for not believing you, but you sounded totally batshit crazy?
SAM WILSON: Sam reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Right now, Johnson, I think it’s okay to not have anything to say.”
BOBBI MORSE/MOCKINGBIRD (616): “Speak for yourself,” Bobbi snorted. “I’ve got a lot to say. Starting with: where the hell do we go from here?”
JEAN GREY (616): It was a push and a pull. Wanda’s magic pushed in and the Phoenix Force pushed it out. The two forces warred against one another; a normal being would never have stood a chance against the cosmic entity, but Wanda was no normal being. Jean felt it all. She felt the fire meet the chaos head on, and then... “I don’t remember.” Her eyes opened. “Still.”
CLEA STRANGE (616): Even with her heartbreak fresh in her mind once more, there was a smile as Clea observed Stephen’s reunion with America. “There was so much at risk going to Doomstadt,” she shook her head. “But Emma and Steven were excellent. I’m so glad to see you again, America.”
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): “Is that how that works?” America sniffed with a smile. She wasn’t that much taller, but it was enough to count. Really, it was just a painful reminder of what they lost. No, not just lost. What had been taken from them. “Alright? I mean, I am now. Kinda. I’m way closer to being alright than I was when Doom was...well, doing what he did.”
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): That was not the reaction he was expecting. "Still?" He repeated, as if he hadn't heard her right. Scott look down at Jean with a dumb look on his face. "What do you mean?"
JEAN GREY (616): “I mean I only remember Latverion.” Jean repeated with more detail. “Not this other world. The Phoenix said -- it said no.” She was sure it had it’s reasoning. The more she remember the less power it had. “Still.”
DAISY JOHNSON (616): "What are we gonna do about everyone back at the Reich? Barnes? Belova? God, Romanoff??"
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "What the fuck does the Phoenix gain from any of this?" Another dumb question, but if there was no returning her memories, there was no returning his Jean.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen clenched his jaw at the reminder of what Doom had done to America. Of what he had used her for, and suddenly he was even more emboldened than before to undo what the self proclaimed God Emperor had warped their reality into. He wanted to hug America again and never let go after everything they'd been through, but he restrained himself and tried to just embrace the relief of knowing she was okay. When Clea explained how they'd managed to retrieve her, Stephen turned towards Emma and Mr. Knight and offered a small nod. "Thank you two, for everything. Having America back with us is a good start to reversing all of this."
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): Kissing his wife. Layla’s was Marc’s wife. She was Steven’s wife as well, in a roundabout way. Letting Marc support her until they found the chair, Layla gratefully took a seat. She hated how weak she felt; the last thing she wanted to do was admit it to Marc or make him worry, but Sinister had taken a lot out of her. Almost everything, actually. Marc’s words coincided with Steven’s reentry to the room, and Layla couldn’t help but watch him as he entered. “It’s a... complicated situation.” Layla said evenly, not sure where she stood on the matter. “We’re all just doing our best. You are doing your best, Marc. I know that. What happened at the Baxter Building isn’t your fault, but you know I have to tell you that I told you so at least once.”
SAM WILSON (MCU): “I’ll talk to Buck. I don’t know if he’ll believe me, but I’ll do my best. We’ll see if he’ll talk to Yelena. As for Nat, well, she’s scary normally. I don’t know what to do with an indoctrinated Black Widow. We may be out of luck until we get everything sorted.”
JEAN GREY (616): “I’m not the Phoenix whisperer, Scott.” Jean scoffed. “I don’t know. It lives in me, but we’re not friends. It only tells me things when it needs me.” Getting it out of the drivers seat at all had been nearly impossible and had taken years. Jean put a hand to her temple. “I don’t know. I don’t. Maybe we should talk to Strange and Clea.”
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): Her head bobbed. “Yeah, thanks.” It was cold in the simple white shift she wore. Wrapping her arms around herself, America longed for her jean jacket and converse. “Doom can travel without me. It’s just gonna be harder for him.”
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "Maybe we should talk to Wanda." He replied, no longer looking at Jean. He knew the red witch, knew that she was just as stubborn as the redhead next to him. After a stretch of time, Scott relents, letting his shoulders fall minutely. "Fine. If there's a way to...right this, we may as well try."
JEAN GREY (616): His displeasure with the situation was palpable. Jean wanted to apologize for letting him down, but the sane part of her mind reminded her that she didn’t need to. This was her head, her mess. For all she loved Scott, he would always be Scott. There was no adjective that completely summed up the man she had vowed to stand beside. Without another word, she moved across the room to Strange and Clea. “Excuse me,” her smile was thin. “We have a problem.”
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc knew that Layla would never admit it, but they could read each other like a book and he could clearly see that she could hardly even stand. They'd gone through countless close calls throughout their years of missions together, but he was pretty sure that if he'd gotten taken to the Labs a week later that she wouldn't have been sharing that cell with him.  The thought made his stomach turn into knots, but he tried to focus on the now. On what was tangible, which was her sitting next to him and safe, albeit a little worse for wear. He also stopped to watch Steven enter the room with America Chavez and couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips, despite how uneasy he felt about their current situation with Layla. It wasn't a competition, he knew that-- but now that he lived alongside Steven, it was a hard adjustment to fully share someone like Layla with his alter. Layla, who was his entire world. You are doing your best, Marc. His face softened at that, and he still didn't know how Layla always knew the exact right thing to say. He hoped that one day he could get there. "Okay, yeah-- you told me so. I'm just.. really, really glad that you're not dead. We really need to stop dying on each other." Pausing, he let out a sigh before glancing back over to Steven. "And we'll talk about where Steven fits into all of this. I know I've been putting you two in a weird position and I'm sorry. We can all.. talk about it when we get back." Because that was a when, not an if.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen was about to respond to America when he noticed Jean Grey and Scott Summers approaching them, and he straightened. Her words were not fully unexpected with a spell so complex and with so many minds to restore, but they were still disappointing as he frowned at the two of them and tilted his head. "What's wrong?"
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "She doesn't remember." Scott doesn't bother wasting time.
JEAN GREY (616): His brevity was appreciated. “I don’t.” Jean confirmed. “I felt Wanda’s magic, but the Phoenix repelled it. I don’t know why. It’s hard to admit, especially considering how people have treated the Phoenix ever since we bonded.”
CLEA STRANGE (616): A frown tugged the edges of her lips downwards. Clea looked to Stephen. “I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise. There’s not even one original memory?”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): "Yes, the Phoenix Force." The story of Apocalypse's wife was not exclusive to Egyptia, especially for someone like Stephen who had been tasked with the role of Sheriff across the domains. A small part of him had considered that, but he'd remained cautiously optimistic that it wouldn't pose an issue to Wanda's spell. Glancing at Clea, his eyes met hers as he tried to gauge her opinion on the matter. His not-wife spoke and then he looked back to the couple in front of them. "If the Phoenix rejected the spell then I'm not sure if there's much else that we can do to attempt to restore her memories, at least for now. If we resolve reality, then there's a chance that everything will return to the state it was in before the Incursion." A chance. Stephen still wasn't sure if everything was able to be reversed so easily.
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): Daisy couldn't help but also think of Ava Starr. She'd feel terrible if she didn't at least try to let Ava know what was going on. This changed everything, and Ava deserved to know that there was a reality out there where she wasn't dependent on H.Y.D.R.A. to keep herself alive. They were going to need all the help they could get from the sounds of it. The last thing Daisy wanted to do was step foot in that domain ever again, but they needed to let everyone know. "Sounds like we've got a heavy next few days in front of us."
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "A chance? You want to wager her entire life on a whim?"
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry. Maybe both. Layla had lived in darkness for so long that the lights, sounds and general chatter of people was entirely overwhelming. Latverion wasn’t real, but the eight years had been. Every second she had spent locked away were seconds she could never get back. “I’m really, really glad to not be dead. We do this too much. Did our vows account for this much in life and in death?” Oh, Steven. Poor Steven. Layla didn’t pity him but she did feel for his plight. It couldn’t have been easy to get his own being only to have it exposed as fiction. Layla wanted to go home, even at the expense of Steven’s agency. For that, she felt guilty. “I think it’s time.” Boundaries were getting blurry. “I think our relationship drama is a very far second from all of this, though. We’re Avatars. We have to be able to help.” Layla wasn’t sure what she’d accomplish in her state, but she’d give it all if it meant fixing things.
BOBBI MORSE (616): “That’s putting it lightly.” Bobbi had crossed her arms somewhere along the way to resist the urge to ball her hands into fists. She looked to Clint and commented, “So, divorced? I was just falling in love with you. You always trick me, Barton.”
CLEA STRANGE (616): Clea shook her head. “I think the situation is more nuanced than that, Scott. No one is suggesting we do anything that would hurt Jean. The Phoenix may be too volatile to attempt to use at all. If there’s a chance, however, shouldn’t we test the waters? Righting reality may be the only way to separate the two and return Jean to how she was.”
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): "I just had to say it now or I'm not sure if I ever would." Marc admitted, even if it was selfish of him. Maybe they wouldn't even remember any of this when they returned but it still felt important to at least attempt to make a step to work on things between the three of them. He nodded at her words, though, as he gently rubbed the sides of her arms. "Are you still able to call on Tawaret's suit? After..." After everything Sinister had done to her. But he couldn't get himself to say that part out loud.
CLINT BARTON (616): Clint scoffed playfully at Bobbi's quip as he shook his head at her and smirked a bit. Everything that had just been revealed was far from amusing, but he couldn't help it with Bobbi. "It's not my fault you're so gullible, you know."
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): "I'm sorry to be so blunt, Scott, but if we focus all of our energy on just restoring Jean's memories, we waste precious time that we have to fix all of this. Doom plans to hold his summit soon and after that it's only a matter of time before we're found out. We need to be prepared before then. I'm not saying that we brush this under the rug forever, but righting reality needs to be the priority."
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): “I haven’t tried in years.” Layla admitted. She had done so in the beginning nonstop. It had worked a lot of the time until Sinister had learned how to harness his inhibitor collars into devices that worked with Avatars as well. “It’s worth a shot. I owe it to everyone to try.”
BOBBI MORSE (616): She was joking because her life had literally just combusted and Bobbi was still trying to put together how it was all possible. It felt like reality was punishing her by putting her with Clint again, once again stirring up old feelings she was continuously trying to get over. “I have a soft spot for charity cases. Besides,” she glanced at Daisy. “We were all just playing our parts.”
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Years. Years had passed in this reality and the reminder of that made Marc's head spin. Focus on the now. "I'm not even sure how we're still able to access them since Tawaret and Khonshu are dead." He admitted, grimacing when he remembered seeing their two deities heads hanging up in Apocalypse's throne room during their escape. Sometimes Marc fantasized about killing the damn bird himself, but now he almost longed for Khonshu's presence in a moment like this.
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): Scott looks over towards Jean and wonders just how confusing this must be for her -- to reach for memories the Phoenix wouldn't allow. "You're right. Do you have a plan?"
CLINT BARTON (616): "Ouch," Clint smiled at his ex-wife, despite how hollow his chest felt after finally getting his memories back. He wasn't sure what it said about himself that even in this rewritten reality he'd still ended up with Bobbi somehow. Most people would take that as a sign but he wasn't sure what to make of it yet. His head was still reeling trying to adjust to his newfound memories. "Right, just playing the parts. I guess our next part to play is figuring out how the hell we're gonna convince Barnes and Yelena that we're not insane."
JEAN GREY (616): Scott relented, which was a surprise. Jean expected more of a fight. Was that a disappointment?  She didn’t want him to fight with people, but her life was in question. No, no. She was being messy for no reason. “I want to help.” She nodded. “If we can.” The we included the Phoenix, who she would do her best to strong arm into this.
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): Marc posed a good point, and it was one that Layla had thought over repeatedly. “There’s also the fact that you and Steven are both accessing Khonshu’s suit at the same time.” Unlike the bird, Taweret had been innocent as far as the gods went. Her cheerful voice still popped up in Layla’s head from time to time.
SAM WILSON (MCU): Clint was raising some valid concerns that Sam had no way to resolve. He was also flying by the seat of his pants here. There didn’t appear to be any kind of roadmap for reality mashing. Sure, Steve had gotten Thanos. Sam didn’t want to compare it, but this was pretty bad. “They’re definitely going to think we’re insane. We just need them to not think we’re too insane. Like I said, I’ll talk to Bucky. We’ll call Natasha a lost cause right now. Daisy, is there anyone else you can think of?” He didn’t need to ask Clint. All Clint had was Kate, and she had been gone a long time. Jesus, Bishop. He couldn’t linger on that.
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): “I haven’t even started to wrap my brain around that because that also means I have to wrap my brain around me, Steven, and Jake having three separate bodies. And that’s too much for me.” Marc scoffed softly as he shook his head, feeling it spin the longer his thoughts lingered on logistics. It made sense, considering that in the Duat they had two distinct souls. Three, technically. “Point is, we have the suits. Hopefully you still do too.” And if she didn’t, Marc wasn’t going to try and push her to the sidelines this time.
DAISY JOHNSON (AOS): “I should try and talk to Ava.” Daisy admitted, rubbing the back of her neck absentmindedly as she thought back to the other woman helping get the tracker out of her neck. “That might require me to go back into the Spear, though. Which I think is safe to say is a death sentence. I can try to get Barnes to connect us through some comms.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): “Great, we’re going to need it. There’s a few options that me and Clea have been discussing but we wanted to get everyone’s opinion on what would be the best course of action.” And the most realistic. Some of their plans were outlandish and seemed impossible, but then again all of this seemed impossible.
JANE FOSTER (616): What the fuck was happening? One moment Jane was talking to one of the recently awakened, the next the hammer was burning in her hand. She wanted to drop it, but it felt as if the handle was fused to her. Back straightening, the call that went out to all of the Thor’s Corps echoed in her mind. “Stephen.” She couldn’t get over fast enough. “We’re out of time.”
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen we about to launch into explanation, but judging by Jane’s face it seemed like they had less time than they originally thought. His eyes glanced down to her hammer and then over to the large door across the room, which was promptly kicked down as several other members of the Thor Corps stormed into the drawing room. Shit. “Sheriff Stephen Strange, you and this entire room of traitors are hereby called to Doomstadt to face trial for treason.”
CLEA STRANGE (616): Well, they had technically been treasonous. Clea knew the charges they were there for, but there was no way the entire room was going down. If she had her way, not a single person would be arrested. Purple instantly flared at her fingertips. “Everyone needs to get out. America?” She felt bad asking the girl after she had been through, but she was their best bet.
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): Wide eyes moved from Stephen to Clea to the Thor Corps. She didn’t want to leave. Not when she had just been reunited. Her stamina wasn’t in question, though. If being Doom’s teleporter had taught her it was how to keep going and going. Although she wanted to fight, America just nodded and stomped her foot. The outline of a giant blue star appeared before she began ushering people inside.
JEAN GREY (616): “You need to go.” Jean turned to Scott. “You know too much.”
JANE FOSTER (616): The message kept repeating. Without her consent, Jane’s hand holding Mjölnir rose and pointed towards Stephen. “They’re not going to stop.”
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc tensed up at the sound of the door slamming open, the sound triggering something in him that he barely even had time to process before the Thor Corps arrived and threatened to arrest everyone in the room. Maybe he should have dragged Layla into that blue portal the second America opened it, but he knew that with his suit as protection that he needed to stay behind. He launched up from the bench, white cloth already wrapping around him before the armor fully enclosed his body. He quickly held hand out for Layla to get up. “I’m not gonna tell you what to do here, but I’m staying.”
LAYLA EL-FAOULY (MCU): It wasn’t like riding a bike or slipping back into a second skin. It felt clunky and unnatural after so many years and so much trauma. There was a second where Layla begin to wonder if it would work at all, but then something clicked. Her own clothes were replaced and metal feathers adorned the wings now affixed to her form. “I’m staying.”
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): "Jean," Scott faced her. "Do you even know me?"
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen’s head whipped to face America, who he had just gotten back. The last thing he could handle right now was one of the Thor Corps taking her back to Doom. Or worse, killing her. He waited a second to make sure she was safe before suddenly his head turned back to see Mjölnir directly in front of his face. He held his hands up, but orange sparks already were illuminating from his fingertips as two of his fingers stayed down, ready for a spell if necessary. “Jane…” He started, unsure if she had much of a choice in the matter. “You can put it down now.”
STEVEN GRANT (MCU): Steven’s eyes widened at the sound of the door snapping open, and chaos ensued almost immediately. He made eye contact with Jake, who was already helping usher people in before nodding at Steven and entering the portal himself. When he looked over to Marc and Layla, they were already suited up. As much as he wanted to go over to them, something told him to stick by America’s side as he summoned his own white suit and guarded her while she kept the portal open. “I’ve got you. Just keep getting people out of here, yeah?”
JEAN GREY (616): “I know you, and I still love you.” Somehow, that was possible. Jean had loved him for so long she had forgotten how not to. Her eyes glowed pink as embers began to light up. “I’m not asking, Scott.”
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): America looked over her shoulder at one of the guys who had helped break her out. She nodded in thanks. “C’mon, guys.”
JANE FOSTER (616): She was really trying here. “I can’t.” It was becoming alarmingly clear how much control Doom had over his army. “It’s my duty. I don’t want it, obviously, but the hammer isn’t asking what I want.” It took everything in her to keep the lightning at bay. “You need to run.”
JEAN GREY (616): “For as much as I like that about you, I like you alive more. Please, Scott. Don’t make me go into your head.” She was the Phoenix, wasn’t she? Wasn’t that what the Phoenix would do? It didn’t care about trivial things like human free will.
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): The corner of his mouth twitches, a faint smile. "Do your worst, Jeanie."
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen took a step back, noticing sparks of their own emanating off of the hammer as he glanced over at Clea. "You need to go with America. Now."
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc resisted a smile at the sight of Layla successfully calling on Tawaret's suit, but they didn't have time to chat about it. Several Thor Corps were trying to make their way over to Jane and Strange and he wasted no time in yanking a crescent dart off of his chest and launching himself into a fight with one. They weren't going to be able to hold them off for long, but he had to try.
JEAN GREY (616): “I’m sorry, Slim.” And she was. Jean let her mind wrap itself around his. Go home, she whispered. Leave through the portal and don’t look back. Go. Every word hurt, especially knowing the ramifications it would have on their relationship. They had spent years apart, though. Jean’s time as the Phoenix had left scars she couldn’t always conceal.
CLEA STRANGE (616): Never for a second did she consider listening to him. “No.” Clea replied firmly. “I’m not leaving you. I’ve lost you before, Stephen. I’m not letting that happen again. Not if I can help. You can’t mind control me like Jean and Scott. Not if you love me at all.” Did he? She wasn’t sure. She loved him.
SCOTT SUMMERS (616): It was like a fog over his mind, shutting the gears down, clouding around his thoughts. He was booted out of the driver's seat and his thoughts fizzled into nothing before he could even conjure them. His body moved first, his mind lagging behind. Not of his own accord, Scott moved through the portal and only when his efforts to return would be for naught did the hold finally let go. He sucked in a breath and stared back towards where he'd come from. Had she really just benched him?
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): "Clea," Stephen started, frustrated that they'd let time get the best of them like this. It wasn't all supposed to fall on Clea, not like this. They were supposed to fix all of this together, as a team. Of course there were feelings there from this reality that Stephen wasn't entirely sure weren't also meshing with his original memories, but that didn't matter. Not when reality itself hung in the balance. His hands moved and created several portals that teleported some of the Thor Corps members away from the Isle of Agamotto, but it wasn't going to work. He took another step back from Jane, hesitating before trying to open another portal to quickly get another Thor away from him who was coming from behind. Cracks of thunder rang throughout the sky as he turned to Clea again, desperately.  "Of course I love you." The admission came automatically, but there was no time to unpack the weight of it. "Which is why you need to go and get America and Jean to safety. I'll be okay." There was no outrunning this. Jane's hammer was pointed directly at him and even if he tried to run, the rest of the Thor Corps were surely on their way. "I'll find you two again, okay? I promise."
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): Hearing Stephen make the declaration to Clea was starting to stress America out. She had just gotten him back. Heroes didn’t make speeches like that if they were going to make it. Jean Grey was mind controlling some of the Thor Corps away, but America ushered her through the portal before closing it. “We’re not leaving you.”
CLEA STRANGE (616): Of course I love you. It’s what she needed to hear but not enough for Clea to leave him. America said it before she did, but Clea still moved to press a kiss to his lips. Just to be safe, even if she didn’t want to think like that. The women of Strange’s life shared a look before Clea channeled a spell that targeted Jane’s hammer. It did manage to pry it loose, and America opened a portal behind them. The magic repelled it backwards through the portal, but before America could close it, it came shooting back out and knocked into both women before landing in Jane’s hand.
JANE FOSTER (616): “Oh come on.” Jane flexed her fingers for a single second before Mjölnir was wrecking havoc again. With Clea and America on their asses, the lightening began to intensify. Jane, who could no longer feel her arm, looked to Stephen with tears in her eyes. “I’m so, so sorry.” She couldn’t hear anything over the thunder in her ears. The full weight of Thor’s power was channeled through the hammer as the energy was directed directly at Strange. The force shattered the hammer entirely, everything it had unloading into its target.
MARC SPECTOR (MCU): Marc managed to subdue a Thor, but things were escalating across the room and he knew by Steven’s frantic ushering at him from across the room that they needed to get into that portal. So he grabbed Layla’s arm, helping support her as he practically dragged her across the room and towards America. Steven joined in on Layla’s other arm as the two of them helped usher her inside and supported her weight together. A few seconds later, lightning cracked across both the classroom they were in and in the side of the portal still in the Isle of Agamotto as they watched Jane strike Stephen with a deadly blow.
STEPHEN STRANGE (MCU): Stephen closed his eyes for a moment when Clea leaned forward and kissed him, feeling beyond confused about everything he was feeling. And he foolishly believed for a split second that Clea had actually managed to prevent the inevitable. He wasted no time in making a sprint for the portal when suddenly the hammer whipped right past his face and back into Jane’s hands. The force of it alone knocked him onto his knees, and he was still facing Clea and America as they stood on the other side of the portal, helplessly closing his eyes as he felt the full force of thunder strike through him. The pain was unbearable, an uncontrollable scream ripping out of him, but it only lasted a second before everything went black and his body collapsed to the floor.
CLEA STRANGE (616): Still reeling from taking the hammer to her face, Clea helped America back up to her feet. The two were getting ready to rush back to Stephen’s side when it happened. Did Clea blame Jane? Did she blame her for being weaker than her hammer? No. She couldn’t blame her when she instead blamed herself. She was the Sorcerer Supreme -- what did that title even mean if she had twice failed to protect the man she loved? Twice he had died. Twice, Clea had tried to reconcile his broken and still body with her breaking heart. She couldn’t do it. Not again. The spell caster didn’t even realize she was on her knees until America was trying to tug her upright once more. She was saying something that Clea couldn’t make out as she remained immobile on the opposite side of the portal. Stephen had been one of the answers they so desperately needed. He had remembered when no one else had. There were other Strange’s in Latverion, but none other were as valuable as him. They had all lost.
AMERICA CHAVEZ (MCU): No was the same in both English and Spanish, and America couldn’t stop saying it. Getting hit with the hammer hurt, but it was nothing like what she felt when she heard Stephen’s scream. This was the man who had believed in her and fought for her. He had faced a Wanda Maximoff who was possessed by the Darkhold for her. Who else would do that? America had been utterly alone before Stephen and in him found family. Even though Clea was by her side, she felt alone again. “Nosotras tenemos que ir.” She kept repeating. We have to go. Jane was surrounded by bits of her hammer, and she made eye contact with America before shaking her head once. Bile rising in her throat, America took a step back as the edges of the portal flickered before they cut everyone off from the scene.
JANE FOSTER (616): Without her hammer, Jane had lost the power of Thor. Her blonde tresses has receded into the brown bob she had started wearing a few years back. Instead of the Thor uniform she was dressed plainly. In short, she felt utterly powerless. Stephen was dead at her feet. Mjölnir was in pieces around him. There was a ringing in her ears before other Thor’s arrived. Two carried off the body to present it to Doom. One clapped her on the shoulder with a hearty well done, sister. We shall get you another hammer yet. Like it was that easy. Mjölnir was just easy for anyone to acquire now. Watching it all happen like she was an observer and not an active participant, Jane Foster was the last one to leave the Isle. The battle hadn’t started and it already felt like they lost.
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yeslordmyking · 3 years
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I hope the Shang-chi movie provides for the Asian community what Black Panther or Luke Cage provided for the black community.
I remember Black Panther was released during a time when our community was struggling (more than usual, I guess) and just broadcasting to the world that we could be royalty, come from wisdom and beauty and power aaahhtfred yes! Or in Luke Cage, there was a man that wanted to help his community and happened to have the amazing ability to not be hurt by bullets; just all these positive things to indulge in really had us all in party mode. I hope the Black Panther sequel refreshes that feeling for us.
I know the Asian community is currently struggling as well, so I really hope Shang-chi is successful and gives you guys something to celebrate during these times. Puff out your chests a little bit, enjoy it.
(Disclaimer: I am not claiming any of these movies solve racism or anything. Just provide a source of escapism that you can enjoy as well as promoting a large scale source of love to the world for the associated community represented in these films)
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