#honestly villain!sharon is something i can’t wait to see

[currentlyconfused16]

Fans when sharon was revealed to be the power broker:

#honestly villain!sharon is something i can’t wait to see #marvel #mcu #tfatws spoilers #sharon carter

[thebestpersonherelovesbucky]

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Ep. 4 Takeaway

Uh. No. No, I was not in any way, shape, or form prepared for that heart-wrenching opening. That raw emotion. The gut-punching fear. The devastation. The soul massive relief from under all that fear and pain. No, I was not ready.

“She’s just a kid.” This is why Sam should be Captain America. Look, no one can replace Steve Rogers. There will never be another Steve Rogers. But that’s not the point. Sam isn’t meant to replace anyone. He’s meant to be his own Captain America. A man who has the heart and soul of a person who doesn’t go looking for a fight. A man who will fight when it needs to be done. A man who reaches out with compassion first and fists second. Sam is the Captain America this world needs in these modern times and tbh it doesn’t deserve him.

“Those are our friends you’re talking about.” “The Avengers, not the Nazis.” Thank you for your contribution, Bucky. 😂 No, but, I really liked the our friends. Not just my friends, but our friends and Bucky concurring with that by pointing out who Sam means. 

Sam sharing the story about his TT. His family means so much to him as does community and I think that’s why he can relate to Karli and what she wants to do but also cannot condone how she’s going about it. 

Yes, if anyone wondered, Baron Zemo would sell out his family to the White Witch for some Turkish Delight. 

I do like Zemo stepping back into the more villainous role. While I enjoyed the humor from last episode, it never really sat right with me that they gave Zemo a “tragic” backstory. He was Hydra in the comics and it feels weird to me to change it in such a way. He was a supremacist so his new anti-supremacist ideals is...off-putting to me.  

“It wasn’t just one community coming together. It was the entire world.” Hence why Sam can understand Karli’s goals.

Sam assuming the leadership role so much in the episode. So much foreshadowing to what’s (hopefully) to come. 

When Bucky loses it with Zemo and Sam is like “Don’t engage. He’s just gonna extort you and do that stupid head tilt thing.” Not only is this more leadership from Sam it’s also showing how much he pays attention. He knows all their social cues. He knew Zemo was gonna do that probably before Zemo even did. In other words, Sam Wilson is remarkable. 

Sam calling Sharon for help. I wasn’t expecting her again so soon. Yay!!

As soon as John Walker steps on screen I want to punch something. 

“He’s dealt with worth. And he’s not my partner.” Look at Bucky backing Sam up while trying to play it cool. We all know you love him, Buck.

Sam talking to Karli. Coming to her from a place of understanding and genuinely trying to earn her trust because he does understand her pain. He’s filled with so much compassion and so much empathy and he knows how to employ both of them to better a situation and the world at large instead of coming in guns blazing. He gets it. And he wants Karli to know that he gets it. His approach to getting her to see that she’s going about it in the wrong way. But while she’s okay with acceptable loss, she in fact expects it, Sam is not. “No, it’s not a better place if you’re killing people. It’s just different.” Again, this is what makes him a good Captain America. 

“He knows what he’s doing.” Bucky’s faith and trust in Sam when Walker is literally itching for a fight. That...cold, obsessed look in Walker’s eyes was chilling. (I’ve given kudos to Mackie and Seb for their acting but I should also acknowledge Wyatt Russel’s chilling performance)) 

Thank you, John Walker, for coming in and making things better oh wait, no. Just come in a fuck things up. Super of you. 

Sam’s immediate “no” when Zemo asked if he’d take the serum if he was offered it and asking about Bucky being included in the “super soldiers cannot be allowed to exist.” “Blood isn’t always the solution.” Sam is just. I’m running out of words.

I’m now walking a thin line of patience with Bucky criticizing Sam over not taking the Shield. Like, yes, he’s right in that Steve’s wishes were not honored, but Sam is living the consequences wanting to do the right thing by giving the Shield to a museum. He did not and would not have ever handed it over to anyone to use, especially not a man like John Walker. Sam didn’t give it to him. The government did. The same way they’d’ve given the serum to a man like Gilmore Hodge. The same way they forced it upon Isiah Bradley and then experimented on him and locked him away. The same way they “agreed” that Sam was doing the right thing by turning the Shield over and then handing it to John Walker. This is not Sam’s fault.  

I could take hours of Ayo and the Dora Milaje kicking John Walker’s ass.

Ayo and the Dora Milaje. 

Did I mention Ayo and the Dora Milaje? 

I really want to know what Ayo said to Bucky there**. After everything the Wakandans did for him, I can understand why she did what she did. She helped give his freedom and his mind back to him. I know Bucky only intercepted in that particular fight because Sam asked him to and he didn’t (not totally) want them to hurt Walker but. They gave him this place of freedom and his actions (breaking Zemo out, getting involved in their fight) did disrespect them. 

The Dora stepping on and catching the Shield. SWOON.

“They weren’t even super soldiers.” Oh, boo freaking hoo. You don’t need the serum to be a superhero, dude. And the fact that you’re basing so much of this on that plus your obesssion to gt it just proves you’re not worthy of it. 

“Power just makes a person more of themselves, right?” Vs. “Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion."

Seriously, the expressions John Walker makes sends chills down my spine.

Karli calling Sarah. I actually thought she’d show up in person. Sarah’s comments about “Captain America” and her assurances that Sam is not working for Walker. 

Sam’s immediate protectiveness when Sarah calls him and Bucky’s worry on his behalf. Sam’s anger with Karli when they meet again and the fact that he didn’t argue with Bucky for him wanting to come rather than Sam going in alone. 

Sam and Bucky working together (anyone notice a lot less bickering??) is so amazing. I love them as a team. 

Sam’s face when he realizes that Walker took the serum. 

Quite honestly, if Bucky Barnes wanted to stab me with knives all night long, I’d let him. 

Not happy with them killing Lemar for white man pain. I’m sure there were other ways they could have had Walker rage out. 

That amazing parallel between Steve slamming the Shield down in Civil War to defend himself and Bucky and Walker killing a person who was just with Karli. 

Speaking of parallels, there was SO many in this episode. The serum vials being shattered. The bursting through the doors Shield first. The jumping out of the window with the Shield. Just wow. 

“The Whole World is Watching”. A quote from Black Panther when T’Challa did not kill Klaue, an actual terrorist. The title of this episode when John Walker kills a man who didn’t even incite his rage. 

And, of course, that final image. I’m still shaking over it. If there’s a better image for what America represents to the rest of the world, idk what is. I just want to cry after seeing what this man is doing with it. This is why he’s U.S. Agent who represents the “power” and “strength” and “might” of the United States. Not Captain America who represents the ideals and hopes of what any country can be. 

The acting in this is utterly incredible. The story has me reeling. My mind has been blown by each and every episode and I can’t believe there are only two left. 

**Edit: Got it now! Thanks to those who messaged/replied!! 

#Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #John Walker #Falcon and the winter soldier #Lemar Hoskins #Baron Zemo #marvel #Sharon Carter #mcu shows #fws spoilers #mcu #long post #my stuff #thoughts

[not-close-to-straight]

FATWS Episode 4

I’m finally fucking getting time to watch this thing. 

Dramatic reactions, incoherent ramblings and spoilers under the cut. 

Right off the bat I’m feeling like the only thing I really remember about Episode Three is vaguely not trusting Sharon Carter. I’m really supposed to believe Peggy Carters Niecey, defender of Captain America and dismantler of Hydra really is selling stolen art in Madripoor? Seems fake, but okay. 

Let’s get into it. 

Have I mentioned I love Karli’s freckles? Her hair and her freckles kill me, I never understood people who don’t think freckles are cute. They are actual dots of delightfulness

AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AYO AYO AYO She is so ridiculously beautiful wtf. I’m shaving my head TOMORROW so I can be half as amazing as her. 

Wait is this a Wakanda flashback? Six years ago... ohhhh look at my goatherder Jesus Bucky, let that baby rest. WHY IS SHE SAYING THE WORDS? LOOK AT HIS EYES PLEASE STOP. This is hurting my soul. Oh god homecoming, and it’s the moment he knew Steve. Oh the tears, I can’t. I CAN’T. “You are free” I’m already crying and it’s been 1.2 minutes. 

Damn right the White Man doesn’t understand anything of their loss and shame. LISTEN TO BUCKY SPEAK WAKANDAN. I LOVE IT. Urgh she’s so beautiful. Her murder strut is impeccable. I’m in love and I’m swoooooooning. 

“It was sweet of you to defend me” Zemo take ten to twenty percent off the top there, This isn’t a date.

Hey, I feel like I don’t love that they refer to Karli as “Karli”. If she was a man, it would be Last Name Basis. “She’s a kid” “she’s a supremacist.” hmmm seeing a parallel between Wanda and Karli and the way they were treated. “She’s a kid?” She’s actually ridiculously powerful but thanks for that. (no Wanda hate here, just pointing it out) 

“My TT” ITS HIS AUNTIE BUCKY YOU’D KNOW THIS IF YOU WERE EVER INVITED TO THE COOKOUT 

Uh Zemo, maybe we don’t be the creepy guy in the coat offering children candy. I mean, the tactic worked but you could literally not be creepier right now.  Honestly I don’t know why I’m so surprised he’s keeping the Donya thing from them, duh he’s a villain, but I’m still surprised?? The sugar daddy role got me FOOLED

Sam being the one that understands what it means to be fighting to be on the other side of the “barbed wire fences” is so sad. 

BUCKY’S MAD. Sam has something against head tilts, that’s so funny to me for some reason. I DON’T TRUST SHARON. 

Why do I smell some foreshadowing with Karli’s talk about destroying the shield and how it’s a relic of a bygone era and a symbol of everyone that was left out

“take it easy before it gets weird” SAM. 

John Walker literally looks more sketchy every time we see him. Also, if you can’t say “son, just don’t” and everyone stops in their tracks, you are NOT Captain America. Its worrying me that Battlestar (battleship? lmaoooo) is starting to side with BuckySam because if there’s one thing literally every movie has taught me, it’s that the person who switches sides ends up dead and if I have to watch a POC first be relegated to sidekick and then killed I might actually riot

It’s so good to see Sam being Counselor!Sam. I think that gets so overlooked with him and I think it’s one of the most defining traits of his character. He’s not just a soldier, he’s not just brave, he’s seen the loss and he knows the struggle and he chose to help others through it while also being equally willing to suit back up and save the world. 

“Don’t patronize me” stop acting like a damn child. Why is John so twitchy, I don’t like it. OH is he really gonna say “this is easy for you, all this serum running through your veins” as if Bucky had a say in anything about in his life beyond Azzano. 

GET HIM BITCH punch his raggedy ass! 

Oh look at Bucky jumping, Winter Soldier, more like Winter Squirrel PARKOUR. Goddamn Zemo with his gun, oh no look at all that super soldier serum! I mean, you have to commend the guy for never wavering from his path. JOHN WALKER AND THE SERUM! It’s supposed to amplify what’s in your heart?? AND HE SUCKS OH NO. 

The power broker texts her “little girl” that’s so gross. 

“Separate them and kill Captain America” three months ago I would have howled at that line, now I’m like...meh. 

Sam wouldn’t have taken the serum-- not surprising. He’s a good man all by himself. No serum needed. Have you seen those arms? Actual Cannons of Freedom and Justice. “What about bucky” I love that he’s thinking about Bucky. Someone please protect these boys. 

Aw Bucky baby you’re not crazy. It’s funny to see him drink cos he definitely can’t get drunk. It’s the equivalent of some diva drinking a white wine spritzer. 

WHY IS JOHN WALKER BACK. 

THERE’S MY WOMEN OH MY GOD I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITED IN MY LIFE. Do not shake her hand. John Walker, she will bite your hand off. Pointy Sticks, the Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever they want OMG HE TOUCHED HER omg. Look at Zemo sipping his drink LOOKING STRONG JOHN I CANNOT I CANNOT.

“Lets talk about this” Bucky is so calm. Bye bye Zemo. Oh GET it Sam with those fancy moves. 

...what just happened with Bucky’s arm. what just happened. “James” oh man waht does that mean?! Has Wakanda left him? Has he dishonored Them? My brain is moving too fast for this. 

I would like to have a moment of silence for John Walkers ego because he, a White Man (tm) and Solder (tm) and American (tm) just got his shit actually handed to him by a Black woman and he sat there and tried to more her “pointy stick” and couldn’t and then she full on did the shield kick thing while he sat on the ground and looked up at her and you know what? i think that’s very sexy of her, I will be watching this scene on repeat for the next hundred years wtf. 

Also ALSO? This is it. This is the moment where The Man (tm) can’t handle being beat so he goes and does something stupid, this is it, isn’t it? The Man Pain he just can’t tolerate? 

Oh my god Bucky’s face with his arm. I mean, it makes sense his arm would come off but to have himself literally disarmed (get it) in a fight is so... I mean it’s violating in a way, and its almost a betrayal as well but at the same time maaaaaaybe it’s a relief? Maybe its a relief to know he doesn’t always have to be a Soldier, he can take the arm off and just be Bucky?? 

Also I had to pause the show to write about this because my hand cramped up from trying to type too fast ughhh

Back into it 

ARM PORN NOISES I LOVE THEM

Whats an El Chapo? Oh wait, I figured it out. 

I love Lemar’s voice. He’s so confident talking about the serum but lets be perfectly honest, Karli Morgenthau and Steve Rogers are basically the same person a hundred years apart. If you don’t think Steve Rogers would have singlehandedly led a revolt against a world government he thought was wrong, you are 100% incorrect. Not that I think he wouldn’t have resorted to bombings etc, but also... that sort of life does awful things to people. 

WHY IS SHE CALLING SARAH. “My world doesn’t matter to America” oh sweetheart, I feel that in my soul. Sarah knows who Sam is. She knows he’s not working for John Walker. This is the first time I’ve been anti-Karli. I know she’s desperate but you don’t threaten someones babies. 

HEY LOOK THERE’S ME NOT TRUSTING SHARON AGAIN

It actually makes me angry to even see Walker carrying the shield like that. I’m aware it’s an overreaction, but your honor, I hate him. 

...Lemar? 

Don’t make me watch a POC die for some White Man’s story arc, don’t do that. 

Oh. Shit. 

Sam do something. SAM DO SOMETHING. HE’S NOT GOOD SAM! 

My god do I love watching Bucky fight. Those Kicks of Vengeance will never get old. CAW CAW MOTHERFUCKER use them wings Sam. 

Oh Hoskins is okay. Alright. 

Bucky with the good knives, I LOVE HIM. The fight scenes are always so well coordinated in WS. We see you definitely not killing when you absolutely could. 

OH FUCK HOSKINS WHAT THE FUCK I THOUGHT WE WEREN’T GOING TO DO THIS WHAT THE FUCK

...this makes me so mad wtf. We couldn’t have done this journey without pointlessly sacrificing a POC? No? Have to drag that trope out? Gonna make me watch another Black man be killed just so the White Guy can move his story forward. 

oh shit Walker is MAD. 

Fuck he just-- he just murdered someone with Steve’s shield. he just MURDERED SOMEONE WITH THE SHIELD AND EVERYONE WAS WATCHING. 

And look at him, he feels no remorse. He feels perfectly justified. He is DARING them to say something to him. He is America (tm) brutally silencing protests and rebellions and taking his own issues out on people he feels disrespect him and you can’t tell him he’s wrong because he can justify every drop of blood by making it about how he felt “they beat me and they weren’t even super soldiers. they disobeyed me. they should have listened to me. they killed my friend.”

I keep hearing preserum Steve saying “I don’t like bullies” and then imagining him beating the shit out of Walker. 

...That visual of the shield with blood on it... it’s so... shocking isn’t even the right word. Horrifying. Its horrifying.  

I don’t even know what to say. 

This episode was a whiplash. The writers of this series need to be commended. Also the stunt men and the fight choreographers. Fucking kudos, and now I need a stiff drink and a good cry because this episode took it OUT of me. 

#falcon and the winter soldier

[crimefightingspiderguy]

So I wanna give my final thoughts on tfatws now that it’s been a few days and people have had more time to watch. But if you have yet to watch, it goes without saying, don’t read past my epic meme

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE MY OPINIONS AND SHOULD BE TAKEN WITH A GRAIN OF SALT BECAUSE WHILE IVE SEEN THE SAME CONTENT AS YOU I MIGHTVE INTERPRETED IT WRONG OR MISSED A CONTEXT CLUE SO DONT LOOSE YOUR SHIT AND INSTEAD EDUCATE ME PLEASE AND THANK YOU. ALSO NO RACISM WILL BE TOLERATED ON MY PAGE SO IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS LIKE THAT KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF AND MOVE ON.

Okay so I wanna do this how I did the WandaVision post so here is goes

What I liked:

-Bucky’s development. Getting to see his time in Wakanda, him healing, him making amends, it was all so well executed and in my opinion one of the best parts of the show.

-Sam’s struggle to take the shield. They executed this well when it came to his hesitation and his internal back and forth.

-Zemo was a meme through the whole show and I loved it and his ending (especially the part with Bucky making his amends).

-Sharon Carter getting revenge on the government that screwed her over and destroyed her family’s credible legacy??? I’ve never liked her character more!

-The Bradley name being honored at the end in the Cap museum... 😭😭😭😭 so beautiful

-Do I even have to say it? SAMBUCKY!!!

-Sarah being the supportive sister and badass business owning mother she is.

-The new Cap suit??? Badass looking (though I’m not a fan of that white thing around his head/googles, I’ve seen the suit without it and I like that better)

-The set up for Cap 4, so killer.

-Sams speech in the end!!!

-Bucky finally being happy!!!!

-The actor for John Walker did a fantastic job. But I will not be adding his name to this list other than that 😂 but I did like Lamar and I’m still pissed they killed him.

What I didn’t like:

-John Walker...

-John Walker...

-John Walker...

-Honestly never really felt the impact of the Flagsmashers? Like I just feel like they were too hasty with developing them and didn’t make their villain arc that good. Like didn’t really get the vibe that they were that powerful and maybe even an:

-I thought they sort of went about the family development (in Sams storyline) wrong towards the end. Idk just a whole episode about them fixing the boat then just being done with it other than visiting it again in a montage, just seems kinda weak.

-I didn’t like not getting to see the whole convo between Bucky & Yori.

-Did I already mention John Walker?

-Felt they spent too much time on less important aspects of the show and not enough on more crucial ones. Like again the Yori part? That was the whole circle back and complete Bucky’s arc moment and you completely gloss over it. But no continue to tell me why we need a whole 5 minute+ scene of Sam and Bucky (then later John & Lamar) arguing about the big 3 other than for comedy purposes when really it wasn’t even relevant because they were super soldiers not one of the big 3.

-Throwing it back to one of the first episodes, the scene where Sam and Bucky are doing “couples therapy”. There is the heartbreaking line where Bucky finally opens up and has his breakthrough to Sam and he says “if Steve was wrong about you then he was wrong about me” and they had Sam just blow him off and be like yeah well get over it. Like ??? Sam is a licensed counselor for veterans and you’re gonna tell me that when a broken vet tells him he thinks he’s broken and evil on the inside he’s just gonna brush it off and say get over it?? No. Bucky’s line was so well written and unless someone can give me an explanation that maybe I missed, I don’t understand Sams out of character response. Yes I know he is not responsible for trying to counsel and heal Bucky or every vet he comes across, but they were literally in counseling, that would’ve been the perfect time.

-It pissed me off that Kevin Fig Tree had the audacity to tell Evan Peters Quicksilver fans that if we were disappointed with his ending in WandaVision to hold out for tfatws because it was supposed to be released first and it might just give us the answers we’re looking for. Just for it to not even have a mention of Wanda or the multiverse. Like I get it he had to say something but don’t lead us on.

Anyway, I think that’s about it. I miss my pal my buddy my Bucky and MY captain America already ❤️

I can’t wait for Loki next (as you may or may not know I’m a slut for him so... 🥴)

#tfaws spoilers #tfatws #captain america #sam wilson #Bucky Barnes #the winter solider #white wolf #Zemo #sharon carter #the flag smashers #john walker #disney #mcu #opinion

[rael-rider]

TFATWS thoughts

Just quick stuff, but I liked it.

That speech with Sam was great and hearing old man Steve’s voice is weird.

I liked seeing Rhodey there and I wasn’t expecting him to appear in this show. I also like that him and Sam are friends and that they keep in touch. I hope this isn’t the last time they interact I liked how they kind of had a very behind the scenes friendship in the movies so like give me more of Rhodey and Sam please.

Rhodey thinks Sam should take the mantle of Cap and I agree (my only request is that Sam gets to keep his wings, he should never lose the ability to fly).

MCU Joaquin Torres is Joaquin in name only but I like him and once Sam becomes Cap I wouldn’t mind him being Falcon (now they both fly).

My man Batroc the Leaper was in this too! Noice. I hope we get to see more of him.

I love seeing Sam and his family. like they changed his backstory from the comics which I’m cool with especially since it’s something unique for the character and you don’t ever think a flying character whose codename is Falcon would have grown up by the sea and in a family that runs a fishing business. I liked it.

Like I wouldn’t mind MCU Sam being from Harlem like his comic book counterpart but this origin is good. I am just glad they ignored that whole Snap Wilson crap (which was retconned, thank god) because I remember Mackie talking about Snap Wilson like it was this cool thing and I was like “nooo".

I liked Sam’s family. His nephews are so cute and I love how they call him Uncle Sam. It’s also not just a sign that Sam was born for the Captain America role, but also a shout out to the fact that Sam was named after the actual Uncle Sam. We also got to meet Sarah Wilson. It also reminded me that she has the same name as Steve’s mom. Sarahs are important to Captain America.

I wonder if we’ll get to see Gideon Wilson at one point. I wonder if he even exists in the MCU. I get that door can be left open. Will he also be a Hulk villain? God that mess with Hulk and the Wilsons but that’s comics for you.

Sam has been hit by how many superheroes? villains? and Thanos himself? Yet Sarah can still kick his ass, Sam really felt that punch, lmao.

That loan guy was a true asshole.

The stuff with Bucky was pretty heartbreaking. Him hanging with Yori because he killed his son and him having guilt about the fact that he caused Yori so much agony and that Yori is bothered about the fact that he will never know why his son was killed. Everything regarding that just gave me anguish

Bucky is such an old man and I love it. I also like that he has personality.

Flag-Smashers coming out of the Snap and wanting the world to return to what it was before the Blip is honestly a good motivation for them. I took forever to watch Far From Home (I really didn’t care for it) but wow it did such a shit job at showing the post-Blip world and it honestly felt like nothing had changed. TFATWS definitely did a better job at it.

Bucky mentioning that he had a sister gave me Becca Barnes feels. Also the stuff with him saying he doesn’t have a family also reminded me that Becca eventually had kids and grandkids in the comics and I don’t think Bucky has met them (he just visited Becca at an old folks home and she had alzeheimer because Brubaker doesn’t know any other way to portray old women). But man if we got MCU Becca and her family, that would be great.

That scene with John Walker coming in with the shield and just fucking winking at the camera was just great. It’s such a gut punch to both Sam and the viewer and I can see why people immediately reacted negatively towards him.

I really want to see the next episode, off to a good start. Can’t wait for Sharon and Zemo.

#tfatws #tfatws spoilers #mcu

[marvellfashion]

So, another Hellfire Club fashion post, but this time about the Shaw family and adjacent characters. Now, Sebastian is an interesting character (terrible guy, terrible, but a better CHARACTER than he gets credit for in my biased opinion) but he does not have a good fashion history. Like. At all. It's honestly almost worse than his villainy. But you know who DOES have style? His son Shinobi. Sadly created during the 90s when it was acceptable to name Japanese characters things like Shinobi (and Lady Mandarin, and Kamikaze, YES REALLY) Shinobi Shaw has had some LOOKS. Like his father he's made some very bold choices and isn't afraid of color (Sebastian wore HOT PINK through most of the 80s, and once combined it with lilac and orange in the same look, it was hideous but I applaud his courage) but UNLIKE his father, who really should stick to business suits in neutrals, Shin has made it work! Okay sometimes he hasn't either but I love him anyway. While Shaw was all about pink in the 80s, Shin was all about purple in the 90s, whether it was blatant

Or something small, like a vest

This is from a trading card, and honestly I love it? Yes, the huge arm gauntlets and epaulets are PATENTLY RIDICULOUS but Shinobi is extra and I love how it is just the PEAK of how he keeps trying to channel the 80s New Romantic fashion that he was a decade late for. Seriously, the other Hellfire Men are dressing like it's the 1880s, but I think Shin is actually going for the 1980s, just the Adam & the Ants type 80s were people were taking inspo from the 1880s. If that makes sense.

I don't actually know what to call this AT ALL except he seems working very hard to draw attention to his ass and...that tracks for him. He can do "normal" business/upscale fashion well too, of course

This was his first appearence and it was in...'91? The 90s, anyway, and the cut of his suit was VERY on-trend for that era. The 90s mens suits were very baggy.

And check out his bowler hat (with a purple band!) and his fancy cane here! My fave though is this. I can't decide if it's FABULOUS or RIDICULOUS but it is FLAMBOYANT and honestly the most "Shinobi" look to me Look at this. LOOK AT THIS. He has on a big violet pirate coat with contrasting lilac lapels and gold embroidery, a big deep red-pink blouse, and LAVENDAR PINSTRIPED PANTS. This is the exact level of Shinobi Being Extra that defines Shinobi. And, let's talk about the person on the left? Because she NEEDS to be talked about.

So this absolute beauty is Mindmeld. She's Shinobi's bodyguard/mercenary in one issue of X-Force in the 90s and she is short-lived but ICONIC. She's very cool, very tough, implied to be transgender (which would make her the first mutant to be written as trans, not counting stuff like shapeshifters and aliens, but trans like real people are trans), and like look at this LOOK? She's like channeling MAD military glam/army surplus chic with BLING here. I love the suspenders, and her piles of bracelets, and that style of gloves. I really think she should be brought back and updated. The jodhpur pants with extra buttons are like, they're not hot now, but that's another thing I think was high-fashion in her time? Another little-known Hellfire lady is Lourdes Chantel. Like a lot of bad guys, Sebastian has a dead fiancee from before he became a villain. Unlike a lot of bad guys, he doesn't whine all the time and announce it to everyone (and I appreciate that) so maybe that's why most people don't know her, but though she only appeared in two issues, Lourdes had SOME LOOKS.

Lo

Look at this QUEEN. She was from Barcelona, so she's rocking this very traditional Spanish look with a mantilla, which is what you call that style of black veil. And that's gorgeous already but I just love her EARRINGS and her BLACK LACE GLOVES like I don't know how a woman who clearly loved style could also love Sebastian Shaw. Speaking of that, I hope Lourdes stays dead, actually, she doesn't need to see what he became after her death. RIP baby. To Sebastian himself, he does not have a lot of good looks, fashion-wise or in general, but something I think is worth mentioning is that the few times he's dressing like a NORMAL PERSON in the 80s and it's NOT a business suit, it's a sweater, and I love that. Like, look how NORMAL he looks in that cable-knit turtleneck and shearling coat? Dude clearly liked soft warm textures and given he grew up in deep poverty during Pittsburgh winters (he was born in Pittsburgh) I get that. You'll also notice that Senator Kelly is in both of these. The blonde woman? Senator Kelly's wife, Sharon. Sharon used to work at the Hellfire Club as a waitress, so during Kelly's meeting with Shaw, she decided to surprise him by showing up as HIS waitress in her old uniform. I low-key think she was trying to facilate a threeway because like...she's saying she wanted to "please" Kelly....and she's doing it RIGHT IN FRONT OF SHAW (who found the whole thing HILARIOUS, which I love)....girrrrrl. And I include this to mention that Sharon Kelly is ALSO A QUEEN

Look at her. Started at the bottom and now she's here. You get that Kelly money, girl. Unfortunately, that did not save her---she ends up dying shortly after this, having gotten caught in the crossfire of an X-Men battle, and that's what started Senator Kelly thinking seriously about the whole "mutants are dangerous" thing. ....also what drove him into the waiting burly arms of Sebastian Shaw who also knows what it is to lose a wife, but that's just MY twisted fan theory. Anyway, I know this was big, but these characters are all connected and I thought submitting them all together would flow well as a sort of story, plus some of them really need to be better-known!

———————————————————-

Shinobi! We love a flamboyant man! 💁🏻‍♀️ don’t you think in that second image it kind of looks like a weird Torero outfit?! Like the shoulders and the jacket and like the accent on his waist, it gives me that vibe!

Mindmeld that is one ICONIC LOOK! I mean crop top with those pants AND suspenders!!! And we can’t forget the jewels!!! She looks fantastic

Lourdes it’s such a shame that we don’t have the spanish look in better quality because it’s wonderful! And Sebastian well the man is living his own fantasy let’s leave it at that 😂

#sebastianshaw #submission

[smokeybrandreviews]

Captain America and The Winter Soldier

Last episode on deck! Let’s get into it!

Hey, Falcon Cap! Sam finally getting his due. Costume is still mad wonky but seems to translate better to the big screen than i thought. Admittedly, i never thought much of it. It always looked wonky to me, even in when it was in the books.

That face mask callback was dope. Also, anti-Sharon in the house! Super curious if she is really going to be the Power Broker. It makes sense but is quite the character assassination if it’s true.

That Dam/Leaper fight was pretty okay. I watched this immediately after the new Mortal Kombat and it was legit refreshing to see good stunt choreography. And this show ain’t even a punch-out!

Karli going full villain is... uninspired? Look, i wanted to give Erin Kellyman all of the opportunity to shoe me something but she showed me nothing. Not a thing. I can’t say ma is bad at her job because I've only seen her in two things but she ain’t batting 1.00, that’s for sure. It’s frustrating because i though what they did with the Flag Smashers was brilliant. Unfortunate bit of casting here i think.

Bucky going full hero was fun to see. It’s about time dude stopped being so goddamn emo. I get the conflict, i get that’s been his entice character, his entire MCU run. I appreciate the growth.

John Walker is still a dick. I’m glad he got beat the f*ck up by a girl.

Apparently, Sam is the new Tony? TONS of little tech in his new Wakanda wings. I like how T’Challa just keeps giving away billions of dollars worth of Vibranium and proprietary tech. This sh*t has got to piss the US guv’ment the f*ck off. I mean, even if they are allies, Wakanda is a foreign country supplying unlicensed vigilante with tech that can only be matched by a dead-man? Fun!

Oh, no, she IS the Power Broker. Unfortunate... Nice play, though.

They gave Walker a redemption arc? Really? I mean, i guess, but scumbag Walker was kind of f*cking awesome.

That ending was anticlimactic. Besides, don’t Super-Soldiers heal? Buck lived. Cap lived. Bruce is on record as to being damn near immortal. is Karli really croaked or is this just, you know, for dramatic effect. Because, f*ck, was it dramatic.

Got a little preachy toward the end. As it should. That last monologue was legit the point of this show. Came across a little heavy-handed. but this is Sam at his best. This is who Sam as Cap is going to be. Honestly, he might be a little better at them speeches than Steve.

F*ck, that costume looks wonky!

Whoo, boy, that last talk with Isaiah? That’s the heat right there. Sh*t is going to ruffle some feathers. for sure!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier went out strong. Of the two shows aired so far, this one is easily my favorite. Loki is definitely going to give it a run for it’s money because, i mean, Loki, but right now? This Black Falcon got the crown. I thought the plot was executed beautifully and actually dealt with the fall out of the Blip perfectly. More than anything, i wanted to see that world, the fallout from the most catastrophic event in universe history, outside of an individual character perspective or just a glib reference at the star of a Spider-Flick. This show delivered on that, for the most part. I wanted a bit more but what we got was enough to set the foundation going forward. Speaking of going forward, that Dark Thunderbolts Avengers movie is about to be stacked. We got our USAgent to lead the team, Baron Citizen Zemo waiting to get called up to Varsity, and a Power Broker mole waiting to be the Stark behind the scenes. With Black Widow on the horizon to add Black Widow II and Taskmaster, we have a solid squad that can give the new version of the proper Avengers a run for it’s money. This show did a lot to set up the next two Phases of the MCU and i can’t wait to see where we go from here. Now that the praise is out of the way, let’s get into the controversy and the big, fat, Black Falcon in the middle of the room.

I like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier because, aside from being an excellent addition to the Marvel juggernaut, in this sea of performative Wokeness, the MCU was able to genuinely capture the Black experience in America. With two characters, they showed the entirety of the Disney+ audience what it means to Us, here. Being young is idolizing Sam Wilson. Being an adult is identifying with Isaiah Bradley. One is the fiction, the propaganda taught to Us. The other the reality, the truth forced upon Us. That reality stings. Whether the less melanated want to acknowledge it or not, that sordid truth of Us, the sh*t you don't like being preached to about, is what gave you a country for which you can even have such an opinion. That is the truth of this America you love so much, even if you hate the stolen Black bodies that birthed it and, to this day, hold it up.

My Blackness, quite literally, historically verified, built this country. America would not be what it is today, if not for the slave labor my ancestors put forth. That's a truth. My Blackness, quite recently, saved this country. The fact that we came out in droves last November, historically numbers, across the nation, to vote out a would-be Fascist while a whole ass third of this country was okay with becoming the next Reich, is truth. We are the Super-Soldiers of this country, always have been, even if that makes you uncomfortable. Even if you don't want to acknowledge it. Even if you never recognize it. Everything you flag wave and tikki torch about, is a thing because of my Blackness. Because of my Black family. Because of my Black blood, sweat, and tears. We are the superheroes of this nation, which you do not deserve. But we are here, holding the line, since we were stolen from our homes some 400 years ago, defending this country that we built up from nothing.

We are Captain America.

#The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #MCU #Marvel

[aimerriarkle]

okay episode six of tfatws

just my thoughts throughout :)

sam <3 sam <3

sam you caring, empathetic, intelligent, handsome mf

also. the show just laid out a whole entire episode, blatantly showing us how fucking perfect sam wilson is for captain america... so stop saying it should be bucky or that it should be any other white man

it is lost on me how some people would still think that way after this

now back to the program... SAM <3

a hero if I’ve ever seen one

things he did here: encouraged a woc to step up and save the helicopter; saved the pilot from getting killed by the other crashing helicopter—and saved anyone else near them from being harmed because physics will tell you it wouldn’t only be the pilot who got hurt by the impact; came to the rescue at the very last minute and saved the truck from falling; chose to not fight karli—like at all; brought her to the medics after she died; and he unapologetically stood up to the politicians about what exactly they’ve been doing wrong

and i really wanna highlight how that scene was written to take place in front of the public and be broadcasted in the news

like I’m glad it happened that way because it gave sam the opportunity to make his introduction as the new captain america to be someone who stands for and with the marginalized communities

I think doing it that way will definitely negate the possible distrust a lot of people would have had if he was introduced (to the public) as a hero who worked for the government or even if he was just merely introduced by the government

like it really emphasizes how in the public eye, sam as captain america will be seen as someone who is more than the typical heroic figures they’ve seen before

and idk maybe I’m jumping to conclusions but I think this’ll *maybe* be important to how civilians will see the avengers in the future? maybe? idk? but yeah

anyway his fit!!! the wings and the shield!!! idk much about storytelling through fight choreography but this man used the shield and the wings very well

redwing’s back 🥺

sam getting isaiah the recognition he deserves !!!!!!

im really looking forward to seeing how they’re going to introduce eli bradley as a hero in the mcu (I don’t read the comics so idk what happens)

we got like 0.5 seconds torres but I’m excited to see how marvel introduces him as the new falcon as well

zemo’s butler is his hitman wow, the job must pay well. and look at that old mf go

sharon :) now that’s a villain origin story. you guys better say sorry to her before she comes and kills you as the powerbroker—cue criminal by britney spears “but mama I’m in love with a criminal”

so remember episode 3? if zemo hadn’t killed nagel, then he would’ve definitely recognized sharon right? so what was home girl thinking when she strolled into nagel’s lab, trying to get the trio to leave... like surely he would’ve called her out to be the powerbroker then and there right?

I’m excited to see where she appears next cause theres a lot of explaining to do ms sharon carter

okay i wasn’t even gonna talk about john walker because—yikes. but here it is anyway. i didnt like that they made him out to still have morals because he chose to save the van instead of continuing his pursuit on the flag smashers. I mean yeah it’s great that he attempted at saving them because people change(?) or whatever but he’s still sus because he’s working with valentina—whose intentions are still ambiguous... point is, while I think that it’s a great way to make his character more complicated and have more layers in the situation where they decide to bring him further into the mcu, imo it’ll worsen the john walker empathizers because they have something “good” to say about him

okay back to sharon, so it’s unclear to me whether she was pardoned because sam helped her or because of the fact that she killed karli. if it’s actually the latter then,,, that itches me. like it only shows that the senator didn’t listen to sam and only continued to antagonize karli to the point where he pardoned her killer, instead of trying to understand where she was coming from when sam confronted him about it

is karli really dead? I know she got shot but where? and if it’s just in the stomach, she should been fine right because she’s a super soldier? Idk but ig the storyline is over... unless

anyway, bucky when he got thanked for saving them from the truck on fire :’(

bucky with kids

i overlooked this in the last episode because it happened there as well, but bucky letting his metal arm be exposed in sam’s hometown is just :’)... like tell me you feel at home without telling me you feel at home :(

bucky finally giving yori closure on his sons death

also, I know it’s just a bodily reaction or whatever, but the way that bucky’s eyes dilated when he watched sam confront the politicians

(28:52)

(29:59)

it’s very minimal, but it’s there

okay I don’t know if this happened in an earlier scene, but at 09:46 the when subtitles said “[captain america grunts]” I was like HELL YEAH CAPTAIN AMERICA DID GRUNT!! YES HE DID INDEED GRUNT 👏👏👏

sam taking pictures with people from his hometown because he’s now officially a hero they can rely on 😭

:’) captain america <3

at the end credits when it said “captain america and the winter soldier” I just <3

also, i’ve seen some fans be disappointed that it didn’t say captain america and the white wolf and tbh I’m glad it did not say that

while i do love bucky as well and appreciate that his character was supposed to put the winter soldier behind him because it’s not who he is anymore and just make amends with the people that he hurt,

i think it would’ve been too premature to have him be introduced as the white wolf, especially since he only finished crossing out the names just this episode—and I think it would’ve been too random like I don’t see how the writers could’ve slipped that in, in an episode as packed as this one was to have a significant impact on the audience and the character

and not to mention, I definitely think that him being introduced as the white wolf in tandem to sam being introduced as captain america, would’ve taken away from sam’s moment.

like it’s not news that most of the fans who loveee bucky will literally fall on their knees and worship to extremes every little thing that happens to him. and like I understand that, i get it, but his fans would have—for sure—taken the moment away from our boy sam wilson, the ✨captain america✨

I think bucky’s official introduction as the white wolf warrants another story to be told

so it’s valid to be upset by that, I’m not hating on any bucky stans or anything. I simply disagree and hope that you guys don’t complain about it too much to the point where it takes away from sam lol

and honestly, it’ll come eventually anyway so yeah

the ending where sam and bucky just look off into the sunset made me cackle idk why but it’s great they finally get to have a serene moment together

I’m so proud of anthony!!! I can’t wait to see how sam/captain america continues on in the mcu

anyway, give it up for captain america and the winter soldier 👏

and I have the sudden urge to go sight seeing

so brb I’m gonna book a flight to paris and see the eiffel tower

#tfatws #tfatws spoilers

[aion-rsa]

Superman & Lois Episode 3 Review: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower

https://ift.tt/3rzwEKz

This Superman & Lois review contains spoilers.

Superman and Lois Episode 3

“Morrissey’s a xenophobic has-been.”

This one line, delivered with deadpan perfection by Alex Garfin’s Jordan Kent pretty much sums up why Superman & Lois episode 3 is so good. Wait, really? Yes, stay with me for a minute…

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

I loved the first two episodes of Superman & Lois. There’s no question about that. But there was a very slight nagging feeling in the back of my mind, that maybe this show was going to be a little too serious for its own good. That maybe in the process of making Jonathan and Jordan Kent as believable as possible, and as “relatable” (god, I hate that word) to young audiences as they needed to be, that the show would end up trying just a little too hard, get a little more wrapped up in its “family drama, but with Superman” high concept than it strictly needed to, and maybe forget to lighten up every now and then. I could excuse it in those first two episodes, which play like one feature length pilot when watched together, and which had a lot of work to do to get us to buy this very different take on the Man of Steel, but I wasn’t sure if the tone would sustain over a longer stretch of episodes.

And then along comes “The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower” to put those fears at ease. To be absolutely clear, this is absolutely not a drastic change in tone from what has come before. But now that we’ve gotten to know the Kents and their neighbors and classmates, and that the Smallville setting feels very much like the natural setting of the show, there’s a little more fun to be had. No, this isn’t suddenly The Flash and STAR Labs with a team of folks cracking wise at every opportunity, and it’s certainly not my beloved Legends of Tomorrow, but the humor is here, it’s subtle, and it works at every opportunity.

The opening scene with the family trying to paint the old Kent home is a charmer, a moment broken by Clark hearing a bridge collapsing in China which he speeds off to save. It’s another near-cinematic action sequence for this show, but the special effects aren’t really what sell this scene, it’s the moment of terror to relief to pure joy of a single fisherman as he realizes he’s witnessing Superman hold up a bridge…and Superman’s wordless interaction with him is equally joyful. This is something that simply hasn’t been done in live action interpretations of Superman since the Christopher Reeve years, and I honestly rank those few seconds with Supes and the fisherman as one of the best screen moments in the character’s history.

This episode is full of moments like that, even though Tyler Hoechlin once again spends most of his screentime as Clark rather than Superman. But even there, this is certainly Hoechlin’s finest performance as the character so far, bouncing effortlessly between Man of Steel to “Clark the superpowered dad dealing with problems new even to him” to “Clark who has to act like there’s nothing special about him.”

I worry slightly that Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane still doesn’t quite have enough to do as they build her Morgan Edge investigation through the Smallville Gazette. In every other aspect, moving the family to Smallville has worked, particular in regards to exploring completely new facets of the Clark/Superman dynamic, but Lois so far feels a little out of place. On the other hand, I should probably be thankful that they aren’t trying to “do a journalism” the way it’s so often been portrayed on Supergirl or The Flash, and maybe the slow burn is the more prudent move here. Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that Tulloch is a delight in every scene, and she is quickly becoming the definitive screen Lois for me.

But the real highlights for this episode come in the form of Jonathan and Jordan, the two characters I was most skeptical about going into this show. I’ll confess, despite some terrific comics by the likes of Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Dan Jurgens, Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, and others in recent years, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the “Superman as dad” concept. I tend to like my Superman stories a little more unencumbered (or some might say traditional, but whatever). But Jordan Elsass’ Jonathan and Alex Garfin’s Jordan are just so darn likeable, and the story being written for them so compelling, that I can’t really complain.

The idea that Jordan would try out for the football team despite his burgeoning powers seems a ridiculous one, and I honestly thought that sequence was going to be revealed as a daydream (similar to Clark’s in the first episode of Smallville). But it’s real, and it doesn’t go quite where I thought it would. Jordan excels at football…as it turns out, he’s a bit more powered up than Jor-El suspected last episode. You’d naturally expect this to lead to friction with Jonathan, who has yet to get the hang of his new team, and for a brief period it does, but then the show does something unexpected.

This isn’t about football going to Jordan’s head or even about him “getting even” with the guys who have been bullying him. Instead, it’s the first time he’s felt part of something. After absolutely leveling Sarah Cushing’s boyfriend (well…ex-boyfriend now) on the field, he offers his hand and apologizes for that awkward kiss at the Shuster Mines. Jonathan, meanwhile, sees the good the team is doing for his brother and advocates for him with a Clark who is understandably annoyed that his son is using his powers to gain an advantage on the football field.

Read more

TV

Batwoman Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Do Not Resuscitate

By Nicole Hill

TV

Superman & Lois: Behind the Scenes of The New DC TV Show

By Mike Cecchini

I know, I know, this all sounds far weightier than the Morrissey joke I quoted at the start of this, but it all unfolds with a little charm, and some surprisingly light touches here and there. Jonathan and Jordan reacting to an incredibly awkward moment with Sarah and Lana, Clark overdoing his “dorky, eager dad” routine, and other little touches just make this feel like the show is settling into a rhythm with these characters and getting more comfortable being playful.

It’s perhaps a little worrisome that Wolé  Parks’ mysterious Captain Luthor is nowhere to be seen this episode, with the only superhuman punch-up coming in the form of guest star Daniel Cudmore’s mysterious, nameless goon who makes the mistake of trying to take out Lois during her investigation. That leads to a really sharp (but quick) punch-up between him and Superman, with a terrific sequence where Superman freezes him with super-breath before delivering a perfect uppercut that would look right at home in a comic panel. If this show continues to work out creative ways to use Superman’s powers the way they have with Barry on The Flash, I think we’re gonna have some real fun in the coming episodes.

But then there’s that ending. As Lois asks, why DOES Morgan Edge have someone with super powers working for him? More than one, apparently, as Cudmore’s mysterious baddie is vaporized by a woman with heat vision named…Larr. So far, the formula for Superman & Lois seems to be to give us a family drama heavy episode, punctuated by moments of cinematic action, and then to close with a mind-bendingly cool reveal. Well, if they insist, who am I to argue?

Metropolis Mailbag

There’s not a ton of DC or Superman Easter eggs this episode, so I don’t think it’s necessarily worth its own post. But, here’s what I’ve got…

The bridge collapse scene does faintly call to mind Superman saving the Golden Gate Bridge during the earthquake in Superman: The Movie.

Jonathan telling Clark that “if you’re not actually allowed to be special” etc feels like a subtle nod to teenage Clark telling Jonathan Kent in Superman: The Movie that he could excel on the football field if he wanted to, which Jonathan forbids, saying that Clark isn’t here to “show off.” But that Clark’s answer was a philosophical “is a bird showing off when he flies?”

Cudmore’s nameless character is apparently “Subjekt-11” a designation which calls to mind “Subjekt-17” an alien raised by the Soviets to make Superman’s life miserable in Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco’s incredibly underrated run on the Superman comics.

Sharon Powell may not be a character from the comics, but the folks at Kryptonsite used their X-Ray vision to point out that the actress who plays her, Jill Teed, was known for portraying Maggie Sawyer on Smallville!

Tyler Hoechlin finally gets to talk a little baseball on this show. Before going into acting, he was a baseball prodigy.

It seems that’s Morgan Edge’s right hand woman, “Leslie Larr” vaporizing our mysterious baddie. The closest I can find to her is a “Lesla Larr” who was an obscure Supergirl villain. THAT version of Larr hailed from Kandor (post shrinking) and she made Supergirl’s life miserable from time to time. I don’t expect this version of the character to have too much in common with her comics counterpart, but it seems like “evil Kryptonians” are definitely gonna be a thing on this show going forward.

The post Superman & Lois Episode 3 Review: The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3buqKEW

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[aty-altiria]

Three sneaky neighbors

No 25. I THINK I’LL JUST COLLAPSE RIGHT HERE, THANKS Disorientation | Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears

Word count: 1669

Universe: Harry Potter, MCU

Pairings: Fem!Harry/Steve Roger’s

Themes: Ringing ears, CA:TWS, pre-relationship

Summary: Holly’s next-door neighbour was a spy. She had been looking for the quiet life and she’d moved next door to a spy! Who gets shot at when she’s standing right there and starts up the pursuit of some masked vigilante like figure. Well, who was Holly kidding, she hated the quiet life and she very much was interested in the spy.

@whumptober2020

---

Steve heard the quiet cursing as he ascended the stairs to his apartment. As he approached, Steve quickly realized that it was his… admittedly stunning, neighbour. Her door was opposite Sharon, and besides Steve; though she had a bit of a nocturnal schedule, Steve often caught her when Steve was finishing his missions. He knew her name was Holly from his brief glimpses, and he knew that she was rather petite with black curls, green eyes, and possessed worker's hands filled with calluses.

As Steve rounded the corner, he found Holly glaring at her front door. She had a righteously unhappy expression across her face; it was almost frightening how furious she looked. Steve approached with caution.

"Are you alright?" he asked both because he was concerned and because he had to step over her to get to his own apartment.

Holly's head jerked up, and she grimaced: "I'd love you tell you 'yes,' but I've had better days honestly."

The British accent nearly caused Steve to flinch, almost, he hadn't heard one since Peggy, and he hadn't realized she was British like his first love. Though, if he was honest with himself, it was because of the accent that he stepped forward with a touch more confidence.

It had nothing to do with Natasha's earlier comments about his lacking love life.

"Can I help?"

"Uh…" she made a face, "it's not so much a 'help' thing." Holly made air quotes, and Steve was quietly thankful he'd seen Tony do the same, or it would have gone over his head.

"Then an ear to vent to?" he offered instead.

He saw the struggle on her face, then surrender filling in a moment later: "yeah, I think I might like that. But… can you maybe help me with my lock?"

Holly accepted Steve's offered hand, and he pulled her to her feet, then shot a look at the door. "You got locked out?"

"I forgot my key, and… well, these electronic locks hate me." She grumbled under her breath, and Steve caught the words, "-electronics just break around me, sometimes-"

Steve felt a measure of kinship form with Holly then, "Gotta agree with you there, I can barely get my cell phone to work." It was due to lack of knowledge, but he certainly understood where Holly was coming from, or well, he did in a manner of speaking. "I think I have a tool that could help; let me grab it." A tool would be a decent cover story. Steve, after all, wasn't about to use his bare hands to burst the lock right off her door to get her in - even though he was capable of it. "Give me a minute."

"Mhm, oh, and you might want to turn off your radio. You left it on, I think."

What?

He blinked, and something in his stomach sank.

He hadn't.

"Of course, just… wait here, alright, I'll be right back?"

"Sure," she settled against the wall to wait, "I'll be here. Nowhere else to go, really." And laughed lightly.

Holly watched Steve leave, watched his door close and waited for precisely three minutes till she heard it; a thud and a cry of pain. Holly instantly shoved off from the wall and grabbed for her wand. She moved toward the door- only to be abruptly pushed aside and ordered back by her and Steve's other neighbour, Sharon. Who, Holly may like to add, was holding a gun. Not that Holly could judge, she was in America, and her wand was technically a weapon as well, but still- Americans.

Holly, regardless, was massively curious about what was happening; she was a Gryffindor after all. Holly quickly followed despite Sharon's order.

She wasn't quite in the door when Sharon spoke up, and Holly halted her steps to eavesdrop like a proper Weasley.

Sharon introduced herself as Agent Carter and spoke to 'Rogers' about her protection duty. Holly covered her mouth to that, blinking in surprise. Her neighbours were spies? That was wicked. The twins would be massively jealous, and Hermione endlessly smug. Because clearly, Holly couldn't possess an everyday life even in the Muggle world. Not with spies as neighbours.

"I'm in pursuit," said Steve before there was a crashing sound, and he was darting past her. Steve caught her eye as they glanced at each other in shock before he was racing past, unable to stop. Holly didn't much mind; the thrill-seeker in her thought her day had turned for the better.

Superspies and a villain! This was wicked!

"Yes!" Holly pumped the air with her fist and quickly darted after Steve. She left Sharon in the dust but was hard-pressed to keep pace with Steve, Merlin above he was fast. The man went crashing through doors, glass, and walls without a care or even slowing. Holly herself had always been the fastest of the people she knew, but Steve was greatly outrunning her.

Holly caught up to Steve in time to watch him hurl a large circular shield at the runner who had apparently gone running across the bloody roofs. Not that she could judge, she'd followed Steve across those same roofs and through two destroyed walls.

Holly darted forward, she got herself instantly involved as the man caught the shield, and then she was rushing past Steve. Holly ducked under the shield as the man tossed it back. She heard Steve's sound of surprise as she slid across the ground and kicked out at the unknowns legs. The man twisted to avoid her as Holly came up, his metal fist slammed into her shoulder. Holly didn't bother dodging it, but she should have. The sheer force of the blow struck against the shield she'd layered over her jacket, and a loud bang went off.

Holly swore instantly and staggered back; her ears were ringing like mad after that. She hadn't expected so much sound from that. True, she hadn't been hurt, but the volume had been brutal.

Shaking off the ringing, Holly lifted her wand as she shot several spells toward the man. He didn't look surprised by it like Steve currently was; the man didn't react at all, really. Still, Holly didn't care that he wasn't, not as her spell made contact with his fake arm, which he was using it to block her. That was stupid. She wasn't using a gun. He was wrong if he thought he could just deflect or block her magic with his unique arm, except he was wrong. The spell hit him, hit the metal of his limb, and he dropped on the spot.

"Hah!" Holly yelled happily, and straightened flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Me: one, weird masky guy: zero!"

"H-Holly?" Steve called, and she glanced over as he joined her.

"Oh," she blushed, ducking her head, "Sorry, I just thought you'd want some help? Honestly, this is so much better than talking. Taking down a masked villain and working with super spies!" she squealed a bit, "So what are you then? CIA?" she leaned in eyes sparkling, "can I join?" Screw the everyday life; this was so much better! The rush was fantastic.

"Y-you aren't an Agent?"

"No?" she answered with a tilt of her head, "plain old Holly Potter." Lie, that was such a lie; she was anything but plain. "I'm a civilian at least," because she hadn't been allowed to become an Auror, all thanks to Umbridge. Blasted woman.

"Right… well," Steve dropped it for the moment and looked to the stunned man. "What did you do, shock him?"

"Not exactly?" Holly hedged, rubbing the back of her neck, "it's a stun… sort of, it should work till I reverse it."

"I… see…" Steve stooped and grabbed for the mask covering the man's face, "Well, let's see who we have." Steve pulled the mask away, revealing a rather handsome face in Holly's opinion. She frowned curiously and turned to Steve… who had frozen in sheer shock. "Bucky?" he asked, horrified.

"You know him?" Holly asked blankly; she didn't.

"I did," Steve tried to say calmly, tried, "but he's supposed to be dead… he should have been- why is he here. No, I need to… this is too public. Let's take him back-" Steve hesitated, "to your apartment if that's alright? Can you keep him secret? and stunned?" He was planning at a mile a minute. Shield was compromised; Bucky was Fury's assailant and hadn't reacted to Steve at all. Sharon was a spy and had been spying on him. While Holly was clearly a bit more than human, was she a mutant?

"That's fine, but the door is still locked." Holly mused as Steve picked  Bucky up and hefted him over a shoulder. "Should we tell Agent Carter? Also! I can't believe she was a spy too! That's wicked."

"I didn't know either," Steve admitted unhappily, "and no, we're not telling her. I don't think I can trust anyone right now." Except for Holly, it seemed, because he was giving her that trust. It might be a mistake, but he hoped not. She appeared genuinely uninvolved, and Carter hadn't reacted to her. Had treated her like a civilian just like Steve had.

"Are you witness protection?" Holly trotted after him as they headed back to the apartment.

"No… you really don't know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"No." Steve and Holly climbed back into their apartment, "its better this way." Refreshing in a way.

"If you say so…"

#whumptober2020 #fem!harry potter #Harry Potter #MCU #MCU fanfiction #Steve Rogers #ca:tws #Ringing Ears #Harry Potter/Steve Rogers

[a-tad-bit-peculiar]

Thoughts on Book Five.

WELCOME TO THE SHITSHOW EVERYBODY BUCKLE THE FUCK UP (spoilers and some capslock under the cut, lads!)

Alright, I have too many thoughts, so I’m going to sort them into a list, starting from ten and counting down to one. Also, as a disclaimer: I really enjoyed this book! I can’t wait to see how the series ends, but I have lots of things to complain about. So, here we go!

Also, no hate to anyone who liked these parts. This is just my personal opinion!

10. The Kids

I LOVE all of the content focusing on the kids and their personalities! The dinner scene where everyone is talking about the resurrection soup is a really good Enoch scene, plus there’s SO MUCH good Hugh in this book! 

On the other hand, I noticed a few negative things about Emma and Millard.

Millard felt really bossy and arrogant, or at least, Jacob thought he was. Multiple times throughout the book, his enthusiasm and passion is twisted into something annoying and condescending. On top of that, Emma was turned into nothing but her relationship with Abe. She doesn’t do anything but mope over her failed relationships, which brings me to my next point.

9. Jemma vs. Portdesh (aka the romance plot)

What the actual fuck.

Jacob Magellan Portman, please quit thinking with your dick. It’s okay to be single. You don’t need to get into a relationship with every heartbroken girl you find, okay?

My main few problems with Portdesh are these:

For one, Jacob just dropped his feelings for Emma far too quickly to be reasonable. For instance, I’m a teenager around Jacob’s age, and I just went through an incredibly messy breakup (not going to go into details due to privacy on my partner’s part). It’s been almost two months--which isn’t a lot of time, mind you--and I’m still dealing with the repercussions. Jacob dropped Emma far, FAR too quickly, rendering an ENTIRE BOOK SERIES OF EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT completely null. I’m not saying that Jacob and Emma should get back together, I’m saying that Jacob isn’t dealing with his feelings in a realistic way. He’s a teenager, and an incredibly dramatic one at that. Love is messy and imperfect. It’s okay for him to be heartbroken and single. Let him have negative feelings.

Also, there’s the whole thing about him doing the exact thing Abe did to Emma. Again.

For another: NOOR’S CHARACTER IS SQUANDERED BY JACOB.

Noor Pradesh has the potential to be an amazing, relatable character--it’s just that Jacob is in the way. Instead of being her own person and allowing for solo development, Noor is thrust immediately into the role of “love interest for protag.” Instead of Noor reacting on her own to situations, she always traces it back to Jacob, because Epic Teen Romance. Please, Jacob. Quit making her into this perfect trophy girl. Nobody wants to read about that.

This book barely passes the Bechdel test, and the only reason it does is because Miss Peregrine exists.

8. Caul and the Prophecy

I’m honestly really disappointed. Caul was dead and gone. The ‘oooo he knew all along’ thing feels lazy and bland. I would’ve much preferred if Leo was the main villain; the dangers of peculiar America were much more interesting to me than reviving Caul. Also, Leo just being suddenly chill feels like a total letdown. I really hope he’s planning something nasty in secret, otherwise the whole Niece Monologue would have been for nothing.

About the prophecy, I have a single thought: cheap. I’m honestly not too interested in where it leads at this point, as it feels impossible to resolve well in a single book. I mean, come on. There are SIX MORE saviors to find. In ONE. BOOK. Riggs better have something great hidden up his sleeve.

7. Hugh’s desperation

Now HERE”S how you write some heartbreak, folks! Jacob needs to take a few notes from this man, because Hugh definitely cares more than Jacob seems to.

Despite what Jacob tells the reader, however, I feel that Hugh’s completely justified in his feelings.

NOBODY gave two shits about finding Fiona in books four or five. Everyone just accepted it, gave a sad little nod, and moved on with their lives. Hell, the only mentions of Fiona were when Hugh was upset and Jacob felt bad for him.

Miss Peregrine wore black forever because of Victor, and yet here we are. Not caring about Fiona.

As much as I love Miss P, I smell some unintentionally written favoritism.

6. Abe

Are we gonna just never tie off all of the loose ends related to Abe? Like, what the fuck happened to Leo’s niece? Is there anything else he’s hiding? Was Emma rightfully jealous of V? Are there any other agents who worked with him? Are there any more peculiars mad at him? How does Jacob feel about him? Is Abe just...a bad dude now? 

Abe being written off as a bad guy seems wrong to me. He tried so hard to protect people, and this is how he’s repaid. Such a damn shame.

5. V

(Haha, number five is V. I’m hilarious.)

Oh, want a new and interesting character who’s revealed to be an ymbryne with a badass shotgun? One you’ve been looking for for literally the entire book? Who was arguably more important than the titular event? Who you can already tell you’re going to love, just by how she’s written?

Oops, too bad, she’s dead now.

4. Horace’s cravat

The best goddamn thing in this entire book.

3. The Deadriser Loop

Jacob should’ve taken Enoch with him instead of Noor. Bonding opportunity: wasted.

2. Sharon and the Anti-Ymbrynes

Now we’re fuckin’ talking. The loop protesters are SO intriguing, I really want to see more of them! But please, Ransom Riggs, don’t just write them off as fools!

Jacob needs a reason to act so reckless. One of the reasons the fanbase is beginning to dislike him is because he acts so selfishly all the time. If the protesters were used as a springboard to drive Jacob into going against the ymbrynes, he’d be much more justifiable. ESPECIALLY if the protester group is gradually shown to be bad, not immediately.

1. Fiona

Fiona Frauenfeld I missed you so goddamn much.

Fiona is LITERALLY my favorite character in this entire series. Yes, even in front of Enoch and Horace. She’s so interesting and complex, and the fact that she’s coded to be neurodivergent (PTSD) and is CANONICALLY MUTE is so, so great!

It’s just...even with her being so wonderfully reintroduced...

She feels like a scapegoat. 

Who was the one to go missing? Fiona. Who was the one presumed dead? Fiona. Who was the one who got her tongue cut out by wights? Fiona.

I know I’m not explaining my thoughts well, so I’ll put it this way:

It feels like a bit of a cop-out to have the mute person lose their tongue, but maybe that’s just me.

Despite that, though, I missed her and Hugh so much.Their reunion broke my heart into a billion pieces! I’m glad she’s back, and I really hope she gets lots of screentime in the next book! Her tongue being gone seems like a great opportunity for character development, and my fingers are crossed that Riggs plays with that in book six.

Fiona I love you sweetie mwah...

And that’s it for my thoughts! Once more, I really enjoyed this book! I’m just picking it apart because I love this series so much. Ciao, dudes!

#mphfpc #rant #long post #tcotb #tcotb spoilers #Enoch O’Connor #Emma Bloom #millard nullings #hugh apiston #fiona frauenfeld #horace somnusson #bronwyn bruntley #olive abroholos elephanta #claire densmore #jacob portman #victor bruntley #alma lefay peregrine #jack 'caul' bentham #myron bentham #noor pradesh #jemma #portdesh #thats what im calling it #capslock //

[thethirdwheel404]

Med Rewatch Series (#3)

Let’s see what we have on the slate. this should be the premiere of s3: Speak Your Truth. I am watching this during school, so let’s see how bad my focus is.

-the episode description is “The shooting of Dr. Charles moves to the courtroom and things turn complicated for the doctors and nurses of Chicago Med.” so still on brand for being all sorts of vague.

-all that really says is more sarah angst so big sad

-let’s get started

-god back to classic med, starting things off fast, just how i like it

-how tf kellogg live through the headshot. guy can’t do anything right

-connor running towards charles on the guerney screaming “what the hell happened!?” and sharon just being “he got shot.” is so fucking hilarous to me i have no clue why

-oh god i remember how much it bothered me that connor changed his hair from the end of s2 to the start of s3 lol (bc it’s supposed to be the same night, but yk, nitpicking)

-the time jump is such an interesting choice. i remember it was jarring at first. i’m sure i’ll have more to say as the episode goes on

-aw hey guys look its sarah! adorable

-also stoll

-oh god, nat taking a sabbatical was weird

-WHEN SHE LOOKS AT WILL SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE IS IN PAIN IM SCREAMING

-counting

-oh boy watching s3 means i get to watch noah get thrown through a glass door and also be a disappointment

-the way connor is effortlessly charming here in the beginning is maybe the only reason i tolerate his character (also more of sarah being adorable)

-horney boi. stop it.

-noah following after sarah like a lovesick puppy is funny

-sarah saying ‘he’s the reason i went into psych...’ honey, psych is not good for your mental health please stop giving him credit

-HOLD THE FUCK ON?????

-its the s3 premiere and Sarah talks about her dad and her strained relationship, specifically because noah compares charles getting shot to her dad getting shot. but like, foreshadowing... maybe i should give the med writers a smidge more of credit than I have been in terms of planning things...

-sarah: “don’t compare my dad to dr. charles.”

-long sigh. god... sarah being so supportive. and charles just being ‘No???’

-not to be weird but court room scenes always get me feeling some sorta way

-haha its peter stone! remember him? remember chicago justice?

-THE BETRAYAL ON SARAH’S FACE - she cares so much about him and he’s about to get his own shooter acquitted.

-god sarah is just fucking fantastic. she feels so passionately about caring about people

-god charles fucking hates himself so much? he should Not be ava’s mentor

-charles: “I think the shooting is affecting your objectivity.” sarah: “mY oBjECtiViTy?!”

-also they said ‘the fact he was concealing a weapon shows like fear malicious content’ or what ever. and uh,, sarah? please. please, for my sanity. (bc of what happens later in the season)

-charles- you know how you can help me? fuck off.

-lol this kid is the one who had like a tooth ache, and now his brain is rotting or something. probably will happen to me (@ my parents please let me see the dentist)

-this is where doris is like ethan is playing favorites

-the like background noises of the ed calm me down. they prob really shouldn’t

-they’re gonna fuckkkkk

-something to be said about sarah being gung ho about kellogg being off the streets and a danger to society when... her dad...

- I really like when med does the thing when one character is just standing in the ed and they transition to the next story by having the next character run past

-what is with all of the nurses drama like honestly

-hey guys look its ava! (let see if i have enough brain cells to find anything)

-heyyyy look at that. ava trying usurp some of connor’s cases. while, yeah she is being a tad undermining, connor’s gf was literally just discharged from a psych hold. this is just an interaction to keep in mind for future events.

-ava’s playing full cunning while connor’s busy fucking his girlfriend

-dont hate the player man

-because they’re both under latham, they’re more rivals than hero/villain, bc they have a common guy who is their advisor. but yeah. dont hate the player

-robin calling ava ‘cruella’ is making want to throw hands ngl. god dude chill - bc it means either robin just saw ava interacting with people and thought ‘what a bitch’ or connor was complaining about ava and either way I hate it.

-connor broke up with robin bc she was too horneyyy (ik he didn’t break up w her but yk)

-connor - reese interaction was nice. until he started blaming her bruh wtf chilll

-her arguing with connor is like. peak. (ava + sarah teaming up to bully connor and not take any of his shit?? i think yes)

-this ethan april thing is stupid. i’m just gonna say it.

-ava: “that would have been a really great idea if you were trying to kill him.” SHE TAKES NO. SURVIVORS. i love her so much

-YEAH RHODES GET FUCKED! i think one of the reasons ava was disliked at first was bc latham kind of favored her and... literally everyone else favored connor? so get fucked? but here, ava can obviously hold her own and connor is just whining. I’m glad they put them on equal ground bc connor and ava’s direct superior is on ava’s side, and literally everyone else is with connor. AND CONNORS STILL PLAYED AS AN UNDERDOG BC AVA TOOK HIS SURGERY! HOW. infuriating

-anyway, for the purposes of the theory ava is capable enough to hold her own as a stand alone, and clever enough to be entertaining

-holy shit no i think i just remembered how this storyline goes. connor gets a better surgery, right? he gets glory and stuff. this is too fucking rich, come on. let one thing go wrong for him.

-i miss ava

-GOD SARAH LOOKS GOOD IN HER FUCKING BLAZER. unfair. unmatched

-stop it sarah you have anxiety.

-SARAH NO. BABY IS SCARED.

-okay. Ava is half bickering, half flirting with him, a little annoying but we put up with it bc we love her and its not her fault she’s supposed to be his love interest. but still, it’s playful, it’s not neccesarily flirting. conceivably, she could be talking to anybody. But then, she tells him to relax, to take a day off. SHE’S STILL A GOOD PERSON. SHE’S NOT TRYING TO EXPLICITLY SPITE CONNOR, OR ANYONE. that’s what people tend to forget. she’s not malicious.

-connor thinks she is tho. maybe that’s why some people hated her, bc connor hated her

-charles: “kellogg is not a criminal” BRUH HE SHOT YOU

-HOLY SHIT. SHARON RN IS LIKE YOU WANT KELLOGG TO BE FREE BC YOU DIDN’T CATCH THE SIGNS OF A KILLER AND ITS ABOUT YOUR EGO

-AND??? SARAH’S DAD ANYONE? that was why he was so persistent of sarah’s dad. he wanted to catch the signs.

-OKAY HERE. When latham is like, wait, did ava manipulate me? is she actually sus? he was the one person on her side and then boom he sides with connor. literally do you have any idea how great ava would be without connor?

-this manstead thing is soooo exhausting

Okay so what have we learned?

Ava is getting Connor’s cases. kind of rude but also, they’re surgeons? It’s super competitive. AND CONNOR LITERALLY WON THAT ROUND BC LATHAM SWITCHED SIDES???

AND SHE STILL TOLD CONNOR TO GET SLEEP. LIKE SHE WAS BEING NICE WHILE ALSO BEING SNARKY

ava had less lines in the ep than in s2 and honestly. wtf.

not much content, but if you look at her content, come on she’s still amazing.

thanks for sticking through

read the rest here:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Extra

#chicago med #med rewatch series #speak your truth #mine

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Alright 5x19 let’s DO THIS.

(Warning: This will probably be long.)

WE BEGIN...by visiting Leviathan’s underground speakeasy.

The shot of Lex in the glow of the Kryptonite is great, 15/10 iconic Kryptonian Killer.

But SPEAKING of things that are green and bad...Gemma’s outfit is stage magician meets Mera from Aquaman and WAIT, WAIT, I’m just now remembering that the character in the comics was linked to Atlantis. Is that why they’ve gone with a green motif for her all season?

Probably not. Either way, still gives me knockoff Mera vibes. (*whispers quietly* I don’t like Mera’s outfit either.)

(I’m reading the Wikipedia entry for Gamemnae and did you know: she was exiled from Atlantis for being blonde?)

Anyways!

That’s just a very long-winded way of saying that the costume is kind of a weird choice.

Then we’re back in Kara’s loft and finally, FINALLY...someone tells Lena that there are BIGGER FISH, STOP REMINISCING.

And then the Superfriends arrive on the scene and they are ready to throw down.

Honestly same bro, same.

Also M’GANN IS ON THE TEAM I love it please, SG, please, hire Sharon Leal full-time. 

What is the current door-kicking tally--how many front entrances have the Danvers girls destroyed?

“Well the joke’s on Rama Khan and his big dumb gladiator outfit because I already defeated him once.” THIS. IS. WHAT. I. HAVE. BEEN. SAYING.

THE COSTUME IS SILLY AND NOT IN A FUN WAY.

Leviathan just has terrible fashion sense, is basically the theme of this season.

Oh my gosh M’gann being the one to suggest the multiple Karas and the WINK I love her, I love her so much.

PLEASE NOTE: That J’onn was like ‘the skirt is surprisingly comfortable’ but his response to the pants is, ‘they’re gonna chafe.’ 

J’onn J’onzz, Skirt Supporter. 

Then the Alex suit reveal and ooof, ooooof, probably the wonkiest of the scenes, unfortunately. (Can’t decide if I appreciate the effort of the CGI Alex or if it’s simply too uncanny valley.)

Also, put a pin in the Alex suit reveal. We’ll circle back to it.

(Oh wait and also: Kara’s scream and J’onn’s reaction all A+.)

Breaking chronological order here to just touch on the highlights and maybe discuss particular chunks in detail SO...let’s get right toooooooo....

Rooftop scene with Alex and M’Gann! Nice! But also I was like, ‘Alex just...has a bazooka? ...Yeah that tracks.’ And then I remembered that she has the martian weapon...honestly kinda prefer my accidental headcanon that she just owns one. 

Then back to Lena and Kara and we’ve come full circle because folks...they figuratively flew to Luthor-Corp...on a bus.

Oh if only that was the actual goal of this entire plot. I would applaud it.

SG writers, always: REAL threats come in groups of THREE.

I actually don’t mind it. They aren’t given a big introduction and amount of screen time, so it’s pretty unobtrusive. 

Then we get a Luthor-Corp lab scene AND a good look at Alex’s suit so LET’S CHAT.

Okay first and foremost: not opposed to vigilante Alex! Especially if it means she can work with Kara a bit more directly.

Love the color scheme! Love the hood! Love that the boots are no longer the stealth wedge heel but are just...heels. Good, yes, good! Also love that you can see it’s basically built on top of her DEO suit which totally makes sense, as...I guess Alex is building the suit mentally, not physically, technically, but she’d still be using stuff she’s familiar with to put it together in...her...mind?

I also think the top portion sits better than the DEO suit, which had that awkward...square-ish portion that covered the front of the torso.

But hmmmmmm the eye makeup is...a statement. 

Confused as to why they didn’t go with a domino mask...maybe it was an actor comfort thing but HMMMMM not my personal favorite, admittedly. (Also don’t love the lace up look on the front portion but that’s because it’s reminding me of some of the terrible costumes from Arrow.)

And then the hair clip, which. Okay. As someone who has been struggling to find a way to pull back short hair during this time of no haircuts...can’t be mad about it.

In fact, catch me over here, taking notes.

Alright, costume rambling OVER sorry for the tangent but, you know. New super suit, it’s always exciting. 

I like that Kara had to deal with not being able to be out fighting the threat! That’s a good bit of character stuff there.

“William went after Eve ALONE?!?!?” “No super hearing!” 

“Please, be careful.” “You know me.” “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I’m worried about.” And then a HUG and they’re just the best.

 Dunno if I’ve mentioned it yet but I love the effects they use for Gemma’s ‘true form.’ Very cool and creepy.

Does Andrea just...not question Gemma’s evil villain outfit...or...?

Much like Alex’s super suit we’re puttin’ a PIN in the Brainy plot we’ll get there but FIRST...

THE KARA AND LENA CONVERSATION.

Do I think it should’ve come earlier in the season? Yes! Do I care at this point? ...Okay, still yes! But that’s another pinned point I’ll get back to, right now let us just bask in the beauty that is specifically, verbally laying out all the CRAP Lena put Kara through, and Kara making sure Lena understands THAT is what hurt her, not ‘working with Lex.’

“You never understood.” BINGO. “I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth but what about all the ways you hurt me?” EXACTLY. 

“I made one mistake, one mistake that was only ever meant to protect you and in return, all you did was hurt me in every way imaginable.”

Then Lena finally apologizes. For, you know, the stuff that was actually upsetting Kara. So. We got there. ...Eventually.

Then it’s off to save William and he’s talking down Eve! We love a noble journalist.

Kara cauterizing the bullet wound and William being like ‘DO IT no wait DON’T DO IT’ and Kara’s just like, ‘TOO LATE, IT’S DONE.’

RETURN OF THE POWER RANGERS SUIT NICE.

And theeeeen a lot of scenes that are fine but it’s mostly just legwork to get us to the bigger parts of the episode sooooo we’re jumping to...

Andrea! Pleasantly surprised with her part in the action of this episode. Had that nice moral conflict we saw in the front half of the season. It’s a little crammed in here, at the last minute, but. Still enjoyed seeing it.

A personal quibble on the visuals: I prefer the simple elegance of the season one hope speech, (Just a lone camera, in a rundown radio station XD) but I understand they had to convey ‘scale.’ Still think it’s a little much.

Oh man, totally forgot to mention, loved Nicole’s line read for, “Maybe you should’ve been meaner.” It was GREAT.

So there’s the fight against Rama Khan and his buddies, and Kara’s trying to talk people out of a MMORPG, AND Andrea shows up ready to kill somebody. 

The drama! The suspense!

THE SCORE.

I have another quibble with the cutting back and forth on the hope speech and it’s largely to do with perhaps inadvertent implications regarding who has to grow from pain and what pain in particular, but that might just be a ‘me’ thing, reading the scene a particular way, so I’m just gonna move on and say LOVE TO SEE A HOPE SPEECH.

Also:

Supergirl: “I believe in you.”

The VR peeps and us, the audience:

Alright time to talk about BRAINY.

Admittedly haven’t loved double agent Brainy, which felt more like a, ‘let’s add some drama’ move than anything else.

I do still stand by my assessment that Brainy being a few steps behind Lex made sense given his distress re: Nia and the Superfriends.

But also...was a little wild, IMO, that he didn’t have...some way to at least circumnavigate the radiation shield? Or at the very least limit it.

But again. DRAMA.

All that said...wow. Loved the two Brainys at the end, there. Genuinely touching.

“Will you stay with me?” “Till the very end.” 

BRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNNY.

How do you make another Luthor reveal work when you ALREADY pulled the, ‘It was Lex all along!’ like, twice before?

You MAKE IT LILLIAN.

Like, dang it, I enjoyed it. How dare you, SG.

But THAT’S IT. NO MORE SECRET LUTHOR REVEALS. 

The terminator look and death shriek for Gemma was fittingly creepy very nice.

But also WOW, she never interacted with Kara. I am DISAPPOINTED. 

So anyways, that second Lena and Kara conversation! 

It was fine. It’s fine. This is fine. It’s...it’s fine.

(Except that it highlights a problem with the way this whole thing was set up and it’s not something unique to SG! It’s a problem I’ve noticed with a lot of redemption arcs--which seem to be all the rage, as of late--and that is a disproportionate amount of bad things done by the one character, and putting off the turn until like, the last possible minute to increase the drama factor and thaaaaat...is not a super satisfying conclusion because it’s a HUGE amount of build up for a relatively small pay off. Like, as Kara is listing the stuff that Lena’s done, it’s kind of a stark reminder that Lena physically and emotionally hurt Kara on purpose which. Is a glaring red flag. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be unpacked, maybe! Given some space!

Which isn’t to say that characters should never be forgiven, or that they need to be excessively punished. It just needs time. So saving the ‘redemption’ part for the very end where the characters NEED TO BE HEROES RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO HELP OUT it’s...hmmmmmm. Too rushed.)

AND SO, SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS, THE SEASON FINALE, AND THE SEASON AS A WHOLE:

Wow but I did not like the focus on Lena. Not fun. No thanks.

Which is only made worse by the trashfire that is the SG fandom. 

Loved the moments of growth and agency for Kara, though. 

Loved the big crossover! It kinda made for a wonky set up of Earth-38 plot vs. Earth Prime plot but honestly anything the writers set up in the front portion of the season was going to be at the very least interrupted, if not completely derailed simply given the nature of what they intended to do with the merging of the earths.

Like give me SG’s approach to handling the front half of the season over Flash’s any day. 

Still too many characters! Still too much plot! Still weird pacing issues! XD

Forget it, Jake, it’s Supergirl.

Oh, honorable mention: The handling of Kelly! She was integrated so well into a nice intersection of plot points and characters that when she’s there to hack into the Obsidian stuff in the finale it’s like, ‘well naturally she’d be here.’ EXCELLENT WORK. 

William and Andrea win ‘most improved over their intensely unlikable introductions.’

To be clear: I liked this season finale! And the fact that it all came together as well as it did is a testament to the skill of all the folks involved, considering the awful extenuating circumstances.

Though, upon further introspection, I think I really do dislike the CGI Alex. Too far into the uncanny valley, sorry. 

IN CONCLUSION: Very, very sad that it’s gonna be a whole year, or possibly longer, before we get new SG content but, glad that the actors will have a little more time off than they usually might, and I’m all for holding off the production as long as possible, in order to keep folks safe.

WHAT are Lex and Lillian up to, like, specifically, and WHAT is Alex’s superhero name??? WILL the folks in charge of the new Superman show remember that it’s a Supergirl spinoff?!??! Find out NEXT YEAR only on SUPERGIRL! (And Superman & Lois!)

EDIT: I used the word ‘quibble’ twice which feels like one time too many, but also it IS a fun word to say. ‘Quibble.’ Ha. XD

#SG post #long post #supergirl spoilers #5x19 spoilers

[ka-x-in]

Always is Never Forever: Chapter 2 (Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes X Reader)

A/N: Back again, everyone! I’m honestly so excited to share this chapter with all of you. This chapter dives further into the backstory of Y/N and also sets the foundation for her and Bucky’s... relationship. As I’ve stated before Y/N in my timeline replaces Sharon Carter's role in Civil War and the plot from there is pretty self-explainable. I also expanded a bit on my own universe which was super fun to do. Enjoy and please feel free to leave me some feedback!

Bucky's eyes snap to you instantly and you see the shock in his eyes at you standing before him.

"You?" He asks, casting his gaze between you and the door like he's expecting someone else to walk through it.

"Hello to you too," you say lightly, wanting to ease the tension in the air.

It does little to ease Bucky, though. And you can't help but frown a little at his silence. If this is going to work you've got to be vulnerable. The "see no emotion show no emotion' routine won't work on him. He notices your change of expression and rises from his chair to meet you.

"Sorry, I-I'm just surprised, is all." He says gently.

"Not disappointed?"

"No, not at all. I was hoping to see you again.. I just- I thought.. honestly I'm not sure what I thought. I've never surrendered before." He admits to you almost shyly.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." You say with a soft smile as you move to sit in the chair Fury pointed out to you, holding out a hand suggesting Bucky sit too.

"Why did you want to see me again?"

He swallows hard at your question. You study him discreetly and see the emotion swirling in his eyes and his brain questioning whether or not he should let them show. When Bucky raises his eyes to meet you soften your stare and wait for his reply.

"To apologize for what happened in Vienna."

You feel a pang in your chest at those words. In a lot of ways, the team is still recovering from the fallout of what happened in Vienna as well as the Sokovia accords. Steve nearly went on the run after taking Bucky to Wakanda but thankfully you were able to talk him out of it. Bucky was safe, the team was fractured but still standing, and you had finally come to accept your love for Steve Rogers. You used those things to get him to stay and it worked but wasn't without difficulty. Just a couple of months into Bucky's hibernation, as you and Tony were trying to find a way to keep certain members of the team out of prison, something went wrong in Wakanda. Something that you and Steve still to this day haven't been able to figure out.

Breaking yourself out of your thoughts, you see the vulnerability on Bucky's face and raise a hand to reassure him.

"That wasn't you."

He's almost startled by your words after the few moments of silence between you. He looks at you baffled.

"But I still hurt you," Bucky says almost frustrated.

You see his challenge and firmly stand your ground.

"That may work on anyone else, even Steve, but not me. I can't and don't hold you accountable for any of it." You admit.

"How?-" Bucky questions as he stands to pace in front of you.

"I hurt you and Steve and your friends."

You stand and walk to him, looking him dead in the eye as you reply.

"Because-Because I know what it's like to be a prisoner inside of your own body. To have no control or say in what you do or who you harm." You say, your voice nearly wavering on the last word.

You turn away from Bucky with a deep breath and press your hand against your temple gently, doing your best to calm the hurricane of emotion that has suddenly sprouted from your chest. You sense Bucky walk a little closer to you but he doesn't try to touch you.

"Hydra?" He asks after giving you a few moments.

You swallow hard and shake your head at him, your eyes growing dark with every passing moment.

"No..Citadel, actually." You say softly your voice still not entirely trustworthy of uttering the words.

You hear Bucky grunt behind you and turn to see an angry expression on his face as he sits down.

"You were familiar with them?" you ask moving to sit across from him once more.

"Would be nearly impossible not to be, in our line of work at least. How long did they..?"

"Years, until I was 15 and Fury found me," you reply, cutting him off.

Bucky leans back into his chair and tries to process that information as he rubs a tired hand down his face. He can't help but study you and you allow him to. He's all too familiar with the organization that ruined your life. Or rather, robbed you of the one you should've had. They were just as sinister as Hydra just with less of a flair for the dramatics. Everything they did, every operation they ran, was deep in the mud where only the foulest types of people thrived. They accomplished or demolished much, depending on which side you were on. Their downfall was a brutal one that you had definitely been proud to have a hand in. You shake your head and clear your throat to pull yourself out of the memories.

"Point is-" You mutter, trying to change the subject

"you're welcome here. Among allies, if your desire to make amends is genuine."

Bucky gives you a firm nod then and you find yourself already smiling warmly back at him.

"Then I'll do everything in my power to help you, James," you vow as you lean a bit closer to him trying to form a connection.

The furrow in his brow relaxes at that is replaced by a gentle raise accompanied by a smirk that you happily mirror to let him know his mischief is welcome.

"What?" you question softly

"You and Steve... I didn't see it at first. I mean you guys on the team, sure, leading together as partners. But what you've become, I wouldn't have guessed." Bucky admits candidly.

You smile at him and cross your arms in front of you, mirroring his mischief just a bit.

"And why is that?" you ask curiously about his answer.

Bucky Barnes isn't the first person to express a bit of shock at your choice of a romantic partner so you're hardly phased by his response. But you're curious about his perspective and silently encourage him to explain himself.

"You're so... different. I mean, from what I can remember, Steve was always such an optimist and so chipper. Always so eager to do everything and to become something more. But you're more, more real. Severe. Someone who's aware of the blood on their hands and embraces it instead of trying to wash it away. 'The infamous super spy with the hardened heart of stone.'"

You know the exact headline he's quoting. When the news of your relationship with Steve had leaked the world press had descended upon the both of you like vultures, suddenly eager to turn one of their strongest heroes into a seductress and villain. Still, you can't help but gently laugh at his analysis. Bucky's words take you back to a time when your view of Steve wasn't all that different his own. You'd met Steve, although briefly, on the helecarrier before the Battle of New York. You'd taken a quick break from your studies and training to visit Tony and when Nick discovered your visit aligned with his need to speak to Tony, was all too eager to show off his latest pride and joy. When Steve Rogers had stepped aboard you'd snickered right alongside Tony until you came face to face with the man. Being a lover of history, you'd been a bit speechless when he went out of his way to introduce himself to you. There had even been a part of you, somewhere deep inside, that had been utterly charmed by his 1940's chivalry and if you really tried to you could still remember the way his lips felt against the back of your hand the first time he'd kissed it.

You remember sitting in your room a few hours later feeling almost guilty for letting him kiss your hand so gently. A man who was the epitome of goodness and bravery coming into contact with a young woman who was responsible for entire regimes falling, blood and loss scattered along the way. You remember telling yourself you'd never allow yourself another moment of tenderness like that one.

You're brought out of your reminiscent thoughts a few moments later and look up to meet Bucky's gaze.

"Steve's changed a lot over the past few years. But even if he hadn't, our differences are what allow us to work together so well. Often times we see different sides of the same coin, so to speak. I didn't want to admit that could be an advantage at first... but everyone deserves a chance." You say as you cast a small glance to the mirror behind you hoping that the look in your eyes reaches your man on the other side.

"It makes sense now. The way you see things, see me." Bucky concedes.

There's a small but not uncomfortable silence after that, both of you consumed with the density of your conversation. You break the silence first.

"Steve's always been a good judge of character. You know firsthand how much he values it." You say honestly, not quite meeting Bucky's gaze as he nods to you.

"I do."

"Then respect his faith in you." You say as you cast a gentle plea his way.

You want this to succeed but in order to do so, Bucky needs to believe in himself and his worth. Your words will only do so much. After another few moments, you hear the man in front of you laugh softly,  Truly and genuinely laugh.

"You're good." He says mid laughter.

You allow yourself to laugh along with him, thankful for the respite from the severe conversation.

"Superspy, remember?" you mention jokingly as you stand, smoothing out your jacket in the process.

"I'll keep that in mind, Agent Y/L/N"

You shake your head at his words and give him a friendly smile.

"Call me Y/N, please, no titles here."

"Y/N... you called me James earlier," Bucky states as he allows himself to finally say your name. He likes the way it seems to roll off of his tongue as if it's a name he was always meant to say.  

"Would you prefer I called you something else?" you ask and you're interested to hear his answer.

But Bucky just shakes his head and reaches a hand out to you with a smile. Not a smirk but an honest to god smile and you swear you nearly have to squint from the brightness of it.

"No, no. It's just been a long time," he admits as you place your hand in his shaking it firmly. You both pretend not to notice the sensation of a spark coursing through your hands when they're together.

"Well get some rest, James. I'll see you soon," you promise as you turn your back to him. Before you reach the door you feel Bucky's hand firmly tug on your arm and are shocked to not feel alarmed by this sudden contact. There's a silence between you as you study each other for a few moments.

"When will I see him?" Bucky asks softly, the ease from his demeanor suddenly gone at the prospect of seeing Steve again.

"When you're ready to."

#steve rogers x reader #bucky x reader #avengers imagine #avengers x reader #steve x reader #stucky x reader #steve rogers fanfic #bucky barnes imagine #y/n #always is never forever

[sparklyjojos]

--[Disco Wednesdayyy 24/?] The brave new world is made out of closed rooms, or are we really switching the genre over 1000 pages into the book? Okay then. [tw: csa, child abuse, brief gore]--

Last time, Disco arrived at the World’s End, accidentally jumped to the year 2019, and discovered that a company called Styron Japan built themselves a nice new skyscraper in Chofu. As soon as Disco enters the building, a bunch of company vicepresidents introduce themselves and tell him JJ Styron is already waiting. Judging by their quick explanations, JJ naturalized himself through marriage with a Japanese woman and was planning on spreading his influence to Japan.

JJ welcomes Disco with tea and sweets and says he’s been awaiting this visit for years. He looks startingly young for his 38 years, but asked about it claims he’s just taking good care of himself, since it’s not like he can jump in time or something, haha! Already unsettled, Disco asks about Sharon Styron’s death.

“Ah, yes, she’s dead.” JJ answers casually. “I killed her. Drugged her so she couldn’t move and cut her to pieces while she was still conscious.”

“...Why?”

“Why? Because she betrayed me, of course! The only thing she cared about was protecting you. I’ve been trying to find you and your family, and she refused to give me any information. She claimed you were an orphan.” So she must have sincerely believed the lies Disco told her about his identity... “Well, but it turns out she wasn’t lying... Mr. William Eady.”

Completely confused, Disco looks at the documents JJ shows him. A birth certificate. ‘William Eady’, ‘orphan’, a slightly different day of birth, ‘St. Paul’s Church in New York’ as the place he was found in. Everything exactly like in the made up story he told Sharon. ...If emotions can take external shape, can imagination, fiction? But then Disco notices the documents were ‘found’ by the law office in which the real William Eady is employed, so it’s likely that the lawyer forged the certificate to protect Disco.

“What were you going to do to me when you found me?”

“Kill you, if you went in my way. But now that the company is big enough to no longer be threatened by you, I don’t really care. And you know what? I can’t help but feel deep respect for you for doing your best to solve the mystery. Which is why I’d love for you to become the sales promoter for our wonderful Kozue Method! I can vouch for its effectiveness -- why, I’m my company’s client as well, and look how youthful I am. Well, my body is physically 11, haha!”

He spreads a variety of pamphlets on the table.

“You’ve heard about using stem cells acquired from clones to grow organs and such, have you? The Kozue Method is bolder! You can exchange the entire body at once! It’s perfectly possible, since the personality of a person is tied to consciousness, and not their physical body. Of course, we cooperate with the Blackswan company, who’s the patent holder for the Main Child treatment and for thouroughly preparing the Jacket, that is, the vessel Sub Child. It’s the single greatest development in the world’s history, and it’s all thanks to you, Disco!”

The Kozue Method involves the following procedure. The client -- the Main Child -- is given horrible abuse, so just like it was with Kozue parts of themselves split off and take over fetuses still in the womb, pushing the original souls out. These split off parts -- the Sub Children -- are born and raised, then mysteriously disappear one day, and the empty bodies (the ‘Jackets’, as JJ calls them) are used as new vessels for the Main Child.

That’s not all. From what JJ says, it seems the global consciousness, humanity’s emotions and will, can now be curated -- after all, there’s a way to get negative emotions and violent thoughts quite literally out of you, and apparently resentment will vanish with ‘split personalities’ too. This resulted in a clean, shiny, perfectly peaceful world with apparently zero creativity, to the point that no new fictional media is really made. [I’m... honestly confused as to how this exactly works, especially considering some later parts. Maybe JJ is just overexaggerating.]

“It really is all thanks to you! You found Kozue and the six others, managed to connect them back together, and the news spread all over the world. You’re a hero, Disco!”

“...How many kids did you... did you sell?”

“In the last 10 years it’d be, hm, two hundred millions? Now, now, I understand you have reservations. There’s a little guilt involved, but it’s not like people don’t live with many little guilts on their backs anyway. We’re improving the procedures, too! We already established that sexual abuse makes the job done the quickest, and hey, the faster it is, the shorter it hurts! The kid will just forget it anyway. The Blackswan guys are true specialists, they can do a lot in just one tiny moment. In a single second the child gets, what did you call it? ‘Abuse’, and in the next, the memory has already been moved to the other personality. It’s good that the parents don’t have to see it, since nobody likes to live thinking their children are being hurt.”

Blackswan. The company’s logo on the pamphlets looks familiar.

[The name Blackswan (or Black Swan? I’m not sure of the spelling here) may be a reference to Project Bluebird, which -- at least according to all the conspiracy websites out there -- involved among other unethical experiments trying to induce DID in healthy subjects.]

“You may think: what about the parents of the Sub Children?” JJ continues. “Aren’t they angry? Here’s where one of our big achievements comes into play. You’ve heard about the vanishing twin phenomenon, right? Of course you have, you met Daibakusho Curry. It happens a lot in nature. The strongest survives. What we’re doing here is just giving the poor weak kids a chance! We retrieve and raise them, so they can get a go at living before... being reused.”

How can this future be avoided?, Disco thinks. Is the Black Bird Man involved? Maybe if Disco finds and defeats him, all this can be fixed. But no, he can’t change the future in any way... so what can he do? Find children. Somehow protect the Main Children from abuse, so this entire system breaks. So twins no longer vanish, just like he promised to Run Run -- oh God, if Run Run can speak and act like a human, does this mean...?

Disco asks JJ if Run Run was a victim of their experiments too (maybe they tried to transfer human souls into animal bodies at first?), but JJ seems to genuinely have no idea what he’s talking about.

“Ah, whatever,” JJ says, waving his hand. “You don’t seem convinced, and I’ll forget everything that happened here anyway once you leave.”

But before Disco can actually leave, JJ turns on a futuristic screen and shows him a documentary called LAMIA SYNDROME (2019), sponsored among other by Styron Japan. “Just so you know I’m not lying to you,” JJ says.

--

The documentary states that 4- to 8-year-old children have been disappearing all over the world since autumn 2006 in a phenomenon called Lamia Syndrome. A few parents talk about how their children suddenly vanished even under close supervision. We see a recording from a mall security camera showing a little girl holding her grandfather’s hand one second and disappearing the next. The footage is then repeated frame by frame. Just before the girl vanishes, another man shows up in the frame.

It’s not the Black Bird Man.

It’s future ‘Disco’. He looks around sixty and seems very happy about something. Looking straight into the camera, he gives it a thumbs up, and with the other hand holds up a sign with a single sentence:

THE WORLD IS MADE OUT OF CLOSED ROOMS

The documentary has a literary critic explain that “this is the title of Ehimegawa Juuzou’s 1996 novel, the 7th book in the Runbaba series. In it, a criminal called the Locked Room Billionaire announces that he’s going to kill a billion people in locked room situations in just ten years. Even if people may try to avoid going inside buildings or returning home, they’re nevertheless trapped in the locked rooms of their own fear.”

[Lore note: this is not even remotely what Maijo’s 2002 novel The World is Made out of Closed Rooms is about. Instead, it seems to be a combination of Seiryoin’s Cosmic and Carnival, with the main villain’s name and modus operandi being a mix of the Locked Room Lord and the Billion Killer. 1996 is when Cosmic was first released, too. I honestly wonder how different JDC is in Disco-verse if Mitamura could get away with this.]

“The crowded mall situation seems similar to one from the book,” the critic continues, “although there’s no proof that the same locked room trick was used. This time, there’s just an evil man at work. He seems similar in looks to Disco Wednesdayyy, a detective and one of the 31 people who disappeared in the Pine House case, which concerned Ehimegawa Juuzou’s death. The same man was involved in finding Yamagishi Kozue, the origin of the Kozue Method. Closed Rooms predicted our current situation in which children are sent to shelters in order to protect them from the Lamia Syndrome. Maybe by using the book’s title, the man is trying to say that he, a great detective, will eventually open the locked room... that is, bust open the shelters and kidnap the children.”

(Disco’s like, no, no, I’m not even a great detective, I’m a hardboiled detective! I don’t know shit about locked room tricks! I haven’t even read Mitamura’s books! [You know, you probably should, Mitamura seems to have put a lot of useful hints in those.] And all this must be a mistake, it’s not like I’d ever start kidnapping children... right?)

The documentary then shows an interview with the only survivor of the Pine House -- Dezuumi Style, now much older, who isn’t sure whether the man in the photo really is his friend Disco Wednesdayyy (and aw, he really refers to Disco as his friend, even if they hardly ever talked). From the interview we learn that this new world doesn’t need writers or great detectives anymore; no locked room murders or tricky false alibi cases or anything similar ever happens anymore. Dezuumi believes that ‘Disco’s’ Closed Rooms message is sarcastic, to show that “in a stiff world without different points of view or creativity, instead of people being closed in locked rooms in mystery novels, it’s now human emotions, ideas and values that are closed in new locked rooms...”

“But isn’t it right to stop the unwanted thoughts and focus on the useful ones?” the interviewer asks.

“No. People should be always thinking about new topics and coming up with new inventions. They should dare to break things. Trying to keep everyone’s thoughts perfectly ordered is terrorism.”

Next, the documentary shows Iwasaki Kousuke, the taxi driver from Nishi Akatsuki, who also isn’t sure if that’s Disco in the photo. When the interviewer brings up that Iwasaki’s family defeated cancer thanks to Kozue Method and that the idea of ‘a lifespan’ may soon be irrelevant to humanity, Iwasaki says that he’s still not sure if that’s a good thing. Death is a fact of life, after all, and we should be grateful for happiness and sadness.

The documentary then says the whoever the mysterious man is, he has kidnapped close to three hundred million children since 2006...

--

JJ stops the movie, saying that what he wanted Disco to see is that there really is only a tiny group of people in Japan standing against him, and the rest of the world is pretty much his. “But do you understand now why I have respect for you? Three hundred millions! For the first two years, we could hardly ever find the kids, since you hid the majority of them! I thought that maybe killing your family would lure you out, but that plan didn’t work out... and it’s not like the Blackswan guys haven’t already killed you seven times.” The time fold effects must have protected Disco from permanently dying in the future.

Three hundred million kids?! That’s be over 60 000 a day! You’d need an entire organization of space-jumpers to pull off something like this... or thirty one people from the Pine House. Did ‘Mercury C’ prevent everyone from leaving because they were meant to form a group, and their mysterious disappearance meant they simply moved to the shadows? Have the others spent years and years helping him hide the kids from Styron and recruit new space-jumpers?...

But where do you even hide three hundred million kids? They could probably warp any small space to accomodate even that number, and since they could jump in time they’d just make it so a child stays there for merely a second before it’s returned to their parents once the world becomes safe. But would they ever return them, considering that Styron won the battle for the world?...

Disco asks if JJ hurt the families of Disco’s accomplices, to which JJ claims he wanted to take down Disco first, so he didn’t bother yet. But anyway, JJ really wants Disco to stop this whole children kidnapping thing, because can’t Disco see how much the parents are hurt by his actions~? [You’re one to talk, buddy.] He resumes the documentary to show one last scene.

--

19-year-old Kozue says she’s not sure if the man in the photo is Disco. “I feel sympathy for the affected parents, and I think it'd be best to return the kids to them. The Disco I knew wouldn't do something horrible like that. Are you sure it's not someone else?” Then, as she’s leaving the shot, she looks back at the camera and yells that maybe it’d be better if she had never gotten involved with Disco at all.

The documentary ends by stating that the global birth rate is drastically falling, since women are afraid to bring children into the world in which the Lamia Syndrome runs rampant. It’s predicted that by 2080 the human race will stop procreating except for the purpose of prolonging their immortal lives.

--

“See? If you keep going, you’ll be the one responsible for the destruction of the human race,” JJ says. “Don’t you feel bad about it?”

But all Disco answers with is “Thank you for the movie, JJ. It was quite illuminating.”

“Huh? That’s not just some movie, that’s reality! Don’t you feel bad? Angry?”

“Not really. All it did was prove me that I’m right. Have you ever seen the kanji for ‘lifespan’ (寿命)? The first one (寿) may mean ‘congratulations’, ‘celebration’, ‘being happy with life’. There would be nothing to ‘celebrate’ if there wasn’t a finite ‘lifespan’. You really aren’t naturalized yet if you don’t get it. Japanese people understand why there would be no charm in making sakura trees bloom all year long.”

“Well, clearly Japanese people are mistaken. You can’t look at kamikaze pilots and tell me there’s nothing wrong with their heads!”

“You really don’t get sacrifices for a great cause, JJ. While kamikaze sacrificed their lives, they yelled ‘banzai’, which means ‘ten thousand years of life’. Not death, but life. You saw me smile in that photo in the documentary, did you? That smile is my banzai. If the future can’t be changed, then all this movie proves is that my future is bright: every single day spent fulfilled as I’m protecting children.”

As Disco sets to leave (again), JJ pulls out his last trump card and calls his Japanese wife to the room.

It’s Norma Brown. Or rather, Fuyuno Norma Brown. JJ’s new name is apparently Fuyuno Shinji.

--

Norma is overjoyed to see Disco and sweeps him in a hug, saying that she’s been looking for him all this time. She’s different than he remembers. Sure, she has the same personality, but she looks Japanese, which overall makes her the spitting image of Norma-faced Koeda.

“Do you not like this body of mine, Disco?” she asks seeing his reaction. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t obtained from some poor child! Shinji, haven’t you explained that to him yet?! The method has been improved, Disco! The Jackets are now cultivated in artificial wombs. No more pushing out souls out of the original to obtain a Subchild! After birth, they’re raised by good volunteer mothers. In addition, we discovered that stimulus other than ‘suffering’ works for inducing new personalities. Children aren’t hurting anymore, Disco!”

“It’s useless, honey,” JJ says. “This isn’t the Disco you knew. He no longer protects children.”

Norma tries to persuade Disco to stop taking children away, but he still won’t budge. She has a little exchange with JJ who seems to be seriously jealous (”Do you love me like you love Disco?”), and assures JJ that of course she loves him, Disco starts considering to bring out one of his hidden knives and attack JJ...

But before Disco can make a move, something explodes. It takes Disco a few seconds to realize that while he’s still holding Norma in his arms, her lower half was blown off by a small bomb hidden inside her body, much like the one Disco once pulled out of Nils. Her last words are, “You’re my hero, Disco.”

Disco desperately puts her body back together, trying not to ‘run away to the Pineapple Home’ [I like that this became a metaphore for withdrawing into your mind from shock]. But no matter what he does, she doesn’t come back to life.

“This isn’t her original body,” JJ says. He looks almost as shocked as Disco by what just happened. “The soul can’t return to it, and the original body is already gone...”

“But there’s a spare one, right? There must be!” Disco yells, mortified at his own response. Would he really sacrifice a child for her?... “No, wait... If I just return to the past, all will be undone. She’ll be alive again--”

“No. Norma is dead,” JJ says. “She’s going to be dead in every possible history from now on. Sure, this is just an imaginary, fictional future... but she wasn’t. She came from the past. We met in 2003, and the Blackswan guys helped arrange it so that she’d be taken to 2008, and then we’d get married. Now that she’s gone, her research will disappear too. She was the one who came up with all the new projects, so our progress will be lost... according to plan. Of course! The Blackswan guys must have swindled me again! She’s been kept here all this time for the sole purpose of being killed in front of you! It’s your fault!”

Was it really his fault?... No. Everything's already decided. Every attempt to change history is already contained in that history.

While JJ is still blaming him, Disco doesn’t take that shit and asks “JJ, what was the phrase activating the bomb? It was the question you asked her, wasn’t it?”

[Wait, those bombs are phrase-activated. Which means Nils openly opposing JJ Styron while in a conversation with him was even more awe-inspiring than I thought. DAMN, kid.]

Disco puts the bomb back together, slam dunks it into JJ's body, and starts the last barrage of questions.

Why isn’t JJ busy with drug cartels anymore? Apparently the Blackswan guys managed to somehow remove the hallucinatory effect of drugs, since it could destroy their idea of perfectly managed global consciousness.

So there’s peace in the world, but no new media is created, no Spielbergs or Hendrixes? Maybe so, but hey, even Disco’s beloved San Diego is now clean and pretty! (Disco finds this fact hard to imagine and honestly quite disturbing.)

What was going on with that case with JJ’s seven underlings, why were they all hanging by just one leg? “I don’t know, have you tried asking that kid that should be in the Pine House, Nils Mikami?” [Yeah, you better remember his name!]

Does JJ know about the Pineapple Home? No clue what that even is.

Alright. As Disco prepares to leave (for the nth time in this sequence), JJ says, “If you go back to the past now, the childless method Norma invented would cease to exist too, you know.”

“No. Norma was a great person, but not a unique one. There are many others like her who can come up with it.” [I assume that since the future is unchanging, somebody else really will come up with it.]

“...in the end, I’m weak and you’re weak. No matter the time or place, the weak are an easy target. No, maybe we just have different kinds of strength. After all, you didn’t run away even as Norma was dying in your arms. ...you know, she didn’t answer my question properly. She said that she loved me. But my question was... Do you love me like you love Disco?”

Disco instantly pulls the bomb out of JJ’s body and tosses it through the window, where it explodes at a safe distance. Not ouf of mercy or anything, just because fuck you, you slimy bastard, you’re not getting off that easy, and Disco will be sure to think of a much, much worse punishment later. [HELL YEAH]

--

Leaving the room (and pretty devastated looking JJ), Disco happens to glance at the sweets he was welcomed with, and notices the logo of a shop called Makuri-ya. ‘Makuri”... “Mercury”? Mercury C did say he was the owner of a traditional Japanese confectionary shop in Chofu...

It may be a good time to go shopping for some explanation.

#sparkly reads disco #maijo and jdc stuff #long post #I still have no idea how this entire system works tbh this was... a confusing chapter #also are there really TWO female characters who solely exist in this book to get fridged for manpain. seriously maijo what the hell

[smokeybrand]

Captain America and The Winter Soldier

Last episode on deck! Let’s get into it!

Hey, Falcon Cap! Sam finally getting his due. Costume is still mad wonky but seems to translate better to the big screen than i thought. Admittedly, i never thought much of it. It always looked wonky to me, even in when it was in the books.

That face mask callback was dope. Also, anti-Sharon in the house! Super curious if she is really going to be the Power Broker. It makes sense but is quite the character assassination if it’s true.

That Dam/Leaper fight was pretty okay. I watched this immediately after the new Mortal Kombat and it was legit refreshing to see good stunt choreography. And this show ain’t even a punch-out!

Karli going full villain is... uninspired? Look, i wanted to give Erin Kellyman all of the opportunity to shoe me something but she showed me nothing. Not a thing. I can’t say ma is bad at her job because I've only seen her in two things but she ain’t batting 1.00, that’s for sure. It’s frustrating because i though what they did with the Flag Smashers was brilliant. Unfortunate bit of casting here i think.

Bucky going full hero was fun to see. It’s about time dude stopped being so goddamn emo. I get the conflict, i get that’s been his entice character, his entire MCU run. I appreciate the growth.

John Walker is still a dick. I’m glad he got beat the f*ck up by a girl.

Apparently, Sam is the new Tony? TONS of little tech in his new Wakanda wings. I like how T’Challa just keeps giving away billions of dollars worth of Vibranium and proprietary tech. This sh*t has got to piss the US guv’ment the f*ck off. I mean, even if they are allies, Wakanda is a foreign country supplying unlicensed vigilante with tech that can only be matched by a dead-man? Fun!

Oh, no, she IS the Power Broker. Unfortunate... Nice play, though.

They gave Walker a redemption arc? Really? I mean, i guess, but scumbag Walker was kind of f*cking awesome.

That ending was anticlimactic. Besides, don’t Super-Soldiers heal? Buck lived. Cap lived. Bruce is on record as to being damn near immortal. is Karli really croaked or is this just, you know, for dramatic effect. Because, f*ck, was it dramatic.

Got a little preachy toward the end. As it should. That last monologue was legit the point of this show. Came across a little heavy-handed. but this is Sam at his best. This is who Sam as Cap is going to be. Honestly, he might be a little better at them speeches than Steve.

F*ck, that costume looks wonky!

Whoo, boy, that last talk with Isaiah? That’s the heat right there. Sh*t is going to ruffle some feathers. for sure!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier went out strong. Of the two shows aired so far, this one is easily my favorite. Loki is definitely going to give it a run for it’s money because, i mean, Loki, but right now? This Black Falcon got the crown. I thought the plot was executed beautifully and actually dealt with the fall out of the Blip perfectly. More than anything, i wanted to see that world, the fallout from the most catastrophic event in universe history, outside of an individual character perspective or just a glib reference at the star of a Spider-Flick. This show delivered on that, for the most part. I wanted a bit more but what we got was enough to set the foundation going forward. Speaking of going forward, that Dark Thunderbolts Avengers movie is about to be stacked. We got our USAgent to lead the team, Baron Citizen Zemo waiting to get called up to Varsity, and a Power Broker mole waiting to be the Stark behind the scenes. With Black Widow on the horizon to add Black Widow II and Taskmaster, we have a solid squad that can give the new version of the proper Avengers a run for it’s money. This show did a lot to set up the next two Phases of the MCU and i can’t wait to see where we go from here. Now that the praise is out of the way, let’s get into the controversy and the big, fat, Black Falcon in the middle of the room.

I like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier because, aside from being an excellent addition to the Marvel juggernaut, in this sea of performative Wokeness, the MCU was able to genuinely capture the Black experience in America. With two characters, they showed the entirety of the Disney+ audience what it means to Us, here. Being young is idolizing Sam Wilson. Being an adult is identifying with Isaiah Bradley. One is the fiction, the propaganda taught to Us. The other the reality, the truth forced upon Us. That reality stings. Whether the less melanated want to acknowledge it or not, that sordid truth of Us, the sh*t you don't like being preached to about, is what gave you a country for which you can even have such an opinion. That is the truth of this America you love so much, even if you hate the stolen Black bodies that birthed it and, to this day, hold it up.

My Blackness, quite literally, historically verified, built this country. America would not be what it is today, if not for the slave labor my ancestors put forth. That's a truth. My Blackness, quite recently, saved this country. The fact that we came out in droves last November, historically numbers, across the nation, to vote out a would-be Fascist while a whole ass third of this country was okay with becoming the next Reich, is truth. We are the Super-Soldiers of this country, always have been, even if that makes you uncomfortable. Even if you don't want to acknowledge it. Even if you never recognize it. Everything you flag wave and tikki torch about, is a thing because of my Blackness. Because of my Black family. Because of my Black blood, sweat, and tears. We are the superheroes of this nation, which you do not deserve. But we are here, holding the line, since we were stolen from our homes some 400 years ago, defending this country that we built up from nothing.

We are Captain America.