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scifigeneration · 6 months

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An X-Files expert on the show’s enduring appeal – 30 years on

by Bethan Jones, Research Associate at the University of York

On September 10 1993 the pilot episode of The X-Files aired. Thirty years later to the day, I was at a convention centre in Minneapolis with 500 other fans and the show’s creator, Chris Carter, celebrating its legacy.

Ostensibly a show about aliens, The X-Files swiftly became part of the cultural lexicon and remains there to this day. In part its success was down to the chemistry of its two leads – David Duchovny, who played FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson, who played FBI Special Agent Dana Scully. After all, it was the X-Files fandom that invented the term “shipping” (rooting for characters to get together romantically).

But, as I argue in my new book, The Truth Is Still Out There: Thirty Years of The X-Files, what really made the series successful was its ability to tap into contemporary cultural moments and ask us to really think about the times we’re living in.

When the series began in 1993, the US was still grappling with the effects of Watergate and the Vietnam war, but concerns were also rising about the approaching millennium and the economic and cultural divisions within US society. It also coincided with Bill Clinton becoming president – marking the end of more than a decade of Republican leadership.

It’s little surprise that fears about immigration, globalisation, national identity and technology emerged and were adopted – and sometimes foreshadowed – by The X-Files’ writers. Several episodes throughout the first nine seasons dealt with artificial technology, for example, and Eve, an episode in season one about clones, came four years before the birth of Dolly the Sheep.

Critical theorist Douglas Kellner argued in 1994 that The X-Files “generated distrust toward established authority, representing institutions of government and the established order as highly flawed, even complicit in the worst crimes and evil imaginable”. Though I’d argue it was less that the show generated this distrust and more that it leveraged the growing number of reports about the government’s secretive activities to inspire its storylines.

As the public became more aware of the government’s role in – and surveillance of – public life, so too The X-Files considered the ways in which technology could be used as a means of control.

In the season three episode Wetwired, for example, a device attached to a telephone pole emits signals that tap into people’s paranoid delusions and lead them to kill. And in the season six episode, SR 819, a character’s circulatory system fails because he has been infected with nanotechnology controlled by a remote device belonging to a shadow government.

These themes reflected growing concerns about government agencies using technology to both spy on and influence the public.

The X-Files’ enduring appeal

During my X-Files research, carried out with viewers after a revival was announced in 2015, it became clear that the show has remained part of the cultural lexicon. As one fan explained: “The cultural context of conspiracy theories has changed since the beginning of X-Files. Nowadays, every pseudoscience documentary uses similar soundtrack and narrative.”

Of course, the X-Files didn’t invent conspiracy theories, but as one of the show’s writers and producers, Jim Wong, points out, it did “tap into something that was more or less hidden in the beginning when we were doing it”.

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The focus on the rise of the alt-right, disinformation and fake news in seasons 10 and 11 seemed like a logical angle from which to approach the changing cultural context the revival came into. Carter and his co-writers dove straight in to what Guardian critic Mark Lawson calls “a new era of governmental paranoia and public scepticism”, fuelled by the 2008 financial crisis, the fall out of the war on terror and scores of political scandals.

Season 10 saw the introduction of a right-wing internet talk show host who argues that 9/11 was a “false flag operation” and that the mainstream liberal media lie to Americans about life, liberty and the right to bear arms. The parallels to conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck were obvious.

Carter’s incorporation of topics like surveillance, governments’ misuse of power and methods of social control meant that seasons ten and 11 were very much situated in the contemporary moment. This is perhaps most obvious in the season 11 episode, The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat, which deals with the disinformation of the Trump era head on. The episode’s protagonist, Dr. They, tells Mulder that “no one can tell the difference anymore between what’s real and what’s fake”.

While The X-Files’ search for the truth in the 1990s may have ultimately been a philosophical endeavour, in the 21st century it is a commentary on how emotion and belief can be more influential than objective facts.

Watching the show again while researching my book, I was struck by how it was dated predominantly by its lack of technology, rather than the ideas it expresses. In the second season episode Ascension, Mulder pulls a phone book off a shelf in his search for Scully – now we’d use Google. But in other aspects the show remains as relevant today as it was in the 1990s, encouraging us to think about the big questions relating to faith, authority and truth.

#science fiction and fantasy #science fiction #sci fi television #the x files #x files #sci fi tv #featured #Youtube

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stealingthings · 5 months

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The top shows that were cut too early and I would sell my soul to revive are, in no particular order:

Lockwood and co

The owl house

Agent Carter

Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency

Firefly (I haven't personally seen it but I know how passionate some of you are about it and I really want that for you)

#lockwood and co #save lockwood and co #the owl house #dirk gently #agent carter #firefly

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mulderscully · 1 year

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#txf #polls

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randomfoggytiger · 11 months

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Inbox being weird again, had to repost (sorry, anon!)

What are your thoughts on IWTB? It’s now on hulu and I am like 15 minutes in to a rewatch (I’ve watched FtF a truly offensive number of times but have only seen this once, when it first came out) and am absolutely incensed already. I’m having trouble making sense of their characters, they seem so OOC to me — even with the understanding that they are (possibly both) depressed and life on the run has really jaded and hardened them. Also its so weird to me that Amanda Peet reaches out to touch Mulders cheek bc he cut himself shaving? Just bizarre behavior all around!

It is a truly bizarre movie. I've not seen it; but I have done extensive research on it, if that makes sense. I think it can be summed up by this one Tumblr post I saw (and lost, someone help me find it!) that noted Mulder requested a helicopter for himself and Scully to, essentially, walk a few street blocks to the next location. Because CC wanted a helicopter in his movie and he was going to get it, somehow, someway.

Below is a tragically long post filled with article links for more enjoyment~.

(**Note**: Will edit this post later, brb.)

TLDR: A movie/tv series worth its salt is well-written, end of story. It doesn't matter how excellent or in-character the themes or motifs or etc. are if the characters are badly written or act out-of-turn. You cannot have a god-tier theme about fighting back the Darkness and seeking for the Truth if at every opportunity the characters themselves reject the message continually in ways that make no sense, especially when they have a history of stellar characterization and well-thought-out opinions and actions. This movie is a prime example of that.

There are numerous blogs here that have already (rightfully) griped about IWTB, so I won't go into plot nonsense or whatnot. But I DO have interviews that show how roughshod the movie making process was before it even hit theatres, so....

I first heard about IWTB's flaws peripherally through this article (that trashes the Revival, highly recommend. Written by a CC fan, too, so it's not a bash-sesh against the Creator.) It spoke endearingly-ish about IWTB, believing it to be more in-character than the Revival (yup.... unfortunately.) Then I started perusing fan opinions... and everyone pretty much agreed it was awful in most parts and shippy in others.

TBH, shippy doesn't mean squat to me. Maybe it's how I'm wired, but I was drawn to The X-Files because the romance is so unspoken with very light kisses. I 100% get Chris Carter's restraint perspective; but I also get the fans' perspective, that it's gone too far to ignore or take back. An example: the movie sets up a "gasp, really??" mystery that Scully is a doctor with a life separate from Mulder, driving over to him to try to get him involved in the FBI manhunt. It's taken back almost immediately when Mulder later springs up beside her in bed, but it's those little touches that start to confuse the message. And then throw in Scully insisting Mulder join the chase while Gillian Anderson acted her completely opposite to what she was saying and you start to see the mess unravel. Then Mulder tosses aside his loyalty to Scully-- something that is KEY to his character, having formerly left his life's work for her and even left his newborn son when she told him to-- to chase the very monsters she begged him to chase but is now begging him not to. There is no reason given other than "It's who I am", which is NOT who Mulder is: he is a man willing to sacrifice who he is and what makes him tick over and over for Scully's sake. This not only breaks his character in-movie, it nullifies all his actions and choices in the original series, stripping them of their consequences and weight.

The movie, I believe, was supposed to be about Mulder and Scully scrabbling against the Darkness while also lost in confusion: they're together but Scully feels threatened by Agent Whitney, Mulder no's the case before getting wrapped up into it, Scully supports then withdraws her support (and LEAVES??), both rely on the word of a pedophile priest (a similar alliance to Luthor Lee Boggs but creepier and less redeemable... and even Boggs wasn't redeemed), and finally Scully casts aside her doubts to get back in the saddle and save Mulder. It seems a compelling story, no? ...No.

An example of the "confusion" theme of the plot: When Mulder meets up with the other agents to discuss terms (I suppose), the camera briefly pans to random people walking past him in the hallway-- one of them is the actress who played his little sister in the OG series; and the camera makes it a point for Mulder to notice that fact... but so briefly and quickly it never made an impression on him permanently, a.k.a. a seeming callback. BUT when Scully yells at him (before? after? I dunno) about always looking for his sister, this is the scene that was supposed to back her up? In which case: dude, we all saw the Samantha Agent. She did, indeed, look like Samantha; and she had NOTHING to do with this case. The only explanation Scully had for her tasteless remark was that she thought Mulder was full-on delusional or so stubborn he was projecting his own demons onto this case. Y'know... the case he didn't want and only got more involved in to SAVE LIVES. In which case, it doesn't fit with the themes of the movie at all: Mulder was right here, Scully was wrong; but the movie stated that SCULLY was right, or at least half-right, and Mulder was at least half-wrong. It's all nonsense.

The dialogue is atrocious. Absolutely appalling. Which makes sense to an extent: CC and Spotnitz had this movie written out right after the series ended as an attempt to gain back the studio's attention. No such luck; and when FOX was finally interested to make more money, the script notes were accidentally lost; so CC and Frank blitzkrieged up a final draft in just a few weeks (very not good.) This and this article breaks down how Spotnitz (in his own words) watched CC battle FOX from the sidelines for the movie, then scramble with him to complete a draft in time for filming; and it explains (but doesn't justify) the stilted dialogue, horrendous pacing issues, and disjointed theme. To summarize:

""Frank Spotnitz: ...The pressure in television is incredible because you’ve got to keep coming up with another script, another script, another script. The movie was completely different. We started work on the story in 2003, and then got derailed for four years by deal-making and the threat of a lawsuit. Then when we returned to it in 2007, we’d lost our notes.

Lost your notes?

Frank Spotnitz: We’d put them on note cards to pitch the studio, and we couldn’t locate them. At first, we were very unhappy, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We remembered what the case was about, but the emotional beats, the personal beats between Mulder and Scully, we had to start from scratch, and we had changed.""

Frank Spotnitz claims it was effortless to get back in their characters' heads; and, while that may be true, it was certainly not effortless to put them down on paper.

The messaging of the movie was so confusing that Mark Snow, the composer, didn't read all of it correctly (which is important for the person composing the score for each scene):

""Now the plot of I Want To Believe has characteristically remained a secret – I don’t suppose you can tell us anything about what we can expect from this film?

Well the interesting part was, when I read the script the first thing I got out of it was deep, dark complexity and I spoke to Chris Carter afterwards and he said ‘what do you think?’, I said ‘man, it’s so complex and dark and mysterious’, and he said ‘and it’s a love story with religious overtones…’ Okay! He said ‘just keep that in mind’ and you know I re-read it and I got what he meant, and then seeing the movie I certainly got what he meant. Besides the Mulder and Scully relationship there are some other very very emotional, intimate if you would, moments there that do add spiritual and religious weight to it....""

This article does well at picking apart the claims (some ludicrous) for and against the movie But, for time's sake, let's skip to the summary of the very sloppy (and downright goofy) climax of the movie:

""The biggest shortcoming may be that the case is solved by both Mulder and Scully independently and simultaneously, and thanks to coincidences on both their behalf. Mulder’s investigative skills lead him to the villain thanks to a simple visit to a local store; stem cell research for organ transplants and for curing Christian allow the two storylines to cross, but Scully having a revelation by finding the villain’s research on the internet through a non-related search draws the odds extremely. There is little actual investigation and the case is wrapped up too quickly. All those are little things — but they pile up to too much.""

Both the actors had "notes" and "questions" (read here) about their characters when they first got the script, with Gillian Anderson admitting how hard it was to find her character (post here)--

""Gillian Anderson: I had a similar experience. This feels so weird. Summertime. I didn’t have all the running around that David had to do, but I did have my own unfortunate beginning which was starting with one of the most difficult scenes for Scully in the film where it’s later on in the script and she goes through a range of emotions in confronting Billy Connolly’s character. I just had a really time for those first couple of days that that scene was. I had a really hard time just finding her, finding her voice. I think I must’ve gone through ten other characters in the process of trying to get to her when I had assumed that I would be able to show up on the first day and it would just be there. It wasn’t until I think day three when we got to work together, not just necessarily in a familiar environment which it really wasn’t, but in the environment of each other and the relationship and that it kind of felt natural and familiar and I felt like I’d landed this time."" --

but it was David Duchovny who was surprisingly the most honest to the press about his (measured) thoughts, as he's usually the most reticent. He always wanted to do a movie series, liking the scope and freedom it would give him with acting and scheduling; but he mentioned, once or twice, that he wished IWTB had been a bigger action film in the vein of FTF. Further, he admits to an interviewer about his thoughts and his (slight) dissatisfaction with Mulder's out-of-character element here:

""Since The X-Files: I Want to Believe may not have been the huge blockbuster that everyone was hoping for, we’d like to know: What is your own measure of success for the movie?

Duchovny: I guess it’s always the first time I see the movie. What’s my feeling when I come out? I always felt like the subject matter of this particular movie was limiting. It was dark, and it wasn’t going....

I’ve only seen it one time, and I was sitting in Chris’ editing room. I watched it on a little screen. I guess I missed the chance to see it on the big screen, and that’s too bad, but when I left that initial screening at Chris’ house, the film was pretty much almost done except for some special effects. I just felt like it was really strong and kind of a strangely moving piece of work. Still dark, and still, I thought, limited, but the way that the movie performed did not surprise me so much, and I think that if we do get a chance to do another one … what I always really liked about the show was that it had a dark vision, but at the heart of it being driven by Mulder was this real optimism or wonder or sense of belief, and then it would kind of open out. Most of the best shows that we did would open out into real wonder at the end, if only because you didn’t have an answer, which was the mystery of it, but the wonder.

Mulder’s quest, to me, is a very positive one. If we get a chance to do another one, I think because in this movie Mulder kept getting reinvigorated, Mulder was in a down place for much of this film; he wasn’t driving the way he drives, the way he drove everything before that. In a way, the nature of how we had to get back into the show, which was to take the guy out of his job, also deprived the movie of some optimism and wonder and enlightenment that occurs when you’ve got this unhinged guy trying to prove wonderful crazy things.""

And while DD defended IWTB's box office failings as having to compete against Batman, one of the previous articles I linked had the savvy to tackle that reason and debunk it:

""The defenders of IWTB will endlessly complain about the budget (but look at what a feast Darren Aronofsky did with $35 million: “The Fountain” (2006)), the fact that it’s low-key ‘intellectual’ and not blockbuster-like (so is “There Will Be Blood” (2007), $25 million, and countless other generally agreed upon masterpieces), the lousy promotion (but look at what good word of mouth can do with a movie few believed in in the beginning: “The Matrix” (1999), $65 million), the unforseen success of “The Dark Knight” as competition (hardly an argument) or trends in selfish cinema critics (as if a bad reception is the sole result of a conspiracy).

However what will remain in history is not the whys and hows but the what: the final product itself. And the truth is that if IWTB featured characters other than Mulder and Scully, this would be a not very memorable movie.""

Needless to say: the entire movie's a mess, and it's down to the roots. While beautiful visually and musically-- all the reviews and cast and crew had nothing to say against that-- the characters and the script and the plot were a horrible mishmash that highlighted its weaknesses and smashed down its strengths.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble; and sorry if this didn't do what you needed! But you did inspire me to find all the old angry IWTB discussions/posts on Tumblr (archive hopping, heheheh) and put them all in one place. So, look forward to that sometime in the future, I suppose~!

Disclaimers: I do not like canon after S8; and that's only because they get a happy ending and, even though it has garbage canon decisions, the characters were able to save most of it and forget the rest. But I will treat IWTB as its own thing devoid of my personal opinion.

#asks #txf #IWTB #thoughts #thank you for sending an ask!#I wanted to take the time to provide scope and scale #I despiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise IWTB #because it's beautiful and pretty #and so so broken #it's really only “nice” in the shippy moments #because it's just Mulder and Scully banter #but when the plot kicks in they become weird aliens #analysis #mine #meta

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crash476 · 1 year

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Conspiracies and the Problem of Peggy Carter

I bounced really hard off the Captain Carter version of Peggy Carter. For me, it felt like the triumph of her style over any quality she had as a character. I’ve spoken about this before, but I think giving Peggy dementia robbed her of her voice, unable to speak to her past, and thus providing a blank canvas for the writer and audience to use with as they will.

My biggest critique of Peggy’s fans have been this sense that they love her aesthetic and the platitudes over the substance of the character. She became 2010s girlboss. The Agent Carter series did provide the potential to further explore her as a character. It could give her a past pre-dating Steve, show the history of SHIELD, show her as a leader, and delve into the moral complexities of the MCU intelligence side. But that never happened. The show was canceled after two seasons and all we had left was a very marketable aesthetic.

We have some vague notions of what she did during her time as director of SHIELD, but nothing substantial. Then Endgame happened, Chris Evans left for other projects, and the Russos, Markus and McFeely seemed to have scrambled for a way to write out Steve. Steve’s exit seemed like an afterthought at best. As a consequence, whatever lore Peggy had in the main MCU timeline got completely thrown out. This is because Steve Rogers is a heroic paragon and his designated love interest must be above reproach. She is little more than a sexy lamp and when Captain Carter got attention in the What If... series, well she’s even more marketable now!

The thing that gets me about Peggy’s haters is the level of reaching done to justify their dislike. I’ll get to some of my critiques on how Disney/Marvel Studios handle the espionage side of the MCU (not well). But stay with me here. I need to do some comic book history.

The MCU Peggy Carter is an amalgamation of a number of love interests Steve’s had over his publication run. Earth-616 Peggy is a retcon love interest. She was introduced in 1966 after Steve’s book was essentially rebooted. Captain America was popular during WWII, but the initial post-war years weren’t kind to superhero comics. Atlas Comics (who later rebranded as Marvel Comics in 1961) tried to rebrand Steve from a Nazi puncher to a Commie smasher that went over like a lead balloon. His book was canceled in 1954 and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revived Steve in 1964. They came up with the “on ice” backstory we saw in the TFA. The 50s Cap was explained as having been a succession of other characters acting as Steve, such as Jeffrey Mace (Patriot), William Naslund (Spirit of ‘76), and most infamously by William Burnside.

Anyway, during the 50s, Bucky got shot and was replaced by Steve’s then girlfriend, Betsy Ross (then known as Betty and later goes by the code names Agent 13 and Golden Girl). She is THE original love interest and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published in December 1940, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. She basically did everything in the 40s comics that Peggy in the 60s (and the MCU by extension) was said to have done. The reason you’ve never heard of her is because of Betty Ross Banner - The Hulk’s main love interest. 40s Betsy got retconned into a relationship with Jeffrey Mace (one of the guys who was a retconned 50s Cap) and now lives in a retirement home.

Sharon and Peggy Carter get introduced in 1966. Sharon’s got a complicated story that we don’t have time to unpack so I’ll just say, Sharon is messy and that’s good. I think it’s good that she’s the Power Broker. Steve later dated glass-blower turned lawyer Bernie Rosenthal, who was introduced in 1980. He’s had an on/off relationship with former villainess Rachel Leighton, aka Diamondback (who was introduced in 1985). And there were romances with fellow super heroines like The Black Widow, Wasp, Rogue, and The Scarlet Witch.

Now we move onto the conspiracy theory Peggy Carter haters adore: Cynthia Glass.

Cynthia “Cindy” Glass was created in 1991 by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguir for The Adventures of Captain America #1 - #4. She had four total appearances before she was killed. There was apparently a guid book for the MCU where she was mentioned as an inspiration for MCU Peggy, but I’d like to see those receipts before I make a call on the veracity of the claim. But I can see why the Peggy haters claim her as the true inspiration of MCU Peggy. Cynthia kind of looks like Hayley Atwell (if you squint) and is revealed to be a Nazi double agent who gets shot.

Look, if you don’t like a character (and maybe their actor, too), it’s fine. Just don’t fuck with them and move on, don’t make up shit about a character being a secret Nazi when there’s no actual proof. And don’t say that Cynthia Glass was Cap’s first love when she was a clear retcon that completely contradicts previously established canon regarding Betsy Ross and Peggy Carter. Especially when anyone can look up the publication history. At most MCU Peggy kind of looks like Cynthia and met Steve just before he got the serum. The decision to keep Atwell’s brown hair could easily have come down to “she looks better as a brunette.” Film production decisions are often not that deep.

Peggy Carter was probably the most convenient love interest to adapt for TFA. She doesn’t have Betsy’s name problem. Sharon needs to be established as being Peggy’s niece to explain why they look so similar. You need to justify a face-turn for Rachel. And the only people who know about Cynthia Glass are those who read the original limited run she was in during the early 90s as it looks like it wasn’t collected into a trade paperback until 2018. Again, film production devisions are not often not that deep.

So now we get to my critiques of how Disney/Marvel Studios have handled Peggy and just the spy genre in general. Spy fiction can vary wildly in terms of tone and just how heroic the protagonist is, but generally the genre leans towards a cynical world view. This is fueled by the author’s own politics, and by their own experiences if they worked in intelligence themselves (ie: John le Carré and Graham Greene). The genre also borrows heavily from hardboiled detectives (think the works of Raymond Chandler) and film noir. In any case, the protagonist is, at best, an anti-hero and sometimes a terrible one. The nature of intelligence work requires moral compromises, both in and out of fiction. If you actually look into how that world operates, it’s honestly more like organized crime backed by a nation’s treasury and given the fig leaf of respectability because you’re “fighting for a cause.”

This runs headlong into the MCU retcons when it comes to Peggy. By making SHIELD older than originally implied and putting Peggy in charge during the early days, she now has a fuck ton of skeletons in her closet. The problem is that Disney will never produce anything that is critical of the US government or could be as cynical as the spy genre demands. Yes, there was Agents of SHIELD, but that show (and I say this with love) has more in common with NCIS than The Sandbaggers or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Disney is too scared of biting the hand that feeds. They’re scared of getting cut off from Pentagon money. This is Disney’s lone fear, and it shows how toothless The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was. They just come up to the edge of valid critic, actually showing how the empire works.

Bringing this back to the problem Peggy, because the Russos, Markus and McFeely needed her to be morally pure so she could be Steve’s perfect love interest. She can’t have a past, red on her ledger, or anything that puts her into a compromised position. It’s probably why Steve goes back to 1949 and gets with Peggy before SHIELD really starts. That way, Peggy hasn’t done anything wrong. The audience is asked to forget about Zola and the HYDRA infiltration (though it’s never explained what she knew when). The Bucky situation is a bit different, and the Cynthia Glass conspiracy requires you to forget that in universe the Winter Soldier is treated as an urban legend within the intelligence community. Natasha brings up in TWS that no one can agree if he’s real. Given the few crumbs we have on Peggy’s tenure as director of SHIELD, the most I’m willing to say is that she might have know that the Winter Soldier was real. But with hindsight, I think the HYDRA infiltration was pulled off badly.

Like if I had my way, the Peggy Steve meets after he’s unfrozen would be played by an older actress like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, or the late Diana Rigg. That way she can speak for herself in the present. If I had my way, Agent Carter would have lasted longer and Peggy would have become something along the lines of DC’s Amanda Waller mixed with Dench’s M with a dash of George Smiley’s moral grounding. We could get a more accurate understanding of Peggy and SHIELD and even if you still don’t like her, she’s still a character with actual depth. And maybe Captain Carter would just be a fun “what if...” and not a free mulligan.

Cause it really feels like Disney wants to wipe the slate clean and rewrite Peggy as a morally uncomplicated heroine who can be Steve’s un-problematic girlfriend.

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peggycarterbirthdaybash · 1 year

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Real talk!

Peggy's birthday is coming, and here's why you should join the event

1. In the last week I became an adult (I paid my taxes, applied for another degree, got a full time job, broke up with my boyfriend)

2. I don't know if it's just who I follow, but there's been a lot of Peggy slander on tiktok and Twitter. Writing things will counteract that.

3. Peggy's birthday is also the celebration of Easter this year, so if you are comfortable, boom there's a built in prompt.

Thank you, carry on

#peggy carter #marvel #agent carter #peggybirthdaybash #mcu #steggy #revive agent carter #cartson #peggysous #agent peggy carter

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ssk374 · 1 year

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JACK DANIEL'S

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@agentcarterbingo

Agent Carter Bingo 2022 Prompt: Autumn + Holidays Colour: I swear it's Orange and Yellow!!

Prompt: Library + Coffee

Colour: Blue

Pairing: Jack Thompson / Daniel Sousa

Here is the sixth and final piece I made for the bingo card. Do not ask me why a fall themed art for new year 😅, put the blame on the prompts😂...I just wanted to draw my favourite boys!!

As my first experiment with rain effects, I think it came out pretty cool (at least cool for a first timer).

I tried two versions of this art piece: one that was warm, and one that was cool. Only one of them has the rain effect (as I was lazy to add it to the other). I will take a break from posting after I post the warm palette and return with some White Collar, Vijay, and Marvel fanarts (probably dome DCTV stuff too!).

The bingo card series was fun. I hope y'all liked it too. <3

Love SSK374

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xalygatorx · 5 months

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Worthy (2015) | Chapter 6, "Lessons in Worth"

Disappearing sporadically in public spaces quickly becomes Cora Dempsey's least concerning problem when suddenly she captures the attention of the forming Avengers Initiative, the World Security Council, and Asgard's fallen prince all in one week. And the universe is only just getting started with her.

Worthy is a slow-burn SFW Marvelverse (films) romance between Loki and a female OC. For additional details on what canon is used, see the Prologue post.

Summary: Fury touches base with the higher-ups. Cora tries to get in touch with her abilities and better understand them under Loki’s guidance.

Pairing: Loki x Fem!OC

Warnings: Discussion of Cora’s past abusive relationship including physical and attempted sexual assault.

Word Count: 2.6k

Director Fury stepped into the conference room alone, his hands behind his back until he shifted one to the switchboard on the table. The window panes flickered before the view outside switched over to a connection screen, a dial of dots spinning steadily as he channeled the board and, consequently, their senior leader, Alexander Pierce.

While Fury knew that they would see eye to eye as they always had, especially on matters such as these, he wasn't looking forward to delivering the other bit of news: that there was a person out of their ranks who could wield the destructive alien-hammer and who was now a fugitive from their division.

He watched as the meeting timed in, three faces appearing in their own blue panels on the glass. Alexander's was the last to connect and he looked weary, as had most of them since the incident in New Mexico and the nationwide unease it had caused, but prepared to discuss what Fury and the Avengers Initiative had found out about the phenomena taking place.

"Director Fury, it's been a while," Alexander said calmly, smiling.

"That it has, sir. I've news to report on Operation Camo."

"Go ahead, Nick," he said with a nod, folding his hands in front of him and giving the SHIELD director his full attention.

"Agents Stark, Rogers, and Barton managed to locate the target again near Clarkdale two days ago."

"And was she brought in?" asked one of the other directors taking part in the conference. He'd only met her once, when Steve was revived and reintroduced into the modern world, but he soon remembered that her name was Agent Sharon Carter.

"Negative. The plan backfired just enough that she got away again."

"I thought you were enlisting the future Avengers."

"I did. Three of them there in person, one as on-location as he could be for the time being. Asgard's connection to our world is still broken and unreliable, according to Agent Coulson and Dr. Selvig."

"Good," the third agent on the screen said decidedly. Fury didn't recognize him.

"Director Fury, this is Richard Warren of the World Security Council. He came to meet with me and asked to sit in on our meeting, given the slight uproar Camo has caused in New York."

"Good to meet you, sir," Fury said with a brief inclination of his head.

Warren ignored his comment and continued with, "So you had Avenger candidates on the job and the target was still able to flee?"

"The difference between blowing someone up and capturing them is large," Fury said firmly. "If we want her to work with us, we need to work with her first and that's exactly what they were doing. As instructed."

When Warren had nothing to say to that, Alexander said, "So where is she now?"

"Her location is again unknown, but she can't hide forever."

"You said there was a lot to tell, Director Fury," Agent Carter intervened with an arched brow. "I don't think we've heard the 'lot' yet, have we?"

Fury paused, but only briefly. He'd rather not have spoken to Pierce about it in front of Carter or Warren, who simply weren't necessary for involvement, but he replied calmly, "Yes. Her power was already known, but she was also able to pick up Thor's hammer."

Alexander's eyes widened, half shocked and half impressed. "How?"

"We've yet to discover that. This was only found out at the tail-end of the mission. By all parties."

"She didn't seem to know she'd be able to lift it?" Agent Carter asked, interested.

"From what Tony and common sense tell me—both very separate parties—she didn't know she couldn't. She had no idea what it was because, well, why should she?" Fury looked at the council member, who wore a composed expression he knew meant some kind of shitstorm was on the rise.

Alexander nodded a few times before saying, "Right. Thank you for your report, Director Fury. Keep us updated."

"Will do, sir." And the connection ceased.

Fury glanced down from the glass panes which were once again large windows, pursing his lips slightly. He'd purposely neglected to tell them Steve and Clint's notion that she'd been taken rather than able to escape alone. It wasn't so much that he had a problem with splitting the truth to their superiors, but he wasn't looking forward to what further issues this ally or enemy might cause if they were right.

"I don't even know what caused it to happen those other times, so how am I supposed to trigger it now?"

Loki frowned down at her before muttering, "Stop talking and just try." He'd spent the rest of yesterday catching up on what was going on with the Tesseract, using Selvig's consciousness to get the information he truly desired. He could see it was starting to wear on the mortal a bit, but he couldn’t have cared less. He was a pawn and it would come time to put him into play soon enough.

Because he'd been gone the rest of the day, not showing up again until late that night after his human inmate was sound asleep on her makeshift cot, he'd figured today would suffice for the "practice" he'd suggested to her. She'd not been that keen on it—namely because he'd prodded her awake to get an early start, which she hadn't seemed fond of—but he kept his word when he could. For some reason, hearing her call herself a "freak" the night before had spurred him to do something.

"For some reason," he repeated in his head, a sardonic half smile working onto his face. Because you are a freak, yourself. At least to the home you believed you had.

Loki came back from his thoughts to look at the woman nearby, who had her hand up against her chin, her brow furrowed in concentration. So much so, her face was beginning to flush. Biting down a quiet laugh, Loki said, "You are thinking too much."

Cora glanced up at him, the crease between her brows easing as she responded, "Is that possible?"

He smirked down at her. "Very. Power is complex. It takes intelligence to dominate it, but emotion to fuel it. The trick is to get it brewing and then put on the reins."

"Why are you doing this anyway?" Cora asked with a tilt to her head.

Loki shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "You are of no use to me untaught."

Makes sense, actually, Cora admitted only to herself, though her expression was efficient in communicating her thoughts. "So. Emotions, huh?" She wasn't overly fond of that; she was one to barrel everything up inside and decompress when she knew she was alone. She'd only had a few truly sound times in her life and one had just gotten ripped away from her by the very power she was now trying to channel.

"Maybe based on what you felt in the other instances, your power acted on its own."

Cora pursed her lips, thinking back to those three occurrences. "I think I… I was afraid."

Loki acknowledged logically, "That would make sense for what your manifestation was."

"Then I'm just supposed to scare myself somehow?"

He sneered, his ivy eyes alight with mischief. "Care for some help?"

Cora glared at him and made an "x" with her slender fingers, backing away a few steps. "I can manage, thanks." He chuckled as she turned away and began thinking through her options. Her first attempt was a complete failure, as she'd tried to recreate nearly getting robbed in the subway terminal, but just the memory wasn't enough to even cause a flicker. Pursing her lips, she pulled out her phone and began scrolling through the apps until she found her photo gallery. She needed a fear stimulus.

She frowned when she shifted her weight and Mjolnir—which was tied by the leather cord to one of her belt loops—smacked her lightly in the leg. "Is it absolutely necessary to keep this on me?"

"Yes," Loki said simply, not elaborating until she asked him why. "If it is out of your reach, it might be recalled. I cannot say how well it would travel between realms, but I am not willing to risk it."

Cora rolled her eyes and went back to what she'd been doing, rapid-fire scrolling until she came to a set of pictures she'd never revisited to delete. The photo appeared happy, but she knew it wasn't—at least, not for her. It was of her and her ex, James, the one she'd seen in Central Park the first time her abilities had apparently decided to manifest.

"Who is that?"

She jumped and felt the familiar little whirr of energy in her bones and across her skin as she faded out of sight. As soon as she realized what had actually happened, her visibility returned and she gave a small breath of relief, though she still sounded on edge. "I thought I told you no helping…"

"I did not intend to," Loki replied, wondering how someone could be so easily startled. When she didn't say anything else, he nodded to her phone and again asked, "Who is that?"

"Me."

"And?"

"…James." Loki waited for her to explain, looking equal parts curious and disinterested, if that were possible. Not knowing if he'd understand the term "ex-boyfriend," she answered, "We were in a relationship once."

"Why aren't you any longer?"

"He didn't react well to things," she admitted, glancing down at the concrete floor.

His gaze turned wary. "How did he react?"

"He, um, hit me a few times. Not because I'd done anything, just, well...because I was there."

"Did he do anything else?" he asked straightforwardly though he now recognized she was speaking of abuse. A strange feeling of anger was working its way through him as he watched her pause and struggle to find the right words to answer him. Her conflict was so subdued, he had to struggle to simply see it.

"He tried. Once."

Loki clenched his jaw. "And?"

Cora thought about that, considerately noting with a lingering tone of sadness, "…I suppose that was the first time power 'manifested' for me. He was twice my size and I threw him into a wall…"

"Well done." Cora looked at him in a bit of surprise, but he was perfectly serious. "Though I can not imagine you allowing someone to treat you so indignantly."

"I did though. For longer than I should have," she said embarrassedly. "I think everyone does at some point in their lives. And then you grow from it."

A silence passed between them before she suddenly diverted their little practice session. She put away her phone and suggested, "I don't seem to be doing very well at this, so maybe we could work on this instead? You said it could do other things," as she took Mjolnir from her hip.

Loki was a bit relieved at the topic change and said, "Yes. As I said, it can be recalled and Thor used it to bombard enemies with lightning, cause it to rain, and fly."

"He could fly with this?" she asked incredulously.

"He can, but I would not recommend you trying it. You would hurt yourself." He was only half-teasing.

Cora glowered at him before looking over the hammer, trying to figure out how to use it. "Well, basics first, I guess… How do I call it back?"

"Throw it. Hard." Cora gave it a good throw, hearing Loki say behind her, "Now bring it back to you." She had no idea how to do that and the hammer fell to the floor, dust rising up around it.

"That was the worst explanation ever," Cora noted as she looked over her shoulder at him.

He tried not to laugh at her and only just managed not to before suggesting she pick it up and try again. "Be one with it. Treat it as a mere extension of your arm."

Cora took a deep breath after picking up the hammer before hurling it forward again. With all her might and spirit, she willed it back to her. Her hand shot forward of its own instinctual accord and Mjolnir paused in mid air, switching direction and coming back to her, its handle aimed toward the curvature of her palm. She caught it, but the force sent her backward. She braced herself to hit the floor, but she felt two large hands against her back instead, stopping her fall.

She glanced up into Loki's face, feeling a bit sheepish, but strangely frozen, too. Not from the temperature of his hands—though they were cold through her shirt—but from locking eyes with him. That stillness was only dissolved when he murmured, "Perhaps you should use a little less concentration next time."

"I'm thinking too much again?"

Loki smiled and the expression was strangely kind. "Exactly."

Later that night, they were snacking on bagels again. They had quit around an hour after her little mishap with recalling Mjolnir successfully for the first time and, after that, she'd worked on using just the right amount of willpower to bring it back without sending her onto her backside—which had happened a couple of times. It made her feel better to know she was capable of that little trick now, just in case it wasn't by her side when she needed it, though Loki seemed hellbent on keeping it tethered to her at all times.

Cora looked over the weapon with renewed interest and a good sense of accomplishment. She'd not succeeded at what they'd set out to do today, but she'd been able to do something correctly at least. She thought back to what he'd said about the lightning and wondered if she could just use a little of that energy to make a light source. The use of her phone was causing its battery to wear out faster and she'd tried every light-switch in the old warehouse as evening had fallen the night before to no avail; they were all dead bulbs.

Loki had finished his "dinner"—if there was one thing he missed about Asgard, it was the food; bagels were getting a bit monotonous—and watched Cora out of the corner of his eye as she fiddled with Mjolnir, seeming to be attempting something with it. His eyes widened marginally when there seemed to be a spark of energy from inside the head of the hammer. He wondered if he'd simply seen a trick of the minimal light in the room until the spark grew more pronounced. "Careful, what are you—"

"Shh, hold on," she whispered, her eyes trained intently on the engraved spoke and not moving until a soft blue glow spread throughout the steel, radiating forth from the symbols in particular. There was a faint play of static around the edges, but it set forth enough light to outline the immediate area in a soft electric glow.

Cora smiled broadly, feeling accomplished and entirely unaware of Loki's gaze, now fixed upon her and his brother's weapon. His brow beetled subtly—he'd never imagined that Mjolnir could be used in a way that didn't edge toward violence. He'd gone with Thor into many a fight in their time as brothers and seen the destruction that hammer had caused to their foes. And yet here was this human woman opposite him, encouraging its power to show in a gentle way that made it more of a nightlight than a weapon. She was in control.

His teeth clenched faintly as he pondered that. This mortal could do what he couldn't. As the light grew and then slowly faded from the dwarf-forged steel in her hands, a dangerous envy began to brew anew in his heart.

Next chapter: Chapter 7, "Powerless"

#loki laufeyson #loki x fem!oc #loki x oc #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki fluff #thor odinson #thor movies #thor the dark world #avengers #marvel cinematic universe #angst with a happy ending #slow burn

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blackcharactertournament · 1 year

Text

Black Character Tournament: Left Side!

adding a post break to make this more rebloggable

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Chidi Anagonye | The Good Place vs Bow | She-Ra & the Princesses of Power

Marina Ida | Splatoon vs Youngblood Ra | Roleslaying with Roman

Barret Wallace | Final Fantasy VII vs Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Lucas Sinclair | Stranger Things vs Gus Porte | The Owl House

Carole Stanley | Carole and Tuesday vs Garnet | Steven Universe

Aisha/Layla | Winx Club vs Carter Kane and Sadie Kane | The Kane Chronicles

Martha Jones | Doctor Who vs Death | Sandman (TV)

Finn | Star Wars vs Oluwande Boodhari | Our Flag Means Death

Leshawna | Total Drama vs Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog

Jodie Landon | Daria vs Helen Brand | Glass Onion

Wolf | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts vs Benson | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Mike Hanlon | IT (Steven King) vs Burton Guster | Psych

Flow | Roleslaying With Roman vs Nasuada | Inheritance Cycle/Eragon Trilogy

Jordan Hennessey | Dreamer Trilogy vs Ava Coleman | Abbott Elementary

Duke Thomas | DC Comics vs Mel Medarda | Arcane

Molly Blyndeff | Epithet Erased vs Michael Burnham | Star Trek Discovery

Neena Thurman (Domino) | Marvel comics / Deadpool 2 vs Nyota Uhura | Star Trek The Original Series

Gregory Eddie | Abbott Elementary vs Kipo Oak | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Elena Amamiya | Star Twinkle Precure vs Simon Aumar | Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Karli Morgenthau | MCU: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier vs Enfys Nest | Star Wars: A Solo Story

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow | DC Comics vs Myla | One Last Stop

Winston Bishop | New Girl vs Khalil Harris | The Hate U Give

T'Challa | Black Panther vs Dr. Charlotte | Falsettos (Revival)

Gigi Thompson | Inside Job vs Isaiah | One Last Stop

Ivan Taylor | The Wilds vs Nathan Byrne | The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself

Miranda Bailey | Grey's Anatomy vs Essun | Broken Earth Trilogy

Agent 355 | Y : The Last Man vs Audacious Opportunity (A.O.) Rooke | Friends at the Table (Partizan)

OJ Haywood | Nope 2022 vs Nubia | Wonder Woman

Mr Nancy | American Gods vs Storm | X Men

Ambrose Spellman | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina vs Louis | The Walking Dead Game

Angela Moore | Boy Meets World vs Hilary Banks | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Junko Saotome | Nana vs Wes Gibbins | How to Get Away with Murder

Turk | Scrubs vs Wallace Fennel | Veronica Mars

Frozone | The Incredibles vs Kendra Young | Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Joelle Brooks | Dear White People vs Sans | Undertale

Anissa Pierce/Thunder | Black Lightning vs Koriand'r/Starfire | Titans (DC TV show)

Andre Harris | Victorious vs Sara | Over the Garden Wall

Samol | Friends at the Table vs Taion | Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Emerald Haywood | Nope (2022) vs Genly Ai | The Left Hand of Darkness

Sarah Miller | The Last of Us (TV) vs Pinkie Pie | My Little Pony

Muhammed Avdol | Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure vs Dr Foreman | House MD

Efi Oladele | Overwatch vs Jason Hauer | We only find them when they are dead

Bram Greenfeld | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda / Love, Simon vs Zélie Adebola | Children of Blood and Bone

Nick Fury | Marvel vs Sam Wilson | MCU

Uniqua | The Backyardigans vs Alexx Woods | CSI Miami

Rue | Euphoria vs Bill Potts | Doctor Who

Nadine Ross | Uncharted series vs Jalil Sherman | Everworld

Baal (Valentine) | The Wicked + the Divine vs Jamal Saturday | Locke and Key (comics)

#black character tournament #poll tournament

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