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puhpandas · 9 months

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Vivid Phantasm

(2,408 words)

Vanessa has a bad and vivid nightmare. Gregory helps her calm down when she wakes up.

(warnings: mentions of innards being outards, blood, gore, descriptions matching a zombie, panicking, unreality, mentions of death, corpses, maggots, etc. please be careful and take care!)

This morning feels off.

It's the same as any other morning, is the thing. Daylight is shining through the small window in her apartments kitchen, the TV has some Halloween baking show on that she can hear playing behind the island window, and Gregory is pouring an abundance of sugary cereal in a bowl even though breakfast is being cooked, like always.

Save for the fact that Vanessa's the one sitting at the table, instead of being at the stove cooking breakfast. Freddy took over that burden for her, if his hulking frame clutching a spatula and the smell of bacon and eggs is any indication.

She would feel grateful, that Freddy decided to use his steadily growing cooking skills to give her a peaceful beginning of the weekend. But the thing is, she cant remember waking up that morning. She cant remember getting out of bed, or having her morning cup of coffee, or Freddy taking over for her at the stove.

No, she shakes the thought away as soon as it enters her mind. Vanny is gone. For good. She isn't coming back.

Despite her own reassurance shooing away the paranoia (it's her old friend at this point), the feeling that somethings off continues to linger. It's like the very air is suffocating, feeling wrong against her skin.

Gregory finally sits across from her at the table, and despite his full bowl of lucky charms, she can't find it in herself to reprimand him. The feeling of wrongness is too strong.

So she just defaults to the question she asks every Saturday morning, and ignores the swimming uncomfortableness in her stomach.

"So," She begins uncertainly, fingers drumming on the dining table. "how has school been?"

Gregory doesn't respond. All he does is leave his bowl of cereal untouched and stare at her.

The wrongness washes over her, a sense of dread crawling under her skin. She shifts uncomfortably, eyes wandering across the kitchen just so she doesnt meet Gregory's eyes.

Her breathing picks up when she notices small oddities; Gregory's drawings on the fridge are muddled, like if she'd imagined them and couldn't paint the full picture. The cat clock that normally sits on the wall next to the fridge is completely missing. Freddys body looks like his old, company manufactured shiny one, no homemade mismatched casing or scrapes and scratches to be found.

She tries to lower her heartrate, taking deep breaths to stay calm in front of Gregory. She repeats her usual reassurances in her head, but the scenario that none of this is real, but more like a pale recreation of what she does know lingers in the back of her mind.

Gregory, who's been so still this whole time, suddenly begins to laugh. Vanessa startles, the sound that normally brings her joy just making her feel unsettled.

When she looks over at him, hes grinning, so wide his cheeks could crack, and he's cackling, like she just said the funniest thing in the world. His eyes bore into hers, looking so unlike the Gregory she knows.

It echoes in the suddenly silent room. She can't hear the TV anymore, and the sound of frying bacon is completely absent.

She trembles under his gaze, her heart in her throat. She swallows, feeling sickness coat the back of her throat. "...Gregory?"

The smile is off of his face immediately, faster than she could blink, and all shes left with is him boring into her with a blank expression. "You really think this isn't real?"

Vanessa goes rigid, because it's almost like Gregory read her very thoughts. "Um..."

Gregory's empty eyes stare right into hers, and she feels like hes looking into her very soul, judging her. "I bet you want it to be. I bet you want the things you did to just be a bad dream."

Vanessa feels nausea curl in her stomach when Freddys head is suddenly flipped backwards, staring at her with the same lifeless eyes as Gregory. Gregory cackles again, but when Vanessa looks over at him, he's still completely stoic.

"The things I did?" The question leaves her mouth without her permission. Her back aches when the wood digs into it as she tries to lean back as far as she can. Away from Gregory.

"You killed me." Gregory tells her, an edge to his voice. "I'm dead. I'm not really here."

Vanessa freezes, her body trembling so hard her shoulders shake. "What?" She whispers.

"You killed me." He repeats, eyes dark and devoid of any life. Theres zero shine to them, like hes just a copy. A cruel figment. "I havent been here in a long time. I died in that room, Vanessa. You killed me."

Vanessa shakes her head, and despite her wobbly knees, she stands abruptly and sends her chair squealing against the floor. "No..." She backs up, shaking her head almost deliriously. "No--

"I was trying to save you." Gregory stands himself, movements unnatural and rigid, and Vanessa feels her heartrate spike and her stomach drop when Gregory begins to stalk towards her.

"I was so close." Gregory says, blood seeping from his mouth and dribbling down his chin. The very same slice she remembers making on his face as Vanny, the one she always used as an anchor, a sign of hope that it was all over re-opens, blood leaking sluggishly out of it. "But you stopped me. You stopped me from freeing you."

Vanessa shakes her head, eyes blown wide. No. She remembers him saving her, the way she dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. The way he'd looked at her and smiled, and for some reason, forgave her for everything at that very moment. This isnt right.

"You stopped me." Gregory repeats, and hes suddenly in his old blue polo, rips and tears near his stomach. She feels sickness crawl its way up her throat when a dark spot appears in the same place, and the blood from his mouth dirties his collar. He takes another step. "Because you didnt want me to."

"No." She squeezes her eyes shut, back hitting the wall. She slides pitifully down the wall, knees giving in. "No... I-I never wanted to--"

"You wanted me to die." He says, anger lacing his tone. He takes another step. "You wanted to stop me. So you could continue killing."

"I didnt..." She mumbles, tears slipping past her eyelashes. She sits on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest and arms shielding her from the world. "I dont... I dont. I dont want to."

"You still believe that?" Gregory demands, with a kind of anger and hatred that shes never heard from him before. "I'm dead! I'm dead because you killed me Vanessa!"

"No..." She sobs, daring to peek at him, just so he can see her and know she didnt mean it. She doesnt want to. "I'm-- Im sorry--!"

She regrets it as soon as she sets eyes on him. Gregory's shadow looms over her, shirt half ripped and his intestines flopping out of his stomach, his eyes are wide and bug-eyed, like theyre supposed to be unseeing, but arent. Blood is smeared across his face, on his chin, under his fingernails, and she can see it trail after him on the floor.

"You did this to me." He says, voice sounding so unlike himself. Like hes a different person. "I hate you. Vanessa. I hate you!"

Vanessa sobs, cowering in the corner of the room and shielding herself. "No! I'm sorry!"

She can feel something grip her on her arm, an iron grip that sends waves of pain down her forearm. She cries out, and feels the color drain from her face when she follows the hand grabbing her to its owners face.

Gregory stands over her, slouched over with his face staring directly at hers. His skin is a horrible sickly pale green, with eyes and teeth a rotted yellow. Dried blood is caked around his mouth, and his cheeks are sunken in, with maggots crawling out of open wounds in his skin.

"I'm dead, and you're still pretending." He whispers, but it sounds so loud in the silence. She trembles when his bones crack as he rolls his neck unnaturally. "You'll never escape, Vanessa."

All Vanessa can do is cry. She buries her face in her knees, desperately begging for her to wake up from this awful nightmare. Gregory cackles above her, a demonic, horrible thing.

"Vanessa!" He yells, grip tightening. "Vanessa, wake up!"

"Vanessa!" Theres another grip on her shoulder, and she shoots awake, eyes flying open as she gasps for air.

Gregory winds backwards, narrowly avoiding getting headbutted. "Woah!" Gregory cries out. "Vanessa, hey-- calm down!"

Vanessas eyes dart around, desperately scanning the room for a decaying body, or straining her ears for laughing, but theres none. She takes deep breaths, and only after she has her breathing under control a little more does she realize she was matching Gregorys.

Gregory.

"You okay?" He asks when she finally looks at him. Her heartrate spikes again when all she can see is the shadows of his face -courtesy of her blackout curtains-. All she can see when she scans over him is blood leaking from his mouth, or holes in his skin with the writhing of maggots, or dirty fingernails that show evidence of a fight.

Gregory seems to notice, he always does somehow, so he throws the curtains aside, almost ripping them off the wall with how intense he rips them open. He clicks on the light, and only then does he return to her side and settle on the foot of her bed.

Shes still breathing erratically, and horrible anxiety is eating away at her stomach. Her shoulders are hunched and her heart is going ten miles an hour.

She revels in the sight of Gregory okay, alive, and concerned. No trace of the anger and hatred pinching his face. His eyes look just how she remembers them, big and alive, but her eyes lock onto the scar when she sees it. Its fully healed at this point, just a thin line across his face, but it stills brings her more comfort than anything else.

Gregory saved her. She soaks in the thought, the reality. Hes alive. He survived her. He's okay and hes the reason shes okay, too.

She tries to unwind her tense joints, sinking into her sweaty pillow as her shoulders still tremble. Gregory's concerned look is the last thing she sees before she shuts her eyes, trying to relax her body.

Images of intestines dripping blood on the floor, lifeless eyes boring into hers, accusing stares, and decaying faces flash behind her eyes.

Nope. She rips her eyes open just as fast as she closed them, rubbing at them one at a time as if she can scrub the visions away.

"Nightmare?" Gregory asks her, startling her. She just sighs and nods, sticking her clammy hands under her comforter. She averts her eyes, even if she shouldn't, because she doesn't want to see lifeless, bugged out eyes and red stained teeth when she looks at him.

"Scale from one to ten?" Gregory puts a hand on where he thinks her knee is under the blanket. It's a question they ask eachother a lot, when they both have nightmares. None of them like reliving the memories, so this way, they can know how bad it is without having to talk about it.

This dream, no, nightmare is one she really doesn't want to talk about, so she just sighs shakily, and with a still hammering heart, says "Eight."

Gregory whistles low and long. "That's pretty bad."

Vanessa nods, and despite herself, tears slip out of her eyes. She tries to cover them up with her hands, but Gregory just takes them in his.

"Nope. None of that." He says. "Can you look at me, Ness?"

Vanessa doesn't want to. Lest she see a face pinched with hatred boring into her, but she still does. And instead of what she was fearing, Gregory's understanding, concerned, kind face is looking back at her. No malice detected.

"Whatever you dreamed about," He starts. "Its not true. You weren't the one to kill those people, it was him. You never killed me, either. I'm right here, and I forgive you. Me and Freddy both do, okay?"

Vanessa dares to nod, soaking up the reassurance like a sponge. The idea, no, reality that Gregory doesn't hate her, that hes okay and alive is so overwhelming, her shoulders sag and she breaths out a long, deep exhale.

She takes one more long glance at his scar, and nods more surely this time. "Okay." She sighs. "Okay."

"Cool." Gregory smiles, and it's nothing like the lifeless, uncanny grin nightmare Gregory had pointed at her. This is Gregorys smile. The crooked one that shows off his permanently missing front tooth. "I woke you up 'cause Freddy's cooking breakfast today and it's almost ready. He wanted to let you sleep in."

Vanessa's heart shoots to her throat at that, but it quickly calms, and she feels herself get clammy again. She tries to ignore it, relaxing her body and breathing deeply. "I think we should eat in the living room today."

Gregory lights up. "Can we watch YouTube?"

Unconsiously, a smile stretches across Vanessa's face. "Sure, kid. Anything you'd like."

"Cool." Gregory grins. He grabs her hand from under the covers, yanking her up with suprising strength. "C'mon then! The breakfast Freddy cooked for us is waiting!"

Vanessa laughs, and to her surprise, it comes easy. Some of the uneasiness melts off of her and dissipates from her stomach, and she scrambles to keep up with Gregory, not bothering to make the bed as he drags her to the kitchen. "Slow down! I'm coming! At least let me have some coffee first."

When they're sitting on the couch, Freddy next to Gregory and Gregory next to Vanessa, and they're sharing a throw blanket and they're chewing on slightly burnt bacon and runny eggs, and the video Gregory put on is surprisingly making Vanessa laugh, she smiles.

Because her kid is okay, and he doesn't hate her, and somehow, he did that thing where he somehow distracts her from her demons effortlessly. She can hear him laughing beside her. With her, and she smiles knowing how much her family loves her, and how much she loves them.

ao3 link

#oneshot #pandas writes #3 star fam #fnaf fic #gore warning #body horror #panic attack #nightmares #unreality #blood #blood and gore #gore #gregory #vanessa #freddy #fnaf #fnaf gregory #fnaf vanessa #fnaf security breach

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belle--ofthebrawl · 2 months

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Belle you keep teasing us with the hell on wheels au and I am here to beg most politely for some tiny crumbs. What is this treat you have cooking up for us in your big big brain????

Well...the explanation is very long but basically Augh Motorcycle Helmets Big Sexy.

So it's just Vibes at this point but grew into something more, especially after @miasmaghoul posted about mechanic Cirrus fucking Swiss. I adopted that immediately into what is now known as the Hell On Wheels Au, the barebones of which have been rattling around in my brain for about a year but exploded with thoughts quite recently.

The Ghouls are a Satanist Biker Gang that fully leans into the aesthetic, party at bars and get into fights but during the daytime? They rev their motorcycles and stand in court rooms as kids testify against their abusers. They work in partnership with local community support groups, have domestic violence flyers up in bathrooms, even have their own local version of an Angel Shot called a Devil Shot where one will pick you up from the bar if you've been roofied and takes you to the hospital while another hunts down the lowlife who did it and gives them a little talking to. Violence isn't usually involved since they have a reputation but they're fond of saying they never forget a face. Interpret that how you will.

This all evolved from a Vibes Based Daydream I had where Dew's bike broke down so he had to be Ifrit's backpack. And when they pull up at a red light, Ifrit's old chapter leader Alpha is there and he tells Dew "Killswitch him, it'll be payback for (something completely fucking made up)" EXCEPT when Dew hops off and turns the key to shut down the bike, the light turns green and Ifrit hollers something at Dew before popping a wheelie and racing away, leaving Dew to sweat nervously in the fish bowl distortion of his own reflection in the helmet glaring down at him.

"Get on." Alpha says gruffly and Dew seriously contemplates running before Alpha revs his bike again and growls "you run and you're fucking out." Because their whole thing is facing consequences, right?? So Dew's his passenger princess and Alpha takes him out of town on a backroad to a tall grassy knoll where Dew thinks he's going to be buried and parks his bike.

He meets the bookkeeper, a hulking retired boxer known in his glory days as Omega and they chat as Alpha looms threateningly in the background.

Notes: Swiss and Ifrit ride 1000cc sports bikes whereas I'm going for a more classical, solid build for Alpha. Or a chopper. Can't decide.

"This is all I have." I said to Miasma, but it proved to be a lie as my brain is forever a hamster running desperately on a wheel.

Swiss harasses the corrupt police force (defroque is the sheriff's son??) with Ifrit and Sunny, they do a lot of night rides with no plates and lead them in goose chases after triggering speed traps. Drop a gear and disappear, baby.

Aether does a lot of charity stuff and mostly works with local food banks to be a one man Meal on Wheels (ok...yup. get it out) for elderly and disabled folks. He dreams of owning a food truck with his buddy Mountain but right now he's happy to show up to court with a saddlebag of whatever he thinks that little tyke might appreciate or need.

Mountain is the son of a local cafe owner Terra, who was quite the hell raiser in her heyday but now is content to enjoy her retirement with her partners, Ivy (agoraphobic landscaper) and Pebble (weed dealer). He has a sidecar he brings Rain and Zephyr to work in. Rain's got a fruity little scarf.

Aeon as the new kid in town working two jobs to afford a bike of his own, Imperator as a lawyer/ex pinup model because learning is expensive. Copia is her assistant/son determined to make his mother proud but also can't help but wonder why exactly she chose to work in this distant town and what her relationship is to that decrepit old man sitting in the park, feeding the birds from his wheelchair and seems to know an odd amount of detail about a certain tricycle, hidden away in the depths of the shed. Copia doesn't like talking to him. Nihil knows too much and yet, can't remember anything at all.

Aurora is someone who prefers to pedal around town on her old mountain bike, vlogging her downright dangerous escapades that make seasoned motorcyclists sweat (motocross? BMX? She just likes her old bike. She does delivery for local restaurants and is a living legend in delivery times. Aeon's also into free running/parkour/skateboarding and they have a friendly...? competition over completion times.

Cirrus restores cars as a hobby and is a mechanic with Cumulus, who specializes in paint jobs on top handling the books and stock. Swiss loves it when she fucks him Amazon style on her prize restoration car (model make and year TBD) and he tells her about this little delivery biker who popped a forward wheelie on the other side of a red light, did something complicated that involved walking on her front wheel and stepping on the pedals before setting the bike frame easily back down and pedalling calmly past Swiss. Cirrus knows her of course, but Swiss hasn't earned that knowledge yet. Or his orgasm.

Sunny works in the shop too as an apprentice.

Cumulus likes to flirt with Mist, who owns the local dirt track. "As much as anyone can own a dirt field." Mist says. She's a water-skier, wheels aren't her preferred mode of speed.

The Emeritus family crossed over from Italy sometime in the last couple centuries. Ask anyone and they'll tell you where the real power in the city lies, with the unholy Trinity of the three offspring. But here, see, that's on the down low, see? One of them has to be Papa Emeritus, that enigmatic and rarely seen figure, who takes care of people who put their faith in him and that's more than the local priest ever does. Funny how that church building gets fancier and fancier every year while Mrs. Abernathy down the street can't even afford her medical bills. You know they're holding a fundraiser to build a heated hallway from the rectory to the church because Defroque slipped and fell on the ice last winter and now he's whining about needing a safe path to the building?

Be a real shame if something happened to all that money. Can you imagine Father Jim slipping every Sunday? Not that he's stable any other day of the week, mind you. I get the feeling, those prayers retreats of his....Mmm. but that's just gossip.

Ah well. You know, this is a quiet little town when all those bikers aren't revving their engines. But there's stories to be found in it, if you're willing to wait and be patient. Good things, and all that.

#Hmm... that's about everything. did i overshare? perhaps. will anything ever get written of this? maybe. but now it's out there.#and now you know.#you know im waffling back and forth on allowing reblogs for this...this is basically the Lore Bible #but who knows if everyone's stories will be told in a timely manner. so...i guess you can reblog it.#for now.

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ms-hells-bells · 2 years

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idk if you talked about this already but what are your thoughts on the she hulk twerk scene lol. it’s dumb to get super mad over it but I feel like people saying “it’s not for the male gaze!!” are being…myopic. like…close ups of her ass shaking is just “women having fun?” I feel like it also perpetuates this narrative that women need to act sexual around each other and claim it’s friendship. i don’t even watch the show but idk, kinda weird imo

wasn't it megan thee stallion that taught her in that scene?...bringing a famous black woman on, and that's a part of her cameo....twerking.....

and liberals and media missing the point and going 'she hulk doing so is in character, she's crazy in the comics!!'. first of all, perverted porn brained men wrote she hulk in the comics, which is why half the time she's randomly almost or completely naked. secondly, everyone is missing the actual issue. this is just sexualisation and objectification of women, getting them to do absurd shit male characters don't do, but because it's written by a woman, and 'reclaimed' as 'GURL POWER <3' then it's suddenly not misogynistic to have a woman who's a lawyer do a sexual dance (and cameo a black woman and have her twerk in one of her few scenes). not only that, but people are claiming that criticising the scene is racist, because 'twerking isn't sexual, it's a BLACK DANCE, so having an issue with megan's scene is racism'. scream.

it's not my place to blame megan specifically or hold any sort of feelings towards her in regards to the specifics of her career due to the fact that it is nearly impossible for black women to success in music and media unless they hypersexualise themselves, but the whole 'yas queen' atmosphere around it by the white director, majority white cast and crew, and majority white (it's a mediocre marvel show, you know this is true) audience feels....icky...like she's a spectacle or a circus exhibit. 'do the thing megan, do the twerking thing!'

i hope that makes sense :|

#'twerking's not sexual' DO YOU NOT SEE HER PERFORMANCES FOR ANY AWARDS SHOW SHE PERFORMS AT

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comicavalcade · 10 months

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Submariner Summer 34

Ay Namor Nation, this is a big one! #SubmarinerSummer part 34, and we are doing one of THE comics of all time, Tales To Astonish #100: Let There Be Battle! After sharing the title for dozens of issues, we finally get the Astonish crossover of Namor vs. Hulk. Behold the cover!

Stan Lee is scribing this one himself, and lets us know our sense will be shattered. The great Marie Severin on pencils and Adkins on inks, Sam Rosen lettering. Title page has our Prince contemplating Hulk as he falls into a predicament, thinking of making him an ally

Namor recaps his predicament, being banished from his people after being falsely believed a traitor (thanks to Plunderer, and a shitty screen). But since he's matchless in the sea, and Hulk is Strongest One There Is (on land), and they're both outcasts...well, the logic is clear

So off Namor goes to make an ally and make the surface pay. Things go smoothly right away (/s), as the second he surfaces, someone shoots at him. 'Merica. Turns out, old foe the Puppet Master was in the middle of a heist, and now Namor has spoiled it.

This throws Puppet Master into a rage, but he soon stumbles on an idea...since he can't strike at Namor directly, how about using *Hulk* against Namor? So, one radioactive puppet later, Hulk bursts out and is sent to destroy Namor! Namor's plan of alliance is now sunk

From here? Its game on, as Namor and Hulk descend into all out battle on Miami beach. Let me tell you, if you're unfamiliar with Marie Severin, she is absolutely one of the Silver Age great artists. This woman was highly underrated, and this ish a shining example

Excuse me if I gush, but the scenes deftly show the two fighters' power, their figures bold yet fluid with the motion in the panels easy to follow. And there's plenty of motion as Namor seeks to take the battle to the air, then the water, and Hulk accidentally obliges

The oceanic recharge brings Namor careening back; IMPERIUS REX! A quick dip in a pool gives Namor a clear advantage but ends with a Hulk leap.

I'm just giving some highlights of the tussle, btw, there's a LOT of action packed into this 22-pager The military's called in, though they don't actually do anything as the titans clash; love how often Hulk or Namor burst out of the panels in this issue, too powerful to contain

And in one excellent page we get the obligatory moment to remind, Namor has his own code, his own honor, and foreign though it may be at any moment in the midst of destruction he might just come and save any or all of us; that's just how he rolls

Namor finally maneuvers Hulk into the sea, and from there...well, Hulk continually loses ground 😁

Hulk is also getting sick of the voice of the Puppet Master in his head and that isn't helping either, a distraction that isn't even properly feeding his anger

Namor launches a colossal assault using his speed and strength to toss Hulk around helplessly; that's right, mi gente, we have reached the "going in circles for the win" stage of Silver Age fights

And, this also spells doom for Puppet Master, as the giant waves wash his whole hideout away; double L for Puppet Master, double W for Namor, who doesn't even *know* he's defeated Puppet Master along with the Hulk

And yes, the fight is finally over; the last relentless assault has left Hulk washed up, and only Bruce Banner remains, unconscious on the sand. Namor doesn't know from Bruce Banner, though, and so confused he wanders back to the sea. So much for his plans for alliance against the surface

You all might have guess that I love this issue, so I am in no way impartial. But listen, this is peak superhero action. Nay, peak heroic epics: its Herakles vs Triton, Gilgamesh vs Enkidu, Jacob vs the Angel, Krishna vs Chanura. Lee and Severin were both firing on all cylinders

If you agree, feel free to let me know; if you don't, drop a line as well and let me where you think it falls short. We're about to come to a great transition for Namor (and Marvel) so things are about to shift, and I'm interested in where we're all at on Tales to Astonish

But we're not *quite* there yet, although we are at the beginning of something new, so NEXT we cover Tales to Astonish #101: ...And Evil Shall Beckon!

#submariner summer #submariner #namor the sub mariner #namor #namor of atlantis #namor the first #incredible hulk #hulk #bruce banner #robert bruce banner #battle royale #namor vs hulk #let there be battle #tales to astonish #marvel comics #marvel #silver age comics #stan lee #marie severin

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thebibliomancer · 5 months

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #308: JOURNEY

October, 1989

The life of an Eternal hangs by a thread -- and only one being on Earth has the power to save GILGAMESH!

It's just Gilgamesh though.

She-Hulk's concerned expression and raising one hand in concern looks more like she's shrugging confusedly about this whole situation. 'Some Eternal!'

Anyway.

Last times on Avengers: Captain America declared all Avengers were Avengers, there were no teams anymore just one big family, and he was in charge of it all. Then Lava Men attacked, lifted Avengers Island up on a big stone spire, and kidnapped the Avengers in a stone ball which rolled all the way to the depths of the Earth.

The Last of the Lava Men, Jinku, told the Avengers that when they killed a random demon in Inferno, it killed most of the Lava Men and turned the rest except Jinku into stone.

Jinku tries to kill the Avengers with a big lava monster he created and apparently succeeds in killing Gilgamesh. Then the Lava Men that turned into stone hatch into golden men and tell Jinku to cut it out. So he does.

And that brings us to now. And this cool airship.

Very shiny.

Inside the ship? The Avengers.

The ship was apparently made by the golden Lava Men to get the Avengers back to the surface, based on a design that Black Panther gave them.

But even though Captain America and Black Panther are sitting at the controls, they're not in control. The golden Lava Men are. Because the ship is them.

Pretty neat.

But that's looking a little bit ahead.

The reason this is all relevant is that She-Hulk frets that Gilgamesh is dying. Or dead? Something? He doesn't have a pulse but his body is still warm? Plus, Eternals have conscious control over every atom in their body so who knows what's going on with him?

Anyway, time may or may not be a factor. And the golden spaceship made out of golden people may or may not be going its maximum velocity already.

Meanwhile, hey, don't we need to finally resolve that thing where Avengers Island is up on an unsteady stone pillar?

Reed's plan worked!

He had Sue make a spiral invisible force field around the stone pillar so that as the pillar collapsed straight down as crumbling pillars are known to do, the island slowly shifted its weight to the spring-shaped force field, which had the same springiness as an actual spring, which gently lowered the island back to the ocean.

There's a lot about how this gets resolved that's questionable but questionable in a comic book science way so I don't even mind it.

I do mind the weird way this subplot had its time budgeted. Reed and Sue responded to Jarvis' distress signal and arrived without any equipment besides Reed and Sue's mighty brains.

Reed comes up with a plan to lower the island back to the water and has Sue do it. And then the issue ended and we get this curt wrap-up next month.

I don't know how much Byrne wanted this issue to deal with lingering plot threads from the previous arc but it feels like the subplot should have ended on more of a cliffhanger last issue instead of the problem being basically solved, we just haven't seen it resolve yet.

Maybe I'm nitpicking but it reads weird.

Anyway, the West Coast Avengers have landed on Avengers Island after Wonder Man helped hold up the island and nobody else did anything to contribute.

They stand around talking about how great the Fantastic Four are.

And there's also something odd here. A united West Coast Avengers team isn't something we've had since Byrne took over the book. US Agent isn't with them. Tigra is with them but doesn't seem like she's feral or horny (although she doesn't say anything). Maybe Wanda is distraught about her husband losing his emotions but she also doesn't have anything to say.

Do you know how with crossovers sometimes, a character or team will be written vaguely out of character because the writer isn't familiar with them or doesn't know what's happening in their book around this time?

This appearance of the West Coast Avengers has that feel but Byrne is writing both Avengers books!

Why do they feel like the vaguely wrong crossover version of the team?

Anyway, after they finish saying how great the Fantastic Four is, they all talk about how great Jarvis is. And Jarvis IS great!

Wonder Man mentions that Jarvis puts up with a lot for the Avengers, including losing his eye.

Eyepatch Jarvis, as he is back to wearing his eyepatch, explains that his eye is almost healed and he won't need "this rather diabolical looking patch" soon.

The book keeps going back and forth on it.

When he first got out of the hospital, it was mentioned he'd suffered vision loss after his beating at the hands of Mr. Hyde. Then the Jarvis-focused Inferno tie-in issue had his mom yell at him to take it off because he doesn't need it and it doesn't even make him look all that cool. And then Byrne has him put the patch on only to make a point that he won't need it soon.

Weird.

The West Coast Avengers take off without even waiting for the Avengers or going to help them (since last anybody knows, the Avengers got kidnapped by Lava Men).

Kinda weird but Byrne clearly does not want to actually write the West Coast Avengers in this book.

The Avengers spot the Fantasticar as they fly towards Avengers Island, noting that their reserve members came to help.

And I note that the Fantastic Four also left without finding out what happened to the kidnapped Avengers.

Look, I get it. They heard that Jarvis was in danger and came running. I would too! But they're less invested in the Avengers East Coast.

When the golden craft lands, Jarvis immediately and correctly guesses that this is the Avengers.

Ew. I don't love how a door sphincters open in the golden aircraft. The golden Lava Men already turned into a vehicle. They can't transform a door too?

Anyway, the Avengers tell Jarvis they'll Explain It All later. Now, they need to hustle Gilgamesh to the medical facilities.

Usually this is when Everyday Normal Doctor Donald Blake Just Passing By would show up to handle the Avengers' medical needs. But Odin took Donald Blake away from Thor so now Thor just casually mentions he's well trained in the healing arts.

But even though Thor is exactly as good at medicine as Donald Blake, for example, he can't do anything for Gilgamesh.

The man isn't dead and he's not alive, he's some secret third thing (called being an Eternal).

So Captain America has the idea that they should go ask an Eternal what the fuck is going on with Gilgamesh.

Most of the Eternals fucked off with a Deviant cube into space but luckily some didn't.

I'd say the cool ones didn't. The cool ones and Gilgamesh.

Meanwhile, Olympia. Hidden in a pocket dimension in Greece.

There's an old man shepherd who pauses in his shepherding for a minute to wax poetic about walking among the ruins of his ancient ancestors, where the gods themselves once walked.

I'm guessing this guy never bought into the Christianity thing. Good for him.

Less good for him, his sheep vanish into thin air.

And when the shepherd goes to investigate, he's pulled through thin air by a person wearing green and yellow but who isn't Loki.

It's Sprite! The eternal prankster kid of the Eternals.

Messing with this guy because fuck this guy.

When the guy confuses Olympia for Olympus (because, yeah) Sprite gets agitated that everyone confuses the Eternals for the mythological figures they inspired/were inspired by. Like, c'mon Sprite. You owe your entire existence to Jack Kirby's fascination with Chariot of the Gods. You don't get to be offended that someone mistakes Eternal stuff for something else. That's your whole conceit.

Ikaris soon shows up and tells Sprite to stop bugging the mortal for fucks sake.

Ikaris: "You have been cautioned about your notion of 'fun' in the past, young one! I remind you, these humans are by nature frail and easily distressed. You might have caused this man to have a heart attack with your foolishness!"

The man is very distressed.

Ikaris apologizes for Sprite, Makkari gathers up the straying sheep, and Ikaris escorts the shepherd back to the familiar hills, declining to explain how Eternal stuff works because the explanation would mean nothing to him.

He asks the man not tell anyone what he has seen. Which is pretty nice. Later Eternals would just wipe his memory without asking.

The shepherd is like who would I tell? People would think I was drunk or dreamed the whole thing up.

Of course, just when the guy is wondering whether he did just dream the whole experience, Sprite pops out of thin air to do the man a startle one more time.

Geez, Sprite.

Maybe Gilgamesh isn't the only uncool Eternal left on Earth. You're kind of an asshole.

Ikaris and Makkari scold him that Sprite's sense of humor will cost them some day, foreshadowing foreshadowing.

They let Sprite wander off so they can discuss how Olympia is weird these days, emptier than even most of the Eternals fucking off to space can account for.

Ikaris: "More than silence. There is a flavor of death on the once sweet breezes. I have tasted it often enough to know it."

Ikaris guesses that when the majority of the Eternals fucked off, it was like they took the majority of the city's soul with them.

Which, considering later revelations that the Eternals and their cities are all parts of one great machine what is Earth, might actually be right on the money.

But the sheep wandering inside was not Sprite's doing. The barriers that protect Olympia have weakened enough that it just happened randomly. Sprite just capitalized on the incident to mock a shepherd.

Ikaris and Makkari go to talk to Thena and Phastos. Where Phastos has just finished telling Thena that even if her bones are telling her something is wrong, he can't find any flaws with the machines that run Olympia.

Wow, this is a lot of information about Eternal Stuff if we're just dropping off Gilgamesh for medical treatment. I suspect this is our new arc.

Ikaris tells Thena that he hasn't found any force directed at Olympia from the outside. He thinks the call is coming from inside the house, so to speak.

Ikaris: "This city is as one with we Eternals. But we are greatly reduced since the departure of the Unimind."

He's really banging on about that.

I wonder if I'm witnessing snapback in action. Sending most of the Eternals into space was a tidy way to tidy them up since they weren't used for a lot. But now it turns out it was a big mistake so are the Eternals that went to space going to come back so we can get back to status quo?

Maybe.

Thena tells Phastos to bolster the city's defenses. Then they can look into Ikaris' theory.

But Sprite has been eavesdropping on the meeting. He decides Phastos is too unimaginative to bolster the defenses. And that he, Sprite, should do it instead. So that it's done with flair by a guy acting from a place of ignorance.

Look at this idiot. He has no idea what he's doing.

The Avengers don't actually go to Olympia. They go to visit Sersi first. She's closer and more interesting than 90% of the other Eternals. Also, Captain America knows her from his own book, sidestepping the question of whether Wasp or Starfox told him about the party they crashed.

Thor brings out Gilgamesh for Sersi to see and she reacts in shock horror that he looks as if dead.

She has them bring Gilgamesh into her tastefully decorated apartment

So tasteful.

Sersi asks what happened and Thor says Gilgamesh bravely fell in battle. Which Sersi calls bullshit on because Eternals don't fall. That'd be a misnomer.

Thor himself has a spell of wooziness which he dismisses as a passing weakness.

I wonder if the Lava Man Avatar of Cha'sa'dra had bonus damage against immortals.

Sersi examines Gilgamesh and finds basically the same thing that the Avengers already have. Gilgamesh has no pulse and no brain activity. He's basically dead but not. She's never seen an Eternal like this.

So she suggests that they take Gilgamesh to Olympia.

Except. Well.

I guess Sprite managed to blow up the city. With flair. And probably panache.

Also, Namor mentions missing Hercules, prompted by the Avengers flying over Greece.

I wonder if we're also seeing snapback on Hercules' fate in action. If so, good. The Evolutionary War ending was damn stupid.

Anyway. We seem to be piling on the subplots because that old man from a previous issue also managed to blow up his house.

He doesn't seem too put off that he blew up a small piece of New Jersey. Just excited that he's getting close to whatever scientific breakthrough he's working on.

I have no idea where this subplot is going.

But its probably going somewhere.

Follow @essential-avengers, which comes in regular and sour cream and onion flavors. Like, reblog, comment, ask what that last sentence meant. I'm open to various forms of engagement.

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yellowspiralbound · 1 year

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Cringe is dead but I'm not so here are the godly parents I think the Avengers (and a few others) would have if they were Riordanverse demigods.

Tony - Dionysus

Most people would go straight for Hephaestus when assigning Tony a godly parent, and that's not wrong, but I think Dionysus is a better fit. Tony is an alcoholic. We see that all the time. He has been since he was young. He also engages in all sort or merrymaking and revelry and is also quite dramatic - all of which are Dionysus's specialties. He also has a similar personality to Mr. D in the earlier movies, in my opinion. I think the most accurate thing to call Tony would be a son of Dionysus and a legacy of Hephaestus, with Howard being a child of Hephaestus.

Steve - Nemesis

At first, I thought Athena would be the best choice for Steve as she's a goddess of war strategy...but let's be honest, Steve is not a paragon of wisdom or reason. He shucks those traits relatively often. I think Nemesis, the goddesses of balance and retribution, is a much better fit. Steve's whole shtick is retribution; he hurts people after they've hurt someone else.

Thor - N/A (for obvious reasons)

Bruce - Janus

Might be slightly fucked to put Janus as Bruce's parent tbh but it's kind of the only god that fits him. I could have gone Ares because of the whole "I'm always angry thing," but I just don't vibe with it. Janus, as the god of transitions and the in-between, works way better and incorporates the hulk aspect of Bruce better.

Natasha - Psyche

Natasha was actually really hard to pick for, but I think Psyche, the god of the human soul, works best for Natasha. Natasha has a very intimate understanding of humanity and what makes people tick - as a super spy, she kind of has to. Psyche being her godly parent would add to this insight.

Sam - Athena

Sam is always shown to be somewhat calculating. Unlike other members of the team, he has no superpowers or enhancements to back him up; he barely even has body protection at first. Because of this, he relies on his wit. He's clever, wise, reasonable, and a good strategist which all fall under the Athena umbrella.

Bucky - Aphrodite

This is actually the idea that prompted this post; I've been toying with the idea of writing a crossover fic with Bucky as a child of Aphrodite for a while. Aphrodite is the goddess of two things - love and war (though she's only a love goddess in the Riordanverse and people rarely recall she was a war goddess as well). Tell me that Bucky's entire life isn't defined by one of those two things. Like, pre-WWII, his life is determined by his love for Steve. He lives with him, takes care of him, and is his emotional support. He then goes to war for 70 or so years until it is love that brings him back out. He's so Aphrodite coded.

Scott - Hephaestus

Scott is defined by the things he can build and the complex physics he understands. It's how he makes his living, however shady at first, and it's how he becomes a superhero. An argument could be made for Hermes, but Scott never set out intending to be a thief; that's just where he ended up.

T'challa & Shuri - Bast, obviously

It's literally canon that Bast is the goddess (or one goddess of a pantheon) worshipped in Wakanda. She bestows the Black Panther with their powers. It's kind of a no-brainer.

Yelena - Hestia

Yelena always wanted a home, even one that wasn't real. She wanted a sister and a loving childhood. I just think it'd be fucked up and fun if her mother was literally the goddesses of home and family.

Carol - Ares

Carol is definitely the rage part of war. It's contained but definitely present. She's a powerhouse and she'd make him proud.

#pjo #mcu #marvel #the avengers #percy jackson and the olympians #spiral's thoughts #steve rogers #tony stark #bruce banner #natasha romanoff #sam wilson #james bucky barnes #yelena belova #carol danvers #scott lang #t'challa #mcu shuri #stucky

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csolarstorm · 2 years

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Thoughts on She Hulk Ep. 8: Ribbit and Rip It

All of it is going under the cut, damn it, all of it. *laughing* I spent way too much time talking about the ending.

What's that? Is that a thousand Netflix Daredevil fans exploding in a supernova of disbelief and fury?

Is She-Hulk teaching me to appreciate trolling? What a bad influence. 😔

Honestly though, I haven't seen any negative reactions yet, but I'm betting most detractors already went through the stages of grief about bringing back Daredevil into the same show as twirking She-Hulk...and they even emphasize the twirking in the intro to remind us this isn't a dark, gritty Netflix MCU show. It's a...it's um, it's...Ally McBeal meets The Incredibles? Right?

I went the whole episode hoping they wouldn't kiss. I really did not want a relationship between them, so when they didn't kiss, but then she took him back to her place, I lost it. The audacity. The bra over Daredevil's helmet in the credits.

I love it. *laughs*

The portrayal of Matt was decent, even if there was always something a bit off with how safe they were playing it, with that faux hallway scene callback. The ending was honestly more entertaining because it was so in your face. (Not like that.)

The absurdity of the devil of Hell's Kitchen doing the walk of shame in the lavish LA neighborhood of a lawyer that has now represented two rich supervillains.

Anyway...?

I hope Jen takes Matt's advice to heart and takes ownership of what she does. It seems to be building up to this, between Matt and Bruce urging her to use her powers for good and Holliway continously putting her on morally dubious cases that disrespect her own life and personal interests.

Also, good for Jen! She found a guy who likes her for who she is. Also relevant: the first guy who doesn't judge her for her appearance, is blind. Probably on purpose, and makes me kind of appreciate the Jen-Matt romance more?

Then it all goes to hell when the Intelligencia leaks her sex tape. In front of her family and friends, hell no. I'm guessing critics will probably be coming up with other ways Jen could have handled it, but come on. It was the quickest way to stop the tape before things got worse. People criticized the show for letting She-Hulk control her powers so easily...well, this is what sets her off.

I really saw no reason to mention Leapfrog. Um...okay, he looks like a Beetleborg.

#She-Hulk #MCU #Daredevil

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knowlessman · 1 year

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is it next time yet? fuck it, I guess it is 'XD bnha movie 1, Two Heroes

cacaw! eegels! murica! social darwi - oh this is straight-up actual california apparently. where's excalibur, d'you see him anywhere?

you sir are a pokemon. …no wait he has pants on, he's a digimon -- Cow Lady… sure is a character design. amazing they managed to not put a cowboy hat on no hang on never mind there it is

saitama? -- ALL MIGHT. YOU HAVE EYES. WHAT THE FUCK WHERE ARE WE

…"dave"? in this 2000's-ass hotwheelsmobile? whut even -- with a bubble blower

I was The Most Unprepared for All Might with visible eyes I tell you hwat -- his victory laugh still makes me think of santa clause tho

okay we're back to Bionicle-mode All Might, things are right side up again

…they're going for a vacation at that floating city from bioshock infinite? (turns out it's on water not flying nvm)

"the invite said I could bring a friend." "isn't that usually meant for family?" "we are family. I'm your Space Dad."

"once we get there, I must be in hulk form constantly" I thought that was literally impossible

(movie is doing a whole recap) ohey it's that guy that got caught by the slime monster, what was his name? -- that stunt in the race with the chunk of metal and the minefield was such cool bullshit tho, like only the perfect combination of being painfully aware of your limitations and being absolutely, unshakeably DETERMINED to cross that line first would have led somebody to find such a random tool so early on, drag it with them the whole way, and then manage to find a use for it at the way end. …this show has good fucking writing okay. mineta aside. it has good fucking writing.

"trivia question: why was this island created?" shits, giggles, & egotism. why do you think elon musk does anything. -- facepalm another fucking amusement park

hm. wonder if toshi's plan is to let dave in on the whole secret

blinks and they have literal godzilla. well of course they do, I guess

the literal bat-plane but blue, aye.

ohhhh, no… this Melissa character was reminding me of that girl from the pokemon 2000 movie whose only purpose is to make misty jealous about ash (and hand out that stupid lore pun I guess), and I was just thinking "but they don't have to do that, and maybe they won't, after all uraraka's not here…" -- uh. the gang's all here (well, okay like a quarter of class A so far), but since when have jiro and yaoyorozu given a shit about uraraka's… relationship? crush? unspoken tsundere bullshit that I… thought deku was oblivious to? -- why is deku explaining himself as if he has the slightest idea that uraraka has interest in him? movie weirdness I guess; so new arrivals know which cookie cutter she came out of. (tbh tho even just thinking about her like this is annoying because she does have more interesting stuff going on, with her family and her whole motivation; it feels like she's been reduced to this, and that sucks)

goddammit it's worst character and worst-character-in-training

EMERGENCY EXIT MAKIN HIS EMERGENCY ENTRY AT TOP SPEED FOR SOME REASON (so that newbies have a vague idea what his power is because they can't guess it based on the bigass exhaust ports stickin out his calves I guess), GANGWAY -- IIDA YOU ARE LITERALLY DOING THE ROBOT FOR NO REASON WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU THAT MANNERISM IT IS SO WEIRD ON YOU

okay hagukure with the rock paper scissors signs is funny, they finally made a joke about her invisibility that's funny

METAPOD BROS METAPOD BROS METAPOD BR - uh, hi vegeta, I guess, damn where's tetsutetsu? : /

'XDDDDD "hey, isn't that deku over there" kacchan is IMMEDIATELY in deku's face because he is Like That

ohey look vegeta, it's… wtf is todoroki then? beerus? I don't fuckin know dbz

"we got the drugs. or bomb. it's one of the two, right? what? batjesus is here? who cares."

"I can't tell Dave, who literally just did a cat scan on me and knows my powers are disappearing and has known me for decades and is sposed to be Very Smart, about One for All"

…dang, I'm only a half hour in, I gotta ease up on pausing it 'XD

boxing gloves -- iida 'XD

deku who told you you could steal napoleon dynamite's style

they finally let yaoyorozu wear clo - what have you done to earphone jack let her wear a suit or something jesus

-- …huh. also just now realized the triangle thingies she usually has must be makeup. cool.

yeah, they would give bakugo, out of the entire cast, a formal outfit that actually looks cool >:| (I mean okay uraraka's is just fine but everyone else looks like a dork, like they were stuck with whatever was on the clearance rack)

ohey tapeface and naruto's choji are here too. I expect bnha's choji is around somewhere -- yup. also birdman. tokoyami

think I know what the vague gist of Uno is, but I've never played it. is it worth trying? (froppy and mina and hagukure are stuck in their hotel room. which, like… it feels like, idk, another work would've not bothered doing that, but I like it. It's like in the digimon movie, those random cutaways where the internet is being eaten or wever and it's inconveniencing people in silly ways ("your total comes to one million one hundred HUH??? uh, yeah, that's what it says. that must be really good chocolate. paper or plastic?"). idk it's fun 'XD)

earphone jack's hero costume (which she isn't getting to wear right now bc bullshit) is cool. know what else is cool? her power. jiro is just cool.

todoroki's in a basic white suit but at least it looks good on him and fits him, like, thematically? like not even that it's white, he's a guy you can picture choosing to wear a suit.

"melissa, you stay here" "bad news, pal. none of you know how the security system works. this is an escort mission now." (also she could have gadgets on her, being literally the daughter of the most famous gadgeteer on the island)

all might's having a lot of telepathic conversations in this movie. is that what being neurotypical's like?

"this is the 30th floor" gawwwd, that's a lot of stairs. my feet hurt just thinking about em -- three… hundred… fucking yeah, you're on 50 and you're just NOW ditching the heels? fuckin A

"what does this button do?" "stop those kids!" somebody find a window and mi-yeet-a that little shit out of it

how many of you guys are there, and nobody has a quirk for just climbing up the outside of the tower? momo could probably do it. todoroki could maybe do it. deku might be able to punch handholds into it. …uraraka can literally fly, but granted, only for a limited time. -- wait mineta could get them up there that way. little shit has an entire superpower and he still exists only to represent the worst elements of anime fandom and be the "we're doomed!" guy.

oh fuck it's ornstein and smough maybe they are doomed

'XD ohai beavis and blockhead (bakugo and kirishima). wow, how lost did you get?

momo can just create bat-bombs now.

…bakugo can fly. bakugo can literally just fly, whenever he wants. …him knowing only fighting is such a waste. mfer can FLY.

ohey the penny dropped, they remembered mineta has an entire goddamn superpower.

"that guy's not opening up a hole in space, he's hollowing it out!" fucking. this is gonna be akutagawa's fucking coat all over again isn't it -- gawd damm but they went and whole-assed the animation for this relatively no-stakes fight, it doesn't even have any music but just lookit this shit

jumping daleks. how about that

these gauntlets seem like a pretty significant upgrade, considering I don't remember seeing them in any pictures of deku. makes me suspect that he only has them for this movie, but… : / idk

"don't let your guard down. one of those kids probably has a hearing quirk" and not a flying one? are hearing quirks just really common? I forget whether choji's is supposed to make him hear better

vegeta to the rescue!

"send swordkil and the others!" what kinda rob-liefeld-ass name…?

I swear this one pink-haired villain guy is reminding me of SOMEBODY, but I can't for the life of me figure out who

… : | for once, could a guy give off so many heel-turn flags and not actually turn heel? hell, for that matter, is melissa gonna die now to just tidily remove her from the canon and keep the movie self-contained? -- "did you arrange this just to get that device?" uh yeah, that device that wasn't any of the ones previously introduced? in other words, a random surprise macguffin that we have no reason to care about? -- "a device that amplifies quirks" yawn. also this guy who nobody cared about til now talked him into it, so dave can even do an emergency face turn if he feels like it when mr assistant guy whose name was only said once… gus, I think? when he turns on him (I GUESS his motive having to do with all might losing his powers is, idk, a motive) -- sam, that's what. also gawwwd this got bori - haha he got your-eternal-rewarded. wait why the hell is dave taking bullets for - bah, whatever

deku, mid-punch, without his mouth moving: "melissa, I got this, do the computer thing!" melissa: goes and does the computer thing for real tho, is this what being neurotypical is like? just, everyone has telepathy? must be fucking nice.

"BATJESUS EX MACHINA!" -- "METAL SATAN EX MACHINA. WITH TENTACLES."

…huh. so. mojo jojo was behind this all along. okay, that one's a surprise. -- lol he went for a stab-through and the screen went all red like it's fucking evangelion or something (I think eva does that when spoiler bites spoiler's spoiler? haven't actually seen it). and then all might comes out and his fucking supersuit doesn't even have a scratch on it

really tho deku did you really have no choice other than that fucking clown suit

-- also. alan rickman: "I see you've managed to get your shirt off."

there was a bit in one of the specials where all might transforms from bionicle mode to hulk mode, and I slowed it down looking for in-between frames. THIS is the kind of thing I was looking for. my guy looks like Sans Undertale.

ayup. was a movie. it movied. was fairly okay, although I gotta wonder if there'll be any callbacks to it; it felt depressingly like all the bits that sounded like they mattered were movie-only bits, and… uh. they, uh, they beat mojo jojo, so either I hadn't been understanding properly how All for One works, or they name-dropped him here for pretty much no reason, or the apparent series villain is just done and dusted already. -- movie DID resist the urge to really get my goat with uraraka's tsundere stuff or whatever and kept it down to that one scene, so I guess that could've been a lot worse

#knowless watches bnha #wtf is a text block and why does it have a charlimit that's so much lower than the amount of pics you can cram in #how in fuck do you people live here

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theabsolutelytru · 2 years

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Lil mini rant, don't mind me.

But Gen-Z is trying way too hard to hate Millennials at this point. Particularly the teenagers. Not really the 20-somethings, but the teens. I was on the clock app, and this kid made a video making fun of Stranger Things cosplayers. She then said something like "they're grown adults"

... like most cosplayers?

Then more kids were like "It's weird that they're adults and like a kids show". But Stranger Things isn't a kids show. It's rated TV-MA, and most of them couldn't watch it when it first came out because it would have been too scary for a 9 year old or whatever. It's a show aimed at adults. Really, it's a show aimed at Gen-X, because it represents their childhood/teen years. My aunt, who was graduating high school in the late 80s. It's aimed at them. Just because a show or movie has kids in it doesn't mean it's for kids

Case in point, It. That movie (or the old miniseries) is NOT for kids. It's FOR adults. Adults used to be kids, they remember being kids, seeing their childhood on screen is still appealing. That doesn't mean kids can't watch it, but Stranger Things isn't relatable to someone who didn't grow up in the 80s. It's also a horror/sci-fi series, and not one aimed at a younger age group (like Scream Queens or even something like Goosebumps).

That said, adults CAN like actual children's television. Who do you think is making it? You have to like cartoons to work on cartoons. You have to like family sitcoms to write one. (There are definitely adults who don't like it working on it, and you can tell... but you don't get Avatar The Last Airbender or Adventure Time from adults who don't love what they're doing.) It's fine to like children's TV and movies. They're usually more gentle. They're usually more imaginative. They often have better stories (adult stuff can get very boom boom, boobs, fight fight. Or very cry cry, sad sad, serious.)

Adults have liked things and participated in fandoms forever. When I was a child, adults were doing that. My dad was a Boomer, and my first memories are of him being a Trekkie and stuff. I don't know how Gen-Z decided that we were weird for being in fandoms. They're trying to bring back the shame that we spent years dismantling. Nerd behavior isn't bad or childish.

For that matter, the whole Disney adult thing is a weird criticism. Disney has been American pop culture for the better part of a century. 30 year olds liked Mickey Mouse in the 1970s. I knew a woman who would collect Disney merch and Christmas ornaments when I was a child, she was also a Boomer.

The Harry Potter thing, too. It's not a Millennial thing. Millennials are just the first generation to have Harry Potter. Naturally most people who like it are the people who grew up with it. They didn't know Joanne was a bigot, back when they were 7, guys. Also, not every Millennial likes Harry Potter, because it's a specific fandom. Why we all gotta be painted with the Potter brush. It's real, too. Like, a teen I met at work was trying to relate to me by asking me my Hogwarts house. I was like... yeah, I'm not really into HP, but to play along I told her one. Also, my nephew gave me a Friends mug for Christmas. It's like they're convinced of the Millennial hive mind. I am not a white girl, I am not obsessed with Friends and I've never watched it.

I have said many times before, generation stuff isn't accurate. People are just people. But also, like... adults are just you with freedom. You don't become a new human being when you hit 18 or 21 or whatever milestone. Things do change, you do mature, but if you enjoy comics, you still will, most likely. If you like sci-fi, you still will. You might even find new fandoms/interests. That should be inspiring, not ridiculous. You should be happy that you get to become an adult and not lose your spark. You don't have to become a sentient business suit or a sitcom mom or whatever you're imagining. You can stan BTS. You can cosplay as She-Hulk. You can buy passes to cons. You can collect things. You can enjoy yourself and with more freedom to do so.

Stop pretending something is wrong with Millennials. Enjoy YOURSELF, too. And when you turn 21, please don't stop.

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kattahj · 2 years

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Whoever said that Moon Knight was for people who like Marvel stuff with no/few references to other Marvel stuff, and Ms. Marvel was for people who like as many references as possible, seriously weren't kidding. And I'm afraid I'm firmly in the first camp.

(The rest under a cut so as to avoid harshing anyone's buzz.)

I mean, apart from that, the first episode was fine. 95% everyday teen drama with just a sprinkle of superpowers, which isn't really what I'm there for, but okay. Some interesting family dynamics. That girl who seemed like she ought to be a mean girl but wasn't. (I cheated and looked her up. Yes, she's a lesbian. No, she's not Kamala's future girlfriend. Damn.)

But I just felt like I was being force fed massive amounts of product placement.

And yes, I get that Kamala is a fangirl, and that's part of her characterisation, but with the MCU being the way it is, that's not how it came off. It came off as, "Hey, remember how we have all these OTHER films? And that you can BUY THINGS to connect better to those films? Wouldn't that be awesome? Remember Captain Marvel and the Hulk and Iron Man and Black Widow and Ant-Man and Thor? Buy our stuff!"

I love fan culture – heck, I'm a part of it – and I go to cons sometimes, and yet AvengerCon felt really hollow to me. Here's a whole con devoted to the properties of one particular company, and the protagonist's part of it is to emulate one (toy-selling) character while sharing screen as many images of other characters as possible.

Plus, in-universe, the Avengers are real. They were part of battles where they saved a lot of people, and a lot of other people died.

People like that don't tend to get cons - that's an entertainment thing. Possibly you might dress up as Nelson Mandela or Oscar Schindler privately for Halloween, but people don't run cosplay contests for them the way they do for Elvis or Dolly Parton.

The Smithsonian exhibit for Captain America? Sure. The Avengers musical in Hawkeye? Crass, but it was supposed to be crass. This feels even more crass, and didn't seem like it was meant to at all.

Plus, something of this scale, I wonder who (in-universe) brings the money, and if there's such a thing as copyright/trademark of the Avengers' likeness. Did they get Captain Marvel's blessing for this, and all of the other Avengers? Are they just doing it without permission? Or – the most sinister option – are the Avengers' costumes and other likeness owned by some organization or government? (SHIELD is still out of the picture, right?) Is there an aspect of military propaganda to all of this?

On a Watsonian level, it seems tasteless and a bit suspect. On a Doylist level, it feels like a giant toy commercial shaped like an episode.

(And no, btw, I don't like the Avengers movies either, or Civil War for that matter. Every time more than three MCU heroes are in the same room, the whole thing tends to turn into a cash grab.)

If they tone down that shit and let the actual storyline take center stage, I may some day try another ep, especially if there are lesbians.

Otherwise? I really can't see myself bothering.

#mcu critical #just me being grumpy about marvel

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thermodynamic-comedian · 2 years

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posting some of my random thoughts on the original six avengers. because technically no one can stop me.

iron man / tony stark

love to see actual mental illness representation tbh. also i feel like a lot of characters that have that kinda snarkyness and wit that tony has all have daddy issues, right?? like, call it the jake peralta complex (just because i like brooklyn nine-nine), where a character acts extremely immature and doesn't take anything seriously, but becomes progressively less annoying when they actually start dealing with and working through their issues.

i feel like tony's main issue as an avenger is his guilt. when you have anxiaty, you constantly worry about something that could happen that could possibly be your fault. this is what causes tony to create ultron. and we all know how that turns out. which just gives tony even more guilt.

also, as far as comics come, i haven't read a lot of iron man comics, but i do know that at some point he was heavily implied to be canonically bisexual. so that's cool.

captain america / steve rogers

ok so imma be honest. not the biggest cap fan. i guess his character is just a bit too much of a blatantly perfect patriotric boy kinda character for me. but, then again, that's also a kinda interesting thing. because he's just a good person, end of sentence.

steve has a really, really strong moral code that he follows above all else. which is also why john walker couldn't be captain america; captain america isn't a government puppet, and has no problem going against the rules (or the law) to do the right thing. steve is also extremely against hurting people, and would give his life up to protect someone else. that alone makes him almost superhuman, because not a lot of people can stick to their moral code to that extent.

the hulk / bruce banner

okay. originally i didn't really like bruce. i thought he was boring. but recently i've actually started liking him a lot more. the whole "i am not the enemy" kind of storyline of someone being shunned despite only wanting to help was really kind of popularized by the hulk comics, i think. and y'know what? it is a cool idea for a character.

i think i especially liked him in the first avengers movie, because he really seemed tired of people treating him like a labrat and trying to get him to turn into the hulk ("sorry, kids. i guess you're not gonna get to see my party trick after all" he really sounded irritated and exhausted in that line, which i honestly loved). bruce himself is sick and tired of not being seen as a person because of the hulk, and the hulk is sick and tired of everyone (including bruce) seeing him as nothing but a threat or nuisence.

thor odinson

having a literal god on the team? valid. but i also do love how thor doesn't completely overpower the others; the first film goes out of its way to prove that all of the avengers are almost completely equal in terms of ability; for example, for what characters like black widow and hawkeye lack in terms of physical strength, they more than make up for in cleverness and stragedy. whereas thor, who you'd obviously assume is the strongest avenger, is proven to be an equal match for iron man and captain america.

when it comes to thor himself as a character, i think thor: ragnarok! and avengers: infinity war have probably the best way of characterizing him with little ideas like bringing attention to how much he's lost, how he considers earth under his protection and any harm brought to it is something he sees as a personal failing.

black widow / natasha romanoff

ohh boy. let's talk about nat, huh?

she's, in my humble opinion, the most tragic avenger. an ex-russian super spy who was raised to kill but decided to become a hero instead is already an objectively cool character concept, but when you take into account the fact that her only real family as a child was fake, but that she would still do anything to keep her little sister safe, and how no matter how much good she does she'll always still just see herself as a killer, her character starts making even more sense.

nat's friendship with clint intrigues me specifically, as a frayromantic, because i absolutely love seeing a deep emotional connection that isn't romantic at all in media. especially with the kind of dynamic these two have; you can just tell they consider each other as close as family, and that they've probably saved each other countless times.

hawkeye / clint barton

okay. this is gonna be a long one.

i absolutely love clint barton. especially in the comics. so you're telling me this working class orphan kid who was raised in a circus and is hard of hearing and has a disabled brother and is bad at relationships is in the avengers? hell yeah.

overall, i think clint's status as the Regular Guy (tm) of the avengers is pretty well known and established; he's just a human. just a genuine, kind-hearted, human being trying his best. and that's another thing i love about clint barton's character: he needs to try so much harder than the rest of the avengers just to keep up, and let's be honest, a team where everyone is a god or a supersoldier or super rich is just kinda boring to watch. (also, as a working class kid with adhd, i honestly relate to the feeling of having to try way more just to keep up-)

also, the thing about his relationship struggles in the comics also interests me, because knowing he's also a child abuse survivor makes me feel like the reason he can't properly express love to other people is because he never really received it himself. but the fact that he's trying so hard means he wants to learn how to.

also, idk why, but clint has real drummer vibes. both in the comics and the movies. and i just love his relationship with kate, like, i feel like in the comics clint's kinda her mentor/father figure, but in the comics (especially matt fraction run) kate is more like clint's older sister, honestly.

ok so i really liked just writing out my marvel brainrot so i might have to make another one of these posts with different characters-

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bumblesimagines · 3 years

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Green Thumb

Part 2

Request: Yes or No

For anyone confused, (Y/N) was around 17 when he fought the Avengers and was taken in and now he's 18-19. Lowkey a filler to develop/show (Y/N)'s relationship with Laura and Clint

You stared up at the large wooden house, a soft breeze blowing by that made you tugged down the sleeves of the sweater you were wearing. Clint turned off the engine of his motorcycle, looking up at you. You furrowed your brows and turned towards him, glancing at the darkening sky.

"What is this place?" You asked, watching him curiously Clint stood beside him, gazing fondly at the house. He looked at you with a gentle smile.

"My home."

"Home?"

"Yep, home. The only other people who know about this place are Fury and Natasha." Clint revealed, making your brows raise. You looked back at the house. It was homey for sure. Far from the city with nature surrounding it. A perfect place to raise a family and live a quiet life. You bit your bottom lip, gently wrapping your arms around yourself.

"So, why’d you bring me here?" You asked. If it was such a big secret that not even Tony or Steve knew about it, why would he share it with you? You weren’t even part of the team. You were just a child that they had to take in. Clint placed a gentle hand on your back.

"You need some fresh air and a break from the shit back at the tower. Come meet my wife and kids." Clint said, walking towards the house. You slowly followed, still unsure about the whole thing. You didn’t know why Clint trusted you so much. Not even a couple weeks back, you had attempted killing him and the Avengers. You had heard Tony mention Clint having a habit of taking in strays so you assumed you were just another person Clint wanted to help. The aroma of food filled your senses, making you let out a soft hum. Clint had heard it, chuckling as he stepped into his home. You followed, noticing the pictures on the walls and scattered drawings.

"Laura, I’m home!" Clint called out into the house, following the light from the kitchen. You noticed some legos laying around, looking up as a woman approached Clint and greeted him with a kiss.

"How was work?" She asked softly, smiling. You could see two kids looking at you curiously from the table. Clint smiled back at his wife, gently stroking her long hair.

"It was fine, honey. I brought a guest." Clint motioned towards you. Laura looked at you, humming softly. Her smile widened as she faced you.

"You must be (Y/N). Welcome to the Barton Farm." Laura giggled softly, placing a hand on her belly. Your gaze dropped down, noticing her barely visible bump. Laura followed your gaze, chuckling softly.

"We’re- Well, more like Natasha is hoping for a little girl." Laura smiled, glancing at Clint when he placed a gentle hand on her bump. She looked back at (Y/N), motioning to the table.

"Come join us."

You walked with Laura to the greenhouse, glancing over at Tony and Steve as they talked.

"How was your first mission?" Laura asked, smiling widely as she gazed at you curiously. You were supposed to go on a mission when your training was complete but nevertheless, it had been quite exciting. You smiled, looking forward.

"It was.. Good. It didn't go as planned, obviously, but there wasn't much of a plan to begin with. Clint's definitely holding a grudge against the runner." You chuckled, opening the door to the greenhouse and stepping inside. Some new flowers had been added.

"I don't blame him." Laura said, giggling as she pulled up a chair. She sat down, letting out a sigh of relief. Laura rested her hands on her belly, watching you with a gentle gaze.

"The girl.. The girl made Hulk lose his shit and made the others see stuff." You told her, picking up a pot with a venus flytrap inside. You gently ran your finger over the plant, watching it open.

"Did she get to you?"

"No, I.. I stopped her before she could do anything to me. Natasha seemed pretty shaken up by what she saw." You looked back at her, frowning softly. You had never seen Natasha look so broken inside. Whatever she had seen, it had definitely triggered some bad memories. You wondered what Wanda would've made you see. The orphanage? The fight with the Avengers?

"Clint mentioned you had to work on your people skills." Laura recalled, laughing softly as she tilted her head. "What's that about?"

"I might've choked.. A few people."

"Might've?" Laura repeated, raising her brows. You placed the pot down, letting out a soft sigh as you stared down at the venus flytrap.

"What's on your mind, sweetheart?" Laura asked softly, noticing the change. You gently pushed the pot back into its spot beside the other plants, shrugging lightly.

"Not that long ago, I was in their spot. Wanda and Pietro.. Two young metas trying to survive. With my powers, I could have seriously injured someone and-"

"But you didn't, did you? We're all standing on this plot of land, living and breathing." Laura stood up from the chair, holding onto it as she regained her balance. She walked towards you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

"You were a frightened kid on survival mode. You were doing whatever you could to protect yourself." Laura said, gaze softening.

"Obviously, I could never hurt Thor or Hulk but... I almost crushed and suffocated everyone else. Tony had to work on his suit, Natasha and Clint had bruises for days.. Steve did that weird staring thing like a fucking camera whenever I was in the room." You reached forward, running a finger over the leaf of a plant and watching it grow.

"Look at yourself." Laura motioned to the plants. "You have full control of your powers. You know your limits. You're.. Mother Nature's son! Like, almost literally her son."

"I'm your son." You muttered, keeping your gaze on the plants. Laura stayed quiet, almost frozen in place. She slowly smiled, nodding as she blinked away tears.

"Yeah.. Yeah, you are. You're my son. You're a Barton." Laura said softly, sniffling softly. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm gonna go see if Stark is willing to check out the tractor. Holler if you need anything." Laura said, turning around. She left the greenhouse, walking back towards the house. You thought about her words, knowing what she said was true but things could've gone differently if you had been in full control of your powers during the confrontation with the Avengers. Clint had still offered you support despite it all.

You brought your knees close to your chest, hearing the sounds of the Avengers grunting and talking on the floor below. The overgrown vines in the abandoned building wrapped around the corner you were in, providing cover.

"Hey, kid? You up here?"

"Barton, what the hell are-"

"Shut up, Tony." You furrowed your brows, hearing sluggish footsteps on the floor you were at.

"This isn't the greatest hiding spot, kid." The voice, 'Clint', had gotten closer. He was most likely standing infront of you, the vines being the only thing keeping you from seeing him.

"Look, I know you're scared. I know the orphanage probably wasn't great either, but we can help you. I can help you. You can trust me." Clint assured softly. You swallowed, reaching out and touching the vines. They parted, letting you peer up at Clint. He offered a tired smile, extending his hand to you.

"You just made Laura the happiest woman alive." You turned towards Clint, chuckling softly. Clint pushed himself off the doorway, stepping inside.

"Must be nice to finally feel happy for once." You replied, grinning.

"Oh, trust me, you should've seen her face when I proposed." Clint chuckled, looking over the greenhouse. He hummed.

"Maybe I should get into gardening." He muttered, arms crossing as he looked over the different flowers. You watched him.

"You'll be busy with missions."

"I don't plan on sticking around for long, if I'm honest. I want to retire and be with my kids more. The hero life isn't forever for some people. Keep that in mind, (N/N)."

"You're gonna leave the team?" You asked, frowning. You knew Clint had been thinking about it. Especially with a third kid on the way that would come at any moment.

"I got lucky but.. The thought of leaving Laura alone with three young kids, a barely legal adult, and a big plot of land.." Clint sighed, shaking his head as he gently tapped his finger against the table.

"I don't want to be an absent father and miss out on big achievements. I owe it to Laura and you guys." Clint explained softly. You understood. None of the other Avengers were parents yet. Clint dying meant fatherless kids and a widow. He had a lot more to lose.

"I'll always be here if you need advice or more training. I just won't be on the field with you." Clint placed his hands on your shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze before he leaned in and gave you a hug. You hugged him back, eyes shutting. You weren't sure how you'd be on the field without Clint there to support you. Being beside him brought you comfort and reassurance.

"You'll be an amazing Avenger, (Y/N). I know it." Clint whispered, leaning back and smiling softly.

"Will you be my number 1 fan?" You asked with a grin.

"I'm afraid the top three spots are already taken but I'll happily be your fourth biggest fan." Clint laughed softly, turning his head when Laura called for him and you.

"Come on, let's see what the boss wants." He said playfully, turning around and walking out. You followed, noticing Nick Fury standing on the porch. He gave you a nod before entering the house.

"What's he doing here?" You asked, looking at Clint. Clint shrugged, letting out a deep sigh as you walked up the steps.

"We're about to find out."

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supernaturalnovelsandmore · 3 years

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Supernatural Novel: Heart of the Dragon

Welcome to my not-quite review of the fourth Supernatural novel, Heart of the Dragon.

Author: Keith R.A. DeCandido

Timeline: Set after Episode 5.08 Changing Channels

Location: San Francisco, California (Chinatown)

Synopsis: An old foe has come back to terrorize San Francisco, but what is the connection between the Campbells, John Winchester and Sam and Dean? Read to find out!

Warning: Spoilers abound!

Oh, where do I start? Heart of the Dragon has a very different feel to it, one that I'm not entirely on board with. Basically, it's a flashback book that spends the first third on Samuel, Deanna, and Mary Campbell, the second third on John Winchester and the last quarter on Sam and Dean. In fact, out of 28 chapters, Sam and Dean were only featured in about 7 of them. It leaves the book feeling hollow and me, a little meh. But, there are some additional insights into the Winchester family history which I'll try and parse out.

One more thought, I'm glad this is the last book from this particular author. Once again he has utilized a culture/race to tell the story, and not well. When the story is in 1969, he utilizes the world Orientals to explain Japanese and Chinese characters. He might have been trying to use the wording of the day, and that's fine if it's in dialogue, but to use it as a descriptor is problematic, at best. He also plays up multiple stereotypes from the Chinese mob to the Japanese Samurai. I'm hoping this book is the Route 666 of the novels and that they can only get better.

I decided to sort my thoughts within the different timelines, so here we go:

1969: Samuel, Deanna, and Mary Campbell

We open with the family hunting a vampire and Samuel using 15-year-old Mary as willing bait. It turns out to be a nest, but they quickly dispatch them without casualties. Deanna appears to be quite the hunter in her own right (her skill with a Claymore outstanding.) Within this hunt we learn a few things about Mary and the Campbell family.

The Campbells have a strong link to their Scottish heritage.

Samuel hates Christmas

Mary is willful, annoying, and disrespectful, but an amazing hunter who was raised practically from birth to how to hunt and defend herself. (Sam parallels, perhaps?)

Mary learned about monsters at 11 when she saw her parents dispatch an avenging spirit.

Samuel hates the idea of Mary hanging out with any boys, though she has a particular fondness for a John Winchester who works as a local auto-mechanic.

Samuel owns a dry-cleaning business and Deanna substitute teaches to help maintain some kind of income.

Mary often wondered about having a normal life, but would dismiss it knowing she couldn't have that and still know monsters are out there. (Seems like a combination of Sam and Dean here).

Other than that, the hunt they go to San Francisco for seems fairly perfunctory. They do a bunch of research, talk to a few locals. Samuel dons his FBI agent schtick, they locate the source of the problem, and quickly dispatch it. There's nothing too dramatic there, just a lot of backstory.

1989: John Winchester

There's a bit more insight here because now we're getting some insight into Dad John, as well as 6-year-old Sam and 10-year-old Dean. I'll touch on a few points.

Leaving his boys with others: We open with John returning to his kids whom he left at Bobby's while he took care of a hunt. He left them long enough that they were enrolled in school and he planned on keeping them there for the fall semester. He felt bad about using Bobby's hospitality for so long.

Training his boys: "John knew his boys would need to be able to defend themselves against whatever was out there - he'd already started that process with Dean... Dean was a crack shot with John's M1911 and could load the shotgun with iron rounds and fire them off in one smooth motion. Eventually he'd need to train Sammy too. But not yet."

Loving his boys: When he arrives at Bobby's, Sam runs out to meet him and wraps his arms around John's legs as he walks in. Sam also tattles on Dean for eating the last donut.

There are also some fun moments between young Sam and Dean, mostly sibling bickering.

Dean and Sam enjoy playing hide-and-seek among Bobby's car on the weekends and Sam enjoys going to school during the week. Dean, not so much.

Sam proudly shares that he's doing 3rd grade work in 1st grade and then teases Dean about also doing 3rd grade work even though he's in 5th grade (Dean then sticks his tongue out at Sam and says "Screw you, Sammy.") At this John calls them out and both boys are chagrined.

Later on, when John calls Bobby for more information, we find Dean holding a pen out of Sam's reach and teasing him with it.

Of course, that call means we also get this heartbreaking line moment from Dean, who wants to talk to his Dad, but can't before John hangs up. Bobby tries to explain: "'Sorry, Dean, he, uh, was on his way out the door. But he told me to tell you both to behave yourselves and do what I tell you. And that he loves you.' Dean: 'Did he really say that?'"

When Bobby presents the next case, John is torn between wanting to spend time with his kids, but going after something that could cause people to burn spontaneously, in the hopes that it might lead him to the demon who killed Mary. I think the book did a good job of capturing John's struggle between revenge and caring for his boys. He's not the abusive, neglectful father people tend to think he is. He's someone struggling to make things right.

"John didn't answer at first. Instead, he looked over at Sam and Dean in the dining room, playing that oh-so-common game of 'I touched you last.'

Christmas was coming up and he did want to spend it with the boys..."

Finally, when John returns and Bobby and the boys meet him at the airport, we get some additional insight into 10-year-old Dean's thoughts regarding his father and his place in the family.

"Waiting there in the airport, he understood how important it was for Dad to be away so much - more than Sammy ever could. Sammy hadn't really known Mom, since he was just a baby when she died. Dean couldn't imagine that his baby brother would ever truly understand what had happened to her.

If he was honest with himself, he didn't really understand it, either. There were some days - though he'd never admit this to anyone - when he couldn't even remember what she looked like.

Some kind of monster had killed Mom, and Dad wouldn't rest until he found that monster and killed it. Along the way, he'd kill any other monsters who tried to kill other people's moms...

Dad still fought the bad guys and saved people, but he also cared about his sons.

Because Dad was a hero, and that was what heroes did."

2009 - Sam and Dean

There isn't much to write about here, because they weren't featured in the book. I will just add a couple of notes.

Dean recognizes Samuel Campbell in a newspaper article about the killings. (He'd already been sent back in time and met his grandfather).

It's seems reasonable to Sam that Mary and her parents were hunters. What freaks him out is that he and Dean were named after their grandparents and John never told them.

Sam's been a nerd about the American Interstate system since he was 10 and loved poring over maps.

Sam feels more guilt from trusting Ruby over Dean than starting the apocalypse.

Final notes:

This book introduces Castiel who brings the case to the boys attention. We get the same stuff in here that you see on screen, he has issues with personal space, comes and goes at will, and Bobby's still mad at him for not being able to heal his paralysis. He's only there for a few pages, and then disappears again.

Bobby gets a bit more screen time, as a pseudo-dad to young Sam and Dean, and later as their resource when researching the case and it's history. Favorite quote: "As he went into the fridge for butter to spread onto the pan, Bobby decided it was the entire Winchester family that was making him bald."

We briefly get Hurt Sam who is punched repeatedly by a hulk of a man, but with no lasting consequences and very little caring Dean.

We find out at the end that Zachariah orchestrated the whole thing by planting the idea in Castiel's head.

So, like I said at the beginning, not my favorite, but hopefully I was able to share some of the more interesting parts. Read at your own risk!

#Supernatural #Supernatural Novels #Supernatural Books #SPN Novels #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Bobby Singer #Castiel #Heart of the Dragon

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topherfoxtrot · 3 years

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Resilience

Here's the third part of my thunderbolts au. Emil Blonsky scaped his long imprisonment but he didn't went after the Hulk. Where did he go? The answer is bellow the cut. There's an original character here too. I'm not kin of OCs but I didn't find any character who would fit the role I wanted. Said oc will only be a part of this episode so consider it a special guest appearance. I've realized I've been writing more and more with each installment. Sorry about that, I'm getting more comfortable with the whole precess and I like to challenge myself. Continuing the trend, this chapter has a widely different vibe from the previous ones. As usual if you enjoyed please like, share or comment something.

Episode one

Episode two

Emil woke up from a nightmare. It was a fight. From as long as he could remember all Emil did was fight. Now even when he's not awake he's still fighting. He sat on the bed breathing heavily. Wait, where am I? He thought.

"You must be confused." A female voice was heard nearby.

Emil looked around looking for it. The cabin was small. The bedroom, the living room and the kitchen were all occupying the same space. There were two doors, one of them was probably for the bathroom. The woman was sitting at the kitchen table. She dressed a knitted sweater and rabbit slippers.

"My name is Charlie Reznik." She pointed at the soup, "Are you hungry?"

"Where am I?"

"Alaska. Three hours driving from Barrow."

Emil sat on the bed. He was naked. He covered himself with the blankets not for modesty but because they were warm.

"You weren't using any clothes when I found you and you don't seem like the kind of person who would wear my clothes. I hope the blankets kept you warm."

"Found me?"

"Yeah. You were screaming a lot. And throwing trees around." Charlie chuckled, "Eventually you got tired and just fell asleep right where you were. I was thinking about calling the police or something but when you started to shrink I decided to bring you here."

Suddenly Emil looked at himself realizing he did indeed shrink. He didn't look like that anymore. Still, the bones in his hands and abdomen were more prominent than they should be. He took his hands to his back to feel his spine was also prominent. That made him think of the super soldier serum, of the Hulk and of the prison he just scaped.

"I need to contact someone." Emil got up only to fall on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Charlie approached him with caution.

"I think I'll have the soap first actually." Emil muttered realizing how weak his body was.

***

The soup made with vegetables reminded Emil of his childhood in Russia. He had almost no recollection of those few years before he moved to England. He mostly remembered the cold and his mother's soap.

"I need to ask you but.. it's gonna sound weird." Emil was at the table tangled with the blankets, "What year is this?"

Charlie looked him in the eyes to decide if he was being serious or not. Emil didn't flinch so nor did Charlie, "It's 2023."

Emil pressed his lips and started to breath heavily. He was sleeping this whole time. They kept him asleep without ever giving him a chance to explain himself. No consent and no agency.

"No one has heard anything about you since 2008 Mr Blonsky and now you show up in the middle of the forest not knowing the year?" Charlie seemed genuinely curious.

"You know me?"

"I didn't recognize you at first. There isn't much footage from big you. But the sketch from witnesses matched pretty well. They call you the Abomination."

"Abomination?" Emil suddenly smashed the wooden table with enough strength to crack it. Charlie quickly moved her left hard to somewhere under the table. They locked eyes. For the first time Charlie didn't seem warm and inviting but rather fierce and absolutely ready to react. Emil closed his eyes a bit before recomposing himself.

"I'm sorry."

"I also think the name is impolite." Charlie brought her hand back, "But no one knew anything about you except you were military assigned to find Bruce Banner. I had to make some phone calls and turns out my guess was right! You are indeed in the accords database. Quite high level threat.

"What accords?"

"Alright." Charlie put her hair behind her ears, "I need you to be honest with me Mr Blonsky. What's the last thing you remember?"

So he said. He fought the hulk on Harlem, fell unconscious and woke up in Alaska. Charlie brought a computer from a big bag under the bed and put it on the table in a way that both of them could see it.

"The world changed a lot since 2008 Mr Blonsky. Put on your seatbelts."

Charlie then gave him a contemporary history class the best way she could while showing videos and pictures whenever she felt necessary. She talked about the avengers assembling in 2012 to stop an alien invasion caused by a norse god. She talked about the genocidal robot destroying a whole country in 2015. She talked about Wanda Maximoff killing those people back in 2016. She talked about the Sokovia accords and how that made the avengers disassemble. She talked about Wakanda opening up to the rest of the world. She talked about the avengers coming together again to fight yet another alien invasion. She talked about the snap and the chaotic years that followed. She talked about the blip and the even more chaotic year that followed it. Emil listened to everything in silence. It was a lot but he was smart.

"They put me to sleep for fifteen years." He whispered.

"I'm so sorry about that. It's unfair."

Emil had finished his soup but he stayed exactly where he was. Thinking about everything.

"I became strong. I became as strong as I could and still... they defeated me with bed time."

"You're being unfair."

"How come?"

"I don't think strength is really what you think it is."

"How would you know?"

Emil looked at Charlie's small stature with unconscious disdain. She picked on that and wore her fierce eyes again.

"With all due the respect Mr Blonsky..." It was possibly to hear the rage under her words, "You have no idea how strong I am. Thanos snapped my whole family! I wasn't even at home when it happened. Do you have any idea how much strength I needed to gather to simply get up every morning? I may not have big muscles like you -in fact no one does Mr Blonsky - but guess what? You could not have went through what I did. I'm sure of it!"

Emil got up aggressively and so did Charlie.

"You're really pulling the trauma card?"

"Wanna compete?"

"I think I do." He showed his teeth.

Charlie walked across the cabin stepping heavely. She sat on the bed. "Enlighten me."

The challenge got Emil off guard. He hesitated.

"I don't need to tell you anything."

"Of course you don't. If you tell me how traumatized you are, I'll tell you how traumatized I am. Then you will have to admit that none of it gives you permission to do the shitty things you did!"

The cabin merged in silence. Outside there was nothing but the cold wind running through the trees.

"I know your type." Charlie continued, a little calmer now, "Though childhood huh? No perspective of a future so you joined the military. Felt good to explode some heads didn't it? It felt powerful."

Emil remained in silence. He still looked mad, but remained in silence. Charlie went to the kitchen and grabbed a photograph from one of the drawers. She gave it to Emil.

"You're military." Emil studied the photo of Charlie and other soldiers smiling inside a tent.

"Used to be. Came back in 2019. The welcoming party wasn't exactly a party as you can imagine. My house was empty. As I said both my parents and my little brother got snapped. That's when I found this cabin."

"It's not yours?"

"Nah. I don't know who it belongs to actually. It was a cold night and I was just driving aimless. I don't know why exactly. Everything just seemed so meaningless back then. I felt weak."

Emil put the photograph on the table and they both locked eyes again. Not with anger this time though.

"It's cold but it's isolated enough. I could cry and scream as much as I wanted without anyone knowing. And did I need to scream! Scream at Thanos, scream at my parents, scream at myself. A part of me wish it could've been me, y'know? Trust me I would give my life for theirs in the blink of an eye! Yet, here I was."

Charlie sat at the table again. The temperature of the cabin went from 20°C to 40°C and then to 20°C again. Emil felt sorry about the table but most importantly he felt sorry for making Charlie mad.

"There's no much to say." He started, "Though childhood. No perspective. Joined the military. After everything I've seen, being strong is honestly the only option. It's survival."

"I get it. I really do. But strength is not on your muscles."

"Don't come with this heartfelt bullshit."

"It's not." Charlie chuckled, "Trust me I won't fall for that bullshit either. It's something else."

She got up and grabbed an old book from the shelf near the bed.

"All those things were already here when I got here for the first time. There was water, gas, energy, the bed, the blankets. It's like whoever lived here had just left. I've known this place for couple more than three years now. No one is ever here except me, yet the feeling never goes away."

The old book was covered with leather.

"Self help book?" Emil asked.

"In a way." Charlie tilted her head, "This book is about the universe. But not like a scientific encyclopedia. This book is about the whole universe, about the energy that comes from different parts of the multiverse and how to harvest and manipulate them. Essencially, magic!"

"Alright it's a self help book. Magic is not real."

"I was honestly hoping you would say that." Charlie smiled, "Check this out!"

Charlie put her hands in front of her and took a deep breath in order to focus. She moved her hands vertically and a orange string appeared from thin air. Charlie's hands drew a circle in the air and the string curved itself in a circumference. Charlie closed her hands as if grabbing something and with another gesture polygonal forms started to draw themselves in the magic circle. Charlie snapped her fingers with both hands and the whole thing started to spin like a magical ferris wheel.

"You discovered magic!" Emil whispered.

"Of course I didn't! People have been studying that for a long time. I just happened to find a weird book." The magical strings disappeared as Charlie stopped focusing so much on them, "You know when you are depressed so you set a simple goal just to give yourself a little achievement?"

"No, actually. But that's seems like solid advice."

"It is!" Charlie chuckled, "Anyways I read this whole book in like two days and I didn't understand shit. But I was super interested and started to dig the internet and beyond for anything related to all the weird concepts I found. I read the book more two of three times after that. Each time I learned something different and gained a new perspective over myself and the universe around me."

"So it is a self help book!" Emil laughed.

"As I said, it is but in a weird way. I mean look around. There's aliens and gods and the multiverse. When you think of all of it don't your problems seem way smaller?"

"I'm not sure."

"Here's how it's gonna be. I go to Barrow buy you some clothes and you think about everything I just said." She grabbed a jacket and wore boots, "But you have to pay me back alright? Otherwise I'm gonna hunt you and I'll find you. Remember: I know magic!"

"Okay, that's fair!"

Charlie grabbed a ring with slot for two fingers in a kitchen drawer. "That was one of the things I found here. Magic becomes weirdly intuitive once you learn some basics."

She made that focused face again and started to draw circles in the air with her right hand. The air in the middle of the cabin heated up and started to sparkle. An orange circle (much like the one she conjured with the hand gestures) appeared but in the middle of it was possible to see an alley.

"What is this?" Emil was shocked.

"Fast travel!" Charlie winked before passing through. The portal was gone as soon as she was gone and Emil found himself alone in the cabin.

***

There was a small mirror in the bathroom. Alone, he could check his own body for the first time. His face looked pretty much the same, he hadn't aged one day in the past fifteen years. Besides his hands and shoulders and spine, his elbows were also abnormally prominent. Was he the Abomination after all?

The power felt good, he remembered. Felt god-like. But the cost was too high. Emil became too dangerous and lost control over his own life for more than a decade. He wanted to blame Ross and Banner but would it be even fair? Emil was the one who accepted to take the serum in the first place. He actually pointed a gun at that scientist. He begged to become as strong as the Hulk is.

Emil left the house still covered in blankets. The cold snow made his feet burn but no enough to bother him. He was strong after all. Or maybe he enjoyed the pain in a sick way of reinforcing his own superiority belief. An orange portal opened nearby after a while.

"Aren't you feeling cold?" Charlie asked coming with a bag of clothes.

"A little."

"Come. See if any of those fit you. They're from the local thrift shop by the way."

"I've wore worse."

Charlie bought a simple jeans, two shirts, a flannel and boots. Really simple stuff just to protect Emil from the cold. It fit well.

"Thank you." He said.

"You're in debt, Mr Blonsky. Don't you forget that."

"You know magic." He chuckled, "I can't allow myself to have you as an enemy Ms Reznik."

They both laughed. Charlie sat at the table and started to type something on the computer.

"The feds are all over town." Charlie commented, "They're looking for you."

"Listen," he said, "I need to ask you a favor but first can I go for a walk?

***

Emil took a deep breath before jumping as high as he could. He could not see above the tall trees so he jumped again but grabbed one of the trees this time. Even with his bare hards, the wood bowed to his will. He kept climbing until he got to the highest part of the tree. From up there he could see the whole forest, including the trees he threw around the day before.

He jumped to the ground again. The snow splattered around him. His hands and knees started to bleed but he didn't care because he would break soon enough. He felt powerful and smiled without realizing it. Not a happy smile, bur rather a challenging one. Hey jumped a little before running in the direction of the destruction he caused. He started slow (more like jogging actually) but quickly escalated to marathon running and super human running. The cold wind cut his face like knifes but he didn't care. He just kept going faster.

When he finally reached the glade he jumped again. Even higher this time. When he landed his feet felt bigger. Breathing heavily he looked at his own hands and realized they were indeed getting bigger and muscled. Without wasting any breath he took off all his clothes and started running again. The cold started to bother him less and less as his body grew in size.

He started to scream so he could liberate his anger. He jumped high and landed with his fists causing the ground to crack bellow him. Emil grabbed a fallen tree and threw it to the air. He picked big boulders and threw them around at will. In the middle of the chaos he also started laughing. He was strong. He could destroy anything he wanted. He was as strong as he could be.

When Emil finally felt satisfied with his own display of power, he grabbed the trees and rearranged them back into the ground as best as he could. He picked the boulders and put them back where they were. So when the glade resembled the glade it once was, Emil sat on the ground next to his new clothes.

He started to think about everything Charlie said. Yes, he was big and could destroy everything is his way. But there were gods and aliens and robots and uncontable planets and entities across the universe. He was big and strong but he was also small and weak.

His strength though wasn't on his muscles but on his ability to survive. He survived his childhood, he survived the military and he survived the Hulk. Just like Charlie survived the snap and the aftermath. Like Charlie found new meaning in magic so could Emil find new paths to follow.

"I'm big and I'm small. I'm strong and I'm weak. I'm still here." Emil whispered to himself.

His body started to shrink calmly. Once he achieved regular size he wore his clothes and walked towards the cabin. Charlie smiled when he entered.

"Had fun?" She heard the screams obviously.

"Yeah actually. Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Remember, you're still in debt! So what favor do you need?"

"I need a portal but I also need an address. I believe you can find the person I'm looking for in the Sokovia accords database."

"Hm alright. What's the name?"

"Ava Starr."

#emil blonsky #thunderbolts #FoxtrotFanfic

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ty-talks-comics · 4 years

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Best of Marvel: Week of February 26th, 2020

Best of this Week: Avengers #31 (Legacy #731) - Jason Aaron, Various Artists, Rachelle Rosenberg and Joe Caramagna

Tony Stark is Iron Man.

What makes him Iron Man isn't just the suits, but the brilliant mind capable of forging them. Tony’s been flung a million years into the past and, lacking the proper equipment to either build a new suit or time machine, has to fend for himself until he finds a way back home or dies. Along the way, he staves off both his past and futures as madness and hopelessness begin to seep into his mind, but being the resilient bastard that he is, we all know that he can do it.

The issue begins with a flashback sequence to Tony using one of his first inventions, some X-Ray contacts, to spy on a seedy meeting that his adoptive father, Howard Stark, holds with some horrifying implications. Howard’s “goodness” in the Marvel Universe has flip flopped many a time throughout the years with the most recent being a swing towards good through Jonathan Hickman’s S.H.I.E.L.D., but this flashback peels back some layers on what Howard’s always been about. Through Geraldo Borges, we get a scene similar to Eyes Wide Shut and Rachelle Rosenberg contrasts the light that Tony thought his father was, with his immense darkness.

We then cut to the future...or the past rather, with Tony sitting in the same cave that he and T’Challa found the calcified remains of Tony’s armor a millennia later and he’s grown a sick beard and wears the pelts of various things he’s killed while trying to preserve his vibranium energy. Gerardo Zaffino takes over the art for this section and, per his amazing issues of Conan, continues to do an amazing job in portraying the wilderness as dark, cold and ravenous. There’s a black madness behind Tony’s eyes after being stuck for so long.

Soon after Aaron Zaffino, and Rosenberg show us just how Tony wound up in the predicament that he’s in with only half functioning armor. Zaffino shows The Ghost Rider, Starbrand, Odin and Phoenix of the era fighting the metal man from the future. It’s intense as he staves off the intense, orange fire from the Rider’s mammoth, takes a brutal shot on the chin from the Hulk-Brand, stops the buzzing blue lightning from Odin wielding Mjolnir and tries to reason with the Phoenix before she shoots him back to the ground. Her colors are striking with intense particle effects as she tells him to “Remember the face of the Devil.”

Throughout the issue, we get Tony’s narration of the whole situation and he’s so very hopeful in the beginning up until the offerings start coming in. It starts off with just one woman bringing him some cave grog and then more and more start pouring in. Aaron starts spreading the seeds of temptation as Tony bemoans the nights getting “lonelier and thirstier” and Zaffino shows these busty cave babes kneeling with their grog skins towards Tony. As time goes on, the men of the cave come with clubs and grogs in an attempt to force Tony to drink and Tony is forced to drive them away again and again.

He’s starting to lose things and get angry before a silver tongued snake appears in his helmet with Joe Caramagna giving him a voice through familiar red lettering and bubbles. The snake mentions Howard’s name, saying that his adoptive father paid some sort of price and Tony lifts his helmet, thinking to slam it down on the snake before realizing it’s just another temptation. It’s almost horrific and really sells just how much this time period and everything is getting to him.

At the same time, the Devil doesn’t like being denied, so it sends a monster after Tony, the Gorilla wielding the Power Stone from Avengers #13! It’s a short and one sided fight as Szymon Kudranski steps in and shows the Gorilla savagely beating Tony. Rosenberg’s purple background and debris signals us to the Power (wink wink) of the stone and the intensity of the splash page itself is immense as the Gorilla whips Tony around, smashing rocks and Tony's bones while he’s powerless to do anything except yell and think. It’s not long before it leaves Iron Man for dead and allows him time to form a plan.

Tony does his best when he’s trying to not die, in his words, so the wheels of his mind begin turning as he sets traps outside of his cave as various snakes begin to appear outside and are skewered by his spikes. Oscar Bazaldua does an AMAZING job as he introduces us to his “Ice Age Man” design with Tony wearing a suit made out of hardened ice and powered by the last of his Vibranium energy. It’s very reminiscent of his Mk. I Armor and even has blades similar to Baraka from Mortal Kombat coming out of its forearms.

I love this design because it’s gaudy, retro and bulky all at once and made even better by the stark white, the fur on Tony’s neck and the stippling shading that I do love so much. Bazaldua even gives Tony the classic pose as he confronts the Devil at his door. It turns out that the figure is… *gasp* Howard Stark in the red cloak from Tony’s initial flashback. Tony knew that the man behind the Devil Mask was his father in that cult meeting because of the X-Ray contacts and had been scared since.

Aaron portrays him as an evil bastard that wants to have Tony cast away his future and rule the world as Father and son, only for Tony to send a spike through his head, “killing him.” Unfortunately for him, the body rises and reveals himself to be MEPHISTO and he absolutely launches himself at Tony and uppercuts the hell out of him. Robert Gill takes over the art here and shows parts of Tony’s being smashed off before Mephisto hammer fists Iron Man in the chest. It’s fast and intense to a point where the speed lines are almost nauseating.

The Avengers One Million look on at the fight and ponder if Tony’s strong enough to hold out against Mephisto alone. It’s a tough fight because Tony’s running out of energy, his suit is melting and the Devil has far more power than he can handle, so he makes one final hail mary upon seeing that Mephisto has the Time Stone. As he denies the offers Mephisto makes, one last time, and blasts the stone full of his last reserves of energy.

It’s a beautiful set of shots with Gill giving Tony a dynamic pose as the armor cracks off of him, shattering into pieces as he expels a beautiful beam of blue and white light thanks to Rachelle Rosenberg. Tony’s unkempt hair flies out and looks amazing as it flows out of the cracked half of the helmet and the wires dangle back. Mephisto lets the energy hit the stone and looks on with his evil grin and blasts Tony back with Time energy.

Throughout the book, Joe Caramagna has been providing excellent lettering and placement, filling the empty space and hinting at the villain throughout. He does this to great effect when Tony is flung back to his normal future, but has to witness other possible futures. Caramagna spaces each of the thought bubbles, grouping them based on the image in the background and spacing them out as to draw attention to Tony words and the corresponding panel of horror.

The question is, what was this experience meant to teach?

In many ways, it could be seen as a way to strengthen him against the coming threats that Mephisto has coming and that’s doubly true since Arno Stark has resurrected his father in the pages of Iron Man 2020 and he could be used against Tony again. On the other hand, as Mephisto says in the final pages by Mattia de Iulis, he’s sown fear and doubt in the heart of Tony. Tony does some pretty dumb things when he’s afraid and wh’s to say that this won’t create a new ripple among the Avengers becaue of it?

Overall, I enjoyed this issue! While not all of the artists were to my liking, the story made up for the pages that I wasn’t enamored with. I really enjoyed seeing how Tony would find a way out of the mess and I do enjoy when Mephisto is being used well. Jason Aaron is doing his best to pace out the story and weave pieces into place for the Mephisto Event that we’ve been waiting for since it was revealed that he was the Avenger’s true threat.

The various artists did well, of course there were a few that I didn’t enjoy as much as others, but everyone has their tastes. Rachelle Rosenberg stunned with her amazing colors on every page and Joe Caramagna made it all possible through his lettering. This book was cohesive and a lot of fun throughout, but the price and the fact that this was more of an annual kinda story drags it down just a bit.

For the most part, however, it’s a high recommend.

Also, support me on Patreon: patreon.com/TyTalksComics

#avengers #iron man #tony stark #mephisto #avengers one million bc #jason aaron #gerardo zaffino #robert gill #szymon kudranski #oscar bazaldua #rachelle rosenberg #joe caramagna #marvel comics

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