#838 Christine

[ladydbzelle]

Sorry for not posting for so long! Been busy with art projects that I couldn’t able to draw like I used to

[prettywitchiusaka]

These were all bought yesterday.

I met up with a friend of mine and we went for a long walk and caught up while we did some shopping.

So yeah, I'd definitely count this as my Birthday Swag Post 1.

[marvelsgirl616]

838 Christine Palmer Icons

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

unpopular thought, but I still wish that rachel mcadams was going to play clea

[benedict-cbe]

I miss these two.

Their chemistry was perfection

And Marvel fucked it up.

[gingiesworld]

Holding On and Letting Go

838 Wanda Maximoff x GN! Reader

Warnings: Grief. Death. Angst. Fluff. Amab! Reader

18+ MINORS DNI

"Promise me you will be careful?" Wanda spoke softly as she lay in Y/N's arms. Y/N holding her after a night of trying to expand their family of two.

"I promise." They told her with a gentle smile before kissing her softly. Relishing in the skin on skin as nothing was between them, soon turning into more as they flipped her over.

Wanda's heart dropped when she heard the news, heading straight towards the facility to see Peggy Carter with a solemn look on her face. Christine Palmer walked out with a sad expression before she noticed Wanda.

"I tried everything I could." She told the witch who gasped as she followed Christine into the room. "We figured you might want to say goodbye so we hooked them up to a ventilator. It won't help them but maybe it can give you some closure."

Wanda held their hand in her own, feeling the cold gold wedding band missing from their finger. Wanda looked to Christine with tears streaming.

"Where's the ring? Their wedding ring?" She asked as Christine handed her a bag of their belongings.

"It's in there, everything is in there." She told her. "I'll leave you be."

Wanda sat in silence as she looked over her life partner's features. Bruised, bloodied and broken. It broke her heart to see them in that state, only a machine keeping their body alive long enough for her to say goodbye.

"You promised." She whispered as she wiped her tears. "You promised me you'd be safe."

"I know and I am sorry my love." Wanda looked around the room at the faint sound before looking back at Y/N. Her heart beating rapidly as she noticed their body was still the same.

"Y/N?" She whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Right here." They spoke faintly, Wanda only left the room, leaving Christine to turn off the ventilator. Ignoring everyone's calls as she left the building and headed straight home. Once she was alone in their shared room, sat on the edge of the un-made bed as she held Y/N's belongings.

Here eyes closed as she tried everything in her mind to seek them out, but she come up empty. She felt nothing which her body soon racked with sobs, soon picking up the picture of the two on their honeymoon. Wanda smiling as she jumped on Y/N's shoulders, they had asked a passerby to take the picture.

"You said you wouldn't leave me." She cried as she looked at the picture.

"And I didn't." They spoke clearer than before. "I'm still right here." Wanda looked up to see a figure leaning against the wall. "I made a promise and you know I don't break them my love."

"How?" She whispered as she sat up, watching as they gracefully approached her.

"Well, I felt you." They told her as they knelt before her, Wanda went to caress their face only to feel cold.

"I can't feel you." She whispered as Y/N gave her a sad smile.

"That is because I am indeed dead." They told her as she shook her head.

"I don't want you to be." She whispered shakily as she started to cry. Crying harder than before as she held their pillow and photo close to her chest.

"Lay down my love." They cooed as she did as she was told. "Rest."

"Please stay." She requested in a small and broken voice.

"Of course." They smiled as Wanda soon fell into a deep slumber. Her dreams soon filling her mind.

"She just left?" Charles questioned as Christine confirmed with a nod.

"Well, she is grieving." Peggy reasoned.

"But what do we do with Y/N?" Christine questioned.

"We give them the funeral." Charles told them all and they did. They all tried to approach Wanda to attend but she was completely locked in her fantasy of Y/N still being around.

"I remember that." Wanda laughed as she lay on her side. She had been reminiscing on all of their years together from the moment they had met. Completely ignoring the knocks and phone calls.

"Yeah, it was a fun time. Painful but fun." Y/N smiled as they squeezed their eyes closed at the memory of knocking themselves out by walking into a door that said pull. "You know, you will have to let go of me eventually."

"I know." Wanda whispered as she gazed at their translucent form. "It's just that." She moved to sit up at the end of the bed, Y/N following her movements. "I am going to be alone for the first time since before well, us."

"You're never really alone Wanda." They told her softly. "You have Peggy, Charles and Christine. Nat and Maria too."

"But none of them are you." Wanda whispered tearily as she turned to face them.

"As long as I am in your heart, I am never truly gone." They told her with a soft smile. "Besides, you won't be alone in 9 months."

"I love you so much Y/N." Wanda told them with tears in her eyes.

"And I love you Wanda Maximoff and I lived my best life with you loving me." They told her. "So promise me you will live your life. Raise our children and teach them everything you have taught me."

"I promise." She told them, as Y/N reached out to caress her cheek, sending a shiver down her spine at the memory of their touch. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, opening her eyes to see the empty room. No sign of Y/N but the knock on the door.

So she wiped her eyes as she went to answer the door. Allowing an extremely worried Nat inside who rambled on about Wanda going radio silent.

"I just needed to come to terms with it all Nat." She told the assassin who gave her a sad look.

"The funeral was nice." Nat told her. "We tried to reach you, but we couldn't. You wouldn't answer your phone or the door."

"It's ok." Wanda whispered sadly as Nat then hugged her.

Y/N was right, she wasn't alone, she had a family in the team of heroes she knew and fought beside for years. Even when the pregnancy was confirmed, she had a band of heroes who helped her decorate the nursery, putting a picture of Y/N and Wanda in between the cots on the wall.

"Their very own guardian angel." Peggy smiled as they all admired the picture. Wanda beamed as she rubbed her stomach, Y/N's wedding ring was hung around her neck as she felt the twins then kick.

"They will be loved." Wanda whispered as she looked at Y/N's picture, a gentle smile on her face.

Even as the twins grew up, Wanda would share stories about Y/N, who they were and what they did. The twins grew up knowing their parent died a hero.

"Your O'pa is never truly gone." Wanda told them as she sat between the beds after tucking in the two 10 year olds. "As long as they live in our hearts."

She placed a gentle kiss upon both of their heads before she headed towards the door. Smiling at the two of them, seeing some of Y/N in them before she bid them goodnight. Heading to do her own thing, well clean up the mess the boys had created with a smile on her face.

Wanda had truly found the peace and tranquillity within losing a loved one. Someone who she thought would be with her to raise their boys but they were, just the mere memory of them and their ways gave her the strength.

Holding on to the memory of them whilst letting go of the pain that came with the loss was a huge mountain to overcome, and she couldn't have done it without the family and friends she had surrounding her.

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Okay so in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Doctor Strange (Earth-616) tells Christine (Earth-838) "I love you. I love you in every universe." And I thought that was one of the most romantic things I'd ever heard, given Stephen's experience with both Christine and also with the multiverse, but especially coming from a superhero movie.

Like, the idea that no matter our circumstances, or when or where or how we live, as long as you are you and I am me, then I will love you. That love seems indescribable.

But recently I have started to dip my toes into Supernatural again, and I am completely entranced by Cas' love for Dean, the idea that this reality is the only one where I love you and that's fine because the only reality that matters to me is one where we're together.

Because that's what Chuck said, right? In every other universe or reality that he created, Cas never once strayed from his mission, his purpose, except for this one that we see the show take place in, because in this one he loved and wanted to be loved and was loved in return. Because in this universe he cared; Dean made him care.

I am obsessed with the idea that I only love you in this universe and that that's perfect. That it's good. Because it means this is the universe where I have hope and trust and I have you. Those other realities? They are nothing more than other versions of us. Prototypes. Projects. Throwaways. The fact that I love you in this universe despite it being written into the very fabric of the universe by God himself that we are meant to fail, that means something. That means that it doesn't matter what anyone says, that I am not going to be yet another eternal victim of fate, that I am able to choose my own path, and even if none of the other versions of me choose you as their path, it doesn't matter, because I am and I'm here and we're together and that's all I could ever need in any timeline, even if all the other realities but this one fail to grasp that.

And Destiel fucking gave us that. And I am in shambles.

[foxssketching]

Can I say I love 838 Christine more that 199999 Christine ?

@palmerstrangedaily PalmerStrange Day 2023 | Found family 🦋

Palmerstrange + América.

[onetrueartform]

sad thought of the night

do the other members of Team Cap even know Wanda is (allegedly) dead? Do the surviving members of Team Iron Man? Does anyone at all outside of Stephen, Wong, America, and 838-Christine even have a clue where she went after WandaVision? Why did Clint not go get his surrogate daughter? She and Sam seemed somewhat close. His not even mentioning her in TFATWS was hella sus. Probably crap writing because these creatives do not communicate.

Do they think Wanda just yeeted herself into parts unknown and have decided their former friends are no longer their problem??? This goes for a lot of the post-EG creative directions. Nat goes on and on about how the Avengers are a family, but does that only apply to the Original Six? The MCU's decision to make these characters 'work buddies' (with all the superficiality that implies) continues to baffle me.

[stephenchristine]

I would really like to see Christine 838 again in some mcu project.

[shydaydreamer28]

DSMOM - PalmerStrange Rant

One finally I wanna let out. I only just watched this film for the first time last November, so the anger & rant-mode is still fresh in my system compared to folks who ripped this band-aid off 2 years ago when this film came out.

Imo, this movie utterly character assassinated Strange. But the biggest crime is the character assassination the PalmerStrange subplot did to him. And I wanna get out 1 big rant to cover all the cringe & issues I had with this regressive subplot.

First things first, we already see the garbage that is to come at the start of the film. Strange decides to go to Christine's wedding. This by itself is fine since the first film establishes that Christine still cares for Strange as a friend & loved one. Him going to support someone he cares for, perfectly fine.

The issue comes when you have our "hero" attempting to be a homewrecker at his ex's WEDDING RECEPTION!!!!! 🤬

Gotta show off & flex for her a bit first.

Christine has just told Strange that her husband is a big fan of his.

But why care about that when your first order of business is to try to steal the man's wife AT THEIR WEDDING? I am going to keep emphasizing the bold. Lmao

So Strange goes on his sob story about regretting their failed romance DURING HER WEDDING RECEPTION.

Christine is very patient with him on this nonsense. She never gets short with him and pollitely tells him their relationship was not meant to be despite the fact she is very clearly uncomfortable having to listen to that AT HER WEDDING.

Rather than let it go, Strange has to make things more awkward for both of them by insisting on an elaboration AT HER WEDDING - as if that's gonna change anything at that point.

Christine pollitely gives her answer he insisted on.

Now Strange gets to stand there looking (even more) awkward. But considering the tackiness of this exchange he insisted on, ever bit of his discomfort is deserved. Lol

Now that Christine has admitted she does not love him & never could, he realizes he ain't pulling her and backpedals. Having lost the exchange, he does the ONLY thing he ever should have to begin with & gives her his best wishes, very forcedly, with the fakest smile he could half-ass muster. lol

This entire scene made Strange look pathetic & tacky asf. We're already off to a bad start.

For me, it's hard to give af about rooting for a protagonist who is tacky & desperate enough to harrass his ex ON HER WEDDING DAY about their failed romance from 10 years ago and tries to bag her right after she JUST GOT MARRIED -trying to break up a family that's barely started. Now film opens establishing Strange as a desperate & tacky creep. Lets continue, shall we. 😁

Later in the film, he & America have officially started their multiversial journey in the 838 universe where we get the memory lane scene and his most important memory is his ex giving him a watch. Remember this. I will be coming back to it later.

After Stranges tries to comfort America about losing her mothers, she asks about Christine whom she knows from Defender Strange. Strange asks America if they were together - again, like that should matter to him. Log this away. It will also come back later.

Note this shows also shows his selfishness. Rather than a menory of them having a genuine moment & connection as lovers, his biggest thing is her giving him gifts. As usual, Christine giving & Strange leaching. Anyway, moving on.

After being captured by 838 Mordo, Strange comes face to face with 838 Christine who explains the situation. Having his priorities 100% straight, Strange asks the hard-hitting question -

Got a child in danger you claim to wanna protect & a murderous witch after you. But lets focus on what really matters. Anywho Christine gives her answer, which he again awkwardly does not like.

She makes a point to tell him that she doesn't care to know him & whatever she was to him where he came from is moot.

Again, not being able to let it go, his desperate creep ass asks her why.

I guess not being able to understand why a woman he just met doesn't care about his romantic interest. 838 Christine looks like our Christine. But at the end of the day, she isn't. Keep this in mind as well.

Strange gets taken away for judgement by the Illuminati. In this scene we learn that they executed their Strange after he royally screwed up. Xavier shows Strange exactly what happened. Again rather than focus on anything genuinely important, his only concern is he Christine knows - I guess hoping she didn't under belief that she'd enever work for his killers. No luck for him there. lol

No matter what he learns about his variants & potential wrong-doings he could fall prey to, the only concern he ever finds imporant is Christine - somehow he always loops everything back to her.

Lets skip ahead to meeting Sinister Strange where some of my earlier observations come back around.

He meets this variant who asks him to prove he's the real deal. This is where we hear Donna mentioned for the first time (only having this scene because Benedict insisted & knows how important Donna should be).

Strange is clearly upset thinking & talking about his sister's death & BC kills the performance.

Sadly, this scene gets undercut when the Memory Lane scene depicted his biggest thing as his ex giving him a watch 10 years ago. So I guess his ex giving him a gift & leaving him hurts him more than his little sister dying.

If that is the case, Strange's character has NOT been done any favors. His obsession with his ex overrides family tragedy, I guess. Benedict was right to insist on this scene. Waldron was wrong to make Memory Lane all about Christine. Have a scene of Strange & Donna playing together as children, then hit hard when Strange reveals what happens to her later.

What we got was disjointed asf and removes any sympathy you could have for Strange when the film makes CHRISTINE the only thing that matters to him in life. His most important memory is her - so if he barely gives a damn about his sister compared to his narcissistic desire to reclaim an ex, why should we feel sympathy? I would go further & ask why we should care about Strange at ail? I mean, if his priorities are so fucked up that an old flame dumping him is more traumatic than watching his sister die right in front of him, you have written a character that shouldn't be cared for or sympathized with - rather a character that needs to be put out of his own & everyone else's misery. Lets move on.

Strange talks with Sinister who brings up Christine & her wedding. He went the same route our Strange did, being asked if he was happy & lying about it. Our Strange seems to have the realization he is not on a good path based on the same events that lead Sinsiter to where he is now.

Another early point coming back around. Sinsiter says he used the Darkhold to find a universe where he had Christine.

Our Strange was doing this as well. He wasn't using the Darkhold yet. But anytime he was confronted about other universes, he felt the need to ask if he & Christine were together in them, showing his own fixation with that. Keeping in mind the similar paths our Strange shared with Sinsiter, it is important to note where he obsession was going to go.

Sinister bluntly tells Strange he can use the Darkhold in exchange for Christine.

This reveals Sinsiter has gotten to the point of his obsession that Christine is on the same level as an object to be traded. Again, he wanted her because he wanted her & didn't care what she wanted anymore.

Our Strange had not made it there yet since he refuses on the grounds that Christine would not want that. Our Strange has not gotten to the forceful "take what I want" part of his obssession yet. However, it's safe to say he would have given the similar path he was already on.

It would seem getting dragged into Wanda & America's chase changed the course for him & let him see the shittiness of himself.

Now lets move ahead to our final stretch. Even after seeing a universal pattern & learning how bad things went for Sinister in his obssession, rather than take that lesson in & learn, Strange has to try again to hook up with Christine. We come to the big (in)famous scene.

He wants to take her back to his universe. Worth noting both times Strange gave his crap sob confessions, both Christines look uncomfortable asf.

We got his cringe & unearned confession line.

Also worth noting that after he gives this big theatrical confession, all Christine does is smile & nod awkwardly.

Again, she does not love him. Maybe she loved her Stephen once upon a time. But the man in front of her is not her Stephen. So once again, she's got no reason to love him.

Anyway, we see Strange give a slight eyebrow raise & stand there like an idiot when she doesn't have much to say in response.

Almost reads as "Damn, I just poured my heart out & she still don't want me."

Christine once again, pollitely rejects him. To another point I made earlier. THIS IS A VARIANT! This is not the Christine he shared his history with. She is a different person who shares looks with his Christine. But obssession doesn't care. He's still allowing his fixation & inability to accept loss affect him to the point of trying to hook up with a lookalike if he can - but even the lookalikes don't want him.

Again, this scene makes Strange look pathetic. This was not romantic or sympathetic. It was Simp Pathetic. lol Sorry dad joke.

But closing out the PalmerStrange rant, the relationship subplot depicts Strange as an obsessive stalker. If he didn't destroy the universe first like Supreme & Sinister, then the latter shows how dangerous Strange's limerence was going to get. And Christine has no protection because who's gonna stop Strange when he kidnaps her? The police & Charles can't do anything - and that's only if the latter isn't killed by Strange before he takes Christine.

We have an interview from Walnuts where he says PalmerStrange needed closure & 838 Christine pushes him forward to move on & love again. Link

The problem? Derrickson already did that in his first film 6 years prior. Strange still had feelings for Christine & it's made clear.

The awkward kiss cements that they will not be lovers again but have repaired their friendship and can part ways on a loving note contrary to their bad fight in the beginning.

The ship served the purpose Derrickson wanted which was giving Strange a personal tether in his previous life that he would have to leave behind. This was a mature ending of the relationship where they both accept their different life paths, and Strange doesn't look sprung & obsessive.

Waldron's writing didn't give closure or porgress. He regressed the character to do his own shittier version of the story while gaslighting fans in interviews to believe that it was a needed development rather than crappie retread of an already nicely concluded arc.

Strange is written as someone who's desperate asf.

He can't seem to recognize that obssessive desire is not love and can't stand the fact or fathum the idea that Christine couldn't want him, making their relationship all about what he's feeling when he insists on conversations about their past & grilling her for answers & justifications for why he can't have her.

His feelings here are pretty much the same as Spike's feelings for Buffy in seasons 5 and 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I hated Spike and his toxic relationship with Buffy. When the real thing didn't want him, he had a sex-bot of her made. Strange is in that same boat when he loses his Christine to another man, and started eyeing up variants. That's sad as hell.

In addition to regressing & character assassiating him in his Christine arc, Walnuts also regressed another arc which was the Ancient One teaching him that everything is not about him - because again, he makes the basis for his entire relationship with Christine about him. He refuses to take no for an answer. People like that can become dangerous.

In BTVS, we saw the worst case scenario of someone who can't let go & take no for an answer. Buffy calls off the abusive relationship with Spike and tries to give him more respect than he deserves in ending it. LIke Strange, he can't take no for an answer and won't respect that she is finished with him. It all comes to a head when Spike finally tries to rape her before realizing why their relationship was problematic and he had some changing to do.

And honestly, with the way Strange is written & what we got from Sinister, the infamous Buffy scene was a real possibility for Christine as well. Again, Sinsister wanted to trade the Darkhold for her, so her consent was evidently not something he was worried about so long as he was satisfied.

On to Clea

Now we move on to Clea as a love interest. This film created a multitude of problems for that, as well as Walnuts' words in the above-linked interview not matching his half-assed writing.

He talks up Clea as being this great love for Strange and saying he needed closure from Christine before he'd be ready to meet his real love. There are a couple of problems with that statement. First is the aforementioned fact that Strange already got that closure with Derrickson at the end of the first film. Walnuts regressed that development. Next is how he can say that crap with a straight face despite his writing showing the total opposite - which I will get to now.

If Walnuts truly thinks Clea is the love of Strange's life, why the Hell would he write Strange as being obssessed over another woman for 10 years throughout the film, and professing multiversial love to her lookalike just 10 min. before adding Clea in a nameless cameo in mid-credits?

If Walnuts absolutely had to write something relating to PalmerStrange closure, here is a better scenario. Strange congradulates her at her wedding, wishes her happiness, then both acknowlege that they'll always share a bond & cherrish the friendship their lives led them to. Maybe have them share a hug, then let that be it. Short, sweet, and to the point without any inappropriateness & obssessive stalker tendencies on Strange's end.

After that, you bring in Clea for the rest of the film, to go with him & America on their multiversial journey. You don't bring in a variant of his ex that you already knew he didn't need to be with.

Also if one is serious about Clea being a great love to Strange, no writer worth a damn is gonna write him as a obssessive stalker over another woman throughout the film right up until the last 3 min.

"I love you in every universe" is not a line one writes to show that a character is getting over & moving on from someone. That's the line of someone who's still very much trying to get what they want.

In the following scene with Wong, Strange outright admits he is not happy after the film's events. Again, this is NOT writing him as a man who's moved on.

Strange talks to America, goes back to the Sanctum, now all of a sudden he's over Christine, smiling & happy with life?

NO! That's some terrible ass writing - a totally forced & unearned "happy" ending. Strange was unhappy, obssessed, and depressed right up through his scene with Wong. How did we get from that to magical out of nowhere happiness & acceptance? Clearly there was a time jump. But ultimately the film kept him static in his unhappiness & obssession with the "development" into happiness & moving on being off-screen. Lmao

This brings us to the final issues. This film forces PalmerStrange out of nowhere, and makes it into a bigger deal than it ever was in Derrickson's film. They were love interests but not the star-crossed great loves that MoM tried to sell.

We learn from Kevin Feige that he loved the Strange Supreme What If episode, and told Waldron to watch it. In that universe, Strange & Christine were together but tragically ended. And it seems Waldron used that as the basis for the ship in this film rather than what Derrickson already established in the film that this was meant as a sequel to - the version which dealt with our characters, not variants of them with a totally different & unrelated bond.

Gassing PalmerStrange up like he did knowing he wanted to bring in Clea (or so he claims) was terrible. Because now, he put too much emphasis on Strange's feelings for Christine to take Clea seriously. Again, Clea's introduction was very half-assed. She just randomly & namelessly shows up out of nowhere during the credits. That's not the kind of intro a good writer would give a character whom they genuinely believe to be important.

Christine got first billing with Clea tossed as an afterthought.

The MCU will have to work extra hard to sell & sail this ship since they decided to spend the last 3 years shoving Christine down our throats. As it stands with the horrible writing now, Clea looks like Strange's rebound chick since 2 versions of his first choice rejected him, and 2 others he finds out either married someone else or didn't talk to him anymore.

Their future relationship will need MANY defining moments to show she is Strange's great love & not a sex prop he gonna get off on while visualizing Christine. Sadly, the horrific writing gives the impression of the latter.

Christine got "I love you in every universe." It's a beautiful line made cringe by the fact it was wasted on the wrong relationship by a person whose feelings were toxic obssession they mistake for love because they're spoiled & can't take not getting what they want.

So what are they gonna give Clea? Will the next writer even make an effort with the ship & give them anything? Or are we gonna skip the developement & have them just already married in the next film they share? That really fuels the rebound interpretation when we skip from Strange obssessing over Christine for 10 years in "his" sequel to married out of nowhere to a random woman he met in credits of said film.

It would really take a couple of films to give the ship proper devotion & build while moving all the pieces of the bigger story. And I don't think we are gonna get that at this point. Strange probably only has 2 or 3 more film appearances before he gets killed off, including DS3 which is rumored to be a segue into other events, and we saw how much Strange mattered when it comes to transition solo films.

Overall Strange's character in general (not just his love life) needs extreme focus & development. He's been around for almost a decade with little to no development since his first film in 2016. When I look at the character in the comics vs. him in the MCU, it's enough to make me wanna scream at how one-note the latter has made him, and how dirty they have done him. MCU Strange is basically the biggest one-note loser there is. Cumberbatch is the only saving grace for the character atm.

[benedict-cbe]

This is beautiful

palmerstrange day 2023 ♡ found family

in/sp

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Hi BeautifullyObsessed,

Having heard the recent news regarding RDJ and who he's going to be play in the MCU in what I am assuming is future films( Avengers???), I guess, I must admit to being beyond infuriated with the MCU at this point. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE RDJ, but why in the HELL does he get play a whole new character, whether said character be a variant/from another universe/whatever, yet Rachel McAdams, who I also adore immensely and utterly despise how Marvel has treated her(ex. attempting to throw away/disgard palmerstrange and Christine like nothing), can't be Clea/ a Christine variant that is Clea? Yet, RDJ gets to do essentially that himself. Why? What's the difference? If he can do so, shouldn't Rachel be able to be a vastly different character as well? It's just so unfair, not to mention makes zero sense to me whatsoever how one person gets to do something, yet someone else doesn't get to do essentially the exact same thing :@ Not the mention, they would have had me automatically invested in that ship had they allowed Rachel to play the character. I seriously loved the idea of her in that role, waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy more than I will ever like the idea of CT in the role( not at all fan of that casting personally).

Thanks for taking the time to give your thoughts xx!

Honestly, when you put the question as you have, Nonny, the first response that came to mind is that there's some not so subtle misogyny at play here (the same sort of misogyny that enabled the Russos to dismiss Natasha Romanoff as being of no future value to the franchise beyond 'Endgame'). Coupled with Feige/Marvel/Disney being both desperate and greedy for a way to return the MCU to its former glory.

RDJ's Ironman was the initial foundation stone of the MCU and remains a huge fan favorite five years after his death. So, of course, his return to Marvel in any form is going to fill theatre seats that have gone vacant in the past several years with films that have well under performed those of the MCU's glory days. That's gotta be a huge win for the financial health and popularity of the franchise. And as for Downey Jr, well, he doesn't need the work in particular, but consider first how playing Tony Stark revitalized his career and gave him a cadre of Actors that became as family to him; who wouldn’t want to work with those folks again? Second, he really treasured being Stark, he was the perfect embodiment of Stark, and he must surely expect the same fulfilling experience as Doom. I wish him all good things--while I hope like hell that Doom turns out to be a Variant of Stark; there's so much fantastic story potential (including adversarial interaction with my man Stephen) they'd be throwing away to not have it so!

But Rachel, though--she's been treated shamefully, and like an afterthought, despite the incredible onscreen chemistry she shared with Benedict. And in 'Multiverse of Madness', 616 Christine got the same brusque treatment courtesy of Waldr🤢n and his enablers Feige & Raimi. First, they put words in her mouth that denied her canon feelings for Stephen--'couldn't love you...', wtf!!!...

...then the last shot we got of her, she was irritated while watching Stephen try to save the city from a Monster, as though he was doing it to interrupt her wedding! You can bet your sweet bippy she would've been treated far better if Scott Derrickson had been at the helm (as would Stephen). But based on 838 Christine,

I would have whole-heartedly embraced Clea as a Christine Variant.

I've said as much about a dozen times. Clea is so much more than a badass queen in the comics. She is not only Stephen's student but fully comfortable in her femininity. Unafraid to be soft despite her toughness and the battles she has had to wage in the Dark Dimension. Frankly, the perfect feminine foil to Stephen's delicious brand of masculinity [my knees go briefly weak at the thought of him🥰❤️‍🔥🥰]. They are true Yin/Yang.

Again, the story potential would've been awesome. Imagine Stephen shocked to encounter a Christine so different than either one he knew. A tough, battle-hardened, brusque, even impatient woman, not at all like the Christine he loved. He doesn't even like this Clea--until he glimpses hints of unexpected yet familiar compassion and softness, which draw him in. Ugh. As a storyteller myself, the waste pisses me off.

Academy Award winner she may be, but what I saw in Charlize's brief appearance as Clea showed me that either Feige/Marvel/Disney doesn't get Clea's beautiful duality or they simply don't care. And surely didn't provide CT with any indication that Clea is way more complex than Badass Woman--and that Stephen DESERVES that so much more in his future wife and partner in the Mystic Arts.

Maybe it's just my perception, but replacing Rachel as they did (and it was very last minute I recall, in December 2021, near the end of photography; they created Charlize's makeup & costume design pretty much on the fly in like 48 hours), feels like they said 'Thanks Rachel, you've been swell, but the foundation we built with you isn't necessary anymore, we got us a statuesque, super duper A++Lister. Ta ta, kiddo.' Which infuriates me.

So yeah, in the end, I'm thinking the reason Rachel isn't playing Clea while RDJ is playing Doom? GREED AND MISOGYNY. And after how abused Stephen was in DS II (ie: ignoring his whole experience in living out 14 freaking million timelines and barely letting him mention Donna's death, the most formative experience of his young life), I'm not even looking forward to DS III (unless Benedict gets significant input, especially in story/writing, as he's said more than once that he wrote things for MoM & No Way Home). Charlize's Clea (thus far) doesn't bode well for what I would have loved to see in Cleaphen.

[tobiasdrake]

I don't like all the romantic focus on Christine but I do understand what they were doing with this. Stephen pining for Christine, Stephen being unhappy in every universe, and Stephen lying to himself and to Christine are all connected intricately to the whole "have to be the one holding the knife" thing.

Stephen's inability to connect with Christine, his fear of intimacy, comes from the same place as his controlling and domineering tendencies. Stephen is afraid to trust. To put his faith in another person and let them have even a moment of control.

And so it is that, once Stephen crosses this threshold with America, he is then able to turn around and cross it with Christine-838. Though they don't actually become an item, he's at least able to admit to his feelings and come to terms with the things he hasn't been allowing himself to feel.

It's an emotional breakthrough. Standing in the house of a version of him that was literally killing Stranges for not being able to take this step. With the warped Incursion reality chasm behind him, now reframed as a light at the end of the very long tunnel he's been traveling down.

[elennemigo]

RACHEL McACDAMS as 616 and 838 DOCTOR CHRISTINE PALMER and BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as DOCTOR STEPHEN STRANGE.

Happy bday, Rachel McAdams! (Nov. 17) 🎈

[themculibrary]

Doctor Strange: MoM Masterlist

Cold & Drained (ao3) - Anonymous G, 425

Summary: you know the scene in MoM after America learns to control her portals and comes to get Stephen and Christine? That but fluffy

Easier Said than Done (ao3) - Orange_Sunsets christine/stephen T, 1k

Summary: Christine returns to her Earth and has to deal with the destruction that was caused. She soon realizes that there was more that happened that fateful night, unknown to her because of her attempt to free America. She's soon left to process what happened, and everyone, including her, is left to pick up the pieces.

*Takes place after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness*

Finding Family (ao3) - aparticularbandit M, 374k

Summary: When America begins universe-hopping again to try and find her moms, she realizes that's too much scope for her. She looks for smaller scope, and instead she finds Wanda.

forgiveness is warm (like a tear on a cheek) (ao3) - lesbiantahani wanda/natasha M, 25k

Summary: Maybe after everything, she'll always feel like this. Who was she without love, who will she be? Wanda doesn't feel like crumbling for the thousandth time, she wants for once, to not grieve. When her fingers scrunch the fabric atop her thighs as she tries to anchor herself, it doesn't work, because Natasha was better at doing that for her. Natasha was better for her with everything.

-

or, post multiverse of madness, wanda reconciles with her guilt.

i dream of you (do you dream of me too?) (ao3) - Linzerj G, 2k

Summary: It starts with a dream, shortly after she first meets Doctor Stephen Strange.

(Peggy Carter of Earth-838 dreams of a version of herself that has travelled the multiverse, saved the multiverse, and made friends with a... very strange version of Stephen Strange.)

I Said I Would Never Fall Unless Its You (ao3) - coolpointsetta tony/stephen M, 112k

Summary: “It took me a long time, but I realized my situation wasn’t entirely hopeless,” Strange’s voice was gaining confidence, bit by bit. “In my scouring of the multiverse, I realized that Christine Palmer wasn’t my destiny, but he was. It is written in the fabric of every universe, it is set in stone: Stephen Strange and Tony Stark are meant to be together. No matter where they begin or where their journeys end, they are meant to love each other…”

His voice trailed off a little as he became absorbed with watching his variants dance with different versions of Tony. The looks of happiness on their faces made Wanda’s heart break and her resolve crack, and she was beginning to understand more of where he was coming from.

“But Tony Stark is always destined to die.”

In Every Universe (ao3) - MagicalTear tony/stephen T, 16k

Summary: Tony Stark had been working for the Illuminati for years, doing his share to make the world a safer place as he worked alongside Earth's strongest heroes. He had his inventions and he had Stephen, and for a moment everything was perfect...until it wasn't. Until the Illuminati tore Stephen from his side and left him with a hollow heart.

The last thing Tony expected was for the multiverse to come knocking on their door so soon after Thanos' demise, throwing none other than Stephen Strange at his feet once again. He might have been a genius, but he was not equipped to handle a magic book chase, a teenager in distress, and one mad Scarlet Witch.

Perhaps it was time for Earth 838 to go through some changes.

(Or...grab the second half of Multiverse of Madness and make it IronStrange)

my name is whatever you decide (and i'm just gonna call you mine) (ao3) - thelilacfield wanda/vision E, 3k

Summary: She let herself forget the rightness of this, caught up in her dreams, in the broken memories and the fractured realities, burning the world down around her with the Darkhold at her fingertips.

She let herself lose him, and in this moment he’s hers again.

Please Let it Be True (ao3) - Airene G, 3k

Summary: When Stephen turns away, eyes crinkling in fondness and smirk soft near the edges, America tries her best not to call out to him again.

She succeeds. Surprisingly. Instead of calling out to him again, probably with some useless quip or lame excuse to stall for time, she watches him leave through the portal he opens and clamps down on the disappointment that surges through her almost immediately when it closes behind him.

//// Misunderstandings occur, but they get it figured out

The Space Between Us (ao3) - KVeronicaP christine/stephen T, 3k

Summary: This was a mistake, bringing her into the New York Sanctum.

"Wait a minute, okay?"

His hand lightly brushed Christine's forearm, and she gave him a quick nod. The very idea of Christine of Earth-838 being there eased some of the tension in his shoulders, though it did nothing to bring his heart back from his throat. Wong's gaze boring into him didn't help either. This was an exceedingly stupid idea.

"I... I ask for one day."

-

In which Stephen of Earth-616 cannot let go of Christine of Earth-838. Or, alternatively, how two souls find a way to bridge the space between them in one hell of an incursion without endangering their universes [tripartite fix-it fic]

They'll Have Someone To Care For Them (ao3) - entity9silvergen reed richards/susan storm, christine/strange, past steve/peggy T, 34k

Summary: Earth 838 had a Wanda.

Reed had met her. He knew her. All of the Fantastic Four, all of the world's heroes, did. That was why Reed had truly believed the Illuminati could take her. This Wanda may have lost her way a little bit with the loss of her children but she was still Wanda. She was fundementally good and she could be reasoned with.

At least that's what Reed thought until he saw Black Bolt's head explode.

Why Did You Save Me? (ao3) - kittyhazelnut G, 1k

Summary: “I opened the Darkhold, and I have to be the one to close it.”

“We can close it together.”