#Drax the dad

[thepersassiest]

everyone saying that gotg3 is the best thing marvel has put out since endgame is honestly extremely disrespectful.

gotg3 is so much better than endgame

[padbaeamidalaskywalker]

The High Evolutionary destroyed an entire planet of innocent people and I am DEVASTATED THAT THEY KILLED THE PRECIOUS BAT FAMILY.

Also I am permanently emotionally devastated from the Rocket flashbacks

[alanatheblogger]

the fact that drax went from “there are two types of beings in the universe. those who dance, and those who do not,” clearly being the group that doesn’t

to dancing with the kids at the end when he rediscovers his role as a father, i can’t

[sunny-rants]

the real reason gotg movies are the funniest marvel movies is because their characters have gone through the most trauma, and that’ll give you an elite sense of humour

[raccoonfallsharder]

rewatching gotg volume one (again; shut up; i'm very normal about this) and i am once again reminded of the similarities between lylla and drax

volume three lylla: it really is good to have friends. volume one drax: it is pleasing to once again have friends.

anyone who says drax is "just comic relief" isn't looking

uhhhh here are some thoughts about drax & mantis if you needed more

[bebx]

I’ve watched guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 and I have thoughts

[amelia-mariee]

i feel like a proud mom watching the guardians of the galaxy get all this attention and hype and everyone praising the new movie this past month. like yup those are my guys!! they're crushing it!!!

[whxre-bxby]

These two give off the same energy:

Lyle and Drax are so silly

[ellestra]

Not the end of the story

I went to the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 the first night it was on because I was dreading the deaths it could bring so much I knew I couldn’t stay unspoiled if I didn’t. The speculations who will die in this one have been rampant for years. We know Gunn loves to kill off characters and of the starting team neither Groot nor Gamora are the ones we met in the first movie. Rocket was obviously the main suspect and since both Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana said they are not planning to come back their characters were also likely to die. My longstanding fear was that Nebula would be sacrificed because her revenge and her redemption stories are done and that usually means there is nowhere for a character to go but death.

But this not that kind of movie so we see so many other options for these people to grow. Redemption doesn't have to be the end of the story. It doesn't need to end with death. There is life beyond that.

Sure, there are still big fights and even bigger explosions and there is a lot of death but for the main characters we’ve been following all this time it’s only about connections they built with each other and the connections they share with people they come from. The families they reconnect with and those they found along the way. And second chances that got them there. And sharing that option of second chance with whoever is willing to take it. Even if it sometimes take a long and roundabout way for them to take it.

I’ve said here before that MCU is strongest when it plays on the relationships we built with the characters along the way. When it makes us connect with the characters emotionally and then makes us follow their journey to grow. When it remembers their emotional history so we connect with both who they were and how far they’ve come. And when it’s done well like in this film it is so beautiful.

GotG does it best because it finds the perfect balance between saving that one friend we all love and saving everyone (and I mean everyone they are able to – they even save the animals and abalisks like the big, damn heroes they are). They even give second chance to Adam Warlock who tried to kill them and some High Evolutionary goons who have enough sense not to try. The whole movie is about empathy and compassion over perfection and utility. The people like Hight Evolutionary who only care about the latter see other as tools but the former is what makes you stronger because we are all stronger together. Even the monsters and weird misshapen creatures.

My only small gripe was how callously the Counter-Earth inhabitants are disposed of since we are so preoccupied with other storylines – Gamora saving Rocket, Adam trying to save Ayesha, High Evolutionary ship leaving – that there isn’t time to think of all of them dying. I know High Evolutionary was going to destroy Counter-Earth anyway – he just waited to spring the trap – but it hurt to see all those people including that nice Bat family die right after Peter said how not perfect that word is. It’s like he wanted Peter to feel bad about it but it’s never really followed up on.

This ability to connect with others is why Mantis is the most powerful of them all. She sees what others need and why they are needed. She helps Peter understand he needs to reconnect with his grandfather and his roots on Earth and heal some of his pain. He didn’t lose everyone he loved – he still has time. And she makes Nebula look beyond the superficial to see that everyone matters. Even if your family drives you nuts sometimes when there is love they all matter and have a place.

We see that building connection with people is really Peter’s superpower too. It made him a good conman but it’s also what allows him to save his friends and galaxy without killing people. He convinces others to help. It was really nice to be reminded he too is hyper-competent at what he does. Just like Rocket is at building tech Peter is at this whole thing of finding ways of in and out of both places and people. This is why his plans work so well. Unless, he’s overwhelmed by his own emotions. He still doesn’t deal well with them but that’s what he has friends for – both Nebula and Mantis help him through the worst of it.

Learning to connect to others in ways that are not build on pain and fear has been a big part of Nebula’s journey in MCU – from embracing Gamora through friendship with Tony and Avengers to becoming a Guardian of the Galaxy. We see how Nebula really comes to her own when she cares for others. She is the one who ends up running Knowhere long before the ending. She is the one who defends it. Look at her when she put on her wings to fight and actually defeat Adam Warlock. Look at her finding the information on what Rocket needs and putting the team together to find a way to cure him. And finally shed the last of the toxic thinking Thanos taught her to see who Drax really needs to be – a dad.

She even arranges for both Peter and Gamora to finally confront the ghost that’s been haunting both of them and find peace in knowing that what was, was beautiful but it doesn’t exist any more.

I know for most people the main relationship that drives this group are that of Peter and Gamora and Rocket with family but my favourite is the relationship of Gamora and Nebula. I’ve said it before I wanted more of the sisters’ relationship that isn’t tinged by hurt and distrust. Especially now, after they saved each other (with Gamora saving Nebula from Thanos and Nebula returning the favour and Nebula even killed herself to save her, well a version of herself, but still). Seeing them being there for each other despite being on such a different stages of their healing was great because it’s a lot of what we missed between GotG Vol.2 and Infinity War.

And, of course, Drax connects with the kids and saves them. It’s a perfect pay-off to a man who lost his family to another maniac convinced his pursuit of perfection needs to be paved with other people’s lives. It gives him opportunity to become dad once again. And to become the person who dances. In MCU full of dads who suck he is the best dad.

Groot has grown up with them all and they are the family that he will forever love and one that taught him to give second chances to people. Even the people who try to kill you because they may end up being the ones who save you. This is how they got Nebua when he was little. This is how he got Adam Warlock.

Even Kraglin and Cosmo got find their heroic selves with connection to each other and with help of others. Kraglin remembers the lessons from Yondu and is saved by Cosmo. Cosmo holds on with help from Mantis. They both reach their potential because they have others to help them.

And the whole movie is about Rocket connecting with people through different stages of his life and how much it hurts to lose them but also how beautiful it was to have them in his life. How much they made that life worth living. And how those connections saved his life and allowed him to save lives. He can lead people because he is able to care about people. Because he allows himself to care and be cared for.

I loved how they finally got to the moment their scars healed enough that they no longer need to cling to each other and explore the lives they want to live. Lives that aren’t driven just by the hurt they’ve experienced from others or by atoning for the hurt they caused. These are just their lives.

Saga comics has taught us all that there is beauty in mundanity. We should all strive for the boring life of just being with people we care about. Boring is good actually. They all could use a little boring. I’m sure adventure will be there whenever they are ready.

And they all live. They go each their own way. Like all families they eventually find out they want different things at the moment so they go to explore them but Nebula and Drax make sure they’ll always have home to come back to whenever they need it.

Whenever Mantis feels she needs a break from exploring the universe. Whenever Peter wants to take grandpa sightseeing.  Whenever Guardians need to rest and regroup. Whenever Gamora feels like reconnecting with her sister. For us that means a lot of goodbyes but for them it’s just until we see each other again.

[malvo-ish]

Rocket: Could you guys at least try to see this from my perspective?

Drax: *crouches down*

Peter: *kneels down*

Nebula: *sits on the floor*

Rocket: i hate all of you.

[captainwaffles]

Character development of the Guardians

Spoilers ahead

Start obvious with Rocket. He went from this edgy criminal who couldn’t accept himself to someone who let himself heal. He made himself a new family. He stopped letting his past haunt him and came to terms of who he was and where ha came from. He allowed himself to be the good guy. The hero in his own story

Quill found out it was okay to be sad. You can’t run forever. He loved a version of Gamora that died. He had to leave her dead. This Gamora is not his and she’s not ready or willing. He is allowing himself to grieve and grow and that’s amazing.

Gamora oh my god. I don’t remember what she said but it was something along the lines of like I’m not yours or something. She’s not she’s not the males love interest. She doesn’t need a man. She got herself a family. She found a place she finds safe by herself. She’s reconnecting with Nebula too. Amazing

Nebula, my love. She really grew from endgame into this. She made a family and found something she loves, taking care of people. She let herself grow close to Quill and Rocket and everyone else. She started sharing emotions and thoughts.

Mantis. I’m so mad. I feel like since she was introduced they punched up her silliness, especially in this film. She doesn’t understand some things but they made her overly stupid. Which feels wrong. They finally gave her some peace though. They allowed her to speak her mind and say she doesn’t need help and does stuff differently and that’s amazing. I wish they didn’t have to make her just the butt of jokes for it though

Drax. A lot of the same from Mantis. He was not that empty and stupid in GotG 1. As the series continued the more they made him, let’s make him stupid and a laughing stock. At the end we finally got to see his more complex sides with being a father and that grief he still has for her. But he also realized he can be a dad and not a fighter

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

So, uh…I’m watching Farscape for the first time. One episode in and, knowing that James Gunn is also a fan, you can just feel where his version of Guardians of the Galaxy came from. Sure, there are enough differences to avoid being considered a ripoff (John is a scientist, Peter is a scavenger), but the influences are there.

I mean, you can’t tell me that Star-Lord and Gamora weren’t modeled after John Crichton and Aeryn Sun.

EDIT: Oh, while I’m at it. Ka D'Argo is so obviously the model for Drax the Destroyer.

[acuteredstone]

Is it me, or does anyone else wanna see a movie of just the Ravengers? Like look at Martinex! My little twinkle toes looks stunning! I wanna know how the ravengers act towards each other and how Stakar, Martinex, Mainframe, Krugar and Gamora act to each other. Is Gamora Stakars new adopted child?

I mean look at them😫❤️

Krugarr and Mainframe look adorable and they seem to care a lot about her. I thought Ravengers weren’t into that sentimental stuff unless that was just a Yondu thing (rejecting affection). Did they hug and card about Yondu the same way they are treating Gamora? I need to know please 🙏

[dreambutdontsleepx]

anyway, after watching guardians of the galaxy vol. 3, I totally get why Florence Welsh was sobbing in the theatre

[extraordinary-heroes]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 6 1 (Cover art by Ivan Sharvin)

[raccoonfallsharder]

headcanon 8

the very first time rocket ever felt physical touch - intended kindly - was when a loving otter reached through the bars of their shared cages and tenderly pressed a bit of fabric to his forehead, carefully cleaning his open wound. she couldn’t take away his pain, but she could try to make the healing easier. she could sit beside him in his hurt, and offer him kindness through the compassion of her touch.

rocket carries this memory in his body: as real and tangible as his reinforced bones, his replaced pelvis, the steal rods that press his shoulders out and to the sides. as visceral as the aching scars and terminals, the bruised and contorted muscles, the painful bolts and bars. alongside all these physical things lives this ghost of that first kind, comforting touch - and the loss of it.

he carries that ghost with him always, even right into the battle for xandar.

afterward - while he’s lost again to pain, cut open by the sacrifice of the last best friend he’s ever known - another hand reaches out. it is also gentle. and kind. and careful. it touches the same spot on his forehead and strokes, and it says, i can’t take your pain, but i can be with you while you’re in it.

rocket doesn’t flinch because he associates drax’s touch with his own history as the recipient of violence and pain. he flinches because, for just the softest breath of a second, he feels lylla.

and he isn’t wrong, exactly.

there are the hands that guide the hands, after all

@evolvingchaoswitch ♡ @wren-phoenix ♡ @pretty-chips ♡ @suicidalshitstick