#Negativity In Regard To: The MCU

[kismetconstellations]

🔥 + anything Zac Efron related, please & thank you :)

(You can ignore the first one. I should really read instructions all the way through before sending in asks)

No worries. You are totally fine. ^//^

Let's hope this doesn't get too inflammatory.

I'm not a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a variety of reasons, and would prefer Zac never be a part of it.

I think Zac's indie dramas are infinitely more fascinating than his mainstream comedies (they also come with the added bonus of not humiliating and disrespecting him while also objectifying him at every turn), and hope that he continues to do more of them.

Honestly, anything that keeps him out of Hollywood and away from the toxicity of the industry is all right with me.

Seeing his malnourished Baywatch physique continually held up as some sort of "ideal" upsets me to my core. All the more so, knowing just how negatively the whole experience affected him, contributing to his depression and insomnia and causing him to tear up on-camera when he was finally able to eat carbs, again.

This will come as absolutely no shock to anyone who has been following me since 2016, when the world was treated to, as I like to call them, High School Musical Shitstorm: Parts Un and Deux, but I strongly feel that Zac doesn't owe the collective High School Musical fandom any reprisals of his role as the heart and soul of the franchise. Especially when so many people who consider themselves a part of that fanbase are all too keen to minimize or outright ignore Zac and Troy's significance to the original trilogy's success, mock and deride both of them as "boring" or worse, and leave nasty comments like this--

-- on social media posts of members of the cast reuniting. (Please do not seek out or bother any of the people in the above screenshot, by the way. I don't believe that you or any of my other followers would, but it's still a necessary precaution, just in case. Please be kind, everyone. Even when others are not.) I know it's immature and petty on my end, but I don't see why people who behave this way and treat Zac's professional attempts to distance himself from this franchise with scorn and further mockery, even though his past reputation as a "tween heartthrob" still colors directors' perceptions of him, resulting in him needing to prove himself worthy nearly twenty years on, should be rewarded. I feel for the fans who crave a High School Musical reunion because it would take them back to a simpler, happier time in their lives, but the films are right there and always will be there to be revisited at any time. The past is the past for a reason, and Zac, just like anyone else, should be allowed to move on.

Zac was perfectly cast as Phillip Carlyle. There is no one else who could have brought Phillip to life as immaculately, and no actor more deserving of the career revitalization The Greatest Showman delivered tenfold. My sympathies go out to Jeremy Jordan if he legitimately did have to sing live demos of "all of Hugh's songs", as well as Phillip's, before the studio executives while recovering from a nasty bout of laryngitis. That does not, however, make him entitled to a role he never so much as considered auditioning for.

Zac, on the other hand, had already been involved with the production for four years, alluding to a potential upcoming role in a movie musical as early as 2015, and contacting studios on director Michael Gracey's behalf to assist him, Hugh, and the rest of the crew in getting the green light.

Thus, you can imagine how thoroughly it rankles me to see fans of Mr. Jordan insinuating that Zac, a legitimate triple threat, was an inferior choice made to secure the support of Zac's larger fanbase, or- even more deluded- to placate the "ego" of show business veteran Hugh Jackman, who was supposedly "threatened" by Mr. Jordan's vocal prowess.

The Greatest Showman Cast is superior to the High School Musical Cast; in terms of talent, camaraderie, and maturity. You don't see any of them making backhanded comments years later about Zac being their "worst on-screen kiss", or their "favorite scene" with Zac being one where his character was "so dumb". (Even though Troy was very obviously emotionally manipulated into believing that something was going on with Ryan and Gabriella, by Gabriella. That's such a low, douchebaggy thing to say, and my already minimal respect for Lucas Grabeel has dropped to near non-existent because of it.)

---

And, I think that's about it. Thank you so very much for asking, and I sincerely apologize a million times over for it taking me so long to post this response! I've been quite busy babysitting my niece and tending to personal affairs, and haven't had the energy to properly run this blog. But, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things, and put more lovely things onto my followers' dashboards.

I appreciate your patience, and I hope that these answers prove to be worth the wait. ❤

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

(Perhaps controversial) theories on Harry Potter first drafts/story structure

I've been reading some more old Harry Potter meta (critique) (damn I miss those LiveJournal esque communities) and after some of the theories I've read I'm now 90% sure that Deathly Hallows was actually the third, or maybe even second book that Joanne started writing.

I love deconstruction and I am a writer, so this kind of thing interests me on a personal level as a high-profile reference that a lot of people might be familiar with, even as generally I have strong critiques for Joanne both as a person, and as what I consider to be something of an impostor in the fantasy genre, as a writer who both openly (at the start of her career) disavowed fantasy classics as beneath her, claimed not to be writing fantasy, and in my opinion, heavily plagiarised works of other authors within the genre and then played ignorant when called out on it by people who by that point had less power and industry clout than she did.

This is going to be critical of JKR, so for those not interested in that, maybe don't read on below the cut. It's not my intention to make anyone feel negative about something that's special or sacred to them.

Some members of the LJ community noted that Deathly Hallows (DH) has many, many recurring references and callbacks to the first book, Philosopher's Stone (PS), with certain characters even seeming to regress to those versions of them in terms of their behaviors, motivations, and what they centrally held as important.

After considering it again I've also come to the conclusion that that's one aspect that throws so many readers off DH as a conclusion to the series, a series that has 'grown up with' the reader and consciously shifted from children's lit to YA; and from a series of fantasy holiday movies helmed by Chris Columbus to a fantasy adventure series with gruesome monsters and wands becoming essentially the ranged weapon variant of lightsabers or the conduit for MCU-esque superhero abilities... that in terms of the writing, the morals, and the overarching themes, actually DH goes backward in that regard to the Roald Dahl-inspired simple morality of the first book where violence was cartoonish, monsters were existential rather than grounded, and Harry and friends were essentially young children trying their best to solve a mystery; rather than the adults the world has contextually by now established them to be.

Joanne has boasted that she had written the Epilogue very early on. What if she had in fact written out a lot of DH very early on?

She knew the books were going to cover (at least) seven school years. I think she decided after the first one, she would write (most of) the end of the series, and then if she needed to, she could write more than 5 other books in between.

DH takes place when Harry isn't in school. But nothing about the story means it has to take place when Harry should be in school.

Thematic and character-based parallels-wise, it might have actually made a lot of sense for Harry to be the same age that his parents were when they passed away, in Deathly Hallows, to make the walk through to the forest with his parents' ghosts, back the same age as they were when he first saw them in the Mirror of Erised more of an exact parallel tearjerker.

And a lot of the criticisms that DH faces - "why didn't we see inside Hogwarts during Snape's regime, and what happened to Neville, Luna and Ginny and the rest of the kids in Harry's year?" - would be nixed if this story was never meant to take place in Harry's final school year.

I suspect that what happened at some point during the height of her fame and blowup is that Joanne realised that a) she was so successful already she wouldn't have to write as many books as she had originally planned; especially because b) movies were now also in the works or being released, and the actors would only be believable as teenagers for a certain duration, but this led to c) now she had a smaller total possible number of books in which to fit all of her vague ideas of where the story would end up going and what the big setpieces were planned to be. (Hence the lengths started to balloon)

I might end up writing a part 2 to this because (ironically) I don't want to make this post so long, but as a starting point I would theorize her original outline may have gone something like the following:

Book 1, Harry Potter and the Philsopher's Stone. Establishes our characters and the main setpieces; Harry Potter, Ron-and-Hermione (who essentially function as a two-headed sidekick machine), Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, James-and-Lily-Potter

X number of books, as-yet undefined, at least one per school year, but potentially many more, like most contemporaries to her went in to their careers expecting to write, that expand on the young characters' relationships in small ways, with Draco Malfoy, his foil friends to HRH, and his family, as minor antagonists to drag out the series as long as possible - and never intended as more than that, while Dumbledore and Snape bubble away in the background

Harry's final year of school, in which Dumbledore is killed by Snape in front of Harry at the climax of the year, is buried in the school grounds, and Snape ascends to the Headmaster role

Only then at some point, Voldemort is resurrected and takes pride of place as the main villain, pushing Snape down into the secondary villain/antihero role

The final book in which Harry returns to Hogwarts a la Lord of the Rings/The Empire Strikes back, too late to have a confrontation with Snape (a classic tragic beat) and instead has his showdown with Voldemort, finishing his parents' legacy and completing what they themselves could not do.

I genuinely believe that all of the following were late additions to the story that ended up taking on a life of their own with the fandom, that Joanne never planned for, never really anticipated, and - because we know that she is both stubborn to change in general, and sees herself as a visionary above steer or critique - refused to meaningfully update or edit around in the final version of the last book:

Sirius Black existing at all

Remus Lupin existing at all

Peter Pettigrew existing at all

Fudge, Umbridge, and the Ministry-vs-Dumbledore/Harry sideplot - which, knowing that Joanne is a woman of faith, reeks of a 'skeptical nonbelievers vs true Christians of faith' plot

Luna

Everything about the Triwizard Tournament

Everything about the Yule Ball

Everything about the World Cup (I would go as far as proposing these were originally planned as three episodic books that she ended up blending together)

Spotlight Death Eaters like Barty Crouch and Bellatrix Lestrange

The Founders, the Basilisk, and the Sword of Gryffindor

The Horcruxes

Anything about magical creatures, aside from as episodic flavor to provide a one-off background character

International characters like Fleur, Krum and Madame Maxime

Most fight scenes, including everything with the Dept of Mysteries

Grimmauld Place and Kreacher

And perhaps controversially, most of the racist/blood war elements of the conflict in the books. Because, in DH, apart from flavor description of what the Death Eaters etc. are doing...

The conflict described seems, as it did in PS, to be primarily a personal one, with Voldemort's vendetta being against Harry specifically, and as a proxy, Dumbledore's followers, and people who believed in him and his ideals.

And maybe that's why Harry, the character, never seems to end up caring that much about the foundational principles of why they are fighting the war, and who it is actually there to protect, besides his personal connection with Voldemort as his personal nemesis...

Because Joanne never originally wrote it that way. Voldemort dies, and "all was well."

[musette22]

may i ask why haven’t you watched tfatws? i’ve recently started following you, you don’t watch mcu anymore?

Hi there! Of course you can ask, I don't mind at all. I understand why you'd wonder about that, seeing as this blog is quite heavy on the marvel-related content lol. Basically, I stopped watching mcu movies and shows after Endgame, because it pretty much destroyed all faith I had left in marvel thanks to the way it (in my opinion) royally fucked up Steve's character arc and made all the wrong calls regarding his relationship with Bucky.

It just made me so unbelievably sad and angry, and I hated that, because I genuinely believe that fandom should be about what makes you happy and that was just not the case for me for a while there. So eventually I just decided that it was just better for me to distance myself from canon the mcu, and focus on the things that did still bring me joy, i.e. the headcanons and stories that we as a fandom have created, based on the canon material but diverging enough from it too to make it actually - in my opinion - good and enjoyable (I usually just call it fanon, though I know that's got inherently negative connotations too, but you know what I mean).

I've always been a Stucky shipper first and foremost. Those two boys are a package deal for me, and thinking about - let alone seeing - one of them without the other genuinely upsets me. So unfortunately, that means I can't enjoy any new Bucky content in the mcu anymore either, because it's Bucky in a world where Steve left him, and that's just not a world I want any part of, if that makes sense. So I'm sticking with my own version of events, which is that Bucky and Steve are enjoying life together somewhere, and I'm just going to leave the new movies and shows for others to enjoy!

[tiliqi]

i think about ur piece with shadow captioned “welcome to the promised land” ALOT… with that, i wondered what your thoughts are on the sonic movies (both the ones that came out and the new one thats coming) in regards to their portrayal of the police/military/GUN.

I’m personally really disappointed in whats been done so far (with Tom being a cop, like cmon man what. and with the goofy portrayal of the military, especially that old general guy in the second movie) and im really nervous about whats coming, with team sonic working WITH GUN (and now Tom and Maddie wearing military uniforms) in the trailers. I have a suspicion that Maria’s death will be an “accident”, like a very MCU style “sometimes the military makes mistakes…” bullshit. itd really suck to see this series become another piece of copaganda, especially since like. its so out of character, like sonic is unique in the way its been blatantly anti military (for the most part) in the games. it wasn’t revolutionary by any means but it is arguably a core part of the original story.

What are your thoughts? sorry for the long ask, I’m a big fan of your writing and thoughts on sonic (huge heart of a monster fan!). Hope youre having a good day!

big same. I've made the comic in question as a response to the first trailer for sonic 3 actually.

the trailer made me feel a LOT of emotions, mostly negative if im honest, and the only thing that I liked from it was the scene of shadow bursting from his tank thing and being sloppin wet that looked like he was standing in the rain. so i went and made a comic of shadow in the rain. and i made it as anti military and anti capitalism as i could.

becasue sonic 3's marketing, in my opinion, especially after the second trailer came out, is a perfect axample of everything wrong with the current western (mostly USA, but the USA influences the entire world so.) society. it exemplifies capitalism, militarism, consumerism, a lack of emotional depth and the infantalization as well as mliking (for a lack of better word; i mean how advertizements are usually heavily marketed at kids because parents will buy anyhting to shut up their crying annoying meat bags and therefore spend money on shit they dont want nor need) of children (that detective pikachu bit was so painful). and let's not forget the fatphobia. it was so painful to go back and watch the first trailer to freshen my memory for this reply oh god.

when sonic 2 came out i was really happy with the movie. i think sonic 2 is miles better than 1 in terms of characters and fun, most obviously because there's more of actual sonic characters in it now then the first. the first felt mostly like a pilot honestly. the second one had much more fantastical details and elements thatreally leaned into sonic's world. Or at least... the environment artists tried with it. I remember being OBSESSED with the fact tehre was a mural of perfect chaos in that labyrinth for like 1 second and theorized about what it could mean. while watching the movie i even speculated it was foreshadowing that perfect chaos was gonna be the secret final boss of the movie as that was only the halfway point of the runtime. having sobered from the hype i understand its a neat detail from the cg department that means absolutely nothing.

the worst thing is that the movie (sonic 3 now) itself might be like. a well made movie with good (enough) writing and good visuals and whatever. sonic might betray the military and go his own way bc here he's a little younger and he's learning (he didnt grow up w military so he might be blissfull yunaware bc hes only been fed propaganda through hollywood movies so far) and him meeting shadow and learning about his fate might change his mind. we don't know yet.

The marketing sometimes is detatched from the movie itself so it'll misrepresent things for the sake of "bait" to get ppl to spend money to watch it (the teenage kraken movie suffered from that bc it was fun imo i liked it). Or even just to get people to make viral reactions to get even MORE news of the movie out and attract more people. Especially when adapting a story that already exists I think it makes them reveal a LOT of the movie (I saw ppl complain they reveal the entire movie in the trailer, i think given the fact we already know all those key moments shown it's fine)

actually. does anyone know if the us army funded this movie? i know it does a lot of movies ever since iron man

idek where im going w this rn im just. eghh.... def not gonna see it in cinema ♥ my money goes towards literally anything else

[totwototwo]

I know this has been said many, many times over the last few years, but I just rewatched ca:tws and it's on my mind. The way Steve's story ended in Endgame was just so out of character and completely erased both Steve's and Peggy's story.

Captain America (movie version) was one of my first real interests as a child and was what ultimately got me involved in the MCU. I loved his story and his character and, as ca:tws and ca:cw were releasing, I was so excited to see how his story progressed. It was so disappointing to see how Steve just threw everything he had and had worked so hard to get at the end of Endgame. I am not sure if there could be a worse ending to his story.

Starting with Peggy, it is so messed up that she was reduced to Steve's love interest in the end. Her story, her life, and her family were completely erased and disregarded at the end of Endgame in a way that is frankly disgusting. Peggy had a life, and she had a family (which Steve knows about because he sees the picture in ca:tws when talking to her when she was old). Yes, she was Steve's love interest in ca:tfa and a memory he held onto dearly (which also haunted him (see The Avengers: Age of Ultron)), but she was so much more than that. She was her own woman and while Steve did have a big impact on her life, he was gone, and she moved on. I don't care about different timelines or whatever, the fact that Steve went back in time and erased Peggy's story was messed up and absolutely diminishes her character.

As for Steve, his character was also completely ruined by doing this. As I said before, yes, he loved Peggy, and this was shown a number of times throughout some of the MCU movies. He loved her, he longed to have their dance together, and he wished he had more time with her. That is all true. However, it is also true that, just as Peggy was more than Steve's love interest, Steve was more than his love for Peggy. The love her had for her was a big part of his character and his story, but there was so much more to him/his story that Endgame completely disregarded. Perhaps the most common example (and the one that's on my mind as I just watched ca:tws) is his story with Bucky. There were two entire movies made on Steve's devotion to Bucky and Endgame just throws that all away by having Steve leave his friend (who he went on the run for and fought an entire battle with Iron Man for) just after they were reunited. They had him do that for a woman who he definitely loved, but also barely knew compared to Bucky. Not to mention the fact that she had already died, and Bucky was still there, miraculously alive (even if by terrible means) and able to understand the situation that Steve was in. Steve threw away his relationship with the one person in the entire world who understood what it was like to be alive in the wrong time and thrust into a completely unknown world because of the serum. He found that person with "shared life experience" and then he threw it out.

As I said this reduces Steve to his old love interest and completely destroys the entire part of his character that was set up by ca:tws and ca:cw with his devotion to Bucky. I can't even bring myself to talk about the whole "I'm with you to the end of the line" thing because it makes me so mad that this is how Steve's story ended. Endgame ending how it did in regard to Steve's story was an insult to Steve himself, Peggy, and Bucky.

I want to add a little disclaimer that I am not against Sam becoming the new Captain America. I have no negativity towards that story, and I am excited for Captain America: Brave New World to be released in a few days. If that was the direction the story was supposed to take, I think it could've easily done so without Steve doing what he did. Maybe Steve giving up his shield and title without any direct cause (like suddenly being an old man) wouldn't really fit his character either, but it would make more sense than what did happen in my opinion. Almost six years post-Endgame release and this is still something that bothers me to this day. I was so excited for the movie but left the theater more disappointed than I ever had before. There were a few things that I didn't love about it, but out of all the major deaths that happened in the movie, the death of Steve (in a metaphorical sense) had no meaning. It simply ruined his development as a character.

[agentnico]

Freaky Tales (2025) review

This was truly ‘Captain’ marvellous!

Plot: An NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teenage punks, neo-Nazis and a debt collector embark on a collision course in 1987 Oakland, Calif. This four-part anthology is a tribute to Oakland, Calif., to the historic Grand Lake Theatre, to rapper Too $hort, whose song “Freaky Tales” gives the movie its title. It revisits the punk bars and hip-hop clubs of the creative team’s East Bay youth, perhaps as they never truly were but as they remembers them.

It seems this is the year Hollywood directors cash in their Marvel-earned pay checks to create something truly wild and unexpected. Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler poured his love and heart for his culture, music and passion of filmmaking to deliver the vampiric thriller Sinners - a movie that revels in its confidence to do something nuanced yet so straightforwardly engaging. Now directing duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who’s MCU credit belongs to Captain Marvel) return to their indie roots with their grungy homage to exploitation flicks Freaky Tales.

With its VHS bargain-bin aesthetic and Kill Bill-style gory revenge sprees, it is very evident that Boden and Fleck are fully inspired by the works and mindsets of Quentin Tarantino, Alex Cox, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Bruce Lee and even to an extent David Lynch, in that there is a Twin Peaks-level parallel reality of late-80s Oakland, in which residents are able to channel a glowing green cosmic energy and develop mysterious skills, such as a basketball player becoming a martial arts master. But the aspect of Freaky Tales that really works for it is that it never feels like it is stealing or copying from its predecessors, but more so paying respect to the grind house schlock genre that was so popular back in the 80s/90s. This is a very personal film for the two directors, as it’s very much them showcasing what inspired them to want to start making movies, so much so that the film features one of the best surprise cameos ever from a quintessential 80s actor who works in a video rental store being obsessed with the best underdog movies. As a cinephile myself I could have easily enjoyed that scene to go on for another 20/30 minutes and it would have been wonderful.

There are a number of really strong acting performances that deserve praise, especially in a film that has many excellent turns. Pedro Pascal is captivating, as per usual, bringing an unspoken vulnerability to the violent, but moral Clint. Jay Ellis is phenomenal as Sleepy Floyd, although to say much more would ruin one of the most unexpected and incredibly fun parts of the movie. Dominique Thorne and Normani (of Fifth Harmony fame) are both excellent as the musical act Danger Zone. However, perhaps the most outstanding performance comes from the ever-reliable Ben Mendelsohn, who shockingly plays the big bad in Freaky Tales (a perfect bit of casting). Mendelsohn in that way is similar to Mads Mikkelsen - the two look like bad guys and play bad guys really well.

In regards to negatives, my only gripe would be the interconnectivity of the four chapters, with certain ones feeling underdeveloped compared to others. Chapter 2 surrounding a hip hop rap battle, though highly enjoyable, had hardly any impact on the overarching story of the film other than a quick passing run in with one of the Nazis. That being said, as a whole Freaky Tales is wonderfully stylish, gory, and most importantly funny. It’s not for everyone, as I can already imagine many mainstream audiences complaining about this one being an example of style over substance, however if you are someone who loved the 80s VHS B-movies you’d find at your local Blockbuster then this ones for you. Oh, and of course for Pedro Pascal super fans this ones a must. I expect a few girls will cry out in the cinema when Pedro lifts his shirt to reveal four inches of his back.

Overall score: 7/10

[asgardianhammer]

|| Heavily canon-divergent from Ragnarok onward || Driven and developed by threads and personal headcanons || Mun: 30 + || she/her ||

|| Verses || Memes || Plots || Perma starter & Interaction call ||

A study in: duty & honor personified, survivor’s guilt, the godly urge to rage and release some of the pain, a quest for a home within himself and within others, finding value in others, finding value in living, guiding with a strong but gentle hand, learning still, processing the inevitability of death, remaining kind when all else is cruel, forgiveness without forgetting, containing and not abusing power, finding joy and purpose, honoring what once was and creating a new future.

psd: @jjcre8 <3

family: @torxnn || @hollustu

exclusives/affiliates: @untamedtempest || @utsxlevshiy || @summerxmelodies || @frostkingoftheapocalypse || @yellingmetatron || @vallorouslly || @xlianovna

avenging with ❤️‍🔥: || @70yearsofwinter || @archcr

mains: || @talvisoldat || @kingoftheravens || @outlawiism || @mantcdea

( RULES BELOW THE CUT )

updated 05-2025 : I have not seen Love & Thunder and I will not be adopting anything from that movie, please also keep in mind that during Ragnarok his arc goes bananas and canon-divergent. I can’t stress this enough so please, please check out my rules and the Ragnarok PSA for clarification. I have also not seen Loki the series yet, I plan to still but don’t have the mental stamina for it yet, I apologize.

BLOG & MUN INFO: Private and selective MCU based RP blog, this means I rp only with mutuals at this time. Multi-ship/verse/continuity. Mun + Muse are both 30+, we will not rp with anyone under 21+ regardless of the plot/topic. I have no specific triggers, all questionable content is tagged with general tags ________tw or ___________ cw.

Blog and writing can contain NSFW and/or highly triggering content, please read my stance and PSA regarding that.

ON WRITING:  Medium to High Activity, this means I am online quite a bit, speed of replies however is depending on muse, real life stuff and can vary from absolutely insanely fast rapid-fire to a bit longer. Multi paras and novellas will usually be queued to keep my sanity from going haywire.

I consider myself adaptive and literate ( English is technically my 3rd language, and typos are the bane of my existence please forgive me any errors ). I’m comfortable with any length, script/chats, multi-paras, novellas and everything in between. There is no need to match length, just give me enough to work with and it’s all good.

ON INTERACTIONS: The best way to start writing together is to poke me in IM, throw something via Ask, or make use of the Memes . There is also a permanent starter & interaction call here that I check when I’m inspired to write small or big interactions/starters.

OC and Multi-muse friendly. I am however selective with both.

For OC’s, it’s helpful if you have a plot in mind already and your character is developed with some info/bio I can read up on, feel free to come to me with suggestions ^^

Multi-muse blogs are also welcomed and loved. However, we appreciate well-developed muses, and we love developing relationships with said well-developed muses.

I cleanse my following and followers regularly, if we haven’t interacted IC or OOC after quite some time I will cultivate my lists accordingly. No hard feelings, the door is always open. This also goes for following to remade blogs or new blogs, I will pick and choose if I follow you elsewhere.

ON TIMELINE & CANON:  I’m in general very anti-Marvel and very MCU critical, especially when it comes to the movies and some directors. Negativity regarding this is rare, if I post about it it will be tagged with “ marvel wank “.

My muse and timeline are hella canon divergent since Ragnarok, things are cherry-picked from canon.

Please make sure to read my Ragnarok PSA and Endgame PSA. When in doubt, poke me with questions :3

ON MY CONTENT:  I don’t enforce reblog karma on my blog, so feel free to reblog memes, general gifsets, quotes, music or whatever else from me <3

Please don’t reblog my world building posts or head canon posts without checking with me if it’s okay.

As much as I appreciate people’s approval of my creative works these posts are for my muse and for his universe specifically ( or even verse dependent ). More often than not things spread like wildfire in the fandom, and I don’t necessarily like my content to be exposed to a large group of people. It messes up my activity feed, it opens doors for needless discussion and discourse, and it is more likely to get stolen or copied. Please consider this before reblogging any of these posts and contact me if it’s okay to reblog a particular post. Original posts that are verse or ship dependent are off-limits by default, as are posts not created by me but by others for my muse or our verse.

ON RELATIONSHIPS:  I match your freak, IC and OOC.

Any NSFW content will be played out with partners we’re comfortable with and we established a relationship with. If your sole purpose for interactions with us is shipping and/or smut I’d rather you look elsewhere, I’m probably not the right partner for you.

I ship Thor with a LOT of people, he loves a lot and loves hard, we ship chemistry first and foremost. He is not picky in the slightest, but plotting and development are awesome things! We don’t assume or insta-ship ( not even if the ship is canon), and any kind is welcomed. Brotp’s, enemies, strange neighbor, weird uncle? Yes please.

Ships are only possible with development, when there is undeniable and natural chemistry, and especially if we vibe well OOC, I’m not a fan of pre-plotted ships.

Exclusives/Affiliates:

For my own comfort I prefer to build relationships for my muse that are meaningful and will last. This means that I have main muses/partners that have our love and trust and we will prefer new plots and threads with them over new partners.

However we will not be exclusive with anyone unless there is a mutual exclusivity.

Please note that the exclusivity/affiliation extends to faceclaims also, I’m old af and Thor is set in his ways, neither of us enjoy confusion or chase faceclaims.

Regular non-shipping rps:

There is no issue however with rp-ing as a certain character if I already am with someone else, however I will keep everybody out of each other’s world.

Don’t assume kinship, or friendships. Thor will approach canon characters according to the MCU timeline and will treat them as such.

Thor only has children in side-verses and plotted verses with specific muses. In default/main he has no children ( yet ) so any replies or approaching him as his offspring will result in confusion. Please approach me first to see if I A) am open to new threads and B) am willing to plot something before interacting.

Please don’t be mad if I deny participating, I will always inform you about the reasons.

I take relationships, IC and OOC, very seriously, and expect the same courtesy in return. This means I value OOC communication and enthusiasm a lot, and will expect depth and development between us as muns and our muses. This goes for romance but also family, friends and any other sort of interactions. Wordlessly dropping essential ( key word essential ) and plotted out threads, or disappearing for prolonged periods of time without any sort of communication, or blatantly discarding a ship is hurtful, it kills my muse and the will to invest in interactions.

CURRENT STATUS:

* Inbox/Submit box: OPEN

* IM:  OPEN to mutuals

* Plotting:  OPEN

* Memes: always OPEN

* Discord available to mutuals after we have interacted for a while.

[maedelin]

Negative Romys (bc I know there must be chill ones out there) @ Roguneto in Xmen 97: “NOOOOOO HOW COULD THE WRITERS DO THIS AND DESTROY ROGUE X REMY?! POOR GAMBIT!!!”

Me: *side-eying all of the Marvel material that clearly shows that Romy content severely outnumbering Roguneto content by a landslide and the same Roguneto content winding up being ruined anyway by later writers just because they can* “Ah, yes…poor Gambit…”

All jokes aside, I wonder if the Romys’ concern is that if Roguneto is positively received = somehow becoming canon in the comics later? Because I know Marvel (and DC) has a history of taking a few things that the movies/shows/ side comics have done that were well received by fans or were anticipated to be well received ahead of time by fans and sometimes the companies themselves and incorporating them into the comics later

(ex. X-23 from X-Men Evolution to actual comics, Tony Stark’s personality eventually just becoming Robert Downey Jr as a comic book character, Samuel Jackson!Nick Fury from Ultimate Marvel to MCU to secret son of original Nick Fury and goes by the same name, Magneto’s Helmet protecting him from telepathy in Xmen First Class Movie to comics, Comic!Rogue’s real first name being a combination of her movie self’s name and that actress’s first name, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver not being related to Magneto after all bc their movie selves weren’t, Gwen Stacy’s fun alternative existence as Spider-Gwen/Woman , Miles Morales’s (yay!) existence, Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal of Loki influencing the comic version of him to become a sad little meow meow, Age of Apocalypse’s version of Changling/Morph being brought into X-Men 97, etc)

, but if one truly counts all of the slight/significant changes Marvel Comics have made to the main timeline because of other material, it’s REALLY not a lot.

There’s no need for anyone who ships Romy (which I also ship in addition to Roguneto bc yay multishipping!) to feel threatened by potential romantic alternatives.

And just in case the romantic ships might be altered after all (not likely): if the Multiverse is a thing, maybe we consider it’s not the end of the world if the relationships in the X-Men animated universe is not 100% going to follow how they played out in the comics.

ALSO also, when all else fails, they can just develop their writing/art skills and make fix-it aus 😆

The chaotic neutral part of me actually kinda still hopes that enough people with get on board with Roguneto though so that the comics will see the enthusiasm for them and bring them back in the main universe and shake things up again or in one of the official alternate universes and give them the love and respect the pairing deserves 🤪

I really appreciate your comments. I suppose there could be concerns from the Romy contingent regarding this. Sadly, I think at this point corporate IP is too dedicated to keeping the status quo maintained as it is for the longest time.

I agree with you, I see her relationship with Magneto as brief trysts in the mainstream universe, and an occasional AU marriage reveal. I think that Rogue and Gambit will remain a couple in the mainstream universe despite this current twist in the '97 series. There's too much time and money spent into the material, merchandise, and story that's been built for Romy in reality across various media, and in the perception of people's memories which sometimes have a rosy nostalgic glow. It takes a lot to re-educate an audience and I don't see corporations having that time and patience.

Jean and Scott will always remain together. Meggan and Brian are a duo for all time. Sue and Reed Richards are going to stay married.

No matter what, the story will always return to that. In this reboot, I think it's to give Magneto an extra angle and further reason to stay at the mansion if you leave in doubt his and Rogue's activities on and off camera.

I think my biggest complaint is how there's a circling of the wagons around Rogue when anyone (but particularly Magneto) is interested in her. It frustrates me because I believe characters should experience a lot of different relationships. It builds for a more well rounded person in reality, and a better character in the story. But with Rogue, why isn't she allowed to have other romantic encounters? Why must there be a strange arguments about age, about experience? These are traumatized beautiful people with fancy abilities in a soap opera. With capes. (And occasional opera gloves)

In short, I believe that instead of one ship, a character deserves an armada. I agree, alternate universe pairings would be fun too!

I too enjoy drama and can't wait to see how the show plays out this romance.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

tEaM cAp BaD, tOnY gOoD

The fact that takes like this are still being spewed 7 years after Civil War maddens me.

OMG where do I even start... You know, maybe this is the result of the MCU not knowing where they stand in regards to heroism. In the past we used to watch superhero movies that were very clear on defending the heroes and keeping the villains accountable, but for some reason the MCU seems to enjoy questioning their heroes and framing them in a negative light while justifying the bad guys - so I'm not surprised to read these takes.

OP says "Hydra didn't hide themselves after the reveal". Uh, yes, they did, actually. And with good reason. If you have been infiltrating an American intelligence agency for decades and you're finally outed, why exactly would anyone go out there and happily advertise they're Hydra? That... makes no sense.

I honestly have no interest in talking about "Did Wanda and Pietro know or not?". I'll just leave this here.

In the same comment OP shows his anger at Wanda for not facing any consequences for her actions, he defends Stark "not selling more weapons" as enough accountability for his. So he can spend his whole life willfully ignorant of where his wealth is coming from, he only decides to stop selling when those weapons kill Americans (he didn't give a fuck if they hurt other people), he can literally tell the government to suck it when they request his tech (which I'm okay with, but damn, nice display of hypocrisy right there when these stans claim the heroes are awful for not signing the Accords in CW)... and all this shit is enough for Stark to be off the hook?

They want Wanda, sometimes even Steve, to be jailed and punished but when it comes to Stark, if he pouts for a while they call it a day and that's enough accountability for him 🤦‍♀️

OP's line about Edith is even worse: "Edith is designed as a planetary defense system." I always think of Zola's line in TWS whenever I read a take like that one: "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security."

More control doesn't equate more safety, it tends to cause the opposite thing, actually. But of course NWH never addressed the morality of this device so many fans think its existence okay. If they had handled it like Nolan did their ideas would be different. Edith is another Project Insight and Stark was still defending this "control is safety" years after CW 👇

That's Hydra rhetoric. I couldn't care less if it's a so-called "hero" saying it, that line could be said by Zola or Red Skull or Rumlow, that's how messed up it is. But all of a sudden it's Stark saying it and that makes it okay?

OP: "Steve Rogers [...] solves problems by punching things [...] He has no fucking idea how to handle a situation involving a bioweapon or a terrorist." Tell me you don't understand Steve's character without telling me you don't understand him. This stan is one of those who thinks Steve is just a buff guy with no brains who can only punch his way out of things, which is hilarious because he has been shown to be the exact opposite of that.

A guy who figured out how to take that flag from Camp Lehigh, who could easily tell he was being deceived after being defrosted when that Shield woman approached him in the med bay, who figured out Loki's sceptre worked like a Hydra weapon (linking the space and mind stones & how they worked), who knows military regulations well enough to know where a building is built in the wrong place, who can figure out he's going to be attacked in an elevator after only a few seconds...

Sure, he only knows how to punch things 🙄

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

Women leading superhero films has a long and troubled history even before losers online decided to make it their life’s mission to bully Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson for the crime of being in a mediocre MCU movie. 2004’s Catwoman is the film that is usually pointed to as the movie that poisoned the well in regards to superheroine blockbusters, but it takes two to tango; the following year’s Elektra is just as much to blame for the negative perception of these sorts of films.

And how could it not be? It was rushed into production, Jennifer Garner really didn’t want to do it but was contractually obligated, it was supposed to be rated R until more contractual obligations nipped that idea in the bud, and on top of everything else it was a sequel/spin-off to a movie that was already extremely unpopular (Daredevil vindication was a long way’s off at that point). With all that in mind, is it any wonder that it’s one of the lowest grossing films to ever be based off of a Marvel comic? The only films that did worse were Punisher: War Zone, Man-Thing, and The New Mutants. Even the Howard the Duck movie did better than this shit!

The career of director Rob Bowman as tanked because of this film, with his credits being relegated to TV. Garner, meanwhile, fared just as poorly, with her career cooling off and leading roles not being a thing for her after that point. But worst of all is the career of the poor boat house in this movie, as it ended up appearing in Fifty Shades of Grey. And obviously this film dragged down the idea of a woman headlining a superhero flick for about a decade until Genocide Barbie Gal Gadot stepped into Wonder Woman’s boots. And while Catwoman would receive better adaptations on the big screen, Elektra would get no such chance…

...Until it was revealed that Garner was reprising her role in, of all things, Deadpool & Wolverine.

While the film isn’t out as of the time of this review, the announcement of her presence in it really got me intrigued about the last time she donned the red ninja outfit. I’m a huge apologist for early to mid-2000s superhero garbage, so it only made sense to check it out in preparation for the massive Marvel crossover Deadpool was about to deliver. And you know what question I always ask when going in to an infamous film like this: Is it really that bad?

THE GOOD

This film is just hilariously corny when it wants to be. I think when it does stupid stuff other superhero films of the time did, it tends to do them at least a little better. For instance, like Ghost Rider it has a quirky miniboss squad full of boring flat characters who exist for Elektra to kill. But while the ones in Ghost Rider are completely forgettable and bland, this film at least has some striking visuals with Tattoo and hot forceful lesbian murder smooching with Typhoid Mary, something I’m sure awoke things in the five people who watched this.

Garner herself is really, really trying, and to her credit most of the action scenes she’s in are pretty ok when they aren’t being edited to death. As I watched the unrated version, the brief glimpses of insight into her backstory are nice, and I do love that bright red costume on her. If nothing else, she does sell how cool Elektra is supposed to be with how she carries herself, even if the writing isn’t doing her many favors.

The final act is where things really get fun, because we have a big stupid battle against magical tattoos, teleporting ninjas, and genuinely the funniest possible way to kill a villain ever. I legitimately burst out laughing when I saw this:

THE BAD

Unfortunately, no matter how funny Typhoid Mary taking a knife to the forehead after saying her only two lines in the movie, two lines that actually give her more character than every other villain in the film, it can’t really completely save the film from its two massive, crippling issues.

Literally everyone in this movie is a fucking moron. The biggest moron is easily Elektra’s buddy, who sacrifices himself so Elektra can escape from the bad guys… but his sacrifice is pointless because they pull the info from his mind with psyhcic powers. He would’ve been better off running away with them! But it’s not like the villains are much smarter; one of them chops down a tree, and then almost immediately forgets this and walks into its path before getting crushed to death. It is genuinely absurd how dumb these characters manage to get. The dumbest of them all, however, has to be Stick. I genuinely have no idea what the fuck this man is trying to accomplish at any point, because he is recklessly gambling with people’s lives here.

But hey, dumb decisions are fine in a trashy 2000s superhero movie as long as they lead to some enjoyably dumb scenarios, right? Well, about that… Barring a couple of ridiculously goofy action scenes, this film is pretty bereft of memorable corniness. Remember how I said the minibosses in Ghost Rider were not as good as the ones here? Sure, maybe it’s true, but no amount of murderous lesbian smooching makes this movie more memorable than Ghost Rider, which features over a dozen insane Nicolas Cage moments. But maybe that’s cheating, it’s not fair to compare a Jennifer Garner vehicle to a Nicolas Cage one… so how about Catwoman? As absolutely shoddy as that movie is, there are a bunch of cringey, campy scenes that have helped earn the movie at least a handful of ironic fans. There’s just nothing like that in Elektra. It’s trashy and stupid in safe, unimpressive ways for the most part, and it doesn’t do anything at all to really stand out from the crowd.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Yeah, I guess it’s bad, but the level of bad that it is is greatly exaggerated.

The movie I’d most compare this to is, of all things, Morbius. I love Morbius more than most people, and even I’m willing to admit it’s multiple bright spots of trashy charm are interspersed with the dullest shit imaginable, and Elektra has a similar issue. It’s just so goddamn unmemorable and dull for the most part, with only the final act being packed full of silly nonsense to latch onto. But even that comparison isn’t great, because Milo was sprinkled throughout Morbius and was genuinely hilarious the whole way through, while Elektra just plods along until it remembers to actually be a little cool for the finale.

I guess really the film is less “bad” and more “not good.” Like if you throw this on in the background as noise while you do something else, it’s not the worst you could do, though even then something like Black Adam would probably be better. If you want to watch a trashy 2000s superhero film, I guess it’s not unwatachably unpleasant, but why wouldn’t you watch Catwoman or Ghost Rider instead? It just is in such an unenviable position where it’s the bottom of the bottom of the barrel, the least engaging super-schlock ever made, a movie not good enough to be vindicated but not bad enough to deserve the hate it gets. Elektra is just a film that exists. That’s all there is to it and aside from the single funny death, I have no strong feelings about this movie. I think a solid 4 is where this belongs. Not good enough to be average, not bad enough to be awful, it’s just there.

All this being said, I’m honestly very excited to see Garner become a teleporting ninja assassin again. Every comic character who was in a crappy adaptation deserves a second shot, be it as a new character (Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger) or as a reprisal that improves on the untapped potential that was there (Jamie Foxx’s Electro in No Way Home). I’m rooting for Garner to get her due, and for Electra to get the respect she truly deserves… But I just don’t really think this movie’s going to be getting a reappraisal no matter how good she ends up doing.

[t4tails]

Can't find the link but there was an interview with Moore about (MCU/DCEU) comic book movies where he says he regrets having written The Killing Joke and Watchmen because he knows it was part of what lead to the current state of comics and in a way to all the comic book movies like the MCU, and he thinks those are enabling right wing ideologies

ah thats shitty :/ i cant speak for killing joke (and im aware of its issues in regards to barbaras treatment) but watchmen seemed pretty clearly critical of right wing politics and its negative effects on both the believer and others. then again i should never underestimate peoples ability to think a piece of media is endorsing them instead of the exact opposite

[hawkzeyes]

I feel like I should make this very well known because I have a bunch of ppl following me from that Clintasha post (and I’ve clicked to see their blogs and they seem MCU centered). I am not friendly to the MCU, ESPECIALLY with the shit they’re pulling right now regarding the Israeli superhero. BDS has asked us to boycott so you can follow me but this is my official post you��ll not be hearing about the MCU from me unless it’s negative.

[joegualtieri-blog]

Lowered Expectations

The Marvels by Nia DeCosta and co.

It has become something of an orthodoxy online that “The Marvels is actually pretty good” or “The Marvels didn't deserve to bomb.” Considering the misogyny of so much of the MCU fanbase, this is fairly remarkable. Unfortunately, those beliefs are dead wrong. The Marvels is better than its direct antecedent, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's Captain Marvel (2019), which with with Paul Feig's Ghostbusters (2016) forms a diptych of mediocre 2010s films unfairly despised for starring women rather than for their own mediocrity.

The best sequence in the film (to a point) is the one on the water planet Aldana, where the people communicate in song and it turns out that Carol Danvers (Brie Larsen) married the crown prince of the planet. Unfortunately, DeCosta and company clearly got cold feet and have Prince Yan be bilingual, so the song and dance numbers stop. The interplay between Danvers, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) works throughout the film. Danvers has become more withdrawn during her time and space, so giving her other characters to bounce off of, especially the effervescent to the point of annoyance and beyond Khan, makes the film more entertaining than this would be as a solo adventure. The relationship between these three women keep the film watchable. Unfortunately, those are about the only elements of the film I can praise. The sets look incredibly cheap. Between them and Sean Bobbitt's cinematography, the movie looks like a 90s Star Trek episode most of the time. Frankly, looking at Bobbitt's resume, it shocked me to see it mainly consists of film and not low-budget TV sci-fi. The fight choreography, by Liang Lang, is atrocious and incredibly uncreative. The three leads all have vastly different power sets; to have them all fight in the same, generic style borders on malpractice. Danvers in general feels significantly powered down from her appearance in the Russo Brothers' Avengers: Endgame (2019). Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) unlike so many other MCU villains, has a good motivation, but the writing just does not do enough with her, and she borders on sympathetic despite being a fascist (which plays out with her willingness to kill billions to save Hala). A better script would have played with this aspect more. Then there's Goose's pregnancy and everything with Khan's family. I appreciate that the film has a legitimate sense of humor, but the scenes involving these two aspect border on, if not outright fall into sitcom territory.

The Marvels, for all its flaws, deserves a watch, if only to see how its leads defy nearly everything around them and still make it feel watchable. They deserved better.

Captain America: Brave New World by Julius Onah and co.

By contrast to The Marvels, fans and critics alike seem to generally regarded Cap IV as the nadir of the MCU. I am completely confused as to why. The film has its flaws, but it works similarly to a 90s political action thriller. Now that does mean it pales in comparison to the 70s political-thriller influenced Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014) by the Russo Brothers, but it has its own charms. Oh, and it actually looks like a movie, unlike the Marvels.

I suspect one reason for the negative response to this film stems from how continuity heavy it is. In my review of The Marvels above, I decided not to talk about how lost I felt at times because those elements. The SABRE space station, the casual way humans used jump gates, and a few other things had me wondering whatever happened to the MCU being the World Outside Our Window and where these elements even originated (on screen). Cap IV turns on plot points from Louis Leterrier's Incredible Hulk (which I have not seen) and Chloe Zhao's sublime Eternals (2021). Unlike The Marvels, Cap IV does enough to catch me up and not feel lost at times. Talented creators use continuity like this, as an element that enriches the story. You get enough to get by, and if the element intrigues you, you dive into the older material. That hooked superhero comic fans for decades and MCU fans during Phase I.

Anthony Mackie is an actor I have only encountered in the MCU. His performances within in it, have never struck me as the deepest, and that does not change here. That being said, he delivers a fine 90s-style action hero performance, and he carries the themes related to trying to being accepted in a world dominated by white supremacy quite well. The limo scene with Sam Wilson, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), and Isiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and the bedside conversation near the end of the film between Torres and Wilson are two of the more emotional and affecting scenes in it. The film had some accusations of its politics being facile and surface-level, and I cannot argue with that completely, but have you looked at the world around us? Having the president of the United States be depicted as a giant rage monster secretly in the thrall of an enemy power is not at all subtle, but it seems like an accurate depiction of the current political landscape. The film also depicts the right-hand aide of the president as an Israeli/Russian agent. Again, not subtle.

The film has its flaws, though a lot of them for me stem from paths not taken (Seth Rollins as Cobra and Rosa Salazar as Diamondback were both cut from the film. Poor Dennis Dunphy!) with the final cut than elements actually in it. Most MCU films are not the masterpieces its most devoted fans claim them as. Script, third act, and villain problems have plagued it from the beginning. Brave New World actually avoids those traps. It may not reach the more transcendent heights of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy (2014-2023) or the aforementioned Winter Soldier, but it has a real voice and provides solid entertainment.

[joker-daughter]

Nobody asked but My two cents on the critics subject : ofc critics are not always "right", and being "right" when it comes to movies or art can mean a million things.

HOWEVER it's naive to claim that they don't mean "anything" imho. They matter in an Industry like Hollywood. They matter when you know that many people check a RT score before deciding on watching or not, so based on that many people are not aware of Toms talent because poor rating = poor performance if you don't care enough to check for yourself. They matter when they are at the origin of a very popular narrative right now that all his non mcu projects are "flops", and when they say that they are using the critics score, not the numbers and not the general public's opinion. They matter to the creatives as well, even Tom himself try to save face but honestly you can tell he was hurt when TCR was critically panned. He looked at the reviews, he likes the approval. Who wouldn't.

It's about perception, it's always about that. How you're perceived impact your work in Hollywood because it's not like for example music where you can be a loner and work with your own tight circle and keep creative control from start to finish (and even that, that's rare). As an actor, you are by definition a collaborator relying on others. A member of a community of people working together for one goal. And if you are perceived negatively by critics, it's possible you'll be perceived negatively by directors, writers and not seeing scripts with great material coming your way.

So yes, critical acclaim is very much welcomed and there's nothing wrong with that. I thing there's a balance to find between holding critics in such a high regard like they're the only one that matter (they're not) and accepting that they matter, to a certain but significant extent.

yup, I agree but I think what the public thinks outside of that also matters so you have to have a good balance of both tbh, you can have all the best critics scores but they don’t matter if you’re generally more disliked lol

[zimwy]

some sexuality related hcs because i've been pinging these thoughts around all day today.

bucky is bisexual, but definitely prefers men. as a young man, he plays up his attraction to women in order to 'smother' this part of himself--the era was riddled with homophobia, and bucky was very young, and unsure what he was going through. but he had an aggressive crush on toro, and some little fledgling baby hero crush on steve that included a sense of attraction. (even though i ship stucky, i don't want anything to actually come of this era; bucky is both too young AND it is important to me that these feelings are unanswered in him for decades, especially with the added layer of my bit of mcu influence with bucky growing up alongside steve and then not seeing him again until he's already cap).

bucky isn't necessarily upset at being attracted to men--especially in the modern day, after he learns there is a large subsection of acceptance around the world--but he does feel an inexplainable, paradoxical guilt over it, an anxiety almost. like he's going to get in trouble. it's a left over feeling from the radical homophobia he witnessed and grew up in in his youth, since being gay was literally criminalized. he felt some safety in his community as a jewish boy, but not enough; there was homophobia present there too.

bucky has missed almost every development and milestone regarding the progression of homosexual rights and expression, positive and negative, and thus, it feels. very strange to him? just. suddenly its the modern day and things are different. he missed everything. the only thing i think he got to experience as a youth was a drag show, and it was performed in secret and something he never talked about to anyone else.

the winter soldier has seduced men as part of it's orders. these memories as they return to bucky aren't pleasant--not because they're men, because he feels the same about the women the winter soldier had to seduce too, they're just.. violating. but the winter soldier itself had no problem doing these things unless it was heading toward an episode; this was part of it's mission parameters and it obeyed all orders unless it determined a quick decision or change was more appropriate. though i absolutely dont think it slept with every person it seduced (a lot of it was getting information out of them through just Being Hot and In Their Space, touching, gliding it's hand down a woman's back or letting some older man hold it's hips and lean over it's shoulder), and a lot of it was cut short by it leaving before any consummation or outright killing the target or capturing them if need be, but i do think it had to go all the way from time to time. the winter soldier did not have any understanding of homophobia or the anxiety bucky felt about liking boys.

the way he likes women is not the way he likes men.

[lelliefant]

Excellent meta, @tigermind108 !

I would just add that the standard response from Thor (and the rest of Asgard) when Loki spoke was to tell him to shut up. We see it over and over again, from “Know your place, brother” and Odin’s threatening growl in Thor 1, to Thor shocking Loki with the torture device in Ragnarok before he can get a word out. Loki is also repeatedly physically gagged in the movies—which, interestingly, never happens to any other character (in my recollection), not even when they’re otherwise bound/captured/imprisoned.

What this effectively does is to prevent the movie audience from understanding, much less believing, Loki’s position on events. We frequently hear negative characterizations of Loki from other characters—mostly those in opposition to him. Without hearing from Loki himself, the audience is predisposed to think he is what others say of him. Hence, everyone “knows” Loki “killed 82 people in 3 days” and he spent his childhood trying to kill Thor, when the facts actually presented in the movies contradict this.

1. In Avengers, Coulson specifically says that everyone got out of the compound before the Tesseract blew the place up (and furthermore, Loki did not deliberately destroy the compound. That was a side-effect of his arrival, not a deliberate attempt to kill).

2. We know from Thor 1 that Loki was the victim, not the bully, in his relationship with Thor, going back to their childhood. This is seen in the scene with the two as children with Odin in the vault, and also evident in how Thor, his friends, and Odin treat Loki in the movie.

Throughout the MCU movies, Loki is never given an opportunity to explain his position, not even to defend himself when he was “on trial” and sentenced to life in prison by his own father in Thor 2. That is why we don’t actually know how much Loki was under the Mind Stone’s spell in Avengers1, or what happened to him in the void before he wound up in Thanos’ clutches, or a myriad other events that would have allowed other characters to understand him, instead of snap-judging.

Thor makes an assumption in Avengers1 that Loki is attacking Earth only because this planet is special to him (Thor). Thor never even gives Loki an opportunity to explain why he has come to Earth—he just assumes the worst, and assumes it’s all about him. (If Thor had shut up for once, perhaps it could have been different. Perhaps Loki could have confided in Thor that he was being manipulated by Thanos. But that would have made a boring movie.)

What we consistently see is that Loki’s perspective is deliberately silenced by the other characters as well as the filmmakers, in order to move the plot and other characters forward. That was his purpose as a villain. It is only by consciously looking at the events in the films, and at the character, that we can see beyond what is said about him.

Despite these significant handicaps, Tom Hiddleston is able to portray Loki with such empathy that most MCU fans have come to love him anyway. Even silenced, with half his face covered, we can see the complex range of emotions Loki is going through in his eyes. We’re not supposed to sympathize with Loki, but we do, if we can see past the mischaracterizations about him.

But specifically in regard to the gag in Avengers 1, there is a moment in Endgame when we see Thor placing the gag on Loki (when Tony has gone back in time). Thor does it specifically to shut Loki up when he is talking, and he does it with obvious satisfaction. It’s portrayed for the audience’s amusement.

So, it may not have had anything to do with Loki’s magic at all. It may simply be that Thor gagged Loki simply to shut up his annoying little brother, whom everyone had always deemed not worth listening to.

With muzzle or without muzzle?