#T'Challa II

[thena0315]

MCU AU: This is the current Parent & Child in the Post-Endgame world

[pandalandalopalis]

ive been watching too much house of the dragon -- when it was revealed that t’challa has a son, my first thought was “oh god the line of succession”

[phoenixlionme]

Perfect casting: Like father, like son

[burningfudge]

Civil War II (2016) #6

[readitwatchitwriteit]

I like the T'challa II story line in the new black Panter. It gives hope for the future we'll also leaving a legacy. However I think it could have been done a little different. They could have tied BP: WF into the multiverse theory a little more by having a teenage Azzari pop onto existence or enter through a portal. He could have explained that he was tchalla's son from a doomed time line and he just barley managed to escape. How his mother, storm, sacrificed to get him here, how his family, Tchalla, shuri, romanda, etc. had all perished at a foes hand. He could be the future and the legacy with shuri, nakia, okoye, ayo, aneaka, m'baku, etc. raising him. It also could have introduced xmen and mutants and how shuri and others would fell about a half mutant running Wakanda when one had just almost distorted it and killed romanda.

Just a few thoughts. Sure I'll have more.

And please share yours!

[chaneajoyyy]

Updated masperpost: December 3, 2023

Hey y’all I wanted to make it easier for you to read fics/find some dope writers to follow.  This will be updated over time. 

Banner by the lovely @just-peachee​

***= TBD

Keep reading

[the-desilittle-bird]

Tag List Registration

Requests are always open and well appreciated.

So, if anyone wishes to Request something for the characters and celebrities mentioned below, feel free to go.

Daemon Targaryen

Oneshots

Realm's Desire

Honour of our House (Sequel to Realm's Desire)

The Present as It Is (Sequel to Honour of our House)

Dreams and Dragons

Dancing with Dragons

Never Yours

In The Stories

Blessings of the Goddess

In the Silence

The Dragon of North (Sequel to Never Yours)

False Accusations

For Your Sake

For Them

Without Him

Aemond Targaryen

Oneshots

Not in Our Destiny

In the Darks of Night (Sequel to Not in Our Destiny)

Rage of a Mother

The Crimson Lady

The Crimson Queen (Sequel to Crimson Lady)

Twisted Feelings

Twisted Love (Sequel to Twisted Feelings)

Beloved Sister (Platonic! Also, Aegon x Reader)

Fire of Desire

You Love Me Right?

Headcanons

Being Rhaenyra's Daughter and taking Aemond's Eye Part 2

Being Reborn in Wizarding World with Aemond

Series

The White Dragon (Also, Cregan x reader)

Cregan Stark

Series

The White Dragon (Also, Aemond x reader)

Oneshots

The Dragon of North (Sequel to Never )

Headcanons

Being Cregan Stark's Young Wife Would Include

Aegon II Targaryen (Only on Request)

Oneshots

For A Better Future

My Gorgeous Princess

Beloved Sister (Platonic! Also, Aemond x Reader)

Helaena Targaryen (Only on Request)

Oneshots

Ecliptic Wedding

Preferences

First Meeting

Being in an Arranged Marriage

Defending Your Honor

You are a Foreign Delegate

Tony Stark

A Woman of a Kind

Steve Rogers

Thor Odinson

Loki Laufeyson

Peculiar Thing

Doctor Stephen Strange

Bucky Barnes

Broken Beings

T'Challa Udaku

Something New

Carlisle Cullen

Marry Me

Edward Cullen

Jasper Hale

Under the Moon

Aro Volturi

Marcus Volturi

Caius Volturi

Demetri Volturi

Benjamin

Draco Malfoy

The Kiss of the Dark

Tom Riddle

Percival Graves

Albus Dumbledore

The Fate Awaits (Sister!Reader)

Grieving the Dead (Sequel to The Fate Awaits)

Gellert Grindelwald

The Fate Awaits (Wife!Reader)

Grieving the Dead (Sequel to The Fate Awaits)

Be By My Side

Aleksander Morovoza

Headcanons

Being a princess and Meeting the Darkling

Nikolai Lantsov

Robert Downey Jr.

Chris Evans

Is Air Conditioner Working?

Tom Hiddleston

Beautiful yet Broken Doll

Crazy Cravings

Matt Smith

Indian Dinner

Robert Pattinson

Rami Malek

Sebastian Stan

Mistakes Are Common

Tom Felton

The Harry Potter Reunion

Ram Charan

Ben Barnes

[f1rewr1t3r]

fandoms i write for pt 1

I'm a writer but have major writers block and i have no idea where to start so if you see this and want to send a fic rec just lmk (i will be updating these consistantly) and once i get a few fics uploaded i will make a masterlist

smut -🖤 fluff-🤍 angst-❤️

here's part two and three

Formula one

Max Verstappen

Lando norris

Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz

Oscar Piastri

Sergio Perez

George Russell

Lewis hamilton

Fernando Alonso

Nico Hulkenburg

Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Riccardo

Oliver Bearman

Pierre Gasly

Kevin Magnussen

Alex albon

Esteban Ocon

Zhou Guanyu

Logan Sargent

Valtteri Bottas

Stranger things

Billy hargrove

eddie munson

steve harrington

dustin henderson

max mayfield

will byers (mainly platonic (except for male!reader cause i am a firm believer that will is a bit zesty))

robin buckley

nancy wheeler

jim hopper

jonathan byers

karen wheeler

joyce byers

001/henry creel

marvel

(all names correspond with their superhero egos captain america/steve rogers etc.

steve rogers

bucky barnes

natasha romanoff

scott lang

thor

loki

yelena belova

wanda maximoff

pietro maximoff

kate bishop

tony stark

peter parker (tom holland + andrew garfield)

bruce banner

T'challa

shuri

Hatfields and McCoys

Cap hatfield

Johnse Hatfield

jim mcCoy

Tolbert McCoy

Calvin McCoy

HOTD/GOT

Viserys Targaryen (1st and 3rd)

Daenarys targaryen

Daario Naharis

Missandei

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daemon Targaryen

Aegon II Targaryen

Aemond Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Maegor Targaryen

Jacaerys Velaryon

Lucerys Velaryon

Alicent Hightower

Gwayne Hightower

Ser Criston Cole

Alys Rivers

Cregan Stark

Robb Stark

Sansa Stark

Bran Stark

Jojen Reed

Jon Snow

Jorah Mormont

Tyrion Lannister

Podrick Payne

Jamie Lannister

Lancel Lannister

Gendry (Baratheon)

Margaery Tyrell

Loras Tyrell

Oberyn martell

Sturniolo triplets + nate doe

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

rosa diaz

jake peralta

(all other characters but platonic)

[pinkwright]

𐔌ಇ ⃘꤫⃛͡✿✿᭢͏ུ

black. lesbian. ♒︎ ♋︎ ♈︎. intp. '03.

༉‧ favouritess

musical artists ᝰ.ᐟ the weeknd. erykah badu. solange. kendrick lamar. fka twigs. tomorrow x together. blackpink. jhene aiko. the internet. jean deaux.

i like to ᝰ.ᐟ read. paint. write. watch films. cook. bake. sculpt. game. journal. photograph.

muvass xx ᝰ.ᐟ bella hadid. jennie kim. taylor russel. solange. devon aoki. han sohee. ning yizhou.

mcu characters ᝰ.ᐟ shuri udaku, the black panther. tony stark, iron man. yelena belova, the white widow. natalia alianovna romanova, the black widow. t'challa udaku, the black panther. wanda maximoff, the scarlet witch.

films, shows, n games ᝰ.ᐟ (films) prisoners. spirited away. jennifer's body. black panther: wakanda forever. howl's moving castle. suspiria. nope. (shows) my name. arcane. happiness. the sandman. alice in borderland. the glory. (games) the last of us part ii. overwatch 2. horizon: zero dawn. uncharted iv: a thief's end. god of war. detroit: become human. skyrim. the last of us part i.

[sineala]

Thoughts on Steve thinking Tony is dating a different member of the Illuminati because he catches them sneaking off or whispering to each other at functions

Okay, so, you know what's great about this? There's really only one person on the Illuminati -- original-flavor Illuminati, after they form up and T'Challa bows out, I mean -- that Steve's going to think Tony might be dating.

Four of the six original Illuminati are married. There's Reed and Sue. There's Strange and Clea. There's Black Bolt and Medusa. There's Xavier and -- oh, man, what's her name, the Shi'ar empress? Lilandra. (I mean, yes, fandom, we all know it's Magneto, but you know what I mean.)

Steve is probably not gonna think any of these dudes are cheating on their wives; the only one of them who I know for a fact was actually sleeping with other women while married is Strange, and IIRC that was pretty late in canon, and they're (mostly) back together now. (Setting aside the fact that Strange is still dead, which of course is a bit of a problem.)

So who's the only other (mostly) unmarried guy on the Illuminati? The one who said they couldn't tell their wives, because he knew everyone else had wives? (And, yes, let's consider the fact that the person Tony ended up bringing in on this was Steve, because for some reason Marvel likes paralleling their relationship with people who are definitely actually married to each other.)

Yeah. It's Namor.

(Yes, I know Namor was actually married to Marrina but this is one of those very Comics situations where she spends a lot of time being evil and/or dead, as far as I know, and also Namor has that... thing... for Sue continuously going on so I feel like Steve would think Namor could still be a possibility.)

And this is even more hilarious because Steve is, like, one of the few people on Earth-616 who actually likes Namor. Everyone else thinks Namor is an asshole! But Steve is like, hey, it's my good buddy and World War II comrade! So Steve's gonna be sitting there gritting his teeth and trying not to hate Namor but being furious that Namor is not respecting, like, his WWII bro code.

And the other thing about Namor is that Tony and Namor have a terrible relationship while being on the Illuminati together. Like, here's a page of Namor and Tony getting into a fight (in the New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot) and Namor 100% actually trying to drown Tony:

You might argue that Tony is not in any real danger here because Strange breaks the fight up and saves Tony but this, uh, could have gone very badly if Strange had not.

But, given the general caliber of people Tony dates, Steve is not going to find it reassuring if Tony uses that as evidence for why he can't be dating Namor.

STEVE: Are you dating Namor? TONY: What? Why would I date Namor? He's literally tried to kill me. STEVE: I'm not hearing a no.

Like, "literally tried to kill him" describes a very large number of people Tony has dated, sometimes while he is actually dating them. We all know Tony would not think of this as a dealbreaker. And Steve would know that. Steve would be like "Come on, Tony, this is the part where you tell me he didn't actually kill you so that means it's fine."

So even if Tony vehemently denies it, Steve could probably still think they're dating and there's no way Tony would be able to convince him otherwise, which would be either great or terrible depending on your perspective.

[thena0315]

Ships that had kids

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Pepperony - Morgan Stark

T'Chakia - Toussaint "T'Challa II"

Pirates of the Caribbean

Willabeth - Henry Turner

Star Wars

Anidala - Luke & Leia Skywalker

Scoundress - Ben Solo

Arrowverse

Olicity - Mia Queen

Westallen - Nora & Bart West-Allen

James Bond

Jameleine - Mathilde Swann

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Rollisi - Dominick "Nicky" Carisi III

That 70's Show

Eric x Donna - Leia Foreman

Jelso - Jay Kelso

The Rookie

Wopez - Jackson "Jack" Evers & Unnamed Daughter

Nyla x James - Leah Murray

9-1-1

Madney - Jee-Yun Buckley-Han

The Good Doctor

Shea - Steven "Steve" & Maddie Murphy

[mdccanon]

Wakanda Forever is committee-designed fanfiction bait. I'm so honored to be seen.

You could write a Namor (x Shuri) fanfic starting at WW2, the Battle for Manhattan, Infinity War, or two months after T'Challa died and it would all work.

The easy comradery. The political tension. The discussions at twilight. The betrayal. The misunderstandings. The escalations they wish to take back. The drama. The trauma. The mutual pining.

Take your pick.

Countless fanfics start their romances a few months or years before the start of the story proper, changing the context of the original content into a conflict between old lovers. Shuri has a 1-year time skip at the start of this movie. That's 12 months of open sandbox.

Shuri bioengineered a hybrid heart-shaped herb with the Mayan / Talokan equivalent, which can easily be interpreted as giving her some of their affinities; she could visit in the future without a suit.

She was able to do this because he gave her his mother's pearl bracelet when he proposed... a strategic military alliance ... and politely asked told her to stay with him. Are you kidding me?!

Between all of the worldbuilding from the Captain America trilogy, Agent Carter and AoS, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the Black Panther movies, there's a pretty fleshed out world for Namor to be righteously furious about. Comics!Namor disguised himself as a human to fight in World War II. Think of ANY MCU storyline about the 1940s-60s and Namor could have been an eyewitness. Yeah. You see why he's been planning a war against the surface since then.

The easy comradery. The political tension. The discussions at twilight. The betrayal. The misunderstandings. The escalations they wish to take back. The drama. The trauma. The mutual pining.

Take your pick. Continue with the story as it is and have a heartbreaking redemption arc? Fix it and have a happier ending? Recontextualize Namor coming ashore at the river as a Meet the Parents between already established lovers? Namor is over 450-years-old and this world has high tech and magic; who doesn't love a time travel fic? Namor and Shuri conquer the world? Save the world against a different villain? Namor and Shuri time travel to save the world from the rise of HYDRA, Killmonger's revenge, and Thanos with zero casualties and one less baby Celestial with its torso sticking out of the ocean?

Or just date nights exploring each other's kingdoms?

[themculibrary]

Avengers Reacting To Their Movies Masterlist

A Beautiful Journey (fanfiction.net) - Aragorn II Elessar T, 566k

Summary: Watch-it fic. In 2035, members of the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four bring forth the Avengers, Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, T'Challa, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Pepper Potts, Aunt May and Loki from the past to watch the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

All the Days of our Lives, Phase 1 (ao3) - ElrondsScribe pepper/tony, jane/thor, clint/laura, ian/darcy, wanda/vision, sharon/steve, bucky/natasha N/R, 41k

Summary: An Avengers-watch-their-own-movies fanfiction. I know it's been done before, but I wanted to try it with a more expansive audience. In addition to all the Avengers (both retired and active) you'll find Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Laura Barton, Betty Ross, Helen Cho, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and even Ian Boothby.

Post Captain America: Civil War. AU, obviously. All ships in the tags. Please do enjoy! Warning: there will be a bit of language.

First up: Captain America: The First Avenger

Assemble (ao3) - Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen T, 201k

Summary: Ten years after Thanos’ defeat, Clint Barton, with help from Stephen Strange and a SHIELD agent named Leopold Fitz, brings the Avengers, plus Peter Parker, Scott Lang, and T'Challa, from a few months prior to The Avengers Civil War to show them the future so they don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Avengers Watch Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania Trailer (ao3) - SpiderWidowFam88 scott/hope, hank/janet, pepper/tony, mj/peter T, 5k

Summary: [Part 2 of Avengers Watch Stuff]

After Watching the events of No Way Home, the Avengers have some time to cool off and have a chat before their host plays another assortment of clips of their future.

This time, it's about the rise of a new villain and the adventures of the lovely Scott Lang.

Avengers watch Captain Marvel (fanfiction.net) - Roxas Itsuka T, 30k

Summary: Called forth by an unknown being. The Avengers are made watch a movie about a hero who came not long before them. Fury and Goose present also. No pairing.

Avengers Watch Spider-Man No Way Home (ao3) - SpiderWidowFam88 mj/peter, pepper.tony T, 71k

Summary: The movie left me feeling so heartbroken for our favorite spider kid so this is how I'm dealing with it.

Expect everyone being protective of Peter and desperately wishing they could be there to kill all of his problems.

Cough* cough* Natasha...

It's exactly what the title says.

They watch Spider-Man No Way Home

bro (ao3) - hunkahulkaaburningfudge G, 64k

Summary: The Avengers watch their future.

A Hawkeye watch-it fic.

bus boy (ao3) - hunkahulkaburningfudge clea/stephen, kate/america G, 40k

Summary: The Avengers watch their future.

A Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings watch-it fic.

Film Reels (fanfiction.net) - Little-miss-laughs-alot G, 19k

Summary: A stack of film reels sent to the Avenger Mansion will be intriguing for some, but for one, it will be difficult. Reliving Steve's past- before and after Captain America came to be, they get to know exactly who the kid from Brooklyn really is. Now Complete!

pizza balls (ao3) - hunkahulkaaburningfudge wanda/vision, kate/america, clea/stephen G, 58k

Summary: The Avengers watch their future.

A Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness watch-it fic.

Rewriting The Way This Story Ends [IM1] (ao3) - bookaholic4ever G, 49k

Summary: An Avengers watch the MCU fic. Will be Tony Stark centric. The OG 6 and Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Vision and Rhodey are also included. Can the Avengers watch and learn from their mistakes to protect their earth and in turn the universe from a madman? Read to find out. Set after Civil War and Homecoming but before Infinity War.

In this installment they are watching Iron Man.

stupid pigeon (ao3) - hunkahulkaaburningfudge layla el-faouly/marc G, 67k

Summary: The Avengers watch their future.

A Moon Knight watch-it fic.

The story behind the man: Iron Man 1 (ao3) - Anothershadow24 bruce/tony T, 34k

Summary: A year after the so called 'Civil War', the six original avengers, plus Sam, Wanda, Vision, Fury and Hill, get locked up on a room to watch a stack of films about one Tony Stark.

Watching- Iron Man 1 (ao3) - Schayisgay pepper/tony T, 28k

Summary: Up First- Iron Man 1.

The Avengers and Co watch their resident Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist as he becomes Iron Man.

Watch my life, feel my pain (Do I deserve it?) (ao3) - Wise_writer_girl wanda/vision, steve/natasha, sam/bucky, bruce/thor, pepper/tony T, 175k (WIP)

Summary: The Avengers wake up in a theater, the Theatre of Judgement, all from different times in the MCU storylines. The Judgement Spirit, Justice, is forcing them to watch WandaVision clips. If Wanda has suffered enough, Justice will bring Vision, Tommy and Billy back to life. But things don't seem so black and white when the loved ones of the other heroes are brought in as well. A deal must be made: the reveal of the darkest, most embarrassing and most painful moments of their stories in exchange for just a moment longer with someone they've loved and lost. Can the Earth's Mightiest Heroes cope with their best-kept secrets being exposed?

For the sake of those they love, they're going to have to.

[lavendercharacters]

•Below the cut is a list of all Canon Characters currently played but the writer. Don't be afraid to reach out with any questions of other fandoms or characters you would like to play against.

Prince Toussaint T'Challa ii • fc: Kedar Williams-Sterlings• from marvel cinematic universe• 24 years old • Wakandan Royalty and College senior • Molecular and Medical Microbiology major

Miles Morales •fc: Jahking Guillory• from marvel sony cinematic universe • 21 years old • Spriderman and College junior • Quantum physics major

Lady Loki • fc: Ahn Hyejin • from marvel comics • 28 years old • Asgardian sorceress • currently living in New York City • working in an antique bookshop

Aegon ii • fc: Tom Glynn-Carney • from HBO's House of The Dragon • 21 years old • young King fugitive Prince Dragon rider • rumored to be working in a pleasure house in Essos Laurent Carriere • fc: Manu Rios • AMC's Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon • 19 years old • Survivor• Living with his Adoptive father and Aunt in a Virginia safe zone after they made it back to America from France • possible paranormal powers over the dead or walker immune blood Richard Grimes Jr. "RJ" • fc: D'Pharaoh Woon A Tai • AMC's The Walking Dead • 18 years old • Survivor • Living in a Virginia safe zone with his mother, older sister, and father • skilled at hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting • learning botany and medicine

Finnick Odair • fc: Sam Claflin • Hunger Games Cinematic Universe• 38 years old • Tribute / Victor • living free in distract 13 Louis de Pointe du Lac • fc: Jacob Anderson • Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire • 33 years old • Vampire • Art dealer Musem curator multimillionaire Armand (de Romanus) • fc: Assad Zaman • Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire • 26 years old • Vampire • multimillionaire brat switch

[katatonicimpression]

Avengers (2023) Retrospective

ok technically the series isn't over but they've changed the lineup so it counts. Let's call it a "retrospective on part 1"

i. Jed's Style

I hadn't been following news on this so when I clicked on this week's I was genuinely surprised to see Steve... and then I was annoyed.*

*when I originally wrote this post I thought the Steve-led blood hunt line up was going to be permanent, hence the strong emotions

So, I guess I'll sort this rant into sections so it looks like I am capable of logic and reason even though this is entirely vibes:

So, McKay has this really noticeable tic in his writing where he structures an action sequence with a bunch of shit simultaneously, and then the panels flit between each tableau with a narration saying Something Meaningful about each moment which then builds to a climax.

This genuinely works really well to build to dramatic moments and to have the entire team feel present in the story. It does, perhaps, just a bit, get a little repetative and maybe didn't need to happen as many times as it did in 13 issues. 13 issues is long enough to devote longer to individual characters, and provide a more personalised story moment for everyone outside of the ensemble. So, yeah, effective at showcasing the team as a whole but not the most efficient use of time for more in depth storytelling.

That said, while I wasn't massively moved emotionally by what happened in this series, I did like it a lot. He's a good writer, his characterisation was mostly very good, and I had a good time.

ii. The SamChalla of it All

My absolute favourite thread in this series has been the relationship between Sam and T'Challa.

The pre-amble to this is that T'Challa made Sam's wings way back when, and he made his shield. He's just staggeringly down to help him and give him vibranium for nothing, just the sheer love of the game I guess. But then, in Symbol of Truth (SoT), Sam sneaks into Wakanda for superhero reasons and T'Challa is like "you're not supposed to be here" and Sam is like "can you not see the nazi I was chasing he is literally right there" and then they fight. They fight and Sam wins.

Sam wins, in jeans and a t-shirt. No wings, no shield. And to Sam, it's like whatever he just wanted to get out of that situation, but to T'Challa, that seems like a big deal. It shows that Sam doesn't need him, never did. It rocks his sense of superiority which, love the guy but he definitely has one.

It's important to remember that T'Challa is currently Going Through It when it comes to feeling rejected by his country (they want democracy) and having a bit of an identity crisis. This informs how he acts in Avengers (2023). How does he act? Pettily.

He nags Sam, condescends towards him, insists on calling him by his first name and not his code name. It's petty, it's mean spirited, but also oddly intimate. You can tell Sam bothers him, gets to him in some way.

For Sam's part, he doesn't sit back and take it, but he doesn't rise to the bait either. He pushes back a little, but avoids a real conflict. This is in character, and indicates that Sam does still respect T'Challa, despite his pettiness. I doubt Sam would have a huge amount of empathy for T'Challa's current angst (because lol) but he does want to be friends, he wants this weird phase to pass.

And then in Blood Hunt (which is ongoing and yes that means I should probably be saving this retrospective until after it ends but whatever) we see T'Challa sacrifice himself to save Sam. The other avengers too, but Sam first. Sam is his priority.

Now, isn't that just a fabulous moment. Everybody, please, write me some fanfics.

iii. Art (Comic Book go Brr)

It's fucking stunning let's be real.

The art is CF Villa, who knocks it out of the park. Everyone looks great, especially Wanda, and it's just fabulous to look at. Like, I don't have anything to say here because it's not like it's super stylised or there's anything unique about the art. It's just really solid in a really pleasing way.

I also like the way he drew Sam. I like it when Sam gets to be pretty and youthful, and not always so "big massive hulking monster of a dude" - Admittedly this is weird because obviously he is a big masculine guy, but adjusting for inflation (i.e. adjusting for the fact that all marvel dudes are massive), he's not supposed to be a mountain. He's a gymnast ffs. And yes, he's not technically that young in canon, he is approximately the same age as the o5 x-men, and younger than, like, Emma Frost, and yet he gets drawn like he's middle aged half the time and they all get to be fresh faced 20-somethings. So, yeah maybe my preferences are silly but they're not formed in a vaccuum - I like it when Sam gets the physical appearance that has been denied him in the past. And I don't think it's a coincidence that artists over the years have decided to make the black guy visually the biggest, most masc and oldest of the group time and time again even when it makes no sense.

That was a long way of saying that I preferred Sam's look in Avengers (2023) compared to SoT. And his writing tbh.

iv. Why am I so Mad?

I didn't love his writing though.

There were a few moments scattered here and there that felt really weird. I think McKay's choice to associate Sam with this abstract idea of being The Symbol could have worked, but he never really filled in the blanks there. A symbol of what? A symbol to whom? I think there are potentially really interesting and relevant answers to these questions with Sam, but I can't help but think they're what he had in mind when writing it.

No, rather I think he just had a vision of Sam as a Steve stand-in... but if #14 is anything to go by, a stand-in who he is considerably less interested in than he is in Steve.

Steve is a symbol of America, of patriotism and courage and valour, hope in desperate circumstances and punching nazis. He also symbolises american ideals of white masculinity, and functions as a kind of ubermensch much to his own annoyance. That's the irony of Steve - he represents things in many people's eyes that he doesn't stand for, and his grappling with that is a big theme for the character. In general, Steve is hyper aware of his own symbolic import - it comes up over and over again. Moreover, he deliberate evokes that power - his assumed status as a figurehead - in order to get people to do things.

Sam's status as a public symbol is very, very different. He is not seen as the embodiment of America - in fact many people seethe and cope at the very idea of him being associated with it - he's not a universal symbol of anything really, given how controversial he is. And, again, that's the twist with Sam - he's politicised no matter what he does and his dilemmas and decisions are all in the context of having radically different expectations on him than Steve does. That said, Sam does care about his symbolism; he specifically cares about how young Black people understand him, how they respond to him. He wants to inspire. His priority is not symbolic - he's all about actually helping people on the ground - but it is still an important thing to him that could've been explored.

But it isn't.

The worst part of this is that moment when T'Challa sacrifices himself. The villains want to take Sam and vampire-ise him because they think it'll be symbolic. T'Challa saves Sam, but literally says it's for symbolism reasons (very "the people need captain america because he gives them hope") but like...? No, T'Challa doesn't believe that. No, Sam is not seen like that by the public tbh. No, the villain is not right actually. The scene would have been so much stronger if T'Challa's reasoning was because he likes Sam, because he cares about him. That way the villain's cold, strategic perspective is contrasted with something human and loving, and it's a more apt final beat to their relationship arc.

Yeah. The man wanted to write Steve the entire time you can tell.

And, anyway, I don't think the rest of blood hunt is going to heavily feature Sam as a beloved symbol of hope the world over. Maybe I'll stand corrected, but I doubt it.* Especially because #14 continues the event but with Steve and oh what's that? He's the world symbol of hope and courage and whatnot?

*future me again: I think I was right about this. Sam does give a big speech in blood hunt but to me it fails to fulfil the function McKay needed it to, because Sam only gives a big inspiring speech because Carol tells him to. A ridiculous moment in my opinion. This is not the inspiring power of Sam, it's outsourcing.

The other way Sam felt less than present in this series is obviously his powers. I know I go on about this every time, but seriously. He uses his powers once in #2, never again. There are missed opportunities with this, especially when they're dealing with Nightmare/existing in a dream state. Worse, the very first episode shows Sam being recruited with Carol's argument being "I would take Steve because obviously he's better but Sam is a powerless everyman so he's more humbly relatable." I'm paraphrasing but it's literally that patronising.

No, Sam is literally superhuman. No, he would not find this convincing. No, your otherwise good writing doesn't make me any less mad at you, Jed.

McKay's obvious glee at finally having Steve in his lineup is incredibly off putting. It's clearly what he wanted all along. But there's this other thing. Namely, that while Sam is clearly playing a stand-in role for Steve in this series, he's not really getting the full Captain America treatment either.

vi. Did Carol Danvers ruin my life?

At some point in the mid 2010s, Marvel made Carol Captain Marvel (she'd been Ms Marvel for years) and decided to actually treat her with dignity and gravitas. To respect the character and make her important. To portray her as the heavy hitter and major player she should be. And to make her a team leader.

Now, this is great obviously. Lovely to see them give her the respect she'd been often denied over the years.

She's the team leader in this comic. And then there's Tony - the writer's pet to end all writer's pets - and the rest of the team. So, if Steve were on this team, he'd be the leader. Tony would still be there and in charge of a lot, but Steve would be the shot-caller in action scenes and the guy framed as the lead. If Carol was on the same team as Steve (in the modern era) maybe they'd split this role, but Steve would still be calling shots and, idk like, pointing at stuff.. telling the avengers to assemble, you know the drill.

Sam's not doing that, though, is he?

Sam's just another part of the team here. He's not in a leadership position, not even when they're out in the field. He's kinda just in the background half the time. He gets to be the horse whisperer to the impossible city - which I genuinely love as a character beat it suits him - but aside from that he's just kind of there. To be clear, this is way better than that godawful infinity comic that insults him at every opportunity (and physically beats the shit out of him) but it still feels odd, right? He's call "captain" sometimes in Avengers (2023), but he doesn't get even a whif of authority in the series.

I'm left wondering if there really is room for a Captain America, a Captain Marvel and Iron Man in an avengers series. Like, that's too many bosses, too many team leaders. And that sucks.

But of course, if Steve were here, they'd find a way to put him in charge wouldn't they? This also sucks.

Anyway, it's not like I massively, desperately need Sam to be giving orders all the time. Honestly, I think as a guy he's in his comfort zone when he's not in charge. But that's why it's important to push him into a leadership role sometimes - because it challenges him. That's the entire point of him being Cap ffs.

v. Conclusion

I don't want to sound like I hate this series. I'd recommend #1-#13 and I do genuinely think it's really solid.

I'm also aware that a lot of what it failed me on are things that really belong in a Sam solo. But we don't have a Sam solo right now. We did have one, and it was kinda meh. It had many of the same problems and some entirely different ones. Although, it had a bit more fun with his powers, I'll give SoT that at least.

I guess maybe my hopes were a little too high? I was so caught up in the high of Sam being in a good comic that I forgot that company wide failures to do Sam justice existed.

But overall I think it is genuinely very good. I'm not a big avengers series person at all, and I still read this every month and anticipated each new issue. I had fun. I'm just also full of bitterness and resentment.

[lostgirlfandom]

Marvel Masterlist

Steve Rogers

Bucky Barnes

T'Challa

M'Baku

Namor/ K'uk'ulkan

Shang Chi

Sam Wilson

Loki

Thor

Tony Stark

Matt Murdock

Frank Castle

Off the Deep End

Billy Russo

The Right Partner *

Wanda Maximoff

Wolverine

Magneto

Xavier

Quick Silver

Druig

Makkari

Eddie Brock/Venom

Poly Pairings:

Sam x Reader x Bucky

The Chaotic Trio

Frank Castle x Reader x Matt Murdock

Just a Security Guard

Just a Security Guard Part II

Just a Security Guard Part III

Just a Security Guard Part IV

Just a Security Guard Part V

Misc

How You Meet the Avengers