#World War III (trope) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

superbdragoncollection-stuff · 4 months ago

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The Postman

The novel is much better than the film. It's about a man in a post apocalyptic environment accidentally rebuilding the United States by being a dedicated civil servant. He pretends to be a postal worker.

Twenty years after World War III, Gordon is robbed and finds an old postal uniform in an abandoned truck. He takes it to protect himself from exposure, and is accidentally mistaken as a postal worker by a nearby settlement. He then decides at the next settlement to deliberately pretend to be a postal worker representing the "Restored United States". People are desperate for hope and believe in him. They remember fondly the old days of mail, and the postal workers. But more than that, the concept of the United States as one unified country is revived, how we're all the same.

Funny enough, the author actually brings up several obvious points about how this could be a scam(which it is at first!). In the best scene in the novel, he shows off his uniform, which they point out he could've taken from a corpse, and he shows off documents that he could've faked. The thing that makes them believe him is he legit DOES bring the mail! You can easily see that as desperate as they are for hope, there are people who see through his lies, but don't bring it up because he's providing a vital service.

He also deliberately doesn't push his luck. This scam is quite clever: he claims to be from the restored United States, but that he's a scout, there won't be anyone else coming for a long time. He's just here to deliver the mail, he is not threatening local warlords' powers. He fakes a document of rules the "new congress" "created", but they're all simple things that don't mess with local authority for the most part. So there's no reason for the warlords to challenge him.

What ends up happening though is he accidentally creates a revolution: the Restored United States becomes real through Gordon's efforts.

Civilization and it's symbols are what the book is centered around. By being a symbol, Gordon is accidentally able to recreate the country. It shows that government isn't some nebulous entity, it's a construct made of people, and that people can repair it as much as we tear it apart. It's not Gordon who overthrows the warlord, it's the common folk. He shows them, and reminds them, of what they used to be, and what they can become again. There's a heartbreaking scene where he visits a town that's having a dog fight. It's horrible, but what makes it so is the mounting depression Gordon instills through his disapproval. The mayor of the town thinks to himself, "what's happened to us? I was a member of the ASPCA!" The dog fight is stopped as they remember. It's not through some grand act Gordon brings about a revolution, it's a reminder of the good things the government does. It delivers the mail, and fixes the roads. Civil servants are the backbone of society! Through this little scam Gordon accidentally reminds people of what they are.

One of the best things about the book is Gordon. He's not a goody goody, he's a con man! The film casts Kevin Costner, when they should've cast Michael J Fox. Gordon is a former college student and national guard trooper who just wants a place that's civilized: he wants to find someone who's doing *something* to rebuild! All he wants is a place with electricity, showers, and hot food. He is NOT mad max. I think the writer was commenting on tropes of the time, Gordon HATES living in the squalor of the apocalypse! He doesn't think of himself as a hero, or a decent person. He acts pretty decently for a con man, and in fact constantly kicks himself for not being a ruthless monster that he views as being better for surviving this world. He survives not through gunplay, but through his wits and his skills. He kills few if any people that I recall. He's a scholar, not Mad Max. You feel sorry for him a lot, he's just some guy who wants somewhere to go, and a leader to follow. Yet he also retains a "civilized mind" as the book calls it. He laments this fallen world, how the US sent probes to Jupiter, how they were building genuine Artificial Intelligence before the war, and now they were reinventing serfdom. He's moved to tears by the little last stands made at the end of the war, by the last efforts of the mailman who's uniform he took. He's just a guy who wants to go home, but there's no more home left. And yet through his idealism, through his memory, and his wits, he recreates the world he lost.

I would put the book weirdly into the same category as The Handmaid's Tale, which I have yet to read. It's difficult to articulate; rather than the central theme being women's rights, The Postman is about civilization, yet spoken about in the same way as the Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaid's Tale was a commentary on the 1980s evangelical Christian ultra right wing nationalism that made itself known under Reagan. Women's rights falling apart was not an irrational fear: it happened in Iran in 1979. Check out photos of Iran from the 60s and 70s, women are all wearing western clothing, smoking, going to college, Iran was a very modern country. There is an American movie filmed months before the revolution which has a female police officer as a major plot element.

The Postman is criticizing the same types of people, and there is real similar precedent. Reagan was talking about government being "evil", and his administration deliberately destroyed and undercut tons of government social safety nets and services. He fired so many air traffic controllers it was years before they could train more! The right wing is STILL trying to dismantle the postal service!

In the novel, civilization and government wasn't destroyed by the war itself, it was the conditions that came after. There is a faction of these nutty hyper survivalists who are all but stated to be white supremacists; basically every ultra macho racist misogynistic doomsday prepper you've seen. These guys deliberately destroyed reconstruction efforts and ruined what remained of society. Just like the Handmaid's Tale was a commentary on right wing politics of the 80s, I think The Postman is commentary on the exact same part. It really drives home that civilization, and government itself, is a positive thing despite its flaws, with more good than bad. The heroes are dedicated to rebuilding lines of communication, recovering all that was lost. We see over and over again that while we've stumbled, it wasn't government that destroyed civilization it was barbarity and cruelty, a *lack* of government. Society can train armies, create medicine, build roads and towns, and stop people from being hurt and dying. The war itself didn't even destroy civilization, it was neglect and the destruction of order. These people aren't trying to merely survive; they *are* surviving, they want to *live*. And that means rebuilding everything that was lost. Building cities, fixing libraries, and having dedicated civil servants. There's no hope that help will come from elsewhere, we must take action into our own hands. The book emphasizes that government is not this alien monolith, it's us, it's people, and without people, everything falls apart. It is so effective at delivering this message, it drives home a very moving and nuanced view of patriotism. Our heroes are farmers, workers, and postal workers. They're not rich folk, or macho men, they're everyday citizens who want things to get better. Our hero is a skinny little con man! "Don't you want more out of life?"

One can even argue the book is a battle between two views of the United States of America specifically. The survivalists have a right wing view of the country and the world, might makes right, individualism or death, manly man things, greed is good, and how everyone should be "independent". One of them is a former stock broker for crying out loud! Others are these ex military guys, many of whom rape and pillage. Gordon and his friends have a more left wing view of government, equality for all, might *for* right(if might is even in the equation), the ants must work together and stand together, that the smallest among us deserve as many rights as the largest; united we are strong, knowledge is power, and community is for the benefit of all, for justice, for peace, and for the future. Our hero is a lanky college student turned postal worker, others are a coalition of scientists, feminists, and *hippies*.

The book is surprisingly progressive with regards to women's rights. There's weird 80s attitudes toward feminism, but I would argue it's much more charitable than others. It's very clear the author does care about women's rights, and his heart is in the right place, he just doesn't quite grok all the issues. He puts feminism firmly on the side of the heroes. The female lead who is declared to be a feminist is depicted as naive, but it's more about her than feminism itself. And it feels more like the characters than the narrative. The one who calls her "an old school feminist" is a middle aged scientist, and Gordon is very jaded. His attitude is more about how he doesn't want anyone else to die more than being anti feminist. And the reason for her naivety might be more subtly implied to be that she learned her attitudes purely from books rather than lived experience. She manages to get female soldiers into an army at one point, and the problems aren't with that itself, but the army overall is in trouble. By contrast, the villains want to completely annihilate women's rights as a whole, again, A Handmaid's Tale. The ending has a segment that I'm not sure where to fall on, but I think remains in that thought that the writer very clearly has his heart in the right place but doesn't quite understand.

The book is, to quote another post I saw, filled with infectious optimism. Gordon is a fun hero who's not some macho loner, he just wants a bed and a hot meal, and accidentally causes a massive revolution. It's about how government is what we make of it, and is a force for good more often than not. We have to create the future, or others will do it for us.

#David Brin #The Postman #books and reading #severely underrated books #post apocalyptic #post apocalypse #nuclear war #nuclear war is bad

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leam1983 · 3 months ago

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Monster Factory

Started putzing around with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and what really frustrates me isn't the lack of deep RPG mechanics or even the weaker writing, but rather the character customization.

Now, I'm not a spiritual McElroy brother, I don't like to push my char-gen escapades too far, but I also like to create characters that have a life story writ large across their features. We're talking scars, imperfections, no real standard "beautiful" features - and the general sense that they belong in the sort of Dark Fantasy setting Dragon Age tries to foster, as a franchise. That means a modicum of deliberate ugliness is mandatory.

I could get that with careful slider-wrangling in previous entries, especially Dragon Age 1 and 2, but BioWare admittedly was a lot less focused on letting me create the kind of war-scarred warrior I had in mind than, say, Bethesda's offerings. Say what you will about the house Morrowind built and Skyrim sold to everyone and their mother, you can reliably build fugly dudes in everything between Oblivion and Starfield. Not so with BioWare titles. Starting with Inquisition, especially, everyone had to be airbrushed, polished and conventionally beautiful, safe for the errant scar.

And that, well... It takes me out of Thedas entirely. I'm not going to shake my fists at the airbrushed Qunari that made the Internet devolve into screaming fits - user-generated characters can pack a lot more gruffness and burr than what BioWare showcased - but I always had issues with the character designs for everyone between Morrigan (You're telling me the Witch of the Wilds manages to have a perfect complexion while spending most of her time outside of Thedas' main settlements?!) to Solas (I get it, the dude's an Elf and prospectively the last immortal Elf alive up until we learned about his true identity as the Dreadwolf, but you'd figure his struggles would've left a mark, right?) and even Varric, the poster boy for the franchise as a whole. Oh, sure, he's progressively aged up, but always in that weird sense that makes you think Thedas' dwarves actually know a thing or two about peeling and microblading...

And well, all of this to circle back to my first attempt at designing my Rook, which looks like a nice, clean, sterile nothing-burger packing a sword. Call me crazy, but I can't buy into the world-ending stakes that see us having to track down and kill two insane Elven gods let loose outside of the Fade if everyone involved looks like they just stepped out of a Maxim photoshoot! Oh, sure, there's plenty of body types, pronoun selections, cosmetic options for vitiligo sufferers - but despite it all, everyone is inescapably pretty.

As for the leading moroseness surrounding the game with us old-timers, or the sense that this isn't the BioWare I grew up with - well, yeah. Zeschuk and Watamaniuk left ages ago, so has Drew Karpyshyn; the design staff isn't the same - I could go on. The focus is different, as Veilguard is clearly an Action Game with RPG elements, as opposed to the first few games' more overt RPG leanings. Hearing a staff member at Larian Studios claim that this is the first Dragon Age entry that knows what it wants leaves me blinking bemusedly. Haven't they played the first entry in the series, or noticed how closely it sticks to the game design tropes Baldur's Gate III successfully iterated on?

The end result is I'm not offended, I'm not going to put up a screed that declares that BioWare is dead - but it's definitely changed.

#Dragon Age #Dragon Age II #Dragon Age: Inquisition #Dragon Age: The Veilguard #Dragon Age Rook #Varric Tethras #Morrigan #Sten #Character Design #BioWare #Larian Studios #Baldur's Gate III #Thoughts

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skymagpie · 11 months ago

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Mists of Pandaria literally took a dwarf character, previously rightfully depicted as a scumbag villain because he wiped out an entire tribe of tauren whilst citing imperialism and racial superiority, and depicted him as a good guy out to protect the pandaren whilst vilifying the tauren for resisting him!

Not to mention that they retconned nearly the entire orc race as evil in that expansion with countless promising orc characters previously depicted as honorable and likable like Zaela, the entire Kor'kron organization, Bloodhilt, ETC becoming Garrosh clones simply because they were orcs and "orcs are inherently bad".

Or that the tie in novels for Mists of Pandaria like Tides of War literally had Baine freaking out and exiling tauren for resisting human and dwarf colonization of their lands.

Vol'jin, one of the only Poc coded monsters to be depicted in a decnet light in MOP, was literally described by the Alliance player as "Disgusting", "savage", and other terms, with the game even adding flies around Vol'jin for this quest.

Before you say thats just the Alliance player's view, white characters never get this description like say human characters when you're playing Horde.

For reference, Shadowlands demonized Dambala, a revered and famous real world loa worshipped in Haiti and many other parts of the World.

The same expansion almost exclusively had PoC coded monsters in the Hell portions, like Zul'jin was in Hell for protecting his lands against colonists that are so proud of their genocide of trolls, their leaders name themselves after it(Trollbanes) the recent Sylvanas novel even clarified that the humans and High Elves knew that it was the Amani's land when they made their homes there from the stone obelisks decorated with troll holy symbols and writing.

It has also been confirmed in recent novels that the tauren gods are fake whilst the night elf gods are real...

And the tauren's oppressor whom had been frequently terrorizing the earth throughout World of Warcraft's history, Magni Bronzebeard, literally got the role of voice of Azeroth like the true Mighty Whitey he is.

Warcraft III for all its racial coding never had anything like this and Warcraft I and II did not have this much racial coding.

So the Doubling down on the racial coding and the "PoC Coded monsters are evil" stuff was done by the modern writers that go "look at how woke we are, two white women are gay an we retconned another white character to be trans, now lets kill some voodoo worshipping savages in the Jungle together!"

Anyhow, sorry I have strong feelings about this as someone whom isn't white myself.

This is sadly a very extensive list and I have no doubt is only part of the problem. I used to play WoW when I was 13 which was 13 years ago and I didn't speak English then so I didn't really know lore. I came back only recently and the few things I played were some BfA (Kul Tiras side), all of Dragonflight and some Legion and a bit of Shadowlands. I haven't touched the other things aside from the vague knowledge of what is going on. I have to keep an eye on these things as I play on because I didn't know most of it.

Hell they do stupid colonialist tropes even with white-coded races, like I am sure the Drust are supposed to be Celtic coded and yet they also have them portrayed as bad for not wanting the Kul Tirans on their land.

I feel like when they do something good for the non-white coded races, it is always played safe for the general playerbase of the cishet white dudes who want their racist stereotypes intact. They always seem to be pussyfooting around the issue without making any meaningful change. They want to make sure they won't offend their biggest racist consumer base and that is so sad. Blizzard has potent racism 10 years behind everyone else.

Also I am sorry you have to write so much, but thank you for sharing this and I hope more people are made aware of it. It's okay to always vent here for anything, and I will eventually catch up with playing the content.

#world of warcraft

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rose-of-pollux · 3 months ago

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🕰️, ✒️, 👀, 🎼, 🎸 and 💫 for the BttF asks :o)

🕰️If you were to insert yourself into the trilogy, what year would you come from? My own time, honestly; it’d be an interesting juxtaposition to Doc’s vision of the 21st Century and different situations for Doc and Marty to navigate

✒️You are hired to write/draw a new bttf comic, and it can be about whatever you want. what in the bttf universe would you want to expand on? In an answer that will surprise no one, the continuation of the musical timeline; as the Tropes page for the musical pointed out, the exact events of part II (and by extension, pt III) can’t happen since Doc’s voice activation lock means that Biff won’t be able to steal the DeLorean and create the 1985A timeline like he did in the movie. That being said, there are plenty of other shenanigans for Doc and Marty to get into, and I’m sure they’d end up in 1885 some other way, resulting in Clara coming back with them to 1985.

👀Share a random headcanon you have about your favorite character! I'll do a different Doc headcanon (I have several 🤭); that in the Lone Pine timeline, he remains close to George and Lorraine since he's their only link to "Calvin Klein" at first, but then he genuinely becomes a family friend and George asks him to be Marty's godfather as a result, which is how Doc takes Marty under his wing in the improved timeline, as well.

🎼If you have one, share a song that you associate with your favorite character! My friend, I have an entire Doc playlist. One of the songs on there is this one, referencing Doc's backstory about his rocky relationship with his father, who was trying to pressure him into going into law instead of science, forcing Emmett to study science on the sly--

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🎸What is your favorite piece of movie soundtrack? (can be orchestral or any other!) ...Movie, huh? Well I'm going to slightly cheat since the score is mostly the same between the movie and the musical for this scene, but it's the scene where Marty and 55!Doc say goodbye, Doc tears up the warning note, the cable detaches, and Doc goes to repair it while Marty gets the DeLorean ready to go back to 1985. As I said, the musical's version is almost identical to the movie's (and I love it in both contexts), with the big change at the very end, with Doc singing a triumphant reprise of "For the Dreamers" as he connects the cable and sends Marty home.

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💫If you have any bttf related WIPs, here’s the opportunity to ramble about them! If we're talking about just WIPs, the only one I have going on right now is my Ashen Pines AU, which was supposed to have been just a one-off for AU Roulette, but then took on a life of its own. I normally don't even like post-apocalyptic stories, but that was one of the prompts I was assigned, so I decided that I'll just do a one-off "what if?" scenario where, in an alternate 1971, the Cold War got hot, and Doc became a target for multiple governments and organizations for his nuclear knowledge from his Manhattan Project days--as a result, Hill Valley gets leveled in an attack, leaving a three-year-old Marty as the only survivor of his family. Doc, who has just escaped his handlers after Napoleon and Illya informed him that his own government also plans to strong-arm him into working on nuclear weapons again, is going on the run, but realizes he owes it to Marty to look after him, since it's indirectly his fault that Marty lost his family. It starts out as obligation, but when it becomes clear that Marty genuinely thinks the world of Doc, even after Doc tries to explain to him multiple times that he's the reason why Marty is an orphan now, Doc realizes that he genuinely cares for this kid. And it just... kept going. I have so many places where I want this to go; right now, it's Doc raising this little kid, but I do want to eventually timeskip to 1985 in this 'verse so I can explore some more ideas with an older Marty. And I do want to write a fic where Main Timeline Marty and Doc meet Ashen Pines Marty and Doc. If we're talking about general ideas, I have so many. I want to continue my Witherspoon arc (I know exactly where that's going and how it will wrap up--in a very angsty-with-a-happy-ending finale), and I have various other ideas, like more musical-verse stuff, and that Indy crossover, and a possible Scooby crossover, and... a lot.

#ask reply #bttf #back to the future #story ideas #don't mind me

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clairelsonao3 · 1 year ago

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Author Ask Tag Game

Thanks to @i-can-even-burn-salad @tabswrites and @mysticstarlightduck for this tag a few weeks ago, around the time I took a break from tag games. Back on the horse, though.

1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don't really "choose" lessons or themes. They emerge. But if Good Slaves Never Break the Rules had a lesson, it's probably about The Power of Love, not only romantic love, even though it's a romance, but love for our fellow humans and love for ourselves. And the power of choosing love over hate, despite how cruelly we may have been hurt in the past -- or how we may have hurt (or perceive that we have hurt) others.

2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

The world of GSNBTR owes a lot to (mostly) fanfics with modern slavery AUs that I have read and enjoyed over the years. I basically took all my favorite elements from those stories, mashed them together, and threw in a few of my own unique touches. And of course, the worldbuilding has expanded from there, in many cases in much more detail than I imagined it would when I started.

3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

My two MCs both start out with their separate goals -- her to get through university and become independent, him to find his sister -- which end up merging into one singular goal (save their loved ones and defeat the villain, essentially) by the end of the story. Learning to trust and work together is part of the journey they undergo, and with their individual strengths, they end up making an incredible team. So I guess demonstrating that is what I'm trying to achieve with them.

I want to make readers feel something. It doesn't even have to be necessarily what I feel, or what I set out to make others feel. If you feel anything -- love, fear, sadness, shock, hate, disgust -- while reading this, my work here is done.

4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

At this point (I just posted Ch. 27), I suspect not more than 40, give or take. (But take this with a grain of salt; the number has already expanded several times). We are in Act III and it's outlined in detail, with may of the scenes at least partially written, but I'm just not sure how long each chapter/scene is ultimately going to be and how and where they'll be divided. I have an idea of that, but I can't decide it ahead of time; I only know when I sit down to write and edit the chapters.

5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original (although I'm not afraid to admit there are some fannish elements/tropes to it) and I'm posting it on Ao3! It will eventually be an ebook as well. It probably won't ever migrate over to Tumblr, unfortunately, not only because of the time and energy that would require but also because the NSFW and romance elements make it much better suited for Ao3, I feel. Also, having it in one place only allows me to gauge exactly how many people have read it and engaged with it (not that that really matters, but still!)

6) When and why did you start writing?

When? As soon as I could pick up a pencil and string together letters on a page to form words. Why? Because telling stories is in my blood (literally; my dad is also a writer).

7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Write what you want. It sounds simple, but I spent way too many years of my writing life writing what I thought OTHER people wanted, and it almost derailed my ability to write altogether because it made me so damn miserable.

For newer writers: If you find yourself beginning a writing question with the words "Is it okay to..." or "Can I..." just stop right there. The answer is "yes."

I follow more people than just about anyone I know and I think most of them are writers; it's in the 4 digits. So I'm going to put this question aside for now and start working on a post of my favorite Tumblr writers and stories, so for future similar questions, I'll be able to direct you to that.

This one was going around a few weeks ago and IDK who's done it so OPEN TAG!

Template under the cut

1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

6) When and why did you start writing?

7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

#my writing #gsnbtr #tag game

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cordoleo · 1 year ago

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hear ye hear ye — the riverlands welcomes LADY MEREDYTH RYKKER of DUSKENDALE. king matthos baratheon is glad that the TWENTY-EIGHT year old appears to be resourceful and he shall overlook that it’s said they are also detached, as long as they are glad to celebrate peace in the seven kingdoms. fortunately for them, matthos remains oblivious that they AREN’T happy with his reign.

i. background.

full name: meredyth rykker.

commonly goes by: mere, merry.

epitaph: lady nowhere.

official title: lady of duskendale.

occupation: translator, performer; previously a novice in the citadel (c. 287 - 293)

age: twenty eight.

birth date: 17th of june 270 ac.

gender + pronouns: cis woman + she/her.

orientation: bisexual + homoromantic.

allegiance: herself.

spoken language: common tongue, high valyrian, bastard valyrian ( several dialects ), trade talk, lhazareen, sarnori, enough dothraki.

religion: baptized under the faith of the seven but holds little attachment to the seven; instead, she has a fondness for foreign gods.

ii. appearance.

faceclaim: pooja hegde.

eye color: warm brown.

hair color: chocolate brown.

remarkable markings: n/a.

dominant hand: ambidextruous.

height: 5'9".

build: tall, "pear shaped".

iii. personality.

virtues: easy - going, vivacious, open - minded, adaptative, quick - witted, attentive.

vices: opportunistic, vain, unruly, chaotic, non - committal, egotistical.

weapon of choice: always carries a dagger strapped to her thigh and poison inside one of her rings.

moral alignment: tba.

inspired by: alexis rose ( schitt’s creek ), helene kuragina ( war and peace ), maria de padilla ( history ), nell gwynn ( history ), roman roy ( succession ), lydia bennett ( pride and prejudice ).

common tropes: tba.

iv. relationships.

parents: reginald and tba rykker.

siblings: desmera and tba ( older ).

relationship status: unmarried.

children: none.

pets: none.

other relations: tba.

previous relations: several.

v. biography.

last born of the rykker clan, mere was fed from the crib about tales she'd eat up eagerly: stories of the old valyrian world, the one that it developed into and survived in essos and the one that, just shortly after she was born, would crumble around in westeros. gifts and reminiscent items from the targaryen allegiance the rykker had were hidden away. instead, they focused on trade — duskendale may not be white harbor or oldtown, but the port city was lively, and yet another interesting thing for a child that was too curious to focus on.

she loathed going to king's landing when the ironborn rebellion knocked at their doors. while her sister may have taken to being a maid of honor with grace and keenness, merry would have rather stayed behind. as a ten year old, she didn't understand the dangers of new coming boats that have always treated her so well, but at thirteen, she would learn that the ironborn are not as merciful as foreign traders. it was also the first time she noticed that, sometimes, there is something more than family, than to be bound — when dessie prefers to give up their right as heir to play puppet to a queen that was, fairly, loathsome.

that didn't stop her from coming back to court at fifteen, though her stay there would be even shorter. the strong will she had could not be contained by the queen who would then advice (truly, almost demand) that the rykker's mother to deal with mere somehow. the method chosen was the citadel. the life of a novice was the last thing merry would care to indulge. the life of a maester seemed like a nightmare, certainly a punishment that mother wasn't even qualified to bestow upon her (hadn't her mother been just as bad of a hellion in her youth, sailing all the way from saath to westeros?), yet, she went. the convincing part of it was the knowledge she could pry from the teachers: you needn't take the vows, she was promised.

and truly, it wasn't all bad. she enjoyed some subjects — she would go on to forge four chains: black iron (raven), copper (history), bronze (astronomy), lead (poisoning) — and made some acquaintances she'd hold dear, but patience could only hold to a certain time. on the eve of the date of another chain test, she chose to board a ship out of westeros instead. if anything, that was on her mother, who had fed her such stories of success — she wanted nothing but to redo it, forge her own path the way she wanted to. it wasn't all nice nor pretty, not the way she would tell people later on. when the money ran out, she was ready to join a pillow house before she saw a performance of a traveling trope that would take her in.

with them, she went around most of the free cities until some three years ago, when she became the mistress of the magistrate of lys. it was around there that she first met aerys targaryen, though it would take her years to entirely leave her very comfortable position to follow a beggar prince — not until the dragons were born again and it was like mere was three again, eating up mistified tales of a family of old. she's always struggled to believe, but maybe in this — in this, she can find something that sticks.

#conquest.intro

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authormorganlawson · 2 years ago

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— Welcome to Morgan Lawson's Tumblr Blog! ☆

My name is Morgan Lawson. I am an author and poet from Buffalo, NY. I have three different books in process right now, one of which is in the beta reading stage and the other two being in the brainstorming/loose drafting phase! Look for me on other socials and shoot me a message if you want to be friends!

And see below to learn more about my different projects!

THE STARS WANT BLOOD Book One: Fate

GENRE — Fantasy romance. STATUS — Being beta read! ABOUT — When Hazel Culhane slips away to the mountains for a much needed escape, their life is changed forever when it is brought to their attention that they're not just a hot mess of a mechanic but that they are actually a Constellite of Geminorum—a literal god. While grappling with their newfound divinity, they are faced with an even greater challenge yet: love, in the form of the Constellite of Virginis, Ezra Thompson. Fate has brought them together, but that same fate also intends to tear them to pieces. TROPE LIST — Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, angst, yearning, soulmates, red string of fate, golden retriever x black cat, Scorpios are menaces, dark prophecies, fuck fate, lgbtqia+, only the most intimate of relationships/friendships in this house, astrology, loose interpretation of Greek mythos, chaotic gemini x anxious Virgo. CONTENT WARNINGS — Gore, violence, sexual content, mental illness, BDSM themes, blood, body horror, emotional trauma.

COSMOS RISING WIP Book One: Untitled

GENRE — Fantasy romance. STATUS — Brainstorming, loosely drafting. ABOUT — When esteemed dragonslayer Izrena Dewmane bites off more than she can chew and makes a mistake that should cost her her life, dragon prince Rolinas Cosmashiels III decides to make an example of her, the example being that mortals and dragonkin can coexist peacefully. Now forced to live in a castle of scaled beasts, Izrena learns that maybe he's right, and maybe they aren't so bad. Maybe, actually, they're worse. TROPE LIST — Sun x moon lovers, dragon prince brothers, enemies ➝ friends ➝ lovers ➝ enemies/your brother be lookin' kind of cute tho', she's hot and she has an axe, world's cutest gay necromancer villain, medieval vibes, bisexual disasters, found family, mental illness recovery, morally gray characters, lgbtqia+, forced proximity, anger, recovery. CONTENT WARNINGS — Violence, sexual assault (off page/historical), explicit sexual content (on page), gore, body horror, war, emotional trauma.

PHANTOMS OF WINTER

GENRE — Paranormal romance. STATUS — Brainstorming, loosely drafting. ABOUT — When Aella Lewis, girl turned ghost, finds herself trapped in her childhood home she finds that maybe being dead is actually worse than living. And as if being a stuck phantom isn't bad enough, she finds herself trapped with Kharon, Hades' esteemed ferryman and an absolute bastard of a man. A tale of healing, unexpected friendships, and love. TROPE LIST — Loose interpretation of Greek mythos, enemies to lovers, moon x mars lovers, black cat x even more feral black cat lovers, angst, smut, bisexual disasters, found family, mental illness recovery, morally gray characters, lgbtqia+, forced proximity, ghosts, anger, recovery. CONTENT WARNINGS — Unfiltered depiction of mental illness, suicide, suicidal ideation, mention off of-page self-harm, drug use/abuse, explicit (consensual) sex, emotional trauma, BDSM themes.

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phantom-le6 · 19 hours ago

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Ramble of the month February 2025: 90’s MCU phase 9 – The Final Phase

Yes, ladies, gentleman and all other genders of the gender spectrum, we’re now at the conclusion of our 90’s-based MCU. For those only just joining us, here’s a quick bit of house-keeping on this subject. The reason I’ve done my own version of 90’s-based fan-cast, and done so in the way I have, is very simple. Most memes positing a 90’s or 80’s MCU just take the key roles from the MCU we’ve already seen and cast actors from those eras, but this wouldn’t work. Why? Because the people making these memes are ignorant of the underlying real-world and source material elements that have made the MCU what it is.

For example, until 1995, Marvel had film rights to all their characters, only selling them off to various film studios in 1995 to avoid bankruptcy, so start an MCU prior to 1995 and you have the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic and Spider-Man (among others) to use alongside the Avengers and various other Marvel heroes of the MCU. Also, various characters and plot lines would be different; Bucky Barnes being ret-conned into being the Winter Soldier and Civil War are plot-lines that didn’t occur in the comics until after the turn of the century. Likewise, the Ultimates continuity that made Nick Fury a Sam Jackson lookalike and gave Hawkeye a family instead of being married to fellow Avenger Mockingbird with no kids was a year 2000 development, and the Starlord-led Guardians of the Galaxy team? Didn’t happen in comics until 2007; prior to this, the Guardians were a future superhero team that travelled back in time now and then to cross-over with other Marvel heroes.

Given all these differences, it is impossible to re-cast the MCU for the hypothetical scenario that it started in a different era by just swapping out actors. You have to look at all the characters Marvel would have to work with, consider all the plot-lines (and bear in mind Marvel has been going since 1961, or much earlier if you factor in any material relating to characters like Captain America and Namor that were created when Marvel was known as Timely Comics), and come up with a whole new films slate. To that end, let’s now re-cap the phases that have come before…

Phase 1:

1992: Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man

1993: Thor, Spider-Man, Ant-Man & The Wasp

1994: Captain America, Fantastic Four 2, Iron Man 2

1995: X-Men, Avengers, Daredevil

Phase 1 established the initial characters of our MCU, putting the Fantastic Four first and foremost to bring them in line with their comic-book counterparts before beginning to develop the Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man and Daredevil.

Phase 2:

1996: Spider-Man 2, Thor: Land of Enchantment, Silver Surfer

1997: Hulk vs Wolverine, Fantastic Four: Doomsday, Iron Man 3

1998: Captain America: Society of Serpents, Daredevil 2, X-Men 2

1999: Avenger 2, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange

Phase 2 provides expansion as not only do most heroes get solo and ensemble sequels, but other characters start to take on films of their own. The Silver Surfer is spun off from his appearance in Fantastic Four 2 into a solo film while Doctor Strange is introduced, and we also see the first examples of the “third film loss” trope, including Stark’s loss of his business and Iron Man persona through alcoholism, Doctor Doom destroying the Baxter Building while Ben Grimm loses a chance to be human, and Peter Parker loses Gwen Stacy.

Phase 3:

2000: Fantastic Four: World War III, Thor: Ragnarök, Daredevil 3

2001: Hulk: Rise of the Leader, X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Avengers: Under Siege

2002: Doctor Strange 2, The Captain, Spider-Man 4

2003: Captain Britain, Fantastic Four: Enter the Negative Zone, Ghost Rider

Phase 3 further put our heroes on the back foot with yet more loss, most notably assaults on the X-Mansion and Avengers Mansion, but we also see more expansion; Namor, the Black Panther and the Inhumans all get introduced via the Fantastic Four, who then go on to become a family via the birth of Franklin Richards, and both Captain Britain and Ghost Rider get added to the mix.

Phase 4:

2004: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Secret Wars: Part I

2005: Excalibur, Defenders, Ghost Rider 2

2006: X-Factor, Secret Wars: Part II, Heroes For Hire

2007: Namor the Submariner, Doctor Strange 3, Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin

Phase 4 took us through Secret Wars, and along the way gave us a lot more characters. Black Panther and the original, pre-Carol Danvers iteration of Captain Marvel get solo films, former X-Men become parts of spin-off teams, and we see the formation of the Defenders and a one-shot of the Heroes For Hire, not to mention a Namor solo film and the return of Tony Stark.

Phase 5:

2008: Spider-Man 5, Fantastic Four: Unthinkable, Ms Marvel

2009: Elektra, Black Panther 2, Defenders 2

2010: X-Men: Proteus, Spider-Man 6, Ant-Man 2

2011: Silver Surfer 2, Avengers vs X-Men, Ghost Rider 3

Phase 5 gave us the Black Suit saga for Spider-Man as an aftermath of Secret Wars over the web-slinger’s fifth and sixth solo films, while the Fantastic Four’s sixth film would also be their last as we began the Infinity Saga. In turn, Carol Danvers and a resurrected Elektra gained solo films, with the former precipitating an Avengers vs X-Men clash.

Phase 6:

2012: Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther 3, Iron Man: The Dragon Seed Saga

2013: X-Men: Phoenix Rising, Defenders 3, Ant-Man 3

2014: X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga, Infinity War, Blade

2015: Inhumans, Infinity War II, Deadpool

Phase 6 concluded the Infinity Saga while also removing Jean Grey and Cyclops from being active in the MCU via the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas being adapted into a film duology. We also add Blade to the MCU, and the Inhumans finally gained their own film, while several solo and group film franchises reached their third and final instalments.

Phase 7:

2016: Union Jack, Silver Surfer 3, Iron-Man/Spider-Man: Legacy

2017: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Blade 2, Ghost Rider Returns

2018: Eternals, Deadpool 2, New Avengers

2019: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Blade 3

Phase 7 was all about dealing with the aftermath of the Infinity Saga and beginning a set-up of Secret Wars. At the same time, we also added some new heroes, passed on a few mantles and otherwise paved the way for phase 8.

Phase 8:

2020: Wolverine: Enemy of the State, MI13, Ultimate Spider-Man

2021: Deadpool 3, Spider-Woman, Ms Marvel 2

2022: X-Men: Fatal Attractions, Venom, Great Lakes Avengers

2023: Secret Invasion, Howling Commandoes, Wolverine: Sins of the Father

Phase 8 was all about building up and dealing with two major story arcs in the forms of Fatal Attractions and Secret Invasion, while at the same time giving Wolverine his second and third solo films and concluding the Deadpool trilogy, even as a lot of other characters gained solo films for the first time, as did a couple of teams. This now brings us to the slate for Phase 9…

Phase 9:

2024: The Marvels, Venom 2, Thor 4

2025: Ultimate Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Onslaught, New Avengers: Disassembled

2026: Nova, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Venom 3

2027: Captain Britain: Lionheart, Ultimate Spider-Man 3

2028: House of M: A Whole New World

2029: House of M: M for Mystery

2030: House of M: Endgame

As you can see, we’re taking on quite a few major stories and wrapping up any trilogies we can before diving into the concluding films of this MCU. Now let’s look at how these films break down…

The Marvels (2024) Directed by Patty Jenkins & Chloé Zhao

Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel II = Melissa Joan Hart

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Monica Rambeau/Photon = Zoe Kravitz

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Simon Williams/Wonder Man = Taylor Kitsch

Gabriel Summers/Vulcan = Billy Burke

Deathbird = Sunyata Palmer

Super-Skrull = Luke Evans

Delphinia = Karen Gillan

Raksor = Tom Hardy

AIM Scientist Supreme = Grant Gustin

MODOK = Adam Driver

Princess/Empress Lilandra = Winona Ryder

Gladiator = Luke Hemsworth

Oracle = Pom Klementieff

Araki = Mark Hamill

Hecate = Daisy Ridley

Hercules = Arnold Schwarzenegger

Zeus = Brian Blessed

Hera = Michelle Pfieffer

Skrull Fugitive 1 = Ashley Judd

Skrull Fugitive 2 = Elijah Wood

Skrull Fugitive 3 = Mandy Moore

Skrull Fugitive 4 = Dave Franco

While I think the version of The Marvels we got in the MCU proper was not brilliant, the idea of teaming up Carol with others who have laid claim to the Marvel title is not without merit. To that end, I’ve put Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins on this film along with Eternals director Chloé Zhao. In this case, Carol is mopping up after the failed Skrull invasion and learns of a Skrull-backed coup against the Shi’ar Empress Lilandra. To deal with this, Carol not only needs to assemble allies she calls friends, but also bring along a couple of X-Men, which means seeking closure with Rogue. Doing this also entails a side-quest for Carol and Rogue to the Olympian sorceress Hecate, which allows for some flashback guest appearances by those already cast for Marvel’s versions of Hercules, Zeus and Hera. A lot of cast members are reprising roles from past films, but there are a few fresh ones in the mix as well.

Venom 2 (2024) Directed by Shawn Levy

Eddie Brock/Venom = Wentworth Miller

Anne Weying = Michelle Williams

FBI Agent Patrick Mulligan = Stephen Graham

Agent Alton Clark = Leslie Odom Jr.

Agent Monica Steen = Italia Ricci

Agent Garon Lewis = Terrence Howard

Donna Diego/Scream = Holland Roden

Trevor Cole/Riot I = Jack Whitehall

Carl March/Phage = Jamie Campbell Bower

Ramón Hernandez/Lasher = Diego Luna

Leslie Gesneria/Agony = Kate Mara

Carlton Drake = Jared Harris

Orwell Taylor = Daniel Kaluuya

Bomblast = Sebastian Stan

Curtis Elkins/Sentry = John Boyega

Samuel Caulkin/Ramshot = Jamie Dornan

Firearm = Paul Wesley

Maxwell Taylor/Screech = Lucas Till

Having used a combination of the Secret Wars films and a fifth and sixth Spider-Man film to give the alien symbiote its proper origin in films, and thus Venom as well, the first film was able to dive right in on his shift to anti-hero from villain, focusing on Venom going up against Carnage. This time, however, we’re going for a more comic-accurate adaptation of the Lethal Protector arc from 90’s Spider-Man comics. This accounts for the somewhat expanded cast relative to our first Venom film as well as Sony’s counter-parts. In terms of roles reprised, only Brock, Weying and the various federal agents are returning characters, while everyone else coming into the film is fresh casting. Direction-wise, we stick with Shawn Levy because while I’m happy sticking with the horror-comedy for Venom, I’m not in particular favour of Sony’s directorial choices for the franchise, and after Love and Thunder, I’m not about to consider Waititi for anything other than disdain and scorn.

Thor 4 (2024) Directed by Sam Mendes

Thor = Dolph Lundgren

Jane Foster/Thor II = Courtney Cox

Beta Ray Bill = Seth Rogan

Skuttlebutt Computer = John Oliver

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Forge = Jimmy Smits

Danielle Moonstar = Selena Gomez

Paige Guthrie = Kelly Stables

Roberto Da Costa = Mario Lopez

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Xi'an Coy Manh = Katie Leung

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Amara Aquilla/Magma = Isabela Merced

Loki = Gary Oldman

Loki (female incarnation) = Nina Dobrev

Mangog = DeObia Oparei

Hela = Cate Blanchett

Karnilla = Angelina Jolie

Odin = Anthony Hopkins

Frega = Glenn Close

Fandrall = Cary Elwes

Hogun = Tony Leung

Volstagg = Thomas Haden Church

Sif = Demi Moore

Heimdall = Keith David

Balder = Sean Bean

Valkyrie = Diane Kruger

Mist = Talulah Riley

Gruenhilda = Jane Levy

Hildegarde = Yvonne Strahovski

Krista = Samara Weaving

Eitri = Dominic Monaghan

Kindra = Esmé Creed-Miles

Hrimhari = Luke Bracey

One of my favourite story arcs concerning Asgard is actually an X-Men-New Mutants crossover where Loki tried to turn Storm into a Goddess of Thunder while Storm was depowered, and both Thor and Odin were missing. This film, placed in the hands of British director Sam Mendes, adapts this along with the arcs for Beta Ray Bill becoming Beta Ray Thor and Jane Foster becoming a Thor as well. Now I’ve noted Jane as a Thor II in the credits strictly for ease of reference, but since lifting Mjolnir only gives someone Thor’s powers and not his name, no one other than the one true Thor will be going by a Thor handle in the film. Each will either go by their own name(s) or be given a suitable codename.

I’ve also decided to have Loki switch to his female incarnation early on in the film, as Loki assuming both male and female appearances is part of the comics lore and original Norse mythology. I know that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m not in the habit of catering to the ignorant and intolerant, whether it’s about my differences by way of autistic or the differences of others, so don’t go whining if you’re not able to understand acceptance of people being different. Also, for those who know the comics but late to these rambles wondering why Paige Guthrie is among the mutants for this film instead of Sam Guthrie, that’s because I cast Paul Walker to play Sam in earlier MCU films, and since he died a while ago, I’ve been swapping out the character of Sam for his sister Paige in appropriate later films.

Ultimate Spider-Man 2 (2025) Directed by Ryan Coogler

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider II = Ross Lynch

Janine Godbe = Bella Thorne

Barbara Rodriguez = Barbie Ferreira

Rio Morales = Penélope Cruz

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Ganke Lee = Jacob Batalon

Richard Fisk/The Rose = Tom Hooper

Delilah = Demi Lovato

David Brayer/Armarda = Taron Egerton

Alistair Smythe = Tyler Posey

Yuri Watanabe = Ally Maki

Dr Miles Warren/Jackal = Kyle MacLachlan

Kaine/Scarlet Spider = Wil Wheaton

Ava Ayala = Cierra Ramirez

Anya Corazon = Alejandra Reynoso

Shirley Lewis = Gabrielle Union

Devon Lewis = Niles Fitch

Jessica Carradine = Miranda Cosgrove

Desiree Winthrop = Dakota Fanning

Buzz = Joe Spano

Not really knowing the lore for Miles Morales as Spider-Man, my films for his character end up being about putting together plots that are based on the arcs I know from Peter Parker Spidey lore. Not the best option, I will admit, but at the same time it creates interesting scenarios if handled right, which is why I’ve picked Ryan Coogler to direct this sequel to the first Ultimate Spider-Man film (that one having been directed by Denzel Washington, who has previously played Joe Robertson in this MCU). In this film, Miles has help from Ben Reilly, a fellow arachnid-powered superhero known as the Scarlet Spider, as they try to take down the criminal empire of the Kingpin’s son. However, little do the spiders know that the Jackal is still around, along with the flawed Peter Parker clone that is Kaine, and they will spell disaster.

X-Men: Onslaught (2025) Directed by James Wan

Professor Charles Xavier (revitalised version) = Daniel Stewart

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Laura Kinney/X-23 = Dafne Keen

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Remi LeBeau/Gambit = Zachary Levi

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Emma Frost = Elizabeth Banks

Bishop = Winston Duke

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Sarah/Marrow = Sarah Hyland

Beast/Hank McCoy = Alec Baldwin

Onslaught = Matthew Macfadyen & Daniel Stewart

Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic = Tom Hanks

Susan Storm (Richards)/Invisible Woman = Meg Ryan

Johnny Storm/Human Torch = David Spade

Franklin Richards = Ty Simpkins

Steve Rogers/Captain America = Brad Pitt

Thor = Dolph Lundgren

Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk = Lucy Lawless

Sam Wilson/Falcon = Will Smith

Monica Rambeau/Photon = Zoe Kravitz

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Juggernaut/Cain Marko = Greg Kinnear

Gabrielle Haller = Moran Atias

David Haller/Legion = Dylan Sprayberry

Joseph = Zachary Gordon

Exodus = Jean Dujardin

Spoor = Kevin McKidd

Scanner = Caity Lotz

Katu = Gil Birmingham

Joanna Cargill/Frenzy = Amanda Nunes

Magneto = Matthew Macfadyen

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

This film gives us a partial adaptation of a major story arc from Marvel in the mid-90’s, as the X-Men team up with other heroes old and new against the psychic entity Onslaught, a fusion of the darkest elements of Magneto and Professor X seeking to escape Xavier’s mind and wreak havoc on the world. The film also adapts some of the set-up to the Onslaught arc, and as the continuity for these films is different, we use Xavier’s son David in place of Nate Grey for certain elements. Much of the cast is returning from past films, and I can’t be sure which roles if any are new. Direction-wise, however, I’ve given the reins to James Wan based on the quality of his directing for Aquaman (though I do wish he’d changed the casting for Mera instead of keeping on the husband-beater).

New Avengers: Disassembled (2025) Directed by Roland Emmerich

Scott Lang/Ant-Man II = Paul Rudd

Nadia Pym/Wasp II = Shailene Woodley

Dr Stephen Strange = Johnny Depp

Luke Cage = Tyrese Gibson

Hawkeye II/Kate Bishop = Hailee Steinfeld

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man III = Charles Melton

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Doreen Green/Squirrel Girl = Paris Berelc

Eros/Starfox = Joel McHale

Sersi = Gemma Chan

Gilgamesh = Don Lee

Cassie Lang/Stature = Joey King

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff = Kate Beckinsale

Vision 2.0 = Paul Bettany

Ultron 2.0 = James Spader

Vlad Tepish/Dracula = Mads Mikkelsen

Arkady Rossovich/Omega Red = David Harbour

Deathbird = Sunyata Palmer

Super-Skrull = Luke Evans

Exodus = Jean Dujardin

Frank Simpson/Nuke = John Cena

Jackson Day/Corruptor = Robbie Amell

Part of setting up for a House of M story arc means we have to see Scarlet Witch undergo a mental breakdown and disassemble the Avengers, which is part of why the New Avengers were assembled in phase 7. This film basically adapts the Avengers Disassembled arc as best it can within the timeline of this alternate MCU, with the actors who played Vision and Ultron in the real MCU now coming in to take over from the original actors for this 90’s MCU, namely Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers) and Marc Alaimo (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Gul Dukat) respectively. Except for one or two villains, the film is all returning cast under the direction of Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012, White House Down and many others). This is the fourth film of this 90’s MCU I’ve put under Emmerich; the previous three were Avengers: Under Siege, Captain Marvel (solo film for the original male Kree bearer of the title) and Fantastic Four: Unthinkable.

Nova (2026) Directed by James Gunn

Sam Alexander/Nova = Raphael Alejandro

Kaelynn Alexander = Oshún Ramirez

Eva Alexander = Michelle Rodriguez

Corpsman Rhomann Dey = Will Poulter

Corpsman Jesse Alexander = Mark Ruffalo

Carrie = Lilly Aspell

Karl Moffet = Noah Schnapp

Principal Philbin = John C Reilly

Nova Prime Richard Ryder = Edward Norton

Nova Senturion Garthan Saal = Peter Serafinowicz

Corpsman Malik Tarcel = Jake Gyllenhaal

Rocket = Bradley Cooper

Hepzibah = Kirsty Swanson

Titus = Patrick Seitz

Gamora = Zoe Saldana

Fang = Matthew Lawrence

Raksor = Tom Hardy

Elaine Coll/Scorpia = Camilla Belle

Having had the Nova corps come up in this MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy films as they did in the real MCU, a solo film focused on a human corps member seems like a logical and important project. However, as Richard Ryder’s Nova has been used in the Guardians films this time round, it makes more sense to jump straight to the more recent version that is Sam Alexander. This film is very much a passing-of-the-torch film in various respects, and I bring back Guardians director James Gunn to handle it (for the purposes of this hypothetical MCU, we’ll assume Gunn isn’t tied up by production duties with DC and Warner Brothers).

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2026) Directed by Miguel Arteta

Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider III = Taylor Lautner

Eli Morrow = Eddie Cibrian

Gabriel Reyes = Michael Cimino

Lisa = Madeline Brewer

Johnny Blaze = Connor Trinneer

Calvin Zabo/Mr Hyde = James McAvoy

Grumpy = Luis Guzmán

Guero Valdez = Rodrigo Santoro

Alejandra Jones/Vengeance = Alice Braga

Having given the Johnny Blaze iteration of Ghost Rider a trilogy by way of Connor Trinneer and then given Andrew Garfield the role of the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider for a solo film and a few team-ups, this last entry for the Ghost Rider focuses on the Robbie Reyes incarnation. The film is largely new casting, with only Connor returning as Blaze as he advises Reyes on how to handle the Rider curse in his clash with fellow spectral super-being Vengeance. The lead role of Reyes falls to Taylor Lautner more in spite of his past in the Twilight films than because of them, and since Reyes is a Latino superhero, I felt it important to have someone from the same background handle the direction, hence the selection of Puerto Rican director Miguel Arteta.

Venom 3 (2026) Directed by Shawn Levy

Eddie Brock/Venom = Wentworth Miller

Anne Weying = Michelle Williams

Flash Thompson/Anti-Venom = Ben Affleck

Sha Shan Nguyen = Grace Park

Knull = Rhys Ifans

Carlton Drake/Riot II = Jared Harris

Agent Patrick Mulligan/Toxin = Stephen Graham

Dr Karl Malus/Carnage II = Jared Leto

Patricia Robertson/Mania = Emily Osment

Agent Alton Clark = Leslie Odom Jr.

Agent Monica Steen = Italia Ricci

Agent Garon Lewis = Terrence Howard

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Yuri Watanabe = Ally Maki

Dr Ashley Kafka = Keri Russell

Mac Gargan/Scorpion = Brian Bloom

Shirley Lewis = Gabrielle Union

Devon Lewis = Niles Fitch

For the third and final Venom film, we see Flash Thompson given an artificial symbiote that makes him the “Anti-Venom” in order to take down Brock’s anti-hero. However, the two must instead work together when it turns out Carlton Drake and several others are not only hosting the symbiotes of Venom’s past foes from films one and two, but they’re also preparing to unleash their god Knull upon Earth. This film is partly original films and partly a loose adaptation of various other bits of Venom/Spider-Man lore. Again, I keep Shawn Levy in place to direct.

Captain Britain: Lionheart (2027) Directed by Sam Mendes & Patty Jenkins

Kelsey Leigh/Captain Britain II = Hermione Corfield

Brian Braddock Jr./Captain Britain = Jamie Bamber

Meggan = Sienna Miller

Martin Leigh = Matthew Illesley

Jenny Leigh = Elodie Blomfield

Mrs Shorr = Emma Thompson

Victoria Bentley = Emma Watson

Morgan Le Fey = Catherine McCormack

Umar = Ruth Wilson

Dirk Garthwaite/Wrecker = Dallas Page

Dr Eliot Franklin/Thunderball = David Otunga

Brian Phillip Calusky/Piledriver = Adam Joseph Copeland

Henry Camp/Bulldozer = Steve Austin

Roma = Rachel Weisz

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Dane Whitman/Black Knight = Ioan Gruffudd

Dr Faiza Hussain/Excalibur = Nikkita Chadha

Scott Wright/Micromax = Jack O'Connell

Harley Davis/Motormouth = Louisa Lytton

Pete Wisdom = Tom Bateman

Ben Gallagher = Alex Pettyfer

Richard Leigh = Thomas Brodie-Sangster

As a Brit, I’ve made a point of peppering this MCU with one-shot films for various UK-based heroes and teams that I know are part of Marvel lore, and which the relevant studios that have rights to those characters either keep avoiding or get wrong. This includes solo films for the original Captain Britain and the modern-day incarnation of Union Jack, plus team films for X-Men spin-off group Excalibur and the more government-based MI13. For this film, however, we’re giving the spotlight to Kelsey Leigh, a woman who followed Brian Braddock as the second Captain Britain for a time before shifting her code-name to Lionheart when Brian Braddock resumed the Captain Britain mantle.

This film is part adaptation of Kelsey’s origin arc from the comics and part original film, including the additions of her estranged husband and a suitable new romantic interest into the film. There’s a decent mix of new and old casting and also a little borrowing of characters from other places, including Dr Strange’s English friend and ally Victoria Bentley being a character in the mix. For direction, I’m not aware of many British film directors that are also female, so I decided to pair Sam Mendes with Patty Jenkins so the former could bring the British perspective while the latter brings the female perspective. Hopefully, the fusion of the two would be quite interesting to see.

Ultimate Spider-Man 3 (2027) Directed by Ryan Coogler

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Barbara Rodriguez = Barbie Ferreira

Ava Ayala/White Tiger = Cierra Ramirez

Anya Corazon/Spider-Girl = Alejandra Reynoso

Rio Morales = Penélope Cruz

Jefferson Davis = Eriq La Salle

Ganke Lee = Jacob Batalon

Dr Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus = Alfred Molina

Sandman/Flint Marko = Dwayne Johnson

Phil Urich/Hobgoblin = Joe Kerry

Vincent Stegron = David Henrie

Francine Frye/Electro = Kaya Scodelario

Ana Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter = Mia Goth

Yuri Watanabe = Ally Maki

Peter Parker = Wil Wheaton

Shirley Lewis = Gabrielle Union

Devon Lewis = Niles Fitch

While Peter Parker took on the Sinister Six in Spider-Man 4 within this MCU, we’re giving Miles a Sinister Six to fight on his third and final solo film. However, unlike Peter, Miles is not alone, as we give two of Miles’ supporting cast their chance to shine as superheroes. In terms of the villains, only Doc Ock, Sandman and the new female Electro represent returning cast members, while Hobgoblin, Stegron and Kraven’s daughter provide some new faces. For direction, Ryan Coogler completes this trilogy just ahead of the House of M trilogy.

House of M: A Whole New World (2028) Directed by JJ Abrams

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff = Kate Beckinsale

Magneto (revitalised version) = Matthew Macfadyen

Emma Frost = Elizabeth Banks

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Bishop = Winston Duke

Rachel Summers = Danielle Panabaker

Neal Shaara/Thunderbird = Karan Brar

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Betsy Braddock/Psylocke = Lena Headey

Megan Gwynn/Pixie = Alexa Davies

Laura Kinney/X-23 = Dafne Keen

Dane Whitman/Black Knight = Ioan Gruffudd

Kelsey Leigh/Lionheart = Hermione Corfield

Sabra/Ruth Bat-Seraph = Gal Gadot

Navid Hashim/Arabian Knight = Marwan Kenzari

Dr Faiza Hussain/Excalibur = Nikkita Chadha

Scott Wright/Micromax = Jack O'Connell

Harley Davis/Motormouth = Louisa Lytton

Pete Wisdom = Tom Bateman

Alistaire Stuart = David Tennant

Joseph Chapman/Union Jack III = Rob Mallard

Brian Braddock Jr./Captain Britain = Jamie Bamber

Meggan = Sienna Miller

Dr Stephen Strange = Johnny Depp

Namor McKenzie/The Submariner = Christian Bale

Miles Morales/Spider-Man II = Noah Gray-Cabey

Amadeus Cho/Iron Man II = Charles Melton

Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel = Odeya Rush

Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel = Melissa Joan Hart

Sersi = Gemma Chan

Gilgamesh = Don Lee

Sam Alexander/Nova = Raphael Alejandro

Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider III = Taylor Lautner

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

The House of M trilogy is set out a bit like Lord of the Rings; three films, all probably quite long, filmed back-to-back and released one per year. However, unlike the Lord of the Rings, we’re changing up the directors and while films two and three occur in the altered reality that shares its name with the films, the first film is very much an Infinity War-style enterprise. The Scarlet Witch gets free and begins to hunt once more for the means to alter reality. Every hero still active in the MCU shifts into gear to stop or delay her in her quest, and when reality changes, will anyone remember how things were before? This film is all returning cast, directed by JJ Abrams.

House of M: M for Mystery (2029) Directed by Roland Emmerich

Magneto (revitalised version) = Matthew Macfadyen

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (House of M guise) = Elizabeth Olsen

Quicksilver (House of M version) = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Polaris (House of M Version) = Samara Weaving

Havok (House of M Version) = Lucas Till

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Psylocke (House of M version) = Daisy Ridley

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Rogue (House of M Version) = Debby Ryan

Raven Darkholme/Mystique = Connie Nielsen

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Neal Shaara/Thunderbird = Karan Brar

Emma Frost (House of M version) = Alice Eve

Kate Pryde (House of M version) = Hailee Steinfeld

Iceman (House of M Version) = Dacre Montgomery

Pyro (House of M Version) = Adam Demos

Cannonball (House of M Version) = Peyton Meyer

Siryn (House of M Version) = Amybeth McNulty

Scott Summers (HoM Version) = Miles Tiller

Jean Grey (HoM Version) = Emma Stone

Dr Hank McCoy (HoM Version) = Tom Hardy

Sean Cassidy (HoM Version) = Michael Fassbender

Alison Blaire/Dazzler (HoM Version) = Jennifer Lawrence

Jubilee (HoM Version) = Lana Condor

Warren Worthington III (HoM Version) = Chris Pine

T'Challa/Black Panther (HoM Version) = Michael B. Jordan

Ororo Iquadi T'Challa (HoM Version) = Zazie Beetz

King Namor (HoM Version) = Zachary Quinto

Doctor Doom (HoM Version) = Christoph Walz

Prime Minister Brian Braddock = Jamie Bamber

Lady Meggan = Sienna Miller

Prime Minister Ruth Bat-Seraph = Gal Gadot

King Navid Hasham = Marwan Kenzari

Queen Faiza Hussain = Nikkita Chadha

Agent Whitman = Ioan Gruffudd

Agent Wisdom = Tom Bateman

Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (House of M Version) = Margot Robbie

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (House of M Version) = Tom Holland

Gwen Parker = Dove Cameron

Ben Barker (House of M Version) = Matt Le Blanc

May Parker (House of M Version) = Leah Remini

J. Jonah Jameson (House of M Version) = Gary Oldman

Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino (House of M version) = Dave Bautista

Luke Cage (HoM Version) = Michael Colter

Kamala Khan = Odeya Rush

Tony Stark (HoM Version) = Luke Evans

Sam Alexander = Raphael Alejandro

Robbie Reyes = Taylor Lautner

Clint Barton (HoM Version) = Chris Pratt

Layla Miller = Lulu Wilson

Dr Hank Pym (HoM Version) = Oscar Isaac

Black Bolt = Pierce Brosnan

Medusa = Elizabeth Hurley

Crystal = Dina Meyer

Gorgon = J.G. Hertzler

Karnak = Alexander Siddig

Triton = Orlando Bloom

Sersi = Gemma Chan

Ikaris = Richard Madden

Gilgamesh = Don Lee

Thena = Rose Byrne

Kingo = Kumail Nanjiani

Makkari = Lauren Ridloff

Phastos = Brian Tyree Henry

Ajak = Jennifer Lopez

Druig = Barry Keoghan

Mentor = Michael McKean

Eros/Starfox = Joel McHale

Dr Stephen Strange (HoM Version) = Benedict Cumberbatch

Matt Murdock (HoM Version) = Charlie Cox

For the second House of M film, not only do we launch into a whole other world, but we undergo a major re-cast. A lot of this is because various actors will have aged out of their former roles since this MCU began in the 1990’s, and a few have even passed away, requiring either other characters to replace them or re-casts to finish final performances. As a result, the cast includes a multitude of “House of M Version” notations to show up where new actors take on the roles. Another reason for these changes is that a new world and new timeline brings with it an alternate history, resulting in some differences in personalities. Plot-wise, the film is largely focused on Wolverine, who now remembers his entire life from the MCU prior to Wanda altering reality. This makes him a danger to the status quo of the House of M, which is shown through various vignettes interspersed throughout the film. That being said, there is also a major arc in this film for Spider-Man that, together with Logan’s arc, really sets up for the last film. In addition to the various House of M variants, we also get Layla Miller added as the one new character overall in the film. Direction-wise, Roland Emmerich handles this middle instalment of the trilogy.

House of M: Endgame (2030) Directed by the Russo Brothers

Magneto (revitalised version) = Matthew Macfadyen

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff = Kate Beckinsale

Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (House of M guise) = Elizabeth Olsen

Quicksilver (House of M version) = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Polaris (House of M Version) = Samara Weaving

Havok (House of M Version) = Lucas Till

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Psylocke (House of M version) = Daisy Ridley

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Rogue (House of M Version) = Debby Ryan

Raven Darkholme/Mystique = Connie Nielsen

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler = Daniel Brühl

Neal Shaara/Thunderbird = Karan Brar

Kate Pryde (House of M version) = Hailee Steinfeld

Cannonball (House of M Version) = Peyton Meyer

Scott Summers (HoM Version) = Miles Tiller

Jean Grey (HoM Version) = Emma Stone

Dr Hank McCoy (HoM Version) = Tom Hardy

Sean Cassidy (HoM Version) = Michael Fassbender

Alison Blaire/Dazzler (HoM Version) = Jennifer Lawrence

Jubilee (HoM Version) = Lana Condor

Warren Worthington III (HoM Version) = Chris Pine

T'Challa/Black Panther (HoM Version) = Michael B. Jordan

Ororo Iquadi T'Challa (HoM Version) = Zazie Beetz

King Namor (HoM Version) = Zachary Quinto

Prime Minister Ruth Bat-Seraph = Gal Gadot

Luke Cage (HoM Version) = Michael Colter

Kamala Khan = Odeya Rush

Tony Stark (HoM Version) = Luke Evans

Sam Alexander = Raphael Alejandro

Clint Barton (HoM Version) = Chris Pratt

Layla Miller = Lulu Wilson

Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (House of M Version) = Margot Robbie

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (House of M Version) = Tom Holland

Dr Stephen Strange (HoM Version) = Benedict Cumberbatch

Matt Murdock (HoM Version) = Charlie Cox

Kelsey Leigh = Hermione Corfield

Martin Leigh = Matthew Illesley

Jenny Leigh = Elodie Blomfield

Mrs Shorr = Emma Thompson

Richard Leigh = Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Alistaire Stuart = David Tennant

Bruce Banner (HoM Version) = Rory Cochrane

Jennifer Walters (HoM Version) = Krysten Ritter

The title says it all, really. Through Layla, the memory of how reality should be is restored and they prepare to assault Magneto and his family to try and set the world right. How it ends, I’m not sure; in the comics, Wanda said “no more mutants” and just reduced the mutant population to virtual non-existence for a time. With some different wording, the films could either end on a reboot or they could take out everything normal, giving all our heroes happily ever afters in a world like ours. Either way, it’s the Russo brothers that see this iteration of the MCU to an end.

So, that concludes anything superhero fan-cast related for a while at least. I am working on TV show-style fan-casting for Marvel and DC, but I’m not yet ready to turn either into rambles as yet. For now, fan-cast fans will have to content themselves with my Poirot and Marple fan-casts, and for DC fans, I am still working on Gotham episode reviews, though at the moment it’s going to continue to be at a reduced rate for a while. So, until the next ramble, ta-ta for now.

#mcu fancast

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cataclysmicamomile · 1 year ago

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Now that I'm halfway through part I, I'd like to share some thoughts.

1. The first half is really just pure nostalgia. There are so many tropes and gags that I recognize in fanfics I read that were written a decade ago, but since the characters have changed and grown throughout the series, they just don't fit the present anymore and it just feels wholesome to witness the main characters in this era

2. People have said that parts II & III are much darker than part I, and yeah, I agree. It helps that this is also dubbed the 'school arc' and all the typical school setting tropes (tournaments, field trips, school festivals, etc) are in this season and mostly contained in one or two locations. So everything is more lighthearted and comedic. Then we get to the wider Sealed World and it sort of transforms into an adventure novel iirc, where we meet the different races and YY has to learn more about his powers

3. Bing Yan and Yang Yang's dynamic is of course the highlight of this season. I have to savor these moments bc we don't get many interactions in part II anymore since BY is busy playing sleeping beauty. Plus I heard they have a very different dynamic in Part III if the spoilers are correct😏

4. With that said I can't believe so much is introduced in the early books. About the elves' war. The ghost kings (even BY's uncle was mentioned!!) YY's prophetic dreams(?) that were basically foreshadowing the ending of part I. I think that was Fans(?)' corpse they dug out from Lake Town? Chu Ming Yue and Ran were being so obvious with YY lol. And it was clear that BY was subtly pushing YY to get closer to Ran.

5. It is also very heartwarming to see Chu Ming Yang at the start of his journey, who seemingly had no friends, called 'unluckiest guy ever', and by all means was plain and had no powers whatsoever be tricked into coming to this crazy world and make equally wacky friends, slowly changing his mindset and getting to know his powers along the way. I love slow burn novels😊

Anyway, the early books are the most I remember of the Unique Legend (since I always stop halfway on my attempts to reread), so I'm really excited to delve even further. Will be back at the end of Part I!

#the unique legend

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ssr-archives · 8 months ago

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Scene I: Considering this was the sneak peek, I’m sure there’s already been loads of discussion about it, but I’ve got a tad bit to add. If I’m not mistaken the reason people often believe Daniel wasn’t suited for Peggy is because “he’s too nice blah blah such a cliche Peggy needs someone bolder.” Okay but can we just focus on the fact that Daniel literally doesn’t take Peggy’s shit!? I mean she calls him out on looking terrible and he points out the fact that she’s got a hole in her abdomen. Yes, he’s adorable and sweet and a damn cinnamon roll but he’s not the man who’ll swallow up everything she throws at him just because he loves her. If she’s wrong, he’ll say it – only he does it with respect which is what’s most important.

Scene II: #TeamTakedown. I have nothing deep to add to this scene other than the fact that they look so damn good standing next to each other. I mean c’mon. “You happy?” “Very”. #Married. Take such dialogue into consideration when I discuss their tones with one another in scene III.

Scene III: STAKEOUT. I would like to thank not only God, but Jesus and all the TV writers for using such a glorious trope. I do not know how to words for this scene so please bear with me as I make an attempt.

There’s something really fantastic about both Enver Gjokaj and Hayley Atwell’s body language when their characters are together. They’re clearly comfortable around each other, and because of this, moments that require a type of casual intimacy look and feel effortless.

gif credit |x|.

You know what’s interesting about this scene? Daniel’s tone. Peggy should’ve stayed home. She’s clearly hurting. The way dialogue is written for these two is absolutely fantastic because the banter + their obvious chemistry makes them sound like a damn married couple. And it’s not even my shipper trash heart talking. There’s the casual “I’m fine” ie: denial of the pain followed by the no you’re not (come here with the hand). Which then turns into a serious conversation bodies but it’s in such an intimate tone as if they can talk about anything.

“Agent Carter is a series that emphasizes the importance of a woman’s agency, but it’s also a series that beautifully showcases the fact that a strong, fierce woman isn’t weakened when she opens her heart to love. In fact, love is a vast part of Peggy’s story — much like saving the world, romance is included in her happy ending. And by the way the series presents such storylines, not only are we able to forget that it plays with the god-awful “love triangle” trope, but hopefully, viewers get the sense that women aren’t weakened when they give in to their heart’s desires. Agent Carter debunks the conception that love is weakness by evolving a romance through a solid partnership. As Jarvis states, there’s always been something between Daniel and Peggy — a profound, kindred connection. War never really ends for those who’ve lived through it, but despite their visibility, scars don’t ache forever. One day you find yourself standing side by side with someone who’s willing to share your burdens, someone who understands pain and suffering, but beyond that, someone who’s ceaselessly looked deep within your soul in order to assure you that you’re treasured. Daniel Sousa’s done this time and time again — he has put Peggy first because he’s seen irreplaceable heart in her. Agent Carter does an excellent job of treating its women, but it also does a superlative job of brilliantly revolutionizing the true meaning of feminism — equality. This isn’t a series that praises women while slamming men. Respect should be given where it’s due regardless of gender or skin color. And thereby, it was lovely to see Peggy openly declare no one can do better than Daniel because it discredits agent Krezminski’s ridiculous comment about how “no woman would trade in the red, white, and blue for an aluminum crutch.” Daniel isn’t defined by his disability or his status in S.S.R., and Peggy’s always seen the man within. And declaring this out loud essentially allows him to see that he is of great importance to her. She sees what matters in him. This moment could’ve gone in a few different ways, but it continues to amaze me that writers have found incomparable ways of making the relationship so incredibly healthy and organic. Daniel wasn’t going to talk about the broken engagement if Peggy hadn’t mentioned Violet — he wasn’t going to take his newfound freedom to immediately take her up on drinks. And Peggy wasn’t going to get happy because he’s now single. It’s fitting that she’d get angry. It’s fitting that she’d immediately try to fix the situation. And when it comes to communication these two cannot be more awkward, but a heated moment was precisely what they needed in order to work through their feelings. But let’s not waste anymore time because the cinematic brilliance that follows the breathtaking declaration a lot of us have been waiting for is waiting.” full review |x|

gif credit: @sheriffchiselchin

LET’S TALK (OR SCREAM) ABOUT THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. Notice how it’s black around them except their hands + clothes? And no it’s not the gif’s coloring because they’re all like this. The camera distinctly wants us to focus on their hands (which we would’ve done anyway because of the directing, but the lighting wants us to really focus on the hands). This isn’t casual. It wants to see the clear difference between this kind of togetherness and Jarvis + Peggy’s in the end where it’s clearly friendship.

“The expanse of sentiments humans are able to convey without words is perhaps one of the most enthralling facts about us. And in “Life of the Party” the cinematography gorgeously revealed the magic that’s found in a touch — the effort to not only comfort but to express something more profound simply by joining hands. Thereafter, because it’s easier to feel adoration than it is to speak it, Enver Gjokaj and Hayley Atwell communicate volumes through their expressions. As though Daniel and Peggy are physically and emotionally realizing just how much really lies between them. And it is that exact realization which gracefully leads in to an almost kiss — cue Daniel Pamberton’s “The Unfinished Kiss” from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. This is such a crucial moment in their development because it comes at a time where it’s not only entirely unexpected but they’re both a little lost in the tenderness of the other’s physical touch and yearning expressions. What’s so interesting about Daniel and Peggy is that while it’s always been clear there’s been something between them, the seemingly effortless progression into a solid partnership is playing a vital role in drawing them towards one another. It’s easy to be together. It’s easy for Peggy to let her walls down with him. It’s easy to be honest. It’s easy to give in to the magnetic pull that’s taken ahold of both their hearts.” full review |x|

Peggy’s choice to place her hand on his was her way of genuinely apologizing. Yes, she has feelings for him, but she’d never overstep her boundaries just as he wouldn’t overstep his. But this moment, the one little move she made takes us back to how comfortable they are around one another. And here’s the thing, the thing that I love so deeply about my ships. Sometimes people are just drawn to each other. And when chemistry is that strong, you don’t think too hard. Your bodies do the talking for you. Your bodies and expressions say 1,540,940,201 words to each other. That’s what’s happening in these moment. Neither of these idiots understand what’s going on between them, but it’s strong, it always has been. The combination of respect and kindness has in time strengthened their bond beautifully.

but again: CINEMATOGRAPHY. It wants us to focus on their hands. And in this scene especially, it’s again effortless. Daniel’s not thinking about this, it just happens, but what we’re meant to see is the tenderness between them. These tiny moments of intimacy that show us these two are incredibly comfortable around one another. He is of higher rank than her and the fact that he treats himself as her equal floors me. He doesn’t want to take the fall for her because he thinks she can’t handle but because he’s just responsible in this. They’re in the same position in his mind and he rather get the blame. Also, kudos to Peggy for saying she’s got Jack covered. She doesn’t refuse help when she needs it, but when she doesn’t, she’s willing to speak up. And the fact that there’s so much honesty between these idiots is perfect.

Scene V: “We should talk … about things.” And now we wait until the talk, but OMG these two. I just. They’re so ridiculously good together when it comes to work and everything else. They’re both so boldly confident but then when feelings are involved it’s like uhhhh hi hehehe. So basically they are us. Except instead of the fkjafldksjfaklsdjfdslkf they’re lost adorable little puppies.

Scene VI: phone call #2. Peggy’s expression when Vernon picked up the phone broke me. And I cannot wait until these two reunite next week because I have no words for how distraught I am.

And that’s all for now because seriously if you made it all the way down here kudos. I am beat. But these two are worth that exhaustion.

Afternoon Tea and PeggySous 2x06 + 2x07

Hello precious coconut cream puffs! I had considered doing this in two parts, but I figured we should just combine them thereby, it’ll bit a tiny bit longer than usual so I hope that’s alright.

If you’d like more of a full episode review we’ve got you covered over at MGcircles. Also be sure to check out the brilliance over at Nerdy Girl Notes and Geekly Inc for their Agent Carter reviews.

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