#about like… the mcu multiverse as a whole

[shuririsecretl0v3r]

okay in all seriousness, i have some great ironheart theories so bare with me on this guys

spoiler warning if you haven’t watched ironheart!!

N.A.T.A.L.I.E. was the first representation of combining science and magic

now i’m not saying riri williams has magical powers or anything but i have a slight feeling she doesn’t know she’s magically inclined. we see ronnie have a sense of magical or spiritual nature within her so is it impossible to think that wasn’t bestowed upon riri? because how could you explain her hooking her brain up to amp up an AI for her suit and she manifests her dead bestie who’s exact in the same personality and wittiness all! she didnt even have an explanation herself so if thats not magic then it must not be real.

Mephisto’s interest in Riri’s soul and actively pursuing for her to take down Parker was no coincidence

okay let me explain. now i don’t know much about mephisto character and his role in the comics so i’m spitballing here but i have a feeling he collects souls that harness such powers and abilities that amplifies himself on a further level. like the source of his powers and makes him who he is. riri’s soul happens to be one of the rarest souls in the multiverse. this is really a two part theory as well. i also feel like because of riri striping parker of the hood making him seek even more powerful and darker magic than before will benefit mephisto in the long run since he still owns his soul.

Riri’s soul is one of a kind

this is the second part to my theory above. the multiverse is real and very canon in the mcu now. different realities cause different actions in each one blah blah blah. i have a theory that riri becoming ironheart doesn’t happen in every single universe. let me explain, riri’s story arc counts on having both natalie and her stepfather gary dying on that very day. well what if the drive by is always canon, but only one of them dies in every other universe. i feel like if riri had one of them to support losing the other it would cause such a different outcome in her to where she wouldn’t feel the need to make the suit. their support and guidance is what keeps riri in a better mindset and not spiral the way that she does. in this universe losing both of them sends her down a slightly dark and powerful path that makes her soul such a rare moment in time.

Natalie’s existence is single handedly going to destroy Riri’s world as she knows it

i hope this theory is not true because i want them happyyy no please😭🤚🏾. anyways we all saw natalie come back from the dead and it seems to be herself exactly after the shooting. she even asks where gary is so this is the natalie before or after the shooting. her being there will make everything around riri corrupt. her life and relationship for one because i have a feeling ronnie and xavier are not gonna be happy about the real natalie being back there. an ai version of her is one thing plus that was by mistake, but making a deal with a dark entity to have her back is such an immortal way if you think about it. and for natalie this transition of coming back from the dead will likely crash her whole mindset and led her down a path of resenting riri for doing what she did even if it was out of love. i hate to say this too but this could also lead her to be evil maybe? i mean her soul probably also belongs to mephisto because he is actively keeping her alive too. her existence could cause cracks in reality since she should be dead in this timeline. honestly riri might have to make a decision on rather saving the world or keeping her alive.

these are just theories and i could be totally wrong but i can’t wait to see how this plays out in the mcu and possibly a season two! let me know how you guys feel and if you have any other comments or ideas. feel free to tell me i’m wrong because i’ve never read the comics so if you know more do let me in on it😭💕! i haven’t seen everyone else theories on the show so if i said something that was already said i would love to give credit to whomever.

[musclesandhammering]

The way the director/writer for Loki season 1 & the Quantumania creators explain the multiverse is completely different from the way it’s explained in Loki season 2 & Multiverse of Madness and I’m so damn confused.

[neptunecaptains]

In The Night

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You're finding it difficult to sleep in your new home. Bucky knows how to fix it.

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: Explicit sexual content (18+), oral sex (f receiving; I like a giver), fingering, defiling a kitchen.

A/N: This is from a long time ago... was just going through fics I wrote when I used to love the MCU and came across this one. If there's anyone on here from way back then, it might sound familiar. Imagine this to be set in some multiverse where Steve never left in Endgame and everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. Hope you enjoy!

Previous Fic (masterlist coming soon!)

♡♡♡♡

The clock’s just gone ten past twelve when he feels you slip out of bed.

Bucky shouldn’t know that— the time. He should be dead to the world, asleep in the comfort of his bed with his girl warm by his side, full and sated and happy thanks to good company, good food, and even better liquor that can actually do something to him. Instead, he’s hyper-aware and questioning why you wouldn’t be dead asleep too and, before he knows it, he’s following in your footsteps.

It’s jarring, being awake at this hour in a mostly-empty home.

The halls feel too narrow and you still haven’t put the pictures up so the walls look bare and cold, and the dining table is missing a leg so you had to have dinner on the couch but you couldn’t find the box with the cushions which, now that Bucky thinks about it is probably still at the compound and god that means he has to go up there again— 

“Hey,” he hears, whisper-soft and cautious.

For a moment Bucky feels like maybe you’re the one who woke up to go after him, like how you used to do so long ago, worried about things neither of you could control. But no, it’s him, looking for you.

It’s him, finding you tired and rumpled in front of the stove, the red kettle Nat gave you as a gift steaming away on the burner. With the lights dimmed you look like a dream, but then again you look like that at any time of the day.

Bucky’s hands find your hips easily, skin and metal brushing over soft skin and worn cotton. They slip beneath your sleep shirt, a faded old thing he got as a gag gift some Christmases ago— Sam still asks him about the vulgar print on the front. Bucky tries to forget, but you never let him. Especially not on nights you wear the damn thing to bed.

He finds warmth, the same kind that should be next to him in bed right now, which— “Can’t sleep?”

You sigh, melting easily into the embrace. Your nose is cold, colder than it has any right to be with the heat on, nuzzling against the rough scratch of hair along his jaw. “Feels weird.”

It does— the house. Well, home, now, filled with your clothes and your furniture and the dishes you put in the dishwasher after your friends left a few hours ago because our first meal in our new home can’t be in paper plates, Buck and I already took the glasses out of the box, baby and he’s never been good at saying no. The house feels weird and he can’t wait until it doesn’t, with the pictures up, and the throw blanket on the couch, and those damn cushions he can’t believe he forgot.

“Bet you’d feel better back in bed,” Bucky murmurs, smiles, lips soft against the skin of your neck. “With me.”

You hum, could be a snort if it were any time except almost one in the morning and if you hadn’t spent the whole day hauling boxes and building whatever furniture you could before exhaustion won out. “I just put the kettle on.”

Bucky looks at the offending piece of kitchenware over your shoulder, willing it to somehow set on fire but wait, no. That would be very, very bad. Bucky has a mortgage now, shit.

“Okay,” he says instead, shrugging. “We’ll wait.”

He doesn’t notice the time. Instead, he notices your palms on his cheeks and your thumbs over his cheekbones; the way you taste of mint and something else, something like cloves and honey, no doubt from the sips you stole from his drink during the moving-day-turned-housewarming. He notices the way you sink into his body, held up by his arms caging you against the counter behind you, moaning softly at the wet sweeps of his tongue against the seam of your lips, parting under the pressure.

Bucky grips the countertop a bit too hard, gritting his teeth as he breaks the kiss. “How long ‘til that thing goes off?”

“We’re not defiling our kitchen so soon,” you laugh into his lips, sweet. The hands on his cheeks pull his face further away until you’re squinting up at him, lips spit-slick and shiny in the low light delighted and knowing all the same. “This is where we eat—”

“And I’m hungry,” Bucky grins, wicked, matches your own expression if only a bit dirtier. “Might as well use it for what it’s for, right?”

This time you do snort, forehead resting against his own. The sound settles deep in Bucky’s bones, spreading all over his body in places he didn’t know he had, warm and buzzing like a beehive. “You’re so gross.”

He is. He really, really is and he blames it all on himself and on you and the way you sigh into his mouth when he gets his hands above the swell of your ass, one of his thick thighs slipping between your own, warmth seeping everywhere you touch him. He blames it on those pretty eyes and that pretty mouth, those hands tugging at the bottom half of his hair that’s untied, that sweet voice moaning into the night when he nips at that spot behind your ear— 

“Baby.”

"Bucky," you laugh softly, glancing at him. It’s near-dark, the lights still dimmed, but he swears he can map out the marks on your skin, can count every single lash on your eyelids.

"Baby," he replies in the same tempting tone, watching your eyes with his own, so clear and expressive, so stunning.

You sigh, resigned. Bucky doesn’t even try to hide his grin.

“We’re gonna have to clean in the morning.”

“Guess I’ll have to suffer,” he says, hands warm on your thighs hauling you onto the counter.

He’s gentle as he parts your thighs, takes his time kissing the inside until you’re sighing all breathy and sweet, trembling on both sides of his head. Fingers hooking onto gray cotton, he slides your panties down your legs, bringing you closer to the edge of the counter and towards his mouth.

“Beautiful,” he whispers, eyes so blue when they flick up to your own.

Your hands slide into his hair, fingers tugging gently at the hair tie holding the longest strands back. Your lips part in a smile, wavering slightly at the edges as he ducks in, tongue soft and wet against your heat. He licks a broad stripe along your folds, takes in the way you shake almost imperceptibly— only knows it happens because he’s looking for it.

Bucky drinks you in, picks you apart with his tongue and his fingers, wet along his lips, his jaw, and his flesh fingers. He makes it messy, lets you whine and wail into your otherwise quiet home, grinding your hips onto his face and the two digits plunging inside your cunt, stroking that sweet spot deep inside.

You come apart on his tongue, slowly and quietly, a breathy gasp and the rhythmic clench of your muscles against his fingers the only warning he gets before he feels even more wetness pooling on his tongue, dripping down his palm.

“Oh!”

He kisses at the inside of your thighs, leaves it wet and sticky as you come down from your high. His thumbs caress your hipbones, feeling the slight quiver of your core against his touch, reveling in it.

To his right, the kettle starts whistling.

“Water’s boiling, honey,” he murmurs, nipping at the sensitive skin in the crease of your thighs.

You groan, fingers tugging at the hair tangled in them. “I hate you.”

Bucky laughs, throaty and with his chest, slightly loud at a time where the night seems to stand still. There’s only the rush of your breath and the whistle of the kettle, drawn-out and cut off as he turns the burner off and moves it onto a cold, unused one. He gravitates between your thighs once more, lips on yours like magnets. He kisses you slowly, takes his time and lets you bite at his bottom lip, slipping your tongue against his and pulling those sounds from his throat that play in your head like your favorite song.

“You think you’ll be able to sleep now?”

You sigh deeply, looking up at him from under your eyelashes. “You’re gonna have to carry me to bed.”

Bucky feels it spread from the top of his head down to his toes, fingers on your waist curling into fabric and skin. It’s hot and cold, bad and good. He feels it.

“Anywhere you want, sugar.”

Happiness.

[maydaymadier]

LokiShow wishes it could be Fionna and Cake

[justmeforeverlive]

Across the universes

Hi! This my first fic dedicated to the MCU fantastic four. It's set in the multiverse of madness. Mainly Johnny x reader but it'll include the rest of the FF. Enjoy!

You were fighting along side Dr. Strange, trying to stop Wanda from getting the Darkhold, opening portals left and right that lead to different universes, the situation was escalating quickly. You almost got a hold of the book, when a red blaster from the former Avenger sent you flying from a cross the room. While losing consciousness, the Scarlet Witch voice echoed in your mind:

¨If you knew there was a universe where you were happy, wouldn’t you wanna go there?¨

A bright white light was the first thing you noticed when you came to it, the second thing was a funny looking machine hooked onto your arm. Pushing your body forward, the hospital room came into view. Why were you there? Did the fight ended up so bad you couldn’t remember getting to the hospital?

You were so focused in your own thoughts, you didn’t hear the door opening

“Miss Y/L/N? I’m glad to see you’re awake, I’m doctor Roan and I’ve been treating you since your arrival”

“How long have I’ve been here?

“3 days, you didn’t suffer major injuries that we could detect but the fact it took so long for you to regain full awareness, is enough to be concerning, so we’re gonna be taking some tests if that is okay with you?

You accepted in hopes to leave faster, but before reaching the door, doctor Roan said:

“By the way, we’ve called your family, they must be here in any moment”

That sentence was enough for all the alarms in your head to start ringing. You had no family left, that’s why Stephen Strange was willing to take you in as his apprentice/side kick, so either they are confusing you with someone else or the most likely option: you were in one of the many alternative universes Wanda had unleash during the fight.

Fuck, you had leave this place immediately, the more time you spend in another reality, the more consequences it would bring to the natural order. Carefully you unwrapped yourself from the hospital stuff and were about to use some of it to make it out of the window, when a loud gasp made you turn.

A blonde woman had rushed to your side, preventing you from successfully escaping the room. You tried to brushed her off gently but your body was still sluggish after spending days laying on a bed, so instead of freeing yourself from her grasp, all you managed to do was loosing balance and both of you ended on the floor.

“Ow, Y/N, are you OK? Can you stand? Her voice was slightly panicked due to your lack of response, she turned her head and said:

“Johnny, don’t just stand there, come help me!”

The guy in question was frozen in place, looking at you in disbelief and if the whole situation wasn’t as freaky as it was, you might have blushed by having such a handsome man staring at you.

Sensing the awkwardness, a change of tactic seemed to be needed, so maybe if you deflected enough, they’ll go away.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine really, just a little out of it, but I’ll sleep it off. Maybe you can come back tomorrow”  

She frowned, apparently that was the wrong thing to say

“Y/N, we’re not gonna leave you here alone, we were so worried about you” she tried to reach for a strand of your hair but the sudden movement made you flinch. She seemed hurt by your reaction but it was quickly replaced with suspicion.

“You… know who we are right?”

A beat passed. The blue eyed guy seemed to finally catch up with the conversation cause he sat right next you and studied your face carefully.

“You don’t remember me?” He sounded so devastated, like a piece of him had been ripped apart, staring at you in hopes of rekindling a sense of recognition that simply doesn’t exist.

“I’m sorry”

[awhoreintheory]

okay so MCU canon Peter in DC is all funny and games but what about comic canon Peter? Peter who’s in his 30s, whose life is falling apart(again) and has clones to deal with(man I hate the fact that Ben became evil :(.)

extra points if Miles and/or Mayday is with him. This single dad is STRUGGLING. And the bats wanna help him/his kids cause man! Look at them :(

(extra extra points if Dick = Richard Parker. That’s a whole nother can of worms. Like the bats are thinking Peter = Family of Dick they didn’t know but NO! It’s actually Dick’s son! Dicks a granddad!)

I want to PSA to anyone sending asks/requests, I'm not ignoring you!! I'm just a slow writer!!! I hope you enjoy though <33

Peter B. Parker could, 100%, picture landing in (yet another) alternate universe. You know what? As a matter of fact, he expected it.

What he didn’t plan for, however, was being stranded in another universe with his baby girl strapped to his chest. 

But here he was, crouched in a narrow alley in the darkest corner of Gotham City, New Jersey. From the name alone, Peter knew he landed himself in a section of the Multiverse Miguel had expressly labeled as off limits. It wasn’t his fault he’d landed here, though!

One minute he’d been web-swinging through New York, enjoying a rare peaceful day with Mayday babbling happily, and the next he was crash-landing onto a grimy rooftop in the most dangerous city he’d ever seen. It was like New York turned up to eleven, all shadows and towering gargoyles, dripping with rain that seemed perpetual. The interdimensional bracelet he’d been given to travel the multiverse was sparking and smoking in his pocket— total toast. He was officially stranded. 

Ok, so it maybe, kinda sorta, been an eensy weensy, tiny bit Peter’s fault. 

Peter’s, very high-tech and likely expensive bracelet had been, uh, scratched in a fight the day before. Barely even a nick! He swears he could’ve reattached the wires and fixed the screen. 

He probably should’ve also taken the watch out of his robe pocket before he started swinging Mayday to daycare. 

MJ was going to be so mad. 

It became evident early on it’d take a little bit to find a way home, or for someone to find him. If it had just been Peter, he could’ve roughed it on some rooves and abandoned buildings. It wouldn’t be a big deal, he knew he would be getting home eventually. Being a little smelly was the least of his worries. 

But he had his baby girl with him. 

So, with the money in his wallet, he found an under-the-counter, rundown but otherwise warm, apartment in a place called Crime Alley. (What a seriously terrible name) Peter started pulling together whatever side gigs he could, fixing appliances, tuning up electronics, just enough to get by. Even for a guy who was used to scraping by, the situation felt bleak, especially with Mayday depending on him. 

His little red-headed whirlwind was still too young to understand what was happening, but she noticed the tension and started clinging to him more tightly. Peter knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, but he wasn’t sure how to trust anyone in a city that had both criminals and vigilantes lurking around every corner. When he spotted someone in a cape swinging overhead, he instinctively hid in the shadows, holding Mayday close, her tiny face tucked into his shoulder.

But the Bats noticed him. 

It was hard not to notice a single dad with no records, no job, and no explanation for why he was squatting in Gotham’s most dangerous neighborhood. Bruce, ever vigilant, put out word to the family to keep an eye on him. 

Jason, who patrolled Crime Alley, wasn’t thrilled about the idea. “A guy moved into my turf with a baby?” he grumbled to Tim. “Either he’s got a death wish, or he’s crazy.” 

Tim, on the other hand, was fascinated by the mystery. He dug through every database he had access to, and then some. But “Peter Parker” returned zero results— at least, none that matched this Peter Parker. no criminal record, no birth record, no online footprint. It was like he just spawned in! 

Dick didn’t have a whole lot of opinions. He thought the man was nice, though he had only met him once in a routine mugging. He evidently cared for his daughter, and matched Nightwing’s wit and humor pretty nicely, too. He looked annoyingly familiar too. Maybe it was Tired Dad Chic? He kind of reminded him of Bruce, in a way. 

Steph seconded the funny part. This Peter guy could be one of those dark-humor comedians. 

From what they observed, and conversations supplied by Jason (who was his neighbor in a series of fortunate events), Peter really did seem to just be an ordinary guy.  

Then one night, Peter was picking up groceries from a corner store when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a man in a ski mask brandishing a knife, gesturing for his wallet. 

“Hand over the money, and I won’ hurt ya’ kid.” The man threatened, waving his knife around threateningly. Peter tensed, dropping his groceries in favor of cradling Mayday closer. 

Peter blinked at him tiredly. “The best I can offer is some lint and a can of beans.” 

The man tensed, stepping closer in an attempt at intimidation. Peter thought that his face turning red with anger was kind of funny.

“Don’t fuckin’— are you makin’ fun of me?” The man fumed. Peter might have let out a sleep-deprived chuckle, partially forgetting to respond. 

The mugger lunged, and before he could dodge, Peter felt a searing pain in his side as the blade plunged in, his vision blurring with the shock. Normally, Peter would’ve disarmed the guy without breaking a sweat, but tonight, with Mayday in his arms and his body worn from days of restless sleep, he kind of just… blinked and the knife was there. 

Peter blinked again, then looked back up at the man.

“Oh, wow,” he said, his voice dripping with deadpan sarcasm. “A knife in Crime Alley? Super original. Really, I’m honored to be a part of your creative process.”

The mugger blinked, clearly caught off guard. Peter rolled his eyes, adjusting Mayday to better apply pressure to his side. “Next time you stab a guy, maybe aim for someone with insurance.”

The mugger stumbled back, looking increasingly confused by Peter’s lack of fear. Peter sighed, bouncing Mayday gently as she began to fuss. “Listen, I’m already running on no sleep and the caffeine fumes of yesterday’s coffee. And now you’re just making my night even worse.”

Peter winced, feeling the slow but consistent leak of blood. His healing factor was helping, but it was dulled due to lack of sleep and hunger. 

Between one long blink and the next, someone had jumped down and knocked out Peter’s would-be mugger. 

After another blink Peter realized he was on the ground, Mayday’s wails filled the air, her cries echoing down the alleyway, and Peter tried to smile through the pain. “It’s okay, baby,” he mumbled, clutching her tightly. “Daddy’s fine… just a little… scratch.” But his vision was going hazy as he pressed a hand to his bleeding side. The world began to spin.

One of the vigilantes that Peter recognized as Red Robin rushed over, talking hurriedly into a comm. Peter blinked up at him, his mouth curling into a weak smile. “Hey, nice costume,” he muttered. “Does the utility belt come in dad sizes?” 

Red Robin blinked in surprise, but otherwise keept his focus as he worked to stop the bleeding.

“It doesn’t, unfortunately.” Red Robin offered, popping open his emergency med kit. “I’ve got help on the way, ok? Stay awake for me.” But his attention was snagged when Mayday, overcome with distress, reached out to him, her tiny hands gripping his arm. She wasn’t just clutching it— she was sticking to him, her fingers locked like suction cups on his suit. Tim’s eyes widened as she scrambled up his arm, scaling it like a bug on a wall. 

Red Robin took it in stride, scooping Mayday up as he continued to work. Peter had been on the Meta radar for a bit— a few things here and there just a little off, and it was mostly based on Red Robin’s time spent with super-powered individuals. 

But as he patched up Peter, he discreetly swiped a sample of blood, stashing it in his belt just as the Batmobile pulled up. 

—

Later that night, he ran the sample through the Batcomputer, expecting some small lead. A Meta, possibly insect-based? What with how the kid had stuck to him. Instead, the results left Tim absolutely speechless. 

Peter Parker, the man who was in his early 40s and a single father, didn’t just match someone in the system— it matched Dick Grayson.

Not as a brother, or a cousin, but as a son. 

Tim must’ve ran the test at least 100 times. It came back the same every single time. 

Tim called Bruce and the rest of the family, each of them crowding around the screen with varying levels of shock and amusement as the analysis rolled in. Dick was dumbfounded, staring at the results in disbelief. 

“You’re telling me this guy is my… son?” he stammered, struggling to wrap his mind around it. 

Bruce, socially unaware in all his glory, tried to comfort Dick. “He’s likely from far into the future. Barry said there was a ripple in the timestream around the time Peter showed up.” 

“So what does that make Mayday?” Jason asked, snickering. 

“His granddaughter?” Steph said with a teasing grin. 

“Wow, Dick. You went from a dad to a grandpa in the same minute.” 

“That’s gotta be a world record.”

“You think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record?”

Dick groaned, rubbing his temples as Jason laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. 

“He’s from the future, right? Something must’ve gone wrong on his end," Tim said, folding his arms with a thoughtful look. "He’s definitely got the skills. Moves like you, Dick. It's obvious he's had training.”

Dick couldn't help but smirk, puffing up a little with pride. “Of course he does. He’s got Grayson blood in him, after all.”

Jason snorted. “Yeah, because the whole ‘falling on his face with a baby strapped to him’ bit? So graceful.”

Tim rolled his eyes, trying to stay on track. “Look, I don’t know why he didn’t come to us for help in the first place, but the point is, he’s family. We should get him back to his time, if that’s even possible.” He looked over to Bruce. “Are any speedsters available? Maybe the League could lend us Wally or Barry—"

“Hold on,” Dick interrupted, frowning. “I’m not sure we’re ready to ship him off just yet. The guy’s been trying to make it on his own. He’s got a baby to look after, and I think he’s afraid of dragging us into whatever’s going on with him. You know this family and their pride.”

Damian, who had been silent up to this point, finally piped up, his arms crossed. “I’ve seen him with the baby. She’s… persistent.” There was an almost begrudging respect in his tone. “But he clearly doesn’t have the resources to keep her safe here. If he did, he wouldn’t be living in Crime Alley.”

Dick nodded. “Exactly. The guy’s holding it together with duct tape and dad jokes. We can help him and get him back on his feet while we figure out a way home.”

Bruce, listening intently, finally spoke up. “He’s right. Until we find a way to get him home, Peter and his daughter stay here. We’ll pull together whatever resources we can to help them both.” 

Steph and Tim shared a look. He just wanted to meet his grandson and great-granddaughter. 

There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed the decision, and then Tim looked at Dick, a small smirk playing on his lips. “So… you ready to be a dad, Dick?”

Dick flushed, looking a mix of horrified and pleased. “I’ll just stick to ‘Uncle Dick’ for now. Baby steps.”

EXTRA:

“Hey,” Jason drawled, barely suppressing a smirk as he looked over at Dick, “you think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record? Fastest unplanned parenthood, or maybe most confusing family reunion?”

Dick rolled his eyes but couldn’t quite hide his grin. “Very funny, Jay. Maybe we can submit you for most inappropriate comments per minute.”

Jason chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Just saying, man, it’s impressive. One day you’re Nightwing, lone acrobat extraordinaire, and the next? Boom— you’re the proud father of a scruffy, interdimensional— what'd you say it was, Tim? Spider-dad? A Spider-dad.”

Tim snickered, glancing up from his laptop. “We’re all just living in a 'Strangest Family Reunion’ reality show at this point. Besides, if anyone’s submitting to Guinness, it should be Peter for most relentless optimism under terrible circumstances.”

Bruce cleared his throat, giving them all a look. “Enough. This isn’t a joke. We have a situation to handle here.”

Dick, still grinning, turned back to Bruce. “All right, fine, we’ll save the record-breaking for later. Right now, I say we start by finding this guy and getting him some real help.”

[ellestra]

Tribute

I laughed almost non-stop watching Deadpool & Wolverine. The crass and gross and the ridiculous are mixed in with just a bit of clever. And then there's the pure joy of watching to almost indestructible dudes killing each other in violent ways (it's a WB cartoon kind of fun).

But as always it's the layer below the humour that really hits. And in a prefect Deadpool way this one worked both in the movie but also on the meta level. It's the story of a failed superhero that the Avengers didn't want and whose girlfriend left. Here trying to save his world to save his friends. He gets a second chance at being who he always wanted to be but the price is abandoning everyone he came up with. MCU and Sacred Timeline is one person deal. But this is where Multiverse pays off. It means he can keep his friends and timeline. He just has to fight cybernocracy that would rather dismantle it instantly first.

And it's a story of a fallen studio which movies lost the audience and couldn't find the right way to tell it's stories (with extra layer of Disney's Marvel being on precipice of that too now). All it's properties buried and replaced for a new shinier thing. We could move on and only acknowledge the pieces that haven't been tarnished. And yet, this movie looks back at it all, and brings back the discarded ridiculed. Including the ones we never even got. Using Void to discard them and Alioth to eat them into oblivion is such a prefect metaphor you'd think it was invented for this Film. It's a prefect integration of MCU ideas for the plot of this one story.

The whole movie is practically a tribute to the early days of Marvel and superhero movies that created the momentum that MCU then built it's 30 billion empire on. This is what makes each cameo count. It isn't there just for a joke or Easter Egg moment but it ties to the theme of the story, We are revisiting the forgotten heroes, the fallen ones, the ones who never got to be. And if we are lucky the ones who still might be (please, please let us keep Daphne Keen).

It's also a reminder of how long both Jackman and Reynolds have been in this. The first X-Men movie came out 24 years ago. Reynolds was in Blade: Trinity 20 years ago. I don't think it's an accident a lot of those cameos went to the beginnings with Pyro and Electra. And even with the MCU actors reminding us they started in Fox as Evans came back as Johnny Storm. Even Jon Favreau cameo as Happy Hogan was a reminder he was once Foggy Nelson in Daredevil. This was reunion movie in more ways than one.

And the behind the scenes of those movies, the whole history of Fox Marvel films really hit you in the end. Even the failures like the last Fantastic Four. Even to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the Deadpool abomination there. This is what got us here. This is for all the fun we had over the years with these characters and superheroes in general. This was the start.

Of course, Deadpool wouldn't be Deadpool if they didn't desecrate and made fun of the very thing they were paying tribute too. Both the initial fight and any reference to Fox made sure of that. Reminding us that even the best parts of the past shouldn't be sacred. You should build new stories and not be afraid to change. There will be new Blade. And a new Johnny Storm. And maybe a new Deadpool and Wolverine one day too (long, long time from now apparently 😋).

And new universes give you new opportunities to meet people. Maybe even find a romance like B-15 and Peter. Or become a villain. I'm not sure how I feel about the Doom Announcement but let's see. This movie reminded us it's just one more "same face - different person" case in this multiverse.

[thespectralvision]

Happy 4 Years WandaVision, and to my Vision muse! I can't believe the Eternals became relevant in the MCU before White Vision has been shown again...and we're not counting the horrors I was forced to witness in What If Season 3. Have a healthy, whole, but maybe a little confused Vizh. I like to think this is within a few days of WandaVision, when he's still fresh from the Hex and not sure who exactly he is. I'm really proud of this one, and I've got some introspective artist BS below the cut.

4 years ago today WandaVision's last episode The Season Finale aired. I stayed up until 3 am my time watching it, very anxious after the White Vision reveal the week before and having a very limited knowledge of the Vision Quest comic run by John Byrne that introducted him.

I never expected him to become my muse. At the end of the episode all I could think about was that sad, confused robot man flying off and where he went? Why didn't he look for Wanda? Where did he go? I watched the episode again that night with some friends (and may have been rather inebrietaed) and the rest of the night was spent imagining where he went. That lead to me writing that Vision in text RP with friends, and a few months later I started writing my stories just to explore him more. By the time of the 1 year Anniversary of WandaVision I had gone further and pulled my old Wacom Intuos tablet out and brushed it off, deciding to try my hand at drawing a character I thought would be impossible (I was never good with mechs and machines when I tried to draw them younger.) The first attempts weren't the best but I can see their foundation in every painting I do now. It's become something of a tradition for me to do a specific painting each year for the anniversary of that, and I love putting them next to each other as a benchmark of my own progress.

As of today, 3/5/2025, we don't know where Vision is in the MCU. We've had no hints. Marvel gave us What If Season 3, only to just use him as a mindless drone again and force me to watch his body taken apart and used as a skin suit for Riri Williams. I know Vision is a robot, and a lot of Marvel fans and writers don't really view him as human, but if they had turned Loki's body into magic Jotun armor the fandom would have rioted I'm sure). I haven't watched anything after that, it was too difficult for me to get through. I get asked frequently by friends and strangers if I'm excited for the Vision Quest show. I'm not. I'm dreading it. When asked why, I can only answer 'Because I've written over a million words and done over 500 paintings trying to tell my own version of that story.' That's the biggest if most petty reason, but it's not like the MCU has been a great steward of Vision's character in the past few years. They seem to think that just killing him over and over is the best use of the Android Avenger which implies they see no real potential in him. Every announcement about the show seems to be about characters returning other than Vision, and it leaves me wondering how much this show will really explore VISION and how much is just a bridge to fill the gaps and introduce more characters to the MCU, and bring back faves that will certainly overshadow Vizh in the eyes of fans. I hope I'm wrong but when it comes to comfort characters I have to prepare for the worst. I've been let down everytime I haven't. Working Theory and the little corner of the multiverse I've been playing in has been my passion project since that night 4 years ago. It's how I cope with the horrors that are happening in the world. I just come home from my job and sit down and imagine I have Jac Shaeffer's job...or Andy Park's, or Kevin Fiege's and I read through old comics as I develop my ideas. I hope to one day turn this into a comic, or the dream was to maybe somehow manifest becoming a showrunner for a Vision project at Marvel one day. It's a stupid wish, but every time I see news about what the MCU is actually doing to Vision it feels like I've failed. That's my own burden to work through and I am doing my best, but in the meantime I want to share with my lovely friends and followers a little more of my story, even if I have to do it frame by frame. Take care my friends, the world is scary right now and self care is important. I've not been posting a whole lot for that reason, but I hope you enjoy this portrait of Vizh. I have a lot of sketches I may dump in the next few days as well, as I've been trying to cement some style ideas and move into the next phase of this project.

[shakespeareanlizard]

Athenide Multiverse Ships

I possess within my brain a churning ocean filled with memories, memes, and bits of plastic. Within this ocean are countless biomes, but we’re only going to cover two of them: the first is The Sea Is History biome, which shall henceforth be called the Athenide Canon. The second is the multiverse.

The Athenide Canon is a coral reef, built off the bones of a canon that isn’t mine and colored by my imagination. People like to visit it and observe the strange and beautiful creatures that dwell within. Occasionally headcanons or thoughts will dart through the ecosystem, and it will be incorporated into the greater Athenide work, whether that’s through blog posts, updated chapters, or fanart.

The Multiverse is a kelp forest. On the surface it looks like a layer of tangled seaweed, but dive below and you’ll find a world teeming with life, dark and mysterious yet dappled with light. Unexpected creatures such as sea otters and seabirds found swimming through the kelp, and orcas lurk behind the swaying leaves for prey. In my case, orcas are the crack ships.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite Athenide Crossover Ships:

1. Percy Jackson/Ares. I love Perpollo, but I like the idea of Loyalty and War. (Percy Jackson)

2. Percy Jackson/Namor/Shuri. Wakanda Forever is one of my favorite movies, and I became obsessed with Namor and Shuri. I didn’t want to choose one over the other for Percy, so throuple it was. Shuri is fantastically intelligent, which I think Percy would find attractive, and Namor has the whole ocean king aesthetic that Percy would appreciate. Both Shuri and Namor are incredibly loyal to their countries/causes, something that Percy would be immediately attracted to. (MCU)

3) Percy Jackson/Matt Murdock. Both are native New Yorkers who fiercely love their city. Matt is also devoted to protecting people in any way he can, and Percy would find that attractive. Matt’s canon love interests are described as “stunning women with questionable character” and while Percy’s morals could be classified as more neutral or chaotic good instead of questionable, she’s mysterious enough to make up for it. (MCU)

4) Percy Jackson/Bucky Barnes. I do think Steve and Bucky has something going on in canon, but it’s over or at least on pause when Bucky’s on the run after Winter Soldier. Percy and Bucky are both loyal people that were forced into combat and forced to act as weapons, either for the gods or for Hydra. They both have memory issues, which is simultaneously hilarious and sad. (MCU)

5) Percy Jackson/Aleksander Morozova. Percy and Aleksander definitely look weird on the surface—one is an impertinent New Yorker demigod while the other is a dark fantasy Russian warlock, but I think they have a lot in common. Both are dangerous individuals that are rare among their kind (Percy is one of a handful of the Big Three demigods while Aleksander is one of two Shadow Summoners) and both work to protect their respective communities. (Grishaverse)

6) Percy Jackson/James Norrington. This ship is basically if the Calypso and Davy thing didn’t go to hell. I think these two would compliment each other—yeah, James chose Elizabeth because society and stuff, but I think he also enjoys women who are strong-willed and unafraid to make their opinions known. Percy definitely fits those categories, and she would like how strait-laced and proper James is. He’s loyal, handsome, and a sassy bitch. They could make wisecracks together and it would be great. (Pirates of the Caribbean)

7) Percy Jackson/Loki. I rewatched Thor recently and thought it would be cool if a young Loki joined a diplomatic trip to Olympus and met the Athenide. Of course he’d develop an instant crush, but nothing came of it. Then about a thousand years later he tries to invade her home turf and gets his ass handed to him. This is the ship that’s actually the shakiest, which is hilarious considering there’s an assassin and two mobsters on the list, but they have the least in common. On the other hand, Loki and Percy intrigue each other—in the PJO canon, Percy likes intelligent people, which applies to Loki, and I’ve already established she finds good parents attractive, which kind of applies to mythology Loki depending on the sources. Loki desperately wishes for loyalty, which is Percy’s domain, but beyond that he would appreciate her cleverness, snark, and kindness when directed at himself. (MCU)

8) Percy Jackson/Michael Corleone/Kay Adams. I watched the Godfather for the first time while I was writing a chapter for The Sea Is History and the ship infected me. Michael canonically never got over Kay, so they’d be a package deal. Percy would find Kay attractive because she is principled and doesn’t back down from what she thinks is right. Plus, she’s a schoolteacher, which implies brains and a love of children. Michael likes kids (whether or not he’s a good dad is a matter of debate) and he’s loyal to his family. His ruthlessness would also be attractive to an older, more eldritch Percy. (The Godfather)

9) Percy Jackson/Tommy Shelby. I dunno, I just like Cillian Murphy and thought this ship would be fun to write. (Peaky Blinders)

What do all these ships have in common? The potential lovers are either intensely loyal people, or they desperately want loyalty. I have more ships, but nine for one post is pushing ridiculous.

[avelera]

I know it's been a while since it came out but when thing I really appreciated about Deadpool & Wolverine is that it and the rest of the Deadpool franchise really understood what fans want in a way that MCU movies have otherwise failed to grasp for a rather bafflingly long period of time which is this:

Happy Endings.

That might sound silly or childish (I can hear Deadpool's snort at the rude definition of happy endings in my ear even as I write this) but seriously, when was the last time a Marvel movie or show just gave us an unequivocal happy ending without any ambiguity?

For so long, Marvel has been feeling the need to provide some sort of hook, to set up that "not all is well" in order to keep people coming back for the next film.

But the thing is, I watched Deadpool 1, and Deadpool 2, and I came back for Deadpool & Wolverine even though technically all three ended with a happy ending. All three ended with the hero getting what they wanted, and the age-old reassertion of domesticity that is considered so cliche in so many happy endings (ie, everyone went home with their heterosexual partner and lived happily ever after in their white picket fence after the adventure was over).

What I actually loved, nay, even adored about Deadpool 2 was that it took the time to (spoilers) bring Vanessa back to life. It was in the credits, sure. But Wade/Vanessa is hands down my favorite het ship in the entire extended Marvel universe because they actually feel like they're in love, not just that they're falling in love or might have the chance to be in love someday (like Steve/Peggy) but that they actually have been in a long term relationship and they don't just love but actually like each other too, and they have what it takes to go the distance or, continue to be friends if they part ways as lovers. Like. MCU is so bad at het romance you guys, it's insane, but Wade/Vanessa actually feel like a real loving couple so even if I ship him with Logan too, I love how Wade/Vanessa was handled. I still get choked up about the whole Calendar Girl sequence and I was devastated in the second movie when she died.

And that's why it's so important to me that they brought her back. They didn't just leave it on "the girlfriend got fridged and while the hero still mourns her, he has grown stronger through the trials he suffered in the aftermath, etc etc." No, they understood she's a beloved character too, and it's a fantasy movie, and part of the fantasy is, yes, in the credits using the awesome magical powers at our disposal, we took an extra 10 seconds to make sure you know, as a fan, that everyone was ok in the end. Everyone got to live happily ever after, we brought back people who died, everything got to be ok.

The MCU hasn't done that in ages! WandaVision ends with Wanda losing everything, it's beautiful and devastating but it's also gut-wrenching and unsatisfying, especially after Multiverse of Madness. Winter Soldier ends with saving the world, sure, but the hero doesn't get everything back because we need to hook into the next movie, so Bucky needs to still be on the run and not reunited with Steve. Even Endgame, the end of the whole damn arc, ends with beloved characters (at least at the point of writing this) being dead and staying dead even though we have literal universe altering time magic at our disposal to, theoretically, bring them back and let everyone end on a happy note where they got everything they wanted.

Look, I get it, an all-around happy ending where everything is nicely tied up and everyone is alive and got their loved ones back can feel a bit childish. But throughout the MCU it has felt just so relentlessly withholding that no one gets this unequivocal, unambiguous happy ending in ages. It's like in their rush to hook you to the next movie, they completely forgot that part of the reward for the audience in watching these heroes go on these adventures is the hero getting what they want in the end, and not just getting strung along to the next adventure.

Deadpool understands that. Heck, it understands that you can give the all-around happy ending and still have problems that emerge down the line. Deadpool 2 ends happily but Wade still has problems that emerge in Deadpool & Wolverine, part of them are the outcomes of getting what he wanted that had unexpected consequences but don't diminish getting what he wanted after Deadpool 2. He wanted the white picket fence happy ending, sure, but as a result his life got dissatisfying and his relationship fell apart in a completely normal, human way. That doesn't actually diminish Deadpool 2 and saving Vanessa, btw, because bringing her back to life means life will go on and sometimes life just happens that way. Bringing her back means she has the chance to go on living and sometimes that means making decisions that aren't all about Wade. That's a good thing.

And likewise, Deadpool & Wolverine might get another sequel. I'm actually fine if it does! I'm fine if another villain just pops out of nowhere to interrupt their peace and quiet.

But here's the thing it will be interrupting their hard-won happy ending. They got the happy ending. We got to see Deadpool save his world of 9 people and add Worst Universe Logan to it. We got to see Logan from the Worst Universe find a loving family, even if he didn't get the original one back. We got to see everyone in peace and at rest having got what they wanted and what they needed. We got to see characters we love be happy.

Deadpool as a franchise understands that. It understands that we love these characters and, at some point, we want to see them happy after their trials and tribulations are over. I wish the MCU would remember that more often in its other stories, that not everything needs to end on a hook. Sometimes it can end with happily ever after and that still doesn't mean the story is over forever. Maybe it's just for now, but whether or not the story continues, Deadpool understood we on some level want to see our beloved characters left behind in a good place.

[ssr-archives]

We Know Her Value

Celebrating Ten Years of Agent Carter

In January 2015, Peggy Carter did something no other female Marvel characters have done at the time: headlining her own show. She strutted onto our screens, knocked out some bad guys with a stapler, and told us to call her “agent”.

In the years since, Peggy, her friends, and the fandom have gone through a lot. We’ve seen the show get cancelled, and Peggy returning, Jarvis returning, Daniel Sousa returning. We tried to #SaveAgentCarter, we held fic exchanges, we cosplayed and Disneybounded, and we created zines. Despite the show’s premature end, these characters stayed in our hearts, and we made sure no one could forget them.

Agent Carter will turn 10 in January 2025. To mark this milestone, I am super excited to collaborate with @peggynet to launch We Know Her Value: Celebrating Ten Years of Agent Carter. Starting from 6th January 2025, the anniversary of the show’s premiere, we will be hosting ten themed days to celebrate ten years of our favourite show. You can join by picking a theme, making a post on that theme, and post it on the theme day. Tag me (@ssrarchives) or @peggynet, and add the tag #AgentCarterTurns10. Your works can be as simple or as elaborate as you like!

I can’t wait to celebrate this momentous anniversary with all of you! Under ‘Read More’, you will find the themes for the ten different days. Hope to see you all then! And if you have any questions, just drop me a line in the ask box or the DMs. 

Day 1: Favourite Character

The show has presented us with a whole host of amazing characters, from Peggy to lab rats and background agents. So…who is your favourite?

Day 2: Favourite Episode

Agent Carter packed a lot into 18 episodes: fights, spy shenanigans, musical numbers, engagements, kisses. Which episode is your favourite? 

Day 3: Favourite Ship

We cannot talk about Agent Carter without talking about the ships, especially not when the cast happily fanned our fandom flames. Whether you are headcanoning any two or three to be passionately involved, or you have the one true friendship that does it for you, what is your favourite relationship on the show? 

Day 4: Favourite Scene/Arc

From Peggy threatening a fellow diner with a fork, to Daniel flopping his five-episode relationship, Agent Carter packed many interesting scenes and arcs into the overall spy shenanigans. Do any of these scenes or arcs stand out to you? 

Day 5: Favourite Cast/Crew Moment

Time to look behind the scenes! Once the episodes were over, the cast and crew kept the party going, from the Stark Jar to on-set pranks to the legendary Dubsmash War. Do you have a favourite cast/crew moment? 

Day 6: Into the Multiverse

Even though the show was cancelled in 2016, that was not the last we saw of Peggy and her team. Peggy herself returned over and over again, eventually becoming one of the few mortals privy to the knowledge of Loki and the Sacred Timeline tree. Jarvis returned in Avengers: Endgame, becoming the first Marvel character to debut on TV and move on to a movie appearance. Even Daniel made a return in Agents of SHIELD Season 7. Which of these cameos were your favourite? Who do you want to see in future MCU projects?

Day 7: Containment Breach

There is a life for everyone outside of murder gases and space goop. Since the end of Agent Carter, the cast and crew continue to entertain us with excellent projects. From Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning to Resident Alien to The Merry Gentlemen, we have definitely not seen the last of our favourite agents. Have you watched any of these? Do you have a favourite? Do they inspire any AUs? 

Day 8: Favourite Fanfic

What is Agent Carter without its fandom? From SSR Confidential to Agent Carter Zine, from fandom-defining multi-chapter behemoths to short and sweet ficlets, the fic writers have not been resting at all. This is your chance to shout out your favourite fics!

Day 9: Favourite Fanart

Artists we haven’t forgotten you! The Agent Carter fandom is home to many talented artists who have graced our dashboards with everything from sketches to whole comics. Let’s share our appreciation by naming our favourite fanart/artist! (Please do not repost artwork unless you have consent from the artists. Otherwise, please reblog or link to the original artwork. Let’s make sure that the artists get the notes and credits they deserve.)

Day 10: Free Day

There is way more going on in the Agent Carter show and fandom for us to cover in one week, so like the title says, take this day to highlight whatever you want! The show’s costume and makeup? Meta writers? Peggy cosplays and Disneybounds? As long as it is Agent Carter-related, you can post about it!

[mrs-stans]

Empire’s World-Exclusive Thunderbolts* Covers Revealed

By Ben Travis

The powers that be have assembled various teams across the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve had the Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes; then intergalactic ‘a-holes’, the Guardians Of The Galaxy; see also, the god-like Eternals. But there’s never been a superhero team-up like the Thunderbolts. In part because they’re not exactly heroes, consisting of grey-area allies at best (Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes), and borderline-villains at worst (Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, or Wyatt Russell’s anti-Cap, John Walker). But also because they’re not exactly ‘super’ either, with barely a special power between them. So, what happens when a motley crew of not-super not-heroes is tasked with saving the world?

The new issue of Empire goes on set of Marvel’s Thunderbolts* (yes, the asterisk is a whole thing) in search of answers, speaking to the starry cast – including Pugh, Stan, John-Kamen and Russell, plus David Harbour and Lewis Pullman – and director Jake Schreier about creating the unlikeliest team-up this side of the multiverse. Inside, we get to grips with an unexpected new tone for the MCU, meet the team of underdog misfits in the flesh, and wrestle with the true meaning of that pesky asterisk. All that, and it’s packed with never-before-seen images from a very different kind of Marvel movie.

This month’s newsstand cover puts the ‘car’ in carnage, packing the entire Thunderbolts team in the back of a bullet-ridden ride.

And the subscriber cover presents the team in comic book form, illustrated exclusively for Empire by Mark Brooks.

And that’s not all. Inside this month’s issue, we also get up and running with Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, cause HAVOC with legendary action filmmaker Gareth Evans, get fungal fever with the return of The Last Of Us, delve inside the most emotional episode of the new season of Black Mirror, set our scopes on Alex Garland’s Warfare, ride the wave with Nicolas Cage on whacked-out thriller The Surfer, and get exclusive insights into the Avatar writers’ room with James Cameron and his collaborators. It’s packed with more goodies than you could cram into the back of the Thunderbolts’ bucket-o’-bolts car.

Pick up the Thunderbolts* issue on newsstands from Thursday 13 March. Or, pre-order a copy online here. Thunderbolts* comes to UK cinemas on 1 May.

[thestarlightforge]

Why “I’m Billy Maximoff” Mattered to Me — A Queer Disabled Person’s Journal

10/17/24

***

Call it silly if you like. But I feel actually healed. Because these stories, they’re not just “superheroes”—they’re modern mythology. They’re how we teach each other and our children who deserves a place in the world.

When I watched WandaVision, like a lot of people, I identified with Wanda’s grief/depression/trauma journeys. And of course saw myself in the queer kids she gave a loving home, more so the more Young Avengers books I read. But with the WandaVision versions of Billy and Tommy in particular—more so even than the comic books—I also read into it the disability/childhood terminal illness allegory. It’s something on Schaeffer’s mind while writing them—leaked audition tapes from actors not cast as the boys revealed as much—even if it didn’t occur to all the viewers.

But I wasn’t supposed to live, either. Wasn’t even supposed to be born.

I don’t talk about it a lot because it’s hard to talk about. But when my mom was pregnant with me, doctors in Tennessee (pro-life peons they claim to be; it’s all an act) tried to get my parents to late term abort me, all because of a genetic condition they suspected I had—which I don’t even have lol, turns out I had a different handful of impairments, but anyways. A lot of people with the genetic conditions I DO have die within two hours of being born. My whole childhood was spent ducking in and out of hospitals, I had eleven major surgeries and almost died a dozen or so times before I turned twenty… I am so pro-choice it’s insane, but I was one of the “inspiration porn” kids that white, southern Republicans used in their crusades, screaming their “pro-life” BS at the Democrats who gave MY mom the right to choose my life.

I know. It’s WILD.

All that to say, though: It hit me in a particular place when Wanda married her trans husband, had queer kids who the entire world screamed at her (either weren’t real or) shouldn’t have been allowed to live, and then believed in them and loved them. With her everything. Thanked her queer, disabled kids for the honor, for choosing her to be their mom. (And Multiverse of Madness asked us to hate her. It baffles me to this day.) She didn't give up on them, did everything in her power to rescue them on the faintest hope they had survived (calling out for help in the Darkhold), even as some of the most powerful mages on SEVERAL worlds gaslit her for years... And when the gaslighters finally convinced her they were right, she destroyed the artifact that could be used to hurt anyone like her boys ever again.

For years, since Schaeffer had to relinquish creative control to the Multiverse of Madness team, I have felt that “the only creator amongst my favorite stories who feels like I belong has had to let us go, and the people who follow her don’t even believe we deserve a chance… we’re crazy, imaginary, and the world is better off without us.”

A slam-the-door narrative, Doctor Pandemonium & Avengers: Disassembled come again, the likes of which Byrne & Bendis would be proud.

But Agatha is an anti-hero/anti-villain story about ALL misunderstood, outcast people who deserve a second chance, no matter what the world may think.

The fact that Billy’s story in the MCU is now a meta-commentary on that publication history narrative… That Schaeffer took the episode to say, “I don’t know how many times or in how many different ways I’m gonna have to spell this out for y’all, but Wanda’s kids are HERS. They are and were REAL. They have their OWN SOULS and they BOTH DESERVE to FIND THEMSELVES and FIND LOVE and LIVE.”

I can’t think of a better way to have honored us. 💙

“It’s nice to see you again, Billy” 😭

(for the record, Agatha saying this totally genuine and with tears in her eyes—she will never be a villain to me, not ever again 💜🖤)

Thank y’all for listening. ❤️

This one’s for Tommy 🥹💚

[shutupineedtothink]

Billy Theory - That boy and Agatha are the same

I know some people want Billy to have these hidden motivations and secretly he hates Agatha so that’s why he put the sigil on himself. So that he would show up with this false, aw shucks persona of Billy Kaplan and fool her into helping him walk the Road and bring his mother back at the end. Or get power, or his brother, or whatever.

But I want it to be the exact opposite. He did put the sigil on himself to hide his real identity from her, and from the other witches. But it isn’t because he hates them. He’s afraid of them. He actually is Agatha’s fan. And he idolizes and respects all of these women. And he’s afraid if they find out he’s Wanda Maximoff’s son, the ultimate witch gone bad, the personification of every negative, evil stereotype Lilia has been talking about around witches, they’ll reject him.

He’s afraid they never would have taken him on the Road to begin with, because somewhere along the last three years, and after the events of Multiverse of Madness, he realized oh my god, my mom was the evil one. (I’m assuming Wanda’s turn was publicized in the MCU, or maybe he sensed it magically.) And he (somehow) learns more and more about Agatha and realizes that she was never as evil as she pretends to be, or at least she never went on a killing rampage like Wanda did. But surely she must hate him, because she hates his mom. They must all hate him. That’s his motivation for the sigil. Fear, of himself, of what people will think of him, not anger. Starting to sound familiar?

Sure, I think it’s narratively interesting if he hates her and then he has to come to terms with who Agatha really is underneath it all. But it’s way more narratively interesting, for both of them, if his own journey, his own trauma, his own inner dialogue, very closely reflects hers. They’re mirrors.

What does Agatha, at her core, believe about herself? Her mother hated her because her mother believed she was evil. She internalized that and sees herself as evil, plays into that persona even as she tries to be the opposite of that. In her mind currently, she’s so innately evil she (directly or indirectly) caused the death of her own son.

It’s not quite an exact match for Billy, but the result is the same. He sees (or maybe even magically feels) how his mother turned bad, killed innocent people (listen I love Wanda, but she did). He thinks oh my god, I have the same magic. There’s no witch out there who will want to teach me. And probably, on some deep down level he thinks, maybe I’m evil too. Maybe just like my mom, there’s no other path for me.

Bottom line? That boy isn’t Agatha’s. That boy is another version of her own inner story. She and that boy are the same, on a deep fundamental level.

Stop here if you don’t want potential ep 6 spoilers! More specifics for how I think we move forward under the cut.

Where does that leave us after ep 5/going into ep 6? Here’s the breakdown.

Billy does what he does at the end of ep 5, basically becoming his worst fear, turning into the evil witch version of his mother.

But it’s not real (see my other post about the false trial). So Agatha, Jen, and Lilia, wake up from the false trial (thank you Rio), maybe they have to fight the Seven and defeat them together, and let’s say Alice is alive too, because I want her to be. Everyone’s still on the Road.

Billy is still trapped in the spell. They have to wake him up somehow. Jen’s already saying uncertainly, maybe we don’t want to wake him up, but Agatha immediately defends him. No, it wasn’t his fault, it was a trap, and she provoked him. That whole “trial” was a manifestation of her punishment by the Seven, it wasn’t really him. She’s adamant about this and the others (maybe reluctantly) go with it.

They wake him up — and in my head, they wake him up by destroying the sigil (breaking the illusion of his identity and the Seven’s spell in one go). Of course, it’s Agatha that has to do it, because she and Rio are the only ones who know. And really, Agatha’s known all along, right. I think she knew from the second he broke her out of the spell in ep 1. She just wanted to believe otherwise. So after a few failed attempts to shake him awake and probably a line from Rio along the lines of “You know you have to say it Agatha,” she does. “William Maximoff.” It’s sad, and soft, without any intention to hurt him. (A sigil is destroyed when it’s no longer needed.)

So the sigil is destroyed and our boy wakes up. There’s some initial remnants of anger on his face, but then once he sees them all staring at him warily, he starts to get scared. He remembers what he’s done to them, even if it wasn’t real. He scrambles away from them, please no, I didn’t mean to — I swear I want to be good.

It’s Agatha’s trauma, a version of herself, playing out right in front of her. Playing out in front of us, again. Only now she gets to do for him what her mother never did for her, and what the coven never did for her in the false trial either. She sees him. She defends him, his true self, the curious hopeful smart boy he’s been this whole time. (You don’t need to know someone’s name to know who they really are.) She goes to him and she says it wasn’t real. That wasn’t you. It was me, my punishment. Not yours.

But he’s not convinced yet. And now it hits him — But you know who I am. You said my name.

Agatha says, I think I always knew who you were.

Then why don’t you hate me?

She’s genuinely confused. Why would I hate you?

He looks at the rest of them and back to her. Because I’m… Wanda Maximoff’s son. She hurt you, she hurt so many people. And I have her magic. I was born… (evil? Bad? he can’t bring himself to say it.)

And this is Agatha’s big moment, and the big emotional pay off for us. She says, Billy (the first time we hear his casual name spoken) — Never let anyone else’s fear of you decide who you are. Not mine, not anyone else’s. Never let anyone else tell you you’re horrible, or worthless, or evil. You get to decide who you are, and only you. If you want to be good… you can be. Do you understand?

She’s talking to him, but on some level she’s talking to herself, her own inner child. Does she believe that for herself yet? No, but I digress.

And maybe wryly she adds, because Agatha can’t be serious for too long and I want this line, “Besides, as we’ve already established, I don’t punish children for the sins of the mother.”

Didn’t mean to turn that into a whole fic but there you go. Anyway, Billy gets the message. The coven sees him and accepts him. Maybe there’s hugs. I’d like there to be hugs. We move on to Agatha’s real trial.

Tl;dr? Agatha Harkness is walking out of this Road with Billy Maximoff as her apprentice, goddamnit.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Imagine Miguel explaining the whole multiverse situation to MCU Peter Parker and he gets to the part about Gabriella becoming nonexistent and Peter without thinking says "Damn, that happened to me once."

And Miguel's like 'What?? DYING? what do you mean it happened to you ONCE. My daughter is dead, Peter.'

And Peter's like 'OH so like, she's NOT coming back? Are you sure? And you said it was your fault? Okay, sorry. I must've went through a different thing then. My bad, Mr. O'hara... You can continue.😳'

And he just doesn't explain any further about the 'i didn't exist thing' and Miguel is looking at him like

Poor Miguel. Someone save him. He's not in danger his employees are just idiots

[spatteringstars]

I had a thought (Absolute Essay below sorry yall)

purely because of happenstance timing of watching OSP's detail diatribes about the first phase of the MCU and Captain America and the winter soldier respectively and watching Thunderbolts all within like, a week and a half of each other, I had the thought that people are more onto something than they think they are when they say "The MCU is sooo back" in response to what Thunderbolts did. I'm not going to get into anything nitty gritty about the movie because that takes time to sit down and rewatch the movie while taking notes because no way in FUCK am I picking up on more complex theming on the first watch through when the only characters I really recognize are Yelena and Alexei.

Anyways my point- As stated and explained wonderfully by Red & Blue over at Overly Sarcastic Productions (you should go watch those two most recent videos they're great) the whole appeal of the first phase of the MCU was like- these people and heroes work well independently. They can kick ass and be great independently and then they get together and they are still good and great and working together to kick evil ass. They are connected both in story and as characters in a way that we as an audience can find extremely compelling.

It falls into the pit trap of like, ugh edginess no way all of these highly competent individuals could get along so easily, so like yeah, these people are really disagreeable with each other at first but they're also all incredibly traumatized in a way that makes it difficult for them to seek out human connection so I can forgive that. And in a way I feel like it makes the crux of my ultimate point in this more compelling. Because somehow THE WRITERS MANAGED TO BRING IT BACK!!! The parts we loved about the first phase where these characters felt like they could be independent and rich on their own but become even more so when you see their reflections in each other and how they choose to interact. We loose a little bit of that sense of superhero-ness because god forbid corporate let us embrace our comic book origins lest we remember this shit used to be for geeks, but we've finally come back a little bit to what the Avengers was supposed to be about. These misfits (because lets face it even the first group of avengers were freaks. you have to be a weirdo to actually become a superhero... Tony) come together and find comraderie and strength and family in each other. Not to power of friendship literally everything but like.... its the fucking power of friendship I don't know what you want from me. And personally, I think the power of friendship is beautiful.

I think it even does a pretty decent job on the front of connecting its villains into the context of the world the story is existing in. Valentina feels like the kind of asshole who would get pulled up in this political climate post Hydra sabotaging the world to get to project insight, she feel like the kind of person who would fall for that same trap that Fury did of "Prevention of Disaster is more important than the ethics of freedom and choice that I allegelly subscribe to as a resident and representative of the United States" but fell for it harder, thus creating Sentry, after the disaster of the Blip. That could just be my wishful thinking since Thunderbolts is the only thing I've ever seen her in, but as far as villains go I feel like she makes sense even if she's a bit uuuuuhh..... morally inconsistent (?) I guess is a way I could phrase it. Whereas shit like Thanos was entertaining and was integrated into the lore of the MCU but felt a bit out of place in the context of the themes of previous movies and I'm not even touching whatever the fuck is going on w the multiverse nonsense.

Thunderbolts cared about its characters being together. It made a point to be like "literally any separation of this team trying to deal with a problem this big will fail. You all need the unique influences and skills that everyone on this team has to offer in order to actually fix what Valentina has done (and thank GOD they're solving someone else's problem instead of their own for once *cough cough* ultron *cough cough* civil war. again OSP has much more realized thoughts on this) so get in your fucking get along shirt and learn to love each other like a family" AND I LOVE THE WRITERS FOR THAT SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR GETTING THESE DYSFUNCTIONAL FUCKS TO LOVE EACH OTHER BOB MEANS SO MUCH TO ME

And like- obviously the movie has flaws even in this context. I can see the whole "rivalry with the *other* avengers team" going really wrong and completely trampling over everything that I (and OSP I cannot tell you how much more you will get my point if you watch their phase one detail diatribe) love about what they did with Thunderbolts. I think Ghost could have been better developed in the movie or in Ant-Man and The Wasp but I understand they had to prioritize getting us on board with Bob first. They could've done a better job expanding on the themes of mental illness in the movie and I would have loved to see it better integrated with chracters previous appearances (although again I haven't watched *all* of the new shit so I could be missing something and maybe it is better integrated, but I shouldn't have to do that much fucking homework to watch a movie but thats a separate issue I'm talking about THEMES HERE). But overall, I feel like this group of writers at least looked at what made the first phase of the MCU so good and tried to learn from it and put it into their script for Thunderbolts. And that trying, especially with all of the surrounding bullshit they have to peripherially deal with, is so valuable to me. If they keep what this movie has going, we might actually "be so back" with the MCU for a whlie until the mouse machine ruins it again.