#also i love shuri he's my secondary main

[containedconspiracy]

buhh

[roobylavender]

how was the new black panther? did you enjoy it?

it was a coherent movie as far as marvel movies go but in true marvel fashion bc this is part of a franchise which requires each movie to hit certain plot points it was juggling so many subplots as to feel threadbare at times. the tribute to chadwick was there obv but i wonder what it would have been had this been a truly independent movie that didn’t need to worry about the extrinsic universal stuff

related to that the maintained cia presence in these movies at the expense of other characters is so annoying lol. more on that later considering it forms my biggest gripe with the movie (surprise surprise) but i was really frustrated with how minimal nakia’s role was in this considering her connection to t’challa. obv focus on shuri was paramount but i personally think they should have been co-mcs rather than nakia being relegated to a secondary role

the performances were phenomenal. i think letitia wright took a little while to come into it but by the second half she was enrapturing and angela of course took my breath away so many times. i also loved tenoch’s ability to express this palpable grief and anger and yearning all at once. his command of the character was subtle but so enthralling

the costuming was also so gorgeous like i was a bit peeved by the rest of the movie visually bc the cgi was so bland and the fight sequences were mostly like bluntly cut melee sequences not to mention the first half of the movie was so badly lit but the costuming definitely saved it for me like godddd angela and lupita and tenoch looked ethereal at all times

from what i understand in the comics namor attacks wakanda for no good reason so the evolved lore in this movie complicates that a bit bc now he does have a good reason to be at odds with wakanda’s mission statement but of course in true state sponsored media fashion his initial antagonism against colonizers and their facilitators is so exaggerated as to make him holistically genocidal so that viewers are justified in accepting that he is a villain. so yay for race bending but nay for the fact that regardless of that race bending he is essentially doomed from the start even though he is introduced to have valid grievances that run parallel to wakanda’s

more specifically on that, below is my main takeaway from the movie, esp in context of the fact that originally the cia factored way more into the conflict between the two nations but apparently this was scaled back in script revisions lol..

[avatarconner]

RWBY/Black Panther outline

So a few years ago I wrote up a possible outline for Black Panther and RWBY crossover but I never really went anywhere with it so it’s just been sitting in my notes for years now. Since I’m not going to do anything with it, I figure I’d post it here for someone else to take and create their own story if they so choose.

The information is taken from various writers and runs of the character.

General Facts

Wakanda has NEVER been conquered

It's main resource is Vibranium

Also has Dust deposit

Though does not mine it

Due to Vibranium has made leaps in technological to the point of discovering space travel

The Black Panther, while passed down through the royal line along with the title of King, is challenged once a year by any Wakandan

The Tribal Council (Known as the Taifa Ngao) is the council of all thirteen tribes of Wakanda who help the king with polices

Education is highly valued in the Wakandan culture and was viewed as a fundamental building block to incient Wakandans. The nation has one of the highest literacy rates on the planets. They have an eleven year free, compulsory cycle of primary and secondary education. At the end of this the citizens of Wakanda have the choice in the future of their career path. Many go on to attend one of their free Universities. The citizens also have other options such as farming and mining and other such laboring professions

The nation is very xenophobic to the other Kingdoms, mainly due to the intolerance that has spread since the war between the Faunus and Humans

95% of Wakandans are Faunus of various animals

Every major city is named after a former King/Black Panther

Wakanda has a universal public health system paid largely from taxation. Wakanda's entire population has equal access to health care services. The nation has one of the highest life expectancy rates on the planet.

The king is protected by his own personal bodyguards the Dora Milaje, skilled female warriors who have dedicated their lives to the Black Panther

They have their own intelligence agency known as P.R.I.D.E. (Princess Regent Intelligence Division Executives)

Foreign Policies

While Wakanda is xenophobic to the rest of the world they do not ignore what goes on outside their boarders. They have access to the CCT such as the other Kingdoms since they built their own tower years before Atlas did and is capable of reaching all around the world if needed. But their relationships vary between other Kingdoms.

Vale

Wakanda has no qualms with the Kingdom of Vale, however they do hold the belief that the Kingdom is too lax, not facing the dangers of the world

Ozpin has met with T'Chaka, T'cahlla and Tanka's father when he first became the Black Panther. Ozpin made a good impression on him which led to Wakanda beginning to grow out of it's boarders and slowly start to reach out to the outside world

An expedition to Wakanda with professor Evert Ross and Doctor Oobleck of Beacon academy yielded a productive relationship, with the two learning a great deal of Wakandan culture as well as earning a look inside the kingdom.

Vacuo

It's furthest neighbor, they see the Kingdom of Vacuo as a warning, since they as well had access to copious amounts of minerals and destroyed their lands mining for them. However it's debated whether this has made the people of Vacuo strong since they can survive in such harsh conditions, or merely foolish for letting it happen in the first place.

Vacuo had once tried to take over Wakanda but this failed miserably, since then it has for the most part respected the nation's borders.

Atlas

Atlas and Wakanda have the worst relationship out of all the Kingdoms, Atlas has tried a number of times to force their way into Wakanda and has failed every time. This is due to Atlas' ideals of protecting everyone and while Wakandans understand the reasoning they do not trust another Kingdom that believes it can act as the entire world's police without any of the people it rules over actually in the kingdom.

The SDC also has a bad relationship with Wakanda, mainly with the current CEO Jacques Schnee and his discrimination against the Faunus. But also due to his greed, and his desire for Vibranium.

The only official who has garnered any respect from Wakanda's Kings is General Ironwood, who at the start of his career asked Wakanda to officially welcome it to the other Kingdoms with a peace summit in Mantel. However the Summit was ruined by an assassination of King T'Chaka, sending the kingdom of Wakanda back into isolation.

Minstrel

Minstrel is the closest Kingdom to Wakanda and has respected it's borders

Has never tied to attack/invade Wakanda

However most people who attempt to steal from the Kingdom hide out here until caught.

Technology

Kimoyo Bracelets-See Diagram

Panther Habit-Suit worn by the king/protector of Wakanda the Black Panther

Magnetic Wave Vehicles-Aircraft that Black Panther and Wakandan military use to fly without the use of Dust.

Holopods-Horgraphic orbs that create projections and even have heat signatures.

Vibranium-While this substance itself is rare and has the unique ability to absorb and redistribute Kinetic and Sound energy, Wakanda has also found a method to create Vibranium from itself, making their supply of it endless.

History

Wakanda was founded thousands of years ago by a small tribe living on the continent currently known as Anima. At that time a gigantic meteorite crashed into the ground fairly close to the village, upon investigating the site of the impact they discovered a mound that rivaled a mountain sticking out from the ground. They discovered that the entire meteorite was composed of a metal that was virtually indestructible, explaining how the impact from the impact hadn't caused worse damage.

The chief of the tribe decreed that the mound was theirs since it fell on their land and decide to keep it to themselves. Years pass and settlers from Mantel arrive caliming the land is there, however the Wakandans hold their ground and defeat their attackers with weapons more advanced than their attackers. They leave one man alive and tell him to send a message, that any who try to invade Wakanda will be dealt with in the same manner, after this victory the chief is pronounced as the King of Wakanda, and taking the title of the Black Panther, on account of his faunus traits and pelt of a black panther which he wore into battle.

The first Black Panther, Bashenga, had only one son and heir to the throne Azzuri. He ruled during the time of the great war and met the king of Vale when he asked the King of Wakanda to join Vale and Vacuo in the war against Mantel and Minstrel to end the slavery of faunus as well as the dampening of expression. Azzuri said that while he would oppose the two Kingdoms against Vale he would not lead his people to a war they didn't ask for. But he would allow Vale and Vacuo to pass through Wakanda since they morally opposed Minstrel and Mantle's polices against Faunus kind.

During the Great War Wakanda was faced with constant battle from Mantel and Minstrel but remained victorious throughout until the war ended. When it came to a close, the King of Vale offered Azzuri to join him in forming five kingdoms and divide the world up between them. However, knowing that they could not open Wakanda's technology to the rest of the world he declined and instead requested that his nation be recognized as it's own sovereign Kingdom.

The world then enjoyed a time of peace, during which Azzuri passed his mantel down to his oldest son T'Chaka. His second oldest S'Yan served at his brother's side dutifully until their father passed away from old age.

Soon, T'Chaka had his own son, T'Challa, however his queen passed away at her son's birth, never to know the son she gave her life for. But T'chaka found love again with his second wife Ramonda, who gave them his second son Taka and then becoming pregnant with their first daughter Shuri.

It was during this time that the king was invited to a peace summit in Vytal, giving Wakanda the chance to be recognized as a Kingdom on par with the others and finding a compromise between the other Kingdoms. T'Chaka accepted the invation and took his family with him to the summit. However while at the Summit, T'Chaka was attacked by an assassin known as Klaw, the attack resculted with Taka being mortally wounded and T'Chaka being killed.

Ramonda took her children back to Wakanda, Taka being kept alive by the best of the kingdom's medical technology while S'Yan took the mantle of Black Panther.

Taka made a miraculous recovery, and awoke to find a black panther cub had found it's way into his room.

Characters

Royal Family

T'Chaka

Former King of Wakanda as well as father to T'Challa, Shuri and Taka. He died when an assassin known as Klaw attacked him and his family at a peace summit.

S'yan

Brother of T'Chaka and Uncle to the prince and King, he served as Black Panther after his brother's passing, he was well known for his speed and earned the nickname "S'yan the fast".

Ramonda

Queen of Wakanda

T'Challa

Firstborn son of T'chaka and current ruler of Wakanda

Suri

Third child of T'Chaka and sister to Taka and T'Challa. Is a scientific genius

T'Shan

Son of S'yan, he tried to compete for the mantle of Black Panther along with his cousin T'Challa but failed, he has harbored resentment towards the king ever since.

Taka

Second son of T'Chaka and brother to T'Challa, Taka was wounded by Klaw during the assassination of his father but has since recovered. Main Character of the story

Wakandans

Dora Milaje

Mistress Zola

Instructor

Ayo

Shuri's bodyguard

Folami

Ramonda's Bodyguard

Dalia

Taka's bodyguard

Taifa Ngao

Akili

Leader of the Wakanda secret police the

Hodari

Spymaster of P.R.I.D.E. and head of Wakandan intelligence.

Queen Ramonda

Head of Public Relations for Wakanda

N'lix

Head of Wakanda's technology branch

Teela

Mistress Zola's second in command and representative

General Jakarra

Genreal in charge of the millitary forces of Wakanda

Rona

Head of the Vibranium mine

[jimintomystery]

So You Decided to Get Into Avengers after Endgame Came Out: A Guide

First of all, I feel your pain.  You had better things to do besides watching a gazillion Marvel movies, but now Avengers: Endgame is in the only thing in theaters and everybody’s going nuts about it.  But this movie is super-duper not accessible.  More than any other Marvel movie, this one assumes you know what’s going on and it can point to the box office history to back up that assumption.  (I’m not a fan of that choice tbqh.)  So now you can’t watch this 3-hour movie without everyone telling you to watch 20 other 3-hour movies.

Well, you’d be justified to say “screw it,” but if you still want to take the plunge, I’m here for you.  I was here when the first Avengers came out, and all the kids who saw the movie were like “I want to read the comics now but it’s hard.”  Yeah, it’s hard.  So comics fans like me helped them out, and now those baby fans know more about the Avengers than I do.  That’s how it goes around here--we work together, to follow the continuity no single superfan could withstand.

This is not a comprehensive guide to the “Marvel Cinematic Universe.”  This isn’t even a guide to the best movies.  This is the quickest way to get you up to speed so you can enjoy Avengers: Endgame.  Don’t let this stuff scare you.  You can do it.

Hashtag whatever it takes.

(The following contains very very light extra mild spoilers for stuff BEFORE Endgame, for people who managed to not care about those spoilers for 11 years.)

The short-short version

There are four main Avengers movies

Avengers 1 (2012)

Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers 3: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers 4: Endgame (2019)

Obviously the fourth movie kind of assumes you saw the first three.  More importantly, 3 and 4 are a two-part story (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I & II), so those two are really really inseparable.

Avengers 1 is the most succinct introduction of the main characters: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye.  You could watch the movies that came before Avengers 1 for more detailed introductions, but you don’t need to unless you’re super confused.  (If you just cannot handle the idea of literal Norse gods running around, I guess watching Thor 1 might help, but superhero stories work better if you’re more like “that’s weird but okay.”)

Avengers 2...didn’t go over real well with fans, and it struggled with telling its own story while trying to set up stuff for future movies.  However, since the future movies in question were Avengers 3 and Avengers 4, that’s the stuff you’re interested in.  Also Avengers 2 debuts key secondary characters (the Vision and the Scarlet Witch) and is a convenient way to be introduced to others (War Machine and the Falcon).

Captain America 3: Civil War (2016) came out between Avengers 2 and Avengers 3, and it basically ends up being Avengers 2½.  This is arguably the hardest one to skip, since it fundamentally changes the relationship between Captain America and Iron Man, and sets up where the characters are at leading into Avengers 3.  You also get to meet Black Panther, the Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man without devoting a ton of time to more movies.  To be fair, Avengers 3 does attempt to explain what has happened since Avengers 2, but it’s kinda hard since so much is going on in Avengers 3.  I happen to like this movie a lot, so I think it’s worth the slight detour.

Avengers 3 is where Thanos comes looking for the Infinity Stones, to put on his Infinity Gauntlet.  It may seem like all the movies are about Thanos and Infinity Stones, but don’t believe the hype.  Prior to this, some of the movies had plot devices that turned out to be Infinity Stones, and some of the movies featured Thanos cameos.  But the actual story starts here--all the teases and hints were just to establish that our heroes have a clue about what’s going on.  Many characters from other movies meet the Avengers for the first time, but if you haven’t watches those movies you’ll be no more or less confused than the Avengers are.

Avengers 4 picks up right where Avengers 3 left off.  I won’t say much about it, except that is trying to pay homage to all the movies before it while also trying to serve as an ending, which is challenging.  To accomplish that I think they sacrificed accessibility, so there are many scenes that depend on you recognizing references to earlier movies.  BUT, I think you can get by just from seeing Avengers 1-3 and Cap 3: Civil War.

Extra credit homework

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014) shows how Cap, a World War II hero, is adjusting to life after waking up in the 2010s and joining the Avengers.  If you’re confused about SHIELD, Hydra, or the Winter Soldier, this will help.  This is one of my favorites.

Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (2014) introduces a rag-tag band of misfits in deep space, led by a half-human/half-alien mercenary.  Aside from being fun, it delves into Marvel’s approach to aliens and cosmic powers.  If you’re wondering why all the aliens speak English and don’t wear real spacesuits and use glowy rocks to do everything...well, this doesn’t explain it, but it teaches you to chill out about it.

Thor 3: Ragnarok (2017) has very little do to with the first two Thor movies, except that it dramatically tears down the status quo.  The aftereffects of this are felt in Thor’s appearances in Avengers 3 and Avengers 4.  If you would be confused by questions like “why would Norse gods be refugees on a spaceship?” or “why would Norse gods have weird alien friends?” or “is Thor...like, okay?” then this movie will help.

Captain Marvel (2019) introduces Captain Marvel.  A teaser in Avengers 3 made it seem like she’d be a big deal, but her role in Avengers 4 kinda fails to properly introduce her.  I guess they figured everyone would watch this movie.  You certainly can watch this movie, but I don’t know that it’s essential, beyond understanding that “Captain Marvel is hella tough and she’s so cool.”  And I could just tell you that.  So I will.  Captain Marvel is hella tough and she’s so cool.

Wait, what are you leaving out?

If you are concerned that skipping over all the other movies will cause you to miss a key plot point related to the main Avengers series, allow me to briefly summarize what you need to know from them.  That way you can decide whether to sink time into actually watching these movies, or just reading my quick notes.

Iron Man 1 (2008) - Tony Stark becomes Iron Man and meets SHIELD; he’s like “I want cheeseburgers” and his chauffeur is like “sure, whatever”

The Incredible Hulk (2008) - The Hulk exists, pretty much

Iron Man 2 (2010) - Iron Man’s friend James Rhodes becomes War Machine

Thor 1 (2011) - The world finds out Thor and Loki are real

Captain America 1: The First Avenger (2011) - Steve Rogers becomes a super-soldier in 1943, fights the Red Skull with his friend Bucky, and he never got to dance with Peggy Carter, his best girl :(

Iron Man 3 (2013) - Iron Man has anxiety attacks about the events of Avengers 1.  Then he makes friends with a little boy.

Thor 2: The Dark World (2013) - Thor brings his human girlfriend to Asgard to meet his parents!

Ant-Man (2015) - Hank Pym invented shrinky-juice called Pym particles and gave it to Scott Lang.  I skipped this one, tbh

Doctor Strange (2016) - Doc takes over the Ancient One’s job protecting Earth from weird magical dimensions

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2017) - Mantis joins the team and Nebula stops trying to kill them so they can be friends.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) - Peter kisses a girl, maybe?  I skipped this one too lol

Black Panther (2018) - Black Panther has a genius little sister named Shuri and a cool general named Okoye and omg everybody loves this movie because it’s great

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) - Hank Pym’s daughter becomes the Wasp and they rescue her mom.  I skipped this too (uh-oh I’m a bad Marvel fan)

Now, if you want to marathon all these movies, you go right ahead.   They’re generally very good!  But don’t let nobody tell you that you’ve got to watch them all.  It’s not that complicated.

In conclusion all you really really need is Avengers 1, Avengers 2, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers 3, Avengers 4.  And if you need a hand, you’ve got a zillion people waiting to help.

[theycallmebeccawrites]

One Shot: In the End

With Tumblr holding my original writing blog @beccaheartschrisevans captive (aka flagged as explicit), I have made a secondary writing blog and may end up closing the other all together. In the meantime, I am reposting all of my stories on my new blog.

Title: In the End

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: graphic sex, oral sex, fingering

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

18+ Disclaimer: This work contains sexual material that is for those over the age of 18. By clicking the keep reading link below, you are agreeing that you are over the age of 18 and are not offended by sexual content.

Summary: After a mission goes bad, Steve Rogers is left wondering if there was anything he could have done differently. Especially when you, the woman he has secretly fallen in love with, fights for her life. Has he missed his chance or will it all work out, in the end?

Note:  this is my entry for @angryschnauzer and @feelmyroarrrr’s Lust Actually Smutty Writing Challenge. The trope I chose for this challenge is Friends to Lovers.

This story is also available on AO3.

You hadn’t been assigned to the mission, initially, but then new intel had come in at the eleventh hour that had required your expertise. You’d been game, but Captain Rogers had been hesitant as you’d missed a lot of briefings about said mission and, therefore, were in the dark about a lot and could prove to be a liability.

To make up for this, Natasha had been assigned to give you a quick, but thorough run down of the plan and backup plans on the Quinjet. You had listened intently; using the near photographic memory you had to take in the diagrams and notes she’d shown you.

By the time the jet had landed, you’d been prepared and had confidently told Captain Rogers that.

Then everything had gone to shit. Quickly.

—————

They’d been setup. Or worse, there had been a leak somewhere in the chain. Nevertheless, the mission had become a complete disaster before it had even had a chance to start.

By some miracle, or blind fucking luck, they had all survived, but there were injuries. Most of them were minor, except for one, who was fighting for her life on the Quinjet flight back to the compound.

Steve Rogers always went with his gut instinct, but he had been convinced, this time, to go against it and disaster had struck. He shoved his hand through his hair as he stared down at her frail body and the bloody bandages wrapped around her torso where she'd been shot multiple times.

His usually spunky friend was asleep, thanks to powerful pain management protocols. Although the scans that were flashing across the screens around her (and being sent to Shuri in Wakanda) showed promise of her making it through this, Steve couldn’t shake the guilt at her being in this position. It was his fucking fault. If he had only stood his ground or…

“There’s nothing you could have done differently,” Natasha's quiet voice said from behind him. “We’ll figure out what happened, Steve, but it wasn’t your fault.” She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but it did little to comfort him.

—————

Your whole body ached, especially your torso, as you pulled yourself from the sleepy haze you’d been under. You could tell from the smell alone, that distinct disinfectant smell of a hospital that you'd never been found of, that you weren’t in your private apartment at the compound. It was too dark to see much in the room, except the large figure uncomfortably folded into the chair at your bedside.

“Steve?” you croaked, your voice hoarse from disuse.

He jolted upright at his name and he blinked at you a couple times before jumping out of the chair.

As you watched, he bounded to the door to the room, opened it and called out to someone. Within seconds, the lights were on and the room was full of the compound’s medical team. They fretted about you while Steve stood watch in a corner of the room, seemingly unwilling to leave you alone.

After what seemed like an hour of being poked and prodded, the medical team filed out, leaving you and Steve alone again.

“What happened?” you asked. The last thing you remembered was getting off the Quinjet and, now, you were laid up in a hospital bed.

Steve sighed, dragging a hand through his hair, and then began to fill you in on the disastrous mission that had taken place three days prior. They’d been neither setup nor had there been a leak in the planning, he explained. The intel that had come in at the last second had been an attempt to lure a different group into a trap; a trap that the Avengers had unknowingly sprung too early and gotten caught up in themselves.

“Was anyone else hurt?” you asked when he finished, concerned for your coworkers, many of whom had become your friends.

“A couple of broken arms and some bullet grazes,” he said. “But no one as bad as you.” He sucked in a deep breath and his voice was raw with emotion as he admitted. “I didn’t think you were going to make it when I carried you back to the Quinjet.”

—————

Steve closed his eyes, easily recalling the bloody state of her body as he’d carried her on to the jet. She had been breathing, but not easily, he'd known, for she had taken at least one bullet to the torso. Even over the chaos of the moment, he'd heard the ominous gurgling sound each time she breathed and he'd known she'd been in serious trouble.

Unlike everyone else, who had been armed to the teeth, she had been undercover as an employee of the data center where they were trying to recover stolen documents from, which also meant she hadn't been wearing much Kevlar. (Something he would never let happen again.) Even with the madness happening around him, he'd had presence of mind to quickly deduce that it was her role in the mission that made her the main target for the ambush and he'd charged after her.

It had happened before his eyes. She'd been on her way to one of the side doors and had been shot by someone coming out of them. Once. Twice. And nearly a third, which he'd thankfully been able to deflect with his shield as he'd caught her before she'd hit the ground. Clint had shown up then and had protected his back as he'd got her back to the jet.

The scans on the Quinjet had revealed a bullet wedged in her lung while the other had gone clean through her, missing several vital organs by just millimeters. The second had been the source of most of the blood that had soaked through her clothes. He and Clint had worked together to wrap gauze around her to hold the compression pads to her wounds to help slow down the bleeding. They'd changed it once more, during the flight back to the compound.

The medical team had been waiting for them, when they'd arrived, and she'd been rushed from the runway to the medical wing for surgery.

He'd then sat outside the operating room as they'd operated on her. It had taken five fucking hours. Three hundred minutes of him replaying every fucking second of the mission: how it had gone terribly wrong and what, if anything, he could have done differently.

Tony, Sam and Bucky had all tried to get him to leave the medical wing, accusing him of scaring the medical staff, but he had refused. It hadn't been until she'd been taken into a private room for recovery, that he'd allowed his friends to drag him off. He'd gotten cleaned up, eaten and had gotten a little sleep, but, ultimately, he'd returned to her side and hadn't left since.

—————

You'd fallen asleep again; sometime during or after Steve's retelling of the mission, you couldn't recall, but when you woke up, you weren't alone, but he wasn't there.

"Tony forced him to go to a meeting," the friendly voice of one of the nurses assigned to you said. "He's been here every minute of every day since you arrived. He even stood up to our charge nurse when she tried to kick him out.  He told her that he was the Captain and he wasn't going to leave your side for anything." She chuckled. "Wish my boyfriend was as devoted to me as he is to you."

"I'm not... we're not... he's not my boyfriend," you stammered, caught off guard. You'd only been at the Avengers Compound for a little over a year and, while you and Steve had become friends, you certainly weren't dating.

"If I were you, I'd ask myself why," the nurse said with a wink before she left the room, leaving you alone.

At first, the idea of you and Steve dating was funny, not that you'd laugh for real, as the action made the pain in your torso worse. Yes, he was handsome, but anyone could tell you that just by looking at him. Yes, the two of you got along well and spent time together, but you rarely spent that time alone, it was usually with a large group of people. Even in those times the two of you were alone, you were usually in a common area and open to other people joining the conversations if they felt so inclined.

Still, you wondered, as you stared at the empty seat, was the fact that he'd stayed by your bedside a sign that there was something different in your relationship with him? Was there something different in the way you responded to his presence over, say, Bucky or Sam's?

Yes, you came to realize in the days that followed as Tony required Steve to return to most of his duties, which meant that he couldn't spend every minute by your bed. Instead, he sent a variety of your friends to sit with you for a while, during which time, you realized that you didn't respond to their arrivals as you did to Steve's.

—————

It had been a long, tiring day, but instead of going to his apartment, Steve made his way to the medical wing to visit her. He'd had breakfast with her that morning before Tony had pulled him upstairs for meeting after meeting. He'd gotten many a dirty look from his friend as he'd checked his phone each time a text had come through with a status update from the others he'd sent in his place.

Entering the medical wing, he nodded to the nurses on staff and made his way to her room, knocking and waiting for a welcoming response from inside, before he went in.

Maybe it was the dim lights in the room or the way her face was partially shaded, but he swore her face lit up when she saw him and he felt an excited thrill race through him when he saw a wide smile spread across her face. It was the first real smile he'd seen on her face since the morning of the mission.

"How was your day?" she asked him and then she smirked. "We both know your minions kept you up to date on mine."

He felt his face flush slightly as he sat down in the chair next to her bed. "I just didn't want you to be alone," he said, apologetically.

"I know, thank you," she said, holding her hand out to him.

Scooting the chair closer to the bed, he took her hand, cradling it delicately in his larger one, unable to not notice how it fit perfectly within his. Looking up at her, he saw that her eyes were focused back on their hands and there was a smile on her face.

—————

Despite his busy schedule, Steve always showed up at the end of the day to spend some time with you while you were cooped up due to your injuries. Sometimes the two of you would hold hands and sometimes you wouldn't, but he always made you feel like he cared about you.

He was with you, a week after the mission, when the doctor told you that you were well enough to be released from the medical wing, but not allowed to be on your own, quite yet, and asked if there was someone you could stay with.

"She can stay with me," Steve offered, almost immediately. Then he looked back at you with a blush on his cheeks. "I mean, if you want to."

You nodded your head, not even bothering to say the words aloud. You wanted very much to stay with him. You weren't ready for the two of you to go back to being casual friends.

Two days later, he led you into one of the spacious apartments reserved for the high-level staff, of which, he was. Though you didn't need him to, he cupped your elbow, in support, as he gave you a tour of his home. The truth was, you didn't need his help to get around, but you didn't want him to think you didn't want him to touch you. Because you did.

Being alone with him, having those quiet, private conversations with him in the medical wing, had awoken a new set of feelings for him that were anything but friendly. You'd even had a dream, or two, while in the medical wing, in which real memories you had of talking with Steve throughout the compound had become distorted to the point that they were about you and Steve making out or having sex instead.

New images sprang to your mind after he showed you his bedroom. There wasn't anything spectacular about it, just large, masculine furniture and decorated simply shades of blue-gray. He showed you the guest room, next, and, while it was nice, it wasn't a comfortable as his room had felt.

—————

Steve had faced temptation in the past, but never in the form of a half-awake beauty standing in his kitchen wearing a pair of too big pajama bottoms and a bulky sweatshirt. She'd been in his home for a week now, but he couldn't remember a time before she had lived with him and he didn't want to. She brought a new air to his apartment that made it homier and, for the first time ever, he couldn't wait to come home after work.

He'd had feelings for her, romantic feelings, before the mission, but he had ignored them. But after she'd been hurt and had nearly been killed, he could no longer keep them at bay. He was in love with her and he wanted to tell her, but he wanted to wait until she was strong enough on her own before he told her. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she had to tell him she loved him too for fear he'd throw her out if she didn't.

The right time came roughly two weeks later, after she'd been back in her own apartment for a week and been back at work, in a limited role, for a week. They'd gone back to their routine of hanging out in common areas, but he always walked her back to her apartment so they could spend some time alone, too.

It was on the couch in her apartment that he closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath before he turned to her and took her hands into his.

She looked up, then, and met his eyes, giving him a small smile that both calmed his nerves and added to them.

"I hate that you got hurt," he said, trusting his gut to lead him through his confession. He felt her hands stiffen slightly in his and tried to calm her by caressing the back of her hands with his thumb. It worked, slightly, so he plunged on. "But if you hadn't, I never would have realized that I loved you."

He didn't know how he expected her to react to that, but he hadn't expected her to yank her hands out of his grasp and get off the couch. She paced in front of him, wringing her hands as she did so. Every now and then, she'd glance in his direction then look away, but she said nothing for several minutes.

Finally, he saw her take a deep breath, as if bracing herself, and then she spoke, without looking at him. "I think you should leave," she said so softly he didn't think he heard her correctly. "Please. Leave. Steve." Her voice was stronger the second time, but there was a noticeable quiver to it.

Instead of waiting for him to do so, she quickly made her way into her bedroom and had the door closed and locked before he'd even gotten off of the couch.

He stared after her in shock, not having a clue what had just happened. A part of him wanted to storm after her and demand that she tell him what was going on, but then he remembered her wavering voice and knew he couldn't do that.

Instead, he got up, walked to her front door and took one last glance at her bedroom door before he locked her door and left the apartment.

—————

You sat on your bed, listening for a sign that he'd left. After hearing the gentle closing of your door, you waited a couple more minutes, to make sure he was really gone, before you opened your door a smidge to check. The living room was empty and you let out a sigh of relief that became a choked sob full of despair.

Sinking down on the sofa, you buried your face in your hands and didn't fight the tears that had been building since his declaration of supposed love. You'd been waiting for him to tell you he loved you, but not that way. Not out of guilt for you getting hurt.

You'd overheard Sam and Bucky talking one day when they'd had a "shift change" while you'd been in the medical wing. They'd obviously thought you'd been sleeping, but despite their hushed tones, you'd caught the meaning behind their exchange: Steve felt guilty for you getting hurt. You'd always known he took his job to heart and didn't like it when a plan didn't go the way he planned, it was a quality of his that you'd always admired.

At the time, you hadn't put any connection to him spending so much time with you together with him feeling guilty that you'd gotten hurt. After all, the two of you had been friends before. But now…

"I hate that you got hurt," his voice echoed in your head. "But if you hadn't-"

You shook your head violently, trying to get the words out of there, but they kept repeating. Kept reminding you that while you'd been falling helplessly in love with Steve Rogers, he'd been keeping you company out of pure guilt and claiming, now, that it was love.

Still on a two page long, restricted activity list, which meant you couldn't use a punching bag to let out your frustration, you did the next best thing. You stood up and went to bed, burying yourself under the blankets as you cried, willing yourself to fall asleep.

—————

"You look like shit," Sam stated upon entering Steve's apartment, a couple days later, without as much as a courteous knock, Bucky behind him. "Did you even shower this weekend?"

"What do you want?" Steve asked, glaring at his friends.

"Well, it's Monday and you missed a meeting," Bucky stated as he sat down in one of the leather chairs in the living room. "Tony offered to come check on you, but we thought it was best if we did."

"We figured it might have something to do with a certain other person deciding she overdid herself last week and needing another day or two to rest," Sam said, trying to lead the conversation.

Jaw clenched, Steve glared at his friend, who then declared, "Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner, folks."

"Did something happen between you two?" Bucky asked in a more sensitive manner than Sam appeared to be able to manage. "You two seemed to be getting close."

"I thought we were," Steve admitted, running a hand over two days growth of stubble on his chin. "So, I told her I loved her and she threw me out of her apartment."

He didn't miss the look his friends shared before Sam inquired, "When you say that you told her you loved her, how exactly did you say it? You did say it right, you didn't throw yourself at her, did you?"

"Of course I said it," Steve snapped, glaring daggers at him. "I told her that I hated that she got hurt, but if she hadn't, I never would have realized I loved her."

He didn't need the looks on his friends' faces to tell him what he'd heard in his own retelling of his declaration of love. Instead of the romantic gesture he'd meant by the words, he only heard a guilty man declaring love.

"Fuck!" he cursed. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

"At least you figured out what went wrong," Sam offered, unhelpfully. "So now what?"

—————

It started with little gifts randomly showing up on your desk, when you went back to work on Tuesday, knowing you couldn't hide in your apartment without a lot of questions being asked. The little trinkets were meaningless to most people, but they held meaning to you and you knew they were from Steve. One had been a little Scottie dog figurine that had a startling likeness to the dog you'd had growing up, a nod to one of the first conversations you and Steve had shared. Another had been a Hufflepuff House magnet, that reminded you of your attempt at explaining the Harry Potter books to Steve. Similar conversation reminders appeared over the next couple of days and you were on edge, slightly, expecting Steve to appear out of nowhere.

He didn't though. He didn't even refer to himself until a bouquet of daisies, your favorite flowers, appeared on your desk at the end of the day on Friday, exactly a week after you'd asked him to leave. As flowers usually do, they created a stir from the other ladies in the department, but even without seeing the card, they all seemed to know they were from Steve.

"He's so thoughtful," one of them said, wistfully. "You really are lucky to have started out as friends before becoming more."

"I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had done that instead of marrying my first husband," another agreed. "I thought we'd be seeing more of him around now that you two are together."

"We're trying to keep it private," you said, clutching the unopened card to your chest. "Keep it separate from work, you know." It wasn't a lie, you and Steve had been keeping that part of your relationship private, from nosy coworkers and friends.

It was another five minutes before they exited your area and you were able to finally read Steve's card. In his fine hand, he'd written just three words: I love you.

There was no explanation, no excuses, nothing that could have justified the little leap your heart made at those words written in his own hand. You'd always known Steve to be a simple, uncomplicated man, despite the fact that disaster seemed to follow him, and knew that he meant those three words.

Without any direction as to where he might be, you followed your gut and headed to the common area where the two of you had had your first conversation, not even waiting for your shift to be over. Sure enough, he was there and, as if he could sense your presence, he turned and looked at you as you stood in the doorway.

—————

Steve hadn't been convinced she would come, but there she was, standing there waiting for something, but for what? Did she want him to go to her? Did she want to go somewhere private? Whatever it was, he had a gut feeling it wasn't something bad. If it had been, she wouldn't be here, smiling at him like that.

He stood up, bringing an abrupt end to the story that Clint was telling. He was oblivious to everyone around him, except for her. His rising from his seat had propelled her into the room. As if pulled by an invisible magnet, they found themselves meeting in the middle of the room. He brought his hand up to dry the tears from her cheeks and then had the sudden urge to kiss her. So he did.

And she kissed him back.

At some point, the sounds of catcalls, wolf whistles and clapping broke through the bubble that had formed around them at their initial movements. With the sudden realization that they were very much in public, Steve set her feet back on the ground, unsure of when he'd actually swept her off her feet, and smiled down at her, slightly embarrassed but more interested in getting her alone.

Knowing they had to let their friends abuse them a little, just to get it off their chests, they stayed for a little while longer before they went to his apartment.

Despite wanting to take her directly to his room, Steve reminded himself that there was an important conversation that needed to happen first and it couldn't wait. He led her to the sofa and pulled her down so she was sitting next to him.

"Before we go any farther, I want to make something perfectly clear," he said, taking her hands, ironically resuming the exact position they'd been in a week prior. "Did I feel guilty after you got hurt? Yes." He tightened his grip on her hands instinctively, but it proved to be unnecessary, as her hands didn't even flinch. "But only because I'd gone against my gut instinct and let others convince me you wouldn't need the extra bulk of Kevlar." He felt her squeeze his hands gently, as if encouraging him to continue.

"That guilt has nothing to do with my love for you," he said, his eyes staring into hers. "If there is anything about my love for you that I do feel guilt over, it’s not telling you sooner." She blinked in surprise and he smiled.  "I've been in love with you for so long that I don't know when it switched from being your friend to wanting to be more.

"I ignored it though, I didn't want to ruin what we had," he continued. "But then, that day, when I realized you were in trouble and then had to watch you get shot twice before I could get to you, before I could protect you..." His voice trailed off as the memories came back to him.

—————

You could feel the break in his voice all the way to your soul as the man you loved crumpled in front of you, the emotional strain of the last week, hell, the last month finally catching up to him. To both of you, you realized as you felt tears on your own cheeks.

"I love you, too, Steve," you told him, letting go of his hands so you could wrap your arms around him in a tight embrace. "I don't know how or when it happened, but I realized that I loved you when I was recovering from surgery."

Sensing he needed some strength, you pushed him back against the cushions of the couch then straddled his waist. You spent the next little while telling him you loved him in between kisses. First on his face, then his lips, then his neck and then his lips, again, the words slowly being replaced by longer, more passionate kisses.

"No," he whispered, when you reached for the hem of his shirt. "Not out here."

He stood up with ease, despite the fact that you still clung to him, and carried you into his bedroom, his arms wrapped around your torso and your legs wrapped around his waist. He set you on to the middle of the bed and then pushed you back against the blankets as he began kissing you again.

—————

A disappointed sound escaped her swollen lips when Steve pulled away and sat back on the bed, his breathing heavy. He'd enjoyed kissing her, but he wanted to go farther, but wouldn't until she was ready to do so.

"Do you want me to go?" she asked, quietly.

"No!" he answered quickly, grabbing her hand just in case. "I don't want you to leave. Ever. But I also don't want to do anything you're not ready to do."

"I'm ready for everything and anything," she said in a shy yet confident voice. "As long as you are."

Steve nodded his head and turned back to her, his eyebrows shooting up when he saw her pull her shirt over her head, revealing a simple bra that cupped her breasts perfectly.

"Your turn," she said as she let the shirt drop to the floor.

Standing up, Steve yanked his shirt over his head, dropped it, and then, with a quick glance at her, undid the fastenings of his pants and let them fall to the floor at his feet. Only realizing, as he tried to step out of the pants, that he was still wearing his shoes.

Her melodic giggle filled the room as he nearly fell over in an attempt to take off his shoes without sitting down. Admitting defeat, he sat down on the bed, pulled off his shoes and socks and then kicked his pants off.

Rolling his head towards her smiling face, he said, "Checkmate."

—————

A flush spread across your face as you stood up, his heavy gaze upon you. Wanting to avoid the situation he'd found himself in, you slid off your ballet flats and nudged them out of the way with your foot.

You took a deep, calming breath as your hands found the zipper of your work trousers that was on your hip. Slowly, you slid the zipper down and then wiggled your hips a little to help get the probably a little too tight pants down over your hips and bum. Once past your knees, the dark trousers pooled instantly at your feet.

Steve held a hand out to you and you took it, using him to support your weight as you stepped out of the pants. With his encouragement, you got back on the bed and sat beside him.

He leaned into you, his mouth finding yours again while his hands touched the bare skin of your torso. His touches started innocently enough, but then rose higher to your bra and then under your bra. You sucked in a breath against his lips as his fingers brushed against your nipples for the first time, sending jolts of desire through your body.

He teased you around the satin fabric of your bra until you couldn't stand it anymore. Reaching behind your back, you unclasped the now-offending item of clothing. Pulling away from him, you rounded your shoulders as you slid your bra off, revealing your naked breasts to him for the first time.

The bra slipped from your hand as he pushed you backwards so you were laying down. He positioned himself next to you and, ever so slowly, began to touch you. His hands caressed your torso, sliding nearer and nearer to the fullness of your breasts, but dancing away at the last moment.

Then you felt him circle one of your new scars and you stiffened. In the heat of the moment, you'd forgotten all about them and, now, there was no way to hide them, the ugly marks that blemished your skin.

—————

He felt her stiffen when his fingers circled her still healing scars, but not in a painful way. Instead of circling it again, he lowered his mouth to her skin and kissed each scar, the ones from her bullet wounds and the ones from the surgery that had saved her life.

Feeling she needed some vocal encouragement as well, he whispered, "You're beautiful. So beautiful. These scars… these scars…" He brought his gaze up to meet hers. "These scars are just an external example of how much of a fighter you are. They're proof that you're alive. And I love them. And I love you."

"Steve," her voice quivered as she reached up and brushed her hand over his cheek.

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips and used his thumbs to brush away her tears. After guiding her hands to rest on the bed above her head, he slid his hands from her shoulders down to the bottom of her breasts, cupping the fleshy mounds in his large hands.

The soft, pleasure-filled noises that slipped from her mouth encouraged him as he took advantage of the size of his hands and how much of her breasts he could touch at once. Her nipples became hard peaks under the attention of his fingers and became so tempting that he couldn't resist leaning forward and taking one in his mouth.

—————

Desire rushed through your body as you felt his wicked tongue circle one nipple and then the other. Wanting, no, needing more, you arched your back, pressing your breast against his face, making him chuckle against your skin. You felt the vibrations of said chuckle from your breasts all the way to your pulsing sex.

"Steve," you whispered in desperation. "Please."

The sensation of his hot mouth clamping down on one of your nipples sent chills down your spine and you could practically feel your panties get wetter. Your eyes closed and you bit down on your lower lip as he suckled one breast and then the other, all the while, making sure each were being given attention, whether with his mouth or with his hand.

Leaving your breasts, you felt him kiss down your body to the waistband of your panties. There, he teased the flesh above it and then slid his fingers down between your parted legs, making you moan as he pressed the damp fabric against your needy folds.

"Damn, baby," he muttered, his lips pressed so close to you that you could feel his hot breath against your skin.

He teased you, then, taking his time not touching you where you desperately wanted him to.

"Steve, please," you pleaded.

—————

The scent of her arousal was making him drunk and her words made his already hard cock, painfully harder. He quickly found the waistband of her panties and pulled them down her legs until they fell onto the floor.

Without being prompted, his lady parted her legs farther, opening herself up to him completely. He slid his gaze up from the pink of her folds, up her beautiful body and to her bright eyes. He smiled at her and winked before he nestled himself between her legs.

Her little noises filled the room as he first, touched her and, then, tasted her, before he began to use both methods on her. He felt her hands slide through his short hair and nearly latch onto his ears as her body rocked in a wave like motion as he brought her closer and closer to an orgasm. When it hit, her whole body shook and then contracted as he continued to slid his fingers in and out of her core.

With an urge to kiss her, Steve slid up her body, positioning his arms on either side of her, and captured her mouth with his, finding her just as needy to kiss him as he was to kiss her.

Then her hand found his cock and he let out a low moan as she began to slide her hand up and down the shaft.

"Oh god," he moaned into her ear, his hips jerking forward into her touch. He let her do it for a few more seconds before he pulled free. Reaching over, he yanked open the drawer in his bedside table to grab a condom.

Once the condom was in place, he returned to her and carefully aligned his cock with her entrance. Simultaneous moans filled the room as he slid into her, her sex stretching to accept his size. He waited until she nodded ok and then he began to move, pulling back and sliding in a little farther each time.

—————

Steve's forehead was practically resting on yours as the two of you moved together. His chiseled body rubbing deliciously against yours as you clung to him, wanting to feel every inch of him against you.

You both became more vocal as the pleasure built. Murmuring words of encouragement along with unintelligible sounds of pure lust and desire.

With your arms wrapped tightly about him, you felt his whole body stiffen and jerk just before he let out a grunt by your ear. You slid your hands down to clutch his bum, pulling him deeper into you, as he came.

Unlike your previous lovers, who had often faded after cumming, Steve seemed to gain more strength after his orgasm and soon had you on the brink of another climax. With a seemingly magical touch, he sent you cascading over the edge.

The two of you laid there, your chests heaving, for a few minutes as you came down from your highs. Once your legs felt like they could support you again, you slipped from Steve's bed to clean yourself up in the bathroom.

When you came out, Steve was sitting with his back against the headboard waiting for you. You felt yourself blush, suddenly aware you were completely naked, as he watched you make your way back to his bed, the heat of his gaze making you feel loved and wanted.

After you got into the bed and laid down, he stretched out alongside of you. His body spooning yours in a warm, comforting way.

"Goodnight," he whispered into your ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Steve," you said before closing your eyes.

—————

Steve woke up, sometime later, his cock hard from the constant contact with her body. He shifted slightly, trying to put some space between their bodies, but stopped when she reached her hand back to stop him.

"I need you, too," she whispered in the dark.

He groaned when her hand slid down to his hardness and wrapped around it. Leaning towards her, he nuzzled her neck, encouraging her to bend her neck back to give him more access. He licked and kissed her neck as she touched him.

Not wanting to cum before he was inside of her, he pulled away to get a condom and then slid it on. Coming back to her, he slid his hand down her body, taking a few moments to toy with her nipples, before reaching the apex of her thighs, where he found her more than ready for him.

"I was having a really good dream," she admitted without an ounce of embarrassment in her voice. "You were fucking me really good."

"Like this?" he asked before lifting her upper leg, allowing her to hook it over his own, so there was room for him to slid into her sex in a single thrust.

She let out a moan of confirmation as she rolled forward slightly so he could hold on to her hip as he moved behind her. With his hands busy, she used her own to touch herself. Their moans filled the room as their passion built to the point where they both came, nearly at the same time.

After cleaning up a bit, they fell back to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.

—————

The faint signs of daylight were sneaking into the bedroom when you woke up, your head resting on Steve's chest. You could tell from the slow breaths he was taking that he was still asleep.

Leaning back slightly, you took in the wide expanse of his bare torso and all the muscular bits that sent zings directly to your clit. Your eyes followed his pecs to his abs and his abs to… the hard cock that was tenting the bed sheets.

"He likes attention," Steve's sleepy voice said. "If you ignore him, he'll go away on his own. He just really likes you."

"I really like him," you told Steve and then went about proving it. You made your way down his chest, nipping, licking, sucking and kissing every hard plane of it on your way to down to the part of his body that most wanted your attention. Pulling back the covers, you licked your lips and began to play with him.

The sounds that came from Steve's mouth as you used your hands on him and then your mouth, sent jolts of pleasure to your heated core. It was all you could do to remain on your hands and knees between his legs, circling the tip of his cock with your tongue when all you wanted to do was ride him and ride him hard.

It was Steve, ultimately, who made the decisive move. Taking advantage of you giving your jaw a break, he pulled you forward and ordered you to get a condom. You obeyed and quickly grabbed one.

After you slid it on to his cock, he sat up and pulled you into his arms in a sitting position, face to face. He held onto you as you lowered yourself down onto his cock. Your hands found the back of his neck as you began to move, rocking back and forth as you rode him.

With one hand securely on your back, his other hand wandered, taking advantage of the position the two of you were in. They started at your breasts and you arched your back towards him as he played with your nipples. Then his talented fingers slipped between your legs where the two of you were joined and he teased your clit, bringing you closer and closer to your release.

His extra attention on you, meant you came just moments before he did. You shuddered in his embrace and slumped against him as the night's events caught up with you.

—————

He watched her sleep for a long time. He was aware that it was weird, but he didn't care at all. She was the woman he loved and he'd almost lost her before he could tell her how much he cared about her.

Now, though, she knew how much he loved her and he knew that she loved him, too. She was his future, that much he knew. Whether they were here at the compound or if they found a house nearby, like Tony and Pepper had, he didn't know, but as long as he was with her, he would be happy.

She sighed in her sleep and he smiled. What had started as conversations in one of the common areas had blossomed into a lifetime of happiness with her by his side.

Want to find me off tumblr? I’m @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

My tag list is always open, just let me know if you’d like to be added!

[malyen0retsev]

MAIN KEY ENDGAME THOUGHT UNDER CUT (overall thought is i loved it, people are literally saying stuff online for notes and likes, that’s it, gtfo)

Sam Wilson has been my favourite ‘secondary’ main character since The Winter Soldier. Bucky is a firm second, and I would cross the earth for Gamora and Shuri and Loki, but Sam... Sam has always always held my heart. Sam vanishing away into the ground with Rhodey running around yelling “SAM! SAM!” hurt me in my soul

I’ve always felt Sam is incredibly underrated within the MCU. He’s loyal, fierce, funny, sarcastic, and smart to his core. I love him.

SAM IS OUR NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA. AND I COULDN’T BE ANY FUCKING PROUDER.

My man Sam Wilson is finally getting the upmost recognition he deserves and has always deserved - out of all of the characters, he is the one who has always tried to live closest to the ideals Steve strove for. He is the perfect person to pick up that mantle. The perfect person. 

And also can we just

In 2019

WE HAVE A BLACK CAPTAIN AMERICA.

[downtimebymatthew]

Down Time with Matthew- 5 Super Hero Movies That Should Be Made

What’s up guys!? Welcome to a new blog. On todays blog we will doing some brainstorming and also a lot of hoping. So let’s cut to the chase, the 5th movie I’d like to see is...

5. Robin- One of my favorite characters ever is Robin, especially the Dick Grayson version. I think the DCEU could really benefit from getting some fresh blood, and the DCEU should work on developing some of there characters. I would like the movie to use flash backs of Robin’s past, but mostly focus on the present, as he moves to Bludhaven. I also think the end of the movie should hint at my number 4 movie...

4. Teen Titans- Teen Titans was one of my favorite tv shows ever and with that being said I think it would make a great movie. Beast Boy is an awesome character, pair him with a rebooted Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Robin and you got a good movie. For the main villain you could use Deathstroke, who we saw at the end of Justice League, or Raven’s demon father Trigon. Also, the Teen Titans can help to incorporate characters like Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter and all of the mini versions of Justice League heroes like Kid Flash and Super-Boy.

3. Dare-Devil- Hell’s Kitchen’s finest. Dare-Devil is easily one of my favorite heroes. I would love a movie based off him, with the main villain being Kingpin. Also featured in the movie would be his love interest Elektra. Having Dare-Devil in the MCU could help keep the MCU more down to earth(literally). With cosmic villains galore, a street-fighting, thug-bashing hero would be really cool to see. Also, team- ups between him and Spider-Man would be insane!! Make this happen MCU.

2. Iron Fist- Another one of my favorite heroes. Iron Fist is a very interesting character, who could really be bent into a great movie character. He could take the role of a guy like Hawkeye, and could help form a secondary Avengers team to help keep the MCU balanced and interesting. Imagine having an 1A Avengers team, dealing with the big time villains, and then a 2A Avengers team on the street. These 2A Avengers could have Iron Fist, Dare- Devil, She-Hulk is she ever appears in the MCU and maybe even Black Panther’s super cool sister Shuri. 2A Avengers(I’ll have to think of a better name) sounds like a good movie, but it’s not my number one...

The Fantastic 4- In yesterdays blog I expressed my desire for the Fantastic 4 in the MCU and I’ll do it again. The Fantastic 4 could help team up with the Avengers, fight villains like Galactus and Doctor Doom and go to Wakanda. They could also help to introduce Namor, the Sub- Mariner. The Fantastic 4 would provide a family aspect to the MCU, along with some extra youth and comedy, and could really help branch out the MCU. 

So there you have it, my top 5 movies I’d like to see. Over the next two blogs I will do my top five for both Marvel and DC, so look out for that. And one more thing. Remember to keep reading the most super blog on the web. Down Time with Matthew

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Hypothetical plot outline for “Spiderman 2”

We start off with a cold opening. The year is 2010 and Norman Osborn, CEO of OsCorp, is meeting with smuggler Ulysses Klaue over a trade for vibranium. Klaue suddenly flees when he realizes they are being watched and Osborn is attacked by members of the Dora Milaje. T’Chaka shows up and tells Osborn that they knew about the deal weeks earlier and that the original plan was to kill him. However, T’Chaka decides Osborn’s punishment should be more severe and so he lets him live...but exposes his affiliation with stolen vibranium and Ulysses Klaue. Osborn is forced out of OsCorp and is sent to prison, which leads into present day. It’s a few months after Infinity War. Peter Parker has been brought back from the dead but is haunted by his time inside the Soul Gem pocket dimension. This is mainly to mirror Tony Stark’s anxiety arc from “Iron Man 3”, with Peter being reluctant to return to his Spiderman suit. Prom is approaching and teen love is in the air. Ned Leeds tries to get Pete a date but Pete isn’t having it. At the same time, Princess Shuri arrives in New York City to attend a Young Geniuses’ Convention. Ned, still wanting to be a good friend to Pete, puts out a joke request on Twitter and Instagram. “Hey Princess Shuri, my friend Peter Parker has been feeling down a bit for these past few weeks. Problems at home and stuff. Do you think you can be his date to prom? Help cheer him up a bit?” It’s a complete joke but to Ned’s surprise, Shuri publicly accepts the request (mainly because she already knows he’s Spider-Man from T’Challa). Peter isn’t thrilled and is about to cancel the prom date until he comes across a group of thugs discussing Shuri’s arrival in the city. Peter listens in and learns that someone is offering a hefty reward to assassinate her. Horrified by this, Peter decides to stick close to Shuri in order to look out for her assassin. Who’s the assassin? The movie’s “main” (actually, secondary) antagonist, Rhino. Rhino is a Russian criminal whose Rhino suit is made of OsCorp technology. He’s personally approached by the person who puts the kill order in the first place. Their identity is a secret...for now. Anyways, Rhino attacks and Peter gets into a big fight with him. Although Peter can hold his own, his anxiety attacks nearly cripple him in the fight. Rhino escapes and Peter and Shuri begin their investigation on who put out the kill order. As this is happening, Ned introduces Pete to his date; Peter’s childhood best friend, Gwen Stacy who has recently moved back to New York City. Gwen is also an awkward genius who immediately clicks with Peter due to their past friendship. At the same time, Michelle Jones starts getting closer to Peter, noticing that he’s not fully well. A love triangle forms between Peter, Gwen, and MJ, with Shuri and Ned following the drama. Now, Gwen’s interest in Peter feels intentionally forced. Although she’s going to prom with Ned and has history with Peter, she keeps trying to spend time with him, forcing him away from everyone else, and most of her dialogue is a bit cliche. We do get some backstory, mainly that her mother struggled to support her. Gwen’s mom in the MCU was a maid who worked for the elite. MJ’s interactions are a bit more realistic, with her giving space to Peter when he needs it. Peter tells MJ that he’s been having panic attacks since Thanos and MJ says she understands. This leads us to one of the big moments of the movie; MJ says she knows Peter is Spider-Man. She says she figured it out when Peter abandoned Liz Allan at Homecoming. Ned confirms this, saying that he revealed Peter’s secret identity to MJ sometime after Homecoming when MJ pressed him about Peter’s disappearances. Noticing that Peter and MJ are getting close, Shuri tells MJ that even though all of them are going to prom together, MJ’s first dance should be with Peter. The day before prom, Peter tracks Rhino down and tries to capture him. Rhino escapes but Pete manages to catch one of his henchman. It turns out, Rhino’s been working with OsCorp employees. Originally, Pete thought that Rhino stole the suit but with this revelation, Pete learns that the person who sent out the kill order on Shuri is tied to OsCorp. Prom arrives and MJ, Shuri, Ned, and Gwen head over without Pete. Pete decides to cancel, deciding to follow up on the OsCorp lead. Shuri tells him that when it comes to OsCorp, a reason why someone would want her dead is because her father ruined Norman Osborn’s reputation. Peter then decides to sneak into the home of the current CEO of OsCorp, Mendel Stromm, and see if he can pull any information on Norman. Peter doesn’t find much...except a letter which grimly says “YOU RUINED MY FAMILY” at the top. The rest of the letter mainly blames Mendel Stromm and OsCorp for not defending Norman in his trial. Peter focuses on the “my family” section and he realizes that whoever is out to destroy Shuri is related to Norman. Also, the henchmen who are working for Rhino are OsCorp employees that are still loyal to Norman, hinting at a civil war within the company. Unbeknownst to Peter, MJ, Ned, and Shuri leave prom halfway through the night to help him. Gwen tags along, much to MJ’s chagrin. While on their way to Stromm’s mansion, Rhino attacks and captures everyone but MJ. Peter arrives and tries to rescue them but suffers another anxiety attack and is knocked out. MJ nurses him back to health and tells him what happened. Peter brings up the “YOU RUINED MY FAMILY” letter and they do some investigating. There’s no records of Norman ever having a child...except an affair with one of his maids. Cut back to Shuri, Ned, and “Gwen”, we learn that the person who put the kill order on Shuri is none other than “Gwen”. Turns out, “Gwen Stacy” was the name her mother gave her. However, her father knew her by another name. Harriet Osborn. Yes, in addition to benig the MCU Gwen Stacy, she is also the MCU Harry Osborn. We learn through flashbacks that Harriet is Norman’s illegitimate daughter due to her being a result of an affair. She’s been planning her revenge against OsCorp and the Wakandan royalty for years. Although she originally wanted Rhino to kill Shuri, she changed her mind and wanted to do it in person. Thanks to Ned making the joke request for Shuri to go to prom with Peter, Harriet made the move to reconnect with Peter in order to get close to Shuri. Shuri says Harriet’s insane and Harriet says, “True...my mind’s been all over the place after I did this to myself.” Harriet pulls out a vial of the Goblin formula, showing that she’s already enhanced herself, at the cost of her sanity. Harriet pulls out a knife, ready to kill Shuri, when all of a sudden, Rhino’s suit explodes (during the scene where Shuri and Ned were kidnapped by Rhino, she threw one of her specialized grenades at him which didn’t go off until now. Shuri makes a joke about how the delayed fuse saved their lives). Shuri and Ned escape and Harriet orders Rhino to go after them, unveiling a bigger, more destructive suit for him. Meanwhile she puts on the Green Goblin suit and flies out on the glider. Peter and MJ arrive at the scene. The final battle mainly goes like this: Peter and Shuri fighting Rhino and Green Goblin Ned and MJ trying to warn people to get off the streets. Rhino goes down first, with Shuri disabling his suit and Peter delivering the final blow. As the team cheers Rhino’s defeat, Peter is captured by Green Goblin, who takes the fight away from Shuri, MJ, and Ned. Harriet throws Peter through the walls of the now-abandoned Osborn mansion. They have a heart-to-heart, with Harriet saying that her father’s legacy are now these ruins and Peter snaps back, saying Norman is responsible for his own downfall. Peter says he doesn’t want to fight her but stops just short of telling her his secret identity. Harriet says, “It’s too late for that,” and they fight. Harriet ruthlessly taunts Peter the whole time. Eventually, Peter fights through one last anxiety attack and gets the upper hand and has Harriet webbed to the floor. Harriet than taunts Peter some more, saying that he should just finish her off since she’ll just escape and go after Shuri again. Peter then coldly states that he’ll be ready if she ever goes after him or Shuri again. However, Harriet gets the last word, saying, “I’ll see you again soon...Peter,” revealing that she knew about his secret identity the whole time. As the movie ends, Peter is sulking on the roof of his apartment. MJ joins him and says that he saved the day. Peter’s sorry that he ruined prom and MJ tells him to not worry about it. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel then starts playing and MJ and Peter see that Shuri is at the base of the apartment, holding a boombox over her head (hopefully, anyone reading this gets the reference). Pete says, “What is she doing?” and MJ says, “I think she wants us to dance.” Peter and MJ dance, ending the movie. MID-CREDITS SCENE: Aunt May is watching the news and is talking about the Spider-Man to Peter. She points to the news, saying that Spider-Man saved a woman falling from a bridge. Peter says that’s impossible (mainly because he didn’t do it) and when he turns his attention to the TV, he sees Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) swinging away. Peter is stunned at the sight of another person with spider powers. POST-CREDITS SCENE: Ned storms the offices of the Daily Bugle and throws their latest paper at J. Jonah Jameson. Ned shouts that he hates their negative coverage of Spider-Man before he is kicked out by security. Jonah simply shrugs and goes back to what he was doing.

[zenosanalytic]

Doom-Broom Looms; Assumes Costumed Groom will Fume in Tomb-Gloom: The Tune-Presumed Consumes

Yes I did it; No I’m not sorry; Shutup it’s a Gr8 Headline; Mild Spoilers below cut:

So I really liked this one, I’d say it’s at least as good as the first Avengers and probably better, making it the best of the Avenger films so far. As per tradition, I will start with what I didn’t like first and, aside from the first two, they’re mostly Quibbles:

The Bads

So:

Labeling the cruelty of an abusive guardian -who murdered his child’s family, surgically altered and experimented on her without her consent, forced her to kill, forced her to fight and sometimes kill her siblings to protect her body and her life from that parent- as love is some Buuuullshit >:( I can easily accept that Thanos would think he loved her, abusers tell themselves all sort of garbage to justify what they do, but that some omnipotent universe-stone would judge that situation and those feelings sincere is, again, Buuuuuullsheeeeiiiit >:( >:( Attaching that execrable nonsense to the killing of Gamora makes it so much worse, and then connecting that to how Thanos “wins” through Quill’s anger, makes it even, even worse. 

Their choices on who to “kill” were fucked up and bad. Bucky dealing with a world without Steve is interesting. T’Challa traumatized by the loss of his closest friends and torn between healing/protecting his people and helping bring Thanos to justice and potentially undoing what he did is interesting(not to mention how loved the character is. Though I’m p sure we’ll see a BP Shuri as a result, which I’m very much looking forward to). Scarlet Witch given the chance to grow on her own, instead of being tethered to a guy, is Interesting. Groot dealing with the death of their “parent”/Confidant/translator is Interesting. Having Banner “die” so that only The Hulk is left would have been interesting. Going with what they did was stupid. Killing off Fury and Hill was Stupid. Wiping out, to a duo(!), the Guardians of the Galaxy was Stupid. Killing Drax and Mantis is some Galaxy-Brained Criminal Ignorance! Killing Heimdall I understand BUT(!!!), at the same time, Elba’s a great actor and Ragnarok’s the only film to make even decent use of him, so I’d have liked to see him live through this one and into the next one, at least, before he was killed. And, as others have said, the general race&gender balance of the killings was, charitably, Iffy.

These are some seriously flawed ethical/political choices they made for this film, and they didn’t have to make them. Totally could have handled all of this differently, and better, than they did. So on to the Quibbles!

Having Gamora and Peter’s relationship, which had, so well and realistically to two folks working through trauma and immaturity, been cooking low and slow over the two GoG movies, suddenly be physically and emotionally intimate and vulnerable, and having her saying things like “I love you more than anything” to him, when they live on a tiny ship with zero privacy with four(?) other people, and doing all of that purely for plot-convenience, was dumb and lazy and Lame. Character dev should serve the characters first and plot second; this complaint kinda dovetails with my issues with SW and Vision in the next para.  

There really should have been one more movie, and maybe two or three, before this one. The character writing was great and all, but Scarlet Witch and Vision just haven’t had the time to be developed enough as characters for their(rather central) place in the movie to be emotionally meaningful enough. A movie focusing on them, or maybe on Steve’s “unofficial” Avengers, would have really helped add some more depth and impact to Infinity War. The other movies I think would have helped are another Dr. Strange(I didn’t like the first one much at all and he didn’t really come off as all that capable to me in the first one and really seemed to just fall into the role of Sorcerer-Supreme by dint of being the last one standing), and Definitely another Black Panther. There are obvious scheduling reasons for not holding off for a second Black Panther(which are totally Marvisny’s fault, of course; for instance, if they’d just introduced the character earlier, so that CW would have been the 2nd BP movie and BP the 3rd), but Dr. Strange was 2016 and they could have totally gotten another one out, with some significant crew and writing changes, before this to flesh out, build up, and actually render interesting/likeable, the character. Though, I suppose maybe there were equally obvious financial reasons why not to roll the dice on that franchise again(though though, looking it up just now it topped Captain America: The First Avenger on box office, which is Insane).

Dispensing with Nova off-screen. I Mean: WTH. That should, at the least, have been an in-credit sequence(in GoG 2 or T:R). Something as simple as showing Thanos with the Power Gem, then panning out to show a devastated Nova Command or him taunting Nova Prime before killing her, would have been fine(though, the GoG movies gave me the impression the Nova Corps would have been a tough nut for Thanos to crack).

Probably my most niche opinion: they should have, FINALLY, done a movie crossover with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast here, especially given the in-credit sequence. Marvel and Disney have been promising Chloe Bennet that AoS was going to be her vehicle into film work since the series started and this is, like, the third or fourth frigging times they’ve either reneged or passed on a chance to boost her up into the big leagues, and frankly it’s annoying. She’s a good actress, The Inhumans should have stayed a movie and been that vehicle(with the characters they made protags the villains S.H.I.E.L.D. was fighting), and, given the stakes and the nature of the conflict, it’d have been easy to ameliorate that mistake by bringing her, the rest of the AoS cast, and Fury in on this one as secondary characters. I mean, it’d have been better if they’d had two or three SHIELD movies spread out over the MCU by now, or always included them in the Avengers films to give also-rans like the show cast and Hawkeye places to shine, but barring that and given Disnal’s fuckup with Inhumans, they should have made a go of it here. Ming-Na Wen also deserves more time on the Big Screen and, while Johannson’s Fine in the films, Wen does her character-type Better u_u u_u u_u

Like I said, Quibbles, they don’t really detract from the movie. The main problems with Infinity War, to me, are it’s screwy plot-ethics.

The Goods

Not really much to say here other than “I liked it and had fun”. The character writing was good, the dialogue was funny, the fight choreography was, given the logistics of multicharacter combat, Fine, the fights were engaging, the camerawork was(mostly) clear, the costume design was great, the side characters(especially the Black Order) all got good beats of their own, the Heroes(except Black Panther and maybe SW, since she was restricted to just moving things and blasting things) all got opportunities to show off their abilities. IW really validated the “Comics=Wrestling” critical lens I was introduced to by @some-triangles, as it felt like a Wrestlemania or Battle Royale more than anything else to me. Related to that there were some really dumb moments, like when Scarlet Witch left the lab to enter the rin-, er, battlefield, but you basically knew that was going to happen the instant they told her to stay in the room because Tropes, and the Forms must be Honored u_u u_u The Russos are genuinely competent movie-makers, who seem to have that all-important skill of recruiting and keeping a talented crew around them, and they made a genuinely competent movie, despite the questionable plotting.

The Judgements

So that’s my opinion on the thing. Infinity War includes some highly fucked up ethical messages for the sake of plot convenience, and confirms the MCU’s refusal to make even basic use of some really top-notch acting talent, which just happens to be mostly non-white people, that they’re (presumably)paying fortunes to have access to; if you feel that sort of ish isn’t something you can sit-through or abide giving your money to, then don’t see the film. But it’s a technically competent film, 90% of the time the writing is wonderful, and overall it’s an engaging and entertaining film so, if you can tolerate that ish in some fashion, maybe you’ll enjoy it like I did.

Oh, and it’s really long(2h40m, and there were, like, 30mins of previews before it. Seriously >:| >:| >:| They played TWO[!!!!!!] flipping Jurassic World trailers, as if anyone wants to see that junk), so I’d rec you not get any drinks if you’re going to go see it(though it’s not a big deal as there are some nice-sized lulls, reasonably spaced, to take breaks in).