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creativeashproductions · 4 years ago

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Reluctant Vacation // Charlie Gillespie

Summary: The niece of the infamous Kenny Ortega had its advantages and disadvantages, you received insight on his projects but felt guilty saying no. Kenny seeing the exhaustion pulling you down invites to the set of Julie and the Phantoms where you rediscover your love with the field.

Warning: Swearing and fluff.

Words 2.2k

A/N: I do take requests. It may take a bit to get to them but I’ll post some.

Please ask to be tagged in my inbox because I can’t promise you will be through commenting on the posts!

Masterlist

The sigh came from deep in your chest wanting to drop to the floor for an exhaustion induced nap, but an airport wasn’t the best place. Large sunglasses obscured people from seeing the deep bags under your eyes on the way to the film lot. It was coming full circle, the change different from the frantic schedule you had had recently. When Kenny called you hadn’t hesitated in packing and buying a ticket.

“Miss Y/L/N?” The voice pulled you from your thoughts as a man holding a card with your name displayed. He was of Puerto Rican descendent with a young girl beside him with similar features, “I’m Ricardo. This is my daughter Madison.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m-“

“Y/N Y/L/N.” Madison supplied with a beaming grin on her face having recognized you from your role as Sabrina in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina along with movies.

All you could do was send a fragile smile in response after a long sleepless flight to Canada.

Madison’s eyes saddened at the exhaustion you carried, “I can fangirl later. You looked really tired.”

“Kenny saw and asked me to come over the guise of help, but he knows I need a break. He’s lucky I don’t need to be on set for a few weeks.” You replied, covering a yawn as you found yourself at a car, the walk a blur.

Unintentionally you found yourself asleep in the backseat the moment you settled back there for the drive. You had filmed in Vancouver before, so it wasn’t a huge deal, and the Reyes’ duo didn’t have the heart to wake you up.

“We’re here,” Madison whispered with the back-car door opened. Your eyelids fluttering at her voice, giving Madison a closer look at your face.

Walking on set, you saw Kenny giving one of his pep talks before he cut himself off at the sight of you. The actors surrounding him furrowed their brows as the legendary director power walked to a person concealed behind Mads.

“Sweetheart.” Kenny beamed, pulling his niece in for a hug before leaning back to scan her features, “You need a nap.”

“I need to meet your new cast.” You snickered stepping around the man to the three actors he had abandoned to see you. You found amusement in their widening eyes at the sight of the Y/N walking to them.

“Oh, my shit.” Owen gasped freaking out as the actress co-starring in the new Spider-Man trilogy came closer.

Last night Owen, Charlie and Jeremy had hosted a movie night in the rented apartment the first two rented. They had quickly made their way through Captain America: Civil War before watching the following movies with Spider-Man. You had a cameo in Captain America: Civil War before becoming a star in Homecoming and Far From Home.

“We manifested her.” Charlie hissed frantically fixing his set costume growing a blush at the smile you wore. He could feel the hair stylist on standby glaring at his tousled locks.

The girl in question came to a stop before the three guys portraying the phantoms of the show in the second season. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the expressions each one of them had.

“Hello.” You greeted flattered when the tall blonde one turned a blossom pink at the voice of an angel. Charlie and Owen had developed celebrity crushes on you.

In revenge, Tori, a returning choreographer and background character, saw Charlie’s expression along with a familiar girl. After filming season one ended the previous year you had stopped by during the filming process of CAOS to catch up with Kenny. Tori had been there and you two became friends.

“Hey!” Tori grinned, pulling you into a hug, “These three binged your MCU movies last night, and Charlie’s wallpaper is you.”

“Tori!”

“This is what you get for telling Booboo about the poster!” Tori called to the Canadian boy jogging out his area. Charlie’s cheek darkened more than Owen’s as your smile grew bigger.

“No worries Ghost. Luke definitely my favourite character and gotta say you should have been on Charmed more than two episodes.” You supplied walking backwards to Kenny once more yearning for a night’s rest after the flight.

“Holy shit.” Charlie choked smacking Jeremy’s arm repeatedly, “She knows me. Oh, oh, OH. She’s seen me-“

“-Getting it on for a scene.” Jeremy snickered as his friend grew more and more flustered, “That was tame compared to her and Tom going at it.”

Charlie’s face dropped being reminded of the explicit scene you had done with Tom Holland in the movie that came out near the end of 2020. The Devil All the Time was the only film out of the MCU you had done with Tom. You had played the promiscuous daughter of a devout, loyal churchgoer and close friend of the preacher.

“Didn’t they date for a few months?” Owen questioned thinking back to the media mayhem during the virtual press for the film.

Owen was correct with the chemistry between you and Tom it was natural you would do interviews together via shared video chats. Charlie watched every single one that came out with interest. He hadn’t even expected the film to do so dark and explicit, but you had a natural talent.

“English, handsome, actor-“ Charlie started to list off on the English actor with a far more extensive list of credits. Charlie felt like a Canadian child in the city of Los Angeles compared to your leading man.

“-runs a charity with his family.” Jeremy continued raising one eyebrow, “At least he isn’t tall. You’d be fully screwed.”

Charlie shoved his teasing friends away with a smirk of his own as the trio continued on to the film. Charlie put his feelings on the back burner to focus on the storyline and emotions of the scene.

“Spider-Man Three baby!” The English accent shouted from the phone with only an ocean separating the two actors. Tom hadn’t even greeted you before screaming at the news you both received; despite the scripts from a few weeks prior the sequel had fully been greenlighted

Your head tossed back at the childlike glee on the older adult, clearly displaying the two years really mean he was two years old. After meeting on the set of Civil War along with Harrison, you had become friends. Followed with the following MCU appearances, it had been a surprise to be cast in Devil All the Time.

“Insane.” You started making your way through the set to where Kenny had texted you from. It was closing to the end of your vacation.

In the few weeks, you had reconnected with Tori on her breaks along with becoming good friends with the cast members. Something clicked between you and the core four of the show even if Madison sometimes still got starstruck.

“Did you read the script?” Tom questioned quirking his infamous eyebrow his fans wholly adored. You found it amusing, to be honest, that every character he portrayed had the same eyebrow.

“Not fully. I’m surrounded by people, and unlike you, I prefer not to jeopardize my career with marvel.” You teased glancing up as Charlie and Owen made their way over, “I’ll be flying out in a few days for filming.”

Tom nodded his head, “I got get back. Jacob and Haz are visiting. Remember to film the announcement! Bye Love!”

You gave a thumbs up before Tom ended the facetime glancing up at the duo who each raised their eyebrows. Charlie’s mask nearly breaking at Tom’s goodbye. Charlie could feel the cover of his feelings falling more and more each day.

“Announcement?” Owen questioned, slipping his jacket on over his shoulders having changed from his Alex outfit.

“Nothing.” You waved it off, starting to walk backwards with a smile that Charlie thought made your eyes shine brighter than stars.

The boys followed behind on the walk to the house Jeremy and Carolynn had decided to rent during filming. You had been crashing there as Jeremy didn’t want Carolynn to be alone with his filming schedule. It also gave the perfect place for your plan. Last few nights you had binged the marvel movies again ending with Far From Home.

The living room was decked out by Carolynn with your help from earlier as she was the only know that knew. Everyone settled in the living room with Mr Reyes there as well who had quickly become a father figure to you.

“So, I wanted everyone here for a reason. I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve been reading a script and I have something to open.” You started thanking Jeremy as he brought in the package, he had no clue of the contents, “Now nobody says any spoilers for season two.”

You turned on the camera Paul Becker had supplied with a small smile having already filmed the opening sequence. You sat on the floor in the camera shot, opening the big box to hand out the smaller boxes to your friends. Charlie, Owen, Jeremy, Madison, Savannah, Booboo and every else glanced at the non-descript red box.

“Open them.” You urged grinning as the room went silent except for the tape ripping off the packages.

In each individual box was marvel themed candy, a plushie of Spider-Man along with signed cards from the Avengers actors and the MCU Spider-Man cast. At the very bottom, all it said was to look up at you. Instead of facing them with their looks of shock, you addressed the camera.

“Tom and I are so incredibly happy to announce that Spider-Man 3 is in the beginning process of filming.” You beamed at the camera listening to the intense noise of your friends screaming, “we can’t reveal anything else about the film, but the script is immaculate as usual. You’ll get to see Harper on the screen once more.”

“WHAT!” The collective scream behind you came as you waited a second before ending the video. You’d have to replay it before sending to marvel for the finishing touches with Tom’s version and then you could post it on Instagram.

“Surprise!” You spoke to the group behind you all in states of excitement, “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to tell you guys! I got the script a few days before I came.”

“Holy shit.” Owen spoke, laughing at he shook his head, “You managed to get autographs from fucking Iron Man himself.”

“I got connections.” You snorted meeting the gaze of Charlie, “Nah, Downey’s kids came for a visit, and I kept them company. Downey offered to do anything, and I took the favour.”

The surprise wore off as the group mingled, but Charlie’s eyes stayed pinned to your form as you sent a message to Tom. Locking your phone to noticed his eyes.

“Hey Charlie.” You smiled, sitting on the couch next to him. His expressive eyes showing a silver screen of emotions you couldn’t quite decipher.

The corner of his mouth tilted up in response to the way his name rolled off your tongue, sending his heart stuttering. A cold sweat appearing when you grasped his hand in yours in a confident manner.

“So, you leave soon?” Charlie murmured moving closer to hear you among the chatter of the group. Your lips turned down for a split second as you felt the sadness of leaving.

It was refreshing to be on set without the demands of makeup, costumes, filming and choreography. To see the action and magic but not be part of it was a definite change you had needed desperately. But to leave Charlie hurt.

“My call time is in three days. Need to get ready to bring Harper Osbourne back to the big screen.” You replied, loosening your grip on his hand, “I don’t really want to go back. I’m gonna miss you…and everyone else of course.”

Unaware to the eyes watching in anticipation you and Charlie conversed further on the upcoming months. To the great disappointment of the house began to clear out, Owen for an early call time. Savannah was meeting with her brother, and Mr Reyes was taking Madison home.

It left Jeremy and Carolynn to retire to their bedroom while you stayed on the couch with Charlie for longer. The emotions building from the prior weeks, bubbling to the surface. Hearts thudding in their chest Charlie leaned in glancing at your lips; yours glancing at his.

Who moved first couldn’t be known, but as your lips brushed together just barely you felt grounded and peaceful. If he leaned closer, you wonder what the kiss would make you feel.

“I’d like to kiss you.” Charlie murmured startled at the confidence he had gained, “But before I do. Do you have something with Tom?”

“Other than onscreen chemistry? Absolutely nothing.” You spoke barely louder than a whisper to the boy that had become so much more than some actor.

He was Charlie. The goofy boy that put a smile on anyone’s face with an impromptu concert in the middle of a crowded street. He lived life to the fullest without any regrets. He was passionate about his work, music and the environment.

Those thoughts evaporated when lips met another pair of lips in what might be described as the best kiss ever. No fireworks felt as Wattpad would say, but instead, it was the heady warmth of hot chocolate on a cold day; a warm shower after a long stressful day. It was home and perfect.

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#charlie gillespie imagines #charlie gillespie fanfiction #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie imagine #charlie gillespie #jatp fanfic #luke patterson imagines #caitsy and ash productions

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let-me-luve-you · 4 years ago

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No longer Twins

Tom Holland x Twin!Sister

THIS HAS POTENTIAL TRIGGERS. PLEASE READ SUMMARY AND WARNINGS BEFORE READING!!!

Summary: Tom’s twin sister took her own life and Tom is having a difficult time with the news.

Warnings: suicide talk, reader death, angst, depression, anxiety, bullying mentioned, cyber bullying mentioned, insecurities

A/n: I apologize to anyone this may upset. I had a request and this idea popped into my head. I am in no way trying to make anything sound better or worse than it is and I am in no way trying to romanticize serious issues. Majority of how this story is written is based on my own experiences. Everyone deals with things in their own way so please do not attack me if something is different.

MASTERLIST BUY ME A COFFEE

PART 2

It had one week since he got the awful phone call that turned his life upside down. It had been 6 days since he returned back to his home in London that didn’t feel the same. It had been 2 days since they put your body to rest.

Tom still didn’t understand how you got to that point. A point to take your own life. He has even read the note you left him over and over. He just doesn’t understand.

He sat in your room in the house he shared with you for the last 3 years. A room you would never return to. Pictures of the two of you scattered the room. Pictures of you and your other brothers and your parents.

Tom has only left this room to go to the bathroom. He hasn’t changed his clothes. He hasn’t showered. He just sat on the floor near your desk just staring at all your stuff. On again off again crying. He’s barely slept since he got the call.

Tom was in Atlanta, Georgia filming a movie. It was the middle of the night in London and early evening in Atlanta and he was wondering why his dad was calling him. His dad should know he was doing night shoots this week.

“Hello?” Tom answered.

“Tom bud.” Dom sighed. “It’s Y/N. Son. She uh... She passed away tonight.” Dom was trying to control his emotions. Trying to be strong for his son.

Tom went silent. Couldn’t breathe. His heart felt like it stopped beating. His sister. His best friend. His other half since birth was dead. Tom choked on air as he fell to his knees. The whole crew went quiet as they watched the actor react to the news. Harrison ran over to Tom to make sure he was okay.

“Tom? Tom, what’s wrong?” Harrison said looking at the distraught man in front of him. Harrison heard Dom’s voice yelling ‘Tom’ through the phone. Harrison grabbed the phone.

“Dom? Is everything okay?” He asked his best friend’s dad.

“Haz, Y/N passed away tonight. Is there any way you can help Tom get back to London as soon as possible?” Dom asked. Hating to put Harrison in this position. Harrison also froze at the news, but he had to be there for Tom. He immediately went into action.

“Of course. We will be on the next flight out. I will talk to the director and producer to put this movie on hold for now.” Harrison said. “I will text you details when I have them.” Dom agreed and then hung up.

Tom and you were always close. As twins were. The two of you were attached at the hip for the most part. You went to school together. You lived together. When Tom didn’t take you with him to film a movie or go on a press tour with him, you were texting nonstop and face timing every night.

Tom didn’t understand how he missed the pain that you were in. He knew you battled depression and anxiety, but never thought it was this bad. As Tom sat there leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out, he saw a book under your bed. It was the only thing under it. He crawled over to it and pulled it out and then leaned against the bed. When he opened it, he saw your handwriting.

7-31-2019

Dear Diary,

Man that sounds stupid. But I guess it’ll work for now. I just don’t know who to talk to. I can’t talk to Tom because he’s busy with his own life. I know if I talked to him about everything he would help me, but he’s busy dealing with his own problems. You see Diary, Spider-Man isn’t going to be in the MCU anymore. Tom is taking it hard. He loves the character and the story line. He’s also dealing with his fans being mean to him and people he cares about. I just don’t want to add to his plate. I love him too much to make him carry my burden too.

Diary, I just want this all to stop. All the hate. All the mean words. Every time I build myself up, someone is there to tear me down. I can’t win. I just need a win. I need people to leave me alone. Not pick at my insecurities. I get it online all the time from people I don’t know. I get it from people I do know here in this town. I try to ignore them, but it’s hard to ignore them when they are only speaking the words you say to yourself in the mirror.

I just want the pain to go away. I want the ache in my chest to stop. The voices in my head to stop. I just want to be normal. I want to be happy. Am I not worthy enough to be happy. Was I only put on this earth to make other people happy?

Tom couldn’t read anymore after that. His sister had been struggling for over a year without telling anyone. He feels bad reading her diary, but this is giving him insight into why he doesn’t get to see his sister anymore. Why he doesn’t get to hear voice or her laugh anymore. Why he will never get to give her a hug anymore.

Tom started crying again. He curled into a ball on the floor next to your bed and cried. He felt arms wrap around his body and pull him closer to theirs.

“Sshh Tom. It’s okay. Let it out. I’ve got you.” Nikki whispered as she ran her hands through Tom’s hair trying to console her oldest child.

“Mum I just don’t get it. Why? Why did she have to leave? Why couldn’t she just talk to me? Why did she have to leave me mum? I can’t live without her. I don’t know how to live without her.” Tom cried.

“I don’t know baby. I don’t know. See the bright side of this tragedy. She is no longer in pain.” Nikki said as she silently cried for her only daughter. “She will always be with you Tom. She will always be in your heart and watching over you. Don’t forget she loved you the most. More than anyone else in this world.”

Tom laid in his mum’s arms until he fell asleep. Nikki gently laid a pillow under his head as she stood up and left him on the ground. He grabbed a blanket from your closet and covered him up. Nikki sighed as she saw the pain her son was dealing with. Pain she was feeling as well.

The next morning, Tom woke up to the smell of you and bad body odor. He jumped up quickly as he looked around the empty room. He saw that a blanket was over him and his head had been laying on a pillow. Tom decided to get up and take a shower. As he stood up, he picked up your diary. Something he wanted to keep reading to get more understanding. As he stood up straight with the book he saw an envelope fall out with his name on it. He opened it and started reading.

Tommy,

You are my brother. My best friend. The one that has been with me since creation. We have been together since the womb. I want to tell you I love you. I know I wrote you a note with the others. Ones that were generalized and apologetic and sort of explained why I did what I did.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m leaving you in this world without your twin. But I just can’t take the pain anymore. I need to be set free. I have felt like I’ve been imprisoned in my own mind for many many years. I have tried to get help. Tried to get these thoughts away, but it never works. Whenever it did, it was just for a little while.

I have written you so many notes. Many you will read, many you won’t see because I threw them away. If you found this one, just know I’m not mad at you for reading my diary. If you haven’t read it yet, just know there’s a lot about you. About how proud I am to be called your sister. How proud I am that you found something you love and that you are good at.

I want you to keep being the amazing human being you are. I will be looking over you with a smile on my face. I will do my best to protect you from heaven. I don’t know when you found this letter, hopefully it is before the box arrives, but there will be a box arriving soon. It is full of letters with words just for you. Letters I wrote for moments and things you may need your sisters advice.

I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to be there for you in those moments. I love you so much Tommy. Please don’t ever forget that. I just want you to be happy and loving like you have always been.

Love you always,

Y/N

Tom silently cried as he read your note. Finally starting to realize, maybe you are at peace. He wasn’t happy with it. Knowing you planned this so well you had time to write multiple letters to him. But after reading a short bit of your diary, he knew he couldn’t ever stay mad at you. He looked at the letter and realized there were dry tear stains on the paper. Tears you cried as you wrote him.

As Tom walked to his room. He vowed that day that he would live for you. He would make sure your name lived on. He vowed he would help people who suffered and fought like you. Especially the ones who felt they were fighting a losing battle.

He would never move on from you, but he would move on from the pain.

#tom holland #tom holland sister #tom holland twin sister #tom holland x reader #tom holland x sister!reader #brother!tom holland x sister!reader #tom holland x holland!reader #brother!tom holland #holland!reader #holland!sister #twin!holland #twin!sister #tom holland x twin!sister #tom holland x y/n #tom holland angst

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praphit · 5 years ago

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BAMFs of 2019

Here's last year’s CHAMP -

THANOS

(Thanos: ”WTF did you just say?” #Mood)

Let's see if he made it back.

But, first, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions, as well as some people who were trying too hard:

Rey -

Of course she is a total BAMF. So, why isn't she on this list? 3 REASONS: 1) She looks like a racist ex that I once dated. How can someone who decided to date you (a black man) be racist? Did y'all see the movie "Get Out"? You didn't know that the story was based off one of my relationships did you? So, yeah, she ain't ever gettin on this list.

2) The force is cheating - their I said it.

3) This last movie sucked. This rap she did didn't help her cause.

ALSO - there’s this - her rapping. I repeat, she ain’t ever getting on this list.

Nic Cage - cuz he's Nic bleepin Cage

Cardi B - cuz she’s Cardi bleepin B

Hooded Justice - if only he had been in more episodes. A black man disguising himself in a hood, as well as white, to fight evil in his neighborhood, that the police force (of which he is a part of) refuses to stop. Hell yeah! I love "Watchmen".

Lupita! - her brilliantly scary performance in "Us" is def BAMF material.

The Rock - honestly, The Rock is so awesome, and has been for so long, that he needs to be extra awesome to make it.

Trying too Hard. Please STOP:

Batwoman -

I like Ruby, but she's like an elf. She's an elf model. It's not bad to be an elf model, but... If a villain in Gotham, let's say "Bane"

has me cornered, and Batwoman shows up to "rescue me", Imma start praying. He'd swing her around by that red hair of hers until her head pops off.

Rambo - He’s like 80! C’mon, Sly. Please STOP.

Dark Phoenix - a movie about her temper tantrum

Joker -

- not with all of that awkward dancing he was doing

NOW, finally, the top Bad Ass Muthas of 2019!

12) Greta -

Say what you will about climate change, but you can't deny her passion and dedication, and how inspiring it is (unless you're Prez Trump or Fox News) to see and hear a kid like her do her thing. I admit that her winning the honor of "Person of the Year" is too much. But, we all wish our kids would be this dedicated to what they believe is positive change. Plus, she has a kickass soundtrack. Gets me hyped every time!

11) Dave Chappelle

Back in the day, comedians used to be brought on stage, tasked with the difficult job of making a room full of different types of people laugh. Now, it's not just about the job of jokes, but you have to do so without offending anyone, and with clean living. When did we start holding a comedian's behavior to a higher standard than we do elected officials? Dave saw this, and kept doing what made him popular anyway. In a world where most comedians are running scared from difficult topics, Dave plunges right in. BAD ASS.

10) Linda Hamilton -

Old as bleep! We have what's-her-face here,

who is kinda badass herself, but despite being a badass cyborg (or whatever the hell she is), she still felt the need to ask for help from Linda bleepin Hamilton. LH traded her Hospice bingo card in for some guns and went to town on some machines! It'd be like if your home was being surrounded by aliens, and despite you having some fire power in your home and 911 at your disposal, everyone's first thought is to call grandma. That'd have to be one BAMF of a granny!

9) Masvidal -

Allow me to describe this brotha to y'all who might not know.

Some guy was talkin smack to Masvidal, and that guy got kneed in the face by Masvidal (fastest knock out in UFC history = 5 secs). Some guy was arrogant enough to say he was the baddest mofo around, and Masvidal scheduled a fight with this dude for a literal baddest mofo around belt. Plus, that same night of the fight, when he was talking to the media after he had won, he started mocking Conor McGregor, talkin bout Conor don't want none of this. He was talking trash, publicly, about Conor, while people were feeding him pizza. BADASS!

If there is ever a fork in the road, and on one side you see The Rock, Jason Statham, and Will Smith chasing after you, and the other you have Masvidal sitting down, eating a slice of pizza, you had better take your chances with the three action heroes over this BAMF.

8) Nunes -

If you don't know who she is, I wouldn't be surprised. The UFC botched her marketing before and after she fought and beat (badly) Ronda Rousey - yeah, RONDA ROUSEY; remember her? Nunes pretty much ended her career.

The UFC was so certain that Ronda was going to win, and so shocked when she lost, that they missed an opp to get behind a fighter who is better than Ronda (though mad respect for Ronda), and is currently holding TWO belts (first woman to do so). ALSO, she's the first openly gay UFC champ in history. She's so sweet too! - well, unless you're locked in the octagon with her, then she turns into a werewolf.

7) MANDO

I don't know about you, but all of this talk of teamwork from comic book movies can be a bit tiresome. The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men. Everybody wants to form a band. What happened to solo acts? What happened to lone rangers? People may say "There's no I in TEAM." Yeah, that's the prob! What about I?! Sometimes, you're Justin Timberlake, and the rest of the group is simply holding you back. That's Mando. He's Disney's updated (non-racist, unless you’re talkin drones) Lone Ranger. He doesn't need teamwork (maybe a weekly cameo, and a baby tag-along, but that's it!). He has beaten up gangs of robots, burnt people up, taken people out Jason Voorhees style, cut people in half, blown people up, blown off heads, BUT because it's Disney, we haven't seen any of that good stuff. He'd be higher on this list if they gave my man an R-rating.

6) Capt Marvel -

Captain Marvel is definitely the most powerful person on this list. She is probably also the fiercest person on this list. In Endgame, when she saw her black daddy (Nick Fury) on the screen, talkin bout Thanos snapped him away, and then something snapped inside of her, and she said "I'm going to go kill that mofo." The Avengers accompanied her, but I don't think she would have needed their help. She didn't really need their help in the final showdown with Thanos. He threw her aside, but you know she was coming back, until Tony got in her way. She is so fiery that it wouldn't surprise me if in her sequel, she goes back in time in order to rematch Thanos by herself, to prove her dominance. The reason that she's not higher on the list is because she's so damned destructive. She's just like The Hulk in the fact that she shows up to destroy everything. Now, she's a lot more focused than The Hulk, but she's so powerful that she does more damage. And she doesn't have much of a personality (so far), so it's hard to gauge her badassery of attitude, you know?? Like, if you're a villain, and you get in the way of a gorilla, that gorilla will destroy you in a very spectacularly badass way, but... it's a gorilla, you know??

I’M NOT CALLING HER A GORILLA. Don’t go snitching on me to her.

I just don’t know if she’s a hero or simply has anger management issues. Is she badass or too powerful not to do badass things?

Either way, RESPECT... or she'll come for that ass.

TIME FOR A BREAK -

Let’s break from all of this badassery with some cuteness

Look how cute it is - I CAN’T TAKE IT!

Ok, back to action.

5) Iron Man -

Look, Iron-Man started this shit! Who knows what would have become of the MCU had Robert Downey Jr. blew it. Tony Stark assembled the team (granted, he was partly the reason for the break-up), he gave us Spider-Man (with that suit) (he also gave us Ultron, but let's not get bogged down with details), he held his own against Thanos in "Infinity War",

Dr. Strange thought HIM worthy of saving, and no way time travel would have worked in "Endgame" without him. Plus, in the very end, he out-smarted Thanos, and countered Thanos' one-liner ("I am inevitable.") with his own ("And I... [five minutes later - I swear that's what it felt like] am Iron-Man.").

Paid the ultimate sacrifice. Hell yeah, he's on this list. I felt kinda bad for his wife. After IM3, she was barely around. And when Tony died, she was barely comforted... cuz nobody knew her. Oh, well.. she be aiight.

4) Thanos -

This dude saw his demise coming, and still went straight ahead towards the foes who cut his head off. BADASS! He was exceptionally crafty in playing The Avengers and blowing up their base. Then, he was just sitting around waiting for the main Avengers (Capt, Iron, and Fat Thor). He wanted to gloat a bit first. BADASS! And had Gamora not betrayed him, and had given him the gaunlet, he would have beaten The Avengers AGAIN!

He even died with a cool pose (he took a knee and got his "Thinking Man" on). BADASS!

3) Arya Stark -

This young lady scared the bleep out of me. She has my fear AND respect. I was actually scared for whomever her current target was... I was like "Run, fool! She gonna get ya! Damn, Arya, you didn't have to do them like that!"

Now, I know I talked about Ruby Rose being a ridiculous choice for Batwoman, but if Arya Stark left on a voyage to Gotham and became Batwoman, I'd buy that. I can see her killing Bane very slowly. This woman is a frickin psychopath, and I love it. She's fearless! She also went up against the top cheese of the white walkers. Y'all remember that badass move she had at the end!

YES! I only wish she had said something cool when she took him out, like... "You've been Starked." No, that's terrible, but something like that. I wish she was the one sitting on the throne, but they... you know... did what they did.

2) Capt America -

I think that it's fair to say that Capt America was the rock of The Avengers After the snap, he was the only one to keep his shit together; he actually worked to help others keep their shit together.

Meanwhile, Widow is crying in the dark every night while having a PB sandwich and bourbon dinner. And she just gave up on her hair.

Thor became an alcoholic.

And you could say Hulk was ok, but... was he?

I mean, that ain't right. This is avoidance behavior if I've ever seen it.

But, Capt kept it together. Then, that fight with Thanos at the end was one of, if not THE best one on one fight of the series. Using both Thor weapons, meaning he was both badass on a fighting level and a righteousness level - which ain't easy to accomplish. And when he straped tight his shield in that trailer, and gritted his teeth - hell yeah!

Chills. Capt to Thanos: You motha bleeper"

1) John Wick -

Three movies with no time in-between to shower, sleep, take a piss, brush his teeth, NOTHING! His life for the last few years (it seems like) has been running, lurking, hiding, beating ass.. and beating ass some more. Lord knows what this dude's kill count is up to. His nickname is "Baba Yaga" Have y'all seen what the actual Baba Yaga looks like?

Terrifying. And yet, not as terrifying as John Wick when he's angry at you.

The amount of endurance and focus that has gone into this long stint of murdering (only fueled by rage and a few shots of bourbon from time to time) is uncanny.

In JW3 he makes a guy eat a book (imagine what must be done to a person's jaw for that to happen), he gets shot, stabbed, hit my two cars (seconds within each other)... Nah, y'all ain't hear me! TWO CARS! The people in the cars were trying to kill him! He fought two super ninjas - like IP Man caliber, he beat up an army of soldiers, crawled through a desert, got shot by a friend who betrayed him, fell off of a building (bouncing around a few times before hitting the pavement), and was somehow still good to schedule a fourth movie after all of that - which I assume will pickup right there.

He doesn't have any superpowers (though you wouldn't know), but his tenacity is to be envied, and outdoes everyone else's on this list.

BAMF!!!

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eeyore101247 · 5 years ago

Text

Flight to Hell

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You’re finally headed back home after Christmas with your family, but it turns out your flight is a one way ticket through hell.

Warnings: Extreme fluff somewhere 😂

2,407 words

Masterlist

You were on your flight back to London after spending Christmas with your family. It was going to be a long 7 hour flight, and you were planning on getting a nap in before you landed. Tom had insisted on paying for your tickets, ensuring you were flying only the best, but you turned him down. You didn’t mind having to fly in basic economy seating, even if it was a little cramped. You also would’ve felt more guilty if he had paid for it. He spoiled you enough as is, with the expensive gifts and dates.

Letting out a sigh, you sat back as the plane took off, starting your long flight home.

You hummed softly as you slipped your headphones on, draping your new favorite blanket over your legs. It was a nice plush Spider-Man blanket Tom had given you for Christmas. You smiled fondly at the memory, running your hand over the soft fabric before starting the music on your phone. With a soft sigh, you laid your head back against the seat, staring out the small window.

Your peace was soon interrupted as your chair jolted forward. You bit back a groan, hoping it was a one time thing. Tensed up, you waited a few minutes to see if it would happen again. When it didn’t, you relaxed back into your seat, trying to focus back on your music. That’s one thing you hated about flying in general. Rude and disrespectful passengers.

You groaned as your seat lurched forward once more. Pulling your headphones down around your neck, you turned around to look at the people behind you. Sat behind you was a young boy with, who you assumed to be was, his mother sat beside him. He looked at you with a devilish grin, his feet pressed against the back of your chair. He kicked it again, and you had to bite your cheek to stop yourself from saying something rude.

“Can you please stop kicking my seat hun?” You asked sweetly, a fake smile plastered on your face. The boy just pouted, crossing his arms over his chest as his mother scoffed.

“He’s a young boy and is barely kicking your seat. You’ll be fine.” She said, dismissing you with a wave of her hand. She turned her attention back to the tablet she was holding, not even paying attention as her son kicked your seat with more force.

With a quiet sigh, you turned back around in your seat, trying to focus back on your music. He didn’t let up on the kicking, using as much force as he could as all you could do was listen to his mother laughing about whatever show she must have been watching.

Finally, you had a break from the kid kicking your seat and whining for the tablet because he wanted to watch a movie. You settled down into your seat, muscles relaxing as your stress levels dropped to a normal. You turned your attention to your phone, starting a Youtube video you had downloaded to watch. You weren’t very far into it when you were interrupted by the conversation going on behind you.

“I don’t know why my husband put us in basic economy. He makes enough money to fly us first class.” The mother from earlier said, complaining to the old lady sat beside her. “The seats are horribly uncomfortable and it smells. How are my son and I supposed to get any rest during the flight?”

You rolled your eyes at that. You had a bitch and her little asshole sitting behind you.

You could hear the old lady breathe in like she was going to say something, but was promptly interrupted by the mother continuing on with her complaining.

You shook your head before turning your video up louder to block out the noise of her bitching.

The mother had thankfully shut up as you pulled the blanket up over your shoulders. Exhaustion was tugging at your lids, sleep fogging the corners of your mind. With a yawn, you let sleep pull you under, leaning your head against your hand.

You thought about how excited you were to see Tom after this week apart. You couldn’t wait to feel his strong arms wrapped around you, hugging you close to him. His warm lips colliding with yours as your heart would try to jump out of your chest in joy and love. The warm cuddles you’d get when the two of you would return to your shared apartment. The night of fun activities that would await.

A smile tugged at your lips as you slipped off into the land of dreams, Tom’s adorably handsome and sexy face the focus point.

You were rudely awoken by the cool air against your arms, slowly traveling down farther as the hair rose. You stirred from your nap, rubbing your eyes as the warmth continued to disappear. Blinking a few times, you looked down, watching as the blanket was slowly coming off your lap. You followed the fabric, seeing the young boy that sat behind you pulling it off. His eyes widened as he saw you were awake, yanking the rest of the blanket off and trying to run off with it. You quickly grabbed it before he could get too far, grunting as you were yanked forward against the belt.

“Hey, excuse me. This is my blanket.” You said softly, trying to give the boy a smile as you held onto the edge. He just looked at you and yanked, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. You sighed, but didn’t give in, gently tugging on the blanket. “Please give it back. It was a gift.”

You heard the mother scoff behind you. “Just give him the blanket. You’re too old for Spider-Man.” You grit your teeth in response, forcing the smile to stay on your face.

“My boyfriend’s a big fan and got me this for Christmas. I’d really like to have it back.” You said sweetly, patiently waiting for the boy to let go. You weren’t about to announce on a plane that you were dating Tom Holland, the MCU Spidey. Instead, you went with a half truth. He was a huge fan, even before he got the part.

The boy started to whine, catching the attention of a few flight attendants. They started to make their way down the aisle, telling the young boy he needed to get back in his seat.

“Just give him the blanket. I’m sure your boyfriend won’t mind anyways. It’s just a blanket. Not like you can’t buy another one.” The mother said, her voice slightly muffled behind her phone. Your smile faltered as you started to get annoyed, but quickly plastered it back on as the flight attendants got closer.

“What’s the problem?” The petite blonde attendant asked, brows furrowed as she looked between you and the young boy.

“This young lady was trying to take my son’s blanket!” The mother said quickly, her voice filled with mock anger. Your jaw dropped, surprised that this woman was claiming your blanket as her own.

“I’m sorry, miss, but this is my blanket. I came on the plane carrying it and this young boy was trying to take it while I napped.” You told the attendant, giving her an apologetic smile. The flight attendant that stood behind her confirmed that she saw you with the blanket, turning to the young boy and telling him to let it go. He did, but not without whining and throwing a fit as he walked away.

You sighed as you pulled the blanket back over you, thanking the attendants before staring out the window. You knew Tom would be annoyed when he heard what happened. He didn’t have much tolerance for people with a lack of respect, but was good at faking it. He was an actor after all.

You had managed to get some reading done, even with the kid throwing a fit behind you. He had resumed kicking your seat, which you could assume was payback for not giving him the blanket. You also heard snide comments from the mother. She called you and your boyfriend immature. That you were too old to be into superheroes.

You just rolled your eyes at these comments, blocking them out with the wonderful world and story your book was intricately weaving.

“Are these peanuts vegan?” You heard the mother ask the flight attendant who was walking past. She must have had a bag of peanuts, guessing that she had gotten them for her son.

“I don’t know ma’am. I can ask if you like.” The attendant responded. You heard the mother scoff, followed by the crinkle of a bag as it was tossed aside, presumably at the attendant.

“We don’t eat anything that’s not vegan.” She said, waving off the attendant. You heard as she leaned into her son, whispering. “You’re father is going to regret not flying us first class.”

You rolled your eyes once more, burying your nose in your book.

You had dozed off again while reading, your book sprawled across your chest. The blanket was tucked up under your chin, arms poking out the sides as you snored softly. Of course you hadn’t seen the end of the little boy as the cool air started to crawl against the newly exposed skin. You groaned as you felt the soft fabric sliding against your arms, book thudding as it hit the floor beneath you. You gripped onto the blanket before you opened your eyes, the little boy staring back at you once more.

“Please give me my blanket and leave me alone.” You groaned, gently tugging on the blanket to try and pull it back up around your neck. He tugged again, not planning on giving up anytime soon apparently.

“Gimme my blanket!” The boy whined, tugging on it harder. Irritation scratched at your veins as you gripped the blanket harder.

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t your blanket.” You said simply, lips pressing in a hard line as you tugged a bit harder.

“You’re too old for it, just give it to him.” You heard the mother say, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “Grow up.”

You grit your teeth, your grip tightening as you turned around to face the mom. “I’m sorry, but this was a gift. My boyfriend and I are very into the MCU and Spider-Man is our favorite hero. I’m not going to give up my christmas gift to please your spoiled child.” You hissed, yanking the blanket out of the boys hands. He started to cry, running to his mom.

“Look what you did! You made my baby boy cry.” You shook your head, picking your book back up and reading once more.

The last hour of your flight was miserable. The boy would not stop crying, kicking the back of your seat the entire time. His mother bitched the whole time too, taking jabs at you not-so-discreetly. You tried to ignore it, but the jostling of your seat was making it hard to read. You just started to count down the minutes until you can see Tom, hoping he could make this shitty day better.

You let out a relieved sigh as you made your way to baggage claim, backpack hung over your shoulders. In the distance, you could see a familiar staffie as you walked down the hall, tail wagging as she patiently waited for your arrival. She nor her owner had seemed to spot you yet, a smile making its way across your face. As you got closer, you could see the familiar mop of brown curls poking out from the hood of his sweatshirt. Your smile grew wider, pace quickening to make it over to him faster.

Your joy was quickly cut short as you heard the shrill scream of a child, followed by a blur as they ran up to Tom. Of course, the entitled brat had to be behind you and of course he had to recognize Tom. Normally, you didn’t mind if fans approached him in public, but you really didn’t want to deal with the mother, who gave you a smug look as she walked past. You just rolled your eyes as you made your way over, giving Tom a smile as he looked at you.

“Excuse me, but we were here first. Besides, you’re too old.” The mother said, arms crossed over her chest. You sighed, giving Tom a look that said it all. Of how tired you were and how you just wanted to go home.

“How was your flight darling?” Tom asked as he approached you, ignoring the dirty look the mother was giving you. He wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you into his side as he kissed your cheek. You looked at the mother with a smirk as her jaw dropped.

“It could have been better.” You said softly, turning to Tom and giving him a smile. He smiled back, the corners of his eyes crinkling up like you loved. You leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I missed you.” You mumbled against his lips, smiling as he returned the kiss.

“I missed you too love.” He said softly before pulling away, turning to the mother and son with a smile. “I’m sorry, normally I’d be all for pictures and autographs for fans, but I want to spend some time with my girl.” He then led you away, pulling Tessa along beside the two of you as you grabbed your luggage off the belt and walked out.

You watched as the mother snarled at you, just smirking in return. You turned your attention back to Tom, taking his warm calloused hand in yours. You took in his features that you missed the most. His crooked nose and messy brow, sharp jaw and the small bit of puffiness under his eyes. The small dip in his chin where the mole used to be. Joy swelled in your heart, spreading through your chest like a warm blanket. You gently squeezed his hand, pulling his chocolate brown eyes to you. He smiled, butterflies fluttering in your stomach as you admired him.

“I love you.” You said softly, moving closer to him and kissing his cheek. He chuckled softly, gently squeezing your hand as the two of you walked up to his car.

“I love you too darling.”

AN: Woo! Got a one shot posted!

Requested one shots are on the way! I just had this amazing idea during my flight Sunday and had to write it.

I also love the r/entitledparents subreddit lolz 😂

I also wanna say thank you to my amazing beta! Love ya Carrie! 💙

Thank you for reading!

~ LoLo *^-^*

If you wish to not be tagged, shoot me a DM!

Pink names mean the tag wouldn’t work!

Want to be added to my tag list?

Send me any questions, what you thought, or if you have any ideas!

Mutuals: @spidey-waffles11 @parkerpuffwrites @marvellousparkerpeter @marichatisfam @starlight-fires

Strikethrough means I can’t tag you!

Taglist: @moonwarriorx3

#tom holland fanfiction #tom holland #thomas stanley holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #eeyore101247 #peter parker #tom holland is adorabe #tom holland one shot #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #spider-man #spider man #extreme fluff

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frauleinsmaria · 6 years ago

Text

The Facebook Flub (1/3)

Summary: When Emma accidentally sends a friend request to the wrong person, she doesn't expect much to come of it. But maybe this accident is the best decision she's ever made.

Rated: T for now, potentially high T/low M in the future

Also on AO3

A/N: Inspired by a comment I came across on Instagram asking people to share how their long distance relationships began: "I added the wrong guy on Facebook that I met at the bar...the guy I added lived in Germany and I was in Canada. That accident...is now my husband."

A few changes to make it fit Captain Swan, plus a whole lot of support and cheerleading from @wellhellotragic , @profdanglaisstuff , and @thejollyroger-writer later, here we are! Thanks a million, ladies, you’re the best.

Going out was the last thing Emma wanted to do tonight. She had a long week dealing with a tough case at work, the weather reports were calling for snow, and she had a headache- not to mention the fact that she didn’t feel like being hit on by some drunk low life.

“Those are all reasons for you to go out then,” Ruby insisted when Emma relayed all of this to her over the phone. “It’s Friday night. You need to come let loose with your friends and forget about whatever else is on your mind. And you know I’ll gladly fight off anyone who bothers you.” It took similar texts from Elsa, Graham, David, and Mary Margaret for her to finally give in and join them. Which is how she found herself sitting at the bar at one of their favorite burger and beer places downtown.

She was drinking one of her favorite beers, with Graham on her left side flirting with the guy behind the bar, and a stranger on her right who had been talking her ear off about some upcoming movie since he sat down an hour ago. Emma wasn’t all that interested- in both him or whatever this movie is- but she listened anyway. She didn’t have the energy to join the rest of her friends at the dart boards, and at least this guy wasn’t trying to flirt. So when he suggested she add him on Facebook before he left, she’d had enough to drink that she saw little reason to object.

It wasn’t until he was gone when she opened the Facebook app on her phone and realized she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of his name. He’d introduced himself when he first took the seat beside her, but that had been several beers ago, not to mention the loud music in the bar making some of his words hard to hear.

It had been something different that she’d never heard before. Killiam James, maybe? she thought as she typed it into the search bar.

“I should’ve known.” Ruby appeared behind her, holding a glass of whatever she’d picked for her poison tonight. “Don’t tell me you came out just to sit on your phone by yourself.”

“I’m not by myself. Graham’s he-” She turned and saw that the man in question had apparently slipped off with the bartender without her noticing.”Huh. Or maybe not.”

Ruby sighed. “Come on, Emma. You know you wanna watch Mary Margaret kick David’s ass at darts.”

That was a statement she couldn’t argue with. “Hang on. Let me do this first.” But Ruby instead grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward the dart boards, causing Emma to hit “add friend” for the first option in her search results without paying much attention to the name or profile picture.

The guy from the bar and the friend request had been forgotten about by the next morning when she woke up with a pounding headache and wondered exactly when she’d started getting old.

The events of that Friday night didn’t cross her mind again until the next weekend. She’d gone to see Captain Marvel with David and Mary Margaret, who were always willing to join her to watch any superhero movie despite both of them losing track of the plot at least half an hour in. It wasn’t the same as getting to experience it with someone as invested as she was, but years of going to the movies by herself when she was younger made Emma grateful for their company regardless.

They arrived at the theater early, battling the lines at the ticket booth and again at the concessions stand for overpriced popcorn and candy. The theater was already filling up after they’d gotten snacks. Emma stepped on quite a few feet to get to the only empty three seats together. Once they were settled, she pulled out her phone and opened the front camera. “Smile, guys!” Mary Margaret got the memo, but David looked like a deer in headlights in their selfie. This was definitely getting posted.

She made a few adjustments to the lighting before posting the photo on Facebook and Instagram. It’s Captain Marvel time!

The lights in the theater dimmed as the first movie trailer began to play on the screen. Emma silenced her phone and dropped it into her purse before grabbing a fistful of popcorn and settling into her seat.

It was over two hours later when the movie had ended and the three of them had arrived back at David and Mary Margaret’s house before she thought to check her phone again. There was a new text from Elsa about the shirt she’d borrowed last week and a handful of social media notifications. She opened Facebook first to see the response to her pre-movie selfie. It was when she started scrolling through the list of various reactions that an unfamiliar name caught her eye. Of course since she’d tagged David and Mary Margaret in the photo, several people who’d liked it weren’t Facebook friends of hers or people she knew. But this one stood out- it belonged to a person she’d never heard of before, and one who was apparently on her friends list.

Killian Jones. She frowned and clicked the link to open his profile page. They had no mutual friends, but sure enough, they were friends with each other. The brief amount of information listed under his personal details told her he lived in London and worked for a company named Ship Shape.

Emma quickly began to question just how she knew this Killian Jones. They hadn’t gone to college together; his profile listed him as an alum of a university in London she’d never heard of. He wasn’t in her line of work, so that wasn’t a possibility.

What if he had been a previous one night stand? No, that definitely wasn’t the case. She rarely got men’s names when those happened, let alone befriended them on social media.

And there was no way she would have forgotten a face like his. His current profile picture was taken from a distance on a beach somewhere, which made his features a bit harder to notice. The handful of previous ones were closer shots though. There were a few that looked like they were taken at some kind of professional event and a selfie with a dog she presumed was his. He was gorgeous, she realized as she quickly flipped through them. Piercing blue eyes, a head of dark hair that successfully toed the line between messy and polished with a five o’clock shadow to match. Yeah, she definitely would have remembered him.

Emma scrolled through a few more photos before she started to feel like she was crossing some sort of line. She had zero ideas on who this Killian Jones even was, and yet there she sat combing through the details of his Facebook profile as if they were close friends.

Contacting him seemed like the most logical thing to do. She opened Messenger, still annoyed that the feature wasn’t included with the regular Facebook app anymore, and typed out a brief message. Hey. Sorry if this seems weird, but I was wondering how you and I knew each other?

Her phone chimed with a response only a few minutes later. Not weird, love. Although I was wondering the same thing considering you’re the one who added me.

She stared at her phone screen and read the message again. There had to be some kind of mix up. Her friends list was on the small side, mostly former classmates and coworkers, and the people she regularly interacted with now. What reason would she have for sending a friend request to Killian Jones all the way in London-

And then it hit her. “Killiam James,” she groaned, remembering the guy from the bar the weekend before. If that was even his name. Emma blamed the combination of beer and loud music for the mix up, which explained why she’d added this guy with such a similar name.

What was she even supposed to say to Killian Jones now? The truth was ridiculous, and she couldn’t think of a lie that sounded even moderately believable.

Honesty won out in the end. “What does it matter? He’s never gonna meet me anyway,” she muttered as she started to reply. So, funny story. I thought I was sending a friend request to a guy with a name that’s really similar to yours and I just now realized my mistake. I’m sorry again because I know how weird this all probably sounds to you.

She hadn’t expected another reply. He’d probably delete her from his friends list after learning the reason behind the mishap and forget all about their brief interaction. What she got instead was a huge surprise. That’s quite alright. I suppose it could have happened to anyone. But, while we’re here, can I ask how the movie was?

Movie? Oh, right. She’d gone to see Captain Marvel tonight. His liking her photo was what started all of this. I liked it a lot. Keep in mind I haven’t read the comics, so I don’t know how accurate anything was. But it’s a great addition to the MCU if you ask me. And the cat was awesome.

I’m glad to hear that. I don’t know much about the comics myself, I just like the films as well. I’ll have to keep my eye out for the cat you speak of when I see it for myself.

This conversation was already a positive changed compared to the ones she usually had about Marvel movies. Most people, men especially, would make fun of her or call her a “fake fan” when she admitted she wasn’t familiar with the comics and didn’t really have plans to change that. Not only was Killian Jones not making fun of her preferences, he actually seemed to share them.

Emma soon found herself discussing everything from Endgame theories to the newest Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer with him. It wasn’t until her eyes grew heavy and she started yawning that she realized it was after midnight. Had this guy really stayed up until five in the morning to talk superheroes with her? Crap. I just realized what time it is. I’m really sorry if I kept you up. You’re probably exhausted.

No worries, Swan- can I call you that? As coincidence would have it, I’m a bit of an insomniac. I likely would still be awake now regardless. Plus, I work for my brother, so he can’t fire me for sleeping on the job unless he wants to lose his kids’ favorite babysitter.

Swan is fine- after all, it is my name. Although I still feel like you may need to apologize to your brother on my behalf.

Truthfully, she didn’t expect to hear from Killian again. Sure, they’d had a long conversation about a shared interest of theirs, but that didn’t mean he had any desire to continue talking to a stranger in the middle of the night. Or at any other time, for that matter.

Which is why Emma was caught off guard when she received another Facebook message from him a few days later. Hello, Swan. I know it’s the middle of the day where you are so you’re probably working, but I just saw Captain Marvel with a friend of mine and I needed someone to discuss the end credits scene with since he’s not nearly invested in this.

Their conversation soon left movies entirely and shifted to their everyday lives. Within the next hour, she learned that he was thirty-one, worked as a marketing executive for the shipping company owned by his brother, was the proud uncle of a nephew and two nieces, and spent most of his free time hiking or reading whatever fantasy novel was next on his to read list. Emma was more hesitant when it came to sharing specifics about herself for several reasons: talking about herself wasn’t exactly something she enjoyed, she barely knew this guy, plus, what if he really wasn’t the person he claimed to be?

If there’s one of us that ought to be suspicious, it’s him, she thought. You added him first; you could be the one Catfishing for all he knows.

Their once sporadic conversations soon became a nightly occurrence, switching from Facebook Messenger to texts once they felt comfortable with sharing numbers. (The short amount of time this took didn’t go unnoticed to Emma. She refused to let herself think too much about it.) Over time, it soon became easier to open up to him about a number of different things. Some days it was her favorite color or flavor of ice cream, others it was conspiracy theories she believed that dealt with people like Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain. Emma rarely brought up her upbringing or personal life, and he never asked.

On nights when Killian’s insomnia was particularly brutal, they watched Netflix together, one of the few pastimes they could share considering the distance between them. They usually chose comedies, preferring shows like The Good Place and Parks and Rec so they wouldn’t miss much of the story if they got caught up in whatever conversation they were having at the same time.

The first phone call happened by accident when they’d been talking about three months. Emma had just got in from work and was debating between Chinese and pizza for dinner when her phone began to vibrate. She froze at seeing Killian’s name on the screen. Why was he calling her? They had never talked outside of Facebook and texts. Phone calls had never even come up once in their conversations.

“H-hello?” she answered after a moment. “Killian?”

“Oi, Jones, is this your girlfriend?” Not Killian then, although another man with an accent who sounded far from sober. She heard some sort of commotion in the background, followed by, “Give me back my bloody phone!”

“Um, hello, Swan.” His voice sounded exactly as she’d imagined. (Not that she’d spent that much time thinking on the subject. Not at all.) The accent was there, of course, but his voice was softer and he sounded considerably more under control than whoever had greeted her. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine. Killian, don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you calling me? Where are you?”

“Well, you see, a few of us brought Liam to the pub tonight for his birthday, but I realized I’d forgotten to tell you about it earlier. I know you wanted to start Brooklyn 99 tonight since we finished New Girl. Anyway, I was in the middle of typing out a message to you explaining all of this when Will took my phone and called before I could stop him.” He sighed. Emma had a feeling Will would get an earful as soon as this conversation was over; she heard a lot about him from Killian, mostly complaints. “I’m terribly sorry, love. I’m sure this must be awkward for you.”

“It’s fine, Killian. I appreciate you for telling me, but I know you probably have better things to do on a Friday night than watch Netflix with a stranger in Boston.” Although that was the gist of their relationship from an outside perspective, Emma’s heart sank at her own words. She thought more for this virtual stranger than she did most of the people she saw in person on a regular basis.

“Don’t talk like that, Swan. Besides, it would’ve been bad form to leave you hanging without an explanation.”

She should have known he would be a stickler for manners, even for something as trivial as a regular Netflix binge. “Thanks, Killian. Seriously though, go enjoy your night out. Sing ‘happy birthday’ obnoxiously loud to your brother and maybe don’t let anyone else take your phone. We’ll catch up on Netflix later, alright?”

“Alright, love. Goodnight.”

The next time Killian called, it was intentional. Neither of them thought much of it.

The calls (via WhatsApp to keep from spending a fortune) soon became a semi-regular part of their “routine.” They didn’t happen as often as the texts, however, since it was harder to both talk and vaguely pay attention to whatever show they were watching at any given moment. Talking on the phone often made it easy to forget the difference in time zone and the ocean between them, even when Killian said something particularly British, like “tosser” or “knackered.”

She and Killian had their first shared experience with FaceTime the night before the surprise party she and Mary Margaret have planned for David. Emma had been asked to make cupcakes, something she now regretted agreeing to as she stood in her kitchen dumbfounded by the assortment of ingredients strewn out across the counter.

As if on cue, her phone vibrated.

Killian: How are the cupcakes coming along?

Emma: They’re not.

Do I really have to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately? They all go in the same bowl in the end. And how much batter do I put in the cupcake liners without them blowing up like mushroom tops? I don’t get why I had to pick a recipe that calls for baking soda AND powder too.

Basically, I need to be able to snap my fingers and have a professional chef in my kitchen to take care of this.

Killian: I’m no professional, but if you want to FaceTime, I could possibly help walk you through it.

Of course he could. She’d quickly learned that Killian Jones was one of those people who was unfairly good at most if not all things.

Emma opened the camera app on her phone to get a look at her current appearance. An old Rolling Stones t-shirt that probably should have been thrown out years ago, her-square rimmed glasses, hair thrown up on the top of her head in a messy knot, and no makeup, not to mention the zit on her chin that she hadn’t gotten the chance to get rid of yet. It would have to do. They were friends, and he already knew what she looked like thanks to social media. And she didn’t have time or energy to freshen up before she got the stupid cupcakes taken care of.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered.

Her phone screen was taken up by Killian’s smiling face seconds later. “Hello, Swan.”

“Uh, hi.” Somehow he was even better looking in real time. It wasn’t fair. “You sure you’re up for this?”

“Come now, love. How hard can it be?”

“Consider who you’re dealing with, Killian. I almost cooked an oven mitt last week.” She didn’t add that it had happened due to their intense conversation on nineties one hit wonders and she’d been so distracted she hadn’t paid attention to where she’d placed the mitt after taking pizza out of her oven.

He barked out a laugh. “Something tells me chocolate cupcakes will smell much better. Do you have the recipe up?”

“Yeah. I’m sending it to you.”

Killian, being the good sport that he was, spent the better part of the next two hours going through the recipe step by step with her. Which was much easier said than done.

“You mean to tell me that not only do I have to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, but I can only mix half of each together at a time?”

“Aye, that’s what the woman recommends.”

Emma had long since forgotten the name of the woman who’d posted the recipe online, but she had quickly become her worst enemy. “I should’ve just told Mary Margaret to make the damn cupcakes herself.”

“I highly doubt she could’ve gotten away with making cupcakes for her husband’s surprise party in their own house,” Killian noted.

How was it that he seemed to know her own family better than she did. “Yeah, well, then I should have bought cupcakes from the store and brought them to the party on one of my plates.” It would have at least saved the trouble of having a kitchen covered in flour, butter, and the other dozen or so ingredients she’d added to the mix.

She had just began pouring batter into one of the slots in her cupcake tin when Killian spoke up. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Swan.”

“Killian, I may have the cooking skills of a dustpan, but I do know that cupcakes have to be baked.”

“Right you are, but what about liners?”

“Come again?”

“You know, the paper things? You’re going to have an awfully difficult time without them.”

Of course. “Shit!” Hurling the mixing bowl at the wall now seemed like a great idea. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about that.”

“Hmm.” She heard the sound of computer keys typing as Killian looked something up. “Do you have parchment paper? Several sites list it as a possible substitute.”

“Wouldn’t that look kind of tacky though?”

“You don’t exactly have a lot of options, love, unless you’re willing to make a trip to the store.”

Emma glanced at the clock above her oven. It was past ten. A handful of stores would be open, but she didn’t have the energy or motivation to change into decent clothes to leave the apartment. “Parchment paper’s fine, I guess. What does it say I’m supposed to do?”

He quickly walked her through the process, which was much simpler than she presumed. After cutting the parchment paper into squares and folding them around a glass that was the same size as the slots in the cupcake pan, the problem was solved. They rewatched one of their favorite episodes of The Good Place while the cupcakes baked. She was so caught up in the show that she wouldn’t have remembered to turn off the oven if Killian hadn’t reminded her.

“So far, so good,” she told him once the pans had been taken out of the oven and placed on her counter. “They smell incredible.”

“Don’t rub it in,” Killian groaned. “The only form of chocolate I have in my flat is unsweetened cocoa powder.”

“Well, that’s just depressing.”

The icing process, while tedious, went over much more smoothly than the baking had.

“Swan, you’ve got chocolate icing all over your cheek now.”

“Maybe so, but I’ve got two dozen nice looking cupcakes. Isn’t that all that matters?”

“I suppose,” he agreed. “Although you’re just giving me something else to make fun of you for.”

He laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him.

She’d gone this far without sampling anything, too concentrated on not botching the cupcakes. But the sound of her stomach growling reminded Emma she’d never eaten dinner. “You think I can justify having a cupcake now if I don’t eat one at the party tomorrow?”

“After all the work you’ve put in, I believe you could justify two.”

“You, Jones, are a bad influence,” she said, taking the nearest cupcake and pulling off the parchment sheet liner.

“A bad influence who reminded you of the importance of cupcake liners.”

“Ugh. I hate it when you’re right.” Emma took a hearty bite of the cupcake and couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped her lips. “Ohmgod.”

Killian was quiet for a moment. Then, “I presume it’s good?”

“It’s not good, it’s fantastic. I never thought I’d say that about something I made.” Another bite elicited the same reaction, her eyes closing as she savored the rich chocolate taste. This caused her to miss Killian blush as his eyes shifted away from the screen.

“Erm, well, I’m very glad to hear that.”

The cupcakes, thankfully, are a hit. Several people at David’s party ask Emma for the recipe, a few eve complimenting the unique choice of liners. Her own brother was skeptical that she’d made them herself.

“I did!” she insisted. “I mean, Killian provided moral support via FaceTime, but all the manual labor was my accomplishment.” Her family and friends have known about her unconventional friendship with Killian for awhile now. Most of them went along with the idea, although a few were skeptical that her virtual friend was really the person he claimed to be.

“You and this guy have gotten pretty close, haven’t you?” David was one of those skeptical people.

She shrugged. “Kind of. I guess we’re as close as friends can get when they’re on opposite sides of the pond and have never met in person.”

“And you’re sure he’s not, what’s the word, fishing with you?”

“The term is catfishing, David. And the answer is no, considering we FaceTimed during the cupcake ordeal and his face matches the one in all of his pictures.”

“If you say so. I just don’t want you to risk getting hurt.” He almost always went into Protective Big Brother mode whenever Emma referenced a guy in any capacity, and this was no exception.

“I appreciate that you care about me, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about considering the circumstances. The chances of the two of us meeting are basically nonexistent.”

A few days later, they were on their third episode of Schitt’s Creek of the night and discussing each other’s uneventful work days when he brought it up. “So, uh, Liam has been talking about sending me away for work sometime soon.”

“That’s cool. Does he want you to go back to the Dublin office again?” Emma remembered that he’d taken a short trip to Ireland for business not long after they’d became friends.

“Actually, no.” He paused. “He’s made a few comments about Boston this time.”

Any interest she had in the episode they’d been watching was long gone. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. Sometime next month, if nothing changes.”

Her next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I know a semi decent tour guide who lives in that neck of the woods if you have some free time while you’re here. And, y’know, if you’d be up for that.”

“I think that could be arranged.” She couldn’t see Killian, but somehow she knew he was smiling.

Emma didn’t start freaking out until the day before his flight. She was at Elsa’s apartment with Mary Margaret and Ruby, drinking wine and eating Elsa and Anna’s homemade cookies at the kitchen table. She was on her third- okay, maybe it was her fourth- snickerdoodle, only half participating in the conversation when she glanced up and saw the three of them staring at her.

“Do I have something on my face?”

Mary Margaret gave her a knowing look. “Have you been listening to anything we’ve said?”

“Yeah, of course I have.”

“Emma, I just said that Granny was having surgery next month, and your response was, ‘that’s cool,’” Ruby deadpanned.

Her face flushed red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. Just have a lot on my mind I guess.”

“Is something goin- oh!” Elsa exclaimed. “Aren’t you finally meeting that friend of yours from London tomorrow?”

“Yeah. His plane is supposed to come in at two, then I’m meeting him for dinner and a little sightseeing before his meetings start the next day.”

“That’s really all you’ve got planned for him?” Ruby waggled her eyebrows over the rim of her wine glass.

Emma rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Ruby. He’s just my friend.”

“Your very attractive male friend, who you talk either to or about nonstop,” Mary Margaret added.

She shot her an annoyed glance. “I thought family was supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side! I want you to be happy, and I’m just saying maybe you should be open to the possibility that Killian could have something to do with that.”

Leave it to her sister-in-law to bring Emma’s love life (or lack thereof) into the conversation. ““Don’t get any ideas, Mary Margaret. I love that you’re an eternal optimist, but everything else aside, he lives over three thousand miles away. I never thought we would actually meet.”

“People do long distance all the time,” Elsa chimed in. “Anna and Kristoff did for several months when he was away doing research about climate change in the North Pole. It wasn’t easy, but they got through it and are happier than ever now.”

She wanted to remind Elsa that her sister and her fiance had been together for over two years before this, but disregarded the thought. “I know you all mean well- even though it seems like Ruby just wants me to get laid- but can we change the subject? Killian is my friend. That’s all there is to it.”

Even as she said the words, Emma wondered for the first time whether that was actually true.

Her intention had been to sleep in the next morning since she’d gone ahead and taken the day off. But, much to her dismay, she was wide awake at seven. By ten she’d gone for a run, showered, eaten breakfast, and cleaned most of her apartment. It was tempting to blame the random burst of energy on wanting to be productive while she had the time to spend at home, but that wasn’t it.

She was excited to see Killian. And the closer that came to happening, it terrified her too.

For starters, what if they didn’t mesh as well in person as they did online or over the phone? It sounded silly just to think about, but maybe actually being in each other’s space for the first time would somehow change how their friendship worked.

The conversation she’d had with her friends the day before wasn’t helping matters either. What they’d said shouldn’t have been getting to her like it was. Every argument she’d made against their insinuations about her and Killian had been true.

Then why have you barely paid attention to other guys since the two of you started getting close? The thought came to her once she’d started walking laps around the apartment just to keep her busy. Dating for her had been a rare occurrence since Neal almost ten years earlier. Walsh was the one exception, and things with him hadn’t gone much better. One nighters happened now and then when she wanted to scratch an itch without having strings attached. But even one of those hadn’t happened in months.

She didn’t even know whether or not Killian had been seeing anyone. Her first assumption was no. He’d never once mentioned dating, and, regardless, he’d spent the majority of his nights over the past handful of months talking to her. His unconventional friendship with her on top of his job and his family didn’t give her the impression he had a lot of time for dating.

Emma glanced at the clock on her phone. It was just after twelve. “Dammit.” Even with traffic, it would be at least another hour and forty-five minutes before she needed to leave unless she just wanted to drive in circles around the airport.

“Screw it,” she said at one-thirty after she’d won her fourth game of solitaire. TSA might give her hell about parking if she had to wait a bit for Killian, but she couldn’t sit around her apartment much longer without losing her mind.

There was a knock on her door just as she was pulling on her jacket and boots. She went to the door and found her brother standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “Hey, David.”

“Oh, good. I was hoping I’d catch you in time.”

“In time for what?” she asked. “I’m about to leave for the airport.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m coming with you.”

He’d known she was going to meet Killian today for over a week and had yet to mention this to her. “What? Why?”

“I don’t want you going alone, Emma. It’s not safe; you’ve never met this guy.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I could understand if I’d met a guy on a dating site or something, but I’ve known Killian for months now, David. I’m pretty confident that I’m not picking up a serial killer.”

The frown on his face hadn’t budged. “Either way, I’d still like to meet him before I leave you alone with him. Gotta let him know what he’s dealing with if he hurts you.”

Emma checked the time on her phone again. “Ugh. Let’s go,” she groaned. “You’re not gonna let this go, and I don’t have time to argue with you about it.”

Any nerves she’d felt before had briefly been alleviated by the desire to strangle David. The drive to the airport was spent with her hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel so she wouldn’t wrap them around his neck instead.

“Are you gonna insist on spending the day with us too?” she asked as she pulled into the airport’s parking lot and looked for the garage for short term parking.

He shrugged. “Not sure yet. Ask me again once I’ve met him and had a chance to evaluate.”

“You’re insufferable, you know that?”

“I’m your older brother. That’s my job,” he insisted.

Emma parked in the short term garage connected to the airport. There was no point in trying to wait at the curb since she knew they’d be asked to move. She and Killian had decided to meet at the landside area, so she sat and waited for a text that he’d arrived and tried to ignore David tapping his fingers against the passenger door.

Her phone vibrated a few minutes later. Hello, Swan. Just wanted to let you know I’m waiting for my luggage and then I should be good to go.

Emma swallowed hard as she got out of the car on shaking legs. This was it.

She was too anxious to object when David followed her out of the garage and into the airport; she’d known better than to expect him to wait in the car for them.

When they’d entered the waiting area, Emma quickly scanned the room for a familiar face, coming up short. This was the place where they’d agreed to meet, wasn’t it? He’d sent her the text just minutes ago confirming their plans. What were the chances the nerves had gone to her head and made her mix something up?

She was so lost in thought she failed to hear the footsteps coming up behind her. “Someone in particular you’re looking for, love?”

They’d FaceTimed on several occasions and shared more ridiculous Snapchats than necessary. Emma knew what to expect. And yet, somehow, she’d been all wrong. His eyes were so much brighter and vibrant in person, there was no way to accurately capture that on camera. There was a tinge of red to his hair and scruff she’d never noticed. She liked it. A lot.

“Hello, Swan.” Shit. His already perfect smile was somehow better in person too. It wasn’t fair.

“Killian. Hi.” How could she have talked to him for hours on end over the past few months and be at a loss for words now?

They stood in silence for a moment, each trying to take the other in. Emma wasn’t sure how she was supposed to greet him. Was their friendship advanced enough to permit a casual hug? Or should she stick to a handshake?

David solved that problem for her, stepping between the two of them and extending his hand to Killian. Emma had all but forgotten that he’d come with her.

“So,” he said, using what could only be called his Protective Big Brother voice, “you’re the British guy.”

“Seriously?!” Emma hissed loud enough for only him to hear as Killian accepted the handshake.

“Aye. And you must be David.”

Her brother looked taken aback. He must have been under the impression Killian had no idea he existed. “Uh, yeah. Emma’s mentioned me then?”

“Oh, yes, several times. She tells me you’re quite the Orioles fan.”

Uh oh. This had the potential to be a recipe for disaster. David did not take comments about his notoriously terrible favorite team lightly. If Killian made any patronizing remarks about the Orioles, any chance at getting on her brother’s good side was doomed.

“I’ve caught highlights from a few games online before,” Killian continued. “Always admired Ripken.”

Emma let out an audible sigh of relief. Killian may very well have been lying through his teeth to appease David, but at least he’d avoided making a bad first impression. “Yes, well,” she butted in, “David’s just here for the ride. We’re dropping him off back at his apartment on our way.” She shot her brother a look that told him not to argue.

The first few minutes in the car were filled with awkward silence as Killian fidgeted in his seat, clearly used to a steering wheel in front of him on the right side, while she tried to ignore David’s presence in the back.

“How was your flight?” she asked after a moment as they headed in the direction of David and Mary Margaret’s building.

“All right. Bit of turbulence, but nothing terrible. The airplane food, on the other hand.” Emma saw him cringe out of the corner of her eye and tried not to laugh. “I’ll be more than happy to see what restaurants you have to recommend in the city.”

“Anything particular you’re up for? Most places aren’t gonna be busy at this time of day. And no, he’s not coming,” she added, glaring at David in the rearview mirror before he had a chance to chime in.

Killian pursed his lips. “Eh, would you judge me if I said I just wanted a good, American cheeseburger?”

She laughed. “That was the last thing I expected. But no judgment here, Tony Stark.”

“I’m perfectly fine with that comparison.” He grinned. “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist…”

“I’m sorry, playboy?” David questioned. Someone didn’t know his movie references.

They arrived in front of David’s building minutes later. “Okay, here we are, you’re welcome for the ride home, talk to you later, bye.” Emma must have gotten her point across since he got out of the car with no objection other than a shake of his head.

“I’m really sorry about that.” She glanced at Killian apologetically as she pulled back out into traffic. “I didn’t know he was going to show up and insist on coming with me, or I would have warned you.”

“It’s quite alright, Swan. He was just looking out for you. If I’m being truthful, not wanting you to be alone when you met someone you’d come across online isn’t an unreasonable request.”

“I totally get that to a certain extent, but I know you well enough to trust that you’re not, like, a serial killer. Unless you have something you wanna tell me.”

He barked out a laugh. “Rest assured, love, I have no blood on my hands. At least, none but my brother’s when we were lads.”

“Let me guess, it was always Liam who started it?”

“Sure. We’ll go with that.”

Traffic was light at that point in the afternoon, the two of them arriving at Emma’s chosen destination sooner than she was expecting. “This place might not look like much,” she told him as she pulled into a parking spot in front of Granny’s, “but she’s got the best burgers and fries, excuse me, chips, in town as far as I’m concerned.”

“And grilled cheese and onion rings as well, I presume?”

“You’re a smart man, Killian.”

The diner was fairly empty as well, just an older couple drinking milkshakes at the bar and a group of college students crowded around a table with a stack of textbooks.

“Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to sit?” she asked Killian.

“No. It’s your pick.”

They took a booth near the back of the diner. Emma handed him one of the plastic menus and flipped through one herself, even though her order had been virtually the same over the years. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt her to branch out a little more with her choices, even if it was just getting a burger or chicken club instead of a grilled cheese for once.

A waitress came to take their orders after a few minutes. Killian requested the cheeseburger he’d wanted with fries, the American term sounding foreign on his lips. She ordered the same.

“No grilled cheese and onion rings? Are we sure this is the real Emma Swan?” Killian asked, feigning concern.

She shrugged. “I’m trying to live a little. And for someone like me, that’s apparently as simple as ordering a burger. Or maybe you’re just a bad influence,” she teased.

“Oi! I wasn’t a bad influence when I helped you make cupcakes in your time of need.”

“Yeah, yeah, technicalities.”

There was a long pause as Emma tried to figure out what to say next. She wondered if Killian was having similar thoughts. This was an easier problem to remedy when they were texting or talking on the phone and she could turn the conversation to whatever show they were on at the time. Even still, there wasn’t the added component of having him across from her to sense any awkward tension between them.

Killian broke the ice. “I’ve been meaning to ask, Swan, have you ever seen One Day At a Time? Been seeing a lot about it online lately.”

“I haven’t actually.” She should have remembered most of their best conversations began with shows. “You know how I feel about good sitcoms though.”

“Aye. Perhaps we’ll add it to our unofficial to watch list?”

“I like the way you think, Jones.”

They talked for awhile about the season of Schitt’s Creek they were working on until the waitress brought their food a few minutes later. The conversation had somehow turned to which of Moira’s wigs would look best on him. It was hard not to laugh as Killian nearly swallowed his beloved cheeseburger whole.

“Don’t judge me,” he said through a mouthful of fries when he noticed Emma snickering. “I was bloody starving.”

“Clearly.” She dipped one of her own fries in the generous pile of ranch dressing on the side of her plate. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have so easily done away with all that English charm us Americans aren’t civilized enough to have.”

“What do you mean ‘done away with’? I’ll have you know I’m always charming, love.”

“Says the man who has ketchup on his chin.”

Killian’s face reddened as he grabbed a napkin and wiped off said ketchup. It was barely enough to be noticeable, but she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to tease him a bit.

As they ate, the conversation shifted from shows to Killian’s work and what he’d be doing in Boston over the next few days. She didn’t know much about his job, other than that he worked for Liam and their company provided parts and equipment for ships. While the company’s primary clientele was located in the London area near their home office, they were looking to expand to other areas as well, hence the meetings Killian had flown over to attend.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why were you the one to make the trip instead of Liam?” she asked. “I don’t really know how a lot of business procedures work, but it seems like he would be the one to handle stuff like that considering he’s over everyone else.”

“Aye, you would think so. But the truth of the matter is, Liam’s tied up with so much within our office. Not to mention he doesn’t like making trips now since he’s got Belle and the kids. From both of those angles, it makes more sense for me to handle as much of the international business as I’m qualified for since I truly have nothing tying me down in London nowadays.”

Emma hated the way her heart skipped a beat at his words. If he had nothing tying him down at home, did that also mean there was no girlfriend there too?

(Could she ask him something like that without him seeing right through her?)

“That’s, uh, great,” she told him, trying to get back to the point of the conversation. “That you’re able to travel for him. I’m sure you get a lot of cool opportunities and stuff.”

“Opportunities like getting to eat an American cheeseburger while I have a face to face conversation about sitcoms?”

“Exactly.”

Killian asked a handful of questions about her job, how she liked her boss and coworkers, if she’d dealt with any major cases lately.

“Not really. It’s mostly the usuals, cheating husbands and deadbeat parents.”

He frowned. “Pity situations like those occur enough to be ‘usuals.’”

“It’s enough to make me want to throw in the towel sometimes if I’m being honest. These people are lucky enough to have a family in the first place, and they just throw it to the side like it means nothing to them.”

Emma didn’t realized what she’d said until it was too late. While she’d become comfortable enough with Killian to share certain details about her personal life over the past few months, her upbringing in foster care was the one subject she’d avoided. She’d heard stories of his and Liam’s upbringing by their single mother, who died when Killian was in college. The only family she’d ever mentioned to him was David, and he didn’t even know they weren’t actually siblings.

But that wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have at Granny’s in the middle of the afternoon. She wasn’t sure how much time he had free to spend with her, or when she would see him again. If you even will, she thought.

Sensing her discomfort, Killian reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze. “Is everything alright, love?”

The feeling of his hand in her own stopped Emma’s train of thought. She almost hated how comforting it was. “Yeah, it’s nothing.” She gave what she hoped looked like a genuine smile. There was no need to waste her time with him focusing on bad memories. “What do you say we pay the bill and go do some sight seeing? Boston isn’t New York or LA, but it can be fun. I think so anyway.”

“Sounds like a plan, love.”

They bickered at the cash register over who was going to pay. Killian wanted to be a gentleman, Emma wanted him to feel like her guest in some way. She somehow won. “You can buy me a bear claw at my favorite bakery later if you really want to,” she told him as she swiped her debit card through the reader and he stood to the side pouting.

She and Killian were heading for the door when a familiar face entered the diner. The sight of Ruby made Emma consider grabbing Killian and hiding him.

“Emma!” Her friends’ eyes lit up when she spotted them, red lips breaking out into a grin.

“Hey, Rubes. I didn’t think you were working today.” She would have taken Killian to eat somewhere else otherwise. Emma loved her friend, but something told her Ruby would have less of a filter than usual around him.

“I wasn’t, but Ashley had a doctors’ appointment and asked me to cover her shift.” She glanced around Emma to get a look at Killian. “Oh, is this the English guy? You didn’t tell me he was hot.”

The urge to crawl under the nearest table was tempting. “Uh, yeah,” she said, her face reddening, even more so when she realized it sounded like she was agreeing with Ruby’s comment. She turned to Killian. “This is my friend, Ruby. Granny’s is, well, her grandmother’s.”

Ruby held her hand out to him. “It’s so nice to put a face with the name. Emma talks about you all the time.”

Emma shot her a death stare as Killian accepted the handshake and brought her hand to his lips. “It’s a pleasure, love. I’ve heard quite a bit about you as well.”

“Such a charmer.” Ruby’s grin widened. “I love it.”

“Yeah, well, we were just leaving, and I know you have to get to work.” She grabbed Killian’s hand and pulled him out the door before Ruby had another chance to embarrass her. “Bye!”

Emma groaned as soon as the door to Granny’s had shut behind her. “I’m sorry about that. She means well, but she tends to come off a bit strong.”

“No worries, Swan. I can’t say I have many objections with a woman who so freely acknowledges my good looks.” He smirked, and she couldn’t help but think how much she wanted to kiss the smile off of his face.

Which she wasn’t going to do. Because that would be ridiculous. “Yeah, I’m never gonna let her live that down.”

She moved her car to a free public lot and spent the next hour with Killian, walking around downtown Boston to show him some of her favorite spots in the area. She pointed out the precinct where she often dropped off bail jumpers, the library, her favorite coffee shop, and the bakery that made the best bear claws in town.

“You can definitely return the favor from lunch now,” Emma told him when they entered the shop and she caught a whiff of something that smelled like butter and cinnamon.

“Whatever the lady wishes.”

“The lady definitely wishes for a bear claw. Or five.”

In the end she requested one, although Killian told the attendant to add another to her bag. “In case you’d like one for the weekend and don’t feel like making the trip.”

“Bold of you to assume I’ll let it go uneaten for that long.”

They sat at a bench outside the bakery since the weather was nice. Mid September in Boston was often ideal since it was still warm without being unbearably hot. Emma took one of her bear claws out of the paper bag and bit into it, letting the warm dough melt in her mouth. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she told Killian, who had started eating his blueberry scone.

“I’ll take your word for it, Swan. You know I’m not fond of raisins.”

“Whatever.” She feigned disappointment. “More for me.”

It occurred to Emma that she had yet to ask another important question. She had no idea how long he would be in Boston, and if she would get to see him again after today. Killian had mentioned in previous conversations that he had a handful of meetings over the following two days, but nothing about what his schedule looked like or when he would be flying back.

Killian picked up on her unspoken apprehension. “What’s going on in that head of yours, love?”

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Hadn’t she decided she wasn’t going to waste time worrying while he was there? “It’s nothing,” she insisted again. Killian’s expression suggested he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t press the issue.

“Did I tell you my nephew is into Peppa Pig now?” she asked, knowing he might like this change of subject. “He’s, like, fascinated with the British accents and tries to talk like the characters all the time now. It’s hilarious.”

His eyes lit up. “Is that so? I like this lad already. Although I do prefer Percy Pigs myself. It’s a type of candy,” he explained when her eyebrows shot up. A quick Google search provided a photo of what he was referring to, which was, as suggested, a gummy in the shape of a pig’s head.

It was weird, if she was being frankly honest, but Leo would love them. “Kid’s definitely getting an order of these for his next birthday.”

Emma finished her bear claw and wiped her mouth with a napkin from the bakery. But she must have not done an adequate job. Killian leaned over. “You missed a spot, love,” he said, brushing his thumb at the corner of her mouth. Any reply she had was forgotten with the gesture as she became hyper focused on the brief but startling feeling of his touch.

“Uh, thanks.” The words came out raspy and uneven.

Her reaction seemed to make Killian realize what he’d done. “Apologies, Swan. I wasn’t thinking.”

She couldn’t stop herself from blurting out the question that followed. “What are we doing here, Killian?”

#cs ff #cs au #captain swan #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captain swan fanfiction #cs mc ff #meredith writes

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briangroth27 · 5 years ago

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Review

This is my 200th original blog! I’m happy to make it about one of my favorite fictional characters and I’m glad to report that Spider-man: Far From Home is an absolute blast! I loved it and can’t wait to see more of Peter (Tom Holland) and his corner of the MCU. They did a great job of retaining the well-developed interpersonal relationships of Homecoming while upping the stakes and taking Peter and his classmates on a tour of Europe.

Full Spoilers…

Peter’s journey from street-level Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man to full-blown international superhero Avenger takes a solid step here, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) drafting him into a battle with Elemental beings from a parallel universe. At first I thought it was kinda lame of Fury to be so all-in on high school junior Peter Parker suiting up instead of helping Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) fight the Elementals himself—I’ve always thought the MCU’s reliance on SHIELD to bring heroes together rather than the heroes teaming up by themselves made them less altruistic in a way, plus why do we need Fury if he’s just going to sit on the sidelines and point heroes at obvious threats?—but then I realized they were playing Fury as the parent or invested teacher in a high school movie. So, forcing Peter to help in the battle with the Elementals was their take on that kind of character encouraging a kid to step up and make the most out of their potential. He even goes so far as to ruin Peter’s vacation to get him to take his “job” seriously, and looking at him that way—with the Spider-films functioning as superhero movies by way of John Hughes—his role works really well (much like Tony Stark’s role as a parent who could say no to Spider-man in Homecoming). I also liked that Fury did agree to help Peter keep his identity a secret to an extent—that was reasonable of him—and "Night Monkey" was a fun gag (I wonder if he’ll don that simian alter ego again, given how this movie ends).

I liked that Peter’s anxiety over telling MJ (Zendaya) how he felt affected his Spider-sense—it seemed like a realistic parallel to being so stressed out that you literally worry yourself sick—and this worked much better than Spider-man 2’s Peter losing his powers just because he didn’t want to be Spider-man anymore. Making his “Peter Tingle’s” (lol!) function related to his stress and emotions also leaves the door open for his Spider-Sense to fail again, which is a nice dramatic bomb waiting to go off. Another dramatic bomb I’d like them to detonate is letting Peter realize that Tony wasn’t all great and did screw a lot of people over. Both Mysterio and Vulture made valid points about Tony and it wouldn't be a betrayal of Peter's Stark-adoration to recognize that he was a flawed person; it'd be the responsible, grown-up thing to do. Much like in Homecoming, I do worry that the MCU is playing Peter as Tony Stark's successor and heir apparent too much without fully exploring what we know to be the truth about Tony. I don’t want Peter to be the next Iron Man—he should be the first self-made Peter Parker instead—but it was a nice moment to see him take the steps of designing his new suit (even if I was hoping it’d be the classic one). Karen was fun and useful as someone for Peter to talk to in the last film, but I didn’t miss her in his new suit since he had Happy (Jon Favreau), Ned (Jacob Batalon), and MJ. I liked that Peter got to put his science skills to use and design his own web attacks instead of Stark gifting everything to him, though I’ll concede that the "moment" of Peter picking up the holo-designers did have a significant impact. Still, I loved him walking away from the Avengers in Homecoming (though I wish he hadn't gotten the Stark suit back) and I hope he eventually walks away from Stark Industries too instead of inheriting it or something. I want him at Horizon Labs and/or creating Parker Industries as a startup, inventing tech that helps the little guy instead of creating global defense networks. Speaking of, EDITH (Dawn Michelle King) was a fun addition to the film and Peter's mistakes with it felt appropriately teenager-esque (in a heightened superhero way, of course). I liked that it was way too much for him to handle and that he tried to get rid of it. I wish he’d destroyed it in the end, though my initial impression was that it’s essentially neutered now since all the drones are down and, given his reaction to seeing into everyone else’s phones, we can trust that he won’t use it that way again.

On the whole, the Spider-man films are the most enjoyable in the MCU (I also love that so much of their screentime is about Peter’s non-superhero life; we don’t get to see that from many other MCU heroes), but ignoring major dramatic moments keeps them from topping the Cap films as the MCU’s best. My biggest disappointment here is that we didn't—and apparently won't—see the fallout from May (Marisa Tomei) finding out that Peter is Spidey. I would’ve thought she’d be concerned about how being a superhero will affect his future (not to mention his safety), though I guess not since she fully encourages him to take his suit to Europe (also playing into that "embrace your potential" parental space Fury operates in). Was there a period where she worried about him before they came to this "everything is fine!" place? Did they compromise on ground rules for his superheroics vs. getting his homework done? The fallout from that reveal was a necessary piece of their arcs and it’s a mistake to skip it. I wish we hadn't had to detour into Infinity War after Homecoming (or that May walking in on him in the suit had also been Peter’s introductory scene in IW) and that we could've seen more of Peter and May's paths to get to this point.

Regardless, I liked seeing a new role for May now that she's in the know. It would've been nice to use that role to help give Peter advice or something, but it’s OK that that mainly manifested in her pushing him towards being a hero (and giving him an alibi to ditch the trip). Peter asking her for pointers on how to tell MJ he liked her would've been a solid route to take too (like when she helped him get ready for the dance in Homecoming), and it could’ve been a chance to bring up Uncle Ben and how he first told May about his feelings. I love that life for Peter and May hasn't ended with Ben’s death, but it would be nice to directly reference him. Continuing to mourn him would've been too much with Peter also mourning Stark's death (and it would've made Happy and May's flirtation awkward), but both Peter and May have clearly moved on so it would be OK to reference him without always being a downer. Ben’s initials on Peter’s briefcase were a nice subtle touch, but my friend pointed out that the suitcase getting blown up should’ve had more meaning to May and Peter instead of getting played off as joke (“Where’s your luggage? Oh right; it got blown up!”). Even a moment to say that physical things don’t matter when they can remember Ben and live as he did would’ve been enough. Speaking of Happy and May, I thought they were cute and I like where it's going (it if does go anywhere). At one point I thought not Snapping May would’ve been a way to bring the classic May into the MCU, but I wouldn’t have liked putting her through five years of hell with Peter having vanished. I like this May much better than the classic one who might have a heart attack just by finding out that Peter is Spider-man, and taking him away for that long probably would’ve led to that version so I’m glad they didn’t. I liked May helping the homeless shelter rather than sitting at home worrying about Peter being Spider-man: it’s nice to see her being a hero in her own right. I wonder if that job will bring us Mr. Negative sometime down the line; he could make things even worse for Spidey's rep.

Speaking of, this was an excellent rendition of Mysterio! I can't believe I didn't realize how perfect a villain he is for an era full of Fake News, where our leaders lie to us so casually and very few citizens bother to fact-check what they say. I hope he’s not dead and I don’t believe it. Faking that death would be a hard needle to thread with people clearly believing that he died a hero—so there must be a body, right?—but I’m sure there are ways around that. If he really is gone, what a way to go out! I definitely didn't expect him to announce Peter's secret to the world, but I'm glad they did: that’ll open up a lot of story potential and we’ve seen Peter do the secret identity thing in seven movies now; we can do one where he fights to put the genie back in the bottle and has to deal with the fallout. Gyllenhaal was very good in the role—the perfect mix of heroism, menace, and self-important ridiculousness—and while I knew he was a villain, he had me wishing that he wouldn't follow his comic book roots. I liked that he was the adult who let Peter slack and indulge in what he wanted rather than what was (arguably) best for his future (and certainly best for the world), and their chemistry allowed for a quick development of their brotherly bond. I liked the idea I saw online a while back about Quentin Beck having been a special effects guy on the "really old movies" Peter is always referencing who lost his job because of CGI, but his backstory here was so much better and it was very cool how they tied him and his cronies into the history of the MCU. I'm also so happy we got a comics-accurate costume for him! They really drove home the point that it would be impossible to fight Mysterio if you didn't have Spider-Sense and the sequence showcasing that was fantastic. Yes, that CGI was noticeably CGI, but given how he creates his illusions and the fact that it's a filter over real-world dangers, I thought it totally worked. The point wasn’t to create a photo-realistic illusion at that moment anyway, as there were several images that didn’t make logical sense in the “real world:” Beck was trying to scare and disorient Peter, getting him to hurt himself on real-world dangers, and the kid fell for it. I've never seen that threat level from this character before and that was a standout sequence of the entire MCU. I'm sorry that it looks like Sandman, Hydro-Man, Molten Man, and Cyclone are just illusions in this universe, but the Buzzfeed theory the gang finds means they could still be out there. Maybe Mysterio based the Elementals on them in the first place!

I'm of two minds about Nick Fury in this film. On one hand, I like the role he played in Peter's life here. On the other, the post-credits reveal that he was actually Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) acting as Fury while the real Nick was on vacation undercut the genuinely interesting character development Fury got. I really liked that he went from knowing everything about the world to knowing nothing. It's also more impressive if Mysterio dupes the real Fury instead of a stand-in. If Talos was sending Fury regular reports, then both those things are still at least halfway true, but it's not as effective or clean IMO. I’m glad to know Fury is a human who needs a vacation sometimes—the always alert, always prepared, always badass character the early MCU films painted him as would get boring and one-dimensional—but with these character developments maybe this wasn’t the best time to play the Skrull card. I hope the Skrull reveal is a one-time gag about Fury taking some time off (which does explain his insistence that Peter jump into the battle instead of doing it himself) and not a prelude to Secret Invasion. There just isn't time in these movies to sacrifice a whole film's worth of character development for a Skrull reveal. Secret Invasion would totally work in an MCU show, but the films aren’t like the comics where we have decades of time spent with the real characters plus a significant amount spent with their replacements; if they decide a character was a Skrull for an entire movie, that’s like a ninth of their total MCU screentime and development (if not more) erased.

I was happy that we got to spend a lot more time with MJ in this film. She's awesome, Zendaya plays her perfectly, and I really like this direction for her character! Her interest in the morbid history of everything is very endearing and I also like her obsession with telling the truth. At first I thought that might be a fun and interesting challenge for her once she found out about Peter (a twist the trailers shouldn't have revealed...classic Sony!), but now I'm thinking it could drive her towards journalism like in the Ultimate Comics universe. I would love to see her, Peter, and Ned team up to prove Peter's innocence and tell the world what really happened (while covering up Pete’s ID, which would bring that challenge aspect back to her). I liked that she played an integral role in discovering the truth about Mysterio and that she figured out Peter was Spider-man on her own; now I'd like to see that applied to her future. Her burgeoning relationship with Peter was sweet and felt well-developed given how long they’ve known each other; they are very cute together and their first kiss felt very teen-realistic. I can't wait to see how they work as a couple! With Midtown’s mascot being a tiger, I wonder if we'll get the "Face it, Tiger..." moment at some point.

Ned and MJ's low-key competition about knowing Peter's secret was fun too. I'm glad Ned has grown out of wanting to tell everyone Peter's secret (though that did create some fun drama and obstacles we wouldn't have gotten from the more responsible Peter by himself). I really like his friendship with Peter (and Batalon’s rendition of Ned) and even though he didn't get to be the Man in the Chair this time around, they could easily bring that back next time to help clear Pete's name. Ned and Betty's (Angourie Rice) trip-long summer romance was a funny subplot and a nice nod to their comic book marriage. I'm glad Betty got more screentime here, even if it's still weird to me that she's so visually patterned after Gwen Stacy (if they are saving Gwen for Spider-Gwen, I'm all for it!). I loved that the school news reports Betty and Jason (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) anchor are still so hilariously (and realistically) bad! They were the perfect vehicle to recap The Blip and I really liked how it was handled. This film isn't the place to look at the massive problems such seismic shifts in the global population would cause, but I firmly believe the MCU needs to address them somewhere (Agents of SHIELD and the other shows would be my choice). They could get literal years of great drama exploring the fallout of both snaps, the global upheaval, the extremes surviving heroes went to, surprising heroic turns from villains that were left behind, etc. and while I'm glad they didn't just erase Thanos' Snap, it's a massive missed opportunity not to mine the fallout for all it's worth somewhere. Global changes like this should be felt in everything going forward, even if they're not the main focus. Still, the kids’ frustration that they had to take their midterms over again and the weirdness over some kids having aged five years while the rest of them didn’t worked perfectly for the corner of the MCU this movie was playing in. Those felt like realistic teen complaints and they’re all I needed from this film in terms of the Blip.

Flash (Tony Revolori) was funny and I liked the surprise beat at the end about his parents not arriving at the airport to welcome him back. His adoration of Spider-man and jerkiness to Peter is still a fun combination too, though I would like to see Peter ruminate on that dichotomy a little more. Give Peter a moment where he feels like he’s getting one over on Flash because his bully idolizes his alter ego or something, then pull the rug out from under him with Flash being Flash (they almost have this moment here, but it’s more about establishing Flash’s Spider-fandom than Peter really considering/laughing at it). Still, I can't wait to see how he reacts to the knowledge that Peter is Spider-man! The teachers (J.B. Smoove, Martin Star) were great again too! Peter has one of the best supporting casts in the MCU and this film was no different. Mr. Harrison's tragic and over-shared love life was great fun, as was science teacher Mr. Dell being convinced the Elementals were the work of witches. Even though they do care about the students, the teachers being so inept goes a long way towards justifying how easy it is for Peter to slip away to do his hero thing. It’s also very funny; I wouldn’t change a thing! I liked that they made a point of joking that there had been very little science on this science club trip, but as excuses to get them to Europe go, it didn't bother me at all that they never got to study science.

I was delighted to see JK Simmons return as J. Jonah Jameson! That was a great bit and the evolution of the character into a Fox News-styled conspiracy theorist pundit who peddles lies is a perfect direction to take the character. I can't wait to see where he goes next! It would make total sense for him to hire the Scorpion (who already wants revenge on Spidey) or Kraven to take down the "menace" of Spider-man (perhaps as a dry run for the Sinister Six) in this context. I'm also wondering if we'll finally hear "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" as a rebuke to JJ from Peter: with such a large platform that commands power and implies trustworthiness, Jonah (and the press in general) has a responsibility to tell the truth, especially in an age where people will believe anything. As bad as our leaders are, the press enabling them by publishing conspiracy theories and not calling lies out as lies is an equally enormous problem and that would be an excellent “villain” to tackle in the next Spider-man. I wonder if they’ll let Peter re-establish his secret ID, or if he’ll end up accepting his pubic status as a way of showing he’s different from the liar leading the Daily Bugle.

The world of this film was great and I'm eager to see more of Peter's corner of the MCU. I liked that they continued to emphasize the diversity of the real world through Peter’s classmates; we definitely need more of that (in addition to getting more diverse characters as leads). I thoroughly enjoyed the acting from everyone in the cast. The pacing was perfect and they balanced the romantic drama, decisions about Peter's future, action, comedy, and stakes very well! There was a cool variety of fight scenes and I really liked Peter working to secure buildings and civilians while Mysterio took on the Elementals. The CGI was great and well-used. Michael Giacchino’s score was excellent once again! I really like his orchestral version of the 60s Spider-man cartoon theme (and hope we get a similar rendition of the 90s X-men theme for their reboot), as well as the other themes Giacchino developed for this series. The pop culture songs they used are great, but they shouldn't shy away from songs today's kids like as well. As a kid in the 90s, I listened to songs from the 60s on an oldies station along with current music so it doesn't bother me that Peter's music also spans decades, but there should be a more even mix of the two. I’ve seen comments online about how using modern music would date the film, but a major reason the 80s classics are “timeless” is because the people who grew up with them now use them in their films. Peter and his tastes shouldn’t be limited to what a 30-40 year old thinks is cool; they should be what the current teens think are cool.

I wonder how Peter being unmasked will affect Vulture for keeping his ID a secret, to say nothing of how it's going to wreck his personal life. This should be a seismic shift in his status quo and I hope they don't skip over it again like with May finding out. Maybe Black Cat could help Peter navigate the “criminal” lifestyle and make things even more complicated for him when he’s seen hanging out with an actual thief. Maybe Peter will get snarkier because of all this (since these movies are already so funny I didn’t notice his lack of quips until I saw author Gail Simone mention it on Twitter, but this turn of events could be a way to sharpen his comedy a bit). How will it affect May? Regardless of my (ultimately small) misgivings with certain aspects of this Peter’s development, Tom Holland is excellent in the role and they're telling their story very well, so I’m happy and excited to see as many adventures as he’s willing to suit up for! Who knows; maybe they can make Miles Morales the self-made, homemade Spidey instead of Pete. If he were Peter's contemporary instead of his multiverse counterpart here—do their team-up like a buddy cop movie with them as competing teenage Spider-men—they could make a statement out of Peter getting handed the keys to Tony’s kingdom while Miles has to resort to homemade methods, which would be pretty cool and socially relevant.

Whatever the future of the MCU has in store for Peter, I can't wait to see it! Far From Home is an absolute blast that's neck-and-neck with Homecoming for best live-action Spider-man film (Into the Spider-verse is still the best Spider- (and superhero) film overall) and you should definitely see this while it's in theaters!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

#spider-man #spider-man far from home #far from home #peter parker #mysterio #quentin beck #mj #ned leeds #aunt may #tom holland #jake gyllenhaal #jacob batalon #zendaya #mcu #marisa tomei

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traincat · 6 years ago

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so i was talking to someone and they asked me how come i love a movie that everyone hates? and i just. can understand why people didn't like TASM2? like. I feel that, you'd have to dislike Spider-Man as a whole to actively hate it

Oh man, first off, I just want to say, “how can you love a piece of fiction that everyone hates” is like, one of the worst argument of all time, full offense to whoever you were speaking with. The inner Jewish grandmother in me hears that and says, “What, and if everyone suddenly loved jumping off a bridge, you’d do that too?” There are a lot of reasons for not liking a piece of fiction but “well everyone else hates it” really isn’t one of them, to anyone who feels pressured by popular opinion. It’s totally okay to like things other people don’t, be they fiction, food, or fashion, among others.

(I have a lot of TASM asks right now and I’m working through them in a weird order, apologies to the askers.)

Which brings me to your second point, and like, obviously I love The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a whole lot, but I do think there are valid reasons why someone might personally not like the movie even beyond just personal preferences like “I like this actor’s performance/face/whatever, I don’t like this other actor’s performance/face/whatever” etc. One big thing about both Amazing Spider-Man movies is that they’re an adaptation of The Night Gwen Stacy Died, and they know what they are – it’s all set up even in the first movie. The bridge models on the Parker mantel place. Gwen’s first outfit, along with her last, are tributes to her classic Amazing Spider-Man #121 outfit, involving a coat, purple skirt, and knee high boots, with the first also featuring her iconic black headband. There’s the “I’m going to throw you out a window now” scene, not to mention the death of George Stacy, a precursor to Gwen’s death. (I’ve talked about this before on Gwen’s death, but I do think it’s fascinating how TASM exists in a pop culture landscape where 616 Gwen’s death already happened, and how that drastically alters George’s last words to Peter, going from asking him to take care of Gwen to asking him promise to stay away from her.) The movies knew what they were doing from the start. The audience, on the other hand, didn’t. And I think the experience of watching TASM2 for the first time can be wildly different depending on if you went in knowing about/expecting Gwen’s (especially brutal) death scene, and depending on your personal feelings about the story TASM/2 chose to retell and about the death of Gwen Stacy. And that’s just one reason.

And I can talk about all the things I love in TASM. I can talk about how, in my own personal opinion, it is the film series that cares the most about being faithful to the source material. (Raimi’s Spider-Man, in my opinion, does a great job creating a very specific look, and drawing on classic elements, and creating its own now classic Spider-Man mythology like the upside down kiss, but it ultimately disappoints me with how it chose to interpret the characters. MCU’s Spider-Man, any other thoughts I have on it aside, is clearly more interested in impressing modern audiences and projecting FUN in letters sixteen feet high than it is in being a faithful Spider-Man adaptation.) And it can be debated whether or not it’s a GOOD thing for a film to try and be faithful rather than doing its own thing, but it is a thing I personally love about it, then I can look at the movies and pull things out of them and go “and they got this from here, and that from there” etc. I like that they did things differently while still leaning into the source material; the mystery of Peter’s parents being a big plot of the plot, for example, is something I’ve seen be criticized, but the fact is this is a plot from the comics and when you have a character who is built on these layers and layers of secrecy, it’s a worthy exploration to see where that comes from. I love that the movies focus so heavily on Peter’s relationship with May, and TASM2′s “you’re my boy”/”I’m your boy, you’re my everything” scene is a huge part of that. I love that they’re both crying in that scene. I love how genuine the emotion in TASM2 feels. I love that the first TASM movie took Flash’s limited screen time and didn’t make him one note – aside from Gwen, he’s the only person in the school scene to try and comfort Peter after Ben’s death, and his “it feels better, right?” line is a reference to Flash’s abusive home life from the comics. I love the amount of detail put into the look of these movies – I love the set design of Peter’s room, the posters, the photos of Gwen, how it’s realistically messy and not at all an Ikea-looking cookie cutter set. I love Gwen’s evolving style between the first and second movie, trading in her sleek straight hair and sweaters for waves and jewel toned pattern pieces. In a visual medium like a movie, all of this information is used to tell you things about the characters, and I think TASM uses its environments and its wardrobe to pack as much information in as it can. I love that TASM2 filmed 90% in New York state, which as far as I know is pretty unique in a superhero film. I love that both movies are a love letter in their own ways to New York, to the dazzling heights, to Spider-Man’s iconic connection to his home city. And yeah, I love the tragedy of the movie, I love The Night Gwen Stacy Died as a story that changed the landscape of Spider-Man, I love the raw emotion of the whole thing, and I love that a version of it was made where Gwen got to save New York not once but twice before she died, and how it’s not fair, but the point of it is that it’s not fair, and I love stories that sometimes don’t have happy endings, and I love the performances that were given in retelling this particular story. And yeah, I love that TASM and the people involved in making it, including Andrew Garfield, obviously really cares about Peter Parker as an individual character, and they let him be angry, and be sharp-tongued, and physical, and weird, and not a perfect person because what mattered was the responsibility in the character. TASM’s “That’s not your job”/”Maybe it is” exchange says it best.

But I think ultimately where a lot of the hate comes from is that there’s a pattern in fandom, and we saw it with Raimi > TASM, and with TASM > Homecoming, and even a little bit with Homecoming > Into the Spider-Verse, though I do think the last one is a little difference because of the circumstances. I’d like to think that all the recent criticism of Homecoming’s blatant theft of Miles’ character and story to build up the MCU’s version of Peter Parker is genuine (and I do think most of it is) but I see this patteen whenever a new version of something comes out. There’s a tendency – and I think some of this is studio-led; they want people to throw out the old in favor of the new because it’s simply much better for their business – to trash the one that came before it. Oh, actually, it was bad, it was boring, people only liked it because of this one actor, etc. The MCU in its entirety, with all the marketing power of Disney behind it, has become incredibly good at doing this not just with other Marvel movies under different studios, but with superhero movies on the altogether, whether it be through buying review or through the pressure exerted to acknowledge the MCU as The One True Superhero Movie Franchise. (For the record, there are MCU movies I like, and ones I don’t, and ones I don’t feel anything for, but I truly doubt that the evangelical nature of the truly hardcore MCU audience sprang up completely organically.) Sooner or later, they’ll reboot Spider-Man as a live action film again. I hope they pick Miles as their lead when they do, but it’ll probably be Peter again, and even if the next one does star Miles – eventually, there will be another Peter Parker movie, and as soon as the next actor is cast, we’re going to see this pattern again. I would be willing to put money down on it.

At the end of the day, like I wrote in my big Homecoming criticism post, I’m a little tired of the idea that there can only be One True Adaptation, which is where a lot of this argument comes from, when it comes to a body of works that spans decades and hundreds upon hundreds of issues. “Oh, we already had a bunch of Spider-Man movies” is like, so? We already had a bunch of Spider-Man comics, too. There’s so many stories to adapt and retell, and I love the one TASM/2 threw itself into adapting, but there’s so many more I want to see up on screen, too. (Here’s to Sony’s announced Kraven movie project! PLEASE be a Kraven’s Last Hunt movie!)

But yeah, ultimately, popularity isn’t exactly the best metric for how good a movie is, let alone how much you’re allowed to enjoy it, and what matters is that you liked it. I love it a lot, too.

#tasm #traincat talks comics #*replies #Anonymous

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trashcanmarvelfan · 6 years ago

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Best. Job. Ever. (Tom Holland x Reader) 3/?

Surprise! 2 chapters in 1 night. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Summary: Reader gets a job on the set of Spider-Man: Far from Home for the 3 weeks they are shooting in New York City as what she thinks is a production assistant, but a twist of fate has her reassigned as Tom Holland’s personal assistant. As she & Tom grow close during filming, will their budding friendship turn to more or will they go their separate ways after filming concludes?

Warnings: Language, but that’s pretty much it? This is basically a PG-13 rom-com.

Word Count: 1280 for chapter 3.

Author’s Note: As this was written WAY before Spider-Man: Far from Home was released (actually before Avengers: Endgame was as well) I’ve kept plot details and which scene was being shot on what day extremely vague. Also, I’m American but tried to write Tom as British as possible, although I do think he’d try to stay(ish) in character and use as much American slang as he could while he’s still playing Peter.

Requests are always open!

Cross-posted at AO3.

Y/N had just finished her makeup when there was a knock at her door. “One second!” she called out, grabbing her purse and quickly sliding her feet into her shoes.

She opened the door and her heart did a flip.

Tom was wearing acid-washed jeans, a plain white T-shirt with a sports jacket over it, and sneakers. Y/N was glad she had kept it fairly casual as well, pairing a flowy top with one of the dressier pairs of pants she had brought with her, along with a pair of low-heeled shoes.

“Hey, Y/N,” Tom said. “Ready?”

“Yep, let me just grab my phone,” Y/N replied. She unplugged it and tucked it into her pants pocket. “Ready.” She closed her door and they headed down the hall.

Tom pressed the button for the elevator. “So I thought we could just Uber to the restaurant if that was okay.”

Y/N nodded. “That’s fine with me.”

Tom pulled out his phone and pulled up the Uber app as they exited the elevator and walked through the lobby. “Ok, the driver should be here in a few minutes.”

“Great,” Y/N replied.

“So, what did you think of your first day on a film set?”

“Oh, it was so cool! I didn’t know you were British when I first saw you in Civil War. Your American accent is so realistic.”

Tom laughed. “Thanks. I practice it a lot.”

“It’s crazy just how much work goes into making a movie. I can't wait to see it in theaters when it's done. And Endgame too of course.” Y/N winked. “Gotta know how Spidey comes back from the dead.”

“So you're a fan?”

Y/N laughed. “Well I've seen every single MCU film in theaters starting with Iron Man, so I guess you can say that.”

“Who's your favorite Avenger?”

Y/N was about to reply when their Uber pulled up. Tom opened the door for Y/N before heading around to the other side.

“Good evening,” he greeted their driver as he climbed in.

“How're you folks doing tonight?” their driver asked as he eased into traffic.

“Doing well,” Y/N answered. “And yourself?”

“Just fine, just fine. We are headed to… Pappardella, right?”

“Right,” Tom said.

“Date night?”

“Oh, no, we’re just friends,” Y/N said quickly.

“Hanging out,” Tom chimed in.

“I see, I see. First time in New York?”

“It’s my first time here,” Y/N said.

“I’ve been here once or twice,” Tom added, shooting Y/N a grin.

“Well I hope you’re enjoying our fair city. Just sit tight and I’ll have you to your destination shortly.”

The ride was a smooth one and soon they pulled up in front of the restaurant.

They thanked their driver as they got out, Tom leaving a generous tip on the Uber app before heading into Pappardella.

They stepped up to the host stand.

“Table for two?” the host asked.

“Actually we have a reservation,” Tom replied.

“Last Name?”

“Holland.”

The host ran his finger down the reservation list. “Ahh, yes sir.” He made a note next to the entry. “Right this way please.”

Y/N looked at Tom as they followed the host to their table. “When did you make a reservation?”

Tom shrugged. “After I got back to my room. They’re usually not too busy on Mondays but I wanted to make sure.”

They were seated and their server came to greet them. “Hi, I’m Lindsey, and I’ll be your server tonight. May I start you off with something to drink?”

“Ah, yes, can I get a…” Y/N eyed the drink menu. “Glass of pinot grigio?”

“Certainly. And for you, sir?”

“I’ll take a glass of pinot noir,” Tom replied.

“Ok, I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menu and I’ll be right back.”

Y/N looked at the menu. “Any suggestions? I’m kind of torn between the gnocchi and the penne.”

“I’ve had the penne,” Tom replied. “It’s very good.”

“I think I’ll have that then.”

Lindsey came back with their wine and took their orders. After she left, Tom took a sip of his wine. “You never did tell me who your favorite Avenger was.”

Y/N quirked an eyebrow. “Fishing for a compliment?” she joked.

Tom shrugged casually, a smirk on his face. “Just curious, is all.”

“Mmm hmm. Well, if you really want to know...” Y/N leaned in closer. “It’s Bucky, of course.”

Tom groaned. “I guess I walked right into that one. Which, by the way, I’m never telling Seb because he’ll never let me live it down.”

Y/N laughed and took a casual sip of her wine. “It’s only because as of right now as far as I know Spider-Man isn’t officially officially an Avenger, even though Tony said he was in Infinity War.”

“So, you’re a ‘Spider-Fan’, huh?”

Y/N snorted. “Is that what they’re called?”

Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. I just made that up.”

Y/N shook her head. “You are something else.”

The conversation flowed all throughout dinner, Y/N and Tom exchanging stories about their childhoods, Tom showing off pictures of Tessa, and Y/N regaling Tom with stories of her college experience.

“You know, I never knew you were a dancer until I saw your episode of Lip Sync Battle,” Y/N said with a grin.

“Oh God, I’m never going to live that down,” Tom laughed.

“No, I loved it! Zendaya was amazing, but I knew she was a singer & dancer already. You absolutely KILLED your ‘Umbrella’ performance and totally deserved that win.”

“Thanks.”

Lindsey walked up at that moment. “And how are we taking care of the check?”

“Separate--” Y/N stated at the same time Tom said, “Together.”

“What? No. You already bought me dinner last night,” Y/N protested.

Tom shrugged. “And I asked you to accompany me again tonight, therefore I’m paying.”

Y/N eyed him. When he didn’t break eye contact, she sighed. “Fine. But I’M paying for the Uber back.”

Tom grinned. “Deal.”

As promised, Y/N ordered the Uber for the ride back to the hotel. She yawned as they rode the elevator up to their floor.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I’m still not used to the time difference.”

“Quite alright,” Tom reassured her. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, yeah?”

“Yeah. I think your call time is the same every day this week, so I’ll be around at 7:15 again tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Tom agreed, then added, “and I promise to be fully dressed tomorrow.”

Y/N blushed at the memory of Tom in only a towel. “It’s ok,” she shrugged. If anything, she had some new fantasy material after this was all over, so she really couldn’t complain.

Tom walked Y/N to her door.

“I had a nice time tonight,” Y/N said.

“Me too. It’s nice to have the company,” Tom replied.

If this had been a date, this would’ve been the time where Y/N would have expected a goodnight kiss. But since it wasn’t, Y/N gave an awkward wave. “Well, goodnight Tom. See you in the morning.”

“‘Night, Y/N.”

Y/N closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. Man, am I in trouble, she thought. Not only was Tom gorgeous-- and even more so in person-- he was also such a gentleman, and sweet, and funny, and genuine. Y/N’s mild celebrity crush on him was starting to spark into an even bigger crush. Keep it professional, she reminded herself.

If she fell asleep and dreamed about brown eyes and an adorable British accent, that wasn’t her fault, was it?

Tagging: @thoughstofaredhead & @greenarrowhead

#tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #Tom Holland fanfic #Tom Holland RPF #Tom holland fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #avengers fanfiction

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1wngdngl · 5 years ago

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Avengers: Endgame - final thoughts

So, I saw Avengers: Endgame for the second time on July 1. And ever since then, I’ve been meaning to post my full review. You might be wondering, what took so long? Well, I had a review all ready the night I came back from the theater, but Tumblr ate it, and it took a while for me to regain the motivation to type it up again. And then I wanted to make sure it was a really good, super-detailed review, so it took even longer. End result being that it’s now two months later later, so who knows if anyone even cares anymore ;) But I’m sharing it anyway, so it doesn’t feel like a complete waste of time.

(Keep in mind this review was largely written before Spider-Man: Far From Home and the SDCC came around to muddy the waters, so nothing past Endgame is mentioned.)

I think I actually liked this movie better the second time I saw it. I enjoyed it the first time, certainly, but the first time I was so concerned about what the movie might be like, what might happen next, who would live or die, how the whole saga would be concluded, that I wasn’t fully able to be in the moment. And when you go into a movie with that attitude, and with a wishlist of things you want to see, it’s easy to feel slightly disappointed when an item doesn’t get checked off your list.

But when I saw Endgame the second time, I already knew what was going to happen, so I was able to relax more and just appreciate everything – the action, the humor, the music, the characters, everything. To quote Thor, I was able to appreciate the movie for what it was, not for what it was “supposed” to be.

One thing I especially appreciated this time was the sheer variety the movie presented, in the tone, the characters, and the settings. Both Infinity War and Endgame are long movies that feel much shorter, but they achieve that in different ways. Infinity War was near non-stop action and dramatic reversals, so you never had time to get bored. In contrast, Endgame has a lot more quiet moments and mundane interactions. It’s almost like a mini-series of half-hour episodes, each with its own tone and setting.

I really like how Endgame opens, with something as simple as Clint spending time with his family. It really cut me when he looked away for a moment and all his family disappeared. The opening emphasizes that, however long it may have been for the audience since seeing Infinity War, for the characters it’s a fresh tragedy. The “Porch” musical theme from the end of Infinity War shows up here too, linking the two movies together (it’d be amazing to watch them back-to-back sometime).

The somber mood continues with Tony out in space, desperately trying to get home. When he finally does, he’s relieved to find Pepper still alive, but that doesn’t make everything better (and of course, he hasn’t exactly forgiven Steve yet either). With the help of Nebula and Captain Marvel, a group goes to hunt down Thanos, hoping they can use the Stones themselves to bring back the Snapped. But of course, Thanos has already destroyed the Stones, and there’s no getting them back, ever.

When Thor chopped off Thanos’s head mid-sentence, it was very satisfying, but of course that didn’t actually fix anything – even Thor realizes this within five seconds. This whole section of the movie is like a delayed climax from Infinity War, and has an even greater sense of finality and failure than the dusting itself.

When I first saw the words “Five…Years…Later” appear on screen, I was really startled. That the writers would let this world and the Avengers spend five years wallowing in their failure. It probably shouldn’t be surprising that most of them stepped down from hero business in the interim. Out of everyone, I actually think Bruce handled the post-apocalypse the best, finally able to achieve self-acceptance and inner peace. On the flip side is Thor, who seems to feel the most personally responsible for the tragedy – if only he had gone for the head the first time! – and who spends every day drinking himself senseless so he doesn’t have to think about it. Tony seems content to hide out in his lake cabin with his wife and daughter, not getting involved in the problems of the larger world. Natasha buries herself in work, and Steve seems to just drift aimlessly. And Clint…His despair sends him into darkness and violence, and I wonder if his previous crimes when he was being mind-controlled made it the tiniest bit easier to fall into that darkness.

If you look at the “going after Thanos in the garden” part as a prologue, then the whole “living with failure” is the start of the first act. Everyone is just trying to make do, carry on the best way they know how. This part of the movie is very subdued, almost mundane, and mostly consists of characters exchanging dialogue, absent of action, of music, of life. But the whole of the MCU has done so much work in developing these characters that even just watching them interact is interesting. They no longer feel like actors, just people playing off each other in the most natural way. They feel like old friends, both to each other and the audience, friends who are going through a tough time.

The inciting incident, the moment things start to change, is when Ant-Man arrives. He’s the one who brings hope and humor back into the movie. He hasn’t had to live through years in this ruined world, so he still has optimism that they can fix things. You know, when he first suggested time travel, I was a bit nervous since a lot of movies don’t handle time travel very well. But the “time heist”, as it’s called, may be my favorite part of the movie.

So we move into the second act, where the Avengers split up and go after the Infinity Stones in different time periods. This section is a lot more “fun” than the previous scenes, as the characters re-visit moments from past movies, making the heist into a sort of “MCU in Review”. But these scenes aren’t just cut-and-pasted from their original movies – instead we get to look at them from different angles, see what was happening just offscreen, and see characters who wouldn’t even make their first appearance until later, like seeing the Ancient One and Brock Rumlow during the Battle in New York.

With multiple time-travel groups, the movie cuts quickly between them, so you’re never quite sure where or when you’ll get to see next. Again, the sheer number of characters in this movie is amazing – nearly everyone from Infinity War, plus time travel allows even more characters to show up. Sure, many appearances are just cameos, but the level of logistical planning that all these scenes must’ve involved just boggles the mind.

Not only does the time travel let viewers revisit parts of the MCU, it also allows the main three Avengers (Tony, Steve, and Thor) to reach some closure with their past. Tony and Thor get to have proper goodbyes with their parents; Steve’s closure has to wait until the end of the movie, but is worth the wait.

The time heist is mostly just fun at first, but slowly things start to go wrong. First Natasha dies, then Nebula is captured and replaced by her own past self, who finds a way to bring the nightmare of Thanos back into everyone’s lives. To be honest I wasn’t sure if or how he would be relevant to the movie again after being killed right at the start, so this twist really caught me off-guard. The moment Thanos’s ship opens fire and destroys the Avengers Compound is one of the most startling in the movie, jolting events right into the third act.

The final battle is very complex and would take a long time to properly break down. Seeing Thanos’s army of Leviathans, Outriders, the Black Order, and more as a single unified force – it’s almost as exciting as seeing the heroes all assembled. The moment where all the dusted heroes show up on the battlefield, to the “Portals” theme, may be the most emotionally stirring moment in the series. The power level on each side is unfathomable; and when it all ends and the bad guys fade away into dust – first the legion, and then finally, finally Thanos himself – I felt a real vindictive satisfaction that he got what he deserved, that this time it was the Avengers who had the last laugh.

I know some people were angry about how Tony Stark died, but really, what better end for a character can you ask for? He saved the whole universe, and had a grand funeral with many attendees – many of whom didn’t even like him personally, but recognized the debt they owe him. The part at the end where Happy is trying to comfort Tony’s cute daughter, who is too young to completely understand what’s going on…Priceless. In the very first Iron Man movie, Yinsen told Tony “Don’t waste your life”, and I think he’d be proud.

The first time I saw Endgame, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Steve and Thor’s endings, but on a second viewing I felt much better about them. Steve, after all his sacrifice, living the superhero life non-stop, finally got to have the life he wanted with Peggy. Thor wasn’t able to get back any of the friends or family he lost, but he finally got over his guilt and depression, and left with the Guardians to have a new adventure. I think they will all get along well ;)

[another thing that made this second viewing fun – I sat next to a family who was seeing it for the first time, and the kids were very animated in their reactions to all the big moments, action, and jokes, so that made it more special for me too. I love seeing other people react to something I already know and enjoy.]

Addendum:

Like I said, all of the above was written several months ago, and I haven’t yet seen Spider-Man: Far From Home and have generally not looked into any Marvel news since then. Truth is, I’m extremely nervous about the future of the MCU. I know the studio can’t rest on their laurels, and so have to keep making movies, but personally I’d be happy if the MCU was truly done with Endgame. Not that I think everything after that will be junk, but because Endgame provided such a satisfying conclusion that I’m afraid future entries will just confuse things, or reduce that sense of closure. “Stop when things are at their best,” is what I believe. Otherwise you risk undoing the specialness of the story by repeating yourself, making accidental (or deliberate) retcons, or by losing the thread of a character’s arc and treating them more as a marketable commodity than a person.

But! I have a strategy prepared – if future entries after the Infinity Saga don’t capture that same wonder, don’t spark the same interest in me, I’m prepared to view them as expensive fanfiction, and be satisfied with the perfect, complete story that Marvel already gave us :)

#movies #marvel #mcu #avengers #avengers: endgame #reviews

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northlandian · 6 years ago

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How I Fell in Love with Marvel

As a die-hard MCU fan today, it's hard to imagine where I would be and what I would be interested in today if it wasn't for my discovery of these fantastic movies. This is the story of how I accidentally saw my favourite movie to date, resulting in me finding one of my greatest passions today.

For context, before that day occurred, the closest I had been to anything Marvel related was having seen the original Spider-Man movies, 1 through 3, and I actually liked them (well, except for the obvious). A few years after that, I also saw Guardians of the Galaxy in theatres, which also happened to be on accident, as I was cottaging in a small county during the summer, and my sister and I were bored one night. However, Guardians wasn't enough to reel me in. If I'm being completely honest, it was never one of my favourite MCU movies (I even prefer the sequel over it). Not that it's not good, it was, but at the time, there was a lot of information thrown at me all at once that I didn't quite get because I didn't see any movies previous to it. Obviously, being young, stupid, and not that into that kind of stuff at the time, I didn't know I was supposed to.

It's also worth noting though, that before this accident I'm about to delve into occurred, I knew I wanted to be a Marvel fan. I had seen the Spider-Man movies and enjoyed them (although I didn't know that the MCU would differ from those, but anyways), so I knew there was a fairly good chance I would enjoy the others. Just the idea of these incredible fighters had always intrigued me, and it's probably why I enjoy video games as well. But I also wanted to feel like I was part of something, something bigger than myself. I was over my book phase, Gravity Falls had just ended, and I had finished all the Harry Potter movies... I wanted to find something else to love. But at the same time, I could never really find the time or effort to catch up on however-many countless movies were out at the time.

SO, without further ado, this is how I happened upon the MCU.

First of all, it was near the end of December 2017...yes, this took place just last year, I'm aware of how new I am and I only wish it could have happened sooner.

Anyways, my sister and I were staying at my cousin's for a few days during the winter break. We decided to go downtown for the day, which included seeing a movie. We hadn't bought the tickets ahead of time, but we were planning on seeing Coco - I had only heard good things, so we were all really excited. We get to the theatre, and one of my cousins goes to buy the tickets, while I wait with her three little brothers and my sister. Eventually, she comes back, only to tell us that Coco was sold out...big bummer for me. There was nothing else to see. My sister began complaining. My cousin then informs us that she had instead, purchased us all tickets for the new Thor movie...what? Her brothers seemed happy about it, and I decided to grin and bear it, but I gave my sister one look and knew I'd be sitting through one boring boy's movie. Whatever. I'd get it over with.

So we sit down in the theatre, we sit through the previews (I saw the preview for Black Panther for the first time, and ironically thought, "huh, that looks pretty good"), and the Marvel logo comes on. First impressions? Well, it was pretty cool. It was my first time seeing the newest Marvel logo, considering Guardians never had it.

Then it pans down to Thor, and he starts monologuing in his deep Asgardian accent, and I'm expecting it to be expositional and boring but...wait, it's not? It was actually pretty funny. The Surtur scene continues, and now first impressions are really kicking in... they were able to make it expositional and funny at the same time, and it worked well. Then the fight began, and suddenly, I was like...woah. These fight scenes are really good. Like. Really good. I found the camera angles made to follow the hammer very cool. Enemies were being taken out like dominos. Even Thor using his hammer as a shield against Surtur's fiery breath was literally a battle move I had doodled all the time! And now I was seeing it in front of me! Then, of course, his escape. I fell in love with the score instantly. The Bifrost aesthetic had me captivated. And from the moment the camera panned up into birds-eye view to read "Thor: Ragnarok", I knew this movie was going to be a bit more than interesting.

Suffice it to say, first impressions were good.

I won't go into detail about every scene like I just did, but I'll highlight the important ones that really made the movie for me.

Loki's introduction. Little did I know I'd be meeting one of my favourite characters of all time. His magical capabilities were revealed instantly for a first-timer like me, something I appreciated at the time I was watching. So was his relationship with Thor; not all of it, obviously, because there are many, many layers, but it was enough for me to determine that he was someone who had the kind of relationship that allowed him to act very jokingly, as seen while also being very jealous deep down, and expressing resentment (his desires of wanting to be King, making a stage production out of his own death, exiling his own father, etc). I could also pick up his immediate character traits fairly quickly - he’s funny, he's someone who practically embodies trouble, and he will always put himself first. It was unclear how much he truly did care for others, specifically his brother, but then again, it's been like that throughout most of the MCU anyways. I, of course, did not know why he was the way he was, but his personality had me intrigued from the very beginning.

The references made to past MCU movies. Believe it or not, I wasn't completely lost, unlike with Guardians. The reason for this was because it was presented in a way that made it so simple. For example, Loki faked his death. How do I know? Because Thor comes back to a stage production about it, but surprise! He's not dead. Another example is, Hulk and Thor always fight alongside each other. How do I know? "He's a friend from work". "Work" obviously being the Avengers (I didn't live completely under a rock, at least), and "friend" being enough to tell me that they were on pretty good terms the last they saw each other. Even the line "adopted" being enough to tell me that there was some deeper story behind why Loki is the way he is. It was small things like that that really set this particular movie apart, and sure, there were some references I didn't catch until seeing the previous movies ("Yes! That's how it feels!"), but it was nice to not always be in the dark about everything.

Valkyrie. Literally, everything about this character. I hadn't exactly been acquainted to Natasha Romanoff yet, so she was the first female badass I had ever had the pleasure of watching. From the moment she's introduced, you can tell she has a deep backstory. Her confrontation with Loki had me rolling when she beat the crap out of him, and then proceeded to throw a bottle at him shortly after. And of course, there's her entrance onto Asgard... enough said.

The last thing I'm going to mention goes out to the film's director, Taika Waititi, as well as the perfect portrayal performed by the actors, and that is the constant humour in the movie. Perfect example: “Get help”. It had me rolling. This is why I always consider it the most wonderful, yet coincidental incident because the truth is, if it was any other MCU movie, I wouldn't have been enticed enough. The movie was so damn funny, I must've laughed through half of it. Before I had seen it, I didn't know Marvel didn't take themselves so seriously. Or at least, I didn't know they didn't have to. I know now of course that that movie specifically was purposed to completely rebrand Thor in order to make him more interesting, and damn, did they do a good job.

So, that last point especially lingered as I left the theatre that day. I cannot express how much I thought about that movie for the rest of the night, which rarely happened to me, as it only happens when I watch something really good. The best thing I can think to compare it to was when the author of the journals was revealed in Gravity Falls (for those who have seen it). I even remember asking my cousin, "Wow, I had no idea Marvel movies were that good. Are they that funny in all the movies?". She responded, "Yeah, we should definitely watch the Avengers tonight", to which I agreed.

We watched Wonder Woman. I was highly unimpressed. Sorry, not a DC stan, never will be.

But when I got home from my cousin's, I did end up watching it. And then I watched Ultron. Then the Thor's. Then the Iron Man's. Then the Captain America's. I loved them all. I even enjoyed Guardian's 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, as I was hesitant about both. A few months later, I went back to the theatres to see Black Panther, just like I wanted to. With each time I watched and rewatched the movies, I fell more in love with the characters, I picked apart more from the storyline, made sure I knew every after-credits scene...started crafting my own theories for Infinity War.

And of course, little did I know, it would smash my heart to pieces not five months after I first discovered it.

And now, here I am, still obsessing over these movies, still undecided on who I could possibly like more, Thor or Loki, just as I felt from the moment I left the theatre for the first time. It's cool to think I found my passion on a happy accident, and it's weird to think that considering how happy it's kept me, what I'd be doing without it today.

#marvel #MCU #storytime #thor ragnarok #thor #loki #avengers #iron man #captain america #spider-man #guardians of the galaxy #origin #story #love

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inawickedlittletown · 6 years ago

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Walking The Wire (95/?)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

@findmeinthestarss

Masterpost

Chapter Ninety Four

Tony could have probably gone out to Queens and given May a piece of his mind for making Peter feel so horrible. He hadn’t really felt like that when May had called, but seeing Peter and how much he seemed to be hurting about the whole thing had been enough to make him want to take care of the whole problem himself.

Even with the distraction of the board games, Tony could tell that deep down Peter was actively trying not to think about whatever had happened earlier in the night. He was trying to enjoy himself and Tony knew that he probably was -- at least a little bit.

Tony had been tired even before Peter arrived, but he grew even more so as they played a few board games. It made him regret drinking the hot chocolate and not getting himself a cup of coffee instead, but he knew that if Peter wanted he would stay up as long as he could. In truth, he was tired because he hadn’t really slept much over the last few days.

“I think it’s time we all go to bed,” Steve said after a few games.

Peter looked to be on the tired side too and Tony remembered suddenly that it was a weekday and he had school the next morning. It was entirely possible that he was going to have to skip school.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Tony agreed.

“And I can tell you’ve probably been up more than twenty four hours,” Steve muttered.

“Guilty,” Tony admitted because it was easier than trying to lie.

Peter didn’t protest the idea of going to bed. During all the remodels of the other living floors, Tony had considered doing some work on a bedroom for Peter but he hadn’t gotten much done. He did have one picked out -- the one next to his own. It was in need of some decorating for the most part but it had a comfortable bed and other furnishings and a closet that already contained the clothes that Happy had gone out to get for Peter for just in case situations.

Peter picked up his backpack from the den before following them and Tony pointed him towards the bedroom.

“Yours,” Tony said. “I was planning on getting it a bit more decorated before you spent the night here again but--”

“Thanks,” Peter muttered.

Tony pulled him into a hug. “Good night, kid.”

“Good night, dad,” Peter muttered, leaning into the hug for a moment longer before pulling back and then looking towards Steve. “Good night.”

Steve reached over to ruffle his hair. “Sweet dreams, Pete.”

Peter smiled and ducked his head before going into his room.

Once back inside their bedroom, Tony turned to Steve. “What do we do?” he asked.

“We go to sleep,” Steve said. “You look like you’re going to fall asleep standing there. We worry about everything in the morning.”

“Is it bad that I want to keep him?” Tony asked as he took his clothes off down to his boxers. He grabbed an undershirt from a drawer and put it on before he looked at Steve who had been watching him.

“No,” Steve said. He moved towards Tony and drew him in by placing his hands at his waist and pulling him into his arms into a loose hold.

“You’re a little overdressed,” Tony muttered, picking at Steve’s shirt. “I want them to be on good terms but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have him here either. Have him live with me — with us.”

It was like confessing a bad thought because he’d always sort of accepted that Peter would just live with May. He had always know that Peter would live there and that they would spend some time together but that Peter wouldn’t want to leave his home which had always been with May.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Steve said. “I like him. He reminds me of you and I love how you are with him and I love that you get to be his dad now. He’s here and it’s amazing. From the moment I knew about Peter I knew you wanted to know him and you’re a good dad, Tony. You’re good for him.”

Tony felt warm all over. “I--”

Steve kissed him, a gentle and lazy kiss that Tony just let himself enjoy until Steve pulled away and Tony stared at him. This man was everything.

“Come on, Tony. It’s time for bed. We can figure all of this out tomorrow.”

Steve pushed him in the direction of their bed and Tony turned to look at him get undressed and because it was Steve he folded all of his clothes before dropping them over a chair and then he slipped into the bed and Tony moved towards him and felt entirely content to be in Steve’s arms.

Breakfast became a whole affair. Peter hadn’t expected to walk out of his room to noise mostly because usually his senses meant that he actually heard everything before he exited a room -- which meant that the room was probably sound proof -- but also because he had never expected for Tony and Steve to make much noise. Of course it wasn’t even them making noise at all but instead all of the rest of the Avengers who weren’t having breakfast on their own floors or the communal floor but instead in the penthouse.

Peter who was still in pajamas stopped short when he saw them all in the kitchen and they all turned to look at him. A part of him wished he’d changed out of his pajamas before leaving his room especially since it didn’t seem like his dad was there.

“Good morning, Peter,” Steve said standing up from the table.

Peter tried to smile at them. “Good morning, everyone,” he said.

He got a wave from Wanda who had her mouth full. Natasha smiled at him and muttered a good morning. Sam actually said it despite the fact that he was mid-chew. Somehow, it helped to let him calm down a little.

“Are you hungry?” Steve asked and stood up at once. “Tony went out a bit ago but he already called your school so you don’t have to go in today. He’ll be back soon but in the meanwhile food. There’s plenty.” In a whisper when he was close enough to Peter he added: “Tony said something about you needing to eat more than most people.”

Peter let Steve pile food up on a plate for him and he sat down to eat and found that he was actually really hungry. Having the night to sleep on all of it made him regret how hasty he’d been to leave May and yet he would never regret wanting to continue to be Spider-Man. And maybe, it was better to give May some time.

Steve touched his shoulder gently as he sat down next to him and Peter was glad to have him there. It made being there easier and Peter really had not expected for Steve to have that effect on him -- not when he’d been trying not to fanboy over him just the night before.

The others jumped back into conversation as Peter ate and it felt nice that they weren’t acting differently at all. There was no pressure on him but they were also not excluding him. It was nice.

“What is everyone up to today?” Steve asked eventually.

“I think I’m going to sit on one of the comfortable couches and watch a movie. Anyone’s welcome to join,” Sam said. “Gotta rest up after everything.”

“And become some sort of lazy couch potato?” Natasha asked. “I’m going down to use the gym.”

“What’s the use when we’re going to be stuck inside for two years,” Sam called after her as she got up and left.

She turned. “The point is to not lose my edge.” Then, she was gone.

“I’m still going to watch a movie,” Sam muttered, “if there are any takers?”

Peter did feel a little bit odd being there because being a part of the day to day lives of The Avengers was something that he, Ned, and probably most of his classmates dreamed about and Peter was just invited right in.

“I guess since I have nothing better to do,” Wanda said.

“That leaves me and you, Peter,” Steve said as Sam got up from the table with Wanda. “I would invite you down to get some practice down at the gym but Nat doesn’t know about your powers and Tony said you’re still deciding on whether to let everyone know who you are. But, I do want to see them in action soon -- we can hone your technique up a bit.”

“Really?” Peter asked. “You’d -- you want to train with me? That’s so...I’d love that.”

Steve smiled at him. “Of course I do. For now, want to go wait for Tony in his lab? He should be returning soon. I haven’t seen the bots since I got back and I’ve been itching to go down there.”

“Uh, sure,” Peter said. He hadn’t realized that Steve spent any time in the workshop or that he knew the bots enough to even miss them.

They went to the workshop and Friday didn’t give them any trouble getting in and sure enough Dum-E rushed towards Steve when Steve entered. The other bots followed close behind and Steve got busy patting all of them and he actually spoke to them as if they were people as they beeped at him. Dum-E even went as far as pulling Steve further into the workshop. Peter couldn’t wait to tell Ned all about it. Ned was going to freak out.

Steve had tried to convince him not go, but Tony had known that he had to. He had woken up early, mostly because Steve had gotten up, and the idea had come to him. He had to talk to May face to face and hope that she had calmed down overnight. Steve had tried to change his mind but for Tony this was something he had to do. Steve had forced him to go down to the gym for a little while first and Tony had gone along only because it was still too early to go see May.

Later, he’d called Peter’s school while on his way and explained that Peter would be busy that day with the internship. The woman that had answered the phone hadn’t given him a hard time at all and tried to keep him on the phone longer when she realized that it was Tony calling.

When he got to May’s house, he almost considered just not going in and heading back to the tower where Steve was making everyone breakfast with Sam and Peter was still in bed. But thinking about Peter and how upset he was told him he had to although it might have been a good idea to not show up alone. May had always liked Pepper, after all.

After a few minutes of sitting in the car, he finally got up and walked to the door and knocked. It took a while before May opened the door. She didn’t look great and Tony could tell that she probably hadn’t even slept the night before. Maybe he really should have given her more time.

“What the hell are you doing here?” May asked and stood in the doorway. Her arms were crossed and it was like she was staring him down.

“We have to talk about what happened last night,” Tony said.

May shook her head. “What happened is that Peter has been running around as some sort of superhero. Something that you were well aware of and thought was just fine as a hobby. So, as far as I’m concerned there is nothing you can say that will make this better unless Peter stops doing this. And since he has your approval he won’t.” She was actually calm as she said it, but Tony could tell that she had to be forcing herself to be calm.

“Peter is not going to stop,” Tony said. “No matter what anyone--”

“He’s a teenager who doesn’t know better!” May snapped.

“He’s Peter,” Tony shot back. “He’s Peter who is good. He’s a good kid and a good person and all he wants to do is help people. He’s also stubborn to a fault and I am doing all I can to keep him safe. I love him, May, and I don’t want him to get hurt just as much as you, and I rather he do this on my terms than his. He won’t stop. It’s who he is -- it’s who you raised him to be.”

May was crying. She wiped at her eyes angrily and closed them tightly. “I -- this is too hard to...I can’t lose him.”

Tony nodded. “He’s -- he’s staying with me. I don’t want for your relationship with Peter to be strained over this. You’re family, May.”

He turned to leave.

“I -- I don’t think I’ll ever be okay with him being Spider-Man,” May whispered.

Tony decided it was probably best if he just left it at that.

Chapter Ninety Six

#peter and tony #peter and tony fic #mcuwriting #mcu fic #iron dad #iron dad and spider son #stony #stony fic #marvel

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kcaruth · 5 years ago

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Movie Mania: Top 10 of 2019

Another year of movies, another year a Star Wars film sadly did not make the cut for my list. With 2019′s The Rise of Skywalker, it is absolutely clear that the folks at Disney/Lucasfilm had no roadmap for this sequel trilogy whatsoever, which is an utter shame given their abundance of resources and proven ability to produce quality content as seen with the success of The Mandalorian.

In a rare occurrence, I saw most of the films nominated in the major categories for the Academy Awards. In fact, the Academy nominated seven out of my top 10 films for at least one award. I would say that 2019 was a markedly stronger year for film than 2018, so I have allowed myself a couple of extra honorable mention slots. One quick housekeeping note before I unveil my 2019 list: I’m retroactively moving Game Night and A Quiet Place ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book on my 2018 list. Now it is time to jump into my favorite films of 2019. (No spoilers!)

Honorable Mention: Joker

Nominated for a whopping 11 Oscars (equaling The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [which swept all 11], The Godfather [Parts 1 and 2], West Side Story, and Saving Private Ryan, among others), Joker should get an award for most divisive film of the year. Directed by Todd Phillips (yes, the same guy who directed The Hangover), Joker is a psychological thriller staring Joaquin Phoenix that provides a possible origin story for Batman’s arch-nemesis. Before becoming the Joker, Phoenix’s character, Arthur Fleck, dreams of becoming a famous stand-up comedian. His gradual descent into insanity, nihilism, and violence mirrors the chaotic anarchy slowly consuming the decaying Gotham City as its citizens revolt against the wealthy and better-off.

Despite the concerns surrounding Joker that it would inspire real-world violence, the film has grossed over one billion dollars, making it the first R-rated film to do so. Phoenix disappears into his role, and Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s haunting score brilliantly conveys the inner pain and turmoil in Arthur’s mind as well as the dying light of Gotham. (Guðnadóttir made history as the first solo woman to win a Golden Globe for best original film score.) In an interview with Forbes, Guðnadóttir explained the concept of her turbulent score. “In the beginning, it’s almost just like a solo cello, but in reality, there’s a whole symphony orchestra behind the cello. It’s almost like this hidden force that he doesn’t know about and as he starts to kind of discover what he’s gone through and what’s actually happened to him, the forces become louder and more aggressive. The orchestra takes over and almost eats the cello alive.”

Although Joker is a powerful film and and makes strong statements about mental illness and poverty, its gruesome, unhinged violence can be hard to handle. Everything is shown in graphic, bloody detail, making the thought of a repeat viewing undesirable. I also could have done without a couple of choices that were made involving the Waynes, especially one scene that we have seen over and over again.

Honorable Mention: Ford v Ferrari

As someone who really does not care all that much about cars and their inner workings, this film did the one thing it needed to do for me: It made me come out exclaiming, “Yeah, cars!”

In all seriousness, James Mangold’s sharp direction smartly focuses not on the sport of racing but rather on its big personalities. Those personalities gripped me so much that I immediately started researching their lives after the film ended. The plot follows Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles as they are dispatched by Henry Ford II to dethrone the dominant Ferrari racing team with an American-made car. Along the way, they have to deal with mechanical setbacks and corporate interference to achieve their goal.

This film’s cast is outstanding. Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s deep but sometimes heated friendship as Shelby and Miles is the heart of the film. Tracy Letts as Ford II and Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe, senior executive vice president of Ford, give off the perfect amount of corporate stench to make them unlikable but not unbelievable. 14-year-old Noah Jupe comes off his great performance in 2018′s A Quiet Place to deliver another stellar outing here as Miles’ young son. However, Jon Bernthal felt a bit underused as Lee Iacocca, vice president of Ford, and Cautriona Balfe’s role as Mollie Miles, Ken’s wife, though well-acted, felt like it could have been removed entirely without much consequence to the film overall.

With a moving score and great cinematography, Ford v Ferrari unexpectedly tugged at my heartstrings, and the infectious passion Shelby, Miles, and these other characters have for cars managed to rub off on me, which might be the ultimate testimonial for this film.

Honorable Mention: 1917

1917 has been hyped as “that World War I movie with one continuous take,” but it is so much more than that. World War I was a stark clash between 20th-century technology and 19th-centry tactics. With soldiers largely trapped in trench warfare, conflicts commonly turned into battles of attrition. That does not exactly translate into exciting cinema, which explains why there are so many more films about World War II. Karl Vick acknowledges this in Time magazine, writing, “motion pictures do require a certain amount of motion, and the major accomplishment of 1917...may be that its makers figured out what the generals could not: a way to advance” (Karl Vick. Time. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41.)

What more can one say about Roger Deakins at this point? What he and director Sam Mendes created with the cinematography of this film is nothing short of fantastic. With its cinematic achievement of what is made to look like one continuous shot, 1917 presents most of its actors with only a small amount of screen time to make an impact, and they are more than up to the challenge. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Richard Madden, and others all leave a lasting impression with their extremely short encounters with the film’s main characters, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman [Tommen!]) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay). Mendes places the bulk of the weight of the film on Chapman and MacKay’s shoulders, and they luckily carry it with natural ease. Working together with the one continuous take style, Thomas Newman’s riveting score keeps viewers on the edge of their seat and makes them feel like they are part of this life-or-death mission with the lance corporals.

If I had to list a couple of flaws with the film, I would say that one of the characters feels like he has untouchable plot armor. It almost seems like Mendes and company hope that the awe-inspiring cinematography will make viewers forgiving or even ignorant of the amount of times this character should be fatally shot or even injured, but I understand that some artistic license is necessary to convey the story they want to tell. The nature of the cinematography employed here also makes it difficult to get a grasp on distances and positioning because the shot is never really allowed to zoom out or give an aerial view since it is fixed on the lance corporals.

Unfortunately, I experienced this breathtaking film with one of my worst theater audiences of 2019. Much of the film was drowned out by the ladies sitting next to me who felt the need to constantly narrate everything that was happening on screen. “He’s going down into the trenches.” “Look! He’s jumping into the water.” Etc., etc. This is not your living room, people! If people want to talk over a film like this and provide running commentary and narration, they should wait for its home release. Your fellow audience members are not blind, and we would greatly appreciate it if you remained quiet.

#10: Spider-Man: Far From Home

After Avengers: Endgame released earlier in the year, the spotlight promptly shifted to Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home, and he did a tremendous job with this film. Serving as both the epilogue to Endgame and the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home effectively closes out phase three and sets the stage for the next era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Far From Home is the first Spider-Man film to pass the billion-dollar mark, and it is not hard to see how it managed to pull that off. The returning cast led by Tom Holland as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man retains its great chemistry, and Jake Gyllenhaal is the perfect choice to play Quentin Beck/ Mysterio, complete with a great theme from returning composer Michael Giacchino. Fans of Spider-Man have been waiting forever to see this character on the big screen, and I am happy to report the film does him justice. Watts especially knocks his character out of the park with a certain sequence about halfway through the film that I was beyond thrilled to see.

The film is set immediately after the events of Endgame and finds Peter and his high school class taking an international field trip to Europe. The writers do an amazing job explaining the ramifications of Endgame, and the way they weave plot details and character motivations together all the way back from phase one of the MCU is mind-blowing. Watts realizes that there needs to be some levity after Endgame, so this film is full of laugh-out-loud humor and charmingly awkward teen road-trip set-pieces. Oh, and did I mention it has one of the best mid-credits scenes in the entire MCU that dramatically alters the characters’ futures going forward?

#9: Toy Story 4

I have a deep personal connection to the Toy Story franchise. I grew up watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on repeat, and Toy Story 3 came out during my senior year of high school. Those who have seen that film know why it especially resonated with me at that age. In my opinion, Toy Story 3 ended the trilogy perfectly; there was no way another film could top its emotional ending. When I heard that Pixar was coming out with Toy Story 4, I was not going to pass up another opportunity to hang out with Woody, Buzz, and the gang, of course, (neither was anyone else, seeing as this is the highest grossing film of the franchise) but I set my expectations to a low, manageable level.

Although I was disappointed that Buzz and the rest of Andy’s old toys were not as heavily involved in the plot and did not have all that much time to interact with Woody, I was impressed overall with the new characters and was happy to see Bo Peep return. In this film, Bo breaks through her porcelain design and exhibits a character with total agency over her choices. Everything about her redesign and the way she carries herself is awesome. Keanu Reeves’ Canadian daredevil Duke Caboom steals every scene he is in, and Christina Hendricks’ Gabby Gabby gave me terrifying flashbacks to Talky Tina from the “Living Doll” episode of The Twilight Zone.

As audiences have come to expect from Pixar, the film delivers stunning animation and a signature big emotional gut punch, which it earns it by building up genuinely heartwarming moments throughout its run time that address themes such as the difficulty of change, the beauty of imperfection, the mystery of creation and the meaning of life, and the importance of serving others. As Matt Zoller Seitz writes for RogerEbert.com, “This franchise has demonstrated an impressive ability to beat the odds and reinvent itself, over a span of time long enough for two generations to grow up in. It's a toy store of ideas, with new wonders in every aisle.”

#8: Doctor Sleep

Writer-director Mike Flanagan took on the unenviable task of pleasing two different parties when Warner Bros. hired him in January 2018: fans of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining from 1980 and Stephen King and fans of his books The Shining and Doctor Sleep. Somehow, he managed to pull it off.

After visiting the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, the location used in Kubrick’s film for the exterior of the Overlook Hotel, this past summer, I decided it was finally time to watch The Shining. I can attest it is just as much a masterpiece as many people say it is. My favorite part: it is a horror movie that does not rely on jump scares. When I heard the Flanagan wanted to chop away at the horror genre’s reliance on jump scares, I was even more excited to see Doctor Sleep. Flanagan said, “When we were developing the project and when we were talking about the metered expectations audiences have about, in particular, jump scares and startles and the pacing of those, which we’re utterly uninterested in this film, I would say, ‘What’s your favorite jump scare in The Shining?’ There isn’t one. The same is true here. We used a lot of the lessons that Kubrick taught us about how to do a psychological thriller, a supernatural thriller, in a way that is more about suffocating atmosphere and tension than it ever is about the kind of traditional scares as we understand them today.”

It is well known that King really disliked Kubrick’s adaptation of his book. He disliked it so much, in fact, that he wrote and executive-produced a new version with the 1997 television miniseries. In his approach to Doctor Sleep, Flanagan first read King’s book, which was published in 2013, and then consulted closely with the author to reconcile the differences between the book and film version of The Shining. After reading Flanagan’s script, King felt like his least favorite parts of Kubrik’s film had been “redeemed.”

Set several decades after The Shining, Doctor Sleep reunites audiences with Danny Torrance, played by everyone’s favorite Jedi, Ewan McGregor. Danny continues to struggle with the childhood trauma he endured at the Overlook Hotel during the events of The Shining, turning to alcohol to numb the pain and his psychic abilities. Meanwhile, the True Knot, a cult of psychic vampires led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), is on the hunt for children with psychic abilities like Danny’s, and they are hot on the trail of young Abra Stone, played by Kyliegh Curran in her feature film debut.

With the benefit of having just seen The Shining a couple of months before this film, I was able to appreciate Flanagan’s careful attention to detail. He is clearly a fan of both King and Kubrick, but he does not let his admiration for them impede his own creative vision. He expertly balances original content with just the right amount of fan service and callbacks to The Shining. Even without jump scares, the film has plenty of horrifying moments, especially one involving young actor Jacob Tremblay that echoed in my mind long after the film had ended. Ewan McGregor is fabulous, as always, convincingly portraying Dan’s fight with his inner demons, and Rebecca Ferguson looks like she is having a devilishly good time as Rose the Hat. Above all, I was surprised to learn that this was Kyliegh Curran’s film debut. She is so comfortable on camera and has painted a bright future for herself out of the darkness of this film.

Doctor Sleep gave me all sorts of chills down my spine, induced by the eerie atmosphere of certain scenes as well as extremely well-timed tie-ins to its predecessor, that left me hungry for even more Stephen King stories.

#7: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Set in 1969 Los Angeles, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film stays true to its name and delivers an alternate version of events that unfolded in Hollywood that year. In addition to Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, and the Manson Family, the film tells the story of fictional characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth. Dalton is a veteran Hollywood actor most famous for starring in a Western television series called Bounty Law who believes he is approaching the end of his career. Booth, a war veteran with a shady past, is Dalton’s best friend and longtime stunt double. Together, they attempt to navigate the final stretch of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt work incredibly well together as Dalton and Booth, respectively, with neither star trying to outshine the other. Margot Robbie, on the other hand, does not get a lot of material to work with as Tate. (Do not tell Tarantino that.) Conversely, Julia Butters blew me away as Trudi Fraser, Dalton’s eight-year-old co-star in the pilot of a new American Western series. She more than holds her own acting side by side with DiCaprio.

Although the film moves at a slow pace, leaving me to wonder at times where this story was even going or if I was just watching a day in the life, Tarantino’s usual engaging, snappy dialogue entertains even when there is no real action happening on screen. With this being Tarantino, audiences have to accept his signature peculiarities, like close-up shots of feet, to be treated to another perfectly crafted soundtrack, complete with classic rock and roll, old-time DJ chatter, and period-accurate radio commercials. In the end, the slow pacing of Tarantino’s script actually helps enhance the heart-stopping standoff at the halfway point and the absurd payoff at the end. Clearly, this film is Tarantino’s passion project. In fact, he said it is “probably my most personal. I think of it like my memory piece... This is me. This is the year that formed me. I was six years old then. This is my world. And this is my love letter to L.A.” No wonder he publicly referred to it as Magnum Opus while he was writing it.

#6: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Written and directed by the creator himself, Vince Gilligan, El Camino serves as the epilogue to Breaking Bad, giving fans closure on certain questions and characters. Many favorites from the series return in some form or fashion (shout-out to Jesse Plemons for absolutely crushing his role here), but the focus always remains on Jesse Pinkman. Whereas Breaking Bad was Walter White’s story, El Camino puts Jesse center stage, and Aaron Paul gives one of the best performances of his career, fully tapping into his character’s desperate, damaged psyche.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are two of my favorite television shows, and I think Gilligan is one of the best show runners in the business. He manages to incorporate the tone and atmosphere from the world of those two shows into this film seamlessly, and he rewards longtime fans with a nice amount of Easter eggs. Cinematographer Marshall Adams deserves so much praise for the jaw-dropping shots that grace the screen, especially the ones that show off the New Mexico landscape. He has an astonishing ability to make every frame look like a detailed painting. Editor Skip Macdonald should also be recognized for his work, particularly for the way his editing of Jesse searching for something in an apartment reinforces Gilligan’s non-linear revelatory style of storytelling.

El Camino does not waste any time with exposition, so someone who has not seen Breaking Bad cannot jump right into this film and understand what is going on. Then again, what rock have you been hiding under if you have not seen Breaking Bad at this point? What are you waiting for? Let this be your motivation to finally watch it, and then once you have made it through the series and El Camino, keep the good times rolling and watch Better Call Saul, which is just as good, if not maybe even a little better than, Breaking Bad.

#5: Jojo Rabbit

Only the whimsical genius of Taika Waititi could have concocted this irreverent, dark satire set against the backdrop of World War II Nazi Germany. Based on Christine Leunens’ book Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit stars Roman Griffin Davis as the titular Johannes “Jojo” Betzler, a jingoistic 10-year-old German boy enrolled in the Hitler Youth. Jojo lives with his mother, Rosie, played by Scarlett Johansson. As far as Jojo knows, his father is fighting on the Italian Front, so he often turns to his imaginary friend, a wacky version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi), for advice and support as Germany becomes more desperate as the war starts to reach its conclusion.

Jojo Rabbit’s black comedy places viewers in plenty of predicaments in which they want to laugh, are not sure its entirely appropriate, but still end up doing so anyway. The film balances this out by keeping a good amount of heartrendingly emotional and genuinely sweet moments tucked up its sleeve. Waititi and Romanian cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare, Jr.’s visual storytelling is on a whole different level, carefully using ordinary imagery as subconscious foreshadowing, leading to one of the biggest breath-stealing shocks of the entire year that stopped my heart and rocked me to my core. Michael Giacchino seems to have been criminally overlooked by the Academy for his simultaneously jaunty and intimate score that adds yet another impressive layer to the film’s wide range of emotional beats. Living in a world fueled by hate, Davis, Johansson, and Thomasin McKenzie’s characters show how compassion and the willingness to try to come to a common understanding can change, and in some cases save, lives.

#4: Marriage Story

Writer-director Noah Baumbach paints what may be the most brutally honest picture of divorce I have ever seen on screen in Marriage Story. Before Marriage Story, I had never seen one of Baumbach’s films, but I get the sense from this film that he takes a very grounded approach to storytelling.

Marriage Story stars Adam Driver and Scarlet Johansson as Charlie and Nicole Barber. Charlie is an acclaimed theater director, and Nicole is his muse. Despite her acting skills, Charlie always receives all the praise, leaving Nicole to congratulate him from the back seat and contemplate what kind of professional movie and television acting career she possibly gave up to be with him. She also misses living in Los Angeles and being close to her family. At the center of this tenuous relationship is the couple’s young son, Henry. As things go from bad to worse in their relationship, Charlie and Nicole start down the path to divorce, initially wanting to approach everything amicably without involving lawyers, but quickly walking back on that as they begin to doubt each other’s motives and end goals, especially in regards to Henry.

Driver and Johansson both put on a masterclass of acting here, but I would have to give Driver my nod in choosing the stronger performance of the two. He is a tour de force in this film, unyielding to the unflinching camera. Alan Alda and Laura Dern keep pace with Driver and Johannson beat for beat as Bert Spitz and Nora Fanshaw, Charlie and Nicole’s lawyers. Baumbach smartly chooses not to wallow in the melodrama of the messy divorce, showing that small, flickering sparks of love still exist between Charlie and Nicole, maybe not enough to reignite the flame that brought them together in the first place, but enough to convince you that they still have a hope for some kind of happiness.

#3: Knives Out

After the Internet firestorm that was Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson did the best thing he could have possibly done—he went far, far away from any established franchises, rounded up an all-star ensemble cast, and wrote and directed his own original murder mystery film. Through some ingenious plotting, Johnson revitalizes the entire genre and turns the classic whodunit on its head, all the while delivering some timely social commentary. Complete with Daniel Craig delivering a monologue about donut holes in a southern gentleman accent, Knives Out is an absolute delight.

The events of the film center around the Thrombey family, with the main mystery beginning after patriarch and rich crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in an apparent suicide the morning after his big 85th birthday party with his family at his mansion. An anonymous source informs private detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) of Harlan’s death and hires him to investigate.

A huge fan of classical mystery thrillers and comedies, Johnson’s love of the genre is tangible, but he never allows the narrative to become overly meta, referential, or even reverential, for that matter. I have already mentioned Craig and how much fun he looks like he is having in his role as Blanc, but Ana de Armas breaks out as Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s caretaker, and is the heart of the film. The rest of this high caliber ensemble cast has its moments, and I only felt like a couple of the characters were completely disposable, such as Jaeden Martell’s Jacob Thrombey, for example.

Johnson keeps his audience on its toes for the entire film. Just when the solution seems obvious, he throws another twist at them to throw them off the scent. It is a true shame that Knives Out received only one nomination from the Academy, but Johnson more than deserves that nomination for best original screenplay.

#2: Avengers: Endgame

It has all led up to this, the culmination of phases one through three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Admittedly, I was not the biggest fan of Avengers: Infinity War; I did not care for its overall slow pacing. Avengers: Endgame, however, is everything I wanted in this grand finale of the Infinity Saga. Whereas Infinity War felt overcrowded, Endgame brings it all back home to the original Avengers team for the majority of its surprisingly swift 182-minute run time, allowing them to essentially take a victory lap before the next phase of this cinematic universe begins. In the interest of not giving anything away, I will keep this brief, and trust me when I say that I could go on and on talking about how much I enjoyed this film. I will just end by saying that directors Anthony and Joe Russo and producer Kevin Feige certainly reward the dedication of fans who have watched all 21 films leading up to Endgame, and Robert Downey, Jr. submits one of his best performances as Tony Stark/Iron Man. #ILoveYou3000

#1: Parasite

Far and away my favorite film of 2019 was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, a South Korean dark comedy home-invasion thriller about a poor family plotting to improve their circumstances by tricking an extremely wealthy family into hiring them by posing as unrelated, highly skilled individuals.

I came into this film ignorant of its premise, and I was completely floored. This is Bong Joon-ho in total control of his craft. Parasite has a mesmeric rhythm to it that is aesthetically energized, allowing the film’s strikingly bold tonal shifts to work so well. Every act increases the ever-present nail-biting suspense, supplemented by cinematic moments of pure genius like the nearly five-minute long montage towards the end of the first hour. Every single member of the cast knocks it out of the park, and there is enough social commentary to fuel college essays for years. The twists zig when you think they are going to zag; it is a truly wild ride. To put it quite simply, Parasite is a masterpiece.

The following are a list of films I saw from 2019, in no particular order:

· Glass

· How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

· Captain Marvel

· Shazam!

· Avengers: Endgame

· Aladdin

· Booksmart

· Rocketman

· X-Men: Dark Phoenix

· Men in Black: International

· Toy Story 4

· Spider-Man: Far From Home

· Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

· Joker

· Parasite

· Jojo Rabbit

· The Lighthouse

· Doctor Sleep

· Ford v Ferrari

· Frozen II

· Knives Out

· Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

· 1917

· The Two Popes

· The Irishman

· Marriage Story

· El Camino

· Uncut Gems

· One Piece: Stampede

I somehow completely forgot I saw The Peanut Butter Falcon and absolutely adored it; I definitely recommend checking out this feel-good film.

My 2018 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/182182411291/movie-mania-top-10-of-2018

My 2017 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/171040800751/movie-mania-top-15-of-2017

My 2016 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/156340406236/movie-mania-top-15-of-2016

#movies #film #oscars #academy awards

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wbwest · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/07/07/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-7717/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 7/7/17

I took last week off, but I hope y’all had a great 4th of July weekend. Life’s still kinda kicking my ass, so this’ll be an abridged edition this week.

I finally got around to watching a movie! It’s been on my list since I first heard it was in pre-production, and I’m amazed it took me this long to watch it, considering my love for the source material. The Founder stars Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the “founder” of McDonald’s who really just stole the concept from the McDonald Brothers. A down-on-his-luck shake machine salesman, Kroc happens upon the fledgling McDonald’s restaurant in Southern California. Knowing a good thing when he saw it, he pretty much insisted on becoming a part of the operation, mainly focused on franchising the business. And that’s when things get interesting. I LOVE McDonald’s. You can hate me all you want, but like Jim Gaffigan says, “Everyone has their own McDonald’s”. Mine just happens to be the actual company. I don’t know enough about the history of the company to know how factual an account the movie was, but it was sure damn entertaining. Keaton is amazing in it, and I feel like anyone would enjoy the movie even if they think they don’t give a rat’s ass about McDonald’s as a company. I highly recommend this film.

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We finally got our first trailer for Marvel’s Inhumans, and now I realize why they were so hesitant to release it. MY GOD THIS LOOKS TERRIBLE! It looks like Into The Badlands – a show that I hate because people fawn over it when it looks like something that would’ve aired after Xena on Saturday afternoons 20 year ago. Yeah, I even told one of the Badlands creators that when he confronted me over my “appraisal” on Twitter. Badlands is a bad show, but it gets “diversity points”, so folks give it a pass. This show doesn’t even get diversity right, so it’s really just a shitshow in the making. I hate hate HATE that this is considered an official part of the MCU, even if it’s just a part of the never-referenced TV wing. Anyway, this trainwreck debuts in IMAX on September 1st, but will officially air on ABC beginning September 22nd.

Speaking of diversity points, CBS lost all of theirs when they let the Asians go from Hawaii Five-O last weekend. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park both left the show after salary negotiations broke down as they requested pay equal to their costars. I’ve never seen more than 15 minutes of that show, but I know the dude from Lost seemed pretty important to things. He was basically the White guys’ interpreter to all things native. CBS has claimed that they offered them sizable increases, which weren’t deemed acceptable to Park and Kim. Now the Five-O showrunner, Peter Lenkov, is now joining the side of the network, saying that CBS made “generous offers” to the stars, yet they decided not to renew their contracts.

This has turned into a discussion of race in Hollywood and how things still aren’t equal across the board. I’m a big fan of billing. Billing is important, and should go to the most well-known star. It’s the reason all the ’89 Batman posters say “Jack Nicholson” first. Dude was a bigger star. Now, I didn’t watch Lost and I didn’t watch Battlestar Galactica, but I still recognize Kim and Park from those shows. Maybe it’s just because I’m a geek and folks were always talking about those shows. The show’s star, Alex O’Loughlin? I can’t name a thing he’s been in. Don’t know that dude from Adam. And the other lead? James Caan’s kid? Whatever. Y’all mean you couldn’t pony up the cash to keep Lost Dude and Battlestar Girl? We’re not talking about big names here so, unless there was a favored nations clause where O’Loughlin would have to get a raise if they got raises, thereby thwarting the whole “equality” thing, I don’t see what the problem was. As has been pointed out, all O’Loughlin and Caan had to do was stand in solidarity with their costars and this would’ve been a non-issue. Word on the street it O’Loughlin is quitting at the end of the season anyway, so it’s not like we’re talking another 5 years here. He couldn’t keep his ego in check for a season? Nah, for too many folks, as long as they’ve got theirs, they don’t care if you’ve got yours.

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We also got a trailer for Pitch Perfect 3, forcing me to reiterate that NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE A TRILOGY. I know everyone involved likes money, but sometimes there are natural, built-in ends to things. That thing was a 2-movie franchise and that’s it. Don’t forget – I lived that life. I was in the same competition the Bellas won in the first film (we came in 2nd), and I experienced the aca-graduation blues that the girls experienced in the second film. That’s pretty much it. There’s nowhere else to go. I mean, sure there are some random outlier outcomes. One of my groupmates is a hit producer in Asia now. Another is a pretty big pop star in Hong Kong. The rest of us? Dead-end jobs and bills. I used to occasionally do karaoke, but even that got to be too depressing. That shit is fun while it lasts, and then you’ve got to move on. So, in that vein, I can understand the plot of the 3rd movie, with the girls wanting to have one last hurrah, but I don’t really understand the concept of putting them on a USO tour. Is that something the troops wanna see? Has Pentatonix been dropped into the theater of war? It just seems kinda farfetched to me, and I was fine with how things were left in the last movie. Sure, I’ll see it, but it won’t be in a theater.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Hide grandma’s wallet – QVC is buying out Home Shopping Network.

After 3 seasons, The Carmichael Show has been canceled by NBC. I really wish someone else would snatch it up, as it’s a smart show

Netflix has renewed Dear, White People for a 2nd season. Meanwhile, they canceled Girlboss after one season. Reed Hastings giveth and he taketh away.

Speaking of Netflix, hearing the cries of fans, Sense8 will officially conclude with a 2-hour finale special

Netflix also renewed one of my favorite original shows, F is For Family, for a 3rd season.

Apparently a series based on the popular Step Up film series, called Step Up: High Water, will premiere on YouTube Red, where absolutely NOBODY is gonna watch it.

Fuller House season 3 will coincidentally premiere on the 30th anniversary of Full House, September 22nd.

Make your vacations weird again, as Cirque du Soleil has purchased Blue Man Group.

Patton Oswalt is engaged to 80s actress Meredith Salenger. Ya know, the same Patton whose wife died last year. I guess we all grieve in our own ways…

Lack of interest brought down The House, which bombed at the box office last weekend. It was reportedly Will Ferrell’s lowest live-action opening for a major studio.

Nick Fury will reportedly be making his MCU return in 2019’s Captain Marvel

HBO is reportedly getting the True Detective band back together, with a 3rd season to star Mahershala Ali

Nixing speculation that she was still up for the White House Press Secretary job, Kimberly Guilfoyle has reupped her contract with Fox News

Rob Lowe and his sons will chase the supernatural in The Lowe Files, and I literally cannot wait.

New game show, Snap Decision, premieres August 7th. Hosted by David Allen Grier, the show breaks precedent because it will debut on GSN and in syndication on the same date.

The world’s leading (and only) bar scientist favorited my tweet this week

We’re gonna do something different here this week. Usually, if you’ve been paying attention to the week’s news, you can at least try to figure out who or what had the best week. Some weeks it’s harder to choose something than others. Then I remembered, “Will, this is YOUR site.” After all, this is all pop culture through my lens, so it’s my rules. So, sometimes I might choose something that meant a lot to me that week, while you were none the wiser. But I bring it up on the site so that we’re all on the same page. And that’s the kind of pick I have this week.

After watching The Founder, I was left thinking, “Michael Keaton is a goddamn national treasure”. After watching Spider-Man: Homecoming last night (yeah, we’ll talk about it next week, when more of y’all have had a chance to see it), I was thinking “Why have we been sleeping on Keaton the past 20 years?” I mean, with the exception of The Other Guys, I honestly hadn’t seen a Michael Keaton movie since probably Batman Returns, and yet Birdman is the one considered his “comeback vehicle”. In The Founder, he really made you feel for a traveling salesman who was at the end of his rope. After a string of laughable failures, he finally found something to which he could hitch his wagon: McDonald’s. And while he also had to prove this to everyone in his sphere of orbit, most importantly he had to prove this to himself. He really needed a win, and Keaton did such a great job conveying that.

In Homecoming, Keaton plays Adrian Toomes, better known as the Vulture (though he’s never called that by name in the film). Not unlike Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus, he’s something of a sympathetic villain. Were it not for the fact that comic book franchises deal in the good/bad binary, you could almost relate to him and understand where he’s coming from. He’s a modern-day working class guy who feels ignored by the fat cats up on high. He doesn’t have evil goals. He simply wants to provide for his family, and he has a code of honor that dictates he must do whatever it takes to make good on that promise. I felt that Keaton did a great job expressing the plight of the working man. Sure, he got to utter some cheesy villain dialogue, but that simply comes with the territory. If you stopped for a minute, and ignored the fact that Spider-Man HAS to win, you realize that Toomes is actually kind of on to something. Again, though, I’ll get into more Homecoming thoughts next week.

My pal Chad pretty much swears by Michael Keaton as his favorite actor – a lot of that having to do with his immense love of 1989’s Batman. I’ve gotta say, I was never a huge fan of Keaton’s Batman, and when Chad would laud Keaton’s praises, I wasn’t really seeing it. I see it now, though. I have seen the light and I am healed! Dear Hollywood, more Michael Keaton, please! He pretty much impressed me on two different cinematic fronts this week, and that’s why Michael Keaton had the West Week Ever.

#80s #A Cappella #Batman #Comics #Marvel #Movies #Politics #Race #Social Media #Syndication #Television #West Week Ever

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inawickedlittletown · 7 years ago

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Walking The Wire (13/?)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

Masterpost

Chapter Twelve

Peter understood only some of what was going on in the world. Mr. Stark hadn’t really been writing him back much and that became worse when the truth about Shield came out. Everyone was a little bit thrown off by it. Aunt May and Uncle Ben explained it as a huge spy organization that turned out to be evil all along which meant that no one knew who to trust. Somehow though, Peter could tell that it was bothering Uncle Ben and he was spending a lot of time looking through old boxes in the basement.

Uncle Ben had also added that Mr. Stark would be right in the middle of all of it trying to resolve the problem. So, Peter had written only one letter to Mr. Stark and expected no reply because Tony Stark was busy.

When he never received a response at all, Peter wrote another letter. He didn’t answer again. It made Peter’s chest hurt a little. He had just gotten so used to the correspondence and he had to admit that it was a bit disappointing to not get any answer at all and he had known that eventually this was going to happen because it was Tony Stark and he was just some kid.

“Honey, he’s busy,” Aunt May said, “he is Iron Man after all.”

“Sure,” Peter said and sighed, except that he had made time before and now Peter was lucky if he got a response at all.

In the months that followed, Tony found that there was more to do than he had the time for. Pepper was kept busy too and some of that was Tony’s fault. The board didn’t seem to like that Tony was deeply involved in all the Shield stuff and the drop in stock prices proved that it was a bad association. Tony didn’t care.

While all the legal things became easier even with the feds still chasing down leads on Shield agents -- but really Tony just couldn’t know that the agents being hunted were Shield loyalists or on the side of Hydra so he didn’t want to get involved -- other issues appeared.

Shield had a lot of property. A lot of bases that were full of dangerous things and dangerous people. Things and people that couldn’t get into the wrong hands which was both Hydra and the U.S. government. Between Natasha and Maria they found Shield agents that could still be trusted and after clearing them of all terrorist charges they were the ones responsible with finding and securing those things. Maria seemed to have a better idea about where to put everything and Tony just let her be in charge. He didn’t ask a lot of questions.

At least Shield had been good at keeping track of all the things they kept hidden away. Tony was sure that there were things kept off the record, but they had something to go on. A list tracked everything they found and put away. It still didn’t seem enough, and when no one could locate Loki’s scepter, it became a problem that Tony wanted to deal with personally. Natasha and Bruce agreed. They could all still remember exactly how it had affected Clint.

Natasha got into contact with Steve while Tony got in touch with Jane Foster to bring in Thor. The Avengers re-assembled.

2015

Months upon months of searching and nothing. Not the scepter and nothing on Bucky. It felt like ever since Hydra had come out of the woodwork of Shield that things had fallen apart and Steve didn’t know what to do about it. He had been adjusting to being in the future and being a part of Shield had helped some. Natasha trying to set him up with every female agent that she came across or knew had slowly started to drive him crazy even if he knew she meant well.

Steve actually liked Natasha. She was a good partner to have out on the field and a better friend than he had expected her to be from the first time they met. He almost felt a little bad about all the secrets that they were keeping from everyone else. Tony had asked him a lot of questions about The Winter Soldier and Steve hadn’t wanted to admit that it was actually Bucky behind the mask even if he expected that Tony might actually understand why Steve had gone off if he knew why. Mostly, Steve didn’t want to bring up exactly what had gone down on his and Natasha’s end because he knew that if he did, he would have to tell Tony that Howard and Maria Stark’s deaths had been orchestrated by Hydra. Still, the number one secret that they had to keep was Nick. No one could know Nick Fury was alive, not even the team.

On a night when they had all ended up back at Avengers Tower, Steve found Tony in the kitchen staring at a screen. It was his usual state to be deep in some project or dealing with stuff to do with Stark Industries.

“Anything useful in there?” Steve asked.

Tony didn’t even startle at his arrival. “Pepper just forwarded me updates on Peter,” Tony said and motioned for Steve to sit down.

On the screen were pictures of the boy that must have been Tony’s son. He was small and scrawny but smiling. His hair was in disarray and his eyes were almost exact replicas of his father’s.

“So that’s him, then,” Steve said.

“Yeah,” Tony said, “apparently he’s doing really well in school. I was supposed to meet him last year but I guess I’m a bit too dangerous to meet. I’m trying to keep my distance and really I’ve been too busy to really -- he’s good where he is.”

“I think that if you want to meet him you should,” Steve said, “because you just don’t know what might happen.”

Tony stared at the tablet for a long moment. “I don’t want to disrespect his guardian’s wishes.”

Steve could tell that Tony wanted to desperately, but he also knew that there had to be some fear and insecurity deep down that made Tony not put up a fight to see Peter and be in his life.

“I think for now this is enough. I’m not fit to be a father and right now we have other things to worry about. I haven’t even answered his letters in months.”

Steve didn’t know how to respond to that. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder instead and he could see the same longing that he felt when it came to Bucky reflected there in Tony’s eyes.

Ever since Shield turned out to be Hydra, things had changed drastically. Pepper had always known that Tony wasn’t ever likely to quit being Iron Man even after he destroyed all his suits. That had been an obviously impulsive move on Tony’s part. Pepper also suspected that he had done it just to appease her in some ways and to maybe feel like he could actually deserve to meet and be around Peter.

The Parkers’ refusal to allow Tony to be a part of Peter’s life outside of a hero he looked up to had been almost the last straw in holding back from a pure focus on heroics. The added pressure of dealing with Hydra and an excuse to have something more to do than deal with lawyers or board members had just meant that Pepper only ever saw her boyfriend when their schedules happened to magically align. Jarvis was to thank for that even if sometimes even the AI got it wrong and Pepper slept on too big a bed more often than she would have liked completely on her own.

They were both just too busy and their jobs too important. The added people living in the tower was also another aspect that made things difficult. It had been fine when it was Bruce because he was always in his lab. Natasha and Clint were almost tolerable because at least they knew how to make themselves scarce even if they hung around the penthouse much too often. Thor was loud and always breaking their things when he wasn’t careful and yet he was the one to spend the most time on his own floor. Steve was always polite and friendly, but he was just always around. Not always, but definitely when Pepper was looking to spend some time alone with Tony. At least he was always quick to pick up on her annoyance and he excused himself, but that just made things worse. The combination of all of them there just made things difficult in ways that Pepper had never expected.

Tony had also stopped answering Peter. May had actually e-mailed her about it, asking if everything was alright and Pepper just hadn’t known how to tell her that Tony loved to write to Peter but that for one thing he was busy and often not ever home, but that he also found it painful to have such little contact and that May was the one directly responsible for it.

It all came to a head after Tony and the rest of the Avengers arrived back at the tower from a mission that still hadn’t resulted in them finding the scepter. They had all had a meal together before Pepper left her office and so when she arrived most of The Avengers had moved over to the movie room or to their own floors. Tony for his part was in the workshop and greeted Pepper with a quick kiss on the cheek before he turned back to his work.

“How many more bases are there left?” Pepper asked.

“Three that we know of. Could be more,” Tony said, still distracted by his work on what looked to be the Iron Legion.

A few of the droids were getting repaired as they spoke and Pepper could see that Tony was still trying to make them even better. The man really didn’t know how to stop working. She could still remember the week when he and Bruce built the Hulk Buster armor. It was a brilliant idea, but the single minded work the two were doing had concerned her a bit after they passed 36 straight hours in the workshop.

“Do you have to go on every mission?” Pepper asked as she took her heels off.

Tony didn’t even glance her way. “I am an Avenger, aren’t I?”

“Yes, but is this important enough to need all of you? I just -- I want to spend time with you, Tony. Over the last year it’s been you running around trying to fix everything and the company having to take the brunt of it. We have so many former Shield agents working for us that it seems like we’ve restarted Shield right in this tower.”

“A lot of them work on Avengers stuff,” Tony said, “and we needed the personel after Hill took care of the infiltrators.”

Pepper sighed. “That isn’t the point. Why won’t you just send the suit. Jarvis can take care of things. We need to spend more time together. I’m here trying to keep the company afloat and worried sick about you and you don’t seem to care about anything other than playing a hero with your friends.”

Tony finally turned to look at her. “You mean protecting the world from being enslaved if that scepter gets into the wrong hands,” Tony said.

“Yeah well what good is it to protect the world when I have May Parker e-mailing me about how sad Peter is that you haven’t bothered to even answer him. What good is a safe world if you don’t care enough to contact your son?”

Tony’s eyes narrowed on her and Pepper didn’t think he had ever been mad this way before. At least not at her.

“That is not up to me,” Tony whispered. “If I could be in his life I would. You know that.” The latter he said a bit louder and then he turned away from her.

Looking at him hurt. Pepper knew that she loved Tony. At one point he had become her best friend and being his girlfriend never came with boring moments, but Pepper had always wanted her life to be a bit more stable. She didn’t know if she could handle being CEO of Stark Industries and Tony Stark and Iron Man all at once.

From somewhere in the tower there was a small explosion and then laughter. Then something like a plate broke. This was not the home life that she had ever imagined. As much as she cared for Tony, she didn’t know if it was worth it to be out of her wits at any given moment of her day.

“I think -- Tony, I think I’ll be working out of LA for a while There’s some business to take care of there anyway. I think we have to re-evaluate this. Us.”

Tony almost fell out of his chair he turned so quickly to look at her. “What -- Pepper, what do you even mean by that?”

“I can’t be in a relationship that is only ever really real once or twice a month even though we technically live in the same place and share a bedroom. You’re never here, Tony, and when you are you have a million things going on. When you’re off Avenging or whatever I can’t -- it’s hard to get anything done because I’m waiting for someone to call and tell me that you’re gone. I just -- I can’t do this.”

Before she left, Pepper took the necklace Tony had given her after the whole extremis thing. It contained pieces of the shrapnel that had been in Tony’s chest and Pepper just didn’t feel like she could keep it anymore.

Chapter Fourteen

#Peter and Tony fic #MCU fic #Dad!Tony #Marvel fic #Peter Stark #Walking The Wire fic

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