#and the fact that they confirms some bit of how ben's hero life actually do some effects in his personal life
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when you think about it ben's life is kinda sad and fucked up, and probably overworked
i mean unlike other teen heroes, they still hide their identity, they still have much time for their personal life and a privacy
and ben however, literally got his identity outed and he can't even have a day off without some bad guy bursting out of your door, probably because the villain knows what you are and knows where you live, and I think I read somewhere that he's considering moving to plumbers because how much trouble he's bringing to his hometown
and the fact that you are really well known, not just the people won't stop bothering you because you are popular, some people are not gonna treat you like a normal person because of how powerful you are, and not to mention how it will affect your school life and social life, you are basically not one with your classmates anymore because how different you are now, and you can't keep up with your grades because of your hero life (the fact that they confirms that ben still goes to school, it's just always away, and the fact that's he's considering going to college)
also he's really overworked, the show confirms that he works a part time job i think, and idk if he's paid at the plumber at all, and nah how's this dude not break down and collapse yet cuz all the school, a job and a hero life pack all to you and still be fine đđ
ben's case is kinda different from the other teen heroes cause man, he's isolated and alone from his hero life from the other people
#ben 10#ben tennyson#ben 10 uaf#ben 10 omniverse#ramblings#rambles#ben 10 alien force#angst#text post#are you satisfied by marina fits ben so so much#idk they explore this idea in alien force#a little#and the fact that they confirms some bit of how ben's hero life actually do some effects in his personal life#and didn't mention it in the ov
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AHHHSHFBTKFNTLFKGNFMDM SONIC 3 TRAILER SONIC 3 TRAILER SONIC 3 TRAILER IM LOOSING MY SHIT RN
hereâs some things i noticed/wondered/loved:
- i think in that scene where tom is on the ground yelling for sonic, he is wearing a special forces suit. maybe he upgraded from cop to working with gun?? if so i think thatâs a really good use of his character actually! he wanted to save a life and raise a family above all else yes, but he still got his previous dream of doing more serious cop work!
- shadow just. has a big ass portal?? like holy shit heâs just suckin the life outta earth and ig thatâs one way to do it (or maybe itâs just a ring and iâm stupid idek)
- iâm sure weâll learn more about this in the actual movie so iâm not too worried, but iâm super confused at the very beginning scene. apparently sonic didnât change his heartâŠbut he did tho? like he learned what being a true hero meant in the last movie. tbh i feel like thatâs enough but hey iâm not against more character development for our boy so!! (also that bit where heâs like âin my lungsâ was actually really funny to me, ben schwartzâ awesome delivery caught me off guard)
- GERALD ROBOTNIK ALIVE HUUUUH?! tbh i wouldâve preferred if maria was alive, i feel like that would be an interesting dynamic. but also ig that would make it harder for shadow to learn anything so i totally get it. anyways iâm just glad theyâre putting a little twist on the story, it keeps it interesting. they already sorta did that with the knuckles and iblis thing actually! (even if that show sucked ass and although that probably wasnât intentional đ)
- even tho bro only got like⊠3 lines, i really think keanu fits shadow. heâs very soft spoken in comparison to the rest of the case which feels nice. also heâs like the âreally badâ guy so ofc heâs not gonna be yappin on and on like sonic or robotnik and heâs gonna take things uber seriously.
- where was my girl maddie :( i think she was only in like a singular frame. hope shes in the movie a somewhat significant amount. i heart pretzel lady!! could live without wade tho like pls im so sick of his bowling soap opera đ
- FAT ROBOTNIK FAT ROBOTNIK FAT ROBOTNIK!!! after fucking 3 movies they finally fulfilled jim carreyâs wishes!! let the man get creative like please i love jim carrey sm aughdfhfnfmschxj. also love how we got so much stobonik content within that short scene like jesus come get yâallâs food
- shadow at one point says something along the lines of âwhen weâre done, there wonât be anything left.â maybe iâm reading WAY to into this but what does the âweâreâ part mean?? is he working with others? i feel like this is either gonna be team dark or some new movie exclusive character(s). edit: someone made a valid point that heâs actually probably referring to gerald (look at reblogs!)
-CHAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lowkey wonder if the room therye in is like an amusement park or somethin like that
- no sign of amy :( but honestly my prediction now is that sheâs gonna be the post credit scene teaser cus they always do a new character reveal there. first tails, then shadow. and honestly now i think it might be better that way so shadow can have a chance to breathe and show his story in full. iâm pretty sure i vaguely remember colleen (tailsâ VA) being kinda mysterious about amyâs appearance when asked, and also the fact that it was confirmed that this isnât the end of the movie franchise/universe. but ig weâll just have to wait and see!
so sorry i stated this yesterday morning to give my initial thoughts but then got busy and completely forgot to post/finish it. and today i started (and am close to finishing) a very long edit of the trailer, so be on the look out for that too!
genuinely i feel like this movie is gonna somehow be even more record breaking than any of the previous movies and i am so here for the hype đ
#sonic#sonic the hedgehog#sth#sonic fandom#sonic movie#shadow the hedgehog#sonic wachowski#knuckles the echidna#miles tails prower#amy rose#stobotnik#dr ivo robotnik#robotnik#agent stone#wade whipple#maddie wachowski#tom wachowski#sonic movie 3#sega sonic#analysis#predictions#sonic 3#sonic adventure 2#chao
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WEAK HERO UNIVERSITY (3/?) [READER X WEAK HERO]
Summary: I know you assholes are crying now that the first season of Weak Hero is over. But youâve got other things to focus on, like where the fuck youâre going to live after getting kicked out of your old dorm. Luckily, youâve found one last open room on the other side of Weak Hero University. What could possibly go wrong?
Genre: Romance, Humor, Slice of Life
Date: 7/12/2021
Youâre dully unaware of how many people are allowed into a cramped dorm room before it becomes a fire hazard, but you are almost completely sure that the rule has now been broken.
Gray pushes through the mass of bodies wedging themselves between your bed and the desk, a damp, cold rag in his hands.
âLet me see.â
You grit your teeth and stare up at the ceiling, holding back the urge to toss yourself out the window. Of course this would happen, you donât even know why youâre surprised! It was just your luck to completely obliterate your toe in front of cute guys you had just met.
You reach down towards your sock and then freeze, eyeing them wearily.
âWait⊠You guys arenât like, feet people⊠Right?â
Eugene furrowed his eyebrows and looked to everyone else. âWhat do you mean? We all have feet.â
Gerard made a face, or wellâas much as a face as you can see, and you fluster, immediately regretting asking the question.
âShit. Never mind. That was a stupid question, just pretend I didnât say anything.â What? No one can blame you, too many years on deviantart would make anyone paranoid!
You hook your fingers onto the elastic of the sock and pull it off your right foot.
The moment your sock comes off, both Ben and Alex rattle your eardrums with a shriek. Alex covers his eyes and Ben dramatically falls onto his knees beside the bed.
âThe whole thing is purple, Ben, you dumbass!â Alex cried, peeking out from between his fingers. âSheâs going to need to amputate her toes!â
Ben clasped his hands together in front of you, bowing his head to the floor. âIâm so sorry! Iâm terrible! Iâll take full responsibility! Iâll even give you my toes!â
âUhm, you guysââ Eugene lifts a shaky finger but is interrupted by the earth-shattering slap Alex lands on the back of Benâs head, eyes teary with emotion, âDammit Ben, no one would want your big ugly goblin toes!â
Absolutely flabbergasted at their reactions, you flinch back, eyes wide as Ben clasped both his large hands over yours, bottom lip quivering.
âPlease forgive me (Y/N)! Youâre too pretty to be missing toes!â
What the fuck does that even mean?!
Mind working in overdrive and face burning hot, you swallow and try to stutter out an explanation, nearly going cross-eyed at the insane amount of pressure suddenly thrust upon you. Did Alex just give Ben brain damage? Did Ben just call you pretty? Were those two things related? What the hell was going on!?
Gray pulls a sobbing Ben off of you, lips pressed into a thin line.
âYou two are freaking her out. You need to calm down.â
âButâ!â Ben starts, voice trembling, âHer toes! I crushed herâ!â
Gerard sighs, turning his face away from the scene, clearly too tall and cool and in need of a haircut to be suffering from secondhand embarrassment. âYou guys⊠Thatâs just nail polish.â
Ben turns to Eugene for confirmation and Eugene rubs the back of head sheepishly, an awkward smile plastered on his face. âI tried to tell you guys.â
Alex approaches Grey, peeking over his shoulder and almost sounding a bit disappointed. âWait, so⊠We donât need to call an ambulance?â
Grey shakes his head, no. His pale hair catches the light and you suddenly notice how incredibly pretty he is. âIt wonât be necessary. But we still might need to speak to the Hall AssistantâŠâ
A slender hand reaches up and delicately turns your foot towards him, revealing a nasty reddish-purple bruise forming just under the ball of your feet.
The group behind Gray cringes back simultaneously.
Alex lets out a low whistle, clicking his tongue. âThat oneâs gonna be hard to walk on, (Y/N).â
Eugene sighs, eyebrows knitting together. âYeah, last time I got something that bad, I needed to use a wheelchair for a week.â
âDude, wasnât the wheelchair because Teddy accidentally threw a coke bottle at your crotch?â Alex asks.
Eugene turns to him sharply, whispering something reminiscent of âgirlsâ and ânot nowâ while gesturing to you avidly.
âWeâre going to need to get ice.â Grey says, ignoring the arguing in the back.
He lowers the damp rag onto your foot. You wince and flex all the muscles in your leg, trying not to contort your feet in pain. Lavender eyes meet yours and you begin to wonder if you had misjudged him for side eyeing your ziplock baggie of waterlogged notes. âHow are you feeling?â
Well, to be honest you were feeling pretty damn good right now. Youâve never had so many attractive guys paying attention to you at once, even if it was because of a fucked-up foot. You, one. University? Zero!
Of course, you werenât about to say this. Instead, you gulp, wiggling your toes just to make sure nothing was broken.
You turn to Grey with doeful eyes. âWell, everything is still connected. I think Iâll be able to walk, maybe with some⊠Extra support?â
He lifts the damp rag off your foot and contemplates a bit, placing a finger under his chin.
âWhy donât you try standing up?â
He moves to give you some space and you swing your legs off the bed, moving quite feebly to put on a show and hopefully getting the worldâs hottest crutch out of it.
Unfortunately, you were so preoccupied with putting on an act that you forgot which foot was actually injured. You place all your weight onto one foot before you realize youâve gone and fucked yourself and feel the shock of pain immediately.
Your knee gives out, sending you flailing like a circus monkey on a tricycle, except you werenât a circus monkey on a tricycle because at least those were cute, you were just a clumsy buffoon with one foot, too lazy to pick up her own belongings and finally paying the price for it.
âShit!â
Youâre entirely prepared to just give up life and become a fully concussed vegetable at this point, but instead of the sweet embrace of death, you get the sweet embrace of a himbo instead. An arm catches you by the waist before you can hit the floor and pulls you back up to his chest, the scent of a woody cologne punching you in the face.
When you look up, youâre met with Benâs gaze. His reddish brown hair and chocolate eyes are a lot more overwhelming up close, and it doesnât help that you suddenly recall him calling you pretty while he snotted over your bed. You stiffen like a board.
âUhm. Hey.â You say, definitely not awkwardly at all.
He flusters, tips of his ears turning red. He swallows thickly and his adams apple bobs up and down.
âHey.â
He averts his eyes and looks anywhere but at you, doing what you think is an attempt at whistling nonchalantly. It was in no way nonchalant. In fact, you werenât sure if he even knew how to whistle, he was kind of just blowing spit out of puckered lips. With both of you distracted, neither of you realize his grip was becoming slack with his inattentiveness.
ââŠBen.â Grey warns, albeit softly, but alas, heâs too late and too damn quiet.
He drops you like itâs hot and everyone else watches in horror as your head connects like deadweight with the metal frame of the bed, a loud and resounding âCLING!â bouncing off the walls and reverberating in the room like a haunting testament to assured braincell loss.
Your vision swims and darkness begins to bleed into your periphery. The last thing you hear is Gerardâs voice echoing in your brain,
âHey man, is that my shirt youâre using as a rag?â
#weak hero university#weak hero x reader#webtoon weak hero#weakhero#weak hero#reader insert#fanfiction
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So my issues with Irondad are well documented at this point, starting from their very first scenes. Specifically the utter tone deafness of Peterâs recruitment, by both Tony and the writers. Tony starts the movie being blamed for the death of a 20-year-old kid who was in the wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. That accidental death that can be put down to negligence on his part, is pivotal to what happens next. So pivotal he uses it in his pitch for why the other Avengers need to sign the Accords.
Tony, midway through the movie, deliberately brings a 15-year-old child into this conflict. A child he blackmails into going with him, because if you donât, I will tell your aunt.
Charles Spencer was an innocent civilian, wrong place, wrong time in Sokovia. He died. That tears Tony up, as it rightfully should. And yet, in the midst of his crusade about following laws and accountability, he lies to May Parker about taking her 15-year-old nephew out of the country and into a warzone. Ignoring some well-established laws about child soldiers.
Tony blackmailing a child whoâs had his powers for 6 months into participating in this conflict makes no sense. Ever. It especially makes no sense in the context of Charles Spencer and his mother. Yet neither Tony nor the writers seem to comprehend this. Which is why Irondad has been bullshit from the start. Blackmail and kidnapping are not sweet, father-son moments, even if you ignore the fact, as the MCU wants to, that Peter had a father already, in Ben Parker. He has a loving adult parental figure in May Parker. Both of whom cared about him before he had spider powers that might be helpful to them.
All of this, Iâve said before, so have others. And then I realized that I actually hate Irondad more than I thought. That Feige and co. mishandled it even more than I thought, and why? Because of this.
We know the story. Peter was, supposedly, this kid Tony saved at the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2. Started out as a fan theory, and then was confirmed that yes, this is true, this is exactly what we intended.
Now, we know Civil War had different writers/directors than Homecoming or FFH did. We also know that, for all the lip service of, âItâs all connected,â we know that the creatives in these different franchises do not always talk to each other, and that they often blatantly contradict each other.
Taking all that into account, acknowledging thatâŠthe dumbasses at Marvel did not think up the idea of Peter being the Iron Man 2 kid. They heard the theory, thought it was cool, then took credit for having meant that the entire time, yes, that was totally us.
We know this because it is never mentioned in canon. All those Tony and Peter interactions, all those times of yes, Mr. Stark, I just want to be like you, Mr. Stark, and Peter never mentions that? When Tony takes he suit from him in Homecoming and Peter says that he just wants another chance, wants to be like Tony, would he not mention that hey, you saved my life, Mr. Stark. You saved my life and I just wanted to be like you, and now I can be, now I can save lives like you, just please give me another chance.
If the Iron Man 2 theory were true, would he not say that? In FFH, when heâs all guilt-ridden, I didnât save him, would he not mention that hey, he saved my life before I was Spider-man, before I was special, before I was anyone?
Now I know what youâre thinking. The Iron Man 2 thing isnât that big a deal. Itâs not a crucial thing. And you know what, youâre right. It isnât, itâs just always annoyed me, in an eyeroll way, that the same people who couldnât count properly between 2012 and 2017 (8 years later flashing in giant letters across our screens means that Homecoming was meant to take place in 2020), that these same people who let something so blatantly timeline breaking get through then took credit for a kind of cool, kind of clever fan theory. Itâs annoying.
Iâve now realized, however, that it is far more than annoying to me. Because TPTB at Marvel did not think of that idea for themselves, but if they had, and if theyâd run with that idea? If they had, it wouldâve made Peterâs recruitment in Civil War so much more fucked up than it already is, but so much more interesting. So, so, so much more interesting.
Iâve talked about why Spideyâs own movies (as much as you can call them that given the level of Tony infiltration) prove that the theory isnât true. Now letâs go to Civil War. Different writers, yes, but letâs talk anyway about why we can tell from CW that Peter was not that kid.
He gets home. May is like, look who it is, Tony Stark. Not, look who it is, the hero who literally saved your life. When Tony locks himself in Peterâs room with him (still fucking gross, Jesus Christ), Peter is just, nope, I got no idea what youâre talking about. Thatâsâno, Iâm not a superhero, no. Heâs defensive. Heâs apprehensive. Heâs trying to figure out what fresh hell this is. Heâs trying to hide stuff from Tony. If this is the guy who saved him at the Stark Expo, why this reaction? Why not, oh my god, you saved my life, I thought Iâd never see you again, not, not up close I mean. When Tony asks him to do a thing, why is it not, well yeah, duh , you saved my life, where do we start? Or even, okay, I donât really wanna do this, but, you saved my life, I owe you?
So, nobody wrote a fucking word of any of Peter and Tonyâs interactions under the theory that he was the Stark Expo kid.
But what if they had?
Tony shows up at Mayâs place. He does not know who Peter is, in relation to their âmeetingâ before. Heâs expecting to have to do some level of smooth talk to get in here but, nope. Mayâs just, oh my god, you saved my boyâs life, come in, come in!
We donât know for sure that Peter was orphaned by the time of the Expo, but if we base it on comics and prior films, he likely was. Most versions seem to have him fall under Ben and Mayâs care between 2 and 6. Â O1â birthday means he wouldâve been around 9 at the Expo. So, more than likely, Ben or May or both were the ones there with him. They may credit Tony with saving their lives as well.
So, Tony starts the movie being called out by a grieving mother. Going down this route, weâre at the midpointâŠand hereâs a different mother telling him how great he is. How he saved the most important thing in her life. How if Ben were here (Mayâs wearing her wedding ring around her neck btw, you can see it in the scene), Ben would say the same thing. Shake his hand. Hug him.
Now, Tonyâs got a sharp ass mind, when itâs not clouded with booze or drugs or the like. Since he wasnât wasted at the Expo, thereâs a good chance that, given some details, he remembers saving this kid. He remembers how small this little boy actually was. He remembers how light this kid was when he grabbed him. It was a few seconds in a long ass night, that he hasnât thought about in years, but to May Parker, itâs everything.
So maybe at this point Tonyâs rethinking this. Heâs remembering that little boy, realizing how young he still is. He pulled that boy from danger. And now hereâs this woman who invited him into her house, told him how her husband just passed recently, things have been hard, especially for Peter but God, heâll love to see you. Maybe Tonyâs rethinking this, coming up with a way out, when Peter shows up. And then, aw hell. The kidâs just a mess of excitement and shock, possibly tearsâŠokay now itâs just gotten harder to make an exit.
Letâs pause here to say that May Parker is not fucking dumb (âCut the bullshit. I know you left detention. I know you left the hotel room in Washington. I know you sneak out of this house every night.â).
May is not dumb. Letting the 50-year-old dude go into her nephewâs room with him, alone? Arguably dumb, even if it is Iron Man. Letting him grab the kid for some StarkâŠthing, and take him wherever Tony said he was taking him on 12 seconds notice? Even more arguably dumb.  CW as itâs written dumbs down Mayâs character for the sake of an already questionable plot point. Especially since she literally says sheâs not a fan of Tony in Homecoming. Yes, her comment there comes after the âinternship,â her noting Peterâs distraction and stress because of it. But still, itâs fucking weird that sheâd let this man take her kid out of the country, alone, in CW. It makes her dumb for the sake of plot.
But if Stark saved Peterâs life not so long ago? It at least makes a bit more sense. Heâs a hero. Peter literally wouldnât be here without him. Why would Tony hurt him now?
So, back to the scene. Peterâs probably less paranoid about showing his stuff to Tony. Probably not spilling everything himself, but when Tony notices things, Peterâs probably less panicked over it, more willing to confirm. Yes, heâs got these powers, okay? And he hasnât had them for long, but heâs trying to do good, like Tony. Heâs trying to do the right thing, like Tony.
Now, this kid has such literal hero worship going, and heâs so damn inexperienced, he admits that. And Tonyâs still got Charles Spencerâs mom in his head. Heâs dead, Stark. And I blame you.
Can Tony really take this kidâactual minor kid younger than Charles wasâtake him and put him on the field against the goddamn Avengers? That woman out there with the dead husband and the ring around her neck, whatâs he going to say if Peter gets hurt, or worse? Sure the kid obviously has skills but, can he risk another grieving mom?
So, maybe Tonyâs rethinking this. Maybe he can still get out of this, improvise a Plan B. But then thereâs a text from Nat or Ross. Where are you? Weâve only got a few hours, whatâs the play?
Special circumstances, nobody in that group is really gonna fight to killâŠitâs special circumstances, and he can keep the kid mostly sidelined.
This time, he doesnât have to blackmail Peter. He doesnât have to threaten to expose his secret. Peterâs willing, either because he genuinely wants to, or he feels he owes Tony a debt. So there goes the dick factor of Tony literally blackmailing a child. And the lack of questions Peter seems to ask about what heâs fighting for, the acceptance of vague answers, thatâd also make more sense in this context.
In this version, Tony is both more and less of a dick. Heâs doing less active threatening and manipulationâŠbut heâs also being doubly manipulative. His genuinely good deed gives him an easy in with the Parkers. Heâs playing on the credibility of an earlier, at least somewhat better version of himself. One who saved Peter Parker and hadnât yet ended Charles Spencer.
Look, I wonât lie, I legit donât know what Iâm saying anymore, except that Marvel sucks for taking credit for a thing that they definitely do not have credit for. Which isnât particularly new for them, and wouldnât particularly matter if the thing they took credit for (and didnât do anything with) couldâve offered some interesting story possibilities.
#anti tony stark#anti irondad#iron man 2#peter parker#may parker#kinda fuck marvel though really#spider-man#civil war
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âHope the stories are cool.â
At the half-murmured words, Ben turned to their source in the passenger seat beside him, brow furrowed. âWhat was that?â
Riley, staring out the window of Patrickâs weird-smelling car at the night around them, seemed surprised at the question. âHm?â When he looked at Ben, however, it was clear he hadn't realized he'd said anything aloud until that moment. âOh! Uhâ" He shrugged it off with a nonchalant grin, turning away again. âUh, nothing. Sorry.â
Oh, youâre not getting off that easy, Ben thought. âWhatâd you say? What stories?â
Riley rolled his eyes. âBenââ
âNo, no,â he interrupted, before a snide remark could be made, âI heard âstoriesâ and âcoolâ. Now, what cool stories were you talking about?â
Riley gave him perhaps half of a death glare, and for a moment, Ben thought he was going to ignore the question. But then he sulked back against his seat, and seemed to give in. âWellââ He scoffed, eyes on the ceiling. âOurs, I guess. I mean, we just stole the Declaration of Independence, Ben! The Declaraâdo you have any idea what this means?â
Ben frowned: maybe he was avoiding the question after all. âYes, I think you've given me several ideas of the things this could possibly mean.â Besides, I thought youâd be worried out at this time of night, he added mentally.
âYeah, but I'm not talking about going to prison, and Ian shooting us, and Abigail doing a lot more than slapping and shouting if we screw it up. Sheâll probably⊠I dunno, impale us with those pointy heels or something.â He picked up an old neck pillow (heâd knocked it off the seat when he first climbed up front), and put it in his lap. âYou know, maybe thatâs why the spy chicks in the movies wear them all the timeâif you can get used to running around and doing all those acrobatics in them, they can double as a lethal weapon.â
âWell, what are you talking about, then?â Ben pressed before the conversation could get too far off base: Riley could easily and resourcefully use the smallest sidetrack to avoid a topic he didnât want to talk about. Kid was practically an escape artist.
âIâm talking about America. They're not gonna let us off with a simple little life sentence. They're gonna have us pegged even after we're dead.â
Ben bit back a comment about him watching too many ghost hunter shows, opting for the simpler, âHow do you mean?â
Riley turned to fix blue eyes firmly on Ben; eyes that, to his surprise, he now saw were grounded in a gravity greater than worry. âBen⊠whether we win or not, weâre gonna be locked up for basically the rest of time. Why?â
He leaned in closer, and spoke with such certainty, Ben had to suppress a shiver.
âBecause weâre going to be in all the American history books for basically the rest of time. Do you understand that, Mr. History Buff? Kids are gonna be learning our names in the future. Your name, my name, maybe even her nameâand unless something crazy happens, like really crazy, thenâŠâ He sighed, and plopped back against the seat. âThen even if we keep the Declaration away from Ian, we're gonna be the ones they remember stealing it.â He looked back up. âYou know that, Ben?â
It took a moment for Ben to find the voice to reply. When he did, he let it out with a breath he didnât know heâd been holding, blinking a few times. âHuh, yeah.â He sat back, stunned, as the full weight of it befell him. âYeah...â he whispered again.
The fact was, he had thought of it. From the moment he determined to undertake the task, heâd been aware of it. But throughout their escapades and machinations, he had kept it as just thatâa factâan awareness at the back of his mind. He hadnât thought about it. Not until that moment, in an empty parking lot in the middle of the night. Not until Riley decided to be seriously, deeply right.
And⊠he wanted to tell him that. He wanted to tell Riley just how dead-center his aim had been. He wanted to confess to him the sudden fear it had struck in his heart. But somehow, he couldnât. What somehow it was, he didnât know. But it kept his voice from him.
He started to tell himself he just didnât want to worry him further, especially with the way things were now, but he knew that wasnât it. Riley was the one who started this particular concern anyway. It wasnât a matter of trust, either. This was his best friendâRiley knew things about him even his father didnât know, and Ben would have willingly put his life in his hands. There were times when heâd had to. And there were times that Rileyâs life had been in his hands, his alone, and they both knew it. And for all he knew, that couldâve been what stopped him from saying those words.
Youâre dead right. Weâll never be forgotten. And it terrifies me.
Benâs highest hope, even beyond the actual finding of the treasure, had always been to become a part of history. Just like his ancestors. Just like the Founders. Just like the men who had been his heroes since he was a boy. And throughout his adventure, there had been many times when he had thought to himself, youâre continuing that story. This is the same old tale Grandpa told you, but itâs not over. Itâs going on, in this exact minute, and youâre the one carrying it now.
The thought had given him purpose, over all those years. But now, he could not help but wonder what his part in that history would be. Would he be a hero, like those men of history, the knights (official or not) that he had always looked up to? Or would he be the one to bring it all down when he failed?
But, whatever the reason, he couldnât say all that to Riley. He couldnât say anything at the moment. So the moment was filled with silence instead, a weighty, waiting silence, on the precipice of what tomorrow might bring. The burden of history, both written and as yet unwritten, was for him in that moment almost physical.
âThat wasnât the story I was talking about when you heard me, though.â
The breaking of the silence almost startled him. Ben glanced up at Riley, confused and close to bewildered. For a moment, all he could manage was, âThen⊠whatâwhat were youâŠ?â
Riley also looked up, and seemed to notice something strange in his hushed tone. âOh. Sorry.â What was there to apologize for? âItâs just, I accidentally had, like, a lot of thoughts, while you and Abigail were talking. That stuff was part of it, but it wasnât the main thing.â
He fell silent a moment, but Ben gestured him on, almost insistently. If there was more, even if it was worse, he felt he had to hear it. What could Riley have possibly meant?
Riley hesitated, then looked down and began fidgeting with a loose string on the neck pillow in his lap. âYou were telling her the story. About the treasure, and how you got all that history from your grandpa.â
Benâs ears perked up: anybody talking about his grandfather got his full attention.
âAnd I got thinking about it, and I justâŠâ He shrugged. âI wondered about, yâknow, what if thatâs us someday? What if⊠what if weâre the ones some cool old guy tells his grandkids about? I mean, I know he still might think itâs bad, but at least grandpas and textbooks donât really tell stories the same way. I assume,â he added, with a glance at Ben for confirmation.
To his own surprise, Ben felt a smile tugging at his lips. Something in that homier view of historyâdespite the continued possibility of failureâput him more at ease, as if he were still listening to old yarns at his grandfatherâs house, slowly losing the fear of the storms outside. The cloud of heaviness that had been on him began to dissipate. Even the night around them seemed less dark.
Ben breathed a chuckle. âNo, youâre right. They really donât.â
âYeah, so heâd be telling like a grandpa, not like some bored guy in Milwaukee having to crank out school material! Right? And then, like, he says,â and at this, Riley briefly put on the persona of an old man, complete with motions and raspy grandpa voice, ââCome here, mâboy, let me tell you the story of the Templar Treasure,â and the kids go huddle up in front of him with those ginormous eyes little kids always have, because apparently the smaller you are the bigger your eyes look, and he tells âem the whole thing, right up to where your grandpa told it, and thenâand then he tells about us.â
There was a noticeable pause, as if it even took a little of Rileyâs breath away. He smiled softly, almost in awe himself. âHe tells about us.â
A few seconds passed before he noticed the gap of words, which he immediately jumped over to continue his own tale. âAndâand maybe thereâll be this one kid who actually thinks about it and is like, âman, this Ben guy was nuts! He just goes, oh letâs steal the Declaration of Independence, and expects everybody to be totally fine with it? How could anybody deal with such a crazy guy?â And the grandpa would be like, âWell, shucks, I always knew you were a smart kid.ââ
At this, Ben laughed. Really laughed, clear and from the heart. How in the world could Riley complain and fret about their plans so heavily, and yet paint the future with such lightness that you could laugh at it? All the time heâd known this kid, and he still couldnât quite understand him. But he didnât mind. And, for the moment, there seemed nothing to fear. The weight was gone.
But Riley wasnât finished. âOh, but you know he'd still get pulled into it, the same way your grandpa pulled you inâthe same way you pulled me inâand end up thinking it's the coolest thing ever, of course. I mean, who wouldn't, if they tell it like a Gates tells it? You guys don't skimp on the history stuff, especially family history. Thatâs what bought my ticket for this whole⊠train of thought... thing... in the first place, you and Abigail and all your history nerd talk the whole way here.â
Ben reeled back, taking false offense. âOh, nerd talk, is it?â
âOne hundred percent, man, and donât you forget it. And itâll still be nerd stuff when youâre the subject boring another average guy like me to sleep in the back of the car.â Riley threw his hands in the air with an air of finality. âAnd, who knows? Maybe one of those cute little grandkids gets all inspired the same way you did, and wants to go find a treasure and fight bad guys and figure all kind of crazy puzzles, and, heck, probably decides to go be a knight and stuff, just like uââ
He bit his lip, checking himself. But Ben took note of his near-words. Riley quickly continued on a corrected course.
âYou. Just like you,â and he shoved his arm with a smirk, âMister Sir Benjamin Franklin knighted-at-age-eleven Gates. You and all your Templars and Crusaders. âCause I mean, what kid wouldn't think a guy smart enough to steal the Declaration of Independence, and crazy enough or brave enough to try to save it from the bad guys, was totally awesome?â
Ben was unvoiced. All his mouth could manage was a speechless smile, as he looked at his young friend. He felt like heâd just heard a little brother tell him he was his hero. And⊠maybe, in a way, he had.
But it didnât take long for Riley to notice the smile. The moment he did, he covered his tracks with a roll of the eyes, hoping to pretend he hadnât said as much as he had. âExcept for the kids who actually have the misfortune to know you, I mean.â And on âknowâ, he chucked the neck pillow at Benâs face, nailing him squarely.
âWhaâthey have the misfortune?â
âYeah, you know, studies show, the coolness-craziness ratio really gets skewed over time, especially where little kids are involved.â
Snatching the pillow from where it had fallen, Ben grinned and replied, laughter in his voice. âWell, maybe they should ask you to tell the story, then. You seem to have it pretty well mapped out.â
Riley gave him a look. âIf I live to have grandkids, I might. And if that pun was actually intended.â
Noticing suddenly how the thought had come out, Ben considered it. âIt is now.â
âThought so.â
As he studied the young snark, another thought lit up Benâs mind. One that simply could not be left under a bushel. But he did hide a growing grin behind his hand, as he prepared to speak again.
âBut you know,â he mused, acting thoughtful, âIâm a little surprised at you, Riley. I mean, you left out one of the key historical figures involved in the story of the Templar Treasure. And heâs not one I thought youâd forget, either, let me tell you.â
âOh great, here comes the history lecture.â Riley turned to him, eyes firmly planted on the ceiling just above Benâs head, looking like a teen braced for a parental scolding. âFine. Who'd I miss?â
âThe other knight.â
At his confused look, Ben leaned back, gesturing with a bit of storytelling flair himself. âRiley Poole: computer genius and sole source of common sense, fellow treasure protector against the forces of evil and Ian Howe.â Then, as Riley gaped, Ben launched into a series of smaller voices (although he barely tried to sound like a child, let alone the three to four he seemed to be acting out). ââTell me more about him, Grandpa! Oh, he's such a funny guy, I like his jokes! How ever did he put up with that crazy Ben? That guy couldnât have got anywhere without Riley!ââ
Riley stared at him for a few seconds. But then, to Benâs surprise, his mouth snapped shut, and the jaw behind it seemed, for a second at least, to clench. âCome on, Ben, not cool,â Riley muttered, jerking his face the other way. âI was serious.â
Ben felt a twinge of guilt at the almost angry reaction: Riley thought he was being mocked. But before he could feel so (mistakenly) betrayed he cut himself off from anything Ben had to sayâa situation Ben really, really hatedâhe settled a hand on Rileyâs shoulder. This earned him a rather cross glance. But, seeing past the glare, he looked his young friend dead in the eyes, with a small, sincere smile.
âSo was I.â
The glance lengthened into a full-on stare. âWait, youââ
Ben could see the exact moment that the words fully sank in. The irritation became stunned surprise, and that turned to a swelling, glowing pride. It wasnât a joke. Ben meant every word. A smile twitched at his lips. Then the swell burst, short and sudden, in a laugh like a firework. âWow.â
And it pleased Ben mightily to see it. The sight of those blue eyes lighting up with real joy, with no hint of sarcasm, was rare. And he was doubly happy, because he was also telling the truth. Truth in every single word. Including one word in particular. One that required a little testing. Ben paused, taking the moment in a bit longer, then lifted his eyebrows, almost humourously. âUnless, of course, youâd prefer to drop the knight partâŠâ
âNo!â
Ben nearly laughed again at the eager speed of the answer. But Riley, upon realizing the same, nearly stumbled over himself to cover up with, âUm, no, no, thatâs fine. The knight part⊠the knight part works. D-donât worry about it.â
âWhoâs worrying?â Ben grinned, hopes fulfilled. Ever since heâd told Riley about his boyhood knighthood (and truth be told, heâd never really dropped the title, at least in his own mind), heâd found it easier and easier to think of the two of them as fellow knights. But he never said that. He didnât want to push a title on someone else if they might think it a little childish. That was why heâd needed a test, which Riley had passed with eagerness.
And yet, pleased as he was by that eagerness, it suddenly hit him how easily it could be snuffed out. The nearer they got to the treasure, the greater the danger would grow. He was sure of that. Theyâd already been through some real perils, and theyâd escaped without injury, but how long would it be before they wound up in front of Ianâs gun again, with ever-dwindling negotiables? The old weight began to creep back over him.
âYou are.â
Ben looked back up, confused. âIâm what?â
âWorrying.â
Is it that noticeable? âOh. Am I?â
At that, something inside Riley seemed to crumble, something he tried very much to hide. âOh.â
Ben furrowed his brow, definitely worried now. What happened? Did I say something wrong?
He started to open his mouth to ask, but Riley seemed to steel himself, taking a breath and lifting his head. âYeah, and you know, I totally get it,â he said, quickly and in something of an apologetic tone, âitâs a personal thing from your childhood, it feels weird letting somebody else take over it. I get it. The knight part is your thing. So if you donât want me tacking it on,â he raised his hands in surrender, âitâs fine, I wonât say anything else about it.â
âWhat?â This was it? After all theâhe still felt out of place in Benâs life? He still felt like he was being just a burden, a tagalong?
âWhat?â
Ben sighed and shook his head. âYouâre not taking anything over. Knighthood is meant to be passed from one to another. And itâs too important a promise to tack on to just anybody.â
âTell that to Jagger.â
âToo important for me to just tack on, then.â
Riley seemed reluctant to accept acceptance, no matter how many times heâd received it. âReally?â
âTrust me. Youâre good. That wasnât even close to what I was worrying about.â
He let out a quiet breath of relief. âOkay.â The pause wasnât long, however, before he glanced back up. âBut you were worrying, though. That was definitely the Ben Gates worry face.â
âI have a worry face?â
âEhh, itâs rare, but I know it when I see it. I mean, itâs you. Worrying.â Ben conceded the point with a shrug. âSo why?â
âWhy?â Ben hesitated, taking a breath, but his mind made itself up quickly. No more. Riley had opened up to him; it was high time, however his friend reacted, he did the same. He slowly let out his breath. âBecause I think weâre gonna need the knight part pretty soon. Weâre probably coming up on some⊠well, some pretty difficult chapters of that story, if you know what I mean. And, if Iâm gonna be honest,â and at this, his voice dropped, âIâm a little afraid to know the ending.â
Riley stared at him for a silent moment. Ben wasnât quite sure what he was hoping for next. Hope I didnât say too much. But then Riley nodded, slowly at first. âWow. Yeah, I mean, me too, man.â His nodding sped up. âYou know, maybe I will keep the knight part after all.â
Ben smiled, relieved, though he wasnât sure why. âSounds like a good idea.â
âYeah.â Riley was quiet only a moment more before he scoffed. âYou know, itâs all fine when youâre just hearing about the dangerous stuff the heroes go through. You donât really think about how threats to your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness actually feel.â
âYeah, sorry about that.â
âBut hey,â he shrugged, âat least those future-kids are gonna have a heck of a story. I mean, for them, weâre probably coming up on the best parts!â He laughed at his own words, but still grimaced slightly.
Ben smiled. Again, the complainer held the candle in the dark. And in that moment, Ben knew he was glad to have him on this⊠adventure, or whatever it could be called, no matter what happened. Riley really had been the common sense, the genius, the light (shaded in sarcasm though it was), throughout the whole thing. And Ben was sure he truly couldnât have gotten this far without him. But he knew they were about to head off into more trouble when they got to Philadelphia tomorrow, very possibly of the life-threatening type. He had to make sure Riley was okay with facing it down.
âSure you still wanna be a part of it?â he asked, nodding toward him. âItâs a big responsibility.â
Riley tapped the red, metal, tube-like container hanging on Benâs seat. âI know.â
Ben nodded. âYouâre right. There is a very big responsibility to keep the Declaration safe. We have enough danger just from that. But the duty of the Templars, the Freemasons, and the family Gates, now, that's all on me. Not you or Abigail or anybody else. I know I pretty much dragged you into this from the beginning, and if youâd rather stay out of the line of fire, I⊠wouldnât mind letting youââ
âOh no you donât, Mr. Gates,â Riley interrupted, grinning widely and pointing threateningly, âyou made me a treasure protector, same as all your Templars, Freemasons, and family Gates! And I promise you, Iâm not about to let you write me out now!â
Thatâs a good enough promise for me. Then, attitude restored, Ben responded in a tone of dry humour. âWell, then, in that case, I dub thee Sir Riley.â And he smacked him on the shoulder with the neck pillow.
Sir Riley seemed to take offense to the smacking as a personal challenge, and snatched the pillow away. Ben could see a glint of war fire in his eye. However, before battle could be engaged, his eye caught a sight that was becoming pleasantly familiar, to him at least. He laughingly held up a hand.
âOkay, hold up, hold up, Abigailâs coming back.â
âOh joy,â Riley deadpanned, a little disappointed in the forced ceasefire. Then, with a thought, he smirked at Ben. âYou think even sheâd be okay in a story? Like as a character?â
âAbigail?â Ben considered her qualifications for such a role. And he found he couldnât help but smile; smile at her deep passion for history (close akin to his own), her unflagging determination, and of course, her absolute refusal to ever shut up. âCould be.â He chuckled softly. âCould beâŠâ
He looked up to find Riley giving him a very pointed look, so Ben ignored him and glanced out at her instead. As Abigail crossed the parking lot, he pondered her a little longer. âWonder if she thinks we're the heroes or the villains.â
By the time he noticed Rileyâs movement, the window was already halfway rolled down. âGood question.â Riley stuck his head out the window and yelled across the parking lot, âHey, Abi, do you think we're the heroes or the villains?â
Still halfway across, she stopped to give him a look and shook her head. âItâs Abigail to you, and for the record, I still think youâre lunatics.â
âWell, I knew that!â
âI mean for yelling across the parking lot.â
âWell, if we're stating things for the record, you're yelling too.â
Abigail simply rolled her eyes and resumed her walk. Riley laughed again. âGuess weâre gonna have to call off the Second Revolutionary War, huh, Ben?â
âOh, youâll probably break the truce at some point.â
âKeep on your toes, old man.â
Riley smiled, but fell silent as he did so, staring at the dashboard. In the moment before Abigail came up to the car, his voice returned. âSo⊠just to be clearâŠâ He took a breath before he spoke again, and looked up at Ben hopefully when he did. âKnights?â
Ben practically beamed as he nodded: he could finally say it was true. âKnights.â
Riley held up his fist, and they sealed their eternal covenant of knighthood and brotherhood with a knuckle-bump.
A moment later, the passenger door opened. âAlso, you took my seat, Bill.â
âSir Riley, actually. Nice to meet you, milady.â
---
Well, happy Independence Day, folks! Thanks for reading, and doubly so if you've stuck with me all the way through to the end here!
This is my first National Treasure fic, but my second Lord of the Rings fic (the first is ancient and in hiding somewhere). Since NT is so patriotic and honoring of America's history and forefathers, I figured I'd post this today.
The inspiration came from two things: firstly, that fanfiction I posted about a few weeks ago, and secondly, from the story scene in The Two Towers. The kids had the movie on, and I jumped in right around there. And maybe I just had NT on the brain, but that scene just suddenly struck me as very fitting for Ben and Riley. Who are awesome, by the way.
So I wrote up a (much shorter) first draft that day, and edited it over the next several weeks. And now it's done! And I'm rather pleased with it, for my part.
It's also on fanfiction.net and, for the first time for any of my fics, AO3, if you want to check that out too.
Again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and happy Independence Day!
#my fanfiction#national treasure#ben gates#riley poole#abigail chase#lord of the rings#happy independence day
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Why being permabanned from the JCF was one of the best things that could have happened to me
Ever since TFA Iâve been contributing to SW forums, because itâs interesting to see otherâs opinions and also a source of information. Naturally not everyone agrees with you, so Iâve often crossed verbal swords. I quit one forum after being âwarnedâ for defending myself against a Kylo hater rather than reporting him; largely because Iâve never liked the idea of reporting anyone...it just isnât me. Iâd rather stand up to them instead.
Everyone is entitled to like or dislike a fictional character or ship, and entitled to argue the point. But I do not think I have ever come across such toxic hatred for a fictional character and those who like him as I have on the Jedi Council Forums.
I have been accused of âsexismâ for saying I didnât like the way TROS ended with Rey as a perennial virgin( ironically I personally am, and likely to stay that way as Iâm asexual...) because I found it unnatural (including myself in that) as Rey had shown a deep desire for family and children. By having her embrace the tired old âspace monkâ code of the Jedi she is forever denying herself that. I have had the weary old âpromoting the sexual abuse of womenâ rubbish aimed at me because I was a reylo - until they destroyed Rey and reimagined her as a horrible judgemental prig. All this Iâve experienced before so Iâm used to it...but what I really find disturbing is the attitude of Finn fans. And two Finn fans in particular.
Iâll call them A & J. Both are women. One confirmed white, not confirmed by the other. And their behaviour towards anyone who likes Kylo - even those who arenât reylos - is nothing short of bullying.
A is a huge Leia fan. If you have the audacity to point out that the character was a neglectful mother, which Carrie herself confirmed (â I never should have sent him awayâ; Leiaâs own words) then immediately A accuses you of rampant sexism, and âhow DARE you âdemoniseâ Leia like that!â
You are then attacked for saying a mother should not have a career (I never said that) and that Kylo was an âoverprivileged bratâ who deserved âeverything he gotâ for the way he treated his âwonderful, heroic parents.â
A has chosen to ignore the fact that during the promotion for TFA, the cast actually stated that Han and Leia were less than stellar parents. Heroes, unfortunately, often are. Leia was focusing on the rebuilding of the Republic and Han was uncomfortable around his son because he was FS. Neither Harrison or Carrie, both parents themselves, were unhappy with this. Itâs stated in several âcanonâ sources. Which A has chosen to ignore, insisting that Bloodline pointed out Kylo as a âhappy, normalâ child when that was what Leia believed him to be, despite not being around enough to know what he actually felt.
And not one mention of how it was TROS who truly demonised Leia. Whereas both the previous films showed her failures as well meaning mistakes, TROS showed her as a woman who chose not to train her own son when she was capable of doing it herself. It assassinated her character beyond repair and I often wonder if Carrie would have agreed with Leia being portrayed like that if she was still with us.
What worries me is that A is married and a teacher by profession - and also a mother, in real life. And she made one of the most disturbing comments Iâve read, that itâs a âgood thingâ for women to put their careers before their children as it shows them âthey are not the centre of your universeâ.
We are entitled to like/dislike fictional characters.....but Iâm really spooked because this comment by A has nothing to do with SW but is her personal view on real life. And I donât think any parent, male or female,should put their careers before their families.
And ..then there is J, a dedicated Finn and JB fan. Again, her own choice. But does she really have the right to accuse anyone who doesnât like either of being a card carrying, knuckle dragging white supremacist?
She accused me as âputting the white character before JBâs role as âblack male leadâ because I simply said the ST âshould have been Benâs storyâ in a Finn thread. Later, I was permabanned for mentioning Kylo in the same Finn thread - despite other posters often mentioning Kylo, Rey and Finn in threads devoted to other characters. But it isnât just me. Anyone - anyone - who says the slightest negative thing about JB, such as calling him out on his horrible SM posts after TROS, is accused of racism. Anyone who criticises the Finn character is seen as racist. And although yes, I agree Finn was poorly handled in TROS, I canât help but get angry when they accuse Rian Johnson of âdestroyingâ the characterâ in TLJ when he gave him his own story arc and love interest and did a damn sight more with him than Abrams, who saw him as a lovesick groupie whose role was to follow Rey around shrieking her name every five minutes.Â
Most of all, I am heartily sick and tired of them accusing AD and Kylo of âtaking Finnâs rightful role off himâ
Excuse me? Kylo had nothing to do with it, he was established as the villain and it certainly wasnât ADâs fault. He simply played the part. Finn was on the âother sideâ. If his character was reduced itâs down to the survival of the Poe character (some fans, to their credit, have also said this) who was slated to be killed off but wasnât. But if anyone âstoleâ anyoneâs thunder itâs Rey - she was meant to be the main protagonist of the ST, not Finn. Kylo was the âvillainâ. Finn had more screen time than Kylo did in all three of the films.Â
Boyega is simply mad that he wasnât Reyâs romantic love interest, despite DR herself stating the characters were meant to be âjust friendsâ. He wasnât interested in the fact that Finn had two beautiful ladies interested in him, he wanted to âlay the pipeâ with Rey. And this lies at the heart of his dissatisfaction with his characterâs direction. but is has nothing to do with AD or the Kylo character. Finn fans refuse to accept that as the blood descendant of the OT characters of course Kylo/Ben had to have a major role in the ST. Finn was never conceived as a âleadâ character, and it is both spiteful and unfair for JB and his fans to assume itâs because of his ethnicity.
Iâm not the only one who has been targeted by J...she has driven three posters to my knowledge off the JCF, one who isnât even a Kylo fan, with her endless spurious accusations. Yet she gets away with it....because A is a major supporter. And A is a moderator.
As for me, I tend to have a stubborn streak and although I repeatedly told myself engaging with the toxic fantatics permeating the JCF isnât good for me, I just couldnât stop. I just had to repeatedly defend Kylo and AD from the increasingly nasty comments, despite it doing nothing for my mental health and personal happiness. So, when I was finally permabanned for once again mentioning Kylo in a âsome other characterâ thread, Iâm actually relieved, because Iâm now âoffâ the site. I still read it just to see how the other posters are getting on, and Iâve noticed most of those who like Kylo and even AD are disappearing.Â
A and J are bit by bit destroying anyone who doesnât share their opinions and driving them away, reducing the forum to a tedious one character love fest. In short, anyone who doesnât agree with them isnât welcome. So much for freedom of speech.
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Guide to Writing Hawks
Be physically expressive! Hawks is extremely gesticulate; this is one of the first things we learn about him. He uses his hands to talk just as much as words, that zipper movement from him to Endeavor, to the way he shrugs and waves his hands around when talking to Endeavor and Tokoyami. Some of his gestures are also downright unusual and add to general sense of offbeat charm - he shouldnât be rigid or stiff when talking, generally, especially with an ally. Heâs a dynamic, expressive character - donât let a simple âsaidâ suffice for a sentence he probably emphasizes with body languages.
His pupils change size. Something interesting for other characters to note is Hawksâs eyes and their tendency to change size. The factors seem to be emotional and while there isnât a very solid explanation as to it (besides basic biology), this is noticeable in some panels and anyone talking to Hawks might even note it.
Hawks has a very offbeat sense of humor and thereâs a pattern of people wondering if heâs genuine or mocking them. Hawks has left a few characters rather taken back with the things heâs said, even admitting he doesnât âlike holding backâ. This lack of seeming care for a seriousness of a moment or topic(or maybe he does care a lot) both surprises people and somewhat offends them because it comes off as him mocking them (and he may very well be). Basically Hawks, with most people, keeps everyone on their toes by saying things that others might not want to say or find impolite or improbable. Heâs not the type to generally hold back; and that makes him a mixed bag to interact with, especially if your character is straight-laced.
He can and does get thrown off his groove! Hawks isnât just aloofly carefree; things do bother and get to him. Heâs more likely to show this sort of thing in private, alone. But once heâs thrown off, his usual aloofness fades and he shows more negative emotions, which usually doesnât happen. Heâs more likely to make âfiercerâ faces, more likely to be less gesticulate, and stiff.Â
Hawks has a bit of an independent thing. While Hawks seems to make great support in battles, it seems his natural inclination is actually to be a lone act. He went to take care of the small noumu mostly by himself in the High End fight, and he clearly doesnât wait for his sidekicks or intern to dispatch villains with him. Heâs on his own time, and so something to keep in mind is that heâs more likely to be an independent in a plan.
Hawks has a dialect and you shouldnât be afraid to localize it - as long as itâs used sparingly! Hawks generally speaks standard Japanese, but heâs used his local dialect twice in the manga, one when seemingly taken aback and amused by Endeavor, and once in a more contemplative moment to himself. The dialect is called Hakata-ben and generally, when shows up in manga or anime, American localization choose to portray it as something a bit âcountryâ. This is a little difficult given the most common dialect in Animanga is Osaka-ben and either localized as Southern(Texan) or Brooklynese. When Hakata-ben shows up, the American translators might go for something a bit more Appalachian and rural, even though Hakata/Fukuoka is definitely a city. Keep in mind to a Japanese ear (and other characters) who hear this would definitely associate a more rough/working-class background with this sort of dialect. Whatever you might choose when writing, just remember this is generally something he uses sparingly compared to other characters with a dialect, but also that as a child he would most likely spoken primarily in the dialect.Â
Hawks is incredibly observant and thoughtful - and so much of this is through his senses, even if heâs also seemingly intuitive. But this is never apparent right off the bat. Remember that Hawks has been shown to have very good eyesight and hearing, and that one of the major functions of his quirk is feeling/hearing vibrations through feathers. He has an excellent scope of his environment most times. Heâs basically an information sponge, and is shown to hunt for more info using lots of different ways (also a sign heâs incredibly resourceful). But all of this is something that people never seem to expect from him until theyâve seen all of it in action - and even then he does so much with ease that itâs hard to tell how much work he puts into his actions.
Hawks is....quirky. And not in the quirk way! He hides his mouth when embarrassed or called out; doesnât really care for social norms, and also likes to banter during fights. He happily admits to being a bird! Heâs an oddball! Donât be afraid to write him as one!
He really loves food. He kept talking about it on his meeting with Endeavor, asked to finish his food, mentioned cooking techniques in his banter. No wonder his favorite thing is chicken. EDIT AS OF 9/11: Hawks has a confirmed sweet tooth! In fact he finds the brewed coffee like mud has a preference for cheaper and sweeter canned coffees, even mentioning he just wants something sweet!
Most of all, Hawks is written as a character who thinks deeply about himself and the society heâs rose to the top of, and his place in it. He does care about other people - his first question is about casualties from his infiltration mission, he also doesnât see an issue with lending a hand. He even treats his hardworking intern to a night flight! This isnât done without second thoughts; he clearly expresses dissatisfaction with his life as it is, which is why he wants to change the society that makes it so. He yearns for a world where heroes have more free time. Any writer can take that in so many directions; but there should be an acknowledgment of some sort of dissatisfied yearning when you write Hawks. Whether you choose to delve into his circumstances and portray it as a tragedy or not, heâs a complicated character with an ambiguous and self-aware air about him. Treat him as such.
#hawks#bnha hawks#hawks bnha#hawks mha#bnha#meta#this was written because I saw a post about people having trouble with him#of course other people might have different takes on him#this is my personal one though
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Cruella: Does Every Villain Need a Sympathetic Origin Story?
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Clearly this isnât your parentsâ Cruella De Vil. This isnât even your Cruella De Vil. However, there is something fiendishly charming about seeing Emma Stone charge into a ballroom and light her black and white dress on fire, revealing a chic red number beneath that would do Scarlett OâHara proud. If fashion is a statement, Cruella is here to say the villain has just arrived!
Yet one canât help but shake the certainty that by the time we actually learn the plot of Disneyâs Cruella reimagining, Cruella will be in anything but black and white, or fiery red. Rather Cruella is obviously posturing to take a sideways approach to an old classic. But then again, that increasingly feels like the only direction these Hollywood redos know: the sympathetic origin story for an iconic villain.
To be clear, weâve only gotten a glimpse of Stone as the new Cruella, and she looks absolutely fabulous in a black leather coat and cane, purring, âIâm only getting started, darling.â Thereâs a wildness about this interpretation befitting our current era where Harley Quinn is the hero of her own story, and Wade Wilson now leads a Disney franchise. Nevertheless, when I watch Cruella on the edge of tears in the trailer, barking defiantly that she is CRUELLAâand seemingly embracing an unfair reputation that other characters may be placing on herâa nagging question persists in the back of my head: Do we really need a sympathetic Cruella De Vil?
The trend of supervillains getting intellectual property-expanding sob stories is nothing new, be it at Disney or anywhere else in Hollywood. Maybe 25 years ago when folks liked their villains big and outlandishâthink Glenn Close in Disneyâs previous live-action remake of 101 Dalmatiansâit was novel to see the antagonist become a tragic protagonist. But like everything else with modern blockbusters, that all changed a long, long time ago with something called Star Wars.
Back in 1977 when the original Star Wars movie was released, many audience members left the theater giddy about the world George Lucas created. In a galaxy far, far away, every pop fantasy of the mid-20th centuryâWizards! Knights! Princesses! Samurai! World War II ace pilots!âwas thrown into a massive cauldron that seamlessly blended these elements.
Luke Skywalkerâs galaxy felt like a real place of exotic, lived-in locales, all of which captured that dirt-under-the-fingertips, tactile quality so rarely seen in fantasy stories. Sure the characters might be archetypes, but they came with histories which gave their fantasy space battles human density. Old Ben Kenobi fought in the Clone Wars with Lukeâs father Anakin, who was âa gifted pilot.â But what exactly was a clone war? And why was there more than one of them? Also, what did a Jediâs âmore civilized ageâ look like for Lukeâs papa?
For more than 20 years, no one knew the answer to those questions, which made them all the more intriguing, and the âloreâ of this fantasy evermore mythic. Then came Star Wars: Episode I â The Phantom Menace, the first modern blockbuster prequel devoted to filling in the gaps left by a beloved classicâs mysteries. That movieâs problems are numerous, but at its core the most persistent, lingering issue may still be the reveal that Darth Vader was once a blonde haired little boy with the emotional range of Beaver Cleaver. Of course everyone knew in the abstract sense Vader was once a child⊠but did they ever really want to see it?
Additionally, did anyone really want to learn Anakin Skywalkerâs reason for turning to the Dark Side is because of a bratty streak that followed him into adulthood? Probably not.
Nonetheless, all three Star Wars prequels made massive amounts of money and rather than becoming cautionary tales of what happens when you attempt to explain away all the mysteries of a beloved character, they were the first steps toward a modern staple of media regurgitation where seemingly every mug, pug, and thug would get their own sympathetic redo.
Since then, weâve learned on screen that Spider-Manâs arch-nemesis Venom, is really a well-intentioned bloke caught in a bad romance (with his alien space buddy), Batmanâs arch-nemesis the Joker is really just a Travis Bickle clone with mommy issues, and Maleficent, the reigning empress of badassery in the Disney Villain canon, was really just a woman scorned by Sleeping Beautyâs toxic father. Even Hannibal Lecter became a victim in Hannibal Rising, and the Wicked Witch of the West starred in the most popular Broadway musical of all time⊠where it turns out she was the hero in a conspiracy with the Scarecrow to pull one over on Dorothy.
To be clear, some of these spinoffs and reimaginings work quite well. Even if I personally am a bit chagrined at Todd Phillipsâ Joker being nominated for Best Picture, Joaquin Phoenixâs sad sack killer clown created the space for a riveting performance that reminded mainstream audiences that movies can still be for adults. In another comic book movie, Magnetoâs heartbreaking backstory in the Holocaust was expanded in 2011âs X-Men: First Class, which made an already relatively complex supervillain just that much more compelling in Michael Fassbenderâs hands.
Overall, however, this approach has left something to be desired. And to get back to Cruella, her remix as a misunderstood tragic heroine appears to owe most of all to Maleficent. In 2014, Disney made a killing when they cast movie star Angelina Jolie as their very best big bad, a character so evil in 1959âs Sleeping Beauty that she was willing to knockoff a princess simply because no one sent her a party invite. Thatâs cold. And itâs wickedly entertaining. Hence why Maleficent scared and captivated generations of children.
Some characters are just too good at being bad.
The marketing of Maleficent leaned into this with a melancholic cover of Sleeping Beautyâs Tchaikovsky-inspired theme song, âOnce Upon a Dream.â Now in a minor key, the new version sung by Lana Del Rey promised a scarier, more menacing version of the story, which was then confirmed by Jolieâs wonderfully devilish laugh. The big bad was finally going to have her day at the ball.
But when the movie actually came out, we learned that Maleficent was an enchanted fairy whoâd been wronged. In the end, she didnât hate Elle Fanningâs Princess Aurora. In fact, she loved the little royal and tried to save her from the curse she herself cast in a fit of justified anger. Ultimately, the sorceress adopts Aurora as the daughter she never had after disposing of her now abusive father. Thatâs certainly an interpretation. I guess.
It also proved massively successful in the short term, opening at a staggering $175.5 million in its opening weekend worldwide, and grossing $758 million total. Those numbers also exclude merchandising and home video revenues. If you want to know why weâre getting the punk rock Cruella, look no further.
However, did a lot of folks really like Maleficent? It made all the money in the world based on that devious marketing campaign that promised a shocking tell-all about Disneyâs closest approximation to Lucifer, but by the time a sequel limped into theater five years later, relatively few seemed to still care about the misunderstood, freedom fighting warrior fairy Jolie played. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ostensibly continued the good fight but flopped at the box office with a cume of $491.7 million, barely more than half of what its predecessor made. (Donât cry for Disney though, as Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King in the same year made Maleficent 2 look like a clerical error.)
What this whole sputtering franchise reminds us though is that some characters are better left bad, and the mystique of the unknown is an end unto itself. While I enjoyed Phoenixâs take on the Joker, there is little argument the character was even scarier with a PG-13 rating when he manifested out of thin air, like Beelzebub, in The Dark Knight. Or to take a step away from just villains, was Han Solo really any cooler when you learned how he got his name in Solo: A Star Wars Story? Or could you have gone your whole life without knowing thanks to The Hobbit movies that Gandalf and Galadriel were kind of, sort of, just maybe friends with benefits?
The allure of Cruella De Vil is right there in her name: Sheâs a cruel devil. How could she not be when her entire ambition in Disneyâs classic 101 Dalmatians is to skin puppies for their fur coats? Finding out she used to fight the power before hoarding it may make a lot of money, but it doesnât make her necessarily more compelling.
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the world is moving
âDid it hurt?â Tony reaches over with his right hand, a piercing red silhouette in the night, and gently grazes the swollen skin.
âOh,â Peter blinks twice. Then, âNo.â
- Or, Peter and Tonyâs relationship in five acts, as told through bruises.
Read on AO3Â :))
;;
Act I
The length between the tip of Tonyâs pointed dress shoes and the threshold of Peterâs hotel door is simply a single footstep. And yet, Tony stands on one end, struggling to cross the distance. Peterâs fourteen, his more rational side reasons, and has already been spiderman for a couple of months at least. He should know how to treat a black eye.
âMr. Stark?â Peter looks surprised to see him when Tony finally works up enough nerve to knock on the door. His worst worries are confirmed. Half of Peterâs face is swollen, marred by a bruise that encroach on his otherwise youthful features.
âIn the flesh.â Tony gives something of a wan smile as he brushes past him.
âWha-what are you doing here? I mean, not- not that I donât want you here, of course.â
Tony doesnât know how to answer the question without seeming like he cares too much, so he doesnât. âAre you enjoying the hotel?âÂ
âOh, uh, yeah, itâs great.â Peter pauses for a moment. Then, more quietly, as if sharing some great secret, he adds, âThereâs even a TV in the bathroom, Mr. Stark. The bathroom. â
Steve mustâve hit his head one too many times because he hears awe in Peterâs voice, and worse, finds it reassuring. But even sleep deprived and beaten, Tony knows the real reason why, as much as he refuses to admit it. The fact is, he messed up bad, and Peter saw the repercussions: Tonyâs life workâ his friendships, his career, his familyâ fell apart, loud and rickety like an unoiled machine. A part of him feared that Peter would finally see him for who he is. Not a hero. A fuck up. That same part of him is glad that Peter doesnât. Itâs selfish, but he puts it in the back pocket to unpack later.
âThank you so much for this, Mr. Stark. Itâs really great. I havenât even been on a plane before, and now Iâm fighting with the Avengers in an airport. I mean obviously, I would rather be fighting with the Avengers and not against the avengers, but you canât win them all.â
Tony swallows hard, fighting back affection that Peter seems to command without knowing. Heâs just too young. Too good. âNo problem, kid. Do me a favor, and sit on the bed over there.â
Peter sits on the edge, clasping his hands neatly on his lap in front of him. He smiles, genuinely (teeth, gums, and all), even though he has bruised flesh under his left eye that forces it halfway closed. His right eye shines with reverence and youth and excitement that, along with affectionate, makes Tony sick to the stomach with guilt.
âYou need ice,â Tony croaks, quickly turning away to hide whatever emotions he was uncareful enough to let show.
Peter either doesnât notice, or doesnât point it out. âHm? For what?â
âFor your face.â
âOh.â He gingerly presses his fingertips against the skin under his eye, as if he had just remembered the bruise that had been the source of Tonyâs penitence since he first saw it forming in the car ride back to the hotel. Â
Tony hands Peter the bag of ice. âKeep this on for a little while.â
âYeah, thanks.â Peter presses the ice to his eye and leans back to rest against the headboard. âOh, by the way, Mr. Stark, I just wanted to let you know that you were super badass today.â
âOh?â Tony snorts, sitting on the edge of Peterâs bed after his curiosity wins out over his better judgement. âHow so?â
Peter grins. âWell, youâre always kind of badass. But seeing you in person today was on another level. And more importantly, seeing you fight for what you believe is right and what you believe would be the best for other people.â
âOh,â Tony frowns, unbelieving and unused to receiving so many genuine compliments at one time. âYou think so?â
âMore than think so. Know so.â Peter presses on passionately, as if he somehow sensed Tonyâs doubt. âMy uncle Ben used to love Harry Potter, and he would always say that it is the quality of oneâs convictions that determines success, not the number of followers.â
Peter leans closer to Tony, clenching his fist against his chest to show how strongly he believes in what heâs saying. âYouâre a really good person, Mr. Stark! Thatâs why you will always be badass, even if Mr. Captain America doesnât think so anymore.â
Tony blinks, trying to stave off sweet relief and the beginnings of tears that came with it. âWow, kid. Are you always thisâŠ?â He makes a roundabout gesture with his hands, as if it were sufficient enough for his lack of a better word.
âHonest?â Peter offers.
Tony scans Peterâs face, looking for some hint of sarcasm, or some form of mockery, because thereâs just no way someone can have so much faith in him. Instead, he sees what heâs seen all along, youth, and reverence, and just pure good. Tony has to get out of here fast before Peter gets himself into something he doesnât want to be in.
âI should get going now.â Â He gets to his feet as Peter blinks at him in confusion. âRest, and keep that ice on for at least another ten minutes.â
âWill do!â Itâs the last thing Tony hears before heâs out the door.
The distance between Peterâs hotel room and the tip of Tonyâs shoes had only been a single footstep. When Tony crossed it, he had unknowingly crossed a fine line. But as he walks to his hotel room, shaking his head, he vows to stay away. Because he destroys everything he touches. and the last thing he wants to do is destroy Peter.
;;
Act II
âWho knew shattering your leg would cause severe internal bleeding? Weird, right?â
âPete, please stop talking, or I swear to Jesus himself, you will regret it.â
âYessir,â Peter salutes, and for two seconds, looks like he actually considers listening to him. âBut wow, I canât feel my entire right side.â
âThatâs it.â Tony says, stepping around Bruce to make threatening eye contact with him. âWhen youâre better, you still wonât feel your leg. Why? Because you wonât have a leg. And why is that? Because I will have ripped it right out of its socket.â
Peterâs eyes start to droop, the likely effect of the medication they had given him when he first arrived. Quietly, he mumbles, "Thatâs just cold.â
Bruce stops to remove his hands from the IV on Peterâs arms and places them on Tonyâs shoulders, slowly guiding him backwards and out of the room.
âHey, buddy, I think you should step out for a bit. Get a breather. Maybe even a cup of water.â
âWhat, why? Iâm fine.â
âNo, youâre hysterical.â
âNo, Iâm not"
âYes. You are.â
Tony looks over Bruceâs shoulders and sees nurses frantically working around Peterâs bed. Peter, finally asleep from medication, looks peaceful and blissfully unaware, even when his right leg is mangled enough that pieces of his bone pierce through the skin, and the majority of his thigh is black from severe internal bleeding. Tony isnât privileged enough to be spared from the sight. His stomach churns uncomfortably, and it makes him lightheaded. He looks down, and his hands slightly shake from adrenaline.
âYeah, I could use a cup of water,â he finally relents.
âGood, I will let you know when weâre done.â Bruce pats him on one shoulder. He must see the reluctance on Tonyâs face because he adds, âHe will be fine, Tony,â and then shuts the door.
In the time he was locked out of the medbay (which he owns, Tony bitterly points out to himself), he had the time to get not one, but six cups of water. He could have gotten more, but had been too busy making an internal list. The first thing he had to do once Peter was out of surgery was strangle him. Then, heâd call his scary, yet attractive aunt, and suffer the consequences of Peterâs actions, while May coddles Peter through phone, and promises to visit straight away after work. Finally, heâd strangle Peter again, lovingly this time, and force him to promise to never pull a stunt like this ever again, only for Peter to break it, at most, three months later.
Bruce finally steps through the sliding glass doors as Tony tries to figure out the best way to break the news to May. âAlright,â he says, taking off his gloves. âHeâs all fixed up.â
Tony gets off the chair he had been sitting on for the past three hours, and furrows his eyebrows. âAs easy as that? No permanent bone damage?â
âAs easy as that. His healing factor is really quite something else.â
âDonât tell him that, or he might get more creative next time.â
Bruce rolls his eyes, but steps aside to let Tony through. âYou can see him now. Be gentle, he just woke up.â
âOh Brucie Bear,â Tony sighs, patting Bruceâs shoulder as he steps by. âWhat am I if not gentle?â
Peter had nearly fallen back asleep in the time he was left alone, and Tony, seeing him slowly nod off like the kittens in the cat videos Peter forces him to watch, feels all the previous agitation and anger leave him, as quickly as air deflating out of a balloon.
âHey Pete,â Tony whispers. His fingers hover hesitatingly over his forehead, but eventually, he reaches to brush Peterâs fringe out of his eyes.. âHow are you feeling?â
âHm?â Peter squints at him, pushing up on his elbows. âOh, hey, Mr. Stark. Mâfine.â
âWow, and the press calls me a dirty liar,â Tony says drly, leaning over to help Peter sit upright against the pillows. âYou wanna tell me what happened?â
Peter winces. âNot particularly, but Iâm guessing if I donât, youâll go through Karen, and I have some pretty embarrassing footage I donât want you to see. Shit. Shouldnât have said that.â
âNo harm done,â Tony says, his voice laced with faux comfort. âIâve already seen them. Your impression of Thor is really cream of the crop. Absolutely spot on. Iâm sure Thor would agree. You know, once I show it to him.â
Peter gasps, pressing his hand to his chest. âYou wouldnât.â
âOh, but I would if you donât tell me who did this to you.â
Peter groans into his hands and sinks further into his pillows, deliberating his options for a few moments.
âUgh, fine,â he eventually concedes, embarrassment too large a price. âBut you have to promise me you wonât commit first degree murder.â
âNo can do. Thou shalt not lie, and all that. Besides, I donât think you should worry too much about what happens to him when he nearly tore you to shreds.â
Peter glances down at his tightly bandaged leg in a disappointed frown. The turn of his lips create harsh lines around his mouth and between his brows that make him look wrought with fatigue, and years beyond his age.
âYeah,â Peter mutters, a bit breathless. âHe really got me good.â
Tony places a hand on Peterâs shoulder. âPete,â he says gently, leaning down to make eye contact. âI know that you think you have to do this all alone, but you donât. Whoever hurt you is dangerous, and deadly. You couldâve died, Peter. It does not make you weak to ask for help.â
Peter reaches up to grip the cuff of Tonyâs button-up, tugging on it until Tony sits on the edge of his bed. He doesnât make an attempt to move after that, simply clutches the fabric tightly between his fingers, wrinkling the material where it disappears underneath his fingertips.
âHe calls himself the Green Goblin,â Peter whispers, many minutes later. âHeâs large, and strong andâŠand scary.â
âOkay,â Tony says, nodding his head. âThank you for telling me. Weâll figure it out together. Maybe I can even threaten Rhodey into helping. Not that I would need to. Heâs putty in your hands.â
Peter laughs, releasing his grip to press the back of his hand against his mouth. â Mr. Stark,â he says, giggling. The lines on his face disappear to reveal the youth and naivety that Tony will always associate with Peter.
âItâs your stupid cat videos,â he says, smiling, pleased with his laughter.
âThank you,â Peter whispers. His hands fidget for a little, until finally settling to fiddle with the loose seams of the blanket. âAnd Iâm sorry if I scared you.â
Tony grunts. âWhy do you always thank me for doing nothing? And yes, but youâre always scaring me. Iâm only just a little used to it by now.â
âReally?â Peterâs voice pitches. âBecause it didnât seem like it. At least from what I remember.â
âYou probably donât remember much. You were all delirious with the drugs.â
âBut seriously. I really want to thank you for agreeing to work with me. Showing me the ropes, and all that. I havenât⊠completely figured out how to handle all the superhero stuff yet, if you canât already tell.â Peter gestures to his leg. âAnd thereâs no one really better to show me how than you.â
Tony smiles, satisfaction settling in his body, warmly. Peter is always so startlingly sincere with his gratitude and admiration, and Tony has only gotten used to taking  the compliments and thankfulness in stride rather than succumb to doubt.
âThanks buddy,â he pats Peter on the shoulder. âLetâs see if you think that once I force you to call your Aunt.â
;;
Interlude.
âHey,â Peter leans against the door. He shifts his weight from foot to foot and it makes him look small, and vulnerable and unsure.
âCome here,â Tony whispers, lifting his bed sheets. Peter stops playing with the hem of his shirt, and slowly walks over. He slips into the bed, and leans his back against the headboard, brushing his shoulders against Tonyâs own.
He doesnât say anything, and Tony doesnât ask him to. Together, they sit in silence. Tony takes the time to contemplate life, and death, and chance. Peter, he assumes, thinks the opposite: war, and renewal, and luck.
Finally, Peter asks, âDid it hurt?â
âThe snap?â
âYeah.â
âNo,â Tony lies.
Peter shifts side to side. He doesnât believe him, and for a moment, Tony waits for Peter to lean away and call him a liar. Instead, he presses his head against Tonyâs left shoulder, and, in doing so, reveals the large, blue bruise that blemishes his temple.
âDid it hurt?â
âWhat did?â
Tony reaches over with his right hand, a piercing red silhouette in the night, and gently grazes the swollen skin.
âOh,â Peter blinks twice. Then, âNo.â
They settle back into silence. Tony presses his cheek against Peterâs hair. They look across Tonyâs room, past the leather armchair, past Morganâs bunny from where it was abandoned on the floor, past the wall. They look ahead.
Tonight, they pretend that everything is fine. Tomorrow, Peter will help Tony dress the burn wounds on his right side, and Tony will press an ice pack against Peterâs temple. Tomorrow, theyâll heal.
;;
Act III
âMorgan, honey, what do we say when we do something bad?â
Morgan tilts her head and squints her eyes, thinking hard. âShit?â
âMorgan!â Pepper presses her hand to her chest, aghast. She turns to Tony, lifting her finger accusingly. â You.â
âI have no idea where she learned that, Pep. Scoutâs honor.â Tony replies, trying to school his face into indifference. A futile attempt when Morgan twists to face him on her motherâs lap and gives him a small smirk that is the consequence of weekend sleepovers with Natasha, forcing Tony to hide his grin behind his hand.
âYou were a boy scout?â Peter, who is holding a bag of peas against his head on the couch next to him, looks up with just a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
âNo. He wasnât.â Pepper gives Tony a glare over Morganâs head, her eyes narrowed to a squint that meant she was only seconds away from sending Tony to the couch tonight, and shifts Morgan gently onto his lap. âYou caused it, you deal with it.â
Tony leans over and presses a kiss to the top of Morganâs head as Pepper walks down the hall, and out of hearing distance. Morgan giggles, and turns around to return it on the cheek. âWhat did I tell you before? Those are only Mommyâs words.â
Morgan nods seriously, looking as if she was hearing God himself dictate the eleventh commandment. âMommyâs words,â she repeats.
âThatâs my treasure.â
âTreasure? She nearly took my life!â Peter scoffs, but with an undertone of care and affection that Tony hears more and more often when Peter talks to and about her. Â Sheâs going to grow up to be very spoiled, as clear when he thinks back to this morningâ she had coaxed Tony into giving her yet another banana for breakfast, and after she finished, left the peel by the doorway for Peter to trip on when he finally got out of bed at noon.
âPetey,â Morgan says, reaching out to group three of Peterâs fingers in her hand. âIâm sorry.â
âAw M, of courseââ
âI should have known you werenât smart enough to avoid it.â
Peterâs face goes slack, and Tony can read the shock on his face from the way his eyebrows disappear into his hairline and how his mouth falls slightly ajar. He slowly turns towards Tony, and narrows his eyes in the same manner Pepper had done just moments before.
Tony shrugs his shoulders. There was only one person capable of teaching impressionable, five year old Morgan such wyrness, and opposed to popular belief it wasnât him. It was Peter.
âMorgan, that wasnât very nice,â Peter warns threateningly. âNow you have no choice but to suffer my wrath!â
Peter reaches over to tickle Morganâs stomach. Morgan shrieks, and falls off Tonyâs lap and onto the couch in a fit of laughter.
âNoooo,â she cries. âIâm sorry, Petey! Iâm sorry!â
âNo can do, M.â But, Peter relents anyways, and leans down to give Morgan a peck on the cheek, even as he simultaneously presses peas against the bump on the back of his head. Tony changes his mind. She is already  spoiled.
âAlright,â Tony says, playing peacemaker. âNow that this is settled. Letâs hit the lake!â
Morgan gasps, sitting upright on the couch. âThe lake!â She cheers, already running to grab her flip flops.
âHow is it that sheâs the most adorable and cutest yet most evil person I know?â Peter sighs dramatically, placing the peas on the coffee table, now warm. He gets up off the couch and offers Tony a hand.
âYouâre too little too late, Pete,â Tony says, groaning softly as he lets Peter pull him to his feet. âI asked myself the same question when she shat on my hand five years ago.â
âPetey! Dad!â Morgan runs by, now with her hair in a ponytail and with flips flops in hand. âCâmon letâs go! I want to take the boat out!â
âComing, pumpkin.â Tony straightens his back, joints cracking loudly. âUgh, that canât be good. Iâm getting too old for this.â
Peter laughs, patting Tonyâs shoulder as he brushes past him. âLetâs go, Old Man. Before you hit the hay.â
Later that night, after Morgan fell fast asleep from a long day boating around the lake, and Pepper had dozed off after arguing with investors from Hong Kong, Tony does end up on the couch, but in his own volition. Heâs nursing a cup of hot chocolate when Peter ventures into the living room.
âHey,â he says, sitting down next to him. âWhat are you doing here? I thought old men slept like logs after their evil daughter connived them into speeding ten circles around on a boat.â
Tony snorts. âI could ask the same about older brothers.â
Peter looks content, and the sight of it unravels some knot that had been building at the pit of Tonyâs stomach. It hasnât been too long after the large and dramatic stand-off against Thanos, and a part of him had worried about life after. Life with both Peter and Morgan, but no Iron Man.
âHow are you feeling?â Peter asks, eyes shifting across his face, as if he were searching for signs of distress. âIs it the nightmares again?â
Tony chuckles, and reaches over to brush back Peterâs hair. Itâs gotten long, and if possible, even more curlier. May has been going on about having it cut, but for now, Tony counts it as a small blessing.
âNope,â he says. âAnother day scotch free. I think we should celebrate. Three months, a new record.â
âOh,â Peter says, leaning back into the couch, his posture much more relaxed. âThen what are you doing out here?â
âJust enjoying the silence of the night. God knows we donât get enough of it around here.â
Tony throws his arm around Peterâs shoulders, and Peter sags against him, cuddling into Tonyâs side. Inside his bedroom, Pepper is dreaming of investment meetings, and new punchlines to throw at misogynistic corporate leaders. Down the hall, Morgan sleeps soundly.
Everything is as it should be, even if the only piece missing is Iron Manâs signature red and gold hues, tracing shapes into the sky like Earthâs brightest star. Tony has everything he needs right here.
;;
Act IV
âTony,â Peter groans, pressing an ice pack onto his cheek, where a bruise was black, and blue and blooming around a long gash that reached from his upper cheek to chin. âPlease stop pacing, and sit with me.â
âNo,â Tony quips, but sits on the chair next to the medbay bed anyways. âIâm too busy trying to figure out why you felt the need to keep this from me.â
âBecause you get all crazy? Like right now?â
âItâs me, â Tony replies, leaning forward in his chair and ignoring Peterâs remark, looking all types of the tormented soul he is and will always be. âYou used to tell me everything. And now youâre off on secret missions with Shieldââ
ââyes, because thatâs what secret meansââ
ââor taking down whole New York crime syndicates by yourself, making friends with that human embodiment of a tabloid Johnny Storm, or worseâ sneaking off to go to a party . Itâs like I donât even know who you are anymore.â
A look of understanding comes across Peterâs face. Like heâs just realized this is about more than Fiskâs underground Mafia work, more than even the illegal multiverse experiment that had been one spilled beaker away from tearing the universe into two. It makes Tony miss the years right after the Snap, miss when Peterâs first instinct would be to call him, before he had left for college, became war torn and world weary, and for whatever reason, decided that Tony simply wasnât needed anymore.
âTony,â Peter says, more gently this time, reaching his hand out. Tony takes it, holding it tightly in his own as if should he let his grip slack for even just a moment, Peter would break into a million pieces of dust, unmendable and gone, but never forgottenâ just like he did on Titan, just like he does over and over again in nightmares that continue to plague him even years later.
âIâm always going to need my old man.â Peter jokes, but his face says otherwise: lips pressed together in a small smile, eyes bright with the beginnings of tears and something else. Love, Tony will amend, months later, thinking back to this memory as Peter hands him the invitation to his wedding.
âThen why didnât you tell me? I couldâve helped you. Called for back-up, tracked him for you, Iron Manââ
ââis out of commission.â Peterâs eyes drift to Tonyâs right arm, red and metallic, a synthetic replacement for the original which had been tragically incapacitated by the Snap.
âHow am I supposed to help you if I donât even know?â
Peter drops the ice bag to reach over and lay his hand on top of Tonyâs, cupping it tightly between both of his own. âI donât need Iron Man. I need Tony Stark. Tony who might not be there for the battle, but will always be there for me in the aftermath.â
Peter doesnât say anymore, and he doesnât have to. Tony has since learned the art of reading into the unsaid.
;;
Act V
Peter grips Tonyâs hand too hard, and it creates fingerlike bruises on his skin.
âI canât do this, Tony,â he says, using his other hand to wipe at his face. âI canât. I just canât.â
âYes, you can,â Tony gives Peterâs hand a reassuring squeeze. Peter doesnât bother to squeeze back, too busy looking down the hallway, eyes shifting left and right in search of the nurse.
âDo you think itâs done? Why hasnât anyone come out yet? Do you think something went wrong? What ifââ Peterâs face goes slack, and he slumps down on the chair, finally letting go of Tonyâs hand to run them through his hair. âI think Iâm having a breakdown.â
âOh hey. Youâre not that bad. If it makes you feel better, I vomited on the nurse twice before Pepper popped Morgan out.â
Peter gives Tony a long look and proceeds to groan. âIs that supposed to make me feel better?â
âI donât know. Do you feel better now?â
âNot particularly. But I am more distracted. The image of you vomiting is equally too familiar and hilarious.â
Tony smiles and lovingly pats Peterâs cheek, now less flushed from his previous outburst. âThen my job hereâs complete.â
Peter returns the smile, and looks contemplatively at his hands. âDo you think MJ will be mad at me for not being with her?â
âMichelle? Probably not. Sheâs a strong, independent woman. And Iâm pretty sure sheâs the one who told you to leave after you started to freak out.â
âUgh,â Peter grimaces, most likely reliving the memory. âIâm just not sure if Iâm ready yet. To be a father.â
Tony reaches over to brush back Peterâs hair from his forehead. When Peter took over Stark Industries two years ago, he had gotten into the habit of gelling it back. It was one of Tonyâs greatest losses. Today, he relishes in the fact that Peter left it undone, too in a hurry to get to the hospital in the middle of the night. His baby, who no longer looks it, is all grown.
âDo you know whatâs the most important part of parenting?â
âNo?â Peter slumps in his chair, saddened by his own ignorance.
âThe answerâs more obvious than you think: love, and honesty and respect. Being emotionally open, loving your kid, and letting your kid know that, but also, somehow respecting their boundaries.â
Tonyâs words do nothing to appease Peter. If anything, heâs more discouraged and sinks further into the uncomfortable waiting room chair.
âItâs a learning curve, but Iâll let you in on a little secret. Peter, youâre the most honest and affectionate person I know. Before I met you, I donât even think I was capable of saying I like you, nevermind love. And look at me now, I spend all my time with you and Pepper and my baby Morgan whoâs got me wrapped around her small yet powerful finger.â
Peter laughs, his eyes looking suspiciously watery. âDonât worry. Sheâs got us all in her evil clutches.â
âMy point is,â Tony continues, chuckling softly. âYouâve taught me all of these things about parenting, just by being yourself. I have so much faith in you, there are not enough words for me to even describe it.â
Peter looks as if heâs about to break into pitiful sobs, but the nurse steps out of Michelleâs room, smiling brightly as she calls Peterâs name, and saving him from what wouldâve been inevitable seconds later.
âOh god, I think I might vomit.â
âOh no. Vomiting during labor only needs to happen once in history.â Tony jokes, feeling as if he might vomit himself. He pushes lightly on his shoulders. âIn you go, Pete.â
The room is quiet when they walk in. Michelle is propped up against some pillows, simultaneously exuding tire and glowing with the newfound joy of motherhood. In her arms, swathed in light blue blankets, is the baby, sleeping comfortably.
âOh my,â Peter chokes, approaching the side of the bed. âHeâs just so tiny.â
âAnd yet he took so long to come out,â Michelle says, lids heavy as if she were on the brink of passing out. âDo you want to hold him, Peter?â
Peter hesitates for a few seconds, but reaches down shakily, and gently lifts the baby off Michelleâs arms. âOh wow,â he says quietly, adjusting the babyâs blankets with one hand. âHi there, baby. Itâs me, your dad.â
Slowly, he turns towards Tony, tears making their way down the side of his face. âLook, Tony. Itâs my baby. Heâs beautiful.â
Tony looks down at the bundle, and indeed, burrowed between the creases of the fabric, is a baby boy with the beginnings of Peterâs hair, his nose, his ears, and if he looked closely enough, maybe his smile.
âHey there, Beautiful,â Tonyâs voice cracks. âYou got a name yet?â
âSay hi to Grandpa, Ben. Benjamin Anthony Parker.â
;;
End.
The hospital room is dark, mostly lit by the dim yellow light that emanates from the small lamp next to the bed. Michelle is sleeping quietly, and beside her, still wrapped in baby blue blankets, is Ben. Across the bed, is a long, grey ottoman sofa. On one end, May is sleeping with her head tucked on Pepperâs shoulder. On Pepperâs other side is Morgan.
Tony watches everything from the other end of the couch, and tucked into his side, is Peter, exhausted but still clinging to the last dredges of consciousness.
âAre you still worried about fatherhood?â
Peter looks up at him with glassy and wistful eyes. âNo. I have the best role model.â
At that, Tony smiles, content. He has all he needs, and then some, right here.
#marvel#irondad#peter parker#tony stark#baby fever#iron family#spiderman#iron man#this is me and my love for found families#please enjoy!!!!#irondad and spiderson
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Youâll Be In My Heart (Hargreeves Siblings X Teen!Hargreeves!Reader)
Fandom: The Umbrella Academy Pairing: Hargreeves Siblings X Teen!Sibling!Reader (familial only) Word Count: 2,230 For: @ineedmorefanfics who gave me the amazing prompt: âThe Hargreeves X Teen Sibling Reader. You passed away when you were 14 or something like that and when Klaus throws the bowling ball for Ben it goes through him but Y/N catches it and you're like "Klaus look! I did it!" And and Klaus is like "Yes you did. I'm so proud of you Y/N." And all the siblings can see you and they start crying and maybe when they go stop Vanya when Klaus conjures Ben he also conjures Y/N. You go and run up to Vanya and beg her to stop and you stop her and it's a fluff ending?â Author's Note: Unless I missed anything, the reader's gender is never mentioned! I tried to keep it as gender-neutral as possible, although it is heavily implied that __y/n__ is closer to Vanya and Allison than the others đ This was SO much fun to write and I really hope you all enjoy it! Disclaimer: I did use some dialogue from the show in this fic, and I do not claim to own it! It was just easier to use actual dialogue for some of it than to make it all up (:
You sighed as your brothers argued, flicking your gaze between them as they took turns speaking.
âI can't talk to the person I love, people still don't take me seriously. I want to be numb again.â Klaus said, exasperated.
You agreed that Klaus should stay sober, he had been doing so well up until now, but you also couldn't blame him. Your other siblings had always and would always continue to treat him like he was a child.
âYou're a colossal wimp.â Ben said, deadpan, and you smacked him.
âHey, knock it off.â You said sharply, and Klaus blew you a kiss.
âThanks, __y/n__, I knew I could count on you.â
You shook your head quickly. âOh no, I'm on Ben's side.â Klaus frowned at your words. âI just don't think it's fair to call you a wimp. You're not. You've been through so much, and I know it's hard, but you need to stay sober.â
Klaus sighed thoughtfully, and you thought you had gotten through to him before he resumed his frantic search.
âHey,â Ben said, snapping his fingers to get Klausâ attention. âLife isn't supposed to be easy. Life is hard. Bad things happen. Good people die.â
Klaus glanced between you and Ben before rolling his eyes. âWow, playing the dead card again, huh? You need new material, bro.â
âHe was talking about Dave.â You chimed in softly and watched as Klausâ eyes softened.
âYou know, we're tired of seeing you wallow in self-defeat.â Ben explained.
âWell, then avert your gaze.â Klaus said harshly.
âYou're better than that.â Ben said, and you nodded in agreement. âAnd Dave? He knew it too.â
Klaus sighed. âYeah, you're right. You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.â Klausâ voice was small, and his shoulders hunched in defeat.
âThank God.â Ben said in relief.
âI'm so proud of you.â You said warmly, and you watched in confusion as Klausâ face fell.
âPsych!â Klaus shouted, surprising you and Ben as he threw the pills in his mouth. He cackled in triumph.
Ben growled and swung his fist at Klaus instinctively. You gasped in shock as Ben's fist connected with Klausâ cheek with a loud smack. The pills clattered to the floor.
âOwww,â Klaus whined, bringing his hand up to his face before he realized what exactly had just happened. You and Klaus looked at Ben in amazement, while he studied his fists. âYou just Patrick Swayzeed me.â Klaus said in disbelief.
âHow did you do that?â You asked, reaching out to Klausâ bruising cheek and blinking tears away when you actually felt Klausâ warm skin underneath your palm.
âUh, I didn't. Klaus did. I think.â Ben murmured, and you all shared a look. This changed...everything. Klaus being able to communicate with the dead was one thing, but being able to make the dead tangible again?
Klaus was absolutely more powerful than any of you had ever thought.
-----
âHey, you know guys, uh, maybe I could help.â Klaus suggested, after much encouragement from you and Ben.
âNow is not the time.â Luther said dismissively, and you narrowed your eyes at your brother.
âWas he always this big of an asshole?â You asked Ben, and Ben chuckled.
âYes.â
âNo, let him finish.â Diego disagreed. âHe saved my life today.â
âReally?â Ben said, rolling his eyes, and Klaus glanced at him apologetically.
âIs that true?â Luther asked, and you and Ben both nodded insistently even though you knew your siblings couldn't see you.
âYeah. Yeah, I did...take credit for it. In fact, the real hero was Ben.â
You felt your heart sinking as your siblings looked at Klaus with varying degrees of unamusement.
Klaus hurried to continue. âToday...listen. Today, he punched me in the face.â Klaus gestured to the bruise on his cheek. âAnd earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego's life, not me.â
âYou are unbelievable, Klaus.â Luther said, and you felt your blood boiling.
âYou want proof, is that it?â Klaus asked, motioning for Ben to stand up. You moved to stand behind him, just in case. âAll right. I'll give you proof. All right, it's showtime, baby.â Klaus picked up a bowling ball, hefting it in his hands with a pleading look in his eye.
Ben crouched slightly and prepared to catch it. You watched as Klaus chucked the ball at Ben, frowning when it went through him.
You blinked in surprise as you felt it land in your hands. The gasps from your other siblings let you know that you were visible to them.
You looked down at the pink ball curiously before grinning from ear to ear. âKlaus, look! I did it!â
Klausâ mouth was open in awe. âYes you did.â He moved over to you, took the ball from your hands, deposited it back on a ball rack, and drew you into a tight hug. âI'm so proud of you, __y/n__.â
âI thought you said Ben punched you.â Luther said, his face pale as he took in the sight of you. You looked the same as you did on the day you died, down to the bullet wound on your stomach.
âHe did.â Klaus agreed. â __y/n__âs been around too.â
âHow is this possible?â Diego asked as you made your way over to Allison.
âDad said I had only begun scratching the surface of my powers. I think there's a lot that I haven't figured out how to do yet.â
You smiled at her and wiped the tears from her eyes, watching as her lips spelled out the shape of your name over and over again.
âHi, Alli. I missed you so much.â You murmured before pulling her into a hug. She clung to you tightly, and you could feel her tears dripping onto your uniform.
After a few moments you pulled away so you could greet your other siblings. Ben pouted that you were getting all the attention, so Klaus piped up as you made your way over to Five.
âBen really did save Diego, though.â
âBen's here too?â Diego asked curiously.
âBen is always here.â Klaus answered and pointed to the seat beside him. Diego, Luther, Allison, and Five waved at him. Ben beamed. âHe's waving back.â
âAt least I'm still older than someone.â You said, nudging Five with your shoulder and grinning at him.
Five scowled fondly. âI'm 58. I just look 13.â
âOh, I know. I heard the story. But I look older so I don't care.â You wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug, which he begrudgingly returned, before walking over to Diego.
You were surprised when he pulled you into a hug, lifting your feet off the ground. âIt's so good to see you again.â
You smiled as you felt tears pricking at your eyes. âIt's good to see you too. I missed you all so much. It's so hard being able to see you and not talk to you.â
Diego set you down, and you strode over to Luther. He still looked shocked that you were visible to him.
â__y/n__, I mi-â
âI don't want to hear it until you listen to me.â Luther's mouth snapped shut at the authoritative tone in your voice. âThis goes for all of you, but especially Luther. Stop doubting Klaus. Stop belittling him. Listen to him. And start respecting him. He's done more than enough to deserve it.â
Klaus let out an âAw!â and blew a kiss in your direction.
âYou're right.â Luther agreed. âKlaus, I'm sorry for doubting you.â
âMe too.â Five chimed in.
âMe three.â Diego said, nodding.
Allison raised her hand in agreement.
You grinned. âAll right, now that that's out of the wayâŠâ You wrapped your arms around Luther's midsection. âI missed you too.â
You disappeared from his embrace suddenly, and your siblings looked around worriedly before they realized that Klaus had passed out in his chair.
âIt must use a lot of energy.â Diego murmured, walking over to him and checking his pulse just to make sure. âWe'll let him rest for a bit, then get him some nachos or something. Should bounce back pretty quick.â
âDid someone say nachos?â Klaus asked groggily, his head pounding.
Diego grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. âComing right up.â
-----
You heard your siblings all gasp as Klaus conjured Ben, and Ben's tentacles emerged and began beating the shit out of the masked men.
Trusting that Ben had that covered, you prayed Vanya would be able to see you as you made your way down the center aisle. Judging by Diego's curious â__y/n__?â as you walked by him, you were currently visible.
You had always been closer to Vanya than you were the others, and you hoped that would help you in convincing her to stop.
You didn't want anything happening to her or your other siblings. Being dead, quite frankly, sucked, and they all deserved to live long, happy lives.
âHi, V.â You said softly, and Vanya's eyes were filled with confusion as they met yours.
â__y/n__? How are you here?â Her fingers never stopped moving on her violin, but they did slow down.
âKlaus learned a new trick. Cool, right?â
âYeah.â She agreed, and you could see the tears glistening in her eyes. You had missed your best friend more than anything, and you knew she felt the same way. Vanya seemed to come back to herself more as she glanced behind you. âIs that Ben?â
âIt is indeed.â You confirmed, chuckling. You gently placed a hand on her arm. âV, you need to stop playing.â
Some of the steel returned to her gaze. âThis was supposed to be my moment. I just wanted one good thing for myself. I wanted one thing I could be proud of.â
âHey, hey, I know. You should be proud of yourself. You sounded amazing. You-â You paused, sensing Luther walking down the aisle behind you. âSit down, now.â You said sharply, using your powers to get him to turn around and take a seat. âYou've caused enough trouble already.â
You scowled as you saw Diego and Five moving towards you and Vanya next. âI'm handling this.â You insisted and made them both sit down next to Luther. Luckily, Klaus, Allison, and Ben knew that you had everything under control, and took a seat next to their siblings of their own accord.
âI hate having to mind control them.â You said, frowning, before turning back to Vanya. âI know that this must be scary and confusing for you, but if you stop playing and put your violin down, we can help you. We'll help you learn to understand and control your powers.â
âWhat if they can't be controlled?â Vanya asked, and she was sobbing openly now, tears streaming down her face. âWhat if I'm just a monster?â
You cupped both of her cheeks in your palms and forced her to look at you. âVanya, you are the kindest one out of all of us. You always have been. You are my sister and my best friend, and I know without a doubt that you could never be a monster. Thereâs too much goodness in you for that to happen.â
Vanya's shoulders dropped suddenly as all the fight drained out of her, and her violin clattered to the floor. âI'm sorry. I'm so sorry.â She murmured, tucking her face into your shoulder like she used to do when you were younger and she was upset.
âHey, it's gonna be okay.â You soothed, wrapping your arms around her and hugging her tightly. She trembled against you, and you felt your heart break. Vanya had never deserved any of this. All Vanya had ever wanted was to be included, and even after finding out she had powers, she had still been pushed away.
âGet over here,â You said, waving your siblings over. âAnd tell our sister that you love her and that we're gonna figure this out.â
âI, for the record, never wanted to lock you up.â Klaus said, always using humor to make others feel better, and wrapped his arms around you and Vanya. âAnd I love you so much.â
Vanya chuckled through her tears. âI know and I appreciate that. I love you too.â
âI didn't either!â Diego said as he and Allison joined the group hug. âI love you too, V. So does Alli.â
âI didn't even know that was going on, but I wouldn't have wanted to either.â Five said and stepped into the large embrace with Ben. âI love you.â
âI also love you!â Ben said cheerfully, and Vanya smiled.
âIt is so good to see you, Ben. I love you.â
You all looked over at Luther, who was shifting uncomfortably. âI messed up, Vanya. I wasn't thinking straight and I should have tried to help you understand what was going on instead of locking you up. I'm sorry.â
Vanya gave him a soft smile. âI'll forgive you as long as you forgive me.â
Luther smiled and wrapped you all up in his big arms. âDeal. I love you.â
âI know.â Vanya said, positively flourishing with all the kindness she was receiving from her siblings. At last, Vanya felt accepted and included and loved.
You knew helping Vanya understand and control her powers wouldn't be easy, but with the family finally reunited and working together, you were sure you would figure it out.
End. <3
#hargreeves siblings x reader#klaus hargreeves x reader#vanya hargreeves x reader#ben hargreeves x reader#allison hargreeves x reader#diego hargreeves x reader#five hargreeves x reader#luther hargreeves x reader#hargreeves!reader#reader insert#the umbrella academy#the umbrella academy x reader#klaus hargreeves#vanya hargreeves#ben hargreeves#allison hargreeves#diego hargreeves#five hargreeves#luther hargreeves#family bonding#familial relationship#lily writes
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The Toxicity of Kylo Ren and ReyloÂ
Itâs no secret that the newest villain of the Star Wars franchise, Kylo Ren, is a polarizing figure. In fact, thereâs a large fanbase that donât think of him as a villain at all (despite confirmation from cast and crew). If you take issue with that statement, look at the marketing: itâs Rey, Finn, and Poe at the center of the franchise. Not Kylo. Instead, heâs framed as a misunderstood underdog that is undeserving of the criticism he faces.
Now, thatâs not to say that Kylo Ren canât be appreciated as a character. Itâs completely possible to appreciate him as a character and not as a person â after all, thinking someone is interesting or well-written isn't an endorsement of their behavior, or a claim that they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
People can be drawn to characters for all sorts of reasons. A lot of people enjoy rooting for the villain simply because theyâre a villain. You can appreciate a character's potential, or their personality. It could even be as simple as thinking Adam Driver is good looking, or appreciating his portrayal of Kylo, with that being the reasoning for being drawn to that character.Â
Despite all of this, thereâs an interesting (and troubling) phenomenon happening with people who have decided to âstanâ Kylo Ren â not his potential as a villain, or because Adam Driver is talented, but the character himself, so much so that there is a fundamental misunderstanding (or willful ignorance) of his actions and motivations.Â
Iâm not apprehensive to call this kind of fanservice toxic, because thatâs what it is. Thereâs something really unnerving about stanning someone who has commited genocide, runs labor camps, and has direct, not-at-all subtle parallels to Nazism.Â
Ignoring Canon
The main theme here is that Kylo is somehow âmisunderstood,â and not only that, but deserving of a full redemption (and a girlfriend in the form of Rey, but Iâll get to that in a bit). The narrative and what we know about Kylo in canon is a stark contrast to how fandom sees him. Thereâs this image of him as a down on his luck, unloved, victimized person who has been wronged by the people in his life, which simply isnât true.Â
Kylo is the ultimate example of privilege. He arguably has the coolest parents in the world in the form of Han and Leia. He was, at the time of his turn to the dark side, being taught by Luke Skywalker (his uncle). From the get go, he had the support and resources that we rarely see someone have in the Star Wars universe.Â
And for those who like to counter with the argument that Han left Leia and is somehow a deadbeat dad â he did so after Kylo killed the entire group of Jedis Luke was instructing and abandoned his family willingly. You can dislike that decision all youâd like, but it had no bearing on Kyloâs turn to the dark side.Â
A more fitting criticism would be towards Luke, who admitted that he sensed something disturbing in his nephew and briefly thought about killing him. Iâll admit that this is fair enough, but for Kylo to react with murdering numerous Jedi students and then immediately joining the space fascists? Iâd say this side of him has been lurking under the surface for a while.Â
Also consider â was Luke wrong? Dude literally built a device specifically to commit genocide.Â
This romanticization of a hard life that never existed is even more disturbing when you consider that thereâs another character whose backstory fits this narrative: Finn.Â
Finnâs storyline is what certain fans desperately want Kyloâs to be. Finn was kidnapped at a very young age, forced to become a stormtrooper and was embedded in the hateful doctrine that Kylo is such a fan of. Despite being raised in that toxic environment and being indoctrinated with propaganda from such a young age, Finn â of his own volition, before he met Rey or Poe or anyone else â made the decision to resist and break free of the Empire.Â
He did this because he felt it was morally correct, at great risk to himself and his well being. Heâs been in that environment for his entire life, so he knows exactly what happens to traitors. Despite all of this, he does it anyway.Â
Unwanted and Unearned Redemption
Thereâs also this strange need to advocate for Kyloâs redemption, something that is very clear he doesnât deserve or want.Â
Iâve noticed a lot of fans who are desperate for his redemption call him Ben â his given name â which is both hilarious to me and makes no sense. He literally chose to change his name to Kylo Ren. He doesn't want to be Ben anymore, and heâs made that very clear.Â
Leia and Han clearly wanted him to abandon his position in the First Order and come home during The Force Awakens. During his showdown with Han towards the end of the film heâs given a shot at redemption, which he rejects violently by murdering his own father. After this happened it was speculated that this was a sacrifice Kylo had to make to rise up in the First Order, or to prove to Snoke his loyalty to infiltrate the First Order better and ultimately turn against it.Â
This was pretty easily disproven in The Last Jedi when he also attempts to kill his mother, Leia, who barely manages to survive. At the end of that same film, heâs also responsible for the death of the definitive hero of the franchise, Luke Skywalker.Â
If the theory about Kylo proving himself to Snoke was true, the tendency to murder his own family (and consequently the people offering him redemption after all heâs done) would have ended with Han.
After all of this, heâs given yet another chance to redeem himself, this time by Rey. He turns down this opportunity like he did the others.Â
As mentioned before, even without his violence towards those who want to help him, his actions are enough to completely eliminate the possibility of redemption. Heâs overseen and advocated for genocide. Heâs a member of an actual fascist organization. At this point, thereâs no plausible way that he could be redeemed, nor should he be.Â
Romanticizing AbuseÂ
This leads me to the discussion surrounding Rey and Kylo, or âReylo,â an incredibly convoluted and twisted way to look at romance.Â
Reylo fans desperately need Rey to be the one to âsaveâ Kylo, a textbook example of an abusive and toxic relationship. This is the Star Wars version of âShe can change him,â making Rey the bearer of Kyloâs emotional labor when he has no interest in changing at all.Â
Itâs not Reyâs responsibility to bring about his redemption. A true redemption needs to happen organically, of his own volition, and not because heâll get rewarded with a girlfriend if he does. And, letâs be honest, itâs not a realistic expectation. If he only changes for Rey and not because he realizes that genocide is morally wrong, thatâs profoundly disturbing and also selfish.Â
Hereâs some advice: if someone says theyâve changed only for you and because of their love for you, thatâs a red flag. They arenât changing for reasons that are morally correct, or for anyoneâs benefit; theyâre changing because their feelings and their feelings alone matter. If Kylo changes because he loves Rey, that is a self serving act for his benefit only.Â
Further, what happened to Kylo torturing Rey in The Force Awakens? He kidnapped her, holding her captive, and entered her mind without consent. Thatâs as clear a metaphor for abuse you can find, and thatâs not even my only example.Â
In The Last Jedi, Kylo attempts to persuade Rey to join him on the dark side. He tells her that sheâs ânothing,â but not to him. To him, she matters. This is very commonly touted as a romantic moment, but the emotional manipulation is more than obvious.Â
Kylo doesnât care about Rey. He says sheâs ânothing,â that none of her friends care about her, that sheâs worthless to them. By tearing her down then building her up by saying that sheâs not nothing to him, heâs enforcing the idea that the only way she can have significance is with him.Â
I donât even mean âwith himâ in the romantic sense â he pretty transparently only wants her on the dark side for her power. Kylo is a terrible jedi, and heâs witnessed Reyâs prowess a number of times. He only wants her power and skill, not her as a person.Â
He murdered her father figure, Han, in front of her, and nearly killed her best friend, Finn; heâs tortured her and manipulated her â itâs never been more obvious that he doesnât care about her at all.Â
If anyone knows anything about abusive relationships, this is the first thing that abusers do. They alienate their intended victim from their friends and family, ensuring that they alone are the only source of comfort. It ensures that if things ever get bad, the victim has nowhere to go and no one to turn to but right back to the abuser.Â
What message would it send to little girls and boys if Rey were to end up with Kylo after all of that? Deal with his violence and manipulation long enough and he might change? If I have to spell out why thatâs dangerous, I donât know what else to say.Â
In addition â what does this say about how people view Rey? Do you really want her to be with someone who has tortured her, betrayed her, and manipulated her? The answer is that people who want Reylo to be together only care about Kylo, not Rey.Â
Toxic MasculinityÂ
Despite these specifics, the general acceptance of Kyloâs behavior is surprisingly rampant in fandom. His actions arenât simply excused, but romanticized. He has obvious anger issues, control issues â that scene in the beginning of The Force Awakens when he lashes out and destroys the control panel with his lightsaber? That may as well have been a shot of an abusive, angry man throwing around furniture and punching walls because he has no emotional control.Â
Sure, people like Kylo. Theyâre allowed to. But thereâs a clear difference between liking a character and blind endorsement of that character's actions. I know plenty of people who like Kylo as a character, but the difference is if they meet someone like Kylo in bar or see one of his outbursts, youâd call the fucking cops. You wouldnât ship him with your best friend. That's the dividing line here.
Kylo Ren is a direct parallel to real-world men who lash out because theyâre filled with anger and frustration thatâs turned into something truly ugly. They lash out at the people who are willing to help, all because they feel themselves robbed of things they think they deserve. Kylo wants power, he wants control, and he cares about nothing else.Â
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theatres internationally on December 19, 2019.
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The Force of Nature and the Cackling Madman: What Hux Should Be (and What ROS Wonât Be)
Warning: two mentions of the leaked/newish pictures. They will have spoiler warnings bracketing it, along with the appropriate tags connected to the post. Youâve been warned.
INTRODUCTION
With RoS mere months away, this meta really canât be delayed any longer before it becomes moot, so here we go!
TLJ was a lot of things â some good, some bad â but what it wasnât was surprising (unless you count just how shockingly bad 90% of Finnâs storyline was). This is generally a good thing in movies nowadays, where surprises come not from clever writing, but from enormous missteps in the writing or the desire to feel clever by putting in a twist that isnât foreshadowed, or even just by breaking the rules of your universe.
Ignoring all but the main storyline â which is about Rey and Kylo Ren and their obstacles/conflicts â TLJ didnât bring any surprises, but instead followed on the lines that TFA set up. As this is obviously the storyline thatâs been hashed out from the start and is the point theyâre building to, itâs thus safe to say that RoS is simply going to do the same, and follow the lines that TLJ set up.
SPOILER WARNING BEGINS
(Side note: this is why, when the absurdly stupid tuning-fork-lightsaber of Reyâs showed up in the first looks at RoS, it was immediately obvious that she was going to be able to âbreakâ off half of it to give to Kylo when his saber is ultimately gone/self-destructs. Not only does the spoiler picture all but confirm this, but itâs also the obvious trajectory from the two fighting over a lightsaber in TLJ and breaking it in half.)
SPOILER WARNING ENDS
Anyway, with this framework in mind, and with the knowledge that every Star Wars media since the OG trilogy is in some way an adaptation of the OG trilogy, letâs examine what this means for the villain.
TERROR AND STAR WARS VILLAINS
Thereâs really no getting around the fact that one of the weakest facets of any Star Wars movie â yes, the OG trilogy is included here â is the villains that accompany them. A few SW video games fare a bit better in this, but most follow the moviesâ path. This isnât shocking â Star Wars is a Heroâs Journey, and in a Heroâs Journey itâs the presence of a villain, not the nature of the villain itself, thatâs the important part â but it is crucial to understand.
Darth Vader is by far the most iconic and scariest villain that Star Wars movies can boast of, and for those born after 4/5/6 came out, heâs not really that scary, because those viewers go in knowing who Vader is and that heâs (at least partially) redeemed through his sacrifice. The greatest contribution that Rogue One made to that viewership is the scene with Vader at the end, where he is legitimately an object of terror as he was when 4/5/6 were first out.
This leads to a discussion of Palpatine-as-villain in RotJ, where the best that can be said for his status as terror-inducing villain is that at least he has Vader to do most of the heavy lifting for him. As a villain, Palpatine is just not scary. Maybe itâs the makeup, maybe itâs the fact that he gets thrown out like a sack of garbage to his death, maybe itâs the cold ham delivery he gives to what should be properly menacing lines.
Darth Maulâs visuals in TPM alone are scarier than all of Palpatine in RotJ, and, before itâs brought up, Palpatine is even less scary than that in the prequels, so Iâm not even considering that part.
The thing that most Star Wars villains have in common (aside from Tarkin, who is my person favorite movie-verse villain) is that theyâre forces of nature; they have the force and/or use lightsabers, theyâre larger than life and beings of immense power and reputation, and theyâre there to sort of loom over movie, causing overwhelming-yet-non-specifc terror to motivate the plot in a âavoid the bad guysâ sort of way.
This is especially obvious in the prequel movies, where Darth Maul (ignoring his awesome visual effect), General Grievous, and Count Dooku are all basically meant to Stand There And Look Menacing, rather than having anything about them thatâs actually interesting.
And hereâs where the interesting things in the sequel trilogy begin.
WHY SMOKE SNOKE?
There was never any way that Snoke was going to live past TLJ, just like there was no way that Hux wasnât going to survive TLJ. Remembering that the sequel trilogy is in a lot of ways an adaptation of the OG trilogy (as all Star Wars movies are), TFA was trying to get you to think of Snoke as Palpatine â an overlord that survives until the last bit of the last movie and Hux as Tarkin â the non-Force user who is Evil and all but dies b/c heâs too smug and petty.
But neither one of those things were actually true. Because that would position Kylo Ren as the Vader analogue, and all of TFA is dedicated to showing just how wrong that assumption is.
Because Kyloâs not Vader, Hux isnât Tarkin, and Snoke isnât Palpatine. Thus, Snoke has to die, because we canât go into the last third of the trilogy with competing big bads (and no, Kylo and Hux donât count there, either â Kylo isnât a big bad at all, unless you think that the Big Bad Villainâs job is to fall for a British honeypot with a lightsaber).
Iâll admit, I was a bit smug when Snoke died and left only Hux alive and kicking out of the Three Bad Guys (as Kylo/Ben isnât even pretending to be a bad guy anymore), because thatâs what I had predicted â a fake-out with a Palpatine-style, force-of-nature villain only to reveal that the real Big Bad was with us all along â a mortal; a cackling madman: General Hux.
PLOTTING WITH PALPATINE
When spoilers first indicated that Palpatine would instead make yet another appearance in a Star Wars film, I was optimistic. Optimistic not in the âhey the Rebels will totally winâ sort of way; no, optimistic in the âthese kind Jedi will definitely free the slaves and not just take the kid because They Must Deal Kindly With Illegal Slaversâ. AKA misplaced optimism rather than genre-savvy faith in the heroes to prevail.
Because actually bringing back Palpatine would be a stupid move all the way around, I tried to figure out why theyâd advertise it and not try to hide the bad idea in a Secret Twist.
So hereâs where we get the interplay between the Force of Nature and the Cackling Madman.
In a world where the Force exists, itâs easy to imagine that those without it feel rather powerless â or at least overshadowed â when near those who do wield it. Certainly, thatâs true for most of Tarkinâs council, and true of Hux.Â
Over and over again in TFA and TLJ, we see Hux trying to prove that heâs every inch Kyloâs Equal. Even after Snokeâs death, he uses no deference to the new Supreme Leader and repeats his commands so he can believe that the First Order soldiers are following him.
Huxâs scene in TFA where heâs commanding the troops shows Hux at his finest (and most evil); apart from any Jedi/Sith/Force influence, he is himself to a glorious extreme: the Cackling Madman.
THE CACKLING MADMAN
I donât use this title to say that Hux is insane (though heâs clearly a bit off) but rather to show the difference between a villain like Hux and a villain like Palpatine. Unlike the Force of Nature villain, a Cackling Madman is usually present over the entire story, seen as a person rather than as a shadowy figure, and is allowed to fail and succeed at multiple times during the trajectory of the story, rather than only failing at the very end when the heroes triumph.
In short, Star Wars has never had, in the movie-verse, a Cackling Madman as the main villain. The prequels play at it for about .5 seconds with Senator Palpatine, but heâs still the Force of Nature, ultimately, just pretending to be a Good Guy.
As the sequel trilogy, is, once again, and like any other SW media, an adaptation of the OG trilogy, I was really excited for this shift in formula â it would play on audience expectation that Snoke would just be Palpatine 2.0, only to reveal â with the proper set up, as shown in TFA and TLJ â that the true villain was there all along, just unnoticed for what he was.
THE FACADE OF THE FORCE
So where would the intervention of Palpatine go in this shift from the formula?
Hux as the ultimate Big Bad would know that he would need the support of a powerful force user â or, at least, the appearance of support of a powerful force user.
And, in the Star Wars universe, you could do worse than to claim the support of (in the EU) the eternally clone-happy Emperor. Huxâs only problem is that the Emperor is dead, and thus not really up to supporting a ginger with dreams of Ultimate Power.
So any support would have to be a facade. And how is Star Wars uniquely equipped to handle facades?
Weâre talking holograms, baby.
Holograms of a weakened yet still powerful Emperor â maybe missing a hand or something, a few attacks âdirectedâ by the Emperor meeting wild success, manipulation of the Holograms to say Huxâs name and offer support of him as his Preeminent General or whatever, and Hux has the galaxy at his feet.
IMAGINE MY DISAPPOINTMENT (SPOILERS HERE AGAIN)
And then the spoiler pictures of Palpatine came out and â disappointment was prevalent, but I wasnât surprised.
The big problem with the Sequel Trilogy is that it has one well-plotted plot line â the main plot line with Rey and Kylo/Ben â and then every other plot line is pretty much left up to the whims of the moment. Itâs especially evident in Finnâs TLJ plot line, but itâs present to some extent in every other plot line throughout the two movies currently out.
What Hux should be is the danger lurking in plain sight; the villain seen but not understood, and the evil present but not accounted for. That alone would add a dimension to the Sequel Trilogy that itâs lacking right now â and lacking even more with the advent of Palpatineâs return. Not only would it acknowledge its freedom as an adaptation to play with audience expectation, but it would demonstrate something that both it and the Prequel Trilogy lack: trust in its audience.
THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION
What RoS should be is a movie that delivers something new but still authentic to the Star Wars universe. Ultimately, thatâs all it would take to please the majority of its audience, because those who are watching the ST without having seen any other Star Wars media are few and far between.Â
The shame is that what RoS will be is a movie that (wrongly) doesnât trust its audience to consume nuanced media, and instead tries to placate them with false advertising (trying to give off the air that RoS will be a trio movie with Finn, Rey, and Poe when everyone knows it wonât be) and with the return of old characters and the descendants of old characters. Itâs like adding blue flashing lights to an old snow globe and declaring that youâre recaptured lightning in a bottle.
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Okay TROS thoughts...here we go. Iâm putting them all below the cut in case somehow youâve avoided spoilers
so general thoughts...i didnt hate it nearly as much as i thought i would so thats pleasant but im gonna break it down more
things i liked:
Adam Driver. just Adam. Fucking. Driver my dudes. This is like a backhanded compliment because JJ is so fucking lucky Adam was cast because the emotional depth of the film rested literally all on his shoulders for me. I only felt the weight if he was acting in a scene.Â
Iâll admit im biased but I did adore the interaction between Finn and Poe. Their bickering amused me and the tenderness between them was wonderful...I think Oscar played Poe a bit jealous as well which i liked.
the Reylo scenes to me where beautiful. Ben never lied to her, she tried to deny it but she knew he never did. I loved that he was kinda guiding her, protecting her, loving her, and antagonizing her all at once. I loved how soft their kiss was, their smiles are literally the light of my life. Reyâs face when she healed him. Ben just staring at her as she tells him she did want to take his hand...just chefâs kiss
I loved the saber fights. Benâs fight at the beginning was hot as fuck...and his fight as newly redeemed Ben Solo was even hotter somehow.
 I enjoyed the fight scenes between ben and rey! how often ben just let her walk away, and despite that one scene which i will mention below...i like i even tho rey was rather aggressive idk...it didnt really feel like she was trying to hurt him much either? i just think they had a lot of chances to kill each other and didnt take it...so i like that
i knew she was looking at ben in that clip i knew it...she only makes that soft face at him
I always enjoy stupid ass C3PO jokes for some dumbass reason
Han and Benâs scene was heartbreaking and beautiful. Again tho JJ is fucking lucky to cast Adam cause recycling dialogue from TFA wouldnt have worked at all had Adam not been so fucking amazing
the save chewie hall blaster scene was funÂ
i liked how fucking dramatic children ben and rey were with that damn ship lol...no im gonna force pull it...no im gonna...what dorks
while i didnt like the entire way the force bond was used i did enjoy seeing it still strong and growing
confirming canon soulmate reylo was a highlight
benâs hair looked bomb
finnâs outfit was cool
Jannah was beautiful (please correct me if i misspell her name)
dark rey was glorious thoÂ
that new little droid is literally me so i adore it
that sith cave thing was really fucking cool lookingÂ
the visuals of the film were most of the time stunningÂ
sooooo...now to what i didnât like:
I think this first one is the most obvious for those who know me but...Benâs death just feels so utterly useless to me. especially when they gave him a metaphorical death earlier in the film. i feel extremely hurt and betrayed. Disney has gone out of their way to make us sympathize with Ben Solo. Theyâve revealed more and more of his past...how alone he was, the abuse he suffered from snoke and palpatine. just fuck...they just kill him...the moment he realizes heâs free and loved they end his life....literally WHAT THE FUCK. itâs a chicken shit way out of a redemption arc honestly. Not letting u just breath after his death was also so horrible. We barely got to see Rey mourn, we got a split second of it then it jumped to another scene...another second of her looking sadly at her sabor to have the moment interruptedÂ
tag on to above but...they didnt have him as a force ghost cause Disney is intentionally keeping where he is ambiguous so they can sell more shit which pisses me off so much
thats not how the force works
there couldnt have been that many sith could there??? cause like there can only be 2 at one time....fucking rule of 2 so how the hell were there that many
palps being like...see i actually want you to kill me...is ridiculous
rey palpatine is the most idiotic thing i have ever heard. Rey being a no one from no where was such an amazing thing. Just anyone can be strong in the force...you dont need royal blood to make you worth something....then they just retcon that??? the fuck I MEAN THE FUCK.Â
Finn does nothing but worry about Rey the whole film. I know folks dont like his storyline in TLJ and while i understand that and do think it could have been written better i still adore it because Finn grew. He grew from just caring about a small group of people to caring about an idea to caring about something bigger than him. I didnt see any growth in his character in this film. His heroics were beautiful to see and I enjoyed seeing his heart but that was Johnâs acting more than the writing it think.Â
sidelining rose was fucking disgustingÂ
the trio felt forced to me
the leia scenes didnt work for me honestly and they mostly just made me sad
bringing in lando now felt weirdÂ
ive wanted force sensitive finn for a while but didnt feel right
why the fuck have finn want to tell rey something but never do...ugh i hate storytelling like that
they never explained how palps is back...he just is
rey stabbing ben felt odd to me. i loved the moment when she healed him, and i know technically her anger and darkside was coming out and she acted on instinct...nevermind that even before leia called out to him ben coudnt follow thru with the killing blow.Â
....iâm sure iâll think of more as i get angrierÂ
anyways over all...id be lying if moments didnt make me laugh or smile...if i didnât feel a sense of nostalgia and enjoyment for 80% of this movie. The thing is that even with so much of it being enjoyable to me it still felt void. An action movie, with new characters, a confusing plot and very minimal emotional depth.
The emotion hinged soooo much on Adam or me. The biggest reason for that aside from that fact that Ben Solo is one of my all time favorite characters, is that the things Rey is dealing with in the film are directly related to her being a palpatine...and i HATE THAT. Like straight up wanna fling it into the sun.Â
Rey never needed to be related to a force royal bloodline. She should have been allowed to remain strong because she was just strong. Kyloâs equal in every way, not because she was the granddaughter of a sith which btw you canât inherit force powers. Retconing something so touching and unique from TLJ was just...fucking idiotic. All to please the loud but small misogynistic fandom that thought a woman couldnt be that strong on her own so she must be related to someone
The biggest thing....tho is killing Ben. it felt so unnecessary and just...i feel so betrayed. The interviews leading up to the film got my hopes up that i was worried for nothing. I always thought theyâd kill him, because cinema seems to not know what to do with characters has tragic as him without just killing him in the end. we already got a redemption = death plotline in this franchise...why couldnt we get a redemption = life instead??? My friend who doesnt even like sw that much...tros was actually the 2nd sw fim sheâs ever seen...thought it was unnecessary as well and agrees with me a lot about my feelings despite not having the same intense emotional attachment to him as me. She for a moment thought theyâd be together at the end but nope. Its just...pointless to me now, the sacrifices han, luke, and leia made to reach Ben are for nothing. Their deaths...pointless...Ben means so fucking much to me. Iâve never felt such an intense emotional bond with a character before so im just hurting so fucking much right now.
Rey taking the name Skywalker isnt hopeful or cute its a slap in the face honestly...and itâs just weird!Â
The last Skywalker died loved and held by the woman he loved and that is beautiful to me. He died happy and a hero thats a balm at least...but to not let him be the one to kill palpatine...after everything EVERYTHING he put him and his family thru was another just fuck...i wanted justice for him and he just got thrown away
Ultimately...Ben and Rey are soulmates and their force bond was severed. Palpatine didnt take that from them because he couldnt have...again not how the force works....but JJ used that bond to be a battery???? the fuck...but ultimately hes forcing Rey to live the rest of her days with a gaping wound in her soul. a wound unable to be filled and will be with her for the rest of her life...thats so fucking tragic to me. you give rey someone who is her equal, who understands her, and you take him from her and force her to be alone for the rest of her life?? and we are supposed to not see that as a tragedy? Her being fineishness at the end of the film seemed like direction from either the writing or in the moment, but just further proves he didnt bother to even understand the lore he was using. Force bonds were considered i quess legends in the current SW canon but Rian brought it back...so itâs back. and well
 "A bond between two living beings is not something easily broken. It is not a choice⊠it is like breaking a feeling. Like turning away from the Force. To break a bond, your feelings would have to change, or one of you would have to dieâbut even then, the bond wouldn't go away, it would simply⊠it would simply be empty, a wound."âMaster Zez-Kai Ell[src]
and .... the only way to break it was to turn away from the Force, as Surik did on Malachor V. So basically it all came down to creating a wound in the Forceâ
sooo yeah...im pissed iâd give this movie a 1 1/2 out of 5Â
thank you for those who have read my rantings! I hope at least some of this made sense
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Youâd been on opposite sides of the room for the last hour, and stolen glances were not cutting it any more. The day before, youâd both finally admitted your feelings for one another, and all you wanted to do was be with each other on your own to really explore your affections. Gwilym had apparently been venting his feelings to Ben for a few months before this, and finally heâd snapped, telling him to get it together and tell you because he knew you felt the same way. Poor Ben, heâd been on the receiving end of the both of you pining after the other for weeks on end, and you were pretty sure he was as relieved as you were when Gwilym finally spoke to you about how he felt.
Now, there was a huge crowd separating you, and there was no way you could be unprofessional and leave, especially as this was for the film youâd all just completed. It was frustrating, but you could only hope that it would make the reunion later on that little bit more special. As you continue to look up at Gwil, then back to the person in front of you, you feel an arm snake around your waist, making you freeze up.
âHello stranger,â a familiar voice whispers next to your ear. You turn to see the one person youâd hoped wouldnât be here, and your face falls.
âSorry, Iâm a little busy right now,â you reply, moving to the side and out of their grip. They take the hint and leave, but never stray too far away from where you are, even when you move on to the next gathering of people you had to talk to. As you start to converse with the group, you canât help but notice Gwilym eyeing the man who had just approached you, and when he looks over at you, you give him a reassuring smile, hoping beyond hope that he knew it was nothing.
The guy truly was nothing, well at least now anyway. Heâd been something at one point in your life, but that was a good couple of years ago now, and had since been nothing to you after he cheated on you with someone who youâd actually considered a friend at the time. Unfortunately the clichĂ© of the ex boyfriend turning up and casting a shadow over your evening was coming true for you right now, and it couldnât have come at a worse time, especially with your blossoming feelings towards Gwilym. Your ex was part of the press, though, and you knew it was one of those inevitable things that would happen one day, being as you were apparently breaking through as an actress now, but not today.
âIt was wonderful working so closely with the guys,â you gush to the woman asking you questions, âI couldnât possibly pick a favourite!â
âWho would you say you grew especially close to, then?â she asks, going in at a different angle.
âThat would be between Gwilym or Ben,â you reply, instinctively glancing over at Gwilym.
âWeâve heard how Gwilym was your knight in curly wig when he caught you as you almost fainted on set one day...â she prompts, and you laugh that the story had finally come out.
âYes,â you chuckle, âhe was a gentleman!â
âAnd he carried you to his trailer?â
âHa! Did you hear this from Joe?â you giggle, âhe carried me part of the way, but I insisted on walking most of it... He was being over protective.â
âHe must care about you a lot...â
âIâm pretty sure he would have done the same for Ben, Joe, and Rami as well!â
She continues to ask more and more invasive questions, and you manage to skirt around them just enough to give them a hint of something, but never confirming anything. When youâre free from this group, you start to walk towards Gwilym finally, but that same familiar face from earlier appears right in front of you.
âCan I talk to you now?â he grins, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards the bar. You yank your arm free from his grip when you get there, and give him an angry look as he orders two drinks.
âIâm not drinking tonight,â you scowl, pushing the drink away from you and grabbing a bottle of water from the side instead, âwhat do you want?â
âTo ask questions, like every other reporter here.â
âHow about you go ask the guys? Theyâve got great stories from on set,â you say bluntly, then turn to leave, but again his hand stops you.
âIâd rather ask you. Iâve already spoken to dear Gwilym over there.â
âDonât ever touch me like that again, Jamie,â you growl, pulling yourself free once more, âand donât you dare bring him into this.â
He wasnât the nicest of guys, which was something you hadnât found out until a few months into the relationship, and it was looking as though nothing had changed in the last couple of years.
âHeâs a nice guy, told me all about when you almost collapsed on set and he saved you by wrapping his strong arms around you to stop you falling. What a hero, eh?â he smirks, âno wonder youâre head over heels for him.â
You wanted nothing more than to lift your now balled up fist and smack him right in the face, but as your wrist twitches, Gwilym slides his hand down your arm and tucks you into his side.
âHello again,â he says, looking straight at Jamie, âhowâs everything going over here?â
âFine, absolutely fine, was just finishing up some questions with (Y/N),â he smiles, that sneering smile that made your skin crawl.
âGreat, so you wonât mind if I steal her away then?â Gwil smiles, turning you both away and finding a quiet corner for you to talk, âwhat was that?â he asks, his eyes full of concern as he bends his knees slightly to be at the same level as you. He brings a hand up to stroke your cheek gently, and you canât help but fall into him, sliding your arms around his torso underneath his jacket so you could be completely enveloped by him.
âWoah, what did he do?â Gwilym asks, his arms holding you tightly against his body as he rocks gently from side to side, âyouâre worrying me. What happened?â
âIâm sorry, Iâm being stupid,â you mumble against his jumper.
âNo youâre not. Tell me what he did,â he replies, his voice growing harsher with each word. You pull back from him, but keep your hands on his sides, as he does with you, then explain the history between you both, and the fact that he was a little overzealous with the arm grabbing tonight.
âStay there,â Gwilym instructs.
âGwil, no-â
âStay there,â he repeats, straightening up his jacket and doing up the single button at the front before walking off to find Jamie.
âHey, can I have a word?â he says, storming up to Jamie when he finds him, and pushing him out of the room.
âIs there a problem here?â he asks with a smirk.
âYou know there is. Donât fuck around, mate. Youâre not big, and youâre not funny. If you donât leave right this second, Iâll personally make sure that you will never get a job like this ever again,â Gwillym says, maintaining a calm exterior, and keeping his voice low and steady.
âReally? All because of her? Sheâs not worth it, trust me,â Jamie shrugs. As much as Gwilym wants to retort with something scathing, he resists the urge, and instead laughs at him, then watches as he walks out of the building. When heâs out of sight, Gwilym rubs his face with his hands and takes a deep breath before making his way back through the crowd to you.
âNo bleeding knuckles, itâs all good,â he grins, waving the backs of his hands in front of you. You laugh, reaching up to hold his hands, then bring them down to his sides.
âYou really didnât have to do anything. I didnât say it because I wanted you to-â
âI know, I know! But I canât have anyone thinking they can treat my woman like that,â he sighs, âand Iâll do whatever I can in my power to protect you.â
âFunnily enough, someone described you as my knight in curly wig earlier,â you giggle, âand I quite like my new title of your woman.â
âDid they?â he laughs, âwell, glad I kept the wig then! And Iâm very glad you like the title, I hope itâll stick for a long while,â he shoots you a wink, and you melt into him once again, oblivious to the crowded room around you.
Request: Can I get uhhhh some protective gwil x reader imagine??????
@painthatiusedto @winnielinleigh @queenslandlover-93 @excellentbecca @ametaphorbrian @peachllobotomy
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And considering I now saw Into the Spider-Verse, let me also talk about that!
Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir... was... a decision. It definitely was one and whoever made it probably thought it was genius, but... uh... I mean... *waves hand around vaguely*
It completely threw me off the movie every time he talked because I kept seeing Nic Cageâs face before my inner eye. I legit hate hearing celebrity voices in animated movies... And, like, most of the time it matters not to me considering the voice cast in German is different and most of those stars are not people whose German dub voice Iâd recognize. Like, Chris Pineâs Peter Parker. Nope, zero amount of recognition there. Nic Cage however, getting his regular voice artist to do him here too... it threw me off every time Noir opened his mouth.
And while I like Noir and I get that him, Spider-Man and Peni Parker made for the most visually interesting take in this crossover... Eh.
It was the Miles-Peter-Gwen movie. All else were literally just extras and I... I genuinely believe the movie would have benefitted by reducing it to only those three too. After all, itâs INTO the Spider-Verse. An introduction. Three different alternate realities would have sufficed for an introduction, the others just made it feel overcrowded a lot and they also had nothing real to do. When Peniâs robot died, I was supposed to feel something, considering how much time they spent on that moment, but I didnât because I donât care about either the robot or this random girl I have never even heard about.
And considering it was not just the introduction into the Spider-Verse, it was also very vitally so the introduction of Miles Morales, his first real time to shine beyond the comics and the Spider-Man cartoons, a bit trimming of the Spider-Hedges would have really been good there, in my opinion.
I really hate Gwenâs hair. It was so pretty before the stupid hair-cut, damn it.
I also love Gwen though. And the Gwen-Miles dynamic. Bummed out that they already confirmed that of course will it be a romance between The Male Lead and The Female Lead. Like. Come on. Her thing was that she doesnât make friends and now Miles became her first friend... but worry not since she is A Girl and he is A Boy, they of course have to get a romance going. *groans*
Seriously. Straight people can be friends with the opposite sex without forced romance! Itâs a thing! Hollywood should try it some time!!!
Peter was... I mean... Honestly, they coulda just killed his MJ off, it would have been better than this high-level metaphorical bullshit âI didnât want kids but she did! So we broke up and now I have two Spiderlings to train and suddenly I DO want kids!â. Seriously. The fact aside that itâs one of the most ridiculous bullshit things I can imagine, getting married to someone despite having entirely opposing life-goals... you talk about where to live and whether you want kids before you get fucking married?? Like? You do?? And that heâd change a stance he has had supposedly all of his life just because he spent a whole two days with two teenagers is insanely stupid.
I absolutely love Aunt May and that they went to her and not MJ, even though it makes little sense considering both Peters had already moved out and been married, like, youâd... youâd keep your Spider Cave conveniently close and not have to go to your aunt every time?? Especially since MJ knew about his secret identity?
Wilson Fisk was a brilliant villain in this! I loved his motivation through the movie. That he actually had a solid motivation and not something hand-wavey that comes apart. Like, he didnât care if the city collapses, he just wants his family back? Good. Also this... twistedness of blaming Peter for the fact that they saw Wilsonâs true nature and couldnât handle it. Damn. Reminded me that Wilson Fisk really was the one thing I loved most about DareDevil...
Uncle Aaron. The villain. I knew that, like, I knew that Milesâ uncle was a villain. I was curious how it would play out in the movie. The fact that he was going to spare Miles was a huge relief, but... killing him off was a cheap cop-out and also too reminscent of Uncle Ben, especially since before dying he still had enough time to give a whole âYouâre a good person, the best of usâ-spiel. I would have preferred he survives and we actually deal with the consequences of a hero and a villain loving each other and how or if Aaron would have been willing to change his ways for his nephew.
There was definitely too little of Milesâ mom. I mean, Iâm glad sheâs alive and we didnât get the usual âat least one parent deadâ-thing and I hope we will see more of her and Milesâ dynamic in the next movie, but overall there was too little of her for my taste.
I absolute love Jefferson. I love-love-love Milesâ dad, he is awesome. He nails the tired dad trying to dad and to police officer. They had a great arch with each other and I am itching for the big reveal of Milesâ identity.
That being said: Somehow, I had different expectations for that. Iâm not even sure where those expectations came from, but I was expecting Miles to drag homeless!Peter home and for them and Milesâ parents to figure shit out together and Spider-Gwen joins in. Like, that was what I expected of the movie when I went in.
And now to the actual star of the movie: Miles. I love him so much? I was so eager since hearing he was going to get his own movie! I loved him in Ultimate Spider-Man already and also in the new Spider-Man cartoon and each time, Miles gets a different dynamic with Peter, which is one of the most fascinating things about it. Now, right now I am very obsessed with the best friends who explore their spider-powers together, so I was curious to see this new dynamic to it. And, mainly, itâs like Iron Dad and Spider-Son next generation and I love it (also does that make Tony Milesâ Iron Gramps??). The slightly exasperated but fond mentor.
And Miles was so good. Not understanding everything at once, but continuously trying his best - always trying his best. Being an artsy little nerd. Being so embarrassed by his dad, but also still loving him.
His dynamic with Peter and Gwen and May was so good - his family-dynamics too though! Him with his uncle, his role-model, the one to support him when he was being a particularly misunderstood mopey teenager, but also his mom and dad.
What Iâd love to see in the next though would really be some Miles and May interaction. She has a Spider Cave in her backyard, he is a fledgling spider with no idea how shit works. I want Aunt May to mentor him some. Please. I need this in my life??
And I need his parents to find out and his mom to have more screentime!
To sum it up: I absolutely loved the movie - yes, I did have some complaints, but that doesnât mean I love it any less, nothing is ever perfect - and I am dying to see what Spiders the future holds and what the future holds for Miles!
The only serious complaint Iâd have would be the intro. There was... There was no need to make it 100% flashy quick lights? Have? Have they ever heard of seizures triggered by intensely flashy shit like that? And itâs really not like they needed it. It really surprised me and was already uncomfortable on my eyes, I donât even wanna know just how many people with an actual medical issue walked into this movie unknowingly and had a seizure in the first two minutes. They should have really either put a warning up before the movie started, or just... not... do the unnecessary quick flashy light intro?
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Your character analysis for IX makes so much sense that Iâm nervous and feel like Iâm indulging reylo too much. Iâm losing confidence in their relationship ending unambiguously. It seems like her arc is going to be very separate from his.
Ok, so⊠Iâm actually surprised? What I wrote boils down to Star Wars are gonna go big or go home and we came to a point where it can be interpreted as they gonna go small, chaste and proper?
Sis/bro in waiting, donât worry they gonna go BIG! All of my disagreements with usually accepted reylo predictions boil down to how they gonna get triple wedding with Finnrose and Poe tearfully giving BB-8 as a bashful bride to BB-9e instead of faking their deaths, living in an exile or waiting for prison sentence to finish! Because those endings? They arenât likely to happen, just as Kylo Ben isnât getting an individual redemption and Rey isnât a static character.
The fact that the fandom or actually entire audience is so freaking keen on making Rey a static beacon of light is what probably baffles me most. Because tbph, if Rey is the character weâre repeatedly told in a way forbidding any questions that she is, then she is a pretty boring character, not because of being âoverpoweredâ but because of having no serious moral struggles (weâve seen her faced with temptations - but not dilemmas). Audience is sexists as hell is questioning her skills and what is also sexist is lack of proper female villains in the main SW movies but I think what people donât want to put their finger on is that Star Wars have never given us characters who simply are good, always, regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances - on the contrary, theyâre very keen to show how nurture affects the grown up character, I would actually say itâs one of the features that makes this fairy tale stand out, the characters seeming just good or just evil being fairly well up in their years. Rey stayed good in a harsh life of a scavenger on Jakku? Wheeeelp, Anakin also stayed good in a harsh life of a slave on Tattooine - itâs transition to the comfortably poisoning life of a jedi knight on Couruscant that lead him to become Darth Vader. Obi-Wan was a paragon of jedi training gone right, PadmĂ© had a loving nurturing family, same for Luke and Leia regardless of whether they were farmers on a desert or royals on Alderaan, Hanâs lack of family shows - as do the strong primal social groups of corellian underground he lived in, Finn formed relationships as positive as one can have in a totalitarian military organisation and Kylo Ben needed to be groomed for two freaking decades before his messed up but loving background gave in.
So no, Iâm not buying Rey being an infallible maiden of light that also happens to be a master psychologist PadmĂ© and Obi-Wan werenât (you know while I totally agree thereâs much symbolism to her being a scavenger, can we all agree human psyche is a teensy bit more complicated than starships?). Nope. I actually have this pet theory - while it seems pretty clear that Kylo Benâs story is what Darth Anakinâs would have been if we were watching OT knowing PT, could it also be that in Rey weâre getting a surprise dessert of near-repetition of Anakinâs fall without anticipating the fall? I really think she could turn out to be a character tailored to make the audience feel the same near-blind hope that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had for Anakin and OTrio had for Ben. A near-blind hope that instead of helping fulfill that hope made them destructively pose for someone they werenât.
light side my ass
But thatâs exactly why this effed up yin yang will come together. I think that while everyone keeps pointing out yin yang symbolism in reylo, fewer reflect on its actual implications - black dot, white dot and the fact that yin and yang change places the moment you spin the disk. Which brings me to another point Iâm in disagreement with majority of reylo meta writers: I really donât think youâll turn-youâll be the one to turn implies theyâve seen the same vision of mutual hae. Their body language is too anguished/defensive for that. Basically, a you misinterpreted-no, you misinterpreted situation is too obvious for neither of them to think of it - if they have seen a mutual hae. And since databank confirmed they have both seen some future and Rey speaks of a solid and clear vision which dismisses the possibility of them seeing an abstract act of turning as one youtuber tried to interpret, weâre left with either deconstruction trope (f*ck prophecy, to quote Jaime) or them having seen the other one acting in a way implying allegiance to the side they currently donât belong to. And since TLJ made their political stance pretty clearâŠ
The thing is, the last act of TLJ saw both Rey and Ben having their sand castles destroyed - for Rey it was admittance of denial (denial, not hope, I donât care how much material will insist on calling it hope) sheâs lived in for some 15 years that did nontheless keep the darkness in her controlled, for Ben it was Lukeâs sacrifice blowing another huge hole (next to the one Hanâs sacrifice created) in the sand castle of lies Snoke built around him to keep the light away. And neither of those idiots acknowledges the implications. Also, may I strip away the surface of but heâs in charge of a dark side organisation and sheâs the hero of a light side organisation! and rephrase it into heâs responsible for loads of people he holds no grudge against and sheâs a highly pressurised member of a minor but desperate paramilitary organisation.
The bottom line is, if my predictions/analyses can make one pessimistic, consider that I try to take as little for granted about those movies as I can, assuming practically only some happy ending, consitency of general messages (is bendemption obligatory? no. but if we held Anakin to the same standards, then he didnât get redeemed either. and considering that Lucas actually stated somewhere that the idea is that he got redeemed through his children then I say his children f*cked up allowing Anakinâs shadow to be used against his grandson - thus, it depends on Ben getting a hae to complete Anakinâs redemption and actually make the central message of the saga real I will finish what you started indeed) and psychoanalitical symbolism (like really, whenever you doubt hae as hell reylo just read Jung; I also recommend Mozartâs Magic Flute which is swarming with conscious/unconscious, light/dark, male/female symbols and guess what thereâs actually an adaptation that, albeit tounge-in-cheek employs Star Wars esthetic). And I still arrive at the same basic conclusions as the writers with more optimistic, sure and static premises. So if I say weâre gonna get an angsty af life-and-death reylo duel where she actually kills him with his silent consent then I also mean gurl gonna channel all her love/light and pain/dark combined into healing him and then while the dark princeling tries to come up with a spontaneous thanksgiving paslm, the scavenger princess gonna grab his shirt and suck those plump lips till they both run out of breath. And porgs will be throwing flowers at them.
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