#and yondus death breaking my fucking heart

[silvershewolf247]

Multifandom amvs or amvs from franchises with drastic changes in quality are insane. Because you can be crying at one clip because of how much that scene hurt you and the music is perfect and then be like "oh, that's an unfortunate inclusion"

[howdydarling]

ELI'S MAN LIST.

Long post. Super long post. Super super long. Almost certainly not complete, but I ran outta steam like halfway through, so this is what you get.

IRL MEN. → men i would currently let absolutely wreck me

Ted Raimi - i do not have a single limit or boundary that i would not break for this man.

Lance Henriksen

Josh Brolin

Oscar Isaac

Jason Momoa

Christoph Waltz

→ men i have formerly been interested in who could probs still get it

Jeff Bridges

Robert Knepper

Andrew Scott

David Anders

Zachary Quinto

Leonard Nimoy (if he were still alive)

Karl Urban

DeForrest Kelley (if he were still alive)

Gaspard Ulliel

Paul Bettany

Adam Driver

Domhnall Gleeson

→ men i would probably fuck but not necessarily bc of the usual reasons

Tim Curry

Willem DaFoe

The Skarsgårds

Jack Black

FICTIONAL MEN.

→ SHOWS

→→ Outer Range

Royal Abbott

Perry Abbott

Rhett Abbott

Wayne Tillerson (it'd be a really weird fuck, i know it in my heart)

Billy Tillerson

Luke Tillerson

→→ Doctor Who

The Doctor (Nine / Ten)

The Master

→→ BBC Sherlock

Jim Moriarty

→→ Firefly

Hoban Washburne

Jayne Cobb

Simon Tam

→→ Torchwood

Owen Harper

Jack Harkness

→→ Heroes

Gabriel Gray / Sylar

Adam Monroe / Takezo Kensei

Peter Petrelli

Samuel Sullivan

Edgar

→→ Dollhouse

Alpha

→→ Star Trek (TOS)

Leonard "Bones" McCoy

S'chn T'gai Spock

→→ The Walking Dead

Negan Smith

The Governor

Darryl Dixon

Merle Dixon

→ MOVIES

→→ Tron

CLU 2.0

Rinzler

Kevin Flynn

Alan Bradley

→→ Jurassic Park (franchise)

Robert Muldoon

Ian Malcolm

→→ Zombieland

Tallahassee

→→ Star Trek (NuTrek)

Leonard "Bones" McCoy

S'chn T'gai Spock

Khan

→→ Priest

Black Hat

Ivan Isaacs ("Priest")

→→ Dredd

Dredd

Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal (Mama's not a man but she could get it)

→→ Pacific Rim

Herc Hansen

Stacker Pentecost

Newton "Newt" Geiszler

Hermann Gottlieb

The Kaidanovskys

Hannibal Chau

→→ Hunger Games

Haymitch Abernathy

→→ Alien (franchise)

Bishop

David 8

Walter

Dwayne Hicks Xenomorph

→→ The Lego Movie

Good Cop/Bad Cop

→→ Guardians of the Galaxy

Yondu Udonta

Kraglin

→→ Star Wars (franchise)

Armitage Hux

Kylo Ren

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Han Solo

Cassian Andor

Poe Dameron

Phasma (again, not a man, but Oh Boy)

Qui-Gon Jinn

Boba Fett

Jango Fett

K-2S0

Tobias Beckett

Dryden Voss

Literally any Stormtrooper (not just the clones)

Any/all of the Knights of Ren

→→ Legend

Ronnie Kray

Reggie Kray

→→ The Devil's Carnival

Lucifer

The Agent

→→ Pirates of the Caribbean

Jack Sparrow

Will Turner

Hector Barbossa

Davy Jones

James Norrington

William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner

→→ Labyrinth

Jareth, the Goblin King

→→ Ferngully

Hexxus

→→ James Bond (franchise)

Raoul Silva

James Bond/007 (Daniel Craig)

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

→→ Inglourious Basterds

...am I allowed to say Hans Landa? Hans Landa.

Sgt. Donny Donowitz

Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz

Marcel

→→ The Black Phone

Albert Shaw (look, sorry, don't @ me please)

→→ Scream (franchise)

Ghostface (but like?? the concept of him, rather than any particular actual iteration of him)

Dwight "Dewey" Riley

→→ Venom (franchise)

Eddie Brock

Venom

Cletus Kasady

→→ Dune (2021)

Gurney Halleck Leto Atreides Duncan Idaho Stilgar

→ GAMES

→→ Final Fantasy X/X-2

Auron Jecht Seymour Guado Shuyin Baralai Nooj Gippal Isaaru

→→ Final Fantasy XV

Ignus Scientia Ardyn Izunia Gladiolus Amicitia Regis Lucis Caelum Clarus Amicitia Bahamut

→→ Resident Evil VIII: Village

Karl Heisenberg Sturm Soldats Lycans Varcolac Urias Brothers

→→ Kingdom Hearts (franchise)

Axel

→→ Borderlands (franchise)

Mordecai Handsome Jack Fl4k Zer0 Krieg

→→ Boyfriend to Death (franchise)

Strade Lawrence Oleander

→→ The Price of Flesh

Mason Derek The Auctioneer Jack Komodo Dragon Machete The Demon The Lich

→→ Overwatch

Jack Morrison (Soldier 76) Gabriel Reyes (Reaper) Jamison Fawkes (Junkrat) Mako Rutledge (Roadhog) Reinhardt Wilhelm (Reinhardt) Siebren de Kuiper (Sigma) Cole Cassidy

→→ The Quarry

Travis Hackett Jedediah Hackett Chris Hackett

→→ Fortnite

The Jonesy Collective Midas

→→ Left 4 Dead

Bill Overbeck The Hunter The Smoker

→→ Dragon Age (franchise)

Zevran Anders Fenris Alistair Iron Bull Krem Samson Solas Varric Hawke Cole

→→ Death Stranding

Heartman Higgs Deadman Sam Cliff

→→ Fallout 4

John Hancock Nick Valentine

→→ Detroit: Become Human

Hank Anderson Connor Gavin Reed Nines Simon Ralph Karl Manfred

→ BOOKS

→→ Star Wars

Sinjir Rath Velus Cardinal

→→ Shade's Children

Shade

→→ InkHeart

Dustfinger

→→ A Darker Shade of Magic

Holland Astrid & Athos Dane

→→ Dune

Everyone included in the movie list, plus: Shaddam IV Hasimir Fenring

→ ANIME

→→ Naruto

Gaara Zabuza Sasori Deidara Itachi Kakashi Iruka Kabuto Kisame Shikimaru Kankuro

→→ Trinity Blood

Isaak Fernand von Kampfer Dietrich von Lohengrin Abel Nightroad Cain Nightroad Radu Barvon Leon Garcia de Asturias Tres Iques Hugue de Watteau

→→ Hellsing

Alucard Pip Bernadotte Father Anderson

→→ Loveless

Soubi

[leahxx129]

Tragedy of Butterflies (Peter Quill x Reader)

Hi there. Quick personal note: it appears that the personal thing I’m struggling with at the moment will go on for around another month, but I have lots of story ideas and will try to write & post some. 

As for the story... I feel like that Chris Pratt is the most underrated Chris from all the MCU Chrises, so I wanted to show a little love for him & one of his more famous character.

Summary: As a result of the Snap, Peter Quill dies in your arms and your heart shatters to pieces since you’ve been secretly in love with him for quite a while now. What happens 5 years later when everyone is brought back to the battle field, including some very unexpected people? 

Warnings: cursing 

Word count: 1.630-ish

You have no idea how much time has passed since the wizards brought everyone to the field and the guy with the shield commenced the battle against Thanos, but you’re pretty sure about one thing - within the next couple of minutes you’re going to suffer an excruciating death.

The creature knocked you over in a blink of an eye, you never even saw it coming, and both of your machetes flew out of reach. You can brush one’s handle with your fingertips but it’s still a far stretch... You desperately try to take in a few punches, but the damn thing is clawing at you with a foaming mouth, wanting to tear your throat out like a freaking otherworldly Cujo, so the majority of your energy is invested in self-defense. Even through the beast’s grumble you can hear the battle screams and death rattle of warriors trying their best to defeat the other army and fail at it.

Your arms are getting numb and a strange mixture of calmness and serenity dazes your mind. Maybe death wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario. You’re tired and you’ve certainly done your fair share over the years… Then his face flashes before your eyes and you relinquish every single thought of surrender in an instant.

He always demanded everyone to call him Star-Lord, but to friends he was Quill and to you, only Peter. You can’t just go down like this, you owe putting up a real fight to him. That’s the least you could do since you were unable to save him the first time you all faced Thanos…

You’ve known Peter since you were a little girl. You happened to be in the hospital when his mom died and followed him outside just to accidentally be snatched by Yondu as well...

He was nothing but a silly boy to you for a very long time – he would pull your hair, try to frighten you by telling ghost stories or play mean pranks on you... Then one day you suddenly realized he became so much more, and the mere fact that you had no clue how it happened scared the crap out of you.

Naturally, this escaped his notice, so every time he obtained a new notch in his belt, you died a little inside and swore an oath that you’d never be one of his conquests. An oath you broke not long after having sworn it... You fell so miserably in love with the man that you let yourself turn into his occasional bed warmer because even a relationship like that was more than nothing. At least that’s what you made yourself believe to help you sleep at night...

His lips felt incredibly soft as he peppered your neck with featherlight kisses in the dark.

His fingertips almost made you catch on fire when they traced your skin under the covers.

And the way he whispered sweet nothings into your ears when nobody else was around brought you to the verge of losing your goddamn mind every single time.

You found him completely and utterly intoxicating. Peter was addictive like a drug. And you lived for the high.

For a short period of time it looked like as if he was beginning to return your feelings, but then Gamora showed up and shattered every illusion to a thousand pieces. You couldn’t blame her - it’s not like she demanded Peter to shower her with his attention. But you couldn’t blame Peter, either, because Gamora was close to perfection… so, all you did was blaming yourself and pretending to be happy for the slyest thief in the galaxy day after day.

Truth be told, every night when you closed your eyes you imagined how it would feel like if the Zehoberei woman just simply got out of the picture, but with God as your witness, you never wished for her departure to be this way. When Thanos revealed on the Titan that he’d murdered her, the confession broke Peter and seeing him like that broke you.

Then came the Snap.

Peter pulverized in your arms and you would have given everything in the entire galaxy to trade your life for his. Later on, you joined Rocket and you’ve been by his side ever since as he appeared to be the only one to share your grief and understand your pain, but more importantly, he was the only other remaining member of the guardians and being close to him reminded you of better times.

Your fingers inch a bit closer to the machete’s handle but when you try to flick it in your direction the only thing you manage to do is just push it farther away.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” you yell as a generous amount of the monster’s saliva lands on your neck a second later. “Could this situation get any worse?”

The answer comes right away when the thing overpowers you and you feel a set of razor-sharp teeth sink into your shoulder. The scream ripping from your lungs makes your own blood run cold. You close your eyes and await the next – and probably the last - lash out but it never comes. Instead, you hear a gun shot and the beast collapses onto you. Realizing that you’re still alive and kicking, you push it off and freeze at the sight of your savior. He’s standing far away, face not visible, but you could recognize that stance anywhere.

“Peter?!” you scream his name and hope he heard it through all the turmoil.

The stranger touches the side of his mask to reveal the face you haven’t seen in the past five years but dreamt of every single night.

Not minding the shoulder wound you jump to your feet and start limping towards him, picking up the pace when you see him do the same. Within a couple of seconds, the distance is closed, and you fall into his arms, tears streaming down your face. The familiar minty scent invades your nostrils and you can feel his stubble tickle your face. It’s him. It’s really him. You hug him even tighter.

“Peter…” you lean away a few inches to be able to look into his eyes but before you can say anything, he crashes his lips onto yours, leaving you completely dumbfounded. You kiss him back, nevertheless.

“What was that for?” you ask after breaking apart, shielding your genuine curiosity with a small smile.

“I love you.” He breathes against your lips, panting heavily.

Your eyes widen.

“Okay, I must have a little monster saliva clogging my ears because what I heard was that you love me and that cannot be the real reason.”

He lets out a chuckle.

“I don’t know about the saliva sweetheart, but you heard me right.”

You eye him suspiciously.

“I don’t get it.”

His signature lopsided smile appears on his face, but his gaze radiates sadness. You remind him of what his mom used to tell him about the tragedy of butterflies. Their wings are exquisitely beautiful and yet they can’t see them, just as you can’t see your own beauty and worth.

“I’ve loved you for quite a while now, Y/N.” he caresses your cheek with his thumb. “When we became friends…uhm… with benefits… I-I thought it was better than nothing, so I went along. But deep inside I knew it was not enough for me. And I couldn’t imagine a galaxy where someone like you would seriously be interested in someone like me. So, when Gamora showed up I decided to move on and try to develop a healthy relationship with somebody else… so much for that, huh?”

“Oh, Peter…” you begin but he hushes you.

“Ssshh, okay, just let me finish please.” He takes a deep breath, obviously struggling to hold back tears. “I cared for her. I really did. But when I woke up in that strange place, do you know who’s name I was screaming for hours? Yours. I loved her but I’m in love with you. Promise you’ll never leave me, please.”

You open your mouth to respond but a series of gunshots rip through the air missing your head just by inches and one of Thanos’ mutant soldiers collapses behind your back.

“I’m really glad you two idiots have finally figured your shit out but we’re on a battlefield right now and I can’t keep on saving your asses while you’re having a heart-to-heart!”

Nebula’s familiar voice provides an explanation for the shots but when you both turn to her direction, she’s not alone. You can feel a knot form in your stomach.

“Gamora?” Peter asks incredulously.

“Who’s this guy?” the person in question turns to Nebula with a clueless facial expression.

“He was hitting on you in an attempt to forget how desperately in love he was with the girl he’s holding right now.”

Gamora’s eyebrows fly up.

“Wow… and the me in this dimension didn’t see through the situation? No wonder she’s dead.”

“This dimension? What’s going on? Is she from a different one?” you find your voice and address the question to Nebula.

“We don’t have time for this. I’ll tell everything after this is over... you know, on the off chance we survive...” She flashes a mechanic smile and disappears with her sister.

Peter is still staring at the place where they stood just seconds ago. You gently put your palm on the side of his face and make him look you in the eyes.

“I promise!” you vow and kiss him hungrily.

There are two things you’re hoping for at the moment - you want to survive this battle more than anything so you could be with Peter and you also pray that Gamora’s return won’t affect a single thing.

[explodingcrenelation]

Tony Stark and the Messianic Archetype in Avengers: Endgame

* * * * * S P O I L E R S ahead for Avengers: Endgame * * * * *

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From a purely analytical standpoint, I don’t have anything against Tony’s character arc in Endgame culminating with his death. His last moments in the heat of battle weren’t rushed, poorly written, or unearned. If Tony Stark was going to die on screen, of course he’d do it like a goddamn badass—and he did.

At this point Marvel is telling a single story to millions upon millions of people and there’s no way they can craft a narrative to suit every single person. When I say Tony's death didn’t work for me, I do so knowing that Marvel wasn’t writing the story for me anyway. And I'm not trying to disparage the creative team's efforts and storytelling choices. They made a call. I don’t agree it was the right one.

For me, Tony’s death traps him inside a Messianic Archetype that doesn’t elevate his character in a wholly satisfying way and doesn’t fit the themes of the established, team-centric universe. In this essay I will…

…actually write a fucking 4000-word essay, so buckle up and read on if you’re in for the ride.

What Is the Messianic Archetype?

The Messianic Archetype is a messiah trope. It’s exactly what it sounds like—one person (usually (but not always) white, usually (but not always) male) who sacrifices themselves for the greater good. 

Here’s how TV Tropes puts it: 

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the Messianic Archetype will include one or more of the following:

- The Chosen One. - True Companions who follow him. - Betrayal by one of those followers. - Persecution by nonbelievers. - Crucified Hero Shot (or other parallels to the Passion Play). - Figurative or literal resurrection. - A Second Coming. - The initials JC.

Some examples of Messianic Archetypes in popular narratives are: Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (or Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness), Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows, Superman in Batman vs Superman, or Neo in the Matrix trilogy. The Doctor in Doctor Who is frequently and repeatedly presented as a messiah figure. Multiple incarnations of Sherlock also follow suit in multiple imaginings of the the Reichenbach Falls scenario. (I won’t go into details with any of these characters. I trust the Messianic Archetypes here are obvious to anyone familiar with these stories.) 

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, we see Messianic Archetypes popping up all over the place—like daisies! Steve plays this part when he sacrifices himself in The First Avenger to stop Red Skull's plan to bomb several major American cities. His time in the ice is a kind of death from which he is subsequently “resurrected” in modern day New York. To a lesser extent, he also offers himself up as a sacrifice to save Bucky in The Winter Soldier. 

T’Challa follows this pattern in Black Panther when he’s betrayed by W’Kabi, defeated by Killmonger, and subsequently resurrected within the safety of M’Baku’s tribe. 

In the first Thor movie, Thor is betrayed by Loki, sacrifices himself to the Destroyer to protect his human friends, and he comes back from near-death with the return of Mjölnir, having proven himself worthy of the hammer. 

Carol Danvers destroys Mar-Vell’s engine in Captain Marvel to keep enemies from getting their hands on tech that could harm millions of innocent people. Her human life symbolically ends in the subsequent explosion, and she’s effectively reborn with superpowers.

Pepper Potts is betrayed by her former colleague Killian in Iron Man 3, selected as his “chosen one” for the Extremis injection, and she dies and is reborn from fire.

Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2—

Well, I could go on for a long time, but... you get the idea. 

The Messianic Archetype isn’t particularly new to popular media, let alone the MCU. 

This trope is deeply, almost subconsciously, woven into the fabric of popular western storytelling. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Tropes are tropes for a reason—they speak to us on a cultural and instinctual level. We want to hear these stories over and over, replay them in new ways and look at them from different angles precisely because there is something meaningful in the narrative. 

And Tony Stark's narrative is no exception. His repeated acts of self-sacrifice fit into the Messianic Archetype very, very well.

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Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart

The MCU kicked off in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie and Tony Stark has ostensibly been the main character of the franchise from the beginning. 

The Iron Man movies establish early on that Tony has a savior complex to match the size of his ego. Our genius playboy billionaire philanthropist is a deeply flawed hero who started out his career as a maker of WMDs. He was widely known as “The Merchant of Death” before he saw the error of his ways. Tony understands he has done many Bad Things and he must atone for those Bad Things—with his life, if necessary.

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. ... I finally know what I have to do and I know in my heart that it’s right.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

The first Iron Man movie climaxes with Tony ordering Pepper to blow the Arc Reactor to stop Stane’s rampage, even though Tony might perish in the process. In Iron Man 2, Tony is actively dying from palladium poisoning, but he faces down Vanko (sans Iron Man suit) on the speedway of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. In the first Avengers movie, we see Tony put his life on the line to get a nuclear weapon out of New York.

This is a repeated pattern for Tony, and like an addict, it’s one he struggles to break. Over and over Tony flings himself into the fray, believing he’s the one who makes the difference—he’s the willing sacrifice whose blood saves the world. 

Tony selects himself to be “the chosen one” because he sees himself as the one at fault for bringing evil into the world. 

“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter, I said it cause he said it. ...So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn’t even know it.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 shows us just how deeply responsible Tony feels for the wrongs of the world. Because he made naive (and selfish) mistakes when he was young, Tony blames himself for creating villains that plague the earth now. 

We see this best in the aftermath of the destruction of Tony’s mansion in Malibu. 

“Pepper, it’s me. I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. ...And I’m sorry in advance because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy. You got to stay safe. That’s all I know.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Yes, Tony absolutely provoked the Mandarin, a known terrorist, and the result is the complete annihilation of Tony’s home. Tony accepts responsibility for the destruction as though he was the one who shot the missiles himself. He goes so far as to volunteer himself for a solo mission to find the Mandarin without even bothering to contact SHIELD or the Avengers for help. He made this mess, he’s going to clean it up. All the while he suffers through crippling anxiety and panic attacks, demonstrating that the burden he’s put on his own shoulders is, in fact, too much for him to handle by himself. Still, Tony denies himself the comforts of home and family until he can atone for his wrongdoings.

Miraculously, Iron Man 3 gives Tony a respite when the tables are turned and, for once, Tony is the one ultimately saved by Pepper. After her rescue (pun intended), Tony gives up the armor, commits to having the shrapnel taken out of his chest, and he starts rebuilding the literal ruins of his life—both physical and metaphorical.

The respite doesn’t last, of course, because recovery doesn’t go in a straight line—oh, and also the franchise isn’t over and the MCU kinda needs Iron Man. And so Tony slides back into familiar, self-destructive patterns. 

"Few years ago, I almost lost [Pepper], so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then. I never stopped. 'Cause the truth is, I don't wanna stop.” —Tony Stark, Civil War

Tony taking on the mantle of the Messianic Archetype once more in Endgame falls perfectly in line with his established need to compulsively and perpetually atone for his sins. As a perfectionist who needs to assuage his guilt for his ongoing (and perceived) failures, Tony simply can’t stop himself from offering up his life in penance. Statistically it was bound to catch up with him, and in Endgame it does.

And not only does Tony give his life in true Messianic fashion, we are “treated” to a hyper-realistic and painfully extended sequence where his life drains out of him as his loved ones gather to witness him gasping out his last breath. (Thanks for that, by the way, Marvel. I’ll put this scene with the dead baby bunnies my childhood cat used to bring home as gifts. How thoughtful.)

Maybe the reason for the intensity of Tony’s death scene is to make the audience believe his death is the Real Thing, not some comic-book-superhero-movie trickery that he’ll be back from in a few minutes’ time. Perhaps it’s the only way to ensure we commit to the emotional depth of the moment. Perhaps the filmmakers see it as an homage to RDJ’s acting talent and commitment to the role. Regardless of the rationale behind the camera’s unflinching gaze, Tony’s excruciating death hammers home the brutal and lonely reality of the Messianic Archetype: it’s cruel to put the fate of the world on one person’s shoulders. 

But Tony embraces that end. He throws himself into the machinery of fate, convinced he’s the cog that will make it all work. 

And he does make it work. 

So why is that a problem?

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The Team-Oriented Universe

The problem with Tony doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on the Messianic Archetype at the apex of the franchise is that the MCU is an ensemble, team-oriented universe. 

“You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." —Nick Fury, Iron Man

Fury tells us from the get-go that Tony isn’t the be-all-end-all of the MCU. It’s possible for Tony—for them all—to become something greater than the sum of their parts. 

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.” —Nick Fury, Avengers

The entire first Avengers movie is dedicated to establishing this premise, to getting these knuckleheads to work together because, alone, they’re too wrapped up in their own bullshit to adequately deal with the forces that threaten the planet. Things don’t start to go right for them until they set aside their personal issues and act as a unit. 

As we all know, our team passes the test and they establish an important principle of the MCU: teamwork is powerful and it’s more effective than working solo. 

True, Tony’s self-sacrifice in the context of the Battle of New York helps save the day; but it’s only one part of a coordinated effort. Tony chucking the nuke into space would have been pointless without the added efforts of Steve to coordinate civilian safety, Hawkeye to relay enemy movements, Thor to separate Loki from the scepter, Natasha to close the portal, and Hulk to subdue Loki and ultimately catch Tony as he fell from the wormhole. The team achieved a better outcome together than they each could have achieved separately. 

But even in the shared afterglow of winning the Battle of New York, the individual members of the team struggle to perfect their dynamic. New challenges present themselves. There’s always room for the team to grow and become stronger together as the franchise progresses. That’s the whole point. 

Tony, for his part, waffles back and forth between his desire to be the savior mechanic (to fix everything by himself) and his desire to work cooperatively with his found-family of superheroes for the common good. This internal conflict plays out over the course of the franchise as Tony takes on the Mandarin by himself in Iron Man 3. The issue then escalates in Age of Ultron when Tony convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. Murder-bot problems and team drama ensue. Tony’s cycle of guilt perpetuates itself in the wake of the disaster in Sokovia, which prompts Tony to adopt the Sokovia Accords. He submits himself and the team to UN governance in Civil War. More team drama ensues.

The logical progression of this escalating team conflict should have involved Tony confronting his deep-seated compulsion to destroy himself for the sake of others. This is exactly the problem Pepper keeps trying to point out to him—his Messianic tendencies have started to cause more problems than they solve. 

“There is nothing except this. ... There's the next mission, and nothing else.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

Tony has struggled from the beginning to find the right balance between personal sacrifice and sharing team effort. 

Pepper frequently tries to remind Tony that he doesn’t live alone in the world, he can’t do it all by himself. And there are people who want him to live. 

“You’re all I have, too, you know.” —Pepper Potts, Iron Man

Imagine how emotionally satisfying it would have been to see Tony outgrow his need for sacrificial penance and internalize a better lesson: that the savior can be saved, the burden can be shared, and life can go on. 

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A Better Ending for Tony

The MCU had the perfect opportunity to give us an ending that would be happier for Tony and a better fit for a team-centric universe. 

In Guardians of the Galaxy we see Peter Quill and his team survive the power of an Infinity Stone by working together to share the burden of its energy. 

Peter Quill is the son of a Celestial—he’s basically immortal up until the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That’s why he and his team could hold the stone without any ill effects. 

Also, they only had to channel the power of one stone. Not six. 

That’s a fair point. 

But by the time Tony had all of the Infinity Stones in Endgame, the battlefield was chock full of all kinds of superheroes. Wanda and Carol by themselves are  embodiments of two of the Infinity Stones. Hulk had managed to bear all of the stones by himself earlier in the movie. Steve, T’challa, and Bucky are enhanced super soldiers. Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians might not be Celestials, but they are gods—and there were a lot of them on that field.

And we’re supposed to believe none of these characters could offer any help to Tony whatsoever? None of them could hold Tony’s hand for a single minute to save his life?

There are plenty of arguments that could be made: Tony was too fast, no one knew what was happening, or everyone else was occupied in battle. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice the creative team made. Tony died because they wanted him to die. 

And not much would have to change to save his life. 

Imagine this: Tony gets the stones from Thanos and, in true Messianic Archetype fashion, he commits to making the snap, fully expecting it means his death—but then Pepper is there and Pepper has always been the one asking Tony to stop offering up his life to pay for some imaginary debt he thinks he owes. He hesitates, and it’s just long enough for Carol and Wanda swoop in, putting their hands on him and taking the brunt of the energy. Thor and Steve and Bruce and Clint pile on. Peter Parker links up, too, and on and on until the entire rest of the team, all across the battlefield, are in contact with each other and alight with power, channeling the energy of the six stones, keeping Thanos and his monsters at bay. 

Tony can still have his ultra-badass “I am Iron Man” moment as he stands at the center of this surging and fluxing cosmic energy—but this time he does it with support. There are people who care about him (and each other) on all sides. And there are so many of them. Tony isn’t the only one who matters, he’s just the lynch pin that holds it all together. 

Tony is Iron Man. 

More importantly? Together they’re all the Avengers. 

*SNAP*

The universe is set right.

Maybe Tony doesn’t escape entirely unscathed. Maybe he loses his arm as suggested by this post. Maybe the others all leave with their own scars, too. But Tony’s alive and he’s finally, deeply aware of what it means to transcend the limits of personal sacrifice and share the hero’s burden with others. 

He knows now exactly what the Avengers are capable of. Oh, and by the way? That protective shield he wanted around the world in Age of Ultron? Here they all are. All these wonderful, powerful people are going to protect the Earth. And you know what? They don’t need Tony Stark’s myopic self-sacrifice to do it. 

Tony finally feels like he’s done enough—and maybe now he believes there are other heroes out there who can do better than he can. Anyway, he gets to go home to Morgan and Pepper and he finds that it’s not so hard for him to let the new kids do the tough jobs now. He happily goes back to his role as “consultant” for the Avengers, he’s a mad inventor helping change the world for the better, and he also gets to have the long adventure of being a husband and a dad. He doesn’t have to choose one identity over the other—he’s Iron Man. He can redefine what the job means whenever he wants to.

(Also, he finds a way to rescue Nat because she didn’t deserve to be fridged like that. Just saying.)

This ending, or any number of variations like it, would have allowed Tony to finally show real growth at the end of his character arc, instead of succumbing to the same old self-destructive pattern we've seen from him time and time again. And it would have reinforced the theme of teamwork and its power to elevate all those who participate. 

Maybe it’s cheesy, but you know what? It’s the ending I wanted. I know I’m not alone. 

+

.

Tony’s Not Really Dead, You Say? 

“There’s no need to be upset about Tony’s death,” some might say. “Tony’s gonna come back!” 

Resurrection is a huge part of the Messianic Archetype—and it might be that the filmmakers do intend to bring Tony back in some later movie. It might be they simply want Tony’s death in Endgame to sit a little while longer so it has a greater impact. (Gotta push for that best picture Oscar, right? The Oscars hate superhero movies, but they do love a sad ending.)

While I’m wishing for things, maybe Marvel will also release the multiple alternate endings they filmed for Endgame, essentially creating a “choose your own adventure.” Maybe we’ll all be able to pick the ending we like best and forget the rest exist. 

But I can’t make a judgement based on what might be, I can only say how I feel based on what we were given in the theater—for all intents and purposes, that’s the official story Marvel wants to share. 

The Endgame narrative insists there’s only one possible path to victory against Thanos. The “one possible path” is basically the equivalent of the creative team saying, “Don’t @ me.” There certainly must have been an impossible number of endings they could have put on film. Tony’s death is the one they picked. 

So, sorry for @ing you, Marvel, I guess, but there’s just one more point I want to make...

+

.

A Personal Note

RDJ acted the hell out of Tony's final scene. He acted the hell out of the whole franchise. Tony's death was powerful and intensely moving. I wanted to ugly cry in the lobby after the movie was over, and I was upset for days after. 

So. Good job, Marvel. You got in some surprises and you wrung out some feelings from viewers like me. Now that the movie’s taken the world by storm, the surprises will play themselves out. So, I guess the big question is: Will audiences want to revisit this adventure and the feelings you ultimately left them with? 

For me? My reluctant answer is: no. I don’t want to see Infinity War or Endgame again. Not really. Not in their entirety. I didn’t mind the slog through Infinity War in 2018 because I thought, Hey, maybe this is leading to an ultimately happy and satisfying conclusion for these characters I care about so much. And, to be fair—right up until the last 15 minutes of Endgame, I was ready to say, “All’s forgiven.” 

There’s this thing in storytelling called “payoff.” It’s when you deliver a satisfying resolution or fulfillment to your audience after they commit to your narrative journey. Payoff can be extraordinarily subjective, so, again, I acknowledge that there’s no way to please everyone. 

For me, there’s no reward in the resolution of Endgame that makes the slog to its conclusion worth it. Tony’s ending is so needlessly sacrificial, so unnecessarily brutal, that it erases much of the enjoyment I otherwise had in watching the entire rest of the film. 

Don’t get me wrong. I like sad movies and scary movies in their own context. I like them when I can choose them and know that’s what I'm getting myself into. Sometimes I want the catharsis of being utterly terrified or brought to tears. Sometimes we need stories to give us the chance to feel deep and scary emotions in a safe environment. That’s an important function of creative work.

And, I mean, truly, Endgame gave us some great acting, great effects. Amazing talent. Really fun and creative moments. I’m not trying to disparage all the work that went into its making. 

But I feel like someone took me in a limo to a high-class restaurant to eat caviar and watch sad arthouse theater when all I really wanted was to go into town with my friends for some ice cream and a fun movie. 

I didn’t need rainbow-colored sprinkles on my ending, but something a bit sweeter would have been nice. So, well done, Marvel. But also—no, thank you. 

As it stands, Endgame was too bitter for my taste.

[shyficwriter]

Bet I Can

Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic | Reader, Yondu, Peter, Rocket, Kraglin, Drax.

Summary: Rocket doesn’t get how you never seem to laugh and the team starts a bet pool to see who can get you to laugh first.

Author’s Note: Another one of those “I must write this down now to get it out of my head.” stories. Hope you enjoy. Maybe I can focus more on my prompts now lol. Inspired by this scene.

Word Count: 2,797

“Geeze! Don’t you ever laugh?!” Rocket exclaimed. He had just finished telling a joke that had the other’s wheezing, and you merely sat there and grinned.

“Well, yeah?” you said, raising an eyebrow. “Just because I didn’t laugh at your joke doesn’t mean that I never laugh.”

“I’ve never seen you laugh. Not once.” the raccoon said indignantly. “I don't get it! I mean, you look at Quill’s face every day, that alone should do it!”

“Hey!” Peter protested. Drax laughed and pointed at him.

You stand, rolling your eyes and sigh with a smile. “I don’t know what to tell you.” you say shrugging your shoulders and heading off to finish your chores.

When you were gone Peter spoke to Rocket. “Bet you 20 units I can make her laugh before you can.”

“You’re on, Star-munch!”

“Can I get in on this? I can make anyone laugh, I’m hilarious.” Drax said, earning a snort from Rocket. “See.”

“Um, sure buddy.” Peter said with a grin. “Anyone else want in?”

Kraglin and Yondu opted to join the bet, while Gamora chose to stay out of it and Mantis and Groot were happy enough just watching to see who would win.

They set some ground rules.  Rule 1: No one could tell you about the bet, for obvious reasons. Rule 2: Only up to three attempts per day per person, too many and they thought you might get suspicious.  Rule 3: No physical humor, i.e: No trying to make you laugh by tripping or otherwise injuring someone else. (This rule was mainly for Rocket, again for obvious reasons.) Rule 4: If one of them did succeed in making you laugh it had to be in front of at least 2 other people or it didn’t count. Witnesses or it didn’t happen, in other words.

Not unexpectedly, it didn’t take long for you to figure out they must have had some sort of bet going on. It was immediately obvious they were all trying different ways to make you laugh.

First, there was Drax. He would come up to you at least twice a day with a joke, none of which were terribly good. He would ask you something like “Why did the chicken cross the road?” or “Why is 6 afraid of 7?” and you’d shake your head with a grin and say you didn’t know, even if you did know the punchline. Then he’d say the punchline, sometimes incorrectly or even the completely wrong punchline for the joke being told, but he would still laugh as if it was the greatest joke in the world. You’d smile and tell him “Good one, Drax.” and move on. His enthusiasm was endearing.

Peter was also trying his best. He’d also crack the occasional joke or tell you a funny story. The stories were better than most of his jokes, but by now you had figured out what they were trying to do and weren’t going to give them the satisfaction of getting more than a smile, knowing it would make them crazy. You had to have your own fun too, right?

Peter was slightly salty about not having gotten you to laugh yet. He knew one surefire way that was just bound to work, but unfortunately he couldn’t use it. You see, you were also Terran and therefore you were likely also ticklish. It could be an easy instant win for him, even if it might be considered cheating. However, because of the witnesses rule, he didn’t dare try it. To do so would be to inevitably out himself to the team on this closely guarded secret “Terran weakness” and he wasn’t about to risk it for a bet. He’d never live it down. The only other person who knew about it was Yondu, who Peter had convinced years ago that Terrans outgrow it as they got older and he planned to keep it that way.

You noticed that Kraglin was trying as well, though not quite as hard as the others. He did happen to have better jokes, however, most of them pun based. His embarrassing Peter stories were fairly funny too, and you almost forgot you were making an effort not to laugh when he told the one about Peter having a prank backfire on himself and Peter walked as he was telling it, complaining, “Oh c’mon dude! Not cool!”

Then there was Rocket. His approach was a little different at first, like how one day he jumped out of a cabinet you were opening and scared you half to death. “SON OF A FUCK!” You cried out, jumping back and clutching your chest to stop your heart from escaping. Rocket, of course, was laughing hysterically.

“What? That was supposed to be funny!” he half laughed, half complained. 

“You nearly gave me a heart attack, you demon monkey!” you scolded, panting. “Get out of here before I rip your tail off!”

He complained and accused you of having no sense of humor, but he did stick to more conventional methods to try and get a laugh out of you after that, none of which were successful in getting more than a grin out of you.

Yondu didn’t really seem to be trying anything at all and you assumed that perhaps he wasn’t in on whatever bet the other three had going, as it had been going on for nearly a week and he just went about his days as normal, same as Gamora and Mantis. However, you had a feeling Gamora at least knew about the bet even if she wasn’t participating, as you caught her several times rolling her eyes at some of Peter’s lamer attempts. Groot almost seemed oblivious to it all.

A couple more days passed like this and you were considering telling them you knew what they were up to. You weren’t sure how many more of Drax’s awful jokes you could take, they were starting to get grating.

You walked into the common area where the others were hanging out and sat at the table to doodle while you contemplated just how far you’d let this go. After a few moments Yondu walks into the room and sits down across from you.

You briefly look up from your notepad. “Hey.”

“Wo bolilo bolobo,” the blue man responded.

You raised an eyebrow, taken aback, and look back up at him in bewilderment. “I- I’m sorry?”

“Bo belly bolya boolya bo.” Yondu replied as he looked you dead in the eye.

“What?” you set your pen down.

“Bah beloo.”

“What are you doing?” you say, semi-exasperated and fairly confused.

Yondu leaned back and gestured as if he were just talking about the weather, “Bo belly bolya wobolilo.”

“Whatever.” you say, grabbing your pen again and doing your best to brush him off as he finished his sentence of gibberish.

Yondu continued to watch your expression as you tried to go back to doodling and saw the corners of your mouth twitch and your nostrils flare. Jackpot.

“Bo bolya belly belly.” he started again, this time in a tone one would use if they were being slightly overdramatic about being bored as he leaned forward and folded his arms over the table.

You looked back up at him, concentrating on looking annoyed. ‘So, he’s in on it too.’ you thought. 

“Obele ubelue bar berllo.” he continued, making expressions as if this was just a normal conversation about what he did over the weekend. “Bobillo wobilli bobilly.” 

The others had become intrigued by this and watched on as the blue man spouted gibberish and you became flustered. You could hear Kraglin cracking up over on the couch.

“Are you done?” you asked, trying to keep your composure. You narrowed your eyes in an attempt to look as irritated as possible.

“Bo belly bolya be bo. Bah beloo. Bo belly belly.”

You could feel the corners of your mouth start to twitch again and you clenched your jaw. You’d be damned if you were going to let this... this ridiculousness break you. Not after over a week of holding it together, dammit!

Yondu continued his babbling as he watched your resolve slowly chip away. He had a feeling this would work. While the other’s had been busy pulling all their tricks from their hats he simply watched on to see what didn’t work and what came close, feeling out what your sense of humor might be. After a few days it became apparent that you had a sense of humor closer to Kraglin’s, as his attempts garnered the biggest and most genuine grins from you. Therefore, something ridiculous like this, which always cracked Kraglin, was worth a shot trying on you.

You shook your head in feigned annoyance and looked back down at your notebook once again, cursing yourself as your mouth turned upward in a grin that you could no longer suppress.

Rocket noticed this and smacked Peter to get his attention and whispered. “I think she’s finally gonna crack!” 

Drax looked mildly confused, expressing that he didn’t understand why you would find that funny only to be shushed by Peter. Normally Peter would have been salty knowing he was likely losing the bet but as of right now none of them really cared who won anymore as long as someone could finally crack you. It had been over a week and they had already used up all their ideas and started to think the endeavor was impossible. At least now they might get to see if it was even possible to completely crack you.

“Wobolilobolobo Bo belly bolya wobolilo.” He took your notepad now to get your attention, turning it towards himself and pointing at different parts of your doodles and commenting on them in gibberish. 

You inhaled sharply through your nose and clenched your fists, clinging to the last strings of your composure as you felt laughter trying to force it’s way up your throat. ‘Dammit!’ This wasn’t fair. You were going to lose it to this buffoonery, of all things. It wasn’t just the fact that he was babbling gibberish that was cracking you, it was the fact that he was doing so without even cracking a smile himself. He was doing it all completely deadpan and that just made it worse.

Kraglin was in no better shape from across the room. He was biting his fist to try to quell his own laughter. He never could take it when Yondu started babbling. The rest of the team were intently watching now, realizing that this was going to be the moment. You were breaking.

He looked at you and turned your notebook back around, pointing at it once last time. “Ubelue bar berllo.”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You finally broke with a short mix between a strangled chuckle and a snort, and from there it was over. 

As soon as you broke Yondu changed the tone of his babbling to one someone would use if they were trying to figure out what the joke was, and that only opened the dam wider for your giggles to escape. You covered your mouth but that couldn’t stop them. When this happened he changed tone again to one of mild offense. “Obele ube wobo berllo.” he said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes and looking offended that you were laughing at him. This, of course, only made your giggles turn into full blown laughter.

You held your stomach and looked at Yondu with squinty eyes full of mirth. You uncovered your mouth and smacked the table to whine out “Whyyy??” through your laughter. You didn’t expect an answer, but that didn’t stop the blue man from providing one in gibberish to you, which made you bring your forehead to the table in helpless laughter as you held your sides. You laughed like this for a good 10 to 20 seconds before you were able to lift your head and try to catch your breath. Of course when you did that then he started back up with the gibberish and you broke down all over again, unable to stop yourself.

You were absolutely shaking with laughter by now. “Stop! Stop! Please stop!” you laughed. “I can- I can’t breathe!” you managed to choke out as you panted for air.

Most of the team broke out into grins and giggles as they watched Yondu don a mischievous grin and respond to your pleas with more gibberish, making you stamp your foot and double over once again as you wheezed. 

“Ok! Ok! HAHAHA You win! You- you already won! Please stohop! AHAHA I can’t take it.” you cried out. You couldn’t remember a time when you laughed this hard.

“Hey!” Rocket spoke up. “Who told you about the bet?”

“It-it hehe was obvious.” You get out through residual giggles. “You-you didn’t haha hide it very well.” You rested your head back on the table and closed your eyes as you swallowed lungfuls of much needed air. “Just pay the man... hehe... so he’ll stop.” You panted and avoided looking back up at Yondu, knowing if you did he might start back up with the babbling again and your stomach already hurt from laughing so much.

After a moment of grumbles from the others as they transferred the units to Yondu you finally look up, breathing deeply. You opened your eyes to see a mischievous smirk on Yondu’s face. “Don’t-” you started, but were interrupted with more gibberish from the blue man, making you erupt into giggles again.

“Yondhuhu I said-”

“Wobolilobolobo”

“AhahHAH youhuhu blue aSS-”

“Bo belly bolya wobolilo...”

“STAHP-”

“Bobbily bo bilo boli.”

You were now crying and howling with laughter so hard you couldn’t speak.

“Looks like we found your kryptonite.” Peter laughed. You flipped him the bird.

“I don’t know what kryptonite is, but it must be Kraglin’s too.” Mantis said, pointing at the Xandarian.

You managed to look over through squinty tear filled eyes to see Kraglin absolutely losing his shit along with you. His cheeks were flushed a slightly bluish color and you were momentarily worried before you remembered that would be his normal blush, because of the blue blood and all.

“Cap, please! Hahaha! You’re gonna make me pee myself!” he laughed helplessly, nearly falling off his seat.

Yondu chuckled and stood. “Fine, I guess that’s enough fer tonight. My work here is done.” He stretched and walked out of the room humming to himself, quite satisfied.

Rocket looked at you and Kraglin as you both took this as a moment to breathe, residual giggles still bubbling up. “You guys sure do have a weird sense of humor.” he said, shaking his head. He turned to you, “But at least we know you can laugh now.” he teased.

You waved him off and leaned on the table, exhausted. “Satisfied? Can you let it rest now, turd muncher?” 

“Hey! Don’t make me pick up where the blue guy left off and have you laughing until you can’t breathe again.”

Too exhausted from laughing yourselves silly to leave and sure he might follow if you did, you and Kraglin both just warned him at the same time. “Rat.” “Don’t even-”

He crossed his arms with a smirk and tried to babble like Yondu had been. However his smirk soon turned to disappointment when he noticed he wasn’t getting even a grin from either of you.

“Oh thank god.” you sigh in relief. “It’s not the same.”

“Good, I would had died.” Kraglin admitted, covering his eyes and slouching down in his seat.

“Oh, you’re no fun.” Rocket complained and left the room, Groot following close behind.

As one would expect, this became the new thing on the ship. Whenever Yondu was just in the mood to mess with you he’d come up and start gibbering as if it was normal conversation. You could always tell when that’s what he was coming for if you were paying attention as there would a a glint in his eye. Kraglin came to realize this too and it wouldn’t be a strange sight to see Kraglin quickly leaving a room while trying to suppress a goofy grin or trying to stifle his own giggles after realizing what the Centaurian was about to do and just "NOPE”-ing the hell out of there if he valued the ability to breathe.

Sometimes Yondu would leave you a giggly mess, other times he’d keep it up until you were wheezing. Either way was amusing to anyone else who happened to be in the room when it happened, especially Peter, who’d often tease you about getting Yondu to unleash your kryptonite if he thought you needed a laugh. 

Needless to say, you had much more laughter in your life after that bet.

[elcorhamletlive]

MCU Rewatch: Guardians of The Galaxy, Vol. 2

(yes, I realize the order is wrong. I’m not skipping Doctor Strange, I promise - I just messed up the order in my head and had to just go with it lol)

There’s nothing I don’t love about that first battle scene. SO FUN. BABY GROOT DANCING. And I love that each of the Guardians has a small interaction with him, which kind of hints a little at the theme of parenting that’s gonna be so huge in this movie.

I love that Gamora is like “Groot be careful! ...Also, hi”. I feel like Gamora has this... almost awkwardness about her that makes her really endearing, and really sets her apart from other MCU female characters, especially at this point when there’s so few of them.

“I HAVE SINGLE-HANDLEDLY VANQUISHED THE BEAST!” cracks me up. lol

I know Drax’s comic relief can be overused at times but Dave Bautista just kills me and I adore every time he opens his mouth lmao

I think one of my favorite things about this franchise in general is that everything about it is just so unapologetically WEIRD. Like. Everything about the Sovereign. Gamora kindly providing support to Peter about his dad and then earnestly going “if he’s evil, we’ll just kill him” in the end (and Peter doesn’t react). Nebula’s mini quest to eat the fruit. Peter thoughtfully staring at a picture of David Hasselhof and then to Ego. I love it.

Awww, Rocket singing for Groot to sleep. So cute.

I also love Nebula’s thirst for violence feaking Kraglin out. I feel like one thing that this movie does right with its female characters is that it allows them to be as weird and off-putting as the universe around them, as opposed to making them pristine and put together.

I understand and agree with most of the criticisms of the treatment Mantis gets in this movie, but I really like her relationship with Drax. I think the moment where she touches him and breaks down is such a beautiful scene.

Groot with the human toe never fails to make me smile.

This movie is visually stunning. So many gorgeous shots.

Saldana and Pratt have so much chemistry. The scene where Peter and Gamora dance is so good. I like that them getting together isn’t just about Peter learning to be less of a manchild, but also about Gamora learning to open up. It’s a mutual journey.

I love that Gamora is just sitting in an empty planet, a ship shows up and starts shooting at her, and she just immediately KNOWS it’s Nebula. lol

The fact that Nebula blames Gamora for Thanos’ abuse of her is like. TOO REAL for a movie about spaceships, and it’s one of the things that make this franchise special.

Ego is a villain that has “evil” written on his forehead since his very first shot, true, but I love how the narrative makes him appeal to Quill’s arrogance by talking up all this shit about how important he is, and how meaningless and pointless everything else around them is, and then rejects it as an evil position. Ego is kind of embodiment of some very toxic traditional male narratives, and the way the movie openly tears them apart, instead valuing the found family and the love that living beings share for each other, gives me life.

It’s a small thing, but I have feelings about how fucking horrified Gamora is after Mantis plays with her emotions and makes her scared. I feel like it hits her in a very personal level (a loss of autonomy she didn’t experience even under Thanos), but also I feel like it’s a glimpse of how fucking terrifying Mantis’ abilities can truly be. Girl is one sense of morality away from being Killgrave.

“All you do is yell at each other. You’re not friends.” “You’re right. We’re family. And we leave no one behind” is like, a nice sum up of everything I love about these movies.

The tape sequence cracks me up. And “I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!” always makes me smile.

I don’t like the moment where the rock hits Mantis’ head. This, I think, is a rare moment where the humor does break the epicness of the moment.

I feel like I haven’t said anything about Rocket or Yondu’s arc here, and it’s weird because those are my favorite parts of the movie by a mile, but it’s an arc that actually hits deeply to me for reasons I can’t fully explain. Guardians was the first the MCU movie I watched, so before I fell into the Steve pit, Rocket was my favorite MCU character, and I love everything this movie does with him. How he’s so terrible, all the time, and how his characterization is consistent, and how he’s called out on it by someone who does exactly the same thing (and we can look back on this movie and the previous and be like “oh, yeah, they both totally do this”). The way he shoots Gamora and says he can only lose one friend today, and how Drax grows desperate in the background going “where’s Quill?”. I love it.

“You are a God. If you kill me, you’ll be just like everybody else.” “What’s so wrong with that?” <33333333333333333333 NOT ENOUGH HEARTS IN THE WORLD FOR TO EXPRESS HOW I FEEL.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do none of it right. But I’m damn lucky you was my boy” is one of the lines in the MCU that makes me cry the hardest. It’s hard to explain without getting into, like, extensive personal detail, but... this movie just makes me think of my dad, for several reasons, and how he and Yondu share some weird similarities, and how much this closure hits me hard because I’d like to get something like this one day. 

And I fucking love that “the thing you were looking for all along was right by your side” is framed to refer to Gamora and Nebula’s relationship, instead of her romance with Peter.

The way Nebula immediately turns in a fighting stance when Gamora touches her. That tentative hug. “You’ll always be my sister”. God.

Kraglin calling Peter “Pete” <333

“FATHER AND SON”. THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THIS MOVIE ARE JUST WATERWORKS.

Okay, it’s over, and I stopped crying. There are two scenes that just fuck me in this movie: the first one is Yondu’s death, for the reasons I mentioned about; the second one is Rocket watching Yondu’s funeral. I just... love the wonder in his face when he sees the Ravagers came, that even though Yondu fucked up and drove them away, they still came for him in the end. The overall message of Rocket’s arc, that no matter how much you hate yourself and try to make everyone around you hate you back, people still can, and will, love you. I just... this movie fucks me up so much, guys. I love everything about it. It isn’t as tight as the first Guardians, there are a few awkward bits and a few jokes that don’t really land, but it’s so ambitious, it does so much, it unites every character in a single theme and it deals with all their arcs so well. I love it. I love it so much.

[yonblu]

someone: shut up

me: nothing can truly excuse yondu being a bad father to peter but how he was raised is understandable to a point considering yondu himself never had a family until he was twenty years old, and spent his entire childhood in slavery and knowing that his parents sold him into that life, and it’s also worth pointing out that the family he DID fine were ... ravagers. literal violent, rough space pirates ---- the only life he’s ever known is either getting hit or hitting other people. he also picked peter up on a whim like, ok actually hold on im rambling too much for this to be a joke post

i think it’s likely that yondu only found out about what ego was doing after picking quill up. OR WAIT. NO. i bet he knew, at that point, and picked peter up anyway, probably thinking he could ignore his conscience and complete the job. but he couldn’t. especially seeing peter so scared, probably curled up somewhere w/ his walkman absolutely frightened to death and in so much pain bc his mother had just died. yondu is ... rough, but he’s soft at heart. zero idea how to deal with kids or how to comfort them, but he probably tried his best. ended up making peter laugh. and then it’s like, oh no, can i really send this kid to his daddy just for him to die ?

oh my GODDDDD THIS GOT LONG IT’S GOING UNDER A READ MORE

so i think that’s when he decides to adopt peter, because he probably thinks it out of the question to just dump him back on terra ---- probably chats to him a bit and learned his mothers dead, anyway, so it’s like, what has this kid got to go back too ? he decides it on a whim, and then he has to justify that decision to the rest of his crew ( bc like, i doubt most of them would care abt what ego is doing, judging from their attitudes in gotg2 ). SO IT’S LIKE. he’s skinny, can fit into places adults can’t, good for thievin. and his crew r like yeah okay, good idea captain

SIDE NOTE that’s probably why peter thinks thats why yondu took him in. like, the crew thought that, so they told him, and yondu Can’t Act Soft, so he goes along with it. obviously peter believes that. he never heard otherwise.

and like !! we can’t ignore the fact yondu beat peter up to teach him how to fight. he probably didnt mean to scare him or like, give him permanent emotional damage, but that DID happen and he IS sorry about it, and can’t excuse that. he probably did it bc the ravager lifestyle is FULL of violence, and you have to know how to fight if you wanna survive, so better to teach him that from a young age. fuckign. lets him spar w/ the rest of the crew who also have like, no idea how to deal w a kid, so they’re probably way too rough w him.

god. and he rlly does love peter. it’s shown especially in peters flashbacks in gotg2 at the end, where we see yondu teaching him how to shoot. you CANNOT TELL ME there weren’t a bunch of soft moments like that, esp when it was just the two of them and yondu doesnt have to keep up appearances. a lot of what peter knows now is thanks to what yondu taught him. flying, shooting, stealing.

HES JUST !!! he wasnt a good dad. he didnt do it right. he didnt know how. but he loved peter, he always did, from the very first time he made him smile he’s been soft on him. despite everything: peter is his son. he’s family. and honestly, as much as he wishes he didnt break the ravager code ---- looking back, he doesn’t regret it, because otherwise he’d never have had peter. like this kid means the world to him, even if hes absolutely horrible at showing it. can i just fucking die im literally crying as i write this

AFTER GOTG2 WHEN HE SURVIVES and he’s well enough to be back on his feet, he works on rebuilding his relationship w/ peter. he rlly tries to act like a dad, even if its too late and he still... doesnt rlly know how.

anyway i love yondu. thanks

[missyslittlepet]

You knew you'd regret smart mouthing Tazerface but with a name like that who could blame you? You looked at the door they had just hauled a defeated Yondu and a cursing Rocket through. You could still hear Rocket threatening the men and promising to get you and Groot out of there. If there were two things these men had not seen in a long time it was a talking tree and a woman. Both of which they now had caged and bound up. "I AM GROOT!" Groot screamed, clinging onto the bars of his cage, trying to pull them apart. One of the men noticed this and flicked Groot hard in the stomach sending him flying to the other side of the cage with a small thud. "Hey asshole!" You shouted gaining the man's attention. "You leave him alone! Comprende?!" The man's laughter filled the ship. He threw Groot's cage to the floor and made his way over to you. Your arms and legs were still bound meaning you couldnt have defend yourself again the slap you received. Groot shouted at the sight of it and tried again to break free from the cage which was now rolling on its side like a defective hamster ball. You watched in horror as another one of the crew scooped the cage back up and let Groot out only to wrestle him into a small Ravagers uniform. Another then poured his alcohol over Groot. Groot tried his best to make his way towards you but was kicked away as soon as he got close. You could see the distress in his big brown eyes and it broke your heart. "It's going to be okay Groot - don't you worry about me." You said forcing a smile. Since Groot had become a seedling you had become a mother figure to him. This was cermented when you and Rocket had finally gotten together, him being basically a father to Groot anyway. You were suprised that everyone had accepted your relationship, if anything they seemed extremely happy for the two of you. Peter even joked that since the two of you had become 'official' Rocket had become more 'bearable to be around'. "I wouldn't be too sure about that lady!" Shouted Tazerface. He leant over you and grabbed your hair, pulling you forward out of the chair you were sat in. You did your best to stop the fall but could only do so much with bound wrists. The only thing holding you up was Tazerface's grip on your hair. He dragged you towards the door that lead to the air lock. You started to shout and wriggle - anything to get you away from it. You had watched helplessly as loads of Yondu's faithful men had met their demise there. Their iced over bodies still floated on the other side of the glass and it looked as if you were going to join them. Groot continued to scream so one of the men grabbed him and threw him back in the cage before carrying him out of the room. Tazerface forced you into the small compartment and slammed the door shut. You fell to the floor and looked up at him through the window. His finger hovered over the button that opened the main door and a creepy smile covered his disgusting face. "You should be more careful of what you say to the new Captain of the ship!" Rocket had always said you were a 'stubborn woman' and that 'one day your mouth will get you killed'. You had always laughed him off but now you were starting to think he had been right all along. However, it seemed you had already gained yourself a death sentence so what was the harm in pushing a little bit further? "You will never be a captain - especially with a name like fucking Tazerface!" You laugh despite your fear. "I could do it you know! Send you out there with the rest of those spineless Yondu worshipping bastards!" "Then what are you waiting for? An apology? You're sure as shit not going to get one of those." "I want you to break! I want to hear you plead for your life!" "I've never once pleaded for anything and I'm not going to start now." You said keeping eye contact. The ropes on your wrists and ankles were starting to hurt now and the patch of hair that Tazerface had lifted you by stung. "The I will keep you in here! Keep you in here until you either beg or I get bored of you." With that he turned and walked away, leaving you alone. You didn't fear much but one thing you hated was confined spaces. Only Rocket knew of your claustrophobia and always did his best to make sure you were never put in a situation where it would flare up. He wasn't here now though, he wasn't here to comfort you and keep you calm. You could feel your breathing begin to quicken and when one of the crews frozen bodies bumped off the glass next to you, you began to sob uncontrollably. Without a distraction you could feel the familiar weight in your chest and the feeling of the air getting thicker. You tried your best to compose yourself but the thought of being kept in here made you feel sick and you were sure the walls were closing in. You must have been there for hours when someone finally let you out. You were shaking and had your eyes closed tightly. Your breathing was still laboured but your tears had stopped. "It's okay (f/n), I'm here. Come on, we need to get going." You felt yourself relax at the familiar voice and when you felt a small warm hand stroke your cheek you finally opened your eyes. Rocket looked from you to the air lock compartment. He noted how small the space was and felt a pang of guilt fill his body. If only he had been able to get to you sooner. He didnt want to think about how scared you must have been. He quickly chewed the ropes around your wrists and ankles and saw how raw the skin underneath them was. It was obvious that you had tried your hardest to escape them. He pulled you into a hug that you returned eagerly and strokes the back of your neck. "Come on princess, we have a ship but we need to go quickly." He whispers before placing a quick kiss to your temple. "I promise everything is gonna be fine." He moved away slightly and took your hands in his. He pulled you up gently and lead the way. He was going to make the person that did that to you pay. No one places you in a position like that and gets away with it. He could feel his anger boiling as he reached the door of the ship. At least it was pretty roomy. He entered first and made sure to give you the seat furthest away from everyone in order for you to calm down fully. Once they were airborne he walked over to you and simply sat on your lap. He knew you liked to hug him close when you were frightened and ,strangely, he didn't mind being used as a teddy bear by you. Instinctively your arms wrapped around him and he buried his face in your neck. He whispered comforting words as you ran your fingers through his fur. Yondu and Kraglin exchanged glances before returning to look at the scene in front of them. This, they did not expect. "Well rat, I'd never have had you down as the cuddling type!" Yondu laughed, putting an end to the silence. "Only for (f/n)," Rocket mumbled quietly. "so don't get any ideas." Rocket normally would have attacked him for laughing but right now he wanted to make you feel safe. There was plenty of time for revenge later. You fell asleep holding Rocket, the whole situation had completed worn you out. Quietly Rocket had slipped from your arms and made his way back to his own chair. "What was wrong with her?" Yondu asked quietly. Glancing from you to Rocket. "She don't like no small spaces. One of your men... they had her trapped in the air lock all night. I swear, if I had of ran into him... I would have-" Rocket's anger over the situation grew again. "They're all dead now rat, they got what they deserved." Yondu flipped some controls and left the ship on auto. "So, you and (f/n), huh?" He smirked slightly. "...Yeah." Rocket avoided eye contact and took to looking back over to your sleeping form. He still couldn't quite believe it himself. "Just wish I could have done something to help her." "Hey, you comforted ya girl. That all you could have done. Ain't seen none of my men being used as a cushion before... I think that shows how much you love her. As I said, those men, they're dead now. It ain't ever going to happen to her again." Rocket's ears twitched slightly. He had never imagined he'd hear Yondu say the word 'love' without gagging. Then again, he never thought he would use it either. "Guess so... I just hope she doesn't b-" "She won't blame you, there was nothing you could have done." Yondu interrupted. Rocket nodded lowering his gaze. He played with his fingers and tried to ignore the guilt still swamping his small body. He'd find a way to make it up to you, even if it meant being a living teddy bear for the rest of his days.

[avalindin]

Precious Cargo

Ronan/GotG fic

Chapter 12: Moving forward

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Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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He sealed his eyes and was glad that Thanos chose to spare him for the moment or else he would have gotten sick of his pain. Behind his eyes, he saw her. He always envisioned Katja in any form, carnal or as plan and dull as day, tied bare or clothed and hold their child so that his suffering was eased a fraction. Ronan lost count of the days and the others that were in the cells near him. His bones were familiar with the strength of Thanos’ fury but soon it would all be over.

Whatever thoughts weren’t of Katja and their son, they would be of his failing to will his body to repair itself. As time went by, his bruises took longer to heal and his words became more erratic. Katja was safe and no matter how much blood the titan made him draw, he would know that his wife was safe. His heart was failing him as he laid bleeding out and internally, so close to death. His heart broke, feeling he may have had to break his promise to Katja, never to see their son or her ever again.

His sight blurred, seeing the rock cell around him dance with shadows and light. He couldn’t keep track of time with the days bleeding together. Another bone to snap, more dark blood to fall for the floor.

He woke with a hit to his head and his large body pulled along for only more pain and suffering. It wasn’t that he didn’t deserve it. He was a radical bastard long before he’d met Katja. Flickers of doubt crossed his mind many times.

“Fear not, child of Kree.”

It was a voice that did not belong to Thanos or one that he had known before. It was almost comforting; a male’s tone that was similar in content with his wife’s. The voice appeared again and so that it would hurt less. He forced his unswollen eye to see a flicker of an illusion staring to him. One moment, a bruised young man with hair as dark as his own soul had once been, and another, he turned aged and weary as a single golden eye looked to him.

“Our freedom will come soon enough…”

A hard hand struck him awake again as he coughed out the blood lingering in his mouth. Ronan’s painful groans echoed the sanctuary as Thanos began to smile less. He longed to stomp the Kree deep into the recesses of his domain. His body was dragged through the valley beneath him and he was growing tired of accommodating to the Kree traitor’s anatomy. Thanos waited on the edge of his balcony as he looked down to Ronan stretched as far as his limbs would allow.

His eye opened again, seeing he golden demon titan looking upon him. The humming sound under his chin turned his attention away as several large needles inched closer to his skin. His head was forced back as Thanos’ voice rang clearly in his ears.

“Now you will know an eternity of hell, boy…”

The voice in his throat was unable to scream in complete agony as the needles pierced his skin again and again.

“Worry not…”

He forced himself to focus on the voice.

“Find the Midgardian, child…”

Ronan involuntarily saw his one, his Katja. He knew her and his child were safe enough after all this time. He saw her hair still far and long and miscolored as it cascaded down her tattooed back. She turned to him at the feel of his shoulder. Katja had a moment to gasp in surprise as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back to the sheets. He knew her mind went for their baby.

The touch on her cheek was very much real as was the scent of her hair and skin. His lips caressed her neck. He would never forget it. Her skin prickled with feeling as she felt air sting her lungs. Something was wrong. She could no longer feel Ronan.

“Trash, trash. None of this is worth anything. Keep looking before we leave out.”

“Yes, sir.”

There were many things to do on the barren wastes of Contraxia. Machina brothels as far as the eye could see and it was a better dumping ground for those needing to let off the weight that they needed. Ravagers stayed behind, grown bored with the laughter and harbor liquor to keep them company. A shift changed as the tired ones before shuffled back to the ships as the rested, perturbed ones stretched their legs for the hours ahead.

There was a shoulder here and there that were pushed aside. Voices rose and guns were cocked. Punches flew through the air as the Captains were forced to break up their people. A single pistol fired into one of the frozen lakes on the edge of town causing the hundreds of men to watch the cracking ice beneath them.

“Who in the hells fired that?! Guns down!”

They all almost turned for their business when the ice hundreds of yards ahead of them spilt open with a strange heat to melt the snow before it would hit the ground. A worn bio-container appeared from the cracked ice as more heat reached the edge of the lake and melted the ice back to dirt. Its’ walls of scorching heat dimmed to a bearable sight. The men stared in awe as the container hit the side of the land, stopping safely.

“What the hell are you doing? Get it now!”

The men boarded scouting ships and gathered what equipment to pull the container further onto land. The large white bin cooled the more snow it was covered in. The fatigue soon disappeared as the captains stepped through the crowds of their men to properly examine the lit panels.

“Six years? Well, seems this piece of treasure is now as good as ours. Let’s get it opened!”

The captains left their Ravagers to work on the bio-container so they could celebrate the coming money they would get from their future findings. Raised voices from behind them stopped them as they reached the edge of the closest clamoring town as attention was brought their direction.

“Sir!”

“Just get the cargo to the barter station.”

“Sir! The barter station will turn us away.”

“Why would…”

The captain turned and absent mindedly looked down to the still frozen young woman with long flowing hair that rained behind her. Her blue skin was covered with bits of frost and ink.

“The hell?”

He pulled the covering from her frigid arms to see a small baby tucked away in her grip. The concern of the growing crowd forced them to shuttle her inside and into the barracks of the Machina’s workshop.

Katja could feel the world moving around her as she felt her arms forced apart.

No. No!

She felt the warmth of her baby gone as everything around her felt like a nightmare. His cries filled her with fear and forced the stinging breath in and out of her lungs. Her lashes stuck together but she could feel people around her and holding her fucking baby.

“You know the code. No dealing kids.”

“Think we can raise him better than Yondu did with Quill?”

“Pro’ly. Look how cute he is. We can give him back to the Kree war slavers.”

Peotrick wailed louder as he was handed from one Ravager to the next. Katja stumbled to her feet and launched herself forward onto one of them. She could feel the snap of two necks as she turned and heard the cry of her baby behind a closed door. Her hand wrapped around one of the Ravagers guns and set the firing rounds to the highest explosive round.

Stakar Ogord poured a round around the table for each of the other captains that rallied for the loss of Yondu. Well, they would when the rest arrived in a few hours. For now, he wanted to be with someone special

“Five years,” he beamed, “a record of new beginning for the team.”

“Then why are we the only ones here?”

Stakar took a shot of liquid for himself before pouring another for his woman, Aleta. She smiled and downed the shot her lover set before her.

“Just some time to reconnect, just the two of us like old times.”

“The old times was what disconnected us.”

The moment so easily turned sour as Stakar tried to smile. He enjoyed their time when he could.

“We’re still good for business.”

“Always good for business,” she smiled, giving him some hope for a remaining connection after so many years apart.

“Here’s to stealing shit.”

“To stealing shit.”

A loud explosion rocked the bar as many of the patron screamed and took cover. Stakar and Aleta rushed to their feet as their ears filled with screaming orders of their men. Stakar lifted his boot and kicked open the brothel door as their men had their guns pointed to a young pale woman panting in anger. Her gun was pointed to one of Stakar’s men as his own pistol was pointed to something in his arms.

“Don’t think I won’t kill you.”

“Don’t think I won’t kill it.”

Stakar fired a warning shot next to the Ravagers head, making the baby wail louder.

“Why don’t we all just lay our guns down and talk this out?”

“I want my baby.”

Katja coughed some rough vapor from her nose as she was distracted as the Ravager kicked her gun away. She stood terrified as the Ravager cocked the gun to her face. He smiled as the tattoo on her naked arm glowed.

“A purist goes for a lot of money in the right places.”

Aleta rolled her eyes and moved quickly through the crowd. Her eyes went for Katja’s changing skin. She’d never known a hybrid before but certain fascinations would wait for the time being. Stakar slid through the crowd with his hand to his gun and waited for Aleta. Katja met her eyes as she looked to the Ravager and pointed to her own self, then to his neck.

“Look, just give my little boy. Please…”

Stakar saw Aleta step forward and pulled the gun up. Aleta wrapped her arm around the Ravager’s arm and twisted it up as the baby slid from his arm. Katja sprang forward and snatched Peotrick to the safety of her arms while her body hit the dirty metal floor. Aleta tossed the Ravager over her shoulder. The throw was mighty enough for him to spin up through the air. Stakar blinked as his gun fired and put an empty space between his former worker’s eyes. The heavy dead body hit the floor in a wet thud. Onlookers were silent as Aleta stripped her long coat and covered Katja.

She nearly jerked the woman to her feet and pulled her to the nearest room that had a breakable door. She was stopped as Katja kicked up her foot into the woman’s face, knocking her down. She coughed her pain away.

“Look. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“It’s happened before and I’ll fucking gut every last one of you if you fucking touch me again!”

Aleta looked to her shaking as one hand slowly rocked her crying baby and the other with pointed a knife in her direction. Aleta undid her uniform and placed as many of her weapons on the ground as she could. She stripped the outer layer of herself so that she wouldn’t seem as threat.

“Please, let us start over. You have my word that these events were not supposed to unfold. What would I have to do to make sure that this will not escalate?”

Katja felt a great amount of discomfort run through her body. Her legs and arms were rubber and her sides still hurt like she had just given birth. That was when she thought of Ronan.

“I-I need to find my husband.”

“Is he here?”

Her hazed thoughts remembered the last time she saw him.

“Where am I?”

“Contraxia. An outpost for outlets you could say.”

Her ears were filled the soft techno music from outside. Over the rough looking woman’s shoulder were other types of creatures and identical yellow and silver robots that all looked to her.

“Your name? I am Aleta. He sounds hungry.”

Katja looked down to Peotrick as tears stained his perfect blue face. His small fists clutched at Nebula’s suit that was straining her post-birth body and her aching breasts.

“Katja. My name is Katja.”

“That’s good and his name?”

“We aren’t there yet,” she snarled.

“That is fine.”

“Aleta!”

Stakar stormed the room as Aleta shoved him back into the hall before Katja could react. Katja tried to keep her head on straight as she looked to the frozen scene around her. She remembered the sea that stretched out around her and Ronan’s voice.

I love you…

Katja emotions rushed out as she clung to her baby and pushed herself between the bed and the wall.

“This place has rules and she was disoriented at best.”

“Sir, please.”

“Let her stay and I will invite the other factions of Ravagers back. You have my word.”

The Keeper of the Machina brothel forced herself to nod and turn to deal with other matters of the establishment.

“Now what?”

“That was one of your undisciplined men with a weapon pointed to a newborn. She’s coming with me.”

“That was my man and for that, I’m granting her passage to my ship.”

“She woke, thought she was being captured again and I doubt it was a group of females that put her to slavery.”

“That makes her cargo, her and the baby.”

Aleta rolled her eyes again.

“Were you really not paying attention? She had Purist ink on her arm! She belongs to a high Kree husband.”

He arched his lip up, remembering freeing Yondu from the Kree.

“No. I know that look. She wasn’t forced into marriage. Kree don’t do that. For now, she stays with me.”

“Ah, which Captain do I speak to?”

Both turned their attention to one of Aleta’s female group as she held a copied manifest of the box. Aleta snatched it first and read it top to bottom as fast as her eyes allowed.

“Six years,” she huffed, “my women were mothers. She stays with me.”

“Is that all you’re gonna say?”

“Stealing shit was fun. Now we go back to how things were before.”

Aleta shut the door and pushed the heavy bed to keep it that way. She turned for the pale Kree and her loud baby. She stooped down to their level and wiped away a fraction of her tears. Katja snapped herself awake as she looked to Aleta fixing the coat to cover her chest for the baby. She took over and worked herself from the suit.

Aleta sat on the bed as Katja helped a starving Peotrick eat. Katja kept her eyes to the flashing lights outside the large windows.

“Who are you?”

“I don’t know…”

The suit fell down her back but she felt like she didn’t care. She was scared and tired and… safe as her eyes closed. Aleta moved to the floor and carefully wrapped her strong arm around Katja so she would not hit the floor.

“It’s been six years. Everything is going to hurt for a few days. We have the means on our ship to help you. For everything that has happened, we will help you look for your husband.”

“He’s not dead. I know…”

The bright lights blended together as she sighed and fell asleep.

Ronan…

His eyes snapped open, blinded by three suns on the edge of the sanctuary. He opened his mouth and pulled in what breath he could. He roared with life as his veins stung with the feel of her. Ronan screamed in joy, fading quickly into pain as it hurt him to use his voice. His limbs were heavy as he tried to lift them to no anvil.

“He’s marked you, Kree.”

His first eyes was still swollen to the flickering old man chained and bloodied. There was a smile in his old face as Ronan watched him be dragged away by his heavy chains. The familiar large hand wrapped around Ronan’s throat as Thanos lifted his failed child from the ground. He closed it a faction, sending pain to every point of the Kree’s body.

“Welcome back, Kree. Shall we get started?”

Thanos closed his hand around Ronan’s throat, using all of his strength to snap his neck. Ronan’s hands fell to his side and... he blinked. There was no way for his journey to be over so soon. A tear fell from him as one bone, two bones snapped back into place. Pain filled his throat.

Thanos smiled to the Kree slowly clawing his hand as he came back to life. It would keep him alive longer and the more he killed Ronan, the easier it would be to bring him back to life. Ronan gasped as his neck healed back to the eay it was before. Thanos dropped him to the ground and chuckled.

Ronan was confused as he rolled coughing to his side. Thanos jerked him up by his hair and kneed him hard in the face. His scream of pain filled him with joy. He reached for his arm next and snapped it clean in two. A few more bones here and there and he had to stop to catch his breath. Thanos fixed his armor and sat on his throne, observing the Kree.

Ronan’s head spun in agony as did the rest of his body. What hurt worse was when his body snapped back into place. As his arm fixed, he could no longer take the pain. He passed out, leaving Thanos to comb through his most sadistic thoughts to the fun he would have with the Kree. He motioned his servants and watched as Ronan was carried away. He kept his focus to the way he would make the Kree scream and forgot about the woman and the baby.

-

Katja sat up straight as she laced her boots and fixed her pants. After a few weeks, her stomach snapped back but her fingers would always trace the stretch marks. She struggled to close her jacket.

“Don’t worry. Take this one. I used it after I lost my gal.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“No, my gal was my sis. It was hers.”

Katja pulled her long hair up into a high bun and fastened her jacket a bit easier. It fit great across her chest and snapped to the belt of her waist. She pulled the knife and glanced to the long blade.

“Not much but it get the job done. Sorry those wankers can’t trust you with a gun.”

“The knife won’t miss.”

“We’ll see what your broker will think. He moved but he ain’t git too far to the other side of Xandar.”

“Hey, Pale Kree. He’s at it again.”

Katja rolled her eyes and ran down to the bunker that she was given. She slid down the ladder to the barracks as Peotrick’s cries were heard. She passed the other women that didn’t want to touch her child. They did, all missing the feel of a baby but they didn’t want to mess with the Kree.

“Who fucking touched him this time?”

Four women backed away from the baby and pointed to one another. Katja didn’t feel like dealing with them. She snapped her fingers and pointed to her bag on the other side of the room. One of them grabbed her bag and tossed to her. Katja reached into the bag frantically and pulled the folded tunic.

She stepped forward to her baby and leaned over so he could grab her. His tears streamed from his eyes as she could do nothing.

“Alright, fine.”

She shook the tunic loose and placed the unfolded mess in Peotrick’s arms. He turned his small face into the fabric and calmed his squealing. His small heaving breath stopped and he buried his nose deeper into the shirt.

“Amazing. How did that work?”

Katja stroked his head and kissed him goodbye for the time being.

“It was his father’s. That should keep him busy until I get back. I dare one of you fuckers to try and wash that tunic again.”

She didn’t trust but a few, Aleta and the women directly at her side to be near her child but hshe guessed babies of any species would have the same effect on women. Katja tightened her long brown and newly blue strands higher on her head.

“Ladies! Let’s go. Xandar awaits. Main group goes for supplies. Katja and the twins are with me. Once we touch down, meet back in an hour. We’re not staying.”

Katja held on to her part of the seat as she stared across to the twins. She couldn’t remember what they were but their scaled olive skin were identical down to the scales and sliced eyes. They checked their weapons and all strapped themselves in as the smaller ship broke the atmosphere and cleared themselves with the Nova Corps airspace.

Katja closed her eyes and held on to her seatbelt and remembered tumbling through the clouds to Contraxia’s summer water back when there was no ice. She exhaled and forced the memory away. Her mind did find Ronan for a moment but she had to focus.

Ronan laid weak on his cell floor and watched through her eyes the putrid sunlight of Xandar. He had an idea of where she was going.

“Katja...”

He touched her cheek and made her turn back to the ship hull. Her face was still so beautiful. Her returned hair sat recolored on her head, so majestic.

“Ronan?”

Her voice disappeared under the roar of the engines as they moved closer to the ground. Her seatbelt snagged on her jacket, forcing her down as she saw his face for a moment. He arched his head up and kissed her before the recoil pulled her back.

She gasped with tears in her eyes as the feel of him returned. She covered her mouth and was ignored by the other female ship mates. She waited for Aleta and the twins as they started their journey into the city. Katja took in the faces of the city, so many different features and races passed her by. Aleta looked over her shoulder to a silver spiral pyramid that had grown from the ground. The arcitecture here was far more advanced than earth was.

They followed the longer pathway to blend in with the crowd, in case of witnesses; Aleta’s words. The closer they came to the pyramid, the deeper the pit in Katja’s stomach grew. She doubted herself for a moment but it was part of the deal to join the ship.

She could not stay on Contraxia and Aleta was a woman of her word. Katja was allowed to board the ship and join the crew, learning to fend for herself as well as finding out where to find her husband. She never told them his name but he heard his name on their lips when her back was turned. The first night, she locked herself in the ship’s library with Peotrick and learned about the monster she had married. Katja found it hard to sleep a few days after that but when she looked to her baby boy, she knew she had to find Ronan.

The women stopped and with everything she knew then, she didn’t know what she was going do once she saw Ronan again. Aleta opened the heavy doors and closed them behind her crew. She pressed a button on her gloves and jammed all of the exits to keep their guest still.

“Welcome...”

His voice dropped as he caught sight of the lady Ravagers and sighed. He didn’t have the best temperment with them.

“Aleta.”

“Sir Broker. You’ve gotten old.”

“And you are certainly an adjective I cannot use without knowing you’ll shoot me again. Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“No. Only looking.”

He turned for the twins.

“No,” they answered at the same time without a look in his direction.

The Broker rolled his eyes at Katja and returned to his desk.

“If this is a shakedown, then I suggest you leave. As I remember correctly, that was Yondu’s job. Oh, my condolences.”

“Thank you and as you mention his name, there is something you can do.”

“Oh?”

“Almost seven years ago there was a manifest that was supposed to come with cargo from Terra.”

“How can I possibly remember that far back?”

“Because,” sighed Aleta as she tossed the intact manifest to his counter for him to ignore, “You signed off on living cargo.”

he huffed his breath and kept his eyes downward.

“You cannot prove it. Even if it was that cargo is far gone.”

Aleta turned her eye up and nodded to Katja. She reached forward for the Broker’s tie and jerked him forward. His head slammed against his papers and startled him. Katja pulled him up and glared him in the eye.

“I was your cargo. You took me from my home, you bastard. I almost want you to make this difficult for me.”

“Please! Don’t hurt me.”

“Where was I supposed to go?”

“Knowhere! To the Collector, he didn’t have a Terrian for his collection. When I gave him news, he didn’t even care so I let the units go! I swear!”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” flinched the twins.

“Yeah but I say we do a little window shopping while we are here.”

“Oh? W-Would you like a trinket for your ship, Miss...”

“Katja,” she smiled as she jerked a pipe from the wall, “Katja Harding.”

She swung the pipe and smashed the display nearest her.

“No! What are you doing?”

“Lemonading. Because of all of you, don’t worry Taneleer will get his too, I was taken away from the only person that really loved me.”

The pipe sailed through the air again as tiny glass shards fell to the cheering twins feet.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know!”

“I became someone’s whore, almost died of hypothermia,” she smashed his treasures as well, “forced under Taneleer’s payrole, got caught in slavery, and taken away from my husband, leaving me as a fucking single mother!”

She didn’t stop until the only things unbroken where them. She heaved and smiled, glad that some of her frustrations were gone. Her hand opened to drop the pipe in the valley of broken glass. There was no pity for the Broker’s sobs as he looked around to his destroyed shop.

“Ladies, we’re done here.”

Aleta snapped her fingers and unlocked the doors, leaving behind the Broker and hoofing it so the Nova Troops wouldn’t catch them.

He inhaled and saw her. She was a woman on a mission.

“Katja...”

She stopped at the sound of his voice.

“Ronan?”

“Don’t find me. It is not safe.”

She closed her eyes and found herself in a rock cell. In the shadows, she knew Ronan was waiting.

“That’s your problem. We’re fine so thanks for asking.”

“A visitor?”

She turned to the golden hand that passed through her. She stumbled back and landed on her back on the ship. Ronan forced the connection to weaken so that Thanos could not toy with her.

“You think that will stop me? If I don’t find them, they will perish when the universe becomes mine...”

Tagged: @808-anon @angelus80 @angryschnauzer @antyc67 @atinyfangirl @audasia25 @cerys1212 @clairelovexo @damageditem @echantedbytwh @eve1978 @hallotom @inkededucatednnerdy @itsjustelen @jennphoenix @justahopeless-dreamer @lokilockedcougar @lovehiddles4everme @marvelousmissfit @mazda098 @missdibley @mrshiddelston @mypreciousmind1 @nicole-stewart-loves-cookies @osb1anon @ourladybinxthings @peskipixi @prplprincez @quoting-shakespeare-to-ducks @roamingbadger @ririsutty @sarabeth72 @servent-alearika @sevanya @shamvictoria11 @siyoteodiara @starrynight35 @startingtoenjoylife @the-lady-mischief @tinaferraldo @tomkurbikston @vdcster @wolfsmom1

[pixie-unger]

Chapter 11 - So Far

The woman at the desk gave them a long look over.  Finally she said, "Does your tattoo say beef stew?" Kraglin blushed even harder.  Then his brain kicked in.  The woman at the fuel station had recognized them as Ravagers.   There was no way this woman could read his tattoo.  "Amelia is here!" Tullk looked around anxiously, before closing his eyes and breathing in deep.  "She was, but I can hardly smell her anymore." Kraglin realized the staff was all looking at them.  He had slipped up an gone back to speaking common.  This was a test.  "No, Ma'am.  It means beef sandwich." Everyone relaxed.  "Amelia said she called her foster brothers to come get her.  Said it might take a couple of days because you weren't in the neighbourhood.  She's over at the local women's shelter." "What?" Kraglin demanded. "She didn't tell you, Kraig?  The guy she was staying with bashed her face in.  She turned up here, half starved two days ago.  She won't let us take her to the hospital, says she doesn't have coverage.  She won't file a police report against the bastard, said she scared he'll find her.  Maybe you can talk some sense into her." Kraglin's blood ran cold.  "He bashed her face in?" he asked, his voice going deadly quiet. "Well, she has a split lip and a hand shaped bruise on her face."  the woman clarified.  "She says nothing is broken, but she is really skittish about the whole thing."  She gave the boys a hard look. “I'll make some calls and let her know you're here.  In the meantime, can I show you some sock yarn?”

——

Amelia was sitting politely through a church service.  It wasn't really her thing, but the congregation had taken her in, found her clothes and were keeping her fed until her "foster brothers" could come get her. She was incredibly grateful, but also painfully aware that if she had been a homeless black man with a split lip and bruised up face, she wasn't sure he have gotten the same warm reception.

She wasn't sure how long it was safe to stay here.  If SHEILD was still looking for her, likely not that long.  She had been here for two days.  She promised herself if they didn't turn up tonight, she was going to park the ship somewhere she could live off grid and just try to put the whole thing behind her.

She wasn't convinced they were coming.

Losing Quinlan's baby had been her first real failure as the ship medic.  Yondu had lost all interest in her after that.  The guilt that she hadn't found a way to get Quin to a better health care centre was bad enough. But Yondu's sudden polite coldness was a whole extra level of shame she didn't know how to deal with.  She wasn't entirely sure he hadn't sold or traded her to Martinex in exchange for a better relationship with the other clans.  

Maybe that was why he hadn't sent Kraglin or Tullk with her.  

By and large, she was proud of the work she had done on the ship, but she was still haunted by Taserface's death. She had a new round of nightmares over having one of her patients lose a baby, when she knew how heart breaking that was.

Silent tears ran down her face. The little old lady sitting next to her reached over and squeezed her hand. These were good people.

----

When service ended, Amelia kept her seat. The church was old and beautiful and she didn't have anywhere to go. Eventually Janice from the office came in and sat next to her.

"There's a man with an Asian character tattooed on his neck that says it means beef sandwich at Webs. He's looking for you. I'm not sure if he's your brother but the guy he brought with him has a scarred up face.  Roz says they are kind of rough looking."

Amelia nodded, "Growing up in foster care will do that to you.  Thanks for all you help, Janice. I honestly don't know what I would have done if the church knitting group hadn't stepped up to help me."

"Aw! Sweetie! You are so welcome!  I would say anytime, but you leave that bastard in your wake so this doesn't happen again, understand?"

Amelia nodded and left the church.

It was a short walk to the Yarn Store.  Kraglin was pacing outside. As soon as he saw her he ran over, flung his arms around her and hugged her tight. "Oh thank gods! We found you!"

Then he noticed she wasn't hugging him back.

"Did Yondu send me away so that Stakar's crew could get me?  Is this because I didn't tell him about Quinlan? Is this because I couldn't save both her and the baby?"

Kraglin was stunned. "What?"

"He keeps telling me it's just sex. But that stopped and he'd came up with some dumb ass excuse to get me off the ship. Then I just happen to be stolen by someone he might want to buy a favour from. And of course I don't have a phone. What would you give a slave a phone?  He didn't want me to learn to fly a ship. Or how to fight. Or how to find my way around the Eclector. Or any of the things I did to escape.

"Before I go back with you, I need to know, is Yondu trying to get rid of me?"

"He can't," Tullk said firmly.  "The Boss can't trade or sell you to anyone without you becoming a Citzen of Xandar."

They both turned to stare at him.

"He can't." Tullk insisted. "I know this won't make you happy Doc, but he really can't. I won ten percent ownership of you off him in a poker game months ago.  Before you were fucking.  He can't sell you without my approval and I won't let him sell you to anyone but me."

Amelia stared at Tullk. "Why would anyone play poker with you?"

Kraglin was shocked. " 'Melia!  That was rude!  We all likes playin' poker with Tullk!  He loses almost all the time."

Amelia frowned. "I'm not trying to be rude!  It just that-" she noticed Tullk slowly shaking his head, no. She stopped talking.

“Alright,” said Tullk.  “Here’s what we are going to do.  You and Kraig are going to buy all the yarn the ship can carry.  Message Dave, get his list too.  It’s all on Ogord’s units.  I’m going to call the Boss and have a little chat.  Because as much as I would like to see you go ape shit on that boy, this will go better if he has a chance to think of a reply.”

Amelia shook her head. “No!  I don’t want to be manipulated they way he does with clients.  Tell him I’m found ad leave it at that, if you must.  We won’t be long, you can’t spend units on Terra.”

The boys looked at her.  Kraglin cleared his throat.  “Yeah, you can… it’s called Apple Pay.”

——

Amelia filled two shopping carts before they even made it out of the sock yarn section.

Kraglin tried explaining.  “Tullk and the new boys all say that Ogord wasn’t trying to hurt you.  He was just trying to make trouble for Yondu.  Didn’t know that you are…  That you and him…. Didn’t know how things are.”  he finished lamely.

Amelia shook her head. “I don’t know how things are.”

Roz looked at them.  “What language is that?”

Amelia didn’t even blink, “Klingon.”

“Oh.”  Roz shrugged.

[fanficsandfluff]

That Stupid Terran Thing

MY EDIT: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS IS PERFECT!!!!!! Submission by Negligible!Anon, such a precious babe <3 seriously, this was the cutest fic, everyone should read it! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This was supposed to be a fun tickle fic, I don’t know why there’s so much plot. I love this fandom, and I especially love all the fic you’ve written regarding it. Happy 19th birthday, and I hope you enjoy! -Negligible!Anon.

—

The first time Rocket tried to use Peter as a ladder, both of them almost died.

Peter had been standing in the common room, headphones on, minding his own business, when he’d first been introduced to the sensation of Rocket’s paws digging into his side as his furry teammate pulled himself up. Naturally, this led to Peter yelping frantically and twisting to protect himself, disconnecting his headphones just in time to take in a flurry of information: pain as his head collided forcefully with a nearby shelving unit, the ground rushing nearer as he overbalanced and barely managed to catch himself, and Rocket barking “hold still, you idiot!” as he clung to Peter’s shirt. When he finally managed to get both feet settled firmly on the ground, he almost lost it again as Rocket scrabbled his way up his ribcage - he had to bite his lip as hard as he could to make himself hold still, and the bushy tail brushing against his neck and arms wasn’t much help either.

Rocket huffed from his perch on Peter’s shoulder, grabbing something off a high shelf and stuffing it into his vest pocket. “You gonna crack your head on something when I climb back down too?”

“No, Rocket,” Peter said, rolling his eyes. “Just wasn’t expecting to be climbed like a frickin’ tree today. Go ahead.”

Rocket was suspiciously quiet on his way back to the floor. Peter was tempted to toss a snarky comment at his retreating back, until he remembered that till recently Rocket had access to full-grown Groot, an actual tree, for all his ladder needs. Then he just kind of felt like an idiot.

He resolved that next time, he’d let Rocket climb him without comment. Only problem was, he also flailed around wildly the second time. And the third. His sudden inability to stay upright the first time wasn’t due to surprise. Rather, it had happened because Rocket climbing him tickled like hell.

Just another stupid Terran thing to worry about.

Rocket kept giving him weird looks, and he wanted to explain himself, he really did. If it had just been an issue of pride, he wouldn’t have thought twice - it wasn’t like he had a lot of that anyway, and his dignity would be a small price to pay for keeping this precious new friendship that he had lucked into with the other Guardians from blowing up.

But ticklishness was unique to Terrans, or at least that’s what Peter had gathered from Yondu’s reaction to discovering this particular trait of his. After nearly five minutes of Yondu tickling a ten-year-old Peter into hysterics as he supposedly tried to determine if this was something his prize acquisition could be trained out of, he’d looked down at Peter with a solemn face. “You’re sure this ain’t something Terrans grow out of?”

Peter had nodded, grinning foolishly and still too winded to speak. It was probably the most contact with another being he’d had in years, and definitely the hardest he’d laughed since being taken from Earth and since his mom - yeah.

Yondu heaved a sigh. “Listen, boy - you don’t tell anybody about this re-action of yours, y'hear? Hell knows what the boys’ll do to you if they know you got a kind of weakness that’ll make you promise just about anything to get ‘em to stop using it.”

Peter, who’d been pleading with Yondu for his life, or at least the ability to breathe, not five minutes back, nodded again, his grin gone. “Alright. I’ll be real careful, Yondu.”

“That’s captain to you, brat,” Yondu had snarled, directing Peter out of his cabin with a killer grip on his shoulder. Not that any of his own warnings kept Yondu from tweaking Peter’s sides or poking at his stomach when he wanted him out of his way or paying attention or just a little riled up. Point was, his being ticklish was a weakness. One he didn’t plan to disclose unless he absolutely had to.

In the end, he didn’t really have a choice. Groot grew his legs out and started wandering around the ship, and in the fashion of babies everywhere he wanted to be picked up constantly. In the little plant’s case, this involved little snaking tendrils that wrapped around hair and fingers and fur as Groot tried not to fall off whoever he was riding around with. In retrospect, this was obviously not going to end well for Peter.

But no one could refuse Groot and his big baby eyes (weapons of their own, Rocket said gruffly one night, stroking a paw over a sleeping Groot’s head). So the infant tree had ended up snuggled into the crook of Peter’s shoulder as he sorted through ship repair parts, and as he hummed the sweet symphonies of George Harrison one of those sneaky tendrils managed to wiggle its way under his arm.

Peter shrank into himself to escape the sensation, arms snapping to his sides as he made a sound that was definitely not a shriek. In the commotion, Groot tumbled off his shoulder with a shriek of his own. Feeling the sudden loss of weight, he spun frantically, eyes tracking desperately in an attempt to find Groot before he fell. He couldn’t do it.

But Rocket was nearby, insulting Peter’s taste in spare parts and organizational methods. He bounded across the room and plucked Groot from the air, cradling him in one bony elbow.

He was staring at Peter. Peter stared back. This was it. Rocket was going to kill him. Gamora would spit on the body, and Drax would chop him up into tiny pieces with his weirdly sharp knives, and Groot… Groot would probably push the airlock button to send his corpse spinning out into the empty black of space. He opened his mouth and then closed it, unable to think of anything to say.

Rocket had no such reservations. “What the hell, Quill!” Peter flinched. “I get it if you can’t stand to be within touching distance of a cybernetically modified freak like me, okay, but Groot ain’t done nothing to you! If you can’t deal with him, just stay away!”

What.

He turned to go, Groot babbling in his arms, leaving a slack - jawed Peter in his wake. “Rocket, I - what the - that’s literally the farthest thing from the truth - Rocket, you can’t just say things like that and walk away! Get your furry butt back over here so I can tell you what’s really going on! C’mon, man - please?”

He was panicking, he knew it, somewhere between acute embarrassment and righteous outrage that Rocket would jump to the worst possible conclusion. If he moved, he was either going to pick Rocket up and shake all the stupid out of him or sprint to his room and break off the frickin’ access panel so he could starve to death in peace.

Lucky for him, Rocket was turning back around, one hand swiping at Groot as wooden hands tried to grab at his whiskers. He stomped over to a nearby table jutting out of the Milano’s wall and hopped up onto the seat. “Fine. Spill.”

Peter took a deep breath, trying desperately to stay calm and hoping that his face wasn’t turning red. “It’s a thing called ti-ticklish, Rocket. If I get touched in the wrong spot - it’s kind of like an itch? Feels really weird, and for most Terrans it makes them want to start laughing. And when you and Groot started climbing me, you guys hit a bunch of those spots, and - it’s weird, I know.” He could feel the heat on his face. Definitely blushing, then. “I would have told you, but it’s just a stupid Terran thing, and a weakness, and honestly nobody knows about it - really, the only people who’ve done it to me are Yondu and my mom-” He made himself stop. “Anyways. Groot, I’m sorry. Rocket, I’m sorry too. Also, you seriously thought I can’t stand you? What the heck?” As the adrenaline of the recent action and his confession faded, he sank onto the bench on the other side of the table. “I should have said something earlier, huh. You were going around thinking that, and I just let it happen. Some friend I am - or teammate, I guess, if you could think that I guess we’re not as close as I thought-.”

Rocket made a scoffing noise that sounded bizzarely like Yondu about to scold him for being sentimental, and Peter bowed his head and waited for the yelling to start.

Rocket’s voice was soft, when he finally spoke. “You hear that, buddy? Next time you decide to climb Quill, be a little more careful about it. Less you want him to start laughing, I guess.” His gaze snapped up to see Groot cupped in one of Rocket’s palms, looking intently up at him.

“I am Groot?” he asked, turning to look at Peter.

“To make him stop looking like someone stole all his crap and left him on a high-security planet? Sure, I guess that’s a good enough reason to tickle him.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “Come on, man, don’t be an a-hole about it.” But he was already grinning, dizzy with relief that this wouldn’t be the thing that broke his team, and Groot was scrambling across the table towards him, cooing cheerfully, his arms already stretching out.

Now that he wasn’t trying to keep himself from laughing, it was a lot easier to hold more or less still as Groot enthusiastically jumped into his lap and wriggled small fingers into his stomach. He doubled over, one arm braced on the table to avoid crushing Groot, the other clutching at his face in an attempt to somehow counteract the electric feeling jolting along his nerves. “Nohoho! I told yohou, it feheeheels weheird!”

Groot’s response was almost sadistically cheerful, and now Rocket was up too, crossing the table to Peter’s side. “So, Quill, where exactly are these spots you were talking about? Up your sides mostly, right?”

He prodded his way up Peter’s sides and ribs, and it was enough to have him pounding at the table, gasping out breathless curses. This hadn’t happened to him in years. He could barely think, but the memories were close enough to grab onto - his mom, blowing raspberries on his tummy in a grassy field, and Yondu, carefully not to hurt Peter even as he tickled him half out of his mind. Now he would have a new memory to add to the list.

A lot of new memories, as it turned out. The next week, Rocket and Peter were both at the Milano’s controls, playfully squabbling over who would get to helm the ship as it manuevered around some rock formations on their latest planetary visit. Peter was challenging Rocket to name every control in the cockpit when his teammate whipped Groot out of nowhere and gently tossed him over. He was flattered, at least until Groot called out happily to Rocket and started tickling Peter under the arms until he didn’t have have the breath to argue.

Peter firmly told Groot not to mess with people while they were piloting and let it go. After all, what was a little messing around between friends?

[weapon13whitefang]

how about meth, meredu, and bethyl for the sad otp meme! plz & thx

I can do that! Thanks for the ask, nonny! Yaaaay!

TWD Meth

who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Merle, but only for the simple fact that he grew up seeing kindness as a weakness that his father used against him and Daryl and their mother. So having someone give him kindness in any form is always so foreign to him.

who flinches at sudden movements?

Beth, because Merle can be a loose canon and hard to prepare for and he can be up in your face and you don’t know if he’s gonna explode and leave a mess or just growl at you like a cornered animal.. Merle actually flinches very subtly when it comes to Beth doing sudden things he doesn’t expect - like hand holding or soft touches or hugs from behind.

who is most confused as to why their S.O. is still with them?

Merle, though simply because of deep rooted insecurities on his part. Beth has her moments of confusion on how they’re still together, but for the most part she trusts that things will work out and has faith in them. Merle, more often than he’d ever admit aloud, is always waiting for the other shoe to drop and for things to go wrong.

who has to constantly check their S.O. still loves them?

Merle does it in a possessive sort of way. It’s kind of bad on his part, but he can make a test out of it against Beth. He does feel a smidgen of guilt for it later when she’s still standing by him, but not enough to not do it again later.

who says the other/s would be better off with someone else?

Beth has made the comment to Merle before that she wonders if she is a burden to him. While she doesn’t want to throw him to someone else, she will question if she’s keeping him “tied down” or “feeling obligated” to be with her. Which always gets a rough squash from Merle.

who gets surprised when they are given gifts?

Beth because getting a gift is not something she’s ever prepared for with Merle. Again, he’s unpredictable. So it’s hard for her to always know how to react to getting a simple gift from him - a guitar he found, new clothes, a baby book for her to use for Judith, more notebooks to write in, etc etc etc.

who is most likely to break down on the other and how does their S.O. attempt to calm them down?

That would be Merle. Age aside, Beth’s a lot better at her emotions than people give her credit for. She knows most of that falls on her trying to take her life, but she doesn’t hold that view against them. Merle, however, knows his emotions, but he often cages them down and uses them in unproductive ways. So an occasional break down isn’t impossible for the man.

who is most self conscious in public?

Neither of them. Merle could give a fuck about what others think and Beth has made it clear that she’s going to do what she feels is right, regardless of what others think of her for it.

who is more likely to apologize a million time for a tiny mistake?

Both, though it’s different how. Beth would vocalize her apologies over and over because she’d want Merle to be sure and comforted to hear her words. Merle is more of an actions speak kind of guy, so he’d show it in subtle ways; holding her tighter, little brushes of skin on skin, etc.

who admits they’re scared only when they think their S.O. is asleep and how does the other react?

Beth admits that sometimes she wakes up to dreams of her mother dying and to dreams of loosing him and everyone in the prison, hinting to him her insecurity that she is just some stupid girl and not strong enough like him or Carol or Michonne. And Merle’s way of handling that is to basically say she is a stupid girl if she thinks she’s weak just because she can’t chop a walker to bits like Michonne or scare the balls off men like Mouse. Merle is good at reading people, and would gruffly but with a gentle hold on her, explain that she is strong in ways that others can no longer be; kind, carring, she sings, she still smiles, she’s patient and keeps a fire of hope burning. With his knowledge - which Merle has a lot from reading - he’d make the off-hand comment that she’s like Hestia, Greek Goddess of the hearth, home, domesticity, and family. Which Beth would tease him a little about calling her a Goddess to which he’d actually shrug and say “Yer my Goddess, ain’t cha?” and that would just ensure cute blushing from Beth and stiffening of Merle beause “shit I didn’t mean ta say that sappy shit out loud” lol.

who never thinks they’re good enough for the other?

Merle believes he truly is not good enough for Beth and believes he should let her go, but he’s stubborn and greedy enough to want to keep her to himself.

who takes a bullet for the other

Definetly both, seeing as Beth would throw herself instinctively to protect Merle and Merle would rather be shot than see Beth be shot down before him if he can shield her sooo yeah, both.

Meredu

who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Yondu, only because kindness and sentimental gestures can get you tossed out an airlock or worse with a bunch of space pirates who would look at that kind of stuff as a weakness and not something good for a Captain to show.

who flinches at sudden movements?

Meredith, though not often anymore these days. At first it was because she didn’t know the rough Captain and she never knew if his motives were for her gain or his. Now though - over time - she trusts Yondu and flinches are rare and in-between. Now Yondu has one or two flinches, but they’re always due to a PTSD from his time as a slave and while he’s much better at channeling those things, they still happen.

who is most confused as to why their S.O. is still with them?

Yondu, because he knows what he’s done in the past and what he will do. He’s killed many a men. He’s sent children to their death for profit. He’s lied and cheated and stole. He’s done some pretty bad things and he knows his hands are stained with sin. What pirates isn’t? So he never understands completely why Meredith would let herself - willingly - be touched by him or why she would willingly touch him.

who has to constantly check their S.O. still loves them?

Both are a bit insecure in the L department. Yondu has his baggage - his past with being a slave (sold by his own parents), sending children to their death, his fallout with Stakar (daddy/big brother figure) and the other Ravagers, his thieving and lying and killing - and Meredith having her trust issues because of Ego basically mind-fucking her up and using her for his gain (even if she absolutely loves Peter to death and would die for him), and then discovering what he’s done to his other flings and their children… Well lets just say they both have to check in on the L train sometimes to feel better. 

who says the other/s would be better off with someone else?

Yondu, as - again - man has his hang ups. But also because he knows Meredith is a rare kind of woman who sees past someones appearance to see them for who they are. And even the worst of the worst Ravagers, she does her best to look past their dark cover to who they are and Yondu believes that if she stays with him - stays aboard the Eclector and around the Ravager life and around his banished crew - she’ll be “tainted”. Meredith finds that a loud of crockshit and has told him so more than once.

who gets surprised when they are given gifts?

Both, though only at first. Because the first time Yondu finds a little trinket figure - a damn Ziggy Stardust figure (come on I know it’s not time period appropriate but it would be damn cute) - on his council and learns who it’s from, he can’t even try to hide his awe as he holds the trinket like it’s made of precious material. And Meredith is on straight surprise when she goes to her room and finds that Yondu has found a junker that has a rather impressive Terra collection and pays a lot of units to get new clothes, a damn mini record player with records, and a bunch of mix tapes and even toys for Peter and well… Yeah. They both aren’t ready for those little gestures and so the first few times are surprises. Afterwards, it’s heartwarming appreciation.

who is most likely to break down on the other and how does their S.O. attempt to calm them down?

Meredith would eventually break down when she learns the truth of just who Ego - a man she though loved her and would love Peter and a man she gave up a lot for when he was on earth - really is and what he’s done to his “other loves” and their children and how he uses people and she’d feel a stab of realizing he used her and how she starts to see that the love she was feeling was all just a lie and everything she assured herself and others about him was all a lie and yeah it would cause a snap in her. And Yondu would be so awkward at first but he would try and he’d scoop her in his arms and just hold her like he thinks he’s supposed to and what an old instinct - one he hasn’t used in a long long time - is telling him to do for this sad, breaking, Terran woman.

who is most self conscious in public?

Yondu, because he knows he can’t let others see that he loves Meredith and Peter with everythig he has because there are those on his ship that would raise hell and would kill - try to kill - him and Meredith and Peter and he will not risk their deaths and he can’t afford to go offing all the assholes who would go against him because then he’d be real down on man-power and plus it would just get back to enemies outide his ravager crew, that he has a heart for the Terrans. Meredith, personally, has said, quit blank, “Fuck them” and “I can take care of myself, Yondu” over the whole ordeal.

who is more likely to apologize a million time for a tiny mistake?

Neither are really word types, but Meredith would vocalize it more than Yondu would. They’re both more on their actions than anything.

who admits they’re scared only when they think their S.O. is asleep and how does the other react?

Yondu, but only when he was very drunk. He admits to Meredith that he’s fearful of her dying infront of him and loosing Peter and that he’s waiting for her to scoop up Peter and find a way back to Earth and how he worries Ego will track them down and take her and Peter from him and he just word vomits this all to her and Meredith does cry because these are fears she never thought of in solid thoughts but hearing Yondu slur them out to her breaks her heart and scares her as well but she’d straighten up and just clutch him and talk him down and just cry a little.

who never thinks they’re good enough for the other?

Yondu, again, back to his baggage and his belief that he’s just going to hurt and taint Meredith and Peter.

who takes a bullet for the other

Blasters hurt like a mother fucker and Meredith has a nice scar on her back from one when she was trying to protect Yondu and Peter. Yondu has been shot before and isn’t about to ever see Meredith be hit again or let Peter loose his mama so he wouldn’t think about putting himself as a shield. Course the fucker that shoots either has an angry Peter, angry Ravagers (ones who like Yondu and the Quills), and a Yaka arrow or another blaster to deal with… So it’s not all bad!

Bethyl (Warning, lots of Daryl answers!)

who gets overwhelmed by small acts of kindness?

Daryl, because he’s waiting for the act to be yanked from him or to be hit for it. It takes him awhile to realize that Beth isn’t out to hurt him. Not on purpose, anyway, and that her acts are just meant to be acts of kindness or affection towards him

who flinches at sudden movements?

Daryl, seeing as growing up where he had to be ready to fight or flight from his old man and he isn’t always ready for sudden touches or approaches from Beth. He works on it but there’s always that subtle but present flinch.

who is most confused as to why their S.O. is still with them?

Daryl, as he only spots the flaws in himself and Beth is constantly trying to scrub those fears away and over time they dwindle but Daryl will always have that stray feeling of awe that Beth stays by his side.

who has to constantly check their S.O. still loves them?

Daryl, though he hates that because he should know that Beth loves him because she’s stayed by his side but he can’t fully grasp that Beth is giving her heart to him and always will. So he has to keep searching and asking in subtle ways to ease himself. And Beth always is ready to show and say her love for him.

who says the other/s would be better off with someone else?

Daryl, though he loaths the idea of anyone being with Beth and it burns like bad beer in his belly and twists his heart to think that she could be with anyone she wanted but that dark part of him would say it’d be better for her.

who gets surprised when they are given gifts?

Beth, as Daryl doesn’t seem like the gift giving type. But then she comes to understand that Daryl is - amusingly - like a big cat and like a cat, he leaves “presents” - thankfully not dead mice or birds but he has brought her a full possum before - to show his affection and love.

who is most likely to break down on the other and how does their S.O. attempt to calm them down?

Daryl has broken down and Beth stepped up and held him together as he lets himself go and cries and she just stays quiet and lets him let his pain out through his tears and angry, venomously spit words. Then when all is said and done, she’d softly tell him why he’s wrong but that she understands and wouldn’t damn him for those feelings but wouldn’t let him hang on them.

who is most self conscious in public?

Daryl, which stems from his low self-esteem and insecurities and uncertainty with his place among people and not wanting people to strike at Beth because she’s with him. Though Beth is always ready to point out that their family trusts and respects Daryl as much as she does and everyone is actually rather accepting and pleased with it, even if it is a little surprising to a few.

who is more likely to apologize a million time for a tiny mistake?

Beth, as she has her own insecurities that she’s a burden to Daryl since she’s not as strong as the others in the physical sense. But like Beth brushes away Daryl’s fears and insecurities of himself, Daryl - in his gruff voice and ways - says she’s damn stupid for thinking she’s weak and says she’s tough and says it with such affirmation that Beth has no choice but to believe him.

who admits they’re scared only when they think their S.O. is asleep and how does the other react?

Both, as Daryl fears loosing Beth and Beth fears that Daryl will see her as useless someday and want to leave her and they both are startled by the others fear as they never even thought that of the other and it does cause a heated argument but it ends in hugs and affectionate calling of the other stupid.

who never thinks they’re good enough for the other?

Both and it causes arguments between them and honestly it’s actually Carol who has to set them both straight for being ridiculous, in her opinion.

who takes a bullet for the other

Both neither regret it besides making the other one get scared.

And that’s all of theeeeeemmm!

[rocket-ringtail-raccoon]

Roquill Prompt: Telling

A prompt request for Peter being worried about Yondu and (optional) the ravengers finding out about his relationship with Rocket. May have gotten off topic, but enjoy the angst with a happy ending!

-----

What a week.

Meeting your long lost biological father, discovering you were an immortal god, then killing said long lost father.

Peter was exhausted, and clearly so were the other Guardians.

Gamora spent much of her time with Nebula, they had some catching up to do.

Drax was showing Mantis the ropes, teaching her about social norms.. it was the blind leading the blind and honestly kind of fun to watch

Groot was just being Groot, when he wasn’t with Peter listening to music he was hanging off Rocket, who spent most his time in the med bay.

After his near death experience Yondu had been bed ridden for a few days to recover. The moment he could sit up he began to celebrate. Rocket being his enabler, bringing in drink after drink like it were water on a dry planet.

Peter felt like he was missing something ever since they all got back together.. since when we’re Rocket and Yondu pals? They were acting like old friends, the closest buddies.. honestly Peter was a little jelouse, he just wasn’t sure who he was jelouse of.

Rocket for hitting it off instantly with Yondu when his own relationship with his father figure had been fractured for years, or Yondu who seemed the prefered company for Peter’s own boyfriend.

Ever since their fight on Berhert Peter hadn’t had the opportunity to touch base with his boyfriend, make sure their weren’t any hard feelings after what had been said.

Rocket had acted normal while battling Ego, but Peter saw now it was only brought on by the dire situation. Now that things were settled and lives weren’t at stack Rocket avoided contact with the humie, always surrounding himself with Kraglin and Yondu to avoid Peters attempts to communicate

He could hear them laughing from outside the infermery. They really seemed to be having one hell of a time.

Peter walked in, a few empty bottles of booze dashed around the place. He heard his name mentioned, suddenly nervous. What were they talking about anyway

“oh hey there boyo, come to visit your old man?”

“I was just in here an hour ago” Peter sighed “anyway, I need to steal Rocket”

Rockets attention focused onto Peter “what you need me for? I’m on vacation, fix it yourself”

“It’s not work.. just want to talk about some stuff” Peter explained, trying not to sound too secretive infront of the ravengers.

Rocket sighed “don’t drink it all while I’m gone” he warned the blue man, who grinned at the challenge

as soon as they left Peter let the question slip “Rocket.. you didnt tell Yondu or Kraglin about us did you?”

Rocket folded his arms over his chest already looking annoyed.

“No Peter”

“Ohh ok. You guys just seem so close now”

“Yeah. We found common ground. Is that all you needed to ask?” His brows were furrowed in anger

“No, its not. You seem upset with me lately” he got closer to Rockets level, kneeling infront of him. He put his hand out to touch the other, who quickly pulled back.

“I had a lot to think about. I think we need a break"

“What?“ Peters face fell in horror, he didn’t expect it to be this bad “Why?”

“Yer clearly not ready ta date somthing like me”

“Is this about what I called you? I didn’t mean to hurt you like that, it was in the heat of the moment, I really fucked up”

“I don’t care bout the fight. When Ego came ya didn’t wanna ave anything to do with me.. ya left me behind during a big important time in yer life” Rocket tried to explain calmly, but his fists were balling up just thinking about it

“That’s not what happened.. I was upset over the batteries, the fight! Then my dad showed up I didnt know what to do”

“You let him think I was some dumb pet”

“Who cares what Ego thought?!”

“I did! I wanted his approval so you wouldn’t have to be ashamed of me!” Rockets ears were pressed back against his head “and you did too, that’s why you let him think you were with Gamora and not the triangle faced monkey!” Rockets eyes were looking a little glossed over.

Peter had on a guilty expression “I didn’t know I was making you feel this way"

“I don’t hold it against ya Pete. I probably wouldn’t want ta tell anyone bout me either”

“Rocket.. please don’t say that” Peter knelt down infront of the shorter guardian, it broke his heart knowing Rocket was feeling this way, and it was his fault. “I’ve been a shitty boyfriend, I didn’t think about how you felt when I left” he put his hands against Rockets cheek “I’d do anything to make it up to you, I don’t want to lose you. Give me another chance.. I’ll tell everyone about us”

Rockets ears perked up “you don’t have to do that”

“I want to. I want everyone to know just how much I love you”

Rocket couldn’t hide his smile at Peter’s words.

Peter smiled back, he leaned in, giving the other a small kiss on his snout. “Let’s start with Yondu”

[aslightstep]

Top five moments in the MCU for you

Oh man. Hm. This is actually pretty hard. I am a sucker for big moments, so that will be most of these.

1. Tony taking the nuke into space - fun fact about me: while I knew the most out of my friend group about comics, I was mostly into X-Men and DC. I didn’t even watch Iron Man 1 until after Iron Man 2 came out. Avengers came out my sophomore year in college, we watched it in a packed theater, and when Tony went into space EVERYONE was holding their breaths and that was the moment for me - like what a guy, what a fucking hero.

2. Thor destroying the Bifrost - no bones about it, I love Thor 1. Like, seriously adore it. And everything about that scene, from the action (Loki the magic user being so angry he basically fistfights Thor) to the acting, to the sacrifice and the culmination of Thor’s lesson, was fantastic. (In fact, I think the last thirty minutes of Thor 1 alone don’t get near enough credit.)

3. ‘Did you know?’ CACW - by far the most emotionally-charged and best acted mention on this list, only so far down because I love big heroic things more than sad betrayal things. It’s just…really good. Really heart-breaking, but good, just in terms of what Tony goes through and processes, let alone Steve.

4. Monkeys in a barrel scene from Iron Man 3 - I’ve gone on record before that I think this scene is the best example of feel-good heroism in any of the Marvel films. Tony is told he can only save four people falling to their deaths - through his own quick thinking and his suit, he saves all of them. Just once, everybody lives!

Honorable mentions: the fight in the helicarrier between all the Avengers, the fight in the elevator in CATWS, Wanda’s visions from AoU)

And last, and kinda least:

5. Rocket, Groot, and Drax threatening Yondu to save Peter and Gamora - look, this is a very small moment in the grand scheme of things in terms of GotG, but it’s actually the turning point of the movie. Rocket and Drax are amazingly outgunned but they don’t care - they are going to threaten, bribe, and/or kill to get their teammates back. From a franchise that has…iffy depictions of teams, and teams-as-families especially, seeing the Guardians go ride or die for each other even though they were still mostly at odds was a breath of fresh air.

[softfae]

from the bottom of my heart,

fuck you. 

Peter watched his mother die as a child, was abducted by aliens, never had healthy relationships before the Guardians, found his biological father, was betrayed and found out that his biological father killed his mother, and then watched Yondu, who had been the closest he’d ever had to a father, die. 

peter had a completely normal, human reaction to the love of his life’s death, imagine how it felt after everything he’d already seen and go through. Hearing your soulmate was murdered, feeling guilty that you couldn’t keep your promise to her, knowing you’d never see her again, you couldn’t even say goodbye, etc. You could hear his shaky voice breaking as he asked where she was, and tears forming in his eyes. He probably still had a tiny sliver of hope left that she was alive until it was suddenly crushed. It’s so easy for any of us to say we would’ve waited or we wouldn’t have reacted like that, but we can’t. We can’t guarantee it. 

Not to mention, Dr Strange would have stopped him if it ruined the way to win, but here’s the thing: IT DIDN’T! Strange handed over the time stone, and told Tony it was the only way. He had to let Thanos win the battle in order for them to win the war. Strange saw every single outcome, I’m sure there were some out of those 14 million where they managed to get the gauntlet off, but yet they still wouldn’t have succeeded. So there’s really no point for any of you guys to be assholes about it.

dance with me