#do they not know that he is literally historically and comically and now mcu canonically queer

[lokiiied]

number one reason i need lokius canon:

• THEY’RE IN LOVE

number two reason i need lokius canon:

• piss off the straights

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Can we just talk how miraculous masacres and wastes their lore?

They have around 100 miraculous and possible 1000 past miraculous wilders on their records

The past miraculous users being prominent figures in history (possibly) including freaking Jesus Christ

We’re is the in world implications? Like if any virus or empire or religion was formed by the miraculous

Where is the remmants of This? Like rivers of chocolate made by Tikki madness or plagg numerous catastrophes or the bug miraculous time breaking powers or any other effect of any unknown miraculous

Where is the enemies of the miraculous? This kids have literal planet bursters gods in their jewelry (which isn’t the first time someone this stupid has this powers like Hercules if he’s history’s are true) and the order of miraculous taking children to turn into guardians which some people would be against the sole existence of the order and their methods and would try to destroy the miraculous or monsters made by the miraculous (like if someone mixed some kinds of magic with the peacock or butterfly miraculous and made a race of beasts unable to be controlled or destroyed by the miraculous or something) or natural enemies to the miraculous (like demons or parasitic creatures who feed on the miraculous powers like creatures made of dark matter or something) what happens with the evil users of the miraculous (Gabriel couldn’t be the first,right? What about a evil tiger user or evil rooster user or evil bee user or a evil ladybug user searching for the miraculous for ages and how her obsession has basically forced her to make inhuman things to live a while more so she can get her dearly miraculous back making a parallel of how Marinette obsession if ripping her apart) what about evil Kwamis (we know they’re autonomous and plagg caused massive chaos and destruction so what if he was part of a gang of evil miraculous who obeyed no one but he got reformed and now he’s gang hates him and Tikki,of what if plagg destruction made a kwami into he’s enemy which has been getting rid of the other cat users for all the ages which could be used to make the heroes face a true threat by how they have to face this gargantuan monster which has killed all the more skilled cats before him or just a freak roaming around the planet causing chaos because he’s a sociopath)

Miraculous has a massive lore potential by how chaotic,present,uncontrollable and sacred the miraculous are but they’re treated more like plot tools instead of elements of this world (and the other heroes in New York make the miraculous more like if the power rangers existed in the MCU,just this weird guys in latex doing stupid posses fighting this ugly guy and he’s army of 90’s looking bad guys which wouldn’t look this pathetic and useless if Thanos wasn’t in the right he corner fighting captain marvel which would destroy the power ranger villain of this season making everything feel a bit less impactful and Not like a part of something bigger like the movies in the MCU but just a side quest) miraculous you had so much potential but waste it on repeating the same scenes with the same characters over and over again while everything else is wasted and burn to the ground

It honestly feels like the idea of past historical figures having Miraculous was just thrown in for the hell of it, because like the origin of the Miraculous themselves, it’s not really built on much.

The only time we really got a proper explanation about something like this in canon was showing how Marquis de Lafyette had the Eagle Miraculous, and that Joan of Arc had the Ladybug while she was a revolutionary.

Other than that, we know nothing about how and why the Miraculous were given to a bunch of famous historical figures other than to possibly inject real-world history into the worldbuilding, as flimsy as it is. Again, the only time the origins of the Miraculous have been properly explained was in a tie-in comic nobody actually got to read because it was cancelled before the first major story arc could even finish.

This is why it’s a terrible idea to spend so much time introducing other heroes and different power sets, because the history of the Miraculous themselves is barely touched upon in the show.

[aelaer]

☕ The fact that Wakanda was presented as an advanced country looking down on others from it's comfortable vibranium armchair but had a monarchist system that could place a ruler with 100% muscles and 0% brains at the head, along with other bothersome stuff like that, like Shuri being the head of the government's science department while she is a part of the royal family, or really, every single part of Wakanda that looks good on paper - a king with a council of people leading the different tribes - but that history has shown us very often ends up creating a dictatorship, which is really what happened in the movie and I'm surprised no one sees it.

Like, the movie literally shows us this country that's supposedly so advanced, with spies and people placed around the world, most likely putting their fingers in as many pies as possible, and an incredibly developed technology - which is frightening on many levels considering that UN or no Wakanda could blow up everything outside of its borders and people wouldn't know it until it happened -, but with a monarchist - and whatever other words could define it - governmental system that has revealed a lot of problems in its configuration. The tribes leader were literally being choked in the throne room and no one was doing anything, there was a destruction of a historical, scientific and cultural heritage being condoned by the new religious ceremony leader(???) just because the king ordered it. They would've literally tried taking over the entire non-black population (and where does that leave all the metis people? All the ones that are not white, but not black? Of middle eastern descendance? Of Asian one? Etc?) if the ex-monarch hadn't done something.

What I'm trying to ask if, what do you think of Wakanda being a good idea on paper but terrible in practice? True! Untrue? Something else?

Holy shit lady, you ask the tough questions. This is a difficult subject to cover - you’re asking me to look at the political structure of a fictional society within a disenfranchised continent - and I’m uncertain if it’s possible to do a decent analysis without addressing heavy topics. Basically, I don’t want to sound like a privileged dickwad. So I guess what I can say is - this comes from someone with a (mostly decent) American-based education, and no formal study of pre-colonial customs and political structures in Africa. I apologise for any misconstrued ideas and more than welcome any corrections to those who know more about these subjects!

I like Wakanda on paper, mostly due to the fact that the majority of Africa got completely screwed in terms of historical treatment and I’m rooting for the continent’s people to gain their own voices again. Wakanda being such a huge thing in international popular culture might serve as an inspiration for someone who ends up being important to at least one country there. In that sense, I really like Wakanda - the idea that it can potentially inspire historically disenfranchised cultures in the real world. How practical that thought is, I’m not sure - I might just be too idealistic.

Dictatorships can happen in non-monarchies as well, which you know -- as the most famous examples in 20th century history are not monarchies. The issue that can appear in monarchies -- or dictatorships -- is the lack of checks and balances to help keep those in power from going overboard (or the populace not having enough manpower/arms to get a dictator-like-coup out, but that’s an entirely different discussion!)

From what we got in the movie, Wakanda does seem to lack those checks and balances and no ability to overrule a king’s command. It seemed that they never had any sort of Magna Carta in their history (which is far from a perfect document, but did start the precedent of limiting monarchical power), and it doesn’t seem there’s anything resembling a representative government with veto power over the leader that you see in, what, 2/3rds of the world these days? (I legit have no idea, but I do know it’s wide-spread.)

But why wouldn’t they have such a document limiting monarchical power or some sort of democratic process? The modern mindset across many countries around the world leans towards democracy and elected, representative governments. But it can’t be denied that colonialism helped spread this, as -- at least, according to wiki -- representative democracy/liberal democracy/Western democracy all originate in Europe. So, in some way it makes sense that they didn’t transition yet because they were never colonized, and they were completely self-contained so didn’t have any of the outside world conflicts to force them to make changes. France helped fund the barons who pushed for the Magna Carta. France was also responsible for helping fund/arm the US in their fight to gain independence (lol France vs England history, it’s so great). External conflicts with other regions/countries caused *changes* to happen in those societies, at least from what I know of European history. Possibly happened in other continents, but I’m just not knowledgeable enough about their histories to give specific examples.

Wakanda had no outside conflict, and with no outside conflict, you get one major source of problems eliminated. Civil wars happen for a multitude of reasons, but perhaps one of their solutions historically for kingship changing without civil war was the fight of a representative of a tribe to try and win it over. Who knows? But when you’re enclosed like Wakanda was, there’s a lot less chance of things changing.

(On that note - their selection of a new leader is also incredibly disproportionately unfair to women. The average man is physiologically stronger and faster than the average woman. It’s just--biology. But who knows, maybe Wakanda was the same as much of the rest of the world in terms of their thoughts of women leading in politics. There’s comic canon that could be different, but the MCU did a lot of changes from comic canon.)

A *lot* of things changed across the world in the 20th century, making the world much smaller. Before the 20th century, it was likely considered completely useless and nonviable to make war on other nations because, though they were more technologically advanced, it’s incredibly unlikely they had something akin to nuclear bombs in the 19th century. They had to have their own steps of progression. And if they were only *a bit* better, they couldn’t stop the entire world if they started attacking and word spread. It’s only in the late 20th, early 21st century that things like destroying the rest of the world with Wakandan weaponry was likely actually feasible. Though honestly? I don’t think that shield could withstand a nuke. I just don’t see it. If Erik’s plan went through, he may have doomed Wakanda's capital city to being utterly annihilated because too many countries do have the ultimate kill button, and there are some who would not hesitate to use it.

It also could be cultural. Wakanda didn’t go conquering their neighbors left and right. They were happy with five tribes and it seemed to remain five tribes. That speaks of something deeply cultural, deep within the roots of how they’re raised and taught. Erik came from an entirely different culture with a violent childhood and background, and because they were in the 21st century, other Wakandans could *learn* of the rest of the world, and get new ideas - and get the same anger that stirs war and revolutions, and ultimately can affect a country’s culture.

So perhaps before the 21st century, limited power with the king wasn’t needed simply due to their isolation. Now, though that they are much more connected with the world, maybe they need something more like Botswana or Nigeria, only tied in with a monarchy (according to wiki -- Elsewhere, in Botswana, the kgosis (or chieftains) of the various tribes are constitutionally empowered to serve as advisors within the national legislature as members of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the various traditional polities that currently exist are politically defined by way of the ceding of definite authority from the provincial governments, which in turn receive their powers to do so from a series of chieftaincy laws that have been legislatively created.)

So basically what I’m trying to say is, while I’m personally super gung ho about representative democracies and individual liberties, that’s not necessarily the culture of Wakanda and it may not fit for them. But *what* the culture of Wakanda evolves into, being more open to the rest of the world -- and thus, the rest of the world’s ideas and cultures, remains to be seen. They may find that they do need to reform their political structure after the civil war we saw in the first film, though, and perhaps they do so.

[sineala]

Hey =) I know you are usually suspicious of questions that are accusatory towards Tony’s character but I’m not trolling I promise 🙈 I read a blog that called Tony racist and bigot, that he is like Trump. I know it was a hate blog but it mentioned that Tony has a history of mistreating women and mistreating his best friend Rhodey in comics not MCU. Since you are an expert I was hoping you could address them. Thank you xoxo

Okay. So. While I am flattered that you think of me as an expert on Tony’s character, so much so that you’d like me to refute these claims that were made by a hate blog, I have a few things I would like to say:

1. Maybe you should stop reading Tony Stark hate blogs if you are a fan of the character, as you’re not likely to read anything that’s going to make you happy, and surely your fandom experience should be about making you happy.

2. If they’re going to be making these assertions, I would argue that it’s actually on them to prove their arguments, so really they ought to be the ones hauling out specific panels to back up their argument that Tony is a terrible human being. I don’t see why anyone else should have to do it for them.

3. Superhero comic books have not been historically an extremely subtle genre, and no matter what hero you’re talking about, it is extremely unlikely that Marvel would want to intentionally portray any heroic character as a racist or sexist. Are there panels from the 60s that would be out of place now? Yeah, sure – and they’re there in every comic. But in context, they were thought of as appropriate for the time. Tony Stark has always been meant to be a hero and a good man.

4. I am one (1) human being and I only have one (1) good hand to type with and there are only so many hours in the day and I honestly do not want to spend them pulling panels to attempt to prove a negative. Did you know it’s really hard to prove a negative?

But briefly, since you asked:

On racism:

To the extent of my knowledge, Rhodey has absolutely been one of Tony’s best and closest friends since he was introduced into the comics. Tony has given him Iron Man suits. Tony has given him War Machine suits. While Tony was drinking, Rhodey brought him home and let him stay in his family home with his own mother and did everything he could to get him sober.

And while Tony and Rhodey have certainly had a few disagreements over the years, none of them have – to my knowledge – been in any way racially-motivated. Off the top of my head, they have a big fight in the second drinking arc because Rhodey (who is Iron Man) is afraid that Tony will want him to give up being Iron Man and basically Tony would rather crawl over broken glass than be Iron Man again but neither of them are talking about this, and then it escalates into punching about this before they admit they should really be talking about this. There’s also an arc in the early 90s where Tony fakes his own death and IIRC Rhodey is mad that Tony didn’t tell him he wasn’t dead. There could be more but that’s all that’s coming to mind right now.

But, seriously, if you pick up pretty much any Iron Man comic with Rhodey in it, it should be pretty obvious that they love each other. They have literally told each other so. Also, Tony brought Rhodey back from the dead after Civil War II and, man, you don’t do that for just anyone.

I will acknowledge that I have not read every Iron Man comic that there is and I know that a lot of the early-canon racism was really really obviously extreme (like, characters were literally colored yellow) – but that is a different topic and, as far as I know, Tony and Rhodey absolutely love each other in a way that is not up for debate.

On misogyny:

Again, no. Tony has been canonically portrayed as a playboy, although how this is expressed has varied over the years. In early canon, he was very clear (in his internal narration) about the fact that he was only pretending to be a playboy and was in fact avoiding getting close to anyone (seriously, he refuses to hug his fiancee) for fear that they will find out his secret and/or be sad when he dies, which he thinks he will inevitably do soon.

It’s true that he dates a lot of women in canon, but he does so in a way that’s pretty much just serial monogamy. He gets his heart broken a lot. There is no evidence that he behaves poorly toward any of them. Sometimes his exes are actual villains and like to hurt him; it’s not the other way around. He clearly has at least some casual sex (by the time of Matt Fraction’s run) and Civil War establishes the fact that he’s friends with benefits with Emma Frost when neither of them are otherwise occupied. Currently, he’s dating Jan Van Dyne and there is no sign that he is mistreating her in any way and I would think that Jan of all people would be particularly aware of that.

As far as I am aware, he has absolutely never mistreated women in any way. Like, even the orgies in Superior Iron Man were, as far as I am aware, completely consensual (with the proviso that many of the participants were probably not 100% sober, and Tony certainly wasn’t). Superior Tony is an asshole who starts drinking and starts making weapons and charges San Francisco for Extremis but even he doesn’t commit sexual assault.

There is literally one instance I can think of that is at all relevant to this, and that’s an arc in the early 90s when Tony is possessed by a being named Vor/Tex, and Vor/Tex decides he’s going to take Tony’s body for a joyride. He promptly gets drunk, attempts to rape a woman, then gets into Tony’s armor and shoots up a bunch of people while yelling “die! die! die!” but, again, this is NOT ACTUALLY TONY and when Tony gets his body back, he is absolutely horrified and goes to AA and attempts to make amends to everyone Vor/Tex hurt.

I hope that can lay some of this to rest. 

Also, Captain America thinks that Tony Stark and Iron Man are two of the finest men he’s ever had the honor of knowing. Seriously. He’s a good guy. Maybe you don’t like him, and that’s fair, because you’re certainly not required to like him, but he is absolutely intended to be a good person who tries to do the right thing whenever possible. That’s… kind of the point of superheroes.

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Oh, I have so many people to respond to with all this talk regarding Michelle, being an MJ ‘purist’ (lulz) and all that other garbage when it comes to the MCU but for now here is a something to think about.

If Michelle is indeed the MCU Mary Jane Watson, and she will thus fill the role of being Peter’s endgame love interest/life partner (whether or not that results in marriage way down the line or not) then her personality being unrecognizable to comic book Mary Jane’s, whether you say it’s a ‘composite’, an OC, or whatever, is a humungous problem.

And I don’t mean on the principle of it’s an adaptation by it’s nature it simply should strive to respect the source material.

No, I mean on an innate storytelling function level her personality being nothing like comic book Mary Jane’s breaks the role I spoke of above.

Mary Jane was never ever simply the inserted love interest for Spider-Man, the character there because the hero needs a girlfriend. She wasn’t a template inserted into Peter’s life nor was she the character who happened to stick around long enough or be portrayed in the right way at the right time that she became iconically associated with the male hero.*

I’m not even talking about how she wasn’t originally intended as Peter’s girlfriend but evolved into that anyway.

What I mean is…Mary Jane’s personality is actively the best possible match for Peter Parker’s.

I’ve spoken about this countless times but I’ll try to make this short. Peter and Mary Jane realistically and creatively perfectly complement one another by having a good balance of similarities and differences.

MJ is outgoing, sociable and can be goofy at times. Peter in his civilian identity is more reserved, sociable but less so, and much more serious. She lightens him up and he can make her take things more seriously when needs be.

They’ve both lived double lives, Peter through his costumed persona, MJ though her party girl act.

They’ve both seen their family’s shattered and had to step up to pick up the pieces. Peter’s parents died and so did Uncle Ben. Mary Jane’s parents divorced, her sister’s marriage fell apart leaving her to care for 2 children and her mother died when she was just a teenager. Peter had to provide for himself and Aunt May by working at the Bugle. MJ had to provide for her mother and sister by working fast food jobs and stuff like that.

Through these similarities and differences they fulfil one another’s fundamental emotional needs.

Peter needs someone to help ground him, to enable him to ‘be normal with’, but who is also strong enough to carry his secret and defend herself. MJ meanwhile wants someone who understands pain, guilt, living a double life and who knows about power and responsibility (because her father, a figure of power, used that power irresponsibly by abusing her).

What I am getting at is…if you want Spider-Man to be Spider-Man but also want him to have an endgame love interest then that love interest needs a personality and a history broadly similar to 616 MJ’s. Maybe not beat for beat the same but broadly similar yes.

Put it to you like this, were Michelle an adult with the same personality and she met comic book Peter Parker of the same age they would never wind up together. She isn’t his type and her personality traits and background (whatever the fuck that is) would not jive with his long term to form the foundation of a strong ongoing relationship.

Now of course the counterargument I can already hear is that MCU Peter is different to 616 Peter, therefore if he was to have an endgame girlfriend she doesn’t have to/shouldn’t have the same personality as 616 Mary Jane.

The problem with that line of thought being that the personality MCU Peter has ALSO doesn’t jive with Michelle’s.

Yes to an extent they are different but beyond an entirely presumed notion of them both being ‘smart’ (we don’t really see this in Michelle beyond her reading a lot in Homecoming) there isn’t a healthy balance of similarities and differences.

We’re simply left wondering why either of them like one another beyond looks.

What exactly is it about Michelle and Peter’s personalities and life styles that help balance one another out.

I mean real talk is Michelle exactly down to Earth? She’s a macabre misanthrope who revels in that and revels in that. She’s like a step or two removed from a goth, possibly just so she can seen attractive to mass audiences.

From a practically POV Peter’s job as Spider-Man would be steeped in a fair amount of violence and death, or at least the very real possibility of it were it not for his intervention.** The MCU are too pathetic to acknowledge that though so instead we get ‘jokes’ involving his teachers, but if Peter was really a crime fighter in the MCU he’d encounter violence and death a lot. This is another reason why MJ’s ability to empathize and her own zest for life is important in terms of their relationship in the comics.

But in the MCU realistically if Peter just saw Sin Eater blast away innocent civilians and then he comes home to Michelle’s macabre art and shit like that best case scenario it will bum him out more. Worst case scenario he’s going to call her out as extremely pretentious as she is over here revelling in the fact that loads of people got executed at this historical landmark whilst he just saw some old guy bleed out from a gun shot wound or got beaten half to death averting Doc Ock’s scheme to blow up New York with a nuke.

I’m not even saying people with those interests are bad people or shouldn’t take an interest in that stuff. I’m just saying the person Peter is, even in the MCU, wouldn’t believable have a long term relationship with that type of person. I mean it’s especially bullshit in Far From Home. He’s just seen Tony die after he himself literally experienced death as did the whole universe but he’s randomly got the hots for this girl who’s all about being macabre? Is that really the healthiest thing when he’s grieving?

And for her part based upon what we know of her besides his looks or the mystery surrounding him or the innate danger and glamour of him being a superhero (so you know nothing about who he is as an actual person) why would Michelle like Peter? Why is this very macabre person interested in someone who seems very upbeat, who she knows to be all about preserving life, cracking the odd joke, etc?

Opposites attract sure, but healthy relationships have a balance of differences to balance one another out and similarities through which people connect.

In summary:

a)    Mary Jane’s particular personality and personality traits are important in so far as her role as Spider-Man’s romantic partner as they actually make her a good match for him

b)    MCU Peter and MCU MJ’s personalities as established do not make them a good match, rendering their romance you know...shit.

But then again I’m just one of them goddam filthy purists aren’t I. 

*For example….Dick and Babs. I ship Barbra Gordon and Dick Grayson I really do, but real talk the reason she and Dick are regarded as an iconic couple is because of Batman the Animated Series and comic book people incorporating that and enforcing it into the comic canon. From an emotional and more organic POV Dick and Starfire make more sense.

Or for another example Rogue and Gambit. Rogue was around for years before Gambit showed up and had had prior romantic flings but because of the 1992 cartoon Rogue and Gambit are forever tied together romantically. 

**Death always had a presence in Peter’s story. Whether you identify it as his being an orphan, Ben’s death, May’s advanced age and poor health or the numerous deaths that occurred in the early adventures. I’m not even talking about Gwen Stacy either, Bennett Brant, Mendel Stromm, George Stacy, Frederick Foswell, the Finisher (who Spidey essentially killed himself) and that’s not even counting people who died in flashback stories to that era.

[secretlymagneto]

Why We Hate Steve’s Ending so Much: The Continuity of a Character Arc (Endgame Spoilers)

The comics and Marvel movies have never had direct continuity. Take Quicksilver. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, he was not a mutant at all, and his entire character arc of being the son of Magneto was erased. In the X-Men movies, (Days of Future Past, Apocalypse) he has another name, is more American, and has a totally different personality. In the comics, he’s a serious leader who reflects upon himself and his ultimate fate of becoming like or avoiding his father. Each of these iterations is vastly different. Sometimes, comic to movie adaptations change. Even movie to movie, if they are set in different universes (MCU or X-Men). 

This shouldn’t, however, be the case for things that take place in the exact same universe. 

i. The Glaring Issues

There’s something about retconning a character or their character arc in a supposedly consistent franchise that bothers me. Perhaps it’s because it’s never said if this story takes place in the same universe or not. Sometimes characters change from world to world, which would make sense. Even the comics do not bother me nearly as much since modern iterations of characters need to change with the times.

It is when the writers and directors of their own material become confused that the usually excusable retconning has gone too far. That’s right, I’m talking about Endgame again. 

ii. The Writers

The writers of Endgame, the ones who orchestrated the ins and outs and likely fixed most of the plot errors, have stated that Steve and Peggy are in a continuous timeline that has and will always be canon. This follows the prevailing time travel theory that you cannot change the future through the past, and that the events that you do alter will not alter anything but only be inevitable. (AKA, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban time travel). 

In the Markus-McFeely version, Steve would have to lay low in fear of being discovered as Captain America. He shouldn’t alter or doom the timeline he is in, in fear of splintering it. Additionally, he’d have to sit by and do nothing as he witnesses history unfold before him. Do you really think Steve wouldn’t join the Civil Rights movement? That he would watch the Cold War or the Vietnam War from his nice little suburban home? He’s STEVE ROGERS. He does unreasonable things all the time just because he wants to make a difference. Even if he gave up all the heroics, his moral compass would be far too great to allow him to remain passive during historic events just so he doesn’t fuck up time itself. (Also he kisses Sharon who would be his niece and that is so gross on so many levels)

They wrote all of the Captain America movies. They know that Steve’s main character arc is about moving on. Peggy tells him to move on. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, he says that the man who wanted a family and a settled down life was “buried in the ice”. He talks about how life has changed, and how he has changed with it. He talks about moving on in Endgame. His character essentially regresses, and for people who worked on these movies and wrote his arc, they should be able to round out his ending in a way that suits this narrative. Not one that makes him go back. 

iii. The Russos

In the Russo theory, Steve goes back in time and then creates a splinter timeline. (Technically, this allows him to change history seeing as he’s from another time). This being said, what if he changed time too much? If he saves Bucky, there’s a possibility that certain deaths won’t occur in his timeline, therefore creating a divergence that could possibly doom it. He’d also have to deal with the fallout of having two Steves. Does he have to deal with the conflicts in all the Avengers movies again? Does he just get his younger self to do it? 

What about Peggy’s canonical husband and children? *cough* from the show *cough* He interrupts her destined life in order to be with her, and he knows she would be happy with them but for some reason, he really wants to go back to his ex when their relationship isn’t even certain. They were in a crisis situation when they met. Would they really remain just as compatible in the aftermath? I love Steve and Peggy’s dynamic. I think it’s really cute and I think that they have genuine chemistry, but I also know that they’ve only been dating for less than a year and the way Steve goes back in time basically makes his relationship with Peggy a “certainty”. If it doesn’t work out, what’s he going to do? Leave? Wouldn’t Steve feel guilty of depriving Peggy of her ACTUAL husband?

As I’ve said before, Steve would never leave Bucky behind, either. After he spends three movies trying to save him, there would be no reason for him to leave so soon. 

iv. Counterarguments

Some people say “why should it matter? Steve can still be a good friend even when he’s old.” This is true! But he also misses a lot of lost time he could be spending with Bucky. Peggy had literally told Steve to move on. Bucky had barely interacted with 21st century Steve, on the other hand. Now Steve abandons him for someone who literally told him to move on and basically does what Peggy does to him. Steve grows old without Bucky like Peggy grows old without Steve. Steve would never burden someone with something that he himself has gone through. He’s empathetic. He cares about people, and he obviously cares about Bucky as he’s gone out of his way to help him destroy 70 years of brainwashing. 

v. Conclusion

The writers are seriously confused as to what they want to happen to Steve, and this is just bad writing. While the Russos say one thing, and the writers offer another, I think that the fact that they have to debate about this post-script conveys just how lazy the writing of this ending is. It’s out of character, narratively unfitting, and has so many flaws that viewers, critics, and even its own producers are scratching their heads. Endings shouldn’t be confusing after a movie is released. The writers and directors should know what they’re doing with their beloved main characters before they set out to do it. 

The continuity of the Captain America story arc in the MCU is a mess, and it’s not Steve from different universes. You can’t blame this on multiverse this time. This is just Steve. Poorly written, weirdly retconned, Steve. I feel bad, seeing as I want him to have a happy ending as well. But this ending makes no sense, and it's glaringly obvious. 

[carryonmyswansong]

[All page dividers are created by me. If you’d like to use any of them, please message me. I make these to sell and offer sets of two for $3.]

On  Oct 4th, 2018, I received the following ask, at my old blog:

This is my answer:

First of all you need to know some things about me. I am plus size as well as chronically ill. The other things about me is that I do lots and lots of research, when I answer these questions. I try to base my answers on what I’ve observed in the movies, what I know or find out from the comics, as well as any gaps that are filled in via interviews, tweets, and articles. I write MCU fanfic but most of my characterizations come from a mix of the comics as well as the movies. I also google stuff to make sure I am -historically- accurate… or as historically accurate as I can be.

That being said:

Steven Grant Rogers:

Steve Rogers is the son of poor Irish immigrants. He grew up in Brooklyn. He grew up very very ill. In fact, he spent more of his life ill than not, not counting the time he was in the ice, after crashing the plane. SO growing up in that part of town, he had some exposure to plus size women. Whether they were plus size by the 20/30/40s standards or our own, big women are not new to him, and being who he is, I have no doubts that Steve saw beauty where ever it was. His mama taught him right, is what I’m saying.

Steve even says in the moves that he hates bullies. He’s always been bullied. Always ignored. Never taken seriously. Even as Captain America, before he went on real missions… he felt like a performing monkey. He hated it. That’s not what he signed up for. He didn’t want to be a performing monkey in a fancy suit. He wanted to be a real solider, helping other real soldiers, to fight the enemy.

Steve has like zero experience with women. He didn’t get very far with Peggy and he didn’t like her because she was thin. He liked her because she saw past the sick body and saw him for who he was… and Sharon… Don’t even get me fucking started on that disaster of a relationship… I mean come on. The great niece of the only woman you ever loved? Come on Steve. Do better, buddy.

Captain America is sure of himself. Confident. Strong. Seemingly emotionally stable. Steven Grant Rogers? Probably still thinks of himself as that gangly sickly little man who everyone ignores… and is often baffled when pretty women look at him and flirt with him. He is a super soldier. But he hasn’t been one for very long. Not actively.

Look at it this way: when someone who is overweight looses weight, a switch doesn’t flip in their brain and they automatically have good self esteem or a good relationship with their body. Same with someone who is very sick for a long time and finally gets treatment and a cure. These things take their toll on someone’s mind and Steve is no different. He spent so long being unnoticeable that even tho his body is hard and doesn’t get sick, and probably doesn’t age.. and probably has a bigger dick… doesn’t mean he SEES that as who he is.

And another thing. Steve doesn’t work out because he has to. The serum maintains his metabolism and stamina. Steve works out because now he CAN. I keep mentioning him being chronically ill. Because it is VERY important. He was sick for more years than not (again, NOT counting the time he was in the ice)…. So now he can -just be- and not have to worry about passing out or having an asthma attack or having a heart attack because of his blood pressure… he can run in the winter and not have to worry about catching a cold, of all things… Him working out is his way of celebrating that he CAN do those things now, when he couldn’t before… This doesn’t change how he sees himself though. You can celebrate the better you, while still seeing yourself as the not-so-better-you and still have self esteem issues all the same. Those don’t just go away automatically. That’s not how human brains work.

He’d rather live in Brooklyn, where he grew up, then live in The Tower. He’d also rather do his morning runs through the city, then work out in the gym that Tony build, so he can watch his city come alive (Both of these are canon and easily searchable on google)… I only mention this because it speak to the kind of man Steve is. He loves people. And he loves watching people’s lives unfold… It makes him feel attached in a way that he normally can’t because he spent so long on ice that there’s a big disconnect in how he relates to people

He isn’t gonna care if his girl can “keep up”. No one, except Bucky, and maybe comic!Natasha, can keep up with him. He doesn’t want another super soldier or spy as a partner. He wants someone he can hang up the mantle of Captain America, and just be Steve Rogers, from Brooklyn, with. Period. Someone who will love him for who he is, not his serum, or celebrity status, or paycheck. None of that. He would want someone who SEES him for who he is. Not what he can give them. And Steve isn’t fucking shallow and to assume otherwise is really insulting to the man who grew up almost too disabled to live as long as he did. But somehow his will to live, got him far enough that now he is a super soldier and is Captain America.

Steve is also an artist and sees beauty absolutely everywhere, and yes, even the fat girl he passes on the street who stares at her shoes because she’s afraid to take up space but can’t help it. Steve understands, probably better than most, that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and growing up, he wished people saw him instead of ignoring him. So fat girls? Are not off his radar. And they ain’t gotta be conventionally or “acceptably” pretty, in order for him to notice them.

James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes:

Ok, so if you think Bucky is shallow, just cuz he’s fit… then you don’t know the man at all.

He grew up with Steve as his best friend (at least in the MCU, anyways)… They were practically brothers, and since Bucky lost his mom at a very early age, guess who helped raise him before she passed? Yup, Mama Rogers.

Sure, Bucky is often considered a womanizer, in the MCU… But people are so afraid to portray good looking men with fat women because its often presented as a joke… because fat bodies are not seen as good bodies so why would a fit man want to be with a fat body?

Thing is tho, a lot of fit men are with women (and men and other genders) who have fat bodies. And not for fetish reasons either. Its because they are decent people who SEE their partner and not just the fat or the lack of fat or whatever else.

You also need to understand something about Bucky. Bucky of the 30/40s might have been a little full of himself, but he wasn’t shallow. If he was, he wouldn’t have been Steve’s friend. He wouldn’t have interacted with him in public. He wouldn’t have admitted to even knowing the scrawny chronically ill man who insisted on picking fights with men who were much much bigger than him, simply because he saw an injustice that needed tending to. By all rights, Steve was embarrassing. But Bucky is better than that. And loved and accepted Steve for who he is. Period.

So of course he’d be that way with women. He might not have committed to them, but Bucky loves women. And women come in all shapes and sizes. Why wouldn’t he like fat women, too?

Fast forward to Bucky with the metal arm. You know, the arm he needs and if he didn’t have he’d only have ONE ARM WHICH MEANS HE IS DISABLED, NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED THE DAMN ARM IS???????

Bucky ain’t a shallow man. And fit or not, he hates who Hydra made him into. Who cares about the chiseled abs or the ability to run side by side with Steve or the ability to accurately shoot a target in his peripheral vision. They stole his life. They took everything from him. But what they didn’t take from him was the teaching of one Mama Rogers, and the life lessons that come from being best friends with a disabled man. It might have taken him a bit to remember both of those things, but Bucky? Bucky loves women and that will never change. No matter fat or thin.

And have you seen Bucky’s thighs? If that man wasn’t built to bone fat chicks against walls, then I don’t know what even the point of those thighs even are… But he’s better than that. With who he is now? He isn’t just a one night stand kind of guy. He’s in it for the long haul and he isn’t gonna let a little thing like someone’s weight, deter him from seeing the beauty in them.

Steve and Bucky’s fit status and raging metabolism aren’t going to suddenly make them into shallow people who will only love or bone women who are of “acceptable” size. When both men could literally easily carry an overweight girl, over their shoulder, like she is a 5lb sack of potatoes. Because of both of their life experiences, as both disabled or friends with someone disabled, and all that stuff that came with their lives… I really don’t see them ignoring a woman just because she’s not fit or just because she’s got a big belly or can’t run a mile in under a certain time.

You would also do well to remember that people can be healthy at any size and someone’s weight doesn’t determine their health. Just like there are unhealthy fat people, there are also unhealthy thin people… and both can be unhealthy in the exact same way. And both Bucky and Steve are going to know this.

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[timeisacephalopod]

The criticisms I’ve seen for Captain Marvel are fucking stupid. I’m so sorry for the long rant!

Number One: ‘But the skrulls are antagonists in the comics, its insulting to comic fans that they changed it!’ Yes, skrulls are comic villains. But I read I run of Guardians of the Galaxy that had this EXACT storyline. Cosmo (the dog in a space suit we see in GoTG) was hiding skrull refugees who didn’t agree with the skrulls overall goals and Drax deadass killed everyone on the ship for 30 seconds to determine who was and wasn't a skrull, resulting in Cosmo having to defend them to the Guardians because these particular skrulls didn’t agree with their people’s ways and were looking for safety. The refugee storyline is literally CANON. Just because its not a popular storyline doesn’t mean they didn’t pull it from the comics. And we’ve never particularly cared how faithful something is to comic canon before either.

Number Two: she’s over powered. So was Thor when he took the full force of a dying star in Infinity War, so was Tony Stark when he fell out of the sky and smashed into the sand going more than fast enough to break every bone in his body in Iron Man, so was Bucky when he didn't die falling off that train in Captain America, Bruce Banner- no further argument needed. And its worthy to note Peter Quill, who never used his powers before meeting Ego, was able to conjure them almost immediately and use them with a small level of control. Arguably, Loki is overpowered too. Carol Danvers had extensive combat training on TWO planets and already had a decent control on her energy blasting powers, PLUS she was shown to mess up a few times in her final battle but her powers made up for that. Not unlike Captain America in all HIS movies, or Tony Stark for that matter.

Number Three: bUt I dOnT lIkE tHaT iT gOt pOliTiCaL. Oh, you mean like Iron Man talked about US sponsored terrorism and criticized the military and weapons use? Or like Infinity War had Thanos go on and on about over population and resource scarcity? Or IM2 talking about green energy and referencing climate change? Or how about the explicitly political entire third Captain America movie or you know, C A P T A I N  A M E R I C A as an entire character. The guy is literally walking American propaganda in the movies and in real life, plus his first movie criticized war propaganda. Thor 3 touched on historical revisionism and imperialism, it also criticized prison slavery. Political commentary is integral to both the comics and the MCU- the political backdrop of the times shaped how the fucking stories got told. Comic villains are literally whoever America doesn’t like at the time of writing- we know this.

Number Four: ‘but I don’t like that Brie Larson talked about feminism and critics being diverse, this is a bad thing for some reason!!!’ Oh, but we’re going to ignore Chris Evan’s left wing politics and how he’s pretty open about it too, often criticizing Trump and making other left wing criticisms of America? I’ve never seen anyone say they don’t want to see Captain America or that they don’t like Chris Evans so much that they try and bomb a Cap movie before it even comes out due to his politics. And Evans’ political stances are more radical than her critic comment, and even if it wasn’t they have similar politics. Given that no one is trying to boycott Chris Evans I’ll assume that’s total bullshit, otherwise there’d be no difference in Larson’s backlash and his crickets.

Number Five: ‘it wasn’t that good, its only mediocre’ or alternatively ‘the trailer/movie didn’t convince me’ argument. Sure, because Ant Man was mind blowing and not at all a Filler Movie, and Doctor Strange totally doesn’t feel like Magical Iron Man, and Peter Quill totally isn’t Space Iron Man, and Thor’s first movie was totally new and original and memorable. Shit, even First Avenger was mediocre. Now, none of these movies are bad- I liked them all fine but lets be real. Ant Man was a money making venture with no value to the MCU and Scott Lang felt like the sidekick in his own story. The first two Thor movies were DC level Dark and Edgy for no reason and, unpopular opinion, I hated the third. The first two Thor’s were dry and lacking in characterization, and the fact that the third was hilarious and made Thor relatable is the reason for its success and the redemption of Thor as an MCU character in fandom eyes regardless of my personal opinion of it. Doctor Strange was a filler movie too, and while it wasn’t nearly as obvious as Ant Man that it was, it sure shit didn’t add anything amazing to the mix either. The time stone was more important than Stephen Strange to MCU canon. It was a Standard Hero Arc with lackluster villains that Strange deadass annoyed into fucking off. That’s how he won the fight in his movie. He was very annoying. Again, I liked this movie fine but the magic was the only new thing. So where’s the ‘well it wasn’t THAT great, it didn’t blow my mind because I guess that’s what we expect out of a fucking superhero film now’ for these movies? Did we expect any of these movies to have off the wall super amazing the best ever never seen before and will never be done like it again storylines that we... honestly don’t see in most any movie? No. And we know why. But given its genre CM was good, exceptionally within its franchise. Is it the most amazing movie ever? No, but not a single MCU film could qualify for that spot either so why do we expect movies led by minorities like CM and Black Panther to?

These are the things I see brought up the most and not one of them even holds. The movie was good and yet critics are like ‘we don’t wanna seem not progressive because we ranked it bad :(((((( But sometimes its not a good movie :((((((( I know I liked Doctor Stange even though its not nearly as good :((((( And CM is one of the best origin stories in the franchise :((((( and we didn’t scrutinize Ant Man, Doctor Strange, and Thor like this even though they were blatantly filler movies :(((((( But sometimes its not good :(((((( I’m a feminist I swear!’ How about admit that you had STUPID high expectations for no reason at all and were looking for a reason to hate the movie. We’ve been handed much worse than this, and the story was just fine. Carol was compelling and interesting as a character, her hero journey is just different enough to make her stand out, I loved what they did with the kree, and the skrull storyline was unexpected, but interesting. We’ve never expected total faithful adaptation to comics before, people didn’t scream that Civil War deviated pretty hard from the comic counterpart, but I guess the fucking skrulls were too much. Not to mention this movie is one of the very few MCU films that doesn’t have a boring villain. All around it was a solid movie, why are people bitching?

[tarnishedhalo]

BASIC.

FULL NAME. Andrew Michael Riley NICKNAME. Andy {super selective}, Riley, Snarky, Duck {do not ask}, Six, Falcon 2, Drewski, “Morning” “T-Rex” “DTTAH” {pro: DATA} BIRTHDAY. 4 April ETHNIC GROUP.  Caucasian NATIONALITY.  American (Irish Descent) LANGUAGE.  English, Gaelic, Latin, Russian, select phrases in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Swahili, French,  Farsi, Farsi Dari, Arabic, Pushtu  {and can cheat} SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Heterosexual, Heteroromantic {+That one time} RELATIONSHIP STATUS. {Verse dependent} Married/Engaged/Committed CLASS. Upper Middle Class HOME TOWN / AREA. Brooklyn, New York City, New York. CURRENT HOME. {verse dependent} House in Tennessee, Apartment in Brooklyn PROFESSION. {verse dependent} Retired USAF PJ, NYPD Detective, MPD Detective, SHIELD Strike Leader, LAPD SWAT, Professional Alcoholic

PHYSICAL.

HAIR. Coffee Brown (occasionally leaning blonde depending on the sun exposure) EYES. Hazel Green NOSE. short, pointy FACE. Triangle/Heart shaped like his sister LIPS. thin upper, full lower COMPLEXION.  Often Tan because of being outdoorsy, freckled, and sometimes pasty as fuck (Irish) BLEMISHES. Mole on right cheek near his nose, mole just above his right eyebrow, mole above left eyebrow. Missing: One 3/4th Leg. If Found, Please Return To Owner., Crows Feet, Laugh lines. SCARS. –Knife wound, left pec just below shoulder – Right Leg from amputation – Mid back to hips: Surgical scars  – Left knee – Left Bicep Knife Scar TATTOOS. Unit Insignia right bicep, heart ring finger of left hand, Hawaiian Islands right back shoulder, Inside left wrist “SPQR” and Laurel Leafs PIERCINGS. Closed over. HEIGHT. 6ft3 WEIGHT: 195-205 lbs BUILD.  Athletic/Muscular, 18 inch biceps, 45 inch chest, 34 inch waist, 36 inch inseam ALLERGIES.  Rye Bread USUAL HAIR STYLE. High and Tight, spikey, too much hair product USUAL CLOTHING. Jeans, tanker boots, tee shirts and flannel for casual, tailored suits and ties for work

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR. Becoming wheel-chair bound, losing a loved one, intimacy ASPIRATION. Growing old and happy: being a good husband, being a good father, finally winning King’s Tourney POSITIVE TRAITS. Loyal af, Courageous, Energetic, Independent, Romantic, Generous, Adventurous NEGATIVE TRAITS. Bitter, Cynical, Possessive, Impatient, Egotistic, Jealous, Impulsive, Anger management issues VICE HABIT.  Professional Alcoholic, Drug-Addict, Adrenaline Junkie FAITH.  Roman Catholic {lapse} GHOSTS? Sure. AFTERLIFE?  Yep REINCARNATION? Unfortunately ALIENS? I’ve met them. Like us, they’re Dicks. POLITICAL ALIGNMENT. Libertarian (Constitutionalist, Classic Conservative) ECONOMIC PREFERENCE. Free Market Capitalism SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION. Classic Libertarianism EDUCATION LEVEL.  High School Graduate, Associates Degree in Criminal Justice

FAMILY.

FATHER.  Rear-Admiral Brian Riley MOTHER.  Kimberly Gallagher-Riley  SIBLINGS. Elizabeth Riley EXTENDED  FAMILY.  Seren Taylor {Riley}, Noah Taylor {Riley}, Baz Barton, Jay Morgan {Specter}, Aspen Gauthier, Brian Gamble, Darcy Lewis, Julian Brassard NAME MEANING.   Andrew: English form of the Greek name Ανδρεας (Andreas), which was derived from ανδρειος (andreios) "manly, masculine"

Michael: From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?".

HISTORICAL CONNECTION. None {MCU Canon Character}

FAVOURITES.

BOOKS.  The Prince by Machiavelli, Anything by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Golden Age Scifi, Adventure and Fantasy, Comic Books {mun here. Truth be told, and if I am dead by tomorrow you know who to blame, but Riley actually reads and has an extensive collection of Historical, Cop and Soldier themed trashy romance novels} MUSIC. Blues, Folk, Country, Classic Rock DEITY. The Judeo-Christian God HOLIDAY.  Independence Day, Thanksgiving MONTH. June SEASON.  Summer PLACE.  Free-Fall WEATHER. I will take anything that isn’t snow SOUND.  "I love you”, “Daddy.”  and in certain circumstances, “Andrew” SCENT.  Motor or gun Oil, Leather. Green Growing things, the air right before rain.  TASTE.  Whiskey, Coffee, Rare Steak, Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel {Turtle Again: He insists that I put this so we’ll just leave it at, the results of Oral Gratification and I am now firing myself as his mun} FEEL. Wound Steel or Nickle Strings under his fingertips. The soft feel of hot skin.  The memory of not being in constant pain. ANIMAL. Dog are nice.  Number.  1330, 7, 2, 3 Colour:  Blue, Sunsets, Her Eyes

EXTRA.

TALENTS. Music, Trouble, Literal Mind Reading, Cooking BAD AT. Relationships, People, Intimacy, Self-control TURN ONS. Intelligence, Long Legs, That Spot on the Back of His Neck TURN OFFS.   His ex Wife HOBBIES. Singing/playing guitar, shade-tree mechanics, fixing things, cooking, Shooting at the Gun Range, Medieval Recreationism, Comic Books, Scifi Conventions TROPES. The Snark Knight, Mr Vice Guy AESTHETICS. Blue Skies. Wings. Hawks. Guns. Guitars, Cigarettes burning in ashtrays and half-drank tumblers of whiskey, 

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC. Karl Urban ALT  FC. none OLDER  FC.   none YOUNGER  FC.     VOICE  CLAIM.  Speaking: Karl Urban, Singing: Ryan Adams

Tagged by: @lilxlionxman Tagging: @multi-mused {the usual suspects}, @morgansmornings, @therealgamble, @thedarcydichotomy, @handcfhealing, @bloodcnmyname, @all-of-the-muses, @fullrangeofemotions, @vamptrampbamf

[archived-fic-writing-fandom-blog]

I saw you wrote a headcannon about Steve and Bucky carrying a plus-sized girl and stuff. But, do you really think they would look twice at someone overweight? They're fit guys who have to fight and look after themselves, someone fat would not be able to keep up and would probably not appeal to them when they could be with anyone. Let alone love or even have sex with them. Not trying to be rude. I'm genuinely curious what you think.

First of all, you need to know some things about me. I am plus size as well as chronically ill. The other thing about me is that I do lots and lots of research when I answer these questions. I try to base my answers on what I’ve observed in the movies, what I know or find out from the comics, as well as any gaps that are filled in via interviews, tweets, and articles. I write MCU fanfic, but most of my characterizations come from a mix of the comics and the movies. I also google stuff to make sure I am -historically- accurate... or as historically accurate as I can be.

That being said:

Steven Grant Rogers:

Steve Rogers is the son of poor Irish immigrants. He grew up in Brooklyn. He grew up very, very ill. In fact, he spent more of his life sick than not, not counting the time he was in the ice after crashing the plane. SO growing up in that part of town, he had some exposure to plus-size women. Whether they were plus-size by the 20/30/40s standards or our own, big women are not new to him and being who he is, and I have no doubts that Steve saw beauty where ever it was. His mama taught him right, is what I’m saying.

Steve even says in the moves that he hates bullies. Before the forum, he’d constantly been bullied and always ignored. Never taken seriously. Even as Captain America, before he went on actual missions... he felt like a performing monkey. He hated it. That’s not what he signed up for. He didn’t want to be a performing monkey in a fancy suit. He wanted to be a real soldier, helping other real soldiers to fight the enemy.

Steve has like zero experience with women. He didn’t get very far with Peggy, and he didn’t like her because she was thin. He wanted her because she saw past the sick body and saw him for who he was... and Sharon... Don’t even get me fucking started on that disaster of a relationship... I mean, come on. The great-niece of the only woman you ever loved? Come on, Steve. Do better, buddy.

Captain America is sure of himself. Confident. Strong. Seemingly emotionally stable. Steven Grant Rogers? Probably still thinks of himself as that gangly sickly little man who everyone ignores... and is often baffled when pretty women look at him and flirt with him. He is a super-soldier. But he hasn’t been one for very long. Not actively.

Look at it this way: when overweight people lose weight, a switch doesn’t flip in their brain, and they automatically have good self-esteem or a good relationship with their body. Same with someone who is very sick for a long time and finally gets treatment and a cure. These things take their toll on someone’s mind, and Steve is no different. He spent so long being unnoticeable that even tho his body is hard and doesn’t get sick, and probably doesn’t age.. and probably has a bigger dick... it doesn’t mean he SEES that as who he is. 

And another thing. Steve doesn’t work out because he has to. The serum maintains his metabolism and stamina. Steve works out because now he CAN. I keep mentioning him being chronically ill. Because it is VERY important, he was sick for more years than not (again, NOT counting the time he was in the ice)... So now he can -just be and not have to worry about passing out or having an asthma attack or having a heart attack because of his blood pressure... he can run in the winter and not have to worry about catching a cold, of all things... Him working out is his way of celebrating that he CAN do those things now when he couldn’t before... This doesn’t change how he sees himself, though. You can celebrate the better you while still seeing yourself as the not-so-better you and still have self-esteem issues all the same. Those don’t just go away automatically. That’s not how human brains work. 

He’d rather live in Brooklyn, where he grew up than live in The Tower. He’d also rather do his morning runs through the city than work out in the gym that Tony built, so he can watch his city come alive (Both of these are canon and easily searchable on google)... I only mention this because it speaks to the kind of man Steve is. He loves people. And he loves watching people’s lives unfold... It makes him feel attached in a way that he usually can’t because he spent so long on ice that there’s a big disconnect in how he relates to people 

He isn’t going to care if his girl can “keep up.” No one, except Bucky, and maybe comic!Natasha can keep up with him. He doesn’t want another super soldier or spy as a partner. He wants someone he can hang up the mantle of Captain America and just be Steve Rogers, from Brooklyn, with. Period. Someone who will love him for who he is, not his serum, celebrity status, or paycheck. None of that. He would want someone who SEES him for who he is. Not what he can give them. And Steve isn’t fucking shallow, and to assume otherwise is really insulting to the man who grew up almost too disabled to live as long as he did. But somehow, his will to live got him far enough that now he is a super soldier and is Captain America.

Steve is also an artist and sees beauty absolutely everywhere, and yes, even the fat girl he passes on the street who stares at her shoes because she’s afraid to take up space but can’t help it. Steve understands, probably better than most, that bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Growing up, he wished people saw him instead of ignoring him. So fat girls? Are not off his radar. And they ain’t gotta be conventionally or “acceptably” pretty in order for him to notice them. 

James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes:

Ok, so if you think Bucky is shallow just because he’s fit... then you don’t know the man at all.

He grew up with Steve as his best friend (at least in the MCU, anyway)... They were practically brothers, and since Bucky lost his mom at a very early age, guess who helped raise him before she passed? Yup, Mama Rogers. 

Sure, Bucky is often considered a womanizer in the MCU... But people are so afraid to portray good-looking men with fat women because it's often presented as a joke... because fat bodies are not seen as good bodies, so why would a fit man want to be with a person with a fat body?

The thing is tho, a lot of fit men are with women (and men and other genders) who have fat bodies. And not for fetish reasons either. It's because they are decent people who SEE their partner and not just the fat or the lack of fat or whatever else.

You also need to understand something about Bucky. Bucky of the 30/40s might have been a little full of himself, but he wasn’t shallow. If he were, he wouldn’t have been Steve’s friend. He wouldn’t have interacted with him in public. He wouldn’t have admitted to even knowing the scrawny, chronically ill man who insisted on picking fights with men who were much much bigger than him, simply because he saw an injustice that needed tending to. By all rights, Steve was embarrassing. But Bucky is better than that. And loved and accepted Steve for who he is. Period.

So, of course he’d be that way with women. He might not have committed to them, but Bucky loves women. And women come in all shapes and sizes. Why wouldn’t he like fat women, too?

Fast forward to Bucky with the metal arm. You know, the arm he needs, and if he didn’t have, he’d only have ONE ARM WHICH MEANS HE IS DISABLED, NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED THE DAMN ARM IS???????

Bucky isn’t a shallow man. And fit or not, he hates who Hydra made him into. Who cares about the chiseled abs or the ability to run side by side with Steve, or the ability to shoot a target in his peripheral vision accurately. They stole his life. They took everything from him. But what they didn’t take from him was the teaching of one Mama Rogers and the life lessons that come from being best friends with a disabled man. It might have taken him a bit to remember both of those things, but Bucky? Bucky loves women, and that will never change. No matter fat or thin. 

And have you seen Bucky’s thighs? If that man wasn’t built to bone fat chicks against walls, then I don’t know what even the point of those thighs even are... But he’s better than that. With who he is now? He isn’t just a one-night stand kind of guy. He’s in it for the long haul, and he isn’t going to let a little thing like someone’s weight deter him from seeing the beauty in them.

Steve and Bucky’s fit status and raging metabolism aren’t going to suddenly make them into shallow people who will only love or bone women who are of “acceptable” size when both men could literally easily carry an overweight girl over their shoulder like she is a 5lb sack of potatoes. Because of both of their life experiences, as both disabled or friends with someone disabled, and all that stuff that came with their lives... I really don’t see them ignoring a woman just because she’s not fit or just because she’s got a big belly or can’t run a mile in under a particular time.

You would also do well to remember that people can be healthy at any size, and someone’s weight doesn’t determine their health. Just like there are unhealthy fat people, there are also unhealthy thin people... and both can be unhealthy in the exact same way. And both Bucky and Steve are going to know this.

Requests are closed on this blog since I no longer use it. Please visit @carryonmyswansong if you'd like to request headcanons.

[sineala]

Is it true that Tony Stark was the main reason Hulk happened to Bruce? Did he cause it? And what is the relationship between Bruce and Tony? Are they science bro like MCU or is there animosity between the two in the comics? I know Hulk family were killed because of Tony or something like that.

At this point I’m frankly kind of curious as to what all these anons are reading that is telling them Tony is a terrible person.

*deep breath*

Okay. So. I’m coming at this from the POV of someone who has read maybe one Hulk comic in her entire life, but the thing you need to understand about the Hulk in the comics is that he... basically isn’t an Avenger. I mean, sure, technically he’s a founding Avenger, but he ditches the Avengers in literally issue three and goes off to do his own thing, and repeatedly does not want to come back when asked. (The Avengers retroactively award Cap the status of a founding Avenger, even though he isn’t.)

If I had to pick a team for him, I’d say that the team for me that the Hulk has the biggest association with is the Defenders (note: also not the same as the MCU Defenders; the MCU Defenders are closest to the 616 Heroes For Hire, probably), which is a team full of people whose main characteristic is basically that they do not play well with others. Other Defenders include Doctor Strange and Namor. I think you understand what I mean about “does not play well with others.”

So throughout most of comics canon, Tony doesn’t really have a relationship with Bruce, except sometimes the Avengers call him up to see if he’s interested and he declines. If Tony wants someone to do science with, he’s more likely to call up someone like Reed Richards, Hank Pym, Hank McCoy, maybe T’Challa, and so on.

The rise of the MCU changed quite a few things about comics, and one of the things that it changed was the whole “science bros” thing, so even though before then they had never really been friends at all, the idea that they were started to come into comics, and you get things like the more lighthearted Avengers Assemble run where Bruce and Tony are clearly doing some science together. I’m not sure when the last time was that they were on a team together; IIRC they were very briefly Illuminati together near the end of Hickman’s run, if that counts. So I suspect a lot of comics writers would write them as friends now even though this has historically never really been the case.

As for the comics events you are asking about: No, Tony did not cause the gamma bomb explosion that led to Bruce becoming the Hulk. This is explored in the Original Sin spinoff miniseries #3.1-3.4. Original Sin is an event where people find out other people’s secrets, and in the course of this side story Bruce finds out Tony had something to do with the gamma bomb, assumes it was all his fault, and beats him up for it -- but then he finds out that what happens is that Tony had reduced the bomb’s yield so that Bruce and other people would survive, and that it was Bruce’s own changes to the bomb that made it more destructive and led to him being the Hulk. So, basically, as far as I know, current canon holds that it’s Bruce’s own fault and Tony was trying to save him and was even trying to warn him about the mutation possibilities and Bruce didn’t listen. So, uh, the exact opposite of what you are asking is the thing that is true.

The other event you are asking about, in which Hulk’s family dies, is Planet Hulk/World War Hulk. The Illuminati, a group of which Tony is a part (so I would like to stress that this is not solely Tony’s decision here), send the Hulk into space because basically he’s being a rampaging disaster on Earth and has attacked Las Vegas. He ends up on Sakaar and is eventually trying to leave when the spaceship he’s on explodes and his wife dies, which the Hulk more or less blames on the Illuminati and then comes back to Earth to seek revenge on the Illuminati and he fights them and... basically everyone else he can find, because that’s what kind of event this is. So I guess the Hulk had a lot of animosity there because he had a lot of animosity for a whole lot of people.

I hope that answers your question.

[sineala]

Iron Man: And Call My Killer... MODOK!

So if you're a Marvel Comics fan of any stripe, you're probably aware that Marvel has a longtime history of publishing what they call "prose novels" and what literally any other publisher would just call "novels." You know. Books with only words in them. As opposed to "graphic novels," which is I guess why Marvel needs to make the distinction.

You're probably also aware that a lot of these prose novels are, well... bad. Some of the current ones, the original ones with new stories, have been getting good reviews -- I've heard good things about the Black Widow and Squirrel Girl books -- but a lot of them are just things like "novelizations of Civil War" and those ones are not great. (The MCU Iron Man 1 novelization was pretty good, but I would say that that was one of the few exceptions, and that only because Peter David both can actually write and has also written comic books.)

But a few weeks ago @blossomsinthemist told me that there had been a line of paperback Marvel prose novels way way back in the late seventies, and I was immediately interested for two reasons. One, if it's not novelizing an existing story arc, it's less likely to be terrible. And two, I really like late-seventies Marvel comics. So if I get to read a brand-new (to me) late-seventies story, I'm going to be pretty excited.

(If you're looking for these for yourself, prices vary, because people seem to be really into just having them for collection value, but if you don't care about condition and are patient you can get them for $5 to $10 or so.)

Anyway. I'm starting here with the Iron Man one, And Call My Killer... MODOK! It's from 1979 and is by William Rotsler, who also appears to have written the Doctor Strange novel in this series, and according to Wikipedia, he won four Hugos for Best Fan Artist, though most of his prose work appears to have been SF novelizations, and, uh, he was involved in the making of over two dozen pornographic films? Thanks, Wikipedia!

Right. Okay. The actual book. We are talking about the actual book. So the plot, as you can guess from the title, involves a lot of AIM and MODOK -- and because this is vintage 1970s Iron Man, also a lot of Happy, Pepper and SHIELD. SHIELD here is a lot of Nick Fury and a lot -- hi, again, 1970s -- of Jasper Sitwell. (If you're only familiar with the MCU, 616 Jasper Sitwell is, like, the ultimate Boy Scout SHIELD agent, a giant nerdy stickler for protocol.) Basically, AIM is scheming to get the armor, and the basic plot itself is kind of fun in that respect -- Tony scheming right back, decoy fake plans, a fake auction of the armor, and of course Tony and Happy captured by AIM. There's the requisite fight with an armored villain, of course, and what feels like a very perfunctory showdown with MODOK. (It's not a long novel.)

But since we're in fandom, we're not reading these things for the actual plot content, and so I am happy to say that on a characterization level, if this is the Tony Stark characterization you like in this era of comics, this book is going to make you happy. Because he really is, just... peak, classic Tony Stark. This is established very early on, in what is actually my favorite section of the book. Tony addresses a roomful of students about ecology, and his plans for SI and for the future, and about how he's not actually in it for the money and he just wants to do the right thing and save the world and so on and so forth and he wants to hire some of these kids to help everyone and build space colonies and so on. Similarly, when we first see Tony at SI, there's a paragraph about how he knows his employees' names and values them as people and it's very much classic Tony characterization. I love it.

In terms of canon, I'm not quite sure if this is relying on any particular recent developments in canon. Pepper and Happy are still together, and there's a throwaway line, in the list of Things That Have Happened To Tony's Heart, about how he's had several surgeries and a new heart and at this point in his life he has to wear the chestplate some of the time but not all of the time. I think that whole "weak heart" era is the Michael O'Brien/second Guardsman stuff, but I'm not exactly sure; this is not an era of canon I'm 100% up on in order. That may be a little too early for this, as well. Sorry; I'm not the best at this part of this game.

There is, of course, some identity porn, since what would an Iron Man story be without some good identity porn? There's a section early on where Tony explains why he would never reveal his secret identity. (Literally, he wishes he could "come out of the closet," and, yes, they do put that phrase in quotation marks.) His rationale is that the media would never let him alone, and also there are "Iron Man groupies, publicity seekers, and other assorted crazies" who would make his life miserable.

The weird thing is, then he goes on a date with what seems to be an Iron Man groupie. Pepper sets him up on a date with a woman who is a bellydancer and auto mechanic trying to break into acting. (The even weirder thing is that she seems to be named after a woman the author has coauthored several novels with. I, uh... I hope she knew first?) Anyway, they go on a date and she starts asking him about what Iron Man is like. Now, in a book where the plot appears to be that the bad guys want Tony's armor, I would be a little suspicious of people who were curious about Iron Man. But apparently this woman is on the level and just really likes gossip about famous people, and then at the end of the book when Tony talks about maybe going on another date he seems excited to "give her an opportunity to know Tony Stark." Although, really, she seems to still think Iron Man is cooler, so I don't see this working out well.

(Also, in the course of the plot, he does end up unmasking in front of MODOK, and as cover he comes up with the excuse that he isn't the only Iron Man and that there are a group of them. Which, y'know, historically, isn't even untrue, for a certain view of Tony's behavior -- there have actually been multiple people in the suit before now. So I kind of like Tony's quick thinking there. Amusingly, as he's bluffing his way through this, one of the fake Iron Men he names is Captain America, which honestly I think would make a hell of a fanfiction plot.)

Another weird thing: since this is right before Demon in a Bottle, Tony still drinks. It's not even an issue. And obviously it's meant to show something about his affluent lifestyle (and how he considers alcohol a necessary part of that lifestyle) but it's interesting reading this in retrospect and thinking about all the character development that Tony is basically about to undergo but hasn't yet.

So, yeah, in terms of characterization, this is an interesting look at Tony Stark basically preserved in one of the more-well-regarded eras for him, so on that basis I think it's worth reading. Which is not to say that there aren't some downsides, and since this book is mainstream fiction from the 70s, I bet you can guess what the main one is: namely, there is a certain amount of casual sexism and racism. The first scene takes place on a college campus and there is a lot of, uh, dwelling on co-eds and their short skirts. There is also a retelling of Tony's origin story, and you probably already know that ToS #39 is racist as hell (especially if you have seen non-recolored versions in which Wong Chu is literally yellow in the art) but the prose retelling here manages to add in some racist epithets (many characters are referred to as "the Oriental") which is... disappointing. Neither of these things are really unexpected for a book from 1979. But, you know, there they are. Heads up.

It also makes some weird narrative choices. One is that it has a surprising number of extended flashbacks in which dialogue is taken directly from the comics. I understand that back in the day before trade paperbacks and Marvel Unlimited and back issues whenever you want them, you the Iron Man fan might not have been aware of a lot of Tony's history. So I get why you would want to spend some time going over the events of Tales of Suspense #39. And, okay, Happy is a pretty important character in the plot, so I get why you'd want a lot about their first meeting in Tales of Suspense #45. But then there's a whole flashback devoted to the whole body-horror extravaganza of how MODOK came to be, and that one... that one was just kind of weird, especially because Tony didn't even figure into it.

And that leads me to my final complaint about weird narrative choices, which is the author has chosen to write this book in 3rd person omniscient point of view. I mean, it's a valid POV choice, sure. But it's a little jarring coming from fandom, where we are all basically 3rd limited forever and ever (like, honestly, I'm not even sure I'd know how to write 3rd omni if I tried!), and it's even weirder to read Tony in the middle of one of his inspiring speeches while a female student is thinking about how sexy he is even if he is an "older man." Yeah.

Also, the narration calls him Tony when he's out of the suit and Iron Man when he's in the suit. Consistently. Even when he's thinking about himself. I am pretty sure fandom never does this, and it is weird as hell.

So, overall, I have to say that despite some reservations, I really enjoyed this, and if this is an era of Iron Man canon that you enjoy, you will probably like this if you can get your hands on it, because it's a lot like reading an Iron Man comic from 1979, and the plot shenanigans are amusing. I mean, it's not the best-written book ever, but it is a lot of fun, especially in terms of Tony's characterization.