#he remembers Hank AND the line he quoted?

[silentlycrazy]

I truly think the most unrealistic thing about the Fallout show is Coop remembering the full name of an annoying fan boy he only met in person once, on the day he found out his wife was helping plan the end of the world.

[coraniaid]

5, 13, and 15 for btvs for the fandom ask game

#5 … the scene from it that lives in my head rent free.

Too many to choose from, really. Without thinking about it too much, I guess my top ten (in no particular order) is something like:

Buffy finding out that she's going to die fighting the Master in Prophecy Girl: "They say how he's going to kill me? Do you think it'll hurt? [...] Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't want to die." [Season 1 has its growing pains, but SMG's acting was incredible right from the start and this scene is no exception]

Buffy's confrontation with Ford in the Sunset Club at the end of Lie To Me ["you don't have a good choice but you have a choice" is the most memorable and most often quoted line, but the whole scene is really good and I think my rewatch last year cemented my belief that this is the period where the show really consistently starts to find its feet]

Buffy blowing up the Judge with a rocket launcher in Innocence (complete with the Judge's puzzled "what's that do?") [there's a reason this scene made it into the opening credits of Season 3]

The final scene of Becoming Part 2 (or really the multiple scenes in the few minutes after Buffy has just sent Angel to hell and leaves town while Full Of Grace plays in the background) [still one of the most effective season finales I've ever watched and, for my money, the best musical montage in the show's entire run (with apologies to the many Goodbye To You fans)]

The scene in Revelations where Gwendolyn Post visits Faith in her motel room and we really start to see how desperate Faith is for any hint of positive attention from an adult in her life [maybe not as obvious an example as some of the others on this list, but I've been thinking about this scene a lot this year]

The Amends porch scene ("Looked like that party thing was going to be a drag ... I didn't really have anything ... you know.") [yes, Faith, we all know]

Graduation Day Part 2's hospital dream sequence ("is this your mind or mine?" "Beats me"), complete with Buffy waking up, finding Faith still unconscious and gently kissing her on the forehead [the fact Whedon insisted this scene is entirely non-romantic while claiming that Buffy's relationship with Riley next season is an example of a 'healthy and happy' and 'normal' romance explains, I think, a good third of everything wrong with Buffy as a show (the other two thirds is mostly the racism)]

Faith-as-Buffy whaling on Buffy-as-Faith in the church in Who Are You? while Faith-as-Buffy screams abuse at herself through tears ("do you think I'm afraid of you? you're nothing ... disgusting ... murderous bitch ... you're nothing") [it's not subtle, but then Buffy isn't an especially subtle show]

The opening few minutes of The Body, up to Buffy's shocked reaction after she hears herself tell Giles that "...we're not supposed to move the body" [I genuinely still cannot bring myself to rewatch this; it's one of the most upsetting things I can remember seeing in a work of fiction]

Buffy clawing her way out of her own grave in Bargaining [in general I have kind of mixed feelings about Season 6 but this moment and in fact this whole two-parter is really well done]

#13 … which canon or popular fanon relationship I can't stand or feel 'meh' about and why.

I don't think I'm brave enough to answer this question in any detail.

Uh. There are a number of popular canon and fanon relationships in the show that I do not especially care about and try my best not to talk about to avoid getting into unnecessarily tedious arguments. Let's just leave it at that.

#15 … which character I would choose for the chopping block if I knew the writers wanted to kill someone.

Hank Summers.

OK, that's kind of a glib answer.

The truth is I don't think there are really any remotely sympathetic characters whose deaths would improve the show. I don't think any of the Core Four should have died. Obviously I don't think Dawn should have died. I don't think Robin or Kennedy or any more of the former Potentials should have died. And annoying as Andrew Wells often is (and interpreting 'sympathetic' rather generously) I think his story works better if he survives.

If Oz had died on leaving the show it would have made the writers' double standard around what happens when a woman breaks up with one of the Core Four as opposed to what happens when a man breaks up with one of them a bit less pronounced, I guess. But I don't think Oz's death in and of itself would improve the story; if anything I would have preferred Oz to come back to the show at some point and return to being a regular (and have to relate to the gang in a way beyond being Willow's boyfriend).

(There's a persistent rumour -- one that I don't believe -- that says that 'originally' Oz was going to die in Passion instead of Jenny Calendar. But, quite separately from my thoughts about Jenny's death, I don't think that would have worked thematically or really made any sense.)

And who does that leave? Olivia shouldn't have died [but she should have been on the show more]. Ethan shouldn't have died [but we should have seen him at least once more after A New Man]. Amy shouldn't have died [but she should have been written very differently when she came back to the show]. Harmony already dies once and I don't think the show would treat her second death any better. Drusilla just kind of vanishes after Crush (barring flashbacks), but I wouldn't have wanted her to die if she came back. Who else? Percy? Parker? Graham? I don't believe anyone cares about any of these characters (and obviously Parker at least is, uh, not sympathetic).

So, back to where I started.

I don't think Hank Summers' death would affect the story much, if at all [I genuinely don't know if Buffy and Dawn would ever even find out] and I don't think anybody who watches the show could possibly mourn him, but I'd certainly find it satisfying in a purely vindictive kind of way. So, yeah, let's go with that.

[positivelybeastly]

So, a very dear friend of mine asked me why I think that Hank is such a performer - why he's so good at it, why he enjoys it so much - and it's one of those things that I think is so integral to Hank's character that really determines if you 'get' Beast or not.

I think the brass tacks of it is - he enjoys the attention, he enjoys the affirmation, the praise. There's some lines of dialogue from his parents that state that he was basically the best case scenario they could've hoped for, considering his father's radiation accident - sure, he was weirdly strong, sure, his limbs were oversized, but he was otherwise extremely healthy and intelligent and not deformed like they feared he would be.

So there's a degree of a miracle baby thing going on, where they showered him with love and attention and found it hard to be genuinely angry with him, and especially as he went on, as he got more and more plaudits for being brilliant, I think he chased that high a little bit.

He throttles back a bit when he's older, to try and hide because mutant and he does like being normal even if he loves being praised and affirmed as well, but everyone is telling him to keep going, to be as brilliant as he can be - which, to him, means be VISIBLY brilliant, be VISIBLY great at what you do.

And even when he joins the Avengers, even after he achieves that status symbol, he's STILL chasing that affirmation, he's starting to create impossible standards for himself. He feels notably down when he isn't contributing in fights or with his scientific acumen, he takes it hard when people criticise him, and he starts to feel the need now to be a public face for mutantkind.

It's not really something he mentions as being a thing in Avengers because 70s Avengers wasn't all that interested in addressing the mutant angle, but it does become a plot point in New Defenders, where a college student calls him out for being one of the most public mutant faces there is (remember, this is before Xavier outed himself, so, like, the public mutant faces are probably Hank, Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver . . . PROBABLY A LOT OF VILLAINS, and the X-Men, but they're secretive and known only as a weird paramilitary group) but not DOING anything with that status. And then he takes that hard, and forms a mutant advocacy group, because he wants to be good and be seen to be doing good.

There's also the aspect of needing to aggressively perform both masculinity and humanity - especially in Avengers, he's so hypersexual and so casually intelligent (he spends an entire issue just alternating between the dozen languages he knows for fun) because he wants you to consider him a man, and a human, before he's a Beast.

That's an element of his character that you see really obviously in his human form, where he's a fucking walking thesaurus, but there, it's to stand out, to seem smart, there's a degree of smugness and 'look at meeeee,' but the instant he turns blue and furry, it's more about 'look at me not being a freak.'

That only intensifies when he becomes feline, where you see a sort of melding of the two - he's a lot less casual with his speech, he almost slides back into his Big Words mode, but he also wants you to consider him friendly and approachable, so how much he drops a million dollar quote or word starts to oscillate depending on his audience. He changes depending on who he's talking to.

He also almost never shows his teeth when he smiles.

As for why he's so good at it - practice, a lot of reading, and I think a degree of underrated emotional sensitivity. In his way, he's more empathetic and kind and gentle than Jean can be - granted, Jean was fucking MEGA PISSED over the affair with Scott, but if you look at the way he treats Emma, it's very soft and teasing and nurturing, and he stands up for her even against his best friend Jean, who had psychically brutalised Emma.

She has the cheat code of telepathy, but Hank is just - naturally warm and tender. He's a very sensitive soul, not just in terms of being vulnerable but just knowing what people need to hear and being there for them. He's even capable of empathy for Mr. Sinister of all people.

If Percy had even an ounce of this insight into Hank's character, X-Force Beast would just be a performance. "This is what Krakoa needs, so I'll become it," but he just. Doesn't. Get. That. There are glimmers of it! HE'S SO CLOSE. SO CLOSE TO GETTING IT.

This SHOULD be why X-Force Beast is so overtly evil, why he's so despicable, why he's so stupidly villainous - because it's a performance, because that's the only kind of evil Hank can do, and it's KILLING him to do it. One last great performance, to save everyone he loves.

THAT. THAT. WHERE DID IT GO, BEN?

And, like . . . he's getting . . . a reaction. It isn't the reaction he wants, it isn't a reaction he enjoys, but it's a reaction, people . . . ARE paying attention to him, so in a way, that's telling him to keep going. Like, that'd be such an interesting, fucked up dynamic to lean into, that this is just a bit that went too far, that Hank can't stop himself, that his emotions are all fucked up and no-one can tell it's a performance anymore and no-one can pull him out, that he became the performance, but no.

Just evil.

It just sucks because I bet we're not even going to get a resolution on X-Force Beast's feelings about Krakoa and the Hellfire Gala. About the idea that he was the necessary bastard but it didn't keep them all safe, that all of his plans and gambits failed, that he sacrificed everything for nothing. Judging by X-Force #48, he's probably just going to do some Bond villain shit and get taken down. In his own villain turn, he's just - stripped, of all emotional complexity. There isn't a character there. It sucks, man.

It isn't even subtextual. It's just. It's there.

Like, Hank's fatal character flaws are: a complete insecurity in his own self-worth, a worrying fear that he's failed at everything he's ever tried to do, an anxiety that he's not truly human, never will be, never can be, and will in fact only get worse.

THOSE ARE ENOUGH TO BE GETTING ON WITH.

And he ameliorates those things by being charming and funny and playing to type so people like him.

Like, if these writers understood Hank, they would USE that by emphasising the fact that Hank's insecurities and fears and anxieties are growing to such a scale that it's affecting his ability to make emotional reads on people, and thus he's playing the WRONG role that he thinks they want from him, because that's tragic, and that's understandable, but instead they make it that he's just got an ego, or that he's just plain evil.

LIKE.

YOU COULD LITERALLY HAVE HANK BE PAGLIACCI.

"Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain.

Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up."

Man bursts into tears.

Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci.”

Hank is always playing the clown, because it makes people happy and that makes him happy, but when they aren't happy, when the jokes don't work, there's no clown to make him feel better. That's when the bottom falls out. That's when you start getting the troubles. And that is tragic.

THAT is how you justify Hank doing horrible things, by making him chase ever greater jokes to tell, ever greater acts of devotion and amusement and entertainment for his audience, desperately hoping it'll bring the soothing balm of someone telling him he did good, because that is horrible, and that is real, and that is so sad.

But nah, evil.

[aydaptic]

Sorry if you've already answered this before but I'm new to the fandom and I found your account through your web-comic and I was wondering what is it about Gavin that you like so much? Why is he one of your favourite characters in dbh? (I've noticed that he isn't much of a fan-favourite in this fandom 😔)

This'll be a long post, but you asked (...and I'll happily answer!) I'll add some descriptions for context. At the top of my head, I can think of 21 reasons why I like his canon equivalent.

1. He's charismatic

Gav gives off an energy that makes it easy to hang onto his every word. I can quote all his lines by heart and I like listening to Neil Newbon (in this specific role) talk. I remember some of Kamski's lines as well -- also mo-capped/voice acted by Newbon -- but Kamski doesn't have nearly as much charisma as Gav does.

2. He's expressive

Ppl who 'talk with their hands' are more charismatic. Gav is all over the place in the break room if you stick around. Hand gestures capture people's attention as they emphasize what is being said.

3. He doesn't think androids are alive (...so in his eyes, the way he treats them isn't wrong)

"Could always try roughin' it up a little. After all... it's not human." - Gavin Reed, The Interrogation

That means he wouldn't rough up a human suspect. This alone justifies his unpleasant attitude towards androids. Hank -- who treated Connor way worse than Gav ever did -- changed his mind. Nothing says Gav can't do the same.

If Alexa suddenly said she was alive, the vast majority wouldn't take it seriously (if any at all.)

4. He's sarcastic

"Congratulations on last night, very impressive." - Gavin Reed, Waiting For Hank...

5. He has dark humor

6. He looks down on people that pay for s*x

Quote above. You don't call someone a "pervert" if you agree with their actions. The Eden Club, in particular, is immoral AF... bc those androids don't have a choice. Gav doesn't care about them being androids, but he still looks down on the guy who paid money to get laid, and I applaud Gav for that. Especially when said guy also had a wife and kids.

7. He has valid concerns about androids taking jobs

Anyone who says differently is either in denial, uninformed, or never had a job they were scared to get fired from. There's already been an uproar about ChatGPT and that's nothing compared to how advanced Detroit: Become Human androids are. The unemployment rate in this game is 37% -- higher than it was during the Great Depression and C*VID -- and androids are the main cause.

I've seen a lot of ppl ask this question:

Q: Why not just buy an android and have them do your job for you, then? You get the money anyway bc it's your android!

A: Bc, believe it or not, the vast majority of men want to work. This is a strange concept to grasp for a lot of ppl. I admire Gav for being one of those men who wants to do it themselves. Letting someone else do your job is taking the easy way out.

8. He's a hard worker

Gallery: "...Ruthlessly ambitious, Reed will do anything to advance his career, even if it means treading on other peoples’ toes."

9. He's ambitious

See the quote above.

10. He doesn't sleep well

This isn't just a headcanon. He has literal bags under his eyes. Just knowing he doesn't sleep well already has me asking, "why?" It's interesting.

11. He puts his feet on the table

After Connor interacts with him in the break room, Gav will go to his desk and do this. I'll go into detail about why this contributes to my liking his character in the very last point.

12. He calls Hank out on his alcoholism

As much as most of us love Hank, he's not in a good space mentally. Showing up drunk/hungover to work should not be tolerated. It not only puts coworkers, but also civilians, at risk. Hank should be in therapy instead of working at the DPD until he gets his life sorted out.

13. He calls Fowler out for giving Hank special treatment

"You won't get away with it this time." - Gavin Reed, The Interrogation (after Hank pulls a literal gun on a human coworker AKA Gav)

So Gav has brought it up to Fowler before and is about to do it again. Ties into the point above. What Hank does -- like assaulting a literal FBI agent -- shouldn't be tolerated.

14. He's a control freak

I gravitate towards ppl and characters who take charge. Those who like being in control and know what they're doing. I'm a control freak myself, but I'd prefer to let someone else take the reins as long as I agree with their methods. I like it when ppl know what they want and act on it. Gav does both.

15. He's protective of his coworkers

I was unsure whether or not to add this as I guess it can be seen as a subjective theory and not an objective fact.

Gav only ever steps in with the gun in The Interrogation when Con uses aggressive force on Chris Miller by tearing him away from the deviant. Con did this after disobeying Gav 3 times. So yeah. Gav is justified for stepping in. Hank, on the other hand, isn't justified for pulling a gun on a human coworker. I see this scene as Gav protecting Chris from Con who is showing signs of deviancy.

16. He can't wink

Endearing.

17. He pouts a lot

Again, endearing.

18. He swears like a sneezing kitten

Same as the two points above.

19. He doesn't like Connor

I don't like Con, either. Yeah. We exist. Personality types like Con's "let's be friends" attitude and constant positivity pisses me off. Before anyone comments that the player decides Con's personality... no. Only to an extent. There are several instances where the player has no say whatsoever. Some of Con's pre-determined responses annoy me.

20. He has great fashion

Big fan of leather jackets.

21. I like him bc I'm a narcissist at times

He's essentially the male equivalent of me to the T. I'm only an asshole internally, though. We love (or hate) characters we relate to. I relate to every single point except 17 and 18 on this list.

There you go :)

His OOC fanon equivalent has a huge fanbase -- especially on Twitter/X and Tumblr turning him into a blushing teenage girl -- but it seems like I'm the only person who can't stand that OOC portrayal of him. That said, I adore his canon equivalent in all his asshole glory.

[hotdadlicense]

hmmm top 5 shows, top 5 animals aaaaand top 5 scenes from any show/movie

loren please..... i lve you.

top five SHOWS.

the walking dead - ................. like it has to be said. i'm so sorry. it didn't even really go 'bad' for me like it did lose me for a hot minute or two there originally but like. when i rewatched i was like no actually i love it here. i love this hot mess. and i tragically fucking do. could really do with bringing certain characters back etc or just dissappearing some storylines but like. i do fucking love it.

breaking bad - i didnt even KNOW what i was in for i was just like this'll be fine this'll be chill. and then my life changed forever y'know.

it's always sunny in philadelphia - my go-to show to have on in the background, to have on when im sick, to have on when i need a laugh, to have on when im feeling miserable, to have on when i just wanna feel like Myself. can probably quote like. every episode by this point.

black sails - literally don't even need to explain this one. bs is already tumblr critically acclaimed. if i could go back in time and watch the season two last two episodes for the first time all over again, i would in a heartbeat. the girl that existed in my bedroom when watching those eps? never seen her before and i'll never be her again.

911 - listen. it TRULY is tv show of all time. u KNOW this i know you know this. u can't put eddie diaz in a tv show and not have it change the lives of millions.

top fIVE animals.

SHARKS. sharks sharks sharks sharks sharks all types all kinds theyre all my children

foxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please the fennec fox my BABY

long maned wolf.

dogs!

snakes. also HOW is your snake btw i miss them

top 5 scenes!

lets revisit black sails again and say season two finale as a whole? but also the 'in the light there is discovery' forest speech in the series finale............................i get chills like every time. WAIT ALSO 'my name is John Silver. and i've got a Long Fucking Memory.' INSANE acting also idk if this is really technically 'top five scenes' worthy but uknow that line where flints like 'where else would you wake up in the morning and matter?' @ silver??? yeah it ingrained itself into my brain and now whenever my brains having a bad day and being a bitch, it just repeats that line over and over to myself. again i dont know if that makes it a top five thing but boy oh bOY it sure made an impact !

iasip mac finds his pride when mac does the dance and franks crying and is like 'i get it. i get it now.' maybe its cos i feel like there is just a 00.01% chance of my parents ever accepting me and im projecting or whatever but that scene? every fucking time im like........ crying lol

my brain is one big jumble for the walking dead and i just can't pin down one scene? so i'm just gonna take a cop out and say that part where daryl and merle are in the woods huntin when they split off in s3 or whatever after they reunite and daryls got his crossbow simply becos i still remember watching it with my mum and her being like 'oh look at daryls Arms. he's really got Muscles.' and i was like. scandalised. in a Good way. and now everytime i see him in that scene i'm like justin beiber tweet i love Arm.

that scene in breaking bad where jesses in hospital after hank beats the shit outta him in the rv and walt visits him in hospital and jesse has that breakdown in 3.07? jesse pinkman crying in a hospital bed bruised and beaten saying 'i am not turning down the money, i am turning down you.' when he's yelling 'i have NOTHING. NO ONE.' ??????????????? scene of all scenes. wait also the peek-a-boo kid scene in s2

stuggling to think of a last one uh maybe in the seventh fast and furious movie when see you again plays at the end and they're all on the beach and then dom and brian are racing except you know its not paul walker and u know its CGI or whatever and ???? i still cry over that sorry

[ltcolonelcarter]

For the writer ask, 14.

MWAH

14. What’s something you wrote in a fic that you are hoping that readers picked up on but you don’t know if they did? And/or, what is something that you were excited that readers did pick up on?

oH I love this question SO MUCH. I have loads, I think, but I’ll only do two for this one. second one includes spoilers for later chapters of a question of time, so… beware

first, subtle thing in last call. super early we have this line:

You give Ben a lopsided smile when you approach, recognising him every bit as much as Hank, and greet him as is your custom—with mild insult and his surname, despite his continued protestations that you just call me Ben. He knows you won’t listen, the same way you don’t listen to Hank, either, but the enduring effort shows his appreciation for your effort, for putting up with the squad, in a light and humorous way that allows you to accept it.

I wanted something to show distance between characters, to build a defensive wall, but bc I love character growth, I also love smashin em down:

“Running off a bit early, aren’t you?”

“Don’t panic, Hank.” You grab the small notepad and pen stashed under the bar and tuck it into the pocket of your jeans. “Jo’s still around, they’ll look after you. Bell will go soon anyway.”

and:

There’s something underneath the calm. You only spot it when he blinks, like his mask slips; you get the overwhelming impression there’s something he wants to say but can’t. Like the words elude him.

“You really shouldn’t be back here,” you say, lapsing into mildly irritated pragmatism as a defence before purposefully taking a breath and gentling your tone. “How will Hank cope without you?”

The tension doesn’t leave his shoulders or his fidgeting fingers but the slightest of smiles pulls at the corners of his mouth, first at Hank’s name, then your joke.

the subtle shift in language is something I just love. the change in the way characters interact with each other is just irresistible. I don’t know how noticeable this was, because it’s really not the focus of the fic, but I loved making Connor notice too, and having him recognise it for the growth it demonstrates.

the second one I won’t quote (spoilers ahead, remember) but the shift in the landscape at the end of chapter six of a question of time where Sixty learns he’s in a simulation is one that multiple people caught on to before I published it, and I was SO pleased that people got suspicious before I confirmed it. made me feel so much like I’d managed to pull off the foreshadowing I wanted. so so satisfying as an author.

send me a fanfic ask

[elianajof]

Analytical Application 2

As audiences and consumers we look for “signs.” Signs allow us to understand if we will enjoy something – a book, film, product, etc. – even before we begin. While this may fall into the category of judging something by its appearance, creators and artists purposefully use these signs to lure in the correct audience to whom they want to consume it. In Ronald Barthes’ “Mythologies,” he describes the sign as “ambiguous: it remains on the surface, yet does not for all that give up the attempt to pass itself off as depth. It aims at making people understand (which is laudable) but at the same time suggests that it is spontaneous (which is cheating); it presents itself at once as intentional and irrepressible, artificial and natural, manufactured and discovered” (1). Looking at the poster from the film Poltergeist (1982), for example, the designers used key signs to draw horror fans in. Posters are a classic example of advertising and utilizing specific language to bring excitement to your project.  The first example is the dark color scheme used, with everything in black and white. It almost seems that there is a spotlight on the focal point of the poster. The eerie glow from the television screen illuminates a young child with its hands pressed upon it. The audience doesn’t know what the meaning of the child or the television screen are yet, but they know that they will contribute to the horror. The words on the screen are also purposefully utilized as signifiers of a creepy horror film. The quote on the top reads, “They’re here.” Immediately, audiences begin to wonder who this is referring to, who is saying it, and what the significance of the line is. Finally, the words at the bottom “It knows what scares you.” Again, who or what is the “it” referring to in this sentence? These phrases were chosen carefully because it is a sign that points to intrigue and intense horror. Even the smallest of details in the poster are signs, for example, the stuffed animal bunny lying next to the little girl. Audiences can recognize that eerie feeling of a child getting involved in something bad and the loss of innocence to come. 

Similar to signs, audiences have the ability to recognize the significance of a “shot.” A shot is the film's basic unit – neither symbolic nor arbitrary, but iconic. As Christian Metz writes in “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema,” “If the shot is not the smallest unit of filmic signification (for a single shot may convey several informational elements), it is at least the smallest unit of the filmic chain” (2). He explains that a shot can provide a statement even though one shot does not translate to a sentence in the filmic language. A sequence of shots tells a story but one shot itself can provide important information to its story. For example, the film Catch Me If You Can (2002) shows a classic “shot” on its poster - Hanks’ character (the cop) chasing DiCaprio’s character (the criminal) in a blur. While this exact shot may not be in the film, the specific image of the blurry chase is iconic to the film. If people want to remember the film, they can think of that one shot. While the shot itself does not tell a whole story (it does not say the reason Hanks’ character is chasing DiCaprio’s, it does not give the time, place, or premise of the film) it provides a small snapshot of information, providing a small story in itself. The composition of the shot is also important to its significance. Hanks’ character is right behind Dicaprio’s, almost catching up, alluding to the suspense of the chase. The two characters are visibly running quickly which also could allude to the fast pace of the film. Thus, this shot on the poster is descriptive of the film and is another tool to draw audiences in. 

The “shot” contributes to the filmic narrative told through a poster. The filmic narrative refers to the narrative or story told through visuals, sound, or anything else in a film contributing to its overall story. Christian Metz writes about how parts of the film that create the filmic narrative are a form of language: “the function of these different procedures in relation to the filmic narrative, and thereby unify them up to a certain point in a coherent “syntax” (3). This refers to how visuals function as words in a sentence to provide a specific message. In the case of the poster for The Woman King (2022), this concept is by the visual composition of the poster transcending mere aesthetics, and instead, serving as a visual for the film's narrative. The protagonists are in a formidable battle stance, symbolizing the spirit of female warriors embarking on a quest for triumphs. The strategic utilization of lighting accentuates not only the physical prowess of these women but also the backdrop against which their story unfolds. Also, subtle nuances within the poster offer glimpses into the broader narrative landscape. The faint presence of secondary characters lurking in the background hints at the intricate web of alliances and adversaries that shape the journey of the film. This juxtaposition of figures not only underscores the solidarity of the protagonists' support network but also foreshadows the looming threats they must confront.The poster for The Woman King transcends its role as a mere promotional tool; it encapsulates the essence of the film's narrative. 

Within every narrative, there are visible connotations that audiences perceive as something with an easily identifiable meaning. Christian Metz defines “connotation” as the meanings that audiences take away from images in a film. Connotations add depth to a visual text and allow audiences to engage with it further. “In American gangster movies where, for example, the slick pavement of the waterfront distills an impression of anxiety and hardness (significate of the connotation), the scene represented (dimly lit, deserted wharves, with stacks of crates and overhead cranes, the significate of denotation), and the technique of the shooting, which is dependent on the effects of lighting in order to produce a certain picture of the docks (signifier of denotation), converge to form the signifier of connotation” (4). In the poster for The Human Stain (2003), visuals allow the viewer to make quick assumptions and associations about the nature of the film. The eye is drawn immediately to Kidman’s character, who’s strap falls off her shoulder and a lot of her skin is exposed. Her facial expression is sensual and mysterious, which can have a sexual connotation for audiences to understand the sensual or dramatic nature of the film. Additionally, the lighting on Hopkins’ character is dark, alluding to his struggle or conflict that has to do with Kidman’s. Both these tools – the lighting of the shot and the exposure of skin in the poster – are ways that audiences can take meaning and identify certain aspects of the film before they see it. It rings very similar to the previous terms because it is another way that we subconsciously judge if the art will be pleasurable to us before we consume it. 

Diegesis is another tool used in art and film posters to understand the film before you watch it. Diegesis in film is the creation of the fictional world, and on a poster, it is the visibility of that world before we are even transported into it. Metz describes diegesis as “the fictional space and time dimensions implied in and by the narrative, and consequently the characters, the landscapes, the events, and other narrative elements” (5). For example, in the poster for Porgy and Bess (1959), looking at the poster immediately transports us into the world the film takes place in. The backdrop of the poster shows an old-timey-village-like atmosphere, which one can assume is an important environment for the film’s story/fictional world. A straw of hay circles around the main title, and one’s mind can immediately think of a Western. From this one object, the world is created and thus expectations for the film’s world are created at the same time. Additionally, the characters shown on the poster immediately tell us the type of world they are in. All characters are dressed in fancy clothing, immediately setting the fictional world as a high-class society. The woman seems to have power and control over two men with a smile on her face, showing the world as a romance over a horror or something too dramatic. The village housing in the back, the construction of the characters, and the visuals used on the poster all contribute to the diegesis of the film from the poster’s advertisement. 

Works cited: 

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.

Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)

Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)

Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)

Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema” in Film Theory and Criticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)

@theuncannyprofessoro

[princesstillyenna]

kreidbanejad + 8, 10, and 23 for the ship asks?

I wrote this and tumblr deleted it because tumblr hates me. SO I shall rewrite it, and hope I am consistent... Also when I shared this my intent was for people to suggest GC couples, but uh KRIEDBANAJAD I CANNOT RESIST THEM <3

8 - What do the like best about their partner? IRL, what Mika likes best about Chris is how Chris always hypes him up, ok... like Mika zibanejad has the biggest case of imposter syndrome anyone has ever seen, he has SUCH low self esteem and he constantly thinks he shouldnt be a pro hockey player, let alone playing on the top line in an incredible NHL franchise, and Chris constantly likes to point out how WRONG HE IS and also get him out of his own head. This is Mika's favourite thing about Chris, and I probably wouldn't disagree with that for my headcannons. What Chris likes best about Mika? That gorgeous ass?? Nah, although he'd probably say that as a kneejerk response. He loves how Mika balances him out, emotionally Mika is a lot more stable (if self deprecating all the time) whereas chris is a bit more of a rollercoaster guy, and Mika always seems to know the right time to either ride the rollercoaster with him, or to stabilise him. Chris also finds it SUPER HOT how intelligent Mika is. Despite being a college grad who speaks another language, Chris describes himself as "Big jet, no pilot" and thinks of himself as very dumb, he sees genuine polyglot Mika as the most intelligent guy ever and that is very sexy to him. 10 - Who drives? Cooks? Does the handiwork? Cleans? Pays the bills? Handles the public? Because they are hockey players, have an obligatory superstition quote here:

“I’m familiar with the term,” Luc interrupts, “there just isn’t any. Jacks and I are bros, not some weird 50’s couple named Hank and Barb.”

“Okay,” Greg says calmly, “so who remembers to pay the power bill every month?”

“Megan,” Luc says flatly.  “Our accountant.”

“And who takes out the trash?”

“Annette- From City Best Housekeeping Service. Or her brother-in-law, Marc.”

“And who takes the cars to have the oil changed?”

Luc sighs. “Everyone in the house, except for me, owns the sort of car that the dealership comes and gets. They all have spaceship commuters that send some fucking bat-signal to the dealership when it’s close to needing an oil change and some asshole in a suit just shows up with a loner whip and a bottle of champagne. Seriously, bro, it’s just not like that, okay. We’re bros.”

But to actually answer the question: Chris always drives. Neither of them cook, they live in NY, and have a meal service. They are both TERRIBLE at DIY. They have a cleaner. Mika pays the bills and is generally more organized than Chris, but it's a close call because they're both pretty disorganized. Media/Public, always Chris. Because he knows however much he hates it, Mika hates it more.

23 - How do they hug? Kiss? Tease? Flirt? Comfort? They flirt almost silently these days... a quick glance across a locker room, the 'I know what you're thinking as I take off my shirt' look. A subtle wink, or the raise of an eyebrow. Same for teasing, Mika will frequently just raise the hem of his underarmour shirt to give Chris a flash of his abs, or tip his head back as he's upending a water bottle over himself, shaking his hair out, because he knows it drives Chris wild. Chris will flirt/tease by crushing Mika into the boards AFFECTIONATELY during practice. Mika loves it. We know how they hug. THERE IS SO MUCH EVIDENCE OF HOW THEY HUG. The most kriedbanajady their hugs feel is when Mika will tuck his face into Chris' neck. That's elite as far as I'm concerned. They don't hug at the rink after losses, they do hug when they get home after losses. Chris will close the door behind them and then tug Mika into his arms and they stand there, just inside the door for a few minutes and just holding each other. Sometimes, after a loss, or after a win, as they're walking down the corridor to the locker room, always after the other boys, one of them will let the back of their hand brush against the others. It means two different things. After a loss it means "I love you, you're awesome, we're awesome together, I've got you." after a win it means, "That was so hot, can't wait to get you home and get you naked." Regarding kisses? Chris loves kissing Mika, loves kissing any inch of skin he can get his mouth on, especially when it makes Mika squirm (because Mika does not believe himself worth these kisses most of the time). Chris likes to stare at him and ask dumb questions like "Do you think I've ever kissed your eyelid?" and if Mika says no, he says "I'll fix that" and does it, or if it's a yes, he says "Best do it again". His favourite place to kiss is the very corner of Mika's mouth and the very corner of his eyes where they crinkle when he grins.

[xmen-blue]

bobby: today i pushed a door that said pull

jean: who even touches doors to open them. weak

scott: who even opens doors. that’s weak. today i blasted a hole through a door and walked through

warren: you’re all weak! you use doors, i just jump out of windows

[oscarswildetiger]

I was tagged by @terryfphanatics to compile a list of 9 movies that I loved, and at first I couldn’t think of one movie, then I had too many and had to edit. So this is just a loosely based list on 9 movies that are definitely at the top of my Movies I love list.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure! Hands down one of my favorites, while I’ve been decorating my house I’m trying to take inspiration from Graceland and Pee-Wee in every room. This movie is silly and ridiculous. A perfect mashup of camp, Burton, and Danny Elfman. 

I first watched Harold and Maude when I was a junior in High School. Someone else in our drama class had watched it and talked about how funny it was, and afterward I asked my Drama teacher what it was about and the description he gave me was so WILDLY DIFFERENT than what the movie was that when I watched it the first time I was so disappointed. However it’s since grown on me and continues to be one of my favorites to this day. I watch this movie when I’m happy. I watch this movie when I’m sad and grieving. I’ve stood in line on record store day to purchase the soundtrack on vinyl. I try to model my life like Maude even when I find inspiration in Harold. And Vivian Perkins continues to be fashion inspo every day of the week.

Hey so don’t fucking judge me okay. Yes yes, I love Gene Wilder and I love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but @terryfphanatics already did that and besides those two movies are bad bitches and we don’t pit bad bitches against each other. I don’t know why so many people HATE this movie, if anything it’s more accurate to the book than the 1971 version (Though lacking in Oscar Wilde quotes) But anyway. I was so excited, this movie came out the height of my Tim Burton and Johnny Depp phase and I went to the midnight showing. It possessed me completely and then I saw it FOUR MORE times in theaters. My friends bought me purple leather silk lined gloves. I bought the velvet jacket, I cut my hair. I wore vests and pinstripe pants to school. I made golden tickets and folded them into king sized candy bars for my 16th birthday and handed them out at school with no explanation. I had never been so popular. Everything at my party was chocolate. Chocolate cups and everything! All my friends gave me Charlie and the Chocolate factory merch. I was living it. I don’t have any complaints about this movie. It’s delightful. I love it all. Don’t come for this movie or I’ll come for you.

Big Trouble in Little China was a movie I was exposed to very young and I only continue to love it more as I get older. I’m in love with Kurt Russell. I quote it all the time. It’s so 80′s and action packed without going over the top with fight scenes like some other john carpenter flicks. I like to use this movie to gauge whether or not I will get along with someone. 

Truth Beauty Freedom Love. Is there anything else to say? I remember when this movie came out my parents wouldn’t let me see it but when I finally got to see it years later it was like I discovered drugs for the first time. I changed my whole room to be french and moulin rouge themed. My friends and I would sing the songs to each other in the stair wells. The music and the costumes are *chef kiss*

When I was little I wanted to change my name to Sally because of this movie. I expect the man I marry to be like Gary Hallet even if I keep chasing after Jimmy Angeloves.  And if I’m lucky I’ll end up like Aunt Francis, she’s really all I ever wanted to be in this world. If you haven’t seen it, take a windy summer night and watch it with the windows open.

Less and less people seem to have seen this gem of a movie. A perfect horror movie set in a neutral setting. Bored suburban neighbors growing increasingly wary of their new neighbors? It’s amazing. Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, and Corey Feldman? Yes please. Again, if you haven’t seen it. Perfect Summer night flick.

This Movie is great on so many levels. I quote it non stop. It had such a big impact on me from when I first saw it at a sleep over. As stupid as Austin Powers but with far more charm. The best thing about this movie is seeing how many cameos there really are. Talk about star studded as well! Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, and countless cameos including David Bowie in maybe one of the best movie scenes of all time. 

Marissa. Tomei.  I’m gonna go ahead and tag @beardedbarista @hatglasses @impure-lace @pmastamonkmonk @everyonespinkontheinside but no pressure

[tartlette1968]

I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, and not...

I have read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The actual big hulking book. I have read it several times.

So let me beak down the characters...

Dagny Taggart. Central character, who watches the world falling apart, as her wealthy friends are disappearing. Dagny lives in a world where brains are disappearing.

Jim Taggart. Dagny's hopeless brother. Jim reminds a person of a certain former President. Weak, pleading, whining, at a loss to explain why he can't succeed, Jim, in his "genius" conceives of a number of plans, mostly around making rules that force people to buy things they don't need, and are of poor quality. He also had the genius move to extend his rail company's line south of the border, because he was good friends with the Mexican Government. Mexico then seized and nationalised the Taggart rail, which experts were telling Jim was going to happen.

Hank Rearden. His business is steel, and he is a genius, and an engineer. He and Dagny carry on an affair, which fills him with shame. But his wife, and the rest of his family take him for granted.

Okay, I'll stop there. Given Rand's reputation, and position as the darling of the religious right, you'd be forgiven for thinking that God might play a central part in this story. But religion is derided savagely by Rand. Communism is also derided by Rand, as well. Religion is accused, by Rand of taking man's will hostage, communism of taking man's body. And I do mean "man's". There are few female characters in this book, other than Dagny.

I'm torn, here. Rand was such a diligent author. She went into great detail to create a universe with rules, and then to ensure that characters and events follow those rules to the letter. So, I admire that degree of competence. But the universe she created was born of a certain naivety, and she left a fate to some characters that they did not deserve. She had greedy, brainless, wealthy business owners, who maintained their grip by doing what Trump did--grift, coercion, and deception.

Our Covid reality has overtaken her contrived world. But then her contrived world contained no disease at all. Most of her characters smoked so many cigarettes and cigars that some of them should be showing the early stages of lung cancer, at the very least.

Then there is the climax of the novel, where the ultra right wing government constructs a sonic weapon aimed at intimidating the American public, nothing else. But the Supreme General starts playing with the controls, completely inebriated, and succeeds in blowing the entire weapon skyhigh, as the entire country falls apart around him. All the bright, sensible, capable people have left to their hideout in the Colorado Mountains, so naturally, the world falls apart. This is the universe she created. A universe with so few intelligent people.

As I said, naive, and simplistic. But then most stories are somewhat limited and simplistic.

What is sad funny, and alarming funny is how easily you can draw parallels between Atlas Shrugged and our world--and get it really wrong. It is not our world, because--remember--disease doesn't exist in Rand's universe, and a pandemic is impossible.

In any case, I have read the book a few times, and been able to quote some things from it. I just wish that more people knew what went on in the book so that they could criticise the reality.

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

Miami

The “It’s you and me alright? This is it.” bit for @thatesqcrush Friends challenge doubling as a little Rafael/Rebecca moment. I'm excited to do these since I haven't seen friends and can kind of just go off titles and quotes.

When I Became a Man, I Put Childish Ways Behind Me Back Before You Lost the One Real Thing You’ve Ever Known Here We Are as in Olden Days Trust Me Abuelitas, Tantrums, and Ropa Vieja Happy Valentine’s Raf Bring Your Daughter to Court Day and Dad Friends Because You Don’t Have to do This Alone (If Rafael Answered the phone?)

“It’s a date night, Becs. Can’t we celebrate a year?”

“We can. I’m just surprised Lucia is letting us out on our own during a visit.”

“Mami and Enrique getting all of the grandkids in their house for a night to make cookies and watch Frozen? You’re right. Her worst nightmare."

“Point taken,” she laughed, smiling at him in the hotel room’s mirror. He’d told her he just thought they could use a night to themselves before the festivities. Unlike Lucia, Enrique had four kids who would be joining their dad for Christmas, and each kid had at least one of their own. That meant eight more adults and what totaled out to ten grandchildren, eleven with Catalina.

In reality, a ring box was weighing down the pocket of his slacks, and texts from his mother had been silenced. Abuelita’s ring had been sized and cleaned, and he planned to ask her at dinner if he could remember how to breathe until then. His head was spinning anytime he thought about it too long, and his chest would burn as he realized he was holding his breath. What if she said no? That was his worst nightmare because he hated the idea he was to finally make himself vulnerable in a new way. He hadn’t opened himself to as much rejection since they settled into a routine. Would this be a repeat of I love you so many years ago? He was different, wasn’t he?

It was probably more appropriate to wait until Christmas morning or New Year’s eve, but he wanted them to be alone, and the twenty adults and children joining their little family was too much. Catalina was spending the evening with grandparents, who themselves had recently eloped, and it would be nice to have Rebecca to himself in the aftermath. It shocked him to think about the fact he didn’t know a year ago about Catalina. He was preparing himself to apologize to Rebecca and pray she’d take him back, and now he was a year into fatherhood and a healthy relationship preparing to ask her to make it permanent.

Watching her do her make-up in the mirror was his favorite part of this hotel room. They’d checked in that morning and been thoroughly lazy. Now, he was taking her to dinner in Little Havanna at a place Enrique swore had live music and fantastic wine and paella. It was almost seventy degrees, even at night, and it felt like a treat to see Rebecca in a fluttering sundress and heels after so long bundled in winter coats. When she was almost ready, he tucked his white button-down into linen slacks, rolling up his sleeves. In the humidity, he’d given up on gelling his hair, so he combed his fingers through his beard before she gave a spin.

“I’m ready.”

“Hermosa como siempre, amor.”

“I like it when ya speak Spanish,” she grinned, waggling her brows. “And when you leave a few buttons undone.”

“Comportarse, chica sucia. Dinner.”

“Gladly, papi.” He put his hand on the small of her back as he led her to the street. Maybe he should do it on the walk. They were going to be early anyway. “There’s the bartender I don’t like.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“She was flirting with you!”

“It’s you and me, alright?” Rafael grinned, kissing her temple. “This is it. You set the bar way too high.”

“I like the sound of that. It’s nice in Florida. We could retire down here.”

“You’ll retire long after me.”

“I can work here a while or you can be retired in the city a while.”

“I’ll be ecstatic to be retired beside you. We both know I’ll have to keep myself busy either way.”

“You’ll work until the bitter end.”

“I don’t know. I think I’ll like being abuelito with you.”

“Sentimental.”

“Can you blame me?” he hummed, arm around her waist. “There’s a park near the restaurant. We’re a little early. Want to find a bench?”

“I’d like that a lot.”

They sat and watched the city, and Rafael could tell he ought to ask now instead of later. He was nervous, despite the fact they’d talked dozens of times about marriage and that they were ready and they wanted it. What if she changed her mind? He’d just have to accept they weren’t getting married yet.

Rafael had arranged a playdate for Catalina so he could overanalyze every moment in the park with Hank, and it was, frankly, a little embarrassing to be a fifty-year-old man being coached by a man barely in his thirties. Hank was as sure as Lucia and Olivia- and probably Rebecca herself- she’d say yes.

“Are you okay, Raf?” She’d caught him staring as the gears whirled in his head. It was no good to self-sabotage on the off chance she’d had a drastic change of heart in the last ten days.

“I’m wonderful,” he said softly, and Rebecca watched the softness of his gaze. Suddenly, he was moving, and her brow furrowed until she realized he was on one knee with a little velvet box in his hand. She gasped, eyes wide as her face split into a broad smile. Rafael was laughing, and despite the beard peppered with gray and lines in his face, he looked boyish and bashful as he took her hand in his. There were people nearby, and he felt himself start to sweat when he heard an abuelita gasp for her company to stop. People were watching, but there was no way she looked so happy and would say no.

“Raf-”

“Rebecca, let me actually ask.” She turned red, leaning forward where she sat so her forehead was almost against his. “Becs, I love you. I messed it up last time, but for whatever reason, you had enough faith in this to give me another chance. Showing up on your doorstep was the smartest thing I ever did. I am so immensely grateful. For you. For our daughter. For the life that we get to live. You’re home. You’re safety and peace and happiness, and I won’t ever do anything to put our family in danger again. You and Catalina make me better. I want this to be official. Rebecca, will you do me the immense honor of marrying me?”

“Por supuesto que sí,” she beamed, and Rafael realized he’d been crying. He did that now when he was overcome with how happy he was. Before he could fully process that she’d answered him in Spanish, something that touched him more than words could express, she was kissing him, her hands cupping his cheeks. When she pulled back, he reached for her left hand, pulling it from his cheek and fumbling as he slid the ring onto her finger.

“It was abuelita’s,” he whispered, brushing her hair back from her face.

“It’s an honor to wear it. And to marry her grandson.” Another kiss.

“I meant to ask at dinner but I was getting too nervous.”

“This was perfect.”

“Hola. Disculpa por interrumpir.” It was a man, phone held awkwardly in his hand. He could see an older woman watching him expectantly. “Mami me hizo filmarlo.”

“Gracias.” He gave his cell number, waving to the pair before turning back to Rebecca and pulling her close. “I’ve had that sized for a week.”

“When did you decide?” she teased, bumping his hip with her own.

“On the details? Or that I was proposing in December?”

“Both?”

“Details, a month ago. December? Probably January.”

“You’re a hopeless romantic now, you know that?”

“And you’re going to be Rebecca Barba.”

“Does Lucia know?”

“I had to mute her. Want me to see how many messages since I last checked?” He scrolled to it, humming. “Twenty new notifications. In an hour. Four are venues. Two are mother of the groom dresses. Is that a thing? Six houses in Miami. Dios mio, mami is having a field day. And Hank sent ‘Get out of your head. She’ll say yes. If you chicken out, I’m sending her a check yes or no note for you.’”

“I like you having dad friends who call you out.”

“Yea, yeah,” he smiled, arm around her. “I have a fiance to take to dinner and dancing.”

“You’ll even go dancing in public?”

“Sólo en Miami con mi prometida.”

[wellnoe]

Thoughts on how Hank is currently being written? How do you feel about the character arc he’s been on?

i am barely keeping up with current x-men. i just haven’t had a lot of time to read new comics, and have been reading a lot of older stuff that i think is more to my personal taste. also, my experience with post 2000s x-men is VERY spotty. so put simply: my thoughts are very vague and based a lot on very little information.

i think something important to remember about hank is that he’s genuinely friendly. he likes people, and wants to be liked in return. i think it really matters to him. he’s an x-men who’s spent a pretty fair amount of time with other teams, such as the defenders and the avengers. the first time he left the x-men, in the silver age, it was because he was sick of the whole “defending those who hate and fear them” bit. he didn’t want to keep putting himself in the line of people who would know they hated him bc his team’s mission statement included being open about the fact that they were mutants. i think a canon that forgets his desire to interact with people (including publicly as a mutant!) while being well regarded is forgetting an interesting aspect of his character. in the same vein, i think a canon that forgets his friendliness toward his friends, and particularly toward children, who he seems to get along very well with, makes him a less well rounded character and into more of an ethically dubious scientist archetype.

semi-relatedly, i do think it’s fair that he and scott are the two of the o5 that have a big split. in theory, i think it makes sense. scott is totally totally committed to the quote unquote x-men mission, and while hank does genuinely want to help people, he’s maybe not as attached to the specific team and narrower mission statement of the x-men. also, i can see hank being very wary of plans that he thinks could lead to greater anxiety about/retaliation against mutants (especially because he’s a very visible mutant), considering his character history (and also his involvement with x-factor, and how that broke bad). as to how it actually played out in canon, eeeeehhhhh, not so much my thing.

also just as a personal preference, i prefer hank‘s fuckups to be made on the basis of inquisitiveness. i think it’s interesting to have him as a good dude who sometimes lets his intellectual curiosity run away with him, in a way he knows is an issue, and in a way that actually carries repercussions. his confidence and his intellect should be what causes problems (such as with his turn to the blue beast) and not his capacity for evil. i think that’s interesting, and provides space for plot problems that are his fault without making him irredeemable, or shifting his moral standing in ways that are difficult to come back from without excising swathes of canon. i think hank should be allowed to be petty, but pettiness and selfishness can be two different beasts, so to speak, and i’d prefer if one didn’t turn into the other.

i guess my point here is i, personally, find hank less fun to read and less interesting overall, generally, in recent comics. but again, that’s based on spotty reading and a general, personal dislike for a lot of recent x-men stories.

[positivelybeastly]

As a Hank McCoy stan, I must ask your opinion on a little idea.

A fan film about Beast.

No action, no battle, some drama, but overall a far quieter X-Men film that explores a side of Hank we don't see much if at all. His parental side.

Maybe he finds a lost or abandoned child and takes them under his care. But because this new character is human, this causes some problems. But in the end, Hank and the child agree to face the future ahead of them, no matter how hopeless it may seem.

What's your input?

First off, nice to meet you! Always a pleasure to see a fellow Beast stan in the wild, so to speak - and I like that there seem to be more of us over time; we're gathering strength, it seems.

Secondly, I think there would be a lot of mileage in this sort of project! X-Men is, at its heart, a metaphor about racism, prejudice, civil injustice, and I think it would be really interesting to examine those themes through an under-explored lens (at least in comic books), that of interracial adoption and parenthood.

You would, of course, have to be careful about the line to be struck between allegory and reality - this is always something I try my best to keep in mind when writing Hank, because yes, he is visibly mutated, and yes, in-universe, he is subject to prejudice as a result, but you generally have to make the struggles unique to the mutant race while being reminiscent of the struggles faced by other minorities.

For example: when talking about the multiple mutant genocides that have taken place in X-Men comics, I've often perused quotes that I think would be impactful for Hank to use, to communicate his state of mind, and I come across quotes that I think would be apropos, but because they're specifically about the tragedy of, in that instance, Native American genocide, I've felt uncomfortable using them.

Yes, they would be impactful, but I personally feel (as a white cis man) that it would be inappropriate for me to use them in relation to a genocide against a fictional minority, especially in dialogue spoken by someone who is, when boiled down to it, also a white cis man.

You would have to be very careful about making creative decisions like this one if you wanted to make a fan film - this is the definition of delicacy and sensitivity, and it can be hard! I don't really agree with the idea of 'kill your darlings' in fiction, but when it comes to media that wants to examine societal themes, sometimes, you do have to cut things that you think would be really impactful because you have to consider how it reads to other, real minorities.

That being said! Don't let this idea discourage you. Examining the way that Hank would be perceived around a small human child, examining the potential prejudices that would be levelled against him if he wanted to try and formally adopt them, examining the way that it would affect his work and cross over into his heroic life - and, of course, examining the way that this interacts with his own concept of himself as a parent.

Remember, after all, that Hank has complicated feelings about parenthood, and for good reason.

Like, there's a whole thread to be unravelled here, about Hank's feelings that he can't be a good parent because he's (in his mind) a chronic screw-up, because his bestial mutation could pose a potential threat to the child if he ever lost control, because he's a publicly known superhero with enemies (including another self who wouldn't hesitate to kidnap said child for nefarious reasons, I'm sure)

And what would those doubts look like to the kid in question? Would they interpret it as a lack of desire for a child, a feeling that they're a burden, making Hank's life that much worse by being there and relying on him?

But then there's all the sweet things, too!

In summation? There's a lot to unpack here - but provided it's done with some real care and attention to detail and sensitivity, I think you'd be looking at something really quite special, with a subject matter that, quite frankly, no MCU-Hollywood movie is going to tackle in the same way.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Destiny

Ch 2- Touche, Kiddo.

Chapter Summary: Tony and Natasha take Katie back to the first of several key points of impact in her life- the day Tony returned from Afghanistan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So these chapters contain flashbacks of sorts- but they’re not flashbacks as Katie is watching the events unfold in front of her-a “Time heist” of sorts. However, to keep it clear and hopefully not confusing, the events she is watching are depicted in itallics instead of me trying to keep calling her 2010 v 2030 Katie…

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Destiny Masterlist // Main Masterlist

You’re dead.” Katie spluttered, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He mused, taking a look around, observing his surroundings. “Which is kind of a bummer.” “So what the fuck is this?” She swallowed, shaking her head. “Am I dreaming? Having some kind of mental breakdown hallucination? Or are you a ghost? And where the fuck have you been for the past seven years, asshole?”

“I wasn’t needed.” Tony shrugged. “But, this is your party so to speak. I can be whatever you want to be if it makes you feel better. I mean, you did have strange dreams at times when you were younger. I distinctly recall one about a giant white rabbit chasing you through the streets of London with an ice cream cone as a hat.” “I was high when I fell asleep.” Katie shrugged, then she gave a moan. “What am I doing talking to you? This is insane, I need to wake up.” She closed her eyes, pinched herself, yelping at the pain. When she opened them, she saw Tony leaning against the tree trunk, one knee bent as his shoe pressed flat against the trunk behind him, arms folded. “Yeah, sorry Kiddo. Still here.” “This is all inside my head.” Katie took a deep breath “This is all inside my head, this isn’t real.” “What was it that Dumblebee dude said? You know the Wizard from Harry Potter?” Tony clicked the fingers on his right hand, pointing at Katie as she rolled her eyes.

“Dumbledor."

“Whatever, the point is what he said. You know, that quote you loved ‘Of Course this is happening inside your head, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?’ You can’t have forgotten, you had it stencilled on the wall in your apartment.”

“I haven’t, trust me.” Katie said softly. “It’s Jamie’s favourite too. He has it above his bed, Steve did it for him along with a painting of the Hogwarts Castle"

“Wow, he read them all already?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “He’s smart.” Katie smiled. “A real bookworm, and an artist. Announced the other day he wants to write and illustrate kid’s books now, not be a Baseball player anymore. Steve insists there’s time for him to come to his senses but…” 

"Cap still with the giddy optimism huh?" Tony arched an eyebrow and she felt her eye begin to prick, and that familiar stinging sensation associated with trying to stave off tears filled the upper inside of her nose and she looked at Tony before she rushed forward and he stood up straight. At the last minute, before she threw herself at him she stopped dead and reached out with a shaky hand, her palm pressing against the pin striped material of his waistcoat. He was solid, warm, she could feel his heart beating. 

“I-“ she looked up at him, the tears once more pouring from her eyes, “I don’t want this to be in my head."

Tony smiled, his own eyes brimming with tears as Katie slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar cologne, a smell she hadn’t forgotten but one that hadn’t filled her senses in a long time. His hands gently rubbed at her back as he held her close, one hand creeping upwards where it rest on the back of her hair as he dropped a kiss to her head. His familiar fatherly-brotherly touch was seeping into her bones, quelling the deep, dark aching she’d been feeling since, well, she couldn’t remember. Steve was her home, her safe place, her rock, there was no denying that, but Tony was her childhood pillar of strength. He was the man that had band aided her knees and palms, tucked her in, fought the monsters under her bed and for that reason, he would always be a source of comfort and strength.

Even if this was just some whacked out hallucination.

And then, she felt another emotion. An emotion she remembered feeling before many a times watching Steve catapult himself off buildings, bridges, hanging off helicopters before dropping into rivers. It was anger. Anger at the self-sacrificing nature that drove her soldier to act first and think later, but she was feeling it here at her brother. Unable to quell it she pulled back and her right hand laid a stinging slap to Tony’s left cheek. His head snapped to the right and he gave an angry yell.

“Jesus Kiddo! What the fuck was that for?” “For dying, dickwad!” She yelled, the tears falling down her face. “You died and you left me!” “It wasn’t like I had a choice.” Tony sighed, dropping his head. “This was always the end I was going to get, not the end I wanted but…”

“She took it well then.” A voice drawled and Katie stiffened in her brothers’ arms, and looked up at him, eyes wide as she turned slowly to see another familiar face looking back at her, green eyes sparkling, red hair shining in the stray rays of sunlight that crept into the thicket as it fell forward around her face and shoulders over the top of a black leather jacket with a bounce Katie hadn’t seen for years.

“Nat,” she swallowed, wiping her eyes, “you look-”

“Yeah, better.” Natasha shrugged, “Whatever this is, it took us back to a time before it all went to shit. I think this was my hair in 2015 or 16…” “Leipzig you looked like that.” Tony mused as Katie stepped away from him, to scan Natasha up and down. “I, on the other hand, I’m not sure. But I look good so…” “Modest as always.” Katie grumbled as she stopped in front of Natasha, before they embraced as well.

How’s my little man?” Natasha asked and Katie smiled.

“Not so little anymore. He’s like up to here now.”  She held her hand up to a point at the top of her rib-cage. “Growing like a weed and he looks just like Steve.”

“Yeah, we actually know.” Tony cut in. “We know about all five of them, she’s just making conversation. I gotta say, I’m kinda liking the fact Emmy hooked up with Parker. They'll make cute babies"

"Oh God, don't. Steve's already freaking out about them wanting to move in together." Katie laughed and Tony grinned before he pondered something.

"Henry, that wasn't after Hank Pym was it?" He asked and Katie shook her head.

"It was a name Steve liked. I picked his middle. And it was the other way for Flossie."

Natasha snorted. “I gotta say you gave Aurora a perfect name. After a princess.” “The Star Spangled Diva." Katie shook her head before she grinned. “She’s awesome, they all are.” “She’s a Stark that's for sure.” Tony smiled proudly.

“Steve says that. Says she looks like me and has your attitude. Drives him insane.” Tony smirked. “Good to know. Been dead seven years and still bugging the crap out of Spangles.” He nodded, clapping his hand together, rubbing his palms against one another in glee.

Katie looked at her brother for a moment before she shook her head. “Okay, so is this the part where the two of you give me some kind of pep talk, you know about the kids and my outburst before or…” “Well, we could.” Tony wrinkled his nose, “but you always responded better to visuals, so we’re gonna show you.” “Tony I have no desire to see any of that again.” She shook her head. “I already know I fucked up.” “We’re not here about the fact you cussed out Jamie.” Nat said gently

Katie frowned. “Then what is this?”

“We’re more concerned with the fact you don’t seem to understand how much you matter to everyone.” The red head continued. “What was it you said before? Something along the lines of not seeing the point of being in their lives?”

Katie looked down at her feet.

“You’re human, Kiddo.” Tony said “Humans are flawed. They fuck up. Some of us less than others, granted.” Katie raised her head, cocking an eyebrow at Tony. “You’re such a conceited bastard.” “True.” Tony nodded, “But all things considered I think I have a right to be. I mean my best achievement is stood right in front of me.” He shrugged. “I’d like to include Moo in that but, well Pep’s done the hard work there really, bringing her up. You on the other hand, well that was all me.” He stepped forward and took both her hands. “And I’m smug as fuck about it, because you’re an amazing woman Kiddo, you just need reminding of that fact so we can get you over this sudden lack of self-worth you seem to be displaying.” Katie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, “Tone…” “It’s true.” He shrugged, letting go of her hands. “But, you’ll see for yourself. Come on.”

He turned and started walking up the path towards the Memorial Gardens and Katie watched him before she turned to Natasha. Nat nodded her head towards Tony’s back and with a shrug Katie turned to follow him.

“Might as well see what whacked out journey my subconscious has planned.” She muttered to herself, following her brother as he walked ahead of her slightly. As they emerged from the thicket of trees, Katie noticed the Gardens were completely empty and it was eerily quiet. Eventually, Tony stopped by an orange Audi and Katie shook her head.

“What?” Tony asked. “I liked this colour.”

Natasha walked passed Katie and opened the door, folding the seat forward so she could slip into the back. Katie watched Tony as he settled in the driver’s side before she took another look around. The sun was starting to set, sending streaks of lilac and burnt red across the sky, and with another deep breath she climbed in and shut the door. Tony fired the engine and the familiar sounds of AC/DCs Back in Black hit her ears. Despite herself she gave a smile, glancing out of the window as Tony drove the car forward, the music filled her senses.

Suddenly, she frowned. Her head flicking to look out of the window to her side before she turned back to the windscreen as she recognised her surroundings which seemed to have changed when she blinked. “How…”

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” Tony looked at her as she turned her head to meet his eyes.

“No, we’re in fucking California!” She practically exploded. “How? That’s not possible!”

“Neither is seeing dead people but you’re managing that just fine.” Natasha drawled. Katie ran her hands over her face letting out a groan.

“I’m tripping. I have to be. Did someone spike my coffee before?”

Tony smirked as he pulled the car off the road onto the Military air base and drew up behind a row of blacked out SUVs, each flanked by an armed guard.

“Wait,” Katie leaned forward, looking at three familiar figures waiting on the tarmac as a huge C17 taxied towards them. “This, this is the day you came back from Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded as Katie opened the door and climbed out. She took a few steps forward stopping in front of the car bonnet. Natasha stood by her left, Tony by her right as she watched the aircraft come to a stop.

“Come on.” Tony strode forwards. “You know how I like to make an entrance, be kind of cool for me to actually watch it for once.” They weaved their way through the line of SUVs and Katie paused, stopping. Curiously, she cocked her head to one side and waved her hand in front of one of the guard’s faces. He didn’t even blink.

“They can’t see you.” Natasha informed. “Think of it as being like A Christmas Carol…”

Kate looked at her, before she took a deep breath. “So not quite a Time Heist?”

Nat smirked and nodded. “Almost, but not quite, no.”

“Fucking hell.” Katie shook her head and turned to make her way over to Tony who was now stood just behind Pepper.

“God her ass looks great.” He mumbled. Katie gave a snort as she stopped behind her 2010 self.

“Was I really that skinny?” She muttered, taking in her frame. Her waist was ridiculously tiny, emphasised by the sharp, black tailored suit she wore, her hair pinned back into a bun. She moved round to the side, taking in her profile. Her eyes were shining, her jaw tense as she held back the tears. “Mind you, I don’t think I ate properly for the entire time you were gone.” “You’re not exactly fat now.” Tony scoffed. Katie ignored him, her eyes still fixed on herself. As she watched, 2010 Katie turned to Pepper who looked at her, the pair of them sharing a smile as Katie extended her hand, Pepper taking it, squeezing her fingers.

The tars of happiness trickled down her face, as the ramp on the aircraft carrier opened to reveal her brother. His hair was longer, he looked thinner but he was alive and all things considered he looked pretty good. Dressed in a sharp grey suit, brown shirt and a brown tie sporting white polka dots. His face was a little bruised but his goatee was well groomed and he still wore that determined, arrogant look she knew so well. As Rhodey helped him down the ramp, he waved away the gurney that was being wheeled towards him and unable to stand it any longer, Katie shot forward. Tony was barely at the bottom before she flung herself at him, not caring that his arm was a sling.

“Hey, Kiddo.” He said softly as she buried her face into his neck.

“You fucking asshole!” She sobbed. “Next time, you ride with Rhodey, you got that?”

“Trust me, there will be no next time.” He chuckled as she pulled back and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Afghanistan is a shit hole.”

“It was you know.” Tony mumbled and Katie turned her head away from watching her past reunion with her brother to look at him. “But there was one thing that kept me going in that hell hole. And that was getting back to you. I couldn’t leave you. Not after what happened to Mom and Dad.” Katie swallowed and turned back to see herself and her brother walking towards Pepper, her hand linked in his as they stopped.

“Your eyes are red.” Tony looked at Pepper. “A few tears for your long-lost boss?”

“Tears of joy.” Pepper smiled back. “I hate job hunting.” “Yeah, vacation's over.” Tony said simply, and he headed past Pepper towards Happy. Katie watched as the two men embraced and she turned to Pepper.

“Twenty bucks says the first place he goes is for a cheeseburger.”

“You know me, knew me, whatever, so well.” Tony looped an arm round Katie as they watched their 2010 selves climb into the car and set off.

“I didn’t even try and convince you otherwise.” She sighed, looking at him. “I knew you’d refuse to go to the hospital. I didn’t see the immediate press-conference coming though. That was certainly a curve ball.”

“Yeah, it was an interesting one for us too at SHIELD.” Nat mused. “As soon as Fury got the call about how you’d escaped and that you’d called said conference he dispatched Coulson.”

“God.” Katie blew out a breath. “This was like twenty years ago now. I was so young, a baby.”

“Well, now you don’t look a day over forty-six.” Tony said, patting her shoulder. She glared at him and he chuckled “Come on.”

Katie cast her eyes once more at the tail of the Rolls which was heading over the airfield tarmac and the three of them walked back to Tony’s Audi.

**** “Higher Daddy!” Harry giggled as Steve pushed him on the swing lazily with one arm, all the time keeping one eye on Rori who was currently with Jamie, the pair of them hanging off the climbing frame upside down whilst Stark sat at the bottom, barking at them. Whilst all his kids seemed to have inherited some of the serum’s benefits in that they were rarely sick and on the whole pretty robust, they were still fifty-percent ‘normal’ for want of a better word, and Steve’s heart was constantly in his mouth when they did stuff like that. To his horror, he watched Rori pull herself up and then tuck herself into a ball, flipping herself backwards off the frame, landing on her feet.

“That’s how to stick a landing.” She looked at Jamie, her tongue poking out at him before she trotted back over to her Dad ignoring her brother’s shout of “loser…” as she headed off.

“Can you not do that?” Steve sighed exasperatedly as she stopped by his side.

“Do what?” She looked up at him, her green eyes frowning a little. “Throw yourself off stuff.” “Momma says you did it all the time.” Rori looked at him “She said you threw yourself out of an elevator with her on your back.” “That, that was different.” He finished lamely.

“How?” “Because I had no choice.” “Why didn’t you just push the button to take the elevator down?” Rori looked at him like he was an idiot and he groaned.

“Rori, just, oh, I dunno, go and play on the slide or something. And by that I mean slide down it, not jump off it.”

“Hey Dad?” Jamie appeared by his side and Steve looked down at him. “You wanna play catch?”

“Why don’t you play with Stark?” Steve suggested. “I need to keep an eye on Harry and Flossie, buddy.”

“Stark just runs off with the ball. He never brings it back.”

“Well, try teaching him.” “I have.” Jamie whined.

“Jamie, don’t start.” Steve looked at him sternly “You’re skating on thin ice as it is. I’ll bring you out to play ball just the two of us one night next week, I promise.” “I’ll play.” Rori offered. Steve could see Jamie was considering his options before he shrugged.

“Okay.”

The two of them headed off towards the small sandlot to the side of the park, Steve watching as he continued to push Harry in the swing, his gaze then turning to Florence who was asleep in the stroller. Eventually, Harry got bored and wanted to play on the slide so Steve lifted him out and they made their way over, Harry’s hand wrapped around Steve’s as he pushed Florence with the other. He watched Harry as he climbed the steps and then moved to the bottom of the slide, crouching as the little boy whizzed down laughing, Steve smiled as he caught him and tossed him into the air slightly.

“Again!” Harry demanded. Steve let him down and he repeated the motion a few times before Steve checked his watch. It was getting a little late, granted it was a Saturday but he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of them all being over tired and cranky over dinner. There had been enough tantrums and tears today.

“Kids, think we should head back.” He said as he approached the older two. Jamie looked at him, about to protest and Steve glared at him.

“What did I say before?”

Jamie took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, Dad.”

Together they walked back, Jamie and Rori a little ahead as Steve kept pace with Harry. They took the path through one of the green parks that led to their road and Rori stopped at a bank of wild flowers.

“Hey, can we pick some for Momma?” She asked, turning to look at Steve. “The blue ones are pretty.”

Steve smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Make momma happy?” Harry asked, looking up and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, yeah it will.”

Steve watched as Jamie and Rori headed off to a patch to the left to pick a few and Steve crouched down consulting with Harry as to which ones he wanted to get. He helped him pick a few before he turned back to see Jamie and Rori clutching handfuls each.

“You leave any for the bees?” He quipped and Rori looked at him.

“There are looooads.” She gestured with her hands, giving an eye roll that was ridiculously comparable to those of her mother.

“Well that’s me told.” Steve arched an eyebrow. “Okay, give them here.”

He took them gently, adding them to Harry’s and he laid them on the little shelf at the bottom of the stroller before the five of them made their way back home.

**** Tony parked the Audi haphazardly in a space outside the Stark Industries HQ main building.

“Nice parking.” Katie quipped.

“It’s our company, I own this parking lot. Well I did. And besides, like you keep saying, this isn’t real so what does it matter?” He asked as the three of them exited the car. Katie glanced over to where Obadiah Stane was waiting with the press and their employees, laughing loudly and generally acting like the big shot.

“Dick.” She mumbled. “I never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know. You told me a lot. And it turns out you were right about him.” Tony shrugged. “Who knew?”

She snorted and Natasha gave a chuckle. “I’ll leave you two to this one.” She said gently, leaning against the car, folding her arms. Katie looked at her, before she turned and followed Tony as he strode forward, watching as the Rolls pulled up. The people stood round the turning circle all started to applause and when the car stopped and Obadiah strode forwards, arms open.

“Look at this!” He opened the door, presenting Tony to everyone and pulling him into a hug “We were going to meet at the hospital.”

“No, I'm fine.” Tony said, turning to Happy who offered him the Burger King bag from which Tony pulled another cheeseburger.

“Look at you!” Obadiah chuckled “You had to have a burger, yeah?”

“Which reminds me,” Katie nudged Pepper as they walked around the back of the car, “you owe me a twenty.” Pepper snorted and shook her head, “come on.”

Katie and Pepper headed inside, following Tony and Obadiah who were chatting away, the cameras flashing as they walked through the cool, marble clad reception area of HQ where the podium that the press conferences were held from stood to the side. Katie and Pepper stopped, Katie taking a breath as she watched Tony walking through the group of people, speaking to various until a voice by her side made her jump.

“Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Katie turned to see an unassuming man, with short dark hair and a kind face dressed in a black suit, a Visitor Tag attached to his breast pocket. She looked at him for a second before her attention turned back to Tony who was busy talking to a woman in a red suit.

“I’m not part of the press conference,” Pepper spoke to the man, “but it’s about to begin right now.”

“I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The man spoke and that got Katie’s attention. She turned to look at him, smiling.

“That's quite a mouthful.” She grinned and Agent Coulson gave her a smile.

“I know. We're working on it.” He smiled as Pepper took the business card he was holding. Katie arched an eyebrow and smiled, once more turning her eyes back to her brother.

“You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA...” Pepper continued and Coulson cut her off gently.

“We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape.”

Katie turned to him, frowning and wondering exactly how they knew about it. Reading her facial expression, Coulson shrugged slightly and Pepper nodded. “I'll put something in the book, shall I?”

“Thank you.”

Katie was about to quiz him more when she heard Tony calling for her. She looked at her brother and he gestured with his head.

“Excuse me.” She strode forward and Tony put an arm round her shoulder.

“I need to speak to you, before I talk to the world.”

“God, I remember this like it was yesterday.” Katie turned to Tony as they followed in the wake of themselves, everyone parting as Tony steered his sister towards the little break out room at the back, which housed the coffee and vending machines.

“Yup.” Tony said as they ducked inside the room with themselves. “It was a pretty life defining moment. For me anyway…”

“It was for both of us.” Katie watched as 2010 Tony clicked he door shut. “This is where it all began. Iron Man, SHIELD, all of it.”

Tony smiled and they both turned their heads to watch their past selves.

“I’m shutting down the Weapons Manufacturing.” Tony said and Katie frowned.

“What? Why?”

“I saw out there what our weapons are being used for.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t know how those terrorists got hold of them, because I sure as hell didn’t approve any bids to that particular group, did the Commercial Department negotiate them without me, using your delegated authority?”

“Of course not!”  Katie replied indignantly “What do you take me for? They must have been traded on the black market…”

“And that is exactly my point!” Tony nodded at her. “We can’t police it all. So I want to shut it down. Focus our efforts elsewhere.”

“What happened to you out there Tone?” Katie considered her brother for a moment and he took a deep breath.

“For the first time I met my Jiminy Cricket.” He shrugged. “Tony Stark doesn’t want to be the most famous mass murderer in the history of America anymore.”

Katie frowned. “That Vanity Fair article. You read it?”

“Of course I read it, it was about me.” He shrugged “The reporter…erm..”

“Everhart?” Katie looked at him. “You forgot her name after you banged her as well?”

“Whatever, that’s not important.” Tony waved her off “But Kiddo, all those lives we’ve saved by advancing medical technology and the starvation prevented from intelli-crops, she mentioned none of that.”

“Because that doesn’t sell papers.” Katie shook her head “Whereas dubbing us Merchants of Death does.”

“War profiteering she called it. And she was right.” Tony implored “You know, Dad always said that peace means…”

“Having a bigger stick than the other guy, yeah, you told me” Katie looked at her brother.

“And it’s a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks.” Tony shook his head. “But what if no one was selling the sticks?”

Katie took a deep breath. “People would then just make their own sticks, and they’d be harder to police.”

“But what if I told you I had a pretty big assed stick of my own to stop that? The biggest stick anyone could have.”

“I’m not-” Katie sighed, rubbing at her temple. “Tony you’ve lost me”

“I wouldn’t have escaped if it hadn’t been for my cell mate out there. He saved my life,” Tony tapped his chest, “not only did he build an electromagnet to keep a bunch of shrapnel from shredding my heart, he sacrificed himself so I could escape. His last words were an instruction, not to waste my life, Kiddo, and I have no intention of doing so anymore.” He looked down at his feet taking a deep breath before he raised his head to meet her gaze. “I don’t want my legacy, our legacy, to be about how many deaths we may or may not have been indirectly responsible for.”

“You really did have an epiphany didn’t you?” Katie looked at him, not a shred of sarcasm in her voice.

“It was my moment of clarity” Tony nodded “And I have a permanent reminder, as you know already.”

He moved his arm gently, wincing as he did so, loosening his tie a little and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt. He gently parted it and Katie gave a gasp at the small circle of light in the middle of his chest.

“This thing powered a suit I made. A metal suit. I shrunk the Arc reactor down in a damned cave, and that’s what’s now keeping the shrapnel in place, but it powered a heavy assed suit for fifteen minutes. Just think of all the good we could do with it with it. Renewable technology, medical equipment, maybe some other form of potential peace keeping initiative with a slightly smaller metal suit.”

“Is this the big stick you were talking about?” Katie asked, arching her eyebrow. “A metal suit.”

Tony took a deep breath. “In a fashion, yes. It could remove the need for other sticks so to speak.”

Katie took a deep breath before she stepped forward and began to do his shirt back up for him, not saying a word as she mulled over what he had said. The fact they traded weapons had been something she tried not to think about, justifying it in her mind as a means to an end- if they didn’t someone else would. But if you were to remove that completely…

She re-knotted his tie and slid it up to his collar before she straightened it and stood back, rolling her eyes as Tony loosened it once more.

“I need you to trust me on this, Kiddo.” He said softly and she looked at him, her eyes searching his. There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt there, quit the contrary. This was obviously something he vehemently believed in. And for that reason, she decided to back him.

“Okay.” She nodded “We’ll shut it down.”

Katie watched as her 2010 self and brother embraced, turning to Tony. “You have no idea how much of a head fuck that was” she said as they followed themselves out of the room.

“Oh, believe me I do.” Tony said, as they stood at the back of the room, watching as Obadiah greeted the press, 2010 Katie walking up to stand beside him.

Tony sat down in front of the podium. “Hey, would it be all right if everyone sat down?” He asked, fishing the cheeseburger out of his pocket “Why don't you just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can... a little less formal and...” Tony took a bite of the cheeseburger as Katie glanced at Obi, giving a shrug, before she sat to Tony’s left.

“Good to see you.” Tony looked at Obi who smiled.

“Good to see you.” He said, reaching out and touching Tony’s shoulder.

“I never got to say goodbye to Dad.” Tony looked around. He glanced at Katie, “we never got to say goodbye to our father.” He swallowed his food and placed the half eaten burger on the floor as he considered his words. “There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts.”

Katie glanced at the floor as Tony paused for a second.

“Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.” He once more turned to Katie who gently placed her hand on his back, giving a small rub over his suit jacket. Taking a deep breath he looked out over the room. “I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that we had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Out of the corner of her eye, as the members of the press began to call Tony’s name, Katie saw Obadiah shift slightly, frowning a little at what Tony had just said.

“Hey,Ben.” Tony nodded to one of the reporters.

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened.” Tony stood and moved behind the podium, Katie watching his every move. “I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”

He glanced down at Katie and she gave him a small nod.

“And that is why, effective immediately, me and my sister are shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International”

The room erupted in commotion, everyone standing and talking at the same time. Katie took her position by her brother as Tony simply continued speaking

“…until such a time as we can decide what the future of the company will be.”

Obadiah placed his hand over Tony’s shoulder, trying to cut in a little and mentioned something about selling a lot of newspapers but Tony ignored him

“…what direction it should take, one that we’re comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well.”

At that he turned to Katie and the two of them left the stage, Tony’s arm looped around her shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her temple.

Obadiah continued to speak as Katie turned to Tony, watching themselves as they left the room.

“Wanna go watch the follow up fireworks?” he grinned and she gave a chuckle.

“Why not, we’re here. May as well.”

They walked out to see their past selves climbing into Happy’s car and Natasha straightened up as they headed to the Audi.

“Have fun?” She drawled and Katie looked at her and shrugged.

“I suppose I never really understood the significance of that moment. Like I said to Tony in there, this is what kicked it all off. How Iron Man was born.”

Natasha looked at Tony, giving him a little nod “You were right to bring here her then.” “Just like I said.” He shrugged as he opened the door to the Audi, gesturing to it with his head “Now, get in Losers, we’re going Arc Reactor viewing.”

Katie rolled her eyes at Natasha as the two of them climbed into the car and Tony followed the Rolls that was working its way across the Stark Industries site. Eventually it stopped outside the large, glass fronted building which housed the Arc Reactor that powered the plant. The three of them exited and followed 2010 Tony and Katie inside.

“So this is a larger version of what was in your chest.” Natasha looked up at the huge power source, giving it the once over.

“Yup.” Tony nodded. “Pretty cool huh.”

Natasha gave a hmmm of agreement as Katie’s eyes strayed to herself as she stood with Tony, the two of them stood side by side, looking up at it.

“Not sure Obi is gonna be happy.” She turned to look at Tony who shrugged, his eyes not leaving the Arc Reactor.

“I don’t much care.” He shrugged. “We’ve bowed to him and the board for far too long.” “Well, that’s kind of the point of a board.” She looked at him.

“Yeah, but the two of us make the majority, as you know.” Tony shrugged. “Look, Kiddo, this is the right thing to do, we just gotta ride out the bow of this shit storm for a while.”

“That’s a mixed metaphor.” Katie snorted and Tony grinned. At that point the doors to the building opened and they turned to see Obadiah stood, cigar in his mouth, hands on his hips.

“Well, that..uh...that went well.”

“Did we just paint a target on the back of our heads?” Tony asked reaching up to undo his tie.

“Your heads? What about my head?” Obi asked walking behind them, pacing slightly. “What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?”

“Uh, optimistically, forty points.” Katie offered as Tony whipped off his tie.

“At minimum.” Obadiah nodded.

“Yup.” Tony agreed, hanging his tie over his jacket which was draped on the railings around the reactor.

“Tony, we're a weapons manufacturer.” Obadiah said softly, looking at him.

“Obi, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy.” Tony turned to face him.

“That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons.”

“It’s our name on the side of the building.” Katie chipped in and Obadiah sighed.

“What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.”

“Not based on what I saw.” Tony shook his head. “We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else” “Like what?” Obadiah asked “You want us to make baby bottles?”

“Tony thinks we should take another look into arc reactor technology.” Katie spoke, clearing her throat. “And I agree.

“Ah, come on.” Obi looked at her, then shook his head, waving his hands towards the item in question “The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Guys’ come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up!”

“It works.” Katie said simply and Tony smiled, catching her eye for a second as Obi scoffed.

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it.” He shook his head once more pacing behind the siblings, neither of who turned to face him “Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

Obadiah’s tone was almost sarcastic and Katie understood instantly that he knew about the one in Tony’s chest. From the smile on her brother’s face he’d also reached the same conclusion.

“Maybe.” Tony said, his smile growing bigger as he looked up at the larger arc once more before he turned to Katie, his smile growing bigger. She gave him one of her own as they both turned to look at Obi.

“Huh? Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years.”

“That's what they say.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes as Obadiah looked straight at him. Katie snorted.

“Obi, could you have a lousier poker face?” She rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me, who told you?” Tony looked at him.

“Never mind who told me.” Obi pointed towards his chest. “Show me”

“It's Rhodey or Pepper.” Tony continued

“I want to see it.” Obadiah continued.

“Okay, Rhodey…” Tony undid his sling and looking around he began to undo his shirt to show Obadiah the reactor in his chest. The older man looked at it for a moment, glancing to the larger arc before he chuckled a little

“Okay.” He said as he began to button Tony's shirt back up, the same way Katie had earlier.

“Okay? It works.” Tony looked at him.

Obadiah sighed, giving a smile and looped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Tony. We're a team.” He gestured to Katie. “The three of us, do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I.”

“I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay?” Tony looked at him. “But if I had...”

“Tony. Tony, no more of this "ready, fire, aim" business. You understand me?”

“Wasn’t that another one of Dad's line?” Katie asked and Tony looked at her, nodding.

“You two have gotta let me handle this.” Obi looked at them. “We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat.” He said as Katie helped Tony back into his jacket. “I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low.”

Katie, Tony and Natasha watched the other figures leave the building and Katie sighed, her eyes flicking back up to the arc reactor.

“You know, that was a great trip down memory lane and everything Tone, but you’re gonna have to help me out here as to how, exactly, that’s supposed to relate to my apparent sudden lack of self-worth.”

“You backed my decision.” Tony stated simply. “You were one hundred percent behind me when I said I wanted to shut down the weapons manufacturing.”

“I know, but…” “If you hadn’t been, Tony would never have done it.”  Natasha shrugged

“Red’s right, you were always my sanity check. Despite what you may have thought to the contrary, I trusted your opinions, Kiddo. Every key decision I made with SI was done with you by my side.” “That’s not true.”

“It is.” Tony pressed. “Think about it for a second. The Charities, the deals, the partnerships, the take overs, the Arc Reactor, not one single big thing I did with that company, with our company, was done without you. Even when you disagreed I took that into consideration and modified stuff so that it was more in-line with what you suggested or thought.” Katie swallowed, shaking her head slightly, lost for words. Eventually she took a deep breath and looked at her brother. “I didn’t realise. I always thought you did that simply because you needed my vote on stuff to make a majority…”

“Well you thought wrong.” He shrugged “But I’ll forgive you. The world only has space for one Stark genius.” “Good job you’re dead then.” She shot back and he looked at her, his eyebrow arching slightly, an incredulous smirk on his face as Natasha snorted.

“Touche, Kiddo. Touche.”

 **Original Posting**

[adultswim2021]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #82: “Baffler Meal” | January 1, 2003 - 12:00 AM | S08E01

An all-time classic, wonderful episode. Ending 2002 on a high note (technically this is the first episode of 2003 being that it aired at midnight, but I’m delaying my EPHEMERA CORNER post for as long as I can).

The origins of Aqua Teen Hunger Force are laid bare for all to see with Baffler Meal. Aqua Teen Hunger Force was famously based on a rejected Space Ghost script. Well, this is that script, re-imagining the Aqua Teens based on old designs and concepts from that unproduced episode. The desired effect is to approximate what that episode would have been like had it been produced in 1999 before the Aqua Teen Hunger Force series proper was developed. It’s supposed to be confusing; to the point where in the DVD commentary track they even question weather or not they should make it clear within the commentary that that’s what’s going on here (they do).

I will now take this opportunity to quote one of my favorite synopses of a TV show ever, originally taken from tvtome (remember tvtome? god, what a great site):

Space Ghost is forced into a raw deal with the deadly Colonial Man, forever altering the future of classic rock - again. Willie Nelson and a MOCKERY of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force star in this episode. This episode mocks a great comedy show. It doesn't feel funny in the least.

Here you can see the lack of understanding for what the episode really is. Despite the fact that the ostensible Space Ghost fan (tvtome was run by volunteer submissions for it’s episode data) should one-thousand percent understand the Space Ghost connection, clearly recognize Dave Willis’ voice (he still voices Meatwad in a very similar manner), etc. The degree of confusion this episode caused can not be understated.

Nuggets from the DVD commentary:

Frylock is a guy in a costume in this. Okay, that wasn’t specifically from the DVD commentary, but it’s the first time I caught that detail, ever, and I don’t want to start a separate bullet-point list for stray observations.

Shake’s read of “blahd” instead of “blade” was inspired by a real typo in the script, just like “Branford the Branford” before it.

Todd Hanson of The Onion helped write this episode and kept pitching a character named Napkin Lad. I believe Napkin Lad actually comes to be later in the Aqua Teen series.

And another thing I love: The cool song at the end. The part where Dave is like “OH BABY, YEAH BABY” etc. towards the very end of the episode? That part gets stuck in my head like, VERY FREQUENTLY, and for years I thought it was Bob Odenkirk singing in either a Mr. Show or Ben Stiller Show sketch and have been trying to place it forever. Turns out it wasn’t Bob, but David, and I ain’t talkin’ Cross, do I sound cross to you? Do you even appreciate wordplay??

NEXT is my end-of-the-year roundup of second-run premieres, shorts, commercials, bumpers, etc. That’s right, EPHEMERA CORNER is back! But it’s gonna be a long one so I might break it up over the course of a few days, maybe a week, even.

MAIL BAG

I think these were all anonymous, please forgive me if I have, as the French say, “fucked up” by failing to name the conspirator.

2002 is almost over! What do you think brak's position on the iraq war was? Carl's? Hesh's? Junior addleburg's?

Brak: against, but respects the office of the presidency and urges using civil methods to protest. Carl: pro, he is a white supremacist and is supportive of any and all mass destruction committed on non-white nations. Hesh: HESH WANTS SOME SEX! lol. Junior Addleburg: has not been told about the war.

Do you think you are being overtly charitable to Brak this time around? Surely the best Brak show episode isnt even half as good as the worst Home Movies episode. Right?

I do tend to react to “better” Brak episodes the same way you encourage a problem student when they squeak out a B minus. There absolutely was a time when I loved The Brak Show and was all-in on it. That time was SEPTEMBER 2nd-8th, 2001. Hippo was certainly a factor. 9/11 may have also contributed.

I don’t think I’ve said this yet, but I’ve been keeping a running episode ranking of Adult Swim shows as I’ve been doing this. It’ll probably get revised at some point, so I’m not exactly ready to share it. In my ranking I tended to group Home Movies episodes very close to each other, and I would sometimes talk myself into ranking things a little higher or lower than I normally would just to break up a long streak of Home Movies. So I can actually say with impunity, yes, there are strong episodes of Brak Show that I've ranked over weaker episodes of Home Movies. But I might have to have a little chat with the man in the mirror about that.

Are you only doing animated shows or are you going to do live animated shows to. I feel like most people agree Tim and Eric bringing live-action to the block ruined it permanently even if you think those guys are funny in a vacuum. I'm just wondering because I know you did animation only for your Simpsons Night B-sodes so I feel you are a "tooned-in" guy.

Live-action is getting reviewed too! I can’t WAIT to revisit Saul of the Molemen. Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not sure where to draw the line on the internet stuff, though. If it aired on Adult Swim I’m very likely to cover it, but I don’t see myself covering the FishCenter repeats that aired at 4AM. Anime is generally getting the shaft. Sorry. I think it’d be cool if somebody started a blog that covered Adult Swim Action. But yes, you are right, I’m a pretty tooned-in guy. Lots of people have said this about me.

If you had to dress like any of the Adult Swim First Era characters for Halloween who would you dress as and who would you LIKE to dress as if difficulty of pulling it off wasn't an issue.

There was a Space Ghost muscle suit at one of those Halloween Stores one year and I very nearly bought it even though I had no intention of wearing it for Halloween. I did a very low-effort season 4 Hank Venture because by happenstance my hair looked like his at the time, and I found what looked like Brock’s jacket at a thrift store.

Putting on a blue Sealab uniform and only traveling in a chair with wheels would be real fun. I could probably pull of an effective Carl. As far a difficult costume I’d be the poolside announcer during the O.G. bumpers, because I imagine that he’s very muscular and his dick is real long and it’s constantly flopping out of the pantleg of his swim trunks and that it’s getting sucked off all the time by them old ladies and most of the time he’s like “no no, we mustn’t do that, for I am a professional” but every now and again he’s like “well alright” and this would reflect my experiences at whatever Halloween party I’m at except it would be a 20 year old woman dressed like an old lady because it’s Halloween. Thanks for the question.

Do you have a girlfriend? What does she think of Adult Swim or does she hate cartoons like mine.

I’m not done with the last thing. I would also have a bullhorn and I’d be using it while getting sucked off, even though that’s a discreet affair. Like, we’d find a bedroom that was empty and lock the door and I’d be like “Oh yeah baby suck my peenie, yes you are doing so good at sucking that.” in hushed tones, but into the bullhorn. I’d also use it to yell at children for wearing racist or appropriative costumes, which, as we all know, leads to more getting-your-dick-sucked. Anyway, I got a wife and we literally met at an Adult Swim event during Comic-Con! It was Tim & Eric Awesome-con 2007! I’M NOT LYING

Would you rather take one big bite out of meatwad or drink the entirety of Master Shake.

I wonder if Master Shake is warm. Anyway, I’d go with that, biting Meatwad seems like CERTAIN DEATH.