#hence mcu probably not remembering that either...

[thetimelordbatgirl]

...Did MCU...Did MCU actually forget they do have LGBT+ characters??? Because holy shit, when your own shitty brief LGBT+ hints are so bad even you forget they happened and therefore you just produce this shit for Pride.

[skylermadness]

Promotion Preparation (Harold "Happy" Hogan TF/MC)

(Original Date of Upload: January 26, 2024)

Original Description:

Guess I might have a new contender for most obscure TF mood and most random character to write a TF story on. So a few weeks ago I watched the second season of Marvel's What If series. Now, for a long time, I've already had Happy as a mood for myself. As a character he intrigued me in a sort of 'random side character' kind of way, which truthfully has been a frequent way I get interested in characters in general. Honestly the amount of times I fell in love with a supporting cast member while completely disregarding the main character is a lot. This is one of those cases, and watching that episode of What If accentuated that mood towards Happy in ways you cannot even believe. Plus he looks cute in a more animated format! Although he looks cute regardless so that's neither here nor there. I didn't really care for the whole Hulk Blood Injection/Freak segments of his day in the limelight episode, but that's just me being not a big Hulk (and adjacent) guy and nothing personal towards him. If you want something funny I actually haven't watched any of the Iron Man movies in literal years so my worldbuilding for this story is probably mostly inaccurate and screwed. Then there's the fact that this story is in a weird point in the MCU timeline that's likely midway through Phase 2 or so. I did try to make do with what I could remember, alongside with what the MCU Wiki could provide me. Although either way this was just a silly self-indulgent story to fulfill a TF mood that I just couldn't stop obsessing over for a bit. Fun fact: The cover for this story was going to use an image of Happy from the Iron Man films, but the image looked too generic that I felt it would come off as appearing too indistinguishable from being an image of Jon Favreau in a suit. Hence I had to change it to a picture of him from What If to avoid any potential weirdness.

   Daryl had considered himself someone that was inexperienced in his field of study. Especially as someone who was still working on his degree in cybersecurity and was only three years in. Despite that however, he had gotten an internship at Stark Industries roughly a few months ago. Something he wasn't even expecting to achieve since he assumed the level of entry for such a job would be high. Especially since the only branch of the company that was near his college was the central branch. But he’s been coasting along pretty well for the few months he's been working as an intern there.

   That's what he presumed anyway. Then he opened his work email this morning to find that he's been asked to a meeting with one of the CEOs of the industry. Specifically Tony Stark himself…

   That alone was enough to cause Daryl's stress levels to go off the rails. A meeting with a CEO was one thing, but the former industry head? In person? And that wasn't taking into account that the guy was Iron Man, an Avenger. It made his heart rate reach levels that he wasn't quite sure was possible for a human being. And that was a feeling that was maintained for much of the day.

   Now, within the building he's been working at for months, he stands outside the door of one of the rooms in the upper floors of the building. He had usually been delegated to the ground level floors but there seemed to be very little differentiation in how the hallways looked between floors. Consistency and all. Didn't make him any less petrified to knock, though. He just stood there eyeing the wood, terrified as to how this would all go down.

   Was he getting fired? Or worse, had he done something that compromised the company? Maybe he left a firewall open for too long and let someone into their network, or perhaps he accidentally mishandled a crucial file and sent it to someone he shouldn't have. Crap, now he's thinking about all the times he's emailed someone with his work email. What if someone who emailed him before had been posing as an employee and-

   “You do realize I can see you just standing there?” a familiar voice called from the intercom beside the door, startling Daryl out his internal spiral. “The door's unlocked.”

   Daryl stiffened a bit, his body already filling with embarrassment. He stood in silence for another few seconds before lifting up a hand and reaching towards the door’s knob before promptly twisting it. Then, with a gentle push, he opens the office door.

   The office itself seemed to be rather tame, if not rather large. It got plenty of natural light judging by the massive window that made up the room’s back. Seating areas of varying sizes and uses found to the left and right of the room. Meanwhile at the middle back of the office was the main desk for work. And sitting at that desk was Tony Stark himself.

   “Daryl Griffin, was it?” the man inquired.

   “Uh, yeah…” Daryl responded as he started to walk away from the door and towards the desk. Something about his stress combined with the room’s size just made the walkway itself feel longer than it actually was. What was only a few seconds of walking felt like whole minutes. Despite the weird feeling of time disparity though, he reached the desk and took a seat in the chair opposite to Stark’s.

   “Took the casual approach for this meeting, huh?” Tony commented.

   Daryl could feel his own soul shrivel at that remark. He didn't have much time to really switch out to something more formal seeing as this meeting was scheduled less than a half hour after his last class for the day. It resulted in him wearing a T-shirt beneath a fully unbuttoned flannel, alongside a pair of jeans and athletic shoes. “I-I didn't have the time to change really-”

   Stark’s face remained emotionless for a few seconds… and then he smiled. “I'm just messing with ya, kid. I'm just wearing a t-shirt right now!”

   Daryl just nodded, his stress only dissipating a little at the statement.

   “Hm, usually I get the fanboys,” Stark remarked at the silence. “Right to business then. I'm presuming you're wondering why you were called into this meeting?”

   “Y-yeah,” Daryl attempted not to make eye contact. “Look, if I sent anyone anything it was probably because of an email hijack I might not have caught-”

   Tony let out a low laugh. “Kid, this isn't a scolding, nor have we dealt with any email hijackers in a while. Truthfully you've seemed to have been doing well at your job despite this only being an internship position.”

   The praise continued to melt away Daryl’s stress. “What? I- I guess that's something considering I'm only a third year at my college. Although I'm taking it I'm here for more than just praise-”

   “Bingo. Considering how you are, I think it would benefit us both that your position is moved to something more permanent.”

   Daryl paused, gears in his head turning and he tried to comprehend what was just told to him. “I- wait, are you… promoting me to an official job here?”

   “Quite more than that actually…” Tony says with a smile. He slid a piece of paper, a contract, across the desk and to Daryl. “You'll be placed as Stark Industries’ new Head of Security.”

   And the stress levels we back up. “H-H-Head of Security!? That can't be right, I’m still in college!!!”

   “Well, it's moreso a gradual position. One that needs some level of prep work, but that'll all be talked about if you agree to the job.”

   Gradual? Prep work?? Daryl was left dumbfounded at the offer. Was his prowess really that good to warrant being the Head of Security for an entire industry!? Something about that just felt so… so… impossible, but…

   The young man couldn't hold himself back from reaching towards the nearest pen. “I'm assuming this is something that'll be in full effect once I get my degree…?”

   “You could say that,” Tony responded. It felt cryptic, like the man was hiding something.

   Daryl didn't dwell on it for too much though. It feels like this was the offer of a lifetime, and in a quite literal manner that he could have this job until retirement. Working with Stark Industries straight out of college… the paychecks he could get from such a high position like Head of Security… It was an offer that was too good to pass up.

   And so Daryl writes his name onto the contract, the young man not even taking a moment to read it through.

   “Didn't even think twice on that, huh?” Stark said with a smirk. He slid back the contract towards him with one hand, and with the other he seemed to slink off the desk and beneath it. “Preparations can be put underway then.”

   Daryl smiled. “May I ask what kind of preparations…? Will I still remain in this internship until I get my degree? Or uh, will I be put in contact with the previous head? Just curious how this will- augh!”

   His questioning is cut short as he feels something cold jab itself into the side of his neck. For a few seconds Daryl’s body seizes up, but he regains control as he quickly lifts up a hand to feel the spot. 

   Pushing his seat back a bit Daryl looked behind him and found a silvery robotic suit reminiscent of Stark’s various Iron Man suits. He knew for a fact that wasn't there before. Furthermore its left hand was in the process of unmorphing from something, and he could see the appearance of a needle or syringe-like object in the mass of shifting metals. “Uhhh, wh-what was that?”

   “Nanite injection,” Stark responded plainly. “Again, part of the preparations for your new position.”

   “I, uh…” a dizziness started to enter Daryl as he turned to look at Tony and speak again. “What preparations needs… that…”

   “Juuuuust give it a bit…” Stark said, idly watching.

   Daryl wanted to respond, but the dizzy spell was making it hard to focus in full. Instead he elected to investigate himself, removing his hand from his neck to see if there was any blood on it. He was quite surprised to find that only a small amount had bled onto his palm. Although that small drop of blood had a tangible mixture of deep red and a dimly glowing blue. And what was even weirder was that his hand seemed to be… different. Changing.

   At first it all seemed to be slight. Something that looked to be a trick of his oncoming daze. Each individual finger seemingly getting slightly longer, slightly thicker. That change in appearance was only getting more prominent in just seconds as their once thin size was replaced with an almost chunkier looking physicality. The same was also being applied to the rest of his hand with it getting stretched out to be larger and more in proportion with his new fingers. The same was applied with its thickness as well which, albeit wasn't the most significant in changes, was fairly noticeable whenever he inspected his hand from the size. 

   A much stranger change was following however. The softness of his hands was quickly appearing to alter, seemingly looking to be getting more aged almost. His palms growing harder and more callused, the back of his hands getting more noticeably weathered. There even seemed to be a few scars etching into his knuckles. 

   “Whuh…?” was the best response Daryl could come up with at the sight. The man also made sure to check his other hand, his brain taking a few moments to fully realize the transformation was happening there as well. His mind was already feeling so fogged up that it was hard to fully comprehend just everything. It practically felt like his brain was on the beginnings of being put on anesthetics.

   That wasn't fully the case though, and if it was he probably wouldn't be feeling a dense heat surging through his arm muscles. Daryl was a rather thin fellow, but it was rapidly getting more tangible that what was injected into him was changing his body type at the most basic level. His arms were swelling up slightly larger, a low musculature steadily layering onto them. It wasn't the most drastic of mass growths as his new muscles were looking to be more equipped for lower level combat than they would be for more strenuous strength-related ordeals. But that didn't stop his biceps and triceps from just barely outlining themselves in the short sleeves of his flannel, evidently proving that no matter what his new size was going to just barely going to be larger than his current one.

   Muscle wasn't the only thing forming however. A layer of softness was lightly layering over them as well. Small amounts of fat formulating and increasing the width of his arms even more. Furthermore on his skin it would seem the amount of arm hair he possessed was increasing as well. Not by an immense amount, but still just enough that it was slightly more visible than usual.

   The ill-fitting feeling of his sleeves persisted as his shoulder muscles developed a bit more. Pressure was forming in his bones as well, the remainder of his shirt already feeling weird on his form as he was in the process of getting wider. His form getting broader and a couple inches being added to him horizontally. All of which was quickly followed by a heat in his core, and a churning in his gut.

   The warmth that coursed through him was a byproduct of yet another deluge of muscle gain. The flatness of Daryl’s chest was quickly superseded and his upper body strength increased as his pectoral muscles grew in size. It still wasn't the most drastic of growths though as his pecs only gently dented into his shirt, but it was still enough to form just a bit of cleavage. Meanwhile at the lower half of his torso his abdominal muscles followed in a similar manner by rapidly rippling forward a little and hardening as well. Even then however his belly had a level of smoothness, his newly developed abs only slightly visible beneath in it.

   But the churning in his stomach remained. The younger man bent forward a bit, slinging a transformed arm around his abdomen and moaned. The haze in his mind didn't fully let him string together a sentence, so in the end all he could sputter out was, “What’re ya… doing to…”

   His belly rumbled, and then the second half of his bodily changes were enacted. Softness formed throughout the entirety of his torso, expanding itself across him and prompting a major gain in weight. His pecs got a bit thicker with a layer of fat, pushing forward even more as they rounded out more. The most prominent change came with his belly however. Fat accumulating at a rapid pace, his stomach swelling forward more and more with each passing second. Just getting larger, rounder, and slightly pushing the hem of his shirt up more and more. Although in the end the gain in size would only result in his shirt moving upwards to a few centimeters above his belly button, it was still a fairly significant growth regardless. Especially since it was followed up by a light tickling spreading across his torso. A sparse amount of hair ran up his midline until it would reach his chest, in which it would then spread into a light dusting of chest fuzz. A few hairs even looked to be graying.

   All Daryl could do was gently squeeze his gut in confusion. His ability to think straight was reaching a point where it was extremely difficult to pull off. He knew something was up but every time he tried to fathom it his train of thought just derailed. And if anything he also felt like he could feel his own mind was starting to get rearranged as well. As if bits and pieces of it were in the process of being removed or altered. But the ramifications of such a thing weren't tangible yet, or at least he thought they weren't. Even if it was seeming like the way his body was looking was getting increasingly familiar. Increasingly his own…?

   His mental haze had left him distracted from the increasing tightness within his pants. His legs were kick-starting their changes with muscle mass forming across them alongside some fat. Much like with his arms the increasing diameter of his legs wasn't the most drastic of bodily changes. His thicker thighs pushed up against the denim of his jeans quite a bit, and the same could be said with his calves that were in the process of swelling with fat. Despite it all though strength coursed through his muscles. A new increase in endurance that the man had not possessed prior to the transformation.

   Concurrent with his leg growth were also the changes happening in his feet. His shoes had quickly started feeling undersized as his feet began their expansion, extending forward while getting thicker and meatier. Pushing against the toecaps were his toes, now becoming chunkier than they had been before. As his heels pressed against the back of his sneakers a hardness formed across his soles as callouses manifested. All while specks of hair poked out from the bridge of his feet. His footwear still was managing to contain his larger appendages, but it was evident that there was still some level of struggling involved between their differing size.

   It was at this point that the changes were also properly reaching the uppermost quarter of the man’s body. His neck was already in the process of widening and he could feel a pressure coursing across his face. “I… a-ahhh…” he moaned out, the sound of his voice seeming to alter just a bit. Seemingly deepening just a smidge with the tone shifting alongside it. 

   “It honestly isn't the easiest thing to find people matching the proper qualifications for the job, especially since…” Stark started explaining just why he was doing this, but Daryl had evidently no ability to fully keep up with the man’s monologue. For a second the man could tune in and hear a statement about trust problems regarding confidential work or the fact that it'd be easier to create your own workers, but everything else fell onto the ears of a man whose mind was feeling like it was being restructured.

   The pressure around his face continued as his skull was in the process of restructuring. While it got larger to fit his new proportions it seemed to lengthen a bit vertically as well, his forehead seeming to get a little larger alongside the area around his chin. All the while his jawline was in the process of reshaping itself, the angling of the sides shifting as the deepest portion of his jaw rounded. It all had caused his head to gain an almost ellipsoidal shape. The slight roundness of it got more prevalent as a bit of submental fat descended a little beneath his chin.

   At the same time his facial features were changing. The shifts weren't the most drastic though: his nose getting a bit wider, rounder, bigger. Eyebrows quickly thinning out while reshaping to a more soft angled, almost S-shaped appearance. Meanwhile his eyes were getting a little bit smaller and his ears pulled back slightly. Fat accumulated around areas of his face, his cheeks in particular, while some slight levels  of aging and weathering started to appear at the edges of his eyes. One of the more prominent changes came with his chin developing some slight pronunciation, a noticeable lump now pushing forward. 

   The last major concurrent change came with his hair. His hairline was evidently receding a bit. There was a certain level of curling that was etching into each follicle on his scalp, all of them lengthening a little as they turned and curved. Although some level of methodical shifts happened in his hair, still remaining slightly short while combing itself back. This quickly resulted in the final appearance of his hair to be fairly well kept and slightly volumed, albeit with small portions sticking out at points.

   He continued to squeeze his stomach while his other hand raised to touch his face. He could only let out a single exhale as he felt his cheeks flush. By this point his brain just felt jumbled to say the least. Mainly in part because, while he couldn't fully comprehend it, the nanites in his system truly were rewriting how his brain operated. How his mind viewed… everything.

   Knowledge was being shuffled and replaced. The requirements for his old cybersecurity job seemingly switched out for decades of new information. Ones needed by a now ex-boxer, ones needed by a bodyguard, ones needed by a head of security for a major corporation. All the memories required for such things, his own past being restructured to fit an identity that was replacing his old one rapidly. For a second he stared at Stark, the man continuing to go off about something, and it caused another spiral of memories to unleash itself upon him as his perspective shifted to seeing the man as more than a boss. A friend.

   Gone were the perceptions of a simple internship, and gone were the youthful twenty-something years of memories. Instead it was reshuffled, rearranged, practically extended as his entire identity was altered beneath the transformative effects of the nanites. As far as he was aware he's been a part of Stark Industries for years. But even then so many blanks remained, so many years still missing. Things that the strange technology would have to deal with as this form remained like this longer. For the time being however, as the foreign feeling of it all faded, the haze started to lift as the new man steadily came to.

   The last major change came with the man’s clothing, the technology within him doing something to shift his attire to fit his form more. All of it was growing a bit to fit his heftier body shape. The hem of his undershirt slipped down and tucking itself into his pants while the sleeves of it extended over his arms until they went a little over his wrist. A plain white color extended across the undershirt as the material shifted into something a bit finer. A split ran down the middle of the shirt as well, buttons manifesting out the material (and already fastened as well). The neckline extended upwards as well points folding out as the shirt became collared, its appearance now exactly that of a dress shirt.

   The patterning on his flannel faded as blotches of black formed across it. The material shifted as well, the softness also becoming more fine and pressed. Multiple buttons were consumed by the changing material while others were changed, repositioned, and gotten a little larger. Especially the ones at the lower half, which had now made its way towards fastening itself around his stomach. The sleeves lengthened to match that of his undershirt, and the hem of the morphing clothing lengthened vertically as well. Some more shifts and folds occured as well with the collar lengthening a bit while a lapel folded out from the split. By this point the flannel had fully become a suit jacket instead.

   The last bits of clothing changes were fairly standard as well. The rough denim of his jeans smoothing over, material shifting to one like that of his suit jacket. That being finely tailored and a deep black coloration to make them more like suit pants. A black leather belt also snaked around his waist with the silver buckle fastening once it was comfortably around him. His shoes were in the process of shifting as well, the urban feel of the sneakers being smoothed out as the cloth became a clean black leather. It all resulted in a formal feel to imprint into his footwear to change them into dress shoes. 

   With all of that done the very last pieces of his attire came with a tie. The object materialized beneath his shirt’s collar and elegantly tied itself around his neck before drifting down and tucking the rest of itself under his jacket. Although it ended up feeling a bit tight around his neck, the man being prompted to lower the hand touching his face in order to properly readjust it. That in itself was a sign he had come to to some degree, the words of Tony Stark’s rambling properly entering his ears.

   “...then again it's not exactly cheap to manufacture these-”

   “I-I'm sorry,” he interrupted, the man still trying to readjust his tie. “I think I blanked about ten minutes ago and didn't even hear any of that.”

   Tony raised a brow, although a slight smirk had seemed to form on his face. “Fine, fine. Happy, what's the last thing you remember?”

   That nickname ignited something within him, within Happy. A brown coloration overtook his irises as he started to respond. “Er- walking in here, I think…” he unhanded his tie and started to raise one up to his neck. “And a pain in my neck.”

   “So nothing!” Tony said, faining exasperation. “You know, while I like to hear myself talk I don't necessarily enjoy having to re-explain ten minutes of work info.”

   “Again, apologies. Truthfully it feels like I've blacked out most of the day anyway. I don't even remember waking up this morning.”

   A momentary silence occurred as Tony seemingly was thinking of something to say in response. “Well they did say you may have some memory lapses ever since you had to start taking those nanite shots after that accident…”

   “What do you…?” Happy raised a brow. He couldn't recall anything about that…

   “See, this is why it's important to have others around you-” Stark got up and went to the other side of the table. He placed a hand on Happy’s shoulder and playfully shook him. “-to help you remember important information like this!”

   “Tony, please.”

   “It's nothing to worry about, bud,” Tony reassured. “We can go on an in-depth discussion on it after work.”

   Happy seemed unconvinced, but let it go. His mind felt way too groggy to deal with much right now. 

   “Fine, fine,” he sat back in his chair. “Let's just get this meeting over with then.”

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

Expanding this to ragnarok, is Hel around? Is her place it’s own thing or just another kingdom in the ghost zone? Does Danny know her? I’ve always imagined the ghost zone as like a parallel planet tied to earth: if you fly up for a long time you’ll go through the ‘atmosphere’ of ectoplasm and into what’s basically outer space, for the ghost zone. And if you fly down, the ectoplasm gets denser, the ghosts more eldrich, and eventually most ghosts would either burn up or get eaten. Space time is /1

muddy, but in general the ghost zone matches earth in that if you die in Wisconsin you end up in the ghost zone surrounded by other ghosts that from the Midwest. So someone who dies on another planet... will end up in that world’s own parallel planet, astronomically far away in both dimensions. Ok NEW QUESTION what the hell happens to people who die in space? /2

*cracks knuckles* oh boy this is gonna be a long one

okay so I don't know much about norse mythology other than some bits and pieces I've picked up from a podcast I listened to and random posts on the internet, but I've googled a couple things and I think we have some interesting connections

technically the ghost zone would be the norse realm of Hel, the land of the dead, ruled by Hel herself, and the ghosts-

would be draugr

the ghost zone parallels the human world, but what would be interesting is if it also paralleled the other realms as well, any realm where death occurs could conceivably run alongside Hel, I don't know exactly how it works in mythology and honestly I don't have the energy to really go deep into research, but taking what we know of the ghost zone I think it would be a fair assumption to say that it could very well connect to all of the realms, and even if it doesn't, if the mcu can fuck around with mythology then so can I god damn it

but ghost space is weird and things might not space out the same as they do on the other side, and the layout of the zone in general probably shifts around, hence the portals always opening up in different places across the world despite being in fairly close proximity to each other, and I'm not even gonna get into how time works there

I also have a headcanon about ghost zone and space, it came along with my idea on how an ectoranium meteorite could end up in space, the ghost zone isn't shaped like earth, it isn't a planet and it doesn't exactly have an up and down, but it does have depths, there are places in the ghost zone that are so deep and vast that no ghost exists there, and the portals that open there open into deep space, and those portals can get enormous, and sometimes giant chunks of ectoplasmic rock get flung out

and yeah it would be very cool and very possible for there to be super big and terrifying eldritch horror ghosts chillin' out in those depths somewhere

but back on mythology, I want to draw attention to Niflheim, the world of ice, and how we have a particular section of the ghost zone that also features that particular element, I would propose that the yetis of the far frozen are beings from Niflheim, which is why they all share a common appearance, they aren't ghost zone natives, they're spirits of the dead, they're just not the spirits of humans

that being said, the ghost zone being Hel also makes it the domain of the goddess Hel, who has been locked away there, a figure of power, who has been locked away in the ghost zone for being a tyrant

sounds kinda familiar

We don't know how long ago Pariah Dark was locked away, there's no real reason not to think he was locked away at the same time as Hel herself, his queen

I don't remember the details of Thor Ragnarok so I'm not sure if this works with mcu canon, but it's fun to think about, Pariah Dark was probably her right hand man, probably acted as ruler in the ghost zone while she was on Asgard or wherever else, when she was locked away so was he, although her containment was probably a lot more secure and hidden

AND NOW WE COME TO MY FAVOURITE POINT OF INTEREST

what would Hel think of Danny, the 14 year old child who defeated her champion in single combat, who knocked the crown from his head, thus earning the right to wear it

imagine how fucking disappointed she would be freeing herself and finding her champion gone, and then finding out who he lost to

she would be very, very intrigued

[pla-teau]

WANDAVISION EPISODE 6 THOUGHTS

SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

GOOD GOD I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS

GIF NOT MINE

pietro maximoff as ‘himself’ | in the opening credits, pietro is introduced as playing himself? this just made me more suspicious about him and who he really is. it’s like wanda (since she’s the one broadcasting her show) trying to convince us, and herself, that this is her dead brother.

billy talking to us | i know tommy talks to the camera at the beginning for a brief minute but it’s mainly billy talking. i think this was a hint at his incoming powers. plus, in promo trailers for the ‘modern family’ episode, wanda’s the one talking to the camera. i bet we’ll see the kids talk to the camera in that episode but i just find it interesting that billy’s the one leading us through the beginning of the episode. plus, in rewatching the episode, pietro seems to be aware of billy talking to us and reacts to when billy talks about vision and wanda’s relationship going through a rough patch.

haydick hayward’s an ass | there’s no denying that hayward has something up his suspicious ass. first with showing the footage of wanda stealing vision’s body. then, putting in a missile and planning on killing wanda. yea, the five years were hard for everyone - no one’s denying it but there’s just something that isn’t right. we clearly see that he’s hiding something when darcy finds a file of sorts that only hayward can see and that he’s been able to track vision without telling the team. either he’s got a personal vendetta or he’s covering for something more sinister. personally, i think he’s just pissed that wanda, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, took away vision’s body when he needed it to create more weapons and whatever else he was planning. i wanted monica to punch him in the throat when he told her it was better that she wasn’t around when her mom died. bless monica for keeping her cool.

wanda’s interaction with herb | their brief interaction makes me believe that herb is just as aware as agnes (if she happens to be a victim in all this and not agatha harkness) about what’s happening. we got a hint about it in episode 3 when he tried to tell vision what geraldine’s purpose in westview was. we see him mimic agnes from the previous episode when he asks wanda if there’s anything she wants changed. he looks to her the same way agnes did when she was thrown off script. both these times involve vision throwing everything off. vision’s the one that’s been off script from the beginning of the episode this time around instead of after a weird event.

residents being in a loop or immobile | as vision gets farther from wanda and explores westview, it’s evident that there’s something off about the people. we get that shot of the woman and presumably her husband stuck in a time loop of hanging decorations and putting a pumpkin on the front steps. the woman not only sheds a tear but her hands look purplish presumably because of the cold or being stuck doing the same task for god knows how long. clearly, the woman’s in pain and is aware that she can’t break free. as vision gets closer to the loop, residents are completely immobile and stuck wherever they stand. it’s eerie and further proves that this may be wanda’s doing and wherever she is, it’s easy for the residents to be active or for her to control those near her. it could also mean that the closer you are to the hex’s border, that you become immobile as you’re farther removed from the fantasy life wanda has created.

yo-magic commercial | by far the creepiest and most disturbing commercial in the series. i’ve seen people theorize that this commercial is referring to wanda’s detainment on the raft in civil war. it would make sense since the yogurt could represent wanda’s powers and opening the lid should be simple and easy, just like using your powers. on the raft, wanda was detained with a straitjacket and a collar on her neck so she couldn’t use her magic. the island could represent the raft since it was in the ocean. ‘yo-magic, the snack for survivors’ could represent wanda being a survivor in many instances: strücker’s experiments, the battle of sokovia and the lagos incident.

pietro’s ‘part’ | when wanda questions pietro, he gets defensive about how he’s just trying to do his part: come unexpectedly, create tension with vision, stir up trouble with the twins, and ultimately give wanda grief. grief holding a double meaning. obviously, pietro did bring wanda grief when he died in 2015 but it also means to cause trouble which he has done since his arrival to westview. whenever wanda questions him about their childhood or tries to trip him up, pietro retorts with a question or makes rather meta remarks about westview.

the details are fuzzy | the comment pietro makes after a moment of silence between them. he claims he got shot in the middle of the street and next thing he knew wanda was calling her. i think when ‘pietro’ was brought into the westview reality, his memories mixed with those of wanda’s pietro or skewed them at least - it’s probably why things seem hazy to him and can see that wanda doesn’t believe him to be the pietro she remembers. pietro knows he looks different to wanda and it’s like a comment to us because even though pietro only appeared in one movie with wanda - we the audience know he’s not the same actor. this could also be mephisto really mind tripping wanda because she would remember what her brother looked like but the memories are remembered differently. enough to keep her on edge with him and make her suspect but not want to because he also says “i knew you needed me” no stranger would say that right? of course, siblings and family can tell when another member needs them. this episode really makes you laugh at pietro’s antics but go down a rabbit hole with every line he says.

the hex’s effects on people | when darcy explains to monica that her cells have been greatly affected by her entrance and departure from the hex, it doesn’t seem like monica is surprised. maybe this is hinting that monica already has her powers or simply mean that she’s putting on a poker face to hide her fear (or astonishment) at wanda’s level of power. it’s interesting to see if wanda’s gonna be responsible for birthing some mutants or at least awakening the x gene if it hasn’t already. does it mean that anyone can simply leave or that if you leave, you’ll come out with serious side effects that are possibly life threatening? monica states at the end that she’s seen cells in remission which makes me believe that this is hinting at the x gene. we’ve seen what the hex does once you go in, but what happens if an ordinary westview resident leaves?

agnes and vision | we see agnes in her car supposedly leaving town or as she claims, she got ‘lost’. when vision takes her out of her trance, agnes seems shaken and even questions if she’s dead. she also seems to confirm that wanda is the one controlling everyone because she doesn’t even let them think about leaving westview. we see more of where vision’s memory stands because he doesn’t remember (or know) that he was an avenger and that he died (twice). when she says that all is lost, she quickly starts laughing maniacally like a witch. this again makes me think that agnes knows more than anyone what’s going on. assessing what she got from vision, she’s probably laughing because it’s amazing to her that wanda’s gotten so powerful and maybe everything is going according to plan - she just possibly couldn’t overcome wanda’s control and only has a heightened awareness of the situation. there’s no mention of ralph this episode and you would think she’d bring along her husband to leave and go to her desired destination in town. i don’t know, i still think she’s got an ulterior motive and plays a bigger part in all of this.

the twins’ conversation | after sharing a sweet moment, pietro quickly calls out the obvious - the kids. only in episode 3 did children finally come into the show through billy and tommy. now, for halloween, all the kids are out and enjoying halloween. pietro, like rapid fire, remarks that wanda probably kept them peacefully asleep in their beds and didn’t wake them until now for the “occasional holiday episode cameo” so as not to traumatize them even more since she’s always been the “empathetic twin”. he seems to know that this is all in a television reality which gives him even more awareness than any other supporting character we’ve met so far. he even goes into assessing (and somewhat praising?) wanda’s handling of this whole westview reality as ethically possible. he knows that wanda wouldn’t rewrite everything: couples and families stay together and personalities aren’t far off from what they are. with this, it heavily hints that this isn’t the pietro we’ve known in the mcu or the peter from the x-men universe. to me, this furthers the point that this ‘pietro’ is just a puppet for whoever is behind all this (or just a multiverse version of piet) since he seems more impressed than anything by wanda’s powers. also, he’s been the only one to ask what we’ve all been thinking since the first episode: how the hell did wanda do this? once again, wanda doesn’t remember how all of it started which still makes me thinks she was probably taken advantage of by someone and earlier in the episode when recounting a childhood memory, pietro comments that she’s probably suppressed the trauma hence why she doesn’t remember it the same way. at the end, this could all be wanda’s doing due to her feeling so alone and grieving that she may have suppressed that memory of how this all started.

pietro’s corpse | again, us the audience and wanda are reminded that this universe’s pietro is dead. it’s another person closest to wanda that isn’t alive - harking back to her comment about feeling so alone and endless nothingness. this may just be that when wanda lets her guard down and is possibly at peace with a situation, this one being of her accepting that this is the pietro that’s going to be her brother that sticks with her moving forward, she’s reminded of the truth - none of it is real and she can’t bring them back.

vision’s breakout from the hex | as we’ve seen in promos, vision is able to break through the hex. what we were hit with was vision nearly getting killed...again. it seems that he can’t live beyond the hex either due to him just being parts when wanda recovered him or because wanda won’t let him go. either way, vision can’t live outside of westview. it physically seems like wanda can’t let him go because as he steps out of the hex and is being torn apart, the hex looks like it’s trying to pull him back into it. i know the hex was wanda’s doing but this physically makes it seem as if wanda can’t let him go and is holding him back. it’s kind of true because since vision became more aware, he’s been breaking away from wanda and she’s been trying to keep him in place and on script so that they can be happy together. in their fight in the previous episode, she says that all of this is for them as to say that everything she’s doing is for their happiness. it’s a twisted way of showing how vision can’t live without wanda since it seems that she’s the one keeping him alive.

wanda expanding the hex | wanda’s clearly gotten more powerful over the years and this episode really shows us how fucking powerful she is on her own. it’s hysterical that the base and the most of the agents are turned into circus acts such as clowns. i’ll admit i’m upset darcy got sucked in and not hayward. i’m very interested to see who monica’s guy on the outside is. with wanda expanding the hex, it’s becoming more evident that wanda may be the ‘villain’ of the show or if there is someone else behind all of this, we may not see them until multiverse of madness. still, i believe wanda is victim in some capacity - even if it means she’s fallen victim to her trauma and grief.

[coffeecrows]

okay okay

hear me out

Pietro coming back isn’t Wanda.

she was just as confused as Vision was when the knock sounded.

i have two theories.

1. it’s Billy.

he and Tommy in the comics are known to have powers that are reminiscent of Wanda and Pietro and the idea that he would bring her brother to visit to make a point to her about “getting what they all want” (remember the dog incident).

2. Agnes. this may seem like a stretch but hear me out, she’s the only person in the town who is both a.) able to break the fourth wall and be okay with it and b.) the only person who wasn’t identifiable in the sword headquarters that they’d been working in. (if anyone watches Film Theory on youtube it can possibly help explain why this is).

either way, it would make sense because neither of them actually know what Pietro looks like outside of what they probably found out from Wanda herself, hence the “recast” (though we all know this is how they’re likely going to tie in the x-men to the MCU)

[9worldstales]

MCU Loki: Is character development what we see in episode 1 or not?

I’ve discovered there’s a debate if what happened to Loki in episode 1 can constitute character development or not so I felt like sharing my two cents about it.

So, character development.

Character development IN THIS SPECIFIC CASE refers to the changes a character undergoes over the course of a story as a result of their experiences (positive or negative) and actions (successful or unsuccessful). Change can be positive or negative as the character can improve himself but also can sink into an abyss of depravity. It’s worth to remark changes is not necessarily always triggered by something they did, it can very well be something that happened to them that caused them to change… but the point of character development, IN THIS CASE, is that there has to be a change in the character. He can’t remain the same.

So… I’ll pick Tony Stark because his situation in “Iron Man” presented plenty of parallelisms with Loki in “Loki” and not just because some like to consider Tony too a narcissist.

So, same as how Loki was taken captive by the TVA, Tony Stark too was taken captive by the Ten Rings. For three months. There Tony is forced to see how the weapons he produced were used by terrorists to kill other Americans and who called him “the most famous mass murderer in the history of America” and were honoured to have him in their hideout. They originally were meant to kill him but since they realized he could be of some use to them, they’re willing to keep him alive because they want his help, not to search a Tony Variant but to produce more weapons. Tony though, understands once they have finished using him, they would dispose of him. Tony also has the major problem of being told to have only a week of life due to the wounds he suffered.

In this part of the story Tony is just a victim, he doesn’t really get to do something, negative things are merely poured onto him.

It parallels what happens to Loki for most of episode 1.

He’s beaten, taken captive, informed he’ll be killed, his execution is postponed because they decided he could be of use, he’s told he’s a murderer, a liberator of eyeballs who wasn't born to be king but to cause pain and suffering and death, all so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves. He’s also told he caused his mother’s death. And, all right, Mobius won’t immediately tell him what he wants him for, but it’s pretty clear he wants him for something.

So, back to Tony, when we have his character growth? When he reacts to all that was poured on him and react not just by fighting back in a typical Tony style (using his brain to create something that would allow him to fight the Ten Rings and escape) but also by changing things. Once he’s back home Tony announces he won’t produce anymore weapons.

The man who said...

Tony: Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far.

...becomes the man who say...

Tony: I never got to say goodbye to Dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father. There are 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. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability. I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be.

This evolution makes sense. It feels believable. Why is that?

Let’s go back to Tony Stark.

Tony stark didn’t mean to be ‘the most famous mass murderer in the history of America’, he was sure his work was protecting people, he didn’t realize it was used by the bad guys, likely because he just accepted his legacy of son of Howard Stark and didn’t bother to think at it any further.

When he discovers things aren’t how he assumed, after a moment of discomfort in which Yinsen had to motivate him...

Yinsen: I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains. Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it? Tony: Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week. Yinsen: Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?

...he started fighting to change them. It fits with Tony’s personality, it makes narrative sense, it’s well presented, it’s believable on a psychological standpoint (yes, a person like Tony Stark would do this) and from an empathic standpoint (yes, if I were in Tony Stark’s place I would do the same).

When Tony gives his speech in which he shows he has changed, he surprises the people who have no idea what he went through, but not the viewers. For the viewers his reaction is perfectly believable.

So why, for a part of the fandom, what happens to Loki doesn’t feel equally believable since his experience parallels Tony? Why part of the fandom feels there was no character growth at all?

Well, I can’t answer for everyone, everyone probably has his own reasons but merely by keeping up the comparison with what happened to Tony Stark we see how the thing doesn’t work the same.

A premise here, I know there will be people tempted to think Mobius is the stand in for Yinsen because Mobius is likable and, ultimately, he’ll become Loki’s friend.

He’s not.

Yinsen was held captive by the Ten Rings, his life in danger same as Tony. There’s a moment in which they even threaten him and Tony has to stand in to save Yinsen’s life.

Mobius, as far as Mobius and Loki know, is not another prisoner of the TVA, he’s there willingly. Yes, he’s operating under the false belief he has been created by the TVA but he’s not aware of it. In that moment, as far as Mobius is involved, he’s a willing operative of the TVA, someone in with authority, in control of Loki’s life...

Mobius: Mmm... Luckily, he believes in himself enough for the both of us. And, hey, if it doesn't work, I'll delete him myself. He's really arrogant.

...and the TVA is his purpose, his life and he believes it to be real.

Mobius: It's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose. Cause the TVA is my life. And it's real because I believe it's real.

He doesn’t feel threatened by the TVA, coerced. He’s doing what he does because he believes he’s playing the good guy.

Mobius: All that time, I really believed we were the good guys.

So no, Mobius here is not the equivalent of Yinsen, he’s the equivalent of Abu Bakaar, the guy who tells Tony he’s ‘the most famous mass murderer in the history of America’ and wants to persuade him to cooperate with the Ten Rings, in the same way Mobius wants to persuade Loki to cooperate with the TVA. Keep this in mind because it’s relevant and easy to forger since we know how things will develop in other episodes.

And okay, now let’s go back on track.

Let’s talk of the motives that caused the change in Tony Stark.

Tony is shown by Abu Bakaar something he previously wasn’t aware of, how his weapons are used to kill Americans, that, by building them, he became an accomplice in killing Americans, which was something he didn’t want, hence the change.

Loki is shown… the events of “The Avengers” which he was aware of and which, of course, doesn’t impress him much…

Loki: No. And I remember. I was there. Anything else?

…as the show didn’t play the card of the sceptre influencing him as they say in the official web. Mobius doesn’t tell Loki ‘you did this but you weren’t in control of yourself, you were manipulated by the sceptre’ no, Mobius tells him ‘you did this’ and Loki’s answer is basically ‘yeah, I know, so? Why should I care?’

So Mobius moves to the events of “Thor: The Dark World�� and, more specifically, to how Loki ‘caused’ Frigga’s death.

This is something that, in theory, can work as equivalent of Tony Stark being told his weapons are used by the Ten Rings to kill Americans. Loki clearly didn’t want any harm to befall on Frigga, whom he loved dearly. We know that in “Thor: The Dark World” he sufferd a lot for her death, blamed himself and changed (or better, in the authors’ original intentions, he mostly reversed back to how he was before “Thor” but this is a topic for another meta).

For who doesn’t remember the movie in “Thor: The Dark World” after Frigga’s death Loki:

- agreed to help Thor

- brought him and Jane to Svartalfheim

- put up a show for Malekith according to Thor’s plan without betraying Thor

- protected Jane TWICE, the last time risking his own life to save hers

- stopped the Kurse from killing Thor by stabbing and killing him and, in the original plan for the movie, he was also meant to die doing so. Even if you go by the ending the movie ultimately had, Loki has protected a human, cooperated with saving the universe from the Dark Elves and saved his brother’s life instead than letting Thor get killed.

It’s quite a change from how he was in “The Avengers”.

Then great, we’ve something that could push him to change, right?

Wrong.

For start because what Mobius says had happen to Frigga in truth hadn’t happened yet and wouldn’t have happened to THIS LOKI as he wasn’t carried back on Asgard because he escaped with the Tesseract. THIS LOKI has escaped and so wouldn’t end up captive on Asgard, wouldn’t be jailed and wouldn’t be there when the Kurse would intrude in Asgard’s prisons so there’s no way he can do something that would lead to Frigga’s death. Problem solved.

We continue with the fact that Mobius can’t prove to Loki this would have happened had Loki been carried on Asgard. Let’s forget how the version of what happened he gave to Loki is wrong and misleading. Even if he’d been absolutely truthful, what he does is to show Loki a video... but how can he prove this is the future that was meant to happen and not a lie he’s telling him in order to manipulate him? Tony saw his own weapons being in the hands of the Ten Rings, one of them exploded in front of him, wounding him, he disassembled some of the others, he’s sure the Ten Rings has them. But how can Loki be sure what Mobius is telling him is true and not just an illusion? A lie?

But whatever, the series tries hard to sell us through Loki’s reaction that he believed Mobius’ words about this being true because he totally loses his cool at that scene. So, okay Loki believes so will this change him the way it changed him in “Thor: The Dark World”?

Nope.

Tony changes because he does something to actively prevent Americans from being killed by his weapons, he shuts down their production and he involves himself personally in the fight against terrorists with a weapon only he controls, the Iron Man suit.

What does Loki do to prevent Frigga’s death?

Nothing.

His attempt at escaping might have been made more urgent by this piece of info but was something Loki had tried to do from when he’s been taken to the TVA… and in the following episodes Frigga’s fate will be completely forgotten, as if Loki has stopped worrying about it entirely. When talking with Sylvie about Frigga in episode 3 he doesn’t use it as a motive to explain why he wants to gain control of the TVA, to change his mother’s fate… nor it’s something that inspire him to fight the TVA, because that role belongs to Sylvie and Sylvie only. When he’ll try to persuade the other Loki Variants to help him, again he won’t mention Frigga, just Sylvie. Frigga won’t get mentioned not even when Loki will reach The Citadel at the End of Time and Miss Minute will try to tempt him. She’ll offer him glorious power and Sylvie, nor her nor Loki will try to bargain for his mother’s life instead. No, from episode 2 onward what Loki learnt in episode 1 goes forgotten, so let’s focus solely on episode 1.

Some believe Loki in episode 1 changed because he admitted he didn’t like to hurt people, that he’s a villain and helped to cooperate with Mobius.

Mobius: Loki? Nowhere left to run. Loki: I can't go back, can I? Back to my timeline. I don't enjoy hurting people. I... I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to. Mobius: Okay, explain that to me. Loki: Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. Mobius: A desperate play for control. You do know yourself. Loki: A villain. Mobius: That's not how I see it. You try to use that? Loki: Oh, several times. Even an Infinity Stone is useless here. The TVA is formidable. Mobius: That's been my experience. Listen, I can't offer you salvation, but maybe I can offer you something better. A fugitive Variant's been killing our Minutemen. Loki: And you need the God of Mischief to help you stop him? Mobius: That's right. Loki: Why me? Mobius: The Variant we're hunting is... you.

Only… this doesn’t really work.

Why?

Loki has tried escaping and has been forced to realize he can’t, that’s why he cooperates, that’s why he gives Mobius an answer to what he asked for...

Mobius: Do you enjoy hurting people? Making them feel small? Making them feel afraid?

... why he agrees with his accusations...

Loki: I know what I am. Mobius: A murderer? Loki: A liberator. Mobius: Of eyeballs, maybe.

...and ultimately accepts to work for the TVA.

This parallels Tony refusing to build armies for the Ten Rings, being tortured and, ultimately agreeing to build weapon for them, at least verbally. And let’s remember if it wasn’t for Yinsen’s words Tony might have given up. It’s Yinsen who encouraged him to fight back.

Yinsen: I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains. Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it? Tony: Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week. Yinsen: Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?

So this doesn’t constitute Loki changing, just accepting he’s powerless against the TVA and must play along with them. Playing along with someone isn’t something new for Loki, the episode even lampshades it.

Mobius: Well, let's start with a little cooperation. Loki: Not my forte. Mobius: Really? Even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray? Come on.

So no, him being forced to accept the TVA is powerful and therefore deciding to cooperate with them is not a change. This series sets it as a normal Loki behaviour… as well as the fact it’ll immediately turn out he intends to betray them.

Loki: Very nice. I mean, it is adorable that you think you could possibly manipulate me. I'm ten steps ahead of you. I've been playing a game of my own all along. Mobius: What, charm your way in front of the Time-Keepers, hustle them, and seize control of the TVA? Am I getting warm? A double cross by history's most reliable liar.

And what for? Power, glorious power.

Loki: I'm going to overthrow the Time-Keepers. And, uh, cards on the table, I could use a qualified lieutenant.

Loki: Oh, yeah? What about you? Your years-in-the-making plan was to tear the place down, create the ultimate power vacuum, and then just walk away. I'd never have done that.

Nothing of what happened on this episode changed what the “Loki” series claimed to be Loki’s character prior to the “Loki” series. At the end of it he’s cooperating with someone more powerful than him so that he could betray him and take the power from him, which is how this series claimed all the Lokis (except Sylvie) were.

There’s no change.

There could have been, what happened in episode 1 could have worked for Loki in the same way it worked for Tony Stark but it didn’t. The authors even stated that his friendship with Mobius started in episode 2, not in episode 1, likely when Loki believed Mobius was sticking out his neck for him and offering him his sympathy.

Loki: Okay. Why are you in there sticking your neck out for me? Mobius: I'll give you two options, and you can believe whichever one you want. A, because I see a scared little boy, shivering in the cold. And you kinda feel bad for that ice runt. Or B, I just wanna catch this guy, and I'll tell you whatever I need to tell you. Loki: I don't need your sympathy.

So we’ve a problem.

The authors rambled more often than not on how much episode 1 changed Loki, how what they called ‘Mobius’ therapy session’ was good for him… but failed to show it in a way that would make sense with the settings set by the series.

If the series states Loki is one who, prior to arriving to the TVA, was used to cooperate when intended on wooing someone powerful he intends to betray and ends with him being willing to cooperate with the TVA after discovering it’s powerful so that he can betray it later, we go exactly back to the starting point. There’s no change, not in this episode.

His words about not enjoying to hurt people but it being merely a play feel like a forced admission of a truth he couldn’t possibly not know and his admission of being a villain isn’t followed by any genuine attempt at changing something in himself. He just acknowledged the role the TVA wanted on him… because he’s trying to woo them so that he could betray them later on.

If we want to stretch things A LOT we might assume seeing Frigga’s death worked for him in the way being told Odin died worked for Thor in “Thor”. It made him more determinate to protect the person he loved, a.k.a. Sylvie… but it stands up poorly, in part because Loki completely forget Frigga, and how she’s going to die in the TVA approved timeline, in part because, although the Loki and Sylvie love story has cute moments that make you wish you could root for them, in truth that too is poorly constructed, with Loki falling for Sylvie for hazy reasons in less than 12 hours (according to the series because she doesn’t want glorious power, according to the authors because she’s a female variant of himself), in part because… well, it doesn’t really feel consequential, it feels more like it’s me forcing such reading because I’ve heard over and over that what happened in episode 1 is supposed to matter, it’s supposed to have changed Loki somehow and so I’m grasping at straws to fit it in the story when it’s actually just forgotten.

So, the real problem is that the series doesn’t bother showing us Loki changing as a direct consequence of what happened in episode 1 in a way that’s relevant and directly consequential.

Sure, it made many happy to have Loki confirm out loud what many in the fandom already figured out, how he doesn’t enjoy hurting people, that it’s all a play.

Sure, it seems self reflection to have him admit he was a villain.

Sure, since many were deluded into thinking the people at the TVA were on the good side, it might feel like an improvement to see Loki agree to side with them.

Sure, the episode, with its parallelisms to what happened with Tony Stark, made us hope it would lead Loki to ultimately do like him.

But when all is said and done, if you look at the scenes in contest and then watch the following episodes, none of this goes anywhere and it couldn’t go anywhere.

We know originally episode 1 was planned to be very different and end just the same, with Loki accepting to cooperate with the TVA. This means the only things that were relevant in the plot that had to be in episode 1 for the series to work were Loki being captured by the TVA, being forced to acknowledge its power and accepting to work with it.

The so called and overly incensed ‘Mobius therapy session’ wasn’t something so fundamental to the plot the story NEEDED it to work and, ultimately, the story forgot it, to focus on Sylvie and on how SHE was the one who changed Loki (as well as Mobius, albeit Mobius changed him in a smaller measure) turning what happened in episode 1 into some sort of ‘Eastern egg’ for who needed to have his mind refreshed on what happened in the other movies in which Loki starred, albeit as the scenes are decontextualized, if you don’t remember well the movies, you’ll end up drawing the wrong conclusion.

It’s sad because Tom Hiddleston’s performance as he watched those scenes was great, possibly the best in the whole series, I mean I heard plenty of people who totally felt for Loki, me as well, because his pain was so raw, so palpable, and this episode just had this BEYOND HUGE amount of potential to turn Loki into another Iron Man… so it’s so very sad to see that in the end it was all dissipated like a soap bubble, never used so that Mobius and Sylvie could be the ones to cause the change in Loki. Which yes, it’s understandable as the story wanted to give them more relevance but feels like a complete waste of an otherwise good opportunity to have Loki decide for himself, due to what he had learnt, a different course in his life.

But whatever, that’s it. Sad, a waste, but that’s the story they decided to tell us, so it comes to no surprise some weren’t sold there was character development here, while they were willing to buy it in “Iron Man”. The story just didn’t build up on what happened in episode 1; it used it like a filler.

Of course though, people can have other reasons than the ones I’ve listed not to see character development. I can’t speak for everyone who didn’t see it… but I’ll say the ones I listed still could work for many.

Lastly, it’s worth to remark this doesn’t mean episode 1 isn’t enjoyable... it is. Hiddleston’s performance is so damn awesome I’ll never get tired to remark it, Wilson does great and this episode brims with potential. But the sad thing is that it remains unfulfilled, episode 1 just doesn’t deliver what he seems to promise, a change in Loki.

[lesbiradshaw]

why don't you care for pacifist Bucky?

to clarify for starters i don’t think it’s like. disparaging to him to label him as a pacifist it’s just not something i agree with. but here’s why!

so the definition of pacifism is pretty much a person that’s against violence generally, but sometimes war in particular. which idk if people noticed this but ... tfa bucky is not adverse to violence. we are introduced to bucky by him literally coming in and kicking a guy in the ass to get him off of steve, saying “pick on someone your own size” aka him. he wins that fight with a single punch and kicks him for good measure. that’s violence. violence for good reason, but still violence used as a problem solving tool (and he looked sexy as hell while doing it).

him doing this so easily isn’t a coincidence, it’s because mcu bucky is canonically a boxer, something that they sadly haven’t shown on screen yet but that has been interjected into both the tfa prelude comic (that exists to show extensions of mcu events, not 616) and bucky’s character description in the mcu encyclopedia thing i can’t remember the name of. bucky isn’t just a boxer either, he’s a boxing champion. three time champion. a man that is completely adverse to violence would not be punching people for fun- but he doesn’t beat people up needlessly for his own enjoyment either. he just likes to fight, hence why he chooses to compete rather than find people on the street like the jackass that had steve cornered in that alley. he likes to CHOOSE his fights- that’s the important differentiation from what he’s forced to do later down the line.

one of the most important things that comes with the information about bucky being a boxer is how he uses that skill to help steve train so they can BOTH enlist. and here’s another important thing: it hasn’t been confirmed to my knowledge that mcu bucky was drafted. i know that popular headcanon comes from the number he rattles off in zola’s lab, but that’s the only thing i’ve seen mentioned that points to that. in the first vengeance comic, bucky being a boxer and wanting to enlist is a big motivator for his character. like steve, he doesn’t want to kill people, but he wants to help. bucky is just as much of a fighter as steve is. why else would they be best friends? steve doesn’t crave violence either but he’ll fight hard as hell when he has to. anyways! bucky enlisting is a big part of the tfa prelude and is also mentioned in his encyclopedia entry above + it’s mentioned in his smithsonian exhibit as well. i’m well aware that the exhibit has the typo on his birth/death years (they’re both off by one) but the other information is taken to be reliable so... you can make your own choice. i don’t believe mcu bucky was drafted but i also don’t think that matters much to my general point about why i don’t think he’s a pacifist.

not wanting to be drafted or die in a war is not what makes you a pacifist. a pacifist doesn’t BELIEVE in war or violence no matter the situation, and while again, i don’t think bucky wanted to kill people, i do think that he believed in what they were fighting for. bucky is just as good of a man as steve, and i can’t see him turning his back on wanting to fight nazis even if he was drafted.

bucky has a lot of lines about how things always seem to end up in a fight for him as well as a couple about how he’s always stuck fighting other men’s wars (side note: i need people to stop blaming bucky being in ww2 on steve seeing as ww2 is not just fucking mcu discourse) but i think that’s a sign not that he doesn’t believe in fighting, but that he’s tired of having to do it for so long. bucky never enjoyed killing people or hurting them. he hated what he did as the solider. he doesn’t want to have to keep being forced into fights, but THAT is the point. bucky wants only to take in fights that he chooses. it’s why he was a boxer. it’s why he was willing to stay with steve during the war even when he probably could have gone home. it’s why he hated what they turned him into so much. it’s why he’s still fighting alongside sam.

bucky barnes has always had the capacity for violence, had always held the ability to hurt people- but the thing about him is that when it’s his choice, he usually doesn’t. he’ll pull the bullies off of steve and break up scuffles in the street. he’ll shoot nazis and beat the shit out of tony for trying to killshot his boyfriend. he’ll do all this because he’s a fighter. he always has been. bucky doesn’t believe in needless violence and he’s tired of always having his hand forced to pick up a gun, but he’s not a pacifist in the sense that he’ll refuse to do what needs to be done. i think it’s naive to act like bucky is some sort of uwu cinnamon roll who would never hurt a fly when- newsflash!- bucky does in fact hurt the bad guys by choice a lot of the time. but as he told steve, he doesn’t kill people anymore now that he isn’t being controlled.

like most things with bucky, what it comes down to is having the ability to choose. does he owe anyone he was forced to hurt as the soldier efforts to apologize or make amends? no. but he chooses to anyways because despite the fact that he knows it wasn’t his fault, he still feels guilty and wants to help those people feel less of a loss. that’s a choice i wish a lot of his stans would respect. and yeah, a choice i wish marvel would explain a lot better on screen because i get it occasionally looks like they’re victim blaming him, but bucky himself has said that he KNOWS what he did all those years wasn’t his fault (see: civil war quinjet to siberia scene) and still feels guilty anyways, hence why making amends is meant to alleviate that. feeling guilt doesn’t automatically mean he doesn’t contain the knowledge that what he did was out of his control. it is therapy 101 that what you feel doesn’t always equate to what you know. god, i got sidetracked again but i guess i’m just saying people need to allow bucky to make his own choices even when they don’t agree with them. it’s his choice to cope with his feelings however he pleases and if he wants to do that by recognizing that his forced actions as the solider hurt more than just him, so be it.

anyways, back to my main point: does bucky need to continue fighting next to sam with the winter solider as his reclaimed mantle? no, but he chooses to anyways because he believes in what sam is fighting for. bucky never chose to be taken by hydra or do what they forced him to do and THAT is the difference between the kind of fight he does and doesn’t want. bucky barnes is not a pacifist. he’s just a person who wants to make his own choices and a man who wants to choose his own cause.

[aspiestvmusings]

My wildest WandaVision Theory

SPOILERS for WandaVision..thoughout season 1 + several MCU films

This is the wildes theory I have had, I think. And I am 99% ertain this cannot be correct. But then again, I expect some surprise twists, so...

In this theory I focus on some things/details/facts from the MCU (and coming films) & some comics details & ignore others. And even though they like to use the comics as the building blocks for their films & shows, they do also change things up, so I do not expect them to follow the “comics canon” hence I’m prepared for surprises:

What we know of the MCU:

Infinity War events takes place in 2018. Wanda & Vision have had a secret relationship for two years by this time. And though many are wondering “when did he/they buy the property & how does that fit into all of their story”, I personally found that those “flashback” memory scenes filled the missing pieces from the puzzle grom past films. And it fits perfectly. With the “what if I don’t go back” scene, etc. I suspect that Vision bought that plot before the events of Infinity War. And Wanda was given the envelope along with other of his belongings after she returned from the Blip. The “love persevering” scene showed us how they connected & fell in love...while watching TV (he learned to be human also through the sitcoms & though her & she learned to not be so afraid of her “weirdness” thanks to him).

Wanda had to kill Vision in 2018, then see Thanos reverse time & bring back Vision only to kill him again...”for good”. Then she got Snapped (dusted).

When she returned “10 seconds later” she learned that 5 years had passed, and it was 2023. She didn’t find Vision next to her. But she had no time to process the Snap, Blip & losing Vision, because she was immediately thrown into the Endgame fight. (where she almost killed Thanos...until Tony used the ultimate “misdirection” trick and helped them defeat Thanos & his army for good.) Then shortly after she went to Tony’s funeral, where she had that lakeside talk with Hawkeye about those they lost (I still say that they were talking about Nat & Vision, because those are the losses that affected them the deepest personally, cause they were the closest to them)

Then a few days/weeks after that (just a few weeks after the Blip/she returned), and after she had been caught up on the 5 years she missed, and she was given his belongings, she went to SWORD to get him back/so that she could bury him (give him a goodbye ceremony). Then she created the hex out of her grief, when she was denied a proper goodbye to her soulmate (that whole things was, no doubt, a show put on by Hayward...that was made obvious in ep 8: and I’m still unsure about the colours: The “just died” Vision in IW turned basically gray, the “taken into parts” Vision on the disply tables was almost normal tone purple”, & the “brought back online” White Vision a week later was all white...with a “Tony’s triangle-shaped arc reactor element” instead of the Mind Stone in his head. The colours & small timeframe confuse me a bit).

Then she has been living in this “fantasy reality” for the past week or so...in real-world-time. Everything we’ve seen in WV has happened during a week or so in real world time. And for her everything from Scotland to WestView has happened in less than a month.

While creating the hex (from her red magic), she also created a Vision 2.0 (we have now been explained that she can create things “out of nothing”, not just transform them as Jimmy-Darcy-Monica suspected) from  her “yellow magic” I might be wrong, but I think the IW blast (and possibly the Sokovia experiment blast) not only awakened & heightened the superpowers in her, but that she was also blasted with the energy of the Mind Stone...the same one that gave vision life originally. So that mindstone energy has been “inside her” ever since & she “transformed it” into the new Vision. The Vision from her memories. and I think that just like her kids, Vision is “real” (how else can Hayward track the vibranium decay signature)...aka she created both Vibranium, and possibly a new Mind Stone even (though it is possibly he is powered by her magic alone & the stone is just accessory), but this Vision in this form cannot survive outside the hex.

We know that they brought up (via Darcy & Visions talk) that Vision is a mixture of many things. Part Jarvis. Part Ultron. Part Mind Stone. Part Tony & Bruce, and not only... We know that Vision has evolved thoughout his existance. And he wants to be/do good, and wants to be more human. But this Vision does not remember anything prior the hex because he was “rebooted”, so he does not have real memories of their time prior this really. And while he acts like her Vision, the hex Vision is not her old Vision either, really. Just one part of what made him him, and that made them connect.

We know that Shuri was able to download some of Vision’s conciousness/memories & would have been able to remove the Time Stone and still have had him live..if she’d had more time.

We know that Hayward has had Vision’s body (physical form) for a while, and he’s been trying to bring him back to life...for the purpose of using him as  weapon against “threats”. We saw that thanks to getting access to Wanda’s magic powers he was able to bring his re-assambled White Vision (colourless, soulless, empty shell...without a soul) back online...to life. What I want to know from finale is how did SWORD got  hold of The Visions body & what is that “iron man” arch reactor (triangle) in his forehead? Cause they have changed the design, a bit. 

Why wasn’t he still in Wakanda (the vibranium he's made of belongs to them), or with Avengers (Tony was gone when he died, but he returned 3 months later & though the team has been busy lately, why was it not with them? I guess V. was transported there sometime during first two years after Snap, when Maria was still running SWORD, cause Tony/Avengers kinda trusted her. And he stayed there even after... Tony was one of the few who saw Vision as “human”, he was kind of one of his “kids”, so I think this is one of the reasons he didn’t want to hold onto the body himself. But he also understood that Vision had evolved, and that Wanda was the his “next of kin”, not him, so he was holding onto the body until she returned, cause I think he was sure/had hope they’d undo the snap. And I guess he trusted Sword/Maria, because he “trusted” Fury, hence he probably decided to let them hold onto the body. Unless Hayward used tricks to get a hold of it once he took over, since Avengers/others were probably focused on “Thanos”, so no time to deal with government baddies. Also, maybe based on the Sokovia accords the vibranium in Vision’s body belongs to the government, not Tony, hence he let them keep the shell? Cause based in Haywards comments they've had the body longer than past weeks... after Tony died. )

And we can be 100% certain that in the Finale the two Visions will fight each other. [sidenote: Paul Bettany is the best! I love his “inside joke” of getting to act with an actor he’s always wanted to have a scene with...himself...as Two different versions of Vision. It’s the best!] The questions remain: will both die...from Wanda’s hands and/or due to the hex collapsing? Will one die (hex-vision) leaving us with just the empty body without the soul (until in some future film they are able to unite the two). Or will they both kinda surive aka will they merge into one, and we will get our old Vision kinda back already?

I am also almost certain that White Vision in WV finale will be voiced by the same man, who voiced Ultron...that would be such a “shock” to hear. (only RDJ being the voice would be as worthy of an inside joke...cause originaly Paul voiced his/Tony’s AI, Jarvis & now he’d voice Paul’s/Vision’s AI...so opposite, but not as “shocking”)

I do not think both the Twins & Vision will survive. I doubt they’ll give Wanda a happy ending... like the sircoms she watched as a kid. So one has to “die”. Since they made it a big deal to show the twins manifest their powers...at age 10 (10 = X), just like their mom, Wanda did first...at age 10 (X = X gene), and there will definitely be X-men & mutants in the future of MCU, I don’t think they'd get rid of the kids after laying the groundwork (Billy & Tommy will definitely get access to their powers & help mom & dad fight the bad guys), so I’m leaning towards the kids surviving. Because she did not just create them, she gave birth to them, so I’d say they can/will survive outside the hex. As Monica put it: Wanda’s kids are real. And even if the sitcom reality looks fake, everything there is real (as real as possible...she actually created the materials & all)

One possible happy, but sad ending would be that both survive: Twins, who stay with her & Vision, who will not be her Vision anymore, but the empty shell. And since she “can’t feel him” in the new form anymore, that’s the sad part. That even though he, too, survives, he’s not hers anymore.

But there is another possibility...that the Twins won’t make it (and they’ll be reborn somehere later... or Wanda doesn’t know they survived, and re-united with their parents...just like in Parent Trap...). But Vision will survive..either as his old self or as just a shell. And that’s the unhappy ending... she gets Vision back, but not her Vision, not The Vision. And she has to help him evolve... it’ll take time for him to “have emotions”. But the twist will be that Wanda was and is pregnant IRL actually.

I am basing this on the timeline we have.

Because the events of WandaVision take place in 2023 (sometime in summer-autumn) & Spiderman 2: Far From Home takes place 8 months after the Blip & 7-8 months after WandaVision. Now...since it’s literally been just a few weeks since Infinity War for Wanda....what if she is actually pregnant? What if she was prior to the Snap? That would make her story here even more heartbreaking - sad, but also happy. Cause based on FFH we know the world is slowly healing from the events, but it’s not in full chaos, so there has to be a “pause” between now & then. Otherwise...Peter/SpiderMan would probably have been more sure about multiverse & there would be more chaos or something than we see in FFH?

And... the events of Spiderman 3 & Dr. Strange 2 will most likely take place right after FFH, so about 8 months from now, and we saw how everything “glitched” when she was giving birth inside the hex. So what if all hell breaks free when she does that in real reality then? And that’s what sets the multiverse events rolling in the upcoming films? Cause why is it happening 8+ months from the Blip/WV/now, not right away. It seems that she won’t be ripping open the multiverse just yet. If she were, wouldn’t Peter/Spiderman have had inside info of it being certain [he seems to not be in FFH, when he talks to the Fake Mysterio] Why will it happen only about 8 months from now? What’s the delay?

I know...crazy wild theory. But I’m just trying to look at the timeline here. Cause either she’ll just spend the next months recovering and/or practicing her new-found skills (her mom did not teach Agatha, but Dr. Strange will guide Wanda on her journey to learn to understand & use & control her powerful abilities) and hence the “calm before the storm” time. Or there’s another reason. And the timeline would fit. Though it could be 8 months simply because the FFH events had to take place during summr vacation... But the kinda calm state of the universe & the specific 8 months “timejump” in FFH makes me suspicious.

FFH also tells us that to the knowledge of general public the fallen Avengers include Tony, Nat, and Vision. But also Cap. So... either Old Cap dies soon of old age/somehow OR the informtion released to the public is not completely accurate. If it’s the first, then Vision cannot make it alive from WV (but could be resurrected at some future time, cause Wanda can create the soul, SWORD has the original body, and Shuri has some of his old database, so...) If it’s the latter then either it’s not the same Vision anymore, but a different one or they’ll just keep him a secret so that other Hayward’s won’t come after him to use him as a weapon. Until the show started I presumed that Vision is gone, for certain.

 But...he’s not a regualar human, he’s part machine, so he is one of those characters they can bring back...even if in a different form. (question is: will they & would they.. would Wanda/Avengers do that...if it goes against The Visions living will? They could & would, I think..if the fate of the universe depended on it..if they needed him on their team)

Because...as they said in WV...it’s all for/because of the children... 

And I know... he is a synthezoid (essentially a robot/machine). But... that’s the thing. In this magical universe the laws of our regular world don’t seem to appy (or rather: tech is so advanced it seems like magic?) at times. The thing is...he is not juyst a robot, an android. He is part machine, part human. And weve seen he’s evolved...beound what “parents” (Tony & co) thought was possible & what Vision himself thought was possible. He got distracted during a missio, because he developed feelings (at age 2 years or so). He’s been shown to be able to feel, cry (produce tears). So..who knows... maybe he can also procreate... with the help of Wandas magic (who can make anything she wants happen...). Even though logic tells me it’s not possible, and his tears etc are synthetic, and he’s kind of a  different species...then I’ve decided that the laws of the world as I know don’t have to apply exactly...in this world. 

I mean...the MCU has a character whose mother is a human woman & father is a planet (in human form). Hence I’ve accepted that what I know to be impossible could be possible in this MCU fantasy universe. Hence I don’t question how or why could Wanda & Vision have offspring...for real. 

THE END

PS. Once again...this does not fit the comics. This is not the simplest route. But it’s one of the wild theories I’ve had. And I wanted to share it. Even if I don’t think that it could become canon. If it were based on comics, then Billy & Tommy would be reclaimed by Agatha’s master & we’d know how & why all this...

[aion-rsa]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 1: Marvel and MCU Easter Eggs

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This article contains Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 spoilers, possibly spoilers for future episodes, and the wider MCU. We have a spoiler free review here.

Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 has finally arrived on Disney+. Now, those of you hoping for mystery box storytelling and surreal weirdness the likes of which we got from WandaVision may be a little disappointed. But those of you looking for some gritty street-and-spy-level action with a deeper look at life in the post-Snap/Blip MCU, well, you’re in luck.

Oh? But you’re here for Marvel Comics and MCU Easter eggs, you say? Well, you’re still in luck, friend! The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is full of subtle nods to Marvel and Captain America history, and continues to connect the dots in the ever-expanding MCU.

Here’s everything we found…and if you spot something we missed, let us know in the comments!

Sam Wilson

The stuff with Sam ironing his own shirt, or trying to help his sister get a small business loan is some real “the mundanity of superhero life” stuff that we rarely get a glimpse of in the movies, but that was such a hallmark of what separated Marvel Comics from their competitors in their early days.

In the MCU, Sam is from Louisiana. But in the comics, he was born and raised in Harlem, New York City.

Sam’s sister, Sarah Wilson, also known as Sarah Casper, was introduced back in Captain America #134 back in 1971, and created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. She’s made only a few appearances over the decades and mainly exists for the novelty of having the patriotic superhero be known as “Uncle Sam.”

The boat that Sam’s sister maintains is named Paul and Darlene, named for their parents, and those were indeed the names of his parents in the pages of Marvel Comics.

Sam’s drop out of the back of the airplane at the start of the Captain Vassant rescue mission mirrors Steve’s in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The MCU’s version of Bubo is also back in action! Redwing is still very helpful during Sam’s “government contracts” it appears, as long as no one else messes with the drone’s wires. Also, Sam’s personal devotion to the Redwing drone is a nice nod to the fact that Redwing is a real falcon in the comics, and Sam’s pet/buddy.

Sam gets to have a sombre conversation with James “War Machine” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in what is perhaps just the first of many unannounced The Falcon and the Winter Soldier appearances by other members of the MCU. We already know there will be a larger role for Sharon “Agent 13” Carter in later episodes. Who else might show up?

Bucky Barnes

Fittingly for his Marvel spinoff series, Bucky is introduced in the same way he was back in Captain America: The First Avenger – catching the tail end of an alleyway fight.

Bucky Barnes has now been pardoned for all the terrible crimes he committed, it’s quickly revealed. Doesn’t look like he’s pardoned himself, mind. Not by a long shot.

Bucky mentions having a sister. While it hasn’t been brought up much, he did have one in the comics. Rebecca Barnes was introduced in The Marvel Holiday Special #1 in a story written by Len Kaminski (hence the notebook Easter egg, which we’ll get to in a minute) and tremendously underrated ’90s comics artist Ron Lim. After the deaths of their parents, Bucky and Rebecca were separated. Her namesake was reintroduced during Heroes Reborn, where Rikki Barnes was Cap’s sidekick in Counter-Earth.

In Derek Landy’s new Falcon & Winter Soldier comics, Bucky has adopted a very chill white cat called Alpine. No sign of Alpine in episode one, but we refuse to give up hope.

Lieutenant Torres

The eager Lt. Torres (played by On My Block star Danny Ramirez) who clearly idolizes Sam appears to be none other than Joaquin Torres, who eventually took on the mantle of the Falcon in the comics. So if Sam is destined to become Captain America on this show, will Torres become his sidekick? We hope so!

Batroc

Just like at the start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we get a confrontation with Georges Batroc (ze leaper!), once again played by Georges St. Pierre. Batroc is such a cool but minor Cap villain, and we never need to spend a lot of time with him, but we do hope he keeps showing up from time to time for cool fight scenes, just like he does in the comics. It’s nice to see that while they’ll never give him his ridiculous comics costume, he’s wearing his comics-appropriate colors here.

The Flag-Smashers

The masked baddies of this episode are known as the Flag-Smashers, an organization who want to do away with all national borders. There’s lots of ways this show deals with the weirdness of the MCU after the Snap, but the increasing radicalization of underground supervillain groups appears to be one neat side effect.

They take their name from the comic book supervillain Flag-Smasher (singular). Flag-Smasher was created by Cap writer supreme Mark Gruenwald and artist Paul Neary back in 1985. The original Flag-Smasher was Karl Morgenthau (remember that name, we’ll come back to it in a second), and he was a non-powered costumed terrorist who led an organization known as ULTIMATUM, “The Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind” (folks, ‘80s Captain America comics absolutely freakin’ RULE).

The woman handing out the Flag Smasher masks was tough to make out, but that appears to be was Erin Kellyman (Enfys Nest from Solo: A Star Wars Story) playing “Karli Morgenthau.” In other words, she’s probably the leader of the organization, not the big, scary dude with super soldier strength. But speaking of him…

The big scary guy is credited as “Dovich” and he’s played by Desmond Chiam. How did he get so strong? Well, the words “Power Broker Watching” appear in the credits, and the Power Broker was key to John Walker getting his super soldier strength, as well as several other minor Marvel characters. Remember what we said about how awesome ’80s Captain America comics are? You’re about to find out!

Sam’s crack about “bad guys” with “bad names” in regards to the Flag-Smashers also applies to real world nitwits who go around calling themselves names like “Proud Boys.”

Bucky’s Notebook

There are some standout names in Bucky’s notebook, notably L. Kaminski (probably ‘80s Marvel writer and editor Len Kaminski) and H. Zemo (as in Captain America: Civil War and this very show’s baddie Helmut Zemo). 

We wrote more about those names here.

Captain America

In the Smithsonian exhibit where Sam and Rhodey chat, there are lots of artifacts from Steve’s life, mostly taken from the era of Captain America: The First Avenger like the Howling Commando uniforms, but there’s something else cool there: the actual cover of Captain America Comics #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the first appearance of the character. Remember, as part of the propaganda effort during the war to make Captain America a symbol of the wartime effort in the MCU, these comics were a thing. This means that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby also existed in the MCU, but their stories were meant to be chronicles about a real person.

Where’s Steve Rogers?

It seems that only a few people might know what really happened to Steve Rogers. Has Old Cap now passed on, or is he alive somewhere ready to make an appearance in the show at a later date? Many fans are still hoping for a Chris Evans cameo, and we’ve seen trailers for the series where Sam and Bucky apparently practice throwing Cap’s shield around out in the woods. Perhaps there’s a secluded cabin nearby…

The conspiracy theory about Captain America secretly watching us from the moon is likely a reference to Nick Fury in the comics. The events of Original Sin showed that Fury had been secretly waging wars on potential alien invaders for years. Uatu the Watcher put a series of events in motion so that he would die, but Fury’s immoral actions would be exposed. In the end, Fury was forced to become the new Watcher — the Unseen — and was imprisoned on the moon, looking over Earth as his new job. Coincidentally, Bucky took up his alien-fighting job in the aftermath.

It also feels a little like The Last Avengers Story, a dystopian Avengers comic from the mid-90s. It’s explained that at some point, Steve Rogers was President and was assassinated. In the final scene, it’s revealed that he’s been secretly recovering and has been watching over the world in a bunker.

Who is the New Captain America?

The new Captain America that we meet so briefly here is Wyatt Russell as John Walker. Who is John Walker, you ask? Well, John Walker was ALSO the new Captain America in the comics! But before that he was the reactionary supervillain known as the Super-Patriot. He took over the mantle of Captain America after the government decided they wanted Steve Rogers to be more of an employee and less a free agent symbol of liberty. After his time as Cap was up, John became the U.S.Agent. That’s all you’re gonna get out of us for now, for fear of spoilers.

You can read more about John Walker here.

Unanswered Questions

No, we don’t know who the L.A.F. are supposed to be, either.

The “government official” who introduces John Walker is played by Alphie Hyorth, and is simply credited as “government official” in the credits. That seems pretty suspicious to us, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being revealed with a recognizable Marvel Universe name like Henry Peter Gyrich or something down the line.

Names like Captain Vassant, Congressman Lockhart, Senator Atwood, or Bucky’s therapist Dr. Raynor appear to check out Marvel-wise.

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[frumfrumfroo]

Many people in the general audience and critics have talked about TROS as a beginning and not an ending, like “Rey’s journey/adventure is just beginning,” and beside the obvious problem there that this was supposed to be her coming of age arc and she should’ve reached and fulfilled metaphorical adulthood in this movie which TROS took away, I realized *why* it felt this way. TROS was made with the principles of a superhero origin movie, down to her finally taking the “special title” at the end

My SWCU theory would hold that they did that on purpose, but as time has gone on I feel like maybe imagining they did anything at all on purpose with legitimate aforethought on a macro level is giving them too much credit. They’re probably just hacks doing hackery, Marvel films always make a shitzillion dollars, and they wanted the most crowd-pleasing possible finale. Hence cardboard cut-out characters, the death of nuance and thematic content, empty spectacle, empty ‘banter’, and never committing to a single narrative choice.

Terrio is under the impression he’s a smart person and certainly thinks he did something incredibly clever with his ‘original sin’ twincest shit because he has no fucking clue what he’s talking about on any level, but Chris’s quest to lodge the point of his head in the depths of his colon to better sniff his own farts is the closest this dumpster fire comes to having an ‘artistic vision’. He wanted to be told he was the bestest at mythic storytelling and he brought it ‘full circle’, illustrating he doesn’t understand either of those things, not that I needed more evidence.

Remember when I spent so much time talking about how SW protagonists are not superheroes and their storytelling architecture was completely different and fandom expectations of MCU style sequels to TFA about Super Rey and Friends!! was a fundamental misreading of what SW is?

(Open ended sequels to narratively complete, stand-alone films can more or less go anywhere within tonal and genre constraints (even that isn’t a hard and fast rule; MCU directors have certainly been allowed to shift tone considerably) because every film is its own thing, but their protagonists need to be somewhat static after the origin film. You get the one substantial character arc where they ‘come into power’, so to speak, and after that they face new external threats while remaining fundamentally the same; they are already a fully actualised person whose further growth will be minor rehashes of their original arc or fallout from it. Stability and continuity come from the hero, there’s no overall thesis outside the hero’s identity, it’s episodic. No one can reliably predict where the next one is going because there’s no framework and it’s just wherever a new writer wanted to take it.

But the Star Wars protagonists are were not superheroes and they don’t have an origin story followed by escalating episodic adventures, they have a three act crucible of maturation with a beginning middle and end. Which is thematically predictable because it is beholden to a structure, to an idea about what the entire story is supposed to say. They’ve barely started their development at the end of the first film and they are challenged as characters not as RPG heroes who need to level up. Fighting in SW is metaphorical and winning the fight is never about physical strength or physical training. Training is fucking irrelevant. Luke never becomes ~better at fighting~ than Vader, he never becomes ‘stronger’ than the Emperor- that is not the point and that is not the source of his victory. The only moral victor in the PT was Padmé- who doesn’t fight at all in RotS- and she will be vindicated in the OT. Everyone else fucked up. Luke fulfils the promise of his mother’s love and faith.)

Nope. Traditional storytelling is dead. It’s all serialised superheroes now. Hope you don’t want to see anyone morally struggle or grow or change. Hope you like that ubermensch propaganda. Idealism isn’t even for kids any more. No one is allowed to have it, it’s nihilism all the way down.

[fictionalginger]

wandavision theories for ep 8 | contains spoilers

Obligatory disclaimer, these are my opinion + thoughts, and ideas, take all u see here with a grain of salt as of course, these are just theories. Now, shall we?

I’m writing this at 7:30am on Friday 26th, it’s taking all my self control to actually write this down before I go watch the episode.

Let me start this by saying that ever since this show started I’ve looked like this every single week, until the next episode, and then the cycle just starts over. I’ve seen the promos and the trailers in like 0.25x so many times. 

Agatha/Agnes

I called it from before the show’s start and the fact that it was so obvious makes me think she’s not really the main but more like a pawn that’s serving a supervillain if that makes sense. 

On episode 1, there was the June 2nd line and then the “Charmed” thing that confirmed it for me.

I think that she’s either 

possessed

just crazy

I’m leaning a bit more towards the crazy part, she’s been an instigator throughout the whole show and seems to be doing it and enjoying it (ie agatha all along)

basically put the idea of having kids in Wanda’s head 

instigated Vision’s doubts which then ultimately made him realize something was wrong

she literally gave him the last push for him to try to go outside the hec which might have killed him 

she killed Sparky

brought Peter from (according to me) Fox’s universe as a stand in for Pietro bc he’s dead…

From the couple of promos and leaked images for ep 8, I think she’s gonna show Wanda her past which I think is tied to Mephisto because let’s be honest, how does a witch have powers comparable to those of someone who basically was exposed to an infinity stone. The amount of demonic symbolism in her secret lair was a lot, the cicadas, señor scratchy, what looks to be the darkhold.

I also think she’s the one that manipulated Wanda into creating the hex, seeing as her creepy basement is apparently outside of it. She manipulated her into having kids, we’ve seen that every time the twins are about to age up, she’s there. She didn’t even blink to Wanda having powers. That’s why I think she killed Sparky, because for some reason she wants to age the twins into teenagers to serve her purpose. 

But why?

Does she want to bring someone back from the dead? Or does she want to manipulate Wanda into opening the multiverse because she knows she’s a Nexus being? Is she using her to bring Mephisto into the MCU world in a physical form?

Peter

I’m sure he’s just Peter from X-Men who Agatha pulled into the MCU as a stand-in for Pietro.

I think when Wanda yeeted him in the halloween episode, he got snapped out of Agatha’s control and we might see him team up with Monica to help Wanda and the residents of Westview.

I think he might stay in the MCU and be in Dr. Strange the multiverse of madness, and then we’d see him return to Fox

Monica

Not sure what name she’ll go with, Photon, Spectrum or even Captain Marvel 🤷🏼‍♀️

I do think she’ll take over as Director of S.WORD since I’m 99.9% sure Hayward broke the Sokovia Accords (and Vision’s will) 

Hopefully we see more of her and why she’s so mad at Carol

Dottie

I have the feeling that there’s a lot more to her, but I’m on a time crunch and really want to go watch ep 8 so I'll just say that she’s either Arcanna Jones or Clea and I’ll be disappointed if she turns out to just be Dottie.

Also, she’s not on the board so I have my doubts about her.

Hayward

I’ve hated since I first saw him

I’m 99.9% sure he was experimenting on Vision trying to bring him back online which is a breach of the Accords, but he couldn’t and then saw that Wanda had breathing, living version of Vision and became hellbent on getting him, that’s why he’s vilifying Wanda so he can put the blame on her. 

Vision

This one’s a bit tricky, because I have my doubts about him being Old Vision, but I really liked him throughout the show and it sucks that he’ll probably die at the end.

Theory 1:

He can’t leave the Hex, which makes me think he was created by Wanda, I mean after all she can manipulate things to a molecular level and could’ve given him the same traits as Old Vision, that’s why he has the stone and can’t really remember anything from before Westview, because he didn’t exist but still exhibits his selfless behavior (i.e doesn’t even remember being an avenger yet he wanted to help and then when he was dying outside the hex, he asked for help for the people and not for himself even though he was disintegrating)

This scene from one of the promos where Wanda’s still wearing modern day clothes and then she’s wearing the outfit from the first episode, and Vision’s like “Wanda?”. I think that’s where she created him, and gave him some basic memories to start from.  

Here, where she’s looking at the stone, in another promo I believe, I think it’s that she’s “destroying” the stone which will inevitably kill vision.

Or when she has to inevitably bring  down the Hex, he’s gonna die, again. The only plot hole to this theory would be, how is Hayward able to track him? Is he tracking the Vibranium signature only? 

That scene where Wanda’s at S.W.O.R.D and she’s recovering his body, makes sense that maybe she made Westview Vision from Old Vision’s scraps, but he was completely disarmed and taken apart, how could she have done that? She would have had to completely put him together (which shouldn’t be hard considering her powers) but I’m guessing he wasn’t Vision anymore, they were turning him into something else.

Theory 2:

I remember reading in October, that White Vision could make an appearance which kinda makes sense? After all, he was killed and taken apart by a spy agency which could be S.W.O.R.D as it is now a “Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division” that is very specifically focusing on robotics and A.I. This could be what Hayward mentioned that he intends on launching on episode 7. Considering there’s only 2 episodes left, this seems like a lot to include with so little time left. But the possibilities are endless, it is Marvel we’re talking about.

Either way I think he’s gonna die and we’re all gonna cry. His death might be what pushes Wanda over the edge and into insanity, if even when she was living a normal, happy life she was pushing her grief onto those she was controlling, what would it be like when she has to let go of this? Heartbreaking, that’s for sure.

Billy & Tommy

I think they’re somehow fully real, made from who knows what but real

I don’t think Agatha killed him, but she might have aged them as that seems to have been her goal (it also makes them the right age for the young avengers set up they seem to be going for)

Perhaps, instead of living with Wanda, once the Hex goes down they’re forgotten? Like when, in the comics, Agatha wiped them from Wanda's mind.

I read a theory that the missing person Jimmy was looking for at the beginning was Teddy Altman who ends up being Billy’s husband in the comics, so that’d be cool.

Wanda

Poor Wanda has been manipulated this whole time.

Going with my theory that Vision’s body was completely torn apart when she got to S.W.O.R.D, I don’t think she could take it with her like that, that’s why I think Hayward is so obsessed with finding the Vision that she has alive inside the Hex. 

I feel she was manipulated by Agatha all along, Westview might’ve just been the first town she found as soon as she left S.W.O.R.D where Agatha manipulated her into creating the Hex. This whole time she thought she was in control, it was Agatha behind the scenes controlling everything. Jimmy mentioned that she was displaying an amount of powers that far exceeded anything she’d displayed before and I think her crumbling mental stability, along with the fact that Vision almost died at the end of episode 6 (or he did actually die idk) could be what’s causing the Hex to start glitching and failing.

There’s a scene from one of the promos, and honestly it was hard to find, but we can see her in the town surrounded by all of Westview’s residents who look like they’re begging her for something (Phil). Maybe she couldn’t keep her control over them or once Agatha showed her the truth, she decided to free their minds.

and this scene where she holds hands with Vision while wearing modern clothes, I think it might be one of their last scenes together.

My working theory for Wanda is:

She realizes she’s been manipulated and how wrong it all is

Frees everyone

Tries to take down the Hex but has to fight Agatha and Hayward(and whatever he launched) in order to do so but she has the help of Vision, Monica and Peter

Inevitably kills Westview Vision when she takes down the hex, says goodbye and we’ll cry

Grabs her children and we go into dr. strange 2 where she’ll try to fix what she fucked up 

or

She forgets her children, probably Agatha’s doing and goes crazy with the grief of losing everything at once hence setting her up as one of the main characters (villain?) of Dr strange 2

I’ve had the feeling that phase 4 is going to revolve around her and her powers, spiderman 3: no way home and dr. strange the multiverse of madness, even loki and antman: quantumania. They all give multiverse, ripples in the fabric of reality kinda vibes.

So far all I’ve got are more questions for episode 8

Why did Agatha do this? What’s the purpose of it? 

Is Vision gonna die? Is he alive? Are my theories right?

Are the kids alive or aged up? Trapped in the creepy ass basement?

Is Peter under Agatha's mind control or will he team up with Monica? 

Will the town people die in Haywards attack? 

Will we get to see the big bad in the show? 

Who is the aerospace engineeeeer? 

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading my delusions, expect a theory for the final episode after I watch ep 8. Leave me a like or reblog if you’ve found this interesting. You can also follow me on Twitter where I usually post my dumbassery first!

[amandajoyce118]

Agents Of SHIELD S7E01 “The New Deal” Easter Eggs And References

In the season seven premiere, most of the team ends up in 1931 New York thanks to some time travel shenanigans. We love shenanigans, right? The is the last season premiere ever, and it’s bittersweet, but I’m diving right in.

As always, if you don’t remember this from the last few seasons of me writing up Easter eggs (posts are tagged aos easter eggs if you want to read old ones), this list assumes you have seen the episode. There will be spoilers.

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Again, spoilers. Turn back now if you don’t want them. Okay? Good.

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The Episode Title.

It’s a reference to FDR’s political work. I mean, Coulson even references it and says the episode title in the show. I kind of love when show’s do that? This show didn’t used to, but they did it a lot more the last two seasons, so maybe it’s a thing now.

The Title Card.

I feel like it’s unfair to call this an Easter egg, but if they didn’t put a 1931 timestamp on the top of the episode, the title card could have told you what era the team was in. Whoever was in charge of designing it did a great job making it look like a classic film title card.

Faceless People.

Okay, so the chronocoms erase the faces of the people they wish to resemble. This isn’t really a thing in the comics, but there is a character called “Faceless One.” He happens to be an alien who wants to conquer Earth as well, but is basically a big yellow ball with legs, so I doubt there’s any connection other than the cool effect.

Coulson’s Data Flood.

Okay, we get that literally everything Coulson says when he’s not talking to Daisy, Mack, and Jemma are quotes from previous seasons, right? Good. He even downloads the information on Ghost Rider, his own death, last season, etc.

Deke Has A Workstation.

Okay, not an Easter egg, but I think we need to take a moment and appreciate that Jemma built Deke a workstation and Fitz left him the tool we saw way back in season five. Why? Because Deke never feels like he belongs and he wants so badly to be close to his family, and now, we see that they thought of him while upgrading their ship. He has a place. And it’s right next to Jemma.

Elena Is Quarantined.

That’s because she was infected by the shrike in season six, not because the writers are psychic and knew there would be a massive epidemic going on when the show premiered. (Sorry, typed that before I realized Jemma was going to actually say it in show, so it’s staying in.)

Gemini And Koenig.

Gemini is actually a pretty popular name/codename in Marvel Comics, so it being used as, supposedly, the code name for the person in charge of the speakeasy made me laugh. It’s much more likely here that the bartender didn’t react wrong to the use of the word, that it’s used to weed out pretenders, hence the double barrel shotgun he affectionately calls the twins. I also like that it’s a tease for a Koenig appearing since we initially thought the Koenig siblings were twins and it turns out there are too many for us to count at this point (not really, I’m exaggerating, but great that grandpa or great-grandpa Koenig looks exactly like the modern day Koenigs. I mean, come on, they’re clones or something, right?).

“It’s not exactly your first time being separated by space and time.”

Okay, look, if you have to keep inserting meta humor into a show about how often you separate your main couple, maybe you should stop separating your main couple. (Yes, I know, Iain de Caestecker had another job he was working on in seasons six and seven, but seriously, it’s not funny. Your audience is tired of it.) I mean, to be frank, Fitz is one of my favorite characters in the show, but I didn’t really miss him in this episode? That might sound bad, but I don’t think they needed to comment on him being gone so much considering Jemma told them at the end of season six she didn’t  - and couldn’t - know where he was.

Wilfred “Freddie” Malick.

Daisy explains who he is, but look, it’s the father of Gideon Malick, the same Gideon who became the leader of Hydra after a broken SHIELD (and the Avengers) decided to squash all of its heads, the same guy who got Ward interested in visiting an alien planet where he ended up as Hive. He’s, like, ancient school Hydra, not just old school Hydra. What doesn’t make sense here is that they’re saying the SSR forms in response to Hydra. Technically, the SSR forms, and then they learn about Hydra, unless I’m misremembering, which is totally possible.

The Substance.

So, I gotta wonder… what’s in the test tubes? The earliest we go in the MCU is Captain America, which is still a whole decade after the events of this episode. Prior to that, Hydra experimentation did create the Red Skull, but… still not sure what’s in the tubes. I don’t really have a frame of reference from the comics to speculate either since Hydra was into literally anything and everything. 

New York.

Okay, so I’m curious if anyone knows where they filmed their 1931 New York scenes. I have questions. Because they use the same couple of blocks for all their outside scenes, which makes me think it’s a studio backlot (which would definitely help keep the script quiet) and they’re going to use a different part of the lot next week. A friend asked me if I thought it was the same as the one used for Captain America when he’s in Brooklyn in his first movie. Cap’s first movie’s Brooklyn scenes were filmed on a Universal Studios lot where they had New York building facades and street signs. If you’ve been to the theme park, you basically know what it looks like without the 30s/40s dressing. I think it’s the same lot, and I say this because I actually kept thinking that they used the set pieces Disney used for The Newsies movie in 1992 while watching the episode. Do you know where that was filmed? On the Universal Studios backlot’s New York street set up right after it was renovated in 1991. Huh.

So, Mark Kolpack basically answered this on twitter when discussing VFX. They filmed their New York street scenes on the Warner Bros. backlot, not the Universal one, so I guess the people in charge of designing the set pieces did a great job because they look pretty much the same.

This Picture.

This boxing poster was shared by Jed Whedon on instagram. Honestly, I didn’t spot it in the episode, but that could just be because I have a small television screen and I can’t read the signs unless I pause on a computer and zoom. I have bad eyes, guys. Sorry. Usually signage is something I spot on a second or third watch, but according to Whedon, this is set dressing in the episode somewhere. Probably on the street the characters walk down multiple times. 

Let’s break down the names. Kitson is George Kitson, a story editor, writer, and production assistant on the show. He wrote this episode, and, actually, next week’s episode. The planet Kitson was also named for him. Titley is Craig Titley. He’s a producer and writer for the show, probably best known for writing “4,722 Hours” at this point. Brown is such a common name, but I’m going to guess it’s for Garry Brown who has directed a handful of episodes and is also a producer on the show. Bell is, I’m thinking, Jeffrey Bell, one of the producers and writers on the show. Tancharoen is for Maurissa Tancharoen, one of the showrunners, or you know, maybe her brother, who has directed several episodes (including this one!), or her father, who is in charge of transportation to sets. Gierhart is, I’m assuming, Billy Gierhart, who has directed a lot of episodes of the show, though I don’t think he’s directed any since 2017. (If you look at the matchups, it ends up being writer vs writer, producer vs producer, director vs director when you assume the Tancharoen is Kevin.) It says there are four main events though, and only three are listed?

Not sure if the October 15 date is intentional, but if it is, that’s the day “Eye Spy” aired in season one? Steve Roger’s mother dies on October 15, but in 1936. Not sure if that’s even canon since it’s in a promotional comic, not in anything on screen.

I’m sure there are more, and if you guys spot them and tell me, I’ll add them in. If I notice any on a rewatch, I’ll add them in as well. Who’s looking forward to the time traveling this season?

[theastrophilearchitect]

March TBR/W.

Every book, audiobook, tv show and movie I want to consume in March 2021.

-Hence ‘TBR/W’ - to-be-read/watched.

I’m not usually a fan of pre-planning my media for the month - I plan out all my media obsessively, but doing it by month seems a little too much like setting deadlines for my taste, and I’m sure I’ll somehow manage to turn watching tv into a chore. Regardless, it’s worth a shot, so this is going to be a rough guide - I’m going to pick four of each category, one per week, because I’d rather underestimate and surpass than overestimate and have to defer things to the next month. So let’s go.

Books

1. Skyward and 2. Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Skyward is set in a future where the human race is on the verge of extinction, trapped on a planet constantly attacked by alien warriors. Spensa, a teenage girl stuck on the planet, wants to be a pilot, but it seems far-off. Then, she finds the wreckage of a ship that appears to have a soul, and she must figure out how to repair it, and persuade it to help her navigate flight school.

In truth, I mainly want to read this because of how highly it’s been praised by Hailey in Bookland on YouTube. I actually tried reading Sanderson’s Mistborn series a couple years ago, and just didn’t click with it. I love fantasy, but I can pretty confidently say epic fantasy just isn’t for me. However, Sanderson’s work is adored by many, and Skyward and its sequel Starsight appeal so much more to me, and I can’t wait to get to them.

3. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

This is Maas’s first technically-adult book; Throne of Glass is young adult, ACOTAR being classed either as young or new adult. I’ve been a fan of Maas for a long time, and, though I enjoy her books less now than I have in the past due to how seriously they tend to take themselves, I’d still love to read this one. Where her previous series were both fantasies, this sits somewhere between that and a sci-fi, but I can’t say as-of-yet what I think, because I haven’t read it yet.

Bryce Quinlan finds herself investigating her friends’ deaths in an attempt to avenge them after they were taken from her by a demon. Hunt Athalar is a Fallen angel, enslaved by Archangels, forced to assassinate their enemies, when he’s offered a deal to assist Bryce in exchange for his freedom.

4. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I listened to this as an audiobook in 2019 as part of BookTuber Book Roast’s Magical Readathon, and didn’t hugely get along with it in truth. The audiobook was excellent as an audiobook, but the story Ian’s I just didn’t really vibe. I think I just want to like this book, so I think it’s worth a reread to see if my opinion changes.

This follows Citra and Rowan, a reluctant pair of apprentice Scythes - in a utopian future where humanity has the means to live forever, it is the job of the Scythes to control the population by essentially reaping the souls of those they choose to die. Neither Citra or Rowan want it, but I don’t remember enough about this book to say any more.

Audiobooks

1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This is the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and you either already know what this series is about, or you’ve been living under a rock for the last thirteen years. I read this book for the first time nearly seven years ago, and it’s stuck with me. It sent me into a phase of only reading dystopian books (The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken was part of this, and was the series that really got me into reading), but this was the main one that stuck with me. 

It contains a powerful message about capitalism and discrimination, and this is the second time I’ve listened to the audiobooks, though the god-only-knows-what time I’ve read the series. I listened to The Hunger Games and Catching Fire in February, which automatically puts this on my to-listen for March.

2. Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link and Robin Wasserman

This is a novella bind-up set in the Shadowhunters world, that I would imagine has quite a bit to do with the Shadow Market, an aspect of the Downworld introduced in The Dark Artifices, which I finished in January.

In truth, I’m mainly planning to listen to this audiobook because it’s the only Shadowhunters novella bind-up with an audiobook, and I’d just rather read additions to the main Shadowhunters series in this format rather than physically.

3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

This is a Hunger Games prequel that was released early last year, and I just wasn’t going to read it. I heard several reviews, the general consensus of which was basically that it’s not as good as the trilogy and is somewhat unnecessary, but, in truth, my curiosity’s got the better of me, especially since I started listening to the trilogy’s audiobooks again.

This prequel follows Coriolanus Snow as a mentor in the Games before he became President of Panem and the wonderful villain of the original trilogy.

4. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

I mentioned this in my physical TBR post a couple weeks ago, but have decided to listen to the audiobook instead. A few weeks ago, I’d started to run out of audiobooks I wanted to listen to, and didn’t want to read anything on my regular TBR in this format, including this book. But, I went through a load of audiobook recommendations, and this was one of them, so it joined my to-listen.

I’m not hugely into contemporary books, but I’ve wanted to get more into the genre for a while, and this was the first one to join my TBR.

This novel follows Eliza Mirk, your typical high school outcast, who publishes a hugely popular web comic under the pseudonym LadyConstellation. Then Wallace Warland, the biggest fanfic writer of her comic transfers to her school and begins to draw her out of her shell.

TV Shows

Before I go into my list, I’d like to mention that I am currently watching WandaVision and am definitely planning to watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, but both come out on a weekly basis, so aren’t being included on this list. Also, I’ve been watching way too much YouTube recently, so I’m not sure I’ll get through all of these this month, especially since I’m watching the Arrowverse shows, which have such long seasons.

1. Love, Victor Season 1

This Love, Simon spin-off follows a character named Victor at Creekwood (I think that’s the name?) High School. I saw Love, Simon twice in cinemas when it was released, and, miraculously, it made me cry. I love that movie.

This series was released last year on Hulu, which is only available in the US, but as of February 23rd, it’s one of the shows that came to Disney+ as part of Star.

2. The Flash Season 1

As mentioned, I’ve started watching the DC Arrowverse shows. I watch tv shows through alternating seasons - as in, I watch season 1 of show A, then season 1 of show B, then 2 of A, etc., then when I finish one, I start watching show C - but I’m treating the Arrowverse as one show (even though it isn’t) so it’s not the only thing I’m watching. So this is technically Arrowverse S3, preceded by Arrow S1+2 (though I haven’t actually started S2 as of writing this because of how much YouTube I’ve been watching, so I’ll be finishing that first).

I genuinely don’t know that much about most DC superheroes, Flash included, but I’m going into this having been assured it takes itself less goddamn seriously than Arrow. It’s my sister’s favourite Arrowverse show, and I can’t wait.

3. Dare Me Season 1

I added this Netflix show to my watchlist when it came out, and my basic understanding is that it focuses on the cheerleaders at a high school, and begins when a new coach arrives. It focuses on the psychological damage behind competitive cheerleading, and I’m not convinced I’m going to love it, but I think it’s worth a shot.

4. Arrow Season 3

I’m so confused by this poster. This is specifically the season 3 poster, and I’m so confused, but I’m sure it’ll make more sense when I watch the season.

I explained the weird way I’m watching Arrowverse (named as such because Arrow was the first show in it) already, but Arrow follows Oliver Queen, the son of one of the billionaires of Starling City upon his return after being stuck for five years on an island when a cruise ship carrying him and his father sunk. His father left him with a list of names of the people ‘corrupting’ the city, and Oliver takes it upon himself to assume a vigilante identity and take them down.

Movies

I’m not a huge movie-watcher, but I end up compiling so many to watch that, to ensure I get round to them, I watch a movie every time I finish a tv show season. I’m also currently re-watching the MCU movies in chronological order.

1. Instant Family

This is just something that came onto Netflix recently and I thought might be entertaining, and so it joined my list.

This follows a couple who decide to adopt a teenager, only to find out she has two more siblings.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 

This is just a continuation of my MCU re-watch - I love this movie. I love Guardians of the Galaxy, full stop (on another note, I just generally don’t understand why British people call it a full stop and Americans call it a period. Neither name makes particular sense). 

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron

And here we have another continuation of my MCU rewatch. I honestly think this is my favourite Avengers movie, because the whole teams actually together, and Wanda, Scarlet Witch, is introduced - I love her. I really didn’t like Vision until WandaVision came out, though.

4. Behind The Try: A Try Guys Documentary

Not technically a movie, but still. (Are documentaries movies? I tend to think of them as separate categories, but I guess they’re both movies. Hm.) I’ve been watching the Try Guys for years, which means I need to convince my sister to give me her Google password so I don’t have to pay for this.

I’m probably not going to stick to this list, and even if I do, I’m either going to also consume things not on it, or just not finish it. But, you’ll have to wait for my March wrap-up to find out.

[angelkurenai]

Whatever it takes - Steve Rogers x Reader

Avengers: Endgame SPOILERS BELOW read at your own risk

Title: Whatever it takes

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, Male MCU Character x Reader

Warnings: Avengers: Endgame spoilers

Summary: Steve finally gets the courage to speak about the love of his life in one of his group therapies. The love of his life that unlike whate everyone believe has always been you. Only problem is, despite how you have survived the snap, he hasn’t gotten the chance to tell you that you are the one he wants and not Peggy because he fears you have already found somebody else.

“So yeah-” the man cleared his throat and nodded his head a bit as Steve's attention was all on him, and he felt like it was the least he could do after having failed to do the most important thing that he could of all: defeat Thanos and keep half of existence to life “I'm gonna be seeing him tomorrow too.”

“That's good.” Steve nodded his head own head “You did the hardest part and that's important.That's what matters the most. Our lives are in our hands and it's our job to live them, otherwise Thanos would have killed us too. We must have been left back for some reason and it's up to us to figure it out.”

He looked around the group, somehow feeling like these words had come out of his lips before but he couldn't exactly remember when. Maybe they had, maybe they had not. Maybe they were the exact same or maybe they were a bit different. It wouldn't matter much, anyway. The past five years he had been doing nothing but trying to comfort people, trying to help them move one – hence the group therapy because deep down he felt like it was his fault that things had come to this.

At first it was about dealing with the grief, dealing with... everything Sam had once told him when he advised him to join a group therapy, but after some time he realized the bitter truth that it wasn't about him dealing with the pain of loss. It was him dealing with the guilt of loss, the guilt of letting down people who believed in him, of letting you down. Good Lord, it felt like an eternity since he'd last seen you and he still couldn't bring himself to face you, to talk to you and even more hear what you had to say about him.

He had figured out from the first moment that you were alive, he couldn't bear to live with the doubt of course, but he could also not bring himself to stand in front of you after what had happened with the Accords. He knew you were going to be heartbroken, hurt beyond belief, even more after all these years because not only did he leave you to go to Siberia despite your pleas but also had not contacted you in all those years. In his defence, he'd always come by when he had the time, in secret, and look at you from afar or try to to learn news about you and he was always on the run, so he couldn't drag you down with him no matter what. But despite his reasons, he knew the fact that he seemed to shut you out, had broken your heart worse than that day before he went to the airport and fought against Tony.

Sometimes, when he laid awake at night for ours, gazing at your photo in his compass, he's think how bad he wished he could go back in time and listen to you. Not caring if they got the shield from him or the title of Captain. He'd trade it, he'd give it all away for you. There's nothing he wouldn't do for you but now he realized that he had indeed not done the most important thing of all: stayed back with you. If he had the chance, he'd take it all back for you. For you to smile and not watch him with glossy eyes as he left your apartment after having been unable to stay out of the fight. For you to know, to fully know, how he felt for you all these years and how truly important you were to him.

He wished he'd have stayed back with you when you asked him, that he'd have stayed home but he just couldn't and now he was left to deal with the consequences. Because now Steve realized it, he had not lost just the fight, had not lost half of existence and nearly all of his friends, but he had lost the most important person in his life and he didn't think there was any getting your back. Not that he had the courage to try anyway. He was only left to dream of a life that would've been if... Far too many ifs.

The corners of his lips lifted into a bittersweet smile “I went in the eyes seventy years ago just when I had just met the love of my life. Woke up to a whole new world and an entirely new time only to find out then that... I woke up just to meet her.” he nodded his head softly, looking down for a few seconds “Turns out everything I thought about my life and about my feelings was a lie, to put it simply. (Y/n) is the love of my life and it could never be more clear. I thought that, when I woke up seventy years later, everything was lost but turns out I had just found everything. Real love, a new reason to fight and live, happiness and so much more, more than I would have ever dreamed of. Granted-” he sighed, his smile fading “We're not really on speaking terms right now b-but I'm glad that she's still alive so that matters the most.”

He cleared his throat, looking back up when he realized he had gotten carried away speaking about you “My point is, things happen for a reason and when you think everything is lost... then you always have more to hold onto. And sometimes, we may not see it from the start but, it's so much better than what we left behind and so much better than what we thought we could ever get. The world is in our hands, guys, and it's up to us to do it right this time.” he nodded his head with a tight smile “It's up to us to find happiness and if we do, I'm sure it's going to be so much more than we ever dreamed of.”

The group remained silent for a couple minutes but it wasn't as if he realized himself. Too many thoughts running through his mind, as always these days, so it never really got quiet in his head. It was only a couple seconds later that he heard the small voice, tentatively speaking, as the question registered in his mind “And why are you not with her nw? What happened between you two that could not be fixed?”

He looked up to see Kate, the youngest of the group, ask with small tilt of her head. He didn't respond for a second, looking sadly down at his hands “I sadly made too many mistakes with her. But probably the biggest one is that I- I didn't tell how much I truly loved her when I had the chance to. If I ever find the opportunity to forgive myself for everything that happened with- with Thanos I might, but hurting her this way is something I will never forgive myself for. For letting her believe that...” but he trailed off, the thought too painful on its own for him to even put into words.

One more thing he couldn't forgive himself for, was letting you believe that he was still hooked on the memory of another woman. But he had not had the time to tell you, to show you that you were and would always be his best girl, after everything that kept being thrown at him in his life. If only he'd just let you see how much you truly meant to him, not let you slip of hid fingers like that even more... How no longer than a year after he'd met you he caught himself having completely forgotten of his compass and the photo inside of it, of how much he kept thinking about you and of how when he came across the small object and took another look at the photo... it didn't feel right. It didn't feel right to have that photo there when he spent literally every second of his entire day and night thinking, and dreaming, and talking, and smiling, and aching, and longing, and breathing for you. He was living only for you. He had then realized that he had just met the love of his life because that's how love felt like and Steve was utterly and forever in love with you. And in no longer than a couple seconds after having opened the compass he took out the photo and placed the one who should rightfully be there from the very beginning.

If only you could see it, if only you could know it and not believe he was still looking at Peggy's photo when it had all along been yours. If only you could know... but you didn't.

“I didn't tell her how I felt and she either probably thinks I want someone else or thinks that everything I told her, everything I made her believe about my feelings was, well, a lie after I couldn't stay when she asked me to and I...” he could hardly fight the tears in his eyes, could certainly not fight the way his heart tightened so painfully in his chest and he almost choked on his words “I don't know what I'd hate myself for, more.” he shook his head a bit.

“This has to do with Peggy, doesn't it?” a soft voice asked tentatively and he nodded his head.

Some of them already knew about her, he didn't doubt that probably the entire world did and he hated that even more because he couldn't stand the thought of you having to hear about it from practically everyone when people got to know you and Steve were close.

“Thing is...” he started slowly, the lump in his throat feeling weird and almost painful because he realized what he was about to say he had never spoken about it out loud “I didn't talk much to her about Peggy, sure said enough about my life in the past because she always loved to hear new things but n-not about Peggy. Not because she could find out all out about us on her own b-but because I just forgot about everything and everyone when I was around her. She-” he smiled fondly “She's truly one of a kind and God I love her so much.” it lifted some of the weight off his chest, not all but certainly enough and he smiled to himself, nodding his head again “I'm madly, hopelessly and helplessly in love with her! It makes my heart burst sometimes but it's so beautiful too. A- and it's crazy cause I- I thought I felt love but love is- it's so much more than what I have ever felt, and I had not realized it not until I met (Y/n).”

“But she doesn't know any of it, does she?” the questions kept coming and Steve was probably thankful for it. For the past years he had not been able to forget about it, let alone let go of how he felt about it.

“No, no she doesn't. It's her, it's always been her, but she- (Y/n) doesn't know that.” he let out a shaky breath “See, I have this compass a-and it had a photo of Peggy, for many many years and sure most of them I was on the ice but still, you get it. And when I came back, it was one of the few things I had left to remind me of who I was, partly because of the object itself and partly because of her photo. I always reached out for it, for obvious reasons. Just a look at her photo and things felt better, you know? Kept me grounded, reminded me of the past and made me feel like home. W-well, it wasn't until I met (Y/n) that I actually started, almost, forgetting about it. I seemed to need it even less, seemed to reach ot for it less. She kept me grounded and made me feel good... soon she even became my home. It was about a- a year later, a year into knowing her, that I realized I had actually stopped. I came across the compass by accident and thought about it and I had not reached out for it in months, I didn't need it anymore but somehow I did open it. I felt this need to... verify something inside of me, inside my head.”

“And what was that?”

“I opened it, held it right there in my hand and looked at Peggy's photo and realized it didn't feel the same. Or maybe it did but I realized it didn't feel enough, not compared to (Y/n). And then the photo- it just wasn't the right one. I felt like it didn't belong there so I- I did the only thing that I was capable of... I took Peggy's photo off and placed (Y/n) and you know what?” he looked up with a half smile on his lips “It felt right. Like it was always meant to be there, leading me back home... leading me back to her once the war was over.” he paused for a second and chuckled at the thought “Sometimes, I'd think about it. How if she saw the photo she was going to tell me about how her hair looked terrible or that I could have found a better one but it feels so good, so right for her photo to be there that I wouldn't dare change a thing.”

“And yet... you don't dare tell her about it, about any of it. She's hurt because of it and she's not the ony one. You're hurting yourself too that way.”

“It doesn't matter, none of it does at this point. As long as she's alive she can be happy one day, certainly away from me, then everything... will get better.”

“Are you sure about that?” the man who was speaking before was the one to ask him this time and Steve looked up with a frown “I mean, are you sure she will be happy... without you?”

“I- I only gave her pain when I was around, why would she want to-”

“Love is a complex thing. As much as you may think you've hurt her now, no amount of pain can compete with the one she must be feeling now, now that you're not there with her.”

“Or she could probably be relieved I'm not there...” he mumbled, his eyes casting down because he didn't want to let his hoped get up for no reason “After all, I'm responsible for all of it.”

“With all due respect, my husband was-” Mary said with glossy eyes “A huge pain in the ass sometimes. We've had our fair share of fights, all couples do anyway. And yeah, maybe we can't compare it to what has happened between you and (Y/n), but if there is one thing I can be damn sure we have in common is that I love him so much that I'd give everything to get him back despite anything that happened. There is no pain like losing your other half, none.”

“Well, loss can be... interpreted in more than one ways.” Steve whispered, mostly to himself, his lips pursed for a moment as he clenched his jaw.

“What worse can there be than not being with your soulmate?”

“It's just...” he shook his head softly, his chest feeling tight at the mere thought, the words that came next feeling foreign but so real at the same time and he knew that if he didn't speak about it now then he wouldn't really start dealing with it“I'm scared to find out. I'm scared to know if... Am I hers? I know she's mine, there is no questioning it anymore, but don't think I'll bear to know I'm not hers.”

“Well, only one way to find out.” Mary shrugged softly “You should go talk to her. It's worth the try. After all, she must have survived for a reason, right?” she said, practically quoting his words from before and he would've laughed but he just couldn't bring himself too.

“It's just not that and that makes it even worse.” he chewed on his lower lip for a moment, eyes casted down. They were down for the mot part as he spoke about you and what had happened, what he'd done to hurt you. It wasn't because he wasn't feeling comfortable with them knowing but because of the shame that lived deep within his heart. He was ashamed probably of others knowing how he'd hurt you and definitely of you, even if you weren't there. He was ashamedof how he had failed you on so many levels. He was ashamed of saying it out loud because it all then became real.

“That's not the only thing you're scared of, isn't it?”

He gave them a tight smile, unable to form any words in that moment as the lump in his throat prevented him from breathing in the first place. But he had to swallow it down, after giving them a week nod and spoke softly “I'm scared, even more, that when I go and see her I won't be the love of her life because she's found that in somebody else. Truth is-” he sighed “I'm most certainly sure she has someone already there with her. I know that she does, because I know him too. I know how he's always felt for her so if he had the chance to be with her then why not take it? I would have done the same. Would've... Thing is-” he sighed, shrugging softly and yet with so much pain in his heart that it had started becoming physical he was sure “I'm scared to see it for real, I'm scared to see that she is with him.”

“I keep telling everybody they should move on, I keep telling you guys that. Some people do but... I hope not her. Gosh, I pray she hasn't moved on.” his head hang low as his eyes closed softly and he let out a deep breath “I don't want to see her move on from me.”

“And again... she could be worth the try. Whatever it takes.”

[coffeecrows]

I posted 148 times in 2021

6 posts created (4%)

142 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 23.7 posts.

I added 14 tags in 2021

#poem - 2 posts

#poets on tumblr - 2 posts

#poetscommunity - 2 posts

#poetry - 2 posts

#had a breakdown - 1 posts

#espresso x madeleine - 1 posts

#dream smp - 1 posts

#dnf - 1 posts

#dreamnotfound - 1 posts

#heat waves - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 64 characters

#please stop crashing archive i just want to read stevebucky recs

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

thinking about how my most recent breakdown was caused by minecraft

3 notes • Posted 2021-01-09 20:57:54 GMT

#4

The Rain

That night

We ran like our lives depended on it.

To me, it really did.

The storm was never ending.

I almost fell. 

And then you did. 

To which you simply stared up at me 

And smiled. 

Like we were exactly where

We were supposed to be.

While all I could think about was getting out of 

The rain. 

- EB

4 notes • Posted 2021-10-26 02:35:55 GMT

#3

another day another heat waves chapter crashing ao3

god i hate gay people

/j

64 notes • Posted 2021-03-15 04:44:19 GMT

#2

Better luck next time!

Espresseleine Week 2021 Day 1 - Sword / Glasses

to be fair it started out as a sword…

137 notes • Posted 2021-10-25 04:03:33 GMT

#1

okay okay

hear me out

Pietro coming back isn’t Wanda.

she was just as confused as Vision was when the knock sounded.

i have two theories.

1. it’s Billy.

he and Tommy in the comics are known to have powers that are reminiscent of Wanda and Pietro and the idea that he would bring her brother to visit to make a point to her about “getting what they all want” (remember the dog incident).

2. Agnes. this may seem like a stretch but hear me out, she’s the only person in the town who is both a.) able to break the fourth wall and be okay with it and b.) the only person who wasn’t identifiable in the sword headquarters that they’d been working in. (if anyone watches Film Theory on youtube it can possibly help explain why this is).

either way, it would make sense because neither of them actually know what Pietro looks like outside of what they probably found out from Wanda herself, hence the “recast” (though we all know this is how they’re likely going to tie in the x-men to the MCU)

245 notes • Posted 2021-02-06 04:23:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[hamliet]

Hey I love your Witcher metas/fic and I just wanted to say I've been reading some comments about the stuff they've changed on the show and one of them is that they've made Cahir too bad/unredemable which made me think how the people who haven't read the books will view Ciri since she becomes a relaly dark character and who accoring to the author was meant to be evil and monster because almost veryone made her out to be one.(pt 1)

Also having recently finished the books the hansa are definitely the highlit to me in the later books don’t get me wrong Sapkowski is a great author but I just couldn’t find myself to care for Ciri’s SL post Time of Contempt her becomign dark had a lot of potential but the whole Rats and after that verged on torture pron almost especially since she was only 13-14 Yennfier also desrved better than being a frozen statue and then tortured until she’s aved but again that’s my opinion.             

Hello! Eeeeep, thank you for reading my metas!

You bring up so many interesting topics! Do you mind if I blabber a bit about… well, all of them? :P

I’ll get to Cahir last, because I have more to say about him.

So this is purely a taste thing, but I hella loved Dark!Ciri. She wasn’t whitewashed to become likable, which makes her one of my favorite main characters ever (most main characters I find rather bland when compared to side characters, because the writers want to ensure you like them and thereby sanitize them of interesting qualities). Honestly, my three favorite characters are Yennefer, Ciri, and Cahir.

I am definitely expecting the fandom to argue that Ciri is either Still Good 100% and doesn’t need no redemption, or a Terrible Role Model for Young Girls and think of the children! The point of Ciri is that she’s not a role model but that doesn’t make her someone you can’t admire. She’s not an object for people in her world to view as a savior, and in that way I found the books very meta. That said, I also get why people did not like how Dark!Ciri is handled, and that’s completely valid too. I think Mistle in particular was… yeah.

I would agree about torture p*rn specifically when it comes to Bonhart’s behavior. (I think Ciri’s age comes across as rather contradictory, but I’m pretty sure she was 14-15-16ish in the later books?) But I had to set the book down during The Tower of Swallows because of Bonhart’s treatment of Ciri.  I’ve thought about writing a meta on what Bonhart represents in the books (or aims to represent, because I don’t think it’s entirely successful). Bonhart’s treatment of Ciri in ToS can be justified as not gratuitous depending on what’s done with him in Lady of the Lake, and imo I go back and forth debating whether it was justified or gratuitous. I do think Bonhart turned into a stereotypical cackling villain by the end and his attempted assault of Yennefer was unnecessary and was a sharp change in his characterization. (Sapkowski, in general, doesn’t write great villains–mostly because the main enemies the characters have to overcome are themselves.) That said, Ciri’s defeat of him towards the end was absolutely narratively perfect, and hence I waffle.

For Yennefer… I too wanted more of her, so I am with you there. Yet, I also think it was perfect for her to be turned into a jade statue temporarily, because Yennefer is a control freak. For Yennefer to utterly lose control of everything and wind up a prisoner at various points was a good way to narratively face her flaws and grow. But I would have liked more of her struggles in those situations, especially in Baptism of Fire and ToS.

Now, Cahir.

I disagree strongly with the sentiment that the show made him irredeemably evil. That said, I also think the show’s writing is very, very flawed–not just of Cahir, but of everyone. Many of the writers are apparently Marvel writers which… shows. And not in a good way.

A lot of that is probably my perspective from how I consumed the story, as well. I watched the show before I read the books, and I remember when Cahir appeared again in episode 5 of The Witcher. The moment I saw who they had cast and his storyline there, I told the friend I was watching it with that he was clearly a conflicted Byronic hero archetype and would likely have an arc along the lines of Loki in the MCU and Kylo Ren in Star Wars. Look, it’s not a coincidence they cast attractive actors with unusual facial structures to play these roles, nor is it a coincidence that people keep debating if they seem redeemable or if they’re fully committed to the dark side. 

(NB: I think it’s more than a little racist that all the actors for these type of Byronic characters are white, but I also don’t like the “they’re actually poor sad white boys we shouldn’t feel sympathy for” argument. These characters are written to be sympathetic and complex, and it’s not the actors’ faults (for Cahir, Eamon Farron is incredibly talented); just… cast PoC in these types of roles for the love of God.) 

Is Cahir darker compared to what he was in the books? In some ways, yes. Did the message of what his character’s arc is meant to be translate to the audience of only show watchers? I honestly think it did, because it did to me as I watched it. I messaged the friend who got me into The Witcher “he’s a conflicted wounded bad boy” and asked if he would have a redemption, likely through a love relationship (Thor and Loki’s relationship is love, but brotherly; Kylo and Rey’s is romantic). I did not know anything about the books’ arc for Cahir then, but this is exactly what does happen.