#imagine watching a movie about a war where your people were decimated but the movie said war is bad only bc forests and our soldiers dead

[lambentlaments]

Guys, it's very much possible for a person to try to be anti-war while simultaneously having his works lack nuance when it comes to anti-imperialism.

Please consider the fact that Miyazaki, a wealthy japanese man, whose family accumulated said wealth from colonialism and exploition, has made multiple movies about how the war was Bad while somehow not devoting screentime to the victims of the war. Consider how self-consolating several of these movies are when portraying war-criminals.

'War was bad because we lost so many of *our* good young men, *our*beautiful forests, and most important of all, our 💖 innocence💖', does not equate to 'imperialism and colonialism is bad'. Miyazaki's stance on war can be milqtoast centerist and far from radical. For comparison, imagine if a director whose father worked in the arms industry made a movie about the Vietnamese war focused solely of the soldier's ptsd and purposely neglected to humanize the Vietnamese people, would you consider the movie 'sufficiently' anti-colonialist?

I am not saying any of this to try to *cancel* Miyazaki, the man is a genius and has made a huge positive impact on the world with his beautiful movies. But maybe try and remember that when you're consuming media from another political sphere from your immediate own, you may not be fully cognizant of the minutiae of details concerning an arguement (and that's fine), while someone who's critical of the thing you like might be so bc they take a more nuanced view. Taking a movie's surface message at face value is not akin to media literacy.

Baffled.

[wallwriterstuff]

Hi! I have a second request if that’s okay! (Let me know if it’s too much or too detailed!). Can I please request a Demetri x Newborn vampire!fem!reader where when Demetri, Felix, Jane, and Alec come to Seattle to see Victoria’s Newborn Army, Demetri sees Y/n from where they’re standing, and she’s all huddled up in the corner, scared as can be because she just woke up from her vampire transformation and is now a newborn, but she has much more control than the others and she’s absolutely terrified, so she hasn’t left her corner, not even to feed. Demetri can sense that she’s his mate, so he goes to her and is able to coax her out of her corner because she also feels the mate pull, therefore immediately trusting him, and he brings her with him back to Volturra. Aro would be so excited that Dem found him mate omg. Also do you think they would tell her that she’s the only vampire that they left alive?

So this one got away from me a bit to and I totally added in a character purely because I wanted to in the moment, but here we go, a day earlier than planned! 

Little Rabbit ||Demetri Volturi x Female Reader||

Part 2: Still Learning

Warnings: Descriptions of violence, a bit of gore, nothing you wouldn’t expect from the Volturi to be honest. 

Words: 5603

Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission; newborns break the law, newborns deal with the consequences. It was a sentence they’d carried out multiple times before with flawless execution, but this time there’s a problem…what on Earth is Demetri supposed to do with you? 

There were laws for a reason.

For centuries the Romanians has subjugated humankind, and after the Volturi had overthrown them, it became clear that making humans forget they ever existed would be for the best. Humans were weak and stupid yes, but they were also very angry; angry at being used as slaves and breeding stock, angry they had been mistreated and lost loved ones to Romanian cruelty. Angry humans meant rebellion and the Volturi would most certainly win that war. They couldn’t afford to decimate the human population, not when it would cause infighting amongst their kind with too many competing for a limited food source. So they had, for centuries, cultivated the myths that became popular fantasy tropes in human media. Slowly but surely those who remembered the Romanian cruelty died out, and their stories died with them, warped into fiction by carefully placed rumours and some flamboyant acting certain people had been quite happy to engage in.

In the 21st century vampires had become highly romanticised. There was a mystery about them that was glamourous, sexy, addictive. It was a form of perfection that was unobtainable – or so it was supposed to be. Vampires were most certainly still graceful, flawlessly beautiful in a way that screamed inhuman, but they were nothing like the movies made them out to be. Your last night as a human was a bit of a blur and only seeming further away by the minute. There was a street shrouded in darkness, with a flickering streetlight that did little to illuminate the concrete beneath your feet, and a breeze, something cold. The only thing you clearly remembered from that night was Riley, and that was only because he was one of the first things you saw with your new eyes when you awoke for the last time.

He was still as pretty as your murky memories dictated when you saw him the second time round, but now you were so much more sensitive to things it was easy to pick up on the more sinister aspects of his personality your human-self had simply ignored, too dazzled by this pretty man with his silver-tongue. He’d set you on fire, literally, and the burning just hadn’t stopped. It had once been a whole-body ache, nerve endings blazing and muscles twitching as you tried to outrun an internal kind of agony that scorched away your very soul. It was a futile attempt because only one thing would ease your suffering…not that you knew it. At least, you didn’t seem to.

From their perch in a multistorey car park the Guard had been watching the newborn’s make a mess for the past ten minutes. It was something straight out of the grisliest horror film, though the majority of screaming had died to wet gurgles now as the victims of their reign of terror drowned in their own blood. Most were feeding, some were fighting. A metallic screech rent the air and Felix smirked slightly as another newborn went down, his arm twisted off while he howled in agony.

“They’ve already drawn too much attention.” Demetri muttered, eyes narrowed in distaste at the scene. His stare had been drawn back to you on many an occasion. There was something…different, not quite right. The feeding frenzy was clearly affecting you, your body leaning forward in a desperate attempt to get you to feed while your mind simply refused to let you move, yet you were so obviously suffering. He couldn’t fathom why you hadn’t joined them yet when your hand was clawing at your throat, like you hoped you could rip the fire out of it maybe. You were quite obviously the deer in the headlights of the group, the least experienced, the youngest, and he felt a pang of sympathy for you. Did you even know what was happening to you right now? Had you fed before? Your body knew what it wanted and what to do so why weren’t you simply following your instincts?

A body landed in front of you, the head caved in from another’s fist, and he heard you whimper despite the distance. It made his stomach twist, brows furrowing deeply as a strange sort of longing to go to you arose in him. He was beaten to it by the ringleader, the man obviously in charge of it all with much more control and experience. He watched him crouch before you, the way you recoiled setting a fire in his gut that urged him to move move move.

“You…you’re confusing.” He admitted, head tilting as he regarded you. Demetri’s lip curled upward, body tense. What if the ringleader moved before he could get to you? You were hardly a soldier, not a fighter at all; you were curled up in the corner afraid of your own shadow, they didn’t have a place for people like you in a newborn army.

“W-what did you…d-do to me?” you rasped, your throat dry and on fire. Demetri heard the pain it caused you to so much as talk. To think of the amount of pain breathing must have caused you…

“I told you already there’s a way to make it better…we’ll find you someone to drink.” The ringleader promised, glancing over his shoulder. His eyes were alight with fury, a cold kind of anger radiating from him when he saw the state of the place. Fires were springing up now, the dangerous proximity of the flames making him cringe. You immediately scuttled away from the scene and Demetri was moving before any of the others could stop him. Maybe his gift was going haywire, but your tenor had to be the brightest, most beautiful thing he had ever come across, and it had a life of it’s own. Usually the tenors were cold, something he could manipulate at will in his mind, but yours? Yours was warm and vibrant and instead of him doing the pulling it was you pulling him. Following you was instinctual, as easy as breathing.

He’d never seen a vampire trip over their own feet before.

You were like a little rabbit, skittish and terrified. Your senses told you you were being followed but you hadn’t seen your pursuer yet, though you were almost sure it was Riley coming to drag you back to that awful house you’d woken up in. It wasn’t even a home really, the rotting foundations of a cabin long since destroyed was not your old, cosy apartment. Could you even go back there? You weren’t sure anymore. Even as far from the main high street as you were now it was so loud, every sound crystal clear and the few lights so bright it should have hurt your eyes.

The smell of salt was overpowering at the docks, the waves crashing against the pier and something electric in the air that sizzled on your tongue but did nothing to soothe the burn in your throat. Once your knees had hit the floor, jeans tearing in a way your skin no longer could, you had scrambled behind the cold, metallic wall of a dry dock. Hands pressed to your ears, you prayed for this nightmare to come to an end.

“Oh young one…there is no need to suffer.” His voice was as smooth and sweet as honey, spreading warm and thick through your body from the moment it hit your ears and relaxing some very tense muscles. Still, you didn’t know this stranger and all vampires were made to be charming, weren’t they? Look at Riley…he’d stolen your life with a single sentence. The person before you was a man though, not a boy. His features were far more refined, sharp angles that could cut glass and a piercing, knowing stare behind eyes the colour of red wine. He was crouched before you, head somewhat tilted so his throat was exposed enough that should you swipe a hand out, you could easily decapitate him. It was almost like he was submitting to you, trying to show he was no threat.

Demetri couldn’t stand to see you so torn apart by pain and fear. His heart was physically tearing in to, unable to beat yet breaking in his chest. Your wide eyes were pure black, the pupil practically invisible and swallowed by your hunger. He could only imagine how bad the burn must be by now. The moment you had locked eyes with him though it was very obvious to a man of his age and experience exactly why he had followed you, why your tenor was so irresistible to him. The world settled. Hell, it might have crashed and burned around him but he wouldn’t have noticed, not when you were looking at him like that. He had craved many things before in life, lusting for blood and flesh and all the luxuries his immortality could offer, but he had never felt a craving quite as intense as the desire he felt simply to ease your pain. It was everything to him in that moment.

You winced, the sound lancing straight through his ears and making him frown sympathetically. Despite your pain you were still dangerous. Newborn’s acted more often than not on impulses and animalistic urges. He would have to be careful with you.

“I-it burns, th-there’s s-something in – in my throat.” You gasped, hunching over a little. Demetri nodded his head.

“I expect it does. Do you know what is happening to you right now?” he asked. You swallowed, as if that would help. Your hands moved up into your hair, gripping at the roots like they were a lifeline as you curled up even tighter.

“I don’t – he said – I can’t think!” you seemed to surprise yourself when you hissed and Demetri felt the ache in his chest intensify. Your distress was palpable to him and his fingers twitched, his desire to reach out and hold you to him intense.

Mate. Mate. Mine. Protect what’s mine.

“No need to think cara mia, let me do the thinking for both of us.” he suggested, sniffing at the air and listening past the crashing waves to try to find you someone, anyone, to drink from. His nose caught it first, the sweet scent of blood rushing through human veins, and then it was his ears. Laughter erupted somewhere just North-West of your position, and even if the location wasn’t precise it would be enough to get you fed, calm you somewhat.

With an audible thunk your head hit the wall behind you, denting it slightly. Your eyes were so hopeless when they met his own he was sure you would cry if you could, your mouth twisted into the ugliest pained grimace he never wished to see on your face again.

“It won’t stop.” You whispered. You sounded so tortured. Demetri knew the feeling well enough, he had been a newborn once to and the thirst was intense, unbearable, enough to drive a person insane. He shook his head, extending a hand to you.

“It can stop, and it will if you trust me. I can make the pain go away.” He promised. He kept his voice soft, hoping not to scare you further, but you still eyed his hand like it was a trap waiting to be sprung. Gulping, your hand trembled as if it wanted to reach out, and Demetri prayed you’d take it, that you’d see he had no ill intentions. He really did just want to help. On some level you knew that. His eyes weren’t like Riley’s. Riley’s were as hard and cold as rough-cut rubies but this man…this man had eyes like rose blossoms, gentle and tender as they watched you suffer, like he really did wish to just take your pain away. His hand hadn’t wavered and neither did his patience despite your indecision. You wanted to reach out, your hand itching to do so, but you couldn’t escape the lingering feeling of hesitation. The last time you trusted a stranger you had literally died after all.

“He promised the s-same thing.” Your breathing hitched as another river of fire shot down your throat and twisted your gut. You were starving, so very hungry, but you weren’t sure how to stop the pain. How were you ever going to eat anything when you had the world’s worst acid reflux right now? The man in front of you looked pained for a moment, as if your words had truly hurt him. How could you ever question his intentions towards you when he was so different to Riley? This man radiated an aura of safety, of calm. It was a relief just being near him after the mayhem in your life you had experience from the moment you awoke with a freckled, red-headed boy staring down at you with a sneer. You weren’t sure who he was but you’d knocked him away from you so hard he’d smashed through a wall – Riley had twisted his head off with ease when the boy lunged to attack you in revenge.

Your new life had been nothing but death and agony since you opened your eyes, but this man was different. He was a breath of fresh air, a promise of something better. He brought some calm to your turbulent thoughts.

“I am not him,” he said finally, “Breathe in for me, tell me what you smell.” His instruction was simple and would do you no harm, so you obeyed. The salt stung your nose but filtered in between the bitter and the fish was something far sweeter. You mouth pooled with what you thought was salvia, body tensing as you dragged in another lungful of that scent. It had saturated the air back at the car wreckage to but you’d never quite pinpointed where it was from, only that it made you ravenous and delirious with need.

“What – what is that?” you gasped, eyes opened wide while you inhaled like an addict getting their fix.

“Do not torture yourself now, the more you breathe the more it will burn. That is food cara mia, sustenance. It will put out the fire in your throat. I want to take you to it.” He coaxed you from against the wall like he was luring a wild beast out of its cage, his movements slow and cautious, non-threatening. You let him this time. The smell was too good, impossible to resist. You had to have it and he was promising to give it to you. Besides, you were apparently super-strong, you could fight him for it, right? No, no maybe not, the thought made you uncomfortable, you didn’t want to hurt this kind stranger. His hand was warm against your own, the skin smooth as silk and sending a jolt through your body. You didn’t want to let go of him ever. In the time it had taken you to blink you were on another side of the dock, your saviour stood behind you now with his hands on your shoulders.

“What-“

“Shhh, breathe in again and follow your nose,” He instructed, lips dangerously close to the shell of your ear. You wanted to follow the order but his breath was as fresh and warm as sweet mint, ghosting across your skin and making you shiver involuntarily. He chuckled against your hair, low and wistful. “Let nothing distract you, not even me.” He whispered. You had unconsciously leaned back into his touch and you missed him immediately when he stepped back just a little to give you some room to think. Breathe. He’d asked you to breathe. Inhaling deeply through your nose, you caught that intoxicating scent once more. It was a heady smell, befuddling all your thoughts, and your body moved to follow it without question. You needed more. You were somewhat aware of the stranger following you, his footsteps slow and casual in comparison to your own that were hurried, impatient to find the source of the smell. You didn’t understand when you turned a corner and found yourself on the main high street, immediately blinded by the streetlights’ glaring at you from every direction and assaulted by the thudding bass and buzzing chatter from all around. You fell back into the shadows with a wince, cringing into the brick work of an old pizzeria.

“I don’t understand, I – there’s nothing here.” You groaned. Your throat was trying to tear itself apart. The stranger peered out of the alleyway for a brief moment, hummed thoughtfully and drew up his hood. His face was even more beautiful like that, shrouded in darkness while the amber glow of the streetlights’ simply made the shadows of his cheekbones longer.

“Be patient, there is time enough to learn.” He promised you, and with that he was gone. Your jaw dropped open, unable to fully comprehend that he had just…left you there. Why? Had you done something wrong? What if…oh no, what if he’d led you straight back to Riley? Maybe he worked for her. You whimpered softly, not wanting to know what was going to happen next when he reappeared without warning. A woman lay unconscious on the floor near his feet, and he held a young man out towards you by the back of his shirt, body dangling limply. Your eyes widened.

“What are – what…what…” you couldn’t get your sentence out properly, the sweet smell invading your nose once more. Demetri knew the second he lost you to the frenzy in your mind. Your eyes were no longer trained on him, no longer filled with horror at what he’d done, but laser-focused on the pulse point that was no doubt thrumming in your ears by now. You watched him not as a threat to your safety but as a threat to your food, and Demetri simply tossed you the man like a lion tamer would throw the predator a steak before stepping back a bit. The mess was to be expected and only confirmed his suspicions that this was your first feed. Your teeth didn’t quite cut at the right angle nor at the right point, but you made sure not to waste anything, readjusting your bite to ensure the burst vein spouted the saccharine liquid into your mouth and not past your cheek.

His own desire to feed grew stronger as he watched you indulge but he forced the feeling back. He had to focus on you for now. Your grip was far too tight on your prey and he heard the bones snap before the man folded like a ragdoll, his spine shattered under the force of your fingers as his flesh grew pallid, the colour drained straight from it. The sound of your frantic gulps slowly died away, and when his veins ran dry you let him drop with such utter disgust on your face Demetri couldn’t help but chuckle. Your head snapped first one way, then the next, your thirst not satiated enough to allow you to focus on him for too long when there was another living, breathing human in the alleyway with you both. He inclined his head towards her and you edged forward, wary of him now.

“She is for you, go ahead.” He invited. For a moment longer you stared him down, trying to figure him out, and Demetri admired you fully. Half-crouched, Y/H/C hair in wild disarray around your face, you looked dangerous but oh so tempting, the predator in him itching to pin you down just to see what you might do. Your skin was flawless, glowing in the half-light cast from the streetlights’ beyond the alleyway, but you were covered in blood to. To anyone looking in you might have been the ghost of a murder victim perhaps, flawlessly encased in immortality and violence. The crimson liquid had soaked your shirt, your skin stained with it and lips a more vivid shade of ruby red than even Heidi’s extensive array of lipstick’s could have achieved. He was enraptured with you from the very start as you fell on your second victim of the night. He gave the man a quick once over, listening for a heartbeat just to be sure. When he found nothing, he removed any sort of valuables or possessions that might identify the corpse and threw them into the dumpster to his right, waiting patiently to do the same to the woman you were currently entertaining yourself with.

Part of him had expected the comedown after the euphoric high of your first feed, but another part of him had hoped you would be alright. Still, as you simply held the broken body in your arms, the quiet sense of horror that dawned in your eyes was enough to make Demetri move to intervene. You gripped her tighter, not wanting to let the body go, and he gently had to pry your fingers from her bruised skin.

“We – we have to…I didn’t mean…it was…” you struggled, eyes vividly red now as they stared into his own with so much guilt and grief it shattered his resolve for a moment.

“Would you like to close her eyes?” he asked. You nodded mutely, hand trembling slightly as you reached up and gently slid the delicate skin over glassy, vacant irises. It seemed to give you some small semblance of peace at least. “Does your throat still burn?” he asked. Swallowing thickly, you shook your head. Demetri nodded, satisfied he had looked after you well enough tonight. “Good. I will ensure these two are…buried…somewhere nice. Will you wait for me here? I promise you I will explain everything in full, help you understand what is happening right now.” He vowed, his free hand gently touching your messy chin while he hoisted the dead over his shoulder with the other. You gave another numb nod, because where were you supposed to go? You were a murderer now, a…vampire. You really hadn’t believed Riley when he told you, you realised now as the shock set in. The deaths of those two just to feed you…you should have been sobbing perhaps, on your knees and praying for penance maybe, but you just…couldn’t. It felt so good to finally be free of that agonising burn, the taste had been sublime, euphoric even, and you couldn’t regret it even though part of you knew you should. Still, it didn’t change the fact two people had lost their lives and the evidence was all over you.

You weren’t sure how long you stood there alone, silently longing for your newfound friend to come back and tell you what to do next while you stared at the blood drying on your hands and shirt. It was an odd feeling, to be so lost in a city you knew so well, but you truly had no idea where your place was anymore. How could you walk the streets knowing you had killed two of the people who were once so like you? Could you even go back to your apartment? You were a murderer, there’d be investigations and…what if you ate your landlord? You winced a bit at the thought, the old woman was too kind for that kind of fate.

“What is wrong with me?” you whispered.

“Nothing is wrong with you at all cara mia, you are perfection in every way.” The smooth voice you had longed for returned and you grimaced as you faced him.

“But I killed someone.” You protested.

“As have I, and many others like us,” Demetri pointed out neutrally. You looked distressed again and he stepped forward to place a hand at the small of your waist. “Come, this conversation can wait until you have cleaned yourself up. We have a-“

“I want to go home.” You squeezed your eyes closed and Demetri evaluated you for a moment, trying to gauge whether or not you could handle a trip home.

“Do you live alone?” he asked.

“No, well, yes, but –“

“Focus, young one, the question was simple, do you live alone?” he repeated gently. Your head was a mess, he could almost hear the gears of your mind turning. Few people mentioned how hard it was to adapt to the new speeds your mind worked at when you were turned, but Demetri understood your thoughts were spinning one to the next in a rapid cycle that made it easy to distract you.

“Yes.” You said finally. He nodded his head, satisfied with the answer.

“Then lead the way.” He gestured for you to go first, following close behind as you instinctually led him through the streets. Home would be familiar, comforting, he just hoped it wouldn’t be too much of a test for you to get some new clothes and a shower. You were utterly silent, lost in your own head and almost entirely unresponsive to any of his questions as you led him at an inhuman speed down the street. It was late enough and you were moving so fast he doubted anyone would notice the pair of you so he let it happen, but you didn’t seem to be aware of the speed you were moving at either. Demetri was slowly compiling a mental checklist of all the things he’d have to teach you and get you used to. He had only gleaned one key piece of information from you by the time you reached your apartment, and he’d been replaying it over and over in his mind ever since. Your name was Y/N, and you considered it a small miracle that the keys to your apartment were still in your pocket.

The stairwell lights were loud and bright, and by the time you’d put your key in the door you were desperate to be out of the highly stimulating environment, letting your new friend in. He’d told you his name now to, and you were enamoured with everything about him now, the package complete with a nice little bow. Demetri looked confused by the scratching sound for a moment before Sulu burst around the corner of your sofa and darted straight for your legs. His excited little yips were so loud in your sensitive ear’s, but he was familiar and comforting, he was home. Demetri stopped you before you could scoop up the little beagle puppy. You looked confused and he smiled apologetically.

“I think you have no concept of just how fast or strong you are right now Y/N…if you carried on going just now you might have put your hand right through him,” he informed you quietly. You winced, making a conscious effort to go slow as you reached down to pet him instead. Demetri watched you take extra care to stroke your hand over his fur, seemingly losing yourself in the smooth texture for a moment. It calmed you, he realised.

“Hey boy, I’m home. I’m sorry I was gone so long, are you hungry boy?” you whispered. Demetri watched you go through a careful routine of mixing dry and wet food, placing his small bowl on the floor. He crunched it like a dog half starved and Demetri wondered just how long you’d been gone.

“Go and shower. I can watch the dog.” He promised. He sat on the sofa, watching the little pup playfully eat his way around the bowl while the water ran behind him. Every now and then he heard you sigh softly. The dog looked quite content with a full stomach, pattering about his home confidently until he came to Demetri. Animals didn’t typically like vampires so to speak, but the pup was perhaps too young to have sensed anything out of the ordinary and came straight up to him, head tilting as he snuffled about his trouser legs. Demetri frowned, trying to shoo him away slightly, but the pup merely thought he wanted to play, tail starting to wag as he lowered his front to the floor and lunged for his hand with an excited little yip.

You hadn’t been expecting Demetri to be having a tug of war with your dog when you stepped out of the shower, a fresh change of clothes on and your hair wet but still, no matter how much you’d frisked it with a towel, flawless. Vampirism had some perks at least. Sulu growled playfully, tugging with all his might, and Demetri growled back, a wicked grin on his face as he held the toy still with minimal effort. Your eyebrows rose.

“Are you that determined to beat a puppy?” you asked finally. Demetri glanced at you, brows furrowing slightly before he nodded and pulled Sulu in closer, his claws scratching against the wood. You winced at the sound but felt your heart melt a bit when he scooped him up with a chuckle and scratched at his tummy.

“You put up a good fight boy, but I am better.” He murmured. Good with animals and gorgeous? Was there anything this man couldn’t do? You sat beside him, wary when Sulu immediately padded over to your lap. You’d found him abandoned on a street corner in a box with a few siblings and immediately taken them all to the nearest vet, the costs be damned. They’d managed to rehome two of the five in the box, one of them being your Sulu, but you’d never heard what happened to the others sadly. He was cuddly from the get-go, desperate for contact apparently after his abandonment, and so far he had been fairly easy to train. You didn’t want to hurt your baby boy and Demetri seemed to sense it, watching you awkwardly hold your hands above his small body while Sulu tried to nudge his head into your palm.

“I don’t want to hurt him.”

“You won’t if you are gentle enough,” Demetri promised you, “Very gentle now.” You managed to settle into a rhythm as Demetri spoke, explaining exactly what had happened to you that night. There were times you couldn’t quite keep the outbursts in, your frustration bursting through. Why you? You had a good life! You tried to be good and kind and had dreams and it wasn’t fair that Riley had chosen you that night. Sulu skittered form your lap into Demetri’s in those moments, but the man never held them against you, simply letting you rant and nodding along sympathetically while he explained the laws, the Volturi. You shivered, knowing deep down if he hadn’t decided to help you he would have been your executioner instead of your friend.

“So what now? I…” Don’t want to leave you. It was on the tip of your tongue. You felt lost, adrift on an endless sea. You had no clue how you were supposed to cope with all of this without someone more experienced showing you the way – your throat was already starting to burn again. It all seemed so hopeless when you’d been alone in the shower, everything crashing in on you and drowning you all at once, but Demetri was a lighthouse that held you steady and guided you to shore. Demetri tilted his head.

“You come home with me.” He said simply, like it made the most sense. Somehow, it did. Demetri was somewhat surprised at how willingly you simply packed up and left, pulling some emergency cash out form somewhere and leaving it in an envelope for your landlord. The only slight problem was Sulu, but he didn’t let you worry about that for long. Sulu wasn’t particularly sure about the plush carpets of the Volturi’s private jet, but he quite enjoyed running around on the tarmac while you waited for Demetri to return from his duties, whatever they may be.

“Why would you not tell her, she has a right to know.” Alec pointed out as they strolled back across the grass languidly. Demetri hummed.

“She does, but right now she is overwhelmed, she needs a chance to settle before I tell her of our bond. In the meantime, it will not stop me caring for her as I should. Please, all of you, be kind, you know how hard this first year can be.” He sighed, looking almost imploringly at the twins. He knew he could trust Felix with you (mostly, maybe…okay he’d have to keep any eye on that situation) but the twins were a little more…unpredictable. Jane rolled her eyes slightly.

“You say that as though we intend to sabotage your happiness.” she quipped, but her voice was as dead as the grave. Demetri saw through it; he had known them long enough. Apathy was the twins go to but it always conveyed something more if you bothered to look beyond the surface. He gave her a grateful smile and she diligently ignored it, but the unspoken agreement had already been made that they would stand by their friend when they reached Volterra.

“Oh there is one more thing.” Demetri started. He never got chance to finish his sentence before Alec opened the door to the jet. The smell of blood hit them instantly and Sulu bolted straight for Demetri, recognising his scent and excited to see him home. You were stood amongst the ruins, looking a little bashful and covered in blood once more. The pilot was at your feet, contorted and drained.

“Oops?”

Sulu had left little bloody paw prints in his wake but had quickly scrambled back towards you once he’d bumped into Alec’s threatening aura. The boy turned to look at the tracker, his expression devoid of emotion but his eyes alight with mischief.

“I cannot wait to see the look on Caius’s face when we get home.”

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: 17 "WandaVision" Behind-The-Scenes Facts Elizabeth Olsen And Paul Bettany Just Revealed

“I thought it was perfect for television, and a very original idea that made me excited.”

BUZZFEED: To celebrate the highly anticipated release of WandaVision, we sat down with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany to chat about the first two episodes and what it was like putting Wanda and Vision in this sitcom setting.

Here’s everything we learned:

🚨 There are spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of WandaVision. So, if you haven’t watched them yet, you might want to bookmark this for later. 🚨

1. First, Paul Bettany found out about WandaVision right after Vision died in Infinity War. In fact, Paul thought he was getting called into Marvel because he was getting fired, not because they wanted to pitch him a show.

  2. Meanwhile, Elizabeth learned about WandaVision while getting ready to “do pickups for Endgame.”

She said she had a similar experience to Paul where she wasn’t sure what she was being called into Marvel for.

  3. Elizabeth said she was initially “very thrown by the whole TV part of it all,” but once she heard the concept and the story, she was sold.

She explained, “I thought it was perfect for television, and a very original idea that made me excited.” Also, she was happy she would get to work with Paul again.

  4. Paul’s favorite memory from filming the first episode was “running around backstage” alongside Elizabeth and Kathryn Hahn and just being “so nervous” to perform in front of a live studio audience.

He also remembers bumping into Kathryn and Elizabeth at the prop table backstage while filming, and it just felt like they were all doing a “school play.”

  5. Originally, Paul was “really resistant” to the idea of filming in front of a live studio audience, but finally just went for it and had so much fun.

  6. Meanwhile, Elizabeth thought it was “terrifying” performing in front of a live studio audience, and she had so much adrenaline from “first day nerves” when filming began. Elizabeth as Wanda making a mixing bowl levitate

Elizabeth continued, saying, “The only thing that was getting me through is knowing that I trusted Matt Shakman, and if it was a failure, he would let me reshoot it the next day. But we did it.”

  7. Elizabeth said it was amazing to watch the Marvel special effects team who are “used to blowing things up” become “puppeteers” and figure out how to make all of the magic happen in the kitchen with Wanda.

“My favorite one was watching two of our special effects guys puppeting a dish rag trying to dry a cup,” she said. “It was so complicated and so frustrating for them. They figured it out. But it was really funny watching them trying to figure out how to bounce a dishrag to dry a cup.”

  8. Elizabeth felt “so lucky” to welcome Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris to the MCU with WandaVision — she said, “I can’t imagine this show being with any other people.”

9. And Paul said welcoming them to the family made him recall how amazing it was to join the cast, in person, in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

“ I loved the experience because I remember everybody being incredibly welcoming to me when I first arrived, in person, on Age of Ultron. There is a real family feel,” Paul said.

  10. Paul described Kathryn and Teyonah as “delightful, funny, and super bright” and he said they are both “inordinately talented and willing to go along and join you in the style and the ride.”

11. Elizabeth said that there were a lot of times while filming WandaVision where she and Paul would get “caught up in giggles” but because of how fast they filmed, they had to try really hard not to break character.

She explained, “There is a moment, that I cannot right now formulate in my memory, that I just remember laughing every time we were looking at each other, and feeling the pressure of, like, ‘You really have to suck it up right now.'”

  12. Elizabeth’s favorite sitcom style they used in WandaVision was the ’70s, which will be seen in Episode 3.

She said, “I think the ’70s was very fun, because I thought it was very fun to film a sitcom version of pregnancy.”

  13. And Paul loved coming back to film exteriors for Episode 2 after their hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic — he said it was a “lovely feeling” to know that they were able to finish with everything going on.

14. Even after so many Marvel movies, Paul said he still can’t stop laughing whenever he has to film a scene where he’s “supposed to be floating in the air and then [having] to look up and look dynamic and cool.”

Paul laughed, saying, “I just can’t take myself seriously.”

  15. Out of his entire time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paul says he’s “most proud” of wrapping WandaVision in the middle of a pandemic.

Paul explained, “In the middle of this thing that has sort of decimated production around the globe, we got through it without a single case. Everybody really stuck to the rules and really took it seriously. [It] really, genuinely made me feel so proud.”

  16. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is really proud of the moments in this show that she thought were going to be “really hard to pull off,” but they ended up making it all work.

She continued, saying, “When something seems, like, kind of impossible, and then you just have to thrust yourself into it because it’s the day that you’re supposed to do it.”

  17. And finally, Elizabeth said that the “greatest thing” Marvel has given her as an actor is the “freedom” to not overthink anything and just “jumping into the deep end.”

Check out our full video with Elizabeth and Paul about WandaVision and their time in the MCU below!

Press: 17 “WandaVision” Behind-The-Scenes Facts Elizabeth Olsen And Paul Bettany Just Revealed was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[mymarvelbunch]

Be Your Own Hero - Steve Rogers x Reader

This is my first imagine, so feedback is greatly appreaciated!

Masterlist

Summary: (Y/N) has lost all her family and most friends in The Decimation (I refuse to call it The Blip). Refusing to believe their deaths are permanent, she dedicate years to find a way to reverse it. When she finally finds something that might help, she searches for the Avengers. It’s Steve Rogers x Reader, but there is also a lot of Badass!Reader. Also, Non-American!Reader. If you are American, think of a country you’d have loved to be born into :D

Warnings: for now, only a lot of sadness.

Note: Y/Co = your country. Y/Ci = your city

Steve won’t be featured in this part, only mentioned, and not in any romantic light, since the reader hasn’t met him yet.

Part One

A week after The Decimation

A huge memorial was prepared for every inhabitant of (Y/Ci) who dusted away. It was raining, as if Mother Nature was mourning with them. You stood in the far back, black umbrella open, all by yourself. There weren’t many people to keep you company. The few friends who survived had family members to stay with.

The vice-mayor (who was actually mayor now, since the old one was gone) made a heartfelt speech in honor of the fallen ones, but you barely paid any attention to it. Mentally, and in whispers, you recited the names of all the loved ones you lost: your mother, your father, your two older siblings, your sister-in-law, your only uncle and his wife, your 5-year-old cousin, your 89-year-old grandma who blissfully escaped Alzheimer’s. You had around forty friends, close and not-close, but now only twelve remained, and only two of them could be called close friends. Not to mention your college class, cut down from 48 to nine. You haven’t even counted the college staff.

It was surreal. Mass extinctions have happened before in history, but not like this. This wasn’t natural. The Avengers have called international press to explain what happened, but for most it was hard to understand.

For most. Not for you.

You searched Captain America’s video with the full, most detailed explanation and watched a dozen times, writing everything he said down. Apparently, an alien ingrained with Malthusian mentality used powerful items to wipe out half of the universe, believing that it would delay civilization’s self-destruction due to lack of resources. At one point he slipped the term ‘infinity stones’.

You haven’t had time to search about those ‘stones’ or anything else from the video (like the alien’s name, Thanos), but you fully intended to. Because there was surely a way to bring everyone back. Their deaths were result of magic (or whatever they called it), and magic can be reversed.

You refused to believe your family was lost forever.

You refused to believe that so many lives, families, hopes, dreams and achievements were gone for good.

There had to be a way out. And, while she hoped the Avengers would find a way, you decided to take matters into your own hands too. Everyone was mourning; you had the ‘advantage’ of having no one to comfort, meaning more time in your hands.

The memorial ceremony was over. After most people left (around two hours later), you walked over to where your family’s names were. “Mom, Dad”, you whispered, “I’ll do everything in my power to bring you back. I promise.”

A year later

Your graduation party was small and intimate. Your dusted classmates were properly honored, and, thanks to everyone having got closer in the following year, you all had a good time together. It was, overall, incredibly sweet.

You were now a doctor. Not so long ago, you’d be overjoyed by finally getting your medical degree. You were still happy, but the feeling was overshadowed with grief. You wish your family was there to celebrate with you.

At least your two close friends were there. They even brought their remaining parents to help cheer you up.

But now, you had a task: work to save money to keep your research.

The year had been productive, especially given the mess that was college. Thanks to Black Widow’s leaks from 2014, you progressed rapidly.

The so-called Infinity Stones had a few mentions, notably concerning the Battle of New York in 2012. The ‘Tesseract’, which seemingly fell in that category, had been mentioned in SHIELD files since the 50s; apparently, Captain America himself had come in contact with it in his war time. There is a mention of a Captain Marvel and the Tesseract  in the 1995 files, but all were vague, as if SHIELD itself didn’t know who were dealing it. Probably an alien.

There was a mention of an Aether in 2013, which seemed powerful enough to be an Infinity Stone. The leaked files, obviously, ended in mid-2014, meaning there is nothing on the incident on Sokovia.

News sites and channels mentioned that the AIs created by Tony Stark had been powered by ‘an unknown object that seems to be a remain of the alien invasion of 2012’. There was no description, but there were pictures of Vision that featured a glowing yellow round-shaped thing. There was no way to be sure, but you’d guess it was also an Infinity Stone. Besides, Captain America’s announced that Vision was destroyed by Thanos right before the Decimation. Wouldn’t it be reasonable that the alien did that to steal a Stone?

Of course, you were far from being the only person researching on the Infinity Stones. In fact, so many were doing it that the Avengers (Natasha Romanov this time) had to make a press conference for a few statements:

1. There were no Infinity Stones in their possession.

2. They would not confirm nor deny whether they were ever in possession of a Stone or not.

3. As it was too dangerous, they would also not disclose information on the Stones.

It meant you had to hack into... somewhere to find more information. That held you back, since you didn’t have time to learn hacking abilities and finish college at the same.

Now that you graduated, you had more free time in your hands. You’d work few hours a week, enough to get money to survive. All your family’s inheritance belonged to you, which granted you more than enough money for you self-assigned mission.

Seating down, you opened your computer and started the next step of your research.

Early 2020

Hacking was useful, but not in the way you expected.

There was little new information concerning Thanos and the Infinity Stones. Most things you found were conspiracy theories, most of which were absurd and didn’t match the knowledge you already had.

However, Deep Web proved useful in one thing: you found out about the Mystic Arts and its Masters.

Information was vague and of questionable reliability, but you managed to gather that they possessed knowledge of many things ancient and alien. You also managed to find out their nearest temple’s location: Y/Ci! Ha! There was even an address!

It was near Valentine’s Day, meaning streets were crowded. You decided it was the best moment to search for that temple (which they called Sanctum). The best to hide, in your opinion, was in a big crowd.

Your first place of search was the given address, of course. Its street was crowded as hell, since it was a commercial one, full of shops that were perfect for buying valentine gifts. Good thing you didn’t find a boyfriend; there was no one to distract you from your goal.

(Were you obsessed? Maybe.)

The number on the address belonged to an oriental-styled house, something not really common in Y/Ci. You knocked on the door of the supposed tarot-reading house, hopeful that there was more about that place.

“Good morning, miss”, the woman who opened the door said. “Are you here for tarot reading?”

You took a deep breath and said, in a low voice, the sentence you read as being the password for entering a Sanctum: “Oh, I’d love to know if I was a Titanic victim in my past life.”

(God, it was such a ridiculous phrase. That was probably why they picked it; not even an insane person would willingly say that in a tarot house.)

The woman arched her eyebrows. You bit your lip, waiting for her to call a psychiatric ambulance, but she simply smiled. “Follow me, sister.”

You released your breath.

Next part

------

Hey, everyone! Hope you liked it! Feedback would be greatly appreciated :D

The MCU barely acknowledges the repercussion of Natasha’s leaks in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I imagine most people wouldn’t read all leaked files, but, after the Snap, many would try to find explanations in those leaks. After all, Thanos was an alien, and everyone knew SHIELD was behind the Battle of New York (among other events). I do suspect there would be little information on Captain Marvel (a codename to hide Carol Danvers’ identity), since there is nothing said about her until the after-credits scene in Infinity War, and no one aside from Nick Fury and Maria Rambeau (who is not SHIELD) really knows what happened in 1995.

I’m not sure whether the events of Thor: the Dark World would actually be on a SHIELD file, since I haven’t watched Agents of SHIELD, but I guess the more information the better! However, there is no indication in the movies that SHIELD ever came into contact with the Master of Mystic Arts, which is why the reader doesn’t find anything on them until she goes to the Deep Web to find answers.

Part Two will be set mostly in the Sanctum and focus on what the reader finds there. If you have any suggestion on what you’d like to read in this part, you’re welcome to tell. The reader won’t meet Steve until part 3, but I think she’ll meet one or two Avengers by the end of part two, so stay tuned!

Taglist is open if anyone is interested! See you next time!

[ssironstrange]

endgame rant

SPOILERS AHEAD PLEASE AVOID IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT YET

yeah i know i said i wouldn’t post spoiler shit but listen i gotta get this off my chest ok

i have some REAL BIG FUCKING ISSUES with the way the russos handled a lot of plotlines. don’t get me wrong, this movie was amazing and epic and fucking award worthy, but as a fan i’ve taken offense to a Lot of things.

clint

nothing about his ronin story makes a lick of fucking sense in the mcu. his family is dusted so he…… goes on a mass murdering spree??? decides that he should get a haircut and spend the next five years getting an edgy tattoo sleeve??? um. okay then. destroy the past like 10 years of his character having one of the best moral compasses of the entire team. why did he take up using a fucking SWORD in present day? do you know how long it takes to master swordsmanship at the level he was? with at least half of the world’s teachers gone? more than five fucking years thats for damn sure. and between him and natasha dying for the soul stone? it should have been him. i know he had a family and all but listen. nat went through physical and psychological torture. her body was modified against her will. she was brainwashed and used. and finally, FINALLY she gets free of it all, finds a family in the avengers, and continues to try and better herself to make up for things that weren’t even her fault to begin with. and clint? what did he suffer? oh thats right. nothing. he’s just damn good at his job and loves his family. the fact he has a family sucks for sacrifice, but they are well taken care of and every single one of his kids are old enough to understand AND nat would have stepped in immediately as a parental figure to help laura. they fucking fridged nat for clint and i will never forgive that.

thor

here we go. thor’s character legit made me uncomfortable. they went way overboard with the new thor personality. but… fatshaming and making fun of his very real depression and ptsd?? wtf russos. like, haha he let himself go so funny but its NOT. he wasn’t even like…. fat, for one. just a normal dadbod and beer belly. which by the way seems a lot more realistic according to most norse myths of the gods. they were warriors, yeah, but they drank a fucking lot and feasted a fucking lot so. anyway. thor has lost his entire family. not only that but he watched them all die. he saw his mother bleed out. he watched his father disperse into nothingness. he watched the brother he has loved and cherished no matter the amount of times of betrayal and misdeeds get his neck snapped and his lifeless body thrown to the ground. and then the sister he never knew he had killing almost all of your people and then being forced to find a way to kill her. can you imagine trying to cope with that??? and when you put his age into our perspective, he’s only in his 20s. so imagine seeing your whole family die before you’re even 25, then taking on the responsibility of ruling your people. said surviving people are then massacred in front of you with only a few dozen escaping. THEN living with the guilt of blowing your chance to kill the man responsible for that and unable to stop him from decimating half the universe. (and even when he does get revenge on him, it’s too late) tell me you wouldn’t have an atomic level meltdown. thor is suffering so much and all they can do is make fun of him for it and shame him for it. he deserved better.

steve

yall know i don’t like steve. i don’t hate him and i’m not anti-steve, i’ve just never enjoyed his rather inconsistent character and self-righteousness. it felt like we were FINALLY getting a steve i could get behind in this. a steve that swears like he should. a steve who still puts on a brave face for the public but behind closed doors with friends he’s miserable and broken like the rest of them and SHOWS it to them. a steve who realizes he is stuck in the past and just can’t seem to move forward. a steve who i can finally see the culmination of EVERYTHING he’s been through resting on his shoulders and eating him alive inside. finally we were getting a properly layered steve rogers. and then tony came back and that all fell apart. we didn’t get the apology steve owed him (and tbh tony owed him one too but we’ll get to that), we didn’t get a remorseful steve. he didn’t even address the goddamn issue. he went straight back to his bullshit. admittedly he was a better listener this time around and a far better team player overall. it wasn’t a total loss. but. BUT. his ending? no. hell fucking no. i’m happy he and peggy got their life, but it still shouldn’t have happened. how fucking selfish. how fucking backwards of his character. i get he didn’t have a choice in being brought back into the present and that is unfair and sucks for him, but what fucking right did he have to mess with a timeline like that? what right did he have to just decide without telling anyone he was done and giving up? why did he get the fucking happy ending???? steve rogers who looked tony in the eyes and said he wasn’t the kind of man to lay on the wire for someone copped out. steve rogers who knows of all the social progress we’ve made decides to go back to a time where he would be forced to accept segregation and extreme gender inequality and rampant, blatant, gross racism of all sorts oh and more war and alkjdalksdhkas NO plus they broke their own time travel rules so like whatever i guess right?? it’s okay if steeb gets his stupid happy ending right? god is it SO MUCH TO ASK FOR JUST ONCE TO HAVE A GOOD CHARACTERIZATION OFCAP???? it’s not your fault cevans honey you’re doing amazing your directors just have no fucking idea 

tony

frankly this has been amongst rdj’s best performances of tony. i’m still partial to a lot of his acting in the iron man movies BUT this was FANTASTIC. him finally being allowed to absolutely go off on steve was fucking delicious and everything i was waiting for. let it all out tony baby. buuuuut we should have also had something more. i know my fellow tony stans typically don’t believe it but tony was wrong in civil war too. surprise they both fucking were. ANYWAY. i was waiting for an honest apology between them both. after everything they just went through, NONE of the petty bullshit they went through before matters at all. and yet the closest thing we get is tony just being like “turns out i don’t like to hold grudges” or what the fuck ever. why is it so hard just to make one of them say i’m sorry, the other say i’m sorry, admit it was a bunch of BULLSHIT hug it out and then go forward???? ugh. their choice to make tony suddenly care about his dad and be happy to see him???? disgusting. they made it canon that howard was an abuser, neglectful, cold, and hateful. it’s been a BIG DEAL how tony has struggled with the relationship to his dad because of how shitty the man was to him. and then they do tHAT? fuuuuCK that!!!! i’m not saying tony isn’t allowed to forgive howard. thats fine and expected tbh. but they pushed it way too far. the tony stark we’ve known for the last decade would never get all giddy and happy to see him and hug him and fucking thank him??? what the fuckk?? god that was gross. you know what we should have gotten? what tony deserved more than howard fucking stark? MARIA STARK!! and then, of course, my main issue. they fucking killed him. which only tells us, the audience and fans that no matter what you suffer and sacrifice that your only way to redemption is death. jesus fucking christ i am SO angry over this. they killed the two who suffered the fucking most. the two who every single goddamn day worked on being a better person. nat and tony both deserved so much better than waht they got. how the fuck did it make sense to kill tony who now has a fucking CHILD, who still has a future, who FINALLY FOR ONCE IN HIS FUCKING LIFE FOUND A SHRED OF PEACE????? and then let steve just go selfishly galavant through time as he pleases to have the cute happy ending? FUCK that ending. fuck it right up the ass with a huge unlubed cock. steve should have been the one to use the gauntlet. period. he should have been the one to die like that. i would have still fucking cried but you know what?? that would be the most cap thing ever. i wanted a mirror of pre-serum steve jumping on that grenade, but this time grabbing the gauntlet and not hesitating for a split second to snap. but no. they killed tony who left behind a wife who DESERVED MORE THAN HAVING THE MAN SHES LOVED AND SUPPORTED AND MARRIED AND HAS A CHILD WITH RIPPED AWAY FROM HER!!! tony who left behind a daughter too young to really comprehend yet why her daddy isn’t going to be coming back. fuck you russos. the injustice of it is astounding. i’m never going to get over it. you know how they could have killed tony? if they really felt like they needed to? have him grow old and die naturally of old age with pepper in their cute little lakeside house after watching morgan grow into such a strong and brilliant person. but oh. they gave that to steve. right.

stephen

i’ll never complain about having more stephen content but uhhhh i’m gonna complain that we didn’t get more than what we got cause after sitting in the soulworld for five fucking years you canNOT tell me he didn’t get even stronger with time to practice and meditate and work through every iota of information of mystical shit in his head. and yet they sidelined him??? after we’ve SEEN what he’s capable of in IW? just gonna put him on flood control???? something that any of those goddamn sorcerers could have done while he helps wipe the floor with thanos or any of the thousands of enemies? fuuuuuuuuuck that. can you fucking imagine how quickly thanos would have been taken out if it were wanda, carol, and stephen all three against him? jesus. he’s literally amongst the most powerful people but nah, just have him stand over there.

the gay russo

FUCK you for that. i am LIVID about it. yall can’t fucking make valkyrie bi???? or carol????? yall can’t GET AN ACTUAL GAY ACTOR? “ We felt it was important that one of us play him, to ensure the integrity and show it is so important to the filmmakers that one of us is representing that. “ WHAT????????? are you fucking telling me a WOC WHO IS OUT AS BISEXUAL AND WANTS HER CHARACTER TO BE BISEXUAL COULDNT ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF AN LGBT CHARACTER???????????????? “ It is a perfect time, because one of the things that is compelling about the Marvel Universe moving forward is its focus on diversity.”  SEE PREVIOUS COMMENT????? oh my god fuck them forever.

lets make rules for our time travel then break them immediately

idek whats going on in the timeline anymore. they utterly fucked up and BROKE the timeline of 2012 avengers after letting loki get away with the tesseract. which should have cascaded into their future but, well, it didn’t. so i GUESS now we’re just pretending that made a new timeline which makes no goddamn sense but whatever i guess. steve going back to completely fuck with his timeline, or a timeline at least, and having no consequences in the future besides being old. okay. sure??? we can do all that but we can’t fucking get natasha back. right. cool. okay.

anyway i’m sure theres more bugging me but these are the things bothering me most.

and frankly i don’t care if anyone disagrees i’m not arguing or debating any of this. 

[dontcallmecarrie]

I come bearing ENDGAME SPOILERS with my shatterpoints! So, in Endgame the Avengers have to time travel to get the Infinity Stones (cause current Thanos destroyed them). With that, they basically create new time lines in the years 2012 and '14. One shatterpoint idea is through some accident(?) with the machine they also land in 1 or both of TWIFFON or NV 'verses. They (the travelers) try to complete the mission within the 'verses with more problems than expected. JARVIS anyone? *evil laugh* p/1.

p/2 TWIFFON and/or NV Tony go to Canon Tony’s ‘verse potentially with backup (Legion or not) either just after Thanos snaps his fingers with Inf. Stones (Inf. War), before everyone does the time travel (and meets little Morgan, Canon Tony’s daughter via Pepper) or as 2014 Thanos travels forward in time to present and now everyone is confused but everyone destroys Thanos and Tony does not have to sacrifice himself and die to save the universe. Fun times after.

p/3 Kinda goes of the previous part. Tony & Legion or NV Maria w/ Tony come through and decimate Thanos and army hilariously easily or just in really weird ways. This is supposed to be a crack story. Afterwards the Tonys both trade stories about all the necessary and not necessary stuff. There is no death except for Thanos and flunkies. The End.

…welp, suddenly I’m very glad I’ve been lowkey noping out of canon because what. Aren’t Infinity Stones supposed to be these super powerful things that alter the fabric of reality? How the heck does Thanos— 

You know what? Never mind, guess I’ll find out later. But wow, am I so glad I’m throwing canon out the window for TWiFFON after Siberia because what even.

As for the latter part of your ask, and the potential AU it’d spawn: even if I have yet to see the movie [and won’t until after I graduate at this rate, probably], I think I have an idea of how something like this would go down. [Though, sidenote for nomenclature— for me, shatterpoints are ‘this is where I turned right at this point in the story, this is how it would’ve looked like if I had turned left’ things.]

under the cut, because I get rambly.

Here’s the thing: remember how I outlined TWiFFON a long while back, and am not planning on changing the big things anytime soon? Yeah, that’s going to be a factor. Because my take on Thanos had me imagining him as this faceless, terrifying shadowy Destroyer of Worlds with a never-ending legion of Chitauri at his disposal, and courted Death with the ashes of the planets he decimated.

So this is the Thanos that TWiFFON!Tony remembers dealing with.

[and it’s also why there’s rumors of a ‘Terran Empire’ already making rounds so soon afterwards, because the rest of the galaxy is just kinda collectively going ‘WTF what do you mean this backwater dirtball took down the goddamn Mad Titan’— but that’s an story for another day]

What I’m saying is, if anyone from canon shows up, there would be just a metric buttload of miscommunication going on, especially at first. Even more so if anyone from Team Cap shows up.

Granted, by now, everyone in TWiFFON’s just kinda kicking back and relaxing [except for Tony, who’s never, ever going to live this down]. Plus, with everything else they’ve dealt with, it’d take a lot to faze them.

So when portals start showing up, they take it in stride.

And when the shattered remnants of the team that was supposed to defend the world tumble through, Tony’s more than happy to help compare notes— and that’s when the whole ‘huh, looks like your Infinity Stones don’t work the way ours do, ours are six cosmic singularities that’ve been around since like the Big Bang and will probably be still kicking when the heat death of the universe rolls around’ thing comes out.

There’d be metric amounts of shade being thrown around, too. Intentional or not, because while the team in TWiFFON’s still kinda ticked off at Team Cap, they wouldn’t rub anything in to these guys— but there’s always things that slip out. Like, ‘what, you never looked into that tech as an option?’ and ‘so that’s what would’ve happened if I had just done this’ and seeing the could-have-beens would…not be particularly pleasant to the canon crew, I think. 

Even more so, when they get wind of who the TWiFFON team had to fight. And Tony in particular would be in a very specific sort of hell, hearing JARVIS and finding out just how important his AI were to saving the day […sure, apparently they also had latent Skynet and HAL tendencies, but still]. 

[also, this is also definitely the AU where JARVIS would stealthily upload a copy of himself to canon!Tony somehow, because obviously, nobody’s been taking good care of his creator and clearly this was a situation that needed remedying—but that’s a headache for another time]

Wait, no— Tony’s not the only one who’s in hell. Everyone who ever gave Tony a hard time about Ultron is also seeing this, and it’s a bizarre mix of vindication and the worst sort of agony to find out that Tony’s plan would have worked. 

That’s only if the canon crew showed up after the Final Battle arc, though. If there’s time travel mixed into this, things either wouldn’t be very different [again, canon only really going out the window after Siberia— anything before AoU would be fair game].

As for how anything would look like in LTTR…

First things first, yep, it’s now definitely a cracky AU. It was supposed to be an angsty character backstory thing, I’m still not quite sure where the plot came from. Maria Stark nee Carbonell and her son are both terrifying, terrifying people, and [kinda spoilery, but] Thanos is going to kinda get oneshotted/ ‘taken care of’ by the Woman From Italy or some other faceless Elder God from Night Vale’s inky depths. 

[again, bear in mind the mental image I have of Thanos, prior to watching Infinity War/Endgame/etc]

…but you know what could very possibly happen, in one timeline? 

After recovering from the car accident, Maria Stark has been just traveling through time and space, trying to find her home dimension with Bucky in tow. 

…it’s a work in progress. But Maria refuses to give up until they’re back home, and Bucky’s tagging along because why not. Also because she saved him and she’s helping him get a handle on some of the powers he may or may not have ended up getting from the ‘forced to be the embodiment of Desert Bluffs’ thing, there’s that, too.

They’re two powerful and rather chaotic entities, and typically don’t try to meddle too much because, again, they just want to go home, but.

When they tumble out of a portal to see the Avengers desperately trying to fight Thanos, they would most definitely step in, and that’s the story of how a budding eldritch abomination just kinda shows up to oneshot their Big Bad, wave at Iron Man, and leave, with only a dead body as proof that they were ever there.

Dr. Strange would get a migraine, and, upon further investigation, look at Tony very oddly for several months afterwards. But hey, happily ever after, since Thanos doesn’t have the chance to even think about snapping his fingers.

Oh—there’s another thing about Maria Stark: she’s very, very big on family, and will raise hell in their defense. [gee I wonder who Tony takes after more] 

also, if it helps any for the mental image on how she is about family: picture How it Should Have Ended’s Darth Vader whenever there’s so much as a hint that he could be a father. Just change the gender, and you’ve pretty much got Maria.

What this also means, however, is that her reactions can go a bit…overboard, at times. 

Such as the discovery that apparently, in one timeline, she has a granddaughter? 

Well. 

Let’s just say it does not go well for Thanos, in that particular reality.

.

again, have yet to see Infinity War, or Endgame. I probably botched something, but this is how a crossover would probably go down in my AUs.

[corellian-smuggler]

Princess Leia’s planet literally blew up and she had to watch.

How do you even process that kind of loss? In a split second she lost her entire family, her home, her culture, her language, her history, every single person she’d ever met, every place she’d ever been.

Imagine if Earth was destroyed, and you spent the rest of your life displaced. Imagine your childhood. Now imagine that every single place you ever went as a child—the beach where you went with your family, the playground you loved, the toys that you played with, the shows that you watched, your elementary school, your favorite candy bar—imagine that all of that was just lost forever, and not only is it lost forever, but you spend your whole life surrounded by people from other planets who wouldn’t even know what you were talking about if you mentioned those things to them. Imagine if not only were Earth to be destroyed but if also almost every single person from the earth was gone too—hardly anyone, if anyone at all—left in the whole universe to preserve the history of the Earth, from the dinosaurs to Ancient Rome to the moon landing. No one but you who knew what Christmas was. Literally your whole world just gone.

Now imagine if you felt responsible for it—if the world was blown up because you were trying to free it from tyrannical control. Imagine if you got caught being a “traitor” because you were trying to help your planet and every person in the galaxy, and because of YOU they blew up the earth. Or because YOU named a planet that was “too remote” when they asked you for an alternative.

I just. It’s glossed over in the movies, but how do you even begin to cope with that? With just such utter desolation and loss and grief and guilt? Have you ever lost someone you love—a grandparent or sibling or even a pet—and dreamt about them for weeks after the fact, hoping it’s all just a terrible nightmare—that you’ll wake up and they’ll still be there? Have you ever felt that terrible, surreal anguish of just wishing you could go back in time, fix it, get them back, make it as before?? Like your brain can’t process or accept it??? Can you imagine that on the scale of losing your entire planet???

I can’t. It’s just so awful and unfair. And there’s still people who try to justify the actions of the Empire. It just is beyond comprehension to me.

But the thing was that this was horrible and unspeakable but in the end Leia took down the Empire, won the war, freed the galaxy so that Alderaan wasn’t lost in vain, and she found healing and refuge and happiness and belonging in Han and Luke and Chewie. She suffered to such a degree that it’s sickening to even think about, but she got a happy ending.

Except for now, that her own son evidently grew up and willingly JOINED the remnants of the regime that destroyed her planet and actively participated in the destruction of even MORE planets himself. How perverse and painful and twisted—how much that must have hurt her. And apparently her husband left her, and the government that SHE helped create and which wouldn’t exist if SHE hadn’t defeated the Empire doesn’t take her seriously, and her brother left her to go hide on an island when she needed him. She was in danger and fighting a war all by herself, DESPERATE to get her brother back, and Han knew it and he wouldn’t even go to her when he HAD the map to Luke. Luke wouldn’t even go to her when she was begging for his help. Her own son MURDERED her husband in cold blood, and then to top it off her brother couldn’t even get his ass off exile island to go help her when he learned of this. All that pain, and abandonment, and betrayal.

It just disgusts me. This is a character who had to watch her entire planet be obliterated, who fought for YEARS in a war and risked her own life for every citizen in the galaxy, she was tortured and interrogated and had to watch the love of her life be tortured and interrogated, and then she had to watch as before her eyes the same man that made her watch Alderaan be blown up FROZE him in a slab of metal and sent him to his death.

Leia went through so terribly much—way more than I think some people even pause to consider—and then decades after the fact they decide to heap even more misery onto her? They think it’s acceptable, after everything she went through in the OT, to strip away the happy ending they gave her and bury her in such insurmountable, irrevocable suffering? They thought it was in the spirit of Star Wars—“protecting Star Wars”—to make her watch her own child grow up into a monster, to have that fact tear her husband away from her, to make every single person that was supposed to love her and stand by her leave her side—even the ENTIRE galaxy she’s saved countless times, who wouldn’t go to her aid or respond to her personal distress signal. They had to take away EVERYTHING from her until she had NOTHING, and then they had to tell the audience that she MEANT nothing, either—that she couldn’t even get the rest of the galaxy to stand up beside her or care enough to help her.

But no, we’re supposed to laud this plot!!! It’s so feminist!!! After all, she’s a GENERAL now and she never stopped fighting!!

Forgive me if I don’t see the appeal in a story that completely decimated a female character that has meant so much to women and to the world as a whole for decades. Forgive me if I don’t feel that inflicting such inhuman and endless pain and suffering upon her for the sake of propping up the villain should be celebrated.

It makes me sick.

[disneykathy]

DISNEY WORLD

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

This is the other park I get lost in. I’ve been there a dozen times or more but it still feels like the Moving Island in “Lost”: “Wasn’t Africa to the left of Dinoland? How can I be in Asia? Where’s the damn big tree?? I can’t see the tree!!”

Never fear...when you first enter, you have no choice but to walk straight to the first “land” of this park: Discovery island:

Directly in front of you will be the weenie for this park: The Tree Of Life! It’s huge!

No...it’s not real! C’mon, sane up.

The “tree” is a 145 foot high sculpture of an African Baobab tree. Wander around the tree, under passages and through the Discovery Island Trails. Besides seeing some interesting real-life animals, you’ll see that the “Tree of Life” aka the “BFT”, (use your imagination), has 135 detailed animal carvings in its wood. They are amazing. Please take time to explore. You just got here-you can still feel your feet.

Under the BFT, in its roots, is a theater. This is where you will find the attraction: “It’s Tough to be a Bug”.

If you have a fear of bugs, take heed: although no real insects are involved in this production, it does evoke creepy crawly bugginess. The waiting area is an underground lair with the constant sound of chirping and buzzing. And the show does evoke a few fun special effects that make most of us laugh, but, if you are creepa-phobic, these effects may shoot you right through the wall. Just sayin’.

The show is a 3D movie with characters from “A Bugs Life” who will introduce you to the life of bugs and their importance in our little Earth lives. It’s fun. You can sit. It’s air-conditioned (actually TOO air conditioned).

And for those with a phobia, really, you’ll be fine... (spiders, roaches and bees, oh my!!!).

If you stay in the Animal Kingdom until dark, come back to Discovery Island and stand in front of the BFT. Once it’s dark, they do a new projection like show on the tree that is stunning! I had no idea they did this the last time I was there, and just happened to be passing... I was like “what the hell goes on with that tree?? There were all flashy lights coming out of its limbs- I thought I was having a stroke!

Pandora-The World of Avatar:

It’s beautiful! This newest area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is gorgeous! If you’ve seen the movie Avatar, you’ll be completely amazed at how they captured the topography and flora of Pandora. If you haven’t seen the film, you’ll be confused. Just go with it.

Avatar Flight of Passage

If you didn’t fast pass this ride, enjoy your day standing in line.

I’d love to say “it’s worth it”. It’s not. Nothing is worth waiting in line for 4 hours. Nothing. If Elvis and John Lennon cane back from the dead to jam with Billy Joel, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen, I wouldn’t wait in line 4 hours.

However, it’s a great ride. This is a 3D flight simulator taking you on your Banshee and swooping over landscapes of Pandora. It’s only 5 minutes but it’s a memorable 5 minutes!

Warning: there are warning all along the queue area about thinking twice if you’re not healthy. Hey Disney-none of us are. I actually thought of not riding because of the excessive warnings. But...

The truth is, if you can ride “Soarin’” without getting extremely dizzy, having a coronary or bursting an aneurysm, you’ll be swell. Only dif here is, you are riding on something similar to a Star Wars speeder bike? It doesn’t actually go anywhere, just moves to simulate what’s happening on the screen. You are in a crouched position. So, if you have neck or back issues, you may want to rethink.

Na’vi River Journey

Your boat takes you on a river journey through Pandora at night. Again, if you haven’t seen the film, most if the trees, plants, animals, bugs in pandora are bioluminescent-a fancy word meaning that they light up at night in psychedelic colors. So, this ride is like floating through a college dorm room in 1968.

Rivers of light

Again, if you are going to be in Animal Kingdom after dark, you might want to get a fast pass for the Rivers of Light show. There are multiple viewing areas for this light show-one entrance is by The Voyage of the Little Mermaid theater And the other is by Expedition Everest.

I hear it’s a beautiful attraction. I haven’t seen it. It’s like, late, and my feet hurt and I’ve seen enough cool stuff to last me. But, if your still bright and bushy tailed, by all means, go. And let me know how it was.

Africa:

I love the atmosphere here. It really feels like you are visiting an African Village (I say that like I’ve ever been anywhere near a real African Village...). The village is called “Harambe” which I think means “spend money” in Swahili. There are some really interesting shops and food stops here-linger awhile...

Kilimanjaro Safaris:

You should have a fast pass for this excursion. You should also go first thing in the morning; the animals are much more active and visible before the heat of the day. They, as opposed to us, have common sense.

For this ride you will board large Jeeps and a driver will take you over muddy rut filled roads and over creaky rope bridges through a variety of African ecosystems where you will see indigenous animals. It’s a wonderful experience.

Last time I rode, 2 long horned Bongos blocked our way And we had to sit and wait until the mood hit them to wander off. And a Rhino jogged next to the Jeep, a little closer than my comfort zone approved of.

Lions, giraffes, crocs, gnus ...you’ll see them all with a steady stream of comments from the driver. You’ll love it.

Warning: pee first. The ruts are deep and the ride is long.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail/Wild Africa Trek

This section is right next to the Safari. It’s a walk through African nature trail where you can spend some leisure time really experiencing the animals. And you will get a close up view of the gorillas! I have an obsession with Silver Back Gorillas And will spend quite some time in this area photographing them. Unless it’s 90 degrees, then I photograph whatever lurks in the A/C.

Festival of the Lion King

This is a theater production where they re-enact the film with all the songs...it’s full of color and pageantry and people love it but I can sit in my house and watch the movie in the a/c without having to spend a gazillion bucks on a one day pass, so I am not a fan. But what do I know??

Asia: this area is also beautiful and evocative. Lots of photo ops to take advantage of.

Expedition Everest- I hate roller coasters, but I love this one! I love the theming in the queue, I love the speed, the yeti and even the drops. It doesn’t feel as wild as it looks, and it’s a smooth ride. If you can keep your eyes open, there’s lots to see.

Again: there are all the standard warnings. I had no problem and I am a major chicken with a bad stomach...so only you know you. Chose wisely.

Kali River Rapids- the signs read “You will get wet”. They should read “You will get soaked to your undies!”.

Kali River Rapids is a wild rapids ride that takes you down a raging Indian River. The theming revolves around an illegal mining/logging camp that you will come upon, showing the decimation of the forest.

You won’t notice this at all because you’ll be praying that the raft turns in your favor and drowns the guy across from you instead. I have ridden this a few times and have never not gotten soaked.

It’s a fun ride and it feels great to get wet in the heat of the day. However, it doesn’t feel great to still be squishing in your jeans 2 hours later or freezing while eating lunch in the A/C! So... don’t wear denim jeans, or, better yet, wear your poncho!

Maharajah Jungle Trek- this is similar to the wild Africa Trek, but with Asian animals-duh. The tigers are the Star of this walking tour and you’ll see them up close and personal. The theming of this Trek is lovely-you’re in an ancient ruin of a Hindi temple.

Up! A Great Bird Adventure:

This is a wild bird show like any other bird show you’ve ever seen except for two things:

1-it stars characters from the movie “Up”

2- it’s outside in Florida so, even though the partial roof keeps you out if direct sun and there are a few large fans, you will still be hot. Unless you go on a cool day, I’d say you can skip this and not live your life in regret.

Dinoland: -

The theming here is just...weird. When it first opened it had a sort of Paleontological bent with fossil beds and some Dino bone exhibits. Then Disney realized that people on vacation don’t care bout science, so they changed the theming to...

Weirder. Now the idea is: this is one of those tacky roadside attractions you’d find on Route 66 in the 50s or 60s. Run by “Chester and Hester”, this two bit Dino-Rama themed low rent stop over features two old fashioned carnival rides - the Primeval Whirl and the Triceratops Spin. The first ride being a small roller coaster and the second is the Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride with triceratops (triceratops’? Triceratopses?). There are also carnival games and a tacky roadside shop and restaurant. Unless you are with desperate little ones, I’d walk through to pick up the atmosphere and Keep walking.

The real attraction here is Dinosaur!- the ride. This is a dark ride in an enhanced motion vehicle through the Cretaceous period to capture a Dino...And time is of the essence because you have to find said Dino before the great extinction comet hits!

This is a fun trip with lots of bumps, quick turns and jolts..with a few true honest thrills. It is a not to be missed e-ticket ride.

I just rode it and came away unbroken. But, if you have back or neck issues I’d think about skipping it. And, again, use the facilities first.

The Boneyard, which you should save til the end of the visit, is a play area for the kiddies: there are bones to dig up, slides, ropes and climbs and all kinds of stuff to work out any energy they’ve stored up. (You want them to sleep tonight, right?). There are only a few sitting spots for parents/grandparents though. I guess Disney thought we’d be running around sharing joy with our precious darlings. They guessed wrong. They need more seats. And wine.

Well, if you followed my order... and there’s no reason you needed to... you’re done with Disney World!!! Now go back to your room and relax...cuz tomorrow you’re probably spending the day at Universal Studios! ThenThe World of Harry Potter...then Sea World...And Legoland...then of course you’ll have to take the fam to the beach... maybe Clearwater... then you might as well spend a day at Busch Gardens...wait!

You didn’t tour Kennedy Space Center??

[terselylove]

30 Weird Careers You Never Knew Existed That Might Help You Find Your Calling

1. I work in QC (Quality Control) for media.

In one company they occasionally paid me to watch porn to make sure it was in sync and in good quality for video on demand distribution.

In another company I spent years watching movies before release in secure theater-like rooms, to make sure the files are ready for distribution (subtitles and audio in sync, no picture corruptions, stuff like that). I always got to watch the biggest movies of the year in a giant screen weeks before they were released (sometimes months!).

I got the job by going to film school.

2. I spend about 80% of my day designing those large overhead signs you see on the highway.

3. I design water parks. I went to college for Graphic Design and Advertising. In my last year I had to do an internship, so I took one at an aquatic engineering firm to help organize photos. 10 years later I am a project manager and create resort deck and water park programs.

4. My boyfriend is a high rise window cleaner. There are only 4 in our city. He loves his job! Sometimes when he is working, I will go to the city to the building he is cleaning and look up at him on the street. So cute.

5. I used to work on a lavender farm! It’s totally unrelated to my field of study and incredibly difficult in terms of manual labor, but man was it a beautiful place. I tended to the plants, took care of goats, and did processing for the herbs and honey. My grandparents are farmers and so I grew up with mediocre knowledge of field work and beekeeping and when a friend’s mom decided to start a business centered around lavender she asked me to help out for the summer.

6. You know when you’re watching a sports program and you see the little pop-graphic in the corner (ie. a baseball players stats, or an advertisement for easy-mac, or “stay tuned for Saved By the Bell @ 9!”)? Yeah. That was me.

7. I work in a lab where I raise moths! I got it by telling my lab partner that I love bugs and he hooked me up.

8. I’m a chyron operator. I trigger motion graphics on live TV. I was an art student and also was in stage crew in high school. These things got me jobs backstage in theater, which got me a job in TV doing normal stuff like cameraman and stuff like that. Since I was an art major I asked if I could do graphics and they let me on the weekends, and my specialty eventually turned to the chyron which ingests the graphics that artists make and plays them back through the switcher that controls the news broadcast. It’s not technically an art position but at my job specifically I could make the graphics in after effects and photoshop during the day (if I have a computer free) and in the afternoon I play the chyron. Usually you are one or the other, because chyron operators don’t need art skills, it’s just another tech job like audio operator or camera operator or stage manager or whatever. These kinds of jobs are getting rarer because they are being automated. But since I’m also an artist I get to keep my job because if someone leaves I can take their job.

9. I used to be a hand model.

Apparently I have really really good looking hands. Although they look completely normal to me.

People were always asking me how I got into it so it was fun to bullshit people I was “discovered” on the street, now I moisturize 15 times a day and sleep with my hands in plastic bags….

The money was great but I’d have to spend long days on set being careful not to wreck my manicure. (Which they paid for of course! Also paid for the time it took to get the manicure.)

Mostly did TV commercials.

Now I tell people at parties I’m a retired international hand model but gave up show business for the much more worthwhile and rewarding career of teaching kids to read….

10. I’m a Hostage Survival Trainer.

I was working in international development within IT, and was asked to go and sort out the finance system in Iraq back in 2007. The ministry I was working in got attacked by a militia and myself along with my 4 guards got captured.

Over time the guards were killed and I got released in an exchange deal after being held for over 2.5 years.

11. I spent a year on a team reclassifying the Duke University Library system from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress. Had to learn like four different alphabets just to label them properly.

12. Official court stenographer. I type everything everyone says in court. I was told about it in high school and thought it sounded cool so I went for it. Took 5 1/2 years in college, but I’m nationally certified to type 260 WPM and regularly push above 300 WPM in court.

13. Cameraman for Live PD. Went to film school to make movies then slowly worked through Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Boston’s Finest, and Nightwatch. Found out I have a perfect blend of art and athleticism that can be hard to find.

14. I make whiskey. It took a shit load of time, luck, skill and perseverance to get where I am.

15. Stagehand. I set up everything from huge concerts and Broadway shows to small private events and interviews. It’s a wonderful job and I love the people I work with.

16. I was a puppeteer for many years and I actually got that job from an ad in the classifieds. It cracks me up that there is a scene in Being John Malkovich where he tries to find “puppeteer” in the classifieds and fails.

17. I have been an online Community Manager for over 20 years.

I started in video games and moved into technology companies. I’ve worked on everything from Star Wars to telecommunications networking equipment and software that help companies move data fast.

It started as a hobby. I was a web developer so very fluent with the web. Started a fan site and grew up it large. Moved on to volunteer for another game company who eventually hired me full time.

18. My parents are escape artists and escape consultants. My dad started as a magician doing birthday parties as a teen, then got really into escapes, then became the #1 guy designing and consulting on escapes for famous top magicians.

19. I have a job tracking rodents in restaurants. I set up cameras, movement sensors, IR sensors and other gear, and get an idea of the problem and how to fix it.

20. I used to cut pictures of weewees and hohas off packaging of adult toys. All day every day. I got the job by being able to pass a drug test.

21. I mix fire retardant for fighting wildfires. A lot of people know that airplanes drop retardant on fires but don’t think about the millions of dollars of infrastructure that is behind that operation. Everyone who works at my base started by working at the local ski resort. It’s a good way to earn enough money in the summer to coast all winter so we keep the jobs among fellow ski bums.

22. In the summer I guard and clean the toilet units (not the toilets) for festivals. I got the job trying to find a cheap way to go to the big festivals and this organization was looking for volunteers.

So all I have to do is stand in front of the units, make sure the ground stays clean, everyone had toilet paper and clear a block of units so the cleaning team can do their job.

Another part of the job is making sure no one dies or passes out in such a unit. You can’t imagine how many drunk (often naked) people we need to get out of these units and escort them to the First Aid.

23. I’m a potter. I used to be the manager for a museum art school, and began taking classes there years ago. Eventually transitioned into being a full time potter and pottery teacher.

24. I work as an Air Traffic Controller. Not weird but not many of us around.

I pretty much fell into it after passing an aptitude and it’s just been swell since.

Albeit, the classic phrase from strangers: isn’t that the job with the most suicides?

It might be, but I don’t know anyone. It’s actually super chill and rewarding when you get it right. (We always try get it right, but when you get it super right you’re dead pleased.)

25. I’m a welder. But what I do isn’t very common. I build Virginia Class Submarines.

26. Water Quality testing. I go around and collect samples for various testing to ensure the water meets the state standards. I got lucky and met someone who was volunteering at my previous job and she told me to apply. Was not the direction I saw my career going but it was definitely worth it.

27. I cleaned grills for super rich people in Palm Beach. Even got to clean Michael Jordan’s at one point. And it was recommended to me from a friend who was in sobriety with me after I got clean.

28. I’m a House Manager for a family of four, basically I’m a female butler. I’ve worked for them for 14 years starting as the kid’s Nanny, they’re my second family pretty much! I organize trades people, holidays, birthdays, daily meals, dinner parties, housekeeping, the list goes on… It’s challenging at times but keeps me on my toes and I enjoy that.

29. Concrete petrographer. I just started this month. I studied geology in college and now my job is to look at concrete using petrographic methods I learned at school and conduct ASTM tests to determine quality of concrete. Very interesting work because concrete is engineered rock and there’s A LOT more to it than you think.

30. I work in a clinical lab where I get to play with baby sweat for a bit of my day. We are testing for chloride level. Increased chloride in sweat is one of the diagnostic markers for cystic fibrosis. I am a clinical laboratory scientist. Not all clinical labs perform this test but I am lucky enough to work at a lab where we do a couple interesting low volume tests.

[stillinaincrad]

Found this online and thought it’d be fun. Won’t tag others, but would love to see reposts with your answers!

1. Who is your favorite male anime character? it’s always a toss-up but for today will say Spike Spiegel

2. Who is your favorite female character? Lucy, Elfen Lied

3. What is your favorite anime soundtrack? Soul Eater

4. What is your favorite anime opening + animation? I’ve always thought the OP to Star Driver was really great - the art and graphic design is totally unique and the lyrics to the song (Gravity 0 - Aqua Timez) fit the show SO WELL, but the opening was made to fit the song, too. I still think it’s fantastic. 

5. What is your favorite anime ending song + animation? Soul Eater again, what everybody calls the “3rd ending” (Bakusou Yumeuta - Diggy Mo). Soul Eater’s soundtrack has everything from quirky indie to old school punk, but this hip-hopish track just fit the attitudes of the characters and their fighting styles perfectly. (Seki-kun is a very, very close second!)

6. What is your favorite anime scene? Yeah, right. Like I could answer that one.

7. If you could meet an anime character who would it be? I wish I could answer this seriously, but every time I think about a 2D character coming into this world, all I can picture is Kreiger’s Mitsuko Miyazumi and it makes me laugh uncontrollably.

8. What anime character is most similar to you in terms of personality? I usually say Ichika Orimura, just because he’s full of good intention but really dense when it comes to women and misses signals all the time. I should probably come up with a new line of thought, though, because that’s not exactly a flattering response lol

9. What is your favorite thing about anime? The imagination, the creativity, the fact that it’s drawn and anything at all is possible without a ginormous budget, so you get all these original stories colored well outside the lines of convention and safety standards that the entertainment industry is bound by.

10. What is your least favorite thing about anime? It took me a while to get used to the fanservice that is prevalent in even the most tame of anime, and there are times when an excess of it contributes to the story, but I have a hard time with it when an anime is overly-ecchi “just because”. It tends to really creep me out.

11. Who are your favorite anime couple? Kazuma and Ayano. They crack me up so much because they are cuckoo for cocoa puffs about each other but are too stubborn to ever admit it.

12. Who is your favorite anime animal? Will have to think about this one and come back to it.

13. What anime would make a good game? Another one have talked about at length, I would kill to see a full-fledged PvP MMORPG of the Fate/Stay series, where you choose which master you want to play as, develop skills and spells, eventually call your servant. The two of you quest together until endgame level, at which point you enter the Holy Grail war against other endgamers. I’d be all over that one.

14. What game would make a good anime? It was a God of War knockoff and they already made a bad movie about it, but always thought Heavenly Sword could be an anime. They’d have to add quite a bit of content to get 12-13 episodes, though.

15. What was the first anime you ever watched? Robotech

16. Do you think you’ll ever stop watching anime? No, but no way I’ll watch nearly as much - I do at some point plan on becoming a real adult again, and don’t expect to have the time I do now.

17. What is your favorite genre of anime? It used to be mecha anime, and I’m still really into it, but the fantasy/adventure series that are set in medieval-esque worlds have gotten the most of my love the last 2-3 years.   .

18. What is your least favorite genre of anime? Horror

19. Are you open about watching anime with people you know? I was when I was younger, but now I think there’s a stigmata that is attached to it because of my age. Like “oh, you’re one of those guys”. Somehow being past like teens/early 20s and still into anime means you’re a creeper who is weird af and probably does bizarre things behind closed doors. I have to get to know someone before more than just a casual conversation about it.

20. Have you ever been to Japan? Yup, lived there for a little while in the Navy

21. What anime was the biggest let down for you? Death Parade. It had all the makings of one of those devastatingly memorable endings that would have rocketed it into history, but instead Chiyuki smiles, Decim says nothing, everybody gets off scot-free, and the show ends. WHAT THE F***.

22. What anime was better then expected? Charlotte. Every time my answer will be Charlotte. That one blew me away the first time.

23. What is the best anime fight scene? This one always comes up, and I never have an answer. There have been a few that made me want to cheer, though lol

24. Who is your anime waifu? Takao, Ars Nova/Arpeggio of Blue Steel, but the idea of a waifu or envisioning yourself in a relationship with an anime character - male or female - is something I’ve never really gotten.

25. What was your favorite video game as a child? Perfect Dark. It sooo needs a reboot

Questions about me

26. Most Embarrassing moment? When I was 13, I passed out during the prayer at a large outdoor service at a country church we were visiting, but fell straight down into my chair so only a few people knew about it. Someone called EMS, but the squad was unavailable, so this 38ft hook and ladder with lights and sirens going pulls in and everybody was like wtf

27a. Can you drive? I’ve driven on three continents

27b. Do you own a car? It barely qualifies as a car, but it is paid for so until I make more than $11/hr it’ll have to do

28. Are you mature? Depends

29. Are you mature? I’m going to be mature here and not make a big deal about asking the same question twice. In a row.

30. Do you prefer cats or dogs? I miss my dog all the time, but have nothing against cats unless they are total assholes.

31. Describe yourself physically? 6′2, dirty blonde/brown hair, not fat but not exactly Ryan Gosling either

32. What would you name your first child? I don’t know, depends on the wife, I guess. Nothing too out there, though - I don’t want a boxer or a stripper for a kid because they got scarred from everyone making fun of their name.

33. What is the worst injury you have ever had? Ruptured L4/L5 in my spine that popped out and pinched my sciatic nerve, then while I was rehabbing that slipped on ice and broke my elbow. NOTHING worked for a while.

34. What is your worse habit? I wall myself off when I need others most. I’m actually really good at it.

35. Do you drink or smoke? I used to, and still do sometimes, but not nearly as often as I used to. It’s just too expensive to go out all the time, and I hate being out of breath from one flight of stairs.

36. Do you have a tattoo? I have 3, want more

37. Are you a morning person or a night person? I wake early every morning for work, so even on my days off I’m awake at like 6:30 now. Being an adult can really suck sometimes lol

38. Have you ever slept past midday? Not for a long time, but sure

39. Do you regret anything? Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t?

40. Can you count the number of friends you have on one hand? Yes. I know lots of people and am friendly with them, but not what I’d call a friend.

41. Do you wear glasses? No

42. Are you a picky eater? I loathe onions and the texture of stewed tomatoes will make me hurl, but just about everything else works.

43. Would you die for someone? Depends on the person and situation

44. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Telekinesis, maybe? Not sure.

45. Do you believe in the supernatural? Not really. There’s plenty out there that we don’t understand or know about, though. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t really believe in it.

46. Would you rather be rich or famous? Rich, I couldn’t handle people going through my garbage to see what brand of ice cream I prefer

47. Have you ever committed a crime? Is it a crime if you didn’t get caught? lol

48. Pirates or ninjas? Ninjas, it requires precision, years of training, and incredible athleticism. Pirating requires you drink a lot and rob people.

49. Does someone have a crush on you? Would be nice to find out that I did, but would kind of suck for them

50. Are you in a relationship? I’m not really in relationship mode right now

[frogbutane57-blog]

CBR

With ten years of history and nearly two dozen movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has held the attention of its fans steadfastly. Few other cinematic series have lasted as long or had as immediate of an impact on culture and filmmaking. Some of today’s most popular characters, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, were B-list characters at best, with little or no major fan following until their movies were released. Watching the massive increase in popularity for these characters was nothing short of amazing. Suddenly, our favorite characters had the spotlight in a way we’d never imagined!

In the age of the internet, such a major cultural milestone as the MCU is bound to stir up conversation of all kinds, including theories as to the direction of the MCU itself. After every new MCU release, it seems there are unanswered questions, new characters, and limitless possibilities for the future. It doesn’t take long to find lists of theories about what might happen in Avengers 4 and beyond, and what’s fascinating is the possibility that any of those theories may be spot on. Seriously, it’s not that far-fetched. Just take a look at some of the things that have happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Some of the biggest events started as nothing more than unfounded fan theories. From the roots of some of our favorite heroes to the fates of some of Marvel’s most classic villains, here are just 20 of the fan theories out there that turned out to be exactly right.

RED SKULL SURVIVED

One of the earliest movies in the MCU, Captain America: The First Avenger introduced his infamous nemesis, the Red Skull, to the MCU. As the leader of Hydra, the Red Skull was said to be even more evil than anything we’ve seen before, and was planning the complete takeover of the free world and the regime he represented. At the end of the film, he held the Cosmic Cube, and was seemingly destroyed.

However, many fans theorized that the Cosmic Cube was more than meets the eye —  it was the Space Stone. As such, it had likely teleported the Red Skull somewhere else in the universe. Viewers of Avengers: Infinity War would find this theory to become reality when the character returned as an immortal guardian of the Soul Stone.

SPIDER-MAN JOINING THE MCU

One of the other theories that Captain America: Civil War’s announcement caused was that Spider-Man would also be pulled into the MCU somehow. This seemed incredibly unlikely as Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man, and had recently suffered losses from the massive flop that Amazing Spider-Man 2 ended up being. But still, Spider-Man played a fairly large role in the Civil War comic event, so fans expected to see him show up.

And show up, he did. Marvel and Sony struck a deal to share the character, and allow Marvel some creative input on Spider-Man’s solo movies. In return, Marvel got to use Spider-Man in any Avengers movies they wanted. He made his first MCU appearance in Captain America: Civil War and continued on in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and will appear again in Avengers 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

STAN LEE IS A WATCHER

For a while, Stan Lee’s cameos were nothing more than fun little jokes within each of the Marvel movies. He’d pop up in any movie, no matter which studio was making it. He’s the only thing that unites all of the various Marvel franchises over the years. Fans came to theorize that his omnipresence across the different films meant that there may be more to the character than meets the eye — he could be a Watcher, one of the aliens who is charged with witnessing the important events that occur throughout history.

This theory came true in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, where we see Stan Lee filling in the Watchers on several of the events that he’s seen. Whether he’s a Watcher, a friend of the Watchers, or something else entirely is still up for debate, but nonetheless, fans were a lot closer than they might have expected.

THE EYE OF AGAMOTTO IS AN INFINITY STONE

It’s hard to believe that something that is addressed so directly was originally just a fan theory, but by the time Doctor Strange had been announced, fans were searching for Infinity Stones harder than Thanos. Several had already been confirmed — the Reality Stone in Thor: The Dark World, the Space Stone (or Tesseract) in The Avengers, the Mind Stone in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fans felt certain another Infinity Stone was coming in the first film featuring the Sorcerer Supreme. With the evidence of a few hints of the time-based powers of the Eye of Aggamotto, fans assumed that the stone would be the Time Stone. They were totally right, as the fact that it was the fabled Time Stone was openly stated in the movie.

THOR BECOMES KING

It had been teased since Thor first hit theaters that Thor was destined to become the king of Asgard. Throughout the first movie, he struggled to prove himself worthy, during The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World, he learned that he didn’t really want to be a king. So, when time came for the third movie, fans assumed that somehow Odin would pass away and Thor would be forced to take the throne he never wanted.

The events of Thor: Ragnarok, while being Thor’s most fun movie, were also some of the darkest and most troubling for the God of Thunder. He lost an eye, his hair, his father, and his home. Somehow, he was expected to still go on and lead his people forward. Fans were proven right, and then some.

PETER PARKER IN IRON MAN 2

In Iron Man 2, there is a kid in an Iron Man mask who stands up to one of Whiplash’s drones with a toy Iron Man hand blaster and Iron Man lands behind him, blasts the drone and says, “Good job, kid!” Once it was announced that Spider-Man would be joining the MCU, fans liked the idea that this kid was a young Peter Parker.

Tom Holland likes the idea, and Kevin Feige has more of less agreed that it’s a nice notion, so it’s generally accepted that this may as well be the case. It adds a little more history between Peter and Tony — imagine Peter seeing Tony in his living room as a 16-year old after having been rescued by him years earlier. It makes that moment, and their relationship, a heck of a lot more meaningful.

SKYE IS QUAKE

Skye is the main protagonist of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. As the audience’s point-of-view character, she learns about the MCU and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s role as we do, and so, as we learned more about her, fans started to piece together just who she might be. Certain character details — that she was an Agent and that she was an orphan — alongside certain plot elements, like the introduction of Mr. Hyde and the Inhumans, all pointed to the idea that Skye would ultimately be revealed as Quake, an Inhuman from the comics.

As those who watch the show know, this is exactly how events played out. Though the Inhumans haven’t played a very large role in the greater MCU as a whole, they’ve had their best representation in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

VISION’S FATE

Considering Vision had an Infinity Stone implanted in his forehead, this one was kind of a no-brainer. Fans assumed that, for Thanos to succeed in his quest to gain the Infinity Stones and destroy half of all life in the universe, he’d need to take it from Vision, and he’d presumably do so by force.

Yes, fans missed some of the finer plot details, like that the Avengers would try to remove it without destroying Vision, or that Wanda would destroy the Mind Stone and end Vision, only for Thanos to turn back time and get the Mind Stone anyway. But still, at the end of the day, fans were absolutely right, and Thanos decimated Vision to take the Mind Stone, the last of the six he needed.

VALKYRIE’S HISTORY

In the comics, Valkyrie is your standard pale, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Norse woman. When Thor: Ragnarok introduced the MCU’s Valkyrie, she was portrayed by Tessa Thompson, who didn’t match the look at all. Fans theorized that perhaps this wasn’t the Valkyrie from the comics, whose name was Brunhilde, but another Valkyrie entirely. Furthermore, they theorized that the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who lays down her life for Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie may have not only been her lover, but she may have also been Brunhilde.

At least some of this has been confirmed by Tessa Thompson herself, who stated definitively that her character was bisexual. The rest may be coincidental, but it would be a cool homage to the comic version of the character if it were also true.

THE QUANTUM REALM

After Scott Lang had his first brush with the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man, fans knew it was only a matter of time before he’d be back in it. Given that the Quantum Realm exists beyond time and space, it only makes sense that you could travel great distances in both in a seemingly short period. Fans theorized that Ant-Man would get Janet out of the Quantum Realm, but that some characters would become stranded, and this would be how they would survive the infamous “snap.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp proved these theories true, with Janet also confirming that time travel was possible in the Quantum Realm. Now fans theorize that the Quantum Realm’s time travel capabilities will be a major factor in the upcoming Avengers 4 movie.

GAMORA’S END

In the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos stops at nothing to get and keep the Infinity Gems, including disposing Gamora, whose soul is absorbed into the Soul Gem by Adam Warlock. Thus, fans figured that Gamora would meet the same fate in Avengers: Infinity War. While they didn’t know the exact details, fans figured that Thanos would somehow end his adopted daughter.

And of course, he did, sacrificing her so he could gain the Soul Stone. However, this was perhaps his only moment where he showed he was capable of some kind of love. Though some fans may have guessed that it was coming, no one wanted to have guessed right. Still, if her soul is trapped in the Soul Stone, it gives us hope for her and our other favorite heroes.

RAGNAROK

If you know anything about Norse mythology (or Marvel comics), you know that Ragnarok is the end of Asgard and the ultimate destruction of the realm. So, when Thor: Ragnarok was announced, fans assumed that meant ultimate destruction in many ways. It was fair to assume that Asgard would be destroyed in some way, and fans were excited to see it.

Maybe no one quite expected what we got: an ultimate showdown between Surtur and Hela that could only end in the utter annihilation of the home world of Thor and his people. It was tragic, it was astonishing, and it was an epic way to end a rollercoaster ride of a movie. It truly raised the stakes for Marvel in a way that few movies had before, and that was just a taste before Infinity War.

A PLANET HULK MOVIE (SORT OF)

When Hulk decided to fly away at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, some fans noted that he seemed to be staring at the sky as he looked out of the Quinjet’s cockpit. Not long after, it was revealed that he was going to head to space. Fans put two and two together and hoped this meant they could expect to see some kind of adaptation of the famous “Planet Hulk” storyline. This was seemingly impossible, though, considering that the movie distribution rights for a Hulk-based movie belong to Universal Studios, not Marvel.

Still, fans were right and parts of “Planet Hulk” served as inspiration for Thor: Ragnarok. The gladiator scenes were pulled almost directly out of the comic, for example, and the elements of overthrowing a dictatorship are present as well. It’s not a perfect adaptation, but it’s the best we’re going to get for now.

CIVIL WAR

From the get-go, the Avengers were always an uneasy alliance. They argued more than they worked together in the first movie, almost destroying a helicarrier in the act. By the time the second movie came around, the team was already at odds, particularly after they discovered that Tony was the reason their new foe had been created. Fans saw the writing on the wall and figured it was only a matter of time before some kind of superhuman registration act and superhero civil war akin to that of the comics.

When Captain America: Civil War was announced, fans’ assumptions were confirmed. For some fans, this was a dream come true; others felt that the movie version of events didn’t live up to its comic counterpart.

BANNER, THE HULKBUSTER

Sometimes fan theories come from the strangest of places and in this case, Lego toys spoiled some things. There was a Lego set for Avengers: Infinity Warwhich showed Bruce Banner piloting the Hulkbuster gear, so fans assumed he’d be inside it — and hoped for a scene in which the Hulk busted out of the Hulkbuster. It made some sense: the Hulkbuster gear was a lot of fun, but it made fans question why Bruce might not be hulking out at the time- would he and the Hulk be separated somehow?

While we did get Bruce inside the Hulkbuster, we didin’t get the Hulk busting out of it — maybe that will have to wait for Avengers 4. This isn’t the first time that Legos have spoiled Marvel movies, either, as a Lego set showed fans that Ant-Man would turn into Giant-Man in Captain America: Civil War.

LOKI TRIES TO TRICK THANOS

Loki is the MCU’s iconic trickster. He’s constantly double-crossing everyone, from his parents to his brother to his allies — he is on no one’s side but his own. So, when fans saw his eye on the Tesseract in Thor: Ragnarok, they assumed that he’d grab it, and that Thanos would force him to hand it over. Of course, Loki being Loki, fans assumed he’d have a trick or two up his sleeve and try to end Thanos before giving over the Infinity Stone.

The opening scenes of Avengers: Infinity War proved this theory correct rather rapidly. Loki attempted to stab Thanos with a blade he’d had hidden, and his neck was easily broken by the Mad Titan. While we’re supposed to believe this demise is permanent, fans believe that resurrecting Loki will be a part of Avengers 4.

KILGRAVE’S “RETURN”

Jessica Jones on Netflix was a major hit; here was a superhero with her own solo TV show dealing head on with many mature themes. JJ is a complicated character whose morality and sense of heroism is questionable; she’s doing the right thing, but is she doing it for the right reasons? Part of what made her story work so well was how despicable the villain was.

Kilgrave was a character whose depth was performed perfectly by David Tennant, and so fans were eager to see him make some kind of return, and assumed that he would, since his performance was so well-received. He did return in season two of the show, but not as a living character, just as a flashback in Jessica’s own mind. Still, it’s more of a return than many Marvel villains have gotten.

RETURN OF GENERAL ROSS

When Captain America: Civil Warwas announced, all kinds of theories were shared. Some thought the Thunderbolts would be introduced, with General Thunderbolt Ross at the helm and Abomination as the group’s Hulk. Some thought that the Netflix characters would get pulled into the mix. While not all of the theories were true, the idea that Ross would return was a theory that held more weight than the others.

He did, in fact, return, as someone who was pushing for regulating superhumans. He has since reappeared in Avengers: Infinity War, as well. There’s still been no sign of the Thunderbolts, though, or of Ross becoming Red Hulk, as he does in the comics. There’s still plenty of time, though. Who knows what could happen in Phase Four and beyond?

DOCTOR STRANGE ARRIVES

This started as a small tease in what could have been a throwaway line in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In it, it’s offhandedly mentioned that Hydra has been tracking anyone that it deems a threat, including Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, and others. At the time, there had been no previous mention of Stephen Strange, and there would be no talks of a movie for some time, yet, so the idea that he did exist in the universe was new. Fans immediately began talking about an upcoming movie featuring Doctor Strange.

Ultimately, Doctor Strange did get his own movie, and went on to play a small role in Thor: Ragnarok, and a much larger role in Avengers: Infinity War. He should be returning for Avengers 4, and it’s believed that there will be a second Doctor Strange movie, as well.

SOMEONE ELSE PICKS UP THOR’S HAMMER

Thor’s hammer is one of those artifacts that presents an impossible challenge, which makes it impossible to resist. If you are “worthy” of the power, you can lift the hammer. What exactly qualifies one as “worthy” in the hammer’s judgment is anyone’s guess, but up to a certain point, only Thor had proven himself worthy, and so only Thor could lift the hammer. Fans figured it was only a matter of time before someone else would pick it up. Theories abounded as to who, as many characters have lifted the hammer before in the comics. Captain America seemed the most likely candidate.

However, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cap could only wiggle the hammer. It ended up being the Vision who, unaware of the stipulation, lifted the hammer to hand it to Thor. So, fans had the wrong character, but they were right about someone lifting it.

The post Be Our Guess: 20 Wild MCU Fan Theories That Actually Came True appeared first on CBR.

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[puckish-saint]

If I may request a simple but fun idea- How do you think the OW crew sing karaoke? Up to you on how to interpret this, either separately with each character or if they had a group afternoon session to chill after a hard mission.

It’s Fareeha who comes up with theidea, when she looks out over the group after the mission, allsitting by themselves except for her and Jesse.

“Not what you imagined?” Jesseasks, following her gaze from underneath his hat. No, she wants tosay, and neither is working with him. As a young girl she beggedGabriel to let her tag along on a mission, she’d have givenanything just to sit in the aircraft on the way there, promised she’dbe quiet as a mouse. In her head it was all one glorious adventure, afellowship like no other forged in the heat of battle. But thesepeople barely know each other and Jesse, who should remember theglory days, doesn’t make any attempt to befriend them. “It’slike this is just another job,” she says and can’t chase thedisappointment from her voice. Working and living first for the armyand then for Helix Security she’s learned that war isn’t all thatthe movies make it out to be, but Overwatch has always stood for morethan that. It used to be full of ideals, of hope for a tomorrow thatis better than today. But even Jesse, who remembers, whowalked among giants the same as she has, takes his paycheck andleaves at the end of each mission.

“What’d you expect? You gottabelieve in the people if you wanna believe in the cause. And thesefolks,” He waves at Symmetra buried in a magazine on sustainablearchitecture, at Lúcio with headphones in his ears napping thestress away, at Hana texting a friend at home, and Mei who’s tooshy to make the first step. “They don’t know each other.”

It’s a well thought out conclusionfor a man wearing chaps but Fareeha has long since stoppedunderestimating Jesse. He watches and smiles and sees that nothingexcept a paycheck ties these people together. And if that’s whathas to change, Fareeha decides, that is what will change.

Most ‘agents’ of Overwatch, and shebarely can call them such in this state of affairs, don’t live atthe watchpoint. They have their own homes and lives to return to, canbarely be bothered to answer their comms when their help is needed.Apart from Winston only Mei, Reinhardt, Brigitte and Hanzo live here,because they have no other place to go or because they used to liveout of a van smelling of currywurst.

She bullies Winston into helping her gothrough a five year old inventory detailing everything Overwatch leftbehind when its people scattered to the winds. Somewhere between 480bathing suits (A box is missing, Fareeha notes, and Winston admits heneeded them for a project. She decides it’s wisest not to ask.) andan old maypole used for Overwatch’s last cultural festival, shefinds what she’s been looking for.

Brigitte helps to set things up, frompicking the lock to the common room the key to which Winston lost atsome point in his exile of half a decade to impromptu repairs on theelectronics. She likes Brigitte. They share a passion for powerarmour engineering, even in the year 2076 a niche profession, andoften spend their free afternoons comparing notes. She was around inthe old days, apprenticed to the Ironclad guild, but never made itinto the inner circle that Fareeha grew into. Now she’s right inthe thick of it, so far undecided if that is a good thing. She hopesthat with this event she’ll sway her to a favourable opinion.

And then, after facing the newOverwatch’s low budget issues and illegally downloading a selectionof titles, it’s finished.

The team bonding machine. Thefriendship device. Humbling the great and empowering the meek.

If the new Overwatch won’t be friendsby themselves, she’ll make them sing karaoke until they are.

The real challenge, it turns out, isgetting everyone to participate. Fareeha’s the first to write inthe Overwatch team chat in several weeks and that too stings withnostalgia, when she remembers the servers in the old days, full ofgroups for every member. She even remembers the language filter hermother got after Jesse joined and how long it took her to get aroundit (three weeks, after which she learned a plethora of new words thathave come in handy since).

Fareeha A.

Keep your schedules free on the 16thnext month.

Lena, predictably is the first toanswer. She may be the only one as attached to Overwatch as Fareehais.

Tracer Big mission???

No, Fareeha writes, but that attendanceis expected and she’s not taking no for an answer. Apart from Lena,only Mei and Winston acknowledge they read her message at all. Shedidn’t expect more, although she’s still disappointed when shechecks her phone again and finds nothing new. She knows for a factTalon has infiltrated this channel and finds little solace in thefact they must be as frustrated with the lack of participation as sheis. It’s time for a more personal approach.

“I think not.” Hanzo says, alreadyregretting leaving the safety of his room for a quick late nightsnack and slowly backing away through the door. Fareeha has beenlurking in the kitchen for hours waiting for him to emerge. She’snot about to let him off the hook.

“To bond as a team, the whole teammust be present.” Fareeha says, following him down the hallway.

“I am not part of any team.”

“You’re not making any effort tochange that.”“I don’t want to change that,” Hanzo stopsin front of his room, fishing for his access card. “My purpose isto find redemption, not to engage in frivolities with a band ofstrangers. Good night.”He slams the door shut, but if he thinkshe can get away that easy he doesn’t know what she’s prepared todo to complete her mission.

“If you don’t agree I’ll tellGenji you’re giving away the Nepali sweets he makes for you.” sheshouts against the closed door.

He has it open in record time.

“You wouldn’t dare.” he says butthere’s clearly no decency in a woman blackmailing him at two inthe morning. In response she takes out her phone and makes a show ofselecting Genji’s number from her list of contacts.

“Dear Genji,” she says aloudas she types the words. “I thought you might like to know thatyour brother gives away the anarsaa you put so much effort intomaking to anyone who can stomach being complicit in such acold-hearted, cruel-”“Fine, fine! I will attend yoursilly function.” Fareeha grins and puts away the phone.

“16th of next month, 6pm, the commonroom on the third floor. Snacks and drinks are available. Dresscasually.”

The next on her list is easierpersuaded.

“Of course I will come!” Reinhardtsays and promptly provides her with an exhaustive list of titles he’dlike to sing. Fareeha, loving the man like her own grandfather butknowing his taste in music, filters out the more unbearable songs sheoccasionally hears him belt under the shower. While she updates thekaraoke library and soothes her guilty conscience by telling herselfmost of the artists on Reinhardt’s list have been dead close to ahundred years and won’t mind missing a few dollars, she gets answerto a message she sent days ago.

Karaoke???? The text only reads,but it’s to be expected. The sender did so ‘from my MEKA／(˃ᆺ˂)＼'and the location puts her somewhere in Australia, undoubtedly in themech fighting domes in and around Junkertown. This is where D.Vaspends her free time when she’s not training for tournaments orwith her MEKA strike team. Through the attention she gets wherevershe goes Junkertown has received an influx of aid, from treatment forradiation sickness to basic goods like water and food. Fareeharealises more than ever that for many of Overwatch’s new recruitsthe organisation isn’t and never will be their only option to causereal change. As much as she wished it were otherwise for people likeD.Va Overwatch is a side job.

Yes, karaoke, Fareeha writes andlaunches into her pre-written speech, our conflict with Talonstretches the limits of our abilities. In order to use thoseabilities most effectively we need to build a strong unit cohesion-

While she’s still writing D.Va’snext message comes in.

When’s the party?

She’s so surprised she only deleteshalf of what she’s written in her haste to answer.

… abilities in order to usethoseyou’re saying yes?

A shrugging emoji is all she gets forhalf an hour while D.Va launches into another battle against a Junkerbuilt mech she decimates with a lot of flashy and unnecessary move.Although, Fareeha supposes as she watches the livestream, they arenecessary to rake in as many donations as possible. It’s a battletactic, even if the battle is fought in people's minds.

As the fight ends Fareeha can see Hanatexting without looking while she and her mech bow to the audience.

I make my guys do stuff like thatall the time in the MEKA program. New guys always complaining but inthe end they love it. I’ll be there

With six definite okays under her beltFareeha gets a little too optimistic. When she calls Torbjörn sheexpects him to be enthusiastic like Reinhardt and forgets for acrucial moment that he left Overwatch of his own volition.

“No,” he says and just like thather mood shatters. “You’re a good kid, but there’s nothinggetting me back in that boat.”“But ... “

Children arguing in the backgroundbriefly distract Torbjörn who deals out a few choice words inSwedish. He may have been reprimanding them, may have told them ajoke. She can never tell. While her German is passable and herSpanish approaches fluency, her Swedish has always been spotty. Theonly word she knows by heart is godis, because her seven yearold self made sure to learn to ask for sweets in every languagespoken on base.

When Torbjörn returns to the phone shehears in his voice that to him the conversation is already over.Still she owes it to herself to try.

“Reinhardt has been asking if you’llcome. He’d be happy to see you again.”

“Sentimental old lug. You can tellhim I’ll drop by sometime to deliver the new security systemWinston asked for. But don’t expect me to play babysitter for thatmovie night or whatever it is you’re planning.”“Karaoke.”“Yes,that. Too many new influences aren’t good for a man my age, child.Besides, I’m busy with a new project. Well, technically she’s anold project, but either way I can’t leave even if I wanted to. Theymight scrap the poor thing after all.”

He makes up this project purely to endthe discussion, evidenced by his ridiculous excuse that his ‘project’has followed a squirrel up a tree and can’t get down, to end thephone call. Fareeha indulges him, because she respects Torbjörn’sdecision and also because she doesn’t have anything with which toblackmail him. Win some, lose some, and with that mindset she moveson to the next on her list.

“I have sensitive ears.” is Lúcio’shalf-cooked explanation why he really can’t join the team forkaraoke night.

“Suck it up, choir boy, you’recoming.” Fareeha pokes the screen and Lúcio, several thousandmiles away, actually flinches back. It’s no secret she can beintimidating and she milks it for all its worth. If it gets everyonein the same room on karaoke night she will not hesitate to bully themthere.

“Even if I wanted to, I can’t. I’mbusy,” he tries again and lists all the pressing matters he has toattend to. “There’s the tour, and my manager is riding my assabout the new album, I’m so far behind and I need every second tocatch up. Then there is the peace march in Timor Leste, and the RoundSquare conference in the Netherlands. I’m a guest speaker for thegraduating class at the UFRJ and I haven’t even startedwriting that speech-”“You’re free on the 16th.” Fareehainterrupts because it doesn’t look like he’ll be done anytimesoon.

“You have no way of knowing that.”he says, but a hint of uncertainty steals into his voice. She savoursthe moment, lets it breathe like fine wine until she delivers thekilling blow.

“I do, because I talked to your agentand she promised to keep your schedule free.”

His look of betrayal is nothing shortof hilarious.

“You talked to my agent?Behind my back!”

But as much as he grouses andcomplains, the deal has been sealed.

Genji and Zenyatta are in the middle ofa strike to better working conditions for omnics when Fareeha stalksup to them, jet-lagged and wanting nothing more than a hot shower andthree days of uninterrupted sleep. For almost two weeks she’s donenothing but run after every wayward child of the once again fledglingOverwatch and at this point she’ll just be glad when this madnessis over.

“It sounds like a lovely occasion,”Zenyatta says and it might just be her imagination but she swearshe’s subtly trying to push her forward and in front of the cameras.A respected member of the human community seen at a pro-omnic eventwould do them some good. Helix Security doesn’t like their peoplemaking political statements but if it helps karaoke night she’llgive the cameras her best angles. “But I’m afraid I can not joinyou. More pressing matters demand my attention and our work onhuman-omnic relations must not be interrupted.”

She counted on something like this.From what she hears on the news, the people Zenyatta supports areclose to a breakthrough. But she gets a promise out of him to make anappearance the next time she plans something like this and Genji,acting as a silent shadow to Zenyatta, doesn’t need much to bepersuaded to join.

“I always refused partaking in theseevents before,” he says, “and always regretted it. It will be mypleasure to be there.”

Symmetra is less than enthusiasticabout the prospect of spending several hours in the company of peopleshe barely knows and, in some cases, actively dislikes. She switchesbetween talking to Fareeha and guiding her team of architechs ontheir latest project, a vertical farm in the outskirts of Ecatepec.After their recent loss in Brazil Vishkar has directed its attentionto the war torn North and Central America. Fareeha is no stranger tothe places outside Native territory in desperate need of food tosurvive. Surprisingly Symmetra doesn’t argue her lack of time toget out of this endeavour.

“I do not want to,” she simplysays, followed by something shouted in Telugu sounding suspiciouslylike a curse. “Overwatch’s ideals are commendable, but I do notfavour the kind of people it attracts. I will not associate withthem.”

“You like Winston.” Fareeha pointsout, but the truth is, even if she spares some passing sympathy for afellow scientist, Symmetra has no reason and less motivation to makefriends with people who are fundamentally different from her. Theonly person she regularly talks to before and after missions is Lúciobut not in the manner Fareeha tries to encourage with karaoke.

But it gives her an idea.

“No, you know what? I understand,”she says and notes Symmetra’s surprise at her seemingly easyvictory. “Lúcio didn’t like the idea either. He said it’s awaste of time and that he’s much too busy to do some sillyteam-bonding.”

She watches out of the corner of hereyes and counts the seconds. Symmetra can resist the urge to gossipabout Lúcio half a minute.

“Yet more proof how little thisstreet ruffian knows of the world. A strong team can tip any battlein their favour, it is a well known fact.”

“That’s what I told him!” In theback of her mind some mean part of Fareeha rubs its tiny handstogether in manipulative glee. She’ll show them to deny her karaokenight, she’ll show them all. “But he was all like ‘it’s notgoing to work, no one will show up’. I hate to think he may beright-”“He is not.” Symmetra interrupts and looks outacross her half-finished project like a benevolent mother about toleave her children alone for the first time. “I will attend yourfunction and ensure its success. We must not let fools thinkthemselves superior.”

And indeed, they mustn’t.

After her resounding victory withSymmetra, she doesn’t take it too hard when Zarya provides a goodreason not to come, what with the impending doom of her country and awar tipped in the omnics' favour. One more name gets crossed off, butthe next one isn’t as cut and dry.

She sits in her quarters on thewatchpoint, this small place feeling more like home than herapartment in Egypt ever did, and hovers over her mother’s contactin her phone. They talked before, in the days and weeks following herreturn from the dead, but most of these talks have turned intoarguments or cold silence. How could you do this to your owndaughter, Fareeha has asked but every answer her mother gavesounded just as hollow as the condolences she received after herdeath.

Should she invite her? Try and mend thebroken bond between them if she can barely look her in the eye? Evenher father isn’t at that point yet. They have both grieved for hermother, have tried to move on with their lives as best they could.Fareeha remembers waking up in the middle of the night to her fathercrying, trying to stay silent, to appear strong in front of hisdaughter, but breaking down little by little at the loss of the womanhe loved more than life itself.

Fareeha crosses her name off the listwithout calling. Not now. Maybe never.

But her foray into the past has givenher another name to fall back on. Jack’s long suffering sigh whenhe picks up the phone tells her he has heard of her crusade.

“Reinhardt told me,” he answers herunspoken question. “And I appreciate what you’re trying to do,god knows this lot can improve on their teamwork, but leave me out ofit.”

Back in the old days Jack would havebeen the first to agree. More, he would have helped her organise thewhole thing and made homemade snacks to go along. This more thananything drives home just how much has changed, how little of the oldguard remains even when they have returned to join the fight.

“You’re just as much part of thisas anyone else,” she insists. “You came back for a reason, Jack.Some part of you believes in what Overwatch can be. Don’t be astranger.”

But his answer stays the same. He sayshe can’t and that he shouldn’t. Says he’s too old to make newfriends, too bitter to offer anything of value. She leaves him withthe date and the place, urges him to at least consider it. Hepromises but she can’t help feeling he does so only to do her afavour and that he will put it out of his mind the moment she hangsup.

Three days before the grand event, theculmination of all her hard work to get a dozen people who barelyknow each other in the same room to sing awkward songs, Jesse strollsinto the watchpoint, a bag of dirty laundry over his shoulder andbounty hunters on his tail. He drifts, even though Winston hasoffered him permanent residence on the watchpoint, claims he’s afree soul who can’t be tied down by obligations. Fareeha knowsbetter. He’s not so different from Jack in that regard.

“Heard about your plans,” he sayswhile they solve crosswords in the laundry room waiting for thewashing to be done. “Mighty ambitious of ya, gettin’ everyone toplay along.”

“I didn’t get everyone.”

“Yeah,” Jesse pretends to beutterly oblivious to her tone, ponders another word for ‘failing toseize an opportunity’. “Torbjörn was never hot on singing, don’tget caught up over it.”“Jesse ... “

He puts the crossword aside, looks ather with his big brown eyes.

“Y’know I don’t like imposing.”And then he does that thing where he reaches behind his ear for acigarillo he stopped carrying there years ago. It’s the sameaborted motion he made everytime he was afraid he messed up,everytime someone reminded him of the gang he left behind. Everytimehe felt like before the end of the conversation someone, evenhimself, would tell him he didn’t truly belong. It’s his safetyblanket, the sharp smoke of home grown tobacco, the flick of alighter, something to steady his hands and keep him grounded.

She takes his hands in hers when hedoesn’t find the cigarillo.

“You can’t impose on your ownhome,” she says and continues before he can argue. “This is whereyou belong, you’re like a brother to me and I shouldn’t even haveto ask you to come. If Overwatch is ever going to take off again, weneed you. You can make people come out of their shell, you can makethem talk. Without you Genji would still be sulking in the clinic,Lena would never have asked Emily out, Jack would still-”Jesselaughs, holds up his hands in defense.

“All right, shortstuff, I get it. IfI’m the only one who can save this motley crew, you got my support.No need for a speech.”

But Fareeha knows it did him good tohear it.

And then the big day is there. After amonth of careful planning, of using everything from emotionalmanipulation to outright blackmail to get people to attend, it feelslike much more than a simple get-together. She puts Reinhardt andBrigitte in charge of snacks and they have the good sense to returnwith the van filled to the brim. The booze she bought days ago andretrieves it from its various hiding places, still finding thatsomeone found and raided at least one of her stashes. BetweenReinhardt, who thinks foreign beer counts as soda, and Hanzo, whodrinks to forget the fact he’s drinking, there are a few likelyculprits. Just today, though, there won’t be any reprimands.There’ll be enough tension to dissolve as it is.

As if on cue she hears the aircraftland, the pleasing hum of Vishkar’s jets and Symmetra disembarks infront of Lúcio, Lena and Emily who play an impromptu hockey game inthe hangar bay.

“Glad you could make it!” Fareehasays before the cold glares exchanged between Lúcio and Symmetra canturn the game into ice hockey.

“Of course,” Symmetra says as shefloats past like she’s on the red carpet, rather than an oversizedgarage smelling perpetually of cold pizza and engine grease. “Iwould not miss such an important team-building event.”

Lúcio misses the glance she throws himand Fareeha sends a prayer up in thanks. While she shows Symmetraaround the base, barely believing she’s run half a dozen missionsfor Overwatch and never seen it, the other guests trickle in. Theypass the gardens and listen to Hanzo assure Genji he loved his latestbatch of sweets. Fareeha winks at Hanzo and gestures with her fingeracross her lips, vowing she’ll keep them closed. But other than thebrothers the people she invited are spread out, barely talking to oneanother. It’s time to get this show on the road.

“All right, who wants to go first?”Fareeha asks with fake cheer at the not exactly overwhelmingenthusiasm. Even Hana, who assured her she knows how important it isthis evening goes well, pops some bubble gum and stays on her phone.Lena saves her life.

“Emi and I will!”

Emily looks like she doesn’tappreciate being volunteered but would do just about anything tosupport her girlfriend. Even singing a cheesy pop song in front ofstrangers with varying levels of deathglares.

The lyrics are simple, and theirenthusiasm infectious. Lena serenades Emily offkey on her knees, sorife with theatrics even Hanzo is seen hiding a smile.

Fareeha goes up next and watches, asshe sings a soulful ballad, her guests begin to relax and mingle.Lúcio, Reinhardt and Emily chat about the ideal ratio of dip todorito, Hana shows Genji something on her phone that makes them bothlaugh, and Jesse has taken on his assigned role as oyster shucker andworks to get Mei out of her shell.

After the last chords of her song fadeout she hands the microphone to Winston, knowing he’ll be toostartled to decline and too polite to pass it off to someone elseonce he’s taken it. He chooses a song rife with science puns lessthan a handful understands, but the refrain makes Mei laugh so hardsoda comes out of her nose. Fareeha jumps to her aid and whileWinston still apologises for a mishap he’s only indirectly to blamefor, she has promised Mei she’ll go up on stage with her if shewants to sing. Together they sing the lines to a tune from a Disneyfilm it turns out everyone remembers fondly. A few even sing alongfrom their seats and applaud heartily when Mei gives a shy bow afterher performance.

At some point between Reinhardt beltingModern Talking’s Sexy Sexy Lover, a song rightfully committed toobscurity a hundred years ago, trying to convince everyone to join inand not letting it curb his enthusiasm when they don’t, and Genjiand Hana laughing more than singing through the main theme of theirfavourite video game, Fareeha slips out to get more snacks and findsmost everyone has found their own little group to engage in. Peoplewho before couldn’t be bothered to exchange two words are nowinvolved in deep discussion if you really can’t love a memory.

She’s still swaying along toReinhardt’s song, mentally congratulating herself on how well thisevening is turning out even if it comes at the cost of havingterrible songs stuck in her head, that she doesn’t notice Jackuntil she runs straight into him.

“Jack!”

“Careful!”

Between them they save the tray ofempty bottles, juggling each toppling piece until they’re all inone way or another deposited on the kitchen table. He plays with abottle cap, places it on the table, then picks it up again to traceits edges, while Fareeha can only stare. Him showing up is almostmore surprising than when he returned from the dead.

“You, uh, said I should think aboutit and ... “he trails off and while she’s dying to know what madehim reconsider after all she doesn’t press. Instead she pulls twomore bottles of alcohol out of the pantry and pushes them into hishands, arming herself with a load of snacks. Brigitte and Reinhardtbought enough to feed an army and it may not be enough.

“They’ll be happy to see you,”Fareeha says in lieu of a grand speech of family and homecoming. “Andyou better think about what song you’re going to sing.”

“I’m not going to-”“Everyonesings.”

The truth of that becomes evident whenthey return to a friendly argument centering around Hanzo.

“I will not sing.” he maintains.“No one said participation was required.”“It’s karaoke,brother.” Genji says and though most of the group have only thebest intentions, trying to include Hanzo in this setting, it’sclear that he only seeks to make a public embarrassment of hisbrother.

“I am well aware of what it is and mypoint stands. I will not sing.”

Jack can slip in almost unnoticed whilethe attention lies on Hanzo’s steadfast refusal to stretch hisvocal chords. Only Jesse gives him a two-fingered salute beforeturning his attention back to the matter at hand.

“Give it a go, darlin’, we promisewe won’t laugh.”

“Do not call me that,” Hanzo snaps.“And I would like to remind you that you also have not sung.”

Fareeha intervenes before the argumentcan get serious. She leans on the backrest of the couch behind Hanzoand says, so low only he can understand her: “Sing or I may getbored and decide to talk to your brother for a bit.”

A moment later Hanzo’s on the stage,frowning as he scrolls through the music selection. He choosessomething slow and mournful, a song from a movie Fareeha rememberswatching years ago. Two lines into the song everyone has stoppedtalking. They stare open-mouthed at Hanzo who falters under theattention, but catches himself quickly to continue what just may bethe most beautiful thing Fareeha has ever heard. Genji’s eyestwinkle with joy at his friends’ bemusement. He wasn’t looking toembarrass his brother after all.

While Jesse pretends to die frominstant love Hanzo ends his song with the words “This shouldsuffice.”, steps over the smitten cowboy and returns to his seatlike nothing happened. He will not take any inquiries into hismiraculously beautiful singing voice and hands the mic to Lúcio whoby some miracle has managed to get out of singing without anyonenoticing. He slinks up on stage like a beaten dog and Fareeha swearsshe can hear him praying under his breath. Not without reason as itturns out.

Where Hanzo may have become a musicallegend in another life, Lúcio proves once and for all that justbecause one is a world-famous musician one is not necessarily good atholding a tune.

“Oh God ... “ Hana whispers inabject horror as Lúcio and everyone else in the room suffers throughhis song. Well, almost everyone suffers.

Satya’s shoulders shake but what atfirst look like tears of despair, turns out to be barely containedlaughter. Lúcio glowers at her, clearly intending to speak achallenge once he’s done - if you think you’re so good, do itbetter -  but he doesn’t need to. He has barely finished thesong, somehow managing not to hit a single note throughout, when shewalks up, takes the mic out of his hand and picks a song with thecertainty of someone who has calculated exactly where to find it fromthe moment she saw the machine.

No master singer is lost on Satya butcompared to Lúcio, currently licking his wounds and being cheered upby Reinhardt and Emily, she’s more than good enough.

The more extroverted members of thegroup go on stage again and again as the evening draws and andeveryone gets progressively more drunk.

Jesse refuses to sing karaoke but canbe persuaded to sing an old country song by himself, something sweetand full of homesickness that makes everyone rethink their opinion oncountry. Half a bottle of whiskey later he goes up for karaoke afterall and makes everyone re-rethink their opinion on country music.

Genji accompanies his next renditionwith a drunk lapdance for Mei who blushes feverishly red and lookslike she doesn’t know if she should cry or proposition him. Winstonsaves her by dragging her and Satya up on stage to sing the Elementssong together. She stumbles hopelessly over ‘praseodymium’ andSatya somehow manages to passive-aggressively sing the noble gases atLúcio who sticks his tongue out and steals the last cinnamon bunfrom her plate.

Jesse, once sufficiently drunk, canbarely be kept from the stage for a few minutes and proves his skillsof persuasion when Hanzo finds himself by his side, singing a duetfrom a popular musical together.

At some point during the night Brigitteshows up and, drowned out by Reinhardt’s bellowed greetings,apologises for her work keeping her away until now. She’s promptlydragged into a top volume rendition of Night Rocker and can only getaway when Reinhardt catches Lúcio humming along.

It’s long after midnight when thefirst start to drag out the mattresses Fareeha kept ready, and cuddleup there and on the sofas, blankets spread liberally all around.Hanzo tries to excuse himself to his rooms but has his escapethwarted by a seemingly sleeping Jesse holding onto his sleeve. Hesettles down in the small space between him and Emily and Lena,muttering something about not being here to get attached,metaphorically and certainly not literally.

Hana has fallen asleep in her armchairsome few minutes ago, the snack bowl in her lap tilting precariouslytowards the floor where Winston has set up, drifting off to the lowconversations around him.

And then it’s just a handful leftawake, the casual insomniacs drifting into that liminal space duringa sleepover when it all quiets down but the energy of the eveningstill hangs in the air like smoke. Fareeha makes herself comfortablein a nest of blankets between Satya and Genji and looks to Jack whosits at the table an arm’s length away and gives her a tired butsincere smile.

“You haven’t sung yet.” she says,just to acknowledge him, to let him know she watches and notices.He’s not the ghost he fashions himself to be and if the way helooks at her is any indication, he doesn’t want to be anymore.

Mei blinks when he starts to sing, halfasleep and probably thinking she’s dreaming as she snuggles closerto Lúcio who throws an arm around her and pulls her closer.

Jack’s song is one Fareeha has hearda hundred times throughout her life. She doesn’t know its name orwho wrote it, but her earliest memory is of her father and himsinging it to her. Her mother sang it long before, when it turned outit was the only thing getting her to sleep. Reinhardt maintains hewas the one who chose it first but it was Gabriel who sang it best,crooning low and deep to her from the days of her earliest childhoodto the day they all sat at her bedside, her father and surrogatefathers, singing it to chase away the grief of losing her mother.

She falls asleep to it, the songechoing in Overwatch’s halls long after the last note has faded. Itis as it should be and she is at peace.

[jillmckenzie1]

The End Is The Beginning

“A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.” That quote comes from the under-loved Avengers: Age of Ultron. Upon its 2015 release, we were 11 films deep and there were two schools of thought about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sprawling epic of interconnectivity.

Eager nerds like myself were excited. Comic book creators and imagination machines like Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko used these characters, perhaps unwittingly, as a kind of modern mythology. There were lessons of tolerance, justice, decency. You could take something of real value away from the adventures of a bunch of people running around in spandex.

The other school of thought was a kind of horrified fascination. You might have a very real feeling of superhero fatigue, and if so, I pity you, because Marvel movies ain’t going away any time soon. Estimates vary, but there are at least 7,000 characters in the Marvel Universe alone. That’s the bad news. The worse news is that, as a franchise that’s earned billions, the MCU is a cinematic Terminator. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. With its legions of characters, it will go on. When the heat death of the universe approaches, someone somewhere will be getting excited for a trailer for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.*

But what difference does it make if the MCU continues, yet the quality sucks? Sooner or later, Marvel Studios is going to release something bad. Something that makes us cast our eyes fondly back at the not-good Iron Man 2 or the stunk-up-the-joint Thor: The Dark World. When that happens, I recommend closing your eyes and finding your happy place. That place being Avengers: Endgame.

 We pick up where Avengers: Infinity War left off, with a snap. The finger snapping belongs to the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin). Why is he mad? Welp, he collected the Infinity Stones, artifacts of limitless power scattered throughout the cosmos. Brought together, the Stones grant the wielder control over the fundamental forces of the universe. Thanos’s plan is to cull fifty percent of all life, allowing the other fifty percent to live in comfort and prosperity.

His plan worked perfectly, and The Decimation** happened. After that, does Thanos lord over the rest of the universe as a conqueror? No. He retires to a small planet, hangs up his armor for use as a scarecrow, and becomes a farmer. In his own way, Thanos is content.

Things back on Earth are considerably less content considering billions of people were dusted out of existence, including a number of the mighty Avengers. The survivors are, by and large, not doing awesome. Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) lead efforts to try and put the pieces back together. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and the cyborg assassin Nebula (Karen Gillan) are trapped within deep space in a starship that’s low on fuel.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) grapples with his failure to definitively kill Thanos when he had the chance, while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) the marksman grapples with general existential horror. Only Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has achieved a kind of balance. It seems that they have no choice but to move on. Then the astonishing Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) comes calling. He has an idea, one that’s definitely crazy, and that just might be a game-changer.

From there, we have triumphs, tragedies, narrow escapes, thrilling heroics, and fan service, all in a bladder-punishing three hour run time. Avengers: Endgame is a very real achievement, and one that even serial dislikers of the MCU should pay grudging respect. Does this all mean that Endgame specifically and the MCU, in general, should be placed on a cinematic pedestal next to films like The Godfather? No, and it shouldn’t be.

However, we dismiss the skill it takes to craft a well-made blockbuster at our peril. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have made a gargantuan epic where stuff gets blown up real good. Their action scenes are muscular, and the special effects are, unsurprisingly, top-notch. They also made a film that has considerably more focus on a smaller cast and thematic elements than Infinity War. Even when massive action sequences are going on, the Russos never let us forget we’re watching a group of people dealing with failure in very personal ways.

Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have been with Marvel Studios since nearly the beginning. Their script for Captain America: The First Avenger is one of the foundational elements of the MCU in terms of setting the entire tone. Their screenplay for Endgame is written with intelligence and wit. They don’t just start things off with a somber first act, transition into a wildly creative second act, and enter the third act with a scale and stakes that are huge. They also pay off character arcs and themes from other films, tying off the majority of the MCU’s concepts in a neat bow. In terms of the structure and creativity alone, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that their script is Oscar-worthy.

The cast makes a meal out of their script. If we talk about everyone, we’re going to be here forever, so I’ll focus on three performances of note. As Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr. is the heart of the entire MCU. He began with a character who was casually selfish, and who learned a painful lesson about selflessness. Over a series of films, we’ve seen his character believably change. Here, that change achieves some touching grace notes. Downey has always been a talented performer, and when he lets real emotion escape from his armored shell of snark, he makes it look so natural and so easy.

If Downey is the heart of the MCU, then Chris Evans is the soul. He took a character that could be insufferable and made him a decent man who operates according to his principles. Whether it’s the Nazis or space warlords, Steve Rogers won’t tolerate bullies, but he never stoops to their level. It’s refreshing to see a character who does the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.

If you’re literally anybody else in the cast, how are you supposed to compete with these two? Karen Gillan as Nebula does it, and she does it covered in prosthetics and with a quietly intense performance. As one of the daughters of Thanos, we see a woman who’s suffered years of abuse, who only ever wanted to please her father, and who painfully sets herself on the harder path of finding her worth. The easy choice would be for her to have a big speech renouncing Thanos. Instead, Gillan uses subtle facial and vocal expressions, implying a seismic change within her without it becoming showy.

This era of the MCU ends with Avengers: Endgame. The MCU is far from over. If you wanted to tap out here, I wouldn’t blame you. It’s a good spot to close the book, and unlike a number of other franchises, Endgame sticks the landing.*** There’s a beauty in its finality, something wonderful about when and how the period is placed at the end of the sentence. The MCU will go on, for good or ill, but we’ll always have this.

  *Seriously, that’s a thing.

**Or The Snapture, if ya nasty.

***So much so that there isn’t even a mid or post-credits scene.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/the-end-is-the-beginning/