#post thanos

[spongebobssquarepants]

[phoenixyfriend]

Somewhere out there is an essay about superhero movies where villains co-opt, misuse, or even just misunderstand the language of the left to push methods and goals that are incompatible with the actual theory of the left, but that sound Right And Good to viewers who aren't thinking it through entirely. And the essay is not just about how they compare to each other, but how they are a litmus test for viewers to know how susceptible they are to propaganda.

Co-opt: Most obvious example and the inspiration for this post is the Riddler in Batman (2020, the one with RPatt). The Riddler recites leftist rhetoric about corruption, wealth hoarding, and redistribution, but his actual actions and goals are unrelated. He's an accelerationist who's more interested in tearing down a system that didn't benefit HIM than in actually rectifying the problems, and who cares if a few kids get traumatized or even killed along the way?

Misuse: Easy mode, this one's Thanos. He talks about ensuring there's enough for everyone to eat, but like. Bro.

Misunderstand: Erik Killmonger, who has the benefit of both some incredibly legitimate grievances and a pretty face, but also kind of fails at the idea of intersectionality, proportionality, or Start With Words Before You Escalate. He's the easiest to sympathize with, because he has some really good points and ultimately does appear to be legitimately pursuing those goals... but he's also a misogynist, jumped to international terrorism before "call up my cousin who doesn't know I exist," and there's something in there about the role played by his time in the US military, which gave him emotional trauma, head trauma, and a sincere belief in the validity of US-style insurgency operations based on hostile takeovers of inconvenient countries. He's charming and pretty and sincere... he's just also, in many ways, wrong. And the parts where he's right makes it easy to try to ignore the bits where he's wrong if you're predisposed to like him and prefer some absolutism.

Anyway, yeah, there are definitely other examples, but the ones that were suggested to me didn't quite vibe with the base idea (Mysterio and Vulture both had disgruntled union moments in the MCU, but they left those roots so quickly that I don't think the concept of using leftist rhetoric as cover/justification for the crimes really applies since, they very quickly shift gears into revenge and greed respectively).

Someone's probably done this better orz.

[thorinsbeard]

A movie for every year since I was born: Avengers: infinity War (2018)

[edithdraws]

That one twitter meme

[ajeckaea]

i know barely anything about marvel but i have to believe that somewhere out there are fanfics where thanos chucks gamorra into the whatever-it-was and gets NOTHING in return

either because A) she was f*cking right and what he felt for her was not love

or B) maybe he loved her to some degree but the whatever-it-was rejects unwilling sacrifices because killing someone you love for your own gain blatantly proves you yourself are the one most precious to you

[lyrate-lifeform-approximation]

"i do need you. i wouldn't be here if I didn't."

[closed angsty? rp starter for @spiderman2-99]

LYLA cocks her head to the side, her hands stopping over the keyboard as she turns to look at Miguel.

How did they come to this point?

It all started some odd hours ago, after the long hectic week that they all had. The virus attack, the animal chaotic release, and especially the everyone-turned-into-balls fest.

LYLA was mostly useless during all this.

She was undergoing fixing from the virus while the animals were released, so she couldn’t help with that. And had caused Miguel extra stress due to him having to practically rewire her entire main frame. And during the ball-fest, all she could do was gather information to create an anti-dote, rather than being able to do any physical work. So, in short, she felt pretty worthless.

And after an offhand comment about her being able to be replaced by another ai—should they prefer to—had emotions running high.

So, when Miguel had asked for help, and LYLA teasingly told him that he didn’t need her, his face had turned startlingly serious.

“I do need you. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

Which led to LYLA cocking her head to the side, stopping her work, to inspect Miguel.

“You…” he had stumped her.

“Well,” she tries again, “I’m just your assistant. You don’t technically need me.”

But the words he said still fluttered her heart, making her feel warm and fuzzy. It was nice to be needed, sometimes.

[mytardisisparked]

To Show That Time Has Passed

In the hospital, immediately after the events of DeadAlive, Mulder begins to notice just how much time has passed since he was in Bellefleur.

Read on AO3

He’s stuck in a sort of limbo where he knows he’s been gone for months – he can feel it, can sense it, can see the evidence of it in the people around him – but his mind still thinks that, just yesterday, he was in the woods around Bellefleur, Oregon with Skinner.

Her hair is longer. It’s shiny and healthy, which is an offset to the dark circles under her eyes. He can see the time that has passed in the red strands, set aglow by the faint hospital lights around him. She tells him he’s been gone for over six months.

His face itches. She holds his hand in hers and tells him not to scratch it. 

There’s a memory floating just underneath the surface, attached to the scabs on his face. He doesn’t touch it. He lets the mild sedatives he’s currently on keep the memory out of reach. He’s not ready.

She’s happy to see him. She’s missed him for six months and he can see every mile of that in her eyes. He loves her even more for it, though he can feel guilt looming, hard and heavy, over his head. He suspects that it will set in once he leaves the hospital and all of its safety; once they return to reality and he has to face the time he has missed more fully.

He keeps studying her face and sees something else tucked away behind her gaze. She’s holding something back and she’s itching to let it out.

“Scully?” His voice rasps.

She holds his hand, her thumb drawing nervous little circles ever-so-gently against his skin.

“Mulder.” She’s being avoidant – she’s always been a bad liar. 

He tilts his head at her in a silent question and she crumbles, bringing his hand to her lips as a fresh set of tears line her eyes in silver. 

“You were away a long time and– and I’m trying to ease you back into everything.” She gives him a weak smile, and he pulls his hand from her grasp to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, brushing his fingertips over her cheek.

“I appreciate that, but something’s clearly eating you.”

She chokes out a watery laugh. “Not exactly.”

Confusion washes over him until, with a hesitant smile, she sits back and rests a hand on her belly.

Oh?

Oh.

Oh.

“You’re–” he chokes on the next word; the weight of the months he’s been gone and all of the guilt he knew he would eventually feel finally hit him. 

She nods and looks down at the swell of her abdomen. 

At her baby. He thinks, feeling a little dizzy. Scully finally got her baby.

He’s too tired and sedated to consider how that baby came to be, but he can see the joy in her eyes, even through the frame of tears. She’s wanted this for so long and she’s happy. 

He feels happy, too, despite everything.

He reaches up to scratch his face. She catches his hand before he can. 

“Mulder, you’ll open your wounds.” She keeps his hand in hers, warming it. 

“Sorry,” he gives her a sheepish smile. His eyes fall back to her waist.

Now that she’s bent toward him, he can’t really see the bump, but he’s hyperaware of its existence; of the baby’s existence. He wonders how she manages to think of anything else, because he sure as hell can’t.

He wonders how far along she is.

“Mulder you should get some rest.” As soon as the words leave her lips, he feels the truth of them in the weight of his eyelids. He blinks slowly and she smiles. “I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

He knows she means it, which is the only reason his mind lets him fall asleep. 

In his dreams, he sees a mobile made of stars and a tiny figure bundled up in the blanket his mother used on him and Samantha. The baby within giggles in delight as the stars above swirl and twinkle. 

If he has any other dreams that night, any nightmares , he cannot remember.

[why-i-love-comics]

Avengers Annual #1 (2024)

written by Derek Landy art by Salvador Larroca & Guru-eFX

[bensonsballerz]

electrochemistry: harry. harry listen to me. dont take those. harry please dont take those drugs those are BAD drugs

harry: takes anti psychotics

the voices in his head all at once:

[cherrywinter]

m'lady

[grahambaham]

Something that has always annoyed me is the habit of many fans to declare that a villain of a certain piece of media is in the right when they are most definitely not.

A few examples that I can think of right now are Thanos, Magneto and Doom. What. The. Fuck.

First of all, Viktor Von Doom barely even has anything to be right about. The guy’s goal in life is to get as powerful as possible and use that power to rule the world or whatever, prove to everyone he’s smarter than Reed Richards (he is not) and to inflate his own ego as much as is psychically possible. Though that last one could be a result of the first two I guess. He basically wants the basic ass stuff all villains want, even if it’s not what they’re focusing on specifically. There is nothing for him to even be right about, my guy. Alright so the wanting to rule the world thing isn’t for his ego, though it helps. It is because he has a fucking god complex and thinks he’s the only one who can truly do it and properly protect the Earth from any future attacks. Everything about Doom basically boils down to his ego.

Now, I understand how Megneto, otherwise known as Max Eisenhart (Erik Magnus Lehnsherr is just an alias), can be a sympathetic villain. He’s gone through a lot and when very simplified his goal seems fairly noble. Dude just wants to protect mutants, make sure they’re safe and living their best lives or whatever. The problem is that he believes mutants are the superior species and treats humans how you might treat a mosquito. He wants to eradicate them completely, and so the world would be there for mutants to rule over and live happily ever after or whatnot. Any of that sound familiar to you? Yeah… Anyway, the point is that even though we can understand how he might’ve come to the point where he’s willing to do such horrible things, that does not mean he is right at all. People seem to think that the humans deserve it for the way they’ve treated mutants, even though there are a lot of good ones who most certainly don’t do that shit AND so many of them are children too. Because you do know that Max would legit murder even the little toddlers? Not for any reason other than ‘they’re human’. So yeah, he was not in the right. He was not the good guy all along or whatever. He is a villain and a horrible person who has also been treated horribly their whole life. Those two things can both be true. Having a bad childhood does not excuse your shitty actions though.

Last and certainly least we’ve got Thanos. First of all, that fucker did not give a shit about overpopulation or whatever in the comics. Bro wanted to court Death so he went around murdering people and destroying planets to impress her. Not very noble of him, I gotta say. Now as for the MCU, his goal is in fact to kill half the universe so more people could get more resources because he’s seen the way the poor live because of that lack of food and other things essential to living. Now, instead of using that infinite fucking power that he had in his hands to create more shit to give to everyone or, I don’t know, anything else? They’re called INFINITY stones for a reason? This fucker instead decided to just commit genocide real quick. I genuinely believe the only people who think this loser was right are actual children. Twelve years old at the most. Because there is no way in holy hell that grown men and women think Thanos was good and smart to use the INFINITE POWER IN HIS HANDS to just KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE INSTEAD OF SAVING MORE BY JUST WISHING FOR MORE RESOURCES OR FUCKING WORLD/UNIVERSE PEACE OR WHATEVER THE FUCK? Thanos is secretly twelve years old and hasn’t gained any critical thinking skills yet, I swear to fucking god.

So yeah, I guarantee whichever villain you think was right was not in fact right, they’re simply easy to sympathise with or their cause is. But if their way of making that sympathetic idea come true is murdering/torturing/conquering etcetera, then THAT MEANS THEY AREN'T RIGHT AT FUCKING ALL.

Good night.

[vexic929]

I think I've put my finger on one of the main problems I have with modern superhero media

we've somehow entered an era where a lot of superheroes are admittedly a bit op, but instead of creating compelling villains who challenge the heroes in ways other than physical strength and power, it feels like a lot of the solutions have been just throw the old (or new) gods at them

which like COULD be compelling if it wasn't constantly "ooh evil big bad can erase your loved ones with the snap of a finger so scaaaaaary" I'm so bored y'all I miss smart, funny, talented villains

[moongothic]

That is exactly something I've been wondering.

'Cause. Like if Whitebeard managed to hit Crocodile hard enough (=with Haki) to cut his whole hand off, then surely he would've done more damage than just leave a cut on Croc's face, right. Like his head should've ended up in two pieces. And I mean it's not impossible WB could be the cause of both wounds (like for example WB could've first just scratched Crocodile's face and then, when he was in shock, taken that left hand, or something, there's like a million ways this action scene could play out), it is entirely possible still. But it would ALSO be entirely plausible if Crocodile got his scar and lost his hand due to different people.

Also if Dragon is a former Marine then he could know the Rokushiki, and like I dunno about y'all but to me Crocodile's scar looks to me like it could've been caused by a Rankyaku to the face (or if Dragon is a Wind Wind Fruit user as many speculate, his attacks could very much be like wind-slashes similar to Rankyaku, any cutting attacks or even Croc's own Spada-attacks). Like the way his scar goes across his whole face, ear-to-ear, it looks like it could've been caused by a cut that hit him straight-on (but didn't cut through his whole head). As opposed to a cutting motion from a blade that'd go from like one side of the face to another (where I feel like it shouldn't go ear-to-ear, and instead, at most, like, ear-to-cheek, y'know? 'Cause the face would curve away from a blade etc? But also this is a manga and shit like this doesn't have to make sense, it just needs to look cool and be symbolic and shit)

(There is also the forbidden option that WB could've given Crocodile the scar and it was Dragon that took Crocodile's hand. And not in the romantic way 🥁)

In any case, if Dragon did attack Crocodile out of instinct because he couldn't recognize the strange, imposing man with a baby who showed up at the secret location at a secret meeting time when he was supposed to reunite with his wife and meet his child... Oh yeah. Dragon could've assumed the worst, thought that they had been found out, that his beloved had been taken out and baby kidnapped. Or something. And thus attacked. And boy howdy would this be one absolutely gut-wrenching way to cause a divorce, eh

((Only thing is that for Dragon to hurt Crocodile, either Dragon would've had to have gone in with the Haki right away, which is viabe but makes me question how Crocodile even survived to begin with, or the attack would've had to been moisturized ahead of time for some reason. Unless Dragon can add moisture to his attacks by default, or unless it was raining, it'd make no sense how Dragon could've cut Croc's face up. But hey we know Crocodile doesn't really like the rain, now does he))

[edithdraws]

Listen they barely interact face to face but Adam Warlock and Mistress Death have the funniest dynamic of all time actually.

[salmonella-destroyer-of-worlds]