#referencing my previous set in Marvel

[smarthily]

@giftober 2024 Day 1: Broken.

[babybatscreationsv2]

Run Rabbit

Marvel | Starker

Peter has bad luck with boyfriends. The kind of bad luck that means his previous two boyfriends have ended up mysteriously dead. At least he has Tony. A stead fast and loving friend who his taking him to his cabin in the woods to get away from it all. So far away from the city, all alone, Peter might finally be able to relax. He really owes Tony for taking such good care of him…

Rating: Explicit

Warnings/tags: kidnapping, noncon, yandere!Tony, referenced/discussed murder, graphic violence, blood play, gun violence, fear kink, sadism, blood as lube

For Aech <3

The air smelled like flowers and freshly churned dirt. It was much too gentle a scent on much too gentle a day for Peter's second funeral in only six months. He knew what everyone thought. That somehow this was his fault. The police had questioned him for hours this time. First Harry, the best friend he'd grown up with who had never given him the time of day as far as romance. At least not until college. Then Quentin, whom he'd only been dating for about a week. He hadn't even really been ready, but Quentin had insisted he would feel better if he moved on and Peter did just want to be happy again.

A warm hand came to rest on his shoulder. "You ready to go, kid?" Tony asked. His voice was gentle and comforting. Too gentle once again. They were the last to leave. Even Quentin's parents were long gone. Peter just couldn't shake the guilt.

"Do you think they're right? Is this my fault somehow?"

"Did you kill him?" Tony asked simply.

Peter flinched. "Of course not!"

"Then don't worry about it." He squeezed his shoulder. Peter turned around and looked at his face. He was such a comfort to have in these moments. Even if none of this affected him. It wasn't his fault he wasn't great at emotional advice. At least he was here.

"Thank you for coming, Tony. I don't think I can do this alone."

The man gave him a small smile. "Anything for you, Peter."

He almost smiled back. "I think I'm ready to go now."

Tony offered his arm and Peter took it, glad for the comfort of physical contact. They walked back to Tony's car parked to the side of the narrow cemetery road. The shiny black metal was at contract in the natural landscape. It seemed cold. Yet those leather seats were warm as Peter sunk down in the passenger seat. He was safe in here. He was always safe with Tony. The man gave his hand a little squeeze before starting the car.

The drive was long and quiet. Tony grabbed a blanket from the back and wrapped him in it when he started to cry. He fell asleep leaning against the door. He woke each time the car stopped. Tony kept trying to feed him at every gas station fast food place, but he just wasn't hungry. And he fell asleep every time the tires touched the highway.

Tony had a cabin up in Maine. The long drive was well worth escaping the city. Getting away from whatever demon had cursed his life. At least here it would be just him and Tony. No boyfriends to get murdered and no murderers to come after him. He was safe here.

Tony made dinner. It was warm savory comfort food. Finally, Peter felt hungry. He couldn't remember the last time he actually ate, but Tony put a plate of chicken and gravy in front of him and he couldn't get enough. He finally felt himself relax. He was safe. Everything was okay now. And Tony was so easy to talk to. It was nice to laugh again.

They ended up sitting on the couch talking by the fire as the sun set.

"I know Quentin wasn't great for me," Peter admitted. "It still hurts that he's gone."

"That's normal," Tony said. "There's someone out there for you though. Someone who makes you happy." Peter looked away from the fire to Tony's face. Tony's eyes seemed to stare into his soul.

"Someone who loves you unconditionally, who makes you laugh. Makes you feel safe. Someone who would do anything for you."

Peter laughed awkwardly at his intensity. "Yeah, wouldn't that be nice."

A hand came to rest on top of his. "I would never allow anyone to hurt you, Peter."

"Thanks-"

"I know what they did to you. How Quentin was pushy even when you were unsure. How Harry didn't give you the time of day until he realized how easily he could have you. They didn't deserve you."

Peter pulled his hand back. "What are you saying?"

"You don't have to worry about boys like that anymore, Pete. I'll take care of you."

"That's really sweet Tony but-"

"But?" He raised his eyebrows. "I did all of this for you, Peter." Peter leaned away from him. What was he saying? Why was he so angry all of a sudden? Then he laughed lightly. "No, it's okay. You don't understand yet, but you will."

Peter looked at the man. Really looked at him. He seemed deranged in a way that made his hair stand on end. A sixth sense told him to run. He wasn't looking at a man, he was looking at a predator.

A hand stroked his hair and he flinched. Tony pretended not to notice. "You're smart. I'm sure you're putting it together. Don't be scared, sweetheart. It's just love. Love can make a man crazy."

"You killed them," Peter breathed.

Tony nodded. "I did. I saved you from them. You don't have to suffer sleeping with lesser men now. I know it was me you always wanted."

"Yeah..." Peter's hands were shaking. What should he do? He couldn't stay here with a murderer, but Tony wasn't going to just let him leave.

Tony smiled. "See, I knew you'd understand."

"Yeah, of course." Tony took his hand away and Peter was grateful when he changed the subject. It was concerning how easily he moved on as if murder were nothing at all. Peter almost thought he imagined the whole conversation. He tried not to let the terror show. He needed to stay calm, find a way out without pissing him off. He bit his lip to hold back the tears, but they came anyway.

"Oh sweetheart, don't cry." Tony reached for him and Peter pulled away. He just came closer until he could wrap his arm around him. His hand stroked his cheek. The concern in his eyes seemed almost real. Maybe it was to him. "You've been through a lot, I know it's scary. Let me help you."

Tony left the couch looking for something. Peter glanced at the door. It was just around the corner of the couch. He could make it if he was quick. He glanced at Tony again. His back was to him. He could make it. He could...

Peter lurched to his feet and ran, but his fingers fumbled on the lock. When he grabbed the handle and pulled the chain snapped tight. Tony grabbed him around the waist and the sharp prick of a needle stung his neck.

"It's okay, Peter," Tony cooed. He dropped the syringe and pet his hair. "It's okay. Sleep tight, Petey."

Dull light from the window woke him as the sun rose. For a moment he was groggy. He rubbed his eyes, sore and raw from crying.

Peter watched Tony's chest rise and fall. He was still asleep. If there was going to be an opportunity, this was it. He moved slowly, dragging himself across the bed in such small increments it felt as if the floor were miles away. When his feet finally touched cold wood, he froze, watching Tony's face. When he gave no sign of waking, Peter slipped out and laid the blanket down carefully in his place.

He tiptoed through the cabin until he found his shoes and jacket. Then he faced the door. Was there an alarm? He didn't see one. He didn't see Tony's car keys anywhere either. His head was scrambling, trying to come up with a plan, but he had no idea where he was. He wouldn't even recognize the roads since he slept the whole way up. He looked at Tony still asleep on the bed. The best thing to do was to get away. Find help. He couldn't just stand there waiting.

He turned the dead bolt. Then he unhooked the chain. He didn't look back to see if Tony woke. If he broke his momentum he'd freeze. He turned the lock on the door knob and opened the door. Then he was out.

Peter closed the door slowly behind them and turned the knob so the latch wouldn't click. He walked carefully down the steps, but once his feet hit the grass he ran.

The morning air was cold enough to sting his face. The low light of the rising sun cast shadows in the trees that heightened his paranoia. He hadn't gotten far when behind him heard a bang.

"Oh, Peter!" Tony called back in the direction of the house. "Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?"

The sound of his voice made him stumble and he realized how much noise he was making. If he could hear Tony, then Tony could probably hear him. He stopped and crouched with his back to a tree. What should he do?

Tony went quiet. He couldn't hear anything. No yelling, no footsteps. He risked a look around the tree trunk and saw nothing. Maybe he'd gone the wrong way. Maybe he thought Peter would follow the road. Too many maybes. There was nothing he could do but run again.

Tree roots threatened to trip him if he didn't look down. Branches smacked him in the face when he didn't look up. This forest was old and dense and unfriendly to someone who didn't know the first thing about nature. He tried not to think about what that meant when he was being chased by someone who spent the fall season using this place for a hunting cabin.

"Run, Peter Rabbit, run!" Tony's voice laughed through the trees.

He was too close. Peter was afraid to look back and see how close. He was younger, more spry, that had to be enough of an advantage right? He could out run him.

Pain stole all thought from his mind. He screamed, vision going white, and fell forward onto the ground. He rolled through the leaves and stopped on his back, holding his thigh. Blood dripped between his fingers.

He tried to examine the wound, but the sight of blood and tissue made his head spin. He dragged himself to his feet, sobbing through the pain, and started running again. Adrenaline pushed the pain to the back of his mind but not for long. He felt cold and tired. He took his jacket off and tied the arms above the wound as tight as he could get it. It wasn't enough. He knew it wasn't. Tony was going to catch him.

He dropped to the ground, but he kept crawling. He won't kill me. He wants me alive. He told himself.

Tony tisked behind him. "Were you even trying to get away? You left quite a trail." Leaves crunched as he came closer. A foot planted on the back of his wounded thigh made him scream. For a moment he thought he might pass out. Maybe it would be better if he did. He couldn't look at him, couldn't pull his head up from the dirt. He didn't know the monster that stood over him.

"Sweetheart," Tony crouched beside him. "You can't get away from me." He ran his fingers gently through his hair only to grab a fistful at the nape of his neck and pull his head to the side. His pupils were so wide that his eyes gleamed. Peter's stomach twisted as he realized the mistake he'd made. It was the chase that thrilled him.

"Let me go." He could taste dirt stuck in his teeth, but that was the least of his problems.

"If I let you go you'll bleed out. Is that what you want? Do you want to die in these woods where no one will ever find your body?"

"You don't want to kill me, Tony. You love me, don't you?"

He smiled sweetly. "You know how much I love you, but if dying cold and alone is what you really want..."

He let go of his hair and his head dropped back to the ground. He barely had the strength to lift it again. "No, please," Peter whimpered. "Help me please, Tony."

A gentle hand stroked his hair. He couldn't see what the man was doing, but he felt him moving. Then something slid over his back like an uncoiling rope. His arms were pulled up over his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I caught a rabbit, didn't I?" Peter struggled as he looped the rope around his wrists, but he was quick and the rope dug into his skin as he pulled. Tony stepped off of him and tied the length around a thin tree. He pulled a knife from his hip and a grin spread across his face. "I have to make sure my rabbit doesn't get away while I skin him."

"What? No!" Peter squirmed, but Tony pinned him with a hand between his shoulders. He felt the knife scrape over his lower back where his shirt had ridden up and he still. "Please- please," he sobbed.

The knife slipped under the fabric of his jeans. Tony pulled up and the cotton split. He ran the knife down to his ankle on one side then cut through the other.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting a better look at this leg." Peter couldn't help the pathetic sounds he made as fingers prodded at the wound in his thigh. "You want the good news or the bad news first?"

"What's the bad news?"

"Well actually," Tony laughed. "It's the same either way. You're not gonna bleed out."

"What do you mean?" He couldn't put together what part of that was the bad news and Tony didn't give him a chance to think it over before he told him without saying a word. The cold edge of his knife found the fabric of his briefs and in hardly a second the fabric was torn and his ass was bare.

Peter kicked with his good leg and tried to squirm away, but Tony climbed on top of him, knees hugging his thighs. "Tony stop! Stop, please- don't!"

"Don't start begging just yet, kiddo. You'll get me too excited. I want this to last."

Peter sobbed. He clawed at the ground but he couldn't crawl away and there was no shaking the man off. He was only hurting himself as he grew more fatigued. He felt Tony's cock, hard and hot against his ass. He let his head fall into the dirt, tears making mud on his cheeks.

"Spit or blood?" Tony mused. His hand covered the hole in his thigh and he pushed. Peter screamed, he felt blood gush out into his palm. He was so dizzy and cold now. He didn't react other than to moan in pain as Tony forced his cock inside him.

Tony sighed as he bottomed out. "So perfect for me aren't you?" Peter trembled. He cried into the dirt as Tony moved his hips, slowly, fucking him like they were lovers and his cock wasn't slick with Peter's own blood. It hurt as the blood dried and turned sticky, but Tony didn't stop as he cried harder.

"Please stop," Peter begged. "Please Tony please!"

Tony groaned. "Fuck, keep begging."

Peter bit his lip, disgusted to hear him getting off on his pain, but Tony grabbed him by the hair and growled in his ear. "You want this to be over don't you? Open your slutty fucking mouth and beg me or we'll do this until the sun sets."

"Please! Let me go," Peter sobbed. "Stop please- it hurts!"

"Fuck, that's it." Tony let go of his hair. He pulled his cock from his tortured ass, a hand on his lower back pinned him in place. Tony groaned as he came and Peter shuddered, feeling hot cum splatter on his ass and in the hole in his thigh. "Fuck," he groaned again.

Tony sat panting for a moment. Then he got up and untied Peter's hand. He was too tired and in too much pain to move. He didn't even complain when Tony rolled him onto his back and picked him up.

He carried him back in the direction they had come. "Don't worry, Petey. I'll get you patched up and in a week or two you'll be ready to run again."

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

2023 Movie Journey #6: Ant-Man And The Wasp

ant-man and the wasp. if you read my previous review, you know that i saw this nearly a year ago, and am therefore working off really old notes to review it now, because i didn’t fill in my thoughts at the time. i took less notes for this one, and i’m not really sure why, other than maybe my need to rush right from watching it to the theater to see quantumania?

so, i had literally nothing to say about the core characters who returned during most of the movie, except to note that the story is a ‘classic Part Two disaffected group’ but weirder since it happened offscreen. and what i meant by that is that i don’t know if it’s an actual trope, with a name, but i certainly feel like it’s a trope to establish a group--in a movie, or tv show, or book, whatever--and then in a future installment create major division between them, so that the drama is about how they’ll repair the damage and come back together. 

tv shows do this a lot, presumably because the benefit of successfully building a found family for viewers to love is that when they then shatter, viewers are invested and care about the plot that follows. the problem i had with this movie doing it is that the rift happened offscreen, between movies!! i watched the first one, then this one the next day, and had no fucking idea what the characters were talking about even when they did discuss what had happened. 

that, of course, is why i’m not a marvel fan and never could be, because even when they do make movies and shows i like...even when they make the rare movie like black panther that i love and could watch over and over...their core principle of trying to FORCE me to care about other parts of their ‘universe’ and punishing me if i don’t, by withholding pieces of stories about characters i like, grates against my stubborn nature and makes me even more certain i want nothing to do with whatever it is they’re trying to push on me. 

so i had to google stuff in order to even be able to follow along with the gap between ant-man and this movie, and @actuallylukedanes​ very helpfully explained stuff to me, since they are familiar with more of the mcu than i am. setting the in-group conflict up the way this movie did meant that they were able to sort of reset scott and hope back to a place that was similar to their dynamic in the first movie: resentment on her side and justifications and trying to be a team on his. but i can’t say i enjoyed it as much or felt it worked as well this time, with the inciting incidents happening offscreen (for me). you can’t expect me to be emotionally invested in your characters if you’re leaping right to estrangement without showing me the conflict...cuz that’s where the emotion is!

anyway. lol. we meet a new character in this movie, and it felt to me while watching it like she was meant to be set up for future appearances, the same way they insist on establishing new characters now by first inserting them into existing franchises. but in her case, we never see her again--i just checked and she’s meant to be part of a ‘team’ movie eventually. which is something, i guess, but so many of those get made now as a way to randomly throw characters together (and not just in marvel world!) that i definitely don’t assume they’ll be as interesting as movies that center on a single character. plus her centrality to this movie just made me expect that she was now part of ant-man’s world and it was weird when she wasn’t referenced in the next one.

however, i did at least find her interesting! my immediately-after-watching notes on her were: ah, ava. what is it about british women that makes them so perfect for unsettling, eerie characters? all i could think when we meet her is Big Drusilla Energy, and i feel like it’s not a coincidence that media going for ‘spooky unbalanced antagonist’ so often chooses ‘young waif-thin british woman with dark hair’ as their goal. i don’t know what it means, but it works.

there were too many car chases for me in this one. i am notoriously not a fan of car chases in general, and i don’t actually remember them from this movie now--but since literally my entire note about it was ‘too many car chases.’ as its own little paragraph, clearly it stood out to me at the time. i think my problem is that i want the action in action movies to make sense in a basic, ‘fitting the world’ kind of way. so, for example, it makes sense to me for the ant-man movies to have action scenes about heists, and size-shifting, and insects. 

it doesn’t make sense to me for them to have car chases. the fast and the furious makes sense for car chases! they can have as many as they want and i support it! but instead, since movies about car chases are popular, every other movie now has to have car chases, and it’s dumb. indiana jones is an archaeologist! unless he’s literally finding an ancient car, he doesn’t need a car chase scene! gah.

speaking of irrelevant things, it felt like there was really nothing for bobby cannavale to do in this movie, now that he and scott weren’t in opposition. like, i loved the end of ant-man with them awkwardly getting along and uniting behind cassie, but if he’s not getting in scott’s way and as an average cop he also doesn’t possess specialized skills to help him...he’s just a guy barging in on hugs, which seems like a weird reason to keep him involved in the story. i may not have cared about him in the first movie, but at least he existed for reasons. 

i only had one more note from this movie, and it was the following:

michelle pfeiffer!! in my world, michelle pfeiffer is a bright light that makes all things better, because despite there being no social media in the early ‘90s, i definitely developed a parasocial relationship with her as a tiny child.

and that is true. so she was easily one of my favorite parts of this movie. she and michael douglas work together well, which is great, and tbh it’s also great that as hope’s previously-missing mom, she’s only about a decade younger than her costar, so once they’re reunited we get to watch them be a mature couple. i’ll never get tired of that in media cuz it’s still really rare, and i enjoy it way more than, say, giving an older actor a ‘still in her prime’ love interest. 

despite the complaining notes i took, i did like this one, but it’s hard to say if i liked it more or less than the original. i’m not sure i could pick a favorite. on the one hand, the original has a simpler story and is easy to love; on the other, this one has MICHELLE PFEIFFER. but it also focuses so much on ava when her arc never reappears after this, and that kind of makes it feel like a waste of time pulling focus from my faves here. very much a trade-off because sadly i can’t just insert michelle pfeiffer into the first one and have everything i want. 

even if it wasn’t better than the original, though, (and realistically, how many sequels are?) i enjoyed watching it. this movie’s heart did stick close to where the first one was coming from, so it feels the same, which is cool to get in a series. 

more than any marvel franchise i’ve seen thus far, the ant-man movies seem to understand that underneath their plot choices and cgi and crossovers, what can make them beloved is the ability to make characters feel very specific, and then keep those characters familiar every time they bring them back. that’s why i was  happy to see them again.

[whvmp]

some book recs:

The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb- a long haul, but in my opinion, entirely worth it. A 16 book long fantasy epic, marvellously written and incredibly emotional, but if that sounds overwhelming, the first 3 books can be read on their own. Fitzchivalry Farseer is the bastard son of the crown prince, and he is chosen to be apprentice to the royal spymaster and assassin, a royal bastard in his own right. Contains just about every type of whump you can imagine: torture, poison, seizures, PTSD, beatings, depression, stabbing, infection, hypothermia, etc etc etc. Heavy on the tragedy

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner- historical fantasy setting based on ancient Mediterranean societies. Political intrigue, but not a courtroom drama. Eugenides is a spy who was caught by a neighbouring kingdom, and now he has to manuveur keeping himself safe and his goals intact. Whump includes: beatings, malnutrition, imprisionment, trapped, amputation, infection, head injury, depression

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black- fae world fantasy setting. Jude is a human raised by a general of the fae court, intent on gaining power. Cardan is prince of the fae, jaded by politics and station. The two are thrown together and use each other for their mutual gain. whump: beating, long fall, exhaustion, betrayal, captive

Graceling series by Kristin Cashore- all novels are connected, but can largely be read as standalone. third novel, Bitterblue, most applicable. Bitterblue is the newly crowned queen of a nation that had been ruled by a tyrant for 20 years, and now she struggles to unearth all the secrets left behind and cobble together a kingdom worth ruling, and to deal with the fallout of the previous king, her father. whump: PTSD, mind control, referenced sexual assault, hypothermia, despression

random question but do you have any spy whump / royal whumpee recs?

Sadly I haven't been keeping up with the community lately, so I'll let others give you recs! But I can definitely recommend Erebus & Terror by @brutal-nemesis as an example of royal whumpee, and I know @straight-to-the-pain enjoys spy whump!

[gateau-chocolat]

somebody (2022) grievances

This show looks gorgeous and it’s exciting to see a kdrama with an unique vibe, a comparatively diverse cast, explicit content, etc. but the writing was soooooo weird. 😭

- Going into this drama I was kinda like hmm idk if I want to see a show about a stereotypical emotionless sociopath serial killer and a stereotypical emotionless autistic genius, and like...unfortunately, those stereotypes are indeed EXACTLY what the main characters are like. Nothing more and nothing less lol.

- Oh wait, I guess there is the additional detail where it’s seemingly implied that since the main character is autistic, she has no meaningful concept of why killing or harming other humans is bad, and she has been like that since childhood??? Edit: I guess maybe this is kind of subverted by Sum’s final actions...maybe??? I had NO idea what we were supposed to make of Sum for the entire show orz;;;

- Tbh, i think there actually is potential for a “torn between the knowledge that the guy I just met is probably a murderer vs my love for him and my relief at getting to know a fellow loner/outsider” storyline that could be....maybe not “”“good”““ (b/c it would still be very much resting on those cliche character types), but at least kinda compelling? We’re not getting that, though!

- I basically stuck with this story for Mok-won and Gi-eun, but even they feel a little off, tbh? First off, the circumstances surrounding Gi-eun’s first encounter with Yoon-o feel so unrealistic and contrived (ah yes, I love to meet guys from online in the middle of the woods, sight unseen!), but even though there were some nice moments of familiarity between all of the women, they also feel oddly....distant?

- Like, I know Sum wasn’t super helpful to Gi-eun the first time she asked for help, but it makes no sense that she didn’t make more of an attempt to continue to engage Sum in tracking down her guy over the app that Sum made? For that matter, when Sum also gets attacked by someone on the app, why didn’t Gi-eun go “hey, maybe that’s the same guy I met”? Sum was telling Mok-won about meeting someone but being afraid she’ll kill him, and Mok-won seemingly just went “huh, ok lol” instead of like....having a conversation with Sum about what was going on with all that?

- I was sort of anticipating a plotline where the women would work together to investigate Yoon-o, but at many points it felt like the complete opposite - it feels like the show was going out of its way to avoid very natural conversations and interactions between these characters.

- Btw, Sum killed a guy, this fact is known to police(???), and it’s seemingly caused NO disruption to her life whatsoever beyond the immediate aftermath of the incident? I know it was in self-defense and I know Sum wasn’t bothered by it(???), but surely, like....police would be continuing to want to  interview her here and there, or SOMETHING?

- Why does Yoon-o do such a shit job of killing Gi-eun not once, but twice? If he doesn’t intend to kill her, why not?? And if he doesn’t intend to kill her, why is he being so casual about showing his face in front of her? Why does he threaten both her and Mok-won later in the series?? He’s acting like a Marvel villain whose identity can’t be traced, but he’s fully just a regular guy lol???

- This is a tiny detail, but something that's been haunting me today is in ep 6 or 7 when the ear is discovered....what was with the decision to have text on the screen identifying it? The guy getting attacked was shown onscreen, the fact that he lost an ear was explicitly referenced later, iirc there's even a scene of Yoon-o talking about the ear or something...? The ear was like one of the only plot points that actually had been thoroughly set up in previous scenes, and it's not even something that's hugely consequential to the overall story - why did they think THAT, of all things, was something viewers needed to have very explicitly spelled out???

- What’s with the flashback at the end of ep 7? If it’s supposed to be Yoon-o’s serial killer origin story (the first person he hooked up with via the app was a woman who wanted to be choked and that, like, awakened something within him or whatever) a) that’s dumb and b) there’s also a kind of weird misogynistic undertone of like....blaming that woman for enticing him to murder or something??

- This is (maybe??) a story where a special dating app is a major part of the plot, but almost nobody uses the dating app in a way that makes sense and the story has nothing interesting to say about the impact of apps on how people interact with each other or form relationships or anything. Also the app is literally just Tinder lol. 🤷‍♀️

[sineala]

Fic: Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa (37830 words) by Sineala Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Marvel (Comics), Captain America Corps Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Jacques Duquesne, Susan Storm (Fantastic Four), Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Edwin Jarvis Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Action, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Brain Damage, Brain Surgery, Body Horror, Nightmares, Medical Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Depression, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Ableism, Multiverse, Pining, Flirting, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Cap_Ironman Reverse Bang Challenge 2022 Summary:

Sometimes superheroes save the world. And sometimes they're too late.

Captain America's longtime villain Superia had a plan for revenge. She stopped the Avengers from ever finding Steve in the ice, tore the Avengers apart, and turned the world into her own personal authoritarian dystopia. A team made up of Captains America from across the multiverse came to set things right: they united all the remaining superheroes, took down Superia, and made sure the world would find Steve again.

Tony spent Superia's hellish reign as her prisoner, a suicidally-depressed disembodied brain trapped in a jar for years on end, begging the Avengers to kill him and put him out of his misery. The Captain America Corps instead gives him his freedom, a brand-new body, and even the Avengers -- including his very own Captain America. But Tony's not entirely sure he wants to be here. He's walking wounded, and he thinks some wounds are too deep to heal. He thinks there's no chance the Avengers will ever be what they could have been. He thinks there's no way Steve will ever be the friend and partner he could have been on so many other worlds.

Luckily for Tony, Steve happens to disagree with that.

This is my entry for the 2022 Cap-IM RBB, written to accompany the awesome art by @veryvincible, whom I very much enjoyed working with. This story takes place on Earth-11418, the universe where the miniseries Captain America Corps is set, although this is set post-canon and also a canon-divergent AU.

If you read Captain America Corps and thought that Sad Brain Jar Tony deserved a Captain America of his own, this is the story for you. (If the previous sentence made you say “what,” you may appreciate this post I made summarizing the events of this miniseries.)

Given that this story has Sad (Former) Brain Jar Tony, please mind the tags; Tony has a lot of past trauma here, much of which is very body-horror in nature. However, this story does have a happy ending.

[mx-plugs]

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TOS

I will refuse commissions I am uncomfortable with for any reason.

You will pay a deposit of half the commission’s price before I start work.

In the event you wish to cancel the commission, the deposit will not be returned unless under provable emergency circumstances. Finanical situations can change, but consider if you are in a posiston to commission me before doing so.

I will inform you of my progress and share drafts with you for feedback.

I am happy to rework and edit the fic as it is ongoing. However, if large changes are requested after or near completion for long fics (+1000 words) and I was not informed in previous feedback charges may be incurred.

SFW details

Will do

G1 cartoon continuity.

Soft g1 Marvel continuity.

Soft IDW1/IDW2 continuity.

Soft TFA continuity.

OCs that have referencing for how to write them.

Canon typical violence

Soft meaning set within canon, but not extremely strict to canon events. OCs that come with good refrences for how to characterise them are very welcome!

Maybe

Hard IDW1/IDW2 continuity.

Hard TFA continuity.

OCs with little existing character reference.

Hard meaning anything that relies heavily on canon events as I’ll have to research. OC’s with little reference material will also mean more work on my end.

Won’t do

Graphic animal abuse.

Graphic child abuse

Trying to trick me into writing a kink fic under the guise of it being non-kink will lead to be being blacklisted. I do nsfw commissions, I know what’s going on.

NSFW details

Will do.

Plug n play, sticky or any other form of robot sex.

Human/Transformer sex.

Soft body.

Mechpreg.

Weight gain and feeding.

BDSM. i.e. painplay, whipping, bondage ect.

CNC. i.e. somnophilia

Roleplay. i.e. pet play, ageplay and furniture play.

Dead dove content. i.e. dubcon, noncon, incest, abuse, necrophilia, snuff ect.

Heavy gore and violence.

Hard and soft vore

Scat and watersports.

Maybe.

Inflation.

Human/human sex.

Won't do.

Again, anything that would be tagged as 'underage' on Ao3

Inflation with popping.

Thank you for reading! Feel free to message me to ask questions.

[traincat]

I’ve been trying to piece together a few things from your Twitter and Tumblr posts alike and still can’t make heads or tales of things, so would you mind helping out a FF & spideytorch noob? 1) what is currently happening with Johnny in the comics? (I’ve fallen head over heels for this guy, largely all your doing) 2) when’s the last time he and Peter have interacted, canon wise? (And do you think upcoming interactions are likely?) 3) your thoughts on if they’ll have him come out in the near future? (has that ‘biggest change to the fantastic four’ teaser come to pass yet?) Love all your content, thank you!

I'd say no problem but then I started thinking about this current run again and got a headache. But yes, I can do that to save you from reading it, because it is very largely not good.

So I don't think it's unfair to just flat out say the current Fantastic Four run is not very good, largely due to writer Dan Slott's efforts. Slott was previously on Amazing Spider-Man for 10 years, to mixed opinions, but a large portion of Spider-Man fandom, myself included, blames him near singlehandedly for the decline in quality of Spider-Man books over those ten years. I will say, in the interest of fairness, that Slott as a writer has an incredible fondness for the Spider-Man/Human Torch relationship, and that a lot of the recent teamups and interactions between them have been written or co-written by him. So it's all not all negative here. But in general, I personally find Slott's more recent comics (the last seven-ish years especially) to be badly plotted out, messily characterized disasters that feature characters written with all the emotion of a cardboard cutout. That's me putting it nicely.

To explain this fully, you have to understand the position Fantastic Four comics were in from the years 2015 through 2018, both in the fictional 616 universe and in the real publishing world. Following the 2015 Secret Wars event (great if you want some Johnny angst in the background of your plot), the Fantastic Four were disbanded -- Reed, Sue, and their many biological and found family children were presumed dead but in reality were remaking the multiverse, unable, for a reason that was never clearly defined, to reach home. Ben and Johnny were left on Earth. They had an unspecified falling out, likely due to Reed and Sue's absence, and went their separate ways -- Ben joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and went to space. Johnny was featured on both Inhumans and Avengers books. What's notable about this period is that it's the first time since 1961 that there was no Fantastic Four book being published by Marvel. Now the real world reason behind this is both complicated and extremely petty: Marvel really wanted the Fantastic Four film rights. Marvel denied this explanation at the time, stating that the reason was sales motivated, but it was a thoroughly flimsy excuse and Jonathan Hickman, writer of 2015's Secret Wars and overseer of the current X-Men plot, gave an interview saying the decision was film rights motivated. This decision kept the Fantastic Four books off the shelves for three years, up until the Disney-Fox merger, which secured the X-Men and Fantastic Four rights for Disney's Marvel Studios. Marvel then announced that the Fantastic Four book would be returning. So that's a little bit of background as to the precarious place the Fantastic Four currently occupy in the Marvel universe -- it's worth noting that this year is their 60th anniversary, and Marvel has done very little for it. Compare this to the X-Men, whose film rights Marvel also obtained during the Disney-Fox merger, and whose books are currently dominating the publishing lineup. The Fantastic Four definitely occupy an unpopular position, one Marvel themselves is at least partially responsible for forcing them into.

But to move back into the actual content of the book -- the readjustment period Slott wrote reintroducing the Fantastic Four into the Marvel universe can be described as clumsy, at best. It's never fully explained why Reed, Sue, and the kids couldn't return to Earth, something that was explored in Chip Zdarsky's 2017 Marvel Two-in-One, which featured Ben, Johnny, and Doom on a multiversal roadtrip to try and find their family and which I on the whole recommend, despite it having an awkward ending due to being cut short by Slott's announced Fantastic Four main title.

(Marvel Two-in-One 2017 #4)

Instead, the Fantastic Four return to a Marvel universe a little different than how they left it, with the Baxter Building -- formerly the offices of Parker Industries, the company Doc Ock started in Peter's body during Superior Spider-Man that Peter inherited after his defeat and then lost spectacularly when he trashed his own company to fight nazis (good for him) -- occupied by a different fantastic foursome in a plot that goes nowhere and does nothing. This is somewhat emblematic of the early days of Slott's run -- he introduces ideas that fail to go anywhere, including Johnny's rekindled relationship with his other best friend and former college roommate, Wyatt Wingfoot, who he was seen being very cuddly with in the early issues.

(FF 2018 #1) A small group of Fantastic Four fans have argued for a while that if Marvel was to have Johnny come out, a relationship with Wyatt would feel very natural -- they're already close, with Wyatt being an important Fantastic Four supporting character since the '60s. I have some further analysis here on the conspiracy theory that Johnny and Wyatt were supposed to be in relationship at the beginning of this run but that that plot was, for whatever reason, nixed. I don't know that I entirely believe this theory, for the record -- but I do think the pieces line up remarkably well.

Anyway, that didn't/hasn't yet happened, obviously. Slott instead for the most part put Johnny on the back burner for the beginning of his run, up until the Spyre arc, which I have reason to believe is the main story he pitched that he credits with securing him the Fantastic Four title. The Spyre arc suggests that the Fantastic Four's failed space exploration during which they got their powers wasn't just to beat the commies to the moon, as Lee and Kirby envisioned (simpler days), but to reach a specific planet outside of our galaxy. When the team sets out to conquer this mission, they arrive at the planet, but are quickly captured. The planet, they find out, operates like a soulmate AU -- everyone has a fated person that they are matched to via a gold armband. Reed and Sue are soulmates (and Ben is confined to an underground subterranean with the other monsters, because this is a Fantastic Four comic) while it's discovered! Shocker! That Johnny is actually the soulmate of the one the planet's inhabitants, a winged woman named Sky, with the suggestion that this is both why Johnny's previous relationships have never worked and why he loves space exploration -- he was just trying to get to his Soulmate TM.

(FF 2018 #15) "What's going on here? Where are my clothes?" As you can see, this didn't start off super great, with Johnny being separated from his family, stripped naked, and put in Sky's bed with a soulmate armband slapped on him. Did I mention they're only removable if your soulmate takes it off for you? And that Sky has consistently refused despite Johnny asking her to? Yeah. It's bad. (I think it's important to note Johnny's long history as a victim of assault plays into this narrative, whether or not Slott is personally holding that in mind while writing, which I don't believe he is. cw in the linked post for discussions of sexual assault.) There's an additional issue here in that Slott has a history of problematic writing regarding women of color, featuring characters he's created to act as love interests being oversexualized, infantilized, villainized, or some mix of all three, with two examples of this phenomena being Cindy Moon and Lian Tang, both of whom he introduced in quick succession in Amazing Spider-Man. Slott certainly didn't have to write Sky as manipulative or controlling towards Johnny, but that's what he chose to do, and that factors into the bigger picture of unfortunate themes in his writing.

Sky returns to Earth with the Fantastic Four despite Johnny appearing unenthused about the idea and initially generally reluctant to interact with her. Apparently they went on a few dates after this and kind of made up. I don't know because I stopped reading for about ten issues in there but I feel confident I missed very little. It's hard to talk about the Sky plot without referencing Johnny's previous interactions with a character named Lyja, a Skrull whose relationship to Johnny I have a long breakdown of here. It's doubly hard, because Lyja actually showed back up in Fantastic Four during this plot. Lyja's modus operandi has remained consistent throughout almost all of her appearances, which I guess makes sense, because she literally has no storylines that do not involve her being obsessed with Johnny, and this recent story isn't any different: Lyja shows up, Lyja disguises herself as another woman in Johnny's life to get close to Johnny, Lyja gets caught and claims it was all fine because she did it for love. This time she disguised herself as Sky.

(FF 2018 #32) Not gonna lie, kind of proud of him for this one. That's one of my problems with Slott -- very occasionally, he busts out good moments, only to undermine them with the rest of his narrative.

In the same issue, Alicia Masters, the first woman Lyja impersonated in order to get close to Johnny, uses her supervillain stepfather's radioactive clay to control Lyja's mind and send her back to space, and I do think she utilized girl power when she did this. Johnny, left reeling after Lyja's latest attempts to trick him into a relationship, ends this issue by sleeping with Victorious, Dr. Doom's right hand woman.

I know she pegged him. I know it. This scene was a little controversial in Johnny fandom, because a lot of people viewed it as Johnny cheating on Sky and thought that that action was out of character for Johnny. I'm personally of a little different opinion, which is that regardless of whether or not you view Johnny and Sky in a committed enough relationship that Johnny's tryst would count as infidelity when all Johnny and Sky are bound by are magic plot soulmate bracelets, I think Lyja's involvement changes things significantly when it comes to Johnny's characterization. All of Johnny's "playboy" periods, if we can call them that, coincide directly with Lyja having been in and then left his life again, which I think makes a certain amount of sense -- it's Johnny trying to wrest control back after a situation where he had none. None of this is explicitly canon, I have to note, but sometimes in comics you have to do the work yourself. So I think this is a case of something being accidentally extremely in character that Slott accidentally stumbled into because he had these love triangles in mind, not because he put a lot of thought into it.

Speaking of love triangles! Johnny sleeping with Victorious gets more complicated when Dr. Doom announces his intent to marry Victorious -- not because he has any romantic interest in her (this engagement caused a lot of uproar in Fantastic Four because Victorious had been previously referred to as being like Doom's adopted daughter) but in order to install her as Latverian regent in his absence. I'm not going to lie, I love a political wedding. Victorious, for some reason, thinks Doom will be deeply upset that she slept with some closeted blond twink and the member of the Fantastic Four he views least as an enemy and more as an annoyance. Johnny, who Sky is currently not talking to because she "felt" him sleeping with Victorious through their magic plot soulmate bracelets, also feels nervous about Doom finding out about this, which I guess is slightly more valid. Anyway, for some completely ridiculous reason, Victorious decides the best time to tell Doom about this little indiscretion is when they're standing at the altar, which coincidentally the Fantastic Four are also standing at, because Doom asked Reed to be his best man in a not at all homoerotic little setup involving midnight swordfighting and Reed slipping Doom's emerald ring onto his own finger. Sorry to sidetrack into DoomReed territory here but it's just like. It's just a lot.

(FF 2018 #33) Also, Ben walked the bride down the aisle. :,) Look at his gigantic hand.

Anyway then Doom decides he's going to kill everyone in a completely reasonable and not at all overblown reaction to Johnny and Zora having what was most likely both disappointing for Zora and weepy for Johnny sex. And that brings us up to where Fantastic Four comics left us yesterday -- in answer to your "big change" question, that's most likely coming up in the next issue, so it hasn't come to pass yet.

Having gotten all that out of the way -- the last time Johnny and Peter interacted canon-wise was in the recent Empyre Fallout Fantastic Four, at the end of the Empyre event:

It was cute! Slott does right good interactions between them. This is possibly the Stockholm Syndrome talking. I don't know if more interactions are likely imminent -- the Empyre event was fairly recent. On the other hand, Slott does like writing interactions between them. So I'd give it about a 50/50 shot. I was skimming the letter page in the latest issue and someone wrote in asking if Peter was likely to appear in the pages of Fantastic Four again any time soon, so there is definitely a demand.

As for Johnny coming out -- I don't know. It's not a call I feel comfortable making at this moment, which I guess means I wouldn't bet money on it. I'd like to say yes, especially because I think Slott set up, whether that was his intention or more likely not, several good places in his run where Johnny could have come out. The beginning, when he's implied to be living with Wyatt again and where he and Wyatt are paralleled against Ben and Alicia. Ben's bachelor party, where Johnny laments not finding the right person -- specifically person and not woman -- and where Ben tells him to "be brave, Johnny Storm." And the soulmate planet plot, where I think could have had a very different and much better ending if Johnny had told Sky that she couldn't be his romantic soulmate, because he knows he wants to be with a man. But those are just places that I think would have made good opportunities for a coming out story. Instead, Johnny's been involved (dubiously) with three different women over the space of the last 10 issues, which is more heterosexuality at one time than he's been confronted with in the last 60 years. So my thoughts are still that it's going to happen eventually, but quite possibly not anytime soon.

Hope that helps! And that my incredibly long answer about what's currently going on with Johnny in comics sheds some light on things!

[ilikekidsshows]

One thing that pisses me off not just about the miraculous fandom but modern fandoms is fans inability to consume long overarching stories.

Like so many people are complaining about how long the reveal is taking or why haven't certain characters outgrown this trait yet or why is this character arc botched or abandoned. Like guys we just got the confirmation this show will be 7 seasons long PLUS like 3 tv specials. We're only roughly halfway through the series.

Once the reveal happens half the tension in the show is gone! I'm not saying leave the reveal till season 7 and make us wait 9 years this isn't HIMYM but miraculous is not a fast paced story. It's a long haul story. I just wish more fans would be patient. Miraculous is in the extremely fortunate and rare position that it will have a conclusive end and not be suddenly cancelled. That was and still is a huge problem for shows and cartoons with dedicated fans but networks pull the plug for stupid ass reasons.

So miraculous fans please chill the fuck out on things not resolving right away. We still have 78+ episodes plus the tv specials. If we get the end to certain things now it'll be so boring.

I think the concept of Instant Gratification describes the issue with many modern fandoms today. I hate to sound like I'm anti-technology, but the constant stream of quick and short bursts of entertainment allowed by the information age has made people more impatient. It's not about waiting for the climax to get a deeper sense of satisfaction, it's about getting that instant gratification right this instant. It's why one-shot fanfics are all over the place, when multi-chapter stories used to be just as common and popular, if not even more so, and it’s also why people are less willing to read a fic that’s still a work in progress. It's why people refuse to watch Youtube video essays even as they leave comments on the topic based on the title and thumbnail alone because, while they couldn't be assed to watch a 20-minute video (let alone an hour long one), they sure can spend that time calling the Youtuber names and making arguments the video actually already refutes. It's why a lot of online arguments happen only because one party read nothing but the first and maybe the last paragraph of someone's post and skipped all the explanation for their point of view (if I've ignored an counter argument for one of my posts, it was either because I missed it or because said counter argument did this. I have attention deficit issues so I do genuinely forget responses sometimes, but I'm also not writing a second essay for someone who's proven to me they won't read it).

Of course, it's only by constantly consuming only fast-paced content that you can become this impatient. People have different ideas about stories based on what stories they have encountered in the past.

Another thing that influences the Miraculous fandom in particular is that, while I love to show off exactly how much Miraculous has done to build up the overarching plotlines, Miraculous isn't really a show that's about a single story. It's easy to understand why people think it is one though: there's one main villain, we keep discovering more about the mythology, one of the main plot threads is the romantic relationship between the leads and singular episodes and plot elements tend to get payoff later. What is the purpose of a show if not to progress the story? Because the heroes aren't getting closer to defeating Gabriel or getting together, people think that the story isn't accomplishing anything.

I'll do a comparison to illustrate why these things aren't as clear-cut signs of a continuous storyline as people think. In the Spider-Man comics, you can pick any issue up and the chances are that the villain will be a part of Spider-Man's already established Rogues Gallery, who's back for more after who knows how many defeats, and those past defeats might even get referenced in callbacks to previous issues. It's also very possible that Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is the central focus with them not being together yet, having relationship problems or even having broken up (in really old issues the girl might be Gwen Stacy and short-term options have also always been available for romantic entanglements). Does this mean Spider-Man is a continuous story where the only point is that all the villains get put away for good and Peter and MJ live happily ever after? No, it doesn't. Spider-Man is designed to go on indefinitely, so there's no clear ending point. So, what is the point of Spider-Man then, if there is no Ending?

It used to be the single issue, because comic books used to have every issue be a stand-alone story about the hero and their supportive cast. These days it's more every three-to-six issues, because superhero comics are written to have short story arcs that can then be collected into trade paperbacks. A superhero series is not a single story; it's a series that functions as a story engine, meaning the series can generate several shorter stories where the hero helps fix a problem or solve a mystery.

In the superhero genre a villain will never get killed off or removed from stories permanently as long as the writers think they can still come up with stories to tell about them. The hero's romantic life will never be completely smooth sailing unless the writer is using other things to ramp up the stakes. Everything always allows for there to be another adventure.

I think the huge success of Avatar: the Last Airbender made people think that a series that is a single story is always superior to a series with multiple shorter plots. When I was liveblogging Sailor Moon, a viewer offered to give me a list of all the non-filler episodes because they genuinely thought I'd feel like I was wasting time on the show otherwise. This attitude is simply not based on fact. It's not fair to compare Miraculous Ladybug to Avatar, because they're both setting up to do completely different things. Miraculous Ladybug is trying to become a brand, like Batman or Spider-Man. It is part of the "Zag Heroes" lineup, a series of French-created superhero franchises to compete in the America-centric superhero market. This challenge is good for the genre, because Marvel and DC have started resembling each other more and more as these companies stew in their old ideas and copy everything that worked for the other one. The superhero genre needs new blood.

Also, Avatar: the Last Airbender first became popular by doing episodic plots for almost the entirety of the first season because it's actually not a wise choice to expect the audience to be willing to commit to a story that'll only give payoff later when working with an untested IP. Very often shows with longer story arcs start with the episodic format to hook people first, and sometimes the more linear plot is introduced specifically because the audience for the show is now expected to be both dedicated enough and older and capable of keeping up. Because, here's the thing: you can't expect little kids to remember every episode or even every character you've introduced in your show. I'm not sure if people are ready to hear that but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Kids are not dumb, they can understand more complex storylines, but many kids are still training their memory, so they might not remember the details of complex storylines that go on for too long.

This is why the news that Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season was going to have a recommended viewing order originally had me concerned. Miraculous is being branded for kids. The plot requiring too much skill in memorizing story details will make it less accessible to kids and might put those two additional seasons at risk. However, it seems that the "constantly changing status quo" concept of Truth, Lies and Gang of Secrets was a fluke and the evolution of the show is more subtle, so they might not be cutting the amount of episodes for those final seasons because the show is getting too complicated for kids to follow all the important details.

Regardless, Miraculous Ladybug being an adventure cartoon TV show instead of a comic book or a more cheaper-to-produce TV drama does mean that Miraculous Ladybug isn’t expected to go on for decades like a superhero comic or a soap opera. Because of this, it can have evolution and changes and even a planned ending. The show is expected to end at some point, even by the people making money off of it, mostly because making a cartoon like this indefinitely costs a lot of money, and kids’ adventure shows tend to see a decrease in returns if they go on for too long.

[kinglikescomics]

Joe Kelly's Deadpool (Reading Order)

IF YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT THE READING ORDER, JUST FOLLOW THE BOLD TEXT.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The first long-term run that Deadpool had began in 1997 and was written by Joe Kelly. This is generally considered one of the better runs on the character, and introduced or developed many of the character traits and supporting cast we associate with Deadpool today (e.g. 4th Wall breaks, Blind Al & Weasel, etc). With that said, here's the order:

Deadpool (1994 Limited Series) #1-4

Deadpool (1997 Series) #1-5

Deadpool (1997 Series) #-1

The '94 Limited Series wasn't written by Joe Kelly (it's actually written by Mark Waid and features some of my favourite Deadpool writing), but Kelly's run begins right off the back of it. It's Deadpool's second ever limited series, and unlike the first one, doesn't really tie much into any other plotlines. It's just a Deadpool book. This also sets up Deadpool's first meeting with Siryn, and a couple other moments and plot elements that come up during Kelly's run. #1-5 is the first story arc of Kelly's run, and more or less deals directly with the events of the previous series. As for #-1, this was part of a series of issues in a pseudo-event called "Flashback". While the issue, I believe came out after issue #6, narratively it fits a bit better here, since 6 is the beginning of the second arc. While there may be narratively an even better place for this issue, placing it here at least means you'll have read it any time the issue is referenced going forward.

Deadpool (1997 Series) #6-7

Daredevil/Deadpool Annual 1997

Deadpool (1997 Series) #8

Deadpool (1997 Series) #9

X-Force #71

Deadpool (1997 Series) #10-11

Deadpool (1997 Series) #0

Issues 6-8 + the 1997 annual make up one story arc, while 9-11 make up another. Issue #0 is basically entirely disconnected from everything and is only worth reading if you're a completionist. It IS at least written by Joe Kelly, which is why it's here at all. X-Force issue is essentially a cameo. It's referenced in Deadpool #10 but not required reading by any stretch of the imagination. Side note, I also struggled to figure out quite when it was released. The Marvel Unlimited app says December '96, but the wiki says Jan '98. The issue also makes reference to the events of Deadpool #6 and says that they happened a year ago, so I'm inclined to believe the wiki.

Deadpool (1997 Series) #12-14

Deadpool (1997 Series) #15-17

Deadpool & Death Annual 1998

Deadpool (1997 Series) #18-19

Deadpool (1997 Series) #20

Heroes for Hire #10-11

Deadpool (1997 Series) #21-22

Here are some more arcs. Deadpool makes significant guest appearances in Heroes for Hire, and I believe issue 10 indicates that the story takes place sometime after DP17, but since that's the middle of a story arc that has no space to be interrupted, I looked for the next most appropriate place for it. The story ends kind of abruptly though, particularly for Deadpool's involvement.

Deadpool (1997 Series) #23-25

Deadpool (1997 Series) #26-27

Deadpool (1997 Series) #28-30

Deadpool (1997 Series) #31-33

Wolverine Annual 1999

Here's the last stretch of the run! once again broken up into story arcs (although given their lengths, it may be more appropriate to call them segments of story, especially since everything after Issue 25 feels almost like an epilogue). Wolverine Annual isn't written by Joe Kelly, or refer much to the actual plot of the run, but Deadpool makes a significant guest appearance in it, and there is explicit reference made to the events of Deadpool #27

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Quarantine: A Love Story: {That Fourth Of July👀}

Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Cursing, Lite Angst, Plot, Stand Alone/Addition Chapter, Flirting, Slow Burn, Tease

Words: 2.7k

Note: This is a standalone/addition chapter. I wanted to give you guys a glimpse of what Fourth Of July was for Chris and Reader as it is referenced a lot and does hold significance for both of them. This is where it all began.

I hope you guys enjoy this. If you enjoyed this LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG.

As always, thank you for reading!!! ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Slightly Interactive***

Previous Chapters:  Q1 |  Q2 |  Q3 |  Q4 |  Q5 |  Q6 |  Q7 |  Q8 |  Q9 | Q10 | Q11 | Q12 | Q13 | Q14 | Q15 | Q16 | Q17 | Q18  | Q19 | Q20 | Q21 | Q22 | Q23 | Q24 | Q25 | 

~~~~~~~~~~~

-Fourth Of July, 2017- 

“I can’t believe you said that to him,” Tara said as everyone around you busted out laughing.

 You did your best to stifle yours, but it was difficult. You took another swig from your beer bottle and leaned back to brace your elbows on the lounger behind you. Your elbows bumped into someone, making you tilt your head backward to see Scott sitting there. He winked at you before he took a sip from his bottle, and you did the same.

 “What was I supposed to say? Hey, I like the way your swim trunks look on you?”

 “I think that would have been better than you’d look a lot better with them off,” you replied.

 Snickers followed.

 “Okay, Ms., I always know the right thing to say,” Scott began. “Let’s say you approached whoever it is that you’ve been eying all night. What would your opening line be?”

 “Oh no, you will not drag me into this,” you objected.

 “No, no. I think that’s a good question. What would you say?”

 You sighed and guzzled from your beer bottle, trying not to answer.

 “There are many variables. With you, you probably just wanted to get your tip wet,” you blurted out.

 “Okay, let’s say you also wanted what I wanted, the same thing. What would this opening line be?”

 You thought for a few moments staring down the beach at nothing in particular. After a few moments, Chris’s face came into focus as he walked toward the group of you from the direction you’d been looking. Of their own accord, your eyes roamed over him, taking in every detail the dwindling daylight allowed. His khaki shorts fit his frame perfectly, clinging to the right places. You could tell he was slim but also that he had plenty of muscle mass. When your eyes took in the unbuttoned salmon color short-sleeve button-down he wore that showed his white undershirt, it gave you full sight of the muscles he was still sporting thanks to Marvel.

 He was a good looking man. There was no denying that Scott’s brother was a good looking man. It was clear with how many conquests he’d had and how many women lusted after him. You sunk your teeth into your bottom lip and traced the spout of the bottle along your mouth, completely unaware of what you were doing. As he got closer, your eyes met, and Chris’s eyes zeroed in on your mouth.

 “You look like you were made for sin, and I have a long list of ways we can do it together. The list begins with suck, but there is no end to what I want to do to you,” you said as you stared at Chris.

 No one around you spoke, but you wouldn't have known if they had. All you saw was Chris. The way he looked at you made you feel--plain and simply feel, and you hated it. Over the last few months, you’d taken notice of this lingering thing between you. Whenever you looked at each other, spoke to one another, or even hung out together, it was present. You didn’t know how to explain what it was, but just because something couldn’t be explained didn’t mean it wasn’t present, no matter how you wished it wasn’t so.

 Everyone around you erupted with applause forcing you to look away from Chris’s eyes.

 “Impressive,” Tara complimented.

 “Shiit, I’d take you up on that offer,” Scott added, making you giggle.

 “No end, huh.”

 Embarrassment filled you, but something else entirely brought your eyes to Chris, who was still looking at you, and the way he was doing it made a slow tingle journey up your spine.

 “What about a game of football before we lose the light?”

 With that, everyone began to scatter to make it down the beach to begin a friendly game of football. Only this was not a friendly game of football. It was a teasing one. You and Chris were cast on opposite teams. After one play, it was clear to see that everyone was either drunk or very tipsy because no one made a touchdown or even came close to it. All anyone accomplished was stumbling over their own feet, bumping into each other, and nearly losing the ball to the water. It was a mess, but a fun mess.

 Play after play resulted in absolutely nothing but a face full of sand, or your legs tangled with someone else’s and plenty of laughter. Halfway through the game, in a play that Scott formulated, he thought it was a good idea to throw you the ball expecting you to cross the volleyball net being used as the goal point. With the ball in hand and several beers and glasses filled of dark and light liquor in your system, you attempted to run for the goal. You heard the loud cheering of those around you and dodged everyone who was coming at you. You felt like you were Tebow, Romo, or even Sanders. It didn’t take you long to start feeling yourself and begin imitating the Heisman pose every chance you got. Everyone erupted with laughter at your antics. When you thought you were home free, someone threw you over their shoulder and ran you to the water, then threw you in.

 Your scream was loud as you sputtered from the water in your mouth and the sheer shock of the temperature of the water. When you stood, you saw Chris standing there with the football under his arm.

 “Cool off.”

 You couldn’t help but laugh, as did everyone around you. Taking the opportunity of Chris being distracted, you ran to him then tackled him sending him back into the water as an incoming wave crashed over the two of you. When you came up, you saw everyone running to the water shouting as they began flinging water everywhere.

 Chris had a smile on his face watching you stand. “Ha, you cool down!”

 He laughed but then charged you, making you take off down the shore as if you could outrun him. Within a few seconds, Chris managed to throw you over his shoulder again and began wadding out to the open sea. Your laughs melded together until he tossed you over again. The two of you remained in the water playing together, laughing and just enjoying each others company.

 By the time you returned to the sand, you were soaked, and because you hadn’t gotten to take off your clothes before being mercilessly thrown into the water, your clothes were also drenched. In the bathroom, you thought of your options. You could always just walk around in your bikini. It wouldn’t be inappropriate because you were at the beach after all. It may draw eyes to you, though, you thought. You began to regret your bikini choice, mainly the bottoms that left very little to nothing to the imagination.

 As you dried off, you peeled off your clothes off of your body and examined yourself. After contemplating your options for a few minutes, you heard a knock at the door. When you opened it you saw Chris standing there, shirtless. His eyes looked over your body twice before you realized you’d fully opened the door rather than cracked it. Fixing your mistake, you left your head poking out.

 “Hi.”

 Chris cleared his throat, then dipped his head before he spoke. “Em, since it’s my fault, here you go.”

 He held out the shirt he’d been wearing earlier. Just looking at it, you knew it was going to be oversized on you.

 “Uh,” you began while slowly reaching for it.

 “Take it as a peace offering,” Chris added flicking a lopsided grin on his face, a grin you met with rolled eyes.

 “You’re lucky this is my only option, but don’t you think this makes up for what you did,” you teased, taking the shirt

 “Oh really. What do I have to do to make it up to you then?”

 The way he asked had you meeting his eyes, and that was where they stayed. You bit your bottom lip then looked away. “I’m sure you can figure something out with all your—experience.”

 You smiled, then held up his shirt. “Thanks.”

 You closed the door, then threw on the shirt and tried to find a way to rock it without it looking like it wasn’t a planned look. It took you longer than you liked, but when you finally made it out of the bathroom and back to your friends, you were comfortable with how you looked. Everyone was now around a bonfire broken off in their own conversations as a movie played on the projected screen. You didn’t see Scott right away, so after getting your phone, you found a free blanket and laid down, getting comfortable.

 About ten or so minutes, Scott joined you, filling you in on his quick sexcapade. As you listened to him, you thought, of course he’d disappeared for a little fun. You didn’t knock him for it; hell, it wasn’t a bad way to enjoy the Fourth of July. By the time he finished giving you all the details, everyone had begun making their way to the beach to watch the fireworks that would blast out over the water. You told Scott to go ahead and save your spot so you could grab another beer.

 At the back of the lawn, where there was a makeshift bar set up, you rummaged through the bucket searching for the beer you wanted, but you couldn’t find not even one.

 “I think I took the last one,” a familiar voice said.

 You turned and saw Chris standing there in a tank that showed off some of his tattoos and your favorite beer in hand.

 “Seems you did.”

 “If I gave this to you, would I then have made it up to you?”

 You smiled and stepped closer to him, close enough to take the beer with no resistance. “Nope.”

 Chris smiled while staring down at you. You didn’t move and decided you wanted to see what he would do. The way he’d been looking at you all night had finally had your curiosity overflowing. You’d heard the rumors and stories of the conquests Scott’s brother had and how he enjoyed one night stands. You were not above them, especially if the man was good looking and not an asshole. Chris licked his lips, then spoke.

 “So what do I have to do?”

 “I think what you have to do might be the same as what you want to do. If that’s the case, try it.”

Long moments stretched with the two of you gawking at each other, both waiting for the other to make their move. You decided that if he made a move, you wouldn’t reject him, but you would not be the one to make a move. The first thunder of fireworks exploded across the sky, lighting up the lawn with bright red light. Everyone at the shore erupted with applause and cheers, but you and Chris still held each other’s gaze.

 He lifted his hand, hesitated, then lowered it to your cheek. He then slid his thumb across your skin. You didn’t know if he were wiping something away or just touching you because he wanted to.

 “What do you want, Y/N? hmm?”

 He looked lost in your skin as his fingers continued to enjoy its suppleness.

 “For you to take what you want,” you slid in, walking away from him toward the shore.

 Every few steps, you looked back at him only to turn back around in a teasing way. You were teasing him and hoped he took the bait.

  -Chris-

He wanted to take the bait more than anything. He had been watching you all night, and he had seen you staring right at him with what you’d said about your chosen pick up line. He wondered if you were gearing it to him. he wondered about it so much that it drove him crazy the whole day. He purposely threw you in the water, knowing you hadn’t brought a spare change of clothes. It was slightly manipulative, but the part of him who decided was not the logic-driven Chris. It was the desire-driven one.

 From the day he’d met you, he knew you would be a problem. He knew you would tempt him in a way he hadn’t been before, a way that made him uncomfortable and went past wanting to stake a claim sexually. For months, your intellect tempted him. The mental sparring that was so natural with you was attractive as hell. Then the whole night peeks of your body tempted him coupled with your wit and charisma, which made it incredibly difficult to resist you.

 Earlier in the bathroom, he didn’t know if you’d opened the door so widely on purpose or if it was unintentional. He’d imagined pushing you back until your ass collided with the sink, then he imagined hoisting you up and kicking apart your thighs. He’d wanted to push those skimpy bikini bottoms to the side so badly. He’d suppressed the urge, but the sight of you in his shirt didn’t help matters. You looked like his. As he approached the crowd at the shore, he decided he’d claim it because possession was nine-tenths of the law, after all.

 “Oh my god, it’s beautiful,” you said with a gasp as you gaped at the sky in awe.

 The colors that light up your face had him even more hypnotized with you. The wind blew, and the hem of his shirt lofted enough for him to see the almost thong cut of the bikini bottoms you wore, and he moved before he even thought not to. He rested his hand at your pelvis and waited. It took a few seconds, but you placed yours over his and made a swirling “s” along his skin toward his forearm.

 “Fuck,” he whispered.

 The hushed word brought the eyes of Scott and Tara. They both looked at him quizzically, silently asking him what was wrong. That was all it took for him to remember his promise to Scott. When Scott looked away, Tara’s eyes remained on him. They seemed to be sorting through his layers until they found what they wanted. She lifted her hand and tapped his temple, then turned back to the fireworks. Fuck, he thought.

 No matter how badly he wanted you, he couldn’t have you. The facts were simple—you weren’t his. You can’t possess that which isn’t yours and that which does not want to be possessed. Softly he sighed and lowered his hand from your body. You didn’t let it fall, though. Instead, you hooked your fingers with his and held him. His eyes lowered to your entwined fingers, and he hesitated for longer than he should have. When he glanced back up, your eyes were on him, but your lip clenched between your teeth.

 Another crack of fireworks lit up the sky, but your attention was on him rather than the green in the sky. Every color was your color, he thought, then wondered if these colors would still look good glowing off of your naked body. Recognizing his thoughts, wants, and desires were dangerous, he released your hand the minute you directed your attention to something Scott was saying. You kept your hand out, waiting for him to take it again, but he didn’t. Instead, he took several steps back.

 He stood there debating with himself, going back and forth, telling himself to take your hand, but the second he even moved a muscle, he chastised himself, telling him to resist. This was the process for several agonizing minutes. With his eyes glued to your ass and the skin that taunted him every time the breeze blew, he fought the urges that came over him one by one. When he looked up, he found your eyes on him. You looked so good, as if you were the child of two pure angels. There was an innocence about you that he didn’t understand, and something that radiated off of you that had him coming to one final realization. You deserved better than this. He saw you held our hand out to him, but the only thing he knew he should do was walk away. So, he backed away, all the while staring into your eyes. The confusion he found there, he understood. He was confused too. The hurt was what took him by surprise. Unable to stomach it, he turned and walked away from you, the colors and the light you brought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[otterskin]

Dumb Details From the Loki Trailer I noticed but then got too serious about

First - apparently it’s not a trailer, so I guess we’ll get ‘Trailer 1′ later? ‘Exclusive Clip’ hardly seems accurate, but hey, I’m not Disney’s marketing division. I wouldn’t live in a shoebox if I was.

Dumb detail no. 1:

Owen Wilson’s jacket is...weird. Look closely.

And another shot:

Yeah...his jacket has a ‘reversed collar’. It’s a cut-out rather than cloth folding on top. Huh. What a strange design choice. What could it mean?

I’ve no idea, but that I watched the trailer enough times to notice this should concern you.

Detail No. 2

In this scene, we see what we can presume to be President Loki’s ‘Throne’. Notice the candy-canes. This is a Santa Claus throne, presumably from some mall Santa. This whole place might be in a mall, judging by the stuff in it.

But the Loki in this shot is not President Loki. Notice that he’s wearing brown pants, a thin brown tie, and the beige shirt he’s seen wearing in other parts of the trailer after he's apparently joined the TVA. President Loki wears black pants, a green vest and a wide green tie with a golden clip that resembles Loki’s little chevron he always has (more on that later).

So it would seem that Loki might meet President Loki here. President Loki might even be addressing him at the end of the trailer. It’s possible that his minions turn on him because there’s two Lokis and they don’t know which is the ‘imposter’. 

Speaking of, there’s a minion with bicycle handlebars grafted to a football helmet here, likely meant to resemble Loki. I dig it. There’s also cans of food scattered among the rubbish here. Makes sense that food production is non-existent since everyone has resorted to wearing license plates and spoons. Love how tattered the whole aesthetic is.

This reminds me of the opening Michael Waldron’s script ‘Worst Guy of All Time’, which featured a similar post-apocalyptic setting after the ‘worst guy’ ruins everything and makes himself king of the ashes. That’s likely what’s happened here, but I hope that Loki isn’t anything like Logan Paul, who was the inspiration for that title character.

Ah, the mysterious female character watching a meteor shower WAY TOO CLOSE UP. But my eyes are drawn to one thing...

What is that oblong object with a shiny handle? Could it be...

A sword? I do love swords. Did you know there’s a bunch of pictures of me in the stock photos for ‘Fencing?’ That’s my cred for loving swords.

I suspect that this female character will be an amalgamation of Amora (shudder) and Sylvie and an alternate Loki of some kind. This sword is currently in her possession, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it or another timeline version of it becomes the Loki Show’s Loki′s weapon. 

Loki has lacked a ‘weapon of his own’ in the MCU for quite some time. I mean, yes, he has his little knives, but they are many and disposable and something he chose for himself, rather than the two legendary weapons wielded by Odin and Thor, Gungnir and Mjolnir. In fact, throughout his appearances, Loki has seemed to want such a thing of his own - he briefly had Gungnir, and then the Gungnir-like scepter, and even tried to lift Mjolnir.

One might ask why Odin would’ve overlooked such an obvious show of favouritism. Why give Thor a storied weapon and leave Loki empty-handed? Heck, even Hela had the Necroblade.

In Thor 1, we might’ve assumed that the Casket of Ancient Winters was perhaps intended one day to be given to Loki, as it is shown with Mjolnir in the Vault and thus connected to it and the children who would inherit it.  But in the comics, Odin did have another weapon of storied history put away for his second son: Gram the Sword.

It was locked for eons by Odin in a special vault which required five keys to be opened, and it was meant to be for Loki if he be worthy.[2] The five keys were infused by Odin with the powers of "journeys", "endurance", "secrets", "new beginnings", and "brotherhood", respectively.[3]

The sword, like everything else in comics, has a complicated history full of take-backs and twists, but let’s just leave it at ‘it’s a representation of Loki’s worthiness and belonging in the trifecta with Odin and Thor as a King of Asgard’. It gives him ‘equality’.

In the original mythology, it’s wielded by Sigurd to kill the dragon Fafnir, and the only relation it has to Loki is that Loki is partially responsible for Fafnir existing in the first place (my username is nod to this myth by the by. Sorry Ottär.) But hey, maybe that means we’re getting a dragon? The Fafnir would be very cool.

Or it could just be a bit of rebar in this mining quarry.

Then again...it appears somewhere else...

It’s easier to see in motion, but that’s a sword swinging on this person’s back.

So the hooded figure is this lady...shall we call her Amylkie? Does that mean she’s the antagonist of this show? Well...maybe, but I suspect the true antagonist is foreshadowed here  -

So, what’s going on here? A young girl (Young Amylkie? Some other TVA prisoner that the guard is watching over? An oracle, A Norn, or a kid who wandered off from the tour group in a basilica somewhere?) She’s giving Mobius M. Mobius a...piece of chocolate. Maybe he saw a Dementor, I dunno. I suspect it’ll be a MacGuffin of some kind later. He looks pretty concerned here, which contrasts with his ‘another day at the office’ blaséness when dealing with Loki. But of course this is the eye-catcher:

So, Norse Mythology. It’s been Christiannized. You can thank Snorri Sturluson for that, but you can google all about him later. Let’s just say that he made many Norse figures into equivalents for Christian ones. Baldur is Jesus, pure and a sacrificial lamb who dies for a greater good. And the devil is...Loki. Something the Marvel comics and the MCU have continued.

Here we have a devil, dressed in green and with a distinct shape on his chest:

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

Ah. I’d say that cinches it. This is meant to be Loki. If you look at the devil’s hair, it also resembles Loki’s, being shoulder-length and black.

So, what’s devil-Loki doing? Laying an egg? Trying out a foot massager? For a second I thought it was a moon, but we see the moon over his left shoulder, amongst the stars. Which means this is - probably the Earth.

...Dammit; I live there.

So Earth is barren and being devoured by flames, likely caused by this Loki sitting atop of it (in a throne, no less). Aw gee, things look pretty bad, don’t they?

But wait - what’s that? Under the Earth (and, possibly, under the earth)?

It’s a plant. A shoot, to be exact.

Back to Ragnarok for a second. Ragnarok isn’t the apocalypse (something we see a lot of in this trailer - all of it seems to be exploring the end of days). Ragnarok is the fire meant to wipe out the old and fertilize the ground for the new. And after the gods have died, what happens? Well, Baldur emerges from Hel, one of the only surviving gods (hmm, seems him dying worked out, didn’t it?). He’s joined by Líf and Lífþrasir, who are the new first man and woman, who’s names mean ‘Life’ and who are pictured, usually, with plants and new life. It is they who are tasked who growing a new Yggdrasil after the destruction of the old. The previous first man and woman are Ask and Embla, meaning Ash Tree and Vine/Elm tree, so there’s a theme there. 

So a new sprout, possibly a tree, growing out of the destruction of the old.

This fits with Loki’s role as understood in mythology. He checks the arrogance of the gods, including when they tried to achieve immortality (sorry, Baldur, nothing personal), and that keeps the gods at their best. After Loki is imprisoned, the gods become weak, unhelpful and foolish, and Yggdrasil starts to rot. Eventually Loki escapes and returns along with Surtur (who also resembles this figure) to burn it all to the ground. This is also referenced in Thor:Ragnarok, with Loki releasing Surtur in the Vault, a place of thematic importance to Loki and one that represents the hidden secrets and sins of Asgard). You could say Ragnarok continued into Infinity War, where Loki played an important part in aiding Thanos’ destruction, giving up the stone to protect his brother and essentially dooming the rest of the universe - but also ultimately leading to its salvation, even if, like Myth Loki, he wasn’t around to see it.

So, we see Amylkie literally start a fire in the trailer -

- in fact, this whole trailer is awash in flame -

It’s fire, fire everywhere and she’s setting them!

It’s possible Amylkie’s our big bad, but I think there’s a chance she’s either a red herring, or, much like how Loki ‘worked’ with Thanos in The Avengers, she is the pawn of a greater foe -

  - a Loki bent on destruction, for some reason or other. The TVA is obviously aware that this is the case, and it seems like they might be trying to ‘fight fire with fire’ by enlisting one Loki to combat another. The villain could be President Loki, since there's evidence of 2 Lokis in that scene - or maybe that's one of many Lokis, and the Big Bad Loki is being played by Hugh Grant as Old Loki. In any case, it would appear that Loki will be coming face-to-face with the worst versions of himself, and many of them. And, if I’m right about this scene:

...Loki will likely eventually discover that even his ‘good’ timeline ended in the destruction of his people and home, plus his own gruesome and torturous death. Although I think the TVA will keep that from him, and just show him the happy parts in an effort to inspire ‘good behaviour’. Until Loki inevitably discovers the rest of how that timeline played out and realize he’s been lied to. I don’t imagine he’ll take that very well...

Damn, even our ‘hero’ Loki is burning stuff down! Does this mean that Loki is doomed, always meant to be an avatar of death and toasty destruction?

Well...let’s go back to that stained glass.

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

And there’s something else...the bottom of the Earth is being lit up, and not by fire. Light appears to be coming off this little plant.

What colour is this plant again? That’s right, green. Green is the colour of new life and growth and change and...hang on, I’ve heard that before, too...

Hang on hang on HANG ON... let me have a look at the shape again.

That’s...a letter. An L? For Loki? Like in the title sequence?

Wait...no, a different letter. An older letter. After all, Loki is old Norse. How do you spell his name in that again?

ᛚᛟᚲ ᛁ -

And ENHANCE on that third letter!

This, my friends, is a Kenaz/Kaunaz, or what would become 'K' in our alphabet. It is also known as the 'Loki Rune' (and the Ulcer Rune, for some reason. I suspect Odin understands why). It’s used to spell his name, but is also used on his own to represent him. Heck, it's even his Superman 'S' in the comics:

Runes are more than letters - they are symbols for concepts. So what else does it mean?

Primarly, it means ‘torch’.

And also ‘knowledge’ (ken). As well as ‘growth, change, the search for truth, decay, arrogance, elitism, feminine, kinship and creativity.’

...Okay, that’s a lot, but you have to admit it fits.

More specifically, it means ‘Mastery of the Fire’. As in, someone who has learned to tame fire so that it is helpful, not harmful. To bring light and, symbolically, knowledge.

There’s another way Loki’s been associated with fire - in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, the opera that inspired much the Thor films’ aesthetic and certainly their helmets, Loki is called ‘Loge’, which means ‘Fire’. He’s usually dressed to match, too -

Many trickster figures are associated with fire. They are usually called ‘Fire-bringers’ - See: Raven, Lucifer, Prometheus, etc. They are often complex figures with a foot in different worlds, but who nonetheless help mankind with the gift of ‘fire’ - although they usually pay for it, and tend to be self-destructive.

(Side note. Lucifer means light-bringer, which is what luciferase is named after. Because it glows. Which is helpful in labs. In case someone needed to know that.)

Moving from a destructive fire-starter to a fire-bringer seems like a great character arc for Loki to take, especially given his rehabilitation in pop culture, the comics, and even wider culture. Loki has gone from being seen as an evil, deviant, destructive character to one who’s seen as a patron of the arts and creativity, of stories rather than lies. Heck, some scholars of Norse Mythology even posit that he’s the closet thing to a protagonist Norse Mythology has, so I guess that backfired, Snorri!). Being dressed in green and with the sprout clearly also being stylized after his Kaunaz, there’s foreshadowing that he’ll be capable of growing good things even out of ashes.

So, to sum up: Being ‘Satan’ sounds pretty bad, but with a little letter re-arranging like we see in the title sequence, you can be...

...practically a saint. Maybe even a saviour.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

[unpopularwiththepopulace]

Chicago at Long Beach, LA, 1992: A Story of Bebe Neuwirth, Choreography, Riots, Revivals, and Relevance

Recently and rather excitingly, more footage made its way to YouTube of the 1992 version of Chicago staged at Long Beach in LA, featuring Bebe Neuwirth as Velma and Juliet Prowse as Roxie.

Given its increased accessibility and visibility, this foregrounds the chance to talk about the show, explore some of its details, and look at the part it might have played as a contribution to the main ‘revival’ of Chicago in 1996 – which has given the show one of the most resonant and highly enduring legacies seen within the theatre ever.

This Civic Light Opera production at Long Beach was staged in 1992, four years before the ‘main’ revival made its appearance at Encores! or had its subsequent Broadway transfer, and it marked the first time a major revival of Chicago had been seen since the original 1975 show disappeared nearly 15 years previously.

This event is of particular significance given its position as the first step in the chain of events that make up part of this ‘new Chicago’ narrative and the resultant entire multiple-decade spanning impact of the show hereafter.

But for all of its pivotal status, it’s seldom discussed or remembered anywhere near as much as it should be.

This may be in part because of how little video or photographic record has remained in easily accessible form to date, and also because it only played for around two weeks in the first place. As such, it is a real treat on these occasions to get to see such incredible and unique material that would otherwise have been lost forever after such a brief existence some 30 years ago.

This earlier revival of the show still feels like what we have come to identify “Chicago” as in modern comprehension of the musical, most principally because the choreography was also done by Ann Reinking. As with the 1996 production, this meant dance was done “very much in the master’s style” – or Mr Bob Fosse.

The link below is time-stamped to Bebe and Juliet performing ‘Hot Honey Rag’. As one of the most infamous numbers in Broadway history, it’s undoubtedly a dance that has been watched many times over. But never before have I seen it done quite like this.

https://youtu.be/4HKkwtRE-II?t=2647

‘Hot Honey Rag’ was in fact formerly called ‘Keep It Hot’, and was devised by Fosse as “a compendium of all the steps he learned as a young man working in vaudeville and burlesque—the Shim Sham, the Black Bottom, the Joe Frisco, ‘snake hips,’ and cooch dancing”, making it into the “ultimate vaudeville dance act” for the ultimate finale number.

Ann would say about her choreographical style in relation to Fosse, “The parts where I really deviate is in adding this fugue quality to the numbers. For better or worse, my style is more complicated.” The ‘complexity’ and distinctness she speaks of is certainly evident in some of the sections of this particular dance. There are seemingly about double the periodicity of taps in Bebe and Juliet’s Susie Q sequence alone. One simply has to watch in marvel not just at the impressive synchronicity and in-tandem forward motion, but now also at the impossibly fast feet. Other portions that notably differ from more familiar versions of the dance and thus catch the eye are the big-to-small motion contrast after the rising ‘snake hips’ section, and all of the successive goofy but impeccably precise snapshot sequence of arm movements and poses.

More focus is required on the differences and similarities of this 1992 production compared against the original or subsequent revival, given its status and importance as a bridging link between the two.

The costumes in 1975 were designed by Patricia Zipprodt (as referenced in my previous post on costume design), notably earning her a Tony Award nomination. In this 1992 production, some costumes were “duplications” of Zipprodt’s originals, and some new designs by Garland Riddle – who added a “saucy/sassy array” in the “typical Fosse dance lingerie” style. It is here we begin to see some of the more dark, slinkiness that has become so synonymous with “Chicago” as a concept in public perception.

The sets from the original were designed by Tony Walton – again, nominated for a Tony – and were reused with completeness here. This is important as it shows some of the original dance concepts in their original contexts, given that portions of the initial choreography were “inextricably linked to the original set designs.” This sentiment is evident in the final portion of ‘Cell Block Tango’, pictured and linked at the following time-stamp below, which employs the use of mobile frame-like, ladder structures as a scaffold for surrounding movements, and also a metaphor for the presence of jail cell bars.

https://youtu.be/4HKkwtRE-II?t=741

Defining exactly how much of the initial choreography was carried across is an ephemeral line. Numbers were deemed “virtually intact” in the main review published during the show’s run from the LA Times – or even further, “clones” of the originals. It is thought that the majority of numbers here exhibit greater similarity to the 1975 production than the 1996 revival, except for ‘Hot Honey Rag’ which is regarded as reasonably re-choreographed. But even so, comparing against remaining visible footage of Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera from the original, or indeed alternatively against Bebe and Annie later in the revival, does not present an exact match to either.

This speaks to the adaptability and amorphousness of Fosse-dance within its broader lexicon. Fosse steps are part of a language that can be spoken with subtle variations in dialect. Even the same steps can appear slightly different when being used in differing contexts, by differing performers, in differing time periods.

It also speaks to some of the main conventions of musical theatre itself. Two main principles of the genre include its capacity for fluidity and its ability for the ‘same material’ to change and evolve over time; as well as the fact comparisons and comprehensions of shows across more permanent time spans are restricted by the availability of digital recordings of matter that is primarily intended to be singular and live.

Which versions of the same song do you want to look at when seeking comparisons?

Are you considering ‘Hot Honey Rag’ at a performance on the large stage at Radio City Music Hall at the Tony Awards in 1997? Or on a small stage for TV shows, like the Howard Cosell or Mike Douglas shows in 1975? Or on press reel footage from 1996 on the ‘normal’ stage context in a format that should be as close to a replica as possible of what was performed in person every night?

Bebe often remarks on and marvels at Ann’s capacity to travel across a stage. “If you want to know how to travel, follow Annie,” she says. This exhibits how one feature of a performance can be so salient and notable on its own, and yet so precariously dependent on the external features its constrained to – like scale.

Thus context can have a significant impact on how numbers are ultimately performed for these taped recordings and their subsequent impact on memory. Choreography must adjust accordingly – while still remaining within the same framework of the intention for the primary live performances.

This links to Ann’s own choreographical aptitude, in the amount of times it is referenced how she subtly adapted each new version of Chicago to tailor to individual performers’ specific merits and strengths as dancers.

Ann’s impact in shaping the indefinable definability of how Chicago is viewed, loved and remembered now is not to be understated.

An extensive 1998 profile – entitled “Chicago: Ann Reinking’s musical” – explores in part some of Ann’s approaches to creating and interacting with the material across a long time span more comprehensively. Speaking specifically to how she choreographed this 1992 production in isolation, Ann would say, “I knew that Bob’s point of view had to permeate the show, you couldn’t do it without honoring his style.” In an age without digital history at one’s fingertips, “I couldn’t remember the whole show. So I choreographed off the cuff and did my own thing. So you could say it was my take on his thoughts.” Using the same Fosse vocabulary, then – “it’s different. But it’s not different.”

One further facet that was directly carried across from the initial production were original cast members, like Barney Martin as returning as Amos, and Michael O'Haughey reprising his performance as Mary Sunshine. Kaye Ballard as Mama Morton and Gary Sandy as Billy Flynn joined Bebe and Juliet to make up the six principals in this new iteration of the show.

Bebe, Gary and Juliet can be seen below in a staged photo for the production at the theatre.

The venue responsible for staging this Civic Light Opera production was the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach in Los Angeles. Now defunct, this theatre and group in its 47 years of operation was credited as providing some of “the area’s most high profile classics”. Indeed, in roughly its final 10 years alone, it staged shows such as Hello Dolly!, Carousel, Wonderful Town (with Donna McKechnie), Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, La Cage aux Folles, Follies, 1776, Funny Girl, Bye Bye Birdie, Pal Joey, and Company. The production of Pal Joey saw a return appearance from Elaine Stritch, reprising her earlier performance as Melba Snyder with the memorable song ‘Zip’. This she had done notably some 40 years earlier in the original 1952 Broadway revival, while infamously and simultaneously signed as Ethel Merman’s understudy in Call Me Madam as she documented in Elaine Stritch at Liberty.

Juliet Prowse appeared as Phyllis in Follies in 1990, and Ann Reinking acted alongside Tommy Tune in Bye Bye Birdie in 1991, in successive preceding seasons before this Chicago was staged.

But for all of its commendable history, the theatre went out of business in 1996 just 4 years after this, citing bankruptcy. Competition provided in the local area by Andrew Lloyd Webber and his influx of staging’s of his British musicals was referenced as a contributing factor to the theatre group’s demise. This feat I suspect Bebe would have lamented or expressed remorse for, given some of her comments in previous years on Sir Lloyd Webber and the infiltration of shows from across the pond: “I had lost faith in Broadway because of what I call the scourge of the British musicals. They've dehumanized the stage [and] distanced the audience from the performers. I think 'Cats' is like Patient Zero of this dehumanization.”

That I recently learned that Cats itself can be rationalised in part as simply A Chorus Line with ears and tails I fear would not improve this assessment. In the late ‘70s when Mr Webber noticed an increase of dance ability across the general standard of British theatre performers, after elevated training and competition in response to A Chorus Line transferring to the West End, he wanted to find a way he could use this to an advantage in a format that was reliable to work. Thus another similarly individual, sequential and concept-not-plot driven dance musical was born. Albeit with slightly more drastic lycra leotards and makeup.

But back in America, the Terrace theatre could not be saved by even the higher incidence of stars and bigger Broadway names it was seeing in its final years, with these aforementioned examples such as Bebe, Annie, Tommy, Juliet, Donna, or Elaine. The possibility of these appearances in the first place were in part attributable to the man newly in charge as the company’s producer and artistic director – Barry Brown, Tony award-winning Broadway producer. 

Barry is linked to Bebe’s own involvement with this production of Chicago, through his relationship – in her words – as “a friend of mine”.

At the time, Bebe was in LA filming Cheers, when she called Barry from her dressing room. Having been working in TV for a number of years, she would cite her keenness to find a return to the theatre, “[wanting] to be on a stage so badly” again. The theatre is the place she has long felt the most sense of ease in and belonging for, frequently referring to herself jokingly as a “theatre-rat” or remarking that it is by far the stage that is the “medium in which I am most comfortable, most at home, and I think I'm the best at.”

Wanting to be back in that world so intensely, she initially proposed the notion of just coming along to the production to learn the parts and be an understudy. Her desire to simply learn the choreography alone was so strong she would say, “You don’t have to pay me or anything!”

She’d had the impetus to make the call to Barry in the first place only after visiting Chita Rivera at her show in LA with a friend, David Gibson. At the time, the two did not know each other that well. Bebe had by this point not even had the direct interaction of taking over in succession for Chita in Kiss of the Spider Woman in London. This she would do the following year, with Chita guiding her generously through the intricacies of the Shaftesbury Theatre and the small, but invaluable, details known only to Chita that would be essential help in meeting stage cues and playing Aurora.

Bebe had already, however, stepped into Chita’s shoes multiple times, as Anita in West Side Story as part of a European tour in the late ‘70s, or again in a Cleveland Opera Production in 1988; and additionally as Nickie in the 1986 Broadway revival of Sweet Charity – both of which were roles Chita had originated on stage or screen. In total, Velma would bring the tally of roles that Bebe and Chita have shared through the years to four, amongst many years also of shared performance memories and friendship.

They may not have had a long history of personal rather than situational connections yet when Bebe visited her backstage at the end of 1991, but Chita still managed to play a notable part in the start of the first of Bebe’s many engagements with Chicago.

After Bebe hesitantly relayed her idea, Chita told her, “You should call! Just call!”

So call Bebe did. One should listen to Chita Rivera, after all.

Barry Brown rang her back 10 minutes later after suggesting the idea to Ann Reinking, who was otherwise intended to be playing Velma. The response was affirmative. “Oh let her play the part!”, Annie had exclaimed. And so begun Bebe’s, rather long and very important, journey with Chicago.

In 1992, this first step along the road to the ‘new Chicago’ was well received.

Ann Reinking with her choreography was making her first return to the Fosse universe since her turn in the 1986 Sweet Charity revival. Diametrically, Rob Marshall was staring his first association with Fosse material in providing the show’s direction – many years before he would go on to direct the subsequent film adaptation also. Together, they created a “lively, snappy, smarmy” show that garnered more attention than had been seen since the original closed.

“Bob Fosse would love [this production],” it was commended at the time, “Especially the song-and-dance performance of Bebe Neuwirth who knocks everyone’s socks off.” High praise.

Bebe was also singled out for her “unending energy”, but Juliet too received praise in being “sultry and funny”. Together, the pair were called “separate but equal knockouts” and an “excellent combination”.

Juliet was 56 at the time, and sadly died just four years later. Just one year after the production though, Juliet was recorded as saying, “In fact, we’re thinking of doing it next year and taking it out on the road.”

Evidently that plan never materialised. But it is interesting to note the varied and many comments that were made as to the possibility of the show having a further life.

Bebe at the time had no recollection that the show might be taken further, saying “I didn’t know anything about that.” Ann Reinking years later would remark “no one seemed to think that the time was necessarily ripe for a full-blown Broadway revival.” While the aforementioned LA Times review stated in 1992 there were “unfortunately, no current plans” for movement, it also expressed desire and a call to action for such an event. “Someone out there with taste, money and shrewdness should grab it.”

The expression that a show SHOULD move to Broadway is by no means an indication that a show WILL move. But this review clearly was of enough significance for it to be remembered and referenced by name by someone who was there when it came out at the time, Caitlin Carter, nearly 30 years later. Caitlin was one of the six Merry Murderesses, principally playing Mona (or Lipschitz), at each of this run, Encores!, and on Broadway. She recalled, “Within two days, we got this rave review from the LA Times, saying ‘You need to take the show to Broadway now!’” The press and surrounding discussions clearly created an environment in which “there was a lot of good buzz”, enough for her to reason, “I feel like it planted seeds… People started to think ‘Oh we need to revive this show!’”

The seeds might have taken a few years to germinate, but they did indeed produce some very successful and beautiful flowers when they ultimately did.

In contrast with one of the main talking points of the ‘new Chicago’ being its long performance span, one of the first things I mentioned about this 1992 iteration was the rather short length of its run. It is stated that previews started on April 30th, for an opening on May 2nd, with the show disappearing in its final performance on May 17th. Less than a fleeting 3 weeks in total.

Caitlin Carter discussed the 1992 opening on Stars in the House recently. It’s a topic of note given that their opening night was pushed back from the intended date by two days, meaning Ann Reinking and Rob Marshall had already left and never even saw the production. “The night we were supposed to open in Long Beach was the Rodney King riots.”

Local newspapers at the time when covering the show referenced this large and significant event, by noting the additional two performances added in compensation “because of recent interruptions in area social life.”

It sounds rather quaint put like that. In comparison, the horror and violence of what was actually going on can be statistically summated as ultimately leaving 63 people dead, over 2300 injured, and more than 12,000 having been arrested, in light of the aftermath of the treatment faced by Rodney King. Or more explicitly, the use of excessive violence against a black man at police hands with videotaped footage.

A slightly later published review wrote of how this staging was thus “timely” – in reference to an observed state of “the nation’s moral collapse”.

‘Timeliness’ is a matter often referenced when discussing why the 1996 revival too was of such success. The connection is frequently made as to how this time, the revival resonated with public sentiment so strongly – far more than in 1975 when the original appeared – in part because of the “exploding headlines surrounding the OJ Simpson murder case”. The resulting legal and public furore around this trial directly correlates with the backbone and heart of the musical itself.

I'm writing this piece now at the time of the ongoing trial to determine the verdict of George Floyd’s murder, another black man suffering excessive and ultimately fatal violence at police hands with videotaped footage.

I think the point is that this is never untimely. And that the nation is seldom not in some form of ‘moral collapse’, or facing events that have ramifications to do with the legal system and are emotionally incendiary on a highly public level.

Which perhaps is why Chicago worked so well not just in 1996, but also right up to the present day.

Undoubtedly, we live in a climate where the impact of events is determined not just by the events themselves, but also the manner in which they are reported in the media. Events involving some turmoil and public outrage at the state and outcome of the legal system are not getting any fewer or further between. But the emphasis on the media in an increasingly and unceasingly digital age is certainty only growing.

[nileqt87]

Thoughts on WandaVision by a non-Marvel fan

As someone who had only seen a single Marvel movie (The Avengers) and only watched Jessica Jones season 1 for David Tennant (while hating nearly every other character in it), which had none of these characters, I only watched WandaVision precisely because it dared to break the mold and be even remotely ambitious instead of doing the same old CGI cartoon fest over and over. And somewhat because of what Marvel has done to the film industry, television has completely and utterly overtaken film as where emotional, dramatic storytelling now happens.

And okay, I happen to have had a major TVLand addiction growing up and binged a ton of the shows referenced in WandaVision long ago (yep, those very same '50s-'80s sitcoms). I couldn't pass up the retro. Love at first sight. Combine that with what promised to be a tragic, human/non-human romance. Sold. I knew little else about the characters.

For a long time, I've seen female fans (in particular) comment on how part of the reason they write fanfiction for Marvel is that they have to read between the lines just to add the implied dramatic content of the relationship focus variety that never quite gets developed in canon (certainly not up to the standard of what a fic reader expects). I saw a few comments that pretty much described WandaVision as exactly that: a fix-it fanfic before tragic reality invaded Pleasantville. Wanda's whole Hex was essentially a glorified fix-it fanfic.

For this reason alone, I can only hope the success of WandaVision gets them to create a season 2 that is dedicated solely to Wanda trying to put her family (Vision) back together that does the tragic romance justice in a way that giving them side parts in other people's movies just isn't going to cut it.

I feel like Vision's ultimate resurrection or even Wanda's struggle with her grief is better left to her own headline story, whether be it film or television. Television is the only medium that is going to allow the actors to really sink their teeth into this sort of star-crossed, tragic drama and not have it relegated to a minor side-character plot. Either give Wanda and Vision their own movie (hopefully, with heightened focus on character development as a lesson learned from television) or wait to integrate the mind and body of Vision in another season that gives both of them center stage with room to develop it.

Them having their twins for real might also be worth a season 2 in a way that probably wouldn't even work on film, as showing such a feminine pregnancy storyline would be a helluva departure for a Marvel movie that goes from action set piece to action set piece.

I wouldn't even hate it if Wanda's sitcom comfort zone made a few more appearances, even if it is merely the occasional domestic fantasy or dream/nightmare, so there is a way to not completely divorce a potential season 2 from season 1's "gimmick". It could be merely as simple as her pointedly doing something Sam/Jeannie-esque with her magic. Cooking with floating kitchen items would be an easy nod.

Probably not what Marvel is thinking of doing, but as a non-Marvel fan, WandaVision has a real opportunity to pull in new viewers with very different tastes that have so far managed to give the films a wide berth. It would do so much better as a show.

Go the route of giving these characters their own headlined projects and Marvel could have a real juggernaut of a 'ship, as well. My impression was that WandaVision got a lot of fans talking about the characters and their relationship in a way that the previous films and comics had not; some even making comments they had barely paid attention to the characters before the show.

IMO, the mere character descriptions sound like some of the most interesting and fleshed-out characters Marvel has got right now with real opportunity for real dramatic depth. And that's putting aside that Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful characters on the entire Marvel roster. Making a whole television season about a character going through the stages of grief and about a woman who just wants the family she lost back (a woman who desperately wants a husband and children, no less) was very different territory for Marvel. Human/non-human, in addition to having the level of doom that makes tragedies very, very memorable.

There's tropey drama potential there that hasn't been mined with the non-human who becomes more and more "human" (it's the stuff of fairy tales and sci-fi both). Hayward or someone like him could easily be used as a character who doesn't see Vision as equal to humans, for example. Delve into the sort of existential questions about artificial life achieving consciousness no less feeling than a human's that stories like Data on Star Trek, Blade Runner and Bicentennial Man pose. That species difference without the magic of sitcoms could be mined for a gorgeously dramatic plotline. What it means to be human explored through the non-human--one of my favorite tropes.

And of course, it's the stuff of fairy tales--most notably Pinocchio (the once-inanimate learning to and desiring to become real by proving himself worthy and because it fulfills the greatest wish of the person who loves them most), combined with the interspecies romance elements of The Little Mermaid (tragic ending or not--see also the desperate acts taken to achieve this cosmically-denied togetherness, only for such a tragic ending to come of it in the original work).

Given that the MCU movies just lost a bunch of their A-listers, they need something big like this. Marvel needs philosophical and character-driven meat on its meager dramatic bones. Here are two actors who could carry something more ambitious and pick up an entirely different audience. Marvel could get an even bigger female audience with these two, IMO. And it wouldn't be cheap girl power pandering either (I say this as a girl). These characters are legit with incredibly warm, likable, endearing performances behind them. This chemistry works 100%.

I think White Vision having an existential crisis where he's questioning what he is if he has all the memories of a being who clearly can feel every human emotion (the idea that we are our memories), but at the same time knowing that he's only artificial life, would be an interesting lead-up to Vision being fully restored with his full consciousness in addition to the added memories of what he experienced inside the Hex.

A restored Vision would have to reconcile what Wanda did in her grief over him and her family. It's also a glimpse at the life Wanda wants with him, which included something that isn't biologically possible, though it likely is through her own abilities of creation. There's also the idea of balance that he's the one who might hold her back from the brink of going down any further dark paths as a figure of ordered stability for her, while she is key in the chaos of his becoming more "human". The to-be parenthood story is obviously hanging over them.

The situation with Hayward intending for White Vision to remain a mere machine that can be manipulated and used as a weapon in a way that an independently-thinking Vision can't be is also a path to go down. As I said, there's a potential storyline about prejudice regarding artificial intelligence, even if it has all the emotional capability of humans.

And on top of that, Vision is in a relationship with a human, even if it's one who could potentially be the key to restoring his consciousness through her own link with the original Mind Stone. It also furthers Wanda's role as a mother and creator if she can give him back his life in this way. While the heroic Avengers might not question them being "an unusual couple", who says everyone else would be so kind?

I really think he needs to be brought back. Wanda desperately needs him for her story to continue.

[framecaught]

Transmedia Storytelling: A Perspective on the Homestuck Epilogues

First of all, thank you for reading my first post! I created this blog to document some of my research for a directed study project. I’ll be looking at Homestuck from an interdisciplinary lens but focusing especially on its formal artistic qualities and place in art history. The blog will contain various points of analysis which I develop over the course of the project. For my first piece of writing, I wanted to tackle (from a new perspective) what I view as a complicating factor in the controversy surrounding the Homestuck Epilogues.

Rather than critiquing the Epilogues’ content or making a judgement about their overall quality, I want to explore a specific criticism which has been echoed time and time again by fans. In an article for the online journal WWAC, Homestuck fan-writer Masha Zhdanova sums up this criticism:

“No matter how much members of the creative team insist that their extension to the Homestuck line of work is no more official than fanwork, if it’s hosted on Homestuck.com, promoted by Homestuck’s official social media accounts, and endorsed by the original creator, I think it’s a little more official than a fanfic with thirty hits on AO3.”

Between attacks on the Epilogues’ themes, treatment of characters, and even prose-quality, fans have frequently referenced the issue of endorsement and canonicity as summarized above. Although the Epilogues and Homestuck’s other successors (including Homestuck^2 and the Friendsims) attempt to tackle themes of canonicity within their narratives, critics of the Epilogues contend that this philosophical provocation falls flat. While the creators argue that the works should form a venue for productively questioning canonicity, fans point to issues of capital and call the works disingenuous. In Episode 52 of the Perfectly Generic Podcast Andrew Hussie explains that, to him, the Epilogues are “heavily implied to be a piece of bridge-media, which is clearly detached from the previous narrative, and conceptually ‘optional’ by its presentation, which allows it to also function as an off-ramp for those inclined to believe the first seven acts of Homestuck were perfectly sufficient.” As Zhdanova paraphrases, a critical view posits that this “optional” reading is impossible. The company ethos and production of capital inherent to the Epilogue’s release—their promotion, their monetization—renders their “fanfic” backdrop completely moot, if not insulting.

Why does appropriating the “aesthetic trappings” [1] of AO3 strike such a chord with critics, though? What’s wrong with the Epilogue creators profiting from their work? Other officially endorsed “post-canon” materials, including the Paradox Space comics, Hiveswap and Friendsim games, have not inspired such virulent opposition. The issue comes down to the association between the AO3 layout and the separation from canon. The Epilogues ask us to read them as “tales of dubious authenticity,” but critics assert that this reading makes no sense in the context of their distribution. It’s not exactly the endorsement or monetization that prevents a “dubious” reading, though. After all, Hiveswap is also endorsed and monetized, yet fans have no problem labeling it as “dubiously canon.” So what is it about the Epilogues’ presentation that seems so incongruous with their premise as “dubious” texts?

I’ve come to understand this issue through the lens of transmedia storytelling. First conceptualized by Henry Jenkins, “transmedia storytelling” involves the production of distinct stories, contained within the same universe, across different media platforms. [2] This allows consumers to pick and choose stories across their favorite media outlets, since each story is self-contained, but superfans can still consume All The Content for a greater experience. The Marvel franchise with its comics, movies, TV shows, and other ephemera, is a great example of the transmedia phenomenon.

How does Homestuck fit into this theory? In an excellent article [3] for the Convergence journal, Kevin Veale lays out a taxonomy for Homestuck’s role in new media frameworks. Rather than dispersing different stories across multiple media platforms, Homestuck combines the “aesthetic trappings” of many media forms into one massive outlet: the Homestuck website [4]. It’s almost like the inverse of transmedia storytelling. Veale describes this type of storytelling as “transmodal.” He further defines Homestuck’s storytelling as “metamedia,” meaning that it manipulates the reader’s expectations of certain media forms to change the reading experience. So, despite its multimedia aspects, Homestuck structures itself around one monolith distribution channel (the website), the importance of which directly feeds into what we know as “upd8 culture.” The Homestuck website itself, as a “frame” which encapsulates Homestuck and the other MS Paint Adventures, takes on a nostalgic quality; the familiar grey background and adblocks become inextricably linked with the production of the main, “canon” narrative.

Homestuck itself—the main narrative—is a transmodal venture. However, as of writing this post, the Homestuck franchise has taken a leap into transmedia waters, starting with the Paradox Space comics and continuing with Hiveswap, the Friendsims, and Homestuck^2. All four of these examples fit the definition of transmedia ventures: they contain distinct stories still set in the Homestuck universe and are distributed through fundamentally separate media channels from the main comic. Which is to say, crucially, none of them are hosted on the Homestuck website.

This is where I think the issue arises for the Epilogues. The Epilogues, from what I can tell, aimed to present themselves as a transmedia venture rather than a transmodal one. Firstly, they try to act as a “bridge-media,” or self-contained story. They can be read as a continuation of Homestuck, but can also be separated or ignored. Secondly, they take on a distinct format (prose). Hussie notes in PGP Ep. 52 that the Epilogues were originally only meant to be published in print, functioning as a “cursed tome.” In short, they were intended as a transmedia venture: a self contained story, distributed through a separate medium (prose) and separate media channel (print), to be embraced or discarded by consumers at their whim.

Instead, when the Epilogues were released through the main Homestuck website, readers couldn’t help but interpret them as part of Homestuck’s long transmodal history. Rather than interacting with a new distribution channel, readers returned to the same nostalgic old grey website. The AO3 formatting gag makes no real difference to readers, as Homestuck patently appropriates the aesthetics of other platforms all throughout its main narrative. This issue of distribution (print versus website), which in turn produces either a transmedia or transmodal reading, is the crux of the criticism I mentioned before. Despite the creators’ protests, readers failed to see any “question” of canonicity because the Epilogues fit perfectly into the comic’s preexisting transmodal framework, supported even further by the nostalgia of the website’s very layout. The Epilogues read as a transmodal contribution to Homestuck’s main channel rather than a post-canon, transmedia narrative (like Paradox Space or the Friendsims) as they were intended. This created a profound dissonance between the fans’ experiences and the creators’ intentions.

How things might have turned out differently if the Epilogues really had been released solely as “cursed tomes,” the world will never know. In PGP, Hussie cites the importance of making content freely accessible on the website as a reason for the online release, which is certainly a valid consideration. Even though the print format offers a much clearer conceptual standpoint as a transmedia “bridge-story” [5], issues of capital and accessibility may still have come to the forefront of discussion. As it stands, though, I think the mix-up between transmedia and transmodal distribution was a key factor in the harsh criticism the Epilogues sparked.

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[1] I love this term, “aesthetic trappings”, which Masha Zhdanova uses, so I’ve overused it to some degree in my post.

[2] Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 2007: pg. 98. You can also find a description of transmedia storytelling on his blog.

[3] Veale, Kevin. “‘Friendship Isn’t an Emotion Fucknuts’: Manipulating Affective Materiality to Shape the Experience of Homestuck’s Story.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 25, no. 5–6 (December 2019): 1027–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517714954.

[4] Although the Homestuck website shifted branding from mspaintadventures.com to homestuck.com before the Epilogues’ release and has shifted its aesthetic somewhat (re: banners and ads), I treat the core “website” as the same location in my post

[5] Hussie points to numerous fascinating experiences which might have arisen from the print distribution. He describes a tome as “something which maddeningly beckons, due to whatever insanity it surely contains, but also something which causes feelings of trepidation” and references the sheer size of the book and “stark presentation of the black and white covers” as elements which produce this trepidation. The ability to physically experience (through touch) the length of the Epilogues and the impact of the book cover were lost in the online format. Although the Epilogues have been released in their intended book format now, the printed novel still won’t be a “first reading experience” for most fans. 

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: June 2021

We in Ontario are still mostly locked down and my area is the MOST locked down (not being dramatic, it’s genuinely the only region that isn’t opening up at the start of July). What this means is there’s still lots of time for safe, distanced, indoor activities! Here’s how I spent June.

……….FILM……….

Groundhog Day (1993) Despite liking practically every time loop movie I’ve watched, I’d never seen Groundhog Day. It was great! I was surprised by how much of a journey Bill Murray’s character went on. Just when I thought he’d gotten to the point where he would break the cycle, the movie says “nope!” and digs deeper. Now I understand why it gets referenced in all the other time loop movies.

Cruella (2021) It’s a fairly bonkers premise and it’s just campy enough to work. The scenes where it slows down for drama feel...unnecessary, but maybe overall it was still a good time at the (at home) movies! It takes some swings and I’ll never complain about that.

……….TELEVISION……….

Loki (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) I tend to prefer my Marvel stuff a little more fantastic so this is...right up my alley. Time travel, strange planets, it’s all great. Very Doctor Who. Keen to see how this shapes up.

The Bachelorette (Episode 17.01 to 17.04) Katie gives off such a good “I’m not supposed to be here” energy that I can’t help but enjoy this season. That and the change from Chris Harrison to Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe is the breath of fresh air I need.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Episode 1.12 to 1.17) Still a very slow burn and a slow watch for me but I’m digging it! It seems to be in an exposition/bigger plot phase right now so not as much giant robot v monster battles but hey, I’m all for variety.

Superstore (Episode 4.12 to 5.08) The series has really transitioned from Jonah and Amy to the full cast and that’s great! Also hitting some surprisingly topical story beats.

……….READING……….

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Complete) I have a rather limited exposure to the gothic genre (Dracula, Frankenstein, and Crimson Peak are pretty much it) but this felt right at home. Turns out I really dig contemporary gothic novels! If you liked Crimson Peak then check this novel out. If you haven’t seen Crimson Peak, watch that and read this.

DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke (Complete) Still one of my absolute favourite comics. I’d pitch this as Mad Men meets the Justice League. It deftly weaves fun superheroics into real-world events around the late 50s (including the overt racism and misogyny of the time). The pacing and artwork are cinematic, the narrative feels big enough for a full-team threat, and everyone feels like they’re a piece in a bigger puzzle. Just love it.

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët (Complete) One of my favourite graphic novels to reread every so often. It’s so dark and sad yet beautiful to look at. I admit I less enjoyed the...meanness of the tiny fairy-like characters on the latest reading, but I think that’s byproduct fo the general climate in which I’m reading the book. Still highly recommend.

Head Lopper Volume 2 & Head Lopper Volume 3 by Andrew Maclean with Jordie Bellaire (Complete) Volume 2 is still my fave of the trio. The plot and pacing are ace and the style feels a lot more pulpy. Volume 3 is a really fun story that expands the world but it all feels...rushed in a way that the previous volumes didn’t. Maybe it’s the larger cast and the bigger story, but there were a number of times where I felt like panels were missing. The evolving art style is a lot more loose and I like it overall, but I think the art would be better complimented by more breathing room. As critical as this is sounding, I still have a blast every time I read this series and I’ve preordered volume 4, so know that I criticize because I love it all so so much.

……….AUDIO……….

The Adventure Zone: Ethersea (Podcast) I fell off of The Adventure Zone a while back but I’m digging this new premise! I know the worldbuilding episodes may not be loved by some but I really dig seeing how the sausage is made and getting a glimpse at another gaming format. Good stuff.

Love to See It (Podcast) With all the Bachelorette stuff going on this summer, I’m glad this podcast is back (albeit with a different name).

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The adventurers have made some MAJOR waves on the island! Or at least with one faction. I won’t spoil anything so there’s a more thorough breakdown over on Reddit!

Super Mario 3D All Stars (Nintendo) I wrapped up Super Mario Galaxy and I’m reminded that I always enjoy the 3D Mario games for about 60% of the time it takes to complete it. It just doesn’t feel as satisfying or challenging (in a good way, you know?) than the 2D platformers. It’s just not for me, an old.

And that’s it! As always, let me know if you have anything to recommend and happy Wednesday!