#unapologetically carol danvers

[knightfall-4-life]

I am an unapologetic fan of The Marvels

Exactly as the title says. The movie was amazing. Quite honestly, it was a great 1 hour 45 minutes at the movies. I definitely plan on watching it again some day.

Some stuff I loved about the movie:

The Main Trio. They were amazing and hilarious together. The sad moments were allowed to be sad while the funny moments were gut wrenching. They really worked well with each other. One scene I loved was when they were trying to figure out how their switching powers worked. That was great. Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris did an amazing job in this movie.

The scenes with Kamala's family were great. Their reactions to everything happening around them were incredibly funny. Especially when Kamala's mother threatened Captain Marvel and Kamala refused to translate it to her hero.

Sam L Jackson. Sam L Jackson was another great thing about this movie and I am so happy to see how different he is here to how he was in Secret Invasion.

The whole time the trio were on the singing planet. I mean, Brie Larson singing and dancing? Come on, now.

Carol Danvers scenes, especially that scene when she found out that Maria's cancer came back. Just heartbreaking to see Carol react to the news.

Valkyrie showing up from out of nowhere. That was nice.

The mid-credits scene. It has me excited to see what the MCU has in store for the future.

That's about all I can think of for now. Overall, The Marvels is a strong entry into the MCU and it annoys me seeing it being bashed all over social media.

Personal rating: 7.5 - 8 / 10

[themculibrary]

New Year's Eve Masterlist

All the Time in the World (to make you mine) (ao3) - concavepatterns darcy/loki E, 19k

Summary: After the events of New York Loki is angry and unapologetic, and a chance encounter with a young science intern on New Years Eve only leaves him more unbalanced. He is certain of one thing though: Darcy Lewis will be his.

And a Happy New Year (ao3) - SkyBlue2003 bruce/thor N/R, 666

Summary: Thor and Bruce have a traditional new year’s kiss.

And that laugh that wrinkles your nose, It touches my foolish heart (ao3) - Merideath steve/darcy, jane/thor T, 2k

Summary: “Wonder Woman? Really Darcy? You think it’s appropriate to go to a costume party hosted by a superhero dressed as a superhero?”

“What. It’s a good costume I made it for comic con last year and couldn’t go because I tased a god. It’s perfectly tasteful. It’s World War II Wonder Woman. Look my stockings have lines up the back. I have suspenders, Jane! I was going to go with the Linda Carter version but I wasn’t going to meet the Avengers in my knickers.”

“Knickers? You Have got to stop watching BBC America Darcy.”

--------------------------

Darcy and Jane attend Tony Stark's New Year's Eve Costume Party.

Another Trip Around the Sun (ao3) - isaDanCurtisproduction peter/wade M, 31k

Summary: Peter likes Wade. A lot. Like-likes him. But this is a problem, see? Because Wade has no idea who is behind the Spiderman mask.

And then they go to a New Years Eve Party hosted by Tony Stark, get completely wasted, and suddenly this does not seem to be nearly as much of a problem as Peter originally thought. Because Peter always makes the best decisions while drunk, don't you know? Especially when his decision involves getting into Deadpool's pants.

A Place Called Home (ao3) - Anonymous steve/bucky T, 6k

Summary: New Years Eve. Suits. Party at Stark's place. Honesty happens.

Fireworks (ao3) - shipskicksandgiggles harley/peter G, 1k

Summary: Spending New Year's alone was perfectly fine with Peter. That changes when his best friend shows up at his door with a couple of glasses and a bottle of champagne

Five Avengers Tony Kissed Under the Mistletoe (And One He Didn't) (ao3) - sariane OT6 T, 4k

Summary: Five Avengers Tony Kissed Under the Mistletoe and One He — wait, what the hell? There are only six Avengers, how does that even work, author? Are you sure you should be writing fanfiction? Does no one regulate this?

Tony has a busy holiday season.

hopeful for the new year (ao3) - PietroBarton bucky/pietro N/R, 1k

Summary: Pietro grew tired of the chatter and pleasantries of the new years eve party.

i'd say i love you with my final breath (ao3) - wmthackeray druig/makkari N/R, 2k

Summary: He presses his forehead to hers and it's like hundreds of years of tension simply drips off of her, and she feels lighter than ever. As if she could run through the entire universe -- but she won't, since she's back in the place she likes best.

On the eve of a new millennium, Makkari decides she's tired of celebrating alone. So she pays Druig a visit.

Millennium Bug (ao3) - WhiteravenGreywolf carol/maria G, 1k

Summary: It's New Year's Eve at the Danvers-Rambeau family, and in the last few hours of 1999 Monica has a revelation for her mothers.

Misfits (ao3) - fannishliss steve/bucky G, 3k

Summary:

Kisses on New Year's Eve: 1939, Bucky and Steve go to see the ball drop on Times Square. 2014, Steve attends the Avengers Gala.

New Year Playboy (ao3) - Scotland_Axel (orphan_account) steve/sam M, 1k

Summary: Steve meets Sam at an Avengers New year's party dressed as a playboy bunny.

Off the Mark (ao3) - brandnewfashion steve/tony T, 11k

Summary: In which Tony makes assumptions, and Steve disproves every single one of them.

Aka a "five times Steve surprised Tony, and one time Tony surprised Steve" story.

Resolved (ao3) - FestiveFerret steve/tony T, 3k

Summary: Okay. He just had to approach it like a mission. Objective: Kiss Tony Stark at midnight.

Smooth Like Velvet (ao3) - Rubick sam/bucky T, 5k

Summary: Steve hummed, taking a step back. “Sam is not going to know what hit him when he sees you.”

Bucky’s pulse spiked as he frowned at Steve. “What—What are you talking about? Why would I care what Sam thinks?”

Steve chuckled and looked at him the way Bucky had seen him look at Tony way too often—with a mixture of frustration and fondness. “Come on, Buck. You don’t have to hide it with me.”

~~~

It’s the Stark annual NYE bash, Bucky’s in a tux, and he’s not staring at Sam across the dance floor.

He’s totally not.

Starlight Wishes (ao3) - xxDustNight88 bucky/darcy T, 2k

Summary: New Year's Eve is a time for making resolutions, or wishing on shooting stars in Bucky's case. It just so happens that his wish for a fruitful New Year comes in the form of one Darcy Lewis. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind…

Ten Ladies Dancing (ao3) - JulietsEmoPhase peggy/angie T, 1k

Summary: Peggy has a lot of work to do, but it's New Year's Eve, and Angie wants to go and have some fun.

Set after season one, very minor spoilers, no smut.

Three, Two, One (ao3) - SailorChibi tony/stephen T, 2k

Summary: Tony throws a New Year's Eve party to help Peter save face, never expecting that he'll receive a kiss of his own from his crush at midnight.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (ao3) - PlayItRight yelena/kate T, 8k

Summary: After the craziest Christmas of Kate Bishop's life, she's back home and ready to relax for the end of the year. But when Kate receives a text from a mysterious yet familiar unknown number, will New Year's really be relaxing?

what it is to be possible (ao3) - victoria_p (musesfool) steve/bucky G, 2k

Summary: When a reporter shouts, "How long have you two been together?" Steve doesn't expect Bucky to shout back, "Since 1934."

when the clock strikes twelve (ao3) - skylarkblue yelena/kate T, 3k

Summary: After Kate gets back from Christmas with the Bartons, she and Yelena finally go for that drink.

whose arms will hold you (ao3) - biblionerd07 steve/bucky G, 10k

Summary: Steve needs a ride home for Christmas. Bucky needs a passenger.

[super-hero-confessions]

Hades from Totally Spies, Mandy from Hercules, and Darkseid from DC are my favorite bad guys. The Lord of the Dead is a hilarious yet threatening snarker with an excellent performer, the Asian mean girl has the best comebacks and her two-dimensionality makes her ripe for “Fanfic Fuel” (no not “Fetish Fuel” you pervs), and Apokolips’ ruler is all the more terrifying when you consider what he represents and how it has resurfaced in our current society. Sure Hades does not represent the original myths at all*, Mandy’s voice might be a little weird, and Darkseid has definitely been overexposed but at least those villains haven't been retconned to death (Xehanort), shoehorned when they didn’t need to be there (Adam Taurus), written as “crazy” to justify lazy writing (DCEU Lex Luthor, Joker), suddenly written as “crazy” out of nowhere (Azula), pathetic (that one guy from LOK who i can’t remember the name), barely show up or are involved with the main story at all (MCU Thanos, and from what was seen so far, MCU Kang), not given enough chance to shine due to being a twist villain (most Disney antagonists nowadays), a tired evil Superman cliche, outright contradict the culture of the work (The “Devil” character in LOK even though it’s supposed to be a Asian world, NOT based on Christianity), unintentionally more sympathetic than the “heroes” (Magneto), incredibly inconsistent due to writers unable to make their minds up on how to write the character (Freddy Krueger and Mystique*). etc. And it doesn’t matter that LOK had good villains, that show was still ******* awful. * Then again, “staying true to the myths” is how we got that horrible version of Wonder Woman’s Amazon family in the New 52, so is that really a good idea now? *No seriously Marvel, WTF is with Mystique in the comics? Is she really good deep within? Is she the most evil mutant ever? In her solo series, she’s in tears about having to sacrifice a child (though someone beats her to it), when one comic said she couldn’t give two shits about throwing Nightcrawler down a cliff and if memory serves the panel even showed her flashing an evil grin (at least the 90s animated series made it clear Mystique felt guilty over it). And apparently a new story revealed that she instead tied him to a log and sensed him down a stream, so oh wait she didn’t really throw Nightcrawler down a cliff? Or something like that. Also in that solo series she seems to really care about mutants whereas other writers say she’s only in it for herself. In fact, Mystique in her solo title seemed to be a very chill anti-hero overall, never doing anything truly twisted. Even when she’s doing bad **** the writers can’t make up their mind on her personality. Her trying to assassinate Senator Kelly and sacrifice a newborn was bad but at least she still was trying to save her dying daughter and wasn’t actively “malicious”; and Senator Kelly was an bigoted ******* so, meanwhile she’s written in other books as a utterly sadistic assshat who killed Carol Danver’s lover while impersonating her for some reason and in Bendis’ run she’s an unapologetic asshole who put Dazzler in a coma and framed to X-men for a crime spree she pulled with Sabretooth and that other villain. And what the duck is with everything she pulled in Jason Aaron’s run? Her relationship with her kids is also all kinds of “do whatever”. Again does she truly love Nightcrawler and Rogue and would give her life for them (as the 90s animated version did one time) or does she see them as tools to be used and is not afraid to maim or kill them? Claremont’s run probably wrote her as a loving mom yet in a later X-Men comic she freakin stabbed Rogue! Even the sympathetic solo series points this out! For gods sake Marvel, I don’t care if she’s good or evil JUST PICK ONE SINGLE VISION FOR THE CHARACTER AND BE DONE WITH IT. Mystique has like 5 or more different characters just crammed in there and it’s such an exhausting mess. Kind of like Xehanort really.

[unapologeticallyresilient]

Preferences Vers & Carol

Preferences                                                        

reblog repost and bold your muse’s preference.  from @cuz-tony-stark

Vers

·        summer / winter / spring / fall

·        rain / snow / sun

·        lace / silk / cotton / velvet / denim

·        water / soda / liquor / beer / wine / coffee

·        breakfast / lunch / dinner

·        meat / sweets / fruits and vegetables

·        pop / rock / country / rap / other

·        staying up late / going to bed early

·        early rising / sleeping in

·        tv / movies / books / theater

·        extravagance / traditionalism / minimalism

·        love / money / power

·        having company / being alone / a healthy balance

·        dogs / cats

·        black / white / gold

·        for tattoos / against tattoos / impartial

·        white chocolate / dark chocolate / milk chocolate / none

·        city / nature / suburbs

·        religious / non religious

·        outer space / ocean

·        lots of friends / handful of friends / loner

·        meat eater / vegetarian / vegan

·        text message / phone calls / facetime

·        conservative / liberal / somewhere in the middle

·        belief in supernatural / no belief in supernatural

·        bright colors / pastel colors / neutral colors

·        christmas / halloween / thanksgiving / new years / none

·        email / hand writing letters

Carol

·        summer / winter / spring / fall

·        rain / snow / sun

·        lace / silk / cotton / velvet / denim

·        water / soda / liquor / beer / wine / coffee

·        breakfast / lunch / dinner

·        meat / sweets / fruits and vegetables

·        pop / rock / country / rap / other

·        staying up late / going to bed early

·        early rising / sleeping in

·        tv / movies / books / theater

·        extravagance / traditionalism / minimalism

·        love / money / power

·        having company / being alone / a healthy balance

·        dogs / cats

·        black / white / gold

·        for tattoos / against tattoos

·        white chocolate / dark chocolate / milk chocolate / none

·        city / nature / suburbs

·        religious / non religious

·        outer space / ocean

·        lots of friends / handful of friends / loner

·        meat eater / vegetarian / vegan

·        text message / phone calls / facetime

·        conservative / liberal / somewhere in the middle

·        belief in supernatural / no belief in supernatural

·        bright colors / pastel colors / neutral colors

·        christmas / halloween / thanksgiving / new years / none

·        email / hand writing letters

Tagging: @adventures-written (for Minn), @xnoblewarriorherosx, @thunderkingodinson, @lovelylostminds, @candothisallday-sgr

[iwanttogoeverywhereplease]

okay listen up I have a thing to say

(or don’t listen, because your life is your own and your social media experience is also your own and I love that for us, look at us making decisions based on what we want to do and what will make us happy and what is healthiest, we are doing so well)

(this post is sponsored by my prof making fun of me in front of my class for enjoying the MCU)

Why is it so bad to like things that a bunch of other people like? I get that Disney and Marvel and Star Wars, etc., are bloated and commercialized and mainstream, but they’re also fun, is the thing. At least for me. I enjoy Marvel, still. I enjoy Star Wars, still. And what is art except people making something because they like making things?

Okay, as I say this I realize that my point loses its punch with that because mainstream media can twist the motivation for making something from joy to acclaim/$$, but STILL. I LIKE the characters in the mainstream movies. I like the ones in the small indie movies, too. I enjoy both/and, and I like watching Netflix shows that a lot of other people like watching, and I like writing fanfiction about those big shows, and I like watching people analyze and enjoy the media that I’m analyzing and enjoying too.

idk. I’m not trying to defend something that shouldn’t be defended, but maybe just... joy? Joy should be allowed to exist without guilt? because so many things come with guilt and shame attached when there’s no POINT in them having that emotional price tag.

maybe this is me giving myself a solo therapy session because I feel all tender and sensitive about liking billion-dollar productions. And, look, I don’t like that they’re billion-dollar. I desperately miss the 80s and practical effects and people that look like people and PUPPETS. Good gracious I miss puppets. But at the same time I miss the days when I just had Marvel DVDs from the library and no access to the internet and I just liked watching them and thinking about the characters and writing fanfic.

blegh idk thanks for reading this if you got this far also please consider making yourself chocolate chip waffles because I did that this morning and it was magical

[coffeecatsandcandles]

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈𝐈- 𝐔𝐧𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥

➵ 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | widow!dad!teacher!Bucky x f!teacher!Reader (ft. Rebecca Barnes and other friends)

➵ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 | 4.3k

➵ 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | Mention of death, gossip, rumors, therapy.

დ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | დ 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | დ 𝐤𝐨-𝐟𝐢

Monday was an entirely new monster. On Friday, gossip had flown around the school about how you’d scolded James for yelling at one of your students. Now, completely new rumors were flying around the school. Turns out, Kate did talk. And she talked a lot. Before second period, there was already talk about your “date” with Mr. Barnes on Friday night at Cesario’s, in which Kate was your server. In third period, a brave student asked if you and Mr. Barnes were dating. You simply ignored the question, getting him to go back to his work. During fourth period, you received an e-mail from the principal for a brief meeting during your planning period.

Oh god.

You tried not to drag your feet as you made your way to your boss’s office, and you caught sight of James also making his way there. Your heart was racing now- she knew about your dinner with James, and she was going to ask questions. Lots of questions.

Carol Danvers was a former Air Force pilot- after getting hurt on the job she retired early to pursue an education career, working her way up to be principal after many years teaching astronomy, biology, and even physical education for a while. She seemed to have a soft spot with you as she did most of the feminine teachers, but you knew you couldn’t sweet-talk your way out of this. She didn’t have any favorites- she was stern and unapologetic.

Taking a seat next to James in Carol’s office, you looked to the blonde woman across the desk for any sign that you weren’t in trouble.

“Okay, let’s just cut to the chase, you both know why you’re here.” She said bluntly. You and James nodded in response. It wasn’t like you were scared of Carol- or at least, you weren’t- but you valued your job. “There’s too much talk going around and I’m getting lots of e-mails from teachers because the kids won’t shut up about whether you two are dating or not.”

Both you and James started to respond at the same time, cutting each other off before even speaking. James backed away, letting you speak, but you wanted him to go first. It was overly polite, and it was clear there was something there. You couldn’t help but notice the way Carol was looking at both of you, like she was analyzing everything and making her own judgements. By the looks of it, you and James could both deny forever, but she wouldn’t believe a single word. Carol was spectacular at reading people, and the most obvious thing between the two of you to her were your embarrassingly obvious crushes on each other.

“We- I made a mistake on Friday,” you started, “I scolded him in the hallway, I was rude and I wanted to make up for what I did.”

“I’d hardly call it that,” James interjected, “just so you know, Carol, I deserved every word that came my way from her.”

“Okay,” Carol said, “so are you dating or not?”

“No,” you and James said at the same time. Thank god, at least you were both on the same page.

“Alright then,” she said, “I guess we’re done here.” She stood to open the door for you and James, noticing the confusion on both of your faces. “Look, it’s not a big deal if you are. There’s just some paperwork- and as much as I know these kids like to lie, I have to take every accusation and rumor seriously. Neither of you are in trouble.”

You tried not to make your sigh of relief obvious as you said your goodbyes to Carol. Even when you were in school, it was unlike you to have to make a trip to the principal’s office. The only time you did was if you were being picked up early by a parent. It wasn’t like you to get in trouble, and today was the closest you ever wanted to get.

“Can you believe her?” James scoffed as you walked together to your classrooms. You remembered his was on a completely different hallway, but he stayed with you, as if he felt the need to walk you to your classroom after that fiasco.

“I know,” you scoffed back, “Us? Dating? Yeah, right.”

“I’m glad you agree.” He said. You found yourself standing outside of your classroom with James towering over you. You liked how tall he was compared to you, how his head almost reached the top of the doorframe. “All the kids are starting to sound like Becca.”

“Is she still on the whole ‘I wish she were my mommy’ thing? I hate to bring it up again, but I really think you should-“

“I scheduled an appointment with a therapist for her.” He interrupted your train of thought, and it struck you how he’d actually listened to you. “I’m sure it’s not just you, one of these days she’ll probably come home calling Mrs. Parker her mom. She just doesn’t have a lot of women in her life. It’s always kinda been just me or Steve.”

“I’m sorry, James. I really am.”

James gave a sad smile, avoiding the sentiment completely. “Do you want to get some coffee after school? I can bring Becca along. There’s this place we go to all the time, Luce Café. It’s not far from here.”

“Do any students work there?” you joked.

James smiled, “Not a single one. Becca and I are regulars.”

“Then that sounds perfect.” You said, smiling back. Though your moment was cut short by the sound of footsteps approaching your classroom. Checking your phone, you noticed that your planning period wouldn’t be over for another ten minutes. You turned and were greeted by your waitress from Friday night and one of James’s students, Kate.

Kate had a plan, and she was going to go through with it no matter how ridiculous it sounded. “Hi. So, I have a pretty random question for you.” She was looking directly at you when she said it, and it struck you as odd. Kate wasn’t your student- you didn’t teach many seniors.

“Of course, Kate.”

“I’m sort of struggling to find a topic for my senior project- I know I want to do something on archery, and I was thinking of doing all the math that’s involved in it or maybe the history behind it?” she looked at James for the latter part, “but then I figured, it’s my project and I can do whatever the hell I want- oh, sorry.” She corrected her little slip up, though you didn’t care enough to scold her for it.

“I think that sounds like two great topics,” James said, sort of catching on to what Kate was trying to do, “But if you want to learn more about archery, isn’t that more of a topic for Coach Barton? Neither of us are as skilled in it as him.”

“Sure, he’s good at archery,” Kate reasoned, “but it takes someone like you two to really know and have an unbiased opinion on the sport. Maybe we can all learn a thing or two!”

James was sure he could tell what Kate was doing. According to James, Kate was trying to test if you and James would even want to be in the same room together after Friday, or how quickly you would agree or deny mentoring her together. What if you agreed, and Kate just gave the school more information on this relationship between the two of you? If you denied, would it only fuel the fire too?

“I guess I don’t see a problem with it,” you started, James shooting daggers with his eyes at you.

Before he could object, Kate excitedly continued. “Perfect! Are Mondays after school alright? I know you two aren’t in charge of any clubs or anything.”

You looked to James. He seemed stressed, and you could understand why. Now every Monday, he would either have to show up late to every meeting to pick up Rebecca, or ask Steve to go out of his way to bring her to the high school. He could hire a sitter, but there wasn’t a person he trusted as much as Steve to have Rebecca in their care, plus the hassle of going through the interview and screening process which called for time he didn’t have. He knew Steve wouldn’t have a problem with it always basically dropped everything to care for her, but James also knew Steve had a life. He dated, he had a job, he had hobbies. He wasn’t a parent, he didn’t need to be one half the time for him.

But for some reason, despite all the stressors, James really wanted to do it. Not for Kate- it’d been a long time since he cared this deeply about a student. Sure, he wanted all his students to succeed (though it may not have shown), but Kate could’ve done this without him, or even with another history teacher like Mr. Lang.

James promised himself that this would be the last time he would take advantage of Steve’s flexible schedule. He’d ask him to do pick her up and stay with her for no more than two hours after school, and he’d be there to take her from him and take her home. He hated asking Steve to do this, no matter how often Steve told him that he didn't mind; that Rebecca's cuteness alone was a great way to pick up women when he took her grocery shopping. It made James feel less than, like he wasn’t capable of doing one simple thing that every other parent made time in their schedule to do. But he couldn’t help that the elementary school dismissed their kids almost an hour before the high school did, and James couldn’t ask them to change their entire schedule just for him.

“Sure. I guess it’s fine with me too.” He finally said.

Kate smiled, “Awesome! We can start next week! I’ll let Ms. V know I picked you two as my mentors.” She referred to Ms. Van Dyne, the English teacher who was also in charge of the annual senior projects. Every senior had to do one, on some topic they were either passionate about or planned on pursuing as a career. Kate walked away, presumably back to class.

“Look at that, a first-year already mentoring a senior? You don’t see that often here.”

“It’s not like I’ve never taught before,” you playfully scolded, “I take it you’ve done about a thousand, right?”

James looked at the ground, “Actually, no. In all my years here I’ve only done two and it was-“ he internally cringed at the memory. It was before Rebecca was born, before his wife had died, before he became a complete grump. “-a long time ago. Kids hardly pursue history and if they do, they usually ask Scott to be their mentor. He’s a lot cooler than me.”

You were about to object when the bell rang, meaning students would start piling into your classroom any minute. “I’ll see you later.” James said, backing away and soon getting lost in the sea of high schoolers leaving their classes to go to their next ones.

Wait, did that mean Kate wanted to meet today?

Before you could chase her down, you already had a few freshmen piling into your classroom, some of them stuck on a project that’d been due in their previous class. If you left them alone, they’d probably wreak havoc on your classroom and turn it into a custodian’s worst nightmare.

Meanwhile, James started to wonder the same thing. He’d have Kate in his next and final class of the day- but now he took this time to relax. It was now his planning period, and he usually kept everything up to date. He didn’t have any extra lesson plans to make, any papers to grade, or any extra worksheets to print. He was completely free for the next hour.

Knowing Becca was out of school and Steve had picked her up, James decided to take out his phone to give his daughter a quick video call. He hated that it’d just become a habit for him to be a grump- he didn’t want his daughter to ever feel like she wasn’t good enough for him. She was perfect no matter what she did- it was him who needed the attitude change.

“Hey,” Steve said, clearly in the car.

“Hey… let me say hi to my daughter before you get in a wreck.” James joked.

Steve lightly laughed, handing his phone to Rebecca in the backseat. Her face lit up James’s screen; her unmistakable smile- wiggly bottom tooth and all- got even bigger the second she saw her dad on Steve’s screen. “Hi Daddy!”

“Hey sweet girl. How was school?”

“Good. Mrs. Parker is showing us cursive.”

Already? James felt his heart strings tug a little. It felt like just yesterday Rebecca couldn’t even spell her own name. She’d often spell it with one C instead of two.

Rebecca noticed the silence and spoke again. “Are you okay, Daddy?”

Furrowing his eyebrows, James answered hesitantly. “Yea.. yea I’m okay. I just miss you, Bec.”

“You’ll see me later!” Rebecca laughed. It occurred to James that maybe he was being a little clingy. Becca let out a tiny gasp, remembering what she made at school. Apparently, it could not wait another couple of hours. “Wait, Daddy look!” she pulled out a drawing from her notebook. It was of a butterfly- big pink wings with green and purple polka dots. On the righthand corner in blue crayon, the drawing was signed “Rebecca B.” in a handwriting James once knew to be big and sloppy, but had now gotten slightly smaller and neater. When had she learned to fix that? How much had he been missing?

“That’s so pretty, love.”

“Can you give it to Mommy?”

It was a strange request, but upon a few conversations with Becca’s soon-to-be therapist, James learned that it would help Becca in her grieving process for him to let her draw pictures, write letters, and look at pictures of her mother. James was accumulating little things around the house of his wife’s and putting it on the mantle in their home so Becca could see it whenever she wanted. “Sure, we can put it on top of the fireplace.”

“No.. not Mommy… Mommy!”

It took him a second to figure out what the hell his daughter was saying. Then it all connected. The butterfly drawing, the insistence and way she couldn’t distinguish the difference between the two women anymore. She wanted you to have the drawing, not her actual mother.

“Bec, she’s not your mom. She’s just someone I work with.”

“But she’s nice to me and she loves me. She’s kind of like my mommy.”

It was times like this where Steve wanted to interject, but he knew he wasn’t his place. He was a babysitter, not Becca’s dad. But he knew what he saw when he first met you. He saw a woman James was falling in love with, and someone that Becca already loved immensely, whether James wanted to admit it or not.

Resist, James told himself. She’s just young and confused. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. He couldn’t be upset with her anymore. He was doing that too much recently- Steve was starting to look like the superior guardian, he could tell.

“Hey, do you wanna go to Luce’s later?” James asked, completely changing the subject. His daughter’s face lit up at the idea of downing a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, a very obvious but silent yes from his child.

He said his goodbyes and promises to see her later, catching the kisses Rebecca sent his way and hanging up.

His planning ended before he knew it; he was too busy stressing over seeing you again because he now had the image of you as a mother in his head. If only, he’d think. Coming home with you, you resting your head on his shoulder as you all watched a movie in the living room, feeling his hands run through your hair as he kissed you…

No, there had to be some sort of biological or psychological explanation for this. You were attractive, young, motherly towards his daughter, and his friend. That didn’t mean he liked you like that, right?

Snapping himself out of his own daydream, his brain started working ahead of him the second he heard the bell ring for the final class of the day and shortly after, saw Kate walk into his class along with a few other seniors for U.S. History. “Kate… your project. Are we meeting today?” He sounded rough. Like he’d just been harshly woken up out of a beautiful dream.

“No… I haven’t prepared anything yet. Next week.” The teenager promised, sitting in her desk. A few of her friends eyed her weirdly and one even snickered. James ignored it, not wanting to call attention to how unusual it sounded for Kate’s mentor for her archery project to be a history teacher, nonetheless him.

Why was James relieved? He still promised to see you after school today. Maybe now the two of you would get the chance to talk about whatever the hell this project was going to be about. Or maybe James could make a move. He moved it to the back of his mind for now, focusing only on his lecture- where a record five students started to doze off. Normally, he’d wake them up and give them detention, but today, he urged himself to think how you think.

It’s the last class of the day, and if he remembered correctly, at least one of those kids had gym class the period before. They were still kids. Worn out by the day, exhausted and trying to cram so much knowledge from one day in their heads.

He had to admit, your way of thinking did save him a lot of stress. He’d talk to them after class- make sure they’re okay.

James taught U.S. History to his seniors as you taught Geometry to your sophomores, and soon enough the dismissal bell rang and every student in Westview High School left their classrooms and made their way to the front of the school to be picked up by parents, the side of the school to be picked up by the bus, the student parking lot to go to their cars, or leaving through the back of the school because their house was close enough to walk. Some left in groups, others waited for their siblings, some left alone. But within thirty minutes, the school was practically empty.

You never stayed after school for longer than an hour most days, and you didn’t plan on changing it. You knew one day there’d be a meeting, workload, or classroom decorating session that would keep you longer, but for now, you enjoyed being off at a relatively early time, especially since there were some teachers who stayed for hours after without getting paid. Mr. Laufeyson, the theatre teacher, was a prime example. He’d stay for hours in rehearsal with the drama kids working on the school play they’d take to competition. You noticed a few of your students in the cast, you figured it wouldn’t hurt to go see it.

There was a light tapping at your door. You looked up to see James, sheepishly waiting for you. He looked small, as if he was burdening you wish the reminder that you promised to go out for coffee with him and Rebecca.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” he said, a small, crooked smile making its way onto his face. One he just couldn’t hide anymore- not when he was around you.

“I’m almost done. I’ll be one second.” You said, returning the smile, “Is Steve meeting us there?”

“Sort of,” James said, “He’s dropping off Becca and then heading to a meeting.”

“What exactly does Steve do for a living?” You didn’t want to intrude on Steve’s personal life, as you hardly knew him, but you found yourself wondering that a lot. Steve spent a lot of his time with Rebecca and seemed to have the perfect stay-at-home dad schedule.

“Real estate,” James said, eyeing how shocked you looked when he said it. He liked how your eyebrows furrowed and your head tilted. He thought it was cute. “Half the homes in town exist because of him. He’s busy sometimes but not too much.”

“Oh,” was all you could mutter. Finishing up your planning for the next day, you logged out of your computer and grabbed your coat.

“What about you?” James asked suddenly.

“What about me?”

“What’s your life like outside of here?”

It was a loaded question. For as long as you could remember, your life surrounded every single student you had. In every grade. Even the more troubled ones, you still managed to show a genuine interest in them and make it to games and competitions their extra curriculars had. When you taught elementary, you talked with their parents about the big, bright futures they had ahead of them, and you meant it every single time. There wasn’t a moment where you weren’t thinking about ways to make your classroom fun or let parents know that their children were exceptional. In all honesty, it felt like you didn’t have a life outside of teaching.

“I get it, don’t worry,” James said, noticing you were lost for words, “the burnout is… intense. If it weren’t for Becca I probably wouldn’t do much outside of here either. When you have a kid, they take up your entire schedule. Outside of here I have sleepover duty, soccer practice, and now therapy. On top of trying to learn how to keep up with all the new things she likes.”

“She’s playing soccer now?” you smiled.

“Yeah. Started about two weeks ago.”

“She didn’t mention that at dinner on Friday.”

“She was just so excited to see you I guess she forgot. And it took a while for her to warm up to it- she wanted to take swimming classes but they were full.” There was a stillness in the conversation before James spoke again, clearly apologetic. “I’m sorry, I feel like every time we talk it’s about me. I don’t want you to feel like I don’t care what’s going on in your life.”

You laughed as you made your way to your car. “No, it’s not an issue. Really. I like it.”

“And besides Steve- who knows all my drama- I don’t really have anyone to talk to.”

“Me too,” you said, “I guess that’s why I didn’t really know how to answer your question. My life is centered around my students, coffee, wine, and whatever the most popular TV show is. It’s not much, but nobody’s ever really asked me about that stuff. The stuff no one really cares about.”

Your backside was pressed against the driver’s door as you leaned against your car. James kept his distance, but was still relatively close. It was weirdly intimate, like you were just on a date.

“I care about that stuff.” James said, “And I’m not just saying that.”

Before you could craft a witty response, James pressed his lips against yours in a quick kiss. It caught you off guard and was something you didn’t expect- at least not today- and James mistook the shock on your face as disgust. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did that-“ he started rambling, trying to save himself and your friendship by backtracking and trying to forget the last five seconds of your lives.

“Hey, James. It’s okay.” You said, cupping his face in your hands and looking at him. Your eyes, the softness of your palms- it all calmed James down so much. “I promise. It’s okay.” You hoped you were sending the right message.

You hadn’t meant it’s okay as ‘I forgive you because I know it won’t happen again.’ You wanted to make it clear that you wanted it to happen again. And again, and again, and again. Just the half-second of his lips on yours wasn’t enough. You wanted more.

Slowly, you leaned in again for a deeper, intentional kiss. The kind of kiss that put every romance novel you’d read and every movie you’d seen to shame. The kind of kiss that said finally… this is what I’ve been waiting for.

It was okay. Everything he felt, every time his heart fluttered when he saw you, every time he made himself better because he heard your voice in the back of his head. It was okay. It was more than okay.

“I’ll see you at Luce’s.” you said, unlocking your car and failing to hide a big, cheesy grin on your face.

“Yeah. I’ll see you.” He closed the door for you when you got in, dumbfounded at how he just stood in his tracks, watching you drive away. In awe at your beauty, in awe that he got to share his first kiss in seven years with someone as perfect as you.

The phantom pains James felt where his arm used to be hadn’t occurred since you started working at Westview High. You were finally starting to feel like your life was going somewhere, regardless if he had a child or not. And you loved her- you loved Rebecca so much, it just seemed too perfect to be real.

As you made your way to Luce’s, you couldn’t shake the smile. This would lead to a long, adult conversation about relationships in the workplace, not to mention the fact that he had a daughter, which came with a whole new, even bigger set of responsibilities for you to take on- but you were ready for everything this would throw at you.

Because James Barnes was worth it. You knew that for a fact.

[penstrokes]

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Reaction

Definitely go see it if it's safe for you! It's a fantastic theatre experience and a great movie! Simu Liu and Tony Leung are amazing, the fights are great and the visuals are perfect for the big screen.

Anyways, beware the spoilers below!

What I loved:

- It's unapologetically Chinese. Like at least a third of the movie's dialogue is in Mandarin. At points, I would forget I was watching a Marvel movie and feel like I was just watching a Chinese movie with my parents. Very rarely do I get to hear proper Mandarin dialogue in a movie theatre, so it was a very rewarding experience. A lot of the culture felt so authentic, including Katy's parents pressuring her to get a job or get married (lol) and her grandma saving a spot for her deceased grandpa close to qingming (Day of the Dead in China)

- Katy and Shang-Chi are just this platonic friendship. Idk if they are gonna make them get together later on, but I hope not. They're just a couple of great friends with no braincells, chilling

- Wenwu did not feel like a villain at all. Yes, he's a bad father, and I see some of his qualities in my parents. But I would never consider my parents villains, and I just saw him as a broken man who had lost the one person who made him whole. I was so sad when he died. I know Tony Leung probably didn't want to do a multiple movie contract with Marvel because he wanted to keep his prospects open, but he would have been a great character to keep around.

The Funniest Shit That is Now Canon Thanks to This Movie:

- Wong takes Abomination to a probably illegal fight club to work out his issues

- The members of the Ten Rings apparently love Trevor Slattery's rendition of Macbeth. I guess that includes Wenwu?

- Just the whole concept of a Chicken-Pig. I just really want to hug one

- Carol Danvers just dips out of zoom calls early and avoids giving her number to anyone. I'm willing to bet she pulls this every time someone asks for her number, to the point where the only person who can contact her is Fury and the Rambeaus

- Wong does karaoke

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

- While hanging off the side of a bus, Shang-Chi says "Can you open the doors please?" because Simu's Canadian side is too strong

- Not to be shipping people randomly, but I feel like Razorfist and Xialing have potential?? Although Razorfist is definitely compensating for something with that car design (Maybe just the missing hand tho).

- When Morris went up to Trevor, and Trevor was like "I'm acting, now play your part" and Morris flipped over and played dead without missing a beat I almost died laughing

- Bruce is de-hulked??????

[marvels-writings]

Professional Flirting

Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) Masterlist

Requested by Anon: Req for carol x female reader where carol gets hurt and the reader who’s the avenger’s medical dr treats her and carol was nervous but ended up so love stricken that she kept finding any excuse to go and gets a check up by the dr again. The dr also likes carol a lot but is bolder than carol and is very flirty which makes carol flustered and gives her butterflies. Please let it end with carol making the first move. Thank u I love ur writing!

Word Count: 2,282 (long and fluffy)

A/N: Do I have a minor sprain in my wrist? Yes. Do I give a single fuck? No. And I love this req

“Tony, I swear to god, what did you do this time?” You groaned when you heard the knock on the glass panes of the medical bay.

You turned away from your workplace to where Tony and Peter were carrying in a blonde woman who was bleeding blue blood. Your eyes widened, the woman’s suit was covered in her blood, her hair messy and falling into her hazel eyes. Peter and Tony seemed as surprised as you were as they helped her inside. Her arms slung over each of their shoulders, she was panting heavily.

“What the hell happened?” You demanded, walking over and helping the woman on one of the medical beds. Blood coated your hands, you quickly washed it off and slipped on gloves.

The rest of your staff was on their lunch break or absorbed in their projects. You were in charge of the entire medical team, none of which were present. For now, you were the only person in the medical bay. The responsibility of treating the woman in front of you was up to you.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Tony defended himself, raising his hands in defense after helping the blonde onto the bed. “She came back from a solo mission that went sideways.”

“For once, this isn’t your fault,” You muttered, ushering Peter over to help you with the suit.

The teenager quickly hurried to help you after putting on gloves. He was familiar with the medical bay. Peter had many accidents while living in the compound. Whenever he came, he was sure to ask you questions and help as much as he could. Your medical team often waved him off, unwilling to deal with his questions, but you didn’t mind.

Carol glanced up at you from the floor. You wore the same uniform as the rest of the medical team. Your hair was down, but you were tying it into a hasty ponytail to deal with her injuries. The blonde stumbled when she saw your face. Even in her exhausted and painful state, she was still able to admire you.

You ignored her statement and quickly analyzed her. Most of the injuries seemed to be on her shoulders. You needed to peel aside the suit to see it. The blonde seemed familiar, Carol hadn’t been to the medical bay since you had been in charge. But you had a hunch it was the famous Captain Marvel.

“Shouldn’t you get the rest of your team to help Ms. Y/l/n?” Peter asked politely, gently unzipping the suit.

“It’s fine,” You waved off his concerns, analyzing the wounds and quickly bringing over a small bowl of water and cotton. Peter’s brow was furrowed with concern. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to help.

“Peter, trust me,” You reached forward and took his hand. “I’m a doctor. I know what I’m doing,”

“You sure sound like it.” The blonde mumbled, you raised an eyebrow but laughed anyway.

“I’m y/n y/l/n, and you are?” You asked sarcastically, reaching one gloved hand towards her to introduce yourself to her.

The blonde rolled her eyes but shook your hand, introducing herself as Carol Danvers, confirming your suspicions. She was Captain Marvel.

“How did the great Captain Marvel end up looking like a bruised banana?” You joked, cleaning up the wounds on her back gently with warm water. Tony laughed, announced he had other things to attend to and left.

“I…” Carol trailed off, unwilling to describe how she had gotten injured on a simple mission. The blonde didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of you in a few minutes of meeting you.

“Don’t get me wrong,” You patted her uninjured shoulder before moving to the other side of the room to get ointment. The blonde looked from you to Peter nervously, unsure of what you were going to say.

“You still look attractive,” You winked.

Carol’s eyes widened at the compliment. She stuttered to reply. Peter joined you in laughing at the prominent blush that tinted her cheeks. Giggling, you made your way to her back to start applying ointment to the wounds.

The blonde stayed quiet, not knowing what else to say to you. The teenager at your side, however, had many things to say and questions to ask. You patiently answered all of his questions about you, how you got where you were, your doctorate, what you were doing. Carol was surprised at the amount of patience you had. Most people Peter asked questions to waved him off, but you answered all of his questions.

“Pete, as much as I love talking to you, could you get some bandages from that drawer?” You asked, gesturing to the cabinet in the corner of the room. Peter nodded excitedly and hurried to find the bandages.

“How, how bad is it?” Carol stuttered, you patted her shoulder.

“It’s not too bad, some of the cuts are deep,” You licked your lips, choosing your words carefully as not to confuse her. “You might have a sprained shoulder which you might need to follow up on.”

Peter handed you the bandages, which you gratefully accepted and started putting them on some of the deeper cuts. On the smaller cuts, you applied bandages. Peter continued to pepper you with questions, making sure to apologize in case he was annoying you. But you easily reassured him that he wasn’t annoying you. Once you were done, you gave her a small pat and got up.

“Alright, that should hold for a few days,” You said, taking off your gloves and tossing them into the trashcan. “If not, don’t hesitate to come back.”

“Doctor y/l/n?” Peter asked, helping zip up Carol’s suit.

“I told you to call me y/n Peter,” You chided, before indicating for him to continue.

“Is she okay?” He asked, his voice concerned.

“Yep, as long as she doesn’t strain her shoulders too much.” You said, watching Carol smile at the teenager for his concern.

Peter helped Carol out of the medical bay after saying their goodbyes. But Carol had intentions of coming back, even if it meant getting injured for it or faking an injury for that matter.

————

The next day, you were helping an intern learn how to use the regeneration cradle when your assistant told you someone was here to see you. Usually, you never had personal visitors except for family and the occasional Avenger bringing you lunch. You were almost famous for forgetting to eat.

But this time, you saw Carol waiting by the doorway. The blonde wore a light blue t-shirt and jeans, her hair was washed, a few strands falling into her eyes, a sheepish smile on her face.

“How can I help you?” You asked, a flirty smirk on your face. Carol noticed but played along, shuffling her feet and fidgeting before looking up to meet your eyes.

“Sorry to bother you,” Carol apologized, lying easily. She wanted to see you again, the superhero was unapologetic about wanting your attention.

“But I thought one of the cuts might be infected.”

“Come over here,” You gestured over to the same bed you had her on yesterday.

Carol promptly sat down, waiting for you as you put on your gloves. The blonde pulled down her t-shirt so you had a better view. You examined the cut, it didn’t seem infected at all. It was just fine, but taking a little longer to scab over.

But you weren’t as oblivious as Carol had hoped. You knew why she was here, the blonde was almost infamous for avoiding the medical wing even if she had a broken ankle. For her to come to you because she thought a cut is infected was almost ridiculous.

“It seems to be fine,” You observed, pulling the t-shirt back over her back. The blonde sighed, hoping you didn’t hear the sound of disappointment.

“I’ve never seen someone more disappointed about a clean-cut,” You joked, taking off your gloves and smiling at her while throwing them away.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Carol covered it up, knowing she was caught when you raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Come back if you need anything,” You laughed at her expression, “Unless it’s another ‘infected cut’” You used air quotes, walking off towards where your intern was calling you.

Carol watched you leave, wanting your attention again. But she didn’t know how to ask you out. The only time she could spend time with you was when you were at work. So, that was when she would spend time with you.

Even if it required her to come up with injuries every time she came to see you. Every time Carol came, she made sure to try to talk to you before you got back to work. But whenever she tried to flirt, it ended up backfiring. She intended to leave you a flustered mess, but you were always the one to give her butterflies and a blush that stayed with her for the rest of the day.

By about the fourth time, Carol decided to bring you lunch after Peter told her you often forgot to eat. She brought you some take-out that she heard one of your interns had recommended to you.

With the bag of take-out, she knocked on the glass door to the medical bay. You turned around from your laptop, looking around the empty medical bay for a student before turning around to face Carol. You smiled and gestured for her to sit.

“What seems to be the problem this time?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. “Rotator cuff tear in one day? Perforated ligaments?”

The injuries you listed were the same injuries Carol had faked when trying to spend time with you. They were both injuries she had found when she searched for shoulder pain. The blonde had learned later they could not because by minor cuts to the skin.

At one point, she tried to make up an injury, which didn’t end well. A majority of your interns were now joking about the superhero who faked an injury to see you every day.

“Nope, just got you lunch,” She lifted the bag of take-out.

“Thanks,” You smiled, taking out one of the boxes.

It was sushi, you picked up chopsticks and ate them with ease while working and talking to Carol. The blonde realized far too late she had forgotten to get a fork for herself. When she tried to get up to get herself a fork from the kitchen, you decided to teach her how to use chopsticks.

“Like this?” Carol asked, holding them the way you would make the ‘Live Long and Prosper’ sign from Star Trek. You laughed and finally gave up, leaning back in your seat.

“I don’t know how you plan to eat by saying Live Long and Prosper,” You groaned, brushing the hair out of your face. It was one of the few times you let your hair down since you weren’t working. Carol licked her lips while staring at you, trying again to use the chopsticks.

“Come on, it’s not that hard,” You finally reached forward and took one of her hands in yours, guiding her fingers to hold the chopsticks.

The blonde blushed, watching you guide her hands to hold the chopsticks.

“I swear, it’s easier to teach my students to operate on someone than teaching you to use chopsticks,” You muttered, trying to move Carol’s fingers to hold the chopsticks properly. The blonde laughed and shook her head, strands of hair falling into her eyes as she tried to use the chopsticks.

Once she got the hang of it, you helped her put the sushi roll in her mouth while grinning at her. Your warm hands still resting on hers.

“See, you finally got your lips to touch something,” You remarked, brushing a strand of hair away from your face and returning to your food.

“I’d rather my lips touching yours.” Carol quipped, smirking at you.

This time, it was your turn to blush and fluster while Carol laughed at you. You glared at her angrily and took a bite out of your sushi roll.

“Oh, how the tables turn,” The blonde said sarcastically. You raised an eyebrow, turning to face her. Carol moved her chair closer to you, her knee brushing yours.

“Don’t be too sure about that Danvers,” You warned, a prominent blush still on your face as you turned to face your laptop.

“Oh?” Carol asked, leaning forward with a smirk so her face was inches from your ear.

You opened your mouth to say something sarcastic, but you turned around only for your lips to meet hers. The blonde grinned and leaned forwards, resting one hand on your thigh as your lips moved over hers. Pushing herself off her chair, Carol was about to pull you closer to her when a knock at the door surprised her.

Peter was standing behind Tony, eyes wide in surprise. The millionaire stood there with a smirk, his hand against the glass panel. You broke away from Carol in surprise, rolling your chair back and clearing your throat.

“Hi…” Carol trailed off, biting her lip to prevent her laughter from breaking out. The blonde brushed her hair away from her face.

“I thought flirting wasn’t allowed in the workplace,” Tony said, smirking at both of you.

“This,” You gestured between you and Carol, it was professional flirting,”

Carol started laughing instantly, you glared at her to try to get her to stop. It didn’t work, the blonde’s infectious laugh caused you to start laughing too. Never did you expect lunch to go the way it did, but you weren’t complaining.

A/N: Y’all i hurt my wrist typing this so please tell me it was worth it

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver​, @versdan​, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught​, @lovebotlarson​, @dhengkt​, @hstoria​, @natasha-danvers​, @veryfunnyal​, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx​ , @ophelias-heart​  , @never-didbefore​ , @justarandomhumanhere​, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn​ , @lesbian-x-blackwidow​ , @marvelbbyx​ , @wlw-imaginesss​ , @hcartbyheart​​ , @summergeezburr​​ , @imnotasuperhero​  , @dversstark​ , let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

[filmadaydiary]

1/16/21 to 1/17/21

Marvel Part 1

For this marathon, I’m going to be doing things a little differently. Each movie gets one paragraph, and the posts will be split up by Avengers movies. Doing a full review for each was going to be too many posts and I honestly got a little overwhelmed. Anyway, for this Marvel marathon, we decided to watch the movies in chronological order within the canon, as opposed to the order in which they came out. So without further ado, enjoy my 20 paragraphs about all of the movies in the MCU.

1/16/21

Captain America: The First Avenger – Joe Johnston, 2011

Starting with Captain America was a curious place to begin the marathon. I quite liked it, and it made the ending I knew was coming feel like a better bookend with Cap and Peggy. Perhaps it’s unfair to review this movie in relation to the others that haven’t come up, but since I have seen all of the movies already I can’t help it. Watching this first in the sequence further solidified my alliance to Team Cap, which I’m okay with. Cap’s arc in this movie is great, he gets to grow from an idealistic, bullied little boy into a jaded man who is completely alone. It didn’t really hit me how lonely he is in The Avengers and why he’d cling so hard to everything that meant to him, but watching this movie first in line made it all make sense. He was the first Avenger, so of course they all band around him. He cares the most because he’s the one who set it all into motion. And that includes the Tesseract! Having an Infinity Stone pop up in the first movie also makes for a better overall arc, leading us to the inevitable Infinity War. 

Captain Marvel – Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, 2019

I do like this movie, mostly because I like Brie Larson. I think she was great, and her acting was NOT wooden. Yes, some things were over the top or on the nose. The nineties references were a lot, and there was a lot of girl-power things too. You know what though? I’m okay with that. Nineties nostalgia is very real. And I love seeing a woman who is unapologetically screaming at aliens and obnoxiously overpowered. Superman doesn’t get crap for acting too flat or turning back time. Let Carol Danvers blow up ships and swirl around with her glowy hair and ask who’s next. I teared up at the montage of her falling down and getting back up. She fights like a girl. A human girl, who falls behind, and has to make up for it. Who is constantly criticized for letting her emotions get the better of her. I think she should be allowed to reach her full potential, and not owe anything to anyone. Timeline-wise, this feels a little shoehorned in, but it’s fun to see Ronan before he shows up again in Guardians of the Galaxy.

1/17/21

Iron Man – Jon Favreau, 2008

You know, I can see why this is the movie that spawned an entire franchise. I did forget just how obnoxious Tony was in the first movie though. It makes his journey from irresponsible billionaire playboy to...okay, he still has way too much money, but he grows so much as a person. He learns how to be a father figure, he stops taking things in his life for granted, he cares less about money for money’s sake and tries to take care of the environment. This movie is very much a war movie, not a superhero movie. It’s extremely self-contained, and a large part of the beginning sees Tony as a prisoner, fighting for his life and using his genius to think his way to freedom in his iron suit. Tony is a compelling character, and I almost feel bad for hating on him for all these years. This sets the stage for his development throughout the other films, and it is quite the development indeed. 

Iron Man 2 – Jon Favreau, 2010

I feel bad for saying this, but Don Cheadle is a much better War Machine than Terence Howard. I’m sorry. Their dynamic is very fun in this film, and I liked seeing Tony with a friend. Also, Sam Rockwell as the secondary villain was so great. He’s great in any movie, but seeing him doing his best Tony Stark impression was top-notch. And Black Widow gets introduced here! Overall, this is a fairly forgettable movie in the Iron Man sequence, but it’s still very exciting. Tony and Pepper get the chance to flesh out their relationship a little more, which is nice. She often fades into the background, reduced to a token love interest, so I appreciated that she had something to do here. This movie is the first one that feels like it follows the superhero formula of having several villains and a few protagonists. It is still quite exciting and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Iron Man is a good character and he can hold his own in a movie. 

Thor – Kenneth Branagh, 2011

I love Thor. This was my favorite Avengers movie for a long time. One, because Hawkeye is introduced in it (he’s my favorite Avenger and you can fight me on that). Two, Loki is hot. Three, Natalie Portman as a boss-ass lady scientist? We love to see it. Now, watching this again, I liked it significantly less, which was a little bit of a bummer. I’m not sure what Kenneth Branagh was thinking but there are so. Many. Dutch. Angles. I was dizzy and off-kilter the whole time. I felt like my neck was sore after watching this. That being said, it’s still a good story. Thor has always been a lovable dramatic doofus, and even though everyone took this as seriously as Shakespeare it’s still quite funny. Unintentionally so, perhaps, but there were inklings of Thor being the funny one long before Ragnarok. I enjoy the disparate tones that come with the wildly different settings of Asgard and Earth. Plus, having this be the lead-in to The Avengers feels like it sets everything up very nicely. We have our villain, we have our motivation, we even have in-world explanations for aliens and magic. Everyone has been introduced, so it’s time for the big showdown. 

The Avengers – Joss Whedon, 2012

The first Avengers movie will always have a special place in my heart. This wsa the first midnight premiere I ever went to, and I always think of how special it was, seeing this in theaters with my friends (and her dad, who had to drive us there). On a story note, having watched all the movies in two days leading up to this made it so much clearer what was going on. I’m easily distracted and therefore easily confused, so I never quite understood all the details of Thanos’s plan and Loki and the Tesseract and all that. Watching before, I didn’t mind too much. In addition to being easily distracted I am very easily entertained, so I was perfectly content to be swept up in the spectacle of it all and go along for the ride. It turns out this is a good movie! The interactions, which seemed stilted before, were realistic considering no one knew each other. And all of these people have been through a LOT before they made it to this point. By the big fight, they aren’t close friends, more so tenuous allies. Honestly, that makes it more interesting to see the way they work together. It shows that all of these people are genuinely good, and doing their best. And I’ll watch any movie where the good guys win. 

[witchywrter]

So many people praise the “Captain Marvel” movie and love her character, but fail to realize that it isn’t “empowering” or feminist at all. The movie itself failed the “Strength is Relative” writing test. The test requires a complex women defined by solid characterization rather than a handful of underdeveloped, masculine-coded stereotypes. Carol Danvers wasn’t a strong female character with feminine qualities who gained success despite adversity. Carol Danvers was a strong female character who had common male stereotypes. When DC released “Wonder Woman”, people were blown away because she was strong, brave and unapologetically feminine. Although these were present in the movie, it wasn’t the main point of it. Her movie centered around the fact that she was a hero. Captain Marval’s movie was mostly about her being a woman. It was Marval’s first female lead movie and it made me feel like they were just trying to appease us women rather than actually put in the effort to make a good superhero movie. All in all, Marval could have done better (they could have given us Monica Rambo, but that’s just my opinion..)

[astromechs]

this was an interesting article, about the parallels of genis-vell and now carol danvers finding sisters they never knew they had, but i want to highlight some of the section about queer identity.

Carol Danvers might be an even more dramatic case. Here, Marvel cannot make clear enough that no admission has been made on page or screen that Carol is anything but resolutely straight. Yet she might have the longest history of fan insistence on a queer identity of any major hero in superhero comics. Beginning in Chris Claremont’s run during the late 1970’s, there have been no shortage of veiled hints that Carol has had a decades-long romantic relationship with fellow hero Jessica Drew, and writers and artists haven’t been shy about playing to the attentive fans who have noted the clues all along. But from the perspective of a marketable, multimedia franchise, it seems that a gay or bisexual Captain Marvel just won’t do. Carol, like Genis, can be queer in suggestion, but not in fact. Only the foils on her supporting cast can do that.

this, right here, is the exact problem with marvel. (and others, but for the moment, we’re talking about marvel.) let’s take one example mentioned in the article specifically. i love phyla-vell — she’s literally one of my favorite comic book characters of all time, and i have so much appreciation both for her being an unapologetic lesbian and also for that not wholly defining her character — but, realistically, do many people outside of a small, niche fandom actually know who she is? despite being a founding member of the guardians of the galaxy, did you see her as such on film? the answer to both of these questions is no.

marvel wants to have their cake and eat it, too. they want to claim representation, but they don’t have the guts to give it to flagship characters that lead books and actually enter the sphere of pop culture public knowledge — and for the characters they do give representation to, they keep them in the shadows, because it’s safer there.

it would be so awesome if we had an actual explicitly queer carol danvers, for instance — especially since she’s so high profile now. but that will never happen, because this is marvel.

i don’t know what else i’m trying to say here other than that i’m Tired.

[unapologeticallyresilient]

Okay so... PSA

//You’ve all got my muse all sorts of keyed up right now, which is fine, emotions are good and she’s allowed, no one is here to tell her otherwise, but there are a lot of you... and I’ll probably post a Headcanon about a lot of  this tomorrow when I get my head on straight again. Carol’s got some things she wants known as we go through some of the things in my ask box...

Yes, my muse has got one hell of a power and control kink and it goes both ways for her, she is as delighted about being slammed against a wall as she is about slamming someone else against a wall. Yes, I ship my muse with just about anyone, and she would love to take Captain America for a joy ride.

However,

Captain America is not Carol’s commander, he is not her commanding officer, and he is not her team leader, and in any of my verses and interactions, he is not her friend.

Yon Rogg, for all his faults, was all of the above to Vers. He was her commander, he was her direct commanding officer, he was her team leader, and most importantly, he was the person she was closest to on all of Hala, he was her best friend, for six years.

Carol is not Vers, she hasn’t been Vers in a long time if she is even considering being dommed by Steve. My muse is not a team player, she has not been on a team in the last twenty years, she has been mostly alone, and that does things to people, not withstanding the fact that the last time she did have a team, her relationships were built on lies and gaslighting. 

The type of subjugation and domination that a few of you are referring to is not something my muse will take kindly to, and you all need to be very much aware of that fact. Just because once Vers would have allowed it from Yon-Rogg, and even then she gives as good as she gets, does not mean that she will ever allow it from someone else, not even the team leader of the avengers. 

On that note, I’m loving the amount of anons I’m getting, carry on.

[yconic]

Pepper Potts: CEO of Stark Industries, a multinational company which is largest technological conglomerate on earth. A caring soul who wants what's best for everyone but doesn't forget her worth and respects herself.

Natasha Romanoff: Deadliest assassin in the MCU, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agent. Kept the team together for as long as she could. A strong person who's been through the unimaginable but still found the strength to move forward and let herself get close to others.

Peggy Carter: Co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D, one of the most efficient law enforcement, espionage, and counter-terrorism organizations around the world. Shows the importance of knowing your value and facing the music with confidence, never settling for less than what you deserve.

Maria Hill: Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Loyal, determined, courageous, and always ready to battle alongside her friends no matter how big the threat is.

Carol Danvers: Pilot, United States Air Force Fighter, NASA security chief(comics if I'm not mistaken), the inspiration behind the Avengers Initiative. Symbol of resilience, power, determination, and resistance while at the same time accepting her imperfections. Getting up no matter what.

Shuri: Smartest character in the MCU, child genius, innovator, leader of the Wakanda Design Group, Head of the Science and Information department. Funny, confident, intelligent and relatable, Shuri serves as a role model for girls everywhere for her unapologetically owning her attributes.

Okoye: General of the Dora Milaje, head of the Wakandan armed forces and intel. Honorable, Tough, devoted, brave, and has a soft side that makes her endlessly endearing. Puts her soul in the cause she believes in and will stop at nothing to get the job done.

Dr. Helen Cho: World-renowned geneticist, leader of the U-GIN Research Group. Brilliant, selfless, kind, witty, adorably introverted and hands-on kind of woman. Has faith in the future and puts work into making the world a better place.

(MCU) Wanda: Maximoff

[songofpurple-summer]

you know what? i am SO done with people hating on Brie Larson and Captain Marvel. i am so tired of watching videos of the endgame press tour and seeing all of the comments filled with hate towards Brie. i am tired of seeing people hate on both brie larson AND carol danvers for being cocky and arrogant. i especially hate it when it’s other women who are complaining about it, because let me tell you, it is SO refreshing to see a woman who is so unapologetic about refusing to take anyone’s shit. it’s amazing i love it and i hope she only acts this way more. it’s 2019. let women be assertive and confident. especially when y’all praised RDJ and tony stark for the exact same thing. i am tired of seeing people hate Carol Danvers for knowing her power and her value. i am tired of seeing people hate Brie Larson for not conforming to how they think a woman celebrity should act.

[lovelytonys]

I saw Captain Marvel and I’ve honestly....never felt so empowered!

The scene where we saw flashes of all the times Carol was told to hold back, and we saw all the times she was knocked down, but also all the times she got up? That was so exhilarating, it brought tears to my eyes.

The big battle scene where Carol tore through the Kree with her unleashed powers? I watched it with wide eyes filled with tears and joy. It was so thrilling to watch a female superhero unapologetically use power like that.

I’ve always understood and appreciated that representation matters, and I’ve also always been aware that I’m not the kind of person who needs to be represented. I’m white, straight, and come from an affluent household. Privileged in every way. There’s nothing about me that should be represented and nothing in these aspects that I should feel any pride for. I know that.

And, well, I guess I’m a girl. Not to say that that takes away from my personal privileges, because I know it doesn’t, but here’s the thing- I’ve never thought that being a girl was anything that I could be proud of. It was nothing. And if I even thought that being a girl was kinda cool? Then I was an “annoying feminist”, or at least that’s what I was lead to feel.

But now? Seeing Carol Danvers so naturally and powerfully lead her own movie, and seeing the movie embrace its female lead rather than making her feel forced? Yeah, kind of eye-opening!

This movie spoke to a part of my sense of identity that I didn’t think could be stirred. And you know what? It feels good. Thanks, Captain Marvel.

[shewholovestoread]

Captain Marvel Review

NON-SPOILER Review

I saw the movie last night and I can safely tell you that it is amazing! Marvel did a great job introducing Carol Danvers and setting her up for Avengers - Endgame.

The Marvel films, when they first released, worked brilliantly because people weren’t used to their way of story-telling, it was new and fresh. But over time, those same refreshing ideas started feeling stale because they also tended to stick to a formula. Which is why while films like Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 make for perfectly enjoyable viewing, their rewatch value isn’t great. It’s safe to say that Marvel execs and Kevin Feige realised this. The diversity in directors for their next few projects seems to have breathed new life into the MCU, we had Taika Watiti (Thor Ragnarok), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and most recently, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck for Captain Marvel. That diversity helped telling stories better and also gave us dynamic characters, both primary and secondary.

Also note, the writing credit for Captain Marvel also includes women in addition to the directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve and it shows.

Is Captain Marvel is perfect film? No. Will you care while watching it? Also No! Because once the film starts, you will be completely immersed in it and invested in Carol, beginning to end. The best part about the film is that it is about Carol Danvers, she is the protagonist of this story and she doesn’t have to share it anyone else (case in point, Antman and the Wasp) The team behind the film were tasked with making an origin film that immediately tied in with Avengers and they did a great job.

I’ve had a problem with Marvel’s brand of humour in their last few films where they insert a joke just when they’re building up an emotional scene, the joke immediately dispels the tension and that’s not always a good thing. It felt jarring and jerked me out of the film. The humour here was natural and organic, it stemmed from who Carol is. Most importantly, the humorous moments didn’t feel contrived.

What I loved about Carol was her spirit, she was cheeky, spunky and irreverent. There was something that was refreshing about her character, she seemed normal in a way her other MCU colleagues didn’t. She wasn’t a playboy billionaire, a god of Thunder nor a super soldier. I suppose, what I’m trying to say is that she looked and sounded like women we know and not an idea of what women should look like and how they should behave. And that felt like a breath of fresh air.

The casting of the film is top notch and after watching the film, I can’t imagine anyone else playing this character. Brie Larson became her character and she made it look effortless. Samuel L. Jackson was amazing as a less cynical and paranoid Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, the main Skrull bad guy was great, Lashana Lynch was amazing as Maria Rambeau. Larson’s scenes with Jackson and Lynch were some of the best and were at the very heart of the film. Annette Benning looked like she was having a great time. Goose the cat was absolutely adorable and I wanted to take him home!

Larson trained for 9 months prior to filming and it shows. She looks physically strong, like she could do everything that was happening on screen, she looked capable. I also loved that Larson/Danvers wasn’t sexualised AT ALL! That is exceedingly rare and I can’t begin to tell you how good that felt. When she fought, her hair got messed up, she didn’t always look ‘pretty’, when she fought, she went all in and didn’t worry if her expression would look nice in high-speed. Danvers also drove her story forward, she actively participated instead of reacting to things that were happening to her.

Danvers, in the film, is unapologetic about who she is and she doesn’t try to change herself to suit those around her so that they don’t feel threatened.

It was amazing to watch the men in the film tell Carol that she wasn’t strong enough or that she needed to get her emotions in check or she wouldn’t be able to control her powers and she proved them wrong every time! Or when she told her mentor that she didn’t have to prove anything to him. Those scenes have power and they resonate beyond what you see on screen because this is how women are portrayed, as weak and emotionally unstable. It is empowering to see a character like Captain Marvel go toe to toe with her enemies and always get back to her feet despite her falls. 

I loved that the film-makers did not give Carol a love interest and instead we saw her friendship with Maria, her best friend and her daughter, Monica. Their friendship formed the heart of film, the emotional center and it was beautiful to see. Her interaction with Fury, on the other hand, was downright hilarious. Someone please cast Brie Larson and Sam Jackson in a buddy road-trip comedy, do it NOW!

Captain Marvel is a great film and deserves all the love. It’s a film that everyone can enjoy, but I can safely tell you that it’s different for the female audience, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is empowering and it’s not her super-powers but her unbreakable spirit that make her so.

I saw it once already but I think a second viewing is warranted because I'm certain I missed things since I was so caught up in everything on screen.

P.S. - I feel like the Star Force was under-utilised and I hope we see more of them in the future. I love Gemma Chan and would love to see her in a future Captain Marvel film.