#yeah…that Tony Conrad

[sivavakkiyar]

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

🌕 Blood Moon: Chapter Three

Blood Moon: You have been defying nature, and perhaps, even the Gods. After returning to life because of Tony Stark’s sacrifice, all humans now have a designation: alpha, beta, or omega. Angry at the fate you’ve been given, you decide that you will do anything to ensure that your fate is in your own hands. You’ll soon find out that it is never a good idea to tamper with fate, especially when one man makes it his mission to ensure that you understand that you can try to out-fly your destiny, but fate will eventually catch up to you.

Warnings: Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Violence, Zemo Get’s Frisky With Reader, Your Age Pre-Set for Plotline.

To Note: A/B/O Universe Post Snap, Zemo x Female!Reader, Timeline Of Events Is More Spread Out (Weeks Rather Than Days) To Fit Plot Line.

Word Count: ~4.1k

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Saying Sam and Bucky are upset was an understatement. You thought Bucky was going to flat out fall back in a faint when you had followed Zemo down the airplane steps. Sam was probably going to need to go on high blood pressure medication soon.

“No, no way are we letting Diana walk around Madripoor wearing that, especially when we know this place is dirty! She smells like a freaking omega!!” Sam erupted while you ignored him and continued walking.

“Do you want to get the lead, or play big brother Sam?” You called over your shoulder, waiting for the three of them to catch up to you. “Because I don’t have all night and I would like a drink.”

Sam looked like he wanted to argue more, but didn’t. He let out a huff of frustration and started walking over as Bucky broodily stared you down.

“Oh please, stop acting like this is the first time you’ve seen me in a dress,” You snapped out as Zemo walked up to you and placed a hand on your back.

“I am sure James and Sam will get used to the idea, Liebling.” He told you as the four of you started walking. He then called to the two sulking men. “I would not send Diana into a place such as the Princess Bar without some sort of protection.”

“Like what? Her as your side piece?” That was just petty, Sam.

“If you haven’t noticed the giant rocks around my neck, Sam, all who fix their greedy little eyes upon me will know that I am taken, presumably by Zemo, since he is royalty and neither of you could afford this necklace. I am untouchable unless they have a death wish.”

“Yeah, you do know you might have you act submissive, right?” Sam fired back while you rolled your eyes. “You smell like the most delicious omega on the planet. You are gonna have to act like you’re one.”

“I am prepared to do what I need to do to ensure that our plan works. Now, who are you supposed to be again?”

“He’ll if I know,” Sam grumbled before looking down at his outfit. “We gotta to do something about this. I’m the only one who looks like a pimp.”

“Only an American would assume a fashion-forward Black man looks like a pimp.” Zemo told Sam as he passed a phone over. “You look exactly like the man you’re supposed to be playing. The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger.”

“He even has a bad nickname.” Sam commented. “Hell, he does look like me, though.”

“Then you already have something going for you.” You commented, shooting Sam a look.

“You smell this?” Zemo questioned as a car appeared on the far edge bridge. It continued to drive towards us.

“Besides Diana? Yeah, what is that? Acid?”

“Madripoor.” Zemo corrected while the car stopped. Doors were opened, and you slipped to the middle of the back seat. ”No matter what happens, we have to stay in character. Our lives depend on it. There’s no margin for error. High Town’s that way. Not a bad place if you want to visit, but Low Town’s the other way.”

“Let me guess. We don’t have any friends in High Town.” Sam said as he and Bucky sandwiched you in.

“Most definitely not,” You spoke quietly as Zemo slipped into the passenger’s seat and the car started moving once more.

The entire time you walked through Madripoor, Zemo kept you glued to his side as he walked confidently through the misty streets, Sam and Bucky bringing up the rear.

While they stayed in character as needed, you knew their minds had to be going a million miles an hour as their eyes watched everything that moved. Understandable. When you had exited the car, all eyes turned to you as you moved through the neon streets. You had to admit something; you didn’t see how any of the three alphas wore as much layers as they currently did, seeing how it was a current balmy 80 degrees out. Perfect for someone like you wearing this scandalous outfit, but them? They had to be hot.

It didn’t take a genius to notice that the moment you had entered society and the scent of an omega started circulating, heads were snapping around and other alphas were coming sniffing. Time to show everyone that you are really off limits. Dropping your shoulders, you stretched your neck out to accentuate the multitude of gemstones clinging to the column of your throat and put on your best ‘innocent yet absolutely smitten with the alpha at my side’ look you could muster.

Your subtle extra tactic worked wonders as jealousy flamed in the eyes of every alpha in the vicinity. It really didn’t take much to make an alpha jealous. One simply had to flaunt something that another desperately wanted, and in this new world, it was you.

“They’re all looking at her like she’s the prime tenderloin in a case of ground chuck,” Sam grumbled underneath his breath.

“They know what they do not have,” Zemo coolly responded before taking the initiative. His gloved hand slid across your back and settled on the open portion of your side, snugly tucking you into his side in a display of possession.

Your nose picked up the subtle hints of rage coming from the two men behind you.

“Knock it off you idiots, do not ruin this.” You hissed under your breath. That burst of rage melted to a simmer but didn’t disappear completely.

“Consider this. Do you want Diana to remain safe?” Zemo questioned them as you neared the Princess Bar. “Because the only way to guarantee it, is if everyone knows she is mine.”

“This does not mean we have to like it.” Sam growled.

“No one said you had to,” You huffed as you reached the doors to the bar. You turned your head. “This is life or death. Control your alphas or I will do it for you!”

“Come now, Liebling maus, I am sure they understand.” Zemo purred at your side as he took your right hand and directed you into the bar. “No one here wants to ruin your night.”

You let out a haughty sniff and allowed yourself to be appeased by his words. It was all too easy to fall into the submissive roll.

“Гото�� подчиниться, зимний солдат?” (Ready to comply, Winter Soldier?) You were now in the thick of Madripoor’s underground, and one minor mistake could cost you everything, including your lives. You only hoped that Bucky and Sam could control themselves if you had to go as far as act like the designation you was pretending to be. “Shall we get you a drink, Liebling?”

You let out a purr in the back of your throat while Zemo weaved you through the crowd. Lucky for you, the bar wasn’t too packed at the moment and you found a place to stand by near the bartender. Zemo, carrying on his act, pulled out a bar chair and helped you into it.

“Hello, gentlemen, miss.” The bartender greeted, his eyes flickering to Sam. “Wasn’t expecting you, Smiling Tiger.”

“His plans changed. We have business to do with Selby.” Zemo offered in explanation. “Would you kindly make a side car for my omega?”

The bar tender jerked his chin in acknowledgment before looking to Sam.

“The usual?” Sam gave him a firm nod, and the bartender immediately got started on making your drinks. Tucking you heels underneath the bar stool, you curled your fingers around Zemo’s which still held yours, and drew it up to your cheek where you pressed his palm against your skin.

That tremor beneath your skin was back, clawing at you from the inside out. Alongside it came a flushed feeling that left your skin hot and needing the touch of an alpha.

You cursed at yourself and resisted the urge to shove Zemo away from you and get as far from the mysterious man as you could. Whatever was going on with you was going to have to wait until you were in a safe environment to explore the causes. Preferably your lab. Until then, you would have to accept what was happening.

At least he was wearing a glove. You didn’t know how you would react if it was his bare skin touching you… that was it. It had to be OS-336! Perhaps you had gotten your dosage wrong after all and your true designation was somehow creeping through the cracks of your chemical formula. You would give yourself an extra boost in dosage when this was over then, but at the moment, these embarrassing and unwanted side effects of your true designation were working in your favor.

Letting out a pleased sigh, you rubbed your cheek against the smooth leather glove as you stared down the bartender who was putting together your drink. You hoped you looked like a smug omega who knew exactly who she belonged to; it was how an omega of Baron Helmut Zemo would act.

“Enjoy,” the bartender said as he placed the martini glass down in front of you with an orange twist perched on the edge. Your eyes took in the drink before you slowly shifted them to Zemo, whose lips quirked as he gently stroked the side of your face.

“Drink, Liebling, you’ve more than earned it after patiently waiting by my side.” Letting him slip his fingers from you, you turned back to the drink and pulled it to you by the stem of the glass. While you were raising it to your lips, the bartender was pulling a snake from a jar. As the citrus drink slipped down your throat, your eyebrow popped up when the snake ended up getting gutted and an organ placed in a shot. “Ah. Smiling Tiger, your favorite.”

Oh poor Sam, either the bartender was bullshitting you, or the Smiling Tiger had some weird tastes. Sam picked up the glass and held it up.

“I love these.” He said with zero ounce of happiness. Zemo then picked up a shot glass of his own and clicked it against Sam’s.

“Cheers, Conrad.” Zemo said before shooting back his shot. Sam looked like he was going to be sick, but actually shot back his drink. With that little display over, you focused your energy back on your drink. Since Zemo had explicitly said drink it, any omega would take that as a ‘I will drink this until it’s gone or my alpha says stop’. So you guess you might end up buzzed tonight. Oh well.

You took another swallow of your drink and briefly shut your glittering eyelids. This club reeked of alphas, omegas, and betas alike, but you could only focus on one thing. Zemo.

Someone came up from behind you.

“I got word from on high. You ain’t welcome here.”

“I have no business with the Power Broker, but if he insists, he can either come and talk to me…” Zemo gestured to Bucky in threat.

“New haircut?”

“Or bring Selby for a chat.” Zemo finished his threat. The man sulked off.

“A power broker? Really?” Bucky spoke lowly and unimpressed.

“Every kingdom needs its king. Let’s just pray we stay under his radar.”

“Do you know him?” Sam queried.

“Only by reputation.” Zemo admitted. He turned back to the bar. “In Madripoor he is judge, jury, and executioner. Зимний солдат,” (Winter soldier) Your eyes widened when a hand landed on Zemo’s shoulder. “Вперед, чтобы атаковать.” (Forward to attack.)

Your Russian was rudimentary at best, but judging by the blank look on Bucky’s face, and his robotic movements that proceeded, you knew that whatever Zemo had said probably meant something along the lines of attack. Bucky grabbed the hand attached to Zemo’s shoulder and walked the man back away from you as he grunted in pain. From there, he kicked the man’s legs out and slammed his vibranium fist into his shoulder.

More men ran up to Bucky, and with a few quick punches to their stomach and one hearty kick, he sent them all flying back into each other. From the looks of things, men were going to continue to attack despite the four already down men.

“Didn’t expect this to happen,” You murmured in surprise, keeping your back to the fight. “But at least I’m not bored anymore.”

The bartender walked over to the nearest phone and made a call. You tossed back the rest of your drink, feeling the buzz of the alcohol which actually loosened the tension you were feeling.

There were more sounds of men grunting and being thrown around, and even glass shattering. Had they really thought it was a good idea to take on the Winter Soldier?

“Didn’t take much for him to fall back into form.” Zemo commented right before Bucky slammed a man onto the bar top next to you, holding him there by the neck. You glanced down at the man’s bulging eyes. Guns were cocked. The show was over for you, it seemed. Zemo placed a hand on Bucky. “Stay in character or the entire bar turns on us. Отлично, солдат.” (Great, soldier.)

“Selby will see you now.” The bartender announced. Bucky dragged the man he had pinned from the bar top and let him flop to the floor. You peeked at the ground. He was out cold.

“Thank you.” Zemo offered his hand to you, so spinning in your seat, you effortlessly scooted off the stool and dropped to your heels. You started walking through the bar, and to the back area where Selby could be found. There were CCTV’s everywhere, people at tables counting mountains of currency, and plenty of guns flashing about.

Entering a larger room, you spotted two sofas, one of which was occupied by a short-haired woman. Selby. She drummed her fingers on the back of the couch where she lounged.

“You should know, Baron. People don’t just come into my bar and make demands.”

“Not a demand. An offer.” Zemo responded, tugging you with him to the empty couch and sitting down, tucking you next to him. Your eyes started into Selby’s. She was a beta, but a pretty dominant one by the way she smelled. No wonder she ran things around here.

“A lot has changed since you were here last. By the way, I thought you were rotting away in a German prison. How did you escape?” She didn’t pull any of her punches. You could respect that.

“People like us always find a way, don’t we?” Zemo questioned while running his fingers along your black covered thigh. He reached your bare knee and curled his leather covered fingers around it, drawing his individual fingers across your skin. “I’m sure you’ve already figured out what I’m here for.”

Selby ignored Zemo’s words for a moment and looked at Sam.

“You’re taller than I’d heard, Smiling Tiger.” She purred at him while curling her fingernails. “What’s the offer?”

Zemo gracefully rose from the couch, leaving you lounging on it.

“Tell us what you know about the super-soldier serum.” He said, walking over to Bucky. “And I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course. He will do anything you want.”

“Now that’s the Zemo I remember. I’m glad I decided not to kill you immediately.” Selby chimed with a small chuckle. “Yeah, you were right to come to me. Arrogant, but right… but I’m forgetting something. Who is this? She’s quite a beauty, not to mention I could smell that delicious scent of hers before I even set my eyes on that gorgeous body.”

Selby looked at you like she wanted to eat you up. At least Zemo looked unperturbed by the question and was instantly replying.

“My omega, being in prison gets lonely as you can imagine,” Zemo said before walking behind the couch. Twisting your head, you looked up at him with adoration and reverence a smitten omega would have. “I like to have someone to go home too, someone I can dote on.”

You might have believed his words with the way he was staring so deeply into your eyes had this not been an act. His hand reached up and grasped your hair, pulling your head back to expose the necklace to the lights, and your throat to him. Zemo then bent down and ever so slowly brushed his nose along the curve of your neck, taking in your natural scent that clung to you beneath the omega perfume.

Your eyes shut and all you could concentrate on was the nose pressed to your skin and the lips that shot electricity and need straight to your core. Never had you been so taken with a sensation that made your skin burn. You couldn’t help the soft purr that left your barely parted lips. That had your eyes flickering open wide in shock, and that was the moment Zemo reached your chin.

Zemo place a kiss dangerously close to your lips before pulling away. He had that smug little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He knew exactly what he was doing to you.

“There is nothing like having a soft, warm omega waiting for you.” Zemo finished. You were sure at this point Bucky or Sam, or maybe both of them, would have shot Zemo the second he put his hands on you. The only thing saving him was that you were smack dab in the middle of a bar, surrounded by people who would turn on you in a second if ordered. Zemo released your hair and walked back around the couch to sit down next to you once more.

“It’s a shame you don’t share,” Selby sighed out. So she played both fields, interesting… “The super-soldier serum is here in Madripoor. Dr. Wilfred Nagel is the man you wanna thank. Or... condemn, depending on what side of this you’re on. The Power Broker had him working on the serum, but... things didn’t go as planned.”

“Is Nagel still in Madripoor?” Zemo questioned.

“Oh. The bread crumbs you can have for free, but the bakery is gonna cost you, Baron.” Selby stood up and started walking around the room. “And before you get all cute, don’t think you can find Nagel without me.”

So you were going to have to really haggle an answer out of her, so be it. Unfortunately, you seemed to have the worst luck in the world because Sam’s phone started buzzing. Your hands curled into fists in your lap while you struggled to keep a normal outward appearance.

“Answer it. On speaker.” Selby demanded. With tension thick in the room, Sam accepted the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, um, we need to talk about this situation. It’s been drivin’ me nuts.” Shit. It was Sarah, Sam’s sister.

“What situation exactly are you talkin’ about?”

“Are you high? You know what situation, it’s the only situation me and you have.” Sarah snapped back.

“What situation, Sarah? Say it.” This was going to blow up in your faces. You just knew it. Selby started prowling around Bucky, and before you could dig your fingernails so hard into your palm, you cut them, a leather glove was tugging your hand from its clenched position. Subtly looking at Zemo, you saw he had his eyes trained on Sam.

“The damn boat. And watch your tone. Okay? I let you slide at the bank.” The Wilson sass and attitude was going to bite you in the ass one day.

“The bank. Yeah. Laundered so much money…” Sam let out a small laugh. “Yeah, they’ll come around.”

“If that was the case, then why’d they dog you out, Big Time?”

“Yeah, you damn right I’m Big Time. You’ll see when I have that banker killed.” Sam huffed out.

“Cass! What’d I tell you about the Cheerios? I don’t have time for this! Sam, I’m sorry. I’ll call you back.” My eyes closed at the realization that this had just turned into a shit storm.

“‘Sam’? Who’s Sam? Kill them!” Selby called. Before the guards in the room could fire, a bullet flew through the window and nailed Selby in the head. She was dead before she hit the floor.

Sporadic gun fire started up, and you were yanked from your seat by the Baron faster than you could comprehend as Sam and Bucky quickly took care of Selby’s men.

“This is a big problem,” You said while you were led to the exit, Zemo’s hand still firmly attached to yours.

“They’re gonna pin this on us.” Sam echoed in agreement. Zemo sighed.

“We have a real problem now, so leave your weapons and follow my lead.” You exited the bar as fast as you could, and while you did so, cell phones began to chime with text messages.

“This is not good.” Zemo muttered seconds before the lights over head cut out, and gunfire erupted over your heads. All four of you ducked down and then split. While Sam and Bucky darted forwards, you were left to split with Zemo since he still had a hold of your hand, and seemed determined not to let it go.

It wasn’t easy running in these heels, especially since you didn’t wear them daily and weren’t used to walking in them. At least Zemo seemed to know where he was going because he dragged you into a small alcove between two buildings, briefly hiding you from our pursuers. Of course, it also meant that you were tucked neatly up against him and subjected to both his closeness and his natural scent. You waited for a few moments after your pursuers continued on past before stepping out from hiding.

“I’m not exactly dressed for a high speed get away and these heels are not made for running.” You said quietly. Zemo glanced down at your feet before making a face and nodding his chin at your feet.

“I will buy you another pair.” Not needing further explanation, you quickly unstrapped your feet from the pretty heels and ditched them in the alleyway. “We need to find Sam and James. They can’t have gone far.”

“You know this area better than I do.” You answered with a shrug.

“Indeed, I do, follow me.” You started walking, and you were reminded just who exactly Zemo was before the whole Sokovia Accords debacle. He was a trained military man from a special forces unit. You shouldn’t forget that. Weaving around buildings and sliding along back alleys, you eventually emerged to see Sam and Bucky about to be cornered by some men on motorcycles. But rather than get into another fight, someone from the nearby building shot and killed the men.

“You seem to have a guardian angel.” Zemo said as he merged from the shadows, you on his tail.

“Well, this is too perfect.” Your eyebrows popped up at the voice and turning around, you saw Sharon Carter. “Drop it, Zemo.”

Zemo was rather compliant and placed the gun he stole on the ground.

“Sharon?” Bucky asked in confusion as Sam stepped forward.

“You cost me everything.” Sharon hissed, kicking the gun away.

“Sharon, wait. Someone recreated the super-soldier serum and Zemo had a lead.” Sam explained, stepping forward and getting in front of Bucky and Zemo.

“That explains why you guys are here. And Selby’s dead. ”

“So what are you doing here?”

“I stole Steve’s shield, remember?” She snapped out before motioning with her gun. “I also took the wings for your ass, so that you could save his ass, from his ass. Unlike you, I didn’t have the Avengers to back me up. So I’m off the grid in Madripoor.”

“Hey, don’t blow that smoke at me. I was on the run, too.” Sam shot back.

“Was. Is. Big difference. I don’t speak to my family anymore. I can’t. My own father doesn’t know where I am.” You felt somewhat guilty over that, even though you had nothing to do with Sharon’s decision to help Sam and Steve. Sharon fixated her eyes on you, so you gave her a small wave and meek smile.

“Hi, Sharon.”

“And what the hell are you bringing Diana into a place like this? You know what happened to her. She’s just a kid!”

“I’m actually almost thirty,” You pointed out.

“Because if anyone is going to figure out if the serum we find is real, it’s Diana… and she’s not a teenager anymore.”

“Yeah, you still look barely over twenty,” Sharon huffed at you. You rolled your eyes.

“You can thank the blip for that.”

“Listen... Sharon, we need your help.” Bucky pleaded and Sharon just chuckled at him. “Please.”

“This isn’t over. I have a place in High Town. You’ll be safe there for a while.”

Date Published: 7/10/22

Last Edit: 7/10/22

Previous | Masterlist | Next

[casimania]

“Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name” characters + “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” party quirks.

Bonus:

[springlibrary]

Fic Recommendations

After making that wrapped post, I’ve decided to do it quarterly starting next year. Though I would need your help. 

My horizons, I think, are pretty narrow just because most of my time is taken by my day job so I usually stick to authors I know. But you can send me some recommendations in my DMs or my ask and if they fit my fancy, I’ll definitely check them out. 

If you wish to submit some fics for me to read, here are the guidelines.

Genre - I usually read dark fics but I don’t limit myself to them. I also indulge in angst and smut. For the fluff, it varies from moment to moment but don’t be shy to send them my way. You’ll never know, I might just like it. 

Characters - I will categorize them by the fandom I follow.

Game of Thrones:

Jorah Mormont

Petyr Baelish

Jaime Lannister

Marvel:

Vision

Loki

Thor

Logan Howlett

Tony Stark

Steve Rogers

Bucky Barnes

Bruce Banner

Misc:

Lloyd Hansen

Ransom Drysdale

Curtis Everett

Lee Bodecker

Nick Fowler

James Conrad

Jonathan Pine

So yeah, if any of you send me stuff, thank you! And I look forward to immersing myself in such masterpieces.

p.s. It doesn't matter if you recommend your own story, honestly, I would like that a lot. I advocate self-promotion.

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Devil’s Backbone

Devil’s Backbone

Chapter 3

AN: I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, and thank you everyone who has commented, reblogged or liked the story :)

Story Rating: Explicit, 18+

Warnings: Smut, violence, flashbacks of past sexual assault, descriptions of torture and racial hate. Not Tony Stark friendly.

Relationships: Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, Billy/Wanda/Grant, Sam/Sharon, Clint/Laura, eventual Clint/Yelena and Frank/Karen Page.

Summary: In the aftermath of the Blip, Bucky struggled to find his place among the world and the Avengers. However, when he is sent on a mission to Madripoor to investigate a mysterious woman, he starts to realize maybe his past isn’t too far behind him. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

The girls at the Red Room would whisper about the Winter Soldier. He was a ghost story, a tale whispered to keep them in line by warning them if they didn't succeed in the classes or missions, that the soldat would creep into their room and kill them.

She remembered seeing those cold eyes watching her and over girls when he had come to the academy to train one of their classes. He had thrown a young girl called Polina Paseka across the room after she failed four times to do a pirouette in ballet class.

She frowned as she tried to make sense of how the Winter Soldier had escaped the Red Room. It was rare when someone was able to make it out, almost impossible. She decided to call Carter and inquire about the soldier. Her interest was piqued by the man. Maybe she would know something.

Bucky and the others returned to the compound to inform Fury about the black ops team that the Power Broker had sent to kidnap Isaiah and Eli Bradley. The man must have been hellbent on creating the serum after Zemo destroyed the ones that Dr. Nadler had created. "Hill is identifying the people who were sent to kidnap Isaiah and his grandson. Two of them have already been identified," Fury announced grimly. He pulled up two images of two men, one of whom that Bucky recognized instantly. Jack Rollins. He knew him from being there at the Ideal Federal Savings bank when he had his mind wiped by Pierce after trying to kill Steve, Sam and Natasha in Washington D.C. "You might remember the guy on the left, Barnes and Rogers. That is Jack Rollins, former member of the STRIKE Team. After fleeing the U.S., he settled in Madripoor and began working as a mercenary for the highest bidder. Tomas Calderon is a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent, who was fired after killing a group of Inhuman refugees in Nairobi, Kenya," Fury explained gravely. He paused for a moment before glancing their way. "Rogers, Wilson, I want you to ask Carter if she knows how long this mystery young woman has been living in Madripoor. See if there's a gang war brewing over a power struggle. Barnes, Barton and Maximoff, I want you three to talk to Russo, Karen Page, Murdock, and Curtis Hoyle. See what they know about the Power Broker," the director instructed. They nodded and all left.

The first thing Ana decided to do was renovate the whole damn penthouse that the Power Broker owned. She ordered new bedding, a new mattress, and a nice bed frame. There was no way in hell she was sleeping in his bed. She followed suit with the rest of the apartment, glad to have all this control now. The next thing she did was arrange a meeting with all the criminals who lived in Madripoor. She was putting down some rules. She was no saint - far from it - but no way in hell was she tolerating slavery, sex trafficking, and fucking child molesters and pedophiles. She knew Madripoor thrived on crime, but she was going to be instilling some rules for everyone. She personally called off the bounties on the Winter Soldier, the Falcon and Baron Zemo, from what she had heard around. She had no quarrel with them at the minute. Her main focus was going to be ensuring the Red Room remained shut down. She didn't want anyone else to go through what she had gone through. No child deserved that horror. The buzzer rang then, and she answered the call immediately. She had a feeling that a few of them were going to be aggravating. But she had dealt with worse people. "Miss Liukin, this is Conrad Mack. You wish to speak with me about a beneficial arrangement between us?" The man asked politely. She smiled slightly. "Please come in, Mr. Mack," she said smoothly. The door was unlocked and locked behind him. She might have her bodyguards, but she wasn't defenseless by herself if Conrad decided to play dirty. Two could play at that game. Conrad Mack entered the living room. He was a handsome man in person. He had dark brown eyes, but there was a sharpness in them, like an eagle, always watching. He was wearing casual, but smart clothing. "Mr. Mack, it's a pleasure to meet with you. I've heard a lot of things about you," Ana said warmly. The man offered her a charming smile that showed perfect white teeth. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Liukin. I have to say that I'm impressed by your bloodless takeover of Madripoor. If you don't mind me asking, what inspired you to take over Madripoor from the Power Broker?" She smiled at his question, as she sipped from her glass of red wine and Conrad drank from his glass of whisky. The man was a gangster, but he did have morals. She decided to give him some of the truth. "The Power Broker wished to recreate the Super Soldier serum after Baron Zemo destroyed the vials that Karli Morgenthau stole from him. But he wanted me to kidnap a man called Isaiah Bradley and his grandson…I presume you know who he is?" she asked meaningfully. Conrad nodded, his smile turning to a grimace. "Yeah, I know who he is. My grandaddy fought with him in World War II. The US government threw him in jail and took his blood. He escaped during the eighties and settled down in Baltimore," the man said bitterly, well aware of America's racial discrimination against African-Americans. Ana nodded at his answer as she looked at the Monet art that decorated the walls. She disliked racists fiercely. "Then you understand why the Power Broker had to go, Conrad?" He lets out a quiet nod at that. "As I've said before, I'm not a saint. I've done some horrible things. But I draw the line at people dragging innocents back into their dirty hands. For years I had no control of what I was able to do, and now that I do, you can bet I'm going to make sure that no one else gets hurt like that." Conrad smiles to that. "That's very noble of you." Ana snorts and shakes her head. "Not noble. It's called being a human. However,…I'm not a good person too. And the reason we're here is because of that." She comes over to him, leaning against her chair. "I know about your little business on the side here. You thrive from the drug community here, don't you?" "If we're being honest, it is one of, if not the most, profitable business you can have in Madripoor." "On the brink of a collapse the city would be if that whole system decided to go belly-up," Ana states, holding her glass in her hands. "Which is why I'm willing to offer a truce with you. An agreement, of sorts. If you keep a low profile and continue your business, I'll make sure it can still run with the people here and the cops won't be on your ass. I know how hard it can be to stay on the downlow but I'm willing to compromise on that as long as your guys don't interfere with what I'm trying to do." Conrad raises an eyebrow. "You're very interesting, you know that?" She raises an eyebrow back at him. "How so?" "You're like the opposite version of what you say you are. You're trying to be good but also trying to keep crime going…it's a strange contradiction, if you will." Ana shrugs her shoulders, walking over to where he sits. "We all have our contradictions. But the main part here is making sure your business can still run despite those contradictions. So…" She holds out her hand to him. "Do we have a deal?" Conrad looks at her hand for a split second before extending outwards, shaking it firmly. "We have a deal."

Talking with Karen, Frank, Matthew and Foggy had gone about as well as Bucky had been expecting. They didn't know that much about the Power Broker except for the fact that he just wanted to have as much power as possible, simple as that. They had stumbled into them when Fisk had gone away to jail, leaving his powerful empire in the city free for the taking. Due to the power vacuum, the Power Broker had tried to break in.

But luckily, they had come in at the right moment to stop him from taking over, before he had escaped off to Madripoor. Bucky truly wondered what went through this man's mind to make him think like that, that he could suddenly own everyone just because one man got arrested. But then again, the man was clearly unstable. If he wanted to still create more and more super-solder serums for the world to use…there was no way he would allow that. Secretly, Bucky really hoped this new mysterious woman had killed the Power Broker. Hell, maybe even taken over herself. If she was willing to help Sharon out and let them know about Isiah, she at least had some sort of morals compared to the original man. But he also had a feeling that Fury, if he did find out who this woman was, was most likely going to send them after her. So maybe he'd get the chance to meet her after all. A part of him still couldn't believe that he had seen Ana at a coffee shop…it was such a small world. A part of her still felt so familiar, and at the same time he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. He was thankful that the Wakandan's had gotten out all the trigger words in his mind but damn it, he wished he had his whole mind back. Something he would just have to live with for now.

Was this a stupid idea? Probably. Could Fury walk in at any moment? Most likely. But Natasha needed to know. She had to know if this woman was alive truly or not. Maybe she would get lucky, and they would be able to swing around this situation. Maybe the woman who had come into the facility wasn't even close to her. When Nat and Yelena had destroyed the Red Room area, they had been able to access their system remotely to be able to view who had died and who had lived from the program. She had never checked for her to see if she was still around. But this time was better than no time. She typed in the name quickly, searching through the files before she lands on the one, she had wanted. And her shoulders sink as soon as she reads through the file on the computer screen. 'Anastasia Liukin. Dead – complications of operation.' "Oh, thank God," Natasha breathes out, running her hand through her hair. This at least said that she was gone. Maybe she would be able to get out of this alive. But something still didn't sit right. A part of her didn't think that she was dead. If it wasn't her…then who? She bites her lip, glancing deeper into the file.

"Fuck it," she said finally, before delving further into the files. She found information on Anastasia about the year she was born. The young woman had been born on July 10, 1995 in Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast, Russia in the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapsing. Her mother had died when she was five years old, and she had no one else to raise her. She was then placed in an orphanage until the age of seven when the Red Room had approached her under the illusion of being taken to a ballet boarding school. There were no other records of her aside from the file about her dying from an operation. The reasons for the operation were redacted, but deep-down Natasha knew the reason. 'I had to do it. I had to protect Yelena. She was too soft for the Red Room despite all the training we put her through,' she thought rationally, ignoring the pang of guilt that pulsed through her.

Sharon was honestly trying to keep herself calm as she drove to the penthouse that was owned by the Power Broker. She hadn't seen the mysterious woman again, but she had told Sharon to call her Ana. Now, she was driving there and was stunned by the sight before her very eyes. The building itself was amazing and very spacious, but the apartment was even better. She was shown into the penthouse by a bodyguard and kept her face neutral as she was greeted by none other than Ana. "You wanted to see me?" She asked politely. Ana smiled at her calmly as Sharon sat down on the comfortable black velvet sofa. The living room was very spacious but had a homey-vibe around it. There were framed photographs on the mantelpiece. "Yes. I was wondering if I could buy some of the Art Deco paintings and sculptures in your art gallery?" Ana asked curiously. Sharon blinked in surprise but nodded and leaned forward. "I'll be happy to sell you them, Miss Liukin," she said reassuringly, stunned that the woman wasn't going to kill her for helping Bucky, Sam and Zemo escape from the Power Broker. Speaking of the man, she hadn't seen him around Madripoor for the last couple of days. She wondered if finally, someone had killed him for having too much control and power. Considering Ana was in his penthouse, she had quite the feeling it had something to do with her, since the man had been tied up by her not that long ago. "Then I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'll enjoy doing business with you, Sharon," Ana said kindly, her voice genuine. Sharon nodded as they both walked out, seeing that the whole penthouse was being renovated. At Sharon looking, Ana smiled as she put her bottle of water down on the coffee table. "This penthouse belonged to the Power Broker, and it didn't give a welcoming feel. So, I decided to have the whole house renovated, including an indoor ballet studio, along with an indoor swimming pool, a library, and many bedrooms," the woman explained amusedly. Sharon smiled before saying goodbye and Ana watched her leave. She had to admit, it seemed the women had the strength to stay around – and wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

Bucky was annoyed with himself. He felt like he had seen Ana before and not at the coffee shop. It was irritating to say the very least, as he walked to the conference room, where Fury was holding a team meeting. He entered the room, sitting next to Steve, Sam, Clint and Wanda as Billy and Grant joined them. He wasn't surprised to see Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne being in the room but was wary about seeing Bruce and Tony in the room. Both of them, along with Natasha and Yelena, despised him. He didn't blame Natasha for hating him - he had tried to kill her three times, and had attempted to apologize, but she had refused his apology. "Now that you're all here, I have news about the mystery woman who infiltrated the compound. We ran her through Interpol, MI6, FBI, and the S.H.I.E.L.D database and found nothing on her. She's unknown to us," Fury explained gravely, his face betraying nothing. "So, what you want us to do then? It's pretty obvious that she's dangerous if she escaped the HYDRA base, and they had her in cyrostasis," Tony questioned suspiciously. It was Steve spoke up. "That doesn't necessarily mean that she's dangerous, Tony. She's most like been forcibly placed in cyrostasis. We did uncover some possible information," Steve informed Fury, who looked interested as he looked at the man. "What did you and the team find out then?" The director inquired curiously. He was clearly wondering if the young woman was a threat to them. "We did some digging - plus Sharon called us this morning. The Power Broker might possibly be dead, as he's not been seen for at least three days. He was last seen Monday night, and had arranged to meet a young woman to discuss kidnapping Isaiah and Eli Bradley, so he could use their blood to recreate the Super-Soldier serum. According to Sharon, the young woman refused to comply, and a fight broke out," Steve explained quietly, his voice not quite disapproving at the young woman's actions and possibly murdering the Power Broker. "She was the person who told Sharon about the attack on Isiah." Fury looked thoughtful and looked around at everyone who was sitting at the table. Natasha and Yelena were silent, but they were clearly hiding something. "Is there something you'd like to add, Belova and Romanoff?" he asked calmly. Natasha nodded. "There is something I'd like to add, Fury." Natasha stands as she grabs the file of Ana, placing it on the table. "I did some digging on this girl with the file that we found in the HYDRA base in Siberia. As the ones who shut down the Red Room and the areas surrounding it, we are allowed remote access to the former directory of agents that we've had interactions with. It turns out that Ana has actually died from an operation due to unforeseen circumstances," Natasha states. "At least that was what her records state." "Hold on." Bucky stands from where he was, gesturing to the file. "That's impossible. We've been doing our own research and there has been some steady evidence that she's still alive." "Barnes, I remember her. She's gone." "That's impossible because I saw her literally days ago," Bucky says angrily, but he holds back his temper to a point. He didn't want to let go of his own morals because Nat's words contradicted his own. Her brow raises in shock. "You're-wait, what? How the hell did you-" "She was in a coffee shop," Bucky states, crossing his arms against his chest. "A couple days ago before heading off. I didn't learn the girl's name, but she looked exactly like Ana. There's no mistaking it." "You're insane, she's gone!" "No, she's not!" "ENOUGH!" Fury yells, his booming voice causing them to jump in surprise. They both turn their eyes to where Fury was breathing heavily, his head down, clearly trying to control his own temper. He takes a moment before looking at the two of them. "Sit both your asses down now!" The two Avengers do as he says, knowing that if they pissed him off even more there'd be more than just yelling coming their way. Fury starts to pace before he looks to them. "From what I see, we have several problems here. One is-" His phone suddenly pings, and he pulls it out quickly to glance at it before cursing under his breath. "Now we got even more problems," he mutters, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Just got word from H.Q. Apparently, the original Power Broker is officially dead." Silence rings throughout the room. Bucky knew it. He just knew it.

"Again, now we got even more problems," Fury continues, running a hand along his head before looking to them. "One, we have some mysterious woman that broke into our damn base and now is missing. Two, we have a power dynamic clearly underway in Madripoor, and another young woman there that we don't know about looking to take over. Third, we have two goddamn conflicting arguments about a girl that we don't even know about. There’re too many things here for us to even come to a proper conclusion. I'm over this fighting that we got going." "Then what do you suggest we do, sir?" Natasha asks, raising her brow. Fury sighs and then nods back at the team. "What we do best – undercover. But there ain't no way I'm sending a whole team after this girl. If the Power Broker is dead, that means she's a serious threat, regardless if she'll hurt us or not. She's got friends in high places. Only one of you are fit enough to do a proper undercover mission of this high of a status." His eyes turn directly to where Bucky was. "And that's you, Barnes." His brow raises in surprise. "Me?" "I can't think of someone better than the former Winter Soldier. It can't be Nat or Yelena with personal ties to this said mystery woman, but we don't know how much she knows about you possibly. It's the best option for us going forward. I'm not about to let any other goddamn intruder come in, so we need to find out who this woman is as soon as possible, and if she's taking over as the Power Broker." Bucky was quiet for a moment, letting his words mingle. He wasn't wrong. He most likely would be able to find her the quickest and see exactly who this woman was. "Plus, you've literally seen her before," Steve agrees lightly. "If anything, that'll only help you try and find her again." "I think he's got this," Sam states, agreeing. Bucky rolls his eyes and glances at his friends. "It's alright, guys. I'm fine." He always knew that the ones who were on his side tried their best to show their support for him, but something he just wanted to prove it himself. He turns back to Fury. "I can do that, sir." "Good, glad to hear it." Fury stands and grabs the file. "You leave as early as tomorrow. We want to make sure we handle this with care but as quickly as possible. Don't want to linger any longer. Pack your belongings – I'll inform Sharon that you're heading to Madripoor and you're undercover there." "Sounds good," Bucky responds, standing. "Meeting adjourned," Fury concludes, getting up and heading out, pulling his phone as he does so. Bucky hears Tony groan as he stands, sighing. "He's making a mistake sending you out." "Tony, we don't need this right now," Steve responds, trying to shut down the fight before it even began. "How can you even trust him to do a good job? He was literally part of HYDRA, the place that this mysterious woman is even coming from!" "So are Nat and Yelena and you trust them," Wanda points out from where she stands. "They at least had a head on their shoulders to sign the damn accords." Steve sighs and shakes his head. "I'll never be able to prove to you that Bucky is a good man, but that's your loss. It's not like I'm not surprised Nat is on your side after she did what she did." At Nat's confused expression, Steve snorts. "Don't show me that look, Nat. I know that you agreed with Tony to lock Bucky up is a psych unit even before he was pardoned. I know you don't want him here just as much as Tony doesn't. You don't need to say anything." Bucky runs a hand through his hair stressfully. Good god, this wasn't how he wanted his mission to start out.

[cogentranting]

Tier Ranking All the Classics/”Literature” type Books I’ve Read

Or at least all the ones I remembered to include/didn’t arbitrarily decide to leave out. (Within each tier the books are not ranked)

Other books wish they had what these books have

(The best of the best. )

Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky) A Tale of Two CIties (Charles Dickens)  Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien) The Chronicles of Narnia (CS Lewis)

Love it

Les Misérables (Victor Hugo)  East of Eden (John Steinbeck)- honestly I don’t remember much about it but I remember liking it a lot Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)  Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)  The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)  As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)  Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)- but if I reread this might very well move up a category. Haven’t read it since I was like 11 Emma (Jane Austen) Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien)  The Space Trilogy (CS Lewis) Til we Have Faces (CS Lewis) A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

It makes me think

(It’s not fun in the way you might think but it has really interesting ideas or elements that I enjoy engaging with) 

The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky) The Stranger (Albert Camus)  Night (Elie Wiesel)  Grendel (John Gardner)  The Sunflower (Simon Wiesenthal) Confessions (Augustine of Hippo)  The Man Who was Thursday (GK Chesterton)  Orthodoxy (GK Chesterton)

Good Vibes Only

(I don’t really remember it but I remember liking it)

Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)  Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)  Hard Times (Charles Dickens)  Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)  Persuasion (Jane Austen)  My Antonia (Willa Cather)

Really Enjoyable

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (T.S. Eliot)- It’s absurd and a delight.  To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury)  Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell)  Life of Pi (Yann Martel) War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)  The Crucible (Arthur Miller)  Hamlet (William Shakespeare) The Color of Water (James McBride)  Beowulf A Separate Peace (John Knowles)- Also featuring not one but two movie adaptations of the “so bad they’re funny” variety Middlemarch (George Elliot)  White Fang (Jack London)- except the ending. Let White Fang stay wild.  Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)- they’re trash people doing terrible things and it’s a good time And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie) The Silmarillion (JRR Tolkien)

It’s good BUT

(I like it but there’s one glaring exception to that) 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Victor Hugo) - Most of it is fun but also I’m pretty sure the one major plot point is very racist Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) 

yeah, it’s good

(I like it but not strongly)

The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling)  The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky)  Macbeth (William Shakespeare)  The Possessed (Fyodor Dostoevsky) Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Moby Dick (Herman Melville)  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) Paradise Lost (John Milton)  The Bean Trees (Barbara Kingsolver)- respect the fact that between when I read this as a high school freshman to when I read it as a student teacher, it worked its way up from “bleh) to be here The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)  The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) 

Sure

(I feel slightly more positive than neutral)

Animal Farm (George Orwell) Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)  Medea (Euripides)  Antigone (Sophocles) The Odyssey (Homer) David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)  Player Piano (Kurt Vonnegut) 

That’s  definitely a book that exists and I have read

(I have no emotions regarding this book)

The Portrait of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)  Tarzan of the Apes (Edgar Rice Burroughs)  The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)  Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare) Passing (Nella Larsen) Charlotte Temple (Susanna Rowson)  Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)- I’m going to be honest. That category title is an exaggeration. I read a children’s abridged version when I was like 8 and that’s it. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) 

Need to reread

(I feel like I missed something the first time through and would appreciate it more on reread) 

Beatrice and Virgil (Yann Martel)  Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)- honestly though I think rereading would move it to “respect but don’t like”  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare)  Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer) 

I respect it, but I don’t like it

(I fully think that this is a quality book, but for some reason or another, I don’t like it) 

The Plot Against America (Phillip Roth)  The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros) 100 Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez) 

Bleh

Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare) The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)  The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

Bad Vibes Only

(I don’t remember this book but I remember I didn’t like it) 

Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) A Portrait of the Artist as a Yong Man (James Joyce)  Rose in the Heart (Edna O’Brien)

Strong Dislike

1984 (George Orwell)- It could almost go into respect but don’t like, because I think the world he creates and the idea of it all is very well done. And the essay on NewSpeak is brilliant. But the book is boring and the characters are bad and I don’t really care if Winston gets tortured to death. The Man in the Iron Mask (Alexandre Dumas)- There’s a reason why at least one movie adaptation looked at the plot and went “nah we’ll just write our own”. The first one is basically a swashbuckling adventure and then this one was like “hey want to see the musketeers sad and old and what if they went on one final mission which is deeply misguided where they all fail and die. Does that sound fun?” If I’m remembering it correctly. 

“I can shoot the book physically but not conceptually and that makes me sad” 

(I hate this book so much you don’t understand)

The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)- this category was made specifically this book in mind. 

[aion-rsa]

You Season 3 Ending Explained

https://ift.tt/3aPagpv

This article contains spoilers for You season 3.

The latest installment of You follows creepy creepster Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) as he begrudgingly moves to the tony California suburb of Madre Linda with his wife, Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). He attempts to atone for his sins and try his hand at being a good husband and father to his new son, Henry. But his plans are soon derailed. 

What follows is a wildly entertaining meditation on parenthood, marriage, and what happens after “happily ever after.” It’s a fairy tale ending with a body count. But what really happened at the end of You season 3? We’re here to serve up some answers. 

Do Sherry and Cary Escape? 

While it seems like Love and Joe mowed through half of Madre Linda in their quest for suburban bliss, the death count they are directly responsible for this season is on par with, if not lower, than previous seasons. Anti-vaxxer Gil technically killed himself, horny teen Theo lived thanks to Joe’s quick thinking, and the king and queen of Madre Linda, Sherry and Cary Conrad, actually manage to escape Joe’s glass cage of emotion. 

Sherry (Shalita Grant) and Cary (Travis Van Winkle) are initially painted as insufferable social monsters. Cary is a bro’s bro who brags loudly and often about his intermittent fasting routines. Sherry has a twee mom blog, she uses gossip as currency, and she so frequently invites other couples to engage in sexual “play” with her and Cary that they have a stock NDA on hand for the occasion. When Love and Joe accept that invitation, all hell breaks loose, and both Cary and Sherry end up in the cage. 

But, as they fight for their lives, the couple begins to reveal some humor and humanity. And they become characters worth rooting for. So it’s important to know that they earn the honor of being only the second and third people to escape Joe’s cage with their lives. (The first being Will Bettelheim in season 2.)

When building the cage, both Joe and Love hid a key within the structure, just in case. As Sherry and Cary frantically try to figure out how to survive, Sherry realizes that Joe and Love don’t trust one another. So she searches for a key, and she finds one. 

Of course, once out of the jaws of mortal peril, the couple immediately goes back to being insufferable by capitalizing on their near-death experience, giving pretentious TED Talks and touting their new program, “Caged: A Radical Couple’s Therapy Technique.” In fact, Joe might just deserve some royalties, amiright?

What Happens to Love? 

Well, in a metaphorical sense, by the end of the season, love is dead. And in the physical sense, uh, yeah, she’s also dead. 

Joe and Love’s Madre Linda murder spree builds to a fever pitch throughout the season, and at some point it becomes quite obvious that only one of them could make it out alive. With her sharp intellect, ruthless cunning, and willingness to engage in brutal violence, Love initially made a worthy partner for Joe, and then shifted into a worthy adversary. It’s a testament to her skills and determination that it was not totally clear which of the two would eventually survive the Suburbia Thunderdome. 

The season 3 finale pits the two lovers against one another in a final showdown. Fully aware of Joe’s obsession with his boss, Marianne, Love prepares a roast chicken — Joe’s favorite — and sets the dining table like some twisted Norman Rockwell painting. When Love leaves to check on the baby, Joe grabs the carving knife and immediately regrets his actions. Love had dosed the knife with her very own homegrown paralytic made from Aconite (aka: Wolf’s bane) that she had been growing in the garden. Don’t try this at home, kids. 

Read more

TV

You Season 2 Review (Spoiler-Free)

By Delia Harrington

However, Joe had previously done some garden Googling and anticipated that Love might poison him. Conveniently he found adrenaline pills, an antidote to the Aconite, in Cary’s giant carrying case of meds, and popped one as he and Love sat down for their final feast. Unfortunately, these particular adrenaline pills were slow acting (blink-and-you’d-miss-it, but the instructions on the bottle recommended waiting 45 minutes for them to take effect), so he has to watch as Love almost stabs Marianne to death in their living room. Love’s cooler head prevails when Marianne’s daughter pops in to use the bathroom, and she lets them both escape with their lives. But she decides she’s done with Joe. 

As Love prepares her giant knife and stalks over to Joe, she gives quite a fantastic villain speech. Yet, her monologuing gives him the time he needs for the adrenaline to fully kick in. As Love yanks Joe’s head back to slit his throat, Joe stabs her with a syringe full of her very own poison. She writhes in agony as the dose takes effect, sputtering out some damning last words. As her face begins to stiffen, she says, “We’re perfect for each other, but bad for Henry. He’ll know what you are.”

Joe feels impacted by her final words, but gets to work framing her for all the murders. (Which, to be fair, she was the perpetrator of most of the violence this season.) Joe methodically chops off two of his toes, bakes one of them into a pie, and places a box of evidence, including Natalie’s teeth, Gil’s watch, and his other toe, next to Love’s dead body. He sends out a biting suicide note in Love’s voice. Then, he torches the place, using their wedding album as kindling.   

In a voice over epilogue, Joe makes sure to mention that Love became something of a feminist folk hero following her death. In a haunting line, Joe states that Love became even more famous than Guinevere Beck. 

What Happens to Henry?

Perhaps it was Love’s devastating final words that got to Joe. Or perhaps it was the realization that he couldn’t flee the country and start a new identity with a baby by his side. It’s not quite clear why, but in a heartbreaking moment, Joe decides to abandon his son at the conclusion of the season. 

This is certainly the right decision, but given that the crux of Joe’s mental health issues in You is built upon his abandonment issues, it’s a cruel twist. Joe does make sure to leave baby Henry in good hands though. Joe chooses to leave his son with his blind co-worker Dante. We don’t know a ton about Dante except that he’s blind, he’s a great friend to Marianne, he’s ex-military, he loves kids, and he’s married to a man named Lansing who has two teenagers. Seems like a solid choice.

Dante and Lansing ultimately decide to raise Henry and, as Joe asked in his note, “protect him as their own”, as Joe flees the scene. 

Where in the World is Joe? 

Paris. And his name isn’t Joe anymore; it’s Nick. This dude has more lives than a cat. 

Joe’s inner monologue is still focused on Marianne though, and it’s clear that he’s looking for her. She once told Joe that she had fantasies of whisking her daughter away to Paris, and so this is where Joe has decided to start this new chapter of his life. It seems pretty unlikely that Joe will find Marianne, but he’s sure to soon find a new object of obsession in the city of love. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

All we’re saying is that Emily in Paris had better watch her back. 

You season 3 is available to stream on Netflix now.

The post You Season 3 Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3aL1UPM

[365days365movies]

February 22, 2021: Pillow Talk (1959)(Part 1)

Y’know, I actually do like Doris Day.

She’s funny, she’s talented, and she’s a timeless beauty that I remember very well. TOO well. You guys ever have that one thing that your parents crammed down your throat SO MUCH that you got sick of it? Well, that’s what my Mom did with The Thrill of it All.

Which is, for the record, a cute movie, and one worth watching again at some point. But I’m gonna ease my way into that with Doris Day and Rock Hudson’s first movie, 1959′s Pillow Talk. 

However, while I’m not stranger to Doris Day, I’m afraid that I don’t know too much about Rock Hudson from experience. Well, there is one interesting tidbit about him: Hudson was one of the biggest stars of the ‘50s and ‘60s, and his career continued up until his death in 1985...from AIDS-related complications.

Yeah, Rock Hudson was one of the biggest gay celebrities in Hollywood, although he never publicly came out. However, it was somewhat of an open secret in the community at large, and basically all of his female co-stars know about it. 

And said secret was revealed posthumously, after his tragic death during the height of the AIDS crisis. He was by far one of the most high-profile deaths during this time period, and you’d think that would’ve caused more waves about the AIDS-crisis, considering that he was good friends with...well...another actor.

Yeaaaaaaaaah, not gonna get into Reagan and ALL OF THAT SHIT here. This here is a movie blog, not a political blog! But, uh, yeah, a LOT of fucked-up shit about Reagan and the AIDS crisis, obviously, and part of it was Rock Hudson. So, yeah, it’s something that I wanted to address before we got into this whole shindig.

Because, again, I’ve never seen a Rock Hudson movie, but dude was a pretty huge deal, and this was a part of his life that I felt it unfair not to at least acknowledge. SO, with that out of the way, let’s have a little Pillow Talk. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

We start with that might be one of my favorite opening sequences so far this month, which you can see above. From there, Jan Morrow (Doris Day) wakes up, humming the theme song from the credits, which is clever, considering that she sang it! Talented lady, seriously.

Jan wakes up and goes to the phone, intending to make a call. However, this is where we get a pretty stark cultural difference, and a needed history lesson for some of us, me included. See, Jan’s phone line is actually a party line, seen through this neat little visual edit.

See, this is what’s called a “party line”. From the 1870s onwards, there was a shortage of available phone lines. By the time you get to the ‘60s, more and more people had personal phones in their households, but without enough lines to go around. And so, some people were forced to share their phone lines with others, hence the party line system!

Here’s the thing, though: if somebody was on the line already, anyone else on that line could hear the conversation of other people. Which is exactly what’s pissing of Jan right now, as she needs to make a call, but the line is being used by her party line partner, songwriter Brad Allen, who’s serenading his girlfriend (?) Eileen (Valerie Allen). Not sure that they’re actually dating, but Eileen definitely wants to.

After Jan’s insistence, they get off the phone, and Jan’s able to begin her busy morning at last. Well...almost. Brad’s now talking to Yvette (Jacqueline Beer), and she wants him to sing HER song to her, which is LITERALLY just the Eileen song with a different name and in French! Which is...hilarious. It’s very funny, not gonna lie.

Once again, Jan tells him to get off the party line, and hangs up angrily. She leaves just as her cleaner woman, Alma (Thelma Ritter) arrives, fresh off of a hangover. Jan goes to try and get a line of her own, and the manager, Mr. Conrad (Hayden Rorke) makes a WEIRDLY sexist comment about jumping to the top of the list if she were pregnant. Which, yeah...weird.

Anyway, Jan, in her frustration, tells Mr. Conrad that she’s hired of sharing the line by a “sex maniac.” Mr. Conrad asks for specifics, and is AGAIN WEIRDLY SEXIST ABOUT IT. He asks if his dalliances with other women disturb her in particular. But yeah, he also says that if he is indeed a “sex maniac,” they may need to disconnect him altogether. Which has...uncomfortable undertones all on its own, but whatever, moving on.

On her way to work, Jan’s friend Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall) shows up to bring her a STRAIGHT-UP CAR, holy shit! He’s doing so to thank her for decorating his offices (she’s an interior decorator, he’s a car dealership owner, so...fair exchange?). She insists that it’s too personal, which confuses him, as it isn’t perfume or lingerie.

But, uh, dude? IT’S A WHOLE-ASS CAR!!! Look, I’m with her on this one, don’t just give me a fuckin’ car out of the blue! I don’t care what the reason is, tell me that shit first! And Jonathan is CLEARLY trying to make it just a little more personal, if you get my meaning.

Jan finally arrives at her office, owned by Mr. Pierot (Marcel Dalio), and she tells him that an inspector has been sent to look after Mr. Allen. This inspector is Miss Dickenson (Karen Norris), and being of the wimmins, is immediately entranced by the apparently irresistible Mr. Allen, sabotaging any attempt at inspection.

The next morning, the inspector’s report comes through, and Miss Dickinson has of course cleared him of all charges. He calls her, and the two clash in a way that definitely means they’ll never, ever, ever fall in love, no sir, not these two, not a CHANCE IN HELL

They agree to make a schedule for using the phone, and Brad accuses Jan of being jealous of his free-wheeling, bed-hopping lifestyle, which she takes great offese to. But after they hang up, she thinks on the idea of having bedroom problems. Looks like Jonathan wants to fix that, on account of being the THIRSTIEST MAN ALIVE.

Dude has three three ex-wives, all of which were revolts against his mother, for which he’s seeing a psychiatrist.

...CHRIST, the man’s a walking-talking red flag. Jan also says that she doesn’t love him, like...AT THE FUCK ALL, and the man just straight-up says, “How do you know, we’ve never even kissed.” Ai which point, any normal person would see the phantom neckbeard and whip out the fuckin’ bear mace, but Jan just lets him lean in for the goddamn kiss!!!

Jan...standards, Jan. My God. Anyway, she still turns him down, he asks her to get married again, and she leaves. For God’s sakes, man. Anyway, she goes home, where Alma’s listening to Brad serenade a girl over the party line. Jan notes the time, and tells him to get off the line. He calls back, and tells her off.

Brad gets a visitor: his old college friend FUCKIN’ JONATHAN AGAIN. He bemoans being a millionaire (po’ babyyyyy), then reveals that he’s pining over Jan, whom he doesn’t know is the person on the party line with Brad. He hears a good amount of information about Jan from Jonathan.

After the conversation, Brad tries to somewhat reconcile with Jan, but she doesn’t have any interest in doing so. That night, the two have separate affairs. Brad meets up with a woman named Marie, and  serenades her with the same goddamn song from earlier, that suave motherfucker. Dude flips a switch, and the door fuckin’ LOCKS! Jesus, state-of-the-art hook-up tech of 1959.

Meanwhile Jan is attending a dinner held by an extremely client, Mrs. Walters (Lee Patrick). Needing to get home, she has her son Tony (Nick Adams) give her a ride. But on the way home, they stop and WHAT THE FUCK TONY??? I actually can’t find a clip or GIF of this, so I’ll tell you...he is ALL THE FUCK OVER HER, and it’s GROSS. CAN WE PLEASE STOP SEMI-RAPING DORIS DAY? WHAT THE FUCK, IN NO WAY IS WHAT I JUST WATCHED OK, HOLY SHIT!!!!!

Like...wow, that was the most uncomfortable I’ve felt watching a movie in a WHILE. And it’s not even because of the act itself, it’s because of how...OK it feels in the context of the film. Jan is BARELY upset by this slimy little weasely-faced rapey CREEP LITERALLY ASSAULTING HER IN THE FUCKING CAR. And in case you were wondering, yes! This film was written by FOUR MEN.

This is gross. Sorry, but this whole sequence is gross, and it gets even LONGER, because she AGREES TO GO GET A DRINK WITH HIM. WHY, JAN? STOP ENCOURAGING THIS BEHAVIOR. He tries to get her drunk (but ends up drunk himself), but she tries to leave. However, who should be sitting one table but Brad, who realizes who this is. Jan tries to leave, but Tony tries to get her to dance with him, AND SHE ONCE AGAIN AGREES, JAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!

And its during this time of distress for Brad that, OF COURSE, he finds himself extremely attracted to her. And since he knows who she is, but she doesn’t know him, he decides to fake his identity. And there we go, we’ve got a creepy-ass one-sided relationship set-up.

Meanwhile, lightweight Tony passes out on the floor, drunk as shit. Brad goes into help, putting on a take Texas accent and calling himself Rex Stetson. And OF FUCKING COURSE, she’s lost in his fuckin’ eyes. Damn those eyes, and his suave bullshit.

They shove Tony into a cab, then take his car, which appears to be too small for Brad, which makes sense, given the fact that Hudson was 6′4″, goddamn! The two take a cab, and the two reveal their mutual attraction to the audience, through their inner thoughts. Looks like all Jan needed for a relationship was handsome-ass Rock Hudson.

In her thoughts, she thinks on how honest and down-to-earth Rex Stetson seems, unlike “monsters” like Tony and Brad Allen. And OF COURSE this is how we get this started. OF GODDAMN COURSE this is how we start this relationship. Liar revealed, LIAR REVEALED, I FUCKIN’ HATE THAT GODDAMN TROPE SO MUCH

Soon after “Rex” takes her home, he goes home herself, and gives her a call, inviting her to dinner the following night. She accepts. Then, in the middle of the call, Brad pretends to pick up the line as himself, in order to set up the two identities as being separate...this is reverse You’ve Got Mail, isn’t it?

Think about it. Two people that hate each other, and they’ve never seen one another, but also love each other after meeting in person. IT’S THE OPPOSITE OF YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Ugh. Fine. Even down to the fact that he has a sizeable advantage over her, due to his full knowledge of the situation. He even tries to use his identity as Brad Allen to set-up their date the next night for success.

And it works, goddamn. A clever yet manipulative asshole, this dude is. They get on a horse and carriage, and we hear the inner thoughts of Jan, Brad, and the dude who owns the horse. And, yeah...it’s funny. The two go to dinner, where Jonathan shortly arrives. Brad gets him out of there with...mildly fatphobic means, but it is the 1950s, so things were just kinda...entirely that.

But in any case, Brad gets away with it, and he and Jan spend a hell of a lot of time together going all around the city. And the whole time, he’s playing the role of “Rex.” Ugh. This is a good halfway point, so let’s go to Part 2 here! See you there!

[royalheroine]

Helen regretted arriving to new york city much earlier than her family. She arrived to see a stream of aliens coming through a big portal in the sky. She had to act fast. She should’ve run. Should’ve stayed in a cafe or something, but she did something highly impulsive. She fought.

She quickly found a broken pipe in the alleyway and started hitting at the aliens. The aliens started shooting bolts of light at her and she adapted by finding a broken off car door. She was surprised that it blocked most of the shots. She found herself protecting the stay victims and escorting people to nearby bulidings or outreach refugee camps.

Blood sprayed on her face while she stabbed a alien in the head with the sharp pipe. She didn’t notice the wound on her left side, and didn’t complain about the scratches and bruises on her legs. She just wanted it to end. She hoped her family is not here, even if they didn’t care about her. She then decided to head to the stark tower, maybe the aliens held hostages in there.

----

She found herself going up to the top floor after realizing that no one is being held hostage on the lobby floor.

---

The elevator door opened and she saw a man with raven black hair. Wearing a royal overcoat adorend with gold trimmings and fabric. He held a glowing scepter.

‘Shit did i just find the villian?!’ she thought to herself.

“And who might you be.” He smirked.

She carefully stepped out of the elevator. Trying to identify or at least avoid his attacks. Surviving multiple aliens seemed hard, but this encounter would be even harder.

“I-I thought people would be taken hostage in this tower- I think I thought wrong. Wait-” she looked at the crescent shaped charm on his chest.

“A-are you a god?” She asked. The symbol looked very similar to the symbol in her norse mythology storybook. The storybook that she read over and over again.

“Oh, so you know your place. You realize who I really am, your god.” He spoke to her.

“Y-are you- Loki?” She abandoned all feelings of fear and terror. Those feelings were replaced with feelings of childlike curiosity.

“Yes, how does a mere mortal know about my name?” He was curious too. He thought that mortals only knew about their own realm.

“Uh- apparently people from the past worshipped you, and Thor and Odin and others, they’re called Norse. And I guess they wrote stories about you! Stories that I read a lot. And, yeah, I know this is a really weird thing to say to someone who is invading your planet but- I- you’re my favorite god.” She looked away.

‘Thats my last words. I literally called my killer my favorite and I’m going to die. Great.’ She thought to herself.

Loki put down his scepter. He wanted to entertain this small, puny mortal. A mortal that didn’t seem to fear him.

“Come child.” He guided her to the bar.

—

“So, what do they say about me?” He asked her.

“Well… They said that you can shapeshift and that you had a baby with a horse.” She giggled. The god wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

“God, the way you mortals create stories are weird and highly inaccurate. I only raised a baby horse, not gave birth to it.” He clarified, leaning the scepter against the bar.

“I mean, you were not portrayed as wholly evil or wholly good, since mischeif is neutral in morality. Which means you’re not a villain. Right? She asked

“That’s where you’re wrong. My brother is a hero and I am the villain. A villain who is not even asguaridan.” He told her.

“Y-you’re also compared to your brother?” She asked shyly

“Yes, all the time.” He huffed

“Well, you’re in the same boat, my brother, Finn. He’s older, cuter, a golden child and good at everything. Meanwhile, you have me… Messy, uncoordinated and decided to fight instead of run away like anyone else.” She said.

“Fighting is a more noble pursuit than running.” he told her, but he noticed that she was bleeding on her side.

“Oh dear, that’s not a nice sight.” He carefully laid her down on the couch.

“W-what?” She was getting faint, she didn’t notice that she was bleeding out. Loki summoned a rag and started using his healing magic. But he had limited knowledge.

“Stay with me dear, once you wake up, we will rule together, besides, two monsters should shine in the sunlight.” He assured the sleeping child.

---

The girl woke up to see a group of heroes circling Loki. She stood up but her wound thobbed.

“Ah!” She dobled over. Clutching her side. A man dressed in blue and red came over to her.

“Did he hold you hostage?” He asked.

“No- I- he healed me.” She said grogilly. She didn’t realize that it was all over.

“Dear, you should’nt move as much.” Loki called to her. The blue hero looked confused.

“Ah- where is he going?” She asked.

“Back to asgard.” The blonde hero said.

“Are you Thor then?” She asked. Staggering once she stood up.

“Yes” He smiled lightly, probably trying to calm down the shaking child.

“Your age?” The blue hero said.

“11.” She meekly said.

“You hurt a child!” Thor shouted at Loki.

“No! He actually took care of me! We- had a conversation!” She shouted in protest.

“He hypnotized you.” The blue hero tried to get the situation straight.

“I WOULD NEVER! NOT A CHILD!” Loki shouted. Thor only put a mechanical gag on loki.

“I-i”

“Lets get you down, alright?” The blue hero gave a comforting smile.

She found herself stuffed in a small elevator with a bunch of heroes and a villain. She was slightly shaking from the excess adrenaline and the pain from the wound. Loki kept glancing at her, worried that she might faint from the blood.

“Sooo…. What is your name kid?” The man in the iron suit asked.

“Helen. Helen Conrad.” She told him.

“Well, lets lighten up! Lets all introduce ourselves. I’ll start off. My name is Tony stark! Real names only!”

“I am Steve Rodgers.” The blue hero smiled.

“Natasha Romanov.”

“Clint Barton.”

“Thor Odinson”

She smiled brightly. “Thank you for introducing yourselves!”

----

She found herself in the lobby, witnessing the fight over a glowing blue cube.

‘Why are they so obsessed with that cube?’ she asked herself.

--

“Your parents haven’t shown up.” Thor pointed out as they sat ontop of the car.

“Not surprised, probably busy with my brother.” She leaned back. Probably thinking that she’d just settle back into her normal life.

“What if you came with me. To Asgard.” He asked her.

She turned to him. “Y-you’d really bring me?” She asked.

“If your parents are as neglectful as they are, then I should probably just bring you to a better place. Your skills will be better cultivated on Asgard than with your parents.” He said.

“Also, you’ve made a profound impact on my brother, Loki. So would you be kind to come on behalf of him? He doesn’t show it but he’d like you to come too.” he asked.

“D-definately! Definitely!” She shouted. Jumping up and down.

“I-i- d-definately- w-wait. Give me a s-second.” She was getting too excited that her stuttering became apparent. She took a deep breath.

She gave a curt, “Yes. yes I would like to go.” She smiled. Thor grinned.

“You would definately love the palace.”

---

Loki and Thor held on to the container with the tesseract and Helen stood behind the container.

“Are you sure we should let a child go to a different realm with two gods, and one of them tried to invade our planet.” Steve asked Tony.

“I’m sure Thor would keep her safe, besides, we might have to hold her in the tower when she comes back.” Tony repled.

“Why?” Steve asked.

“I’m pretty skeptical about the fact that a child was able to battle her way into my tower and talk down the god of lies without getting killed in the process.” He remarked.

---

Helen was beamed in the entrance of the rainbow bridge. She walked with the two gods. One in chains and one with the hammer. She looked at the view of Asgard. It looked grander than she’d imagine. The golden towers were glistening in the sunlight. The rainbow bridge was translucent but had rainbow like branches pulsing through the bridge. She seemed scared to cross the bridge at first. Having a slight fear of heights. But Thor grabbed on to her hand and gave her comforting look.

Loki looked on, wishing he could do the same. But glad that his brother did it in his place.

---

Helen was being addressed by the king of Asgard. Odin.

“You have the heart of a heroine and the capacity to empathize with even the toughest of villains. Tell me, child. What is your name?” He asked her.

“He-he-Helen.” She stuttered. Cursing herself for stuttering in front of the king.

“Conrad.”

“Conraddotar?” Odin clarified

“You can call me that.” she said.

“Enjoy yourself at the palace, you are now considered royalty for extending your kindness to my son, Loki.” Odin said.

---

Helen wore a simple green gown. She was happily skipping around and exploring the palace.

“Helen, dear, can you come to me?” A voice sounded in the hallway.

She turned to see Queen Frigga.

“Let’s fix yout hair, shall we?”

--

Helen was sitting on Frigga’s bed while Frigga was braiding her hair.

“Thank you for everything that you’ve done. Tell me, Helen, what is your family like?” She asked.

“Well, I have a brother, and two parents. But my parents lives revolve around my brother. But- Im ok with that. I do things by myself and I got used to it.” She said.

“Ah- im sorry my dear. But here, there are servants and maids that can help you. So relax. I know how traumatic the invasion was, so I hope you realze that you are safe.

----

Helen was sitting on the steps, looking at Loki in his cell. She noticed that he has a lot of furniture in his cell. He was reading a book, and she was scribbling something in her notebook.

“Mind telling me what you’re writing down, dear?” He asked, thumbing through the pages.

“Uh-I-I’m actually d-drawing.” She said. Trying not to stutter.

“What are you drawing?” He asked.

“You.” She meekly said. Loki put the book on the table and walked towards Helen, he sat down in front of her.

“Mind showing me?” He smiled lightly.

She tore the page out and she showed it to him. It was loki and helen, under a flower tree. He was reading a spell out of the spell book.

“That looks adorable. When I escape, will you hand it to me?” He smiled.

“Of course.”

—-

“Do you like the accommodations in the palace?” Loki asked, hoping that they are taking care of her.

“Yes, but I wish I can enjoy them with you.” She answered. Twiddling her thumbs.

“So I decided to sit at your cell and talk to you!” She grinned. Loki’s heart melted. He’d never knew that he’d meet someone who was so naive and childlike. Enough to paint him as a positive figure. But he didn’t care. He just felt a sense of kindness towards her. He feels fond of her. He never realized that he was fawning over a mortal. Who’s life can flash before his eyes.

“That is great child.” He said.

“Wish I had my chello here, could’ve played you a tune.” She said. Loki used some of his magic to steal away a chello from the music room and teleported it here.

“Then play me a tune then.” He smiled

—

Loki was spellbound by the tune, she played a song that a mortal composed. But he didn’t know that the mortal is a master at music composition. Apparently the song was Blue Danube, by Johan Strauss. He swayed to the melody. By the time Helen was done he asked her a dozen questions.

--

“How long have you played?”

“5 years. Started at a young age, when my parents believed in my talents.” she told me.

“They should’ve known how bright you’ve shined.”

“Don’t blame them. They stop trying after finding out about my stutter.” She said.

“Your parent’s arent even parents.” I told her.

“I realized that when I hit 9.” she replied.

“Then maybe you should have a different father. Someone who adores you, who encourages you to be as different and unique as possible, who doesn’t compare you to anyone, who empathizes with you. Someone- someone like me.” He slowed his rant. Realizing something.

“D-do you want me to be your father?” He asked. Taking a big risk, being vulnerable .

“I-i-i’d lo-love yo-you to!” She was a stuttering mess, her brain was trying to process the proposal.

“Dear, slow down, take a big breath.” He grinned

“I would like for you to be my dad.” she slowly said. Tears coming out of her eyes.

“I would whipe those tears from your eyes but I’m stuck in this wretched cell.” He chuckled.

“I want to hug you.” She sniffled.

“You’ll get the chance.”

---

Everything was broken, damaged. But Helen rushed towards Loki’s cell. She just got word of Frigga’s death. And she didn’t want to lose her new father. She saw Loki in his cell, seeming to be fine. But she just broke out in sobs.

Her breathing was ragged. Tears flow through her eyes, and she was sniffling. She collapsed to the ground. Choking and crying. Crying for him, Loki. Feeling too much of his pain. Loki put down his defenses.

He had a green shirt but his hair was matted, her crawled to the crying child and wanted to reach out to her, but the barrier kept him from touching her.

“H-hey. Don’t cry-”

“You’re depressed so I’m depressed! I don’t want this to happen, for you to be sad! I-its my fault! I’m sorry. I-I. i’m- s-s-sorry. Mr. Loki! I-i have no-no right to be you-your daughter!” She was stuttering, trying to calm herself down. But the stale air and the buzzing barrier, it was hard to.

“No, don’t say that, you’re my daughter through and through. None of this was your fault. None of it. Please, stop crying for me.” He guided her to a deep breath.

“S-sorry.” she apologized for her shrill crying

“Don’t be sorry.” He smiled.

---

Helen gave Loki a big hug when Thor freed him from the cell. Loki returned the hug while threading his fingers through her braided hair.

“Darling, I have to help Thor. But I will come back.” he told her.

“A-are you sure?” She asked.

“One way or another. Yes.”

--

When Helen found out about Loki’s demise, she locked herself in the room and cried. She sobbed, blaming herself for letting him go alone. Hating herself. A knock sounded at the door. The door opened and she saw Odin.

“S-sorry if my cries are too loud.” she whipped her tears.

“It’s alright my child.” Odin sat at her beside.

“I-Lost my dad.” She stuttered.

“He said he’d come back-”

“One way or another.” Odin’s illusion was dispelled by Loki. He smiled kindly at her.

“I am sorry for causing you unnecessary pain. But I had to keep up the illusion for my safety.” He whipped her tears with his thumb. And enveloped her in a crushing hug.

“But now we can rule together. My little princess.” He smiled.

[amandajoyce118]

Agents Of SHIELD S7E05 “A Trout In The Milk” Easter Eggs And References

The team heads to the 1970s where they discover that Hydra has received a hand up from the Chronicoms. 

You know the drill. If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’ve already seen the episode. Especially since I’m watching the episode four days after it aired. So, yes. There are spoilers.

.

.

.

Those Opening Credits

They are so very ‘70s. If you’ve ever watched a sitcom or a spy series from the era, you’ll see nods in the sequence.

Sousa Wonders About Ending Up In The Present

Perhaps Sousa’s questioning of Daisy and Coulson about ending up in their present time is a nod to the actor’s cameo in Avengers. Let’s hope the show actually ties those two together instead of just giving us an Easter egg or two.

Dooley’s Booth

Coulson talks about Dooley’s booth in the old bar that becomes a SHIELD meeting spot. Dooley was the chief of the New York office of the SSR, for those who didn’t watch Agent Carter.

Bendeery English Ale

Daisy drinks one of these in the SHIELD bar, and there’s also a poster for it in Malick’s office. It is the official unofficial beer of the show. It’s named for a friend of Nick Blood’s and first appeared back in season two.

You Always Bounce Back

Yeah, this is, what, the third time someone has referenced Elena’s first episode of the series and her powers. That feels like it’s not going to bode well for her, but not sure what to make of all the on the nose references just yet.

‘70s SHIELD Uniforms

Those blue and white jumpsuits are straight out of the comics of the same era. Yep. 

Project Insight

We all saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier, right? Project Insight is the big project created by Hydra that targets “threats” to the world in the form of Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. In other words, it calculates the probability that people will go against Hydra and advises on whether or not they should be eliminated.

The Episode Title

The phrase is, as Sousa points out, an “old timey one,” and it’s fun that it gets used repeatedly in the episode.

Coulson Is From Processing

When Malick asks Coulson where he’s from at the bar, Coulson says he’s from processing. That’s a callback to season five when the team ended up in the future. It’s what Deke told them to say when anyone asked where they were from so they wouldn’t give away that they were time travelers.

Come With Me If You Want To Continue To Exist

This show loves to nod to its sci-fi and action movies, right? While Elena talks about Bond movies early in the episode, this line is a nod to the Terminator franchise.

The Launch Hangar

Where the Insight rocket/satellite combo launches from in the middle of the lake is where the zephyr usually launches from in the future.

The Episode Tag

Nathaniel Malick isn’t even supposed to exist anymore, but he’s sure working on living up to the family name, huh? His wanting to talk to Daniel Whitehall about surgically transferring abilities should sound familiar. Whitehall lives for so long by surgically transferring Jiaying (Daisy’s mom, remember her?) to himself. 

The List Of SHIELD Assets/Hydra Threats

I saved this one for last because this is where the majority of the episode Easter eggs come from. When Daisy and Sousa get the list of “threats” for Project Insight in the ‘70s, the computer has a nice “Level 7 only” at the top of the screen. That’s a nod to how the show began, with Coulson as a Level 7 agent, welcoming Ward to his new status on the team.

Sousa and Daisy mention that Bruce Banner, Peggy Carter, and Nick Fury all show up on the list. The long list features some other names that should be familiar. There are actually two sets of lists, but it’s really hard to make out the first one, so help a girl out if I miss some names.

Roberto Gonzalez and Victoria Hand both show up. You might remember them from earlier seasons of the show. Vic is killed by Ward when he breaks Garrett out of SHIELD custody and Gonzalez is killed by Jiaying when he tries to have a meeting with her. I believe Isabel Hartley is also on the first page of the list, but not positive because her name is blurry. In the comics, she dated Vic, but she was killed in the first episode of season two.

Also on the list? Jim Morita and Gabe Jones. They’re both Howling Commandos. Gabe also happens to be Trip’s grandfather while Jim is grandfather to Peter Parker’s school principal.

Some more familiar names that appear are Nicole Amador, Susan Morse, and Nathan Bowen. The first is likely a relative of Akela Amador from season one, while Susan Morse is mother to Bobbi Morse in the comics. Nathan Bowen is the father of Tandy (from Cloak And Dagger) and a scientist who works for Roxxon.

Still with me? Good. Because there are even more.

Conrad Murphy is the father of Sandra Murphy in the comics. Sandra is one of the “Caterpillars” or Secret Warriors in the comics, though she’s not on Daisy’s team. She actually is on the team sent to spy on the Russian organization Leviathan (which was in Agent Carter) and her entire team ends up dead.

Andrew and Margaret Nelson appear - though on separate halves. I’m curious if they’re meant to be relatives of Foggy Nelson from Daredevil, though their names don’t ring any bells for me. It’s worth noting that the show has connected to Daredevil in the past with other Easter eggs and Skye and Matt both having a connection to St. Agnes.

There’s a Susan Parker on the list, who could be related to Peter Parker, or she could be a really random reference to a character that appeared in one comic book in the ‘40s? Likewise, Michael Phillips is a name that is connected to a mercenary who worked with the Punisher in the comics who used to be a CIA agent, but that feels like too common of a name. (There’s also an assistant director with the name who works on the show, so he could just be a nod to him.)

Betty Wright is a famous singer who actually rose to fame in the ‘70s. She died this year. She wrote the original “Where Is The Love” and has been sampled on tons of R&B tracks. Likewise, Mark Roberts might be another pop culture nod since he was an actor who started working in the ‘30s, though that was just his stage name, so who knows?

I’ve got nothing on Ben Taylor, Ben Harris, James Cook (unless they’re talking about the British explorer who would have already been dead), Ronald Collins, Roger Stewart, Leonard Torres, Robert Moore (though I did think initially that it said Morse and wondered if Bobbi was named after her dad), and David Robinson. I also didn’t catch the last name for the entry that starts with Theresa. But that’s - a lot. So, some of the names are presumably filler names, entered just because they were ones the team could use, and they could also be nods to people the VFX team knows in real life.

Edited to add:

Chastity McBride

I completely forgot to note that May’s alias in this episode is a real SHIELD agent in the comics. She’s only appeared in a handful of comics and her main mission was stopping John Garrett and Elektra from an assassination plot.

I think this is the longest list I’ve done in a while, so no speculation this time. Until next week. Or, I guess, later this week!

[anna-tariel]

I was tagged by the lovely @radio-da-da! Thank you!💕

Rules: Answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers you want to get to know better.

Name: Victoria

Nicknames: Vicky, Vicks, Vi, Vick...

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′6″ (168cm)

Languages: Spanish, German, English & Catalan. And I understand some French,Italian & Portuguese.

Nationality: Spanish (I’m half German tho)

Favorite Season: Winter.

Favorite Flower: Roses.

Favorite Scent: Flowers, gasoline, food...

Favorite Color: Blue & black.

Favorite Animal: Cats, horses, lions...

Favorite Fictional Character: Dick Grayson, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Tim Drake, Tony Stark, Grant Ward, Elliot Alderson, Conrad Hawkins...

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: Coffee & tea.

Average Sleep Hours: Between 6 and 10.

Dog or Cat person: I love both but I’m more of a cat person.

Number of Blankets Slept With: 1 and an extra one if it’s too cold.

Dream Trip: Discover different parts of Australia, visit New Zealand, Italy, Greece...

Blog Established: July 2011...

Followers: 2841

Random Fact: I’m currenly trying to write and failing.

I tag: @ilygwilym @aaron-hotchner @crispsevans @sheridans-dynamos @honey-bee-holly @kathmcnamara @timohtydrake @callmeredhood @outlawredhood @bens-hardy @bevchie @oscar-isaac @heytheredeann @luke-skywalker (not 20 but yeah! You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to!)

[gretagerwigcollection]

An Interview with Noah Baumbach (with occasional interjections by Greta Gerwig) - Excerpts from The Believer Magazine May 2013

BLVR: What was the genesis of Frances Ha’s character? She’s lovable but can’t find love; she’s quirky but universal. In some ways, she’s a modern-day Annie Hall.

NB: It was a character that Greta [Gerwig] and I developed together. And it’s funny, because I think when we first started showing it to people, people would remark about the character and things they found interesting or unusual or winning about her. I think we both just intuitively had a sense of who this was going to be. Greta has said it felt like it was someone she had inside her.

BLVR: You’ve collaborated with other artists in the past: you worked with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I’m wondering, what did your days look like when you and Greta were working on this together?

NB: It varied, because a lot of the time we weren’t in the same place. Or she was working or we would send pages back and forth. First we sent ideas back and forth, just things that maybe we would want to consider for this movie—ideas for character or story or wardrobe. Some of them stuck, some didn’t. And once we got writing it, we got some writing done in the same place, and then we did a lot of it virtually.

BLVR: Were there any scenes that you wrote that you were confident would end up in the movie, and you were surprised to find didn’t end up in the final cut, for one reason or another?

NB: Well, a big one was Greta wrote a [he looks at Gerwig in the front row]—I can say this, right?—a whole Sacramento section, like a “going home” section, that was great, and really funny and moving, and when we had sort of the first maybe full draft—it felt too… it was a lot to introduce in the middle of the movie—we were meeting new people—but the instinct I think was right that we wanted Frances to go home, and we wanted that to be a part of the movie, but it was probably fifteen to twenty pages or something? [Looks at Gerwig] Twenty five pages, yeah. We were trying to add a chapter that the movie just wasn’t going to hold. We condensed Sacramento to a feeling of going home when you no longer live there. But if Greta hadn’t written that section, we wouldn’t have been able to distill it in quite the way we do in the movie.

BLVR: The script felt very literary to me, too. It struck me as a descendent of a novel that I love, Mary McCarthy’s The Group, which is about a group of Vassar women who go to New York—and I’m sure many of you have read it—but they’re all trying to figure out their lives as they get married and work in publishing and date and some move abroad. It seemed apropos because Frances’s character graduates from Vassar. I’m not saying that book influenced your movie, but I wondered, were there any books that you or Greta were reading at the time you were writing the film—or thinking about it or conceiving it—that were more influential than you realized at the time?

NB: I’m embarrassed to say I never read The Group, and  I went to Vassar. I haven’t seen the movie, either. There’s a Sidney Lumet movie of it, too. It should have influenced me! [Laughter] Greta was reading this Joseph Conrad book, The  Shadow-Line, around that time, and I had actually been introduced to that book through the Philip Roth book Exit  Ghost. And Greta was reading it, and Greta’s a great underliner in books. I still have this sort of idea that I can’t mess  up a book, that I have to keep it—

BLVR: You wouldn’t write on a movie.

NB: Right, right. I just can’t somehow bring myself to do—  it’s for another time. But the book is about being twenty- seven. It’s about the concept of passing through a shadow- line into adulthood. You know, twenty-seven, being that age. Do we have another book?

[Gerwig calls something from the audience.]

NB: Oh yeah, yeah. Also, this Elizabeth Bowen book, The Death of the Heart. I guess [Greta was] reading that, too. Greta was reading books I had read a while ago and didn’t remember so well anymore. So she could say, “This is a great thing from that book.” And I could say, “Yes, yes.” But I’d have no recollection of it.

BLVR: If you’d underlined it—

NB: If I’d underlined, I would’ve remembered. There’s also that Colm Tóibín book—I don’t know if that’s how you pronounce that—Brooklyn. Yeah. The Dud Avocado, too. Elaine Dundy, I think. I mean, she’s a very different character than Frances but is, like, a single girl getting out there in the world and causing trouble.

BLVR: In the dinner-party scene, when Frances is with couples who are a little more mature and settled than herself, I felt like she was revealing to the audience how other people perceive her. It’s a time you really see her in a context with other people. And I love the whole description she expresses to the dinner table: that her whole idea of love is being at a party with someone and not having to talk to them but being able to make eye contact with them from across the room. And if I had thought about it, I would have assumed that by the end of this movie she’s going to make eye contact with another man—a boyfriend—but you totally duped me in a really good way. She ends up having that exchange with her best friend, Sophie. And it’s such a powerful moment. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the genesis of that scene, and that sentiment, and if you knew then that the contact at the end would be between the two friends.

NB: My recollection of it—[looks at Greta] and you can tell me if I’m wrong—is that, um, that you wrote that just anyway.

GRETA GERWIG: What, uh, oh. I’m sort of participating in this? [She is handed a microphone.] No, we had talked about having Frances want something or believe something. I think you just said to me, “Let’s have her want something, or believe something.”

NB: Oh yes, yes. Can I just back up and—oh no, you keep it [the microphone]. And I’m going to catch up to you. There’s an Eric Rohmer movie called A Tale of Winter—and I love this about Eric Rohmer movies, almost all of them have a person who has a kind of either moral or religious, just a kind of general sense about themselves and the world about how they should be and how their life should be. And some people have trouble with those characters because they feel like they’re so stubborn that you want to shake them, but I love them. Often, in the movies, they really do miss out on things, opportunities: they fail to participate in their lives in a way that could really kind of open them up or change them in some significant way. My Night at Maude’s is that. The earlier ones are like that more. The very beginning of A Tale of Winter is this kind of idyllic montage with this beau- tiful blond couple, and they have this summer fling, and, uh, she gives him her number, and she writes it down wrong— like she’s so flustered that she writes her own number down wrong, if I remember it right—and then she goes home and she finds out she’s pregnant, and she has a kid, and the whole movie is kind of her compromised life because she still be- lieves this guy’s going to resurface. And everyone around her thinks she should get realistic—you know, she’s never gotten over it—and you think it’s going that way, and then, oh, I don’t want to give it away. But at the end, she’s on a bus, and he just gets on the bus, and there he is, and she sees him, and she brings him back to her mother, and her mother’s like, “You were right!” I always loved that she was rewarded for sticking with her fantasy. I thought that was really beautiful. When we were writing Frances, I had some idea that it would be great to have something that she believes in that seems kind of… unrealistic, but openhearted. Her dream of being in the main dance company, for instance, is not going to happen, but this one does [the idea that one day she’ll see someone across a room and just make eye contact and they’ll know what the other’s thinking]. And then you—

GG: [Quietly] And so I wrote that. [Laughter] No, I mean, some of the writing process was like that. Noah would say, “I have this idea.” And then he’s like, “Let’s give her a belief, let’s see what that is,” and I think I went off and wrote that speech and brought it back, and I don’t know if it was contained in the idea that that would be the moment with Sophie, but it is how it ended up.

BLVR: Can you talk a little bit about that scene when Sophie and Frances are looking at each other? Maybe I’ll ask you, Greta—it seems like it’d be a really fun scene to shoot, actually. Looking at your best friend in the film and going through all these transformations with your eye contact—do you remember shooting that?

GG: What’s funny is I don’t think Mickey knew when we shot it that that was the moment. We didn’t give her all the script, so she didn’t know [about Frances’s dream of connecting with someone with eye contact at a party], but it was intense. I mean, it was meaningful when it was happening. It felt like it feels in the film while it was happening. It felt funny and mournful.

NB: I think the trick, also, when you’re doing those kinds of scenes, is not to play the moment you want the audience to be having. The actors can’t be playing the end of the movie, they have to play a moment in time, and because of its context it will hopefully have this other kind of impact. It’s often tricky shooting endings of movies, because no matter how experienced the actors are, there’s often this feeling of—

GG: It’s the end!

Excerpt from The Believer Magazine - Interview by Vendela Vida - Illustration by Tony Millionaire

[100kindsofblake]

Etiquette

Part 1: Introduction

Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Keeping it classy is your thing, your friends live their lives just a little differently.

Word Count: 1,835

Warnings: Cursing, bodily harm, suicide attempt, mention on suicide, depression, and PTSD. Please let me know if I miss anything!

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

—

Some call you spoiled, conceited, a brat, hell even egotistical. You wouldn’t necessarily use those words to describe yourself but whatever works. You like the term self-made but you could care less what others say.

It might be the way you carry yourself, posture at a T, head held straight and high, and your walk is always with grace.

Your appearance is always perfect, never a hair out of place. Always in heels, Louis Vuitton, Alexander Wang, Prada, Jimmy Choo, anything you can think of. Clothes tailored to fit just right and bring out your body in just right.

You are a world-renowned neurosurgeon, best there is in the world! Head chair of Neuro at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. 4 doctoral degrees, 2 masters, and a bachelor. You can speak over 14 languages, certified in hand-to-hand combat, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Thai, and a certified black belt. You own a 12 bedroom, 12 full baths, 3 half bath, gym, pool, movie theater, huge living room and kitchen, 15 acres, 3 car garage with 3 very expensive cars to go in them. The house is solar powered, energy efficient, and with a smart home and highly intelligent security system to go with it. To sum up, you are indeed the shit.

Let's get one thing straight though, in no way were you narcissistic. You are a selfless person, half of your income goes to charities, environmental projects, house for the homeless, better educations, the whole nine yards.

That’s your life, you save lives at work and on your off days, you help rebuild them.

Your friends are the same way, Dr. Tony Stark; Billionaire of the world largest industries and security, Sam Wilson; world-renowned lawyer, he could talk his way into an all-women college just for the hell of it, Steve Rogers; the best cardiothoracic surgeon the world has ever seen, Dr. James “Bucky” Barnes; a Psychiatrist, for veterans, orphans, anyone who needs help, Barnes is the best, Thor Odinson; an excellent historian who knows almost everything, could even tell you the weather that day if you wanted to know, Natalia (Natasha) Romanova; a physical therapist for injured soldiers and anyone in general, Dr. Bruce Banner; the best scientist there is in Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and Gamma Radiation, Clint Barton; Olympic Archer, Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes; the title speaks for itself, an officer in the United States Air Force, and Wanda Maximoff; Ambassador for the government of Sokovia.

You all try to stay in touch, Sunday dinners to everyone who can make it, birthday parties, and holidays. You are all family, and family is the most important thing there is. That’s the life you live, every day, a routine you are happy to stick to.

______

“Dr. y/l/n to trauma 2. Dr. y/l/n to trauma 2.” The overhead speaker says, turn on your heels you make your way to the ER.

Walking in you grab a pair of gloves, “What do we have?”

“Bullett to the head, stuck in the skull.” A nurse responds

“Vitals?”

You let the nurses put on the trama wear on you as you read the chart

“ BP 160/100, Oxygenation 70, GCS is 10.”

“Do 100 mg per 5 mL of morphine, watch oxygen rate, it can't get any lower, call the anesthesiologist, get OR 1 prepped and take him down there. We are doing emergency surgery, make sure to contact the next of kin, and I need a more detailed background on him now!” You take everything off and make your way to the locker room to change and then the OR to scrub in.

____

After finishing the surgery and having to put the patient in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours, you had to head to your office to finish some paperwork. An hour later into paperwork there is a knock at your office door, looking up you see one of your residents.

“Hey Conrad, what’s up? “ You stand up addressing him

“Here is the file you asked for on the gunshot wound head patient earlier.” He hands you the file smiling.

“Oh yeah, thank you, Conrad!” You return the smile and watch him walk out before sitting down.

After opening the file, you look through it carefully before sighing sadly. Sitting back you debate with yourself before grabbing your office phone and pulling out the contact log for the person you are looking for.

After quickly dialing the number, you wait for an answer.

After two rings someone picks up, “Dr. Barnes’ office, Julia speaking”

“Hey, Julia it’s Dr. y/n y/l/n from Grady Hospital in Atlanta Georgia. Is James in today?” You ask using your professional voice

“Hold please..”

You sigh against the phone, leaning back in your chair

“Dr. James Barnes.” A deep voice speaks which makes you pick up the phone.

“Hey Bucky, it’s y/n.”

“Hey! How are you? Are you okay?” You can tell he is smiling through the phone.

Chuckling, “Yeah, I’m okay... I have a patient here who needs you.”

There is a long pause before he speaks again, “How bad?”

This is the worst part of your job, but it has to be done.

“Attempted suicide, a gunshot wound to the head, I placed him into a coma.” You stop before continuing

“Bucky it’s worse, the bullet perpetrated the front left lobe and grazed the parietal lobes. He is going to lose the feeling in his right hand” All you hear is shuffling before he speaks again.

“Give me 5 hours.”

“You have 4.” With that, you hang up. You log on your computer sending him the file so he can review on his flight over here.

Looking at the clock you see it is five pm, you log off your computer, grabbing your jacket slipping it on, and then grabbing your work bag and purse with your keys and phone in hand.

You turn off the lights and lock the door to your office.

Getting to the main floor, you head to the garage before you hear someone calling your name. You turn around to see your assistant, Mike.

“Ma’am I need you to sign these” Mike pants, obvious to see him ran to catch up.

“Mike I thought I told you to take a half day, hmm.” You shift everything grabbing the pen before reviewing the documents.

“I was but then I realized I have no life so...” He laughs to himself, you sign the papers before handing back the pen.

“Mike go home right now before I fire you.” You sternly say.

He quickly nods before walking away. You just shake your head and head to the car.

___

You reach your house in no time, grabbing your things out the car and walking inside the house.

“Welcome home ma’am!” Your AI says.

“Hello Maze, can you please play me my voicemails?” Asking nicely as you walk through the house to set your work bag in your office that unlocks as you approach it.

“One voicemail from Sam Wilson;

“ Hey y/n, I sent you a file I need you to look at. I have a case down here in Florida, you know how Floridians are-” he laughs to himself “..anyways, he is pleading the insanity and if I could get you to consult on it that would be great and I promise you I'll buy that L’aurora Ruby Print Draped Tulle Dress you’ve had your eye on, even though I know you could buy it yourself.”

There is a long pause, as you make your way to your bedroom which unlocks and opens as you approach it. You start undressing, and remove the makeup from your face and get into the shower.

“Just review it and do the doctor shit that you do and send it back, I owe you. Thanks, love you!” The message ends

“Would you like to respond?”Maze asks

“Just tell him “I’ll do it, but you owe me that dress”

“Message sent. There are no more voicemail messages, is that all I can do for you?” The AI asks

“Yes, that’s all, thanks Maze!” You say even though you know she won’t respond.

You finish up your shower, french braid your hair from the scalp even though it still braided it reaches the middle of your back, you brush your teeth and clean up the bathroom before exiting.

Going downstairs and to the kitchen, you find something to cook since you know James will be here in 3 hours. Deciding on steak and vegetables, which should be done by the time he arrives.

____

Just after you clean the dishes, set the table, and place the food, the doorbell rings.

“Dr. Barnes is here ma’am, would you like to enter?” Maze asks

“Yeah let him through the gate and allow him through the door.” You say wiping your hands off

“Certainly ma’am.”

Soon after in walks, James Barnes himself trudging his suitcase behind him. You walk up to him to greet him as he takes his jacket off and places it on the rack.

“Hey Doll!” He smiles, embracing you in a big hug.

“Hi, Buck! How was the flight?” You ask barely breathing because of how tight the hug is.

“It was fine, you smell great by the way..” He says finally breaking the hug, he smiles down at you.

You just laugh and drag him to the dining room. You guys catch up while eating, mostly about work since that all you two ever do.

While cleaning up Bucky breaks the silence, “ I talked to Nat, about you know help the patient with PT in the result of him losing his hand. She wouldn’t mind, so you could just recommend her to his family.”

You debate with yourself before responding, “I rather him not lose it at all, but since no one can get in contact with his family we can’t sign off on the experimental surgery. He can’t sign off on it himself because he isn’t in the right state of mind. I just- I just want the best for him… Being a vet is already hard enough, and with PTSD and depression doesn’t make it any better.”

You face Bucky after drying the last dish, and he leans against the counter.

“If he clears the psychiatric test then you have nothing to worry about and he keeps his arm.” Bucky kisses the top of your head.

“Don’t worry we will figure it out Friday when he wakes up, right now I would like to sleep and so should you.” He grabs his things from the entryway.

You turn off the lights in the kitchen, “Buck do not move. I’m setting the alarm”

He stands still as you type on the system.

“Alarm setting. All windows: Locked. All doors: Locked. Motion Sensors: On. Activating bedtime mode. All Clear, Goodnight Ma’am and Dr. Barnes.” Maze announces

You both say goodnight and head to your rooms.

[hedgehog-goulash7]

This came in on Ask, but I will answer in a regular post so folks can see the whole set of questions and answers: 

anthony-edward-stark-is-my-hero said:

Hi! There is this guy on Twitter called Jeremy Conrad who seems to know a lot of stuff about Avengers 4 and it seems that most of his information is legit. A couple of weeks ago he leaked that the Avengers 4 title is "Annihilation" and later Mark Ruffalo sort of confirmed in on Jimmy Fallon's show. Plus, he stands pretty firmly behind his words regarding the title. So, he also leaked another spoiler regarding the actress Katherine Langford who is also casted for A4 in a mysterious role. (1/4)

(2) He claims that she will play Tony and Pepper's daughter in the movie. Do you believe this is true? And most importantly how do you feel about the idea? There's been rumors that A4 will be about time travel but I think the writers debunked this theory, so the other most likely possibility is dealing with the quantum realm and alternate universes. Given the fact that the actress is quite older to be born and raised in the present, she is probably Tony's daughter from a parallel universe.

3) I personally have bad feelings about this since I quite enjoy Tony and Peter's father-son relationship, plus Harley from IM3 will be in A4 too. They both are like Tony's adopted kids and their bond has been explored in previous movies and there's much deeper emotional connection. Adding an unknow character for more unnecessary dramatical effect I think is stupid.

(4) So much will be going on in this movie and so many characters are already involved, they should focus on already existing relationship and storylines than adding more and more new people. Anyway, just wanted to know your thoughts on this rumor. Thank you for your time.

ANSWER: Well - there are always a lot of rumors that fly around in advance of hotly anticipated movies, and I hesitate to either believe in them fully or dismiss them fully.  Jeremy Conrad sort of makes a living -- or at least an avocation that gets him press passes into premieres and etc. -- posting, blogging and vlogging about the MCU, so it would seem he has a modicum of credibility to protect, or else people wouldn’t follow him. So his posts are probably more legit than most.

I don’t know that I’d believe what he says absolutely whole-heartedly, because the PTB at the MCU are probably tossing out red herrings galore to mislead the fan media as well as the mainstream media -- and why would they not? It’s been happening at least since the infamous “Serpent Society” feint thrown by none other than Feige himself, so we KNOW they will boldfaced LIE to protect the secrecy of what’s upcoming. They are quite adept at doing it -- and you know what? I don’t blame them. It’s all in fun, no one is hurt because of it (except people with egg on their faces who believe the misleads...*cough*thosewhostillbelieveSerpentSocietywasanActualThing*cough*) and it does protect the storylines from being spoiled months in advance. This is actually to protect us and our enjoyment of the movie. Who wants it spoiled??  I may be gnawing off my own arm by May in dread and anticipation of what will happen -- and particularly what will happen to Tony -- but that doesn’t mean I want the whole thing spoiled in advance.

What THAT being said, well, what do I feel IF it’s true that Katherine Langford is being cast as Tony and Pepper’s grown-up daughter, perhaps in another dimension or time or quantum realm? 

Well -- first, brilliant casting. She’s a smart, articulate actress (as we know from “Thirteen Reasons Why”) and I could see her as Tony and Pepper’s daughter.

And second - I guess I’m...ambivalent?...about it. As in, I don’t know enough about it yet to be able to form an opinion. We just don’t have the facts yet.

Look at it this way -- IF the storyline sees fit to go backward or forward in time, or to leap dimensions or quantum strings or whatever, then they’re doing that for a reason. If we’re seeing Tony’s grown-up child in one quantum reality, maybe we’ll be seeing different realities for the other Avengers, too, so they’ll all be in the same boat.

This has been a science fiction/fantasy trope forever -- the “what if?” alternate reality. Does it mean that it’s “real” in the fictional real world we’ve come to know and love in the MCU?  Well - it’s real in that other dimension/time/realm. But quantum physics and string theory tell us that there may be infinite “realities” out there -- almost anything we can imagine. If Tony has a grown-up daughter in one reality, he may have a grown-up son or sons in another, or no kids at all in another, or he may be with another woman other than Pepper.

What if all the OG Avengers get to be in a position to CHOOSE which “reality” they want to stay in, and that’s how they end their current stories in the MCU, opening the way for the new Avengers?  IF the “realities” are like string theory, and what happens in one can’t affect what happens in the others, then maybe they might get to choose. Maybe it will be like a temptation dangled in front of them: to stay in a peaceful reality with no alien invasions and no Thanos snap. Would Steve want to go back to his WWII reality and marry Peggy?  Would Natasha want to go back pre-Red Room and make different choices? Would Tony want to peacefully stay with Older Pepper and his grown daughter? (And would they be somehow taking the place of the Steve or Nat or Tony who are  already THERE in those realities? And how would THAT work? Lots of questions...!

But -- quantum physics is a very, very, VERY weird universe (I’ve written several articles about new discoveries in quantum physics, so take it from me...! It’s freaking WEIRD...!!), and the potentialities in the MCU’s “Quantum Realm” are quite literally endless. The screenwriters could do anything with time or space or matter, and quantum physics would just say “Yeah -- could happen! Probably has -- or will! Or both!”

OR -- would these heroes choose instead to come back to their Thanos-threatened universe and stay and fight and save THEIR OWN universe and the time THEY come from? Now THAT would be a cool story.

But I guess what I’m trying to say is: we have to trust the screenwriters and the direction of the MCU. I don’t think they’ll be throwing a grown-up daughter into Tony’s life forever. It’s too much of a diversion from his hero journey, which is what I have to believe A4 will really be about.  No screenwriter in their right mind would ignore the hero journey and give any of these heroes an “easy” way out -- nor would they ignore the compelling father-son relationship Tony has already built up with Peter Parker, or rob the audience of seeing them reunite. My guess would be that the daughter exists in one alternate timeline or quantum realm but not necessarily in the MCU’s main timeline. She’s just a potential, not a given in this reality. So I wouldn’t get too worked up about it.

Bottom line: I am GUESSING. Which, of course, we all are.

By the way, I do agree with you about the “so much is going on” and “so many characters are involved.” I’ve felt that way since after the first Avengers movie. I thought then that there were SO many adventures and stories that the Original Six could have had, as they got to know each other better and began to work together like a well-oiled team. And it still annoys me that we were pretty much robbed of that when the MCU decided to lard in more and more Avengers (who really weren’t needed) while the Avengers we already KNEW and loved got short-shrifted on their storylines. Yes, it’s true that the comics lard in more and more Avengers and that the team has shifted and morphed many times on the comics page. But that’s the COMICS, which have endless time to spin out their stories -- months and years -- and a very limited audience.  Movies are different. Movie storylines need to play out in two-plus hours a couple of times a year, if we’re lucky -- and with the Avengers as a team, more like two-plus hours two or three years apart. In front of a mass world audience.

Honestly, I felt like we JUST MET the O6 Avengers, and were barely just getting to know them and how they worked as a team -- and then suddenly all these new characters flooded in during AOU and CACW (and yeah, some of them were and are great -- especially Spider-Man and T’Challa.  And some were just, and still are, unnecessary...and you can probably guess which ones I mean...). And THEN on top of all the hero-crowding, they decide to have the VILLAIN (Thanos) get all kinds of screentime, when what we wanted was more screentime for the heroes...

Anyway, don’t get me started on the overcrowding of characters and the sacrificing of the movie storylines we have for the “good” of the upcoming MCU. I can say “trust the screenwriters,” but they done us wrong more than once, so there’s that. So I guess my reaction of “ambivalent” is probably the right one. So far.  Not that there’s anything we can do about anything - so, bring it on. (Fan fiction heals many wounds, just saying...)   This is just my 2 cents’ worth; other opinions may vary! 

[jstkara]

what?! really.. no... stop tony you are kidding, you have to be.. shit really? ah i see that. yeah true, i mean i heard rumors they did .. so i wanted to make sure it wasn't some thing that the media blew up.. ahh conrad really? well i mean okay true. umm.. punk? i don't know. yeah? maybe time will tell! i did.. actually. i still have my days but you know.

pumpkin, bacon and chard lasagna ..ugh chef's kiss. watch out bobby flay.😝

[kimjauhiainen]

“Tremors” – welcome to perfection

(originally published on Talkbacker.com on April 8, 2014)

You only need to catch a glimpse of the “Jaws”-parodying poster for “Tremors”, and you’ll know exactly what to expect. These filmmakers aren’t about to throw blood and guts or dark stuff at ya. This is strictly tongue-in-cheek; there ARE underground monsters, they eat people, there will be deaths, but there will also be hilarious dialogue, great characterizations, gorgeous desert vistas, and some high-quality filmmaking and practical effects-work here.

Someone should deserve a special award for casting Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward as the main protagonists in this film. As we are introduced to Valentine “Val” McKee (Bacon) and Earl Basset (Ward), the instant and natural chemistry between these two is palpable. It’s a match made in movie heaven. Val and Earl wake up in the desert, in true cowboy-style, one sleeping in the back of their pickup truck, the other sleeping under it. The cowboy analogy actually reminds me of another great pairing, Butch and Sundance. That’s probably the closest comparison of the character dynamics that’s going on between Val & Earl.

Val is the younger one, a dreamer, a womanizer (with a very special list of qualities he expects from a woman: “You will have long blonde hair, big green eyes, world class breasts, ass that won’t quit and legs that go all the way up.”) and the more restless soul. Earl is the older, wiser, laconic, practical man. But the unifying quality of both Val and Earl is, they are not the all-knowing, all-powerful movie heroes. They are actually both kinda…dummies. In a good way. In an entertaining way. I don’t know how much Bacon and Ward hung out or rehearsed before the shooting of this film, but they are clearly having a blast with their characters. Most of the stuff they do has a spontaneous, improvisational feel to it. I would certainly like to see them work together again sometime.

Earl Bassett: “Is this a job for an intelligent man?” Valentine McKee: “Well, show me one and I’ll ask him.”

Val and Earl are the for-hire “handymen” in the Town of Perfection (population 14), located in a vast Nevada valley surrounded by mountains from all directions. As the town’s survivalist nut Burt Gummer (more about HIM later) states: “that’s why we chose this place. Total isolation.” Besides Val and Earl, the township consists of: storeowner Walter Chang (the great Victor Wong), pottery maker Nancy (Charlotte Stewart) and her daughter Mindy (“Jurassic Park”‘s Ariana Richards), Melvin (Robert Jayne), Dr.Wallace and his wife (Conrad Bachmann and Carol Marcus – I mean, Bibi Besch), Miguel (Tony Genaro), Nestor (Richard Marcus), Old Fred (Michael Dan Wagner), Edgar Deems (Sunshine Parker) aaaand of course, the aforementioned Burt Gummer and his wife Heather (Michael Gross and Reba McEntire). Also in town is a graduate student of seismology, Rhonda LeBeck (Finn Carter), who is the EXACT opposite of everything in Val’s list, but it’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen there, isn’t it?

Earl Bassett: “We gotta run. We’ve got a schedule to keep.” Valentine McKee: “Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don’t do anything right now. Earl explained it to me.”

But as the story begins, the number of characters begin to decrease. In fact, one of them is already gone at the point where the movie begins. As Val and Earl finally have had enough of this shit (literally, as emptying a septic tank blows in their faces), they come across Edgar Deems, sitting on top of an electrical tower. Edgar, who apparently was a town drunk, has actually died from dehydration. As the doctor diagnoses, he’s been sitting up on the tower, probably for days. Here’s the first sign, that something’s rotten in Perfection. Well, UNDER it, to be more precise.

Now, the director, Ron Underwood, does even more emulating from “Jaws” that just the poster. The underground creatures appear mostly off-camera for the longest time, much like the shark. The following attacks on people, Old Fred and the doctor and wife, are filmed very efficiently, adding mystery to the monsters while also showing their viciousness and extreme strength, as the doctors wife is sucked inside the ground while hiding inside a Ford station wagon! These creatures mean business. Also, two road-construction workers who are working on the only road in and out of town, get quickly dispatched and the resulting rock slide cuts Perfection completely off from the outside world. The scene includes a brilliant physical jackhammer gag, that’s like something right out from a Warner Brothers cartoon. And in this latest viewing I noticed, that there are a LOT of cartoon gags in the film.

Underwood is clearly using a Tex Avery-playbook in the way he shoots action, and it adds an extra level of fun to the overall tone of the film. Especially the demises (spoiler there) of each of the creatures are a carefully balanced mix of cartoon and grossness. From a creature coming in contact with concrete at full speed with a big “boink”-sound effect into the last one taking a Wile E. Coyote-swan dive off a cliff. And in the end of the second act, a creature entering “the wrong goddamn rec room” – Gummers’ basement – and getting drilled with more bullets than in your average John Woo film.

The Gummers. Ahh yes, the Gummers. Let’s talk about them for a bit.

Earl Bassett: What kind of fuse is that? Burt Gummer: Cannon fuse Earl Bassett: What the hell do you use it for? Burt Gummer: My cannon!

Until “Tremors”, Michael Gross was basically known as the liberal, ex-hippie father Steven Keaton in “Family Ties”. One day after filming the last episode of that show, Gross began filming “Tremors”. Now talk about switching gears; Burt Gummer is a polar opposite of Steven Keaton. He’s a paranoid survivalist, definitely right wing, a gun nut with a capital “N”. The Gummer home is basically a bunker, set up for end-of-the-world conditions. Or as Burt states after the monster attack: “Food for five years, a thousand gallons of gas, air filtration, water filtration, Geiger counter. Bomb shelter…” That tells all about good old Burt’s world views. As does the license plate of his car: UZI 4U.

His wife Heather is played by country singer Reba McEntire in her first film performance. She does a damn good job too. Heather is likable, but also just as tough-as-nails as Burt and can certainly handle guns as well.

The creatures – Graboids, as they have been known since, in sequels and TV-series alike – are designed by Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis’ company Amalgamated Dynamics and they are some of the best and most realistic creature work that’s been ever put on screen. Basically pre-historic worms – although the characters are trying to make up all kinds of explanations for them, from being aliens to government-built monsters to be used against invading forces. AD has worked on the “Alien”-franchise since “Aliens”, and one can see that the “double-mouth”(biting tentacle tongues shooting out from a larger mouth) has evolved from the star-beast’s similar one. These creatures are strong, fast (moving like armored freight trains underground) and smart. That is always a welcome thing in monster films. Graboids are constantly adapting, and the means that the heroes use to avoid them, don’t necessarily work for a second time. Of course they have a weakness, this time it being loud noises, as they basically sense everything by vibrations. Smart, almost “National Geographic”-approach. Nothing hokey or supernatural. Just the way I like it.

Earl Bassett: “Hey Rhonda – you ever seen anything like this before?” Valentine McKee: “Oh sure, Earl. Everyone knows about them – we just didn’t tell you.”

Pretty soon the remaining residents of the town are forced into exile, trying to escape into the mountains while pursued by the hungry beasts, the final confrontation happening on the edge of a tall canyon. “Tremors” was shot – with the exception of two sets – on location. Outside in Lone Pine, California. And you can basically SMELL the desert, and the heat,  in every frame of the movie. The setting, as well as the look of the town, evokes memories of the great westerns. In fact – the third sequel for the movie IS a western, going back in time to the golden years of Perfection.

Too bad the sequels are of diminishing quality, adding unnecessary sci-fi elements (such as FLYING Graboids, WTF?) and poorer quality effects. The unifying element in the sequels (as well as the quickly cancelled after 13 episodes TV-show) is Michael Gross’ Burt. But to be absolutely frank, Burt Gummer is not a leading man. He works best in small doses. The driving force in this film is the tag team of Val & Earl, arguing, bickering, rock-paper-scissoring through near-death scenarios and finally coming up as winners (spoiler).

I’m sensing a pattern in my reviews (besides all so far being from 1990); “Tremors” was only a modest hit at the box office, but it went on to become a huge hit on home video and subsequent media. But as I go through my lists of great films, such seems to be the case with almost all of them. “Tremors” is funny, well-paced, beautifully shot thrill ride, with wonderful characters and rich, quotable dialogue. If that is not the sign of a cult classic, I don’t know what is. Ron Underwood proceeded to direct films like “City Slickers” (keeping up with the western tone from this film), “Heart and Souls”, “Speechless” and finally “Pluto Nash”, which basically killed his mainstream career, reducing him into mostly a TV-director.

Too bad – perhaps another low budget monster movie is what he should try again…?