Lover Of Fandom

This most recent episode of X-Men ‘97 absolutely broke my heart because WHAT DO YOU MEAN Logan didn’t take his claws out of Morph’s shoulder until Morph turned into Jean? Morph was sitting there saying how they don’t leave each other behind and how Logan came for them once upon a time. And Morph stared into the eyes of the man they love and realized only Jean could bring Logan back.

Like, that must be so devastating for Morph. They have this unrequited love for their best friend, and even though they will always be friends, they will always be in each other’s lives, even that friendship is not enough for Logan to break past the fog the Brood put upon him.

GUYS!!!!! POOR MORPH!!!!

And it hurts even more because Logan doesn’t even understand how he’s hurting Morph. He has no idea his best friend is in love with him. So a lot of times he does stuff that just casually stomps on Morph’s heart.

But, guys, the freaking Hollywood Reporter put out something about Doomsday tickets being on sale next week so I fear I I may have to lock in next week 😭

I need to secure 5 tickets.

And then suddenly Daniel is there. He’s trying to calm her down until finally he grabs her hands and forces them against those strings to ground her. But he doesn’t stop there. He completely covers her body with his own, his nose in her hair, his hands covering hers. He covers her, shields her, reminds her she is not alone. She has someone to be her shield and cover when she needs one.

Just as he is not alone anymore. He has someone who literally understands him completely. She understands him when he needs to be understood. He shields her when she needs someone to be that shield.

*All characters belong to Andy Weir; music belongs to Harry Styles

Stratt stared after Grace as he walked away. Something stirred uncomfortably in her gut. Some emotion of some kind.

She prodded her chest, trying to figure out what it was. The wind whipped her hair around her face. She glanced back at where Grace had disappeared to.

She could hear the sounds of music and singing, laughing and partying. Grace was in there somewhere, in the crowd. Knowing him, he was probably in the midst of the crowd, but still tucked away. For someone so vibrant and full of life and laughter, he had a particular way of tucking himself into a crowd, making himself invisible.

Steeling herself, she marched into the room. The karaoke stage was uninhabited. She quickly moved over to it. No one noticed. Not even Grace. Perhaps sometimes she was invisible too.

Eva took the mic in her hands and clicked the song she wanted. She began to sing.

Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times.

Slowly, heads turned.

Welcome to the final show.

All heads snapped to her. Grace did a double take. She made eye contact with him across the room. His eyes softened as he rested his head on his fist.

Hope you’re wearing your best clothes, she sang to him, noting with some amount of humor that sweater he had on.

You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky. You look pretty good down here.

Her eyes swept the room, but she sung the next verse for herself.

But you ain’t really good.

She swallowed.

We never learn we been here before. Why are we always stuck and runnin’ from the bullets?

Her eyes flicked back to Grace. Never had she seen a look of such adoration directed at her before. His eyes swam with affection and gentleness. Was he her friend? The thought shocked her.

The bullets.

We never learn we been here before. Why are we always stuck and runnin’ from the bullets?

She tore her eyes away from him.

The bullets.

She took a deep breath, drawing in all her anger and fear and concern. But most of all, her hope. She glanced at Grace. Her hope.

Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times!

She belted it. The room erupted in cheers, shot glasses shooting up in the air, spilling drinks, and claps rippled through the small area. Grace was silent. But his smile had grown wider.

We gotta get away from here!

We gotta get away from here.

Just stop your crying, it’ll be alright.

They told me that the end is near.

Her eyes scanned the room. Her team. Her crew.

We gotta get away from here!

She calmed her voice.

Just stop your crying, have the time of your life.

Breaking through the atmosphere.

She took a breath.

And things are pretty good from here.

Perhaps they were. Perhaps she could find comfort in knowing these people were here.

She deliberately met Grace’s gaze. She held it as she finished her song.

Remember everything will be alright.

He smiled softly at her.

We can meet again somewhere.

Her heart clenched, but she had to finish.

Somewhere far away from here.

His smile was soft and small now. For a brief moment, she saw that alternate timeline. The somewhere far away from here.

When they sent the Hail Mary up, she saw the two of them working side by side to keep the world running.

She saw him making jokes and smiling that smile that never died. The one that got her out of bed in the morning.

She saw them actually growing close to one another. Allowing it to happen. Becoming friends. No, not just friends. Best friends. A half and a half making a whole.

She saw them sitting on a couch somewhere, eating food and watching a crappy TV show.

She saw her curled into his shoulder afterwards, his head resting on hers, like they fit together. And she knew all this time she had been searching for him.

This man who could calm her, bring her back to Earth, who was the water to her fire, her smile to her frown, her calm to her storm.

A transcendent friendship.

But it was not to be. She had a job. And so did he. One he didn’t even know about yet.

Her throat tightened, and she released her grip on the mic. “Alright, that’s enough,” she said bluntly. With one last look at Grace’s soft expression, she took off, back to fresh air, where she could see the waves beneath her.

And on the deck of the ship, she let herself crumple to a ball on the floor of the ship, hands still gripping the railing, as she fought to control her breathing. She wasn’t just killing her friend. She was killing her future. Their future.

She glanced up at the stars slowly winking into view. Something calmed her beating heart then. Like she knew something up there would watch over him, take care of him, when she couldn’t anymore.

A single tear slid down her cheek. She grabbed it with the tip of her pointer finger and flung it into the ocean. Then she stood back up.

Grave stepped out onto the deck.

“That was freaking awesome,” he said.

She almost laughed and cried at the same time.

“You’d best be getting to bed, Doctor Grace,” she said.

“You okay?” he asked, head tilting to the side like a confused puppy.

She did something that night she would never do again. She walked up to him and clasped his hand between both of hers, indulging for a moment in the idea of a future friendship between them that would never truly come to be.

“I’m fine, Ryland.”

He blinked, startled. She let go of his hand.

“We’re friends, right?” he asked.

“I don’t think so, Doctor Grace.”

He didn’t even look offended. Just smiled slightly. “But we could be, right? Someday?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “We could be.” She took in a breath. “Goodnight, Doctor Grace.”

He smiled. “Goodnight, Eva.”

THOR AND DOCTOR DOOM FIGHT?????

This trailer sounds AWESOME!!!!!

And we found out we’re getting extra scenes in the Avengers: Endgame rerelease AND we’re getting a NEW PREMIUM MOVIE THEATER FORMAT DEBUTING WITH ENDGAME RERELEASE AND DOOMSDAY!!!!!!

Also here’s the other question: if we get the trailer tonight, do we or do we not get to see Doom?

He thinks he’s been annoying Eva Stratt this whole time, and when he finally says it out loud, she very quickly and gently moves to deny it, and I just think that one, tiny line added something to their bond. Everything bothers her. She has the literal WORLD on her shoulders, so much pressure. The one thing that doesn’t bother her is Dr. Ryland Grace. The hopelessly optimistic man who makes bad jokes and rambles for ages.

And he missed her saying it 😭. I like that she then sings the song afterwards though, because she doesn’t know how to calm his nerves, any of their nerves, so she sings a song about saying goodbye and that everything will be OK while staring at him the entire time. Not only does he not bother her, he gets her to be human again for a moment and just…be a person. A person singing karaoke.

He’s her best friend, and she doesn’t even know it. They’re so close, that in the book, people think they’re sleeping together, and poor Grace is so confused because he thought that was his platonic work wife, wdym people think we’re sleeping together, that’s my person that I crack jokes with and then she glares at me because they’re not funny.

She’s softer with him than anybody else and is only ever vulnerable around him. We see in the movie, he’s the only one who ever gets her to smile, and sometimes even laugh, and then she serenades all of them, but mainly him, and he stares at her with those big, shiny eyes so lovingly, and she points at him when she sings, “everything’s gonna be alright”, and then she gives him those eyes, so loving.

And then she’s trying to stop herself from crying when she’s sending him away because, against her will, he’s become her person, and somewhere along the way, she’s become his, and they will have forever ended this relationship on bad terms, and nothing can fix that.

It’s a platonic tragedy. It’s a platonic love story. This is something we don’t get often, or, like, ever, and it’s deep and it’s tragic and it’s sad.

But even after, Eva’s still taking care of him. Packing clothes she knew would bring him comfort. Programming the ship to know how he likes his coffee. And Grace is still watching out for her, speaking to her directly in his video logs, with that same lopsided smile he used to throw her way.

He uses Rocky’s sign for goodbye, and she uses it back, and how did this book and movie give us such a deep platonic friendship because, guys, this NEVER HAPPENS.

Eva Stratt played the Trolley Problem with Ryland Grace. Her choice was the obvious choice. The only choice. You don’t sacrifice the five people on the train track to save the one. You don’t sacrifice the world to save one man. Grace alone is not as important as the entire world. Eva knew that. It’s why she did what she did. It was the only choice.

Rocky also played the Trolley Problem with Grace. However, Rocky made the stupid choice. He chose to save Grace after Grace crashed into the ship’s computers, risking his ENTIRE WORLD in the process. Grace even asks in the book: “Why would he sacrifice his planet for me?” And it’s just…guys…the PARALLELS. Both Eva and Rocky played the Trolley Problem with this man. Both loved him in their own ways. Cared about him. But Rocky, that little, amazing space rock, was so loyal, so loving, so incredibly dumb, and so incredibly brave, he picked the one over the five. He picked Grace over his world.

And it’s like…guys…Grace went his whole life thinking he was expendable and unimportant, which hit the hardest when Eva (admittedly not so easily, but Grace didn’t realize that at the time) threw him to the endless stars to save the world.

And then here comes this little creature who loves Grace unconditionally, enough to give up his whole world to save him. Grace went his whole life thinking his life didn’t matter, and this one Eridian, his Rocky, said, “Bitch, please. You matter to me more than ANYTHING.” And was willing to give up his world for this stupid, brave human that was now his.

From a critical perspective, no, it is not the best movie that was ever made. But it always gives me such a warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest, and for 2 hours, I forget what I was worried about before.

This life of black and white, of stoicism, of lovelessness, of hiding smiles and vulnerability, is ingrained into her. There is nothing else. And because it’s such a core part of who she is, I don’t think anything could change it. Not love, not kindness, not heroic speeches, nothing.

And that’s so, so tragic to me. To live with so much coldness that it becomes you, until you can be nothing else.

But sometimes, sometimes, warmth peaks through. When she tells Syril it’s good to see him happy. When Syril moves to kiss her on the cheek, and she lets her eyes close for a moment as he does so.

But those are only small moments. I don’t think there’s anything that could make them large moments, and it’s like a Shakespearean tragedy. She is SUCH a tragic character, and she is so incredibly well-written.

It’s like she only comes close to feeling and understanding what love could be, but never fully grasps it.