#shield meta

I think almost every Marvel fan has seen it by now:

“How did you take down Captain America?”

“We shot him in ze legs because his shield is the size of a dinner plate, and he’s an idiot.”

The humorous vine of Patrick William Charlton is well-known by many Marvel fans, allow me to give some insight as to why villains don't usually shoot at Steve's legs!

The shield is big enough for Steve to hide his entire 6 ft body behind it, even when jumping into the air or in the middle of being shot at, as seen here:

The shield is approximately 2.5 feet (76 cm), which is 30 inches. The average dinner plate ranges from 9 to 12 inches; a clear difference from Steve’s shield size.

Bigger shield equals more to hide behind, meaning less bullets penetrating your body!

We also see that Steve actually holds the shield up for protection. He doesn’t just keep his shield on his back or walks around standing tall like a giraffe with the thing only protecting his crotch; he does actively move and use it in combat, and makes himself smaller when needed.

Like here for example:

As you can see he actually holds it up in front of his body, and the shield covers a whole lot more of him than you’d think at first sight, leaving him protected from any incoming bullets, especially if he hunches over.

He also sort of “thrusts” the shield forward in combat, such as here:

Beside that, Steve Rogers can run and move at speeds beyond the peak of human potential, even being fast enough to surprise Quicksilver and stun him momentarily during their fight in Age of Ultron.

His enhanced speed allows him to bring his shield in the right position in just a second to avoid being shot. He can also use said speed to dodge any bullets that his shield doesn’t cover.

Apart from that, instinct and training are to shoot a gun at the center of mass. Police, soldiers and civilian shooters are all taught to shoot this way. The chance of hitting someone’s torso is far larger than hitting someone’s legs or head, especially if they’re moving. Unless you have the accuracy of Hawkeye, you'd be wasting time and bullets trying to get Steve's legs.

tony’s childhood was defined by not being good enough for howard, and canon implies that he spent a lot of it being compared unfavourably to steve rogers (not steve’s fault, but that doesn’t diminish the scars left on tony): “that’s the guy my dad never shut up about?”. “he never told me he loved me, he never even told me he liked me. so it’s a little tough for me to digest when you’re telling me he said the whole future was riding on me”. “god i hated you”

then in iron man 2 tony finds out that howard was a founder of shield. that’s a significant part of his father’s life that tony was just... never told about. he didn’t even know shield existed until iron man 1. why tony never knew is never explained, personally i think peggy and maria put their foot down and said tony wasn’t to be involved for his own protection, but we simply don’t know. tony doesn’t know either, but i can hazard a damn good guess at what he’s assumed. the most logical conclusion, to tony, is that this is yet another thing howard didn’t think he was good enough for, yet another way he let howard down. so the avenger initiative is a way for tony to work with shield and prove howard wrong (and i do think howard’s involvement was the reason tony went from “i don’t want to join your super secret boyband” to “how can you approve me but not approve me?” in the same way peggy was what sold steve on shield)

but there’s more! a big theme of iron man 2 is LEGACY. tony is super focused on what he will leave behind after he dies, and, by extension, what howard leaves behind. tony explicitly states that the stark expo is about legacy, moments before he metaphorically brings his dad back from the dead to address the audience via a recording. then tony finds out about a huge part of howard’s legacy that he wasn’t (in his interpretation) deemed fit enough to participate in, at the same time as he sees the “what is, and always will be, my greatest creation, is you” video. setting aside how dehumanising being referred to as a creation is, and the fact that in that video howard still doesn’t manage to tell tony he loves him, those two conflicting messages must be super painful and confusing

“my greatest creation is you” also highlights that the only approval tony ever got from howard was because of his intelligence. fury tells tony that howard believed he would finish what he started and it’s all about tony’s brain, not the heart that truly defines him. the things tony builds are the only part of him howard ever appeared to value

so shield is howard’s legacy, and tony is howard’s legacy, and after the events of the film tony is ready to bring those two sides of his father’s accomplishments together. and then shield, this representation of everything howard did that tony wasn’t enough for, turns around and says “iron man: yes. tony stark: not recommended”. that’s an outright rejection of tony the man in favour of tony the machine, from something that is practically his father’s ghost, yet again. it’s a reaffirmation of every negative thing howard ever said about tony, everything tony believes about himself

Given that she never ‘snaps out of it’ when in the Framework, nor does she remember anything about the real world. Instead, it’s the faith she has in Phil and Daisy that allows her to take the plunge, a literal leap into the unknown to escape the virtual world.

All gifs made by the lovely @mulderitsme​

I think most of us have come to the conclusion that Moiraine has been shielded and not stilled but I haven’t seen any posts directly comparing these shots. Here we have Logain being shielded by the Aes Sedai.

Here we have what the Dark One does to Moiraine. As you can see the same shield that is placed over Logain is also placed over Moiraine. This is not stilling this is shielding.

We also see a weave push INTO Moiraine but nothing actually comes OUT OF Moiraine. The weaves for severing are the same for men and women so since we see nothing ripped from Moiraine then she is not stilled. She is shielded.

Moiraine seems to possibly be in pain but considering the Dark One is the one shielding her I imagine it’s not out of the realm of possibility he also made the experience as unpleasant as possible.

Here we see additional evidence that the weave placed over Moiraine and pushed into her is a Shield.  The Dark One ties a knot and by doing so “ties off” the weave that was just placed on Moiraine so that he does not have have to actively maintain it. There would be no reason to tie off a weave if Moiraine was stilled since once she’s severed there’s no need to maintain the weave to block her from the source. Just like there was no reason to maintain a weave on Logain once he was gentled.

Additionally when Lan finds Moiraine and asks her to let him back in this is evidence that Lan has not felt the bond between then snap.  Moiraine doesn’t tell him she can’t because she’s stilled she just says that she can’t because she can’t touch the source. If you’re shielded then you can’t touch the source but regardless of whether the bond is masked or not they would both feel it snap and suffer the same effects that Stepin did in episode 4 after Kerene’s death.

Part of Moiraine’s journey in season 2 will definitely focus on Lan and Moiraine still being bonded yet still being masked as well as Moiraine’s journey to figure out how to get out of a shield that she knows is there but that she can’t see since men and women are unable to see each others weaves. Her loss of the One Power is not permanent unless she can’t figure out how to get free or get the help of another channeler who can unravel it from the outside or find the buttplug of the shield as my sulpadnen sisters so eloquently put it and... break through at the weak point.

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In order to be a nation, you usually require some territory, which Hydra does not have at this point.

Also, they couldn’t care less about the nationalities that people DO have, as long as they’re loyal to the cause and the ideology.

So I’d say Hydra is a something between a global terror organisation and a cult. 

However, since their machinations are very closely interworven with the politics and social structures of many countries, similar to those of the UN, it might be necessary to create a new term to describe them more accurately.

Maybe “Criminal Rogue International Organisation”.

SHIELD WAS an international organisation, akin to a global police / spy force, with an international mandate.

And yes, the world of the MCU NEEDS such an international, global police force, since local forces would be much harder to coordinate efficiently in the face of such international threats as HYDRA, AIM, aliens….etc.

Through Hydra’s fault (and maybe, maybe also a bit through their own negligence) they have currently lost that mandate.

Thing is…..the world of the MCU quite bitterly needs such an international police force, and they have nobody around to fill SHIELDS shoes.

So yes, SHIELD might not be following the letter of the law by keeping on going without an official mandate, but they are following the spirit of the law (…..admittedly sometimes a bit ineptly and in a make-it-up-as-you-go-along fashion, but hey, as they say, everything worth doing is worth doing not quite as competently at first).

So it might be accurate to dub them “Vigilante Rogue International Organisation” right now.

Thing is….when things change dramatically, it can take a while for laws and regulations and mandates to catch up.

So yeah….people might have to make a judgement call on this by themselves.

Because the alternative, sitting on your hands and doing nothing, or doing something, but a lot less than you could and than is necessary, are not really acceptable.

HYDRA and SHIELD - Two sides of the same coin

Why are there, within the MCU, so many people willing to work for HYDRA?

Well.....

What is Hydra trying to achieve?

World peace.

Just like SHIELD.

However, unlike Shield,  Hydra believe that the only way to world peace is by killing off anybody who values their freedom and who thinks that absolute obedience to a totalitarian system like Hydras is too high a price for peace and safety…..

And yeah, this is a crucial difference which makes Shield the good guys and Hydra the bad ones.

But then, as Tom Hiddleston said: “Each villain is a hero in their own mind”.

Quotes showcasing HYDRA’s ideology: “Peace Through Strength!

Honor Through Obedience!

Continuance Through Conformity!

Hail Hydra!

Immortal Hydra!

We shall never be destroyed! Cut off one limb, and two shall take its place!

We serve none but the Masteras the world shall soon serve us! ”

also, in CATWS: Dr. Arnim Zola:   HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA’s New World Order will arise.

—

Jasper Sitwell:   Zola'a algorithm is a program for choosing Insight’s targets.

Steve Rogers:   What targets?

Jasper Sitwell:   You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future.

—

Alexander Pierce:

“Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war.

It’s just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago.

Diplomacy? Holding action, a band-aid.

And you know where I learned that; Bogota. You didn’t ask, you just did what had to be done.

Okay, so Imperfectlychaotic had an awesome fic a little while ago with Jemma and May playing the piano, and it got me thinking about my favs and which instruments would portray them best (not necessarily that they would play) so... here are my thoughts.

Jemma Simmons – Clarinet

Understated and easy to miss in the towering sound of the orchestra or wind band, the clarinet is quiet, but no less musical. It's evasive tone portrays the cat in Peter and the Wolf, sliding in and out of situations without notice. The clarinet has a plaintive sound, and is excellent at portraying a quiet kind of sadness, unlike the passionate vibrato of the oboe, but like Simmons, who has barely had the chance to express herself about the tragedies that she has been through. As a member of the orchestra it can often be taken for granted, because of how easily it slips into the background.

Skye – Saxophone

The saxophone doesn't quite belong in the orchestra. It was invented long after the classical orchestra was formed, and thus doesn't have much of a place in it, like Skye worming her way into SHIELD in the unorthodox way at the eleventh hour. It is a woodwind instrument, like the flute and the clarinet, but is often confused for a brass by it's design, causing many people to be confused as to which family it belongs to. At first the saxophone is loud and in your face, demanding to be heard, but it's true strength is in how much it owns it's differences and uniqueness. It has a certain charisma and charm which springs from this.

Melinda May – Cello

Yeah, shippers unite. But really, May is the cello for a number of reasons, none of them connected to Phil Coulson. The cello is both a deeply emotional and a highly technical instrument. Because producing a sound on a string instrument requires less internal gymnastics than on wind, more complicated passages are written for string instruments which require a high level of precision to play. It has the potential to be a very expressive instrument, but does not often fulfil that opportunity. Because the cello is a bass instrument, albeit not the lowest one, it has a lot of weight and depth to it's sound. In an orchestra, the cello usually harmonises with other instruments, working more as a support than a soloist, but when they carry the melody it is something to behold.

Phil Coulson – Trombone

The trombone is kind of a goofy instrument really. Because it has a slide rather than valves or keys, it is one of the only wind instruments which can do a full glissando, and it does quite regularly. It is still very capable of the loud and proud dynamics of all brass instruments, and had the potential for a lot of nobility in it's sound. The trombone is something of an unapologetic instrument, like many in the brass family. When it is playing there is virtually no way you could think otherwise, and you will listen.

Leopold Fitz – French Horn

[spoilers under the cut]