#(like if Steve got some more realistic goals)

[ronearoundblindly]

I have another question for who would Wednesday (sorry if I'm sending too much): who would have new years resolutions? Who would help with yours?

Took me until Lunar New Year, but we got there!

No warnings except mentions of true-to-character background (family alcoholism, jerk behavior, cursing) so keep that in mind.

James Mace

Yes! If it's important to you, it's important to him. Mace only picks practical goals or changes to make, realistic stuff that's doable and improves his life and happiness. You know, the actual epitome of the tradition.

Curtis Everett

No. He'll honor your resolutions but doesn't make his own. It's half not caring and half because when he used to make them, he always crapped out on them by March...

Jimmy Dobyne

No. Jimmy believes if you have a goal, why wait for a holiday to start? Go ahead and do it! He hates the placating of over-indulging during the holidays, guilting yourself, and then miserably push to change huge things suddenly. (He's adamant about NO DRY JANUARY, too. Own up to it. If you want/need to quit drinking, then fucking stop. He gets prickly about this because of his father.)

Johnny Storm

Nope. Johnny just...keeps being Johnny. Isn't very open to helping you keep them. Seems...sorta personal and like a you-problem.

Jake Jensen

Yes!!!! He's totally supportive and enjoys making a big deal about declaring his and yours after a sweet, midnight kiss. Will buy a whiteboard for the hallway to have them visible. Jake does, however, always picks silly or easy stuff for himself in order to feel accomplished. He will NOT stand for you making resolutions which are designed to be judgmental: don't write down "get skinny" or "save for a nose job." Jake makes you think specifically about you, none of this for-others shit.

Lloyd Hansen

Yes? His resolutions are silly and self-serving--also they are almost always indulgences that Lloyd never stopped himself for doing in the first place--so it's a useless exercise. He is supportive of yours as long as it's convenient for him to do so, which he takes on a second-to-second basis.

Ari Levinson

Yes, but only as a couple or being supportive of yours. On his own, Ari doesn't see the point.

Ransom Drysdale

Yes, but he doesn't admit it or tell anyone what they are, so no one knows if he failed to keep them. Ran won't necessarily provide positive support of yours--i.e. if you cheat on a diet or something, he openly points out you shouldn't be eating that--but! he holds you accountable if/when you've clearly said you're trying to change a habit.

Andy Barber

Yes. The only problem is they're vague and recurring. Every year he tries to say you'll have a regular date night or go on trips, but Andy never quite manages to put fun things first. He's a workaholic who gets distracted and forgets to focus on less tangible progress. You have to remind him or take over making those resolutions happen.

Steve Rogers

Yes and no. Some years Steve has strong impulses to make changes. Some years he's just getting by or keeping the status quo. Turns out, you often make resolutions that impact the both of you or are specifically geared toward him. If you're vocal about wanting something, he's all over it and supportive. Steve has never been great at doing things for himself.

Bucky Barnes

Again, yes and no. Bucky is still not great at tracking time. He gets confused from year to year if there were just arbitrary goals he set, so now he keeps them progressive. You guys want to do renovations on your home? Pick a starting room and then pick a direction to work (out, up, or down). He wants to turn his wardrobe into something more personal? Begin with the shoes, then the socks, then the slacks, etc. Mundane choices can overwhelm him easily since he's from a simpler era and he didn't make his own choices for a long stretch. Bucky keeps his resolutions simple and the pressure to stick to them low.

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Who Would... Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

A/N: Now back to my hidey hole...

[little-annie]

All I Want | Ch 2

Steddie Fic | Little_Annie | Ao3

If you haven't read Ch.1 yet, click here ⤵️

---

Over coffees and breakfasts and ballgames and tears, both Steve and Wayne tried to come up with something realistic. No grand gestures that in the end would just confuse or scare Eddie, but maybe dozens of small gestures here and there, hoping that every little thing would lead Eddie back into the love they once knew.

They didn't have much, a flimsy idea of a very general plan. The first goal being to gain Eddie's trust and well, that wasn't something that was going to be easy to do. A boy raised in a community of judgemental, bigoted, right wing Conservatives and Bible Thumpers; he'd learned to build walls rather fast. Barriers to protect himself from the stares, the slurs and the societal pressures.

Eddie's whole persona was constructed as an armour, a gruff exterior to scare off those who may try to mould him into a vision of their own. It'd worked. The Hair, the tattoos, the leather; people left him alone. Calling out slurs and slander from a far, too scared to be cursed or sacrificed to some unholy deity if they got too close.

Though, remarkably, that was something Steve Harrington had grown to see past. He remembers seeing Eddie in the halls, treating him like an absolute asshole until the day the world got turned upside down and he had a bit of a reality check. He never really did talk to Eddie after that, nothing more than short glances and bumping shoulders in the halls. He regretted the way he'd treated the man in the past, but at the time didn't have the gaul to say anything about it.

Maybe in those short glances and passes in the hallway he'd learnt something about himself, something that felt like a gravitational pull. Though it wasn't something he was willing to admit to himself at the time.

He'd graduated and left Hawkins High with nothing more than a flutter in his stomach at the memory of brown eyes. It was only a few weeks later that this whole thing with Eddie started. 

His kids had heard about a senior recruiting D&D players for next year's Hellfire Club, an opportunity of a lifetime according to one Dustin Henderson. It hadn't taken much to guilt Steve into driving the gaggle of pubescent crotch goblins to this so-called meeting. A few sets of puppy dog eyes and a singular "Please Steve," and he was putty in their hands.

They arrived to the school with far too much fanfare, the kids happily chanting and screaming about D&D, though it was all nonsense to Steve. He thought he'd get off scot free and be able to just sit in the car and wait, but, well, when he saw the silhouettes of leather and chains and the glow of a cigarette in the distance, he figured it'd be best he supervised. At least for the first night. He couldn't just hand his kids over to some random, rowdy strangers.

But well, a stranger it was not. No. It was Eddie Munson. The same Eddie Munson Steve had found his mind wandering to late at night and in the dark recesses of his brain that he was finally allowing a small glimmer of light to shine. 

He'd sat there and watched in awe at Munson's theatrics, all wild gestures and magnetic energy. A booming voice that made Steve's spine absolutely tingle and a glimmer in his eye that forced a wave of heat to engulf Steve's form at any moment it met his own.

They hadn't so much as shared a word, Steve sitting in the corner out of the way but absolutely entrapped as he couldn't pull his eyes any. Several times had he felt a twist in his gut when Eddie took the time to really look him over, a curious look in his eyes as they trailed from Steve's head to his toes. It made him flush, aggressively so. For a moment he'd thought he'd fallen ill, but well, as that light burned brighter in the dark spots of his mind, he began to realise what that feeling truly was.

It'd happened a few times; Steve taking the kids to Summer Hellfire Oneshots, sitting in the corner observing all things Eddie Munson. Until one night the chair he'd claimed as his own, dubbed the Babysitters throne by a Junior named Gareth, was pulled from its usual spot in the corner and was instead seated rather close to the handmade masterpiece Eddie called his own. His stomach had done a treacherous somersault and he felt his face flush at the proximity to the other man when he was finally seated, nearly thigh to thigh, legs brushing as Munson moved animatedly. 

Cigarettes, leather and something sweet like candy swarmed the air around him the entire time, a smell he'd later associate with the love of his life. A smell so distinctive, Steve couldn't even begin to manage to recreate it on his own during the recent nights when he missed Eddie so. 

And that's kind of when it all really started. Those brushing thighs turned into whispered words and faint giggles, a cackle Steve would let out one night only to be scolded by Dustin but to feel the grip of Eddie's hand on his thigh. Granted it was accompanied by a worried glance and a brow raised in question, but all Steve could manage in response was a blush and a gentle nod, leaning into Eddie's touch as it remained under the table. Weeks later sliding his fingers to lace between Eddie's own and remain that way for every Hellfire session Steve attended afterwards.

They'd eventually share the smoke of a skunky haze, holled up in the Munson trailer, revealing their childhood traumas only to fall into each other's arms and never really leave. 

They kept things quiet, discreet. Steve was hardly out to himself, let alone to the public and he wasn't about to share that with anyone who didn't really need to know. Who he slept with, who he loved, it wasn't anyone's business but his own and well, Eddie's of course.

They held hands beneath the table of Hellfire meetings, kissed in the shadows of local parties, and ran away for weekends to the city where they could be themselves and not have to worry about prying eyes.

It was just them, a little slice of happiness they saved for themselves. 

Eventually Wayne found out. At first it'd sent Steve spiralling, thinking Wayne was going to beat the two of them half to death or send Eddie off to a conversion camp, but, when in reality, Wayne huffed a laugh, told them no fucking on the couch and slapped Eddie on the back grumbling something about 'finally locking down the Harrington boy,' and that was it.

Eddie had reassured Steve, Wayne was a good guy and if anything, 'might be a little fruity himself.' Quickly Steve grew to love the man. A father figure he'd never truly had, suddenly at his side. Someone to watch ball games with or gossip about the latest NBA trade. Someone to teach him things his own father never bothered to.

It was Christmas Eve in the Munson trailer when he and Eddie whispered the words 'I love you' for the first time, both revealing that they'd felt it for a long while before but were too scared to say it aloud. It was Christmas Day when Wayne tugged him into a hug and told him the words he'd never heard from his own father, words similar to those he'd heard from Eddie the night before.

Everything they shared was nothing short of beautiful. Their love raged like a fire and burned just as fast and beautiful and hot. Unfortunately for Wayne he'd come home too many times to the boys doing the one thing he explicitly had asked them not to, shielding his eyes and slamming the trailer door shut to yell back, 'Come on Ed! I sleep on that fuckin' thing!"

Needless to say, after Wayne threatened to castrate the two of them if it were to happen again, Eddie moved into the Harrington house. 

They settled in easily, the majority of Eddie's things remained at the trailer, bringing only a handful of books, clothes and hobby supplies along with himself. They shared space and sweat in the confines of the once depressingly empty structure. A structure Steve never really considered a home until Eddie Munson stepped foot inside it.

Steve's parents returned maybe a handful of times, a plan already set in place; Eddie was never graced with the misfortune of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Harrington. Though one time it was dangerously close, the pair being in the shower together when they heard the front door shut. Eddie had snuck out the bathroom window and ran across the shingles to slip into Steve's room, dawning only a towel in the late January breeze.

And no, that wasn't the plan, but one thing Steve loved about Eddie was his uncanny ability to think on his toes, no matter the situation. He supposes that's what makes the man such a great DM.

Hiding their relationship was only difficult when the Upside Down came knocking on the door to Hawkins once again. 

Chrissy Cunningham had died and Eddie was on the run, Steve wasn't even aware of the situation until Dustin came barreling into family video like a curly haired tornado. 

When Eddie had brought the glass bottle to Steve's neck he could see the fear in his lover's eyes, up until the moment recognition dawned on him and he realised it was Steve he was about to maim. 

Through all of it, they were so careful. Sharing glances and touches, holding hands beneath blankets and under tables. Often it was Steve who offered to stay behind and keep watch over Eddie, holding the man close to his chest and letting him sob until his tears ran dry. Steve wanted nothing more than to up and leave and take Eddie as far away form the hell they were tapped in, but it wasn't that easy.

They had to kill Vecna and finish things off for real this time. 

Though he'd never imagine it was his plan that'd end up getting his boyfriend nearly killed.

He remembers it like it was yesterday. A flashing, fleeting thing that haunts his memories and every ounce of his dreams. The warmth of Eddie's blood on his hands as adrenaline pumped aggressively though his own body,  helping him to surge through the gate with cracked bones and scathed skin, a grown man falling limp in his arms.

They'd just passed through the gate, the party running rampant through the trailer gathering medical supplies and trying to form a plan, but in that moment all Steve could hear was the beating of his own heart and static flooding his ears. He sat kneeling on the floor, tears running streaks through the soot that'd clung to his cheeks, holding Eddie's limp body close to his as he felt the man run cold. 

He remembers the last breath Eddie took, shuddered, raspy, a gasp against his neck as the man whispered his last 'I love you."

It was from there that Steve was sure he'd lost Eddie, everything from then on was a blur, blacked out, moving on auto pilot. The next thing he remembers was waking up on a hospital bed, bright lights and beeping machines, Robin sitting at his bedside. He didn't even think twice before he shot up in bed, pain ricocheting through his abdomen, asking where Eddie was, if he was okay and if he was at the hospital.

Robin had looked at him sad, confused and grabbed his hand to squeeze and say calm, sombre, "He's stable." 

The relief that Eddie was alive racked a rather aggressive sob from Steve's chest, verging on hysterics almost immediately. Robin paid it no mind, probably attributing it all to Steve carrying the man's body through the literal gates of hell. She'd stayed there with him for as long as she could and when visiting hours ended and she was forced to find solace elsewhere, that's when Steve went to find Eddie.

He heaved and gasped with every step, the tears in his skin and muscle aching with every movement now that the adrenaline had worn off. There was an IV cart he pulled along with him, a squeaky wheel and a bag of clear liquid sloshing around as it ran into his veins. 

He'd found Eddie eventually, peeking into nearly twelve separate rooms until he found the man. 

Bruised skin, bandage wrapped flesh, bleeding wounds and he was still the most beautiful thing Steve had ever seen. Though, it hurt like hell to look at him. Steve couldn't shake the thought that he brought Eddie into this. Maybe if they wouldn't have gotten together, maybe Eddie would've up and left, said so long to his high school career and got out of dodge, maybe at the very least Chrissy wouldn't have been at the trailer that night. 

Christ, if Steve had made plans with Eddie that afternoon and he hadn't planned to meet Chrissy to sell, he wouldn't be in this situation. He wouldn't have been hooked up to tubes and monitors and cuffed to a fucking hospital bed.

Steve and the squeaky wheel of his IV cart found a home next to Eddie's bed for the night, hunched over the man, holding his bruised and bandaged hand in his own. He cried himself to sleep that night, silent tears staining his cheeks and the bandage that covered Eddie's hand. Come morning hospital staff had moved him back to his room, only to repeat the process for the following days.

When Steve had been released he managed to find Wayne and tell him everything, NDAs be damned. It wasn't more than a few days later that Hopper returned from the dead and managed to clear Eddie's name in a matter of days. 

The following weeks Steve and Wayne spent the majority of their time bedside to Eddie and well, you know the rest.

-

But now, Steve sits heartbroken and lonely in a house that for a few short months truly felt like a home. He's wearing one of Eddie's shirts, the man's acoustic guitar at his side while he mindlessly picks at the strings, sitting on his bed. It was a gift, something special he'd given Eddie for their six month anniversary, something that stayed in their home and took part in their daily lives.

Nearly every day they'd spent together he can recall Eddie at sometime plucking along to the tune of 'you are my sunshine.' A remarkably out of character song, but something he swore was special just for Steve. Many times had the man been in nothing but his underwear, sometimes nothing at all, strutting around Steve, peppering him with kisses and singing the melody.

He huffed a laugh at the memory, a silent stream of tears following. He put the guitar away.

It was then that Steve laid there to ponder his plan, laying back, staring at the ceiling, fingers fiddling with the home cut hem of his shirt. The only thing he knew, the only thing he and Wayne had agreed on so far was step one would have to be to gain Eddie's trust again. Though they knew that wouldn't be an easy feat.

The main problem being that Steve would have to find a way into the man's life without seeming half nuts. Find a way for their meeting to seem natural, not something forced, not something scripted and planned out to a T.

He had ideas, believe it or not. Steve Harrington isn't the ditz people make him out to be, he's smart, in his own way. Especially when it comes to the real world and that that once lived below its surface. Maybe he needed to take his time to think things through a little longer, but that's nothing.

Later that evening, sitting on his bed, a plate of half eaten pizza bites next to him, one of Eddie's D&D miniatures in his hand, Steve had an idea. It wasn't much but it was something and without much thought he scrambled for pants and ran to his car, ripping out of the driveway and soon coming to a screeching halt in front of the Munson's recently repaired trailer.

It was dark out, evening had turned to night by the time he made it across town and thank God he'd seen Wayne's truck as he came skidding into the stop, hardly throwing the car into park before he was tripping over his feet, stumbling to the door. "Wayne!" He knocked on the thin glass, all but shouting waiting for the older man to answer.

With an irritated grumble, rubbing sleep from his eyes, Wayne opened the door, "Christ kid, I'm working the graveyard tonight, what is it?"

Out of breath from excitement alone, Steve huffed, "I know what to do, I know how to get Eddie back."

With that the two men found themselves seated in the living room of the trailer, Steve spinning out his quite simple plan of how to re-inject himself into Eddie's life. Really it was quite simple, give the man his space, once he's back at school or at least back home, Steve would find somewhere casual to bump into him. Somewhere like the grocery store or maybe the comic store, bring up D&D and how the kids he babysits have been wanting to play. If Eddie took the bait, like Steve knows he will, Eddie would shortly be hosting campaigns for The Party, maybe even if he's lucky in the Harrington basement.

After re-injecting himself into Eddie's life, he'd have to maintain that and somehow show Eddie that he's not the Steve Harrington he remembers from the past. The Steve Harrington Eddie remembers was an asshole and deserved the rejection Steve had received at the hospital.

Well and then there's that, that might be a weird bump to get over and explain. How would he explain that? It's not like, in Eddie's mind, it was normal for Steve to be sitting anywhere near him, let alone kiss him. 

[griefabyss69]

@zombiethingy and @steddieas-shegoes both tagged me!!! Thanks for the tags <3 <3 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25! All from this year <3 6 of them are microfics but everything else is around 1K - 21K! I've never in my life written this much lmao

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

129,098! That's a lot for me <3

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far just Stranger Things!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Still Motion (Paraphilia 01)

Last Man Standing (First fic in the LARP AU series)

Between Light and Darkness (First in the Vampire Eddie series)

Acceptance and Negation (Paraphilia 02)

Hell Patrol (First in the Apocalypse AU series)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes!!! There's only one or two I didn't and that's because they were rude

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think any of mine have an angsty ending tbh... Mostly because I write a lot of porn but also because even when I write for myself to vent there needs to be a way through all of the horrible shit. Otherwise I'm just adding stress to my life!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say they're all fairly happy with a similar type of end goal! HOWEVER....... there's one I have planned that might stand above the rest in terms of happy endings, but it's like... a long term project that I have no idea when I'm even going to properly start.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far I haven't! I usually moderate comments, and the rude ones I got were more of the 'you clearly missed the mark of what I wrote' or not finding a polite/nice way of asking me to continue writing the fic

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! The realistically unrealistic kind! Also, usually involves some kind of BDSM or kink related thing.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I won't say I'll never do it but I don't even have another fandom I'd be willing to write for at this time, let alone smash them together.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, unless I haven't come across it! I think it's cool if someone gets inspired by something I write though, especially anything that's not already common in ST fandom!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but it'd be cool if someone wants to!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't! I've like.... done a lot of yelling about potential things to write though. I have a lot of WIPs because of some of you LMAO I think the actual writing part of things is a very solitary activity for me usually, but I'm open to trying something short and sweet with someone (if things like time and energy line up as well)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Steddie, if we don't consider fandoms I'm no longer actively reading things for! However I'm pretty easy to please, I love Steve and Eddie as characters and so seeing them in other ships (like Stommy and Hellcheer or a threesome version etc) is always a good time!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have two fics I started writing before I wrote the first one I published. They're important to me and also my writing has changed so much that I'm scared to even try editing them, because I don't want them to lose that specific thing they have that I might not be able to conjure back up.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Tension, when I get it right, it becomes the best thing about what I've written, no matter what the context is! Also I keep finding I write gay sex between two friends who are in love but just haven't Gotten To That Part yet, so I'd also say an emotional slowburn but a sexual flashfire.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Outlining, keeping up with motivation if I at all try to organize or plan in on purpose. I have to trick myself, like hiding a little pill in a piece of cheese, in order to have planning and organization in a fic. That's part of the reason why I operate in series instead of really long multi-chapter fics, because that's one way I can hide the pill from myself.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I haven't ever and I don't know if I'd be confident enough in my resources to do that! But it's cool when other people do.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

...so I was like 11 years old writing Inuyasha and Kagome...

ST is the first fandom I've published for in over a decade AND it's the first fandom that I've published more than one fic for.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

That's really hard to answer. I really like a lot of aspects from all of them! Dive (microfic, july prompt "pool", body worship) was my favourite for ages, though. And it's still my fave microfic for sure!!

Acceptance and Negation might be my favourite longer fic, there's just something about the antagonism and complicated feelings about being so horny over everything that I find really fun to write!

No pressure tags!!!! @vecnuthy @wormdebut @hbyrde36 @penny00dreadful @stobinesque and anyone who wants to do it! <3

[heavencasteel420]

Okay, so these are the worst endings I can think of for each character (within the universe of what I think is even slightly probable—there’s some characters I don’t think they’ll kill, and some character assassination they won’t stoop to):

Joyce: She continues to act as a sidekick to Hopper, but she doesn’t even have comedic material to work with because it’s the last season and everything’s serious. We continue to learn nothing about her past or her interests. She has minimal interaction with Will, and somehow none with El or Jonathan. One or two of her kids die and she seems only a little sad. She goes out on the note of making a New Start with Hopper and the remaining kid(s). They also make her more of Traditional Good Housewife for some reason.

Hopper: They really double down on making him a renegade cop who solves all problems with violence. He has not learned shit since Season 3. His interactions with Joyce and El are underwritten, and no one ever really acknowledges that he’s close to being Will and Jonathan’s stepfather. He has some interaction with Mike but spends more time validating Dustin or Steve, which is nice but why is that the focus?

Murray: he shows up, flails around yelling at people to kiss, shares a very heteronormative and not very revealing back story (college girlfriend killed by a wheat thresher?) that we don’t really have time for, and dies.

Jonathan: he is forced to play the Romantic Comedy Fiancé in the dreaded love triangle, and is framed as and vilified for thinking that he’s better than Steve. Nancy gives a speech about how Steve has changed so much while Jonathan hasn’t. His history of trauma and poverty is either ignored or presented pretty unsympathetically as stuff he needs to get over. For maximum ill effect, his real problem is that he needs to forgive his father. He has minimal interaction with his family and none with anyone else. He dies saving Nancy and/or Steve, and is therefore redeemed for his heinous crimes of smoking pot and not fellating Steve. Will’s pretty sad; Nancy and Joyce are lightly misty.

Nancy: She ends up with Steve, and all of her character development throughout the show is framed as the misguided actions of a scared little girl. Now that she’s over her trauma, she’ll no longer need to date a person not of her social class or seriously pursue a career or pick up a gun ever again. She has “matured” enough to realize that life on the cul-de-sac is actually great if your man is good enough. This is presented as her being at peace, but it comes off as very sexist. The last shot of her has her riding beside Steve in an RV with a couple of kids in the backseat. It’s 1995 but her hair is very 2023. Steve is also a cop in this scenario. She doesn’t interact much with anyone outside the love triangle, especially not her own family.

Steve: he loses all his brain cells and devotes all his non-action screentime to mooning over Nancy, even ignoring Robin and Dustin. He gets to look badass in the action scenes from time to time, but he suffers from Late Game Jon Snow Syndrome, where he’s presented as a super-competent guy but all his plans are bad. Outside the action scenes, he’s either comically stupid or everyone acts like he is. He does not figure out anything about himself, and there’s no delving into anything psychologically interesting (is he at all fucked up from the events of past seasons? What’s his family like?). He dies saving Nancy. She, Robin, Dustin, and maybe a few others mourn him, but the way they talk about him sounds suspiciously close to the way you’d eulogize the family golden retriever.

Robin: she’s completely reduced to comic relief and cheerleading Steve, and all the characters act like she’s annoying. She’s extremely inept at all things, to the point that it seems like the show is engaging in mean-spirited mockery of a disabled young adult. She mentions Vickie once and otherwise might as well not have a sexuality. She becomes really hostile towards Nancy for “breaking Steve’s heart,” and overall is much more invested in Steve’s love life than her own. It becomes clear that Maya Hawke has opted to portray her this season by doing a Phoebe from Friends impression the whole time. Her hair is also very 2023.

Argyle: he’s just not there, and no one ever mentions him again.

Mike: he spends most of the season getting dumped on for being a bad boyfriend to El and a bad friend to Will and the rest of the party, in a way that would kind of make sense if he was a thirty-five-year-old man but is pretty ridiculous in light of him being a fifteen-year-old boy. He “redeems” himself by sacrificing his life for El’s. We never get to find out what his whole deal was; the whole thing is vague enough so that it feels sort of homophobic but we’re not exactly sure why. He does not interact with Nancy.

Will: he is tempted to join forces with Vecna, and finally succumbs specifically because he’s jealous of El’s relationship with Mike. He’s saved from himself at the last minute by El, in a way that feels pretty impersonal; she’s doing it less because she cares about him specifically and more because she’s the hero. Breaking away from Vecna costs him his life, however. Joyce pretty much tells El that she’s a replacement for Will. The other characters honor his memory but in kind of an infantilizing way; they either don’t know about or awkwardly ignore his sexuality.

Dustin: he becomes embittered and volatile following Eddie’s death, but, instead of this being a sympathetic problem for him to deal with or a generator of conflict within a group, it becomes a source of comic relief. It’s a running gag that the other characters will turn around and see that Dustin has fucked shit up in a fit of rage. He also becomes subtly crasser and more sexist. He dies fighting against Vecna, and his friends honor his memory, but also in a pretty infantilizing way.

Lucas: he’s reduced to being quietly sad about Max and acting as a bland voice of reason within the party. He apologizes to his friends onscreen for trying to do an extracurricular activity that they weren’t into last season. He gets minimal interaction with Erica, and there’s no delving into his traumas or family life or interests. Ultimately he sacrifices himself so that Max can wake up from her coma or otherwise be saved.

El: she sacrifices herself in the fight against Vecna, after expounding at length about how she’s too damaged to live a normal life or have a relationship. It’s kind of implied that she and Vecna are, in a sense, getting married on another plane of existence. Her friends and family memorialize her, but in an infantilizing way—lots of Eggo and superhero references.

Max: she survives her coma but is visually impaired and/or can’t walk, and the show doesn’t handle her disabilities well at all. In a retrograde reprise of the previous season, she pushes Lucas away because she doesn’t want to “burden” him. He protests, but no one actually points out that people with disabilities can have full, happy lives. The defeat of Vecna magically cures her, but Lucas is dead so she has to be all Titanic about it.

Erica: the show doubles down on her jingoistic streak and also makes her a fan of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” She’s basically an evil baby genius by the end of the show. More grounded moments, like her interactions with Lucas and Dustin, are nowhere to be seen.

If any of these happen, I get a treat, to console me about the awful writing.

[frank-a-mori-son]

“Extremely detailed character sheet template”

Character Chart

Character’s full name: Frank Daniel Morrison Reason or meaning of name: The name Frank is after his Grandmother, Francesca and Daniel is his Fathers name. Character’s nickname: Killer, Frankie, “Hey asshole!”  Reason for nickname: First for obvious reasons, second also, last one is just heard enough for it to be. Birth date: February 14th 1977

Physical appearance

Age: 19 years old How old does he/she appear: he could be confused for someone down to the age of 16. Weight: 65 kg/ 130 pounds Height: 173 cm/ 5′8′’ Body build: Lithe but athletic Shape of face: Heart Shaped Eye color: Brown Glasses or contacts: None, but he’ll need it once older Skin tone: White with neutral undertone Distinguishing marks:  2 visible facial scars, beautymark under right eye Predominant features: Large neck tattoo Hair color: Brown Type of hair: Straight Hairstyle: Currently an undercut Voice: Tenor voice Overall attractiveness: He’s got rouge-ish charms, so pretty attractive Physical disabilities:  Hypermobility in his joints, unknown condition. Usual fashion of dress: Pretty casual, borderlining grunge and punk rock Favorite outfit: band tshirt, faux leather jacket and jeans Jewelry or accessories: He’d love piercings but has none, always wears some type of gloves.

Personality

Good personality traits: Resillient, loyal, brave and charismatic Bad personality traits: Bad temper, snarky, self critical Mood character is most often in: Agitated Sense of humor: Dick jokes and slap stick Character’s greatest joy in life: Making decisions for himself Character’s greatest fear: Becoming his parents Why? Due to how they ruined not only their lives, but that of an innocent child too. What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? At this point that has already happened, making a grave mistake with unthinkable consequences...  Character is most at ease when: With people he trusts/cares about or if completely unnoticed Most ill at ease when: Overwhelmed by attention from strangers, feeling judged by peers. Enraged when: Made fun of, harrassed, hit or when someone he cares about is hurt. Depressed or sad when: Thinking of past mistakes, regrets and worrying about present/future. Priorities: Himself and those closest to him Life philosophy: Enjoy while it lasts, they or you won’t be around forever. If granted one wish, it would be: Freedom for those he cares for. Why? They do not deserve to be trapped in this realm, but he feels he does. Character’s soft spot: Quentin, Susie and dogs. Is this soft spot obvious to others? Quentin is very obvious to most Greatest strength: His will to keep fighting Greatest vulnerability or weakness: His own mental health and trauma Biggest regret: Dragging his Legion down with him Minor regret: Failing at ending himself Biggest accomplishment: Accepting his own sexuality Minor accomplishment: When he made it onto the basket ball team Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: The one time he got himself roofied on accident Why? he was trying to impress some older kids and failed badly. Character’s darkest secret: The fact he killed someone. Does anyone else know? His Legion and Quentin knows

Goals

Drives and motivations: Motivated to keep himself and those he cares for safe in the Entity realm. Immediate goals: Spend as much time with his boyfriend as possible, get many smooches Long term goals: Somehow, find a way out of the Entity realm. How the character plans to accomplish these goals: He has no idea, but he knows he can count on Quen to help How other characters will be affected: Hopefully, it’ll be a positive effect

Past

Hometown: Calgary, Canada Type of childhood: Rough and unstable Pets: None First memory: Being locked in his bedroom, the stench of sweetened smoke coming through the door crack and loud angry shouting from below. Most important childhood memory: His Grandma coming by on Christmas morning with a gift for him Why: because it was the first time he got a gift for xmas, it was sadly also the last time he saw his Grandma. Childhood hero: He really looked up to one specific foster dad, a good man. Dream job: Veterinarian  Education: High School Dropout Religion: Christian but not practising Finances: Shaky at best, below poverty line.

Present

Current location: Ormond, Canada Currently living with: Foster dad, Clive Anderson Pets: None unless you count house flies Religion: Agnostic Occupation: Unemployed Finances: None existing. 

Family

Mother: Lorraine Beatrice Morrison Relationship with her: Strained, disconnected Father: Daniel Patrick Montgomery Relationship with him: Tense and disconnected Siblings: Step-sister, Step-brother (both Fathers side) Relationship with them: None, he doesn’t know about them. Spouse: Quentin is his boyfriend Relationship with him/her: Good! very good, they’re very much in love. Children: None Relationship with them: Nothing Other important family members: Grandparents (Mothers side) who are still alive and miss their grandson.

Favorites

Color: Red, black and green Least favorite color: Pink and yellow Music: Death metal, Rock, Punk, retro Food: He’ll eat pretty much anything, has a huge sweet tooth Literature: He’s not a fast reader, so he doesn’t read. Form of entertainment: out with friends, listening to music, exploring and sports. Expressions: “Well, fuck” and “heck!”  Mode of transportation: Other people’s cars, otherwise, his own two feet. Most prized possession: His faux leather jacket, as it’s bought with money he earned honestly. 

Habits

Hobbies: Basket ball, art and climbing Plays a musical instrument? No, but he would’ve loved to learn Plays a sport? Basket ball! How he/she would spend a rainy day: Probably at a friends house or at their usual hangouts. Spending habits: he spends very little money as he rarely has some, but he does shop lift often. Smokes: Yes Drinks: Oh yes Other drugs: Usually just weed, though he has tried a few other things once or twice. What does he/she do too much of? Getting in trouble, drinking and smoking What does he/she do too little of? Eating, sleeping, bathing, just generally taking care of himself. Extremely skilled at: Most physical activities Extremely unskilled at: Reading, writing, maths....  Nervous tics: Foot bouncing, pacing, lip biting Usual body posture: Looks relaxed, but shoulders tensed. Mannerisms: Talks with his hands a lot Peculiarities: He’s a basic bitch in secret, he likes the big ass, sugary, cllorful and extra frappes but he’ll get them in secret like they’re illegal. 

Traits

Optimist or pessimist? Pessimist, or realist as he would say. Introvert or extrovert?  Ambivert! He can go both ways, depends on situation. Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil!  Logical or emotional? A little bit of both, though most often ruled by emotion. Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? More like Disorderly neat, he doesn’t have enough stuff to make a mess and though he doesn’t enjoy it, he’s often the one to do dishes and laundry at home. Prefers working or relaxing? He really likes relaxing, but if he’d like working if he got a job he enjoyed Confident or unsure of himself/herself? He’s faux confidence most of the time. Animal lover? Yes. Very, very much so. Especially dogs.

Self-perception

How he/she feels about himself/herself: he considers himself damaged, unworthy and incabable of love. One word the character would use to describe self: Survivor One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: Out loud he’d call himself “a badass free spirit”  What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? His ability to get up even when knocked down. What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? His insecurity What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? He thinks he’s got a pretty nice bod, all things considered. What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? His scarred hand, his big ears and his slight buck teeth. How does the character think others perceive him/her: As a bad boy, rebel, problem child and misfit. What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Many things, though he really like to be taller 

Relationships with others

Opinion of other people in general: They just want something from him and they’ll leave once they’ve gotten what they wanted. Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? Often until he trusts them, then he’ll start opening up. Person character most hates: Clive, his parents, Ghostface Best friend(s): Julie, Joey and Susie Love interest(s): Quentin Smith, but Steve is handsome too. Person character goes to for advice: Depending on what it is, Quentin or Susie Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Susie is like a little sister to him Person character feels shy or awkward around: Jeff, it’s all very complicated Person character openly admires: Jeff, again, complicated Person character secretly admires: David. He’ll never say why. Most important person in character’s life before story starts: Nobody. After story starts: His Legion and, the light of his life, Quentin.

Snatched from here

[procrastinatingsapphictrash]

Creative planning

Word count: 2144     

Genre: I think a bit of angst mixed with fluff???

Pairing: Natasha x gn!reader 

Warnings: Swearing but not much and in a friendly way (let me know if I need to add more)

Request: Can u do natasha x reader where natasha fall in love with the reader because they always have stupid atypical plans that always work. And at first none of the avengers believer that the plan will work but it actually work. That’s it!

Summary: Reader always has creative plans for missions that always work and Nat seems like she doesn’t like them except she actually does and is just bad at feelings.

A/n: So this was requested by @fayhar so I hope you like it but if I’m honest I didn’t follow the request exactly so I’m sorry about that, but I hope you like it anyways. Also sorry this is a few days later than I said but I procrastinated but I’m writing a lot now so hopefully all other requests will be out soon.

You glance around at the rest of the team, biting your lip when all you can see is frustrated faces. It’s your first time making a big suggestion and it is not going over nearly as well as you had hoped. You thought your plan was pretty solid, albeit weird, but the team doesn’t seem to agree. 

“We need a real plan, not the plot of some animated action movie meant for kids.” Tony says, his annoyance coming through with his voice. 

Clint shoots Tony a look and softly says, “Y/n, I know you’re trying to help but Tony is right, this doesn’t seem realistic.”

“I agree,” Natasha interjects, “anyone have any more viable plans?” The room is silent after that and you can tell everyone is thinking hard. You’re trying to help as well but your mind is consumed with doubt. Although it wasn’t the most conventional plan, you really thought it could work but they thought it childish. Clint was the nicest to you about it but that’s only because he saw you as a kid he had to protect. You loved being a part of the team but sometimes it was hard to prove yourself when you were both the youngest and newest avenger. You rack your brains trying to come up with a new plan but your mind keeps getting stuck on what you already came up with. It was different from what the team normally did for sure, but you just knew it could work. 

“I know you shot it down already but please consider what I’ve suggested,” you speak up, “it’s different but I think it will work. Besides it’s not like anyone else has any great ideas.” 

While they don’t seem to accept your plan right away this time they seem to give a little more thought. Wanda whispers something to Steve and you can see Natasha and Clint exchange looks. 

Finally Steve speaks up. “Y/n is right, maybe not about the plan but we don’t have any other ideas. I think this is our best change against Hydra for now.” 

“Hydra is a formidable enemy whose goal is to control the world and you expect us to follow a plan that is completely ridiculous.” Natasha argues harshly. You struggle not to let any emotion show because you knew you had to appear strong but what Natasha thinks means a lot to you, so it hurt she had absolutely no confidence in your plan. You have always admired her a lot and if you were to be truthful you’ve always had a little bit of a crush on her.

“This plan does seem a little out there,” Wanda interjects, “but maybe that’s what we need for this mission, Hydra won’t be able to predict it.” 

“Ok,” Tony agrees, “what the hell, let's do it.” 

Fifteen exhausting hours later and you were all on a jet heading back to the compound. Even though it had been one of the hardest and most tiring missions you had been on to date you couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you were the one that helped the team out. 

“Good job Y/n!” Steve praises seeing your grin so you smile back even harder and go to respond when you hear a scoff from the other side of the jet. Natasha is sitting there and although her face betrays nothing, everyone who heard knows it’s her. You don’t know why she hates your plan even though it worked but although it bothers you, you try to brush it off, as Steve squeezes your shoulder in silent support. Even when Natasha exits the jet and heads straight to her room without a word to anybody you manage to keep a smile while talking with a few of the other avengers before you get too exhausted and decide to call it a night. 

As you lie in your bed after you showered and were drifting off you think about the day. You understood the lack of confidence in your crazy plan at first but you finally feel like you proved yourself and showed why you were asked to join the avengers. You also question Natasha’s dismissal of your success but you can never tell what she’s thinking so you brush that aside and fall into a peaceful sleep, optimistic about what is to come. 

---

“Hey Y/n can you look over the plans for the next raid?” Tony asks, shoving some papers in your hands as you walk past him in the hall. 

“Of course!” You respond cheerfully, taking the papers and continuing to make your way into the common room. It had been around ten months since you had first helped create a plan and ever since then the other had been turning to you for help with stuff like this and you became known for coming up with the craziest ideas that always ended up working. 

When you got to the common room you plopped yourself on the couch and started brainstorming beside the only other occupant of the room, Natasha. Out of all the avengers you were still slightly wary of her. You admired her a lot (not to mention kinda wanted to kiss her) but although she didn’t seem to hate your plans as much as she first did she didn’t seem to like them either. You did your best to impress her especially when she would help train you but sometimes it got discouraging because she never seemed to care that much. She was also the only avenger you didn’t consider yourself friends with, which is why you were fairly surprised when she spoke up. 

“What are you working on?”

“I’m just reviewing the mission plans for our raid of the Hydra base in a few days, Tony did a pretty good job though, so I won’t change much.” You respond honestly. 

“None of your weird ideas?” She asks. 

“Probably not, don’t worry,” you say laughing slightly although you don’t feel like it, “I’m just going to see if Steve has any ideas, see you later.” You leave the room in a bit of a rush, making sure you have all the plans. Natasha watches you go with a frown. She can tell she offended you when she asked that but she was just meaning to tease because although she was skeptical at first, she now really loves your plans. 

While she unhappily stares into the hallway you left through, she feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see Clint hanging upside down from the vent. 

“What’s wrong Nat?” He asks. 

“Y/n thinks I hate her. Or at least that I think she’s stupid.”

Clint laughs. “Once she gets to know you I’m sure that will change. Remember how long it took for the others to warm up to you?”

“But I like her and I want her to like me now!” Natasha replies in a tone that has a small whine to it. 

“So you like her, no biggie,” Clint says, “eventually you’ll become friends. WAIT-do you mean you like her, like you want to date her?” Natasha doesn’t respond and instead just nods, looking away from Clint. 

“You know it may seem complicated but just be nice to her and give her compliments out loud instead of in your head.” Clint advises.

“You know I think that’s the only helpful thing you’ve ever told me,” Natasha jokes, wanting to change the topic, “when did you get so good at this?”

“Well I do have a wife after all,” Clint answers, “maybe you should trust me on this.”

The past month has been confusing to say the least. You brush your hair in the mirror, wanting to look presentable for when you were having dinner with Natasha later because she randomly asked you to. It isn’t a date or anything, in fact you don’t know why you’re doing this because all she said is that she wanted to talk to you, but the idea of eating dinner along with her makes you nervous. This was the first time the two of you were going to do something without any of the others. At first she didn’t seem to like you at all but recently you noticed a huge change in the way Natasha was acting towards you. She seemed to actively seek you out to spend time together and started complimenting you more, especially on your ideas relating to avengers missions. You take a glance at your watch and decide to head down to the kitchen to meet up with Nat. The whole way down you can feel your entire body almost shaking with nerves but you push it aside. 

“Hey Y/n,” Natasha says softly upon your entry, “I made us some pasta, I hope you don’t mind.” 

“I’ll never turn down pasta.” You respond while smiling and grabbing a plate. 

“Great,” she says, looking a little relieved, “Are you good to just eat at the counter?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I, I’m not the queen.” You answer her, laughing slightly. She mumbles something under her breath but you can’t hear it properly. 

“What was that Tasha?” You ask her. 

“Nothing.” You look down at your food and both of you lapse into silence. Neither of you speak for what feels like an hour but was probably closer to ten minutes before you start to get a little annoyed. 

“Are you going to speak?” She stares at you and doesn’t answer. “Well are you? Because you said you wanted to talk to me but now that I’m here you don’t say anything. Not to mention I can’t even tell if you like me or not.” She seems surprised by your outburst but you can’t find it within yourself to care. It was all true you had no clue what she thought about you with her acting cold towards, then suddenly switching to being nice and as much as you liked her you would much rather just know what she thought than be constantly confused. 

“I do like you.” She says after a few moments of very awkward silence. “I just don’t know how to talk to you properly.”

“You didn’t know how to talk to me???” You ask, completely shocked. 

“Yes,” she replies honestly, “at first I just didn’t talk to you because I didn’t like you-”

“Ouch.” You interrupt and she rolls her eyes at you. 

“Anyways as I was saying,” she takes a pause to playfully glare at you, “the reason why I didn’t like you was because unlike everybody else you were unpredictable and I don’t like not being in control. You are just so different from people I’m used to-I mean this in a good way, like how you always have super creative plans.”

“Oh wow that’s not what I was expecting at all,” you tell her, “I just thought you hated me.” She nods looking remorseful. 

“Sorry, at the very start I may have but honestly that’s the last impression I wanted you to have of me. If you can’t tell recently I’ve been trying harder to be more open.”

“I have noticed actually and although I was a bit confused by the sudden change it was nice.” Natasha smiles at that and sits up a little taller before shrinking back down and biting her lip.

“For the sake of honesty, there was another reason I didn’t like you much,” she pauses to take a deep breath, “you made me feel things, things I can usually control.” You can’t believe what you are hearing right now and think you must be dreaming because unless you are interpreting things very wrongly it sounds like Natasha is confessing feelings for you. 

“Tasha,” you say slowly, “you have feelings for me?” She nods and you can’t even begin to process it. You must have been silent for too long because she stands up and starts to move away. 

“I’m sorry Y/n, we can drop it if you want just please say something.” 

“No, we are not dropping this,” you say seriously, watching Natasha’s face drop as you inwardly smirk, “at least not until you take me on a date first.” 

“You’re an asshole.” Natasha deadpans before coming over to hug you. “I will definitely take you on many dates.” 

She’s true to her word and two days later you find yourselves cuddled in your bed after having dinner at a restaurant. She’s spooning you, pressed up against your back and you can tell by her breathing that she’s almost asleep. 

“So you like my plans?” You ask cheekily, remembering your conversation from last night. 

“I love your plans,” She responds before planting a kiss to the top of your head that nearly makes your heart melt of happiness, “even if you are an asshole sometimes.”

[hardestgrove]

You asked for prompts for the quad SO time to ask my favorite question, what are their after high school plans? Has Emily ever thought about college? I don't think you've ever talked about that, but sorry if you have!

BONUS question!! -> Emily's favorite foods? What do they like to eat? Can they cook, or is their diet more of a "fast food and whatever they find in the fridge" kind of deal?

fjghlsds I haven't talked about it yet yeah! i have thought about it tho!!

billy's og plan was to save up money and move back to cali but there's been alterations to that for a lotta pretty obvious reasons... so far that's his main goal in life. some variation of "gtfo outta here, ideally to cali" i think he's also gonna be going thru a process of sorting out his shit and what he really wants to do now that he's allowed to engage with his passions and can do whatever he wants. will not be shocked if he ends up doing something music related.

eddie still graduates in s4 (u know... assuming he does dfgds) his main life goal is to make his band actually fucking happen. I think realistically after graduation tho corroded coffin semi-falls apart as all things do in the gap between high school, college/adult life but he's likely gonna end up latching on to the twins who are both also EXTREMELY serious about a music career and both very competent already as musicians and likely that'll go places or at least help launch them all into their own various solid music in the long run careers.

emily was actually going to go to college until plot events make her realize she can't leave her siblings alone with their parents. like yes her brothers would still be there to look out for stacy and alison but the reality is it's a team effort and they've survived so long doing as well as they have because they stuck together. so they got into a really good school and had to defer/inform them they weren't going which also leads to a huge fallout with their father when he finds out bc like ofc. it's all very dark at the time bc emily saw college as an escape from the abuse but over time is actually glad they didn't go because like... they didn't know what they'd do there??? like obvs their dad wanted them to go into business but that's not what they wanted to do. they've got no clue what they actually wanna do with their life. ironically might get wrangled into the band since they already get very literally forced to play bass for the twins sometimes and eddie would 1000% jump on that and help w/ the peer pressure lol. honestly kinda unsurprisingly from someone who was so intensely single-minded about like, 1 escape plan and just survival in general emily's just kinda out at sea a bit once the plan is gone.

steve's in the same boat pretty much, they both know long run they don't wanna keep living in hawkins. that's honestly the one thing everyone agrees on tbh but like he doesn't know what he wants to do with himself or like, what he's even good at. he's still gonna be at scoops ahoy and family video for a while just trying to do something. him and emily (and sometimes billy) likely have talks about wtf they wanna do with their lives since they're the most ????? about it. he gets increasingly more sure tho that he wants kids and like, domesticness which becomes an interesting convo with the other 3 but no one in the quad is actually against the idea in the long run. honestly wouldn't be shocked if he ended up a house husband or some kinda 80s ned fulmer kldfjsgds

i think emily's fave foods are probably like, variations on pasta with tomato sauce, so like half italian food lol and milkshakes. so steve's job at scoops ahoy was a real bonus for them pfft. emily can in fact cook but it's much more on the utilitarian end of cooking because they're making things for 5 people and trying to do it kinda quickly since there's a lot going on. so a lot of things that are pretty easy like pasta and fired rice or involve defrosting things like frozen pizzas. it's also not a shock to see them eating their portion right out of the pan or eating the leftovers off plates a la stories you hear from the exhausted parents of young children lol i think branching out more in cooking is one of the things they'd be into exploring once they have less shit on their plate to deal with honestly

[greenjacketwhitehatdocmui]

Random Captain America/Captain Carter Thought

One of the troubles of being a creative person is that, inevitably, you will have far more ideas pop out of your head than you can realistically work with.  And the darn thing is, they seem like such good ideas that you want to nurture them, but you can’t.

This is one of them.  And I invite any Steggy fans to take a shot at this concept.

Captain Carter is cautiously walking down a dimly-lit, misty corridor.  She’s in full uniform, ready to throw down if necessary.  She doesn’t like the idea of shepherded to some unknown destination, but here she is.

(The how of it could be kept vague.  Perhaps there was a mysterious letter.  Perhaps there were sightings of someone who looked a lot like Steve Rogers.  Perhaps Peggy needed a walk to cool off and suddenly found herself in full uniform when she turned a corner.)

A wispy voice that seems to come from everywhere informs her that some cosmically-important challenge is ahead of her.  To accomplish the goal, two partners will be needed--two must work in absolute sync.

Peggy sees someone in the dimly-lit room ahead and wonders if it’s someone she can work with.  The figure turns around and we see that it’s Captain America, shield and all.

(This is post-Age of Ultron, pre-Civil War Steve.  It’s the time before he becomes a fugitive and after he gives up on trying to live a “normal” life.)

She doesn’t quite recognize him.  He could have been any volunteer with the serum.

Steve blinks and stands even straighter.  “Peggy--I mean, Agent Carter?”

Peggy’s jaw drops.  Then she rallies.  “It’s Captain Carter,” she corrects him.  “Steve...is that you?”

Steve takes off his mask and looks a little sheepish.  It’s the boyish humility that verifies, in Peggy’s mind, that this is Steven Grant Rogers, but not the one she knew.

“They, uh, call me Captain America in this outfit.”

“Really?”

“Hey, it helped sell E bonds back in the day.  They didn’t call you Captain Britain or something like that?”

“I thought it was simpler.  I have...very mixed feelings right now.”

“Yeah...me too.”

Things progress and they work great together.  Along the way, they confide little tidbits of information.  They eventually accomplish their goal and have to return to their home universes.  But Peggy can see something in Steve’s eyes that disquiets her:  Defeat.

“So, what’s waiting for you back home?”

“Another mission, I guess.  It’s pretty much all I have.”  Steve shrugs in resignation.

“I disagree.  Every soldier fights and serves, not just for a cause, but for people.  But there comes a time when every soldier must stop fighting and live their lives.  Without that, a soldier is no better than a weapon, to be used until they break.”

“That life isn’t for me anymore, Peg.”

“BOLLOCKS!  Now you listen to me, Steven Grant Rogers.  I know that you’re hurting.  So am I.  But I intend to live my life when I’m done fighting--and I bloody well expect you to do the same.  Do I make myself CLEAR, Captain?”

“Crystal clear...Captain.”

And...that’s what I’ve got.  I’m not sure if it’d be appropriate for them to be hugging before they part, but--well, like I said, anyone who can do something with this, please feel free.

--Doc

[juuls]

This was a comment left on chapter 11 of my fem!Tony Stuckony time travel/soulmate fic, Hanging From a Cross of Iron, and I just wanted to put a couple things out there.

First of all, I’m not mad. We’ll make that clear. I’ve received variations of this comment before and it’s rather on the mark. But sometimes both sides can be correct in how they interpret a piece of fiction, and I wanted to show that.

So… yeah. This is something I get every so often on this fic, especially around this chapter (10-12ish) and I just… really wanted to post my reply to it, if for nothing other than explaining the way my brain works and WHY I hate Captain America: Civil War so much for ruining so many good things in fandom.

I’m not putting this out there for sympathy or agreement or to start a fight or stupid shit. It’s more like a… “I’m tired of explaining myself, let me post something I feel is a semi-eloquent response to someone who was at least mostly respectful and got some things right, who I know does represent a fair portion of people who may be interested in reading this fic,” which I could then just point/link to the next time I wake up to things making me sad in my inbox on top of me being sad and feeling guilty at not having written for a while.

Stupid covid. Stupid life being dumb and depressing and draining energy and happiness from many. Just you wait. I’ll be back soon with Codega and this fic, Cross.

But here. This is my reply to the above comment:

So I don’t normally reply to critique such as this because this IS fanfiction, but you are at least part right: it IS supposed to be unfair.

This is me working out my issues with Civil War, because boy that sure as fuck pissed me off. I love Stuckony, but after CACW it was really hard to reconcile that love anymore. So this was my way to do that, and I 100% wanted to bring in the unfairness, the distrust, the favouritism, the… meanness that I saw and felt after that.

It’s also a way for me to work through my issues at the injustices I suffered at the hands of my ex-husband—I started writing this shortly after packing my bags and leaving.

I wanted a slow, somewhat realistic, non-fairytale path to even partial redemption, shared pain and circumstances and experiences, and to show that things CAN work out as long as certain lines are not crossed. I skirt the line sometimes, definitely on purpose, but that’s for ME.

I wanted to turn the tables: Steve (and Bucky) were out of their time and comfort zone in the future—Toni, in turn, needed to be out of her time and comfort zone in the past.

Plus, can you imagine a soulmate world where you’ve had a partner and you think “this is it”? Then bam! Suddenly someone’s suddenly thrust into your life.

And I wanted to play on every single issue Toni would have experienced with her family, friends, “friends”, enemies, Obie, her company, the world, etc., post-IM2.

None of them have had an easy go of it and war is goddamn hell. They ALL have PTSD. (But also, lol, the Howlies start laying into Stucky about what you’re getting mad about here too, so I’m way ahead of you!)

From the beginning, this was as much a psychological setting as a romantic one: way more so in the beginning. But it slowly crawls its way out of the murk. I wanted a soulmate story where it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. I wanted a story where they had to fight for it… or where they had a choice, shitty as it may be (they’ll NEVER choose not to have Toni, that was never going to happen). I wanted something… realistic, even amidst super soldiers, super tech, an almost unbelievable war, and soulmates existing.

I wanted it to be a fight. I wanted rejection… then them, ALL of them, to choose each other despite that, despite their past, and despite fate.

That is my goal with this fic. And since I take my own sweet time, that’s really not readily apparent so soon in this fic, even at chapter 11.

The love will be there. The unconditional love, the equal triadic love. Not just Stucky plus Toni. Because believe me, Stucky is probably one of my least favourite ships that include some of my favourite characters. Sounds ridiculous since I write them here, but as a historian I wanted to take that, take some realism, with a dash of ridiculous and hurt and pain and anger, and see what I could do with that.

The entire reason this story exists is because of a scene idea I had that doesn’t come about until the future in the 20s chapters. Leaning on each other and trusting each other because one of them was lost. Well, technically, that happens twice.

But the point is: this is a long as fuck story towards a love they have to (and WANT to, eventually) fight tor.

This fic is for me. It’s for people like me. It’s for people who don’t want an easy love story. It’s absolutely okay that you don’t like it! There are SO many fics that I dislike for a variety of reasons, and I simply close it, mark it as Did Not Finish, and don’t return. I recognize not every fic is for me.

This one’s for me. I may have sort of stalled out where I’m at in the 20s chapters, but it’s left at a pretty good place, and I’m looking forward to this dumb pandemic so I can get back to forging this love between these three idiots, as well as pick up an old Star Wars story I left 4+ years ago due to the abuse at the hands of my ex. But I’m ready to return to it now. Well, after the world calms down a little.

It’s okay if you’re done with this story—that is 100% your choice and I will never begrudge you that. I’m glad you gave it a try though! If you’re interested, you could skip ahead and see how the dynamics have changed, or I could give you clips and examples too.

My one wish (though I understand it completely) is that you had not done this on Anon. For a few reasons:

1, I would never hold this opinion against you, especially because you got tons of it right! Go you!

2, I’d love to understand you better and discuss this with you. No recriminations whatsoever.

3, But I do wonder who of those who have read my other writings left me this message. It makes me a little sad, and I will wonder which of the people I talk to have this negative opinion of me now, but that’s also my own past issues rearing their ugly heads. You have every right to remain on Anon, though it’s not so nice when you wake from a nice dream and discover anon ‘dislike’ in your inbox on a work you slaved away on, and that the dislike is specifically about the things you wrote about deliberately, hah. Sorta funny, actually, so I’ll let that one go. xD

Thank you, though, even if I disliked reading this words: it helps me to look at my own work critically and to better understand how to frame and write things going forward.

Not every fic is for everyone, and that’s okay. I’ve encountered mine, you’ve encountered yours, but I think we’ve both learned from this interaction.

Whoever you may be, even if you divulge your handle to me, my respect for you wouldn’t diminish. It’s good to have healthy discussions and to look critically upon your own work—even if I am a sensitive bean and it hurts a little, I’m fine. :P

I think the lesson to be learned here is: fuck everything after CACW!!!! Grrrrr xD

Take care,

Juuls

P.S. I may post parts of this on my Tumblr because I do occasionally encounter similar complaints about this story, and I think maybe this is the most coherent and respectful enough comment-reply response I’ve had on this topic. Thank you.

P.P.S. Happy to talk privately too!

P.P.P.S. And the offer still stands for some lovely clips from future chapters, especially if you’re not considering continuing reading this story anymore; it’ll at least show what I’m talking about and what I’ve been working tirelessly towards. It’s hard—fucking hard—work to get past CACW and still like these characters together (my fic Paper Boats is probably one of my bigger testaments to that, oof) and I admit it’s still really really hard and I struggle with it. Covid isn’t the only reason I’ve sort of stalled out on that. But that’s more because I’m like “now what?” than not seeing any love between these three.

It’s a long journey. I knew it was going to be. But I like a challenge. :)

Take care, be well, stay safe, to you and all of yours.

And may you find many fics you love!

[desidarling123]

FATWS Episode 4: A Definitive* Rank Ordering of Most Interesting Character Arcs, from Yours Truly

(*And by definitive I mean completely subjective, but yanno.)

IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT BY NOW: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FATWS. SCROLL AWAY NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT EM.

Now let's get into it:

1. John Walker

Let me start by saying -- the near-universal John Walker hate from fandom has always been largely undeserved, and that's a hill I'll die on. It comes out of, I think, a visceral sort of need to slot him into an easily understood black-or-white binary when, truthfully, he is neither, and I think this episode was the BEST example of that. The sheer range he exhibits in such a short time -- a handful of character moments and action sequences in the larger fifty minute episode -- serve to humanize him in a way that's messy and intense and very, very real.

Because MAN. Whether you were already sympathetic to John's plight or not, the death of his partner, Lemar Hoskins, is viscerally disturbing. There's no other way to put it. FATWS has not shied away from some pretty crazy onscreen kills, but this one was arguably the worst in how brutally mundane it was. Lemar was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- a man fighting amongst a whole room of super soldiers. He never stood a chance -- and yet, he still jumped in harm's way to save his best friend, a man in whom he saw indisputable goodness, even when the man could not see it himself. There's an obvious Steve/Bucky parallel here, but with a much darker and more realistic twist -- not all of us, after all, can be lucky enough to receive super strength that could save our lives. Lemar was always a regular mortal -- and for that transgression, he pays the ultimate price.

And then. What happens after. Oh. My. God. I felt Walker's rage and hopelessness through the screen. The death of that Flag Smasher -- at the hands of Captain America, no less, a man he'd admitted to admiring as a child not ten minutes earlier -- was brilliantly executed.

With the final shot of the townspeople recording the brutal murder it becomes overwhelmingly clear -- we are witnessing the tragic fall of a man who was, for all his previous missteps, trying to be a hero. But John's moral compass just died a meaningless, horrible death -- and without him by his side, Walker has become a man unhinged.

2. Bucky Barnes and Ayo

I debated putting this one at number two because I'd argue there were some weird elements to the writing choices made (more on that in a sec), but, nevertheless. Bucky and Ayo get slot #2.

That flashback to Wakanda got me excited, but I didn't expect my heart to get shattered almost right away. Oh. My. God. His interactions with Ayo BROKE ME. There's so much nuance in a scene that’s incredibly well-acted by both Sebastian and Florence — you see both of them in a moment that is incredibly pivotal for the former’s character, and we see the latter reacting with sympathy, strength, and enormous grace. I had expected a scene like this to be with Shuri (given that we last saw her with Bucky in the post credits of Black Panther) but, given the context of what was being performed (a final test of the trigger words) having Ayo there made a lot of sense. She could take him down if need be — but as the scene so wonderfully shows, thankfully, she doesn’t have to. Instead, she’s there to let him know that for the first time in almost a century, he’s free again.

Now, let’s get into some of the unevenness. I had hoped, at the end of the last episode, that Bucky had at least informed the Dora Milaje of his liaison with Zemo — that, perhaps, it had been Bucky’s intent to hand him over all along. Alas, that was not the case — Bucky, it seems, had broken Zemo out with little thought to — or perhaps simply silent acceptance of — the consequences that would come with it.

This is the part, again, where the writing felt a bit weak. We know from the opening shots of the episode that Bucky cares enormously for Ayo — they’re not simply soldiers in arms, but they’ve shared a moment of immense vulnerability together. We ALSO know that he cares enormously for T’Challa, for Shuri, and for Wakanda as a country (see Infinity War, where he says “I love this place” in reference to his new home).

So that begs the question — why? Why did he betray them in that way, besides sheer desperation for a lead? And it’s not one, I’d argue, that we are given a satisfying answer to. Bucky has been reckless to an alarming degree in the last few episodes, but not informing Wakanda of his intention to liaise with the man who killed their king feels like a MAJOR tactical oversight. Is he willing to burn everything down to win this battle against the Flag Smashers? Are these his self destructive tendencies kicking in? OR, is he just truly so blinded by his emotions surrounding his past that he’s willing to throw away what could very well be his future? Only time will tell. But I hope he’ll do right by Ayo and Wakanda, as he clearly has a LOT to make up for.

3. Baron Helmut Zemo

God. I love Zemo’s psychotic, problematic ass. Say what you want, but the man is the most efficient of them all and he isn't a super soldier or an Avenger. Over and over, he shows that he's truly smarter than them and always has been.

He doesn't get personal. He doesn’t get distracted. He knows exactly what his goal is, and he executes on it. Mans didn’t hesitate to unload several bullets into Karli, and as soon as he figured out what the vials were, he destroyed all except one. Like I said, the most efficient person on the team. Has arguably done more to forward the cause against the Flag Smashers/continued existence of super soldiers than anyone else and it’s only been a few days. Between that, his god-awful dancing skills and him shooting the eugenicist scientist without so much as a blink of an eye, I think he's a man after my own heart. I’m almost sad to see him get what’s coming for him come next episode. (Because y’all, he did still kill King T’Chaka, and there’s no way the Dora leave here without taking him out on a silver platter and an apple stuffed in his mouth). But again, let’s see how that pans out.

4. Sam Wilson

WHAT are the writers doing to Sam, I swear to God? We didn't get too much introspection into where his head's at during this episode, and when we did the treatment felt uneven at best. I think, in trying to have him create a rapport with Karli, the writers have created some areas of commonality that didn’t always translate as they’d like. It was also weird to see Sam swinging from the well-earned cynicism of the previous two episodes to the sort of wide-eyed optimism Steve used to portray. Perhaps that was simply to try and show Karli an alternative, but as the episode showed, she clearly wasn't buying (though, in Sam’s defense, he came pretty close).

Something about Sam’s characterization in this episode didn’t really do it for me — I would argue episode one and two were both stronger in that regard. Nevertheless, I’m hopeful that they’ll correct it in the next one.

5. Karli Morgenthau

Her treatment is arguably the worst of them all. She is young, yeah, but she oscillates at an alarming rate between spouting class discourse that, by this episode, feels largely derivative (like someone scrolled on Twitter and put a bunch of keywords together in hopes of evoking an emotional audience response) and homicidal tendencies that show a brutal yet fundamentally messy underpinning. Unlike Zemo, she is still too easily confounded, and that will come to bite her in the ass sooner rather than later. (See: The Power Broker)

Perhaps I'm meant to be rooting for her on some degree but I really can't -- she's cruel and sloppy, which I cannot forgive.

Oh, and she killed Lemar Hoskins and threatened Sarah Wilson. Yikes.

Overall Episode Takeaway: A lot of shocking moments and great acting beats for everyone involved (arguably some of the best of the series thus far), but the weakness of the writing does crop up in parts. Whether they'll be corrected for going forward is to be determined...

UP NEXT: Meta pieces for Sam, Bucky, John, and Zemo all in the works!

[griefabyss69]

directors commentary on acceptance and negation pls!

this dynamic is super hard to find in fics and you did it sooo well while keeping them in character!

Thank you so much!! Making the characters believable is like my #1 goal most of the time and this one was very heavy on situations that we definitely don't see in canon LMAO

Okay first of all - same! The "lost bet / rivals / begrudgingly super into this" dynamic is one of my favorite things to read and I also find it hard to find written properly. There's a needle to thread there for sure, and people often go too far one way or another (for MY tastes, this isn't a moral judgement).

Rivals to lovers is like catnip to me when done well - two people who are at odds with each other but obsessed enough to not just ignore each other, instead they perhaps concoct a little bet that ends with one of them cumming in their jeans, or something :' )

I think Steve and Eddie have a GREAT canon set up for this dynamic, and I know I've read it before and found it satisfying, though that dynamic resolved before they got to the sex. Even if you do a post-S4 Eddie lives, there's still plenty of rival potential!

So in this fic in particular, I had the theme (forniphilia) and a little tiny summary of an idea (I have them for my whole philia series, which is NOT how I usually write), and so I didn't just open a blank document and then get possessed for 7 hours and have this out of nowhere.

Usually I get a vibe/sliver of an idea/a sentence or a theme, and then I start writing and usually it flows in a satisfying enough way that I don't mind when it doesn't go how I initially thought it would, that's typical for me and how I do anything really. But I had to keep this on the rails!

Luckily those rails were for a train that's been living in me for longer than I've been writing for ST. When I started the paraphilia series the fics were all supposed to be short - it was mostly for a writing exercise type of thing, warm ups, etc. Buuuuut this one was written in two sessions, edited in another two, and turned out to be like 18K.

I don't use a word program that has a word counter, because that's distracting to me (my editing is done in one though, it lags too much for my typing speed anyway, I have an old laptop, but this set up works well enough for now), so sometimes I'll check on the wordcount. I remember checking this one at around 3K like 'alright! Better wrap it up!'.

Yeah.

I had a lot of fucking fun with this one, walking the tight rope of "okay they're horny as hell and this is getting unrealistic, but I'll keep the emotional/social thread of it properly done". And I imagine between two kinky ass people this kind of situation IS realistic, even when they're rivals!

This was honestly a really fun character exploration of a different kind of Steve than I usually write - a lot of my writing is an Eddie POV to begin with, but then either it's Steve being series or Steve being horny, not this. I think it's more well rounded, and usually I don't have him pushing his limits like this - in my head that's more of an Eddie thing to do, he's a bit of a thrill seeker - but in a situation where he has something bigger than just following what he wants to do, that's a good moment to discover some new shit about himself. Growth happens in a lot of ways, sometimes it's when you have to get on your hands and knees to your rival can use you as a footstool, you know how it is!

Steve's experience was a fun balance, including his struggle to keep from just giving into the easier feeling of believing Eddie's being kind when he has no real evidence of that - he's being smart tbh, whether he's right or wrong. Not letting himself fully sink into the experience even though it was so tempting, like a warm bath after a cold day. Getting a little sucked into the fuzzy space anyway, enjoying it despite everything. Lots for him to think about!!!

Another thing to balance was Eddie, how mean he was going to be, any potential consent issues - it's one thing to order a person around, another thing to bring sex into it - usually with this kind of limit pushing there's trust involved, talking beforehand, etc. But this wasn't like that, there had to be a progression that was really based on like, a few failsafes and trusting each other to not go too far. Then Eddie taking care of him while still ordering him around - that was obvious on purpose, both to the reader and to Steve - because otherwise Steve would've just left and while Eddie loves that he got to torment him and edge him and then watched him ruin his own orgasm by accident, that level of intensity can't just stop without a soft place to land.

I gotta say. The reception to this one definitely surprised me, I don't think I've had people asking for a sequel more than with this one - I gotta stick to my rule with it though, this was a one shot. I simply have one hundred million WIPs (around 50 now that I WANT to finish, and like 100 more ideas I hope to write… as unrealistic as that is). People have been SO nice and supportive in the comments on this one, both on the fic and then either in my inbox or DMs on here!

That doesn't mean I'm not exploring Steve and forniphilia in other fics though, I have a WIP that doesn't have the rival to lovers dynamic, it focuses more on the kink itself. Before writing Acceptance and Negation I knew I was kind of interested in exploring it, but knowing I have an interest and getting around to it are two different things, but writing this really helped me start with that!

But I do really hope to figure out this dynamic in another situation, maybe another paraphilia fic because rivals and kinky shit goes REALLY well together in terms of kicking up the tension. (In fact, Waves - the saliromania / spit fic - was going to be rivals, but I actually had that one started as it's own thing before I realized I liked it much better than the little summary I had for that kink. No regrets there, but there's plenty of room in my ideas for more rivalry!!!)

Okay this is long as HELL so I'm going to end it here before I start writing another thousand words!! Thank you again anon <3

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "What If...Captain Carter was the First Avenger" from Marvel Studios' What If...

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Back when Marvel Studios announced the new lineup of films and shows, I was admittingly underwhelmed. Nothing we've seen so far has been poorly written, far from it, but during the announcement, nothing really popped out at me as worth getting excited for. That is, except for one series: Marvel Studios' What If... An animated series that changes the canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all through the simple question. The question being, "What if this happened instead of that."

From the get-go, I was sold on this idea. I'm a sucker for hypothetical scenarios, thinking up all the ways of how some of my favorite stories in fiction could be drastically different thanks to one tiny change. Some might call that "Fanfiction the Series," and while you're not wrong, I fail to see how that's a criticism. Because fanfiction can be fun...just as long as you ignore the sick freaks, sure, but it still can be fun! So whether Marvel Studio's What If... is fanfiction or not, it still didn't change how excited I was to watch it. Was it all worth the hype? Well, to answer that question requires spoilers, so keep that in mind as we dive deep into Marvel's most ambitious project yet.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

The Watcher: Gonna get the generals out of the way before I talk about what I specifically like about this episode. Ok? Ok.

Now, using the Watcher as the narrator for this series is just perfect. What If... already has a similar energy to The Twilight Zone: An anthology series that takes viewers to new and mysterious realities all through the guidance of an omniscient narrator. And using the Watcher as that type of narrator might just be the second-best choice...number one would be Stan Lee, obviously, but...he's dead now. May he rest in peace.

I haven't read that many comics, so there's not much that I know about the Watcher's character aside from a ten-second Google search. But something tells me that a character described as a celestial being that observes and records the events surrounding the galaxy sounds like the exact type of omniscience to guide us through the unknown. All added with Jeffrey Wright's performance, who really does convey a character that sounds like he's as old as time and wise beyond his years. Plus, it's pretty cool that such a seemingly odd character now technically plays a major role in the MCU canon. Comics are weird, and if the Watcher proves anything, it's better to embrace that weirdness than deny it.

The Animation: Looks like someone watched Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.

That really is the feeling I got when watching this. What If... doesn't look as good as Spiderverse (Nothing can be as good as Spiderverse), but the idea is still there as it combines primarily CGI animation with a few hand-drawn elements. It makes certain scenes just pop and, at times, even makes specific shots look like they're straight from panels in a comic book. Besides, while Spiderverse still looks better, that doesn't mean the animation isn't phenomenal in What If... The scenery looks gorgeous, the CGI models moderately match their live-action counterparts, the expressions are fantastic, and movements are as smooth as butter. There was definitely some money that went into this series to make it look as good as it did, and my eyeballs were more than grateful because of it. Especially when it comes to--

The Action: Holy s**t, was it a good thing that this series was animated!

The MCU has had its fair share of great fight scenes in the past, but it always felt restricted to what the big superhero fights could be due to everything needing to look "realistic." That all changes in What If... Because now that this series is animated, we can finally chuck realism out the window and allow these characters to be as epic as they were in the comics. The movements are swift, the blows look like they hurt, and best of all, you actually get to see characters fighting each other! There are no random cuts to hide the stunt doubles or weird camera angles to avoid audiences seeing how ugly the CGIed replacements are. We get to see all of the action with zero restraint, thanks to the fact that animation is limitless and allows writers to get away with literally anything. And shows like this make me wonder, "Why the hell isn't the MCU animated?"

Peggy as Captain Carter: It's here that we get into the specifics, and by golly, do I love me some Peggy Carter making a return. And what a return she made!

Seeing Peggy kick Nazi ass as Captain Carter is as awesome as it sounds as she gives a new definition of a "Strong, independent woman." She took s**t from no one and was more than willing to destroy anybody who said differently. It's a ton of fun for fans (the ones who aren't sexist, at least) and even fun for Peggy as well now that she gets a chance to wreck shop. However, that in itself could cause problems. If you watched Agent Carter (a great show, by the way), then you'll know that Peggy doesn't act as...somewhat meatheaded as she does here. As she said it herself, she's "usually more covert than this." And she is, as she was pretty much the first superspy in the MCU, who's impressive through how she effortlessly infiltrates her way to winning the day with diminutive requirements for fighting. So stripping that away gets rid of a core part of what makes her character so interesting. Although, in fairness, you could blame the fact that the reason she's acting like this is that the super-soldier serum is messing with her brain a bit. We've seen through U.S. Agent the reciprocations of the wrong person taking the serum, and while Peggy is far from the worst pick, there are hints of why Steve Rodgers was the best choice. Still, even though it's not the same Peggy Carter, that doesn't mean Captain Carter is a poor addition to the hero roster in the MCU. She's cool in all the right ways, even though they're drastically different from what made her compelling, to begin with.

Howard Stark: Another character I'm more than happy to see again!

Howard didn't leave that much of a grand of an impression in Captain America: The First Avenger, but in Agent Carter (Seriously, great show), he was a blast. You can just tell he was Tony Stark's father through all the ways he fast-talks in and out of problems and brilliantly comes up with solutions thanks to being tech-savvy. The main difference between Howard and Tony, however, is that Howard prefers to stay on the sidelines, where Tony learned to be more proactive. You get a sense of that in this episode. Because even though he goes to save the day, you can tell that he would rather be anywhere else. And, as a bonus, Howard's just funny. Probably not up there as one of the funniest characters in the franchise (Paul Rudd's Ant-Man reigns supreme), but he still cracks me up more times than not. Howard may be nothing more than a side character, but he'll always win me over no matter how small of a role he has.

Steve Rodgers in the Hydra Stomper: Don't mind me. Just admiring the fact that despite being crippled and skinny, Steve Rodgers still finds a way to fight the good fight, which is who Steve is to me. One of the best things about The First Avenger is that it fully understands the hero that is Captain America. Serum or not, he will do all he can to do the right thing and won't give up despite how many times others tell him he should. So if Steve's going to fly around in a suped-up Iron Man suit that's appropriately named "The Hydra Stomper," then Steve'll f**king soar. Because he is a gosh dang superhero, no matter what name he takes at the end of the day.

Fast-Forwarding Through Events: Some fans might take issues with this. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see all the little changes that Captain Carter makes to the story, but realistically that's not the best choice to make. Let's be honest, there's not that much to show other than what this episode did, and doing a full-on rewrite of Captain America: The First Avenger would have rubbed some fans the wrong way. Besides, from what I can tell, most of the What If... comics are one-shots that very rarely branch out into longer arcs. The primary goal is less to write this large-scale story and more of this self-contained narrative that does what it precisely delivers: Show fans a glimpse of what would happen if this happened instead of that. That's what we were given, and I can't really complain that much. I would have loved to have seen more, but I can learn to be happy with what I got.

Colonel Flynn Taking Credit: This guy is sexist and an idiot, and that's why I hate him...but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't at least chuckle when he said everything was his idea. It's such a scumbag move that I couldn't help but find the humor in it.

(Like, what even was that scene where Peggy was pissed at Steve kissing a girl. THEY WEREN'T EVEN DATING !)nd Steve falling in love inThe First Avenger, which certainly wasn't helped by how they had these dumbass misunderstandings of each thinking the other was dating someone else. Here, they at least get to interact, confiding in one another about their insecurities and offer support when needed. And while it may be a little rushed, I'm more willing to believe their romance in under thirty minutes than I did in over two hours. It could have been better, but it also could have been much, much worse.

(Like, what even was that scene where Peggy was pissed at Steve kissing a girl. THEY WEREN'T EVEN DATING AT THE TIME!)

“I won’t tell you anything.”/”He told me everything.”: That's the Peggy Carter I know and love! Added with a solid joke, too.

Steve’s Pratfall: It's nice to know that no matter what universe we see, Marvel is still funny.

Peggy’s Sacrifice: Much like Peggy and Steve's romance, I buy Peggy's sacrifice way more than Steve's. Several fans already pointed out how it makes no sense for Steve to crash the plane into the icy waters when it seemed like he had enough control to land it or could have easily jumped out after aiming for the crash landing. Here, there's a more legitimate reason why Peggy sacrifices herself. The monster was undefeatable, and the only way to stop it was to push it back through the portal. Peggy, being the only one strong enough to do so at the moment, was the only option, and there was no way where she didn't end up going through with the monster. Even her return makes more sense, as I think her being lost to time and space sounds more believable than Steve surviving being frozen in ice. Something no mortal man should live through. Peggy's sacrifice proves that while the MCU can't change its cannon past, the writers learn from their mistakes and make something better.

WHAT I DISLIKED

The Reasoning Behind Peggy Becoming Captain Carter: So, the idea that one small change can greatly alter the story we knew is a great one, and it's one of the main reasons why I was excited about this series...but how does Peggy staying in the room cause the Hydra agent to detonate the bomb early? I understand the ripples that come from the Butterfly Effect, but I feel like that's too big of a leap to reason how Peggy ends up taking the serum instead.

Colonel Flynn: How is it possible that this guy is somehow even more of a pain in the ass than the general he replaced? At least Chester Phillips had the decency to respect Agent Carter!

Red Skull is Still on the Dull Side: Red Skull isn't an awful villain, but he wasn't really a great one. It's the same here, as he's just as forgettable and wooden an episode of television as he was in a full-length movie. But at least he had a cooler death this time.

Sebastian Stan is Not a Great Voice Actor: He's not awful, but his talent really doesn't shine in this regard. Some people think that being an actor and a voice actor is the same thing, but it's not always the case. Through live-action, actors are given a chance to express emotion through their expressions, movement, and voice. With voice acting, actors still have to convey emotions, but strictly through their voice. Meaning that actors like Sebastian Stan are limited to what they're used to and can stumble a bit when trying to perform in a field of acting they're unfamiliar with. You can tell he was trying his best, but this type of thing can take far more practice for others to perfect.

“Whew. Thanks. You almost ripped my arm off.”: ...hhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHA! HA HA! Ah...oh man...I, uh...I felt the internal bleeding with that one. Wow. Just...wow.

Bucky Leaving After Steve “Died”: Ok, now that's the biggest bout of bulls**t I've ever heard. BUCKY WOULD BE WITH STEVE 'TILL THE END OF THE LINE AND WOULD NOT HAVE LEFT THAT QUICKLY!

...This episode did Bucky dirty, didn't it?

IN CONCLUSION

I'd say that "What If...Captain Carter was the First Avenger" is an A-. It's still a solid start of what I can already tell will be a great series, but some elements could have used some polishing out. I loved it, but it wasn't as bloody brilliant as it could have been.

(And I meant it: WATCH AGENT CARTER! It's pleasantly surprising!)

[cowboyworf]

a lot of city activists, especially ones who grew up wealthy, have this preconceived notion that all impoverished rednecks are homophobic monsters. even more so, they will reject impoverished rednecks who still have misconceptions about lgbt stereotypes, even if they are lgbt friendly and like. that is not something gay people who live in poor, rural areas often care about. we are more worried about getting our asses kicked than if uncle jim loves us, but thinks all lesbians play softball.

a primary example of this is my friend's dad. he is the quintessential redneck. he dropped out of school at age 12 to get a job and support his family. he has smoked cigarettes even longer. the majority of his life has been spent working farms, doing 16 hour days at factory jobs, and driving big rigs. he only eats what he hunts and grows.

when my friend came out as gay, he was understandably nervous- not because his dad openly hated gay people, but because he never mentioned them. his dad's response? "ah, i think they got gay porn at that there sex shop yer cousin susan works at." that's it. does he still have that stereotypical view of lgbt people in his head? yes. did he come home from work saying "steve at work told me about some homersexual email site on yer phone called the grind"? yes. did he start turning on ru paul's drag race and buying cher cd's because he thought that's what all gay men like? yes. did he bring home a gay porn called "men in oil" or something from that there sex shop cousin susan worked at? yes.

does my friend feel happy, accepted, and safe? yes. and that's the entire goal. his dad also happily serves deer stew to the boyfriends he has met. his dad also cut out any family members or friends that didn't respond well to my friend being gay. his dad also gifted wigs and nail polish to my friend on christmas when my friend said he wanted to start doing drag. his dad never batted an eye when my friend started hanging out more with people from the lgbt community. he invited us to holidays and offered to teach me how to shoot a gun.

educating people is great, but we have to remember that not everyone is going to adhere to the specific guidelines of activism, especially when they're too poor and too worried about how they're going to put food on the table to follow any politics, let alone the how-to of being an unproblematic ally. the only time this man ever voted in his entire life was to vote against trump because it was important to his son. and to kids in conservative, rural towns, that's more than enough. in conservative, rural towns, we don't care have the community to care about whether or not our families say vaguely insensitive remarks, as long as we are accepted and as long as we are safe.

the standards wealthy activists who have grown up in progressive areas with plenty of resources and a thriving lgbt community are not realistic for everyone and, while people like my friend's dad are still learning, what you call the bare minimum means everything to us.

[kalee60]

2020 Fic Year in Review

Thanks so much @dixons-mama for the tag - this is a good one!!

Total number of completed stories:

26 (that's, like... one story every 2 weeks 🤯)

Total number of words:

445,303

Fandoms written in:

Marvel MCU (Stucky)

Merlin BBC (Merthur)

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?

Ummmm... Yeah, just a little more than I thought. Although the pandemic hit, I worked full time the entire year and built a house, and many other events happened as well - so I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished... I'm actually a little shocked to be honest!

What’s your own favourite story of the year?

All of them hold a special place in my heart to be honest, and each of them have different components that I love, (I adore disaster Bucky in Subliminal Advertising for example, and Jock but sweet Steve in Plug it in) but probably the one that kicked my butt but was also so interesting to world build for, was my post apocalyptic fic - The only hope for me is you - I really loved how it turned out in the end.

Did you take any writing risks this year?

I guess you'd call it a risk - but I tried my hand at writing a total different style - fantasy - Of Shadow Realms and Misconceptions - which I actually really enjoyed, and it's so different to anything I've done before... The reception was... Interesting, as it wasn't my usual disaster Bucky or fluffy style fic.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year?

So I already have a full and busy year coming up - but yes, a few writing goals!

Writing and gifting my gorgeous MTH bidder her two fics

Completing my AU extravaganza (only 26 to go... 😳)

Total blackout on Stucky Bingo

Sugar daddy Collab with @the1918 (we will get there I promise Lynne!)

More prompt challenges with the outstandingly talented @martelldoran & @darter-blue

Writing the stories I want to tell, no matter if I think they will be popular - this is always a hard one to accomplish though...

Most popular story of the year.

Had to be my fake dating shrunkyclunks Push The Button - the reception for this was overwhelming, and it's my first (and only fic) to hit 1000 kudos which is crazy! But more than that - I met some amazing people through it.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: 

To be completely honest - none. Because people will pick up a fic and either like it, or not. And you can't please everyone, so the fact that each and every story I threw out into the universe this year received comments (authors hoard these like dragons with gold by the way) and kudos, was amazing. Obviously you always hope stories will be popular and pull in a large readership, but realistically, not every story can, so I wouldn't want to be ungrateful to name a story and lessen the importance of the people who did enjoy it (I hope my rambling makes sense 😂)

Most fun story to write.

Hands down Define Your World - this story happened from a conversation with @allegedlyann about urban dictionary - and I sat down one day, coffee and music in hand and about 6 hours later it was written and I couldn't stop laughing. What the hell did I just write?? But people loved it - phew... My pop up ads for months afterwards was a delight - who knew so many companies wanted to sell me sex toys 🙄

Most unintentionally telling story:

So I assume this means, the one you put a lot of yourself into. Which would be every story, you always leave a part of yourself behind - but... My soulmate fic, Choose your destiny, I really poured a lot of my emotion into Steve not feeling worthy (we have all been there) and how it would feel to be loved unconditionally for who you are and not how you're perceived. And that all consuming love when you find that one person who just gets you, and you know you'll not have to navigate life alone (you know, the light and fluffy stuff... Lol)

Biggest disappointment.

So it's really lame - but I had a goal of completing a total black out of my Bucky Barnes bingo card - and the last two months of this year kicked me in the butt and I just didn't get there - next time though - for sure!

Biggest surprise.

The biggest surprise for me, was the friendships I formed. And not just people you call friends that you occasionally reblog and comment on occasionally. These are people who I've gotten to know properly, their lives, their quirks, their gorgeous and sometimes cheeky personalities - so much so that when overseas travel is a thing again, we will totally meet up if we are in the same place at the same time. You know who you are 😘

~*~*~*~

So this got longer than expected, but it was really cool to go back through everything and realise that I did accomplish quite a lot this year! Tagging with no pressure at all @darter-blue @martelldoran @the1918 @thegodswife @indyluckycharlie @oh-i-swear-writes @howdoyousleep3 @ixalit @trekchik @hanitrash @thewaythatwerust & @becassine and of course the million people I didn't tag who also want to do this (tag me back, I love hearing what people think of their writing and I might find some new fics to read) 🥰

[callmeblake]

JULY 31st, 2019

Frank Iero Reflects on “Barriers,” Growing Up and Making Mistakes: “The Universe Has a Way of Figuring Things Out”

Photos & Interview: Shannon Shumaker

With an ever-changing lineup of musicians and a new band name accompanying each release, rebirth and reinvention are a common theme among Frank Iero’s three solo albums. From 2014’s Stomachaches, which Iero admits initially wasn’t meant to be released, to 2016’s emotional release, Parachutes, which arrived just weeks after the band was involved in a life-threatening traffic accident, each album serves as a snapshot of Iero’s life - something born out of necessity and a desire to create. Now on Barriers, his third solo release with his new band, the Future Violents, those needs haven’t changed, but Iero’s outlook on life has.

More below the cut

Like the two albums that came before it, Barriers wasn’t something that Iero planned on writing or releasing. As he puts it, it was an opportunity that he just couldn’t pass up when the now-members of the Future Violents (previous collaborator Evan Nestor on guitar and backing vocals, Murder By Death’s Matt Armstrong on bass, Thursday’s Tucker Rule on drums and Kayleigh Goldsworthy on piano, organ and violin) suddenly became available. The resulting twelve songs, recorded to tape with Steve Albini, are easily Iero’s most dynamic, honest and fearless work to-date. The reason? Because he wasn’t afraid to make mistakes.

It’s all in the name; Barriers is all about breaking down walls and taking risks, and that’s reflected directly in the sonic landscape and lyrical content of the album. From the hopeful opener, “A New Day’s Coming” and the dark anthem, “Young and Doomed” all the way to the sorrowful “24k Lush” and explosive “Moto Pop,” Barriers showcases an immense amount of growth from Iero, who even admits that the album is his favorite of the three so far. And lyrically, there’s plenty to unpack on the album, whether you’re sixteen and think you know it all, in your mid-twenties and unsure of what you’re doing, or like Iero, in your thirties and finally realizing that you don’t have it all figured out - and that’s okay.

The Prelude Press: You’re out on the road right now in support of your new album, Barriers. Now that it has been out for a little bit and you and fans have had the chance to digest it, what are some of your favorite things about the album?

Frank Iero: I think one of my favorite things is just playing with the people in this band. It’s so rewarding to play with this caliber of musicians, just people that I’ve looked up to for a long time and wanted to be in a band with for a while. And then you know, you work tirelessly on the songs and then finally get to kind of unleash them into the world. To play songs that you wrote together, play them live together, is a wonderful thing.

That actually sounds simple, but the first few records, I didn't get to do that, you know what I mean? Like, I wrote something on my own, for or the first one. I had my friend, Jarrod Alexander, play some live drums on it. But we didn't tour together, so it was like, teaching those songs to new people. And then for Parachutes, that was me, my brother in law, Evan, and our drummer at the time, Matt, but we didn't have a bass player, we didn’t have a full band. So again, we had to teach a newcomer to play the songs. So it always felt like you didn't get to play it with the people there that wrote it and recorded it. So finally, I get to do that, and it feels so wonderful, so powerful. Like, the songs just feel so powerful.

And it’s an actual band now, and not just you.

Exactly, exactly. And how boring [laughs].

What do you think they were able to bring to the record during the writing process? I’m sure they had some input as well.

Oh absolutely. You know, everyone in this band is a very accomplished, talented musician. So, there was no slouch, it was just impressive, impressive. I just always felt like, I've always gotten better as a player when I've gotten put in a room with people that are better than me. You kind of force yourself to reach a new level. And that’s how it went. You know, being in the room, recording together simultaneously, recording live to tape at Electric, it was just everything that this record needed. Because you get this - and not in like a bad way - but it’s almost like one-upping. You’re impressed by somebody and you’re inspired so you want to keep doing that for other people, and it forces you to play at a higher level.

That makes a lot of sense. I think in any art form, if you are challenged or if you have people inspiring you, you’re going to work a lot harder.

I totally agree. On this record too, there’s songs on this record, like “The Host” and “Ode To Destruction” that started with elements of aggression or riffs that Evan brought to the table and “24k Lush” is something that started with Matt. So that’s a new thing too, to have these outside influences come in and we work on them together and make it a full band recording which is really awesome.

So I mean, it’s kind of in the name - Barriers is all about breaking down walls and challenging yourself and doing shit that scares you, so did you have any goals when you first started working on the album, or anything that you wanted to try that you hadn’t before?

Yeah, I think a lot of it. I think sometimes, you grow as an artist and you almost put yourself in this box, or people expect you to be put in this box. I think on this record, maybe even more so than any other that I've ever done, I felt like there were no rules, and I could kind of chase the things that I've always wanted to chase, you know? To write a song like “A New Day’s Coming” or to work on a song like “Six Feet Down Under,” these are styles and feels that I've always enjoyed, loved and wished I could put forth with my own spin on it, but just maybe always felt a little self-conscious or felt like, “Well, you know, people think I should be doing this other thing. Maybe I should just only stick to what I know or what I've done.” So that was a huge thing too, to break down that barrier, and to feel like, “You know what? I can do anything I want to do.” And sometimes, just attempting it and failing is rewarding, you know? But this time around, I think we really did push that envelope and succeeded every time.

Well I will say that having listened to the album a few times, it’s easily the most wide range of sounds you’ve done so far, too.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I think that was the thing too, working with Steve and knowing what to expect with him. Like, I knew that we were going to be able to chase the tones on this record, and not really have to worry about, “Oh no, we have this song that’s kind of half written, we’re going into the studio, we're going to need a lot of time for that.” I knew what the song needed to sound like, I knew what I need to say in it, so the time was really spent on finding the correct sonic landscape for it.

Lyrically, one of the things that resonated with me is, when you’re a teenager or even in your early twenties, you have this mentality of “Oh, I’ll have my shit figured out by the time I’m this age,” and this album is very honest and real, and it’s obvious that you’re still figuring shit out. So how do you feel that you’ve grown with the writing of the album?

That’s a very good question. And that’s the thing, when you’re a teenager, you feel like, “Oh, no, I got this all figured out, I'm good, don't worry about it.” And then, around twenty-one in the real world you're finally like, “Oh, cool, I get to use all this stuff that I know because I know everything so well.” And then at twenty-five, you go crazy, because it's not that way, you know? And then by thirty, you’re like, “Nah, nah I got it figured out now.” And then you start to go crazy a little bit again and you finally realize by your mid-thirties, it's like, “Hey, guess what, I don't know anything, I'm still learning, and that's cool. I'm fine with that.”

I think that that realization that like, our parents didn't have it figured out, either… You’re told to believe that grown-ups have it figured out. You can feel safe now. If you knew then what you know now, you would never feel safe. So to be an adult now, and realize that I’m still learning, I don’t have it all figured out and that’s okay, I think that’s the most comfortable I’ve ever been. It’s okay to not know and to still continuously want to learn. I think that’s when you run into problems, too, even in an artistic sense, is when you’re like, “Oh, nah man, I’ve taken lessons, I’ve played in bands, I’ve sold records, I’m good, I know what I’m doing…” It’s like, fuck you, no you don’t. [laughs]. Once you think you’re done learning, that’s when you die - it’s over, it’s dead.

And you get lazy, and nothing changes.

Exactly, yeah.

So, branching off of that, I know it’s probably night and day, but how have your goals for your music - or life in general - changed since you first started playing in bands to where you are now?

Oh man. Recently, like, in the past three years, I realized how important my time is. And happiness. You know, I used to subscribe to that no regrets thing, and I don’t think that that's realistic. I think it's actually kind of asinine. I think that you should have regrets. I think that living life without regrets is actually not living at all. I think you should get hurt and you should hurt other people, and you should feel sorry about that. You should know what kind of weight words carry, and your actions, and that's the way that you grow as a person.

But you know, I also had this thing in me where I was very much a people pleaser, trying to make everyone happy. I think that as I've grown, I realized that you can't do that, because when you do that, you're you're definitely not happy, and you’ve definitely not made everyone else happy. No one is happy at that point. So you do the best that you can, and ultimately, you have to do what makes your soul feel good, you know? So if you can sleep well at night, then you're doing a pretty good job.

“So you do the best that you can, and ultimately, you have to do what makes your soul feel good…”

That doesn’t mean you’re not making any mistakes.

No, you’re still making tons of mistakes [laughs]. Because we’re human and we have to, and that’s fine. That’s kind of what’s so intriguing and beautiful about us. But yeah, it’s about just spending your time wisely, and spending it with people that you care about.

Is there anything that you wish you could say to your past self?

Oh man, yeah. If I could just let my past self know, like, “Listen, don’t worry so much, it’s going to be okay.” I think I would have had so much more fun. I was definitely - and I still am - always a worrier. Like, oh my gosh, is this gonna work out? I need to know the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing and plan so far ahead that you didn't really enjoy the moment you were in. And I think that's my biggest thing. I wish I had enjoyed it more.

And then the next day you think about it and you’re like, “God, what the hell was I thinking?”

I know. I think that’s the thing - ultimately the universe does kind of figure it out. I had this discussion recently with a friend, and I do think it's kind of true, that the universe has like this roadmap - these signs - right? And artists are the only ones that can really see them. It’s not like we're these amazing creative beings, it's just that we see the things that nobody else sees, and we create from that. You know what I mean? And that’s not saying that you can't just ignore it and deviate from that path, but the universe has a way of figuring things out, and I think that if we were to just kind of be a little bit more calm and feel more comfortable in our own skin, we could enjoy it a little bit more.

You’ve mentioned before that you kind of never expected to do one solo record and now you’re at a third one. I assume that you didn’t plan to write it, and it kind of just happened?

Yeah. No, that’s exactly what happened. It’s weird, you know I wrote the first record not thinking anyone was ever going to hear it. It was really just for me to just have. I was dead set that I was going to do something completely different than music. I was like, “Alright, I did music, I did it with a band, I did everything I ever wanted to do, I’m gonna try something new.” But I just had these songs in my head, so I was going to keep track of them, so that when I become like sixty years old, I can show my kids that I wrote a record. Then someone heard it and passed it along, and before I knew it, there was interest in it, and blah, blah, blah life happened.

Now I’m on my third one, and I think it’s the best one. I don’t know, it’s weird. Again, this does branch off of what we were talking about. Life happens, and the universe kind of just tells you what you should be doing. You can listen to that or not. I’m pretty ecstatic that I did. I don’t know what else I’d do. I’ve done this for my entire life, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, is write songs and have people sing along and play shows. Ever since I was literally six or seven years old, that was my dream. I started my first band when I was eleven, played my first show at thirteen, went on my first tour at seventeen, and now I’m gonna be thirty-eight, so I guess this is it. I guess this is what I’m supposed to do.

“Life happens, and the universe kind of just tells you what you should be doing. You can listen to that or not. I’m pretty ecstatic that I did.”

Yeah, there’s no going back now. I’ve talked to a few people about it, and it’s funny because any musician will say the same thing that it’s shitty and stressful and there are some days where you really want to quit, but it’s kind of like an addiction. You can’t.

Oh totally. For me it’s like breathing. You can’t not do it. You have to create because you have to create. Does it love you back? No, not all of the time, at all. And is everything that you create wonderful and fantastic? Fuck no. It’s not always easy, either, but you still have to do it. I don’t know any other way.

So even if I did, all those years ago in 2014, if I had decided, “No, I’m gonna do something different,” I’d still be writing songs. It’s in my DNA.

So I’m guessing this is a daunting question, but what’s next, then? Do you know what you want to do after this?

I don’t know. I really don’t. Sometimes I think like, a trilogy, that’s pretty good. Go out on that. But you know, who knows what other opportunities will present themselves. I didn’t think I was gonna write another record after Parachutes and the accident happened three years ago, and I was like, “You know what, I can’t do this anymore - I don’t know how to do this anymore.” And then all of these musicians that I wanted to work with for twenty years were free and wanted to make a record, and how am I going to say no to that opportunity? I can’t.

So, what do I think is going to come next? Probably another opportunity that I can’t say no to. [laughs]. Who knows.

STAY CONNECTED WITH FRANK IERO: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

Frank Iero and the Future Violents are currently in the midst of a headlining tour in support of Barriers alongside Geoff Rickly of Thursday. For more information, tour dates and tickets, click HERE.

SHANNON SHUMAKER

[lostgirlrewatch]

1x09 - Fae Day

Written by: Jeremy Boxen

Directed by: Steve DiMarco

Original Air Date: November 14, 2010

I’m back, bitches.

There’s like 130 people who follow this blog now, which is crazy. I don’t know why you followed, whether it’s to reblog gifsets, to read/skim the episode blog posts, or because of gay girls. But thank you. I took a long break because real life is a bitch. And also because Lost Girl episode 1x09 sucks.

My plan is to be back permanently and post on a more consistent basis. My goal is to post one episode commentary every Sunday around 5PM EST, give or take a few hours.

As I write this, I am sitting here drinking very strong coffee and eating an underwhelming Walmart blueberry muffin, having just watched 1x09.

Wow, that episode was boring. In fact, I had completely forgotten about it.

The premise is that Bo is upset by the events at the end of last episode—Vex getting away without providing any information on her mom, Lu Ann supposedly being executed—and wants to “take a break” from the Fae, which she does by going to the Dal with Kenzi for a drink, where a ton of Fae are partying. (Okay.)

It’s a holiday called La Showshang--

--(no, I am not looking up how it is actually spelled) where Light and Dark Fae call a truce and are allowed to fuck each other. And also they can’t fight. Then a banshee screams and predicts that someone at the party will die, and Bo decides to help out.

Does it sound stupid yet?

No? Okay, then how about this? While Bo and Dyson are off investigating, Kenzi stays behind and randomly develops a crush on this milquetoast motherfucker with no personality.

So it turns out this guy, Sean, is the one who is predicted to die. Some drama ensues between him and his estranged brother, that is really, truly, very interesting, I assure you, it is super interesting. (It’s not.) Spoilers: the dad did it. Sean dies at the end anyway.

Now that we’ve got the plot out of the way, let’s at least talk about how this episode contributes to the overall arc. Or does it?

Last episode, Trick secretly saved Lu Ann from execution so that he could find out more information about Bo’s birth mom. He hasn’t told anyone that he did this, except Dyson (when asked). Dyson, understandably, is a bit peeved that they are still keeping Bo in the dark about “all this.” 

What exactly is “all this,” you ask? I can’t remember if it’s been revealed in the show prior to now, but Dyson name drops an “Aife” who is on her way to town, so I think it’s safe to say that both Trick and Dyson are aware of who Bo’s birth mother is, and are deliberately keeping it from her. Ah, yes. The most important thing in her life, the thing that haunts her day in and day out, the thing that Dyson literally saw her go apeshit on Vex about and then break down crying about afterwards. They just casually know it, and aren’t telling her. Bo also thinks that Lu Ann is dead, so that’s doubly cruel. Dyson is just as guilty for keeping Bo in the dark as Trick is, but at least he has the decency to be upset about it and insist that they stop doing it.

Trust. What a wonderful, elusive thing. Hm.

Dyson and Trick are cowards and failures.

Trick is like Dollar Tree Giles. Just as much of an asshole, but with less of a personality, and less interesting and likable. Rupert Giles being an asshole works because by the time we realize what a fucking dick he is, we have grown to know him well and care about him, and his assholery is the casual, patronizing, well-meaning kind that makes him extra realistic. It hits hard. I mean, sure, I hate Giles, but I also love Giles for the character he is. Trick is just…I feel like they tried to make him the Giles of Lost Girl, and it falls flat because we have no reason to give a shit about him. He just comes across as a grumpy, neurotic old fuck who is extremely cruel to Bo (someone who is *spoilers* rather close to him) for seemingly no reason.

Dyson: How long are we gonna not tell Bo about this?

Trick: For as long as we can.

Great. Nice talking to you, Trick.

Dyson also calls Trick the “Blood King” in this scene, so now we know he is apparently really important.

Kenzi has another run-in with death in this episode. If you vaguely followed the trajectory of this season so far, have you noticed that Kenzi seems to have an interaction with “death,” as a concept, in every other episode? It sure feels that way.

I like that Kenzi’s reaction to finding out Sean is going to die is, “You know what? Fuck no. If you are going to die, you are going to die without regrets.” In her own wise words (or those of Ludacris), regret is fo suckas. Bitch. 

Kenzi’s reaction to death is always rebellion, or at the very least, she is super into the idea of living life to the fullest while you still can. She gives me trauma vibes of, “Death is always around the corner, so I’m always seeking thrills and always trying to live without regrets.”

Sean dies at the end, right in her arms.

Girl, you knew him for one day.

But it’s still awful. Kenzi has seen too much death already, and she deserves better. Unfortunately, this show is not kind to her. If you’ve seen the next few seasons, you know that this one-off situation is only the first in an ongoing trend—Kenzi’s absurdly horrendous luck with regards to her love life.

Kenzi should be, physically at least, the weakest character. She is the youngest by far. But she always takes the hardest hits.