#and rhodey of course has to be the first one to see it; it's only but right

[stuckysimp]

I'm like 8 years too late, but oh well - I've had this Captain America Civil War rant stuck in my head for a while and I need to get it out after re-watching it. (This is gonna be long af, but bear with me).

I feel like a lot of people missed the actual point and plot of the movie (and the marketing definitely didn't help). The whole "team cap vs team iron man" stuff becomes irrelevant after like the first 20 minutes of the movie. But of course, it's still quite a big part of the movie and I'd like to take a moment to explore what I think, the different character motivations are around why they signed or didn't (or would / wouldn't).

The only reason Tony "I successfully privatised world peace" Stark signed the accords in the first place anyway is because of his massive survivors guilt complex which we see triggered by the woman who approaches him at the end of his speech to the MIT students. Like this man does not give a single shit about the government, and much like Steve Rogers, he just wants to keep people safe. Unlike Steve, however, he doesn't trust himself to do so and thinks of himself needing the be kept in check, for someone else to take the blame (though he'd probably internalise it anyway, let's be real).

Rhodey has always kind of been more on the side of the government, even if that meant going against Tony - think Iron Patriot - so it makes sense that he'd want to sign. He understands that a group as powerful and dangerous as the Avengers needs to be kept in check, but what he doesn't understand are the risks around that. In a perfect world, it would be fine, but unfortunately government systems are stupid and corrupt.

Peter was only really in the fight in the first place because he was a child blindly following this big celebrity guy he idolised. He didn't know enough about the situation to properly analyse it, just being fed and believing whatever Tony told him (and he had no reason to go against him, so why would he? This was his shot, he's been chosen by THE Tony Stark to help). "Mr Stark said you'd say that" "he said you're wrong, you think you're right, that makes you dangerous." I 100% believe that if Peter had read the accords, that he would have been on Steve's side anyway.

Vision is an embodiment of 'good' and 'peace' - essentially everything that Ultron was supposed to be, but wasn't. He has no reason to be against the accords if it will keep people safe and he makes the point during their conversation of "our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict ... breeds catastrophe. Oversight ... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." It's also very much the beginning kind of puppy love between him and Wanda in this movie, meaning that he will want to protect her. No matter what. Even if it means "locking her in her room."

Nat was seriously one of the only people in this movie with a brain cell lol. I firmly believe that if the accords had been properly put in place, she would have followed them until she no longer thought the government's instructions were 'right' and would have gone against them anyway. Her main goal in this movie was trying to keep the Avengers, her family, together and ultimately do the 'right' thing.

T'challa didn't give one shit about the accords lmao, he's damn king. No, he was only there in the first place to take revenge on his father's death (which at the point of the airport fight scene he still thought it was Bucky's fault. He later discovers, after following Steve and Bucky to Siberia, that it's Zemo's, and locks him up).

Steve's concerns with the accords are valid, and honestly I wouldn't have signed them either. To be told "sign, retire, or get locked up" isn't really a big winner for me lol. And the thing is, Steve's done this. He fought in WW2, he got paraded around like some big hero while men died, and he did nothing. It wasn't until he went against orders, that he actually did something helpful (saved the captured 107th division in Azzano). So, no, he's not going to be side-lined when people out there need help. That's just not who he is.

Bucky had no part in the accords, and as soon as he got introduced into the movie, that plot point became irrelevant. He was framed by Zemo, and then used to rip the avengers apart. The accords was just another log to add to the fire at that point. He followed Steve because "till the end of the line" and all that. He literally, heartbreakingly, says "I don't know if I'm worth all this," but he follows anyway.

Scott, much like Peter, is kinda just happy to be there. He's following CAPTAIN FREAKING AMERICA into battle without hesitation. But like, let's be honest, given his whole movie and character, I very much doubt Scott would be on Tony's side if he had read the accords.

Clint got dragged out of freaking retirement for this shit, and he didn't actually get involved until after Team Cap already knew about Zemo. That's why he's there. Not because of the accords, but to help Steve get to the Quinjet to get to Siberia and stop Zemo before he can go through with his assumed plan to wake up the five super soldiers who'd been stashed there. (Of course, this isn't actually Zemo's plan, but we'll get back to that later).

Wanda is going through some serious self loathing during this movie, and the incident in Lagos doesn't help. Like at all. Ma girl just wants to live her life and be left alone at this point and she's getting all of these horrible things thrown into her face by Secretary Ross. She doesn't want to be controlled, she doesn't want to be a weapon, she wants to be free. "You locked me in my room." - Girl already probably hates Tony Stark due to her family being killed by one of his bombs and Ultron, so she's mad anyway.

Sam is on Steve's side from the start. With the accords, to fight Zemo, all of it. During the 'discussion' between him and Rhodey, he says "So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" He doesn't trust Secretary Ross, and is clearly hesitant to add his signature to the accords. (not that I blame him).

The main actual villain and 'plot' of the movie after the first part with the accords, was the whole thing with Zemo wanting to tear the Avengers apart to get revenge for his family dying in Sokovia. He takes advantage of the accords, and of Bucky / The Winter Soldier to do this but it's not really discussed which annoys me. It's a MAJOR part of the film, yet all I ever really see being discussed are the accords affecting the decisions of characters throughout the film with no consideration of the wider picture.

From when the UN meeting is blown up, the Avengers are being manipulated by Zemo working in the background throughout the film. He frames Bucky for murder, and Steve - who has been looking for Bucky for the past 2 years - goes after him like ‘tf man’. Bucky gets taken in and Zemo uses the opportunity to activate the Winter Soldier programming, learn about Hydra’s super soldier program, and of course - “Mission report. December 16, 1991.”

This leads to Bucky’s escape and attack, Steve and co going on the run, and eventually the airport fight. The meaning of this scene gets lost, I feel, when people relate it back to the accords because it’s not about that anymore. Not really, not for anyone. Especially not for Steve, or even for Tony.

Tony at this point, most definitely feels like his world is being torn apart. He’s losing control, he’s spiralling, and Steve just isn’t listening. He’s blinded by his anger to the bigger picture and he just wants to get a handle on the situation to deal with it further.

Steve’s forgotten all about the accords, his priority is keeping Bucky safe and stopping Zemo. He tries to tell Tony, tries to talk to him, but Tony isn’t listening either. I mean their whole interaction just before the fight shows this:

(the dialogue below has been condensed to show the key lines - basically I got rid of other characters talking irrelevantly)

-

Steve Rogers: Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this.

Tony Stark: Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?

Steve Rogers: You're after the wrong guy.

Tony Stark: Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday.

Steve Rogers: And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't.

- later -

Tony Stark: And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep . . . I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.

Steve Rogers: You did that when you signed.

Tony Stark: Alright, We're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. NOW! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys . . . with no compunction about being impolite. [Steve looks aside.] Come on.

-

Not to mention that Tony, after learning that Zemo impersonated and killed the actual doctor dude that was supposed to see Bucky whilst he was in confinement, he DISOBEYED the accords and Secretary Ross to go and help Steve stop what they thought at the time was the reactivation of the five super soldiers who'd been left in cryo freeze.

He follows Steve and Bucky to Siberia to help them, not to fight them. That only changes because of Zemo showing the footage of Bucky, WHILE UNDER BASICALLY MIND CONTROL, killing Tony’s parents.

In this scene, Tony 100% has every right to be angry. Unfortunately, he’s the kind of person who cannot see past his anger. He gets in his head, he spirals, and he tries to kill Bucky based on blind rage. (IT WASN’T BUCKY’S FAULT DAMMIT).

And yes, Steve was 100% in the wrong for not telling Tony. This whole scene could have been very easily avoided if Steve had just pulled Tony aside and had the difficult conversation about his parents death. Tony deserved to know, and Steve was only sparing himself pain by doing it. Dick move Steve, 0/10.

The fight between the three allows Zemo, having successfully completed his plan of eliminating the super soldiers and tearing the avengers apart, to slip away. With his work done, he tries to end his own life, but T’challa stops him and arrests him instead.

Steve and Tony’s fight was unnecessary, dramatic, and heart-breaking, and I’m very glad they managed to make up later, but ye. I think, at the end of the day, they’re all just dramatic idiots with communication issues lol.

-

Thank you for reading my long ass essay lmao, apparently I have a lot of feelings about this movie 😂

[marvel-ousmondays]

Iron Man (2008)

As mentioned in last post, when I went to Iron Man I literally had no idea that such a superhero existed. (I thought Sherlock Holmes with RDJ came out first but apparently not so I had essentially no knowledge of the actor either.) My friends and I decided to spend the day out at the nearest town big enough to have a book store, craft stores, and a Target, as well as a Drive-In movie theater. I was now a college student and enjoying the freedom of no curfew, rebel that I was. I'm pretty sure the movie prior to Iron Man was the Narnia: Prince Caspian movie. I mention this because I hated that movie. It bastardized the book something awful and after the first movie was so faithful an adaptation, this was incredibly disappointing. However, this meant I was doubly primed to appreciate the awesomeness that Iron Man ended up being. I've watched it a few times since then, but usually as background to something else. I decided for this challenge I did REALLY want to watch the movies/shows. No other distractions- just it. I can take breaks (it took me 3 days to finish Iron Man due to various constraints last week) but when I'm watching, I'm JUST watching.

Here were my takeaways this time

The differences in Terrence Howard's Rhodey and Cheadle's Rhodey are always a bit mind boggling and part of what makes Iron Man feel really different from the later films. We're also just starting MCU so while they aren't LACKING budget, it's not the level it would be later. This doesn't hurt the movie at all for the record, if anything I think it meant the story had to be more well-developed and the actors better.

But this first film has a seriousness and a somberness that most of the other films only flirt with (notable exception being Infinity War of course).

The scene where Tony goes back to help Gulmira, Yinsen's home, and we see the 13 year old boy screaming and crying as his father is pried away from their family, the soldiers clearly planning to execute him and all the other grown men. The young boy tears himself away from his mother to his father, determined to keep him, to save him. His father, begging his son to go, so that he will live even though he knows- he KNOWS he will not. This moment of utter terror made personal just before Tony shows up is incredible and all the more so when put into historical context. The U.S. was still in Afghanistan and Iraq at this time and it was easy for citizens here to paint everyone in those areas with the same brush. But in this moment you CAN'T. You HAVE to see the family ripped apart right alongside the terrorists and be forced to realize that race, ethnicity, language don't make terrible people- actions do.

A common criticism of Marvel movies is they don't let a moment sit- that they always break a serious moment with a joke. But this one doesn't do that. There are multiple heavy moments- after Yinsen's death for one and when Pepper nearly quits (because she can't watch Tony self-sabotage and possibly die) and he tells her:

"I shouldn't be alive... unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

This moment sits between them so clearly, so starkly and it is not ended with a joke, but with Pepper grabbing the flashdrive and asking what to do. (Thinking back, I'm wondering how many of those MCU "broken" moments are by Tony. He's the one uncomfortable with emotion. Him breaking those moments with humor is actually 100% in character. Something to pay attention to as I watch.)

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, some of the key themes of this movie just strike to the heart.

Death from a distance is easy to ignore or even be complicit in, but death up close rips us apart. Tony sold weapons that he knew took lives for years but it wasn't until he watched Yinsen die that I think he really understands what that means. Yes, his parents had died before but he wasn't THERE, he didn't SEE it. This death, this is the one that makes him really know what it means.

You don't have to change everything to be a better person. Tony is still self-centered. He still likes attention. He's still arrogant and as we will see next movie, open to playing the field as Pepper and him haven't committed. But not only has he stopped being complicit in the deaths of the innocent, he's taken on the mantle of protecting them.

Lastly, who the good guys are is largely a matter of perspective. This obviously gets hit harder again in Ultron (oh that glorious train wreck- I'm looking forward to writing about you), but it matters here. Tony was fine manufacturing weapons because he assumed he was supporting the "good guys", the 'Muricans. But not only was Obadiah dirty dealing, he is forced to learn the good guys aren't always as discriminatory with their weapon use as they purport to be. That it's easy to start painting with broad brushstrokes in areas where precision is actually called for.

Overall I'm really glad I PAID attention to this one this round. The grittiness and the depth really hit the way they did the first time or even more so. Onward to The Incredible Hulk, even though it's only semi-canon now.

Note for me:

Directed by: Jon Favreau

[omg-just-peachy]

some rhodeytony fic i love a lot

because the mcu is dead to me and they love each other a lot and know each other too well for any recent events to make any sense <3

ripped at every edge by desitonystark

Tony’s at MIT when he finds out.

(Or: the days after Tony finds out his parents are dead)

someone will come running to take you home by superhusbands4ever (Potterwatch97)

Missing scene from Iron Man (2008): It's Tony's first night back in his own house in Malibu and he's not coping as well as he'd like everyone to think.

Courtship (caught in the rain) by Cards_Slash

9 vignettes of a relationship in progress

or -

Rhodey had a plan and it went like this: wake up, leave, find something that Tony wouldn’t find ridiculous, sentimental or overtly romantic that he didn’t already own to give to him for their anniversary, come back, eat something, give the present to Tony, endure his comments, have a lot of sex, and go back to sleep.

Oh Lazarus Have You Risen Again? by SuperstringSymphony

“Tony.” He murmurs against the slight curls at Tony's temple. “Do you really think after I spent three months looking for you, that I'd leave you over some new body jewelry? Is that why you've been depriving me of my favorite show?” He hugs Tony a little more tightly, pressing his palms in to the small of his back.

Tony comes back from Afghanistan with more than a little baggage, but James Rhodes will not be deterred.

simply the best by Mizzy

After Tony's heart inexplicably fails in the tower, and Thor electrocutes him back to life, Pepper promptly dumps him. Rhodey is there to cuddle him back to happiness.

Stay-cation by Not Applicable (not_applicable)

Rhodey has the flu, and his boyfriend is a superhero, after all.

You Just Don't See It by BlossomsintheMist

Set during the plane scene in the first Iron Man movie, Tony and Rhodey get a little caught up in each other.

There'll be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing by frostysunflowers

In the run up to Christmas, a sprig of mistletoe in the elevator has a rather amorous effect on the occupants of Stark Tower, much to Tony's frustration.

It Almost Seems Like Yesterday by ceealaina

When Tony gets hit with an amnesia spell that leaves him unable to remember anything past 1990, Rhodey's right there to help him through it. (Now if only Rhodey could remember how the hell he's managed to hide his feelings for Tony all these years.)

i let you carve your name all over my insides by deathsweetqueen

A warm, hot, heavy palm lands on the curve of his hip and Tony groans into his pillow, clutching at it like a lifeline.

A laugh falls in his ears, tickling the hair on the nape of his neck.

...and two self-recs

without you i'll never be home

Tony melts, a little, and the words leave his mouth before he can stop them. “I like you,” he says, and it’s much too serious and far too earnest, but here they are, alone in Rhodey’s room, the one that’s come to feel like Tony’s, too, and Rhodey’s looking at him, like...

Tony goes home with Rhodey for Thanksgiving break.

a moment in between

Those few blissful seconds right before he regains complete consciousness sometimes feel like all he has left. Then, of course, the realization hits, and Rhodey feels the loss all over again, hears the words anew every time. Complete paralysis. 

Tonight is one of those nights. 

Or, Rhodey wakes from a nightmare and Tony does what he can.

[eccentricgrace]

Howl, Talk, Scream || IronDad

summary: tony rescues him, he does, he always will. but he's never quick enough, and this time-- someone has sewn his kid's lips shut.

tags: peter parker whump, hurt/comfort, mentions of kidnapping, protective tony stark, peter is okay!!

wc: 1953

⚠️tw: needles, sutures/stitches, gross medical stuff

cross-posted to wattpad by the same name!

Tony doesn't think this part of the job ever gets easier.

He gets used to most of it, see; the racing heart, the ache in his bones that never seems to go away, the threats he sees in very dark corner of a room. A rush of adrenaline that fades to crushing lungs. You'd think that was the biggest hurdle. Tony thought that would be the biggest hurdle, too, back in 2007, back when the sound of his phone going off had him choking in gulps of air between bile, back when the dark of his room after a nightmare would have him stop breathing all together.

Miraculously, he did get used to it, and then he got used to it all over again, but this time it was worse. It was worse because then Pepper's right there holding his hand after every nightmare, and Rhodey's visiting almost every day to bully him into taking his stupid SSRIs, and Happy's dropping by with some five dollar cheeseburger every other week "just because", and suddenly— suddenly he realizes. For the first time in his life, he has something worse to lose than himself.

Nobody ever comes out of a life like this without getting used to it. There's no other way to survive.

And yet. And yet.

Moments like these.

The part of the job that never gets easier.

The aftermath, of course. Tony's never prepared for the aftermath of it. He's never had to be, before all of this. He's had to take a stabilizing breath before entering a room before, but never because he was afraid to see—

Well.

The kid got himself into some hot water again. These days, this has proven to be the number one cause of Tony's tachycardiac increase. It was horrible, the whole process of it, like it always was— realizing he never made it home, scrambling to find him, praying when they found him he wouldn't be...

But they did find him, because Tony wouldn't let himself fail with something so colossally as important as keeping Peter Parker safe and be able to live with himself afterwards, the only issue is that he just— he just wasn't fast enough.

On a paper passed in the quinjet, he wrote in shaky writing:

they didn't like how much i talked

Peter's in the med bay, and he's bruised to high heavens, a wild look in his eyes that sets all the nurses on high alert. He hasn't spoken in hours. This doesn't mean he hasn't tried.

He clearly has tried, actually. Torn skin and dried blood coating the entire bottom half of his face, all the way down his neck. Tony feels sick at the thought.

"We just need to remove the stitches," the doctor says calmly. Gloved hands hold scissors in one, tweezers in the other. She stands a safe distance away. "Okay? Nod yes if you can understand me."

Peter— Peter's shaking. His eyes don't leave the doctor's hands, and his whole body is strung as tight as a bow. His fists clench.

"Peter," Tony's voice cracks. He clears his throat, avoiding his eyes. Takes another deep breath, and then summons all his courage to look his kid in the eyes. He's already looking back, holding so much trust and terror in his panicked gaze. 

Tony swallows thickly and shifts his chair closer. He'd been trying to give the doctors the space they need to fix this, to make it better where he couldn't, but he doesn't give a shit now. He can't, not when Peter's looking at him like that.

"We need to get those off your mouth," Tony says, wincing, because just the acknowledgement of the current situation feels so heavy. He feels like he's being crushed. "We need to know happened, if you're okay, we can't do that if you can't talk to us."

Peter looks like he wants to open his mouth. His lips twitch, but are firmly held in place by the shoddy sutures. He shudders, looks back at the doctor, then back at Tony.

The doctor takes a step forward, and immediately Peter's neck snaps back over to her. His breathing becomes frantic, his nostrils flaring to compensate for the lack of oxygen. A panicked series of muffled noises comes tumbling from his lips, and blood drips down his chin as the slight movement tears further at the stitched skin.

"Hey, woah," Tony stands up, putting himself between Peter and the doctor. She has already taken several steps back, her arms raised in the air, her expression soaked in guilt. "Okay, easy. Let's take it easy."

He turns to Peter, bending his knees to look at him better. Reflexively, a hand reaches for Peter's knee, and he pats it in comfort. "You're okay, right? I won't let anyone hurt you, I've got you now. I'm not letting you out of my sight. You can trust me, can't you? Breathe, kiddo."

Peter nods quickly, forcing himself to slow the breaths his nose was rushing to take. He blinks furiously, and tears trail down and wash lines of blood away. It's horrific. Tony wants to sit very quietly and cry for a very long time. He wants different blood to be on his hands.

"Mr. Stark," the doctor says meekly. "Might I suggest you remove the stitches instead? It should be fairly simple to remove, it doesn't look like they even did it properly..."

"Yes. Thank God for that," Tony grits out dangerously. He exhales shakily and looks back at his kid. "What do you say, kid? Can you nod, if that's alright with you?"

Peter looks at him for a long moment, his teary eyes glassy in the white lights of the medical bay. He slowly, cautiously, nods.

"Okay," Tony says. He takes a moment to solidify himself, his arms, his legs, all the parts that have been more or less liquid since he's carried Peter in here, since he's stopped carding a hand through his sweaty, blood-matter hair.

He locks away the wildness in his chest, the paternal beast that cringes and cries at the thought of touching Peter's wounds with his own hands, being the reason he winces, being the source of his pain if even for a moment.

Peter's trusting him. He keeps that running through him like saline on an IV drip. Peter's trusting him. He's in pain, he's trusting you to fix it, so fix it.

Tony pulls gloves on, takes the tools from the doctor. He approaches Peter carefully, and keeps his face neutral. He hopes it's more comforting than the look of a doctor who keeps glancing at clenched fists with sweat on her brow.

Peter's still shaking. Marvelously, he blinks a few times, and then closes his eyes tightly, and Tony feels his entire heart clench in his chest. It seems like such a simple thing. So, so, simple. But Tony's been on the other side of the room, watching needles or what have you with that kind of terror, and the last thing he could think of doing would be to sacrifice his most valuable sensory input.

Tony doesn't know how, doesn't know what he did to deserve this kind of innocent all-forward trust, but he looks at Peter, trembling in his fear, his eyes clenched shut and his chin jutted out, and Tony swears by everything holy that he'll protect it with his life.

"Do you want me to talk to you while I work?" Tony says quietly, sitting down in front of him.

Peter takes a second, and then nods.

"Okay." Tony steels his gaze, taking in the work. Fishing line, maybe, or something just as crude, sewn in one uneven, messy, tight line of stitches across his kid's bloodied lips. His stomach turns. "I'm gonna start on the left, your left, and I'm going to use tweezers, okay? You feel metal, that's just tweezers. Nothing sharp."

Peter nods once, just to show he understands, and goes still. Tony takes it as permission. He moves carefully, picking at the loosest bit of the stitch he can find, which ironically is a knot tied at the edge of his mouth. He pokes at it with the tweezers and Peter flinches.

"Just tweezers," Tony reminds him, keeping his voice level. It's a miracle he isn't shaking like a leaf. "Little cold, nothing scary."

He pulls it up a little, and grimaces at the sight of it, the whole grisly thing. "Alright, Peter, you're going to hear the scissors, but they're not anywhere near you. I just want you to hear the sound."

Tony waits for another nod, and then lifts the scissors up. He snips them once, twice, a few more times, until Peter's flinches become less as jolting.

"Are you okay?" Tony checks in. Peter nods.

"Okay, I'm going to snip the thread," Tony says. "It'll be just like last time. You won't feel anything. You're just gonna hear the scissors, remember? Do you want me to count down?"

Peter hesitates, and then shakes his head.

"Alright." Tony pulls back again at the stitch. He holds his breath, and then snips it with the scissors. With the knot gone, tension goes immediately lack, and Peter's shoulders drop.

"We're almost done," Tony cheers weakly. His eyes are misty, and it's so, so hard to keep the cracks out of his voice. He's trying. He's trying, for Peter. "Good boy. We're almost done. Few more snips. It'll be way easier now."

He tugs at the middle of the line, it easily becoming loose. Peter shivers, his face curling in displeasure.

"Yeah, I bet that doesn't feel good," Tony tries lightly. "Okay, you're gonna hear the scissors again."

He pulls up the line with the tweezers, and another snip. With that, he's able to pull half of the thread out of his goddamn mouth. Halfway there. Halfway. Blood trickles from the open wounds.

"Okay, other side now," Tony continues. There's a waver in his tone this time, sneaking out before he can calm it. "You okay still?"

Peter doesn't move. He keeps his jaw clenched and just breathes, and Tony remains still until he's ready. After a minute, Peter nods again.

Tony pulls at the other knot, and snips it, and then quickly pulls the thread completely out, and drops both the tweezers and the scissors to the side with a shaky breath of relief.

He blinks and he has an armful of teenager, Peter's arms wrapped around his waist so tightly Tony struggles to breathe in. Tony welcomes the feeling, just grateful that Peter is feeling strong enough to do so in the first place.

All the while, Tony's smoothing out his hair, he's petting at his back, squeezing his shoulders, saying, "I've got you. Jesus. Never again. You're okay. You're okay. We're okay."

Tears drip down his cheek, fine, he wasn't strong enough to keep them at bay. None of it matters anymore. The only thing that matters is the kid, and he's right here, and Tony's right here, and it's all going to be fine.

"I knew you'd save me," is the first thing Peter says, all blubbery and snot-covered all over Tony's nice shirt, and he really shouldn't be speaking yet at all. Blood is trickling from his mouth. His voice is very clearly hoarse.

"Of course," Tony repeats, over and over and over. "Always. Every time. Any time. God, kid."

Because yes, he'll save Peter for as long as he can still breathe. Longer, if he's able. He's done it countless times already.

It's always the hardest part of a job that matters the most, even if it never gets easier.

[irondad-defensesquad]

“Hey, Mr. Stark.”

Tony has actually been waiting at the door this whole time. He smiles and approaches Peter.

… And Tony hugs him.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Not that it’s that much of a surprise, honestly. Tony has hugged Peter before, albeit quickly. It’s never taken more than ten seconds.

Peter sighs. “Please don’t tell me Happy told you about me bombing my quiz.”

Tony rubs his back in response instead.

Peter rejects it and releases himself from the hug. He throws his backpack to the floor and sits on the couch in defeat.

“I don’t even know how I bombed it,” the boy vents. “I actually studied hard and- and read the book, which wasn’t that hard to read, and somehow I got the worst grade in my class.”

“English quiz?”

“Yeah. I didn’t freeze at the time and my mind didn’t go blank. I didn’t think I’d ace it, but I thought I would go well. I have no idea how I screwed up this badly.”

“Did you talk to your teacher?”

“No, ‘cause he only handed our quizzes at the end of class. I also didn’t want anyone to find out about my grade. I know Flash would mock me in front of everyone.”

Tony frowns at the mention of the bully. He sits on the couch next to Peter.

“Try talking to your teacher in his next class,” the former suggests.

“I will, it’s just… I’m so mad. A-And I’m not even mad at him. Why else would I get such a bad grade?”

“Peter…”

The teen sniffs, hiding his teary eyes. “I don’t understand, I’m trying hard to manage my school time and Spider-Man, how did I mess up like this?”

Tony sighs, opening an arm. “Come here.”

Peter then lies against him and sobs, letting his mentor hug him.

“W-Why aren’t you… mad at me, too?” Peter wonders.

It hurts Tony to hear how much he expected him to be angry.

“Why would I be?” Tony questions.

“‘Cause you care about school?”

“I care about you more. Not your grades.”

Peter looks so surprised…

“I know how it’s like to try your hardest and then you get negative feedback,” Tony tells him. “You feel like a huge screw-up. You can’t understand why or how you failed. But that doesn’t mean you’re a failure.”

The boy gazes at him, as though he’s surprised to hear that Tony Stark must have felt like a failure. Or probably still feels that way. Even if Peter and Tony have gotten closer, and Peter knows a lot more about his hero, he definitely idolizes Tony and that knowledge might fly past his head sometimes.

“It definitely sucks, kid. You have the right to be sad about it. Just try not to beat yourself too much, okay?” Tony reminds him. “I know you’re doing great. That bad grade won’t erase your efforts.”

Peter, as if coming to understand it, snuggles against Tony. He still cries but he is breathing in and out slowly, calming down.

Tony just holds him for as long as he needs.

It sort of reminds the man of when his bad grades tormented him as a kid.

Howard never cared about his good grades. But when he had bad ones, it convinced Howard that Tony was a fraud.

Several times back then, Tony considered giving up entirely.

Jarvis, however, took all the crumbled pieces of paper and thrown away projects and encouraged Tony to keep trying.

Then Rhodey was his partner in MIT, also pushing Tony to keep working, because he’s the most determined person Rhodey has known.

Of course, Tony knows he’s not made of iron. Sometimes he’ll be defeated. Sometimes his best might not be enough. He takes some time to get back up.

So he respects his time until he strikes back again.

Peter just needs this.

Like Tony once needed and might still need.

When he sees how calm Peter is now, even if he must be feeling pain, Tony pulls away a little to smile at him.

“I’m proud of you, Peter.”

The teen doesn’t know how to react at first. Then he smiles back and looks away in nervousness.

“You want some ice cream?” Tony suggests. “Just bought more today.”

Peter smirks. “Okay.”

As he eats the ice cream, the sadness prevails in Peter’s eyes. He appreciates and enjoys the gesture, though.

In the lab, Peter is staring at a piece of paper.

He puts it back in his backpack and tries to do the other homework he needs to finish.

“Hey, if you need any help, just let me know,” Tony says.

“Okay.”

“Just do what you can right now, alright? If you can’t do all of it, that’s perfectly fine.”

“Oh, this is easy, actually. But thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter grins at him and returns to his homework.

Tony watches him for a while, and his smile widens.

He really is proud of Peter. So proud.

[natalias-wife]

My solace | n.r

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x reader

Summary: Just some fluff with the love of our lives

Warnings: slight angst? I think. Kinda rushed.

Word count: 2k

Author’s note: So this is really short and has a lot of things that can be improved, but honestly for my first fic it’s not that bad. Feel free to give me some tips if you see any errors or something.

You sighed as you looked at your alarm clock only for it to read 2am. When your stomach started growling you stood up with a groan and left your room to go to the kitchen for a snack. Looking around the cupboards and the fridge you decided to eat some of the cookies Wanda baked a few days ago and a glass of chocolate milk for a drink.

“Couldn’t sleep?” You jumped slightly at the voice which she chuckled at and you looked at her. “Mhm guessing neither could you?” You smiled shyly at her and she smiled softly back with a small nod. She sat down next to you on the kitchen aisle.

“The cookies any good? The guys keep stealing them before I even have a chance to eat one” you both chuckled softly at that and you gave her one of the cookies. You both sat in a comfortable silence for a while until you broke the silence. “Nat?” She hummed in acknowledgment. “Do you ever get scared before missions?” You were fidgeting with your fingers and when she looked at you her gaze softened. “Of course I do. I’m pretty sure everyone does. Why? Are you scared of the new mission Fury just put you on?” She grabbed your hand to stop you from fidgeting and with her other hand she lifted your chin up so that you would look at her. “I mean yea it’s my first solo mission and I’m scared I’ll fuck something up. I don’t wanna accidentally hurt anyone...” She frowned at that. “Look y/n, i know it’s scary trust me I do. I still get scared of the fact I’ll hurt innocents. But you can’t let that fear control you if you can do it with duo missions you can also do it on a solo one. And I’ve seen you fight, you’re good agent y/l/n!” She pulled you into a hug which caught you off guard for a bit, but you quickly hugged her back.

//

Natasha fluttered her eyes open and stood up to go for her morning run with Steve. She saw Steve waiting for her by the kitchen with 2 water bottles and some energy snacks. “Sam’s waiting for us at the park he wanted to get some warmups in.” Natasha raised her eyebrows. “Still so eager on outrunning us?” Steve chuckled at that. “Unfortunately.” They both started walking to the park together and met up with Sam.

After their run they went to shower and change into training gear. After they were done changing they all met up at the training room with the rest of the avengers. “Okay so today we’re going to be focusing on hand to hand combat. Sam you’re with me, Tony with Rhodey, Wanda you’re with vision and y/n you’re with Nat. Alright into positions!” Everyone walked up to their partner and got into their fighting positions. “Move your legs a little closer to each other.” You did as she said and asked her if this was better. “Wait let me.” She walked up behind you and moved your legs into a better and more comfortable position. “Thanks.” Getting back into her position as well you started sparring. Obviously Nat went easy on you since she’s way better at hand to hand combat. After a while of just blocking and attacking she threw you over her shoulder onto the mat. “Okay that hurt” you said while groaning in pain. She smiled at you and helped you up. “Take five?” You agreed and went to sit on one of the benches while drinking some water. Nat sat next to you and Wanda joined as well. The three of you got engaged into light conversation about training and you also started teasing the boys a bit.

After training you bid your goodbyes to the rest and went up to Fury’s office for your upcoming mission. Walking into his office you greeted the man and Maria who was there as well. After going through the steps and all the information he informed you that your jet would be leaving in an hour and a half.

You started packing all your gear and some extra stuff for if the mission had to be expanded. After that you went to the main floor to bid farewell to the other avengers. Everyone have you a hug and a quick be safe then they went back to whatever they were doing before. Lastly you walked up to Nat and Wanda and Wanda immediately pulled you into a tight hug. “Be safe okay? I know you’re stubborn, but please just follow the instructions they gave you.” You smiled at her and nodded. “Swear?” You held your hand up while holding your other hand in the air “I swear.” You teased and she chuckled then said bye once more and went back to baking with Vision. Then Nat pulled you into a hug and gave you a kiss on the top of your head. “Promise me you’ll be careful.” You promised her and kept hugging her, until Maria told you it was time to go. You both said your goodbye’s to each other and you stepped into the jet.

//

Walking into the building which contains the information you need you hold your gun ready and check every corner of the room then move on to the next one. Shooting the few guards in your way you went room by room. When you finally saw the laptop with the files you needed you did one last check around the room and then walked up to it and put the usb in it. While the data was being transferred the doors busted open. ‘Shit’ you quickly took cover behind one of the desks when they started shooting. Trying to look at how many agents there were you peeked above the desk but quickly ducked back down when a bullet barely flew over your head.

Taking a deep breath and closing your eyes you readied yourself to use your powers knowing you weren’t going to get out of this without. Your hands burst into flames and you started throwing fire blasts at the agents. You managed to knock a fair amount of them back and started going into hand to hand combat with a few others until you were in the clear. When you looked back and saw that the transfer was finished you quickly grabbed the usb and went to get out of there. When you were out of the building you were surrounded by even more hydra agents. You groaned and put your hands up in surrender and got on your knees. Just as one of the agents walked up to you to cuff you S.H.I.E.L.D finally showed up and shot the agents surrounding you.

You got up and started walking to the jet when another S.H.I.E.L.D agent shouted out a warning. Turning around you readied your gun but dropped it when you felt a pressure against your stomach just as one of your agents shot the hydra agent. Looking down you immediately pressed your hands against the wound to stop the blood from spilling out. You quickly walked further inside the jet and sat down while breathing heavily. The agents around you were grabbing medical stuff for you but you could barely focus as your sight started to get blurry. You could hear someone telling you to keep your eyes open and just then everything went dark.

//

It felt like the whole world stopped moving when Natasha got the news. She was distant ever since it happened and mostly kept herself in her room. Clint and Wanda brought her food and kept pressuring her to get some sleep but it was no use. She couldn’t sleep not knowing if you were going to be okay or not. Even though Cho already told them you were going to be alright. The bullet didn’t hit any critical organs but you still lost a fair amount of blood. You awoke this morning and Cho told you what happened while making you drink some water for your dried up throat. You asked her if you could see Wanda and Nat and she agreed. She asked Friday to inform the woman of the fact that you’re conscious and ask them to come up to see you. It wasn’t long before the doors opened and both woman came barging in. You frowned at the sight of them since Wanda’s eyes looked red and puffy while Nat’s were wet with tears and you could see the bags under her eyes. You opened your arms for both woman to hug you and they did so carefully not to hurt you. After reassuring them that you’re feeling okay and it only hurts a little Wanda left the room to grab some food for you.

“You promised..” you winced at the crack in her voice and sat up straight ignoring the protests from the redhead. You grabbed her face in your hands and started wiping her tears with

your thumbs. “I’m sorry Nat.” You softly said to her. She looked you into the eyes and you both sat there in silence for a little while.

“Can I kiss you?” The question caught you off guard. I mean you’ve been hopelessly in love with this woman ever since you joined the team but never would you have thought she felt the same way. You were both just really oblivious to the others feelings.

“Please.” You let out in a quiet voice but thankfully she heard you and pulled your lips into hers. The kiss was slow and passionate and you both sighed dreamily into it. She tasted so much sweeter than you thought. When the kiss broke apart so that you could both catch your breath she put her forehead against yours.

“I wish we did that earlier.” You said while intertwining your hands with hers. “Me too.” She kissed your hands and made you look up at her.

“So I know this is cheesy and I feel like a high school girl asking you this but do you want to make this official and be my girlfriend?” You nodded frantically and she pulled you in for another kiss. Only pulling away when the rest of the team showed up and Clint cleared his throat with a teasing smirk on his face.

When Cho cleared you from the med-bay you asked Nat if you could sleep with her that night and she agreed. So now here you were laying together in her bed while looking at each other lovingly. You gave each other a goodnight kiss and you asked her to hold you.

“Is this okay? Tell me when I hurt you yeah?” You smiled at her reassuringly “Nat you could never hurt me. And yea this is perfect.”

You both fell asleep with smiles on your faces that night feeling safe in each others arms.

[infiniteeight8]

Prompt: continuation for the obsession verse , like their first time together or people's reaction to their relationship. (Prompt sent via messeges.)

I do want to write their first time, I swear, but for now you are getting Rhodey’s reaction to their relationship.

*

“Rhodey-bear!” Tony greets him, grinning broadly and slapping him on the shoulder. “It’s been too long since we’ve had some us-time. I’m glad you could make it.” He leads James into the kitchen, opens the fridge, and pulls out a beer to hand to him.

James takes the bottle, smiling back, if less broadly. “I wouldn’t miss it,” he promises. “I’m only sorry the brass have kept me so busy.” Some of the developments in Tony’s life lately seem… Well, Pepper had sounded genuinely worried.

“You know I can fix that,” Tony says, taking a beer for himself and leading them back out to the living room couches. He flops down easily. “I may not have the pull that I did back in the day, but the military still wants me for my body armor, among other things.”

“And you know I don’t want you boosting my career,” James counters. He sits on the couch opposite Tony and puts his feet up. “Not any more than being your friend does all by itself, anyway,” he says wryly. Tony makes a derisive noise but lets it go. “So,” James goes on, trailing his voice off leadingly for a moment. “What’s this I hear about you dating Strange? Aren’t I supposed to vet your partners?” James laughs a little, because that’s always been mostly a joke between them. It feels less like a joke this time.

Tony’s chuckle is more honest. “What can I say? He swept me off my feet. Almost literally: we turned that corner at one of the Superhuman Defense Fund galas.”

Damn. That’s longer than Pepper had thought. “And you really like the guy?”

Tony’s eyes light up and he sits up out of his sprawl, leaning forward instead. “He’s amazing, Rhodey. I mean, obviously he’s gorgeous, but he’s also brilliant. Magic is one thing, but you should hear him talk medicine. Plus, he looks at me like I hung the fucking moon. He’ll drop anything short of a life or death emergency just to talk to me. It’s like… I think he thinks I’m the most important person in the world. Not just to him, either, the most important person, period.” 

James sits up, too, and chooses his words carefully. “He sounds a little intense.”

“Intense, or obsessed?” Tony asks, smirking. 

Of course he sees right through James. “Pepper’s told me some things,” James admits. “Honestly? I was a little worried he wouldn’t want you to see me.”

Tony scoffs and takes a swig from his beer. “Look, I do actually get where that concern comes from, I’m not blind, but Stephen knows how important you are to me. Taking some time for the two of us to hang out tonight was his idea, believe it or not.”

“Seriously?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Tony says, making an X over his heart. “Except not really, Stephen would kill me. And with his power set, I’m not ruling that out as a literal impossibility.”

A laugh escapes James despite himself. “You know I’m in favor of anyone who gets you to take care of yourself,” he says, “it’s just… Pepper says sometimes he just pops out of a portal and sits there watching you. I did some checking, and it seems like he might have been poking around your confidential records. And weird shit has been happening to people who talk shit about you in public.” 

Tony doesn’t look surprised by any of this. “What kind of weird shit?” He takes another sip of his beer.

“One guy swears after he made a comment about you and reckless driving, every stoplight he approached for a week went red,” James says. “A journalist who published an article speculating that you were still dealing in weapons under the table claims they couldn’t tell a lie for a month. The woman who wrote that so-called ‘exposé’ about your ongoing drug use had to be checked into the psych ward for three days because she started seeing monsters all over New York.” James could go on, but Tony’s smirking. “It’s true, isn’t it? All of that, it was Strange.”

“Is it such a bad thing that someone wants to come to my defense?” Tony asks. “None of them were hurt, right? None of those three, and none of the others, either.”

“Well, the wife of the guy who couldn’t lie left him,” James says. “But other than that… no.”

“There you go, then.” Tony takes another swig from his beer.

James hesitates. “Just because no one got hurt doesn’t mean that it’s okay. This is not normal behavior, Tony. If you’re not worried about what Strange is doing to these people, aren’t you a little worried that he’s keeping such close tabs on you that he knows about these things what seems to be the second they happen?”

Tony finishes his beer and sets it aside. “Look,” he says seriously. “I am absolutely aware that this isn’t normal behavior. Stephen isn’t normal. And neither am I. I’ve tried to do normal relationships. I tried really fucking hard with Pepper, Rhodey, you know I did. But you tell me: was I happy?”

“No,” James admits, sighing. Tony had put on a pretty good show with Pepper. James thinks that he even convinced himself he was happy, for a while. But it wasn’t real.

“Stephen makes me happy,” Tony says. After a moment he snorts and flops back against the couch again. “And like everything else that’s ever made me happy, if it blows up in my face I know you and Pep will be there to help pick me up after.”

Despite everything, James smiles and says only, “Always, Tones.

Because that’s the first time Tony has ever said “if it blows up” instead of “when it blows up.”

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - August 18 - Week 33

Hello, friends! Here are the fic I’ve been reading this week. What are you reading? Anything I’d like? Share them--and be sure to kudos and comment if you enjoy these! 

*

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by starspangledsprocket

"Doom had sent him back in time with that laser – he had to have; it was the only reasonable explanation for Rhodey looking so young, and the fact it was now New Years Eve."

All Wrapped Up by KandiSheek

Tony gets caught by a tentacle monster, which sounds terrible but actually isn't. The creature just... holds him, for a while, before the rest of the Avengers show up and rescue him. Finding out just how depressingly touch-starved you are via wholesome tentacle kidnapping has to be the pinnacle of humiliation.

Now Tony needs to figure out how he can repeat the experience with less tentacles and more actual human contact. And also why the hell Steve seems to be the only one on the team who isn't down for some casual Tony cuddling.

So Wrong, So Good by tinystark616

Steve and Tony are on vacation with the team and are forced to share a room. The problem is that Steve can't resist touching himself while Tony's asleep.

Of course, Tony wakes up and catches him.

Met You on a Monday by justanotherrollingstony (adoctoraday)

The Chitauri invade on a Monday, the same day that Steve meets Iron Man for the first time, and then Toni Stark--and then everything he thinks he knows about both of them goes right out the window.

you’ve got to close your eyes and see by Thahire 

Morgan manages to bring Tony back eleven years after Thanos’ defeat, long after everyone’s learned to live without him. Everyone’s overjoyed once they get over their shock, but Tony finds it hard to adjust, now that Pepper’s moved on and Morgan’s not a little kid anymore.

Somehow, the one constant is Steve.

[3mcwriting]

Any Fan's Dream, Part 7

Any Fan's Dream Masterlist

Synopsis:

When you look around and see Avengers Tower in front of you and Peter Parker beside you, you wonder how the hell you managed to get into the MCU.

Taglist: @secretly-sirens, @zeeader, @imdoingathingmom, @x-theolivia, @ainsley-official, @huntress-artemiss, @hoohoohope, @ourgoddessathena, @wiintaersoldier

Sorry if I missed anyone, please just message me again and I'll add you.

Rhodey stood across from Sam, gesturing as he talked, "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have."

Sam's arms were crossed as they debated. "So let's say we agree to this thing, how long is it gonna be until they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'Nah, it's cool. We got it'."

"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam asked.

Your eye darted back and forth between the two of them, feeling panic begin to build in your chest as it played out exactly like in the movie. 

You tore your gaze away from the arguing men and looked at the woman was seated beside you on the couch. After the Secretary had left, everyone had moved to a living room in the Compound, you were on the couch, seated next to Tony who was laying down with his hand on his face. Nat had moved to sit next to you in the unoccupied space.

"You sure weren't afraid to speak your mind." Natasha said, "And your opinions seem clear as to what side you're on."

You shook your head, "I'm not on any side. I just want you guys to stick together and get the respect you deserve."

Vision's voice grabbed everyone's attention. "I have an equation." 

Sam turned to look at him. "Oh, this will clear it up."

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision continued. "During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

Steve, who had the Accords opened in his hands, spoke up, "Are you saying it's our fault?"

Vision looked around, "I'm saying there may be a causality."

You wrapped your arms around yourself, listening as he went on. 

"Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom." Rhodey said, feeling that his point had been proven.

Natasha looked past you to the man laying down, "Tony, you're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve and you said, simultaneously.

You knew that line. Of course you knew that line.

If you didn't find a way to change Tony's mind, then they would split. 

Tony glance at you, then directed his gaze toward Steve. "Boy, you know me so well." Tony got up from the couch, and began to walk to the kitchen which was only a few short paces from the living room. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain," he grabbed a coffee mug, "discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

He tapped a tablet on the counter, and you winced when you saw the image projected. 

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid, computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig planned at Intel for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world."

You could see the haunted look on Tony's face, one that told you, 'people are dead. And it's because of us.'

"Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia."

You watched as Wanda looked down, the way multiple of them ducked their head in guilt.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." Tony took a drink from his coffee, "There's no decision making process here." Raising his voice, he said, "We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"You are nothing like the bad guys." Heads turned to face you, eyes directed on you. It was a bit intimidating, having the Avengers stare at you, but you didn't regret your words. "There will always be someone who needs saving, but nobody can save everyone. The deaths are not your fault. Please," you looked at Tony. "You've saved the world. Multiple times. Yes, people died, and yes, that is horrible. But that doesn't mean you give up, you keep fighting for a better tomorrow and one day there will be one. You are heroes."

Steve nodded his agreement, "Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony questioned.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve asserted.

"I'm sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey interjected, "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Panel,  it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not Hydra-"

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

To your dismay, the debate took a far-too-similar path as it did in the movies. Even with you trying to keep them together, trying to make them see all the ways they helped the world, you weren't sure that you had managed to make any difference at all. 

At the end, Tony had told you that he would be driving you back to the Tower. The drive back was awkward, filled with unspoken words and lingering questions. You found yourself looking out the window the entire drive back, unable to look at Tony lest he see the water beginning to pool in your eyes. To distract yourself, you watched in the rear-view mirror as the self-driving car you had taken earlier, followed the two of you as the ride went on.

It was hard, knowing that your insignificance in your previous world had still managed to wind up in this world. You were lost, how were you supposed to keep the team together when everything was trying to pull them apart?

Tony dropped you off at your apartment, and when you bid each other goodbye, you couldn't help but notice the tension between you two. You hated it because only days earlier you were hanging out with him while the two of you enjoyed music and each other's company. You entered the apartment, grateful for the key "your" mom had given you, glad that you wouldn't be seen breaking down in tears in the hallway. 

After locking the door closed behind you, you ran to your room. You shut that door too, happy that "your" parents were working so they couldn't question your actions.

You collapsed on your bed, curling into the blankets in a search to find some form of comfort. You lip trembled, thoughts spiraling.

How were you going to keep them together? Was the team supposed to stay together? What happens if you you're just as useless in this world as you were in yours? What happened if you changed Civil War and they stay together and you end up screwing up Endgame? Actually, you probably didn't have to worry about that based on how little your choices seemed to affect anyone. You were insignificant. Everyone was going to hate each other because you couldn't do fucking anything.

Your eyes had begun to well up, but they finally spilled over, cascading down your face. The trails of water left paths showing your sadness, your frustration. Your body shook with sobs, your breath quickening. 

"(Y/N)?! (N/N) ARE YOU OK? (Y/N)!"

Peter's voice interrupted your sobbing, sometime while you shifted around on the bed, you had butt-dialed Peter.

You tried to calm your breathing so you could respond, but that just ended up choking you up more as more cries spilled out of you. 

"I'll be right over."

You didn't even hear him, had no clue he was coming over until Peter had burst into your room. 

He hurried over to you, forehead creased in concern, "(y/n), what can I do?"

You tried to say something, anything, but your breathing had only gotten faster and your sobs were choking you and you needed air you needed to breath-

Peter's concern of making you uncomfortable was shoved aside when he saw you descend into panic. He grasped your hands in his, causing you to look at him through wet eyelashes, vision blurred. 

"(y/n)," Peter tried to keep his voice calm and even, even as his worry began to spiral. "I'm right here. You're ok. Try to relax. Slow down your breathing."

You tried to follow his directions, but his words weren't able to penetrate the poisonous words you had thought to yourself earlier. 

Peter began to panic as your sobs only got worse, he didn't know how to help you. Was he supposed to hug you? Give you space? Ask how you were doing? Distract you? Questions swirled within him and he could feel his own breathing quicken, but he forced himself to relax because you needed him.

He wrapped his arms around you, holding your shaking body. Your arms draped loosely at your sides as you cried. He rubbed your back, knowing that that helps him relax so he hoped that it would work for you too. 

He talked to you softly, hoping to get you to calm down your breathing. "Ned and I built a new Lego today," he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, but continued to ramble. While he did, he kept on rubbing your back with one hand while the other hand grasped your limp hand and squeezed it reassuringly. 

The two of you stayed like that for a while, time lost to both of you. At some point, he had moved the two of you. He was sitting up against the headboard, you beside him. Your arms were wrapped around yourself in a desperate search for comfort and he pulled you closer and wrapped his arms around you in a hug, arms encircling you to shield you from the world.

Your breathing had slowed, but your sobs were still pouring out of you frequently. There were just too many things you had to think about, so much you had to change. Your thoughts drifted to Infinity War, when Peter would disappear in front of Tony's eyes, crying that he didn't want to go. That only made you cry harder.

"It's okay, I'm right here." Peter said. He continued to try to calm you, to try to make you feel better because it was breaking his heart to see someone so amazing break into pieces.

He's right here. You repeated in your mind, right now, everything is fine. I need to make sure it stays that way.

You forced yourself to calm down, telling yourself that you were strong and you could make a change. That, along with Peter's continued rambling helped center you, thoughts not falling to hell but managing to stay anchored to Earth.

It took you a while, but eventually you were able to stop your crying, the occasional hiccup was the only thing remaining. 

"Thank you, Peter," you managed, voice raspy. You wiped your face, trying to dry it with the soft blanket beside you. 

"Anytime," Peter told you honestly. "Do you...do you want to talk about it?"

You were ready to refuse but...

Telling him about the Avengers splitting up wouldn't reveal any otherworldly knowledge. You could ask for help, couldn't you?

You worried what the unforeseen consequences could be, but in the moment, you needed to talk to someone about it and you just prayed that your choices wouldn't come back to haunt Peter.

"The Avengers-" you stopped, hiccupping. "They're fighting. And I'm worried that they're going to break up."

Peter's eyes softened. He knew how much you cared about the people on that team, how much you idolized them and adored them. It was clear now why you had broken down, he knew a little about your home life. Your parents worked often, and while they loved you and praised you, they're jobs kept them away from you. In high school, you had a large group of friends. You had surrounded yourself with good people, and they had filled in that loneliness in your home-life. 

But when you graduated and a vast majority of your friends left to explore the world before college, pursuing their dreams, you had stayed behind for your internship with Tony Stark. You had won the internship after winning a contest at your school. That internship included schooling and at the end of it you would receive a degree. You had been undeniably proud of your friends, but that pride didn't dissuade the loneliness from creeping back within you when they had left. 

Peter had met you when you were a senior and he was a freshman, you had tutored him through a couple of classes. He had always been intelligent, but you were smart on a whole other level. The way you looked up to the Avengers, he looked up to you. After his tutoring was done, the two of you had kept in contact and he was happy to say that you were a good friend of his. 

The Avengers were like family to you, and with the possibility of that family splitting up, of course you were upset. 

"What can I do to help?" Peter asked. 

You thought about it, wondering if maybe, just maybe he could help you think of a solution.

"I have to keep them together," you stated. "But I don't know how."

Peter nodded. "I'll help you in any way I can."

And then he smiled at you and it was real, and kind, and determined.

You just couldn't stop the faint smile that rose to your face as he asked you questions, brainstorming with you. The two of you stayed there for hours, tossing ideas back and forth and although you were stressed about the upcoming events, you were happy for the person who had been thrown your way to help.

[themculibrary]

Peter Parker's Birthday Masterlist

a gift so sweet (ao3) - aceofjapan, OliOcelot G, 1k

Summary: When a girl calls for Spider-Man on patrol, Peter did not expect it to be so she could give him a gift.

Even less did he expect her to wish him a happy birthday.

A Safehouse Birthday (ao3) - friendofspiderman mj/peter G, 1k

Summary: MJ and Ned plan a party for Peter's 17th birthday.

August 10th (ao3) - honestchick N/R, 1k

Summary: Peter expects him and May would do the usual for his birthday, but does he really??

a very, merry unbirthday (ao3) - ciaconnaa G, 4k

Summary: “What’s all this, huh?” Peter asks. His eyes don’t leave the table as he wanders over to stand by where Tony is sitting, wrapping him in a gentle hug and pushing his head into his chest. Tony smiles before he tugs gently on the sleeve. Peter gets the message and leans down, allowing Tony to kiss his temple in greeting.

“You threw me a birthday party,” Peter accuses, smile going all dopey.

“An unbirthday party,” Morgan corrects. “Like in Alice in Wonderland. For all the ones you missed!”

Birthday Bash (ao3) - The_Mishamigo N/R, 2k

Summary: It’s Peter Parker’s birthday. And of course, that means Tony Stark has to plan the celebrations.

Birthday Breakout (ao3) - Sara (ctrsara) pepper/tony T, 3k

Summary: Tony Stark eyed the enthusiastic teenager skeptically.

“Five Guys and an Escape Room?”

“Yeah… what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, kid, I just thought when I said, ‘You only turn sixteen once, the sky’s the limit,’ that you would have aimed a little higher.”   Peter's plans for his sixteenth birthday are underwhelming, but gathering all the people he loves into one place for the night is what's highest on his list. Plus, he's hoping to break a record for his first attempt at an Escape Room. Who better to have on your team than Tony Stark? How can his mentor refuse?

Birthday Shadows (ao3) - owl_lover013 mj/peter G, 4k

Summary: On Peter's eighteenth birthday, he reflects on the people not present for it, grieving for the people not there to celebrate it with him. --- A birthday story written for Peter Parker.

Birthday Suit (ao3) - happyaspie, ObsessionOfTheDay G, 1k

Summary: Peter isn't entirely sure he wants to have a birthday party. Tony is. And apparently, Tony gets to decide these things. So, Peter reluctantly agrees. But not before asking the man not to embarrass him. He probably should have been a little more persistent about that. Especially when his father figure's response was that he would keep that in mind.

Convenient Panic Baking (ao3) - Err_REDACTED T, 902

Summary: From Ned Leeds: Hey MJ and I are debating the best cupcake flavor, wanna chime in?

From Peter Parker: I am Suspicious

Or

Peter's birthday is coming up and Ned is bad at lying. Maybe. Peter's not actually that sure.

Could You Watch Over Them For Me? (ao3) - losingmymindtonight G, 1k

Summary: Pepper doesn’t ask about the third drink, but Peter can see in her eyes that she knows who it’s for. -- It's Peter's 21st birthday, and while he has to face the milestone without Tony, he doesn't have to face it alone.

Or, Rhodey gives Peter his first legal drink.

Growing Pains (ao3) - Jinx_Frost G, 1k

Summary: Peter grows anxious as he notices Tony becoming more distant, oblivious to what the man has planned for him.

HBD Loser (ao3) - forensicleaf G, 4k

Summary: “Up and at ‘em, champ! Otherwise you’re not gonna have time to open your presents before school.” May wiggles her eyebrows.

Presents?

Peter feels a smile creep across his face, and May’s own widens in response. He’d almost forgotten.

“Happy birthday, honey,” May says, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Then she ruffles his hair, laughing as Peter rolls his eyes and pushes her away. “Now come on. I made breakfast.”

Feels weird to cry with a smile (ao3) - joyful_soul_collector G, 2k

Summary: Peter spends his 17th birthday in quarantine, so Tony decides to make it a bit more special.

messy chocolate frosting (ao3) - ImBadWithWords G, 2k

Summary: Swing by the Tower after work, I’ve got some gear for you, the text reads. The phone buzzes again a second later. Happy b-day, squirt :). Peter smirks and stuffs it into his bag before his boss notices.

R E D (ao3) - Movie_Riggs (orphan_account) mj/peter G, 1k

Summary: "What's your favorite color?" she asks him randomly at lunch.

"Uh...red?" he replies uncertainly. He never really had a favorite color.

But she just shrugs and says, "Okay," and then doesn't bring it up again.

softly (ao3) - DlBELLA pre peter/flash G, 922

Summary: It’s Peter’s birthday and even though he bullies him a bit, Flash gives him a gift anyway.

Surprises (ao3) - xxx_cat_xxx G, 1k

Summary: “What happened, kid?” Tony asks, stunned. Peter is pressing a rag against a wound on his ribcage, which seems to be the main source for the blood, but it’s all over his body, some drops have even made it to his hair. “I thought you went to sleep, not crime fighting!”

-or-

All Tony wanted was a peaceful night to work on Peter's birthday gift. But his kids make sure that this doesn't happen.

The Cake Thing (ao3) - CheyanneChika G, 907

Summary: Tony attempts to bake because he can totally bake for Peter...right? No. Well, he can make a bot that can bake.

when you're feeling empty keep me in your memory (ao3) - JkWriter pepper/tonyN/R, 1k

Summary: after everything with thanos he forgets it's his birthday. he just assumed everyone else did too.

wishful thinking (ao3) - pocketfuloflove T, 857

Summary: Peter Parker is 16 now, but no wiser than before.

or

Peter Parker can be pretty dumb for a genius.

[oluka]

Invincible Iron Man #10: Tony Stark and Emma Frost get married! Or do they?

It's Iron Man week again! And here are my thoughts about it.

Sorry, but I needed everyone to see this slightly disturbing panel. It's way better in context, though.

Issue #10 starts by giving us an update on Rhodey! It was a pleasant surprise for me, because I thought he would be kept to the side during the wedding plot. But no! The issue does not follow chronological order, so I'll make a not so quick detour to explain the current situation: issue #9 ends with Emma arranging a meeting between Tony and Wilson Fisk. In issue #10, Tony asks Fisk for help, and gets it. Why? Because Fisk's wife, Typhoid Mary, is a mutant, and she was forced off-world along with like 99% of all mutants during Orchis' attack at the Hellfire Gala. The thing is, the ones who were left on Earth think that the others are dead. In addition to the mutants and humans who were actually killed by Orchis, that means there are very few mutants left, and they're all out for blood. Fisk is too, since he thinks his wife is dead. So he and Tony come to an agreement: Fisk protects Tony (and Rhodey), because Tony promised he will defeat Feilong. But, well. It's Fisk. It probably won't end well.

Back to the present: Tony's the Black King of the Hellfire Club (to Fisk's White King), is desperately trying to build a new and improved suit of armour while pretending to be drunk all day, and scheming to defeat Feilong. Rhodey is still in prison and he's still being targeted by other prisoners on Feilong's orders. This time, Feilong even arranges a phone call between Tony and Rhodey while Rhodey gets attacked.

That's not very nice. Tony gets understandably mad, runs up to Feilong, about to do something very stupid like punch him in the face, but Fisk stops Tony and reminds him of their arrangement. Turns out that Fisk hired Sandman and the Living Laser to protect Rhodey in prison.

We get this nice panel of Rhodey telling Tony to win:

Nice! Tony and his allies are all determined to turn the tide of the war around, and they're doing all they can to get there.

So, what does Tony need to win? He needs a stronger armour (the stealth suit isn't powerful enough to beat sentinels), and he needs information from Feilong's mind. Which is why killing Feilong isn't a great idea right now. Unfortunately, Emma Frost (disguised as Hazel Kendal) just stepped foot in the Hellfire Club, and dreams of only one thing, revenge. So when Tony tries to stop her, this happens:

Ouch! Emma drops her ring, ready to kill Feilong and damn the consequences, but Tony begs her to reconsider.

Which is the exact moment, of course, when Feilong steps inside the room. And sees Tony on his knees in front of Emma with a ring in his hand. I think you know where this is going.

There isn't much choice for Emma and Tony: they need to get the inhibitor ring back on her finger so that the sentinels don't find her. And in front of Feilong, the only way to do that is if they make it look like a proposal. It's a desperate play, and very much unplanned. When I heard the news about the Stark-Frost wedding, I thought it would be some kind of political move on their part. I was wrong. This is a lot funnier, though.

And there you have it! Context for the panel I showed you back at the start of the post, and a very fake wedding! Between Tony Stark and Hazel Kendal. But the issue isn't finished, far from it. Tony and Emma now have to pretend. A lot. And smile at the cameras. A lot.

Tony has a nice sleazy chat with Feilong:

Look at this! This is every bad thing Tony could say about himself in ONE conversation! First: he pretends that he was only iron man for the adulation. That he didn't care about saving people. Second: he pretends to be drinking again, because "an addict gotta addict" and "booze is tastier". And third: he pretends he married Hazel (his assistant) because she was a potential HR nightmare, playing into the idea that he's just a jerk taking advantage of her. In one fell swoop, he implies that he isn't a hero and doesn't care about anything other than money and getting the next high (from alcohol).

I love it when Tony leans into the wrong assumptions that people have about him, but this is a lot. Ouch.

It gives us some very funny panels, though:

I need more of their banter, please and thank you. Look at their big fake pained smiles. I love this.

They decide to get married THE DAY AFTER. In Las Vegas. Where they go on fake dates. And then have a torrid night... of going out to do secret illegal stuff.

Tony steals some tech things from Zeke Stane's secret lab (nice cameo, Duggan), which is why they went to Vegas in the first place. And then the day of the wedding is finally here. Behold!

A literal red wedding! I have to admit, I love how committed they are to their bit. They're going full evil mode. I can't help but think of Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie, at the casino scene, wearing his red shirt and sunglasses, looking every bit the douchy self-centered billionaire. Which he was, at the time. And here, we have Tony pretending to be all that. Down to wearing sunglasses indoors. I don't know, I really like it.

Let me make a comment about what Tony writes here: that this is the first and last time that he'll ever be married, and that Emma will break his heart. About the first part: this can either mean that he and Emma will stay married, or that he doesn't think he'll ever marry someone. The autobiographical notes are interesting in that sometimes they tell us what Tony thought in the moment, and sometimes they give us potential hints about future events, like we've seen in this issue. Will Tony stay married to Emma afterwards? I don't think so, but you never know. But if this is Tony telling us that he won't ever marry someone, then it's interesting too. I tend to view Tony as somewhat of a hopeless romantic: he falls in love very easily, and half the time it's with a woman who is only there to deceive him, or who turns evil. Think Sunset Bain, Indries Moomji, Cassandra Gillespie, Kathy Dare, etc. The other half of the time, his relationship doesn't work out because of his superhero life conflicting with his personal life. The biggest example is with Rumiko Fujikawa, one of his longest relationships. He couldn't commit enough because of his secret identity. And when it was revealed, it got better between them, to the point that he was about to propose. He had a ring already! And then a villain killed Rumiko while wearing the Iron Man armour. She died in his arms!!!!!! It was extremely sad, and no subsequent writer at Marvel ever mentioned Rumiko again. Which is baffling to me. She was one of his longest relationships. He was ready to spend the rest of his life with her. And her death isn't even mentioned once in all the years since then??? It makes me so mad. In my opinion, this should have been treated as the traumatic event it was. And in my personal canon, this is one of the reasons why he hasn't really dated people who aren't superheroines, since. With the exception of Amara Perera, but that didn't last long. Because Tony faked his death. Anyways. The two recent relationships Tony has had are with Janet and Patsy, both heroines. And he proposed to Patsy. To me, Tony really wants to have a lasting relationship, but both external and internal factors hinder him. His life is dangerous, and his non-hero friends either turn into superheroes themselves or die, so he can't really safely date. He has few friends, and almost all of them are part of the hero community (I could make a whole post about how Marvel has put aside most of his support cast and reduced it to essentially only Rhodey, but this post is already way too long). Which means he almost only interacts with heroes. Duggan made that same comment in issue #3, I think. It's sad. Give Tony more friends! Or make him interact with his existing supporting cast! We've seen what happens otherwise: he gets shoehorned into a relationship with someone he doesn't even know (Patsy...). But. Back to the proposal: Tony is someone who wants stability in his love-life. He never gets it, not for long. And now, he's married. But it's all fake. And he knows it, he knows it's just an arrangement, but he also knows that he's going to fall for Emma, and that she won't reciprocate. And he's okay with that. Because it has happened so many times already, that he cares more about the person he is with than they do about him. It's quite tragic. And also a fun inversion of what he's supposed to be, aloof heartbreaker playboy. God, I love all the intricacies of Tony's masks and armours vs who he really is.

Back to the issue. Tony and Emma/Hazel marry each other! They break into Feilong's mind to steal his secrets! Tony watches Howard's message to him and momentarily forgets all about his childhood abuse! We get a reference to Iron Man 2! Boo.

"You were my greatest collaboration" is somehow worse than "you were my greatest creation". This is possibly the only thing that I didn't like about the issue, though, so it's okay. The issue ends with Emma and Tony going on their "honeymoon", which is probably code for "secret mission to find the mutant metal mysterium". I really hope that Tony will build a kick-ass armour with it. It apparently has anti-magical properties, too.

And that's the end of the issue reached! Finally! Two random thoughts to go: 1. Tony is surprisingly okay with killing Feilong here.

There is this interesting comment about killing, a bit earlier in the issue:

Tony usually doesn't take a life if he can't help it, but he has indeed killed before. I do think he wishes he didn't "have to", though. But clearly he doesn't care about keeping Feilong alive. Is it because of how heinous the things Feilong has done against mutants are? Is it because Tony has been dealt one blow after the other, each more personal than the last, and he's lost his cool? I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts.

2. We get a Tony and Emma cameo in Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant (2023) #2. It's a cute reunion where Tony saves Kamala from Orchis drones, and also makes a lot of bad married jokes. Some not very appropriate for the audience.

Kamala, just turn this into a fanfic. And try not to think about it too hard.

If you've read this far, give yourself a pat on the back. See you for the next Iron Man week!

[kuroecchy]

the pic in the list are not mine, I just found the pics from pinterest

English is not my first language and no beta.

fair warning the theme i chose for my october prompts are completly randome so I have nothing planned for any of them.

Day 2 - Guardian

It started after that fight. Tony was sure it was gonna hit him, he had no time to dodge. So when he closed his eyes, reading himself for the upcoming pain… Well, let's just say he was confused when nothing happened.

When he opened his eyes expecting to see something, anything. There was nothing. It’s as if there was nothing aimed at him in the first place.

Dumbfounded, Tony flew down from the sky and dismissed it as him being tired.

After that his luck seems to take a nosedive but somehow he always ends up fine.

The day after that incident, Rhodey had invited him to go on a jog.

They ran around the park. It was rather uneventful; it was a simple jog while talking about random things.

What was eventful was when they were on their way back. They decided to buy some food first at the other side of the road.

They of course waited until the stop sign turned green to cross the road but a car who had not hit their break fast enough skidded to them.

They raised their hands to their face (or at least the engineer did) in a futile attempt to protect themselves.

But then… the noise of the car was behind them. Tony quickly looked and the car that had been about to hit them was now behind them driving away.

The hero once again felt dumbfounded.

He looked at his best friend only to be given a shrug.

There was nothing he could do about it if Rhodey didn't see it there's no point thinking it over. Unless he (JARVIS) hack into the security cameras.

So he dismissed it once more.

After that, strange things kept on happening.

At first it was simple things such as when he fell asleep at his workbench he would wake up with a blanket on top of him.

He has asked as unlikely as it is, whether Pepper of Rhodey had been the one who had done it (Pepper would simply wake him up and get him to his own bed, Rhodey would do a similar thing).

They both had said no. Although for some reason the female had this knowing glint in her eyes when he asked. He decided not to ask about it.

Then it started to escalate into more suspicious things. For example, he had spilled coffee on his desk so he went out to get it cleaned only to come back with it already cleaned.

He asked JARVIS about it and his AI had simply responded with it disappearing on its own.

After that Tony has a suspicion on what's been happening around him lately. And because of said suspicions he decided on letting it be for now.

It was 2 weeks later (2 weeks of bad luck and needing someone to save him) that he finally saw it with his own eyes.

It was late at night at the tower. He had been awake for more than 48 hours. The only rest he took were small power naps (He had fallen asleep for a few minutes before forcing himself to wake up).

So it wasn’t really a surprise when he had started to stumble around the penthouse half asleep searching for the coffee machine (or was he searching for food?).

He forgot that he had some electronics that he hadn’t cleaned up from last time he was tinkering with them in the common room. So of course his brain that's been running on nothing but his will power decided that it was too much to notice them in front of him.

He tripped.

Honestly at this point, the sleep deprived man was welcoming the floor, ready to fall asleep on the cold floor.

Instead he fell onto the open arms of a tall man. The hold was strong. Well maybe not the grip but the way the arm hugged tight on to him his body relaxed on their hold.

The engineer’s brain tried hard to think about who the mystery person was, he didn’t have the energy to look up to the other’s face.

So tired at first, the other was wearing fabric that’s hard to the skin and he could feel the slight tremors from the other’s hands.

The next thing he noticed was the smell, the man (he’s pretty sure that they are a man at this point) Had the smell of incense clinging to his clothing and the aroma or calming tea mixed with it.

Tony knew that based on these descriptions he’s supposed to already be able to already guess who his savior is but his brain simply didn’t want to give him the answer.

It took a familiar baritone voice for him to realize who it was, “I think It’s time to go to bed.”

He could hear the fond smile coming from each of those words.

He smiled on the others arms and muffled, “Stranger danger.”

The sorcerer huffed and decided to teleport them to his room. He put the smaller man down on the bed and spoke fondly, “Alright, off to bet with you.”

“You're no fun, Stephen.” he pouted but otherwise did as told. He crawled up to the middle of the bed and positioned himself comfortably.

Stephen had chosen to sit by the foot of Tony’s bed to make sure the other actually slept.

Tony on the other hand had started to drift off.

“Guess you’re the one that’s been protecting me…” he mumbled

“My own secret guardian…” and with that Tony went to the world of dreams, leaving Stephen a blushing mess on the foot of his bed.

~ The End ~

did i write this instead of sleeping? yes i did

apologies for any mistakes im supposed to be asleep when i was writing this

[polizwrites]

PoliZ's Seasonal Self-Recs: Back to School Edition

Seeing as it’s back to school season, I wanted to share the High School & College/University AU fics I’ve written or collaborated on!   They’re arranged by pairing - feel free to reblog and if you like any of these, please let me know! 

No Pairing

ChaosBot Meets Its Match - TSB Mark V November Round Robin  (Tony-centric, General, 1831 words) – A normal (ish) day at the robotics lab at MIT turns crazy and dangerous pretty quick.

BBB September Round Robin (Bucky-centric, General, 3393 words) – Bucky, Steve, and Natasha are helping decorate the hall for their school dance. Commence shenanigans.

BBB Round Robin - May 2021 (Bucky-centric, General, 4105 words) –  A quest for theater costumes and props ends in a possibly magical shop and a probably fae encounter.

Bucky x Steve

Stucky Bingo April 2023 Round Robin (Bucky/Steve, Teen, 1733 words) – Bucky loved his friends, and he didn’t really blame them for interfering. How could he? Clint was right; in the two years since they’d come here together for uni, Bucky’s ladykiller days had spontaneously ended. It was always about Steve, now. Steve this, Steve that. Nevermind that in all that time Bucky had probably said maybe 20 words to the man.

Technicalities (Bucky/Steve, Explicit, 6447 words) – Steve reflects on the upside of sharing office space with Doctor Stark: his colleague’s research assistant. Said assistant makes a similar observation. Will these observations lead to mutual experimentation? (Spoiler: of course they will.)

Baring His Soul (Bucky/Steve, Teen, 634 words) – Bucky stands up for a friend, despite his crazy stunt.

Bucky x Tony

In My Sights (Bucky/Tony, Teen, 3014 words) – At the end of the school year carnival, Bucky’s crush has the best idea: taking on the rigged midway games.

The Attraction is Mutual (Bucky/Tony, General, 724 words) – Tony and Winter are in the middle of a kidnapping simulation when Tony uses his technical brilliance to help make their escape.

No Ordinary Boy Is Gonna Do (Bucky/Tony, Teen, 1219 words) – Bucky knew things would be different in LA compared to his Indiana hometown. Some differences were good, some not so good, but then there was the weird difference: when everything and everyone -- including his crush, Tony -- would stop for a song and dance number.

So Open Up, I’m Climbin’ In (Bucky/Tony, Mature, 17,504 words) – Prompt: we’re on a roadtrip with some friends and we have to share a hotel room and there’s only one bed and a whole lot of sexual tension’ AU Would be nice if it was smutty. Steve and Sam totally set them up. Later Bucky and Tony realise they are both fools since they've been in love with each other since the beginning of their acquaintance.

Borrowing Trouble (Bucky/Tony, Teen, 2121 words) – Bucky’s roommate Tony chooses the wrong time to borrow something; but maybe a little blowup will only make their friendship stronger. And the bit of subterfuge that follows? Who knows where that will lead...

WinterIron Bingo Round Robin - September 2023 (Bucky/Tony, Teen, 1925 words) – When Bucky's phone rings with a wrong number looking for Jim, he finds himself going out in the middle of the night to a frat party to rescue a drunk Tony Stark.

WinterIron Bingo Round Robin - April 2023 (Bucky/Tony, General, 2163 words) – Tony's offer to help out his classmate (and crush) with a crucial missing assignment somehow becomes a first date ... and neither he nor Bucky are complaining.

Beaten to the Punch (Bucky/Tony, General, 553 words) – After spending a month as a day camp counselor, Bucky is working up the courage to tell his fellow counselor/subject of his crush how he feels. He just might get beaten to the punch.

Rhodey x Tony

Crossed Wires (Rhodey/Tony, Teen, 1055 words) – Tony’s afraid a few careless words spoken on the phone have cost him his friendship with Rhodey.

Taking You Under My Wing (Rhodey & Tony, Teen, 1121 words) - Jim’s unexpected roommate needs a friend and Jim's willing to fill that role.

Steve x Tony

Finding Their Rhythm (Steve/Tony, Teen, 2146 words) – Steve Rogers has a crush on his friend, Tony Stark. It takes a Dum-E and a dumb jerk to bring them together.

Seven Minutes in Heaven (Steve/Tony, Teen, 1031 words) – Steve didn’t even want to play the game, but when he ends up in the closet with Tony, maybe they will both win.

Feelings that Flood On the Page (Steve/Tony, General, 710 words) – Steve gets a somewhat anonymous love letter in his locker; Bucky pushes him to confirm his suspicions as to the author.

Reasons Not to Go Outside (Steve/Tony, General, 440 words) – After Tony gets caught in a rainstorm, he and Steve cuddle up and celebrate their six-month anniversary.

Not Too Far Down the Tracks (Steve/Tony, General, 411 words) - On a late night train back to New York City, Steve reflects on his relationship with Tony and looks forward to a future together.

Two Cliques, Both Alike in Dignity (Steve/Tony, General, 484 words) – Steve’s friends don’t think much of the theater kids, and Tony’s friends make fun of the jocks - little do they know how much they might have in common.

[ircn-dad]

Hi! It's great to see you back, even it is for a moment!

I stopped watching Secret Invasion past episode 3 because I couldn't get interested. But when I found out that Rhodey is skrull my first guess was he was replaced right after Endgame. But when they said he has been a skrull for a long time then I guess right before IW. Now I am feeling both satisfaction for being right and annoyance because this is the most stupidest thing ever. It undermines every single meaningful scene he has ever had. I hate it so much.

Have a nice day...

I understand you anon, I understand you...

You know what's worse? It's the fact that they never planned it.

I Could have liked it if they planned it from the begging. If you go now to rewatch infinity war or endgame and find clues about Rhodey not being our Rhodey, it would be a "great" plot twist. Hurtful? yeah, but I would have been satisfied at least. But no, Marvel literally has to ruin old characters and old movies and for what? For this?

Overall, the series is boring. I liked the first episodes because I thought it was interesting, but after the last episodes? It's a big no. The series is useless. They could have filmed it in one whole episode and it would have ended there. This series is about Fury, not secret invasion. And what about G'iah? she's literally the strongest character ever. She has everyone's power but I bet they won't use her at all. The villain is lame, he literally has super powers but of course during the fight with G'iah he uses only super strength while G'iah uses every possible power (honestly, why does her arm become ice at some point? since when in endgame there was a superhero with ice powers). The invasion literally ends in two minutes and Fury goes off the planet with his wife like the world isn't literally in danger now that everyone knows about skrulls.

I have never been someone who said that marvel ended at endgame. I'm not a critic and an expert of writing movies and series, but I feel like they are doing too many mistakes.

EDIT: I just noticed another plot hole. G'iah, when she arrived at new skrull, was caughing so hard to make Gravik believe that she was Fury and was infected by the radiation. So that means humans cannot possibly survive in there, right?

So why the hell when at the end she freed all the humans, everyone was walking there like they were on a mountain trip.

[cloudinterlude]

Do you have any headcanons about Steve, Tony, or Steve and Tony between AoU and CACW? Like, any ideas about Steve's relationships with Rhodey, Wanda, or Vision? Or how closely do you think Tony monitored/kept in touch with the Avengers 2.0 team while he was supposedly retired? Do you think Steve and Tony had many interactions during that time period?

This is actually such a good ask because I hardly ever...ponder about my headcanons? I usually don't fill in gaps with specific happenings because I'm much better at analysis of canon content, so this answer is going to be at least 50% brainstorming! Long post incoming! Also, sorry if this response takes forever to be posted...whoopsies.

All my SteveTony interpretations from that period of time are all depressing lol. I think it's the time they are simultaneously thinking about each other the most and growing apart the most (of course this is only rivaled by post-CACW SteveTony). It also sucks because I like to imagine that after CATWS, the Avengers are all living together for the first time up until AOU. But between AOU and CACW, Tony is wallowing and drowning in his guilt, fear and shame (which I believe is like, 90% the reason he takes the stances he does ) and Steve is literally a mess and a half. The thing is though, Steve is better at compartmentalizing and managing his horror show of a life (he literally has to be or he'd be dead, probably), so he is most likely coping better than Tony at this point. Just barely though. We'll touch on that later in the post if I remember.

Tony is in the trenches. Became depressed after he helped create a murder bot that decimated an already war torn country, piles of self-hatred stabbing his gut at every chance, no girlfriend, no team, no happiness, no JARVIS, no stability, no confidence, no dignity, no---You see the point. All he's thinking about is how the hell to fix all his mistakes that have come to light at once. I'm in the boat of thinking that CW literally could not have been prevented because of how deep in shit Tony is. I do however think CW could have ended up better if Tony and Steve were on better terms....or it would have been so, so much worse. I'd love to see someone write this (I might).

Anyways! I think Tony would have been doing a lot of pulling away from Steve during this time. I think Steve most likely reached out to Tony the few times he could, but he was met with an almost impenatrible wall that he didn't know how to scale. Steve is insanely busy at this time and in copious amounts of emotional turmoil - he only has spend - and seeing as Tony seems safe, I could see Steve redirecting his attention elsewhere after being rejected a few times too many and giving Tony space instead. I think it's pretty apparent that these two didn't interact much (or at least didn't have many deep conversations). I'm basing this off of how they reacted to each other in CW and how Steve didn't know Pepper and Tony broke up.

[This section is gonna be a especially clunky and worded oddly but WALK WITH ME PLEASE] I will say I like the idea of them having literally one (1) heart to heart within this time period. I think it would have had to be early on in order for it to not have a mentionable moment in CW. The conversation ultimately would have led to Tony and Steve understanding each other the way they do in CW. It would be about their "nightmares" in AOU. One thing that I find interesting actually, is how long it takes for Tony to...see Steve as a person? It's very apparent in Avengers 1, but in AOU as well. And it's actually my favorite thing when we see Tony try to push and poke at Steve to get a "human" or vulnerable reaction out of him. For example, the log scene. Where Tony eventually gets frustrated and implies that Steve didn't seem to torn up about whatever nightmare he got. This is 1) Tony fishing for vulnerability from Steve's coping mechanism of stoicism and 2) Tony is taking his anger out on Steve and it's acceptable enough to him because in his eyes, Steve is a stone fortress so it's not like it'll rankle him anyways. You see how this becomes a never-ending circle, yeah? Lol. Especially because Steve doesn't project his emotions in the same explosive way Tony does. To Tony, he seems self-assured, calm, almost too collected and this bothers Tony for reasons I can't elaborate on right now or I'll type too much. In short, it's a part of the Howard-Steve-Tony conflict. To Steve, he doesn't understand why Tony is being antagonistic towards him so he reacts the way he does instead of giving Tony what he wants.

Anyways, back to the conversation! I think they actually must reach a breakthrough with each other. Telling each other about their respective "visions" in AOU...Steve realizing how much responsibility and guilt Tony assigns himself, Tony realizing that Steve still feels displaced and isn't unaffected by the things that's happened to him....I even predict they talked about Howard a tiny bit. To me, in CW, I see a sense of understanding between them that simply isn't there in the previous movies. Yes, they are literally more divided than they have ever been, but I truly, and wholeheartedly believe that CW could have been so, so much worse. I think Steve could have been more pissed at Tony and Tony could have been more cold about everything if they didn't see each other as they are. They don't agree with each other, but they absolutely trust the intentions of the other. Tony straight up says (to Peter) that he knows that Steve is doing what he thinks is right. Steve almost folds and puts his trust in Tony during the signing scene and he wouldn't do that if he didn't have faith in Tony's intentions.

Now, all this said, I do not buy for a second that Tony was able to stay away and mind his "I'm retired" ass business during this time lol. He wasn't active, no, but did he show up to HQ a little more than he should have? Yes. Did he find ways to watch trainings and sparring in person (and on video)? Yes. Did he continue to build stuff for the Avengers (whether or not he actually gave his inventions for them to use)? Yes. Did he press Natasha for info surrounding the Avengers, HQ, Steve, ect? ABSOLUTELY. I think Tony and Natasha's closeness in CW is a direct product of Tony inquiring about everything he missed out on during his break and Natasha offering up all the info he wanted and more. She probably tried to convince him to come back once or twice.

Steve and Rhodes: Now, take my opinion on this dynamic with a grain of salt because Rhodey is a character that annoys me. Very surface level annoyance, but it's still there nonetheless. This isn't to say I think he's a bad character - he's actually one of the few MCU characters that is consistent and makes sense. Anyways, I never saw these two as close. I don't think they have the potential to become super close, nor do I think they are particularly interested in being close to each other. But there is a pretty solid level of mutual respect. I don't think Rhodey really...likes Steve for the same reasons Tony didn't like Steve. Mostly based off of misconceptions and reading Steve's disposition as egoism and coldness (I suspect that it's a little projection comes from seeing the Howard-Steve-Tony conflict from Tony growing up too but moving on). I think Steve is pretty neutral when it comes to Rhodey. He can sense the dislike, but it doesn't bother him because they aren't....close.

Steve and Vision: This is actually a really cute and heartwarming pair that I never thought about until now. I think Vision is fond of Steve. He became appreciative of him mostly through his own observations and through whatever Wanda tells him. I think there might have been times where Vision has seen Steve comfort Wanda and that could have pushed Vision to talk to Steve about his own concerns...maybe having to do with his personhood? I don't think they were close to each other, but I think that Vision definitely marked Steve in the "good" category of people he knows. On Steve's side, he's mostly bemused when it comes to Vision. It's confusion, apprehension and affection all at once. But maybe Vision also reminds him a teeny tiny bit of himself coming into the new century. Fumbling, unsure of new social cues, observing everything and attempting to mimic common behaviors. I'm sure Vision's behavior is endlessly endearing to Steve, but he doesn't know how to handle it all the time. They figure it out as they go. Very cute.

Steve and Wanda: I love them so much. Top 5 MCU dynamic that is never explored but is told through scraps and crumbs of dialogue that hint at the amount of time they've shared together and the amount of trust and care they've build between each other. Here's a take I haven't fully fleshed out yet: I think Steve's empathy and compassion for Wanda is literally endless. I think Wanda's faith and admiration for Steve is endless as well. I think these two are one of the most solid, locked in duos in the MCU. My evidence? Vibes. Just kidding, almost. But I think it's 1) their backgrounds, and 2) the progression of their relationship and 3) the types of characters they are. You know one of the main reasons Wanda trusts Steve? It's not only because he can see who she really is, it's not only because he empathizes with her pain - it's because he isn't afraid of her and her power. Instead, he's worried for her and how her lack of control over her abilities hurt her. He didn't take her in just so he could monitor and stop her from hurting other people - he took her in and continued to stick up for her because he genuinely, wholeheartedly cares. Wanda isn't one to be fooled by fake compassion. And she sees pure authenticity in Steve. Steve looks at Wanda and sees someone that was failed in the worse ways possible. Much like his own life, it's been hit after hit for Wanda - external circumstances that she couldn't control, so once she finally had a chance to take the reigns of her own destiny, she jumped at the opportunity. That line Steve says in AOU, "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them in order to protect their country?" "We're not at war, Captain." "They are." From the jump, he went into that fight understanding Wanda's motivations and immediately related them to his own experience and desperation. This empathy for someone who is supposed to be their enemy - someone who is actively coming for their necks. The same empathy that so many people are throwing out the window when it comes to Wanda and her story. I'm one of the whackjobs that fully believes that Wanda would have allowed Steve to help her through WandaVision and MoM AND Steve would have still forgiven and trusted her afterwards. If Wanda came to Steve devastated that they showed her Vision's corpse, he would have stood beside her without question and shut it down (we already know that Steve sees Vision as an actual person considering Infinity War). Steve is has been her advocate and support since she's joined them. And it's often shown in subtle ways. He also doesn't allow people to pick on Wanda - not on his watch. Wanda does the same (as much as she can) for Steve and follows his lead.

Okay, I realized that that turned more into an analysis without many headcanons lol....Okay, some Wanda and Steve headcanons. Steve draws Wanda a lot - always in bright and positive settings to express how he sees her. I think he also makes an effort to be as invested in her powers as she is - to assure that she knows she doesn't have to manage it herself. I could imagine it actual blows Wanda's mind when Steve drags her to practice her magic on him. On one hand she's terrified because she doesn't want to hurt him, on the other hand, she's filled with warmth because he believes in her and is backing it up by putting his own wellbeing on the line. One more...sometimes Wanda pranks Steve with her powers. It's both an example of her progress and her just being silly (but it really shows how comfortable and safe she feels with him). So cute.

Whew! I think I covered everything. I looooooooove detailed and specific questions/prompts like this. Especially when it involves character I'm directly invested in! Thank you so much <3 If you want more elaboration on anything or if I missed something, feel free to hit me up again! <3

[cowboyhorsegirl]

Hey hey can you give me any mcu stevetony fic recs pls because the one you recommended last time was so <33333 you have good taste

omg yes of course!! these are just what i found from doing a quick search through my bookmarks, they're all canon-compliant/canon-plausible, & they're listed in no particular order :)

with each downpour we discover what it takes by @the-faultofdaedalus (T, 1k)

Tony's turned into a mer-person. It's a bad time for all involved. (Turns out, being underwater is not at all fun for him, even if that's the only way he can breathe)

i'll be by your side (when you cry, cry, cry). by frostfall (T, 2.5k)

The first thing he notices when he wakes is there’s a ring on Tony’s ring finger. There's a fucking ring on Tony's ring finger. Oh, Steve thinks numbly. I missed my chance. Again. With that thought in mind, he bursts into tears. (In which Steve goes through a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts, Tony tries to comfort, and Sam finds the whole thing both frustrating and hilarious.)

an appalling lack of boundaries by @areiton (M, <1k)

The first thing Steve learns about Tony is that he has an appalling lack of boundaries. Everything good that happens to him, he tells Rhodey.

cuts much deeper than they seem by @robertdowneyjjr (T, <1k)

It’s been three months since the so-called superhero civil war, and Natasha’s tired of Steve skirting around Tony’s name when she misses her friend too.

The Last Love Song of Anthony E. Stark by jibrailis (M, 40k)

After contracting an Asgardian virus, Tony starts forgetting things. And people. And Steve.

The Buzzfeed Listiverse by @gogglor (T/M, 66k total)

Tony and Steve can't stand each other, but they agree for the sake of the team and the people that rely on them that they have to figure out a way to get along. So they come up with a plan to spend time together, in the form of a Buzzfeed listicle of things to do in New York City. Because if you go to enough museums with the guy you can't stand, you should *eventually* stop hating him, right?

Five Days a Week by @festiveferret (M, 6.6k)

The day after Pepper's funeral - after Rhodey has come and gone, after Natasha has come and gone, after Tony has forcibly sent Happy away - Tony looks out of the front window, Morgan snoozing in the crook of one arm, and sees a dark, heavily-tinted car in the driveway.

Don't Look too Closely (all the angles are oblique) by shaenie (E, 162k total)

“I’m removing Captain Rogers from this base, but not from active duty. I want him as SHIELD’s liaison to Stark Industries first and foremost. He’ll report directly to me,” Fury says. “As it is, your identity as Captain America is not public knowledge and it will remain that way until I say otherwise. That said, if you think you can get Tony Stark to work with you if you disclose that information, you have permission to do so.”

love the sin, love the sinner by @silkspectred (E, 10.5k)

It keeps happening. Not often, just once or twice a month, but it keeps happening. Always in the same way: it’s unplanned, sudden, unexpected, Steve is surprised and eager, his dick goes from zero to one hundred in two seconds, Tony’s touch is electric, everything he does drives Steve crazy, but he never lets Steve kiss him, he very rarely looks Steve in the eye, he never talks, never makes a sound when he comes, never mentions it later.

It's Only Sex by madeitsimple (E, 2.3k)

Sure, he’s a little out of practice, but casual sex is like riding a bike as far as Tony’s concerned. Once you get good at it, it never really leaves you.

rough enough for love by @silkspectred (E, 14.5k)

The first time they had sex was right after their first kiss. Steve dropped to his knees and then Tony reciprocated after making Steve lie down on the bed. The second time it was Steve that initiated it, slow handjobs under the hot spray of the shower, and Tony looked surprised by it. Like it was weird that Steve wanted it. Wanted him.

Clean Slate Protocol 2.0 by @no-gorms (E, 8.2k)

Preparations for the time heist marks the first time in years that Tony has spent any significant amount of time with Steve under the same roof. With the olive branch offered and taken, everything’s going well between them. Very well, actually. Better than it’s ever been. Tony's trying not to think about that too closely.

Avalon Protocol by avenjel (Not Rated, 6.2k)

Tony Stark may be replaceable, but Iron Man—the world needs Iron Man. That's the main reason why he creates the AVALON protocol one night, sitting alone in the Compound and nursing a bottle of whiskey and thinking, How can I be better, I have to be better. It's a protocol that prioritizes his teammates over himself, a verbal command for FRIDAY to operate the suit in the event that he is unable. It's a protocol that will finish the battle even if he's bleeding out or already dead.

shelter from the storm by @silkspectred (M, 5.2k)

Tony adopts a baby. Guess who's Majorly Fucked Up™ about it.

Five Seconds by @elcorhamletlive (Not Rated, 3.1k)

From the moment Steve suits up, he knows what he’ll do.

and just for posterity's sake, i'll include my original rec to you too

Semaphore by DevilDoll (E, 40k)

"I’m trying to like you, Tony. You’re just making it very hard."