#but this is a new thing- it’s frankly not even how Tony was written when he was publicly Tony last issue

[ronearoundblindly]

How does mermaid reader feel about Steve? Like what is her take on their relationship?

just fair warning if you keep writing I’m gonna keep asking questions lol.

I...don't know what happened with this, but it was kinda fun! (unedited, not long, no real warnings except, yeah, he's a human and you're a mermaid, semi-angsty fluff!!)

Steve Rogers x deep sea mermaid!Reader from Sun, Salt, and Shield

Steve is a novelty.

Originally, you just considered him a split-tail with a crown of morning sunlight and high-ocean eyes. Later on, you learned it's called 'hair,' but a closer translation based on how mermaids see it is a 'mane.' Steve has a golden mane--something no one in your species has--hence, you think of it as a crown.

You were caged when you first saw him. That made you assume certain things when Steve walked up to the Raft's tank. Even in near darkness, his mane is bright. No other person you've encountered so far has that.

You're curious, frankly, but on-guard as always.

When humans are deprived of sleep, they can hallucinate, and mermaids are no different. You thought he was a complete figment of your imagination until Stark interacted with him, until Steve stepped into the water and put pressure across your heart and hips. The push of his hand, forcing your head against his chest, could have made you howl in relief.

All you wanted was to rest, but something in the back of your mind also told you not to scare him.

Stark, you don't mind scaring, Chuck is right where he belongs, excreted out into the industrial filters beyond the wall of your tank, but Steve? He must be protected.

He sees you. He listens to you.

You did not thing surfacers could do that. Not really. Not nicely. All humans want to do is control and take, use and abuse. However, you aren't afraid of them. You absolutely can kill any one of them that gets closer than you'd like. They're fragile.

But the way Steve grips you? Maybe he's not so fragile...

English is freaking hard. You learn quite a bit from Tony and then practice with Steve. You can feel his patience but love earning his admiration more. You find yourself wanting him to be proud of you and your progress.

You love making Steve laugh. It takes so long to figure out how to amuse him.

Numbers are a pain in the ass to learn because they have a concept, a symbol, and a written word. That's the point Tony halts teaching you to read alongside the verbal language. You threw a fit. He threw a fit. He left in a huff to cool off. You shrieked for Steve to come back for hours.

Eventually, when Tony returns, you threaten to eat him, and he calls it quits for the day.

Tony knew you favored Steve Rogers from day one. He planned to use that knowledge--and to some lesser extent, he did--but soon Tony simply realizes making you happy makes Steve happy...plus you cooperate and become an ambassador of sorts in your home realm.

You keep learning for Steve, not for Stark.

Mermen are, in your experience, domineering and uninspired. Their immense size differential to mermaids is useful to the brute-force model of society deep in the ocean, but they are boring. Your father is not stupid though. Almost none of them are stupid. Simple-minded remains the best translation you can manage.

Steve fascinates you. His attention to detail, his open nature, and his empathy are entirely new to you.

Mermen don't hide their baser instincts, so they freely ogle and flocked toward the most physiologically attractive mermaids. No interest in what's beneath the surface, ironically. Very shallow.

That's not to say bonds aren't possible. They absolutely are. Bonding with a partner is secondary at best, an afterthought most often, and unnecessary at worst.

Yet again, Steve wins you on every level--he has a sharp mind and acknowledges yours, he challenges your development without critique, and, lastly, he's quite attractive for how small and smooth he is.

"Should've seen me before," he once mumbled after you explained all that as well as your vocabulary would allow.

You don't know what he meant by that.

Because a certain level of indifference is common in couplings of your species, you were quite alarmed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable with how deep your affection for Steve became. You know how other humans react to you, and it doesn't build much confidence that one of them could feel this way about you.

During these long, repeated hugs with Steve, you realize that it's not just curiosity, or the novelty of his existence, or interest in learning from him: you feel about Steve how others feel about their mates.

Not gonna lie: that's terrifying. You don't actually know if Steve reciprocates. Sure, he explains human couples in great detail, and he shows you some of what he means, but all that could be...part of teaching you.

Until Steve discusses kissing, you convinced yourself he could not possibly harbor romantic affection for you.

It's lips against something, he says, that's all. His lips can press anywhere and boom! you've been kissed. He illustrates by kissing the back of your hand, kissing your cheek, kissing your forehead.

By now, your face is cradled in his hands. You can hear his heart racing as he sits on the steps in your pool and leans toward your body. His high-ocean eyes are shadowed as he looks down your face, captivated by--

"--your beautiful lips," he says, gently pressing his atop yours.

It's difficult to describe why something so simple hits so dramatically in your mind. The golden-maned man, almost the strongest of his species, amongst the softest of yours, kisses you like he needs to learn you, like he needs your existence, like he's curious.

There's a phrase you hum at the back of your throat once he releases you and sits up, a dusty rose painting his neck and cheeks.

"Swim beside me."

The better translation to English would be "I love you," but you haven't learned that yet.

Thank you for asking!

A/N: why am I crying?????

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[anonymous-tals]

I wrote some of this in another post but I just wanted to expand on it since I think it’s an interesting subject.

(Also, just putting this upfront, I feel the necessity of clarifying, obviously, bisexual is it’s own identity, it isn’t just a pit stop on the way to someone realizing they’re gay, I’m just talking about trying to figure out who you like or perhaps don’t like being a part of figuring out your sexuality)

The Buster saying Gob might be bisexual moment has been commonly viewed as definitive but personally, I don’t think it was meant to be an answer to the question of Gob’s sexuality. I think it was answering a different question by being one half of an entirely new question. Before, it was “Is he gay or straight?”, the straight option ruling out Gob loving Tony in a gay-umbrella-term way. Just friends. Besties, even. Just a couple of dudes…But we know that’s not true. They are not just a couple of dudes. They are dudes who want to be a couple. So by rewriting it to make it “Is he gay or bisexual?”, that answers “Is Gob’s love for Tony real and very gay-umbrella-term?” with a yes, yes it is. But now, there is a new question that’s been proposed: is he attracted to men and women or just men?

I’m inclined to believe it’s just men.

(I’m not gonna go super in depth cause this has already been discussed so much and I don’t want to be redundant but there are certain elements I haven’t seen discussed that I’ve personally thought about so that’s what this is for)

Gob really does not come across like a bisexual character to me. If he was written as bisexual, I feel like that would’ve been shown more, ya know(for those who know the character, I’m thinking of how they wrote Daryl in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)? It would’ve a question of “Why do I find both groups attractive?” rather than “Why can’t I find one of these groups attractive?” I mean, the writers know the term bisexual and if that was the intention, why would they include how he hasn’t slept with a women since Tony and all the scenarios in which he’s uncomfortable with and avoiding being with women? And it’s not just that Joni is older and has weird fake boobs or that Kitty is repulsive to him. The woman at the conversion therapy place is very conventionally attractive and still, even though he genuinely tries to be all charming and flirt, he can’t get himself to commit and promptly walks away, very uncomfortable and disinterested(but that ‘t’ necklace she’s wearing does remind him of a certain someone he is attracted to). And it’s not like it’s a being dedicated to Tony so much that he can’t make comments about other people or find others attractive, either. He calls one of the closet guys cute, someone pointed out how he checks out Adhir at one point. The guy foxes thing, even. But again, when it comes to women, whenever he tries anything, he gets uncomfortable and/or leaves or tries to leave the situation. I mean, he can at times hardly even lie about sleeping with and being attracted to women. And it’s not just season five: when you look at all his relationships with women throughout the whole show, it’s night and day compared to how he acts with Tony. And Tony’s not the first partner he’s had that believes in him and is supportive of and nice to him. The difference is that he’s a man.

Another thing, I’ve seen the closet scene, the fact that they were gonna be going in and out of closets, viewed as, like, a metaphor for Gob being bi but the thing is, we literally see that Gob gets out of the gay closet and can’t get back into the straight closet no matter how much he tries, which echoes his arc in the show and is emblematic of what I’ve already mentioned throughout this. Ever since Gob developed feelings for Tony and they had sex and he had this realization, he’s been trying desperately to force himself to be straight or, hell, just like women at all, but it never works because he is gay.

*And frankly, I interpreted Buster saying that Gob might be bisexual as him just coming to the conclusion that Gob is bi based on what Gob told him. I have to believe that Buster knew to some extent that Gob liked guys. I mean, he saw him around Tony during the Sword of Destiny stuff. He saw how Gob talked to Tony and about Tony. Plus, Buster's the only one who ever truly payed attention to him, like, actually listened, so I'm sure he noticed other things too and Michael literally shouted, "I knew it!" so I feel like it's realistic to believe this wasn't exactly a well kept secret. And in season five, when Gob is talking to Buster about how he's gonna turn himself back to being straight because he's not to gay but, ya know, it's obvious to Buster that Gob is definitely not straight, in Buster’s mind, perhaps what's confusing his older brother, who seems to be identifying with both straight and gay, is that he likes both men and women. I mean, from Buster's perspective, that would make sense, especially given the lifetime of bragging about sleeping with women that Gob has done. But we have information and insight that he doesn’t and when you look at the show as a whole, the situation doesn’t read as Gob being confused because he likes both men and women and thinks he has to choose, it reads as Gob in a last ditch effort to convince himself he’s not gay and likes women.

I’m pretty sure at the time, there was a possibility of another season or a movie or something and I’m sure this would’ve been delved into more there. Because of the whole “the feeling was friendship” thing, a lot of people did not get that they were actually in love(including me, I’m very oblivious and gullible) and I think a lot of this season was spent making sure that was clear, that they did really love each other and not as just friends. They even in their ending scene together, say that they can’t be friends, which someone else(I can’t remember who but credit to whoever it was) pointed out that it seemed like a subtle way for the writers to show that they aren’t just friends, they’re doing gay stuff together cause they like dudes. But even without a following season or movie, I think we already have sufficient information spanning the entirety of the show that answers whether Gob is gay or bisexual and in my opinion, Gob is gay.

And of course, if you think he’s bi, hell yeah, that’s cool, you do you. This isn’t meant to stomp all over your hc. These are just my thoughts on this subject.

Edit:

*Just thought I should add this since my interpretation of this specific scene has changed after @theflannelwizard pointed this out(this was a bit ago now but I hadn’t thought to add it until now). My conclusion is still the same, I just feel the need to amend this specific part:

Really, I don’t know how I didn’t, like, think about this until it was pointed out to me, it’s so obvious now that that was the joke.

Also just another addition, cause I somehow completely forgot about this when I wrote this, there were the, like, two weeks(? whatever the span of time was) where him and his dad went all across Mexico with the specific intention of getting with women and Gob couldn’t get himself to do anything with a single woman and was struggling to even feign interest.

And then another thing with Gob finding other dudes attractive, on top of the other stuff I mentioned, he also calls up the Hot Cops at one point to schedule them to come over. So again, it’s not like he’s so dedicated to Tony that it’s impossible for him to find others attractive and express that. With men, he’s comfortable doing that, but with women, he is not.

[mad-maximoff]

When We Met

Wanda Maximoff X G!P Reader 18+!!

Summary: You were invited but to a join a party at the new Avengers compound. You locked eyes with a certain Scarlet Witch

Warnings:(Female Reader has a pen!s) drunk sex, wlw, sloppy bj, unprotected sex, ejaculation

Word Count: 4.1 k

(I haven't written a fanfic with dicks in a LONG time! Almost 7 years lol! So I apologize if it isn't good.) :) <3 Enjoy!

Part 2 is here

It was never in your nature to come to these sorts of things. Though, one never passes an invitation from Tony Stark. Or else you’d get pestered by him relentlessly. You couldn’t figure out what to wear, but it had to be something formal. Not wedding-worthy, but drunk picture worthy where you still look hot as you’re a complete drunk mess. You wore a brownish-grey suit, with a sheer lace button-up top underneath. You allowed your bare skin to catch the air cooling yourself. You paired the outfit with some layered gold necklaces to liven it up. With your enhanced abilities, you had some things bigger than other women. Though, when you were so ‘happily bestowed’ onto you, there were some minor cons to the reality stone touching your civilian skin. Yes, you became stronger than a common super-soldier, and fight the Hulk family and live to tell the tale. The con is the extra appendage you weren’t born with. It was huge, frankly, everything about you was huge but the thing that hung between your legs made you feel like a real freak. 

You shook the thought away, fluffing the silk pants away from your skin, overthinking the inseam of your pants hugging your unwanted “third leg” too tight. 

You were in the main entrance in the front of the Avengers compound finishing off your smoke. Everyone was like cattle herding into the main doors leading into the party. You weren’t too fond of crowds, thinking everyone was staring at you. Your face was feminine but your shoulders down looked like a man's body. You looked like Bucky Barnes with tits. Or that’s what you thought.

“Oh miss Y/n! Fuck finally! Some real people to hang out with!” Kate sat slumped over on the couch, already drunk even when the party had just begun. She wasn’t wearing anything special, just a pair of ripped jeans and her white long-sleeved she always wear saying “лайка”. 

you were kicking yourself in the ass for dressing up. Until you noticed everyone but Kate was wearing something formal.

Yelena stood behind the bar with Tony mixing drinks. Yelena scoffed handing you a beer. 

“Da, Y/n. I’m quite pleased you are here. Kate is a fucking lightweight when it comes to drinking.” Her back turned to nudge Tony as he cleaned glasses. You noticed she forgot to open your beer. You looked around making sure no one was watching as you intertwined your index and your middle finger around the cap lifting it lightly making a popping noise.  

“Y/n. Come now. You don’t have to feel embarrassed about your strength. Buck and I can do that easily.” Steve stood behind you clinking your beer to his. You both took a swig each before finally finishing the conversation. 

“Oh, I’m not ashamed, Steve. I just don’t want to freak anyone out when if I accidentally shatter the bottle. You can control your strength. Sometimes I can’t.” Your fingers clung around the shaft of the bottle. You broke out in a tiny sweat, feeling your chest burn from the inside out. 

"If it happens, it happens Y/n. Accidents happen. We all know you're trying your best." Steve's hand pressed gently on your shoulder, walking off in front of you to join Natasha. You shrugged quitely chuckling to yourself. You followed along standing in front of Kate trying to lift her face off the pillow. "Come one champ! Let's get you sitting straight up huh?" You tried not to move her forcefully, but strong enough to move her body straight up. 

"Come on Y/n! Let's get fucked up!" Kate leaped up to her feet head-butting your collarbone. "No, no. How about I get you some water and sit your ass back down." You grabbed her shoulders sitting her back on the couch. "No! Fuck that! Let's get white girl wasted!" You had to laugh at her state. You've seen her drunk but never this out of it. You had to think of a plan so she wouldn't get sick. You darted to the bar whisking two shot glasses and a bottle of water. You poured the water into the shot glasses, running back to Kate. "Okay, Katey-baby. You wanna drink? Fine here you go!" Kate's hand slurred trying to latch onto the shot glass, finally, however, she gripped the glass throwing the water back. You drank yours slowly making sure Kate didn't notice. "Hell yeah! That went down fine! Give me another!" You turned ripping the water label off and pouring more into her glass. You heard a laugh behind you. You cocked your head around noticing a brunette wearing a white ruffled bustier cami dress, with black heels. She wasn't laughing over someone else saying something, she was laughing at you. You raised an eyebrow towards her which made her grin. She glided across the floor to the couch you were planted on with Kate. 

"Hey there! You wanna little help with this one?" She reached over to Kate's ponytail tightening the elastic. "Help with what Wanda? I'm fantastic! Y/n L/n, this is the beautiful Wanda Maximoff!" Kate tilted her head up to stare at the beautiful brunette. Her lips raised ear to ear, her lips were glossy. "You're too cute Kate." She made her way around the couch sitting next to Kate. "Hi, Y/n. Nice to meet you. Are you having fun babysitting Kate?" 

"Likewise, not really, but I've never seen her this bad. Yelena got ahold of her before I did." You flexed your hand seeing all the veins pop, clenching your knuckles under the gold ring on your middle finger. You seemed nervous speaking to Wanda but it wasn't hard. She was beautiful, yes, and you loved being around beautiful women like her. You loved women but it was hard to explain to women why you have a real dick. 

She laughed again flashing a pair of red eyes instead of green. "Oh yes, Yelena can be very heavy-handed with the booze. How did you meet the gang? You seem like a normal girl, with a little secret." Little secret? What secret? Can she tell? Is there an imprint? You glanced down quickly to see the crotch area, looking back at her. "Secret? Me? Haha, never. I met with Steve when he was searching for Bucky. I touched the reality stone and fucked with my entire genetic makeup completely." You laughed awkwardly seeing Wanda knew you did in fact have something to hide. Yelena came out of nowhere as she stood in front of us waiting for us to finish our conversation. Wanda broke her red-eyed contact with you returning to green to see Yelena. "What you want Maximoff? You want another beer Y/n? I told Barton to collect Kate Bishop so you won't be taking care anymore." She scoffed nudging Kate, taking the shot glasses away. Kate was passed out quite snoring in the middle of the couch.

"I'll have champagne." 

"Yeah, I'll take another beer, Yelena." You fidgeted your watch flexing your bicep, looking around the room and seeing it fill up quickly. 

                               ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Clint picked up Kate after a while of you and Wanda chatted. The party was intensely loud almost making it extremely hard to hear Wanda. The coffee table in front of you was surrounded by empty glasses and beer bottles. You both were getting drunk, the stone didn't affect you as the super-soldier serum did to Steve and Bucky. You can get drunk like a normal person. The only plus was you didn't get hungover. Wanda was warming up to you really quick. The spot where Kate sat was vacant with you and Wanda touching thigh to thigh. Her hand became accustomed to grazing your thigh ever so often. Her hand clenched, nails digging in lightly. It made you jump every time her hand went higher up your leg. 

"Funny. I touched the mind stone and it intensified my powers. My telekinesis, energy manipulation, and some form of neuroelectric interfacing, as Banner calls it. I just called it a burden." Wanda adjusted her body shifting her knees to touch your thigh. Her hand draped behind you against the back of the couch, as her other hand laid gently on your chest. You tried to stay calm feeling a warm sensation boil in the pit of your stomach. 

"Yeah it's a little crazy I guess, but at least you can hide your powers. I open a bottle the wrong way and it shatters. You get a lot of weird looks when your this big and still have boobs." You laughed sipping the last little bit of your final beer of the night. Wanda bit her lip softly staring you down. 

"I don't see that as a bad thing Y/n. You just haven't learnt how to manage your day-to-day with it. At least you weren't taken by HYDRA agents to be their main defence." Wanda hiccuped holding her free hand in front of her mouth. She reached in front of herself grabbed her glass, pulling it back. She looked down at the empty glass almost upset. "Uh oh, my drink's empty. I'm getting more. I'll get you another detka?" She arose softly adjusting her dress over her ass. You took a glance quickly trying not to seem noticeable. Her skin was perfect. Her ass was tight seemly not hugging anything underneath. Was she not wearing panties? You thought. Or a thong you didn't notice. You had to stop thinking like that though, you wouldn't want her to return and you were half mass. You'd be too ashamed. You're always uncomfortable with your little friend. You felt so disgusted by it that you never touched yourself. It's been months. You felt bent up but you didn't want to release. You felt wrong too. 

Wanda returned with a bottle of champagne and beer. You thought you were done for the night, but watching Wanda walk back to you made you reconsider. She gave you an exciting smile scrunching her nose tightly. You laughed at the sight of her feet fumbling about. All of these drinks must have gotten to her quickly when she started walking. The music was booming and Wanda knew the song. She mouthed the words swaying her hips to the beat. She stood in front of you shimming her chest. 

"I'd given up on romance, then I found you. Ain't it crazy what love can do?" She sang along to words cutting through the air. Her hips bucked rotating them in every direction. She popped the cork off the champagne bottle drinking the foam dripping from the opening. She slid herself onto your lap, continuing to girate feeling her pelvis on your belt. Fuck! You have to keep it together. 

Wanda chuckled pulling the bottle away from your lips and placing it beside you on the couch. "Haha! I love this song! Me and my..ex-husband...Vision. Went to a club in Norway and this exact song played!" Her thighs tightened around yours jumping up and down onto you as she danced around. Dammit, Wanda! Stop making it hard to keep yourself in control! You thought trying to think of something to not make you hard. 

"Oh yeah, Vision. I'm sorry about what happened to him. You two seemed to be a really cute pair." Your hands glided on her exposed thighs feeling her warmth heaten your hands. 

"We were. Right now though, I could be all yours Y/n." Wanda bent her head down connecting her forehead to yours. "Now drink your beer detka." Her hand held your beer pursing it to your lips tipping it up softly. Her center was rubbing against the mound in your pants. You felt it rise a bit trying to shift away from her. 

"You wouldn't want me, Wanda. You don't want me to break your bed into the next floor." You grabbed hold of your beer chugging it quickly knowing you'll need it. Wanda stopped moving around on you to grab her bottle, taking a huge drink. She huffed wiping away the extra liquid across her lips. "What if that's what I exactly want Y/n? To be thrown around like a little paper doll." She hummed finishing the rest of the contents in the bottle. You had to laugh again feeling in a daze. The liquor was working on you fast. "You know what my other talent is Y/n?" Her lips grazed your cheek hovering beside your ear. Her breath was hot and it spiked your senses. 

"Huh Wanda, what's that?" Your erection becoming more apparent. Your hand was grasped firmly around her thighs trying to hover her body from your crotch. 

"I can read minds," She moved her head crashing her plump lips onto yours. Her kiss was rough and sloppy. Mixing wine and beer wasn't the best idea but with her, it tasted like heaven. She let go of your lips. Tasting the cherry lipgloss painted on her blush lips. "And...I give good blowjobs too..so I've heard." Your expression must've said it all. It was shocking to hear Wanda speak in a way. Even though you only knew her a short time you'd imagine she'd never talk that way sober. You'd hope. 

"Well I hate to break it to you lovely, but I'm a girl. You can't give me a blow job." You whispered back trying to keep her still hovered over your crotch. As soon as those words spilled out of me, it made you grow harder. You prayed you didn't give up and drop her. Her eyes glowed red again, this time her hands turned colour too. Her hands made yours heavy, making it extremely difficult to keep her off your inseam. 

"That may be Miss Y/n. You are in fact a woman by birth. But the reality stone gave you something really, really special..." Your hands were being pushed down. The red mist latched onto your wrists pulling them down. You couldn't stop. With all of the strength you had, you finally met someone who can beat you. And she was winning. 

You didn't fully realize how erect you were until you felt Wanda sit fully on your lap. "Please Y/n. I know how much you hate your body right now, but please. Let me allow you to enjoy it at least. You need it. Your body is screaming at me to help." Her lips laid onto yours once more. It was deeper, meaningful, and passionate. "Let me help you cum detka..." Wanda whispered on your lips. Her mist came back unbuckling your belt, undoing the one button on your pants. You were so caught up you forgot where you two were. You are at a party full of people. Some may be watching. We weren't totally in the corner. The couch was near the entrance more than the middle of the dance floor. You had to make her stop in case she got even further.

"How about we go somewhere more private huh?" Your cheeks were burnt with either embarrassment or excitement from Wanda. Wanda looked down at you letting her teeth catch her bottom lip. "Good idea fetițăI. Let's go to my room." She leaped off your lap noticing a large lump below your zipper. 

You followed after Wanda trying not to draw any attention to yourself or your state. Everyone would stare if they saw a chick with a boner right now. In front of thousands of thousands of people. We both made it down a hallow hallway. Not a person in sight. All of the Avengers' bedrooms were at the end of this hallway. There were paintings and other things hung on the wall but because the compounds kept getting bombed or destroyed, they kept it very minimalist.

"I can't make it to my room. I need you now." Wanda was in front of you as she turned to face you. Her powers pushed you into the wall beside you. Your belt was still unbuckled and so were your pants unbuttoned. You couldn't move. You had motion in your wrists and hands but your elbows were glued to the wall. Wanda fell to her knees before you wasted no time unzipping your pants, making them fall to your ankles. "I haven't done this in so long, ever since I lost Vision. But, I exactly know what your girly-dick needs." Her shoulders dropped to either side letting her white straps fall off. You looked down at yourself feeling uncomfortable about how close she was to it. That pesky sore thumb sticking out of your white lace panties. Wanda's eyes flashed again looking up at you. "Don't be embarrassed drăguţă. You just stay still and try not to cum too early okay? It's okay if you do. So don't be ashamed if you do. I can tell you never play with yourself." Her fingertips were now cold. Tracing her fingers across the hem of your panties pulling them down to your pants. You saw your dick bust out of freedom moving by itself. It bounced all which ways it could. Wanda's grin glowed. "God are you ever twitchy!" Her hand was soft lifting your shaft straight up.

"I-I'm...sorry..." You spoke softly, you're fingers rubbed together becoming very nervous. 

"Don't be sorry miere. I love when cocks move by themselves. I can fix it easily." Her plump lips wrapped around your head breaking no eye contact. Her lips were warm and inviting. You felt every little sense ask her tongue twirling on your heads opening. Her head bobbed lower taking all of you in her mouth, your cock tingled up to your stomach. You've never been touched in months, even long after your life was shaken up. You felt like a bottle ready to pop open. You wanted to grab Wanda's head but your elbows were stuck to the wall. Your wrists flicked all ways around. You cracked your knuckles in between your middle fingers. Wanda's hands laid tightly on your thighs digging her nails in deeper. Her red mist shined again unlatching your elbows from the wall. Your hands ferociously sank into Wanda's scalp, pushing her behind the back of her head. Her sloppy noises turned into quiet gags as you felt her uvula at your tip. 

"Fuck Wanda...I'm gonna.." Your head rolled back as your sight became fuzzy. You felt like you were dripping out.

"Mhm..don't cum just yet detka, please." She gagged out dripping saliva all over her knees and dress. With Wanda saying just that, you had no sense of self-control. Wanda's tongue spun around your shaft as she repeatedly forced yourself into her mouth. You came instantly, you felt so ashamed. Wanda told you not and you did. Why can't you control yourself? Everything you do you are out of control, why can't you just control your dick? 

"I'm sorry Wanda.." You huffed. Your grip on her head loosened as the guilt washed over you. You couldn't look her in eye. Your head tilted up again looking at the fluorescent light buzzing around. You felt your eyes gloss over but you were trying your might not to shed a single tear. You quickly wiped away a tear ready to fall. Wanda's tongue flexed swallowing her cum-filled mouth. 

"I told Y/n, it's okay. You've never cum with your dick before. I understand." She arose pressing her body close against yours feeling both of your chests rubbing softly. "Now, how about we both figure out another place to it in huh?" Her hand lifted your limp cock in a stroking motion. 

"I can think of a couple of good places." You raised an eyebrow lifting her dress by your index finger. Her body was sweaty underneath her gown. Your hand traced up further feeling a tiny string around her hip. "Looks like you found a spot." Wanda's jaw sat on your shoulder, planting tiny kisses up your neck to your earlobe. "Go ahead, take my panties off." Her teeth clenched a part of your skin. Leaving a glossy kiss sticking spot behind your ear. Your hands hooked onto her biceps flipping her body against the wall. Your hand let go tracing down her body under her skirt. The tips of your nails latched onto the strings of her panties, ripping off her skin. Your hand excitedly stuck into Wanda's core immediately. She was wetter than you thought, your fingers just slipped in and out with ease. A small grunt blurted out of Wanda peering down at your hand. Your middle finger raised rubbing her pulsating clit. 

"Fuck are you ever wet Wand..." Your dick became hard again. Just feeling another woman again after a long time was enough to make your tip drool. Wanda's cheek stuck to the wall letting a hushed moan out. "I know...I just want you to fuck me so badly." Her ass swayed against your hips. Trying to stay up on her feet. You knew she had way too much to drink trying to lie against the wall. She wanted you. And did you too. You wanted to just take Wanda right then and there. Blow her up on that wall. Though, in her drunken state, you knew she couldn't hold onto her own. 

You flipped her back around facing you, she grinned having all of her hair flying in either direction. She laughed hysterically trying to stand in her heels. "Makeup you mind Y/n!" Her arms flung around your neck biting the bottom of her lip. 

"Oh, my mind is made up beautiful. Now, you open up." Your breath was shaky, trying to be assertive. Her leg wrapped around your hip, slowly opening herself for you. Your hard cock slid in with no friction. Her pussy was warm and inviting. Naturally, you supposed but man did it feel amazing. You never had sex with your cock. It almost felt ten times better than when you had a pussy of your own.

"Awe shit!! Y/n! Fuck!" Wanda's head rolled back on the wall as her hand clutched the nape of your neck. Her other leg is wrapped on either side of your hip. Your hands latched onto her legs hoisting her, slamming her down on your thick cock. Wanda's body jolted forcing out a moan into your ear. The force of your thrusting her down on you made the top of her dress let her boobs pop out. Her ass was soft on your legs as she bounced.

"Fuck Y/n! You're gonna make me cum fast!" She whined as she forced your head directly into her chest. Your hot breath was cool against the cold sweat between her breasts. You were trying so hard not cum, you had to stay focused not to cum inside Wanda. You had to plan to pull out when you felt it coming. "God Wanda! Don't say cum! Not now!" Your brows furrowed trying not to think about cumming. 

A red little light sparked behind Wanda's body. Wanda was using her powers. You couldn't tell why. You were too hard-headed trying to focus on other things. Wanda's chin was above your head clenching her teeth. "It's okay detka. Y-you can cum in me..." Her words were choppy thrusting on you. You felt her heartbeat, it was fast and comforting.

"No, no, no. Don't tell me that! Cause I will cum inside!" You groaned between your teeth, locking with Wanda's eyes. 

"That's what I want Y/n. I want you to cum in me. Please, please. Cum." Your focus was lost. All of your hard work was gone down the drain. You felt the urge rising rapidly. Just thinking about cumming in Wanda was enough to make you lose track. 

"Fuck you're making it hard for me not to.." You whispered thinking maybe that'll calm your urge. Even though it didn't. Wanda's walls clenched around your thick cock, making her thighs vibrate. 

"Do it! I'm cumming Y/n!! Cum with me!!" She screamed out flicking her crimson eyes. One final thrust did it. Both of you came at the same time. You felt an eruption flow out of you, going inside her. She was being filled by your warmth on top of already being so warm. Her body tightened around yours. 

"Fuck look what you made me do...I came in you, Wanda.." You sighed wiping tiny beads of sweat off your forehead. 

"Y/n. Don't worry. I wanted you to cum inside." She giggled standing back on her feet. "But you do realize what that means right? Do you have emergency protection or-.." You panicked realizing what you did. Could I get her pregnant? You thought. You assumed you shot blanks but yet. This was your first time. Wand interrupted your train of thought. 

"Honey don't worry. I have it all planned. You get to be the hero you want to be. And I get to have my family back." 

You sobered up once you heard Wanda's true intentions. She probably really liked you. But you heard what Stephen Strange said. Her kids weren't real. Now, they will be. 

[anika-ann]

His Lucky Charm: Subpoena pt.1

Type: two-shot to (mini)series or a standalone

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader   Word count: 9100

Summary: subpoena (verb) – to order someone to go to a law court to answer questions

Following Steve’s discovery and more importantly his unsubtle methods, you are forced to reveal your secret to the world’s mightiest heroes. It goes about as well as expected.

Warnings: allusions to smut (so at least 15+), Tony being a D, angry Steeb, mention of self-loathing, discussion on treating people who are different, mention of death, briefest mention of Nzis, language!!, some fluff

A/N: Two-part addition to the series. Follows chapter four. The second part will be concerned with @secretswiftymarvelfan​‘s request she earned by winning a challenge ;) Dialogue heavy and I’m not sorry...much.

Story masterlist

For those who believe, no prove is necessary. For those who don’t, no prove is possible. – Stuart Chase

For Steve, nine months always felt like a long time.

When he was littler, sometimes his cough got so bad it lasted that long, and it would have been a whole year if it wasn’t for warm summers.

When at the front, minutes felt like hours, days like months, and actual months like years – and nine ‘years’ on a battlefield were damn endless.

The nine months after he woke up in a different millennium provided him with enough time to adjust to certain things – and yet it wasn’t enough for him to assimilate fully.

When it came to a relationship, nine months felt like an eternity, the good kind. Had it been his old times, he would have popped the question and married you – a woman he loved from the depth of his heart – in quarter of the time. He might appreciate today’s tendency of actually getting to know your partner further before taking that step, but if he was being honest… getting to one knee in front of you crossed his mind more than once recently.

Nine months since your first date and here he was, standing in the private elevator leading to the residential floors of the Avengers’ Tower with you, a bundle of nerves by his side, because there were some big news you needed to share with his teammates.

He certainly would have preferred to be telling them you were getting married; and seeing you fumble with your hands, dismay written all over your face, it occurred to him that maybe he should tell them exactly that to distract his team from his crazy behaviour yesterday. He was almost certain he could get you playing along, earning your gratitude for coming up with a sweet alternative to what was really going to happen.

An alternative that didn’t involve revealing the secret you were so expertly keeping even from him until yesterday to four other people. Steve thanked god you had taken today off, having known he’d be back from a mission; it meant that after receiving numerous phonecalls and texts, he could promise his teammates in the groupchat that he’d stop by in the afternoon to explain why on Earth he had shot at his own suit. Multiple times. Because he wouldn’t do this without you – not when you were at the centre of this and it was your secret to tell.

He certainly didn’t look forward to telling his friends that his girlfriend was a witch and she had put a spell on his lucky charm that actually saved his life either way. It went without saying that you too would rather keep it between the two of you; unfortunately, that was no longer an option, hence you being a nervous wreck. Steve couldn’t hold it against you.

When your hands moved to your skirt, crumbling the poor fabric, Steve couldn’t stand it anymore, grasping them to his own to stop the destruction.

You looked up at him alarmed and bashful at once; all he could do was to try to give you a reassuring smile and kiss your right palm, frankly caring little about how damp and clammy it had grown.

“Steve, I- do we-" you stuttered, gulping when he repeated the action with your other hand.

“Yes, angel?”

He loved how your eyes softened, the tenderness in them briefly replaced by an unfairly dimmed sparkle of amusement.

“Nice try, but… do we really have to?” you whimpered, adding your best impression of puppy eyes, pleading him to call this whole thing off.

He found it cute – and yet not cute at all. He couldn’t be mad at you for not wanting to share your secret, that wasn’t it, he would be on your side actually. He just hated the fear that crept into your voice, the resignation that came with asking despite knowing the answer.

Because for long, keeping that secret might have meant survival to you. Fuck, he didn’t have nearly enough time with you to talk all the things through to find out. But he would. He swore he would, as long as you’d be willing. He’d talk to you about anything, fears included, and worked on soothing every single one of them.

“I’m sorry,” he said instead, a pang of guilt stinging in his gut. “I wasn’t thinking yesterday and I have some explaining to do. We both do.”

He squeezed your hands as you nodded, the numbers on the elevator climbing seemingly more slowly than usual; perhaps Jarvis was that considerate.  

“I know. It wasn’t your fault. It’s just… I really don’t want to.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” he rushed, receiving a grimace at the cliché phrase in return.

He shook his head, pressing your palms together and enveloping them in his own hands. You looked up at him, lips a thin line, corners of your mouth lifted in an attempt of a smile. He reciprocated and leaned in to lay a lingering kiss to your forehead; your shuddery exhale tickled his collar in response.

“I know I can’t promise they will take it well. And I’m not doing that, but… I will not let anything happen to you. That I can promise, angel.”

“I know that,” you whispered, your smile turning a fraction more genuine as you pecked his lips. “But you cannot stop them from not liking me anymore.”

Steve barely managed to open his mouth, no appropriate reply on his tongue when the elevator door finally slid open, causing you to take a quick step back from him; which likely looked comical, since Steve had no intention of letting go of your hands.

A chorus of surprised ‘hey’ and ‘hi’ welcomed you, followed by a light-hearted shout.

“Heeey, look what the cat dragged in! Not one bird, but two lovebirds!”

The corners of Steve’s lips twitched as he kept one of your hands in his and walked out of the elevator. Hearing your nervous chuckle at Clint’s joke, he made a mental note to buy that man a month’s supply of high-quality coffee.

The team was already splayed over the centre of the living room – Clint half-lying on a couch, Natasha standing by, her hip propped onto the backrest, Tony sitting in an armchair, elbows leaning onto his thighs and Bruce hovering above the other armchair but clearly feeling too uneasy to actually sit down.

It left the other couch vacant for you, but Steve didn’t think he could sit down right now and he doubted you felt any different.

“Hilarious, Barton, top-notch comedy,” Tony commented, unimpressed, as you and Steve finally stopped few feet from the group. “Your circus background is showing.”

“Pff, I think it’s safe to say I still am in one.”

You made a small choked sound next to Steve at the savage remark, hand twitching in his. Two months’ supply for Clint it was.

“Won’t really argue with that,” Bruce sighed, crossing his arms on his chest. “Uhm, not that I don’t like seeing you both, but… didn’t we have something we needed to talk about, Steve?”

Steve felt a wave of defensiveness rose in his chest despite knowing it was to be expected. The rest of the Avengers didn’t have the information he had, not yet – they didn’t know your presence was indispensable here.

He squeezed your hand and ran his thumb over its back when he felt you tense up by his side.

“We did. That’s why we’re both here,” he explained simply, earning a sceptical glare from the Ironman himself – but various levels of surprise were evident on everyone’s face.

“Just so we’re clear, you want her to hear about how you went bonkers and shot at your suit?” Tony asked, causing Steve to sigh. “Sure, be my guest.”

Steve took a deep breath, his suspicions confirmed. This was going to be very very hard; but the fact that he himself didn’t know nearly enough and was still letting the fact that you were a witch sink in would not be the reason.

In other words, if Tony could tune down being a jerk, it would be splendid.

“I ‘went bonkers’ for a reason. I was testing a theory and I was right. Have you all seen the footage?”

“Yeah. But you kinda know your angles so we didn’t see everything,” Clint hummed, clearly resolving to sit up since the talk was about to get real.

The new piece of information threw Steve off – he assumed his friends would be up to speed, already knowing about the drawing. He thought you two would only be here to provide the additional explanation.

For a moment, he wavered – perhaps he really could play this off, sweep it under a rug. It would make everything so much easier… but one glance at Natasha told him it was definitely not an option. If anything, she needed to understand what happened yesterday that had him breathing despite getting shot by a bullet that should have most definitely kill him.  

He squeezed your hand again before reluctantly letting go and taking a step forward.

“Well. Yesterday on a mission… there was a strange occurrence, Natasha knows this,” he supplied, earning the redhead four glances including yours. She subtly nodded. “I got shot by one of the modified bullets. Straight in the chest, only a few feet distance.”

The image of the man flickered in front of his eyes, a painfully sharp memory of tasting fear of death punching him in the gut. The intensity surprised him, his eyes slipping shut; but here you were, warm palm landing on his back as if you could sense his discomfort. His shoulders automatically relaxed, your touch lingering only for a moment and yet it soothed him. He gave you a side-eye with a grateful smile, which you shakily returned.

“Hold on a sec. Those bullets were— well, deadly for sure. How the hell are you still walking? Not that I’m not glad that you do, but… you know.”

It was almost sweet how Clint’s reaction practically mimicked Natasha’s: not that I’m not glad that you’re alive, but what the hell?

“That’s what I asked myself too. Until I realized a few things and had to test my theory, which turned out to be right.”

“What’s the theory?” Bruce interjected almost instantly, uncomfortably shortening the time Steve hoped to get to gather his thoughts. How could he best explain this?

“That when Y/N once asked me to wear a drawing I made for her with me on a mission as a lucky charm… she didn’t mean it figuratively,” he said in the end.

He realized how confusing his words were the moment they left his mouth; and indeed, everyone bar you stared at him baffled.

“You lost me, Cap. What the hell are you on about?”

For once, Steve couldn’t hold Tony’s reaction against him. He shook his head at himself.

“Sorry. I wear a drawing in my suit, as a lucky charm of sorts. And I found out that… when the drawing was in the suit, the bullets didn’t penetrate it. When I took it out… well, you’ve seen the damage the gun made.”

“Yeah, thanks for that, by the way,” Tony uttered ironically, as if he had completely missed the point Steve was making. Steve wanted to roll his eyes, but he was getting too restless, feeling your own unease rising as you stood by his side.

“Hold on a second—a drawing made your suit more bullet-proof?” Clint asked the relevant question, being yet again the best ally Steve had ever since you two walked in.

“Yes,” Steve confirmed, taking a deep breath before supplying the crucial information. “Because it has a protective spell over it.”

Silence covered the room like a scratchy blanket, causing you to fidget, your hands working on ruining the fabric of your skirt – instinctively, Steve took your right hand to still the frantic movements of your fingers, clasping at your hand gently.

The simple gesture drew everyone’s gaze, breaking the silence and stillness.

“Did you hit your head yesterday?” Bruce asked swiftly, head snapping to Natasha not longer than two seconds later, his face puzzled. “Did he hit his head?”

“A spell?” Clint questioned, left eyebrow arched doubtfully. “What-“

“I put it there to help keep Steve safe,” you pipped up shyly, gaze flickering between the Avengers. “And I could do that, because… I’m a witch.”

The silence that followed was no less striking and motionless than the first one – except this time, all the gazes tailed to you, doubtful expressions plastered over everyone’s but Steve’s face; at least Natasha looked more pensive than anything, surely already piecing together all the information she had.

“Alright, I’m gonna be the one to ask,” Tony challenged crossing his arms on his chest, subtly pointing at you. “Are you high? Did you start baking edibles?”

The surge of anger rushing into Steve’s veins at the unnecessary and unfunny joke must have shown in his expression, because Tony turned to him.

“Is this a prank?”

Steve closed his eyes, mentally counting to three as he heard you draw in a sharp breath; no, he couldn’t burst out, that would help nothing. Still, he didn’t give you the chance to answer.

“No, Tony, neither of us is high or suffers a head trauma and we are not joking. You saw the footage–you brought me my old suit. I texted you to do it, because the drawing was there and Y/N insisted on me having the drawing on me. At that time I didn’t know why. But I do know now that I’d be dead if she didn’t.”

Guilt gnawed at his stomach when he saw how his choice of words brought a haunted expression to your face; running his thumb over the back of your hand, he pulled you back into the present, earning a shaky smile. Your gaze travelled over him quickly, intense, as if you were checking he was alright, body and soul intact.

Could you do that? Check if his soul was alright? Could you see auras or something? There was just so much Steve didn’t know about you and your abilities-

And he wasn’t the only one. His friends were watching at the two of you wordlessly, obsessively following every move, every minute shift of expression. They appeared to be in various stages of shock, disbelief and contemplation. For a moment, Steve wasn’t sure they were even breathing with how still they were, processing the revelation almost as if in trance. Not even the small pitiful sound you made when the tense silence stretched broke their reverie, which was all the worse for you.

Steve cleared his throat, pulling you closer to his side by a few inches, trying to offer you at least some comfort.

“I hope it goes without saying that this information does not leave this room. I’m telling you because I acted strange yesterday and you all saw at least part of it in the footage,” Steve stated, relieved that the sculptures the Avengers had become came back to life at his words. He glanced at you meaningfully now that he had their attention again. “And because Y/N agreed with telling you.”

“You only found out yesterday, too,” Natasha said, stating rather than asking.

“Yes.”

The thoughtful expressions turned to calculating ones, Tony’s gaze narrowing.

“You’re… a witch,” Clint repeated the word reluctantly as if testing the single syllable in his mouth.

“Yes,” you confirmed with the same hesitation and Steve wanted to punch the world for the fearful tone that crept into your voice. “It’s… it runs in the family.”

“Right. So… you’ve always been a witch.”

It was Bruce this time; and Steve’s heart jumped in his chest in alarm when he saw a shadow of green pain the side of his neck, the Hulk pushing through to join the conversation.

Quick as a lightning, Steve instinctively moved in front of you even if you seemed oblivious to the change in skin colour.

Either you trusted Steve to protect you, which you certainly could, because there was no way Hulk could do as much as a step in your direction without Steve jumping between the two of you, or you thought you might deserve an encounter with a giant green monster; the latter option was considerably less comforting and it made his throat feel tight.

“Yes,” you said simply from behind him, palm gently landing on Steve’s lower back.

If it was a request to have him stand down, Steve would be happy to ignore your wish for once. That was not happening, no fucking way. Not when the green shade still played on Bruce’s skin and not when Tony’s eyes snapped to your hand the second you touched Steve.

“I really think the Avengers should talk in private-“ the billionaire started off, causing anger to flare in Steve’s gut so intensely he could barely keep  his voice even when he interrupted Tony.

“No way in hell, Tony. She stays if you want to talk some more.”

“Hell yes, I want to know more!” Tony snapped, jumping to his feet, this time making you actually recoil. Steve swallowed the growl that clawed its way up his chest, pissed both at Tony’s outburst and the loss of your touch. “You just walked in here and told us your girlfriend of eight months-“

“Nine months-“ you uttered silently, completely ignored.

“-is a witch! I think that discussing this further is kind of a non-brainer!” Tony finished, glaring at you accusingly.

Steve felt a visceral need to shield you even from that glare, but through the fog of anger – because why were they so mean about this, mean to you when they had liked you before – he had to admit Tony was right. Even if he hated it. He glanced at you over his shoulder, stepping back to be by your side again. You didn’t try to touch him this time and Steve only felt his irritation rise.

“That is a fair point, I suppose. But we’re not gonna talk about Y/N behind her back.”

“Maybe we should,” Bruce grumbled, exchanging a pointed look with Tony that spoke of understanding between the two scientists.

Steve didn’t catch on on the topic of the silent conversation but frankly he didn’t care.

“Like hell.”

“It’s okay,” you whispered meekly, causing everyone’s gaze to snap to you, including Steve’s.

It was strange; looking at you made him both calmer and yet much angrier, because it was obvious why you agreed and Steve would not have it. But he lowered his voice, mindful of not making you feel like his anger had anything to do with you.

“It’s really not, sweetheart.”

“It is. I get it,” you assured him. Steve felt the muscles on his jaw lock firmly, noting the shadow on your face; an echo the same expression you had had when you told him it was okay if he was in your home to neutralize you. You fixed a small smile now even, one Steve could never believe was a display of happiness. “Avengers assemble and all that. I can just wait in the next room or-“

“Jarvis can take you,” Tony butted in, smug satisfaction in his voice that had Steve’s hands clench into fists. “J, conference room 28.2, take her.”

Steve hated it. He hated it from the bottom of his heart, but he now understood that if he wanted to move forward, this was necessary. Taking a deep breath, he searched your eyes, your determination shining over the wordless apologies which just made his blood boil.

No apologies were needed. You should not be made feel like you had to apologize for who you were. Ever. Not to him, not to anyone.

Sidestepping you again, shielding you from most of the prying gazes and showing his back to his irritating friends, he reached out to your face, cradling it in his palms; your cheeks felt too hot to touch, but he kept his temper rising at that for later to deal with. You didn’t need that now.

You smiled at him shakily. “I’m s-“

He pecked your lips with a speed of light before the stupid words could come out of your mouth. He caressed your nose with his, breathing you in, dropping a brief kiss to your burning forehead.

“Give me a few minutes, angel.”

“Of course, love.” You added the petname in a barely audible voice, but it made the tension in his shoulders ease a little.

That was until he let go of you and watched you walk away, an almost undetectable wobble to your steps, your fingers already going crazy with their signature fumbling. Understandably; leaving was nerve-wrecking for you – and for him too.

“I don’t like this,” he declared just before the door slid shut behind you and then he was left with his teammates. Teammates that were really getting on his nerves at the moment.

“Neither do we. I kinda wanted to ask her if she uses some magic dust in her cupcakes, because honestly, they’re just… well, magical,” Clint hummed, his light-hearted attempt on easing the tension making the corner of Steve’s lips twitch, while Natasha raised her eyebrow and Tony with Bruce just looked at him as if he had gone mad.

“The word you’re looking for is addicting, Clint, and it’s the sugar,” Nat hummed with a smirk before her expression sobered. “I admit neither talking with her here or without her isn’t ideal, but there are things we should address.”

And just like that, Steve automatically turned defensive.

“Things like what? She’s a descendant of witches. Not that it matters, but according to her words, she’s not very powerful, she only possesses a fraction of the abilities her ancestors had and-“

“And you believe her?” Tony interrupted him, cackling harshly.

Steve’s anger lit up brighter than the fireworks on fourth July, tendons in his jaw twitching.

What kind of a question is that?!

“Of course I believe her! Why wouldn’t I?”

“Probably because she could be lying-“ Clint hummed, instantly cut off by Steve’s murderous glare. He raised his hands swiftly as if to show he meant to harm. “I’m not saying she IS! Just explaining what he meant.”

Steve rolled his eyes, turning back to Tony who seemed adamant about being not only an ass, but also difficult. “She’s not lying. She has no reason to lie to me and she wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Okay, I say that risking a death glare,” Natasha said slowly and Steve froze; he had hoped she would be the first to take his side since she saw you save his life in real time. “But I understand where the concern is coming from. She hid this from you for nine months and you live together for what, for four? That’s a lot of time.”

“BAM! Thank you!”

Steve grinded his teeth, ignoring Tony’s display of childishness; it took a lot of self-control on his part not to respond in a similarly silly manner.

Because this whole thing was silly. Absurd even. What, were they trying to convince him you were some kind of a mole? A spy-witch sent to seduce him? Please. Had they not met you? You had no mean bone in your body. You were sweet, funny, occasionally very dirty-minded but otherworldly good.

Yes, he’d prefer you hadn’t lied to him but he could see your side of things which was something the rest of the Avengers seemed uncapable of now. But he’d make them see.

“Yes, it is a rather long time. But honestly, can you blame her? Given who we are and what we do?” he asked, not expecting and answer. “Not to mention how people treat someone different in general. How do you think her past relationships went? We didn’t even get to talk about that yet, but how much do you want to bet that there were people who found out and walked away because of it? Wanted to hurt her for it?”

His voice cracked at the word which he hated, but not more than the reason why it did. Hurt. For a few moments, you had thought he would hurt you upon learning the truth about you. He barely fought off the shudder at the memory of you telling him it would be okay.

“I hear you. I do. We all saw and lived through trauma first-hand. And I see why she’d be scared to be viewed as a threat. I’m just saying… it’s not just a long time, Steve, it’s s a lot of deceit to hie something like that. It takes skill,” Natasha noted, the unspoken I would know hanging in the air.

Steve gulped at the flicker of vulnerability – but he was grateful at least she attempted to understand. Grateful but not surprised; Natasha had more compassion for others than people gave her credit for; more than she herself did.

“I know that, but she probably had to hide her whole life. How much have any of us done in order to protect ourselves? That’s all that is – protection,” Steve emphasized. “She was lucky no one reported her to the authorities when she told them or they found out on their own.”

“Maybe they wanted to and are now in a ditch somewhere.”

Steve’s irritation spiked as he snapped his head to Tony, voice like razors.

“You’d better be joking, Tony.”

“Ok, fine, probably not. Whatever. She could have just wiped their memory or something. Messing with their mind is less messy, but that’s my point. How do you know she’s not whammied you? How do we know it’s you and not some kind of a spell talking?”

And suddenly, it became perfectly clear why they wanted to separate the two of you, why they had sent you away. The edges of Steve’s vision turned red.

“Is that why you wanted me here alone?! To find out if I’m not under some kind of spell? I’m not! She wouldn’t do that for God’s sake!”

“Oh, right. She wouldn’t do that,” Tony mimicked mockingly. “Because you know her so well. Dammit Rogers!”

“Yes! Yes, I actually do!”

Tony’s face twisted from sceptical to downright incredulous.

“You didn’t know she was a witch until yesterday!” he cried out in indignation, throwing his hands in the air, causing Steve’s nails dig into his palms because alright, Tony had a point in that, but he just didn’t understand how many things about you that truly mattered Steve knew. “So excuse me if I’m little sceptical. This… all this, can be her game. To bewitch you to infiltrate us.”

“Now you’re just being paranoid-“

“Well someone has to when our fearsome fearless leader is high on the love-juice!” Tony snapped, chest heaving – as did Steve’s.

And all of sudden, Steve was hyperaware of the remaining trio watching the two of them. He willed himself to close his eyes, taking a slow calming breath and running a hand down his face. Shouting wouldn’t get them anywhere, but he was honestly getting tired of the any kind of verbal communication since it clearly wasn’t working.

“I understand what you mean, but she’s not like that. And I know what I feel. I’m not-“

“How can you know what you feel?” Tony jumped in again, much to Steve’s irritation. “Hell, you supposedly fell in love with her coming to the café. For all we know she could have slipped some kind of freaky love potion into your drink! Or… or sprinkle your muffins with some-- spell drug! You could be under her voodoo for months. You literally just told us that having her drawing on you protected you. So maybe you have something else on you that’s making you crazy for her!”

Oh for-

“It was my drawing, she just… put a spell on it.” And on me, just not the way you think. “And I can assure you I loved her just as much when I was wearing nothing at all.”

“Ew! TMI! Jesus. So TMI. See?” Tony called out, gesturing to Steve wildly as he spared the others a pointed look. “Cap would never say that!”

Natasha crossed her arms on her chest, shrugging lightly as a hint of a smirk played in the corner of her lips.

“I don’t know, you should hear him swearing during mission when the comms are off--- Oh, and he’s blushing now.”

“I am not,” Steve protested in an instant despite feeling his face growing hot.

Clint made a small doubtful sound. “Yeeeeeah, you kinda are.”

Steve’s face was set aflame completely and he cleared his throat, trying not to stray to the thought of you doing things to his heart and mind that made him no doubt blush just as much.

“Whatever, we’re getting side-tracked here,” Tony brought them back to reality. “She touches you all the damn time. You could be under her spell right now.”

For Merlin’s sake-

“You base your theories on the fact that she touches her boyfriend of nine months?” Steve questioned, not bothering to mask his wry tone. “Now excuse me if I’m a little sceptical. I’m not under some spell.”

“How would you know?!”

1, 2, 3, 4… 10. Nope, still not calmer.

Steve couldn’t believe this. And to think he had assumed his teammates would be cross-examining you at this point, asking all possible details about your powers that he himself didn’t know yet… How much can a man be wrong?

“I—ugh. We’re running in circles here, Tony. So you know what? Yes. I am under her spell. She is pretty charming after all,” Steve exclaimed, his voice unwittingly softening when he spoke of your qualities.

“Look at that little sass bag. He has jokes now. Hilarious, Rogers. Fucking hilarious!”

“It’s because you’re being absurd now.”

“I’m not!”

“Yes you are!” Steve cried out.

It was so frustrating to know he was right but no one saw it, no one was hearing what he was saying!

It was like fighting with all those people who denied various things that clearly existed, like with that guy in the café the other day. That asshole was firmly convinced that holocaust didn’t happen and was trying to explain it to Steve – to an actual living World War II. veteran.

Apparently, some people couldn’t be reasoned with, not even with solid proves it seemed-

“Oh my god, that’s it, isn’t it?” Steve blurted out, astonished as the revelation dawned to him.

“What?” Tony scoffed, unimpressed.

“You cannot prove if I’m right or wrong. There’s no way to get an objective tangible prove and it’s driving you crazy.”

“Please. That’s absurd.”

Despite his words, Tony’s face spoke the exact opposite and Steve couldn’t help the pride puffing in his chest as he hit the nail on the head. It seemed you could take a scientist out of a lab, but you couldn’t…

“I dunno, he’s onto something,” Clint hummed, sounding slightly amused and Steve eyed him, satisfaction warm in his gut when as he felt the victory. Not only getting to the root of the problem – but also solidifying Clint’s position on his – and yours – side.

“So you’re on his side now, Barton?” Tony bit out.

“Oh for God’s sake, are we in a kindergarten?” Natasha interjected, heat of emotion and coldness of rationality at once. “No one’s picking sides, we’re trying to talk like adults and failing. Spectacularly.”

To be frank, Steve felt a pang of guilt at how childishly happy and self-satisfied he was to get Clint on his team. Bless Natasha to be the person with some sense in the room.

He stuck his chin out, forcing his shoulders to slightly relaxed instead of squaring them as he would like to.

“Tony, look. Honestly… I hear what you’re saying, I do. But you’ll just have to trust me on this,” he offered in a conciliatory manner, earning a humourless scoff from the billionaire.

“How?”

“Because I love her and it’s not because she put some kind of a spell on me or slipped me a love potion,” Steve shrugged, a smile creping on his face. “And yes, I can’t prove it, but like it or not, feelings aren’t an exact science, not everything can be objectively proved-“

“Actually,” Bruce spoke up for the first time in a while and despite the annoyance at being interrupted, Steve found himself grateful his friend was free of any green colour on his skin at last, “-if we’re talk about love, there are specific chemical reactions. Hormones, pheromones and physical signs-“

Steve once thought he was the voice of reason, working with facts, but under Merlin’s eye Bruce and Tony could put him to utter shame.

“Oh come on, Bruce! Be as it might, you cannot reduce love to science only. It’s more than that. And if she had put a spell on me, all this science would probably be useless against it anyway,” Steve tried to reason, using their own logic against them.

Bruce had nothing to say after that.

“Deal with it. There’s likely to be no other prove. I trust science, but I believe in my instincts too. And I trust her.”

I trust her. I love her. Can’t you see how profoundly good she is? Can’t you see how absurd and ridiculously long this conversation is?

Judging by Tony’s scoff, no, they couldn’t.

“I don’t like this,” he muttered, swiftly waving above the glass table Steve had believed was only glass until it lit up with various controls, a flat holographic projection floating and filling the space between Steve’s and Tony’s chests.

Steve felt his blood pressure skyrocket, his vision blacking out for a second when the image cleared enough to reveal a pacing woman, her fingers fumbling frantically.

“Are you serious right now?!” Steve exploded, pulse loud in his ears. “Get it the fuck out of my face right now-“

“I mean look at her,” Tony said with a frown, ignoring Steve’s outburst. “She keeps doing that thing with her fingers. For all we know, she’s doing some alohomora right now.”

“For god’s sake, Tony! That’s her nervous tick! You’ve seen it before!”

“Well, I didn’t have all the information then, did I?!”

“That doesn’t matter! She’s still the same person you met!” Steve cried out, out of breath and out of his mind because there was a live feed of you walking like a tiger – no, a scared kitten – trapped in a figurative cage where they had no reason to be and it was driving him insane with rage and sorrow for you.

Was this how you were made feel for the most of your life? Steve hated this, he fucking hated this so intensely it made him sick to his stomach, a ghost of a hand digging its fingers into the flesh of his heart and yet it had to be nothing compared to what nightmares must have haunted you; about being examined like some kind of a rare species, held prisoner in the name of greater good.

This could be how people made you feel in the past and now his friends were doing exactly that; he wanted to throw up. He wanted to punch something.

“Could you please turn this off? She’s not in a holding cell.”

“Technically, I had the door locked, so-“

The next thing Steve remembered was a crimson edge flickering in his vision and his fist being faster than his brain; followed by the hologram fuzzing as his knuckles broke through it, meeting Tony’s nose with the precision of an enhanced and fuming supersoldier.

And fuck, did it feel good.

Before he could chase that feeling and pounce on the billionaire who now had the same crimson Steve had seen pouring between his fingers, a considerably smaller hand landed on his chest, a pressure not big enough to hold him back – but to make him think twice.

Steve blinked, momentarily wavering as he followed the line of the hand on him, gaze flickering to Natasha’s face, his vision clearing. She wasn’t looking at him however, trying to see Tony through the outraging picture still between them.

“Stark, come on, there’s no need for this. No need for violence either,” she said glancing at Steve meaningfully, making the tinniest hint of shame bloom is his ribcage, before turning back to Tony. “And Rogers does have a point in this. Sometimes a horse is just a horse. She does that when she’s nervous. Some people babble, some people shut down, some bite their nails. She fumbles with her hands. And yes, Steve and her are tactile. Some couples just are. What’s wrong with that?”

Steve would thank her is he wasn’t too busy glaring at Tony, trying to wave the hologram away himself with no avail, causing him to snarl. Tony stared Natasha down as she seemed to be taking Steve’s side, pouting.

He could pout all he wanted to, but this discussion was over. This absurd live feed and you being locked up – for God’s sake!! –  ended right now.

“Unlock the door or I swear I’ll break it. Can you blame her for keeping her nature a secret? You’re proving her point perfectly. You learned she’s a witch, what, twenty minutes ago, and you already locked her up? She’s not a criminal,” Steve implored, scoffing angrily when Tony merely raised one eyebrow as if challenging his statement. But Steve could take a challenge; and the door in the Tower conference room posed none to him. “Fine. Have it your way then.”

Turning on his heels, he barely made two large steps when Tony’s words made him halt in his stride.

“You’re right,” he said quietly, irritation lacing his voice and Steve froze. Well, that’s a first. “Jesus, yeah. I don’t like that we cannot prove anything. I need some hard facts here, Rogers.”

Taking a deep breath, Steve reminded himself that this was an olive branch. Even if the floating video of you would still be there when he’d turned back to his friends, he couldn’t punch anyone… again. He gulped, facing Tony once more, determined.

“Well, here’s a fact. You all met her and as far as I know, you liked her. Where is the problem? Were you all wrong too? Are you under her spell?”

Tony’s eyes looked at something behind Steve’s head, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Wow. Thanks for another thing to keep me awake at night. If we are, clearly, it’s not working on me.”

No shit.

“Yeah, I can tell,” Steve noted dryly, mind racing in the last attempt to make them – Tony – understand. “Look… sometimes we have to accept that there isn’t any tangible prove. How do you know you and Pepper love each other?”

“It’s obvious.”

Steve’s eyebrows jumped at Tony’s quick reply, exactly the one Steve wanted to hear.

“Because a that’s very scientific explanation,” he hummed with, one corner of his lips rising in a smirk, much to Tony’s obvious irritation.

“Bite me, Einstein!”

Steve bit the inside of his cheek, reminding himself he couldn’t stoop to Tony’s childish level if he wanted to have the upper hand… not completely.

“All I’m saying is… there are people who claim that Pepper was deceiving you from the start to make you give her Stark Industries.”

“That’s absurd,” Tony spat back without a second of hesitation, earning a pointed look from both Steve and Natasha.

“Absurd sounds familiar,” the redhead noted knowingly. Tony’s head snapped in her direction, glaring in betrayal. Steve made a mental note to buy Natasha and Clint some vacation.

“You could twist virtually anything around,” Steve added, calmer. “Why do you protect Pepper at any given chance? Because you love her? That could be just you, deceiving her, so she thinks you love her--- hold on now, hear me out. I’m being absurd, yes, I know that. But that’s exactly the point. Sometimes you just have to have faith in people. And I have faith that she’d never do that to me. And that my feelings are my own.”

“He’s not wrong, Tony. Yes, I might be watching her a little more closely now, but if there was some foul play, we would have spotted it – but I saw the opposite. That woman there?” Natasha said softly, pointing to the still present hologram of you. “She loves Steve. And he’s head over heels for her.”

Steve didn’t bother denying that, despite Tony’s lips twitching at the idea. Har har. He was in love and wanted to marry you one day… soon. Sure, it was hysterical., laugh it up

Fortunately, Nat continued to make her point.

“She just… happens to be a witch. And well, he’s a supersoldier born over a hundred years ago. So what. Boy meets girl, they fall in love. Maybe it’s that simple. She deserves the benefit of the doubt – she saved Steve’s life and she’s done nothing to harm any of us,” she paused, as if in thought; her eyes twinkled with a little mischief. “Except for being a really good baker, it’s pretty hard to keep in shape with her making delicious pastries.”

Clint nodded solemnly, patting his belly gently in agreement; if not with everything, then with the last statement for sure.

Tony sighed, half-annoyed at the archer, half-defeated.

“I don’t like this…” he repeated for a good measure, eyeing Bruce, who had been a passive observer of the discussion for the last few minutes. “But it looks we’ve been overruled.”

Merlin bless, the billionaire made a lazy waving gesture, causing the image of you pacing in the conference room disappear at last.

Steve let out a shuddering breath, shoulders relaxing, the echo of ache in his ribcage subduing.

“Thank you,” he said to Tony, nothing but honesty in his voice. And he wasn’t thanking just for the video going away – he was insanely relieved that he was allowed to plead your case and his plea was finally heard out. “Please tell me you can be civil-“

“Don’t push it, Cap.”

“Tony… please?”

He could deal with the billionaire spitting around frustrated remarks and jabbing him about almost anything, you included even if he’d hated it – but not you. You must not be put in the position to deal with a cranky bossy scientist acting like he got denied a high-tech toy. Because you were important – you were the most important person to him. And he would not let his friends drive you away from him; the mere idea of you abandoning him for that – or whichever reason – caused his heart to clench painfully in brief panic.

“Ugh, fine,” Tony whined, truly reminding Steve of a child without his favourite plaything. Steve stiffened an eyeroll – Tony didn’t bother and turned his eyes to heavens. “Gee, the righteous glare of yours… But I will interrogate her on how it works-“

“As far as you ask and she’s willing to tell you,” Steve agreed, emphasis on asking and your willingness in the act clear.

Tony just gifted Steve with another annoyed glare, subtly throwing his hands in the air.

“Oh for God’s--- could you stop being so annoyingly virtuous and chivalrous for five damn minutes? Jarvis, tell her to come in or… whatever.”

“I’ll go,” Steve opposed him, the idea of you coming back to the lion’s den making his stomach twist anxiously, his feet itching to run to you instead. “Please, give us some privacy?”

“Whatever.”

Clint snickered as Steve made his way out, his voice but a background noise as he marched out.

“You sure, Stark? I think Cap plans to be not so virtuous in the conference room. You better get the cleaning crew ready.”

Steve would roll his eyes; but frankly, he was rather relieved. Because jokes were good. Jokes were a promise of the things returning to normal.

That was, as normal as ‘things’ within a bunch of superheroes of whom one dated a witch could be.

The moment Steve walked into the conference room, you froze in your steps, head snapping to him; the fumble of your fingers ceased as did all your movement. You stood there like a statue, slightly hunched, painfully tense, your eyes studying Steve carefully as if you could read every second of the meeting you had missed from his face.

And maybe you could – because your eyebrows drew together, corns of your lips turning down, throat working as you gulped. Steve’s heart ached at the image of your misery, at your features twisting with guilt. There was nothing to feel guilty about; he understood your reasons for keeping your powers secret from him and hopefully, he had explained enough for the others to understand as well.

“You look tired,” you whispered, voice laced with concern and apology. “They didn’t take it well.”

“That’s not t-“ Steve stared off automatically, earning a doubtful glare from you. He huffed. “They’re just looking out for me.”

And some of them are idiots.

You nodded to yourself, a brief pained smile passing your lips as your fingers curled into a loose fist and uncurled again, arms moving to wrap your chest protectively. The physical need to replace them with his own hit Steve like a truck and he was walking towards you before the words he knew were coming even left your lips.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. None of that.”

Your gaze rose to meet his, fear melting into resignation as you opened your mouth in a half-hearted protest.

“But-“

“Angel… I love you,” Steve said gently, yet firm as he finally reached you, hands grasping your shoulders, wordlessly asking for permission to embrace you. Your arms fell to your sides limply, letting him pull you in; a soft sigh tickled his skin as you melted into his frame, drawing one of his own, your heart thundering against ribcage. “You love me.”

You chuckled as he stated it before you could, arms tentatively wrapping around his torso. “Yeah, I do.”

“And that’s all that matters here. They’ll just have to bite the bullet.”

You squeezed him on instinct.

“Sorry, bad choice of words.”

“It’s okay,” you whispered as you hid your face in his shirt, his carnal need to protect you humming in satisfaction. He pressed a kiss to the crown of your head and he couldn’t but smile when you tucked yourself into the hug further at the affection.

“I think it’s safe to say that Natasha and Clint are on our side,” he announced, earning a vague hum. He said ‘our’ and not just ‘your’ on purpose; because you were in this together. “Tony is... less convinced. Bruce is, well, I’m not sure, actually. They all need to process.”

Your fingers fisted the back of his shirt, your form stiffening.

“I hate I’m making the team pick sides.”

“You’re not making them to do anything,” Steve protested, meaning every word. Yes, he hated the situation, but while you were the cause, you were not at fault. The opinions of his friends were their own doing. And he’d stand a human shield with a vibranium one in his hand between you and them should it be necessary. “And I told you – if they have a problem, they take it to me. This isn’t some kind of a trial. You’re not a criminal and they aren’t the judge nor the jury.”

“Well, I really hope they’re not the executioners either, I’d hate to get burned at a stake,” you joked lightly.

It was Steve’s turn to squeeze you so tight it probably hurt. Horror-like imagery related to witch trials flooded his brain, your face twisted in agony he never witnessed flickering behind his eyelids and making him shudder. Jesus.

“Sorry, that was really dark--- I meant like, figuratively-“

“Yeah, it was pretty dark,” Steve repeated mechanically, trying to shake off the image that stubbornly took hold of his mind. Figuratively, you meant it as a figure of speech – the most dreadful play of words known to man. “That’s never gonna happen.”

“I’m sorry,” you muttered again and Steve sighed. “I just--- you need your team by your side, you need to trust each other. I must not be the reason for the opposite.”

Steve shook his head and kissed your scalp tenderly, breathing in the scent of your shampoo.

“You’re not. We’re good. We’ll be fine. Promise.”

“Uh-huh.”

You held him a little closer as he ran a soothing hand down your back, your fingers grasping at the fabric of his shirt in return, signalling you were not entirely convinced, fighting a battle inside you whose extent he wasn’t sure he understood; but he was determined to get at the bottom of it for both your sakes. He wanted no secrets from now on – and he’d actively work on reaching that goal.

His hands slid under your thighs, lifting you with ease and a muffled yelp on your part. He kicked away one of the chairs blindly, sitting down and positioning you sideways on his lap. Did he enjoy how you were clinging to his shoulders for balance as a bonus? Yes, he did.

Brushing a loose strand of your hair behind your ear, his index finger traced the line of your jaw, a minute pressure guiding your face to meet his gaze.

“What is it? Tell me and I’ll try to make it better,” he promised, your shy gaze softening upon his words, your palm sprawling over his chest, just above his heart.

You smiled fleetingly before you sighed; Steve hated the silence stretching, but if he wanted you to talk, he had to give you the chance to gather your thoughts.

He could never predict the turn this conversation would take.

“My dad… I told you he got shot on duty.”

Your dad. Another piece of puzzle he had learned before – another reason why you worried about Steve so much. It was funny really; choosing a man who could, while partly protected by a supersoldier serum and trained by the best fighters in the world, end up just as tragically as your late father. Occupational hazard in law enforcement.

Why you talked about it now, however, that was a mystery to Steve. Unless…

“He… didn’t?”

“He did,” you reassured him quickly, eyes snapping to his briefly. It made him weirdly grateful; you hadn’t lied. But he sensed a but coming.

“I mean, I don’t remember it, I was barely three at the time. But my mum… she was less careful with her magic back then. There were whispers about her in the city. Word is that even at the police department, things got a little weird… when a gang shooting took place, maybe my dad’s camaraderie with his colleagues wasn’t as strong as before. Maybe he was too alone, with no one having his back. And with mum being pregnant again… her magic was acting out too much. She couldn’t protect him. We left the city shortly after the funeral.”

Tears glistened in your eyes as you explained, causing Steve’s chest to tighten.

Fear, fear, fear. You carried such a heavy burden of your past, a screaming warning to keep your powers a secret before a terrible punishment would find you for revealing your true self.

A lump grew in Steve’s throat; as did his determination. He cradled your face with his free hand, his left arm holding you to him securely.

“I’m sorry, angel. But my friends will have my back as always. You’re not tearing us apart, I swear,” he declared and meant it. The storm was already gone; it would only take some time to repair the little damage it had made. “I like to think that a team that consists of a supersoldier, a god, two former assassins, a man who turns himself into a green giant and one annoying but really smart tech expert can have a little more understanding than your dad’s crew. I’m sorry about what happened.”

A real smile, however small, curled up your lips, damp with the tears which rolled down your cheeks. By Lord, you were beautiful.

“Thank you.”

Always, always, always, Steve wanted to say; but he kissed the salt off of your lips instead, thumb brushing your cheek, causing your smile to widen a fraction.

“You want to go back home?”

“Don’t I have to like… meet them all again? Be properly introduced as a witch or something?” you questioned with a frown, the light that appeared in your eyes at Steve’s suggestion poorly hidden.

“No. It’s up to you. Though I think it would be for the best to let them process for a few.”

“Okay, Steve,” you whispered with a sigh, covering his hand on your cheek with your own, causing him mirror your smile. “I guess I’d like to get a few cuddles in before I stop by at the bakery to get things ready for tomorrow.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Happily.

Despite your words, neither of you made an attempt to rise to your feet.

Instead, you simply sat there, a pair of lovers having overcome an obstacle which must have haunted you in your worst nightmares; and now, you kept watching him, gazing at him in silent wonder, a look Steve gladly reciprocated for it warmed his bones, his flesh and his soul alike.

But there was something ungraspable in the air, an emotion he had trouble to read--- he almost opens his mouth to ask just as you finally made him understand.

Hastily and yet gently, you framed his face with your palms and kissed him on the lips, tender, sweet and reverent, a love declaration without words; a worship you yourself were worthy of. Steve’s lips parted on instinct, welcoming you, fingers finding your hair to tangle in, pulling you closer and closer, appetite growing with every second of tasting you on his tongue.

Unhurriedly, each of you demanded more, lips barely drawing apart when he helped you balance yourself on his lap and straddle him. He let his hands roam as you did, indulging in the intimate dance of lovers – push and pull, touch, taste, scent – that had no place where you were currently located.

The realization made Steve withdraw from the heaven the mere touch of lips promised to bring him.

“Home?” he asked breathlessly, meeting your lips again, half-heartedly trying to stiffen his growing desire. Your skin felt so delightfully warm under his hands, breaths short and quick, touch eager… he grabbed your hips, lips moving to the side your neck, dragging his nose along the length of your throat, breathing you in and causing you to whimper in protest despite nodding.

“Yeah.”

“Good girl,” slipped from his lips before he could think twice, shocked at how good it felt to say it; and by what a beautiful shudder it elicited from you. Later. He’d address that later. “I’d hate to prove Clint right by defiling this conference room.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t ask…” Steve chuckled, retreating with a grin.

Your eyes went wide, surprise painting your face.

“Oh! Well… some other time then.”

This time, Steve couldn’t but burst out laughing; barely covering for the intense bite of hunger at his gut at your suggestion. God, he loved you to bits.

“You’re a minx, sweetheart. Other time it is,” he promised, stealing one last kiss before he pulled you to his feet – to bring you to the apartment you had turned into a loving, loving home, where he’d finish what you started here.

He’d take you home, make love on you, and make sure to get every ounce of fear and worry disappear from your head.

And in the process, he might get rid of his own.

His Lucky Charm masterlist

S.R. mastelist

Thanks for reading, loves 🥰 Drop a comment/like/reblog if you enjoyed. I am certainly not out of semi-hiatus and I live on sugar and interaction/feedback.

Stay safe and take care 💕  

[sacredsorceress]

The Argument || Peter Parker

pairing: peter parker x avenger!reader

summary: you and peter get in a fight and the other avengers can’t help but overhear

a/n: i have like four things in my drafts right now that i can’t seem to finish, but i had a sudden burst of inspiration to write this instead of studying so here we are! hope you enjoy! (reader’s super power is similar to wanda’s in a way except with gold rather than red)

word count: 2.2k

warnings: lots of swearing, loud arguing, angst with happy ending

masterlist || request

You and your boyfriend Peter stood, glaring at each other from opposite corners of your bedroom. Your hands were balled into fists at your sides as you looked at him from across the room with anger mixed hurt written all over your face.

“Are you serious right now, Peter?” You asked him, raising your voice with each sentence. “Are you dead serious right now? You know I’m a fucking Avenger right? I’m sorry if me being around other guys makes you uncomfortable but it’s kind of part of my job.”

Peter huffed, rolling his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. “So what? This is my fault now?” He gestured towards himself, raising his voice at you.

“You’re the one who’s pissed at me because I’m nice to other guys.” You scoffed. “It’s fine, Peter. Next time a guy needs saving I’ll be sure to tell him that Spider-Man doesn’t trust his girlfriend so he’ll have to figure it out himself.”

At the words that just came out of your mouth, Peter laughed out loud. It wasn’t the sweet laugh you always loved hearing in the mornings or the one where he would find something so hilarious that he would be out of breath, but one that just screamed that he could not believe what you had just said.

“Me?” He shouted. “You’re the one who always gets mad at me for ‘getting too cozy with girls’. I’m doing my job! You see one photo of me saving a girl- from a fire might I add- and you don’t talk to me for two days because you were jealous. What do you want me to do?”

Peter bringing up this situation again just made you fume even more and he knew that. Despite the fact that you and Peter rarely fought, this instance had been mentioned in several arguments between the two of you, but you always held your ground.

You were now the one throwing your hands up in the air, beginning to pace across the room. “Oh! This fucking conversation again!” You shouted at him. “How many times do we have to go over this? When are you going to get it? She kissed you!”

You still remember every part of the footage from that day and the image had burned itself into your brain. It was a solo day for Spider-Man so you hadn’t found out until you had seen the news footage of your boyfriend swinging the girl to safety with her arms wrapped tightly around him and her head buried in the crook of his neck. Peter’s arm was wrapped securely around her waist as he assured her that everything was going to be okay. As soon as he stopped swinging, however, and landed her safely on the ground, she had placed her hands on either side of Peter’s masked face and pulled him into a kiss. Although he quickly scrambled out of it, you couldn’t help but feel sick seeing the image.

“I was wearing my mask, Y/n!” He shouted back, tugging on his hair in frustration. “It’s not like I went in to kiss her. She kissed me! I didn’t do anything!”

At his words, you stopped pacing and stomped across the room, stopping in front of your boyfriend. “You’re right, you didn’t do anything.” You spat. “She kissed you and yeah that’s fucked up, but you know what’s more fucked up? That you didn’t tell me! You knew some girl had kissed you and you just hoped I would never find out. Do you know what it was like to find out from a fucking news broadcast? Fuck, Peter! You lied to me about it!”

Peter took a deep breath, looking anywhere besides your face. “I’m not doing this.” He told you finally, shoving past you to reach the door and stomping out of your room.

Peter aggressively threw open your door and you yelled out of frustration before following him out the room. Your hands were once again balled into fists at your sides as you watched Peter stomp out of your bedroom and down the hallway leading up to the common room, all the while yelling at him to stop.

“Peter!” You shouted.

“I’m not talking to you like this!” He yelled back, his back still facing towards you. “When you calm down and admit that you’re wrong-“

He knew what he was doing and he knew it was just pissing you off to a new extreme. So much so, you could feel the golden glow of your magic radiating off your hands that were balled into fists at your sides.

When Peter continued walking with his back turned towards you, refusing to speak to you further, you flicked your wrist causing the magical glow to spread out from your hand to your boyfriend, forcing him to turn around and face you, stopping him in his spot.

“Don’t walk away while I’m talking to you.” You told him, the anger radiating from your body in the from of the golden glow of your magic surrounding you.

“Did you just use magic on me?” Peter asked in a mix of shock, disgust and anger.

What the two of you didn’t realize in the midst of your fuming rage at each other was that the two of you had stopped in front of the common room. What you also hadn’t noticed was that the room was occupied by some of your... colleagues.

“Did she-“ Sam began.

“She did.” Nat finished.

Peter and you continued to argue back and forth about the audacity of the other, oblivious to the others hearing every word and watching the two of you throw harsh words at each other. It was an endless argument concerning who had the right to be angry and the unanswerable question of who was really at fault. During which the rest of the group of revelers in the common room watched and listened.

“Who wants the bet this is about that girl that kissed underoos?” Tony asked.

“That? That was so long ago though.” Steve replied.

“A girl never forgets.” Nat finished, kicking back in her seat. “How would you feel if you saw someone kissing your girlfriend.” She asked Steve.

“Never had one.” Steve shrugged.

An awkward silence filled the room for a brief moment before Sam began again.

“Steve’s right.” He said. “What about yesterday when Y/n saved that guy from getting his car thrown by that giant android and it turned out to be her ex-boyfriend?”

The group collectively nodded their heads, remembering the events of yesterday and that night when Peter had become more awkward than usual after you confessed the situation to him.

You had never seen Peter so jealous before. The two of you met after you and Peter had graduated high school and with your busy schedules you were barely finding time to hang out with your friends, never mind meet new guys. Peter and your’s relationship was usually one of romantic bliss. Despite the chaos and danger occurring in each of your lives, there was barely an argument between the two of you besides the occasional mention of that one time.

You told Peter later that night about how you recognized the guy you saved as your ex-boyfriend from high school.You didn’t expect much of a reaction considering you had dated the guy so long ago and you were wearing your mask that covered the upper half of your face to maintain your secret identity. It wasn’t even as though he could recognize you- you were just doing your job. You told Peter out of wanting to be honest with him, not because you thought it mattered- because it didn't. Peter upon your confession, however, was standoffish the remainder of the night seeming to be lost in his own head.

You didn’t give it much thought and decided to give him his own space until this morning when he confronted you about it, leading to the heated argument the two of you were in right now.

“Both of you are right.” Wanda finally spoke up.

Everyone in the room then turned their heads to face her.

“Did you... did you read their minds?”

“No.” She told them. “These walls aren’t very thick.”

“Should we stop them?” Steve asked.

To that, both you and Peter shouted “No!”

That was the moment though where you both suddenly realized that there was a whole room of people watching as you and Peter argued. Both of you stopped arguing suddenly and turned to face the room full of your colleagues.

“Did you... um... hear all of that?” Peter asked, cooling off from the heated argument you two shared seconds before as he fiddled with his fingers, unable to meet their eyes.

“Do you even know how loud you two were being?” Tony asked, standing up from his seat. “It’s impossible not to hear. Both of you have to drop it-”

“But Mr. Stark-” Peter began.

“Nope.” Tony cut him off. “No ‘buts’. Are you two even listening to yourselves?”

“Tony-” Steve started, attempting to intervene and have Tony drop the situation.

“Listen Rogers, I know you’ve been waiting decades for a first date, but someone has to play couples counselor here.” He told him matter-of-factly turning back to face the two of you. “You.” He pointed at you first. “That kid would never ‘cheat’ on you okay? He worships the ground you walk on so drop it. I’m sick and tired of hearing this frankly idiotic conversation every other week.”

At his words, you felt your fists unclench at your sides and your muscles relax. You knew he was right. As hurt as you were, you knew Peter would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. You knew he loved you just as much as- if not more than- you loved him.

Just as you were about to open your mouth, Tony began again- this time pointing at Peter.

“And you.” He began. Although you were looking at Tony, you could see your boyfriend stiffen in the corner of your eye. “What did you want her to do? Let that guy die because he... what? Took her on a few dates back in high school? You two have been to space together for god’s sakes. She was just doing her job and you know that.”

The two of you stood in front of Tony Stark himself now, knowing he was right, but not knowing what to say. You turned to look at Peter, seeing his shoulders slouched and his cheeks red likely from both the attention and embarrassment.

“You two can apologize now.” Tony said finally, striding back to the armchair he was sitting in prior to the lecture he gave the two of you and seating himself in it.

You and Peter turned to each other, visibly relaxing as you stared at each other. Despite the flaws the both of you had, you each cared for the other more than anyone else.

You wrapped your arms around yourself, being the first to apologize. “I’m sorry, Pete.” You apologized to him in almost a whisper. “I guess I was just hurt that you thought I could look at anyone else the way that I look at you.”

Peter sighed and you could see the sadness in his eyes that he felt from hurting you. You knew he never meant to hurt you and he was just hurt the same way you were.

“No... I’m sorry, Y/n.” He stepped forward to meet you, placing his hands gently on your arms that were wrapped around yourself. “It just sucked to think of you with some other guy.”

At his apology, you uncrossed your arms, instead reaching out for Peter’s hands. Squeezing his hands in yours you told him, “Peter, he doesn’t matter to me anymore. I love you.”

“Not just that, Y/n.” Although your words meant a lot to him, Peter shook his head. “I don’t know... sometimes I just think that you might want something more... I don’t know... normal. I can’t give you that normal, peaceful stuff so I guess I just get worried. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you though.”

Now it was your turn to shake your head as you gazed at your boyfriend. “Pete, you know I could never do normal” You chuckled. “I just got so angry at you that I had magic radiating off of me. Sure, normal would be easier, but I would choose crazy every day as long as I get to be with you.”

Finally you felt the last of the argument and rage that came with it disappear as a feeling of peace and calm washed over the two of you. You let go of Peter’s hands only to wrap them around his neck while his made their away around your torso.

“Gross.” Nat mumbled from her seat.

“I think I actually preferred when they were arguing.” Tony said in disgust.

You and Peter smiled at each other, able to hear the conversation between the others going on in the common room. You laughed as you looked into his eyes, slowly pulling your boyfriend into a kiss.

You and your boyfriend laughed into the kiss as you heard the group erupt into groans of disgust and annoyance. Although you and Peter didn’t have the perfect relationship and each of you had your flaws, at the end of the day you knew you would choose each other every time.

“Okay... Now do we stop them?”

[doctorofmagic]

Ahoy there !

Love your blog, love your love and extensive knowledge of the character. Got a question tho: i recently saw you recommend Aaron's work on Stephen, and it left me wondering.

I genuinely like v4 (because of the art, how weird magic can be, almost Fables-like, and because Last Days of Magic is a frankly compelling arc) but it's a version of Stephen I don't really like.

I mean, in it, Strange primary weapon (even before being depowered) is a knife and a sword ; he's a dog, to quote Wanda ; he's making desperate quips faster than Tony Stark and magic is a lot, lot more twisted and painful than it is just about anywhere else in Marvel comics. It felt like DC magic, but on LSD.

Don't get me wrong, the story is good. But it feels a bit off, compared to Stephen's character (to me at least). I read it a bit (a little bit) like Strange's time as an Illuminati: it's good on it own, but it feels like a very different Stephen than the one I love (and it very much feels like the starting point of the all "Actually Strange is just Tony Stark with a magic cloak" school of thoughts).

That's more of a rant than an ask, true, so I'll end on a question: would you mind expand a bit on what makes v4 so compelling to you ?

Anyway, lots of love, thank you for everything and have a lovely day !

Ahoy, mate! How are you doing?

Thank you for your kind words, I'm really glad!!

About your thoughts, in fact, I agree with you. These details are what prevent v4 from being perfect. But overall, they don't bother me that much. Some people do agree that Aaron's characterization is not accurate to classic Stephen, which is true. But it also made him more relatable, in the sense that he's just a normal guy trying his best when magic is dying, not the flamboyant arrogant sorcerer we're used to. Also they needed to grab the newer audiences thanks to the movie.

The dog thing is more of a consequence of his 2000's characterization, and that's not on Aaron. I can't really remember when the night stands began but I'm allowed to mention Gerry Duggan and Cullen Bunn, and then Bendis as writers who "helped" establishing him this way. Hickman tends to give a more mature (and darker) version of the character, so it's not odd to realize how many people absolutely adore his New Avengers run (me included hihihi)

You're not wrong about the feeling that Stephen looks similar to Tony, though! Chris Bachalo actually told me on a tweet that Stephen's look in v4 was inspired by Tony. But truth be told, Aaron's Tony is.... *deep breath* not the best, at least in the first issues of his Avengers run. I'm still reading some of the current isses (things we do for Doom) but I noticed a shift in the way he writes Tony. It's more mature, I believe? But I digress.

Overall, since 2015 I've been fighting comments on Tony x Stephen by people who watched the movie and immediately concluded that Stephen is just Tony with magic. On top of that, I don't believe v4 featured a Stephen who is similar to Tony in terms of personality and portrayal, especially when you compare Avengers v8 to v4, both written by Aaron. In fact, I simply love Aaron's take on Stephen whenever he's able to write him (Valkyrie: Jane Foster being one of these moments when he reassures a civilian with deep sensibility and empathy).

I JUST LOVE THIS MOMENT SO. MUCH.

From Valkyrie - Jane Foster #9 (2020)

Now, about what makes v4 so special and compelling to me is the fact that everything that Stephen has been through since the 60's as a sorcerer changed him in ways that left some indelible marks in his heart and soul. And we're finally able to see this kind of "development" throughout v4, the consequences and shifts in his behavior, the guilt and loneliness and pain, manifesting as Mr. Misery. Stephen is deeply hurt but no one sees how far he has gone to protect this world. Only Wong. So when Wong leaves, he's truly alone, mostly because it doesn't take long for Zelma to follow.

It's just so hard to see an old character as Stephen being cared for in terms of chronology. 60 years of stories. When you read it all, you slowly see this kind of "progress", from pushing Clea away to the constant guilt of not being enough to love or be loved. From losing Yao, his only father figure, to feeling powerless as a sorcerer when facing the end of the world. It's just too much for him to bear.

Stephen was not made to be alone, he's desperate to be surrounded by people who love him, despite all his flaws. But at the same time, he feels unworthy. He's deeply in pain.

And this is why I love v4 so much. No one has ever delved into Stephen's layers as Aaron has, to the point of creating such a perfect metaphor for his depression. I'm glad to see that he's better now (as far as being dead can be considered fine lol) but from the little I saw of his current self in DODS, Jed still made him a fortress for others even though he's constantly lonely.

Wong is around, he has Bats, and Clea returned for the brief moment they stayed together. But it took him a long way to see that he was not doing fine. I wish Jed did something similar to his Moon Knight by showing Marc's progress thanks to therapy, but given Stephen's current status, it's hard to tell if this is ever going to happen.

In any case, sorry about the long response. I get really inspired whenever someone asks me about v4 ;-; I just really love it.

Lastly, about the magic community... ah, let's see... Perhaps Doctor Strange v5 Annual #1, although I really don't like the way Stephen is portrayed there. Still, it's a nice Halloween story. There's always... oof, Strange Academy, if you don't mind adults being portrayed like absolute jerks.

But if I have to recommend THE BEST TEAM OF SORCERERS, I'd go with Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme. We were introduced to two of my favorite sorcerers ever, Nina and Kushala!! And they were not forgotten cause Marvel made some comics with them!! Hope there's more to come soon :3

And this is it! Thank you for passing by!

[ad1thi]

underrated stevetony fics rec list (P2)

this is ridiculously late and im so sorry, but here’s part 2 of this list!!

//

sweet lips on my lips (kiss like real people do).: @nethandrake

Frankly, if anyone told Tony that he’d be carried out of a burning building, well, he would’ve laughed in their faces. And if they were being extra mean about it, he probably would’ve even thrown them across the Atlantic.

After all, he’s Tony Stark. And Tony Stark always makes sure he has a safety net installed in his armor for emergencies, so it wouldn’t be out of commission before the building decided to collapse onto itself.

And yet, here he is, his armor out of commission, and being carried out of a burning building.

Carried out of a burning building by Steven Grant Rogers.

(In which Tony's from Civil War and Steve's from Infinity War. It's a problem.)

Rising: @withstarryeyes

Heat is licking up his sides and he groans, feeling his knees turn wobbly, and fumbles his way to the wall of the elevator. The metal is blessedly cool on his forehead and he sighs, eyes burning when he closes them. It’s still dark outside and every fiber of Tony’s being is telling him to go back to bed but he has work to do and plans to make and a blueprint open on his desk in the lab, Fury approved, and he can’t not do his job. So he musters all his strength and pushes off the wall when the elevator lands, ignoring his wet hacking as he moves.

He falls before he makes it to the bench, his top coated in sweat, and his eyes shutting to the whirling sensation that takes his breath away and leaves him panting in nauseated gasps. His hand shakes from where it’s planted on the ground, keeping him up.

the square root of infinity: @firebrands

steve and tony have their first fight. tony doesn't handle it well.

A Social Engagement: @finduilasclln

Written for the prompt: “This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had. Of course I’m in.”

Steve agrees to something without fully comprehending what it means. Modern times are confusing.

Wounds Without A Bandage: @gotthesilver

Tony burrows deeper in his blankets, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to forget the last year. Taking control of Stark Industries was one thing, even if it had been a shock to Obie and the rest of the board when Tony came of age and started dispensing of all his dad’s old cronies, but SI’s exploration team actually finding Steve? Tony deciding Steve should come live with him? Tony has regrets.

Well.

He has regrets this morning.

Before last night, the most Tony regretted in relation to Steve was not jumping him the moment it became clear all his faculties were intact and that Tony hadn’t defrosted a brain dead Captain America.

Love Like A Hunger: @gotthesilver

Pushing the door open to the bedroom, Steve pauses at what he sees. “Tony? I—”

“Surprise?”

“I—” Steve swallows, taking in the sight of Tony, blood instantly going to his cock as he looks him up and down. “You look—wow.”

Tony’s got on a damn Princess Leia outfit, gold curling around his chest and hips, with red fabric skimming over his crotch, and Steve’s brain feels like it’s shut down.

The Night Shift: @weethreequarter

Welcome to the Emergency Department of San Antonio General where Dr. Tony Stark joins the team fresh from his most recent tour in Afghanistan and - much to the consternation of the other staff - strikes up an instant rapport with Nurse Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, new resident Bruce Banner refuses to give up on his patient, and Dr. Sharon Carter learns something from her own patients. Throw in a pissed off hospital administrator, Clint using the coffee pot as a mug again, and a major car crash and you have, well, just another night shift.

the james braincell: @starklysteve

“Right. How do we get them to admit they love each other?”

In front of him, Bucky brings out a metal flask and takes a swig out of it. “Hell if I know. You’re the genius who went to MIT.”

“I studied aerospace engineering,” Rhodey rolls his eyes, “not how to get two idiots to kiss.”

-------

Or, Bucky and Rhodey are the braincells.

In a desperate last ditch attempt, they set Steve and Tony up for a blind date.

Steve and Tony don't know that their date is each other. But they might have a braincell of their own. Might.

the good place (is next to you): @starklysteve

“I mean,” Tony tries his best shot at breaking the tension, “if you’re stuck with the wrong guy, at least I’m sexier than your real deal?”

Tony died and got sent to some sort of heaven, with Captain America as his soulmate. Except, they got the wrong Anthony Stark, and to stay in the Good Place, Tony must convince Steve to teach him how to be good.

-x-

(watching The Good Place is not necessary to understand this AU, but will help)

president captain america: @livingtheobsessedlife

He’s supposed to be campaigning to be elected as president of the United States, not pining over some billionaire he met at one of his campaign events. And yet, Steve can’t seem to get genius, philanthropist (and his newest big-time donor) Tony Stark out of his head.

come build a home out of me: @maguna-stxrk

Steve clears his throat.

“What if I went with you?” he asks nonchalantly, like his heart isn’t threatening to beat out of his ribcage.

Tony blinks a few times, looking at Steve, his mouth ajar. “As a— As my date?”

“Yeah.” Steve nods, feeling a little breathless.

“You don’t mind?” Tony furrows his eyebrows.

“I don’t. In fact, you can just tell them I’m your boyfriend. I’m sure they’ll back off, wouldn’t they?”

What.

“I— Huh?” Tony stares at him, brown eyes blown wide open.

What. What. What.

“Huh? Uh, I mean— You know, that way people will see that you have definitely moved on. Monica will see that you have moved on. Right?” Steve smiles, hoping that it masks his inner panic, because what?

Steve Rogers, what have you done?

Between Two Infinities: @/anonymous

The Titanic, 1946. Steven Grant Rogers did not think that going to war would end up with him being three times his normal size with superstrength and agility to boot, and... rich...but hey, he wasn’t complaining. Steve also didn’t expect to fall out of love- if it was even love in the first place- with the woman he was explicitly told to propose to, and instead fall for a formerly rich, formerly a playboy, still a genius, Tony Stark. Especially because, you know, it was a little tiny bit illegal, and he was supposed to be “America’s Golden Boy”, as Bucky put it.

All Tony expected out of the trip was to escape Europe with his best friend thanks to a lucky game of blackjack. He didn’t think he’d find himself having sex in the back of a car located in the cargo hold of the Titanic, or almost jumping off said ship. But that was just the life of a rogue Stark child, wasn’t it? At least Peggy was nice. Her dad, not so much.

A Thief Like Tony Stark: @dontholdthiswarinside

Tony is a high ranking criminal, known for his talent to disappear. Steve is a disillusioned soldier who needs some cash.

And some people will always be heroes, no matter what they do for a living.

The Things We Can’t Unsee: @/orphan-account

The mission was simple: get in, gather information, get out. Of course, Steve never really expected the enemy to follow this plan. One way or the other, something was bound to happen. They were the Avengers, after all. Nothing ever went easy for them.

What Steve didn’t expect was it going as far as it did; he didn’t expect having to make a decision that nobody should have to make.

Now Bucky’s lying there, bloody and dying all because of him, and Natasha’s poisonous words keep ringing in his head. Thinking about the ring he carries with him every day, Steve knows she’s right.

He’d never be able to make that call if it were Tony.

The Last Barman Poet: @nativemossy

Tony wasn't expecting anything more than dealing with a tequila-drunk Clint and a slightly wrinkled suit on this trip to Mexico. He got plenty more than he bargained for when he catches the eye of a handsome vacationer at the swim-up bar. Tipsy shenanigans ensue.

[iamanartichoke]

(This post was inspired by a recent post by @kayura-sanada​ that I was going to reblog, but my own addition became so long and, frankly, off-topic to the original post’s content that I figured it was fairer to create my own post. But theOP I’m referring to can be found here and is a good read.)

Okay, so: this is a wonderful analysis of Tony Stark, @kayura-sanada​, and I agree that it’s concerning seeing this written by a psychologist (although I think there has to be a little wiggle room in the fact that said psychologist is basing their diagnosis on their own interpretation, and - I would hope - it would probably change if Tony Stark were a real person who was their patient. I gotta hope that).

I agree with all of your overall points regarding Tony, but I wanted to reblog this specifically because this post is such a perfect example of a larger problem within fandom and fandom wank. The problem is that fictional characters can be interpreted any way you want, sure, but there’s a line between supporting your interpretation with evidence from the source, and supporting your interpretation with stuff you just kinda made up. There is a right and a wrong interpretation. 

Here’s what I saw happen with this post: your response to the OP is lengthy because it dissects the OP bit-by-bit; it responds to the claims made in those bits with evidence from the films that supports a completely opposite interpretation of the character. And the response you got largely ignores all of that evidence and analysis in favor of a surface-deep response about open interpretations and how it’s “all just fiction anyway.”

And I see the same pattern repeat itself over and over in fandom:

“Character A is Trait B and that’s why they do Actions C, D, and E.”

“Actually, character A is more Trait F, and examples of Trait F are shown in Action G, H, and I.”

“Okay, but when they do Action H, they’re responding to Event J, but with Actions C and E, they clearly demonstrate Trait B, along with Trait K and L.”

“Well, but, saying they are/have Trait K is kind of a reach, and when they did Action H it was out of character, because in the same situation in previous films, they responded to Event J in a different way. For example, .....” (long post)

“I’m not reading all of that, it’s open to interpretation, and it’s just fiction anyway.”

Later, rinse, repeat.

And it’s like, look, yes, you can interpret the characters however you want. Fandom is supposed to be a fun, engaging space where fans are inspired to create new works and discuss all aspects of the source. Headcanons exists because of open character interpretation. Shipping exists because of open character interpretation. Rarepairs and alternate universes and ‘there was only one bed!’ and lots of tropes exist because of open character interpretation. 

Without that open freedom to engage with the source/characters in whatever way makes you happy, fandom wouldn’t be what it is, and I would never want to discourage that. 

That all said, it is possible that someone’s interpretation is wrong. That the way they imagine the character or the way they’re interpreting the character’s words and actions is a contrast to what’s really supposed to be going on in the scene or with the overall arc. The wrongness can come from any number of things - interpreation being colored by personal experience, preferences, projection, whatever.

In the case above, the psychiatrist is viewing Tony Stark through a lens of what they already decided the character is: a case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. They took that lens and picked out (vague) examples of how the character portrays those traits.

This is fine. If that person wants to think Tony is a narcissist and that’s how they want to engage with the character and subsequent works (pretending that this was a meta post instead of a published article), then that’s their prerogative.

But upon closer analysis, the original interpretation kinda falls apart. The contrasting analysis takes a deeper look at the material and says, I don’t think what you’re saying is going on here is actually what’s going on here, and this is why.

But people don’t want to be told they’re wrong, especially in a fandom space, especially with something they hold dear to them (as interpretations can be intensely personal, and I know this). When the two interpretations clash, and one interpretation doesn’t really hold up to closer analysis, then suddenly, being critical of the source equates to disliking the source, and analysis is reduced to people just being negative and wanting to find things wrong with the source. Disagreeing with someone’s interpretation is taken as a personal attack. People get offended personally. The discussion devolves into ugly rhetoric, insults, or simply dismissiveness (”that’s nice but whatever,” “it’s just fiction,” etc).

And you might say, well, if you think someone’s interpretation is wrong, why are you trying to rain on their parade? Why are you trying to prove them wrong? Let people enjoy things! Let people fandom how they want! Let people write and create and be inspired in their own way!

To which I say, absolutely! Please, continue to enjoy the Thing and your interpretation of it. Continue to create through the lens of that interpretation. Create what makes you happy, fandom however you want to. I am a big proponent of “fandom and let fandom.” What other people like and dislike makes very little difference to me, and I’m certainly not under any illusion that everyone must see things the way that I see them or else they are Doing it Wrong. Nor do I take it personally if someone doesn’t agree with my take. 

None of that is my point. My point is that it becomes an issue that splinters and fractures fandom spaces when criticism and discussion are discouraged, when long analysis posts are mocked, when threads are hijacked, when it gets to a point where disagreeing with someone’s take on a Thing cancels them - to you - as a person. Because you miss out. You miss out on discussion, and on engaging with creative fanworks, and widening your fandom circle.

Instead, the circle just narrows, and there’s an underlying sense of hostility that colors every interaction you have. And it makes it not fun for anyone.

People need to be more open to the idea that there is, in fact, a right and a wrong side to most arguments. They need to be willing to defend their argument in a way that holds up and, if they don’t want to defend their interpretation, that’s fine - more power to you - but they need to then stop making fun of and being generally shitty to those who disagree.

People need to stop pretending that analysis and critical thinking don’t matter. They need to stop pretending that “fiction” is this vague concept that has no bearing on the real world and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Fiction shapes our world, and art imitates life. Being unable to think critically about fiction indicates a larger issue of being unable to think critically about the things that do matter in the real world, like science and poltiics. 

Just look at what this country has become. Each side believes it is the correct side, the “winning” side, but one of them is supported with verifiable facts and evidence and one isn’t, and when the one that isn’t is confronted with the fact that they are wrong, they either dismiss the argument entirely or go and find “alternative facts” from unreliable sources they can point to and say, see? A, B, C, D, and E may say I’m wrong, but F says I’m right, so fuck you.

I’m certainly not saying that fandom should be taken as seriously as politics, but I am saying that if people were more amenable to changing their minds or even just recognizing that criticism isn’t an attack and it’s not personal if someone dislikes a Thing that you feel passionate about - or vice versa - then maybe we’d have a better fandom space for all to enjoy. 

And I do try not to be a hypocrite. I am open to changing my mind on positions I’ve taken in fandom - if the analysis and the evidence convince me that there’s another way to look at it. If someone is telling me I’m wrong, and they tell me why it’s wrong (yes, in detail), then I’m more than happy to take a second look. Maybe it will change my mind; maybe it will simply be something I’m cognizant of while I continue to enjoy the material in the way that’s most fun for me. Either way, I’m not trying to hold fandom as a whole to any kind of standard I wouldn’t also expect myself to meet. 

That being said, this post is 90% me venting. Ironically, I don’t expect this to change anyone’s mind. I’m not saying there’s any one solution that will work for everybody or even that everyone sees a problem that needs solving. I’m just saying that I don’t enjoy fandom as much as I used to, and this particular pattern of "wank” (for lack of a better word) is the reason why. 

[soldierswar]

Kobik - Chapter VI

Bucky x Reader

Angst

Previous chapters in Masterlist

Summary: You, Bucky, Sam, and Kobik face disagreements on what the next step is. But when you eventually come to agreement trouble arises.

“I’m coming with you,” you declared.

“Are you crazy?” Bucky argued.

“I agree,” Sam added.

“As in for the first time ever Bucky’s not the crazy one. And besides, we don’t even know what our next step is in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes, crossed your arms, and laid your head back against the couch.

About an hour ago Sam called two agents of some type of organization you had never heard of before to come in and take the two guys in for medical attention before being interrogated. And by the looks of it, they might be getting serious medical attention for probably the next few days. This meant that if Sam and Bucky wanted to get this done themselves, you were all technically still on your own with this one.

They also wanted to take Kobik in with them. But both Sam and Bucky convinced them that she needed to stay with the three of you. That didn’t take much convincing because before Kobik practically collapsed in Bucky’s arms due to exhaustion, she was attached at your hip while they asked both you and Kobik questions. The poor kid had used up so much of her energy. So while the three of you were trying to work things out, she was comfortably snoozing in your bed for the night. Chances were that none of you were going to sleep anyway.

“So what now?”

Neither had answers.

“Listen,” Bucky said.

“This isn’t for you to worry about, okay?”

“Not for me to worry about?” you retorted.

“This was for me to worry about since the minute you brought me into this by bringing Kobik home.”

Bucky had guilt written all over his face. But guilt wasn’t what you wanted him to feel.

“Listen,” you said.

“You’ve trained me for countless amount of hours. And if today hasn’t proved that you’ve done a great job at it I don’t know what will.”

You turned to Sam for backup. He had to know that you were right to an extent. And he seemed to be thinking about it.

“She might have a point, Buck.”

You smiled, and instead of looking at you, your husband was too busy giving Sam the infamous Bucky Barnes death stare.

“I trained you for last-resort situations like this. Not for you to actively go out with us.”

“Well what’s the other solution?” you argued.

“Just have the two of us wait around for another ambush?”

You looked over to Sam again for some backup, but he seemed to decide that it was best to just mind his own business and went to go grab a glass of water.

“We don’t even know what we’re walking into. And the last thing I’m gonna do is have my newly pregnant wife follow us around doing dangerous shit like this.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Sam choked.

“Okay to be fair,” you started, putting a finger up.

“We don’t know how new this is.”

“That’s beside the point, Y/N!” Bucky exclaimed.

“Then what’s your bigger and better solution Bucky?” you shouted shooting up from the couch.

“You say you want me to be quote on quote safe but I don’t know if you noticed but keeping me at home to play fucking house didn’t exactly go as planned!”

“Y/N I’m sorry—”

“Sorry isn’t a solution!” you cried.

“Sorry isn’t going to keep Kobik away from those people. Sorry isn’t going to magically undo everything that’s happened or what could happen soon whether I’m pregnant or not. And sorry isn’t going to stop me from doing whatever the hell I can to protect that little girl from going through any more pain!”

Your voice cracked during that last sentence, and you found yourself choking on tears that had yet to fall.

You could see it now that Bucky was understanding why you were so adamant about this.

“Y/N?” asked a soft, sleepy voice from across the room.

“Is everything okay?”

You sighed and sat back down on the couch inviting her to join you and sit on your lap.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up kiddo,” you said softly while hugging her.

She shrugged and let her face collapse on your shoulder.

“What are we gonna do now?” she whimpered.

She knew that this wasn’t over. If anything she didn’t know if any of this was ever going to be over. And frankly, neither did anyone else in the room.

Sam came back around and leaned against the wall facing towards you and Bucky. Sam was eyeing you, and you eyed him back not to say anything more about the news that he just heard.

“We don’t want you to have to worry about that anymore, okay?” Bucky told her.

She didn’t respond. For a moment you weren’t sure if she just wanted to ignore his words, or if she just fell asleep again.

“We can find them. And find out who the bad man is.”

You rubbed her back soothingly over ambitiously attempting to get her back to sleep so you would no longer have to worry about her trying to get in on this.

“The people that came to get them are going to ask them questions. They might be able to find out,” Bucky stated.

She shook her head.

“I can find out.”

He narrowed his eyes curiously.

“What do you mean you can find out.”

And that’s when you remembered.

“Kobik, no,” you ordered.

“You are not reading their minds.”

“Reading their minds?” Bucky questioned.

“What is she talking about?” Sam added.

“What he said.”

Kobik reached out to touch Bucky’s hand to try to demonstrate and read him, but he pulled away before she could. There was no way he was going to let anyone read his mind. Especially not her.

“You didn’t know about this?” you asked.

“I knew that she could do some things with people’s minds, but I didn’t think that mind-reading was one of them.”

“So the cyborg doesn’t know everything.”

You couldn’t help but snort. And Bucky directed his .5 second long dirty look at you.

Kobik jumped off of your lap and sat in the middle of the couch between you and Bucky and directed her gaze to you.

“Why not?” she argued

“Because,” you counterargued.

She pointer at herself with both hands.

“Well if you want to find what you’re looking for, you need help. Duh.”

“Kobik…” you said in an odd motherly warning tone that had never really come from you before.

She crossed her arms and stared at you defiantly. Oddly, very similar to how you did before she showed up.

“Frustrating isn’t it?” Bucky teased.

For a split second, you envisioned killing him.

“Why won’t you back me up on this?” you looked back and forth between Bucky and Sam.

Bucky was too busy thinking to meet your gaze, and so was Sam. Kobik kept her attention on Bucky with her arms still crossed but now with a mildly hopeful expression.

They were not…They were not seriously thinking…

“Okay, why are you both considering taking Kobik but you were quick to tell me to back down?”

“She’s the one with the powers,” Bucky stated.

“And we’ll make sure that Kobik’s okay. They’re most likely heavily sedated in the hospital.”

“They’re pretty easy to get to without anyone even knowing a thing…Trust me.”

Sam silently agreed with him.

“Well, what about security?” Sam added.

“I’ll take care of that.”

“What do you mean by that?” you enquired.

“You know what? I don’t want to know.”

“You might have to,” he said.

“And what do you mean by that?” you frowned.

“I think it means,” Sam interjected.

“That you and Kobik are both getting your wish.”

…

One hour later

“Sam Wilson, when did you learn how to hack into a hospital database?”

Sam was sitting in the passenger’s seat on his laptop looking through the inpatient list of the hospital.

“I think you forgot that I used to work for Tony Stark, and I spent two years helping Steve try to find your husband. Long story short, it’s come in handy.”

You tilted your head and shrugged. Fair enough.

“Okay, I think I found them.”

“You sure?” Bucky asked keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.

“Well, they’re the only two people in the hospital with security registered to be at their doors. So why don’t you tell me?”

“Okay, okay.”

When he pulled into the hospital parking lot you took in a deep breath, and Kobik took your hand. She had been quiet for the whole car ride.

“You sure you know what to do?” you asked.

She nodded confidently.

“Okay,” Bucky began.

“So once I send you the message to get inside, we have about 5 minutes before hospital security gets suspicious about what’s going on with the camera system, and maybe 2 minutes after that before they start taking action.”

You looked at Kobik.

“How long do you think you’ll need?”

She looked up and thought about it.

“A minute.”

You felt relieved. You could probably pull this off.

“Okay,” you said.

“Let’s do this.”

…

Bucky was nowhere to be found on the hospital ICU floor. Which was in fact a good thing because neither was the security guard that was supposed to be guarding the door of the man whose room you’d be infiltrating. If everything went according to plan, the security guard should probably be inside of the room knocked out, and would be for a good couple of hours. You didn’t ask how Bucky just had a syringe of some type of knock-out drug on hand. But once again, you didn’t want to know.

Nobody looked suspicious of anything, so things were going pretty well. From what you could tell nurses were used to seeing security guards go in and out for coffee breaks without covering each other…which definitely seemed like a recipe for disaster. This whole situation kind of proved that.

You walked up to the nurse’s station.

“Visiting hours are over, ma’am,” said a very tired-looking nurse.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized innocently acting like the biggest bubblehead.

“It’s just…My husband is on this floor in room…536? I forgot my wallet here this morning and I really need it as soon as possible. And my daughter would really like to see him for a couple of minutes. She was at school when I was last here.”

He looked like he wanted to protest, but his expression softened when looked down at Kobik who was incredibly good at a fake pouty face. Who could say no to that little face?

“No more than 5 minutes, okay?” he sighed and smiled kindly.

You nodded gratefully and went on to find the room that you actually had to go to.

“Room 536 is on the other side, ma’am,” said another nurse.

Shit.

“Hey, nurse!” yelled a familiar voice from across the way.

It was Bucky…And he was wearing a security guard uniform.

“I think I need help with something. Are you busy right now?”

His voice carried so well that everybody had his attention, and nobody was going to ignore someone who was supposed to be guarding very dangerous people.

Kobik pulled you to come along instead of staring at Bucky like a dear in the headlights.

Just like Bucky said it would be, the door was unlocked. When you walked in, the designated security guard was peacefully snoring on the bench by the window. Poor guy was going to be so confused when he woke up.

Kobik was already standing, (or rather hovering over) who you had dubbed ‘grey shirt’ during the attack. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and placed her hand on his arm.

You had worried about what would happen if he woke up and caused a fuss. He may have been restrained, but one yell for help and you’d be busted. But Bucky was right. He was very drugged up and didn’t even twitch at Kobik’s touch.

Her brows began to furrow after holding on for a little while, and you could tell that she was seeing things and people that she didn’t want to see and that it upset her. You wished that you could just take her place.

After a couple of minutes, she let go. Her gaze was intense and sharp. Her eyes also glowed.

“He’s in New York,” she said.

“They’re all in New York.”

Suddenly your phone lit up in your hand. It was an urgent text from Sam to you and Bucky.

‘Time to go. NOW.’

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We gotta go.”

She made her way back to you impossibly quickly and took your hand to exit the room. When you swung the door open Bucky was right there standing guard.

“You’re not supposed to be in here young lady,” he teased flirtatiously.

“What can I say I have a thing for running into men in uniform,” you winked before smacking him on the arm before beginning to walk down the hall at a fast pace as he followed.

“They’re all in New York,” Kobik told Bucky.

“What?”

“The bad men talked about moving from Sweden to New York. They’ll be here for a couple of weeks. Or until they find me.”

He swore under his breath.

Your phones buzzed a few times but you were too busy making your way down the stairs and steering through hallways to get the hell out of that hospital to check. You figured that you’d take time to pause and look as soon as you got outside.

“Nobody’s following us right?” you huffed trying to keep up with Bucky and Kobik’s superhuman paces.

They both scanned the surroundings and determined that you were safe.

Finally, you reached the glass doors of one of the back exits to the parking structure. Mission accomplished.

“Oh thank God,” you sighed making your way down the outdoor steps.

“Y/N?” said Bucky worriedly staring down at his phone.

“I think we’re about to have company.”

Before you even had time to process his words you heard the click of three guns from behind you. And you had a strong hunch that it wasn’t hospital security.

“Hand the kid over to us, and you go free.”

Fuck.

Tags: @teenagedreams-bucky @typicalnerd98 @veroxloki @white-wolf-buckaroo @acciosiriusblack @pastel-boy-sungjae @flightsandfantasy @noiralei @unstablesleepygal

[titilationexpress]

Sweet Dreams are Made of Screams Ch.3

You awoke with a start, gasping as you found yourself back in your bed, heart racing and sweat beading down your forehead, yet you were clearly where you had last been when you fell asleep.

Rising from your mattress, you looked down at yourself, seeing that you were back to your human self. Or...were you your human self in that...dream?

You couldn’t really remember, suddenly feeling quite tense. “God, what WAS that?” you said aloud, rubbing your temple.

You checked your phone and saw yet more requests for Starscream popping into your messages. You flopped back on the bed with a groan. It seemed that you wouldn’t be getting away from him, whether it be your dreams OR wide awake!

Yet what you had experienced…

Throughout the day, you found yourself unable to focus on anything. Whether it be at school/college/work or in your free time, the Decepticon would not leave your brain. That wasn’t really new, the constant requests for him made his presence in your mind a regular, yet this was different. You didn’t know how to explain it, but Starscream seemed to make his presence known. As in, ridiculous as it sounds, like he’s always over your shoulder, watching you.

A fictional character was somehow transcending reality and subtly manipulating you into doing his bidding. Or was it yours, as, despite the feeling of eyes on the back of your head, you have been wanting to write about him for some time.

Yet unlike before, something had changed. True, that dream you had left you rather flustered (not to mention quite wet that morning), but also...inspired? Was that the word? Well, whatever it was, it eventually managed to get you going on churning out more reader insert entries. You went through your requests, going down the list of bots and scenarios when finally, one snags your attention.

Vampire!Starscream X Reader.

Well, that was quite the challenge, wasn’t it?

Sure, you had experimented with that in the past, yet once again, Starscream seemed to haunt you everywhere you went. Just what was it that...that made him so difficult for you? Why couldn’t you just write something?!

It was then though that your mind went back to the dream and your...intimate encounter with your favorite version of the character. His words regarding your doubts, your insecurities regarding your ability to write for him….how all of it was true. And how, to overcome it, you had to cast aside your inhibitions.

You just had to “do”.

It was an hour later or so that you were still at your computer/laptop, trying to figure out where to go from here. You had the scenario in mind, now to build a plot off of it. So far, all you had was that it was in G1 (or at least some version of it at least. Hey, headcanons and AUs were serious business, you had learned), and that you somehow became Starscream’s vampire bride in the end. It was kinda stupid, but hey, G1 was known for equally crazy shit.

The only problem was where to start.

True, you knew what the end result would be, but how to get there was the question. Better yet, how the hell do robots turn into vampires?! Ugh! You couldn’t do this! You just couldn’t! You were doomed for failure! You slapped your hand against your head, trying to keep yourself from getting too frazzled. But how were you going to do this?

It was then that you heard something. Or rather, thought something.

‘Shockwave this, Shockwave that. All I ever hear about is how great Shockwave is!’

You knew that quote! Starscream’s brigade! It grew to be one of your favorites of G1! But what did that have to do with…wait a minute. Shockwave...Shockwave was left on Cybertron but was also somewhat of a scientist. And there had been references to other planets and aliens in the series (hell, Season 3 had barely anything to do with Earth at that point), and there were such things as Petro Rabbits, so why couldn’t Shockwave have a collection of live specimens to study?

And you, the Reader, we’re going to be his assistant.

From there, more and more came to you, you typing like mad as you clicked and clacked the keyboard, everything just pouring out of you at once! You were doing this, you realized. Holy shit, you were doing this! On and on you wrote, getting the outline and first part done. Then came the second, third, and so on.

And when you finally gained the courage to post them (you had not submitted them quite yet, having held back), you saw that the reception was...good.

It was good.

Sure, the first part only had a few likes so far, but it seemed to be ok. Still, you didn’t get your hopes up too high. But it wasn’t long after that you found yourself aboard the abandoned ship again, only this time, there was no one in the cell. You knew well who should’ve been in there.

“S-Starscream?” You stammered, voice echoing off the walls. It was then that you felt a servo trail it’s way up your spine, causing you to nearly leap out of your skin. Turning, you saw the amused, chortling form of your favorite Starscream, clearly pleased with himself in having given you a fright. “Don’t do that to me!” you held your chest, feeling your heart beating.

“Welcome back.” The Seeker greeted. “It looks like we’re in for another eventful night.”

Your eyes widened. “We are?” You remembered last time well. How bizarre the whole situation was...but also how good it felt. How good he felt.

“Yes, you’ve been aching for another night with me, haven’t you?” He whispered in your ear, sending a chill down your back. “Don’t bother denying it. I can see into your thoughts, remember?” His eyes then began to glow red. “And I also know what you’ve written about me recently.”

“Oh, that.” Your cheeks grew red. “Yeah, well...it was my first time writing for you, and...well, I’ve never done anything with vampires before, so…” it was then that you noticed Starscream’s eyes seeming more...red than you remembered. And...and since when did he have fangs?! “The hell?!”

Starscream only chuckled. “Don’t you remember? This was from what you had written but a short time ago.”

Oh, right. “It’s…kinda stupid though, the story I mean,” you shifted nervously. “I mean, it’s not really meant to be taken seriously.”

“But,” Starscream approached you, holding your chin gently. “You DID finally face your fears, right?” You nodded. “But yet, you’re still unsure.” Sighing, you nodded. “Well,” his optics glimmered. “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”

You stiffened, knowing where this was going. The environment around you changed to that of the Nemesis’ brig, you in a cell with Starscream. The same position the Reader was in near the end of the story. You knew well what was about to happen, Starscream slowly backing you up against the wall. And yet not once did you tell him to back off. True, your heart was racing, yet it wasn’t entirely out of fear. No, you feared what would come next.

“Relax, my dear.” Starscream assured you. “I’ll be gentle.” He opened his mouth, revealing pronounced canines on his upper set of dentas.

You released a heavy sigh and let it happen. The Seeker bit down on your neck and into your flesh. There was slight pain, yes, yet you could stop this anytime you wanted. You let it continue. The sting from his fangs entering you lasted only a few seconds though, as there was a rushing warmth that overtook you.

“Ah, found your courage, have you?” Starscream questioned. “Well then,” he lowered his hand to your lower regions, lightly stroking it. “Shall we take things one step further?”

Honestly, you didn’t see why not.

That night, you two had another session, the Decepticon exploring and driving you crazy with his methods, you, in turn, responding in kind. Turns out a tongue savoring his spike was one of the things you did that could make him, fittingly enough, scream. And then, you woke up, a kiss bringing out of the dream once again. More requests, and yet...and yet, this time, you felt somewhat more...confident.

You decided to try out another scenario, taking your time with this one, yet not allowing anxiety to have as much of a hold over you. And, to your surprise, this Starscream x Reader fic got good reception too! True, you still wrote for all the other Autobots and Decepticons, yet the Seeker, whatever incarnation he was, proved to be some of your most popular.

Which, in turn, led to you getting more and more visits from him.

It wasn’t each night, yet sometimes, especially when you were either in the midst of writing one, or were struggling to come up with a scenario, he would appear. Luring you into the darkness to join him, allowing yourself to cast away the chains that once held you back.

And thus, you found yourself here again. The same ship, and same voice calling you. It seemed he wished to repeat how you two had met the first time.

“I know, I know...you belo-o-ng to so-omebody ne-e-w,” you heard his voice echoing all around, you recognized the song. It was an older one, one that your mother liked, remembering it from your grandmother’s vinyl collection. What was it called? Patience and Prudence’s…

“But toni-i-ght, you belong, to me…”

Ah, yes. How...oddly fitting. You followed the Seeker’s surprisingly bearable singing, listening and taking note of which direction it was coming from. What would it be tonight, you wondered. A dive into a new situation for the Reader, aka yourself, or something new? Sometimes Screamer himself came up with ideas, of which you would do, if not just to allow him to let you finish. Though you did get your revenge mostly, there were times where you were just wanting some smooth pillow talk. Starscream frankly made you exhausted. In a good way? Honestly, even now, you weren’t sure.

And yet, here you were, about to indulge him yet again.

“My honey I know, I know,” the source of the voice was close. “With the da-a-wn, that yo-o-u, will be go-o-ne,” you saw the cell, yet Starscream wasn’t confined. You couldn’t confine him now, even if you wanted to. “But tonight…” and, if you had to be honest, “You belong,” you didn’t want to. “To me.”

[letterboxd]

Savage Cinema.

From anarchists and adultery to milk baths and massacres, Matthew Turner shares five of the weirdest and wildest highlights of Hollywood’s pre-Code era, as #PreCodeApril comes to a close.

Pre-Code April was directly inspired by Noirvember, a month-long celebration of noir cinema instigated by Marya Gates (Oldfilmsflicker). I did Noirvember for the first time in November 2019, really enjoyed it, and thought it would be great to do the same thing for pre-Code movies. Although I’ve watched most of the classic 1930s films, I realised there were a huge number of pre-Code films I’d never seen (of my Letterboxd list of over 900 Pre-Code films, I have only seen 200).

As a sucker for a bit of wordplay, no matter how tenuous, I picked April partly because it’s six months away from Noirvember and partly because of the shared “pr” sound in April and Pre-Code. I’ve been absolutely delighted by the response—the #PreCodeApril hashtag on Twitter is a daily treasure trove of pre-Code-related joy, but I was genuinely thrilled to see the response on Letterboxd (here is my watchlist for the month). It’s been a real pleasure to see pre-Code movies constantly popping up in my ‘new from friends’ feed. My hope is that it’ll be even bigger next year—and that maybe TCM will want to get involved, the way they do with Noirvember.

Produced between 1929 and 1934, pre-Code cinema refers to films made in a brief period between the silent era, and Hollywood beginning to enforce the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines (mandatory enforcement came in from July 1934). The “Code” in question was popularly known as the Hays Code, after then MPPDA president Will H. Hays. As the depression set in and box office declined, theater owners needed fare that would drive cinema-goers to the movies. It was a wild time to be a scriptwriter; they threw everything at the page, designers added even more, and actors played out the kinds of scenes, from the suggestive to the overt, that would otherwise be banned for decades to come.

The following five films demonstrate some of Hollywood’s craziest pre-Code excesses. They’re still jaw-dropping, even by today’s standards, and notably give female characters an agency that would be later denied as the Christian morals of the Code overruled writers’ kinks.

Madam Satan (1930) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, written by Elsie Janis, Jeanie Macpherson and Gladys Unger

A critical and commercial flop in 1930, Cecil B. DeMille’s utterly insane musical comedy stars Kay Johnson as a straight-laced wife who plots to win back her unfaithful husband (Reginald Denny) by seducing him at a costume party, disguised as a mysterious devil woman. The location of this party? Oh, nothing too fancy, just on board a giant zeppelin. (“Madam Satan or: How the Film gets Fucking Crazy on the Blimp,” as Ryan reviewed it.)

Madam Satan is not by any stretch of the imagination a good movie (the editing alone is laughably bad), but as a piece of pre-Code craziness, it really has to be seen to be believed. Co-written by a trio of women and set in just three locations, it goes from racy bedroom farce to avant-garde musical to full-on disaster movie after a bolt of lightning hits the blimp.

The film is justly celebrated (in camp classic circles, at least) for the wildly over-the-top costumes paraded in the masquerade ball sequence, but there’s weird outfit joy everywhere you look. Keep an eye out for an enterprising extra who’s come dressed as a set of triplets.

Call Her Savage (1932) Directed by John Francis Dillon, written by Tiffany Thayer and Edwin J. Burke

Adapted from a salacious novel by Tiffany Thayer, Call Her Savage was former silent star Clara Bow’s second-to-last film before her retirement at the age of 28. She plays Texas gal Nasa Springer, who’s always had a “savage” temper she can’t explain. In the space of 88 minutes she goes from wild teenager to jilted newlywed to young mother to prostitute to wealthy society girl to alcoholic before finally (it’s implied) settling down with her Native-American friend after discovering that she’s half-Native-American, something the audience has known all along.

Bow’s performance is frankly astonishing, to the point where you simply can’t believe what you’re seeing from one moment to the next. Sample scenes see her savagely whipping both a snake and her Indian friend, smashing a guitar over a musician’s head and violently wrestling her Great Dane… and that’s all in the first five minutes. She’s also frequently in a state of near undress throughout—one funny scene has her maids chasing her with a dressing gown because they’re afraid she’ll run down the street in her négligée.

The rest of the film includes alcohol, adultery, strong violence, attempted rape, murder, syphilis (not named, but heavily implied) and baby death. It’s a veritable smorgasbord of outrageous content and Bow is pure dynamite throughout. The film is also noted for being one of the first on-screen portrayals of homosexuality, when Nasa visits a gay bar in the Village frequented by “wild poets and anarchists”.

Smarty (1934) Directed by Robert Florey, written by Carl Erickson and F. Hugh Herbert

This deeply problematic sex comedy features pre-Code stars Joan Blondell and Warren William (often nicknamed ‘The King of Pre-Code’) at their absolute filthiest. Blondell plays Vicki, a capricious, happily married wife who gets an obvious kick out of taunting her husband, Tony (William). When he cracks and slaps her at a party, she divorces him and marries her lawyer, Vernon (Edward Everett Horton), whom she also goads into slapping her in a deliberate ploy to win back Tony.

Essentially, Smarty hinges on Vicki liking rough sex and it’s completely blatant about it, ending with her sighing “Hit me again” (the film’s UK title!) as they sink into a clinch on a couch, a rapturous expression on her face. It’s a controversial film because on the surface it looks like it’s condoning domestic violence, but it’s very clearly about Vicki’s openly expressed sexual desires—she wants to be punished and dominated, she just has a rather dodgy way of getting what she wants.

It might be unsophisticated, but in some ways Smarty is remarkably ahead of its time and ripe for rediscovery. To that end, it would make a fascinating double bill with Stephen Shainberg’s Secretary (2002). Oh, and it’s also chock-full of lingerie scenes (like most pre-Code films), if you like that sort of thing.

Massacre (1934) Directed by Alan Crosland, written by Sheridan Gibney, Ralph Block and Robert Gessner

Several pre-Code films (notably those made by Warner Bros) took a no-punches-pulled approach to their depiction of social issues, and star Richard Barthelmess actively sought out such projects. Here he plays Joe Thunderhorse, a Native American who’s become famous on the rodeo circuit. When he returns to his tribe to bury his father, he ends up fighting for their rights, taking on corrupt government officials and religious authorities.

Massacre is fascinating because on the one hand it’s wildly insensitive—Barthelmess and co-star Ann Dvorak are both cast as Native Americans—but on the other, it burns with a righteous fury and does more than any other Hollywood film (before or since) to champion the rights and highlight the injustices dealt out to Native Americans. That fury is encapsulated in a horrifying and rightly upsetting rape scene (it happens off-screen, but the cuts leave you in no doubt) that the film handles with surprising sensitivity.

In addition to being a passionate fight against racism and social injustice, the film also has some genuinely shocking sexual content. Most notably, Joe is seen making love to a rich white woman (Claire Dodd, who’s also in Smarty) who has an obvious sexual fetish, flaunting him in front of her friends and making a shrine in her room with Native-American paraphernalia.

The Sign of the Cross (1932) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, written by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman

Yes, this is Cecil B. DeMille again, but no list of weird and wild pre-Code films would be complete without the jaw-dropping ancient Rome epic, The Sign of the Cross. Adapted from an 1895 play by Wilson Barrett, it stars Frederic March as Marcus Superbus (stop sniggering at the back there), who’s torn between his loyalty to Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) and his love for a Christian woman (Elissa Landi), while also fending off the advances of the Emperor’s wife, Poppaea (Claudette Colbert).

The film is racy enough in its sexual content alone: highlights include the famous scene of Claudette Colbert taking a nude milk bath and an erotic “lesbian” dance sequence, where Joyzelle Joyner’s “most wicked and talented woman in Rome” does ‘The Dance of the Naked Moon’ at Frederic March’s orgy, trying to tempt Landi’s virtuous Christian, to the obvious arousal of the gathered guests.

However, it’s the climactic gladiatorial-arena sequence that will leave your jaw on the floor. Lasting around twelve minutes, it includes: someone getting eaten by a tiger, a tied-up, naked women being approached by hungry crocodiles, pygmies getting chopped up by female barbarians, elephants stomping on heads, a gorilla approaching a naked woman tied to a stake, a man getting gored by a bull, and gladiators fighting to the death, complete with blood and gory injury detail.

The whole thing is genuinely horrifying, even for 2021. Best of all, DeMille pointedly critiques the audience (ourselves included), by showing a series of reaction shots ranging from intense enjoyment to abject seen-it-all-before boredom.

Matthew Turner (FilmFan1971) is a critic, author, podcaster and lifelong film fanatic. His favorite film is ‘Vertigo’. The films in this article are also listed here: Five of the Pre-Code Era’s Most Outrageous Films.

[weirdsideblog]

Untitled Vore Story, Part 1

Finally got this all written and polished and worked up the nerve to post it. 

Part 2   Part 3

NOT ST*RKER

There is vore here, so you have been warned. Thanks to @whisperingphantasm for the idea that someone might want to read this, as it’s different from typical brand

“So why do these guys want to catch us, again?”

“They hate me, most likely.” Tony grunted as Peter snatched him out of the way of what looked like a laser beam.

“And what’re they shooting at us with?”

“Not sure.”

They ducked behind a car, and Peter wished for the millionth time that he had his webshooters and mask, or that Tony had his suit, or something other than just the two of them. Tony was just a person, and Peter was supposed to be just a person, and the guys chasing them were... not unskilled.

They had to move again, Tony grabbing Peter’s arm and pulling him along. He let go a second later, but Peter almost wished he would keep holding on, just to be safe.

Ordinarily, his spider sense would have warned him. But, with the momentary distraction, he only turned just in time to see the beam make contact with his shoulder and hear Tony’s cry of “Kid!” and then everything went black.

When Peter came to his senses, really only about a second later, he thought, everything felt wrong. His body felt wrong, and the ground felt wrong, and he felt terribly, terribly vulnerable without knowing why. It was an awful, sinking feeling, and it made him want to hide.

He looked up, and then he knew why. His heart, his stomach, his knees, every part of him felt like it turned to water, because that was a hand. A hand, bigger than his entire body, and before he could convince himself he was really seeing it, it had trapped him and snatched him up.

He regained the ability to move then, much too late, because his arms were trapped helplessly against his sides and he couldn’t get free. He thrashed anyway in a panic.

“I got you,” said a voice, which must belong to the owner of the giant hand.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony had him? At any other time, Peter thought he might have felt incredibly safe, but the fact that Tony had him did nothing to change the fact that they were still being chased. And he was small, which did not bode well for him if they were caught. He’d just have to hope Tony was a fast runner, he thought, as he was held close enough to clearly hear the man’s pounding heart. It was bigger than he was now, and he found he didn’t like that thought at all.

Tony came to a halt, panting, and looked down at Peter in his hands. Even though he knew, he knew, his mentor would never hurt him, Peter shivered under his gaze.

“Did we get away?”

“Not yet.” Tony glanced down the alley they were in, and a second later Peter was enclosed in his hands again as he ran. Not for very long, because soon they had stopped again, and Tony was looking decidedly more worried than he had before.

“Okay, change of plan. It looks like we’re cornered here so-“ Footsteps ran toward them, and Tony and Peter both looked quickly.

Peter huddled in Tony’s palm, wishing he could be of some use or at least not be small when they were about to be caught like this. The footsteps were almost on them, and there was nowhere to go.

“Trust me, kid.”

“What-“ Peter found himself pinched around the waist and lifted up with terrifying speed. “Hey!”

His heart gave a sick lurch when Tony’s mouth loomed in front of him, and he scrambled to get away, but Tony won and trapped him in darkness.

The second Tony’s mouth closed, Peter went still. He was panting, and shaking a little with fright, but he forced himself to be still and to think. As unexpected and frankly terrifying as this was, it was Tony. Tony wouldn’t eat him.

Peter had to laugh at how ridiculous that sounded. Of course Tony wouldn’t eat him. All he needed to worry about were the muffled voices outside, who he hoped Tony wasn’t being captured by, and then the fact that he was in someone’s mouth only needed to be slightly unnerving. It was better than them getting him at this size, after all.

Tony’s tongue moved suddenly under him, and Peter yelped in alarm and disgust as he sprawled facedown on the sliippery surface. Before he could right himself, everything moved around him and he was being pushed backward, and now he was scared. Tony might have a plan to hide him farther back in his mouth to keep anyone from seeing him, but Peter didn’t want to be there thank you very much, because that was too close to... he shivered. That was too close.

He tried to hold still anyway, hugging his arms to his body, because one wrong move could trigger a swallow reflex and that, that would be bad. The thought made him want to scream and demand Tony let him out right now, but that was apparently not an option, so he held still. It would be fine, everything was fi-

Everything squeezed around him, crushing the air out of his lungs, and he was moving. Rather, he was being moved; Peter himself couldn’t move at all. It was too tight, and his arms were trapped against his chest, and he wouldn’t have even been able to tell what was going on if he hadn’t known.

All Peter’s thoughts closed in. He had to stop, he had to stop, he had to stop. He had to stick or brace himself or anything, but the only thing he was able to do was make a strange choking noise and he was forced horribly down.

It ended as suddenly as it had begun, and Peter slid into a more open space with a small scream. He gasped for air, gagged, gagged again, scrambled backward until he collided with a slimy wall, and stayed there, panting rapidly. He felt more like crying, but he had to breathe, he couldn’t panic now.

“Mr. Stark?” he choked.

Tony didn’t respond. Peter shuddered violently. The thudding heartbeat above him, that was Tony, and the slimy floor, and everything around him was Tony. Some weird part of his brain said that might be cool to think about- if he wasn’t trapped here.

“Mr. Stark!”

Still no answer, and Peter shuddered again. He was so small, Tony probably couldn’t even hear him. He sucked in an unsteady breath.

There was no way Tony had meant to do this. Whatever was going on, that was just not a possibility. Peter tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. Tony didn’t want him here any more than he wanted to be here, and he would do something.

Peter waited, hugging himself in the hot air. Tony was moving, hopefully of his own free will and not because he had been caught, but there was no way to tell. A terrible thought dawned on Peter’s mind.

Tony might not want him here, but if he had been captured... Maybe he couldn’t do anything. Maybe they had tied him up. Peter looked around in the darkness for help, but of course there was nothing.

“Hey, Mr. Stark?” he asked, trying to sound calm even though the last word came out as more of a wheeze. “No offense, but it’s really gross in here. Can you let me out, soon?” He touched the wall to steady himself when the floor shifted scarily under him. “Please?”

Tony still didn’t answer. Maybe he couldn’t hear, or maybe they had caught him and put a gag on him. At any rate, it was becoming clear that Peter would have to take matters into his own hands.

He was still breathing, which was good, but he wasn’t sure how long that would last. Even if it did, there were other things that would kill him. If Tony couldn’t get him out, then it was high time he got himself out. He stuck himself to the slimy wall.

It was horrible, if he was honest, even if he wasn’t very honest. Poking around blindly in Tony’s stomach (that part was already horrible all on its own), having to focus harder than usual to grip every slippery surface when his environment and emotional state really didn’t lend themselves to good focus, feeling for the way he had come in. It was impossible to tell exactly where he was, or where he was trying to go, or where he had already checked, and it took all Peter’s restraint not to just start screaming. Maybe he should be a little less honest.

“Just a normal day,” he muttered. “Climbing around inside somebody’s stomach while we’re getting kidnapped. Happens all the time.” He made himself give a shaky laugh and tried not to think, because if he thought, he would panic, and he couldn’t afford to waste time by panicking here.

He had no idea how long it had been when he slipped. Everything lurched, like Tony had either fallen or been pushed, and Peter lost his grip and fell too, landing with a disgusting squelch in a puddle of slime on the squishy floor. Probably not just slime. He jumped up, trying to shake it off his clothes and skin, trying to get away from where it pooled around his feet, letting out little whimpering gasps that he couldn’t control. Without anywhere else to go, he anchored himself to the wall once more, just to get away. He just wanted to get away.

“Mr. Stark, help me!” Peter pressed against the wall, as close to Tony- the Tony he was used to, anyway- as he could get. “Please, please, let me out, let me out!”

He lost his grip and slid down again to curl up in a ball, shaking. Tony couldn’t let him out. Whatever the reason, that much was clear, and Peter guessed the reason didn’t really matter in the end. He looked around in the complete darkness again, but there wasn’t even anything to see. Peter felt like screaming out in terror, but it would do no good; nothing would do any good.

“I’m gonna die here.” Nothing about that was funny at all, but he let out a slightly hysterical laugh. “I’m- oh no, oh no, I gotta...” He tried to struggle to his feet again, but he was breathing too hard and too fast and that was all he could focus on. He was already falling apart.

Then there was a new sound. Some sound other than the thud of Tony’s heartbeat or the air in his lungs or the blood roaring in Peter’s own ears. He registered it even through the fear and the panic and the despair as it vibrated deeply in the space around him.

Tony was humming. And Peter was sure, instantly, that it was for him. That was all it took for him to break down crying, because he wasn’t completely alone. Tony was there, and he was still thinking about him, and whatever was going to happen he’d know and Peter wouldn’t be alone.

Peter couldn’t recognize the song he was humming, but it was clear that Tony was trying to calm him down, and he managed to take a breath. Tony was paying attention and he wanted him calm, and that was... not automatically a bad thing. Unless he was just trying to comfort him in the face of death. Peter shuddered for both their sakes, but he allowed the sound and the reminder of Tony’s presence, however weird that was, to soothe him slightly.

Tony’s humming changed abruptly, going from musical to monotone and a series of detached sounds. Some were short, some were longer, almost like a code repeated over and over again and-

Code! Peter scrambled to his feet and listened, trying to force his frazzled brain to make sense of it.

F-E-S-A-F-E

Safe? Safe? Peter was no expert, but he was pretty sure nothing about this was safe.

H-O-W he punched against the wall, hoping Tony would get the message.

S-A-F-E

Apparently he didn’t. Peter groaned in frustration. “Mr. Stark, what the heck do you mean, safe?”

D-O-N-E-B-E-F-O-R-E

Peter’s heart leaped, and he let out a trembling breath. “You can hear me?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Okay. Um.” Peter looked around, but it was just as dark as before. “I’m really not sure this is… Am I gonna die?”

N-O

Tony wouldn’t lie to him. Right? Peter didn’t think he would.

“A-are you sure? How is this… how is this safe?”

“Mm-hm.” Tony didn’t answer how, but it was probably hard to explain in Morse code.

Peter took a breath. Nothing about this felt safe, and everything in him was still screaming that he was going to die, but maybe... Maybe there was a chance that he would be okay. Tony had said so, and he could believe Tony. He wanted to, anyway, but he wasn’t sure he quite could just yet.

“Where are we?”

T-R-U-N-K

“So you can’t let me out.”

“Mm-hm.”

That was… terrifying to have confirmed, but it was Tony, and if he said it was okay... “But I’m safe? Somehow?”

Y-E-S

“Okay.” Peter took another deep breath and reached out to touch the wall of Tony’s stomach, just barely. “I’m really freaking out, like kind of about to go crazy, but I’m trusting you, okay?” He couldn’t help a small shiver. “You’d let me know if I was actually gonna die, right? Or you’d be freaking out too, probably. So it’s fine. I think.”

Tony hummed, not a code, just a soft sound probably meant to reassure him.

“If I do die, I’m gonna haunt you forever and grab your leg every time you get out of bed.”

Tony might have snorted. Peter was quiet, still feeling incredibly small and a little bit lost. He supposed he was lost, at least to anyone who might be looking for him. He folded his arms and waited.

NOT ST*RKER!!

Part 2 with Tony’s perspective coming soon-ish

[rachaelswrites]

Mission:AU

Chapter One- Gender Swap

Peter Parker x Barnes!reader

Previous Part

You woke up in an unfamiliar room and you sat up and stretched. You looked around the room to try and find something you recognized. You saw a phone on the bedside table and grabbed it. You caught a quick glance at your reflection on the screen and your jaw dropped. You were Peter. You looked down and saw that you were definitely in his body. 

Peter woke up in a familiar situation. He immediately noticed he was you, since you had a full length mirror opposite the bed. He jumped up and looked around for your phone. He could hear music playing and figured Bucky was awake. He unlocked the phone and called you, or himself.

You got a call on the phone in your hands. You saw it was your own name (or Peter) and answered. 

“Y/n? What the hell happened? Are you trapped in my body? Because I’m trapped in yours!” 

“Yes Peter. It seems we are in quite a predicament,” you tried to remain calm while Peter freaked out. You both agreed to meet up at a park and hung up. You snuck out of Peter’s room and he did the same. 

You didn’t know Queens very well, since you grew up in Brooklyn. You asked some people for help to find your way to the park. After about a half an hour of riding the subway and walking, you spotted Peter. You were surprised he managed to pick out such a good outfit. You didn’t even change out of the clothes you woke up in. 

“Oh my god Y/n!” Peter ran towards you and pulled you into a hug. 

You awkwardly maneuvered out of his grip, since people started giving you weird looks.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening? What’s the last thing you remember before this morning?” you wanted to get to the bottom of this. 

“Umm. We were on the mission and the guy attacked us with the machine. And then I woke up in your room.”

You rubbed your temples in frustration. Peter walked you over to a bench and sat you down, sensing your stress.

 “Damn it. It’s like we’re stuck in that one movie with the fortune cookies.” you tried to remember what is what. 

Peter helped you out, “You mean Freaky Friday?” he asked.

You nodded.

 “True but we don’t have to learn a lesson like they did. Maybe we have to do something else. Oo! Like in Teen Beach Movie! The characters get stuck in a musical and the only way to get out is to finish the storyline. Do you remember that movie?”

You glared at him, “No Peter. I don’t remember some stupid movie because if you can recall, I was stuck in Wakanda for two years and then I had to deal with my dad and my friend’s death. I didn’t have time to watch movies,” you snapped, “And besides. We’re not in a musical so there’s no storyline to finish,” He was taken aback. And quite frankly so were you. You never really snapped at anyone before. You stood up from the bench and Peter followed. 

“I’m sorry Y/n I didn’t realize. Maybe instead of a storyline, we have to live the day as each other.” 

You turned your head and looked at him. It did make sense. You sighed, “Yeah probably. We just can’t get caught. Try to stay away from my dad today and I’ll avoid May.”

“How am I supposed to lie to The Winter Soldier?” he asked. 

“Tell him you have cramps. It always works. Plus, he’s not The Winter Soldier anymore,” you shrugged. 

Peter was about to say something but you were already skipping down the sidewalk back to Queens. 

Peter got back to the apartment complex you and Bucky lived in. He went upstairs and quietly slipped in. 

“Hey sweetheart. Where’d you go so early?” your dad asked. 

Peter hesitated until he remembered what you told him, “Uh cramps!” he blurted. He smiled sheepishly and waited for Bucky’s response. 

He stood up and walked to Peter, putting his hand on his forehead, "Are you feeling ok? Normally you don’t leave bed because of those.”

Peter had to think quickly, "I just uh… needed some fresh air.”

Bucky nodded and left the room. Peter quickly made his way back into your room. He pulled out your phone and called himself. 

“Hey Y/n. Did you get back ok?” Peter asked. 

“I’m on the subway still. I’ll be there in a few though. What’s up?”

“I was just making sure you were safe. It can be dangerous out there.”

You giggled at Peter’s protectiveness for you. You two had only grown close over the last day but anything he had done had given you butterflies. 

“I’ll be ok. I was a Hydra assassin for decades, remember?” 

Peter nodded, even though you couldn’t see it. He remembered the girl at the airport. He didn’t want to hurt her. She looked so fragile until he saw her almost take down Natasha by herself. He so badly wanted to pull her away from the fighting and keep her safe. Tony had told him not to. ‘Who knows what Barnes and Rogers would do if they found out you took her,’ those were the exact words Tony said. 

“Also there's a change of clothes I keep under my pillow. Just letting you know so you don’t have to dig through drawers.” 

“Ok thanks Petey!” you said. You had never called him that before.

“Goodbye Y/n/n,” he said. 

You hung up the phone just in time to get off the train. 

The rest of the day was pretty boring for both of you. You had to shoo May away multiple times. Claiming you had a huge headache and just wanted to sleep. Instead of sleeping, you looked around Peter’s room. You studied his photographs and posters and flipped through his books and comics. You pulled down a cardboard box from the closet and opened it. They were a bunch of old yearbooks. You sat crisscross on the ground and read them one by one. School changed a lot since you were last in one. You imagined yourself in Peter’s place and then imagined yourself alongside him. Being his best friend through all these years. 

Peter did the same thing you did. He went through some of your things from your childhood. He was always fascinated by history. He flipped through the clothes in your closet until he noticed a section in the back. The hangers were facing the opposite way as the others. He pulled them back and found a box. He grabbed the box and sat down on the bed. He pulled off the lid and stared at it’s contents. There were multiple journals, new and old. There were also loose leaf papers that looked like they belonged in a museum (which they did at one point). He emptied the box and looked at the papers. Some of them were flyers advertising the enlistment stations and others were photographs of you as a child. Most of them were either taken by Bucky or if he was in them with you, Steve. He saw a picture of just Bucky in his uniform by the train station.

 “This was probably the day he left,” he said quietly.

 He went to put the photos back but the bed dipped and some of the journals fell. He leaned down and saw one of them fell open. 

He grabbed it and read the page it was on:

I dreamt I was on the beach. Dad and Steve were playing catch. I was wrapped in a blanket cause Dad didn’t want me getting sick. I was about three. Before they tried to enlist. I remember Steve was invited but didn't want to go at first because Dad said it was ‘daddy daughter bonding time’ eventually Steve gave in and joined. I don’t remember if this part happened: I was really excited and tried to go swim but dad grabbed me by the waist to stop me. He said I had to stay with him since I was so small. I didn’t like that so I pouted. Then he tickled me and chased me until I was smiling and laughing. I hope that part was real. It was one of the happiest times of my life.

Peter smiled at the thought of baby you being happy and stress free. He noticed a note at the bottom of the page. It was dated the day of your mission. Peter remembered you told him you had a good dream, this must've been it. He heard Bucky’s footsteps down the hall and quickly put everything back in the box and slid it under the bed. Bucky knocked and Peter let him in. 

“Hey I was just seeing if you wanted something to eat. I can make something or I can order in. Up to you.” 

“Uh I don’t really mind. I’m ok with anything.”

Bucky raised his eyebrows, "Really? Normally you beg me to order from Panda Express. I don’t even know why you like that place so much.”

“Yeah I mean I’ll have that. I just wanted to let you have a say also.” 

Bucky chuckled and shook his head. He turned and closed the door. Peter heard him a few minutes later on the phone ordering food. Peter went to go to the bathroom. He looked down and screamed. Bucky came running to the room and opened the door. “Y/n? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” 

Peter walked out of the bathroom and looked at your dad, "I’m...Uh...Bleeding.”

Bucky had concern written all over his face., "Oh. Do you need help with the wound or help cleaning up?” he asked. 

Peter looked at him and realized he didn’t know what he meant, "It’s not from an injury though,” he explained. 

Bucky looked confused. Then it hit him, "Sweetheart. You know this happens every month and is normal. Do we need to have the talk again?” 

Peter was mortified. He totally forgot that he didn’t know that he was trapped in your body. Peter shook his head, "Umm. No, I'm good. It just sur-” a sudden wave of cramps hit Peter and he doubled over in pain, “Shit it hurts,” he mumbled. 

Bucky bent down to pick him up. He carried him to the bed and sat him down. 

“I’ll get you some meds ok. You can eat up here tonight,” Bucky kissed the top of his head and left. 

You had run into a similar situation in Queens. You were laying on Peter’s bed staring at the ceiling, messing with his webs. You were shooting them around the room, seeing what you could grab. You were too preoccupied and didn’t hear May knocking on the door. When she didn’t hear a response she opened the door and went in. You got startled and somehow managed to web yourself to the bed. “Oh sorry Peter. I didn’t know you were doing… what ever you were just doing,” 

“It’s not what you’re thinking Mis- I mean May,” you stuttered. 

“Peter it’s fine. You don’t have to explain. But we do have to get you out of those webs,” she moved over to the drawer where Peter must’ve kept the web remover stuff. After a few minutes, you were finally free. 

[icannotreadcursive]

Sometimes, people have different--very different--sets of headcanons and sets of ships etc for a given piece of media and cast of characters because they have basically different understandings of who those characters are.

A lot of times, that’s just because every fan as their own unique life experience to apply when engaging with and interpreting a work, so they see different things reflected back.

But when it comes to what I call Legacy Characters--characters that have had their story told and retold, adapted and readapted, reinvested and reset time and again; such as comic book characters--a huge part of who a fan understands a character to be is determined by what versions of that character they’re familiar with, what aspects of different versions have coalesced in their brain to form their sense of that character in general.  Usually, the biggest influence there is which version of a character that fan encountered first.

I see both knock-down drag-out fights and casual disrespectful disparaging comments within some fandoms--especially big comics fandoms like Marvel--that on the surface of them are more of the typical dumb “my interpretation is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is wrong and Doesn’t Understand The Media” stuff, but that I am SO SURE mostly boils down to this issue of having very different but all equally legitimate senses of the characters from having familiarity with different appearances of the character, or in a different order.

For instance--using what I find to be the most glaring case as an example--the Marvel shipping wars amongst Steve/Bucky, Steve/Tony, Sam/Steve, Bucky/Natasha, and (increasingly) Sam/Bucky shippers.  Sometimes the Pepper/Tony, Pepper/Natasha, and Bruce/Tony shippers join the fray.

These conflicts get so nasty.  Even a lot of the more chill shippers, when prompted, have very ugly things to say about ships other than their own and the people who support them.  Allegations of racism, misogyny, fetishization, and general toxicity run rampant and are often talked about as though they are the only possible reasons someone could ever have for shipping or not shipping a given pair.

I want to make it clear that I personally do ship or have shipped several of the above, including ones that mutually exclude each other.  There’s a few I’m neutral on up there, and one that kinda squicks me--we’ll get to that later.

Every single one of them is a perfectly good ship.  None of them are inherently fucked up in any way and I will not hear any argument to the contrary.  

Do some supporters of these ships get overzealous and obnoxious?  Yes, that’s kinda why we’re talking about it, but that’s not a problem with any of the ships themselves.

I’ve noticed some patterns around people being into particular ones of these ships and their personal histories with various Marvel media.

Steve/Tony: mostly comics fans at this point, either were into the comics before the MCU became a thing or the early days of the MCU got them into the comics and they’re now more into the comics than the films.  Because there’s a LOT of material in the comics to support the ship!  There’s so much!  Including the fact that in one comics reality where Tony is a woman, she and Steve get married!  

Now, there was a ton of this’ere Stony fic that got churned out in the early days of the MCU, a lot of it from fans getting into this world for the first time through the phase 1 movies, at which point other potential partners for these guys either hadn’t been introduced as characters yet, or hadn’t been fleshed out.  A lot of film-main (as opposed to comics-main) Stony shippers moved away from the pairing as the MCU continued, Bucky became the counterpoint of Steve’s Character arc, Sam got brought in, Pepper and Bruce each got more screen time, and the dynamic between Steve and Tony in the films got increasingly adversarial in a way that’s less sexy more fucked up.

The battle cry against Stony from other factions, especially from the Steve/Bucky camp is usually “but they’re so toxic!” and, I mean, yeah--if your sense of these characters is primarily based on how they are in the MCU, they are.  But in my experience, even if they’re working MCU events and settings, the Steve and Tony being imagined by Stony shippers aren’t really that Steve and Tony.

Steve/Bucky: look, Stucky is an MCU thing.  Articles have been written and published about the fact that the dynamic between Steve and Bucky in the MCU follows the beats of an epic romance to a T.  The basis for this ship is all there on screen--throw in a little bit of history nerd mojo and you’re in deep.

By my observation and estimation, most new or formerly-very-casual Marvel fans who came in via the films and remained film-mains, and who are inclined to not-strictly-heteronormative shipping at all went the Stucky route.  Folks who initially shipped Stony then switched to Stucky are pretty common.  People starting with Stucky and then switching to any other ship with Steve to the exclusion of Stucky? Very rare.  And while for a lot of people Stucky is their OTP in the strictest sense, I do see a lot of Stucky shippers who are here for other ships as well, either in an alternate realities kinda way or an amicable exes/polyamory kinda way.

The only people I’ve seen who have a problem with Stucky as a ship (other than “my ship is a different ship, therefore this one is bad and wrong”) are comics-mains whose sense of Steve and Bucky is heavily informed by runs of the comics in which Bucky is significantly younger than Steve and kid sidekick type figure.  For them, the dynamic between the general forms of these characters leans mentor/student or protector/charge, so the inclination is to read the MCU relationship as fraternal, because it being romantic is squicky based on their sense of the characters.

Sam/Steve: comics-mains, film-mains with significant comics familiarity, film-mains who just aren’t into Stucky for one reason or another, or film-mains who are just really into Anthony Mackey which is a perfectly valid reason to get behind a ship.  People who know Falcon from the comics seem much more likely to be into this ship and also more invested in this ship.  I’m not qualified to say much about support for this ship from the comics themselves because my personal familiarity with Marvel comics doesn’t include much of Sam Wilson at all, but I am absolutely qualified to say there’s support from the films, especially CA:WS.

The worst vitriol against this ship tends to come from overzealous Stucky OTP shippers who really need to remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, and flat out racists.  That must be acknowledged and needs to be addressed.  Fandom racism in general, and against Sam in particular is a thing and it can absolutely be a factor in shipping.  

However it’s not inherently racist to just not ship Sam/Steve because you see them as bros, or because Stucky is your OTP, or because you ship Sam with someone else, or whatever.  Worthwhile to take a minute to examine why you don’t ship it, if you don’t, and check that for racial bias in how you view and treat Sam as a character, especially if you’re white.

Sam/Steve and Stucky are the two ships I see coexist the most!  A lot of people ship both of them separately and exclusive from one another, but a lot of people also go ether the OT3 or the “Steve and Sam were definitely a thing for while there but now they’re not” route.

Bucky/Natasha: comics-mains or film-mains with significant comics familiarity, particularly for the comics worlds in which Bucky and Natasha are a couple, which seems self explanatory as to why that correlates.  Not a lot for it in the films, Nat and Buck don’t interact much in the films that we see, and they’re kinda trying to kill each other in much of what we do see.  But, like I said, they’re a thing in some of the comics so there we have that.

This is the one that squicks me.  Clearly it’s a super valid ship; depending on the canon it’s a canon ship.  Frankly, they make sense together, canon or not--their individual backgrounds as spysassins and with brainwashing etc means they’d be able to understand one another in ways no one else around them really can.  But my personal amalgamation of these characters from the films and what comics I’m familiar with has Bucky having been Natasha’s teacher when she was a kid in Red Room.  So I cannot ship it, I can’t do it.  

The fact that I personally am squeaked by it has absolutely no impact on the fact that it’s a good ship, and the fact that it’s a good ship cannot and does not negate the fact that it squicks me.

Bucky/Sam: okay, there’s not a lot of this out there yet, but what there is seems to mostly be coming from film-mains who either don’t ship or co-ship Stucky and/or Sam/Steve, and who really liked the dynamic between these two in Civil War, and I guarantee you we’re about to get so much more of this ship with Falcon and Winter Soldier premiering.  I’ve already seen some hate directed at this ship from the same places Sam/Steve gets hate.  I predict, though, that this one will also get co-shipped alongside Stucky by the less strictly OTP of those shippers and I’m curious to see what the dynamic ends up being between Bucky/Sam shippers and Sam/Steve shippers as this camp grows.

In conclusion, I guess, note that not shipping a ship doesn’t have to mean attacking that ship (and it shouldn’tI) and not liking a ship, even being deeply uncomfortable with a ship for your own reasons doesn’t mean that ship is bad.  We’ve all got our own individual sets of experiences both in life and with the characters in our fandoms that can dramatically change how we see those characters and their relationships to one another.  This gets especially complicated and diverse with Legacy Characters like those from sprawling long-running comics multiverses.  Someone’s understanding and interpretation being different from yours does not make either of you wrong!

As long as no one is an asshole about it it, it’s actually really interesting and cool to compare interpretations and see how your understandings overlap and differ, to think about what bits of canon have been formative for you and what personal experience may have made you inclined to interpret certain things certain ways.

Fandom is supposed to be fun.  Shipping is supposed to be fun.  You can and should hype up and express love for your own ships without tearing down others.

[tempestaurora]

FANDOMS: Marvel, Voltron: Legendary Defender, The 100, Harry Potter, The Raven Cycle, Community, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Umbrella Academy

NOTES:

i tagged every tumblr i could reasonably find. if you have more than one fic on this list, i have tagged you more than once. some people may be tagged like five times. i’m not sorry.

where relevant, fandoms have been split into general (platonic) centric fics, and romantic/slash fics. this is just because it’s easier than splitting it up into specific relationships.

at the end of every fic title/author line is a list of core relationships; fics are split between gen and romance depending on what relationship is considered centric. otherwise, fics are in no particular order. All fics are completed unless otherwise specified.

i added a read more because there’s over 100 fics listed here.

anyway, enjoy, thanks for the 3k followers

M A R V E L

gen centric fics

SHORT (0 - 5K)

K.I.D. by blondsak @blondsak | Tony&Peter

summary: “Hi K.I.D. Glad you’re awake. Do you know your primary objective?”

“To always look for ways to remind Mister Stark - that’s you! - that Kindness Isn’t Dead.”

“That’s right, K.I.D. Good job.” 

forty miles by peter_stank @peter-stank

summary:  the one where Morgan is sick and Tony is in way over his head, so he calls his spiderson for a little bit of help. Tony&Peter

from now on by peterparkr @peterparkrr |  Tony&Peter

summary: Peter’s sure that Tony and Pepper’s wedding will change everything. 

Machine Wash Hot; Tumble Dry Low by alice_in_ink | Tony&Peter

summary: Do you ever fall into sewers and then need your billionaire mentor to wash your super-suit? Peter Parker does too. 

Captain That by maddo | Tony&Peter

summary: Just a bunch of little anecdotes regarding our favourite spider and his Instagram account, feat. a meme-tastic Tony Stark.

Here's to all the new beginnings by Gruoch @groo-ock | Tony&Peter

summary: Peter gets a job. Tony is less than pleased. 

to know, to protecc, and to fuck with by peterstank and floweryfran @peter-stank @floweryfran | Tony&Peter, Natasha&Peter, Sam/May

summary: peter parker convinces the responsible adults in his life to join him on the world’s stupidest stake-out. 

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

i used to have nothing and then by dirgewithoutmusic @ink-splotch | Clint&Natasha

summary: “Clint,” Natasha said. “You’ve got to let me go.”

“Clint,” she said, and he let her go. 

the hearth by sagemb |  Tony&Peter

summary: What to Do When Your Wife Is Out of the Country: A Guide by Tony Stark

1) Gain partial custody of a child 2) Sleep on the couch 3) Have the child gain partial custody of you.

Love in Ones and Zeroes by forensicleaf @forensicleaf | Tony&Peter

summary: a boy, a bot, and a bond through the years. Tony&DUM-E

call you home SERIES by Madelinedear | May&Tony, Tony&Peter

summary: sometimes family is who you're born with. and sometimes family is a spider boy, a rich not-dad, and a kickass aunt. (or; tony, may, and peter find a place in each other's lives) 

Not-Uncle Tony by Jen27ny @jen27ny | Tony&Peter, Happy&Peter

summary: Happy is Peter's biological father, and Tony is there for the entire ride. 

Between how it is and how it should be by frostysunflowers @frostysunflowers | Peter&Bucky, Tony&Peter, Steve&Bucky

summary: ''Doesn’t Captain Rogers ever…wonder,'' Peter winced as he fumbled for the right word, ''where you are?''

Bucky smirked. ''Steve’s a regular mother hen. Used to be me that worried about him.'' He gave Peter a pointed look. ''Better question is, isn’t Stark wondering where you are?''

The Unfortune Teller by peterparkr @peterparkrr | Tony&Peter

summary: A woman in a carnival booth predicts Peter's death. 

all the things yet to come (are the things that have passed) by peterparkr @peterparkrr | Peter&Morgan, Tony&Peter

summary: The first time Peter sees Morgan is at the funeral. 

tony and peggy’s big day out! by floweryfran @floweryfran | Tony&Peggy

summary: “What’s happened this time?”

“Just a bombing,” says Peggy.

“At three in the afternoon?” says Jarvis. “Frankly, how rude.”

Blips on the Record by ambivalentangst @ambivalentmarvel | Flash&Peter, Tony&Peter

summary: Flash Thompson’s story is not simple, Peter Parker can always use someone else in his corner, and secrets are had and protected by all. 

aiding and abetting: a peter parker saga by floweryfran and peterstank @floweryfran @peter-stank | Peter&Avengers

summary: 5 times peter parker runs into the rogues separately + the 1 time they work together as a team. 

Tennessee Outreach for Spider-Man (and friends) by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Harley&Peter, Harley&Tony

summary: in an attempt to help Harley beef up his college apps, Tony offers Harley a remote Stark Industries internship to help Spider-Man. It easily becomes his worst nightmare. 

Allston Christmas by Gruoch @groo-ock | Tony&Peter, Tony&Peter&Rhodey

summary: “You guys didn’t have to do this,” Peter says from where he sits squeezed into the middle seat of the U-Haul, sweat running down his back. The air-conditioning in the truck they’ve rented is broken, and even with the windows rolled down it’s hellishly hot inside.

“We wanted to,” Tony replies as he blasts the horn at a minivan with a “Harvard Mom” bumper sticker that is attempting to cut into his lane.

so happy together by floweryfran @floweryfran | Tony&Ben

summary: ben parker calling tony stark a twink for 13k words

LONG (20K+)

An Unofficial Introduction to the Avengers SERIES by Isnt_it_pretty_to_think_so @isnt-it-pretty-to-think-so-tr | Tony&Peter

summary: The Avengers meet Spiderman via the online world, and then meet Peter Parker in Stark's living room. It takes them longer than it should to put two-and-two together. 

what is and will be (is you and me) by momentofmemory @momentofmemory | May&Peter

summary: 5 times May was there for Peter, +1 time he was there for her. 

dear mr. fantasy by iron_spider @iron--spider | Tony&Peter

summary: He grits his teeth and turns around, and before he can even begin to trudge over towards Peter’s room, he’s stopped in his tracks. By a door. In the middle. Of the living room.

“Well that’s new,” he says, still rooted to the spot.

timshel SERIES by justanotherblond @blondieewritess | Bucky&Peter, Steve/Bucky

summary: The soldier doesn’t remember his son’s birth or how he came to be. He doesn’t remember bedding a woman and watching her belly swell, but they said the boy was his. He does know that he will protect and teach the boy within the confines of their cell walls. Even when the handlers berate him. Even when the good guys take him away. 

odd couple buddies SERIES by bysine | Peter&Bucky, Sam&Thor, Tony&Peter

summary: "You know you're not supposed to call him the Winter Soldier any more, right?" Peter says, while they handcuff him to a pipe. A pipe. "Also this whole thing is kind of messing up my schedule. My two overdue papers won't exactly write themselves."

i understand (i’m a liability) by floweryfran @floweryfran | Harley&Tony, Harley&Peter

summary: “I… am not being challenged in the right ways here,” Harley says slowly, carefully.

“Then move here,” Tony says, and Harley’s heart drops straight into his feet. 

Roundabout by Gruoch @groo-ock | Tony&Peter

summary: In which Peter attempts to survive long enough to graduate, Tony moonlights as a semi-professional party planner, and absolutely nothing goes according to plan. 

Uncle Steve's Fix-it Freelance Gig (and friends) SERIES by whowhotellsyourstory | Steve&Morgan, Tony&Steve, Bucky&Peter

summary: "You ever need help, and I'm not there-""Why wouldn't you be there?""You call Uncle Steve."

notes: probably my favourite post endgame fix it fic/series in existence

Dumpster Fires Verse SERIES by deniigiq @deniigi | Peter&Wade&Matt

summary: A collection of Team Red stories because they are all hot messes. Except Peter. Two-Thirds of them are hot messes.

Impression, Sunrise by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Peter&Morgan

summary: In Peter Parker's eyes, Morgan Stark is a lot of things: a terrible pancake chef, a top notch negotiator, the world's cutest six-year old. But above all, she is his family. He hopes he's enough. 

The Room Where It Happens by notapartytrick @notaparty-trick | Tony&Peter

summary: At 7:36 pm on the 12th of May 2016, Tony Stark is put in the Room.

A twelve-by-twelve-foot shed, soundproofed, double locked. It becomes his home. It has to be, because there’s nowhere else.

At 4:22 pm on the 15th of June 2017, Peter Parker is put in the Room.

They make a living under duress, fearing at every moment the entry of their captor. Confinement halts their lives in their tracks, changes them both for good: breaks them and brings them together simultaneously.

“If someone has everything they need, but nobody, do they have everything? Or nothing?”

romance centric fics

SHORT (0 - 5K)

written in the star(war)s by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Peter/Michelle

summary: Michelle looks at the nurse one more time, and despite the evidence, asks, “Are you sure it’s twins?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” the nurse points them out again. “One boy, and one girl. Due...May 4th.”

It only takes Michelle 2.3 seconds to realize the horror of that sentence. 

Steve Rogers is (Not) A Good Influence by stevergrsno @stevergrsno |  Steve/Bucky, Steve&Peter

summary: Steve Rogers' American Tour Of Waiting For His Brainwashed Boyfriend To Come Back And Blowing Up Hydra is interrupted when Tony Stark dumps Peter Parker into his lap.

Captain ‘Socialist Rage Muffin’ America by mybrotherharry @baffledkingcomposinghallelujah | Steve/Tony, Steve/Tony/Bucky

summary: It takes three months of dating Steve Rogers for Tony to understand why Aunt Peggy once shot at him in sheer frustration.Alternately titled, Honey, I committed treason again. 

Soft Spot for the Hell Raisin' Boy by ifeelbetter @ifeelbetterer | Steve/Bucky

summary: The Winter Soldier takes an interest in Sam Wilson. Bucky Barnes wants to tell him how to be Steve Rogers's best friend.

Cat’s Cradle by Traincat @traincat | Peter/Felicia

summary: The test was positive.

Felicia tilted it idly this way and that, sitting on the bathroom floor with her back against the cupboard. The floors and the counter tops were marble, and the shower door was glass. Every one of Felicia’s moves seemed to echo in the large room, even though she knew that she was making no sound.

The test was positive. She didn’t bother to check the box to make sure she’d gotten the little symbols right. She’d known before she took it.

“Well,” she breathed out, tilting her head back to inspect the ceiling. “Damn, Spider.”

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

cross this river to the other side by defcontwo | Steve/Bucky

summary: In 1943, the Howling Commandos wrote goodbye letters to be given to their loved ones in the event of their deaths.In 2014, Sharon Carter finds those letters in a tin can in an abandoned HYDRA base. 

Tony Stark Googled The Thing by mybrotherharry @baffledkingcomposinghallelujah | Tony/Pepper, Tony&Peter

summary: When Morgan is six months old, Pepper goes back to work and Tony takes over as stay-at-home dad. Discovering the mommyblogosphere is the inevitable next step.

Winter Soldier Program by NocturneByChopin | Steve/Bucky

summary: Here’s the thing: he’s got a bit of a secret. It involves a boy that went and became famous when Steve wasn’t looking. 

i was found and now i don't roam these streets by hipsterchrist | Steve/Bucky

summary: Bucky relearns himself and how to be on a team, the rest of the Avengers try to get answers, and everyone watches too much Criminal Minds. 

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Michelle/Peter, Michelle&Happy, Tony&Peter

summary: Ever since her mother died a few years back, Michelle's relationship with her father became strained in their grief. One night, after she's forced to show up at Peter's covered in bruises and in need of stitches, she remembers that even the most unsuspecting dormant volcanoes can erupt.

Brooklyn by togina @toli-a | Steve/Bucky

summary: "Captain America, what's your stance on gay marriage?"

Everyone knows that, by now. Everyone but Bucky.

Steve Rogers at 100: Celebrating Captain America on Film by eleveninches, febricant, hellotailor, M_Leigh, neenya, tigrrmilk | Steve/Bucky

summary: Steve and Bucky find out Hollywood has been busy since they went away. A historical survey, including but not limited to: one set of exploded genitals, a brief interlude in France, Mel Gibson and other masterworks of casting, eight Academy awards, several dinosaurs, and something Tony Stark has ominously dubbed “the masterpiece.” Art included.

Project: Get Bucky Barnes a Dog by ruxian | Steve/Bucky

summary: Bucky Barnes does not have a dog. Bucky Barnes does not want a dog. Sam thinks that should change. Bucky does not agree. 

On My Radar by sprinkle_of_cinnamon | Steve/Bucky

summary: The Winter Soldier first noticed it when he was on the helicarrier.

The blonde’s shoulders were broad, incredibly broad.

They stretched the blue uniform in a wide span, drawing down to a narrow waist. It was a distinctly triangular silhouette. It was entirely improbable. And somehow it was strangely familiar.

The Winter Soldier raised his gun and fired. He didn’t have time for distractions, or Steve Rogers’ shoulders. 

LONG (20k+)

despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth (they remained) by praximeter @praximeter | Steve/Bucky

summary: “Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.” 

notes: may i say a massive fucking HOLY SHIT??????????? incredible. iconic. life-changing.

United States v. Barnes, 617 F. Supp. 2d 143 (D.D.C. 2015) by fallingvoices and radialarch | Steve/Bucky

summary: The Associated Press @AP Winter Soldier set to stand trial for Washington D.C. massacre and treason apne.ws/1og6SWE 

Bucky Barnes: Former Disney Channel Star SERIES by mambo @whtaft | Steve/Bucky

summary: "The question the entertainment world is asking themselves today is... Who is Steve? Hollywood superstar Bucky Barnes was spotted at a wrap-party last night, serenading someone named Steve onstage.” 

Not Easy Conquered SERIES by dropdeaddream and WhatAre Fears | Steve/Bucky

summary: In 1945, Steve Rogers jumps from a nosediving plane and swims through miles of Arctic Ocean to a frozen shore.

In 1947, Steve Rogers marries Peggy Carter.

In 1966, the New York Times finds the lost letters of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.

notes: if you’ve read stucky, you’ve read this series. i know this. just like i know that its the most GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL series ever written. no topping it. it’s number 1.

Strays by snarklyboojum @snarklyboojum | Steve/Bucky

summary: After finding himself alone for the first time in decades, the Winter Soldier learns how to be a person again. Mostly through caring for an orphaned kitten, countless rounds of YouTube roulette, and stalking Captain America. 

hold me until we crumble by queenklu @queenklu | Steve/Bucky

summary: “Sam told me you were watching Antiques Roadshow,” Natasha says, shaking out her hair. “I assumed it was a national emergency.”

notes: one of my favourite standalone fics i’ve ever read

half awake in a fake empire SERIES by idrilka | Steve/Bucky

summary: In the aftermath of Steve's return to the world of the living and the battle of New York, the academia and the Internet react.

by the river potomac i sat down and wept by peterstank @peter-stank | Steve/Bucky

summary: bucky barnes atones.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell SERIES by AnnaFugazzi | Steve/Bucky

summary: Captain America and Bucky Barnes were like brothers. Everyone knew that. 

Out of the Dead Land by orphaned account | Steve/Bucky

summary: Someone is building machines that look and act like people.

Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier tries to be Bucky Barnes.

V O L T R O N:  L E G E N D A R Y  D E F E N D E R

romance centric fics

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

called out your name (but it was too late) by arahir @arahir | James/Keith, Shiro/Keith

summary:  An old classmate watches Keith fall in love with someone else. 

so much for the after party by arahir @arahir | Shiro/Keith

summary: Shiro gets his groove back.

i breathe disaster by arahir @arahir | Shiro/Keith

summary: After the wedding, Keith leaves Earth in search of something he can keep. 

notes: what doES THIS M E AN?!!!??!!?!?! i cried over this ending. i cr i e d. actual real tears. it was so upsetting somehow. and i am so confused. and i went and found the author’s imagined ending in the comments to help understand the open one and it just made me SADDER. i think this is one of those fics that tries to teach me to read the tags and back away at the word “angst”. anyway, excellent, everything i’ve read from this author was incredible

LONG (20K+)

Alien Sex Fiend by Glossolalia | Shiro/Keith | WIP

summary: It started at a drive-in in the 1980s. Unfortunately, this is a love story; a love story about the frontman of Quantum Queef, a punk band, and a boy who rides a red motorcycle. Also, they fight aliens. 

notes: i’m OBSESSED with this fic. i have read it many times. shiro as a punk singer of a band called Quantum Queef????????? and the fact that it’s the only fic on this account???? absolute POWER MOVE.

T H E  1 0 0

romance centric fics

SHORT (0 - 5K)

golden gunned girls by littlearrows | Bellamy/Clarke

summary:  They’re not good girls. They have no reason to be. 

notes: i think about this fic approximately twice a week despite reading it five years ago. there’s a song called gold gun girls by metric that makes me absolutely feral and would be the dream theme song for the intro sequence of the girl gang tv show of my dreams

and then my soul saw you by synchronicities | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Lexa tells Clarke that love within the cluster is the worst kind of narcissism. Bellamy begs to differ. Sense8 AU.

givers prove unkind by emullz | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: a modern au in which bellamy is in a band, he writes an album about clarke, and she is his ophelia. also, marriage.

she sounds like sex on the radio by lecornergirl | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: “Wait, hold on,” Clarke says. “Are you suggesting I—in the booth?” But her tone is a lot sterner than she feels. Against her better judgement, she’s into it. 

notes: idk what to tell you. i have only bookmarked like three smut fics in my life. it deserves it ok.

the kids aren’t alright by opensummer | Multiple Relationships

summary: The Pacific Rim fusion seven ways. 

notes: probably???? my favourite? pacific rim au? i’ve ever read??? does so much with so little

Haven’t You Heard? The World is Coming To An End by Jenye @likcoln-blog | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: So where would you rather die? Here or in Jaeger? Pacific Rim AU. 

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

three points (where two lines meet) SERIES by PinkCanary | Bellamy/Clarke/Raven

summary: Clarke wears the two names on her skin like a badge of honour. 

Icarus Lives by karusarchive @cluelesskaru | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: No one could ever have predicted the kaiju were coming.  Clarke Griffin was in need of a new Co-Pilot. Bellamy Blake had just graduated. You can guess how that goes.

notes: if anyone knows me at all, they know i’m a MASSIVE pacific rim fan. like, own all the books and graphic novels and have multiple pacrim t-shirts kind of fan. THIS FIC was my first experience with that franchise. my first ever. i watched the movie BECAUSE of this fic.

Pony Regrets SERIES by Chash @ponyregrets | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Octavia drags Bellamy to a My Little Pony tournament. Bellamy is deeply upset about the whole thing, but then the girl running the tournament is really cute.

The Internet Is Forever SERIES by Chash @ponyregrets | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Apparently, the internet has been shipping Bellamy Blake (of Team Arkade) and Clarke Griffin (of Craven Cosplay). No one told Bellamy about it. 

Nothing Like Old Times by LayALioness @filmnoirsbian | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: “Clarke killed some guy and stuffed him in the trunk,” Jasper says delightedly. “Your cousin’s dark, dude.”

“Yeah,” Bellamy nods, trying to backtrack. Sometimes he wishes she was actually better at making things up. “She’s a…closeted Goth.” Terminator AU. 

the feel-good hit of the summer by disco_vendetta @errorofyourways | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake are sleeping together. (aka ROCK BAND AU) 

notes: i think about this fic an OBSCENE amount. it’s been five years since i first read it.

LONG (20K+)

Your Mess Is Mine by monroeslittle @argyledpenguin | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: modern AU, Clarke grows up with Octavia, and Octavia's brother. 

notes: the fic that got me into fan fic in the first place. top tier. 42k.

Love Will Come Through by monroeslittle @argyledpenguin | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: AU. Clarke winds up in an arranged marriage with Bellamy. 

Neeeeeeeeeerds by Chash @ponyregrets | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Clarke joins the Junior Classical League for two reasons: to appease her mother and to annoy Bellamy Blake.

Our Time Now SERIES by TazmainianDevil | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: The Ark may have been short on all resources vital to sustaining life but one thing they never ran out of was guns.On an Ark that has always been defined by violence, Jake Griffin manages to save his daughter's life and Clarke joins a gang to change the world.

Disney Channel You by Chash @ponyregrets | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Bellamy only goes to the open casting for Clarke Griffin's new Disney Channel show because Octavia begs him. He never thought he'd actually get the stupid part. 

And You Understand Now Why They Lost Their Minds and Fought the Wars by marauders_groupie @marauders-groupie | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Clarke doesn’t understand why they say that soulmates are one soul in two bodies. Her soul has five other bodies and she would give her life for any of them. Sense8 AU. 

notes: probably my favourite sense8 AU i’ve ever read?? and i have read Many

build this fire higher, higher toward the sky SERIES by adelicatepeach | Bellamy/Clarke

summary: Clarke's jaeger goes down on a Thursday. Pacific Rim AU. 

H A R R Y  P O T T E R

gen centric fic

LONG (20K+)

yer a wizard, dudley by dirgewithoutmusic @ink-splotch | Dudley&A Lot of People

summary: Minerva fished in her pocket without looking, because the only things allowed in her pockets were only ever exactly what she needed. “I've come to deliver this,” she said, “because Hogwarts by-laws require a professor to hand-deliver acceptance letters to Muggleborn families for their explanation and comfort." 

notes: i have only ever cared about two harry potter fics in my life. this is one of them.

the family evans by dirgewithoutmusic @ink-splotch | Petunia&A Lot of People

summary: What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in? Not into the cupboard under the stairs, not into a twisted childhood of tarnished worth and neglect—what if she took him in? 

notes: this is the other one

T H E  R A V E N  C Y C L E

gen centric fic

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

Helter Skelter by Anonymous | Ronan&Blue

summary: In hindsight, a road trip with your step-brother and his best friends in Gansey's dying Pig is not an ideal way to start summer break. Sargent-Lynch siblings AU.

meet hennessy by izzylizardborn @gaybluesargent | Hennessy&Jordan

summary: Hennessy had seen movies. She knew how this went. When it came to clones, there was always a good one and an evil one. She didn’t need to wonder which was which.

life is not a movie, maybe by coyotesuspect | Ronan&Blue

summary: Ronan gets kicked out of Aglionby and enrolls at Mountain View High for his senior year. The only problem is, no one remembers to tell Blue. 

Honeymoon by vexmybones | Ronan&Blue

summary: Blue and Ronan living together, no buffers, no bullshit, this is how they cope. 

the bugs and alphabet by Pi @rhea314 | Ronan&Blue

summary: In which Blue babysits Chainsaw, Ronan & Blue make angry art projects, and some conversations are almost had. 

romance centric fic

SHORT (0 - 5K)

Pretty Good, Right? by suddensingularity | Ronan/Blue

summary: Blue wants to have sex before her true love dies. Ronan helps out. Ronan/Blue

notes: yeah ok this is one of the three smut fics i’ve bookmarked its fun ok

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

It Had To Be You by shinealightonme @toast-the-unknowing | Ronan/Adam

summary: Ronan hates basically everything about their business, or that's what he tells Blue, but the worst part is that he's constantly meeting cute guys and none of them are single. 

darling, don’t make such a drama by shinealightonme @toast-the-unknowing | Ronan/Adam, Ronan&Henry, Ronan&Declan

summary: "Straight answers are boring," Cheng says, "and yes I do mean that for all values of straight. I do not need Ronan to share his tragic backstory, I would much rather deduce it on my own."

"Who says I have a tragic backstory?"

"With your fearsome glower and troubled good looks? If you did not have a tragic backstory it would be a waste."

 C O M M U N I T Y

romance centric fic

LONG (20k+)

Playing House by itsactuallycorrine @itsactuallycorrine | Jeff&Annie

summary: Six years ago, Jeff let Annie go. She never returned to Greendale, and he moved on. Now, he's a single dad to a one-year-old and he needs her help.

A V A T A R:  T H E  L A S T  A I R B E N D E R

gen centric fic

SHORT (0 - 5K)

call it dreaming by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Toph&Gaang

After the war, Toph has nightmares. The screeching of metal, Sokka and Suki's screams, the snap of Sokka's leg as it broke from their fall. It's usually his confession that they aren't going to make it that makes her wake up in a cold sweat. She's anxious all the time now, unable to find peaceful sleep.

The cure is apparently to try and hold all of her friends hands for all hours of the days and hope that they're cool with it. 

what’s in a name by ciaconnaa @ciaconnaa | Toph&Sokka

summary: At her request, Sokka teaches Toph to write her name.

He learns a thing or two about the weight his own name holds in the process.

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

the beginning of a new and brighter birth by aloneintherain @captainkirkk | Zuko&Gaang

summary: “I’m so proud of you, my nephew.” Uncle cups Zuko’s face in his lined hand. The gesture is so tender, his palm so warm, that Zuko has to take a fortifying breath against the sudden swell of emotion in his chest.

“I want to be a good leader, Uncle,” Zuko says. “I want to look after my people.”

“You will,” Uncle says. “You are, nephew.”

In a new era of peace, Zuko works to be a very different Fire Lord than his forefathers.

the scope of blindness series by littlelionlady @thelittlelionlady | Toph&Gaang

summary: There are just some things that Toph's feet can't see.

Her hands can though.

Or, Toph learns what her friends look like by tracing their faces. 

notes: geniunely how goddamn beautiful is this. like. i cried. this is so soft and so cute and it made me feel SO MANY things

All The Gentle Creatures by Haircrescendo @sword-and-stars | Iroh&Zuko

It’s said that you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals. Zuko may be loud and stubborn and sharp but all the woodland creatures love him. 

LONG (20K+)

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris | Zuko&Gaang

summary: Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they "make you weak."

Team Avatar has a few things to say about that. 

such selfish prayers by andromeda3116 @andromeda3116 | Katara&The Fire Nation, Katara/Zuko

Katara's ambition, so long set aside for the good of others, breaks free and sets fire to her soul. Or, Katara has a vision of her canon future, casts it aside, and becomes a world-changing politician instead. 

and love will be your teacher SERIES by Ford_Ye_Fiji @ford-ye-fiji | Iroh&Zuko

summary: "And you will know the pain of losing a firstborn son." Ozai loses Zuko. Iroh gains a son. And the future changes.

notes: excellent excellent excellent excellent makes me very happy indeed

romance centric fic

SHORT (0 - 5K)

on commitment by jdphoenix | Zuko/Katara

summary: “Just explain it to me again.”

“There is no way you can pass as my brother and we are way too conspicuous as two unrelated people, from different nations, traveling together. So we’re pretending to be married.”

we hold our hearts in silence by psychedelic_aya | Zuko/Katara

summary: Seventy years later, Korra tries to figure out Zuko and Katara. 

oracle bones by orphaned account | Zuko/Katara

summary: The foreign, pictorial characters that bracelet Zuko's left wrist have never been covered in any of his lessons. He cannot read them. And then he turns thirteen, and his father burns his wrist along with his face.

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

late nights/early mornings SERIES by shmulia @shmuliawrites | Zuko/Katara

summary: Whoever set off the fire alarm at 2 in the morning is on Katara’s shit list. Even if he is hot and shirtless. 

the thing about dancing by anodymalion | Sokka/Zuko

summary: The first time a attendant spills Zuko’s tea and doesn’t immediately fall to her knees, begging the Fire Lord’s forgiveness, it is not anger but a resounding warmth that fills his chest.

LONG (20K+)

Fate Deferred by catie_writes_things @catie-does-things | Zuko/Katara | WIP

summary: Aang remains in the iceberg ten years longer. He awakens to a very different world. 

The Sparrowkeet SERIES by audreyii_fic | Zuko/Katara

summary: Ba Sing Se has fallen and Katara has been captured by the Fire Nation; a more adult take on the potential progression of S3. AU series of interconnected one-shots. 

notes: i would die for this series, particularly the last instalment. i enjoyed every single fic and it was just such a GOOD STORY.

T H E  U M B R E L L A  A C A D E M Y 

gen centric fic

SHORT (0 - 5K)

you from yesterday by questors (sieges) @softpunks | Five&Siblings

summary:  The difference between who his siblings once were versus who they are now. 

Ghost Math by pinstripedJackalope | Five&Klaus

summary: Number Five needs a new hobby now that the apocalypse is off. He decides to help Klaus--and in turn maybe he'll help himself. 

Then There Was Two by AnneKatherine | Five&Vanya

summary: Reginald Hargeeves finally decides to allow Grace to name the Academy. Unfortunately, he's only willing to let her name the Academy, which Seven is unfortunately not a part of.

[or how Five gave away his name]

(he definitely didn't want one anyway) 

i tiresias (have foresuffered all) by ThatWeirdGuyInTheBushes | Five&Siblings, Five/Delores

summary: Five misses sharing his birthday, but Five has missed a lot of things.alternatively; number five, coffee, and the art of taking back. 

MEDIUM (5 - 20K)

The Five Vetting Process by jaz_hop | Five&Siblings

summary: In which Five is incredibly invested in the love lives of his siblings, because they're obviously too stupid to choose anyone worthy enough to be their partner. Otherwise known as Five being stupidly over-protective, and incredibly invasive in the hopes of keeping his siblings safe and happy... even if he is being a stalker and a dick about it. 

LONG (20K+)

You and I Together Forever SERIES by Ace_of_Spades_400 @ace-of-spades-400 | Vanya&Siblings

summary: What if it hadn't only been Five, what if it hadn't been Five at all?

A series of stories about what would have happened if Vanya had chosen a different sibling.

Sometimes the choice isn't hers.

Timeliness 1-2.1 SERIES by dgalerab | Hargreeves Siblings

summary: As the world ends, Five takes his siblings back into their child bodies on the day he originally left. With the knowledge of how the world ends fresh in their minds, the Hargreeves siblings do what they can to leave clues for their past selves on how to grow up a little less fucked up before returning to the present.

A present where they all have different lives they can't remember, there's a fun new apocalypse on the way, and Reginald Hargreeves remembers the day where all his children suddenly and inexplicably lost their minds and all respect for him at once a little too well.

Rare Birds SERIES by Cryptix23 | Hargreeves Siblings

summary: An alternate 2019 brings with it new problems and new dangers.

The two sets of Hargreeves children mix like water on a greasefire. It's hard to tell which group is unhappier about the situation -- the Sparrows, trying to navigate the minefield of their new siblings' many traumas, or the Umbrellas, trying to carve their place back into a world that forgot them.

Plus the whole saving-the-world thing hanging over them all.

Whether they like it or not, they're going to have to learn to work together. 

Partners, Parents, or None of the Above by DarkFairytale | Diego&Klaus

summary:  Kenny's mom assuming that Diego and Klaus were A) a couple and B) Number Five’s parents was both bemusing and amusing at the time. But that was because it was the only time it had ever happened. Now though? Now they just can't understand why these misunderstandings keep happening. 

[riverthunder]

The Stars in Our Skies

For @thespacecryptid for the @ironstrangehaven Gift Exchange ❤️

Link to AO3 Post: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28625829

Notes:

Alrighty, so first I need to apologize to my giftee, TheSpaceCryptid. I tried to finish your gift early, and I want to say I had it done sometime between the 15th and the 20th? And after a lazy Christmas Day I went into my Google Drive to post this and it was just... gone. I have no idea what happened. So I had to redo the whole thing from scratch. In some ways I like this version a lot more, though- and in others I think the original was a little better? But overall I'm pleased with this.

You had a lot of ideas I absolutely adore- like Asexual Stephen (insert my heart eyes here), and stargazing dates, and these two being professors. Just. Mwah. Beautiful.

Also, I'm tagging this as Teen due to some discussions of sex- nothing graphic, though, obviously- since I headcanon ace Stephen as a sex-repulsed asexual like myself.

I hope you like the fic and your bonus artwork to make up for how late this ended up being! Apologies again!!

The Stars in Our Skies

Tony stared just a little bit as the new astronomy teacher strolled into the break room and began fixing himself a cup of oolong tea. He had a beautiful face, with sharp cheekbones and a well-defined jaw, as well as piercing, beautiful eyes. Tony also had a funny feeling that he’d met the astronomy teacher many times before, but he couldn’t put a finger on where.

He knew Professor Strange had been a surgeon back in the day, and he was sure he’d seen him at some of the galas he’d attended in his youth. But it felt like he’d seen Strange more recently than that.

He was very obviously distracted during his class, and he gave up on whatever physics explanation he’d been trying to give the poor engineering class he was clearly confusing, and told them to just go ahead and work on homework, giving them a bonus extra two days on his latest paper as well to top it off while he sat back down at his desk to think.

At the end of the period, two of his best students came to sit next to him.

“Everything okay, Professor Stark?” Peter asked while Harley gave him a knowing smile.

“Fine, boys, just a little off my rhythm is all,” Tony said, trying to look unconcerned.

“You sure?” Harley asked innocently. “Sure it’s not something else? A certain someone, maybe? Like… I dunno… the hot new astronomy professor?”

Tony had been taking a drink of coffee and choked on it at Harley’s words, which was decidedly not good, since the coffee was still piping hot thanks to his specially designed insulated mug. “I- you- what?” Tony spluttered.

“What?” Harley asked innocently. “He’s kinda like you, Professor. A silver fox. He’s smokin’.”

“Harley!” Peter said indignantly. “You can’t say that about a professor!”

Harley shrugged. “Too bad, it’s true, Pete. ‘Sides, Professor Stark should come to terms with the idea.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at Harley’s tone. “Oh really?” He asked. “Why?”

Harley shrugged innocently. “Because I wrote Professor Strange a note in your handwriting and hid it in his desk drawer asking him to go on a date with you tonight at 8:00.”

Tony stood up so quickly his coffee mug almost spilled all over the papers he’d collected from his first period, but before he could shout at Harley at the top of his lungs, a certain handsome professor was standing in his doorway.

“Oh,” Stephen said, looking from Tony to their students. “I’m sorry, are you busy? I could come back another time.”

He was holding a piece of paper that had obviously been folded a few times in one of his trembling hands.

“No, we were just leaving,” Harley said sweetly.

Peter felt himself blushing for some reason as he passed Professor Stark a quick note of his own. “Um, I just wanted to know if you’d please check my work on these chemistry notes,” he said.

Tony glanced down at them. A new web-fluid design. He nodded to Peter. “Yes. Yes. I’ll look them over and e-mail you with any necessary changes.”

“Thanks!”

Without another word, Peter seized Harley’s upper arm and dashed out of the room, while Harley laughed and tried to protest, clearly thrilled with watching Tony flounder in the presence of his crush. You could hardly blame him. Seeing Tony Stark, Iron Man, who was a professor for fun, flounder, was a rare and almost unheard of sight.

“Hello, Professor Stark,” Strange said politely, and Tony felt his face heating up. “Um- hi- I-”

“I am very sorry,” Stephen said, setting the note in his hand down on Tony’s desk. Tony caught a glimpse of the handwriting- fucking identical to his own. That damn Keener brat. When Tony got his hands on him-

“But I am afraid I must decline your invitation.”

Oh.

Tony hadn’t even known he was asking Stephen on a date a few minutes ago, but somehow Stephen’s words still stung.

“Oh,” he said out loud. “Uh… busy?”

“No,” Stephen replied.

Yeah, that definitely hurt.

“Oh.” Tony glanced at the note and quickly plucked it off the desk. “Okay. That’s fine, I understand. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this.”

“You didn’t,” Stephen told him. “It was actually very flattering. But I don’t think you would like to be in a relationship with me, so I am afraid I must decline.”

Wait, what?

“Uh… sorry, you lost me,” Tony said awkwardly.

Stephen chuckled. “I identify as asexual,” he explained. “Specifically, a sex-repulsed asexual. And from what I know of your past...er, love life, I think it’s better if I decline the invitation altogether. I don’t want to upset you because you want to have sex and I don’t.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “So it is an ace ring!” He said, pointing at the black ring on Stephen’s middle finger on his right hand. “Rhodey called me crazy and said it was a swinger’s ring!”

Stephen blinked in surprise and glanced down at his ring. “Er- yes, it is,” he agreed.

“Cool! Okay.” Tony shot him a smirk. “In that case- are you an ace of spades?”

Stephen looked shocked. “You- you know about the card suits?”

“Sure do,” Tony said proudly.

Stephen narrowed his eyes. “Okay then- who uses the ace of diamonds?”

“Demisexuals and demiromantic asexuals,” Tony said. “Ace of clubs is for graysexual and grayromantic, ace of spades is for aromantic asexuals, and ace of hearts is for romantic asexuals.”

He grinned, and Stephen had to crack a smile. “Very impressive.”

“So, what’s your suit, Doc?” Tony asked, grinning at him, and Stephen had to resist the urge to let that smile widen.

“Ace of hearts. I’m a romantic asexual.”

Tony grinned. “I can work with that.”

Stephen allowed his face to fall into a small frown. “Tony, I-”

“Look, Doc, I don’t need sex to be happy,” Tony said. “I’ve had loads in my day, yeah, but I’m a big boy and frankly, I think it’s about time I had a relationship that wasn’t so focused on it. If you’re good with a romantic relationship, I can be happy with one, too.”

Stephen chuckled despite himself. “Persistent, aren’t you?”

“Very,” Tony said, a bit smugly.

Stephen chuckled. “Very well.” He wrote something on a small scrap of paper and offered it to Tony, taking back the note Harley had written. “You can pick me up there, at 8:00.”

“I’ll be there,” Tony said, snatching the fake letter back. “And I’ll give you something actually written by me then.”

~(*)~

Tony pulled up to the house on Bleecker Street. Huh… looked kinda like a museum, to be honest.

The elegant Professor Strange was already walking to meet the car. “Right on time,” he teased, climbing in. He looked like he was putting on a brave face as he entered, and Tony took note of the way Stephen’s hand reached for the cabinet handle on the inside of the door.

Tony bit his lip. “I just like to be on time to things,” he said casually, placing his right hand on the console if Stephen wanted to hold it too, or instead.

Stephen nodded. “Well, I appreciate it. So, what’s the plan for our date?”

“I think you told Professor Verity that you like ramen from Samurai Noodle, right?”

Stephen smiled. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Great! Then we’re getting take-out,” Tony told him, grinning to himself. “And I have a great idea of where we can eat it.”

“Oh? And where is that, exactly?”

“It’s a secret,” Tony said, smirking. “Are you ready to go?”

Stephen nodded, looking amused as he took Tony’s free hand on the console. “That I am. Let’s go, Professor Stark.”

Tony snorted as he started the car. “Alright.”

He tried to sound cool, but he knew that he had started blushing.

~(*)~

“So what exactly are we doing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?” Stephen asked as Tony laid a large blanket out in one of the large fields near the Avengers Compound.

“Why?” Tony asked, smirking at him. “Don’t you trust me?”

Stephen chuckled. “Is that your way of saying you’re secretly an ax murderer about to eviscerate me in the middle of this field, free of any witnesses?”

“Ouch,” Tony complained. “You’re really good at wounding someone’s ego, you know that, Strange?”

“So what’s the real reason we’re out here, then?” Stephen asked, amused.

“Lay down,” Tony ordered, pointing to the blanket. “And look up.”

Stephen did so, and gasped in surprise. “The stars….” He breathed, sounding mesmerized.

“That’s right,” Tony said, smiling at him. “Not to easy to see them in the city. But I figured you’re the Astronomy Professor… maybe you’d like to see them more clearly? Maybe teach me something I don’t know?”

“Lay down,” Stephen ordered quietly. “There… Orion the Hunter. Can you see his belt? The three stars, just here.”

“Oh… right,” Tony said. “Isn’t he that dude everyone says Artemis loved?”

“A common misconception these days,” Stephen murmured. “In many of the myths, Artemis was actually the one to kill him, on purpose, for harassing her friends, the Pleiades, or she would encourage someone else to kill him for her, such as Apollo. He’d summon a giant scorpion to kill Orion, which many believe is Scorpio, as the two constellations aren’t around at the same time. When Scorpio rises, Orion vanishes.”

“Cool,” Tony said softly, staring up at the night sky with Stephen. “What else can you see?”

“Sirius, the Dog Star, Orion’s hunting dog,” Stephen said, pointing to the bright star. You can see the constellation Taurus there. Gemini there. Monoceros is there, very faint. You see? Look closely.”

“Beautiful,” Tony murmured, resting his head on Stephen’s chest as he gazed up at the sky.

Stephen smiled to himself and wrapped an arm around him. “Hmm. Not as beautiful as you,” he murmured in a thoughtful voice, making Tony blush.

~(*)~

“Was that an okay date?” Tony wondered as he drove Stephen back to Bleecker Street.

Stephen smiled at him. “You don’t know?”

“Not really,” Tony admitted. “And I kinda wanna… you know. Do this again.”

Stephen chuckled as they reached the museum door. Wait… how come even the building looked sort of familiar? And the street…?

“Well, in that case… it was a perfect date, Professor Stark.” Stephen leaned over, kissing his lips gently. “And I expect to go on another one with you very soon.”

“Sure,” Tony said, a little breathlessly, his eyes wide as he stared at Stephen. “Whatever you want….”

“Perfect.” Stephen smiled at him, and suddenly something long, red, and fluttering was at his throat, gently tugging him out of the car. “Alright, Levi, alright. I’m coming,” Stephen murmured, reaching out to stroke the red fabric.

Tony stared at it. A sentient cloak….

Wait- was he-?

Stephen was already disappearing inside the door when Tony found his voice, so he couldn’t ask him directly. He sat in the dark of his car, dumbfounded, and feeling his heart pounding. Was that the kiss, his sudden epiphany, or both?

“FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss?” Chirped the cool Irish accent.

“Am… am I dating the Sorcerer Supreme?”

Extra Notes:

To clarify the "Stephen is the Sorcerer Supreme but Tony doesn't recognize him but is sure he's met him before" thing- I headcanon that Stephen's magic acts as a sort of "barrier" to his identity- and just protects his identity for him. I got the idea from Cute High Earth Defense Club actually- where the villains and heroes can't really recognize each other as specific students when they meet due to "radio interference" almost- but in my Stephen headcanon, it's more that the magic puts a sort of veil over Stephen, so Tony is sure he's met him before, but he can't put his finger on where until he recognizes Cloakie and goes "oh shit, Stephen's the Sorcerer Supreme I've been battling monsters with???"