#chat: sinthea

[walkitoffrogers]

@pleinsdemuses

"Trust me when I say that I don't like it any more than you do."

Steve's voice dripped disdain as he surveyed Sin. He'd come to speak with her after she'd had some time to recover from the latest round of torture. It was a mixed blessing that they both healed fast, one he knew that Sin of all people understood. On the one hand, most pain wasn't permanent or even lasting. On the other, they could take so much more damage than the average human, an ability HYDRA had always been glad to use to its own advantage. He'd once believed that he and Sin had an understanding that few others could share, both made and raised and shaped by HYDRA. Now, all he saw when he looked at her was a traitor.

HYDRA wasn't usually about second chances, but he supposed in the case of the Red Skull's daughter, some exceptions had to be made. It wasn't Steve's decision to make. If his General told him they wanted Sinthea Schmidt recovered alive, then he would carry out those orders or die trying. So he had, and here she was, prince and princess of HYDRA reunited again. But HYDRA didn't want a prince and a princess. It wanted a king and a queen and, most of all, an heir. He'd explained the situation to her. Director Zola wished them to marry and have a child to carry on the legacy.

As marriage proposals went, it was far from romantic, and Steve was truthful when he said he didn't care for it. He was an excellent soldier, an even better Captain, but he lacked certain qualities of a husband, like the ability to love someone. HYDRA couldn't teach him what it didn't know. A marriage of convenience to bear a child that would ultimately take his place… no, he wasn't enthusiastic about it. But he followed all orders, not just the ones he found personally agreeable, and it wasn't like HYDRA gave either of them a lot of room to refuse.

"What will it be, Sin? You can accept my proposal, or you can die in this room. I hope I'm not a fate worse than death."

[xbullseye]

you’re hot when you’re angry.

@pleinsdemuses

He let out a wordless roar of rage as soon as the door to the safehouse closed behind him. The place was untouched, which he took to mean Kingpin didn't yet know about it, but he was still furious about the abduction. He swiped some things off the nearest table, and at least one of them made a satisfying crack that meant it was broken. That internal fury needed an external outlet, but as long as he was only smashing things, it wasn't a fatal level of anger. Dex was most dangerous at a distance, not close up.

"How did he know? We were careful!" he raged, kicking over a chair. A boot came down on one of the legs until it snapped with an audible crack, not unlike the sound the bones in his hand had made when he broke them to get free of the cuffs. He was equally proficient with both hands, so it hadn't slowed him down, but he resented having to go to such lengths. Dex was always careful, meticulous even, and when that ended, there was nothing left but chaos and murder. When he found out where the mistake had happened there were going to be more bodies on the ground.

[galaeus]

7. Do you project onto your muses at all, giving them similar issues or traits to your own? What is your opinion on people who do this?

8. What is the strangest muse you have ever picked up to write, or the most difficult?

19. What kind of writing partners do you tend to merge well with? Do you like people who communicate, or more impulsive personalities?

munday memes.

7. Do you project onto your muses at all, giving them similar issues or traits to your own? What is your opinion on people who do this?

So funny enough, I originally wrote Echo in 2011 to be the exact opposite of me: loud, obnoxious, unafraid to speak up for herself, blunt. I was a big mousy people pleaser SKDJFSF but the more I wrote Echo, the more I became really empowered? By her actions speaking louder than her words. It’s actually this character that got me into going to the gym and doing runs/cardio. I’m very loud about my convictions and I don’t take shit irl anymore.

Echo’s just as much a part of me as I am of her at this point as she’s the back of my hand (tony stark vc: the suit and i are one). I’m not exactly fans of ‘self-insert’ characters as I mostly just feel like I’m aiding to someone’s fantasy, HOWEVER I feel as though we all choose characters that speak to us for who we wish to be or who we empathize/find cartharsis in. And that’s totally cool.

8. What is the most difficult muse you have ever picked up to write?

The hardest character I ever wrote was SINTHEA SCHMIDT, aka Sin from Marvel comics. I’m obsessed with Brubaker’s arcs, anyone who knows me knows that, so Red Menace has always been a near and dear arc to me. Getting to write a villain in a group setting where I had to basically play 4D chess to make her convincing and actually scary was so hard.

19. What kind of writing partners do you tend to merge well with? Do you like people who communicate, or more impulsive personalities?

People who tend to dive right into headcanon bubbles with me. My best vibes come from those who just hit me with the same amount of plotting energy straight out the gate and come with just as much ideas and excitement as I do. It’s hard to explain?? But straight up if we manage to match vibes in the first few days of chatting with rp, those are the people I tend to become the best of friends with. I need partners who will send me that inspo gifset at 2 in the morning and scream about our pairing while writing threads, so communication with me is key.

That isn’t to say I don’t adore some impulsive, dash-only writing. There are some characters and writers on here I never speak to but our writing just meshes perfectly and I adore them just the same.

[xbullseye]

♦ - grab my muse’s hair and yank ♭ - grip my muse’s jaw to make them look yours in the eye

@pleinsdemuses

This entire mission was playing the long game, and while Dex could be impulsive at times, he was perfectly capable of waiting when he understood the end goal. Bringing down Kingpin was the biggest end goal, and it wasn't going to happen overnight. That empire of corruption extended well outside of prison. So much of it was broken down into smaller missions: following paper trails, gathering intel, taking out low level targets.

He understood the need for Sin to flirt her way to some information, but that didn't mean he enjoyed watching it. Anger and possessiveness simmered just under the surface as they made their way back to the safehouse, and as soon as the door clicked shut behind them he'd backed her against the wall, a hand in her hair yanking her head back at an angle, the other at her jaw to force her to look at him. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't go back and kill him," he seethed. He knew the reason. They couldn't risk tipping off Fisk that they were researching him, and Dex's method of killing was rather unique to him. He could make it look like an accident, but it wouldn't be as satisfying.

[xbullseye]

you sure talk a big game… but can you live up to it?

@pleinsdemuses

Dex wasn't looking for someone good anymore. That had ended the moment he saw Julie's lifeless body in that freezer, the moment he realized Kingpin had promised him loyalty and betrayed him, used him, just to get at Daredevil. It had been more than a year since that fight, a year of cutting edge surgeries and painful rehabilitation, but he finally felt like himself again. Better, in fact, harder to hurt, his spine fused with adamantium. Getting pushed off a building wouldn't even slow him down now.

But in a way, he was still looking for a North Star. He'd discovered something in that massacre guided by Kingpin, in those moments dressed as Daredevil and hellbent on his gleeful destruction, and it was that he never felt more himself than when he was using his abilities to hurt people. Was it bad? Yes, of course. Did it go against everything Dr. Mercer had taught him? Also yes. But he was tired of that exhausting balance of trying to be good and curbing his darker impulses. He just needed someone who encouraged those, appreciated them even. Someone with a little more loyalty than Wilson Fisk.

He was hoping Sinthea Schmidt was that person. He'd done his research, knew all about her life and her loyalty to the Red Skull, to Crossbones. She wasn't a traitor. She wanted to paint the world red as much as he did. It was alright if she wasn't though. He still thought they could be mutually beneficial to each other. He wanted Kingpin, but thanks to Daredevil, he couldn't get at him in a high security prison. Even Dex's skills weren't up to that. In exchange, he'd be a weapon aimed at any target of her choosing. Taking lives was almost too easy for him, and that unerring aim hadn't wavered despite how Fisk had tried to break him.

He wasn't sure how to prove to her that he was the man for the job just yet. For all his research, he didn't know what Sin wanted outside of general destruction. He didn't know what motivated her, the way revenge on Kingpin motivated him. "Test me," he decided, a slightly deranged smile spreading over his face. "Give me a target. Anyone you want. If I fail, we go our separate ways. If I don't, you help me get at Kingpin, and I take him off the map. That's a win for both of us."

[pleinsdemuses]

In Battle [...] Your Muse: Sinthea Schmidt

BOLD what applies - italicise sometimes.   repost,  don’t reblog.

fights honourably / fights dirty

prefers close - quarters / prefers range

chats during / goes silent

low pain tolerance / high pain tolerance

attacks in bursts / attacks steadily

goes for the kill / aims to disarm / fights defensively / strikes first

is provoked easily /provokes their opponent / teases

uses strategy / focuses on the battle / experiences conflicting thoughts during battle / rushes in recklessly / tries to read their opponent before engaging

fights because they have to / fights because they want to

fights without regard to wounds / runs away when wounded / hides wounds / takes a blow to protect another

prefers a blade /  prefers a gun / prefers hand to hand combat / prefers a bow / prefers a shield / prefers a personalized weapon / prefers magic, alchemy or spells

their greatest weakness is physical / their greatest weakness is mental / their greatest weakness is emotional

transforms for battle / fights as they appear

relies on strength / doubts their strength / relies on speed

uses everything they have / proceeds with caution / hides their full potential / exhausts quickly / has high stamina

behaves arrogantly / brags after landing a hit / belittles their abilities

uses psychological tactics / uses brute strength

damages surroundings / avoids damaging surroundings

signature fighting style / makes it up as they go

mastered skill - set / learning their skill - set

messy fighter / elegant fighter

defeat / refuses defeat / begs for mercy

compliments their opponent / insults their opponent

uses unnecessary movements/ moves efficiently / barely moves

prefers to dodge / prefers to block

defends their blindside / has no blindside /leaves blindsides vulnerable

uses all available advantages / strictly uses one main method

plays around / holds back / fights ruthlessly / shows mercy

fears death / fears pain / fears killing

has ptsd  / avoids fighting

has killed / refuses to kill

wants to die standing / would succumb slowly

Tagged by: none

Tagging: @walkitoffrogers @nomanslannd @detnu-a-h @defectivexfragmented (Clint) @faery-revelry (Valgrim) whoever wants to do it!

[walkitoffrogers]

Send me 🔪 to put a knife to my muse’s throat and see how they react.

@pleinsdemuses

In a way, Steve knew it was coming. While he'd never been great at picking up on romantic feelings, he'd always had a good sense for when things were about to turn violent. Admittedly, his life experiences ran far more to the latter. Their entire relationship had been fast and chaotic, an uneasy partnership turning into a whirlwind romance in Madripoor before things (sometimes literally) started blowing up there, Brock resurfacing in her life, and then her recapture by SHIELD. They hadn't had a moment to actually talk, let alone work through any of it. It had been days while they put distance between them and the Raft, of living on the run and constantly looking over their shoulders, but he was reasonably sure they'd lost the last of their tails the day before.

He'd half-expected to wake up one morning to find Sin gone, but instead he woke up with a knife to his throat. He startled slightly before he came fully awake, his hand gripping her wrist, but he relaxed when he realized who it was. After another moment, he let go of her completely, his hands settling in easy sight. "Do what you have to do." He met her gaze, blue eyes steely with a challenge. If she could look him in the eye and kill him after everything they'd been through, then he wasn't going to fight her.

[walkitoffrogers]

an abrupt , heated kiss during the middle of a fight .

@pleinsdemuses

Things had been… tense since Steve's conversation with Rumlow. He knew Sin's ex was back in the picture, and he knew now that there was little chance that Brock could be reasoned with. He wasn't sure where her head was at about it because they hadn't managed to have a full conversation. Steve had been uncharacteristically quiet and moody since he got back, but that was mostly because he didn't know how to proceed. He always had a plan, but he couldn't plan for what she would do.

It didn't help that they'd gone almost immediately into a recon mission after that, and so there was no real opportunity to talk. Their safety depended on their silence, but still, they kept breaking out into heated, whispered arguments over nothing in particular, all of it dancing around the real issue and getting them nowhere, until Steve finally snapped. He hauled her close by the front of her tac vest, lips pressed to hers in an abrupt, heated kiss. He wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss her or to just stop her from talking anymore. (But, really, he always wanted to kiss Sin.)

"Stop, okay? Just stop," he whispered, his grip gentling. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to."

[vvolfstare]

"Literally a nightmare," he said dryly, dropping into the seat kitty-corner from hers. He might be HYDRA, but he didn't have to pretend he liked her. Fortunately, that was entirely in character, since the Winter Soldier didn't really like anyone. He followed orders and showed the proper amount of deference to his superiors, but unless the mission called for it, he'd buried that 1940s charmer so he could do his job and maintain some level of sanity. As far as anyone knew, he was the job and nothing else, and he was terrifyingly good at it.

"As close as you and dear old dad?" He picked up the file she'd tossed and flipped idly through it, like he doubted her work ethic. That wasn't strictly true. Sin might be a loose cannon at times, but she was good at what she did. He just enjoyed needling her almost as much as she enjoyed needling him. He raised his eyebrows, peering over the top of the file at her. "My connection to Rogers is an asset on this case. I know how he thinks, what he'll do. Your best shot of finding him is with me. For some reason, Commander thinks you'll be valuable too…" His voice trailed off, expressing his skepticism. "So I suggest we find a way to make this work."

@pleinsdemuses

Bucky wouldn't ordinarily see it as a bad thing that Steve Rogers went missing. He'd been working with the underground rebellion for the better part of a decade, trying to rally enough of the world's remaining heroes to overthrow the iron fist HYDRA had wrapped around civilization. They'd seen the writing on the wall a long time ago, back in those early days of rigged elections and HYDRA going public, but Zola had taken over with a swift efficiency that left even Bucky breathless. He'd chosen his side a long time ago, and he'd had over ten years to prove his loyalty to HYDRA. He'd never get the blood off his hands for some of the things he'd done, but if it meant the world could someday be free again… well, his soul was a small price to pay, in the grand scheme of things.

But missing he was, and for long enough that HYDRA had noticed. Bucky wouldn't worry, except Steve hadn't informed him that he was going underground permanently. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe it was too risky. Maybe there hadn't been time. There could have been any number of reasons. He'd have feared his best friend and former Captain had disappeared into one of HYDRA's black bags, buried in a cell somewhere so deep even Sergeant Barnes wouldn't have heard about it, but no. If HYDRA knew where he was, they wouldn't have been tasked with finding him. He'd gotten his orders today. It would have been good news, since Bucky was now in a prime position to help keep Steve hidden, wherever he was, if not for his new partner.

Red Skull might be long gone, but Sinthea Schmidt was alive and well. Few people knew it was Bucky who'd carried out that assassination years ago, under Zola's orders. He had no idea whether the Skull had really gone insane, as Zola had claimed, if he wanted Bucky to prove his loyalty to HYDRA, or if Zola was just taking out the competition early when he saw how things were going, but the motivation hardly mattered at this point. Schmidt was gone, and Zola had never questioned Bucky's loyalty since. He wondered sometimes if Sin didn't suspect him though. Few people in the world could have made that shot.

The office they were sharing for this mission was piled high with boxes of files on Steve Rogers and other known or suspected rebels. He'd been through a lot of it before, but it would all need looking at again. Fresh eyes and all, looking for new leads. Knowing it was necessary did not make the prospect of it any more appealing. "Shit… we're gonna be here all night."

[crossxxbones]

@pleinsdemuses

It fuckin' figured. He'd fuckin' warned her not to get hung up on Captain America, hadn't he? Of course, the first time he'd said those words, he'd assumed she'd be hung up on killing him, not sleeping with him. The second time, he'd assumed he would be the one to rain on her happy, delusional little fairy tale, but Rogers beat him to the punch. Let her get captured by SHIELD, again, while he sat on his ass and pretended to be the hero. Shit, Brock could almost believe he hadn't done a good enough job breaking through her brainwashing the first time.

The Raft was child's play to someone who'd been both a SHIELD operative and a prisoner there. The details might have changed, but the protocols were still basically the same. There was nothing subtle about his approach, and the explosion rocked half the place, the ground shaking underfoot, every alarm going full blast. Hell, maybe the whole thing would come down. He didn't care. Sin might be the objective, but every cell door slid open at once. The chaos would help cover their exit, and he was in an enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend type of mindset. Rounding up baddies would give SHIELD something to focus on besides them.

It wasn't Captain America's outline that materialized through the smoke outside her cell door but Crossbones', the familiar white mask hiding all his newest scars. He smirked behind the mask and threw her a gun, a little harder than he had to. He'd always preferred her armed and dangerous, and she could do her part getting her ass out of here or get left behind. "You still got it, girl? Unless you'd rather sit around and wait for your prettyboy hero."

[crossxxbones]

[position] - Sender catches receiver in a compromising position. + 👕

@pleinsdemuses

Post-Hydra, Brock was a free agent, and he'd gone his separate ways from most of his old contacts. Sometimes because they were dead, sometimes because he'd killed them, but those were just details. Hydra had fucked him royally, and he'd been on a bit of a revenge streak against the people who'd left him buried under a building. He'd kept loose tabs on Sinthea for the same reason you'd want to know where you left your nuclear bomb. Might come in handy if you needed a weapon of mass destruction, but you didn't want to be in town when it happened to go off. He knew when she'd arrived in Madripoor with a new partner, and he wasn't concerned about the newest model--odds were, she'd kill him before Brock bothered to anyway--until he found out who it was.

Rogers was out when he let himself in, and there was Sin wearing his fuckin' t-shirt like they were playing house or something. Anger, jealousy, and possessiveness simmered just under the surface, but the words were calm enough when he spoke. "Fuck knows I've caught you in some compromising situations, girl. But this has gotta be a new low. SHIELD mess yer head all around again, or is this actually you?" As bad as that had been, watching her think she was Mary Fucking Sunshine, at least it made sense. He'd seen Hydra's version of brainwashing up close and personal on the Soldier, and it was nothing to fuck around with. He'd cured her of that once, and he could do it again. Much worse if it was really Sin. Brock could probably cure that one too, but if that was the case, it was going to take more than a little slapping around to remind her who she was.

[walkitoffrogers]

[ WALL ] ― your muse pins my muse against the closest wall. Sin & Steve 👀

@pleinsdemuses

The gunshot wound in his shoulder was healing up-- Steve thought he might have half the usual range of motion in it, unless he wanted to risk re-opening it. Getting out of Madripoor without further incident was turning into a problem now that what seemed like half the city was searching for them though. He was pretty sure they'd caught on to his real identity, and unfortunately the two of them were some of the most recognizable people in the world when they were apart. Put them together, and it was a neon flashing sign.

"Sin." His voice was quiet and tight as he grabbed her arm, pulling them both into an alley and backing her into the brick wall. He could hear their pursuers nearby, but perhaps they wouldn't come this way-- or notice them in the shadows. His large body completely shielded her smaller one from sight, or harm if it came to that, and the knowledge took some of the tension out of him. Protecting had always been the role Steve was most comfortable with, the very meaning of the symbol he carried around.

[walkitoffrogers]

welcome to the fallout | steve + sin

@pleinsdemuses

His whole body ached when he woke, but since he hadn't expected to wake up at all, it was a sort of pleasant surprise. The memories were there immediately at the front of his mind, no wondering about what had happened. Crashed Schmidt's goddamn plane into the goddamn ocean, was what happened. He'd tried to swim free, but it was so cold, the icy water numbing his limbs, and he couldn't find an exit. It was freezing water clawing its way down his throat while he thrashed, fighting it 'til the end, and then blackness and the memory of Bucky's voice. Maybe he'd imagined that part, his dying mind's last effort to comfort him.

Only it turned out he wasn't dead. He blinked at the ceiling for a few moments, and then sat up slowly. His first impression of the room was neglect. It might have been nice once, but there was a thin layer of dust over everything, as though it hadn't been touched in some time. A hospital? There were no machines anywhere. He slowly examined his arms and body, but there wasn't a mark on him. He couldn't begin to imagine how he'd survived that or how he'd been revived--or by whom--but it must have been the serum, protecting him even from freezing and drowning.

There was silence in every direction, and something told him not to disturb it, some long-buried survival instinct not to make his presence known. He stood, taking a final glance around the room before he crossed to the door. It opened silently on an empty hallway, more doors lining either side. He studied the one he'd opened, reinforced but unlocked. The walls on either side were thicker than average too. It would have been hard for even a super soldier to punch through, if he could have at all. A cell, then? What were they trying to keep in, if not him?

Faint sounds quickened his footsteps down the hall, and he paused outside one of the doors. He was almost certain they were coming from in there. He tried the knob, but it didn't turn. "Hello? Is someone in there?" He finally risked breaking the spooky quiet to call through the door.

[walkitoffrogers]

"i knew you'd fuck me over eventually."

@pleinsdemuses

The mission in Madripoor had gone off smoothly, if not exactly as he’d expected. Steve had sensed before he ever approached Sin that they'd make a good team if they could set aside the fact that they'd been fighting on opposite sides for most of their lives. They'd done a lot more than that. He wasn’t going to get ahead of himself and call that feeling love because there wasn’t enough trust there between them yet, but he cared about her. It was the potential for love, and that was more than he'd felt in a long time.

He should have known that coming home together was a mistake. Hell, they both should have, but the simple matter had been that he didn’t want to leave her. He’d spent weeks living undercover with Sin. He knew her now, as a person and not just as Johann Schmidt's daughter, and he wanted to know how that translated to something closer to their real lives. He hadn’t expected it to be easy, Captain America and Red Skull's daughter, but this response was… extreme.

His gaze snapped to her when she spoke, the words cutting deeper than they had a right to. "This wasn’t me." He wouldn't have turned her in, regardless of his feelings for her. That wasn’t his style. He could see what it must look like to her though. They were surrounded by SHIELD agents--his own side--and even Steve knew when he couldn’t punch his way out of something. From Sin's perspective, it must look like he was just standing there and letting it happen.

Nice work, Captain. You've apprehended one of SHIELD's most wanted Hydra agents. The gaze he leveled at the director was far from friendly, and it took effort to unclench his jaw enough to speak. "I didn't apprehend her. We're working together. Her help was invaluable to me in Madripoor. This isn't necessary." He still hoped there was a way to talk the situation down, but that didn’t stop his mind from running through contingency plans. He would fix this. He'd just try it the diplomatic way first.

[xbullseye]

While she found her feet, he leaned down to search the man for weapons and empty his pockets. The gun he offered to Sin. He was a master marksman, one of the things that had helped along his transition from military to FBI, but Dex didn't need a gun to be lethal at a distance, and he knew she would feel safer with a weapon. If something should happen to him during their exit, he'd prefer she have a way to defend herself. The contents of their guard's wallet would work just as well for him.

His good arm wrapped around her waist, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before helping her toward the door. "Just stay behind me. We don't have to run. We'll walk out of here." Easy to do if everyone else was dead. And they would be. They all would be for what they’d done to her. He peered out the small window in the door, clocking two guards at one end of the hallway and one at the other. He left her for a moment to pick up one of the chairs, slamming it neatly down on the doorknob and taking it off in one swipe.

He didn’t hesitate after that, lest the noise tip off the guards. He was through the door and ducking low to the ground, two credit cards flung at once at the necks of the guards. He’d barely had time to watch their bodies fall before he pivoted, snapping a quarter at the wall. The deadly ricochet caught the last guard in the head, and he crumpled, the hallway now clear.

Random starter for Sin & Dex @xbullseye

Sin's vision swam as she struggled against the effects of the drug, her body feeling heavy and uncooperative. Bound to the chair, she could only watch helplessly as one of Kingpin's men approached, a sinister grin playing on his lips. His hand lashed out, striking her across the cheek, leaving a stinging pain in its wake. Her head throbbed, and her limbs felt heavy as she tried to resist the restraints binding her to the chair. “You pretty thing.. What a waste...” The kidnapper's callous words cut through the haze, and she fought to focus on his face, her eyes narrowing in defiance despite the torment. All she could manage in response was a feeble whimper.

The big guy circled them like a vulture, enjoying the sight of the duo tied up and helpless. "Your girl's gonna pay for your mistakes, pal," he sneered, his gaze flickering to Sin, who was bound and barely conscious. "And you? You get to watch every second of it." He punctuated his words with a cruel laugh.

[walkitoffrogers]

that's bullshit and you know it.

@pleinsdemuses

There were a lot of things that Steve liked about Sin. More than he'd expected when they first started working together, in fact. He liked her sassy backtalk and her flirting and the way she was one hundred and three percent not intimidated by him. He even liked the way she pushed back at him when they didn't agree, although that one was causing them some issues at present. Liking her didn't always mean it was an easy partnership.

It was a reckless plan; he acknowledged that. To be fair, most of Steve's plans ranged from a little bit reckless to borderline suicidal. But they'd been spinning their wheels in Madripoor, and they had all the intel they were likely to gather by playing it safe. It was more risk to him than it was to her, and he didn't know whether she cared if he got hurt or just didn't like being sidelined. They weren't getting anywhere by arguing about it, and the look he leveled at her said he was just this side of running out of patience. "Do you have a better idea?"