#clint: SOMEONE I CAN RELATE tO???

[literaryavenger]

Can I be him?

Summary: When Bucky finds something of yours, he hopes against hope that you feel the same way about him.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Language cause it's me. Fluff. A lot of angst. Idiots in love. Self-deprecating thoughts, both reader and Bucky. No use of Y/N. My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 4.8K

A/N: It’s 3am where I live, so… Happy 107th Birthday to my favorite Supersoldier! Today I’m posting 2 Bucky fics because my baby deserves it, this one and another one sometime around the afternoon. Hope someone likes it! Thank you to my angels @ordelixx and @mrsbuckybarnes1917 that gave me so many ideas that helped me finish this. I love you🖤

Masterlist

Being an Avenger is not easy.

The long missions, the intense training, the weight of the world on your shoulders…

Everybody on the team has a different way to unwind after a mission: Steve draws, Clint and Natasha compete doing target practice, Thor sleeps, Sam plays video games, Bucky takes motorcycle rides, Tony and Bruce work on side projects in their lab, Loki reads, Peter does his homework and Wanda cooks with Vision.

For you, it’s going to the rose garden behind the Compound.

It’s a bit of a sanctuary for you, Tony allowed you to put tall hedges of roses with a gazebo-like structure in the middle of them facing the lake, only it’s entirely made of vines.

You made it yourself, that’s your power: you can manipulate anything plant-related. 

Everytime you finish a mission the team splits up as soon as the debriefing is over and you walk straight here.

You sit on the bench, also made of vines, take out your diary and start writing.

You write about everything, from details of missions to your feelings about the team. From things you did that you don’t want to forget to things that you want to do after you’re not so tired anymore.

The hedges hide you from view and the only thing you can see when you’re here is the lake.

Sometimes, after a particular difficult mission, you don’t even write. You just sit there and look out into the water, the sunshine or moonlight shining down on you, and you feel at peace.

It helps that nobody else ever comes here. The team understands it’s your safe space, and the agents are mostly scared of your powers ever since you grew a giant carnivorous plant and it bit an agent that squeezed your ass during training. 

The agent got both taken to the medbay and suspended on the same day, and you got the thanks of about a dozen girls that had the same problem with the same asshole.

You walk out of the conference room, the debriefing of the team’s latest mission just wrapped up, and like usual everyone scatters to their own after-mission ritual.

Today, though, you can’t concentrate on anything.

Your feet take you to the rose garden by reflex, but your brain doesn’t even register you’re there until you sit on the bench.

Today’s mission took a lot out of you, not just because of the amount of magic you had to use to get everyone out safely, but also because it was your fault the team was in so much danger in the first place.

You fucked up your task, Natasha had to step in and save your ass, moving away from her post and making her late for her own task and that derailed the entire mission.

At the end, you had to use your powers to take out the hundreds of Hydra agents at the same time, which is no small feat and made you almost pass out.

Everybody told you on the way home not to worry, the mission was successfully accomplished and everyone made it out safely, but you know that if it wasn’t for your screw up the team would’ve gotten in and out of base without so much as a scratch. 

Nobody had fatal injuries, thank God, but Sam got shot in the leg, Clint got stabbed and everyone else had various degrees of injuries because Hydra got the jump on the team.

Because of me.

That was all you kept thinking about. Your brain had a field day making up all kinds of scenarios where your mistake cost someone’s life, a few of them even had the entire team dying because of your stupidity. 

You were so caught up in your head that you didn’t even notice someone following you to the rose garden.

Not that you ever do. 

If there’s one thing Bucky Barnes knows how to do, is move around undetected. He’s a master assassin, he was trained for this for over 50 years, he knows how to be a shadow.

Except now he uses his skills for good during missions and, occasionally, to follow you.

Not in a creepy way, of course, just to check on you. At least that’s the excuse he always uses so he won’t have to admit to himself that what he does is, indeed, a little creepy.

But he can’t help himself, Bucky knew from the moment he saw you that he was fucked. 

The moment you walked into the room to meet the team his heart was yours. You stole it with one simple smile, with one look of your beautiful eyes.

You introduced yourself and shook hands with everyone, but when you looked at Bucky he felt like a light came on and it was just you two.

You shook his hand and he felt like he had to take it off and give it to you, it was yours now. His hand, his arm, his leg, his head, his heart, his soul. Everything he is was now yours, he just knew it.

Then you said his name and he could’ve died right there and then. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard, and it was barely two syllables. Every word you said, every laugh and sound that came out of your pretty mouth, Bucky felt like it was all for him. Nobody else mattered.

Bucky knew then he was in love.

But he didn’t know how to approach you. You were like a fairy, like a princess. Growing flowers, always smiling, baking, growing everyone’s favorite flowers and always willing to help, like growing Aloe when Wanda burned herself cooking, or Chamomile to help with Tony’s anxiety, or Valerian roots whenever someone was feeling down. 

You were like sunshine and he was terrified he’d kill your light. But he’d be damned if he’d let the world kill it either, he’d protect you with his life.

So he took to following you, making sure you were safe from a distance.

But it’s not like he never talked to you, the more time you spent with the team the more comfortable Bucky got around you and eventually you became friends.

Bucky knew you could take care of yourself, you were one of the strongest members of the team, but he didn’t like it when you were in your rose garden by yourself. The tall hedges made it impossible to see incoming danger, so he kept an eye on you just to be sure.

For his own piece of mind. And you never saw him.

That was Bucky’s actual way to unwind after a mission.

He’d tell everybody he was going for a ride on his bike, but he’d drive it through the woods around the compound and to the other side of the lake where he’d have a perfect view of you without you knowing. 

Deep down he knew it was a little creepy, he could just ask you if he could join you, but he felt like you needed your time alone without anyone else around, and he knew if he asked you, you’d say yes no matter what you were feeling, because that’s just the kind of person you are.

So Bucky watched you from afar, always careful not to be seen. He watched you write for hours, it relaxed him to see your beautiful face so concentrated.

Sometimes you’d laugh quietly at what you were writing and those were the only times Bucky was grateful for the supersoldier serum that allowed him to hear such a beautiful sound even with so much distance between you.

But it was torture for him when he knew you had a bad day. Sometimes you’d hug your knees and cry, Bucky could tell how much you’d need a hug, and it killed him that he couldn’t just walk up to you and hug you.

Everytime he sees you cry his heart breaks a little and he always tries to make you feel better when you walk back inside. He doesn’t ask you what’s wrong, he just tries to make you laugh. But all he wanted to do was dry your tears.

You did notice Bucky always seemed to act a little goofy when you're feeling down, like he somehow knew, but you never thought much of it.

You knew he was a very observant person, so you assumed he just saw your mood through your behavior better than most.

Bucky loves hanging out with you, even if it’s just as friends. You make fun of him like with everyone else, you don’t treat him like could explode at any moment, never walking on eggshells around him like most people do.

You’ve never been afraid of him, and he’s glad that you don’t treat him like glass. You treat him like everyone else, and it makes him feel normal.

Everytime time he hangs out with you, you take him back to a time where he was unbroken. You make him feel alive again.

And he falls more in love with you by the second because of it. You’re all he wants, he wants to have you and kiss your lips and never let anyone hurt you. That’s all he can think about, but he knows that’s not gonna happen.

He heard you talk to Natasha and Wanda, heard that there’s someone you’d gone on a few dates with. But Bucky knows that guy doesn’t deserve you, nobody does.

Even Bucky himself doesn’t deserve you, you’re too pure for anyone in this world, but if there’s someone that has any chance of making you happy, Bucky prays to God that that someone is him.

Bucky knows today’s mission shook you deeply. He knows you blame yourself, and no amount of reassurance will make you believe that everything is okay.

So today, for the first time, Bucky actually follows you. He can see your unfocused eyes even as you walk and he wants to be near you, just in case.

He almost walks to you when you curl up on the bench and start sobbing quietly, but he holds back not wanting to startle or upset you further.

He just listens to your soft cries until you stop and compose yourself. You sigh and get up, walking back to the Compound to take a much needed relaxing shower.

But you’re still so much in your own head that you don’t even notice you left your diary on the bench in the gazebo. 

Bucky did notice, though.

He’s tempted to call after you and tell you, but something deep down tells him not to. He waits until you’re gone and then walks to the bench, picking up your diary and opening it.

He doesn’t know why, he knows it’s wrong, these are your private thoughts, but he’s just drawn to it for some reason.

When he starts reading he notices you don’t mention any specific names, which makes sense because only you read it, you know who you’re writing about. He reads a page here and there, reading about your missions or lazy days. 

He reads about some memories with the team you wrote about, some he remembers and others he probably wasn’t there for, but seeing all these memories from your point of view does something to him.

It makes him feel connected to you, makes him feel like he’s reading your heart and soul, because he kind of is. Then he reads something that captures his attention completely. 

You write about eyes blue like the ocean and just as troubled, about a smile that could light up the world. You write about someone with a complicated past that never lost his spark, never lost his love for life. 

A man that went through hell, and never once took it out on the world. A man that didn’t ever blame the world, even when he had every right to, choosing instead to protect it. 

You filled pages and pages with everything you admire about this man, everything you love about him that you know he hates. 

And Bucky feels like every word you wrote, you wrote for him. But could this be him? Could he be the one you talk about in all your stories?

He wants to. He wants this to be him. He prays you’re talking about him. He wishes this could be him… Who is he kidding?

Of course it’s not me. 

It’s probably the guy you’ve been dating. Yeah, that’s it. You’re in love with that guy, that much is clear. 

Bucky gets to the page where you write about your dates with the guy, but he can’t read them.

He closes the diary, not knowing that you compared your date to Bucky every step of the way. Not knowing that you granted the guy a second date just to be sure he couldn’t compare to Bucky, and went on a third date at a coffee shop just to let him down gently.

Bucky didn’t read how you know he’s the one for you, he didn’t read his own name written in your handwriting, the only name in your whole diary because he’s the only person you never want to forget, even though you know you never will.

But Bucky didn’t read that.

He puts your diary back where it was on the bench and, with his heart broken and his hope that one day you could be his lost, he goes back inside and to his room.

It’s only when you go back to the rose garden after your shower that you notice you left your diary there, but don’t think much of it. Nobody ever comes here anyway, as far as you know.

After finding out you’re in love with someone else, Bucky can’t stop himself from acting differently towards you, which you don’t fail to notice.

It’s not like he’s mean, but your interactions get shorter, like he tries his best to end the conversation quickly.

He no longer sits close to you, no longer tries to make you laugh when you’re feeling down, doesn’t hang out with you as much during your down time and if he does, it’s never just the two of you anymore.

It’s silly to say, but you miss him.

Bucky knows he’s been distancing himself, he knows you’ve noticed and he can see it’s affecting you, but he’s doing this to protect himself.

He knows it’s only a matter of time before you present your boyfriend to the team, the man you’re in love with and he doesn’t want it to hurt more than necessary.

You decide not to push Bucky, knowing he has his reasons to pull away from you. Maybe he’s just trying to deal with all the stress the team’s been under and you don’t want to add any more to that, so you let him be.

A few weeks later the team’s on their sixth mission in just as many days and everyone is exhausted. You’ve been taking down Hydra base after Hydra base, because waiting too long meant losing your chance to shut down their operations for good before they got the opportunity to leave.

You’ve been dividing in smaller teams to take down the bases while still giving the team a chance to recuperate, but this last one was the biggest and required the whole team together, which sucked for you because you were in the last team with Steve and Bucky that took down a base just yesterday, so the three of you got barely a few hours of sleep while you flew to the last base.

You’ve cleared the base, all that’s left is the agents in the courtyard who are really going down fighting. The whole team is outside now, the Hydra agents giving you a hell of a fight. You’re using your magic against your better judgment, giant vines coming out of your arms like whips, covered in poisonous thorns. One touch of that and anyone would go down immediately, everyone except you.

Or at least that’s what you think.

As you’re fighting you can see an agent trying to sneak up on Bucky who’s fighting near you, so you quickly take care of it for him.

Bucky turns around and sees the agent down and then looks at you with that charming smile you fell in love with and winks at you. “Thank you, doll.”

That’s the friendliest Bucky’s been towards you in weeks and you can’t help but smile back with a small blush.

You can see the last agent standing coming at you from your peripheral vision and you quickly whip him with a vine, taking him down as soon as you can so you can turn back to look at Bucky, still smiling at you.

Bucky’s smile drops quickly, though, as he sees your face draining of any color. You barely have the time to register the sting of your own thorn on your arm that you’re already falling to the ground.

Bucky tries to catch you, but he gets thrown back by your magic that goes into defense mode, creating a wall of thorns to protect your now unconscious body.

The team doesn't know what to do, none of them know enough about plants to be sure that these thorns wouldn’t just kill them all.

The only one that would know that is you, the person that’s passed out, or worse, trapped in the midst of a cocoon of thorns.

“Okay, we need to find a safe way to-” Steve starts but cuts himself off almost immediately. “What are you doing?!”

Bucky doesn’t even turn around to answer, too intent on breaking the thorns around you with his metal arm, not caring that the thorns are ripping his clothes and scratching his face, all he can think about is getting to you.

He finally manages to get through to you, but nobody can follow because your magic regrows the thorns Bucky broke, trapping him with you inside the cocoon.

But Bucky doesn’t care, his eyes never leaving your face as he kneels behind you, running a finger softly along your cheek and shivering when he feels your skin is cold as ice.

His mind goes to the worst possibility, that there’s nothing he can do, but his brain gives him some hope reasoning that your magic wouldn’t be working if you were dead.

Right?

He snaps out of his thoughts when he feels the thorns around you vibrate, he takes you in his arms and shields you with his body from whatever is about to happen.

But the only thing that happens is the shade cast by the thorns gets replaced by sunlight. Bucky looks up and realizes Wanda used her magic to lift the thorn cocoon.

“You couldn’t have done that before?!” Bucky barks at Wanda with a glare while carefully picking you up to take you to the Quinjet.

“She’s not the dumbass that threw himself headfirst in a mess of thorns without even considering another course of action!” Natasha came in Wanda’s defense, though she seemed more amused at Bucky’s antics than annoyed.

As the team heads back home in the jet, Bruce examines you and lets the team know you’re still alive but in a sort of coma.

Their relief is cut short when Bruce makes it known that he has no idea when, or if, you’ll wake up.

As soon as the Quinjet lands you’re taken to the medbay and hooked up to machines, an IV in your arm to keep you hydrated.

Bucky holds your hand through it all, staying all night next to you just in case you wake up. He didn’t want you to be freaked out and alone, he wanted to be the first person to see your beautiful eyes open.

When morning comes, though, you’re still unconscious, but Bucky doesn’t lose hope. You probably need a good sleep.

That’s what he tells himself for two, three, four days.

That’s what he keeps telling himself for a week, two weeks. Never once leaving your side, not eating unless Steve brings him food and makes sure he eats before leaving, and using the bathroom of your room in the medbay.

He barely sleeps and, when he does, he dreams of you.

Everyone was getting worried about him, he refused to leave your side until one day Steve came into your room to tell Bucky there was something wrong with your rose garden.

Bucky was torn between staying with you and seeing what Steve was talking about, but decided that it would kill you if something happened to your roses so he had to make sure everything was okay when you woke up.

Because you’re going to wake up.

Bucky follows Steve to your rose garden, and his eyes widen in horror as soon as he sees it. The roses, the hedges, the vines.

Everything is dying.

Bucky’s heart breaks, only one thought in his mind. If your plants are dying, does that mean you’re slowly dying too?

No. That’s unacceptable. You’re not gonna die, not if Bucky has anything to do with it.

He takes it upon himself to take care of your garden, watering it and doing everything he can to keep the roses and vines alive, fooling himself into believing that this will keep you alive.

He stays on the gazebo day and night, sleeping on the bench, spending every waking moment trying to keep a hold of even the smallest part of you.

But it���s not enough. Nothing is enough.

Bucky loses track of how many days he’s been in your garden, sleeping maybe an hour at a time here and there, watering the roses every few hours and crying the rest of the time.

After all it’s his fault, if he hadn’t distracted you none of this would’ve happened. You’d be in your beautiful garden, probably with your boyfriend, and the only broken thing would be Bucky’s heart.

That he could’ve lived with. 

But how can he live with the knowledge that he caused your end? That he killed your light? That he killed his sunshine, his hope, the love of his life? He can’t live with that.

Not that he has to.

While Bucky’s spiraling while surrounded by dying roses, inside your room in the medbay you’re finally waking up after almost a month.

You open your eyes slowly, looking around you at the hospital-like room. There’s nobody around and, as you look at the window, you can see it’s really late at night.

You sit up and try to make sense of what happened while rubbing your eyes. The last thing you remember is Bucky’s bright smile, and then nothing.

You look down at your arm and see an IV, which you take out while frowning. How long have you been sleeping?

You carefully get off the bed and make your way outside to your rose garden, just to be sure everything’s okay. It’s not like anyone’s gonna stop you anyway.

When you get close, the moonlight shines on the hedges and you gasp at what you see. Your beautiful roses withering away, the gazebo made of vines dying too.

But the most confusing thing is the sobs coming from the bench, although no one’s sitting on it.

You get closer and see Bucky sitting in front of the bench while hugging his knees and crying softly. You frown and get a little closer before stopping, not wanting to startle him.

“Bucky…” You say quietly and his head snaps up, his eyes instantly meeting yours.

For a moment it feels like he’s trying to decide if you’re real, he reaches out and you extend your hand to take his. That seems to convince him and he gasps.

“Doll…” His voice is barely above a whisper, almost as if he thinks if he makes too much noise you’ll disappear.

“What’s wrong?” You ask him while getting a little closer to him, concern clear in your every feature.

It’s only when you get closer that you see his face full of cuts and you frown. Those are not just any scratches, it’s clear to you that they were made by thorns. “D-did… Did I do this to you?” 

You’re kneeling in front of him now, one hand still in his one the other comes up to trace the cuts in his face softly, but he takes your hand in his and kisses your palm.

“I’m okay…” He reassures you.

Just then he realizes, you’re fussing over him when you’re the one that’s been in a coma for a month. “Are you okay? How long have you been awake?” 

“I… I just woke up.” You tell him honestly, then look around at the dying roses and vines before looking back at him. “What happened to me?”

“You got stung by one of your poisonous thorns.” He says quietly, his thumbs rubbing circles on your skin while he refuses to let go of you. “You’ve been unconscious for almost a month.”

“A month?!” You’re shocked at the news, not knowing what to say or do, so you just stay there while letting the information sink in. The silence is broken by Bucky after a minute.

“I’m sorry about your roses… I tried to keep them alive, but…” He looks around with a hopeless expression. “I failed you.”

Your heart breaks a little. Does he really think he failed you?

You take a deep breath, then close your eyes and when you open them again a second later everything’s back to normal. The roses are as beautiful as ever, the gazebo just as majestic. It’s like nothing ever happened.

Bucky looks around in awe when he feels you take his chin and you make him look at you.

“You could never fail me.” You say firmly, wanting him to understand you mean it. You look at the cuts around his face and you can’t help the guilt and pain that you feel deep within you. “I’m sorry…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” It’s like Bucky can read your thoughts, he knows all you can see are your faults, and he wants you to know he doesn’t blame you for anything. “You weren’t even conscious. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I never wanted to be one of the people that hurt you…” Your voice is a whisper as a tear escapes you. “The world hurt you so much already… I never wanted to be part of that. You don’t deserve it.”

Bucky frowns. He feels like he’s heard those words, but where? No, he didn’t hear them. He read them. He read them in your diary, where you wrote about the man you’re in love with. Could it be possible?

Could I be him?

“It’s me…” He says lower than a whisper, his eyes locked on yours, and it’s your time to be confused now.

“What?” You ask him with a frown while wiping your cheeks.

“It’s me you’re in love with.” His voice is a little louder, but firm. He’s not asking you, he’s making a statement.

Your eyes widen in surprise, you almost take your hands away from his but his hold prevents you from doing that.

“I-I… What?” Is all you can bring yourself to say, confused as to why he’s so sure of it. Are you really that transparent?

“I read your diary…” Bucky says, guilt written all over his face, but at least he’s owning up to it. “You wrote about the man you love… and you wrote the same thing you just told me. It’s me, isn’t it? You love me back?” His voice is more hopeful now, his confident demeanor weavering.

“You… You read my diary?” You say, your mind still playing catch up.

It’s only a moment later that you register the ‘love me back’ and you don’t give him a chance to apologize or justify himself before you’re speaking again. “You love me?!” 

Bucky hesitates a moment but nods firmly. “I love you, doll. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you.” 

You feel like someone punched you and all the air has left your body. You have no idea what to say, so you don’t say anything.

Instead you lean in and kiss him.

Bucky wastes no time kissing you back, but a thought pops into his mind and he reluctantly pulls back. “What about your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” You frown again, having no idea what he’s talking about. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“You don’t?” Bucky feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he pulls you to straddle him. “What about the guy you went on a few dates with?”

You narrow your eyes at him but decide to table the conversation about how he knows that for another time, so you smile at him and decide to just be honest with him.

“Do you honestly think that anyone could ever measure up to you? Because if you do, you’re an idiot.” Bucky grins and kisses you again. 

Maybe he is an idiot. But when he’s the idiot you’re in love with, how much of an idiot can he really be?

It looks like he can be him after all.

[ynscrazylife]

could you write any fanfics or headcannons about the avengers doing family stuff? like going shopping altogether? with a the reader being the daughter of tony stark and something like y/n!stark x peter parker? just fluff

Domestic Avengers Would Include . . .

It would be difficult to get all the Avengers to go shopping at once but where there’s a will, there’s a way

The hardest to convince would probably be Natasha and Bucky but they love you, so they’d join you anyway

You and Wanda would take forever in the changing rooms (forcing Peter and Vision to hold all your stuff)

Thor would go straight for the food court, marveling at all the Midgardian food

Tony would probably go to any of the tech or expensive stores

Nat would browse and window shop with Steve and Bruce

Sam and Bucky would get into some fight and would nearly be kicked out

By the time you get to the court room, Thor would have all different kinds of food and candies

(Peter has to literally drag you away from the candy at a certain point)

I think this just goes to show that if you give them the chance, the Avengers are really a family and can be domestic

They all look after each other, but especially of you and Peter

Natasha, Wanda, and Carol are like older sisters/aunts, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Vision, and Clint are like uncles, and Sam and Bucky are like older brothers

Wanda always cooks. She and Pepper would teach you how to cook

The team all fight over Wanda’s cooking

At first, Steve tried to teach you how to drive

It did not work out

Next, Nat tried to teach you

(You nearly crashed into someone that day)

Finally, Bruce taught. He’s pretty chill so it worked out

The Avengers would also help you with homework. Nat has experience with helping Clint’s kids after-all

You go down to the lab to get Tony, Bruce, and Peter’s help for math

Steve and Bucky for history

Steve would def help with art (hc he’s an artist)

Carol would help with any space related classes like Astronomy

Vision would check your grammar and punctuation and spelling (he’d edit your essays)

GOING PROM SHOPPING WITH THE AVENGERS IS CHAOTIC

they all insist on seeing yours and Peter’s outfits and everyone has an opinion

(Your wedding day will be so much worse)

Wanda almost buries you with the amount of outfits she picks out

And they get so many freaking pictures

It’s a little insane how many pictures they insist on taking

“We need one of Peter opening the door.” “We need one of Y/N coming down the stairs.” “Clint, you’re in the background, move!”

They send you off in a limo paid by Tony

You and Peter have such a sweet and fun night

They’d also definitely go to your graduation

Tony pulled some strings to get all the Avengers tickets but finding seats next to each other was a challenge

They clap and cheer the loudest

And take you out for the best ice cream

Okay okay but . . . Movie nights

Sam insists on popcorn from the movies, forcing Steve to go out and get a million bags of popcorn

Everyone takes turns choosing movies

(That backfires when Bruce chooses a nature documentary and everyone revolts)

BLANKET FORTS

SLEEPOVERS IN THE LIVING ROOM

(Which you have to force everyone to do)

Going out on the roof and Star gazing

Which means you had to force Tony and Bruce to build you a telescope

It’s worth it though

The Avengers just being the best, most supportive family you could ask for

THERES SO MUCH LOVE THERE

❤️❤️❤️

[noturlondonboy]

An open letter to Kevin Fiege

Note: please do not take this too seriously chat, I was assigned with writing an open letter for my English class, and I decided I needed to diss on Kevin to my English professor for a little while.

————

Dear Kevin Fiegi, (I know I spelled your name wrong, it is intentional.)

I’d just like to start off with a very sincere screw you. And if this wasn’t a school assignment that my professor is going to read, I would be using some choosier words.

Second, kindly go to Hell. Emily, my apologies. Moving on.

Let’s start with one of the most glaringly obvious problems you created and let happen in the MCU- the confusing and unnecessary death of Natalia Alianova Romanova, otherwise known as Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow.

I can understand Natasha insisting that she be the one to sacrifice herself instead of Clint- it fits her character archetype and offers a solid way for her character to die with dignity. If it weren’t such a stupid idea to kill her off in the first place.

Might I offer an alternative to keeping one of the arguably most important characters in the Marvel Universe dead in the cinematic adaptations? Did we even think about Tony Stark bringing her back with the Infinity Gauntlet when he revived half the world’s population? Did we consider at all that maybe when Steve Rogers made the (horrible) decision to stay behind in the 40’s, he could have warned the team about the dangers in Endgame? Maybe he could have prevented the Snap in the first place.

Maybe, maybe, maybe… so many options, and yet, here we are, onto Phase 5 of the MCU and Natasha Romanoff-less.

More on Steve in a second.

Natasha’s death felt unnecessary, shallow, and forced in order to create a narrative with enough drama and angst to soothe the most particular crowds. While we already had very few strong, main female characters, the loss of the Black Widow only adds the problematic misogyny in the MCU. This is aided by the fact that we received only one Black Widow movie (after she had canonically died, mind you) and have three Iron Man movies, four Thor movies, and three Captain America movies with a fourth on the way.

I’m sensing a pattern here, Kevin. A pattern I do not like.

If we wanted to stay on the topic related to misogyny, we could talk about Wanda Maximoff, and the injustice served to her character in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. The show Wandavision gave us a beautiful narrative of how Wanda reacted to her immeasurable grief, and wove together an exciting story that provided us with intriguing lore and storyline options. However, in the absolute dookie bomb of Multiverse of Madness, almost every single point of conflict and character development that Wanda experienced was completely trashed and ignored in favor of turning her into a villain for the sake of villainy.

A terrible reason, by the way. Literally what the hell. Kevin. I am so incredibly upset with you.

Back to Steve Rogers, as promised.

Steve in himself is an incredibly in-depth character that absolutely lives up to the hype. He’s Captain-freaking-America. His actions are purposeful, his morals and strong and set in doing what is right, not what is expected. *cough cough* When Steve decided to stay in the 40’s when returning the Infinity Stones, he disrupted several important plot points. In Agent Carter, Peggy Carter moves on from Steve when he’s lost to the ice and finds love and peace and happiness with someone else. Steve ultimately steals back her affection from that life she had built for herself, and the importance she completed in her life with that man.

Have you ever watched Agent Carter, Kevin? Have you read any of the comics that you’re adapting for the screen? Have you seen the movies? The shows? Do you understand the plot lines you’re supposedly in charge of?

Secondly, we cannot forget about Bucky Barnes, even though Steve most certainly did. Remember Bucky, Kevin? Remember Steve’s best and closest friend? The man he promised to always stick with, “to the end of the line”?

No, Kevin. Clearly, you do not remember. Steve absconding Bucky was entirely out of character and makes no sense. What are we even doing here?

Thank you, but no thank you, Kevin. Please hand the MCU reigns over to someone who actually cares about the characters and what the fans want (in a reasonable sense.)

-London, aka the one you should hand them to.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/17/2024

come take this very very friendly little man out of my bathroom! he is fiv+ and we are in houston tx! i am willing to drive a couple hours for the right home! he is a good boy he's just orange! more details here!

listening

emily jeffri's DENY off my spotify recommended weekly playlist: i can only describe it as "throbbing". immediately attention grabbing lyrics:

What kind of lover does your mother want? I'll do whatever, oh but you could not

very distinctly indie electronica. this would be the song in a cyberpunk/80s hacker movie where the chase takes you through an goth/alt fashion show where the models are actively giving blood as they walk or something.

i love the spotify daily mix for me and my bestie bc there's a guaranteed four bluey songs on it and it's a nice jumpscare. i know my mental health is taking a turn for the worse when a lot of mother mother starts popping up, i know my bestie's is taking a turn for the worse when a lot of girl in red starts popping up. suicide-watch-level sapphic angst singer-songwriter, generally. except for this song! extremely fun! didn't even recognize it as her! DOING IT AGAIN BABY is a more traditional selling-you-a-dodge-charger car commercial song and it's such a startling departure from her usual work that i wonder if it was a commercial commission? hard to immediately find out tho

I'm on a new level Something's got me feelin' like I could be inflammable And I might be I'm gonna light it up Nothing's gonna stop me if I say this is what I want

-

reading

i read twilight (yes that one) at the behest of my bestie and bc my mental health could not have gotten any worse in that moment. it has led to some uncomfortable realizations about my high school experience i will save for a therapist. i am mostly putting it here to remind myself that i read this book this year.

^ this is some silly goofy nonsense. not that i think people shouldn't be recognized at their retirement, but what happened to giving people nice watches instead of a thousand dollars in plaques

Saying that, the records did reveal something actually interesting: although the individual contract I sent a request related to was for a few thousand dollars, an attached blank purchase agreement (BPA) says that “the government estimates, but does not guarantee, that the volume of purchases through this BPA will be $360,000.00 over the term of the BPA.” So, a lot more than a few thousand bucks.

-

watching

Hang 'Em High (1968, dir. Post). certainly not clint's sluttiest role but really up there. i do wish he kept the fucked-out little rasp for the whole movie :(

When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.

it has a typical bizarre shoehorned romance that (i think) deeply undercuts the theme it wants to explore, but there is no on-screen rape. the bar is on the FLOOR with westerns and yet i DNF so so so many.

hell of a whump film. literally everything happens to jed cooper. i will trumpet this again from the rooftops: that character needs cbt both ways.

-

playing

HIGHWATER, a 2022 adventure/turn based strategy thing from Rogue Games, courtesy of Netflix Games, whose game library is a fucking nightmare to navigate on mobile.

i loooove a water-based postapoc. the boat does in fact handle very poorly and like a horrible inflatable raft on mobile, which is both charming and frustrating.

i do not love a turn-based combat. despite the vibes off the charts, including a very well integrated "pirate radio" station as the game's soundtrack, i am not patient enough to muddle through complex turn-based combat. i'm sure someone had fun fighting off six guys and two bears (who aggro anyone and can one-hit anyone) and then a further three guys who show up for backup but i gave it the good old college try over two days and wasn't able to swing it. it would be nice to have either a difficulty setting or some way to spectate the ideal fight, but alas. a lot of fun environmental stuff in the fights you can use to your advantage, like the bears and these trees you can flatten your opponents with in a much earlier fight. there's a fun mix of different characters with different abilities and different weapons you pick up and keep during fights. i have no specific beef with this game's choice to make this the way you move through the game, it's just not my preferred genre.

a lot of book and newspaper collectibles in this one that i feel of several minds about. it feels less like environmental storytelling through newspapers and just the devs telling me their opinion when they provide little book summaries like this. also i wish The Industry as a whole was more thoughtful about using the word "insurgent".

not a game for me, i have once again confirmed that i cannot tolerate a turn-based combat no matter how much seafaring postapoc you drench it in :(

-

making

got a Phantom Menace era curtain panel for $4 at the thrift, and i was convinced it was fabric someone had made into a curtain panel until i got home and discovered it was an officially licensed product with bafflingly generous seams.

it's about two-ish yards of a 50/50 cotton/poly blend, which i feel like i haven't seen in a while? i think the current fashion leans more 70/30 or 100 poly for curtains i've purchased. after i finish unpicking the seams and pinking it, i am going to throw it in the wash again with some vinegar and see if that softens it up any, or if it makes the transition between the wear lines on the seams and the body of the fabric any nicer.

thinking about what kind of dress to make that 1) shows off this extremely large scale pattern 2) does not look like i am wearing a paper bag, and 3) does not look like the late aughts craft trend of sewing a twin flat Star Wars sheet to a tube top and calling that a dress, bc that's how hard up we were for feminine merch. much to consider. maybe it Will be a maxi skirt with pockets and i can wear one of my seventy black tees on top?

[miscfandomwrites]

A/N: Based off a prompt of two people who don't work well together being forced to make breakfast together, expect one of them fucks something up. Also, I made some characters have food allergies. Because I can and it helps make them more relatable in my opinion. Anywho, I can make more of this if y'all like.

Pairing: Stephen Strange x Reader (tried to keep it non-discript as possible)

Warnings: langauge

Words: 700ish

Tagging: @tyler-t0t

~

“You’ve never learned how to cook?” 

“Well, I have, I just don’t mess with hot things or knives or anything that might damage my hands.” 

“Well, that’s a bit vain, but considering your job is messing with someone's very delicate brain, I think you can get a pass. This time.” 

“Oh, this time, huh? Thanks, I guess.” 

I grinned at him. “C’mon, it’s our turn to make breakfast today, we’re gonna go all out so I can show you how to cook.” 

I grabbed a pair of aprons from the side of the fridge, tossing one to him. “I’ll do prep and you can make everything, should be simple.”

I asked FRIDAY to open up a digital whiteboard, and jotted down the ideas I had for breakfast: 

Banana Bread (2 loaves)

Pancakes with and without blueberries

Quiche (3)

Breakfast potatoes (two sheets)

Scrambled eggs

Bacon

Breakfast sausage

Sourdough bread

“That doesn’t look ‘Simple to me’ “ Strange remarked, eyes widening at the list as he finished tying his apron. 

“This is nothing, I used to work in a summer camp kitchen. Besides, we’re feeding several super soldiers, a couple gods, and several others.” I told him as FRIDAY helped make the lists of everything I’d need, and thankfully I had woken up early to feed and start the sourdough bread so it’d be ready to put into the oven in about half an hour. 

Putting on some 2010 hits from when I was a bit younger, I started pulling out ingredients while Stephen got the bowls, pots, and pans ready for it. 

I quickly diced and chopped a variety of vegetables and prepped some quiche in some pre-crusted pans that I pulled from the freezer, popping them into the first oven while I monitored Stephen making the banana bread. 

“Is this literally it? No seasonings or add-ins?” He questioned as he poured the first bread mix into the greased pan. 

“I mean, you can add like cinnamon and nutmeg and stuff but Clint has a nut allergy so I don’t, and last week we found out Loki is allergic to cinnamon, so.” I told him as I parboiled some potatoes. 

He paused at that and turned to me, confused. “A god from another planet has an allergy?” 

“Yeah, not surprising if you think about it for a bit. Took me a little bit to think about it as well.” I replied, taking a sip of my coffee as I used a fork to poke a potato. 

He narrowed his eyes and stared off into space for a bit, something I usually did when I was trying to figure out something in my head. 

“I mean, he is from another planet after all, and I don’t suppose they have the same spices as we do, so that leaves a whole world of possibilities open for them.” He said slowly after a moment. 

I nodded, taking the potatoes off the heat and straining them into the colander in the sink. 

“Peter is allergic to food dyes. Which is why he’s in the kitchen so often making his own candy with his friends.” 

“So that explains the large jar of sugar on the counter then.” he motioned to it as he put the bowl and measuring spoons into the sink. 

“Oh that? I think it’s citric acid, but I’d ask him at breakfast before you go putting it into anything.” 

He stopped for a moment and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, making me pause. 

“You put that into the banana bread, didn’t you?” 

“It looked like sugar! What else was I supposed to use?” He yelled at me. 

“I don’t know! Maybe the jar on the left of the sink with the label Plain Sugar on it!” I yelled back, heading over to the fruit bowl and yanking the rest of the bananas from it. 

“It’s fine, we’ll just keep them in the kitchen and hopefully no one will notice.” 

~ One hour later ~

Everyone had started coming from their various morning routines and piled into the kitchen, grabbing bowls of food and taking it into the dining room as I got the hot pitchers ready with both regular and decaf coffee, and pulling out the pitches of various juices and iced coffee, carrying them into the room as well. 

As we finally all sat down, I explained how Stephen helped make breakfast and pointed towards the banana bread, and soon enough everyone had a slice. 

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” came from Bucky, spitting out the slice on his plate. “WHY IS IT SOUR?” 

Welp, looks like people noticed.

[imdoingsortagay]

request for valentines day celebration!! prompt 4, 6 and 12 with emo!wanda x reader. where wanda is trying to hint (kinda new avenger) reader that she’s likes them 🤭🤭 fluffy emo!wanda is my fave

The secret admirer

warnings: fluff , mention of some avengers, stucky ( being gay for a bit)

a/n: mwah enjoy <3

“ Looks like someone got some new things from their secret admirer,” Natasha says as she walks into the kitchen, met with the view of some of the prettiest bouquets of flowers accompanies by a fresh plate of french toast. 

“ Roses are red, violets are blue, I know I can't rhyme, but I want to date you,” you read aloud to her, smiling a bit at the cheesy pickup line the person left for you. 

In the past couple of weeks, someone in the compound had been leaving things for you, planning it when you least expect it and you haven’t been able to figure it out. 

“ There are flowers in the front of your door y/n” 

“Who from?” you ask her, reading some papers from a meeting.

“I think that you have a secret admirer.” Natasha taunts as she brings the flowers to your room, confused as to why someone would leave flowers. Being past widows, neither of you were even aware that people did this but you took the flowers in your room for a pop of color.

“ Are you sure that you didn’t send these Natty? I promise to let you down easy if you do” you jokingly tell her.

“ Oh sweet y/n,” Natasha starts off,” I think we’ve established that the only chance that I’d consider to date you is if you were the only other person on earth”. 

“ Ouch Romanoff, my heart,” you dramatically say. Both of you had been good friends, meeting each other in the red room, escaping together, and now in a team together protecting the planet from any sort of threats. All this time together meant that you only saw her as a best friend which both of you were fine with as Natasha had her eyes set on a certain agent at shield.

“ You are you dumb y/n-” 

“ Calling me dumb Natty? Says the one who-” 

“ Hello to both of you,” Wanda says as she walks into the kitchen, looking at the bouquet of flowers on the counter while she witnesses both of her teammates bicker like children. 

The younger brunette tries her best to hide her smile as you observe the flowers. 

What you didn’t know was that Wanda had been the one who was leaving you all of these messages, too shy to admit the feelings that she had for you with a fear of being rejected. A quick google search leads to her leaving presents in your room, and kitchen but you seem to struggle that it’s her. Wanda even left a bit of clue that might help but even those don’t seem to help.

“ So who got the cute flowers?” Wanda curiously asks, looking at the amazing job the florist did with choosing flowers related to love. The roses and tulips bring life to the boring kitchen. 

Natasha out of boredom decides the moment to be quiet to look at the conversation between you too. In her own little investigation, everyone on the team besides Wanda and Sam were the two people left as to who the fuck was sending you all of these things. She assumed at first, Tony would do something like this because he has money to spend for days and he denied it. Bruce only saw you as a friend, Clint has a whole family with kids that he’s very happy to deal with, and Bucky has something going on with Steve that she’ll have to investigate another time while sweet Thot’s heart seemed to belong to Jane foster. 

Wanda seemed to forget that Natasha was in the kitchen with you too as she giggles at the little jokes you throw into the conversation, failing badly at trying to hide the crush but can you blame her if she doesn’t have any sort of experience with it? 

“ y/n you are too funny,” Wanda says placing her hand on your shoulder, wondering if the article on dating is doing the trick to woo you,” always making me laugh”. All Natasha can do is cringe, feeling bad for the younger redhead with her very terrible attempt at flirting. A couple more attempts at flirting, some jokes made by Wanda, and more awkwardness before you leave the kitchen to make your way to train with Clint. Wanda was about to leave as well to try to get the next set of items ready when she was stopped by her teammates who was smiling like crazy, holding in her laughter.

Now all the cheesy sticky notes left for you make sense now.

“ Natasha,” she starts off. 

“ Witchy that was some of the worst flirting I’ve ever seen-” Natasha says before laughing.

“ It’s not that bad Nat, have you seen whatever the fuck Bucky and Steve have been doing?” She asks, a little embarrassed that even the black widow knows about her crush on you. 

“ I did not expect you out of all people to send my y/n those gifts, the only thing that confirmed it was the flirting. Also those pickup lines are so cheesy where did you even get them?”. 

“ not the point,” Wanda tells her before trying to look in the fridge for food but the mighty black widow stops her. Though Wanda can use her powers to just move her, it’s too early to be doing that and she’d have to be lectured by Stark about the use of her powers to mess with people. 

“ It’s been a couple of weeks now Wanda, so when do you plan on telling y/n about your feelings before I don’t know, they just get tired of all the gifts?” Natasha asks the younger woman. They might not be as close but she would hate to see the young woman heartbroken after all of the things that she’s experienced in life so far. At that moment she decided it would be a good idea to help her out with stuff like this.

“ Would you help me out, Natasha? I know that we aren’t close but you know y/n better than anyone and I just want to make this as perfect as possible, like I know that it’s alot to ask so take all of the -” 

“ I’ll help you out witchy with your crush and reveal,” Natasha says which elicited a smile from Wanda. Using what she learned from Sam and Bucky, Wanda holds out her hand to give the older woman in front of her a fist bump instead of a hug but she is relieved when Natasha fistbumps her. 

“ One more week and I’ll make sure y/n will know about your crush,” Natasha ensure her teammate before they head to her room to make up a plan. 

After two hours of romantic plans, Clint joined in and with so many questions that Wanda asked, the plan was finally formed and Wanda could not wait for it to happen.

A week full of busy meetings, training with the senior avengers, Wanda catching Steve and Bucky going at it in the supply closet on accident ( poor girlie ) leads to the both of you spending the weekend at one of Tony’s many cabins near the compound.

As much as Wanda wanted to tell you about her feelings at the compound, she wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be interrupted by anyone coming in or their pets.

“ So tony just let us borrow it for the weekend?” You ask while you drive together to the cabin.

While you are confused, you are are very happy to take a break from your Avengers stuff, always happy to spend time with the brunette woman. Being earth’s mightiest hero’s left for no free time but when there was some, you’d always take it to spend time with Wanda.

“ something about needing us to bond more since we’re the only two who haven’t spend time alone,” Wanda lies to you , while everyone in the team very much is aware your super close to each other.

“ weird ,” you comment as you pull up into the drive way, always amazed at the size of these cabins and question why the man always needs to go big. Wanda gets her stuff and quickly heads in first before you do, happy to be greeted with a array of desserts, all of them your favorite ones and one last note with a quote that you had said to Wanda when you first met.

“ Wanda maximoff,” she tells herself, “ you are a very pretty girl, you got this, pietro would tell you that you got this.”

You walk into the cabin a couple of minutes after to see Wanda standing in the kitchen next to an array of desserts, getting hungry at the sight of them.

“ WANDA HOW DID YOU DO ALL THIS ?” You say in an excited tone.

“ I wanted to talk about the admirer of yours actually,” she starts off while you sit down at the table along with her.

“ oh that ? Yeah I don’t think it’s Natasha but she’s been spending a lot of time with you , why ?” You casually ask her.

“ well it’s because -“

“ cause she’s only done this once with Bruce and while I know you wouldn’t hurt a single fly, I will throw you out side of a window if you-

“ i dont like Natasha , i like you" she interrupts your ramble before there’s silence between the two of you, the young woman in front of you mad that she didn’t get to do her plan.

“ me ?”

“ you’re so hot your hurting my feeling that I can’t deal, “ she says to you , while you chuckle at the choice of lyrics she uses. Wanda decides to take this opportunity to go towards you , life you of out of your chair to kiss you.

Not the way that she would of imagined it but it’s a memory she’ll cherish forever

[mrs-barnes-rogers-writes]

Sometimes Your Soul Family Is The Only Family You Need - Part 3

Marvel AU

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader x Steve Rogers

Summary: 18 months ago you were a mess but with the help of your close friends you start to rebuild your life. Your soul friendships maybe chaotic but they're your family, just as you're theirs. With one of them about to have a baby, you and your misfit friends are here to visit. But will you stay? And what will the small town think of you having two soulmates and why do you keep finding yourself in the same place as a bunch of hot bikers.

"Sometimes families are assholes, sometimes your soul connections mean far more than family ever can. Sometimes your soul family is the only family you need." - Nurse Maggie

Chapter Warning: None

Chapter Summary: Ryan is suspicious and you are panicked.

Your eyes were fixed on the blue grey ones staring back at you, your heart continuing to flutter and race in your chest. The eyes moved as the owner of said eyes rose from the back of his motorbike. Then the itching started, like nettle stings around the letters that marked your arm. The eyes looking at you seemed to go wide as you started scratch at your marks. He moved to cross over the road, only for his attention to be broken by the opening of the door at the store he had been sitting in front of. He glanced back between the door and you, a slightly panicked expression on his face.

“So they have your mid-level ones but not the strong ones, they’ll be in tomorrow, so we’ll need to get them before they close tomorrow, once we’ve closed the shop.” Steve.

“What?”

“Your painkillers” concern flashed across his face “Buck, you OK?”

He turned to face you again only to see you’d gone. The soft closing of the pie shop door the only giveaway you’d even been there.

“Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“You ok bud?”

“Yeah, I thought, I thought I saw someone.”

“Who?”

Bucky didn’t answer and pulled on his helmet. Steve shook his head and did the same as they headed off to Clint’s bar for the night.

“What ARE you doing?” Ryan asked, confused by the fact that you were trying to discreetly tiptoe into the pie shop.

“Nothing! Just stretching my legs, you told me to take a break.” There was a snark in your tone that Ryan couldn’t place.

“You’re being weird.”

“Is this your other friend?” Your attention was drawn to the grey haired woman behind the counter, who gave you a warm smile.

“Yes, this is Y/N, my taxi, best friend and soul friend.”

“Hello.” You replied softly.

Ryan frowned at you. You’d usually be full of hellos and nice to meet you but your walls were fully up.

“You must be exhausted from the drive.” She commented.

“I’m OK.” you replied feeling Ryan’s eyes on you, you looked for an escape, you couldn’t go back outside but relief flooded you as you saw the sign for the bathroom, “please may I use your restroom.”

“Of course sweetie, you go ahead.”

You dashed in pulling off the band that covered your wrist. Plenty of people covered their soulmate marks but it was more common with multiples. A way to avoid unwanted, and usually sex related, questions.

Looking down at the letters on your wrist, you saw the area around the deep letters was inflamed and you ran cold water over it in the hope it would calm down. You weren’t sure if it was the water or that you heard the rumble of the bikes pulling away that caused it to stop. Your heart slowed down and you weren’t sure if were relived or disappointed.

You didn’t have time to dwell when Ryan knocked and entered the bathroom.

“Hey”

“Hey yourself.”

“Are you sure you’re OK?”

“Yep, all good.”

“Is this anything to do with the staring hot biker that was outside?"

You faked a snort of laughter.

“No of course not.”

“Sooooo?”

“Sooooo, it’s time for the hospital.”

[wandafiction]

Banff - Just Us Chapter 82

Warnings: None

Word Count: 5952

Series List | Chapter 81 | Chapter 83

================================

"Right everybody strapped in ready to go."  I turn to look at the boys to make sure they have their seatbelts on, both of them giving me a thumbs up. 

"Wait, you forgot something." I turn to look at Wanda who's giving me the most innocent look.

"What did I forget?" Scrunching my brows as I go over the list in my mind.

Children. Yes, we have both of them.

Bag. Yes, it's in the back.

Myself. Yep I'm here. 

Phone, wallet, keys. Yep, yep, yep.

I turn back to Wanda who is pressing her lips together to stop herself from smiling. I look at the boys with a questioning look, who look just as confused and shrug not knowing either. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and when I look at her she has her lips puckered and tapping them with her fingers rolling my eyes I lean over giving her a quick peck on the lips. I pull away hearing the boys groan about PDA, and Wanda grabs my jaw with her hand. 

"That's what you forgot, and in my opinion it's very homophobic not kissing your girlfriend." All four of us break into laughter as I lean forward giving her lips another quick peck before putting my arm on the back of her seat so I can reverse out of the driveway.

"Why do you do that Y/n?" My eyes glance to Tommy before they continue to look out the rearview window.

"Do what?" 

"Put your arm on the back of the chair, and look out the window."

"Because that's how my dad taught me to drive. Apparently it is easier for a quick getaway if you reverse this way." I shrug as I turn back around putting the car in drive and joining the main road.

"Why is he like a spy or something?" Billy leans forward in his seat with excited eyes.

"Ha! He wishes Billy. He just likes driving as if he is one. He just tried to give me everything he wanted for his own children." 

"Is your dad, like a step-dad then?" I quickly glance in the rearview mirror in confusion at Tommy's question, then keep my eye on the road.

"Uh, no. He is my dad." 

"But you said his own children. Are you not his child?"

"Tommy." She turns her head to look at him wanting him to stop

"It's okay Wanda." I take a quick glance at Tommy, whose eyes are flicking between me and his mom. "I'm adopted, Tommy, so even though I call Clint and Laura mom and dad, because they are, I'm not related to them by blood. When I say mom and dad gave me everything he wanted his children to have. What I was trying to say is he raised me as one of his own and made sure he didn't treat me any different then he would when his children were growing up." 

"So Clint is your dad because you chose him to be and he chose you to be his daughter?" Billy joins in the conversation.

"Exactly. Most of my family are family by choice and not by blood. The only blood family I keep in contact with and have any relationship with is my sister Carol."

"Are you and Carol close?" Tommy's curiosity makes me smile.

"We are very close. Her daughter, my niece, is my goddaughter."

"So you're a godmother like Natasha and Yelena are with us?" 

"Nat and Lena are your godparents?" I let out an impressed hmph. 

"Yeah me and Vision also made them guardians, so that the boys would definitely go into their guardianship if anything were to ever happen." 

"Oh well it's the same with me. I'm a godparent and now legally a guardian to Monica should anything happen to her moms." 

"Monica's mom's? She has lesbian parents as well?" Billy asks with a large grin on his face.

"They are, yes. They have been together for quite a few years. I always forget but if you meet her you can ask."

"Okay. Mom did Y/n turn you gay?" Wanda chokes on air as I hold in the biggest laugh in my laugh.

"No Tommy Y/n didn't turn mom gay. You can't turn someone gay, she has always been gay."

"But she was with dad." Tommy rubs his hand over his face. "I'm confused. Billy, you made my brain hurt. Mom are you a lesbian? Wait no because you've been with dad. So you're bisexual?"

"Not quite Tommy. And just to clarify Y/n did not turn me gay, we just happened to find each other and feelings developed from there. I am pansexual."

"Pansexual. What does that mean?" I smile at Tommy's questions but make sure I keep an eye on the road only really listening to what's happening around me.

"That I'm attracted to anyone of any gender or someone who might not conform to any specific gender."

"Wait there's more than two genders and you can be no gender at all? This is so confusing." 

"Uh, yeah. Sexuality and gender are more like a spectrum, with there being so many different terms and names to label yourself if you wish to do so. Unfortunately, I'm not really one to ask about this. I don't really know much and I'm still learning. Does school not talk to you about this?" 

"No, they segregated us to boys and girls when teaching us basic sex ed. They didn't really talk too much about anything but what changes our bodies go through."

"Okay. Well how about we talk about this properly at a later date, when we can all sit down and have a safe space for you to ask questions and talk about things. We can learn things together that me and Y/n think are important for you to know. It's okay to be curious and ask questions, you just have to be careful with how you ask questions."

"Okay. Is this another adult conversation?" Billy asks as he settles back in his seat.

"Uh, more of a discussion. It's all of us as a family learning something together. And I'm sure if you have any questions Y/n will happily answer them if she knows the answer." I rest my hand on Wanda's thigh giving it a small squeeze in agreement.

"Can I ask a question now?" Tommy leans forward, still with his seatbelt on, so his head is between mine and Wanda's seat.

"Sure buddy go ahead." I take a quick look at him as he knows I'm listening before looking back at the road.

"I think I've heard someone ask this so I think I got it right." He takes a small breath and Wanda gives him a reassuring nod. "What do you identify as?"

"You're right Tommy, that is probably the best way to ask someone. But don't go around asking everyone, it's a question you ask when getting to know someone. Whether they are a friend, work colleague or family member who might have recently come out. I am a lesbian who uses the pronouns she and her." He nods a few times taking in the information.

"So you're a woman who likes women."

"One woman specifically but yes you are correct."

"One woman specifica….oh right mom. I see what you did there." I smirk as Wanda leans over to peck my cheek. "Okay and mom, what do you identify as?"

"I'm pansexual and use the pronouns she and her."

"Okay, cool. Now I've asked that I can stop worrying that I'm going to say something wrong." 

"It's less about you saying something wrong, because if you don't know it's wrong then you are not going to know not to say it. You, Billy and your mom are still learning and things are always changing. So like your mom said, you just have to know what questions you want answered but make sure you are with someone who is comfortable with answering questions like that."

"Are you comfortable with us asking questions like that?"

"Very comfortable."

"Okay. Thank you for answering my questions."

"Of course Tommy. If you have any more please don't be afraid to ask me, you too Billy."

"Thank you Y/n." I subtly nod as I pull into a parking space in the small parking lot, now realising the conversation filled the whole 30 minute journey.

"Okay we are here. Everyone ready ready?" Both boys scurry to get out the door, closing them behind them as they look up and down the street. "Can you walk?"

"Oh shut up." Wanda huffs out a laugh lightly hitting my chest before we both climb out of the car too where I end up breaking out into laughter earning confused looks from the boys.

"Why are you laughing?" Tommy asks with an amused smile.

"Just a joke I remembered, it's silly. Doesn't matter."

"Okay." He prolongs the word as he eyes me suspiciously, and starts walking away.

"Right, who's hungry?" All three of them raise their hands. "Okay follow me."

I move to the back of the car to grab my bag out, double checking my wallet is in there, as Wanda slides against me, her arms wrapping around my waist. Once I've closed the car I move my hand down to hold Wanda's hand, both of us wearing gloves as it's quite cold, and I lean down to leave a kiss on her cold red cheeks. The boys walk either side of us as their eyes search the surroundings in wonder as more shops come into view. 

I point down to a shop with a red door and window frame, and a few red tables and chairs for seating on the outside. They look up to the sign for the shop all raising their eyebrows in question but I simply open the door with my free hand, ushering them all inside. They look at the small shop that has one long counter that runs along the right hand wall. The three of them walk in front of the two display counters that have different ice creams and toppings in them. 

"Welcome to Beavertails, what can I get you guys today?" I look up to the smiling employee as my eyes wander the menu to make sure they still have my favourite.

"Well I know what I'm going for, but it's these guys' first time coming here so they will just take a minute."

"Sure no problem, just give us a shout when you're ready."

"Thank you."

I walk over to where Wanda and the boys are who are discussing what they are going to get, excitement in their eyes at the array of choices. Their eyes flick from the counters to the menus on the wall, while I wrap an arm around Wanda's shoulder pulling her against my side. Both the boys make up their mind so we head over to the counter where the employee is waiting for us. 

"So what have you folks decided on?"

"I will have the brownie one please." I inform the employee and turn to the other three.

"I will have the same as you baby." I smile softly checking to make sure they put it on the order.

"Can I have an Oreo one please?" Tommy's mouth waters just at the mention of the name.

"And can I have the triple trip one please."

"Of course. Can I get you guys any drinks?"

"I will go for the strawberry lemonade. Princess, boys what are you going for?"

"I will have hot chocolate please. Boys?"

"Same as you mom." The boys say in unison.

"That's creepy." I laugh at the employee's words.

"Tell me about it."

"Okay so your food and drinks will be ready just down there on the far counter in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

"And welcome to Banff, I've not seen your family here before so you must be visiting."

"Yeah we are staying up in the mountains." Tommy excitedly explains and the employee gives him a winning smile.

"Oh yeah? Have you seen any bears or wolves yet."

"No but we saw a moose that was bigger than the car."

"Yeah they do get pretty big. How long are you folks staying up here for?"

"Just until Saturday." They give me a small nod at my answer.

"Well we are expecting heavy snow fall tomorrow so just be careful if you decide to go out anywhere."

"We will. Thank you."

"Have a great day folks." With that the employee turns to serve the next group of customers.

It only takes a few minutes before we are called to grab our drinks and beaver tails which are half wrapped in a paper bag. Wanda grabs mine for me, as I grab all four drinks in my hands and nod my head to the door. Tommy opens the door for me and I place the drinks on one of the red tables, taking my seat. Wanda takes a seat next to me, handing me my food while we watch Tommy and Billy take a seat and grabbing their hot chocolates. 

All three of them look at me then to their food when I give them an encouraging nod. They all take a bite at the same time, humming at the taste of their food, Wanda's hand finds home on my thigh giving it a small squeeze as she continues to eat. I take a bite of mine smiling at the amount of chocolate and how it melts in my mouth. 

"They seem to get better every time I have them." I take a sip of my drink and a small satisfied sigh leaves my lips.

"Did you come here every time you came to the cabin?" Wanda's thumb starts rubbing circles on the outside of my thigh as she asks the question. 

"Yeah, it was kind of a tradition. We tried to come to the cabin as much as possible to get away from work. We normally came for about a week 3 or 4 times a year. 1 week in each season." I absentmindedly place my hand on top of Wanda's, my fingers pushing between the spaces between hers.

"Okay, so you're our tour guide today. Where else are we going once we've eaten?"

"So there is a Christmas store here that's open all year round, so we will head in there. But otherwise it's sort of up to you guys. There's a few museums around here if you want to have a look around those, or we can just go for a walk up and down the avenue." I take a sip from my drink as I wait for them to come up with something.

"Why don't we walk up and down the avenue and just go into shops that take our interests?" Tommy suggests as he finishes off his hot chocolate and starts making headway on his food.

"What about you two?" I look between Billy and Tommy.

"I'm good with just looking around."

"I'm not fussed,  baby. Just want to spend time with you guys."

"Okay so finish up here then take a walk?" I double check everyone's happy, taking a sip of my drink as they all nod. 

Suddenly, my drink is taken from my hands and I turn to look at Wanda in confusion until she takes a couple of sips from it with a cheeky grin on her face. She holds the straw between her teeth, as she smiles bashfully at me. I roll my eyes getting up from my chair, and when I get a confused look I hold my finger up to tell her I will be back in a minute. I walk back inside and the same employee greets me.

"Back already?"

"Hi yeah could I just get another Strawberry lemonade please." The employee looks out the window as they start making the drink.

"The other half do the whole 'no I don't want one it's fine' then stole your drink?" I laugh at the observation.

"No, I didn't get a warning. One second the drink was in my hand, the next it was in hers."

"Ah well here is your new one." The employee passes me my drink and when I go to okay they wave me off. "It's on the house."

"Thank you."

"Enjoy and don't let her steal this one."

"I will try not to but her puppy eyes are hard to say no to." The employee laughs as I head back outside and sit back in my seat.

"What were you doing?" Wanda says as she takes another sip of my -well her- half empty drink.

"I got myself another one so you can enjoy that one." Wanda's eyes dart down to the drink as the boys giggle as she takes the straw out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise how much I had drunk. How much did the extra cost you?" 

"It's completely fine Wanda. They're so good you don't realise how much you've actually had. And it was in the house."

"Now I feel bad." She pouts cutely as the boys roll their eyes. 

"Princess, it's fine. Stop worrying." I kiss away her pout by pecking her lips a few times and she ends up smiling against my lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Can you to save this for the bedroom please." Wanda's face flushes bright red at Billy's statement as Tommy laughs his head off wiping tears from his eyes, me trying to hold it in knowing if a laugh I'm going to get a head tilt. 

"Billy." Wanda's voice is barely a whisper as her face is on fire.

"Sorry mom, I couldn't not say it. The opportunity was right there. Have I embarrassed you in front of your girlfriend?" Billy giggles as Wanda grumbles and I notice the brush creeping down her neck, I place my hand on her thigh giving it a small squeeze.

"Don't even start." She tilts her head at me and I raise my hands up in surrender even though her voice has no anger behind it. 

"I love you." I close one eye as my voice croaks as I try my best to get her head back up level.

"I love you too." And suddenly she is back to her perky self and I see the boys eye each other then me and I give them a quick shrug. 

About 10 minutes later we are walking down Banff avenue which is such a unique and beautiful place to walk down. We haven't gone into any shops at this point, but we are just enjoying the sightseeing really. We walked past the Christmas shop and decided to go to it on the way back to the car so we don't have to carry stuff around. 

"Can we go in here?" Billy points out a gift shop as we pass. 

"Of course B, let's go." Wanda loops her arm around my right elbow as I keep my hand in my pocket. 

Billy holds the door open for everyone as I angle me and Wanda so she can enter first and I fluff Billy's hair in thanks as I walk past. He joins my side standing and tries to ruffle my hair, which doesn't really work as Wanda braided it for me this morning. Him and Tommy go off on their own as they look around the shop as I drag Wanda over to the teddy section.

I grab the perfect plush and hand it to Wanda who smiles down at it. It's an 11'' plush moose which has red and black plaid antlers and hooves. Wanda's fingers fiddle with the antlers as she turns it around to look at the whole thing. When she looks up at me I gently take the moose from her hand and wiggle it against her face making her nose scrunch and her infectious laugh passes her lips.

I hand it back to her and she keeps it held against her chest as we start walking around the shop. I talk over to where the beanies are, grabbing both a gold colored one and an orange one. Both the hats have a small black label on the front that has a few mountains on it and the name Banff on it. I put the orange one on Wanda's head and the other one on mine, her nose scrunches as she looks up at me as I edit the positioning of the beanie on her head. 

"What?" My voice cracks with how quietly I ask, as her soft eyes watch me as the light dances with the greens of them. 

"Just watching you." I smile down at her as I untuck some hair from behind her ear as I continue to make sure the beanie is sitting correctly.

"That's creepy you know, watching people."

"I don't think so. Someone that I love dearly would describe it as admiring." My hands finish fiddling with the hat, weaving it through the back of her hair to lay it flat on her back, since she straightened it today. 

"Well they sound like a very smart person."

"I wouldn't say smart, maybe sly and having used it to get into someone's pants. But I admired the effort." She whispers between us as she stands on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my lips.

"Well it seems to be paying off." Wanda smiles as she nods her head and presses her forehead against mine when I bend to match her height.

"Mhmm, definitely paying off." She pecks my lips a few more times only stopping when we hear a groan.

"Can you really not keep it in your pants for more than five minutes mom." Billy grumbles causing me to laugh when Wanda rests her forehead on my chest as her face once again becomes a tomato. 

"Billy. You're 14, why do you even know what any of that means, even more so when you say it to your mom." I laugh as Wanda rubs at her face to try and rid herself of her blush. 

"I overheard dad say it to one of his friends once." 

"Well even though it is a funny thing to say, to your friends. It is definitely something you shouldn't be saying to your mother." I cover my mouth with my hand ushering him over so I can whisper in his ear. "Not until you're older." 

"Okay. I understand. Sorry for embarrassing you mom."

"It's okay Billy. Go find your brother and if you have seen something you like, bring it to the till." Billy darts off into a random direction, I look down at Wanda to see she is already looking at me with tired eyes.

"Last night really tired you out didn't it?" She nods, placing her head against my chest and closing her eyes.

"I'm not complaining though." I weave my hands through her hair, slowly pulling her with me as I walk backwards towards the tills.

"Oh no?"

"Nope. I loved everything you did last night, and if it means I'm tired the next day so be it." Wanda keeps her head against her chest while I look around making sure not to walk into anything and that no one is listening to this conversation.

"So there's going to be a next time?" She tilts her head looking up at me with her chin resting on my sternum.

"There's going to be a next time, and a time after that, and a time after that." 

"Oh, is that right now?" I raise my eyebrows cockily as Wanda gives me a fuzzy smile as she nods.

"Yup."

"And how do you know this?"

"Because I said so."

"Oh because you said so?" I huff a laugh as she looks at me with scrunched brows so I lean down to whisper in her ear. "My baby girl thinks she has some control over when she gets to cum. Well only good girls get to cum." 

"Good thing I'm the best girl then." She whispers back huskily. 

Before we can say anything else I pull away slightly, moving her body to my side and wrapping my arm around her shoulder. Not having time to question why I stopped, the boys appear next to her, and her cheeks flush slightly. The boys place a hoodie and fluffy socks on the counter, Wanda places her moose on it and I remove both our beanies to add to the pile.

"Did you guys like your visit to our shop today?" The lady behind the counter asks.

"Yeah, the moose toys are so cute." Wanda's nose scrunches as she looks down to her new moose Teddy. 

"They really are. Do you guys need a bag at all?"

"It's okay I've got my bag with me." 

"Okay so two beanies, the socks, the hoodie and this cute little guy." She waves the moose in the air. "Come to a total of $192.93."

"Oh wait one more thing." Wanda rushes off having spotted something from across the shop. 

She quickly comes back with two crewnecks, one green and one grey. She opens up the green one showing me the front that says 'Wild' on it but the 'i' is a tall standing tree. She folds it back up, adding it to the pile of stuff as the woman puts it through. She unfolds the grey one and I smile when I see the plaid bear in the centre with the word mama written on it, before she puts it onto the counter.

"Okay with those two crewnecks added your new total is $257.91."

"Perfect here's my card." I pass my card off to the woman as I start neatly folding the clothes up so they will fit in my bag, then put the socks in. I put the beanies back on mine and Wanda's head, she once again watches me as I do so. I then put her moose in the top of the bag allowing the head to stick out once it's zipped up. I feel her brush it's big nose as I get handed back my card and the receipt.

"Thank you for visiting cool as a moose here in Banff, and please enjoy your visit." 

"Thank you. Have a good rest of your day." I grab onto Wanda's hand as the boys lead the way out of the shop, heading back up the street towards the Christmas shop we passed earlier. 

"Okay so this Christmas shop is open all year round?" Tommy turns around so he is walking backwards, Billy places his arm around the back of his brother so he doesn't trip over or run into anything. 

"Yeah it's got some pretty cool stuff in it."

"Do they have Christmas ornaments?" Tommy looks down to fiddle with his hands as Billy continues to help him walk backwards.

"Yeah they have ornaments, and lots of other things too."

"Can we buy some stuff together and hang them on the tree when we put it up?" My heart melts at the innocent question and before I answer Wanda speaks up.

"Of course we can, Tommy. How about we all pick out two ornaments and when the tree goes up on the 1st of December they will be the first ones to go on." I squeeze Wanda's shoulder, pressing my lips to the top of her head as Tommy's face lights up.

"Yes, let's do that." He turns back around giving a small thank you to Billy before we all come to a stop in front of the shop.

"In you go then boys." Wanda waves at them to go first while we hang back outside, so I turn to look down at her.

"You okay princess?" 

"Yeah, I just….where are you going this Christmas?" I bring my hands to cup her face.

"I normally go to stay with my sister for a few days, celebrating with her wife and Monica. Why is there something you want to ask me?" She smiles shaky at me as she takes a shaky breath.

"I know when we get back to New York we are going to be sticking to the whole space thing where you only come over at weekends, or I come to yours. But I was, I was." She takes in a deep breath closing her eyes, and when she opens them she must see nothing but love on my face because she visibly relaxes.

"Would you like to spend Christmas with us? Me and the boys I mean. Just the four of us?" I place my hand on her chin, tilting her head upwards as my thumb traces her lip. I bring my lips down to hers where I kiss them ever so gently and her eyes flutter closed.

"I would love to." Her eyes flutter open, to only nearly close again when her nose scrunches. 

"Yeah?" I nod as her eyes light up.

"Most definitely. Now let's head inside before Billy decides to make another comment." Her cheeks turn slightly pink at the insinuation as she links her hand with mine and drags me inside the shop as I giggle to myself. 

Me and Wanda mingle around the shop, as we see the boys every now and again getting excited at some ornaments they find. Wanda picks up a small white one, turning it in her hand as she looks at it keeping it hidden from view. Once she is happy with her first decision she turns around to show me what it is and I smile as I see the polar bear on an iceberg. My reaction must please her because she keeps it in her hand and continues to look around. 

I see Wanda pick up another one, looking back at me before turning back to whatever is in her hand. I am only a couple metres behind her looking for my own ornaments, picking them up and putting them back down. I get lost in twiddling one around so I jump a little when I feel a hand on my hip.

"Sorry baby." Wanda leans up to kiss my cheek as my eyes don't leave the ornament I'm holding. "Everything okay?" 

"Uh, yeah." My eyes don't leave the ornament in my hand taking in every detail.

"Baby you're crying." Wanda takes her gloves off to wipe at my tears and I take in a sharp breath as my fingers move to feel my wet cheek.

"So I am." My eyes dart to the tip of my fingers that are now wet from my tears, only to look back at the ornament.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Wanda's hand carefully brushes down my arms until hers cups the back of mine that is holding the ornament moving it so she can see it. "Seals?

"Sarah's second favourite animal ever." Wanda's hand squeezes mine. I keep looking at the ornament which is a mama seal with her pup sitting on top of an icicle. 

"Well then we are definitely getting it then." I shake my head finally bringing myself back down to reality. 

"Wait, huh." 

"Baby, it reminds you of Sarah. Yes?"

"Yeah." A watery smile appears on my face at the memories of so many Christmases with her.

"Happy memories by the looks of it."

"So many."

"Then we are getting this so you can remember her on Christmas, and all those memories you made together. A piece of her will hang on our Christmas tree, and everytime you look up you get to see it." 

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I can finally peel my eyes away from the seal ornament, looking right into those green eyes of hers.

"Once or twice, yes. But I'm serious Y/n, it is going up on our tree." 

"I love you princess. So much. Thank you for allowing me to remember her in this way."

"Of course baby, I never want to hold you back from allowing you to remember. And I love you so much too." I pull her into a tight hug, my arms around her neck while hers wrap around my waist and I press my lips to the top of her head as it rests on my chest.

"Okay." I take a few shaky breaths. "Let's go find the boys and pay for everything." 

"Okay." 

We manage to find the boys who have both managed to find two ornaments each, their eyes continue to search the shop as we head towards the tills. Tommy pops his two onto the counter, a Grinch face and a gaming one. Billy places his on the counter, one is Santa on a bull the other is a moose. I place my seal on the counter and Wanda places her polar bear with the rest.

"Only one for you guys. We said two things." Tommy scrunches his brows as he looks at the selection on the counter.

"Ones enough for us guys. But yours are some good choices." I ruffle his hair.

"So your total is $82.94. Would you like a bag."

"Yes please." I pass the woman my card as she places everything in a bag and hands it off to us. "Here's your card back. Have a good rest of your day."

"You too." I go to turn but when Wanda doesn't follow us I tilt my head in question.

"I will be out in a second. Just going to take one last look around." 

"Okay we will be outside." She nods her head turning back at the woman behind the counter as me and the boys walk outside. 

It only takes a few minutes for Wanda to reappear with a small bag, stuffed with tissue paper. When I go to take a look she gently hits my hand away hiding the bag behind her back. Holding my hand up in surrender I grab a hold of her free hand and start walking back to the car.

"We have one more stop." The three of them nod as they allow me to lead them back to the car.

~~~~~~

"And here we are." The boys and Wanda's jaws drop at the view ahead of us.

We all climb out of the car heading to the viewpoint in front of us. Wanda leans against the railing and I move up behind her, my hands either side of hers as I rest my chin on her head. She pushes her body back into my slightly, her hands moving to rest on top of mine as she slides her fingers between mine. The boys pull out their phones to take pictures, but Billy disappears to the car for a minute before coming back with his camera. 

I move my head, bending down slightly, to rest it on Wanda's right shoulder and she leans her head against mine. I turn my hands underneath hers so we are palm to palm as our fingers remain intertwined, and I watch as she turns her head slightly to look at me. We press our lips together in a chaste kiss before looking back to the view. I hear the camera click behind us a few times, but decide its best to ignore it and just let Billy do what he wants. 

Wanda let's out a small sigh as her eyes scan the forest, mountains and the Fairmont Banff Springs, which is a hotel that looks like it's from a Disney movie. 

"It's beautiful Y/n." I kiss Wanda's cheek causing her to scrunch her nose.

"Not as beautiful as you princess."

================================

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Just had a random thought. While thinking about the “Indiana Jones” original trilogy, I’ve developed a sort of newfound appreciation for the casting of Harrison Ford. My thoughts haven’t necessarily changed on this character, I still think Indy is fun but not that complex of a character, it’s just that now I imagine casting the character wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.

What Indy lacks in complexity, he makes up for sheer leading man charisma. This is a role where you absolutely need someone who can be able to act without saying anything. Because Indy has to be both:

1) convincing as an Everyman protagonist, in that he’s vulnerable and relatable enough that you can convince the audience that he’s not superhuman and is just a regular guy.

2) the coolest man who has ever lived. Someone who can walk into frame and exude “Yeah, I’m that guy” energy.

Harrison Ford really did have that level of charisma where he can be relatable and vulnerable enough to convince you he’s the underdog, but also make you think he’s the coolest person ever. I’ve tried imagining some other leading actors in the role and, honestly, it makes you realize that Indiana as a character needs more than just a handsome leading man.

Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t have been able to convince you he’s an Everyman protagonist. Sylvester Stallone is better at playing more vulnerable, complicated characters like Rambo and Rocky. Michael Biehn is good at the underdog role, but not necessarily at being the cool guy. Keanu Reeves, while I love the guy to death, is too wooden to be the charming, cool guy (he’s better off at comedy and darker roles anyways). Kurt Russell and Clint Eastwood were close, but I think they’re better off at being action hero badasses. Bruce Willis, I think he’s similar to Keanu in that he’s better off at comedy and darker roles (even his most famous action movie role as John McClane just shows he excels in being comedic, not necessarily being the cool guy).

The actors who I felt could’ve done Indiana Jones justice, aside from Harrison Ford, were Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, and Charlie Cox (Daredevil convinced me he could be the Everyman protagonist, She-Hulk convinced me he could pull off the cool guy role). And, if South Korea made the Indiana Jones movies, Won Bin came to mind.

EDIT: I just realized. Pedro Pascal! Just imagine a combination of Din Djarin, Joel Miller and Oberyn Martell.

I think “roguish charm” is what I’m getting at here. It’s actually quite hard to pull off the more I thought about it. For example, while I like David Harbour and his character of Jim Hopper, I don’t think Harbour can pull off roguish charm. I think that’s why Hopper came off so hostile and combative in Stranger Things season 3; Duffer Bros wrote him as Indiana Jones-like, but the end result was more off-putting than charming. As another bad example; Sean Penn in the movie “Shanghai Surprise”. That’s probably the worst example at an attempt at roguish charm.

Anyways, I’m curious. Which actor do you think could’ve pulled this role off convincingly?

[shuuen-no-cimory]

THE PART ABOUT HARPER-DONGRANG 😭😭 EVER SINCE I'VE SEEN HARPER IN THE GAME I COULDN'T STOP IMAGINING THEM LIKE A BLONDE DONGRANG FOR WHATEVER REASON

Also, what if Eden decided to pull Ishmael and, too, went on a ship? (sounds silly af i know)

HAHAHAHHAH OH GOD ANON YOU'RE IN FOR A STORYYYY So, there's two things About Dongrang and DoL cast that keep making me insane:

So,ever since last year I tried to make an MV that supposed to tell how 4 different Feathers from 4 different Wings life and struggle within the City. It is not until I got into DoL that I decided "Yeah, why don't I put the 4 students as its cast and roll with it?" For reference, here's the order of casts: Sydney, Robin, Whitney, Kylar. The idea was that the first part of the MV will show their fun, daily life while the second part would show more of the horror in the City. For K Corp. part, I was thinking "Oh, I want to portray that scene where Dongrang was working with Alfonso. You know, the one where he had one of the worker to help making the serum." And right after I started this project, I learned about Harper and Sydney relation that it goes boom in my head. Like, oh damn it JUST FITS. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I was thinking about drawing Remy with a cow but in a more melancholic vibe. The theme was "love that doesn't reciprocate". But at the same time, Dongrang came to my head and I was connecting one to one-- And I'm just,

... Ended up making Remy design that supposed to be heavily referencing Clint Eastwood (which, for me non-American to be someone iconic when you think about cowboy) to have Dongrang face instead. I mean, a farmer that tries to take care for his cow, but ended up rejected in a way that they run from them. Hmmm, yeah, sounds quite familiar...

* And... Eden doing an Ishmael? GOD

AGGGHGHHHHGHGHGHGHHHHHHGGHGHGHG

Do you know I fried my brain once when I read a QnA with Vrel where it says that Bailey sees himself as Ahab? I haven't been sane about that idea ever since. Tho, the idea was more of how my PC play as Ishmael with Bailey as Ahab. (The source of all evil, who was it in the orphanage if not Bailey?) BUT IF EDEN IS THE ONE PULLING AN ISHMAEL... DAMNNNN. It can go nicely but also can be real angst if you consider the idea of Bailey still as Ahab.

... Alternatively, what do you think about Eden as Queequeg, PC as Ishmael, and Bailey as Ahab? ;)

[deke-rivers-1957]

ECU High - Mike's Circumstances

One weekend morning Mike wakes up and heads downstairs to see his dad dressing up in his uniform.

"Where you going, dad?"

Mr. Edwards turns around.

"Last dusting of the season. I just got word from our neighbor Mr. Ling that he just got a promotion of a delivery driver."

"Wow congrats to him."

"Yeah instead of picking apples he'll collect 'em from orchards all over the Texas/Oklahoma border. Of course all that traveling means he'll need someone to watch Sue-Lin while he's gone during harvestin season. Think you'd want to do that Mike?"

He scratches the back of his neck. On one hand babysitting sounds like a girl's job but on the other hand, he wants a model plane and needs to raise money to do it.

"Sure I'll do it."

"Atta boy. You're 14 now so you can be left at Mr. Ling's house by yourself. If there's ever a problem you know momma's here."

"Thanks dad. Good luck on your flights."

Mr. Edwards smiles and walks downstairs to leave the house.

"Edith I'll be back in two weeks. If Walter comes by with Sue-Lin while I'm gone, Mike said he'll be fine babysitting."

"Ok dear."

She kisses him on the cheek and he walks out the door. Mike goes to have breakfast when there's a knock on the door. Mrs. Edwards goes to answer.

"Sorry for short notice Mrs. Edwards. Got called to work early. You are able to watch Sue-Lin?"

"Oh. Yes Walter. Mike said he'd love to babysit. I'll send him next door after breakfast."

Mr. Ling bows.

"Thank you for help. Hope you have good day."

"Thank you, you too."

He goes to leave as she closes the door.

"Mike that was Mr. Ling. He's leaving for work early so I said you can start watching Sue-Lin after breakfast."

Mike almost spits out his milk.

"Today?! But mom I was supposed to meet my friends at the mall today."

"Well unless you're willing to take Sue-Lin with you, you'll have to cancel."

Mike groans.

"I gotta call the guys then."

He finishes his milk and gets up to use the phone. He finally gets to calling Clint.

"Oh Ah don't mind if ya bring 'er round. Jus make it clear ta Pacer that yer bringin a lil girl. He don't really like surprises."

"Yeah I know but I hope he'd feel at least a little better once he knows she's a 7 year old Chinese girl."

"Wha's her bein Chinese gotta do with it?"

Mike stops for a second because he remembers that Clint simply doesn't know these things.

"There's a history of Chinese people being treated badly. Even though Mr. Ling hasn't had that happen in this neighborhood, it can still happen. Pacer would feel better about it because he can relate to that."

"Oh. Well Ah won't be mean ta her if that's what ya mean Mike."

"I know you won't Clint. I'm just telling you that Pacer might feel better because of it."

"Ok then. Ah'll see ya in a couple hours."

"Alright bye."

He hangs up the phone. Then he picks up again to call Pacer.

"Hello?"

"Um hi, Pacer. Listen I know you don't like surprises but there's gonna be a little change in plans today."

"What?"

Mike takes a deep breath.

"We're still gonna meet at the mall today as promised. I just need to bring someone with me."

"Who?"

"My neighbor's daughter. He got a sudden promotion to delivery driver so he's gotta travel a lot. She's a small 7 year old Chinese girl named Sue-Lin so he can't leave her at home alone."

Mike can hear a sigh over the phone.

"Ok. I just don't wanna answer personal questions."

"Oh yeah don't worry about that. Sue-Lin's the type that don't need to be told things twice. Mr. Ling's a first generation Chinese-American immigrant so he's still very traditional."

"Alright then. So long's that's the case that's fine."

Mike sighs in relief.

"Good. Thanks. I'll see you and Clint later then."

"Ok. Bye."

They hang up and Mike goes back to the kitchen.

"Is everything alright, Mike?"

"Yeah. Just had to make sure Pacer was fine. You know how he is mom."

She sighs as she washes dishes.

"Well it's not my business to pry, but it sounds to me that he could seriously benefit from some therapy. The poor boy is clearly traumatized and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I know mom. I think Clint being who he is has actually been helping him out. He doesn't feel as jumpy when you so much as talk to him."

Mrs. Edwards dries a glass.

"That's good but Clint's just a boy himself. Pacer needs a professional who can help him in a mentorship role. Why isn't Mr. Lightcloud a Native?"

"Yeah he moved from Arizona. His sister makes and sells turquoise jewelry. He's our world history teacher."

"Alright then, son."

Mike goes to the door.

"I'm gonna go next door and tell Mr. Ling I'm taking her to the mall."

"Alright Mike. Stay safe with Sue-Lin now."

Mike goes over to Mr. Ling's house and knocks on the door.

"Who is there?"

"It's Mike Edwards Mr. Ling."

He opens the door and gives a little nod.

"Thank you. Please come sit down on couch."

Mike comes inside.

"You have question?"

"Uh yes I do. I have some friends I want to meet at the mall and I wanted to know if I can bring Sue-Lin with."

Mr. Ling nods.

"Yes yes you can take her to mall. She needs to buy new clothes for cold weather."

"Ok. Is there a time you want her home?"

"I come back home at 5 pm. I want Sue-Lin back at 6."

"Yes sir."

Mr. Ling gives a short nod again.

"Good. I get Sue-Lin from room."

"Ok Mr. Ling."

Mr. Ling goes to Sue-Lin's room and knocks on the door. He starts speaking in Chinese to ask if she's ready.

"I'm ready daddy."

She comes out of her room in a traditional Chinese outfit with her hair in twin pigtails. Mike's heart melts with how cute she looks.

"Hi Mr. Mike."

"Hi."

"Daddy said you were taking me to the mall to get new clothes."

Mike smiles as he nods.

"Yes I'm taking you clothes shopping. I'm also meeting with some friends. Clint talks a lot and he'd love to meet you. Pacer though is very shy and doesn't like it when you ask a lot of questions. Once he gets used to you, he'll think you're a great little girl."

Sue-Lin smiles.

"That's ok Mr. Mike. I'll just talk with you and Mr. Clint."

"Alright then. Now your daddy said I gotta have you back by 6 pm."

"Ok Mr. Mike."

He stands up as Mr. Ling goes to the door. He speaks some Chinese to Sue-Lin and then to Mike.

"Are you going to mall now?"

"No I'm taking Sue-Lin next door for a couple hours since I won't meet my friends until later. My mom's going to drive us."

He nods.

"Good. I see you at 6."

"Yes sir."

Sue-Lin waves.

"Bye daddy."

Mike and Sue-Lin walk out the door to head over to his house.

"Momma we're back."

She comes out of the kitchen.

"Why hello there Sue-Lin. What a lovely outfit."

"Mr. Mike's going to take me shopping today. I saved four whole dollars."

"How wonderful dear. Now I have some work to do before I can take you and Mike to the store. You can sit down on the couch and watch some tv."

"Thank you Mrs. Edwards."

Sue-Lin and Mike go to the couch and sit down.

"So. What are you allowed to watch?"

"My daddy only lets me watch educational shows."

"PBS Kids it is then."

Mike turns to channel 13 and sees a show he's never heard of before.

"What's this?"

"Word Word! Everything's made out of letters to spell things. The duck is made out the letters used to spell duck."

"But what if you split the letters up do you just stop being awake? Like that sheep there, does she still know what's happening when she's just separate letters?"

Sue-Lin giggles.

"Of course she does. She's made of letters and she's a sheep which makes her alive. A lot of the shows daddy lets me watch is about reading and spelling."

Mike lets out a whistle.

"Man. Cartoons sure have changed."

"You watched cartoons Mr. Mike?"

Mike fiddles with his hands.

"Well yeah but they were very different. The Magic School Bus had its first episode involve the kids going to outer space. One of the kids froze his head and got a cold because he took his helmet off on Pluto."

"That's silly Mr. Mike. A bus can't fly to Pluto."

"And you can't make a sheep out of just letters silly."

She giggles and Mike realizes that maybe babysitting won't be so bad after all.

An: Sorry this took so long. Some installments are harder to write than others. If you haven't been tagged but wanna see more please leave a note down below.

Tagging: @mercsandmonsters, @vintagepresley, @thetaoofzoe, @elvismylove04, @ashtag6887,

@tupelomiss, @thedaisymaisy, @richardslady121, @arrolyn1114, @theelviseffect,

@elvisbooty76, @theladyofmylife, @xanatenshi, @just-another-boring-bisexual, @aliengoth3, 

@phil2135561, @gayforelvis, @ash-omalley, @eptodaytommorowforever, @wildhorseinkansas,

@alienelvisobsession, @comebackep, @presley72elvis, @leopardandstuds, @ellie-24, 

@heart-of-ep, @thatbanditqueen, @starboybutler, @be-my-ally, @myradiaz, 

@jaqueline19997, @louisejoy86, @peskybedtime, @lookingforrainbows, @kiankiwi, 

@your-nanas-house, @januarypresley1969, @justrae9903, @codalysssssworld, @burnthheparaphilia,

@joshuntildawn13, @briefpandatimemachine, @sillybookmarks, @tacozebra051, @cattcb, 

@perfectpresley, @vintagegirl50s60s70s80s, @lett-them-eatt-cake, @precious-little-scoundrel, @j-v-9-2,

@almightybigbrain, @pinkcaddyconfessions, @miniaturerunawaykid, @msamarican, @hooked-on-elvis,

@doll-elvis, @idk583838, @queencreole1958, @queenncreole, @them-rts,

@thelonelyheart, and @theelvisprincess.

[ynscrazylife]

His Agent

Summary: When the Avengers save a team of kidnapped S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, they discover something new about their Captain.

A/N: I’ve been working on this fic for a little while and I’m proud of this idea/plot so I really hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

The first clue that something was off was the change in Natasha and Clint’s behavior. They could usually hide it, being master spies, but it became difficult to constantly put on a mask around the people you live with, people you saved the world with. Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor all noticed how the pair retreated into themselves like turtles would into their shells. They had always been reserved - Natasha especially - but it went to a deeper level now. They would talk in hushed whispers to each other, were always hunched over something, their backs to the rest of the team, and were distracted when it came to Avengers business. 

The next clue was when Director Fury postponed his meeting with the Avengers. Since establishing the initiative, he had made a point to have monthly meetings with the team to discuss any recent updates, missions and threats. Fury was adamant that these meetings were very crucial to the Avengers’ success, so to hear that he was pushing it back right as they were gathering around the conference table was a surprise. Still, not enough for them to think it might be related to Natasha and Clint’s behavior. Fury said the meeting would be in a few days, that was all. 

Then, things went from being off to being wrong. They all sat at the table, ready to see Fury’s face come up on screen, but he never appeared – Deputy Director Maria Hill did. 

“What happened?” Natasha asked almost immediately, not even letting Maria get a word in as she leaned forward in her chair. It was clear that she knew more than what she was letting on. 

“Director Fury cannot make it today, he’s dealing with a crucial issue, one that we hope we can call on you, Avengers, to help us with,” Hill said, her words flowing calmly, but there was still a spark of urgency, almost desperation, in her eyes. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, wearing a puzzled look. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming to them for help when they had the best agents around the globe, and the Director was attending to it, they must be in some sort of crisis. 

“A week ago, we lost contact with a six person team that had gone undercover to investigate an uprising organization who’s been trying to create their own superhumans. We received intel that they had been torturing people and creating illegal serums and devices for their superhuman projects. After being unable to contact any of them, we also found that none of their trackers were online,” Hill explained. 

“So you think their cover was blown?” Tony guessed. 

“We do, yes. We had a team scout the building the agents had gone undercover in a few days ago and found no sign of them. We think that they’ve moved them somewhere else,” Hill answered. 

“Who’s missing?” Bruce asked. 

A file flashed onto the screen, a list of names with pictures. Everyone leaned forward in their seats to get a better look, their eyes skimming the document. The sound of wheels rolling back caught their attention as Steve suddenly stood up, spun around on his heels and walked out of the room. The door slammed shut behind him.

“What the hell was that?” Clint asked, utterly confused - like everyone else. 

Hill sighed. “It may have something to do with one of the Agents on the list – Y/L/N. She helped Steve a lot after he came out of the ice, they were good friends,” she said. 

//

One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One– 

Steve panted as he stared down at the punching bag which clattered to the ground, sweat coating his raised biceps. 

“You know, if you really want to get your frustrations out, you should spar with someone,” a voice floated into his ear and Steve glanced up, only to see you lifting some weights. 

He straightened his arched back, dropping his arms. “Oh, yeah? How do you reckon that?” He asked, curious. 

You smirked. “You’re not the only one who’s broken the bag,” you said, shrugging. “Though, it took me a lot longer without the super strength.” 

Steve raised his eyebrows, wondering what got you so mad, but not commenting on it. Then, he couldn’t help but fix you with a confused gaze. 

“What?” You asked, still smiling at him. 

“You’re not, uh, gawking at me,” he said. 

You chuckled, asking, “Am I supposed to?” Before he could answer, you made a silly, dramatic jaw-dropped, eyes wide face, causing Steve’s laughter to mix with yours. 

“Ever since I woke up, everyone’s kinda been . . . gawking at me. Except for Director Fury, that is,” Steve said. 

“Well, I’ll admit, I kinda gawked at you at first when I heard about you . . . But I saw you one time, in the medbay . . . I don’t know how to explain it, ‘cause you weren’t just Captain America, you know? When I saw you, with all the blankets and the wires and stuff . . . I just thought about a guy who had been something traumatic. I thought about the Steve that your war buddies always described you as,” you said. 

From that day on, you were a light in Steve’s life. You two became fast friends and, at least on Steve’s part, his attraction for you grew exponentially, and you even spent some time with him at the Retreat. After joining the Avengers, he had been so busy that he hadn’t seen you and now . . . Your name was on a list of MIA Agents. 

He paced up and down the hallway outside the conference room, hand tangled in his hair. All logical and rational thoughts jumped out the window as panic seized his body, twisting his heart into a knot. His mind was filled with you: your name, your image, your memory. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from giving him horrible scenes of you being tortured or experimented on by these freaks. Hurt. Kidnapped. Scared.

The only way to get you back was to return to the conference room and face it, so that’s what he did. Thankfully, no one called out his abrupt departure, they were all focussed on Hill’s debrief. She was saying something about how she thought they were close to finding another base of the group’s, where they might have the captured agents, but could use Natasha’s hacking and cyber skills to decode their intel. She readily agreed. 

“Can you guys suit up and meet us at headquarters?” Maria asked, to which they all nodded. She ended the call and the Avengers all spurred into action, splitting up to change into their suits and arm themselves. 

On the way out, Natasha patted Steve’s arm. “We’ll save them,” she assured her friend, but he picked up on what she was really saying: “We’ll find Y/N.” 

// 

Steve realized pretty quickly, as he changed into his suit that if he wanted to get through this without falling apart, he’d have to switch to his Captain mode. He had to think strategically - they were saving a team of agents, not just you (even if you were the most important agent to him). He’d put Natasha, Clint, and Tony on fighting the kidnappers, Bruce would standby with the medical team in case they needed the Hulk, and Steve himself and Thor would recover the hostages. He also assumed they’d have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to secure the base and to back them up. It was a solid plan, Steve told himself, and it was going to work. It had to work. 

When they got to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters, Steve relayed this plan to the team. Everyone was on board and now it was a waiting game as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to crack the location. Steve was about to wear a hole into the floor with all the pacing he was doing, his heart hammering in his chest. Every second that passed felt like a decade. 

After the location was found, it was all a blur. Coordinating with the agents, talking with Hill and Fury, and getting to the base seemed to just all pass by. The moment he woke up was when he was entering the base alongside Thor, the agents and Avengers ahead of them to take care of their enemies.

“I can handle the rescue, Captain. You can focus on your agent,” Thor chimed in as they walked down the hallway, towards the cells they were told the hostages were in. 

Steve paused for a second to look at his friend. “Are-are you sure?” He asked – for once the mighty soldier was taken aback. He wanted nothing more than to devote all his attention to you, but he also knew he had a job to do as an Avenger and a leader. He owed it to all the hostages to give them his best self. 

“He has me, of course he’s sure,” Tony’s voice came from behind them as he approached. Steve could practically hear the snark in his voice (Tony Snark, he should be named, but he’d have to save that quip for another time). “They’ve got it handled up there so don’t worry, Cap.” 

Steve looked from him to Thor, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Okay,” he agreed, emitting an unspoken word of gratitude which both men received. For the first time in a long time, he felt a weight being lifted on his shoulders. For once, he got to abandon Captain America for a second and walk in there as Steve. For you. 

The three Avengers walked down the rest of the hallway and turned, finding a row of cells. Thor and Tony took charge, allowing for Steve to glance through all the cells until he found you. Finding you was what he wanted but the sight he was met with when he actually laid his eyes on you shattered him. The urge to vomit and also send every person responsible for this to hell hit him in one fell swoop. You were sitting, slumped back against a dirty metal pole that your wrists and ankles were chained to. You were still wearing your S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, though it was dirtied, bloodied, and torn in places. So was your skin, Steve realized. He ached at knowing you went through pain. Your eyes were closed and Steve hoped to God that you were simply sleeping.  

Steve quickly bent to his knees and used his shield to break the chains, the harsh clang rousing you from your sleep. You mumbled something he couldn’t understand and he hushed you softly. “It’s alright, I’m here. It’s Steve, can you open your eyes?” He asked. 

It took you a couple tries, but eventually you got there. “S’ve?” You tried to say, struggling to talk. 

“Yep, it’s me,” he affirmed, feeling a pang at the fact that you could barely even speak. When he had thought about when he’d see you again, this was never in the realm of possibilities. “I’m getting you out of here.” 

True to his word, he hoisted you up in his arms. He had to put you over his shoulder like a Fireman’s carry in case there were any lingering enemies that escaped the team. Being upside down was surely uncomfortable for you, but he wouldn’t risk not being able to defend you. With long strides and quick glances, Steve got you out of there. 

Stepping outside into the world, he slowly lowered you down and maneuvered you into a princess carry, not going fast so as to not dizzy you. In the distance, he could see your other teammates getting loaded onto ambulances, with some of the Avengers assisting. 

“Hey, you with me?” Steve checked in, returning his attention to you. You were definitely out of it, eyes glazed over as you looked at him. You didn’t seem to really get what was going on, but you didn’t look panicked, so you must’ve known you were safe. With him. 

For a second - Steve was taken back. The tired look in your eyes reminded him of the aftermath of the first time the two of you had sparred together. 

“Are you sure you want to spar together, Y/N?” 

“What? You don’t think I can take you? Prepare to have your ass beat, Rogers!” 

With the super soldier serum running through his veins, it was actually you who had your ass beat by the blond man. You had probably known that would happen when you said it, too. Still, Steve needed to train and you were determined not to let his superior strength intimidate you like it had done with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Afterwards, you had insisted you were fine, but Steve knew that the many rounds you guys went through had exhausted you. He tried to apologize, but you refused to hear it. You knew what the terms were and you agreed to it - he won fair and square. You had fallen asleep on his shoulder that night, much like how you looked like you’d fall asleep in his arms now, and Steve swore in that moment that you were the most precious thing ever. 

“Steve,” you mumbled, blinking slowly at him like a cat. His heart thumped with such force in his chest - oh how he regretted drifting apart from you after he became an Avenger. 

“Hang on a little longer. We’ve gotta get you to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical,” he said, shifting you up a little higher in his arms before heading over to the ambulances. 

“S.H.I.E.L.D.?” You echoed grumpily, eyes half-closed. 

Steve bit back an amused chuckle at the way you scrunched up your nose. Truly like a cat (or a kitten, but he knew you’d raise hell if he called you that). You never much appreciated the medical agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. You knew they meant well, but something about the whole thing made you uneasy. Steve was well aware of that and he thought about it as you walked. The Avengers had a pretty good medical facility . . . Not to mention, the thought of leaving you again and walking away like he had done with the Avengers felt like a knife twisting in his gut. He couldn’t do that. 

“Would you rather recover at the Avengers’ tower? I’m sure I can make the arrangements and I’ll, um, I’ll be around much more,” he offered, his eyes finding you again. He could never look away from you for too long. 

Steve was still a little nervous about this. You had every right to say no, to be mad at him for abandoning you. If you did make the decision to go to S.H.I.E.LD., he’d show up in your room with flowers as much as you’d let him, he decided. 

“Mhm,” you hummed, nestling your head against his bicep and closing your eyes. 

That was like music to his ears. He knew that things between you weren’t 100% back to normal, but this felt better than what he had ever expected. With a newfound purpose and his feelings for you blossoming, he marched towards the other Avengers to tell them about their new addition to the compound. 

[didyoubringauntienat]

Flashbacks

Description: You have flashbacks about some of the best moments you and Natasha had.

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader (she/her pronouns used)

Warnings: angst, psych ward, kissing, mentions of alcohol, drunk Nat (please message me if I've missed anything)

Word count: 1313 words

Taglist: @stephanieromanoff @haeva @lilaloubear

You didn’t really expect to find yourself in this position, a 5’3 redhead using you as a human crutch after having one too many jägerbombs at one of Tony’s parties. “Have I ever told you how much I love you Y/n?” You sigh before looking down to see Natasha giving you a surprisingly goofy smile as you basically dragged her to the lifts. 

To not hurt her feelings, you give her a soft smile. “Lets get you to bed and you can tell me how much you love me when that killer hangover kicks in.” She groans at that as you gently rest her against the lift wall, you press the button for her floor and sigh as you lean on the wall next to her. “Just close your eyes for a bit, I’ll make sure you get to bed.”

It was your first day dealing with some new recruits. Clint had told you that he had recruited an ex assassin and had asked you to guide her as he felt the both of you could relate to each other. You being an unwilling hydra experiment forced to do missions that still keep you up at night and from what Clint told you (which was very vague), she was a black widow. 

You opened the door to the training room to see a petite woman with fiery red hair tied up into a neat ponytail, looking down at her feet. You stopped and looked at her for a second before making yourself known. “Are you Clint’s new recruit?”

As soon as she heard you speak she looked up. She cleared her throat as she finally made eye contact with you. “Natasha.” You furrow your eyebrows and open your mouth to question her but get cut off. “My name is Natasha and yeah Clint recruited me for shield.”  

You nod in understanding as you walk over to the boxing gloves. “Well Natasha, Clint’s recruit,” You look up at her as you tighten the straps on the gloves. “Shall we start?” 

“Come onnn Y/n! Just stay for a little bit… I want no I need cuddles” You sigh as you sit down on the edge of the bed. You feel the bed dip before her arms wrap around your neck loosely. “You’ve been so weird with me recently… I miss you” You frown and look at the floor. You have been distant lately. 

Without saying anything you lie down and hold your arms open for her, which she gladly collapses into. “Don’t throw up on me okay?” She giggles (which she only does when she reaches this level of drunk) as she snuggles up to your chest.

“I promise baby… give me kisses though.” You laugh at that before gently kissing her hair. 

“I’ll give you proper ones when you don’t smell of vodka and jäger” You laugh softly at the pout she gives in return. As you pull the blankets over you, you feel lips press against yours, hard. You freeze up for a moment before you kiss her back, quickly smoothing out the hard and slightly sloppy kiss. Her hand moves up and caresses your jaw as she deepens the kiss. You reluctantly pull away when air becomes a problem. “You’re drunk. Go to sleep and I’ll give you all the kisses you want tomorrow.” 

She sighs but nods in agreement before resting her head on beneath your chin. “Good night baby, I love you.”

You inhale sharply before wiping away a tear. “I love you to, sweet dreams.” 

“Romanoff. Take these reports down to agent Y/l/n please.” Tony smiles at Natasha as he sees the blush form on her cheeks. 

She quickly grabs the reports and leaves the room without saying a word. She groans when she hears the team break out into laughter as she waits for the lift. Natasha steps inside when the doors open. She jumps and turns around when someone grabs her shoulder, without thinking she punches them square in the mouth.

“Ow! Fuck Nat! What was that for?” You hold your mouth as it bleeds. You look up to see Natasha with a shocked face and her hand covering her mouth. 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry Y/n. I didn’t know it was you…”

You shake your head as you rub her arm. “Its fine, I would have done the same thing.” You smile after licking your busted lip. “So where are you going then?” You smirk at her as you step closer. “Maybe I could keep you company?”

She blushes at what you say. “Actually I was on my way to see you. Tony wanted me to give you some mission reports.” You finally notice the folders that are pressed against her chest. Her hand moves up and gently caresses your jaw. Her thumb wipes away the last of the blood. “I’m pretty sure the whole team knows I have a crush on you…” 

You do your best to hold back a smirk. “I bet Rogers and Banner aren’t happy about that.” She rolls her eyes at the comment but doesn’t say anything instead she kisses you gently, being careful of your small injury.

“Why would I care what they think when I have you?” She mutters against your lips before kissing you again, completely forgetting the lift was going somewhere.

As the lifts open you whisper between kisses, “I love you Nat.” You smile down at her after saying it. Not caring about the agents standing awkwardly outside waiting to get in. 

“I love you to Y/n.” You smile and grab the reports and her hand before leading her out the lift towards your office.

“How long do you think we have to keep her here doc?” Wanda sighs as she watches you through the window as she talks to Dr Cho.

“I honestly don’t know Wanda… She’s made no improvements, she still talks to Nat as if she’s here. There has now been mentions of Tony as well. To be honest… I don’t even think she realises that she’s at a psych ward.”

“Is there anything I can do? She’s all I have left… Everyone who ever cared for me is dead.” Wanda wipes away a tear as she watches you stroke the air before you hug yourself.

“I’m sorry Wanda… But this is all we have, we just have to be happy that she’s a lot more stable now than when we first brought her here.” Helen smiles sympathetically at Wanda before leading her towards her office and away from you.

“She didn’t even get to say goodbye to her…” 

“Do you see yourself getting married Y/n?” You and Natasha were currently resting in bed, the sheets lazily thrown over the both of you.

“Why do you ask?” You furrow your eyebrows as you look at her. She sighs as she rolls onto her front, the top half of her body resting on your chest.

“I don’t know, we’ve just never spoke about marriage and… kids. I just wanted to know your views on the whole idea.”

You sigh and look at the ceiling as you think of the best way to answer it. “I’ve never really thought about it… I just know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so if that means we get married then so be it. I’ll do anything to make you happy.” You smile at her and peck her lips “I love you so much Nat, you’re my soulmate.” 

She smiles at you before tackling you into a passionate kiss, nearly knocking you off the bed. As you kiss her back, all you can think about is the small black ring box in the drawer in your bedside table. You were going to make this woman your wife. Even if its the last thing you do.

[natashaslesbian]

I had this idea, not sure if it's odd as it's a love language I'm not sure is relatable. It would be a Natasha x Fem!Reader story. Reader has a seemingly useless power. Her nose grows longer whenever it's poked. Natasha is the only one that finds potential in her power. Natasha pokes reader's nose often to reach items too far from them or to disguise her nose as a tree branch or a flagpole. Reader admires Natasha for bringing the best out of her power. Oh, and in order to shrink her nose, Natasha has to kiss it.

I’m Not Pinocchio

A/N: this req was so cute and I hope I wrote it well! I have been so sick but wanted to get this out so it may not be my best it’s also not proofread :/

Word Count: 926

Parings (Natasha Romanoff x Reader) (Clint,Yelena,Sam,Tony x Reader

Warnings: None I believe

————

“Alright then” Tony said “this is a relatively low risk mission so I’m only sending a few of you” you sat back in your chair, hoping that Tony would therefore avoid choosing you “so Barton, Belova, Romanoff and Pinocchio, I’m gonna send you 4” the team giggled at your classic nickname, well everyone but Natasha. It might be easier for you to laugh along if the joke was actual good, Pinocchios nose grows when he lies, but yours just had to be poked. It was like Tony had found an easy way to call you a liar as well as useless. “If it’s low risk cant the three of us just go?” Clint asked “we don’t exactly need Pinocchio do we?” You huffed quietly “please can you stop calling me that” you said as politely as possible “hell nah! It suits you!” Sam laughed. “Y/n is a good fighter and she’s great at stealth, she’ll be a great addition on this mission” Natasha backed you up, you shyly smiled “all we have to do is get this flash drive, in an abandoned building, there’s not really gonna be anyone to fight. So three spies should be enough right?” Yelena chirped in. Natasha shot Yelena a look then mumbled something in Russian you couldn’t understand. Whatever it was had Yelena biting her tongue “ok fine she can come” Yelena sulked. “Then it’s settled” Tony said “you four go and suit up”

The mission was going well until it wasn’t. ‘Low risk’ you thought, this was anything but ‘low risk’. Apparently someone had tipped off the Hydra agents who returned to the abandoned building to retrieve the USB before you could. The agents came out of nowhere, from every angle. Clint and Yelena were further ahead, you and Natasha had an easy fight. Her superior skills next to yours meant you were able to quickly take down the 6 agents that had targeted you. “Romanoff! A little help!” Clint called, you rolled your eyes at his choice of not calling you to help. You soon realised though, they definitely needed your help too. A large group of agents had surrounded Yelena and Clint, the pair were struggling, being knocked down every few minutes. By the time you approached it was too late, the agents were blocking your three teammates seemingly not even noticing you were there. You were even useless to the enemies at this point. You did what you could, slowly the four of you began to take down the agents. When you finally broke through to find your teammates you were only met with Natasha frantically searching her surroundings “where’s Yelena and Clint?” You asked, Natasha turned to you with a small flinch, she calmed when she realised it was only you “they got them!” She said “they took them inside the place is completely barricaded!” Natasha had no idea what to do, you desperately needed back up but the area was so remote that even the highest quality Stark tech wasn’t working.

You both paced in silence for a few minuets, trying desperately to think of a way to get to your friends. This moment caused you deja vu, the two of you thinking of how you could get back on track. Last year in Berlin, a bridge you were supposed to cross collapsed. You had to get to the other side, you needed the key left behind by a former Hydra agent. Thanks to Natasha’s quick thinking, you were finally able to get it. She redhead came and poked your nose, seemingly out of the blue and much to your disappointment. For the first time you were able to use this curse of a power for something helpful and Natasha was never going to let you forget it, especially after you told her how your nose was to return to its usual state. You came back to reality and ran to Natasha’s side “I’ve got it!” You exclaimed.

“Ow Natasha!” You exclaimed “do you ever file your nails?” Her sharp fingertips were digging into your thin skin with each poke “I’m sorry” she almost giggled “just a few more then we should be able to reach it” the ‘it’ in question was a large keypad attached to the exposed brick wall. The land around the base had collapsed, revealing a large ravine much too dangerous to try and cross. Natasha knew that Clint had trick arrows that would aid the pairs journey back but they had to find them first. “Ok ok, we’re there!” The redhead exclaimed “now what?” You questioned “it’s not like I can type with my nose” you said “hey, you can do anything you put your mind to, you have a gift and I’ve seen you use it for so much good” Natasha began “you have?” You cut her off “I have” she smiled. A sudden banging broke your trance “is that them?” You said “must be” Natasha said.

“Ugh that was such hard work” Yelena rumbled with her Russian accent, Clint closely following behind, Natasha helping both of them up the last few rocks near Barton’s trick arrow “how did you guys open the door?” He asked “Pinocchio can actually be helpful” you shot at him with a side eye.

Natasha wasn’t just the cold hearted assassin she let everyone believe she was. She saw the best in you and later when you told her how you needed her to shrink your nose, she knew after the first kiss to your long nose, she was never letting you go

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[observeowl]

Natasha Romanoff

Last updated on 1 Jan 2024

Series

Right By Your side

Her Assistant

Unwanted Marriage

Second Chance

One shot - Latest one on top

Sleepwalking - You started sleepwalking again when Natasha went missing

Ghost Dates - Someone has been sabotaging R dates

Scared - There's something that prevents R from approaching love life like a normal person

Moonlight - After being injected with a serum, R have a unique allergy that prevents her from going out at night

You're not supposed to know - R has a secret relationship with her boss that no one knows

Not Kicking - R gets a little scare during her pregnancy and Natasha is there to calm her down

To say goodbye - Natasha get a call that R was in a serious accident abroad and she immediately packs up to leave but was stopped by a mutual friend with gifted powers

Mini-boss - Natasha makes sure no one bullies her baby

Fever - Natasha woke up to find R sick

Distraction - Too many people are competing for the attention of Natasha and you're just not able to compete with it even though you were supposed to be given the priority. After giving her chance time and time again, R just couldn't take it anymore Distraction Part 2 - After leaving Natasha 3 years ago, Fury calls R back and R agrees under a special condition

Sorry Mama - Due to R being sick, Natasha was removed from the mission and spends the day taking care of her

Next Chance - 5 years after Natasha's pregnancy, they talk about having a second kid and potentially R carrying

A Chance - Natasha and R talks about having kids and their journey

Seeing Red - R found Natasha in with Steve against her will Seeing Red part 2 - Natasha ends up getting pregnant with Steve's baby and has to make a decision if she wants to keep it or not

Mama Sick - Natasha woke up sick. Wanda and R tries to help make Natasha feels better

How am I going to trust - After a celebration and lots of drinking, Steve and Nat did something that they both regretted. Is R able to live with that fact if she continues to be Natasha's fiance?

After a night's sleep - R has a unique disorder that she hides from everyone until she got hurt in one of the mission. How long is she able to hide her secret for?

Miscarriage - Natasha wasn't there when R needed her at the most desperate times Miscarriage part 2 - Natasha tries to make amends for her mistake but will R accept her again?

That's... mom? - An offhand comment made Loki change Natasha into a toddler. Take a ride to see how R takes care of Natasha for a few days until the magic wears off

Avalanche - R, Steve and Natasha faces an avalanche during of their mission. In order to save the village, R risk herself and ends up buried in the snow

Fading - R has cancer

Admit it - R has to take certain measures to make sure Natasha admits she is sick and takes her medicine

This is as far as I would go - R refuse to take actions on her feelings about Natasha and Natasha has to take things into her own hands when she realises

Falling asleep - Can you always count on Natasha to prevent you from sleeping during meetings?

Cake - Natasha found a new hobby during COVID-19. But, she still has lots of room for improvement and R couldn't bear to break her heart

Helping Hands - R likes to help whenever she could and Natasha loves her for it

Nerf Gun - R and Natasha gets into a friendly shoot out with their nerf guns at home Nerf Gun part 2 - R past caught up with her and she was forced to kill Natasha. But, she still has a last trick in her sleeves to save her loved one. Natasha didn't know that the mission she was assigned to was related to R

Unrequited - Natasha is oblivious to the crush that R has on her and Clint loves to tease R for it. R willing to do anything for Natasha Unrequited part 2 - R tries to hide from Natasha to control her feelings but it didn't work

Do you want another winter soldier? - R is stuck in a freezer during a mission and Natasha tries to free her before it is too late

Needle - R is afraid of needles and it was time for the yearly checkup for the Avengers. Things took a serious turn when Natasha dragged you to the medbay

Temperature - R hides a disorder from Natasha and she finds out in a mission together

Nobody - R abusive family background haunts her at night and Natasha comes to calm her down

Last Name - After having a fallout with your father, you went to legally change your last name

Birthday Week - Why R is always missing during at the same time?

Different Facade - R has different faces at different times

Prosopagnosia - R has a disorder and the cute moment between R and Natasha

Sick once a year - R is sick

Learning emotions from pictures - R hides that she doesn't know what emotions are and Natasha helps her

That's not how you do it - R comes back from a mission and shows Natasha her trick in interrogating

[captainsophiestark]

October Fic Recs

Happy end of Fictober! I feel like I got to read a good amount this month, although by no means have I come close to scratching the surface of everything Tumblr's incredible creators made in October. Fortunately, that means I still have a lot of great stuff to read into November! Everything I did get to read is linked below the cut, so go check out those awesome fics and make sure to tell the creators how much you loved what you read!

If you want to see what else I've read, you can find my fic rec masterlist here

Star Wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader

A Chance Taken by @ghostofskywalker

A very sweet childhood friends to lovers fic with Obi-Wan with an incredibly fluffy promise of a happy ending

Truth Serum Isn’t Real …Oh Wait Kriff by @ghostofskywalker

A very sweet and funny fic with a love confession thanks to Count Dooku, with Anakin helping move things along on Obi-Wan’s side

Anakin Skywalker x Reader

The Long Game by @anakin-skywalker-always

A very fun fic with Anakin and reader’s POVs as they dance around each other, with bonus reactions from Obi-Wan and Ahsoka and Cal Kestis as the reader’s Padawan!

Mini Matchmakers by @ghostofskywalker

This is literally the funniest, sweetest fic with Anakin and the twins. Luke and Leia make excellent matchmakers, and the fluff overload combined with the author’s usual humor is unbeatable

Intimidation by @idontknowwhattoputasmyusernameee

A freaking adorable and SUPER relatable fic with many many many awkward moments of the reader fumbling things around her crush, only to get to the happy ending

Trapped, Cold, And Annoyed: Another Mission With Anakin by @ghostofskywalker

SUCH a good fic that felt like a moment pulled out of the Clone Wars with a recurring character we just never got to meet. Great dynamics and vibes that fit the show with a very sweet and soft hopeful ending

Poe Dameron x Reader

Rainstorms with Poe Fall Blurb by @alwritey-aphrodite

Soft cozy adorable fic with Poe and the reader getting to take a break together from Resistance work, aided by Leia

Poe Dameron Vs. The Claw Machine by @ghostofskywalker

This is a very sweet and VERY funny modern AU with a date at the arcade with everybody’s favorite flyboy Poe

Every Time You Walk By by @girl-next-door-writes

This was so sweet and fluffy even in times of hardship for the Resistance, and it was also from Poe’s perspective which was really fun to see!

Marvel

Clint Barton x Reader

Congratulations! You Just Won The Shock of Your Life at 2am! by @ghostofskywalker

A very sweet fic with some comfort for Clint! #1 best person to find in your kitchen in the middle of the night, no contest

A Virtual World by @trekkingaroundasgard

Some excellent hurt/comfort with Clint, which can be read either romantically or platonically, and with a VERY cool way of writing and describing the superpowers of Clint’s partner

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Wedding Bells by @xxwritemeastoryxx

Some absolutely adorable Elijah fluff! We love a story where someone gets past Elijah’s fears of putting someone at risk to get to their happy ending

Kol Mikaelson x Reader

You’ve Never Seen Halloween Town? by @drakoneve

A super sweet Halloween fic with Kol, tons of decorating, and preparations for an excellent movie marathon

Harry Potter

Theseus Scamander x Reader

Just This Once by @its-vannah

An adorable fic with flashes through time that show different glimpses of Theseus and the reader throughout their time getting to know each other and being in a relationship

Ron Weasley x Reader

The Yule Ball by @marvelslut16

A very sweet fic with Ron and the reader at the Yule Ball, with my personal favorite meddling sibling matchmaker trope! George is very chaotic and it works to everybody’s advantage

Pirates of the Carribean

Elizabeth Swan x Reader

Terror of the Seas by @ghostofskywalker

Getting revenge and starting a crew with Elizabeth Swan? Yes please. Also the fluffiest concept ever, of looking for a place to run and instead finding a place to belong

Star Trek

Christopher Pike x Reader

Pancakes by @space-helen

The softest, sweetest domestic fluffy morning with Captain Pike. This is it, this is the dream