#ell phd era when!

[mediumtires]

hello mediumtires :D i wanted to say how inspiring it is that you were able to write so many cool fics and also a thesis

that is actually crazy you are so cool

oh my, anon this is so sweet 😭 to be so real with you i have not updated my current wip in almost a year because i was writing thesis (and! in fairness! 100k of 7ylp!) BUT we’re SO close to being SO back!! this thesis was in many ways a lot nicer and easier to write than my first and it was worth it because it opened many doors for me however i also cried many tears. can only recommend :) i love academia :)

[rewolfaekilerom]

thoughts on the beguiled.

I’ve wanted to watch The Beguiled since I saw the trailer for it in 2017, but I never ended up seeing it. I also didn’t hear much hype around it in the 19C US lit academic community, which I was definitely a part of at the time of its release. I saw–I think–a Vogue article on it, and a few articles came out about the costuming or historical setting. It was directed by Sophia Coppola, so that carries some weight–or it should have. I can’t speak much to the film’s popular success, but I can say that it wasn’t a thing in academia. That surprises me now, especially given how popular the recently released Green Knight movie has been in the medieval academic internet. Maybe The Beguiled didn’t get much buzz because it’s a remake, so anyone who would’ve hyped a movie in 2017 had already seen the original, or maybe it’s just that 19C US lit academia hasn’t come to fully appreciate films about that time period (I’m not sure I buy that because everyone had something to say about the most recent Little Women adaptation). Basically, I’m surprised the 2017 The Beguiled wasn’t required viewing for every PhD student in 19C US lit in the same way that literally any single one of the Little Women or Anne of Green Gables adaptations has proven to be. Is it because The Beguiled focuses on the South? Is it because it’s a remake? I don’t know, and now that I’m not in academia, I’m not sure I really care. It’s just a casual thought that prompted this post.

If you haven’t seen or heard of The Beguiled, it’s like Misery meets Little Women but set in the Civil War-era South. The recent adaptation stars Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell. The basic premise is that Colin Farrell’s character is a Union (Northern) soldier (originally of Irish descent) who is wounded in battle and hides in the woods to die or … recover? He’s found by a young Southern girl who’s attending an all-girl’s boarding school in the area; she’s out picking mushrooms, finds him, and brings him back to the school so the headmistress can care for him. The five or six other female students at the boarding school–and the headmistress–quickly become enamored with Colin Farrell and begin competing for his affections. They heal his leg, and he begins reciprocating everyone’s attention. He tells Kirsten Dunst he loves her, he shares a few heavy emotion moments with Nicole Kidman, and he flirts repeatedly with Elle Fanning–all while the other girls and women are in the room. It’s bold behavior, but what does he have to lose? Well, actually, a lot because Kirsten Dunst finds him one night in bed with Elle Fanning, and when he approaches her to apologize or explain (honestly, what is his goal????), she pushes him away from her–and down the gigantic plantation house’s stairs. He’s knocked unconscious and his sutured leg injury reopens, so Nicole Kidman decides to amputate because he’s losing a lot of blood (but actually because she’s jealous that he went to Elle Fanning’s bedroom). He awakens from the surgery and is BIG MAD. He calls everyone on their bullshit but also goes into a drunken rage because he only has one leg and the amputation was performed for, frankly, illegitimate reasons. Kirsten Dunst tries to calm him down by having sex with him, but the other women plot how to get rid of him (oh yeah, he grabbed a weapon–I missed how he got it. Did he already have it? I thought Nicole Kidman had one too?), and they decide to have Mushroom Girl go get the bad mushrooms. They feed them to him, he dies, and the leave his body outside the gate for whichever army to pick up as they pass. That’s it. That’s how the movie ends.

I liked this movie; it was fine. Was it what I’d hoped for from Coppola? Not at all. Marie Antoinette is one of my favorite movies and I always how Coppola will make films in that same style. The Virgin Suicides has a lot of that same energy, and I love that film too. The Beguiled definitely feels like a Coppola movie. It has a similar dreamy and ethereal quality, but here there’s a darkness and underlying tension that some of the (literally) brighter films don’t always have–visually, at least. Or, maybe a better way of putting it is that the true bright, dreamy, and ethereal scenes are fewer and further between in The Beguiled than they are in the other two films I mentioned. Whereas the dark, saturated tones appear pretty much throughout in The Beguiled (except in a few very key moments), Marie Antoinette and TVS are dominated by those bright, dreamy, ethereal tones, and the darker, saturated tones appear in very strategic moments to signal Serious Business happening. As a viewer, I don’t mind the difference, but I’m not sure if the dark, saturated tones in The Beguiled always accurately reflect other depths of the film–most notably, its plot. But more on that in a second.

To get the thing out of the way that I’m supposed to talk about as someone with a PhD in 19C US lit, the historical stuff in this film works. It’s not trying to be irreverent or fanciful with historical tropes like, say, Marie Antoinette. That’s not a value judgment; it’s just a comment. Frankly, I don’t really have too much to say about this film’s historical aspects. Whereas I usually have some opinion of costuming (the recent Little Women adaptation is wonderful but there are … things I don’t love) or how historical subject matter from the period gets treated in films, in this case, I really wasn’t distracted by any significant historical inaccuracies and there were only a few times that I was like “wait a second, is this right???” Honestly, the biggest cause for that question related to some of the evening wear, which looked a little cheap, but that’s whatever; also, Civil War-era garments aren’t something I know especially well, so who am I to judge?

I appreciated the film’s take on women’s–well, some women’s–concerns during the Civil War, including the threats posed by roving military troops on both sides of the conflict, the loss of loved ones (and the sense that their lives are halted but also must go on), the mindless regurgitation of stereotypes about enemy soldiers, etc. I also love the way the film portrays some of the more mundane aspects of these women’s lives–the monotony of sewing, housework, and learning French to speak … with one another–and some of the unique situations caused by wartime population changes, including middle- and upper-class women’s need to perform outdoor labor (I was surprised to see them using shovels, for instance).

I was, frankly, extraordinarily disappointed to see that the film pares the household economy down to a group of middle- and upper-class white women with a casual comment about how all of the enslaved workers left prior to the film’s opening. I understand that this detail further emphasizes how alone and isolated this group is, but for a film released in 2017, it frankly felt like a cop-out. It’s unfathomable to me that a Southern Gothic film set during the Civil War wouldn’t have one single Black character and could write an entire population off in a throw-away line at the beginning of the film. Black Americans played essential roles in the US economy during this period–in all periods, but I’m talking about this one specifically here–and they were pivotal figures in the Civil War itself. They held especially pivotal roles in the South’s (really, the nation’s) economy, and their relationships with domestic life in that region were so complex, rich, and, frankly, worthy of all the attention in the world. Did the film’s producers not want to hire more actors, or did they think a group of white people having old-timey white people problems was enough to bring in audiences? The 19C was full of a million different stories of how enslaved southerners responded to the war and how their lives changed–especially in the South–because of it, so to not depict even one of those stories strikes me as … well, representative of what’s wrong with this film.

Okay, so I lied when I said I didn’t have an opinion on the historical stuff in this film.

My big issue with the film–well, other than (or connected with) the fact that it completely ignores literally the most important population of society during the historical moment it depicts–is that this film’s content doesn’t seem to live up to its visual richness and depth. What I mean by this is that the film’s deep and rich visual style–the color saturation and tones mentioned above–don’t mesh with the plot and characters, which are collectively underdeveloped. I think the underdeveloped plot is fairly straightforward–I didn’t need to leave much out in my summary above, and that paragraph is shorter than most emails I send. This is a film without subplots, which has made me realize how important subplots actually are for fleshing out a fictional world–even a fictional world I know a lot about and am able to imagine my own depth for. The story is a love triangle (with a few extras) in the South during the Civil War. That love triangle could take place literally anywhere and anytime else and it’d have basically the same tension. I’m not even sure you really even need the enemy soldier dimension of Colin Farrell’s character because it’s barely an issue; the majority of the tension comes from the threat a man poses–even an injured one–to a group of women, and that’s timeless. We, as a society, are also obsessed with the idea of women fighting for a man, a storyline I’m getting a bit sick of because it’s just another way we pit women against one another. But that gets to something else, which is the lack of character development. The characters–all seven of them or whatever–are stereotypes. Kirsten Dunst is the shy one who underestimates her beauty, Colin Farrell is an undercover Casanova (a 19C fuckboy, shall we say?), Elle Fanning is a flirt, and Nicole Kidman is a stern (and vindictive) older unmarried woman. We also have the spoiled rich girl and the silly sweet (but also unexpectedly vicious) girl. And Mushroom Girl is the nature-lover, who we know will be expected to conform to societal expectations the second the war ends and she reaches a certain age.

Frankly, the most interesting part about this film is imagining what is happening and will happen outside of what it shows on screen. I spent the entire time I was watching it wondering what these girls’ families were doing, how the soldiers just beyond the camera shots were faring, what the home’s previous (enslaved) domestic laborers were up to and where they had gone (and what their lives were like here before the war), what would happen to the girls in the days and months following the events of the film, etc.

TL;DR: It’s a flawed film that wasn’t terrible to watch, but left me wanting more–a lot more, and not in a “oh, make a sequel!” kind of way but in a “what was left on the editing room’s floor?” kind of way.

xoxo, you know.

[tonksiefea]

So We Danced|| Philinda

A/N: I have not written things in a long time (Except my little excerpt in the Hot Potato challenge with Strike Team Alpha to help friends) so this may kinda suck! But I enjoyed writing it! Than you the beautiful, perfect, love of my life, best friends @agentsphilinda​ For betaing and being an all around flawless person and encouraging me to write this and for @marvelelle​ for helping with the Chinese. I hope you enjoy your nods! If you want to hear the song that inspired it that’s here!

Summary: Cadet Melinda May and a group of Ops Cadets practice under cover missions in a supposed Hydra bar where they have to learn if the bartender is an Agent of just a man. When Melinda leaves her purse she gets more than she expected.

McLernean’s was either a very obvious cover or a very stupid choice by a civilian. Melinda supposed that someone who wasn’t looking for a Hydra base wouldn’t actually think it was a reference to the Lernean Hydra, and thus the organization. SHIELD, however, was looking for a Hydra base and that made the little bar a big target, though one generally safe enough to be used as a training exercise for ops students at the Academy in field training.

Melinda was watching as most of her ops class tried to hit on the bartender and buy him drinks. The cover was a bachelorette party, the mission was to detect traces of Hydra and ascertain if the bartender was a civilian or an agent of Hydra. Most of the girls seemed to think throwing themselves and their cleavage at the admittedly handsome bartender was the way to do it. Melinda wasn’t convinced and so far the results were less than stellar. She hated undercover and she was not going to flirt with him or try to buy him a drink. Sure he was cute, had nice eyes and his tank top showed off a good set of arms. But Melinda had never been the type to walk up and flirt and he wasn’t responding to that anyway.

She was watching Elle strike out with an abysmally obvious offer to sleep with him and a terrifying implication that she was offering to do so right there. Melinda was pretty sure from the guy’s face he got the same impression. Elle had gotten pretty close actually, at the very least he offered to call her a cab and wait with her for it to come. That was when Melinda got hit with an idea. Subtly she put her purse under her chair and waited for the end of the night when the bar would call its last round.

Eventually patrons started to file out. The six agents in her group had all taken a look around and found little things here and there about Hydra, but still had no traces on the bartender. They all seemed frustrated and some were even overtly upset the cute guy hadn’t picked them. A few seemed to be eyeing her, annoyed she hadn’t tried. She wasn’t going to point out that if he hadn’t responded to their tactics throwing herself at him wouldn’t fare much better. On the way out she broke from the group all headed back to the Academy telling them she had something to do. They all assumed she was meeting a boyfriend and let her go. She had a different plan.

Phil Coulson, doctorate student, was working in a seedy but somewhat respected bar in DC. Sadly studying for a PhD in History did not pay well, so here he was every night and weekend he could spare, working for tips and trying to get through life.  He stood in the middle of the bar sweeping the floor, hoping he could clock out soon. They were finally closed and it had been a crazy night between the two bachelorette parties and some very drunk women hitting on him. More than usual too.

Phil was grateful for the job, he really was. It was the only place that encouraged him to work on his studies and even let him study In in the bar. In fact, as weird as it seemed his slightly creepy boss would sometimes drill him on WWII facts and ask him details about the events Phil loved researching. It was kind of fun and had endeared the guy to Phil, even if the round glasses and white hair and often cold exterior was off putting. He didn’t mind quiet people, they were puzzles and he loved solving them.

When she walked in she looked like a puzzle and he was pretty sure he wanted to solve her. However, he also knew his boss would kill him and he had a paper to work on. “Sorry, but we’re closed.” He said smiling. “I know a pretty good bar near the Smithsonian that might be open though.” He offered smirking. He loved going to those museums and then going for a drink after with friends and drilling facts or debating which part of history was best.

“Thanks, but I’m not here for another drink.” She assured “I actually think I left my purse.” She admitted. Melinda didn’t smile, not often. She smiled when she pranked or when it was earned but for ops it was still hard for her to smile believably.  She hoped her tiny smirk would do for now and it really did. That small smirk was enough for Phil to pause and his heart flopped a bit giving her a smile and pushing up his glasses.

“Oh yeah, I, uhh, I actually found one earlier, I bet it’s probably yours.” He offered walking behind the bar. It didn’t fit her at all. It was pink. She didn’t look pink. She looked Navy blue or grey or silver. The dress she was in now was powder blue and while it looked amazing on her, it just wasn’t right. He had always prided himself on reading people and reading her said she wasn’t really the type to wear what she was wearing. “Were you with one of the bachelorette parties?” He asked making conversation.

“Yeah, my friend’s getting married. They’re very in love, it’s nauseating.” She said smirking. She was thinking of Stefanie and her sci-tech boyfriend Nick. They were the ‘married’ couple tonight and they really were cute if a little over the top about it but that was from actually being madly, sickeningly in love.

He smirked pausing. “You don’t like love?” he asked astonished. That was crazy for him. Who didn’t like love? He wanted to get her a drink. He wanted to get her a bunch of drinks and talk to her for hours. At this point he had to know everything.

Melinda smirked “I like it just fine. But being around it when you’re single can be annoying.” She reasoned and once again he found himself shocked. How on earth was this woman single? “If you like love so much why didn’t you respond to any of those girls trying to get you drinks?” She asked slipping into a stool that was still down. Her feet were killing her.

He smirked and pulled out some glasses. “I was on the clock working and they were drunk. It’d be taking advantage and my mother taught me manners. Scotch?” He offered smiling and trying for charming, but there was a decent chance it ended up a bit more dopy than that. It didn’t matter much though, because that dopey was absolutely perfect for Melinda. She was used to guys being composed and suave and he couldn’t seem to do that. Oh, he was trying, but he wasn’t quite there and it was completely disarming when she was used to agents. They were always composed.

“I thought you were closed.” She countered. She absolutely wasn’t flirting, and if she was giving him a teasing look, well that wasn’t anything to talk about.

Phil shrugged “I never said I’d charge you.” He pointed out pouring them both glasses and sliding one over.

“Oh a bad boy.” She teased lightly taking the drink and not taking a sip quite yet. She’d given him some things, now it was his turn. Besides, she didn’t trust the scotch quite yet, not until she knew for sure. She was pretty sure she had him hook line and sinker.

He laughed loudly at the thought of being conceived as anything like a bad boy. He was the opposite. He was a nerd with a penchant for old tech. “Oh yeah, didn’t you know? Historians are absolutely the bad boys of Academia.” He joked.

“Historian?” she probed. That was exactly what she was looking for!  Information on him and what he knew.

He nodded and pulled out a text book bringing it over. “Yep. I’m a student at George Washington U. Going for a PhD in History. I specialize in World War II Era history.” he said excitedly. “I love those old organizations like Hydra and SHIELD!” He gushed.

She tilted her head and looked him over taking a sip of the drink. He was officially harmless. His face was sheer joy and excitement but bringing that up he was either the best spy ever, or a Civilian and with the way he behaved she was betting civilian. She’d seen traces of Hydra all over but he seemed completely out of it. “Why does a PhD student work here?” She asked before she could think much about it. She didn’t talk, not ever. She wasn’t the talking type, but for some reason hearing him gush excitedly about history sounded like one of the most enjoyable things in the world to her at that moment. She was starting to think she was drunk but she’d only had one sip of scotch.

He laughed. “Grad School doesn’t pay well.” he said simply. “Besides, my boss isn’t so bad. A little weird but he loves it when I talk about my studies into Hydra and SHIELD and some of the important, lesser known facts about the Wars. I’m doing my Thesis on the potential location of Captain America’s body based on his last known mission and the events after.” He explained. “He was really into hearing about that. And Hydra which is weird cause SHIELD is way better!” Phil gushed quickly before realizing he was letting out all of his nerd right onto the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Why was she here again? How was she still listening to him? Oh Right! “Oh your - your purse.” He said and whirled quickly blushing and digging for the pink bag which confused the hell out of Melinda. He’d been holding her history hostage while all she wanted was to get her purse and go home.

She’d been sitting there amused and gathering the info she needed about what he knew and whether or not he worked for Hydra when suddenly he was pulling back. And what did he mean purse? She didn’t carry purses! Then she remembered she was under cover. “Yeah I need that.” she agreed smirking. “But you’re right, SHIELD is way better.” she said smirking. He was kind of perfect. He was a civilian, knew SHIELD but didn’t know it was still around and he was sweet and awkward and cute. God this was a terrible idea. The look on his face when she said that though was heart melting. He looked like she’d just offered him the world.

Phil couldn’t imagine a better fate. Here was a goddess standing in front of him and she knew SHIELD. She was a dream come true. He looked at the pink bag in his hands and smiled. “I have a condition for you getting this back.” He said holding it away from her as she tried to reach for it. He saw the muscles in her arm and was pretty sure she could rip him in half with very little effort but this time he needed to be brave, for love.

She quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms under her chest. “Condition?” what condition could that be. She was ready to slap him if he asked for a kiss. He was cute but she wasn’t that easy.

He smiled like she held the stars and nodded proudly. “You have to dance with me.” He said brightly thinking it was the perfect option.

“I don’t dance.” She said flatly. He was asking her for a dance? What kind of old fashioned crazy person was he? He was asking her to dance with him. It was cute. Horrifying but cute.

“You can’t dance?” He asked not believing her for a moment. She was so graceful when she walked and she held herself beautifully. She had to dance. Her walk was a dance.

“No, I said I don’t dance, not that I can’t.” She corrected. “I happen to be a pretty good dancer. I just hate it.” She said simply.

His jaw dropped open for the thousandth time since she’d walked in the door. How could one person surprised him so many times in less than an hour? Had it been less than an hour? He’d lost track of time a while ago. “Who hates dancing! It’s great! You sway and move and there’s music and you get to hold the person you’re with. It's amazing!” He insisted.

“If I dance with you will you stop talking about dancing?” She teased lightly and he nodded excitedly.

“And you get your purse.” He pointed out making her laugh. He loved her laugh. She had the best smile and the most beautiful laugh and her hair looked so soft. He could not wait to dance with her.

Melinda huffed and looked around. “Alright, turn on the music.” She agreed and he instantly set to work putting on a song.

If Melinda was expecting this to be a ploy to cop a feel on her she was completely mistaken. One hand stayed at her waist, the other at her hand and he waltzed her around the floor to a slow jazz song that played from his phone on the counter.

“Still hate dancing?” He asked her smiling as he moved with her not pressed too close but close enough to feel like the luckiest man in the universe being this close to her.

She smiled a little looking into his eyes. This close, being held, she didn’t feel like an agent on a mission. She had gotten her answers, this guy was not Hydra, he was a nerdy college student working on a history degree and being utterly charming while he did it. “Yep.” She insisted and saw him start to pull away and smirked. “But maybe a little less now.” The instant she said that the smile that lit up his face was astonishing and he spun her expertly  before pulling her just a touch closer.

“You really are a great dancer.” He complimented totally lost in holding her and moving. She was amazing to see and as they danced, her long hair brushed his arm just slightly and he’d been right. It was so soft.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She said smirking and actually enjoying herself for a while. She had to admit being this close to him and seeing him like this she might have been falling for his nerdy, eager charms.

She could hear the song coming to an end and expertly she slipped her hand down just a bit, distracting him as she slid her hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. She cursed having very little space to hide anything in her dress but after a final dip and a smile Phil was quick to turn around and hide his blush. He looked cute all red face but it gave her time to slip his wallet into the cleavage of her dress before he handed her her purse. “You should… come back sometime. If you want to.” He offered looking hopeful.

Melinda smiled warmly at him. “I might have to take you up on that.” She said and leaned up kissing his cheek and taking her purse walking out the door and counting in her mind pulling the wallet from her cleavage and looking in it to try to find a business card.

She just found one when he burst from the doors. “Hey did you---” He stopped seeing her smiling standing there pulling something from his wallet. “You took my wallet? How did I not feel that?” He asked totally stunned. He didn’t feel it because he was distracted by the rest of her body being pressed against him but still.

She smirked “It’s my talent.” She said reading the business card in her hand. “Phillip Coulson. It even has a picture and a cell phone number.” She said looking up. “Good thinking Phil.” she said tucking his card in her bra.

“What are you going to do with that?” He asked. He was flirting. Well, he was trying really hard to flirt but there was a picture of him now pressed against her breast and that was definitely not something to think about. He was suddenly glad his actress mother had forced him to put his picture on his business cards.

She smirked looking him over. “The card I keep. The wallet you can get back.” she said and he started to reach for it and she pulled it away. “On one condition.” she said smirking.

He swallowed terrified of what this condition could be. At the same time it seemed like the most amazing thing in the world. She looked like she was going to be very clever and he could not wait. “What’s the condition?” He asked, mouth dry looking in her deep brown eyes totally lost in them.

She smirked “You have to kiss me.” She said simply and his face broke into the widest smile anyone had ever seen.  A beautiful woman was asking to kiss him. It was amazing. Phil wasn’t sure he was able to figure out words at this point so he just nodded and moved in kissing her. It was sweet.  Slow and gentle and learning. Their lips pressed together, hers soft, his a little dry, both tasting of smoke and scotch. His hand tangled in her soft hair and it was just as soft as he thought it would be. One of her hands rested on his bicep squeezing just slightly to feel the slight muscles and he was glad his mother had always instilled a work out routine in him. He deepened the kiss slightly, their tongues meeting awkwardly at first but after a moment finding the perfect rhythm. It was the kind of kiss people wrote songs about, the kind of kiss that defined the world and made fireworks go off. The kind of kiss that, if you’d asked Melinda an hour ago, didn’t exist.

Just like that, it ended and she slipped his wallet back into his pocket slowly letting him feel it this time as her hand basically cupped his ass in his pocket. She smirked, nipping his lip as she drew away and he absently chased her lips wanting more. He was short of breath and she was feeling a little disheveled too.  She smirked up at him loving the look he was giving right now, bewildered and sweet. “See you around-- Phillip.” she said popping the last ‘p’ and walking off with a sway in her hips to her car.

She went to her car SHIELD had provided and took a deep breath to calm down when a call sounded. She picked up the in-car phone and knew she was in trouble. “May.” She greeted to the operator.

“Cadet May, why didn’t you return with the rest of the team?” A gruff and scary voice barked over the comms and she just knew it belonged to a one eyed man.

“I was finishing the mission sir. I got a final answer on the bartender.” She explained  tensely. Her body was still humming from him and she looked out the window seeing him on the phone himself gushing and looking so happy and she smirked. “He’s clean. No ties to Hydra. He’s a history student and other than preferring scotch to taquila he’s innocent.” She explained.

Fury grunted on the phone. “A bit too much information there Cadet.” He said and she blushed glad he couldn’t see her. Of course she’d messed up. Phil was just too damn distracting waving his arms excitedly.

“Sorry sir.” She apologized. “I’m on my way in now.” She said professionally.

Phil watched her get in her car and instantly started dialing. “Hello?” A woman’s voice came over the phone and he smiled so grateful she answered.

“Aunt Peggy? It’s Phil.” he said smiling and really not sure where to go with this. “Remember how you said when you met Steve you knew he was the love of your life?” he asked.

“I remember.” Peggy said sounding amused and so proud. “What’s her name?” She asked.

Phil stopped in his tracks watching her drive and his heart broke. Oh God! He never got her name. “I--I don’t know.” He said sadly and she had a way to contact him but he had no way to get in touch with her. He was ready to give up when he felt a buzz on his ear. “One sec Aunt Peggy.”

Melinda by the way. Good kiss.

Phil smiled and looked at the red tail lights and waved seeing her hand wave back in the shadow of her car. She was perfect.

Finals were murder. Especially at Operations Academy. She was in constant pain as she moved and covering it well. She hadn’t seen Phil in weeks. After the op they had started spending a lot of time together. She visited him at the bar, on campus, at his apartment. They met for dinners. Everything was perfect with him and Melinda May did not believe in perfect. But when she was with him everything was calmer. The world felt like it was balanced, like he was a balance. He was so full of life and love and joy and her total opposite, able to pull her out of her shell. They didn’t dance again, thank God, but they would tease each other constantly and she would play pranks on him, anything to make him laugh.

The last year of being with Phil had been perfect. They had even spent christmas together bundled up under some very thick wool blankets and nothing else for nearly a month when they were both on break. It had been a very good break.

Today she had finished her last final of the semester and they had just celebrated their anniversary. She had been nearly positive he was going to propose on their anniversary. He had been hiding something from her and she had been sure that was it, but their day came and went and while the dinner was lovely and the post dinner celebration was even more so, he hadn’t asked. Today she was going to his bar, not Hydra’s anymore. They had cleared out the Hydra ties and now that it was clear it had new management but they had promised to keep Phil on as a thank you for the work May had done on the mission. She was going to sit with him and have a drink to celebrate being done with finals and having a few weeks to spend with him distracting him as he typed away about Captain America and Bucky Barnes.

When she walked in she instantly noticed something was off. There were no regulars in the bar. In the corner were two women. One looked Distinctly like Peggy Carter, the other looked like an old movie actress, Angela Martinelli. Behind the bar was Phil but he wasn’t in his white tank. He was wearing a Navy Blue button down, no tie, and black slacks. The top two buttons were undone, just enough to see the hint of skin under. He looked practically edible. She looked over seeing her mom and dad and looked back to Phil. The lights were lower than usual and all the tables that usually had beer nuts and spills had table cloths and flowers and candles. “Bàba? Mā?” she asked her parents then looked to him. “Phil what’s--” She knew the answer to her own question but she was was suddenly as scared as she was happy and she didn’t know how to control her emotions for the first time in her life.

Phil walked over to her and smiled taking her hand. “Hey Lin.” He said using the nickname only he ever used for her and only in special moments. He knelt down and took a velvet box out of his shirt pocket. Melinda instantly laughed. He was kneeling. He looked like white a sight down on one knee.

“Phil what are you doing?” She asked. This was why she loved this adorable man so much. He did everything by the book.

He chuckled “I kinda hoped that was obvious but I’ve never done this before.” He admitted and opened the box showing her a beautiful white gold ring with a small diamond. “I know it’s not much but I’ll get you another one once I can afford it. I just really wanted to actually use a ring. I asked your dad for permission.” He started explaining.

Melinda rolled her eyes laughing. “of course you did.” she interrupted teasing.

“Hey I wanted to do this right!” He insisted. “But he told me to ask your mom. I see where you get your scariness from.” He said smiling and making her laugh and nod sniffing a bit. “But talking to her just reminded me how I’m the luckiest man in the world. We met because you were here trying to see if I was secretly evil and I thought you were a drunk girl at a party who left her purse and stole my wallet.” He said and they heard two laughs from the women in the corner and a wolf whistle from one. Phil looked over smirking awkwardly then went back to Melinda while her eyes never left his face. “I knew from then on I wanted to spend my whole life with you. So this is me asking if you want to do that too.” He admitted.

“Say the words!” A british voice prompted from the corner.

Phil huffed and rolled his eyes looking back. “I’m getting there Aunt Peggy just--”

“I’ll only marry you on one condition.” She said quickly before he could finish talking to the Director of SHIELD, that was new and kind of interesting. He’d mentioned Aunt Peggy but she didn’t know he meant Carter.

Phil’s eyes shot to hers and he smirked looking up at her. “Condition?” He asked curiously.

“You have to dance with me.” Melinda said simply.

He chuckled and stood up putting the ring back into his shirt pocket and offering taking her hand gently. “You hate dancing.” He reminded smiling like a crazy person.

“Who hates dancing?” She teased in return and pulled him close as a song started to play and she looked over to see her mother and father at the Juke box turning it on. They swayed to the beat just holding each other.

“So that’s a yes right?” He asked smiling at her and kissing her forehead happily.

She smiled and nodded “Yes, it’s a yes.” She agreed looking up into his eyes with adoration and warmth slipping her hand from his shoulder and into the pocket holding her ring before putting it on and kissing him deeply.

He kissed her back loving every piece of this, holding the woman of his dreams in his arms and kissing her and knowing he was about to marry her. “Oh, even more good news!” He said breaking away from the kiss. “I got a job.” he said brightly.

She smirked and quirked a brow. “Oh really? Where?” she asked curiously.

“SHIELD.” He said simply. “I’m their new World War I and II era consultant. Aunt Peggy pulled some strings. I’m on your team.” he said smirking. She shook her head unable to imagine a more perfect moment.

So They Danced.