#i have a lot of avengers but I like a lot of avengers

[asha-mage]

🌶️

The MCU's Spiderman is not a poor execution of Peter Parker's character concept. He's not even poor execution of Miles Morales's character concept.

He is a poor execution of Terry McGinnis's character concept.

Peter Parker and Miles Morales both have so many fundamental pieces to their characters that are just missing for the MCU's Spiderman. Familiar names are floating around him- Aunt May, Mary Jane, Ganke Lee- but the fundamental ideas that make up Peter or Miles arcs just are not there. Themes like Miles's family expectations, Peter's constant money struggles, and the balancing act of doing good vs trying to live your own life are all absent. Even the idea of power and responsibility isn't properly introduced until the THIRD MOVIE when that really should been the central theme from the beginning.

Rather the MCU Spiderman has way more parallels with Terry McGinnis. Both are young hot shot teenagers who end up being taken under the wing of established and experienced hero who is on their way out. Both have complex relationships with their mentor which in a lot of ways serves as the driving force of their character arcs. Both gain high tech suits which enable their heroism. Both are viewed (or at least supposed to be viewed in MCU Peter's case) as heirs to the legacy of this hero.

It falls apart when you get into how they are different. While Uncle Ben is implied to have existed and be dead by the time MCU Peter is introduced in Civil War it's never actually confirmed and never properly comes up. Meanwhile the death of Terry's father is essentially the inciting incident of Batman Beyond: it's what motivates and drives Terry and the murder and it's fallout are the main focus of the first two episodes of Batman Beyond.

What's more MCU Peter's relationship to Tony is grounded in the fact that Tony just shows up one day and essentially taps him to join the Avengers. Bruce by contrast initially tosses Terry out on his ear, and when Terry turns up seeking justice for his father Bruce can't offer him anything but 'go ask the cops for help', and when that goes exactly as poorly as Terry said it would, Terry breaks into the manor steals the Batsuit and goes to stop Powers himself. Terry has active agency in his own choice to be a hero, which helps define his relationship with Bruce and to heroism. While MCU Peter was doing his own superheroics prior to Tony showing up in Civil War (not that he ever does much of that in future movies) his relationship to Tony is defined by Peter's dependence on him and his quest for Tony(/the Avengers)'s approval. And because they don't even bother name drop Uncle Ben or flashback to him, we're left with the impression that the main thing driving MCU Peter is that quest for approval. His motivations are never more complexly explored, and we don't even really see him just running around Queens stopping muggings or car crashes or anything that hints he enjoys or feels the need to actually help people.

And I think that gets into the final and most important difference between the two. Gotham not only needs Batman, it visibly and obviously and terribly needs Batman. Batman Beyond leans into this because decades without a Batman have left Gotham a cyperbunk dystopian hellscape. The city needs someone to stand up to the darkness, to be a symbol of hope, to be aspirational. Terry taking up that mantel means fighting supervillains, yes- but mostly it means doing what the original Batman did. Solving murders, stopping muggings, rescuing people from burning buildings or fighting off street gangs like the Jokerz.

But even in the earliest MCU movies, New York only needs superheroes when the current world ending threat shows up. Otherwise the city is all bright shinny clean streets filled with haplessly content citizens. This is the only reason that Vision's position of 'Our very strength invites challenge' argument in Civil War makes any sense- because the only purpose of these Superheroes is usually to fight a threat they where somehow responsible for creating. And this problem hits 'friendly neighborhood Spiderman' the hardest because he only has a responsibility to use his great power to solve problems, if their are problems in need of solving. Most of Peter Parker's (and Miles Morales's, Gwen Stacy's, or any other Spiderperson's) day is not fighting alien armies or netherworld gods. It's stopping break ins, rescuing people from fires, or other small scale local threats, that none the less benefit from someone with his abilities to make them better. Either New York in the MCU is an ideal utopian city where the police have everything handled apparently (which ha) or Peter is apparently not interested in stopping bad things from happening. He spends so much of the first movie basically begging Tony to give him superhero things to do, not realizing that he could go outside and find people that need help on his own.

In conclusion MCU Peter Parker isn't 'regular Peter Parker but not an underdog', or even 'Miles Morales but white'. He's 'Terry McGinnis but without any agency in his own heroism'.

[fallenclan]

Would you like to explain more what is behind those reactions in the latest comic? I mean those panels with Littleleaf ect. What are they feeling and why?

(Love the expressions btw)

sure :)

-Kestrelfeather (61 moons, he/him) He's happy for Wolfbite! That's his best friend and he was probably let in on a lot of the information that Wolf got regarding Ravenstar's murderings, so he's not only happy that Wolfbite succeeded her mission, but also that Ravenstar is toast lol

-Ospreyswipe (113 moons, he/him) Very similar reasons as Kestrel, he's Feathersight's mate and he knew most of what was going on, so he's happy that Ravenstar isn't leader anymore and he's also happy that Feathersight finally completed the mission he'd been on for years

-Myrtleclaw (112 moons, any pronouns) & Juniperfoot (113 moons, she/they) Myrtle and Juniper were Sandsnap's mates. Not only are they filled with a mix of grief and joy at seeing Sandsnap's murder avenged, they're also feeling a lot of emotion seeing their daughter, Wolfbite, be the Big Hero. They probably weren't let in on what was happening, but they're relieved she's okay nevertheless.

-Littleleaf (83 moons, he/him) His brother, whom he dearly loved, who was only ever loving and kind to him, just died. How do you think he's feeling?

-Darkstone (38 moons, he/they) Overjoyed. Darkstone has always had a bit of a mean/slightly bloodthirsty streak, so while most of the cats watching this have an undercurrent of "oh shit that guy just died horribly", he's just kind of laughing about it. If he could hold pompoms he'd be doing a little dance about it

-Honeysong (53 moons, she/her) She's in pain and exhausted but she's also very happy that Ravenstar isn't leader anymore. She's also a pacifist and somewhat disturbed by Ravenstar's gory death, so she's hiding her face in Darkstone's fur as well as using him as physical support.

-Feathersight (112 moons, he/she/they) Relief. He's known something was wrong since Ravenstar became a warrior and he's carried the burden of Poppyfeather, Cherrystar, & Sandsnap's murders with him for so long, knowing that he's been one of the main forces bringing Ravenstar down has made him more stress-free than he's been since he was a young cat. He will be breaking down in tears later that night.

-Flamefall (72 moons, he/him) Shock. Awe. Grief. Ravenstar was his friend for longer than he was his enemy, so there's a definite feeling of sadness within him at seeing that cat die, but he was afraid of Ravenstar for a long, long time, and seeing that cat be taken down is. Really something. He's felt irredeemable for many moons, and knowing that this wouldn't have happened without him is bringing a new light into his life.

-Mistlefrost (107 moons, he/him) & Inkynose (40 moons, she/her) Mistlefrost and Inkynose were two cats who were punished for speaking up about Ravenstar's actions. They both have a little bit of a vengeful streak, so they're reveling in seeing a cat who made them suffer suffer. They're also both extremely loyal to Fallenclan, so they're overjoyed to see the world realign itself.

-Patchback (105 moons, she/her) Patchback was one of Ravenstar's most loyal followers. She was kicked out of her old clan for being too cruel, so when she joined Fallenclan she kept it all on the down-low. Then comes Ravenstar, a cat with the same ideals as her who praises her for her strength. Her ability to put her clanmates in their place. Now that cat is gone. She's grieving and furious.

-Levi (109 moons, he/him) Levi is a cat that follows power wherever it goes, and he just watched his chance at leadership get thrown out of the window. He was loyal to Ravenstar, sure, because that was his best option of getting to where he wanted to be. He saw Ravenstar die, adjusted, made an attempt, and realized very quickly that without Ravenstar to back him up, he wasn't much of anything.

-Sleepydawn (74 moons, he/they) Sleepydawn was resistant to Ravenstar's loyalty at first, but a little manipulation brought him right around. Before he knew it, he was doing whatever Ravenstar told him, desperate for the validation and ignoring his family as they tried to pull him away. Ravenstar was his pillar of support--Sleepydawn did what he said because he was the clan leader. It was the right thing to do because he was the clan leader. Now, he wasn't the clan leader anymore. What does that mean for Sleepydawn?

-Bearspring (56 moons, she/her) After her mother, Cherrystar, died, Bearspring was left with a gaping wound. She was bitter at the loss, and angry, and Ravenstar, who had always been a good friend to her mother, took her under his wing and taught her ways to get that anger out. She was loyal to him, unfailingly, and then her mother's ghost appeared and said that she was murdered. And then Ravenstar died in front of her. There's a lot going on inside her head right now, but the largest emotion is probably guilt. She thinks she's been betraying her mother all this time.

-Marshjump (56 moons, he/she) Marshjump is Bearspring's brother. He never fell under Ravenstar's paws, always too soft-hearted and relying on his father more than anyone, but he saw how his sister did. He didn't know the extent of Ravenstar's cruelty until now, when he saw his mother's ghost. Now, not only does he see that, but he sees his sister, trembling in guilt and rage and grief, and knows he has a chance now to bring her back to him. He's grieving, but he also feels shock and joy and terror.

also bearspring. lmao

[bowlofworms]

(You’re totally not bothering anyone dw)

So I actually have an entire concept for on Barbara’s first movie, PLEASE lmk what you think because I’m not that familiar with Batgirl.

This is a link to wayyy down the rb chain of @brucewaynehater101 and I-

Welp. I was gonna put an inline link but I forgot those don’t work on mobile rn so here’s the ugly link: https://www.tumblr.com/bowlofworms/765816477277454336/so-actually-ive-started-to-dislike-the-title

But yeah I’ve talked a lot about Jason and what I’d like his story to look like.

I brought it up quite a bit in there is how Bruce would act— and, if you end up reading it, you’ll see me say over and over again that this is Robin’s story (or batgirl or spoiler or orphan or signal’s story.) It’s not going to be true to Bruce because it is not his story!

Actually I think I went on a whole tangent about this specifically using the memorial case as an example.

I think it’s most obvious with Jason. To tell Jason’s story, we must *be* Jason, but since we aren’t Jason, we must become him. Our thoughts and feelings must align with Jason’s. So, when we tell Jason’s story, we can’t think “I can see why he would do that or feel that way,” but instead think “I would do the same,” or “I would feel the same,” because that is the difference between watching, and being.

And if Jason feels like he was replaced by Tim, we must see him be replaced by Tim and if Jason blames Bruce for not avenging him, we must see Bruce not avenge him and if Jason hates Bruce, then we must see why. We don’t get rebuttals, we don’t see anything to the contrary, we don’t see what Jason cannot, because Jason doesn’t.

As I’ve said before, it’s not a fair story, but it’s Jason’s.

There's a post about wanting a story about Jason's time as Robin. I made a reblog of it so long ago, but I can't stop thinking about it.

I want to watch Jason's flight as Robin, but the entire story he's haunted by the future we all know is going to come.

When he first grabs his tire iron, he has the choice of taking a crowbar instead.

Subtle purples or greens pop up when he's in danger (but not necessarily the Joker).

He frees a bird trapped inside a warehouse.

He rescues a kid who was kidnapped by their mom and returns them to their dad.

So many dead or injured birds

While helping Alfred with gardening, he breaks a nail

Gun magazines at many scenes

Motorcyclists wearing red helmets

Someone's bubbling jacuzzi has a green light on

Duffle bags

He helps hold a bandage to someone's neck until paramedics arrive

Jason reads Frankenstein while at the Manor

An ad proclaims their coffins to be the sturdiest

Just his Robin story being jammed packed with foreshadowing.

It'd also be rad to have Easter Eggs:

Someone makes a comment about assassin kids

When talking to Bruce about something, on the batscreen is a very short file about "One Who is All"

Someone at a gala mentions the Drakes' newest archeology find

Kids at Jason's school chat about meta powers and how cool controlling light is

When visiting the hospital, the nurse introduces herself as Crystal

The buildup of the audience watching Jason, who's unaware of his future, continuously face sign after sign after sign? The irrational hope that maybe someone will notice the universe basically screaming about the future? Nobody notices as more and more signs pop up. It's maddening but so intriguing.

Jason's story of Robin would follow him as he goes from being desperate to survive to thriving. His paranoia that it's too good to be true thrums in his veins, but he learns to ignore it. He's fed, loved, and flies over Gotham every night. There's conflict, sure, but he's figuring out. It's okay.

The signs start out slow and subtle. As he starts to reach towards the end, they get more and more obvious. They occur more often.

Jason doesn't know when it all goes wrong, but he's figured it out before.

We don't see him lose hope until the very end.

EDIT:

Here's the og post I was referencing

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

Counting my blessings this week as these current shows continue to absolutely kill it. These are all streaming on Gaga or provided via fansub (feel free to ask if you don’t know where to find them).

Our Youth

This week we were treated to a series of relationship negotiation conversations, several scenes so charged with tension and meaning that I am still not done processing, and a metaphor that just about knocked me out. Hirukawa can see through Minase's weak protests and just keeps putting himself near him, and now with Minase's parents likely divorcing and his impending departure abroad, he feels like he has nothing to lose, so he may as well give in to his desires. I am attuned to the pacing so I assume within the next two eps we will be wrapping up this high school backstory (brace yourselves for the horrors) and then going back to the present to see how they come back together as adults. I can't wait; this show is just killing it.

Love is Like a Poison

We begin this week's ep with the sweet smell of vindication, because as I thought, Haruto did not leave Shiba. He simply put his ring safely away and went out on a mission. Our Battle Couple continues to thrive! After another terrible encounter with his father (another strong contender for worst dad in BL), Haruto comes home and finally comes clean about the last of his secrets with encouragement from Shiba. His backstory is just as sad and horrifying as expected, and all the details of how he approached Shiba come together seamlessly now that we know he's been seeking help to avenge his mom this whole time. As a cherry on top, Shiba's bestie backs him up with the boss, and now the whole squad is geared up to take that man down.

Love in the Air Koi

CW: abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual assault

This week we transitioned from Arashi and Rei's happy coupledom to the beginning of Kai and Fuma's love story, with the flashback to their first encounter and an efficient presentation of Kai's harrowing backstory. I appreciate that this show did not flinch away from the ugliness of Kai's history, but also didn't dwell unnecessarily in the trauma. I am also noting the absence of the first kidnapping plot from the original drama--I assume this version will be combining Rei and Kai's abductions into one event toward the end of the show, which for me is an extremely welcome change. Nagatsuma Reo is really solid in portraying Kai's trauma and the intentional distance he keeps in his relationships and the fear and tension warring with his interest in Fuma was well done. Looking forward to their story.

The Fragrance You Inherit

In this episode Sakura and Mone got the chance to reconnect and Sakura finally told her story. It's sad as hell that her devastation over Mone led her to a dubious encounter with a man she doesn't know or like, but at the same time it gave her Toki, who is clearly her great joy in life. I'm happy that she got to raise him with the support of a good friend in Ryosuke, if not a partner. Speaking of Toki, it's now clear that he knows about his mom's feeling for Mone, and he is feeling her out to see what she might be willing to tell him. I'm sure he's having a lot of complex feelings, but I didn't get the sense that he's angry with his mother or concerned about his own relationship as much as he is sad that Sakura has kept this huge part of who she is a secret from him. Sakura wants to shield him from things he already understands, and she's too caught up in her own past trauma to recognize that the very fact of queer people existing will not come as a shock to her son. I love that the show seems poised to tackle that generational culture aspect of this conflict alongside the interpersonal dynamics. You can find the show here, with big thanks as always to @isaksbestpillow for providing English subs.

[theoutcastrogue]

[I swear I'm not biased. Also, skip this post if your criteria for a good story include happy and just endings.]

What made Arcane S1 a masterpiece was the Tragedy, and Vi's central place in it. She doesn't interact much with the magic plot, but she's right in the middle of both the sociological storytelling and several individual character arcs, and they're all pulling her apart. And that's what makes it all so compelling.

Vi accidentally or unwillingly becomes the catalyst for the collisions of Piltover vs Zaun, Vander vs Silco, and Powder vs Jinx. And she's torn between Vander's pacifism/defeatism and Zaun's rebelliousness, her hostility to Enforcers and her growing affection for Caitlyn, her hate for Silco and her love for Powder*, avenging the dead and protecting the living**, Caitlyn's vision of charity from above and Ekko's accomplishment of autonomy from below, saving Caitlyn and saving Powder (both from Jinx!), love and loyalty, guilt and revenge, topside and undercity.

There's a maelstrom of opposing forces and ideas, and all Vi wants to do is stand in front of her people and take the hit for them, raising her fists and blocking with her face like she always does. But who ARE her people, even? She's in the centre and she cannot hold: she's getting drawn and quartered by the actual themes of the story.

Like a true Tragic Hero™ (i.e. protagonist, heroism is irrelevant), she always chooses wrong. Not necessarily in the moral sense (though sometimes that too), but through a combination of tragic irony™ (when the character is unaware of a crucial piece of information) and coincidence: whatever she ends up doing, tragedy ensues. And it makes for a great story! Tragedy is a FANTASTIC medium if you do it right! And Season 1 did it perfectly.

But more to the point, it isn't about fatal character traits or random coincidences, it embodies all the social conflicts laid out in the story. All around Vi, the sociological storytelling converges with the psychological, and they both say the exact same thing: apply pressure to a society long enough, and the walls WILL come tumbling down. So the result is classic tragedy: any different choice could have prevented it, and yet it was inevitable. But the angle is specific: it's not the gods who are cruel and fickle. It's not our nature that's inescapable. It's not Fate that's implacable. It's History.

Season 2 didn't stand a chance in hell to be worthy of Season 1, unless League lore and all promotional goals were aggressively ignored. About half of it was worthy, I think, continuing seamlessly the earlier themes. But then the sociological storytelling was dropped from the forefront and eventually from view, Vi lost both her central place in the story and her internal conflict, and got a corny happy ending, there was SO MUCH flinching, and even the tragedy of Jinx's self-sacrifice was taken back (wink wink, she's alive).

I have many issues with Season 2 (and a lot of praise: parts of it were excellent, and the animation remained incredible throughout), but the main reasons it can't possibly compare to Season 1 is that in the end there wasn't enough Vi, and there wasn't enough tragedy.

Respectful hat tip to Ekko for filling in.

* Vi actually prioritises "bringing his bullshit empire down" over saving her sister from Silco, and voluntarily offers the name "Jinx" to the Council just to convince them to attack him.

** applies both to teen Vi choosing to surrender to the Enforcers, so that the Lanes won't fight and no one will get hurt (except her), and adult Vi putting her vendetta against Silco above everything: she gets Jayce to bring armed enforcers and Hextech weapons down to the undercity, and stands over the entirely predictable outcome of a dead child. Some of this obsession is fueled by hate for what Silco did to Vander and her siblings, but I think most of it is reflected guilt for what SHE did to Powder, which would never have happened if it weren't for Silco.

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

so that was a clickbaity topic — i don’t think kill count actually matters that much, sorry. as for tuff guys, i’m going to be honest, they’re not exactly a solid unit so much as three guys trapped in the same rubber band.

one might be inclined to think that the family would easily outmatch the Gs in a 6v6. and you’re not wrong. the top three most deadly lifers are grian, scar, and joel.

however, rather conveniently, the fourth most deadly lifer is scott. and kill count is not all that matters. if kill count was the most important factor in winning joel would have won three times over already. what matters is the timing of the kills.

i’m just going to use pearl as an example because i’m a pearl main. pearl’s only killed twice this season — one was to avenge her allies, and one was an intentional sacrifice. as a rule, she doesn’t kill a lot, at least not atrocious amounts like joel or scar, yet she outperforms nearly everyone consistently. this is because when she kills, it’s when it actually matters. and everyone kills each other before she can get to them, leaving her as one of the final few. scott is the same iirc. we can apply this strategy to the team as a whole.

what i’m saying is that, while the Gs are definitely outclassed by the family (while pearl and scott are decent at pvp, scar, joel, grian and gem are killing machines if so motivated), they don’t necessarily need to directly challenge them. the family is already pretty shaky, what with scar trying to kill joel and gem and joel calling grian their side-widow.

the 6Gs have the power of friendship on their side. because as much as they may argue, at the end of the day, pearl and scott are incredibly loyal, and being previous winners i have no doubt that they’ll happily die to give their teammates a boost. there are players that throw the game for the bit. pearl and scott are not them.

not to mention there are so many cross-alliances between the family and the Gs (are we calling them the Gs for real. the Gs were called the Gs because there were three of them. are we really going with it. ok i guess we are), and whatever, scott and gem may be the de facto leaders of their respective mega alliances, i don’t care, gem doesn’t respect scott anyway, i can’t really think of a good transition but gempearl is going to come in at some point. you just have to trust me on this point i don’t have statistics just copium

i did ask the traffic lights if it will be alright. they said i don’t know so idk man

actually if i was pearl i would also only be loosely connected to the rest of my allies and only stick with impulse because what do you mean literally half the server has been in the Gs, dead or alive. that’s objectively insane and if she took all of the alliances formed seriously she wouldn’t be able to spin with a knife without backstabbing someone

[fanfictiongirlie]

Marvel: Unplanned Chapter Nine

Parings: Bucky Barnes x Reader (First person written though)

Description:

"It says...it says it's positive doll" His voice matching mine in a quiet shaky whisper.

"Fuck... I'm pregnant?"

"Yeah doll, you're pregnant"

"Fuck" I whisper.

Rating: Explicit

Chapter Warnings: Little pregnancy scare, nothing serious. Swearing. 

Chapter Words: 1,329

(I have the urge for every Marvel fanfic I write to have a seperate timeline where nothing bad happens, and everyone is happy)

I groaned as I walked into the Avengers common room, I had hit 35 weeks in my pregnancy, I was huge, my belly stuck out and it was heavy. I waddled over to the armchair I found most comfortable, Steve, Nat and Tony were sitting together, watching as I walked in. Bucky was out on a run this morning in the Avengers gardens.

"Morning guys" I muttered as I finally got comfortable on the chair. 

"Morning doll, you're looking very pregnant" Steve says, I look at him, my eyes glaring, I watch as Nat slaps his arm. 

"Obviously Steven" I snap. I watch as he winces at my response.

"Sorry doll, it's just...you look really pregnant, that's all" 

"Wow Steve, that makes me feel so much better" I sneer at him. Nat and Tony both gave Steve a sharp look, but they looked like they were trying not to laugh. Steve rubs the back of his neck, looking a bit sheepish.

"Doll, I didn't mean it like that, I just...I mean you're like three weeks from your due date...It's a normal thing to say, right?" 

"No Steven, it's not, don't comment on a woman's body ever, okay? Dingus" I say, I could see he felt bad, his entire face was red, I rubbed my belly as a faint pain shot through me. 

"Fuck" I mutter. 

"The baby kicking girlie?" Nat asked. 

"No..Uhh false labor pains, my doctor said they're normal, but fuck do they hurt" I explain. I watch as Steve's eyebrows furrow in concern. 

"False labor pains? Like contractions?" He asked, worry laced through his words. 

"They're called braxton hicks, nothing to worry about Stevie" I smile faintly. I decide to go see Bucky, anxiety bubbling inside of me as the pain continues, I try to stand up, my body fighting against me, Steve was quick to rise to his feet, he steadies me with a supportive arm around my waist. 

"Thanks Stevie" I smile.

"No problem doll, just take it easy alright? You like like you're gonna pop any second" He says. 

"Steven, I will punch you" I say shaking my head, I start to walk away, heading towards the garden. I walk outside sighing happily as I feel the winter sun on my face. I see Bucky running, it makes me feel a little calmer, so I sit on a bench and watch him. I groan loudly when I feel another wave of pain shoot through me. 

Suddenly Bucky is in front of me, a little out of breath "Baby, what's the matter, another braxton hicks?"

"Yeah babe" I groan loudly "She calms down for you, come put your hand on her please?"

Bucky sits down next to me and gently places his hand on my belly. "Damn, she's moving a lot, isn't she?"

"Yeah... fuck, how am I supposed to know what real labor feels like?" I ask panicking. "Bucks, I'm really scared, can we...can we go see the doctor please?"

Bucky's expression softens and he nods immediately. "Of course doll"

He helps me up and we drive to the doctors, we were able to been seen straight away, perks of being Avengers. I explained to the doctor how I was feeling and she did a full check on me and the baby. 

"The baby is fine" She explains "She's a little stressed however, she can probably feel your stress mama...So for the remainder of your pregnancy I want you to stay in bed, or on the couch, just relax as much as you can alright?"

I nod, hoping Bucky was paying more attention than me, I tried calming down my breathing, the stress bubbling around my body. 

"So she's completely healthy?" I ask. 

The Doctor nods, giving me a reassuring smile. "She's perfectly healthy, just rest until your due date, we wanna keep her in there until she's ready"

"Okay thank you, I'm sorry we wasted your time" I say sheepishly. 

The doctor shakes her head and waves off my apology, explaining she'd rather see me if I was worried about something then having me sit at home worrying myself. I say a thank you, as does Bucky and we leave to go home. Once home I decide to walk to the common room, not wanting to be stuck in my bed all day. I walk over to my armchair and get myself comfortable. 

"Hey preggy, you okay?" Clint asks me. I roll my eyes at the nickname. 

"I've been prescribed bed rest" I say, my voice sounding a little sad. Sitting still was going to be hard for me. The room fell silent for a second, the Avengers looking at me worried. 

"Bed rest?" Nat asks "For how long?"

"Until baby's here" I say, we hadn't told anyone the baby's name just yet. 

"You'll have plenty of time to read, watch tv, whatever you want" Nat says, trying to cheer me up. 

"True...plus I can make Bucky wait on me, like a little slave" I smirk, winking at my boyfriend. Everyone in the room but Bucky laughs loudly at my comment. 

"Funny doll" Bucky rolls his eyes playfully. 

"Bucky, can I have a water please?" I ask sweetly, he does as asks, bringing me a glass. 

"Anything else doll?"

"A kiss?"

"That I can do" He grins, he moves over to cup my face, he kisses me softly, his lips pressing against mine gently. I smile kissing him back. We spent the evening in the common room, chatting away to everyone. When it was late Bucky carried me to our room, I got into bed and watched him do some stretches next to the bed. 

"Come snuggle?"

I watch as he grins, he crawls into bed and snuggles close to me, my bump keep us further away than I wanted to be from him. I hold him as I feel myself doze softly. 

"I love you" I mumble, we hadn't said those words to one another, not awake at least. I watch as his eyes widen. 

"I love you too doll, so damn much" He answers, as he kissing my nose lightly. I sigh happily and breath him in as I fall asleep. 

・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Over the next two weeks, I did nothing but rest, whilst everyone around me looked after me, I hated it, I missed training, I missed missions, it didn't help that Bucky was on his last mission before paternity, only a small mission. 

I laid in the common room on one of the couches, rubbing my belly with one hand and reading my book with another. Peter, Nat, Steve and Wanda were keeping me company, chatting amongst themselves, I could feel them, glance over at me every now and again, checking on me. 

"You're glowing over there mama" Nat smirked at me, I put my book down to grin at her. 

"Thank you girlie" 

"How are you feeling today? Any contractions yet?" She asked. 

"I feel good, we're missing Bucky, she kicks more when Bucky isn't around" I say rubbing my belly. 

"She probably wants her daddy to come home" Wanda adds. 

"We both do" I whisper. 

"At least you've got us keeping you company, I've heard Peter's been having sleepovers with you" Nat chuckled. 

"Yeah, we've been watching movies together when I can't sleep, haven't we?" I say smiling sweetly at the younger Avenger. Peter looks up from his book and grins at everyone. 

"Yeah, it's been really fun!" 

"Oh...Steve, Nat...Bucky and I have been trying to think of a good way to tell you, but we couldn't, but we want you to be our girlie's godparents" I smile sweetly at them both. I giggle as both of them open their mouths and eyes widen at me. 

"You...you want us to be her godparents?" Nat asked, her voice unbelieving. 

"Yeah... if you both want to of course" I add. 

"Of course we do! It would be an honor really" Steve smiles proudly. 

"Perfect" I say, happy tears leaving my eyes. 

Taglist:

@quinquinquincy @jaybbygrl @wintrsoldrluvr @sebastians-love @learisa @hi172826 @ravennablue @purplecolordeer @a-small-blue-nebula @buckitostan

(If I've forgotten anyone from the taglist, I'm so sorry! Just let me know on this post and I'll add you!)

Also, thank you for all the nice things being said about this fic! I'm glad you're all enjoying it! <3

[bobbimorses]

what do you think of matt fraction's hawkeye run? obviously its very highly regarded but i have seen criticisms on how he portrayed clint's character and that some people also had issues with it because all the mcu fans used it as substitue characterisation after avengers 2012 left them with not much and "became insufferable about it." also that other good hawkeye comics were ignored in favour of it.

well idk if i would characterize "became insufferable about it" with regards to reading a comic as it is released bc comics have so much trouble succeeding. but i think what you're getting at with pointing to 2012 is a sort of revisionism that's occurred. and it has! i think many have forgotten, and many more are now unaware (bc time disgustingly marches on for all of us) that the avengers movie, in fact, came out before hawkeye v4 (the fraction & aja run we're discussing) even began.

i would like to gently grab you all by the shoulders when i say this--bc i realize we've reached a point where some of you were literal kindergarteners when this movie came out and don't have the cultural consciousness to know not only was hawkeye not (never!) a household name, but neither were "the avengers" for the most part--but whenever you say "i can't BELIEVE the mcu didn't include/start with [storyline from hawkeye v4. page from hawkeye v4. panel from hawkeye v4. dialogue/"catchphrase" from hawkeye v4. relationship from hawkeye v4. retconned backstory/fluency from hawkeye v4 ]" regarding clint, know that that literally did not exist at the time.

mcu clint showed up wearing all black in 2011. mcu clint in the movie "the avengers" wasn't even wearing purple. mcu clint was actually not even that clinton francis barton. the mcu started off as the ultimates. "i can't believe the mcu didn't make clint like clint barton in this page from 2015." mcu made clint like clint barton from an entirely different line of comics, the ultimates, with an entirely different clint barton, bc the 2010s had just started crawling out of the Grit and Realism and We're All Wearing Black Leather of superhero movies from the 2000s. and practically none of those were comic-accurate. the mcu still isn't by god but a current mcu movie can resemble a specific storyline and have a recognizable costume whereas a lot of superhero movies in the 2000s (not you spider-man and hulk costumes) were like "here is the character, bulleteater foxtrot. he is based on the celebrated indie comic where someone shoots at a lonely boy making friends with a fox in the forest and, after a bullet grazes his face and kills the fox, he avenges his friend by championing the survival of forest critters over encroaching aggressive habitat destruction. in this movie, some hitman in the mob that eats shrapnel-os for breakfast every day gets intel from a woman named foxy and 35% of the scenes are in a seedy club with gratuitous dancing. nobody has the same name as a single character in the series. 80% of our viewers will not know this was based on a comic when it airs at 10pm on showtime. godspeed."

digressing psa over. that wasn't your question at all but we went through that journey just now together.

ANYWAYS i see what you're saying about "substitute characterization." when clint had so little non-mind controlled scenes and characterization available from the mcu at all, you can understand people pulling from the comics for their characterization. as they should! comic book movies have characters from comic books! whooo, comics! it's fair that people were reading the currently releasing comic to supplement their fanworks of this character with a lacking portrayal. and bc of the popularity and acclaim of the series, well that just made it easier. but these elements combined meant past portrayals of clint were kind of overshadowed, bc people were unfamiliar with the clint barton of the past 50 years. why? bc clint barton wasn't a household name! hey, it all ties back! that digression wasn't a digression after all!

well as you all know, the avengers made a billion dollars. people did not know clint barton, but now people do. only they don't know clint barton, they know the name, clint barton. oh cruel household name irony, our journey is not over. and the people reading hawkeye v4, perhaps even their very first foray into comics (or still unsure of how to access comics so they see piecemeal panels of it second-hand), now that they're curious about all this? well they're like "hey, wait a second...where was this clint barton?" so now you can have vocal contingents of fans of popular and acclaimed comic hawkeye v4, like "yo, that's not clint barton!" people would like comics portrayed accurately in movies that are purported to be comic books based. god knows that would be wild. but using hawkeye v4 as all examples means our purple-masked friend is, well, purple-maskless. but them's the breaks.

now back to your actual question. i've actually typed way too much explaining this weird set of circumstances about mcu vs 2012 bc i think it helps explore the second part of your...statement? but as to your actual question, which i think would be more comics-centric than criticisms with mcu fans, i've touched on that a few times before. not to link to other questions to answer your question, but yeah. it's a great comic. there's a reason it did so well. it just so happens that that may have led to historical portrayals of clint being eclipsed with subsequent writers trying to replicate its success haphazardly. no reason for us all to do the same. we love reading the source material don't we folks. for more unnecessarily long tangents about clint barton, feel free to peruse my meta tag. we are all lovers of a certain clint barton on this here planet earth

[magical-reid]

Ricochet

Pairing: Bucky x Fem! Reader

Slow Burn/ Enemies to Lovers

Word Count: 1.4K

Reader’s POV

The elevator ride to the top of Avengers Tower was too quiet, too long, and too nerve-wracking. It wasn’t supposed to feel like this—I was supposed to be excited, grateful even. Joining the Avengers was a big deal. The deal.

But all I could think about was the man waiting on the other side of the shiny metal doors.

Bucky Barnes.

The Winter Soldier, they used to call him. The Ghost. The most terrifying assassin in history. Now, they called him an Avenger. A hero. A man trying to rebuild his life, just like me.

Except, he hated me.

The elevator dinged, interrupting my downward spiral. I adjusted the strap of my duffel bag, straightened my back, and stepped into the common area.

It was bustling. Clint Barton was leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee. Wanda Maximoff was cross-legged on the couch, nose deep in a book. Sam Wilson was half-shouting something about a sparring session.

And then, there he was.

Leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, piercing blue eyes narrowed in a look that could melt steel. Bucky Barnes.

Bucky’s POV

I saw her before she even got off the elevator.

The new recruit—great. Another kid with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. Fury had said she was talented, promising even. But Fury said a lot of things, and I wasn’t buying it.

Especially since she was Hydra-trained.

I crossed my arms tighter, keeping my mouth shut as the others greeted her. My stomach churned as I watched her, trying to read her body language. She stood tall, confident, but there was a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. Good. She should be nervous.

“You’re the new girl, huh?” Sam said, clapping her on the shoulder like they were old friends.

“Yeah,” she replied, glancing my way for half a second before looking back at Sam. “I guess I am.”

Her voice was steady, but I caught the slight clench of her jaw. She knew who I was, knew what I thought about her being here.

“Welcome to the Tower,” Sam said, oblivious. “What’s your specialty?”

“Close combat,” she said. “And infiltration.”

“Great,” I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for her to hear. Her head snapped toward me, eyes narrowing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” I said, pushing off the wall. “You’ve got ‘infiltration’ written all over you.”

Reader’s POV

It took every ounce of restraint not to throw my duffel bag at his head. He was testing me, pushing my buttons, and it was working.

“Okay,” Sam said, stepping between us with a strained smile. “Let’s just… ease into this. No need to kill each other yet.”

Yet.

The tension lingered, thick as smoke, as Bucky gave me one last icy look before brushing past me and disappearing down the hall.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

Bucky’s POV

The new girl—Y/N. Fury had mentioned her name in passing—was trouble. I didn’t need Steve’s optimism or Sam’s over-the-top friendliness clouding my judgment. People didn’t just walk away from Hydra clean.

I knew that better than anyone.

She was going to slip up. Eventually, she’d prove me right.

The problem was, part of me almost didn’t want her to.

Two Weeks Later

Reader’s POV

I’d managed to avoid Bucky for the first couple of weeks, which was harder than it should have been considering we lived under the same roof. But there was no avoiding him in the field.

Our first mission as a team had gone sideways fast. Hydra—not that it was surprising—had set up a trap, and now half the team was scattered in the woods outside the compound while Bucky and I were stuck together.

“Stay close,” Bucky barked, his voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos.

“I know how to stay alive,” I snapped back, dodging behind a tree as bullets tore through the air.

“Yeah, but for how long?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I slid my knife from its sheath, took a deep breath, and bolted toward the nearest Hydra soldier. The element of surprise worked in my favor. I took him down quickly and efficiently, just like I’d been trained.

But the second soldier saw me coming.

“Damn it,” I muttered, raising my blade, but before I could strike, a blur of black and silver tackled the guy to the ground.

Bucky.

He stood over the unconscious soldier, shaking his head. “You’re reckless.”

“I’m fine,” I bit out, wiping blood from my cheek.

“For now.”

“Why do you even care?”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as more soldiers approached.

“Stay behind me,” he growled.

I wanted to argue, but something in his tone made me listen.

Bucky’s POV

She was going to get herself killed.

I didn’t trust her—not even a little—but I didn’t want her blood on my hands. She was brash, stubborn, and reckless, but she wasn’t incompetent. That’s what made it worse.

Because if she wasn’t Hydra anymore, if she really had turned her back on them, she didn’t deserve to die like this.

“Bucky, behind you!”

Her voice snapped me back to reality just in time to block the incoming blow. The Hydra soldier hit hard, but I hit harder. I turned and delivered a swift kick to his chest, sending him flying into a tree.

When I turned back to Y/N, she was watching me, something unreadable in her eyes.

“You okay?” I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

She nodded, lips pressed into a thin line.

“Good,” I muttered. “Let’s keep moving.”

Later

Reader’s POV

By the time we made it back to the jet, I was running on adrenaline and pure spite. Bucky hadn’t let up the entire mission, barking orders and criticizing every move I made.

But he’d also saved my life. Twice.

“You’re lucky I was there,” he said as the jet doors closed behind us.

I rounded on him, eyes blazing. “You’re lucky I didn’t stab you.”

Clint, sitting in the pilot’s seat, let out a low whistle. “This is gonna be fun.”

Bucky ignored him, his focus entirely on me. “You want to survive out there? Start listening to people who know what they’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing,” I snapped.

“Do you?” He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re trying to get yourself killed.”

“Better than hiding behind everyone else.”

His jaw clenched, and for a moment, I thought he might actually yell. Instead, he turned and stormed toward the back of the jet.

Bucky’s POV

She was infuriating.

She didn’t know when to quit, when to listen, when to shut up. But damn it, she had fire.

I hated that I noticed it. Hated the way my heart skipped when she called me out, the way my mind replayed her voice when I was alone.

I hated the way she looked at me, like she was daring me to prove her wrong.

But most of all, I hated the thought of something happening to her.

Weeks Turn to Months

The missions kept coming, and so did the tension. Every time we worked together, sparks flew—anger, frustration, heat. But somewhere along the line, the edges softened.

It started small: a hesitant “good job” after a successful mission, a shared smirk when Tony made a particularly bad joke.

And then, one night, everything changed.

Reader’s POV

The training room was quiet, save for the rhythmic sound of fists hitting the punching bag. I’d come down to clear my head, but I wasn’t alone.

Bucky was there, shirtless and focused, his metal arm gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

I froze in the doorway, my heart doing something stupid in my chest.

“Gonna stand there all night?” he asked without looking up.

I scowled, stepping into the room. “Didn’t know you owned the place.”

He smirked, the faintest hint of amusement flickering in his eyes. “You here to train or to sulk?”

“Both,” I admitted, grabbing a pair of gloves.

We worked in silence for a while, the air thick with unspoken tension. It wasn’t until I landed a particularly satisfying hit on the bag that he finally spoke

Part 2

[burningcheese-merchant]

Ok, I have good news and bad news regarding the BurningCheese time travel AU (that sounds more and more ridiculous every time I say/type it lol)

Good news: Not only have I come up with an official title and written an official plot synopsis, I found someone willing to make cover art for the story!

Bad news: The cover art is going to take several months because the artist is busy with more important things at the moment

It sucks to have to wait that long, but I really adore this artist and their style, so I am ready and willing to do so. I will be using the time in between now and then to iron out the details of the AU. There are a lot of important questions (that other people have actually asked me about/brought to my attention, which I really appreciate!) I need solid answers for for the sake of maintaining functioning logic (the actual time travel especially, time travel is a very tricky concept to work with and I need to make sure it actually makes sense or else the entire narrative is broken)

Gonna go ahead and say this much, since people actually seem interested in the idea:

Will probably be sticking to the Back to the Future approach to time travel rather than the Avengers: Endgame one, it's easier for me to grapple with and I don't like how Endgame handled that shit anyway

Timekeeper will continue to appear even after sending Golden Cheese into the past. She's having too much fun with her new made-up soap opera to stay away like she probably should lol

The other Beasts (or Heralds, in this time) will appear, but I will not explain when, how or why

Slow burn romance. Just because Burning Spice is a hero in this time doesn't mean Golden Cheese automatically gets over her fear and hatred of him. The only BS she's ever known up until this point is the Beast of Destruction; the mass-murdering, obsessed lunatic that was actively trying to hurt her before Timekeeper intervenes. She will warm up to Herald Spice eventually, but it will take time and effort on both of their parts

There is an ending. I've already come up with an ending to the story. It came to me while I was out running errands and I simply cannot get over it. It's bittersweet, but I think it fits. Now I need to write everything else around it because I refuse to let it go lol. (You're really not supposed to do this in writing, but I'm forging ahead with the risk this time. I love the ending too much to throw it away)

You're all more than welcome to reach out and ask stuff about the story, even as it's still a WIP; it's been really nice to see people actually express interest in this concept (and as I'm sure you've noticed, I Like To Ramble lol). I just can't reveal the more important parts, so I encourage you to stick to more basic/general comments, questions and/or concerns.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm and your patience! I'm cooking something really special for you all, I promise!

[pandafishao3]

Hiya! It's me, Slash! I'm obsessed with the prompt you made that I sent you with Alpha Steve mating Omega Bucky to protect him and I wanna ask/prompt, does Steve finish his claim? 👀 Would love to see more of this prompt if you have some to spare ♥️

Of course! For you, anything :)

Here's the original prompt: link

And here's the continuation!

What confused Bucky the most was the Steve didn't finish his claim that first night.

Or the next night

Or the next night either.

He did make Bucky sleep in the same bed as him, but that wasn't strange. Bucky was his omega, and his new, possessive alpha would of course want him close. That strong arm of his didn't even leave Bucky's waist when they went into the communal rooms downstairs in the Avengers' Tower.

Not that they did that a lot. It made Bucky nervous. Being around those strange people...especially the ones that were always staring at him like he might start to throw knives at any second...it made the omega tremble.

And, to be completely honest, Bucky was just happy that he didn't have to sleep on the floor any longer. The bed they shared was big, warm and soft, better than anything Bucky could remember. Not even the very fleeting memories he had of a rickety cot in an apartment where some old, omega version of Steve flickered through in his memories like a shadow could compare to this king sized thing.

With a bed like that, Bucky could endure being held throughout the night by the alpha that had stolen him.

Because that was what Steve had done. He'd found him, bitten him and claimed him, and then Bucky had had no choice but to follow him away from Hydra. His home. It was his home, right?

Bucky had started to doubt that when he realized that everytime he thought of Hydra, he felt afraid that they would find him, and every time he thought of Steve, he thought of....well, that bed.

The first few nights, Bucky had been on high alert. Every muscle had been taut as a bowstring, and while Steve had snored content into his neck, the omega had noticed every single shift under the sheets. The alpha had grown hard three times during the night, and his dick had pushed up firmly against Bucky's ass, but he'd never tried to fuck him. A few times, Steve rutted slowly in his sleep, softly moaning as he got some friction against Bucky's borrowed boxers.

Those times, the omega had to bite his lip not to whimper. It had been fear at first - Bucky thought that surely this is the time when Steve would growl, pull down his underwear and shove his cock inside without waiting for Bucky to get wet.

But after a few nights, it had become something else. Those slow, firm, sleepy grindings into his ass had made his body...respond. Grow softer, needier...slicker.

After a week, Bucky was starting to grow impatient.

He also knew that as an omega - as a bitch - he had no right to be impatient. Why would his alpha want him anyway? He was a monster of an omega, an overgrown, muscled joke of a mate.

So, Bucky had started growing ansty. Even if he hadn't chosen this alpha, it still made him worried when it seemed that his alpha didn't want him.

Would Steve send him back to Hydra? Would he want this to be sexless relationship?

Did Bucky want it to be a relationship with sex?

The way his stomach grew tight and his hole grew slick whenever Steve grunted into his neck in his sleep and used him as something to rut against, Bucky figured he might actually want that. His body hadn't gotten what it needed in...a lifetime. He was overdue.

At least that's what he told himself when he finally lost it one night as Steve was giving him a bath.

It was one of those things his alpha insisted on doing for him. It was always gentle and slow, with lots of bubbles and a soapy, soft washcloth rubbing over Bucky's skin. It wasn't as if his tiny omega cock could harden into any kind of proper erection, but it still grew swollen and sensitive.

Very sensitive.

When Steve rubbed the washcloth over Bucky's tingling cock - very swift and matter-of-factly - the omega's hand shot out on instinct and curled around his wrist as he was moving to retract it.

"Buck?"

The question was kind; curious. Steve, who was sitting by the edge of the bathtub and could've easily traded his gentle touch to something rough and possessive whenever he wanted to, looked down at the hand and then back up at him with the hint of an amused smile.

Bucky blushed. A whimper escaped his throat, courtesy of his omega nature.

"I..." he started but trailed off. Words were always hard, and especially when he was embarassed.

But Bucky still couldn't let go of Steve's hand. His sex was throbbing and he needed to be touched, needed it so bad. There was no way he could find the words to ask, so he just let his body find the right little helpless noises to express it to the alpha.

After having repressed his natural sounds and behaviours for so long with Hydra, Bucky had no idea how many ways his body could non-verbally communicate on a level that an alpha just naturally understand. The fact that Steve had allowed him the space to actually act as an omega had caused those instincts to slowly return.

"Yeah? You like that?" Steve teased him softly, keeping his voice calm and low.

The washcloth slipped from his hand and sank to the bottom of the warm bathwater. Steve's hand was now cupping his little cock, making Bucky whimper even more needily with big eyes fixed on the alpha. The sensitive little thing felt hot, almost burning in Steve's grip.

Those white teeth showed when Steve smiled.

"Hmm? How about that, love?" he husked, softly squeezing over Bucky's genitals and making his breath hitch. Steve's blue eyes darkened just a bit. "Is that better? Right there?" Those long fingers slowly wandered over Bucky's swollen taint and found the slippery rim of his hole.

Bucky could've cried when two of them slipped inside.

*********************************************************************

Well I've tried to finish this two nights in a row now but I just can't find the time. SO I've decided to either post a part 2 of this as soon as I can write it or just compile it all into a oneshot for Ao3. I'll finish this though @slashtakemylife, you have the undying word of a writer with one working hand and too many deadlines :)

[baphometsss]

idk i feel like this is a pretty un-nuanced take. for one thing, trick said on bluesky that solas didn't love mythal more than lavellan. in some deleted dialogue, mythal is referred to as his family. re: his relationship with lavellan, according to his romance description in inky's screen, they were the first person he actually fell in love with, and he didn't foresee what that would mean. the last thing he says to lavellan in dai is 'whatever happens next, i want you to know that what we had was real'. so, by the end of the game, he's conceded the truth he was trying to avoid. the modern people of thedas are real.

imo who he views as 'his people' is left deliberately vague, bc esp by the end of datv, even he doesn't know anymore. he's even willing to sacrifice spirits, whom he's consistently made a big fuss of wanting to protect. in 'the dread wolf take you', he says that modern elves would probably prefer the way things were, so he expects at least some of them to survive. the problem is that there are hardly, if any, ancient elves left kicking around at this point, so he has to view modern elves as people, otherwise who the hell is going to repopulate thedas when the veil comes down? in trespasser, he admits that he was wrong to not view modern people as people, that the inquisitor made them see otherwise, and that it doesn't make it any easier. there's no reason for him to lie about this. in fact, there's no reason for him to help the inquisitor at all at this point. he knows what he's about to do is fucked up, and despite it being strategically smarter to neutralise the inquisitor after taking the anchor, he doesn't. even with a low approval inquisitor.

the thing with solas is that he is a lot more honest with his actions and the things he doesn't say, which is why i think he was trying to leave clues for the inquisitor to follow him. he doubts himself, and the inquisitor is the one person who would know that--even unromanced or low approval--bc the inquisition was the first time in eons he was able to be his true self. he expressed the side of him that he has always wanted to be. he was able to be honest with someone for the first time in however many years, and it's ironic that he does it while living under a false identity. it reminds me of that quote about how people are more honest when they're wearing masks. ironically, his changed view on modern elves/people is probably part of his motivation. avenging mythal was one part of his motivation, but he can see how much modern elves suffer, and he knows this is in part because of his own actions. solas cannot see beyond his own guilt and regret, so it only spurs him on more to deus-ex-machina the entire world so he can fix what he did to his own people. when mythal stands against him in doing this, she too has to die.

yes, he is an unreliable narrator. he lies and betrays everyone. but like the inquisitor, we have to read him by the negative space, because that's where he's most honest. it's only by doing that and going behind his back to figure all those motivations out, that we actually get the chance to redeem him.

idk, i hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful of someone else's read, bc i do think all reads are valid. but i think to just outright be like 'solas lies about everything he'd kill the inquisitor etc' ignores at least half of his character development, and that's a shame bc there's a lot to unpack that flies in the face of that.

i would argue that his biggest lie is that he is nothing but a liar.

the thing about Solas Dragon Age is that he is an unreliable narrator. he lies. it is literally his thing, he points it out again and again, and real ass people STILL fall for his lies and propaganda again and again, even though he is literally A Well Known Liar

solas in inquisition does not view modern elves as "people". he doesn't view any modern day race as "people", this is something you can learn from cole, who has a unique insight into his head. solas pulls away from a romanced lavellan in inquisition specifically because SHE IS STARTING TO MAKE HIM VIEW MODERN DAY PEOPLE AS ACTUAL PEOPLE and he doesn't want that, because if he views them as people, he won't be able to pull down the veil. his "i had plans to minimize casualties" is a stretch of the truth at best and an outright lie at worst in veilguard. you are given no reason to believe him and every reason to understand that he is likely lying, again, as he always has, in order to justify his actions. he murdered the two people closest to him because they made him waver, wanted him to see there is beauty worgh protecting in this age, too, and i think lavellan is DAMN lucky he didn't get a chance to do anything worse than take her hand.

solas. is. a liar. he is a spirit twisted from his purpose, wisdom become pride, but his actions are his and his alone. he lies to felassan, he lies to the inquisitor, he lies to varric, he lies to rook. you HAVE to take everything he says with a grain of salt. mythal was the person he loved most and had the most history with and he still betrayed her, and locked up what remained of her within the fade. he is unreliable and twists his words to suit his purpose.

when he says he wants to save the elves, to return them to their former glory, he is likely not talking about modern day elves. he doesn't view them as "his people". not anymore. they're broken and need to be fixed. solas is a liar. he knows exactly who he is trying to save, and it is not anyone who exists within this modern world.

[dilfmobius]

"You think you know pain?" | Loki in The Avengers (2012)

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Fall Season! 🍁🍂🌻🎃👻🧛🏻‍♀️ … Three faced goddess continuation 👉🏻👈🏻? God dammit shana i fucking loved this prompt, 2012 Tony is the only version that has rights and I’ve had such a problem with him ever since aou, but your writing took me back to when I actually loved his character

a continuations of 1

Rhodey heads to the smith, unsurprised to see a line of people outside of it, waiting for the man inside to succumb to his need to eat or sleep and pounce on him for whatever issue they believe needs his immediate attention. Peter is among them, the closest to an apprentice that exists, but he can’t enter the forge without everyone else pushing in too, so he waits with all the rest of them.

When they see him coming, they groan, knowing their chances have been destroyed, except for Peter, who just looks relieved.

He remembers a time when Edward belonged to him alone. Edward exists because of him, after all, and needs must, but sometimes he can’t help but resent that this is another piece that he’s had to share.

“When I walk back out, it better be to an empty hallway,” he says blandly.

He receives a chorus of, “Yes, General,” and a jaunty wave from Peter before he’s opening the door and then shutting it firmly behind him.

In the beginning, the alchemy lab and the forge had occupied the same space, the outpost not yet big enough to have the rooms to spare. It had been quickly remedied once Rhodey had found about it, because the last thing any of them needed was losing him to an explosion of his own making, but he can’t say he’s surprised to see a cauldron bubbling ominously in the center of the room. “You have a lab for a reason.”

Surprised brown eyes snap up to meet his, and then there’s that familiar grin that always causes tension to unspool from his spine, even when it really shouldn’t. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. How goes the battle on the Eastern border?”

As if he doesn’t know. “They’re retreating. Our soldiers are holding the line and it looks like they’ve given up attacking us on that front. For now.”

“Sounds like something you should tell the king,” he says, frowning down into the cauldron as if it’s personally disappointed him.

Rhodey closes the distance between them, grabbing his chin and tilting his head to the side, frowning at the bruising mostly hidden by his hairline. “I am. But it’s a bit of wasted effort, considering the king is half the reason for their retreat.”

“Just half?” he pouts. “I really think that I deserve more credit-”

Rhodey kisses him to shut him up, a strategy that he’s been employing since they were teenagers, the whole reason necessitating Edward in the first place.

The second prince could not be scene dallying with someone so below him in station, the fact they were known to be friendly was a fluke of a broken wagon and much derision to all who heard of it. But Edward was no one, an educated fifth son of some nameless noble with a talent for metalwork, and no one cared if he kissed a commoner.

Then war had come knocking and a king could not do what needed to be done and so Edward had shifted from Rhodey’s to the country’s overnight.

Tony hums happily against his mouth and Rhodey pulls back rather than deepening it. Half the trick with was not letting him get distracted. “You need to get some sleep. Have you slept at all since getting back from the battle?”

The deep bruises under his eyes already tells him the answer, but it’s still worth asking.

“Need to figure this out,” he says, tilting his head to the cauldron. “It’s a coating for the blades to get them sharp enough to cut through armor. Not our armor, obviously, but other people’s.”

“A day,” he says, because Tony is needed everywhere at all times in all ways, and someone has to keep him from running himself into an early grave, and at the outpost, that’s him. “Just a day at home. I know you miss it. It’s been a while.”

Tony’s eyes go distant and fond. “Yes,” he agrees, and that one word has all the exhaustion that he won’t let show.

“You disappear all the time, no one will question it,” he murmurs, “I’ll make sure of it.”

“I’ll go if you will,” he returns. “You haven’t been home in even longer than I have.”

“Less of a need,” he argues, and he should argue against this too, when it’s unnecessary and dangerous, but he’s tired too. “Fine. We’ll need to sneak out to the woods if you don’t want to get caught.”

Tony clearly hadn’t expected him to agree that easily. “You hate flying.”

He hates how much pain it puts Tony in, but since he’s flying either way to get home, it doesn’t matter. “I’ll deal.”

Tony kisses him again, writes down some notes, douses the cauldron, and then they’re using the secret entrances that had actually been the whole point of building a lab near the forge. When they’re far enough away, Tony’s chest glows, the light and sparks spreading out from his chest to effulge his body and liquid gold and mercury sliding down his limbs. Rhodey has to close his eyes against the light, but Tony’s arms around him are always welcome, even when they burn almost too hot to stand.

The Iron Mage flying to the castle is a common enough sight that it raises no alarm and the brightness of Tony in flight means no one can tell he has a passenger, seen as nothing more than their own personal shooting star.

Tony melts the iron shutters back with a wave of his hand, likely reforming it behind them with a more intricate pattern than they’d been wrought with, because he always had such opinions about anything he hadn’t crafted himself.

He’s barely set Rhodey back onto his feet and folded the star back inside himself when there’s the running of little feet coming straight for them. Rhodey’s not surprised.

She’s always watching the stars, looking for her father.

Tony bends to pick up Morgan as she rounds the corner, barreling towards him with single minded intensity. “Daddy!”

“Hey, buttercup,” he says, hoisting her into her arms and settling her on his hip. “Miss me?”

“Yes,” she answers, wrapping her arms around Tony’s neck in a hug. She turns her head to grin at him, Tony’s eyes shining in her face. “Hi Rhodey. I missed you too.”

“Hi, Princess,” he says, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. She frees one arm from Tony to grab onto the front of his jacket, keeping him in place. He settled a hand on her back and that seems to satisfy her.

The door pushes open and Pepper is standing there, still with hair up and braided around a circlet and in a deep blue silk gown. “Someone here is supposed to be asleep.”  

Tony and Morgan’s innocent faces are identical and equally unconvincing.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” Rhodey asks.

“It’s all three of you, really,” she answers, striding forward. She squeezes his shoulder, then uses it as balance to push herself to her tip toes.

Tony bends to meet her in a kiss, chaste enough that Rhodey doesn’t feel the need to pull away but long enough that he assumes Tony’s sleep might end up experiencing a delay.

“I don’t want to go bed,” Morgan says. “Daddy’s home.”

“I’ll be here in the morning,” Tony says and Pepper’s face relaxes. “Come on, I’ll put you to bed myself, okay? And then you can tell me about all the new things you learned over breakfast.”

“I’m not tired,” she insists, but only waves at him when Tony pulls away to take her to her room.

Rhodey waves back, almost goes with them, but having the two of them there will just make her twice as riled up.

“I could have another, you know.”

He looks down at Pepper, blinking. “I thought – after the war?”

After the cave, after swallowing a star rather than being swallowed by it, Tony couldn’t justify staying on the sidelines, couldn’t justify only contributing to the war as Edward. Besides, being captured in the first place had shown him that he wasn’t safe as Edward anyway, but even Tony couldn’t justify taking to the battlefield without an heir, without a child of Stark blood to inherit, without a queen who could rule both while he fought and invented and in the event of his death.

Prince Gregory had been ten years older than Tony, he’d been the boy everyone knew would be king. Tony was just the spare, and not even one had on purpose. It’s why he’d had the freedom to meet Rhodey in the first place, to take on the name Edward and poke and prod his way through universities and labs and harassing blacksmiths into teaching him a craft a prince was never supposed to know. They’d assumed his father would arrange his marriage to some foreign noble for political reasons and Tony would install her onto an estate and do what was necessary to add a couple kids to the royal line and that would be that, he would then be free to spend his time on pursuits he enjoyed and with the man he loved. He was just the second prince, after all, it’s not like what he did really mattered, and he and Prince Gregory had never gotten along anyway.

Lots of people hadn’t gotten along with Prince Gregory, lots of people had thought his temper and his cruelty and several other attributes made him unsuitable as king. Maybe, on their own, they wouldn’t have mattered much – Rhodey thought Prince Gregory was not so much worse than King Howard – but he was constantly compared to the brother ten years his junior and found lacking.

They never found out who was behind the attack that killed Tony’s parents and brother. With their enemies sensing weakness and declaring war soon after, it was easy to pin the blame on them. But there were persistent rumors that it’d been someone, or several someones, that wanted Tony on the throne over his brother.

Rhodey doesn’t know if it’s true. All he knows is that relief rippled through the country far heavier than mourning.

The relationship he and Tony had, the future they’d mapped out, had been possible for a snubbed second prince and utterly impossible for a king. Tony had put off marriage for longer than he should have, but he couldn’t forever, and his urge to get out and fight now that he could pressed down on him.

Pepper had been his friend first. Their friend first. A noble, but only barely, and utterly unsuitable for the title of queen according to her pedigree and also the only one Tony would agree to marry so the rest hadn’t mattered.

If she were anyone else, he thinks he would have hated her. But Pepper had come to him after Tony had asked her and said, “I love him,” like throwing down a gauntlet.

He’d known. Who couldn’t help but love Tony, once they got to know him? And Pepper was beautiful and competent and trustworthy, could have Tony’s children and lead his country and keep all his secrets. And Tony might be able to resist falling in love with Pepper when she was only his friend and confidant, but as his wife, the mother of his children, his queen? He would fall.

“I want what’s best for him,” she’d continued in what he thought was going to be the worst conversation of his life, “and that’s me and you. He would never give you up. You know that. You should have a little more faith in him.”

“He needs you,” he’d said quietly. What Tony needed is something he couldn’t be, he wasn’t a noble or a woman.

Pepper had lifted her chin in defiance, every inch the queen she was going to become. “He needs us.”

That had been years ago. They made it work, awkwardly and painfully at first, but much smoother these days, warmer and easier. When the war ends, he thinks things might even be easy.

Tony and Pepper had needed to have a child and quickly, to secure the succession. She’d been pregnant within four months of their marriage and Princess Morgan’s birth had been greeted with relief by the country. Still, more heirs are better, especially with Starks being thin on the ground, but Tony resisted the idea of having another child in the midst of war, another child that he might die on and abandon.

Which is what makes Pepper’s statement so confusing.

“I didn’t mean right this second,” she says, lips turning up at the corners. “I know I’m not exactly your type, but I certainly wouldn’t mind the process myself. Morgan’s yours, of course, but if you wanted – I wouldn’t mind. Tony wouldn’t either.”

He understands what she’s offering and he’s shaking his head before she’s even finished talking. “We can’t – they’d know.”

“Maybe the next one will take after my genes,” she says. “Goddess knows Morgan’s all her father.”

She is, so clearly Stark, from her eyes to her intelligence to her love of trouble. But there’s no way a child of his could pass as a child Tony’s, which is what any child of the queen’s would have to be. Even if they came out pale enough to pass as a Stark, which isn’t any sort of risk they could take, it wouldn’t be worth the risk of anyone finding out that a child in line for the throne was not of the Goddess blessed bloodline.

“Tony’s children are my children,” he says, and means it. Pepper and Tony had always been clear about that and it had been a relief, to not have to be so close and yet so far, to be able to love Morgan as his daughter even if it was nothing he could ever say out loud. “Go and help him with her. I know you have a lot to catch up on.”

He’ll go to his room, with the bed and comforts that he’s missed quiet a lot, and get the sleep that he’s also missed.

She sighs, squeezing his arm. “Don’t wander. I get up early and Tony never sleeps through it.”

Tony will get up with her, and kiss her as she heads to the hall, then go down to his room and crawl into bed with him, still sleep warm, until he has to get up and put in an appearance as King Anthony.

Rhodey smiles and nudges her towards the hall. “Go on, your husband is waiting.”

“Our husband,” she corrects imperiously and doesn’t move until he laughs and nods and repeats her words back to her.

[agentnavi]

the way i just have to live with the fact that marvel is never gonna do tommy's powers justice, never gonna explore them they way they were supposed to, is just so foul

LIKE YOURE SO CLOSE. ITS RIGHT THERE! JUST! COMMIT!!!

HE WAS SET UP TO BE SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN MARVEL WILL EVER LET HIM BE AND THATS FOUL!!!

[hayaku14]

m23 was really just a whole kaishin date