#like better than anything else in the mcu has been in a while or will be in a while but still. very marvel. not quite as deadpool

[freetobeeyouandme]

Thing is I enjoyed DP&W in the moment but going back and watching the first two Deadpool movies I'm really curious how tf we got from literally traveling through time to save her life to Wade and Vanessa being broken up. Not to mention the absolute stupidity of her dating someone from work...not unrealistic but please tell us what Vanessa works as. Please, Disney, tell us. where does Vanessa work. Disney. Tell us where Vanessa works, disney. hey, disney. can you say it? Where Deadpool's wife works??

[420technoblazeit]

i feel like ever since i got into comics loki's stories ive been so disappointed w mcu loki bc they never really let him be morally grey. he goes from sympathetic villain to hero and doesnt ever really inhabit the middle ground ykw i mean. even after he takes the throne in the dark world what did he even do with all that power? nothing bc he didnt want it, after avengers at his very worst he's morally neutral. he just wants to make up for what he did

there's no real trickster element to his character, at least not in any way that feels satisfying. no huge double crosses, no centuries long plans that come to fruition in the last minute, no selfish schemes that put everyone else in legitimate danger even if he rights it in the end and it's for a good cause. he even gets outsmarted every once in a while. he's just a guy who made some mistakes designed for you to feel bad for

mcu loki hates himself because he's a frost giant and because he betrayed thor's trust and caused a rift in their relationship that can never be healed. comics loki hates themself because as the god of stories they understand their purpose in the narrative as someone who has to do what no one else wants to, who has to play the villain to move things forward and make the hard decisions. and this role makes them powerful and important because the storyteller understands the bigger picture better than anyone else, but it also makes them so incredibly lonely bc no one else around them will ever comprehend what theyre doing. to everyone else theyre sowing chaos just for the sake of it and by playing their part loki has destroyed every meaningful relationship theyve ever had. but to do anything else would be to doom everyone else entirely. theyre simultaneously trapped and freed by their narrative

[companionjones]

Days, Weeks, Months, Years (8/10)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Fandoms: MCU, Marvel

Warnings: Cursing, Canon level violence

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

*******

The goal was to destroy the base. That was exactly why Hulk was on standby (his favorite place to be) to do his actual favorite thing: Smash.

Before you came in, you, Tina, and Nat were sent in like scalpels to precisely take out all human dangers. The Maximoff twins were there for all other combatants. Tony and Sam were your eyes in the sky, and Steve and Bucky handled the perimeter on the ground.

A few hours into the mission, Nat was taking down a hallway of unfriendlies by herself, as she tended to do. She called for you and Tina to keep going. You had no problem with it, you trusted Nat implicitly. Valentina, however, rolled her eyes. "She has no idea what she just did."

"What do you mea--Ugh!" You were roughly pushed back into some sort of dark passageway.

You were fighting blind. All you knew was that Tina did it. She had turned on you all.

"We got a Code Ward!" you yelled into your comm.

"Who?" Steve was the first to respond.

"Who do you think?!" You were able to say before a gun went off.

For a moment you saw a heinous look on Tina's face before you reached down and felt warm liquid on your stomach. You started coughing up blood, and you fell to the ground.

There was chaos in your ear. Most people were asking where the hell you were, but you had no idea. You didn't want to waste breath telling them that when you had one important message to relay.

"Buc-Buc-Bucky-I-love-you."

You couldn't hear him, couldn't hear his response if he had one. You couldn't hear anything over blood rushing in your ears. Your breathing was getting slow. Too slow. You couldn't hear yourself breathe anymore.

~~~

Bucky stopped breathing when he heard that gunshot through his comm. Then, he gasped in more air than he ever thought possible when he heard you say what you said. Because, in that moment, one thought ran through his mind: he'd never get to say that back to you.

He didn't know how long he took. It could've been immediately, it could've been years, but Bucky called through his comm, "Nat. Where are they?"

The Black Widow was in as much shock as everyone else. "I...I don't know...I--"

"Wanda. I don't care what you have to do. Find Y/n...Sam, Tony, I better not see either of you drop an inch. We're not letting the bitch that did this get away."

"Bucky, I--"

Bucky didn't care what Steve had to say. If it didn't get him closer to you, it didn't matter to him.

Bucky could suddenly hear Wanda grunting. It wasn't through the comms. The comms malfunctioned while Wanda's voice echoed through the mountains, and Bucky watched as the base, almost hidden by the trees in the forest, lifted from the ground and started to spin.

Bucky thought that you would have loved to see that. You loved to see Wanda's powers in action when they weren't held back by protocol.

After a couple spins, the base was put back down. Besides the shift in the forest, it was like it never happened.

"She's here!" Wanda's voice sounded through the comm again, and Bucky took off in a dead sprint toward the base.

Pietro's voice then sounded, "Meet-meet me at the jet. I got her."

Bucky didn't have to change his direction to get there. He considered having the quinjet take off without him if it meant getting you medical attention sooner, but by then he was already there.

Bruce was leaning over you, already thoroughly working on you.

"How--?" Bucky asked before his brain could stop him from possibly distracting the doctor.

Banner didn't get distracted. "The Other Guy cares about her, too."

"We all care for her," Pietro notified with his sister nodding next to him, "but we all know that you care for her more than all of us."

Barnes didn't even look at the man in front of him, but it wasn't out of hatred. Bucky's eyes were stuck on you.

On your blood-soaked clothes. On the hole in your stomach.

Bucky's breathing got ragged. His breaths turned to sobs. He fell to his knees with Wanda and Pietro catching each of his shoulders.

Then, through his enhanced hearing, Bucky heard someone getting attacked outside the quinjet while it was taking off. He glanced out out a window to see Steve straddling a still-breathing Valentina. Though, by the looks of it, she wouldn't keep breathing for long.

"That's-my-best-friend's-girl," he gritted between punches.

Bucky stood, still hyperventilating, and pressed the button that would open up the loading dock to the plane, and he jumped out. The quinjet was only a few yards off the ground, so it didn't hurt the super-soldier.

"She's-my-friend! She's-on-my-team!" Steve was relentless until he was literally thrown off by Bucky. "What are you doing?!" Steve yelled.

Valentina moved to get up. She actually moved until Bucky shot her a look that must've been so terrifyingly threatening that Valentina collapsed back to the ground.

He didn't take his eyes off Valentina as he answered Steve. "Y/n decides what we do with her."

"Buck--"

"Y/n decides," James growled. His attention went to his comm. "Sam, take her back. Hurt her if necessary."

For once, Sam didn't have a witty retort as he landed and approached the woman.

Tony landed briefly too, and he took the two best friends back aboard the quinjet. He seemed to have taken Nat at some point as well because she was aboard then, sitting in a corner, looking like she had just seen a ghost.

Before the super-soldiers took a step towards Bruce pseudo-operating on you, Bucky put a weak hand on Steve's shoulder.

Steve turned to his best friend.

"I need you to take the lead again." Bucky told him. Barnes understood what he himself had started to do.

Steve looked solemn, "Buck, I can't--"

"I can't look at her without--" Bucky broke down in tears again.

Steve caught his best friend. Steve agreed, "Okay. I got you. I have you."

*******

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, check out my masterlists. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

*******

Tag List: @sidraaaaaaaaa // @dontworryboutitsweetheartxx-blog // @mayusenpai666 // @onceithough // @greatenthusiasttidalwave // @shadowzena43 // @ampersam // @sebastians-love // @cjand10 // @silentwhisper666 // @superaveng // @vicmc624 // @ltsaradharkness

[mgnifique-tion]

— from the heart.

summary || ``the scientist, y/n l/n, finds the key to the god of mischief’s hardened heart.``

pairing: 2012!loki x gn!scientist!reader song recommendations: i’ll be your man - btob / covered by park jeup, choi suhwan, and kim seunghun (build-up) lowercase is intended… »» read part 1 here

— themes and warning/s: open-ended (yet again), very mild swearing, the enemies have turned to complicated lovers, religious/christian metaphors, angst, death of family member (mentioned), thor mentioned 🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥 (just a heads-up)

— a/n: entry for april! what the hell, y’all… how did i get so active writing about loki, i’m not even into the mcu that much anymore (idk, probably because he turned into a tree and that was sad?) anyway, this is the second part to “human reaction” so if you haven’t checked that out, just click the link on the title for some backstory. this has also turned out longer than earlier so wow, i think i’ve gone crazy for loki (thanks a lot, tom 👍) — edit: hello, so this was supposed to be up for april but i'm posting it now on july because, unfortunately, i have a very busy life with unexpected events taking place. enjoy reading!

[ total words: 2.5k ]

support me on ko-fi! ☕

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

it was past midnight and that self-proclaimed god had brought you to the top of a hill, telling you to wait for him as he’ll be taking some time to converse with his allies.

allies in ruling the world? yes.

“faen!” you heard him growl into the darkness, which startled you from the rock you were sitting on. but of course, that sudden shock died down due to how tired you already were; sleepless and alert from anything that could happen if you’d ever close your eyes. there was that fear that you may never open them again if you had left them closed shut even for just a little minute. 

there was a long pause until you decided that it’d be somewhat of a good idea to say something. a single word at least just to fill in the silence. “... so, did the meeting go well?–”

“oh, will you just not question it!?” loki grunted, startling you again. well, he did say he wouldn’t lay a finger on you so erupting like a volcano right at you wasn’t technically breaking any rule. “don’t you see? it’s obvious that nothing else had gone well, you imbecile! what else would i have to offer you in exchange for your eternal silence!?”

then, he proceeded to take in a deep breath, closing his eyes to collect himself and his emptied patience while you just stared at him. yes, of course, you hated his guts and the fact that you couldn’t really do anything against him but you never intended to offend him; that question was genuine.

in fact, every single response you’ve ever given him was genuine.

“sorry,” you blurted out, “i was just asking. i didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or something... just wanted to know what went on.” the way your voice sounded so hazy and somehow breathy had given him the impression that you were already exhausted, not just mentally but rather physically. you couldn’t think of the words to respond anymore and maybe it would’ve been better if you had just said nothing.

but surprisingly, this was just another reason for loki to take interest toward your gift: humanity, as he’s said. “... did you just?–”

“yes… i did. i did apologize!” you didn’t even notice how your tone had changed; you’ve never raised your voice at him for the sake of him doing the same for you but you’ve had enough. you weren’t a friend, you weren’t even anything to him. you were just a total mortal stranger he spared, which does not give any reason for both of you to yell at each other but that rule has been broken.

after all, you’re just human and that is natural.

“i have never insulted after you’ve spared me,” you reminded him bitterly, getting up from that rock you’ve been sitting on ever since the past hour. you don’t even know why this god had brought you here and something about it was just familiar to you, just like the sacrifice of isaac. “i couldn’t sleep... i couldn’t eat... i couldn’t even ask you to stop whatever the fuck you’re doing to my world anymore but the moment i asked you about your stupid meeting, you just– you just blow up at me! is this what i get from saving you!?”

and that was the first time you’ve ever startled a god.

loki was stunned. slightly amused but completely out of words. just by staring at him, you’d know that he would start thinking of something with a smug smile but there was nothing on his face; he was fazed by you. 

“right,” he said with a low chuckle, “i must’ve forgotten you were human with feelings all over the place... natural... real.”

as the scepter started glowing again, panic rushed in your head and you damn knew that you had to run – just like the many times you’ve thought of that scenario but it just never took place. “you want a meal and an hour of sleep?”

“make it at least two–”

“four, it is.”

and despite the second peak of terror just occuring, that was also the second time he’s ever shown actual generosity. “you humans are too fragile,” loki commented with yet another chuckle as you huffed since that’s all you could do; you don’t trust his promises after all and you might never will. “... you really do need a proper leader. a god you can see, feel, and touch… not some written messiah.”

oh.

that statement must’ve crossed borders.

“... where do you want to eat?” he asked softly, almost as if he’s returning that genuine question he didn’t even bother to listen to. you were starting to wonder whether this was a symbol of your last meal. the last thing you’ll ever eat before your execution. 

who knows what else he could do with that scepter of his. “... well, in-n-out is open for twenty-four hours so…” you trailed off, looking away for a bit as your eyes scanned the area. every hill and path already turned into several landmarks in your mind as if you were the first person to discover it. “... would that be okay?”

once those uncertain words left your lips, the god of mischief smugly smirked back and nodded once. “i have one condition, however.” loki, of course, had to have some benefit from allowing you to take your basic needs as he stood before you, his hands clasped together and shown rather than his usual. “you’re not allowed to eat alone, therefore, once you purchase your cheap delicacies, we’ll come back here.”

so, a total bummer? of course, loki would know how to ruin your chances of escaping even if you hadn’t plotted against him… yet. “i wouldn’t want my apprentice to attempt freeing themselves, would i?” he knew what he was doing and you just had no choice; you needed to eat. you needed sleep. you needed to survive and in order to do so, you must abide by his rules.

he did spare you, didn’t he?

and as time passed by, you were now seated in the same mountain area, eating a take-out burger with a god. you didn’t know whether this was an early breakfast or a late dinner but nonetheless, you were somewhat grateful. “... are you not hungry?”

“gods don’t need to–”

“i bought you one, too.”

for some reason, loki just couldn’t say no to that as he continued to sit down next to you while your hands scrambled into the paper bag, searching for the other burger. at the moment, this was the only thing you could afford since he’s taken you under him once he’d given you that offer: wherein he or his blue-eyed minions couldn’t hurt you yet you still had to be somewhat his subject; a witness and a bystander.

after all, how could he lead humanity without being familiar with one?

“why aren’t you making attempts yet?” loki asked, “this is your perfect and only way of taking the hit and setting yourself free from my commands.”

“because i stick by my words,” you said back effortlessly, “i’ll be here until you let my co-workers– my friends go.”

he was silent again. in some way, he expected you to tell him that you were staying because you simply wanted to but a whiplash of reality quickly swept him away from his delusions. “so, you’re telling me that you’d wait until i let them go, huh? you’re willingly waiting for ages, then.”

the god hardened his heart and set aside any chances of letting your friends go as he chuckled before taking a bite from his burger. on the other hand, you just sat there, rethinking your choices; there’s no way nothing could convince him to let them go, right?

“yet i do admire your everlasting… hm… patience,” he pointed out, later letting out another low chuckle. “now that is something i don’t have… how do you do it?”

for the very least amount of times, he actually was genuine with that question. “well, i had a baby sister and she definitely trained me a lot with my patience.” you laughed, the delayed silence seeping in little by little, which made him cock his head to the side, curious about the matter.

“... had?” he just had to ask about it. “she passed away.” and you just had to tell him.

hearing your solemn, guilty answer was enough to make loki hooked to that story behind your younger sister’s passing. it wasn’t something you’d openly talk about but it surely was the only thing you endlessly blamed yourself for. 

“... oh,” loki uttered with a rather bitter tone, “i’m sorry for your loss… how old was she?”

“twelve.”

considering the fact that he was thousands of years old, his eyes widened after finding that out. “... that’s young,” he commented rather blankly but the look on his face was otherwise; you weren’t the only one terribly heartbroken about the incident. loki took the lives of eighty individuals in two days but never did he think of taking the life of a young child.

so, that was terrifying to think of. “and that happened because of?”

“... terminal disease.”

no matter how casual you sounded to him, your heart shattered. “well, actually, it could’ve been her twenty-second birthday last month if she made it… i’m a bit sappy now, aren’t i?” reality woke you up and told you to snap out of it; you weren’t talking to a friend, you were talking to a dictator. an alien. the god of mischief.

this story was not supposed to be and shouldn't be disclosed with him. “be sappy all you want,” he said, taking a sip from the straw of his cola. “after all, a god should be able to listen to his people’s messages, right?”

narcissistic? yes. but empathic? weirdly, that too.

“... that thing you used earlier,” you took a pause, letting out a sigh and then, a laugh. “it was supposed to be for her… well, for people like her at least.”

loki was giving it his best to not feel sorry – guilty for using the thing you’ve made but who knew that a sibling tragedy would soften his heart? he wouldn’t admit it, of course, but it was there. present at the moment and served as a reminder that he too had a sibling.

well, has.

“it was up for testing but of course, it was used for something else,” you said, eyeing him down as he managed to fake a chuckle; he couldn’t let himself show weakness after everybody else in his life made him feel like a nuisance – a tiny, little problem they’d have to deal with every day. not ever. never again. “... but i guess i still saved someone? and i still don’t know if i should be happy about that but it still provided its purpose.”

“oh, please.” he laughed, facing you more than he ever did before. “you saved me, your god and not anyone else… you should be celebrating this for your whole life.”

“you’re not the god i worship, loki.”

“well, i suggest you must. it’ll make this all easier for you.”

and he talked like a noble deity while eating a french fry. cheap and comical but it didn’t lower his status. “and, oh, if you do, there would be a lot of kneeling that’d occur.” that statement made you turn around and look at him with your brows either furrowed or raised; you had no idea how to react properly to it.

“... what–,” you were then stopped midway.

“i meant in praying.” he choked out.

this was one of your weirdest, most out of place conversations with the god so you just had to slowly turn away again and face the hills below both of you while munching on the burger in your hands. and then, he told you the truth you’ve kept deep in your chest, “... oh, i see it clearly now… you saved me because you want to prove yourself that you’re capable of keeping someone away from death. that you’re… worthy of things.”

it felt like time had stopped the moment you listened to him say that. for the first time, he was actually right with what he’d told you. he’d always claim the most bizarre things about humans and gods but this time, he was so close to the truth that he just blatantly told you what it was.

you were guilty because you couldn’t save her.

“i have a brother,” he added, “that’s why i… um… figured it out.”

“well, where is he, then? did you kill him?”

loki laughed at that. despite the hatred and fueling anger he had for his older brother, he wouldn’t end up killing him even though he’s close to it. the scars of the past made him into who he was now but the wound that his brother’s death would leave him absolutely destroyed. alone. all by himself. consumed by nothingness. just like what his old, so-called friends would tell him.

��he’s alive,” he said so soothingly, “and he’s living against what i had planned for this world.” those following words were much bitter, angrier than what he’s said before. it’s almost as if he’s relieved to see his brother again but upset enough to know that he wasn’t on his side.

“oh, you totally miss him.”

“... silence, peasant.”

and yet another unexpected scenario happened: sharing a laugh with the god of mischief who wants to rule over your world like a second hitler. “... but you can’t show that, can you?” you questioned and he nodded right away, politely letting you finish despite already expecting that you’d ask that. 

when the cold air and the rustling leaves collided, it was time for you to ask him the question that might just change the entire situation.

“is everything all from the heart?” you asked, pointing towards your chest as you stated him down. “... are you saying all of this from the heart?”

it took loki a while before he accepted it; he did speak about all of it from the heart. all of it. no lies were told for once and it was chilling for him. he didn’t even know that he was capable of opening the doors to the secrets he’s kept locked and buried in but that was the effect of the midgardian sitting next to him; the human who made him realize why thor loved jane.

the human he was willing to rule and to love. “... if i asked you now, would you kiss me?”

and for some reason unknown, your lips did brush against his, caressing them softly while you brought your hands to the back of his head, tangling your fingers around his waved locks. maybe you had been caught up by the moment but for him, this was real. this was the moment he understood why thor wanted to protect this world.

because humans spoke from the heart. 

but how could he take everything back when the damage had been done? when the chaos had taken over?

he pulled away and asked with teary, glistening eyes, “what have you done? why did you do it?”

one thing about him was that his need was also his one and only fear; it was love. 

you were startled once again, still keeping your hands behind his head. was it a trick? was it some test? you didn’t know anymore. you were bound to do whatever it took to save your friends and if a kiss that you’ve been longing for could do it, then what else could go wrong?

well, things may have not gone wrong for you but to loki, this was his one and only wake-up call.

wake up, loki.

you’ve fallen for the human.

[elletheactualmenace]

You Would do That for Me?

Pairing: MCU!Peter Parker x Stark!fem!reader

Summary: You hit two birds with one stone. Helping both you and Peter out in the process. Seems like a good plan, right?

Warnings: Verbal assault, Little but some physical assault, Catcalling, Bullying, annoying people just in general, swearing

Word Count: 5.04k

a/n: I tried to make this as enjoyable as I could, but some of this sucks, I tried really hard to get it to what I liked, but only some parts got there. Im hoping I’ll like the next part better. Sorry for the wait, but thanks for waiting! Also my Spanish is rusty lmk if it’s wrong.

Thoughts = “Italicized dialogue”

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

High school. Not the most appealing place for anyone, especially not if you are the one having to attend. You don't think there has ever been one person, that doesn't come from some high school musical bullshit world, that enjoys going to high school.

You are top of your class, and you'd think that would make it easier but that's far from the truth, specifically when you go to a school where everyone is supposed to be top of the class, or they were from the schools they had formerly attended. Smart people don't like being topped. So it isn't really personal when you get cussed out or get verbally bullied. At least you don't take it personally, not enough for people other than the ones who do it to know about it.

Today is the start of another exhausting day of school. Before you open the door to your room you once over your outfit, and mentally prepare yourself for everything that is to come. You let out a puff of air and begrudgingly walk down the hall and into the big elevator at the end of the hall.

"At least I don't have to walk down stairs," you mentally thank your father for being lazy, as you push the 'floor level' button.

"Good morning Y/n." Friday says as you walk into the kitchen. 

You mumble out a 'morning' and walk over to the pantry. You pull out a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. Then you get a bowl and a spoon, placing them on the counter next to the box of cereal.

"Hey kiddo," You hear your dads voice from behind you. You smile, turning to see him leaning against the fridge with a carton of milk in one of his hands. You chuckle, and walk up to him giving him a hug. He kisses your head while hugging you 

with just as much love.

"Hi dad." You say as he hands you the milk. Your dad gives you a look as he watches you tiredly get your breakfast.

"What?" You struggle to speak with a spoon full of food in your mouth.

When he doesn't say anything you ask again. "Dad, what is it?"

"Nothing, you just eat exactly like me." He chuckles out. And you scrunch your brows.

"Well how the hell else would I eat?" You ask. He gives you a pointed look, "I'm not going to quote any ancient museum piece but watch your mouth young lady." You put your hands up in apology.

“But It’s not even that bad of a word. S’not like you don’t say it.” You grumble slightly before stuffing another spoonful of Cheerios into your mouth.

“Although, that does sound like some old man I know, maybe I will let him know that you are finally starting to listen.” You give him a toothy grin and he shakes his head frantically.

“Don’t, please. I don’t want him to know he's rubbing off on me.” Your dad rambles out grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. You chuckle.

You both talk a while longer as you eat your cereal. 

“How’s school? Any drama I need to know about?” You roll your eyes at him.

“No, sadly, unless you consider Peter losing one of Ned's lego pieces and not talking to him for a whole four hours,” Your dad chuckles.

“I would say that's a decent amount of drama for those two,” You dad comments, and you continue your pass time chatter.

"Oh, also, sweetie, Happy is driving you to school today," You dad says as you finish up your cereal.

"But,” you start, “dad, you said you would." Your disappointed look doesn't go unnoticed even though you try to not let it show.

"I know sweetie, but I can't today, I will try to find some time this week or next to drive you, okay honey? I'm sorry." He gives you a look of pity. And he really does want to drive you, he just can’t.

You can’t figure out why it bothers you so much. It’s just a ride to school. Maybe it’s because you barely ever see him. Maybe it’s because lately he has been more occupied with work than with his own daughter.

It bothers you that it bothers you. You shouldn’t be mad at him for working, for being a hero. You should get mad because you know it's not like he wants to blow you off.

"Yeah, um, ok," you put on a tight smile as you walk over to a counter stool that you backpack is sitting on, and sling it over one of your shoulders.

"Friday," Your dad calls out, and she immediately responds,

"Yes sir?"

"Call down Happy, and let him know, Y/n is ready to head out." Your dad finishes as he walks toward the hall leading to his office. He waves you a goodbye and you give a small smile in response.

Not even a couple minutes later Happy walks in, car keys in hand. "Come on kid, let get you to school," You nod and follow him outside.

The walk to the car is quiet. And Happy is not complaining with your ‘too tired to talk attitude’. He's not one for much unnecessary conversation. That's not to say he doesn't care for what you have to say, he just likes moments of quiet. Especially during the shitty morning.

"Hey, Happy?" You ask once he starts the car. He looks up at you through the rear view mirror letting you know he's listening.

"What did my dad have to get to?" You hear Happy sigh but don't say anything.

"Listen, your dad, he's a busy man, so it could really be anything." Happy informs you with a small sad smile, trying to make you feel better. You just nod looking down at your hands, so you don't have to look at another person trying to give you pity.

——

You slam your locker shut and turn to see Ned and Peter at their lockers that are a few away from yours. You nudge MJ and she closes her locker slightly to look at you.

"Yeah?" She asks and you nod towards the rest of your friend group. Mj doesn’t like that you called yourself that but she doesn’t have a better solution so she lets it slide.

"I'm going to go talk to them, meet up later?" You ask and she nods before bidding you goodbye.

"No, no, no, Peter, listen to me, I know it isn't a scam, because my cousins, best friends, little brother also ordered from the website and it came." Ned argues with who you are assuming is Peter.

"I don't think that's a credible source, dude. Have you even met your cousins, aunts, friends, brother?" Peter asks skeptically.

"It was my cousins, best friends, little brother." Ned grumbled out with an eye roll.

“The fact that you have to correct him just proves the point more.” You state bluntly entering the very stupid, conversation.

“See exactly!” Peter exclamins in your dereliction. Ned mumbles something out but you don’t quite catch it, Peter does though and his face goes pink and he hits Ned's arm.

“My, point proven,” Ned says quietly. And you brush it off assuming it's an inside joke. The bell rings and catches your attention. 

“Okay come on you five year olds, let's stop arguing about credible sources, and whose brother said what.” You put your hands on both of their backs and push them toward your shared first period classroom.

When you walk in and find your seat. MJ is already sitting, in the seat right next to yours. And behind you Peter and Ned sit down. When the final bell rings everyone is sat down and ready for a long boring lecture.

The teacher passes out assignments and you all finish the assignment pretty quick, so, per usual, you sit around talking, or more, arguing.

“We need to agree on something and stop arguing.” MJ says calmly. You are all arguing about the movie you’re all going to watch at your house on Friday night. When someone proposes a movie, someone else always doesn't like it.

“I'm sorry MJ, but I will not watch Titanic, I can’t.” You deadpan, arms crossed over one another.

“Oh, come on Y/n! It's not that bad!” Ned tries but you shake your head with a look of utter disgust.

“It is that bad, I physically can’t watch it. I know it’s iconic or whatever, but I won’t let that movie play at my house. It’s not going to happen.” You slam your fist on Peter and Neds shared desk.

“What about Shutter Island?” Peter suggests. Looking at you for approval and you shrug. “I'm good with that.” You say.

“What's with all the DiCaprio movies?” MJ asks. And Ned groans, running his hands down his face. “So that's a no?” Ned says more of a statement than a question.

“I never said no,” She tries but you put your hand out to stop her. “You didn’t have to, it's a no.” You say tiredly.

“We have zero chance at agreeing on a movie by Friday.” Peter says resting his face in his arms that are arms crossed across the table.

“You know what else it is at zero?” Flash asks as walking past us to get to his seat after turning in the assignment. 

Before you can tell him to piss off he continues. “Penis Parker’s girl game. You have Zero chance of ever getting any girl, even if they are the ugliest thing anyone has ever laid eyes on.” Flash’s friends snicker at his words and he laughs loud at his own joke.  As he walks past other kids in the class he gets fist bumps.

You look at him unamused. And when you see the sad embarrassed look on Peter's face you want to respond to Flash by cussing him out, but MJ gets to him before you do. 

“We get it Flash, you’re taking your insecurities out on Peter, because we all know your ‘girl game’ is peaking in high school.” MJ retorts glaring at Flash. She says girl game like it’s the stupidest terminology to use, because it is.

“His girl game is just going to keep getting better after we graduate from this high school shit hole” You add huffing out in annoyance.

Flash looks around trying to get people to stand up for him. But no one does. They all just look away or at whatever they were before.

“Whatever,” You see Flash shrink in his chair as he quietly speaks. You glance over at Peter, he gives you a small smile. 

“Thanks,” he whispers. You nod smiling at him.

The rest of class he’s quiet, and you can’t help thinking that this sort of thing happens a lot. You wish you could help him more, or that you could prevent it from happening. You sigh and stand when the bell rings, the subject still on your mind.

——

“I don’t know, MJ,” You start while unlocking your locker. “I like the idea of a horror movie, but I don’t know if the boys could take it.” She shrugs,

"Well we should just make them deal with it.” You hum in consideration, “I mean come on, think about how many times Ned has made us watch Star Wars?”

You nod in agreement. She does have a point. You can’t count on one hand how many times you’ve had to sit through one of the Star Wars movies.

“Alright, fine.” You huff out, “But you’re telling them.” You poke her shoulder with your finger when you say it.

“Deal,” She takes your hand into hers and shakes it. You chuckle, shaking back.

You and MJ start heading out the front doors of the building. You spot Ned and Peter, and wave to them. Ned waves and Peter smiles.

You and MJ part ways as she heads to the subway station, and you head over to a bodega to get some food while you wait for Happy.

You cross the street walking along the white strips of color on the paved road. You pull out your phone when you get to the other side of the cross walk, to see if Happy texted you yet. 

Happy:)

I’ll be there in ten.

Happy:)

Where do you want me to pick you up?

Y/n Stark

The bodega, want anything?

Happy:)

I'm good.

Y/n Stark

Cheetos it is! See you in a bit 🫡

You turn off your phone and put it in your pocket, stepping into the bodega. The man behind the counter's head shoots up when he hears the bell on the door ring.

“Hola, pequeño Sparky,” The man says. 

“Hola, Sr. López,” You grin and wave. When you first met, Sr. López, he told you that you look like Tony Stark's daughter. But he said spark not Stark, it stuck. You never correct him, and you never tell him you are actually Tony Stark's daughter, because you enjoy the name just as much as he does. 

“Can I get a bacon egg and cheese?” You ask and he smiles big.

“Ah of course, and cheetos for Sr. gruñón?” You nod and smile. “You know it, Sr. López”

You walk over to the shelf of chips and grab the bag of cheetos. When your order is done you pay and head outside, waving Sr. Lòpez goodbye.

“Que tenga una buena tarde, Sr. López.” You say stepping out of the bodega.

When you walk out you almost trip. You look down and notice your untied shoelace. You probably unintentionally stepped on it again. When you bend over to tie it you hear something. 

More like someone. Or multiple people. You hear someone whistle, and you stand and turn around abruptly.

And that’s when you see them. The three little pieces of shit that always bother you. They are always somehow there just when you don’t want them to be. Not that you ever did want them there. They are the weirdo dickheads who never leave you alone. Somehow they always pop up out of nowhere.

The blond short kid named Derek, whistles again. Logan the tallest one begins walking over to you. The other two follow. 

You quickly begin walking past them. And you get half a block before Otis the jet black haired guy grabs you by the arm and pulls you into a small alley. Derek and Logan gather around you whistling laughing. You struggle in Otis’s grip, you’re sure it will leave a big bruise.

“What the hell do you want?” You spit out and Logan tuts shaking his head. 

“Well look at you,” He breathes out as you get out of Otis’s tight hold. “How is a pretty thing like you still so available?” 

Derek chuckles and pushes your body against the brick alley wall with his hands. 

“I have no clue, but if you want to, baby, I'm open to anything” Derek growls out, and your face turns into disgust.

“Don’t make that face, it makes you look ugly.” Otis says with a scowl.

“I have to go.” You say quietly looking down to stop your shaky breathing.

“What was that hon’?” Logan asks, leaning his face close to yours. “Couldn’t quite hear you.” You know full well he can hear you, he's just being a dick.

You snap your head up with an angry expression, glaring daggers at the boys. “I have to go.” You state firmly. You watch as their faces turn into smiles, and they begin to laugh at you.

Then you hear a ding from your pocket. Surprisingly they let you grab your phone. You wonder why until Derek snatches the phone from your hands. You try to reach for it but Otis pushes you back against the wall.

“Give it to me,” You shout. They ignore you and look at the text. “Seems like she does have to go, boys,” Logan says, tossing your phone back with an annoyed look.

“It's a shame, I would have liked to tease you more.” Otis’s comment makes you mad. You look down at your lock screen to see a text from Happy.

Happy:) 

I'm here, where are you?

The boys move to make way for you. And as you walk past them you trip over Dereks, purposefully, outstretched foot. You stumble and don’t bother to look back, so you don’t have to see them cackling at you.

You quickly scurry out of the alley and towards Sr. López’s bodega. You see Happy in a black car across the street, he sees you and waves. Nodding back you cross the street.

You open the car door and slip in. You pull the Cheetos out from your bag and reach over the divider to hand them to him. He thanks you and pulls out from the parking spot.

“Where were you?” He asks, chewing on a cheeto. You shrug, rubbing your bruised arm. “Uhh, I was just walking around waiting for you.” Its a good enough lie to get him to drop the subject. The car ride from that point on is silent, uncharacteristic for you, but Happy doesn't comment as he continues driving and you eat your bacon egg and cheese.

——

You hate it.

Feeling helpless.

How could you not when you were raised by the Iron Man, and grew up around superheros, and just strong people. So, it makes your blood boil when you think about the way you let them treat you. You know how to speak up for others, but for some stupid reason your own brain is too scared to be able to defend you.

What makes you doubly angry when you walk into your house, is thinking about the way Flash and the other kids at your school treat Peter. “What makes them think they are so much better? They don’t even compare to Peter,” you think. Peter is smart and sweet and has the kindest soul of anyone you have ever come across, so it pisses you off how shitty people can be. If only you could fix both problems.

“What’s got you so grumpy?” Pepper asks as you walk past her to your room. Her voice breaks your train of thought. 

“Everything,” You grumble out. Pepper hums in understanding. Pepper, although she's not biologically you family, you consider her your mother. She's always there for you and she watched and helped you grow into the person you are.

“Anything I can help you with?”

“Not really. Unless you can magically make people stop being jerks.” She chuckles as your shoulders slouch.

“Well, when I'm dealing with Jerks, I tell them to stop or I’ll fire them. I usually try to hit two birds with one stone to get them out of my life faster. So fire the problem not just one person.” Pepper says, trying to help. You nod. And you catch the end of a conversation when your dad and Clint walk in.

“So, no, there will be no boyfriends or girlfriends for Y/n for a long time.” Clint chuckles at your dad.

Your brows scrunch before your head shoots up and your face breaks into a grin. Pepper who was watching you smiles, confused.

“You are a genius, dad!” You shout as you rush over to him to kiss him on the check. 

“I know,” Your dad looks surprised when he says it, but smiles anyway. 

“Thanks uncle Clint,” You hug Clint quickly and he tries to hug back but you pull away before he can.

Then you run back to your mom, wrapping her in a hug, before she can say anything, or pat you back, you run off.

“Thanks mom, got to go!” You yell back to her as you rush into your bedroom.

“What was that about?” Clint asks Pepper, and she shrugs.

“I say let’s be happy, she's happy.” Tony says as he continues to walk to his lab.

When you shut the door you throw your backpack on your bed. You begin pacing back and forth in thought.

“Peter needs a girlfriend. And I need someone who can keep those assholes away from me.” You drop the pacing for tapping your foot and rubbing your chin. Your face scrunches trying to think of a solution.

“It can’t possibly be this hard to come up with something… who’s a girl who’s single, and likes Peter, or can at least tolerate pretending to like him? Who’s someone who I can have, help me?”

Your tapping gets faster as your brain works harder. “How the hell can’t I think of anything? I’m the daughter of fucking Tony Stark for goodness sake. There has to be someone-“ You cut your thoughts off and your eyes go wide at your realization.

“No.” You think shaking You head. “That wouldn’t be acceptable. We’re friends not- not…that.”

“Oh shit.” You say aloud this time. “It’s the only solution that isn’t 100% insane.” You breath out a shaky sigh. “I have to ask Peter Parker to be my boyfriend.”

——

“This is 100% insane.” You think, gripping the pole in the rocking subway cart. “I know it’s insane, he’s gonna think it’s insane.”

You got Happy to let you head over to Peters to work on ‘a project’. You do have your homework with you, but you can’t focus on anything other than the crazy conclusion you have come to. So, no homework could get done without talking to Peter.

The subway cart is pretty full, because it just hit rush hour and there’s a woman who’s standing a little close to you. You step a couple inches towards the bar.

You keep going over what you are going to say to Peter in your head. You can’t come up with a coherent sentence that doesn’t sound like you are just flat out asking him out. Well you are doing that, “but- no- not in that way” You keep telling yourself. You just have to explain the situation to him, and he’ll understand. Right?

You also have to consider the fact that no one out of school can know about it. If your dad knew you were dating someone, you think he might just kill them. You heard what he said to Clint. But what he doesn't know can’t hurt him, at least while he doesn't know. You know what the consequences are if he finds out, but you are willing to do it, for you and for Peter. 

The train car pulls to a stop, and the doors open. You hear the automated voice ring through the train station as you set out of the train car. Piles of people rush in and out of the train. You dodge the hoards by swerving and slipping past them, out of habit. Living in New York, it's impulses to walk around slow people.

You climb the steps of the train station and out into the chilly air of Queens. You wrap your arms around your body, regretting the decision to ditch the jacket.

It takes a couple minutes to get to Peter and May's apartment, but once you travel up the elevator and your hand is inches from the door, all your previous courage drains from your body. You blink harshly to shake away the fear. Your heart is pounding and you can’t breathe properly. 

“Just do it already, what are you scared of? its Peter,” You know there is lots to be scared of but you won’t let your mind drift that way. 

You lift your hand to knock on the door, but it’s pulled open before you can make contact with the metal handle. You step back startled.

“Oh god, so sorry.” The woman in front of you says with a sigh. Your heart rate begins to slow when you hear her voice.

“No worries, Miss Parker.” You chuckle. She laughs out at your words.

“Oh please, I'm not that old Y/n, just call me May, like everyone else.” She smiles politely at you.

“I'm not everyone else.” You smile back. She shakes her head with a grin. “No you are not,”

“Well, I have to go pick something up from the store, help yourself,” she gestures inside, “Peters in his room, most likely building a lego set.” She pauses, “Or looking up ones he wants.”

You laugh and nod, waving goodbye and walking in. You take your shoes off and shut the door. You’re kind of glad May forgot to ask what you are doing here, that makes this easier at least.

You huff out looking out at the tiddy cozy apartment. You have always loved it here. It is so homey and welcoming, and it always makes you feel a little more at ease. And now is no exception.

You slip off your shoes and as you walk by the coach you put your bag down to rest.

“Peter?” You ask as you walk closer to Peter's ajar door. You see the back of his head turned down, looking at some papers on his desk. You can see the white wire of his head phones sticking out from under his chocolate brown hair.

You push the door slightly and slip through. You walk closer to him, trying to keep your heart from picking up its fast pace again. You call out to him again, and this time place a hand on his shoulder.

Peter jumps up out of his chair, trying to look intimidating in a fighting pose. But the intimidation doesn't last long because he slips on a sweatshirt on the ground and falls.

You erupt into a fit of laughter. Peters just looks startled, but when his brain finally acknowledges the situation, his eyes go wide in relief. When he gets up and you are still laughing, struggling to breathe, his cheeks go pink in embarrassment.

“It's not that funny,” he mumbles out. This only gets you laughing again. He tries to hide his smile by stuffing his face in his hands.

“Ok, ok, sorry.” You chuckle trying to slow your breathing and calm down.

“You just jumped so high and then slipped on nothing.” You say rubbing your face with a grin.

“It wasn’t nothing.” He says kicking the sweatshirt on the ground further away from him and then walks to the door.

“Mhh,” you hum in amusement following behind him.

“What are you doing here anyway?” He asks as he leads you to sit in the living room with him.

“Well,” You sigh, still a little breathless from laughing. You pause, try to create a coherent sentence that won’t make Peter run and hide. You sit in the meantime and Peter sits down next to you.

“I need to talk to you.” Your face gets more serious and it worries him. “Why? Did something happen?” He asks as his brows furrow in concern.

“No, no, no, nothing happened. Or, no. More like I want to stop something from happening again.” You realize the sentence makes the situation sound different then what it is.

“Did I do something?” Peter asks his brows furrowing further.

“No. No never. It’s just,” you trail off, and before you can pull yourself together to spit it out he cuts you off.

“Did someone else do something? Can I help?” Peter's head tilts and his lips form a frown listening attentively.

“No,” you stutter out. “Just listen to me for a second Pete.” He nods with a quick apology. Then his full attention is on you. His eyes unwavering staring into yours. Suddenly you can’t breathe, but you try to speak either way.

“You know how you get-“ you pause to rephrase. “How Flash is a dick towards you?” Peter nods slowly waiting for you to continue. You hadn’t told him about the guys bothering you, and want to keep it that way.

“And how, today he made fun of you for not having a girlfriend?” Peter nods, getting wary.

“Well, I mean-“ you stutter over your words “if you want, and feel, you know, comfortable or whatever,” you swallow the lump in your throat. He nods again, smiling softly to try and ease the tension in your shoulders and urging you on. You squeeze your eyes shut and blurt it out.

“I could pretend to be your girlfriend at school and stuff,”

When you peak an eye open, you see Peter's shoulders slumped and his eyes wide. In utter disbelief.

“Then no one would ever give you a hard time,” You quickly explain so your point doesn’t come across wrong.

You wait for Peter to say something. You wait for him to tell you no, or to say yes. You wait for him to say anything at all. But he’s radio silent.

Worry begins to creep up your spine. The pit in your stomach grows inch by inch every second he’s quiet. What if this is the wrong conclusion? What if you stepped too far? What have you done?

Fuck. You shouldn't have come. You shouldn’t have been stupid enough to think this was a good idea.

But out of nowhere, as if he just realizes that he’s the person you’re talking to, he speaks up.

“You would- do that for me?” He asks as his eyes grow soft and his eyebrows raise hopefully.

“Well, I mean, sure.” You nervously chuckle out. Rubbing the back of your neck with your palm.

“And anyways, you’d keep the creepy guys away from me.” You note as Peter seems to step back taking everything you’ve said in. What if he starts laughing? What if he is messing with you? He wouldn’t do that, right?

“I- I-“ you hold your breath as he begins talking, the pit in your stomach makes you feel like you might throw up. If he doesn’t hurry up you’re sure you’ll apologize profusely and run out of the apartment before he can say anything.

“I would love-“ Peter smiles “to be your boyfriend Y/n.” 

Oh.

You let out a shaky breath. It worked. You don’t believe it. He said yes.

“Really?” You ask, a small quizzical smile on your face.

“Yeah.” He says grinning wide. 

Well shit. It worked.

Tag List:

@riordanness

@princess-ofthe-pages

[cosmicjoke]

Well, after watching a recap of the first episode of season 2 of "Loki" (because I'm not paying Disney for anything at this point), I can pretty much confirm everything I said in my previous post. This show isn't about Loki at all. It's about the multiverse and just a set up for the next Avengers movie. Why is Loki even necessary as the main character, I wonder. They're just using him, and calling the show "Loki" to capitalize on his popularity, and that's about it. But otherwise, this show has nothing to do with him personally, as a character. It's got nothing to do with his own, personal growth. It's got nothing to do with his own, personal struggles. It's got nothing to do with his actual history within the MCU. It's just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about the multiverse and Kang and the branching timelines. This is part of Marvel's problem these days. Everything is just a set up for the next movie or the next show. Instead of focusing on just telling good stories with the characters they're using, about the characters they're using, it all has to be a prelude to some big, universe spanning BS event.

They also had a scene, apparently, where Loki gets into an argument with Mobius about who "won" the fight between him and Sylvie at the end of the first season, and of course Mobius has to say it was Sylvie who won, while Loki gets all defensive and tries to claim it was a draw, because she's just better at everything than Loki, and Loki is an insecure, narcissistic little bitch. She's the better one. Obviously.

I heard that Loki doesn't get AS emasculated in this season as the first, but that's a pretty low bar to clear, since every other scene in the first season was him getting emasculated.

Also, it's just, every clip I've watched from this season still has Loki acting out of character. Why the hell does he RUN from the TVA agents in that scene in the hallway. He doesn't have that power repressing collar on. He should easily handle their asses. But as usual, Loki has no power when it's inconvenient for him to. And like, look, I love Tom Hiddleston. I think he's an amazing actor. But they're obviously directing him to try and be "funny", and it's lending an exaggerated, unnatural quality to his acting. It's been this way since the first season, and really since the dumpster fire that was "Ragnarok", where his movements are these over the top, exaggerated gestures, his line delivery has this forced, fake quality. His expressions look more like he's pulling faces than conveying any sort of nuanced or subtle emotion. It just feels like he's satirizing Loki instead of actually becoming Loki, and it sucks. I don't feel like I'm watching Loki, I feel like I'm just watching Tom Hiddleston acting like an idiot. Loki shouldn't be this clownish character. He can be funny, but his humor should always be understated, because Loki himself is an understated character. A master manipulator, someone who's always several steps ahead of everyone else, someone who's smarter than everyone else, someone who relies on trickery and deceit and misdirection to get what he wants done. Not this flailing around, desperate, overly emotional cry baby that they've made him into. It's unbearable to watch, and it's had a negative impact on Tom Hiddleston's acting to boot.

[eddiesheep]

Can I get a fic (preferably stucky lmao) where it's technically classified as 'not Steve Rogers friendly' but instead of succumbing Steve to the terrible mishandling of his character by the MCU, he goes on a self-improvement journey where he acknowledges his massive fuck-ups, goes out of his way to try and heal his friendship with Tony, tries to make it up for his blind devotion to Bucky - by not necessarily claiming that it was wrong for Steve to protect the one man he adores the most, but still acknowledge that the way he went about it was not great and that he harmed many others along the way by putting Bucky above everything else.

Maybe have Bucky and/or Sam be there to support him while still directing him to the right path with their perspectives and make Steve understand things from different points of view.

Idk man, I see discussions about Steve and Tony here all the time, and I hate how ppl treat it like it's black and white.

On one side, we have people who adore Tony but also paint Steve like he's the devil in disguise, like he never cared about anything else other than himself, and is written in 'not Steve friendly' fics as a nasty, fake and insincere person who is constantly up his own ass, pretending to be this symbol of perfection in public, but behind doors he's a hypocrite who judges others based on petty bullshit.

And on the other side, we have those who adore Steve but treat Tony's character with nothing but disdain, describing him as a spoiled man-baby who got everything handed to him, like his character never evolved from the man he was aaaaall the way back in Ironman ONE (the version of him from before he even got kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists). That claim that he's the one who is selfish and up his own ass all the damn time, and - bizarrely - also claim that Tony is just as bad as Howard Stark. (which is just ridiculous, Howard knowingly hired and worked with nazis... guys... come ON)

They're both amazing characters when they're at their best.

Tony finally breaking the chain of abuse from his father and actively trying to be a better man than Howard ever was, striving to make the world a better and safer place with his wealth while dealing with his PTSD at the same time.

Steve having been born as a disabled man in a harsh environment, and yet still standing up to bullies and fighting for those he loves with all his heart (a.k.a his mother Sarah and Bucky) since he was a boy. Him waking up in a new era he has no choice but to adapt to, feeling completely alone with nobody to relate to. (Until Bucky)

Fuck me man, I love them both, why do we need to put a character down to elevate the other? Been reading posts from both sides and they all got valid, amazingly-angrily-passionate takes. Why are we letting the MCU get away with their shitty writing and character assassinations by accepting them? Miss me with that shit lol I love both of my boys. Imma write them paching things up and becoming better people :D

[raccoonfallsharder]

One of the funny things to consider: in the MCU Rocket makes fat jokes about Thor and Quill (Quill wasn't even fat). Imagine Rocket letting his instincts take over on earth during winter season then realizing "oh... I get it now... i feel so warm and content... not hungry and angry like usual"

sweet nonnie ♡♡♡

let’s fuckin scrub those cheap, clumsy, poorly-written and atypical jokes from canon. the truth is the infinity war & endgame writers did the guardians SO fuckin dirty and my boy would never have made those jokes because (1) he would’ve understood too much about what thor was going through to mock him for anything right then and (2) he’s so insecure about his own body that he isn’t gonna risk holding anyone else’s up for scrutiny and (3) i doubt he’d have any real adherence to terran fatphobia any more than he understands weird terran ideas of gender binaries. too many bodies in space to have that kind of beauty norm

also comics rocket fucks so many different body types. all sizes are sexy to him

so now that we’ve cleared that greasy shit out of our brains, let’s focus on the important part, which is the fact that rocket has been eating more and more while he’s been staying with you this autumn. you’ve noticed that he’s finally been able to stop hitching up his loose pants, and on the rare occasions that he lets you hug him (grumpily, but you can tell he likes it ‘cause of the way his tail twitches) you realize you can no longer feel his ribs. he’s less sharp and pointy and you feel like his fur’s getting thicker too. healthier, more lustrous.

plus he’s in a better mood.

one night while you’re both eating snacks and watching movies on the couch, he looks down into his bowl of ice cream or popcorn or whatever and is like

“have i been actin’ weird lately?”

you frown. “what do you mean?”

he shrugs and turns his eyes back to the screen, takes another bit of whatever snacks you’ve been sharing. “i dunno. i feel—“ he hesitates ‘cause he’s never been good at examining his emotions. “i dunno,” he repeats. “i feel like i been bein’ less of a jackass, i guess.”

you snort. “i mean. i hate to call that weird, but… yeah, okay.”

“m’not as…” he trails off, groping for words. “hungry, anymore, either.” it doesn’t sound like he just means for food, but you doubt he wants to unpack that just yet.

“well,” you say slowly, “you have been eating more. maybe it’s all related.”

he looks down at the little paunch over his belly. “m’gaining weight.”

“does that… bother you?” you ask carefully, not knowing if any of his plentiful insecurities might revolve around his size.

he looks nonplussed. “nah. why would it?” he grins. “m’still just as fast and mean and smart. can still build a bomb in three seconds, beat drax an’ quill at poker without ‘em ever catching me cheating, and charm the hell outta you.”

“okay, okay.” you roll your eyes. “still just as modest, too.” you shrug. “anyway…” you’re not sure exactly how comfortable he is with the whole raccoon-thing yet, so you hedge your words. “lots of… people… put on an extra layer for the winter. to keep warm.”

“huh,” he says, like he’s intrigued. like the concept is completely alien (which in a way it is, of course). he looks down at his belly again, then up at the tv. “don’t think it’s that,” he decides after a moment.

you half-smile. “then what is it?”

he shrugs and doesn’t take his eyes off the screen. “think i might just be…” he hesitates. “…happy?”

[bromcommie]

Do you know (or have a theory about) what Bucky's role in the Thunderbolts will be? I assume he'll be part of the team but he also blows up the car with the T-bolts in it. That paired with the fact that he's in some of his WS gear, I am worried that the plot involves him getting brainwashed again :/

Ah, nonnie—idk if I’m the best go-to for this question seeing as how if I’m being completely honest, I’ve been checked out of the more detailed side of the “theorizing about new Marvel projects” game for a long while now, even (and maybe especially) when it comes to Bucky. I’m afraid every new bit of info is making me think they’re going to keep doing whatever the hell they feel like with him by taking that brand of inconsistent I’ve unfortunately come to associate with his storyline to brand new heights. Not for nothing, but there’s very little even in the way TFATWS “concluded” his arc that’s indicative of him having any place being in the Thunderbolts in the first place.

All of that said, lemme give it my best go based off of gut feeling and previous experience. We do only get so much from that trailer however, and I’ve only seen it the once, and I also might just be completely off-base, so take all of this with a sizable grain of salt:

First of all, I’ve seen the brainwashing hypothesis thrown around a bunch, but here’s the thing: I really don’t think the WS getup has anything much to do with anything. Not to be too cynical, and as lovely as seeing everyone on here picking over some of the details in the costuming and props is—‘tis what I love about this fandom, after all—I truly think we’re past the point in the MCU (if we were ever really there to begin with) where those elements actually have a deeper narrative motivation other than simple vibes, especially in a major team-up like this one.

Now, would I personally love to see one last badass, hurts-so-good farewell omage to the Winter Soldier in all of his Henry Jackman-SKREECH-soundtrack-fueled glory, no matter how thin the justification behind it is? Hell yes. Do I think that’s what we’ll be getting? Nah, not really, and somehow that’s not necessarily better.

If I had to take a guess, I’d say the gear’s there to evoke a sense of him not being entirely his own (a la the Zemo/Madripoor ruse in TFATWS) but that the whole thing’s not really looking like brainwashing at all. Partly because even in those 20 seconds or so we get of him, sure: there’s the grenade launcher, there’s the bike, there’s the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am of it all, but I’m not really seeing any of that near-manic, laser-focus Winter Soldier energy. I’m just seeing a kind of grim, tired, possibly very pissed off guy-who-is-supposed-to-be-Bucky. With some mean shades on.

The second reason is more on the Doylist side of things: this is them making him a full-on, credit-carrying main character the second time around. At this point, no matter how much I wish it weren’t the case, I honestly doubt they can afford to backpedal on their decision to mostly ignore the previously established canon of Bucky being an unwilling victim of HYDRA’s violence, and am assuming they’ll continue to lean in to him instead being a somewhat conscious perpetrator of it and therefore a viable contender for the Main Character mantle, as well as a part of the Thunderbolts in the first place—seeing as how their whole schtick is that they’re essentially Discount Bin Bad Guys Redeeming Themselves. (I will hereby refrain from discussing all the OTHER characters in that team-up who have also been set up as having all their autonomy very explicitly stripped from them. But know that I am thinking it and shaking my head.) In the framework that they’ve created which has one too many weird victim blaming pillars, having Bucky once again be under direct and full mental and physical control of someone else would be simply incompatible with that protagonist qualifier. And even if they were to backtrack on that decision, it’d still make for an ever more contradictory and regressive storyline, not least of all because they’ve also already established that the brainwashing doesn’t really work anymore. Which leads me to my last point—

There’s really nothing left for them to brainwash him with, I feel like. The Winter Soldier stakes are gone and doubly buried with TFATWS. The code words are gone, or at least that’s what they’ve made a big point of making us believe. Unless they decide to pull another hitherto unknown device to replace them with out of their ass last minute, or to, for some godforsaken reason, reintroduce The ChairTM (which again, seeing him be subject to torture and literal brainwashing and very much not in control wouldn’t really work with the whole “he needs to make amends for the crimes he Definitely Committed Knowingly and Willingly, No Guys For Real” thing they’ve decided to roll with), I frankly don’t see a way for anyone to have that kind of absolute power over him.

Ultimately, I just don’t think they’d even waste that much time setting up those aspects of the character again, especially since from what I’ve seen Bucky’s not even going to be in the movie all that long. Which makes the reasoning of why they’re going for that particular facet of his aesthetic even more confusing, other than, once again, pure ~vibes~.

So, to summarize: no, I don’t think he’s going to be brainwashed, or at least there’s no way for them to do that without once again trampling all over their own canon. Which on one hand, yay! (Said oh so very tiredly.) On the other: I think what that leaves us with is something way closer to 616!Bucky’s comics arc than what we’ve ever had so far, meaning Bucky once again “atoning” for his misdeeds as the Winter Soldier, and likely being under the government’s boot for much of it. And look, while I love 616!Bucky, identical brothers he and MCU!Bucky are not. Any setup we get for this transition would have to be…speedy at best, and nonsensical at worst. How and why his arc would suddenly entail going after a bunch of random rogues as, I’m assuming, some kind of twisted arm of the CIA/Valentina/the US government at large (??), when the last time we saw him he was supposedly finally free and readjusting to society or whatever—fuck if I know. Regular old extortion/blackmail/emotional manipulation of some kind is my best bet, or some last-minute addition to his pardon made for political gain.

In any case—sure, better than the regular old 2015 Bucky brainwashing angst, but only in the way that it’s more of the same done in a different way. I personally don’t like any of the implications this has any better.

But that’s just me going off of the minimal visuals we got so far + wariness derived from unfortunately being a Bucky fan for a good decade now, lol. I still have no idea how any of it’ll play into him being the supposed “de facto leader” of the team, or whether he’ll get there willingly, or even whether the writers of this project will have taken into account any of the previous installments as some others have decided against in the past. (Looking at you, Spellman. Good lord.) My second best guess is that they’ll have him play some kind of mediatory role between the government and the Thunderbolts, seeing as how he’s been around the longest—some fucked up kind of big brother act, if you will, as an extension of that whole “redeeming himself” business—and then possibly kill him off/retire him for good. But other than that I really…don’t know, and haven’t really thought that far ahead since I cannot for the life of me get a feel for what the hell this movie’s tone is even supposed to be, and it’s making me uh…not care too much about it, I’m sorry to say.

But then again and in that same vein, I’m also trying not to assign any particular meaning to anything I’m seeing. For all I know they could decide to retcon him again or shoot him up into space to be Nick Fury’s Man on the Wall instead of killing him off. It’s the Wild Wild and Yet Still Sadly Often Predictable West out there.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see?

[mowritesstuff]

Irondad and Spider-son

Something that I think is super interesting yet isn’t talked about enough (in my opinion) is the idea of “Irondad/Spiderson” and the subsequent infantilization of Spider-Man. Regardless of if you enjoy the trope or not, it is incredibly interesting to look at the way that Irondad is made to be perceived in modern day media. If you go on Ao3, Tumblr, or Fanfic.Net, you can find story after story that all essentially have the same format: something happens to Peter and Tony is the only one who can make it better.

It isn’t surprising that this is the way that this trope has developed, seeing as that’s exactly how marvel/the MCU showcased their relationship.

In order for there to be a father-son relationship between Peter and Tony, they need to make Peter Parker fundamentally different from his cannon comic book roots. Not only do they need to erase the role that both Uncle Ben and Aunt May play on his development into adulthood, but they also need to shift around more subtle, impactful factors in Peter’s life; like his financial situation.

The only way that Irondad as a concept can work is if Peter is raised by a young single parent/guardian who can work enough to support both her and Peter. This allows Peter to have the luxuries that come with growing up financially stable: recklessness with clothing and school supplies, immaturity and gullibility, and a lack of responsibility.

Spider-man’s story arc is meant to showcase the struggles of a young boy forced to become a man. Peter Parker got powers and his uncle was killed. Hes essentially on his own, and has to become the type of man that his uncle would be proud of. He has to take the mantle as “man of the house” and take on responsibilities of someone much older than him. That’s the brilliance of it. If even a small piece of the story is changed, then it differs how the character develops.

If Ben doesn’t die, there’s no need for him to become Spider-man. Subsequently, there is no one for peter to base his own self/his identity of when comparing his actions and reactions.

If May isn’t frail/unable to work, then there is no need for Peter to become aware of his financials. There is no need for him to struggle to make sacrifices in order to make sure the bills are paid. (A prime example of this is Peter selling his photographs to the Bugle. Why would he sell his photos to a magazine that continuously drags his name through the mud? Why else if not because he has bills that need to be paid?)

If Peter is in a financially stable situation, then there is no need for him to look at corporations/rich people with a critical lens. There is a difference between knowing that someone is richer than you are and being made aware of their wealth in everything that they do. If Peter was raised poor, do you really think he would have been comfortable around Tony Stark or Avengers tower? You think he wouldn’t on some subconscious level, resent the fact that Tony Stark can damn near literally throw money around, while he has to scrape to pay the bills? Do you really think he would have been anything less than hyper aware that Tony Stark has the privilege of being able to buy literal buildings at the last second, just to toss the Hulk through them?

If none of these factors play a role in Peter Parker’s development, then he becomes a different person. A character who has the privileges of being gullible, reckless, and less mature than his original counterpart. There’s a reason why in every other iteration, Spiderman is more mature/has more emotional struggles.

And unlike Tony Stark, Peter doesn’t have the privileges that he (TS) has. Tony has money, power, and influence in order to make sure that the consequences given to him are less severe.

In my opinion, what it boils down to, is that Irondad/Spiderson can only work is Spider-man isn’t Spider-man. He doesn’t have to worry about bills or politics. He doesn’t have to worry about food, or his aunt, or filling the shoes that Ben Parker left for him. He doesn’t have to worry about the consequences of his identity being exposed or stress over repairing his spider-suit again and again when he goes out to keep New York City safe. He has no responsibilities.

All that’s left is a kid with a whole bunch of powers, but very little responsibilities. And that’s not Spider-man.

[allandoflimbo]

My second announcement is kind of longer, but here goes.

There’s been a couple of factors that’s kept me from continuing to write aside from just my time, or lack thereof, and health complications that seem to always get in the way. Not complaints but relevant factors to those waiting on updates.

1. Getting hacked twice in a row sucked ASS.

2. I’ve started to drift a bit from Bucky in general. I still love him but the lack of content of him the MCU since Endgame, or even TFATWS, has been killer. No inspiration anymore. The fandom has changed.

3. This is one that has silently bothered me the most for quite some time even though it’s been so long but it mattered to me.

Something that has also been getting in the way of me updating Take It Back 2 has been the issues I had with the first one that I never got around to fixing or acknowledging.

If you’ve read book 2 at all you might understand this a little bit better.

Granted, I was younger when I wrote the first book and i’ve grown since then, and maybe that’s why I felt the need over time to make some certain changes or explain things in the story better. Who knows. But…

* I never liked how I made it seem like the reader (Or Riley Grace, if you’ve read the OC version) was very anti money, anti having anything material. That was never my intention. And I noticed that I made her seem that way. Yes, I wanted her to be concerned that her sister was putting those things first before everything else and also concerned that something was wrong, but not that Riley/Reader was against money or life in general. She isn’t by any means frugal or cheap.

* I didn’t make it clear enough in Book 1 that there was underlying things happening to Ashlyn that was pushing her “gold digger” tendencies, or for that to appear as so, to the forefront. There was more things happening to her.

* I didn’t like how little I let it show that her and Bucky do share this love and respect that Reader, and the actual readers themselves, haven’t seen. I feel like I made Ashlyn too cold and not as much mysterious.

* I always found Bucky and Reader a bit too self centered and conceited to themselves and what they thought was an issue and making their problems seem bigger than everyone else’s. As well as making what they thought what they thought was more important than Ashlyn herself or without considering her own life and her own emotions.

* Despite Ashlyn doing what she did and behaving the way she did, something always rubbed me the wrong way about how I made the girls view her in the story. Ashlyn might not be innocent, but I did not like how I made Reader/Riley appear like she was more supported by the other girls in the story when what she had done was also not good.

* How people let what Bucky and Reader did “let it slide.”

So they were little things, but things that always bothered me and was honestly getting in the way of me continuing the sequel. It was mostly my distaste I had on the Bucky/Reader front. I wanted them to love and love deeply, but not while disregarding Ashlyn as a human being and as a woman.

So the last few weeks, i’ve gone back and i’ve corrected some major grammatical issues in the first book, but i’ve also added some sentences here and there. I’ve also added on some dialogue to correct some of the issues I had that were listed above. So I didn’t remove anything, the story is still the same, but I did add onto it.

I’m much happier with the outcome and I think it will making going forward easier for me as a story teller.

The updated one is updated on Wattpad and AO3, the Bucky/Reader version. I haven’t posted the corrected one on Tumblr yet.

[purlty23]

𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖔𝖒 𝖙𝖆𝖌 𝖌𝖆𝖒𝖊 ✨

I saw this little fandom game thingie on another site and I really liked it, so I decided to bring it over here to tumblr while my apple pen charges. I’m also going to change up the rules. I’m going to list the fandoms I’ve been in, and classify them by:

Passive enjoyer = simply enjoyed it and the fan content made for it OR Creative enjoyer = actively made art, fanfic, cosplay, etc etc etc.

I’m going to tag people here but no pressure if you don’t want to do it! @miasmaghoul @lonelymentality @copiasjuicebox @iamthecomet @thediktatortot Also if you see it and want to do it, feel free.

Game under the cut since mine will be long<3

Harry Potter - creative enjoyer - My very first. This shit was a family affair in my house. I went to watch parties, themed parties. I cosplayed shittily, wrote shitty fanfic, and my walls were plastered floor to ceiling in teen magazine posters. Went to the Exhibition. Every second movie would come out in July so I would pretend it was like a birthday gift to me.

Twilight - creative enjoyer - Jfc. Don’t get me started. I still have my Edward action figure whose now missing both hands. Used to write self insert fanfic on quizzilla.com. RIP you beast of a website

The Walking Dead - passive enjoyer - This was also a family affair. Every sunday we would all gather round our shitty TV for the newest episode. I was more of a liveblogger than anything else. My dad has a bit to this day that ‘Hershel isn’t dead. He’ll be back.’ Yeah, sure dad.

Legend of Zelda - creative enjoyer - For most of my childhood I was passive, only really doodling Twilight Princess stuff sometimes. Then BOTW came out and it all changed.

Lord of the Rings - passive enjoyer - I look at Legolas and Aragorn. That’s enough for me. I don’t need creative works because I just need to look at them.

Marvel (Spider-man and Loki mostly) - creative enjoyer - I’ve been drawing these guys since birth, for better or for worse. MCU can suck my nuts but so can Loki franchise /sex DC (Batman) - creative enjoyer - Batman the Animated series did something bad to me. Now I draw Joker sometimes. Watch out, stay safe out there

Sherlock and Doctor Who - passive enjoyer - I’m putting these two together since I never really made fan art or anything, but I did attend watch parties for both on several occasions.

Supernatural - creative enjoyer - Sighs. Sighs even harder. Somewhere out there, deep in the depths of fanfic.net there’s miles of really really really bad fanfic. Somewhere…. Final Fantasy VII - creative enjoyer - Sighs far more dreamily. My favvvvv my ultimate fav. Sephiroth is my fictional other and LOMF. Many, many arts of him throughout every sketchbook I own. Also some fanfics IIRC.

TF2 - creative enjoyer - I used to draw Medic and Pyro kissing<3

Homestuck - creative enjoyer - War flashbacks. Not only was I a semi-well known fanartist, I was also a semi-well known cosplayer in my city. I was a ‘friendleader’ in my cities Homestuck fangroup and attended events, dances, etc etc etc. I was on a cosplay gif blog here on Tumblr. I ran the second most popular groupchat on MSPARP.com before it was MXRP.com. I had beef with mods. Most of my relationships at that time were forged in the fires of LOHAC. I still see my art of Dave in MCR black parade uniform around sometimes. Dramatical Murder - creative enjoyer - To no ones surprise. Yeah. I like the yaoi dissociation game. Dream Daddy - creative enjoyer - SHOUTOUT DREAM DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Evil priest Joseph lovers rise UP. Didn’t do much, but there’s some art floating around out there.

Voltron: LD - passive enjoyer - Thank GOD I never made anything for this. However, I was active in the kin community so thats a huge L. I also ate uppppp stuff about it and sheith still fucks.

Overwatch - creative enjoyer - Sometimes you’re a Genji main and the world is so so hard for you. That’s how I used to live my life, then I got better.

Final Fantasy XV - creative enjoyer - Second LOMF. My old art blog is stocked full of chocobro content, mostly fanart of the boys and meme redraws. Also used to cosplay Noctis CONSTANTLY! Here’s an old tiktok

The Band Ghost and Sleep Token - creative enjoyer - (((((((: Hi guys

[alwaysonlineau]

hi! welcome to the always online au!

for anyone who was into the hype of parkner back in late 2019/the early quarantine days, this might be a little bit familiar to you. basically, this is a social media au for marvel that i created when getting into parkner and thompsborn and when one of the main wlw ships was mj/shuri. it consisted of screenshots of (obviously fake) social media accounts (mainly twitter) of some of the marvel characters and it was mostly shitposting with a tiny hint of a plot. however, because of the mental health kick that came with quarantine, i ended up deleting the account while in a depression drop.

it’s been over 3 years and i honestly miss making this au, as it was just fun and gave me something to do, and a few days ago i realized that i still have the apps i used when i originally made this au and all of the fake tweets and messages were still on them, so… well.

basically, i decided to bring it back!

so, if you don’t remember or never saw this au when it was originally happening, you might have some questions! under the cut is a very basic q&a:

what is the always online au about?

nothing! also everything! like i said, it was entirely a shitpost account that very vaguely had a plot, but it was 100% just something i did in my free time for fun!

it’s essentially me throwing my sense of humor in a box with ships and characters that i like and then violently shaking it until something that i find funny comes out and then i would post it !!

ships and characters? which ones?

like i mentioned above, i made this during like the late 2019-2020 era of parkner hype, so, obviously, it was mainly parkner (peter parker/harley keener) BUT it also features many other marvel ships! i am going to be changing the ships up a bit to better match my current preferences. i’ll include a list of ships below this paragraph, but first, this is also going to include PLENTY of platonic/familial dynamics as well! so if you love stucky, sorry they aren’t dating in this but they are obviously besties, and there’s irondad, stuff like that, okay? i’ll try to include it all!

ships:

parkner (peter parker/harley keener)

ironhusbands (tony stark/james rhodes)

gwemj (gwen stacy/michelle jones)

peppermay (pepper potts/may parker)

sambucky (sam wilson/bucky barnes)

thompsborn (harry osborn/flash thompson)

nedbetty (ned leeds/betty brant)

thorbruce (thor/bruce banner)

and more that i will add to this list as i figure them out! suggestions are more than welcome!

characters include everyone in the above mentioned ships (obviously lol) as well as any and all marvel/mcu characters that feel relevant to include! such as:

happy hogan

shuri

t’challa

the guardians of the galaxy

matt, foggy and karen from daredevil

funny accounts for villains

norman osborn (ew)

loki (and maybe mobius? maybe include that ship too? i haven’t watched loki season 2 yet so we’ll see i guess lmao)

and more! again, i am open to suggestions!

if anyone has ideas for characters, ships, or dynamics to include, feel free to message me or send an ask!!

how often should i expect updates?

that one is kind of tricky, because i am an adult with a full time job who is also balancing hobbies and family and everything all at the same time. this is something that i’ll try to work on during my free time, and when i did this before it wasn’t hard to make updates once i figured out what i wanted to do for them, but still, my free time kind of depends on the day and the week.

i’m not going to commit to a strict schedule, but i don’t work weekends so my goal is to update every weekend! if i miss a weekend, i’ll try to get it posted during the week, and if i have a week with extra free time, i’ll do some additional posts as well.

i’ll do my best to be regular with it!!

anything else i should know?

yes! this is an ongoing creative project that i’m doing for fun, and i want it to be fun for anyone and everyone who may come across it! that means i want it to be interactive!! this is something i did before, as well.

for instance, when i was running this au in 2019/2020, someone sent an ask wanting to see harley finding out about the vulture after him and peter start dating, so i answered the ask with this:

obviously this au isn’t picking up from where the old one left off, so those tweets are not considered canon to the current always online au, BUT that’s just an example! i want people to feel free to send in asks and questions for the characters or for situations, and i will do my best to make it fit into the canon of the au!!

i think that’s it?

if anyone has any additional questions, comments, or concerns they would like me to address, feel free to send them in! i’m going to try to get the first update of this au posted today (october 17, 2023) but no promises! if not today, it WILL be up tomorrow!

once the official au is being posted, i’m also going to create a pinned post that links to this one as well as all the au updates and anything else necessary to include (like the tagging system i’m going to create and things like that) so that will be posted shortly after the first update is out! for now, thank you for reading!

i hope to see you guys always online ;)

[arttrampbelle]

THE ONLY SHANG TSUNGS I WILL ACCEPT tbh any other one is unacceptable.

Like don't get me wrong mk12/mk1 shang tsung looks good and had potential but i just don't feel it's a version worthy to be called SHANG TSUNG. (The script hold mr. Lee back. And i felt the same with artt butler as shang in the mk legends movies. But unlike artt butler,alan lee still while a valid take on the character. Doesn't really speak to me as SHANG TSUNG,the soul stealing sorcerer. More like an asian wannabe mcu loki copycat . And it's boring,and i hate it. It's whitewashed Hollywood schlock lvls of writing. Anyone who can't see that is hopeless. Like y'all at nrs wanna copycat mainstream shit so damn bad to stay relevant huh? When you know your competitors are doing better than you. So you gouge prices on a half baked game and hire random celebs to try to make it seem like you got shit. But you dont. You really dont. But anyways.

Again no shade. But it's not shang tsung. It's a fun and entertaining performance,and certainly a take on the character. Valid in its own right. But it's not shang tsung.

Outside of alan Lee's shang tsung being cute and funny and entertaining compared to everything else. What does his shang tsung really have to offer? Like legitimately,persuade me,woo me with your shang tsung. So far I've been interested but not sold anything. It's lukewarm. And the story narrative holds him back. And it sucks.

Because i wanna like mk12/mk1 shang tsung. But i can't 100% get into him. Outside of aesthetics and a tiny few things about him that's ok. But because of what he's attached to. It's hard to genuinely like that iteration.

Bonus Honorable mention: deadly alliance shang tsung.

Cary hiroyuki tagawa IS SHANG TSUNG.

The others are good as shang tsung but deserves their flowers just the same.

Alan Lee's shang has yet to convince me that he's truly earned his flowers. He's good at imitating but not convincing me his shang is SHANG TSUNG. Or worthy truly of being one without copycatting tagawa in infliction only.

(Again. Not a bad performance just it doesn't have any oomf that shang tsung both needs to be and needs to convey. Smug smarmyness can only do so much before it's annoying. He has potential but only if his shang no longer is attracted to a main game. And i doubt they will ever truly give him said potential)

[acorrespondence]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks @skelingtonsderek for tagging me! ♥️ And thanks to @love-leah and @willowmckinley for bringing this into the justified fandom circles!

How many works do you have on ao3?

2! Both in the Justified fandom.

What's your total ao3 word count?

89,708. About 90% of that comes from i put this heavy heart in you, which is shaping up to be a behemoth. My Old Guard fusion fic is just over 10k at the moment, though the final chapter might end up doubling that.

What fandoms do you write for?

Justified is the only fandom I’ve published for. I also have unfinished WIPs in the succession fandom and a league of their own, as well as one really old one in the MCU, a canon I’ve since parted ways with, but I do still hold fondness for those characters as they were at the time I wrote it. The succession fic is the only one that may still end up happening. It’s kenstewy because I’m nothing if not deeply predictable and fraught childhood best friends to assholes in love is my jam.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Oh well this is easy, haha.

i put this heavy heart in you (justified) - the clear winner at 185

catching bullets in our teeth (justified) - following at a respectable nearly-half-that at 90

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to respond to every comment point-by-point. To me, the whole point of posting a fic publicly is to interact with others. I write for myself, but I post for my friends and other fans. I would love to get into more back-and-forth comment discussions like I have in the past with @toli-a and @willowmckinley, because that kind of engagement and connection is the white whale I’m chasing every time I put something I wrote out into the world.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Definitely my as-yet-unpublished succession fic, haha. Currently the one that’s left off angstiest is catching bullets, because Raylan and Boyd are still separated at the end of the last posted chapter. However, I like to think the ending of every chapter of heavy heart has a healthy balance between happiness and unhappiness, with a slight skew toward angst because these guys are still a long way off from any kind of resolution on the myriad problems they’ve had thrown at them. I dislike both fluff and darkfic, so I like to live in the shades of grey and hope that comes through in my work. Bittersweet and/or ambiguous endings are my jam, while I find qualified happy or qualified unhappy endings also satisfying.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I suppose going by the above process of elimination it would have to be heavy heart.

Do you get hate on fics?

I never have, thankfully. Everyone’s been nothing short of lovely; I think this fandom understands that if you don’t have anything nice to say it’s best to say nothing at all. The closest I’ve gotten is people saying “I didn’t think I’d be into this because it’s kid fic, but boy was I wrong!” which is incredibly gratifying to hear.

Do you write smut?

Nope! I do write sex scenes, but I don’t think they’re necessarily the same thing; smut is to sex scenes as squares are to rectangles. To me, inserting a smut scene would be like having a mechanic character suddenly go into a long internal monologue about every little thing they’re doing in the engine of a car—their work as a mechanic might be integral to the plot, but that level of detail is just excessive and boring.

The very first sex scene in heavy heart is the closest I’ve ever come, I think, because I took a very close lens to the entire day that makes up that first chapter, and even that ended up pretty vague. If I ever got more detailed than that, I’d ruthlessly eviscerate it back down into something at a similar level. I can’t stand when my writing feels uneven, so suddenly inserting a scene with way more minute detail than anything else in the chapter feels incredibly jarring to me. I do think other people’s writing styles can support it better, and I can get through a car engine anatomy lesson if there’s enough about/within the rest of the story that I like, haha. This is why I categorically avoid pwps; I’m not a mechanic and have no interest in cars beyond their ability to get me from one place to the next, if you catch my drift.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No, and I generally avoid reading them, with a few very notable exceptions. There are, very occasionally, canons that enhance each other rather than clashing. For example, I’ve read a justified/walking dead crossover that I absolutely adored and would recommend to anyone with knowledge of and interest in both canons (or even just one).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, I’m not nearly popular enough for that, haha.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! I imagine this tends to happen after fics are finished, which… well.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven’t. I’ve co-written one thing, ever, in my life, and it was a story my dad and I switched back and forth chapters on when I was maybe nine or ten. Even then it was difficult for me; I was the kind of kid who told everyone else what to say in our make-believe games, haha.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I don’t pick favorites of anything as a general rule. Not food, not music, not ships. I despise ranking things; it’s very difficult and not at all rewarding. It requires a level of oversimplification that my brain is naturally resistant to.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I know I’ll never finish the a league of their own fic (it’s an ocean’s eleven fusion and it would have been a lot of fun, but the canon turned out to be more of a hyperfixation than a special interest, so the enthusiasm has since left me). Meanwhile, I still have some hope that I’ll finish the succession fic, and I’d very much like to post it someday. As for my two posted fics, once I’ve posted them I’m committed to finishing them, no matter how long it takes. I suppose there’s the chance I’ll die before that happens, but one would hope not.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I have a pretty good ear, not only for dialogue but for the flow of narration. I just won’t post anything until it sounds right. Other people have called my writing lyrical, which I think is them picking up on this. Also, while I don’t think I’m the most metaphorically inclined, I have a strong sense of analogy. I make the distinction because I think my comparisons tend to be more practical than whimsical. I make a lot of connections in my head, and this in addition to the way I go about writing allows me to make callbacks and set up recurring themes/motifs throughout my stories, which I’m also quite proud of.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle a lot to synthesize dialogue and narration. Most of my editing time is eaten up by trying to graft these together in a way that sounds right. I’m sure it would be less noticeable to others than it is to me, but I do think anyone who compared the drafts to the final products would understand what I mean. I also am pathologically incapable of brevity. I always end up adding way more than I’m taking away when I edit. However, I enjoy longer stories anyway, both to read and to write, so I’m not especially bothered by this. I tend to avoid writing things like drabbles because I’d rather add 100 words to a current wip than use an equivalent amount of time to write a snippet of something else. Most of my favorite things about writing don’t even apply to a work that short.

This sounds like me turning all my weaknesses into strengths, but everything else I struggle with is hard for me to really articulate. I guess my biggest weakness is how slow I am; oftentimes I’ll outgrow a hyperfixation before I can finish the story I’m writing about it, and it just gets abandoned. That’s why I only post in fandoms that I know have become enduring special interests. I’m confident that I’ll finish my justified fics eventually, so I posted both without having written clear endings. I wouldn’t do that with most fics (see: the succession fic I keep referencing) because I don’t trust myself to stick with it to the end. I also tend toward stories that are motivated more by character development/dynamics than traditional plot, so I’d probably struggle with a really plot-heavy story.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I’ve been speaking Spanglish since birth and am conversational in LatAm Spanish, if not what I’d personally consider fluent, so that’s the only language I’d be confident enough to write in besides English. I’d be comfortable throwing a few words of another language in if I could be certain I was using them correctly. Most likely, if the pov character understands the language, I’d just write “[Dialogue],” he said in Mandarin, and if they don’t, I’d just explain in narration that they said something in x language that the pov character didn’t catch. I suppose I might be moved to make exceptions for the sake of dramatic irony.

First fandom you wrote for?

I wrote an OC into the world of Dragons of Deltora in a spiral bound notebook when I was eight.

Favorite fic you've written?

Once again, I don’t pick favorites! I love all my fics for different reasons; it’s why I wrote them.

People I haven’t seen tagged, sorry if you’re a repeat, and if I missed you imagine your url in the following list: @raylangivins @eff41 @oh2e @freekicks @esteefee @norgbelulah @catchclaw @bringmefoxgloves @boydcrowdr @praycambrian @deputy-buck

[lokiinmediasideblog]

On "Lady Loki" PSA: You mean Loki being Femme?

“Lady Loki” is NOT Loki being genderfluid. The name is a mixture of “Lady Sif” (because Sif’s title is “Lady” like “Lord”) and “Loki” because Loki stole Sif’s body after Ragnarok ensued, and trapped her in a dying old lady’s body. Loki first shows up possessing Sif’s body in Thor Vol. 3 # 5 back in 2007. Loki continued to use male pronouns in Sif’s body, but just gets misgendered by everyone else. And as much as I love aspects of Loki’s characterization in that era, having that plotline in this political climate would be awful, incredibly damaging, and way more problematic than anything the Loki show gets accused of. I need people to know what the fuck they’re talking about before they refer to wanting "Lady Loki" in the Loki show because this is what you're talking about.

I will be open and say I am not a fan of much of the majority of Thor comics. They are fucking annoying and read like some Gary Stu male fantasy because they’re always going off about how Thor is the fucking best and his plot armor makes him the only and best choice to be Asgard’s ruler despite there being other characters with similar qualities in Asgard but Thor’s “just better”. The misogyny is off the charts in these with all the ridiculously and impractically scantily clad “warrior” women that all want to fuck Thor and have little personality past that. I also loathe the “Loki’s just evil” crap. My fascination with them is more like gawking and wanting to be pissed off. Plus, I find pre-reincarnation Marvel comics!Loki to be a fascinating study of a Comics Code Authority/Hayes code era villain (and I kinda root for him because the narrative annoys me). He’s up there with all the Disney villains despite not originally being Disney.

In those pre-reincarnation comics that often piss me off, Loki is meant to evoke disgust and to “disturb” through his failure to be the epitome of manliness. Marvel has tried to distance themselves from that once they had their “Are we the baddies?” epiphany by retconning Asgard to be more progressive. It kinda annoys me because panels exist where they’re being queerphobic to Loki. To me, it’d feel more organic if Asgard was shown going through societal change rather than “We have always been progressive, what the fuck are you talking about?” But that's just me.

I remember when Loki was about to come out as bisexual in the comics on 2013 after becoming very popular largely due to Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (Young Avengers #13 where he flirts with Prodigy, followed by Agent of Asgard revealing he's a genderfluid shapeshifter in 2014), queer organizations expressed concern over the whole “queer-coded villain á la Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.” If you are not familiar with Buffalo Bill, he is the main antagonist from Thomas Harris’s very copagandic and transphobic book, Silence of The Lambs, the book with Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins who plays MCU!Odin lol) where he’s like “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. T-sss-tsss-tss.”

Buffalo Bill is said to not be a “real transgender”, whatever the fuck that means especially with all the policing around bodily autonomy, and some statistic about how transgenders are the least likely to be violent is shoehorned in, but everything about the character ends up being a queerphobic trope. The “difference” is that Jame Gumb “thinks” he wants to be a woman but doesn’t actually want to be (the transphobia in this book is off the charts).

I am glad Loki has gotten redemption arcs of sorts, because a lot of the tropes employed on comics!Loki just pissed me off. And I am glad MCU!Loki never went through the transphobic possession storyline in the name of being "comics-accurate".

The easiest way to represent genderfluidity in the MCU with a casting choice that predates Loki's coming out in comics would be through dialogue in the magic-less TVA. Have Loki say that her pronouns are she/her while looking the same because people can't shapeshift in real life.

I think if they ever adapt the Agent of Asgard thing (with a new actor), the casted actor should be genderqueer. Tom Hiddleston gets a pass because Loki was not genderqueer yet when he was casted and in 3 movies already (and he was playing the pre-JiM (2011) Loki), but the new one should be.