#maybe iron widow but that's all that comes to mind

[maddiesbookshelves]

Pride month ended so quickly this year, I couldn't read anything and I didn't even get to march because of the riots going on in France right now, I'm so sad 😔

But anyways, July is here so have a nice Disability Pride Month!

[thebadboyfanclub]

You Bled For Them, You Decide Pt.2 (Daemon x Reader)

So a lot of people requested a part two of this and had some requests on what should it be about, the stakes were high so I hope I did not disappoint you. Enjoy!

Part one

(Y/n) was not a fool, she was sure that the second she steps foot in Targaryen ground all eyes would be on her, the mystery woman that managed to tame the rogue prince. She despised that nickname, (y/n)s opinion was that her dear husband had simply leaned towards violence to make up for the pain he had felt, Daemon was a passionate man which meant he loved as deeply as he hated, she knew Daemon would burn the seven kingdoms to ensure that their family is safe, he was a man of honour.

“Do you truly believe a character like prince Daemon has settled?”

“It certainly looks like it, he hasn’t stepped away from her and the children for longer than a minute”

“The children… well at least with this union no one can question their true parentage”

Otto whispered the last part only for his daughter queen Alicent to hear. Everyone was at awe how none of the kids had inherited their mothers features except small details,(y/n) adored the fact that they looked like the father, she was unaware what a big role on their safety that played.

“I believe we must introduce ourselves, would be interesting”

Alicent suggested while her father hummed in agreement, in almost complete unison they began to walk towards the couple that was pre occupied with the king.

“Alicent and Otto, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Daemon questioned ironically, (y/n)s eyebrow was raised in confusion as she looked up at him for clues about the sudden change on his demeanour.

“Prince Daemon, it’s been so long since we last saw you, you were newly widowed at the time”

“Widowed?”

(Y/n) never pressured Daemon to speak of his past, he revealed what he wished while he laid on her chest and let her to brush his silver hair with her fingers. Daemons eyes squinted at the smart remark Lord Otto had thrown at him, he was looking for a way to cause a problems in his marriage.

“Your lady wife seems oblivious to the fact that you were wed prior”

Alicent noticed, (y/n) tried to keep her composure and patiently wait until they are alone to question her husband. Daemon was ready for war, they were pushing the boundaries in order to get what they want, to destroy what he worked so hard for and he wasn’t going to stand for it.

“I was forced into a marriage for alliance that is correct, (y/n) is my first true match, I thank the Gods for sending her to me every morrow”

Daemon was being genuine, his lady wife had been a miracle, the Gods took pity on him and showed him what it is like to have a reason to come back from battle alive. Daemon took his (y/n)s hand in his to place a kiss on her knuckles, (y/n) smiled even though her mind had stored the new information for another time, it wouldn’t be wise to pick a fight while attending a funeral.

“Such tender words, I am glad you have left your infatuation with princess Rhaenyra behind you”

The sentence that was spoken from the Queens lips made (y/n)s blood ran cold, the woman that she had just been introduced to had an affair with Daemon? It could not be, she was a married woman, the daughter of his own brother, “no that wouldn’t stop him, he is a Targaryen” she thought as her hands started to shake from anger. Thankfully her eldest daughter cut the conversation short before push came to shove and (y/n) showed her temper, the girl was panting while her cheeks were severely blushed from running around, she hadn’t been this blissful in weeks.

“Mother, can me and Aemond go play in the shore?”

“Aemond?!”

Daemon exclaimed, earning a side eye from everyone, if he had it his way his children would never play along side Alicents children, maybe little Heleana would be an exception but that would be it, especially when it came to his precious daughters he hated when they would be boys around them, even worst if they were hightowers.

(Y/n) did not spare a look at her lord husband, she simply tucked away a few strands of hair that seemed to stick on the young girls sweaty forehead and smiled lovingly, Alyssa was in much need of a companion, she loved her siblings but she would always have to take care of them.

“Of course my little deer, better yet I’ll come with you. I would love to meet your new friend Aemond”

-

(Y/n) had managed to discreetly slip away from everyone, she found joy at watching her daughter play carelessly with her new friend, the timid Aemond that barely raised his gaze to (y/n) when introduced, still he ran with Alyssa around the shore as they had both taken their shoes off and splashed in the water.

(y/n) could stay like this together, away from everyone with her family while they enjoyed the simple things life had to offer, it’s what her and Daemon had in common, although she could identify that Daemon had missed his brother, perhaps he missed princess Rhaenyra as well.

“Come along sweetlings, it’s getting dark”

“Mother please just a few more minutes”

“Fine, I will make sure your siblings are sleeping and then I will come back to escort you”

“Thank you lady (y/n)”

Aemond replied with the utmost respect. (Y/n) simply smiled as she turned her back on the children, with the assistance of a kind knight she was guided to the room (y/n), Daemon and little Johanna would occupy for the night, she had already peeked inside the other rooms for her children to find the sleeping peacefully.

To her misfortune she never had great memory when it came to directions, getting lost by turning left instead of right or was it right instead of left? She cursed under her breath for not looking around for clues when she had the chance.

“I need you uncle, I cannot fight them alone”

“You know I would support you if war occurred Rhaenyra”

The voices that reached her ears made her come to a halt, her back found the cold wall to rest so she can listen to her husbands conversation with the princess, she had put on such a brave fight to forget what was said about their affair before (y/n) came to his life, excusing it as a spur of a moment and feelings long forgotten, now there she was hiding in the dark to catch them whispering.

“I do not need you as a soldier Daemon, i want us to bind our blood”

“Rhaenyra”

“Do you love her?”

Tears welled up in (y/n)s eyes, this could not be. He brought to his homeland just to embarrass her? To parade his children and leave (y/n) in the dust? Did she marry such a cruel man? She felt like her heart was going to come out her throat at the sound of those words.

“More than life itself”

“So my love for you meant nothing?”

“You were a child Rhaenyra, we both made mistakes”

“You did not love me?”

“Of course I did”

“My love?”

(Y/n) came out of her hiding spot, she wasn’t going to let the princess sway her husbands words, Daemon had declared his love and the princess did not want to give up, she was toying with (y/n)s wedlock like the life of her and her children including the pain this will cause meant nothing.

Daemon focused on his wife, smiling at the sight of her, Rhaenyra turned to face her as well, Daemon could see that (y/n) heard everything, he identified the fire of fury in her eyes, she appeared with reason.

“Where are the children my dear?”

“Alyssa is playing with Aemond, I will go to collect them now but I have seem to get lost within the castle”

“I shall escort you then, excuse me princess Rhaenyra”

Daemon took (y/n)s hand in his as they left Rhaenyra in shambles, he left her for (y/n), his morals did not buckle at the slightest, not even for Rhaenyra.

As they turned the corner (y/n) took off her polite mask, her hand gripped on to his as she held him back from walking even further, Daemon felt his heart skip a beat at the fact that (y/n) was clearly upset. He did not prepare her correctly for this visit, he should have known that the greens would try to tear them apart.

“A wife? An affair? With your own niece at that”

“All before I met you my love”

“That’s not my point, I looked like a fool in front of everyone. Here I am, your wife that did knew nothing of these acts of yours, we are a union and we appeared weak against the hawks eye”

Daemon had guessed she would be frustrated about the acts, he couldn’t be more wrong. (Y/n) had heard of tales about her husband, his thirst over women, she only cared about how she appeared like their union was fickle, that they were secrets between them.

Daemon let out a breath before he took (y/n) for a hug, she did not respond immediately but gave in to wrapping her arms around him after a moment.

“I apologise my love, I will fix it”

“You better or you will have to start looking for a third wife”

Haste heavy steps pulled them apart from one another, curiosity taking over them as they waited for the person to appear. A knight stood before them, clearly stressed, (y/n)s heart clenched tight.

“The kids”

“Your children are alright however you must follow me”

The couple ran to wherever the knight guided them, (y/n) was the first to burst in the room, Alyssa stood next to her friend Aemond who was getting stitched up in the eye. (Y/n) skipped over to her and instantly started looking for wounds, Daemon took in the room as everyone gathered, Baela and Rhaena crying in their grandmothers arms and Lucerys had a nose bleed as he was also crying.

“I am unharmed mother”

“What happened? I told you to be careful with Aemond”

“It wasn’t my fault, Aemond claimed a dragon so we went for a flight when we got ambushed by the others that claimed Vhagar was meant for Rhaena and I… mother I swear I tried to defend Aemond, it was four against two”

“It’s alright my dear, you did your best”

Alyssa spoke honestly, Jacaerys had restrained her when the others attacked Aemond, everything happened so fast she did not have time to process what to do, she did everything she could to defend Aemond, now he had lost his eye.

(Y/n) hugged her daughter tightly, thanking the Gods for sparing her daughter from harm. Everyone was occupied with blaming one another to notice (y/n) wince from pain, her labour had started, she had been through this multiple times she had knowledge of the pains starting early, it was not the time to focus on that as of yet.

“It was my sons that were attacked and forced to defend themselves, vile accusations were spoke from prince Aemond”

“No he did not”

“Alyssa”

“No mother they attacked him”

“He held a rock”

“After you started beating him and then you took a knife out you meant to kill him”

Alyssa was furious, she had seen everything and was appalled by such hostile behaviour especially within family members. Alyssa had grown into an environment that love and respect was shown to everyone, to be met with such hatred was a new found grown for the young girl, Daemon smirked at her daughter fighting against princess Rhaenyra and cutting her off before she could finish, Alyssa had a backbone stronger than any child her age.

“My king this is the highest of treachery and since the girl wants to take prince Aemonds side I ask both of them to be questioned for their treason”

“my child nor any will be questioned like they are criminals, I would have hoped for a woman of such high rank to have some respect for a child that has been permanently scarred from your own kin”

“Are you accusing me of something lady (y/n)?”

“I am defending what’s right which is what my daughter did as well, you are protecting your own and so will I”

“Enough!”

The king intervened. Daemon tried to bring (y/n) back from her anger by placing a hand on her shoulder, truly he did not want to do it still he worried over how heavily pregnant wife, she should not feel any type of uneasiness at such delicate state.

He was certain (y/n) could stand her ground and defend their family better than anyone, a side of him relished it when (y/n) pushed back at others and protected their children, her fire and quick tongue was his favourite things about her.

“Lady (y/n) is right, princess Alyssa has done nothing wrong”

“She stood against the heir”

“She defended her friend, titles don’t mean shit to our family pri- ow”

She could not hold back any longer, she felt liquid ran against her leg as the pain similar to knife cutting her belly made her lose her cool. Daemon was quick on his feet as (y/n) put her hands on her knees to hold herself up against the pain, daemon wrapped his hands around his wife to help her up, worry written all over his face.

“What is it my love?”

“My labours started”

“Maester-“

“No maesters, take me to my room now”

She interrupted the queen, everyone stood still not knowing what to do next. Alyssa stood next to her mother so she can rub her belly to soothe the pain, she had been present at the birth of her siblings for as long as she remembered, it was almost muscle memory now.

“Lady (y/n) I promise you i am very experienced with delivering babes for the royal-”

“Oh Fuck off will you? I said no fucking maesters, Daemon please hurry or I will push this babe out for your entire family to see”

“As you wish my love”

In one swift motion Daemon swooped (y/n) from her feet to rush her to the privacy of their own room, Alyssa followed quickly with queen Alicent, the Maester and princess Rhaenyra hot on their trail, as they were all amazed by (y/n)s resilience they wanted to witness the woman giving birth on her own, as (y/n) breathed heavy she leaned her head on her husbands shoulder.

“This is going to be a quick one”

(Y/n) could time her pains growing stronger at such short period of time, her babe was rushing to come out to the point (y/n) did not think she would make it to her room.

Fortunately she was wrong, as Daemon kicked the door open to quickly lay (y/n) in the bed Alyssa sat behind her mother to help her sit up while the mothers back laid against her daughters chest. Alyssa admired her mothers strength more than anything, she viewed (y/n) as the strongest person alive and loved that she was allowed to be included to the birth of her siblings, secretly scheming to follow the tradition of a private birth.

“Everyone out”

“The maester should stay in case of any assistance-“

“Daemon I can feel the head”

(Y/n) screamed from the pain, roaring her babe out that did not wait for anyone or anything. The family quickly forgot the presence of outsiders as they supported (y/n) for her birth, (y/n) held her daughter with one hand as Daemon lifted his wives dress to help her with any way he can.

“Almost there (y/n), give it one strong push and you will hold our babe in your arms”

He encouraged her while Alyssa stroked her mothers hair with her free hand. The trio that stood a few meters away were like statues, the queen was deeply moved by the love that lingered in the room and Alicent clenched the charm of the seven that hang from her neck, her children’s birth so strongly connected with the people in the room, the family had a bond that was rare in this world.

Soon enough cries of the babe echoed in the room as everyone in unison let out a breath of relief, (y/n)s lips curved to a triumph smiled as she saw her babe for the first time, Alyssa kissed her mothers forehead as encouragement for a job well done, amazed at the view of another sibling brought to life.

“Praise the mother”

Alicent spoke as she was the first to approach (y/n) who stretched her arms to hold the baby, tears appeared on everyone’s cheeks except the maesters and the only thing you could hear was the cries of a newborn babe, what a magical sound that was to a mothers ears.

“A princess is born to driftmark, Maester let everyone know (y/n) delivered her babe”

Rhaenyra instructed, she internally admitted defeat since there was nothing she could do anymore, watching Daemon so involved in the birth and cry tears of joy as he held the bloody babe in his arms was enough proof of there romance having no chance of reconciliation. Daemon sat next to (y/n)s bed as he observed his wife holding their babe in her arms and their eldest holding her mother in her arms with her eyes full of love.

“Well done my moon, what a gift you blessed me with, another beautiful and heathy daughter”

“Welcome to our family Maegora”

(Y/n) whispered as she held her baby, Alyssa gasped at the choice of the name, Alyssa had suggested it a while back and her father had laughed at the choice and the fear it would install to everyone’s hearts.

Daemon was actually fond of the name, still he had a habit of teasing his children so he just leaned to kiss (y/n)s lips, she was so beautiful after she delivered their children, a glow unlike any other as the light of candles was the only source of light, his devotion to her was as deep as any religious person, his heart only beat because hers did.

“You are radiating my love”

Requests are open!

@slutmeoutsworld @ayamenimthiriel @the-phantom-of-arda @babystudentroadthing @pearlstiare @bxdbxtxh15 @lazypinkpig

[shamelessfaceless]

Love, Pain, Death, Repeat

Navigation | Marvel masterlist | part II

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x F!reader, Wanda Maximoff x Vision

Summary: Even death won't help you get rid off her and pain she caused.

Warnings: Mentions of death, cheating, angst

Wc: 600

A/n: Just a fast sad blurb, hope you like this <33

Your mouth is dry, completely opposite to your eyes. Pinning Natasha to the ground you let your tears fall. It wasn't supposed to be like that, but after hearing what you needed to do, you were sure it was the time.

"Think about Yelena! Your facking sister! Think what would she say if I told her that you killed yourself!" You yelled at her though she was so close to you she would hear your whispers.

"And you? You have a whole life ahead of you! You're so young! You are doing what you need, you're nice and brave, you put others before you, you are a hero people need!"

"I don’t have anyone! Anyone! I spent last years crying in my room! People don’t remember me! I don’t even remember who I am."

"Y/N" She tried to change positions. You didn't let her. You couldn't let her.

"I am not enough. I never was. Everyone knows Black Widow or Iron Man or Hawkeye! Even she showed me I was never enough!" You were almost sobbing, your tears falling on Natasha’s suit. "She choosed fucking microwave!"

When you saw Wanda for the first time, you fell almost in the same second. Literally fell. You wanted to come closer, but your legs had other plans, and you fell straight into her arms. This made her laugh. That was the first thing that actually made her show positive emotions after her brother died. Most of the night spended in your room only talking changed into spending nights in yours and hers own room. After your old relationships you were negative about love, but you started trusting her, it meant so much for you. She promised you stars. It didn't take long for her to take interest in Vision. You trusted her with your whole heart, and all she did was break it. He was just a robot, you thought you didn't need to care about him. Maybe he was a little bit too nice to Wanda, but she wouldn’t fall for cold metal, right? Oh how wrong you were. After one of the missions, you came back to your room just to see her covered in hickeys that for sure weren’t yours. You just sat on the floor and told her to get out.

"You will meet someone else. Just give yourself a chance. For fucking sake, if you let yourself forget her, you will find true love and maybe have kids or cats." Russian was strong, you started feeling like your arms were going to give up.

"She cheated on me, and soon after she disappeared. Women always choose men." You said disgustedly. Your every relationships ended because they chose to be with men. "Tell everyone I loved them." You stabbed her hand to distract her.

You started running to the end of the cliff. Black Widow’s screams didn’t stop you. Just as you jumped you looked behind to see Natasha, she was so close catching you, just a few seconds and you would be still alive. You smiled to her wondering if she could see it, and closed your eyes. Last thing in your mind was the memory of one specific lazy morning with Maximoff. Morning when she promised you cozy life, no avengers, just you and her in a big house and kids.

…

Opening your eyes you expected to see your dead parents, not two young boys.

"Good morning my love." Your head snapped to the door of the room. Wanda stood there, width smile on her lips, her eyes shining a little bit with red.

[jexnkookie]

BTS: In the Secret (Idol! Jungkook x Reader) [Chapter 4]

Summary: Big Hit announces a new season of In the Soop with a twist; one lucky Army is going to join the members for an entire summer of filming, picked by a random poll. You were selected, and ready to have an amazing summer. But what happens when you win something else that's a bit more complicated; the heart of the group's maknae?

Rating: M (18+)

Chapter Warnings: None.

Tag List: @cassies-cookies @hoeinthehouse @jjeonjjk7 @kaitieskidmore97 @laylasbunbunny @leetha43 @rrosiitas @whoa-jo @1-in-abillion 

The rain tapped gently on the glass of the windows while Jungkook helped you position the large, chunky throw blanket you had brought so that you both could be under it. The room was dim, only lit up by the glow of the television and a lamp in the corner of the room. Your pale pink blanket was draped over Jungkook and yourself while you sat on the couch together, staring at the image of Robert Downey Jr. on the screen. 

There were so many things Jungkook wanted to do in this moment. He wanted to talk to you, to ask you if you had really slept in his sweatshirt all night just like he hoped. He wanted to touch your hand, which increasingly felt as though it had a magnetic pull, enticing his fingers to come closer and intertwine with yours underneath the cover of the blanket. He wanted to pull you in close to him every time he saw your eyelids start to become heavy, and encourage you to lay your head on him and rest. He wanted to know why you were so tired, and if, just maybe, you had stayed up all night thinking about him, too. Just the way he had thought about you. 

Forever an idealist romantic, but too nervous to do anything he fantasized about in his head, he settled for the peacefulness he felt. The rain outside. The blasts of the action movie on the screen. And your presence right next to him, that seemed to drown out all of it. 

“Hey, Jungkook?” You whispered. 

“Hm?” 

“I don’t want to fall asleep, because I really want to hang out with you.” You confessed, looking up at him. “But for some reason, I couldn’t sleep last night… So if I do fall asleep accidentally, I’m really sorry.” 

The smile he wore was warm and gentle, showcasing his dimples and beautiful eyes.

“It’s ok.” He whispered back. “I won’t be mad.” 

“Ok.” You smiled back. Jungkook could get lost in that smile, and he hoped to see it as often as he could. 

“Hey, Y/N?” He whispered, playfully mimicking you. 

“Hm?”  

“Who’s your favorite Marvel superhero?” He asked quietly, and you couldn’t help but grin bigger at his boyish charms. 

“Maybe… Iron Man?” You thought out loud. “He always makes me laugh. What about you?” 

“Black Widow, because she’s hot.” He teased, earning an exasperated eye roll. 

“Shut up, you’re such a guy.” You laughed, playfully ‘slapping’ his toned arm. “But, fine. If we’re going off of that, then my pick is Captain America.” 

“Really? He’s your pick?” Jungkook tsked, overtones of a pout lacing his voice. 

“He has America’s ass, Kookie. C’mon.” You joked. “Be serious.” 

You noticed a change in Jungkook’s features, as though they were somehow able to soften even more than usual. His eyes became even more light, gazing at you gently. His pink lips were still upturned in a smile, and his dimples ever present. 

“I like it when you call me that.” He admitted. 

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” You lightly flirted, just barely testing the waters, earning a grin in return. You both gazed into each other’s eyes, and you wondered if he could hear the loud way your heart was beating. He was beautiful, in every way. Obviously attractive, but beautiful in his silliness. Beautiful in the gentle way he spoke and looked at you. You wanted to lean in, to touch his lips to yours. The way his eyes flicked down to your lips, as well, hinted that maybe, possibly, he wanted the same...

...But suddenly, his phone buzzed, breaking the moment and bringing you both down to Earth. He sighed and mumbled a quick apology, glancing at the text on his phone. 

“It’s one of the staff members. They sent a warning about flooding.” 

“Flooding? Are we in a flood zone?” You asked.

“Not sure.” Jungkook played with his lip ring. “They said there’s a lake nearby and sometimes when it rains, it’s overflows. They just wanted to give us a heads up.” 

“Oh, ok.” You said before letting out a yawn. Jungkook looked up from his phone and saw your tired state as you went back to watching the movie in a desperate attempt to stay awake. 

This attempt failed, and rather quickly. Jungkook noticed you had fallen asleep, just like you didn’t want to do. But he just didn’t have the heart to wake you, especially when you moved in your sleep to rest your head on his shoulder, as though instinctively seeking him out. He refused to move, unable to stop the silly, schoolboy grin on his face while you rested on him. His heart was beating so loud, he was almost surprised it didn’t wake you. 

“Oh, Jungkookie.” A whispered, teasing voice giggled, cutting through the quiet room. Jungkook turned his head to see Hobi, smiling widely at the sight. “Is she asleep?” 

“Yeah.” He whispered back, blushing at being caught. “She just… kinda landed on me? I…I don’t mind though, y’know? Just don’t wanna wake her. s’all” 

Hoseok nodded, looking at the maknae knowingly but choosing not to put him on the spot. Jungkook will be honest the members in his own time, pushing him too much might cause him to run away from them and distance himself from you. He needed to let Jungkook get to know you first, and then encourage him to get closer. But, as it seems, the youngest member is doing quite well at getting closer to you all on his own. 

He then left the room, giving the two of you privacy, which Jungkook internally thanked him for. Fixing himself food in the kitchen, he was briefly interrupted by Taehyung and Jimin who came in for their own lunch. Hobi held a finger to his lips, alerting them to stay quiet, before motioning them into the kitchen. 

“Don’t go into the living room.” He whispered to them, knowing Jungkook can’t hear their conversation over the loud action movie. “Jungkook is in there with Y/N, and I’m giving them privacy.” 

“Privacy?” Jimin smiled suggestively, earning a look from Hoseok. “What’s happening in there?” 

“He’s not ready to admit it yet, because he still hasn’t said anything to her but… Jungkookie has feelings for Y/N.” Hoseok explained, leaning in to make sure Jungkook couldn’t hear him. “Don’t say anything to him, let’s just let him work things out, ok?” 

“Ok.” Jimin giggled. “Aish, he’s so cute. Even after all this time, a girl can get him worked up like this.” 

Taehyung stood silent while the other two cooed over Jungkook’s behavior. He thought back to Jungkook sitting there, watching as you leaned over to kiss him, and he felt awful. Taehyung wouldn’t do anything to purposefully hurt Jungkook, who was like a little brother to him. He had never even really felt anything for you, he only was carried away in the moment when you had kissed him. He knew you felt the same about him, when you rejected him at the door of your bedroom. Taehyung hated to think that maybe Jungkook heard any of that conversation that night, and he wondered how he would apologize to him for it once Jungkook was ready to talk about you to the other members. 

Just then, a pair of heavy footsteps came into the kitchen, silencing all of the members. Jungkook, unaware that they were in the room, had a still sleeping you in his arms, covered by your soft, pink blanket. His eyes widened, resembling a deer caught in headlights at being discovered, yet again, in a soft moment with you. 

“She, uh…” He stuttered, looking at the older members. “Her neck would hurt, sleeping on the couch like that too long. So I.. I thought… I’d just bring her back to her room…” 

“Good idea.” Hobi smiled warmly, not wanting to put too much attention on him. Jungkook scurried out of the house and held you close, going as quickly as he could to limit your time in the rain. 

“Oh my God, he’s in deep already.” Jimin giggled teasingly. Hoseok only responded with a grin while he shook his head. 

Next Chapter: x

[ivvyela]

an irondad frozen au that is both not entirely thought out and incredibly thought out at the same time. buckle up. i have a lot to say about this.

the fight with thanos is much, much earlier in the timeline. tony doesn't die from the snap exactly, but he isn't the same. essentially, the stones embedded themselves in his hand. and sure it's weird, but thanos is gone and the world is safe, so it’s a small price to pay. regardless, tony’s seen first hand (no pun intended) how dangerous the stones can be, and is very cognizant of the fact that people may not find it comforting that iron man has the very stones that wiped half the population and nearly destroyed the world, so it’s decided that this new development will stay under wraps for a while.

and all tony really wants is to relax, maybe move out to a secluded cabin by a lake, but there are people who have lost their jobs, homes, family, and he feels partially responsible so, of course, stark industries helps however they can - including hiring a certain recently widowed and homeless nurse for their medbay, and offering her a place to stay while she tries to find someplace new for herself and her wide-eyed ten year old nephew, who is practically buzzing with excitement to be "living with mr. iron man stark sir!"

but the kid is smart, real smart. and tony - against his better judgement and newly bejeweled arm - takes a liking to him. with his aunt's permission, he takes him down to his lab and honestly, tony has never seen anyone so excited. one trip turns to two, then five, and before tony knows it, one peter parker has somehow wedged his way into tony's heart.

peter's full of surprises - the biggest being that once seeing the after effects of the war with thanos, peter's not scared. he's actually floored at how "awesome it is that iron man is magic now!"

so, lab nights became magic nights, too. peter was just so amazed by it, that tony felt like these stones could actually be used for good. they talked about ways the stones can be integrated into tony’s suits, how they could help so many people, how one day tony will build that cabin by the lake, and everyone will come, and they can create anything and everything.

and that was fine, really.

until peter got hurt.

now, tony's seen a lot of scary shit. but watching peter crumble to the ground unconscious and unresponsive, and a gray streak appearing in his hair where he was hit, that was definitely up there.

they rush him to strange, who is, thankfully, able to help. "help", meaning erasing all memories of the stones from peter's mind to keep him safe. they were lucky, apparently, that peter was hit in the head, rather than his heart.

tony won't risk it, though. not again. so, since that night, he's kept himself a safe distance from everyone he dared to care about - especially peter, a kid who almost died because of tony's carelessness.

peter didn't understand. but tony would rather live with peter broken hearted because of him than peter dead because of him.

but peter parker is relentlessly stubborn. and his hero shutting him out one day out of nowhere? that won't fly.

three years pass, and everyday, peter knocks on tony's door and talks to him. tony never responds (he wants to, really, he missed this kid) in hopes that one day, peter would just stop. he never does.

so, tony listens to all of it. he listens to him rant about how some kid with a stupid name keeps bugging him. he listens to him pridefully boasts about how he got a full-ride scholarship to midtown high which tony knows nothing about, and had absolutely no part in.

he listens to peter hold back tears as he tells tony how he had to bury his aunt. listen to him come to terms with how he is the one parker left, worry about where he was going to go now, quietly ask why wasn't tony there, up until he is reduced to hitched breaths and tears.

(tony sits against the door throughout all of it, wishing he could hug the kid on the other side.)

time goes on, peter stays in the tower until they can find him a family, and peter parker lives a lonely little life, wanting desperately to be wanted.

his life becomes decidedly less lonely after a certain gala to celebrate five years since tony stark saved the world with a single snap, as well as tony stark's first public appearance since. for peter, what really matters is that this marks the first time in what feels like forever that he's going to be around people that aren't pepper, rhodey, or happy. he has his first conversation with tony that lacks a door and involves actual responses, and it's awkward and weird, but peter can pretend he''s ten again, in tony's lab, and everything is okay.

he meets this man, quentin beck, who says he knew his parents, and cares about what peter has to say, and wants to adopt him. wants him. and his lonely little life seems to be growing into something full, and happy, and -

and tony says no.

which is rich, considering he does everything in his power to avoid peter. and peter, after years of being ignored, finally lets himself be angry. angry that tony shut him out - and the world out - with no reason why. angry that tony wasn't there when he had to bury may. angry that tony thinks he has a say in this, but he isn’t his dad,

and then, there’s a flash of something, a crumbling building, and tony stark, his fist glowing with infinity stones no one knew he wielded, watching guests cower in fright because of him. because he has the very things that almost destroyed the world, and he hid that.

and shit. peter knew this was his own, stupid fault.

tony disappears to god knows where, and despite many protests, peter sneaks out to find him. he doesn’t remember much from when he was younger, but he remembers a cabin and a lake. and that’s a start.

he asks beck to try his best to keep press away from the tower. he’s insistent that he will find tony, and even if tony was bothered by peter, he would never hurt him. he runs into a scary girl, mj, and her much-less-scary friend, ned, who decide to help him as long as peter can slip their resumes into the stark internship files. and, surely, you can imagine what will come next.

i could keep going, but this is probably long enough as it is. but… please. take this. write it. draw it. make something of it. ask me about it. i’ve yet to see this done and i am begging someone to take this silly irondad frozen au from my incapable hands and give it the life it deserves.

[llamagoddessofficial]

biggest of brain energy re warm bread and beloved skeletons - so.... might i offer you .................. patisserie/baker au??

the boys are all rival(ish) bakers/pastry chefs on the same cute little side block of a quaint walkable downtown.

Sans has that extremely detailed, finicky pastry work down pat, on top of all the strange new versions that keep, somehow, making filo dough more difficult and yet structurally impressive. he's tried all those cool gastro-chef techniques, but just loves & excels at the fancy little pastries. absolutely the type to just close the shop when he's sold out of whatever he felt interested in making a lot of that day. surprisingly good-yet-bad social media presence. makes the jokiest videos and jankiest signs advertising when he's got a new batch of Something Tasty out, but the most beautiful shots of his pastries.

Red is one of those not-so-surprisingly charming excon-type (maybe never actually in prison, but y'know) bakers that looks intimidating but makes the best goddamn homey baked goods you ever had. pies, breads, big soft filled rolls, anything that feels ghibli as hell, frankly. has a not-so-secret love of making those really decorative lattice-style pie crusts; can absolutely make art you wouldn't want to eat if not for how damned good you know the pie is. always the most slammed during autumn, has spirited """debates""" with Sans (who is directly across the cobbled street) whenever they get deliveries at the same time, often about incredibly inane but opinionated baking nuances. accidentally best friends with all the local widows and grandmas. frequently propositioned by all genders.

Skull is a bit of the odd man out - he used to work at a little old cakeshop on the corner, but Something Happened one day and that corner store has frustratingly been turned into Insert Encroaching Soulless Chain Here. he now works at the back of the little pizzeria, making the best goddamn pizza dough anyone's ever had. seeing him flip and spin those pizzas is art in and of itself. rumor still had it that there was someone on staff at that cakeshop that could make the most dazzling wedding cakes you ever did see, but they also made the flavors involved so harmonious you could cry....

....... MC is a new arrival, perhaps opening up her own little shop - a little cafe maybe, specializing in warm drinks and a simple menu of baked goods like croissants and scones and cookies, some finger foods, and most importantly Cozy Vibes.

maybe she puts out an ad for a proper baker to help her out while she makes the teas and coffees and runs the front....

... and maybe some shenanigans ensue ✧∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

genius. absolutely genius. allow me to lose my fucking mind

Mc opens up her delightful little cafe. It's small, obviously, since she's technically the only employee- though she's great at coffee she struggles to make anything more complex than a cookie for cafe food. Her croissants melt and flatten, her pies collapse, her attempts at macarons just spread out into a sheet. So! She puts out an ad!

Sans: Ironically, his habit of only making what he's interested in and randomly closing shop without warning has made his desserts even more sought after. The incredible intricate and unique nature of his treats give them an element of scarcity, and people will come from all over to get to his next batch early. The sign out the front says 'open 10am to 5pm monday to wednesday. open some thursdays, depends how i feel. closed the second friday in the month, unless we were open thursday before. open saturday. closed sunday'.

He was a bit suspicious of her cafe, he'll admit it. He's suspicious of anything new on the street. Various chain brands have been infiltrating the previously majority monster-run area, and he hates the way his favourite place is slowly being subsumed by shitty corporate machine-made food. But it only took one visit (purely out of curiosity) for him to get love at first sight.

Since his store has such a reputation, he can afford to flunk whenever he likes to go sit in with her and chat for hours; he's a welcome presence. After noticing her difficulty with baking he starts giving her tips but quickly graduates to giving her some of his stock, instantly boosting her popularity. She thinks he's giving her leftover stock he doesn't need- she has no idea he's making stuff specifically for her.

Red: Red and Pap do have a tendency to treat their business like it's a mafia. The way they call it the 'family business' often makes people think it's a front for organised crime. And it was, once- the two of them only opened the store to cover up what was happening behind the scenes. But then they enjoyed running a bakery so much that they dropped the crime. He doesn't like the way Sans has turned baking into something snooty and highbrow; Red thinks food should be delicious and comforting, not a one-bite commodity people pay out of the nose for.

Red becomes a cafe regular, he goes during breaks and straight after work. He spends most of his time standing up at the counter flirting relentlessly, but he's so on the dot that she usually has his order ready for him. He offers to teach her to make a good pie- "payment? what're you talkin' about, doll? seein' yer pretty face is payment enough fer me." There would definitely be some scenes of him teaching her to bake... standing behind her with his hands over hers, showing her the technique to fold dough, though neither of them are really concentrating because he's grinning like an idiot and she can only feel how hot her face is.

(He'd probably ruin it with a 'wish you'd pound my dough like that'. A swift smack, and the magic of the moment is over)

Skull: He's the one that responds to her ad.

Though he didn't mind his job, per say, he misses being able to make his own stuff. Pizza tossing can only do so much to fill the baking-shaped hole in his heart. He wanted to apply anyway, it was just a stroke of luck that the cafe owner turned out to be the love of his life. Though he's a bit spooky and looks at her like he can't see anything else, she's quick to accept him, telling him he can make whatever he wants- and that's when he works his magic. All the stunning cakes lining the display case are his handiwork.

He's a man of few words, and he doesn't like being in public, so he's always in the back baking and cleaning. He wishes he had the confidence to talk to her more. She brings him coffee whenever she has time, as thanks for all his hard work... she leaves foam art, since it's one of the few things she can do. Though when she leaves a heart, the coffee usually ends up going cold. He tends to just stare at the heart until the foam is gone.

[callsignfangs]

The 141 boys as widowers. (bc i feel like torturing myself /j)

141 x late (implied) spouse! reader

cws: grief, mentions of loss, implied alcoholism/alcohol as a coping mechanism, mentions self-destructive behaviour, very brief mention of addiction, etc (Please lmk if I've missed anything!)

(Note: This little drabble is a little self indulgent, a bit about my own journey with grief. Each little 'story' thing does end with acceptance. Please don't read if you're not in the right headspace, and remember that you're loved and you're not alone, and make sure to reach out if you need help <3)

--

Price is the one inclined to bargaining. Maybe he could've done something - what if he'd taken a bit more time off work, what if he spent more time with you, what if he'd agreed to retire early with you, what if he was there? Ironically enough - he just ends up drowning himself in more work, probably turns to smoking or alcohol in an attempt to drown everything out.

141, Gaz and Soap especially, will definitely be the only thing he holds on for. As capable as they all are, he couldn't just up and leave his boys without a captain - he couldn't make the same mistake over again, they gave him something to care for, to nurture and to look after.

I don't think he'll ever marry again - just making half-hearted attempts to peek into the dating scene whenever leave got especially lonely. He'd never be able to find anyone quite like you, so he eventually stopped bothering with it, finding warmth and comfort in himself and the other people he loved.

He keeps a photo of you, one of your handwritten notes, and any little trinket you'd given him at all times. Saved every single snippet of you talking he could - even still paying off your phone bill occasionally ringing your phone to hear your voicemail message, maybe sending you texts when things got especially hard. Definitely does chores the exact way you always did - from the time you went out to shop in the morning to how you stacked dishes. Loves hot showers but still takes a lukewarm one each morning because your habit of taking cold showers meant the water was never hot enough for him. I think he probably adopts something after the rough edges of the hole you'd left in his heart smoothed over.

It wasn't intentional in the slightest - maybe a stray cat had clung to his pant leg while he was on a hike or the task force managed to pick up an orphaned little kid on one of their excursions. He's very hesitant with them, still not quite trusting himself with caring for another being. But he warms up to them eventually. No matter human or animal, they've definitely been brought to your gravesite once or twice.

Maybe it would be alright, eventually. He'd at least have something interesting to entertain you with the next life he found you.

--

Soap is definitely in denial. Convinces himself it's a mistake - that when deployment's finally over, he'll trudge home, kick off his boots, and be met by his sweet love, bouncing at his heels like an overeager puppy and lathering his face in flittering little kisses. He still avoids coming home like the plague - resorts to anything from taking on way too many missions, to picking up another job on the side, even to staying in hotels as if he was in some sort of covert op.

He'd be forced to go back to your house eventually, though. Not home, it wasn't home without you there. Just the same four walls and roof he camped out in on deployment. Nothing warm or special about it.

He still pretended, though. Made your bed every morning the way you liked it and prepared meals for two every day.

While Price and Ghost undoubtedly pulled him out of his slump, Gaz was the person who really started him on the road to acceptance. Having the boys over near constantly was soothing, giving him something to occupy his mind with and overshadowing the cold emptiness of the house. The occasional cuddle piles and game nights reminded him of the warmth of their bond - like the nights they spent on stakeouts, letting their own sweet joy shield them from the brutal realities of their situation.

Gaz was the first person he cried to. Soap couldn't bear the way his buzzed sides were starting to fluff out, but he'd slowly gotten used to letting your gentle hands preen him and tidy him up. Of course, Gaz had noticed, and of course, he'd insisted that Soap just had to let him have a go at doing up someone else's hair. Soap didn't know when he'd devolved into tears - somewhere between the first gentle touch he'd felt in weeks and the crippling realisation that you'd never be there to do it again.

Either way, he'd managed to cry himself to sleep in Gaz's arms that night. He continued to sob himself away for weeks, filling each day with tears.

Until each day turned into each few.

And each few turned into once a week.

And slowly, his tears dried up.

It was an arduous process, grieving. But he stubbornly forced through it, just as he'd forced his way into your heart.

And he did his very best not to change. He determinedly kept the mohawk - even used the same shampoo because it made his hair feel perfectly fluffy under your touch. He did his best to continue being his perky, bubbly self, because he knew how you practically basked in his energy.

However, he still let himself grow, let his hawk grow out so he could braid it the way he'd always considered, and he let himself have his bad days, didn't force himself to keep up his energy when he didn't really have enough.

Admittedly, though, he never married again. He found temporary enjoyment in little flings, though he let them pass when the time was right. No matter what, he always came back to your house.

Sure, it wasn't quite home without you there. But you'd been there - no matter how little the time you'd had together felt in hindsight - so maybe he could learn to make it home again. For you.

--

Gaz is angry - furious to the point of enraged tears. If it was him? He'd understand. He'd hurt people, torn apart lives and taken his fair share of them. He deserved it. But you? It wasn't fair. In his eyes, you couldn't possibly hurt a fly, so delicate and tender and so, so soft. It just wasn't fair.

His attempt at coping is to delve headfirst into a tedious slew of missions - one after another after another. It gives him something to dump all his blind rage and hurt and desperation into. His morals were a writhing, flailing, unrecognisable mess for a long time, and the best comfort he could find was in the chaotic monotony of work.

So what if he burned everything in his path to ash? At least the threat was dealt with.

Price and Ghost are the most essential to his recovery. He needs guidance, needs some sort of structure, and needs to relinquish the tight hold on his need to be good, to fix things, to help, to finally restore what he was so reliant on, even if that meant tearing himself to shreds in the process. What he needs is time to grieve, time to come to terms with the unforgiving reality - that it just happened. No-one did anything wrong, there was no violence or intent, it just happened.

He'll absolutely come to deeply regret everything he did in his grief-induced warpath, but eventually accept that he was hurt and lost and just needed the help - the intervention.

Like Price, I think he might attempt to put himself out there and find someone new every once in a while, maybe even builds up to a couple dates, but he never really finds interest in anyone. He definitely remains friends with many of the people he meets, but he just can't quite find a spark - mainly because they're not you.

He never throws out anything of yours, his wardrobe is still mostly full of random articles of your clothing, and the third drawer on the nightstand is still yours.

He always wears something of yours when he goes out, from shirts and shorts to hoodies, even some of your jewelry.

Despite it being admittedly pretty late, he finally watches all of the shows you liked and reads all the books you did. It makes him feel closer to you - cuddling up under your favourite blanket in your favourite spot and picturing you being there with him, imagining each and every one of your reactions, practically seeing your lovely face curl with smiles as you commentated over the whole thing.

Sure, you weren't really there with him anymore, but the sweet, warm mark you'd left on his heart was enough to carry him over until he inevitably returned to you.

--

Ghost is mostly depressed. He's so agonisingly hurt and lost, but you were his sun - what gave him life and love, and without you? He just couldn't muster up the energy to do anything beyond simply existing. Even he'd expected himself to crash and burn - follow in his brother's footsteps and drown in a spiral of addiction. But he just... Didn't. The affirmation that he didn't blow up and take everyone he loved down with him would be reassuring, comforting, but it wasn't. Not without you whispering praise in his ear, assuring him of his goodness and softness.

I think he'd also be reliant on Soap and Gaz, but Price would be a surprisingly big factor as well. No-one could ever really replicate the effect you had on him, the way your encouragement kept him going, but having some amount of structure, of motivation? It helped. Despite that, he absolutely tried to push them out at first, convinced that the acrid shadow of death looming over his shoulder would eventually take them as well. What are task force 141 if not determined and unfathomably stubborn, though, especially when it came to caring for their own.

Soap undoubtedly led the charge - seeing as his ceaseless energy and affection were mildly more normal (god knows Simon needed a little bit of comforting normalcy). Gaz came second, still snarky and headstrong as ever, but with softened edges and an air of gentle care. Price was last. He'd been there before Simon was Ghost, he was aware enough to piece bits of his past together - and he'd be damned if he managed to scare Simon, if he was the reason he regressed further. So he was tender. Delicate, even. Ghost would despise being handled like fragile porcelain in Price's kid gloves, but it soothed a part of Simon that hadn't peeked out since you left.

It'll take a bit longer than the others - more therapy, reassurance and care, but he'll recover eventually, let the wound you left in his porous heart scar over and go on as best he could.

I don't think he'll look for romance again either - his interest in it just died out alongside you. He wants to preserve the sanctity and tenderness of what you had, and is more than content with holding that love in his heart, and keeping it safe for you until he meets you again.

After you're gone, he attempts to follow your advice more, occasionally dragging himself out of his comfort zone, picking up new hobbies and trying to emulate your passion for life in himself, keeping a little bit of you alive with him. He absolutely douses the house in your favourite fragrance, refuses to use any hygiene products other than yours and carries something of yours everywhere, whether it be your ring or even your purse, just something to remind him he had to look after things (including himself) for you.

Even if you were cremated or buried in some other way, he'd ensure there was a gravestone for you placed alongside his mother, Tommy, Beth and little Joseph. You'd always be part of his family - his heart, and when his time came? He'd be buried alongside you, trailing along with you into whatever came next. By your side forever.

<3

Yippee. This was. A journey. /lh

Sorry if this isn't formatted the best, it was more of a massive brain dump that I forcibly shoved into something just about understandable lol

If you're seeing this, tyvm for reading mwah 😚😚

[mystycalypso]

Can i just say how much i freaking love the work you two are doing, Holly hell this is some wild stuff as veteran of hello neighbor you two are making me proud of this small community that is running on tumblr!

Also i hope you two don't mind me asking two questions.

Firstly, If one of you two had the control over welcome to ravenBrooks show what will be some things you two will change.

Secondly, What are you're thoughts on the artstyle of the show considering that Man of Action is working on the show?

Okay to start, I know I say it every time we get asks like this but y'all are genuinely so sweet and nice and it's just really really cool to see people enjoy our stuff. Like- especially fellow old fans of the franchise. I know Kaydin also really appreciates how sweet you guys are but just idk it feels like my fandom dreams come true when people like things like our au and art for this series

As for your questions...

Personally, to start, and this is Jack being slightly particularly- idk nitpicky? But there are three things I'd want to just- fix immediately and all three of them are Nicky related.

Number one, his shirt. I'm sorry guys but I've been here since the alphas and I didn't even realize this was his Sharkotron T-shirt. It's- It's just an egg

Number two, I realized after intense studying of Nicky's- face that it looks really weird when he's front facing, but his nose is facing right. So scenes like this suddenly seem- off model for no reason? I've poorly edited the image below to fix both of these

Yes I am too lazy to edit them properly, sadly. Did make his shirt logo still one colour for ease of animation. Idk why but left facing nose Nicky just looks less weird. Just me and kaydin? Maybe.

Number three- uh... that hairline is atrocious /lh

I know he wears his goggles in the show like constantly but also- this is a 13 year old boy guys. I was 13 once and I have a very flat (minus a widows peak) hairline, but it did not stop my hair from falling all over my face, and I think it's fair to assume the same for the kid who's hair refuses to behave anyway

Just fluff him up a lil (again I'm sorry these aren't better edits lol)

You don't even have to have it show when his goggles are up because like a headband or headphones it pushes hair back, or otherwise

Although ironically while I'm explaining what I would change in the designs, I don't mind the art style at all, actually I kind of love it. Sure some things you kinda of have to get used to, like their ears being pretty low to the head, but in general I think it really fits the franchise. I know it didn't look too drastically different from the pilot, but there's so many little nuances in the designs that just make it better (especially when you look at characters like Trinity)

I've told Kaydin a dozen and a half times how I think show Nicky is the franchise's second best design for him. The first being this singular piece of art from Nicky's Diaries, like I have gone on for hours about why this rendering of him is just perfect.

Third being fan renders, followed by the book artstyle, the pilot and finally games

And while other designs I wasn't sure about when watching through the show the first time, really just lore hunting instead of caring about anyone who wasn't Trinity or Nicky ngl, when I started doing my expression analysis I realized just how nice the designs and individuality of the characters are. If you put Nicky's expressions oh Enzo or Ivan's on Trinity it wouldn't fit and that's something I don't think people would expect from a Hello Neighbor cartoon.

They also have things I can just appreciate as someone who's special interest is animation (but doesn't have the patience to animate TvT gotta love audhd) for example, just having shading even in shots where they could completely go without it. It makes it less drastic and a smoother transition when lighting gets intense. They're also now afraid to switch up camera angles and push the rigs for a more intense shot.

Also something I really appreciate

Smear frames!

God I love smear frames!!! It's another one of those things that It's like- knowing how much this cost Tinybuild, they could've easily cut it down to save money. But it just wouldn't have been as nice without it.

Sure there are probably people who look at the fact that Man of Action is working on the show and are disappointed by the art style. But I say this entirely genuinely when I say I couldn't picture this show looking any other way and working as it does.

Yeah, they could've used more realistic proportions for these kids, but it works so much better when it's pushed like this when Mr. Peterson is nearly double their height. He's visibly a hulking intimidating man who could lift a middle schooler and lock them away. You fear his build which contrasts his outfit best (really feels like they took the book description of him and just pushed it, as we know he doesn't have this same stature in the games)

Plus it feels like in general, they stopped focusing on that dumb "Oh we need to hide things in every frame" which- thank God. Sure they are still hiding little details, hell I have changed a whole chunk of theory about Theodore's relationship with his son because of something I found on accident

This photo of (seemingly) 12 year old Aaron Peterson.

I'm not gonna go into it here lol because this is already long and it's supposed to be about the animation.

Are they still building mysteries and people are still crafting theories? Absolutely! Not a day goes by that I haven't been thinking about whether or not Aaron will ever be seen in the series in the present day and if he is, what he will be like mentally.

But the point is, they're focusing on crafting something GOOD over just theory fodder. Both animation and story-wise, and I can appreciate that so much.

Like- this is gonna be a really hot Jack take here so be aware.

I enjoy this franchise and it's spinoffs much more than the FNAF franchise.

Sure, Hello Neighbor one is and will always be awful. But I am 100x more likely to play Hello Neighbor 2 or Secret Neighbor than I am to play any fnaf game myself.

When I make fnaf content it is almost entirely AU based. Because the idea of getting lore super wrong since I just can't be bothered to try and figure that convoluted mess out is annoying. Why even try to solve lore if I need to read more than 10 books for a minor detail that becomes a major antagonist? We can't even get a full confirmed backstory for the main antagonist!

But with Hello Neighbor they realized that people don't want to be jumping through 50 hoops for lore. Yes we want mystery, but one we can solve without dumb contrivances and plot holes.

Do I still love FNAF? Of course. My senior quote is from William Afton ffs ("You may not recognize me at first, but I can assure you, it's still me") but one of these franchises is growing to better itself and gain more love, while the other is slowly becoming more of something I enjoy without trying to understand, and I think the Hello Neighbor animated series is- the pinnacle of this difference.

I love Welcome to Ravenbrooks. I love Hello Neighbor. I can’t wait to see what comes next from TinyBuild, and how season two will be even better than season one. (As proven by the fact that Nicky gets to yell louder in that one teaser clip alone than anyone got to in season one lol)

[akwolfgrl]

How sweet it is to be loved by them 29

“Fine! If it's what you want, I'll happily slice you to pieces!” Zoro ran twords the clown and sliced therw him easily…maybe too easily. He was disappointed. He was itching for a decent fight.

“Wow! That guy was weak! Lame!”

“Oh my god!”

“He died really easily,” The crew began to chuckle around him.

“Zoro! Get us out here!” Luffy called out to him.

“I'm coming,” Zoro left the dead pirate on the ground and headed for the cage. He placed his hand atop the iron roof. “I need a key, I can't cut through iron.” Yet, he wanted to one day, Koushirou had said a true swordsman could cut through anything.

“Oh…”

The pirates began to laugh, and Zoro stared at them with confusion and concern. Had they lost their minds after losing their captain?

“The fucks so funny? Just give me the key so I don't need to fight you. If your captain feel so easily none of you stand a chance.”

“Their pretty weird,” Luffy agreed. “It's not that funny.”

Zoros haki flared a moment too late as a searing pain gripped his side as knife staped him. Sanji was gonna be pissed at him. He fell to his knees for a second before reaching for his swords, getting up into a crouch.

“Zoro!”

“What! That hand!” The other alpha in the cage exclaimed in horror.

“Damn it! What the hell is that?” Zoro pulled the dagger out of his side, a gloved hand attached to it. He swung his swords at the hand, turning his body behind him, his wound thorbing.

“The Bara Bara no Mi!” A voice came from behind him. He watched as Buggy came back together. “The devil fuirt I consumed makes your swords useless! No matter how hard, how many times you try to slice me, it does nothing!”

“Shit!” Zoro growled in frustration. He wasn't sure if his haki would be enough.

“His body just came back together!”

“That guy's a monster!” Said the alpha who was made of rubber.

“I see I missed your vital organs. What a shame. It looks like I need to stab you again and again until I get right. What say you Roronoa Zoro? Ready to make your mate a widow already?” Buggy grinned at him.

Zoro was careless. He knew the damn Clown had a devil furit, and yet he still underestimated him. Zoro still had to rescue Luffy, but the damn Clown was winning. He was seriously wounded.

“Captain, so cool!”

“Kill them all, captain!”

“Use the cannon again!”

The other pirates geared and egged on their captain.

“Stabbing someone from behind is a dirty trick! You stupid big nose!”

“You idiot! Anything but that!” The other alpha screamed at Luffy.

“Who are you calling big nose you damn bart!” Zoro watched in horror as Buggy shot one hand towards Luffy.

“Luffy!” He wouldn't make it in time to save him.

When Luffy raised his head, he had the knife between his teeth. “I swear I'm gonna kick your ass!” A flood of relief filled Zoro's body when he saw that Luffy was fine.

“You think you can defeat me? What a funny joke!” Buggy began to laugh. “Your halioris, you three are going to die right here! In fact!” Zoro watched as one hand lit the enmorass canon that was pointed at the caged alphas.

“Oh no! I'm too young and pretty to die now! I still have things to do!” The other alpha bemoaned her fate. While Luffy just laughed.

“You want to die straw hat? I want to know exactly how you're gonna kick my ass! You're tied up and locked up!”

“Zoro! Run away!”

“What?” Why the hell was Luffy telling him to run?

“Hey! Don't tell him to leave! He came to reauce you…and I also need it!” She had a good point…he didn't say leave him just to run.

Zoro grined he had an idea. “Ok.” He'd run and take the cage with him. He'd figure out how to get Luffy, and he supposed the other alpha out later.

“Don't think I'll just let go, Roronoa Zoro! I take your head and then I'll be the famous one!” Zoro ran as Buggys flying hands and kives attacked him, Zoro parried with his own swords. “The feared pirate hunter running away ha! Don't think you can escape Buggy!”

Zoro reached the cannon and slid under the opening and began to lift it above his head and flipped it over, facing the pirates. The fuse was almost up. He ran the rest of the way to the cage, Zoro lifted the cage and the two alphas up, the metal digging into his shoulder as screams of panicked pirates filled his ears.

[callmearcturus]

Gods damnit, Arc, I did _not_ need to be yeeted back into MI fandom!

But since you're doing it anyway ( :D ), care to ramble on Ethan's complicated relationship between sex between friends, sex in a relationship, and sex on a mission?

I don't know if I can delineate that much but it does dovetail into my reading of Ethan as ace. Because wow the self recognizes the self, that boy has intense vibes. Sex neutral ace is my read from him.

I'm finally watching MI1 tomorrow with some friends, but I've seen a lot of scenes from it and the vibe I get from Ethan is very unethical slut boy who then goes through a massively traumatic event that almost permanently damages the mechanism that lets him trust and rely on other people.

When we reach the McQuarrie Trilogy and catch up with Ethan, there's a lot of interesting stuff with gender and sex going on. Notably, in GP, Ethan does not get a love interest at all and while he's a joy to watch and the camera loves to frame him in compelling ways, it's not really sexy at all. We spend a lot of the movie thinking he got left by Julia, then we find out she's dead, then we learn she's alive and they still love each other but can't be together.

All of that is super compelling to me. In Hollywood Action Movies, I find the lack of sexual tension and love interest to be refreshingly weird. I'm trying to think of another action hero who gets treated like Ethan does, and the only thing that kind of came to mind was Cobb from Inception, but even then there's shipteasing with Arthur and Ariadne (and also Nolan's gender politic is a treacherous wasteland, so bad example anyway).

In Rogue Nation, the trend continues and honestly gets even more odd to me. Because on paper, Ilsa should be Ethan's love interest and there's small moments like escaping the opera and the body search int he car, but both of them are outliers. Hell, when they meet, Ethan COMPLIMENTS HER SHOES which is. About the least heterosexual thing ever.

Ilsa is extremely important to Ethan and I think he loves her, but after the big climax, their huge moment of intimacy is a hug. Which makes me go wild, it's so interesting that there's not even a goodbye kiss.

Pairing that with how Ethan treats Benji in RN and how structurally he's the love interest-- BUT EVEN THEN Ethan is so fucking careful and guarded with how he touches people. I keep thinking about Ilsa in Morocco, coming out of the pool and how its potentially a Bond Girl Moment but the camera doesn't linger on her much and Ethan keeps his eyes on her face. There's no leering, there's not even checking her out. IT'S JARRING. I LOVE IT.

And then in Fallout, there's the White Widow thing, which makes me want to scream. That moment when the White Widow kisses Ethan out of the blue and Ethan is fucking stone-faced, like the ace vibes are wild.

It's not just that he doesn't react so oooh he must be one of My People, but there's also how Fallout makes you feel Ethan's age. Ethan spends 90% of Fallout looking tired and sad, and it's almost like... on some level he's not even willing to put on the show anymore. He's not going to crank up the charisma and woo people to do what he wants, he can't be fucking bothered, and I feel the gravity of him so acutely every time I watch it. The only time he really has that big lovely smile is when he's talking to Benji and Luther in the beginning, which makes it a genuine charisma, a genuine urge to relax and grin and share a moment with people he loves.

But as soon as the job says he should maybe seduce the White Widow bc she's clearly into him, he's just. Not there for it.

Anyway the ace vibes are off the charts. Does Ethan Hunt fuck? Possibly, but it has to be with someone he trusts and they're probably going to have to be the one to suggest it. If you invite him to Netflix and Chill, he's going to be in the kitchen heating up popcorn kernels in a cast iron because you gotta have popcorn for movies. Then you say "actually how about sex" and there's a two second lag as he processes that and goes "Oh yeah sure that sounds like it could be fun too."

Ace as fuck.

[ofallthingsnasty]

Cowboy croco?? 👀👀

Omg imagine him trying to wife up a cute fat darling 🙏🙏 hot

The thing is, to me he's either some ultra slimy, wicked business type who exploits people ruthlessly and gets them with debts/gag contracts or he's a Dutch Van der Linde (rdr2) guy with his own little group of outlaws (and has his fingers in pots the others do not know about...) - or maybe more like Colm O'Driscoll, but I digress...

Oh, but him having a little crisis - he is cunning and strong, has money and smarts and loyal men and all that, but he also can tell that he's in his mid-40s now. People in that line of 'work' (people in general, back then) aged worse - and I don't mean aesthetically, I mean physically. For all he knows, it's entirely possible for him to be dead this time next year; and he can feel the phantom pain in his lost hand whenever the weather changes more and more with every passing winter. 20 years ago, that quick way of living, that uncertainty didn't bother him at all, no, it added to the thrill of everything. That was the spice his 20s and 30s were made of - when the world was his oyster and the next big thing right around the corner. But now? He's richer than before, more crafty; he knows people and how they work, knows so much yet feels so empty... Going out in a blaze of glory would have been appealing just ten years ago, now it feels shallow and vain. It's not that he wants to settle down either, it's just-

Something is missing. Between almost 30 years on the road, the street, in the wilderness, the reeking towns and cramped cities and him lying and cheating and gunning his way through it all, he has been nothing but made of red-hot iron and fury. Suddenly he's more mellow; his evil oozes more than it spurts and he feels himself longing for something - someone. Someone to apply his little ointments for him, someone who cooks for him, someone who is a base for him whenever he returns from his exploits and so much more. He suddenly finds himself yearning for the comforts a wife provides, those little joys and genuine warmth money can't buy. It's strange, really. Utterly strange and out of character for a man like him. But age turns the best of them into sentimental fools and he doesn't seem to be an exception. He finds himself conjuring up someone in his mind whenever he lords over his whiskey or stares at the moon with a cigarette in hand; how nice just another presence would be, how he could afford a wife, how having someone to adore him might be more tempting than cold metal and gems in his hand. He could have both, he reasons, and experience a sliver of peace his life has never given him so far. He has heard many old men lament the loss of a woman; decades shared toiling together, building together - it never bothered him one bit before; now he wants what he can't have.

So when he spots you - widowed, all out on your own and desperate for money, fat with luxuries your dead husband could provide for you but that are now sorely missing, he sees an opportunity; someone to take advantage of. You're perfect, just made for him: desperate, soft and sweet, with years of homemaking and pleasing underneath your belt. Oh, he'll blind you. Deceive you with a front of charm and expensive clothes, with the promises of a home of your own and food on the table. You'll buy his lies hook, line and sinker - won't question him when he evades your inquiries about his work, won't even have the time to think about just where his rings come from when every day on your own just gets harder and harder because your money is running out. You've got a sweet face; the body of a fat little wife and are worn down enough by misfortune that you cling to him like a drowning cat. You'll only see that you married the devil himself after it's all said and done; that you've been dragged into the life of a horrible criminal who'll leave you widowed again - and with the wolves to come once he's been shot like a fucking dog, someday soon.

[feathers-little-nest]

And here it is, the list of my fav Iron Widow moments! Enjoy?

As always feel free to discuss with me or share your favorite moments!!

It's below the cut bcs spoilers

- chapter 5, I figured that I could note my fav moments of this book as well XD

- starting on not the best note, I fucking hate Yang Guang, I hate him so much, I want to rip his guts out,

- chapter 8, the fight was so epic!! I love how MC just kinda forgor about the whole dying thing and went with the flow

- and that she killed that motherfucker! I didn't have to tolerate him for too long >:D

- it's honestly quite funny that Qin Zheng was killed by pox (I hope I'm getting the name of the illness right lol, I'm reading this in Polish translation and have 0 knowledge about any medical terminology in English)

- just a note but it's harder for me to keep up with those notes for Iron Widow than for Qian Qiu. I think it's because 1. its pace is faster 2. its chapters are shorter. so anyway

- chapter 10, Wu Zetian just needs to scream 24/7 and I respect it so much

- chapter 12, idk, Li Shimin is kinda cute

- I also like strategist Zhuge but that may be just because he has a fan

- chapter 13, those qi power statistic are so untrustworthy lol. I wouldn't be so happy to have so much higher qi stats than the average if the margin of error is like 17k

- chapter 14, damn, I miss Yizhi...

- chapter 19, oh my god, Yizhi is back!! T^T

- I absolutely love all the tiny historical details in this story. I'm probably missing a lot but those which I can catch are amazing (and satisfying, good to know that I know something about Chinese history after all that learning)

- chapter 20, OMG YIZHI IS BI?? IS THIS FINALLY SOME GOOD BI REP??

- ZETIAN IS ALSO BI?? AM I IN HEAVEN? WHAT'S GOING ON??

- omg Gao Yizhi grabbing Li Shimin's leash is one of the things I need to draw, damn, it paints such a clear picture in my mind

- chapter 21, Sima Yi is just a hater by nature and I start to enjoy it,

- chapter 23, Yizhi screaming "you can't shoot me I'm rich!!!" I love this boy

- chapter 29, god, Yizhi, Shimin and Zetian are sooo cute

- also "one traumatized Xing Tian", that made me laugh out loud

- "usually adding qi of a third person only strengthened the dissonance (...) no one knows why we succeeded" yeah I wonder why, hmmmmmm

- chapter 30, MY BABYGIRL LI SHIMIN GOT CALLED AN ALPHA MALE I'M DYINGGG

- I kinda like Gao Qiu. I know he's probably bad news but damn, he's fun

- also a Wu Zetian fan nr1, seeing his reaction I'm surprised that he didn't ask for an autograph (I forgot that he's sexist af)

- tho, tbh, I think he's more afraid of what he can't control than purely sexist; interesting guy, I want to dissect him,

- I wonder if anything happened between LSM and GYZ during that party at Gao's, hmm,

- chapter 31, OUR THIRD PARTNER YIZHI, AWWW

- chapter 36, I actually think Sima Yi might be one of my fav characters? come on, the guy came to the wedding just because he wanted to support his little dumdums

- chapter 39, YES FUCK AN LUSHAN

- damn I didn't think they'll actually kill him. oh well. he won't be missed. judging by his character, even his son won't miss him

- Yizhi is the wife in this throuple, isn't he /jk

- OMG THE TRIANGLE IS FINISHED, THAT WAS SO CUTE!! WAAH

- chapter 42, I like how Wu Zetian's reaction to something not going well is just "maybe we should burn ourselves alive actually", relatable queen

- Sima Yi just lost his good guy badge. he better have a damn good excuse for abondoning MCs this easily,

- chapter 44, QIN PIERDOLONY ZHENG, już zawsze będę go tak nazywać 🫡

- chapter 46, is Qin Pierdolony Zheng playing snake with hunduns instead of apples¿?

- I still can't believe that Shimin is actually dead. Like. Dead dead. Super dead. Human marmalade dead. How... why him T^T

- chapter 47, I love how among all this death and destruction the worst problem Qin Pierdolony Zheng has is inflation,

- epilogue, DID SHIMIN BECOME A GOD PLS TELL ME HE BECAME A GOD

- Qin Pierdolony Zheng has a beef with gods, I think he's the most rel character now

[localwebslingers]

| Headcanon: MCU Peter - "Are You an Avenger?" |

This has been touched on in a few threads now I think, so I guess that's time to actually write it out: Peter didn't originally want to be an Avenger, but he thought he was supposed to, and absolutely does not want anymore.

...so let me explain that.

And this is a long one (TRUST ME) so it's all going to be under the cut.

Peter grew up in a world with superheroes, pretty early on. He's still a little kid when Tony would have announced to the world that he was Iron Man, he was at the Stark Expo when it was attacked and that's already just spanning when he was eight to nine years old. Then the Battle of New York happens, and suddenly they're formed together. The Avengers. He's already looked up to Tony (he was at the Expo and had an Iron Man helmet and gauntlet, it wasn't exactly subtle) as a hero but now there's more too, and everyone is talking about it after the fact. Iron Man. Captain America. Thor. Hulk. Hawkeye. Black Widow. A lot of them have powers, a lot of them are super skilled in something enough to stand there next to heros.

And then suddenly at fourteen, Peter gets bit by a spider and finds out he has superpowers now.

By that time, the Avengers are household names, new members have been added to the team, and he's grown up seeing that if you have powers and can do things to help, you help people. Not to mention a good deal of looking to May and Ben as rolemodels for exactly that idea. So he does, but it's not specifically to fight crime. It's for Queens. It's to help his neighborhood. Because Peter sees people there every day who can use help and he can do that for them. Maybe he stops bike thieves and a few robers of the local bodega, but it's for his neighborhood.

....and then Tony shows up.

Peter is fourteen years old. He's had super powers for six months and is completely confused as to why he's even being talked to, and it's because Tony Stark, because Iron Man, who is an Avenger, wants Peter to help him out. He is fourteen, and an Avenger has, in his mind, come to recruit him for a mission. That is huge, that's overwhelming, but he goes, and he fights with some of the Avengers and people he's never even seen or heard of, and it's even against some of the Avengers he's grown up knowing the names of. And suddenly something shifts for Peter, suddenly he's supposed to be an Avenger. Because obviously he could be, or Tony wouldn't have come to talk to him, and really, what else is that supposed to mean?

People who are good at cooking are encouraged to become chefs and make their own recipes or have their own restaurants. Really love animals, parents and adults talk about becoming a vet. Passionate about science, they say to be a chemist and discover new and amazing things. Peter has superpowers, people with superpowers join the Avengers.

It's a logical conclusion, it makes sense, it seems to be what's expected of him, so now he thinks that's his end goal. The goal is to prove he really is good enough to be on the team and then join them.

Except it kinda fails, spectacularly, and he still goes to fight Toomes because he has to keep people safe and doing nothing will get people hurt and worse. But he's not doing it to prove he's good enough to be an Avenger, he did it because that was the right thing to do. That's what Spider-Man would do. Look out for his neighborhood, for New York, and then take a Spanish quiz the next morning. And then, suddenly, Tony is offering him a spot on the Avengers. And it's everything Peter was supposed to want, what he thought for months that he was supposed to want, the whole reason to tried to take on Toomes the first time the way he did.

....and he turned it down. He's suddenly unsure, he doesn't know if that's really what he wants to do, but he's fifteen. He's got time, right? So instead, Peter takes the advice Tony gave him and he first blew off: he wants to stay on the ground. If after high school there's still room on the Avengers for him then great, but his neighborhood needs him there, New York needs him in New York. So that's where he wants to stay for now. And he ends up liking it there. Sure he still gives Happy updates to what's going on, and he even checks in with Tony especially for stuff he suddenly finds that are way over his head and "hey actually what DO you do if suddenly a guy has a scorpion tail with poison that shouldn't exist trying to stab you???"

But by time Thanos shows up? Spider-Man is on the ground. He's a local hero and another word starts getting thrown around a lot more with him: vigilante. People know he's just around town sometimes, mostly out in Queens and Midtown but he's popped up in other places. He doesn't get compared to the Avengers now, he gets compared to other people on the ground, who also work in their own neighborhoods to keep them safe, and Peter's really okay with that. But it's a big deal with Thanos shows up, and he can't just sit around and decide that's only a problem for other people.

He told Tony "you can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood." Getting on the ship even when Tony didn't want him to wasn't about proving himself this time. It isn't about trying to be a kid playing in the big leagues with the Avengers. It's about being Spider-Man, because these guys are really bad news and they're going to get a lot of people killed and Peter can't just sit that out.

Here's the thing though...Peter didn't see himself staying as an Avenger.

No one had to really kick him off the team, he just left. As far as he was concerned, Tony "knighting him" on the giant donut spaceship was a temporary addition to being an Avenger. Something seriously bad was going on and he could help, but it wasn't to stay on the team. It was like Germany: he went to fight as an Avenger for that one thing, and he goes back home as just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After all of that happens he's even desperate to distance himself from people wanting to act like he's an Avenger now. He hangs up when Fury calls him, he turns him and all of SHIELD(or who he thinks is SHIELD anyways) down, several times, in Europe and even tries to suggest anyone else he can think of to help with the so-called elementals. And yeah there's a lot else going on there at the time for Peter but he's trying to make it really clear that he does not want to be an Avenger. Please. Ask someone else. It's not him, you have the wrong guy.

Because at this point, vigilante is a lot closer to what home is. What Spider-Man is. Sure, he's a superhero to a lot of people still, and sometimes Peter even feels like he is one when he gets involved with the Big Time Stuff(TM). But it's not what he usually does. He likes being on the ground, he works more like the other vigilantes and ground level heros. People like Daredevil, and the Iron Fist, or Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. That's what feels like Spider-Man, on the ground and in New York is where he wants to be. That's where he wants to stay. And people keep just not believing him. Because he's done the big stuff a few times now, and he's even been pretty good at it when it came down to it, surly he should be on the team. Obviously. He must want to do that now and move on from the small-time stuff.

But that's not how he wants to opperate. Not anymore, not since he was fourteen and barely fifteen years old. The Avengers are basically celebrities and that's really not what he wants.

If someone asked him to join the Avengers now? He would turn them down, without even thinking twice about it or regretting the choice. Peter Parker does not want to be an Avenger. He wants to be Spider-Man. Just a local spider looking out for New York and maybe sometimes he goes to space or deal with the multiverse.

[themculibrary]

Canon-Compliant Masterlist

And Maybe They'd Be Happy For A While (ao3) - sweetnuisance alexi/melina T, 143k

Summary: Natalia Romanova wanted only one thing, to become a Black Widow. Melina Vostokoff didn't know how to be anything else.

When the Red Room sends them on a deep cover mission to Ohio they find they can both be so much more.

and they will run you down 'til you fall (ao3) - an_insomaniac T, 4k

Summary: The first thing he felt was bright light, even through closed eyes, coloring the insides of his eyelids a reddish color.

The first thing he thought was, fuck, I overslept. Ma's gonna kill me.

Then he realized he wasn't at home in New York with his family. No, he was overseas in Europe, fighting a war. Except not anymore, because they all got captured. And now he was stuck here, strapped to a metal table, alone.

Or: Bucky has gotten hurt by Hydra countless times in his long, long life. But how, exactly, did it go the first time around? Bucky (and the Howling Commandos)'s time as prisoners of war in Azzano.

a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts (ao3) - ladybundle wanda/vision M, 7k

Summary: She wants to look just like Mary Tyler Moore when she grows up. Or maybe Lucille Ball. She loves red hair.

———

Wanda uses TV to cope and falls in love.

Don't Hold Your Breath, Kid (ao3) - Naddy T, 880

Summary: There are hundreds of thoughts racing through Peter's mind as he leaps out of the pod in the wreckage in Knowhere's exo-atmosphere, propelling himself towards Gamora, but only one of them stands out.

Don't hold your breath, kid.

Error 404 (ao3) - lazy_stitch wanda/vision T, 3k

Summary: It's wrong to hurt your friends, and it's even worse to make battle plans on how to beat and detain them. Vision knows this, even though he has no feelings (... right?).

Ghosts of Flesh and Soul (ao3) - DCAngst T, 5k

Summary: Why did Bucky Barnes decide to go back into cryo-genic suspension? This One-Shot focuses on the first couple of days after Bucky and Steve land in Wakanda. Bucky adjusts to daily life without his arm, haunted by phantoms of flesh and mind.

"With every glance Steve sent his way, Bucky felt exposed. Guilty. Like he was taking up space he had no right to occupy."

i imagine death so much, it feels more like a memory (ao3) - thewickedverkaiking alexi/melina M, 25k

Summary: before there was the iron maiden, before ohio, before the red guardian and natasha and yelena, melina vostokova was a little girl, a long long time ago.  

-

she is in class 7A. she sleeps in bed #2. she has dark hair and brown eyes. she was top of her class in academics last year. she knows ten different ways to kill a man with a knife. she will fire a gun for the first time when summer comes. her birthday is in november.

her name is melina.

she is seven years old.

-

melina, the red room, the iron maiden, ohio, and after.

in the doldrums (ao3) - befehlvonganzunten (blueprintofyourpast) T, 3k

Summary: When he catches a quick glimpse of the little Lego figure sitting atop his GED prep books his stomach drops only half as hard as it used to and he doesn’t spend a solid 5 minutes wondering if Ned ever takes a look at his Death Star set and struggles to remember when and how an essential piece of the set went missing. He’s done after 4 minutes and 36 seconds. It’s progress on his part, he assumes.

.

.

.

Or: A day in the life of Peter Parker, post-NWH.

it gets better (but i guess that was a lie) (ao3) - inkstainedrose, interlvnium T, 1k

Summary: Peter Parker is alone, and he is fine.

Peter Parker is alive, though that might not be such a blessing.

. . .

or: Peter Parker lives on, even if the entire world has forgotten.

i've seen the future (and it looks an awful lot like you) (ao3) - em_a steve/peggy T, 12k

Summary: In the 1940s, Peggy finds a way to move on.

In 2023, Steve makes his way back.

They meet somewhere in the middle. (And they finally get that dance.)

Memorial (ao3) - Cardinal_Flower G, 2k

Summary: A lot has happened over the past two - no, seven - years. It's time for Sam to visit the Arlington National Cemetery and catch up with his best friend.

Midnight Marauders (ao3) -KDtheGhostWriter G, 1k

Summary: Spider-Man has defeated The Vulture and saved the top secret Stark Industries shipment from being stolen. Peter wonders if Iron Man ever ended up like this after saving the day: face down with sand in places he didn't know existed.

Some Version of You (ao3) - abcd_em G, 3k

Summary: The only person that would notice how drastic of a difference it was is him.

That’s the kicker, isn’t it?

The boy in the room and the boy in the reflection are the only people left that know Peter Parker for who he is. Who he was.

stages of grief (ao3) - theredhoodie druig/makkari G, 1k

Summary: A quiet moment shared on the beach waiting for Phastos to fix the Domo so they can get off of this volcano.

Survivor Story (ao3) - the_truth_within_the_lie M, 25k

Summary: On December 28th, 1944, James Buchanan Barnes plummets four miles down into a snow-covered ravine in the Alps.

On February 2nd, 1945, a HYDRA-funded band of Soviet troops captures Barnes alive in a wooded area outside Switzerland.

He’s feverish and unconscious. He's lost his left arm. And he's thirty-six miles away from where he fell.

This is how James Buchanan Barnes dies -

- and how the Winter Soldier is born.

The Last Stand (ao3) - fantasiesdreaming layla/marc T, 78k

Summary: “Mind if I sit here?” asked a voice, its owner already settling into the space on the bench next to Marc.

“Layla,” he uttered without thinking, and shit. She had been shuffling through her bag at the edge of the table, but now she stiffened.

“Do I know you?”

------------------------------------

The precanon Marc backstory we've all been waiting for. Featuring Marc struggling to deal with his past and mental health as he meets, falls in love with, marries, and eventually leaves Layla.

what is and what will be (is you and me) (ao3) - momentofmemory may/ben T, 20k

Summary: The precinct is wildly disorienting at first: the high exposure of the fluorescent lights, frantic cops milling about without apparent rhyme or reason, phones and pagers filling the air with their high-pitched screams. Stone-faced detectives with blood-spattered shoes.

It’s a frazzled secretary that gets to them first, but whatever she says is lost to May’s ears—because at that moment, all she sees is Peter.

(Or, 5 times May was there for Peter, +1 time he was there for her.)

Widowmaker (ao3) - mcsquared789 T, 38k

Summary: She leaned back, keeping her eye on the cupcake. Trying not to listen to the room next door, of people who were more ignorant, and yet clearly much happier. They sat around comfortable with better heating, better lighting, and the constant threat of death far behind them.

But there was nothing like that for Natasha. The next year would be the same as this one… and the year after that. And the year after that.

As long as I'm still here, she thought listlessly. It will always be like this. I'm only still here… because my skills are all I'm good for. Madame B made sure of that.

It would have been a mercy if they had just killed me.

Natasha Romanoff — trained assassin, spy, lackey of the Red Room. She, along with her other Widows, have been dragged down to Budapest to watch over their own leader, Anton Dreykov. But when another assassin comes with the intention to take him down, will she stand in the way? Or — will she finally discover her own chance to escape?

A short fic about a fateful meeting that will change everything. Fully completed.

you're the hero in my story (and the ghost) (ao3) - jesm T, 1k

Summary: Steve spends a lot of his childhood sick and stuck in bed; the only good part of it is Bucky's company.

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Schrodinger's Sequel: A Treatise on Ignoring Book of Secrets

At this point you may have noticed that sometimes...I ignore Book of Secrets' existence in my analysis of the first National Treasure.

Why?

It's not just because I don't like it (although I don't). It's also because I don't think you necessarily should consider later works when analyzing a piece of media, particularly if you're looking at the development process or the "how we got here" of it all. Or at least, you shouldn't have to.

This blog is not the first place I've noticed that I have a slightly different approach to media analysis that some other fans when it comes to sequels, and the way that an ongoing narrative is viewed over time. I've wanted to dig into it a little more, so let's do it!

Btw, this is not intended to be an argument for or against any particular reading style, only an exploration of my thought process.

Reading Styles

The two "reading styles," I'm going to call them, are thus:

First, there's the retroactive reading style. In this style, anything that happens in a later installment of a multi-work franchise retroactively affects the past works in that world.

To use my very least favorite example in the whole wide world:

Avengers: Age of Ultron reveals that MCU Clint Barton, (Hawkeye) has a wife and three kids who live on a farm.

The retroactive reading style would say that because of this new development Clint always had a farm family, including in previous installments where this wasn't included or hinted at. Therefore, a reading of the preceding Avengers movie should include space (at least in the back of your mind) for the farm family.

And that just doesn't make sense to me because that's not how the story was created or experienced.

In what I'm going to call the developmental reading style, the story canon only really exists up until the work in question.

To take the AoU example again, I think an analysis of Avengers (2012) should take into account the events of the Phase 1 Marvel movies (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Iron Man 2) but not only does it not need to take into account the events of later films, I think that's almost counterproductive to understanding how the story is working as a narrative machine.

The farm family did not exist when Avengers was written. It was not a consideration when Jeremy Renner was making decisions about how he was going to play the Clint Barton character. Maybe it was floating around as a fun fact (Hey, did you know in the Ultimates comics Clint has a family that Natasha murders in cold blood because she's a double agent? Maybe we'll do that. Hey, did you know that in the comics Natasha has a nemesis/adopted younger sister who's another Black Widow agent? Maybe we'll do that.) but it wasn't a part of the text of the story.

If you're writing a fanfic about Clint and Laura (the farm wife) then sure, imagine her into wherever you want. Have at it; it's your playground. But if you're analyzing how Avengers works as a film, how it creates its narrative and brings together disparate c-tier comics franchises into a single cohesive story (which was unheard of at the time)...then the farm family isn't bringing anything to the table because it was not on the table.

In the same way, if I'm looking at Book of Secrets I'm going to include the events, themes, and characterization of National Treasure in my thinking. If I'm looking at National Treasure—not the National Treasure cinematic universe, but National Treasure (2004)—I'm generally not.

This is especially true when I'm looking at how a story came to be. For example, how the 2003 script became National Treasure. BoS doesn't factor in because it wasn't a part of the initial calculations/art/alchemy that made the first movie what it is.

Exceptions

There are exceptions, of course, particularly when a specific twist, reveal, or piece of knowledge was known from the outset and integral to the development of the story as a whole, for example...

Spoilers for The Good Place season 1 and Steven Universe incoming

...I would read an early episode of The Good Place with the context that it's really The Bad Place, because that knowledge is fundamental to how the story is being built and told. And I would include the Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond reveal in a future rewatch of Steven Universe because again, that concept was fundamental to the telling of the story—and of the tellers' desire to tell the story in the first place. The clues are all there for you to see, once you know what you're looking for.

Threads

These kinds of stories are the exception though, not the rule. Outside of major milestones like that, most ongoing stories are built from the ground up. Each entry creates material that can be drawn on for the next, threads that start out as extraneous little pieces of worldbuilding that can be pulled on and incorporated into future works.

As much as it was a meme at the time, Avengers: Endgame was not planned from the beginning. Maybe on a very conceptual "We'd like to build to an adaptation of the Infinity War storyline" level, but no. Remember, they didn't know that Iron Man (2009) wasn't going to tank like most other superhero movies of the time. And they didn't know if multiple separate movies even could be brought together under the same banner, and if audiences would go for that. And they thought Age of Ultron was a good idea.

Conclusion

My point is, basically, that I don't tend to consider future installments to a franchise as fundamentally relevant to understanding a work of fiction--regardless of whether or not I personally like them--because that's just...not how I experience ongoing narratives.

Is this an fancy excuse to ignore sequels I don't like? I mean yeah, probably, sometimes. But also, if I'm ignoring Book of Secrets it's also maybe that I've kinda sorta forgotten it exists?

I've polled a few friends about this, and so far they're all said they do the first thing. What about you?

[obscuremarvelmuses]

My new work duties/schedule has put a dent in my Darkstar reread but I’m back with commentary on Champions #16-17! There’s not a lot new for Laynia’s characterization here, but I learned her powers are way more potent than I thought, there’s hints that her backstory was probably originally intended as something very different than what we eventually got, and it turns out she’s met a fair few “evil” mutants that I didn’t realize she ever had!

Champions #16 OMG the cover indicates we’re going to have Magneto and Dr. Doom?! Why don’t I remember this?! The first page is Magneto fighting the Champions. Beast is also there. Dialogue indicates that Magneto made a deal with Dr. Doom that he (Magneto) could have one ally from among the mind-controlled Avengers (I guess Doom is mind-controlling the Avengers in some other issue) if Magneto could free that one from said mind-control. He apparently did so successfully with Beast, who was at this time an Avenger, in hopes Beast would lead him to Xavier and the X-Men. And according to Beast “I did, but they weren’t home! So I did the next best thing! Welcome to LA, Maggie!” Magneto laments his choice, asking “why, by all the powers, did I choose you?!” while the pair of them fight the Champions, Laynia included. I thought she’d never encountered Mags, but I was wrong! Also, Hercules is accusing Beast of treachery, but my bet is he brought Magneto to the Champions specifically so they would kick his ass. Like, Beast sounds like he’s on Magneto’s side while they fight, but this is my bet.

  Magneto knocks a metal beam into Angel and Laynia cries out “Warren!” in horror which is more concern than she has ever shown for BOBBY nearly DYING. Besides that, she’s just utterly absent from the fight for ages. I think maybe the writers realized she’d win way too easy with her powers—like she could just teleport Magneto through the Darkforce or something—so they just…sorta wrote her out for a bit for story’s sake. But then at the very end of the brawl, when Magneto flies off with Beast to go fuck up Doom for reasons, Darkstar suddenly reappears, encases herself and the Champions in a sphere of Darkforce, and uses that to follow Magneto through the sky! Blah blah blah, Doom is doing stuff with politicians at DC, the Hulk shows up, then Magneto, and then Darkstar touches down with the Champions a sec later. Warren is ASTONISHED that “Darkstar got us from LA to Washington DC in a matter of minutes!” which yeah is IMPRESSIVE. I’d forgotten she had speed like that, holy shit. I’ve always apped her on the much more conservative side power-wise at servers and boards. Natasha responds that “We still don’t know the limits of her powers” and Laynia says “One day soon, Widow–I promise!” So Laynia is kinda the mysterious mystical one of the team in this era, I think. Not magical, but like, the kinda freaky “we just don’t really understand her abilities and how far they can go” kinda way, is the vibe I get. She comes off as intended as very. . .Wanda-y, tbh, and it makes me wonder if there were bigger plans for her at one point. Also this is the first time she’s called Nat “Widow” instead of “Madame Natasha” perhaps because they’re in front of a bunch of civilians. Anyway. Big fight. Doom mind-controls Laynia, Warren, and Nat and commands them to kill Magneto. Meanwhile Beast tussels with Ghost Rider, Hulk is punching Hercules, the White House Guard is going after Beast and appear to also be under Doom’s control. . .lot of super-chaos but nothing worthwhile for Laynia notes, except that at one point Magneto wraps an iron gate around her and she can’t use her powers due to it squeezing so tight she feels she’s about to pass out. So jotting that down for my own reference, she can’t concentrate enough to use the Darkforce if she’s in that sort of situation—strangulation, suffocation, etc. Fight ends without Laynia doing or saying anything else, no further notes. Good issue for some powers-related stuff in terms of both capabilities and limits, but nothing in terms of characterization. Champions #17 has them fighting a bunch of Sentinels on the cover. A narrative box on the first page informs me that they fought MODOK in a non-Champions issue, Super Villain Team Up #15 and Iron Man Annual #4, so I’ll check those out next. But first I definitly want to read this issue because it begins with the Brotherhood of Mutants (currently Blob, Unus, and my lovely Lorelei!) charging into the Champions HQ begging for help! Got MY attention! Got the Champion’s too, especially because bursting through the wall after them is the Sentinels! Which ignore Hercules and Natasha, as they’re the only Champions there, and not mutants. As for where everyone else is, Warren is flying around LA, and down below Laynia and Bobby are in line to see a movie in which Johnny Blaze did the bike stunts. I bet Bobby thinks its a date and Laynia thinks it’s building team bonds. Warren’s gotten the alert from the others and comes to get Laynia and Bobby, Bobby transforms into his ice form and someone asks if he’s “a frozen streaker?!” which is pretty funny, at least til he’s recognized as “that mutant freak, the Iceman!” and the crowd attacks him. They swiftly realize they can’t hurt him, so decide to turn on his “lady friend” in retaliation, which goes about as well for them as you’d expect. But this only incites the crowd further as they realize “they ain’t human, none of them!” (so they were totally ready to assault Laynia thinking she was human, just for associating with a mutant I guess) and Johnny gets involved as he’s there in the flesh—er, flaming bones—too. Weirdly, Bobby suggests maybe Johnny planned this, which is an accusation I don’t really understand? Maybe Johnny had a falling out with the team I missed because I don’t read if Laynia isn’t on the panel? Whatever. Anyway, Angel carries Bobby to the Champions HQ, Laynia offers to carry Johnny, he’s really hostile back and tells them to all stop pitying him and drives his motorcycle up the side of the building. Yeah something is going on, I just don’t give a shit. Laynia discards the coat she was wearing, showing that she had her costume under it all the time. So she just went to the movies like that. I’m actually not sure we’ve SEEN her in any normal clothing at this point and I now headcanon she doesn’t have any and hasn’t thought to ask for some because an individual wardrobe would be far too decadent. What’s even more interesting is her thought balloon as she does it: “Pity? At last I understand his coldness towards me! He thinks I see him as a monster! But if he knew of my birth, he would know Darkstar is the true unhuman!” I definitely think something different was intended for Laynia’s origin at this point than what we got. I’m not sure she was even originally intended as a mutant. Not that “raised in a USSR facility from birth as a weapon for the State” is exactly normal, but I really get the vibe something freakier than that was the original plan, given lines like this. Interesting. Would really like to know what the idea was, if I’m right. Meanwhile, a dude in green on the roof is watching all this, thinking “Excellent! The lambs march to the slaughter!” and how he cannot fail now. This same dude was also watching the Sentinels attack earlier from the shadows. Pretty sure it’s Vanisher. Laynia and the others join the fight against the Sentinels while the Brotherhood cowers (REAL HELPFUL, YOU GUYS) and when Laynia hits one with the Darkforce, it goes on the fritz, declaring “alien force disrupting systems” suggesting her Darkforce can disrupt machinery, rather like Shadowcat’s phasing. Also interesting to note! The Champions take out the Sentinels, but, gasp! It was a SETUP! The Vanisher was the brains behind it the whole time, and the rest of the Brotherhood was just acting! Which is disappointing, I like these three (Blob, Unus, and Lorelei) and thought them running to the Champions for help was cute. Oh well. Vanisher blasts them all with a knock-out ray, but Laynia, as her thought balloons reveal, is “Barely. . .conscious! But. . .I must act! I cannot let him. . .kill….those who have befriended me!” AW BABY ;-; SHE DEF DIDN’T HAVE FRIENDS EVER BEFORE THIS I mean later it’s established she was raised with Vanguard and Ursa Major but that’s not really the same thing as people choosing to befriend you, is it? Anyway, what happens next is ABSOLUTELY WILD—Laynia uses the Darkforce to animate the remains of the ruined Sentinel! Holy shit! It attacks the Brotherhood, and Vanisher, realizing it’s Darkstar’s doing, is about to kill her, but Bobby, now conscious again too, stops him. Vanisher is about to flee, claiming that no one can stop him from doing so with his power of teleportation, and Darkstar declares that “No human, perhaps! But Darkstar is more than human! Much more!” and uses the Darkforce to actually FREEZE HIM HALF TELEPORTED HALF OF HIM IS STILL THERE THE OTHER IS NOT It’s not gory and hes not dead, the “open” part of his body is covered in Darkforce, but dear GOD that is disturbing, and Darkstar thinks so too. As Bobby gawks and wonders how Vanisher can be alive, Laynia turns away from the sight into Bobby’s arms, saying “I-I don’t know! Oh Bobby, hold me!” The issue ends with Warren saying “Did you hear what she said? About not being human?” which, yeah, technically Warren isn’t human, but like. . .Darkstar definitely seems to mean something bigger than just being a mutant (which, actually, ARE human, humans with mutations are humans) Hercules concurs that “Aye lad! In truth, there is a mystery here!” and Ghost Rider thinks “And maybe I’ve been wrong all along!” The issue ends here. Yeah, whatever Darkstar’s original origin story was meant to be, I think it was probably something a lot more eldritch in nature than just “mutant with connection to the Darkforce” for sure. Alas, I’ll probably never know what it is!