#only peggy knows which is which when they're involved

[yukiwhitetm]

Fanstory Prompt

Short prompt:

Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth is Peter Parker's great-uncle and, after Tony Stark and May Parker pass away in the aftermath of Endgame, Peter is sent to be under Alfred's care.

Peter Parker's Genealogy:

Alfred Pennyworth & Peggy Carter (marries Steve Rogers) - Howard Stark (marries Maria Stark née Carbonell)

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Tony Stark (marries Pepper Stark née Potts) - Mary Parker née Fitzpatrick (marries Richard Parker) & Ben Parker (brother-in-law, through Richard Parker) - May Parker née Reilly

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Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (half-siblings, different mothers)

Long prompt:

Seventeen-year-old Peter Parker, secretly the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man of Queens, New York, has lost family and had to restart his life more times than the average kid (even one with superpowers!).

His parents Richard and Mary Parker died in an aeroplane crash when he was five. His Uncle Ben, who - along with his Aunt May - had taken him under his wing in the aftermath of his parents' abrupt passing, was shot and killed right in front of him when he was only fourteen. His Aunt May had a young stroke and passed away during the five year gap where Peter was busy being dusted (thanks Thanos!). And Tony Stark, who had only just found out he was Peter's biological father the year before Thanos attacked, when Peter was sixteen, but hadn't wanted to disrupt Peter's civilian life so had left him with his aunt, sacrificed himself to save the world, but more importantly Peter, in the final endgame battle against Thanos.

Now, Peter has blipped back into being five years after being dusted only to find he has lost family and has to restart his life all over again. This time with a great-uncle he hadn't even known existed! (Most likely due his not knowing Tony was his father and so Peggy was his grandmother until a year - six years? - beforehand.) Worse still, Peter has to move away from his friends and everything he's ever known to the world's most dangerous and crime-ridden city, Gotham. Who is Alfred Pennyworth and how has he ended up as a butler slash pseudo-grandfather to so many young people? Why do those very same young people keep on disappearing and then reappearing hours later from inside Wayne manor? What's up with those vigilantes hanging around Peter so much?

And why does everyone say that Batman has such a problem with mutants (also lesser known as metahumans) like Peter? He can't not be Spider-Man, even in a new and dangerous place like Gotham, so is Batman's prejudice going to be a problem... Or will Peter find himself an unlikely new family in the shape of bat and bird themed heroes as he builds himself a new life in Gotham city?

Prompter's note:

Lately, I have read a lot of Spider-Man&Batman crossover stories where Peter ends up in the DC universe - even ones where Dick Grayson was Richard Parker (adopted into the Parker family) in the Marvel universe before dying - which is fun but I wondered what would happen if it was somehow the same universe? Let's say the Justice League existed longer but were quieter than the Avengers and then the Avengers came crashing in, loud and proud as can be, and they refused to have anything to do with the Justice League, who they saw as nothing more than vigilantes. That's why the Justice League has never involved themselves in Avengers battles. Only now, my thought process went, the prompts above start pushing the Avengers-Justice League status quo when Spider-Man starts superheroing in Batman's city (particularly because a lot of the Avengers are gone). And the batfam find themselves unwittingly adopting a lost and lonely Spiderling.

P.S. I think Tim/Peter would be cute! They're both smart, compassionate, overly hardworking heroes; I think they're a perfect besties-to-boyfriends couple. Or an aged up! Damian/Peter could be a fun enemies or rivals-to-lovers storyline. If neither of those work, go ahead and do what inspires you instead, just don't couple him with up with Dick or Jason (which I have seen) because minor/adult couples are never cool. A better idea would be to ship Peter with no one at all!

I know I set a lot of this story prompt up for you already but that's just because I had a lot of thoughts on it. Feel free to make it your own!

[mermaidsirennikita]

do you have any historical romance books that involve the MMC groveling? I do love a good groveling scene, esp when it’s like…literal on-his-knees groveling (though not only when it’s that kind)

Oh yes, def!

When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid. My favorite Stacy Reid, the heroine is pregnant out of wedlock by a man who won't marry her, and her parents want to send her unborn child to a baby farm (very bad) so she basically shows up on the hero's doorstep in Scotland because they've been corresponding (having never met) by letter. He's actually mute, and he agrees to marry her and claim her baby as his own. It's really lovely and hot and he's honestly a great guy, but things happen towards the end that necessitate a grovel and he does an AMAZING one imo. He does get on his knees.

The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean. I'm not SURE Haven gets on his knees, but he might as well, and he is on his knees on the stepback (which I oooown, can't believe the luck). So the hero cheated on the heroine (it's a revenge thing), and she runs off, only to return on his doorstep in labor with their baby. They lose the baby, and the heroine again flees, only to return two years later wanting a divorce. He agrees to give it to her... on the condition that she helps him find his next wife, which is really a way for him to grovel and try to get her back. It's a book-long grovel.

Her Lovestruck Lord by Scarlett Scott. The hero and heroine have a marriage of convenience that he never intends to do right by; he doesn't consummate it and returns to the arms of his longtime mistress, a married woman. The heroine waits for a year before getting really pissed and going to this masked sex party, determined to cuck and humiliate this husband she's seen like, once. And guess who's also at the masked sex party after being dumped by his mistress? Guess who accidentally deflowers his wife? Guess who starts feeling REAL bad about some shit? It has one thing I don't loooove but I overall found this very enjoyable in an OTT soapy way, and it satisfied my love of the grovel.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley. Another "gotta get her back" book. Mac and Isabella got married like, the night they met each other, and had this very passionate marriage that fell apart after a tragedy (also: Mac needs to grow up). She leaves his ass for years, but they stay legally married, and theeeen she comes back to let him know that someone is forging paintings and claiming they're by Mac (who's like, a famous painter). She just wanted to let him know, nothing else! And he becomes determined to get her back. It's SO GOOD. At one point they have oral sex that involves like, breakfast. It's great.

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall. If you want something different for a historical grovel moment, this is a nb/nb romance. Peggy is genderfluid, and her friend/ex wants Peggy to help her seduce this famous castrato soprano (knowing for being an exceptionally good lay) Orfeo. Orfeo immediately takes an interest in Peggy instead, and they fall in love, but they're both afraid of committing and Orfeo has a Past, and there's this really lovely, fun "hit your knees and beg" moment towards the end that I LOVE.

The Hawk by Monica McCarty. Medieval Scottish romance, the hero is a famous seafarer/pirate type who doesn't take anything seriously; the heroine is a very serious young woman he picks up out of the ocean (and I think? She's on the side of the enemy). They gradually fall in love and fuck on a raft in the middle of a storm, but of course he fucks it up and has to do a BIG gesture at the end. Very classic "man who won't let himself fall in love falls for woman who refuses to admit she's in love with him" book.

The Notorious Lord Knightly by Lorraine Heath. Another book-long grovel/grand gesture. The hero and heroine were engaged years ago, but he left her at the altar. They cross paths again when a scandalous book by an anonymous writer begins circulating, and everyone is like "uh dude this sounds like you" and he's like "it is N--" before reading it and finding her to be like "UMMMMM this is EXACTLY the kind of sexy shit we did together???? What the fuck girl???" She's PISSED lol, and with good reason. He's.... very hot.

A Rogue's Rules for Seduction by Eva Leigh. Another "he left her at the altar" book, but this time they're brought back together by their friends, who trick them into going to the same house party on an ISLAND. He.... does hit his knees. Like. He hits his knees with such dedication and enthusiasm that he actually damages said knees. But he's happy to be there.

Wicked in His Arms by Stacy Reid. Stern hero meets feisty heroine and "dislikes" her immediately; then they impetuously fuck in his closet (she loses her virginity on like... a desk) and she runs down the hall sobbing and he chases after her and they run straight into his mom and sister so BOOM marriage. They develop a real relationship over time, but he fucks up and has to do a bIG gesture.

Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell. Classic medieval (written in the 90s) wherein the hero and heroine are in an arranged marriage after he defeats her father, and he's determined to have an heir. He suspects her of fucking her friend (she didn't) before the marriage, so he kinda acts like an asshole, and then they fall in love, but then he acts like an asshole again, and she gets taken by enemy forces and doesn't even believe he'll want her back and... well. He does. A very. Impactful. Spiel. About what he'll do to get her back. And it is part of a very dramatic grovel.

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe. Heroine believes she and the hero will marry due to an agreement their fathers made, and he's like "lmao no", so she decides to go wild and heads out to a masked sex part with her BFF. Who is the masked guy she fucks, but her sexy former fiance? They begin a fwb type thing, he fucks up, and commences with a pathetic pitiful delightful grovel that makes him seem like a kicked dog, basically. It's great.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean. Heroine wants to experience the world as she resigns herself to spinsterhood, enlists local sexy rake to help her. There is much accidental trampling on her heart in the process. He's definitely on his knees on the floor begging her to forgive him at one point.

The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath. This one is Gorilla Twins (all hail Gorilla Twins) so uh.... Yeah, Edward has shit to grovel over. And he does, in classic angsty Lorraine Heath fashion. Very few authors do pure angst as well as Lorraine. It is fucking magic.

[val-writesstuff]

Dear Diary

Prologue

Summary: Your brother and his best friend that you're secretly in love with, go missing. Peggy thinks somehow you’ll be able to find them. Will you find them, or will you lose yourself in the process?

wc:1.1k

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

a/n: Am I starting a new series to procrastinate from my other one? Maybe. My brain doesn't listen when I tell it to focus on one thing, so here ya go.

Italics are writing

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Taglist form

Dear Diary

It's been a month since Steve disappeared. With him gone, nothing feels real. It feels like I'm drifting through life. I haven't felt like this since our mom died, Steve and Bucky were the only ones who could bring me back and now they're both gone.

Gone, not dead. Neither of my boys came home, neither had bodies. I think that might be worse, the not knowing. They could be stranded somewhere, freezing, and injured. I wish I could help them, wherever they are.

It’s weird being in this house alone. I don't go out anymore. I spend most of my days wrapped in my bed. I’ve been too scared to enter his room or move his stuff, what if he comes home and everything he knew is gone?

Peggy keeps coming by the house. She brings groceries, she cooks for me. Sometimes we sit and have tea together. She used to try to make small talk, but the past few days she just looked nervous around me. I know she feels bad about what happened but I can't help but blame her a little.

Our lives used to be relatively normal. Then Steve somehow gets into the army which, I know was his dream but it was crazy. I hoped they’d give him something easier like being a medic or something but he sends me a letter saying he's going to be experimented on. I didn't hear from him for a long time after that. Then ‘Captain America’ starts going around doing shows. I guess he was busy entertaining the masses. The next letter i got, he said something had happened to bucky and he was going to rescue him.

Then I got a knock on the door. Peggy herself was standing on my doorstep. I had never met her before but from the look on her face, I knew something had happened. Diary, I’m not proud of what happened next. There was a lot of screaming and crying, mostly from me. I know you'll say it's not very ladylike, but when have I cared about that before?

I still hate her a little, even if she's not the reason he joined. She got him involved in the stuff that got him killed. Got bucky killed too. I don't know if I’ll ever forgive her.

When I hear the knocking on the door I know it's her. I close up my diary and shove it back on the shelf before I open the door. Her smile wavers a little and I take a step back to let her in the apartment. I close the door behind her and busy myself with making tea so I don’t have to look at her.

I hear her sit at the table and take a deep breath before she finally says something. “Listen, I know I keep showing up and I'm probably the last person you want to see right now-” I scoff as I set the tea on the table and sit across from her. “But this time I'm here to suggest something and it's going to sound a little crazy, so please don't kick me out yet.”

From what I knew of her, Peggy’s version of crazy could be ‘come out and have a drink with me and some of the guys your brother knew’ or ‘Come get injected with an untested serum so you can fight bad guys.” Neither option sounds great right about now. 

“Your brother told me about you. He told me about the things you can do, and how you're special in ways others aren't.” 

“I don't know what he said but you have to believe me when I say it's not true.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Stevie has always had a very active imagination.” I tried to muster up a chuckle as I rambled about my brother. “It's probably from all his time locked inside. You know he used to get sick easily? So, mom, wouldn't let him go play with the other kids. He’d spend all his time reading fairytales or drawing them and-”

She leaned in close and whispered as if somebody might overhear her. “He told me because he thought you could help us. He knew if anybody could get you in, it’d be me. He told me how you always used to take care of him, he wanted to take care of you.” 

I cross my arms and glare at her. “He had no right to tell you that. You shouldn't know about that.”

“You might be right, but I'm glad he told me. I want you to do a job for me. My little team wants to search for them, Barnes and Steve. I convinced them you're the right person for the job.” Now I knew why she had looked so nervous recently, she was offering me a small ray of hope in the darkness.

“That sounds great and all but I don't have any experience with this kind of thing. My abilities wouldn't be of any help to you.” I didn't like the idea of anybody knowing what I could do, but if it helped find Bucky or Steve I’d do whatever I could.

“Dear diary…” I mutter as I pull my coat tighter around me as the wind blows snow in my face. “Today I get to explore the middle of nowhere because my stupid brother's insane girlfriend thought it would be wise to send me out here after a month of training. Truly a match made in heaven, those two.”

“I know it seems impossible but you're their only hope.” Peggy's voice crackled out of the portable radio I was clutching in my hand. “Howard's equipment picked up activity out there and we have high hopes it's him.” 

“Peggy I admire your optimism, I do.” I sighed as I paused and looked around. All I could see was whirling snow and rocky cliffs. “But it's been months… He fell off a train for god's sake. On the off chance he is alive, he would've had to survive with probably very serious injuries and no rations. If he found a way to do that…I don't think he’d still be himself.”

“Please, you have to find him.” I could hear her voice crack even through the static of the radio. I knew she wanted me to do this so she’d have a justifiable reason to send me after Steve, that's what she wanted. 

In the distance, I saw something silver glint in the sun and I took off running toward it. I fell to my knees as I pulled a pair of dog tags on a chain out of the snow. “Peggy I found-” my body couldn't decide if I wanted to sob or laugh. He was somewhere out here and he had survived the fall.

I was so distracted by what I found I never noticed the man creeping up behind me. Didn't realize I wasn’t alone until I felt the sharp pain of a needle in my neck.

Remember, likes are nice but reblogs/feedback are golden!

Tagging people i think might be interested (unless you ask/fill the taglist form, i will not tag you in future posts): @wakandabiitch2 @james-bucky-barnes-bitch @piperstofu101 @holyhumorliteraturelight @moonlissworld @matchat3a @vicmc624 @hw-shorty @juliapowers @jobean12-blog @jamesbuchananbarnesslut @buckyownsmylife @cjand10

[closetdbisexual]

favorite first watches of august, 2024

hi ^__^ i lapsed in actually writing any reviews for this last month bc i was just so exhausted well maybe ill go back at some point i might do it eventually ill never know. i like movies more this month though <3 all of these are romcoms and so i chose photos of all the main couples in them. just kidding or am i

The Master - 5 stars

yayyyy my yaoi movie<3 very first thing i watched this month and i have thought about it every day since which probably doesnt mean anything, or itll change my world forever just like boogie nights did. i gave a more proper review on letterboxd but i looove you movieyy i love the difficult and traumatized main characters in pta's movies freddie is really interesting to follow his relationship with lancaster so special to me they're so interesting dog/owner moment <33 and amy adams is really really good in her role they're all just. such interesting characters pulling each other into their lives and trying to take control of their lives and each other. trying to be free in a way nobody really can be... i love how the cult is never portrayed as being like a grift to the people involved, you can tell lancaster and peggy really believe in what they're doing there, even if they shouldn't. and freddie and lancaster are so in love and doomed <33 it's a bit strange to go "i think the relationship between the sex-obsessed veteran and the cult leader is really romantic" but it is likeeee. it is. anyway i love substance abuse i love tragedy i love mental illness i love when guy is a guard dog i love you moviey oh also laura dern is in this and i love her lots hi laura dern so sweetie why havent i seen blue velvet yet :-( she's very lovely in this and amy adams is so good, they all give all really excellent performances but i'm highlighting them

Challengers - 5 stars

I LOVE YOU TASHI !!!!! good as hell good fucking movie jesus christ probably just like an objectively perfect and incredible movie huh. so fun watching it with my friend and the cinematography here is insanely good the score is insanely good it's so faggy it's so sweaty very sexy movie, i love tashi forever and her knee injury she's sooo me <33 and she's fujoing out she's sooooo me <3 justice for aromantic fujoshis autisticly obsessed with tennis she's actually the most woke character of all time if you think about it. and of course i love their bisexual faggot threesome thing and to be honest it was suicidemotifed i love her telling patrick to kill himself. zendaya is so good in this she has such good expressions i love you tashi

The Killing of a Sacred Deer - 4 and 1/2 stars

yay<3 also watched it with my friend yayyy so funsies also ok i get it now i wasn't totally fucking w/ lanthimos after the lobster (which i did like but i just felt like it wasn't very strong plotwise) i much preferred this though very much my kind of movie. colin farrell is so hot sorry and sorry but he and martin have a truly beautiful gay reverse-grooming manipulation thing going on i support 16 year olds manipulating married middle-aged men thats like my whole thinggg anyway yeah the family unit getting undermined and parental abuse/neglect and alcoholism and really strong stylistic choices w/ the cinematography and the monotone dialogue im obsessed with the dialogue in this it's such a good choice and there's so many long hallway shots <33 i love you hallways. the only thing i don't like is how hospital-oriented it is but like thats not an issue with the movie thats an issue with me yknow

I'm Your Man - 4 and 1/2 stars

doomed heterosexuality<3 alma is one of the top ten most beautiful women ive ever seen and shes sooo real so relatable, and what her and tom have is so tragic and romantic and it hurt to watch how they pushed-and-pulled against each other and each tried to be human in their own ways and even though the love was there they were so incompatible it just couldn't work they couldn't make it work. loved all the big open spaces it made it feel so empty and subdued, the score is beautiful, alma and tom's actors give such good performances and really it kind of haunts me. just really good. and sandra hüller jumpscare ily girl ive GOT to watch anatomy of a fall i need to See her

i don't normally do honorable mentions but today i will i also really liked But I'm A Cheerleader (4 and 1/2 stars) and Sorry to Bother You (3 and 1/2 stars) i love lesbians they were very sweet and it had shockingly good cinematography that i kind of didn't expect from it (my bad i thought it was going to be more like a silly romcom i guess) it was really lovely though. and sorry to bother you had such insanely cool art direction i didn't really enjoy the pacing esp. the last 30 minutes did not come across well to me and i honestly didn't like the ending, but it was a very creative movie visually and just other than that i liked it wish it just didn't lose steam at the end... ily detroit i loved her earrings the costume design was soooo good i also liked cassius of course too i liked a lot of it yayy movies

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #319: The Crossing Line Part 1: The Waterwind Interdiction

July, 1990

The Crossing Line Part 1 of Six CONFRONTATION!

The Crossing Line: The Waterwind Interdiction sounds like a political thriller you'd buy at an airport shop to have something to do when your flight is delayed.

With a submarine slapped on the cover, just like this issue has.

And we're going right from a five part story right into a six part story? Is this the era of longer arcs?

Or did editorial ask Fabian Nicieza to fill six additional months after he finished off Byrne's abandoned arc and Fabian just whipped up one big story rather than come up with six smaller ones?

Yeah, Fabian Nicieza isn't sticking around for long. We get him for The Crossing Line and then he's gone. Mark Gruenwald comes on for a single issue. Then Larry Hama for a bunch of issues and then Bob Harras takes over as the next long-term writer.

How long term? He's going to be writing the book through Operation Galactic Storm, through Bloodties, and only leave at the end of The Crossing (legally distinct from The Crossing Line) in 1996.

That's five years of Bob Harras. Oh boy do I hope I like and/or tolerate his run!

But I'm getting like a year ahead of myself.

It's not really that important what happened previously. And what's happening now is submarine stuff.

(Given the vagueness of the roster in this era, I appreciate the cast ribbon on the side of the introductory splash page.)

The British sub the Waterwind is having troubles. A lot of troubles. Power troubles and ballast troubles.

All of which drives it to surface.

Which a Russian team led by General Major Illyich Prokvitch was waiting for. They storm the stricken sub, capture the control center, and take the officers hostage.

General Major Prokvitch identifies his group as the "Peace Corpse" (fun wordplay there) and that they are here to save the world.

An officer on the sub called Allanson sabotaged the sub to help Peace Corpse have the chance to take the sub.

And Prokvitch shoots the sub's admiral when he sends a distress signal to the Royal Navy.

So: British nuclear submarine taken over by Russian Peace Corpse group, who want to save the world, maybe. And this might involve killing one hundred and forty million people. Or saving that same amount.

This is very airport paperback political thriller novel. Now throw some superheroes into this brew.

The distress signal goes to the Royal Navy, which makes it's way to the Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher specifically).

Thatcher doesn't want to act so rash, apparently, as to have the Royal Air Force just bomb the submarine into not being a problem. But Peace Corpse hasn't issued any demands yet. And the sub has warheads aboard.

So Thatcher suggests getting W.H.O. (the Weird Happenings Organization) or Excalibur to fix the problem.

Airport paperback political thriller novel plots isn't really what W.H.O. is for and Excalibur isn't available this month because they're wrapping up the Cross-Time Caper.

So Thatcher contacts America because America has superheroes to spare. Just so many superheroes.

And over at the Avengers Subbasement, it's been a few quiet weeks since that Nebula business. The Mansion is still under reconstruction. Starfox is still recovering from the previous arc.

In Quasar's own book, he put an energy screen around Earth that will alert him if any aliens visit.

Long story short, the plot in Quasar's book at the time was that he was protecting cosmic entity Eon from a prophesied cosmic assassin. It's not really important to the Avengers though.

Sersi also has something to report. She hosted a really cool party. That is all.

The Avengers Support Crew is still around so it's Peggy Carter who calls on a video screen to let Captain America know that the Avengers have a very important call from President George HW Bush.

President Bush I: "Seems our friends in Great Britain have lost a nuclear submarine..." Sersi: "How does one lose such a thing?" President Bush Sr: "Things are sketchy on that front, Miss. All we know is that you've been granted clearance by the United Nations to take that sub down using any means possible."

The Avengers working for the UN?

What a notion.

A rogue submarine would be the perfect time to call in Namor under the Every Avenger Is An Avenger policy but, alas, Namor isn't answering hailing frequencies. And neither is Thor.

But Cap has a third choice for a water mission and it is Stingray.

Yay, Stingray!

Sure, he's not officially an Avenger but Captain America can make anyone he wants an Avenger. That is a power he has. It's called... Champion Status or something? Basically, he can name any group of people a team of Avengers.

Point being. They need a water guy and their normal water guy doesn't know how to answer the damn phone? Then Stingray is getting the call.

And they'll need the extra help.

Quasar: "I'm a little worried, Cap. I mean, international terrorism isn't usually our stock in trade." Captain America: "You're right. And the alarming lack of information doesn't sit well with me, either. Frankly, I'm a little worried, too..."

It's funny how international terrorism is outside of Quasar's comfort zone but cosmic nonsense and normal supervillain hijinxes are A-Okay.

Like there's a middle zone that's complicated and scary and then everything above and below it is simple and manageable.

Meanwhile, IN THE OCEAN, Peace Corpse gets the Waterwind operational again.

Turns out the damage was mostly cosmetic. Oh, Mr. Allanson, you wily son of a gun.

The fully operational sub includes a fully operational missile room with six fully operational torpedo tubes for fully operational Polaris A3s.

Although, they still need to bypass the launch sequences.

The Waterwind gets hailed by an unknown vessel. And I flipped the page, expecting the Avengers to have shown up. But I got something different.

Red Guardian: "Unidentified terrorists -- we are the People's Protectorate... And in the name of the Soviet Socialist Republics... You are hereby requested to surrender immediately or be blown out of the water!"

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Peace Corpse are a Russian group. So Russia would have a vested interest in not letting them blow up the world.

Annnnd we have from left to right: Vostok, Crimson Dynamo, Red Guardian, Perun, and Fantasma.

Does their fancy vessel not have a sitting down room for communicating ship to ship? Sure, it's more dramatic to be standing but less convenient.

Above the ocean, the Avengers Quinjet detects the Waterwind AND the People's Protectorate vessel. Although they don't know what it is.

Luckily, they have Stingray aboard as their nautical nonsense expert. He was able to tell the Avengers what to look for with Resolution class subs.

The Quinjet dives into the ocean because why shouldn't a jet also be a submarine and sometimes a spaceship? It just saves time to have one vehicle do it all.

And they arrive to find the Waterwind launching torpedoes while the People's Protectorate scramble to destroy said torpedoes.

Having arrived in the middle of a situation and not really trusting the bits of this Soviet team he recognizes, Captain America decides the Avengers need to stop the People's Protectorate from "aggravating the situation any further!"

I think if the Waterwind is launching torpedoes, the situation is pretty aggravated, Cap.

Vision warns the other Avengers and Stingray that they have limited information on the Soviet super team but shares what he does know.

Perun is a big, buff strong guy who can shoot bioelectricity through his axe. So he's basically like their Thor. And the Avengers didn't bring their own Thor, whoops.

Sputnik (Vostok) is a synthezoid, like Vision, who can control machinery. So the Avengers did bring Vision but he's just vulnerable to his counterpart.

And finally, Crimson Dynamo has armor on par with Iron Man's. And the Avengers didn't bring Iron Man.

How are you going to have a counterpart fight if you didn't bring the guys?

Also, Quasar snarks that the People's Protectorate are a poor man's version of the Avengers. Which, hey, that may be accurate but you shouldn't say it!

Sersi gets started with the fight right away by transforming the water around Perun into a plastic alloy.

Vision introduces the Avengers as being here by request of the UN but Vostok immediately starts making Vision's mechanisms jut out weirdly, like various compound fractures, and informing Vision that because Peace Corpse are Soviet citizens, the Soviet government wants to handle this themselves.

Meanwhile, Quasar gets off on the right foot, apparently, with Crimson Dynamo by being polite. Really says something about the people Crimson Dynamo has met if Quasar calling him sir and asking him to please not fight comes off as weirdly polite for an American.

Over in the People's Protectorate ship, Red Guardian and Fantasma chill.

Red Guardian is very aware that whoever wins this unnecessary superhero slapfight has to then go on and fight a nuclear submarine. So he's less than thrilled that Fantasma pulls a Councilor Troi and tells him that her psychic powers sure are detecting a lot of aggression.

Red Guardian decides to contact the Avengers Quinjet, in which Captain America is chilling.

Red Guardian: "Captain -- please try to understand that Soviet personnel are involved in aggressive action. We feel, to allay global fears we must stop them ourselves." Captain America: "I can appreciate that, Guardian -- but we are recklessly allowing the Waterwind the opportunity to accomplish the very goals we both want to prevent!" Red Guardian: "But it was you who attacked us!"

... He's got a point, tho.

Captain America sent the Avengers to go tangle with the Protectorate without even trying to communicate with them. Sure, Vision tried to use his words. But only after Sersi made Perun mint in box.

Anyway, Fantasma's psychic powers tell her that it is TOO LATE.

Fantasma: "We have come too close... and they are angry... They feel they have been violated again... and they want us to pay for it!"

And while Stingray sneaks away from the fight to try to sneak onto the submarine and, he guesses, takes on the entire terrorist force by himself, shrug, some kind of attack strikes the side of the Waterwind and explodes, knocking Stingray away.

image

YUP

Turns out that the Waterwind and also superheroes were parked too close to the ruins of Atlantis and some elite Atlantean forces are joining the fray.

Hi, Tyrak, U-Man, and Orka.

Wait.

Wait wait wait.

The Avengers. A Russian superhero team including Red Guardian, Crimson Dynamo, Vostok, and Perun. An Atlantean team. All getting into a big free for all over some underwater objective?

Did Jason Aaron just rip off this comic for his Avengers run? Why?

I've never heard anyone talk about this specific arc. So if he was homaging it, why??

I will probably never get an answer to that.

Anyway, the main story is over but the remaining five pages are a back-up story focusing on the Avengers Support Crew. But specifically Jarvis!

I love a good Jarvis focus story.

I am legit the exact audience for this. For workplace drama about the support staff for a superhero.

Jarvis is serving breakfast to Peggy Carter, Fabian Stankowicz, John Jameson, and Michael O'Brien.

They're enjoying Jarvis' excellent cooking and shooting the shit about having to work in a basement until Avengers Mansion gets re-reconstructed.

The Support Crew all take off to their respective jobs. Peggy offers to help Jarvis with the dishes but tells her he used to do every single chore, so he doesn't mind handling the dishes by himself.

But as soon as Jarvis is left alone, ho shit, the Crimson Cowl!

So Avengers history.

Once upon a time, the Masters of Evil beat up the Avengers. And it looked like they were being led by Jarvis, in the guise of the Crimson Cowl.

It actually turned out that Jarvis was a mind controlled patsy of Ultron, who decided he wanted his first attack on the Avengers to be in disguise.

What a silly robot.

The situation was a little more complicated though. Jarvis wasn't just minding his own business when Ultron brainwashed him. He needed money for emergency mom medical expenses and was ashamed to ask the Avengers so when someone offered money for information on the Avengers...

Well, he's ashamed of it but the Avengers forgave him. And Tony Stark probably took him aside and told him 'look, just ask for the money next time. I have... SO MUCH money.'

Anyway, current day Jarvis is packing heat and pulls a gun and starts unloading the clip at the Crimson Cowl.

To no effect.

This might not be an actual Crimson Cowl but some weird guilty conscience hallucination.

God know why it would suddenly be popping up now, of all times.

Crimson!Jarvis argues that he can never be rid of him because at any moment, he might betray the Avengers again! Hey, it happened once, CLEARLY, it can happen again!

The guilt hallucination? also tries to suicide bait Jarvis. Dick move.

All the shooting brings Michael O'Brien back to the kitchen. But Jarvis lies that he was shooting at a rat.

And the next time box says this isn't just a one-off character exploration thing. Some manner of mystery is going to deepen.

Anyway.

Next week, more Avengers West Coast. More of the Wanda is Evil and Crazy and Controlled by Immortus plot. Next next week, more of the airport paperback thriller novel, the Crossing Line, and more Avengers Support Crew.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like and reblog, maybe. I'm heading into the 90s and I'd love to hear any thoughts.

[avesrinapproved]

or after a year of not speaking Howard stark shows up at the SSR asking for Peggy's help finding some of his stolen gadgets, and rekindles their relationship despite the loss of the others in it.

It’s been a whole year since the war and despite all the plans they made.. They all made, Peggy hasn't so much as heard from Howard outside of the usual scandalous news stories. She was starting to believe he had completely forgotten she existed, that is until… Howard comes walking into SSR, trailed by Rose "ah agent Carter! just the woman I was looking for!" he says, walking right towards her desk.

The others stand up, hands on their guns, staring at him with a look of shock and confusion, as he just strides right into their office.

Carter looks up, "Howard?"

"Good to see you Peg, got any snacks?” he asks, looking through her desk. “I just flew in from London and I'm starved."

"Howard, my desk!" She huffs and smacks his hand a bit.

"Um, Miss Carter.. Is.. Mr S-.. Would you like him escorted out?" Rose asks. Everyone is just watching, not really seeming to know how to react to this intrusion.

"What? Oh, no, he’s no harm," Peggy dismisses.

"Don't worry there isn't anything here I don't already know" Howard waves dismissively, while eating a snack bar he pulled out of Peggy’s LOCKED snack drawer, "anyway peg I need your help, some of my... toys have been stolen and I'm having a small bit of trouble recovering them. You know I'm not really the sleuthing type, and I don't really trust anyone else. Would you help me out?"

Carter blinks a few times, before rubbing the bridge of her nose, this man will be the death of her, "I.. Oh.. Uh.. Let's get lunch."

"Ah good idea. I know this great place only a few blocks from here, got a private room and everything." Howard says, already headed for the door.

"Perfect." She gets up and grabs her bag, the others still staring with wide eyes.

"Oh you won't be missed right? This was rather sudden." Howard asks, turning to look back at her then the others.

“No, they can handle the work on their own." Not like they let her do anything of importance anyway.

"Good," he nods and takes her out

"Do you want to re-explain what you just asked me?" she asks quietly as they walk.

"Ah someone stole some... trinkets from my house, bad ones, and they're selling them on the black market, and I want your help recovering them." Howard reiterates, “I have a vault. ‘Had’ I should say. Sub-basement of my office. Triple-thick, lead-lined. It was where I kept my bad babies.”

“Bad babies?” Carter asks, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Inventions too dangerous for anyone… Even my friends.” Howard explains

“Which begs the question, why invent them at all?”

“I can't help what I think of, but I can damn well control what I sell. At least I could until last month.”

Peggy leans closer “What happened last month?”

“I was in Monaco… with a lovely tax advisor. When I got back, I found a hole under my vault, all the way to the sewer. Somebody cleaned me out. A couple of weeks later my bad babies, they start turning up on the black market.”

“So you've come to me to help get them back, why not just go to the police or something, instead of barging into my office?”

“Oh come on Peg," Howard says rolling his eyes “we both know it would end up in the hands of your office anyway, and I wanted you to lead the case. Plus, it's not too big a jump to see me cutting a hole in my own vault and making some money on the sly. And I knew you wouldn't think that.”

She pauses before sighing, "If anything gets used... Alright. Alright, we need to start quickly. What information do you have?"

"I had Jarvis make you a whole file of all the info for you and your... coworkers... as much as I'd not like them involved, I also don't want to go to jail and if it gets out that they're being sold overseas or anything and I don't stay on top of it I'm screwed."

"Fair enough.. I will make sure this is handled. You just need to keep a clean face."

"Thank you, Peg," he says, clasping her hand in his. “I'll help the best I can as well... should I officially file it or can you handle that?"

"I can handle it." She nods

"Thank you," he says happily.

It's not long after that they arrive at a very high class restaurant, not really a place you go for your lunch break, and certainly not in your work clothes. This thought is only confirmed as they walk into the near empty restaurant. Only a few very well dressed people dotted about the grand dining space.

"oh... Howard, this is a bit much." Peggy protests, the large crystal chandeliers and mirror polished marble floors making her feel very underdressed indeed.

"It's the best place to eat, trust me." He says, just waving to the seating person and leading Peggy to a grand room labeled ‘private dining’ and closing the door behind them.

"It is a real nice change from my normal breaks." Peggy says as she sits down in one of the plush velvet chairs. “Though I'm afraid I'm a bit underdressed for such a place

“Nonsense.” Howard insists “you look amazing! Like always. And it's not like anyone but me and the waitresses can see you. And we don't judge pretty ladies, no matter what they're wearing.”

“Are you trying to charm me, Howard Stark?" Peggy chuckles.

“Maybe, is it working?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

Peggy pauses, pretending to consider it. “Maybe” she says with a smile.

“Fabulous,” Howard purrs, giving the waitress a polite head nod as she sets out menus for them.

“Thank you.” Peggy says to the waitress, as she opens the menu to read it over.

“Their filet mignon is amazing,” Howard says, pointing it out on her menu. “They also have fantastic lobster if that's more your style.”

“Oh both of those sound marvelous”

“Then get both. If you can't eat it all you could always bring the rest home.'' Howard says nonchalantly, like that's the only thing she would be concerned with.

“Well, since you're paying, I guess I will.” she says setting the menu down.

It's not long after that their waitress comes back to take their orders. And not long after that they’re brought plates of amazing looking food, lobster drenched in a golden sauce, steak with herb butter, chicken in some sort of mushroom sauce, soups, pineapple fruit bowls, breads, the whole shabang, all plated to look as fancy as possible.

Howard loads up a plate with a little bit of everything. “Here you are” he purrs as he hands her the plate, snatching up some pineapple for himself before starting on his own plate.

The waitress is very attentive while they eat, clearing away plates and refilling their glasses while still giving them privacy, which is rather appreciated as her and Howard catch up. Howard tells her all about the places he's been over the last year, the parties he's been too people he's met, he's been keeping himself busy without her, having flown all over the world not seeming to stay in one place for more than a week. And here she's been, sitting in the ssr covering the phones and sharing her bed with a roommate.

By the time Peggy’s done eating Howard's started in on his latest invention “it could even help you with your spy work, if you'd like to try it out.'' Howard offers, and the promise that he'd have to come back and see her again even after all this stuff is over is… tempting…

“Speaking of my work, I should really be getting back to it.” Peggy says as she stands, dusting herself off

“Oh right yes, I'll walk you back” Howard says also standing

“You don't need to walk me back, I'm perfectly capable.”

“I know you are, Peg, but I want to talk to your boss, and I want to spend more time with you.” Howard says, offering her his arm.

Peggy nods, looping her hand into his arm.

“Please come again!” the hostess calls as they leave.

“We will!” Howard calls back, blowing her a playful kiss.

Howard dips into a bakery on the way back to her office to pick up 2 boxes of donuts “as an apology for breaking in”

When they get back he sets the first box down for the telephone girls then walks Peggy back to her desk "thank you again for your help, oh here's the information I have, feel free to drop by and look at the hole in my floor whenever you like."

She nods, "Alright.. I will get this looked over and see you soon."

"See you Peggy! Don't let me down!" He says, dropping the second box of donuts off in their break room before poking his head into Dooly's office to chat.

"Don't get yourself into more trouble." Peggy calls as Howard heads out.

"Oh I plan on it!" He says as the elevator doors close, and now all eyes are on her.

"So what did he want?" Sousa asks, turning in his chair to look at her.

"You two seemed really… friendly. Didn't take you for that kind of girl Carter." Thompson comments.

She rolls her eyes and busies herself sorting the papers Howard gave her. "Mister Stark has gotten himself into a little.. Predicament with some of his inventions. Someone stole some of them and well, they're not the type that should ever be on the market." she says curtly.

"Ah, and he asked you to handle it? Think he'd want someone who actually knows what they're doing to handle it if it's that critical."

"Hey Carter! Are these donuts for us?" Krzeminski asks from the break room

"Yes, they're from Mr Stark!" She calls before sighing, "And I think you're starting to sound jealous that he asked me personally." she says to Thompson.

"Not jealous, just think he shouldn't put a woman on what seems to be a very high risk task." Thompson says with a shrug

"Fuck yeah! Mr Stark can stop by anytime!" Krzeminski comes out with 2 donuts and plops down at his desk

"Thank you Krzeminski, I will tell him that." She says while glaring at Thompson.

"Carter, can you come here?" Dooley calls from the doorway of his office.

"Yes sir?" she asks walking over to him.

"I need to discuss the Stark case with you." He beckons her in and closes the door behind them. "I am sure you know that we usually do not take personal cases, but since this is a national security concern, we will make an exception. Since Stark requested your assistance, you will take care of everything. It is your responsibility to conduct investigations, collect evidence, all of it, but no one will be mad if you need some help."

"Understood. I will say something if I do need help." Peggy nods, internally rolling her eyes.

"Right, you’re dismissed"

[onyourstageleft]

tw: pet health, animal sickness, cancer mention

..

idk how to do a read more on mobile sorry y'all but this is your chance to scroll on

..

so Peggy has some lumps under her skin. we noticed them on Tuesday night, there's two of them close together on her hip. called the vet this morning and they got her in at 2pm and took a biopsy and they'll call me back either Saturday or Monday with what's going on, they won't speculate or anything, but I did the very unwise pet parent thing and took to Google and based on everything I can find it is most likely fibrosarcoma which is a difficult to treat cancer and also expensive bc it involves surgery and continuous radiation/chemotherapy for several months and frankly I don't care how much it costs I will go into all the debt for this cat, I have a 9k limit on CareCredit and am unafraid to max it out + my other credit cards it's not even the money that bothers me, but if I'm right about what it is the prognosis isn't great for long term health and that is going to break me. She's my baby, she's only 7, she was literally the only thing keeping me from going off the deep end at some points in college, she's supposed to meet the kids I want to have in a few years, she's been here for most of my adult life and I will absolutely lose my sanity if I lose her anytime in the next few years. she has to make it to 10, ideally she'd be around for another 10 years past that but I'm realistic, I know 12 is perfectly reasonable so that's what the goal has always been, I literally can't do this without her. and my partners love her SO. MUCH. Peyton dotes on her, he's only been around for 5 of those years but he is so so in love with this cat, she is our baby, I would be lost without her so uhh if this turns out to be what I am afraid it is, don't be surprised if long form rant text posts become more common here bc I will absolutely lose more than a shred of my sanity.

also I guess don't be surprised if you see some sort of fundraising post from me in the future bc while I am unafraid to max out credit cards those bitches will want their money back at some point and I am unfortunately not a rich bitch, although quite frankly that is the least of my priorities rn, I just want to do whatever I possibly can for my baby. logically I know that I've done what I can but the anxiety is running away with me rn. like what if the tiny spot I felt on her a couple months ago and then couldn't find again when I looked for it was this before it got big what if I could have caught it earlier I should have been more diligent in checking or made a note of exactly where the tiny spot was initially so even if I couldn't find it again maybe the vet could have? I know I didn't put it off substantially and I really trust this vet they've been great but I could HEAR her as they were trying to numb and biopsy the spots she was so angry at them and once they shaved the area it looks SO much bigger than we could feel, like we knew there was one spot but were iffy on a second one and you can see them so clearly now they're big and slightly discolored and I am afraid. thankfully she hasn't been acting any different like she was literally having zoomies this morning but the idea of not having her zooming around makes me want to crawl into a bog and be preserved for a thousand years okay

anyway i know I've posted pics of her at some point but it's been a while so idk what I tagged them or where to find them but if you believe in literally anything at all I would appreciate an appeal on her behalf like I know there are so so many bigger things going on but Peggy Sue is my baby. other alises include Soupy Peg, Miss Ma'am, Peggum, Pegasus, Peggle, Soupiest, etc if you would like to be specific.

okay I'm gonna go take a bath now and try to read a book bc I need to not be on the internet rn, let's all spare a collective thought for my sanity

[itlivesinthecave]

It Lives MCs plus One

Emma Isolde O'Dell

- 6 ft 5

-Goes by her middle name.

- Ethnically Irish.

- Creative and genuinely sweet but could be very dry.

- LI is Lucas Thomas.

- Wanted to be a nature photographer.

- Her parents are Peter and Paula O'Dell. They're both involved in scientific fields, Peter is a Herpetologist and Paula makes star maps.

- Has two much older siblings, Ryan and Eoin.

- Her cousin Callum also lives with her family for Several Reasons, most of them having to do with his dad being a dick. More on him at the bottom.

- Ryan (first name is Eliza) is a bookbinder, lives in a cabin in a town called Rosewood (between Pine Springs and Westchester), and regularly comes into contact with the power. She reacts to power monsters/cultists with apathy and varying levels of violence.

- Ryan is a year older than Connor and they consider each other best friends.

- Isolde and Ryan are close and are considered the family disappointments. Isolde, because she's not left brained and Ryan, because she's not traditionally feminine and is also a bit of an asshole.

- Eoin is an engineer and is very boring and straight-laced. Lives in Portland and is married with three kids. Aged 35.

- Eoin is The Golden Child. Doesn't get along with either of his siblings (or his cousin) and particularly dislikes Isolde.

- Isolde sacrificed herself for Noah.

Roberta "Bobbie" Vance

- 5 ft 5.

- Irish American/Chinese American.

- Her middle name is June, after her birth month. Her bio father picked it.

- A huge dork. Bobbie tends to be dramatic and would not survive a horror movie.

- Feels guilty about Kyle's death.

- LI is Tom Sato.

- Was working towards a degree in zoology and wanted to be a zoo vet.

- has a few half siblings on her dad's side but only knows her brother Guy (because their shared bio father is almost comically uncreative) aged 29.

- Guy lives in Ithaca, NY and works as a bartender. Was unable to take Elliot or Bobbie in due to issues with space and not having time to find new housing so he could take them.

- Elliot loves Guy and is closer to him than Bobbie is.

- Survives and gets trapped under the lake.

Margaret Theresa Adair

- 4 ft 11.

- Scottish, was born in Scotland and immigrated to the states at six. Would go back regularly for visits.

- Her nickname is Peggy.

- Genuine personality mixed with sarcasm.

- LI is Abel.

- Studying to be a Botanist with a minor in business. Wants to own a flower shop but promised Amalia she'd get a degree first.

- Her parent's names were Duncan and Tori. Adair. Duncan was a crab fisherman and Tori was a pediatric nurse.

- Annie was a surprise baby. Peggy's parents were told it was unlikely they ever could have more children by doctors. The little girl was a welcome miracle.

- Annie wanted to be a radiologist.

- Peggy liked to carry Annie around in a sling as a baby and would still give her piggyback rides whenever possible.

- Has a noticeable Scottish (Glasgow) accent.

- Abel is very confused when Peggy says she doesn't know much about her family, especially since Amalia told him she used to go see family every year and still talks to her great-grandmother.

- Her great- grandmother Grace, who Peggy refers to as Gigi, is still in Scotland and is the last living relative. She calls her granddaughter sometimes and is aware of the power, though she tends to think of it as being like ley line Magic (which isnt sentient and just causes good or bad at random).

- Gigi freaking loves Abel. Always asks about him and enjoys talking to him on the phone. He reminds her of her older brother who similarly stepped up after her parents were killed during the war.

- Peggy survives and marries Abel

Callum Benjamin Murphy

- 6 ft 7. A little shorter than Abel.

- Irish, was born in America but lived in Ireland until he was 13.

- His christening name is David and that is the name he uses when going undercover. Noah got used to calling him David when they were traveling and still calls him that, especially when the man is annoying him, which is often.

- Callim is loyal, kind in his own way, and has a strange sense of humor. Likes to tease people he's fond of.

- LI is Noah.

- Wanted to play professional baseball and was on the Westchester high school team. Now he wants to own a sports bar.

- His parents names are William and Jane Murphy. William is an actuary and Jane is a bookkeeper for an office.

- William is intensely frugal and is financially and mentally abusive to his wife and younger children.

- Was sent to live with his maternal aunt and uncle after his father caught Callum giving money to his mother.

- He has five younger siblings: Violet (15), Sean (12), Saoirse (12), Edward (10), and Nellie (6).

- Extremely close with Isolde and looks after her like an older brother. (Even though he is only a week older than her).

- Isn't allowed to drive a car and has a motorcycle.

- Still has a slight accent that gets stronger when he's upset or tired.

- Callum opens a sports bar with Noah.

[superspifferrific]

Marvel AU: You and I remember Germany VERY differently

Marvel AU Concept: A Winter Soldier that wasn’t quite as well brain-washed as Hydra would’ve liked . . .

So this time when Hydra sends their little Winter Soldier to off Howard Stark, Stark takes one look and goes, “Bucky Barnes? What the actual fuck dude.” (Because Howard hung out around Steve Rogers, and probably spent at least some time around/hearing about the other Commandos, so why address his friend Steve’s bestie by his rank?) And the Winter Soldier gets as far as, “Who the hell is -” before, bam! Years of brain blending are now down the tubes as the simple act of hearing/thinking his name again has banished the Winter Soldier and brought back Bucky Barnes. (Because that stubborn shit somehow managed to subconsciously hang onto his nickname being a trigger to bring himself back, both because he IS that stubborn and because it’s convenient for my plot. ANYWAY.) Bucky, last he remembers, was plummeting to his death in the mountains but now finds himself standing in the middle of the friggin’ woods in front of a random old couple with no god damn clue what the hell is going on. He is somewhat cranky about this.

Howard and Bucky stand around talking for a bit and staying very confused, because wtf Barnes you’ve been dead for like 50 years but you’re standing here looking like a freaking goth male model and wtf Stark is like a 30-something-year-old mad scientist man-whore not an old married dude tf are you?? Eventually Howard, while still hella confused, is at least convinced it’s Barnes so he sighs and tells Bucky to get in loser, I’ll deliver my latest batch of science-I-REALLY-shouldn’t-have-tampered-with breakthrough to Carter to be pissed at me for later. (After all, resurrected dead friends is a level of bullshit even Peggy is likely to give him a pass for dealing with first - as long as he’s not the one responsible for having caused it, anyway.) So Bucky, while still not sure what to believe, still finds himself lost in the middle of the damn woods and not even knowing which damn woods so he decides to at least agree to bum a ride for now but stay on guard.

Howard heads back home to sort things out and upon walking into the house probably finds Tony, a teenage boy left unsupervised, doing literally everything and everyone he isn’t supposed to, and most likely in the middle of the freaking living room or something no less. “Well, you’re home early.” Howard looks ready to blow his stack and Maria looks mortified, but everyone freezes as Bucky just cracks. the fuck. UP. “I’m still not convinced you’re actually Howard, but if you were that kid would definitely be yours.” Howard buries his face in his hands while Tony promptly smirks and decides he likes whoever the hell this guy is.

. . . Until a little while later, when he finds out the random dude his parents brought home with them is supposed to be the second-in-command of the legendary Howling Commandos, the larger-than-life hero of World War II and best friend of the man Tony Stark loathes most in the world, Captain Perfect. Barnes just stands there in supreme confusion as Tony rants on and on about how his dad never shuts up about how freaking wonderful Captain America was, how goddamn perfect the Man with a Plan was; how he always knew what to do, how he always did the right thing, how he had his priorities and his shit SO sorted and on lock and ‘Tony why can’t you be like that’ and just UGH. Bucky is wondering amusedly if maybe Tony’s somehow confused Stevie with the character he played during the USO tour when his thoughts suddenly whirl to a full stop after finally catching on the word Tony kept using: ‘was.’ Tony stops mid-rant when Barnes suddenly just drops.

After finally pulling himself together somewhat (to Tony’s immense relief, god, please don’t let me accidentally break my dad’s 2nd-favorite war hero like immediately) Bucky manages to croak out, “How long?” Seeing the blank look on Stark jr.’s face, he explains that he wants to know long it took after he supposedly died before Steve decided to join him. Tony replies by reciting the epic saga of Captain America’s Last Great Noble Sacrifice, which Howard has told him so many times he probably knows it better than his own name by this point. By the end of it Barnes looks ready to kill someone and Tony is hella confused because, “Shouldn’t you be proud of your friend? Isn’t that just SO Captain America? Like why are you even surprised??” And Bucky, SUPER pissed, is just like, “Yeah, I suppose I shouldn’t be, should I? I left that moron alone for ten minutes so he took all the stupid and ran with it; goddamn it Stevie! UGH.” This is followed by a multi-hour-long rant/bitchfest of how many ways Steve could’ve done things differently and exactly how big of an idiot he was and some highlights of the Stupid Shit he pulled during missions as Captain America and during their childhood running loose trying to pick a fight with half of Brooklyn. ”’Perfect Man Who Always Knew What He Was Doing’ my ass.”

After he’s finished explaining what Steve was really like to the skeptical teen, Bucky promptly heads off to find Howard and call him out on his bullshit. “He picked a fight with Nazi Germany because I was missing because of it and because it was a good excuse to fight a bullying country, Howard. Wtf kind of bullshit have you been feeding your brat about us? You’re giving him anxiety already, knock it off.”

Eventually Bucky decides to go after Steve, because end of the line means end of the fucking line and I am bringing my moron home goddamnit. This should have been a pretty hopeless task, but between an enthusiastic Peggy putting all of SHIELD’s resources at their disposal, Stark Sr.’s rekindled obsession and addition of all of Stark Industries’ resources, Stark Jr.’s willingness to lend a hand because it’s the only thing he’s allowed to do while grounded-until-he’s-30, and Bucky Barnes’ unfailing Steve’s-in-trouble-must-locate-my-idiot senses, it was an astonishingly short period of time before Steve Rogers was found and then defrosted. (Bucky sat with Steve’s body while they thawed him out, ostensibly for his funeral, so you can imagine the freak-out that occurred when his best friend’s ‘corpse’ suddenly rolled over and started mumbling the words to ‘Star-Spangled Man With a Plan’ in his sleep).

Steve and Bucky, reunited at last, have a very messy, somewhat violent, utterly heartbreaking and incredibly tear- and swear-filled reunion before being loosed upon ‘the future.’ They then take it upon themselves to spend time with what’s left of their old friends, whip Howard into being at least no less of a decent human being than he was when they met him, and revamping the Captain America legacy to make it less of a legend of a perfect human being (Steve was literally crying laughing when he heard what people thought he was like) and more the story of a bunch of brave idiots trying to do what they could to help.

SHIELD has fits over them giving their versions of how some of the stories went either because “That’s classified!!” or  “You’re destroying a legacy!” or, their favorite, “That’s not even remotely how that could have possibly gone. No. NO. You did NOT punch a robot Adolf Hitler hundreds of times before melting the Red Skull into a puddle of goo like the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz using a magic light box, no less. NO. Just, please, please stop talking.” Peggy and the remaining Commandos find the whole thing amazing and hilarious and thus refuse to refute anything those two say, and Steve and Bucky help raise Tony Stark to be a much more put together adult, help out with the odd SHIELD mission when they feel the need to punch something or Hydra’s being irritating, and just generally have a good time. That is, they do until the events of the Avengers rolls around, at which point they then proceed to have a great time fighting with a team of ridiculous, well-intentioned, violent thrill-seekers again and decide to make it a regular thing. “This is gonna be GREAT Buck, you’ll see.” “That’s what you said about World War II Steve.”

[matchbookarmy]

Bright Things and Fair by sheron

Rating: Teen

Summary: The course of true love never did run smooth — and neither did time-travel to retrieve the Tesseract. When circumstances outside their control force Steve and Tony to spend more time together in the 1970, they do what two people with their history do under the circumstances: work together and try to get through it without unnecessary feelings getting in the way. Falling for each other is definitely a bad idea, isn't it?

Why I'm Reccing: This is an Endgame fix-it, and honestly, I still usually bypass CW and Endgame fix-its. I'm not sure why, because the ones that I have read have all been really good (again the Stony fandom is so talented!) but I just mostly prefer to live in a happy little world where neither of those things happened.

But I am really really glad that I read this one. It was extremely well done, and it involved time-travel (which is definitely one of my favorite things) and Steve and Tony trying to navigate the challenges of being stuck out of time together.

I really love the actiony plot driven parts of this fic. They're fun, even if they're slightly stressful, and really well plotted. It feels very much like a complete and well thought out plot.

There's a part where they only have one tube of pym particles and Steve tells Tony to use it to go home to his family, and like, as soon as they said there was time travel in Endgame, I knew Steve was going to end up staying in the past with Peggy, but this is the way I thought it was going to happen, with Steve staying as a sacrifice, rather than a deliberate choice - and ugh....okay, no Endgame rants.

But what I'm saying is, this fic has a better characterization of Steve than Endgame does. This feels like the Steve Rogers we know and love.

What I also love about this fic is just how soft and tender it is. Steve and Tony are still trying to come back together as a team that trusts one another, and they argue and they fight and they sometimes say or do hurtful things, but underlying all of this, there's still just always this tenderness. You can feel how much they care about one another throughout the entire fic, even when they get angry with one another.

And I think that is what draws me to Stony in the first place, this idea that relationships are hard, it's not always going to be easy, but even when they're mad at each other, they still love and care about one another.

This fic is the epitome of why I love fandom (and queer romance in general) and it's just this complete and utter faith that I go into each project with, knowing that the author will give my favorite characters their happy ending, and that they will be gentle with one another, even when it's hard.

This fic isn't what I would categorize as fluff, but it made me feel the same way a good fluff fic does. It felt like wrapping myself in a cozy blanket.

[beautifulwhensarcastic]

Hey, first I want to start by saying that I love your stories. There are two in specifics that I ask myself a few times and I would like to know: in Dark Appetites, Steve and Peggy in the face of everything that happened and even having solved themselves managed to overcome what happened? And Peggy about her new situation, did she learn to deal with without running away? Or did the thoughts of moving away still prowling around her and caused some discussions with Steve? I love this one, because seeing them in a universe where they are vampires and lavish such a powerful sex Appeal is luxurious and wonderful. My other question refers to New York Solstice, my curiosity is about what YOU thought after Peggy assumes to Steve who loves him and how for you the situation proceeded after that? I know what I imagine, but I would love to know what you think about it. Thank you, I emphasize again that I love your steggy stories and I would love to see more of them❤️✨

Hello! Thank you for this wonderful ask! It made me smile so hard not only because of your kind words, but because of your inquiry. It's not often I get asks like that without it being a part of writing game/meme. So thank you 😘

Dark Appetites - it's not that easy getting rid of old habits, especially ones that are connected to some insecurities. Peggy will try to work on her tendency to run away and instead communicate more with Steve, but occasional ideas about running away still cross her mind. Especially when things get hard regarding following Zola's trope and what he does to other vampires. However, this time it would be much harder for Peggy to leave, because Steve still hasn't lifted the ban on her outings. And he won't. They may be together, but she falls under the same rules as everyone else and has to serve her "sentence". Like he said: “It's the law. Archaic, but still law. Which you stomped all over.” His eyes darkened again. “Consequences of your actions didn't touch only you, Peggy. There has to be atonement.”

As for the New York Solstice, it's the kind of fic I love as a story, but would be very judgmental of in real life, lol. Honestly, it follows exactly as Steve says and does. Meaning, he won't be chivalrous or honorable, he won't step away just because Peggy has a husband. And Peggy's marriage wouldn't be just done so easily. Making final decisions takes Peggy some time and she purposely uses her new job in New York to postpone any final heartbreaks, though she knows well they're coming and she has to cut the cord soon.

I toyed a bit with an idea that Daniel follows her to NY no problem, unaware of his wife having a hot affair with Steve. He plays house, finds a job here, all the while Peggy is very busy in her new career position (as well all the bendy positions Steve fucks her in). At some point shit hits the fan. Either Daniel starts pushing for them to start a family, or finally realizes those marks on Peggy's body can't be all from fieldwork. Daniel is heartbroken, Peggy is tired of dealing with it all, and Steve is simply unrepentant.

BUT, if I were to write a follow-up to the main story, I'd focus on Peggy actually trying to work on herself (not her deltoids - if you read, you get the joke). Meaning, she'd come clean to Daniel and end things with him before moving fully to NY. Obviously, divorce takes longer than few weeks and there's a lot of emotions involved, but she moves back to NY without her soon to be ex husband. Gossips spread fast, however, so Peggy starts her first months already known to some as an alpha boss bitch who bangs Captain Rogers. Peggy doesn't care much - she's a badass at her job, makes serious changes, and gets mindblowing orgasms.

[vickyvicarious]

Worldbeyondtheworld. More of the AA and Leverage crossover. Each of the team talks with Maya on the same day and dear gosh, some of them want to adopt her so bad. The also talk with Phoenix and they're shocked when they meet and share the same experience that he mirrored their mannerisms so well even if it was shortly. And unconsciously on top!

I think Parker and Maya would immediately hit it off like a house on fire. Maybe a literal house on fire would be involved, who knows. I mean, the whole team would like Maya for sure, but I kind of lean towards it being one of those situations like Peggy? Where she and Eliot have a decent amount they could bond over, but Eliot hangs back and I've always headcanoned it was so he didn't get in the way of Parker's friendship since she has so few and they're so important to her.

I guess it depends a bit on when/how they meet since Maya would be younger too, and the whole medium thing could put a damper since Parker doesn't like psychics - but then again, Maya's brand is so very very different from anything Parker's encountered before. And I think maybe one thing that could happen is Maya offering to channel Parker's brother, and Parker not being able to say yes right now - too afraid of her guilt and of seeing him again. And Maya would understand and make it an open offer for whenever she feels ready, if she ever does. And obviously, the fact that Maya won't remember what transpires while she's channeling and it can just be a private moment between Parker and her little brother, is a huge factor in favor of the idea. (Although, if they meet early on enough, Maya would still be struggling with her own fears of failing as a spirit medium, which could be interesting too.)

The only other one I think who would really get as close to Maya would be Sophie. Sophie would remind Maya a lot of Mia, and I think she'd really look up to Sophie, in an older sister/motherly way, whereas with Parker it's a little more of a friendship on the same level. I think Sophie would recognize a lot of herself in the way Maya presents such a cheerful exterior to the world while hiding all this trauma and insecurity. It's not quite the same thing as what she does, but she recognizes that kind of compartmentalizing really easily.

I think that Eliot would see Parker kind of pick Maya as her mentee/friend, and back off a little despite his adoption instincts. But he'd absolutely bond a lot with Pearl right away - him and Hardison both kinda fawn over her. Eliot teaches her how to improve her punch, Hardison teaches her about technology and helps her to keep from being so isolated, and Nate... Nate finds it emotionally difficult to get close to kids and would not wanna initiate, but Pearl would really like him and he'd perform magic tricks for her and absolutely delight her. She'd sadly complain that the only magic she knows how to do is spirit-channeling, which isn't nearly as impressive.... that would blow his mind if he believed in it, but he doesn't, so instead he's just kind of indulgent and unusually gentle with her.

As for Phoenix... like previously discussed, I think he and Sophie would get along really really well. If I had to pick a favorite/closest relationship between him and any member of the team, I still think it would be her. But as far as him mirroring all their mannerisms, I don't quite agree. I don't think he mirrors to that degree.

What I could see though, is all of them just kind of feeling comfortable around him. Something about the way he talks and moves, and probably no one but Sophie or maybe Nate would pick up on exactly why. There's a little bit of mirroring going on, but it's also the way he talks and how he responds. It's very interesting to Sophie because he isn't intentionally acting at all, but he is behaving slightly differently with each of them without losing a clear 'Phoenix-ness' that doesn't change no matter what. It's most likely to him picking up on some clues (and maybe psyche-locks) in their own body language and voices, and adapting to them. He isn't trying to lead them in any particular direction (when he tries, it's via rather blunt changes of topic) but more him following along. She'd probably point out some subtle cue and say that he could be a very good grifter if he knew what he was doing, but it's pretty clear to her that he doesn't. Although he definitely seems to notice when she's hiding something - his entire posture would change sometimes, as soon as she told a lie.

(PS- @worldbeyondtheworld tagging you since it's been so long since you sent this. I thought I'd posted my answer ages ago, but apparently I saved it half-written in my drafts. My bad!)

[winterofthedarkestlight]

These are some of the questions I really, really want to see people ask the Russos at SDCC 2019 in some capacity:

In a Q&A session on Reddit, you guys said that by going back in time and marrying Peggy, Steve would have started an alternate reality, and thus grew old in a parallel universe. However, in an interview with Fandango, Markus and McFeely said that Steve remained in the current timeline when he married Peggy because you need to remove an Infinity Stone in order to start a branched reality. So, which one is the correct interpretation? Why weren't you and the writers of your own movie on the same page about this? (I'm dying for someone to ask this because the Russos will either have to admit that they're idiots who didn't understand their own movie or they'll have to throw M&M under the bus.)

One of the themes or overall messages of this movie seems to be that we don't get the opportunity to completely undo everything bad that happened to us and pretend like it never happened in the first place. The concept of time travel on this movie is specifically designed such that the Avengers cannot just go back and make the Snap never have happened in the first place: they can bring everyone back, but they still need to deal with that five year loss, and those who are un-Snapped need to deal with the world moving on without them for five years. The scene in 2013 Asgard is another reminder of this: while Thor wants to save his mom, and make it such that she was never killed, Frigga and Thor remind him that he needs to learn to deal with this loss, and focus on the people who need him in the present. The big exception to this theme of having to deal with consequences is Steve's ending. He is portrayed as perfectly justified in essentially hitting the reset button on his life: he gets to go back and change things to get everything he apparently ever wanted, so ultimately he doesn't have to "move on" or "cope" with anything. And all of Peggy's attempts to move on from him are moot too. How do you explain this seeming thematic dissonance between this ending and the overall message of the movie?

Why did you not include an on-screen reunion between Steve and Buck? They have one of the strongest and oldest bonds of any two characters in the MCU, and Markus and McFeely went so far as to call them platonic soulmates in the introduction to the Captain America: White comic. Yet while we got battlefield reunions for everyone from Tony and Peter to Scott and Hope to Groot and Rocket to even an exchange between Carol and Peter, the only scene we get between Steve and Bucky is a goodbye scene.

You have started that you believe that Steve's character arc involved him going from a state of selflessness to selfishness. But isn't it a little too selfish for him to essentially reroute Peggy's life based on his desires alone? He knows that Peggy eventually moved on from him after he crashed the Valkyrie, fell in love with someone, and lived a fulfilled and happy life with this person. Even if Steve had actually been her husband all along, there's no way he knew this. So when he goes back and marries Peggy, to his understanding he is preventing her from ever meeting her husband and erasing her family from existence. He has never been given any indication by Peggy when he talks with her older self in Winter Soldier that she ever truly regretting not marrying him, or not getting to start a family with him: she obviously loves the family she already had. So what makes Steve believe that he had the right to do what he did?

In Endgame, Steve is shown to look at his compass with Peggy's picture in it during times of distress or despair. You have directed three movies prior to this featuring Steve Rogers, but he never seemed to do this in any of those movies, and we haven't seen the compass on-screen since the museum scene in Winter Soldier. Why has the compass suddenly reappeared now?

Your interpretation of Steve's relationship with Peggy has seemed to vary drastically over the course of your career at Marvel. In both Winter Soldier and Civil War, you acknowledged Peggy's importance to Steve, but you blatantly tried to set up a romantic relationship between Steve and Peggy's niece Sharon, and when asked whether this relationship was weird given Steve's history with Peggy you said that Peggy was "just someone he kissed once in a moving car with Tommy Lee Jones in it." Yet now, you refer to Peggy as the "love of Steve's life" and "Steve's greatest loss." What was the impetus for this radical shift?

Why didn't Natasha get a joint funeral with Tony? Like Tony, she sacrificed her life for the mission, yet while the Avengers were visibly upset at the news of her death, by the end of the movie not only did she not get a funeral but the only person to ever mention her again was Clint.

Why did Steve mention Peggy at the group meeting, instead of Sam, Bucky, or Wanda? The meeting is specifically for people who lost loved ones to the Snap, yet he brings up the death of a woman who died of natural causes in her nineties two years before the Snap, instead of the deaths of his friends who were actually Snapped.

Why did Thor never mention Loki? He was visibly distraught over the loss of his brother in IW, yet not only does he make no mention of his brother or of missing his brother in Endgame, but when he passes by Loki's cell in 2013 Asgard he doesn't even pause to look at him.

Why was there no resolution to the conflict between Tony and Bucky? There is clearly a large amount of resentment on Tony's part by the end of CW against Bucky for the latter's role in Howard and Maria's deaths, and there is no indication that they ever made peace with each other off-screen before Endgame. Also, Tony blames the Avengers' loss to Thanos on them having been split up, and Bucky was a main contributor to this. Yet, at no point in the movie does Tony even mention Bucky, nor does Steve.

Prior to the release of the movie, you advertised Endgame as containing the "first openly gay character in the MCU." This character ended up being an unnamed extra played by you, Mr. Joe Russo. Why did you decide on this course of action for LGBT representation in the film when, for example, there was already a comic-canonically bisexual character in Valkyrie?

Why couldn't the Avengers just go back and steal the still-functioning gauntlet containing all the Infinity Stones from Thanos right before he destroyed them? They know where he was and when he destroyed them.

Please feel free to add more! To those of you attending the panel: we're counting on you to call the Russos out on their bullshit!

As I said in a previous post, try to be as eloquent and polite as possible, but go for the head. Use their own past statements and movies against them whenever possible. Stack up your evidence (of which there is plenty) and don't leave them room to side-step the question.

(Yes, I will be bitter 'til the very end.)

[thiswreckageivebecome]

The Winter Soldier is Still Here (Part 25 - “Hail Hydra”) (Bucky/Winter Soldier x reader)

Description: You’re working at the local farmers market when you meet Bucky and catch his eye, not only because you’re the only one who sells plums, but because you treat him like a normal person. As a friendship begins to bloom, it quickly grows into a relationship and you learn that life with Bucky isn’t as easy it originally seemed. I SUCK AT DESCRIPTIONS!

Word count: 2044....a short one, I'm sorry, but I thought a short update might be better than none. In the words of Peggy, “It’s been so long.”

Warnings: Language.

Author’s Note: I don't own art.

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READER POV

__________

I stared in disgusted awe at Jake. This...this was not happening. He was...

"Jake, " I asked almost silently. "Who are y-? Why? What is going on?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh please, " he now spoke with a heavy Russian accent, "don't even start with dramatics and hysterics. None of that will help you. Nothing will, really. Oh, the Asset thinks he will save you. Hell, he probably believes he'll sacrifice himself for you, but no. He has no idea the storm that will soon hit him."

"But, Jake....you're...you're... what about the hospital? The hike? Our relationship."

"Oh, you thought that was real," Jake questioned in the voice I recognized. Then he laughed aloud. "Woman, you're a fool. The Asset really fucked you up, didn't he? You fell so easily into the trap. You've been the easiest target we've ever had. If you had left him be you'd have never become involved, yet here you are, still pining for him in New York."

I attempted to get up but the threatening tone that propelled itself at me stopped me cold.

"Don't dare fucking move, you bitch."

"I just, I don't understand. Any of it."

"Боже. ты идиот, но теперь долго, маленькая сука. Look, you're pathetic so I'm going to tell you this and then it's lights out. I'm not Jake. I wouldn't have such a trashy American name. You were the target to get to Barnes. Soon enough he won't remember you and you'll have no way of remembering him. Therefore, rest well knowing that you're the reason he will be serving Hydra once again."

As promised I was unconscious in the next second. The last thing I remembered was his cold hands around my throat and the room slowly dimming until there was nothing but pitch black.

BUCKY POV

___________

I ran to the weaponry faster than I had run in quite some time. I had to get to (y/n) soon. If I didn't get there quick enough, they'd kill her just for spite. As I got to the vault, a message came through on Steve's phone which I would have to steal. It was a location: Jumping Jack Powerplant. While the actual location of this plant had been erased from public record, I knew it well as the hideout Hydra had used when it was after Nick Fury and after its full control attempt at overtaking S.H.I.E.L.D. The location had to be close enough to D.C. to arrive in a short time yet far enough so that it was off of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. I quickly grabbed all of my usual choices: Gerber Yari ll Tanto, SIG-Sauer P220ST, and Vz.61 Skorpion. To be honest, I didn't plan to put up much of a fight unless that's what it took to free (y/n) and get her to safety. Otherwise, I was planning to do what they asked but it was best not to go empty-handed. I closed the vault quickly and as I turned around Natasha was standing in front of me.

"Barnes, what's going on?" The tone of her voice told me she already had a clue.

"Nothing, Natasha. Don't tell anyone I'm gone. I have to go." I pushed past her but she quickly caught up.

"It's Hydra isn't it," she asked as she followed me down the steps. I'd make it downstairs quicker that way.

"Natasha," I called over my shoulder, "please, just go back and pretend you never saw me."

"No," she wouldn't leave me. I halted and turned to her quickly but before I could speak, she figured it out.

"They've got her, don't they?" Her words hit me again like a fresh ton of bricks, the reality sinking in more than it already had. I halted for a second to stop myself from stumbling as the weight on my chest began to cave in. I began to continue my descent but she didn't move.

"They're just trying to get to you, Barnes. They only want you."

"You think I don't know that? I don't care. I can't let her die on my account."

"Just so we're clear."

She quickly caught up with me and actually passed me. By the time I made it down she already had the vehicle pulled to the door.

"Get in." After I was in and the door just shut, "where to," she asked.

"Jumping Jack Powerplant. It's North o-"

"Of D.C. Yeah, I remember." I simply nodded. We rode in silence for quite some time. When we were about 15 minutes out, she broke the silence. "So what's the plan when we get in." I remained silent. "You do have a plan, right," she asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Kill anyone who gets in my way to (y/n)."

READER POV

————————

I awoke with bright lights shining in my eyes, lights so bright that I immediately had to squint. There was a beeping noise. It started to speed up and then I realized it must have been a heart monitor.

"The stupid princess awakes," Jake...or whatever his name was...spat. "The asset isn't here yet so you might as well calm down. No use in screaming either, no one will ever hear you and we made it where you can't reach your full voice anyway."

I tried to speak but no sound came out. I began to panic. What had he done to me? He smiled.

"You're one of the most stubborn women I've ever met. I just told you-you cannot reach your full voice, yet what is the first thing you try to do? You won't be able to scream or even speak for a while. You might as well calm down, otherwise, I'll put you back under." I attempted to calm down. I needed to be as aware of everything he would do as I possibly could. I tried to lie still and keep my face even and emotionless. After a few moments of this, he commented on it. "Hmm, maybe there's a reason you and the Asset got along so well. You're both able to turn off your emotion so well. Granted I'm sure the serum helps." I had to stop my eyes from growing and becoming restless again as he got ready to continue.

"You know, this little serum right here," he held up a syringe that held an almost clear, slightly blue-tinted liquid inside, "took us many years to perfect but once we did, we made vats of it. We keep it stored safely away in a top secret location, of course. I can't wait to use it on you. The ladies always have the best reaction," he finished explaining eerily. He began wrapping an elastic band around my arm and I couldn't remain calm any longer. I started to try and shake the table straps loose so that I could, in turn, get away. I knew it was useless but I had to fight. If nothing else, maybe I could keep him from getting whatever serum he was so in love with, within my body. I couldn't scream but that didn't stop me from trying. I could feel the tight sinched air attempting to scratch its way out into the warehouse but it wasn't going far. I didn't struggle for long. He stuck a different syringe quickly in my arm and there was the darkness that immediately surrounded me.

BUCKY POV

———————-

Natasha parked far enough away that we wouldn't be detected and I got into the driver's seat and drove slowly up to the building, on high alert for any sneak attacks. I knew Natasha wouldn't be far behind me, probably already making her way into the building before I pulled up and parked outside of the locked fence. After I took a quick observance of my surroundings, I got ready to jump the fence when the gate to my right began to open. They knew I was here. They had learned how to hide their cameras better than they had in the past.

I entered the grounds, even more, hyperaware of the fact that they had eyes on me even though I didn't have my own on them than I was before. After I had walked about 15 feet I saw them, I saw him. I recognized him immediately which was surprising considering I couldn't remember much else. As soon as he spoke I knew this was the man who had posed as Jake.

"Charscovsky."

"Soldier."

"What an honor that you'd meet me at the entrance, " I attempted not to sneer. All he did was smile mischievously.

"Oh, come now, Soldier. You act as though we weren't close once."

"You and I have very different definitions of 'close' then."

The eerie smile never left his face. He turned on his heel and began to leisurely lead the way into the building. As he led me in I noticed just the faintest blur of red hair to my left before I entered and I was grateful in that moment that Natasha had refused to be left behind.

"(Y/n) has had such wonderful things to say about you."

"Take me to her."

"Oh, now, now, Soldier. You'll be reunited soon enough. First, we need to discuss a few things."

"We don't need to discuss anything except you telling me where (Y/n) is. Once she's out of here we'll discuss whatever you like."

"You see, that was a huge problem that we never did perfect with the soldier serum."

He waited for me to respond but I refused. He stopped at a door and turned to look at me.

"You're not curious, huh? I suppose I'll say it anyway. It'll be valuable information to you very soon."

He paused again waiting for a response but when he realized I wasn't going to, that smile he had held for the entirety of the time since our eyes had met, began to fade which almost brought one to my face.

"Whether you're curious or not, Soldier, what I'm referring to is the ability to negotiate. You see, we didn't think about that at the time. Elimination and defense were the prime qualities we wanted but now, looking back, I can see it is something we will need to work on in the future. I imagine you'll soon wish we would have too." He arrived at a door and stopped. Four guards stepped between us as he leaned down and pressed his face to a retinal recognition. I suppose they knew I would be tempted to attack and dissemble in order to get to her if he were left unprotected. I heard the door unlock before opening into darkness. My body tensed as I didn't know what this meant. He waved off the guards so that they walked behind us and he led the way into the dark.

I then heard two thumps on each side of me. I turned, fully alert, ready for a fight, but instead, I saw nothing but as the room lit, a dash of red flew past me and took down Charscovsky, pinning him to the floor.

"Oh," he smirked, "Ms. Romanoff, what a pleasant surprise."

"Where is she?" Natasha sneered.

"Oh yes, you have become fond of her too, haven't you?" Natasha pushed down against his throat more, so that he had to put more effort into continuing, "не волнуйся, ты скоро ее увидишь." He smiled again, mischief playing happily across his eyes. Natasha stood and jerked him up along with her. I stepped to him, toe-to-toe. "Where the hell is she?" I was now snarling. He smiled and remained silent a moment. He was clearly enjoying himself.

"Oh, зимняя принцесса," he said louder as if he was calling to someone else.

"What?" Natasha quickly questioned.

"No," I said, not wanting to believe what he was saying. Fear and anger took me over. My vision blurred. "No!" I exclaimed, pushing him into the wall to my left. My left hand grasped his throat, the metal plates of my arm shifting to strengthen my grip. All the while he smiled.

"Bucky, what is it? What's he saying?" Natasha asked, worry filling her tone. She didn't have to wait long to find out.

[morlock-holmes]

I really think this is evidently confusing the sentiments of the writers of these shows with those of the characters.

Okay, like, in the first couple of seasons Family Guy took a stab at having real characters but after being cancelled and renewed the characters became essentially a bunch of monsters who are just vehicles for jokes. They have the house and family structure that they do because that's what a stock sitcom family looks like, and more importantly that's what the Simpsons looked like. There's clearly no more meaning to it than that. "Let's put really crass and awful jokes in the mouths of the most milquetoast sitcom family imaginable" is the only characterization there.

The Simpsons, on the other hand, like, OK I have no idea what they're like today; like everyone else on Tumblr I haven't watched the show in 20 years.

But like in the 90s Homer and Marge are very much Baby Boomers who are trying to escape their parents' upbringing but who also have no other model for what being a parent or a middle class adult looks like so they keep falling back on what they know.

Like, they're really quite a conservative family! Marge wears a string of pearls and a giant bouffant and makes what is always depicted as the blandest, most mid-western food imaginable. ("Room for 8 spices? Some must be doubles") she is a full time housewife despite the fact that the family struggles to maintain a middle class lifestyle on Homer's salary.

For crying out loud, they dress up for church. Which they attend every Sunday and when Homer decides to stop in one episode this is a big honking deal to Marge. In the Simpson family, you go to church every Sunday and there's no question about it.

There's a whole episode about Homer's fundamental discomfort with homosexuality!

Even by the standards of the early 90s, Marge and Homer had a fairly old-fashioned and conservative lifestyle.

King of the Hill I haven't watched much of, but like, Luanne isn't Hank and Peggy's daughter, right? Looking at the wiki, Luanne is Peggy Hill's niece, who is staying with them because her mother went to prison for stabbing her dad with a fork.

In terms of which cartoon family has the more "decentralized" or "freewheeling" make-up, there's a genuine argument to be made that it's the Hills.

I will say, a complication is that King of The Hill is very much told through Hank Hill's eyes, whereas The Simpsons involves more of a rotating point of view.

I didn't watch a lot of King of The Hill as a kid because I already had a fairly strict "This is how things are done and the kids don't get a say" kind of parent and that show is very much more about how it feels to be the parent in that situation dealing with kind of an oddball kid, it's not so much really about what it's like to be a kid dealing with that kind of parent, certainly I never found it to be an avenue of escapism as a kid.

The Simpsons did have a lot of episodes told from Homer's perspective and about his struggles to parent, but there were also a lot of episodes from Bart or Lisa's perspective where their struggle was kind of the meat of the story in a way that Bobby Hill's isn't, at least in the episodes I've seen.

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[lycienne]

Idea for a Jacob/Staci fic

Jacob still has Staci captured, but doesn't condition him or anything. At first, he's just confined to a room (maybe even one with an arcade) gets regular meals ect. When Staci promises Jacob that he won't run away he becomes kind if Jacob's assistant. Staci follows him everywhere, taking notes, commands some of the lower level soldiers when Jacob has no time for that, runs errands which doesn't involve leaving the Veterans Center's grounds.

Somewhere along that way they become attracted to each other. Jacob is happy having someone around who has his own mind, doesn't just follow his orders, who isn't just grossed out by him and most importantly isn't related to him. Staci is stubborn and rolls his eyes when Jacob starts again with his religious ramblings and is the only one to point out that Jacob doesn't even believe them himself. But he's clever enough not to cross a line since Joseph has his spies everywhere.

Staci on the other hand is happy that Jacob respects him, treats him well (compared to what he has heard about Hudson and Burke) gives him a certain amount of freedom. Jacob protects him from jealous cultists who don't like the idea that a "prisoner" gets more access to a herald than they get (Jacob even shot one of his chosen who attempted to kill Staci, and proceeded to yell that anyone else trying to commit treason would face a much harsher punishment).

Later, Jacob would take Staci with him when meeting with his brothers and Faith, much to their surprise. He justifies it by saying he needs someone to check that Faith doesn't but any Bliss in his food and drinks, that he doesn't trust his soldiers enough to keep Staci safe while he's gone. Staci is a hostage after all, and if one of his soldiers might "accidentally" hurt or kill him they might lose an important gambling point to the resistance which so far has maintained a low profile in the Whitetail Mountains compared to the other regions of Hope County.

The fact that Jacob just likes having Staci around conveniently falls under the table. When time goes by, Jacob relies on Staci, who has proven himself loyal to him (and be it only to save his life) more and more. Since Staci is around Jacob at almost all times, it's inevitable that he witnessed a PTSD breakdown, most likely when they are alone finishing some documents for Joseph after a hard day of training new recruits.

It's the first time Staci sees Jacob cry, apologizing to some guy named Miller, and cursing over and over again that he just wants a normal fucking life. Staci tries to comfort Jacob by awkwardly padding his back, but it doesn't take long for Jacob to pull him into his lap and hug him like Staci is some kind of teddy bear replacement. Staci just let's it happen, hell he even hugs Jacob back, he just can't stand the sight of the person who has had so much mercy on him crying. Shortly after that Jacob tells Staci everything. There's news out that the rookie deputy has killed Faith and is moving to his region next, for some reason sparing John.

Jacob wants Staci to know that he (Jacob) has to die to fulfill his brothers prophecy,that his life doesn't matter, that Staci has to flee to John's region once he's dead, so he can be saved. And God, how Jacob wants Staci to be saved. If anyone deserves to walk through Eden's Gate, it's him.

Staci of course is furious. He knows that Joseph is manipulating Jacob and he knows that Jacob knows he's being manipulated by his brother. Jacob is a monster, maybe even a psychopath (although Staci doesn't believe that for a second) and Staci did his hardest in trying to hate him, but it didn't work. Both of them have danced around each other for so long it's almost heartbreaking. And Staci snaps. He walks over to Jacob, pulls his head down and kisses him. Tells him Jacob won't him to sacrifice himself, that he will stop him, no matter the cost. Jacob doesn't know if he should laugh or cry and decides just to kiss Staci back as if his life depended on it.

A few weeks later that theory should be tested, as Rook has come to kill Jacob while he and Staci where patrolling the area. Jacob went alone went the first noticed Rook, telling his chosen to restrain Staci until he came back (not that Jacob was planning to return, since he was aware that the time to fulfill his brothers prophecy had come). For the first time in years Jacob prays to God, thanking him for his time with Staci and begging him to keep Staci safe should to collapse really come.

Staci, on the other hand, struggles and finally breaks free out of the chosens's grip, just to run after Jacob. He finds both Rook and Jacob on a nearby hilltop pointing guns at each other. That God nobody is hurt yet, but how things are going, that's only a matter of seconds. At some point Staci thinks he's getting suicidal, too, when he steps between the two. Both Rook and Jacob are startled since they were so caught up in the chase they didn't even realize Staci was coming.

That's the dumbest thing he's done in his life, Staci is sure of that, but he can't just have Jacob sacrificing himself, not here, not yet, not ever. Despite what he has done. There's a curious disconnect in Staci's brain between Jacob the herald and Jacob the person. Jacob the herald might be a monster, evil, a psychopath and everything else people say about him, but Jacob the person isn't. Jacob the person is a soldier who wanted a family to come home to, who's happy when he has people to protect who love and cherish him or what he does, who spends hours hunting just to find the perfect animal for his brother to stuff.

When Staci dares Rook to shoot him to get to Jacob, all three of them are shocked. Rook, because he couldn't believe his colleague would risk his life for a certifiable monster, Jacob, because Staci actually managed to escape his chosen and tries to protect him with his life rather than running straight into the arms of the resistance and finally Staci, because his brain caught up with his actions.

Rook was the first one to come to his senses, shouting for Staci to get out of the way, get somewhere safe, "until that problem is solved". He doesn't physically move or try to get Staci away from Jacob though. Staci knows at this point it's all or nothing. In seconds Jacob will awake out of whatever stasis he's in and shove him out of the way. Staci wants to explain everything but theres no time, so he acts. He turns around and kisses Jacob with all that he's got. All that he wants to say in one action. Are here tears on his face? Staci doesn't know, doesn't care. Either he and Jacob both survive the next seconds, minutes or they don't. It's simple as that. "I'm sorry Rook, I love him, I just love Jacob", is all he manages to say and he means it. Staci doesn't even realize it's the first time he confessed his love to Jacob.

At that moment the world suddenly starts to move again. Jacob grabs his hand and runs. Through the forest, away from Rook. Staci faintly hears shouts and gunshots in the distance, but he doesn't care. He runs and runs and runs next to Jacob until they arrive in one of his hiding places. "We have to talk to Joseph", is all that Jacob says between hastily shared kisses full of love and desire. When Staci asks him later why, his only answer is "because I want to live". For some reason that makes Staci happier than anything else.

It's only been two days and they're on the way to John's bunker to meet with Joseph, since John's ranch had been taken by the resistance and Joseph's compound had been abandoned by the time the reaping started. Jacob and Staci have barely set foot in the bunker when the bombs drop. The Peggies are quiet. Staci is quiet. John and Rook, who stand next to each other for some reason Staci doesn't want to know, are quiet. "I was right", Joseph says into the silence, "I was right".

During the following days Staci learns q lot if things. That Rook took so long to take Faith down and get to him was John's fault, for example, because he wouldn't stop messing with Rook, in ways Staci didn't want any further explanation.

Staci also learned from Rook that it wasn't some God who decided to punish humanity, but that WW3 just happened, and Staci wasn't sure which was worse. Either way, he punched Joseph right in the face during one of their "family dinners", for making all of them suffer so much. Jacob wasn't pleased but Staci didn't care at this moment.

The last thing that Staci learned was that all of the Seeds bunkers were connected and that radio transmission was still possible. That meant two things: he could contact his still lost colleagues he learned fled to a bunker called "Wolf's Den" and that a sizable number of people survived the bombing. For the first time in his life he was happy preppers existed.

And after everything, Jacob was alive, he was alive and his friends were alive. That was all that counted in this moment. Staci didn't now what the future would look like, he just was happy that he could share it with Jacob.

PS: If anyone wants to use this plot go for it, I'd be honored (Just tell me before because I'd read the heck out of that). I just love the idea of Jacob and Staci having a relationship that doesn't involve torture or brainwashing or conditioning. Both my babies deserve better than what they got.