#you can see Endgame as the end of Marvel and just move on.

[angelkhi]

friend of a friend - b.b, s.r

pairing: steve rogers x f!reader x bucky barnes

summary: steve’s girl is feeling needy, maybe bucky can benefit from it too.

warnings: SMUT 18+ (minors DNI), oral (m+f), masturbation (m), wet humping, cum play, praise, steve calls her a whore like once? language, exhibitionism, voyeurism??? slight oral fixation on readers part??? yeah okay that’s it.

word count: 2.7k

a little note: i missed the boys and felt particularly unhinged. also endgame ending doesn’t exist. anyway, it’s fuckin nasty and i’m going to hell xo

You like seeing Steve like this. Boisterous and carefree, sipping a beer on the couch. It's normal. He deserves it.

Bucky sits across from him, detailing his recent mission with Sam. Their weekly chats often turned out like this, in between a short period of reminiscing and talking about whatever game had been shown that week, it always comes back to work. There's a hint of longing in Steve's voice when they talk like this. You know he misses it, how couldn't he? Its all he's ever known. But he insists he's done, and you believe him.

You're not entirely sure where their conversation is now, having zoned out some time earlier. Sat between Steve's legs, head rested on his thigh your mind had easily drifted.

You can't help your slight obsession with Steve's thighs. Even in a simple pair of joggers, the stiff outline of his toned muscles are fully on display. Each expertly sculpted ridge shifts between your cheek each time he moves or laughs. It's distracting, more than that.

You often find yourself nuzzling into the soft material just to get closer to the part of him you love so much. Steve’s fingers catch a lock of you hair, twisting and pulling on it every now and again, the action both soothing and adding to the deep tension threatening to boil over in your stomach.

His booming laugh filters through the room, his thigh flexing beneath you once more. It’s not normal, you think to yourself as you not so subtly press your skin against him, the fabric swallowing your helpless whine.

You sit like this for most of the afternoon, until it slowly turns to evening. Desperate and whining quietly to yourself. Your thighs clench periodically, and you have to stop glancing at the clock, secretly hating yourself for wishing it was time for Bucky to leave.

You’re so wrapped up in keeping your arousal at bay, in the warmth of Steve’s thighs you don’t notice the slight lull in conversation, nor do you notice Bucky leave the room to get another beer.

Steve strokes your head for a moment, his fingers igniting your skin as they slowly trail across your jaw. He tilts your head until you’re looking at him, a small knowing smile on his face.

“You doin’ okay down there?” He smiles, his thumb strokes your chin ever so gently, but the touch alone is enough to make you want to cry. Your need for him is far beyond your control and at this point, you’d take what you can get.

You nod, sandwiched between his calloused fingers and warm thigh. He tsks quietly and releases your chin, shifting back in his seat to widen his thighs. He watches quietly as your wide eyes glisten, immediately fixating on his clothed crotch.

“I’ve been neglecting my girl.” He shakes his head a little, smile turning to a smirk as he marvels in how transfixed you are. “Does my baby need some attention?”

His thumb traces your bottom lip, your mouth opening instantly desperate to taste him. You nod slightly, lips wrapped around his thumb, fingers clutching his calf tightly. He pushes down on your tongue, slipping deeper into your mouth, groaning quietly when your throat vibrates around his digit as you moan.

That slight bit of relief is enough to calm you for a moment, but your need rears it’s desperate head and you know you need more. Steve doesn’t move when Bucky walks back in and hands him a fresh beer. He just thanks him, eyes never leaving you.

Bucky isn’t phased returning to his chair without question. The idea of Bucky spectating your desperate state should be embarrassing enough to make you snap away from Steve. Instead you suckle on his thumb even harsher, looking up at him as he sips from his beer like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Steve pulls his thumb free, pressing it against your shining lip and more leans forward, the malted beverage heavy on his breath.

“M’gonna fill that pretty mouth up, just like you want me to.”

Your breath catches in your throat. Surely he isn’t being serious. Not with Bucky watching you both. Somehow the thought doesn’t deter you as much as it adds to the growing arousal, your cunt clenching around nothing.

Your eyes flick to where Bucky is now seated. You'd believe he's as relaxed as Steve if it weren't for the beer bottle clutched between his white knuckles. His lips are slightly parted in curiosity, pretty blue eyes dark with promise, watching you and Steve.

“Go ahead.” Bucky says it so simply with an encouraging nod, taking a languid sip from his beer.

“You gonna show him how good you are for me?” You nod hurriedly, watching as he puts his beer down, and does only that.

“Gotta hear the words honey.” His hand rests on waistband of his sweats, waiting.

“Please.” You speak through your the foggy haze clouding your brain. “Let me suck your cock, Stevie.”

“Attagirl.” He pulls down the elastic, letting it rest just below his knees. He knows how much you love his thighs, and secretly loves the way you mark them up, claiming another part of him that he gives to you so willingly.

Unsurprisingly, you press your lips to his inner thighs the first chance you get. The light dusting of golden hair tickles your lips when you suck dark bruises onto his unmarred skin, lightly tracing them with a light scrape of your teeth, earning an illicit moan from him.

When you’ve had your fill of his broad thighs, they’re littered with tiny marks and the slightest indent of your teeth in certain places.

Your finger lightly traces the underside of his cock, trailing up to the head and stroking over the slit. It shines brightly under the dim light and you actually salivate knowing you get to taste him. You marvel at Steve’s dick each and every time you see it, it’s curve feels perfect inside of you, the slight girth stretching you out so fucking good, length hitting all the right spots.

You wrap your hand around him in a tight fist, squeezing at the base just how he likes. His head rests back on the couch cushion, exposing his neck. His muscular chest begins to rise and fall slightly quicker as you stroke him.

Finally, you sink your mouth onto him, not bothering to tease him any further, this is for you after all. He’s letting you suck him off in front of his best friend to satisfy your needs, the least you can do is make it worth while.

You bob your head, alternating between long slow strokes and quick harsh suckles. Your hands tug at him, twisting around what you can’t take, revelling in his slight reactions. The way his thighs tense beneath your fingers, the way he sucks in sharp breaths and shudders out increasingly loud groans.

You wonder for a second if this isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. It spikes a sense of jealously in your chest and you swallow him down even further, not caring that it burns your throat. Pride blooms in your chest when he grips your hair, holding you in place, groaning deeply.

"So good. So good to me." His hips flex, pushing himself against that spot again. "You gonna be this good for Buck? You gonna suck his cock like a fuckin champ?"

You moan around him when he speaks, doing your very best to take him as deep as you possibly can. Your throat closes around him as you gag slightly, the slight brush of his hair ticking your skin.

"That's my girl." His hand rests over yours, hissing when your nails dig into his exposed thighs. He thrusts slowly into your warm mouth, hitting the back of your throat softly, watching as tears gather in the corners of your eyes.

His thrusts grow harsher, as does his grip on your hair, but that hand covering yours, the way his thumb strokes reassurance into your skin keeps you grounded. You feel that familiar twitch in your throat as you prepare to take his load, but then he’s tapping you hand and pulling you away from him ever so gently.

You find yourself pouting, desperate to have him fill your mouth again, but then he looks behind you and speaks.

“Go see Buck, looks like he could use some help.” He swipes his thumb through the spit on your chin, and nods to his friend.

The carpet is plush beneath your burning knees and you find yourself crawling between the other man’s thighs. Bucky strokes himself slowly, watching you quietly with that predatory gaze.

He’s not as long as Steve, but where he lacks he makes up for it in girth. Soft veins protrude from beneath his weeping head and you’re sure if you look close enough, you’d see them pulsating with need.

You cover his hand with your own, watching him twitch in your palm, stroking him a few times in a tight grip. You lean forward and swipe your tongue across the rosy head, eyes solely on him. He sighs, shoulders relaxing, his cheeks flushed all sweet and red.

Your tongue is so warm and wet against him as you swirl it across his skin for a few moments before you finally take him in your mouth. It’s vastly different to Steve, the way your mouth stretches wider around him. His head prods the back of your throat slightly quicker, but the thickness has the same effect on your gag reflex.

You get lost in the unfamiliar taste, the slight musk that’s just so Bucky. Steve comes up behind you, tugging at your leggings, keeping you steady with one hand as he pulls them off with the other. He swipes them down, taking your ruined panties with them, discarding the soaked cotton and gripping your thighs, spreading you wider.

“God Steve, she’s a fucking pro.” Bucky’s usually deep voice is instead breathless when he speaks Steve over your shoulder. Steve chuckles knowingly, his hand caressing your bare skin.

“You hear that honey? You’re being so good for us.” You hum in acknowledgement, the praise going straight to your core.

For a moment he just stares at the slick coating your thighs, drawing small patterns across your skin. The moment is strangely intimate, made so by Bucky’s thumb brushing your cheek as he slowly starts to thrust into your mouth.

You feel Steve’s hands resting on your ass before he spreads you open, cool air against your warm wet heat causing you to sigh. He licks a single stripe from your clit, right to your dripping hole, pausing to hear you moan around Bucky’s cock before he does it again and again and again until he’s nose deep in your pussy.

You brace your hands on Bucky’s thighs. breath coming in short pants out of your nose. Steve’s lips wrap around your swollen nub, suckling harshly as he shakes his head, the friction making your eyes roll. His nose prods at your hole, and your nerves are on fire.

You suck harder on Bucky’s cock, alternating between stroking him whilst you lick and suckle on his heavy balls. You feel the ghost of Steve’s fingers against your slit, whimpering when he slides a single finger in right to the knuckle. He works you open slowly, stretching your wet cunt around his finger before adding a second, hooking them inside of you.

Between Bucky fucking your throat and Steve lapping at your cunt like he hasn’t eaten in weeks, you’re not sure you’ve ever been so aroused in your entire life. You want to whine when he pulls his mouth away from you, but the fullness of his fingers satisfies your simmering need.

“Look at you, letting my friend fuck your throat right in front of me.” His fingers don’t let up, bordering on the sweet side of harsh.

“Stevie, fuck that’s so good.” You sound as desperate as ever, lost in Steve and Bucky’s touch.

“Bet you’d let him fuck this pretty cunt if he asked, huh.” Of course you would. The thought alone is wildly arousing. Steve chuckles through his quiet grunts when you clench around him, curving his fingers ever so slightly.

“My pretty little whore.” He half chuckles, though it’s mostly a groan.

He sucks at your clit once more, fingers hooked inside of you and you’re a goner. You pull your mouth away from Bucky, stroking him instead as you gush slightly against Steve’s face. Bucky thrusts up into your hand at your loud moans that only spur Steve on, the orgasm so intense it makes your body slump against Bucky’s thigh.

You find the energy to take Bucky back into your mouth, letting him thrust against your tongue, taking what he needs.

His hips jut harshly, prodding the back of your throat. His hand moulds around the curve of your skull, fingers threaded through your hair guiding your movements. He’s quiet compared to Steve, not speaking unless it’s a quietly muttered fuck, or so good. Sometimes he’ll groan, deep and guttural, but others he’ll catch himself on the edge of a whimper.

Those are your favourite. Making a man as stoic and quiet as him whimper is soon to be your greatest triumph.

You brace yourself on his thighs, shifting one of your hands to wrap around his thick shaft. You work quickly against him, twisting and flicking your wrist, running your thumb just below his weeping head, pressing stray kisses to the bulging veins.

“Buck, put her on your lap” Steve speaks from behind you, squeezing your thigh before Bucky helps you up, manoeuvring your near boneless body on top of his thighs. The bright tip of his cock, smooth with a mix of precum and your spit, nudges your sensitive slit.

You flatten your palm on the underside of his dick, caging him in, grinding your slick cunt against him. He thrusts against you, chasing his release, resolve depleted as he whimpers into your neck. The sound alone is enough to send you over the edge. You keep your eyes on Steve as he watches your cunt writhe against Bucky. There’s a new hunger in his eyes, something you’ve never quite seen before.

Steve sits back on his calves, his fist working over his pretty dick as he watches you cum for a second time, only this time it’s against his best friends cock. He looks so pretty, with his hooded eyes and flushed cheeks all traces of his dominant nature drowned out by his desperation.

Bucky’s whimpers grow louder and his teeth brush against your skin. The hold he has on your hips tightens as his thrusts grow sloppy, and his teeth dig into your shoulder, a truly broken moan shattering through him as he cums. Ropes of white land on your mound, dripping down your slit. You can’t help but moan when he thrusts one final time, his sticky spend and your slick making a near diabolical sound

Moments later Steve, pushes himself up onto his knees, fucking his fist harshly, pushing himself over the edge with a deep, almost growl. You watch through tired eyes when he cums all over your messy cunt, faint droplets of white mingling with Bucks.

He leans back, taking in the sight of your ruined cunt, chest heaving. His fingers prod at your puffy slit one final time, swirling around in the mess three of you had made before he extends his hand to your already open mouth. You suck at them like a woman starved, tongue lapping at the digits until they’re instead slick with your spit.

A silence stretches between the three of you for a moment, before Steve stands, and ticks himself into his sweats. He presses a kiss to your forehead.

“So proud of you. You did so well.” His large hands cup your face, eyes searching yours for any discomfort. He finds none.

You watch him leave to retrieve a washcloth from the bathroom whilst Bucky presses small kisses to your marked skin and thanks you. You hum, too dazed to speak. When Steve returns, Bucky disappears into the kitchen for a few moments, returning with three bottles of water.

As you slump against the chair, Steve running a warm cloth over you and Bucky holding the water bottle to your lips, you look over at the clock again watching it tick, willing it to stop, hoping that Bucky doesn’t have to leave.

i think we all know by now everything i write sets back feminism a few hundred years. i’m very sorry and i will do it again.

[gunsandspaceships]

Proof that Tony Stark is bisexual in the MCU

It is known that 616 Tony is bisexual. If you didn’t know – here’s the page from “Tony Stark: Iron Man (2018) #4”.

But is MCU Tony also bisexual? Let’s find out.

The Avengers:

0:43:10 - seems that Tony watched Rogers' movements at the end of his fight with Loki and liked what he saw.

1:10:08 - “Back off”.

2:08:30 – Sleeping Beauty.

Age of Ultron:

1:52:35 – Rhodey and Tony being a “couple”.

2:10:30 – Nat’s remark.

Civil War:

0:59:50 – huh?

Infinity War:

0:14:35 - Tony didn't know that was Levi.

0:17:08 – Tony noticed Strange’s hair moving.

0:19:15 - Strange's flirting and Tony's reaction.

1:18:50 – Tony and Strange are gazing into each other’s eyes and holding hands.

1:23:45 – again.

Endgame:

0:09:25 – Rogers’ face btw. Is he jealous here?

1:16:30 - Tony is staring at the America’s ass.

1:17:30 – Tony flicks Scott's butt.

1:20:00 – Tony is 100% okay with having a man inside him. Literally.

So what do we have?

He is comfortable touching men and being touched, even if he barely knows them. Even if it’s very gay.

He openly jokes about “gay” things.

He gazes into the eyes of both Steves, and Steves gaze back. Like, pretty often. Even Nat noticed this little habit.

He looks at men. Body, hair, ass. And he doesn’t hide it. That’s not so straight, I’d say.

Conclusion: Tony is bi. He is not latent, not really hidden one, just already in an established relationship with a woman and is faithful to her. He seems to be attracted to some guys though (we can see this towards Rogers and Strange).

Marvel shows it to us, and that’s actually the best we could get here. Because, unfortunately, the real international movie business is not yet ready for Iron Man to have a boyfriend. At least we can say he is canonically bisexual.

[charcubed]

Disneyland's Rogers: The Musical, propaganda that turns Steve Rogers into more myth than man, and revisionist history (possibly) to a purpose

Any of my thoughts in this post could just be me reading too far into things. I'm very aware of that, and please know that this post exists just because this sort of thing is fun for me! This is a thought exercise where we propose "What if we live in a world where the MCU is actually doing a cool and interesting thing as a longcon?" If you have anger at Marvel, that's valid and relatable, but please don't get angry at me or imply I'm an MCU stan who doesn't think critically about the mouse. Thanks!

Breaking news: I'm back on my bullshit!

A quick personal recap: I infamously hated Avengers: Endgame for a long list of reasons (and I even rewrote the movie). One of those reasons is that I've always taken issue with Steve's ending. But in the years since then, and as the MCU's phase 4 has evolved, my frustration at Steve's "ending" has turned into an ongoing and legitimate theory that the MCU could be slowly leading into a loosely adapted Secret Empire plot line. I know we've all been joking about Steve being trapped or about an imposter Steve since 2019, but uhhh, it's kind of not a joke to me anymore? It feels weirdly plausible at this point and so I enjoy discussing the potential.

You can find a full elaboration on that here, where I wrote out my "Steve was snatched by HYDRA" theory in 2021.

In that post, one of the things I mentioned at the time was Rogers: The Musical being in the Hawkeye trailer.

[The musical's] very existence is an example of how in-universe the stories of the lives of the heroes are being commodified, especially (in terms of how they’re framing it) for Steve’s. The heroes are no longer seen as people, if they ever were. They are, as Kate Bishop says to Clint in a recently released clip, more about “branding.” Sam Wilson will be redefining the shield moving forward in a Cap context, but simultaneously, the world is still enamored by Steve Rogers as a symbol in his own right. And that is ripe for manipulation as a Trojan horse to control public opinion… whether in the context of things like this by themselves (is the musical portraying Steve accurately, or is it painting an inaccurate picture of him the world accepts as fact?) or in future (is this propaganda that makes the public see Steve a certain way and continue to love him, to set up a fake or brainwashed Steve coming on the scene later?).

Now a form of the musical exists in full, at Disneyland and all over Youtube. Considering some of its baffling content – which I will break down below ��� this perspective seems even more strongly worth considering.

I have two main reasons for why I'm defending examining this musical so closely:

1. It is (arguably) an in-universe piece of media that has bearing on the MCU canon. It isn't like any other typical Disneyland attraction; its very existence is meta and it was in canon first. Obviously it's seen in Hawkeye, but there are also posters for it in several different phase 4 properties. It's lurking in the background indefinitely. So what can this musical tell us about what the wider public within the MCU is being told about the life story of Steve Rogers?

2. This Secret Empire graphic – which is animated in the center of the stage of a prolonged period of time – feels like a literal sign to pay attention.

Granted, this is obviously still ancillary material. 99% of the MCU audience will never see this musical, whether in person or on YouTube. But just because it isn't a vital piece doesn't mean it's automatically an entirely irrelevant piece.

They've given me an inch with that sign and I'm taking a mile.

So if you're interested, please join me on this journey :)

For the record, let me just say that I salute the creative team behind this show. It's pretty fun and the songs are catchy, the sets and costuming are cool, and the cast is overall very talented.

It's also fucking maddening. LMAO.

Why? Firstly, because of the seemingly deliberate ahistorical inaccuracies. We all know Ant-Man is wrongly shown in the Battle of New York, which originally "came from [the Hawkeye showrunner] and Marvel, as something to further aggravate Hawkeye as he watched the show, and also as a comment on how movies and articles and people always get something wrong." It seems like they expanded those meta nods, but most inaccuracies are now in service of glorifying Steve and Peggy's "love story." Yes, romance objectively makes for good theater; but again, I feel that this is worth examining considering the full context.

And secondly, Steve's ending is framed as an offer presented to him, convincing him it's the happy ending he deserves because he's tired. In my mind, these two big elements go together, and I'll walk you through the details of what happens in the musical before I tie the thought threads back around into some theorizing.

For your reference, here's a list of the main songs and story beats:

• "U-S-Opening Night" - the Starkettes (who are basically a Greek chorus) frame the show's story, and then it turns into an ensemble that loosely takes place at the Stark Expo. • "I Want You" – Steve's "I want" song about trying to enlist in the army. • "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" – Steve performing on the USO tour obviously, and then there's a reprise with an added voiceover that (very briefly) covers the Howling Commandos' rescue + the war via comic book imagery. • "What You Missed" – Fury and the Starkettes tell Steve some pop culture things he missed while he was frozen, + they tell him about the Avengers. Then Fury goes down a list of other hero characters, including the Guardians? Doctor Strange? Wanda?? It plays loose and fast with time, because many non-2012 characters are bafflingly mentioned in this nonlinear Avengers list – including the Winter Soldier (???). • "Save the City" – this is the song seen in Hawkeye, with the civilians + the Avengers all involved, but it's slightly different here and expanded to also reference other battles. • "End of the Line" – Old Steve presents main Steve with the time stone as an opportunity for his happy ending, and they reflect on things together. (Yes, this is insane.) • "Just One Dance" – Steve and Peggy reunite and sing about their love. • And then there's basically a reprise of "Save the City," with the Starkettes and the whole cast closing the finale out.

Right out of the gate, let's address this: the main reason you're going to see some fans pissed about this musical is not only that Steve and Peggy's ~epic romance~ is made a pillar of the story... but also that Bucky's importance/involvement in Steve's life is minimized as much as possible.

And they took Bucky-related elements from canon and made them center more around Peggy instead.

• For some weird reason, Peggy is in the Stark Expo scene. When a soldier is hitting on the Starkettes ("hey sweetheart, I wanna dance!"), Steve tells the soldier to show the ladies some respect. The soldier grabs Steve and throws him down, and then Peggy swoops in to yell "Pick on someone your own size!" and punches the guy before walking away. So she's given Bucky's TFA line verbatim, and she is given the role he had of saving Steve from bullies. There is blatantly no reason they couldn't have had Bucky still serve that function and be truer to "history," because he briefly enters this scene in uniform less than a minute later to announce he's shipping out to the 107th – and then he spins off with a date on his arm. (We don't see Bucky on stage again until the full cast comes out for the finale!)

• After the Star-Spangled Man show, Peggy rushes in to talk to Steve. Steve is excited about his USO performance (???) but she urgently tells him to listen as she says that the 107th has been captured. Peggy apparently knows it's Bucky's division, and she knows Steve is going to go, so she tells him that she's already arranged transport for him. This is a subtle twist from the truth of how it went down in TFA, in which Steve recognized 107 as the number of Bucky's division, and his dogged determination inspired Peggy to relent and help his rescue mission. Here, Peggy is given a stronger role in the Cap origin story. And before Steve rushes off, Peggy sings a short untitled ballad hoping for their dance, so Steve pauses before he leaves to ask her to go on a date with her when he returns. • The most egregious Bucky-to-Peggy change of all is the song "End of the Line," in which the infamous Steve and Bucky line/promise (that broke Bucky's brainwashing...) is re-contextualized to be about ???? Peggy waiting for Steve in the past??? Old Man Steve and regular Steve sing it together. But we'll go back to that in a minute.

Again, I get it, yeah? It's for theater. Whatever. But in reality, the obvious logical truth is that Peggy is centered (to the point of taking elements from Bucky's story, and in turn Bucky is downplayed) because they needed to convince the audience that Steve going back in time to be with her makes sense. Steve's time travel ending had to be justified, so the Peggy and Steve "love story" had to be a pillar in this with everything else being given lesser weight.

And the inherent selfishness of him doing something as big as going back in time also had to be justified... which is why they do their best to convince you Steve fought so much he deserved it.

Let me elaborate on that by describing the lead-up to the "End of the Line" song.

So, right before "End of the Line" is "Save the City" – which includes Steve belting "I can do this all day!" repeatedly, of course. It's the 2012 Battle of New York as the Avengers come together to win.

As they begin to disperse, the song then transitions to a voiceover alert mentioning Sokovia being under attack by artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Age of Ultron). The Avengers group rushes back to center stage to say "Save the city! Help us win!" together for battle again.

And then things get fucking weird.

Because the next voiceover threat is "Washington DC. Attack: the Winter Soldier." This is not accurate to the order of events! The Winter Soldier events were before Age of Ultron; the public of the MCU would also know this.

And suddenly on stage Steve is now in the center while everyone else gestures to him. Instead of singing with him, they're telling him "Save the city! Help us win!"

Then, another voiceover: "Wakanda, under attack" (Infinity War) and again, Steve is centered while everyone else points to him. The ensemble says, "Save the city, help us win! Save us all from the state we're in! Got to hear you, got to hear you, got to hear you say..." as Steve is buckling to his knees under their pointing. And as the lights go down to one spotlight on him and everyone else leaves, he says "I can do this all day" one last time, but now it's subdued.

The implication is that Steve has been fighting and fighting, people leave him or he loses them, and he's tired.

And then fucking Old Man Steve arrives.

He says "On your left," because yes, they gave him Sam Wilson's line. BATSHIT.

So now there's two Steves on stage! There has been no mention of Thanos or infinity stones or anything up to this point! (I can only assume that's because in the MCU universe no one would want to be reminded of the trauma of "the Blip" – though it's pretty wild that they're allowed to know about magical time travel?)

Steve is baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival. I, too, was baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival.

As Steve questions how this is possible, Old Man Steve shows him the time stone from his pocket – and only the time stone – which Steve recognizes.

OLD MAN: "You've got to remember where you've been to know where you're going." STEVE: "Where am I going?" OLD MAN: "A date with destiny." STEVE: “Destiny. So we’re the hero till the end?” OLD MAN: “That’s the thing about endings, Steven. They can be rewritten.”

Lmao???????

Steve starts singing about how he hopes this means they "win" and calls himself a "tired hero."

STEVE: "But sometimes I wonder, who will save the savior? Can we really do this all day? So here I am, now and also then. Just a man, looking back at where he's been." OLD MAN: "The road is rough but wounds are healed by a thing called time. You can't forget what's waiting at the end of the line."

Me, watching this: the fact that he says this out of the blue makes absolutely no sense.

There's a bit more singing, including "end of the line" repetition, and then Old Man Steve pulls out the time stone to essentially show visions of... I don't fucking know. Past, present, and future?

That's pre-serum Steve, Steve with Mjolnir, and Sam Wilson as the new Cap. This is the only reference to Sam in the whole thing.

More singing, and then: Peggy's silhouette.

OLD MAN: "Can't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "I can't forget who's waiting..." BOTH: "Don't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "At the end of the line."

At this point I'm like, what in the hell?

Did Old Man Steve just brainwash normal Steve into thinking "end of the line" is now about Peggy? Because uhhhh, sorry, that's what it feels like!

Then Steve uses the stone to go back in time, reunites with Peggy, etc. etc. finale.

It's truly some crazy shit.

[drags hands down face]

Look... there's a lot to unpack here, and there's a lot that gets me about it. I know this is dramatized for the stage! I KNOW! But the fact that Old Man Steve shows up to convince Steve he should go back in time makes me want to gnaw on furniture.

Another person essentially uses the lure of a life with Peggy to tempt Steve into doing this, dramatized or not. That is how it's framed.

It's a hell of a way to frame it, and it makes Steve's ending stand in even starker contrast to so many other things in phase 4. Desperately trying to go backwards when you shouldn't or to bring back a lost lover is an evil temptation, and it results in a trap or negative cosmic consequences for basically all of the other characters in the MCU.

• In Shang-Chi, Wenwu is tempted by the Soul Eaters beyond the Dark Gate. They use the voice of his deceased wife to convince him to set them free. • In "What If" episode 4, Doctor Strange becomes evil in a desperate bid to save Christine and he destroys his universe. Along the way, he tries to tempt/trap the good Strange who's fighting him by using visions of Christine, but good Strange knows she isn't real. • Wanda's grief and desire to bring back Vision leads to – well, you know. • In No Way Home, Peter trying to undo things is what causes the multiverse problems.

And the fact that they frame it as Steve being tired, so basically the argument is he deserves that time travel ending (just like MCU fans who defend Endgame say in real life)... Well.

There's no way to make it hold up, especially because in "What If" they explicitly subverted that and had Captain Carter not go back in time despite how she felt she'd "earned" it.

Lastly, in this musical as Steve decides to pursue time travel as his course of action, he basically has the meaning or memory of "end of the line" rewritten for him. I refuse to not think that is some nefarious shit. Yes, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's just some general Disney erasing Steve and Bucky nonsense.

But... this is on another level to me. I do think that it's a blatant choice that they had to be aware even general MCU fans would call bullshit on. Everyone knows it's inaccurate. "End of the line" is embedded in pop culture consciousness as being connected to Bucky. It just is! Surely that means it's not a stretch to theorize it could be deliberate meta commentary.

How, in the MCU world, would the in-universe playwrights even know the phrase "end of the line"? How the fuck would it be accidentally applied to Steve and Peggy? Not to sound like a crazy person, but who the fuck was rooting around in Steve and/or Bucky's personal business or their brains in order to obtain that knowledge and then remix it, and why? Neither of them would flippantly mention it in the public eye or interviews ever. So where did its inclusion come from?

And in the finale ensemble, this is Bucky's line when he comes out on stage and salutes + points to Steve: "Don't forget who's waiting..." And Old Man Steve completes it with "...at the end of the line."

What on God's green earth am I meant to do with THAT?

Smh.

The vibes are fucked, folks.

The MCU public wouldn't know enough to say the vibes are fucked. The MCU public wouldn't know the origin of "end of the line" as a phrase. But us? The ones who know the "true story" via the movies? We can call bullshit.

Whether the creative team behind this musical did every aspect of this consciously or not, in my opinion the fact that they had to tweak canon "history" to A) make Peggy's involvement in Steve's life more central and B) emphasize Steve as a tired hero all works as commentary on and almost a condemnation of Endgame's frustrating ending. In a way, it's also what Endgame did with the compass and 1973 moment with Peggy as well.

Steve's ending had to be convincing.

It's theater.

And so, maybe the same is true for the in-narrative perspective of this musical in the context of the MCU world. What purpose would it serve to tell the MCU public a feel-good narrative about how all Steve Rogers wanted was to no longer be a tragic man out of time and get to make a life with his best girl? To frame it as being about how he fought so hard for years and so he earned a happy ending? To minimize and nearly erase Bucky's importance in his life?

Who would want to do that sort of propaganda, and why?

The MCU civilians are given this happy explanation and maybe don't widely question it. Who cares about the details or logistics if it makes a good story, I guess. It's a stretch, but maybe they mostly applaud it. Maybe they're happy for "America's favorite son" (not unlike people who uncritically liked Endgame). In a way, it's even a rehabilitation of his image (after the Accords) like putting the shield on the Statue of Liberty. And maybe they'd even be ready and waiting to applaud if Steve ever made a dramatically selfless and de-aged return to the spotlight or a position of authority.

But mostly, the public is being conditioned to not know or to forget that anyone else like Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson would possibly know Steve Rogers the person well enough in the modern day to call bullshit on any of this – or on his hypothetical miraculous future return.

So. Sure, it's probably nothing.

But what if it's not?

-------

UPDATE: @faeriecap added to this post with some incredible information and further behind-the-scenes context about the MCU/Marvel stuff at Disney parks! Check it out here :)

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I was scrolling through your tags and links last night and i will never stop being SHOOKT of the way you right Steve and Bucky JAHFOWJDORJEI

So I present to you- fresh faced Steve x twunk Sebastian x WS!Bucky

During endgame, they made a joke about the hot tub time machine movie and that implies the existence of one Sebastian Stan in the marvel universe and I'm reminded of that discovery when I read your selfcest drabbles/fics Nghhhhhh

So like, imagine a movie night with the avengers and Steve's all chilling when he suddenly sees the younger face of his dead best friend (ehem lover ehem) on the screen. He loses his shit, quietly, and Steve's captivated, he can't take his eyes off the man in front of the screen, animatedly talking and playing his character

Natasha's the first to notice of course and she quietly tells him that he's just an actor that happened to have an uncanny resemblance with the late sergeant. Steve nods along, heart aching behind where he's squeezing the pillow to his chest. When the movie ends, he returns to his floor and googles Sebastian Stan and basically spends the rest of the night stalking him

Do you see the potential angst!? The 'he doesn't want me as me but because I look like someone he loved' trope on Sebby who falls in love with Steve but can't really act on his feelings bcs he knows he only reminds Steve of his lost love???? Or.... STALKER STEVE AJDBWKRBWOHFIE

as an actor, being stalked is nothing new for Seb but good lord he's never been stalked by a 6'2, blonde man built like a brick houseeeeeeeeee; and his stalkers' weirdly polite and charming too, flowers and chocolate and lots of other gifts-

Then we get the events of the winter soldier and maybe instead of leaving, Bucky stays around stalking Steve and he discovers Steve's massive obsession with this actor who looks exactly like him. Another identity crisis for Bucky because is he even real? Or just another version? What if he was just modelled after this man? He needs to know more about this man

It ends with the two of them stalking Seb, watching from afar, leading to possible dub-con EHEM AHSIWHEUWHIEJRJF

I WANT TO WRITE THE PORN PART BUT I FEEL LIKE IVE GONE LONG ENOUGH ABIUT THIS UGHHHHHH bcs can you imagine poor regular Human Sebastian trying to keep up with two ravenous super soldiers who are nearly twice his size!!? Overstimulation and marathon sex would go crazy!!!!

That's all 😘 hope u have a good day Sir S!!

-🫠🫠

Aw, thank you!! I'm touched 😘

Oh yeah, I always forget about that. Timeline shenanigans are fun, aren't they?

Oh. Oh. But that's devastating. Can you imagine how wrecked fresh-from-the-ice Steve would be? Seeing his lover's face on another man? It would be like being jostled from his sleep by an explosion on TV--his heart races the same. Shit.

The stalking that would go down. Holy fuck. Yeah. Stalking and pining. I can only imagine the hours Steve would spent staring at his laptop screen, longing to reach out and touch his face. He looks so, so similar!

OH I FEEL THE ANGST. But I wasn't thinking about it like that! Oh my fucking god, Sebastian falling for Steve--who wouldn't?--but knowing the whole time that it's not him that Steve wants. Oof. And while Steve's heart is big, maybe he could learn to love Sebastian for Sebastian... that's not going to happen when he's so locked up with grief. He can't move on from Bucky by being with someone who is his twin. All he can do is yearn for Sebastian, who looks so much like Bucky that he can't resist, but doesn't act like him. He isn't Bucky. It hurts. But it's all he has.

Oh my GOD, there's something darkly comedic about Steve becoming a stalker because while my immediate inclination is a stalker in the traditional dangerous, threatening way and not an unwanted, too-intensely-earnest infatuation. Huh. That would be so interesting! And how would Sebastian react to that because Steve is very handsome and sweet but... boundaries. Jesus Christ. They need to establish boundaries.

Oof. A stalking triangle? A love triangle? We're getting wild, lmao. The identity crisis would fucking TAKE BUCKY OUT. Yeah. What the fuck. Who is he? Who is this man? Has Steve entirely replaced him with this lookalike? Does Steve not want him? Does he not need him? Who is that, and what's happening? I feel like it would probably make Bucky crazy jealous, right? He's unsteady at that time, and so I feel more than stalking he would turn to threatening poor Sebastian.

And maybe it all ends up with Steve explaining himself, standing between them, physically buffering them with his arms spread and his hands up. Then, well... why turn down an opportunity like this? Steve has forced his way into their lives (back into Bucky's life), so, he deserves what he gets--two lookalikes, two loves of his life, taking it out on him. Using him. 😏

This would go hard as a long form fic!! You're so fucking right 💥 💳💥💳

And thank you so, so much for sharing!! I enjoyed reading and thinking about this!

[idkjustletmescroll]

Some incoherent ranting/rambling i guess

I really don't understand some people's obsession with fictional characters doing shitty things just conveniently...NOT KNOWING that they're bad?? Idk if that makes ANY sense at all it's 3 in the goddamn morning but let me explain--

I was doom scrolling, as one does, when I came across a tiktok of a marvel fan explaining why actually wanda maximoff had no idea what she was doing with the hex, which, sure, holds true for the BEGINNING of wandavision. But we're shown pretty clearly during the rest of the show that she knows what she's done, how it's affecting the townspeople, and that it's not real...she just needs it to be real. She can't cope with her ACTUAL reality. Her family is gone, and the ones that remain are busy dealing with their own traumas and families (i.e. clint, who I still argue WOULD have tried to find her and help her post-endgame, even if he desperately needed some downtime with his family--but moving on). I'm a wanda maximoff stan, she's my girl, my favourite, my one and only, but she's not a complete idiot. She knew what she was doing. I don't care that she did an objectively bad thing, I care about why she did it and kept on doing it--which is so much more interesting to me, anyways.

Alicent Hightower in HOTD? According to the writers, had no clue that, actually, years of talking about how aegon should be the heir to the throne would result in people ACTUALLY SCHEMING to get him on the throne, even though she seems to be heading the effort the entire time? Listen, the HOTD fandom is something else, and the way they talk about alicent genuinely scares me, but alicent being worried for her kids' safety, reluctantly cutting off all affection for Rhaenyra because she's genuinely terrified for her kids' lives, even just the spite of wanting her years of suffering and humiliation to mean something; alicent being both a ringleader and a pawn in a man's game, because ultimately she's resigned to the fact that the closest she can get to winning in this system (under this wheel, if you will), is finding the best man to propel to victory/be a pawn for because she as a woman will ultimately never be the victor herself--is SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING than "okay, yeah, she spent years declaring how unfit her ex-bff/stepdaughter is to rule, but she didn't know people would actually take that seriously...she just wants rhaenyra to be OKAY, yall..." (I have a lot of feelings about how the show wrote alicent, okay?)

And arcane is one of my favourite shows of all time, and I've been lucky enough to MOSTLY stay on the good side of the fandom, which, from my end, is usually pretty amazing with an appreciation for nuanced media. But it genuinely makes my blood boil when I see people claim that Vi "could have gone back for jinx on the bridge" (ep. 7), when the moment they're referencing is vi supporting an injured Caitlyn, who almost died by jinx's bombs, RIGHT AFTER JINX SHOT AT THEM BOTH, AND RIGHT AFTER EKKO TOLD VI TO GO. "She left her sister to get beat up--" everything in vi's face in that scene speaks to her reluctance. She's holding up a girl she's growing closer to, who could actually be grievously injured, and she knows, at this point, that jinx is irrational--jinx just shot at her. Like...we knew that vi wasn't going to die, but she could've really easily. Ekko says he'll handle it. There's another bomb. Vi goes back to look for jinx AS SOON as Caitlyn's sitting down somewhere relatively safe (at which point, you know, she sees jinx being picked up by silco and his sidekicks). The point is, people act, with scenes like this one, like jinx was chucking paint bombs, not shooting fucking bullets en masse. I love all the arcane characters; jinx is such an interesting one, and her hallucinations and delusions do tend to make us wonder how much responsibility we can rightfully place on her shoulders. But people are really out here acting like she didn't...almost kill vi and cait there? We, from jinx's perspective, know that she saw Caitlyn as the literal devil; from vi and cait's povs, she just kind of walked up and tried to kill them. Am I making my point yet?

Speaking of arcane, i hope in season 2 we get scenes of characters from piltover who are really rooting for the oppression of the undercity. Not because of what jinx did, not because of the war, not because they "just don't know" how bad it is...because they make a profit off of it, and for that they are perfectly content letting people become dependent on drugs and make their livings from dangerous work in factories and mines. The whole point of "the city of progress" is that it became what it was off the backs of the undercity. We get a lot of characters in season 1 REALIZING the conditions down there, but I want them realizing in season 2 that not everybody was sheltered, they were just making a profit. (I kind of want to see Heimerdinger called out, too. Like, yeah, he's fluffy and cute and stuff, but if he's the founder of piltover, he's also been there since the beginning of the undercity, and didn't care because immortality yada yada. Have I envisioned scenes of ekko calling vi a sellout and she's just like "bitch and who the fuck are you working with?" and everybody's miserable? Yes. Yes I have. And don't come for me, ekko is the mvp of this show. Let a girl dream).

Even people like Tony Stark...people be acting like he's not actually an asshole a lot of the time. Or that he didn't know what weapons did before he stopped distributing them. I like tony, he's entertaining. But I'm not going to act like I need him to be a saint who didn't know shit about the world or basic courtesies to like him.

Idk if fandoms are just weird like that, but you can like your fave even if they do shitty things. They don't always have to be helpless, or just too stupid to realize what's going on. I don't understand why so many people are opposed to being entertained by people who do shitty things. Where's the appreciation for the drama? The messiness? The chaos?

[shifuaang]

Conglomerate thoughts about Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 under the cut. Please do not read if you don't want to be spoiled! TLDR: I loved it.

I suppose I should preface this by saying Guardians Vol. 2 is my favorite MCU movie and that I hold no real affinity towards installments outside of the Guardians in the Marvel Universe. I used to be a pretty active and engaged fan, but Endgame swiftly put a stopper on that. I was very worried about how this film was charged with the task of picking up the pieces of a fractured and, frankly, careless and poorly written conclusion to Phase 3.

Long story short, I should have never doubted Gunn.

Gunn did an expert job at navigating the perimeters that Endgame thrust on him, ensuring that the plot didn't linger on what happened without neglecting the catastrophic weight of Thanos's actions. Bringing alternate universe Gamora into the fold seemed like a monstrous and difficult task. I have expressed before how much I hated the idea of Quill chasing down someone who isn’t even ‘his’ Gamora and trying to win her back, but Gunn handled this with absolute grace, assuring that everyone stayed in-character in their reactions and interactions. There was no backpedaling or continuity with how the Guardians were written in Infinity War and Endgame as I feared there would be. Gunn picked up from where we left off in Vol. 2 while still allowing us space to mourn Gamora's loss. Rocket's trauma and character development was taken seriously again. Every member of the Guardians had a well crafted arc and was given the appropriate amount of time to explore said arc.

The animal and child abuse was hard to watch. It felt way more violent than anything we've ever seen in the MCU, but I'm almost glad that it was. I feel that loss and violence is almost glossed over in the superhero genre. We don't quite get the full scope of devastation and impact that villains have caused in their quest for domination, colonization, and perfection. We've been desensitized to death and torture to a degree. Even the snap™, which most would site as the most evidentiary form of brutality in the the MCU, did not hold nearly as much weight as the actions of the High Evolutionary. Thankfully the plot never seemed like a hit over the head with a message of EUGENICS BAD! It was more a tragic exploration in what eugenics can do to an individual, how it desecrates the environment, and how the quest for perfection is gratuitous and futile.

In spite of the heavy subject matter and darkness of the film, Gunn still maintained the thread of humor that we love from the Guardians. I laughed out loud more than a handful of times, and every laugh came at a point in the film where it was necessary. There were no quips or jabs there to deflect from the seriousness of what was occurring, just enough to give the audience time to breathe. I am so glad that Guardians Vol. 3 was the first MCU movie to get the green light in the 'fuck' department. I can think of no franchise more deserving, and the way it was used was perhaps the funniest joke in the whole film.

I could write an entire essay on Mantis's arc and her development and how much she means to me as a character, but maybe (probably) I will save that for another day. To keep things short, I appreciated her continued empathy and sense of humor in such a bleak situation and after such a hard life. I see so much of myself in her, and it's incredibly moving to have someone represent aspects of yourself that you thought would never be portrayed in the superhero genre because they are more difficult to express emotionally and cerebrally. She's so important and so brilliantly acted by Pom, and I adore how much agency and confidence she was allowed.

As for people who say they didn't like the ending because it 'destroyed' the found family aspect of the Guardians, I never got the impression that these characters weren't going to meet up again and that they stopped being family. There was no discussion on how they were 'bad' for each other or that they'd be better off individually, which is normally the consensus when groups split in media. Quill should spend the remaining time his grandfather has with him. Mantis should go explore herself and her independence after years of captivity and compliance. Drax and Nebula should rebuild, and create, and love on the new occupants of Knowhere, as they've been forced to spend most of their lives being destroyed and being destructive. Rocket and Groot should carry on the legacy of the Guardians, protectors of the universe. And Gamora has clearly established a loving family of her own with the Ravagers, which is what she deserves. Everyone's ending felt pertinent and cathartic, and we were left with a sense of hope and a twinkle of potential for what could come in the future.

Thank you, Gunn and the cast and crew of this film, for making me cry the hardest I have in a theater since Toy Story 3, and for ending my favorite MCU series so beautifully. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better conclusion.

We'll all fly away together, one last time, into the forever and beautiful sky. 🚀

[platonic-tony-stark]

Hey 👋 I know it’s rough right now, I really do understand it. Life is tough but you shouldn’t shame yourself for having these feelings ! What you feel right now is completely valid and you deserve to acknowledge those feelings and not feel a guilt about them. I don’t know you but I can assure you that you are wanted in this life and you are needed in this life. We all have different ways of coping and just because yours is a fictional universe billions of galaxies away doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY this feeling of suffocation and darkness that you probably feel carries itself on your shoulders everyday WILL PASS and that little voice inside your head that says “that’s bullshit, you’re wrong it won’t go away” is very very wrong. No matter how hard it gets never let that voice win. You are worthy of happiness and it will come your way. That voice is a liar and in a few years time you will be glad you didn’t listen to it. Everyone yearns for the past and for childhood to come back and embrace them like a warm blanket but if you get so caught up in the past you are going to forget to look ahead and around at the current moment. You might think it’s the end and that isn’t true, it’s the beginning. I know that sound cliche but you need to remember it has been proven that multiple realities exist so somewhere in those realities your comfort characters are reading your story and watching you right now and I can tell you with full confidence they are screaming “DONKT GIVE UP JUST YET, I DONT WANT THIS STROY TO END”. We all as readers of your blog no matter if they like, comment or just appreciate from afar are also begging you to carry on. You are so strong to have come this far, carry on. YOU HAVE GOT THIS! Drink some water and eat something small. You deserve that much at least. Now start the next chapter in your life, your comfort characters can’t wait to see what’s next xx 💚💖💚 (anytime you see this at the end of an anon that’s me and I appreciate you being here)

Wow wow wow. First of all, damn tumblr looks hella different now. Secondly, I can't believe, my posts are still around and still getting LIKES amd Follows. Like my guy- I've been gone for almost 2 years now I think. I was on some times but not active active yk. I truly believe nobody missed me EXCEPT this person.

SO UPDATE. I ain't dead. And got professional help. Brain chemicals balanced and stable environment. I moved and sorted things out at work.

I joined loads of communities and wrote some fics on AO3. I still love tony and the OG Marvel Stuff but clicked out after endgame and the spiderman movie after.

Just wanted yall to know i never deinstalled the app and never ever thought to delete all this. I kind want to continue but want to kept the atmosphere of the first avenger movie and around iron man 1 & 2 i just love the nostalgia. In my humble opinion the best era.

Thanks for read and I might beginning to post again. Maybe. Let's see what the morning brings

Cheers yall!

[cleabellanov]

A movie concept:

BLACK WIDOW II: into the winter mist

There is only one Black Widow movie, and although I know the feelings about it are mixed, I personally really enjoyed it: seeing more of Natasha with bits of her past and the Red Room.

But it could've been more, and, don't mind me if I say, we deserved to see more.

(Well, not taking into account all the factors it would take to make this movie, like finances, date of release...only as a "concept" level)

In this movie, instead of going into future events, because...we can't ignore that the battle of Endgame happened, we go into the past. A much further away past than we're used to seeing in Marvel, who usually likes the future better (except we're not talking about time-travel. we see the actual past of Natasha Romanoff).

It starts, as it will end, with the Red Room. Young Natasha just got "recruited" into this establishment. She can't fight it: she's just a child, only 6 years old at that time. The year is 1990. As we already know from the Black Widow movie, she won't stay there for long...not the first time. She returns in 1995, with Yelena too this time. She knows how to fight it now. It's not enough.

The years pass, the training is rough. We need a lot of translated subtitles, because the actors speak in Russian. There are a few familiar faces, like Dreykov's, and a blue eyed blonde who might be Yelena, but otherwise it's all dark tones. Time passes quickly in the first part of the movie.

The life of an indoctrinated Red Room spy is so much tougher when you see the details. Parts of the missions are shown: the blood, the sweat and tears, the seductions...But they all do what they're trained to do as widows. Their ledger is "dripping, gushing red". Could saving a man no more virtuous than themselves change that?

We don't get to know. The Red Room's greatest weapon now comes in to train the widows: the Winter Soldier. Every widow had heard about him, about how he got his name because he fought in the Cold War, and was colder than the coldest winter they ever faced. And now, he's here. Training them.

There is nothing human about him. Bucky Barnes is seemingly completely lost, or far beyond saving from everything the Winter Soldier did. But Natasha: the human in her having a voice over the trained assassin, sees beyond all the layers of the weapon. And Bucky Barnes - James, by the name she discovered and didn't stop calling him by - is awakened again for the first time in decades.

A dangerous play starts between the two: one that, if you read a few comics, you're maybe familiar with. But it's a whole other thing to see it on screen.(Sebastian Stan and Scarlett Johansson would have great chemistry, you can't prove me wrong.) During training, missions: both in Russia and the whole Europe (because who would be paired with the soldier if not the most skilled of the widows?). We get to see them in action. In more ways than one.

They're good at keeping secrets, too. The success of their actions leaves little suspicios to anything else.

And they're more powerful together. Their bond is strenghtened by the trauma they both have in their history. Yes, a trauma bond is still a bond. And it's not even just that: they make it more, because it matters. It matters for two trained weapons-to-be to step out of line, and without trying to wipe out their villanous nature, to use it upon their own judgement.

Because that's what they've been plannig for a long time: stepping out of line. It didn't matter no one was able to break out from Russia's great lineage. They were gonna be the first.

The screen shows the time and space : Moscow, 2009. All we can hear is the hustling wind, as the scene cuts from the outside of the Red Room's Base (before it got moved into the air) to Bucky and Nat's holding hands. One more mission, then they go according to plan. They don't make promises, because they know it is difficult to keep them, but they make an unspeakable oath, and to hell with fate if it doesn't agree.

This "last mission" of Nat's as a red room agent is in Budapest. And she goes alone.

Where agent Clint Barton is supposed to kill her.

In her absence, however, James's weak composure is revealed. He hid it perfectly, for the a longest time yet, but it became clear once Natasha was gone that the Winter Soldier wasn't acting like a machine anymore. He even knew Captain America's full name. Steven Grant Rogers. He fought not to give it up, but didn't resist.

He didn't get to read Nat's little note, because she was smarter than to leave it in plain sight. But in a few years, Bucky was going to find the paper again. And remember, because that's what she out it there for.

In Budapest, the arrow doesn't follow its given course. Barton spares a life, causing so much more to happen in return. Because nothing is for nothing.

Natasha Romanoff doesn't go back. She figures out what happened to James the second she heares about his most recent kills. That's the last drop driving her to killing Dreykov...or thinking she did so. With the world believing him dead, she actually did the man a favor.

But neither her nor Barton have any idea of what will be happening right now. The credits start rolling right after Natasha speaks her line "I know what to do" with a vengeful look on her face. We know what happens afterwards. But this movie is set in the past, so the characters don't.

There is only one post credit.

"Good to see finally see you again". Bucky's voice, on a black screen.

We see the note in red ink again, on a table. The year is also shown, 2014 : during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

"Can't blame a girl for being late". Natasha's voice.

And, at the end of the movie, written wtih the classical white on black:

Black Widow will return in "Black Widow III: Budapest".

[racefortheironthrone]

Totally agree with everything.

You might have already said this or someone else about The DPS should be an Endgame event (which I agree with). I think Jean should become the Phoenix in movie 5 so you already have that investment of that Scott/Jean relationship and how the power of the phoenix affects it. Then do DOFP in movie 6 or 7. Introduce the Sentinels at the end of move 1 or 2 (Ahab, Trask, Shaw ect) for an better throughline into DOFP. Maybe Kitty and the white queen in movie 2 or 3 (for the hellfire plot in the DPS). Or it could be the first movie with Charlie and Emma fighting (not physical) of Kitty.

With DOFP, you can do Rachel in an Kitty flashback (a way to introduce Franklin Richards as well since Marvel is doling the FF). Or, this is my controversial part, do DOFP in two movies w/6 all in Earth-811 and 7/in Earth 616. Have Rachel as an Hound as Ahab’s favorite only at to befriend Kitty (as Kate) and place Kitty in the past at the end. That might be too dark for Marvel and Disney, but DOFP is dark, and I feel like it has to feel like an real timeline (hence its only Earth-881 b/c of Kitty's intervention) not just an plot point (I understand the sensitivity of what I’m taking about and I no way asking to be grim dark).

Then the next time we see Rachel is ringing the doorbell in end credit scene at the end of movie 10 (or something).

Change anything you like. Disagree. Just have fun.  Thank you for reading.

BTW, looked up Rhea Ripley, hell yeah, she should be Rachel.

I agree about DPS being an Endgame-like event, because as I've said before, it's properly understood as the second half of a diptych with the Phoenix Saga. So if DPS is movie #5, that's fine - as long as the Phoenix Saga is movie #4. The key thing is that audiences have to experience Jean Grey as an unambiguous hero in the first film before they see her become a villain in the second film.

Likewise, it's important that audiences experience the Phoenix itself as a positive force in the first film so they don't get the wrong idea about what it is - looking at you, Avengers vs. X-Men and Jason Aaron more generally. The Phoenix is not evil or destructive by nature, nor is it destined to go out of control (see Rachel Summers) - it is Tiferet (or as Claremont spells it, Tiphareth), the synthesis of compassion and judgement. It only goes out of control when the psychic blocks that Jean, not Xavier, created to keep the power of the Phoenix within limits that a mortal could control are dismantled by Jason Wyndgarde as part of the Hellfire Club's machinations.

As for DOFP, I think you have to have present-616 and future-811 in the same movie, both for structure reasons (there are careful parallelisms between what's happening in one timeline and the next) and because otherwise 811 is too unrelentingly bleak: it's important to soften the blow of seeing the X-Men killed by Sentinels by showing them succeed in thwarting the Brotherhood. As for Rachel, I think you show her as an X-hound using her chrono-skimming to send Kitty back at the beginning of the movie, and then show her in the post-credits transporting between dimensions as a hope spot to counter-balance the downbeat of Senator Kelly getting the Sentinel program restarted.

I would leave the Hound stuff for traumatic flashbacks in the next film, so that DOFP is really Kitty's story and the next movie is Rachel's story.

[multidimensional-trashcan]

No don't apologize for the Stucky stuff! I only watched Endgame once in the cinema because it pissed me off so much.

And I just did it again expecting to maybe be a little more forgiving. But NO I am still pissed off mainly because of this part...

same for me! watched endgame once and it pissed me off sooo much. im not sure whether i watched it ever again but im sure that in the future i definitely wont! and y'know for me its not even about shipping them (tho i do somewhat in the sense of i love their dynamic and want to see more of it no matter whether platonic, queerplatonic (or romantic)). but in the movies it is shown that there is no one more important to steve than bucky (man didnt want to fight against him although he was brainwashed and ready to kill him) and bucky literally broke 70 years of mind control for steve (and you dont just establish such a beautiful line as 'til the end of the line' in one movie and then betray that sentiment). they literally love each other! but for some reason people cant fathom platonic love (which it is in canon) greater than romantic love so they think if given the choice steve would go back to peggy. which is the direct opposite of what the three captain america movies showed us! he moves on! he learns she had a happy life, he goes to her funeral for fs sake! he kisses her niece (also dumb ass move of the directors guess they thought it would make people stop shipping stucky or whatever, hate that they basically just included sharon for love interest reasons). and in endgame hes been in the present for about 11 years! thats double the time he knew peggy in the 40s. and he. moves. on. (sorry it annoys me that they just ignored the whole character development). also the same goes for peggy. while she still was pretty one-dimensional love interest like in the movies, the series about her finally did something with her besides being the woman captain america likes. and she also. moved. on! and then they just erased all that, booted the series out of canon and just made her a cardboard-cut love interest again! ugh. also someone please tell me how it makes sense that Steve Rogers, the man that searched 2 years for Bucky without knowing whether hed find him and who fought out a civil war (at least partially) for him, would just sit around in the 50s while knowing that bucky was being tortured by hydra right now. he just wouldnt. thats so completely out of character i wanna scream! oh god this is long. anyway once again:

STEVE AND BUCKY'S LOVE FOR EACH OTHER IS CANON! AND JUST BECAUSE STEVE LOVED (yes ill say loved see 'he moved on') PEGGY ROMANTICALLY THAT DOESNT MEAN ITS MORE IMPORTANT OR GREATER THAN HIS LOVE FOR BUCKY. SAME GOES FOR IF HE STILL LOVED HER! THIS IS TRUE IN REAL LIFE TOO! PLATONIC LOVE IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY LESSER THAN ROMANTIC LOVE! THIS ALSO MEANS THAT 'THERES NO OTHER EXPLANATION THAN ROMANCE FOR STUCKY IS ALSO WRONG'. YES YOU CAN HEADCANON THEM AS ROMANTIC BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY EXPLANATION.

and yes im aware that even with steve staying in the present, steve and bucky's relationship would still have been sidelined in favour of a romantic, straight (its marvel what are we expecting) one. i guess thats what i mean when i say im shipping them. they are made for each other ('its difficult to find someone with shared life experience' -> bucky shows up, god i love this) and their relationship is one of the most important in their lifes (if not the most) and relationships with other people (romantic, platonic, queerplatonic or other) would not change anything about that. but marvel (and lets be real the people watching) dont see this. so i have something to rant about for days :)

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1125 review

One Piece arcs have slow and bloated midsections that can be difficult to sit through week to week. This is nothing new; we've been doing this dance since Skypiea. But it's the endings, the post-arc lore bombs like this, that make it all worthwhile.

Now, I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but I feel pretty validated by Garling being promoted to Elder status following Saturn's fall, which I spitballed in a chapter discussion thread in February, and Punk Records taking off to fill the role of satellite internet, which I was pitching as a way to escape the siege since at least August last year (though admittedly, I thought it could be launched all the way into space). I believe I also said in one of my reviews, when the escape plan was being made and Shaka said the Vegaclones were expendable that Oda seemed to be setting them up for self-sacrifice, but that it didn't feel like his style to kill them all, but also that he probably also wouldn't bring the full set of them on the Sunny, so there had to be a third option. And would you look at that, this week we get the third option.

Cover story first. Minatomo's disappearance has to be linked to the kidnapping foiled in the last installment. There were theories last from the last one that Raizo could be back to his old ways, but he wouldn't be interested in Minatomo, so the lead theory that it's a former Beasts Pirate gains ground.

Right away we get a very interesting inferred character interaction for Lucci and Kaku. Is Lucci lying for Kaku? You can tell from Kaku's face that something difficult for him has gone down. I'd love to someday see the conversation that preceded this scene, but that wouldn't have the engagement factor of trying to fill in the gaps short term. And then, where is Stussy? I don't believe for a second that she's dead, but would she have made it to Punk Records before its takeoff?

Next, we learn some big things about the Five Elders. We know from the Gum Gum Fruit being a myth even to them that the Elders of today do not date back to the Void Century, but Saturn at least goes back 200 years. So the demonic forms come with a kind of agelessness. And shortly after, that the forms come with the position, seemingly bestowed by Imu and taken away just as easily. The first big clue about how to beat these guys, and a deepening of the mystery of who and what Imu is. And what an unexpectedly brutal and satisfying way for Saturn to go. A fantastic escalation for the series' endgame.

Earlier than expected, the setup of the cloud machine's importance pays off. But I'll be honest, the mechanics of how the clouds are moving to pick up only Punk Records and not the rest of the lab aren't really clear. And what the heck was York shooting at? Seems like she breaks the connection between the two halves of the eggshell, but that only makes it easier to steal Punk Records. Bit of a weird one.

You can't help marveling at the sheer entitlement of the Celestial Dragons in their little sequence. How about that guy saying the sinking of the world wouldn't impact him. Dude, you're starving to death because you don't have a way to grow your own food on top of your rock. You're getting a taste of what it's going to be like when the lower world goes away right now. And the obvious implication that while they have fewer choices and extras, the Celestial Dragons themselves are still eating well. The guy complaining about fish has a full plate, and another is still fed decently enough that snacks are an expectation. All while the chef serves on a growling stomach. You can see how far things are being stretched to make sure the haves keep having while the have-nots feel the impact first. There's no saving these guys.

Garling joining the Elders is an awesome development. Can't wait to learn more about this guy. And will he adopt Saturn's demon form, or while he get ihs own monster to play. For how relatively late he's come in this story, this guy's already been fantastically set up as a villain.

I also think it's worth noting how the Elders treat Garling when he walks in, before they know he's joined their ranks. Garling seems to have been about as highly ranked as a non-Elder Celestial Dragon could be, a Holy Knight with the authority to execute an otherwise untouchable nobleman. But the Elders confront him about coming into their space without stated business. They demand deference. He's told to know his place. There's clearly a towering difference in rank that they expect to see respected, even though all present are Celestial Dragons.

The new Vegapunk Frankenclone is certainly something. I do enjoy the asymmetry of the giant Atlas arm though. I wonder if this entity will get a new name. I wonder if these guys would consider manipulating the information in Punk Records to mislead or mess with York should she try to reconnect. Hopefully they've learned enough to do the things York and the Stella did to prevent info they don't want seen from syncing.

When I spoke about the last spread of chapter 1121, with the key players of the final saga, I raised the possibility of unexpected rivalries, but I'm still surprised to see Revolutionaries considering the implications of a run at the One Piece. Sabo and Luffy becoming rivals, even if they're friendly about it, would be a crazy place to escalate things to.

Ivan realises something about the bridge projects, but I'm not sure I see it the same way. They don't seem tall enough to escape the flood, but maybe they're not just to live on. They could be ways for the people of the lower world to make pilgrimage to the Redline. Or they could have been intended to slant gradually upward as they extend out. There's a few ways it could work, but no single one sticks out as the answer.

Meanwhile Dragon leaves us with some relevant social commentary. As much as we've all been thinking about Vegapunk's words sparking rebellions and anger against the World Government, there would definitely also be panic and war. If the WG is smart, it can stoke the battles for dwindling space and keep the peasants below distracted fighting each other for as long as possible so no one has time to think long enough or get a big enough force together to challenge it directly. Will the Revolutionaries have a way to capture the hearts and minds of the whole world and unite them to collective safety instead of personal survival?

This has been the kind of One Piece chapter I'm here for. The sheer amount of work my rewrite project was taking had me a little burned out on the series last week, but all these big developments and hints to future lore and events are a shot in the arm. Can't wait to see what Oda has in store next.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Daredevil Season One is still an incredible season of television, featuring some of the best action in a Marvel property, incredible acting, a tense atmosphere grown from a mortal man like Kingpin, and a kickass theme song...BUT--

HOLD YOUR FIRE! Before you want to kill me, I want to say that this isn't a takedown on Daredevil. Still a great show (If you ignore the second season) and I hope the MCU at least holds a FRACTION of what's good about it with Daredevil: Born Again. What this is REALLY about is making an observation I've noticed when rewatching the finale.

When I'm looking at it, Daredevil, depsite being REALLY good, is the starting point for what a lot of people have problems with modern MCU. First and foremost: Overdesigned costumes.

Look at this. This is...too much. And what gets me is the logic they gave for this. Potter said that the black parts offer the most protection while the red parts can MAYBE block a knife, which leads me to ask, "Why not make the whole suit black?" In fact, why not make the whole suite one color anyway? Why throw in this random bits of black and lines that don't need to be there? The whole season hypes up Daredevil getting a suit like the comics, and they ignored how simple he looked.

Just a simple red with a logo, some gloves, boots, and some shorts, and not much more. He doesn't NEED it.

But that's one problem. Another is that Season One of Daredevil falls in the same trap that a lot of the Disney+ shows have. It's a season of slowburns, taking its time to get to an epic conclusion, only for the finale to feel rushed with a lot of convenient things happening for the plot moving forward and so the main hero can beat his villain in a final battle that's not really necessary. WandaVision did this, Falcon and the Winter Soldier did this, Moon Knight did this, and all the way back then, DAREDEVIL did it. And we didn't bat an eyelash because, well, it's DAREDEVIL. So much of the show was really good that we didn't mind this one slip up. But it kept happening, even in other good shows like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and...Yeah, just those two. And the thing is, these shows have DOUBLE the length of most of the ones on Disney+, but people keep questioning THOSE more because...I don't know. Maybe it's because people are RECENTLY getting sick of Marvel, wishing things ended by Endgame, but the fact remains that the problem with MCU shows having lackluster finales isn't something that's a recent problem. It's something that's been happening for a while, and all we can do is hope that the writers will EVENTUALLY catch onto this.

But with that said...Daredevil's still awesome. Despite the flaws, Season One still holds up and I cannot wait to see Season Three again. Just...don't forget some things that need to be critical about.

[smokeybrandreviews]

I Missed You

I've been frustrated with US comics for a few years now. Sh*t has been a barren wasteland of content for some time. Well, i can't say that for the entire industry, mostly the Big Two, but they weight the industry down so much, it's hard not to focus in on them. If the two gods bleed, what does that mean for the lowly mortals, you know? IDW puts out pretty solid Licensed fair, though. Their Power Rangers and Sonic stuff is pretty good. I really loved the Transformers comics they produced until Hasbro wanted a bigger piece of the pie and pulled their rights. Still, Image is doing a pretty great f*cking job with my darling Cybertronians now, so I'm not too mad about it, but i digress. This is more about DC and Marvel and how they've finally decided to get their sh*t together. Even if it's not anything in the main continuity.

Fall of X

Before i delve in to the return of the Ultimate universe, i need to give a nod to the Krakoan Era of X-Men comics. That sh*t was brilliant. It's been a long time since I've given a sh*t about an X-Men comic so, to see how well that sh*t came together, i was stunned. Credit where credit is due, that man John Hickman has a vision! His world building is insane. I've been a pretty big fan of his since his work on Fantastic Four but what he did with the X-Men eclipsed that near completely. The groundwork he laid for others to move forward with, was strong enough to weather editorial nonsense and, eventually, Hickman's premature departure. It'd always the creatives who suffer but, as one of the greatest comic runs come to an end, i mourn it's loss. There seems to have been a bit of X-resurgence lately but it feels like it all started with those House of and Powers of X comics five years ago. That said, i think i am even more in love with what he's doing in the new Ultimate universe.

Return to Glory

I love the Ultimate universe. Mostly. It is a time capsule of tropes and cliches of the day but the idea of it always appealed to me. Apparently, it appealed to Hollywood, too, because the MCU is based HEAVILY on the modern take Ultimate brought to the comics. When they killed it off, i understood why. Ultimate comics had basically ran it's course. There were a lot of mismatched tone and terribly stories at the time. Some were great, Ultimate Spider-Man maintained a decent quality until it's demise (probably why Miles was allowed to survive Secret Wars) but that thing needed to go. Throw out the entire universe, which they did. Well, several years later, Hickman, apparently, sold the Marvel higher ups on a proper reboot with a limited series title Ultimate Invasion. Another 1610 refugee, The Maker, decided to reboot his home universe and, being a Reed Richards not shackled by morality, did just that. Marvel gave Hickman the keys to an entire branch universe, with branding enough to lured in suckers like, and he has not disappointed. yes, it does feel a little "Heroes Reborn" but that can be forgiven because, so far, it's pretty f*cking good.

Along Came a Spider

The initial offering of Ultimate comics consisted of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men. Obviously, Ultimate Spider-Man is my sh*t. I finally got my Endgame with Pete and MJ plus their two kids. I love this book just because of that but there is so much more to it than JUST that. It's written very well. This one is, more than the others, a character driven drama with occasions spurts of super powered action. It's f*cking brilliant, easily the strongest of the three individual books. Did i mention the art is gorgeous? It has that in common with peach Momoko's take on X-Men.

Turning Japanese

I'm a sucker for manga and anime. A cursory search of this blog will tell you that. My personal style is heavily influenced by Kubo Tite and Toriyama. I stumbled across Peach Momoko LONG ago on an image board somewhere and have been haunting her career ever since. It's f*cking dope seeing Marvel give her a shot like this and, so far, it's paying off. Her take on X-Men seems to be focusing on Armor but with a Coming-of-age twist. It's very unique and i am enjoying where she's taking the character. Hisako is basically Wolverine's fourth or fifth adopted daughter. That's it. That's as far as she gets in the main universe. Giving her the spotlight was an interesting choice, one that allows Peach to kind of juxtapose her mutation with the oft stifling expectations of conservative Japanese society. Plus, Storm is Japanese maybe? Or not because...

Wakanda Forever

Storm is an integral part of Ultimate Black Panther and is basically classic Ororo but, like, a teenager? Who has teamed up with Erik Killmonger? To save Wakanda from Konshu and Ra? I'm going to be honest, i don't like this book so far. I can't connect with it. It's definitely a slow burn, feels like a covert/espionage, spy thriller type narrative, which is fine, but it's taking WAY too long to get going. There is a ton of groundwork which needs to be laid so we're four issues in and just not getting the principal team together. It's a frustration, for sure, but i get it. Another thing taking me out of this is the Panther suit design. Sh*t is gross. You can tell everything in this Ultimate version of the world is heavily inspired by the MCU films but it's not hitting like it should. Ultimate Black Panther has potential but right now, I'm reading it just to keep up with events.

Ultimates

This one just dropped and, i must say, i like it more than any other Ultimates book to date. It's basically the origin of the team and it hits so much harder that any of the other comics to date. Lots of world building in the margins here and i mean that. Read all of the preamble and afterword because it gives you a very clear of what is going on with the current state of world affairs. The comic, itself, is pretty good. Legit shows the efforts to save the fledgling universe from The Maker and the failures. We get to see this take on Ant-Man and Wasp, plus a few licks of what is on the horizon. As a comic, it's underwhelming. As a preview of what's next, it's dope.

I know i said the big two but this one got away from me. I'll have to get to the DC stuff later and, obviously, it's about to be real Bat-Heavy. He seems to get just SO much love over there at Detective Comics Comics. That said, Marvel needs to keep betting on Hickman because this dude is delivering some fresh, fun, and brilliant takes on established characters. We need more of this unfettered creativity. That's what comics are supposed to be about in the first place.

[endlesstwanted]

Of Darkness And Solace

My entry for @flashfictionfridayofficial #223 prompt — By candlelight, read under the cut. Also available on Ao3.

Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Pairing: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark

Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Afterlife, Angst and Feels, Canon Compliant, Ambiguous/Open Ending

Summary: A year after the events of Endgame, old and new friends gather to visit Natasha’s grave. Tony, Steve and her are happy to see them again.

Wordcount: 991

Created for: @blackwidowbingo — Borrowed time / @tonystarkbingo — New team / @stonyauniverse — Cradling Each Other / @lyricalescape — “Fly to you, dive to you.”

Natasha has learned how to live in the darkness. It hasn’t always been like that, although she couldn’t help but notice how similar it is to living in the shadows: moving across countries as a ghost, carrying false identities and stories of the lives she could only dream to have lived. Being alone; surrounded by nothing but her unsteady presence.

Tony has never admitted he’s afraid of the darkness, because it’s nothing compared to how much he has always been of loneliness. He gets alone now with getting too much of one and none of the other, living with no light but wrapped by the people who were able to create it for him when they were at the other side.

Steve had made peace with being just him a long time ago. And then everything changed when he travelled back in time, and he made everything right up to what it had been possible for him at the time. He knew that doing what was right didn’t always add up to doing what he wanted to do, but he is glad to have done the first thing to fix a timeline he had messed up in the first place, because now he gets to get a taste of the best bits of life even if his body ran out of time.

They live sunk in darkness now, except for the times when their loved ones think of them. None of them get to know how often it happens because there is no such thing as time here, but they get different flashes of light now and then followed by a vivid image of what it’s happening in life that has made someone think of them.

It’s been Clint and Yelena lately. Natasha thinks Christmas must be approaching.

Sam’s image has visited them a few times as well, with Bucky by his side and the shield on his hand.

Every message that Peter sends to Happy makes both of their faces pop up in the darkness too.

Natasha, Steve and Tony have nothing to do other than being with each other now, so they enjoy the brief time they have back with their family, studying the sight and everything they can see which tells them how they are doing because fate wanted for them to take care of all of them this way.

Today, it is the light of a candle that gets their attention. Natasha’s face falls down when she realises a candle is being placed on her gravestone, and a strong arm follows the curve of her waist, pulling her into a warm embrace.

It’s never easy, for any of them, to see the vivid image of what the death of Natasha has left behind. Tony and Steve are lucky she’s not dead with them, but she is to everyone else.

Tony’s arm joins Steve in the heartwarming gesture around their lover, his lips searching for her hairline until he places a kiss there.

“They don’t know they’re visiting an empty grave,” she says when the image gets clearer and bigger. 

Now it shows that it’s not her usual visitors gathering around the only thing she sort of has ever owned. More candle lights appear in front of them, making a line as familiar and a few new faces start lighting candles for her, which stay on their hands instead of under her name engraved in stone.

It has been Clint the one to place the first one. “He does,” Steve points out.

They can’t hear what is happening there, they never do, but Clint seems to be saying something while Laura holds on tight to his arm and tries to soften the knot in her throat by swallowing.

On his right side, Sam and Hill keep their faces down and free hands joined. There is a brunette boy they have never seen behind Sam, next to Bruce. They’re not sure who he came with, but he has kind eyes. Or when Bruce got back at looking like Bruce.

Thor is there too, with a kid on whose shoulder he leaves a supporting hand. Steve and Natasha notices at the same time and makes sure Tony’s wrapped in a hug; she looks the same age as Morgan was when he left.

At the other side of the Barton’s there is a girl with a ponytail and a purple sweater, and then Bucky and Wanda. They see her black fingertips as the red-head crosses her arms in front of her when Bucky passes his arm over her shoulder, but they are unsure of what that means.

“It is an important day today,” Tony guesses, running a hand down Natasha’s back as he turns to catch Steve’s eyes.

“I miss them,” she recognises in the mess of limbs and shooting touches that she’s wrapped in. “But I have everything I need right here. You. And I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

“I had never in my life been sure that I was deserving of something like this.” Steve may be talking about his found family or them, but they’re fine with either.

“Then we should be glad to live another one of those, aren’t we?” Tony says with a smile, trying to make of what at first had been an emotional reunion with their friends and the following emotional confession of Steve’s a happy moment after all. They never complain of Steve being sappy anymore.

“We are,” Natasha agrees with a tiny smile, wrapping her arms around the two of them.

None of them, Steve, Tony or Natasha had given themselves the chance to think twice about their future, always pushing their happiness apart in favour of living for others and protecting as many as they could. Now that they left the main timeline, they have a chance to build the life they have ever wanted to live, even if they didn’t know until the three of them reunited after death.

[tobiasdrake]

Oh man, the Ronin suit. When I first saw that thing, I was like, "Ohhhh, shittttttt." Terror and trepidation seized my heart. I knew, right at that moment, that I was in for a hell of a ride.

...

These guys think they're equipped to talk about Ronin. They actually want to have this conversation, and they honestly think they can address it satisfactorily from within the context of a Marvel superhero story. Oh, this is going to suck.

Ronin was a huge misstep for the character of Clint Barton. Clint handled the Blip by becoming a serial mass-murderer. In the context of Endgame's original plan, where Clint would redeem himself by sacrificing himself on Vormir, this made sense as the darkest hour that sets him up to need that redemption.

But his redemptive sacrifice was changed to Nat, so the whole Ronin thing just. Like. It was just a thing. Clint slaughtered and butchered countless people, but then he got his family back so he put the serial murders away in his attic and moved on. That's. Okay. Sure. Whatever.

It's not great. But the alternative to sweeping it under the rug is. Like. To sit down and try to talk about it. That's a terrible idea! This is not a conversation you can have from within the text itself. Because the text still needs to paint Clint as a heroic character and have him get a happy ending.

Like. We can sit here and talk about how Tony Stark should go to prison for Age of Ultron. But an Iron Man film can't actually end with, "And then Tony fucking went to prison because he sucks, the end." End of the day, the movie has to treat him like a hero - And that is a lens that's poorly suited to truly examining his offenses.

The same is true of Clint. We, the audience, can criticize Clint for his actions. But the media itself has an obligation to treat him as a hero, and cannot truly bring itself to condemn him. Even for serial mass-murders. The media itself is extremely limited in their ability to discuss the genuine wrongdoings of their heroic characters.

But now it's going to try. It's going to sit here and try to say, "Yes, I see you. Clint did a little whoopsy-doodle. An itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny little mistake, nothing really bad but maybe something that was just the tiniest smidgen ill-advised. My bad."

And I just. Ohhhhhhhhh boy I am not here for that. Sometimes it's just better to take your lickings and move on than to step back and try to host a conversation that your story is not equipped to manage.

[sea-owl]

Do you have any Stony fanfic recommendations?

I want steve to be an absolute mess for Tony

Let me check my AO3 bookmarks. Hold on.

*runs off to AO3*

*comes back*

Okay, so to start, @aurumacadicus who is also known as Reioka on AO3, has to be my favorite. The horn dog Steve posts are wild and almost always makes me laugh. Everytime I try to write Stony I try to draw inspiration through the spirit of aurumacadicus.

An AU where kings Steve and Anthony are set to be married for alliance. There's this knight named Tony, though, who is driving Steve mad.

Steve a little awkward in this one. I find it really cute though. Basically Amora curses the Avengers to fall in move with one another. Steve fell in love with Tony except Steve's been in love with Tony.

This one has to be one of my favorite Stony fics. So this one is set in 616 and does get sad at times because Tony is a depressed bitch. After the strain of SHRA and all that followed, Tony has taken himself out of the superhero game and just wants to gain enough back of his shares to his company to make sure it stays with him. Steve now the head of SHIELD can help with that but in exchange he wants Tony to work for him. Steve's desperate need to have Tony near starts out subtle but really shines through at the end.

This one got some dark Steve in it if you like that. Steve just wants to keep Tony by his side is that too much to ask?

This one has one of my favorite tropes, identity porn. Rumors spread of Tony Stark and Iron Man dating, Tony does not help himself by confirming those rumors. Poor Steve is confused.

This one is set in Avengers Assemble universe with some jealous Steve. Steve and Tony made a marriage pact, but just as the date of expiration was coming to an end Tony introduces Carol Danvers aka Captian Marvel to the team. Steve thinks she's Tony's girlfriend.

Steve likes seeing Tony in his things like the possessive little gremlin he is.

Steve is high off his ass when he wakes up from surgery. The first thing he notices is the ring on Tony's left hand.

This one is another favorite. Steves across the multiverse are bombarded by MCU Steve's memories as he travels to put the stones back.

This is set in the branch timeline in Endgame. Steve has a size kink.