#AT: pre IM3

[dndhistory]

559. Ken Rolston - IM3: The Best of Intentions (1987)

A comedic romp set in the Immortals game system for D&D it is, essentially, a wholly different game than the usual sword & sorcery shenanigans that you get up to in the regular game. In this module you get to try to save a missing Hierarch by doing stuff like playing in the Immortal Olympic Games.

It's reportedly a very fun and varied adventure with a light touch, and you can see that from the illustrations and the cover itself, it also has some interesting game innovations, but again if you expect anything close to regular D&D from the immortal game you will be sorely disappointed.

Most people would not have played this at all, as it was the least successful letter in the BECMI anagram, but if they did they would have most certainly used the pre-rolled characters included, rather than level characters all the way to immortal levels. If they did play it, however, there was some fun to be had here.

[popcorn-plots]

I have wrapped my ankle and am starting my last pre-thailand mountain dew before I clean my room watching IM3

[halfbaked00q]

Madeleine has a Lot Of Potential to be a good character but also it's so funny how (accidentally??) sussy they make her lol. She goes from STAY AWAY FROM ME. DID YOU EVER THINK THAT MAYBE YOU LED THEM TO ME? (very real and understandable). to whatever the heck the weirdly friendly flirting on the train was (girl I KNOW it was not your fault.... I can see it with my third eye they were trying to square-peg Vesperism on you, despite none of your whole deal or even Bond's whole deal being Vesperesque...)

and then like. that bad pre-credits scene. With Bond showing up to take the car. And then it pans to him in the driver's seat and her sitting in the passenger seat smiling this like, cool girl enigmatic smile. BUT IT JUST LOOKS SUSSY AS HELL LMAO, I *get* it's supposed to be that ~French girl effortless chic~ aesthetic. But enigmatic comes off more as suspicion-worthy and the cool demeanor comes off as uncaring aloofness.

and then the way her demeanor was in the NTTD pretitle sequence lol. I already vaguely knew etc etc but it's funny to me HOW sussy she comes off. In the way she leans in/they have her lean in to whisper in Bond's ear as they hug. It doesn't even come off as like, genuinely wistful or mournful of Could Have Been's. if anything it reminds me more of, like, in IM3 when Tony is having that bout of PTSD and imagines the kid leaning in to whisper "how did you get out of the wormhole." VERY funny cuz she was absolutely genuine and sincere in the car and I even labeled that "Bond's Vesper elevator moment."

and then just. "hm maybe she IS sussy after all...." but ig they maybe try to play the "she's suspicious so Bond sends her away?" But cmonnn bros. Bond is NOT that guy, he would take care of it himself. Like he was ready to do with Vesper. Like he did with Silva. (I Close My Eyes to a lot of the plot of Spectre lmao, so uhh... thots pending on Blofeld. cuz I dunno that he "should" have shot Blofeld, but I also... dk that the way they did it in the movie was 'right'? But there's also so much wrong w Blofeld in Spectre lmao, the sad swagless sack.) ...actually okay, branching but relates-back topic, gonna make a separate post, and point pending. cuz I do need to examine these data points more. But I do still *feel* like Bond is more of a "would take care of it himself" guy. So him putting Madeleine on that train was a mercy, not a rebuke.

but anyway yeah, like. it does kinda make me lmao how sussy Madeleine comes off sometimes. dk if it was intentional on the actress or director's parts. but it's what happened on screen. like. okay. lmao

[bedlamsbard]

I for one would LOVE to hear about That Man's opinion on the Sokovia Accords, and any other blends of the real world into marvelverse as you have time and space for

Donald Trump is the horrifying combination of anti-Accords, anti-Captain America, and anti-Iron Man. I have THOUGHTS on this.

Okay, so CACW takes place in 2016, yes? which was a horrifying enough election year IRL, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe we're looking at a scenario where I have postulated that Matthew Ellis is the Democratic candidate. Ellis was elected in 2012 after Barack Obama dropped out of the 2012 race post-Battle of New York as a result of pressure from the World Security Council; my best estimate is that Ellis takes Joe Biden's place as Obama's vice president in the 2008 election (apologies to our Irish Catholic granddad, we can probably safely assume he's still a senator in this AU) and coasts to electoral victory on a wave of post-BONY patriotism. (see my hard-hitting investigative journalism on who was president during the Battle of New York. George W. Bush was president during the events of IM1, we can assume that all real world presidents prior to Ellis served as usual, a.k.a. FDR was president during CATFA, Bill Clinton was president during Captain Marvel and the BW prologue -- actually, we know Clinton was president, because we see him in the BW credits, same with a few others.)

For better or worse -- worse, as it turns out -- Ellis's administration becomes closely linked to Tony Stark and James Rhodes, since Tony and Rhodey very publicly save his life during the events of IM3 and are responsible for his VP (Rodriguez, no first name that I'm aware of) being arrested for treason and probably other nasty stuff. Four months after that, the events of CATWS go down, and while Ellis is quoted in Steve's Smithsonian exhibit with the "Welcome Back" wall bannerand thus they presumably met, Steve is not closely associated with Matthew Ellis in the same way that Tony Stark is. Steve is also closely associated with a major blow to the American intelligence apparatus, the deaths of most of the World Security Council, the destruction of SHIELD, the "death" of Nick Fury, the disgrace and death of Alexander Pierce, and the arrests of a number of major American politicians, including Senator Stern of Pennsylvania. We know from CATWS that Ellis himself was a target of Project Insight; I have also postulated that the Hydra reveal had a major effects on his administration, including either the arrest or the resignation of his original Secretary of State. Thaddeus Ross got the SecState position not because he was Ellis's original pick, but because post-CATWS (or possibly post-AoU), he was able to leverage his previous experience with the Hulk and other recipients of the super soldier serum to be politically useful.

Ellis has to be in favor of the Sokovia Accords because his SecState is running the show -- in theory the Accords will be administered by a UN panel, in actual practice, as we see in CACW and BW, the intent is for either the American SecState in general or Thaddeus Ross specifically to have sole control over the Avengers. Less than ideal by anyone's standards. Pre-Accords, no one knows how this is going to shake out.

Let's go back to how Donald Trump hates Steve Rogers, like, so much. The feeling is mutual. I'm pretty sure Trump personally knew, or at least met, Tony Stark pre-Iron Man, because they would have been in some of the same social circles: those personalities are going to clash. That's not going to go over well. Trump probably made overtures to Steve because CAPTAIN AMERICA! we love America! what's more great for America than the Greatest Generation! only uh. it's Steve. and Trump pre- (and post-) 2016 is everything Steve Rogers hates. sure, he's a great piece of American propaganda, but he grew up as a poor second generation immigrant son of a single mother with significant health issues during the Great Depression. that didn't go away when he got the serum and it certainly didn't go away when he got out of the ice! so Steve probably rebuffed the initial overtures politely, but he did rebuff them, and Trump, hmm, doesn't handle that sort of thing real well. so then a big part of That Man's campaign turned into the "fuck Captain America" tour with a side of "fuck the Avengers," playing heavily into the damage done during the events of Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Which Ellis's campaign was probably also doing, but more circumspectly because Matthew Ellis is an actual politician and he's politically linked to two of the ten Avengers (Tony and Rhodey); Tony's also the one with the most obvious "pull." Steve's got some but Steve doesn't actually want to use it.

So on the one hand, if Ellis is pro-Avengers and pro-Accords, but in a "they should be controlled but we need them" sort of way, then his main opponent is going to not be in favor of either. In 2016 Trump does want the Avengers controlled (so he can have personal pull over the two Avengers he hates the most, Tony and Steve; he's probably also not fond of many of the others! like, Natasha and Wanda are both women and immigrants...). But he doesn't want them controlled by a UN panel, he wants them controlled by the United States of America. You don't let THE UNITED NATIONS give orders to CAPTAIN AMERICA. The Avengers are mostly made up of American citizens, they include some fine pieces of American engineering; this is America's business. So that's his focus on the Accords leading up to CACW.

CACW itself is a political disaster for Matthew Ellis and almost certainly flipped the election for him -- it goes so horrifically badly for him even if he got the "victory" of the Accords passing that there's basically no way to recover from it, though presumably he tried in the months between May and November 2016. The events of BW and the Raft breakout during those months put the nail in the coffin of Ellis's reelection campaign. Trump spends that time beating Ellis's failure to control the Avengers into the ground, along with personal insults about Tony's incompetence as a superhero and Steve's disloyalty as an American, etc. etc., along with all the other stuff from his 2016 campaign. Absolute disaster for everyone on every level.

(Ross manages to skate through into Trump's administration -- since we know he's there in IW in 2018; I think he's addressed as "Mr. Secretary" there but can't check rn -- because he's a slippery son of a bitch and probably manages to parlay his Hulk experience, his hardheadedness in going after Natasha Romanoff, and tbh probably the fact that his nickname is Thunderbolt Ross into a cabinet position. (We've all heard the speculation that Jim Mattis got the real world SecDef position because his nickname is Mad Dog Mattis, right?) It's possible that in IW he's no longer SecState and is in fact running that UN panel, but I think that table of people we see has U.S. military uniforms at it and Rhodey specifically refers to potentially being court-martialed.)

presumably there are no Avengers-level disasters between 2016 and 2018 (we know the events of Spider-Man Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp take place then, but they're not "call the team out" big), which is probably the only thing that keeps the whole disaster from going up in flames before then. the fact that no one can catch Steve or the other rogue Avengers must be driving That Man crazy and he probably went on some vicious Twitter rants about that.

and then, in my heart of hearts, he gets snapped in 2018.

I am sorry for making you think about Donald Trump's political views but at least they aren't his actual real world ones (horrifying).

[thompsborn]

Hello!!! i’m so interested in the HB2 plot! I feel like we see peter angst way more commonly than Harley—so if you ever feel up for rambling about it under a cut or a spoiler tag this is a free space to do so! He really is my blorbo and you’re my favorite fic writer so I know whatever happens it’ll be amazingly done but I’m dying for hints at more of what that’ll look like! Are we talking, like, caught in the literal crossfire or devastating hostage situation 😂

okay before i do the harley rambles i!? I’m your favorite fic writer??? my guy what the FUCK that’s so sweet but also have u read any of sarah’s fics?? oddy’s parkner fic or oddy’s parksborn fic??? ANY of the Classic Iconic parkner fics circa 2020-2021?

i’m actually very VERY slowly making a parkner fic rec list to post at some point but just. WHAT. there are So many INCREDIBLE fic writers and saying i’m your favorite is BONKERS to me but also so nice i ??? thank you??? oh my god???? ❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙

okay anyway sorry to what the ask was actually about pfkfj, HARLEY!!! i agree it’s definitely a lot easier to come across peter angst than harley angst, which most likely has to do with the fact that there is a LOT of material to draw from for peter’s character—various movies, comics, shows, timelines and universes and the games. it’s a lot easier to come up with angst for peter because there’s a lot of canon angst to choose from AND there’s so much content for him that it’s a lot easier to get a grasp on his character and create angst based on that, you know? but as a fandom we have definitely created many ideas of harley based on when he was a kid in im3 and his cameo in endgame, plus the WEB comics + ride at avengers campus, so harley angst is for sure out there but like you said it is NOT easy to come across lmao

as for the HB2 plot—i have an ask in my drafts from like a month or two ago asking for more information about hb2 and i’m gonna try to finally finish answering that and post it sometime today, so that post will definitely include some insight in what to expect from the sequel, but harley in hb2 specifically? i GOTCHU.

OKAY !!! let's do this!!

so homeward bound, as i've said before, is PETER'S story post no way home, right? but in hb2 it's peter AND HARLEY'S story post homeward bound. the first chapter is a recap of the first fic from harley's pov with a lot of extra bits thrown in, starting on the day that thanos first snapped and ending either where the first fic ends or maybe in the summer between school years. unsure as of now but one of those, for sure. so that's going to offer a lot of perspective about harley's character in homeward bound - his thought processes, how he was feeling in a lot of key moments during the first fic, things he was doing while peter wasn't around, etc etc etc.

but in hb2, after the recap in the first fic, it picks up at the start of their second year at ESU. he might still be roommates with harry. he might not be. it won't be the same room at the very least, so no matter what, there's going to be some changes, right? but also:

everything is different.

there are the small changes - not the same room, harder classes as they climb their way through the pre-reqs, potentially a different roommate, some stuff happened over summer, etc.

but also there are the BIG changes, like his dynamic with peter, and knowing that peter is spidey and now being a part of keeping that a secret due to peter not wanting anyone else to know. he also knows about the spell and he knows that peter is someone tony loved, someone that pepper and morgan and happy and rhodey knew and cared about, and none of them remember him, but they know harley.

with harley's pov comes the reintroduction of the rest of the world, basically. peter has no one, right? his old life was completely destroyed and erased, leaving no connections to the people he used to know, so he's been VERY closed off from everyone and everything.

harley, however, still knows pepper and morgan and happy and rhodey. he still talks to them on a regular basis. he has his mom and his sister. he isn't closed off in classes like peter is, actually having conversations with his classmates, even if he has no interest in befriending them. peter's pov has been very limited because his world has been completely changed. harley's has been changed too via the loss of tony and him being dead for five years while his mom and his sister had to adapt to a life without him there, but it's not been changed to the extent of peter's, you know?

harley is going to have a few struggles in hb2, some centered around peter, some not. there's going to be family stuff. there's going to be this urge to tell pepper and them about peter because he thinks that peter would benefit from having these people in his life again but also he wants to respect the fact that peter doesn't feel ready to do that.

there's going to be some conflict about the people in his life learning that he's involved with spider-man's business somehow. there's going to be people getting angry at spider-man because of it.

a lot of mental and emotional turmoil is going to come out of all this. but, in the physical sense, he's not going to be entirely safe, either. again, people are going to realize he's somehow connected to spidey. he's going to want to do whatever he can do to help peter, to the point where he's going to get a little reckless with it sometimes.

caught in the crossfire? yeah.

hostage situation? no. at least, not in hb2. not that i currently have planned. that could change, but as of my current plans, no.

hope that's enough information to build some intrigue >:)

[starcchild]

liars - bird set free, ikau one-shot

“I don’t like Greer.”

Carter snorted, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she glanced down to her daemon - almost amused by the scowl-like expression as he kept his teeth bared. “I’d- I’d be con-concerned if you- you did, Alcaeus.”

The coyote shot her an unimpressed look, and shook his head as his muzzle slowly relaxed. “Be grateful you cannot hear the things she says. The brute has a worse tongue than Stane.”

Her jaw tightened at the thought, and she shook her head - holding herself tighter as they made their way into the woods that surrounded the compound. Obadiah’s words still echoed through her mind - his ridicule stinging far more than she wanted to admit. He wasn’t the first to point out her and her daemon were different, but whenever it’d come from him...

“Le-let me guess, she- she was ma-making fun of- of you for no-not settling?”

Alcaeus’s head lowered, and his ears flattened. “Of course she was. She was repeating what Stane said to you. Like always. I still think she should’ve been a parrot rather than a wolverine.”

A part of her actually wanted to laugh. He wasn’t wrong - while she couldn’t understand what Greer was saying, she knew enough from him that she seemed to only mirror Obadiah’s actions. Something that... wasn’t at all comforting. Alcaeus, while a part of her own soul, at least had a mind of his own. Spoke to her like he was a separate being. But Greer...

“I’m not surprised,” Alcaeus continued, “she’s just as rotten as he is. There’s nothing good--”

Carter inhaled sharply and came to a stop. Her heart skipped a beat before stuttering almost painfully in her chest, and she forced herself to keep her breathing steady. Talking negatively about Obadiah felt wrong, and she knew damn well her daemon was aware of that. “Enough. He’s- he’s not tha-that bad. You- you know tha-that, Alcaeus. He- he just... he- he has a- a weird way of- of show-showing it, is- is all.”

Her daemon stopped beside her and swung his head up to stare - his ears still flattened, and his lips drawing back in disdain. “A weird way of...? Carter, that can’t be--”

She shook her head and forced herself to begin walking once more - biting her tongue when she realized he wasn’t following. “We-we’ve been o-over this before. I- I don-don’t wanna ta-talk abou-bout it.” She couldn’t. She couldn’t acknowledge that... maybe, Obadiah didn’t--

Alcaeus quickly caught up to her side - slowing down from a trot to a slow stride as he trailed next to her once more. “Carter... We both know he’s a bad person.”

The corner of her mouth twitched as she held back a scowl of her own. “No- no one would be-believe us,” she pointed out dryly, but her voice was small. Far weaker than she wanted. Not that there was any point in trying to fool her daemon, but... she couldn’t bear to acknowledge the truth. It hurt too much as it was. The loneliness in her chest was getting harder to bear. “Jus-just drop it, Alcae-caeus. There’s- there’s no point in- in bring-bring it up. S’not li-like we can- can do anythi-thing to stop it- it, anyway. He- he does care a-about us, and he- he worries a-about...”

“Me not settling.” A low growl rumbled in Alcaeus’s throat - sounding more frustrated than angry. “I know. But he sure seems to have a funny way of showing he’s worried. Greer certainly doesn’t seem to share that sentiment.”

She didn’t respond - not in the mood to argue with him again. Not in the mood to dwell on the fact there was something wrong with them. She was almost twenty and he still couldn’t settle, and Obadiah was right in pointing it out. How could she be a hero - how could she support her father’s legacy - when her own daemon couldn’t find a permanent form? When she couldn’t even connect with her own soul? 

“I’m sorry.” Her daemon sounded almost defeated, and Carter finally glanced down at him in surprise - temporarily distracted by the ever-growing anxiety swelling in her chest. “I know I should’ve settled by now.”

She winced. “It’s- it’s not your fau-fault,” she whispered, and let out a heavy sigh as she reached out to scratch his head. “I- I know you-you’re trying, Alcaeus. It... it ha-happens, and it’s- it’s not a- a big deal.”

For a moment, he stayed silent, before he let out a snort, and lifted his head to gaze up at her wearily. “We’re both liars, you know.” He shook his head, and lowered it once more. The fur along his spine prickling. “You’re lying to yourself about him, and we’re both lying about me not settling being fine. It’s not. None of this is fine.”

Liars. Carter felt her throat tighten, and she turned her head away as well - crossing her arms back over her chest. Unable to respond. She knew she was - Obadiah called her out on it enough as it was. But... was she truly lying to herself about him? About Alcaeus not settling? About everything being fine?

“Carter--”

“Let’s- let’s ju-just go back.” With a sharp breath, she turned around, and quickly began to walk back in the direction of the compound. Unable to stand the quiet for much longer. Unwilling to acknowledge what her daemon was saying. Obadiah loved them both, he did, even if his daemon acted like a bully. He was just worried, was all. And Greer just... didn’t know how to reflect that worry. That was it. “I- I have wor-work I- I need to do- to do, anyway. We- we can ta-talk about this a-another time.”

Alcaeus scoffed, but followed after her. “Sure. Another time, then.”

She did her best to ignore the scorn in his tone, and the way her heart seemed to sink with each step. Unable to shake what her daemon had said. Unable to shake the ever increasing tightness in her chest as she forced herself to breathe. 

Liars. 

They both were, and she hated it.

[the-faultofdaedalus]

me, sitting bolt upright in bed at 2am: WHAT ABOUT ANTMAN

[consulting-mechanic]

@notgonnabesubtle || continued from here

Tony chuckled at Pepper’s response remembering briefly how she’d answer his question the same way when it was her birthday.  As much as they’d changed some things about them would remain the same and he was happy about that.  He turned his head to kiss her quickly.  “Yup, way too fast for me to keep track,” he said.  “I’m trying to get better, but I’m glad you remember birthdays.”

He sat up a little just as Emilia tackled him with a hug.  “I love you too,” he said hugging her and kissing the top of her head.  “Did you help mommy get this surprise ready?”

Emilia grinned.  “Ummm.  Yeah,” she said.

“This was a great way to start my birthday.  Thanks, Pep,” he said looking up at her.

[experimcnts]

      “ The  near-death  experience  just  brought  some  new  ideas  to  life,  what  can  I  say. ”  It  wasn’t  the  worst  excuse  he  had  used  to  justify  his  30  plus  hour  streaks  of  all  work  no  play.  And  anyways,  how  much  the  cause  of  them  could  really  be  called  an  excuse?  His  mind  was  buzzing  with  ideas  for  new  prototypes  and  improvements  to  the  suit  he  created  in  that  cave.  If  done  right,  it  could  be  a  breakthrough  the  world  has  not  seen  in  quite  a  while.

     And  there  was  also  the  need  to  come  back  home,  to  return  to his life.  As welcoming  as the  people  had  been  in  this  village  somewhere  in  the  middle  of  the  desert,  it  still  wasn’t  the  same. “ Why  are  you  down  here  anyways?  Shouldn’t  you  be  asleep? ”

@sovietsylph​​     /      sc.

[lsktinthemachine]

Power couple, tired couple.

(Tony and Pepper crashing on the couch after an eventful day avenging and running Stark Industries.)

[ironxkid]

((memo to me: update the ikau finally sdjgjshfh

[tin-can-iron-man]

Anyway Im3 was fucking right in not having the mandarin be the legit villain of the film because it was 2013 and having Tony Stark, a rich white American billionaire, have his biggest enemy at the end of his trilogy be "Asia all along" sucks ass. im1 and im2 had asian enemies in it (the "ten rings" in Afghanistan and Vanko, respectively) but they were ultimately about rich people (and usually rich white people) being terrible. Which, in my opinion, was the better option.

In im1 and im2, the main antagonists that pull the plot along are other rich white billionaires who throw money at their problem (Tony) with unethical rich person means. (Hammer hires Vanko with the intention of using him as a way to get to Tony because he's petty as well as using him to further his own military business by selling Vankos inventions under his name) (Stane makes shady deals and puts Tony's weapons up on the black market (which, by the way, what happened to Wanda and Pietro was either a result of Stane's shady deals that Tony was unaware of (Tony was also almost blown up by a Stark branded missile! That he DEFINITELY did not sell! He made the arc reactor so that the shrapnel in his heart wouldn't tear it to shreds!), or US military shittyness, something that Tony was uneducated on, learned about, and immediately, as in literally the second he could, when he was literally supposed to still be in a wheelchair, called a in-person press conference and shut down his weapons program, and immediately became one of the most anti-military characters in the MCU (like in the avengers, when he got real angry about being referred to as soldiers).

Killian isn't a good character, he's doesn't have a particular compelling origin story and wasting the foundation of AIM in the MCU on him sucks. Yes. But he's the last in the list of Iron Man villains that make sense in terms of Tony's personal turning over a new leaf. Stane and Hammer (and Vanko to a degree) are exaggerated versions of Tony's own personal flaws, the things he has to keep in check about HIMSELF. And in that sense, Killian is too. Killian is, if looking in a mirror, an exaggerated version of Tony's desire to be acknowledged and accepted by the people he loves, not being able to take rejection well, and being a risk taker, blown out of proportion. (Tony does deeply crave the affection of those he loves but he doesn't think he naturally deserves it. And while he can be reckless it typically starts and ends with himself. The very last thing Tony would do is, say, start human experimentation (on anyone besides himself) on something known to be dangerous). Killian is impulsive, vindictive, dismissive, self-centered and incapable of reflecting on himself in a meaningful way (basically just any "nice guy" guy on Twitter). He got so butthurt about a single night he dedicated the rest of his life to trying to get back at Tony about it (REAL big "nice guy" on Twitter vibes). He's not well written, he's not even that fun. What makes him interesting, though, is that Tony was kinda all of those things too. (Before his time spent with Yinsen, before Iron Man, before the Avengers).

Tony has never been as bad a Stane, or Hammer, or Killian. But thematically their characters are all "this bad thing about Tony pre-Afghanistan taken 12 steps further."

I don't know I'm just saying in my opinion I think it was better for Tony's main villains to be exaggerated caricatures of himself over using the Mandarin. And that they were right to save a character like the real Mandarin for Shang-Chi where they could be explored and used narratively in a proper manner.

[fantastic-nonsense]

writing up another Civil War meta about how dumb the politics are and thinking about the massive, glaring, and very obvious civil rights and autonomy issues

me pre-airport fight: "okay so I'm on Team Cap, but I can see where Tony might have a point even if it's contradicted by Avengers 1 and Winter Soldier"

me during the Raft scene: "fuck you, Steve was right about literally everything"

*muttering about extrajudicial imprisonment at superhero Guantanamo Bay without a trial or access to lawyers while angrily writing meta about Tony going "we need accountability" when 85% of the problems in Civil War could have been avoided if he PERSONALLY had gone to therapy at any point between IM3 and Civil War....who the fuck is this "we" you are speaking of, Tony?*

[starcchild]

Would Carter be monogamous or polygamous? I sent an ask to Basch's mun with the same question for him, but I ship Carter with Wanda and Carter with Basch separately, and I ship Wanda and Basch together, but I also kind of ship all three together... 👉👈

((first off, thank you for sending this to me because I think I would've completely hijacked Silence's reply by rambling in the notes SDFGJHGSFDHJ

also, tagging @illbringthechaosmagic and @tarnishedxknight because yeehaw sdgfgfdsjh

and because I did completely ramble, it's going under the cut sdjghsdf

sO: for Carter being monogamous or polygamous, I... y es?? I don't,,, know sdfgjhsgfdjhk - like, okay. Yes, I can see her being polygamous in her main verse. She's got a love to give! Communication in a romantic relationship is, funnily enough, fairly easy for her - I mean, it's not completely easy, but... if she's in a relationship with someone, she wants them to work, and will do whatever she can to make it work on her end, so she will push herself to keep up communication. And, from what I understand (please note never come to me for relationship advice because I dON'T know these things FJHDFSGHJKGF), communication is especially important in an open or polygamous relationship, so that wouldn't be an issue for her. She could handle that, and I don't think she'd be overly worried about not giving enough attention to one or both partners (since I,,, honestly only see a poly relationship with her involving two other partners) - that'd be a worry at first? but once they settle into a relationship I think that worry would fade away for the most part

but, if taking into account the ikau... Okay. Brief diversion - I bring this up because Basch and Carter have mainly interacted within the ikau. While her having a romantic and/or sexual relationship in that verse is not out of the realm of possibility, it is something that... is unlikely to happen, depending on the timeline. Do I see her entering a relationship after she leaves the Avengers post-im3/cacw, and/or pre/post-iw/eg? Yes, I can see it - she's in a far better headspace during that time, and could handle what comes with it. She has a better sense of who she is, she's calmer, she's getting help via therapy, and overall is starting to heal from everything she's gone through. She can react and behave to different things in a more mature manner (since, pre-im3/cacw, her reactions were more immature in the sense of her lashing out/shutting down), and would feel more comfortable with being in a relationship with someone. While she could be in a relationship with someone before she leaves the Avengers, it... isn't necessarily healthy. I've rped it out before over on ironxkid, and while she and (funnily enough) Pietro (not Silence's sdfgjhkfsdj) loved each other dearly, she... unintentionally hurt him multiple times because she'd panic - she would get it in her head she wasn't enough for him or she was dragging him down with all of her baggage, and she'd shut him out. Emotionally, she'd spiral out, and it hurt him seeing her that way and being unable to help because she was so scared of, well, hurting him, that she did her best to keep her distance. It was a mess at times, but because it was also a private au of the ikau, they did make it work! She got better and their relationship survived/recovered, and it became healthy. So, for Carter to enter a relationship with Basch, I honestly don't see happening until post-im3/cacw at the earliest - and I think that would be something they'd both recognize if they do develop feelings for each other. I mean... I think they'd both realize that Carter needs to work on herself for them to work, because she does need to get her own footing and find herself. Which, by the way, fuck if I know how Carter feels about him SFDGJHKSFDGHKJDFS - like, yeah, she likes him as a friend, but beyond that?? idk! I just work here! She might, judging on the way she's been behaving around him, but she's so repressed on so many levels I don't think she would even realize it herself!

that aside, Carter and illbringthechaosmagic's Wanda haven't interacted in the ikau, so I have no idea if they'd even get along! They might be friends! But... I have no idea if they'd end up falling in love in that au or not. The Carter Wanda loves in the main verse is still there in the ikau, but... Carter's buried that part of her so deep she's honestly lost herself. She doesn't know who she is, she finds it easier to hide behind her anger to cover her fear and keep herself from getting used/hurt, and... it's gonna take a lot of time for her not only to find that part of herself again, but for others to see it as well. It's just a tricky thing overall, tbh! I mean, I can honestly see Carter falling for Wanda still in the ikau, but, again it working even if Wanda reciprocates is a whole 'nother ballgame

now, a poly ship in general for Carter in the ikau is... ah... sdfgjhfds?? I don't... I don't wanna say no and call it a day, but I honestly don't know. I think, for that to happen, it would heavily depend on who her partners would/could be, and it would have to be after she's gotten herself together enough to get the help she needs. I can say with certainty I don't see her getting into a poly relationship with anyone pre-im3/cacw - that would just... go down in flames. she'd be an absolute wreck and break things off because I don't think she could handle it, and she'd be worried way too much about hurting her partners (and, probably, unintentionally doing just that) to make it work on her end

back to Basch and Wanda - yeah, honestly, I think I could see the three of them together! Just... more so if Carter's in her main verse SDFGJHGSDFHJK - if it was with her in the ikau, it... it would definitely be interesting. Not necessarily a bad interesting? But... interesting xD I will say the idea of her being a grump but a complete softy to Basch and Wanda is honestly adorable and kinda hilarious at the same time dsfgjhgdfj. Idk how they'd even get together, though SDGFJHSDGFHJKDSF - whether it be in the main verse, ikau, or something completely different

Carter having a bi panic over those two is honestly a great mental image to have though ngl xD

I actually do wanna address the idea Silence had in her answer, though! She mentioned possibly seeing the three of them happening if something happened to Wanda or Carter, such as Wanda being snapped like in canon, with her and Basch being in a relationship, and then, after a few years, Basch and Carter getting into a relationship, only for the snap to be reversed and Wanda coming back. Now, going off of that, I can say that Carter would honestly have reservations at first about getting together with Basch - for the sake of keeping with the idea of the three of them ending in a poly relationship, I'm gonna say Carter did having feelings for both of them before the snap, but obviously never did/said anything about how she felt to either of them because Wanda and Basch were already together. I'm also gonna say the three of them were friends with each other, just to make this scenario a little simpler - otherwise, again, Carter is... a hedgehog at best SDFGJHSGDF

anyway, maybe she had feelings for Wanda and Basch before those two got together, and she wouldn't have said anything either, then, even if she didn't notice that they liked each other, mainly because she wouldn't have known what to do. She couldn't tell Wanda she liked her, because she also liked Basch, and vice versa. It'd be confusing, and I don't think the idea of being in a relationship with both would've crossed her mind. And, with Wanda and Basch together, she's definitely not saying anything, because she wants them to be happy, and is content with being their friend. She sees they love each other, and she doesn't want to get in the way of that. Now, in the case that Wanda is snapped, Carter is obviously gonna be there for Basch, but only platonically - she's not going to come onto him at any point because a) that'd be incredibly inappropriate of her to do so, but also b) he loved Wanda - not her. Again, she's content with being his friend - she's going to maintain that friendship. Now, if Basch developed feelings for Carter in the years following the snap and approached her about it, Carter... would honestly be hesitant to admit she reciprocates - she'd feel like she would be hurting Wanda in some way, but... the idea of being second-choice would be in her head, even though she knows Basch wouldn't be playing her (or anyone) like that. Given time, I think she'd admit to him as well she loves him, though, and I can see them getting together

when the snap is reversed and Wanda comes back, Carter is going to see that Basch will be torn, and she'll make the decision to break things off with him. Will it hurt her? Absolutely - she does love him, but... she wants him to be happy. Her own happiness can wait, and (in any verse) she's quick to put her own happiness on the back burner, so it'd be no different in this case. She'd pull him aside, tell him she loves him, but will tell him she understands - he loved Wanda first, and if he still has feelings for her, she would rather him go back to Wanda than stay with her. She wants them both to be happy, even if it means she's the one who ends up hurting. She's not doing this to make anyone feel bad, by the way, or to be some sort of martyr or what have you, she just... doesn't want to get in the way. If they're happy, then she'll be happy, too, even if it hurts her. And, by the way, she'll definitely be sure Wanda understands what's going on - she won't try to hide she and Basch were in a relationship, but she'll make it clear to Wanda she's not there to come between them. That she will not bother her or Basch, and reassure her that Basch does still love her - she's not going to try and make Wanda feel bad or insecure, and she will distance herself from both of them. She'll still try to be friends with them, if they're willing, but she's going to do her best to keep things amicable between them, and she's going to understand she needs to keep some distance to allow Basch and Wanda to work things out. After all, she'd be his ex technically, and she doesn't want to make things weird or uncomfortable

for a poly relationship to happen, I will say Basch and Wanda will need to approach Carter about it, because otherwise, Carter wouldn't bring the idea of to them at all SDGJHGSDF - she'd find it inappropriate for her to do so even despite the fact she loves both of them, and she wouldn't want to make it seem like she's just... trying to weasel her way back into a relationship with Basch by pretending to be interested in Wanda too, if that makes sense. She'd be hesitant about the idea, but if they bring it up, she'd be hesitant because she doesn't want to hurt either of them or end up being the cause for a potential strain in their relationship, but... I think she'd be willing to give it a shot after some time to think it over, and only when she was certain they were both certain about the idea as well

uh... yeah! Overall, it's just a massive "it depends"! I do wanna say that I absolutely adore Carter and Wanda's relationship, I can definitely see a relationship happening between Carter and Basch and tbh I do like the thought of it, and I honestly do love Basch and Wanda's relationship as well sfdgjhdsfg - I'm reading their threads and Basch and Wanda are so cute together ;w; But, hey! if you like the idea of the three of them together, that's fine! At least, I'm fine with it sdghjgdsf - I know there are people who have ships with Carter I've never explored/thought about, and while I don't always get all of them, I certainly have no issue with other people shipping her with those characters!

[consulting-mechanic]

Pepper knew Tony wasn't always a fan of his birthday, but ever since the girls had been brought into their lives, sometimes it was always a little sweeter. This year she wanted to make it special. Planning to make his favorite breakfast, she put it all on a tray, along with a cupcake and brought it into the room. Izzy was already chilling on their bed and Emilia followed her into the room. "Happy Birthday, Tony..."

Tony was sleeping soundly until he was woken by a sharp tugging on his face.  He opened one eye and saw Izzy grinning as she held a handful of his beard.

He chuckled lightly and moved her hand.  She grasped his fingers tightly so he decided to close his eyes again.  Then he heard Pepper’s voice and opened his eyes again.

“Is it my birthday?  Already?” he asked yawning.

[vanityspread-blog]

     “ how old were you when you met tony ? ”

@retroreflective liked for a starter !