#master hamir

[shadyfestivalperfection]

Sanctum Shenanigans~Oneshot

Summery: After accidentally lighting your previous magical mentor’s library on fire (it was only a small inferno, thank you), you’re sent to train under the reluctant Doctor Stephen Strange at the Sanctum Sanctorum. What starts as a clash of egos turns into a chaotic, hilarious, and oddly heartwarming partnership… especially when the Cloak of Levitation takes a shine to you.

Characters: Dr. Stephan Strange x f!Reader

Note: All Characters except y/n are not mine!

||Master List||

<Requested by Braincell Collector but never uses(my twin sister)>

You arrive on a Tuesday.

It’s raining. Fitting, really.

Your boots squeak on the wet marble steps as you stand before the massive doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum, feeling like a magical stray cat dropped at a sorcerer’s doorstep. You raise your hand and knock.

The door opens—on its own. Of course it does.

Doctor Stephen Strange stands in the entryway in full Sorcerer Supreme fashion: Cloak of Levitation resting on his shoulders, jaw sharp, expression sharper.

He takes one look at you and says, flatly, “Absolutely not.”

You blink. “Uh. Hi.”

He crosses his arms. “No.”

You frown. “But I’m supposed to—”

“I said no.”

A second later, Wong steps into view behind him, holding a scroll.

“She’s on the list,” Wong says calmly. “Master Hamir approved the reassignment after the incident.”

Strange’s brow twitches. “The incident? You mean the fire that destroyed half the Eastern Library archives?”

You wince. “It was a small fire. Technically. It only ate one corner.”

“It screamed,” Wong adds. “The fire. It screamed.”

Strange levels a stare at you so potent, you half expect to turn to stone. “And they sent you here?”

“I’m really sorry about that,” you offer weakly. “But hey—I’m very motivated to not catch fire again.”

Wong shrugs and pats Strange on the shoulder. “She’s your problem now.” And just like that, he walks off, leaving you and the Sorcerer Supreme in a painfully awkward silence.

The Cloak of Levitation floats up behind Strange, hovering like it’s curious about you. It flutters closer, sniffs at your sleeve, and then—with what you swear is a friendly twirl—gently lands on your shoulders.

Strange stares.

“…That’s never happened before,” he mutters.

You grin. “I like it already.”

⸻

Your first week is a mess.

You trip over artifacts. You spill enchanted ink on a centuries-old scroll (Strange almost combusts). You sneeze during a spell and accidentally summon a swarm of butterflies that won’t leave the Sanctum’s attic.

Strange watches all this with ever-growing exasperation.

“Magic requires control,” he says for the third time during training. “Not flair. Not improvisation. Control.”

“I am controlling it,” you grumble, conjuring a faint shimmering shield between your palms. It wobbles. Flickers. It looks a little like magical Jell-O.

“That’s not a shield. That’s a pudding with ambition.”

You shoot him a glare. “I’m still standing, aren’t I?”

He narrows his eyes. “Barely.”

Despite his criticism, he keeps training you. You’re not sure why—maybe it’s Wong, maybe it’s guilt, or maybe it’s the Cloak, which seems to adore you. It regularly drapes itself across your lap when you’re reading or playfully flicks Strange’s ear when he’s being too harsh with you.

You’re beginning to think it’s your most loyal friend.

⸻

The teapot incident is the tipping point.

It begins innocently: you’re in the kitchen, trying to make chai. You’ve always hated using regular methods—what’s the point of magic if not convenience?

So, you enchant the teapot.

Just to pour itself. That’s all.

Unfortunately, you accidentally use a partial personification spell.

The teapot grows legs.

Then arms.

Then declares itself the Tea Emperor of All Dimensions.

You scream. The teapot hops off the counter and begins converting mugs into soldiers.

By the time Strange storms into the kitchen—robes swirling, hands glowing with crimson light—the teapot has established a small monarchy near the sink and has started barking orders at a stack of possessed sugar cubes.

Strange takes one look and says, “What. The hell. Did you do?”

“I just wanted chai!”

He runs both hands down his face. “It’s wearing my cloak!”

The Cloak had, in fact, wrapped itself around the teapot like a royal robe. It looked very proud of itself.

It takes nearly an hour to subdue the teapot—Strange chasing it down with teleportation circles, you singing a calming spell under your breath, the Cloak occasionally tripping Strange for comedic effect.

When you finally reverse the spell and the teapot returns to its inanimate, ceramic form, you’re sitting on the kitchen floor, panting.

Strange looks at you.

You look at him.

You both burst into laughter.

It’s the first time he’s laughed around you.

You’ll remember that sound for weeks.

⸻

The dynamic shifts after that.

Training becomes less of a chore and more of a challenge. He teaches you better now—not just barking commands but demonstrating techniques, sharing the logic behind sigils, even making dry sarcastic jokes to see if you’re paying attention.

You surprise him with your creativity.

He surprises you with his patience.

One night, you find him in the observatory. He’s alone, surrounded by stars cast through the enchanted glass dome.

He looks up as you enter, but says nothing.

You sit beside him, pulling your knees up. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

He shakes his head. “Too many memories in this place.”

You’re quiet a moment, then ask, “Do you regret becoming the Sorcerer Supreme?”

He doesn’t answer right away.

Finally, he says, “No. But some nights, I miss the man I was before all this.”

You tilt your head. “Stephen Strange, world-famous neurosurgeon. Arrogant. Brilliant. Alone.”

He lets out a quiet breath. “Exactly.”

You turn to him. “You’re not alone now.”

He looks at you. The stars reflect in his eyes.

“I’m not?”

You smile. “No. You have Wong. And a Cloak that judges your fashion. And me.”

He huffs softly. “You nearly destroyed the Sanctum with a teapot.”

“I also fixed it. Eventually.”

A beat of silence passes. The Cloak floats in from another room and gently rests over both your shoulders like a blanket.

Neither of you speak.

But you feel it—that shift in the air.

The tension softening into something unspoken.

⸻

Then comes the breach.

A corrupted mirror dimension spell opens a rift in the Sanctum. The walls shudder. Portals flicker. You’re fighting alongside Strange on the second floor, flinging wards and defensive runes as a shadow creature claws its way into your plane.

“Y/n! Close the breach!” he shouts.

“I don’t know how!”

“Yes, you do!”

Your hands shake. The sigils blur in your mind. But you look at him—his eyes steady, unwavering—and suddenly, you remember.

Control.

Not chaos. Not instinct.

Focus. Precision. Intention.

You press your palms together, breathe, and draw the closing circle.

The breach snarls—yes, snarls—and then folds in on itself like a collapsing star.

Silence crashes down.

You collapse to your knees, trembling.

Then Strange is at your side, pulling you into his arms. “You did it,” he whispers.

You look up at him, dazed. “I didn’t think I could.”

He brushes your hair back. “I knew you could.”

Your breath hitches.

So does his.

But neither of you moves—yet.

⸻

The Sanctum Sanctorum was unnervingly quiet at night.

It wasn’t the kind of silence you found in ordinary places. It was… alert. Like the building itself was holding its breath. A sort of mystical hush that made the hair on your arms rise if you lingered too long in the wrong hallway.

But the library?

The library felt safe.

Warm light glowed from the enchanted chandeliers above, bathing the shelves in a soft golden hue. The scent of parchment and sandalwood lingered in the air—comforting. Familiar. You had a habit of sneaking in here past midnight, when the world was asleep and the chaos of magical training wasn’t looming over you like a judgmental storm cloud.

Tonight was no different.

You stood near the tall shelves in your favorite corner of the room, craning your neck to read the spine of a book on the top shelf.

“Come on…” you muttered, stretching onto your toes. Your fingers barely brushed the binding.

Typical. The one spellbook you needed had to be six feet up, guarded by dust and pure spite.

You sighed, stepped back, and stared up at it. “Alright. We’re doing this the hard way.”

Behind you, a gentle rustle stirred the air. A familiar flutter of enchanted fabric.

You didn’t need to turn around to know.

“I didn’t ask for help,” you said aloud.

The Cloak of Levitation ignored your sass and floated up to the shelf like a dutiful assistant, tugging the book free with a flick of its hem. It drifted it down into your waiting hands with a flair that could only be described as smug.

You grinned. “Thanks, buddy. Always dependable.”

The Cloak swirled playfully around your shoulders, brushing your cheek before flitting off again like it had better places to be. Probably tormenting Strange’s wardrobe.

“You talk to the Cloak more than you talk to me.”

You startled. The voice came from the hallway—smooth, deep, laced with just enough sarcasm to sting.

You turned, clutching the book against your chest.

Stephen Strange stood in the doorway, his robes slightly rumpled, his hair even more so. He looked like he hadn’t meant to run into anyone but wasn’t surprised to find you there.

You smirked, recovering. “That’s because the Cloak listens.”

He arched an eyebrow and stepped into the room slowly, his arms crossing over his chest. “It listens because it doesn’t have a choice.”

“And yet, it still has better manners than you.”

He stopped a foot away, staring at you with that unreadable expression he always wore—like he was analyzing your every move, but not necessarily judging. Just… watching.

You tilted your head. “Can’t sleep either?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he nodded toward the book in your hands. “That’s not light reading.”

You looked down at the worn cover. ‘Mystic Frameworks of Multi-Planar Barriers’. “No,” you admitted. “But I was curious. You said planar shielding was one of my weaknesses.”

Strange’s mouth quirked. “I also said you had a tendency to blow holes in reality because you rush your spells.”

You rolled your eyes. “It happened once. And it was a small hole.”

“Tell that to the stray basilisk that came through.”

“Okay,” you said with a shrug, “that one’s on me.”

There was a pause.

The kind of pause that wasn’t awkward—just filled with things neither of you had the nerve to say yet.

Then:

“Y/n.”

Your name left his lips so softly it made your heart stutter.

You blinked. “Yeah?”

He opened his mouth—closed it again. Took a breath.

“I need to say something.”

His tone was different this time. Not mocking. Not commanding.

Just… honest.

You took a step forward. “Okay.”

But before either of you could continue, there was a sharp shove against your back.

You yelped as you stumbled forward, colliding into a solid chest.

Stephen caught you immediately, his arms instinctively wrapping around your waist.

Your hands landed against his chest. Warm. Steady. His heartbeat beneath your palms betrayed nothing, but yours was thundering like a runaway train.

“The Cloak,” you whispered, breathless, “is matchmaking.”

You could feel his breath against your forehead. Close. Too close.

“I swear,” he murmured, “it’s usually not this aggressive.”

You looked up. Your noses were almost touching. His eyes searched yours—not with the calculation you were used to, but with something softer. Warmer.

The air between you shimmered. Electric. Like a spell suspended mid-cast.

Neither of you moved.

Until he did.

His lips brushed yours—tentative, like a question.

You didn’t hesitate.

You kissed him back.

Slow. Careful. Like the two of you were afraid the moment might break if you moved too fast. Your fingers gripped the fabric of his tunic; his hand slid up to cradle your jaw.

The library around you faded. The silence grew deeper. Not oppressive. Not magical.

Just… intimate.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours. His breath was a little uneven. His eyes were closed.

“You drive me mad,” he said quietly.

You chuckled against him. “You’re not exactly easy to live with either.”

He smiled—small and real. “But you make this place feel alive again.”

You felt something swell in your chest. Something warm and terrifying.

Your fingers tightened on his robes. “You made me feel like I belong. For the first time in a long time.”

The Cloak, still floating above like an enthusiastic chaperone, curled around you both like a blanket.

You didn’t say anything else. You didn’t need to.

⸻

The next morning, Wong caught you both in the kitchen.

Stephen was sipping coffee at the counter while you leaned against him, half-asleep, wearing one of his robes. The Cloak fluttered behind you like it was proud of itself.

Wong took one look and muttered, “About time.”

Stephen choked on his coffee. You buried your face in his shoulder and laughed.

⸻

The weeks that followed were… different.

There was a softness to your routine now. A rhythm that hadn’t been there before.

Training sessions still involved sarcasm, occasional fire, and the occasional near-death experience, but now there was laughter in between. Coffee shared in the mornings. Books passed across the table with fond glances. Late nights spent talking in whispers on the observatory floor, watching stars spin overhead.

You were still messy. He was still grumpy. Wong was eternally unimpressed.

But the Sanctum Sanctorum no longer felt like a gilded cage full of relics and echoes.

It felt like home.

One night, you curled into Stephen’s side on the old velvet sofa in the main hall. The Cloak tucked around both of you like a pet that had claimed its people.

“You ever think,” you asked quietly, “that we weren’t supposed to find each other like this?”

Stephen hummed. “You mean in the middle of magical chaos, talking teapots, and pocket dimensions?”

You smiled. “Yeah.”

He looked down at you. “Y/n… I think we found each other because of it.”

You met his eyes.

And you believed him.

-the end

[loathemetc]

Let's make educated guesses about the next Rivals of Aether 2 character!

Big tournament going on right now, Combo Breaker, and they've teased an announcement for sunday which let's be real is gonna be a new character with how early they teased Olympia at Genesis. So can we accurately predict with certainty who it's going to be?

No!

But we can take the information we know and try to take a few cracks at it. Let's go over some of the information we know.

Generally, the devs are going for a 50/25/25 split between returning characters, existing story characters, and brand new ones.

This isn't strict per year though, there could still be more returning characters this year.

The devs aren't really trying to keep the four elements balanced in # of characters.

So with this information we can deduce... Nothing! This doesn't tell us anything! There's no patterns to be held to, see why this isn't an easy guess? We do know one very specific thing though.

The devs have said that none of the Dungeons of Aether characters are in development for year 1.

This eliminates a good chunk of characters. Slade, Artemis, Hamir at the least, maybe they also meant other characters from that game I haven't played it but you'd assume the playable ones are the first they'd add anyways so.

La Reina is confirmed to be coming next year.

This is another easy elimination, La Reina is a confirmed character after winning the workshop context but some people don't know she's not coming this year.

But that's about all the confirmed information we can use. We can make some guesses, like Bradshaw and Ayala were just skins for Wrastor and Elliana in Rivals 1 and I could see Claiyen or Orcane's siblings ending up the same, although most of those could be reworked into original characters one way or another (Not you Bradshaw.)

But we'd be here all day if I listed every rivals lore character, let's try and actually pick some candidates here.

First of all, Absa. Everybody's talking about Absa. They've been making a lot of jokes at her expense. She's a very popular character and with Etalus and Olympia they've shown they want to get the popular characters in first. Now me personally, I don't think it's the right time for her. We haven't gotten a character new to Rivals since Loxodont and that was during the closed betas. I could see Absa being saved for an Evo reveal, I'd really like to see a new character now though. That is personal taste but I think it does just make sense to throw in a new character here.

So what to we have to work with? Let's actually make an educated guess.

In the roadmap we can see a stage skin for Merchant Port, which is the Swampy Estuary from Rivals 1. Olympia launched with a stage skin, her stage from Rivals 1, the Crystal Oasis. So we can maybe assume some future characters will drop with stage skins. Etalus didn't, but that was both before they secured the resources to do stage skins and also because he already had an obvious stage in the game.

Here's the deal though, Swampy Estuary was Ranno's stage in Rivals 1, and we already have Ranno. So who could this stage represent?

Well, if the big statue of him is anything to go by, it could be Ranno's master, Cai. I saw somebody saying he's dead but the wiki sucks so I have no clue if this was said anywhere. There was another statue of a bird master in RoA 1 but I don't think that guy has a name. Cai just seems like a guy they would add early? I dunno why.

Could be one of those martial artists from Olympia's trailer but presumably those guys trained under Hodan and not Cai.

Swiftwing I also get the vibe from but there's not much evidence there. I dunno I just think he'll be first few years. I'm kinda running out of steam writing this lol.

You also gotta remember it could always be a brand new character we have absolutely 0 way of predicting. So really I just said all that stuff for no reason.

In summary:

Just give me a new character please Dan I've been good.

[writingfish]

Why did this end up being 1k+ words? It's just Stephen trying to talk to the Ancient One and noting all the differences between his Kamar-Taj and this Kamar-Taj. This is getting long enough that I should stick it on AO3, but I have neither title nor summary.

They took a portal to Kamar-Taj. He only hesitated slightly. It wasn't like The Ancient One could strand him on Everest midway through. Stepping through a portal only took a second. Though to be fair to her, it had worked. He had learned how to surrender, was still learning that lesson.

One of the temple's courtyards could clearly be seen through the orange glow. It was empty of people, but the deepening dark of the sky explained why. The Ancient One-he'd have to remember to get her name this time or at least something to call her by- stepped through the portal without glancing back. Mordo pushed him forward and he nearly tumbled through. Reality rearranged itself so he didn't.

The smell of spice hit him first. He'd nearly forgotten what it smelled like. Chili, cumin, and other spices whose names he'd long forgotten. Someone had told him once, naming each spice as they handed it to him so he could sprinkle it in the pot. Wong perhaps?

His breath caught and he forcibly exhaled and inhaled. The air was crisp and chilly, settling into his lungs. The bite of winter was not yet gone. It was quiet too, though he could hear the faint sound of bells ringing in the wind, the faint flapping of flags hung between roofs.

The portal closed behind them and The Ancient One turned, walking inside. She didn't look back. He followed before Mordo could push him again.

The hallways had less color in them now. Their latest crop of initiates had started to put up whatever artworks they could find on the walls after they had finally finished rebuilding. There had been an entire wall full of graffiti-style art in one of the west hallways, thankfully on canvas. Master Yama would have made them all scrub it off the walls otherwise, no matter who was or wasn't involved.

Their footsteps were very loud; he missed the rugs. America had loved them, stating that she hadn't really gotten to see many rugs in her travels. She'd enjoyed beating them on the line to shake out the dust, dirt, and other debris on cleaning day.

He swallowed, footsteps faltering. America was gone. She had been pulled into one of the chasms. Her hand reaching for him before the multiverse had taken her. He had no way of knowing where she was or even if she was safe.

Grief threatened to rise, sharp and sticky. Fog covered it, pushing it beneath a blanket of calm.

Ahead of them, The Ancient One stepped into a room. He followed her in.

It looked remarkably similar to the room he'd first met her in. The balcony was where he remembered it, with the snowcapped mountains beyond. The bookshelves were against the same walls, the low table in the same place, and Master Hamir sipping tea in the very same spot. Why was Master Hamir here?

The Ancient One gestured to an empty seat. He sat.

Mordo stepped close, towered over him. His hands ached, deeper, near the tendons. He wanted to rub them, warm them. The cold wasn't helping. But Mordo was still there. He wouldn't show weakness.

Power nudged him, an offering. He pushed it away gently. This Mordo wasn't his Mordo. But he would probably try to kill him all the same at some point. The Mordo from universe 838 had tried too.

"Mordo," The Ancient One said and held an entire conversation with her gaze when Mordo looked at her. Her eyes flicked to the doorway again and Mordo sighed. He gave Stephen a long look before leaving. He couldn't interpret it. He had long lost familiarity with any of Mordo's expressions. Hate being the exception.

Silently, Master Hamir pushed a cup of tea towards him. It was filled just enough so it wouldn't splash when his hands inadvertently jerked. He picked it up and immediately curled his hands around it. Warmth seeped into his fingers, the ache turning gentler. It wouldn't ease, not for a long time yet.

The Ancient One closed the door, sat across them, and stared at Stephen intently. What did she see? He probably looked the same as in her visions. His hands weren't strong enough for shaving yet and Soul had said not to use any power. He had only ignored it the once.

Master Hamir handed her a cup. She took it, still keeping her eyes on him, and took a sip. The same blanket calm was on her face.

"You are different than I expected," she said.

He frowned at her. She'd never introduced herself nor had anyone introduced her this time.

"And you are?"

"They call me The Ancient One," she said and offered nothing further. Cryptic as always.

"That's a mouthful. Can I get a name?" Time laughed in his head.

The Ancient One laughed too, the blanket calm breaking out into amusement. Incredibly, Master Hamir laughed as well. He'd never laughed when Stephen had been at Kamar-Taj, though he did remember some of the initiates trying to make him.

"You can call me Morgan," The Ancient One said. Morgan, like Morgan le Fay, like Tony Stark's daughter. Grief welled in him again, hot and sharp as it had been during Stark's funeral. The memory of Morgan crying in her mother's arms rose, sour. He cut it before it could form fully and took another sip of tea.

"Well, Morgan, " he said. "Why am I here?"

"To learn magic of course."

She'd rejected him the first time, had made him wait five hours on the doorstep before letting him back in. Why had she changed her mind now? The stones laughed at him. Right, he was changing things by just being himself. Should he tell her?

Time wouldn't have. It loved its surprises.

But, she could help him. Thanos was coming. It seemed to be a fixed event in every universe he'd visited. You've only visited three properly, Reality said. It sounded amused.

He opened the connection and let the stones' presence come forward. They were always with him now, though they were kind enough to stick to the background.

We don't want to fracture your sanity any further, Mind said, ominous. The world chilled, sharpened. Familiar unease twisted in his stomach. The hole in him gaped, a muted horror starting to fill it. Yellow-orange threads dulled the emotions before they could fully sharpen. His mind went a little fuzzy, artificial calm taking over him. Why were they doing this?

It's not safe yet, Soul said gently. It was always gentle, warming him down to his core.

"You are thinking very hard," Morgan said, drawing him back into the room. She was observing him as if he was a fascinating relic that she had come across. He could be, he definitely wasn't human anymore. Maybe they'd store him like an object, locked away in a glass container until he chose a sorcerer to bond with.

That's the Cloak of Levitation, Space said, helpfully. Not you.

Should he trust her?

Your choice, the stones offered, unhelpful.

Why couldn't they make the choice for him? They owned him. He had offered them everything had, everything he was, in an effort to draw them back together so they could be the universal anchors once more. It hadn't worked. It was too late and reality had shattered around them.

The Ancient One, Morgan, was still waiting for an answer. She was patient, but how long would that last?

He took another sip. The cup was empty.

"I already know magic," he started slowly. Morgan leaned forward, folding her hands underneath her chin.

"There was an incident."

Grief surged through him before it was quickly blunted and pushed away. The anger that would have come at that wasn't there. He suspected it was suppressed too.

"An incident?" Still the same blankness, though Master Hamir was starting to look apprehensive.

He nodded, reaching into his pocket to draw out the time stone, and put it on the table between them. Master Hamir gasped, immediately standing up. He and The Ancient One exchanged a look before he was striding out the door. He'd go to check on the time stone in the library. It would still be there.

"I ended up here from the future," he said. Morgan started to ask a question before they were interrupted by Master Hamir stepping out of a portal with the Eye of Agamotto held in his hands. It was open and the stone inside was glowing.

Master Hamir placed it on the table, very nearly dropping it, and backed away quickly. The Ancient One seemed to be speechless.

He was too. He hadn't really believed the stones when they had explained. He'd been trying to push himself out of his mind. He'd been so sure he was dreamwalking, that there was another him trapped with him. Was that why they had decided to blunt his emotions?

"Explain," The Ancient One demanded, "now."

[strangesthirdeye]

Chapter 10: Reciprocated feelings

Unspoken Love Masterlist /Chapter: 11

☆KAMAR-TAJ - ROOFTOP DEFENSE COMPOUND - MORNING ☆

Just like the previous day, the same morning at the Kamar Taj without any changes was a good day for students training on the rooftop without any interruptions. Although most of the students are more fond of spells training, it doesn't mean they don't need to learn martial arts. Some training may be a bit harsh for them but that's normal when they study at Kamar Taj.

A group of students there were solemnly taking and wearing the sling ring including Stephen who was still standing there. He and you were satisfied to meet and chat the day before which means your relationship is getting better. you don't need to train to make a portal today because you have passed the training much to Stephen's dismay. Well, Stephen still has a long way to go to be on the same level as you.

Which for him was a bit fleeting according to the photographic memory he had. He always skipped something that was not important to him, which made John a bit frustrated with him to the point that he had to monitor Stephen's lessons like a father monitors his son's schoolwork. Stephen is always eager with new things and John is very eager to calm him down and take things slowly and steadily. Not everything he needs to be skipped or accelerated.

Mordo who was in charge of supervising students there sauntered slowly among the rows of students with eyes like eagles. It should be John's turn to supervise students today, but he has to carry out a mission with Dhani in the Hong Kong Sanctum, which is relics hunting. As usual.

Mordo observing all the mistakes and steps of the students there. His eyes lingered on Stephen for a few minutes. Watching Stephen struggle to form the portal. A spark of fire could only appear in front of Stephen who was helpless and frustrated silently. His eyes darted around the students who managed to form their portal with a hopeless face.

A spark of fire could only appear in front of Stephen who was helpless and frustrated silently. His eyes darted around the students who managed to form their portal with a hopeless face.

"Visualize. See the destination in your mind. The clearer the picture, the quicker and easier the gateway will come." Mordo said with detailed. Mordo stopped for a moment by Stephen's side, observing his struggle before returning to continue on his way supervising students there without any words.

While they were in the middle of training, The Ancient One appeared there with Master Hamir, the one master that Stephen had mistaken. Mordo, noticed the Ancient One there commanded to stop training.

The Ancient uneasily fixed her eyes on Stephen after realizing his lack of progress. Master Hamir silently stood by the side of the Ancient One with his hands folded across his chest and hidden between his wide sleeves.

"I would like a moment alone with Mr. Strange. "Ancient One demanded.

Mordo nodded understanding. "of course" he then dismissed all the students.

Stephen sighed heavily. A look of shame engraved on his face. He looked defeated and resigned to his lack of progress. Although you have helped him to improve his progress but still he failed to improve.

The Ancient One and Master Hamir stood facing Stephen with their professional faces. Stephen approached them and sighed.

"I see you still struggle to cast any spells, don't you?" The Ancient One said while fiddling with her folding fan in her hand.

"My Hands" he complained while showing his damaged hands.

"It's not about your hands" Ancient One replied.

"how is this not about my hands? I've tried my best to cast any spells but none of them work. It's all because of my damaged hands that make my work difficult" he argued.

"Y/n is just like you but she doesn't complain about her lack of leg movement when she is doing martial arts training, she tends to ignore all those thoughts about her disability to move fast and yet she can still do martial arts training well. Like I said it's not about your hands" the Ancient One explained firmly.

"She's probably using magic to walk" Stephen replied not realizing that he had said bad things about you.

The Ancient One eye twitched faintly. She then turned her head to look at Master Hamir. "and how do you need to use magic with this? Master Hamir" she said the Master's name next to her.

Hamir who was standing next to the Ancient One started raising his wide sleeves, pulling his hands out of his robe or rather his 'hand' out of his robe. The smooth stump a few

inches short of a wrist is the other end of his hand. Stephen was stunned.

Hamir makes passes in the air, writing a calligraphy of light and Strange plainly sees that the stump of Hamir's missing hand is drawing runes as deftly as the living hand.

Strange is at once both amazed and humbled.

Hamir finishes the runes. Pulls his arms back into his robe.

The Ancient One turned her gaze towards Stephen with a knowing look on her face. She glanced at Hamir. "Thank you, Master Hamir" she said pleasantly.

Hamir bowed and walked away, passing by Mordo, who watched from a distance. The Ancient One looked at Strange.

"It's not about your hands. You cannot beat a river into submission, you have to surrender

to its current and use its power as

your own." said the Ancient One.

"I control it by surrendering

control. That makes no sense. Stephen said in disbelief.

"Not everything does. Not everything

has to. Your intellect has taken you

far in life, but it will take you no

further. Surrender, Stephen. Silence

your ego, and your power will rise. "Ancient One demanded.

Strange nods, although he doesn't truly understand this lesson just yet He is still on the verge of accepting the whole mystical things that are happening in front of him. His mind is still narrow.

The Ancient One draws a gateway in the air with her own sling ring, then walks through it. "come with me"

And Stephen followed her into the gateway like a chick follows its mother.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

۞ TIME SKIPS ۞

You walked past the rooftop defense compound with a tired face after 3 hours of Martial Arts training with the replacement Master who replaced Dhani for a short period of time since Dhani was still carrying out her mission (with John). This replacement Master is very brutal in training. You have been beaten by him endlessly many times and you can only think that this one will leave a lot of bruises behind you. Although the replacement Master's face looked quite good and innocent, but as soon as he started training, his face automatically turned very serious which made you gulp your saliva several times.

You winced when you accidentally bumped your shoulder on the collar there as your mind wandered everywhere thinking about Stephen's condition. He was supposed to meet you at the library to study together but then, he didn't show up. His training should be over by now, but you don't see him at all. Now you start to worry. You just met him and now he has disappeared again. God knows what happened to him.

You silently arranged your steps past the Ancient One and Mordo who were standing looking ahead as if waiting for something to appear in front of them. You stopped and furrowed your eyebrows at them.

"You guys fine?" You walked to Mordo's side and looked at them both with a confused face.

"oh, we're fine. Just hoping that someone there is fine or not" the Ancient One replied while fiddling with her folding fan. Her eyes remained in front of her.

Mordo looked concerned and leaned closer towards you to whisper something. "It's Stephen she's talking about"

You gaped and widened your eyes after hearing what Mordo said. You looked at Mordo for confirmation to which Mordo only replied with a small nod.

"Is it sling ring training?" You asked Mordo.

"What else?" Mordo replied.

"oh god, not again." you palmed your hands and brought them to your mouth.

Mind silently replaying your rather brutal sling ring training where the Ancient One trapped you on a safari where a pack of lions were. Of course you are safe, the lions there just sit and look at you as if you are just a game for them. They don't attack they just watched you like you're some kind of performance to them but lion cubs there sure as hell have a high hunting spirit. They once tried to ambush you but you managed to open the portal and run into the portal with a few scratches on your legs which the lion cubs there kindly gave you. You flinched as you remember that brutal memory.

"Where is it this time" you looked at Mordo.

"mount Everest" The Ancient replied simply without turned her gaze at you.

You massage the bridge of your nose. "no.. how long has he been there?"

"seven minu-"

"eight minutes now" The Ancient One cut Mordo off her eyes remaining at the space in front of her.

You gaped and looked ahead of you. Expect Stephen's gateway to appear out of nowhere but nothing appeared. Time flies for about a second although it feels like an hour the three of you wait for Stephen to appear. Mordo became concerned.

"perhaps I should" Mordo began to reach for his sling ring on his belt.

Ancient One put her hand over Mordo's as if stopping him to help Stephen but then out of nowhere, Stephen's Gateway appeared and here comes Stephen stumbling to the ground with his body shivering from the cold. His beard, body and hair are full of white snow. You automatically crouched next to him and held his pale hand, noticing how cold his body was, you activated a warm spell on your palm hoping to warm his body.

Stephen raised his head to look at Ancient One. His face is somewhat between pissed off and grateful with what he has achieved. Piss off the way Ancient One did the scene a while ago on him and grateful because he managed to open the portal on his own. He then let out a relieved breath and looked at you who was concerned with his well-being. Your face and his are only about 2 or 3 inches close, one inch he can kiss your lips. Stephen's face suddenly started to heat up when he thought about such a thing.

"Come on.. let's warm you up.. otherwise you will die from hypothermia" you tried to lift his cold body, not noticing how red Stephen's face was. Warm spell still working.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Which one is your room?" You held onto Stephen's shoulder trying to stabilize him. He still shivered like someone who has tremors but the color of his skin is getting better thanks to the warm spell you cast.

Stephen glanced at you and then looked ahead of him. He nodded towards a second door at the end of the corridor. "that one, second door"

You nodded and led him to his room slowly. The door to his room opened, you took Stephen to the middle of his room. You look around. His room is very neat and awake compared to the owner himself who is still scruffy with a beard and long hair. You turned your gaze to Stephen.

"come on, I'll take you to the bathroom.. Let's just give you a hot bath, I guess.." You held Stephen's hand and led him to the bathroom.

Stephen's room is just like your room so it's not surprising if you know where the bathroom is located. As you enter the bathroom with Stephen in the back who is still cold, you release his hand from your grip and walk to the water faucet to set it to hot water which at first when you come here is quite surprising that the Kamar Taj is not a place that does not use technology other than wifi so it's no surprise that the bathroom faucet can be set to hot or cold.

After you set it in the hot water, you glanced at Stephen who was still stiff behind you. His eyes looked at you with an unreadable look on his face. You can't identify the reaction he is making now as he seems to be thinking about you as if you are an endangered creature and humans see it for the first time which makes them stunned.

Weird metaphor? yes i know. You walked up to Stephen.

"Stephen?" you call him

Stephen jerked slightly and looked down at your eyes. Both of you staring at each other's eyes for a good minute. You can feel butterflies in your stomach flutter as your heart beats fast and skips a few beats. Your face warmed when you held Stephen's gaze. Stephen didn't move but just looked at your face. But it didn't last long, as you broke the staring contest by looking at the bathtub.

"the water is ready.. I'll leave you to take a bath then." you said avoiding looking at Stephen, face still red.

Stephen nodded before silently walking towards the middle of the bathroom to undress himself.

"You should shave all those hairs you know? Maybe cut it short or shave it clean? Cut that hair too" You said while looking at Stephen who had half opened his tunic to reveal his firm chest.

Stephen stopped and looked at you. "I've tried but both my hands shook badly. I've had cuts on my face before so I don't want to take any risks" Stephen turned his back to you.

"need help with that?" you blubbered without hesitation.

Stephen turned his body to you back and looked at you confused. "have you ever shaved before?"

"Even though I'm a woman, it doesn't mean I don't have hairs to shave." you said simply.

"right" now he feels stupid for asking such a question.

"now stay there, I'll prepare the shaver and scissors, I know what to do with those hairs" you opened the mirror on the wall and took out the electric shaver and silver scissors. Stephen gulped nervously.

After you took the items, you closed the mirror and walked towards the towel rack next to the bathroom door which means outside. Stephen's white towel was reached by you and you walked towards Stephen who was still standing in the same place.

"Oh, Dammit i forgot. I better do it after you shower. You still cold. I don't want you to dead yet." you put the electronic shaver and scissors in the sink, silently cursing under your breath for forgetting Stephen conditions.

Stephen nodded without any words while you who still ashamed with forgetting about his condition left the bathroom to give Stephen privacy.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Can you just sit properly? Do you want your face full of cuts? Sit properly" you patted his bare shoulder with your free hand while the other was trying to shave and trim a little on his new beard.

Stephen rolled his eyes while looking up to the ceiling to allow you to work on his chin. "yes ma'am"

You glared at him and continued to trim his beard for the last touch where you stand in front of him who is sitting on a chair so that you are at the same level as him and it is easy to trim his goatee. His hair is already cut, which goes with his look and his new goatee.

You just followed Stephen's instructions regarding that he wanted to change his new appearance so was his new life which suited him with this new look and this made something flutter in your stomach when you made the last touch on his goatee. And then everything is done.

You smile satisfied with the results of your work. Stephen looked up at you with an appreciation look.

"yeay, all done" you patted his bare shoulder and walked to the side allowing him to look at himself in the mirror.

Stephen got up and stood in front of the mirror and took a small towel and gently wiped his new wet goatee before putting it aside and cocked his head upwards to look at your work. Clean, neat and tidy. Stephen nodded in satisfaction.

"not bad" Stephen praised.

"oh, thank you, Doctor Strange" you bowed slightly with a smirk.

Stephen pushed your head jokingly. "Stop it" He smiled.

You chuckled and glanced at his firm chest accidentally before quickly turning your gaze towards Stephen's face who still held his smirk. Your face started to turn red.

"Like what you see, stoat?" Stephen smirked teasingly.

"shut up, Giraffe" you turned your gaze to the side. Your face was very red and warm but you managed to hide it.

"don't be shy, sweetheart. You've seen me naked before" Stephen poked your shoulder with his index finger.

"Yeah well that was when we were 11 years old. We weren't mature at that time. Besides you're not completely naked at that time, you're just half naked like now" you waved your hands to the appearance of him wearing only a towel around his waist.

"Wait until I open-"

"wow, easy boy.. just shut up!" you smack his shoulder a little hurt.

Stephen winced and rubbed his shoulder that you smacked before he took both of your hands and held them tightly. His face softened as he looked at you and appreciated the things you did to him just now.

"thanks for helping me cut and shave me. I can't really describe how much you have done for me. So thank you" Stephen complimented.

"I'm just returning the favor you did to me before" You muttered.

"and yet this also means something to me" he put his forehead on your forehead and closed his eyes. So was you too.

You sighed heavily. "can we just be like this forever? like hangout with each other, treat each other like we did when we were kids. Can we do that again?"

"I want to do that too. Hangout with you until both of us fell asleep or just us having a silence moment together until we get bored and want to do something silly" Stephen replied, slowly rocking his and yours body together side by side . Stephen let go of your hands and put his hands on your waist.

You automatically put your hands on his shoulders and unconsciously played with his back hair. "I miss you.. I miss us"

Stephen sighed lightly. "I miss you too.. I miss us too.. We are just so busy with life that we rarely see each other"

You hummed. "Have you apologized to Christine? You know after you outburst your frustration on her. Even though you two have broken up, it doesn't mean you don't have to apologize to her. She deserves your forgiveness, Stephen"

"don't worry, I'm planning to email her for the 40th time again" Stephen said.

"She didn't reply to any of your emails?" you parted away from his forehead and stared at his face with a dumbfounded look.

"no, she.. I don't blame her for not replying to my emails.. she deserves to do that. She probably wants space" Stephen sighed and stared back at your face with a sad look.

"Oh, Steph. I'm sure she'll open her heart to accept your forgiveness" You stroked the back of his hair gently.

"What did I do to deserve a person like you?" Stephen muttered.

"we know each other for a long time, I'm sure you understand what kind of person I am" you replied with a twinkle in your eyes.

Stephen stared at your eyes for a long time. Stephen is no stranger to how you both treat each other. Whether it's touching, hugging or kissing one another's cheeks in greetings. That's what friends always do, right?

'friends' Stephen thought bitterly.

Friends are not like this. Hug like you've been together for more than 2 years. Not that they both care, they know and understand each other better than their own partners. It's like peas in a pod, meaning never separated and always going everywhere together and doing work together. Not counting a few months of silence treatment they did but still both of them always thinking about each other.

Is it possible to love your childhood friend? It is not impossible as this kind of thing has been experienced by many other people in this world so it is not surprising if one of them starts to confess.

Stephen's eyes stared at your own a few moments before he broke his staring by looking down. He sighed.

"I think I need to say this to you" Stephen began.

You looked at him confused. Stephen let out a small sigh and stared at your face in new found confidence.

"i-" Stephen paused. "we've been friends since we were both 10 years old until we were 40. Our friendship has never been challenged or broken even if we both fight or have a disagreement. We always apologize and help each other in our own way and that never becomes less in our friendship." Stephen put his hands on both of your cheeks. His face softened.

"And I think we should be more than that. We rely on each other no matter what happened and it's doing something inside of me like something flutter inside me whenever you help or accompany me in anything. I just love your presence, your voice, your knowledge about anything and I love what kind of person you are. In fact, I love everything about you because you are different from others. You don't care about other people's things. You don't care about what people say about me Nor did you care to be friends with me even though I have high ego and arrogance. You're still with me even after knowing that I'm dating Christine.. I don't realized that i pushed our friendship away knowing you just wanted to keep this friendship but then again, dating with Christine is not the same as I was with you. I didn't realize that I really want you..I have done all kinds of things for you so that you can get a hint that I actually want to be more than a childhood friend. I'm just afraid to say this to you. I'm just afraid that you don't have the same feeling about me. I still think that you are not destined for me but now I can see the other way" Stephen confessed.

You are speechless. 'He likes me' you thought. The heart began to beat faster when the long-hidden feelings now rose again. After all this time he likes you back. He returns your love to you. You are just blind and don't realize that all this time Stephen has done all sorts of things that a good friend would never do. He showed his love for you in an unspeakable way. He returns your love without saying anything but he used action to tell you that he likes you. Unspoken love in this term, he doesn't dare to say that he really loves you more than childhood friend and he wants more than that with you. The way he shows how much he loves you is so big and more than enough but you just blinded by your own doubt not knowing that he too feel like you doesn't have the same feeling to him.

"Stephen" you whispered, hands reached to rubbed Stephen's hands on your cheeks.

Stephen looked down, ashamed."I understand that you don't have the same feelings for me, but at least I can say what I want to say to you about my feelings that have been hidden in my soul for a long time. I always love you no matter what."

You softened your looks at him and caressed his cheeks softly. " Steph, you don't need to explain it, because I also have feelings for you. It's been a long time but I don't have the courage.. I don't have the courage to tell you this.. I'm afraid you'll reject me because I think it will ruin the friendship we built a long time ago"

Stephen shook his head and rubbed your cheeks with his thumbs. "no, don't say it will destroy our friendship.. we are the only two who don't have the courage to confess to each other. But only time will tell how organized our story is.. Look at us now, confess to each other. I always love you " Stephen leaning closer to your face.

You stared at the multicolored eyes in front of you with a softened look engraved on your face. Admire a beautiful galaxy in his eyes. Along with his face that you grew up with. And without hesitation, You leaned closer to his lips with yours. Kissing each other lips passionately without one of you parting away. Stephen returned the kiss deeply savoring the warm feeling of your lips with his eyes closed. His hands automatically go to your neck to bring your body closer to him while your hands slide to his firm chest.

After a good five minutes, the two of you parted away from each other to breathe with smiles on both of your faces and then both of you giggled like school kids whose love was returned by their crush. You giggled while rubbing Stephen's chest while Stephen giggled while rubbing his thumbs on your neck gently.

"wow" you giggled and put your head on his chest.

Stephen put his right hand on top of your head and gently rubbed your head while his left hand slide to your hips. His head on top of your head and then he automatically kissed the crown of your hair tenderly. "I know, love."

You blushed at that new nickname he gave you and hide your face on his chest. And then the atmosphere was quiet and the two of you enjoyed each other's warm embrace with an aura of love and affection around the two of you. Only your two breaths could be heard in Stephen's room.

Stephen decided to break the silence. "So you and that woman before had no relationship, right?"

"Dhani? Oh! no no.. me and her are just friends.. nothing happens between us.. She and John are the only ones who have something.. She's always disappearing with John" you moved your head to the side and listening to his heartbeat.

"oh, ok.." Stephen muttered.

You raised your head to look at Stephen with an arched eyebrow. "why.. do you think I'm into a women now?.. Gosh.. no, I still have lust for men and that man is you" you stand on your tip toes and peck his lips.

Stephen blushed. "But it's true what you said.. John also always disappears with Dhani.. Something must happen between the two of them.." Stephen paused. "wanna make a bet?"

You looked at him in disbelief. "Like when we were stupid teenagers? Remember that I lost a lot to you."

"That was before, but now maybe there is luck. Who knows, you won anyway.. My bet is John who confessed to Dhani first"

"fine.. Mine was Dhani who confessed first with her weird way" you mumbled.

"Whoever wins gets 10 rupees" Stephen added.

You hummed. "enough to buy ice tea.. deal" you started holding out your right hand to seal the deal.

Stephen nodded and without hesitation shook your hand with his and shook it a few times before kissing the back of your hand as an extra. "deal"

[invye]

Unity of Magic - Chapter 30

Stephen gets some more advice from Master Hamir, starts physical therapy, and finally, Wong is back.

Can we get back to normal now? Please? ... Well somehow I doubt that'll ever work with them.

[tina-mairin-goldstein]

The Hurt Within These Halls - Chapter 21 - Tina_Mairin_Goldstein - Doctor Strange (2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Day 21: Put On Display

Chapter Summary:

After being called out by a master, America is feeling down.

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: Multi

Fandom: Doctor Strange (Movies)

Relationships: Ancient One & Hamir the Hermit (Marvel), Kaecilius & Wong (Marvel), Kaecilius & Karl Mordo, Daniel Drumm & Kaecilius, Daniel Drumm/Kaecilius, Stephen Strange & Wong, Ancient One & Stephen Strange, Adria/Kaecilius (Marvel), Kaecilius & Stephen Strange, The Cloak of Levitation & Stephen Strange, The Cloak of Levitation & Kaecilius, Ancient One & America Chavez, America Chavez & Stephen Strange, America Chavez & Wong

Characters: Ancient One (Marvel), Hamir the Hermit (Marvel), Kaecilius (Marvel), Wong (Marvel), Karl Mordo, Daniel Drumm, Stephen Strange, Adria (Marvel), The Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), America Chavez

Additional Tags: Febuwhump 2025, Major Character Injury, Injury, Blood, Violence, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt, Emotional Hurt, Angst, Whump, Everyone Needs A Hug, Sign Language, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon timeline is there but adjusted to my needs, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Mind Control, Medical Inaccuracies, Mentions of Suicide, Suicidal Thoughts, Necromancy, Demonic Possession, Grief, Guilt

Language: English

[doctorstrangereview]

0002: Strange Tales #111

Cover Date: August 1963 On-Sale Date: May 9, 1963

It's been an unknown amount of time since the previous story. The splash panel promises us a meeting with our favorite sorcerer's "arch-foe, the dreaded Baron Mordo!!" Apparently Mordo is a low ranking member of the nobility in a yet-to-be-named European country. At least he's not a Baronet. Hang Tight! We're about to come "Face-to-Face With the Magic of Baron Mordo!"

As in the previous story, we open, not with our hero, but rather the one who is going to make trouble for him, ranting exposition. The Baron wants to steal the magic secrets from The Master that he's kept to himself all these years. Mordo hasn't adopted his signature green. He's in some orange (red in the Masterworks reprint) atrocity that may also be black, or it may just be shadows cast from Mordo's mood lighting in his dank and depressing castle. The Master, however, has a lovely purple robe. It's one of the few instances where I prefer the Masterworks recoloring to the original.

Conjuring his astral self, described as entering a trance here, he sneaks into The Master's palace/retreat and entrances his yet-to-be-named servant, Hamir. Hamir will pop up again over the years and gain a small but important role. Unlike the MCU version of things, The Master's residence isn't crawling with a small army of students and help. For quite a while, it will appear that the Baron and the Doctor are his only two students. In these pre-Kennedy assassination more trustworthy times, the Master doesn't have any security so Mordo's ghost can go wherever he pleases. The concept of the Sorcerer Supreme hasn't been introduced yet, but we still get the impression The Master is high up the ladder of magic users so maybe some mystical motion detectors would have come in handy.

Mordo succeeds in entrancing Hamir, causing him to tamper with The Master's food. The Master, sitting in his formal throne today, is poisoned and Mordo's ghost is belligerently yelling at The Master to give up them secrets or the Baron will let him die. In an amazing bit of luck, back in the United States, Doctor Strange has just completed his latest experiment in Black Magic and tries to get The Master on the amulet phone. But the amulet just rings and rings. That's suspicious, says the Doctor out loud. I guess exposition needs to be spoken, even if you're alone. Side note: Ditko has already simplified the lovely scalloped edges and inlaid filigree of Doc's amulet.

Doc also enters a trance and heads to The Master's hidden retreat/palace. He immediately confronts Mordo saying he always suspected Mordo was evil. This will be contradicted in a few months and we will see that Doc always knew Mordo was evil. The verbal dick measuring contest then gets physical. Yes, our two powerful sorcerers have a mid-air fist fight! Observation: Ditko inserts a number of prototypes of the symbol of the Vishanti throughout the Master's retreat. It's quite a nice touch.

While Mordo and Strange punch the living daylights out of each other, the Master chokes out a syllable: "Am...." Strange realizes that he means amulet. Again, it open slowly. Not good when you have a gun to your head, and not good when your mentor is about to die of poisoning and your arch-nemesis is pummeling the hell out of you. Still, we get some magic beyond WWE for ghosts and the Master is cured. Strange threatens Mordo to find his body and do terrible things to it so he can never return. "Not if I get there first!" is basically Mordo's reply and two of them race to Mordo's depressing castle.

Mordo beats him to his body and says "Nyah! Nyah! Now I'm gonna do you in!" Strange replies "You fell into my trap! Now all your nastiness is undone. My amulet will keep you frozen until I can get my butt outta here!"

Returning to The Master, he and Doc have a brief post-mortem. Doc then breaks the fourth wall and invites the audience to "peer behind the enchanted veil together!"

Nightmare and Baron Mordo will recur A LOT in the next year-and-a-half. Mordo will eventually get a tragic backstory starting in the 80s and expanded on in the 90s. He will get a redemption that is rather spectacular considering the writing of the series at the time. Then some time shenanigans will wipe out the redemption and Mordo will remain an annoying buffoon to the present.

The story is more exciting that Doc's first. There's not much in the way of character development. The cast is small and there is no one for Strange to be smug and curt to. We do learn that Mordo was a student before strange and at this point in time is stronger. Ditko even draws him larger and more intimidating physically. We still lack magic bolts and shields. Doc must still follow his mentor's advice and rely on his main gadget to get him out of a fix. The astral duplicate of the amulet appears to function as well as its physical counterpart. I don't know if we ever find out if the physical and astral amulets can function at the same time. Given the limited space the series has, Ditko and Lee wisely keeps the cast small. We still don't know quite what motivates everyone to do what they do. That is yet to come. The story was a less humble than the last one and I enjoyed Baron Mordo's introduction.

[incorrectkamartaj]

Hamir: How's teaching going?

The Ancient One: I can't tell any of my students apart half the time because I don't go by height, age, or appearance.

The Ancient One: I go by who's a pain in the arse.

The Ancient One: Which makes them all identical.

Stephen: Hey! Fuck You!

The Ancient One: Except for Stephen.

Stephen: Thank you.

The Ancient One: He's the bloody worst of them all.

[doctorstrangeaskblog]

"Hey, Stephen have you seen Master Hamir? I made lavender butter cookies, we were gunna have tea and discuss dreams... and yes I left you some cookies in the kitchen."

Wanda had dragged him into the Mirrored Dimension using a water poodle reflection, but he's alright. I think I saw him reading on the benches in Kamar Taj's courtyard. Thanks for the cookies.

[mianmimi]

All this talk about family got me thinking of Hamir and Wong. Please, confirm they’re father and son in the MCU just like in the comics! That’d be so cute seeing that dynamic between them. I wonder what kind of father Hamir would be and what would he think of his son’s relationships. Give me Hamir approving Wong and Mordo’s fleeting romance and then being like wtf is this shit when Wong starts dating Stephen lmao

Awwwwww!!!

Having Hamir be Wong’s dad is such a missed opportunity in the MCU. I feel like they would have mentioned it already if they were related though :(

We don’t get that many good, wholesome fathers in the MCU. So I’d like to head canon that Master Hamir was a very gentle father. The opposite of Wenwu. He was just happy to have a child and love them. I think Wong’s the one who had the drive to be outstanding 🤣 Even as a boy, without paternal pressure, just striving to learn everything and excel. People would watch them and joke that Wong’s more like the parent, reminding his dad to take his medications and preparing ten steps ahead. I feel like Wong would be the type to stay up late studying to perfect a spell and Hamir would be the one to tell him to ease up on the studies and have some fun.

Wong’s probably a very protective son too. I think that Hamir would probably be an easy target for teasing and jokes, given the easy going nature. But as soon as Wong’s old enough to form sentences he starts telling all these grown ups off. I just love a protective baby Wong 🥺 Hamir would support him, though probably low key wishes Wong would chose a quiet life instead of getting into insane situations that were caused by others *side eyes Stephen*.

As for Wong’s love life…Hamir probably trusts him. Even with the fleeting romance with Mordo. At first he’d be worried, given Mordo’s family history. But he accepts it, especially when Mordo’s so clearly fallen far from the tree.

Hehehehe why am I chuckling at the thought of Hamir being so accepting and chill about Wong’s decisions but goes bonkers when Wong reveals he’s now dating Stephen. Just the idea of this very gentle, supportive man suddenly talking Wong’s ear off about how bad an idea this is. Like why? What happened to Mordo? He was a good catch! So what if he went rogue? Who hasn’t? Who hasn’t?!?!? Put that Stephen back where you found it!

On a side note, I’m gonna head canon that Wong takes after his mom ❤️ She died young but left a lot of her spirit and nature with her son. She probably had zero tolerance for non-sense, being the human embodiment of “I told you so.” I head canon she was excellent in protective spells and would often tell Hamir to get behind her while she kicks some demon’s ass or something 😅 Probably while rocking baby Wong on her hip. We love a multitasking queen.

[prison-mikes-bandana]

Why the hell did Stephen Strange Get named sorcerer Supreme? He was literally the newest recruit in the events of doctor Strange.

Surely there were other candidates

Like:

Wong

Or maybe Master Hamir

I mean I know why but still it’s kinda weird if you think about it

[presidentrhodes]

this is accurate tbh

[harlekin6]

Also Master Hamir

Doctor Strange 2 - Masters of the Mystic Arts -

[writingfish]

Nine' o clock found Wong staring at a bowl of sambar like it had all the answers. He hadn't been able to meditate, mind filled with too many thoughts clamoring for attention. Eventually, he had given up and made his way to the mostly empty cafeteria.

A tray thumped down across from him.

"Long night?" Master Oben said as he sat down.

Wong grunted, removing the pumpkin pieces from the sambar. They never tasted good out of season.

"What happened last night? Master Hamir didn't say much."

"Master Hamir never says much," Wong said, looking up. "What makes you think I know?"

The cafeteria was quiet around them. Morning classes were cancelled and most people had taken the opportunity to go back to bed. Wong wished he could do the same, but the emotions of his dream-self weren't losing their sharpness.

He looked at the phone next to him. He didn't have any notifications yet. Journeyman Drake had adjusted the usual monitoring spell to send alerts to one's phone. He'd be a Master soon.

"You always know," Master Oben said. As if this had been a fact for the entirety of Wong's time at Kamar-Taj.

Wong chewed on a piece of idili, swallowed.

"I don't," he lied.

He glanced at his phone again. Still no notifications. Ste-Strange. He wasn't his dream-self. The separation would help. Strange wouldn't have woken up so soon. He had fallen asleep almost instantly once Wong had shown him the room. He thought he had seen orange and yellow light flicker over the man, but - Wong cut that thought off. It led to places he didn't want to go, though he suspected he would before the day was over.

Skepticism was an interesting look on Master Oben's face, especially when he had a banana in his hand.

"Are you sure? You're always involved in whatever's going on."

Wong took a bite of his sambar-soaked idili and let the flavors sit on his tongue.

"I am not involved in this," he said, eventually. Unfortunately, he was and would be further involved because that had always been the trajectory of his life. It seemed all of Wong's selves were getting involved in some type of trouble.

Master Oben knew he was lying.

"Alright," he said instead of calling Wong on it. "Keep your secrets. Just....we are here to help, however we can."

Wong nodded. He wasn't sure when they'd need Master Oben's knowledge of 12th dimensional frog venom, but with their luck, it would probably end up being useful at some point.

Master Oben finished his banana and started on his oatmeal. It was one of those instant packs they kept around; Wong could tell by the texture. He went back to his sambar.

Slowly, others started trickling in, quietly speculating on what had happened last night. He focused on the background chatter and on his food, slowly slipping into a shallow sort of meditation. It wouldn't be enough to sort out his emotions, but he eventually managed to regain a sense of calm. He would still have to meditate properly, but he would be able to get through the rest of the day.

That calm slipped away as soon as his phone beeped.

Wong looked at it, mouth drying out. The worry came back, flooded him for a breath before he could dim it. The spell notification was on his phone. Strange had woken up.

Wong finished his breakfast. Strange had been up all night. He shouldn't have woken up just yet. A nightmare probably. He'd give the man some time. Again, knowledge he shouldn't know. He scowled at his now-empty bowl.

"Someone portal into the library again?"

Wong's scowl deepened. While Master Oben didn't know what had happened last night, he had unintentionally managed to guess part of it. Wong should have just closed that portal and walked away. But the Eye had been missing and The Ancient One normally knew better than to portal into the library, no matter the location.

Wong stood. There was no putting it off any longer.

"Something like that," he said to Master Oben. "Enjoy your day."

"Something tells me it'll be better than yours," Master Oben called after him as Wong deposited his tray and left. He was most likely right.

[askthesorcerersupreme]

Master Wong, I was wondering, how did you join the Mystic arts? Did you stumble upon it on accident or were you raised with magic growing up?

My family has been at Kamar-Taj for generations now. My father actually worked pretty closely with the Ancient One, our Sorcerer Supreme at the time. When I was old enough to decide, he gave me the choice to lead a ‘normal’ life outside of sorcery, or to train under the Sorcerer Supreme.

Now I’m the Sorcerer Supreme, so I’d like to think I made the right decision.

[invye]

The Actual Meaning of True Love's Kiss

(Stephen Strange/Wong, G, 4.6k, ~20 min reading time)

Summary: Stephen gets cursed. It's fine, not a problem, easy fix, Tina explains. Everything he'll need is a "True Love's Kiss." It's not fine, very much a problem, and not easy at all. Thankfully Wong is in the same room and having a couple revelations of his own.

Technically I wrote this fic as a gift for @sanctum-stinker at the end of last year, but that's not going to stop me from posting it as my entry for the March prompt "acceptance" of the @yearoftheotpevent now that I actually can post it! (Especially since time to write is tight right now and I want to focus on Unity of Magic)

This is very very self-indulgent and I'm not even going to try and hide it. Especially since this is the first time I actually gathered the courage to tag Master Jio, who is a recurring OC of mine you'll know if you've read my other works.

Enjoy, I sure know I did writing it!~