daisychainsinthespring

[daisychainsinthespring]

I never thought I would be so into costume analysis, but here I am. This breakdown is phenomenal and makes me view this scene in a whole new light. Thank you :)

Star Wars Costumes - Padme Amidala in the prequels / EPISODE 2

Anakin and Padme´s time on Naboo

Part 3

One single costume in "Attack of the Clones" was not designed by Trisha Biggar, but by George Lucas himself. It was the black Dinner Dress that Padme wears for a dinner with Anakin and later when they sit by the fireplace.

I could literally write a dissertation about this particular dress, and a lot of it would consist of unbridled rage... because as far as the storyline and Padme´s character/personality are concerned, the dress just makes me ANGRY. But I don´t want to digress, so I shall try to keep it as short and to the point as possible.

The one thing one definitely needs to know about the Dinner Dress is that its design and use in the film was very deliberate, and the symbolism and the foreshadowing is craaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyy. I am not sure how many people out there have ever realized it, no matter how often they have seen AOTC and ROTS.

The first version of the dress that we see - while the two have dinner and Anakin shows off some of his Jedi skills - features a feathery shawl which Padme wears wrapped around her shoulders. The floor length skirt has a metallic print and a slightly "mermaid dress" style finish. This once again could be a reference to the water planet Naboo.

So far so good. When we get to the fireplace scene, things finally get interesting. Because now Padme has removed that shawl, and what we see is a gown which is a 1930´s Hollywood Diva dress á la Rita Hayworth´s black gown with gloves in "Gilda", mixed with a good portion of classy dominatrix.

Black leather corset (they cinched Natalie down to 20 inches), black glove sleeves, tied back hair and a blingy black choker.

Now, Natalie is known for a lot of things - having big boobs was never one of them. But with that corset even her modest chest was literally pushed up to her chin!

The expression "heaving bosom" comes to mind; I´m probably the straightest woman on this planet, but even I would not have been able to tear my eyes off that cleavage. Holy shit, and people complain about Anakin´s terrible lines in this scene? That man was an intergalactic hero for not touching her a single time! You bet that light saber in his pocket burned hotter than Mustafar´s lava, if you get my drift.

I mean, just look at the stills:

Good job Padme. Have all that in his face and make him not want it. Make him not touch any of that. Make him not kiss you again, make him not rip all that leather off, devour you and break your back.

Of course you would have a romantic, intimate dinner for two and choose to wear exactly this outfit, then go and sit so close together in the dark by a lit fireplace while you seriously and sternly lay down the law "Nope, we can´t and won´t bang, we can´t ever be lovers, can´t ever be together" with the young man whom you allowed to touch your butt nekkid back and kiss you just a few hours ago in the afternoon! I mean, we all have done exactly that with a guy we had to gently reject, right ladies?

ANYWAY! (I´ll stop here because as you you see, my anger is rising, and anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering....!)

George didn´t just design this dress to express his personal vision of how Padme would look the most sexy, erotic, irresistible and beautiful in his eyes (and logically also Anakin´s eyes). There was a longterm plan behind the entire scenario we got in this scene.

Now, about the things that Anakin says to her. If we only listen to them without that important context, everything that comes out of his mouth sounds just terrible and cringe.

Let´s deconstruct the scene and explain exactly why Padme was made to wear this dress and we were given this scenario of the two of them by the fire.

Anakin tells her "The thought of not being with you... I can´t breathe."

What was ultimately Vader´s fate? He lost her, in the end it was his own fault that she died and then he spent the rest of his days trapped in that suit, needing a mask to breathe.

And Padme, who is not only the woman he loves more than anything in this world but also the voice of the Republic, an advocate for peace and democracy, the outspoken founder of the rebellion... she wears that black thing around her neck. If you look at it for a while and try to see the symbolism, you realize that it looks like a dark hand that grabs her by the neck and chokes her.

Penny drop?

He tells her: "You are in my very soul, tormenting me."

It would indeed remain that way for Vader, who would go on to suffer terrible nightmares, feelings of guilt, and hate himself to the core for what he had caused and what he had become. Not only had he robbed himself of his beloved wife and mother of his unborn children, he had also forever silenced that voice of diplomacy, democracy, peace, freedom and most of all love. Her voice.

See all those parallels?

George´s often cited "It´s like poetry, it rhymes?"

See the foreshadowing, reversals of themes, and how he actually already told us in Episode 2 what Anakin/Vader would eventually do?

Vader´s classic move is to kill by force choke. There could never be a question that Padme ultimately would meet her end like that.

George uses the same color palette of red, orange, black and darkness all around them. Fire in both scenarios. The same camera angles, and he has Anakin and Padme at the same physical distance in both movies. Anakin´s hand in ROTS is covered by a black leather glove and the pressure he applies to Padme´s neck cuts off her respiration and she collapses.

In AOTC Padme wears a black leather corset and the black choker that looks like a dark hand around her neck.

We also have several symbolic themes of "pressure" in the scenes.

First one: Anakin pressures Padme to be with him and them to become lovers, while she resists -> pressure, in the end, will kill love.

Number two: What do very tight corsets do if you cinch down with too much pressure? They restrict your lungs and thus your breathing to a certain extent. How do they do that? They are fabricated with strong steel or iron boning -> Padme dies for having been brutally choked and her heart breaking over Anakin´s turn. And Vader no longer has his lungs in the end, the substitute will be iron lungs and he will be imprisoned in a tight, constricting black suit until the day he dies.

The third reference to "pressure": Vader will be the instrument that pressures the entire Galaxy into submitting to the Empire. He will also try and pressure his son to join him.

In AOTC, Padme rejects his love, denies her own feelings of love for him and tells Anakin: "We live in a real world. Come back to it! If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go."

In ROTS she begs him: "You´re going down a path I can´t follow! Stop! Stop now... come back! I love you!"

So! That´s that about the Dinner Dress and why it has much more importance and meaning than one would ever suspect upon first watching the movie. Next post about Padme´s costume will feature her night gown for Naboo, then we we leave for Tatooine and the outfits she wears there.

[daisychainsinthespring]

Down Came The Rain

Darkness, that was all she could see. There was a slow, molasses like quality to her perception of time. It seemed like this, wherever she was, was a pocket of nonexistence. A peaceful rest from the chaotic violence of her life. Here, in this void-like hamlet, she was finally free.

Then, just as suddenly as she was sucked into her little peaceful pocket, she was pulled out. Slowly Yelena could feel the pieces of herself, her very fabric, being pulled back together. It felt uncomfortable in an almost indescribable way, like a mosquito bite that just had to be scratched.

As her body began to take shape again she heard her сестра, Natalia, whistle in her left ear. Yelena turned her head, tracking the noise, her hazel eyes finally landing on a TV in the corner of the small gas station she had stopped in. She listened as a journalist spoke of The Snap, informing individuals who had been lost of the current year.

It vaguely registered in her mind that she was one of those who had been blinked out of existence.

The brunette journalist continued, detailing the lengths the Avengers had gone to in order to right the world after Thanos, the mad Titan, had toppled it. Yelena listened intently as she moved closer to the TV, startling the cashier behind the counter. Her gaze zeroed in on the screen as news broke of the dead.

The American Merchant of Death, Tony Stark, had his name and picture flash in a bright display against the blue backdrop of the report, followed by shaky footage of Earths Mightiest kneeling before his prone form.

This was followed by a picture of the face Yelena had always known. She looked away from the screen as tears fell from her cheeks, her mind shattered into a writhing mess of numbness.

The journalist told his story of how the great Natasha Romanoff had sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone, one of the items needed to right the wrongs committed by Thanos, as Yelena thought back to that Cuban airstrip. In her minds eye she watched the little red headed girl push her younger self behind her back while she bore down on the servicemen who stood threateningly before her.

She struggled to make sense of it all. Her sister was gone. Her body never to be returned to Earth, never to be buried. Natasha would never come home. They would never grow old together, or meet for Friday night family dinners again.

Widows were chosen because they were unwanted. No one looked for them because no one cared. They were left alone, to be preyed upon and made into the worlds most finely tuned weapons. It wasn’t the training that made little girls into inhuman assassins, nor was it the graduation ceremony. It was their abandonment by those who ought to have cared, those who should have watched after them.

Natalya cared when no one else did. Yelena was able to keep a part of herself whole because she knew someone was watching over her, pushing her on through the hell they both had been thrust into.

But now, Yelena thought to herself, I truly am a Widow. I am completely alone.

[daisychainsinthespring]

[daisychainsinthespring]

The Date.

Steve Rogers was nervous. After Loki cancelled his date with Darcy, she had wrangled him into going with her instead. Steve had made a quick change into the only suit he owned (navy with a white button up, which Darcy found equal parts hilarious and patriotic for some reason), and then bundled Darcy, in her beautiful navy swing dress (they matched and he couldn’t help but think it was adorable), into the car. Once they reached the restaurant they had quickly been ushered to their table. Things were going well. It didn’t feel like a date at all. If he changed out the venue for her couch, the food for some Ben and Jerry’s, and their clothes for pajamas, it could easily have been any other night spent in each other's company. Which was precisely why he was so nervous. Had they really been unofficially dating for that long without him noticing? He couldn’t still be that bad with women. The one positive of this realisation was that it finally gave him the courage to look across the table, into her impossibly blue eyes, and tell her the truth, “Y’know how long I’ve wanted to do this with you? God Darce, I love you so much, you don’t even know the half of it”. Mentally he cringed at the confession. Way to make it smooth Rogers, he chastised. But she wasn’t looking at him in disgust. No, she gazed upon him tenderly, in a way that no one, not even Peggy, had looked at him before.

Darcy Lewis was nervous. After finally getting Steve into a suit that, with his Louboutin dress shoes, very much fit the stereotype of what Captain America would wear on a date, and heading over to the restaurant she was nervous. Darcy didn’t actually realise that she had basically forced him into a date with her until they were midway to the restaurant, and by then it was too late to bow out and recognise his choice in the matter. To be fair, he had gone with her. That had to be a positive, it’s not like she could actually force him to do anything against his will. Now finally, after finishing their meal she could tell Steve was working up the courage to say something. It was this not knowing, of whether it was exactly what she had not allowed herself to even hope for or a gentle rejection, that had the butterflies in her stomach throwing a damn rave. After he finally did work up the nerve to say his bit, she was left in utter shock. Steve Rogers was in love with her? Oh shit, Steve Rogers was in love with her. She took in his jacket, gaze sweeping over his hair before coming to meet his eyes. The eye contact alone was intimate in the most exhilarating way. “You love me?” she breathed out, “I thought...well I mean...you’re you...and I’m...me...regular old Darcy...are you sure you don’t want a super sexy spy?”. Wow so smooth Darce, she thought to herself, that was real eloquence on display right there. Steve chuckled a bit before shaking his head slowly, so as to not startle her, “Naw. Darcy, I love you. I am… well I would be... happy with you. If you’d have me? I know the avenging can be a lot but I really think this... you...us...could work”. He looked so damn hopeful in that second, an emotion that she knew rarely graced his face, that she just couldn’t say no, “Well I am fairly certain that turning down The Great Captain America counts as high treason. Anyway I love you too, so it would be really weird if I said no”.

It was quiet for a moment between them, each feeling content in their little bubble, before Darcy asked, “So am I rationed now? Isn’t that what you old timers called it back in the day?”. Steve, in response, could only whine, “I mean yes, technically. Oh god you’re not going to let that go are you?”. Darcy smiled back mischievously, which was really the only answer that he needed.

Loki was feeling victorious. He had pulled some strings to gain access to the security cameras in the front lobby of Avengers Tower and was thrilled to see that his plan had worked. At first, when the new couple had come back from their date shyly holding hands, he had been worried that The Captain hadn’t worked up the courage to confront his feelings for The Lady Darcy after all. But upon watching him push her up against the wall next to the elevators and give her a truly filthy kiss that deeply conflicted with his golden boy image, Loki knew he had succeeded. Oh yes, the things they would get up to together would do him proud. After all, mischief came in many forms.

[daisychainsinthespring]

I’m dyeing my hair again in a few weeks and was hoping to get some advice…

Which of the following colours is the most “Natasha Romanoff”? Plz share as I would love more opinions.

Tumblr is basically going to choose my hair colour :)

[daisychainsinthespring]

The Play.

Steve Rogers was jealous. He was sprawled out on Darcy's bed watching her flit about the room, putting finishing touches on her outfit for the evening, and he was fucking jealous. Loki had asked her out the previous day in the most ostentatious way possible, and Steve was worried he had missed his shot. Not that he knew he really wanted a shot in the first place, he thought she would be better off without him. But he also hated this nauseous, sickly feeling he got in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about another man being with her. And for once in his life Steve decided to do the selfish thing, “Darce, don’t go, I mean c’mon who will cook dinner for me? I don’t think Tony would appreciate me setting off the fire alarm again”.

Darcy paused for a minute, he could see her reflection in the mirror close its eyes in a grimace, “Stevie, you’ll be fine. Just order in like the rest of us. I’m actually really excited for this date. I mean, do you know how long it’s been since the lady cave has been in business? Do you? Too long, Steve-O. It has been way too long��.

Steve sighed. He knew she wouldn’t stay in. After all she had been complaining of feeling lonely for quite some time. He had initially thought she had been trying to hint that she wanted him to ask her out, but he quickly talked himself out of that delusion. It’s not like she acted interested in any other way, and if he had been wrong in that initial assumption then their entire friendship could have been ruined.

Darcy Lewis was nervous. She had spent the better part of the last two hours getting ready for a date she didn’t really want to go on, while the guy she actually wanted to make time with sat on her bed looking glum. She tried to ignore the feelings of guilt that bit at her whenever she thought about leaving him behind, he was not her boyfriend and she needed to get that through her head. Risking a brief glance over at him as she put her earrings in, she saw him pause, then screw his face up in determination and finally heard his plea, “Darce, don’t go, I mean c’mon who will cook dinner for me? I don’t think Tony would appreciate me setting off the fire alarm again”. She closed her eyes. God how she wished he actually meant those words. But Darcy just wasn’t the sort of girl the great Captain America would go out with. Steve belonged with someone like Natasha, who was beautiful and deadly, not her.

Opening her eyes she breathed out once, then said in a tone that brokered no argument, “Stevie, you’ll be fine. Just order in like the rest of us. I’m actually really excited for this date. I mean, do you know how long it’s been since the lady cave has been in business? Do you? Too long, Steve-O. It has been way too long”. Darcy saw a brief flash of something like disappointment, but knew it was likely only for him missing out on a night of her legendary meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Turning to him with a hand on her hip she struck (what she hoped) was a pose straight out of those pin ups Steve always pretended he hadn't owned in the forties, “Now come on, tell me how beautiful I look”. Steve looked her up and down, stopping at her face, “You look beautiful Darcy” he said in a way that spoke of utter heartbreak. She even thought she could see the shimmer of tears in his eyes, her dinners weren’t that good were they? Just then her phone buzzed, she picked it up and read the message, laughing upon its completion, “Well man, how do you feel about coming with me? Loki had to ditch, the little shit”.

Loki didn’t really have to cancel. That had never been part of his plan. Initially he had intended to take Darcy out and give her a wonderful evening all while making The Good Captain realise exactly what he was letting slip through his patriotic fingers. However upon seeing the increasingly dejected way The Captain had been acting over the course of the day Loki had changed track. No, Loki did not care for The Captain, that would be ridiculous. He didn’t admire his courage, or unwavering loyalty, or the way he was one of the only Avengers to give him a second chance. He just didn’t want the leader of this inane team that he was forced into joining to do anything reckless in the field, which he might do if his personal life was not going well. So Loki cancelled, close enough to 7 that he knew Darcy would be ready, and force The Captain himself into going with her. Hopefully a romantic dinner at Jean-Georges would be enough to push those two idiots together.

[daisychainsinthespring]

We Are Entranced Interlude

Loki knew the girl was avoiding him.

That was what had initially piqued his interest in her, as the skittishness she exhibited when faced with the prospect of him was very much unlike the bold woman his brother had regaled him and the rest of Odin's court with stories about. Either the woman had cause to avoid him (which she did, given the fact that he had tried to rule over her planet as a benevolent god), or she was hiding something.

As the God of Mischief and Lies he had a nose for picking out other people’s worries, especially when it came to guilt and all the related emotions that came along with any obfuscation of truth. Ms. Lewis stunk of deception.

Resolving the mystery that floated around this silly girl would require time and it would require patience.

Not only did he need to get to know her, and allow her to trust him, but he also needed her to rely on him. For her deception to come to light she had to feel as though he were the biggest rock she had.

For this little mortal to lose her intrigue, he decided, she must come to love him.

[daisychainsinthespring]

The Setup.

Darcy Lewis scared Steve Rogers. She brought about the same sort of fear in him that Peggy had, back before alien gods wearing capes was reality and not the stuff of pulp fiction. She made him giddy in a way that mimicked the sugar rushes he would get as a child, on the rare occasions that he and Buck had gotten their hands on some candy.

It was for that reason Steve had decided to stay away from her. The last time he had allowed himself to get close to a woman, he had left her out in the cold. Sure Peg had moved on, married and had kids, hell she had even started SHIELD. But Steve would never be able to forgive himself for breaking his date, he would always remember breaking that promise. Steve refused to do that to another person. So instead of admitting his love, he forced himself into the friendzone (whatever the hell that was), and watched as Darcy went about her life. Things were great, he got to keep her in his life, if a bit painfully, until he realised that in his absence he left the field wide open for other suitors to come upon her. Yes, Steve still knew nothing about women.

Steve Rogers scared Darcy Lewis. Aesthetically he resembled a dorito in all the best sort of ways, and sure that does great things for a girl, but it was his mind that Darcy wanted to dive into. Okay, the imagery of taking a dip into someone else's head isn’t the most romantic, but Steve Rogers had a lovely mind, sue her. Darcy had never met anyone as caring or sympathetic, when she spoke to him she felt as if for once someone was really listening. But given that Darcy, being a grad student (with the debt to back it up) who considered a workout to be dancing around her kitchen while making dinner, could never hope to compete with the other girls vying for his attention, she instead contented herself with friendship. She most certainly did not notice the way he blushed when she snuck glances at his drawings. Nor did she salivate over his muscles that one time he helped set up her new sofa. Things were great, until Darcy was asked out by the god of mischief himself, Loki Laufeyson. This was strange on many fronts, the biggest being that up until that point Loki had made his feelings towards her rather clear (what with them being of the familial variety), something which wildly conflicted with the hypersexual way he had asked her out (recreating the famous V-Day kiss). But who was Darcy to say no to a quasi reformed, Avenger in training?

Loki Laufeyson just wanted to watch the world burn. Sadly, given that the result of his last attempt at initiating some form of planetary destruction was a banishment from Asgard as well as rehabilitation by joining the Avengers, Loki was disinclined to try anything else of a similar level. That did not mean that he was above making other people squirm. His targets this week were Darcy Lewis and The Captain. They were obviously infatuated with each other, and with his fondness for the young woman in question, (she was the sister he never had) he hoped that The Captain might finally do something about his feelings. They just needed a little push, something that Loki was all too happy to provide.

[daisychainsinthespring]

Mischief Is The Best Matchmaker

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

[daisychainsinthespring]

The Snowball Effect: Bucky Barnes and Darcy’s Metal Arm.

Darcy Elizabeth Lewis-Barnes had some of the best childhood friends a girl could ask for. Sure they were now scattered across the world, pursuing their dreams and getting into varying levels of trouble, but they had stuck closely to tradition. They were also part of the reason Darcy had met her husband, Bucky “Come on doll, we’re literally married now, please call me James” Barnes. To be fair, it had really started with a bear, themed after Bucky himself because why not model a bear after a WW2 hero? Stranger things had happened. At least that’s what her parents were convinced of. It would have been embarrassing to let them know the truth, that because her friends sent her explicit gifts inspired by the famous Sergeant Sexy, said Winter Sexbot had taken notice of her. It would be even more mortifying to tell them that finally, after much modelling (of the aforementioned gifts) and many dinner dates, he had put a ring on it. So yes, Darcy had some of the best friends a girl could ask for.

Although, to be fair, now that Darcy had the real deal (and how sweet was that?), she had been pretty sure it would all stop. How could her friends even hope to compete with the effects of his smolder (oh god, his smolder)? Darcy had clearly underestimated them, because it appeared they could (much to Bucky’s displeasure).

A few weeks previously, Darcy had been complaining of her husband being gone so often to one friend in particular, Emma (who currently worked as a marine biologist down in Sydney). For her part Emma had listened and very much been a metaphorical shoulder to cry on. But it wasn’t like she had a superhero husband herself, and so her advice wasn’t the most helpful (however well intentioned it was). Jane too (her work bestie and Science Overlord) was little help. After all James, while a super soldier who could carry her one armed over his shoulder, was not a God.

So Darcy suffered. She dealt with sleepless nights and pent up frustration while Bucky was away on missions. Which wasn’t so bad, as he had been kept to shorter jobs until he was deemed fit for long term, infiltration-esque missions. The only problem was that he had passed those examinations with flying colours and would now be going out into the field for months at a time, doing what Winter Soldiers do best (aside from giving the best back rubs known to man). Darcy had thought that was the end of it, her friends believed they had helped, and her husband didn’t know about her issues. Darcy really needed to learn that she was routinely wrong.

Bucky had continued to check the mail, it would be brought up to their apartment in the wee hours of the morning and without fail, he would look it all over in the kitchen. Darcy would usually get up some time in the middle of this procedure and go join him, sitting together at their little dining table while she waited for her coffee to kick in. On this particular morning though, their routine had changed. Darcy did not wake up (due to the intense nature of the previous night's activities), and Bucky went through his routine alone. It also happened that on this particular morning Darcy received a package from Emma.

When Darcy finally did come to, she left the bedroom and shuffled slowly down the hall (because ow, she was sore, not everyone had super healing James), finally coming to an abrupt stop upon reaching the kitchen. She didn’t know if she actually wanted to go in, based on her husband's stormy expression. In fact, her body seemed to notice that, based on his glare, this might not be the best place for her at all and had started to subconsciously back up. That was until she heard him growl (because apparently Sergeant Stone Age was a thing now) out a harsh, “Don’t. Come sit. We need to talk”.

Darcy Elizabeth Lewis-Barnes was a brave woman. She had tazed a god, regularly faced off against the famous wit of Tony Stark, and married The Goddamn Winter Soldier (trademark pending, courtesy of the previously mentioned Tony Stark). But the phrase “we need to talk” never boded well for anyone in a relationship, so she shakily went to her usual place across from him, and sat.

Bucky leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as his eyes narrowed, “Am I not enough for you?” he asked, sounding more broken and insecure than had probably been intended.

Darcy, to her credit, was actually able to form a coherent response as her panic gently subsided, “What? No. Honey you’re perfect. Literally cut from marble, the stuff of Greek myth perfect. Why would you even ask that?”.

Bucky nodded, seemingly satisfied with the voracity of whatever she had said (super spies and their super ways, she really shouldn’t dwell). Moving to reach under the table, he picked up the box by his feet, “Your friends sent you this,” he said as he opened it, revealing what appeared to be a miniature model of his metal arm, “and I thought you were hiding something from me”.

Darcy inspected the arm, not fully understanding what it was for a moment. When she finally remembered her conversation with Emma she barked out a laugh, “Oh honey no, this, you see, Emma and I were talking”, Bucky raised an eyebrow in response, prompting her to continue, “Right. You want more details, details are good. Communication is good. Okay, well we were talking right? And I mentioned how, with you being posted on longer assignments, I was feeling lonely. But I didn’t want to tell you, because superhero business is literal apocalypse aversion, and wife pleasing isn’t”. It would appear that it was now Bucky’s turn to look guilty. He ducked his head, folding his arms in his lap, and started shaking? No that wasn’t shame, that was laughter. The asshole found this funny!

“Oh dollface, you only had to tell me. I don’t have to go on those longer missions, I just thought you might want some time away from me.” he glanced up from under his eyelashes and damn her if she didn’t know exactly what he was doing with his puppy dog eyes and innocent expression.

“Honey, your missions are important. Please don’t go changing them on my account” she replied evenly (see Jane? She could be mature!).

James got a sour look on his face, startlingly similar to that one time she had made him try Toxic Waste, “But dollface, don’t you just want the real thing? I know my hand is much better than whatever this...thing...could do” he breathed out, looking at her as if to dare an objection.

It could never be said that Darcy Elizabeth Lewis-Barnes backed down from a challenge. Instead she straightened up, lifted her chin in utter defiance, and retorted, “Well dear, I don’t know. We haven’t tested this new one out yet. I’m sure it could work just as well as your arm, maybe even better. It is a new model after all”.

At his silence and blank stare she wondered if perhaps she had finally won an argument against him. Except, oh no, he looked predatory again, like a hunter ready to pounce on its prey, and given the lack of other people in the room that prey was her. Nothing good ever came from that look, she still had the lovebites from last week's battle of wills to prove it.

“Hmmm,” he mused, placing his hand on his chin, “what I’m hearing is that we need to test them both out, so I can prove you don’t need this...toy?” he asked, or rather, demanded. James didn’t actually wait for an answer as he dove across the table and swept his darling wife into his arms, walking back to their bedroom with Darcy held safely over his shoulder.

Darcy Elizabeth Lewis-Barnes knew when to pick her battles, and she also knew when to compromise. James didn’t stop going on longer missions, but he made her promise to get rid of the arm. And she did, get rid of it from the apartment that is. It wasn’t kept in their home anymore, instead resting in her drawer at work. If she took it back with her on particularly lonely nights when he was away, well it wasn’t like he needed to know.

[daisychainsinthespring]

The Snowball Effect.

As a child Darcy Elizabeth Lewis had a Bucky Bear. With its soft brown fur, and navy blue Howling Commandos jacket the bear had quickly become her favourite toy. Her parents thought this adorable, and so never questioned Darcy's complete attachment to said comfort object.

As a teen Darcy Elizabeth Lewis had kept the Bucky Bear, now placed proudly on one of the many bookshelves in her bedroom. Upon learning of the man behind the bear (corporations were behind many evil things, but whoever thought up the idea of making a bear modelled on the ultimate forties heartthrob turned hero deserved a god damn raise in her mind), promptly had her first celebrity crush. At sleepovers Darcy and her friends would sit around in a circle, on their sleeping bags, and share their various fantasies (which only became more realistic with age). Darcy mentioned her affinity for one James “Bucky” Barnes, and her friends latched on to it with a crazed sort of glee that would be concerning from almost anyone else. From that point on Darcy, at random moments throughout the year, received varying levels of increasingly inappropriate Bucky Barnes themed merch, and she (shamelessly) loved it all.

As an intern (not a real adult yet, because no thank you, responsibilities can stay in the far off and distant future) Darcy Elizabeth Lewis realised her minor obsession with a decidedly not dead war hero may be an issue. With Jane having recently moved her lab to Stark Tower, where said hero turned assassin lived, and her childhood friends being aware of said relocation she was worried. The gift giving had only increased in intensity and explicitness with age, and Darcy knew her friends would be having a field day. There was also the fact that despite her move having taken place three months ago, she had yet to receive a single piece of Bucky themed memorabilia. With this in mind Darcy did her best to avoid Sergeant Barnes, which was admittedly not a hard task to accomplish, an intern had little business with an avenger after all. In truth she had only met Sargent “call me James, dollface” Barnes once, when Jane and her had just moved in and Thor was recalling his teammates with stories of his lady and lightning sister. The way he looked her over with his intense ice blue eyes should have been illegal. It was like all of her young adult fantasies coming true at once, and Darcy was fairly certain this had been written all over her face. Upon seeing his utterly sinful smirk slide into place, Darcy knew she had been made. So yes, since that first embarrassing meeting with Sargent Barnes, sex god extraordinaire, she had avoided him like the plague and kept one eye open for suspicious packages from not so well intentioned friends.

As a Stark employee (which was really just a glorified intern with a fancy credit card because Tony didn’t know how to express emotion), Darcy Elizabeth Lewis had yet to receive a single gift from her friends. She had crossed the line from scared to offended. They had missed her birthday for heaven's sake! That never happened. Darcy was also becoming increasingly aware of a shadow that had taken to following her around the tower. The only reason she knew this feeling was not the result of too many science benders (and was in fact real) was because said shadow had also taken to gifting her breakfast on her little wooden desk in the corner of Jane’s lab. She was not going to look a caramel cloud macchiato with a butter croissant in the mouth, thank you very much. Jane was under the impression that this shadow was a secret admirer. Darcy wanted Jane to shut up and stop trying to hook her up with a boyfriend just because she felt bad that Darcy wasn’t getting any while she had a literal God to come home to every night. She had continued to avoid Bucky like the plague, even though he had been quite persistent in the first few months of her living at the tower. He had eventually left her alone, seemingly having given up. Darcy was still unsure of what exactly had led to his interest in her at all, she was just Jane’s gofer, not a superhero or superbrain in her own right. Things had been going well enough, that of course they had to eventually go wrong, and on a Monday no less. Darcy had been missing her mail for long enough, and had decided to go down to the mailroom on her break to see what was the what. Upon entering said room she was promptly told by the nice people working down there that mail for Avengers and Avengers related personnel (which she sadly fell under the umbrella of) was looked over by one James Buchanan Barnes before being allowed to be delivered. Upon further stunned inquiry she was also told that this was another way Sargent Sexy was able to ensure the safety of the tower and its inhabitants (which for a veteran and ex prisoner of war did make some sense). Darcy shuffled back to the labs in a state of rising mortification, her head bent in her phone trying to ignore the crushing sense of knowing exactly what had happened. She did not notice the man in front of her, not until she bumped into him that is. A silver hand had reached out to steady her and Darcy took in a breath when she realised who she had bumped in to. She looked up into his eyes and (in typical Darcy fashion) said the first thing that came to mind, “So funny story, it would seem that you’re in charge of checking over mail for us Avengers adjacent folks, and I’ve been missing said mail since I came to this tower. You don’t really have that big a thing for ladies underwear do you? I mean hey, if you do no judgement here, just get your own dude.”.

Bucky looked down at her for a minute, his gaze turning damn near predatory, and Darcy had the distinct impression that she had fallen into some sort of trap (which, knowing of The Winter Soldier wasn’t outside her realm of possibility), “Well doll,” he drawled in that edible Brooklyn accent of his, “now that you mention it I do. Especially when it comes to lingerie fashioned after my own old uniform. Have to admit I’ve been wanting you to model it for me for some months now”.

Darcy was fairly certain her brain had finally broken. The James Barnes was not standing in front of her in fucking Stark Tower of all places, practically propositioning her. “I, uhm, what?” she said, cheeks beginning to resemble her cherry red sweater.

Bucky only laughed, using his arm to bring her flush against his body “Will you model it for me? I’d love to see what it looks like on you. Although I will admit that I’m even more interested in seeing what it looks like off of you, on my bedroom floor. But I was raised in the thirties, you know, I have to treat a lady right. Would you settle for dinner and the promise of future modelling opportunities?”.

Darcy, having finally regained her speech capabilities, brought herself up to his ear and whispered an affirmative that had even the great Winter Sexbot blushing.

As a newly married woman, Darcy Elizabeth Lewis-Barnes was completely and incandescently happy. This may be down to the honeymoon on one of the many private islands owned by one Tony Stark, or the many orgasms her new husband had managed to pull out of her. Darcy wasn’t one to dwell.

[daisychainsinthespring]

no bc fr

[daisychainsinthespring]

We Are Entranced Chapter Three

This mundane facade, the great lie that was Darcy Lewis, began to crack after she met God. Okay, she did not meet god, capital G. But she met a god, so it totally still counted.Her life which had previously been made up of poptarts snuck between science benders with Jane and worries over her impending graduation (the six remaining college credits that were gained through her internship assumed), quickly became one consisting of red tape and big scary governmental bodies who had the uncanny ability to steal iPods with no apparent repercussions. Suddenly she was graduating and moving to New York so Jane could bump uglies with her  God boyfriend. This move also meant that Jane would now have access to Stark tech and funding that made her threats to split open the universe (when Darcy tried to pry her away from science) that much more intimidating.Her lie, which she had spent her whole life perfecting, was starting to crumble away. And it had only been two months of living in Avengers Tower, rubbing shoulders with heroes who could put the Greek legends to shame.Two months of limited normality and Darcy could feel her shrewdly made front slipping. She was surprised no one noticed.Of course, with Natalia and James being away on a mission in Siberia for the last few weeks, it made sense that her slips had been given no consideration. Steve and Sam were far too trusting to think anyone in their inner circle could be hiding secrets, let alone one this big. They took anything she cooked for them with absolutely no questions asked, just a boy scout grin and an “aw shucks, thank you ma’am” attitude. Tony and Bruce often kept their heads firmly buried in the sand that was whatever new science project they were working on. When they did come up for air from their little love affair both were too self centered to notice her. Tony was more unapologetic about it, but Bruce gave the impression that he had to be a bit more removed in order to keep the other guy in check all the time. Clint, well Clint may have noticed, but he was often away from the tower, living with his family (a tidbit Daeira would never have been trusted with, but the non threatening and dearly held Darcy was).That only left the brothers from different mothers, Thor and Loki. One of whom was so proud of having a sister, however adopted and non official it was, to see any fault with her. The other, well Darcy had never really met Loki. Sure she saw him around, mostly in the elevators or during Family Movie Nights, but she had never worked up the courage to introduce herself. This was of course mostly due to the fact that should she ever do so, it was highly likely she would mention that nasty habit he seemed to have of cheating death and the time he tried to take over her planet. In short, Darcy was convinced that any formal meeting between them would be, well to put it lightly, bad.He was unnerving, always watching everyone in the unblinking way a cat stares at a particularly enticing bird.During Family Movie Nights, or any other time she had to be around him, Darcy could feel the burn of his stare on her and it always made her feel naked. Not in a fun sexual way, no, this was being stripped down to her core, her most basic elements put on display in front of a God who could never be trusted.The fact was, Darcy only ever truly felt like Daeira when he was around, and that worried her.

[daisychainsinthespring]

We Are Entranced Chapter Two

Growing up she had always been considered odd. Her (adoptive) parents never knew quite what to do with her, or her various interests. They loved her, of this she held no doubt, they just did not know what to do with her. So, they did what every desperate parent did when worried their child would not fit in, they asked her to lie. Or more aptly, they asked her to change.It started small and was initially quite unnoticeable.First, they pushed her wardrobe away from the rich jewel tones she usually picked and moved it toward more “normal” colours. Pastels were to be a new favourite in this identity they were carefully constructing for her. Next, they did away with her books of ancient secrets that had long since been forgotten. These were thick tomes which discussed civilisations great and vast. They were books which spoke of empires that had crumbled into dust with the passing of time, stories of the world as it had been. Her new library consisted of fanciful tales of good and kind princesses who did what they were told, waiting for a handsome prince and true love's kiss to save them. She went along with this too.Finally, they changed her name. Daeira was too unnerving a title for a sweet little girl. It was a name that left trouble in its wake, and she was to become too good a child for the chaos that sort of name implied.Eventually, as she grew older and learned to adapt to this new persona, she began to fit in.No longer did the other girls run away from her or say her speech was too great or complex to understand.No longer did teachers call home, their voices resigned, telling of yet another “incident” she had stumbled into.No longer did her parents share whispered concerns when they thought she was out of earshot.Darcy had finally learned to be normal.Then she met God, and it all came crumbling down.

[daisychainsinthespring]

We Are Entranced (All Chapters)

Read more at my AO3 account, DaisiesInTheSpring

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

[daisychainsinthespring]

We Are Entranced Chapter One

The girl with the raven hair held about her a certain erratic aura that he, the God of Mischief, found most intriguing. Try as she might, she was helpless to mask it. And try she did. He could see it in her knit beanie caps, oversized sweaters, and apparent lack of substance. Honestly he found it a miracle that no one else in this forsaken tower thought her flippant manner worthy of suspicion. Perhaps the status his “silvertongue” had gained among the realms was well earned, as apparently it did in fact take one to know one.

Above all else there was something … familiar about her that he found most confusing. She lit a certain warmth in him that he believed long dead.

Of course, he was not one to enjoy being left in the dark. If this girl, this mere mortal, was hiding something he would find out precisely what it was. He would put a stop to her infernal allure, if only to prove that she was in fact nothing more than a mortal, completely unworthy of his affection attention. This accursed girl with red lips, whose smile curved in a manner most predatory, who had fooled most all in this tower, would no longer be a mystery. Not after Loki was done with her.