#//but like during iron man when he's first building the new suit

[milehighmechanic]

@glacierfront

tony is.... not his normal self. which, well, he'd challenge anyone to spend three months in a cave and come back normal. and that's fine, because everyone seems to expect him to be different, just not in the ways he actually is different. fortunately there's only about three people whose opinion he cares about.

and he flew. he was airborne for less than a minute, probably, but he flew. now, with what feels like the world closing in around him, he can't get that feeling out of his head.

"hey," he says to julie, when he surfaces from the workshop, because it doesn't even cross his mind not to share this with her. "hey, you want to see something cool?"

[octuscle]

The new foreman

Charles didn't usually work out this late. He was usually at the gym first thing in the morning. Right at 06:00, when it opened. First thing, that way he could be at his desk at 08:00, freshly shaved and showered. Fit for the day. And second, he didn't want to work out with the big boys. He was bothered by the groans and grunts when they were lifting iron. And the noise when the dumbbells were thrown to the floor with their last ounce of strength after the last repetition. He wasn't here to build mountains of muscle. He just wanted to stay fit.

But today he had taken the morning off. His day started late today with a business lunch. He had taken advantage of that and worked out longer than usual. Around 09:00, the first group of musclemen arrived at the training area. Again, Charles had been annoyed by the loud alpha animals in the free weight area. Whereby he had to think about the guys again and again during the final sauna session. Yes, they were damn good looking. But to look like that, he would have had to start training years earlier. And coming here for an hour three times a week wasn't going to do any good.

Charles showered, shaved, and walked toward his locker with a towel around his hips. On the floor next to his locker, crumpled up, was a piece of cloth. Charles glanced around. No one to be seen. He picked up the fabric and realized it was a jockstrap. Had to belong to one of the big boys, it was still damp. And it was stained and crusty. Charles's pulse raced. How many times had he jerked off to fantasies of jockstraps pissed and jerked all over? He didn't think for a second and pulled on the jockstrap. And as fast as he could, he pulled his underwear over it. He could only hope that the scent of his freshly washed boxers would mask the stench of cum and piss. And he couldn't wait to press the jockstrap into his face after work. A stain of precum was forming on his boxers.

Charles was on time at the restaurant for his business lunch. His client was not there yet. The jockstrap story had been a stupid idea. His precum could be seen on his suit pants, too. So Charles quickly went to the washrooms to correct that a bit. Besides, he had to pee. At the urinal, he noticed that his boxers were gone. Had he forgotten them? That was even more unfortunate, hopefully the pants kept the stench of the jockstrap away. Although the stench made Charles horny. He stowed his magnificent cock, buttoned up his jeans and went back to his table. The customer still wasn't there. He was warm and the jacket was too tight. So he took it off and hung it over the back of the chair. The restaurant wasn't so posh that anyone would have minded. His customer was in the construction business and liked things a little more rustic.

He had to wait a solid half hour before his customer finally arrived. He stood up and greeted him with a firm handshake. "Call me Chuck," Charles said, and asked if he should order two beers. His customer nodded and said he was relieved. He'd been expecting one of those college boys. But would rather talk to a man. Chuck grinned, tucked his thumbs behind his mighty belt buckle and said it was much the same for him. Lunch wasn't about business for a second. The two men talked football, they talked politics, they talked hunting. Chuck was happy that they were both on the same page. Small talk was a horror to him. He was a simple fella and loved straight talk. And his conversation partner wasn't one of those tieflings, either. After Chuck rolled up the sleeves of his flannel shirt and undid two more buttons, his pal just grinned and followed suit.

After two hours, lunch was over. Chuck wanted to pay, but one look was enough to understand it wasn't his turn today. "Son, I have an excellent feeling about you. You're going to be a good foreman. I expect to see you at the job site on Main Street at 06:00 tomorrow morning. The two chimed in and his boss turned and left. Chuck grinned. He knew how to wrap people around his finger. He put on his cap, grabbed his gym bag and headed for his car. With the new job, he had to change his routines. Gym before work was no longer an option. But he could go lift some iron now. And head out for a few beers with the lads afterwards.

A deep bow to @stargazerguy for this and many other inspirations!

[oluka]

Invincible Iron Man #10: Tony Stark and Emma Frost get married! Or do they?

It's Iron Man week again! And here are my thoughts about it.

Sorry, but I needed everyone to see this slightly disturbing panel. It's way better in context, though.

Issue #10 starts by giving us an update on Rhodey! It was a pleasant surprise for me, because I thought he would be kept to the side during the wedding plot. But no! The issue does not follow chronological order, so I'll make a not so quick detour to explain the current situation: issue #9 ends with Emma arranging a meeting between Tony and Wilson Fisk. In issue #10, Tony asks Fisk for help, and gets it. Why? Because Fisk's wife, Typhoid Mary, is a mutant, and she was forced off-world along with like 99% of all mutants during Orchis' attack at the Hellfire Gala. The thing is, the ones who were left on Earth think that the others are dead. In addition to the mutants and humans who were actually killed by Orchis, that means there are very few mutants left, and they're all out for blood. Fisk is too, since he thinks his wife is dead. So he and Tony come to an agreement: Fisk protects Tony (and Rhodey), because Tony promised he will defeat Feilong. But, well. It's Fisk. It probably won't end well.

Back to the present: Tony's the Black King of the Hellfire Club (to Fisk's White King), is desperately trying to build a new and improved suit of armour while pretending to be drunk all day, and scheming to defeat Feilong. Rhodey is still in prison and he's still being targeted by other prisoners on Feilong's orders. This time, Feilong even arranges a phone call between Tony and Rhodey while Rhodey gets attacked.

That's not very nice. Tony gets understandably mad, runs up to Feilong, about to do something very stupid like punch him in the face, but Fisk stops Tony and reminds him of their arrangement. Turns out that Fisk hired Sandman and the Living Laser to protect Rhodey in prison.

We get this nice panel of Rhodey telling Tony to win:

Nice! Tony and his allies are all determined to turn the tide of the war around, and they're doing all they can to get there.

So, what does Tony need to win? He needs a stronger armour (the stealth suit isn't powerful enough to beat sentinels), and he needs information from Feilong's mind. Which is why killing Feilong isn't a great idea right now. Unfortunately, Emma Frost (disguised as Hazel Kendal) just stepped foot in the Hellfire Club, and dreams of only one thing, revenge. So when Tony tries to stop her, this happens:

Ouch! Emma drops her ring, ready to kill Feilong and damn the consequences, but Tony begs her to reconsider.

Which is the exact moment, of course, when Feilong steps inside the room. And sees Tony on his knees in front of Emma with a ring in his hand. I think you know where this is going.

There isn't much choice for Emma and Tony: they need to get the inhibitor ring back on her finger so that the sentinels don't find her. And in front of Feilong, the only way to do that is if they make it look like a proposal. It's a desperate play, and very much unplanned. When I heard the news about the Stark-Frost wedding, I thought it would be some kind of political move on their part. I was wrong. This is a lot funnier, though.

And there you have it! Context for the panel I showed you back at the start of the post, and a very fake wedding! Between Tony Stark and Hazel Kendal. But the issue isn't finished, far from it. Tony and Emma now have to pretend. A lot. And smile at the cameras. A lot.

Tony has a nice sleazy chat with Feilong:

Look at this! This is every bad thing Tony could say about himself in ONE conversation! First: he pretends that he was only iron man for the adulation. That he didn't care about saving people. Second: he pretends to be drinking again, because "an addict gotta addict" and "booze is tastier". And third: he pretends he married Hazel (his assistant) because she was a potential HR nightmare, playing into the idea that he's just a jerk taking advantage of her. In one fell swoop, he implies that he isn't a hero and doesn't care about anything other than money and getting the next high (from alcohol).

I love it when Tony leans into the wrong assumptions that people have about him, but this is a lot. Ouch.

It gives us some very funny panels, though:

I need more of their banter, please and thank you. Look at their big fake pained smiles. I love this.

They decide to get married THE DAY AFTER. In Las Vegas. Where they go on fake dates. And then have a torrid night... of going out to do secret illegal stuff.

Tony steals some tech things from Zeke Stane's secret lab (nice cameo, Duggan), which is why they went to Vegas in the first place. And then the day of the wedding is finally here. Behold!

A literal red wedding! I have to admit, I love how committed they are to their bit. They're going full evil mode. I can't help but think of Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie, at the casino scene, wearing his red shirt and sunglasses, looking every bit the douchy self-centered billionaire. Which he was, at the time. And here, we have Tony pretending to be all that. Down to wearing sunglasses indoors. I don't know, I really like it.

Let me make a comment about what Tony writes here: that this is the first and last time that he'll ever be married, and that Emma will break his heart. About the first part: this can either mean that he and Emma will stay married, or that he doesn't think he'll ever marry someone. The autobiographical notes are interesting in that sometimes they tell us what Tony thought in the moment, and sometimes they give us potential hints about future events, like we've seen in this issue. Will Tony stay married to Emma afterwards? I don't think so, but you never know. But if this is Tony telling us that he won't ever marry someone, then it's interesting too. I tend to view Tony as somewhat of a hopeless romantic: he falls in love very easily, and half the time it's with a woman who is only there to deceive him, or who turns evil. Think Sunset Bain, Indries Moomji, Cassandra Gillespie, Kathy Dare, etc. The other half of the time, his relationship doesn't work out because of his superhero life conflicting with his personal life. The biggest example is with Rumiko Fujikawa, one of his longest relationships. He couldn't commit enough because of his secret identity. And when it was revealed, it got better between them, to the point that he was about to propose. He had a ring already! And then a villain killed Rumiko while wearing the Iron Man armour. She died in his arms!!!!!! It was extremely sad, and no subsequent writer at Marvel ever mentioned Rumiko again. Which is baffling to me. She was one of his longest relationships. He was ready to spend the rest of his life with her. And her death isn't even mentioned once in all the years since then??? It makes me so mad. In my opinion, this should have been treated as the traumatic event it was. And in my personal canon, this is one of the reasons why he hasn't really dated people who aren't superheroines, since. With the exception of Amara Perera, but that didn't last long. Because Tony faked his death. Anyways. The two recent relationships Tony has had are with Janet and Patsy, both heroines. And he proposed to Patsy. To me, Tony really wants to have a lasting relationship, but both external and internal factors hinder him. His life is dangerous, and his non-hero friends either turn into superheroes themselves or die, so he can't really safely date. He has few friends, and almost all of them are part of the hero community (I could make a whole post about how Marvel has put aside most of his support cast and reduced it to essentially only Rhodey, but this post is already way too long). Which means he almost only interacts with heroes. Duggan made that same comment in issue #3, I think. It's sad. Give Tony more friends! Or make him interact with his existing supporting cast! We've seen what happens otherwise: he gets shoehorned into a relationship with someone he doesn't even know (Patsy...). But. Back to the proposal: Tony is someone who wants stability in his love-life. He never gets it, not for long. And now, he's married. But it's all fake. And he knows it, he knows it's just an arrangement, but he also knows that he's going to fall for Emma, and that she won't reciprocate. And he's okay with that. Because it has happened so many times already, that he cares more about the person he is with than they do about him. It's quite tragic. And also a fun inversion of what he's supposed to be, aloof heartbreaker playboy. God, I love all the intricacies of Tony's masks and armours vs who he really is.

Back to the issue. Tony and Emma/Hazel marry each other! They break into Feilong's mind to steal his secrets! Tony watches Howard's message to him and momentarily forgets all about his childhood abuse! We get a reference to Iron Man 2! Boo.

"You were my greatest collaboration" is somehow worse than "you were my greatest creation". This is possibly the only thing that I didn't like about the issue, though, so it's okay. The issue ends with Emma and Tony going on their "honeymoon", which is probably code for "secret mission to find the mutant metal mysterium". I really hope that Tony will build a kick-ass armour with it. It apparently has anti-magical properties, too.

And that's the end of the issue reached! Finally! Two random thoughts to go: 1. Tony is surprisingly okay with killing Feilong here.

There is this interesting comment about killing, a bit earlier in the issue:

Tony usually doesn't take a life if he can't help it, but he has indeed killed before. I do think he wishes he didn't "have to", though. But clearly he doesn't care about keeping Feilong alive. Is it because of how heinous the things Feilong has done against mutants are? Is it because Tony has been dealt one blow after the other, each more personal than the last, and he's lost his cool? I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts.

2. We get a Tony and Emma cameo in Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant (2023) #2. It's a cute reunion where Tony saves Kamala from Orchis drones, and also makes a lot of bad married jokes. Some not very appropriate for the audience.

Kamala, just turn this into a fanfic. And try not to think about it too hard.

If you've read this far, give yourself a pat on the back. See you for the next Iron Man week!

[fanfic-recs-01]

Peter Parker in Gotham Fic Recs

This is a list of fics with Peter Parker in Gotham I like on AO3, if you have any recs for me feel free to send me some!

The ships are all over the place and most are unfished fyi

Dark Matter by mysterycyclone *Unfinished

~The last thing Peter sees is Tony's horrified, heartbroken expression leaning over him. The guilt in his eyes is almost worse than the burning pain that's taking Peter apart piece by piece. The world starts to go dark.~

Green, through and through by another_fucking_robin for fruitymarauders

*Unfinished

~A spell goes wrong on Titan and Peter Parker ends up in a lazarus machine in Gotham. Every bat is chomping at the bit to adopt the tiny zombie boy, but they're just a tad bit distracted with a new spider-themed vigilante running around.~

Red and Blue are Hero Colors by Cashmire *Unfinished

~Peter has been feeling really lonely since everyone forgot he existed. So he decides to build a stargate to try and open doorways to other universes, hoping to maybe see the other Peter's again. But things don't quite go according to plan and he ends up in a strange city where Peter never existed and bats watch over the night.~

Should have just Surrendered by Anonymous *Unfinished

~After Peter gets dusted and loses everything in the War of the Infinity Stones, he believes that this is the final sign that the universe gave him to prove he can't be a hero.

So when he wakes up in a new world, with just his Iron Spider Suit and no clothes on his back he decides it is time to leave the hero life in the past and move on. Throwing his Spider Suit in the trash he goes on his way.~

A Long Way From Home (And No Way Back) by Vivia_wants_boba

*Unfinished

~“Oh,” the kid says, head turning to look back at the bathroom. “It’s fine. I’ve got it figured out.”

Dick’s face pulls to a pinched expression, shaking his head slowly. “As much as I’d love to believe you, I can’t. That stuff can’t just be emptied down the drain.”

The kid’s own face scrunches this time. “Why not?”~

Butler Spider by Danny_shells *Unfinished

~Alfred finds himself doing the adopting instead of Bruce, this time of a spider. Can Spider-Man become a first rate butler and keep his secret identity?~

Make It Out Just to Fall by derryhawkins *Unfinished

~Peter Parker gets sent to Gotham City in one last attempt by Doctor Strange to keep the multiverse from destroying New York City. The events that follow are interesting, to say the least.~

Spiders and Bats get along great! by RRTimDrake

~it’s that one fanfic where Peter Parker gets “adopted” by Bruce.~

Webbing up a Family by Agelaius_Ace

~After the events of Mysterio and No-Way-Home, Peter is alone. May is dead, Ned and MJ moved away, Tony doesn’t remember him. So Peter lets himself die.~

The Life, Death, and Recreation of Peter Parker by obliven

~What happens to Peter Parker when he gets dumped in Gotham City with nothing but the clothes on his back and his wallet?

Adventures include: - Peter gets a sugar daddy - Peter gets recruited to a drug ring - Peter cons a crime boss~

Homesick by NotSoSweetHeh

~Homesick; experiencing a longing for one's home during a period of absence from it.

Peter told Strange to erase him from everyone’s memory, but the world would forget his existence as well. As a last resort to keep Peter safe, he is sent to another world.~

Into Gotham by Chronicly Ill Girl (lilithzebra)

~Peter Parker is not having a good day. He was just trying to buy a sandwich. But now he is stranded in a city that doesn’t exist in his universe, all alone, and he never even got his sandwich.~

Set Naked On Your Kingdom by sassydandelion

~At the end of No Way Home, Peter chooses to sacrifice his life in New York to save the multi-verse...by letting Dr. Strange send him to a world where no one has ever heard of Spider-Man. What kind of crazy place is this Gotham City, anyway?~

time flies by (bye) by WHYISEVERYNAMETAKEN

~"Maybe," Peter thought, "I can make a life here." Hence the tears and the guilt and the grief, because was Peter allowed to move on? Was he allowed to… to leave it all behind? Leave all the bad things in the past? Peter was "The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!" after all, and wasn’t he letting Queens - his people - down if he didn’t fight tooth and nail to get back to them?~

[darsynia]

A Line from Iron Man 1 You Probably Don't Remember...

So I just was reminded of this because of having to go back over the escape while writing Trust Fall-- but there's this line in Iron Man 1 and it KILLS me, okay.

This moment (near enough I could find in a gif):

They've booby trapped the cave door and Yinsen is putting Tony into the suit-- and after the explosion at the door...

Tony: How'd that work?

Yinsen: Oh my goodness! It worked, all right!

Tony: It's what I do.

That last line there, it's not said with any force, any significance, and honestly, Yinsen's next line ('Let me finish this') is said right on top of it-- but think about that!

Tony has to know what's coming up for him during the escape. It'll be a lot of death, a lot of pain, even though it'll be happening to 'bad guys.' The armor he's wearing is literally made out of his life's work, which he's come to understand through Yinsen's description of the injuries those weapons inflict ('we call them the walking dead') and the evidence of who uses them is not the legacy he wants, anymore.

He has yet to build a new legacy, so for now, that explosion? It's 'what he does.' It's what he's good at. This makes Yinsen's iconic statement later so much more poignant. 'Don't waste your life.'

We don't really think of Yinsen as a character that has much of an arc, but Shaun Toub did something really subtle with him. That scene when they meet in the cave, Yinsen's attitude is uncomfortable to watch. He's almost jovial, certainly dismissive, and the more times I replayed it, I realized how brittle Yinsen is. This man he's just saved was ultimately responsible for the deaths of people Yinsen was unable to save. The people destroying his village, who have already killed his family? They used Tony's weapons to do it.

Yinsen's already been dismissed by Stark before he saved his life.

Even so, he slowly warms to Tony, and Toub shows us this by easing up on the brittle, false amusement that Yinsen uses as a shield in the beginning. This is a man who expects to die, but there's no way he expected to die in the way that he does.

At first, I was a little disappointed in RDJ's line reading with 'It's what I do.' I feel like it took re-watching that part multiple times for me to even catch it, and it's such a powerful insight into a Tony Stark who has recently decided to be a former weapons manufacturer.

At the same time, haven't we all experienced this moment? The point at which we decide to change, but before we've proved we can do it? There's never any fanfare. We haven't earned anything. We still need to Do the Thing, instead of just WANT to do the thing.

In a way, those two statements-- 'It's what I do' and 'Don't waste your life' inform the rest of Tony Stark's arc throughout multiple films. It's not 'Don't waste your life' that has him in confrontation with Steve Rogers on the helicarrier in Avengers 1. That's all a refutation of 'It's what I do.'

And in the end, Tony Stark doesn't waste his life, and he does it with something he designed, just like he'd designed those weapons. He does it with a defensive aspect of that suit. He saves the world-- the universe.

It's what he does.

[anasweetlywrites]

“ The Project ” Part 6 Tony Stark x Female!Reader

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► ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ɴᴀᴠɪɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ◄

Warnings :

Alright like a Christmas present I made time to finish this part for y'all 😉

Just a little angst in the beginning then lots of comfort, reassurance and lots and lots of fluff

About the outfit for the project event I only mentioned that reader wore a dress and accessories and Tony a suit but they change in comfier clothes later

Pet names used by Tony for reader : Little fox ,my girl, my princess, sweetheart , baby

(But like hella loving and fun here and there somehow at the same time cuz they take it slow as y'all decided in the pool also it happens in a fort with fairy lights and such heh surprise again) SMUT : breast worship , fingering (along with fingers /hand kink mention) , oral (female receiving) , missionary p in v unprotected (remember to be protected in real life) , mentions of dirty thoughts , Tony telling the reader how he jerked off for her , lots of praises, after care , they use the color code (hopefully I mentioned everything that needed to be mentioned about this)

Reader it's also a lot flirty / playful in this one with him and a bit shy now and then cuz ya know it's their first time after all

You can find the separate masterlist for this series here

Only reader p.o.v this time too

Feedback it's appreciated~

Thank you for your patience~

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Words without warnings : 2479

Reader p.o.v

“It's not a specific part or a “specific you” that I love. I love all of you! Despite the fact that I don't want to ever see you sad or mad, I'll love you even then! I know I will! I can't see myself wanting to live another day without spending time with the person that made living in this world worth it the most!” Tony made sure to punctuate each favorable argument and that complete assurance that I don't have to be in a certain way to be loved by him made small tears appear in the corner of my eyes “I know they'll talk. I know they'll spend at least 5 months complaining and saying shits about us. I know that maybe they won't let you graduate from that fancy university but you're not any less intelligent if they won't accept you anymore. After all the goal was only to make this amazing project not to make me love you as well you…you little fox!” He was serious and playful at the same time “You're my princess. You're my girl. You're mine and mine alone…and I'll always belong to you.” He sealed his second promise with another long kiss.

Everything went quiet during the time he spoke , people recording and not believing then some of them clapped their hands again and others yelled as we kissed.

Once Tony broke the kiss he took my hand gently and we went off the stage through a secret back door as he yelled at his A.I in the crowded room to make them all go home. The A.I quickly used a loud alarm that they couldn't stand the noise and left the building and we could see it all from the elevator/lift we were in.

“That was such a mess they did there…” I whispered quietly, hiding behind him in the elevator.

“They'll be quick to ask for Iron Man when they need and the circle will go on. I'm not saying there won't be any nice people with you and I anymore but for now what they can't understand they'll simply hate and use it as a new way to make money.” He rolled his eyes then realized I was actually standing behind him, “Oh sweetheart, don't hide…” Tony turned around and pulled me closer in his arms, I took a deep breath inhaling his scent, shameless and wrapped my arms around him as well.

“I'm not…or I thought I wasn't…” I closed my eyes, enjoying the silent but sweet moment between us then opened them slowly once the elevator/lift doors opened.

Before I could part away from him , Tony gently took both of my hands in his and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles while staring at me with a playful smirk on his lips,“If you're not too tired, I have a surprise for you as well.”

“Oh? I would love to see what you prepared for me.” The tiredness was quickly being replaced with curiosity while I was listening to him.

“Follow me.” He said simply while smiling at me then took my hand in his. His hand was so warm and I found myself staring at our hands while following him blindly in the hallway.

Once we arrived in the room, I gasped surprised as I saw a lovely fort made of different adorable blankets, pillows and fairy lights.

“Surprise!” Tony said sweetly and chuckled as he revealed the reason he made the fort “Remember when you told me that you thought no guy would accept your childish moments and that you think anyone would consider you dumb for wanting to spend the night cuddling with an adult in a diy fort? Well I remembered and made a fort…with some help from my technology to make it stand and lit up nicely.” He started moving his hand to indicate where the blankets were actually held by different stuff and magnets, lights he made.

I took his hand and mine then kissed his lips softly,“This is so sweet and cool!” I assured him “We better get changed into something more comfortable…” I chuckled softly while I pointed at my dress and accessories then at his elegant suit.

“Seems like you need one of my shirts again!” He joked then kissed my forehead softly “You look beautiful no matter what you wear…” He whispered making me smile brighter then he winked and went to grab one of his longer shirts.

Once I was only in my underwear, socks and his longer shirt which reached just above my knees and he changed into his comfortable shirt and some gray trousers, I laid down inside the fort and he followed me and laid down as well. He took a big deep sigh and searched for my hand as I slowly got closer to him.

“From now on you're legally obligated to cuddle with me forever in this amazing fort.” I said in a serious yet playful tone as I felt his hand gently touching my back as we cuddled.

“That's a law I love.” He replied in the same playful way and stared at me lovingly.

We started talking about the project I just finished and how impressed he was with the last two slides while his hands slowly started moving lower, reaching my ass then my thigh, making me shiver under his touch “If it's too soon…I- I didn't make the fort with dirty intentions you know? I waited for so long to hold you like this , to kiss your lips and I

was prepared to prepare something even more grand than the event to confess the love which increased more and more each day we spent together. Even when you were away , hanging out or doing whatever you knew or while I was away from you busy saving the world or listening for too long to a lot of people-”

“Tony.” I said his name softly, making him stop explaining himself despite I loved listening to him.

He closed his mouth then quickly opened it to say softly, “Yes?”

“It's not too soon. I…I…” I couldn't get the next words out of my mind and just pulled him even closer if that was possible then kissed his lips passionately.

He widened his eyes in surprise then closed his eyes and kissed me back with the same passion, his hand moved back on my ass and gave it a light squeeze making me open my mouth enough to welcome his tongue which dominated mine while he moved on the top of me.

Then he broke the kiss slowly to look down at me “I want to make love to you…I want to hear you moaning my name as I keep bringing you more pleasure than any of these idiots could ever give. We'll use the color code and if there is anything, anything at all that doesn't feel right just say “red” and I'll stop it. Tonight it's going to be only about you.” He whispered the words and started kissing my neck slowly and moving his hand under my/his shirt , letting out a small “Fuck!” when he realized I didn't have my bra on.

“Your shirts are thick and I…” I tried to explain myself then I bit my lip.

He parted away from my neck to lift my shirt and stared at my chest biting his lip “An absolute goddess.” He praised while he cupped my boobs and squeezed them together making me moan “You should stay without a bra around me more often…even if the first time I saw you only in a bra the next morning I had to spend more time in the shower as I couldn't stop myself from jerking off remembering how pretty you were.” He admitted and I started rubbing my legs together getting more needy listening to his confession and his touch,“And to think that fantasy I had in the shower would come true…fuck!”

He started leaving wet kisses all over my chest while he kept squeezing my breast and pinching my nipples then started licking my left nipple before taking it in his mouth and sucking it as I started moaning even louder and grinding up against him , feeling him hardening.

He gave my other breast the same treatment without taking off my shirt completely and only kept it lifted then pressed a few butterfly kisses on my stomach and sides murmuring soft praises in between as he parted away my legs . “You’re already so wet for me , your panties are already damp and stick to your needy pussy…”

“Tony, please…please touch me…” I lifted my hips just a little as I whimpered, frustrated and a little embarrassed.

“Oh don't worry , I'll make sure you won't be able to walk straight tomorrow.” He promised while he pressed his lips down on my calf , then inner knee and went down with his kisses on my thighs despite my neediness I watched him amazed then he pressed on kiss against my wet underwear making me grind against his face.

He smirked then rubbed his finger against my underwear making me moan again then took off my underwear and let his thumb slowly circle my clit while his lips were back on mine , shallowing my moans as he let his index finger part my folds and slowly enter my wet core , pushing and pulling it until he could make enough room for his middle finger then making them both curl against my spot while he kept circling my clit with his thumb.

“Close- your fingers…fuck!…so close…been wanting them…since I saw you…. scribbling that designs and formulas for me…fuck!” I managed to confess between the moans and cussed loudly once I came all over his finger, messing up the blanket placed under us.

“These are things you shouldn't keep hidden from me.” His voice was lower than usual and he slowly helped me ride my high then licked his fingers clean, “I'm getting addicted to your taste and I need to clean you up.”

He licked his lips as I was still panting then moved between my legs, licking a long stripe between my wet lips making me jerk against his face again. He started eating me out like a starved man, pushing his tongue as far as he could, keeping my legs forcefully parted and not leaving a single drop of cum as I came the second time, moaning his name and grinding against his tongue just as I needed.

He kept licking until I started to push him away , whimpering as I started getting too sensitive and he pressed a few more kisses on my hips. Tony looked up at me as he comfortingly rubbed my shaking thighs as I was slowly coming back to him, “How are you feeling,princess?”

“So good…” I whispered the words, my throat already starting to feel a little sore “Tony I need you to make me yours, please…”

“I thought I won't live long enough to hear you say that.” I felt his warm breath against my skin as he said the words I looked down at him , his pupils were so dilated and he gave me a small wink then stripped off his clothes and threw them somewhere outside the fort.

“Fuck…the magazines weren't lying.” I chuckled nervously, staring down then up at him“You’re so hot with or without a suit.”

“Don’t worry, we'll take it as slow as you need. And they didn't call me the sexiest man of the year for nothing!” His words were so comforting and I didn't remember ever having fun and feeling so good at the same time with someone.

Tony moved back slowly on top of me and I realized how messily his beard and mustache wore, I collected the drop off my juice from them and he rushed to hold my hand in that place then sucked off the remains.

I gasped surprised by his erotic act then pulled him closer and kissed him , tasting my juice from his lips but I couldn't care less.

He slowly started rubbing his cock against my folds , making me moan against his lips, then he started guiding himself inside me , making sure to distract any kind of small discomfort with kisses on my lips , jawline and neck until I could take all of him inside me.

“You’re so wet and warm for me…so tight too…shit!” Tony praised me while closing his eyes for a while then opened them again watching me moan and whimper softly under him “Princess would you mind if you take my hand ? See? Nothing to worry about baby…you were made for me…” He whispered as he slowly started thrusting inside me and the lights above his head gave him a different kind of glow.

“Faster please…” I whispered once I started getting used to his size and it was the only signal he needed to get wild.

He started increasing the speed of his thrusts, hitting harder and faster as soon as he found my spot , supporting his body to not crush mine in one hand and using his other one to hold my hand tightly.

“So good…harder! Shit-” I didn't have to ask him twice ,his grunts and moans in my ear were making me clench around him.

“You wrap around me so perfectly! Fuck! I'm never letting you go!” His thrusts became rougher and my screams in pleasure louder , I couldn't even tell him how close I was.

“Yours!” Was all I could scream as I came for him while holding his hand tighter and rolling my eyes in pleasure.

“You're mine. Only mine!” He kept thrusting even after I came, then let go of my hand to push my legs up , quickly chasing his own high and moaning my name against my skin as soon as he finished, filling me until our mixed juices started falling down on messing up everything under us.

“Are you…are you…alright?” He breathed heavily, pulling out slowly, making me whimper and slowly moving my legs down.Then laid on my side and pulled me closer to him ,watching me panting and nodding.

“Yeah I've never been better…” I said in a raspy voice, my throat sore from all the screaming and getting sleepier.

“I’ll grab something to clean you up and then we can sleep alright?” He kissed my forehead softly while I was nodding with my eyes closed.

A few minutes later I felt him cleaning me with a wet cloth and I hissed, still feeling sensitive. He apologized quietly and kissed my thigh,praising me again for how good I was for him and once I whined about him not respecting the law he laughed and covered us with a clean blanket, cuddling me until we both fell asleep.

[preromantics]

wip clearing 2: peter/tony post-nwh stripper!peter

continuing my 'this one isn't going to get written' clearing!

context: this really couldn't be done justice at less than like 20k words the way i had it outlined and i didn't have the attention span for that

under the cut: a mismash 1.4k of plot dump and a few more fleshed out bits. not really fic-like but dumping here anyway for the jist!

Peter needs easy cash and all the under the table jobs he’s been getting aren’t cutting it (pizza delivery, irregular odd jobs like helping people move) and he stumbles into being a stripper at a slighty-above-seedy club – the kind that pays him under the table because he just  keeps what he gets during dances but the kind that also has a pretty good bouncer out front, so the clientele isn’t the worst. 

Turns out everything the bite enhanced wasn’t just good for being a friendly neighborhood superhero: it makes him a pretty amazing stripper. He picks up the pole work like he did swinging from buildings; a little practice, a few face plants and awkward moments, and then it’s as easy as anything else. 

Just like in this new version of his life where no one knows him, he’s anonymous at the club. Just like Spider-Man, he also tends to attract a crowd.

(“Do a flip!” someone shouts one night, with Peter at the top of the pole, arched back and hanging on by one hand, every muscle taught and the lines of his body on display. And Peter smiles, beatific, and flips backwards off the pole, two rotations in the air before he’s landing at the edge of the stage. It’s a record night, his tight lamé briefs stuffed with cash sticking to his sweat-slick hips and the curve of his ass.)

It becomes easy. Patrolling in the early evening and sometimes after his shifts, glitter and smoke under his suit but the adrenaline of a good night keeping him awake and alert. The water-stained drop ceiling above Peter’s closet in his shitty apartment ends up stuffed with cash in ziploc bags.

It’s still easy, even, when the news breaks that Mr. Stark is back. The details aren’t public knowledge, and Peter longs to know how it happens, but what matters is something is now right in the world again – even if no one knows Peter, still, he feels lighter after hearing the news. 

He doesn’t seek out Mr. Stark, assuming he also has no recollection of Peter Parker, and if Peter keeps an eye out for a glint of red and gold while he’s patrolling, it’s just to see if Mr. Stark at least remembers Spider-Man. (He never sees the suit, so it doesn’t matter. In fact, even with Mr. Stark back, there are no reports on Iron Man at all anymore.)

Peter has settled into his new normal, over a year into his stripper gig, and now on stage at a much nicer, fancier club (that still agreed to keep him off payroll if he gave a bigger cut to the house). It’s a few months since Tony Stark rejoined the living, Peter’s passed his GED but hasn’t sent in any applications, the cash he’s been saving up growing each week and starting to weigh on him.

It’s early in the night, and no one notices when Peter slips into the dressing room ten minutes late to his shift. This club is less likely to hand waive lateness, Peter knows – a condition of his under the table employment here was showing up when scheduled and a bigger cut of tips to the house than the other dancers. 

The clientele, location, the drinks – basically everything is better than the first place Peter started stripping at last year, though, so the extra percentage at the end of the night and ability to hand waive the background check that would flag Peter as a ghost make it worth it. He’s really trying to not be late, to cut his pre-shift patrols off earlier so he doesn’t jeopardize his quote-un-quote employment. 

Some nights, though, the city just seems to want to hold on to Spider-Man from block to block.

Peter has his face close to the mirror, working with some green and yellow color correctors the way one of the girls at the old club taught him to hide the bruise blossoming on his lower jaw. By the end of the night it will be barely visible, anyway, between his healing factor and the way the club gets darker and the clientele gets tipsier, looking at Peter with glassy eyes. 

He’s almost done buffing everything out with concealer over the top and already reaching for a pot of subtle glitter from his backpack when one of the new girls (Amber, maybe? Peter keeps meaning to get better at the social part of this new place) bursts into the room with a high-pitched squeal.

“Tony Stark is here!” she says, her eyes wide. Peter meets them through the mirror, hands stilling. “Like, actually him. I saw him putting a black lacy mask on at the door.”

Peter’s first thought is that he should leave. He should definitely leave, fake a stomach bug or something. There are six of them in the small dressing room, all in various states of getting ready for the night ahead, but every person stops what they’re doing, and the room becomes so loud all at once that Peter stays frozen, now staring down his own reflection. 

It’s been three months since the PR whirlstorm that surrounded Mr. Stark’s resurrection. 

He’s with Rhody. Peter waivers on if he’ll cut out or stay. He ends up staying. It’s masquerade night. They hand out fancy masks at the door and the dancers have masks, so it feels a little more comfortable than it should, hiding behind a mask. He doesn’t think Tony knows who he is, anyway, since no one remembers Peter Parker – why would Mr. Stark be any different. He ends up doing a back room with a nice co-worker named Amber. It’s all above board at this club (for the most part) and the back rooms have their own pole, good lighting, and luxurious leather couches. “They requested a guy and a girl, and you’re our best guy, c’mon, Pete,” Amber says, with wide eyes that absolutely work. Peter suddenly understands why Amber gets the most private rooms. Peter loses himself to the backroom, to the touches, the music, seeing the crinkled eyes of his mentor up close again for the first time in years. 

Are you going to tell me why you’re working in a strip club yet, Peter Parker? Tony whispers at the end of the dance.

Peter bolts.

When he thinks about it, he’s not even sure anything about his life will change, at this point, if one person (Tonytonytony his brain says) remembers who he is – and after a (scheduled) day off it’s time for another shift. He’s wavering on showing up for his next shift, or risk losing his job (that he likes, thank you) but ultimately shows up.

Tony is there waiting – had he come the day before, too? Asked about Peter? Sat around just watching, waiting? Had he asked someone else for a dance? – and Peter bravely faces him.

They end up in a room, again, this time with the awareness that they know each other. 

“I honestly have no idea where to start, Mr. Stark.”

Tony raises an eyebrow at him. “I did pay for a private dance, so you could start with that as the warm up to the big reveal,” he says, and Peter feels his mouth part in shock. 

The timing is perfect: the queued up song starts before Peter can say anything, a bass-heavy track with no lyrics, and Peter does an instinctive spin on the pole while trying to sort out the mess in his head. 

“I was kidding,” Tony says, with a small amount of panic in his eyes. 

Peter stops his next spin, staggering against the pole. Right. That would make so much more sense. “Oh,” he says, dumbly. 

(They talk on the couch. Peter ends up spilling everything about what has happened. Tony grips him tight, petting the back of his hair in what Peter assumes is only meant to be comforting, but in a way that makes Peter too aware of the fact he’s wearing a thong and covered in glitter that’s now coating Tony’s immaculately tailored suit, too aware of how comforting this is anyway, how warm Tony is. He’s crying, and his hair is a little wet, so he thinks Tony might be, too.)

After a lot of miscommunication, the reestablishment of Peter Parker's identity, sans the public unmasking, and a professional amount of distance…

Peter kind of misses stripping. Not the money (which was good, but his reinstated trust fund from Tony's non-applicable will is better), but the physicality of it. The intimacy within the anonimity. The way it made his pulse beat harder and his body feel powerful in new ways.

Tony has a stripper pole on the private jet – the only aircraft from his old possessions that wasn't sold off. He and Peter are taking it somewhere and the pole is the elephant in the room.

So... Peter puts on a show. :)

[feelingsareforweak]

As far as Tony Tark could remember his brain never stopped. Be it during sleep, playing an instrument under Maria's gaze, listening to Howard's lectures (especially during those), later even during hardcore sex, under liters of alcohol influence or listening to defending volumes of music, his brain never stopped, it always ran, making away connections, planning new schematics, analyzing information, grouping different data for later, layering and processing it even before he consciously realised he was doing it, it was there.

There was proof of that. Professors at MIT unable to keep up with him, inventing world's first AI when even the world wide web was not in the market proper, singlehandedly making a multi-million dollar worth military depended contracting company to the first ever institution worth trillion due to his major contribution, the world's most patents holder, building iron man suit in a cave, with a box of scraps, under constant torture, brain scans staring from when he was just a toddler till his time of death were all proof of his constantly running mind.

He never really knew rest, with his highly active brain for his age during childhood, with constant research and studying during his early teenage years at MIT, with his alcohol and drug abuse ranging from his late teenage years to mid thirties, then constant guilt and nightmares, PTSD that was the aftermath of IronMan, his insomnia throughout the life, he never knew it,

But at the end, where he held the infinity stones in his left hand at the destroyed compound, gazing into the eyes of his loving wife, his best friend and brother in arms and the son that never saw grew, remembered the daughter that he may never see grow, he felt his brain stuttering, like a circuit that felt overloaded and finally shutting down when he realised what he thought was only possible in dreams was now happening in reality.

His brain was finally slowing down, his thoughts where he felt like a passenger who spend his entire life inside a racing car which now had bursted all of it's tyres and was slowing down and he was finally able to see what was around him for the first time in his life was when he was dying.

He desperately wished for that unfathomable rest for himself all his life, from when he was child unable go sleep more than 5 hours at night to the time after snap when everytime he closed his eyes he would see half of life turning into ash in his hands, he realised he was finally getting the peace that he dreamt of since he was 4 years of age but now he was dying.

He realised at those last few moments of his life, when he turned head towards his beautiful wife holding tears for him, his not-son who no matter what world may was was his in everything that mattered, his brother standing strong and grim, his daughter's innocent face in his mind's eye, he decided at that moment that if he ever had a reason to stop his brain then, it would be at this moment that he would pull brakes in the imaginary racing car where his family was in his view.

And as his wife said, he could finally rest.

[ircn-dad]

Hi! First of all i want to say i love your blog! I get happy when you post.

I have been thinking about this for a while now but have you noticed the double standard related to mcu Tony? Like, fans hating on him for taking Peter to Germany to fight (it was not meant to be a fight) the Rogues but no one said anything about Talos/Fury asking Peter to fight the elementals and I think it was implied that Fury only gave Talos Peter's number before going to space. It's like they are looking for reasons to hate Tony.

There was another example I want to use but it's related to the 4th movie of MCU Spider Man i am not sure if you are comfortable being spoiled by the rumours related to the movie. 😅

Anyways, I love your blog! Have a nice day!

You're absolutely right anon.

People loves to shit on Tony's mistakes, but when other characters do the same exactly mistakes, NO ONE says a word.

For example, We can consider how the fandom treats May and Tony.

Antis are always like "Tony brought a kid to a war! he's unconscious! He put Peter's life in danger!", but when you point out that May did the same (she encouraged Peter to be Spiderman in FFH and told him he had a lot of responsibility as Spiderman in NWH) they don't say nothing. Kinda ironic huh?

They want Peter to be a hero who doesn't need help, but I didn't see any hate towards the rumours about daredevil helping him in the next movie (I think that's what you were taking about). They called Peter "Iron man Jr" for YEARS even if he literally proved everyone in homecoming that he didn't need the suit to be Spiderman, but as soon as Peter collaborates with Daredevil everyone is happy. Again, kinda ironic.

They judge Tony because he left Edith to a teenager, but they can't think for more than two seconds and realise that Tony didn't choose to give Edith to Peter.

Since Fury / Talos has been blipped, Tony must have given Edith to him during homecoming and Infinity War. Was he planning to let them to Peter? Yes. Did he planned to leaving the glasses to Peter when he was just seventeen? No. Tony plans everything, he probably wanted to give it to Peter when he was older. But even if he wanted to, what's the problem? Antis wants Peter to be independent, but they can't trust Peter with edit (unlike Tony. Tony trusts Peter, he believed nothing bad would happen because Peter is a good kid. How he could imagine that Mysterio would have taken the glasses?)

What do I think? People loves to say shit on him, but cannot see when a character does the same thing. Or when they hate him for building weapons, but do not say a word about Steve, Sam and Bucky using to be soldiers, Natasha and Clint being assassins or Wanda being literally a mass murderer. Everyone makes mistakes in the MCU, but if you hate Tony for something every other characters did... well I've got news for you.

You have the rights to do not like a character, but at least do not be an hypocrite.

[strawwritesfic]

Phil Coulson x SHIELD Agent!Reader: Hollywood

Summary: Even a sourpuss like Ward can’t overcome Phil’s skills at diplomacy.

Rating/Warnings/Tags: T (Agents of SHIELD canon; set during season one of Agents of SHIELD; established Phil/Reader; Ward/May; referenced Fitz/Skye; Ward is not portrayed positively; Iron Man 3 references; mild language)

Challenge: “120 Bits of Random” challenge by SugarLandBabyGirl on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Hollywood

Oh, to finally have a vacation from saving the world! You might have felt excitement anywhere, from a tiny bed and breakfast in New England or a hole-in-the-wall motel in Oklahoma. What you got was a dozen times better: Hollywood. The sights! The sounds! Ward’s constant whining!

“This is ridiculous,” he said for the fifteenth time that morning. 

By then, even the others were getting frustrated. Skye and Jemma went as far as to roll their eyes. Only May seemed unperturbed. She lifted her eyebrows at the statement, like she agreed with his work obsession-- and she probably did. 

If Ward meant to ruin this trip, he was succeeding. Who else but Ward would take offense to the team eating a quiet breakfast on the street instead of talking strategy?

As usual, Phil didn’t seem the least bit annoyed. He smiled as he swallowed a mouthful of cinnamon roll, then asked, “What’s ridiculous?”

“This,” Ward answered, gesturing toward the nearby Chinese Theater. 

Phil looked over at the building and the throng of tourists surrounding it before settling his gaze back on Ward. “Well, they did only finish rebuilding it after the bombing a year ago,” he said mildly. “It’s kind of a big deal.”

“No, I mean us being here. You think so, too, don’t you, May?”

May didn’t answer. 

Jemma took a deep breath and tried to take one for the rest of the team: “We all need a little break, Agent Ward,” she said.

Ward shot her one of his most aggravating looks and opened his mouth with a retort already clearly formed. Just the idea of him telling her off looked as though it terrified the poor girl. Luckily, Skye came to her rescue:

“Yeah. We’re not all robots like you.”

“I’m sorry I have a little something called work ethic,” Ward snapped.

“I’m sorry the rest of us don’t care to work until we collapse.” 

Skye half-stood as she said this. Ward followed suit. As usual, you flicked your eyes back and forth between them. Those two were always at each other’s throats, and it only got worse when the latter didn’t have work–or the BUS’s training equipment–to distract him.

“Guys,” Leo said tiredly. “Do you have to bicker now? It’s only nine in the morning and–”

“Only?” Ward repeated, rounding on Leo. 

Leo lifted his eyes heavenward, as though to ask why he had deigned to get into the argument in the first place. You wondered as much yourself. 

“Only? If we were actually doing our jobs, you wouldn’t say ‘only,’” said Ward.

“Actually, I-I probably would.”

Ward eyed him for a long moment, then sat back into his chair with an annoyed snort. “Whatever. We all know we’re only here because of [Name] anyway.”

“Me?” you echoed indignantly around a mouthful of muffin. “What did I do?”

“You’re the one that wouldn’t shut up about Hollywood.” He waved his hands in the air with mock excitement. “If you hadn’t kept talking about how nice it would be to take a vacation, Coulson never would have agreed to it.”

Your cheeks burned. Thereafter, you decided to focus on your plate rather than any one member of the team’s face. The relationship you shared with Phil, while not exactly on-again, off-again, was a lot more tentative than it had been prior to his pretending to be dead. Ward only wanted get a rise out of you because of his own of temper, of course, but he left you little way of responding in kind. Much as you wanted to fire back with a reference to walking in on him and May in a rather intimate position, that would likely only make him even less fun to be around.

“And now,” he continued, “I have to sit here on my ass for the rest of the weekend, and everyone will be upset with me for not playing happy tourist.”

“Who said anything about sitting on your ass?” Phil asked.

Ward covered his eyes with one hand. “Walking around squealing about celebrities does not count as work.”

“I know.” Finished with his food, Phil dug around in an inner pocket of his jacket. He did not search long before drawing out a folded sheet of paper upon which Ward’s eyes fell immediately. “Just because there’s nothing official going on in Hollywood doesn’t mean there won’t be. We’ve got a few trickles of information that sound a lot like something we’ll need to look into. Isn’t that right, Skye?”

“Huh? Oh!” Skye nodded vigorously. “Yep. Trickles of information. Almost rivers. Agent Ward should go dam them up before the common people get ahold of them. Wouldn’t want just anyone finding out. That would be unhelpful or what–”

“Thank you, Skye.”

“…ever.”

Ward’s eyes narrowed. He reached for the paper, but Phil pulled it out of his reach. “I was hoping you and May could do some recon for us. I know it’s not much, but it’s work.”

“We’ll do it,” May said. 

She took the paper from Phil, got up, and walked briskly away. Ward watched her go, then sighed and stood up. He left without another word. The rest of you watched after them until they rounded a corner and disappeared.

“Okay, I don’t know what that paper had on it, but it was nothing I told you about. There’s been no activity in this area whatsoever,” Skye said.

Phil stood and pushed his chair in. “I know.”

“Then what was all that for?”

“For getting rid of Ward. He’s right about why we’re here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy our break.”

“Fitz and I were hoping to check out the nearby museum,” Jemma interjected hopefully.

“Go.”

She squealed, squeezing Leo’s shoulder. Even he looked excited, especially when Skye got up with them. 

“I’ll go, too. Give these two a little,” she winked exaggeratedly in your direction, “alone time.”

The three of them raced off, leaving you mortified in their wake. Phil waited patiently for you to get over your embarrassment and to your feet. 

“What,” you asked, “was all that for?”��

All Phil did was smile and gently take your hand.

“For getting rid of the rest of them,” he said. “Now come on. I know a great place we can go for lunch.”

You did not bother to point out you’d only just finished breakfast. Protesting would do you no good after all the work Phil had put into not only getting SHIELD to approve the vacation, but also making sure the two of you were alone. So instead, you smiled, too, and allowed him to lead you down the street.

[tobiasdrake]

Tony's turn to lay groundwork, specifically for Pepper suiting up at the end of the film. Before Steve and Nat show up to talk quantum physics with him, we get a sweet scene with Tony and his new daughter Morgan.

Morgan snuck into the garage and stole a helmet off an Iron Man suit, but it's specifically noted to be Pepper's suit. The suit is an anniversary present that Tony made for Pepper, which she refuses to touch much to Tony's dismay.

That tracks. Pepper's disdain for this part of Tony's life has been a fairly consistent character trait. She's always hated the suits and what they've done to Tony's life, and would never voluntarily climb into one. She tolerates Iron Man only because she has no other choice; He's a package-deal with Tony.

But this is also meant to set up Pepper showing up in an Iron Man suit at the end of the movie, and it feels insufficient for that. It really calls attention to how poorly the Iron Man movies have spent the time they had to develop these characters.

Like. This is the last possible chance to finally bring Rescue to the big screen, and the Russos and their writers want to do that. But they have to do all of the heavy lifting in justifying it themselves, right here in this one scene. Because despite Tony and Pepper being ever-present throughout the franchise, not one filmmaker has actually done an ounce of the work to set it up.

We needed to be on this road a lot earlier than the first half hour of Endgame. Specifically, this should have been done in Iron Man 3. Pepper's suit shouldn't have had to be an anniversary present during the five-year timeskip because it should be something Tony built back when he was going crazy and building suits for the specific stated goal of protecting Pepper.

There isn't any good way to set this up now. But they have to set it up now, because the people who made Tony and Pepper's actual films never bothered to do so.

[mrstvrks]

ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ʙɪᴏ ; tony banner-stark

❝ We do not have to become heroes overnight. just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. ❞

→ pinterest | playlist ( + bruce )

↳ BASIC INFO

Character’s full name: Dr. Anthony Edward Banner-Stark Meaning of name: priceless one Other Titles: Iron Man Birth date: May 29th Zodiac: Gemini Nationality / Species: American, Italian, human Languages Spoken: English, Italian, French, Spanish, enough German and Russian to hold a fairly decent conversation Pronouns: he/him  Orientation: Bisexual Superpower: certified super genius IQ (around 270), in the Iron Man Suit, he has superhuman strength, durability, and access to an array of weapons Occupation: CEO of Stark Industries, co-leader of the Avengers Relationship Status: married to Bruce Banner

↳ APPEARANCE

Age: 40 Height: 6′1 Body build: tall, athletic Eye color: brown Glasses or contacts: glasses Distinguishing marks: the scars around his arc reactor  Predominant features: his arc reactor Hair color and type: dark brown, almost black; always styled Physical disabilities: he’s had heart issues since Afghanistan  Usual fashion of dress: either business casual or jeans and a band t-shirt, no in between

↳ PERSONALITY

Good traits: brave, confident, courageous, heroic, loyal, super genius IQ, witty Bad traits: bossy, conceited, impatient, impulsive, perfectionist, sarcastic, workaholic Hogwarts House: Slytherin Character Theme Song: Beautiful, Dirty, Rich - Lady Gaga Personality Type: ENTJ  / “the Commander;” extroverted, focused on logic, natural confidence, strong leader, expert in finding flaws and being critical Character is most at ease when: he’s the center of attention Enraged when: someone acts like they’re smarter than him Greatest strength: his mind Greatest vulnerability: Morgan and Peter Biggest regret: letting his mother leave with his father the night of their accident etc.: Tony has severe PTSD from his time in Afghanistan

↳ PAST

Hometown: Manhattan | he was born in Florence, Italy Type of childhood: Tony’s childhood was anything but normal. He sped past all of his schooling and was enrolled at MIT by 15. First memory: making his first circuit board when he was 4 Most prominent childhood memory: when he made his first robot Education: he has two master’s degrees (which he got by age 19) in engineering, he has a PhD in engineering and artificial intelligence 

↳ PRESENT

Current location: New York City Currently living with: his daughter and Bruce in the penthouse  Pets: none, unless you count his robots

↳ FAMILY

Mother: Maria Carbonell Stark | Peggy Carter

Relationship: He was extremely close to his mother and struggled a lot after her death. After his parents died, his godmother, Peggy, became his legal guardian. 

Father: Howard Stark 

Relationship: He always felt pressured by his father and described him as “cold and calculating,” Tony felt like his brother prioritized other things over being a father.

Brother: Jarvis Alexander Stark

Relationship: Jarvis started out as his father’s AI. Howard had plans to turn him into a physical being, but died before he could. Tony picked up where Howard left off and has become as close to Jarvis ( aka Vision ) as a biological sibling.

Daughter: Morgan Banner-Stark

Relationship: Morgan is the product of a brief relationship Tony had with his late girlfriend. Nicole, a reporter, was killed during the Battle of New York. Morgan was just a few months old and has no memory of her mother. Tony’s boyfriend, Bruce, is the only other parental figure Morgan has known.

Son: Peter Parker 

Relationship: Tony was briefly with Peter’s mother when he was young and had no idea about him until Peter was a teenager. Since finding out, and since discovering Peter is Spider-Man, Tony has become fiercely overprotective of him, mostly because he sees way too much of himself in Pete.

Children He’s Basically Adopted: Riri Williams, Pietro Maximoff

↳ RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

Husband: Bruce Banner Best friend: James Rhodes, Thor Odinson Ex: Nicole Eavenson (Morgan’s late mother.)

↳ BIO tw: brief illness and death mention

Tony has been CEO of Stark Industries since he turned 21, following the death of his parents when he was 16. Arrogant and completely full of himself, Tony followed in his father’s footsteps until he saw the destruction the company’s weapons were responsible for. So, Tony switched his focus, but there were people who weren’t happy about that – namely a terrorist group who wanted Stark Industries’ weapon blueprints for their own selfish gains. It was then that Tony built the first Iron Man suit. He spent the next few years operating in secret as Iron Man, until he eventually outed himself during a press conference. He went public a little over a year ago. Since then, Tony has been co-leader of the Avengers Initiative, despite his knack for not working well with others. 

[whimsicalworldofme]

Saving Grace: Chapter Seven

Grace heads into the city to spend a Saturday working on her latest project for Stark Industries, since Pepper's out of town, and Tony & Steve are away on Avengers business. And then aliens start dropping out of the sky.

(This is during the events of the Battle of New York)

Content Warnings: Mentions of violence & death.

The Tower was pretty empty when Grace arrived, a latte from a nearby shop in hand. There had been some business Fury called on the Avengers to deal with, so both Tony and Steve were out of town, as far as she knew. News coverage and internet videos were going absolutely wild over two things; the first was that Captain America was alive and actively saving the world again. The second, was that some lunatic with a golden horned helmet, claiming to be a god, Loki of all things, had killed a man at a charity gala somewhere in Germany and terrorized the crowd outside, that is until Steve and Tony had shown up.

Gabe, one of the regular security guards, gave her a little salute as she pressed onward to the elevators. Since the bulk of the building was used for Stark Industries, the main areas elevators only went up to the eightieth floor for employees but Tony had JARVIS programmed into every inch of the building, so if Tony, Pepper, or Grace requested, they could get up to their family’s private levels from any elevator in the building. Grace hit the button for the fifteenth floor and took another sip of her latte.

“Good morning, Dr. Turner,” JARVIS greeted her, since Tony had trained the program to recognize her when in the building.

“Morning, JARVIS,” she replied, still thinking it absolutely wild that she belonged to a family that essentially had an AI butler running their house. “Hey Tony isn’t back by any chance, is he?”

“I’m afraid Mr. Stark has not been in the building for several days,” JARVIS told her. “I can contact him if you like.”

“No, no,” Grace shook her head. “He’s busy, I don’t want to interrupt him. Just…you would tell me if he was in danger, right?” She thought about the mad man in Germany. He didn’t seem all that dangerous, but she still worried. He is my dad after all. And he’s just a guy in a metal suit.

“In the event of an emergency, I am programmed to notify you, Dr. Turner,” the AI stated.

“All right, thanks, JARVIS.”

Grace polished off the last of her latte as the elevator dinged and she stepped into the reception area of the medical robotics lab. While most employees had security badges to gain access to secure areas in Stark Industries, JARVIS kept tabs on her and unlocked doors for her as she needed. There were a few other employees there already, but since it was a Saturday, it was mostly empty. Grace made her way to the station she’d been working at for the last few weeks and took a seat on her usual stool, examining the various components for the prototype her team was working on for their stabilizing braces. Grace wanted to spend the day running a few more tests on materials, but before she could get into it, her phone began to ring.

“Tony, is everything ok?” She greeted her father as his face appeared on her screen, and it became evident that he was video calling from inside the helmet of his Iron Man suit.

“Gracie, you’re at the office,” his brow furrowed with concern.

He wouldn’t be calling while doing Avengers stuff if there wasn’t something wrong, her stomach knotted.

“Tony, what’s going on?” She felt her mouth go dry, her heartrate picking up much faster than could be credited to the caffeine she’d just consumed.

“Uh…” he hesitated. “There might be a Norse god hellbent on world domination headed your way, in fact I’m ninety percent sure of it. We’re on our way, but you need to get yourself and anyone else in the building somewhere safe.”

“Shit,” Grace popped up from her seat, knocking the stool over. “Ok,” she felt her heart slamming against her chest. “Tony?” She paused for a moment, committing her father’s face to memory, terrified it might be the last time she spoke to him. “Try to stay safe.”

“I will,” he nodded. “I’ll find you when this is all over.”

With a nod, Grace watched as her father’s face disappeared from the screen.

“This is not how I saw my Saturday going,” she muttered to herself.

“Grace is everything ok?”

Jennifer came over to check on her when a strange rumbling shook the whole building. Running to the nearest window, Grace looked out and up, only to see what appeared to be a wormhole opening in the sky directly above Stark Tower. Alien monsters on flying vehicles dropped rapidly from it towards an unsuspecting New York city.

“Dr. Turner, there are intruders in the penthouse,” JARVIS’s voice came alive in the room.

“What the hell is that?!” Jennifer shrieked as she caught sight of the aliens zipping by the building.

“Get away from the windows,” Grace pulled her back and retreated towards the center of the building. “JARVIS shut down access to the stairs and elevators on floors eighty and above. And restrict access to employees only on all other floors.”

“Right away Dr. Turner,” the AI complied.

“Are we under attack? Is this Independence Day?” Jennifer’s eyes kept darting around to every wall of windows in the area, her whole body trembling.

“Jennifer, you need to listen to me,” Grace took both of her friends’ hands in hers and gave them a squeeze, trying to draw her back in, ground her. Their eyes met and Grace wondered if her own pupils were so wide, if her fear was that evident. Soon a group of other employees had gathered around, about six of them.

“What’s happening?” One asked.

“Do we call the police?” Another gulped.

“We should make a break for the subway. If the trains are still running, we can get out,” someone else suggested.

“Everyone, listen to me,” she drew herself up authoritatively, knowing someone had to take charge. “I’m having JARVIS lock down the building. The best thing we can do right now is find a safe place to sit tight, so grab something that you can easily beat the shit out of someone with,” Grace instructed, catching sight of some metal poles and crowbars nearby. It was a robotics lab after all. Plucking up a steel rod for herself she hefted it in her palm. “JARVIS are the intruders still contained to the penthouse?”

“Yes Dr. Turner.”

“All right, everyone, get to the elevators and go straight to sub-basement five,” she ordered. “JARVIS, I want an alert sent to the phone of every employee who swiped into the office today. Tell them to go to sub-basement five immediately.”

“Of course, Dr. Turner.”

“The old weapons testing facility?” Someone questioned.

“It’s a bunker,” Grace stated. “We don’t have time to argue. Go!”

She herded them through the doors and out to the elevators. Since the Tower was powered by an arc reactor, independent from the grid, she knew the power would stay on and get them down safely. Time was of the essence but only so many people could use the elevators at a time, so once all the employees on that floor were in the elevator, she darted for the stairwell. As she went, she heard the sound of glass shattering.

“JARVIS?” she called out again.

“There are breaches on multiple floors Dr. Turner,” JARVIS stated. “All level fifteen and above.”

“Are there any employees on those floors today?”

“There are currently thirteen employees above level twenty, but they are all in the stairwells or on the elevators.”

“Good,” Grace felt the tightness in her chest ease only slightly. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and used voice command to call Gabe’s cell phone at the front desk. “Pick up, pick up,” she muttered as she continued to run down the stairs.

“Dr. Turner this isn’t a good time,” Gabe answered.

“Gabe, as safely as you can, bring any civilians that might be running by into the building and get them to sub-basement five.”

“I’m already ahead of you, Dr. Turner. Don’t worry about me. You get everyone else and yourself down safe,” he insisted. “Get in here, in here,” he hollered obviously to some people on the street running for cover.

The line clicked dead and Grace blinked, trying not to cry in the panicked fear that he’d been killed, rather than having just hung up. As she made her way down the stairs, she heard the hurried, pounding footfalls of others trickle into the stairwell, moving with urgency, every footfall echoing against the concrete walls and steps. But more than the footfalls, she heard the crying, the repetitive exclamations of “oh my god, oh my god” and strings of expletives. Someone burst into the stairwell, screaming just as she was about to hit the ninth-floor landing and one of the alien things was right on their trail.

“Oh, fuck no!” Without hesitating, Grace swung the metal bar in her hand, smashing the alien right in the face and sending it stumbling back. She kept swinging, bashing it in the head, not giving it a chance to react before the next blows connected.

“Fuck,” whack. “Off,” thunk. “You,” crack. “Alien,” squish. “Fuck.” Squish again.

Her chest heaved with panting breaths by the time the thing finally crumbled to the floor. She gave it one last good whack to make sure it was dead.

“Jesus,” a man in a lab coat jumped slightly as he stepped onto the landing, seeing the dead creature and Grace, splattered in alien matter and blood.

“Keep going,” Grace instructed, pulling in ragged breaths. “Just keep going.”

He didn’t bother arguing as there were thunks on the door beside her and strange noises, which she figured were probably the aliens trying to get into the stairwell.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes Dr. Turner?” The calmness in the British voice brought her a tiny sliver of comfort.

“Please tell me all my employees are either in the stairwells or the bunker?”

There was a momentary pause and Grace figured he was probably running a tally and calculating.

“There are currently six other employees in the stairwells and the other thirty-three who came into the office are currently in sub-basement five, as well as fifteen civilians.”

“Ok, good.” Grace jumped back when she heard a more violent thud against the door which left it rattling a little. “C’mon Grace, this is not how you die. Not today.”

She caught her breath and kept running down the stairs descending as quickly as she could. The turns left her dizzy, since the stairs were essentially a spiral, just with right angles. She yanked the door to sub-basement five so hard that it slammed against the wall, sending an echoing rattle through the now empty stairwell. She saw a few other people popping out from the other stairwells, running for the heavy, multilayered steel door that cut off the actual weapons testing site from the landing.

“All employees are now on sub-basement level five, Dr. Turner,” JARVIS told her.

“Good,” Grace nodded to the last person to bolt through a stairwell door. The heavy metal bunker doors began to slide slowly open, just enough to allow them through, with Grace going last, still clutching her metal bar so tightly her knuckles hurt.

Inside was a massive, though sparse space that hadn’t been used much since Stark Industries moved away from weapons manufacturing a few years prior. The employees and people off the street were all huddled together, most of them holding improvised weapons. Some of the women had their pepper spray keychains in hand, fingers on the trigger and ready.

“Is anyone injured?” Grace called out as the heavy door finally shut behind her.

Everyone shook their heads no, and she let out a sigh of relief. Glancing around, she took stock of their surroundings. Right in the immediate lobby of the area, there were bathrooms and a row of four vending machines, two for snacks, two for drinks, all fully stocked.

Well at least we have provisions enough for a little while and bathrooms, so there’s water and facilities. Hopefully we won’t be down here too long though.

“How long do you think we’ll be down here?” Someone asked.

“Did you see those things?” Someone else chimed in. “There was an army of them. Falling out of the sky. I don’t think we’re getting out of here alive.”

“Let’s not jump to the worst possible conclusion just yet,” Grace tried to quiet the spreading wave of panicked murmurs. “My dad is coming with a team to fix this.”

“A team?” A woman in a labcoat crossed her arms and let out a scoffing laugh. “A team of what? What could stop that?”

“Superheroes. They’re called the Avengers.” Grace knew it sounded ridiculous and her confidence in saying it wavered. “I know it sounds crazy,” she heard more than a few incredulous laughs, “but I believe in them. So, we’re going to sit tight down here,” she found her confidence again. “In the meantime,” she went over to the vending machines and used her pipe to break the glass on each of them, knocking the entire panels out. “Have a snack, but uh, watch your step.” She kicked some of the glass shards under the machines before reaching in and grabbing herself a packet of Reese’s cups. “I recommend we find whatever outlets we can and charge our phones if anyone thought to bring a charger. Other than that, let’s find some stuff to distract ourselves.”

Reluctantly, people began to shift, queuing up to get snacks, a few made their way to the restroom. There was a conference room with chairs and a few people moved in there to sit and eat. Someone who, in their panic, had grabbed their work laptop and charger set it up on a chair and began watching a movie, which drew a crowd, all of whom sat or laid on the floor.  Another woman pulled a new card game called Cards Against Humanity from her purse and soon a large circle was setup of people playing. As far down as they were, and with all the protective layering around the bunker, they couldn’t hear anything going on outside, which Grace was glad for. Soon, the furtive glances at the door were fewer and further between. A few people actually fell asleep, their adrenaline rush wearing off and leaving them to crash.

Grace couldn’t relax, choosing instead to pace back and forth by the door, metal pipe still in hand. The candy she’d grabbed, she slid into her back pocket, telling herself she would eat later. Time passed slowly and fifteen minutes felt like an hour. Soon her stomach began to grumble, so she slipped into the bathroom to wash her hands. It wasn’t until she saw her reflection in the mirror that she realized how much viscera was left on her from the alien she’d killed, making her stomach turn. She shuddered and suppressed the nausea as she cupped water in her hands and began washing her face and arms.  

Oh god, there’s stuff in my hair even, she gagged, forcing herself to step away from the mirror. Just don’t think about it Grace. Don’t think about it. She began pulling paper towels out of the dispenser and wiped down her hair, trying to toss the used ones in the trash without looking at them. When she finally felt like she’d gotten most of it out, she washed her hands again, refusing to look in the mirror, then stepped out of the bathroom, struggling to take deep breaths. Pulling the chocolate out of her pocket, she went back to the door and ate while she carried on pacing, her metal pole tucked under one arm. She lost all track of time, not willing to look at her phone.

Then there were voices outside the door. Human voices, not panicked or begging to be let in, but calm and authoritative voices. The heavy door began to groan open, making her leap back.

“Grace!” Steve’s bright blue eyes locked on her from a crack in the door. His face was bloodied, covered in grime, and dripping with sweat. “Thank god.”

“Gracie?” Tony’s voice echoed in question, relief and joy evident in his tone.

He appeared beside Steve, dressed in his Iron Man suit still, which had terrifying gashes and dents in it. His brown eyes went a little watery when he saw her but then he twitched, almost like his face had short circuited and he turned to Steve with a questioning glare.

“Grace?” He directed it as a question to Steve, who blanched slightly, realizing the mistake he’d made. Steve flashed her an apologetic look, but she was too tired to care. “Grace.” Tony sounded disappointed as he looked back to his daughter, having clearly put together that Steve was the mysterious client she’d been living with for the last year.

“Is it over?” Jennifer came up to the door.

Casting a glance over her shoulder, Grace saw people getting up from their seats, staring at the group of people now stood at the open door. Iron Man, they were used to, but Captain America, with his red, white, and blue getup, Natasha in her tactical gear, and some enormous long-haired blonde wearing a long red cape were all new and odd.

“It’s over,” Natasha confirmed. “The city is secure, the trains are running. We’ll escort you all to the nearest station. Is anyone injured?”

“No, we’re all fine,” Grace found her voice and Nat nodded in approval.

As the employees hurried to get out, Tony stepped off to the side and scooped Grace up in a hug, lifting her off the ground, the metal of his Iron Man suit warm against her body. She didn’t care though, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder. Steve caught her gaze as he ushered the last person out of the room. With a deep breath and a nod to her, he stepped out of sight.

“I’m so glad you’re ok, Dad,” Grace started to cry.

“Oh, you know your old man, I’m hard to get rid of,” Tony tried to laugh it off, but his usual level of humor wasn’t entirely there. “Hey,” he perked up a little. “You called me dad.”

“Yeah,” Grace sniffed as he put her back on her feet. “I did, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t just do it to distract me from you not telling me you’ve been shacking up with the Capsicle did you?”

“Dad!” She couldn’t help the shocked laugh that came out of her. “No! Oh my god,” she shook her head. “He’s my client. Nothing more.”

“Mhmm,” Tony turned to throw more dirty looks at Steve, but at that point it was just the two of them left in the room. “And here I was just starting to consider liking the guy.”

“Dad,” Grace put her hands on either side of his face, turning it back to her. “I love you. I’m so glad you’re ok.”

“I love you too, Gracie,” he smiled brightly. “But you look and smell terrible,” he stated in his trademark humorous deadpan. “Let’s get you upstairs so you can shower.”

Chapter Six

Masterlist

Chapter Eight

[deflare]

Day 7 means it’s the day of the mustardy yellow VII Legion, Imperial Fists!

The VII Legion doesn’t have a terribly interesting history before they got reunited with their Primarch, Rogal Dorn. Dorn was a tough, stubborn dude, and his boys shared that disposition. When he was found by the Emperor, he brought with him an absolutely massive spaceship/movable space station called the Phalanx, a leftover bit of tech from before humanity fell apart, and that became the Fists’ new home. Most legions, and then chapters, would recruit primarily from a single homeworld; the Fists have always pilfered candidates from multiple planets, pulling on the toughest, meanest bastards on whatever planet they’ve visited.

The Fists’ real specialty, though, was in building. They were the masters of building and destroying fortifications; whatever planet the legion took would quickly become a fortified nightmare near impossible to conquer. This put them at odds with the IV Legion, the Iron Warriors, who specialized in breaking through fortifications. When the Emperor needed someone to build up the fortifications on Terra, he picked Dorn, naming him the Castellan of Terra.

The Imperial Fists spent most of the Horus Heresy guarding the Solar System, with Dorn’s fortifications being tested during the final siege. When the dust had settled, he was one of the leaders of the Scouring, the big effort to chase the Traitor Legions out of the Imperium and into the Warp. He resisted Guilliman’s plan to split up the legions, but finally backed down. Then he got most of his boys killed by willingly jumping into an obvious trap set up by Perturabo, the Primarch of the traitorous Iron Warriors. Dorn was kind of a jackass. He would be killed by an incursion by traitor forces... probably. There was no body, just a single hand. (If that sounds suspiciously like he might come back someday... yeah, probably.)

The modern Fists still are very focused on being the defenders of the Imperium, the guns on the wall, blah blah blah. The process of making a new Fist* is incredibly painful, even compared to other chapters. So they only pick the hardiest, most stubborn, and most willful recruits. They borrowed one of Daddy Dorn’s idiosyncrasies, a love of the ‘pain glove’, a full-body torture suit that they use for meditation. They’re fussy, exacting, and disciplined, and generally just not fun people to hang out with. Though they aren’t without hobbies; inspired by finding their dead dad’s hand (morbid!), they practice scrimshaw, carving designs into the hand-bones of dead Imperial Fists. They also have a connection to their successor chapters, with a protocol in place to call everyone home to defend Terra in case of disaster.

Ultimately, the Imperial Fists are one of the more generic flavors of Space Marine. For when you really want a standard style of force, but don’t want to go with an Ultramarine. I may be biased against them because yellow is one of the worst colors to paint. Or just because the Black Templars do everything the Fists do, but cooler. The scrimshaw is neat, though.

*How do you make a Space Marine, anyway?

First, you need a teenager with an absolutely ludicrous physique and a clean bill of genetic health. Space Marines usually recruit from planets that suck ass, due to constant internal warfare or a hostile environment that kills most people young; that way, they only get the meanest, toughest guys showing up to be recruited. The aspirant also needs to be a cis man, because Games Workshop made a ‘no girls allowed’ rule in the ‘90s and they’ve been irritatingly stubborn about keeping that bit of lore. Nevermind that all the processes of making an Astartes make HRT and gender affirming surgery look like nothing.

Over the course of years, the aspirant is tested, trained, and subjected to ‘psycho-conditioning’--basically, hypnotic brainwashing. They also go through a series of surgeries to shove new organs into their body. There are 19 organs involved, and I’m not going to go into all of them, but they include a second heart, hormones to make them Super Big, and some weird superpowers (like acid spit, and the ability to get information by eating someone’s brain). Also important is the progenoid gland, which creates the ‘gene-seed’ used to create more Space Marine organs for implantation; there’s a whole set of specialized rituals around yanking these out of dead Space Marines whenever possible to preserve the chapter.

Once all the surgeries are done, the aspirant will go do whatever their chapter uses as a final test of initiation, which can include things like “spend some time in the pain glove” or “get some wolf DNA shoved into you and see if you turn into a werewolf”. Then they’re sent off to become scouts (or squires, or shock troops, depending on the chapter), growing into full ‘battle-brothers’.

A lot of people die between the start of the process and the end; becoming a Space Marine ain’t easy. But in return, you become effectively immortal, have super-bones and super-muscles, and are brainwashed into being a loyal member of your chapter. You’re effectively a new person, dedicated to a life of warfare. Good for you.

In recent years, a new flavor of Space Marine came out, called Primaris Marines. They have a few extra organs compared to the normal flavor, and are somewhat bigger. A regular Marine (called ‘Firstborn’) can become a Primaris through surgery, though the procedure is risky. This has mostly been a way to sell new Space Marine boxes, with less weird body proportions than the old models. Such is the way of a story driven by real-world capitalism.

Master post here

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

Iron Man (1968) #47-53

In this batch of Iron Man solo comics I went from March 1972 to August 1972. Issue #47 was written by Roy Thomas, penciled by Barry Windsor-Smith, and inked by Jim Mooney, though a large part of it was retelling Iron Man’s origin story from Tales of Suspense (1959) #39, which was plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Leiber, and drawn by Don Heck. And issues #48-53 were written by Mike Friedrich, penciled by George Tuska, and inked by Vince Colletta, though Jim Starlin is also credited for some of the penciling on issue #53. And, interestingly enough, the editor of the book changed from Stan Lee to Roy Thomas with issue #50.

Issue #47 began with describing Tony in the Iron Man armor as appearing "like a great insensate robot" but wishing that he was "indeed a thing of unfeeling metal, instead of only a very vulnerable man in an armored shell." The context is that he was attending a funeral as Iron Man, which seems to have been to help him hide his emotions from the other people attending. This was interesting to pair with a retelling of his origin story as Iron Man, which was told through the lens of him reminiscing on it while wondering whether or not there needs to be an Iron Man. In that original story it was presented that Tony needed to wear the entire Iron Man suit to live and would be forever trapped in it, and so while his original flesh body was still living inside it, the armor was framed as essentially his new body. It's said that "the iron frame must duplicate virtually every action of the human body" and the chest plate specifically was referred to as "the life-giving heart of your iron body." This causes Tony to question, "Can the thing I have created survive? This thing which is less than human- yet somehow far more? This thing which now is- Tony Stark! And yet- am I truly Tony Stark anymore- when, in order to remain alive, I must stay forever in this walking iron prison?" When a villain refers to him as a robot, Tony doesn't correct them and identifies himself as an iron man, not at that point a superhero identity but just a description of what he is. And the story ended on the vague note that, "As for the Iron Man- that metallic hulk who once was Anthony Stark- who knows what destiny awaits him? Time alone will provide the answer. Time alone…" The next issue of Tales of Suspense provided the answer that Tony was not in fact no longer able to live as Tony Stark and that he only needed the chest plate, which he could keep hidden under his clothes, to live. The idea of Tony being trapped inside the Iron Man armor has come up a few times since then and this point in the comics with various stories only temporarily making his health issues so extreme that he couldn't leave it, but I think that Tony wishing, even only during this funeral scene in issue #47, that he was actually an unemotional robot and not a fully feeling person, has interesting implications for his identification with the Iron Man armor.

Issue #47 also presented for the first time that Tony had had the idea for the Iron Man armor and was working on prototypes for it prior to being kidnapped in Vietnam and having to make the firt legitimate suit while he was a prisoner there in order to escape and not die from the shrapnel near his heart. I think that this lessens the drama of Tony having to build a full suit of armor in order to power and protect his heart and that he had made this amazing technological advancement when he was in a tough situation where he either had to pull it off or die if he was just always going to make the armor going through that.

Tony's relationship with Marianne had a lot of development in this batch of issues. In issue #47 Marianne piles on to Tony's already growing insecurities by asking him, at a crucial moment, "Why must there be an Iron Man?" Though that issues ends with Tony feeling affirmed in his decision to be Iron Man, and we don't see them later discuss that she'd said that, in issue #48 Tony goes on one of his classic monologues about how he can't live a normal life, which he usually uses to refer to having a girlfriend or wife, and then afterwards brushes off Marianne, his fiancé, when she tries to talk to him. Later than issue the two of them go to a party together, where Marianne notices that Tony had "two drinks more than he ever has at a party" and then has to pull him away from getting into a fight after he hears someone make a comment about the problems at Stark Industries. On their way home, Tony drives recklessly, which the narrator describes as therapeutic for him, as Marianne is saying, "Tony- slow down! You're going much too fast! You'll kill us both! Please- for my sake- pull over on this ridge- please?!" Then they have a talk where Marianne tells him, "You've got to maintain control- keep yourself from falling to pieces!" This conversation nearly ends with Tony crying and comforted in Marianne's arms, but just before that happens he's pulled away by a call for Iron Man, which he accepts while saying, "If ever in my life I wanted to stay with you- to have you warm and near me- this is it!"

In issue #49 Marianne has a vision that she is also in of Tony dying as Iron Man and scared that by being with him she's endangering him by making it possible for it to come true. Tony is worried, but also thinks to himself, "How can a warm and loving, but powerless girl harm an iron man?" This issue ends with Marianne helping Tony to an electrical outlet as he was running out of power in the Iron Man suit, but then running away from him when she gets overwhelmed by another vision, convinced that her presence will kill him, leaving him to die alone of a heart attack. Tony manages to just barely crawl to the electrical outlet at the beginning of issue #50, but being abandoned by Marianne in that critical moment has shaken him. The narration compares her footsteps as she ran away to nails into Tony's heart. He says that, "I trusted Marianne- she held my life like a tender eggshell- then almost crushed it!" This experience prompts an internal monologue about Tony's thoughts on death and his control over his life, which ends in him deciding, "Marianne… There's no room for you in my fragile life- this is the fate- and the wish- of an Iron Man!"

In issue #51 Tony returns to his private quarters at Stark Industries and is angered to find Marianne there, as she was having a breakdown because of her powers and went to a place that she felt safe. He tells her, "You deserted me when I needed you most- I can't forget that! I realized I'm going to have to make it on my own strength- and no one else's!" Her response is that, "I have needs and feelings too! But you can't understand that! You don't want to understand! You're no more than a robot now, mister- a cold-steel machine!" He just tells her that their engagement is off and that she should leave her ring with his secretary. Though afterward he thinks to himself, "Proud of yourself, Tony, driving out the only girl to whom you dared drop the metal shield around your heart?" Marianne doesn't leave the Stark Industries property immediately as she realizes that the circumstances of her vision are about to occur, but Tony dismisses her pleas for him to flee from the battle, and then ultimately the fault in his armor that caused him to die in her vision doesn't happen. After this, Tony tells her, "I don't want to see you again- for your own sake!"

break because of the text block character limit

In issue #52 Tony says that, "My engagement to Marianne Rodgers tied me down- now I'm free! Free to move- like Stark Industries has to move… There's only one alternative- and that's to die!" A montage splash page depicts him as golfing, snorkeling, and dancing under the moon light with different woman while on a vacation in California. This stands in contrast to how when Marianne was first introduced in issue #36, that was in a unique moment where Tony had briefly quit being Iron Man because he felt that his superhero responsibilities had taken over his life and prevented him from enjoying himself, but that now, "I'm declaring a moratorium on death… on the living death of Tony Stark! Starting tonight, we're going to see the new, improved playboy industrialist! Tonight… Tony Stark comes alive!" Marianne is the girl who he calls up to hang out with that night, and in the course of that evening events occurred that made him go back to being Iron Man, but Marianne stayed in his life. It seems significant to me that in issue #36 Tony had been framing the conflict between being Iron Man or and Tony Stark as entirely a conflict between being a superhero or a millionare playboy, with no mention of the other part of Tony Stark's life, that of a genius inventor and business. He ultimately told himself that Iron Man is "who makes your sickening social life worth living," and that if he stopped being Iron Man, he'd lose "the only decent thing in you." In the time inbetween issue #36 and issue #52 Tony has changed to allow for playboying as Tony Stark alongside being Iron Man without these kinds of moral qualms, and I think it's relevant to that that in issue #50 Tony announced that, "We at S.I. have too long been synonymous with war research… weapons… We want to change that… diversity into pollution control… consumer goods. We're out to help men as always- but in new ways!" I'm thinking that Tony is now more comfortable with the Tony Stark part of his life, including the playboying part of that, because he now has more positive associations with it as he's prouder of the work he's doing at Stark Industries. Also, in issue #52 Tony notably turns down a drink offered by a woman, saying, "You may have heard I've been a bit reckless lately- but that's behind me!"

Issue #51 ends with Marianne comes to the realization that, while she still loves him, "Now Tony only trusts himself- leaving me… where?" In issue #52 Marianne gets a job that she throws herself into to try to get her mind off of Tony, which she succeeds at for a time as a very focused worker, but eventually her mind snaps and she's overwhelmed by visions of monsters that cause her to freak out and start destroying everything around her. She's last seen being led away by a nurse.

In issue #48 Tony says, "When you strip off that steel-mesh armor you become a frail man- a man who has everything, but a man to be pitied. Yes, pitied- because underneath that powerful physique pounds a transplanted heart, kept beating by the iron thinness of a chestplate powerpack! And you refuse to allow that pity to reveal your dependency- to admit you don't have… control!" This is when he was still engaged to Marianne, but he notably brushes her off when she tries to talk to him right after this. Tony talking about not wanting to be pitied reminded me of how back in issue #3, when Tony had gone into seclusion because he couldn't leave his Iron Man armor, but was also too weak to build the new chestplate that was capable of powering his ever more-damaged heart, even though he was still mentally capable of designing it, he said "It'd be so easy to call for help- to throw my problem open to the world. But what then? A life spent flat on my back- an object of pity? I'll take my chances this way rather than go from being Iron Man to that!" His assumption was that if people learned about his health issues, they'd stop him from living his life on his own terms and he'd become a pitiable bedridden 'object' dependent on other people, and so he decided that he'd rather risk dying while on his own than involve anyone else. This is slightly different than how he spoke in issue #48 as there he was thinking about himself as pitiable and needing to hide it, and not as being scared of becoming pitiable. In issue #50, after he has just barely managed to crawl to an electrical outlet to plug himself in while having a heart attack, which was after Marianne abandoned him, Tony thinks, "It's a matter of pride- I'm gonna carry this bum heart unhindered- or unaided- by anyone else!" At this point he sees involving other people in his health issues as firstly something that would hold him back, and then secondly as something that could possibly benefit him.

Issue #49 opens with that Tony's employees are calling him a "man of iron." The context of this is that he has taken back control of Stark Industries and intends to pivot it in a new direction after the company had been going downhill under the previous management. This is a positive comparison to his famous bodyguard that is secretly also himself by the employees that trust and support him, but not quite. I think that the connotations of being an Iron Man versus a man of iron are pretty different. The former, which refers to the superhero identity, emphasizes more than he is an invincible substitute for a man, whereas the latter, which refers to the respectable businessman identity, frames him as the pinnacle of a man as determined by him being invincible.

In issue #50, after the latest in a long line of heart attacks that nearly killed him, Tony has an internal monologue about death. He wonders, "Why is it I battle mortality so much? What slavish force swells within me, driving me to cling to existence- no matter what the cost? At times I've seen it as fear- unwilling to trade known life for the greatest of uncertainties… But at others, like now, I feel a stream of destiny, demanding I seize control of my unique talents… and utilize them fully… as ought a man of iron! For in control there is strength!" It seems that at this point in his life, because he is so scared of the weakness caused by his heart condition, it's particularly important for Tony to feel strong and to feel in control of his life.

yet another break

At the beginning of issue #51 Tony was overseeing as Iron Man a Stark Industries rocket experiment, which unfortunately fails, that was part of the company's pivot away from weapons manufacturing. Afterwards he says that he wants everyone to get back to work immediately, but the employees as initially resistant to doing what Iron Man told them to because "Tony Stark gives us our orders- not his bodyguard!" Tony tells them, as Iron Man, "Listen to me- I've got Tony's complete backing! Either this project succeeds- or we're all up the creek!" This is surprising to one of the employees, who says, "Iron Man's pushing as hard as Stark himself! You'd think he had a personal stake in it!" The other employees response is that "we all do" and that, if the company's pivot doesn't work out, "We'll have no place to turn! No wonder Shellhead's upset!" It's interesting to me that this is how Tony's employees interpret the overlap between him and Iron Man, who they believe is like them, another employee of Tony's, that it's only reflective of how they should all feel as employees of Stark Industries. Later in that issue, another employee calls Tony to alert him of a crisis, and when Tony tells him to calm down and just explain what happened, the employee says to Tony, "Sorry, sir- I can't be as cool and unemotional as you!" The truth is that Tony had been relieved when he was called about an emergency because it happened just as he broke up with Marianne, thinking, "I almost need a crisis to divert my attentions!" But he ultimately framed that comment about him being unemotional as, "Little do my employees know! If only they could feel my adrenalin pumping- shoving me head-long into battle! I may be locked inside this iron 'machine'- but it's a machine gifted- with awesome power! The power of Iron Man!" It was strange that Iron Man would get upset at the beginning of the issue not because it's not excepted of Iron Man to get upset, but because it was strange he would react like he has as personal of a stake in the company as Tony Stark does, whereas the expectation of Tony is instead that he's cold and unemotional like a robot. Here being Iron Man is an escape from Tony's personal issues and his feelings about them, but it's also the identity in which he can more openly express in his feelings.

Fawcett Comics:

the Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics (1940) #63-65 and in Captain Marvel Adventures (1941) #44-46

In this batch of Captain Marvel stories I went from February 1946 to April 1946. There was one Captain Marvel story per issue of Whiz Comics, and originally it was that there were four per issue of Captain Marvel Adventures, but that changed with Captain Marvel Adventures #45 to be three stories, for a total of thirteen Captain Marvel stories read in this batch. These stories ranged from seven to eleven pages.

The story “The Monster Society of Evil Chapter 23: Mr. Mind’s School for Evil” (written by Otto Binder; drawn by C.C. Beck) in Captain Marvel Adventures #44 had a cute initial premise that Mr. Mind, still recovering from the amnesia he had in the previous chapter, has to attend his own school for evil in order to relearn how to come up with evil plots. He takes it very seriously, starting in the kindergarten and working his way up through all the grades, and is set to graduate as the star pupil as long as he can go out and pull off an evil deed in the real world as a final assignment.

The story “Captain Marvel Gets Mothered” (written by Otto Binder; possibly drawn by C.C. Beck) in Captain Marvel Adventures #45 begins with Sterling Morris telling Billy that he only has eighty-eight seconds for his radio broadcast, meaning that Billy has to rush through it all, saying, "HellofolksthisisBillyBatsonyourboybroadcastergivingyouthenewsoftheday! Flash- robbery! Flash- murder! Flash- Flash- Flash- Flash!" This is then revealed to Billy to be because they needed the time for a woman to do a commercial as part of Station Whiz's new soap sponsorship. Afterwards, the woman is overzealous when thanking Billy for giving her some of his time and out of politeness he invites her to dinner at his apartment as she's from out of town and doesn't know the restaurants. This results in the woman declaring that Billy is lacking a mother's care and that she's going to stay with him instead of getting a hotel room and that they'll all then be one big happy family, to Billy's begrudgement as he describes it as, "All I did was be kind and invite her for dinner- and now my life isn't my own!" And the deference to the woman's authority carries over to Captain Marvel, who allows her to tell him what to do when he fights criminals that night. Eventually, just as Billy is thinking to himself, "Oh golly! Another day and night with Mrs. Simpson mothering me to death!" he learns that the woman's job for the soap company is taking her to another city. She tells him, "Poor Billy! How you're going to miss my motherly presence! But get along the best you can without me!" Meanwhile Billy is thinking, "She's a bit- er- forceful! But she meant well all the time!" and is pleased to be able to give his radio show at a normal speed.

The story “Captain Marvel has a Dull Day” (written by Otto Binder; artist unknown) in Captain Marvel Adventures #46 was based around that Captain Marvel was finding the monotony of always saving people from falling safes and stopping buildings from collapsing and such boring, and the ending of it was him getting to do something he’d never done before and so found really exciting- going fishing. It also revealed that Billy is “faithfully keeping a scrap-book of the feats and deeds of Captain Marvel.”

The story “The Monster Society of Evil Chapter 25: The End of Mr. Mind” (written by Otto Binder; penciled by C.C. Beck; inked by the Beck-Constanza studio) in Captain Marvel Adventures #46 is the final story of the serial that’s been going on since Captain Marvel Adventures #22. It’s a strangely sad tale with Mr. Mind attempting to go on with his evil plans and kill Billy Batson all on his own after the dismantlement of his Monster Society of Evil, but being unable to actually kill Billy because he’s just a little worm, and because of that attempt ultimately getting captured, put on trial, and being found guilty and given the death penalty by electric chair. This story actually coming across as a sad end to a great character makes me glad that the comics published by DC Comics in the 70s reviving the Marvel Family characters revealed that Mr. Mind had actually survived and only tricked everyone into thinking they’d killed him.

[avengersrewatch]

E9: Living Legend

Let's do a rewatch of EMH before Quantumania, she said, wildly overestimating her own abilities.

For those catching up, the Avengers are currently: Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man and Wasp. Hulk just left.

So the team needs new blood and they find it... well old blood, I guess while looking for the Hulk. (Janet is very cute when she is excited to be "driving" a jet. She's the audience surrogate in a lot of ways. She's so happy she is an Avenger!!)

Anyway, they find Captain America, and of course, because this show is obsessed with making the Avengers fight each other: he immediately assumes they are HYDRA operatives lying to him about it really being "the future".

I like it when Thor refers to Iron Man as "the robot" because I am still not sure if Thor knows there is a man in there or not.

This is also the first time we see Black Panther in battle. Though he has not yet decided to join the Avengers yet, he appears to help Captain America defeat Baron Zemo after he fully infiltrates Tony's mansion without any problems.

Wasp is the one who is able to convince Steve that he's in the future by showing him the Statue of Liberty (which he somehow did not notice?) and a statue dedicated to Captain America and Bucky

We take a brief trip back to the villain story (remember a whole bunch of them escaped from prison?). Well one newly freed is Baron Zemo in his full purple, fuzzy costume. It's so dumb, I love it so much. There's apparently some bad blood between Strucker and Zemo--Grim Reaper is also there, maybe we will get that villain for the WONDER MAN show?--but they are both Nazis so I don't really have a dog in that fight. Luckily, Zemo hears Captain America is alive and immediately peaces out to fight Steve. He's alive? I MUST TRY TO PUNCH HIM IMMEDIATELY.

We get a flashback to Cap and Zemo fighting during WWII. And Zemo's costume is purpler and fuzzier so you realize the dumb one from before is actually an upgrade. God, I love how stupid it is. I can't even focus. Anyway, Captain America doused Zemo in a virus and now that stupid purple suit is like stuck to him? Yet he still keeps putting (as Okoye would say) "fuzzy adornments" on it so I think he likes it. I don't know what he's mad about.

More bad guy meetings. Zemo talks to Zola (who was in the MCU) and Doughboy (who is sadly, not). Zemo is kind of dying or whatever, and Zola wishes they had a DNA sample from Captain America to create an army of super soldiers cure Zemo. Zemo says he will bring Zola Captain America's head.

He will not.

Luckily for the Avengers, T'Challa is chilling in the Avengers' own house, reading files about them when the Avengers return. They are back for maybe two seconds, in which Thor and Cap bond over how weird JARVIS is ("the building has a voice") before Doughboy attacks. The Avengers fall for this obvious distraction while another Doughboy attacks Jan and Cap at the mansion. (Jan kills Doughboy by getting eaten and exploding him from the inside.)

Meanwhile, T'Challa is just watching all this. T'Challa's, "I guess I will help them beat a Nazi; he's definitely racist." So he gives Captain America back his shield. I like the symbolism of T'Challa being the one to return Cap's shield to him. It's made of vibranium and before this moment, it's kind of stolen resources. (I don't think who made the shield is addressed in this series. In the MCU it was Howard Stark who made it with the only vibranium he had available to him.)

He's like, "here you can have your little frisbee back. I have, like, a shit-ton more." Then he leaves because he knows Cap can handle Zemo.

Captain America and Wasp go help the others, in which Hank figures out something sciencey about Doughboy and he and Tony do a sciene-y thing.

After the battle, Steve and Tony talk and Steve officially joins the Avengers. He when he can meat the Avenger who wears "a black catsuit." I like to imagine Cap was kind of disappointed to learn it was only these four. (No shade to these four, one needs only to look at box office performance in the MCU to realize Black Panther is the coolest one.) I know it. Cap definitely knows it here. Cap's MCU variant knows it when Panther is the first to come out of the portals too. That's just the power of T'Challa.

Only one more episode until Panther joins up!

Meanwhile, Zemo meets up the the Enchantress and they set up bad guy stuff.

Rating: Eh, if you're interested.