#He wants to approach Widow about wanting attention and affection but he's being an awkward bean.

[angel-dust-addict]

@mother-of-spiders

Powder curled into Widow's side, a little apprehensive. He was learning that Widow would allow more from him than from most people, but it was still a new thing. He reached up to cup one of Widow's cheeks, stroking his thumb along the other spider's cheek. It wasn't so much a show of tenderness as it was one of testing the waters. This new and fragile relationship was something he wasn't yet totally sure of.

When Widow didn't react poorly to that, Powder shifted to settle himself across Widow's lap, one knee on either side of the other spider's hips. That hand stayed where it had been, though. His lower two settled on Widow's waist, and the last one came to rest on his shoulder. In a sweet, inviting tone, he told Widow, "Ya know, you've seemed tense tha past couple'a days. Maybe ya should let me do somethin' about dat. I could help ya relax."

[bvccy]

Hey lovely Polly! Can you please explain to us why you love Soldat so much? I don't like any stuff about him, cause it's so wired, almost all stories are stupid!

Hello dear anon! 😘

Now, how can you see this

and not fall in love?

Those legs. That waist. The strut. The big broad chest that is just asking for a head to lay down on it. The soft hair and those cold eyes. He's just waiting to be fallen in love with.

That said, it took me a long time to get into all the affection I now have for him. By "long time" I mean about 5 years. I don't like that they basically fetishized torture, brainwashing, and the Siberian gulags for this character. I think americans in general don't treat communist atrocities at all seriously. So I definitely have to shut off a part of my brain to be able to enjoy the character, and I think I'm one foot out of the fandom at all times.

With that aside though, the character in its bare bones is very enjoyable.

He's a stoic and precise killer, which is appealing if you have a competency kink (and I think we all do), but he also has his own personality, in my opinion - I take this mostly from his little exchange with Steve, the "Who the hell is Bucky?". Just the fact that he cursed a bit was pretty interesting and funny to me, it doesn't sound like a robotic character the way he is often portrayed!

Bringing Bucky into the picture makes it more fun, because WS is like an extension or extreme version of Bucky, and extremes are intriguing. All the murderous seriousness and lack of humour that we see in the WW2 Sargent are present in WS, in the absence of his niceness and playfulness. But, because WS is Bucky, the playfulness is there, so as a fic writer you can bring that out selectively if you like. This is partly why he is interesting to me, just all this potential there.

And I think serious men are generally more appealing to women, but this is wholly speculation because I never really talk to other girls about what they like. But guys who are playful or joke around, Idk they seem immature and I feel like, "what could I possibly do with you?". It's why I prefer WS to Bucky. He's not a little fuckboi, he's all man.

But because, when he is "cut off" from his past and identity, he can be a lost little puppy, that opens up the opportunity to care for him. And sometimes you just want someone to take care of and pay attention to, and support, and WS makes these scenarios more probable than Bucky does - even when you're dealing with post-WS/recovered!Bucky and WS is, seemingly, absent. Even there, he is present through his absence.

Now, I get what you're saying when you mention that almost all stories about him are stupid. You're not the only one who thinks this way. @offcast-plus1 is writing WS fics that really give him a personality, a distinct identity, and she does a great job with this, but she also approaches it carefully in order to make it realistic and compelling. I think most writers just go off of what we have from Marvel, and Marvel themselves don't seem to have taken the character all that seriously in the end - it's like they tried to, but they cut so much content, so many scenes, that no wonder writers have practically nothing to go on. I don't blame fic writers nor the character; it's not only easy but also kind of canon-compliant to write WS as a monosyllabic robot with no thoughts or feelings. This is what we were left with.

Also, there's the awkward situation that he was mostly in Hydra's hands, story-wise, so how do you set up a fic in this context? Inevitably, a lot of them will involve reader being a victim of Hydra. The alternatives are, what? Being another WS recruit, maybe a soldier or something along the lines of Black Widow, or an actual Hydra agent which most writers shy away from. Or a victim of the WS, but that brings in issues of: how does WS resist the orders to kill you or whatever it is? It's OOC that he would. It's really hard to make it work, and when you have Bucky as an alternative no wonder there's few WS-centric fics.

So yeah, as a reader it's hard to be into WS, and if you're into him it's hard to find stuff that does him justice. But as a writer, there's a lot there to write about if you have the time.

Thank you so much for this ask! I love discussing WS 😭I wish I could write more stories about him to show all this love I have for him.

[dewitty1]

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Andromeda Black Tonks, Teddy Lupin, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger Additional Tags: Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Widower Harry, Mpreg (before story begins), Death of a premature infant (before story beings), friendship first, Angst, Happily Ever After Summary:

Five years after Draco lost his infant son to complications following his premature birth, he sees a happy, healthy dark-haired child the same age his own little boy would have been playing on the swings in a Muggle play park. One year after the sudden loss of his wife, Harry sees Draco quietly watching children play in a Muggle play park. If they can put the past behind them, can they be each other’s second chance at happiness?

Excerpt:

“So, there was something I wanted to ask you about. Something I need your opinion on,” Harry said. Draco swore he felt Harry’s breath on his skin as he spoke.

“Oh, yes?”

“Yes, well, you remember what we talked about the other day? About finding the right person?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you see, I think I may’ve. It came on me out of nowhere very unexpectedly. But I’m rusty. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to approach someone I had feelings for. And, well, this someone is a man. That’s something I believe you have some experience with, yes?”

“Some, yes.”

“How’s this?” Harry asked as his hands slid down Draco’s spine to the small of his back, his knuckles pressing firmly into Draco’s muscles.

“S’brilliant,” Draco slurred.

Harry laughed. He must’ve moved even closer, because that time there could be no mistake that Draco had felt the warmth of his breath on the back of his neck.

“I have to be careful, though.” Harry said. “There are the children to consider. I have to think about how my being in a relationship with someone will affect them.”

“Does this man get on with the children?” Draco asked, already knowing the answer but appreciating why Harry had broached the subject.

“Wonderfully. But it’s early days, and that’s with us as friends. Entering into a relationship changes everything. What if he and they develop a bond, and then our relationship doesn’t work out? I will not have people coming in and out of their lives.”

“Understandable. If a man is going to enter into a relationship with a single parent, he should do so realising there are the feelings and needs of more than just two people involved.”

“I’m glad you agree.”

“For example,” Draco offered. He licked his lips. “He would have to appreciate that no matter how much he might like to stay the night, when the children were present it would be better to leave before things could get carried away.”

Harry’s hands paused. “Very true,” he said. When his hands moved again, his fingers crawled like spiders up Draco’s back to his shoulders; his nails raked back down to his waist. “And I’ve plenty of in-laws and friends with children to arrange for sleepovers with, so we could have the house to ourselves for the night easily enough with a little planning.”

Draco groaned.

“But there’s also the unavoidable attention being with me would land him with,” Harry said. “We could keep it quiet for as long as possible, but eventually it will come out. Rita Skeeter and all her kind will go wild. There will be whispers behind his back wherever he goes, and I’m afraid probably a good deal of hate mail. I would want him to go into it with his eyes open.”

“I know what that’s like.”

“Yes, I’m sure you do.”

“Hate mail makes good kindling for starting fires the Muggle way,” Draco observed.

Harry laughed. “Yes, but sometimes it contains more than vitriolic words.”

“Vitriolic? Ten points to Gryffindor for vocabulary.”

Harry pinched him on the side.

“Oh, and you’re violent, too. Mustn’t forget to make him aware of that.”

“I’m sure he knows. So, what do you think? How should I go about making him aware of how I feel? Assuming he’s aware of the difficulties he’ll face and is willing to face them. How would you like a man to profess his feelings for you?”

“What was it you said to me the other night? Nothing worth doing is easy? Do something unmistakable. Something that would leave no room for doubt. Something to be remembered.”

“Hm. I could set off fireworks over Diagon Alley, spelling it out in the sky.”

“Something private.”

“Unmistakable. Memorable. Private. How about this, then?” Harry closed what little distance there was between them and slid his hands around Draco, pressing them flat against his abdomen and chest. His mouth pressed against the back of Draco’s neck, lips and tongue moving over his skin.

Draco’s head spun. His knees buckled, and Harry’s arms tightened protectively around him. Where it not for that, he’d have collapsed to the ground, he was sure of it. If this was what just being kissed by Harry did to him, what would sex between them be?

“How’s that?” Harry whispered against the back of his ear.

In answer, Draco twisted, stretching to capture Harry’s mouth with his own. The kiss was sloppy and loud, and it was an awkward, uncomfortable position to kiss someone in, especially given the difference in their heights. 

Regardless, it was the best kiss of Draco’s life.

Harry’s hands covered every inch of Draco’s stomach and chest. They moved to the fastenings on his robes, opening them blindly one by one. Under his robes, they pulled at the thin cotton shirt Draco wore, pulling it free from his trousers and sliding it up his chest and finding the skin beneath. Harry’s touch was more than just skin on skin; it went bone deep.

“Want you,” Harry whispered into their kiss.