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britesparc · 3 years

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Weekend Top Ten #469

Top Ten Crazy WandaVision Theories

So all the while I was watching The Mandalorian I kept thinking, blimey, they’ve nailed this. There’s an oft-repeated problem with modern serial dramas, which is that they tend to tread water a little bit; despite being shorn of the network requirement of episodes being a certain length, or having a certain number of episodes in a season, there’s this in-built compulsion to make about a dozen 45-minute episodes. This is what scuppered the Marvel Netflix series in particular; there simply wasn’t enough story to cover the seasons, and as a result there was a lot of treading of water. This has also affected the recent Star Trek shows, although Discovery does show signs of pulling out of this “twelve-hour movie” mindset. Mando totally transcends this in a superlative way: each episode is basically an “adventure of the week” type thing (Mando versus spiders, Mando goes to the fish planet, Mando meets a Jedi, etc). But each episode also builds on the arc; he’s always on the same quest, and everything he does week by week furthers this quest. As much as I was looking forward to WandaVision, I kept reminding myself, there’s no way they can do this; no way these two shows – my most-anticipated shows from two of my most-beloved franchises – can hit the bar so successfully, back-to-back.

Well.

I’m not sure if WandaVision is quite the overall triumph The Mandalorian is, but they’re both pretty tremendous achievements in slightly different ways. Wanda manages to tell a rather unsettling story in the MCU whilst also doing a terrific job of parodying sitcom tropes; it works on a meta level as well as a practical one. Also, as far as puzzle-box type programmes go, this one has been doing an excellent job; week by week, you’re further intrigued by what’s going on in Westview; what’s real? Who’s behind it? is Vision still dead? Will Darcy get her own show? It’s a fantastic exercise in drip-feeding information, maintaining a degree of unease and suspense, and offering a compelling mystery. Will they keep it up until the end? I’ve no idea; the reveal at the end of episode seven wasn’t quite a jaw-on-the-floor moment but it was exquisitely done, with a theme song and everything. Even if the most obvious predictions end up being true and the finale becomes a relatively straightforward goodies-versus-baddies barney, I’ve got faith in everyone involved to at least give us something utterly compelling and thoroughly entertaining.

But what if there really is at least one huge surprise left up the show’s vibranium sleeve? Certainly, the reveal of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff – being, visually if not in character at least, the Fox/X-Men universe version of Wanda’s brother, rather than the Adam Taylor-Johnson version we knew from Age of Ultron – was a hell of a moment, seemingly bridging the gap between the MCU as we knew it and the previously Fox-controlled properties. Since then, there’s been this bubbling rumour (which I’ve tried not to read too much into by literally not reading too much; this is something I’ve divined from headlines or stray tweets, because I want to keep forging my way through WandaVision without a map) that there is another epic cameo approaching, on the level of Luke Skywalker popping up in the finale of The Mandalorian. That moment was something of a surprise, even though I had it rather spoiled by Twitter; despite muting as many words as possible to do with the show, “Luke Skywalker” still popped up in trending topics. I’ve learned my lesson, and I essentially forgo any social media (and a lot of other sites too) until I’ve seen the most recent episode. Anyway, what if this is true; what if there’s another character or moment that will rock the Marvel world to an even greater extent than The Other Pietro? If we’d be as surprised and delighted by something as much as we were by Luke making short work of those Dark Troopers? With this in mind, and being aware of the encroaching WandaVision finale, here are some predictions. What could happen? Who could we see? Which long-dormant plot thread will get resurrected? Read on to find out! And – spoiler warning – this has been revisited following the most recent episode; we are officially in the endgame now.

And I’m sure all of these are realistic and serious suggestions.

I Am Your Father: We have actually met Wanda’s parents at last; ordinary decent Sarkovian folk, it seems. But from where did her nascent witchy powers appear? What if, in a shocking last-minute twist, we discover her real father, and he’s played by… Ian McKellen! It was Eric all along!

SWORD versus Skrulls: a post-credit sting will reveal that – shock! – Tyler Hayward is, in fact, a SKRULL! Yes, finally, the shape-shifting buggers will get to be the baddies from the comics, as an up-to-no-good splinter faction of the beleaguered race makes its presence felt on the MCU, having successfully infiltrated world governments over the past thirty years. This will set up Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion series.

The Ultron of it All: there have been more mentions of Ultron in WandaVision than in any MCU property since, well, Age of Ultron. And now we have a custom-built all-white model of Vision, big as life and twice as creepy. What if – what if – shorn of his own psyche (his own soul?) and without an Infinity Stone to keep him upright, there remains in the hardware some remnant of everyone’s favourite sarky, genocidal mechanoid? Ultron returns! Screw you, planet Earth!

The Sorcerer Supreme is Not Happy: we know magic exists in the MCU because of Doctor Strange, so seeing Agatha and her family get their Hocus Pocus on in old Salem wasn’t too much of a surprise. But isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme supposed to keep an eye on magic use in the multiverse? I was half expecting Tilda Swinton to pop up in the flashback and bind Agatha with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. But now, with all the chaos magic Wanda is using in Westview, coupled with Agatha’s own spelling bee? Surely this has drawn the attention of somebody? Anybody? I mean, New York isn’t that far from Jersey, especially if you’ve got a sling ring, y’know?

No More Avengers: so Benedict Cumberbatch popping up wouldn’t be that much of a surprise (especially as Wanda is in the next Doctor Strange movie) but even if he’s not on Magic Police duty, wouldn’t an enhanced situation of this size draw the attention of one of the Avengers? Except – shock horror! – there are no Avengers! In a revelation that will set up the status quo of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, since the events of Endgame the Avengers literally don’t exist. So who will unite to save the world, not just from Wanda or Agatha, but also from the likes of SWORD? Well, right now, no one; but maybe that’ll change when the real villains appear…

No More Mutants: in the “House of M” storyline, Wanda very famously said “no more mutants” and it was so (more or less). Mutants don’t (seem to) exist in the MCU. But what if, at one point, they did? I don’t think this could have been Wanda’s doing, but what if in the past someone else had used magic to de-power/de-mutify the existing mutant population of Earth, and – basically – made everyone forget about it? And in the climax of WandaVision, well, “no more” is undone and – boom! – X-genes abound. This could even maybe set up some events in The Eternals, who I believe have some history with mutants in the comics (I’m really not very well-versed in Eternals lore)

Soul Stealer: so Wanda’s the Scarlet Witch, and a chaos magician, and super-enhanced courtesy of an Infinity Stone, but still: how did she create not one but three super-powered lifeforms? Where did they come from? Did she steal their souls? Is she leeching her own life-force to maintain them? I think we’ll discover a bit more about her powers and reveal that she’s drawing energy mutliversally, maybe from the Dark Dimension – maybe from Mephisto? I’d actually put money on Mephisto not showing up at all, despite his comic book connections to Agatha and Wanda.

Multiversal Madness: why that Pietro? He’s just a fake, just an automaton – right? But he’s still out and about spooking Monica whilst Agatha’s dealing with Wanda… yeah? And he looks like another Pietro from another universe (even if he doesn’t act like that). So… why? And who? I really, really think there’s some kind of multiversal craziness going on here, some force beyond Wanda (and Agatha!). Maybe it’s to do with Wanda pulling power from across the multiverse, maybe it’s… something else. Maybe we’ll get cameos from Lou Ferringo, Bruce Campbell, Spider-Ham and ROM the Space Knight. Hey, don’t forget: Transformers was a Marvel comic once! And they do have a Chaos-Bringer…

Wanda Did It: one of the prevailing theories/queries about WandaVision has been who’s behind it all. Wanda’s not powerful enough (or villainous enough), so who exactly did create TV Westview? Who brought Vision back, gave Wanda her sons? Well, the latest ep sure seemed to show that it really was Wanda All Along. The explanation being that she’s “the Scarlet Witch”, a presumably hella-powerful sorcerer and also (let’s not forget) imbued with Infinity Stoniness. But is she on her own really that strong, and would she – even in her despair – alter so many minds? What if there’s another Wanda, a Wanda prepared to go all-out, a Wanda who – after losing everything on her Earth is trying to recreate it by pooling her powers will another Wanda? An alternate universe, more damaged, more villainous Wanda – a Wanda who’s already said “no more mutants”, maybe; maybe even the Wanda from the Fox X-Men films (who AFAIK we’ve only seen as a little girl in her brother’s arms). That’s why Pietro looks like that, because she’s trying to rebuild her own life using the powers of this other Wanda. Two Wandas; two Witches. Dukin’ it out. And who can come to save the day, but the X-Men?

We’re All Doomed: giving credit to my brother for pointing me in this direction when he said “if there’s a big bad in WandaVision it either has to be someone very good at magic or very good at science”. Or… both? Think about it. Which character, if they cameoed in an MCU property, could possibly generate as much excitement as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian? No actor from the MCU; not even Downey. From another Marvel property? We’ve had a Fox actor already and with the rumours about Spider-Man: No Way Home, whether we saw Hugh Jackman or Tobey Maguire, I think that would be exciting but not as exciting. So I think it’s a character, not an actor. A character big and exciting enough to make us all squee. And which character from Marvel has never been seen in the MCU, is not necessarily expected any time soon, is very good at magic and very good at science? One. I’d say only one. Bring it on.

This actually became a lot more sensible than I’d intended! I was gonna go all-out, rolling in Muppet Babies, MODOK, HERBIE, the Phoenix Force, and basically the entire Patton Oswalt speech from Parks and Recreation. And whilst I think virtually none of these will (or should?!) happen, just imagine… man, I can’t believe we have to wait a week!

#top ten #wanda #vision #mcu #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #movies #tv #comics #magic

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northoftheroad · 4 years

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Hi! I'm really sorry to bother you! But I was wondering if you could give us a list of recommended stories with dick after his Robin days. Like after bruce fired him and he became nightwing? All up to the time he had to become batman? I really love your content by the way ☺️!!!

Gosh, this turned out to be even more tricky than the Robin list, and it's frightfully long!

One reason is that storytelling has changed since Dick was Robin. Back in the Golden and Silver age, with very few exceptions, comics were stand-alone short stories. In later decades, it's usually arcs that span at least a couple of issues. Some themes can run for a very long time. For instance, Dick was brainwashed by Brother Blood in New Teen Titans vol 1 # 22 (in 1982), and that would have consequences until The New Teen Titans vol 2 #31 (1987).

There are also a looot of stories – apart from guest appearances, Nightwing is a regular/lead character in several books named New Teen Titans/Titans and suchlike, 1980-1996 and 1999-2009; Outsiders vol 3 (2003-2007); Nightwing vol 1 (1995) and vol 2 (1996–2007). In team titles, several characters compete for attention. Also, I have read and know the Nightwing books more than his team titles, so they will be more prominent on my list.

There are a bunch of stories where Dick has a pretty small role and won't be in a lot of panels, but those panels can be "important" and often quoted when it comes to Dick. For instance, Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive, Hush, Under the Hood...

So, you'll have to take this for what it is. A very personal list, with stories I like (and remember), or have some fun panels, or are "important". Because certain stories are essential to the character's history, regardless if you like them or not. (And if you want more of Dick with Kory/Starfire, read the New Teen Titans titles.) If you'd like to see a synopsis before you commit to reading – because did I mention it is a very long list indeed? – the dc.fandom.com wiki page will often provide.

(Or you could do the sensible thing, and see this as more of "the complete history of pre-Batman Nightwing, and ask somebody else for recommendations...)

The Judas contract (when Dick becomes Nightwing). The New Teen Titans # 39-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44, Annual #3. (1984)

Trivial Pursuits. NewTeen Titans vol 2 # 32. (A nice breather, when the Titans try just to relax together. It goes as well as can be expected.) (1987)

Batman # 416. (First post-Crisis meeting with Jason Todd) (1988)

The Cheshire Contract. Action Comics Weekly # 613-618 (Dick helps Roy find his daughter.) (1988)

The New Titans # 55. (Dick learns about Jason's death when the Titans return to Earth after a long period in space. He goes to Bruce to talk and what follows is the infamous scene when Bruce hits Dick, says he should never have had a partner and tells Dick to leave and leave the keys with Alfred.) (1989)

Batman year Three. Batman # 436–439. (Flashbacks with a retelling of Dick's origin, during Bruce's third year as Batman. In the "now", Dick tries to reach out to Bruce and Dick's parents' murderer is about to be set free.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61. (1990)

The New Titans # 65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Total Chaos. (In issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, New Titans and Team Titans.) (Mirage, a woman from an alternate future and who has illusion casting powers, takes the form of Starfire and sleeps with Dick, who is shamed by his team members for being unfaithful to Kory, even though this is rape. So, an important fact to know but not something I would recommend to read.) (1992)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514 and three other titles. (1994-1995)

Nightwing Alfred's Return (Kind of fun, when Dick seeks out Alfred, who left Bruce's service because Bruce wasn't taking care of himself, in London.) (1995)

Nightwing vol 1 # 1-4. (I don't love this, but it is a milestone in that it's the first Nightwing solo series, Dick momentarily decides to leave the hero business, and gets his by now classic fingerstripe suit.) #1-4 (1995)

Like Riding a Bike. (Donna checks up on Dick.) The Batman Chronicles # 7. (1996)

(Nightwing vol 2 began in 1996.)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 12-16. (Batman pays a visit and Dick makes his custom made car.) (1997)

The Flash plus Nightwing. (Dick and Wally on vacation.) (1997)

Then & Now. Teen Titans vol 2 #12-15. (The original four Titan boys find themselves fighting their past selves.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Detective Comics # 725 (A heart-to-heart between Bruce and Dick.) (1998)

The Technis Imperative. JLA/Titans #1-3. (1998-1999)

The Titans (1999) # 2. (The start of a new Titans team, Dick tells Superman to give them some room.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 32–34. (Dick at the Police Academy.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 35–39. (On a mission from Batman: To take control of Blackgate Prison. Afterwards, he recuperates at Barbara's when her place is attacked.) (1999-2000)

The Titans (1999) #15–16. (The original five Titans try to work out some difficulties.) 2000.

Transference. Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11. (2000)

Nightwing vol 2 # 45-46. (The Hunt for Oracle.) (2000)

Action Comics # 771. (Nightwing and Superman hang out and work together – what's not to like!) 2000

Gods of Gotham. Wonder Woman # 164-167. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 54-58. (Blockbuster, Nightwing's main adversary in Blüdhaven, hires an old enemy of Dick's to deal with the vigilante: Shrike. A character from Robin Year One.) (2001)

Matatoa. Batman: Gotham Knights # 16-17. (Bruce adopts Dick.) (2001)

Who Is Troia? The Titans (1999) # 23-25. (A visit from the Titan's children from the Kingdom Come universe.). (2001)

Retribution. Batman: Gotham Knights # 20-21. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 64. (Nightwing as Santa's elf.) (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (in several titles). (Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes friction with for instance Tim. Also, a big fight between Dick and Bruce when the latter says he is going to abandon his Bruce identity.) (2002)

Nightwing vol 2 # 75. (Flashback's to Dick's early years with Bruce. Plus the first appearance of Tarantula (Catalina Flores; a controversial figure in Dick's history, she straddled the line between vigilante and villain.)) (2002)

Hush. Batman # 608–619. (# 615 for Dick, but it might be confusing only to read one issue.) (2002-2003)

The Obsidian Age. JLA vol 1 # 68-75. (The Justice League members disappear, Dick leads a new team for a few issues. In # 73, Bruce is quoted:" The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."). (2002-2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (Donna is killed. Dick is devastated and declares that the Titans are finished.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 80-83. (Deathstroke is in Blüdhaven to kill someone close to Dick. Bruce asks when he will quit the force, Dick wants to stay as a cop, but when he saves Amy Rohrbach, she recognizes that Dick is Nightwing and fires him.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 86. (Dick, forced to rest after being injured, solves crimes on America's Most Wanted and drives Barbara up the wall.) (2003)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 1 (Roy talks Dick, who dissolved the Titans after Donna's death, into leading a new team, promising they will not be a family.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 87-100. (Definitely one of the darkest periods points in Dick's life pre-Flashpoint. Tarantula breaks up him and Barbara. Blockbuster destroys his circus, his home and kills people just for talking to Dick. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and Nightwing is too exhausted to prevent it, and afterwards, she rapes him (# 93). Not necessarily an arc I would recommend to read, but fans discuss it a lot.) (2003-2004)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 11 (Roy is angsting about going back to the hero business after narrowly surviving being shot, sparring and heart-to-heart with Dick follows.) (2004)

Under the Hood. Batman # 635-641, 645-650, Annual # 25. (2004-2006)

Nightwing Year One. Nightwing vol 2 # 101-106. (I honestly don't care much for this story, but it's good to know that it's one of several retellings of how Dick became Nightwing.) (2005)

Supergirl (2005) # 3 (Supergirl has a huuuge crush on Nightwing... ) (2005)

Silent partner. The Outsiders vol 3 # 21-23. (Dick goes ballistic when he realizes Batman has been funding the Outsiders, Roy admits Batman has been feeding him information. Only it wasn't Batman – it was Deathstroke in disguise.) (2005)

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy # 1-4. (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 107–117. (Dick leaves Nightwing, starts working for the mob and trains Deathstroke's daughter. I think the author has some kind of resolution to the crisis Dick had gone through the last years in mind, but Infinite Crisis got in the way. Blüdhaven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.)

Infinite Crisis. (DC had planned to let Dick die, he is central to the story even if he's not very visible.) (2005-2006)

Targets. Nightwing vol 2 # 125-128. (Dick hunts for a day job in New York and gets buried alive, which leads to some retrospection on his behalf. There's also fights with a guy with a weaponized armour.) (2007)

The Brave and the Bold # 15. Nightwing and Hawkman. (Deadman, inside Hawkman, says that Dick Grayson is the one guy that every crimefighter trusts.) (2007)

Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Boomerang. (It ends with Batman telling Dick: "Go back to the good fight, Dick. Leave the bad fight to us.") (2007)

Wrath Child. (A story from when Dick was fairly new as Nightwing.) Batman Confidential # 13-16. (2008)

Freefall. Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146. (Dick starts freefalling as a new hobby; Bruce is not pleased. And he gets a new daytime job, as a museum curator. Oh, and there's Talia al Ghul, too.) (2008)

Robin # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

The Great Leap. Nightwing vol 2 # 147–151. (Two-Face wants Nightwing to save a life.) (2008-2009)

Titans (2008) # 10. (Dick leaves the Titans because he needs to go back to Gotham and "take care of my other family." (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 152-153. (That time when Ra's al Ghul called Dick detective. And Dick packed up and left New York to move back to Gotham.) (2009)

Batman # 682. (Just for the line about how Dick made colour come into their monochrome lives ;-) ) (2009)

Detective Comics # 85, Batman # 684 (Dick mourning Bruce) (2009)

The Secret Six # 9. (Some of the members of the Secret Six feel they should be the new Batman.) (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (2009)

#ash-devito #Dick Grayson #Nightwing #Robin #Batman #Richard Grayson

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ohwereusingourmadeupnames · 4 years

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16 for starker plz

I’d Choose To Fall

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark (Starker) Rating: Mature (M) Word Count: 4.1k Notes: @goindownshipping, you’re always dropping prompts in the box that foster immediate ideas - I got this one up and started typing and all of the sudden several thousand words were in front of me. As always, thanks for the inspo and support. You’re the best <4. Warnings: Brief description of injury, handy j’s, NSFW stuff. Summary:

It’s not love at first sight, or even love that makes sense. The way Peter loves Tony is like a slow morning - filled with the best things and so easy.

Or - the one where Peter and Tony fall in love without noticing and spend their retired years living simply in the mountains.

50 types of kisses prompts

Stepping away from the Avenger’s after Thanos was one of the best decisions Peter ever made.

The constant worry and unknown of 5 years attempting to not only bring people back but set time straight too – it took its toll.

For a couple of months following the time-travel discovery, Peter waited impatiently for the other shoe to drop. Between himself, Tony, and Bruce, they’d been working tirelessly and now that the answer was within their grasp, it seemed a little too good to be true.

Yet, when they did the physical work to balance out the theoretical, Peter found himself losing that feeling. And when the machine was built and their hands were wrapped around the mechanisms filled with Pym particles, he knew they were going to accomplish their task. He wasn’t sure at what cost, but at least an end was near.

It took him several months to recover after wielding the gauntlet that finally put Thanos down and set the timeline back to where it needed to be. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen when he snapped his fingers, but he recognized the fact that Tony was going to do it and couldn’t let that happen. If anyone stood a chance at actually surviving, it was Peter.

Most of the energy damage was external and though his expedited healing could take care of it, the whole process was slow going and way more painful than Peter ever could have imagined.

At the beginning, Peter always felt a little surprised to blink awake from a pain induced nap to see Tony sitting by his bed. The longer Peter spent in the makeshift hospital unit they set up at Stark Tower, the more used to it he got – even Tony started to settle in, the older man’s hand finding his during the struggle or just because.

Unaccustomed to being so debilitated for so long, Peter started to get antsy a few weeks into his recovery. That was right around the time he got his feet back under him, so after a bit of begging, Peter was cleared to walk around and get minimal exercise. When Bruce gave him the go ahead, he slung his good arm through Tony’s and pulled him out of the hospital wing with him. In the 8 weeks he was confined to his bed, Tony must’ve been there at least once a day, every day. It only made sense to include him in the next step.

Peter’s intuition led him to daily walks with Tony around the tower and then later, when he was almost back to total health, jogs and long runs around the indoor track of the big gym Tony had the forethought to add during reconstruction.

Each time they got together to go through rehab and train, Peter learned something new about Tony.

For a while, they didn’t do much talking at all. Tony looked at him with a mixture of gratefulness and guilt for the first few weeks. Peter also figured Tony was trying to deal with the 5 years’ worth of work that trickled down to a singular instant. So many things happened that were hard to handle – it wasn’t surprising that everyone involved was grieving.

The better he got, though, the more Tony seemed to open up. Tony’s eyes didn’t look as haunted when they were trained in Peter’s direction, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with trust and genuine interest. Instead of being the young boy that was in way over his head, Peter got some sort of promotion in Tony’s eyes – he felt the most like a grown-up when Tony talked to him like the rest of the crew, like an adult; and sometimes, even like a friend.

Things got a little more intense when Bruce gave Peter the all clear. He didn’t have any plans for after, because he didn’t know how the entire thing was going to play out.

All of his friends and family, including May, got taken away in the snap. It was necessary to move on in the time half the planet was gone – he couldn’t go back and just act like everything was normal. He got his high school diploma and went through an online college program to have a degree. Between the times they were working on a solution, Peter was bored and needed something to fill the space. They were right where they left off, but Peter wasn’t - not even close.

Tony seemed interested in his plans after the fact, too – the man brought them up for a whole week after Peter got the good news. After what felt like the 100th time, Peter finally addressed it. “Any reason why you keep asking me? If I’m overstaying my welcome, just tell me, Tony,” Peter said, his arm still across Tony’s chest where he flung it out to stop their movement. “I have no plans – there hasn’t been any time to make any.”

A soft smile was the only thing he got in return for a while, Peter felt Tony’s chest rise and fall, the thrum of the arc reactor familiar and now more comforting than most of the other things in his life. Tony finally took a step back, Peter’s arm falling to his side.

“You haven’t overstayed anything, Pete. I’m trying to decide what I want to do and since you’re someone I care about, I wanted to know what your next move was – if I could help at all…” Tony trailed off, his right hand reaching behind his head to scratch at the back of his neck, the gesture recognizable as a nervous habit after so much time together. “I don’t think I’m going to stick around and try to save the world, anymore. Something quiet might be nice.”

Peter played those words back in his head for a while after that – Tony gave his shoulder a brief squeeze and headed back to the penthouse, his eyes clouded with thought. Without any hesitation, Peter kept going in the opposite direction, his own brain trying to process what the older man meant. A particular part of him wondered if Tony craved the same closeness that he did – the idea of a nice, simple life with Tony was one thing he actually could picture. He couldn’t pinpoint when that became a thing, but it did – the Peter Tingle hadn’t led him wrong yet, so he wasn’t going to stop listening to it now.

Convincing Tony, on the other hand, took a bit of work. The next couple of days’ worth of walks consisted of Peter talking about what a future house might look like and how a lab could easily be incorporated into the dream. Though he was the smartest man in the world, Tony didn’t pick up what he was laying down. With that in mind, Peter changed his tactic – despite showing the world such a tough exterior, Tony had a soft side; he could play into that.

“I think I’m going to step away from the superhero thing,” Peter said out of nowhere during their very next workout. Now that he was feeling a little bit better, Tony didn’t join him for weights nearly as often – the man could only do so much to keep up with the strength he was very quickly regaining. It’d been a couple of days and the smile he saw on Tony’s lips settled a little further into his core than usual. Maybe accepting the fact that Tony meant more to him than he originally thought was a world shifting thing for him – watching the older man light up felt fantastic.

“Oh? You’re not going to protect the streets of Queens, anymore?” Tony asked, his breaths heaving a bit from the chest set he just pumped out. He sat up on the bench and focused more fully on Peter.

It took him a second to pull his eyes away from the bead of sweat that dripped down the side of Tony’s face – It settled in the thickness of his goatee and disappeared. Blinking, he forced himself to look right into Tony’s eyes. “I think I’ve done enough. I got some of the strength and speed back, but my healing and trust in myself are nowhere near where they used to be. Seems like sign enough,” Peter replied easily. “I was thinking about moving out of New York completely, actually.”

He broke eye contact and moved around the bench to change the weight; his hands desperate for a distraction as the next question came out of his mouth. “Want to come with me?”

There weren’t any plans in the works, or anything like that – he hadn’t looked at houses or even decided where the hell he wanted to go; but, it felt important to make sure that Tony got the memo – that, after everything, Tony didn’t have to lose everything.

A few beats of silence passed before Tony got up from where he was sitting and stilled Peter’s hands on the bar. The heat from his touch felt molten, his palms were filled with blood from the previous exercise and a tantalizing combination of both calloused and soft. It felt good – better than good.

With a grin, Tony nodded, his sweaty hair swinging into his eyes with the movement.

“I do.”

----

The simplicity of those 2 words kicked them both into gear. Since Stark Tower and the Avenger’s compound were both being used by the remaining crew, it only made sense to gather what they wanted from it and head out into their own space. When Tony pulled out a map and told him to pick where they were going, Peter closed his eyes and let the Peter Tingle pick for him. The mountains of the Pacific Northwest were as good a place as any.

With enough money to last them a few lifetimes, Peter and Tony set out for North Bend, Washington – a small house in a mountain clearing already in the works. For the months it took to have their house built, Peter got a technology repair business off the ground – running it out of their apartment was good practice for the small storefront he imagined for when Parker’s got a little bit bigger. Though Tony helped every now and again, Peter took on the brunt of the work. They were both aware of the fact that they didn’t need to bring in any income – but, it felt necessary, anyway – he wanted to take care of Tony, too.

Fine craftsmanship went into the house that was built specifically for them. Tony’s only request was a lab that he could spend countless hours in, which was the easiest thing to deliver in the form of a detached shed a few paces from the main house.

The house was 2 stories and had a big open floor plan on the bottom floor – the kitchen opened up into a large dining room and an even bigger entertainment room. There were a couple of bedrooms at the far side of the first level. A large wooden staircase led up into another large open space on the upper floor – the idea for a game room leading off their bedroom one that Peter was the most interested in during the build.

And though their relationship didn’t start in a whirlwind of passion and inability to keep away from one another, Peter found that the gradual attraction and build up to finally coming together was much nicer than the hurried encounters he found himself in before. The burn he felt for Tony started in the tips of his toes and spread like wildfire up his legs, through his core, and across his chest and arms. It settled like something long term – like a thing that when nurtured, would burn him from the inside out for as long as he fanned the flame.

They didn’t sleep together completely until their first night in the new house. Peter tasted the deliciousness of Tony’s flesh many times over – he knew that Tony’s right side just under his 4th rib was ridiculously ticklish, and when in the right mood, his lover liked to have his balls worshipped with just the tip of his tongue and the ghost of warm breath. It felt like enough until he understood the complete feeling of having Tony inside of him, filling him up not just with his cock, but with the assurance of stability and strength.

Lying beside him, sweat still cooling on their skin, Peter let his fingertips run across the soft skin on the inside of Tony’s arm. “You’re my best friend, Tony,” Peter mumbled, his skin pebbling in the cool air, the truth of his words affecting him immensely. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Not worrying about the puddle of cum lingering on the sheets below them, Tony rolled until he could pull Peter against his chest. “Good – I’m in love with you, too. This, you - it’s everything.” Tony pressed a kiss against his head and didn’t say anything further – the depth of their connection more than enough to carry the feeling and keep it lingering in the air long after the verbal admittances settled.

----

Once they got everything settled in the house, Peter let himself get into a routine that fit doing what he wanted and running the small business that he’d been nurturing for more than a year now. Tony took to the retirement life easily – he spent time with Peter when he was around, and when he wasn’t, he could be found in the lab working on car restorations or random pieces of tech that usually led to some sort of adventure or war of wit and skills with whatever Tony made.

Though he wasn’t responsible for Tony or his satisfaction in life, Peter decided early on in his thing with him that doing whatever he could to keep the man happy was a top priority. The fact that Tony seemed to be flourishing in the random chaos lessened the self-induced pressure. He thought, for a brief moment, that slow wouldn’t be something for Tony after all. Being proven wrong made the tangible happiness so much more meaningful.

As any retired person did, Tony slept in until Peter roused him every morning. Early into their transition into the house, Peter put together a gym in the open part of the garage and furnished it with weights and every cardio machine he could ever want. Getting into town wasn’t a burden, but slow mornings and extra time with Tony was motivation enough.

Peter usually got up and spent a couple of hours in the gym – though he wasn’t a superhero anymore, his strength hadn’t gone anywhere. It took a little extra time to get out all of the energy that built up throughout the days that were filled with too much idling and enjoying the concept of doing nothing. Every now and again, he got the web shooters out and took a swing through the trees that surrounded their house – using his talent for nothing but enjoyment gave him the kind of rush he could cling to.

When he got back, Peter turned on the coffee pot and went about getting ready – a thing that usually consisted of rousing Tony and cleaning off the morning’s sweat. Since he set his own business hours and took appointments only, Peter went as fast or slow as the day called for.

That particular morning, Peter didn’t have anything going on, so he went about his routine slowly, enjoying every bit of it. Instead of the coffee pot, he put water on to boil and pulled out some of the good coffee beans from the panty, a couple scoops going into the French press. Sticking around until the kettle started to steam, Peter pulled it from the burner and went about making them both a cup of coffee.

Carrying them into the bedroom, Peter set both cups on the dresser before walking further into the room. His breath caught when he noticed a completely naked Tony sprawled across the mattress. The sheet must have slipped down when he starfished out, his right arm clutching Peter’s pillow tightly to his chest. The rush of affection that washed over him whenever he caught a rare glance of Tony’s vulnerability had his fingers tingling and a wide smiling slipping across his face. The ability to keep falling in love never ceased to amaze him.

He let a warm hand rest on Tony’s shoulder, the touch the first rousing stimulus. Climbing into the bed, Peter let his sweaty body press into Tony’s personal space – if his fingers on him didn’t do the trick, the muggy musk of his sweat usually did. His arm wrapped around Tony’s chest, that contact the thing that finally brought Tony around.

“Mm, you stink,” Tony mumbled, his sleepy brain ditching the pillow in his arms in order to seek out more contact with Peter. “I love sweaty, Pete.” To prove his point, he nuzzled his nose in Peter’s sweat-soaked shirt.

Peter wrinkled his nose and shifted, his head shaking a little. “You’re an animal,” Peter muttered, the words mixing into the soft kisses he placed against Tony’s cheeks, then nose, then lips. “Time to get up, sunshine. Come take a shower with me and then take me through those specs you were talking about last night.”

Tony’s eyes closed again, his lips tilting into the cutest pout. “I don’t want to get up yet, Pete,” Tony said, his voice just moments away from being completely petulant. Turning his face away from Peter, Tony let out a huff and tried to settle back into the mattress as much as he could without losing contact with sweaty skin.

Shaking his head, Peter leaned in a little more firmly, his weight pressing into Tony in a way that he knew the older man liked. His hand shifted a little until it was running a straight-line down Tony’s chest, the muscles there rippling with every new step of his descent. Fingertips danced along the skin he knew was sensitive, and when he tugged on the trail of hair leading to well-groomed pubic hair and a quickly hardening erection, he had to stop a moan from slipping from his own lips.

The overt lack of reaction from Tony drove Peter on, his hands moving with a renewed purpose. If Tony wanted to pretend to be fussy, Peter wasn’t above playing dirty to get his lover’s head out of his ass. Using his nose to run down the line of Tony’s neck, Peter mimicked the move with his hands across long sides and the width of trim hips. He neglected Tony’s cock, the length now fully hard and pulsing any time Peter got within reach of it.

His hands kept up their teasing touch until Tony’s hips started to rise, the guise of sleep totally lost. Peter bit into his lip to keep the beaming grin from slipping across his face – the sneaky routine only worked if he kept his cool. By the time he couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his hand around the pulsing erection, the tip of Tony’s cock was dripping, the wetness there making his own arousal spike.

Finally, Tony turned his head and locked eyes with Peter, his mouth open wide as small pants left his lips. Grinning, Peter leaned forward and let his lips trail over Tony’s, the older man trying to resist for about ten seconds before giving in completely. The moan leaving his chest created just enough of a gap for Peter’s tongue to slip inside the other’s mouth. A wet tangle of tongues followed.

In the heat of it all, Peter felt his hips seek out contact against Tony’s side – the warm skin tangible through the thin layer of his running shorts. They didn’t cover much of his leg, Peter’s bulge within them causing the fabric to ride up even further. Each pass of the soft, sweat absorbing material of the shorts across his cock sent a lightning bolt of want straight to his core. It wasn’t difficult to set a pace with his hand that his hips could easily keep in their desperate quest to get enough friction to chase the same pleasure.

Tony’s desperation to touch and be touched and finally cum all over the place had him grabbing at Peter’s face, their kisses frenzied and wet at that point. His fingers finally found some purchase in the hair at the side of Peter’s head – Tony’s nails digging in against his scalp adding to the overall experience. Peter picked up the pace of his hand in response, his thumb swiping across the tip to collect the dribbles of precum to ease the slide of his hand.

The collection of wetness in his own shorts had him finally breaking from the siren call of Tony’s lips – Peter panted out a couple of breaths and tried to hold himself back. The idea was to get Tony there first; his stubborn lover didn’t learn anything unless there was a practical demonstration. Peter found himself teetering over the edge, too – his intentions obviously bigger than the hand that held onto his self-control.

“Fuck, Pete – I’m going to cum,” Tony gasped out, his words thick and heavy, muddled with sleep and the heady arousal that served as prequel to the delicious pleasure of a well-built orgasm. A second later, Peter felt the cock in his hand pulse and twitch, Tony’s cum spilling out over his fist and onto the clenching muscles of the older man’s chest.

Grunting, Peter ground his hips against Tony’s side one more time before following him over the edge, a sharp “fuck!” falling from his lips. Despite himself, Peter found himself floating on that comfortable edge between too much and not enough, the pleasure plane one that felt like a syrupy haze.

Soft fingers and the uncomfortable wetness in his shorts brought him around a few minutes later, a sigh falling from his lips. “Now it’s totally time to get up,” Peter mumbled, his brain still a little addled from his orgasm. “Come shower with me.”

He shifted a little, his lips just an inch or two away from Tony’s. The older man looked at him for a second before mimicking his pout from earlier, the look almost convincing if it weren’t for the shine in his eyes. Closing the gap, Peter let his lips linger in a series of chase kisses. An unmistakable look of affection and acceptance sat on Tony’s features when they pulled away.

“Alright, alright. I’m up, I’m up,” Tony muttered with reluctance, his traitorous cheeks slipping up into a smile despite the fact that Peter knew he’d been trying to hold out. He pressed up and got another couple of kisses from Peter before he detached and got out of bed.

The lack of shame in Tony’s movements made a big grin slip across his own cheeks. Throughout his adventure with the other man, Peter learned that Tony liked his body and wasn’t afraid to show it off when the time was right. He also figured out that he liked the preening and would gladly enjoy the show.

From where he was standing, Tony watched him, the sleepiness in his eyes leaving by the second. It was a battle of glances for a couple of heartbeats before Tony was turning, his legs carrying him towards the bathroom. When he got to the door, he stopped and grabbed the edge of the frame. Looking over his shoulder, he sent Peter a wink. “I thought we were getting in the shower.”

Shaking his head, Peter got up from the bed and stripped out of his ruined shorts and wet tank top. His own confidence grew every time Tony looked at him the way he was now, with big eyes and the intention of taking in every detail. He knew, deep down, that no matter what he looked like, Tony would stare at him that way.

Their relationship wasn’t conventional and didn’t start in the way that most did, but it was true and solid, built on a foundation of understanding and a true knowledge of wants, needs, fears, and desires. Peter didn’t have to guess and could handle the whiplash that sometimes came with Tony’s array of uncontrollable thoughts. Tony knew Peter would always be there, no matter how scattered he became.

Loving and being loved by his best friend was an absolute gift.

And as he wrapped his arm around Tony’s waist and pulled him deeper into the bathroom, Peter knew for certain that leaving the Avenger’s was the best decision he’d ever made.

#goindownshipping #starker #ironspider #bobbie writes #i'd choose to fall

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the-odinson · 3 years

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Thor 🗲 Intro

“Fortunately, I am mighty...”

OOC PORTION —

NAME: Danny

PRONOUNS: he/him

AGE: 23

TIMEZONE: GMT +1

TRIGGERS: None

IC PORTION; BASICS —

CHARACTER NAME: Thor Odinson

FACECLAIM: Chris Hemsworth

AFFILIATIONS: The Avengers

AGE: 1500s/appears mid 30s

SPECIES: Alien (Asgardian)

IDENTITY: Public

DOES YOUR CHARACTER LIVE IN THE MOUSEHOLE? IF SO, WHAT ARE THEIR DUTIES? Yes, but he doesn’t particularly like it there. He doesn’t feel the effects of the cold, but Thor has never liked being confined so prefers to get outside as much as possible. Thor has decided to take on the role of a hunter/gatherer. The vast forests of Europe aren’t too dissimilar to the Asgardian wilderness and, while the beasts aren’t as ferocious as back home, what’s a king to do if not revel in the hunt? When needed he will also help with aid work: he can cover great distances with ease and carrying heavy loads is hardly a problem for him.

DESCRIBE SIX TRAITS (3 positive, 3 negative) YOUR CHARACTER HAS AND HOW THESE AFFECT THEM:

Dependable: A man of his word, Thor is trustworthy and reliable; an asset in any team and to anyone who has a favour to ask. Endearing: Those who truly get to know Thor speak of him with admiration; his warm smile and welcoming personality don’t come to all, but if he lets his guard down you’re guaranteed a friend with whom you feel truly comfortable. Benevolent: Thor (usually) means well and (usually) tries to be kind to anyone he encounters. His exterior may come across as brash but there’s no malice involved, often just a difference in culture and upbringing. Obstinate: While being headstrong may not always be a negative thing, Thor hates to admit he’s wrong and has a tendency to steamroll down a chosen path rarely reassessing whether the choices he made were the right ones or simply the first ones. Distrusting: Thor enjoys being social but mainly around those he’s close to. He can appear a little hostile to strangers: while he wants to believe in the good in people, he’s been around long enough and seen a lot of the universe to know of the potential darkness inside them too. Reckless: Thor often acts on impulse and charges into situations unprepared. This can lead to serious damage caused to both himself and those around him.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES: Super strength: Son of Odin and King of Asgard, Thor is physically the strongest of all Asgardians, with feats including being able to go one-on-one with the Hulk and other powerful entities. Flight: Thor’s magical axe Stormbreaker grants him the ability to fly. Electricity Manipulation: Thor is capable of generating electrical energy within his body and can expel it in the form of lightning bolts. Using Stormbreaker makes the energy generation and expulsion much more powerful and efficient. Weather Control: Similarly, either with or without Stormbreaker (although with Stormbreaker is easier), Thor can control the sky and create storms. Durability: His Asgardian physiology grants much more durability than a human one, able to shrug off energy blasts and recover from injury much quicker. Thor can also survive in space and alien atmospheres. Allspeak: Also called the All-Tongue, Asgardians speak a magic-based language, granting the ability to understand and be understood in all the languages of the Nine Realms. Bifrost: Stormbreaker also gifts Thor the power to summon the Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge connecting all realms, allowing intergalactic travel between worlds in a matter of moments.

WEAKNESSES: There aren’t many things on Earth that could pose a threat to Thor, so it’s hard to pinpoint any specific weaknesses. Perhaps for someone like Thor, the word god comes up so often that he sometimes forgets it’s not true: he is mortal and, while far more durable than a human, he can get injured and he can get killed, a fact that he often brushes to the side when charging into battle. However he has become far more self-aware after losing an eye (and almost his life) to Hela.

IC PORTION; DETAILS —

WHAT BROUGHT YOUR CHARACTER TO SOKOVIA?

Sokovia is where the majority of Thor’s allies are, and he needs their help. His world gone, his people stranded on the nearest hospitable realm in need of a home; Thor knew of a place where the Asgardians could blend in and live peaceful lives. The problem is, however, it seems Earth is not quite at peace right now. When he couldn’t track down the Avengers in New York, he followed the trail to Novi Grad. His priorities are conflicting: while he came back to Earth to ask the Avengers’ help in establishing a new Asgard on this planet, he feels he should stay to try and help his friends however he can in aiding the Nomad’s cause.

DID THEY SIGN THE ACCORDS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

No - the whole Accords situation is mostly unbeknownst to Thor due to being offworld at the time of signing. From what he can gather, it isn’t something that would appeal to him. He feels the affairs of humans are mostly petty ones and, despite his growing acclimatisation to Earth and its customs, he doesn’t understand why humans have to be so divided about, well, pretty much everything.

PROVIDE 3-5 HEADCANONS RELATED TO YOUR CHARACTER: 1. Although Thor is an alien, he has spent enough time on this planet (in both modern and ancient times) for the culture shock to lessen so that now Earth to Thor is more comparable to a human travelling to a different country - he acknowledges that the differences are neither better nor worse and he chooses to respect them. He knows he will make mistakes and appear strange, but sees that now as an opportunity for personal growth. 2. One thing he doubts he will ever understand however, is the human version of ‘entertainment’. Thor cannot stand movies. On Asgard, they would entertain themselves by slaying fearsome monsters or engaging in a friendly drunken brawl, the more broken furniture the better! But on Earth they amuse themselves by… sitting down and staring at a screen for hours on end. While both Asgard and Earth had/have magnificent technology, it’s clear they used it very differently.

3. Since returning to Earth, Thor has become intrigued in the Norse tales of himself and his people from over a thousand years ago and their alleged feats. He finds it highly amusing how inaccurate the stories are, but it has led to a fascination of human mythology and the various pantheons across history and the world. He wonders if he will ever meet any other of these so-called gods.

4. While a human brain only has capacity for almost a century’s worth of memories, an Asgardian brain is built for a few millennia’s worth. Therefore Thor has a much more acute long-term memory than his human companions, although occasionally his short-term memory leaves something to be desired, especially after several pints of mead.

WANTED CHARACTER CONNECTIONS:

Loki: His brother and the person he loves (and hates) most in the cosmos. I know a thing or two about brotherly love (I’ve been experiencing it for 23 years) so would love to write for Thor with his undeniably most personal connection. Wonder Woman: Both ancient, both ‘gods’ and both so very far from home. Despite their different allegiances I think it would be great to have Thor bond with perhaps the one person around here who may truly understand him. Superman: If anything they both have fabulous red capes. They are quite similar power-wise, although I know Superman is stronger but Thor definitely wouldn’t want to admit that. It could lead to some healthy (or unhealthy?) competition between the two, especially seeing as Thor isn’t too fond of the Justice League. Captain America & Iron Man: The two splintered team leaders. Thor respects them both (Tony a little less, perhaps…) and, since he doesn’t really understand the extent of the accords, would like to hear their sides of the story and what has happened since the Ultron incident. Bruce Banner: Thor has fought with the Hulk a couple of times but feels this has brought the two closer, learning more about how Bruce ticks and now he feels there’s a protective bond between the pair. I think the interactions they have could bring out the comedic style of writing which I love!

POTENTIAL CHARACTER ARCS: In the previous paragraph I said I like writing comedic characters (of which Thor fits the bill) but I also want to explore the deeper aspects of his personality such as the emotional pain of losing his parents, his childhood friends and his home. This could manifest in him not wanting to form bonds with others in the Mousehole at first because he’s lost so many people: why would he want to get close with anyone else only to lose them again? Perhaps a dramatic fallout with someone from a different team could lead to serious consequences for him or the team as a whole.

The reason I chose for placing Thor in Sokovia is that he’s seeking a location for New Asgard: maybe with all its emigrating population and empty buildings Sokovia could be the perfect location… I’m not sure how it would work in the group, but maybe Thor could eventually bring the Asgardians here, both to settle and to help with the restoration of the country.

CHARACTER BIO —

You know the story. An Asgardian prince, lacking in humility and exiled to Earth in order to learn what it means to be worthy. A classic tale, but at its heart, a tale of loss, and a tale of what it means to truly be human: even if you’re not. Thor has lived for well over a millenia, but only in the last decade has his life really begun. From landing on Earth a long time after people stopped worshipping him, he slowly began to understand the importance of relationships; from forming close bonds with the Avengers (and wary acquaintances with the Justice League and X-Men), to experiencing true love for the very first time. All his life Thor had assumed that humans were lesser beings, so why then did he feel he was learning so much more from them than he had ever learned from his own kind?

After experiencing the death of his mother, then later on his father and three close childhood friends, Thor was at breaking point when his home realm of Asgard was obliterated during Ragnarök by the fire demon Surtur. With the title of King thrust upon him, Thor decided his duty to his people had to consume him before his emotions did. Pursuing the quest of a new home, he led them to Nidavellir, the homeworld of the dwarfs; unsurpassable smiths and mechanics with the power to forge almost anything the mind can dream of, ruled over by their King, Eitri. Eons ago, Eitri had forged the legendary hammer Mjölnir (destroyed by Hela) at Odin’s request, now he oversaw the creation of the glorious axe Stormbreaker when asked by Thor, capable of summoning the rainbow bridge despite its apparent destruction on Asgard. Armed with his new tool and a promise to the Asgardians of a brighter future, Thor set out alone across the stars, heading to Midgard to find his old allies the Avengers. He’d helped the humans many times before, hopefully they’ll be able to help him and his race this time.

It took Thor losing everything to appreciate what he has. As he enters the next phase of his life in Sokovia, without family or a home, he is truly the definition of a nomad.

#srisingintro #biography

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cornholio4 · 4 years

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Team Iron Man’s Doomsday Clock

Dedicated to the memory of actor Wilford Brimley, 1934-2020. May he Rest in Peace and I hope for the best for his friends and family.

This week I got in the mail my DVD for the Watchmen show, I am also actually interested in the upcoming Rorschach comic series. Hopefully Tom King will pull off his Mr Miracle quality of writing and not his Heroes in Crisis quality of writing. Also I apologised for this as I knew beforehand that I am nowhere near good enough as a writer to perfectly capture Dr Manhattan (I am not even sure that he would be care enough about the MCU Earth to form an opinion of it). Also if by some larger than life miracle Alan Moore himself finds this fanfic that I am writing that could be a sequel to Watchmen as well as admitting to having seen the Watchmen show as well as now have read Doomsday Clock and wants to read the other possible sequel to the comic... Please have mercy on the curse that you send my way.

It was after the so called Civil War of the Avengers and Tony Stark even after getting Steve Rogers' letter. He shared everything with Rhodey and then to Pepper when she came about wanting to have a serious talk. They were all angry about all this and what Steve had done.

How dare him and his rogue sheep think of how their precious freedoms will be impacted, how they dare want to not sign until their concerns are realised and that they could have the safeguards guaranteed before signing anything. How dare Steve burn the world for his stupid HYRA killer friend Bucky when he went to bring him in because he was capable of not being killed and was protecting the hit squad from Bucky as well as him. How dare they want to not fight and just want to focus on what they knew was a real threat in the 5 Winter Soldiers and knew that Tony jsut wanted to bring them in and wasn't interested in what they had to say.

How dare Steve not reveal that Bucky had killed his parents though he apologised saying he was only protecting himself since he only knew for sure that HYDRA had killed the Starks and that he admitted that he didn't know that it was Bucky who personally did it.

Well they were focused on brewing and revenge especially when the reports of Steve and his rogues (who the public and some media began just calling the Avengers) just doing what they wanted in rescuing people and fighting terrorists around the world, sadly they got the public on their side and Anti-Accords sentiment became popular. They called his surrogate son Harley Keener (who Tony hadn't talked to in a long time) and got him on board and he was totally on their side.

Sadly Tony lost his other surrogate son who he barely knew Peter Parker the Spider-Man who after learning more about the Accords and feeling fed up about Happy not having any answers from Tony to the questions he was asking, blocked the number and was basically done with Tony. It seems that Peter joined his friends in promoting Anti Accords and pro Cap articles and statements. Then Vision left them to hide with Wanda. Rogers and his rogues were ruining anything.

They began trying to recruit more including Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne and Thor's old girlfriend Jane Foster. However their recruitment was pretty much a failure as the Pyms were still on the 'don't trust a Stark' mentality (with Hope subtlety making it clear that if Scott had brought her on to the airport battle then she would have been on his and Rogers' side). Jane asked why they thought that she should be involved in this at all.

However with 'borrowed' research on the Quantum Realm from the Pyms they managed to find a way to look into the Multiverse and other Earths. They found one where decades in the past after the popularity of Action Comics #1, costumed vigilantism became popular among people and it was a fad that lasted for a good long time. However they became more brutal and dangerous and it led to public outcry and a police strike causing a law to be enacted making them illegal called the Keene Act.

They felt so vindicated because them being outlawed entirely if they were not put in check was exactly what Tony had warned Rogers and his rogues about. They saw there was only one real Superhuman on this Earth and it was Dr Manhattan who through an accident became a powerful force far beyond anything on their own Earth. He single handedly won the Vietnam War for America (while ignoring how horrible the thought was) and thought that they can recruit him and he can take care of Rogers and his Rogues and then make the whole world better. Plus they could handle the big threat that his coming...

Through countless money and hours of building (having to ignore and cancel appointments with Ross calling demanding to see them as he was being close to being kicked out of office and the Stark Industries board of directors telling them about the failing stock) they got a machine ready to summon Dr Manhattan.

Using the large Arc Reactor they had to rebuild and using the entirety of the power of Avengers Tower, they managed to summon Dr Manhattan there from wherever he was. He was like a glowing blue godlike larger than life creature and thank god that he was able to create the black thong to cover himself...

They explained everything to him and he stated "I can see the past, present and future all at once and I already knew of this before you explained yourself. You remind me of Adrian Veidt somewhat Mr Stark..." Tony beamed and there were smiles from the others and Dr Manhattan continued on "He masterminded a plot to get scientists to create for him a fake interdimensional lifeform out of believe that it was a movie plot. He used his lifeform to devastate New York in a plot to unite the world and end the Cold War through a futile peace that was destined to fail. I fail to understand how you would believe that it was a compliment."

They were not pleased with how this was headed as Dr Manhattan said "while I am sort of impressed that you went through this work to bring me here, unfortunately for you I don't believe that I have any desire to continue being a weapon for the governments of any Earths. If you are done then I will be on my way."

They were gobsmacked and Rhodey shouted "you can't be serious! You should know how right we are and that you should help us, we know about the Keene Act and there is an actual threat coming and not some hoax..."

"A law to outlaw dangerous individuals from playing dress up while your Accords seek to control Superhumans while blaming them for incidents where they were actually responding and fighting to save the day. I have seen the life of Steve Rogers and why he opposed the Accords and I have to admit some admiration for him and his ilk who want to inspire hope and good in this world that is so much brighter and more... fantastical than my own one. Steve Rogers could very well be everything that Edward Blake wasn't and should be. With him and his Avengers uniting with teh world's greatest defenders and not divided by issues like these Accords, I see high probability in their success." Dr Manhattan replied and this got them all angry.

This was a god like being who should have been smart enough to know that they were the right side and Rogers was an idiot thug who was preaching his own twisted morality, they will humble him and get him to join them by force. Tony activated the House Party Protocol and they cheered as all his armours were assembled to fire upon Dr Manhattan.

However Dr Manhattan was not phased at all and without even having to snap his fingers all the armours disintegrated all at once. "This isn't over, you leave right now and we will hunt you down and get you back by force! I can make use of your power myself; you will pay as Rogers will. I am the world's smartest man, I am Tony Stark... I am Iron Man!" Tony snapped with his colleagues cheering him on.

Dr Manhattan saw that in less than a week they will get the news that the Accords were repealed with the Governments welcoming Steve Rogers back, Thaddeus Ross will be in handcuffs once evidence of his secret projects come to life and Mr Stark and his colleagues will get the news that the Stark Industries board had enough of them ignoring their calls and then sell off their stock. 51% of Stark Industries will be bought by Hank Pym and his daughter Hope using some offshore money that they had.

Steve will have the Avengers united and then once Bruce Banner and Doctor Stephen Strange comes to them , the Avengers will be ready and Thanos's snap and the disintegration of 50% of all life in this universe, doesn't come to pass.

However before leaving Dr Manhattan gave them a last message to Mr Stark and his colleagues:

"Even if you were the world's smartest man... The World's smartest man poses no more threat to me than it's smartest termite."

#anti tony stans #anti Tony Stark #mcu oneshot #oneshot drabble #also on ao3 #also on fanfiction.net #also on fanfiction #also on fanfiction and ao3 #also on ao3 and fanfiction #Dr Manhattan #Watchmen #mcu fic #anti team iron man stans #anti team iron man #anti accords #anti sokovia accords #anti fanon rhodey #Tony Stark negative #tony Stark negativity

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thorne93 · 4 years

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Unforeseen Chasm (Part 40)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:7055

Warnings: this is a really long part, fluff, smidge of bickering, people passing out, fighting, things are going to fly from here on out. Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You woke up to an empty bed, touching the side that Shannon had been laying on, you felt that it was cold. You got up to figure out where she might have gone. Everything was cleaned up, it looked as if though the two of you hadn’t even been building things and moving things around. Frowning, you walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. There was a note on the table.

Be back soon - went to get breakfast for the two of us

-Shannon XOXO

Reading the note you let go of the breath you weren’t aware you’d been holding. Getting your drink you headed back to bed knowing Shannon would be back with food and that the two of you would be heading to the tower for a big day.

As much as you wanted to be there when Loki was released, you had deadlines to meet and a real job again for the first time in years. You weren't about to mess that up.

So that you wouldn't stress too much, Shannon agreed to tell you when she was heading down to get him. That, at least, was some comfort to you.

You wondered how he would take the news, and take the news of being on parole, having to answer to an authority figure.

Shannon returned with bagels and iced coffee, and a hot egg sandwich especially for you. The two of you scarfed it down, even finishing it in the car on the way back to the tower. You thanked her for all of her help yesterday and she said it was no big deal. You assured her it was. With a tight squeeze, you bid her ado at the floor you worked on with Banner.

She had left to do work, while you went off and went to the lab to start your day. You were completely engrossed in your work when Shan and Tony entered the lab to tell you where they were about to go, and what the plan was.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” Bruce walked over to Tony reaching for a pat of the shoulders. “What brings you down to our floor?” He motioned to you and him working on something at that precise moment.

“Well Tony and I were coming down to let Y/N know that we’re about to head down to the cell to give Loki the news,” Shannon said holding onto Tony’s hand. “Fury should be arriving soon so we can go over everything.”

“Shannon thought it would be a good idea to give her the heads up in case she were to go down there to visit him at anytime today,” Tony said, not really looking at you. “That way we don’t have any issues.” He groaned a bit when Shannon elbowed his side.

“Did you really have to say that?” She scolded him a little. “She already knew we were releasing him today.” She walked over to you and gave you a hug. “That's why we spent the night at the apartment for his arrival at his new home, isn’t that right, Y/N/N?”

“Right,” you said quietly, feeling awkward talking about your personal life in front of Tony and Bruce. Before the whole New York thing? No, this would’ve been totally normal. But now? It was exposing you.

Feeling your emotions, Shannon knew you were getting uncomfortable. “Well I’ll let you know how things go when we go see Strange, do you want a minute to talk to Loki?” She rubbed your arm hoping to calm your nerves with her empath powers. “Want me to relay a message?”

You looked up from your work. “Just that I love him,” you said simply with a soft smile. “I’m good. I need to stay here with Banner. Loki needs to be on his own for a day,” you joked lightly.

“You sure? We’ll be gone for most of the day.” She looked you in the eyes trying to find something. “The sanctum is on the other side of the city. I’m sure Bruce won’t mind if you leave for a bit right, Bruce?” She looked over at the quiet man who was showing something to Tony.

“Huh? Oh yeah sure go ahead. I’m gonna just show Tony the new advances we made for the arc reactor potential removal.” He opened up a holographic file.

You took a deep breath, looking at Shannon. “Alright. I’ll go see him,” you agreed with a half smile. What do you even say to him? Good luck? This is what we’ve been waiting for? Have a good day at parole-work? You had no idea what you should say. You hadn’t told Loki you knew about his release, hoping to keep it a pleasant surprise.

“It’s like I can read your mind sometimes!” She laughed as the two of you walked to the elevator. “Don’t worry so much. It’ll be new for him but he’ll get the hang of it.” She reaffirmed what she believed would happen. “I’ll let Tony know he can come down directly with Fury when he gets here, that’ll give you two some morning time together,” was all she said as you two got to the floor.

You nodded, thinking. The doors slid open, and you exited through to three corridors before finally landing in the cell room. Swiftly, your feet carried you to the door on the side of the cell and you scanned your hand. As soon as the doors opened, Loki turned to face you, a bright smile reaching his face as he stood in the kitchen.

“Hi, darling. What brings you by?”

You quickly closed the gap between you two, your feet never stopping to get you to your beloved. In seconds, he was within your reach and you couldn’t help but plant a firm, passionate kiss on his lips.

“I just wanted to see you,” you stated.

Loki frowned at you. He could usually see right through you. He glanced to Shannon who stood back a bit, just outside the cell. “And you brought Shannon with you, to say hello?”

“Well, a little more than that. I got a break from work. I just wanted to say I love you and… well and I’m so glad you’re in my life,” you said. You weren’t sure if you could tell him he was on parole or if that was up to Fury and the Avengers to inform him so you kept it discrete and vague.

“I’m always happy to see you, darling. How is work?” he wondered.

You began to answer him, only a minute or two into your explanation when you heard the large metal doors slide open. You turned to look behind you. Tony and Fury were here. You pursed your lips and nodded, stepping away from Loki slightly.

“Dang it. Sorry, guys, I thought I could get you more time. Seems Fury got here early.” Shannon looked apologetic at you two. “Loki, if you could please come join us, we’d like to give you some news,” was all Shannon said as she welcomed Fury.

Loki peered down at you, slightly worried and confused but you just nodded and smiled. You wanted badly to hold his hand but you needed to speak with Shannon, quickly you made a beeline for Shannon, ushering her towards the wall, whispering.

“Hey, I get off of work at 4, what time does Loki get out?”

“Uh, five, why?”

“Okay, do you think you can stall him a little longer at work, so I can make dinner and get ready? Then bring him by the apartment? I want to be waiting and ready for him,” you informed in the lowest whisper you could manage.

“Oh, yeah, sure I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Loki is going to have a lot to cover on this first day,” she assured.

“Great. You’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s not a problem I’ll text you when we’re getting closer to the apartment,” she told you.

You kissed her cheek before bounding up to Loki. You gave his hand a quick squeeze before bidding goodbye to the two men and heading upstairs.

“Now if you would please step closer to the door, Loki,” Shannon requested.

He was still behind the glass wall and walked as close as he could get. Shannon walked to the panel and scanned her hand, letting the door open. She motioned for him to walk out.

“What exactly is this about? I’ve done nothing wrong these past two years.” He walked tentatively, not sure of what would happen next.

“That’s precisely what we wanted to talk about,” Fury said, ever so serious. “Since you’ve shown us that you can be a calm and civilized person, it took a lot of convincing on Shannon’s part,” he said, nodding his head towards her.

“With the approval of the council, you’ve been granted parole,” Shannon finished for Fury, showing some semblance of appreciation to him. “This would mean that you would be allowed to enter and leave the cell accordingly so as long as you keep in line while you work,” she said.

“And what exactly will I be doing?” he asked feeling a bit shocked that he was given the green light to leave the dreadful cell.

“Well you’ll be working with a close friend of ours across the city. Great guy. You’ll learn to do what he does and a few other things,” Tony told him, even though he’d rather be off someplace else.

“What's the catch? There’s no way you’d let me leave and just go work with this friend of yours.” He knew there was something else. There was always “something else” with people. People never acted out of kindness.

“Has anyone ever told you have trust issues?” Tony quipped, his head whipping to give the god his full attention.

“Yes, they have. Has anyone ever told you that to your face? Highly unlikely, given your fragile ego,” Loki snapped at the billionaire, his eyes never leaving Tony’s.

“Don’t start,” Shannon said in a low voice making the lights flicker s bit. “Not today, Tony. Neither you, Loki. Don’t make me regret giving you a chance at freedom.” She looked at both men with a stern look.

“I’m sorry, babe,” were the only words to come out of Tony’s mouth.

“As part of your parole, Strange will be your officer. Every so often if not because of work you are to report to him aside from that you’ll be given a driver to take you to work and back here.” She looked to Fury to give any details she may have forgotten.

“Seeing as everything is covered now we head to the Sanctum to meet your officer,” Fury said clasping his hands behind his back and heading to the elevator.

As the four of them headed to the elevator, Loki asked, mainly to Shannon, “Why can’t I be released to Banner, like Y/N?” he wondered.

Tony spun to face him. “Big fat no, Reindeer games. No way are you and Bruce ever going to be in a room together, again. I already had to remodel two floors thanks to you two.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony. “I could care less about that. I only want to be with her.”

Shannon interjected before the fight could continue between them. “Actually, it’s because Y/N is doing physics calculations for Bruce, her area of study and expertise. Yours is magic, yes?”

Loki nodded.

“Then that’s where you’re going, for your expertise.”

Now, Loki was merely curious. Another sorcerer on Midgard? How curious...

“For how long must I be there?” He hoped it wouldn’t be for long hours.

“Well since you're just starting out today you’ll be there till 5. Granted, I’ll be there too as he’s doing some testing on my powers,” Shannon replied, seeing as neither Tony nor Fury would talk to him. “For the first few days it’ll be a bit of you learning your way around the sanctum, seeing as it’s constantly moving.” She told Loki all about what would happen today and it seemed to put him at ease.

“Thank you,” was all he said to her and the rest of the ride was silent. He looked out the window, looking at everything he’d have to learn to get used to once he was able to leave the cell to do things on his own or with you.

The ride was shorter than Loki expected, thankfully. The last thing he wanted was to be trapped inside a moving box for an extended period of time. The team got out and escorted him up the stairs, where Shannon rang the doorbell. On the other side, a short Asian man answered the door.

“Hey, Wong,” Shannon greeted warmly, pulling the man into an embrace.

“So good to see you, Shannon,” he returned. He glanced to Loki then stepped aside, letting them all in.

“Alright, you’re going to be here from 7 am until 5 pm every day. You don’t leave this building without Strange, got it? You go where he goes and where he tells you to,” Tony informed sternly, pointing to the god. “You don’t even breathe the wrong way. If we hear anything sketchy, or anything about stolen relics, back in the cell you go, forever. No plea deals,” he threatened.

“You have my word,” Loki said as sincerely as he could to Tony.

Before either man could say anything further, Stephen descended the steps. “Already chastising my apprentice, Stark?” he asked in a joking way.

“Don’t underestimate him, Strange,” Tony half-warned in a low voice as soon as he reached him at the bottom of the stairs.

“And don’t do it to me either,” Stephen said to Tony with a slight warning look. “So! You’re the famous Loki.”

Loki narrowed his eyes and smirked in response. “And you’re Dr. Weird?” he assessed, one eyebrow raised.

Strange couldn’t help but smile. Tony and Shannon brought him a challenge. Fantastic…

“It’s actually, Dr. Strange,” he corrected.

Loki rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“So you’re the one who poses a great threat to Earth,” he said, sizing him up. “Well, right now, you’re just a sorcerer’s apprentice,” he said, laughing slightly. However, Loki did not understand the pop culture reference and just stared, one eyebrow perched up in confusion.

Stephen sighed. “You know what? Never mind. Shannon! How are you?” he asked kindly, turning to her.

The two of them chatted for a few moments before Fury finally stepped in. “Alright, you two can play catch up later. Loki, Imma put this in terms you understand. Don’t fuck up. Do what he says, and everything will be peachy. Got it?”

“Crystal clear,” he confirmed with a head nod and a smile.

“Great. Stark, come on. Let your woman handle this while you and I discuss that new treaty I proposed,” he suggested. And before anyone knew it, they had disappeared out of the Sanctum.

“So, am I going to learn some magic tricks?” Loki inquired, looking to Strange. “Perhaps I’ll learn to pull a rabbit out of hat, or maybe pick the only card in the deck?”

“For starters, you’ll learn to treat me with respect,” Stephen corrected. “I’m the Master of the Mystic Arts.”

“And I’m Loki Odinson, God of Mischief. Yet here we are,” he said with a gleam in his eye. “Besides I doubt there’s much you can show me. In fact, maybe I should show you some tricks!” he offered with a pretentious motion of the hands.

“Oh yeah?” Stephen asked, playing along for a moment. “Let me know if you can do this.”

In the blink of an eye, a hole formed under Loki and he was gone. Stephen smiled widely and looked to Wong and Shannon. “Tea? Coffee?”

Shannon stared at Strange. “Where… where did you send him?” she wondered, half worried.

“Oh, don’t worry. He’s falling endlessly in a black abyss,” he replied nonchalantly.

“I see this is going to be a challenge,” she murmured.

Stephen shook his head. “Not at all. He will learn to obey me. It might be the hard way, but it is effective.”

Shannon slowly nodded. “And how long do you plan on keeping him in there?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“How hungry are you?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the joke. “As much… fun as that would be, you better bring him back. I promised a few people he would actually learn while he’s here.”

“He is learning,” Stephen assured. “He’s learning not to be a massive prick.”

She pressed her lips into a line and put her hands on her hips. “Stephen,” she stressed.

He rolled his eyes and held up his hands. “Alright, alright.”

And just as he had disappeared with ease, he reappeared, falling quickly from a hole in the middle of space. He could be heard screaming until -- thud. He hit the marble floors with a rough thud.

“That’s your idea of job orientation?” Loki roared from the floor.

“Yeah, don’t tell OSHA,” Strange remarked, putting a finger to his lips. “Now, ready to play nice?”

With that, Loki stood and drew his daggers. “You really want to test magical abilities, sorcerer?” he challenged.

Shannon quickly jumped between them, taking his weapons and making sure he couldn't make more materialize. “You two are acting like children, now if you would please get on with the orientation.”

The two men glared at each other for a moment, before Loki finally relaxed and adjusted his clothing. “Fine, if you’ll be so kind as to lead the way, Mr. Strange--”

“Doctor,” he corrected, taking pleasure in the chance.

At this, Loki had no words. He merely sneered. Strange was eating it up while Shannon struggled to keep the power balanced between them. She was beginning to become impatient with their bickering, making the sky darken up a bit outside. Wong noticed and reminded Strange not to push it.

“Alright, alright. Let me show you to the lowest energy relic room. I know you have a reputation for, how do I put this?” he asked rhetorically. “Oh, yeah -- stealing shit with power that doesn't belong to you? Don’t do that here or I will kill you,” Strange warned in a sort of whimsical sense.

This prompted an eye roll from Loki. In that moment, he desperately hoped you didn’t have to deal with this at your work.

From there, Shannon followed Loki and Strange all over the Sanctum. Stephen showed Loki nearly everything, even though it seemed too soon to show him what some of these things did. Strange felt that trusting Loki would be the first step to getting him to trust him back.

For now, his job was to mainly monitor activity around ancient items, ensure they weren’t “awakening” and to keep everything dusted.

“So I’m an over glorified maid?” Loki inquired at one point, towards the end of the day after Stephen explained his role.

“Oh, no, of course not,” he assured him.

At this, Loki smiled, expecting a job with some real talent or skill behind it. He smiled appreciatively. Finally, someone was seeing his true worth.

“You’re not over glorified, you’re just a maid,” Strange corrected with a beaming smile. “Feather duster is down the hall in the closet. I like to see myself in the Vase of Eternal Life, so, make sure it sparkles.” Strange winked at Loki and left him alone with Shannon.

“Really?” Loki demanded, his face showing no sign of amusement at all. “This is what you have in store for me? I thought when you said I’d be dealing with a magical being it would be someone--”

“Less like you?” she interjected.

He closed his mouth, clenching his jaw.

“You have to admit, you two have a knack for tricks and sarcasm,” she remarked with a grin. But when Loki didn’t respond in the slightest, she tried harder. “Oh, come on, Loki. It’ll get better. This is your first day. Give it a week and I’m sure you and Strange can talk about all the magical, mystical elements you want.”

“I just don’t want to waste my talent or time on this,” he remarked. “If Y/N is contributing to society, being a physicist, I don’t see why I’m being forced to be subjected to this.”

“Y/N is in a very different boat,” she reminded. “She’s running mathematical calculations. You’re being given access to some of the biggest wonders and amazements of the world. Need I remind you that you invaded our planet with one of those things?”

He shot her a side glance, tinged with guilt.

“It’s because of that, he’s taking it slow. You’ll see, in a week, you’ll be doing magic to your heart's content. But you’ve got to walk before you can run.”

He muttered, “At this point, I can practically fly.”

Shannon smiled softly at him. She reached up and squeezed his arm. “I’m sure you’re a fine sorcerer. But maybe Strange does have something to offer you, you never know. And if you do end up knowing everything he has to offer, then you got really easy money to help support you and Y/N/N, right?”

He mulled it over for a bit. He didn’t like it. He was destined for greatness, a throne, to rule a kingdom, a planet, a world. Not reduced to dusting antiques inside a jackass’s house.

“Loki, breathe for a moment will you?” Shannon requested the empath powers she had that helped her keep things calm most of the time. She could sense his unease with his job. “Show Strange you’re capable of more and he’ll give you more to do, not just keeping things at bay. Show me that I won't regret giving you parole.” She squeezed his arm one last time. “Come on, let's see if you and him can help me with my powers a bit?” she suggested, trying to keep things light.

“After you.” He motioned for you to pass first.

“Thank you.”

“Now, Stephen, the other reason for our visit today.” She motioned to herself.

“Of course, Shannon, if you’d please enter the sanctum circle and begin with what we left off last time.”

“Sure thing,” she said, closing her eyes and focusing her energy on one particular point. She could tell something was off today.

“Now I need you to project that power for me so I can analyze its original marking.”

“Okay.” She pushed out the empath powers that were currently still active.

“What exactly is happening?” Loki asked. “Is she having complications with her powers?”

“They’re a mutation of mine that had been given to me when they were unwanted.” She managed to respond. “This particular one has been attaching itself to other emotions and feeding off them causing me to become destructive.”

He nodded his head in understanding. Still curious, he remained quiet.

“Now, Shannon, I need you to step out of your body and read the energy of the room.”

She did as she was told and Strange noticed how the mutation was wrapped around her nerves and her other abilities.

“The energy in here has a tiny glimpse of annoyance but relatively relaxed. Loki think of Y/N for a moment please?” she asked him, thinking that it would change that glimpse.

“What will that do?” he asked, a bit curious, seeing how Shannon was projecting all the abilities she had. “Is there any way that each mutation can be labeled? I‘d like to know which is which, if you don’t mind.”

“Umm yeah sure let me get that, just remember to think of Y/N.” Shannon’s eyes started moving behind her eyelids rapidly and Strange could see that the rest of her mutations were appearing and they were all labeled with what they do. “There. Those are all of them the good ones and the bad ones” she said the latter rather ashamed sounding.

Loki nodded, scanning the mutations before he remembered what Shannon had asked of him. Think of Y/N. He nodded to himself, he could do that, easily. He often found himself doing this ever since your parole, when he started to feel down or worried or panicking… your smiling face came to his mind.

He mainly remembered your smile, and times he had made you smile. From teaching you magic in Asgard so many years ago, to your nights shared together when he made you laugh while you cooked. Above everything you did for him, or with him, smiling, due to his words or actions had to be the best. Your laugh filled him with warmth, and reminded him of a home he never really had. When he thought of you, he thought of everything he ever wanted: support, love, protection, a partner. He had grown up in a home that expected little of him, and when he delivered anything less, he was ridiculed.

But with you, it was different. Mistakes weren’t his downfall around you. You always forgave him, and said, “That’s okay, you know how to do it right in the future. That’s all we can learn from our mistakes.”

You were patient, kind, compassionate. Everything he felt he wasn’t, and that’s why he loved you. You were the other half of him, the light that filled his soul, that he never knew was missing, until he met you.

“Woah! I just got this energy blast of peace and love. Strange, do you feel it?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t just imagining it that Loki was giving off this massive wave or energy. “Loki, what exactly are you thinking of about Y/N?”

He felt strange answering her question, as if it were revealing a weakness, or showing how vulnerable he was, but he respected Shannon, so he obliged. “I’m thinking of… of how wonderful she is. How she completes me. How I’m not sure I would’ve survived the fall from Asgard if she wasn’t there. How… I don’t know how I ever lived without her in my life, and how.... How I wish she was there long before she was.” He slightly smirked, his eyes cast down as he thought. “I almost wished Mother had never sent her to Earth. But then, I guess she never would’ve met you, and that would’ve been a tragedy…” By the end of his declaration of love, he brought his eyes up to Shannon’s, settling on her gaze.

Hearing what Loki had just said changed a bit of how Shannon saw him, maintaining her concentration she opened her eyes to see he was watching her waiting for her reaction. “I didn’t think you felt like that about her. You already know that she feels the same too about everything you said and I couldn’t blame her.” Shannon’s eye softened when she said that. “Life would have been different for all of us but I’m glad that she and I met.” She looked over to the empath power and it was becoming radiant.

“Shannon, look. Seems to me that your powers are collecting your state emotion and storing it rather than using it. That’s rather odd. Let’s try getting you on the opposite side of the spectrum.”

“How are you going to do that?” she asked, looking a little concerned hoping things didn't go bad. “I think you should have Tony and Steve come back in case this might backfire,” she said.

“Of course, if that's what you think will help.” He walked away and returned a few minutes later with both men. “Now if you two could stand on either side of her at a distance, I will need you to stop her when things go south,” was all he had asked. Steve instantly was on one side and Tony, a little wary, went the other side. “Loki, I need you to talk about the incident in New York, every detail about that day,” Strange requested.

Loki eyed everyone in the room quickly. “Are.. are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Yes, we need it done. If you’re worried about her hurting you, well… that’s a fair judgement, she very well could and I don’t know if I would stop her,” Strange noted with a smug smile.

“I second that,” Tony muttered before Shannon shot him a glare.

“Don’t worry, Loki I promise not to hurt you, I know they’ll stop me.” She looked over to Steve and he nodded.

“Very well, if it will help,” he said before sighing. He had to think back to that day. In one way, it was hard to recall it, he’d tried to suppress that and move on for a long time, trying to not let the guilt eat him alive. On the other hand, it invaded his dreams and thoughts more often than he liked. “I remember it was rather… easy, to get into your apartment, Shannon. All Y/N had to do was show up, looking disheveled. You let her in without a second thought. Which made our plan of deceiving you and possibly killing you all the more easy,” he began. He had to switch back into a mindset he wasn’t comfortable in, but he was trying to do this for your best friend, so he had to push past the anxiety that came with it. “I remember Y/N reporting to me that she had you tied up, that she stabbed one of my daggers through your thigh, without even thinking twice about it… and all for a man she barely knew -- me. It was rather easy to get her to turn against you, all of you really. She was willing to kill you, Banner, Stark, Rogers… anyone who stood in our way, just to conquer this planet. Funny, how love and power make one do strange things…”

Everyone looked over to see how hearing this was would have her react. It'd been two years since the accident. They looked over to the projection of her powers to see that the empathy had taken the energy that had been collected and had grown twice as big looking over to Shannon she was clutching her leg right where she’d been stabbed.

“She wasn’t thinking straight, she was scared about what she’d been dragged into.” She clenched one fist, her eyes squeezed shut. “If I’d been there none of that would have happened I could have helped her!” She opened her eyes and they were watery. “She had no choice but to follow the orders or die.”

“Or is that simply the lie we told you, so you would go on trusting her, and me? I mean, you have to admit, the bond you two supposedly share…” Loki made a face of uneasiness. “Rather fragile if a mere man of my reputation could get her to abandon such a trusted and hardy bond, wouldn’t you say? Let’s not forget, she threw your beloved out a window, ready to let him die, for me. She also tried to kill you, well, countless times. Even I haven’t tried to kill Thor that many times--” he laughed “--which is a hard record to beat, I must say.”

“You think she really wanted to do any of it?!” she shouted, making the room shake. “Her mind was washed clean, she’s trying so hard to remember everything we had together.” She wiped away the tears. “She never should have jumped after you! She should have come back to me, to everyone here in the tower who love her.” Her eyes were red and swirling with purple. “All you did was make her lose who she really was. You cost her three years of her life to take over this planet.” She took a step forward.

“And it was worth it,” he said in a low, confident voice with a smug smile as he leaned forward towards her.

“What? What was worth it? Getting yourself locked up with her, never getting to see your home again?” She walked up closer to him leaving scorch marks on the floor. “Was it worth it knowing your mother died and you couldn’t save her?” Her arms were lit with the purple and red haze she seemed to always have. Things had begun to float around her and she lifted her arms. “I tried to save her! You wouldn’t let her go. What else was I supposed to do?” She threw shards of glass at Loki. “If I could get rid of you I knew I could save her.” She threw larger objects but he evaded them easily. Getting angrier that she couldn’t hit him, she moved forward having him get cornered.

“Shannon, I need you to calm down for me so that the levels decrease,” Strange said.

“Why? Are you worried I’ll kill him? What about what he did to me! To Y/N!” The books began to fall from the shelves and the light began to shutter.

“Babe, I need you to calm down for me, please?” He tried walking to her but she stopped him. “I know you’ll regret this if you do hurt him.”

“Shannon, it’s me, the love of Y/N’s life, you wouldn’t want to hurt me, right?” he asked, trying to appeal to her. For a quick moment, he thought of you, getting Shannon to cool off a bit. Then, he laid into her. “I do hope you realize that if it weren’t for your stolen powers, then while we came to rule this rotten rock of a planet then you would be the very reason everyone you love would be dead. Stark, Banner, all of them would’ve died at my hands and Y/N’s. But you’re merely an overrated thief, siphoning powers that shouldn’t have belonged to you.” He stood his ground, not backing away from her. “And I’ve asked her before, she’s told me that if she had to do it all over again, she would, for me. All I would have to do is ask,” he hissed.

Tony knew in that moment that there was no going back. Loki had tipped the cup over. He looked to see that Steve had been thinking the same and they both got ready to feel the whiplash of what would happen.

“You think I wanted these powers?! To have the abilities of all the horrible people who’ve killed the innocent within me? To carry them with me every single day of my life never knowing when they’ll overpower me and cause me to be the person I never want to become?” She could no longer see what she was doing, she wasn’t able to control her actions. She lifted Loki up like he was a rag doll. All she could think of was how much she wanted all of it to end. “So yes, I am aware that I don’t deserve to have any of the powers at all, but you! You of all people shouldn’t deserve the love she’s given and is giving.” She started closing her fist, in that same moment Steve ran to her and grabbed her hand to stop her from choking the life from him.

“Shannon, stop this at once!” Came his Captain voice, full of concern and anger. “Stand down now,” even his super soldier strength couldn’t stop her.

“No! Not until he feels the exact same way I felt that day.” She produced a gun and a dagger from the air. Strange shifted the time so that they didn’t produce and made sure she couldn’t. She motioned for Tony to get to her and hold her head and have her concentrate on feeling his energy. “Tony? Please don’t let me hurt him,” she whispered when she felt their heads touch.

“I promise I won’t. I just need you to focus on me and on us. Do you feel my energy?” He slowly pulled down from floating in the air and motioned for Steve to keep her feet on the ground. “I’m right here and so is Capsicle, we’ve got you. Just slowly release Loki and hold on to my hand,” he said.

The flames seemed to dissipate from her arms and she stopped closing her fist, letting Loki breath again. Strange went to Loki’s side to make sure his vitals became steady and took him from the room. Once he was gone, Steve looked over to the energy showing her powers were slowly fading. Seeing her finally come down to the ground, her eyes weren't red and hazed. She looked empty and without any energy. Seeing how fragile she was, he caught her before she fell.

“Strange!” both men yelled knowing that Shannon would need urgent care.

“Doctor’s work is never done,” he muttered as he ran back in, rushing to her side. He immediately began checking her vitals. He glanced back to where the energy panels had been, but now that Shannon had become unconscious, she could no longer project them. “Damn,” he said disappointed.

“What the hell was all that, huh?” Tony pressed. “Did you even get anything out of that?”

Strange stood, facing Tony. “Yes, I did. We found out her body isn’t letting the mutations go. Instead of temporarily using the powers, like she was originally supposed to do, she’s become this sort of sponge…” He peered down at her. “We need to figure out how to wring her out…”

Tony nodded. “Is she going to be alright?”

“Yes. She needs to recover. Possibly a day or two. This was worse than last time. It’s almost like her fuse to get angry is getting shorter and shorter, and her power is getting bigger, much too big to control. Every time she loses control like this…” He trailed off, not wanting to say.

“What?” Steve urged, not in the mood for games. “What is it?”

“Every time the powers take over… she’s losing a bit of her life. I can feel it in her. Her body will shut down before it will hold all of this. Maybe it will hold on, maybe it won’t, but I can tell you her mind itself can’t contain it. She will literally go insane if we do not get these powers out of her.”

“So what do we do?” Steve inquired, his arms crossed.

“We find someone more suited to deal with mutations than me,” he answered simply.

Tony nodded, not sure he was accepting the reality of this. These powers being a cancer, feeding on you. “And Reindeer games? Is he--”

“He needs to recover too. She kept his oxygen off for too long and she put pressure on his body that’s not of this world. His organs are showing signs of distress.”

Steve piped in. “Does he need a hospital?”

“Right now? No. I don’t think so. I think rest will be fine, and fluid.”

“Well, I’ll get them back to the tower,” Tony said with a sigh. Stephen opened a portal, and he carried Shannon through it, while Steve helped Loki through it. All four of them landed in a med bay. “Jarvis, get Banner down here, now,” he ordered.

“Right away, sir.”

Shannon lay unconscious on one slab, while Loki lie on another. Bruce came in, seeing the two.

“What… what the hell happened?” he questioned, confused and worried as he immediately began to hook up electrodes and heart monitors.

Right behind him, you came in. You had no idea who was in med bay, but you were Bruce’s assistant so you followed. As soon as your eyes landed on the two, you gasped, fear slaying your chest.

“Are...are…” that was all you could get out before everything went black. Steve’s reflexes kicked in and he caught you before your head could slam on the floor. He gently placed you on one of the free beds.

“Is it Shock Saturday or what the fuck?” Tony demanded, suddenly exasperated.

“Tony,” Steve chided.

“So… we just not gonna tell me what happened or... ?” Bruce inquired.

Steve turned to Bruce and explained everything. How Strange needed to see all sides of your powers, how they used Loki as the catalyst, and how both of them were pushed far beyond their physical limitations.

“Why?” Bruce suddenly demanded, angry. “Why…” He clenched his fist, trying to get ahold of his anger. “Why does she continue to have her powers tested? Every time she’s pressed, she ends up in here. I can’t stand seeing her like this. Why does she do it?”

Tony peered down at Shannon, sorrow and adoration on his face. “Because… she doesn’t want to turn into a monster.”

“Yeah… I guess that’s the worst thing that could happen to someone, isn’t it,” Bruce muttered, half stung by Tony’s comment.

“Banner,” Tony started. “You know what I mean. She’s… she’s full of love and light, and these powers... “ He took a deep breath, recalling Strange’s diagnosis. “They’re a cancer.”

“A cancer?” Bruce echoed. “Like a tumor? Something we can remove?” he wondered, a little hopeful.

“Not exactly. According to Strange, they’re attacking her, the powers she’s acquired. The longer they’re in here, the more they deteriorate her mind. He said her body might hold out, or it might not. One way or the other, these powers are killing her.”

“But I thought they gave her strength?” he questioned, frowning.

“I did too, but we saw it today. Hell, you see it, you said it yourself. Every time she uses them, she ends up in the damn hospital.”

“So we need to get an expert on mutations to get them out of her, right?”

“Right. But she’s already been to Xavier,” Tony reminded.

“But he didn’t know how they were working. He saw them as a mutation before, a part of her genes, something that became attained during that lab accident.” Bruce started to pace, thinking out loud. “Now that we know it’s working like a cancer, like a mutation gone wrong, we can find it. We can locate the DNA that’s turned and work to eliminate it.”

“You mean like chemotherapy,” Steve suggested.

“Almost,” Bruce said. “Except it’s not radiation… We just need… a mutation killing power.”

“Where are we going to find that?” Tony asked.

Bruce shook his head, gazing down at her form. “I have no idea. But it’s somewhere to start…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification @thejemersoninferno @rda1989 @munlis @thefridgeismybestie @bubblyanarocks3 @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr @kaelingoat @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo @damalseer @heyitscam99 @yknott81 @sorryimacrapwriter @glitterquadricorn @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm @alyssaj23 @sea040561 @princess76179 @thisismysecrethappyplace @sarahp879 @malfoysqueen14 @ellallheart @breezy1415 @marvelmayo @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn

@cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711

Loki: @lostinspace33 @ultrarebelheart @lenawiinchester @esoltis280 @tngrayson @wangdeasang @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice

UC: @lokis-high-priestess

#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #loki fic #Loki Laufeyson #tony stark #tony stark x ofc #tony stark fic #nick fury #dr strange #steve rogers #bruce banner #wong #mentions of charles xavier

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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Lemme get the timeline right, so Dick was about 15-16 when first Teen Titans happened, then he came back to Batgirl's debut, some time later he left for college & that was the issue where Bruce is kinda teary, looking at Dick's prizes, Dick teases him a lil? Or was that golden age? Then he's recruited by Raven, NTT happens, but the firing... I'm confusing these parts. He got fired after getting shot by Joker? He was Robin then so before Jason, but was he with NTT or in Gotham?

LOL don’t worry about being confused, because it very much IS confusing thanks to so many continuities and retcons.

Personally, I tend to go with pre-New 52 timeline and then just later stories like that timeline never ended and just kept going with New 52 and Rebirth stories....with any discrepancies being like....’flashback stories’ retroactively inserted at the appropriate point in the characters’ histories. That’s just my approach though, doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.

But pre-New 52, the ages up until Dick is around 16 or 17 are pretty flexible.....you can kinda pick and choose when you view the first Teen Titans having formed because there aren’t any hard age milestones to use as a marker. So regardless of what you go with, up until Dick was about sixteen, maybe seventeen, he lived full time in Gotham with Bruce, was Robin, and ‘moonlighted’ with the Teen Titans, who in their early years were kinda more an excuse to hang out with their superhero friends rather than like....a specifically focused team.

THEN is when it gets confusing, because enter the Age of Retcons:

ORIGINALLY, pre-Crisis of Infinite Earths, aka Retcon-Palooza, Dick went on to become Nightwing while he was still on good terms with Bruce. Bruce took Jason in and adopted him, but there was zero conflict with Dick over this....in fact, at this point in the comics, Jason was ALSO an orphaned circus acrobat whose family had been friends with Dick’s family, and DICK was the one who helped him after his parents were murdered, and took him to Bruce, which led to Bruce adopting him.

(Fun fact, and part of why I side-eye people who dismiss retcons as ‘not counting’......Jason’s extremely iconic and well-known history as a street kid who Bruce found stealing his tires......only spanned about TWELVE ISSUES. Before his death, he literally only existed with that origin for about a year’s worth of comics....as opposed to pre-Crisis, when he existed for SEVERAL years worth of comics as the plucky acrobat who adored Dick and was always doing his homework and saying “Robin gives me magic” and stuff. Fandom lives mashing these two versions of Jason together, which is fine, but they have zero problem plying his twelve issues of having grown up as a street kid for angst, while being dismissive of other characters’ retcons, and that’s right up there when talking about Things That Make Me Go HMMMM).

Anyway, so originally, pre-Crisis, Dick moved on to become Nightwing when HE was good and ready, of his own volition, because he felt he was entering a new stage of his life and wanted to reflect that. And then HE gave Robin to Jason HIMSELF, like, literally bequeathed it to him, brother to brother, with Jason being appropriately grateful to HIM for that rather than crediting Bruce with it, who had absolutely nothing to do with it other than looking on fondly and proceeding from there with Jason as his partner. Dick then transitioned to living and working with the New Teen Titans full time in New York.

He also briefly went to college at this time, but dropped out after just one semester or one year or so......which other people often skew to make it sound like he’s lazy or spoiled or just wanted to live off Bruce’s money all of which makes me gnash my teeth, lol.....nah, he already had the equivalent of several college degrees just from growing up being trained by Bruce. Dick dropped out for one reason only: nothing he wanted to do with his life benefited from a college diploma specifically, and none of the jobs he went on to work later required one. He’s a kid who comes from a family who never went to college either because they didn’t NEED to in order to do what they loved....and Dick was no different. People love to cite that Dick was already fairly old when his parents died and that’s why ‘he didn’t need Bruce to be his parent as much specifically’ or whatthefuckever....but then they turn right around and act like he should live his life more according to the expectations and standards of Bruce as opposed to.....in keeping with his first family and their priorities and whatnot. BUT I DIGRESS.

But anyway, at this point, he mostly lived in New York and came back to Gotham every now and then to visit or to help with cases. Babs had at this point been Batgirl for some time, before he became Nightwing, but again, the timelines are messy, so the only real marker that’s important IMO is that her history with Bruce and Dick as Batgirl predates Jason joining the family, AND post-Crisis, when Jason had his street kid origin.....I think she interacted with that version of Jason maybe once?

My point there is there’s a lot of piling on the angst and pointing back to Dick as the ultimate culprit, with people making a big deal about how Barbara and others were constantly comparing Jason to Dick and resenting him for not being Dick and this made Jason’s childhood even with Bruce especially difficult....but again, nah. The vast majority of the time Babs/Batgirl co-existed with Jason/Robin, it was pre-Crisis Jason, which meant that he was on great terms with Bruce AND Dick and Dick was on great terms with Bruce, all of which means....NOBODY WAS RESENTING ANYBODY OR COMPARING ANYONE TO ANYONE ELSE, THEY ALL COEXISTED JUST FINE.

NOW.

ENTER THE RETCONS.

This is where it gets messier and more complicated, because JUST LIKE the comics retconned Jason’s origin to make him a street kid - and which NOBODY has trouble acknowledging or balancing......the comics ALSO retconned Dick’s departure from Gotham. Now it was because there was a story in which Dick was shot by the Joker, Bruce freaked out about his safety, and decided the best way to express this was by firing Dick as Robin and alienating him. Dick lingered for a few weeks, its said, in the hopes that Bruce would change his mind, but when Bruce didn’t, Dick finally packed his bags and left to go live with the Titans full time, where he became Nightwing. Its further said that this was the last contact they had for about a YEAR AND A HALF.....with Dick being the one to make the first move to resume contact.....when he found out from the papers both that Bruce had taken in a new kid (Jason) and adopted him already, AND made him Robin.

(A name which no matter WHAT origin you go for in terms of what it means to Dick, is regardless HIS CREATION, the mantle HE made for HIMSELF, and was never Bruce’s to give away, whether or not you go with the take that it was Dick’s mother’s nickname for him, or it being a reference to Robin Hood, Dick’s favorite childhood hero).

Anyway, Dick confronted Bruce about this, and Bruce basically just....acknowledged this without actually ever putting the words “I’m sorry” or “I messed up” in there, and that was Dick’s one and only ON THE PAGE interaction with Jason post-street kid origin before A Death In The Family....which occurred like two story arcs later.

(However, something I like to point out is the issue where Dick and Jason meet after both their respective retcons, was a FLASHBACK issue. It literally starts the issue off with the caption “One year ago”.....meaning that even though Jason died only two story arcs later and we never saw Dick and he interact on the page again, that issue was deliberately scripted in such a way as to allow for a good couple years to pass IN UNIVERSE....which, IMO, is where Dick and Jason’s sibling bond and dynamic had more than enough time to form. Just because Dick was on bad terms with Bruce doesn’t mean he ever took this out on Jason, and we know from later stories that they at least interacted a few times we never saw, like when the two of them went skiing together - so while people act like they barely knew each other because Dick was never around, IMO there’s literally no reason to assume that Dick wasn’t just as good about reaching out to Jason and forming a sibling bond with him after that first initial meeting, as he later was with Tim and Cass and Damian. In fact, given how familiar Dick and Jason seem to be with each other after his return to Gotham years later, IMO the thing that ACTUALLY strains credulity is the idea that before Jason died, he and Dick only interacted a bare handful of times. Nah. That doesn’t track.)

ANYWAY. That’s how all that played out those two different times, and why there’s so much confusion, BUT I maintain a huge part of that confusion is artificially produced.....by people deliberately trying to mix and match continuities in a way that just flat out doesn’t work. Sooooooo many times over the years, we’ve heard takes on how Dick ‘quit’ being Robin and then Bruce made Jason Robin and Dick resented both of them for this, but uh.....that’s the one version of things that DIDN’T ever happen. There were two distinct ways it played out. In the first, Dick quit voluntarily, and then made Jason Robin himself, and he and Bruce and Jason were all on great terms. In the later version, (the definitive version, because just like Jason’s street kid origin, it was the retcon, yes, but it was also never refuted or contradicted, the way it would have to be to ‘reset’ canon to that earlier sequence of events/state of affairs) - but yeah, in the later version, Dick was fired, Bruce made Jason Robin, and Dick resented BRUCE for this.

But people keep trying to play mix and match so Dick both quit - thus ‘giving up his claim to Robin/theoretically having no basis to object to someone else being Robin’....AND Bruce made Jason Robin - thus getting ‘credit’ in Jason’s eyes for giving him this mantle, responsibility and trust - with Dick then resenting Bruce for giving away the thing he ‘gave up.’

And that’s so disingenuous and obnoxious, when people try and play that game. They don’t want Dick to have ‘the right’ to the same complaints they have about Jason and Tim being ‘replaced’ but they also don’t want him to get credit for giving Robin to Jason because that would imply a strong brotherly bond and connection between them, one in which Dick clearly loves his little brother, and its just....uggggggh. So annoying.

BUT I DIGRESS.

Anyway, that’s the scoop, the buzz, the happening.

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thehollowprince · 4 years

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"and make that the third Iron Man movie instead of the mess that was IM3" would you mind elaborating on that? I'm honestly not trying to start anything; I just hate Stank and the asshole playing him and love to read others dragging him too (the only Movie I enjoy him in, is Avengers 1, because I almost got to see him die TWICE (and both times he just looks like the rampant diarrhea has returned and he's desperately clenching until he can get to a toilet)).

Okay, so... I'm pretty sure I've talked about this before, if not here than somewhere else, but a few years back, either just before or just after Infinity War, I sat down and thought of ways to actually fix the problems that they (Marvel) caused by kissing RDJ's ass by allowing him in whatever movies he wanted. To do this, we have to whip out the Time Stone and go back...

Picture it! Sicily Summer, 2012! The Avengers hit theaters and became one of the highest grossing openings of all time (or they highest, I don't really follow statistics). While the movies before that had a few hiccups - were trying to get their footing - they did a good job of setting up this shared universe that we now have. The Avengers was the culmination of everything we'd gotten from the previous movies, including the the Tesseract that wove it's way through the stories as well as their individual arcs for the Big Three (Tony, Thor and Steve).

Tony was continuing his research into clean energy via the arc reactor project. We found out what happened to Loki after he fell from the Bifrost and Thor's reaction to seeing his brother again. They showed Steve suffering from PTSD from his crash and him struggling to adjust to the seventy year time difference. Nat and Clint had their roles expanded but in a way that built off of their arcs in Iron Man 2 and Thor, as the spy and the eye-in-the-sky. Even characters like Coulson or Fury fit the narrative they gave us in the previous film. That was why we all cheered when they won the Battle of New York. Not just because the good guys saved the day, but because we saw the culmination of what had been set up before, using the Asgardian knowledge of wormholes and portals combined with Tony's arc reactor project and the Tesseract that the Red Skull had been experimenting with. All of that came together in that big climactic battle with the Chitauri invasion and our heroes putting aside their grudges and misgivings to fight together for the first time. It was amazing!

Sadly, Marvel has not accomplished something like that since.

Don't get me wrong, the MCU, for all its faults since then, has made some good content. The Winter Soldier is, in my opinion, the best movie the franchise has produced. We got Black Panther (a little late, but we still got it). The individual movies weren't the problem, it was their attempt to weave it all together for the next team-up movie where everything went south.

Age of Ultron did the exact opposite of the first Avengers film, in that it completely ignored all the movies of Phase 2 and just made this thing that was a repeat of the Big Three movies that came before it. Ultron was just Project Insight 2.0, but combined with Tony's PTSD and excessive suit building in IM3 with a dash of the mystic by using the weird cave sequence with Thor, that came with no explanation.

And look, Iron Man 3, despite its hodgepodge of badly executed ideas, was a nice conclusion to Tony's arc since we first saw him. If you ignore the specifics of that movie, you get Tony giving up being Iron Man because he realized that he was putting the people he cared about in danger. He trashed all of his suits, finally had the shrapnel in his chest removed so that he could live without the arc reactor, and decided to start a life with the woman he loved. That's how the movie ends. He retires, ready to move on with his life... until he shows up in Age of Ultron, brand new suit despite having trashed them all and just repeats the same character arc he did in his last solo movie. He creates an army of robots (instead of suits) called the Iron Legion as well as working on this Ultron Program, which was him once again trying to protect the world from external threats due to his trauma from going through that wormhole and staring in the vast emptiness of space. And then at the end of the movie, he retires... again.

We could have avoided all of this, and actually set up for the big conflict with Thanos if they had simply made IM3 the Ultron plot, since AoU was so Tony-centric anyway. Get rid of Killian and the badly explained Extremis plot. Get rid of the fake Mandarin (sorry Ben Kingsley) and just have Tony's PTSD and paranoia about another alien invasion be the reason for Ultron's creation. They could have had a line or two about how Tony "upgraded the program", referencing the fact that Ultron was created by Hank Pym in the comics and therefor setting up Ant-Man for the future. They could have taken out the other Avengers, maybe leaving in Bruce and just used Rhodey and the Iron Legion, and the soon-to-be created Vision from the A.I. that was J.A.R.V.I.S. take on Ultron and his army. We could have included the Sokovia subplot and kept the Maximoff Twins as secondary antagonists due to the MCU making their origin story focus so heavily on Tony. Could have kept Ulysses Klau as an old "acquaintance" of Tony's from his arms dealer days, setting up Wakanda and the Black Panther. All of that could have fit so nicely into a third Iron Man movie, with maybe Ultron taking advantage of Tony's arc reactor and maybe kidnapping Pepper (and allowing them to introduce Pepper's suit "Rescue" a lot earlier than Endgame) all of it culminating in the same ending: Tony removing his arc reactor and trashing his suits (maybe keeping one as a momento) and settling down with Pepper.

Boom! Leaves us wide open for Civil War to take place as the second Avengers movie, splitting up the team with the Sokovia Accords and allowing the third Captain America movie to be about Steve Rogers and his squad. We could have gotten bearded cap for a whole movie, not just six minutes and included the whole "other Winter Soldiers" arc and kept it in this movie, just having Civil War be about the fallout from the world's politicians wanting the Avengers on a leash after what happened in Manhattan, D.C., Johannesburg, Sokovia, etc.

The real problem with the version of Civil War that we got was that it was trying to be both a Captain America film and an Avengers movie at the same time. They tried to have the subplot with Bucky and the winter soldier program, but too much of it was also focused on Tony and then the whole subplot with T'Challa and then Wanda and Vision. It was too much. Take out the winter soldier part and you have a solid Avengers movie, a mirror to the first one, where they all came together, this one pulls them apart, just before the big bad of Thanos rolss up into town, when they should be the most united. And then the winter soldier part could be used for the third cap movie, which I'll expand upon later, but it would have fixed a lot of the MCU's problems.

But that's just my two cents.

#this got a lot longer than i expected #sorry not sorry #the mcu had such potential #but they forked it up all because of one douchebag #and while this post isn't really anti tony #i'll tag it that way just to be safe #anti tony stark #more ca:cw bullshit #still waiting for cap 3

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punyparkerfics · 4 years

Text

No Lifeguard on Duty!

Kid!Peter and Bio mom!Tony go swimming with the Avengers!

TW/CW: PTSD-triggered panic attack. nothing graphic.

Word Count: ~6.7k

A/N: y’all are seeing it first. here it will be for a bit before I post it to AO3, just to show my appreciation to those that have followed. thanks for the support! xx

Edit: This is part of my One-off series! It is now available on AO3!

⋆⋆☆⋆⋆

It was a warm June afternoon when Clint suggested at the tail-end of a meeting that the team should have a poolside team bonding session. Thor and Natasha instantly agreed, excited at the idea of sunbathing and taking a dip in Tony’s luxurious indoor lap pool.

Bruce looked to Tony expectantly. The billionaire froze for a moment before recovering and sniffing audibly. Steve knew immediately that the woman was deflecting when she just shrugged and agreed.

“I’m sure the kiddie will get a kick out of it,” She said casually, “Rhodey will join us if that’s okay.”

The kid in question was Tony’s precious son, Peter. The team had just met the (nearly) three-year-old two weeks before, and they were immediately enamored. Peter’s doe eyes and baby brown curls were hard enough to resist, but the kid was shockingly the sweetest kid any of them had ever met. Most of them (except Thor), had unfairly expected the tot to be a spoiled brat that screamed and threw things or even a gross sticky ball of self-centered energy. But the boy was shy yet friendly, very giving and sweet as candy. Peter charmed the socks off of the team but that was expected, he is a Stark after all.

The thing that shocked them even further was just how maternal Tony was with him. The genius was as far away from being the type to be a loving and affectionate mother as possible, if what their first impression of her was anything to base their judgment on. However, Tony was as gentle as could be with the boy. She was an adoring mother who doted on her son, showering him with hugs and kisses and pet names that made even Natasha feel a little gooey inside. It was a nice light to see their teammate in after the battle of New York ended.

Tony worked diligently ever since Peter was conceived to be sure her baby was the most protected life-form on the planet. Peter was her second chance after Afghanistan and she didn’t cut a single corner when it came to the boy’s safety, meaning security was upped even more once Natalie Rushman caught wind of him. Military vetted bodyguards, ironclad encryptions on all legal and medical documents pertaining to the child, and airtight NDA’s for any unauthorized person that so much suspected Tony Stark had a son were just the beginning of the laundry lists of precautions Tony took for her baby. Nonetheless, all the avengers loved Peter and jumped at the opportunity to spend time with him.

They’d only been able to see him a couple of times, as Tony had just returned from taking him to London for a few days to see some sort of astronomy exhibit or another. But, now the genius was basically offering an afternoon in the sun with a sweet little boy and a luxury pool. Basically, Steve and Bruce were sold.

Tony told the team that the pool was clean and ready, that they were welcome to go ahead and wait until she got her son ready and collected Rhodey. It took about two hours for the whole team to reconvene at the indoor swimming pool. The windows opened and sunlight beamed throughout the whole room, reflecting off the surface of the large body of water. Clint immediately ripped his shirt off and kicked his sandals away before running and belly-flopping into the pool. Steve winced audibly as Natasha rolled her eyes and Thor chuckled grandly. Widow had removed her makeup and braided her hair back. Her clothes from the day’s meeting had been swapped out for a black one-piece swimsuit that showed off a large portion of her back. She shook her head at the sight of Clint resurfacing and squirting water out of his mouth before whooping and dunking himself back underwater.

Steve shook his head and joined Doctor Banner, who was sitting on one of the beach chairs a few yards away from the pool, underneath a canopy for shade. Steve sat down on the chair beside the doctor, his eyes scanning the large open area. Admittedly, the two were only there to see Peter (and Tony, but neither would ever admit it), so they watched as Thor cannon-balled into the pool with a grand shout and plenty of amusement. Natasha called out with a deadpan tone,

“You get a 10. It had everything, theatrics, a battle cry, and a big splash. Incredible.”

“What about me?” Clint asked as he backstroked the length of the pool, his eyes on her.

“You’ve caught me on a day I’m most generous,” She replied, “You get a 2.”

“I have a feeling this competition is rigged,” Clint replied, disappearing under the surface of the water once again. Natasha shook her head and dipped her toes in the water before walking down the steps of the pool, sighing in contentment as she floated in the shallow end.

“How many times do I have to say it, Honeybear?” Tony’s voice came from the far end of the room towards the elevator, “Let me be a hot mama.”

“Just seems a little excessive, is all I’m saying,” Rhodey replied with an unimpressed shrug of his shoulders.

“To you,” Tony said, all the heads in the room turning to her and the boy in her arms, “Because you have no taste.”

Rhodey shook his head and grumbled under his breath before greeting the team. Tony bounced the toddler in her arms as she set down a small backpack on one of the unoccupied beach chairs, a melody of giggles filling the room. Steve and Bruce smiled, looking up at the boy in the billionaire’s arms.

“Say hi, tesoro. They came to see you and go swimming.” Tony said with a smile as she set him down to stand on the chair. She rifled through the bag, bending over to find something within it. Underneath a long and worn Black Sabbath t-shirt, the light blue of her bikini bottoms poked through. Steve cleared his throat as his eyes caught the curve of her rump, forcing himself to focus on the toddler before him and not his teammate’s rear.

“Hey, Peter,” Steve greeted with a smile, “It’s nice to see you. Are you ready to go swimming?”

“Yeah!” Peter cheered, throwing his little arms up in the air, “Mommy say I can ‘o swimmin’ wif’ my floadies on!”

Peter climbed over to Steve with a smile, “C’mon, cap! We gotta get the pool toys!”

“Aye, mimmo,” Tony called out to her son, “What did we agree goes before playing in the sun?”

“Sumbloc’!” The boy replied dutifully, turning to his mother, “But can me an’ cap just get the toys? Real quick, mommy, please?”

“Alright, if your skin falls off,” Tony began passively, “Don’t come to me cryin’ about it.”

Peter just giggled in response, grabbing Steve’s hand and making a big show of trying to pull him up off the beach chair. The boy planted his little feet and squeezed his eyes shut in strain, little grunts came from him as he pulled with all his might to get the super soldier on his feet. Steve smiled, pretending to fight back against the child’s pull.

“Gosh, Peter,” Steve pretended to strain, “You’re getting too strong, kid.”

Peter giggled again, putting smiles on everyone’s lips.

“Cus’ I like brock'ly now! Brock'ly makes you big and strong!” Peter exclaimed, showing off his little arms.

“No kidding,” Steve chuckled, now allowing the (nearly) three-year-old drag him to the large shed that held all the pool accessories. He helped the child pick out inner tubes and beach balls, as well as foam pool noodles and water guns, and carry them back to the beach chairs. Steve laid them down on the chair he was sitting on previously when Tony came over and scooped up the toddler.

He looked up and noticed the genius had taken off the oversized shirt she had previously adorned, leaving a simple baby blue bikini wrapped around her surprisingly pale skin. The arc reactor shone, the scar tissue around it now a pale pink. Rhodey was honestly surprised Tony was showing off her body at all. The woman was never above advertising her assets, but those closest to Tony knew that her chest was something sensitive to her. The Colonel himself had seen it plenty of times, but he’d known the genius for half of her life. These people, her team, were almost strangers. Rhodey didn’t know whether to worry about his friend or be proud that she was getting more comfortable with either her body or the Avengers; either was a big step for her.

Tony’s toned legs had the odd scrape or bruise along them, no doubt from the Iron Woman suit or chasing around a rambunctious toddler. Steve caught himself staring before shaking his head and turning to Bruce, who was hiding his own blushing face in a book.

Steve turned to those in the pool to see Natasha dunking Clint underwater and Thor cheering her on.

“C’mon, lovebug,” Tony said, wrangling a squirmy Peter in her arms as she sat on the beach chair beside Steve, “Sunblock time.”

Steve decided to just get into the pool and save himself any embarrassment. If you asked him, he was just shocked at the genius’ pale skin and not at all fawning over how beautiful she looked. Steve was simply washed with admirable respect, as it was clear Tony trusted her team enough to be so vulnerable around them. Not only was she literally in a bikini, with nowhere to hide her scars or traumatic body modifications, she was also allowing them to be with her son.

For that, Steve was certainly not ogling at her slight curves and toned muscle, nor was he appreciating how much seeing her like that reminded him what decade he was currently standing in.

Her long brown hair was tied up, and her makeup was immaculate. It was odd to Steve that she had seemingly refreshed her makeup since the meeting. Even Natasha had come to the pool barefaced, given the activity they were participating in. Steve admittedly didn’t know much about cosmetics, but he knew they didn’t typically mix well with water. Either way, the soldier whipped off his shirt and set aside his shoes before diving into the pool and literally swimming away from the warmth swirling in his chest.

“Jesus, Tony,” Rhodey chuckled, “You get paler and paler every time I come back from work. You keep that boy inside too much. Maybe leave the lab once in a while. Take him to the park or something.”

“Peter has sensitive skin,” Tony shrugged, lathering children’s sunblock on the boy in question. Her gentle hands caressed his baby soft skin which was considerably paler in comparison to Tony’s.

“Doesn’t mean you gotta make my nephew into a naked mole-rat,” Rhodey replied.

“Not a mole rat!” Peter cried indignantly to his uncle as his mother carefully applied sunblock to his face.

“That’s right,” Tony nodded, giving her son a serious face, “Stop being mean to my baby, sour patch.”

“Mean uncle Whodey!” Peter pouted, “Stinky face!’

At that, Natasha chuckled at the boy’s antics and Steve and Bruce couldn't hide their adoring smiles.

“Okay, boys,” Tony said with a smile on her face, “Play nice, or you both get time out.”

Peter sat up straight and looked up at his mother with a look of urgency on his face before miming zipping his mouth shut. Rhodey just rolled his eyes in response.

“Ca’ I go swimmin’ now, mommy?” Peter asked, bouncing up and down on her lap with a winning smile.

“You have to wait a little bit for the sunblock to soak in, Pete,” Tony replied, “Just sit in the shade for 15 minutes, then you can go.”

The genius began applying sunblock on her own skin, knowing Peter would protest wearing the gloopy stuff if his mom didn’t put it on too. Tony, once again, unknowingly earned the attention of most of the adults in the room. She was more occupied watching her son scribble on his coloring book with the crayons she had packed in his bag, her hands expertly massaging the lotion onto her legs, then stomach and chest. Her hands migrated to the exposed skin on the top of her breasts, effectively avoiding the reactor, and neck as Steve felt his throat go dry. Before he could stop himself from staring, he was accosted with a blast of water. Steve shook the water from his face and looked up to see Rhodey with a water gun, attacking him and the other avengers that happened to be staring at the billionaire. He looked up to see Bruce shaking water off of his hair and a deep blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Eyes up,” Rhodey called out with a mischievous grin, causing Steve to duck in embarrassment. Steve was a timid man when it came to women like Tony even back in the day, and that was with women from his own time period. A modern woman like Tony Stark, a woman that he admittedly didn’t treat fairly upon their first meeting was someone he couldn’t dream of shooting straight with. Plus, she was a dedicated mother with more things to worry about than Good ol’ Captain America giving her googly eyes. A woman like Tony could get any man (or woman) she desired, and Steve knew she wouldn’t choose a man that judged her harshly without him knowing her personally.

His attention was brought back to Peter who laughed loudly at his uncle’s antics, as the man continued to blast Thor for his own amusement.

“Mommy! Mommy! I wanna play with unca’ Whodey!” Peter exclaimed, turning to his mother. The genius was laying back in her reclined beach chair with her son at her feet, just relaxing in the shade.

“Just a few more minutes, baby bear,” Tony replied, running her fingers through her hair as she took down her bun.

“But, mommy!” Peter whined, climbing over to sit on her lap, “Wanna p’ay now!”

“I know, patatino,” Tony hummed, pulling the boy towards her and laying him flat against herself. Their chests pressed together and Peter rested his face on her collarbone, snuggling close, his chubby little hand laying flat against the arc reactor. Steve smiled at the idea of Peter adoring the light in his mother’s chest, his own personal nightlight that brought a whole new sense of security with her embrace.

“Just gotta wait for your sunblock to soak in,” Tony replied softly, her hands lightly rubbing the boy’s bare back, “Then you and uncle platypus can play all you want. Okay?”

“Okay, mommy,” Peter sighed, enjoying the feeling of relaxing in his mother’s arms. Peter was a mellow and well-behaved boy so moments like this weren’t uncommon. He loved just being with his momma. He liked having her in his sight but he LOVED being held in her arms.

The team looked on with fond smiles as the two Starks cuddled close, Rhodey taking a seat beside them and reclining with an audible exhale.

“Don’t get too comfy, Honeybear,” Tony smirked, “Pete’s gonna drag you into the pool in just a few minutes.”

“Want you to come swimmin’ wif us, mommy,” Peter said quietly, his eyes focused on a birthmark staining his mother’s arm. He circled the small spot with his finger, anxiously awaiting Tony’s reaction. Peter knew his mommy didn’t like swimming, she didn’t even like getting wet. Sometimes, if he splashes too much in the bath, Uncle Rhodey has to come in and help him while his mommy goes into her room and waits. At first, Peter felt really bad, he didn’t mean to be a bad boy; splashing’s just fun!

Uncle Rhodey and Auntie Pepper tell him it’s not because he’s a bad boy, just because Mommy had some scary stuff happen to her. And getting wet sometimes reminds her of it. They tell him about a time before he was born that his Mommy was taken to a scary place and bad people did scary things to her. They told him that sometimes it gives her nightmares and that’s why he can’t sleep in Mommy’s bed with her some nights, even though he wants to! He wants to be there with his mommy so he can help her calm down from a nightmare just like she does for him sometimes!

Tony tensed slightly, her grip on Peter tightening a bit before she drew in a deep breath.

“Uncle Rhodey’s going swimming with you, cucciolo,” Tony sighed, combing her fingers through the boy’s curls. It was something she’s done since Peter was born, as touching her baby’s hair provided both of them immense comfort, “I’ll be right here watching you, though.”

“But, mommy,” Peter pouted, sitting up in his mother’s lap, “Wan’ you to come too!”

Peter knew his mommy was scared of the water, but he and Uncle Rhodey would be right there with her! She’d be okay, and see that the water isn’t scary! Even the avengers were there, too. His mommy would be kept safe and protected and she’d see how much fun swimming is! As long as no one splashes her, she’ll have so much fun with him and his uncle! Peter just knows it! Plus, mommy helps him get over his fears all the time. Like the time she showed him that there were no monsters hiding in his closet, or the time she showed him that his broccoli hadn’t been poisoned.

“C’mon, buddy,” Rhodey offered gently to his nephew, “We can have fun without your mom with us. She’ll be close by watching.”

“No!” Peter shook his head, leaning forward and resting his face onto Tony’s chest, “Wan’ mommy.”

“Peter—” Tony began before Clint interrupted.

“C’mon, Stark!” The archer called out, floating on his back, “You’re not going to deprive the kid of fun in the sun with his ma, are ya?”

“Clint,” Natasha began to reprimand, catching Steve’s attention.

“What? Team bonding, right?” Clint shrugged.

“Bruce hasn’t gotten in the pool,” Natasha pointed out with a nod in the Doctor’s direction.

“Bruce didn’t come with a kid,” Clint countered, “If Pete wants his mom to swim with him, she should swim with him.”

“Tony,” Rhodey said to the genius, ignoring the talk from the pool, “I’ll go in with him, don’t worry.” “Mommy,” Peter mustered up his best puppy dog eyes and stuck out his bottom lip before saying, “Please?”

Tony tried her best to control her breathing. Her hands were hardly shaking where they rested on the small of her son’s back.

“We would most enjoy it if you joined our team festivity, Stark,” Thor encouraged, “And your little Starkson would be comforted by your engagement.”

“Tony,” Rhodey tried again. He really didn’t want what was supposed to be a fun day for the family and new friends to turn into a PTSD-related panic attack; not if he could help it.

But Tony brushed him off. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of her team. She didn’t want to prove that she wasn’t good enough to be an actual avenger rather than merely a consultant. She also didn’t want them to think she was too good to give her son anything he asked of her, as innocent as the request was. The inventor was already overly critical and self-conscious of her decision to wear a bikini in front of the team, with nowhere to hide the scars littering her body. In her head, she tried convincing herself that she just wanted to show off that she was matching Peter’s baby blue swim trunks. It was sort of her thing, anyway, to coordinate her son’s outfits with her own.

But, for Peter, she’d do anything. She’d suck up her paralyzing fear of water, for Peter. She’d agree to even go poolside at all, for Peter. So, for Peter, the genius sucked in a deep breath and stood up.

“Tony,” Rhodey said, standing up to either intervene or at least take Peter.

“C’mon, pup,” Tony said, bouncing the toddler in her arms again, “Let’s get your floaties on.”

“Mommy come?” Peter asked with a smile.

“Yeah” Tony nodded with a wide smile. They’d all seen that smile before, and Steve would give anything to know if it was genuine. “Mommy’s gonna go in the pool with you, okay? But we gotta be careful.”

Peter nodded dutifully and held his arm out for Rhodey as he approached with the inflated water wings.

“Are you sure about this, Tones?” Rhodes asked quietly, “I could take him, he won’t put up much of a fuss once he’s in there. We both know —”

“It’s fine,” Tony shook her head, her smile not leaving her face but her eyes refusing to meet the Colonel’s eyes.

“Mommy, we gonna have so much fun!” Peter cheered, offering his uncle his other arm to slide the other water wing onto.

“Yeah,” Tony replied with her own toned-down level of cheer. Steve’s heart dropped as he realized Tony was not at all comfortable with the idea of getting into the water. Was it because of them? Was it because she’d caught Steve or Bruce staring at her before? Had they made her uncomfortable? Gosh, he’d really —

“C’mon, bambino,” Tony hummed, taking shaky steps towards the large pool. She looked over the surface of the water and swallowed hard. Steve was looking up at her from the water with concern, while Nat was somewhat shepherding Thor and Clint over to the deeper end of the pool, away from where Tony stood near the steps.

“JARVIS,’ Tony called out, her voice surprisingly even, “What’s the water temp?”

“The water is sitting a standard 78 degrees Fahrenheit,” The AI dutifully replied, “Would you like me to adjust it?”

“Yeah,” Tony nodded, “A little warmer, please… For the baby,”

“Certainly, madame,” JARVIS replied and the team felt the water get warmer around them. Not uncomfortably so, but it was definitely noticeable. Clint rolled his eyes and turned back to his attempt to explain the rules of Marco Polo to Thor.

“No cold water,” Peter said wearily, looking down at the water.

“Water’s nice and warm, kid,” Rhodey said softly beside them and Tony wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or to Peter.

“Uncle Whodey come too?” Peter asked, turning to face his uncle with a stunning smile.

“Of course,” Rhodey nodded, “I’m not letting your mom take all the fun.”

Tony appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood as she took another shaky step towards the pool stairs. Rhodey followed suit.

“Wait!” Peter called out, “We need the pool toys!”

“Right,” Tony chuckled nervously, turning around and walking Peter over to the beach chair that held the toys in question, “Silly me. How could I forget the pool toys?”

“Whatcha got, Stark?” Clint asked as he pulled himself up and out from the side of the pool, trudging over to the chair dripping wet.

“We got noodles and beach balls and water guns,” Peter called out excitedly, leaning forward in his mom’s grab to reach out for a toy. The boy was confident his mother would never drop him so he didn’t bother hanging onto her tightly.

“We got a whole shed of more, Legolas,” Tony nodded in the direction of the shed Peter had retrieved the toys with Steve before, “Knock yourself out.”

“Sweet,” Clint nodded and made his way over to the shed.

“Uncle Whodey!” Peter called out, extending his arms to hand over a beach ball to the Colonel, “We gotta p’ay vowwy ball!”

“You got it, squirt,” Rhodey chuckled, taking the ball from the toddler.

“And we need a noodle!” Peter exclaimed, reaching from Tony’s grip to grab a pool noodle. The boy hugged the red foam tube in his arms and gave his mother a cheeky smile.

“Okay,” Tony said, “Ready, bear?”

“Yeah!” Peter cheered, bouncing lightly in his mother’s arms as she slowly made her way back to the pool steps. She decided she’d already made a scene too big for the other avengers not to notice her trepidation. So, pointedly ignoring the screaming voice in her head and the pounding in her chest, she cuddled her baby closer to her chest and took slow and steady steps down into the shallow end of the pool. Tony focuses all her attention on the smile spreading across Peter’s face. She presses a quick kiss to his cheek and continues to wade a little further into the shallow water.

Tony hears the sound of someone entering the pool behind her, making her stiffen up and tighten her hold on Peter.

“It’s okay, Tony,” Rhodey’s calm voice sounds from behind her and she feels his hand steadily rest on the small of her back, “This is far enough.”

Tony nods, her shoulders still stiff with anxiety. The genius takes a deep breath before settling the toddler in her arms down to float in front of her.

“We swimmin’, Mommy!” Peter exclaimed, a look of pride evident on his face. Tony tried to focus every ounce of anxiety in her on the smile on her baby’s face. Peter was okay. She was okay. Rhodey was okay. They were in a pool in Manhattan, not a cave in Afghanistan. It was okay.

Tony took in another deep breath and gave her son a small smile.

“Yeah, baby,” Tony nods, “Just stay close to Mommy, okay?”

“Le’s go dis way!” Peter squeals, kicking his feet towards where Thor, Steve, and Natasha were floating, waiting for Clint to return, “Cap! Look’it me! I’m swimmin’ too!”

“Wow,” Steve smiled at the boy, “You swim really good, Pete. Look how fast you’re going.”

“Peter,” Tony called out, as the boy made his way further away from the safety of the shallow end, towards the deep end of the pool, “Peter, come to Mommy, please.”

“Mommy, le’s swim wif Cap!” Peter called out, turning back to face his mother.

“You have to stay in the shallow end, topolino,” Tony called out, her voice almost cracking at the end as her heart rate began to pick up again. Peter was out of her reach, swimming away from her. Sure, he was swimming towards the Great Captain America, but that was her baby. At that moment, her motherly instincts overpowered her self-preservation instinct as she waded further into the water towards her retreating son. As the water got deeper, it rose from just above her waist towards the bottom of her chest. The water began to slowly rise up her chest and Tony felt like the air in her lungs began to somehow liquify.

“Tony,” Rhodey called out behind her, “It’s okay. Stay right there. I’ll get him, he’s okay.”

Steve, noticing the look of pure panic on the billionaire’s face, instinctively scooped the paddling toddler up into his arms and held him securely against his chest.

“Everything alright?” The Captain asked, his voice filled with concern. He knew, logically, the boy wouldn’t drown on his watch. There were seven adults in the room with Peter that would obviously intervene before any harm came to him. But clearly, there was something the Colonel and the billionaire knew that the rest of the team didn’t and it was making them all very nervous. Tony just whimpered and nodded, her arms snaking around her waist and hugging herself tightly. Her eyes were distant and unseeing, glazed over with fear. And, she was shivering despite the warm water and sun beating down on her exposed skin.

Rhodey wades over to the Captain and reaches out to grab his nephew.

“C’mon, Pete,” Rhodey says softly, “Let’s stay closer to Mommy, okay?”

“But I’m swimmin’, Uncle Whodey! I’m swimmin wif Cap!” The boy replied, climbing into the man’s arms anyway, “It’s otay.”

“I know, buddy. But your mom wants you to stay a little closer to her, okay?” The Colonel said softly, turning to take the boy back to his mother.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asked with worry, but before the question could fully leave his lips, Clint came rushing back to the pool with a yellow inflated duck-shaped inner tube around his waist. The archer was giving out a mighty battle cry as he came running towards the pool before he jumped and cannonballed into the water.

The splash from the landing sprayed out far and wide, even getting Bruce the smallest bit wet from his spot. Natasha muttered out a curse in Russian, Thor bellowed in joyful laughter, and Steve just shook the water from his face. Peter squealed in delight before erupting in a fit of giggles.

“Tony,” Rhodey’s nervous voice sounded, causing Steve to look over at the billionaire with concern.

“Stark,” Steve exhaled, beginning to wade over to Tony who is visibly trying to keep herself calm but failing. The genius was beginning to hyperventilate and looked around the pool with eyes unseeing and blown out with fear. Once her eyes land on Peter still giggling in his uncle’s arms, safe, Tony frantically tries to make her way out of the pool.

Water splashed around her as she tried flailing out to the steps, the speed not sufficient enough to soothe her panic. Steve’s worry only increased, but he gently held Tony by the waist and helped her tread over to the side of the pool to make her escape quickly. Tony grunted and grabbed the railing once she was close enough to pull herself out of the offending water. She climbed out and scrambled to her feet, hurrying towards the door she, Colonel Rhodes, and Peter had entered from without looking back. Before she made it too far, Pepper Potts showed up in all her glory, holding a large fluffy towel.

“It’s okay,” Steve’s enhanced hearing picked up Pepper’s hushed voice as she wrapped the towel around the distressed engineer, “Everyone’s safe, Tony. Peter’s okay, you’re okay.”

Tony doesn’t even slow down as she continues her trek back into the rest of the building away from the pool, not even to acknowledge the light kiss Pepper places on her temple. Tony just allows the trusted woman to lightly guide her towards the elevator with a quiet promise to follow her up in a moment.

“JARVIS, please get a hot shower ready for Tony,” Pepper said softly as she watched the genius disappear behind the closing elevator doors.

“Certainly, Ms. Potts,” JARVIS replied dutifully. Pepper sighs and takes a few steps towards the pool, minding the water both Tony and Clint left slicking the pavement.

“Unfortunately, you will have to continue your team bonding exercise without Miss Stark. Feel free to stay and drink, eat, or whatever you please.” The woman said before turning and quickly following after Tony.

“Where mommy go?” Peter asked, looking up at his uncle sadly.

“Mommy’s gonna take a shower and rest a bit,” The Colonel explained gently, setting the boy down to allow him to float in the water, “How about you and I swim for a bit and then join her later?”

“No,” Peter squirmed around, kicking his little legs under the water, “Wan’ mommy!”

“Let’s give mommy some time, bud,” Rhodes calmly encouraged.

“Wan’ mommy, P’ease!!! Unca’ Whodey!” Peter cried out, flailing to grab onto the man.

Rhodes sighed and picked the boy up, holding him tightly against his chest.

“Alright, squirt,” He said, wading to exit the pool, “Let’s get you a bath, and then we’ll go see mommy.”

“Is Tony going to be okay?” Steve asked, his concern only growing.

“Yeah, what made her walk out on us? She even left the kid behind,” Clint asked incredulously.

Natasha replied by splashing the archer with a wave of water. The Colonel ignored Clint as he exited the pool and pulled off the water wings from Peter’s arms. Rhodes wrapped the boy in a fluffy blanket and held him close to his chest before turning to the Captain.

“Tony’ll be fine. She just needs some space,” was all Rhodes said before leaving the pool room with Peter. Upon hearing the soft sound of the elevator doors closing behind them, Steve looks over to the rest of the team with a confused look still etched on his face.

“Is- Did we- I don’t—” Bruce stammered as he rose from where he was previously seated, walking towards the pool with his eyes stuck towards where Rhodey and Peter had just disappeared.

“I was hoping we’d avoid it, but I was almost sure it was going to happen,” Natasha said almost wistfully.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked.

Natasha looked around at them all staring at her, waiting for an explanation. She rolled her eyes at their cluelessness.

“You guys heard about Afghanistan, what did you expect?”

“What does Afghanistan have to do with a pool in Manhattan?” Clint asked.

“She was tortured into compliance, moron,” Natasha bit out as she began to float on her back, looking up at the sky through the glass walls.

“The physical exam she went through after she was rescued showed signs of water inhalation. It’s suspected that she might have been forced underwater or was even waterboarded.”

“Suspected?” Bruce asked with a look of horror on his face.

“She hasn’t said much at all about what they did to her there, just what they asked of her. Stark isn’t one to talk about what she’s been through. She plays it close to the vest so as to not let any weakness slip.” Natasha explained as if it were the simplest explanation.

“Then why—” Steve asked. His heart was pounding in his chest.

Since coming out of ice, Steve had talked to a few professionals about shell shock and learned the new terminology surrounding it. PTSD, they called it now. Either way, as a leader, Steve was almost ashamed in himself for not seeing it in Tony. He saw a woman dealing with a lot on her plate. He knew she’d been captured and gotten out, but he didn’t dwell much on the fact that she’d spent months in an Afghan cave. He was a captain, damn it. He’s supposed to take care of his team.

“Why what?” Natasha asked, with an arched brow.

“Why’d you—” Steve shook his head, “Your assessment of her…”

“PTSD doesn’t make any of it any less true, I just omitted any justification for her behavior during my time watching her,” Natasha replied smoothly, never ceasing her peaceful floating.

“Why?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“Because she shouldn’t be in this line of work. She’s been through enough, and she had a toddler to take care of. I knew she didn’t want it, I was trying to keep her and Peter out of it.”

The men were shocked silent, only the sound of water rippling could be heard until Natasha spoke once again, “JARVIS, can we get the water temp down a few notches now that Tony’s not here?”

“Certainly, Agent Romanoff,” The AI replied, the water cooling down around them. It made sense now, why Tony wanted the water so warm. She wanted to do anything to not be reminded of that cave.

⋆⋆☆⋆⋆

Pepper walked out after setting a steaming mug of tea on the nightstand. Tony sat on her large bed wrapped in a bathrobe, her long wet hair tied up in a messy bun. The warm shower helped and JARVIS was showing her the live video feed of Rhodey giving Peter a bath, soothing the genius to see her baby safe and sound. Tony smiled sadly as Peter demanded to be taken out of the bath and to his mother. She knew her son was too perceptive of his own good, knowing his mommy was upset and wanting to be with her. With a sigh, she dismissed the video feed and pulled on sweatpants and an MIT shirt that still swamped her figure even years later.

“JARVIS, get ready to play Peter Pan for us, would you, pal?” Tony asked.

“Of course, madame,” JARVIS replied, his voice fond.

Just then, there’s a soft knock on her door. Tony padded over to the door, opening it to smile at the sight of her son wrapped in a hooded towel resembling a duckling.

“Mommy,” Peter whined before reaching out towards his mother. Tony scooped the boy in her arms and held him close.

“Hey, bug,” She soothed as she began rocking the boy back and forth.

“Here’s his clean clothes, he wouldn’t let me dress him. He just wanted you,” Rhodey said, walking to her bed and setting a small stack of folded clothes with a bottle of baby lotion on top.

“That’s fine, I got him from here. Thanks, Sugarbear,” Tony smiled.

“Are you sure? I can stay, Tony. If you need help with anything, anything at all.”

“Yeah, I think we’re just going to have some quiet time. Watch Peter Pan and snuggle. I might even join him for his nap,” Tony sighed, never stopping the rocking motion as Peter snuggled close to her.

“Okay, that’s good. You two need to rest. But we’re having dinner as a family. No excuses,” The Colonel said sternly, eyeing Tony with all his concern still evident.

“Pizza,” Peter murmured sleepily against his mother’s neck, causing the two adults to chuckle.

“You got it, buddy. Take care of your mommy, I’ll see you two for dinner,” Rhodey said fondly before sparing Tony another look.

“Bye uncle whodey,” Peter sighed sleepily and let his eyes flutter shut.

“See you later, platypus,” Tony smiled, causing her best friend to nod and walk away.

Tony softly shut her door and carried Peter to her bed. She lied the boy down and ran the towel gently across his bare skin and through his damp curls. Tony was surprised that the boy was allowing her to even put him down, to begin with, but she figured she wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and proceed cautiously and quickly.

It took her no time at all to lather the boy in baby lotion and stick him in a pull-up that Rhodey so graciously provided. Easily enough, she wrangled her boy into little grey sweatpants and his new favorite War Machine shirt. Tony shook her head with a smile on her face, of course, that’d be the shirt he’d pick out for her son to nap in. Tony then set aside the bottle of lotion and hung the hooded towel to dry on the door of her bathroom before climbing into her bed and cuddling close with her son.

“J, play the movie, with a volume that’s mindful of a sleeping baby,” She said softly. With that, Peter Pan began playing quietly.

“Not a baby,” Peter mumbled from where his face was buried in his mother’s shirt. The boy readjusted and scooted until he was laying chest to chest with Tony, like he was earlier by the pool, his cheek smooshed beside the arc reactor.

“You’re my baby, tesoro,” Tony hummed and began running her fingers through the boy’s still slightly damp curls, “You’ll always be my baby boy.”

Tony was so content she could almost forget entirely that the Avengers were still in the tower, probably wondering why she just up and left their bonding sesh. She could practically ignore the remnants of the anxiety and dread lingering in her chest and stomach. All Tony could feel at that moment was Peter. She could feel his weight on her chest, his breath tickling her skin, his little hand grabbing a handful of her shirt and his hair through her fingers. The billionaire buried her nose in his curls and immersed herself in the moment. Pepper and Rhodey were both in town, and they were going to have dinner like a family. Her family was home and it was warm. Warmer than an Afghan cave and an empty Malibu mansion. And best of all, her baby was right here with her, in their home, safe and sound. And that was more than she could have ever asked for.

#peter parker fanfiction #Tony Stark fanfiction #iron mom #ironmon #iron dad #iron dad fanfiction #irondad fanfiction #spider-man fanfiction #iron man fanfiction #Kid!peter parker #avengers team bonding #italian tony stark #precious peter parker #cute peter parker #punyparkerfics

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rayshippouuchiha · 5 years

Text

I came out of Endgame with tears in my eyes and my heart filled up to the brim with absolute seething rage.

Even as I write this now my hands shake with some sick mixture of sadness, rage, and bitter disappointment.

So I preface this by saying that I am emotionally compromised and some of my views might shift with time and distance.

But, for better or for worse, this is my first rage flushed take:

I am so disappointed and so angry that after all of the tension, all of the build, all of the time and sweat and tears, all of the loyalty, we were rewarded with this.

Endgame had its high points, I’m not saying that it didn’t. There were some genuinely funny moments and some heart rending ones as well.

Every single second Tony Stark was on screen was flawless as always. Robert Downey Jr. once again proved why he and he alone was suited for the role of Tony Stark and the task of carrying the majority of the MCU for the past 10+ years.

That’s not to say that the rest of the cast wasn’t good. All of the actors all obviously brought their A game and then some when they were allowed to by what I loosely call a script.

So yeah, there were some highs.

But when its comes to Endgame’s low points?

Its low points were subterranean.

They lowered the bar and then they dug underneath it.

Again I’m writing this basically fresh from the theater and with my emotions still high so do forgive me if this is a bit jumbled around or if I ramble a bit as I cover some of the real issues I had with the film.

So, first thing to address was the overall tone of the film.

For this to be the much glorified Endgame, the “battle of our lives”, there was, in my opinion, a distinct lack of true tension in this film. Instead of a fraught, nail biting, tension filled ride, Endgame is more of a ... brisk jog through some vaguely sticky situations.

Instead of playing the story straight and giving the situation the gravity it deserved, the narrative went out of its way to put humor that served no other purpose than to ruin what tension had been previously built. And, in my opinion, the tone of the film suffered for it.

The humor and jokes were humorous, I’m not saying they wasn’t. I genuinely laughed out loud in the moment. But I also feel that, with the majority of the comedy that was wedged into the narrative, the film suffered for it.

Now let’s move on a bit to the actual plot of the film. Again, forgive me if I bounce a bit:

Jeremy Renner was breathtakingly heartbreaking as Clint Barton. Renner was finally allowed to stretch his legs a bit in this film and he proved that, had he been given the chance, he would have given us a Clint Barton to take our breath away.

Watching with Clint as his family died helped to set what should have been the tone for the majority of the film from there on while reminding us of just what was lost and just what was at stake all at the same time.

Chris Evans brought heart to his portrayal of a Steve Rogers who seems both lighter and more weighted down in this film than ever before.

Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha finally showed more emotion than “head tilt”, “lip purse”, and “arched brow” and it was beautiful.

The brief flash of friendship and affection between Nebula and Tony was perfect and heartwarming as well. Nebula was magnificent as the “feral space cat desperately in need of softness and a friendly hand” when placed side by side with a slowly withering Tony Stark who is, even at his lowest moments, still kind to this alien cyborg he doesn’t know but to who he owes his life. They flowed together with an onscreen chemistry in their few moments side by side that felt organic and aching.

Together Tony and Nebula embodied a truly important life/plot point of “meet kindness with kindness and kindness will be your reward”.

Moving forward in time hearing Tony vent his anger and his pain and his distrust at Steve was cathartic in a lot of ways.

As was watching Tony rip the arc reactor from his chest and slap it into Steve’s hand.

In this moment Tony is handing Steve his metaphorical broken heart and leaving someone else to, for once, try and pick up the pieces.

But then, unfortunately, things go rather steeply down hill from there.

With Tony out for the count in a hospital bed the others hunt down and execute Thanos with basically a hand wave and all hope for the stones is lost.

Until deus ex rat-ina unleashes Scott Lang from the quantum realm and the logic of the film takes a sharp left turn.

Scott Lang was missing for 5 years.

To him it was 5 hours.

To which I say, why did Janet van Dyne, age during her stay in the quantum realm? If, according to the MCU canon, every year in our world was roughly only an hour for Scott Lang, then why didn’t Janet come out of the quantum realm only 30 hours older instead of 30 years?

I feel like the answer is probably “because” but yeah maybe I’m just fuzzy on my Ant Man so if I’m wrong then just ignore that bit please.

Also, just a side note, I adore how it’s been 5 years, Wakanda is very much an ally and still up and running, and yet Rhodey still don’t have working legs. But alas, racism.

Moving on.

So with the main villain dead and Tony Stark having solved time travel in his living room, because I stan legends only, we’re now subjected, and that is the very word I’d use to describe what happens next, to what is called a Time Heist.

Cute.

Also Bruce Banner and Hulk have now merged Steven Universe style despite Hulk being scared green-less 5 years ago. But that’s all good, Bruce smoked a ton of weed, they meditated, went on a cleanse or whatever.

Either way Bruce finally did that character development that everyone had been shouting at him since Avengers 2012 and accepted Hulk as part of him and they’re now Dr. Hulk which was … something that happened?

A thing that they chose to do. The direction in which they set their narrative wheels and then powered full steam ahead and plowed us right over in the process.

But yeah, Time Heist! That’s the way to go, the only way apparently.

Because going back in time to stop the Snappening isn’t an option due to reasons that are explained and still look and feel paper thin but probably just honestly boils down to “Russos”

Our intrepid heroes will now split up and surf through time Bill and Ted style to collect the Stones from different points in history.

Yay.

So the rest of the film is basically that, a big old jewel hunt through space and history where the Russos attempt to fool us into thinking their plot points are cohesive and cool by donkey punching us repeatedly in our nostalgia-sacks.

We’re treated to, in no particular order, such hits as:

“Ah 2012 and the invasion of New York only not as interesting but Tony Stark is very much an ass man, but then we been done known that.”

“The Ancient One and her still very distracting skull vein coming at you right now”

“LOKI YOU LITTLE SHIT”

“The one time I envied Scott Lang because, for a split second, he got to be inside Tony Stark”

“Let’s watch Tony Stark simultaneous take a Hulk to the face and have a small cardiac event all at the same time but from different angles”

And let us not forget

“Tee Hee Hee us white bois just had to find a way to make sure Captain America say “Hail HYDRA” but it was for “spy reasons” so weren’t we clever???????”

Yeah boys, great job.

So edgy.

(Although as a side note I do agree, Steve Roger’s ass really is America’s ass and I’d like to thank him for that. Personally.)

But then, of course, Endgame would not have been complete without:

“Steve Rogers stares longingly and creepily at Peggy Carter from behind a window, further backing up his one defining character trait in the MCU which is the inability to move on. Also she doesn’t look up at all despite being a trained spy and all around badass who probably should have noticed the 6 foot slab of American Beef staring at her from less than a foot away, dark room or no dark room.”

And then my personal favorite:

“Tony Stark sees Howard Stark, the father he described as “calculating, cold, he never told me he was proud of me, never even told me he loved me” but it’s all good cause Tony’s a dad now so looking back all he sees are the good times with his emotionally neglectful and abusive father who says there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his unborn kid and now they awkwardly hug while I try not to scream “FOOTAGE NOT FUCKING FOUND HOWARD AND NO THAT ONE 3 MINUTE VIDEO DOESN’T COUNT YOU SHIT” at the screen and explode in pure rage.”

Joy.

Truly a scene that was necessary and fit the narrative of Howard Stark’s personality and was needed for Tony to uh get closure or grow as a man and a father or something …

It totally wasn’t yet another excuse to give a canonically abusive father screen time in a way that seems genial and sweet in an attempt to give them a bit of redemption that they neither earned nor deserve.

But yeah, whatever, moving on.

Also Rhodey remains an absolute gem and he and Nebula get shit done.

Only oops, not so fast.

Because apparently the only one who is going to run into the whole “two of you can’t exist in one place at one time without consequences” rule is Nebula who, despite her bitchin orange stripe/badge of character development, managed to like synch up with her past self?

Because she didn’t turn her bluetooth/quantum entanglement function off I guess.

Either way Orange Stripe Nebula, O’Snebula as I call her, has accidentally air dropped all her files into OG Nebula’s mental iPhone.

So yeah now big old Past Grimace knows what’s up.

Ooops??

So shit goes down and then Past Grimace is like “you need to Trogan horse this shit, least favorite daughter” so OG Nebula does because “daddy issues”.

Dr. Hulk puts on the gauntlet and Kentucky fires his arm bringing all the people lost in the Snappening back to life now, 5 years after they got dusted.

Which is … honestly a recipe for disaster in so many ways. What about the people, like the guy in Steve’s support group, who have started to move on?

What about the people who have remarried, have built new lives?

All of that’s ruined now.

It’s fantastic all those people are alive again but jobs, housing, food, healthcare, government, all of it is back in massive disarray across the universe.

And bringing those people back does nothing to bring back the people who didn’t die in the Snappening but died from causality instead. All the deaths caused by suicides, by car/bus/train/plane/ship/etc crashes, by a lack of first responders, by the civil/world/interplanetary wars that probably raged across the universe due to entire governments disappearing?

All of those people are still dead.

The Snappening killed half of all life in the universe. Causality probably killed another good ¼ after that.

And Dr. Hulk’s Un-Snappening saves none of them.

This isn’t a true solution, it’s a shitty band-aid.

But yeah, Russos so….

Moving on.

Yadda Yadda Yadda, plot plot plot. OG Nebula goes undercover, Past Grimace ends up in the future, there’s some fighting (which was admittedly BAD ASS), shit happens, and Tony saves the day like we all knew he would.

YAY!

Despite the massive rambling up above I’m not gonna plot out the entire movie right here though a lot will probably get covered coming up because here’s where I get down and start talking about the various character arcs too.

Because what a wild fucking ride those were.

Okay to take it from the top Scott Lang’s arc was fine. Beyond my questions about the quantum realm his was clear cut and fine although I do wonder at his luck at being, apparently, the only Scott Lang in San Fran to go missing. Well either that or he was staring at some other Scott Lang’s name instead of his own and in that case “awkward”.

Bruce’s arc was … look I could have done without all of the cringy Dr. Hulk stuff that they played up for laughs. If they were gonna brush Hulk being terrified under the rug they could have found a better way to do it besides just erasing the duality between Hulk and Banner with a hand wave.

But yeah, Russos.

Carol Danvers was beautiful and magnificent and completely brushed aside. Yes she was out in the universe handling shit, yes I know they did that so they could focus on the core Avengers, etc etc etc.

But it’s a damn shame that Carol Danvers, and her glorious haircut, was reduced to being the sorely needed and totally badass cavalry and last minute ace in the hole when she should have, logically, been a part of the vanguard. Honestly I have thoughts on why Carol’s entire character should have been saved completely for the next phase of the MCU instead of introduced so late in this one but I digress.

O’Snebula was a perfect shining bionic light and I love her.

Gamora is now alive in the future but at what cost? Not that her life isn’t worth something on its own, it totally is and she deserved the loophole resurrection 10000%.

Shit’s gonna be awkward though cause she doesn’t love Quill, she doesn’t love the Guardians, doesn’t really know O’Snebula or the universe she’s been thrown into. She doesn’t have the memories or the experiences or the character growth and even if she does go back to her family she’ll never be the same person.

Now her and Quill’s relationship, if they ever have one again, will be reduced down to Quill going “you fell in love with me once you could do it again despite us no longer having the shared experiences that bonded us together”. Same can be said for the rest of the Guardians as well.

Guess we all know what the plot of GotG 3 is gonna be about.

And that brings us to the story lines that really and truly upset me.

Which is basically all the rest of them.

Natasha/Clint’s combined story-line, Thor’s everything, Steve’s … Steve, and then finally Tony.

Now the Natasha/Clint story-line started out promising.

Clint’s rage and pain was obvious, his heartbreak poignant. His decision to use all of those to cut a bloody swathe through the criminal underworld was both Dramatic(™) and understandable.

Natasha’s love and grief for him, her desperate attempts to hold onto what she has left by throwing herself into her new job, was a perfect demonstration that Natasha Romanoff is very much not a robot. She was exhausted, frayed at the edges, and she had tears in her eyes, over Clint. And then she pulled herself together, slipped her mask back on, and pushed her way forward. This was all excellent.

It was also a nice narrative callback/parallel to have Natasha be the one to go out and bring Clint in from the cold.

Natasha plays touch stone, plays stability, for Clint and for many of the others. For the first time Natasha is truly portrayed as a person all the way down to the core instead of some witty quips in a catsuit. Plus her eyebrows finally came back from the war and her hair looked good again. So there was that.

Clint and Natasha’s arc comes to a climax on Vormir as they search for the Soul Stone and Red Skull, the Nazi cockroach that he is, gives them the same spiel he gave Thanos.

To get the Soul Stone you must give up the life of the one you love the most. A soul for a soul.

Narrative wise this is consistent, we all knew this would happen as soon as they started searching for the Stones again. It was obvious.

It was also obvious that Clint was the perfect sacrifice.

He’s got nothing left, his family is dead, he’s already lost the people he loves the most, he’s spent five years being a borderline monster.

And he is also, without a doubt, the thing that Natasha loves the most.

Clint was ready and willing to go, ready to die for the blood on his hands, ready to sacrifice himself for the chance that his family would be saved.

Ready to lay down on the wire and let Natasha walk over him for the sake of everything.

Clint dying made sense, was narratively sound, and heartbreaking.

All of which are only a few of the reasons why Natasha’s death was such a goddamn betrayal.

Instead of following along with the narratively sound death of Clint Barton, an Avenger that’s been ignored for most of the films as is, the Russo brothers instead chose to fridge Natasha.

Clint dying would have been the perfect mirror to Gamora’s death.

Gamora was a daughter unwillingly sacrificed by her father to destroy half of all life in the universe.

Clint would have been a father willingly sacrificed by a friend to save half of all life in the universe, his own sons and daughter included.

But no, we didn’t get that, instead we got a gratuitous scene of Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, splayed angel like and bloody on the rocks below.

Instead they fridged the Black Widow, the only woman of the original Big Six, because they couldn’t bring themselves to fridge a man.

So Clint gets the Soul Stone.

Such a fitting end for the Black Widow right? Dying in a man’s place, mourned on screen by a circle of men, but ultimately set aside rather quickly.

I understand why Natasha wanted to be the one to go, I understand that she didn’t want Clint’s family to lose their husband/father and that her true family was the Avengers. I get that. It doesn’t mean I enjoy or agree with the decision they made any more.

It doesn’t make me any less tired of watching female characters die for the sake of men and their families.

Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself for the universe and her family and that deserves respect even if I absolutely hate it as a narrative choice.

Oh and what about the absolute NERVE of the Russos to have that awesome Lady Power Battle Strut happen but only after they killed Natasha, one of the Big Six?

Bitter? Me? Nooo.

Now, moving on to Thor.

Thor.

Oh my actual God, Thor.

The levels of disrespect Thor, Chris Hemsworth, and the fans were shown with this character arc/story-line in Endgame is breathtaking.

The absolute, shameless disrespect.

They turned Thor into a cowardly, drunken slob who has spent the last 5 years ignoring his responsibilities to what’s left of his people and instead has spent his time drinking, sulking, and literally yelling at kids over PSN??

Endgame’s Thor has the bullshit reasoning that he needs to stop trying to be who he thinks he should be and instead be who he is.

Which flies completely in the face of literally all of his character development from Thor all the way to Thor 3 and then Infinity War.

The entirety of Thor 3 was Thor’s hero’s journey culminating in him finally being the king he was always meant to be. Finally maturing and stepping forward to lead his people.

I am supposed to believe that Thor, depressed and guilty or not for not killing Thanos when he had the chance the first time, just abandoned his people like that?

I’m supposed to believe that Thor would piss all over everything the majority of his family and friends died for?

I’m supposed to believe that Heimdall, Loki, countless soldiers, and The Warrior’s Three and Lady Sif (I guess), all died to protect Asgard, died for the people and for Thor, and Thor just what? Turns his back on all of that to become a drunk?

No, Thor wouldn’t do that. Thor should have been down there beside Valkyrie working those fishing vessels when Bruce and Rocket came calling. If Thor had any hesitance to join them it should have been, “I can’t abandon my people, I am needed here.” He should have been fiercely guarding the tiny fraction of Asgard that’s left.

Thor’s depression and guilt was valid. Don’t mistake me on that. But they played it for jokes. They made him a caricature of depression, made him “gross” and incompetent and the butt of the jokes, and in the process diminished what should have been a painful and poignant arc for Thor.

Instead we got Big Lebowski Thor, bathrobe included, who does stand up and fight yes but, in the end, gives up his crown and just fucks off to space to have petty pissing competitions with Peter Quill so he can?? find himself?? despite finding himself in Ragnarok already???

Thor’s entire arc in Endgame was shallow, mishandled, and disrespectful to the character, to Chris Hemsworth, and to the fans.

You, we, he, all deserved better than this.

Now we get to Steve.

Steve Rogers, Captain America himself.

I’ve had a lot of salt about Steve’s character and actions in the MCU but, all of that aside, he deserved so much more than what the Russo’s did to him in Endgame.

Hell he’s deserved so much more than what’s been done to him since post-CA:TFA.

But this is about Endgame specifically soooo….

Steve’s shown leading a support group in the beginning of Endgame, is shown talking about moving on and moving forward and learning to let go. Which is wonderful. It sounds like the exact character development we’ve all been waiting for for Steve.

Which is, of course, the exact moment when Steve goes “nah just kidding, we don’t ever move on”.

Which, given the circumstances, is pretty fair. If Steve was only thinking/talking about Thanos and the events of Infinity War.

But of course he wasn’t.

CA:CW should have been the end of the Peggy Carter saga for Steve. He mourned her, he was finally moving forward, he’d kissed Sharon, he threw everything away to save Bucky, he gave up his shield, etc etc.

But no. Endgame finds him right back there, clutching that goddamn compass, and making moon eyes at a woman who we all thought went on and lived a life without him, got married, had kids, and generally existed outside of Steve Rogers.

But no. The Russo’s had to take that away from us too.

And yes yes I know I know multiverse or whatever but still.

Steve steamrolls his way through Endgame with skill and determination. He picks up Thor’s hammer, finally worthy, which how??? Why??? (perhaps because he’s no longer keeping secrets??? Or maybe that’s just my salt talking? Who knows? Not me?)

And then he fights Thanos head to head.

(Although him wielding the hammer brought up an entire separate set of issues cause I’m pretty sure Mjolnir doesn’t actually summon lightning. Ragnarok pretty much said that the lightning has always been within Thor. Mjolnir was just a control accessory. But, you know, Russos *jazzhands*)

And then, in the end, he insists on returning the Stones on his own.

Only he doesn’t come back like he was supposed to.

Instead we’re given old Steve Rogers.

Because Steve returned the Stones and then ….went and found Peggy Carter and got married and lived an entire life with her ignoring everything he would have known was going to happen to her and around the both of them or something???

Or maybe not if the multiverse thing holds up but then who knows any more???

But then how did Old Steve end up right there by that lake on that day at that right time if he’s technically from a different multiverse???

Either way Sam gets his shield and the mantle of Captain America, which was fantastic, and Bucky more than likely knew Steve’s plan all along but the best read I really got on him was basically “eh” so he might well have been happy for Steve too.

But still, instead of finally achieving peace and continuing to learn to live in the future with Bucky and Sam and the remnants of the Avengers, his family and the life he’s built there over the past years, instead of putting the shield down because he’s learned to let go in the now, Steve only puts the shield down because he chooses the past.

He chooses the past over all of that and all of the people left who love him. Sure the argument could be said that he knew they’d be alright but still.

There is a deep well of dissatisfaction inside of me as to how Steve’s entire ending arc was handled. Why did peace only come to Steve after Tony and Natasha were both dead and then was only found in the past?

No disrespect to Peggy Carter, I adore her, but were the relationships he had in the future worth so little that the past was the only place he could find happiness? A past with a woman that he knows loved him but still moved on and found happiness outside of him, lived a full and happy life without him?

Steve didn’t get a character arc so much as he got a character circle. A character loop. He went right back to where he started.

Endgame erases all of the character development Steve underwent post-Avengers. Just brushes it all under the rug.

The Russo’s stole the character development Steve Rogers spent a decade undergoing to give him their version of a happy ending.

They robbed him and us both of every bit of growth and forward motion Steve has underwent and I will never forgive them for that.

And now we get to Tony Stark.

Anthony Edward Stark.

The Iron Man.

Tony’s arc is, was, the longest and best developed arc in the entirety of the MCU.

It’s spanned 10+ years and has been nurtured and hand fed by Robert Downey Jr.

If Endgame got one thing right, one thing at all, it’s how they handled the majority of Tony’s arc.

From him laying the smack down on Steve once he was home, finally venting his emotions and his anger, all the way to him solving time travel before tucking his kid into bed, and then building an Infinity Gauntlet on his own even though Thanos committed genocide to get the one he had.

Tony Stark’s arc was glorious and expected and sad.

I think that my one almost complaint is that Tony stopped for 5 years. On one hand he deserved the rest, deserved the chance to find happiness. He was hurt and tired and he’d faced his demons and been left bleeding out with the death of half the universe weighing on his shoulders.

He deserved to just stop for a while.

On the other hand stopping is not something Tony has ever been good at, just like Pepper said. A part of me thought Tony would be working, frantically, to find something, anything, to turn back the hands of time. To track Thanos down. To get the Stones and then to get everything else back.

To get Peter and all of the others back.

But that’s not the route they went and I’m … okay? I guess, with that.

Tony was validated and vindicated and everyone would have finally listened to him. It only took the death of half of the universe to do it. But he was too tired, too hurt and untrusting to keep pushing. I can respect that.

But of course once an idea worms its way inside Tony can’t let it go. So he solves time travel on the fly and sets out to save the world.

Again.

His one stipulation is that he will do anything, everything, he has to in order to keep what he has now. His wife Pepper and Morgan, his sweet little daughter.

So of course he doesn’t get to do that either.

After all of the blood, sweat, suffering, and mental illnesses, Tony doesn’t get his happy ending. Not really.

He gets to rest, yes, but he loses out on everything he wanted to do with his kid. In the process of saving the universe he becomes the one thing he never wanted to be for Morgan, a distant father.

A face on a screen, stories, memories other people have.

No matter how many holograms or inventions or whatever Tony left to Morgan, it’ll never replace him.

Morgan got 5 years with her father. She’ll spend the rest of her life hearing stories about him, about how much of a hero he was. And hopefully, with Pepper and all the others behind her, Tony will remain a hero to her and will not, instead, become her version of Captain America. An untouchable symbol that Morgan will never live up to.

So, in the end, Tony sacrifices once again.

Watches the future he wanted crumble to dust in his fingers, lightning scorching him from the inside out as infinity rips him apart.

And he dies there, surrounded by some of the people who love him best.

His best friend.

His wife.

The son he almost had.

And, despite all of that, it is very very fitting that his death was at his own hands.

Thanos could take out half the universe, he could traverse time and space, he could humble Thor, terrorize the Hulk, rip Steve Roger’s up, survive shield and hammer and so much more, but the one thing he couldn’t do?

He couldn’t kill Tony Stark.

The only thing that could kill Iron Man, could kill Tony Stark, was his own heart.

Tony Stark takes the Infinity Stones in hand knowing how this is going to end, knowing that Stephen Strange set him on this path years ago.

Because didn’t Strange warn him? Didn’t Strange tell him outright “I’ll let the kid and you both die to protect the Time Stone”?

Tony just never expected it to take a few hours and then 5 more years for Strange’s promise to finally be fulfilled.

So Tony does it knowing that after everything he’s been through, all of the pain and the suffering and the battles, it was only enough to have earned 5 years of happiness, 5 years of his dream.

5 years of being the father he always swore he’d be.

Tony Stark takes the Infinity Stones and dies for the entire universe, for his family, for his daughter. Dies knowing that he’ll be doing the one thing he didn’t want to do, swore he would never do.

Leaving them behind.

Tony Stark brings us full circle as he stands as both equal and mirror of Thanos once again.

Man to Titan. Good Father to Bad Father. Life to Death.

Tony Stark picks up the weight of the universe and then he dies making sure that it has a future free from the same fear that has haunted him for a decade.

A warm light for all mankind, sent to sleep, to rest, knowing that finally everything will be okay.

And all he had to do was die for it.

So, I’ll close this out saying this:

This was written in one solid push after my first viewing and Endgame was dissatisfying for me as you might have guessed. I am disappointed and angry at so much they chose to do to end out this iconic decade of cinema and to close out these character’s arcs.

There were a lot of points and little details I didn’t get to cover in this and perhaps a lot of points you might not agree with me on.

That’s okay.

Because, no matter what, there is one thing I know for sure.

We, I, will always have Tony Stark and the lessons he taught me. The pain he endured and shared with all of us. The bravery and strength he inspired in so many of us as we watched him struggle with physical and mental illnesses on screen. As we watched him obsess and stress and love and grow.

I have never loved a character more than I love Tony Stark.

I have never been impacted by a character as much as I have been by Tony Stark.

I’m not sure if I ever will again.

So, Tony Stark is Iron Man.

He always will be.

And he saved more than just some fictional universe.

He saved a lot of us along the way too.

And we’ll always love him for that.

#MCU wank #Avengers Endgame #avengers 4 #Avengers #Endgame #A:4

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ads1008 · 4 years

Text

Letters of the heart

January 16

Dear, Tony

As I am sitting and writing this letter it is 8:00 pm. This means it’s 4:00 am and that means you have either fallen asleep on your lab bench because you refuse to go to bed because you made some kind of scientific discovery or you could be getting ready for work. You will be pouring your fourth cup of coffee and running out the door because you forgot a meeting. Am I wrong? Please tell me if I am. Tell everyone I miss them a lot. But you know I miss you the most. It’s no big deal. It’s only been a month. It’s really cold here. Tell Natasha I hate her home country. Please write back because this will be the first of many.

Love, Steve Rogers

February 14

Dear Steve,

No, you were not lying. And actually, I was in the lab. I figured out we can have more affordable clean air. Isn’t that cool we can finally breath in New York with coughing up a lung. Today is Valentine’s day and I miss you a lot more today than normal, but I have a surprise waiting for you when you get home. Here’s a hint, it involves that thing you like. Yep, that one. You can’t see my face right now, but I am laughing my ass off because I know you just got incredibly red in the face. What I am actually going today instead of sulking because I miss your big arms wrapped around me. Rhodey and I are going to watch every cheesy Rom com know to man and eat our weight of chocolate cover strawberries. So, an update on the fam. Dummy is still being Dummy but he keeps rolling around looking for you not realizing you are away. Bucky and Natasha are going really strong. You didn’t hear this from me, but I hear wedding bells in their future. Clint stuck in the dumpster out back, so Thor is trying to get him out. Bruce is actually doing a conference in Chicago. Sam went on a date with a girl that only had six toes. Yeah, you are going have to ask him about that one. We all miss you. Definitely me than the others but I do enjoy having all of the blankets to myself at night. Miss you, Cap.

Ps. There are two pictures in the envelope. One is of everybody and the other one you should look at when you are by yourself trust me ;).

Love Tony

April 24

Tony, I am so sorry, this letter is coming to you so late. You are probably worried sick, and I can’t even imagine how you are sleeping. I just want to let you I am okay. I am safe. It just had been one hell of a month. My group of men and I got capture by the enemy. It was fun not really. I’m not going to tell you the gory details because it will just freak you at more. I am safe and everything is okay. I’m Captain America damn it nothing can stop me. In all seriousness, it has been hell here and very rough. I can’t wait to be back home in our bed. I can just curl right next to you and never let go. I miss my snuggle bug. I also that photo you sent was terrible but in the best way. It accidentally fell out and a couple of the guys saw. They had a real field day with. There was no stopping them. It just would be better to be able to see the real thing in person. I also have a present for you too, but you get no hints. Trust me you will love it. I’m glad to hear everyone is doing really good. Tell Bucky to not propose till I get back. This man is terrible at planning so I will need to help him. With Sam, that’s going to be the first question I ask when I get back. I hate to cut this short, but I have to go. I miss you Tones. I love you so much. More then you would ever know.

Love, Steve

May 29

Tony went to sit down and write a letter back to Steve. Tony was struggling to put all of his thoughts down on paper. It had been close to six months since Steve went off on his mission and they but still had another three months to go. Tony thought how do you write a letter sounding like everything is okay even though you were about to fall apart. He couldn’t tell Steve that even though Steve would totally understand. Steve had enough to worry about and after it took two months to hear from him again almost sent Tony off the edge. Good thing he had the support group of all their friends. Tony took a deep breath and started to write out his feelings. No more everything is good back home letters. When all of a sudden he heard a knock on his bedroom door. “Jarvis, I told you to not let anyone bother me for at least two hours.” Tony stood up and strolled over to the door and opened to find a very handsome and very happy Steve Rogers. “I’m so sorry sir but I thought you wouldn’t mind this interruption.” “You are absolutely right Jarvis. I don’t mind at all.” Steve wrapped Tony up into his arms and kissed him hard. Tony kept backing up with Steve following each of his steps and until Tony landed flat on his back onto the bed. Steve wasn’t too far behind. “I missed you so much. You know I think I might be done with this whole Captain America gig. Settle down and live my days out with you in this exact position.” Tony giggled, “Maybe not this exact position” They untangled and sat up to just look deeply into each other’s eyes. Tony almost forgot how there was some green in Steve’s eyes. “I have my present for you. Do you want it now? ““Give me, give me, now. Please.” Steve took off his old dog tags and placed them around Tony’s neck. The stop right on the arc reactor to show their two hearts were connected. Tony placed his hand on them not wanting to let go. “Oh, Steve. I love them. It gives a little bit of your past and a little bit of you I can carry around with me everywhere.” “I just felt it was a good thing for you to have in case I’m not here for some reason. Now can I have my present?” Tony leaned over to the side table drawer and pulled out a small black box. “Will you marry me?” inside the box was a simple ring made out of viburnum and going through the middle was the same blue element keeping Tony alive. Steve grabbed Tony and pulled him closer into a kiss. Steve didn’t want to let go but Tony needed an answer, or he would have a panic attack. “So, this means we beat Bucky and Nat in the whole proposal game” Steve chuckled. “So, that means yes.” “Well yeah, I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I want to live with you forever and raise a family together. I could never say no. Now, where’s my other present.” “Jarvis lock the doors. We need no disturbance for at least five hours” Tony smirked. “Make it eight.” Steve chimed in.

#stony #stevetony #SUPERHUSBANDS #ash's blurbs

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hackedmotionsensors · 5 years

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Here we go Endgame lets talk about it!

BELOW THE CUT

So I’ll say this!!! Over all!!! I liked it a lot. For a lot of reasons.

I also HAAAATTTEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD a lot of some of the choices. That’s okay. We can have mixed feelings about movies especially the end of a saga. I think they did a good job of getting nods where they needed nods, bringing in storylines from previous movies and conversations that needed to happen.

And they fucking whiffed it on at least THREE REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS!!!

So lets start with what I liked.

1) STEVE TONY EVENT. DO YOU HEAR ME IT WAS A STEVE TONY EVENT aaaah oh my god. From the second Tony lands back on the planet and Steve RUNS to him before even Pepper and he’s holding him and just the look of agony as Pepper takes him away and the fight where Tony says ALL THE SHIT WE HAD BEEN SAYING!!!! WHERE WERE YOU! YOU LIAR!!! and he RIPS HIS HEART OFF OF HIS CHEST AND GIVES IT TO STEVE BECAUSE YOU FUCKING BROKE HIS HEART YOU FUCKING FUCKED UP STEVE!!!!! FUCKK!!!! And then reconciling because “Resentment is corrosive” UGHHH!!! And Steve just barely containing himself when Tony shows up ughh!! UGHHH!!!!!!! AND THE ASS JOKE!!! THERE’S NO HETEROSEXUAL EXPLANATION ABOUT THAT!!!! TONY SAW STEVES ASS AND WAS LIKE TAN FRANCED IT LIKE BITCH YOU NEED AN FRENCH TUCK OF MY DING DONG IN YOUR BUTT!!! and Steve over the intercom being like “omg tony not in front of the kids” AND A STEVETONY SOLO MISSION!!!!!!

A STEVE TONY...

SOLO

MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TONY CALLING STEVE MY MAN WOW. WOW. FUCKING EXCELLENT ON ALL ACCOUNTS THANKS SO MUCH!! I was given some bread thank you I will eat this stevetony bread nom nom nom nom nom.

2) Tony’s arc in this story was really beautiful. He finally got what he wanted, some perspective and closure with Howard. And I know initially you want to go “Hey Howard was really abusive” and yeah he was. But its complicated. Because Tony even says in Homecoming he was trying to break the cycle of abuse and he DID with Peter and Morgan. You can see just HOW MUCH he cares for his daughter and he was willing to say fuck you to the UNIVERSE in favor of not losing her. Its always a different perspective when you see your parents as people and not as YOUR PARENTS.

Also Tony lying on the table with Natasha UuU. A lot of the interactions with Tony and the other characters were so good. Tony and Rocket. Tony and Nebula. Tony and Carol (tho brief). Tony arguing with Pierce like his little gay senses were like “This guys a nazi I bet”

3) I genuinely liked the Time Heist. I DID NOT LIKE THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL IN THIS MOVIE BUT I’LL GET TO THAT. But I looooved the Time Heist. From the New York stuff with Steve fighting Steve and knowing his dumbass loses his shit when he hears things like “Bucky’s still alive” and being done with his own stupid shit “I can do this all day” “YEAH I KNOW” (which btw at this point was basically the last thing he said to Tony in Civil War so maybe that doesn’t have its plucky little fire anymore and now is a sore spot). I loved Loki running away with the Space Stone (even tho as of now I’m still not sure what the FUCK THAT MEANS!? more on that in a sec) Loki making fun of Cap. Loki rolling his eyes at Odin. Tony dressed in a shield outfit screaming Medic!!! The gang all on the elevator and Hulk screaming about it and LOKI WAVING HIS HAND AT THE HULK AS THE DOORS SHUT!! TONY SITTING ON THE BRIEFCASE! SCOTT GOING “how the FUCK did you not know they were Hydra LOOK AT THEM They’re a COP!” Then jumping forward to the 70s and Steve’s legs that went all the way up to his asshole and Tony dressed as a doctor

I drew a doodle of it here you go lol I’ll post it properly later

oh did this not happen? Idk what movie you were watching.

4) The big battle at the end was SO FUCKING COMIC BOOK I WAS LOSING IT. Also I keep calling it the Battle of Five Armies or Return of the King lol T’challa BATHED IN A HALO OF LIGHT LIKE YES WE STAN A KING. MY WIFE

MY.

WIFE!!!!!!!!

VALKYRIE!!! ON HER BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE!!!! (also not being given an actual name and called Valkyrie is the funniest goddamn thing. Like that’s like going into a Footlocker and talking to the manager but calling them Manager)

CAROL!!!!!! WITH HER BUTCH ASS HAIRCUT PUNCHING THANOS IN THE MOUTH AND WRECKING HIS SHIT

WANDA FINALLY FUCKING FLYING. LIKE. F L Y I N G. THAT is what the Scarlet Witch is SUPPOSED TO DO!! SHE’S SUPPOSED TO BE SO POWERFUL IT TOOK EVERYONE TO TAKE HER DOWN CMON!!!!!! And she almost got him too. Honestly if it were down to Carol and Wanda they probably could have ended Thanos alone.

Korg coming back for more comic relief AND PUTTING HIM IN TAIKA’S PINEAPPLE ONESIE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING.

5) This is controversial. And I know it won’t age well. And that’s okay and feel free to disagree with me entirely.

But I liked Fat Thor lmfao. I know it was played as a joke for the wrong reasons but I laughed. I was like fuck yes his belly looks like mine and that’s not why it was funny and it SHOULDN’T BE but I laughed lol. But on the other hand I think it had partially to do with Hemsworth constantly being like “no no we don’t need a shirtless scene” or just sort of a gag at how Marvel always has a shirtless scene and its just kind of funny to have it not be someone cut. EVEN THOUGH its a fat suit and I can’t take off my fat suit but Hemmy can and that’s kinda shitty.

but I laughed. I can’t help it. He was a whole ass mess and I thought it was funny. And I know there are Thor fans out there who wanted more for him but like I said before this was a SteveTony event. This movie and this win worked because it was Steve and Tony finally coming together again.

It felt honestly the most comic book Avengers of the entire series.

And true to comic book events

it whiffed the landing.

Before I get into dislikes I’ll say that I liked this movie more than I disliked it. I cried H A R D at the end of the movie. Because its not a movie that’s an on its own kind of movie. You had to have gone through the journey to get here. The pay off is completely lost if you only watch this movie. Or you only watch one or two of the MCU. Or if you’re like a few people I’ve talked to where they only like Steve and Tony. Or they only like Thor and Loki. Or they only like the Guardians and hate the avengers. If you have hate in your heart for any of these characters the payoff of this movie is pretty much lost.

The theme of this movie is clearly about moving on when things come to an end. When things stop or end or we lose people we love you have to move on. Steve says that at the beginning of the movie to our apparent gay representative straight director Joe Russo.

But like Tony said before.

Steve’s a fucking liar lmfao

But lets not start there. Lets start with the fucking timeline.

I hate.

I H A T E EEEEEEEEE TIME TRAVEL!!!!!! AS A PLOT!!!!!!! WITHOUT ANY RULES!!!!!!!!!

I enjoyed what we SAW of the Time travel but the rules itself DIDN’T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE.

So when they’re suiting up Hawkeye for the test run Bruce explicitly says that all these movies that say “if you go into the past and fuck up the past you fuck up the timeline and the present/future is fucked because you’ve changed things”

ARE WRONG. HE SAYS THEY ARE WRONG. He says “If you go into the past. The past becomes your present. But the present then becomes your future. So you can’t go back and un fuck your parents to make you. Or kill baby Thanos. because that happened and you can’t change that but you can change youre present”

WHICH DOESN’T

MAKE ANY

FUCKING

SENSE. BECAUSE THEN YOU AREN”T TIME TRAVELING!!!!!!!!!

If you go into the past yes YOU are in your present but the world is still being written around you STILL so you go into the past and change something (loki making off with the space stone) that’s CHANGED. You’ve created a new reality.

THEY EXPLICITLY SAY THIS IN DOCTOR STRANGE AND Y’ALL I KNOW DOCTOR STRANGE WAS BORING AS HELL BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO USE TIME TRAVEL AS YOUR STORY DEVICE THEN YOU CAN’T SAY THAT SHIT IN DOCTOR STRANGE DOESN’T WORK WHEN YOU’VE ESTABLISHED IT AS THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL.

THE ANCIENT ONE EVEN SAYS “you create a new reality. And it fucks shit up”

LIKE!?!?!??!

WHAT THE HELL!!!

So now Loki has the time Stone in reality B, in reality A Steve goes back and puts the stones back where they belong (and I guess.....gives the soul stone to Red Skull????????? wouldn’t you try to get Natasha back????like that itself is a whole movie of Steve going back and putting things away but ??????)

And then we get to the end of the movie where Steve says Fuck you to Peggy’s reality A family and now on this timeline where they’ve time traveled he lived an entire life WITH Peggy but like.......you were Captain America and you just said “No don’t worry about JFK being assassinated. Or the Civil Rights movement. Or stopping Bucky in any capacity. Or maybe saving MLK. Or Peggy continuing to join SHIELD. Or stopping ACTUAL NAZIS from infiltrating SHIELD.

Because if you go with this idea that Steve went back and “lived a life” What did he DO then. What did he FUCKING. DO?

You’re not Steve from 1940s going back to 1940s. You’re Steve form 2019 going back to 1940s. No wifi. No medicine. No cell phones? Gays are still being persecuted. You can’t drink from the same fountain as black people (or rather they can’t drink from your white fountain).

You are.

CAPTAIN.

AMERICA.

and you just said nah fuck it its fine? This shit can all happen but I don’t super care because I get to dance with Peggy. Peggy who on her own had this whole life. Who did all this stuff IN YOUR NAME IN YOUR HONOR. Who married someone else. Who had a FAMILY. Who had a NIECE that you made out with. And just..... wha....

Like if he had gone back and danced with her but came back with Natasha in exchange for the soul stone but during his travels had aged. Or met someone else.

Like movie wise and story wise I get wrapping up Steve’s story. And maybe the person Peggy is talking about in the video of her in TWS is actually Steve from 2019. Maybe that’s it. But it still doesn’t make sense because they FUCKED UP THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL SO WHO THE FUCK KNOWS.

So. lol I wasn’t a huge fan of Steve at the end of the movie. I know they needed to do something to end the movie with a finality. With Steve being DONE. But instead of finality or closure I just have so many goddamn questions. And I don’t hold it against Evans or even really the directors per say. But I’ll blame Markus and McFeely because they were writing since TWS. They HAD the Cap STORYLINE to write about and that was how they ended it.

its like when you pack for a very important trip and you plan out all your outfits but then wake up late and end up throwing whatever you can find into your suitcase and run out the door.

It felt final and not final.

But I’ll tell you this. From my perspective and obviously I’m going to skew it this way because its me and FEEL FREE to disagree with me.

He left because Tony and Natasha were dead. The two people that he felt the closest to (sorry Sam, Bucky and Sharon [who we didn’t even see as dusted wow]) were gone. Natasha and Steve had become a brother and sister. He would always come back for her clearly. Trying to cheer her up as she’s crying. Natasha understanding Steve’s feeling of being lost. Tony inspiring and fighting with Steve. Like that’s part of what I liked about this is taht you could really feel how Steve and Tony needed each other for this to work but also they needed to not hate each other.

Also I kinda knew the second Scott said “That’s a one way trip!!” before the 70s bit that Steve was going to stay in the past lol What an asshole.

Also I don’t think it was very UN-Captain America because I think people don’t always realize that a lot of the inspo for the MCU came ALSO from Ultimates. And if Ults Cap was able to go back to the past he would have in a heartbeat. Who was a more depressed Cap? Ults or MCU? I just don’t know.

Now.

Natasha.

This was another one I kind of saw coming from a mile away as soon as it was just the two of them on Vormir. I was kind of hoping they’d Hawkeye a way out of the deal by like throwing his daughters picture or something like that. Or that it would be Hawkeye. But they both had an upcoming movie/series so I didn’t know which way it went.

And then there was that big jump. And I was like oh my god they did it right

AND THEN THEY FUCKING DIDN’T.

Wow. Wowwwwwwwwww

Markus and McFeely

REALLY DID THAT

THE RUSSO BROTHERS REALLY DID THAT

THEY DID THE SAME FUCKING SCENE TWICE.

The first time you get because Thanos is a dick and abusive and he would absolutely throw his favorite daughter into the soul pit (which I guess Isn’t picky because she didn’t love him back she hated him but I guess its a one way street with the ol’ soul stone)

And they don’t say during that one (far as I remember) that its a permanent exchange.

But they sure emphasized this time. And they sure killed the original avenger who was the only girl on the team. Who never got a chance to live.

Who Whedon made herself call heself a monster because she can’t have a family and then she gets a found family and then SHE DIES. THEY KILL HER. AFTER HAVING A FAMILY.

WHAT THE FUCK. Like...my problems with Scarjo aside (which are similar with my problems with Paltrow) You DID. BLACK. WIDOW. FUCKING. DIRTY. I don’t care that there’s a movie coming out that was her story. You were supposed to give her a fucking story. And now her story is only how she relates to her TEAM OF MEN.

And now to my last point that I didn’t like. And I don’t hate this one as much as Steve’s ending or Natasha’s ending.

I don’t like that Tony died. I know this is wrapped up in a lot of emotions I have about Tony Stark the character. Robert Downey Jr the person. Tony Stark the character in all his forms is very important to me and I love that he has many forms. 616, Ults, AvAc, Avengers Assemble, the MCU. But his story is important to me. And its heartbreaking. I’m tearing up a bit now writing this out.

I’m just the type of person that hates that a character, in a fantasy setting where you have wizards, valkyries, robots, talking raccoons and trees, Dave Bautista, a giant green rage monster wearing chinos, that you have to take this one part and make it realistic. That we have to keep realism kill this character off because it doesn’t make sense if someone doesn’t die. Because the stakes aren’t high if you don’t make them personal as well.

Which is true like you don’t have high stakes (the planet or universe getting dusted) if you don’t are about some of the people in that universe personally.

I just would have rather he had retired. Moved onto his little farm with Pepper and Morgan.

I think they did right by Tony. Storywise, ending...all the stuff the dropped the fucking ball on with Natasha and Steve they gave to Tony. And on one hand I get it and I appreciate that because (sorry to nat and steve fans truly) I care more about Tony. Tony started this whole thing. In a miracle of accidents they got the right actor, the right story, the right character, the right director, the right timing technology wise, the right social mood and made solid gold. And none of this would have happened if it weren’t for that amazing accident that happened.

And I think it has more to do with not wanting to let go or move on even though i can always go back to Iron Man 1 at any point and start the journey over again and have a laugh but there’s always going to be that ending where its final. Its done. Its over. And in the simplest of terms. I don’t like it. You have to know when to bow out and I respect and appreciate that. I don’t wanna see Iron Man 8 with geriatric old RDJ trying to fumble into a mocap suit.

I understand. I appreciate. But I don’t have to like it as a person. And that’s okay.

Its all about moving on isn’t it? That’s the theme of the movie. Moving on.

Even if you’re steve and your moving on wipes out the existance of a whole other family lmfaaoidnsfasfada sorry sorry.

Okay. yeah that’s all I think I can think of. I’m sure there’s a ton more other people have mentioned aside from what I wrote. Like its a LONG movie and I think its hard to say hey “they fucked this up” or “they got this right” for EVERY SINGLE THING. There were so many characters. Nebula’s story could have been better. Thor’s story could have been more involved. Hawkeye could have been more important throughout the series. Janet could have come back for the final fight and healed Tony. Like there’s a ton of “this COULD have happened” But it didn’t. And that’s okay. It may not be right but its okay. I think they wrapped it up as best you could while still making a good movie. I think you probably can go back after a long while and look at the Endgame and go yeah that wasn’t so bad for an ending. Endings are hard to do with any sort of skill. Its why the joke that the third movie always sucks.

There’s still a ton of stuff to look forward to.

Falcon/Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Wanda and Vision (i GUESS??? lol), Black Widow’s movie.

Maybe Steve solved more than he let on who knows. WHO KNOWS. Maybe Mjolnir left him haflway through the journey when she knew he was going to ditch his 2019 family (who again....mostly dead now)

I love Tony 3000. Which I found out is more than a ton which makes Morgan Stark a lot smarter than I am lmfao

#avengers: endgame spoilers #endgame spoilers #avengers endgame spoilers #spoilers

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mrs-dragneel-stark-solo · 4 years

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Unforseen Chasm (part 40)

Part 40 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 7055 Warnings: Language, Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93 what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.