#I kinda get why Tony went mad

[zvdvdlvr]

— Drive All Night

— 🖊️. Synopsis. You’ve been quiet; more quiet than normal. Gibbs wants you to know that despite as stoic as he is, he does care. (inspired by ‘call your mom’ by noah kahan and lizzy mcalpine)

— 🖊️. Warnings. Ooc Gibbs but idc. Comfort fic kinda. I self project. Mentions suicide. Mentions Shannon and Kelly Gibbs.

— 🖊️. Tracklist. Track One Track Two Track Three Track Four Track Five

Gibbs looked over at your form, slumped over. He looked at his watch: 23:37. You were usually the person to stay late, to work on the things that were undesirable for everyone else. You hadn’t left the building earlier than 20:00 in months.

He knew why- or rather, knew of why you stayed late. Jenny had told him you had problems, problems taking care of yourself and neglecting yourself; sometimes choosing to take out your own anger and depression on yourself. But you were the best of the best. In fact, you were the best and the youngest. Aged twenty eight.

“Y/n.”

You snapped up, eyes landing on your boss’s. “What’s- what do you need?” You asked, setting your pen down and closing the file.

Gibbs watched you watch him, rigid in your chair.

He knew you were scared to trust; to open your heart and let people in. You had been working for NCIS and had only went out for drinks with the team thrice- Ducky’s birthday, Ziva’s birthday, and Abby’s birthday. You were included, but you seperated yourself for reasons unknown.

“I want to go for a drive. Come with me,” Gibbs said.

Lately, Gibbs had noticed how tired you were, closing your eyes for longer amounts of time, straight chugging your coffee, and getting in and leaving althe office after Gibbs got there. But you were efficient, getting not only your paperwork done, but working on most of Tony’s as well (something that made Gibbs unusually mad).

You were literally working yourself to death and chose to add more to the pile. Was it to get away from your thoughts? To get away from your home situation? What were you running from?

“I have work to do-“

Gibbs chuckled. “You’re the fastest agent to complete their paperwork. You do Tony’s. Tim’s, even. You’re more than ahead on your reports.”

You gnawed at your lip. “Sir, I’m getting ready to go home.”

Liar. Gibbs shook his head in amusement. “That’s an order, y/n.”

At that, you shut off your light and grabbed your coat. “Ok.”

The walk to the elevator was quiet. You wondered what Gibbs wanted. Were you getting fired? You had not done anything out of the ordinary recently… what could Gibbs want?

You climbed into the passenger seat and prayed you were keeping your job.

Gibbs started the truck and drove out of the parking lot. “So,” he started.

You didn’t say anything. You just looked out the window, taking in the life. “What do you want?”

“To know,” Gibbs replied. He turned down the radio and kept his eyes trained forward.

“Know about…?” You prompted, cutious as to what he wanted.

Gibbs shrugged. “You.”

“Y/n l/n, aged 28. My eyes are-“

“Not from your file.”

Silence fell. You didn’t have amything interesting to say about yourself other than the fact that you went to the gym and had an extensive collection of sunset polaroids. And there was no way Gibbs wanted to know about your childhood. That sould be disappointing. Disappointing to tell him about how ordinary and unimportant you were, your own family leaving you. It’s disappointing- exactly the reason why she did what she did: to be more than disappointing. In fact, you had a new reason not to be a disappointment: Gibbs. He, in your time at NCIS, had become one of the few people you never wanted to disappoint.

“Well then… I don’t know what you want to know,” you mumbled dully. Please, you thought, don’t let this change your opinion of me.

Gibbs looked over to see you already looking at him. He couldn’t see your expression, but you looked like you were already thinking about what he would say next.

“Tell me something, y/n. Anything.” Gibbs stated. He slowed down and turned left. He himself didn’t seem to have a destination, making you wonder how long Gibbs would drive around.

You didn’t want to talk, but you yearned for Gibbs to know, to look at everything you’ve gone through and done and understand why you are the way you are.

Of course you trust him, though. That’s not the problem for once. The problem is you don’t want Gibbs to get the wrong impression of you, or come to the conclusion that you’re a fraud or something.

“Tell me something about you first,” you shot back easily, relaxing a little bit into the seat.

So, Gibbs told you about a woman named Shannon and a beautiful baby girl named Kelly. He told you about Shannon’s rules, how he knew that she was the one. A young Leroy Gibbs knew that Shannon Fielding would be the love of his life.

And Gibbs also told you about the case that killed them: the gun, the bullet, and the casing. He told you about his habits after they died, how cold and snappy he was. He told you about- despite his madness- a certain Donald Mallard kept forcing his way into Gibbs’ life, making sure Gibbs knew he wasn’t alone.

“What I’m tryin’ to tell ya is… we are here for you, kid. You aren’t truly alone in this miserable world,” Gibbs finished quietly.

By now, Gibbs had parked in front of a house- his house?- and completely torn down the barrier between boss and coworker.

You weren’t gonna lie, you were crying by now. Tears silently streaming down your cheeks as the man you most admired and looked up to told you about the best and worst days of his life- all the while he had no idea about who you are.

“I didn’t-“ you started, sniffling. You turned to look at him, tears blurring your vision. Some of the phrases he had used to describe his pain rang in your ears and Gibbs knew it- he knew you could relate to some of the things he said and felt.

“Stay the night, kiddo,” Gibbs said, reaching over to pat your shoulder.

As he exited the truck, you felt more tears burning in your eyes: that pat on the back literally gave y/n a reason to live.

Maybe, y/n thought, all the lights that had shut off could turn back on.

[ender-reader]

DP X DC/Marvel Prompt 1#

sooo I've had this mind obsession about giant fluffy monsters so why not jam Danny and DC/Marvel into this mess to make a cool prompt?

Summary: Danny's been sealed away in an ancient temple. someone (could be a hero or a scientist that deals with ancient stuff, i forgot what they're called) finds the entrance but cant go past that. they call Batman/Tony and/or Constanaine/Dr.strange for help(probably along with one of the batkids or Spiderman). Chaos ensues.

What exactly happened to Danny: Danny's been sealed away in an ancient temple during a a time mission from CW that caused him to go in his eldritch horror form and getting sealed away in a temple using chains and of course: Blood blossoms but not to the extent that they continually hurt him, just enough to keep him sealed away, after all: if you hurt a baby ghost, it probably wont end well.

Note: this can be ghost king danny if you want.

and i know i got the characters wrong but im trying, its been a while since i watched marvel

onto the somewhat detailed prompt:

DP/Marvel(or DC, just change who the characters are):

Wang (i think that was his name? the guy that always doubts dr.strange but helps him anyways) has picked up a strange magic signature somewhere around Egypt, after he decided to go and investigate himself, he found an entrance to a sealed ancient temple with a few dead bodies nearly hidden by sand. When he tried to enter, he felt death magic pulse through him and he quickly moved his hand away, whatever was in there, whoever put the seal on this temple wanted to either keep whatever's outside out... or whatever's inside in. he didnt like this not one bit, he does the one thing that would make sense (kinda in his deep opinion): he goes to Steven Strange.

"So your telling me, that you found an ancient temple that's radiating 'infinite realm' kind of death magic and tried to enter it ON.YOUR.OWN?" Strange said rubbing his nose bridge with a sigh. "I dont get whats wrong with that? Death magic's still magic and you two are wizards." Tony said raising a judgemental eyebrow at Strange.

"yes thats true, BUT, infinite realm magic's not like normal magic, not even normal death magic." Wang explained raising a finger at the 'but'. "so? its still magic? or does it have diffrent properties?" Peter, tired of only listening decided to start asking some questions to understand the situation better.

"to understand infinite realm magic, first you need to know what are the infinite realms" Strange countered with a heavy tone, looking at Tony and Peter.

"Strange, we are not to speak of the dead so openly" Wang hissed turning to look at Steven. "oh come on, they're gonna find out eventually and you know it, better they know or one of them gets killed trying to find out." Strange said furrowing his brows glancing around him as if expecting something to attack him. Wang only grumbled sitting on a chair that was not there before.

"the infinite realms is a realm between worlds, like a pocket dimension. it is also known as the realm of the dead, the realm of ghosts, souls, and spirits. it is neither heaven or hell, it is were the dead go when they have too strong obsessions that keep them going, it is where the dead go when they don't want to let go of their life. it has its culture, rulers, ghost types, Gods and Goddesses called Ancients, islands of different shapes and sizes. it also has: A Ghost King, one who rules all the kingdoms, tribes and all ghosts in the infinite realms. they have the title of High King. They run on a substance called ectoplasm, which can be considered the main source of infinite realm magic.

Do not mess with the dead and they will not mess with you. Don't engage with infinite realm inhabitants because the risks are far too high. The last high king was Piriah Dark, he went mad and devoured worlds, not much is known about the new High King, all we know is that he was only around 2 death years old which in on its own baffling." Strange said crossing his arm, his voice was heavy with danger and seriousness.

"so we DON'T mess with the temple?" Peter asked curiously. "..." Wang and Strange didn't know how to answer that.

i cant help but imagine this scene happening:

Danny: *giant chained eldritch horror* *narrows eyes and hisses*

Bruce/Tony, Constantane/dr.Strange and Zatanna/Wang: "..." *intimidated and are ready to fight if needed*

one of the batkids/Peter: "...omg its like a giant kitten!" *proceeds to pet said giant eldritch horror*

the adults: "..." *horrified

Danny: "..." *purrs*

if someone uses this please tag me and maybe send the link please?

[jackfrombaskinrobbins]

adopting a pet with the avengers!

type of writing: headcanons / scenario

word count: 911

request: yes / no

original request: hello good fellow. can you do a headcanon set on adopting a pet with the avengers? thanks

dynamic: avengers x teen!reader (teenage avenger series)

characters: mainly tony stark, scott lang, reader, peter parker, harley keener, miles morales, and bruce banner!

a/n: bucky + alpine = fave duo ever. OK maybe natasha & liho too. and clint and lucky. there are so many good pets already in marvel (usually just comics tho smh) so i had some stuff to go off of. THANK YOU FOR THIS REQUEST i loved writing it <3

taglist: @nutellani @thecloudedmind

(fill out this form to be on my taglist!)

-----------------------✰----------------------

you had been BEGGING tony to let you get another pet

bc a few of them already lived at the tower

lucky, liho, and alpine

but you wanted a dog.

not just any dog

specifically a puppy 

and miles, peter & harley were on ur side

especially harley bc he rly wanted a dog

so one day when tony got rly tired of y’all asking him, he came up with an idea

“tell you what. how about you kids make a petition. if you can get a decent amount of signatures, i’ll consider getting you a puppy.”

and that was good with u!!

i mean u were all taking government class at midtown so this was gonna be easy

the first person you went to was scott

bc he’s scott, he wasn’t gonna have an issue with a puppy right

right?????

but when you asked him, he seemed kind of sad for some reason.

and when you asked him why?

“well, it’s just… i don’t want my ants to feel left out.”

“scott, i don’t think they would feel left out. you love those things more than anything!”

“yeah.. you’re right. ant-onio banderas won’t be mad right? or ant-ibacterial? oh, hopefully if they’re mad, it won’t be permen-ANT!!!”

you got the signature and left asap because once scott says one pun he takes like hours to figure out another

love him though

so next you went to clint

and he was more than happy to sign!!

bc ofc lucky would love a little friend

and natasha was there too

she was a little more hesitant bc liho is rly sweet but kinda skittish

but you convinced her because you told her how cute it would be if they loved each other & like you could get the cute stock photos of a dog & a cat together or something

thor was totally on board

because he’s thor ofc

and thor loves puppies

“y/n, this is so exciting! i remember when i got my first pet!! well, it turned out to be loki in disguise. it was still very exciting, though!!”

oh btw miles and peter signed 

they were ur first signatures!!!!!!

next up was sam, bucky, and steve

and you and harley decided you needed a little extra push to convince them

so you made a powerpoint presentation. 

and it was awesome

like you may have used every single available transition

twice

maybe three times each

like i said it was awesome

maybe a little excessive

but awesome!!!

steve kept making you go back a slide because he was taking notes

TAKING NOTES

what a nerd, am i right???

jk we love steve rogers in this house

anyways then they deliberated

and they made you and harley go stand outside the room

it literally felt like shark tank you guys

well not the standing outside while they decide but still

but they signed it yippee!!!!

bruce and wanda signed quickly too

especially bruce was really excited

i feel like he would totally be a dog person 

like he prob had a puppy when he was young that he really loved

you even went over to the sanctum sanctorum to get stephen and wong to sign it!!!

and they did!!!

well wong did

and then he forged strange’s signature for you

wong supremacy fr

you were on a roll

you got aunt may to sign it. you got phil coulson to sign it (pretend he’s alive oml sry yall) you got maria hill to sign it.

hell, nick fury even signed it!!!!

so you took it back to tony

and he was like 

“woah this is a lot more than i expected”

AND SO HE TOOK YOU TO GET A PUPPY!!

and y’all

you and peter, harley, and miles found the cutest one

a little german shepard 

w like the floppy ears & stuff?

oml he was so cute

tony kept saying his named was tony jr

but you told him no

but he kept saying it

ok, live in ur fantasy world ig stark!!!!

jk love him

anyways you named him max!!!

bc yes!!!!

and you took him back to the tower

thor was really excited and max like totally loved him from the start fr

any time he liked ripped up the furniture or smth thor would just hold him with one hand and take him around

but he was happy so he was like wagging his tail and stuff

sam and bucky looked like they didn’t like the dog at first

but then alpine was like obsessed with it and so bucky had to like him

and max kept sitting on sam and licking him

and he was like “omg stop”

but he was laughing so you knew you were good

tony and bruce even built a little spot for max in the lab

and a bunch of like cool toys for him

max was the perfect dog for y’all bc like he loved everyone and everyone loved him

every night he slept in a new room & he loved to play 

he ran with y’all too when you had to run so it was way more fun

suddenly dr strange was over at the tower a lot more…

he’s such a softie

and scott loved him too they were best friends

tony was just proud of himself for “teaching you to be good citizens”

HAHAHA

dw y’all he loved the dog too

just trust that max is the most spoiled dog EVER!!

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[dustin4ce]

stability.

young! tony stark x male!teacher! reader

a/n: i kinda threw this together while talking to a friend, but if you enjoy it… let me know and i’ll write a follow up!!

warnings: student-teacher relationship, brief mention of sex, mention of abuse, tony crying (poor baby)

ace is the only stability a young tony stark has. mr. (ace) ellis teaches the junior english class at tony’s high school. tony was never good in english, but he tried his hardest. he was a smart kid, he just put all his energy towards science and maths to impress his father, causing his english grade and writing portion of school to fall short.

tony walked into english with his head down, he didn’t want mr. ellis to see the black eye. ace cared too much about tony, and it would immediately bring attention to him. tony hates being the center of attention. the young stark sat his bag down next to his chair as he sat. his head falling heavy on the wooden desk in from of him. this was unusual. tony always seemed interested in english. tony enjoyed english (mainly because of his teacher). mr. ellis came from his desk rubbing tony’s back like he did with everyone, but he got no response. people still filing into class, giving ace the perfect opportunity to talk to tony. the taller authority squated down next to tony, hand still on his back. “hey kiddo — you alright?” that was all it took. the small shakes of tony’s body told him everything. the quiet sniffing and shake in stark’s breath. tony’s fists clenched as he gripped onto his own sleeves, yet he made no effort to turn to look at his teacher. “hey.. why don’t you step out into the hall? maybe go to the bathroom — wipe your eyes with a wet paper towel. i’ll be out there after i explain the lesson.” tony, still shaking, got up with his head down and went outside.

mr. ellis didn’t take long to explain. some simple assignment. ‘write me an essay about a life motto you believe is important’. ace was proud, he came up with the idea himself. he even wrote his own essay. ‘don’t take what you earned for granted.’ it sounded stupid, (the motto), but ace had realized many times that he’d work for something — then quit working to improve what he got as soon as he got it. he wanted to be better. that’s why he was really trying to check on tony — he wanted to be someone people could depend on, especially tony. stark had always had a portion in ace’s mind. tony had trusted him with things — his dreams, life goals, his family. ace always wondered what tony was doing, how tony was doing. he knew it was wrong, but couldn’t stop himself when it was just him in his bed at night. his thoughts always wondered back to tony. the soft touches, his almost perfect smile, his shy personality, his (as ace would classify it) adorable face. his hand always found a way to his pants. he knew better, he swore he’d never let it get out of hand, but when the images of a young tony stark being bent over his desk under him and his control flooded his mind, he just couldn’t keep that promise.

ace had rubbed his hair back after explaining then stepped outside. tony was sitting on the ground, knees basically to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs, and his forehead pressed to his knees. the young boy was still crying. mr. ellis sat down next to him. “tony — talk to me? what’s going on today?” tony blubbered, he finally looked up, ace’s eyes widened as he saw the bruising on tony’s face. first, he felt sympathy and sorrow. then, he felt anger. who could do this to his boy? his sweet, little baby. he was gonna get to the bottom of it, he made sure of it. “what happened, kid?” ace gently touched tony’s cheek, his fingers shocking tony. “don’t be mad.” tony’s frown and tears still evident. ace nodded. “my dad, uh, didn’t like my grades — maths and science — they weren’t good enough for him.” tony sniffled, he did really well for the term, but it wasn’t perfect — so howard obviously didn’t like it. “so he hit you?” ace’s voice was laced with anger. stark just nodded. “oh kid — i’m so sorry, i really am.” tony teared up more as ace pulled him into a hug, stark’s head immediately landing on the older man’s chest and cuddling into him. he always loved the smell of mr. ellis, and his sweet gentle demeanor. ace kissed the top of the young man’s head and rubbed his back. tony couldn’t take it, through his tears he mumbled what he thought would be incoherent. “mm — ‘m sorry. i love you.” but ace heard, yet said nothing. just smiled. he heard all he needed to. tony stark had told him he loved him, and ace knew he loved his tony stark. nothing was ever going to hurt tony again, especially not his father.

[lunarspiral1127]

What If....? season 2, episode 4. Due to the holidays kicking my butt to exhaustion, this is gonna be one post. *SPOILERS*

So, Tony really did end up in Sakaar after he went through the wormhole in the Avengers movie. I'm surprised the Grandmaster became a fan of him when it's been days. I guess it's because it was one human who took down the Chitauri.

Instead of gladiator fights, it's racing. The whole race scenes were cool, and it reminded me of a mix of Speed Racer and Mad Max in space dialed up a few notches.

Was not expecting a dynamic with Tony and Korg, but it works. Plus, them teaming up with Valkyrie was cool too. Speaking of which, I'm glad she's not capturing people to give to the Grandmaster in this universe. They still have her be king of Sakaar, which I guess it makes sense cause she unintentionally melted the Grandmaster and Tony needs to get back home. These three work great as a team and I'm glad they got along in this episode.

Another thing I appreciate about this episode, is that it didn't do Tony dirty. He wasn't humiliated or disrespected, he showed what he was capable of and he was really cool. I mean a big Iron Man suit that can turn into a car and can be boosted with his arc reactor? That's pretty sick. Plus, he stands up against Gamora while convincing her to be her own person, and when he's being framed as being a bad guy, he proves it wrong to the Grandmaster and beats him. This version of Tony Stark is awesome.

And, after all that, Tony still helps Gamora take down Thanos, which I was surprised it was that easy. Just catch him off guard and hit him with the melting stick. The look on his face, though. Like he was like "seriously?" 😆

Speaking of Thanos, this guy's getting killed a lot. Twice in Endgame, killed in the Illuminati universe in Multiverse of Madness, wiped out in Strange Supreme's universe, turned into a zombie, sliced in half by Ultron-Vision, killed by Ronan offscreen, and now melting stick. This guy has now died more times than Tony (6 deaths) and Vision (5 deaths)!

However, this was supposed to show how this Gamora came to be and is the same Gamora that was chosen by Uatu to be the Guardians of the Multiverse. And, she was fine in this, I haven't seen much of why she was picked in the first place. Yeah, she killed Thanos, but Tony accomplished so much in that universe and was the one who helped her even when she was trying to kill him. He was the main character, she was a supporting character, maybe even a side supporting character. So why wasn't he picked by Uatu instead?! He would've been a great help to the team too. That's just the one thing that's been bugging me about this episode. Aside from that, it was good to me.

So, tomorrow will be the continuation of Captain Carter universe. Why? Well, season one finale left a cliffhanger ending of her and Natasha finding the Hydra Stomper which is setting up that universe's version of The Winter Soldier. So, we kinda gotta follow up on that. That and the MCU loves to show more of Captain Carter, cause I heard that she's gonna be more of a main character in this series like last time. I could be wrong though.

[katatonicimpression]

A Walk Through My Year in Media

This isn't necessarily things that came out this year, but rather things that I watched/read this year that I liked or compulsively consumed regardless of whether or not I liked them.

2023 in Films

Most of this post is going to be positivity; a sampling platter of things I've enjoyed this year. But also:

Salty Film Hot Takes:

The French Connection is uncomfortable to watch. I don't care about the racist, antisemitic, misogynist cop. He's objectively bad at his job make him go away.

None of the Next Generation era trek movies are good.

Guardians 4 would have been a better movie if Pratt wasn't in it. And I mean that in a "the script would be better structured" way.

Se7en is a really fun film and I'm not mad to have rewatched it recently but... it's undermined by 1) the writers not realising that John Doe's opinions are bog standard right wing talk radio shit, 2) the fact that they kind of agree with him and 3) they clearly, hilariously, don't know what lawyers do.

The Mummy (2017) is awful. I guess that's not controversial but still.

Robin Hood (2018) is also awful. Like, amazingly so. And, slightly warmer take, so is Prince of Thieves you guys.

I will not be answering questions on any of the above.

Positive Film Hot takes:

I went on a bit of an 80s dark fantasy kick this year. Out of films that I hadn't seen before, The Dark Crystal and The Last Unicorn really stood out. Especially the Dark Crystal. I ended up rewatching the show as well. Just so good. Bring it back. Justice for the gelflings.

I also watched a lot of Terry Gilliam this year - not all of his back catalogue but most of it. Obviously Jabberwocky is almost entirely bad, no one needs to be told, but overall yeah you get why he's beloved. The common vibe from his films is "wow there's so much to love here but it doesn't quite work". Brazil is an obvious standout - it's a classic for a reason. But I want to highlight The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Behind the scenes disaster and orientalist opening sequence aside, it really is spectatular. The sets, the details. It's so well crafted and just makes you wish they made films like this all the time. Damn you, Terry.

The 1938 Robin Hood film is the best Robin Hood film. Yes, congratulations, you noticed another theme in the shit I've watched this year. But yes, it's great, it's fun and well paced. It holds up staggeringly well. I also watched The Court Jester (1955 - with Danny Kaye and Angela Lansbury) - Also surprisingly great.

Finally, also feeling medieval, I watched Excalibur (1981). This is more "swords and sorcery" than "dark fantasy" (think: Conan the Barbarian vibes), but it's kinda great (most of the genre is not, lbr). It captures the logic of those stories, the vibes of the mythology very well, the mix of pagan and early christian beliefs, and the weird metaphysics that results. It's great. Way better than that dumb clive owen one. My lord that was bad.

2023 in Telly

Live Action Drama:

Succession

It's good. I don't think anyone needs me to tell them that. Still haven't finished it but enjoying it in a peaceful, fandom-free way.

Robin Hood (2006)

This was a terrible show, with an even worse third and final series. Did I rewatch the whole thing anyway? Yes I did. Should I have? No. (I love the first two so much though. Lily Allen's dad as the sheriff of Nottingham as tony blair? sign me up.)

Doctor Who

Am I a basic bitch who only came back to who because RTD did? Yes. But at least I'm not quite as basic as the ones who were only back for Tennant. The first one was good, if a little on the nose, the second was great, the third was good up until they get onto the stupid avengers platform for the showdown, from which point me and everyone in the room just got mad at it. The christmas special was fun though, excited for Gatwa and the new series.

Adult Animation:

Castlevania: Nocturne

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Genuinely so great. It's very clear that they're setting up a whole multi season arc with this first season, and the incompleteness that comes with that is probably its biggest flaw. But overall, fucking fabulous. The animation, fights, character design. Just a gorgeous show. Maybe not to everyone's taste; it's fantasy, but not escapist - its very much rooted in the historical injustices of the setting and has some heavy themes as a result. But if you liked the first Castlevania show, then you'll probably love this.

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

You might have noticed that there was a show out that featured "Rayman, but with drugs and cussing!" and, yes, this is that show. You might not have noticed that Rayman is only a small part of it, and it's actually about Dolph - a traumatised gay cyborg - and his no good, horrible, very bad breakup. Dolph is great.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Do you like Star Trek? Do you like silly cartoons and workplace sitcoms? Then do I have the show for you. Real highlight of the year for me tbh. While the show is built on poking fun at trek canon, and can feel a little overly reliant on nostalgia sometimes, the latest season really pushed for more meaningful character moments in between the laughs. I like it. It's good.

Mononoke

This was the most mixed of mixed bags. Japanese horror with a really striking and confronting art style. At its best, it's got this visceral atmosphere that sucks you in and is genuinely fantastic. At its worst, it's got a whole storyline about "abortion ghosts", and features some art that comes across as racial caricature. Between this, and a few other things that felt uncomfortable in an unintentional way, I don't think I'd really recommend this, but it did stick with me, I'll give them that.

YA Animation:

The Dragon Prince

If you're into the whole YA fantasy adventure thing, this is an obvious rec. It's biggest flaw is how slow it's been to release, but if you're binging it for the first time, that's not a problem. It's heartfelt, it's pretty, it's clearly a kids show but is well crafted and has appeal beyond its core audience.

Star Trek: Prodigy

S1 actually originally aired like two years ago, but I only watched it this year after finding out that it was cancelled. But it was rescued! S1 is now on netflix, and s2 will air there next year. Genuinely a really fun contribution to the whole trek shebang, fitting into the universe well without ever feeling reliant on nostalgia.

I didn't include the two other treks that aired this year because s3 of Picard sucked balls (still not over it) and Strange New Worlds has stopped appealing to me... but that's a whole thing for the other blog. But the animated series are great! Also Disco. I still like Discovery.

Skull Island

This was better than it had any right to be. One season of a surprisingly funny King Kong show, also on Netflix.

Reality:

Rupaul's Drag Race UK Season 5

DRUK is good again, hooray. The dark times are over... for now.

Married at First Sight UK

Do not watch this. It will consume your entire life. Your brain will melt away as you watch someone fake cheat on their fake husband with someone else's fake husband just days into their fake marriage.

Taskmaster

It's good. It's been good. It continues to be good.

2023 in Gaming

Lol no. Can you imagine?

I did play the sims a lot. I had my guy cheat on his husband who then died.

2023 in Books

Fun fact: I only finished one of the books I intended to read this year. That's embarrassing. Anyway, it was "From Here to Eternity" by Caitlin Doughty (yes, the Ask a Mortician lady). It's great.

2023 in Comic Books

Orlando

This has really been Steve Orlando's year for me. I was thinking about what series I would include on a highlight list, and his Scarlet Witch was the only obvious answer for me. Sara Pichelli's art in that series is gorgeous - I love the way she draws Wanda. The writing is solid, compelling, tells a complete story. If I were to recommend any one series from this year, it would be this.

His Astonishing Iceman was also up there for me, and I will also repeat that the Mutant First Strike one shot he wrote was genuinely great. Kudos, Steve.

Gillen

Kieron Gillen's Immortal X-Men is easily one of the best to come out of the Krakoa era, and this year was no exception. I didn't really care about the Sins of Sinister event, and I care even less about the Fall of X event, so it really means something that I'm still including this series here despite it being dominated by these events. The issue with Piotr's narration has been my favourite, I think. But overall, still strong. I really hope he gets to continue writing these characters (especially Exodus and Sinister) in the future.

Other Positivity

Ewing's Black Panther series is really solid, Avengers (2023) has been pretty good. Dark X-Men was probably my actual favourite of the Fall of X titles.

Negativity

Lol I already said I didn't like the x-events. I also hated cold war. Such a waste of an opportunity. Speaking of, a lot of my comics-based salt and frustration this year has been about Sam. The way that he gets written out of things, ignored, then he turns up and his written badly and goes straight back to being ignored again. Then Marvel turns to the camera and is like "why would audiences do this?".

Put the fucking effort in and more people would show up for him. It's not that hard.

There's my overall annoyance with Duggan, which is a freebie, but one highlight of that has to be the bizarre direction they went with Kamala. No one wanted this, no one needed it, and certainly nobody needed the weird gleeful "killing" of this character just to launch a pointless plot beat that feels both offensive (see: Emma lecturing Kamala about not understanding real oppression) and is inexplicably happening during a whole massive event that feels like it should be about other characters.

The end...?

I don't want to keep listing things that annoyed me this year, because it'll just get repetative. If you follow me (which, if you don't, why are you reading this?), then you'll see me complaining about random crap all the time anyway.

Have a good NYE everyone!

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: Kidnap The Sandy Claws

This video (a Halloween release in 2020) is not one I watch a whole lot. Don't get me wrong, the arrangement is of course amazing, and both the song and video are very fun, but, well, lemme just say that I can promise that there will be no simping/fawning over Geoff in this one! 😅

*Long, deep sigh* Alright let's get into this!

The bathtub made a lot more sense after I actually watched The Nightmare Before Christmas last year ngl (and apparently the reason they did this video sitting down like so was because Rachel was in fact Quite Pregnant during this)

Apparently this was filmed at some location (studios?) called 1010 West, where they also filmed their Superstition video earlier in the month.

(Okay but seriously I can definitely appreciate the thought and effort that went into set design here, like the big black face in the background representing the tunnel in and out of Oogie Boogie's lair!)

We're getting introductory title card things again, like in the Moana Medley, Get Back Up Again, and the Queen Medley! (Though the latter just said their character name)

Great masks, I'm assuming they bought from somewhere?

Layne Stein as Dr Finkelstein 😉 (the "mad scientist" kind of character type kinda suits him ngl)

And Geoff as Mr Hyde...

I can't fault him exactly for his get-up (see the first pic for a better visual), because that's literally what the Mr Hyde character in the movie looks like, see below

The red lips, the green skin, the top hat, everything, but like... why him? Did Layne decide on the characters for everyone?

But anyway, that's out of my system now. I'm not actually criticising, it's just...unusual? 😅 (Also this is the third time in just over a roughly 12-month period that Geoff has had a full face of makeup/paint for a Voiceplay video!)

But with that being said, I love the makeup for Eli, Rachel, and J in this video (shoutout to Rick Underwood and Steven Puerta!). They got the designs on point, but even more vibrant! See comparison image below:

(Yeah Voiceplay went heavy on the saturation for this video, not that I'm actually criticising)

Rachel's acting is as brilliant as ever, and I love her whole look. Style icon!

That (fake) praying-mantis-looking thing is in fact a genuine reference to/moment from the movie, so I learned.

Firstly, I love that Eli, Rachel, and J are wearing shoes that match their outfits, and secondly, I can tell that I haven't watched this video a ton (and haven't paid a lot of attention to Geoff when I have) because for some reason I remembered his outfit being a lot more black (and in all due fairness, he does wear black a lot in videos), but actually he's wearing a dark green long-sleeved shirt I believe, plus some weird baggy vest thing that looks like it might have been made or altered for the purpose of this video. Also that's probably his actual hair? Hard to say, it looks a little lighter and shinier than usual, but that could be due to the lighting and/or having some sort of colouration product in it.

(Also Geoff and Layne look just a little extra big compared to the other three in this shot. It may be at just partially just some perspective/camera trickery (though they are of course the two tallest of the group))

First of all, love the facial expressions, and second of all, Oogie Boogie here is played by Tony Wakim, aka Voiceplay's previous baritone before J joined the group! He now co-owns PattyCake Productions with Layne, and helps out behind-the-scenes with some of the videos, especially in regards to stuff like providing filming spaces, setpieces, and costuming!

Eli: "because Mr Oogie Boogie is the meanest guy around!"

(followed by a sudden cut to Geoff 😉)

Not going to post a screencap of the Mr Hyde's Hat thing, but basically when I saw that moment in the original movie I was like "OHHHHHH I get it now!"

Eli/Lock is looking suspicious, Rachel/Shock is trying to look like a perfectly adorable angel, and J/Barrel is looking like he is Planning Mischief 😁

"We do our best to please him, and stay on his good side!"

(Ngl I do the same thing as Eli when singing this part of the song 😝)

"SHUT UP!

Love Eli's grumpy face here (even funnier when he's still vocalising while looking grumpy!)

Are those fake teeth or did Layne literally colour some of his teeth black for this?

Also I know this video came first but Layne with the wooden spoon is definitely reminding me of the video for Drunken Sailor for last year (see my profile picture!)

Rachel and J doing chopping motions during the "chop him into bits" part

Also it's very blink-and-you-miss-it (especially when again, you're not actually looking in his direction for a lot of the video), but a comment on a reaction video pointed out that when Geoff sings "Mr Oogie Boogie is...", he freaking winks! Which is of course a cheeky reference to the fact that a little over a year earlier, Geoff was Mr Oogie Boogie (and he kinda sorta reprised the role in December 2023 for the Jingle Bell Rock video, though full-body costume for that one).

The shoulder movement that Geoff does when he hits a subharmonic on "kicks", like even his self-conducting movements are a extra creepy/character-y for this video! 😅

Genuinely not sure whether Layne nearly falling over on his seat/stool thing was deliberate or a "nobody broke character so might as well leave it in there" moment 😂

Well, Voiceplay aren't called The Theatre Kids Of Acapella for nothing! And also their arrangements and vocal performances are so good that you can honestly forget sometimes that their songs don't use instruments! They basically don't need them!

But anyway, this is the last Nightmare Before Christmas song I will be talking about until I eventually get around to talking about Geoff's cover of Jack's Lament (which might take a while, but boy am I looking forward to it!).

[watchinglikeafangirl]

I hate to say it, but Pit Babe episode 11 is so messy.

It's revealed Charlie isn't really dead which didn't shock me since it was kinda obvious. There were multiple scenes when Charlie says he's ready to die for Babe, so he kinda did... But where did that uncle come from who takes care of Charlie?! Why introduce a new character? We already have too many characters. It's not ideal to introduce some bad guy two episodes before the finale.

Also, this episode is a lot about JeffAlan, so we don't see much of Charlie, Babe, Way and Tony. The whole pacing suffers because JeffAlan's pacing is really bad. It's slowburn but then they hit us with ten scenes and that's supposed to be their whole love story. Sorry, but that could have been written so much better and I'm not invested at all.

North, Sonic and Kim are there once and don't appear since they have no purpose any more. It's not like these three characters were essential to the story but still, they turn into unnoticable sidecharacters and I don't like it.

Babe and Charlie are the main couple, Charlie is the protagonist but they are barely seen. Charlie sleeps and drinks Lactasoy while Babe walks around with an angry face, trying to avenge his supposedly dead boyfriend. I really hate how Charlie didn't include Babe in his plan. There could have been another way and just saying "he doesn't understand" is such an unfair and pathetic understatement, it actually hurts. I feel like Charlie forgets Babe was raised by Tony as well and keeps on thinking he should exclude Babe from everything. But that's not how realtionships work and I do not want to believe the series will be giving us a happy ending for these two when Charlie lied to Babe so drastically. Charlie made Babe believe he died, made Babe break down at his grave, made Babe so depressed he didn't eat, made Babe mad at the world and over all, he made Babe's grief unnecessary and unimportant. Charlie doesn't show that much remorse while holding on to a plan that made his partner say a final goodbye that ISN'T FINAL. I cannot say how much I hate how this all turns out and how much I hope they don't get a happy ending because Babe certainly does not deserve a boyfriend like that. I'm sorry, but it's so beyond me how Babe will accept any apology.

And then, we finally have a PeteKenta scene and some flashbacks I hoped would appear but never thought I would see. The fight scene is very mid, they pull the same stunt three times BUT when I saw that tear rolling down Kenta's face, I was hooked. And now I'm invested. Their relationship and Kenta as a character have so much potential but there's no room since there are too many characters and too many storylines happening at the same time. Kenta is a very conflicted person while Pete knows his believes. It's interesting to see Kenta struggle because Pete questions his morals and I would say, the time they spend apart didn't do them any good. I can only speculate and I'll leave that for next week. There's not much to say from one scene. They never really talk except for the flashback, so I cannot say how much they changed each other back then...

But honestly, what happens in this episode? What happens over all? The series has a bunch of filler scenes and this episode is by far the worst. Nothing happens. The plot can be seen from a mile away and we're fighting against Tony since day one. Babe says "we hit a dead end again" but have we seen him collect evidence until now? He talks like he's been onto Tony since day one but all we have seen him do is trying to beat the Red team, racing in general, having a relationship and staying at home because of his injury. When did he collect evidence? I know, he went with Charlie and they had a bunch of stunt scenes. But I mean before that, in the beginning of the show, he doesn't do anything but living "on the run" in the same house.

I like stories where the bad guy needs to be outsmarted and people investigate but the problem is, the series always TELLS us they are investigating but they barely SHOW us. I can't believe them if it's not something I see. This episode makes pretty clear this so called investigation would have been nothing if Pete wasn't there. Babe had no evidence on his own, so I ask myself, what's the story? What's the plot? Or did the story suffer under BabeCharlie's screentime? I can't explain it to myself but I have issues with the pacing from day one.

My issue is, it's been teased since the first episode that Tony is the bad guy who will be ended once the series ends. The series makes it look like it's inevtably going to happen and it's going to happen soon since Tony is becoming stronger and needs to be ended ASAP. But the problem is, nothing in that matter happens and Tony keeps on being powerful for way longer than the series initially told us.

If we look at KinnPorsche for example, we knew Vegas is the villain. It's obviously about him but the difference is the showdown in episode 10 and the finale at episode 14. He is the villain throughout two plots. The first one leads to the second one but still, it keeps the excitement. Episode 10 is the climax of KinnPorsche. It's thrilling, it's exciting and it's interesting how the "twist villain" is revealed. Pit Babe for example doesn't have such an impactful climax. Tony is barely shown, so we cannot understand how evil or scary he is. There's no first showdown where everyone reveals their true colors and go home thinking about a way to outsmart each other next time they meet. None of this happens and right now it feels messy and stuffed and boring. There's no action or excitment, just relationships that are not really connected to the plot and the story in general, so it feels pointless.

[sl-newsie]

Cool Your Jets- Ch. 7: Tonight (Riff x newcomer)

Mouthpiece and I race up the stairs, and when we reach my apartment door I can already hear the Jets’ heated arguments raging inside. I whip the door open, and find Riff nearly going head-to-head with Action.

“I’m telling you for the last time, Action: I ain’t getting soft!” Riff seethes.

Action just scoffs. “Really, boss? You’s so afraid-a getting locked up that we’re meeting up in your goilfriend’s apartment-!”

“Ahem!” By now the odda Jets ‘ve noticed us in the doorway. Riff gives a quick look of relief, while Action just scowls at me. “Since when did I invite you guys to hold a meeting in my apartment? Not only that, but Anita was complaining about-!”

“Oh boo hoo, the PRs don’t like it when someone invades their territory? Guess they can’t handle their own medicine!” Ice jabs.

“Quiet!” Riff barks. “Marilyn, I’m so sorry. ‘S just that the cops was snooping around the junkyard looking for us so we gotta stay low ‘til after the rumble.”

If I wasn’t so mad right now I might’ve felt sorry for Riff, ‘cause from the look on his face he seems like the rumble’s really getting to him.

“But boss, Tony did say to kinda tone it down…” Mouthpiece says anxiously behind me. “We gotta have a plan!”

My jaw drops. “Even Tony says this is a bad idea, guys! It’s a suicide mission!”

“Kinda what Riff wants…” A-Rab muddas.

My face falls. “What?” I ask with a shaking voice.

“When we went to grab the gun ol’ Riff shoved his forehead against the barrel to prove he weren’t chicken.”

“Riff…” My face displays a new kind of fear. “What in God’s name do you got running through your head?”

“Shut it, toots. Riff’s the toughest Jet there is!” Action gets in my face.

“Back down, Action,” Riff warns darkly. He groans and collapses onto my bed, rubbing his head. “C’mon, guys! Foist Tony, now you? I’ll think-a someth’n, just gimme some time.”

Diesel narrows his eyes. “Riff, we’re rumbling with the Jets tonight. Sooner or later you gotta tell us a plan!”

Ok, I’ve had enough!

I storm up and get in the Jets’ faces. “He’s think’n it out, so let him think! Clear out now, all-a yous!” I start ushering them out the door.

A-Rab sneers down at me. “No tiny broad is gonna make us do anyth’n-!”

“GET OUT!” Riff shouts from the room.

Now all the Jets’ eyes go wide and they all scramble out the door.

“And if I see you so much as snicker at my neighbors I’ll chop your ears off!” I look back at Riff, who’s slouched over and clutching his head.

“God, Lynnie. I can’t beat Bernardo with only the threat of a gun. I gotta find an edge so we can win, but what…? Even if we do win, I gotta stay clear-a the cops. I don’t wanna get locked up like Tony was!” Riff’s wild eyes look frantically around, like a caged animal.

“Riff, you’re make’n a mountain out of an anthill! If you’d just arrange a peace conference with Bernardo then ya wouldn’t have to sit through a splitting headache!” I throw my arms up.

He shakes his head. “Sorry Lynnie, but this is how city life is- no peace meetings, just rumbles. ‘S just I’ve never been this on-edge ‘bout a rumble before.”

I walk over and plop down on the bed next to Riff, then begin to rub his back.

He scrunches up. “Lynnie, whaddya do’n-?”

“Shhh,” I shush him. “You’re tired, so you’re gonna take a nap.”

Riff snorts. “I ain’t a five-year-old-”

“I know, but you’s still tired and you’re gonna need all your strength for tonight.

(Everything’s Alright from Jesus Christ Superstar)

Try not to get worried, try not to turn onto

Problems that upset you.

Don't you know

Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.

And we want you to sleep well tonight.

Let the world turn without you tonight.

If we try, we'll get by

So forget all about us tonight.”

By now Riff’s laying down with his eyes closed, a blissful smile on his face.

“Lynnie, you’re just like a blanket.”

I scrunch my face up. “Why?”

“You’re soft, warm, and I just wanna wrap myself around you. So I will!”

He quickly sits up, wraps his arms around my torso, and brings me to lay down facing him.

Right. Next. To. Him!

Immediately I try to push away, but Riff just smiles at my sad attempts and pulls me in closer to his warm, toned figure.

“Riff- Let me go!” I squirm.

“Nope. I don’t think so. But ya could help with my headache,” he says as he gives me a puppy-eyed expression.

I huff. “What?”

“Sing some more?”

“Seriously?!”

“Yup!”

I roll my eyes. “If I do this, will you let me go?”

“No promises.”

“Ugh. That’s probably the closest I’m gonna get.

Sleep and I shall soothe you, calm you and anoint you

Myrrh for your hot forehead

Then you'll feel

Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine

And it's cool and the ointment's sweet

For the fire in your head and feet

Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax

Think of nothing tonight

Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax

Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax…”

Riff drifts off with his head resting against my chest, so I can’t move too much. When I check the clock I’m a bit panicked to see that it’s already 5:00. Only a few hours ‘til dark.

I give a deep sigh as I run my fingers through his knotted hair. “Jesus Riff, why do ya gotta be so complicated? You ain’t a bad person, ‘s just you’s too stubborn to admit when you’s wrong.”

Soon I fall asleep too, and when I’m woken up I find Riff’s head has moved down to my lap- with his hazel eyes stare’n up at me with a soft smile.

“Hey, Lynnie. Me thinks it’s almost time to go,” he says sadly.

I look up at the clock. 6:30? Dear God it’s already dark out!

I look back down at Riff with a melancholy expression. “Riff… Are you sure? Do you really wanna chance this? Even you said yourself that you’s feel’n on-edge ‘bout this.”

Riff tilts his head. “Yeah, I know. But I can’t back down now with all the guys count’n on me. Like I said before: this turf is all we got left, and we gotta fight to keep it.”

“There could be more to life than gang fights, Riff. That’s my friend’s boyfriend you’s fight’n, so I’m get’n caught in the middle of it. Could ya at least try to talk to Bernardo?”

I see Riff shake the idea out of his head and then starts to get up.

“I won’t need to, ‘cause I’ll win. And even if I don’t, well…” He don’t finish, and I can already tell Riff’s been planning on this maybe be’n his last rumble.

I sit and stand up, pointing a scolding finger. “Riff Lorton, don’t you dare even consider dying! How could you even think that?!”

By now Riff’s standing too. “You don’t know noth’n, Jackson! You’s had a proper family your whole life! You can’t even begin to understand-!”

“Get out.” I point to the door. I’m done.

Riff frowns. “What?”

I jerk my head at the door. “You hoid me. Get. Out! I won’t hear any more-a this if you’s just gonna throw your life away! Now get out of my home!”

Riff looks at the door, then back at me, then begins to slowly walk out with an almost scared face. “Marilyn… I- I’m sorry. I- ‘S just… I don’t think I got much to-”

“Boss!”

Ice rushes up and grabs Riff’s sleeve. “We’re meeting in Bottle Alley- right now! C’mon, the fellas are wait’n!”

Riff’s still look’n between me ‘nd Ice, as if deciding a major fork in the road of life. But I’ve given up on try’n to change his mind.

I gesture to the door. “Go. Just go. I’m used to being alone, why break tradition? Just go run off to your gang, Jet boy.” And with that I shut the door in Riff’s puzzled face.

Ahhhhhh! I internally shriek with a pained expression as I sink down into a kitchen chair. Jesus Marilyn, why are ya get’n your life tied around a random gang leader? You’re smarter than this!

When I hear a knock on the door I nearly scream. “What?!”

“Um, Marilyn? Are you alright?” A soft voice asks from behind the door.

My eyes widen and I clutch my chest as I go to open it. “God Maria, I am so sorry! I’ve been having a very difficult day, I didn’t mean to snap at you!”

The short Puerto Rican smiles and gives me a tight hug. “De nada, mi querida. Between Bernardo’s angry rants and Anita’s constant worrying this whole day’s been one big mess. But-” She hesitates, then looks around to make sure we’re alone. “You remember Tony, right?”

Being mad at Riff nearly melts from my mind when the thought-a Tony ‘nd Maria pops up.

I smile. “Yeah…”

Maria smiles back. “He- He loves me- I love him! He took me on a date today!”

My eyes widen. “Maria, that’s wonderful! You shoulda seen him last night, all luv-struck! He went of to find ya and I swear it was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen! But… But what will your brodda say?”

Maria’s face falls and she looks away. “I- I don’t know. Anita says to stay away from him, that he’s no good. But I love him, Marilyn!”

I bring her to the kitchen table and sit her down. “Well from my experience, sudden luv can be both a bless’n and a curse. Take it from me, family means everything to me. But it shouldn’t always decide your future. Sometimes you gotta go with your gut. In my opinion, Tony seems like the poifect guy for you, Maria.”

She seems to regain some confidence. “I think so too. I’m meeting him again tonight after work, and Anita’s got a date with Bernardo after the rumble so they’ll be busy. But hopefully Tony will be able to talk Bernardo and Riff out of the fight.”

I frown. “Talk ‘em out?”

She nods. “Si. He’s going tonight to try to stop the rumble. He promised.” Maria gets up and walks back to her apartment. “Sorry to rush, but I better get packing-”

“Packing?” My jaw drops. “You mean-?”

“Si, yes!” Maria grins. “Tony and I will be together after tonight!”

She shuts the door, leaving me thinking about just how much is riding on how well tonight goes for everybody…

[fiberslut]

Apparently the multiverse is real

Chapter 7: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Masterlist

previous | next

Pairing: the avengers x reader

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so you may find some funny words/sentences or broken grammar in here. I'll say sorry in advance but I've tried my best.

Summary: You accidentally travel to Marvel universe(not earth-616), but luckily you've got your phone with you. You may ask what do you mean luckily, just read this fiction.

Warning: spoiler of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

'Where r u?' I decide to text Pete since I'd waited for him for 30 minutes

Lately, Tony was working so hard, not about technologies, but about matchmaking me. He tried to set me up with Franklin Richards, Harry Osborn, and Kate Bishop just to make me forget about Bucky. This week it is Peter Parker's queue. Tony didn't set me up with Pete but Pete asked me himself, so that is why I'm waiting for him in front of his dorm at Empire State University.

'I'm coming' Pete finally texts me back

5 minutes later

"I'm so sorry, Y/N, I had to help my professor recalculate the equation, and then we forgot to add more variation so we had to recalculate it again but then we realized that we actually did it right in the first place so we had to go back to the same equation" He tells while he's panting

"Oh that sucks" My brain just went blank since he said the first 'equation' so I just pretend to enjoy his conversation

"So I'm thinking we should go to the planetarium after the movie, what do you think?" He asks nervously

"Yeah whatever" I just really want this day to end

"OK, let's go, um, where is Happy's parking anyway?"

"Just follow m-" Before I can finish my sentence, there is a glowing portal that appears in front of me.

"Hi I'm Doctor Stephen Strange, are you Y/N?" He asks me

"Yeah, and what do you want from me?"

"I just got back from the dark dimension, and Wong told me everything about you"

Oh, I totally forgot about that.

"You have to go with me" He tells me and starts to create a portal

"Hey sir, she has a date with me" Pete tries to intervene

"I'm sorry Pete, but I think it's important" I don't know if it's important or not but I'm surely not in the mood for a date tonight

Yeah. Instead of going on the 4th date of the week, I decided to jump into a portal with a total stranger.

The portal opens to an old library somewhere.

"I guess this is Kamar-Taj"

"Yes. And you must tell me about yourself so I could try to find a way to send you back" Stephen wastes no time and cuts to the chase

"Woah woah, we just met and the first thing you try to do is get rid of me?"

"Yes" He answers with an emotionless face

"Ok, first of all, I don't have any interdimensional diseases, I'm just stronger, faster, and just can heal myself"

"How long have you been here?"

"About 2 months""Wait, did you just spend 2 months in the dark dimension?" I just realize that

"Yes and it didn't feel that long, dark dimension doesn't have time"

"So you just went there just to be with Clea?" I tease him

"What? NO! Why would I want to be near that creature?"

"I thought you and her are a thing"

"Nope and never. She is Faltine and she rules the dark dimension"

"Oh. My bad. Where I'm from you guys are a couple"

"Oh. So what am I like in your universe?"

"You're hot, I mean hot mess, like you just used the darkhold and caused an incursion"

"Yuck that Stephen must be super reckless"

"It's just a bad writing, I guess"

"What do you mean?" He asks curiously

"Like you're just a character in movies and comics"

"So there is no magic in your universe? But how did you get here?"

"That is what I'm trying to find out"

"Ok. Let's try this"

He then pulls one of my hair and tries to create a portal with it.

"Nope it's not working" He shakes his head as there is no portal coming out of my hair

"Yeah. Even America Chavez couldn't find my universe"

"As a sorcerer supreme, I am sorry to tell you that this is out of my hands"

"It's ok, I'm kinda getting used to it now"

"Let's get you home"

"NO!"

"What do you mean NO?"

"Please. If I go back now, I have to go on a boring date, do you have any place to go or any mission to do? I can tag along, I won't be your burden just don't let me go back on a date"

"Actually I do have a mission"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're back in New York. At some random street. People are running away from an alley.

"My friend there needs some help, you stay here ok?"

"Ok" Actually I have no intention to stay still. So after Doctor Strange flies away from me, I run to that alley. (And yes, I reach there before him) There is a giant web and a giant spider-person. He is trying to attack Ghost Rider.

"I said stay there" Stephen finally reaches the alley and sees me

"That is Spider-X" I tell him

"How did you kno- anyways what should we do?"

"We need electrical energy so we can explode him"

"Do we really have to kill him?"

"That is the only way" Or in this case, that is the only solution that I read from Midnights Sons Unlimited Issue 3

"Ok fine"

"Oh we should tell all your friends to retreat"

"Ok"

Then Doctor Strange creates a portal to teleport Ghost Rider and John Blaze. After that, he creates a portal above Spider-X and drops a big electric generator on it. And bam! It explodes and kills that thing.

"That was convenient" John Blaze turns to talk to Stephen

"Thanks to you. I almost run out of ideas. That thing somehow managed to flee from my penance stare" Ghost Rider admits and thanks Stephen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Ghost Rider and John Blaze went home. Stephen decided to take me home (in this case, Stark Tower).

"That was amazing, thanks by the way" He says

"You're welcome" I smile back at him

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME AGAIN?!" Tony shouts

"Did you just ditch Pete to go out with another middle age man?" Tony still mads

"Hi dad" I smile apologetically at Tony as I remember that I forgot to text him

"Hi Tony" Stephen says "Your daughter really help me with the team today, she is really smart"

"You went on a mission?!" Apparently, that makes Tony even madder

"Yeah dad, but everything's fine"

"I gotta go now" Stephen clearly flees from the situation

"Did you hurt? What happened?" Tony seems to calm down after Stephen left "See? This is why I made you a suit"

"Nothing happened to me Tony, I finally use my comics knowledge to help people"

"That's great but next time just don't ditch Pete, that boy was devastated enough already"

Taglist

@ayoelouise

@potatopfft

@welconme-notreally

@niccino-apino

@emily-roberts

@local-mr-frog

[just-dreaming-marvel]

If Steve would have went with y/n to Vormir instead of Tony would he have sacrificed himself? He was always so mad at her and they had just had that big fight before

Oh! That's an interesting take!

(This is based off of the Out Of Time ending I'm From Brooklyn, Too.)

~~~

If Steve and Y/N went to Vormir together instead of her and Tony, they would definitely fight it out. They would yell at each other until they finally calmed down and realized what the choice meant. That one of them would get the Stone and help the Team while the other died. The two would be much calmer and more solemn as they tried to convince the other of why they would be the better twin to go.

In the end, Steve would demand to go. It wouldn't be a harsh demand. He would remind Y/N of her daughter, her husband, and the thought of getting Bucky and the rest of their friends back. The two would share a hug, tears, and apologies before Steve would leave the shield with Y/N and throw himself backward off the cliff, keeping his eyes with hers until he no longer couldn't. Y/N would break down, sobbing on her knees.

When Y/N would arrive back in 2023, the Team would be devastated by Steve's sacrifice. They didn't let it go in vain as they brought everyone back and fought Thanos. Y/N would still be the one to destroy Thanos, ending the fight. In the Soul Realm, she would see Steve instead of seeing Tony. Steve would promise her that he would take care of AJ.

Y/N would be the one to return the Stones. She would come back and talk with Tony. Tony and she would calmly end their marriage but remain close friends and co-parents. Tony would give Y/n the house while building a new one on the next property over.

Bucky would try to keep his distance, out of respect for Y/N and her marriage. But he would come to Westview when Tony called him after Y/N disappeared. Unable to leave Morgan, Tony asks Bucky to go and help figure out what's happened.

In Westview, AJ and Steve are recreated. Y/N can't figure out who AJ's father is and it seems that no one else knows either. Y/N ends up breaking out of Wanda's spell after following Vision through the barrier and hearing Steve and AJ's pained cries.

Y/N ends up helping Wanda defeat Agatha. She says goodbye to AJ and Steve. Bucky rushes into Westview in search of Y/N. Y/N is so relieved to see him, surprising him with a kiss. Bucky questions it, thinking that Tony and she are still good. Y/N admits that she and Tony have split and that she has always loved Bucky. Even after all these years.

~~~

I'm going to stop it here so that I don't accidentally insert anything that is still going to happen in I'm From Brooklyn, Too.

I hope this is okay and answered your question! I just kinda ran with it!

[miss-alice-evelynn]

Now that I've FINALLY watched DSMOM, I wanted to share my thoughts.

Firstly, this movie has had a lot of mixed reviews and they're all valid. It's okay to not like this movie or any movie, just don't hate on others for what they think.

So, I LOVED this movie. Not even kidding. I went in excited and left with my mouth agape. I won't lie when I say I went it with a lot of reviews in my head, some saying that it was more of Wanda's movie than Stephen's and I understand why people say that HOWEVER I also think that Stephen had a lot about him too. He had some amazing moments and bringing up Donna? Was not expecting that one!

Let's start with Stephen, actually.

I've always been a fan of Doctor Strange since I first heard about him. I went to the cinema to watch the first one with my brother and I remember loving the hell of it. I've heard a lot of people say that Stephen is now the Iron Man of the universe and I do get why people say that but I also have to disagree. Stephen is a lot like Tony in many ways but he's not rhe Iron Man of the MCU now, he's the Doctor Strange of the MCU. This movie genuinely made me love Stephen more. His variants were amazing, I loved Defender Strange (AKA Ponytail Boi) a lot more than I care to admit honestly. Sinister Strange was so creepy and cool. Supreme Strange definitely left a mark. And the whole dreamwalk part with Zombie Ponytail Boi? Exquisite. I have to say that I'm glad Stephen isn't the Sorcerer Supreme, my man Wong is just the better fit. Stephen still has some ways to go. Ps. Fucking loved the fight scene with the music notes, Danny elfman you mad man.

Now let's move to Wanda.

Truthfully, Wanda only really started to be liked by me with WandaVision so I'm glad she had that show. Obviously, Wanda in the MCU is a sore point for some which is valid and you shouldn't be wronged to want a romani Wanda. Whitewashing is a problem. Full stop. To do my little review though, I do have to discuss the performance. I did enjoy Wanda as an antagonist. It was a good decision overall and Olsen did a wonderful job with it. Again, I do understand why people are annoyed that she got so much development in the plot compared to Stephen. I felt like Stephen didn't always have the spotlight considering it's a Doctor Strange movie and his first one was like 6 years ago. It's just so interesting to see the true power of the Darkhold. I don't think it's fair to say the development that Wanda underwent in WandaVision was gone. Her story is complex and so is her goals, and they can be simplified easily. I do think Raimi should have watched more than one episode though.

America... oh America. Sweet angel. Loved her. Amazing debut, can't wait to see what she gets up to next. *YOUNG AVENGERS BABY!*

Wong = 🐐

Now I guess I need to address the cameos. I really wish we weren't informed about them. I really do. They would have been a delightful surprise. The trailers as a whole revealed WAY too much and did sometimes feel like they were making the film out to be something it wasn't. John Krasinski as Reed? AWESOME! Black Bolt's implosion was strangely dope ngl. Captain Carter was cool I guess but I kinda wish they stop using her all the damm time. Captain Marvel, love Maria. Nice to see Mordo again. Professor X too. I don't think there needed to be more cameos, just slightly better executed.

And as the great philosopher, that pig from Looney Toons, once said, "That's all folks!"

[justanartisticduck]

Seriously, if all it took for your Roy to become evil was a machine, he probably wasn't that good of a person before-

Warning: this ramble includes stuff related to death, murder, very brief mention of mafia type stuff (Roy’s family is wild-), and grief. Please look elsewhere if these topics make you uncomfortable.

Edit post-rambling: I uh accidentally went off track and like rambled abt half the backstory in a nutshell so uh sorry that this goes off track I promise I’ll get to my point but y’all know how I get when I get asked abt dhmis stuff-

Well… yeah kinda! I mean Roy likely did have bad thoughts and such before the machine but back then he had a moral compass, he had a family he did love… but the machine gave him ideas… chances he couldn’t give up or let go… he kind of went mad with power in a way I suppose, and also note this didnt just happen overnight lol- these changes and thoughts began happening really during the machines production but it wasn’t until the machine was finished that he really just… snapped- and then once he began making his plans for punish land he was more open to more… violent situations… so when his wife came into the picture he realized that these plans were now threatened… and he would do ANYTHING to make these plans happen- even if it meant sacrificing his own wife to his plans. It broke him to do this and although he felt grief and regret… all it meant to him was that his plans would now no longer be shared.. also this comes up later and kinda explains why the trio were put into the simulation in the first place!! When Red saw Tony and all the rest of his friends get turned into teachers he ran off- this caught Roy’s attention and Red WAS meant to be turned into a teacher aswell in that moment but he got away- from there Roy assumed Red had already told Robin/Duck of his plans (and Doi would’ve likely found out too) so not only did Roy go to take his son home (which wouldn’t have ended great for Doi :( ) but also, once Robin got in the way, he did not hesitate to try to kill them (and I WILL show these scenes in the future of my bad end comic thingy cuz in between chapters I plan on giving small hints of backstory stuff :P) then Red yet again came in the situation and saved his family and this is where Roy decides to separate the trio through the use of the simulation (then kill duck, trap his son in his machine, and leave Red with no more friends/family in the end…)

AHEM uh uhm sorry I got off track I forgot I was answering a specific question halfway through my ramble and just shared like a lot of backstory stuff lol I promise I will explain this all better later BUT back on track we see that his new plans give him the mindset that his plans NEED to happen nor can anyone know them.. and if that threat occurs he will not hesitate to kill or find a way to keep that person from sharing such plans- (typically his choices are kill, make into teacher, or, in some cases, both) Now I forgot to add that Roy isnt entirely new to this behavior either- his family has always been in the business department however their business was more… violent- (they owned a mafia of sorts, and this behavior was their main tactic on striking down anyone who threatened their group-) so Roy was already not entirely “innocent” to these types of things but when he got older he got a food business, he got a beautiful wife and child, he was even making a show!! But.. the machine brought him power- power that truly corrupted him and he would do ANYTHING to keep that power… it brought him back to his old roots and he remembered the things his family did to keep their power… trap and/or kill those who threatened it.

[alaskarcenciel]

ep 4 : Wake up at the infirmary

words : 834

12th of April, 2023, later during the day

When Sam woke up, she first felt that she was on a bed, and the light upon her was brightening her. Second, she could hear voices, somewhere in one of the rooms next to hers. People were arguing apparently. A man seemed upset and angry, and the woman who was answering to him seemed more than him again. The women, in fact, Sam could hear two women, not one, against this man. And one of them both seemed to get closer. She came into Sam's room, hands to the sky, rolling her greens eyes, furious. She looked at Sam, and instantly smiled when she saw her awake.

Wanda: Hey Sam, how do you feel?

Sam: Hey... Why is everyone fighting?

Wanda, smiling: Because I almost killed you maybe.

Sam: Oh that's all?

Wanda raised an eyebrows

Wanda: All? Yeah that's the whole point of why Tony is mad at me.

Sam: Tony? Mad at you??? You've always been so nice and lovely to me, I don't get it, you just thought I could be an enemy.

Wanda: Yeah, I mean, he told me to watch the compound and to shout at everyone else who came, I could not know it would be you in this goddamn car!

Sam: He told you to be the bodyguard of the compound and to shout at everyone else?? well, he is the only one to blame, not you Wand'.

Wanda blushed and smiled. Tony explicitly told her to stay at the compound and not to let anyone come in, he didn't want her to get the situation worse again.

Sam: Why weren't you on the mission with the others by the way? You're so powerful, how couldn't they not need you??

Wanda: You didn't see the information? Where were you all this time? Grounded on a submarine? Or a basement?

Sam stopped smiling. Her eyes got blurred.

Sam, whispering: Yeah, kinda

She looked at her hand and started fidgeting with it.

Wanda's head tilts on the right. Her face goes from happy to see her to worried about her.

Wanda: Hey, sweetie?

Sam stilled playing with her hands, biting her lips.

Wanda came closer and sat on her bed, and lifted Sam's chin to make her look at her. Sam went back in a second, and Wanda saw the fear in her eyes.

Wanda: What happened, honey? You know you can tell me everything, I'm here for you.

Sam: Anyway, tell me what happened to you to get grounded here.

Wanda: Sam.

Sam continued to bite her lips, and started looking somewhere else, avoiding Wanda's eyes.

Wanda: Sweetie talk to me, I'm here now, what happened?

Sam: I- I don't wanna talk about it now.

Her voice broke saying this, and a tear fell from her right eye.

Wanda, whispering: shhh, it's okay, we don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to, but know that I'm here, and I'll protect you whatever it costs now.

Sam started to cry loudly, her breath getting uncontrollable.

Wanda, still whispering: oh sweetie, I'm so sorry

Sam grabbed Wanda's shoulders, and Wanda hugged her tight for a while.

Once Sam's breath came back to normal, she asked Wanda again why she wasn't on the mission with the others, and what happened.

Sam: What would I know if I'd watch the information?

Wanda: Oh, uh, I... fucked up on the last mission. A man exploded 3 floors of a building because of me, a lot of people got injured or worse.

Sam: What happened?

Wanda: Well, he was talking to Steve, who was supposed to beat him or inactivate the bomb before it exploded, but Rumlow said Bucky, and Steve was like this 16 yo in Brooklyn again. So Rumlow clicked on the button and I- I kept the explosion on him, but I felt I couldn't do it enough time, so I decided to get him and his explosion far away on the sky, but he exploded before I pushed him high enough, and it destroyed the floors. After that, Tony decided that I should stay here at the compound to avoid another public incident.

Her voice broke saying that. Wanda shut up. Her tongue licked her teeth one by one, and it was her turn to bite her lips.

Sam looked at her, and took Wanda's hand in hers.

Sam: Hey, it wasn't your fault

Steve: That's what I told her, I should have neutralized Rumlow before she had to deal with this.

Sam and Wanda look at him, surprised, none of them had seen him coming.

Wanda: We already talked about that, it's on both of us.

Steve: Yeah, BOTH of us, not just you, and what the TV and the reporter says doesn't matter.

Wanda: Well, actually I'm still the only one grounded, so it might still be my fault, or I wouldn't be grounded.

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed.

Steve: Anyway, I came to tell you that the meeting is going to start, if it's not already started, you both know Stark.

Steve left.

Sam grunted.

Sam, whispering: Yeah he's the reason why I left

Wanda looked at her, surprised and perplexed

Wanda: Wait what?

Sam: Nothing, I'll tell you later, we're already late to the meeting.

[nadja-antipaxos]

Chapter 5: baby, we're the new romantics - june 2013

Previously - Chapter 4 || Masterlist || Next - Chapter 6

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: swearing, kissing, oral and PIV sex, a man being a jackass on a date

Note: Thank you for reading and enjoy. Please leave comments  if you so desire!

Word Count: 7,190

june 2013 - summer

“How does this work?”

“They’re blind dates. Set up by our friends and my stupid brother.”

“But I mean, you’re not gonna be mad?”

“No. If you like someone you like them. Just bag it up.”

He looks confused, so she winks.

“Use a condom.”

“Oh my God, Nikki.”

She nearly bowls over from how red he gets. She struggles to get upright and places her hand on his shoulder.

“Have fun. Seriously. I don’t care. You’re my friend.”

“Okay.” There’s still skepticism in his voice. Her eyes narrow.

“Dude, it’s okay. Why are you being so weird about this?”

“I’m not the kind of guy who—when Peggy—“

“Use your words…”

“I wasn’t with Peggy, but she saw me kissing this other woman and she kinda went…off.”

She’s no longer laughing.

“Went off how?”

“I was testing out shields with your dad and found the vibranium one. She emptied an entire round on it.”

Nicolette’s already large blue eyes grow and there’s something else coloring her features he can’t place.

“That’s fucked up, Steve.”

They both have two weeks in New York, so all of the Avengers except Thor (who is off-world) decide to set up their friends on a series of blind dates.

Nicolette meets Tony’s friend, Carrie, who is a Jewish alternative-rocker and one of the coolest people she has ever met. She was a big part of the riot grrrl movement in the 1990s: a decade of music Nicolette is obsessed with. They have the same taste in music and favorite spots in the city. However, Carrie is twelve years older than Nicolette, and considering she looks even younger, Carrie has to pass. They exchange numbers though for the next time there’s a good band playing and they’re both in New York.

Tony throws Steve a softball in the form of Myrna Byrne. She’s a friend of Pepper’s from a “women in business” conference. Pepper was her mentor for a few days.  She has strawberry blonde hair like Pepper and she does PR for an eccentric billionaire, but that’s where the comparisons stop. She’s got striking cat-like blue eyes, high cheekbones, a constellation of freckles across her nose, and the contrast of her deep red lipstick against her pale skin is stunning. Her long curls are pulled back in a sleek ponytail. She’s very pretty. She’s already at the restaurant by the time he gets there typing away on her phone. She stands up to greet him in blush slacks and a tight cream blouse showing off her hourglass figure.  She’s beautiful. She’s also a fully formed person with a mind and personality.  He chastises himself for staring and lets the small talk begin.

“It took him a while, but he realized adopting a chinchilla would not look great.” Myrna swirls the pasta around her fork. She doesn’t want to be at the whim of a rich weirdo for her entire career, but it’s a good place to start. “So, what do you do?”

“Me?”

“Mhmm.”

“I, uh.” Steve can’t help but laugh.

“What?” Myrna reaches for her wine.

“I don’t get asked that often, sorry. I work for the government.”

“Like DoD? Your posture just screams military.” Her striking eyes widen. “Former Army brat. My mom’s a doctor for the US Army and met my dad in Kuwait. Argh. I was asking about you, sorry.”

A genuine smile forms on his lips as she winces at herself.

“No, um, it’s fine. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and with Tony Stark, as—um—an Avenger.”

“Ohh. Okay.”

“Have you heard of the Avengers?”

“Kinda. Well. I know there was that scary invasion in New York. I was in Sweden, so I didn’t see it firsthand. I’m sorry. I don’t really keep up on superheroes. I’m just so busy. Like aliens could come down right now and unless my boss wants to buy a pod for one of his kids, I wouldn’t hear about it.” She shrugs her shoulders with a sheepish smile.

“That’s…that’s…”

“Embarrassing?”

“No. Refreshing.”

“That has to be annoying, right? People just wanna talk to you because of all that?”

“Yeah.”

Her pale skin burns pink flooding from her neck up to her cheeks. She clutches her face in her hands.

“Oh my god. I’m such an idiot.”

“What?”

“Steve Rogers. You’re—you’re Captain America.”

Steve braces himself for how this usually goes. She presses her palms together almost like she’s praying.

“Oh my god. My dad.”

“What?” Steve hopes he’s not a super-fan and tries to hide the trepidation in his voice.

“His dad was rescued by your Howling Commandos?” Her voice tilts up in question.

“Oh.” Steve clears his throat. He hadn’t expected this at all. “Wow.”

“Thank you. Truly.” She looks him directly in the eyes.

“Is your grandfather still…” He doesn’t know how to put it.

“No. He died last year. Cancer. But he had a great life.” She sounds almost wistful as the corner of her mouth tugs upward. “Anyway, that was ridiculous. I’m sorry.”

“No. No, it’s fine.” Steve places his hand over hers. “Thank you for sharing that.”

They talk more about the different places they’ve traveled to and their hobbies. When Steve tells her about his motorcycle, she describes trying to run away from home at 15 on her dad’s bike. She didn’t get very far before it ran out of gas. She giggles her way through the entire story.  Her laugh is very bubbly and lights up her face.  He knows he doesn’t want to go home yet. She suggests they go dancing, so she hops on his bike and they find an underground club in SoHo. She squeals when he speeds up delighted to be on a motorcycle again.

Due to the flashing lights and loud, pounding music, no one pays attention to who he is and it’s a relief. Steve’s only had slow dancing lessons from Nicolette. He asked about how couples dance now and she burst out laughing, so that was the end of the conversation. He tries to hide the fact he doesn’t know what he’s doing by standing behind her, but Myrna either doesn’t notice or care. She places his large hands on her slim waist and rocks them back and forth to the beat.  Her curvy ass brushes against his pants and he gasps. Her hand moves up behind his neck as she presses into him further.  She’s average height and her heels make her even taller, so he dips down only slightly to make their lips meet.  Her tongue brushes over his and she grinds into him harder. She smirks when he chokes. He isn’t one to grope a woman in public, but she’s making it difficult.

“I live a few blocks from here.” She tells him.

“G-Great.” Steve nods violently.

She leads him out of the club. The cool breeze calms him down enough to keep it together. It’s only a few minutes before they’re all over each other in her elevator. He’s really never felt like this.  Pure unadulterated lust. He wants to know what his name sounds like on those lips. He wants to know how soft her skin is. He wants to bury his face in between her legs. She’s pulling him through her door until they make it to her bedroom. Steve comes up for air long enough to shrug off his jacket and unbutton his shirt. In a blink, her clothes are off and she’s kneeling on the bed taking off his pants and boxers. Before he can even admire her body, she gives him a stroke. He shudders as his mouth falls open.

“Responsive.” Her eyebrow arches as her hand keeps moving. “I like that.”

“I better not be the only one.”  He pushes her into the mattress and she smiles at the sudden dominance. Now, he can take in just how sexy she is. His mouth starts at her neck and moves down her breasts. Her moans are soft and light every time his lips touch her supple skin. Her grip on his hair tightens when he slips his fingers inside her. He keeps stroking watching what she likes. He dips down to drink her in. She’s writhing and clutching her sheets above him. Her back arches and he smiles to himself.

“Oh—oh—shit—I’m gonna c—“ Her thighs tremble around his head and he doesn’t stop. He likes her whimpers too much. She leans forward and grabs him by the shoulders. He looks up, half-amused and half-bewildered.

“We need a condom. Do you have a condom?” Myrna asks, voice hoarse.

“Y-Yeah.” He moves off of her and finds his pants. Nicolette wouldn’t let him leave until he put one in his wallet. He didn’t think he’d need it.  As usual, she was right. Myrna’s greedy hands help him roll it on.

“You sure you want to do this?” Steve asks as he settles on top of her.

“Absolutely.” She takes hold of him and lines him up. She isn’t wasting time.

Her nails dig into his broad shoulders as he pushes inside her. He gives her a moment but then she nips his ear.

“Ruin me, Steve.”

He pounds her into the mattress and she makes the most delicious sounds for the next thirty minutes. She can’t even speak in full sentences.

“Ah! Fuck, fuuck, oh, god.” She whimpers in his ear.

“I’m close. Are you close?” He grits his teeth. He can feel the electricity spiking.

“A-Almost.”

His thumb massages that little nub and she clenches around him. She arches her back.

“That’s it, c’mon, sweetheart.” He smiles into her throat before kissing the soft skin. The pace of his thumb is relentless.  She cries out his name, fluttering around him, and it sets him off. One final thrust and he lets go grunting her name into her neck. She’s limp under him as he places soft kisses on her neck.

“You good?”

“You kidding?”

He chuckles and pushes off of her.

“Bathroom’s in there.” She nods. “Can you bring me a washcloth or towel?”

Steve throws out the condom and returns to find Myrna looking like the cat who got the canary. He cleans her up and sees her jump when he brushes the oversensitive skin.

“Sorry.”

“No, um, I usually have to do this.” She takes the washcloth from him and tosses it across the room. He gets in bed next to her and she kisses him. Before she can say anything, her phone buzzes on the floor where she dropped her purse.

“Do you need to get that?” Steve asks.

“Probably.” Myrna pouts and kisses him again. Her teeth sink into his pouty lower lip pulling into her mouth. “But I don’t wanna.”

Steve moans as she deepens the kiss and palms one of her breasts. She leans into his touch and it makes him want more. His mouth latches onto her and her eyes roll into the back of her head.  The phone’s buzzing is constant and she whines as she pulls him off.  She grabs her phone and types impossibly fast.

“Everything okay?”

“He’s dragging me to Milan for two months and just started a Twitter war about private jets”

Steve looks down and tries to hide his disappointment. He really wants to see her again, but that’s probably not going to happen. She travels as much as he does except he has the feeling her phone is always on.

“I thought he’d lay off for one night.” She looks up at him. Her eyes mirror his. “Work never stops, I guess.”

“Yeah. I know how that goes.” Steve stands up and gathers his clothes. He has enough sense not to try to stay. He gets dressed and sees her pull on a silky cream robe.

“Steve?” Her voice is quiet as he buckles his belt.

“Yeah?” His eyebrows lift.

“I like you. I don’t bring every date back here, you know.”

“Wouldn’t matter if you did.”

Myrna bites her lip and throws her head back.

“Shit, stop being so perfect.”

“I like you too, Myrna.” He leans down and kisses her. “Have a safe trip, okay?”

“You’re really sweet.” She grins before kissing him again. He pulls back. Her legs swing over the side of the bed and she walks him to the door.

“Oh!” She rummages around her purse until she pulls out a thin business card. She scribbles something on the back. “Next time you’re in Paris you have to try it. Best bread in the world!”

“Thanks. I will.” Steve smiles and takes the card.

“Whenever you try it, text me. I’m 9 for 9 on recommendations.”

“I wouldn’t wanna ruin that perfect record.”

“Trust me, you won’t. This was fun, Steve. Really.”

“It was.” Steve gives her a quick kiss before walking away.

He takes the stairs down and finds his bike. He revs it up and reminds himself that TriBeca is not far away, but her date might be sleeping over. He rides back to the Tower and steps into the elevator up to the top floor’s shared living room.

“Hey, Romeo,” Nicolette says in a sing-song voice from the couch. “How’d it go?”

Her skinny legs are tucked under her and she’s on her phone. She looks very comfortable.

“It was really good.” Steve sits near her, but not next to her. She rolls her eyes and beckons him closer.  She stares at him for a moment and then bites her lower lip.

“You, uh, missed a button, buddy.” She reaches over and fixes it

He feels the heat climb up the back of his neck to his cheeks. He doesn’t know what to say.

“I corrupted you.” She lifts up his wrist and high fives him. “Attaboy.”

Nicolette rubs the spot over her heart and pretends to cry.

“I’m so proud of you. Dickin’ down on the first date. How far you’ve come.”

Steve laughs.

“So, we’re okay?”

“Totally. I have no claim on ya.”

Steve nods. He doesn’t know why that sounds harsher than it should.

Clint’s pick for Steve is Lucy Anderson, Nicolette’s friend, who willingly offers herself up for a date. Her slightly rumpled dark bob, pale skin, nude lipstick, and blue A-line dress reminds Steve of a painting. She’s as carefree as she seems.  She’s very beautiful with large brown eyes and delicate features. Early on, they agree that they don’t have any romantic chemistry, but they’d like to get to know each other all the same. He can see why Nicolette is so close to her. She has a loud laugh every time she tells him about the scourge of hipsters in Williamsburg. She met Nicolette at Harvard and works for The Cut. She doesn’t swear as much as Nicolette does. In fact, she gets a little shy. It’s a shame Steve isn’t into her because she seems wonderful. It’s a perfectly nice date.

Clint’s choice for Nicolette doesn’t work out at all. Amir is a tall, dark-haired, Iranian- American man who works in finance. He’s smart and absolutely gorgeous with a perfectly manicured beard. He comes off pleasant at first but then doesn’t stop talking about his ruthless deals or the pop-up clubs in Midtown that only he knows about. He’s like a modern Gordon Gecko.  He’s used to women being impressed with his income and smile. He’s going to make someone a very happy trophy spouse, but it’s not her. She entertains the idea of fucking him just for the hell of it, but then he tells her which whiskey she’s going to love and shuts it down.

Bruce recommends Melissa, a pioneer in STEM especially for Black women, to Steve who he has met at conferences for her exemplary work on microbiology. She’s perfectly polite and respectful. There’s no spark and they part ways as soon as dinner is done. . Bruce feels extremely uncomfortable about the idea of setting up Tony’s little sister on a date. It doesn’t feel appropriate in the slightest, but he thinks he finds someone nice in Gary. He seems likable and non-threatening. Nicolette notices how similar his haircut and facial hair are to a certain billionaire. It’s the first thing that gives her pause. Another white guy pretending to be Tony. Great. Not creepy at all.  The trucker hat and vest are also not a great look. She’s in a blue, gold, and red stripe sequin mini-dress and bright cherry red heels. They definitely aren’t on the same wavelength.

“Tony Stark’s sister. Like you had the same parents.”

“Yup.”

“All the Avengers are amazing, but Iron Man is the best. I mean, he’s the original.”

“Captain America was first, but sure.”

“Have you met all of the Avengers?”

“Mhmm.”  

“Has he told you about me?”

“Um, have you met him?”

“Yeah, I totally helped him last Christmas. He used my van. He didn’t mention me?”

“H-He did, but that was a really stressful time. I don’t wanna remember a lot of it.”

“Oh, yeah. That makes sense. You wanna see my tattoo?”

He rolls up his arm and shows her the strangest tattoo of her brother. It doesn’t even look like him.

“That’s certainly something. So um how did you meet Bruce?”

“Coffee shop. Told him how much I dig the Avengers.”

“Right, yeah.” Nicolette can’t believe Bruce set her up with someone he barely knows.  She signals for the waiter and orders an old-fashioned. She needs something strong.

“I told him I was having a hard time meeting women. Cause of my job.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a cameraman in Chattanooga.”

“Umm, what brings you here?”

“Remote assignment.”

“So you’re not here permanently?”

“No. I wish. New York is cool. God, Tony Stark’s sister”

“Yep.”

“You don’t look alike, really. I mean, Tony’s a great looking dude, but you—you’re really beautiful and you’ve got, you know” he gestures to his chest.

“Right.”

“I haven’t been on a date in a while. I’m sorry. And you’re really hot.”

“Oh, this isn’t a date. It’s, um, a meet and greet. Tony totally remembers you and wanted to thank you. You’re also getting a headshot.”

“Oh. Okay. Can I get a selfie? No one is gonna believe I had dinner with Tony Stark’s little sister.”

Nicolette bites her tongue and nods. He moves over to her and presses his shoulder into hers. She puts on a polite smile for the photos, but he doesn’t leave when they’re done.

“Wow, the chemistry. Do you feel that?”

“I feel the air conditioning.”

“No, it’s like this heat between us.”

She blinks so rapidly she wonders if her eyelashes are going to fall off.

“We should order, right?”

She has no appetite, but she makes a small dent in her salad. Gary goes on about how hard his job is and how he really wants to be in front of the camera.

“You know…” He raises his eyebrows and leans forward.

Her fist clenches underneath the table in anticipation. She hopes this isn’t going where she thinks it’s going.

“I have my own hotel room. I know it’s kinda forward. But I think you’re crazy sexy and I’ve seen how you’ve been eyeing me. I don’t even have sex with a Stark on bucket list cause I thought it’d never happen.”

Well, shit. For a split second, Nicolette imagines shoving a drink in his face or reaching over the table to choke him, but she doesn’t. Instead, under the table, she shoots off a text and turns her silence off. It pings back immediately.

“Who was that?” Gary asks.

“Oh, my boyfriend.” Nicolette nods awkwardly.

“You have a boyfriend?” Gary narrows his eyes.

“Mhmm.” Nicolette nods vigorously. “I told you this wasn’t a date.”

Gary seems almost offended—scratch that—he’s very offended. He starts to drill her on this boyfriend and why she didn’t bring him up. Why she led him on. And finally, if it’s an open relationship. She can’t even get a word in. It’s the longest ten minutes of her life. When is he going to get here? She needs him.

Gary’s eyebrows go up when he enters probably because of his massive height.  At 6’6”, he’s easily the tallest person in the restaurant.  Her blond knight in zip-up sweatshirt and jeans. Nicolette jumps up from her seat and rushes to him.

“Hey, Dylan.” She waves.

“Hi…honey…” Dylan gives a polite smile before stooping down and giving her the least romantic kiss in the history of kisses. It’s like kissing her grandmother.

Nicolette bats her eyelashes and looks up at him. She touches his face and whispers:

“Sell it, bitch, so I can get the fuck out of here.”

“I’m trying, but you’re you.” Dylan smiles to mask how annoyed he is.

“Grow up and kiss me, you stupid fucking actor,” her tone is so sweet and delicate.

Dylan twists his mouth trying not to laugh at her. He takes a deep breath and looks into her eyes. He leans in slowly and places his hand on the small of her back to pull her closer. He strokes her cheek as he kisses her nearly lifting her off her feet. She kisses him back and slides an arm around his neck. When Gary clears his throat repeatedly, Nicolette knows they fucking sold this thing. Dylan pulls back and winks. She smiles up at him. For good measure, Dylan takes her hand in his and walks back to the table. Dylan gives Gary a strong handshake with his free hand. The other stays fused to Nicolette’s.

“So, uh, what are you doing here?”

“Nic and I promised our friends that we’d swing by their housewarming party. They wouldn’t stop blowing up my phone.” Dylan chuckles and brushes his nose into her shoulder. She can feel the puffs of air on her skin as he bites back his laughter.

“Oh okay. Yeah. That makes sense.” Gary looks mournfully at her legs and Nicolette wishes she had chosen a different dress.

“Tony took care of the check. He just really wanted me to thank you for your support.” She smiles without showing any teeth. Dylan removes his hand and touches his hair. Gary sees an opening and stands up.

“It was great meeting you. I can’t believe I’ve met both the Starks.” Gary pulls her into a hug, pressing his chest against hers. Thanks to her heels, she can see over his shoulder and grimaces to Dylan who makes an equally ridiculous face.

“Nice meeting you.” She peels herself out of his embrace and Dylan tugs her to his side. She walks away and once they’re out of view, Dylan lets go of her hand.

“Jesus, are you okay? He was such a fuckin’ creep.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Thanks for coming.”

She takes his hand in earnest and he doesn’t let go. She wishes her dress was longer so she could hop on his back and let him carry her like he usually does.

“Of course. I like the dress.”

"Thanks, I did too."

Once they get to the Tower, Nicolette tries her best not to lay into Bruce. Dylan stands behind her with his hands on her shoulders like a boxer’s cornerman.

“It was terrible.” Nicolette folds her arms across her chest. “Please, please explain your thought process.”

Bruce adjusts his glasses and frowns:

“He seemed very interested in everything we do. I thought that was nice.  And I didn’t wanna do this, to begin with, and I-I’m sorry.”

“Tony, I had to kiss Dylan to get out of it.”

“Hey!” Dylan raises his voice.

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Nicolette elbows Dylan lightly in the stomach.

“For the record, I didn’t know it was Gary. Creep. I would’ve axed it.” Tony eyes Bruce.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t wanna do this!” Bruce puts his hands up and walks away.

Nicolette and Tony share a look.

“Maybe the Brunette Army can give you a freebie for your troubles.” Tony shrugs with his entire body.

“Or she could just go out with Steve,” Natasha offers.

“What was that, Romanoff?” Tony sits up as straight as a rod.

“That was gonna be my suggestion anyway.”

“You honestly want my amazing little sister to go out with Stars and Stripes on Ice?”

“Yeah…”

“Beyonce was at her Sweet Sixteen. He sorts his shirts by ROYGBIV.”

Nicolette looks back at Dylan who nods.

“Actually, it was Destiny’s Child.” Dylan corrects.

“Shut up, string bean.” Tony doesn’t even look at him to know he’s bowed his head. “I set her up with one of the coolest rockstars ever.”

“And it didn’t work out.” Natasha folds her arms across her chest. “He won’t make her feel unsafe or uncomfortable. He’s her friend, so they already know each other. After this colossal fuck up, she deserves something nice.”

“Thanks, Nat.” Nicolette smiles.

“All right, but if she starts eating the early bird special, it’s on you.” Tony scratches his ear.

“Please, if she survived sharing DNA with you, she can handle a dinner with Captain America.” Dylan raises his chin.

“Wow.” Tony puts his hand over his heart.

“Good one, D.” Nicolette hugs his waist.

Steve picks up Nicolette at her apartment building. He wears his usual dress pants and navy button-up, but she goes all out. Strappy gold block heels. Black tights showing off her killer legs. Cheetah print skirt with a black V-neck blouse. She looks so hot he wants to take her back upstairs and forget dinner.  The familiar thrum of lust at the sight of her courses through his veins.

“Nikki…” His eyes move up and down her frame. He doesn’t know where to look.

“I figured I’d try out this skirt.” She spins on her heel. Her blue eyes glitter under the dark smoky makeup. He wants to smear that nude lipstick right off.  He licks his lips and just nods. She giggles, shaking her head.

Steve takes her to a pizza place in Brooklyn that’s still around from the ’30s. It’s just as good since they kept it in the family. The tables are black with red and white checkered table cloths. He pulls out her chair.

“Ever the gentleman. Thank you, Captain Steve.” She smiles and sits down.

The waiter comes over to them. His eyes linger for a moment on Nicolette, but not in a way that makes her feel strange.

“Can I get you started on drinks?”

“Yeah, can we get a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon?”

“Absolutely. I’ll put that in while you look at the menu.”

“No beer?” Nicolette arches an eyebrow.

“Nope.” Steve picks up a menu.

“Ulterior motive?”

“Perfectly innocent. Just like those shoes.”

She winks and he shakes his head.

They get three pizzas, two for Steve, and one to share. It feels like any other time they’ve gone out. It’s easy and fun.

They decide to walk around after dinner since it doesn’t feel too unbearably hot.  His fingers are itching at his side. Almost like she’s reading his mind, she offers an open palm. He threads his fingers through hers. He’s seen her do this with Lucy and Jordan. It’s nice and it stops the catcalls.

“This is fun, huh?” She tilts her head.

For no reason other than he can, he lifts her up by the waist, and she yelps.

“Lots of fun.”

He carries her for a block before she wriggles like a cat in the bath and he has to settle her down.

“You’re ridiculous.” She points a finger at him.

Steve does a lap around her building as she looks out for any of Tony’s drones. She doesn’t see any. Maybe he’s stopped spying on her dates since she’s no longer 14.

It’s a frenzy of ripping off clothes and tossing them across her penthouse. Steve requests she keep those heels on when he fucks her against her bedroom wall.

“Cap’s got a—fuck—fuck—“ He’s hitting that spot that makes her see stars. “Don’t stop.”

Steve stills his hips and pins her hands above her head with one hand.

“Oh, c’mon. What the hell?”

“What was that??”

“Cap’s got a shoe fetish.” Her muscles squeeze him to emphasize each word; “You. Goddamn. Weirdo.”

He lets out a strangled gasp and she arches an eyebrow.

“F-Fuck.” Steve breathes into her mouth as she secures her flexible legs around his slim waist.

“Captain Steve, watch your mouth.” She chuckles breathlessly.

“You watch it.” He nips at the cleavage swelled under her bra. He sets a frantic pace that rubs her back up and down the wall.  Her nails tug his hair tilting his chin up.

“Don’t fucking tease me, got it?”

“Uh-huh.”

Since Nicolette doesn’t want to tell them why her night with Steve ended up being fucking awesome, the Brunette Army gives her a do-over date for her last night in NYC. Her expectations are insanely low.  As in she throws on dark skinny jeans, a tight studded brown blouse, and snakeskin print wedges. Smokey eye and nude lipstick. Something she’d wear with the Brunette Army. Nothing fancy. It’s her last night in New York anyway.

“And you’re 100% sure he’s not a creep?” Nicolette cradles her phone against her neck walking out the door.

“Yes, he was totally professional, okay? If I’m wrong, we’ll set his car on fire,” Jordan promises.

“Uh, no, we’re not doing that,” Lucy chimes in.

“Seconded. No arson.” Nicolette rolls her eyes.

She finds the tiny bar in Crown Heights. It has a vintage, speakeasy feel and she worries he’s going to be insufferable. He better not lecture her on jazz. She walks over to the bar and sees a tall white man stand up in jeans and a Tom Tom Club t-shirt with bright orange Air Jordans. They look familiar and she wonders if Tony has a pair.

“Nicolette Stark?”

“Jake Murray?”

“You got it.” He shakes her hand firmly before sitting back down at the bar.

The bartender walks over to her while polishing a glass as she sits down.

“Can I get an old-fashioned?”

“Could you make that two?”

The bartender nods and walks away.

“Whiskey fan?” He drums his fingers on the bar.

“Yep.” She nods and squints one eye trying to remember.  “So, you directed Jordan in that show about the woman in the cemetery. She was super weird and offbeat.”

“The Garden, yeah.”

“And she would interrupt scenes and talk to the audience, right?”

“Yes. Good memory.”

“I remember I was like ‘Oh, Jor would do this in every job if she could.”

Jake nods with a smirk and she spies two dimples. Cute.

“She was perfect.”

The bartender sets down their drinks. They both reach for them eagerly and he chuckles.

“Blind dates are the worst. I never know what to say.”

“My friends have been setting me up all week.”

“Are they trying to torture you?”

She chuckles into her drink hoping she isn’t spitting everywhere. He just tilts his head,” You sure they’re your friends?”

Nicolette nods her head.

“Well, if you aren’t into this you can leave at any time. No hard feelings.”

She cocks her head in surprise, “Likewise.”

The conversation relaxes after that. They discuss normal things like work and where they went to school. He studied theatre at Columbia and is 10 years older than her. He cards a large hand through his thick brown hair. She suggests a snooty toast to attending Ivy League universities and it makes him laugh.  He remembers the viral video she made with Dylan when they were 16 causing her to turn pink. She’s proud of Dylan. It opened every door for him. She’s just not made for comedy videos. She tells him about her work for the ACLU. She handles a lot of the research and first interviews with their clients. The job she has to go back to Monday morning. His fingers settle on his chin and his brown eyes light up with interest. She’s never seen anyone so laser-focused. Even in this crowded bar, he’s really…listening. But she doesn’t wanna hear herself talk. She knows he has better stories to tell working with overdramatic actors on Broadway.

Jake’s a very engaging storyteller. He’s relaxed, but involved, and never acts like he’s the more worldly one due to his age. His brown eyes are so expressive and the subtle lifts of his brow as he gets more passionate are so endearing. Nicolette has a hard time keeping her eyes off him and she can’t blame the drinks.  He shakes his head and a little tendril of hair comes loose from his otherwise perfectly coiffed look. She leans forward and pauses for a moment, so he can tell her to stop. He doesn’t. She smooths the piece back down and ignores the way her stomach squirms at how soft his hair is. There’s something in the air. A buzz of electricity. She’s sure he can feel it, but he doesn’t say a word as he leans in closer to tell her a story about Jordan’s nonsense. Ooh, she likes this game. She laughs loudly and looks down at her empty drink.

“Hey…” His teeth bite his lower lip and she inhales sharply. “There’s a secret show tonight. Panic! At the Disco. You wanna join me?”

Her body jerks so sharply she nearly falls out of her chair. “Um, fuck yes. I love them.”

“Great. I was totally gonna go no matter what, but yeah, this’ll be fun.” He nods with a crooked smile.

She bursts out laughing and he tilts his head. “Full disclosure, I don’t give a shit what you say cause I’m going.”

Jake lets out a surprising high-pitched giggle. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m ready to goooo,” she sings and tosses her head back and forth.

“Get me outta my mind.” He shakes his shoulders to the imaginary beat.

“I might totally ditch you if Brendon wants to hang out.” She puts cash down on the bar.

“Didn’t he get married?” Jake arches an eyebrow.

“Fuck! ” Nicolette stomps her foot. “I guess we can all hang out then.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” He puts his hands up.

The venue is small but packed. It’s not just connected people and celebrities. Regular fans are there who heard from word of mouth. They play some new songs on the album that will come out in the fall and mix in the hits. Nicolette loves pop-punk with every fiber of her being and sings along to every song. She’s surprised that Jake knows most of the words too. The band starts to jump on stage, so Nicolette follows suit even in her wedges. Jake joins her and suddenly, it dawns on her that he’s like a foot taller than her. They look at each other and she feels that buzz again.  The drums pick up signaling a more radio-friendly song.

A large hand stretches out to her and she can’t take it fast enough. Jake spins her immediately. He doesn’t pull her close.  He just swings her around like it’s his goal to make her laugh.  She likes dancing with him.

Once the show is over, Nicolette approaches one of the bouncers and for the first time ever, does a name drop. She wants to meet the band, sure, but she kinda wants to impress Jake. And it works. They take pictures and even go to the after-party. She finds out he’s a great dancer who was totally holding out on her earlier. He’s smooth but silly. He leans in and whispers in her ear,  “Wanna get out of here?”

Shit. She keeps a poker face, not letting him know she’s disappointed. Before that feeling can settle in her gut, Jake adds, “You hungry? Wanna get something to eat?”

Nicolette has to keep herself from smiling and just nods.

They find a tiny out of the way Chinese place in her neighborhood. The tables are small and huddled together like most restaurants in New York. Jake takes a sip of his beer and looks over at her, so she throws her hands up.

“Chug! Chug! Chug!”

He nearly chokes and wipes his mouth. She keeps her face neutral waiting for his reaction.

“You’re really something, little Chiquita.”

“I’m little little one?”

He just smiles and she wants to bury her face in her hair. She could scream he’s so cute. Instead, she crosses her legs and struggles with her chopsticks. He just watches her.

“What?”

“Silver spoon girl like you can’t use those?”

“Shut the fuck up.” She stabs her dumpling with a single chopstick.

“Want me to do that really fucking annoying guy thing and teach you how to do it?”

“You gonna come behind me and breath on me? Pass.”

“It’s a chopstick, not a bomb. Loosen up. You almost got it, truly. ”

Nicolette chuckles and lets her middle finger move it up and down. She grabs the dumpling and pops into her mouth. Her eyebrows shoot up and her blue eyes widen.

“See.”

“I’m so talented.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh?”

“Moshing like the rest of us in those shoes.”

“Bitch, I can run in these.”

He leans forward, taking the bait.

“Prove it.”

“What do I win?” She arches a single eyebrow.

“Depends on what you want.” He takes her plate and throws away their trash.

She wanders out of the restaurant. She knows what she wants, but she won’t make that part of the bet. He catches up with her almost instantly.

“You ever go to SNL?”

“Nope. My best friend isn’t a cast member.”

“Want tickets?”

“So, that’s what I win.” He cards a hand through his hair again. “How bout you?”

“Don’t worry. It won’t be anything you don’t wanna give.” She stalls.

Jake looks down thoughtfully past the empty sidewalk.

“I don’t think you’ll even make it to that stop sign.”

Her mouth drops open, offended. She shoves his shoulder.

“Try to beat me then, motherfucker!” She takes off not looking back.

Thunder crackles above and a downpour starts. She doesn’t stop. Her heart pounds in her chest as she passes the stop sign and keeps going. Until a rock catches the lip of her shoe and her body pitches forward. Her hands brace herself for the smack of the pavement, but it never comes. Two arms secure around her waist keeping her upright. She looks up to see Jake soaked and breathing heavily. He lifts her up away from the offending piece of rubble and places her on steady ground.

“I’d call that a draw.” His chest moves up and down.

“Uh-huh.” She turns to look at him and he doesn’t let go.

Her heavy wet hair obscures him fully from her vision.  His hand moves from her waist to slip her hair behind her ear. Nicolette’s breathing hitches as he traces her jaw. The innocent touch burns through her skin making her forget about the summer rain. The buzz in her veins is so strong she feels drunk. He sighs and closes his eyes.

“Shit.”

“W-What?”

His brown eyes lock onto her blue ones.

“I’m.” His tongue runs over his bottom lip. “Uh. A little struck—by you.”

Her heart jumps at what might be the most romantic thing ever said to her. She couldn’t stop the growing smile on her face if she tried. His thumb brushes the apple of her cheek while his other hand gives her a gentle nudge closing the already tight gap between them. He ducks down and presses his forehead against hers. He’s so close the sandalwood from his aftershave fills her lungs making her lightheaded. She grips the sides of his t-shirt needing something to ground her.

“This is crazy. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Back to DC?”

“Yeah. You ever go there?”

“No, I’m stuck here writing mediocre plays while you’re defending civil rights or whatever.”

They both chuckle. He keeps his eyes on hers.

“Can I kiss you? Cause if I don’t I’m gonna regret it.“

“Please.”

His mouth slots over hers. It’s so simple. Soft. Tender. The kind of kiss that makes her insides light up like fireworks. His hand finds the small of her back and she slips her arms around his neck. Her fingertips run through his hair like she’s been wanting to all night. He presses his lips against hers a final time. His thumb brushes her chin as he pulls away.

Nicolette just stares up at him. For once in her life, she doesn’t have a plan. Should they keep kissing? Should she take him home? Should she call Jordan demanding why she didn’t introduce them earlier? Jake doesn’t say a thing. He just offers his hand which she takes. Their arms swing between them as they walk. The rain dies down and the smell of the wet earth reaches her nose.

“What time’s your flight?”

“Eight.”

“Jesus. On a Saturday? You hate yourself?”

“Shut up.” She giggles.

It doesn’t take her long to realize he’s walking her to the Avengers Tower. It’s over too fast. They stop in front of the ugliest building Tony has ever designed. Jake takes her hand and places a kiss on top of it. It’s like he wants her to melt into a puddle right there.

“Goodnight, Nicolette.”

“Goodnight, Jake.”

She feels something tucked under her fingers as he steps back. It’s his business card. She looks up at him.

“You owe me SNL tickets.”

She laughs, smiling widely, and watches him walk off. She flashes her key fob at the door and it opens. She sighs and closes her eyes.  Did that really just happen?

Once they’re back in DC, Steve meets up for dinner. He couldn’t believe how much she actually liked this Jake guy.  To the point where Tony even made a comment. She never likes anyone. All of her dates had been a bust. She just kissed him. Steve went further with Myrna and he wasn’t hung up on her at all. She seems perfectly nice, but sometimes life gets in the way, right? Why did she just kiss him? Is it strange that Steve slept with someone else and she didn’t?  Not that Nicolette is moping.  Whatever disappointment she has is gone by Friday. She’s her usual self sipping on her wine when he walks over to her.

“Surprised you wanna do dinner after all those dates.”

“There’s no pressure with you.”

“I’m boring. Not worth the effort?”

Nicolette rolls her eyes and flips him off. Steve laughs.

“We had how many dates and we’re both single as fuck.” Her blue eyes widen.

“It’s okay.” Steve pats her on the hand. “I’ve still got you, right?”

She raises her eyebrows in agreement with a playful smile. He picks up a menu and doesn’t notice the smirk fall from her lips.

[roseunspindle]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Phase One:

Iron Man - I thought it was fun the first couple times I watched it, but when I went back and realized Tony is pretty much the same guy, the same guy who just blames others and never really takes responsibility for his own actions or inactions and also is very “this is the way I said it has to be, so it has to be this way” I ended up not enjoying it anymore. 

The Incredible Hulk - Still enjoy this one, though dear god can we set General Ross on fire? Can he not comprehend that that is an actual person he’s hunting? Also, how many injuries are in fact his fault in this movie? 

Iron Man 2 - I liked this one less already then if you go with the above arguments for why I don’t like one anymore yeah, fell down.

Thor - a very good introduction movie to Thor, great acting, (also we got Darcy for the first time!) If only any of the other movies kept this same characterization for all the Asgardians. 

Captain America: The First Avenger - My favorite of all the Avengers movies!

Marvels the Avengers - very good, would have been great if Tony didn’t do half or more of Loki’s work for him in splitting the team by being an ass. 

Phase Two:

Iron Man 3 - I just couldn’t ever get through it, it was so much... Tony...

Thor: The Dark World - I actually kinda thought this was boring? Our main villain has no real personality and he’s not really allowed to even build a sense of menace. Odin seems to be a different character, Loki leaning so hard into that “oh poor me, I caused all my problems and killed lots of people and now there are consequences for my actions...” 

Captain America: The Winter Solider - Really liked the friendship and back and forth between Steve and Natasha, and we get a new friend for Steve and he seems like a calm put together guy. Loved the Winter Soldier scenes and the flash backs. The main issue was Hydra...like, it just didn’t make sense? The best spy agency ever never noticed they were Hydra? It was weird, and downloading all the info onto the web? Not good, how many people were endangered by that? 

Guardians of the Galaxy - very fun, (yes I cried over Groot). Rocket being a good guy and saving people as best he could, the locations. A good movie. 

Avengers: Age of Ultron - I kinda hate this movie? It had good scenes, like Bruce telling Wanda (after she took his control away) that he could kill her and not change a shade. I genuinely don’t really get Thors subplot? Also Tony making a murderbot, (and emotionally manipulating Bruce) then wondering why no one will trust him when he wants to make another one... Also confused why at the party they were being unimpressed with Rhodey? He was doing a good job and wanted to share a cool story? I actually liked Wanda and Pietro and their backstory, but since it never goes anywhere. (good on steve for pointing out to hill that he did the same thing when he was a young man as they did for his country.) Also where did Bruce/Natasha come from?

Ant-Man - a very fun movie again, that last fight on the toy train? XD Scott is great, and I liked that he and his ex-wife’s hubby managed to find a place of relatability.

Phase Three:

Captain America: Civil War - Steve: this thing takes away our and everyone’s freedoms and I am dealing with the death of one of the first people who ever believed in me, and wanting to rescue and rehabilitate my other friend who was captured and brainwashed for decades. Tony: we need to be controlled, I mean we made a murderbot and new york was damaged - Steve: you made a murderbot, the rest of us just had to help fight it, then you got mad at us for wanting to stop you from making a second potential murderbot, and the government and shield were the ones that caused a lot of the new york fiasco, especially the firing a nuke at the place? (random reveal with very good footage of possibly bucky killing tony’s parents) I have to kill that guy now even though we just showed that this man has framed bucky for shit before!  also you trying to defend your oldest friend who you just got back, that hurts my feelings a lot so now I’m mad at you. Totally letting everyone get thrown into supermax, including puttting a shock collar on a human girl. T’challa... I don’t like his actions but I understand them? The Visions and Wanda romance seemed sort of... out of nowhere. like most of the romances. Tony why are you blackmailing that child into a war zone!?

Doctor Strange (only watched it once) - not bad, I mean, strange wins by being annoying, which I approve of.  His supposed girlfriend was just, they could have had them just be friends... it was weird? 

Guardians of the Galaxy 2: I liked the continued family dynamics, with worrying how they fit together and being pushy to see how much their bonds would stand up to.  though Yondu felt forced as his previous actions in the first movie didn’t quite match him in this movie... (at least he was being punished for sending so very many children to their deaths).

Spider-man: Homecoming - Wow, just, the spiderman parts with peter and his friends was great. The parts with tony and happy completely letting this child down and abandoning him, never taking him seriously or even responding to half his calls? Of course he would go to try to stop the villain (once again brought about by Tony) taking peter suit (that he enabled with a murdermode!?) making him go home in those clothes just to humiliate him? My rage levels were rising. 

Thor: Ragnarok - a goodish movie, though I really didn’t like Valkyrie (Not a fan of slavers) um, Thor has a new personality again, as does Odin. Mad at Bruce and Hulk (I think if we’d ever gotten another movie to explore Bruce it would be better?) like a funish watch but not really much there. 

Black Panther - awesome! T-challa trying to use and move forward with the things he had learned in the last film, Shuri and T’challa’s whole sibling vibe I was adoring. (open toed shoes in my lab?) Nakia is probably the most fleshed out love interest besides Pepper and Peggy. Which is nice, Okoye was so badass, and I love that for her, her duty to her king is absolute, but she did still break it a bit by aiding Shuri, Nakia, and Ramonda but was like, this dude is my king now, if my oaths mean anything, I still have to obey him. 

Avengers: Infinity War (tony still being a useless ass) It was good, (Rocket and Bucky’s arm XD) Steve and Thor being bros. But the way it goes, especially killing off Gamora? Thanos just fell a bit flat for me. the vanishings at the end were bad, wondering who would go. 

Ant-man and Wasp - Still need to watch

Captain Marvel - Still need to watch

Avengers: Endgame - Still need to watch (i mean, I know tony finally dies)

Spider-Man: Far From Home - haven’t watched but the synopsis reads like Tony still fucking up peoples live from beyond the grave...

Phase Four - can’t really watch most of them as i think you need to see a lot of the tv shows which I can’t do cause nothing gets released on dvd anymore